I ended up taking Abigail with me to my last prenantal appointment. She particularly enjoyed the requirement that I visit the ladies' room to, ahem, collect a urine sample. Enjoyed it so much so that she broke out in a boisterous, head-thrown-back heartfelt song:
"I see Wondon
I see Fwance
I see Mama's undowpants"
(repeat 23 times)
I came out of the bathroom to many smiling people.
That Abby.
(Images by FindStuff2 and CarolineAMarie via Photobucket)
One ginger step in front of another, I am finally shaking off the green cobwebs of morning sickness and reentering L I F E. Of course it's not quite over yet, but it's finally relegated to the late evening. {hurray!} Little Peanut seems to be doing well; we should be discovering whether boy or girl next month.
It's a good thing we are expecting Little Peanut, because it is so hard to resist the urge to snatch all the cute little wee ones that surround me in public places. Just one little sniff of the baby cranium? Please?
One of our church friends recently had a precious little girl, so I mustered up all my energy to entertain my creative side to make a little gift, that creative side that had all but shriveled up during my incarceration that was Morning Sickness. :)
Here it is, the sweet little diaper cake:
Detail shots:
This project was a joint venture with both my daughters, as they helped me roll up the diapers, helped with the photos, and "supervised". Amanda especially feels proud of her contribution. She said to no one in particular, "You can't even buy this in the store." Yep, I think she's caught the bug.
We'll be delivering the diaper cake some time this week - I hope they like it!
Oh yes, our annual gingerbread house making hoedown happens the day after Thanksgiving in the Lee household. This year we purchased two kits - one for each child - to preserve world peace, and also to allow creative license. Can you tell which reason was more pressing?
Once Mom and Dad relaxed about the potential messes and stopped fussing with paper towels and wet wipes, you could actually hear a pin drop for over an hour. An HOUR!
Abigail did surprisingly well with all the candy - only five pieces went in her mouth, and the decapitated gingerbread boy was fixed with icing:
Love how she tucks her legs under herself.
Amanda went to town on this, as she is now the third-year veteran gingerbread house maker:
Is that an anatomically correct gingerbread boy, or his collar? Hmm.
Keepin' it real - behold, the kitchen:
All in all, a fun tradition for the kids!
Yes, you guessed correctly. I've never been so happy to be this ill. Amanda and Abigail eagerly await their new sibling, due to debut mid-2010. One would think that the third time around, it's all old hat. But when the little Peanut waved an arm at us and wriggled around during the first ultrasound, I was wiping tears from my eyes. S/he already has my heart. Now, to get through the grueling morning all-day sickness with some semblance of grace... if you saw me picking up Amanda from school, you'd think I had a shriveled up twin! :) {small price to pay for the great gift within me}
Hoping, praying to get back to being wife/mom at full capacity again.
I haven't been able to do much with photo sessions, but I have posted some more from a recent wedding - click on the photo if you'd like to see more:
Nine years ago today, we held hands and exchanged words laden with hopes and dreams, promising to honor and better one another. Words cemented in our hearts, at times burning with joy, and other times dim with the vulnerability of it all.
How those promises turned into a home with 2.5 precious children buzzing in our happy lives, is really all a mystery I never could have envisioned to be so sweet.
So, my dear best friend. Thank you for you. For us.
Frequenters of this family blog are well aware of my joys and frustrations parenting a very willful toddler. Combine said toddler with the event of potty training, and you have another story to read!
Except this story isn't about how spicy/stubborn/unrelenting/obnoxious she is; between rushed runs to the potty chair, I discovered my daughter Abigail. The delightful, eager to please, calm, careful, joyful, quick-witted, articulate child that has been there all along.
Thanks to the advice of a good friend, I engaged in the 3 Day Potty Training Method, intent on getting Abigail off diapers. One of the main tenets of this method is that the guiding parent is required to give all his/her attention on the child for three days, eschewing any other activity until the child is done. Simple enough, right?
I couldn't believe how distracted I was the first few hours. And what was revealed to me during the entire 72-hour potty training vigil was not Abigail's strong will, but my overarching lack of attention on Abigail. Just Abigail.
I don't consider myself a bad parent. It has sure helped that my college major was child and adolescent development, coupled with my experience as a teacher, director, and assessor in early childhood programs. Once Ron and I decided that I would stay at home with Amanda, Amanda got the very best of two doting parents' attention.
Abigail's world has largely orbited around her sister's nurturing. I carted Abigail to all of Amanda's lessons and gymnastics. Abigail spent a lot of time learning that her sister is talented in many directions, especially when we started homeschooling Amanda. EVERYTHING focused on Amanda, and Abigail took a backseat.
But what's even more foolish was that I started a side business AND participated in creative teams at the same time as the homeschooling. And Abigail was almost forgotten except for her tenacious screaming to be heard. And in my distracted mind, I started classifying her as "difficult".
While I know that Abigail is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination (don't you remember who her mom is?), I sense that my unwillingness to quiet my life enough to enjoy her may have created more friction for this little one than necessary.
How do you begin to say sorry to a two-year-old for the last year's transgressions?
I will start by enjoying her tiny grape toes cradling her Dora pantied bum, letting her linger on my lap just a while longer, and thanking my Creator for another chance to be a better steward of what I've been gifted.
Love you, Abbers Stombers.
How does a month glide by so fast? Family is doing well, all things considered. We have so many things to share that sometimes it's not a reality to cram them all into one little blog.
Amanda's a happy clam in second grade. One of her closest friends is in the same homeroom, and well, that just makes for a lot of merriment for a second grader. Mom's busily attempting to keep making nutritious, fun, and yummy lunches - a tall order at times. As promised, I'll share photos and ideas some day. ;) Mondays I spend volunteering at Amanda's school, and she seems to like running up to me at random times and wave a chicken wing at me, with a cheerful, "Hi Mommy!" I treasure that expression of love.
Abigail is talking a lot. So much, that it can be classified as too much, heh heh heh. Her ideas have now materialized into a deafening crescendo. At times very joyfully, but other times in a heap of mad all over the floor. She is a passionate child that emotes quite a bit. And if this mom can pick and choose the battles a bit better, I think she would have less going on in the tantrum department. Sigh. She is a happy-go-lucky and intelligent girl; I'm working on bringing these attributes out to the forefront more.
I haven't been able to scrapbook in a long time, but this one really tumbled out of me; therapy in artform:
(click for credits)
Since I've come back from a Bay Area business trip, I have had fun post-processing photos. There are new sessions up on my photo blog if you'd like to see what I've been up to:
(click image to be whisked away to the photo blog!)
Aww, look at the time! Get to bed, young lady! Okay, off I go... more later.
