PHOTO TAG!

So I saw this on another blog and was intrigued. It's billed as a fun picture game. Here is how it works. You must go to your documents folder and go to your 6th picture folder, then go to the 6th picture in that folder and post it on your blog. Tell us a story about that picture.
Here's my photo:

July 3, 2005

Nolia was being bussed by Nolan.

I'm completely biased, but isn't she just adorable?

We pretty much spend every July 4th holiday (and the days just before and afterward if it's a weekend) at our family lakeplace. Everyone has a grand time and the 'boys' (now men) spend way too much money on fireworks that get set off at the end of the dock once it's dark. If we get there early enough on the 4th, we wave flags and yell encouragement during the annual 10am boat parade- a big line of boats all decked out in red, white & blue.

So I'm tagging everyone I personally know that has a blog: Aimee, Alison, Bev, Dana & Joy- you're it!

(Bev, I know I don't know you well, but I really enjoyed meeting you this past summer & I like reading your blog and seeing all the cute pictures of your unbelievably gorgeous kids! Hope you don't mind me tagging you). ;-)

Catching up

We visited Joy & Zach in South Carolina mid-November. On our way home we stopped at this museum & I took some really cute pictures of baby boy. I just love that smile!

David was baptized November 23rd. The service was lovely and David entertained the choir with his smiles during his time up at the front of the church. Afterwards the extended family came back to our house for lunch & Jamie took this picture of us all (well, most of us- Katrina unfortunately had to work that day).

Picking out a Christmas tree. It's our tradition to put up the tree the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. Nolia picked a good one!

Joy & Zach came over and helped us decorate our Christmas tree & make gingerbread houses (no, not from scratch- from a very handy pre-fab kit). Here's a shot of Zach & Nolia clowning around.

This is one of the (doctored to remove red-eye) photos we're using for Christmas cards this year. Amazing how many shots it took to get just a few good ones!


Okay, so that mostly catches me up for now. Except for the masses of photos I've yet to even download to the computer. But that's for another day...

Turkey Cake Pops

David is being baptized tomorrow and we are having a lunch afterwards at home. I decided to make it easy on myself and have the lunch catered. I then ran across these cute-as-buttons desserts on a website http://bakerella.blogspot.com/


I was inspired! And I figured since I wasn't making lunch...


It took trips to 4 or 5 different stores to get all the decorative ingredients (note to self- if doing this in the future and have more time, order on the internet and have it shipped!). Mama came over this afternoon to help put them together. First we hit the Holy Trinity Episcopal Holiday Bazaar (fabulous). Then back home to make Turkey Pops. Ours were not nearly the professional masterpieces on the website, but are very much homemade- and sorta cute. Chris, my ever-loyal hubby, is convinced they air-brushed the ones on the website. Hopefully the neices and nephews will scarf them up tomorrow, imperfections and all.

I'm tired

Got home a bit ago after a shift at work. I saw 28 patients today. TWENTY-EIGHT! Holy, moly. I've never seen that many before in a shift. My record prior to this was 23. It was busy ALL DAY/NIGHT LONG. I did manage to fit in time for pumping, so that's good. Didn't manage to eat a meal- I subsisted on prefab cappuchino (sp?) and a snack-bag of Doritos. So healthy. Now I'm tired. I've had my shower. Time for bed.

Comings & Goings

"Her poop is blue!" exclaimed hubby as he came out of the bathroom. He was rather startled. Nolia was giggling.
He'd forgotten about the brilliantly colored cotton-candy-flavored icecream she & Zach scarfed up 2 days ago. Wonder if Joy is having this same discovery about Z's "goings" about this time...

This morning at church Nolia asked for a penny to throw in the fountain so she could make a wish. She tossed the penny in, closed her eyes, clasped her hands to her chest, and whispered her wish. Afterwards she told me she'd wished for Jesus to keep her safe at night, and then mentioned something about witches. Maybe some of the spookier aspects of Halloween have stayed with her. Oh, dear!
This evening we're having a potluck supper and Nolia has decided it's to be her "dancing party". She wants all the little girls to wear her dress-ups and dance.
David has been having some trouble with his top 2 teeth coming in. He is in a constant drool-fest, chews on everything and is just out of sorts at times. Poor little thing.

Halloween Festivities

This past week of Halloween activities has been lots of fun.
Monday night I took Nolia to a party at one of UF's housing buildings. Still not sure if it was officially open to the public... but it was really neat with lots of games to play and a Haunted House. Nolia became quite the pro at the walk-around-the-chairs-to-music-game. And she was very excited about the Haunted House. She was very brave and made it through the entire thing without being freaked out. She told me afterwards she was "only a little bit" scared. For full disclosure, I did carry her throughout the whole thing, and kept whispering to her that it was just pretend. I was still very impressed with her. And no nightmares since, so I guess I've got a bit of a thrill-seeker on my hands (not something to be looked forward to come time she's a teenager...).
Wednesday at school Magnolia was distraught as we'd forgotten to send her Halloween costume and she was supposed to dress up for her ballet class. Luckily, Chris swooped in and saved the day. He said her face just lit up when she saw him arrive with her Gator cheerleader outfit.
Wendesday night we all went to the Halloween party, trunk-or-treating event at our church. They fed us dinner, had a little costume parade (v. cute), and had lots of games, a bounce-house and a cake-walk. Sadly, there was only one car there to do the trunk-or-treat thing. I suggested to Chris maybe we could try and participate next year, so maybe there'll be at least 2 cars then!
Thursday night we met Jennifer & Claire at the Ghouls, Goblins & Greeks event on Sorority Row. The different sororities went all out and Magnolia and Claire had a blast.
Friday night I took the kiddies over to the Denny's house for trick-or-treat festivities. John set up a table and chairs in their driveway. Kids dropped by for candy and adults stayed a spell for the "parent punch". Christine and I took Nolia, Ella, and David around the neighborhood. It was a very relaxing Halloween- luckily, as I was pretty darn tired from all the previous activities.

Happy belated birthday, Alison!
And welcome back to blogging, Joy!

Teeth!

David is cutting both top teeth- all at once. No wonder he's been ever-so-slightly cranky.
Today in the car on the way home (after purchasing Nolia's Halloween costume- a Gator cheerleader outfit, picking up C for lunch, lunch out at McAlister's Deli, dropping C back off at work, then a visit to the grocery store), baby boy was getting fussy and irritable. As we neared the house Nolia piped up, "He wants to go back in your tummy!". Apparently she was tired of listening to him grumble.
Chris just got home and I'm supposed to be starting supper. Which means I need to end this detour and actually look up a recipe for roasted veggies and cous-cous...

A lovely day

Today was one of those lovely, flow-y days.
Sunday school first- we're taking a class on Methodism in preparation for joining the church (yes, I've been a Methodist all my life thus far, but the preacher wants all who join to take the class). It's been interesting. Today we learned about the three types of grace. Nice.
Then church. Chris has joined the choir and this morning was the first time Magnolia saw him up in the choir loft- and started crying because she didn't want her daddy up there. Oh, dear.
After church we attended Morgan & Miranda's birthday party. Bouncy house! Pizza! Pinata!
We arrived back home in the late afternoon. I threw together a simple supper of tortellini and tomato soup. Then we met Taylor & Rachel at Sweet Dreams Icecream Shop for their Fall Chocolate Night. 36 variations on the chocoate theme. Yuuuummm. Vampire chocolate (bordeaux infused chocolate with rich blood red raspberry swirl and shards of white chocolate). Mexican salty caramel chocolate. Trick-or-treat chocolate (candies mixed in- this was Magnolia's pick). And lots, lots more. Bliss in a cup.
Now the kiddies are tucked in their beds. Baby boy was so, so tired. He didn't get much in the way of napping today. I don't usually rock him to sleep, but tonight I couldn't resist. His body limp against mine with his little head resting on my shoulder- so sweet. Then cuddles with Nolia after Chris had tucked her in.
Lovely, lovely day.

Autumn Fun

Baby boy peering into a jack-o-lantern.




The girls with their wax 'vampire teeth'.


Jonathan & Chera hosted a fall party at their house last weekend. We carved pumpkins, and went on a hayride after dark. Fun. Nolia obliged me by referring to the stars as "sprinkles" again. We had fun listening to the kids make up scary stories- "there was a princess, she lived in a castle, and she was bitten by a dinosour!".
Chris pitched a tent down by the pond. He and the girls camped out overnight. I ended up driving home at 12:30am as baby boy wouldn't sleep. Ug.

Growing boy!

David is clapping!
Unfortunately, I was not there to witness this as I was working yesterday. *sigh*
But so exciting, as that's one of those cute-baby things that I absolutely adore.
Can't wait to see it for myself (and photograph it, of course).

If this was a test, I may have failed.

Today as I rushed to get David to his nursery school at the church in enough time to actually be on time to my half-shift at the ED, I may have messed up.
As I entered the church courtyard I noticed a nicely-dressed lady sitting on a bench beneath a tree adjacent to the sanctuary wall. I glanced her way as I passed by with David on my hip- and noticed she was (softly) crying. Upon entering the church, I mentioned the crying lady to the receptionist/greeter that is stationed at a desk in the Lilycrop room (the room you first enter upon going into the church), told her what I'd seen and asked if she knew who the lady was. She went toward the door, so I took David to his baby room.
On my way out, I asked the greeter-lady if the crying-lady was alright. She told me she hadn't recognized her from the back and didn't want to intrude and so hadn't actually gone outside to talk to her... and when I went outside to check on her, she was gone.
My thought-process at the time of first noticing her was that perhaps she had just been inside the church, maybe talking with the priest or somesuch about something sad, and had to collect herself before she left. However, I'm really wishing that I'd stopped to ask her if I could help on my way into the church rather than trying to figure out what was going on first before approaching her. And now I'll never know if she just needed a moment to herself, or needed help.
What if this was God testing me?
I think I need to slow down. In all aspects of my life. I seem to rush around a lot. I rush to work, rush to try and see as many patients as I can during the shift, and then rush to get home to David, Magnolia & Chris. I rush through housework trying to get as much in as I can before David to begins to fuss or Magnolia needs help with something. I can't seem to focus on one activity for more than a bit before I'm thinking of something else that I need to be doing. Is this just part of life with more than one child, or pathology?
I've started swimming laps again some mornings (the Florida Gym pool is finally refurbished- and open from 7-8am!). That helps deflect some of my rush-rush mentality. Usually, except when I realized last Thursday that I'd completely spaced David's 6 month check-up until I was already 15 minutes late for it and on my way to take Nolia to school- so we made a protracted detour to Dr. Grooms' office (thank you, Dr. Grooms!- she was very understanding and squeezed us in). After that, all positive effects of the morning swim were swept away in another bout of rushing around.

P.S.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I discovered that David is getting his SECOND TOOTH! Another bottom front tooth. V. sweet (until he bites me- then, not so cute).

Conversations with Nolia

This afternoon we went over to the Steins for a pool playdate and stayed for a pizza supper. We brought a few hand-me-downs for Lucy, including a skirt. She wanted to wear it right away and when Magnolia saw her in it, she instructed "Twirl, Lucy, twirl. Ooooh, lovely!". Very cute.
Heidi was watching David for a bit, and sat him on their wooden floor so she could help Nolia get dressed. Nolia, ever the vigilant big sister, nicely asked Heidi to "put something under him so he won't fall over and hit his head".
And tonight as I was tucking her into bed, she started to suck her thumb. I asked her not to do that (yes, we're still fighting this particular battle) and she told me "but it tastes good". "What does it taste like?", I asked her. "Like strawberries with jam on top," she answered.
She's also very concerned about the order of the upcoming holidays. "Halloween, then Christmas. But first is my birthday!".

Sitting up!

The milestones are stacking up.
David can now sit up on his own- he ends up leaning a bit on a hand (usually his left), but he can get up there all on his own. Growing boy!

We met our friend Sonja and Nolia's little friend Lena (Sonja's daughter) at 43rd Str. Deli this morning. On the way home Chris gave me a little smooch in the car and Magnolia informed us that "if you kiss, that means getting married".

In a bit we'll drive out to the lake for baby Jake's first birthday party. Can't believe he's a year old already!

How weird am I?

Alright, I know this is probably a bit odd, but I'm currently mourning that David has passed from producing breast-fed poops to I'm-eating-solid-food-now poops. He's had his first fully-solid, stinky poops over the past couple of days. *sigh* Just another sign that he is growing up- and much too fast. I can't believe he is already 6 months old. Or, for that matter, that Magnolia is nearly 4 years old. We started him on solids a few weeks ago (as he was lurching towards whatever we were eating and watching us very intently during mealtimes). So far his diet has expanded to include rice cereal, oat cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, and apples.

He can stay in a seated position for a long time- and catch himself if he starts to fall (still can't get into a seated position without help, though). And he's traversing across entire rooms on his belly. And doing baby calisthenics by supporting himself on his hands a toes (or hands and knees). Magnolia is his constant entertainment- he chuckles nearly every time he sees her coming. So adorable.

We had a little mini-vacation in Orlando earlier this week. Magnolia's favorite place on Earth, Seuss Landing and the Royal Pacific resort- fondly known by her as "the big pool". Fun was had by all and David even got to go on a couple rides (Caro-Seuss-el and the Fish Ride). Nice to get away for a bit. And ever-organized me didn't realize that I had actually remembered the camera battery until the very last afternoon we were there. So the only pictures of our trip are a few of the kiddies around the pool...

Frustration

So I've been drowning in paperwork lately.
Getting everything together to have my prescribing license switched over to the post office (finally mailed off, yea!). Signing new contracts and getting them mailed off. Slogging through the paperwork to get recredentialed at the hospital (still working on that one).
And trying to buy life insurance. That's been the biggest headache. I just got off the phone from the 'interview' with Prudential. I now have a headache. Luckily the kids were down for a nap, or I would have lost my mind for sure with this one. I have no idea why it would be worth knowing that I had a UTI in the past, and certainly wouldn't think it neccessary to to know the month and year of the occurrence! Hopefully they'll deign to allow me to purchase the insurance regardless. Yeesh.
Other than this phone-call-from-Hades, the day has been lovely. Magnolia wanted to stay home with me today. So she, David & I have been mostly hanging around the house, with a short trip up to the UF Infirmary for me to pick up some paperwork I'd left there. Nolia preened as everyone told her how lovely she looked in her "church dress" (the dark blue satin one that she begged to wear- the girl loves to dress up, and likely figured she'd be getting the compliments!). And David was his usual angel baby self.

It must be genetic...

I've been regaled many times about stories of Chris & Jeannine stuffing toys down Tim's diaper when he was a baby. Sunday morning Magnolia, David & I were playing in the den while Chris slept in a bit. I stepped out of the room for a moment and when I returned David had a full outfit... full of balls. Magnolia had stuffed the back of his onsie with toy plastic balls while he was creeping around on his belly. He didn't seem to mind and she was quite tickled by herself. Too funny.
Today he had his first taste of carrots. He took right to them. In a few days... sweet potatoes!
He is skipping completely that wonderful baby-Buddha stage where they can sit up, but stay where you put them because they can't crawl yet. I was quite fond of that stage in Magnolia's babyhood. David is now traversing entire rooms by creeping along on his belly (he tucks his knees underneath him, stretches his arms out and pulling himself forward, then repeating as neccessary to get to whatever object he is after). He's not sitting up yet on his own. So I'm expecting that by the time he is sitting up, he'll be even more mobile. *sigh* Time is flying so fast!

Lots of Firsts for Baby

Big sis feeding the little one.

Our boy is growing!


I discovered he is cutting his first tooth today. We knew he was teething as he's been drooling buckets for a while now, and trying to gum everything he can get his little hands on. His bottom right front tooth is coming in.


He also had his first rice cereal this past Monday. I was trying to wait until he reached the official 6 month mark, but he was lurching toward everything we were eating, so we figured it was time. At nursery school this week he was being fed cereal when another baby crawled over and knocked David's bowl of cereal over. The teachers told us they'd never heard such a fuss from a baby as they did when David got upset over his spilled cereal.


He's also trying to crawl- before he's sitting up yet! He'll turn over onto his belly, bring his knees forward so he's propped up a bit, scoot himself forward by pulling with his arms, then repeat the process. He's going after all sorts of good stuff- balls, his teething toys, his little mouse lovey that Gaby sent him from Germany.


He's our little angel baby.

Also overheard in the car earlier today...
A conversation between two barbie dolls-
Pink Barbie- "Hey, those are my shoes. Give them back."
Blue Barbie- "Okay. Wait, wait. I have to trick-or-treat first."

Ahhh... the beach

Cutems peeking over his pop's shoulder.


The 3 Muskateers frolicking along the shoreline.


We returned today from a week's vacation at the beach. We had a lovely time and it was as relaxing as can be expected with a 3 year old and a 5 month old. Our friends the Atwoods joined us and Magnolia was in heaven (most of the time) playing with Lily & Eli. We rented a cute little house with a pool and only a short walk to either the Gulf side or bay side of the island. The pool was key as I think our kids grew gills given the amount of time that was spent playing in the water. One of my favorite moments was listening to Eli's recipe for ocean water- "You make it with water and tea and soda and juice." Too cute.
We spent the mornings hanging out, then usually wandered to the bay side of the island for a while, then back to the house for time in the pool, then time inside when the sun was really strong. Supper was usually a grilling affair. Then we'd wander over to the Gulf side of the island to watch the sunset.
Chris & Ryan convened daily beneath the mango tree in the backyard. Pat & Melissa came over a couple times and Pat would then join the mens convention outside. They have an adorable 4 month old girl, Maddie. It was amazing to see how big David is in comparison. He's doing this really cute thing now where he'll grab your face and lean in for open-mouthed baby kisses.
Toys were strewn hither and yon. There were probably a few left behind, despite looking under beds and couches.
Alison and I mangaged to sneak off every once in a while, too.
And despite good efforts with the sunscreen, Magnolia still came home with deepened tan lines...
We had a great time, and now it's nice to be home again.
Sorry this is so disjointed, but it's late and I'm tired.

Oh, my

As Gregg, Cathy, Chris & I were sitting at the dining table this evening, Magnolia wanted to play "driving". This involved baby boy being placed in his carseat on the floor with Nolia sitting in one of her little chairs beside him. She "drives" the bus and asks Chris (the policeman) for directions to the bus stop. After thanking him for his help, her bus pulls out and "eerrrk" she has an "akident". "Are you okay?" asks Chris-the-policeman. "No" she says, "I need a drink".

Small town life

So Chris & Magnolia are off to go tubing down the river with Gregg & Cathy. Baby boy & I are staying home as he's too little to spend a couple hours in an innertube floating lazily in the sunshine (especially given that it's July in Florida and REALLY hot today).
Gregg & Cathy are visiting for the weekend. Gregg got a job as a bio professor at a little university in Missouri and will be moving away in 2 weeks. We had a party last night at our house so his G'ville friends could hang out before he hit the road. Hopefully he'll be able to come back and visit a lot as we'll really miss him.
There was a friend of a friend of Gregg's that came last night and was seemingly FASCINATED that I grew up in Starke and enjoyed the experience. He's working there now, but relatively recently moved from a long stint spent teaching in China. Having apparently never lived in a small Southern town (or a small town, period), he is experiencing a bit of culture shock. Granted, he had a few beers in his system (at least), but he couldn't stop talking about how everybody knows everybody and if one were perchance to pass out in the parking lot of a local restaurant after drinking copious amounts of margaritas, EVERYONE would know by the next morning. Especially if you're theoretically old enough to know better. Hmmm, go figure.
Starke is a small, Southern town. You either love them or you don't. You just have to figure out which camp you're in.

Summer in North Florida

Spending time outdoors in Florida during the summer pretty much requires that you be in or adjacent to water at all times. So this means we spend as much free time as possible at either the lake or in pools belonging to friends and relatives. The lake is our favorite, and we spent the past weekend at the family lakehouse with our friends. It's an old cracker-style house built by my great grandfather in 1909, and I absosolutely love being there- so peaceful and I don't even mind if it rains as I love the sound of it on the tin roof. Luckily for us, our friends Alison & Ryan also enjoy staying there, and also don't mind sharing the rather rustic abode with the bugs and spiders who are only temporarily displaced by our sweeping (and sometimes more drastic, but never permanent, measures). Magnolia is in heaven whenever we are there, and to spend THE WHOLE WEEKEND is sheer delight. The fact that Lily & Eli were there to be her partners in crime just raised the level of elation even further. "We spending the night here again?" she kept asking with glee shining in her eyes. Saturday & Sunday a lot of family came out, so there was organized chaos with up to 14 kids running amok (okay, so David isn't running yet, but he can get a good roll on). Most of the kids were 6 years old and under, so it was quite the spectacle.

It was a pretty relaxing weekend. The kids would wake up much earlier than we grown-ups would have liked, but they played in the house while we became conscious with the aid of coffee (they did have to tickle Chris awake). Then it was down to the lake to swim and go tubing behind the boat. Naps were hit or miss (mostly miss), but that was okay as there were no melt-downs. There was the occasional impromtu parade- Alison carrying David around the house and Lily, Eli & Magnolia tagging behind chanting "Hey, David! Hey, David!". Magnolia announced she was going to marry Eli, which prompted Lily to claim baby David- way to go girl, getting yourself a younger man. Baby dolls were stripped of their clothes, kids ran around half-dressed, books were read, and copious amounts of watermelon and Cheetos were consumed. There were amazingly few requests for t.v. (good thing, as there wasn't one around). Chris & Ryan discussed politics on the back porch. Time was spent on the swing hung from a big live oak in the backyard. Chris entertained us with his guitar- lots of "Wheels on the Bus" requests. Kids (and Chris) boogied on the dock to Abba's Tiger song. Magnolia serenaded David with her original composition, "You are a cutie every day, you are a cutie baby boy" and David rewarded her efforts with a chuckle and a grin. Everybody wore themselves out during the day, so bedtimes weren't too traumatic. I even got most of a book read and went for a good, long swim.

Can't wait to do it again.

Princess times

Nolia has been obsessed with her polly-pocket type princess dolls. Okay, she's been entranced by all things princess, period. She has a Cinderella and an Ariel, plus a couple more smaller Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty cake-toppers that she has collected from various birthday parties. So it wasn't too much of a surprise when she told me, "Mama, I need a prince". Be still my heart. And, yes, I managed to not go into lecture mode. So a few days later we were off to the toy store in search of a prince. Found one as part of a set (so now we have yet another Cinderella doll, plus a horse & carraige and several costume changes whose tee-tiny shoes have already been lost). Nolia has been playing with them incessantly. All over the house, including the tub; in the car; she even sleeps with them. But poor Cinderella has been jilted by the prince in favor of Ariel. Except that she does call the prince Eric...

And now her baby brother is a prince, as well as her Daddy. Very cute. Sometimes Daddy is her prince, and sometimes she'll inform me he is my prince, in which case she'll claim baby brother. The sweetest is when she asks one of us to dance with her, and holds her twirly dress out to the side with one hand while swaying to the music.

Hello, David!

Darling baby boy! Born 2/21/08 weighing 8 lbs, 13 ounces. We are thrilled (I believe Chris' exact words were "woo-hoo!"when Dr. M lifted David up from behind the drape). Magnolia is a great big sister and enjoys "playing" with him (sometimes too exuberantly). She is frequently asking, "Can I see his head?" and wants us to hold David at her eye level so she can pat him. She'll tell anyone that asks that "he doesn't cry TOO much". And considering she's only asked when the baby is "going back" once (when he was wailing with misery in his car seat all the way across town and nearly across the prairie), we think she's adjusted well from being a singleton child to a life of sisterhood.