Most Random Post Ever

Clara's talking a lot now. We can actually carry on conversations with her and she understands and replies back to us. Here are just a few of her first conversations.

--Yesterday, she put on her pants, shirt and shoes. She started looking around for something and I asked her what she was looking for. She said "I wear socks." I told her I didn't think there were any in this room so she left the room in search of the elusive socks.

--When she woke up from her nap and came into the bedroom to wake me up from my nap, I tried to distract her so I could lay there a while longer. I asked her where Daddy was. She said "At work?" I said, "No, I think he's downstairs." She said, "Ok, I find Daddy." A few seconds later I hear her saying "Hi, Daddy." He had been asleep on the couch. I'm so mean.

She's also started remembering things. The other day, I picked up a cardboard box to throw away. Before I did, I checked to make sure it was empty. Sure enough, a spoon to Clara's tea set was in there, so I set it aside. About that time, Clara walks in and sees me taking the box to the garage. She starts crying and saying "tea, tea". I calm her down and grab the spoon, asking her if this is what she wants, to which she replies, "Thank you!" I'm not sure how long it had been in there, but she hadn't been playing in that area for quite some time.

And then today as I was combing her hair, I couldn't find her comb so I just started using another one. She got upset again and I asked her if she wanted her comb. She said yes, so I asked her if she knew where it was. She went straight into the office where it was in a pile with a bunch of other things she was carrying around yesterday.

It's fun to see her learning. She's making connections, understanding things and how they work and figuring out cause and effect. Though she still can't control her emotions and doesn't yet think to just ask for something when things are not quite like she wants them, I don't think it will be too long. It helps that I'm understanding what she wants more and more. I feel bad sometimes because I can't understand her. I'll ask her to repeat herself a few times and then guess what she's saying, but still get it wrong sometimes. Today I finally told her "I'm sorry sweetie, I don't understand what you're saying." To which she replied "I'm sorry Mommy." Breaks my heart that she apologizes for not being able to say a word right.

Her eating has slowed down in the last week or so. She usually just nibbles at her meal and only ocassionally finishes everything you give her. When I name a food and ask her if she wants it for a meal, she says no everytime. This would be the complete opposite of the Clara of two weeks ago.

I think she may have had her first headache this morning. Saddest thing ever. She was acting a little strange yesterday. She did the fussy cry thing all through lunch and I picked her up and put her in my lap with her head on my shoulder. She laid there more than 10 seconds which is a dead giveaway that she's not feeling well. She had some tylenol before nap and felt ok when she got up. She started getting fussy again in the evening. She woke at 3:30 this morning in pain, so she got more tylenol. Then this morning she woke crying and wouldn't come to our bedroom, which isn't like her. She's normally very happy in the morning. When Chris brought her to bed, she kept crying and putting her hands on her forehead and over her eyes saying "owie". Another dose of tylenol and some Bugs and she was doing ok. I hope she's not getting sick, but she doesn't seem to have any other symptoms. I wonder if getting those top molars in can cause headaches or sinus pain. I saw that one of them is breaking through.

And one last Clara tidbit. She's started saying "yeah" which just grates on my nerves. The thing is, it doesn't come out as "yeah", it's more like "yah", like a valley girl. I think it's worse than her previous "uh-huh" phase.

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Ok, enough about Clara.

Chris and I pooled our Christmas giftcards together and went and got a ceiling fan for our bedroom this weekend. Glenn came over and helped Chris install it. I love it and think it looks really nice. I hope it helps with our electric bill this summer.



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I know I've metioned Netflix before, but I just have to reiterate how much I love them. We have one of the really cheap plans which gives you one movie at a time. If you watch them the day you get them and get them in the mail the next day, you can expect to receive 7 or 8 movies in a month. You've got to be diligent about getting them back in the mail though. There are no late fees and our plan costs less than $9 a month.

To make the deal more sweet, they just started offering free unlimited downloads with your service, so we've been watching tv shows lately. We have a tv hooked up to the computer in the office, so we can watch them on a normal size television. The downloads are immediate, so no waiting. It's awesome (except that we've been watching a bit too much tv lately.) We're watching the first season of Heros right now and are really enjoying it.

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I bought a book on how to draw 101 animals at Michael's. I paid less than $3 for it and I am definitley getting my money's worth. Here is a sampling of my work before the book. (I'm serious; this was how I drew a pig.)


Now, I know what you're thinking. "That's not bad, Kelsey. I knew it was a pig. The snout and curly tail were dead giveaways." Thanks, I do appreciate that most people, including my two year old, can tell that this is a pig. But look at my new and improved pig. I know, I colored him and made him all pretty and wrote oink oink next to him, so maybe it's not a fair comparison, but I just gotta brag on my new pig. My new pig rocks! I can also draw a lemur, owl, and zebra. You name it (as long as it's in my book) and I can draw it.

"Bah-bel"

Clara has become very interested in her bible lately. She started asking for it at every naptime and bedtime recently. She says "Bah-bel. I read." Then she opens it up and starts singing "Jesus Loves Me." When you aks her what the bible says, she replies "Jesus loves me." Doesn't get any sweeter than that.

So, if we try to take the bible back so she can go to sleep, she starts crying "Bah-bel, Bah-bel!", until we give it back to her. And come on, it's not like we can tell her "No, no bible for you!". She then gets her way and falls asleep with her bible.

Well, she's got another bible, and has started asking for it too. For the last few days, she's been sleeping with both of them. The problem is, they're not exactly snuggly bibles. I believe they are the reason she woke up crying from her nap today after only half an hour. I'm pretty sure she rolled over on one of them. Tonight when Chris was putting her to bed, he gave her the one that was laying in her bed. He wasn't aware that she now requires both to sleep. As he was walking out of her room, she starts crying out "Jesus! Jesus!".

Chris promptly brought her the other bible. Seriously, how could he not?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look what my sweetie sent me.

And here's my other Valentine all dolled up in her dress from Grandma and Grandpa.

~Things I love~

by Clara

I love to eat!

I love to take my shoes and socks off in the car

I love umbrellas

I love my corgis

I love to sing

I love Miss Paula, my storytime grandma

I love waking up early

I love dressing and undressing myself all day long

I love Bugs Bunny!!!

I love tricking my Mommy into thinking I'm ready to potty train

I love princesses

I love slides and swings

I love Jesus and reading my bible

I love my family

I love riding in the front seat of the Jeep

I love being silly

I love storytime at the library

I love pigtails (and taking them out)

I love reading books

I love apple juice slushes from Sonic (and french fries)

I love going to bible class

I love birthdays (and birthday cake)!!!

I love Quinn kids because they give me lots of snacks

I love my friends

I love hugs and handshakes

And that's about it. Oh, did I mention I love to eat?

My Picks

I'm not quite sure why I felt the need to blog about my clothing of choice for Clara, but perhaps someone can use the info. Ok, here ya go; here's my faves:


Carter's- I love Carter's. I've never had a problem with shrinkage with anything I've purchased, even 100% cotton. Never once has any of her Carter's clothes even gotten a hole in them. They are a little pricier than other brands, but in my opinion, they're worth it. I typically only buy Carter's when it's on sale, usually at the outlet mall or Kohl's, so that helps me justify the higher cost. All of Clara's socks are Carter's; they don't shrink or unravel. And they are my favorite pajamas, too. So many different styles and colors to choose from.


Genuine Kids- This is an Osh Kosh brand sold only at Target (I think). It's all really nice quality, yet much more reasonably priced than regular Osh Kosh. Their clothes are really cute and unique. This year, I bought both pair of Clara's jeans and overalls there and I love them because they don't have an excessive amount of embroidered stuff all over them that a lot of the other brands have. Their cute little dresses are usually only $12.99. Can't beat that.


Miniwear- I'm adding this brand as of today. It's sold at Babies R Us and I just realized today how good of a bargain their clothes are. They have two piece outfits, and while I don't particularly care for their winter sets (I don't really like winter sets of any kind too much), I do love their summer sets. They're only $9.99 and you can get them on sale frequently. Today was buy 1 get 1 half off. I've bought several sets and they've all held up nicely. I've never had problems with shrinkage either. Here are the two I bought today. Not bad for $7.50 each.

Stride Rite- Love 'em, but my budget doesn't. I've only bought a couple of pair. I will probably always buy her sandals that go with everything from there, but that's about it. I think it's important that the sandals she wears on a daily basis have good arch support and are comfortable so she doesn't get blisters since she'll be wearing them without socks. And since she'll be wearing them 8 months out of the year.

Now, here are the brands I think are overrated.

Old Navy- I can occasionally find something there that I like, but most of the time their stuff is pretty expensive. Plus, a lot of it tends to be a little too showy for my taste. I think everything I've ever gotten Clara from there was on clearance. I will say their Halloween costumes are very cute and very reasonably priced.

Osh Kosh- I get that it's very high quality stuff, but $20 for a baby t-shirt at an outlet store is just insane. I go check out the outlet store when I'm up there, but I rarely buy anything because even on sale, it's so darn expensive. Also, a lot of their stuff has Osh Kosh printed across the front of it and I'm not a big fan of advertising what clothes my child is wearing, especially when it's somewhat expensive. I'm just weird like that. (It's the same reason I never buy Tommy Hilfiger or Polo, even if it's on sale. I bought her a Tommy Hilfiger dress for $5.00 at a resale shop and found myself explaining to everyone that I bought it used because I didn't want people thinking I'd be so frivolous with my money, but that's just me.)

Payless shoes- They seldom have anything very cute, they never seem to have a very good selection and tend to run about $15 for toddler sizes. I cringe at spending $15 on cheapo kids shoes that are going to give Clara stinky feet and blisters. (Linsey can vouch for the stinky Payless feet. She once cleared a fitting room when she removed her shoes. Remember that, Linsey? It was bad.) I've found that the best place to get cheap shoes is at Target. Most of them are around $12. And Sears usually has a pretty big selection of shoes and are typically in the $15 range.

Boutiques- We all know how much I love smocking, but I simply cannot justify spending $75 or more on a dress for my little princess. I just can't do it. Same thing goes for their matching ensembles. Actually, a lot of the boutique style outfits are pretty ugly in my opinion. Oh, and $8-$9 on a large hairbow? Thanks, but I'll stick with my not-quite-as-perfect handmade hairbows. Clara doesn't sit still long enough for anyone to notice the little drips of hot glue or the unevenness of the ribbon (or at least that's what I tell myself). And anyway, you've seen how long I've been making hairbows. Almost 20 years. I'm a pro.

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So, did my last post render everyone speechless? Are you just embarrassed for me that I have so little pride that I would post that picture? Or is it just that you're remembering your mother's advice that "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."?

#2 in the Series

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting more of my 4-H fashion ensembles. Notice all the details in this dress made by yours truly (with the assistance of my mom and Myrt Myrt, of course). The sweetheart neckline, the ruffledy waist, the (unnecessary) darts, the poofy sleeves. And what outfit is complete without a matching hairbow? The ladylike stance and sunburn from the trailride the week before only serve to complement this lovely creation. I'm rather glad you can't see my shoes.

Reason #193 To Have Kids

You get to wear cool character band-aids without people thinking you're just plain weird. Pay no attention to my skinny wrist or the little bone that looks like it's about to protrude through the skin.

Oh wait, you wanna see something cool? Here's what happens when I flex. You can push on the two skinny bones and make them move around. Cool, huh? I have no idea how I've made it this far in life without a single broken bone.

Clara 1, Dentist 0

Clara won this round. We went to the dentist today for what was supposed to be her first cleaning. Yeah, that didn't happen. Try as we may, we were all unable to convince her that she wasn't going to die if she opened her mouth. They let her look at herself in the little mouth mirror, let her smell the grape flavored tooth cleaner stuff, counted her fingers with the little tooth picker thingy, and even tickled her fingers with the whirly tooth cleanermabob. Oh, and gave her some cool shades so the bright light wouldn't blind her. She wasn't falling for any of it. She must have inherited my hatred of dentists. That's a shame.

We'll just try again next time. Today, the dentist just took another look at her teeth and she got a clean bill of health. Another molar has broken through in the last few days, so we've got two down, two to go. The dentist said the other two are close, but not so close that they're about to erupt. That's too bad. Hopefully they'll come in without too much trouble.

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I am such a loser. I went to Petco this morning for dog food. When I came out and was putting the food in the back of the Jeep, I looked down and lo and behold, I had parked in a handicapped spot. I was so embarrassed. To be fair though, I looked and there was no sign. There was a pole, but the sign had fallen off. I thought that the cashier had been a little rude, but figured I'd just imagined it and chalked it up to being a Monday morning, but now I think she really was ticked off at me. Oops.

Home Sweet Home

We went camping this weekend, and although it's always fun to camp, it feels wonderful to come home and shower and sleep in your own home. Chris and I were ripe, for sure. While most everyone else actually showered this weekend, we chose not to, nor did we feel the need to change our clothes. I hope we still have friends.

Here's Clara waiting for Daddy to come home so we can leave to go camping on Friday.

We went to Lake Houston Park with Glenn and Becky, Micah and Lisa, Brandon and Erin, and the whole Quinn crew. It was lots of fun, especially considering the sheer number of Quinns that were available to watch, play with, and feed Clara. It felt like pre-Clara camping almost. (Except I still had to change diapers. And lots of 'em.) That girl put down the junk food this weekend. Her little belly was full and hard as a rock last night. The kids even roasted marshmallows right after breakfast this morning.

It got really cold both nights, but we had sufficient blankets, so we were all quite comfortable in our tents, unlike our last camping experience. It's taken me a whole year to get over that. There was no wind and it warmed up nicely during the days. I could've done without the 40 degree temps at night and flushing toilets would've been nice, but other than that it was a lovely weekend.

Here we are the first morning, much like the photo we took last year.

And here we are on our long walk. You'll have to excuse the pink sweatshirt. J.T. forgot his and had to borrow his Mama's. He was so good with the girls. He's a sweetheart and loved playing with and keeping an eye on the two of them. Not sure what Clara and Leah were doing, but they walked like this for a long time.

"Look Ma, I found a stick!"

Chris looked over at one point and thought Dingle had gotten loose. On closer inspection, she had just made herself a nice nest to sleep in. Can you find her? You may have to click on the picture.

Dingle-flauge

Here's our family picture in front of the tent this morning.

And just for fun, here's the fam in 2000. Zoe was one and a half and Max was just a puppy.

Tormentor

The child lives to torment her mother. I endured three weeks of fit-throwing at the mere mention of the word potty. This evening, I heard her in the bathroom while I was cooking dinner, only to walk in and find her, in the dark, sitting on her potty while playing and reading.



A few minutes later, she decides she wants to use the big potty without first pulling the step stool over. That one could've been a mess.

Ever since we went back to diapers, she's asked to put panties on and she says she wants to go potty throughout the day. I'm not falling for it though. I'm not stupid.

Birthday Marathon

Yesterday we had lunch at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse for Glenn's birthday. Clara was not fond of the fire on the hibachi grill, if you couldn't tell. It only flares up for a few seconds, but it took several minutes for her to compose herself. And then the other three grills lit up one by one, each of them catching her off guard again.

Me no like fire

We headed back over to Glenn and Becky's last night for Glenn's birthday. It was nice, no football game to be found. The guys were upstairs playing Rock Band, while us girls were down playing Scene It. The little ones were entertaining themselves when we hear Leah exclaim, "Clara!". I ran into the kitchen to discover Clara up on a chair, leaning over the table, fingers in the cupcakes. She had stuck her finger in the icing of about 5 of them. Good thing Leah's on patrol, or else we wouldn't have had any cupcakes left!

Today, Clara and I headed to The Whistle Stop in Tomball for Erin's birthday lunch. It was a quaint little sandwich and dessert shop. Oh my goodness, the dessert was amazing. Clara and I had the raspberry cream cake and it was so good.

When we got back home, there was a package waiting for us. Grandma's friend, Gloria, sent Clara a book about going potty! We love adding books to our ever expanding library of potty related reading. We'll start studying this one for when I get the crazy idea to dust off the old potty and give it another go. Thank you Gloria!

Hanging It Up

It was a gorgeous day today, so we took full advantage and spent a little time outside. We loaded up the bikes and hit the arboretum and playground. In the last picture, Daddy tied a rope to Clara's tricycle and pulled her all over. It worked great and didn't kill either of our backs in the process. I knew I married that man for a reason.

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After three weeks of potty training, I decided today to hang it up. She was no closer to being potty trained today than she was three weeks ago. On average she had one success a day even at the end, so I'd say there was pretty much zero progress. She could sit on that thing for 20 minutes, just to get up and pee next to it two minutes after standing up. I was very done. I'm done reading her "readiness signals" as something more than just random, coincidental, normal behavior of a two year old who is nowhere near being ready to go on the potty.

Clara has been acting really badly lately. Really bad. I thought she was frustrated with the potty training, but instead, she has the first bit of a two year molar coming in. It's just broken the surface and her gums are really swollen. I feel so bad that I didn't know that was why she's been so upset. Yesterday, as soon as she got a little whiney after breakfast, I gave her some tylenol and she was like a different child afterwards. The past two days have been soooo much better. I can't wait 'til she can tell us exactly what's bothering her. And I can't wait until these 4 teeth come in. I have a feeling it's not going to be fun.

4-H Flashback

Sorry about the flash. I haven't got a scanner, so it's a picture of a picture. There's more where this came from.

"I pledge my head to clearer thinking,

my heart to greater loyalty,

my hands to larger service,

and my health to better living,

(and my fashion to better scrutiny),*

for my club, my community, my country and my world."

*I added this line.

Best. Purchase. Ever.

Our portable dvd player is, hands down, the best thing we've ever purchased.

I had borrowed a friend's player three times last year for trips to west Texas when it was just me and Clara. That is one long drive with a little one in the backseat that you can't entertain. So it was definitely a lifesaver on those trips. Once she's older I really want to encourage coloring, reading or playing games on trips, but until then, this works wonders. After borrowing the thing three times, we felt it would be best to buy our own so that our friends didn't kick us to the curb for being moochers.

I've been renting Academy Award winning movies for best picture through netflix lately. So far I've seen Million Dollar Baby (cried my eyes out; didn't know it was a sad movie), Annie Hall, and Gone With the Wind. When The English Patient came a few days ago, I knew I'd be watching that one alone. (I've now seen all of them from 1994 to present. Got any recommendations for some older best picture winners?) I've told Chris numerous times to get online and pick some he'd like. Finally, after all of these that have come lately, he finally took the time to pick some he might enjoy. Especially once he saw that Terms of Endearment was the next movie in the queue.

Since I hadn't shaved my legs in, oh several weeks probably, I decided to watch The English Patient while taking a bubble bath. It was a lovely time indeed. After my bath, me and my smooth legs got snuggled into bed and we finished our movie, (or at least most of it). That's one long movie.

I mentioned several weeks ago that I brought the player into the bathroom for Clara when she was sick so that I could get showered. That was nice too. And it was a lifesaver at the oral surgeon's office the day Chris got his teeth pulled. I had brought it "just in case" and I'm glad I did since I ended up spending the entire time on the phone getting approved for credit twice. And when we went to recovery to be with Chris, it kept her occupied and not crawling all over her daddy who was trying to come out of sedation. I like the dvd player. It's like our second child.

Is it an essential piece of equipment for someone with small children? Of course not. Not much is in my opinion. But it sure is nice for those times you have a whiney, cranky kid that just won't sit still and you reallllly need to get something done without losing your mind. Too bad taking it to church would be in extremely bad taste, although I have seen 9 or 10 year old boys playing with their portable gaming systems during church. I just want to go rip 'em out of their hands and tell them they can have it after class, ya know what I mean? Hmmm, that was off topic.