condemned

Danny

October 2007

Cate

June 2009

"Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana,
poet and philosopher

"Oh, crap!"
Me,
mother and cleaner-upper of messes

hushabye

I love the movie "Walk the Line."
I don't know why.
I just do.

I don't think I would have ever recognized a Johnny Cash song before I saw it. After seeing the movie, we bought a Johnny Cash CD. Dan bought the DVD for me.

Now I think I need this.

I can't help but smile when I think of my baby falling asleep to the tune of "Folsom Prison Blues" being plunked out on a xylophone with tinkling bells in the background.

It's enough to make me want to cry, cry, cry.

one

Cate started her birthday week a day before her birthday.

We celebrated with Aunt Judy, Uncle Dave, Jarrett and Kris by eating chocolate chip cookie dough brownies (leftover from my birthday celebration the day before), Ben and Jerry's ice cream (also leftover from my partay)
and banana bread.

The banana bread was for Cate.
Stick a candle in it and it's birthday cake!

Cate opened presents next.

Actually, Cate just stared at the presents and wondered what to do with them. Danny, Jarrett and Kris unwrapped them for her. She took a little break to have a pretend drink from her new baby's bottle. Danny has heretofore named the baby doll Dolly.

The next day was her actual birthday. After church, we drove up to Grandma's house to spend time with the family, eat birthday cake and open more presents.

Check out this sign we saw on the way up. I had no idea Cate had some fans at my favorite eatin'-out joint. Man, I love that place.

Cate was showered with gifts from her adoring family.

clothes, clothes and more clothes
dolls and doll accessories
shoes that squeak
blankets
toys

Then came a lovely dinner of cantaloupe and watermelon...

followed by a topless Cate tearing into a ladybug cupcake...

a little swinging in the backyard with Cousin Shaelynn...

and a family photo op (in which she and her brother were by far the grouchiest ones).

These kiddos of mine slept the entire drive home. They were wide awake and ready to give baby doll haircuts for the rest of the night.

Happy birthday,
baby Cate!

at the hospital

I took Cate to the hospital today.
She smiled at the lady at the registration desk.
She waved at the other patients waiting patiently in the waiting area.
She cried at the nurse as I sat down with her in the get-your-blood-drawn chair.

She didn't stop crying until the nurses had made three failed attempts.
She only stopped then because I gave her a bottle while we waited for nurse #3 to come down to the lab to give it a try.

See her right arm in the picture up there?
Her left arm looks exactly the same.
Four poke marks.
Four!

As I held her arms, stroked her face and whispered in her ear, she cried over and over, "Da da da da da da!"
I was wishing he could have been there too.

cousins

We took a little trip up to
the humble hamlet of Hooper yesterday
to visit some of our favorite little boy cousins.

The ladies and babies relaxed on the swing
while Danny displayed some heroic
feats of strength.

He pushed...

and pulled...

and pulled some more...

and a little more until...

he successfully brought his cousins
to the part of the yard
where Billy can't get out of the wagon
without shoes on.

Thanks for the fun visit!

Not pictured today but
still of great interest to Danny:

the ginormous sandbox
(that thing is HUGE)

the busy tractor
(prepping for the new grass!)

the sleeping Daddy
(snoring away in the hammock)

one year ago today

I held Cate when she was born.
I held her again after I was moved into my room.
I didn't hold her again until a day and a half later.

The nurse put her in my arms and I cried.
She was just so tiny.
She had tubes and wires that weren't there the last time I'd held her.

June 23, 2008
4 pounds 4 ounces

June 23, 2009
19 pounds 1 ounce

She's almost quadrupled-and-a-halfed in one year.

Quite an accomplishment.

And thank goodness she's grown some hair on the top of her head this past year too! It was hard seeing my baby girl look like a baldy old man!

gift ideas

If there happen to be any grandparents reading this
(or cousins, aunts, uncles, great uncles, dads)

and

if those grandparents (or cousins, aunts, uncles, great uncles, dads) just happen to be wondering what to buy Danny for his birthday
(which is way too far away and not the best time of year for giving him a new tricycle)

or

maybe for the 4th of July
(that's a gift-giving holiday, right?)

or

possibly Canada Day
(a huge gift-giving holiday, right, Grama Bama?)

or

even Bastille Day
(is there a better way to celebrate the end of France's constitutional monarchy and the start of its democratic republic than by giving an adorable two-year-old an adorable tricycle?)

then

have I got a gift idea for you!

And

if you grandparents (or cousins, aunts, uncles, great uncles, dads)
are thinking that Cate might just feel left out if you don't get her one too,

she will.

You're in luck though.
It comes in pink.

a little song

his

Happy

Father's

Day!

We love you.

hers

Why is Cate so sad?

a. She destroyed her cupcake before tasting it.
(I'm pretty sure she never tasted it.)

b. She's topless.

c. She's slowly slipping out of the highchair.

d. Getting old sucks.

Here's the cupcake before Cate got her hands on it.
You can stop squinting.
It is definitely blurry.

Happy first birthday,
Baby Cate.

She is still a baby.
Jarrett and I had this discussion when Danny turned one.
She's a baby until she learns how to walk.
Then she's a toddler.

More pictures and words to come.
Grouchy one-year-old and blurry cupcake will have to suffice for now.

mine

Today was my birthday.
Lots of people gave me lots of great presents.
(many thanks to my wonderful family)

Highlights:

getting some pictures with my kiddos,
not just of my kiddos

eating sugar for the first time in a month
Ben and Jerry's
assorted chocolates
brookies
cinnamon licorice
possibly more that I'm not admitting to at this time

waking up at 5:45 to watch another episode of Lost on my laptop (yes, I am slightly addicted), and watching another one right now as I type this

listening to Danny remind me many times throughout the day that it is indeed my birthday today

playing the Hot-Cold game to find the presents Dan and the boys had hidden for me

and

hearing Danny (and the rest of the gang) sing to me four (maybe five) times, relighting and blowing out the candles for each verse

Not so Highlight:

I forgot to make a wish.
Every time they sang to me.

What was I thinking?

I could have four (maybe five) million dollars waiting for me if those dang wishes came true!

Happy birthday to me!

my son

I kind of feel like this little boy has been neglected on this blog lately. So here he is today. I figure it's his only chance for a few days.

My big day is tomorrow.
Cate's early big day
(celebrating with Judy's family)
is Saturday.
Her real big day is Sunday.
Dan's big day is Sunday, too.

So today is Danny's big day.
And to celebrate, he woke up with a big left eyelid.
He got bitten by something yesterday afternoon, despite a generous application of bug repellent (even on his face...made easier by some bug repellent wipes I found at Target).

At least it was only one bite.
That's nothing compared to the 9 bites he got on his face a few weeks ago.

That was all my fault.

He just had to go across the street to visit Lori. He just had to sit in Bryce's big old tractor. He just had to. And I forgot to spray him down before we went over. I think he's forgiven me though.

Maybe I haven't written much about Danny since it's all potty talk right now. I've been trying to spare you all the details. Except this one. Today he said to me,

Ummmmm, Mama. I gink I pee-peeing.
(translation: gink=think)

I have figured out that he doesn't totally understand past, present and future. I was frantic the first time he said something like that to me. We made a mad dash to the potty.

Now I know that when he says "I pee-peeing" what he really means is that he is going to be doing so in the very near future and to hurry and get him somewhere so he can take care of business.

I gink it's a step in the right direction. I have to say it makes my heart swell with a little bit of pride that my boy is actually learning to take care of his own business in his own time. It's a very good thing.

Enough potty talk.

Danny's book of choice lately for pre-bedtime reading is God Bless America. He has a board book that is just the song with illustrations. He sings right along with me and knows most of the words now.

Ahhh dess uh-guh-kuh-kuh
(That's how he sings the first line. Very sweet. And very patriotic to boot!)

He's started saying

okie-gokie

when I ask him to do something.
Any guesses as to what that means.

Danny's pretty much mastered the knock-knock joke at this point in his life. Most of the time he has to actually knock on something when he says the knock-knock part. And his punch lines are ridiculous, as you would expect. Here's how it goes, almost every time.

Knock-knock.
Who's there?
Mama (or some other person)
Mama who?
Mama gonna lock you up!

He has recently figured out the whole Gimme 5 thing too.
You know the "Gimme 5, up high, down low, too slow" routine. Danny starts it by saying

Gimme uh-pive.

I think that's his combo of up high and five.
He does also then say up high, down low and too slow.
Too cute.

And finally, as proof that he watches way too much television, here's what I heard outside today.

You dee gick yell gick! Gick!
(If you see a stick yell stick! Stick!)

You dee nuther gick yell gick! Gick!
(If you see another stick yell stick! Stick!)

Thanks, Dora!

And that's my big boy on his big day!

in the dirt

These little piggies
are in need
of a little pedi.

the wind

Jarrett and Kris were busy making "chalk sand" today. They rub a piece of chalk on the driveway over and over until it's just a dusty pile. Then they scoop it up, dump it in a bucket and make potions. Cate was busy not staying on the blanket I laid out for her on the grass.

All of a sudden, a little gust of wind blew past and some of Kris' chalk sand was blown away. Here's the conversation that took place next.

Kris: Hey! Who's blowing?

me: Nobody. It's just the wind. You can't stop the wind.

Jarrett: You can if you toot. Then you break it.

Get it? Toot...break wind. Very clever. The best part is that Jarrett was being totally serious. He wasn't even trying to be funny.

So remember, the next time you're playing with chalk sand...

you can't stop the wind...

but you can break it.

The End.

t.m.i.

I'm just dumping a lot of random thoughts here.
It will possibly be t.m.i. but I don't care.
(for Grama Bama: t.m.i. means too much information)

about my sweet baby

This is what happens when she gets pig tails in her hair during the day and no bath at night. That's not even bed head. That's all from the pig tails.

That little owie on her chin is from her newly acquired skill. She pulls herself up (using mostly furniture) to a standing position. It's terribly cute. Sitting back down can be ugly. Hence, the owie. This happened after standing by the window sill in the front room.

about my adorable toddler

He's been wearing these for the past eleven days. Not the same three pairs, of course. They've been changed many, many, many times. (See, this is the t.m.i. part.) I'm sharing because I'm extremely happy about it and I figured Grama Bama would be too.
Enough said.

about my beautiful backyard

It's grass. It's green. It's growing.
That dirt patch in the corner is currently being prepped for the play set.

The dirt patch in this shot is currently being prepped for my garden (the Spring '10 edition). In case you didn't know what the grass looked like before the tilling, weeding, raking and hydro-seeding, here it was last summer.

t.m.i.
You decide.
But I still don't care.