children's books

We've been reading some fun books lately, and I wanted to share a few of them:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
We bought this with a gift card from Amy and Ben. It was one I felt we needed for our collection.

Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

I just realized this was by the same authors! (Bill Martin Jr. also wrote Brown Bear Brown Bear...). We read this at infant story time and now frequently check it out from the library. Anna loves to find her own body parts as the poem progresses. I love that he has some creative purposes for the different body parts. An example: "Here are my cheeks for kissing and blushing. Here are my teeth for chewing and brushing." Cute, colorful, multi-cultural illustrations as well.


Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman
Beautiful, crisp photographs of animals for each letter of the alphabet with a blurb about each animal at the end of the book. I like that Anna can see what real hippos and bears look like rather than just illustrations of them. There are some unconventional inclusions as well. Like S for Scorpion.
I want to check out his original Creature now too.


One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root
A fun, tongue twisting counting book with great onomatopoeias. Each number's rhyme is just different enough to keep me interested and engaged while I read this to Anna over and over and over again.


The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
We've had this since Anna was born and it's one of her favorites. I absolutely love it's simplicity and how it captures how a young child thinks, acts, and plays so perfectly. It won a Caldecott for it's illustrations as well.

What are some of your favorites?

may pictures

Click on the pictures to go to my picasa page if you want to see the pictures larger.

it was a win-win proposition

I turned this:

(for some reason, this picture will not rotate...)

into this:

Thank you to Jocelyn for sponsoring the journal-making service project for the the Write It Out project. And thank you to Coco Rose Couture for the beautiful new necklace! (Go see Jocelyn's blog for free shipping and free merchandise from Coco Rose Couture.)

The giveaway is closed, but if you want to win a happy feeling from doing something good, go pledge and make a journal over at Service Boot Camp.

like mother like daughter

April, 1986

April, 2010

an update

I have another, private blog that I use as a journal and as a place to record cute and funny things my children say and do. I haven't written in it since Levi was born and have resolved to write in it at least every Sunday. Here is most of what I posted today, as an update on our life:

Well, obviously I haven't written for a while. We've been adjusting to having two children and have been busy with lots of other things in life.

We enjoyed our time with my Mom while she was here. The last week we went to the Bluebell factory and took pictures in wildflowers in Brenham and saw the Sargent exhibit at the art museum. It was full of his early work of sea-scapes before he became famous for portraiture and of works in private collections here in Houston. I really loved the colors he used in scenes of just ocean and sky. They were beautiful pieces made when he was young and I wish he had done more like it. After the exhibit we rode the train at the zoo which Anna loved.

Soon after Mom left, we went to Dallas for Seth's farewell. He's headed to the Tahiti Papeete mission. We had a fun weekend of the brothers playing together and Ruth set up a little paradise for the little kids with a working sink, water table, and grocery store in the back yard. Anna had a marvelous time and was so sad to go. The kids did really well on the drive and we're considering a longer road trip in the future.

May 3 was Anna's second birthday. We got her a little Fisher Price tricycle and a potty. Ruth gave her a little people doll house and car and car wash. My mom got her some playdoh and accessories and a Thomas train.

I had a party for her on the 5th and invited all her little girl friends (and George) to come swimming at the pool. It was a lot of work to get all the food ready and carted to the pool, but I really thought it was worth it. Anna was so excited by everything: her friends, balloon cupcakes, the pool, new toys and puzzles, having Catherine over to help. I loved the company and the yummy food and it felt good to accomplish something substantial while I was still feeling a little overwhelmed by a new baby.

After the party, Levi fell out of his stroller and onto the concrete. I just felt peace when I saw him on the ground and knew everything would be just fine. I was grateful to have the spirit at that moment to help me be calm and have thought about that experience often since. How blessed we are to have that gift. It was such a powerful feeling that I knew came from outside myself that I've been trying to cultivate opportunities to feel and respond to the spirit since then.

Levi is a joy of a baby. Of course there are times when I can't calm his crying or when he doesn't want to sleep at night, but they're not the norm and usually I'm so distracted by Anna that it doesn't bother me as much with him as it did with her. I also know that I'm not doing something wrong which was a constant worry with Anna.

But usually, Levi is happy to lay on his playmat or sit in his bumbo and observe the world around him. He is a genuinely cute baby. He eats well and naps well and is just starting to coo and gurgle, and is losing his little newborn grunts. I love it when I talk to him and I see him looking around for me. He just gazes at me, wide-eyed while I talk or sing to him and loves to be kissed and nuzzled. We started a bedtime routine early with him and he's responding well. This week he's started waking up at just 1-2 AM and then 6-7 AM, so I'm starting to get a little more sleep.

Anna loves Levi and likes to have him hug her. She also loves it when we make him dance or do actions to songs. Sometimes she brings him toys while he's laying on the ground or sings songs to him. I think she'll enjoy entertaining him as he gets older.

feeling crafty?

I can't say no to this project. Because a) it's for a good cause b) it's easy c) I have an excuse to use up some cute scrap fabric I have d) I can enter a giveaway and e) I am SO into my new sewing machine. So jump on this bandwagon and do some service!



P.S. I found these online today. After seeing those pictures, I piled the kids in the car to go buy a pound of brown sugar so I could make them during nap time. I may have already eaten about 10 of them. If only I could send those to Iraq war widows. I bet they could use them.

out with the old, in with the new

Yesterday I said goodbye to my trusty little Ford Escort. It was 11 years old and full of good memories.

Mom and I drove to and from seminary and school nearly every day of high school in that car. Mom heard all about the days' hopes and tests and highs and lows on those five-minute drives.

I learned to drive and passed the driving test in that car.

I felt the thrill of teenage freedom driving to the metroparks to sit by myself or going to and from parties, malt shops, and thrift stores with friends with the music up a little too loud.

Once the Mystique died in college, Mom and Dad gave me and Steve the Escort to share. We drove it to California one weekend together and just hung out at the beach and Grandma's house.

That was the summer I started dating Sam and he says we had our first kisses in the car in the Escort. I'm pretty sure that's what we were driving on the day we got engaged nearly a year later.

I learned how to change the brakes, change a tire, fix a headlight, and take care of plenty of other minor maintenance issues on it.

And since we've moved to Texas, it's gotten me to work, doctors' appointments, playgroups, lunch dates with Sam, and anywhere else I wanted to go.

Sadly, just before the end of last year, the transmission died and we've only been able to drive in second gear, so no faster than 40, and that was a stretch. It started shaking while it idled and the rotors got warped, so it took longer to brake than usual, and we decided it was time to finally say goodbye.

After a little research, Sam made the painstakingly slow drive up to Carmax and traded her in. She served us well yet again and we got the blue book value for it. I went up to meet him and sign some papers later that evening and drove home in this, a 2008 Ford Escape.

I can't wait for all the memories yet to be made.

the baby's due

Today is Levi's due date, and yesterday he turned one month old. It's been a good four weeks and we're glad he's here.

And now he's giving me his hungry groan. So here are some pictures of our two little monkeys.

raining

Sam was changing Levi's diaper when Anna pulled off the wash cloth that was covering him up. Levi started spraying straight up in the air and Anna said, "Woo! It's raining Levi!"

lots and lots of photos

Double click on the slideshow to go to picasa to see the photos bigger

by the way

His middle name is Samuel.


And we brought him home last Tuesday

introducing:

Levi (middle name) Cosby

baby boy

Arrived at 5:07 AM via c-section

6 lbs 13 oz 18.25 in

Both mom and baby--still no name :)-- are doing splendidly

same song, second verse

Here we go again. I went to the doctor this morning and I'm already dilated 2 1/2 cm. Please send your prayers/positive vibes/good karma our way to keep this baby inside for a few more days at least.

braids

How cute is she?!

Our first attempt at any kind of braid

And our second attempt. It only took being buckled into a high chair and two Sesame Street video playlists to accomplish, but we did it. And it held all day long, even through a nap! (Except of course for a few adorable wispy curls that snuck out around the edges during the day)

(sorry for the graininess-- I forgot the flash and my apartment has terrible lighting)

Little girls are so much fun!

And just for kicks, here's a little video from after our first braid photo shoot:

I can't get over her cute, little, heart-melting, smile-inducing voice.

(Unless of course it spends all morning whining and crying because it's hungry and sick and tired but won't eat or just rest and be quiet and causes mom to send life-threatening emails to dad across the ocean. But nothing like that would ever happen around here...not that cute little voice).

to clarify

To answer Marci's question in the comments on the post below: We hope we're still moving to London. Sam is there now, but once he comes home, he'll be home till the baby is born and doesn't have a return trip scheduled yet. We're hoping to have a better idea of whether or not the project will continue by the end of April, but we may not know for sure one way or the other till July, when we'd either pack up and go or get ready to enjoy our home and friends here in Texas indefinitely. Just one more thing to think about instead of the baby...

you may or may not have noticed

Most likely not, but my pregnancy countdown suddenly lost a week. That's because I have a c-section planned for April 19th, one week before my due date. I'm still hoping that I'll go into labor before that, and if I do, my doctor is up for trying a natural birth (as long as the baby is head down, doesn't seem to be in distress, etc...).

But since Anna was a c-section, I had to schedule one and the 19th was the latest date my doctor would go for. It's not my first choice, but it's sure nice to know that no matter what, the baby will be here by the 19th. That's less than 6 weeks!

I don't feel ready at all and am in major nesting mode. In the past two weeks, I've had the carpets cleaned, de-junked several spaces, scoured my refrigerator, sewn a pillow, given away clothes and toys, cleaned out and vacuumed both cars, rearranged Anna's room, and there are still plenty of things on my list. Even with doing all that, though, I feel like I've neglected preparing for baby #2 physically, emotionally, and mentally.

With Anna, buying a car seat and crib, getting a rocking chair, having a baby shower-- all those things made it feel like a baby was coming, and I haven't really had any of those big preparatory experiences for this little guy (which makes sense for a second baby). In a way, it's nice to be able to focus on everything going on in the moment, but I'm worried we're in for a MAJOR shock once he comes home. Hopefully we'll at least decide on a name before then.

Wish me luck!

over the river and through the woods

While Sam was in England a couple weeks ago, Anna and I packed up and headed to my parents' house. It was a great, last-minute decision. Here are a few of my favorite moments:

With Grandma on Valentine's Day

Singing the "tall, Tall, TALL!" line of Once There Was a Snowman

Playing peek-a-boo

Anna and I built this little snowman before the others joined us outside

Bringing flowers to Grandma

Making busy books

The girls really egged each other on during meal times


Making a Valentine gingerbread house

for jill...

...who made a request.

31 weeks

If you ask me, there's not much difference between the above photo and this one from my pregnancy with Anna five weeks later...

recipe for survival: take two

Make pancakes. Include:

• eggs
• light vanilla yogurt
  
• vanilla yogurt
• milk
• heavy whipping cream
• sour cream
  
• pureed carrots
• applesauce
• whole wheat flour
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt
• ground flax seed
• cinnamon
• ground ginger
• pumpkin pie spice

Yields: many yummy pancakes, two happy girls, and one refrigerator, deliciously bare of mostly empty containers.

singing a song is fun to do

Much to our delight, Anna loves to sing songs. She has become particularly good at Twinkle Twinkle Little Star which is what I was trying to capture on these videos. As usual, she was being less than cooperative for the camera. But she was still cute. So here you go.

happy to you

That's how Anna sings the Happy Birthday song, which we got to do last week at Brooklyn and Katelynn's second birthday party. Laurie did a fantastic job with cute felt garlands, a polka dot cake, fun favors, and delicious kid-friendly food. She is one of the most talented women I know!

I just thought Anna looked so cute in her party dress that I had to share a few pictures. Thanks for the great find, Mom!



I love this little girl's hair!

recipe for survival

How to survive two weeks as a pregnant, single parent
in five easy steps

1. Bake a triple chocolate cheesecake

2. Use leftover cream from ganache to make whipped cream

3. Combine

4. Savor while the baby's napping

5. Repeat Step 4 as often as needed


PS--Sam is home now and let me tell you that this is even better with your sweetheart across the table from you