Easter Celebration

Happy Easter! This morning we got to enjoy a lovely breakfast with our church family, be challenged by a great sermon from Pastor, participate in the scrum that passes as an egg hunt, and stuff ourselves silly with friends. Somehow there are no pictures to show of after the service, but imagine a gracious home filled with happy people and a friendly dog.
Speaking of, we have learned that Henri is very nonconfrontational. As soon as Hugo (French bulldog) got close she'd drop to fetal position and let him lick her all over. She wasn't crying or too scared, she just didn't seem to want to challenge his position. Once held above him, or if he was not looking, she was fine with patting him. I was hoping she'd enjoy chasing him since she loves to see dogs on our walks. On the other hand Maggie, a few months H's junior, who in past has been afraid of dogs, showed Hugo who was boss and loved it.
Without further ramblings, the day:

Easter basket; can you guess who got what? ;)

Chocolate chip muffins for church. When the recipe starts with "1 container of sour cream" you know it's a good one...

The hostesses

Gorgeous arrangements by Jess

the Lambs brought 2 lambs!

Toy in a cup

Good friends; Maggie and Henri. They make each other laugh and have this weird ability to telepathically transmit their bad behaviors.

Forsythia!

Excited for the egg hunt

Attempt at family portrait. You wouldn't think it'd be this difficult to get 3 people looking semi decent simultaneously in a photo...

Egg collection. She had 3 special ones with goldfish inside

She was excited to show them off

I'm trusting you had a blessed day. I'm going to put the Boo to bed and stuff myself (again) with leftovers. :)

Vacation ends

The week is wrapping up much faster than I would like to see and I'm dreading the start of the semester more than I ever have. Maybe it's spring fever, maybe it's that Henri requires so much more time (and is so much more fun), maybe it's because my yarn stash just got an addition and is screaming at me to be knit, maybe it's because I'm just done with the constant assignments and want to just be a mom and not a midwife anymore...whatever it is, I'm more than a little grumpy about loading my planner with such entries as "Exam 2 due" or "read module 4".
Fortunately we've packed the week with lots of fun, and have a lot to look forward to during this semester (sis-in-law coming to visit, playgroup, buying a house) so I think we'll survive. In the meantime, here's a glimpse of what we've been up to to: (most of it involved digging and eating dirt but I didn't get any shots of that...H looked pretty nasty)

Playing with Dad

Eating lots more at a time; lunch was mac-n-cheese, black beans and cheerios

We spent a lot of time with boxes this week

Weight concerns begin early. She loves the scale and I find it all over the house

This child really has a ton of toys but her favorite source of amusement is any bag and the recycling contents

The goldfish obsession continues unabated. They've been the source of countless meltdowns and freak outs, but they also solve any problem in life. Unfortunately she thinks they're called "please" so whenever I tell her to say (sign) Please, she runs to the fridge and looks up to where they're kept. Sigh.

I'll see you all next week to freak out about how many pointless assignments I have and how I'll never get it all done...and then I will :)

Baby in a box

This is going to be one of those disjointed posts where I jabber about stuff that's been popping into my head lately. I'll put pictures at the end to reward you for reading through :)

First, do you have those moments where you pause and think "I can't believe this is my normal?". I think it falls under the category of "You know you're a mom when:"
-You bring reading material with you to the bathroom but it's now "Mr. Brown can Moo, can you?" to distract your child from sticking their hands in the toilet you're trying to utilize
-You find yourself saying things like "that's right, that's an outlet, but please don't plug your bib into it" or "goldfish are not nutrient dense enough for a proper breakfast" or "stop drooling on Varney! (a textbook)"
-You get to the end of a meal and realize about half of it was comprised of unidentifiable goop from your daughter's tray
-You used to advise and collaborate on complex medical, social and psychological issues that had life or death consequences. The last medical advice you dispensed involved using breast milk to unclog a tear duct (and yes, it totally works)
-You actually write lists like this

Anyway, this has been a fabulous vacation week. I've had a chance to pore over all the sales fliers and coupons, shop for some free stuff (contact solution, baby cereal so far this week), go for long walks, sort all of Henri's baby clothes, just enjoy being with my daughter without worrying about looming assignments, and cook real meals (I've discovered a love of runny eggs. Who knew?!)

 Speaking of clothes, when H was born the church gave us a wonderful shower where we were overwhelmed with the generosity of our church family. A ton of clothes were unfortunately 6mo summer things and I was so bummed she wouldn't be able to wear them being that she was 6 months in November. On a whim I pulled them all out of the closet today and...they fit. Yup, my almost year old daughter is still in 6mo clothing. Yay, full (adorable) wardrobe!!!!!

Shaw's is rapidly becoming a favorite place to grocery shop. Not only do they double the coupons, they also have this nifty program where your kid gets a free banana or apple every time you shop. Given that H loves her bananas (and yes, she can say their name....a lot) and that we shop a few times a week (it's our out-of-the-house entertainment) this means our weekly banana budget is pretty much covered! This leads me to another Mom moment. I used to get excited over...well, I don't remember at this point. But I do know it wasn't bananas.

Lastly, a list of what Henri can say. She's pretty much covered her physical milestones (except jumping/hopping but I don't think that happens for awhile???) so she's moved on to jabbering. She understands everything concrete you tell her, though obeying is a totally different story. But she consistently and correctly verbalizes:
Papa
Mamamamama
banana
Bob
NO!; though it's more "nahahaha" (great)
yeah
boobie (this is said in a mournful tone with emphasis on the "ooooooh"; kinda like a whiny cow)
Daddy is sort of a squeal but consistent so I'll count it
She also fake laughs to get me to laugh and has learned to tickle. My feet and belly are fair game to her. She's also showing some awareness of her actions cause when she dropped a heavy wooden toy on my ankle she then rubbed it to make it feel better. Awww.

If you managed to make it all the way to the end (or skipped, like I totally would have done) here is Henri with her new favorite toys: boxes! (trying to pack is proving a pain with the one who likes to sit in boxes, unload everything in them, and push them around with her toys inside).

Travels and travails

Hello! This week was very Marchish; in like a lion, out like a lamb. Henri was still ill and teething so quite whiny. Then Saturday she stopped nursing. I'd heard of nursing strikes, but figured we had suffered enough in the beginning of our nursing relationship that we'd be spared that. Nope. She freaked whenever I tried to put her to boob and it clearly distressed her that she couldn't seem to remember how to nurse. I was a mess thinking it was all over and that I was back to exclusive pumping (major pain when you have a curious toddler who keeps unplugging the pump, tipping over the full bottles, and then refusing to drink the milk no matter how you present it). On Sunday I stayed home from church as she was still drippy and called the on-call nurse who was extremely nice and encouraging and basically told me to chill. But I still took her in on Monday. No sooner had I made the appointment than she started nursing. And wouldn't stop. And was back to her normal self. And the no-nonsense NP told me she was fine and that I was fine and that everything would be fine. And it was.

Tuesday Henri and I took off for Vermont to surprise my mom for her birthday. We enjoyed just relaxing at home with no way of connecting to the outside world, eating great food (Papa made an amazing veggie lasagna for the birthday dinner), and watching Henri dominate another household (she worships Papa and it's pretty mutual).

Not too many photos since I kept the camera away for the most part, and don't want to post picts of my younger siblings, but here are a few of the week:

Had some folks over for lunch on Saturday and got all Spring-y with the table settings

Papa pushed H around the house in this basket every night; she loved it

Lots of fun toys at Gramma and Papa's

Birthday girl opening her presents; she got a weather station from Papa!

A rare brief pause in running around and around and around the house

Snow flurries! Was very icy driving back today on some of the mountain passes

Poor flowers

Anticipation

Five teeth now

Another one of those idyllic VT scenes that really aren't contrived; (one of) Mom's workbaskets

OK, she's actually happy here but it's hard to see. I gave her goldfish (Parmesan) today for the first time and we have a girl in love. I was trying to get her to show me the one in her hand but she thought I was going to take it away, hence the face (and the tightly gripped fishy)

So, we're back home and facing a long list of tasks to accomplish before the semester starts on the 9th. Steve is calculating the odds of winning the current lottery (0.00000056%)  but still won't let me buy a ticket. And we wait for the bank inspection. Looking forward to basketball viewing, good food, possible Webb's trip (!) and just enjoying my recuperated Boo.

Bend, place, straighten, repeat.

I'd heard a lot about the every day drudgery of being a mom. About how it feels like you do the same thing over and over (and over). Up till now, I didn't really get it. Our days are pretty similar because while I'm not a stickler for rigid schedules, Henri is predictable in her routines and, except for Wednesdays and Sundays, we follow the same pattern every day (wake up, nurse, Henri runs around while I make coffee and her cream of wheat, she eats it, plays and gets read to, we do house chores, fussy and nap with nurse at 10ish, homework, H is up for another nurse and then lunch, walk, nurse, fuss and play, nurse and nap, up for supper, dad home, play, nurse, bed...and then homework for me). Uneventful for sure, but satisfying to both. That all changed this week. I'm not sure if it's the nasty cold she has (sorry, all the following picts feature a very snotty kid, but that's current life around here) or we've entered a destructive phase but she can't stand to have anything in its proper place. I literally follow her all day around the house picking up what she's just yanked off/scattered/ripped/chewed and spat out/thrown/hidden or tipped. The floors gets swept after every meal and in between but I'm still stepping on grit. She's in a perpetual state of sogginess from drool, snot and the water (HOW do you teach a kid to use a cup??? whenever she gets any water out she gleefully sprays it everywhere!). I know this sounds like complaining, but at the moment I find it more amazing than irritating. That this tiny little bugger can make the cyclonic mess she can in the time frame she does astounds me. And lets face it, housework has never been my forte. Also I'm hoping all this bending and squats will help with the renewed commitment to weight loss....

Given the fact that we've been mostly home bound because of the cold there are no interesting photos of the week. The following is me trailing H as she puts the house into the order she likes best:

Dad's wallet, perpetual source of delight

The living room after Henri's sauntered through

She got hold of a ball of string and unwound it all over the house

More string...

The tissue box! Given her constant drip I've needed it where I could get to it easily. Which meant she could get to it easily

More tissue strewing

Makes the original mess all that much better

I keep finding small wads in the strangest places

How to get what you're not supposed to have. Step one: spot it while standing on tip toe

Step 2: Streeeeeeeeeeetch

Inspect what you've just snagged

Look guiltily triumphant (and run...hence the blurriness)

Take a quick break from destruction to sweep (and resort the recycling)

She wanted it to be laundry day

Learning to shut the door to keep mom away when she's being naughty

She loves to carry anything that has a handle or a strap

And a few random shots from the week:

Not feeling so hot

She wants to see what I'm taking a picture of as I take them so she's always running around behind me. Taking lots of over-the-shoulder shots

She waves whenever she hears the word "hi" or "bye"

Plays "So Big!".

That's been our week. Runny nose, picking up, lots of tears and laughing. Also:
Semester's over! (with decent grades, phew)
A midwife called me back and we're in the midst of emailing details and such. Nothing certain, but she's showing interest
Still waiting on the bank inspection....
Lots of home baked treats
Long walks every day in this insane heat
A new box fan!