7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

I went to Columbia Community Church's Kids Consignment sale for the first time today. It was a great deal! Not only was I able to purchase a bunch of like-new toys for Abby they were much, much cheaper than I would have expected to pay. Nate figured I'd spent around $100 for the 6 toys and 2 outfits but I only shilled out $24! An even better part of this deal is that a decent amount of the proceeds from the sale go to a local charity. I will definitely be attending their Spring Consignment.

--- 2 ---

I once again reconfirmed that when the house is a mess I get pretty grumpy. It's amazing what a generally picked up house can do to "pick up" (get it!) one's spirits. :-) Yes, I recognize the lameness of the pun!

--- 3 ---

Abby has been switching her naptimes around again and I'm not sure I like this latest development. She misses her previous 9am nap and stays up until noon or 12:30pm where she sleeps for around two hours. Then around 4:30pm she wants to go down again but refuses to sleep in her crib and instead will only sleep in my arms. If I move, she's up. That lasts until usually 5 or 5:15pm when my arms fall asleep. She's up until 7:30pm bedtime. I've tried getting her to go down earlier in the day to at least have two naps decently spaced apart from each other and nighttime sleeping, but no luck so far.

--- 4 ---

Nate is in cruchtime with studying for his exam and I can tell that he's quickly getting to the "I've had enough" point. I don't know whether to 'encourage' him to continue studying pretty much every night, or to back off and let him have a few nights off before hitting the books/notes hard again. His test is October 28th and between now and then he has a week in North Carolina for work, a half-week of vacation days, and a weekend wedding. So much in so little time.

--- 5 ---

Abby has learned how to make the "yum" sound when eating. It's not enough that I'd classify it as a real word, but it's definitely the "hmm" sound you make when something's yummy. It's really cute to see her lunge for a spoonful of food then say "Yum/Hmm" when eating it.

--- 6 ---

I'm still trying to lose the weight I've gained from being pregnant with Abby, but I've lost enough that I'm going to get out the non-maternity clothes from the attic. I really hope I can find a few of my 'fat' outfits to pull out from the boxes and start wearing. I'm tired of the tops/bottoms that float on me right now, but am nervous that I'm not quite thin enough to get back into some of my old clothes. Oh, well. I'll keep working at it and hopefully I'll get into them sooner rather than later.

--- 7 ---

Nate brought me flowers last night. No reason, just wanted me to know I was loved. Gosh, I love him!

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September A Year Ago

I realized this past week that Season Premieres were starting up for all my favorite shows. It's funny how times change. Last year I had my work calendar highlighted with the premiere dates/times of all of the shows I watched so I'd know what days I had the TV (and what days I would let Nate have it to make up for my TV watching that he didn't enjoy). My line-up typically included Grey's Anatomy, Bones, House, The Biggest Loser, 19 Kids and Counting, Ace of Cakes, Jon and Kate Plus 8, Table for 12, and a few others whose names I can't recall. Basically I had at least one show on every night that I would watch. Granted, many times I'd DVR the show to watch at a later time but for the most part I knew that Tuesday thru Thursday nights were parked in front of the TV getting my television watching in.

Fast forward to this week and along came a realization of how different my life is. 1) I had no idea that this was season premiere week. None whatsoever. It wasn't until I saw a headline for a Grey's Anatomy episode review that I realized I'd missed a bunch of my shows. 2) We currently don't have a TV (see previous post Electronics Fear Me for explanation why) so if I did want to watch something it'd be on my tiny 17" laptop. 3) Since I'm a Stay at Home Mom I find that I really look forward to talking to Nate when he gets home from work, showing him Abby's latest 'trick', and just enjoying my family time. TV time doesn't seem as high up on the list any more.

Now, I will fully admit that I still keep up to date on 19 Kids and Counting through my iTunes subscription to the season. For those that know me, they know that I LOVE the Duggar family. No, I don't agree with everything they do but I truly enjoy my 30 or so minutes of wholesome entertainment. I don't have to worry about Abby watching it with me (and seeing nakedness/violence or hearing vulgarities) and I get some neat parenting tips, too.

But when I look at my television habits and how they've changed over the last year I really am surprised. I, who once left a friend's dinner gathering early to catch the voting results episode of American Idol, now don't miss the lack of television in the house and really only watch a little bit every few days. My how times change. Hopefully I can keep up this minimum TV time after we purchase a new TV!

It's the Little Things in Life

Abby takes after her mother in finding joy in the little things. Here's a video of Abby entertaining herself while I was folding laundry. I thought it was adorable!

I know I haven't blogged in a while, but frankly we're not doing much exciting these days. Nate is intensely studying for his PE (Professional Engineer) exam, so that means that we're at home with Nate in the study and me watching Abby in the other parts of the house. He takes his test at the end of October so I hope life will get a little more "blog postable" then.



Abby Almost Crawls!

Abby is 'this close' to crawling. She can move each hand and leg separately in a crawling motion but putting them all together is still tough for her. Makes for some cute rocking back and forth from side to side, though! Also, look at those chunky arms. Love them!

Abby Time

It's once again been demonstrated to me that Abby will do things when she's darn well ready to and not a minute before. Nate and I have been talking about changing the way we put Abby down at night (naps are the next step) in the hopes of making it easier on Nate when I'm not there as I'm normally Abby's main putterdowner (yep, I like that word!). Our deal was that I would nurse her and then slowly start rocking her less and less before putting her down in the hopes that eventually I could nurse, rock for comfort for a few minutes, then put her in bed awake to have her fall asleep on her own. I figured this would take a while as we normally rock her to complete sleep.

The last few nights it's been a real adventure in Abby antics as she stretches, refuses nursing then cries because she wants back on to nurse, needs her paci right NOW, etc. So tonight I mentally prepared myself for a long putterdowner (hee!) session. On top of that she got really fussy after dinner (as she was tired) and we ended up giving her a bath earlier than normal which meant that our nighttime routine got started off and finished earlier than normal. So I nursed Abby while she was pretty much wide awake, went into the nursery and rocked her until her eyes got tired, put her in her crib where she promptly woke up, and picked her up to rock her again. Not two minutes later she was stretching and fussing in a way that tells me she wants out of my arms. So I put her in her crib, duck out of sight as I tend to trigger cries when she sees me and I'm not doing what she wants, and eventually leave the room while she's wide awake.

Nate and I went out on the back patio to play chess while I listened to her playing around in her crib. I figured in a short time one of us would pause the game to put her down as I figured she'd start crying soon. After an intense round (I 'almost' beat him!) I realized that Abby was quiet. Huh. She totally put herself to sleep. This is honestly the first time she's ever done this while in her crib. I'm flabbergasted. I know that tomorrow night will probably not be the same as tonight, but Holy Hannah I didn't expect the first go-round of putting herself to sleep to go so well! It's just another reminder that Abby likes to do things when she wants to do them and not a minute before. It's a great lesson for me to learn patience as my schedule no longer dictates my life. :-) I wouldn't have it any other way!

September 11, 2001

Ten years ago today, I was working out with Nicki Nikodym and Krista Lowe at Washington State University's (WSU) fitness center. Nicki and I were running around the track when we noticed that a number of students were gathering around the TV in the lounge area. Each time we went around it seemed as if more and more kids were gathering. Finally, we decided to check out for ourselves what was going on. That's when we learned that a plane had hit the World Trade Center (WTC)  and it was a pretty awful scene. After a few minutes of watching the news coverage we went back to our sorority house (Sigma Kappa) to get ready for classes. While getting ready we suddenly heard some sisters talking about how a second plane had hit the WTC and newscasters were now starting to talk about how this wasn't an accident but perhaps some type of attack. Finally, the talk cemented and it was acknowledged that we were under attack from terrorists.

I remember being so confused and scared about what was going on. Everything seemed to be happening in the East Coast, but even over a thousand miles away I didn't feel secure. It was like the safe, happy college world of carefree days and little to no responsibility were taken from me in an single moment. I went off to my E-Commerce class even though I didn't want to miss any of the news coverage, but (being the good student) also didn't want to miss class. I was really disappointed when our professional said that the university has decided to continue classes as usual and except for breaks the TVs weren't to be on. So I spent an hour trying to pay attention and figuring out if I should skip the rest of classes that day or continue. When I got out of class my decision was made for me. Krista met me at the door saying that my sister, Katie, had called and really wanted to talk to me.

The next hour or so was spent trying to convince my sister that Dad wasn't going to be called up to active duty, go to war, and die.

See, my Dad is a Marine. While he's now USMC, Retired at the time he was in the Reserves. As Dad was gone during Desert Storm we both knew that with these terrorist actions war was probably a likely outcome, and since my Dad is very much a Marine if he was called to defend his country he would willingly go and serve. While we didn't truly understand about the possibility of death during Dad's Desert Storm service (I was 11 and Katie 8) we both remember what it was like not having him at home for almost a year. I think growing up we were both affected (both good and bad) by this. So the possibility of having our (sorry Dad!) older, bad knees, slower running, out of active duty for a long time Father go to fight a young man's war was really, really scary. Having to console my sister while she was a Senior in high school (who should be feeling immortal and like the world was in the palm of her hands) was not something I ever wanted to do. But we got through that phone call and little by little we got through the day, and then the next, and then the next.

I think being in the Pacific Northwest meant that we felt the overall feeling of being scared during the events but we truly couldn't understand the horror of what the people on the airplanes, in the Towers, in the Pentagon, and on the streets in those areas felt that day. Seeing the news footage and pictures brings it a little closer to home, but I will admit that I was glad for the distance. The real fear from this day didn't come to me until almost seven years later when my brother, also a Marine, was activated to duty for Iraqi Freedom and spent almost a year de-bombing IEDs, capturing 'bad guys', and trying to weed out terrorists from Iraq. Regardless of your feelings for America being in Iraq my brother was there because of 9/11 and I feared for his safety every single day he was gone. I thank God he returned to us with a healthy body and sane mind as I know that many did not.

Today, as I look back over the last ten years I see both good and back that came from the affects of 9/11. I see a larger government presence (which I don't believe is a good thing) but I also see a country that came together to celebrate life instead of falling apart by focusing on the death and destruction of that day. I know a lot of people are trying to explain to their children what this day meant and means for our country and I'm glad I don't have to do that yet. How do you explain evil to innocence? How do you explain horror and fear to someone who only knows about playgrounds and ice cream?

What I know is that I'm thankful for all the men and women who were heroes the day of 9/11 in trying to save others' lives and I'm thankful to the men and women who were heroes by defending on country both on American soil and foreign. This day will be a day that I, and my family, will always remember and will never forget. I hope to have the wisdom to teach Abby (and any other future children we may be blessed with) what it means to be an American, how you can't let bad people try to destroy what you hold dear, and how the best way to win is to come together and rejoice in what you still have.

To all who lost their lives this day and in the war days after, I honor you.

Abby Reads a Book

Nate and I have been reading to Abby since day 1. At first it was reading out loud whatever we happened to be reading at the time, which made for some interesting story time for her. Nate with his Economist and me with Harry Potter. However, it soon became more fun to read her books that were appropriate for her age. In doing so I found that she soon learned to love turning the book pages herself. She doesn't care if I've stopped reading the page or not, she just wants to turn those pages as fast as she can. It's so cute!

Abby Gets Baptised!

On Saturday, September 3rd we (finally!) baptised Abby. In the Catholic faith it's tradition to baptise a child when they're an infant rather than when the child is older or asks to be baptised themselves. The belief is that this is the first formal step into a relationship with God and it's a covenant that the parents and Godparents make with God regarding the child to raise them (the child) with a belief in God. In other words, Nate and I made a promise to God that we would raise Abby with a belief in Him. Abby herself was anointed with blessed oil and water as her own symbol of becoming a member of Christ's church and having her soul physically marked with Christ's love.

I say finally because, with Nate not being Catholic, some Catholic things take a bit longer as Nate likes to digest them to fully understand what's being asked of him. I appreciate the fact that Nate doesn't blindly walk into things but wants to fully agree with what's being asked of him. We went to our baptism prep class the first week in July and then tried to figure out when our next available weekend would be for the baptism. Do you know that our next available weekend was Labor Day weekend? It's crazy how busy we are! I wasn't such a fan of the late date (Abby was almost 7 months old when she was baptised) but better late than never!

I had everything planned to a T. We would baptise Abby smack in the middle of her awake time so she'd be fully fed and alert and right after the baptism we'd head home, nurse, and put her to sleep. This would allow the adults to cook and eat lunch without a fussy, grabby baby and then when hands and arms were free Abby would be up and ready to play.

Instead, having family staying with us meant that Abby got WAY, WAY off schedule. This meant that we went to the church right as Abby wanted to go to sleep. Oy vey. But it also gave us some funny moments. One of which was Father Champeaux, who was so awesome talking over a crying baby, finally giving up on explaining the anointment steps of the ceremony to our audience and saying "Oh, it doesn't matter let's just move on" in his dead-pan way. Definitely looses the humor in the telling, but it was great. The second funny part was how much I sweated during the ceremony. And by sweating I mean SWEATING! I was warm going into the church, then got warmer holding Abby for pictures before the ceremony. Next I got nervous about holding up the ceremony when Father said it was time to get started and we weren't 100% ready. After that I got even warmer holding Abby during the service. It got to the point that I had beads of sweat running down my face and dropping onto my shirt. I kept trying to wipe my face but even Nate blowing air on my forehead didn't help. Of course, as soon as the whole deal is done and we're leaving the church I'm back to normal sweat and temperature. Just my life!

Overall, it was a perfect day for a baptism. I'm so happy that Abby has been formally united with God and I feel like a good Catholic momma. Now that Nate knows what's all involved with a baptism I hope that our next babies will be baptised much earlier!

Now for the onslaught of pictures!

Abby and I. Abby is in her baptismal gown that was made by Great-Grandma Junkin and has been worn by many of the Junkin (my mom's) side of the family. It was the gown I was baptised in. Her bonnet was made by her Great Auntie Sue for my baptism. I love the passing on of the family baptismal gown to my daughter! 

A better view of the gown and how tired my baby was.

Abby with her proud parents.

Abby with her Godparents. Her Godmother was my sister, Katie, and her Godfather was my dad, Doug.

My siblings (Katie and David) and my niece/Goddaughter (Haylee).

Father blessing Abby.

Father pouring the baptismal water of Abby's head. She's baptised!

Also note the wet ring around the neckline of my shirt. This isn't baby drool, it's my sweat! I told you I got hot. :-)

Holding the baptismal candle during a prayer for Abby. Saint Susanne was specifically mentioned as a baptismal Saint. So neat that she has a birthname Saint!

After her baptism with Father Champeaux.

Abby expressing her dislike of being kept up after her naptime as well as being hungry.

Abby's pretty cake.

Abby grabbing the cake frosting while I looking at my Mom taking the picture. I totally didn't notice this until she's already gotten a handful of icing!

Mmm. Yummy!

Abby smiling with Jerry Calvert (a family friend). She's much happier now that she's napped and had Mommy Milk.

The happy cousins.

The girls in my family. Me, Abby, Mom/Grandma (Tricia), Niece/Cousin Haylee, and Sister/Aunt/Godmother Katie. 

Abby Gets on Her Knees

My baby girl has learned how to get up on all fours and rock back and forth. Crawling is just around the corner!