Five

Carys, you're five months old today.  What's new?

I'm not sure your exact weight and height, but you have for the most part grown out of your 0-3 month clothes.  You can still wear clothes marked 3 months, but we're having fun dressing you in your 6 month summer wardrobe.

You have started going to the nursery at church where you have been charming all the workers.  Every week we get a report about how happy you have been.  You love people (and attention!)

We started you on rice cereal today.  I love your happy, smiley, charming self, but momma's tired!  You still wake up 2 to 5 times a night.  I'm hoping the cereal will help, but if it doesn't, I still wouldn't trade you for all the uninterrupted sleep in the world!

I think your face says it all!  I tasted that stuff.  It is not fine dining by any means!

You have learned to pass a toy from hand to hand.  (You have also learned to take the paci out of your mouth with your little hands.  But, much to my dismay, you have not learned to put it back in!!)

You can sit unsupported for a tiny while.  You soon tip forward, but you do manage to stay somewhat upright.  You love to do 'squats.'  I will hold you under your arms and you will use your strong legs to push your body from a squat to fully upright.  It appears that I have another athletic baby!

Every day I recount how blessed I am to be the mother of such a beautiful, healthy girl!

And, She Chooses to Play With Sticks

I have mentioned before my dismay at Cora's choice of toys.  It's not that I don't appreciate her active imagination.  Maybe it's that I wonder why I keep falling into the trap of buying her new toys.  Yiayia and Dado recently bought her some toys that she could keep outside.  (I was informed by one of Cora's older friends that her backyard was "way funner" than ours.  Apparently, a trike, a wagon, and some sad patio furniture do not a playground make!)  So, Yiayia and Dado graciously added golf clubs and a bowling set to our sad little play area.  And, she chooses to play with sticks...

(At least she loves them enough to name them!)

It's Been A While

So, it's been a while since I've posted.  This is mainly due to the fact that we are dwelling in the seventh circle of potty training hell.  I'd like to assume that we're already in the lowest of the low ninth circle, but I have this strange and sinking feeling that we haven't reached rock bottom just yet. sigh  And, really, I doubt that the internet universe really wants to know the details of my personal purgatory.  We have seen progress, though.  And, this progress, however small it may be, is the one thing keeping me clinging to a few small shreds of my sanity.  Anywho...I definitely wanted to share this little nugget of the bffs.

(Naturally, by the time we had the camera out and ready, the laughter wasn't nearly as enthusiastic.  But, it's still pretty darn cute!)

I cannot emphasize enough what a great big sister Cora is.  She cannot get enough of Carys.  In fact, earlier tonight, I told her she had to take a bath before she could hold Carys, and the poor thing burst into tears!  Cora loves her Sissy!  And, Carys can't get enough of Sister!

Mother's Day

Carys Anne - May 8, 2011

I am not unlike most little girls.  When I was young, I dearly wanted to become a mother.  I wanted to become a teacher also, but if God would have only granted me one of those dreams, I would have happily forgone my professional career in favor of having a family of my own.  Sometimes it seems surreal to me that I have any children, much less two happy healthy little girls.  Although I know I could never prove myself worthy of two such precious gifts, I am humbly in awe and unabashed in my thankfulness to God that for the rest of their lives, I will be their mommy.

This Mother's Day was especially meaningful to me because this morning Carys was dedicated at our church.  For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, it is somewhat similar to an infant baptism.  We brought Carys before our congregation  and pledged to do our best to raise her to be a Godly and God-fearing woman.  Our deepest and dearest desire as parents is that our girls will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  This ceremony signified that John and I will do all that is within our power to raise Carys to know the Lord.  (We had a similar ceremony for Cora almost three years ago.)

Brother Danny's message this morning was about mothers and grandmothers, and he shared testimony from his life about how his mother raised him to be the man that he is today.  I felt like his message was a call to arms of sorts for me personally.  A child's relationship with her mother has such a huge effect on the person she becomes.  I know that I would not be the wife and mother that I am had I not been taught to be so by my mother.  And, conversely, John would not seek to be the caring provider that he is had he not been nurtured by his mother.  I can only pray that my imperfect example will still lead Cora and Carys to not only be Godly wives and mothers, but to seek out good and Godly husbands.  

Thank you Mema for your patience and persistence with your stubborn and hard-headed little girl.

And, thank you Yiayia for helping John to become a man of honor and integrity.

We are blessed by who you have been to us and by who you will be for our girls!

The Spirit of the Law

Sometimes it's scary how much Cora is like me.  Girlfriend loves her sleep!  She still requires 10 to 12 hours of sleep at night and takes a 2+ hour nap every day.  There are days where little missy will come and ask me to put her down for her nap.  (Oh, how I dread when this phase is over!!)  Most days, she doesn't actually go to sleep right away.  She will play or read her books until sleep takes over.  The rule in our house (as mentioned before on ye olde blog) is that she can play as long as she wants IF she stays on the bed.  Clearly, Cora has a loose interpretation of that rule.  The other night, I had to go back into her bedroom not two minutes after we put her to bed to retrieve some jammies for the wee babe.  She looked like a deer in the headlights when I opened the door to find her dancing on the rug by the crib.  I believe her exact words were "Oh! Hi, momma?"  Needless to say, I was not exactly surprised to find her not exactly on the bed the other day during nap time.  I was, however, surprised to find the manner in which she was not exactly on the bed.

Notice the method to her madness.  She used her legs to push the bed away from the wall.  Then, she got her toys and played in the new space she created.  Not exactly on the bed, but not exactly off it either!  I waited until she was asleep to take the incriminating photos.  I guess if she decides a career in paleontology is not for her, she can always pursue a career as a judge!

Wordless Wednesday

Somebody...

Learned how to roll over last week!

Yup!  When I put Cora down for her nap the other day, I came back to the living room to find that Carys was on her tummy.  And, I say to you, she was none to happy about it!  Yet, after I roll her back over on her back, what does bebecita do?  You got it! She rolls herself right back over to her tummy!  Silly girl!  I guess she also doesn't realize that this means her days of swaddling are rapidly coming to an end.  We'll see how that goes come bedtime!!

Four

Carys, you're four months old.  What's new?

You weigh 13 pounds, 6 oz (50th percentile)
Your height is 23 1/2 inches (20th percentile)

(I would describe your figure as a bit buddha-esque, hee hee hee!)

You love to stand up.  You will take hold of our fingers and use your abs (and a little of our assistance) to pull yourself up to a standing position.

You are trying very hard to sit up on your own.  You will hold yourself upright for a few minutes in the boppy.

You are also trying very hard to roll over.  You have almost made it from back to front as well as from front to back, but your pesky old arm keeps getting in the way!

You love to hold your toys (even though you're not quite sure what to do with them when you have them)

She's pretty pumped about her new skill.

You love to talk and  laugh.  We're anxious for cold and flu season to be over so you can go with your baby friends in the church nursery.  You keep getting us in trouble by vocalizing your agreement with the preacher.  (Though we wouldn't have it any other way!)

You are quite the social butterfly.  You will coo and smile at anyone who pays you attention.  You love to be around people.

You just light up my life baby girl!  I sure do love you!

Easter Playdate

This past week I hosted an Easter playdate for some of Cora's friends.  This was my first time hosting a kid party.  (I know, I know.  I have an almost 3 year old. . .it was about time for me to jump into the kid party pool!)  I'll be honest; I was so nervous, y'all!  After one of Carys' early morning feedings, I lay awake just going over the details.  Apparently, the teacher in me refuses to die!  My thoughts swirled around the order of events, transitions, timing, etc.   It was like I was working on one giant lesson plan all night!  Fortunately, the event came and went with only a few minor hitches.  (And, it totally would have gone great without me laying awake worrying/planning all night, sigh...)

Naturally, Cora started off the party like this:

Eliana's Hattie wanted to do something fun for all the kids.  So, she brought everyone a big mylar balloon.  Apparently, mylar balloons are akin to the boogie man in Cora currency.  Oy!  Who knew?!  

Nevertheless, we plowed through.  I read a preschool friendly book of the true Easter story.  And, then, we headed to (the safety of) the backyard where there were no balloons to strike fear in the hearts of small children!  (At least I know I can save money on balloons at her birthday party!)  

The actual Easter egg hunt was really fun.  The two older kids knew what to do and needed no assistance.  

Skylar on the prowl.

Aniketh scoring some Easter loot.

Everyone else had an adult filming/assisting the process.

Julie filming Aiden.  

Yvette filming Lily.

Susy filming Eliana.

Auntie Linda helping Cora.  (I was filming her, naturally!)

(Talk about the mamarazzi!)

My wonderful friend, Smitha, held Carys while I was busy being a shutterbug.  (It is clear to me in this picture that baby girl needs some sun.  She's practically translucent!)

Then, it was group picture time.  That was an adventure!  Here are the outtakes.

This is the best one as far as I could tell.  Or, at least it is the one where you can see pretty much everyone's face!  I have come to realize that trying to take a picture of a group of preschoolers is much like trying to herd cats.  Can I get an amen?!

After some snacks, we introduced Carys to her new boyfriend, wink!  Don't tell Carys' dad.  This is Skyler's brother, Cooper.  He is about a month younger than Carys.  He really didn't seem that interested in her, but I'm sure he's just playing hard to get.  What a cutie!

Right before the party ended, Susy offered to take some pictures of me.  You guys know how it is, right? Once you have kids, the pictures you have of yourself are few and far between.

Sweet Skylar was making me laugh.  She REALLY wanted to be in the picture.  

I'm so thankful for all of our friends who came to play!  And, I'm even more thankful for a Lord and Savior who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - 

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:6-11

Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!

In the Nature vs. Nurture Debate

I'm leaning toward nature!

Carys Anne 4 months

Me approximately 8 months

It's Not Summer Until

You run through the sprinklers in just your skivvies.

(No, not me!)

(I realize that it's not really summer as far as the calendar is concerned, but in this part of Texas, summer starts around mid-March!)

Y'all, I have discovered the joys of a child who can entertain herself!  Lately, it has been beautiful outside.  So, I've been able to open up the back door and let Cora out to experience the freedom that a completely fenced in backyard can provide!  This is a lovely little arrangement until our sprinkler system decides to turn on. . .but, what is childhood if it is not running through the sprinklers in the summer?  Naturally, (pun intended) we just strip ourselves down and enjoy the fun!

Happy summer, y'all!

A Little Dose of Mommy Psychiatry

I honestly don't know why we didn't think of this sooner!  Susy and I have been getting together about once a week for the past year or so now.  And, while playdates are awesome and fun, free babysitting is even better!  Susy came up with the brilliant idea of alternating a little drop in mother's day out.  (You know, so neither one of us ends up on the news!)  Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't enjoy my job as a stay at home mom. But, I know all you mommas out there can agree that sometimes you just need a change in routine.  We enacted our brilliant little plan starting yesterday.  Cora's bff Eliana came over yesterday morning (meaning a change in routine for moi) - winning!  And, Susy got some much deserved alone time - epic winning!  At one point in the morning, she texted me "The sound of silence in the car is fabulous!"  Oh, how I relate!  Witness a typical car experience around these parts:

Cora:  Mama, what're you doing?
Mama:  I'm driving.
Cora: Oh, you ARE driving.  You see a school bus?
Mama: Did you see a school bus?
Cora: Yeah, right dere!  Oh, no!  Where'd da school bus go?  I don't see school bus!  Where's da school bus?  Mama, where's da school bus? Mama, da school bus, da SCHOOL BUS!!
Mama:  I don't know where the school bus is.  We will have to look for it.
Cora:  Yeah, we have to wook for it!  Do you see my sister?
Mama:  Mmmmhmmm...
Cora: Yeah, she's so cute!  Awww, she's smiling to you!  Awww, she wikes you!  Baby Cawys! Oooh, it's a big twuck!  That twuck is 'normous! It's bery big!  You see a big twuck, mama?  Big twuck goes bery fast!  Mama, what're you doing?
(And...begin again!)

So, I'm glad that Susy had some precious quiet in her car yesterday!  Over at our house, we didn't have quiet, but we did have fun!  We started the day with the girls deciding that they would like to watch a princess movie.  Cora has (actually) been talking about Princess Puzzles (Rapunzel - from Tangled) after we watched that movie at Susy's house last week.  Surprisingly, though, they ended up selecting Princess Roara (Aurora - from Sleeping Beauty).  It's funny because  they did very plainly insist that they wanted to watch a movie, but I'm not sure how much of the actual movie that either really watched.

Although, by these pictures, it looks like all three girls were glued to the tv!

After the movie, we headed outdoors for a quick round of golf.  I'm really not sure that the girls quite have the concept down.  Cora's version is to roll the ball and then try to furiously hit it with a club.  She mostly ends up soundly beating the ground and sidewalk around the ball.  Eli's idea of it was to hold the club in one hand while she threw the ball for 'puppy' to fetch.  (Unfortunately, 'puppy' was being quite uncooperative in this game of fetch and preferred to jump around the monkey grass looking for lizards.)

Right before lunch time, the girls decided it was time to swing.  Awesome!  They managed to be totally self-sufficient...

Cora swings; Eli pushes!  

We had a yummy lunch of chicken nuggets and applesauce.  It was at this time that the girls chattered and giggled like a couple of teenagers! But, sadly then, it was time for Eli to go home.  

Now, what was Carys doing all this time, you ask?

Smiling...

blowing little bubbles...

And, just all around being cute!  

I think a great time was had by all...and, next week, it's my turn for a little bit of silence in the car!