Camper Hair!

Selah was sporting this fashionable 'do when she got up from nap while we were camping last weekend...

Too Cool!

Elianna has always loved her sunglasses, but she has been taking it a bit far lately. I snapped these pics of her while she insisted on wearing them... for her bedtime story. Considering it was both night AND indoors, I didn't see the point, but, since I also operate under the principle of only saying "No" when it is morally wrong, unsafe, costs too much or destroys property, I decided the allow the fashionably unnecessary accessories.

First Tooth!

Selah has been fussy the last two days, which I attributed to our recent trip and the corresponding schedule upheaval... Today, however, she was gnawing on my finger and I noticed something poking me. Sure enough, a little bottom front tooth had poked through!!! Fortunately she hasn't been biting while nursing anymore, and let's hope she doesn't resume anytime soon with her newfound hardware.

Selah is Signing!

We've been out-of-town (again!) for the Annual Colombian Connection picnic. I have a ton of pictures to post of our trip, so sorry I've been MIA. Plus I have been battling a nasty virus that sapped all my energy AND gave me laryngitis. Neither of which are very fun with my two little darlings. I will try to get caught up on posting, but I am also trying to get caught up on my housework... so we'll see which one wins. I detest unpacking, so that is why I'm posting now instead of what I SHOULD be doing.

Anyway, some milestones I want to record before I forget...

I have not been as diligent about using baby signs with Selah as I was with Elianna, generally because now (with two kids) my hands always seem to be full. Be that as it may, Selah has started signing. There were a few times we were wondering if she was signing "more," but now she does it all the time, and with this intense look on her face. She also signs "all done," "touchdown," and claps for "hooray!" Sometimes she gets them all mixed up, and will just sign something random like waving "hi" for more. Then she gets mad and bangs on her tray as if to say, "Oh Mom, you know what I'm trying to say! Just give me more puffs!!" She is developing a bit of a temper, and can let out this shriek that will shatter glass. Elianna was a shrieker at 4 months, so I feel lucky that Selah is only now shrieking. She also crawls a few "steps" now, but then flops down. Or, she will rock really fast on her hands and knees, then THROW herself in the direction she wants. This generally ends up in a tear-filled face-plant, but this works for her. She pulls herself to standing all the time now, but has not perfected getting back down. This results in many tumbles... and more tears.

Elianna is getting a bit more impatient with Selah now that she is mobile and gets into her stuff. (Particularly her beloved books.) Still, overall, they really love each other and can make each other laugh and giggle as if they are sharing some inside joke. (They probably are! I don't even want to know what they are plotting...) Elianna is always making us laugh with her off-the-wall comments, so it's no wonder that Selah finds her so hilarious. They both just amaze us daily, and we are so thankful for the wonderful life God has blessed us with. Oh, I have my moments when I feel like I'm going insane, but then again, how much fun would a mommy be that wasn't a LITTLE bit cRaZy.

Mom kicked off plane!

I am so disgusted, you just have to read this story!!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070712/ap_on_re_us/toddler_booted

Click here for a short video clip of the story

I was so appalled when I read this story. Many of you know I have personally suffered abuse and discrimination due to the fact I am a mother of a young child that will not endanger my child's welfare. (I refused to wean my child in order to serve jury duty and was threatened with CPS.) Naturally, then, I have a deep sympathy for mothers with young children who are mistreated. I read this story about a woman who was kicked off a plane because her toddler was talking too much!!! Not crying, throwing a fit, or yelling, just chattering and saying the same phrase over and over. (Sounds like just about every toddler I've ever come in contact with!) Trust me, if there was a miracle cure for stopping a kid from saying the same thing over and over and over and over, I would have bought the economy size bottle for Elianna. The part that made me the angriest was the quote, "It's called Baby Benadryl." Well, I hate to break it to this Einstein Flight attendant (who must be gorgeous since she was clearly not hired for her brains) but there is no such thing as Baby Benadryl! In fact, giving Benadryl to children under SIX years old is not recommended. Elianna just had a pretty bad allergic reaction, broke out in hives, the whole kaboodle, and they told me not to give her Benadryl! (They said she was too young, and in rare cases it can accelerate their heart to the point of putting them into cardiac arrest!!!) So, if some bimbo told me to give this to my child just to stop her talking... I'd list a few medications she could take, starting with Midol Extra Strength.

An Embarrassing Moment

I know all moms with young children have plenty of these red-faced moments...

We headed out for our weekly trip to the "Wittle" library. Before leaving, I made sure both girls were dressed all cute and adorable, hair neatly styled, etc... (Well, Elianna's anyway. Not much I can do with Selah's fuzz.) Anyway, when we get there, this older woman comes up and smiles at them. Selah was sitting in the stroller, and Elianna was playing the computer. The lady says, "Let me guess, Daddy must be blond!" I get this a lot, so I just laughed and said, "Yep, sure is!" She leaned down, and Selah giggled at her. "Oh, they are just too sweet, look at how adorable they are!" The lady is going on and on, and I am quite proud... until I look down at Selah and realize the pink and mostly white outfit she is wearing is SPLATTERED with bright orange spit-up! She never spits up, let alone this much. So naturally it had to be now that someone was all leaning in to admire her that her clothes had to be adorned with leathery chunks of dried semi-digested sweet potato and turkey. To make matters worse, the lady turned to Elianna and said, "And look at you, with your beautiful dark eyes and hair! You must be just like Mommy!" Elianna was cheesing it up for her, tossing her hair around with all the finesse of a Breck model, when I heard a faint pffffffft. I closed my eyes and prayed the lady didn't hear the ominous noises emanating from my "beautiful" princess's little booty. If she didn't hear it, she certainly noticed it moments later when the odor began peeling the wallpaper off the walls. I gathered up my girls and headed for the counter as quickly as possible. I felt like saying, "Okay, we're just going to pick up our welfare check and head back on down yonder to our trailer." I am only praying that all all the effort we put into civilizing these wild animals pays off someday. Or maybe we can just marry them off young.

More Up North Blogging...

Hooray, Aunt M has updated her blog with lots of pics from our trip to the lake! So, for all you picture fiends, check them out!!! Here's a link to one of the posts: Exploring Up North. You can go to each post individually, or click here to just visit the whole blog itself. Just no laughing at the dorky picture of ME she so cruelly included. I am digging through mine trying to find an equally bad one of her, but unfortunately she is like her brother - annoyingly photogenic. *sigh* Life's just not fair.

Retail Therapy

It's days like today I am SOOO thankful I have an understanding husband. We have one of those rare marriages where neither of us nags the other one about spending money. We both respect each other's judgment, we both know how much money is (or isn't!) in the bank, and on days like today when Chad comes home to a pile of shopping bags he knows I must have hit some great deals!!!!

I can't even REMEMBER the last time I just went out shopping. For the fun of it. With two little ones, shopping is a nightmare reserved only for staving off starvation, buying basic essentials, or dashing in to grab some last-minute forgotten item. It's never fun. Today, however, was Elianna's day with Grandma, Selah was in a great mood, and I had gotten a postcard from Toys 'R Us saying that all their clearance was 1/2 off. (They do this twice a year, and it's a great time to stock up on clothes for the next season at a fraction of the price.) So, I packed Selah up and off we went. Of course, I can't drive all the way to Toys 'R Us and not check out Old Navy... and a few other stores. Selah was a doll, grinning, waving and giggling at everyone. I even found a skirt I have been eyeing for months... for 40% off! (So naturally I had to buy the shirt to go with it!) I had so much fun actually shopping. Not glancing at racks as I fly by headed for the diapers that Elianna just ran out of. I mean BROWSING. Wandering aimlessly through the clothes. Trying stuff on just for the heck of it. *Sigh* It was great. I originally told my Mumsie-in-law that I had planned on getting the house cleaned.... and I ended up getting home just minutes before she got back with Elianna! So, my house was still exactly the way I left it this morning, there are all my great finds all over the couch... and Chad surprises me by coming home early! As I said earlier, I am SOOO glad he is the understanding type. (He was actually impressed with all the deals I found!) He also didn't care about the cluttered house. In fact, after dinner we walked to the lake and fed the ducks the rest of the evening. What a way to end the day! So, my house is still a mess, but it can wait. Life doesn't.

BBQ in the Country!

We had such a great time out at Aunt Rene's on Saturday. She and John hosted a BBQ, and I literally ate my body weight in food. Then had dessert. Elianna was treated like quite the queen, with a big lagoon blow-up pool AND a little round kiddie pool. (In case Selah wanted to swim as well.) She was also given a big beach bucket filled with the following:
A Finding Nemo beach towel (John said an ordinary towel just wouldn't do.)
A spill-proof bubble tumbler
A HUGE bottle of refill bubbles
Two canisters of snap & shake glow-in-the-dark bracelets
Mosquito bite medicine
A craft project (which John did with her)
A stuffed froggy

Needles to say, she was on cloud nine! I'm not sure if she liked the gifts or all the attention more. She has already told me she wants to go back and "sleep there." (Spend the night.) When it got dark, John caught her a bunch of fireflies. She put them in her little bug catcher and took them home. Well, most of them, since the lid got knocked open and we were swarmed by fireflies in the car on the way home. We must have looked really weird to the other cars, driving home about 11:00, swerving all over while I tried to catch them all and get them back in the container.
Anyway, besides eating tons of yummy food, we also played board games, croquet, wiffle ball, and torture the farm animals. Okay, that last one was done mostly by Jason, who delighted in running around chasing Stanley, their exotic rooster that thinks he's a house dog. This is what Stanley looks like:
We were also treated to a game of croquet with Jason's friends all wearing kilts. (They all jumped in the lake BEFORE realizing they had no other pants. Oh, and there is no dryer at the house. So they ran around in towels until the sun dried their pants. Cute.)

Of course, I was infuriated to realize I FORGOT MY CAMERA, so pictures of all the fun will have to wait until others get around to e-mailing them to me.

We had such a great time, and if you are reading this Aunt Rene and John -

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!

Such a Character!

I get that comment from so many people, especially the first time they meet Elianna: "She is SUCH a character!" She seriously has the personality of a 14-year-old, and with attitude to spare. Her newest hang-up is she always wants to walk around with her "Booh feet" (bare feet). (This grosses me out - I am not fond of the whole hillbilly look.) In the car, if the sun is in her eyes she howls for us to "Cwose my binds!" (Close my blinds) She calls those little window shades that you stick to the car window with suction cups her "blinds." She still replaces all her "w's" with "f's," so she will ask to "fatch" a DVD or announce to me that "Sissy fake up!" She is going through a picky phase, so in addition to the oft-repeated "I don't font to!" (I don't want to) she has added, "I don't like it. It's lucky." (lucky = yucky) She will subsist for an entire day on a handful of raisins and a few swigs of milk. I am standing my ground, though, and not catering to it. She was SUCH a good eater, devouring anything that didn't eat her first. Overnight, she became Princess Picky Pants, and I am riding it out like all annoying phases. I figure she's only a couple feet tall - she has to have another growth spurt eventually and then she'll get hungry again.

In other news, we got a crib! (Thanks, Sherry!!) Come on, don't all kids sleep in their bassinet till they are 7 months old?!?! Actually, she didn't sleep much in the bassinet, somehow she always managed to end up in bed with us. Generally this was a very late or very early nursing session that I fell asleep during... and voila, there she was the next morning all sprawled out taking up most of the bed. Well, at the ripe old age of 8 months Selah has officially moved into her own room AND is sleeping through the night. And I don't want to hear any lectures for letting her sleep with me (and nurse during the night) for so long. She's probably our last baby and I was dragging it out as long as possible, so if I get any condescending comments I fully intend to delete them. (Gee, I don't know where my daughters get their attitude from...) But yeah, she was actually getting more and more restless at night, waking more often and treating me like an all-night diner. I realized that she really was going to do better on her own. We moved her crib downstairs, gave her some last-minute snuggles, put her in the crib, turned on her favorite lullaby CD, shut the door, and turned off the sound on the monitor. (Talk about tough love!) She screamed her lungs out for the first night, screamed for about 5 minutes the second night, and has been sleeping about 11 hours straight from the third night on. Yippee Skippee.