The jolliest man of all...

didn't help the disposition of my little girls. We went tonight to have their picture made with Santa. It is a little bit better than last years picture, but not much. As soon as Nora spotted Santa, she clung to me and was climbing up me. I guess she figured that if she was on my head he wouldn't be able to reach her. We still forced her in his lap. Elyn was calm until she heard Nora crying and she decided to join in. This is the best picture of the ones that the elf got. Maybe next year will be better.

Thanksgiving and more

We had a great time at Thanksgiving visiting Matthew's family. We all went to Little Rock, where his sister and brother-in-law live. Here is a slideshow from the visit:

We have been extremely busy since we got back home. Matthew is working late every night on a research paper and project. We are ready for the weekend! I hope to post more later on this weekend, but right now, I have a baby to feed. It's never ending.

Happy Thanksgiving

A lot of firsts

*****WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD

So much has been going on since last Thursday. Since I have been using blogging as a "baby book" of sorts, I am going to attempt to write everything down. I apologize ahead of time if you are not a family member and choose to read. I warned you!

Nora, Elyn, and I went to Texas last Thursday. We FLEW to Texas! I am officially insane to be flying with a newborn and a toddler. To say I was nervous about it would be an understatement, I had no idea what could happen. Thankfully, it was nice and easy! Several people took pity on me and offered to lend a hand. I am sure they were a little taken back when I would look at them and shout, "YES! Oh, thank you!!!!! Could you carry her (Nora) on/off the plane for me????" Little Miss Social was not worried at all when complete strangers (all women by the way, not a single man offered to help!) would pick her up and cart her around. We'll teach her to avoid strangers later.

Here we are on the plane. Nora is watching Barney (her absolute favorite...he's getting annoying so I'm ready for her to love someone different) with her pacifier. It was a special day...she usually doesn't get any paci-loving until she in bed. I was hoping the paci would keep her quiet and keep her ears from hurting. Notice Elyn in the baby carrier. That is where she stayed the entire time...sound asleep!

Thursday night was a family dinner at my mom's house. It was so good to see everyone and Elyn got plenty of lovin'. This was her first time to meet everyone.

We tried to get a "great-grandchild" picture that night too. There are 5 great-grandkids. The ages are: 5 years, 21 months, 18 months, 6 months, and 7 weeks. Before you even see the pictures, I'm sure you can imagine how the "photo shoot" turned out. It was hysterical!

The best picture

What the rest of the pictures look like...Elyn is the only one not moving or crying-what a good baby.

Friday I got my hair cut (2 1/2 inches shorter!) and we hit a major sale at Macy's. Most everything was 50% off, then 40% off of that, and finally, an additional 20% was taken off! The girls are set for the fall and winter. They got some really cute Christmas dresses too.

Saturday was busy! My sister and I took the girls to Weatherford to visit my friend Julie. Julie and I met in 7th grade band. I still laugh when I think about us in band. At our middle school, every child had to have a fine arts elective. The choices were band, drama, or choir. When I registered for school, the only openings were in band. So, I chose the drums. (I am literally sitting here laughing...me, play the drums, hilarious! I wasn't any good.) Anyway, that was the last year Julie and I were in band. But, we were best friends all through middle school and high school.

Julie has two adorable boys and Nora had a blast playing with Tate. Elyn and Grant weren't really all that excited about playing.

Elyn, Julie, Tate, Nora, Me, and Grant

Tate rode Nora around on his tractor. She loved this!

Tate taught Nora how to jump in the leaves, her first time. He was a great teacher!

I wanted to get a picture of all four kids...you can see how well it turned out

After visiting with Julie and her boys, we headed to Pizza Place for lunch. Pizza Place is where Marty and I both worked while were in high school. Roger Grizzard, the owner, was also our economics teacher in high school. He is also our friend and we love to see him whenever we go back to Weatherford.

Saturday, after Nora's nap, we went to the nursing home to see my Uncle Raymond. Nora loved riding around in the wheelchair.

Uncle Raymond, me, Elyn, and Nora

Saturday night we went to the circus!!!!!! The Shrine Circus is the circus that I used to go to as a little girl. My grandfather was a shriner and we went every year to see him and all the fun acts. I was so excited that Nora and Elyn were going to get to go also. I'm sure they won't remember a thing about the circus (obviously Elyn will remember nothing), but we have pictures to prove they were there. My uncle is a shriner and he got us some fantastic seats. Thanks Uncle Bill!

Me and Nora with Uncle Bill (notice his hat (called a fez) )

Nora in her fez, waving at the performers

Elyn in her fez, wondering what all the commotion is about

Bo the elephant was my favorite thing about the circus

Sunday we went and ate brunch and then headed to the airport. I was just as nervous about flying back home. Just because flight #1 had gone smoothly did not mean that flight #2 would be the same. Thankfully though, it was a good flight. Nora had a bit of a meltdown the last few minutes of the flight, but she was exhausted. We were so happy to see Matthew again!

Headed home!

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Sunday night we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner with our small group from church. We love our small group and the family they have become to us. We are truly thankful for them and their friendships!!!

Later that evening, Nora got sick. She threw up about 4 times and had a low grade fever. Why is it that when little kids throw up, you never expect it? She was sitting there, talking to me and Matthew, and all of a sudden...vomit everywhere! I must say that I am glad that Matthew was holding her at the time, sorry honey! She was pitiful all night long and the adults in the house got very little sleep. Monday, though, she was back to her old self.

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I took Elyn to the doctor today for her 2 month check-up (even though she is only 7 weeks old...I don't know, I didn't make the appointment, they made it for me while we were still in the hospital). She weighs 10 pounds 1 ounce and is 23 inches long. She is in the 45th percentile for weight and 75th percentile in height. She is gaining way more weight that Nora ever did and is considerably longer than Nora was at the same age. I just think she is getting more to eat. I am more relaxed this time and the nursing is going better. The doctor says she is perfect! Of course. She got her first shots too. She was asleep when they gave them to her. She cried for about 30 seconds and then went right back to sleep. I am hoping that she does not have a fever tonight because of them!

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Last week, Nora found some markers in a drawer. Well, I set her up at the table and let her color with them. She loved it and did a pretty good job. She needed help getting the lids on and off though. She got done coloring and went to play with her other toys. It was pretty quiet for a while, so I went to see what was going on. This is what I found...I guess she figured out the cap thing herself.

No, that's not a mole on the side of her face, it's marker

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There are a lot more pictures on our flickr account. If you have stayed with me this long, way to go! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!

I. LOVE. DVR.

Seriously, I love it! Here are the reasons why:

• 1. I don't have to throw Nora in the bathtub, let her play for 20 seconds, then yank her out, rip a comb through her hair, jam some pajamas on her, brush her teeth while trying to salvage some of her gums, speed read through her books and prayer, toss her into bed with quick kiss to the air to make it to the viewing of my favorite show.
• 2. When Nora wakes up from her afternoon nap (oh, how I miss those morning naps!) I simply have to push a few buttons on the remote and, voila, she has The Backyardigans, Barney, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to entertain her for a few minutes so I don't have to. (Those of you who are judging me for the last few words typed before the parentheses, don't, you know you do the same thing and thank God each day for animation.)
• 3. We don't have to jump in the car as soon as the last Amen is said at home Bible study to make it back for my all-time favorite reality show. Although, I am a little disturbed by the couples that were chosen to represent this time. The goth couple is super weird, I am really glad the lesbian ministers were so slow last week and were eliminated, and the Asian dad really needs to give his daughter a break. I guess I'll have to audition for the next season so that someone "normal" is on :).
• 4. Middle of the night nursing. Really that is all that needs to be said, but I will elaborate (of course I will). I have been DVRing Oprah everyday and watching it around 4am. Sometimes though, I just delete it before even watching it. She is so liberal! It really drives me nuts how she thinks she knows everything. I guess when you have as much money as she does, you can pretend to know everything and whoever your guest is for the day will wholeheartedly agree with you.
• 5. The rewind/pause button. Not so much my favorite aspect of DVR, but my husband would probably put this at the top of his list. These buttons are used quite frequently when a sporting event (of any kind) is on the tube.

So, there you have it...the reasons for my love affair with my digital video recorder (is that even what DVR stands for?). If you don't know how wonderful this piece of technology is, go get it. Maybe Santa will bring it to you if you put it on your list.

Trip to Searcy

Elyn took her first road trip last weekend. We went to Searcy to see Matthew's grandparents. (Nora took the same trip when she was 9 days old! It was to celebrate Matthew's grandparents 65 wedding anniversary.)

Matthew's grandparents just moved into an assisted living place. Papa is 92 years old and Grandma is 86 (I think). They lived in the same house in Searcy for almost 30 years and recently decided it was time for them to let someone else do all the work for them.

They are living at River Oaks Village. It is super nice! Everything is brand-new. So new, in fact, that only 5 of the rooms are being used. I think Grandma said there is space for 40 residents. Papa is the only male so far.

We arrived Friday night around 10pm (our goal was 8pm...who were we kidding?) and went to Matthew's Uncle John's house. His Uncle John lives in a big house...very nice when you have an infant and don't want everyone to wake up in the middle of the night when she does. Nora enjoyed playing outside Saturday morning before we went to see Papa and Grandma.

We spent the day with P and G. They loved getting to see Nora and Elyn. Elyn spent the entire day sound asleep. She wasn't very social. Her sister, however, was into everything! She spent a lot of time running up and down the halls, burning off energy. We did venture out to the park after lunch and that seemed to release some of her energy as well.

We really enjoyed our visit and hope to visit again soon...enjoy the pictures!

It's late Elyn, go to sleep!

Playing outside at Uncle John's house

Grandma and Elyn (Grandma and Elyn share a name-"Ann")

Papa and Elyn

This is what she did all day long-sleep!

Nora modeling the hat and shrug that Grandma knitted for her

My little lady

Tonight we came back from a less than 24 hour trip to Searcy to visit Matthew's grandparents. I have some pictures to post and things to write about our visit with them, but wanted to post about something that happened tonight while it is still fresh in my mind.

Before driving out of Searcy, we stopped at Arby's for dinner. We chose the very back booth away from everyone to enjoy our meal (always a good idea when you have a super social kid who is constantly telling everyone hi and bye). Nora wasn't really into her chicken strips very much because of all the snacks she had at Papa and Grandma's...they loaded her down!

We were finishing up our meal when Nora lifts up her bottom (just one cheek...you know, the-leaning-over-to-the-side-one-cheek-lift) and toots. I was focusing on Elyn at the time and heard Matthew say, "Did you just hear her?" He was snickering, as any good male does when bodily functions occur. Nora must have sensed that what she had just done was a little funny because she proceeded to repeat the one-cheek-lift and toot again. It was followed by laughter from Nora and her daddy. And she did it again. Followed by more laughter. I am thinking, "Well, it really is funny, but should I be encouraging my "little lady" to toot on command in public?" Before I had time to think much more about it, Nora lifts her bottom again, tries to toot, nothing happens, she looks at Matthew, puts her hands in the air and says, "All done!"

I know I am not doing it justice, but it was hilarious! Matthew and I laughed so hard.

Ahhh, what a delicate flower we are raising.

Thank you

Just a quick update on my little bitty baby. She is doing much better! Thank you to everyone for the advice and help! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who has to deal with a fussy baby.

Elyn still has her "moments", but they are ending much sooner and are not as frequent.

I have been reading "Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Child". It reminded me that I am not allowing her to nap nearly as much as she should. Even though Nora and Elyn are only 19 months apart, there are several things that I forgot. Re-reading the book has helped me remember. I think her demeanor has become better, in part, because she is sleeping more.

Speaking of sleeping, I fed her last night at 10:30pm and she did not wake up to eat again until 4:30 am!!!!!!! I was shocked when I looked at the clock! I was also in quite a bit of pain (nursing moms, you know exactly what I am talking about). I felt refreshed, like I had slept for 12 hours.

I have some cute pictures to post, but Nora just woke up from her nap, so I need to end this. Again, thank you for the encouragement! It has really helped!

Cry me a river

Well, it looks like we have been blessed, yet again, with a temperamental baby. Why, oh why, are we so lucky? Elyn is keeping us on our toes with her "personality". She is not a barrel of fun lately.

Examples:
**She is in the middle of nursing and decides, just for the heck of it, to scream bloody murder. It's especially fun when I am nursing her at church. The walls aren't that thick and I am sure most of the church can hear, what must sound like, me beating my infant daughter. Nice.

**She has decided that she does not need long naps during the day. Oh sure, she'll sleep for a few minutes, sometimes even a whole hour, here and there. But she is not taking the beautiful 2-3 hour naps that her little body requires.

**She does not like her bouncy seat, swing, or any other "fun" toy that we have for her. No, her favorite toy is ME. She likes to be held. Oh brother.

**She is an expert spitter-upper (pretty sure that is definitely not a word). The kid can spit! We go through about 12 burp cloths a day. My washing machine is working over time on her clothes alone.

Nora was quite fussy for the first few months of her life too. I know, I know, the ugly "c" word jumps to the forefront of conversation...colic! Whatever it is, it is getting old. We want three kids, I should start praying right now that the 3rd kid will be calm and cool.

Any suggestions? Any advice? Any good cocktail recipes? (Okay, kidding, but when your baby has been crying for 3 hours straight, a cocktail (or ten) sounds pretty good!)

Right now, Elyn is sleeping peacefully in her bassinet. That is one thing she IS good at...sleeping at night. And for that I should be very, very thankful! Here are some pictures of her during her finest moments:

At church this morning. They were wearing matching dresses and we were trying to get a family picture. Elyn was not into it at all!

Please ignore "shirtless Nora" and focus on "screaming Elyn"...she's the reason for this picture anyways. Shirtless Nora looks like she is trying to escape and get far, far away from screaming Elyn. I don't blame her.

There is the peaceful baby that we thought we had pre-ordered back in January. I think our order got mixed up somewhere...

This is just a hilarious picture of Nora that I wanted to throw in. What in the world are we going to do when she starts dressing and accessorizing herself?

Halloween night and 1 month old!

We had a nice time Halloween evening. Nora, Elyn, and I went over to some friends house for dinner and trick or treating. Matthew had class Wednesday, so he wasn't able to join us. Here are some pictures from that night:

Nora and her friend, John David, riding from house to house on his Gator. They stashed their loot in the back. Nora would hold on for dear life each time John David started driving

Trick or treat!


Even Elyn got in on the actionMy little ladybugs

Yesterday, Elyn turned one month old. It was an exciting day for her...she had to go to the doctor. The cold that Nora had last week was passed onto Elyn. Poor baby! She had a ton of goop coming out of her eye. The doctor prescribed an eye drop and she is well on the road to recovery.

One month old!!!!! It's so hard to believe that we have only had her a month. It seems like she has been a part of our family for ever! When Nora says her name it sound like "Eddie".

Look at the poor eye! It's so red!

Today, I have been sick. I had to call Matthew this morning at 8:15 to come home. I had already thrown up twice and didn't know how I was going to manage with both girls while I was feeling so bad. My sweet husband came home and took care of all three of us. I am still feeling pretty gross, but I think I will make it.