Dinner time conversations

Chris and I were laughing about something...
Anna-Kate: haha. What?
Chris: Mommy is funny.
AK: O, mommy funny. Daddy funny?
CH: Yes, daddy is hilarious!
AK: Anna-Kate is funny too.
CH: Yes, you are hilarious!
AK:, no, I Anna-Kate, not hilarious.

Later, Chris was making fish faces (for some odd reason??)
AK: Daddy a fish
JH: Is he?
AK: No.
JH: Is he a fish like Nemo?
AK: No, his name babe (which she will randomly call him since I call him that all the time).
CH: Great, like babe the pig?
AK: Yes daddy.

At dinner's end Anna-Kate burped quite loudly. She's usually pretty good about saying "excuse me", but not tonight.
CH: Anna-Kate, what do you say after you burp?
AK: Thank you!
CH: No, what do you say after you burp?
AK: I full.
CH: after you burp...
AK: All done.
CH: Anna-kate, what do you say after you burp?
AK: I need to go potty now!
CH: No, you say excuse me...
So Chris got her up to take her to the potty and she starts saying "hurry, hurry!". A second later I hear, "did you just pee on me?" "Yes daddy, yes."

Can I please tell you how I burned off my entire dinner by laughing? :)

A mom by any other name.....

Well, it's officially happened. I am no longer Janelle....I'm "Anna-Kate's mom". At church...birthday parties...there it is. :)

Anna-Kate did great singing at church today......forgot my camera, so I'm waiting to get pics from a friend that I took on their camera. She was PRECIOUS. She sang and remembered most of the hand motions too. She was by far the littlest one, but was on amazing behavior and had the front couple of rows laughing.

Funny from today...Anna-Kate reached her hand in her pants to scratch her bottom, came up with a piece of hair and immediately turns to Chris, "here-go daddy, for you". Ha. Chris' hand never left his pocket!

Tomorrow I am taking Anna-Kate to get her first haircut. Unbelievable how nervous and sad I am about this. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures!

Pictures from VBS

Well, this is just Ryan last night after his bath...isn't he a doll? :)

Here is Anna-Kate the first day. She cried a little, but ended up loving it:

Here are Adam and Anna-Kate after closing ceremonies:

Here we are with Adam and Leigh-Ann this morning. Could not get the kids to cooperate to get a good picture.

Enjoying a snack (possibly her favorite part...sadly...)

Here she is with Miss Sally. All of her "coaches" (the theme was Olympian and the kids were all "athletes") were so kind and excited about being with little ones.

A girl just like her Mama....loving some pizza! :) We've been talking about pizza party all week. On her way to get pizza she said, "pizza? a party? a pizza party?". Couldn't have been happier. :)

More gems from vbs

Anna-Kate's best friend, Adam, has been sick all week, but finally today was able to go to vbs with us. They were inseperable all day! After a rocky start, (she wouldn't let any of her teachers take her to the potty because she needed privacy...finally Leigh-Ann took her because I was busy) she settled in to help Adam get the swing of things. He was acting a little shy at coloring time and she handed him colors to help. He then started to pick his nose and she grabbed his hand and said, "o yuck-NO!". Ha. I've started asking our pastor's wife what exactly she says to the little ones in their Bible story time so I can help reinforce/draw it out of Anna-Kate. Yesterday Sharon didn't teach, so I had nothing to work with except that it was about Joshua...
Janelle: "Anna-Kate, what do you do today?"
AK: "sing Jesus, play balls, color".
J: "ahh. So fun. What did you learn about?"
AK: "God."
J: "O really? What about God?"
AK: "God."
J: "...that He protects us and wants us to obey?" (isn't that a principle from Joshua?)
AK: "yes."
I snuck up to get some pictures during the closing ceremonies and saw her singing...she doesn't know all the words--but she knows when the word "mountain" comes and sings/shouts that one really loudly. I love it. Pictures coming tomorrow. :)

VBS

Pictures will be posted soon......I've not gotten any amazing ones yet, I'll be on it tomorrow and Friday. This week has been Anna-Kate's first vacation Bible school! I could cry thinking about how cute she is in her little t-shirt (that absolutely swallows all the little ones!) and how she talks about going to sing to Jesus. It's so weird dropping her off every morning. Her teachers are so sweet with her and report back that she plays so well with the other children and is so well behaved-thank you Jesus! Today her teacher was telling me about an incident from earlier in the morning: Anna-Kate found a pretend camera and gave it to her teacher and said, "take picture please". So her teacher obliged and said, "say cheese"....at this point she said Anna-Kate flipped her hair with one hand and stuck her other hand on her hip and totally struck a pose! Ahhh, if only the camera had been real to catch that picture! She is already talking about the pizza party to come on Friday (after the kids sing all their songs for the mamas). These little ones are so precious!!

Here is Ryan sitting up by himself! He's been trying for a long time now, but yesterday (2 days shy of 4 months old) he sat a few different times for about 1 minute each...I figure it counts now, right? :)


Here is Anna-Kate...her new favorite thing to do is see herself in pictures ("see An-kate, Mama take picture"), so she is constantly asking to be photographed...here's one from yesterday:

Here are my boys watching the Braves play:

Patient means.....

"...waiting and waiting for the cookies to be done. Waiting so nicely." Well, that's according to Anna-Kate's favorite book, affectionately called "the cookie book", says (P.S., if asked what patient means she says "waiting nicely mommy"). Patience is a big thing we are working on in our house these days. I am only one person after all and can't do everything for everyone at the exact moment they would like it done (nor would I if I could...patience is a virtue afterall...).

Anyway, I've tried to be really good about not only making Anna-Kate wait for help, but having Ryan "wait" as well. If he's fussing while I'm making her lunch, for instance, I'll tell him (so she can hear) "Ryan, you need to be patient so mommy can help Anna-Kate first". I think it's good she doesn't feel like she's the only one waiting. Well, she's started "helping" her brother learn patience. Now if he's fussing she tells him "just one second Ryan" or "mommy's hepin An-Kate". Ha! Thankfully, he's a pretty laid back kid (to balance her not being laid back...hmm, like me??) so the transition to two hasn't killed me. :) Patience is something I guess we all need a little more of.

What was so funny before kids?

So we're driving home from lunch out the other day. Noone was saying a word, just riding in silence. All of a sudden Anna-Kate, in a thick, drawn-out, Southern accent says, "O my goodness, I need some cheese." I was crying...that kid keeps me in stitches. My college roommate, Megan, came to town to visit with me and see the kids and spent the rest of the weekend getting her to say it over and over...as she gets big laughs each time, you can only imagine how that is the new phrase for her. :)
In other news...had the worst food and service at Outback ever. We won't be going back. It was awful. blah.
Happy Fathers Day to those it concerns. :)

Remembering Mark

I just realized this morning.....today is my brothers' birthday. He would be 24 today. Not sure if I am so emotional because I'm getting older, because I am a mother now and my heart breaks for my own mothers' heart, or that I'm currently listening to "Cinderella" by Stephen Curtis Chapman...or a combination of all. My mom always said I would have to revisit his death when I had children of my own...surprising, I doubted that at the age of 12, but here I am 27 and she was right...funny how parents' get smarter the older we get.
I think that "because I am a mother now" wins out in my emotional struggle today. I look at my own precious babies and cannot possibly fathom how I could live one minute without either of them. Many times I have prayed and begged God to not make me walk that road...while I know He gives strength for what He gives us, I don't want to find that kind of strength within me. I guess I'm just realizing how short and how amazingly precious life truly is and the incredible strength and faith in the Lord my own parents had/have...what a testimony to them and to our Lord.
I'm not really sure who, if anyone, reads this blog.....but if you do read this, hug your babies a little tighter today and make sure to tell your family just how much you love them and appreciate them. Life is too short....savor ever moment.

Power outages...ugh

This morning we tried to see "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" (veggie tales) at the Regal free summer movies. Anna-Kate LOVED it, but Ryan woke up in what should be his nap and wasn't having it...so we left.

Towards the end of their naps a crazy thunderstorm came...no rain mind you, just out of control thunder and lightening. We lost power for about 2 hours and I was highly peeved. Irritating things:
1) no a/c, fans,or sound machines for kids = early wake up.
2)no power for lights, tv, music = peeved Anna-Kate who was still a little tired.
So, I went to get her when she woke up early because she was fussing in an almost crying sort of way....I open the door and poor thing is fighting back tears. "my sound machine is broken mommy, oh no!". She repeated this a couple of times. I had to hold in my laugh. She was quit upset, then got further upset when she couldn't turn the light on to go to the bathroom, tv on to watch "george monkey" (curious george)or listen to her music inthe playroom. Ahh, such is life. The reason, "it's broken" gets lamer and lamer the more times you say it in one minute, let me just tell you. "daddy fix", sadly, was not the answer today. :) Also sad, just how completely dependant we are on electricity--yikes!

Summer pictures. ;)

Here is Anna-Kate with her friends, Campbell and Annie, on Tuesday. We broke out the little pool to try and beat this crazy Atlanta heatwave!

Here she is in her pool. She loves her swimsuit!

This is Chris and me onour way out to dinner for our anniversary:

Here is a pic of Ryan from this Tuesday:

Naptime

Gotta love Babywise....today we came home from a meeting around 12:30. I was nursing Ryan and Anna-Kate announced she was tired. She went in, took off her bow, shut her door and got in bed. She then realized she had to pee first...but was in bed on her own by 1. Love it.

In unrelated news...I haven't taken reglan in 3 days, and my milk is still coming!! Praise the Lord!! Nursing is so stressful for me with regards to supply, but it is so wonderful...I love it!

In more unrelated news...I just ordered 6 new fonts for my embroidery machine!! I'm gonna be (even more of a) monograming freak! :) hee hee.

My 5th Anniversary

As yesterday was our anniversary...and it actually fell on a Saturday, we went out to celebrate! We dropped the kids at the Crabbs' and put them to bed, then headed to Rays on the River. It was so good! We had calamari, then I had steak and grilled shrimp with garlic potatoes, Chris had lobster risotto (which I chalk up to us watching Hell's Kitchen...) and parmesan crusted scallops. They brought us free dessert to celebrate, so that was nice. :) Chris gave me tickets to see Bryan Adams in a few weeks and a gift certificate to Spa Sydell. I gave him tickets for us to see the Braves/Cardinals in July, a wooden picture frame with a picture in it I had made of me and the kids, and some new cologne and aftershave from Gap. It was a really nice evening. :)
He left today for North Caroline for work, so I'm alone the next few nights. I always hate him being gone, but it makes me so thankful for him--helps me remember all he does around here to help me!

Singing

So one of my favorite things is to watch Anna-Kate being "mommy" to her babies. Obviously, sometimes she carries them around by the foot and drops them into bed, but often, she will lovingly hold them, tell them "it's OK baby", give them a paci when they are sad, and sing "Jesus Loves Me" to them when it's time for them to go night-night (often, right before she goes to sleep). Brings tears to my eyes to hear her sweet voice singing to Jesus.

Along the lines of singing. She loves to go to church with us and "sing to Jesus" before going back to the nursery during the sermon. Obviously, she doesn't know the words to the old hymns and worship songs, but she will just sing "Jesus" over and over while I sing and hold her. I find that to be great.

In other news, today is our 5th wedding anniversary! Time has absolutely flown by!!! Amazing to me that I can possibly love Chris even more now than I did when we married. He is an amazing husband and father--a wonderful role-model to our children. Thank you Jesus for this family, and for the husband you have given me.

June 7, 2008

Passing on southern traits...

Last night at dinner Chris was drumming on his diet coke can getting the last of it out.

AK: "daddy, what's that?"

CH: Trying to irritate me and pass on his non-Southern-ness to our kids, "it's a soda babe".

AK: Looks at me a bit puzzled, "mommy?"

JH: "Honey, that's a coke".

AK: "O".

CH: "No, it's a soda, soooo-da".

AK: "no daddy, a coke"

CH: "it's soda Anna-Kate"

AK: "no daddy, no soda, coke".

YES! I win! :)

June 4, 2008

potty training success??

So I hesitate to even write this......but I think we are fully potty-trained now (not fully at night, but getting close)! Let me add a *knock on wood* here. :) Anna-Kate is doing awesome with it, and finally telling me when she needs to go and not relying on me to remind her! Woo-hoo! Proud of my girl!

Ryan is sleeping better, and I think it's because he rolls from side to side on his back to get more comfortable. That's helpful...I can't sleep in the same position for 12 hours either. In equally as important news--RYAN PUT HIS PACI IN HIS MOUTH AND LET GO yesterday! (he was in his carseat, so was sitting up a little, but still...). Hopefully we're turning a new corner to the "sweet spot" as I like to refer to month 4 of kids' lives. They are getting a bit more self suffifient (can do their paci, sleeping well, naps established etc...but before teeth, not reaching for my food yet, still 100% breastfed, so not worrying about other foods yet). Can't believe he'll be 15 weeks on Friday. I swear he grows daily. His sweet laid back personality comes forth more and more. He's been a little clingy today (dare I blame it on teething?), but generally is perfectly content to sit in my lap, or in the swing....God knew this house needed a calm kid!

Anna-Kate's new cute sayings:

"Ryan so cute mommy. Ryan, you so cute, sooooo cute".

"I funny mommy, haha. I so funny."

"Go away mommy....need pricey (privacy to go to the bathroom)."

If he's fussing, she'll put the paci in, and if that doesn't work just says, "it's ok, ok, ok, ooooook Ryan!" (while stroking his little tummy).

Well, I'm off. Anna-Kate's calling me to get her up from her nap. :)

June 3, 2008

So I feel like the luckiest mama around! Both of my kids nap from 1-4 every day!! I'm trying to make myself be good about doing chores for the first half, then checking email and doing crafty stuff the second half. I'm tossing around the idea of starting a small ebay business to better utilize my embroidery machine. I've got some ideas and would appreciate prayers as Chris and I think about this for our family. :)


Most recently I've spent a lot of time researching condos to rent for our big summer vacation to Destin! I am SO excited. Every year we try and take a week long trip with our best friends, the Crabbs. We're looking at late August or September to give Ryan and Lydia a chance to get older. :) ha. That sounds funny. I've actually found some really reasonable places...especially considering we want 2 king sized beds! Hey, it wouldn't be a vacation without that...and some crazy card playing at night! :)

Since I'm only spending 1 1/2 hours a day cleaning, obviously my house isn't always clean. I've resigned myself to becoming that person. I have divied up my household chores and assigned them a day of the week. It was the only way to get everything done once a week. I mean, as laundry and cleaning the kitchen/running the dishwasher happen daily now (at least once a day!) that takes up a good chunk of every day. Well, with that said, it's Monday, better go dust my staircase, the fans and blinds and clean my stainless appliances. :)

May 31, 2008

So I'm gonna try again to be good about keeping up the with little things in my world. I look around and see that Anna-Kate is now two (!!) and little Ryan is 14 weeks old! Wow, where does time go?

Ryan was born February 22, 3 days late, by emergency C-section after I had been in labor over 3 days. Such seems to be my luck...He is an amazing kid, SO much easier than Anna-Kate was....amazing to me the difference in personalities, even at such a young age.

Last week I was blow-drying my hair and Anna-Kate walked into my bathroom and said, "mommy, I need haircut". As she's not had one, nor witnessed one I was a little taken off guard. I said, "honey, why do you need a haircut?". She put her hand on her hip and said, "mooommy, hair in eyes!". Seriously?? So funny!

She is Potty-trained now, which is so nice (thanks to Edy's nibs and "Finding Nemo"--her rewards for pooping on the potty). We are still working on nights, but daytime is good to go! At her 2 year well-baby she was 26.6 lbs, the 45%. She speaks in 5 word sentences and is always making me laugh. What a joy!

Ryan is now rolling over (started about 11 weeks). He is such a great kid. Almost always smiling or giggling, or at the very least, passively hanging out while I tend to other things. He's been sleeping through the night since 8 weeks....and we are finally (Praise the Lord!) settling into a solid nap pattern. I think I am the most blessed mama in the world. He sleeps from 10-11 in the am, then from 1-4 (same exact time as AK) and then for from 6-7! Three hours to get my house cleaned and dinner cooked every day? That's awesome!

Chris and I actually got away a couple of nights ago for a dessert date at Cheesecake Factory....where I got chocolate cake! :) It was so nice to reconnect a little; he's a wonderful husband and an amazing father. I count my blessings and praise God for the tremendous gift He has given me--my family.