New Skills

Baby loves to stick out her tongue

And suck her thumb

And mock me while I fold laundry

Kids these days.

Fall Festival

Kitty's school does an annual fundraiser called Fall Festival.  They turn the school lawn into a carnival and auction off items.  It's a fun evening for all.  This year's theme was Dr. Seuss.  Kitty was going as Thing 1 and was excited to color her hair blue.  This vexed her father immensely.  Mykey and I wore Grinch shirts.  Seems accurate.

Kitty had a great time running around to all of the games and eating loads of sugar.  I had a great time sitting on the lawn in the shade.

I also had the pleasure of purchasing the caricature Kitty had drawn of herself.

I love everything about it.

I was slightly sad that this is Kitty's final Fall Festival before she heads off to middle school next year.  She needs to stop growing.

Stop it!  

Labor Day

Before we moved from Oregon, we went camping every Labor Day weekend with our dear friends.  This year, our dear friends flew all the way to TN to camp with us.

But we didn't actually camp.  That would be silly.  I have a baby.  They were going to stay at our house, but since we're still in construction mode, I put them up in a hotel instead.  It's a far better way to camp.

The weekend rushed by but it was incredibly good for my soul to have them here.  I'm grateful for dear friends who will travel so far to see us.

Kitty was especially grateful to be reunited with her bestie.  They talked non-stop and reminisced about the good-ol'-days in Oregon.  It was sweet.

We filled our few days with swimming

Hiking

And a trip to Smoky Mountain National park where the crowds were appalling.  We tried to meet up with our other Oregon friends who also moved to TN, but we lost cell phone reception and couldn't find them.  It was a bummer.  But we did spy a little black bear cub!  We also stopped at Buc-ee's on the way home so they could experience it.  Talk about appalling crowds! (But my Buc-ee's burrito was oddly divine.)

The rest of our time was spent visiting and laughing.  It was wonderful in every way.

Happy Labor Day!

 

2 Months

Baby is now 2 months old.  This means it has been 60 days since we slept.  Although I feel like I could drop dead from exhaustion at any moment, I have been able to increase my productivity during the day.  But don't get too excited...I don't plan on maintaining it.

So how is Baby's personality progressing? Well, she still wakes up multiple times throughout the night.  I have conversations with her about this but she doesn't appear to care.  She is more alert and smiles at us more often.  I love every minute of it.

Except for the middle of the night when I'm counting all the minutes tick by. And I'm not sleeping for any of them.

Here's how Baby is measuring up:

Height: 23 inches - 76th percentile

Weight: 11 lbs, 10 oz - 59th percentile

Head circumference: 16 inches

She's a growin'!

Happy 2nd month birthday!

Words

My oldest daughter is a delightful girl.  She has incredible talent and fire. Sometimes, it's difficult to sum her up in words.

For instance, how do I describe her special reading spot?

Comfortable.

How do I describe her sense of humor?

Hilarious.

How do I describe her showing my baby the snakes at the pet store?

Abhorrent.

How do I describe her nurturing big-sister moments?

Heartwarming.

How do I describe her standardized test scores from school?

Mind-boggling.  (Does she even need to keep attending school?)

How do I describe her creativity?

Endless.  (That's our family in mini-fig if you couldn't tell.)

How do I describe her love for soccer?

Endearing.

How do I describe her bedroom?

There are no words.

Jolly Good Time

Are you looking for a way to squash the daily doldrums of life? Well, you're in luck! I have a most appropriate suggestion for you to spice up your life.

It begins by discovering that your toilet has been slowly leaking for an unknown length of time, thus ruining your bathroom floor.

THEN have your husband lose all common sense for a moment and begin tearing up the floor without any plan in place.  It's crucial that he doesn't have a plan or a way to dispose of the flooring.

AND THEN, in a completely unrelated event, have a water pipe burst in your ceiling the following week.  This will give you a wonderful light-fixture-waterfall.

AND THEN live in a hotel room for a week.  With a 2-month-old baby.  The baby is the crucial piece.

AND THEN, once the leak is repaired, have your husband get back to work on the floor.  He must cut a hole in your bedroom floor to remove a section of damaged subfloor and then leave the hole gaping open with no safety perimeter around it.   

AND THEN go into your bedroom when it's dark, forget about the hole, and fall directly into the abyss.  It's crucial that you land on a copper pipe, crush it with your girth, and smash your foot through the living room ceiling. You'll enjoy the resulting bruising to your leg.

AND THEN, once the plumber comes to fix the disaster, make the silly decision to go ahead and replace the rest of the floors in your entire house.  You know, as long as you're already in the mess.

Doesn't that sound magical?

Well, what are you waiting for?  Go get after it!

Schoooool

Aw, crap.

Summer's over.  Well, only if you're one of the poor saps living in east Tennessee.

Aw, crap.  I'm one of those saps.  

I wasn't ready for school to begin.  Kitty wasn't ready for school to begin.  And yet, it began anyway.

5th grade.  Last year of elementary school.  Can you hear me crying in the background?

Kitty didn't get the teachers she was hoping for so that was a big disappointment.  But, her best friend is in her class so that helps.  

After school we celebrated her first day with Hatchimals and an all-garlic dinner.  We enjoyed Aglio e Olio and garlic bread.  

We agreed after dinner that it was a tad too much garlic for me and Kitty.  Not for Mykey though - that guy would suck on garlic cloves like hard candy if I let him.

(I don't)

Here's to a great 5th grade year!