Grammy, This Post's for You

My mother has been asking if we've reached the Short Pencil Phase yet.  After she explained herself, I knew what she was talking about, but I really believed we were safe.  Ha!  My son is very proud.

Lest My Pride Become Unbearable

In the interests of preserving my meekness and humility (ROTFL), my husband has been diligently photographing me to help me remember how "small" I am with this pregnancy.  I ask you, though, if I am small this time, how freakin' big have I been in the past?  No.  Nevermind.  Don't answer that.

Look, he even took pictures with another person to give perspective.  If you look closely at either picture you can see all the places where food missed my mouth.  This happens regularly whether I'm pregnant or not, but now my belly is big enough to graciously catch everything for me.  I cut off my own head on purpose, just so you know.  My mouth was hanging open because I can't breathe through my nose half the time (hello, allergies).

Like I said, I'm not really feeling the "small" thing.

Meet the Cousin

At Caleb's birthday party, we finally got to meet the new cousin, Savannah.    I got to hold her first, despite my impossibly big belly, but then Bob just stole her away from me, like he does all the babies.  In any case, Savannah sure is a cutie, and Sariah was thrilled to hold her ... we hope this lasts through the next several months.

Lizziy also spent some quality time with the newest family member:

Elisabeth was very eager to hold the baby.  She was shocked when we told her that when her brothers were little, she would hold them for about 30 seconds at a time and then just drop them whenever she was done.  She staunchly declares that this will never happen with the coming new baby.  Probably not, I would have to agree.  I suppose she's gotten a little more responsible than a 2 to 4-year-old since then.  :)

The Amazing Modern Woman

I feel like we are doing a decent job in bringing up our girls. I find a lot of joy in being a mother and a wife and a homemaker (notice that I haven't said it's "practically perfect in every way").  But I am also a girl who grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and I take a great deal of pride in being able to address and hopefully resolve my own problems.  And so it has tickled my fancy to see, in a just few days time, Sariah happily helping her dad install the new (quieter and improved) dishwasher.  If we'd known how happy this would make her, abandoning her TV, talking like a magpie, and animatedly locating tools for Daddy, we would have replaced the dishwasher a long time ago.

But she can also attack the household chores with gusto.

I suppose we could analyze the difference in the looks on her face, but I really think that's taking it a bit too far, don't you?

I feel like I should add that I would probably never install a new dishwasher, because I'm far too lazy to do so, but I probably could if I had to.  And also, if Sariah's carrying around a duster, it's more likely because she's following her father's example than mine, because I'm far too lazy to dust regularly.  Wait!  I'm seeing a pattern here....

Happy Easter

Last Wednesday was Activity Day for the 8-11 year-old girls at church.  They made hippety-hoppety cupcakes for their families, and I was pretty proud of Elisabeth's, if I do say so.  They were really yummy, too.  Sometimes I wish I had time to be more creative in this way, but really I'm not detail-oriented enough to pursue the thought of producing something like this.  So I'll just continue being proud of my daughter!

And Purely for Love of Cuteness...

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

How quickly time flies--wait!  I said that last year, too.  I'm not really all that creative in expressing how one day you're holding a tiny, sleeping little baby, and the next you are trying to figure out what happened to that little one.  I really love last year's birthday post (not that I've done any others for the rest of my kids; yes, I have mother guilt over this).

My oldest baby boy turned 9, and had a party to celebrate.  I think fun was had by all.

This last picture was the part where Caleb's friend Tanner told him to blow out the candles ... before we had sung the birthday song or Caleb had made a wish.  Sounds like boys, right?

What We've Been Up To, Part 5

And have I mentioned that for enrichment in the fall, Hannah took some basketweaving classes?  Strange for enrichment, but true.  The thing is, though, that she's fantastically good at it.  Her baskets are sturdy and gorgeous.  I begged for a long time, and so for Christmas she made me a basket.  What a good daughter she is!

I tried to talk her into the pink basket because I liked the bright color, but alas, it was not to be, and so I will settle for the brown one, which though not brightly colored, is bright and beautiful in a prominent spot on my bathroom counter.  I smile to think of Hannah every time I see it!

Thanks also to Hannah for the pics.  She did a much better job than I would have.

What We've Been Up To, Part 4

Also in February, Rex and I went to visit his birth father and grandmother in another metro town.  Usually, they are able to come down this way, but Joan's health has been iffy lately, and she had to miss Rex's birthday party, so we went to see them.  Rex had a grand 2nd (or was it 3rd?) birthday celebration, and got lots of totally cool Star Wars goodies.

Here he is with Joan and Sassy:

And here he is with Josh (who, incidentally, is not usually so ... well, bald).

What We've Been Up To, Part 3

Way back in February, Rex was a tree in the first grade production of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  He had a much easier and less memorable line than the beleaguered little boy before him who spoke of one of the goats "cwossing the wickety, wackety bwidge."  Nevertheless, Rex was appropriately cast since the trees were quite smart-mouthed throughout the play, and he played his part with gusto.  My friend Danielle pointed out on facebook that I can add "tree hugger" to my mother repertoire.  LOL!

What We've Been Up To, Part 2

The rarely photoed in the wild and ever elusive Hannah-girl has been captured on film.

She went to a birthday party at the new Paul Mitchell training school here.  It took 3 hours and lots of styling product.  Hannah's hair just doesn't curl well; mine didn't either back in the day (you know pre-pregnancy-and-children hormones).  And of course, the girl was practicing so it took a while.  In the end, though, it turned out fabulously, we were all suitably awestruck!  Here's a view of all the curly glory.

Since she was cooperating with the camera, we had to take even more pictures:

What We've Been Up To...

...(stretched out for a few days so it looks like I'm blogging regularly).

Last weekend, we helped build the new playground at the kids' school.  I use the term "we" loosely.  I really mean Caleb and Bob, while the rest of us watched or played on the other playground.  It was a big project, and the install supervisor was pleased that the volunteers got all but a few hours of it done in one day.  Thanks to the OU IBC students and the hardworking dads.

The Things Wives Remember

On this day, 14 years ago, my wonderful husband proposed to me (finally!!!) not far from this place on the beautiful OU campus, and I obviously said, "Well, it's about time."  Okay, I didn't really say that.  I said, "Yes!!!" (be still, my beating heart!) but it really was about time.  I don't remember what I was wearing, but I remember he was wearing those slacks that looked so dang good, and that it was moonlight and much warmer than it is here today, and that there were flowers everywhere (but when are there not flowers everywhere on campus?).  It's one of the reasons that I love spring in Oklahoma so much.

And then we tried to kill off our parents--and especially mine--by getting married within about 8 weeks.  In retrospect, that might have been a bit mean.  But it's a little late to do anything about it now.

Meanwhile, I am so grateful for Bob.  We've had our share of ups and downs, and given that I'm still a hormonal basket case, I'm sure there will be more ups and downs in the future.  But I'm so proud that we have pushed through the hard times we've had, and come out stronger for them.  And having spent some time around some other husbands recently, I'm so grateful that my husband is loving and respectful and kind and that I can trust him to do the right things.  We don't always agree on what the right things are, but I always know that he's trying his best, and I know that he'll be there for me whenever I follow after my crazy schemes.  In short, he's amazing, and I love, love, love him!

I Am an Ent

I've been thinking about my dad this evening.

When I was growing up, it always infuriated me that he so rarely lost his cool in front of us.  I could egg him on ... or more accurately, try to egg him on ... but his best trick was to never let his ruffled feathers show.  And when they did show, I was terrified.  Not that he ever did anything bad when his feathers got ruffled.  But I knew that he must be really mad to let it show.

Now, I'm grateful that he taught me this little trick via example.  In employing it, I've learned that there's no better way to get somebody's goat.  When someone wants you to get upset, the best way to knock the wind out of their sails is to not let them have any wind by failing to respond to their goading.

I used to think stubbornly and silently holding one's ground without fighting or arguing back was the equivalent of being a pansy.  I don't think so anymore.  Especially when I rephrase to steadfastly holding one's ground in spite of the opposition.  I like to think of the ents in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and how they survived the floods and the storms by planting their roots and bracing themselves through the storm.  They didn't try to change the floods.  They withstood them.

I'm going to work on employing this tactic more over the coming month.  Anyone care to guess what I'm talking about?

Because it ain't the 9th month of this pregnancy that I'm referring to.

BFFs

From Rex's belated birthday party at the end of January.  That's Zach.  If you have to ask who Zach is, you need to get all caught up on our lives.  Okay, I won't be so mean.  Zach and Rex are like BFFs.  Good times.