Happy New Year!

....and with Papa in his kerchief, and Maddie down from her bath, all had settled down for their New Year's nap. And almost 8 pm. Way to go team.



Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Madeline was a great age (close to 10 months) and it was fun to see her get into all the Christmas wrapping. Here she is opening up her gift from us,




some new "Olivia" books. We had Christmas morning to ourselves and then my mom and sister came over for lunch and hung out the afternoon.

Over the holiday break, my mom took pity on my sewing entry and decided to teach me how to make a dress for Madeline. She said that we could knock it out in an hour. In theory, she was right, but in practice.... eh, let's just say that she had some of her own throw-it-across-the-room moments. I wore my Grinch grin the whole time. Good thing we were practicing on my old college sheets. "But, seriously, Ashley, if I hadn't gotten ahead of myself, you could whip out these dresses all day long." Hah. Doesn't duct tape come in every color in the rainbow these days?

Sewing! Ugh! AARGH!!

No bones about it. I hate to sew. I've been putting off the petite project of sewing the divine Miss M's stocking for at least 3 weeks now, and seeing how the date of December 23rd spelled impending doom, I reconciled myself to the project this evening. My plan had been to trace her little toes up to calf and create a life size version. Problem 1: Holding down an adventurous crawler long enough to get pattern. Nevermind the fact that she is ticklish and everytime I hit her arch with the pencil she would jerk away. Problem 2: The pattern was in 18th century pig latin. Problem 3: My small house was already strewn with piles of laundry to be done, but on hold, due to the fact that my laundry room shuts down every night at 6 pm. (you see it is in the garage, and once both cars are in, times up). Problem 4: Every sewing item has to be hauled out of the closet; ironing board and iron, sewing machine, box with scissors & pins, scrap fabric for lining. Problem 5: All the stupid little threads that have to be cut and then gathered up. The first cut out was to size- MISTAKE! I needed room for the seam allowance. The second attempt, while following the pattern exactly, put the cuff on at some weird time and raw edges would inevitably show. I'm over it. And, yes, my friends, it currently sits in it's ragged format in the corner of the room where I threw it.

Last year, I had taken a class at my local knitting shop for a knitted stocking. The priority at that time was to just figure out enough to get started and finish it this summer. Well, having a baby threw me for a loop and here we are at Christmas 08 without anything for the munchkin. But this sewing experience has made me resolve that next year at this time, I will have a knitted stocking for her. At least knitting materials stay confined to one little basket.... and a couple of how to Internet sites.

Baptism

Yesterday our sweet little Madeline was baptized. Jeff's parents, sister and family, and my sister all came into town to celebrate with us. I really hadn't thought much about the significance of the service until I read the order of worship. We were asked three questions:

1) Do you acknowledge Madeline's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit?

2) Do you claim God's covenant promises on her behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for her salvation, as you do for your own?

3) Do you now unreservedly dedicate Madeline to God, and promise, in humble reliance upon divine grace, that you will endeavor to set before her a godly example, that you will pray with and for her, that you will teach her the doctrines of our holy religion, and that you will strive, by all the means of God's appointment, to bring her up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

Wow. What a great responsiblity we are given as parents! I think most of the time I look at my job as a parent to protect from harm. Right now, this mostly involves sharp edges and bonks to the head. When I first read these questions I thought, I have so much to catch up on! I'm not ready! I need help! And then the theme broke through my foggy head, 1) we need Christ, 2) God is behind the promises, and 3) we are to rely upon divine grace amidst our own fallen nature. I'll admit my own Pharisaical leanings, but thanks be to God for this reminder.

I struggled during the service, not just for the weight of the vows, but for the sadness I felt knowing that this was not a service for both of our babies. When we were pregnant, we thought we might go to China in Spring of '09 to bring back our daughter. I had hoped for both girls to be baptized together, mostly just to reconcile in my head the birth order. For reasons we may not understand this side of heaven, our "baby China" is likely many years away, and not our first baby as we originally anticipated. We are still excited and looking forward to bringing her home, but this was just the final part of me accepting that trip being a long way off.

We did have a good weekend though. Jeff's parents came in Friday night, his sister and family came in Saturday, and the both sides of the family joined together for a simple taco lunch after church. Our little house was busting at the seams, but everyone seemed content enough to claim their piece of floor and chow down.

And the hankerchief? It was a gift from my Mom with Maddie's initials on it. I held it during the baptism, wiped her sweet head with it afterwards, and hopefully it will be held again on another day where vows are said in the church.

Day of Whine and Roses

Today I was putting away some of the baby-baby stuff. The Boppy seat that cradled Maddie almost constantly for the first 3 months, the swing which allowed me to cook dinner, and all of the bitty little clothes. Maddie was unwilling to take a nap this afternoon and she whined for at least a half hour straight. I felt like chiming in.

Hooray for Jeff saving the day. Our 8th anniversary is tomorrow and I had just been thinking this morning how nice it would be to have flowers as a surprise ( I did not mention this to him). Jeff often brought me flowers from this very yard when we dated, but rarely do I receive them since being married. I guess it's because I do the budget and flowers seem frivolous and expensive. But every once in a while, it's just right.

Poof! Pouf Party

Thanks to a friend's wrapping party last night, all of my gifts are done! We had a great time, and a very lonely chore was soon transformed into telling tales of holiday traditions, bargains, and the merits of (slightly more) expensive wrapping paper. Now Santa's paper doesn't look like the same one Mom got on half off last year, and could that actually be Santa's handwriting???? This is now a new holiday tradition for me, and next time Anne, the hosting's on me. I had a great time!



Meanwhile, back at the house,




a little elf found the lights,




and decided that it was worth any trouble she might get into after all!

Dahoo Dorays

This little decoration was something I had seen in a magazine to create an advent calendar. Take baby socks, dye them red, and embellish! What could be simpler? I hung it up for the first time two years ago, but never put any treats in them. We've been reading a lot of Dr. Suess recently, and this year I thought they looked more like the stockings of Who-ville. So here's to you, little Cindy-Lou Who!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal and I have marked our recipes as "good". Only about one of every ten recipes I try ends up being something I want to keep on hand so this was a real win. We had Cornish Hens with Sage Butter, Calhoun's recipe for Spinach Maria, my mother's dressing (which I finally saw, wrote down, and will be passing along to my family), Sparkling Punch, Sweet Potato Muffins, Gravy, Pecan Pie, and Cherry Pie.

Kudos to the Test Kitchens at Food Network for the awesome Cornish Hen recipe and later, a Chocolate Banana Bread recipe. I do like to cook, but the real accoloades belong to Jeff for sticking his hand in the hens and finishing them off as I left the kitchen a little green. Gross.

Etsygazing

or more appropriately, procrastinating....



Check out pipsqueak (multiple colors and patterns available)


and little hoot.
I love these washable pillow toys!! She also makes a cupcake, ice cream cone , and fabulous little bunny. Yea fabric!


Thanks also to all of the mothers out there who encouraged me to trust my instinct and find a new doctor. I made the call this week and Madeline's new doctor will see her at her 9 month appointment. I really, really appreciate you all and all of your words of wisdom!!

Weight gain

This is Maddie's impresssion of Sting's hit "If you love somebody (set them free)". She is excellent at charades.

We went to the pediatrician for yet another weight check and she really did well. She is now 16 pounds, 2 oz. and 26 3/4 inches. This was a weight gain of 1 lb. 10 oz. versus last month's gain of only 3 oz. I am so very grateful and thankful to God for putting the weight on her. The doctor also finally consented to some Prevacid for a month since her spitting up hasn't lessened. Maybe, maybe the laundry will let up???

Trip to NC

Hi all,

Been to the spa, couldn't find a computer! We actually just got back from visiting my sister in Cary and are still unpacking. Can I make a suggestion though? DO NOT take a trip when your first child is cutting her first tooth. You will NOT sleep. Okay, so here's what we've been up to:



Saturday- Leave at 6:30 am in hopes of coordinating naps/feedings alongside of tree planting. For those of you who have been reading for some time now, you know that I had aspirations of planting a tree for Madeline at the cabin this year. Well, the local nursery closes at 12 on Saturdays, and unless we wanted to replant the Griswold family tree, it had to be bought locally. So, we had to drive to the cabin, unload all of the luggage in the back, drive to the nursery, move Maddie's car seat over, and the tree had it's root ball in our back and the leaves touching the dash. Jeff dug the hole while Maddie and I played in the grass. We planted a Kwanzan cherry and it is supposed to bloom around Mother's Day.



This is her tree and the bubbles that she is very adept at blowing. We arrived in Cary at 4:30 that afternoon.

Sunday we went to Allyson's church, the grocery, and



Maddie got to work straightening all of Allyson's DVDs.



What a thrill for my little OCD heart!


Monday- Allyson had to work, so we visited her during a break and viewed her classroom. She's the teacher I would have loved as a student. Until I got my first red-inked paper.


Tuesday- We got to go to Duke's campus! Yea!! I have pictures, I swear, but my pea-brain can't figure out how to get them on the blog. We just walked around and took it all in. Duke is simply stunning and makes me wish I had found a college with perhaps a little more curb appeal. What other time in life does one have to have the nation just open up to them and still be in a small, protected microcosm of academia? Bliss.



Wednesday- on the road again. We left at a slightly more appealing hour of 7:30 and hit the cabin again to check on the tree. I've always wanted to get a picture of this barn and so here it is in all it's back road glory. I stopped at the farmers market in Asheville and picked up some sweet potatoes (40 lbs for $12!!!) and apples for baby food. We managed to get home about 3:30 and I've been doing laundry/sorting bills/answering e-mails ever since. Ugh, there goes the buzzer.

Storycorps

One of my regular things is listening to NPR. I'm at home a lot these days and can't devote both my ears and eyes to the television to get the news. For me, NPR provides a lot of news that you wouldn't hear elsewhere, b/c they don't have to fit into a 30 minute time slot once a day. And, yes, I know that they have a liberal bent, but if we only listened to what we wanted to hear, our eyes would never leave our bellybutton. So check out and listen to the link of quite possibly my favorite series: Storycorps; this week featuring Studs Terkel. Come on now, the name is intriguing enough, isn't it?

I have to add one more, if you aren't a Studs fan: click on this link for a sassy 87 year old woman.
Oh! I love this series!

I get by with a little help from my friends

Today, Madeline had some extra babysitters on hand for entertainment. Mallory made sure she had enough toys on hand, at all times, and Will pre-screened a movie to check for historical accuracies. Apparently Mickey Mouse was one of the original 3 Musketeers.

Happy Halloween

This year,



we decided to stay home, and




let Maddie dress up as a couch potato.

Henry update

I talked to the vet yesterday and Henry had some low calcium and potassium levels. They are going to check his thyroid next week, but have assured me that there is no evidence of diabetes or any kind of kidney disease. At most, they think he might have to be put on some supplements. Oh, yeah, and he has high cholesterol. Lay off those cookies, mister!

Sweet Little Henry

Our litte Henry head had a seizure yesterday. It absolutely scared me to death. The crazy thing is that if I hadn't seen it, I would have never known a difference in him. He got up from his bed and his backlegs weren't quite underneath him, and I wondered do dogs have their legs fall asleep like people do? Then his front legs went out and I opened the door to the garage and he began to roll around on the garage floor with a horrible glassy eyed look. The seizure lasted a few minutes and then he was completely himself again. I didn't know what to do, so I called Jeff. He came and took Henry to the vet, and UT's College of Vet Meds has his bloodwork. The vet said that lots of dogs probably have seizures, but no one is there to witness them. Basically, there isn't anything you can do, but just make it safe for them and not to panic. We hope to get his test results today and in the meantime he is getting a lot of extra attention from the girls in the house. (these pictures were taken before the seizure and don't worry, she is closely supervised)

All I know is one little bitty girl would be devastated if anything happened to her little Henry.

Etsygazing (an ongoing saga)

Here are some recent fun finds:


Lucy Handbag by JessicaLeman


Vinyl wall decal by singlestonestudios (any color in the rainbow!)



Three owls box tote by thecraftpantry

Happy gazing!

Type A Twist

So, here is a scarf for me, by me, after only 11 months. For most anyone it would only take a few evenings, but I picked it up and put it down. There were several babies born recently and I have spent a lot of time trying to play catch up with them. I also learned how to yank out stitches and start over without starting completely over, so I guess that's progress. Poor thing, it was time to see it to completion and not in it's little sad state in the corner.

For you knitters out there, here's the pattern, a Plymouth yarn company freebie:


Mock Rib Scarf (1 ball Encore Worsted, size 8 needles)
Cast on 24 stitches
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K3, *(p2, k2); repeat from * to last 5 stitches, end p2, k3.
Repeat until almost out of yarn and bind off in pattern.

Tag you're it!

Tagged by Daisyeyes:

Here we go:

1. I make up silly songs to entertain anyone in the household. When Madeline was a few months old, I worked to get a reaction out of her. I made up a song called “Walking in my neighborhood” - Walking in my neighborhood, boy it never felt so good, hi to the neighbors, hello to the dogs, walking in my neighborhood. It had hand motions and extra verses, but you get the picture.

2. When I found out I was pregnant, I had an environmental heart attack, and demanded to have a clothes line put out in the backyard to save energy.

3. I organize everything and hate waste. Too much stuff gives me panic attacks and I literally feel claustrophobic. I hate even wasting a walk to another room, I am always looking to put something away.

4. I love fabric and hate to sew.

5. I have pens and pencils from elementary school. I can’t throw away anything that still has a practical use. Here is a slogan printed on a pencil for you children of the 80’s : "I’m special because I’m me". Yep, still using it.

6. The upholstery on the roof of most cars gives me chill bumps when I touch it.

7. ALERT: This is my husband's frustration that he had to get in: I only pour the amount of milk I need into my glass. Sounds innocent, but if there are literally three drops of milk left in the jug, I place it back in the frig.

Okay, since I'm still new to this blog thing- Deb, you're it.

Weird Science

No, it's not Madeline's first perm, but her first paid job! UT conducts cognitive research with infants and this was an opportunity to be our own Discovery Channel. For about 10 minutes, she looked at a screen and they measured her brain activity as images flashed by. They basically note what happens in a baby's brain when things are novel or repeated. Of course, she tested at the top of her class! Mostly because she was at the oldest side of the class...., but they did say she was awfully cute and super sweet. She plans on investing her $10 pay in the stock market; apparently you can buy 100 shares of Fannie Mae and have money left over.

A Bargain Weekend

We took off for one last weekend at the cabin before the cold sets in for good. Who's we? Well..... my mother, her dog Benji, me, Jeff, Madeline, and her dog Henry. In one sedan, but with free gas courtesy of my Mom's company. We kept hoping to find someone to sit in the rocking chair up top, but no takers. We managed to make the trip over by 1 pm with only a stop to feed Maddie. That night we went to the fish camp for dinner, Maddie's first time- how fun!, and tracked down the number of the tree farm that had an Okame Cherry I wanted to plant in honor of Maddie's birth.

The next morning we called the tree farm and found out the tree would cost about $80 and wouldn't fit in the sedan's trunk. Plan B. They gave us the number of another nursery and so off we trucked (or sedaned) to the place. The folks there were especially helpful and I don't know if I have ever seen a more beautiful place to buy plants. We have settled on either a Kwanzan or Yoshino cherry (think Washington DC), but the gentleman talked us out of buying one this weekend because of the constant care they require upon planting. So, Jeff and I head back over the mountain to visit Allyson in about a month and will make a small detour to plant a tree when more rain will be able to sustain it.

On the way back, Mom had to fill up and I ran into the Dollar General next door to scope out baby supplies. This store is only about 10 minutes away from our cabin, and much more appealing than a drive into Hickory for supplies. On my quick tour around, I found a Trivial Pursuit DVD SNL edition. "That would be a great Christmas gift for Jeff" I thought. So I head up to the counter to buy it. So the cashier scans it and it rings up .01- that's right, folks, 1 cent. We both look at each other, and I say you may want to check on that, and so off she runs to find the head duck. When the head duck comes up, she looks at the game and at the screen, and says "Well, I guess it is a penny". Can you believe it? I checked my wallet, and I could only find a nickel. I told her that I couldn't leave just paying a penny, so please keep the nickel. I laughed my head off the whole way out to the car.

We ate at the dive for lunch - and although I have never in my life ordered a bacon double cheeseburger, I did that day. I don't regret it. There is nothing like finding a little joint on the side of the road, who brings your order piping hot in wax paper, and only charges you $3.25. I will be taking a few dozen extra laps around the neighborhood to compensate though, so if you're in Knoxville give me a buzz.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the edge of the water reading "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen and getting sun on one side of my face. Oops.

On our way back home today we did the mandatory stop at the Farmer's Market. I bought a peck of Golden Delicous and a 1/2 peck of Granny Smith to make apples for Madeline. The guy was also selling a variety called Johnny Gold, which I am sure is now my current favorite. If you are a fan of Honeycrisp- you would love these. I also tried a Sun Crisp, but the Johnny Gold was so sweet- I just had to have a 1/2 peck. Yea apple pies!

So, where are all the pictures?? I brought my camera with me, but the batteries which were charged before I left died, and my backups were dead. So the picture you see is an old one from early this summer. I hate leaving, but I'm excited about next year and how much more mobile Madeline will be.

Weary

Okay, Maddie is now over 7 months old. She still spits up... a lot. I'm really, really, really, tired of it. Yesterday I went through 4 burp cloths, 6 bibs, 3 shirts (mine), and 4 onesies. I can't imagine what I would do with the extra time should she not spit up so much. My floors wouldn't have to be cleaned daily. I would only do her laundry once a week, versus 3 times now. My laundry would decrease by half. I could remove the towels from my sofa. I know I'm getting close and in the scheme of things, it's not that big. But my world is much smaller now taking care of the little muppet. I just wished that I hadn't been told how much better it would be once she starting eating solids. Bananas stain, my friends.

Last night, I cut my finger while slicing tomatoes. And I mean, really cut it. So Jeff tended to Madeline's bath while I stain treated the aforementioned clothes (one-handed). She spit up before she got in the tub, while in the tub, and then on her towel after getting out of the tub. Jeff finally managed to get her dressed and brought her out to me so I could kiss her goodnight. She looked so sweet, smelled sweet, and was happy. All my frustration melted away. I leaned in to give her a kiss and just as I backed off, she spit up all over me. Peas, nonetheless. I still hate peas.

Making friends

We took advantage of the fabulous fall weather (the best season ever!!) and planted the divine Miss M in the exersaucer outside. Henry entertained, I plotted yet another task list, and we expanded our living space- hallelujah!

Madeline is slowly being allowed to approach Henry, and I am convinced that he is one of the reasons that she is crawling. Imagine, a furry something that moves! She also makes this H-squeak for his name and Henry will inevitably be her first word.

Extension # 1

After beginning to worry that our paperwork had been lost in a sea of immigration fingerprints, we received our letter that our petition to adopt has been extended. One of the pieces of paperwork for international adoption includes an I-600A which is simply an acknowledgement, a summary paper if you will, that we will be fit parents. Ours expired in July and we were scrambling to get it updated to qualify for what we thought would be a six month extension at no cost. Imagine my disbelief (and I use that word in all of it's meaning) to find we had been extended until March of 2010.

Okay, I'm sure you are reading this and wondering, what is she talking about? Who cares? When does the baby get here? The simple answer is we don't know and it's not soon. I had originally hoped that we would go to China in the Spring, but there is simply no chance of that. It is very likely that we will have to file for another extension past March 2010, and it will involve updating our home study, re-fingerprinting, and parental training. We really are okay with all of this and know that our family will be knitted together in just the right time and with just the perfect wee ones for us. But, in the meantime, does anyone know how to get red ink off of fingers??

Down will come baby...

So, I walked into Madeline's room about 15 minutes after laying her down for a nap. She generally goes down with a few squeaks and then settles in. I love seeing her asleep, so imagine my surprise when I see her looking back at me on her knees while pulling up on her crib. If she had gotten to her feet she could have leapt over and out. Then she starts giggling. I couldn't help but laugh, and tried to hurry her back to sleep, while I'm giggling too! I came back a few minutes later, camera in hand, to try and catch her in the act, but we both got too tickled to recreate it. Needless to say, the crib got lowered another notch this evening.

Posing for the camera

Allyson came into town for the first time since moving this summer. She and Maddie busily mugged for the camera while I snapped away. Wish you were still here!