The things we teach our kids

Since I am getting to be quite the prego mamma, I have become much more lazy. I blame this, obviously, on the fact that I am carrying a baby inside of me. When Celie asks me to dance with her I respond with a hesitated sigh telling her that I can’t because my belly is too big or it hurts. I respond this way when she asks me to help clean up or push her in the laundry basket (which she is currently asking me to do) or push her on the swings in the hot hot sun. Today it was clean up time in her room and she had just been reprimanded for scraping crayons (with her fingernails – read my previous posts). I told her it was time to pick up the crayons and put them where they go. She replied, while griping her belly and pulling a sickly face, “I can’t, my belly hurts”. Ya, I know, I brought it upon myself. I think I will stop the laziness and work a little harder now.

Slide

Celie actually had fun going down the slide today! You don’t know what a milestone this is for her. For some reason she would climb up to the top of the slide, start to whine and then climb down and be done with it. She would then hit the swings and never want to leave. I think maybe the summer break from playgrounds helped her relax about the idea of going down a slide. She was so cute today. I saw her go down the first time and her face lit up as she got to the bottom. She came running to me telling me that she did it. I was in shock at first, but then so happy to finally see my daughter feel the joys of a slide. She of course went running up the steps to do it again, and again, and again. I love to see her happy and proud of her own accomplishments. We were both giggly and excited about it on the drive home from the park. She’s my best pal. For those of you that know Celie this news that Celie wouldn’t go down slides my have been a shock to you, but we all have our strange quarks.

Silly Sleepers

Yesterday Marty came home from school a little tired. I let him take a short nap before he had to watch Celie for the evening. When I called his name to wake him he jumped up and said “there’s a bug on the bed!”. In horror he started to swipe the bed with his hands to find it. I looked for it as well. He said it was a big bug. I looked at his groggy face and asked if it wasn’t just a dream. “No, No” he said. I just laughed and figured it was. It wasn’t until late last night before bed when he started laughing and asked me if he had thought there was a bug on the bed. He realized it was a dream and we had a good chuckle.

In the middle of the night Celie was wandering around the house crying and saying she needed to go potty – again. I was just up with her a few minutes before on the potty. I told her to go back to bed. She whined a little and then she was quiet. We all slept in this morning! Yea! It was nice. Marty got up to check on Celie because she doesn’t usually sleep that long. He found her curled up on the bathroom floor! She has such dedication to making it to the potty that she sleeps there! So, I enjoyed my two entertaining sleepers this week. What good memories.

Busy

I feel so busy! I like it. I believe I am happier when I stay busy and Celie as well. I actually have Marty babysitting 3 nights this week. Can you believe it. And he agreed. I think he is starting to regret it though. It is a little much all in one week. “MBA mom’s night out” is tonight and I am so excited to go. We get to finally be with each other without the kids. I wonder if anyone will act differently. He He. I will be starting institute class, library morning, continuing two playgroups, Relief Society activities, doc visits, prenatal classes, yada yada yada. Yea, I know, it’s a lot. I love it. Of course all of the at home activities and chores weren’t mentioned, but they are there. Just so you know; I made a peach cobbler (yes fresh peaches) the other day thanks to my SIL's easy recipe. It was very good! I feel proud when I make a good dish!

It’s a Boy

When I got back to Texas I was lucky enough to get another ultrasound to check gender, positioning, and all that stuff. I found out that it was a boy back in May when I was 17 ½ weeks along, but we just got a double check the other day when I was 33 ½ weeks. For sure a Boy! Marty and I are so happy to be having a second child. I have been lucky that this pregnancy has been good and I don’t have much to complain about! Sorry for those that have it rough. His head is down and nothing is missing in his little body – what good news. I am so relieved that everything is well right now. I am going to try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and I have only positive feelings about it. This boy is due October 13, 2006, yes, I know, Friday the 13^th! No worries. Babies don’t come on their due date anyway right? This picture we have is of the face, chest and arm. His forehead is in the top right corner and his chin is in the center of the picture. His chest is the white spot; bottom center. His right hand is resting on his cheek so his arm is bent and towards the top left side of the picture. If you still can’t see it, then oh well. You can wait to see him in real life. It is fun to get ultrasound pictures. I was so happy during the session that I was giggly and teary eyed. Oh what joy babies bring.

Potty Trained

Yes, it is true. Celie is potty trained now. I am so proud of her. As soon as we got back to Texas we let her run around the house “bottom-less” and that seemed to seal the deal for her. She is great and such a big girl. She is still a silly thing too. Her way of dancing to music now is either having Daddy throw her around in the air or walking in circles with her eyes closed hoping she doesn’t run into anything. Though, I have to say that it is funny when she runs into a wall or a couch. Celie has also adjusted to moving home very well. She had fun playing with her old, left behind toys and when she went to our first playgroup she walked into the house and said very loudly “Hello Friends”. She walked around to each baby and kid to touch their shoulder, greet them with a smile and say hi. All the moms got a kick out of that.

Back Home

We made it safely home to Texas! Celie did wonderful on the drive again. We are really being watched over. Marty was the one that had to endure the pains of the trip. Although I did get swelling in my legs and they hurt a bit. Ok, that is nothing compared to what poor Marty had to deal with. Since the car he drove was without air conditioning he was in the humid heat the whole time. Dehydration! He would barely eat food because he felt sick from the heat. I’m not sure how hot it really was, but we heard that in Oklahoma the heat index (humidity included) was around 110. He was literally fried. Well half of him anyway. We forgot to prepare him with sun screen so his whole left side of his upper body was burnt. It’s pretty funny looking actually.

We also ran into an accident that held us up for a while. With out the wind from the car moving, Marty got extra hot. We did, however, make good time. We left Sat. morning and made it to Oklahoma City that night. We then arrived at home a bit before 3:00 pm. Wow, I was surprised. A day and a half, I can do that. I probably could have made it to Lake Powell for the family vacation with out too much whining, but I have to admit that being with Marty for a nice relaxing week was nice.

Marty’s classes started up and he has taken on running in the evenings. What a motivated guy! I sure am proud of him. He has a good group to work with in one of his classes; which means that the class will be significantly less stressful. I am getting back to my playgroups and projects and I am enjoying it a lot. I missed my friends during the summer, but I guess it just makes me appreciate their friendship even more having been away from them. I am also more grateful for our furniture and the comforts of our fully furnished apartment! Being “without” for a while always helps humble a person. I am glad to be home and healthy. Good luck to Marty as he finishes his last semester! I am sure he will appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.

Internship Frustration

Marty has impressed his supervisor with his many workplace talents, of course. He has learned a lot about the auditing of controls for a large project called SOX for the company he is with. The other day they had their normal phone meeting from the SOX head honchos to see how their progress is going. There are hundreds of people listening in on this meeting even from a bunch of different countries. Marty said that they were requiring everyone to go back and redo all of their work because they wanted extra data. They blamed it on everyone else for not having it done already and were rude and unreasonable with their due date for the project. Poor Marty, and everyone else working on SOX, has to go over all of their previous work and do it over again. Of course he doesn’t have time to do this since we leave soon so the problem is on his supervisor. What a frustrating thing! I am so proud of the work Marty is doing so naturally we are frazzled about his internship ending on a sour note, but at least he was able to learn a lot about the workplace and handling this big project when knowing nothing about it. On the more positive side, we are able to stay a week longer so he can work. This will be good for us and it will obviously help out the company as well. We will be heading back to Texas on the 19^th of August to start his last semester of school. Yea! Wish us luck with the move.