Calling All Crazies

I think someone must have put a sign on me in some inconspicuous place that said, "Come talk to me if you're crazy".... Okay, I know that post-partum depression is real but is there a such thing as post-partum craziness? What you are about to read may possibly have been one of the strangest interactions I've ever had.... Try to stay with me on this one.. It's a good one.

I was in Rite Aid picking up my deals of the week because the new sales start tomorrow. I need to make a post about my new coupon clipping habit. I am so addicted. I've been getting stuff for free and it's so much fun...

Anyway, I was pushing Chloe in the shopping cart and Adam and Emma had gone over to the dollar store next door. And this girl comes up behind me and says, "hey, how old is she?" Now it's a pretty common thing for people to ask how old your baby is. Everyone likes comparing babies... not a big thing. I looked down at Chloe, fluffed her hair and said, "she will be eleven months old on the thirtieth".. She said, "when does it get easier". She then points to the carrier that she has sat on the floor with what looked like a tiny baby in it to me and said, "he's six weeks old. It occurred to me that maybe this girl was suffering from post-partum depression and had been stuck in the house with no adult conversation and she saw someone with a baby that she thought might be able to relate to her. So, I decided to try to be the therapy that she needed. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it gets even harder when they become a two year old so I said, "it will be easier when he starts sleeping through the night." She then says, "He's big isn't he". Well, he looked tiny to me but to be fair, a young baby is probably going to seem very small to me right now since Chloe has grown so much so I said that to her.. Now her approach to me was pretty strange to begin with but this is not an isolated incidence for me. It happens regularly to me that someone will walk up to me and strike up a conversation like they've known me for life. I've always just thought it was a good thing to be approachable and haven't given a ton of thought to the matter. So, the conversation continues with her asking, "how much do you weigh?" Now I must have had a little bit of a confused look on my face because she followed that up with, "if you don't mind me asking". And really, I don't mind telling anyone my weight. I'm pretty much one of those people that tells it like it is. I've been described as everything from refreshingly transparent to blunt and no telling what behind my back :). I just figure that the world is full of people that are trying to look like they've got it all figured out and I truly treasure the friends in my life that I know are being real with me.. So pretty much, what you see is what you get. No surprises here. But I was however, trying to figure out if I misunderstood her and she wanted Chloe's weight since we had just talked about the size of her baby. So once I figured out that she was talking about my weight, I told her 135 lbs. Now I must say, I feel pretty good about weighing 135 lbs. I weighed 140 when I got pregnant with Chloe so I figured 135 was pretty good. I mean, I won't be sporting a bikini um ever. But, I feel like that's a good healthy weight.. So she says to me, "well I'm 115 pounds and the doctor wants me to gain 10. Do you think I'd be too fat if I gained 10 pounds". I started to say, "well, do you think I'm too fat since I weigh 20 more than that?" But instead, I just said no.. So then she says, "well how does your husband feel about your weight?" To which I said, "my husband is great, he never says a word to me about my weight". She went on for about 10 minutes talking about how she had friends who's husbands told them they would leave them if they gained weight and all of these people she knew that had eating disorders and that she did think she'd be prettier in the face if she gained a little weight and that it might make her look younger. She also said something about "those girls that live up on the hill". I explained to her that I had only lived here for two months and she gave me a patronizing look like I was ever so green and naive about the area... And then she said, "so your husband doesn't care that you're not toned?" Any kind of clever comment left me at this point because I guess I was just in shock.. So I just said, "no, he seems to be fine with me just the way I am". And then she just turned and walked away.. And I called out, "well you have a nice afternoon"...

And so what did we learn from this? I've got a wonderful husband and it's a good thing because I'm sure not toned... And, there are some crazies in South Carolina..

The Faith of a Child...

You will need to scroll to the bottom of the page and pause my playlist so that you can hear


Back by popular demand... At least from Aunt Denise, is the you tube video...

The first is of Emma reciting her memory verses. She actually knows more now. They memorize scripture all summer and ever Wed. night, the kids that know their verses get to make a trip to the pink dipper (ice cream shop). I've learned more consecutive scripture this summer than I ever have in my life..

The video of Chloe makes me cry every time I watch it. We love the "Praise Baby" CD. I want my kids to feel free to praise God with no reserve so that's what we do. We put it in and sing to the top of our lungs and throw our hands in the air and dance (uh huh, that's right we dance).. And we praise God... I have a theory.. My mom used to dance around the living room with us. Usually to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, "Island In The Stream".. Maybe that's where my fascination with Kenny Rogers comes from.. Well occasionally, I will hear one of those songs and I'm flooded with sweet memories from my childhood. So what if I can help my children associate songs about God with sweet memories and happy times... Well, I'm gonna give it a try.






I think this is what Jesus meant when he said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these". in Luke 18.

Still on a quest...

To get a picture of Chloe that is frame worthy...

We are back from taking Anna and Rachel half way to WV. We had a wonderful time catching up with them and since we had some late nights with them, the girls are sweetly tucked in and I'm headed there soon.

Emma was busy catching up on time missed with "her teenagers" ( that's what she used to call them). So, I took that opportunity to try to get a picture of Chloe that will go on my wall. Haven't gotten the perfect one yet but here are some that capture her little personality.

Aunt Denise, I did get some video since you requested it.. And as soon as Adam gets them ready, I'll post them. Hopefully these will hold you over until..

Blessings,
Dana












The following may go down as my all time favorite... This is her "you're kidding me right" look that undoubtedly came straight from her daddy.





And, this is what my spunky little Emma was doing while I was taking these pictures....



And it's the hay for me.

Bloggers Block

Or maybe it's Bloggers rush..

When I was first pregnant with Chloe, I was so sick that I let the house get unorganized which if you know me, only made me more sick... Anyway, I got so overwhelmed that it took me a while to get back on top of the mess because I just couldn't figure out where to start... Well, that's how I feel about this blog.. so much to tell.. so little time to do it that I just keep putting it off... Plus, I've misplaced my largest memory card which has a few pictures on it that I wanted to post..

Chloe is moving.. FAST... She's climbing. She climbed the gate up the stairs the other day.. She somehow pushed it over to where it was kind of propped on the stairs and she got her little toes in the cracks and climbed... She was crying the whole time because it was hurting her little toes.. but she kept climbing.. Determination is good.. when your a mother... I'm tired..

Emma walks around behind me all day asking questions... what's that? How do you spell.....? What does Alzheimer mean? Do they forget how to talk? Well do they forget how to sit up? Well to they forget how to......? What does the president do? What laws does he make? What if I had been a boy instead of a girl? What do you think my kindergarten teacher's name will be? What if the sky was red? What if I were your mother and you were my daughter? What makes a horn honk? What number comes after 79? And I'm sure you think I'm exaggerating but I'm not. These are only a few of the ones I can remember for the last day or so. I've always made a point to try to answer her questions.. But now, I think she just wants to hear me admit that I don't know... I DON'T KNOW Emma, let's play the quiet game... All of you mothers with babies just waiting on the first word.. Be careful what you wish for. Once it starts.. IT NEVER STOPS.

Anyway, we're busy. It's a good busy. Not the oh my goodness I've got a deadline and everyone is counting on me busy. I'm not sure that anyone is expecting anything at all from me right now except for my girls. That's the first time for that since well, never. That's wonderful but some how scary to me... Adam's loving being a preacher (I've still got to come up with a better word for it than that. That just sounds icky). I guess we all knew that he would. I sit there during church holding my breath because I'm afraid that he's really stirring people up. And everyone kindly reminds me that that's what they hired him to do. I think he's doing what he was born to do.. Which I guess means I'm doing what I was born to do since I feel confident that God made us for each other but, I'm still trying to figure out what that means for me.

I have a blog post hanging in the draft folder that I started on July 2.. I've come back to it and written a little more a couple of times. I might get it finished before the summer ends. If not, Emma starts Kindergarten in the fall.

So anyway, if you get to wondering where I went, I'm chasing the sweet, sweet, baby girl in only a diaper because she HATES to wear clothes followed by the vivacious and inquisitive five year old who has changed clothes at least 10 times that day. And I'm trying desperately to pack in the last little bit that I can before she will spend more of her time with another woman than she will me. No, I'm not giving her up for adoption... I'm talking about her Kindergarten teacher... And there's a whole other post I need to write!

My bed is calling my name.. Actually, that's not true, it called it an hour ago. Now all I have to do is close the laptop and drift off to sleep. And that's why I haven't been writing in here... I've sacrificed a whole hour of sleep that I needed to store up energy for tomorrow.

Edit: So Anna and Rachel know just how excited we are to see them and that last line was an afterthought just before I drifted off to sleep. I was more referring the storing up energy for a long car ride with the girls and not that Rachel and Anna took a lot of energy...

Tomorrow, we will be going to get Rachel and Anna, two of the teens from WV that are going to stay with us for a week. WE ARE SO EXCITED TO SEE THEM. I plan on just enjoying the week with them so definitely don't expect anything for a while...



Blessings,
Dana

Ten Months Old!

I spent all last week trying desperately to get a picture of my little speeding bullet. I knew that with the way she's moving, trying to get a picture of her on the day that she actually turned 10 months old was a huge gamble. I did get a few pictures I liked better but since this one fully depicts what we're mostly seeing these days, I decided to go with it.


But here is a a little math equation of my own for my school teacher friend Susan.

A determined, moving baby
+
A determined mother with a camera
+
A trip to the park on a 100 + degree day
=
One steaming hot cup of frustration for both baby, mother, and the poor little five year old who "just wants to play".

And here are a few other pictures of Chloe from the past few days that I determined salvagable. Since they are the best I can do right now.

Emma's Five Years Old!

And more on that when I get an internet connection!

No Internet

Just in case any of you are wondering where I've disappeared to... We don't have internet at the house. So if you need me quick, give me a call or e-mail Adam.

Blessings,
Dana

Look at Her Go

I couldn't believe it! Chloe started crawling so early that she was pretty banged up there for a while. She must learn quickly because she has become the most cautious little thing I've ever seen. When most kids are learning to walk (at least the ones that I've seen), they pretty much try to get as many steps in before they fall but Chloe takes one step, steadies herself than goes again. Much different from her take life by a storm kind of sister. They are like night and day. I love their uniqueness. Hmm, don't you wonder what a third one would be like? Well you'll just have to keep wondering.;).



Emma has learned to hulla hoop and can hoola hoop like a mad woman. We have a movie of that too that we will try to get up. I wanted to get this one of Chloe up on the exact date.

Blessings

Birthday Party Invitation

Here is the invitation that I did for Emma's birthday. I had planned on doing a photo invitation but I was running out of time. These will just go out to her new friends at church. Hopefully I will be able to get five year old pics soon and be able to do a five year old photo announcement.

PS:
I changed the address. We don't actually live on candy land lane :)

Hilary is nuts

I have avoided talking about my choice of candidates for the 2008 presidential election mainly because my plan is to write in Harrison Ford. Since the biggest qualification for being a politician is being a skilled actor, I think he is the most qualified. He did a fantastic job playing that role in Air Force One and he's good looking too.

But I do have to make one little comment about current events. Either Hilary Clinton is brilliant and has a conspiracy to split the democrat party to get McCain elected so that she can have another chance in four years or she is completely and totally nuts.

Brilliant or nuts? What do you think?

Politics are twisted...