Chubby Monster Baby Aliah has been awake since 12:30.
We are going into hour number three now, and I want to rip out my hair.
This is a rare occurrence for her. Usually she cries for 2 mins and goes right back to sleep. But no, not tonight! Tylenol is helping her, to keep her from screaming.... but I am really running out of steam.
We need to sleep!
Edited to add: She just conked out. It's 3:45am.
Now I am wide awake. Ahhhhh!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Growing Up
To my dear Hannah,
You are such a sweet, loving girl! You are so caring and loving to your baby sister, and you are mommy's best-ever helper! I am very proud of you and all the grown-up things you've been learning and doing lately. But it is really bittersweet to watch you grow up.
There are many times, at the end of the day, when everything is quiet and calm and still, when I am overwhelmed by you. I might not always say it or show it correctly , but I love you so very much, pretty girl! I hope you know that. Even when I get frustrated or angry (especially when you scream and kick and cry about brushing your teeth!), I still love you just as much as ever. And during those quiet bedtime moments, when you are all snuggled up in your warm comfty bed, underneath pink & purple sheets, inside fluffy clean pjs, holding your favorite bear blanket - it is then, right there, that I want time to stop.
I just want more time with you. More time, just like this.
I ask if you can stay this age, this child size and shape, for always. And your reply is the same every time I ask: No mommy, I have to grow up.
You accept it as a fact of life, so simply and whole-heartedly. You think: Everyone grows up, so I will too. Then there is me, the grown-up, struggling to keep up with the reality of so much daily change and growth.
Even so, no matter how big you get, no matter how much you learn or how far you go, you will still be my little girl.
That's the way it is with children and parents.
You are such a sweet, loving girl! You are so caring and loving to your baby sister, and you are mommy's best-ever helper! I am very proud of you and all the grown-up things you've been learning and doing lately. But it is really bittersweet to watch you grow up.
There are many times, at the end of the day, when everything is quiet and calm and still, when I am overwhelmed by you. I might not always say it or show it correctly , but I love you so very much, pretty girl! I hope you know that. Even when I get frustrated or angry (especially when you scream and kick and cry about brushing your teeth!), I still love you just as much as ever. And during those quiet bedtime moments, when you are all snuggled up in your warm comfty bed, underneath pink & purple sheets, inside fluffy clean pjs, holding your favorite bear blanket - it is then, right there, that I want time to stop.
I just want more time with you. More time, just like this.
I ask if you can stay this age, this child size and shape, for always. And your reply is the same every time I ask: No mommy, I have to grow up.
You accept it as a fact of life, so simply and whole-heartedly. You think: Everyone grows up, so I will too. Then there is me, the grown-up, struggling to keep up with the reality of so much daily change and growth.
Even so, no matter how big you get, no matter how much you learn or how far you go, you will still be my little girl.
That's the way it is with children and parents.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Good news
MIKE PASSED HIS PARAMEDIC EXAM!
Now he will be cleared to work anywhere in the United States!
Thank you to everyone who prayed for him this week.
God heard and answered our prayers.
Now he will be cleared to work anywhere in the United States!
Thank you to everyone who prayed for him this week.
God heard and answered our prayers.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Crawling to DC
Aliah is crawling to DC, to demand change: a stronger law that will help keep our families safe and healthy, thereby protecting us from toxic chemicals found in household products. Go to this link to support Aliah's crawling efforts :)
My in-laws are coming to visit for the weekend! Other than following Hannah around downtown while she is trick-or-treating, I don't have any ideas of ways to entertain them while they are here. Poor Mike has to work 4 day shifts in a row, so he won't get to spend very much time with his parents :(
Also, Mike took his national paramedic exam last night. He has to wait one week for the test results. Pray that he passed (he is afraid that he failed)!
My in-laws are coming to visit for the weekend! Other than following Hannah around downtown while she is trick-or-treating, I don't have any ideas of ways to entertain them while they are here. Poor Mike has to work 4 day shifts in a row, so he won't get to spend very much time with his parents :(
Also, Mike took his national paramedic exam last night. He has to wait one week for the test results. Pray that he passed (he is afraid that he failed)!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
"Duh!" moment
First, let me apologize for being MIA and not making updates over the past two weeks. Is it excuse enough that last week we drove over 1000 miles and slept in four different places within a 6-day stretch? (I still have yet to catch up on the monster pile of laundry that is lurking at the end of the hallway.)
I might elaborate on our lovely fall road trip another time, but for now let it suffice to say that we had a great time (despite Aliah contracting her first cold): camping with our college buddies was a blast, as was hanging out with my in-laws, playing with our adorable little nephew, and crashing at my parent's house in Maryland for one day.
What I really wanted to say tonight is this:
Tonight, Aliah said "duh" for duck! She has previously repeated a word or sound when I initiated, but never spontaneously said things on her own. She had just taken a bath and I was carrying her out of the bathroom. I turned around to flick off the bathroom lights. (Our bathroom is decorated with ducks, and the switchplate has 2 yellow duckies pictured on it.) Aliah reached up, and I thought she was trying to get the lightswitch - but then I heard her saying "duh duh duh." Ok, now I know that babies liek to babble, but this was a distincting different sound from the normal "da ba ba" baby-speak - and I realized that she was trying to say DUCK! "duh... k-k-k", she tried again. I think we stood there and pointed and talked to that lightswitch for a full five minutes. Hannah was wondering if Mommy had gone crazy... but honestly, it was a cute moment. And I knew that if I didn't write it out immediately, it will never ever make it into her baby book.
So there it is, Aliah's first word (other than Mama/Dada): Duck.
She also loves dogs (sometimes she even attempts to bark like a dog, screeching "uh! uh! uh!", while nodding her head, which is so cute, and absolutely hilarious!). Fittingly, she will be a puppy for Halloween.
Here is a sneak-peak of my costumed girls...
Ok, pardon the interruption, I just realized that the last four weeks of pictures are still trapped inside my camera. That meant downloading them all onto our computer before I could attempt to share them with anyone else.
So, attaching a picture took much longer than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, here are their Halloween costumes (not a wonderful photo of either of them, but you get the idea):
Goodnight, and have a wonderful week!
I might elaborate on our lovely fall road trip another time, but for now let it suffice to say that we had a great time (despite Aliah contracting her first cold): camping with our college buddies was a blast, as was hanging out with my in-laws, playing with our adorable little nephew, and crashing at my parent's house in Maryland for one day.
What I really wanted to say tonight is this:
Tonight, Aliah said "duh" for duck! She has previously repeated a word or sound when I initiated, but never spontaneously said things on her own. She had just taken a bath and I was carrying her out of the bathroom. I turned around to flick off the bathroom lights. (Our bathroom is decorated with ducks, and the switchplate has 2 yellow duckies pictured on it.) Aliah reached up, and I thought she was trying to get the lightswitch - but then I heard her saying "duh duh duh." Ok, now I know that babies liek to babble, but this was a distincting different sound from the normal "da ba ba" baby-speak - and I realized that she was trying to say DUCK! "duh... k-k-k", she tried again. I think we stood there and pointed and talked to that lightswitch for a full five minutes. Hannah was wondering if Mommy had gone crazy... but honestly, it was a cute moment. And I knew that if I didn't write it out immediately, it will never ever make it into her baby book.
So there it is, Aliah's first word (other than Mama/Dada): Duck.
She also loves dogs (sometimes she even attempts to bark like a dog, screeching "uh! uh! uh!", while nodding her head, which is so cute, and absolutely hilarious!). Fittingly, she will be a puppy for Halloween.
Here is a sneak-peak of my costumed girls...
Ok, pardon the interruption, I just realized that the last four weeks of pictures are still trapped inside my camera. That meant downloading them all onto our computer before I could attempt to share them with anyone else.
So, attaching a picture took much longer than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, here are their Halloween costumes (not a wonderful photo of either of them, but you get the idea):
Goodnight, and have a wonderful week!
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