This Week

We are having lots of summer fun, and family fun in general. I thought I would just post a week in the life...of course this post has nothing to do with what I spend the majority of my days doing...cleaning, laundry, cooking, wiping, holding, feeding...but here are some fun things that we try to do.

Here we are at a local nature center last Saturday. We enjoyed a little stroll, and time on the playground. This pic of Dave and the girls was taken at the very beginning of a downpour...we ended up making it to the car, but were all wet. I think most of the people watching Dave with the girls were concerned, but he LOVES being outside in the rain with them and thinks it is good for their souls. You may also notice that Dave has lost his hair. Yes, it is true. About a month ago Dave went into the garage one night and walked back in the house without any hair. He claims he got hot. Some are shocked that he did this without my approval, but if this act shocks you then you do not know my husband.

Here are the girls hanging out in the backyard after naps last Saturday. In the afternoon Dave headed over to the Hooch to catch some fish (not a previous post of his adventures), so I spent a lazy afternoon kicking it in the yard with the girls. Dave did bring home two fish which we ate for lunch on Sunday. Yummy!
Monday I have some gals over for lunch and to spend some time praying. I do not have any pictures of that, but it is a fun time. I also took the girls to the pool after naps, we have been trying to go everyday, but this week we only made it on Monday because of either rain or other obligations. Tuesday we went to the zoo with playgroup. I had planned on bringing my camera, but nearing our departure Hadleigh dropped a glass bowl (yes I do feed her in glass containers and this is the first time she has dropped anything) which shattered all over the kitchen floor. In my frazzled state I was lucky to just make it to the zoo at all. Wednesday Hadleigh and Annelise hung out in their Halloween costumes. Hadleigh has been a giraffe for every Halloween of her life (only 2), and if all goes well and the creek doesn't rise she will be able to be a giraffe this year too (don't grow, don't grow).

Thursday we had Mother's Morning Out at my house. Three other moms and myself have been doing a little co-op with our kiddos who will all be in the same preschool class in the fall. It is super tiring, but probably worth it to have 3 weeks off. Hadleigh was SO excited that it was going to be at our house, and Alex came over to give me a little extra hand with the kiddos. Here is Alex reading to Hadleigh and Anne Marie. Alex is a super girl and I am so thankful for her help. She was the flower girl in my wedding and now is almost old enough to babysit!

Today is family fun day and we went to a "local" farm and ended up picking blueberries. We had planned on picking blackberries, but found they were a bit lame...maybe all the good ones had been picked, or maybe we are just super spoiled from the AMAZING German blackberries, but the ones we found were just not good. THe blueberries were amazing, and Hadleigh could not stop eating them and saying Yu-MMY! The whole way home she was asking for more berries. Super cute! Annelise was less than impressed, but really liked the leaves and even choked on some. She also showed her disdain for berry picking by crying the whole way to the farm and the whole way home. Nice...I also picked up some squash and cucumbers and Dave grabbed a few okra...dinner tomorrow night will be Yu-mmy!

We are looking forward to another fun week and Dave is especially looking forward to fireworks next Friday!

The Prodigals

If you know me at all you might say that I am outstanding citizen. A hyper responsible, rule follower, first born...yea that is me. If you give me a rule, I will generally be happy to follow it. In high school I was a model student. I never got close to any alcohol or drugs (now you know that I really enjoy my wine now, but I never touched the stuff before I was 25). I never attended anything that could be considered a party. And Dave was the first man I kissed. While at Asbury I never danced, drank or smoked. I always wore the right length skirt, and was always home by curfew. I always wear my seatbelt, and always register for conferences on time.

I always attend church on Sundays and generally attend a Sunday school of some sort. I have always been in some sort of accountability group or small group Bible study and have often been asked to lead said groups. I try to read my Bible and pray everyday.

Do I really need to go on? You get it...I am a moral person.

The problem is that I could never quite be moral enough and always had this voice in my head condemning me for not being good enough. I could never go forward for enough alter calls...and I could never give "all" of myself to Jesus and so felt that I could never get "all" of him (you know the saying give all of me to Jesus for all of him). I just always felt that I held onto some of me. It was never good enough.

THe thing is that for the past 10 years as I have been exploring scripture and a deeper understanding of theology I have realized how my morality has gotten in the way of my relationship with God. And ultimately how being a moral person has little to do with knowing God. I was trying to come to God with all of my goodness making me acceptable...but I read the Bible everyday, God...but I have never done anything "bad". And then with all of my goodness attached to me I would make demands...why am I sick? why aren't I married? why are all these "bad" people getting things that I want? They prob don't read their Bible everyday...why are you giving them good gifts? My goodness got in the way of seeing Christ.

For the last 10 years I have been trying to undo that way of thinking...understanding that I was dead in sin and Christ searched me out, found me, and brought me back to life. That I can do nothing to gain favor in his eyes. That my morality has nothing to do with my justification. Reading my Bible and wearing my seatbelt doesn't gain any brownie points or give me a bigger crown.

All of these things put together are just some of the reasons I have concerns about things like Veggie Tales. I don't want the girls to grow up thinking if they just do right they can please God.

OK, so the point of all this rambling is, as I have mentioned before, we are studying Galatians...which has been fabulous. It is always so refreshing to dive into a book and have new things revealed. So, part of the study this week was looking at morality (the morality of the Pharisees) and seeing how it gets in the way of the gospel. I need to stop adding things to the gospel that puts up barriers...things like drinking, dancing, smoking, being a Republican...can be barriers to the Gospel. Enough said...you can follow this link to read or listen to the sermon on The Prodigal Sons. And maybe after you have listened or read you will understand Dave and I a bit more.

My Fishing Edventure

I rarely post, and for those of you who know that I made the first C in my life in freshman English at King you'll know why. In my sanctified and perfected state I will have prose and diction in a beautifully displayable bag, but you get the rural east Tennessee compromise.

Saturday I was jonesin' badly to hit the e.coli infested waters of the Chattahoochee as it courses through the city of Atlanta. My demeanor as I asked Ami whether I could leave her that afternoon or Sunday afternoon very clearly said that I REALLY badly wanted to go TODAY!!! For you fishermen out there, slightly overcast, just rained, threatening rain, countless hatches, tons of debris floating down the river(both good and bad), and very little wind all screamed hit the water. My previous experience in this part of the river proved to be very productive with some very large trout, so the level of expectancy grew even more.

In my limited knowledge of this new area, I had consulted my fellow dental friend Walt. Walt spoke of an easy hike of about a mile to arrive at the panacea of all fishing holes. He told of jumping fish, clear-wadable water, and no other fisherman, including just a small caveat of a hill and a bamboo forest on the way. After pulling into the parking spot I geared up with my waterproof waders that come up to my armpits, my vest loaded with every fake fly imaginable, my float tube(a glorified innertube) and my flyrod. Setting off at a pretty brisk pace I kept remembering Walt's words "maybe twenty minutes...about a mile...bamboo forest". Included now is a map of the area I was fishing. I was walking north and I have given you some insight into the path that I CREATED. Most of what you seen drawn in dark is the first time human feet have trod on the forest floor. My path took me near the river, and I thought that I should stick close to the river so as not to lose my bearings. Suddenly the path became much more narrow and ambiguous, at one point I looked forward where the path joined the river and thought, maybe this is where the bamboo forest starts?!? As I looked to my right there stood a CLIFF with a very legible path leading up the face. I guess this is where I am to go, so I follow. About thirty minutes into climbing the sheer face my waterproof waders are full of smelly saline water, I am breathing like an asthmatic with no albuterol, lugging an innertube the size of a tractor trailer tire and my beautifully engineered FELT boots have zero traction on the decaying leaves of the forest floor. My gut told me, "Just keep going up the hill, you'll find a path, and you would be an absolute idiot to go back and start over." I found the path. GUT: "Stay on the big path"

My doctorate degree finally worked so I wasn't about to lose what dignity still remained. Now forty minutes into my twenty minute hike I am still wondering where the stinking bamboo forest is. "Stay on the big path" keeps resonating in my sweat and spiderweb covered head. I stayed. Then the path became suddenly very narrow followed with leaf covered sheer switchbacks. My pride is gone just like Spears as I skid down numerous faces ending in a small creek. No path is on the opposite side of the creek....sacagawea!!!. But Bear Grylls' words suddenly came to mind, "Yew know if eye follow this smowller tributry doanstream, I will likely find a larger tributry." Then a roadblock and a small path appear on the opposing side!!! A twenty foot climb later, yeah another big path. This is near the devils race course shoals. Well I got in and found the whole river entirely unwadable because the generators must have been on upstream at the dam. All this to say that when I finally put my foot into the water one hour and fifteen minutes after starting I thought of my friend Walt and cursed silently, "Never believe a 72 year old man stating it's an easy hike when two months ago he ran a marathon and won his class".

P.S. The two fish I caught were awesome fried in butter and seasoned salt.

Memphis

We were in Memphis this past weekend for our friend, Liz's wedding. Dave has known Liz for several years, and she was the pianist in our wedding. It was wonderful to be able to get out to Memphis to celebrate with her.

We flew, as I mentioned in a previous post. Yea, good thing I found my non-expired Franklin passport because the noted "McNay" didn't work. Hadleigh was SO excited to get on a plane. She has flown several times in her short life, but this was the first time she was actually aware of being on a plane. The night before we flew out I told her we would be flying on a plane and she was SO excited. She loves planes and helicopters and so I knew this would be a treat. Even though it was fun for her, it is also scary flying sometimes. I am not a huge fan of take-off and I cannot handle turbulance. We hit a good pocket of rough air and Hadleigh got really nervous. Dave was able to handle her and I was thankful that we were both flying with the girls. This was Annelise's first flight and she did as well I could expect the little elf to do.

Traveling with two babies is a lot harder than traveling with one. Getting through security with a double stroller, a car seat, two shoeless children was a bit much, but we all survived.

We stayed at a wonderful hotel in Memphis with a pool, a free cocktail hour, a cook to order breakfast, and a fabulous restaurant. Saturday morning Dave took us to Shelby Farms Park, which is HUGE park with walking trails, bison, and playgrounds. It was super fun just relaxing with the girls (without worrying about the boxes that still to be unpacked or the pictures that should be hung on the wall).

The wedding was wonderful and Dave had fun seeing some of his old Memphis pals. Hadleigh was very entertained at the reception and enjoyed dancing around and eating CAKE. At the reception some of Liz's friends sang a variety of songs, and one of the songs was "In Christ Alone". That is a fam favorite and one that I sing to Hadleigh regularly. As soon as they started singing it, Hadleigh came running to sit on my lap and exclaimed "Alone" and then started singing with them. It is funny to hear a two year singing about righteousness, but she does a good job of pronouncing the words. Annelise had a fun time dancing with her new little buddy, Douglas, the son of Dave's old buddies Will and Elizabeth.

Sunday morning we headed back to Atl, and was glad to put both girls in their own beds for their afternoon naps.

The real question at this point is, am I brave enough to fly solo with the girls back to CA to visit my fam...time will tell.

Twins?

This past weekend we went to Memphis...more on that later, but we had several folks ask us if Hadleigh and Annelise were twins.

My brothers are three years apart in age, but there were several times when they were mistaken for twins...but that was more when they were kids and not babies. It seems odd to me that someone could think a 7 month old is a twin with a 2 year old. Not to mention that my girls look nothing alike (though I suppose they could be fraternal).

Dave calls Annelise his recessive baby, because she received all of his genes, which he thinks are recessive to mine. I call Hadleigh my Jewish baby and Annelise my Scottish baby. Hadleigh looks like a Franklin, that good olive skin, the dark eyes, etc. While Annelise has white skin, green eyes, red hair.

It is fun to have such different girls, and we just continue to pray that they will be great friends.

Whatever Lady, Get Off My Line

Telemarketers. Though I am convinced that the seventh rung of hell is reserved for those who work for Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Cherokee Nation Distributors, I might be open to the idea of the sixth ring for telemarketers.

I just do not remember this being a major issue when we lived here before but since we have returned from Germany we have bombarded. Dave came up with several systems to combat the issue...we have to have several because we only have basic telephone service...no bells and whistles...no caller id, call waiting, blah...blah...

Strategy 1. THis is the one I primarily use. I answer the phone and if there is not an immediate response on the line I hang up. Sorry to the few folks that I have actually hung up on, but most telemarketers have a delay on the line.

Strategy 2. Let the answering machine get it and if it is someone important they will leave a message.

Strategy 3. This is Dave's favorite. Answer the phone in Spanish, French, "redneck" or using the Army answer, which is "McNay residency, Dr. McNay speaking, how may I help you sir or ma'm. This generally results in the party hanging up...though has also been known to confuse several friends as well.

TOnight my strategy did not work. Dave has rubbed off on me, and so I tend to be nice to these folks, and to pleasantly get off the phone. So, the call is from some dude in a neighboring town who got our number from public record (since we just purchased our home), and was offering a free gift certificate for dinner if we just let them come out and check our water and fill out a survey. The thing that really creeps me out about some of these folks is they ask all these personal questions, like, what time do you get home from work, and do you have children. Good grief, I don't know who the heck you are, and you could be planning to rob my house or kidnap my children...why in the world would I answer your questions?

So, anyway, he keeps pushing and asking when we get home from work so they can come out. I tell him that we aren't interested. He goes on a rampage about all the evils that live in the water... I assure him that I am not concerned, I have lived in a lot worse places than Georgia...the conversation continues as he rants about the water in Somalia...and again I assure him that I am not concerned about the water in Georgia. So, as I begin to kindly refuse him, he interupts me and says, "Whatever lady, get off my line!"

WHAT? Are you joking me...were you not the one who called me? So, as of tonight we are on the do not call list...hope I don't have anyone else yelling at me to get off "their" line.

Spiritual?

We always like to try to keep the blog a bit balanced...as in not entirely about the crazy girls (though I know that is primarily what the fam wants). Though I am sure no one has missed my random ramblings about whatever spiritual, or not so spiritual thing is on my radar.

I think that since the Elf has made her appearance I have had a hard time processing anything deep or worthwhile, and so though different things are going on in my head I am having a hard time figuring out what those things are and how they translate to anything. At this point I am living in the moment, every minute sometimes trying to make it through the day...so it seems hard to think about the wonderful sermon that Tinnin preached on Sunday.

Our community group has just begun studying Galatians...wow...the study we are using is written by (you guessed it) Tim Keller and you can buy it online here (you just download it). There is a section of questions that work through the text, and then a set of reflections and another set of questions. The reflections are from Luther's commentary on Galatians. Luther is fab and one of my fav Reformers...he is brilliant...and remember, he loves beer!

The reflections covered Christ's righteousness- passive righteousness- "God imputes it to us apart from our works...For we do nothing for it, and we give nothing for it. We only receive it."

If I could put the whole study up I would, but the main thing is looking at the purpose of the law, what the law does and what it doesn't do. The law does not save, for the believer it is a guide, and for the unbeliever it serves to point out sin. But sometimes we get mixed up with the purpose of the law...I often think, I need to do this or that, forgetting that I do these things to honor Christ, and I do it to try to gain favor with God. The thing is no matter how much I read my Bible, pray, go to church, etc I can never gain God's favor. And there is no need for me to gain God's favor...when Christ died the wrath of God rested on Christ. Through Christ, God's favor rests on me. OK, I do not know if any of that made sense...but here is my fav quote. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the movie "Luther".

O law! You would climb up into the kingdom of my conscience, and there reign and
condemn me for sin, and would take from me the joy of my heart which I have by faith in Christ, and drive me to desperation, that I might be without hope. You have
overstepped your bounds. Know your place! You are a guide for my behavior, but
you are not Savior and Lord of my heart. For I am baptized, and through the gospel am called to receive righteousness and eternal life… So trouble me not! For I will not allow you, so intolerable a tyrant and tormentor, to reign in my heart and conscience — for they are the seat and temple of Christ the Son of God, who is the king of righteousness and peace, and my most sweet savior and mediator. He shall keep my conscience joyful and quiet in the sound and pure doctrine of the gospel, through the knowledge of this passive and heavenly righteousness.

Darn Franklin

In the near future we are flying to Memphis...all 4 of us. One of Dave's buds, Liz (who played the piano in our wedding), is getting married. A couple of months ago I made our flight arrangements, which went fairly smoothly.

Here is the dilemma, 2 dilemma actually. We moved to Germany very soon after getting married and I did not have time to change my passport. TO change a passport is a LONG procedure and you need all these documents (as in marriage certificate, social security card, etc) and it took me a while to obtain all of these documents and by the time I had obtained all of them it was about time to move. I have known several other ladies who have just left their maiden name on their passports and always travel under their maiden name. I figured this was a viable option. I also checked into getting my passport changed once we arrived in Germany, but I would have had to live w/o a passport for several months and blah...blah...blah...that wasn't an option for me. I'll come back to this.

The other dilemma is that I have a frequent miles card with an airline and apparently it takes an act of congress to change your name on the frequent miles card. I find this mildly amusing...but OK. So, my maiden name is on my frequent flier card.

Whenever I fly with my frequent flier airline I always put my maiden name on the ticket and use my passport for my photo ID.

I have only had one problem using this approach. We booked a Turkish vaca package, and were going to fly from Germany to Turkey. Of course we used a travel agent and in my zeal to get the package booked I accidently used my married name. Woops! Of course I called immediately when I got home and asked the agent to change the ticket. Problem averted...yea...until our tickets arrived (2 days before we were to leave) and shock of all shocks my ticket said McNay. In a panic I made numerous phone calls...my passport is the only valid photo id to travel with in Europe, and my passport say Franklin. I was assured that it would not be a problem because they had made a "documentation" of it in the computer. RIGHT. Long story short it was a nightmare, they almost did not let me on the plane or through security (as in...since when did the security check point have access to computers...they see McNay on my ticket and Franklin on my passport...no compute!). OK, crisis averted, we made it to Turkey, all is well.

Fast forward to today. I think...oh I should get out my passport and make sure I know where it is (since we just moved and in case I need to search through millions of boxes). I check my first safe place...BINGO! There it is. SWEET. I take it out and flip through it and then put it back in the "safe" place (since now I know that it is indeed there) for future use. As I put it back down I noticed something peculiar...did that say expire April 2008? $#@%!

I then proceed to reason with Dave how they should accept an expired passport as a form of identification...I mean I am not leaving the country, I just need something that say Franklin and has my mug on it. He sees my faulty reasoning and encourages me to call airline.

I call...the airline...via India (I think)...poor guy name Baul is trying to help me...but first problem is he cannot hear me. Second problem is I am convinced he cannot understand my problem since I am sure he lives in India...sorry Baul if you are an American... After much dialogue...do you have a birth certificate...a driver's license...a social security card...a medicare card... No my only form of ID with Franklin is my expired passport. THe answer is NO...cannot fly with the passport.

My first thought is what the heck...what does this guy know...he lives in India...it is totally reasonable for me to travel with an expired piece of identification! So, moving past my insane rationale, I ask to change my name on the ticket. It cannot be changed, but he has made a "documentation" of it in my reservation. OK, my Turkish experience flashes through my head. I try to tell him that he HAS to send me some sort of new confirmation with McNay on it...we go back and forth...I explain how desperate I am...my prior experience...all of this in a totally rational tone of voice (read borderline hysteria).

Of course my hysteria gets me no where...only with the documentation...I calm down, make a joke, tell him thanks for helping me though I acted like an idiot and hang up.

Dave is shaking his head at me and then starts making fun of me. I again try to reason that an expired passport is legit...and as I am speaking he interrupts me about how someone could have stolen my passport and put in their photo, etc. As I mention how ridiculous that is, I remember something.

After one of my many moves I "lost" my passport. Before I went to Bulgaria in 2002 I had to apply for a new one...and my new one has a different picture and...expires in 2012. Ugh...

As I flip through my other "safe" place Dave is mocking me and daring me to call back airline and ask them to remove the documentation...I think I will just bring all forms of identification when I fly. Doh!

Note: Please do not take any of the above words as racial slurs...it was merely trying to communicate my insane, unrational state of mind.

Miss Hadleigh Claire Is 27 Months

This month we have officially entered the TWOs, meaning Hadleigh's will has caught up to her age. We have good days and bad days, hard days and easy days, fun days and days that I just need a large margarita.

Last week I thought I was going to die...this week has been fun and with only minor drama. It was nice to have a bit of break from the drama. She goes through spells of defiance and "no" and "mine" and whining...oh help us all! Last weekend I spent some time with friends who are just a bit ahead of me. It was so encouraging to get some perspective on my current life stage. This is just a hard stage.

Hadleigh has become quite a little singer. She sings all the time, and I am always impressed with the amount of words she remembers from different songs. Her new songs for this month are ABC, Halleluja-Praise ye the Lord, Sing a Song (from Sesame Street), Old McDonald, Wise Man Built His House, Happy Birthday (after we sing it she always says...ooo, cake! Yu-mmy!).

She loves all her little friends and asks to see them everyday. The pool has been a big hit so far and she likes putting her face in and blowing bubbles. We are going to look into getting her some lessons, which I think will prove easier than trying to teach her myself. Drama!

The phone is a new favorite "toy" and she always asks to call Grandma or Nana, the main problem is that she doesn't talk when someone is actually on the other line.

She seems be a pretty shy little girl, and will only greet people when they are a safe distance away from us. A few of us are doing a little coop this summer and taking turns watching 4 toddlers. I was told that Miss HC did not say a word this past week. She was happy, just did not talk. Hilarious! I am not surprised at all.

Becoming more verbal comes with fun and dramatic interactions. It is so fun to hear her express herself. She loves talking about the helicopters and planes that she sees, her friends, her books, and what she wants to do/eat. It is dramatic to hear her express her frustration when she doesn't get her way. But overall there are days when she shows signs of being polite and it is always nice to see that after instructing her again and again she is slowly understanding how to ask for things.

I just adore my little Miss. She is such a fun and hilarious little girl and it is a joy to be her Mama.

Keller at Google

Many of you-all know that Dave and I LOVE Tim Keller. Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC. He is an amazing teacher and apologist. He is gifted at making the Word alive, and I don't recommend doing any of his studies if you think you are a good Christian. His studies point to the greatness of God, to the depth of my sin, and to the cross and the gracious mercy and love he gives his children.

Keller has just authored a new book called "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism". We just ordered it, so I am sure will give a report on it later.

A couple months ago Keller spoke at Google, and his lecture and Q&A session was posted on YouTube. It is very interesting. Enjoy!

Hadleigh at 7 Months

The Elf is 7 Months

Today Annelise is 7 months old. She is getting SO big and we are enjoying her more and more. Several milestones were hit this past month. She began sleeping through the night...FAB! She continues to sleep 6pm-5am. The 5am wake-up is a little painful, but Dave gets up at 5.30 anyway, so we are just going to leave it as is. She also will go back to sleep until 7.30-8, and then has a regular morning nap and an afternoon nap. Since she began sleeping through the night her nap routines have evened out as well.

She is now sitting up on her own albeit a little wobbly. She is loving the added independance and loves reaching for everything. Rolling to get things is also a nice trick from this month, anything to bother her big sister!

We started solids, but have been a bit inconsistent with it. It is just hard to get everything done in a day and so if anything has to go it is feeding Annelise. However she has enjoyed sweet potato, oatmeal, apple, banana, and avocado. We will work on other foods this month.

She loves using her hands snd does this little twisty thing with her wrists. They are always going, especially when excited.

She is getting some good spikey hair. It seems to be a little dark, but her eyelashes and eyebrows are red. Hard to know what is going to happen there. Her eyes look green right now, but HC's eyes didn't settle into brown until she was about a year old. Dave calls her our recessive baby, and thinks she received all the recessive genes (as in she received all of Dave's genes).

We are having more and more fun with our crazy little elf. As more time passes I feel more of a bond with Annelise. I think it was hard for me to bond with her initially because she was so fussy. But the last couple months have been fun and enjoyable. This month she will be taking her first ride on a plane.

Projects

We were busy over the weekend doing some fun and some not so fun projects. Dave drew up plans and made a little table for the girls. It is a wonderful table with a drawer for crayons and other art supplies. It is wide enough for butcher paper and he is planning on attaching a roll to the table so we can pull it across the table so the girls can color or paint, or whatever. Hadleigh had a great time helping us paint the table.

I had a wonderful time sorting through mounds and mounds of baby clothes. It is slightly painful and not a task I enjoy doing, but was necessary. I also went through several boxes in our bedroom. Now the girls' bedrooms are box free and my bedroom is almost box free. We are getting there...SLOWLY.

On Saturday we had a fun visit with our buds, Grant and Jess and their newest Kiera Joy. It is always a great pleasure to spend time with them, and a blast to meet Kiera who is just a month old. What a sweetie.

Sunday Dave went golfing and the girls and I sat in our wading pool...wonderful! And on Monday we loaded the girls in our stroller and walked to the park. It was fun, though to get to the playground from our house you have to walk on this dirt bike trail down some dirt steps, etc. So I don't think I can walk there by myself though it is fairly close.

Monday afternoon I got a little break and was able to run some errands by myself. Wow, SO exciting, right? I found a wonderful rug for HC's room, so once I finish sewing her shades her room will be complete. I also found a bathing suit...and think it is always best to wait until Mem Day to buy a suit...they were all 50% off! And grocery shopping is always nice when I can do it alone. It was nice to just be quiet for a little while.

Potty Boot Camp Update

I realized that I need to give a potty update on the little miss. She is doing fabulous! Since last Wednesday she has only had one accident...and again it was the excitement factor (Dave was filling up the wading pool). We have taken her to the park, out on walks, to stores, to church, and she has done fabulously. So overall a major accomplishment and I am pleased with the pain we had to endure to be in this place. So now I am sending out good luck wishes to Sar, who is potty training this week.

We are thrilled to only be using 1.5 diapers a day (for Hadleigh).

Mem Day

Here are my two cuties. I think they look adorable in their little swim suits! We broke out the little wading pool on Sunday and Hadleigh Claire was so excited. She jumped right into the pool and started splashing around. She was putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles and getting her hair wet and kicking around as if she was swimming. Annelise enjoyed the water too! She even enjoyed getting splashed by Miss HC. The Elf is usually easily startled and doesn't like sudden motions, so I was surprised she did so well in the pool. I think the pic of the two girls together is so sweet. It just looks like they are having a little conversation about things.

We had a very full weekend and it was super nice to have the extra day off. I'll post more about that later.

Annelise Stats

I took Annelise to the doc last week and forgot to post her 6 month stats. She is 14lbs. 12 oz. and I cannot remember how long she! I do remember that she is 25% for weight and 50% for height.

Miss Hadleigh Claire, the Comedian

Like all other parents we have concerns about what our girls will grow up watching on TV and in movies. Dave was very opposed to letting HC watch TV like Baby Einstein, etc. and so I never let her watch TV until last summer when we were out in CA and Dave saw some of the benefits of having a DVD player on a road trip.

I am not a huge fan of the Disney cartoons, they can be really scary for little kids...dragons, evil sorcerers, huge whales, that is scary stuff! And I am still on the fence about Veggie Tales...I used to really like them, but now have concerns about them. I could write a long post on that, but I generally feel like they reduce scripture to a bunch of moralistic deeds...do good, and treat people kindly and you please God...um...not really, but enough about that. We love the Pixar films, and Dave has been collecting them. And, since HC was born we have been collecting Muppet Movies.

How can you go wrong with the Muppets? Oh, they are so great! Dad and Mom gave us the Muppet Movie for Christmas, so on Wednesday I plugged in our new portable DVD player (since our TV is in a carpeted room) and put in the Muppet Movie for the little miss. Who knew she would sit through the entire movie and now LOVES it. Every waking moment she asks for the "frog and bear"...aka...Kermit and Fozzie.

That evening I came downstairs after putting Annelise to bed and Dave said HC had something to tell me. When I asked her about it, she looked at me and "Wacka, Wacka" (for those of you who need explanation that is what Fozzie says when he is telling a joke). It was SO funny! Dave said she was saying that to him while taking her bath.

So fast forward to tonight. Now that she is potty trained she doesn't want to wear a diaper to bed...yea...she is not quite ready for that. I instructed her to leave her diaper on, but she is two. I was upstairs unpacking boxes in our room and could hear Hadleigh talking to herself, which is normal. At about 7.30 (she goes to bed at 6) I heard her begin to exclaim something and I just knew she had taken her diaper off. Sure enough she had taken her diaper off, and when I went in to get her she was just so happy to see me and that asked about getting dressed and eating (as if it was morning). I put her on the potty and then took her into my room to find a onesie big enough for her (figuring that is the only way to keep her diaper on). I put her on the bed and while putting her diaper back on was trying to sternly instruct her to leave the diaper on...as I finished the lecture she responded with "Wacka, Wacka, Wacka". Come on...who wouldn't burst into hysterics? I was laughing so hard and then she started laughing and we ended up both collapsed on the bed laughing together. It was such a fun experience in so many ways. HC is really becoming more and more interactive. It is so fun to listen to her talk and make sense of the world. My little girl is hilarious!

Just a note about the picture. She has a golf ball in her mouth...again she is hilarious!

Potty Boot Camp, Day 4

We are all still alive, and we did better than just survive today. Yea!

I was so confused today, I couldn't tell if HC really understood the whole potty thing, and was like...dude stop making me sit on the potty I don't have to go! Or if she was just being defiant and holding it in and you get the idea. So I decided I would just occassionally ask her if she needed to go potty and then just let her tell me...and see what happened. She did not use the potty this morning at all though a couple times she exclaimed that she was still dry and asked for a sticker. This afternoon I made her sit on the potty before I went out on a walk...and was still very confused as to what was going on in her head. After our walk Jess and I were sitting in the backyard and HC came up to me told me she needed to go potty, we walked over to the potty and she went.

OK, so now I am convinced she does understand and can ask me when it happens. YES! We will continue this weekend and hope for the best.

Dave is out buying wood for his next project. He is going to make a play table for the girls. I cannot WAIT for him to work his magic and make something fun that the girls can use to make art projects and to build lego castles...cool! He is also designing some shelves for our mud room. I am hoping to finish the Roman shades for HC's room this weekend. And to unpack the boxes in our bedroom...yea for long weekends!

Potty Boot Camp, Day 3

Still alive over here, that is a good sign.

Yesterday after waking up, HC exclaimed, "Panties no, diaper yes" meaning- don't you dare put those panties on me, I like my diaper!

I think that she was feeling under the weather yesterday, as in the morning she slept on me for an hour and was yawning throughout the day, and she was crabby.

We had one accident yesterday and I think it was my fault. I was vaccuming and when I finished looked over to see HC standing in a puddle. At first I got flustered and then I realized that the toy she had been playing with was sitting next to the bathroom door. I think she went there and then realized she couldn't do it herself and came back to get me...you get the idea.

It was a decent day besides fighting with her to get her to drink and to get her to sit on the potty every 30 minutes.

Dave thinks the drama she is displaying comes directly from me...I have NO idea what he could be talking about as I am NEVER dramatic.

Here's to hoping for an accident free day.

Potty Boot Camp, Day 2

Again, no one died today...a good day.

This morning when I took off her diaper she was so sad. She kept saying, "Diaper? Diaper? No panties." I had to explain to her multiple times that she is a big girl now, and big girls go peepee in the potty. HC had one accident this morning...I swear she is like a puppy! She got all excited when the trash truck came driving by and lost it. This time when I made her clean it up she said, "yucky" so that is progress (yesterday she just happily wiped it up). I also threw her in the tub and rinsed her down with cold water. She did not like that too much. She did great the rest of the day. She even pooped in the potty, and initiated going potty 3 times on her own.

I think we are making progress, though I will say the whole thing is rather painful. Annelise was better today, thankfully! But I am trying to keep her on the hard woods, and she SO wants to watch Sesame Street, but the TV room is carpeted. And today she was asking to go somewhere, and believe me, I want to go somewhere too! Tonight I even ventured out in the tornado just to leave the house.

Hoping for the best for tomorrow and cannot wait until this is over!

Potty Boot Camp, Day 1

So, thank God, we all survived. It is a miracle, really.

Miss Hadleigh Claire did wonderfully. She was thrilled about her new big girl underware (which had Elmo on it). We made it through 2 hours without an accident which was thrilling. The first hour she went potty 7 times (I was giving her massive amounts of juice) and several times she initiated it. Over the 4 hours in the morning before her nap she had two accidents. I think both were a result of getting too caught up in playing. After her accidents we did Potty Drills, which Hadleigh thought were hilarious. She kept saying, "practice?" This afternoon she did fabulous with no accidents.

Tomorrow we are doing the naked thing, so hopeful that will go well and give her a better sensation of yuckiness. It is funny, I kept asking her where peepee goes. I would say "does peepee go in your panties?" and she would shake her head and exclaim "no, it goes in the potty!" We will see.

Annelise, unfortunately was a terror today. She cried unless she was being held. Good night! Thankfully she took a decent morning nap which let me really focus on Hadleigh this morning. But was I ever thrilled when Dave walked in that door tonight.

I hope tomorrow goes even better than today...

You May Borrow That

Hadleigh has been slowly easing us into the twos. Recently she has been in the habit of using the word "mine". The ultimate word of a two year old along with no. Up until a week ago she was always using "no" in a proper way and not in an act of defiance. Recently I have found myself saying "You don't tell Mama no" a LOT.

Dave has had a funny response to the "mine" word. Today I heard Dave say, "That is not your towel that is Dada's towel, but you may borrow it." I laughed out loud. That isn't the first time he has said that, he actually has been saying a lot (everytime she uses the word mine).

So, those two sentences "don't tell Mama no" and "you may borrow it" have been uttered a lot and I think will continue to be uttered a lot in our home.

Onto other news we had a wonderful time at the zoo on Friday, and tomorrow we begin Potty Boot Camp, so you can say a prayer for us! Annelise is still doing well with her sleep, though waking up around 5 to start the day. It is hard to get up that early, but we are all managing.

I feel like recently I have just been succeeding to keep my hear above water, let alone think about anything deep and meaningful. That is not entirely true, but close. Here is a quick attempt. I might write more about this later, but this is a quote that was in our reflections this morning at church. It summarizes some of the things I have been thinking on recently.

The Christian view of sin is radical, but not pessimistic because to see sin in
the Christian terms is to see that sin can be forgiven. That really is freedom. That really is amazing grace. That means that we can face our problems squarely. That means we can confess the darkest, most humiliating things of our lives
without despair and paralysis. . . . The biblical message to us is, “I do know you. I know you far better than you know yourself. And you’re in worse shape than you even realize. . . . And the Good News is that because of the price God was willing to pay we can be forgiven and reconciled back to God. But to experience and benefit from the cure we must turn to Him and quit pretending there is nothing wrong with us.

Rebecca Manley Pippert, Hope Has Its Reasons

A Great Day

Well, the Lord has graciously given me a break and a most fabulous Mother's Day present. Thursday night was one of the most irritating nights with Annelise. She was up several times in the night and by Friday morning I was just discouraged. Friday afternoon I broke out the sleep "bible" to see what Dr. W had to say about all this nonesense.

After reading the chapter on "ridiculously fussy" babies I determined that A indeed was developing a sleep problem and we needed to nip it before it got any worse. So, I decided we would see what would happen if we just did not get her when she woke up. I had been reticent to do this because I know some babies need a night feeding until 9 months. But since it seemed like A was waking up at random hours of the night it was more along the lines of her having a difficult time putting herself back to sleep and not necessarily that she needed to eat. Dave made a bed on the floor downstairs (since he cannot let her cry) and I took a benadryl and climbed into bed. Friday night she woke up at 11, cried for 30 minutes and slept until 6. Saturday night she slept from 6-6. Yes!

Now if I can just get myself together I might be able to get a full 8 hours. The last two nights I haven't been able to fall sleep before 12...ugh...hoping for tonight.

Thanks for praying...the Lord was gracious to answer the prayers and we are all a lot happier. Happy Mother's Day.

A Funny, a Milestone, and a First

Several eventful things have happened in the last 4 hours and I just had to share.

I was scurrying around this morning trying to get everyone out the door and my scones made for a brunch we were going to with my Bible study ladies. Of course Annelise was not going to take a nap and was crying, and I was trying to keep my eye on the scones in the oven when Miss HC came up to me holding one tab of her diaper in her hand (as in she was beginning to take it off) saying "potty, potty". In glee I said, do you need to go pee pee, and rushed her into the bathroom closest to the kitchen which has one of her new potties. I pulled off her diaper and then she started freaking out, saying "no, no, no, no". So, I thought I misunderstood her and put her diaper back on and went back to the kitchen. A couple minutes later I decided to take HC upstair to get her dressed and as we passed her bathroom she then began saying "potty" again. So I decided to take off her diaper and try again with "normal" potty. She sat down and peed in the potty. Are you joking? I was SO shocked! Not only did she tell me she needed to go potty, but she was also able to hold it until she sat down on the potty. VICTORY! I do feel like I need to jump on the boot camp train, but I REALLY want to wait until her little school is over which is next week. I hope we can keep up the momentum.

Now the First. So, we make it out the door, and make it to Susie's only 20 minutes late. We had a wonderful time and Annelise was doing fabulous. Paige was holding her toward the end of our brunch when all of a sudden A begins to gag like she is choking on something. Paige handed her to me and I rolled her over on her stomach and she coughed up a little spit-up. I thought that was it...OH NO...she then begins to vomit. Wow...I have never had that happen and had no idea what to do. I caught most of it in her blanket and was able to run outside fast enough to get it on the blanket and a bit on the deck (you know you love these details). After that she seemed fine, but in the car she began to gag and puke again. Poor baby! I am still unsure what to do. So on the way home she fell asleep and is now still sleeping in her car seat next to me.

OK. So now the funny. I put HC down for her nap in her bed and came down to make some lunch for myself. I heard her crying, which isn't completely unusual, but I then began to hear her crying "Dada" which she doesn't do unless something is wrong. So I run up to her room. She is standing at the head of her bed. Her right leg is up and over the headboard and her foot is caught between her headboard and the wall. She is crying big tears and has snot running everywhere. Poor thing. I got her untangled and then just started laughing. It was a FUNNY sight.

I hope we can avoid anymore catastrophes for the rest of the day.

Calling Everyone

So this is a new idea...Dave and I have been praying for months this night would be the night that Annelise sleeps through the night. But this wonderful even has not occured.

Dave came in this morning at 6 with Annelise and said something like, "I am so thankful!" When I asked why he exclaimed over the fact that Annelise slept through the night. Poor guy...he is a bit delusional...he completely forgot that he got up at 2 and I fed her and put her back to bed. I guess it is nice to be able to block that from memory.

How about I petition everyone to pray that Annelise will sleep through the night. Thank you.

Miss Hadleigh Claire is 26 Months

Today Miss Hadleigh Claire is 26 months old. She has reached many milestones this month it seems. She is now talking in more than 2 word sentences. Yesterday she told Dave, "Now I jump in bath". And she regularly asks to "sing a song...winkle, winkle, little tar" or "jesus loves me". We are going to start potty training in a couple weeks and Brooke put me onto Potty Boot Camp. There is some prep work involved which I think for the most part we have done. Hadleigh is in no way scared of the potty, and has pooped and peed in the potty for the last year. One of the things it tells us is to teach the child that poop and pee go in the potty. So, yesterday I asked Hadleigh "where does poopoo go?" and totally uncoached she answered, "in the potty" of course! She also says "H is for Hadleigh" though she will still occassionaly call herself "you". It is fun to see her language develop.

So, as I mentioned we are going to be starting Potty Boot Camp in about 10 days. I am not up to the challenge, but she is so ready to be out of diapers, so onward and upward. I hope it is a fairly easy transition. As I was reading the info Dave asked what I was going to do with Annelise while I potty trained. I don't know! That is my main concern...how do I do this with a baby that is a bit demanding? Hopefully Annelise will be a little doll that day. Speacial shout out to Kris who gave me 6 little potties. I have given several away, but now have a potty on every split level of our house and in the car. I just have to get big girl underpants...exciting!

She is still my little tough cookie. Her knees are usually scraped up and never cries. The only time she gest upset is when someone else is roughing her up...and in that case it seems to be more like her feelings are hurt. She has fallen out of bed a couple of times, but has not cried.

She loves playing catch...special thanks to Todd for introducing her to the wonders of catch! She loves all types of vehicles. I probably need to teach her all the cool names of trucks (like dump truck, etc).

We still read a lot, but she is not as obsessed with reading as she was. Now we love to spend time outside playing in our wonderful yard. We blow bubbles and find bugs of all sorts and run around and play catch. She could be out there all day. Did I mention that she likes to wear her winter hat and mittens outside...don't know what that is about.

As soon as breakfast is finished she asks to go outside or to just go somewhere. She makes sure that we have everything we might need and helps get Annelise all settled and then runs to the door.

She names her friends Jacob Brennan. She regularly uses the word "Mine". She sings wonderful songs. She counts to 10, and is able to recgonize some of the alphabet. The letters she does know she knows what word is associated with it. H is for Hadleigh. R is for Rabbit. M is for Mama.

She asks to pray often. Her favorite bedtime song is "In Christ Alone", she asks to sing it and knows some of the words (that was impressive). She knows all the words to Twinkle, Twinkle and Jesus Loves Me and it is HILARIOUS to watch her sing it. She likes to emphasize the last word in the line..."pup pup pove world so HIGH, yike a mimond in SKY" and when she says the emphasized word she makes this really earnest singing face that is hilarious. It is hard not to laugh. She LOVES to cuddle in her new big girl bed. That is one of my favorite things.

Oh, this is a fun new toddler thing. She can whine. This drives me NUTS. I cannot handle whining. This action often results in some sort of time out...I swear I am not having a whiny child...too much!

She is just full of life and a full of joy and generally fun to be around. I love my big girl.

Picking Grapes

Actually we went to pick strawberries, but Miss HC kept calling them grapes, thus the name of the post. Slowly we are bringing back our family fun days. That means slowly we are getting settled into our new home...always a positive thing.

One of the other moms at HC's preschool took her kiddos to pick strawberries at a farm outside the city a couple of weeks ago. She mentioned it to me and I thought that would be a fun excursion. We headed out at 8.45 and even had time for lunch before the girls needed their naps. It was great fun to be out and a gorgeous day. Allison, I should have called you, because we were super near your place, but did not realize it until we got out there! Maybe next time.

Annelise was a doll baby the whole time, I tell ya her baptism is still working! And Miss HC had a blast eating...err...picking strawberries. I think we will go back for blackberry season. You can see for yourself the fun.

HE and Detergent

Did you get the memo? Being green is in. I kind of chuckle at it sometimes, I mean really, who uses only one square of toilet paper?

But in all seriousness I am all in. Bring on the recycling, I did it in Germany, now those are SERIOUS recyclers. And I am happy to do my part to keep my eco-footprint low. It does make me laugh that all of a sudden all of these celebrities are all "green". How can you be eco-friendly in a 9,000 sq.ft. home with 11 bathrooms and 2 pools?

As we were moving into our new place we needed to purchase a new washer/dryer. Bif and Kris gave us their old set when we moved back to Atl, and it worked well enough, but it was on its last leg. We bought a set of front loaders which are high efficiency (HE). As a parting comment the salesman mentioned that we would need to use HE detergent, but most all of the detergent is HE...so he said...

Did I mention that at least 3 of us have skin allergies? So, the only detergent Dave and Hadleigh can use is Dreft. The only detergent I can use is either Dreft or Cheer. And forget fabric softener! I washed all my clothes with Snuggles one time. Within an 1 hour, I had a rash from head to toe. I can use Downey, but Dave cannot. So, ok, we have issues! Well, guess what...Dreft doesn't come in HE. OK, so I start looking for Cheer. I know that Cheer Free comes in HE, but I cannot find it anywhere. I decided at that point that we will have to just get little bottles of each of the "free" detergents and see what happens. Woolite was first. I figured, hey, Woolite is easy on clothes, so maybe it is easy on skin. We were actually all doing fine with Woolite until I washed our sheets in it. The next morning I woke up with a rash all over my hands and arms...BUMMER. So, off to the store to find a different detergent. I picked up Tide Free. Tide has actually been our fam's worst nightmare, you do not want to see our rashes after we have worn anything with Tide in it. But, I thought maybe Tide Free would be good.

I am now rash free, so here's to the environment.

Playroom Initiated and Oatmeal

Here we have our playroom. It is actually a dining room minus the dining room furniture. We do not have dining room furniture and since this room is right off the kitchen I thought it just as good as any for the playroom. I do plan one day to grow up and have adult furniture, but today is not that day. The girls need to be close to me, and since I spend a good deal of time in the kitchen it just makes sense. We got the bookshelf at Ikea in Saarlouis (yes that is Germany) and decided at this place to use it exclusively as a place for toys. Love the buckets from Walmart which get organized every few months. Today the whole playgroup crew came over to initiate my house. It was quite a day! My house is still not entirely toddler proof, but it was nice to have all the kiddos point out all the things I still need to do/hide. I also think that every member of the playgroup came today, so it was crazy! HC spent the first 30 minutes in tears completely overwhelmed and hugging my leg. After that she spent time running around with all of her buds and having a great time. Christy held Annelise for the whole first half of our group...THANK YOU...which was a blessing...and nice that Annelise even allowed that to happen. She was a little doll baby the entire group. We are looking forward to many more playgroups here!

Yesterday the little elf tried oatmeal for the first time. I think I made it too lumpy for her tastes, so we wil try again with it a little less lumps and a little more water.

Miss Hadleigh Claire Gets a Big Girl's Bed

Dave painted the bed on Thursday night. Friday we bought a matress for HC's bed, and we put it all together...first in the living room, and then up in her bedroom. She was SO excited! Sunday I let her take a nap in it. She fell off the bed about 30 minutes into the nap and has a nasty bruise on her wrist. She slept in it last night and is currently napping in it while I type. She LOVES it!

The Elf is 6 Months

Annelise will be 6 months old on Friday. I am jumping ahead a bit, but wonder if I will get another moment to post before Friday. These days I must take advantage of every opportunity and not think I will get another one like it!

Annelise gest more cute with each passing day. She smiles more, alughs more, and is able to tolerate more and more time entertaining herself. These are all monumental occurences, as the first 12 weeks of her life someone had to hold her around the clock. She still struggles with bouts of fussiness, but they are mixed with wonderful times of smiles and giggles. Since her baptism 2 weeks ago, she has been a different baby. I keep saying that Tinnin must have baptized those demons right out of her. (this is a joke folks...)

Yesterday I went down to the nursery between our fellowship time and the service to feed Annelise. I received a glowing report that she had been doing splendidly. After I fed her I put her back in the room. The infant room has a couple of permanent workers, one of whom is named Lydia. We LOVE Lydia. Miss HC was with Lydia from about 7 months until 15 months and she just adored Lydia. After the service Dave picked up Annelise. Lydia was handing her to Dave and said, "She cried...a lot." To which Dave responded, "Yea, she cries a lot. Different than Hadleigh, huh?" And Lydia was like, "Yea, completely." So the elf can go from being a sweet, giggley little baby to screaming her head off in 2.8 seconds. It is an art.

In other news, she is a very laughy baby. I can get Annelise to laugh very easily, and I can get her to belly laugh which is hilarious. When in a good mood she will let anyone hold her. Last Wednesday she refused to go to sleep at her appointed 6pm. She wanted to stay up and see all her community group buds. So, as folks arrived she was passed from one set of hands to another and never complained. Once everyone had a chance to "touch her" we dropped her back into her crib and she slept until 2am.

I think Annelise is more of a free spirit. She isn't married to a schedule and I Just never know what I am going to get in the day. When will her nap be today I wonder every morning. And when I put her down to bed I wonder when she will be up in the night. The night sleeping thing is getting to be a problem. These days she is very sporadic on how she sleeps. Last night she was up at 11, 1230, and 5 (and so we started the day at 5). Yesterday she was up at 10, 12 and 3...the night before she was up at 2. This has made it hard to get into a pattern of sleep for us. Sometimes when she wakes up I am in a dead sleep and it just is painful to wake up at the wrong time. I do feel like she needs me when she wakes up, but I think there will be an end to my compassion if this cycle continues. Like the 11 and 1230 thing last night almost killed me.

Generally I feel like Annelise has more hair than HC did, but I was looking at pics of HC last night, and maybe I am wrong about that. Annelise is still leading the pack with her ability to grab and shake and play with toys. She has started getting more tummy time and seems to enjoy that more and more. She also loves her exersaucer...that thing rocks!

She has some good balance and is almost sitting up on her own, and I expect that to happen soon. Her two top teeth are not in yet, but I know she is working on that. She is a major biter, so we will see how long I can nurse after the top ones emerge. At this point she refuses to take a bottle...bizarre. She has refused to take one from the day she was born. I tell you, she is particular! I am hoping that will change as we begin to introduce her to solid foods. This is the week...yummy oatmeal and sweet potato is on the menu!

He Really Can Do Anything

I have known for a while that I married a man who could do anything. At first it was difficult because it seemed he did everything better than I did...and of course being someone who is rather full of herself, it is a blow to the ego to be married to someone who can cook better than you and do most anything better. In the 5.5 years that we have been together I have managed to find a few things that I can do better than Dave, but there aren't many.

Sometimes he will mention something he wants to do and I will snicker...really? And then of course he blows me away with his efforts. For the last several months he has been talking about making things...as in don't buy a swing set, I am going to make one for the girls...don't buy a mini table and chairs I am going to make one for the girls...don't buy HC a big girl's bed I am going to make one for her. Well, Sunday Dave made HC a big girl's bed. It is true, I am married to MacGyver. He bought the stuff on Saturday, put the majority of it together on Sunday, put on decorative pieces last night and is finishing it off with some more decoration and white paint as I type. I'll post the finished project later, but thought you might get a kick out the work in progress.

As a side-note I asked him if he wanted to build me a china cabinet...he kindly declined, but said he has a dental buddy who would make me one if I wanted. That might be more than I want to spend, but we will see.

Potty and Shoes

Christy just posted the most darling picture of her precious with big shoes on. I have been meaning to post this pic for a few weeks. Here HC is sitting on her big girl's potty before her bath, wearing my shoes. Hilarious.