Does anyone else find it kind of funny to see your kids scared IF you know they are in no danger? Am I just warped? This video is an example. It is horrible quality - I just did it with our digital camera and the lighting is bad and it is rotated (and I'm feeling too cheap and impatient to buy the editing tools from Quicktime) - BUT - the sight in real life of the neighbor kids and Brother and Little Bitty running and screaming from the Roomba (thank you Zia - we're enjoying this more than we even imagined, ha ha) was very funny. I'm talking a good 30 minutes of entertainment for all.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Weekend Entertainment
Second great weekend in a row. Last weekend we had a visit from Grammy, Nonno, Zia and Uncle Pete. It was delightful - although we miss them when they have to leave. I think they were probably ready to head back to FL. It was in the 20's here and several people had colds. We need to lure Uncle Pete back sometime when it is warm, he only got to see the Parthenon replica from the car - and he needs to experience that up close and personal.
This weekend we had (grown up!) friends over for dinner and played "Scene It". Dinner was pizza from a new-to-the-area "take and bake" pizza place. It was delicious...and sure to make the regular rotation around here.
The game afterwards was fun with a lot of laughs. I pretty much lost - which is to be expected (partly because I always lose games) because my movie watching tolerance is limited to romantic comedies with happy endings. I can appreciate good acting and directing, but it doesn't mean I enjoy watching it. As I've gotten older I've adopted my mom's philosophy of "there's enough sadness and violence in real life, I don't need to watch it in a movie". So, it is very rare now that I'll sit through a movie that is all disturbing to me. All that being said - we went to see "No Country for Old Men" a few weeks ago. Wow. It really DIDN'T meet my criteria on any level. And then, it just ended. Anyone who has seen it knows what I'm talking about. Good acting, writing, directing - all that stuff - but SO disturbing.
Speaking of which - we've for some reason watched some episodes of Nip/Tuck lately. Sick. SICK. It makes you feel like you need a shower afterwards to rinse away the hour of immoral repugnance you've just exposed yourself to. Seriously, I can put up with some trashiness for the sake of mindless entertainment (LOVE "Las Vegas" on Friday nights!) But, I'm putting this in writing - I will not ever be tuning in to see what happens with the disgusting group of people on Nip/Tuck again.
And with that (and to wash away the memories of that horrible show that are still in my head) - I leave you with some visions of loveliness from around our home.
Our yard is home to a ton of birds - these pictures will not at all do them justice, but there are cardinals everywhere! Each time we look out the window there are at least two or three at the bird feeders. It's fun to watch - and Little Bitty now says, "Birrr"!
This weekend we had (grown up!) friends over for dinner and played "Scene It". Dinner was pizza from a new-to-the-area "take and bake" pizza place. It was delicious...and sure to make the regular rotation around here.
The game afterwards was fun with a lot of laughs. I pretty much lost - which is to be expected (partly because I always lose games) because my movie watching tolerance is limited to romantic comedies with happy endings. I can appreciate good acting and directing, but it doesn't mean I enjoy watching it. As I've gotten older I've adopted my mom's philosophy of "there's enough sadness and violence in real life, I don't need to watch it in a movie". So, it is very rare now that I'll sit through a movie that is all disturbing to me. All that being said - we went to see "No Country for Old Men" a few weeks ago. Wow. It really DIDN'T meet my criteria on any level. And then, it just ended. Anyone who has seen it knows what I'm talking about. Good acting, writing, directing - all that stuff - but SO disturbing.
Speaking of which - we've for some reason watched some episodes of Nip/Tuck lately. Sick. SICK. It makes you feel like you need a shower afterwards to rinse away the hour of immoral repugnance you've just exposed yourself to. Seriously, I can put up with some trashiness for the sake of mindless entertainment (LOVE "Las Vegas" on Friday nights!) But, I'm putting this in writing - I will not ever be tuning in to see what happens with the disgusting group of people on Nip/Tuck again.
And with that (and to wash away the memories of that horrible show that are still in my head) - I leave you with some visions of loveliness from around our home.
Our yard is home to a ton of birds - these pictures will not at all do them justice, but there are cardinals everywhere! Each time we look out the window there are at least two or three at the bird feeders. It's fun to watch - and Little Bitty now says, "Birrr"!
Friday, January 25, 2008
On Friendships
So I picked Brother up from Preschool and he was telling me how Bailey and Will had decided "they didn't ever want to be his friend anymore." This is so heartbreaking to hear, even though I know that Bailey and Will are frequently fickle about who they are friends with - and chances are that my son is too. It comes with preschool. Anyway, we discussed how it doesn't matter if Bailey and Will don't want to be his friend - it only matters that he feels good about himself and is a good friend to the people who do want to be his friend.
"Catherine is my friend. She is really nice," he says.
"And I have [Little Bitty]." He looks over and smiles at his sister - obviously not really fazed or upset by the Bailey and Will situation.
"That's a great point!" I say and then proceed to ramble about how one of the most wonderful things about our family is that we always have each other and we get to be each other's best friends...yada, yada, yada.
"Right!" says Brother, "Unless... somebody accidentally shoots one of us with a gun."
OK, mental note - it seems my gun safety lecture has been given one too many times (and no, we don't own a gun).
"Catherine is my friend. She is really nice," he says.
"And I have [Little Bitty]." He looks over and smiles at his sister - obviously not really fazed or upset by the Bailey and Will situation.
"That's a great point!" I say and then proceed to ramble about how one of the most wonderful things about our family is that we always have each other and we get to be each other's best friends...yada, yada, yada.
"Right!" says Brother, "Unless... somebody accidentally shoots one of us with a gun."
OK, mental note - it seems my gun safety lecture has been given one too many times (and no, we don't own a gun).
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
First professional photo shoot
It was funny. They rotated between being goofy, impatient, overly loving and just plain tired. Here are some samples...
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
What's the difference...?
Brother takes language very seriously. He IS the son of an English teacher. He's always had a vocabulary beyond his years. Lately, he's started asking "what's the difference between..." so many things. Sometimes, it's hard to come up with a difference. But - he doesn't like the answer "they are the same". When I tried that - he said, "No they aren't. They sound different and are two different words." Here's a sampling of what we're dealing with;
What's the difference between cement and concrete?
What's the difference between fuzzy and furry?
What's the difference between evening and night?
What's the difference between can't wait and excited for?
The list really goes on and on, but you get the picture.
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In daugher news, Little Bitty had her 18 month appointment today. She grew an inch and a half since her 15 month check-up! So, her head and height are continuing to get bigger! She's still slender, but definitely healthy and perfect (my words, not doc's). I asked about her speech development... she is very vocal, but not so much understandable. The pediatrician pointed out (as Little Bitty, climbed onto an adult size stool in the office in the blink-of-an-eye and proceeded to try to jump down and then rifled through their childproofed-but-not-LittleBitty-proofed cabinets) that she believes our lovely daughter is expending her energy elsewhere right now and not focusing so much on getting her articulation of new words perfected. Ahhh, I see.
What's the difference between cement and concrete?
What's the difference between fuzzy and furry?
What's the difference between evening and night?
What's the difference between can't wait and excited for?
The list really goes on and on, but you get the picture.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In daugher news, Little Bitty had her 18 month appointment today. She grew an inch and a half since her 15 month check-up! So, her head and height are continuing to get bigger! She's still slender, but definitely healthy and perfect (my words, not doc's). I asked about her speech development... she is very vocal, but not so much understandable. The pediatrician pointed out (as Little Bitty, climbed onto an adult size stool in the office in the blink-of-an-eye and proceeded to try to jump down and then rifled through their childproofed-but-not-LittleBitty-proofed cabinets) that she believes our lovely daughter is expending her energy elsewhere right now and not focusing so much on getting her articulation of new words perfected. Ahhh, I see.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The Celebration of Family Day
So I made a nice (well, edible) dinner, set the table, and we all sat down together. I had been a little sentimental all day about the milestone of Little Bitty's first year home with us. I turned to Brother and explained the specialness of the day.
Mommy: Guess what? Today we have all been a family for exactly one year. It was January 9th last year when Daddy and I got home with Little Bitty from Guatemala and we began our life together as a family of four.
Brother: Oh... (pausing, looking somewhat thoughtful)...so, how many days does that make it until the new Backyardigans episode is on?
Mommy: Five.
Brother: YES!!!
And so went our first annual Family Day. I hope they are all this special.
Mommy: Guess what? Today we have all been a family for exactly one year. It was January 9th last year when Daddy and I got home with Little Bitty from Guatemala and we began our life together as a family of four.
Brother: Oh... (pausing, looking somewhat thoughtful)...so, how many days does that make it until the new Backyardigans episode is on?
Mommy: Five.
Brother: YES!!!
And so went our first annual Family Day. I hope they are all this special.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Our First Year with Little Bitty
Exactly one year ago we returned home from Guatemala and began life as a family of four. Little Bitty had been with us for 5 days already - but coming home to Brother and finally being all together is what I remember as the most amazing and relieving part of the whole process (that process being adding our second child).
In the past year Little Bitty has traveled with us to Indiana twice, Florida three times, North Carolina three times, Texas, Alabama, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
She's learned to sit up, crawl, walk, run, climb, feed herself, undress herself and recently to talk - a lot.
She's gained about 7 or 8 pounds. Grown about 4 or 5 inches taller. Gotten 8 1/2 teeth.
She's started preschool, made friends, played on the beach, gone swimming, gone boating, gone sledding... and fallen in love with Mommy, Daddy and brother. She's also learned to be alright if we aren't right with her.
Through all these change and new experiences, she's smiled and laughed way more than she's cried. When she does cry, it is truly heartfelt and she gives it her all. She's working on learning not to throw things when her fiery temper flares. Most times now she just stands firm and sticks her lip out while staring at her little shoes. Sometimes her disappointment brings her down to the floor where she stays until she's scooped up by Mommy or Daddy. At that point, she usually can't resist a giggle or smile.
She has completely stolen my heart and made me a better parent. She challenges me and amazes me and I can't imagine our family being formed any other way.
We love our Little Bitty.
Now a walk down memory lane...
In the past year Little Bitty has traveled with us to Indiana twice, Florida three times, North Carolina three times, Texas, Alabama, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
She's learned to sit up, crawl, walk, run, climb, feed herself, undress herself and recently to talk - a lot.
She's gained about 7 or 8 pounds. Grown about 4 or 5 inches taller. Gotten 8 1/2 teeth.
She's started preschool, made friends, played on the beach, gone swimming, gone boating, gone sledding... and fallen in love with Mommy, Daddy and brother. She's also learned to be alright if we aren't right with her.
Through all these change and new experiences, she's smiled and laughed way more than she's cried. When she does cry, it is truly heartfelt and she gives it her all. She's working on learning not to throw things when her fiery temper flares. Most times now she just stands firm and sticks her lip out while staring at her little shoes. Sometimes her disappointment brings her down to the floor where she stays until she's scooped up by Mommy or Daddy. At that point, she usually can't resist a giggle or smile.
She has completely stolen my heart and made me a better parent. She challenges me and amazes me and I can't imagine our family being formed any other way.
We love our Little Bitty.
Now a walk down memory lane...
Our first meeting with Little Bitty
Little Bitty's Embassy Day
The First Day Home
Christmas Day 2007
Monday, January 7, 2008
Happy New Year
The New Year has been a good one so far. We ushered it in with a lot of my family - in Alabama of all places. I truly have no good pictures from the event - our camera is on the fritz and despite my husband and I each buying each other a new one, we're still left with no good camera and no good pictures right now. Long story.
The best part of the New Year's celebration was watching Brother and Little Bitty play with their cousins. I have two nephews and two nieces, which makes 3 boys and 3 girls total. Brother and his two boy cousins are the oldest three - and then Little Bitty and the two other girls the youngest three. I'm sure one of my three siblings will pop out another kid at some point and mess up this nice and even ratio ... but for now it works out great getting the kids together and one is cuter than the next. In fact, here is a picture of my two nieces in their princess shoes... they were so proud.
We also got to visit with my grandparents who are 91 and 92 - at one point my grandma just said bewildered, "Two thousand and eight." Can you imagine? It will be like me celebrating 2063 (or somewhere around there).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then, this past weekend I took Brother on a little "Mommy and Brother date". We went to a Children's Theatre and saw "Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business". This is based on a popular children's book series (Junie B. Jones). I really enjoyed it. Brother - tolerated it. He cracks me up because he is so precocious and aware most of the time. But then he'll do something like spend 2 hours at a play about Junie B. Jones and later when I make reference to something that she did in the play he'll ask "Who's Junie B.?" and "What play?" All in all though, it was a fun time. We both wished there had been a snack booth though. I think it was a little too hoity-toity to serve gummy worms and pop.
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More soon - I've been super busy at work but am going to try to hop back on the blogging wagon and start capturing more of the cuteness that is Brother and Little Bitty.
Today marks one year that our family has been complete. Post on that coming soon.
The best part of the New Year's celebration was watching Brother and Little Bitty play with their cousins. I have two nephews and two nieces, which makes 3 boys and 3 girls total. Brother and his two boy cousins are the oldest three - and then Little Bitty and the two other girls the youngest three. I'm sure one of my three siblings will pop out another kid at some point and mess up this nice and even ratio ... but for now it works out great getting the kids together and one is cuter than the next. In fact, here is a picture of my two nieces in their princess shoes... they were so proud.
We also got to visit with my grandparents who are 91 and 92 - at one point my grandma just said bewildered, "Two thousand and eight." Can you imagine? It will be like me celebrating 2063 (or somewhere around there).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then, this past weekend I took Brother on a little "Mommy and Brother date". We went to a Children's Theatre and saw "Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business". This is based on a popular children's book series (Junie B. Jones). I really enjoyed it. Brother - tolerated it. He cracks me up because he is so precocious and aware most of the time. But then he'll do something like spend 2 hours at a play about Junie B. Jones and later when I make reference to something that she did in the play he'll ask "Who's Junie B.?" and "What play?" All in all though, it was a fun time. We both wished there had been a snack booth though. I think it was a little too hoity-toity to serve gummy worms and pop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More soon - I've been super busy at work but am going to try to hop back on the blogging wagon and start capturing more of the cuteness that is Brother and Little Bitty.
Today marks one year that our family has been complete. Post on that coming soon.
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