7"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."
8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
10Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."
12"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
17The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:8-14, King James Version)
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Little John's had some prolonged congestion, so he went to see the doctor yesterday. We did a breathing treatment in the office which seemed to help him some. We got a loaner nebulizer to use 3-4x/day over the next few days. He also got some amoxicillin. Hopefully, he'll sound better soon.
Thomas didn't like the sound of the nebulizer, so he sat in his crib with fingers in his ears for the better part of 10 min. last night. It stopped him from saying, "Firetruck" for at least that little while.
Here is our little boy on the morning of his 2nd b'day. What a great little guy. He's spending the day playing trains with his friend Owen (a tradition)then going to Grandma and Papa's house for dinner and the remains of his train cake. We'll post pics of his party later, so check back!
As much as we really wanted to NOT watch TV with the kids, TiVo has basically saved our sanity quite often these past few months. Curious George is the all-time favorite. Signing Time is an educational hit. Mr. Rogers can be tolerated occasionally. Sesame Street doesn't keep their attention.
Tonight we found a new one. Thomas nearly hit me with the remote and walked away, giving me a glare that said, "You better turn it on something good, Mom." I obliged, thinking something totally boring would be on. The Lawrence Welk Show was on WUNC. Who knew it would be an absolute HIT! Thomas was mesmerized by the brass, the drums,and the singing. Amelia loved the dancing and tried hard to imitate the cop prancing around the garden or the fancy black duo with tophats and canes. We even got a little dose of the Osmonds. Can't wait to get a fresh (well, well-preserved from the 70's) episode next weekend.
Thomas is singing along with a boy-girl-boy trio right now. It is awesome. I guess all the Kindermusik classes are paying off in terms of music appreciation.
Several moms have commented that life is easier when the baby is still immobile. Well, John is immobile no longer. He's been practicing all week and just learned to roll over while we were all busy doing something else.
While I was typing this post, Michael walked into the dining room to find Amelia and Thomas standing on the table trying to change the bulbs in the chandelier. Yesterday he figured out how to get the hammer, and the day before that, they made their way into the cleaning products. By God's goodness and grace, we're usually able to keep these little ones alive and healthy.
Tonight we hosted our neighborhood's annual picnic. Ten families came over to hang out in our backyard. Amelia was not shy like she is at preschool, and she and Thomas thoroughly enjoyed playing with the 1st grade boys.
Oh, some of us got haircuts this week, and a little girl commented today that Amelia looks like Madeline. It's pretty short, but it will grow. We'll enjoy the low maintenance aspect for the time being.
John has made it to the 3 month mark and has started sleeping though the night in his own crib. He and Thomas share a room, but neither of them realize it. John's little snorts and slurping noises hopefully won't wake his big brother like they do us. Just this week, he found his thumb and has mastered the grand skill of thumb-sucking. Thomas is using words a lot to tell us what he wants. Some common phrases are "uppie,uppie" (pick me up - even to Malcolm at the phone store), "BUTTONS" which means (omgosh I see buttons, let me press them all!), "Mulk" which is a short form of mulkie (used by Amelia to mean milk or all beverages), "macaloni" (all food), "ring around rosie," "rode it, pat it" which comes from Pat-A-Cake (both taught by Grandma), and our favorite, "Know my, Know my A-D-D" which is really "Now I know my ABCs." On Sunday morning, when he got dressed for church, Amelia exclaimed, "Oh no! Thomas is going to work today!"
Today was Amelia's first full day at preschool. She's had several orientations, playdates and cleaning days there, so the room, her classmates and her teachers were all familiar to her. She said she made a picture (I think using potatoes as stamps) of all the people in her family. She said it had a lot of people in it. She said she got to play on two playgrounds and was very tired on the drive home. Somehow, that tiredness hasn't translated into a nap, but at least she's playing in her room for now while the boys are both sleeping. Here she is with her big hair all pulled back away from her face, ready for playing and learning at Binkley!
And as for the adults in the family... I have three books on the table: Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and Once A Month Cooking, Family Favorites. None of them will actually get read (there is no time to read with 3 children this young), but it is fun to think they will be read before bible study starts back up next week. I'm excited about getting my hair cut this afternoon and completing the task of changing out all the outgrown summer clothes for the fall ones in bigger sizes. I was never good at doing that for ONE person, but now that I'm responsible for doing it FOUR people (Michael wears the same thing year-round), I find it overwhelming, especially given the storage space in our house. Consigning outgrown clothes 2x/year is a wonderful thing.
Michael has started a new year of Bible Study Fellowship. He's a discussion group leader again and is very excited about studying the Gospel of John. He's got some exciting projects at work that he looks forward to, and a full time job here at home as well. We're thankful for all these things! Here he is wearing Amelia and getting ready to push the boys through the zoo last weekend. He was moving some 300lbs so I could swing my arms and be carefree. What a sweet husband.
I had a business meeting in the NC Mutual Insurance this week. The prospect of a meeting there was exciting to me because I still had never been inside of that building. It was actually very pleasant with lots of patio outside and a spacious lobby with lots of natural light inside. The building itself is on a high point in the city so even though it is only 12 stories, the views made it seem much taller. (Pictures of the building are in this article at the bottom.)
On my walk back to my office from the NC Mutual Building, I took the opportunity to go in the new Durham Station bus terminal. On the outside, it looks pretty cool but inside it seems like nothing but wasted space. On the other hand, all of that glass faces in toward the city and gives a really nice and protected view of downtown.
We've got so much to share about how things are going in our world, but not much time to get it posted. In the meantime, we've got some stats from July 28th and some pictures from August 8th. Hope you enjoy them! Sorry they're already outdated. John's likely up to 15lbs as or today the way he's eating.
This morning was Amelia's first day at the weeklong summer camp at the preschool she'll be attending. It took us 15 min. to walk to school from our house with the boys in the stroller. It was a pleasant walk, and the excitement was definitely in the air. The camp was called "Hawaiian Holiday" and runs 9am-1pm M-F this week only. In about 6 more weeks, Amelia will start going to preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, so this camp will help her get used to things and people at the school. She was so proud to be going, but she admitted just as we left the house that she doesn't know how to read yet. When I left her there on the playground with the other kids and the teachers, it hit me. This was a really fast 3 years. The day we brought her home from the hospital wasn't THAT long ago. We'll blink and she'll be sitting there with a graduation cap on. Back at the house, our day was filled with changing diapers, feeding boys, changing more diapers, feeding the boys again, playing, more feeding and diapers, then it was time to go get the big sister again. It was much more quiet around here than usual. Faith (our mother's helper/former K student turned teenager!) was here for a few hours to help with the boys while I got things ready for the Kids Exchange consignment sale.
When I went to pick up Amelia, she said she had a good time at school. When asked if she made any new friends, she said, "No. I didn't talk to anyone. I was quiet." My guess is that this behavior will not last too long. At least she was listening. She relayed what the teachers said about not touching anyone else's food at lunchtime. Her favorite thing was that there were two blue swimming pools, and she's looking forward to going back. And...she did take a nap when she got home!!!
After spending most of the past 6+ weeks inside our house, we decided to make reservations at the new Great Wolf Lodge near Charlotte for Leslie's 39th birthday. It was a fun time for all. The big kids loooooved the indoor water park. It was so very exciting to them! John slept in the stroller and was wheeled around from pool to pool. We enjoyed seeing the smiles and excitement of our older two waterbabies. We played most of the day Fri & Sat and took a break to visit Ikea for lunch with our friend Stephanie. More pics will be added later :)
We're knee-deep in dependents here, but we're all excited to celebrate the independence of our country. We'll use the term "celebrate" loosely. We may put water in the baby pool or something crazy like that!
So, while we were oogling over new baby John in the hospital room - the same room we oogled over one of the other kids (can't remember which one), Mom was at the house playing Legos, reading, playing with dolls, etc. Cousin Allison was also there for 2 shifts per day. Grandma and Papa led everyone up to visit the new baby in the hospital the very afternoon he was born. Uncle Caleb and Uncle Chelle made their way from Raleigh as well for some quick baby kisses. The next morning, Michael called home to check on things and found that Mom had tripped over the baby gate in the hallway in the dark the night before and landed on her already bad knees. She was unable to walk, but had managed to get both kids out of bed and fed, somehow. He raced over to take her to the ER (at UNC, just the next building over) for the day while Patty and Allison stayed with Amelia and Thomas. Mom left the hospital with a cane, in a wheelchair, with some x-rays of the damage, a prescription, and an order to see her dr. in FL asap. I'm guessing she was the only patient in the ER who also got to leave the building with a new grandson in tow! We're hoping her knee heals up quickly so she can come back to play with us! We spent Tuesday getting unpacked, nursing, changing Mom's return flight, figuring out how to clone Michael since he was the only one who could walk AND follow verbal directions. It was quite interesting to say the least, but we made it through the day.
John's first visit to the pediatrician was Wednesday, and he seems to be following the patterns set for by his sister and brother. He's dropped 9% of his body weight, despite round-the-clock nursing - like for 4 hours straight several times a day. As much as it pains me to have to nurse, then supplement, pump, take meds, etc. it looks like that's the road we're headed down again. It's a good thing we have experience and can get rolling with it all without too much trouble, other than a bit disappointment.
John's all swaddled up right now resting while everyone else is returning from the library with some new books. Not to be gross, but here are some of the conversation around our house:
Who has beep?" Thomas grabs his rear and runs for the changing table saying, "Me!" We've noticed a recent explosion of receptive and expressive language from the boy. He's just the so pleasant, even when he squeals...
and then there's Amelia out of the blue, who claimed tonight, "Baby John Kelley farted on my hand sideways. That's how I know he loves me." Both of the big kids are very much in awe of their cute new sibling, trying gently pat his hair or give him their favorite toys. I hope it stays so sweet in the years to come.
All THREE of our kids are asleep at the same time during the day!!! I was really hoping to catch a few zzz's myself while Michael is out picking up some groceries, but I realized we haven't even had a chance to share about Baby John's birth! During the first week of June, my main goal was to sit tight until Mom came to take care of the big kids. Friday finally arrived after much "airplane" pretending by A, T and Grandma Kelley. Judy (aka Grand-ma-MA) arrived at noon, then we watched Amelia eat loaf after loaf of bread at Outback while Thomas lifted fry after fry from Michael's plate. Contractions started that evening, just as we'd hoped, but after a hot bath, things slowed back down for a good night's rest. Same thing happened all day Saturday, but another bath and a good night's rest pushed us right up to the day before his due date (6/8). Both of the other kids were born the day before their due dates, so we had high hopes for Sunday.
With all the activity at our house, we decided on Sunday morning (6/7) to visit Labor and Delivery @ UNC for some peace and quiet and to get a baseline on the frequent, but not regular contractions. We recognized Eeva, our nurse from Thomas' delivery, and asked if we could get her again if we stayed. She agreed. They actually wrote on the board we were there for "peace and quiet," so all the nurses and physicians got a kick out of that. After some monitoring, they decided to admit me, although the decision wasn't totally a clear one. A couple hours of hanging out won me an epidural and some pitocin, followed by some nubain for itchiness. The attending OB, Dr. Mauro came around to introduce himself. We were enjoying getting to know him, thinking we'd be having a new baby later in the evening. We realized we had Amelia in 2006 in room 06, Thomas in 2007 in room 05, and this baby in 2009 in room 07, but we felt like our family was small compared to the 7 kids Dr. Mauro and his wife have. Mid-conversation, my water broke (2:16 pm), and 20 minutes later (not a peaceful 20 min!) our baby boy was born. He was healthy and big - a whopping 9 lb 1.9 oz and 22.5 inches long. Our 6 "maybe" names were written on the wall, so we polled all the healthcare workers, and Michael finally chose one of the 3 names no one voted for - John Allen. John because we like it, and Allen for Papa Kelley.
I was pretty much ecstatic to see a vigorous, healthy baby emerge as that meant the eventual return of all those things I'd missed SO much - bending, standing, walking, breathing, sleeping, etc. Part of my joy in the pictures is that my time of gestation is hopefully complete. We'll miss Dr. Boggess, though, who has been a part of our life since late 2005 when she became our OB. She's seen us for a LOT of visits these first 4 years of our marriage!
Ok, both of the boys woke up hungry, so I must continue "the rest of the story" later...
Not sure HOW one actually gets "ready" to have 3 children under 37 months, but we figure we're as ready as we're ever going to be. Our bags are pretty much packed for the hospital. Our freezer is stuffed. Grandma's freezer is stuffed with food I've prepared in advance. Judy's flight arrives at noon tomorrow. We have diapers in sizes N, 1, 2, 2-3, 3, 4, and 6. With 2 kids wearing them full-time and one kid sleeping in them, we stock up when they are on sale. It's kinda embarrassing. And to think that I keep wondering if we should get a couple boxes of 1-2s from Sam's Club... We have prebought clothes 2nd hand or at a deep, deep discount for all three kids that should cover most of the winter - although we're not officially into summer yet. The only thing we'll need to buy is shoes. Most people who have kids close together have told me not to expect to be able to leave the house much for the first year, hence the stockpiling. It's not a hoarding thing, but just being prepared.
The big kids seem more and more ready to welcome a sibling. Amelia is becoming more independent with some things, like self-care, dressing when she's motivated, and filling up Mommy's water glass without spilling it. She went for a speech evaluation this week because she omits the "s" in a lot of initial blends and clusters. Her "ch" and "dr" don't sound quite right either, but the SLP assured me these are sounds she should master in the near future with practice. During the testing, I heard her produce the sounds correctly, so that was great. Her scores were such that she does not need any help at this time. We were a bit concerned because of her history of ear infections - almost 3 months of pretty bad ones during her first year. She's going to be great at going to find stuff I need for the baby, but hopefully will remember how to play quietly by herself like she did when Thomas was first born.
Thomas, on the other hand, was just diagnosed AGAIN today with another double ear infection that was off the Richter scale. Of course, his peaceful personality was not offset by this 3rd diagnosis. He is the master of climbing all things inside and outside our house, as well as pushing all buttons. His job this month is apparently climbing on the futon to reset the dryer buttons. Last month it was taste-testing all the fruits and vegetables on the kitchen table. Yes, actually biting into them and putting them back in the bowl. The month before that, he was assigned to turn the sunroom light and fan switches off and on constantly, leaving them all full-blast upon exiting the room. He has actually figured out how to turn on the TV using the TiVo remote and can navigate the menu to start Little Bear or Curious George. This always makes Amelia stop screaming and running, so it is pretty much a welcome skill in our world. Thomas will be sharing a room with the baby in a couple months, so they have matching (well, different colored wood) cribs on opposite sides of the room. It should be interesting to see his reaction/welcome for his little brother since his favorite activities involve pointing and sticking his finger into things. On our last flight from FL, he was touching my face and quickly stuck his finger so far into my nose, I thought he pierced my brain. It's good he responds to "No" most of the time and understands many commands. When I told him it was time to go to bed tonight, he climbed down off my chest, set my phone down, said, "Night, night" and walked into his room where daddy was waiting to sleepsack him and go through the routine. OH...Thomas has an extreme fascination with finding zippers to hold while sucking his thumb. He'll do it anywhere, anytime. He'll pull sleepwear out of drawers, stand against zippered jackets on the hooks, stretch/bend himself to grab the zippers on the couch or futon or wherever he can find them. It is quite a phenomenon.
Everyone has been to the doctor, seen the dentist, finished their swim lessons, ended Kindermusik classes, frozen the gym membership, and gotten haircuts in preparation for the next month of family time with the new baby. Granted, the haircuts were the "Oh, your MOM cut your hair!" kinds of cuts, but they work for now. Michael decided to grow a beard, hopefully not to offset the haircut he got, but just because... Not sure exactly when it became so white, but it definitely looks more like Dan's than we expected. He's happily eating a Lime popsicle from Whole Foods right now clearing off the camera card again because he thinks we may fill it up in our (hopefully) 2-day stay at UNC Hospitals this week.
I'm just sitting on the couch gestating, reading most of what is written on the web about anything of interest to me. I still know nothing about current events, but have sufficiently educated myself with lots of useless information. My recent successes have to do with attempts to organize stuff for 5 people into our 1400 sf house, to make some fun cakes - a basketball for Caleb, a train for Amelia and a soccer ball for Kirsten's wedding shower. I used fondant for the first time and had a good experience. Since begging everyone for help with the big kids (can they be considered "big" at 33 and 22 lbs???), I've had a decent amount of hangout time with friends these past few days. That's been wonderfully encouraging.
I've also been looking more at the Honda Odyssey, knowing that we'll have one at some point in the future. We're hoping to stick with our handy CR-V since it will fit 3 carseats for at least another 1-2 years until their bodies get bigger. The embarrassing vehicular upgrade will be the triple jogging stroller. It isn't that we want or need it, but our friends at the bike shop want to get it out of their inventory and are offering it at a price that can't be turned down. We figure that we should get it since our house is situated at SUCH a walkable location, the intersections will be more pedestrian friendy because of my persistent lobbying the state and town, and strollering to the park, to preschool, to the mall, down the greenways will be more interesting than dealing with carseats. The plan is to be able to take a family stroll to, say Trader Joe's, let the kids walk though the store pushing their own carts, gathering groceries, while one of us wears the baby, then we'll fill up the stroller basket with our food and we'll all stroll back home in this Baby Jogger.
Ok, well, I guess our next post will be from the hospital! Thanks for all your love and prayers!
We celebrated Amelia's 3rd birthday in the backyard on Sat., despite the chance of isolated thunderstorms. Only a light sprinkling happened when it was time for us to eat cake, so we were very happy. We weren't sure our 1400sf house could hold the 50+ guests comfortably!
I'm not sure why, but Amelia asked for a train cake (maybe she saw one at James' party?), but she was sure that she wanted a pink, blue, green, yellow and red train cake so she could blow out candles. Click on the picture to see the whole set.
We made it through the first week of the cooking challenge! We made all the recipes - except the sweet potato maple syrup quick bread before the next box will arrive. Maybe we'll whip that one up tonight. Michael and I liked everything, and the kids liked nothing. They got exposed to items they wouldn't normally have, so that's good, right?
This week's box contains:
Bronze Fennel
Chard
Green garlic
Green onions
Pac Choy
Salad mix
Strawberries
Japanese Turnips
Dairy and Meat shares are, respectively, feta cheese and lamb bratwurst.
I would be totally lost without Judy's meal plan and recipes! The kohlrabi was Michael's favorite, and mine was the radish top soup. Patty liked the roasted sweet potato risotto enough to take some home, so that's a good sign!
We also realized Michael needs a little bit more loving instructions on how to properly wash greens before drying them in the salad spinner. He left the lettuce on the stalk or whatever so that the inner leaves never got the chance to see water. He tried, though, so I give him credit!
Today is the first day of our Community Supported Agriculture(CSA) program! Last summer, I found a posting on Craigslist where a mom was selling off the remaining 10 or so weeks of her box (out of 22 weeks) because she was having a new baby and thought it was getting too much for her to pick up the box and try to get her family to eat veggies. I quickly purchased the remainder of the subscription from her for $85 and sent Michael to pick it up every Wednesday at the Durham Farmer's Market on his way home from work. We had fun trying out all kinds of vegetables the last half of the summer.
Our CSA is through Harlands Creek Farm in Pittsboro http://www.harlands-creek-farm.com/ This week, we got our 82 page cookbook filled with tips, strategies, and great ideas. Judy Lessler, the farmer/organizer is amazing in that she puts together a mealplan for the week, using the recipes in the cookbook, the vegetables in the box and the meat, cheeses and eggs we subscribe to also. The mealplan paper also comes with a shopping list, indicating which additional items to purchase. Some of them can be purchased at the farmer's market (if I train Michael to look at the shopping list and buy the stuff). One quick trip through Whole Foods tonight got me just the right amount of extras to make all our meals. Here is what we got:
Arugula and mixed salad greens
Green garlic
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Parsley
Radishes
Strawberries
Sweet potatoes
Tatsoi Eggs Sausage
Some meals we'll be trying out this week are: -Sausage Pizza with sliced green garlic, julienned kohlrabi pieces, sauteed kohlrabi leaves w/ green salad -Radish top soup and tabbouleh with pita bread, fresh strawberries -Roasted Sweet Potato Risotto and green salad with sliced radishes -Stir fried shrimp with tatsoi served over rice. lettuce and arugula salad and the light meals: --Sausage, Grits, Salsa and Eggs, orange juice --Maple Pecan Sweet Potato Quick Bread with cream cheese, strawberries --Mediterranean Tuna sand Radish Salad with crackers over Black Seeded Simpson lettuce
Oh, I forgot two very important details! 1)Judy included a 3 page section on cooking with and for children, because I told her I was quite hesitant to do it this year with the addition of our third child in June. That was so sweet! I love that our dinners for most of the week are planned out now and I can just follow the recipes and supplement as needed. 2)Subscribing full-price this year (without the craigslist bargain) was quite costly, so Michael and I decided we'd use our Christmas gift money from my mom and my dad to help fund this project. Thanks Mom and Dad! I'll get those Christmas thank you notes out in the mail soon, I promise!
To get started with the first box, I wore myself out today by taking the kids to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get this huge salad spinner (which Michael has used to wash all the produce while I've been typing) then over to U mall for some of these Peak Fresh bags and the Salad Crisper bag
We look forward to eating a healthy, whole diet and relying less on the "emergency" food of Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee Ravioli, Kraft Mac and Cheese, and Pancakes and Sausage on a stick that have been spotted in our kitchen recently.
21 lb., 12 oz. (5th percentile) 33 in. tall (70th percentile) Flat feet. The ear infection has cleared up.
The doctor is not worried about his weight so we aren't either. He actually eats pretty well in terms of quantity but it just doesn't seem to translate into weight gain.
Amelia: Daddy, where's Jesus? Daddy: He's in Heaven. Amelia: Where's Heaven? Daddy: Heaven is a long way off. Amelia: I want to go to Heaven. Daddy: Maybe you will one day. Amelia: Can I pick your nose?
Our family spent a week at Grandmama (said with a French accent) and GrandJerry's house in FL. Some of our adventures were finding a pediatrician for Thomas who developed a horrid double ear infection on Day 1, then cleaning up his puke 2x in the carseat and once on the plane after landing...yuk, swimming in the pool, visiting with cousins Justin and Jason and Aunt Tammy & Uncle Steve, eating dinner at the beach, having playgroup with friends, playing at the beach, walking the trails at the DeSoto monument, attending the Seafood Fest where Syesha was singing, and bringing Monkey Monkey to life at Build-A-Bear. Oh, and Thomas was quite a trooper riding in his CARES harness on the return flight.
Syesha is an American Idol finalist from last year who was "discovered" at Daughtrey Elementary school where mom was the principal. She was a very sweet girl with a big voice when I met her at the age of 8. She was singing for the teacher of the year banquet, and I saw cute little patent shoes in the bathroom. We got acquainted then, and I asked if she'd sing at my wedding someday. She agreed, but I didn't hunt her down 10 years later for the favor. Maybe I should have even though we really liked the girl who sang for us instead! After the Seafood Festival concert, Syesha grabbed mom and pulled her into the green room with the band and her family members. Michael noticed the engagement ring on her hand in one of the pictures he snapped. Here is some info on her http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syesha_Mercado
We had a great trip, but we're happy to be home. We arrived at RDU just a few hours after our hometown heroes - the 2009 NCAA Champions. Can't wait to go uptown and see the sea of Carolina Blue!
Click on the photo below to see all of our vacation pics...
If you were a fly on the wall at our house, here are some things you might hear: Can you guess who said them?
1. 'jamas (with the sign) 2. hurry up 3. I feel sick 4. everyone here is moving in slow motion 5. brush teeth (with the sign) 6. I want to watch Curious George! 7. Joey (immediately following #6) 8. we're out of carrots 9. Please bring me some... 10. I don't see it. Where is it? Oh, here it is. 11. Please read a book for beepin' 12. Sit DOWN! Hehehe (from a tabletop -and pointing) 13. My birthday is coming up in May (x 100000)
Amelia got accepted into the preschool across the boulevard from our house. Here is their website : http://www.binkleypreschool.org/ We're excited she'll be going in the Fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Michael is training her how to rest so she'll get back into a nap routine. I'm very thankful for his efforts as her non-napping was about to throw me over the edge. Despite all my tricks, she still loved to spend the time jumping naked on her bed with a stroller and a hula hoop.
Thomas has *thankfully* passed through the phase of being in love with the toilet and the trashcan. He played in the potty if the door was left open, and he threw ANYthing into the trash for a couple weeks. No telling what we missed, but we pulled out several drum mallets, books, spoons, cups, toys, shoes, etc. He continues to practice throwing items into the sink and the washer, but those are much preferred locations. He loves all things musical and tried to strum books and toys after watching our Kindermusik teacher play the guitar.
I've been busy stockpiling food for the coming months since Thomas and Michael can never seem to get enough. We've also had (no exaggeration) 10 friends who've had or are having new babies within a month or so. I'm hoping to actually get food to them but can't coordinate having the whole meal together at the same time.
We signed up for our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box again this year. I bought it from another mom on Craigslist last summer and had a great time following the meal plan, recipes, etc. I couldn't quite decide if I'd have the energy/time to make the best use of the box this year, but finally decided that the healthy, fresh foods will be great for all of us and that since the shopping and planning are already done, it would yield better results than a bunch of frozen meals from Trader Joe's and Sam's with a little bit of effort. We hope to visit the farm soon, but I'll post some of last summer's pictures from our box and a meal for now.
January was so busy, we missed the opportunity to share some of our great adventures! On Inauguration Day, we woke to a pretty decent snowstorm. After breakfast, we bundled up and played in the yard for a bit. A snowplow came down our street, then we took our sleds over to our neighbor's house. Amelia(2) and Audrey (3) really enjoyed sledding. Thomas (1) was a little cold as he didn't have decent snow pants or boots. He'd only been walking for a few days, and I didn't realize he'd need them. After warming up with some snacks and lunch, the kids enjoyed watching the inauguration. Amelia loves pointing out Barack Obama on TV. Maybe she just likes saying his name because there are no S's in it.
Her vocabulary and expression are progressing at a faster rate than her articulation, so it is challenging at times to understand her. Some things that leave us scratching our heads: -I need a poon. -I'm cratching. -my shleeshlack -Where are my lippers? -I want to ride in the doe-doe! The weird words are: spoon, scratching, sleepsack, slippers, stroller...
Also in Jan. we had a friend's painting company over to repair a ton of drywall issues and paint all our ceilings. We decided that it would be best to get them to repaint the rooms that really needed it since our lives will not be slowing down for such activities in the next year. We got the bathrooms, family room, dining room, and kitchen repainted while we stayed at a friend's condo in downtown Chapel Hill. We were so thankful for Ashley and Joe's generosity to let us use their condo while they weren't there. It was SO nice. Leslie also participated in the huge kids consignment sale during that hectic week.
Finally, we attended the grand opening of Michael's favorite restaurant's new location. It was a huge celebration with Indian dancing and a free spectacular lunch buffet. The mayor of Durham did the ribbon cutting. We thought it was kinda funny he mentioned watching the building change every week when he took his Jag over to the carwash. The kids were quite patient for the lengthy ceremony and were glad when their friend Hannah and her family joined us at the table.
This evening at about 3:30am, we were awakened out of our sleep by a huge explosion and a small flash. I immediately assumed that a power transformer had exploded nearby or that there was a more serious problem at the gas station across the street. Leslie quickly got out of bed and called 911. We looked out the back door and saw that a car had flipped over and crashed into the phone pole at the corner of our backyard. The driver had gotten out and appeared to be unhurt. No one else was in the vehicle.
Firstly, thank you God for protecting the life of that driver. Secondly, thank you God for putting a phone pole there to prevent that car from careening into our backyard and possibly even doing damage to our car, fence, or house.
We're too wound up to fall back to sleep at the moment and are in our back room with the window open observing everything. Firefighters are examining the wreck to see if there is any gasoline leaking. I imagine a crew from Duke Energy will be along soon to check the pole for damage. A tow truck needs to flip the car back over and tow it away.
Too much excitement for a Sunday morning!
Edited to add: We believe the car belongs to a younger (than us) neighbor. The police told me the driver was arrested (we assume for DUI). Thomas coughed for an hour after the event until we put Vicks on him. The power trucks worked in our front yard for another 1.5 hours until Amelia woke up at 5:55. What a night.
I took Thomas in for an unofficial weight/height check at the pediatrician's office today. He weighs 20 lb. 9 oz. (3rd percentile) and is 31 1/4 inches long (50th percentile). He continues to be long and lean.
Today is the first day Thomas is officially walking more than crawling. He has been taking steps for over 2 months, but I think he has been afraid of "Hurricane Amelia" who often comes out of nowhere to knock him for a loop. He seems to aimlessly move from room to room. He's so proud. Unfortunately, this development happened just days after Grandmama and Granddaddy went back home to FL.
Amelia just prayed a little prayer after dinner that Daddy (who is home sick today) would feel well enough to clean up the kitchen. I backed her up on that prayer! She's also perfecting the art of imitating the nasty hacking cough that he has. She's too cute. She has an application in at the preschool across the street from our house, and I can't believe she might actually be a student somewhere next fall.
Michael's been busy going up and down the attic stairs with outgrown clothes for all the other family members while waiting for a big rain to fill his new rain barrel. He's been studying the Life of Moses in his bible study, and really enjoying the leadership role he's in.
I was excited to have my mom and stepdad up for a couple days this weekend. Mom and I repaired most of the sleepsacks Amelia chewed the zippers out of as well as sewed up some new ones for the next little ones. I'm also preparing all the baby girl clothes and shoes for a big consignment sale next week. We found out a few days ago the new baby will be a boy, so we're trying to get things organized in our cozy home for another little bundle on June 8th!
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