Princess Chair

Alison loves sitting in little chairs. On vacation she spent a lot of time climbing in and out of a Big Bird chair at the lake house. Ben and I kept saying we needed to get her a chair and last night while out buying diapers we found her a princess chair. We plopped her down in it in the store and her face lit up. I was complaining about spending the extra money and Ben looked up at me and said, "look at the big smile on her face...how can you say no to that?" Well, that can't be our philosophy for very long or we will be in big trouble. Ben reassured me that it wasn't a frivolous purchase because we had been talking about it for a long time. I'll give him that, but kid things are so overpriced! Milo wants to be a princess too!


Poppy spent the day with us and Alison loved getting some snuggle time with him. Today was a huge improvement from yesterday. Madison was here again, but Ben and Rick were here to help me. Both kids took 2 naps today (oppose to yesterday when there was absolutely no sleep) and had plenty of entertainment. There were no pooping episodes, no crying and we didn't even have to watch Baby Einstein!

I'll never know how mom's do it with twins

I babysat a little girl named Madison today who is a week younger than Alison. I thought today would be as easy as pie. They'd play and nap and eat and be merry. Oh, was I wrong. This picture was taken moments after Madison arrived and was the only brief period of our day when both kids were happy. I kept thinking about the moms out there who do this every day with twins. Or even Kate Gosslin (if you haven't watched Jon and Kate Plus 8, you should...Monday's 9:00 TLC)...8...I can't imagine. My attempts to make these 2 happy all failed. I even put them in the bath after lunch. Every kid loves a bath so I thought we'd play for a long time in the bath and then take a long nap. I put Madison in the tub and she peed, and while I was draining the pee water Alison peed all over the floor of the bathroom. After refilling the water and cleaning up the floor the girls played for all of 5 minutes in the tub and then Madison pooped. Some reason other kid's poop totally grosses me out. My adventures were endless today. In fact I felt like I spent most of my time thinking, "this will be great to put in the blog" but I'm too worn out to recount the endless cries and whines. I must rest up, because I do it all again tomorrow. Ben encouraged me this evening with the little reminder of what the result will be after tomorrow. We decided to put our little extra money to use and take a short trip up to Mackinac Island this weekend! Now that's a post for you!
Rick is here this evening and Alison wanted to be like her Poppy and wear glasses. It was the first time she's kept the glasses on her face.

Laughter

I had to take Alison to the doctor Friday for her high fever. They said that it's just a reaction to the measles/mumps shot she got a week and a half ago. The doctor said that she would have a fever for a couple more days and she would break out in a rash and to not let her come in contact with any other kids. So we canceled our weekend plans and have spent a lot of time snuggling. She doesn't want to sleep alone and is currently sleeping on our bed with Milo. I mentioned before Alison's new love for necklaces and I learned yesterday that they actually have a lot of power. When I got home from work Alison pulled off my necklace and put it on herself. She played happily for quite awhile (she also has a new fascination with sitting on top of the couch pillow). This morning she was really whinny but as soon as I put a necklace on her she was quiet. I think I'm going to invest in jewelry.


I realized yesterday that the only video we have of Alison laughing is now ancient. Yesterday she was playing with Smoochie and started cracking up. I was on the phone with my mom so the clip is really short, but I thought you all should hear her sweet laugh.

More Fever

Alison hardly slept last night. We were up at 3 am....but on the bright side I got to watch the men's beach volleyball team win gold and I watched the entire 30 mile men's race walk. I have never seen anything quite as entertaining; men waddling down the street for 3 1/2 hours in shorts that I'm not sure you can call shorts.

well, sleep apparently still isn't happening so i'll finish tomorrow

Fever

We began our day playing with Luke again. Of course a nap didn't happen this morning either and this was what our 'quiet time' looked like.Alison took a few bites of lunch and was ready for a good nap. She didn't sleep very long and seemed very warm to me. We have several different thermometers and I tried using every single one of them. First I tried the pacifier thermometer but she wouldn't suck on it long enough to get a good reading and then I tried the under the arm one but miss squiggle pants couldn't sit still so that one didn't work either. I thought she must just be warm on this hot August day and went on my way to the grocery store. I've never seen our pantry so bare, so it was a very necessary trip and not the quickest. When we got home Alison seemed even warmer so I decided to just do the temperature thing old school and I'd rather not go into those details. Sure enough, 100.5! I panicked and called Beth. She assured me that Alison was fine and to just keep a close eye on her. I had closer than a close eye on her. We took a nap in our bed under the fan and I watched her every move. Now, don't think I'm crazy. Alison hasn't gotten sick yet so I'm still new to this whole thing. I'm sure in a few months I won't freak out as much. She had no other signs of being sick, but tonight I got a glimpse of a bottom tooth that popped through. I really don't like teething.
I think I should start my blog everyday with a picture of Alison's hair when she gets out of bed.

Ben and I bought Alison a walker for her birthday and until a few days ago she would only play with the mail that goes in the front slots. We finally figured out that we had the wheels too tight and it was too hard to push. Here's our little champ walking!

No sleep

My running partner has ditched me for cross country. She's a cross country coach at a high school and practices have begun. So this morning while she ran 5.5 miles, I watched her son Luke (I think I got the better end of the bargain). Alison and Luke play really well together and I think I've mentioned before how brilliant this kid is. This morning I put on some music and he knew the words to every song and then counted to six. Most 18 month olds can't even say six! A couple of weeks ago he potty trained himself in a day and hasn't had an accident yet. So watching this kid is a breeze. They both were tired, but Alison refused to nap in her crib because she didn't want to miss out on a moment with Luke and Luke had no place to nap so he was out of luck. I attempted to have some "quiet time" but I only got this (see picture below) for a moment.

When Julie got back we all went to the zoo. I figured that Alison would fall asleep in the car and nap in the stroller while we walked through the zoo. When I pulled into the parking lot I just sat there wondering why I was at the zoo when my child was asleep and even if she was awake she doesn't even care about the animals. Alison woke up as soon as we were out of the car and I just reassured myself that it's still good to get out and get fresh air even if she doesn't look at the animals. Today was the first day that she did excited about something though. Penguins were the hit of the day. She would clap for them every time she saw them swim by. Again my assumptions were proven wrong on the way home. Typically Alison will fall asleep in the car and I can lay her down in her crib and she'll stay asleep for a good nap. I was expecting a long afternoon nap, but I got nothing. Never in her life has she had a day without a nap. I couldn't figure out what was keeping her up, but up she stayed all day long...and it was a long day.

Alison trying to get a ball under the chair.


Alison has a couple of words that are English, but the rest of the time she babbling what sounds like Chinese. I guess I should mention that she's really grumpy in the video but I wanted to give you a glimpse of the Chinese.

Binki heaven

Ben bought Alison a few more binkies yesterday. I don't understand the things he buys her, but I cleaned them up last night and had them all ready to go on her nightstand. This morning we spent some time in her room reading books and she discovered the stash. She was in binki heaven.My mom bought Alison some sunglasses but she refuses to keep them on her face. Ben and I have shown her over and over how to wear them and put them on our own face as an example and to make her laugh. Tonight we played outside for a little bit and she kept putting them around her neck. Maybe I need to get this kid some necklaces.

Challenge

This evening Ben and I were talking about the blog and Ben informed me that I've slowly decreased in my posting and if I keep up this rate I will soon not be blogging at all. So I said, "Fine! I'll just blog every single day" and I was challenged to actually follow through with my outrageous statement. I whipped out the camera to take some pictures and realized I have more to blog about than I thought.


Beth just sent me some pictures of Ben holding Katherine. He's so good with babies!










Did I mention Ben taught Alison how to give kisses on the lips. Wow, they're wet! She kissed the mouse in this pop-up book this morning and ate his nose.


Alison reading Ben the animal book. She's so excited she's actually drooling (I hope it shows up on your picture because it's super funny!). She said 'kitty' and 'meow' all day. She's also started singing along with 'Old McDonald', but she only says the 'baa,baa' part.

Alison loves water so much she tries to jump into the water with the frog in the book.

Ben thinks it's relaxing to lay on the floor and play with Alison but to her its jungle gym time. She was hitting him with her favorite rattle and then laughing about his reaction.


Well, besides all the cute things our daughter is doing...my boss at the bank asked if I could babysit her granddaughter a couple of days next week. I said of course; I'm home anyway so what's another kiddo in the house. It's a long story about their family, but Madison is only a few days younger than Alison and I thought they would have a lot of fun playing together. Well, after I told her yes, she asked if I might be willing to watch her other granddaughter (Mackenzie, who's 5 months old) a couple of days a week for, well I guess forever. I talked to Mackenzie's mom today and she's going to come over Friday to discuss the whole thing. My reaction was much different than I anticipated. When I think about having a second child myself, I get scared. Of course I want another baby but I know the reality of the stress and hard work that come with it. But when someone else asks me to watch their child I say, "Sure! Bring them on over!" Maybe it's because I get to hand them back at 5:00 or maybe because if something bothers me I just blame it on the kids' parents and don't have to worry about it. I also realized that I want to give her what I would want someone to give to us. If I had to work (which by the way I'm so thankful that Ben works hard so I don't have to work, but only do a few hours by choice) I would want to have someone watch Alison in their home and I'd want someone who I knew loved and cared for my daughter like I do and would take care of her as their own. I hope I can help this family out and give them the support that they need. Maybe I'm completely crazy for taking on this adventure, but at least it will give me lots of things to blog about!

1 Yr Pictures

A couple of weeks ago at church several women came up to me and said they had coupons for me for photo shoots. I was confused why so many people were offering picture coupons and then I was informed that I'm supposed to get professional pictures of Alison for her first birthday. Apparently everyone's doing it...I guess peer pressure never ends. I debated the issue for awhile. Most of the time I think professional pictures are a rip. They entice you into the store saying they have a great deal and then you're sucked into spending hundreds of dollars on sheets of pictures you don't know what to do with. I liked what we did at Christmas, having a family picture and then some of just Alison. We still spent far more than I wanted to (remember I'm also the cheap one of the family) but I can also recognize the need for an occasional good picture. I figure we take so many pictures of Alison ourselves and family can see them anytime they want, do we really need professional pictures every 6 months? So I concluded this afternoon that I would save the money for a Christmas family picture and take Alison's 1 year pictures myself. I quickly learned why we pay so much money for someone else to take pictures of our kids and I take back all my ill feelings toward overpriced professional picture takers.






















I tried to set up a backdrop but Alison thought it was more fun pulling it on top of her than posing for a picture.















There's actually a cat under there.



































Being pretty is such hard work









"Um Mom, I really don't like grass...or the neighbors dog that's barking."
































I realized after taking all these pictures that there's no way I could have ever decided on just one pose if we had gotten them professionally taken. Even looking through the terrible ones I took with her goofy faces and mishap poses, I still loved all of them. I also realized that it probably would have been more efficient to just put all the pictures in a slide show, but I'm not that techno savvy and Ben's at work, so this will just have to do. I'm planning on printing some, so if anyone has a particular one they want please let me know.

Beaver Lake 08

We had a wonderful vacation at Beaver Lake. I was so thankful to finally have some time with Ben. Traveling was a breeze to both of us; I had an extra hand and Ben said anything is easier than taking 14 teenagers who ask a lot of questions overseas. Once at the lake we couldn't keep Alison out of the water. My dad bought her a little life jacket and we also had a little inflatable car she could float around in. We only had one sunny day but we still swam through the sprinkles the other two days. One morning my dad took just me, Ben and Alison out on the boat. Alison got to jump off the boat, stick her hand in grandpa's mouth (I have no idea why she has a fascination with sticking her hand in everyone's mouths, but she does it all the time!), drive the boat and enjoyed a relaxing nap while Ben and I skied.
I wish I could live at the lake. It's the most relaxing and refreshing place on earth to me. The house we stayed in had a beautiful sun room with a comfy couch, fireplace and a gorgeous view (it also had a plasma TV but on vacation those stay turned off...well, except for the Olympics). One afternoon while Alison was napping I got to nap with baby Kate out there and I have to say I think that was a highlight of the trip for me.



My parents with baby Kate and Alison at the dock where we spent most of our time.




This is a classic Alison picture. She has her escort Abby standing nearby to grab her hands at anytime to take her where she wants to go and she's made a pit stop at grandpa for some food. Alison learned pretty quickly that with a house full of people she had an endless supply of hands to walk around with and lots of laps to sit on and munch on whatever was on their plate. She made it look pretty cute but I knew I had better get my walkin' shoes ready for when we got home.





We had too many people for the house so several people had to sleep in the living rooms. My parents set up air mattresses in the main living room, which also created extra lounging space during the day. Alison loved being tossed around on them. Here she is hanging out with Aunt Beth.




Tracy and Abby McElmurry helped Alison run in the baby Olympics. They set up things around the living room and had her jump over them. She was so excited to be able to run. I forgot to mention one thing about this house...it was the picture perfect place of how NOT to baby proof. With no exaggeration (the kids actually counted), there were hundreds of large glass roosters, peanut sculptures, and jugs EVERYWHERE...everything glass. And to top it off, there were bookshelves filled with videos. There was no way to put everything up and I just knew something would be broken within the week. I don't know a baby who can resist hundreds of tapes to knock over. But, we made it through with nothing broken and I didn't spend the whole time saying, "Don't touch". I think we had enough things going on to distract her from the glass farm of roosters. Only at a lake house can you have such horrible decorating.


Back in Lawrence...
I think this picture will always make me laugh. We spent a couple of days at my parents house and tried to show Alison some our history in Lawrence. We took her to a couple of our favorite restaurants, by our old schools and houses and out to the farm. Taking her to the farm was definitely one of those times when we thought she would absolutely love it and she completely hated it. Apparently dogs and horses scare her to pieces and she screamed in terror most of the trip-good times, good times.
We walked around campus one afternoon and Alison wasn't too crazy about the heat. Ben treated us all to new KU T-shirts and Juice Stop. I got a chocolate juice stop and Alison quickly learned how to suck through a straw. Ben also taught her this week how to give kisses on the mouth instead of just making puckering noises. But you better watch out if she wants to give you one, they're pretty slobbery! I was not ready to come home and still wish I was sitting on the dock watching the sunset.