the circle of life

elise has turned on some music on the computer. she's been dancing and twirling around the room while i watched. she came over and asked me, "mama, am i a good dancer?" of course i think she is, and told her so. then i told her how it reminded me of being a little girl and dancing on the woodshed in grandma's yard for my parents. i also have a memory of dancing in my room in our new house, so i was probably eight years old. i remember mama sitting in there watching me dance around & how she told me what a good dancer i was & how i had good rhythm. its funny that i remember those moments so clearly, but having elise ask me that was like, for just a momen,t i was a little girl having the same moment with my mom.

food, glorious food...

On saturday, cory & i got "takeout" from applebee's. i'd been craving something i had there about a month ago--one of their 3-course combos. it's called the shrimp and parmesan sirloin combo and it is fabulous. here is the menu description: "An individual portion of Spinach & Artichoke Dip paired with Shrimp N Parmesan Sirloin. Sirloin with a topping of grilled garlic shrimp and delicious Italian cheeses and herbs. Served with garlic mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and garlic toast." do you know how sometimes you experience something really, really good and then, when you try it again, you realize that you have built your expectations up so high that the real thing doesn't live up to your imagination or memory of that thing? This was not one of those times. every bite was wonderfully delicious and so perfect--i was in love with this meal. actually, just writing this makes me want to eat it again. i can almost taste that spinach & artichoke dip....

here & there

1--elise's prayer was cute again this morning. she blessed that the eggs would taste good and they "will be cool when we eat them because last time they were hot and burned my mouth."

2--i bought cory some axe body wash a while back. apparently (i have since learned) that is a brand really being targeted toward teenage boys. (there is a warning on the back of the bottle that using the product will result in female attention or something of that sort.) all that is a little bothersome to me. marketing is so annoying sometimes. but....it does smell really, really good! i love getting in the shower after cory & smelling where he has used it. its wonderful!

3--ian is addicted to his tarheel shirt. (the blue one in the pictures below.) now it is not only enough for him to wear it everyday, but as soon as cory gets home from work, the first thing ian says is, "daddy wear tarheel shirt." he will continue repeating this phrase every few minutes until cory puts the shirt on. (and it has to be the matching blue one.) what a trip!

4--what are your thoughts on babies sleeping on their tummies? i know what the medical community says, and i'm all for it. but here's the thing i've discovered...merry grace will sleep about 5-10 minutes if i lay her on her back. no ifs, ands or buts. 5-10 minutes. if i lay her on her stomach she will sleep 2-4 hours. what are your opinions on that? it makes me kind of nervous, but the sleeping is really nice!

5--there are little things i notice everyday now that i'm not pregnant that i love and have missed for so long! i love having cory be able to give me a real hug. i love having the kids be able to sit on my lap...for real! i like shaving my legs without any trouble. i like being able to breathe. i like not having heartburn. i like being able to eat early or late, depending on what i feel like...not having meals be dictated by holding off the nausea. i like wearing (some) of my regular clothes again. i like being able to move around better (like jogging to the car or dashing with ian to the bathroom). i like laying on my stomach or my back if i want to. its little things, i know, but i've missed them!

sister, sister...

elise is the best helper ever. she is so tender & sweet & protective of merry grace. its adorable. 

"i hold mer dace!"

this is what ian says 24/7. he thinks i had merry grace as a personal toy for him. but its so sweet! 

GO HEELS GO!

 

prayer, etc.

elise said the blessing on the food at lunch yesterday. as part of her prayer she blessed that none of us--especially daddy--wouldn't get stuck in traffic. sometimes i just wonder where this stuff comes from!

also all three of the kids took a nap at the same time yesterday. what are the odds?!

merry grace pooped in two or three outfirs yesterday, as well as a couple of blankets & our bed. nice! ian peed in our bed early this morning after he crawled in with us. and this comes on the heels of merry grace blowing it out all over our comforter on satuday! thats babies for you!

bathroom blues

as much as i would enjoy giving you all the details of my recent bathroom escapades, i'll spare you. (well, all except mama & cory who have to suffer through it all.) let it suffice to say that the bathroom has not been my friend over the last week & a half. that has actually been the worst part since delivery. well, this morning i was having a rendezvouz in the bathroom & gracie was in her bassinet. elise was such a great helper...she pulled a stool over beside her & talked to her & helped her with her passy & by the time i was done, merry grace was asleep! i told her how awesome she was & she was justly proud!

Our First Outing

yesterday we took our first "outing" as a family of five. it was so warm here yesterday (about 70 degrees) so cory & i decided that the kids might enjoy an afternoon at the park. so that's what we did. elise & ian had fun running, jumping, sliding & playing and merry grace just slept away in her little baby sling. this park has a lake/pond there, so after playing we went for a walk around the pond. in the spring & summer you can see lots of creatures & critters (snakes, frogs, fish, turtles, duck, birds, etc.), but all we saw yesterday was one lonely duck! but we got a kick out of seeing him! by the time we'd walked all the way around the lake, we were getting hungry so we stopped at bojangles and got some supper. it was a fun afternoon for all of us and we really enjoyed being together. i'm not sure how it will be to take the kids out all by myself (that's a feat we haven't tried yet), but yesterday went really well, so i'm--somewhat--encouraged. as we like to say, "a fun time was had by all."

Sweet Sisters... 

i just love the way she's clutched onto my shirt here. and you can see just how tiny she is, all wadded up there in my arms! what a cute bundle of love! 

i think i have the sweetest kids in the whole world! 

even ian pitches in and helps his sister find her passy. 

elise is such a great big sister. she just adores holding merry grace...and she's really good at it! 

our famous girls... 

ian at the talent show. when elise would practice at home we would have to do this big introduction thing, "now presenting elisie barnett singing 'i love to see the temple'". after her song we would have to introduce ian, "now presenting ian barnett singing 'jesus wants me for a sunbeam'". after the girls performed, ian tried to get up on stage and kept saying, "Sunbean". it was so cute! 

isn't he cute? 

tommy watching the performances. he just got a haircut this week & now he's buzzed. it's adorable... 

tommy and elise at the talent show

they had fun sitting together & coloring. it was very cute & sweet. 

toilet trouble

today ian used the bathroom. of course, being a big boy, he always likes to pee standing up. i've taught him to wipe off any drips on the toilet and he's pretty good at it. but today, i wiped the drip off for him. he wasn't too happy about that, and so he wanted to wipe some more. so as he wiped the toilet off & climbed up on the stool to wash his hands, i left the bathroom to go back and work on some things with elise. about 3-5 minutes later i heard the toilet flush & instantly i knew ian had been filling the toilet up with TP. i just knew it. and sure enough, the water was already up to the very top of the toilet bowl and there was paper swimming everywhere and a gigantic TP clog. i immediately got the plunger and began the task of getting the mess out or down or whatever. after several minutes without any progress i tried getting the toilet paper out with the poker from the fireplace. still nothing. after trying cory to no avail, i got a hold of daddy on the phone. and didn't he have some great news....my next option was to stick my arm down in there and try to unclog it by hand. okay, the water was clear and all, but this is a toilet, not a cup of spring water. so i was completely grossed out! but go at it i did and pulled TP out from the drain or whatever that thing is. it still didn't seem to make a difference and the water was frigid, so after a few minutes, i gave up. so then i thought i had been digging around in the toilet for nothing. but luckily after about 10-15 minutes, the water drained out on its own & it has been flushing perfectly ever since! so thanks, daddy, for the good (but disgusting) advice and the reminder that "if you swallow a toad first thing in the morning, the day only gets better from there!"