Roll over...roll over

Here she is...eight months old and finally rolling over both ways. And she is a champ at rolling over both ways too! (I have a video below of her rolling over-she struggles a bit but don't we all sometimes :) ) I am very proud of her and have to remind myslef (and others) that she is only 8 months old. Okay, now it's time to vent a little bit...my little girl is perfect, perfectly cute and perfectly sweet. I don't expect her to be doing cartwheels right now...she is still a baby. I am tired of the moms at church and Wal-Mart coming up to me asking, "Well, has she started doing (insert developmental skill here) yet? N000000? Well, my (insert name of perfect child here) started doing that when she/he was 2 days old. Are you worried? Of course not! I'm sure she will eventually do that...hopefully." Then the mom looks at Nora very worried and walks off shaking her head. Look lady, I'm tired of the pity looks! What really gets me is when they ask if I have been working with her. Um, no, I just plop her down in her crib and go sit on the couch, watch soap operas, and do my nails. OF COURSE I work with her. Leave her alone!!!!!!! She is probably going to be smarter than the rest of those kids anyways. Okay, thanks for letting me vent!

Here is the video (by the way, the toy does not actually hit her in the head, it just looks that way).

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Not Dog Fans

My husband and I are not animal fans. I don't know why, we both had animals growing up. He had several dogs and cats and I had a dog or two. So, I don't know where we got these attitudes. We tolerate animals when in the presence of them, but don't look to add one to our family any time soon. Don't start hating me yet...I think animals are great! I love the look of a boy with his dog. I cry over the documentaries where a puppy is trained to be a seeing eye dog to help a blind person. A K-9 dog where I live recently died, I was captivated by the news footage and especially sad when his partner was interviewed. I do have soft spot in my heart for DOGS (not any other animal though...sorry cat lovers). I just don't want to own one...right now that is. I am sure when Nora is old enough to ask for one, we will give in and go pick out the most adorable mutt we can find. But, the dog will live OUTDOORS! That is my one stipulation! Our backyard is not gigantic, it's big enough for patio furniture, some really pretty flowerbeds, and a future swingset, but not a good enough playground for a 50 pound dog (I don't want a little dog...I'm thinking golden retriever or lab-a dog that size). We need a bigger yard before we adopt a dog-I think it's only fair because we really will try very hard to be good owners! (Next door to us are the most annoying dogs on the planet. As soon as we step foot outside, they bark constantly the ENTIRE time we are in the backyard. After a few hours, we start to ignore the yapping coming from the other side of the fence, but it really does grate on our nerves!-just a side story, thought you would like to know) I'm sure you're wondering why in the world I feel the need to write about this. This leads me to Nora's Halloween costume. What am I dressing my little girl as? A dog. Not a great big dog, nope, a poodle. I couldn't resist...the costume was so precious and I knew she would make it even more adorable. So, here she is, the poodle of parents who aren't crazy about animals...kind of ironic, huh?

An update

Well, I figured I would update about our lives. It seems like it has been awhile since I have done that.

Right now, Nora is a little sick. I took her to the doctor this morning and he gave her a prescription for a cough medicine and eye drops. So, now, I guess it is up to me to torture her every 2 hours by putting drops in her eye. She only has to take the cough medicine for 5 days, so by Friday we will hopefully be free of that. Yesterday Nora and I didn't go to church because when she woke up, she was coughing like a seal and her eye was matted closed...gross! I suppose I should be thankful, this is her first cold in almost 8 months of life. And, knock on wood, the doctor said her ears looked clear!

She still refuses to roll over on her stomach. We practice every single day, many times. But every time I put her on her stomach, she flips right back over onto her back. I put so many enticing things just out of her reach and she is not tempted at all. The most enticing of all...my cell phone...does not even tempt her to roll towards it. At this point, it looks like I may have to call in an expert. I heard one time that if your child does not crawl and goes straight to walking, they have a more difficult time learning to read. Well, the reading specialist in me is terrified that this might happen. So, to compensate, I am overloading her with read alouds. The rational, level headed person in me laughs at this and knows that she will be just fine. Finding a balance between the two voices is hard.

She has a tooth poking through! It is creeping upwards and everyday, shows up a little more. It is very sweet and she hasn't seemed too bothered by the jaggedy thing. She also has been talking up a storm for over a month. When I say "talking" I mean, "mamamama", "babababa", and "dadadadada". It melts my heart! That is how she wakes me up in the morning-talking.

We took family pictures on Saturday (not professional, just with a friends really nice camera). We also took some with our camera, but when we got home, we couldn't find out camera anywhere! I am still searching and hopefully it will turn up very soon!

I am going to be teaching for Harding University again in the spring. I am actually going to be teaching two nights, but only one class. On Monday nights I will have to drive to Fort Smith (1 hour away), but Matthew and Nora will get to go with me. Matthew's grandmother lives in Ft. Smith, so they will hang out with her while I teach. Then on Tuesday nights, I will teach the same class, but up here in Bentonville. I'm glad to be contributing to our family income again in the spring...God is definitely watching out for us!

Life is keeping us very, very busy! I never imagined it would be so hectic! What I can't believe is that Nora will be 8 months old on the 23rd. Maybe we'll find our camera soon and I can post some of our fall family pics...but until then, here are some that we took a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

An invitation please!

Some of my blogging world friends have suddenly been sending out invitations to view their blog. I'm sad to say that I have not received an invitation. Am I the kid that thinks she's cool, but really everyone is talking about her behind her back saying how sad it is that she wants to go to the party, but no one has invited her? I hope not. I tried to get on one of my favorite blogs recently (Ashley Mills, you better be reading this because I am talking to you!) and I was denied access because I am not a "cool" kid. I really thought I had commented enough and shown enough interest in her fantastic blog to warrant an invite. Sigh...Obviously, I am a loser and way out of the loop. If the rest of you decide (and by the rest of you, I mean everyone listed to the right of this post) to go top secret on me and don't give me the keys to unlock your blogging door, it has been fun and I have enjoyed every letter you have typed :).

*****Ashley-I love you blog and am so sad to not be able to read it! You were my daily laugh and your quirky way with words was an inspiration to me. Let me know what I can do to come to the cool party! I will give you my lunch money and do your homework for you. I sound desperate, I know, it's pitiful, but seriously...I need my dose of supa!

TMX

Tickle Me Elmo is celebrating his 10th birthday with the TMX. This is the most hilarious toy I have seen in a very long time. And apparently they are flying off the shelves like the original Elmo (like hotcakes). I have heard of people paying crazy amounts for the little furry guy. Someone on EBAY paid over $100 to make sure their kid was smiling on Christmas morning (Fisher Price is only asking $40...when I say "only" I want you to know that I think that is a great big asking price for a kid's toy). I will probably not knock grown women over to nab one for Nora, but I definitely see the appeal. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of witnessing the TMX, click here and then click on "See It In Action". You will also see how it could get EXTREMELY annoying for your child (or other adult) to tickle it over and over. I admit that the red monster is cute and hope Nora has a good friend with parents that went out and fought other parents for one, so she can go over to their house one day and play.