I started a post on Friday about our evening out and my Thai food experience, but I never got to complete it. The Thai food was FANTASTIC:) We had potstickers (pork and vegetables wrapped in dough and boiled with a flavorful sauce) as an appetizer. Sidenote… our friend Corrie makes GREAT potstickers. These were comparatively good, but the sauce was what made them really tasty. Brian had hot and sour coconut chicken soup. I tasted it, and it wasn’t very spicy at all, and very good. Then I had something called “Wing of Angel”, a deboned chicken wing stuffed with shrimp, chicken and veggies, served with shrimp fried rice. Very tasty. Brian had his standard Thai favorite, Thai nodles in a creamy, spicy peanut sauce. We’ll definitely go back. I’m a big fan of Thai food now!

Unfortunately, Friday night I had a touch of the stomach flu. I’ll leave it at that… it was a long night, and thankfully, I was over the worst by Saturday morning. Brian’s mom took Analise for the morning, and I got a few hours of extra sleep. Other than that, the weekend has been pretty quiet, just catching up around the house and playing with our busy girl.

I’m crossing my fingers tonight that Analise doesn’t wake up with pink eye. A little boy at church had it the middle of the week, and I can’t imagine when she might have been exposed to him when he was contagious. But today her eyes have been watery, with a tiny bit of white discharge. I’m afraid she’s going to wake up with her eyes terribly matted shut. Ag. Maybe I’ll check back in tomorrow with good news…

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

We caught a picture of Analise at Grandma Beverly’s with her baby doll (the one that lives at Grandma’s) and her Valentine’s bears. We had a fun day, and the week hasn’t been nearly as eventful as Monday was. We’ve been busy,though, and I’m awfully tired today and spending most of the day resting and trying to pull my house back in order. Tuesday were were at church in the morning for our bible study, home for a nap, then back in the car to the grocery store. (Let me tell ya, grocercy shopping with a toddler and being pregnant is an exhausting adventure.) Then we met Brian at his parents for dinner. How romantic, huh? It was nice to not have to cook, though, and Beverly made a great dinner and a pretty pink heart layer cake. Yesterday, I had a doctor’s appointment in the early morning, then a couple friends came over for coffee and a bit of prayer which we do every week. We went out to lunch at my favorite place for chicken salad. THEN Analise and I braved a bit of real shopping, and checked out the consignment store nearby. SWEET DEALS as they are clearing out their old stuff for spring/summer. I got this nice purse (which can double as a diaper bag for short outings, at least until our little one arrives!), 2 maternity shirts and a pair of pants for $12!

‘Tis the season here in Birmingham for consignment sales – not at stores, but independent ones that run for a few days at a time. They are the source of GREAT DEALS. Last spring was my first experience with them, and I can still list off the things that we use every day that were good finds (high chair, jogging stroller, lightweight stroller just to name a few!). Anyway, this morning, Beverly and I checked out the first of the season and found some cute newborn baby boy things. I’m also getting a small pile of stuff ready to sell at a sale that happens in early March. You tag your stuff, they sell it, and you get 66% (at least at the sale I’m doing). As an added bonus for selling items, I get to shop early, before the mad rush on the first day. Well worth it:) Ebay would probably get a few more dollars for some things, but I’m not in the mood to hassle with taking pics, posting the items and then shipping them.

It’s a lovely day here. Analise is napping, and I should be for a few minutes, too, so that I gain a bit of energy for her afternoon romping. Maybe we’ll go outside… it’s getting a bit hard for me to keep her close by, though. She likes to run and explore, and my back is making it harder and harder to chase her down. Tonight, Brian’s parents are babysitting while we go out for a belated Valentine’s evening. We’re going to Samford’s Step Sing show, in which many of the student organizations/fraternities/sororities put together song and dance routines. It sounds silly, but they put a tremendous amount of work into it, and it’s a huge deal on campus. They’re great and often comical programs. We had a fun time last year, and a couple from church who went to Samford were excited to join us tonight. We’re going to have dinner at a Thai restaurant, my treat to Brian, since I don’t think I like Thai food. But he loves it, and maybe I’ll be surprised!

I wish I had the energy to post pictures. But I’m too tired to do anything other than just post this quick recap so you can all enjoy my day with me. **Beware… it was a rough day to be a mom!!**

Analise has had a cold for about 12 days now, and after several nights of terrible sleep, I wondered this morning if she might have an ear infection. I got an appointment for 3:15. The day started out well with my swim class, and Analise got to hang out in her Daddy’s office. She loved it… said “Daddy (unintelligible word) work” all the way over there. I love that she’s putting words together! We came home, and she went straight down for a nap after her night of restless sleep and I had a bit of time to myself. She woke up, we had egg sandwiches for lunch, and took off for an afternoon of errands and the doctors. Target was a bummer… I’d hoped for a new swimsuit, since the chlorine is eating mine to shreds. No luck. Then we went to Kinko’s, got gas, and got stuck in traffic on our way to the doctor’s. About 1 min from the doctor’s, poor Analise threw up all over. What a mess… Honestly – what do you do?? I wiped her off with wet wipes as best I could, but she was still quite a mess. We got into the exam room quickly, and I was hoping for an in/out 15 min visit. The nurse wanted all her clothes off to weigh her, and I couldn’t bear to put them back on, so I wrapped her in my sweatshirt jacket. The doctor didn’t come in for nearly 45 minutes!! Analise was patient, and feeling pretty good by now. She doesn’t have an ear infection, thankfully, just the end of something viral. I had some good luck, though, when I got ahold of Brian’s parents to come rescue us with their car and car seat. WHEW! And then, as an early Valentine’s present, or maybe just wonderful-every-day-kind-of-love-in-action, my dear sweet amazing husband cleaned up the car and car seat. (Notably, he was flabbergasted at how much his daughter could throw up… as was I!)

Anyway, Analise is feeling better, hopefully sleeping well with some cold medicine, and Brian’s already in bed after a restless night of sleep. I’m about to join him. But I had a few thoughts I wanted to blog:)

Quick question – not sure if anyone out there was watching TV tonight, but if they were, I wonder if they noticed the incredibly funny irony in programming. NBC had the Winter Olympic pairs skating free skate program, while just 3 channels away Fox was showing Skating with the Celebrities. QUITE comical. If I’d had one of those fancy TV’s that allows you to watch both at once, I would have. It was great:)

The beginning of the list of Things I Never Imagined I’d Say
“Honey, I’d rather you didn’t wear my underwear.” -said to Analise, who had it on her head.

I’m a TO-DO failure
Those of you that read this can at least hear my apology. I’ve had Christmas (actually “winter”) pictures to send out for a month now. I’ve been meaning to get a letter written to send with it, but it just keeps NOT happening. So you may see it soon… my goal at this point is by the end of February. But to top that, I’ve got some sweet Valentine’s that I am 75% done with. I’ll post a picture in case you weren’t on my short list of familiy to send them to. But I just can’t find the time/energy to finish them to get them in the mail even tomorrow, Valentine’s Day. *SIGH* I won’t dwell… my kitchen is clean, my little girl is sleeping soundly, and the essentials of life here at our house are taken care of. Maybe the “fluff” will get taken care of later this week!

In case I don’t get to post tomorrow, Happy Valentine’s Day, friends! We love you!

Sorry, I’ve been speaking a lot of spanish lately. My dear friend Claudia from Nicaragua has been with us since Saturday. She’s enjoyoing chasing Analise, and I’m giving her a break from speaking constant english in Texas, where she’s been working with Mercy Ships. We’re having a great time.

Baby Hair
I just had to post this picture. Analise’s hair is so soft and fine lately. It’s getting long! After her bath, her curls are all fresh and cute. I always wanted a little girl with curls:) Brian had a head full of blond curls that his mom didn’t cut until he was 2, so I’m glad Analise got some “curl genes”. Brian’s dad keeps saying it needs to be cut… it is hanging in her face a lot and we’re in search of the right barrettes. But it’s going to be a while until my little girl gets her first haircut. I’ve lamented a lot lately about my baby growing up, but she’s still got her baby soft hair:)(I snagged this photo while she was snuggling in my lap before bed, but I couldn’t get a good one from the front! Maybe later today!)

School Days for Analise!
Today is registration day at Lakeside Baptist, where Brian’s parents go to church, for their Mother’s Day Out program. It’s a structured 4-hour “school” time, and we’ve decided Analise would really enjoy that for next year. I’ve got mixed feelings this morning… part of me feels like since I’m staying at home with her, it’s silly to send her off to school, but I know how much she enjoys being with other kids and she doesn’t get that opportunity very often. And then I think that 4-hours/2 days a week seems like so much time… I’m going to miss my little one! But on the flip side, my hands will be full with a new little one this fall, so I think that it really will be a good time for all of us.

This past weekend, I was baptized before our new Clearwater church family. I was baptized as a child in the Lutheran church, and to this point in my life, it’s been something I didn’t feel was necessary. But to be a member of a Baptist church, you gotta get baptized by immersion, or “dunked”. Though I didn’t feel it was “necessary” spiritually, per se, I do want to commit to Clearwater church as a family with Brian, and at this time, that means being baptized. I also had the realization that God has blessed me in so very many ways, and this is just one little chance for me to walk in obedience and identify with Christ in a new way. Besides that, how often do you get a chance to really share your testimony of God’s faithfulness in your life?

I’m had a long “faith adventure” in my life with Christ. We’ve gone many miles together, to different corners of the world, done things I’d never imagined I would/could do, and I’ve seen Him work in so many ways. Along the way, there have been many stones of rememberance to God’s faithfulness and grace to me. My testimony could be hours or pages long, filled with sweet remembrances of God showing Himself in a new way at each turn. This verse spoke to me as I was thinking about my testimony:

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We are called to live our lives as living stones, showing others that Jesus was here. This weekend was my chance to share that Jesus has been here so many times in my life, Jesus is here in this new season of my life, and Jesus will be here on down the road.

Saturday Woes
Brian was at my disposal on Saturday morning to do a few household projects. Tops on my list was to install a set of ingenius child-locks (magnetic Tot Lok’s) on our drawers and cabinets. He set out to tackle one drawer, only to find (after nearly 2 hours!!) that it wouldn’t work on our drawers. Cabinets, probably yes. But by this time, the morning was shot, and the safest thing for our relationship was to put the child-proofing on the back burner:) Maybe next weekend we’ll try it on a cabinet. I’ll let you know if it eventually works…
While Brian was attempting his project, I decided to rearrange the cabinets. Analise loves to open the pantry and pull all kinds of food out, bringing them to me to convince me it’s snacktime. Sundried tomatoes, one? How about some dried french onion soup? Those are what she finds when her graham crackers, fruit snacks and cookies have already been removed and placed on the counter out of reach. In lieu of a child-lock on the pantry, I decided I’d put tupperware and plastic dishes in the pantry and the food in a higher cupboard. While she was napping, I got the job done and I was QUITE pleased. Analise, on the other hand, was QUITE pleased with the new arrangement as well. She’s found tupperware to be much more fun, and it’s ended up strewn all over the house. *SIGH* At least I can hope she’s learning something as she tries to match the lids to the right container:)

By the way, her new word of the week is “stuck!”, which she uses very appropriately. For example when she’s being held down for a diaper change (doesn’t that sound terrible? but that’s how it works when you’ve got a squirming toddler!), strapped into her car seat, buckled into her high chair, wedged between the rocking chair and the magazine rack. I was just remembering that she has understood the concept of being stuck for a while, probably… you can see why in this post from 11 months ago!

Sunday was a busy day, but I’ll try to pull together a blog about that tomorrow. Check back!

Monday Morning Wake Up
This morning, thanks to the wonderful babysitting of my mother-in-law, I got to attend my first prenatal aquatics class. It was HEAVENLY! I have to say, if there’s one piece of advice I can give a pregnant woman, it’s to spend some time in the pool. It’s such a relief to the constant strain on your joints. You feel weightless:) The class wasn’t extensive, just a gentle workout and stretching, and it felt so good… except that it got rained out, believe it or not. Though it was in indoor pool, we couldn’t be in the pool after we saw lightning outside. The pool is grounded, but if the electricity were to go out, the grounding would be lost and we’d be in danger. It was a bit disappointing to have to get out after only half an hour, but it’s probably a good thing… I am so worn out today! The stretching felt so good in the pool that I might have overdone it a bit… I’m awfully sore tonight! Good thing the next class isn’t until Friday. I’ll have to reign in my exuberance a bit then, and hopefully save myself some post-workout aches and pains.

I just wanted to post a few pictures from beautiful Oak Mountain State Park. I
biked here today from our house and met my friend Bryant from Clearwater to go
on a bike ride in the park. The entrance to the park is only about 10 miles
from our house!

The first picture shows part of Oak Mountain Lake with Oak Mountain in the background. Look for the highest ridge. Most of the mountains here in Birmingham are very long ridges. The second picture shows the spillway that I had to ride through to get to the front of the park. Even though the water may look deeper, it was only about six inches deep.

Yesterday we got Analise’s Christmas gift from her Aunt Anna and Uncle Hal in Platteville, wI. Hal works as a Reisdence Hall Director at UW-Platteville, and during a conference with university vendors, he won a sample chair from one of the displays. He COULD have gotten a full-size chair (I think), but decided instead that this model size was perfect for Analise. So the chair arrived by FedEx this week. It’s heavy-duty… great so there will be no dragging it around to use as a stool. She’s quite happy in it right now, watching a Blue’s Clues video. It’s quality furniture! Thanks, Anna and Hal!

Analise is helping me get prepared to have another little one to get into and out of the car. Yesterday she insisted on bringing her bear and her baby doll to the car with us. Not only did I have my hands full with my purse, bag and diaper bag, but I had her in my arms, carrying the 2 stow-aways:) I love having a garage in the basement of my house, but it’s HARD to get up and down the stairs with my hands so full. I’ve asked Brian if he can install something like a dumbwaiter so I can send the baby/groceries/etc. up by just pulling a rope! For now, though, Analise is trying to get me ready!

You’ve probably heard me mention that my little one is not a baby anymore. She’s much more of a little girl than the baby it seems she was just yesterday. One defining aspect of that has come up just this week, as I think she’s finally stopped nursing. Yes, she is 18 months old. If that seems “too old” to be nursing to you, I’ll understand. I thought that before she was born, too. But a number of factors allowed us to continue this long, most of all that it’s just easy to quiet her before bed by snuggling her close to me.

Back before Analise was born, we were determined that she would be breastfed. Cheaper, better for her in the long run, easier… the benefits are countless. But it almost didn’t happen. In the first couple days before my milk came in, she latched on like a champ. But when my milk came in, she couldn’t get the hang of it. It was painful… physically and emotionally. There were many tears on both of our parts. She was a hungry baby, I was a desperate mom, and let me tell ya… that first week was pure misery. We finally called in the expertise of a lactation consultant (for a 3 digit price that has been worth EVERY penny, believe it or not) to help us find the problem. We ended up with me pumping and Brian feeding her through a syringe (this is one of my absolute favorite pictures of them, when she was just 5 days old).

He had to train her to suck correctly, and when she did, he’d give her more milk. It was tedious, but she slowly caught on. She still didn’t want to latch onto me, though, and it was wearying and discouraging. I debated just pumping/bottlefeeding her indefinitely. Someone asked me, “Won’t you miss that bonding experience of nursing her?” At that point, I had no idea WHAT that bonding experience was like, because trying to breastfeed her every 2 hours was a stressful and tear-filled experience. When she was 9 days old, we had to fly to Wisconsin for my sister’s wedding. I was armed with a breastpump, several bottles of milk, and all the paraphenalia we’d need to pump, bottle and syringe feed her. On the plane, she had a fussy period during which we couldn’t reach a bottle. So, desperate to quiet her, I decided I’d try to nurse her… and lo and behold, she latched on and nursed like a champ. That was the slow beginning of our long, sweet nursing relationship.

So here we are, 18 months later. That’s more than 550 nights of snuggling her into my lap, watching her relax and be comforted to be sucking and close to me, holding my finger tightly with her soft tiny hand. It’s amazing how a squirming restless child can melt into your arms. I didn’t know back then what the “bonding experience” was, but I do now, and I’m glad we hung in there. These quiet moments are some of my sweetest memories of being a mom. Yes, we do have another one on the way, so it’s not like I’m going to have much of a break from breastfeeding. It’s just that this is the end of “babyhood” for Analise, and it’s pulled at my heartstrings this week. The price of a breastpump ($200) + other paraphenalia to teach my little girl to latch on ($50) + $$$ to lactation consultant + pain of early days and teething = priceless moments with my baby girl.