funnies

Things are returning to "normal" around here (whatever that really means with an 8-month pregnant mama and a sillysweetbusy 17-month-old gal in the same house). Mark is home safe (hurrah!) and our days feel a bit more predictable and patterned.

To keep y'all entertained whilst I'm busy gestating, nesting and trying (in vain) to keep up with my toddler - here's some funny Hazel-isms of late:

- Words used to not have an end consonant for Hazel (milk was mih, nose was no). Now, all words that end in a "k" sound actually end in "key." Now milk = mih-key, sock = sah-key, duck = ducky (this one actually works) - and so on. It's super cute (and yes, there's usually a slight pause between the two syllables).

- The two taboo words in the house right now are "outside" and "car." If you say either one out loud, you've just signed yourself up for at least 5 straight minutes of the cutest gal ever repeating "owt-sah? owt-sah? owt-sah?" or " kah? kah? kah?" in her little high-pitched baby girl voice. She may also bring you your shoes and her shoes, and attempt to put them on. She *loves* to play owt-sah, and *loves* cars - playing in the driver's seat of real cars (parked and OFF, of course) and playing with her Little Tykes plastic car in the driveway.

- She loves to get the mail. This is something she and Daddy usually do when he gets home from work.

- Trying on grown-ups shoes is fascinating as well - she gets a little mad that her tiny feet pop right out when she tries to walk - but it's so cute to see her standing in our big ole shoes.

- This child, she is a dancer. She can wiggle her bum like nobody's business - little shimmies and shakes (her upper body stays still while her little hips go back and forth - it's crazy!!). People ask if I taught her that (yeah, right!) or if she saw it on TV (we really don't watch TV at all). Proof that some people really are born to dance.

- She HATES getting her hair washed. More than anything. Purple faced, shrieking, screaming, thrashing baby monster takes over when it's hair-wash night (thank the Lord we don't feel the need to do that every night!). No amount of coaxing, singing, or fancy-little-face-shielding-plastic-visors make this better. The neighbors must think we're torturing her.

- She recognizes people in pictures now - she saw Nana & Papa on the wall yesterday, then started pointing to the front door (where most people come in), the computer (where we see them on video calls) and downstairs (where they would come from when they were here visiting last weekend). It's super cute.

- When she gets really frustrated, she's taken to whacking herself in the forehead. I'm not sure why, but it's hard to watch without laughing at her. She stands still, crying, then leans over and hits herself in the head. I don't think it's proven to make her feel much better, so maybe it will stop soon.

That's it for now - I'll try to put up a few pictures soon (it's been a long time!).

fuzzy

WHEW.

Things have gone by in a bit of a blur the past few days... Mark took off for a trip to Colorado with our YoungLife friends on Friday the 3rd - my parents showed up the same day and spent the past 3 1/2 days taking care of Hazel & I and helping get all kinds of good things done for Baby Preparation (we got a crib bumper, crib skirt, valence and curtain all made, and my dad was able to prime Baby's room so it can be painted).

It was wonderful. They cooked, washed dishes, changed diapers, and told me to sit down. A lot. They left this morning (darn the "real world" and jobs and things) but my sister is coming into town today, to stay until Thursday... then Hazel and I have a zoo date on Friday, and Mark is (FINALLY) home sometime on Saturday.

It's been a bit fuzzy, but good.

I had my 34-week check-up yesterday, and all looks good... I get yet another (my 7th) ultrasound next time to keep checking the amniotic fluid levels around Baby and make sure that the left kidney is still functioning as it should be... and that the right one is just as we expect it to be (backed up with fluid). Good blood pressure, good heartbeat for Baby, and only 26 pounds of extra weight on Mama.

Yesterday was also my 7th anniversary... and for the first time, Mark and I were many, many states away from each other - and out of all reach of communication. He DID manage to leave a card and 7 long-stem red roses with a friend, who delivered them yesterday - that was a sweet surprise. It's so awesome to look back and see how we've helped each other grow - as individuals, as a couple, and in our walks with Christ. What a cool journey... here's to many more years.

I'm going to relax, put my feet up, and enjoy a little summertime feeling for a bit. Hopefully the Nut naps well and lets her mama shake off some of the fuzziness.

a cautionary tale

Today I decided to tackle one of the most disgusting tasks of my adult life.

Surprisingly, it has *nothing* to do with being a mama. It has everything to do with being a homeowner.

For the past few weeks/months/years - who knows? It just seems like for-ev-er.... I've had a battle waging with our dishwasher.

Here's some history:
We built our house in 2004.
We installed a water softener in 2008.
We've had FOUR YEARS of VERY hard water running through our pipes, and through every appliance that uses water.
There's some GUNK in here.

Since the water softener installation, things have gotten better.

But four years of gunk deposit doesn't (unfortunately) disappear on its own. It takes some scrubbing, some scraping, some hacking... and lots of time.

I've cleaned the dishwasher out before (although, as I discovered today - nowhere near as thoroughly as I'd thought).

Can I just tell you that the ICK that builds up in a dishwasher is one of the most stomach-churning things in the world? I was scrubbing and scraping and hacking (and trying to keep my cookies) - and I thought - I have to blog about this. SAVE the others (if anyone out there is as deluded as I am) from the horrors.

And so, I urge you in all seriousness - CLEAN your dishwasher thoroughly at least once a year. It's SO NASTY. I thought about taking a picture of the bad-ness of it... but I couldn't bring myself to share it with the world. I want y'all to still like me.

And now, I head back to the task at hand. And hope and pray that all this work will result in a dishwasher that actually WASHES my dishes clean.

we're ba-aack!

It was a wonderful, whirlwind week - and we're (all three/four of us!) home again.

Not much time to post right now - my lovely Nut is WHINING with all her might and I'm still in jammies... but if you really want to - I have a guest post up over at SortaCrunchy today (about natural childbirth and why I made the choices I did).

Check it out!!

I'm fresh out of jet planes...

So instead, we're leaving in a Nissan. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it...

Hazel and I are hitting the road today - headed to Nana and Papa's house in IL until Sunday (Mark is in Nashville all week, and there's nothing like grandparents to love on a little kiddo with a preggers mama!)

We'll be a bit out of the loop during that time - so don't worry that I've gone off the deep end or anything (the hormonal, crazy lady who wrote the last post has left the building and been replaced by my much more moderate, rational, generally capable self. It's nice to have her back).

Enjoy the week (it's gonna be a warm one around here!) - we'll "see" you when we get back!!

just humor me for a minute

Warning: this post is written by a tired, hormonal pregnant Mama whose husband is about to leave for 8 days, come home for 4, then leave for 9 more.

People love to give advice - almost no one likes to receive it (I fall into these categories myself, so think not that I judge!!)

I find advice during pregnancy to be one of the most obnoxious things - and I've posted about that a bit before - but because of the weird, often-unhelpful things people tend to say to me during pregnancy, I try to avoid giving advice to others. All kids are different, all mamas are different, all situations are different - it's really hard for advice to not be condescending or misinterpreted. If pressed for it, I try to offer encouragement - not exactly advice.

But today, I'm going to offer the one thing that I wish someone had told me before I became a mama. This has, by far, been the biggest "surprise" for me of parenthood - and one I do wish I was a bit more prepared to handle.

I wish someone had warned me how often I would feel completely incapable, ill-equipped and unfit.

I expected parenting to be hard - but I didn't expect to feel so very NOT-good at it. I've always loved kids - I was a good babysitter and felt taking care of little ones to be very natural... I felt competent.

Something about being The Mother changed that for me... being responsible for another life, and often being the one people look to for answers. "What do you think we should do about (fill in the blank)?" How do I know? I'm new at this!!

And I'm just amazed at how infrequently I feel like a "good mama." It sounds kinda funny to say that I expected to feel like I was "good" at my job... but honestly - I did!

Right now, I don't want Mark to leave because I'm afraid Hazel will get the raw end of the deal - no Daddy, and stuck with a Mama who is tired, hormonal, getting bigger by the second... There is so much to do here before BabyMon comes - and so much of it I cannot do on my own. I am overwhelmed and certain that my kid deserves better than I'm giving.

And top all of it off - I really detest feeling this way. I like being able to handle things and help other people and come through in a pinch... I don't like being the one who needs. I just want to get my act together.

So there you have it - this Saturday morning, I have already once dissolved into ridiculous tears over pretty much *nothing* - and really, it all boils down to this overwhelming sense of not being/knowing/doing enough when it comes to being Mama. And I'm absolutely terrified that I won't be able to handle TWO kiddos.

Don't get me wrong - I ADORE being a mama... nothing on earth is like loving your kid(s). And however crummy I feel, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've never had a job that I love like this, and I covet the time that I get to spend caring for our children. I just wish that a fairy would wave a wand and give me a bit more ability, a bit more competence.

speed racer

Methinks my daughter has propellers on her rear end, because MERCY! has that child gotten fast!!

She started toddling at 13 months, took off with I-Mean-Business-Walking at 14 months, and now, at 16 months, is simply a 2.5 foot tall blur with curly hair, zipping around my house.

We try to eat dinner at the same time we feed Hazel - not always possible, but it makes for a much better eating-environment, but she often finishes up first and wants to get down. So we clean her up, set her chubby little feets on the floor and say "Mama and Daddy are still eating dinner, so can you go into the living room and play for a bit?"

And she nods her strawberry blond head and meanders to the living room to remove every single toy from its place and put it somewhere more interesting - like in our shoes, in between couch cushions, and down the basement stairs.

Last night followed much the same pattern - although as Mark and I finished up, we realized that her little voice (because she chatters NONSTOP while she plays) didn't sound like it was coming from the right-next-door living room. And sure enough, her little head poked out at us through the railing at the top of the stairs (we have a split level house - it's only ever 7 stairs at a time, so it's not a HUGE climb)... she had climbed the stairs, raced down the hall to her bedroom, pulled her beloved blanky from her crib and was bringing it back downstairs to play.

We chuckled about how fast and sneaky she is, secretly thanking God that while we didn't know she was up there she did not decide to pull anything heavy onto her head, or flush anything down the toilet, or shut her fingers in a door.

She did the same stinking thing to me this morning. What am I doing that I have no idea my child has ventured to another FLOOR of the house??

And last week, she managed to climb to the tippy-top of Aunt Martha's half-spiral staircase before anyone realized where she had snuck off to (and this one was probably 15 or more stairs, and if you know spirals, you know that the steps don't always have the most surface area for unsteady toddler feet...) Mark said his body temperature jumped about 15 degrees when he saw her at the top of the stairs. Nothing like inst-sweat to make you feel like a top-notch parent.

But really - I just adore watching her zoom around on her own, exploring and playing and imagining things in her little mind. Even though my ever-increasing waddle isn't the most convenient when it comes to chasing her around the house - I am simply enthralled watching this little gal grow up right before my eyes.

What a thrill. A chatty, blurry, chubby-cheeked, blue-eyed thrill.