One and a quarter

Again with the late update post for Chaselyn. I know, I know. Someday she's going to read through this and wonder if I really knew when her birthday was. I'm also realizing that at some point the monthly updates may seem kind of ridiculous. I mean should I really feel the need to write a 3 year and 5 month update? But where will it stop? Maybe at 2 I'll start updating every quarter year or something. But I want to be purposeful about it so that it doesn't seem like I just started forgetting.

Enough already, here's the important info. Yes, today Chaselyn is actually 15 months and one week. I had intentionally been delaying this post until after her 15 month check-up, but apparently that's not going to happen for another week, so I guess I'll just break it down now. Chaselyn is such a busy bee these days. She's running all over the place, wanting to explore, and finding amusement in the silliest of places. Her favorite toys over the past couple of weeks have been a cardboard box and her snow hat and matching mittens. The cardboard box is generally used as a hat which covers her face. She likes to walk around until she runs into something (Note: this is done with careful supervision) and then she laughs and goes somewhere else. It's also the perfect accessory for a good game of "Where's Chaselyn?". The hat and gloves I believe are an extension of her affinity for shoes and other accessories. She started playing with the hat when she realized that her baby had a hat. I, being such a wise Mommy, figured that she probably would like a hat to fit her head a little better than getting frustrated with the tiny baby doll hat. Little did I know how adorable this little girl would be!!!
Notice the perfectly sized hat with the super large mittens. She's still got plenty of room for those developing brains. :)

This month, we celebrated Valentine's day. Chaselyn got some cool heart shaped sunglasses and a little Valentine's monkey.
We also took Chaselyn to her first Baylor basketball game. She was in awe of all the activity. And she seemed to have more fun than she had at previous basketball games. I think that's partially because of maturity, but more so because the game was nicely scheduled between lunch and afternoon nap time. The Razorback game we went to over Christmas was at night and past her bedtime. She loved shaking her little tush to the music and was also very interested in the game. She very much likes any activity where there's lots of clapping and cheering. She was also intrigued by all the big kids around her and everything they were doing.
Besides that, we've mainly just been chilling out around the house. She loves to play outside, but it's actually been kind of chilly, so we only get out for the occasional walk. She loves the wagon she got for Christmas.
During inside playtime, she entertains herself very well. She loves to "read" books all by herself, even if they are upside down most of the time. She can now tell you what a cow, monkey, lion, duck and sheep says. Her favorite is roaring like a lion. She's been known to make that noise without any prompting at all. She can also make a good motor sound for pushing around her tractor. Another favorite noise is the kind of blubbing noise you make when you hum and then "pick" your lips with your finger. I don't think that makes much sense, I'll have to try to get a video. And she likes to turn in circles to make herself dizzy. Currently her record is 4 full turns. Her usual is only 2.5 turns though.

If she lets Mommy and Daddy play too, she likes to look at books, sing songs (we're currently working on the Hokey Pokey), and play "Where's Tummy". She'll tickle her own tummy or tickle and raspberry Mommy and Daddy's tummies. She also enjoys playing with my protruding belly button. I of course oblige her and laugh like the Pilsbury dough boy.

At an impromptu visit to the doctor yesterday (sore throat caused by a viral infection, no ear infection) she weighed 26.6 pounds. AND, she was weighed on a step up scale like a big girl. Not in the seat like she always had been. She's getting tall too. She still loves Ravioli (even as a hat), but hot dogs are moving up in the rankings. I think her favorite veggie is carrots. And she'll eat pretty much any fruit you put in front of her. But don't put apple pieces in front of her, because they cause her to drool and soak her clothes and anything else water absorbent nearby.
Another huge upgrade and step to maturity was made this month when we officially made the switch to a forward facing car seat. I think she really likes it, but she looks way too big! And what am I supposed to do when I glance over the backseat and see this?
***Note this photo was taken at a red light where we are regularly stopped for several minutes every morning. I did not take a picture of the backseat kid while flying down the highway****

27 weeks

So, as of Valentine's day, I'm 27 weeks along. That means there's only 13 weeks until our little bun is fully baked. And for some reason, I have this feeling like little Jacob Logan isn't going to stay in there that long. I feel like he's going to make an early appearance. Which I know is possibly setting myself up for a huge burden of sitting and waiting as I watch May 16 go by on the calendar. But I feel like he's going to be here for me by Mother's day. All that to say, that means it could be less than 13 weeks before we have 2 kids! WHOA! That's only like 3 months. And as we prepare for a new baby, it's so different than the first time around.

When I was pregnant with Chaselyn, everything was so new and neither one of us knew really what to expect. I was a little bit more comfortable with what it takes to care for a baby than Stanton was I think. I have a sister who's 9.5 years younger than me. I remember all the crying and the diapers and the messy food and bottles and all that. Granted I was only 9 when she was born, so I wasn't responsible for too much, but I had an idea. Stanton hadn't been exposed to many babies and especially not for an extended period of time. Which if you don't really know much about babies, I can see how trying to grasp the whole idea is a little overwhelming. And unfortunately, I think I often misunderstood his lack of ability to grasp the idea of baby as a fear of being able to manage a baby or just a lack of excitement. But I now realize that Stanton was just being Stanton and trying to figure it all out. It wasn't that he wasn't excited. He just didn't really know what to be excited about.

And I thought I had a bit of an idea of what to expect once our little bundle of joy arrived had no idea what the whole pregnancy and birthing process would be. You never know the awe and wonder of God until you can feel the baby he is forming in your body. The little flutters that grow into little hiccups that grow into little kicks and punches that grow into being able to feel exactly where Chaselyn was externally because she was running out of room internally. Such amazing feelings that motherhood brings. And I was blessed to have a fantastic pregnancy. I didn't get sick, I didn't have a lot of swelling, I was actually able to enjoy about 97% of my pregnancy. Some time was taken off for the time when my belly was getting big and all we had to sit on at home was a futon (ladies, if you are pregnant or plan to be someday, I strongly suggest investing in a recliner). And a little time taken out for exhaustion and some for frustration from not being able to bend over. But I'm seriously one of those happy pregnant ladies that doesn't have a whole lot of bad things to say about the trials of pregnancy. The only thing I had to worry about really was how the wonderfulness that I could feel growing inside was going to transverse into the world and become the wonderfulness I was anticipating growing outside. Yep, the birthing process. How was I, the girl afraid of needles who gets nauseated at the thought of blood and passes out at the sight of it going to make it through childbirth? First things first, I have a very high pain tolerance. I have a very low needle tolerance. Therefore, an epidural was not something that I ever really even gave a second thought. I would much rather feel the pain than dread the idea of that big long obtrusive needle being shoved into my back. Even typing it out now makes me a little queasy. But I wasn't quite sure enough of my abilities to go au naturale. So the compromise, IV drugs. Which necessitates an IV. A needle that stays in your arm. Was that really the most logical choice? I don't know, but I was surprisingly at ease about it. And it worked well. We took childbirth classes and they talked about all the different options. My goal was to have an IV and not see any blood. If we could manage that, I think I would be alright. Not seeing any blood included not seeing Chaselyn until she had her preliminary cleaning. And that was ok. I would rather see my beautiful little girl sans ick. But when it all went down, there was a different doctor there and Chaselyn popped out and she was placed right on my belly. And she was beautiful, ick and all! And I cried and it was amazing.

And now, we've been through it all once. Stanton is so much more visably excited, because he now knows what to expect. He knows what a Daddy is. And instead of having to worry about what a baby is like, he's able to just rest and get excited about the tremendous blessing that is coming. And he just seems a bit more relaxed. He has an idea of what to expect and he remembers all the amazing things Chaselyn has brought to our little world. He's genuinely excited. But for me, I still feel similar to the last time around. I still just stand amazed at all the little flutters and bumps in my tummy and I love it. And I daydream about the little person that Jacob will be. Based on the inspiration for his name, Jacob from the Bible was quite a little handfull, and I'm afraid our little Jacob might be the same. So I'm trying to prepare for this new child and being very aware that he will not be just like Chaselyn. And I still worry about the birthing process. Even though I've been through it once, I know that things aren't going to be just the same. And because my first experience was so nice, I get a little afraid that if this time is going to be different, it can only be different in a bad way.

Besides that, the amount of stuff we need this time around is DRAMATICALLY reduced. We have a lot of the little things and the big things. We only need things that don't translate between boys and girls (clothes), things to accommodate two children (double stroller hopefully the one from my niblings works), and disposables (diapers). I've started registries online. But the problem with these is that most of the things I've put on there are available online only. And I've put a lot of stuff on there that we don't necessarily need. It just looked neat online. And when I go to the store, besides clothes, we already have it. And, since we're planning for Jacob to be in our room for the first 6 months, we don't even have to decide on room decor yet. Although, pretty much we're going to take off the flowery bumper and put something more boyish on there. Other than that we have to take down all the personalized Chaselyn stuff and get Jacob stuff. The multi-color, stuffed animal decor with red furniture still works for baby boy just as good as it did for baby girl. That was not a mistake. So I've actually been more worried about picking out some bedding for Chaselyn and thinking about her transition to a big girl bed and another room. All that to say, I could register for a lot of STUFF, but if Jacob came tomorrow, we would have to stop by the store and get some diapers, but we'd be alright.

No Snow

We've been in Waco since June of 2006. That's almost 4 years. And in that time to my knowledge, it has snowed 2 times here. Once during the Easter break of 2007 and over Christmas break 2009. Both times we were in Arkansas. Fortunately, I was able to get in some good snow time in Arkansas both times as well. I am very appreciative of the white Christmas it was beautiful and only caused some minor inconveniences for travel. But, since we got back to Waco, it seems like my family back in Arkansas is getting snow every other week. And we're not getting any down here.

Take this week for example. Monday my mother-in-law was out of school in Fort Smith, and Heath and Rachel got out at the U of A at noon, and I'm pretty sure Josh was eventually let out in Bentonville (they're always getting snow days). And as I read about all the beautiful snow to be seen and snowmen to be made and snow ice cream to be eaten and sledding adventures to be had, I was sitting here, in Waco. Only to realize after stewing in my jealousy that not only was I not getting a snow day but I would also have to walk in the rain to get my lunch. What a smack in the face. And I have been whining about it for 3 days now. And I'm not over it.

I want to go for a walk in a winter wonderland with my husband, my beautiful baby girl in her little red coat in her wagon, our cute little pup dragging along behind (she doesn't like water, I can't imagine she would bound through the snow like a normal dog), and me with my fat little belly poking out from under the layers of clothes and coats. I want to build a little snow replica of our adorable little family. I want to make snow angels. I want to make snow ice cream. I want to cozy up next to a fire after our outside time, get all warmed up and do it all over again.

And it just occurred to me in the past couple of days that this wouldn't be something that would happen for us. Chaselyn will not have the same snow day kind of memories that I had growing up as long as we're down here. And it made me genuinely sad. I'm sure we'll get the occassional fluke snow. But she won't really know the ups and downs of not being able to sleep over the excitement of possibly getting out of school because of snow. Waking up early to check the tv for closings. Watching the crawler across the bottom of the screen waiting and hoping to see the magic words that her school is closed. She won't get to experience all the fun that happens on snow days. There's not even any stinkin' hills around our house to sled down if there was snow.

So, how do I cope. I had been doing so good. I can be happy for family and friends for one snow day, maybe two a year. But it's starting to really bug me this year. It's too much. And my dad posted these pictures on Facebook.

How simply wonderful are these?! My parents, empty-nesters after 33 years of chasing kids around, built a fantastic snowman all by themselves. And they took a picture of their wonderful creation. And yes, you read right, my dad posted it on Facebook. Basically all three of these give me a little insight to a side of my parents that I don't get to see that often. And the house, isn't it just a picture perfect little country home. And I know that inside this beautiful house there's a big fire using real wood and all the stuff to make some good hot chocolate. And it warms my heart just to see these pictures.

I'm sure that the excess snow is probably starting to bug the people up in Arkansas. But, this blog isn't about them, it's about poor pitiful me and the snow that me and my children will not see. Are there any displaced snow lovers out there who can help me adjust. Usually for any particular part of Arkansas that I miss, I can always find a comparable plus to Waco that I wouldn't have in Arkansas, so I can manage. But when it comes to weather I don't want to give up snow for more hot days. It's not a compromise I'm willing to accept. So, please, help me!

V-day

It's February, and since we've already passed the first holiday of the month (apparently 6 more weeks of winter), I feel free to look to the next holiday...Valentine's day. It's a weird holiday for me because I love it and hate it.

First, the hate part (that way I can leave on a happy note). Valentine's day is not something I really enjoy celebrating. I would feel a little more normal if I didn't like it because it's a corporate scam to sell more candy, cards, and flowers. But the fact of the matter is, I don't like Valentine's day because 1) I hate people and 2) I'm frugal. So, on #1, I can't stand the thought of trying to go out to some over-crowded restaurant, just to wait for over an hour in the company of the mix of couples either showing way too much PDA and couples just trying to keep the theme of the evening in mind in between conversations of work and kids. And in general, I seem to always be near people who stink. I can't stand smokers and I'm easily overpowered by cologne. Unfortunately, I feel this way about people the other 364 days of the year too. And this has proved to be a hindrance in forming quick friendships and apparently I come off as somewhat rude and judgemental when I meet new people. It's been brought to my attention, and I'm working on it, but I'm nowhere close to being fully rehabilitated in that realm, so for now I choose to avoid the large crowds of strangers when I can. On #2, I have selective frugalness (read: when it comes to baby clothes and accessories I have no will power). There are times when paying top dollar is worth it...flowers and candies on Valentine's day is NOT worth it. If you didn't know, my mom was a florist. I know how these things work. Send your significant other 3 dozen roses today or 1 dozen in 12 days for the same price. It's ridiculous!!! I used to be opposed to flowers all together, any time of year, because they just die. But, I am maturing and I can appreciate the beauty of the little blooms more. They really do liven up a room. And I'm not just picking on flowers, it's all the stuff. I don't need another stuffed bear or an expensive card or heart box with candy. Just buy me twice as much of the candy the day after V-day. (Disclaimer: I'm an old married woman now, and thus the feelings. I treasure the little gifts Stanton gave me while we were dating, but now that we have one bank account it's just not worth it.) On the same hand on what's supposed to be a romantic holiday I don't want the stuff I need like a new pair of fat pants or dish towels. So, between the people and my cheapness, it's just not a holiday for me.

Now, the love part. I like V-day as a kid. The parties, the fun cartoon cards, the candy hearts, the special activities, the crafts and the prizes from my parents. It was great. And I very much look forward to doing special things for our kids on Valentine's day. I hope that I do a good job of letting my kids know how much I love them every day but it's nice to have an excuse to give a little treat every now and then.

So, I guess I fully support Valentine's day as a day to make sure you tell your family and friends how much you love them. But, I fully disapprove of the forced romanticism of it all. Does that make sense?

I should also put in here, that because of our aversion to busy restaurants and such, Stanton and I still have a scheduled date night every February 28th when we celebrate our dating anniversary. That's our special night in February.