A Shear Family Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and I'm sad to see the relaxing weekend leave as we enter into an extremely busy month. Elizabeth and Kent drove all the way from Boston to spend the weekend with us. This was our second Thanksgiving with them in Michigan and I love the traditions we've started. Most of them revolve around food and this year we added to the list spinach artichoke dip and sweet potatoes. Elizabeth taught us how to make tea pasteries; a traditional breakfast she made for Ben as a kid. He used to call them pea tasties and I'm excited to see what Alison calls them throughout the years.
With all the excitement going on in the kitchen Thanksgiving afternoon, Alison had a hard time getting in a good nap. Eventually I went into her room and rocked with her for about an hour. I sat there thinking about how truly thankful I am for the gift God gave me-a beautiful little girl. It was so refreshing to be able to hold my precious baby and reflect on all of the amazing blessings God has poured into my life.

After a long time of cuddling, Alison was up ready to go! Nana and Grandad brought early Christmas presents, so before dinner we opened gifts. Alison was more excited about the bag they brought the gifts in than the actual presents. Every time I'm around Elizabeth and I understand a little more about Ben. They're both great cooks, love computer games and books, and are the best gift givers ever. Ironically though, Elizabeth and I have the exact same taste in clothes (However she is a million times better in actually executing the style) so I definitely won in the present department with a new sweater from the Gap. They also graciously left the blue bag for Alison along with her presents.
Alison soaked in the extra people to read her books. We all got a little pooped out of reading the same book over and over and encouraged her to read to herself. I thought it was cute that she was quietly mumbling to herself while sitting at the table flipping through the pages. The above picture is the face I get when I ask her to say, "Cheese!".

I still went into the office Saturday morning and I came home to find that Ben had done Alison's hair. He actually did a really good job. I think we all got a lot out of this weekend, whether it be good food, relaxation or time to learn new things. I know Alison fell deeper in love with kitties while Nana and Grandad were here. Elizabeth brought her laptop and showed Alison a kitty video on it once. From then on, Alison would stand at her legs and say, "Up please!" and then holler, "Meow!? Meow!? Meow!?" begging for more kitty movies. Once she became so desperate to see a kitty video that she began signing please on Elizabeth's chest, just to make sure we all knew she was trying to be polite but really needed to see another kitty. For me, I reflected a lot on family. I also learned one big thing. This is going to sound like a stupid story, but it's true. One evening we were all watching 'What not to wear' and were having a fun time laughing at the "victim". I can't remember exactly what the lady said, but she was frustrated with shopping and her confidence level was in the dumpster. Elizabeth said, "Huh, that sounds familar" and it hit me. I'm just like the victim! I waste so much energy being frustrated with stupid things and have absolutely no confidence in things that I'm perfectly good at.

Later on Saturday we went shopping at Somerset. I'm still in somewhat of a clothing crises and I thought with my own "what not to wear" crew, I might be able to find something that looked good. As we were leaving the crazy busy mall we got into a funny conversation about college student attire. We all think it's funny that wearing tights as pants with ugs and messy hair is a fashion style. Well, last night I was folding laundry and Alison snagged my pink fuzzy socks and put them over her pants. She looked just like one of the college students we were making fun of!

I'm so thankful for everything God has given me; for a wonderful family, for a faithful and loving husband, for a spunky little girl who is the spice of my life, for our health, for His Son and the forgiveness he gives me every day.

Daddy's Girl?

(Ben Posting)
Last weekend we went to Kansas. I hunted a lot with Jen's Dad. We went pheasant and duck hunting. Tonight Alison found my call and hat and decided she would be like Dad. Does it get any better than this? In the photo below she has a ball tucked under her shirt, my cell phone in her hand, duck calls around her neck, and a hunting hat on her head. I had to grab the phone from her before she called China or 911, but I let her play with the rest.

Home Again

We just got home from visiting my parents today. Ben and my dad had planned a hunting trip, so Alison and I tagged along to see Grandma. I always love going back to Lawrence, but this time it was especially refreshing. It was so sunny and much warmer than here in Michigan. My mom and I had a great time shopping and learning about Thanksgiving on the Food Network. I also got to spend some time with my good friend Cara. She is an amazing friend and I love the relationship that we have. No matter how far apart we are or how long it's been since we've talked, we pick up right where we left off. I was so glad my parents got to see Alison at this stage. She's learning so many things every day and besides not being able to take a good picture, she's really fun to be around.

A quick update

Alison had her 15 month check up today and I'm happy to inform you that she is completely healthy and normal. She's developmentally right on track and is still tall and skinny (she's been in the 90th percentile for height her whole life).
As for housing, we have been approved to live in the townhouse but Ben is set on the condo which we haven't heard anything from. I wanted to have a decision made 2 weeks ago and here we are still waiting to hear back from people. It's a good thing I went early to look at places.

Ring Around the Rosies

Andrea and I played ring around the rosy the other day with the kids and Alison fell in love with it. Tonight was the first time we got Ben to play and we were rolling on the floor laughing at her way of communicating to us she wanted to play again.

Moo, Baa, La La La

Alison has always loved books, but it's turned into an obsession. All she wants to do is read the same book over and over. Ben and I both have the book 'Moo, Baa, La La La' memorized and she now will take our hand and make us point at the pictures. Well, needless to say, she has the animal sounds down pretty good.

Housing update

I'm sure there will be lots of these in the coming weeks. I got a call from the mean lady at the condo I was in love with today. She said there is a section of condos that will be finished next month and the builder is renting them out. She said the price is in our range and they will accept cats. Ironic, huh? I told her we already put an application in somewhere else but if it fell through I would give her a call. I called Ben and he said he had a hunch they would call back. I did too. They passed up on a great opportunity. But they blew me off, so part of me wanted to blow them off right back. I called Abby because she was the only one who was with me and saw all the properties in person. She said, "Jen! Are you crazy?! You loved that place...you call her back right now!" So I took her advice and called the lady back and said we would like to consider the property, but would like George to come look at it before we decided anything. I didn't see any condos that looked under construction so I'm curious to see the location of them. I'm thankful to have more options though. We haven't heard an official yes or no from the townhouse so if that falls through it will be nice to have a backup.

We're trying to teach Alison how to say,"One, two, three". She can say 'three' but I think that's because she's often tickled after it. So tonight we started showing her how to show the numbers on her fingers and say the words. Here she is showing us 'one'...with a colander on her head...oh, the joys of being a kid.,

House Hunting

I ventured down to Virginia Saturday afternoon to find a place for us to live. Abby asked if she could meet me down there to help and I'm so thankful she did. I had to take two flights down there (which I don't recommend!) and by the time I got to Charlotte for my layover I was about in tears. The plane was extremely small and the flight attendant wouldn't let me keep the diaper bag with me. Alison had a tantrum the entire flight. Oh, I forgot to add that I had the brilliant idea that I would just take a small bag with me so I didn't have to pay extra to check a bag. My brilliant plan hit a small snag when I forgot about the 3oz limit and all of my toiletries were thrown away. So back to my adventures. I sat down in the Charlotte terminal about to whip out my phone to call Ben to tell him how miserable I was when a lady came up to me and said, "Why don't you come sit with me?" I had an annoyed look on my face as I looked up at the crazy lady when I realized it was Abby! She lied to me and told me that she had a direct flight to Virginia but had figured out my route and surprised me in Charlotte! It was the biggest blessing ever! The next leg of the trip went much smoother. Tim was with her because he was going down for some Coast Guard training, so he was very helpful in carrying my stuff and he was somewhat familiar with the area. After finding the rental car we went on a search for Target to replace my confiscated toiletries and we were all pleasantly surprised to find a Chik-fil-a right next to it. We had a wonderful dinner and then drove to our hosts house. We stayed with the Neel's, a retired couple that goes to Hope. They were wonderful hosts and had a gorgeous house that looked like it was cut right out of a magazine. They had a screened in porch in the middle of huge trees, overlooking a lake. There was a fireplace out there and we had fun spending an evening snuggled under blankets, eating popcorn and talking by the fire.I looked at 4 houses, a condo and a townhouse to rent. It was a small list but those were all of my options in our price range to rent. All of the houses were somewhat dumpy, but would work if it came down to desperately needing a place to live. Abby and I had the best laugh when we walked into one that was painted neon green with purple trim. The condo was a little more than we could afford and I originally took it off the list because George told me that you had to be over 55 to live there. The realtor explained that it originally was built for that purpose but took too long to built and lost that demographic so they opened it up to everyone. She encouraged me to look at it and I fell in love with it. It was right across the street from Ben's soon-to-be office and had a two car garage. It had a fireplace, attic space, was new and was a ranch (I like not having to deal with stairs and Alison). The realtor gave me an application and told me that it wouldn't be a problem getting our cats approved to live there and was sure we could talk them down on the price since it had been up for rent for a long time. The morning I left I looked at a townhouse that we had already turned an application in for but had only seen pictures online. It was right across from the pool, has 2 master suites, a loft and 2.5 bathrooms. It's only a couple of years old, has a nice kitchen and most importantly, is affordable. The down side to it is that it doesn't have a garage or storage or a yard. But there's parking right infront of the unit and there is a neighborhood connected to it that would be great for walks or bike rides. I put a call into the realtor for the condo and asked if we could get the cats approved and if they would consider taking the price down any. She called back later saying that they absolutely would not tolerate cats and I suppose were somewhat insulted I asked for a lower price because she was very rude. With a big fat "NO" and a door slammed in my face, I began to sulk. However, my spirits were slightly lifted when I found out that 52 widows are currently living in the complex. My thoughts immediately went to how awkward swimming in the community pool would be. So I sent the townhouse people a check so they could officially process our application yesterday. I almost called them out on the absurd amount of money they wanted to run our credit, but I learned my lesson in accidentally insulting people. I found that sometimes it's better to be naive. We run credit reports all the time at the bank and I know how much it really costs. I found this to also be true at trying to open up a bank account in Virginia. I was informed that they wouldn't open an account for me until I have a drivers license that has a Virginia address on it. The regulation requires an ID, address and date of birth...it absolutely does not matter where I live. If they think I'm suspicious then they can put a code on my account to monitor me but to refuse my service, well, I was speachless. Looking back, I really see God's hand holding me back. Oh, the things I should have said to that woman who's desk said she was the assistant manager.
I left Virginia with no home secured, no bank account and missing two sippy cups (I feel sorry for whoever finds them under the seats in the plane and rental car). I felt somewhat like a failure, but am prayerfully hopeful that the townhouse will come through.

Now, a little for your entertainment from non other that little Alison Louise. If you ever wonder how much kids really learn from Elmo, here's your proof. We have never shown Alison the sign for banana, probably because she can say the actual word, but this morning she got out of bed and said "nana" and then signed 'banana' and 'please'. Ben and I were wondering where she learned this from and I realized that there's a segment in Elmo that shows some signs and banana is one of them. I was even more amazed when I realized it's been awhile since she's seen the video.

I apologize for the whining at the end. She's saying, "I've asked for a banana a hundred times already and said please! Will you just give me breakfast already!"

Do you ever wonder how much Alison loves milk?