Week 21- Let The Sunshine In

It has been a gorgeous week with lots of sunshine and, therefore, lots of time spent outdoors. My regular school year has ended, and even though summer school starts soon, I am somewhat in vacation mode.

Since it's so beautiful, Nora has spent lots of time playing in our yard.

With her dogs...

On her own little obstacle course...

Kicking a ball...

We also spent some time downtown at Market Square. On Saturday, we met Daniel, Aundrea, and baby Evelyn for some fresh air around Krutch Park and lunch at Tupelo Honey. Nora was so excited to see the baby, and even though baby Evie gave her a few good pokes in the eye, Nora stayed sweet and gentle with her.

Today, we met Allison and Amelia at the fountain in Market Square for some fun in the sun. The girls donned their swim wear, and although they started out a little shy, they eventually decided that it looked like a good time.

Once we got the girls dried off, we grabbed lunch at Trio, where the girls played "I found you" and "I see you" under the table amid fits of giggles. Nora had a gooey peanut butter and jelly panini, and she ate almost the entire thing! Then, we went for a leisurely stroll.

How cute are they?? We headed home just in time for a nice long afternoon nap. It would be a perfect day to lounge in a hammock with some lemonade, if I had either of those things.

Week 20- Bounce, Bounce, Bounce

Our church hosted a family fun night last week, which included a pot luck dinner and outdoor fun for the kids. There were 2 bounce houses, and for a post-dinner/pre-bedtime sugar rush, snow cones and cotton candy!

Nora had mixed feelings about the bounce house, but her feelings about the snow cone were clear as she kept coming back for more.

So, a certain little someone's schedule has been a messed up for the past 2 weeks. She started waking up about an hour earlier than usual, much to our dismay. BUT this morning, for the first time in weeks, Brad had to wake her at 7:30 to get her to day care and him to work on time!

Sweet, sleepy girl. I hope this is the beginning of her getting back to her regular schedule, but tonight it took us an hour and 45 minutes to get her to sleep because those $&%^!@ back molars are giving her fits. She was drooling and chomping on her thumb, and she would not let me put her in her crib like I usually do. She was stuck to me like glue. We gave her some ibuprofen and I rubbed some orajel naturals on her gums (I could feel the swelling and some sharp little edges poking through), and that calmed her down, but she still would not go to sleep. Brad and I took turns staying in the room with her until she finally drifted off to sleep at 9:45. (8:00 is her regular bed time.)

Hopefully she feels better tomorrow, and hopefully we'll get back to our 8 P.M.-7:30 A.M. schedule soon.

Week 19- Mother's Day

I had a lovely Mother's Day weekend, thanks to Brad and Nora.

Brad let me sleep late both Saturday and Sunday while he and Nora perused Target, picked up breakfast, and just spent some quality Daddy-daughter time together. Saturday evening, we had dinner at Bo and Lea's with Bo's family, as well as Sam, Patsy, Elisabeth, Patrick, and Rachel.

This morning, Brad took this cute picture of Nora hanging out in the livingroom before they left to run errands. She was trying to "fill my shoes" with her itty bitty feet.

I woke up just before 9:00, which is sleeping in to me these days. Nora and Brad were just getting home, and Nora wanted to crawl up in my lap to eat graham crackers and watch TV. Not a bad view on Mother's Day morning. I love those sweet little curls.


“Sometimes when you pick up your child you can feel the map of your own bones beneath your hands, or smell the scent of your skin in the nape of his neck. This is the most extraordinary thing about motherhood - finding a piece of yourself separate and apart that all the same you could not live without.” -Jodi Picoult

I was so happy when Nora went running into the church nursery today. Not a single tear was shed, and Nora received several compliments from church-goers today like, "Such a cutie" and "So good".  After church, we went to Dede and Grandpa's for lunch like we almost always do. I can't believe that I didn't take any pictures on Mother's Day with Dede, but here we are on our way to the car after lunch.


“Through the blur, I wondered if I was alone or if other parents felt the same way I did - that everything involving our children was painful in some way. The emotions, whether they were joy, sorrow, love or pride, were so deep and sharp that in the end they left you raw, exposed and yes, in pain. The human heart was not designed to beat outside the human body and yet, each child represented just that - a parent's heart bared, beating forever outside its chest.” -Debra Ginsberg

After much playing and singing in her crib, Nora took an almost 2 hour nap (much needed since she has been waking up almost an hour earlier than usual this week!) She woke up from her nap in a great mood, which is nice because some afternoons, she wakes up like a grumpy bear/demon child, and it can take her the better part of an hour to get back to normal. Not today, though! She was ready to head out for a walk in the park as soon as we asked her.

So, off we went to the Northwest/Victor Ashe Greenway where Brad and I strolled while Nora ran along the path and trampled through the grass.

She's not terribly graceful, but she's super cute.

Though she be but little, she is fierce. -Shakespeare

From the park, we decided to go to Puleo's for dinner. Nora was a dream at the restaurant, sitting nicely in the booth with us, and just being generally sweet. She kept snuggling up to me and standing up in the booth to give me hugs. She's such a sweet snuggle baby.

Nora and Brad each gave me a Mother's Day card, and Nora brought home a Mother's Day poem from day care, too. For a present, Brad and I splurged on a combined Mother's Day/Father's Day gift by having last year's 365 blog turned into a hard cover book. I should have it in the mail this week. I can't wait!

Overall, I'd have to say it was a pretty perfect day. Nora was on her best behavior, and I was well cared for.

As for my own mother, I wish I could say that I got to see her today, but of course I didn't. Even if we had been home in Nova Scotia, it wouldn't have been much of a day to celebrate because she is sick as a dog in bed with what is probably the flu. We did send her some flowers from all her girls (all 6 of us!) I hope even though she is not well, she felt loved today on Mother's Day.

Week 18- Happy Birthday, Brad!

This week, Brad celebrated this big 4-3.

It's been a bit of a dreary week with lots of rain, and unfortunately, Brad had to work on his birthday. While he was getting set up for the UT vs. GA baseball game, Nora and I visited her BFF Amelia for a couple of hours. Nora loves going to "Mimi's" house because she has 10 times the number of toys that we do. We tried to get them to play with play doh, but they were far more interested in Amelia's red wagon among other things. They danced, they laughed, they ran, they squealed, and our 2 little girls ate what I think worked out to be an entire bag of microwave popcorn EACH. Allison and I lounged in our sweats and sipped diet cokes. A good time was had by all.

I got a message from Brad just as we were getting ready to leave Allison and Amelia's saying that the game was canceled due to the rain, so he didn't have to work until 10 or 11 like he was supposed to. Score!

We had a quiet evening since we didn't plan for him to be home, and I baked some blondie brownies, which are his favorite. I know the recipes I have tried in the past and now do not quite measure up the the blondies of his childhood, but I'm working on it!

Today, after church, we went to Dede and Grandpa's for lunch. Ben and Nancy are visiting from Georgia because Brooke graduates this week. It was nice to have them here to celebrate Brad's birthday.

If looks could kill...

Blowing out the candles on Daddy's happy cake.

The loves of my life. <3

Do I have something on my face?

This coming week will be a busy one at work for me. It's my first EOC week as a high school teacher! Here's hoping my students got lots of rest on this rainy weekend because their brains are going to have to work overtime for the next few days.

Week 17- Good Fun

Nora had some good fun this week. On Monday afternoon, she came home to find THIS in her livingroom.

She was even able to drag Daddy into the tent to play, though he doesn't really fit all that well.

There are some little mesh windows on the roof, and she loved walking around and peeking at her Daddy through them, as you can see.

This week, I also started stocking up on some summer clothes for Nora, as we don't have many summer hand-me-downs in her current size. She was very excited to try on some of her new clothes. She's getting rather good at dressing herself.

On Saturday, we had some more good fun at Ella's 2nd birthday party. All morning, Nora kept telling me "Ella house!" and "happy cake!" so I guess she had a pretty good understanding of where we were going.

Happy cake, indeed!

Week 16- Outside

"Outside" is one of Nora's top 5 favorite words right now, I think. It comes after "crackers", "Elmo", and "no". This week was a perfect week to spend time outside.

Even though we had a rainy day or two, we also had several days of sunshine. Brad took advantage of the nice weather, and mowed our yard. He was pretty proud of his accomplishment, so he took some pictures to commemorate our neatly manicured lawn.

 Nora got to enjoy the freshly cut grass, too. She loves hanging out in her lawn chair and chasing her ball around the yard.

I get it! I get it!

Got it!

Sometimes, though, I think she gets tired of having her picture taken. Check out this dirty look.

We decided that while our yard was nice and all, the Northwest/Victor Ashe Greenway was calling our names. Nora grabbed her favorite Dora hat and her baby doll, and we headed out for a leisurely stroll.

Nora's has two things that she loves about this walk. First, she loves to point and yell "water" as we walk along a small stream that runs for a good length of the greenway. The second thing is the horses (and the donkey) that live in a yard that backs up to the walk way.

Bye bye, Horses!

By the time we were done, Nora had walked a whole mile without being carried at all!

Week 15- Can You Tell Me How To Get...?

We were so excited this week to be able to take Nora to Charlotte, North Carolina, to see Sesame Street Live! I got the idea from some mommy friends of mine a couple of months ago, and Brad and I decided to make it Nora's "big" birthday gift. We checked with Allison and Hugh to see if they wanted to take Amelia, and a plan was made. This would be Nora's first out of state roadtrip!

We decided we'd make a whole weekend of it. On Friday, we arrived in Charlotte early-mid afternoon, and we went straight to a Children's Museum where Nora and Amelia ran around checking out all of the displays set up to encourage "imaginative play".

 

 

When we left the museum, we stopped by Target for a few things and then for dinner at Outback. We checked into the hotel just in time to get Nora a bath and to bed. I shared a bed with Nora, and she was so excited that it took her over an hour to get settled and fall asleep, but I have to admit, I rather enjoyed waking up to Nora using my face as her own personal pillow.

On Saturday, we got up, took advantage of the delicious and FREE breakfast in our hotel lobby, and then we met up with the Jarnagins to head to the big show. Nora and Amelia were adorable in their matching outfits. I love this picture because Amelia is giving Nora the stink eye.

Once the show got started, there are only 2 words I can think of to describe Nora's reaction to seeing her favorite furry friends up close.

Incredulous:

And awe-struck.

As the show was coming to a close, Nora was getting super sleepy.

She fell asleep in the car before we could even get to lunch.

We had hoped to go to a birthday party of a sweet little girl who lives in the Charlotte area. Her Mom is a mommy-friend of mine who I met online back when we were pregnant with our girls. Unfortunately, Nora woke up from this car nap with a bee in her bonnet, so to speak, and we just couldn't get our act together in time to make it to the party. That was my only disappointment of the whole weekend.

I'm so glad we made the trip. While Nora might not remember her first big concert event, seeing her enjoy herself in the moment made it time and money well spent.

Our next big road trip? New Jersey/Philadelphia in July! Maybe we'll find our way back to Nora's Sesame Street friends while we are up that way.