Snaggletooth

Yesterday, Molly woke up as usual. She was talking to me about her upcoming "winter party" at school, when I noticed a dark shadowy area in her mouth. The previously mentioned loose tooth was gone! We were all very excited about this, her very first lost tooth. I felt a little sad, because, well, it seems like she JUST got that tooth. Wasn't she 6 months old only last week?? Anyway, we thought perhaps she'd swallowed the tooth in the night (I've heard that this can happen), but I found it in her sheets. The Tooth Fairy visited last night. I was awakened this morning to a squeal of delight. She left Molly a dollar, a pack of sugarless strawberry gum, and a small Tinkerbell decorative pillow hanging on a ribbon, all of which Molly promptly zipped into her High School Musical purse from Aunt Jenny. I asked Molly what she thought the Tooth Fairy did with all those baby teeth. Without hesitation, she answered, "They are for her Tooth Castle. She builds the Tooth Castle with baby teeth. But not the furniture. That would be gross."

Sugar Plum Fairies & Scarlett O'Hara

Our most recent Christmas-themed adventure was the annual performance of the Nutcracker ballet. Again, a childhood memory for me--my very best friend from age 10 and up was Miss. Jessica, and she was a dancer with Memphis Concert Ballet, which is now called Ballet Memphis. Every year, she danced in the Nutcracker. I can remember the week when auditions were held--always a very anxious and tense week--and going to the final dress rehearsal to witness the culmination of all that work. I loved it every time. (To highlight how old we are, Jessica & her husband are expecting a baby in February, and I have three kids. Wow--we are so ancient.) Two years ago, I took Molly to the Nutcracker in Davenport, and she was mesmerized. So the tradition continues. She again loved it. Rebecca was great through the first half, but was pretty restless by Act II and had to be escorted out a few times. Frankly, I think she missed the best parts--I love those Arabian, Chinese and Russian dancers, and I especially like the Polichenelles (spelling?), chldren dressed as clowns who come runnning out from under a lady's big skirt and do cartwheels all over the stage. Before the show, the girls had "mini-manicures" at Sweet n Sassy salon, complete with glitter and a ring for each (see photos above). We went to dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse and got to eat at the table that is shaped like a bed. Aunt Meredith, my cousin Alyson and her daughter Hannah, all joined us for a "girl's night out." We all posed for a picture, except Rebecca, who spent most of the meal hiding under the table, pretending she was asleep.

In the same weekend, the girls were in a Christmas parade in the town of Lakeland (soon to be our home)! Rebecca's school friend Haley (whose mother went to high school with Peter and me) was turning 5, and her parents built an awesome Gone With the Wind-themed float. The kids dressed in period dresses, sang carols and tossed leftover Halloween candy to the crowd. Their float won third prize (and a trophy for the birthday girl!). Oddly, Rebecca fell fast asleep (are you sensing a theme here?) on the float, so her parade memory is of her dad and Sage's dad shoving her onto the float as it pulled out from the staging area, throwing the parasol and white gloves to her as they drove away. By the time it was over, she was awake and peppy as ever! Again, Santa was a highlight. Molly is just so excited that she's finally not scared of Santa, so every opportunity to see the Bearded One is greeted with urgency and delight.

Will the fun never end?! Let's hope so, so Rebecca can get some sleep.

Holiday Happenings

We've been busy little elves this Christmas season. The girls, Peter, Pa and Papa all saw the Zoo Lights on the Friday after Thanksgiving and it's been downhill (or uphill?) from there!

Although Santa was at the mall from the very first day of November (doesn't this get earlier every year?), we waited until after Thanksgiving to see him. We went on a weeknight, which was super-smart, since there was no line. The girls got to chat at length with the Big Guy. Molly asked for a Nutcracker, and Rebecca asked for "an Ariel doll with Sleeping Beauty's head."

Reliving a childhood event for Peter and me, we all went to the Enchanted Forest. When we were little, this was held downtown in the Goldsmith's department store. As we got a little older, it moved to the Agricenter, and I'm pretty sure it was somewhere else before that. Now it's held at the Pink Palace Museum. The Enchanted Forest is held in conjunction with the Festival of Trees, in which local companies sponsor a group or organization so they can decorate themed Christmas trees. The girls truly enjoyed this part, perhaps even more than the EF. The EF has the exact same little moving figures it did 30 years ago--beavers building stuff, foxes sledding, owls in trees, etc. It all sort of smells like cat pee and moth balls, but what says Christmas more than beavers on sleds who smell like an old lady's house? There's a fabulous train village at the end and, of course, Santa. Sage, who goes to school with Rebecca, came, too. She and her parents are recent Memphis imports, so perhaps this will start a tradition for them.

We went to our church's Breakfast with Santa, which may need to become a tradition. The teens did a short play about the real meaning of the season (Jesus, for all you heathens out there!), incorporating the Christian meanings of the secular decorations (wreath is a circle for everlasting life, etc.). Breakfast was served, and since there were cinnamon rolls involved, Molly and Rebecca were all about that part. They made gingerbread man crafts, bookmarks, and saw Mr. Claus yet again.


Next weekend, the girls are in a Christmas pageant. Amelia is the star, as she is Baby Jesus, breaking gender barriers at an early age. Molly is a song (the performance is set to the song "Do You Hear What I Hear?") and Rebecca is a little lamb. We will also get together with the Walsh side of the family for holiday cheer. Then on Christmas Eve, the McKee side, and on Christmas Day, the Marsh side. It sounds busy and crazy, but let me say one more time how THRILLED I am that we are not getting on any airplanes or making long car trips for Christmas this year. Or maybe even ever again! Perhaps this is the best new Christmas tradition of them all!

It's just magical to watch the girls react to all the Christmas wonder. It's wonderful for those of us who are fast becoming grissled adults to see again through a child's eyes, the joys of the seaason.

Chuck Hearts Huckabee

Those of you who know me well will realize that I am not endorsing this particular candidate, but I must give kudos to Mike Huckabee for the Chuck Norris Connection. Are you familiar with the enormous cult following of Chuck Norris, of Walker, Texas Ranger fame? There is a Web site of hilarious Chuck facts:

www.chucknorrisfacts.com

So Chuck endorsed Huck, and the campaign made a clever ad featuring the Governor and the Action Star. It's posted on YouTube. You need sound to enjoy it, but you will:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjQs6Bn3ZVM

A little light-hearted fun in an otherwise long and tedious process is always welcome!

Gobble, gobble!

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We gleefully celebrated the fact that we didn't have to travel and still got to be with family! We double-dipped on Turkey Day and spent the afternoon with the McKee & Whitaker families out in Somerville and the evening with the Marsh & Anderson families in Lakeland. We ate too much of everything, played a little football, pet a horse, played card games, enjoyed good conversation, and actually did a little relaxing, too. The McKees sang Happy Birthday to Molly and we shared a big ol' cookie cake (her request--with pink ballet shoes on it).

Amelia is still "a little high maintenance," as I like to say, but the crying episodes seem to be shorter--or maybe we're just learning to cope better with them. But she took all the overstimulation of the holiday in stride! She enjoyed meeting the shoulders of aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas and cousins. Nana bought her a swing for Christmas, insisting she might be happy enough in it to give us some non-crying time. And, in fact, she was right. Amelia loves it, even if it's just for a short time--20 minutes of a Baby At Peace is awesome! You will see a photo above of her, not crying, and sitting in the swing. Yippee!

Molly had her 6th birthday party on the Saturday after T-Day, at a pizza joint near our house. Eight kids came, ranging from 7 weeks (Amelia) to 6 years old. There were crafts and High School Musical songs, pizza, an ice cream cake & basketball cupcakes. I will post more pictures of that separately, but here's one of the "big girl" guests. We even had some long-distance guests: the Berthiaumes drove from Alabama and the Smiths drove up from Jackson, MS and, of course, Aunt Meredith lives in Thailand and she was there. How lucky are we! I just can't believe she's 6. She even has a loose tooth. But I will post about that later, when I can compose myself. I'm so dern emotional these days, I get teary just thinking about the Tooth Fairy....

Here are some photos from the week before (Amelia's little smile!) and the big weekend. Her brown dress was a gift from Aunt Julie & Uncle James in Chicago, and M & R have been trying to get me to put it on her from Day One. She is now big enough for 3-month clothes, just in time to show it off for Fall!

Colic (kah' lick)--from the Greek word for "pulling my hair out!"

As I write this post, my beautiful, cuddly, sweet little baby is screaming her lungs out for no apparent reason. She has been doing this for the last 2 hours, almost non-stop, except for very brief nursing times. She cries whether I hold her or not. She is clean and full, not hot or cold. I have given her three different types of tummy relaxing drops, one over-the-counter, one herbal and one prescription-strength. I have read The Happiest Baby on the Block and tried to channel that "calming reflex." I have changed my diet to attempt to isolate any potential foods that might be upsetting her. We hold her every which way except upside-down. She continues to cry.

I hate colic. I hate that I can't make my baby feel better. It seems like she is in pain, as she pulls her feet against her, clenches her fists, alternately cries rhythmically and then in screaming desperation. And yet I cannot help her. "Colic," I have learned, is more likely to happen to the children of teenage parents, to premature babies, to stressed-out moms--this all seems highly unfair, since these are the people who are already facing challenges; to add colic is just wrong! I am not a teenager, and Amelia was not a preemie, and I do not feel particularly stressed-out (except when she is colicky!). But colic strikes even the full-term babies and the 30-something, not stressed-out moms. So here we are.

Hateful really. This too shall pass...

Babar Day

The Dixon Gallery features a new exhibit with prints from the book Babar at the Museum. They are beautiful illustrations in which the artist (Laurent de Bruhnhoff, the son of the original author of the Babar the Elephant books) inserts elephants into classical and familiar works of art. The girls love Babar and his wife Celeste, so when I heard the museum was sponsoring "Babar Day" to introduce the exhibit, I knew we were SO THERE! They made elephant ears & construction-paper Babars, they walked in the cake-walk-style "elephant walk," they ate snacks, they colored Babar pages and they actually looked quite intently at the prints in the exhibit. We were somewhat thwarted in this last event by the mobs of people, so I promised we'd return to the museum on a less crowded day. Long Live King Babar!

Amelia: Week Four

Week Four brought First Smile and First Tears, as well as Halloween and a sweet new pair of shoes.

Halloween Happiness

Here they are, in all their glory. Rebecca was Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz. Molly fulfilled her every wish by becoming a "ballerina unicorn." (What made it a ballerina, you may ask. The pinkness, of course.) And our newest beauty was a pea-in-a-pod. We all made an appearance at Rebecca's school that morning for the party--the children walked in a parade for us, trick-or-treated with us and then sang us some seasonal songs in a circle. Papa and Aunt Meredith came along as well. That evening, we headed out to Uncle Matt's/Aunt Laurie's for some trick-or-treating in their neighborhood with our cousins. The weather was lovely, the houses festive and the candy plentiful. We are already discussing next year's costumes.

Belated Joyousness--RED SOX WIN!!

It's mid-November and I have been a Bad Blogger. Let's just say I've had my hands full. I am catching up. Here's Installment One--our young members of Red Sox Nation enjoyed the SWEEP this year! Take a look!

Clever, clever kid

Last Friday, I bought Molly a glittery pen as a "prize" for running so well in her school Fun Run (32 laps!). Yesterday, we were at the store in the check-out line, the same store where the pen was purchased. Molly told me she'd lost the glittery pen, "and I see some more of them over there. Can I get another one?" "No," I told her, "you already had your chance with that pen." A few moments passed in silence. Then Molly said, "Mommy, remember when we learned that word MERCY?" I started to laugh a little. "It means giving people second chances," she reminded me.

Pictures to Start Week 3 & GO SOX!

From top--the three sisters, up-close-and-personal with Amelia, and Nana, who came last week from Florida! More pictures on the Website. I dropped the camera on Saturday morning. Broke it. Had to get a new one on Sunday and haven't tried to upload from the new camera to the computer, so pictures taken since Sunday are not ready yet. All is well here. Weather is rainy and chilly--we definitely need both to jumpstart us into Fall. Can't have apple cider and carve pumpkins when it's 85 degrees!

Our Boston Red Sox are playing in the World Series! Last night's game was, well, great for us, and kind of sad for the Rockies. Final score was 13 to 1. Some blamed the long break that the Rockies had (8 days) from the NLCS to last night, saying they weren't in the groove of playing ball daily or nearly daily. Certainly, though, one must give the LUV to Josh Beckett, Sox pitcher extraordinaire, who pitched 7 innings and allowed only 1 run. I really don't enjoy a sweep like that--makes the game kind of ho-hum for the viewer, even when the outcome (a win) is what we want. Not to take away anything from the Fenway Boys--they are HOT!

The View from Here

Little Kickers '07

Molly has been playing soccer. It's a church league for 5- and 6-year-olds. The idea is to introduce the kids to the game--no score is kept and there's no tournament or anything. She has enjoyed her season and even scored a goal last Saturday! She particularly likes to throw the ball back into play after it has gone out-of-bounds. We have two more games, then the long-awaited pizza party and trophy presentation!

Rantings from the Mom of a Newborn

Very exciting and important things are happening in the world, I am sure of this. However, I do not know about most of them, because I am busy sleeping at weird hours of the day and night (mostly day), making myself available for frequent feedings, going through enormous amounts of environmentally-unfriendly diapers (not for me, but for Amelia), going to parent-teacher conferences, carpooling to Daisy Girl Scouts, examining a 3-year-old's bruised butt from a tumble over the chair, and eating whatever and whenever it's feasible. Don't misunderstand me--I LOVE this stuff, it's just amazing how out of touch one becomes in a short period of time.

Amelia is 2 weeks old today. Her umbilical cord stump fell off yesterday and she slept for nearly 4 hours at a stretch last night! We have had lots of help this week from Nana, who is visiting from Florida. With one baby, people need help with the baby. With all subsequent kids, people need help with the older kids! Somehow Nana (and Granna, Papa and Aunt Mer before that) manages to help with ALL the kids. You guys are truly lifesavers!

Our beloved Red Sox are now behind in the series, with the Indians leading 2 games to 1. We watch faithfully, even through crying and nursing and bruised butts. So I guess we're not totally out of the loop. After all, baseball is more important than anything else, right? Right.

Amelia Marsh, SuperStar

Here are some more pictures of Amelia's arrival. These are courtesy of proud Papa, photographer extraordinaire. Some of my own pictures are also on the family Website (see link on the right side of this page), chronicling the first 9 days of Amelia's life with us! Enjoy!

Take Time to Stop and Smell the...Milk

Like many of you, I have a tendency to overextend myself--and by default, my entire family. We are not slow movers. We like to have plans and go places and take pictures of us going places and keep up the pace. (I am, quite possibly, speaking out of turn--I like all that, but they sometimes don't!) Relaxation is not something I do well, even with effort.

One thing a new baby will do is slow you down. Things take longer, require more fore-thought (is that a word?), and flexibility is key to maintaining any level of sanity. So far, our Amelia is a laid back, sweet kind of kid. But when she is hungry, the world stops on its axis. And my world does, too. Frankly, I kinda like this aspect of parenting this time around. When Amelia squeals (and this is an apt word to describe her insistence), I slow down. I sit down and nurse her with pleasure and relaxation. The dishes will wait. The kids can hang on one more second for me to find that marker. The phone will ring. For those 20-30 minutes, Amelia and I can stare at each other and touch fingers. I can stroke her hair and tickle her toes. It's really quite wonderful--somehow I missed how great this is with the first two. I found myself nursing with the baby cradled in one arm while walking around picking up toys and laundry with the other arm. Not this time. I am taking the time to enjoy the smell of Amelia's hair and the sounds of her tiny hiccups. Because, as we all know too well, they just grow up too darn fast.

Welcome Amelia Reed Marsh!

A very short time after my last blogging post, my water broke! Our beautiful daughter Amelia Reed Marsh was born at 7:45 p.m. on October 2! A full three weeks ahead of schedule, she debuted at 7 lbs, 10 oz, with a head full of red hair and lovely blue eyes. Her sisters, Molly & Rebecca, are thrilled with her, and she already has many adoring fans. We thank you ALL for kind words and emails (my dad sent out an email earlier in the week, but we just got home today, so our electronic messaging is just hitting the 'net waves), calls and visits. Amelia completes our family perfectly. I am putting the Birth Story (not graphic) on the Website, so check that out, as well as LOTS of photos to come. Here are a few teaser pictures. Welcome to the world, Amelia!

Make a Difference TODAY

As you know, the military junta in Burma has begun its crackdown on the peaceful protesters, most of whom are Buddhist monks. Dozens have been killed or injured and hundreds have been arrested. The eyes of the world are on Burma, yet the violence continues. They have tried to block accurate information from escaping the country, so we outsiders won't see what's really happening. But surreptitious bloggers using cell phone cameras, email, Google and the like are making sure information is leaking out. Meredith has regular information coming into her email from friends and friends-of-friends, folks with whom she had contact before the violence began, that is helping paint a picture of the atrocities that are going on.

All this to say--I have another small way you can help. Other than fervent prayer, which is, of course, vital, please consider signing this online petition. One way we can make a dent is to remove all economic support from the organized "government" in Burma. President Bush has taken a step in this direction by strengthening US sanctions against them and speaking out at the UN assembly. China is starting to be more forceful in their condemnations. But one US-based company remains active in Burma. So let's encourage them to get out, too. Go to www.petitiononline.com/urgeChev/petition.html to read the petition against Chevron. It's easy to sign, you choose whether to make your email public or private and you don't even have to get on the mailing list for the organization that is circulating it (which has offices in Chaing Mai, Thailand, and is operated by a friend of Meredith's). So there are no strings attached, just your name and city, and a feeling that maybe you're helping even in a tiny way, to bring an end to this conflict.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

Time Out for Serious World Events

In Burma (also called Myanmar), thousands have taken to the streets in what is so far a peaceful mass protest against the ruling military junta. Buddhist monks have joined the marchers, holding signs about peace and kindness. The last time there were widespread protests like these was 1988, when the military opened fire on the peacemakers, killing and injuring hundreds and starting a massive, bloody exile that continues today. These are the folks with whom my sister Meredith works on the Thai-Burmese border (she is here in Memphis right now on a fall sabbatical).

The world is watching with baited breath, hoping against all hope that the Burmese military will show restraint. Rumor has it that they plan a significant crackdown on the borders which will be followed by violence. Please pray that the tide will not turn in that direction.

President Bush is expected to announce US sanctions against Burma in his UN speech tomorrow. Laura Bush has actually long been tied to this cause and is trying to get the word out about the situation there. Finally we have some official administrative acknowledgment of the abuses going on in Burma (see my earlier post on this topic from May 2007). Maybe something can be done to begin to address this issue. I am hopeful, since so many world leaders are gathered together at the UN now--perhaps there are more listening ears!

Right now, pay attention, get educated and let your leaders know how much it means to speak out in favor of the peacemakers and against the military junta. Pray for the marchers, for their safety and that their message may be heard. May peace prevail.

Setting the Trends

I would just like to point out that I am SO far ahead of the curve in terms of what is "in." Okay, this refers to some things and not others. I do not claim to have any idea who the Grammy-nominated singers are, nor have I seen most of the shows honored at the Emmys. However, when it comes to home decor and, yes, BLOGGING, I am clearly setting trends.

For example, when Rebecca was turning one, I planned a ladybug-themed party. Granted it was February (and not ladybug season), but I had the hardest time finding decorations. Within a year, you just couldn't go anywhere without seeing ladybug party stuff. Nana/Bev is my witness on this one. Another example: last year, I made a Christmas wreath for my mother with a red-and-white candy theme (you know peppermint drops and candy canes and gumdrops and the like). Looked all over the place for stuff to fill up the wreath. I did find stuff, but it didn't quite fulfill my vision. This year, after a recent trip to Garden Ridge (quite possibly the coolest home decor place on earth), I learned that red-and-white Christmas candy is SO in this year.

Finally, I read an article in Memphis Parent magazine about mommy bloggers (specifically the ones in this city). We're everywhere! And how cool do I feel to be one of them? My cousin's wife Cathy even had her mommy blog listed in the "Memphis Mommy Bloggers You Will Love" category. How I didn't make THAT cut I do not know. I will have to chalk it up to the fact that I am a recent import and haven't made my mark yet. But I will. Look out, Memphis, the Trend Setter has arrived!

Summer Slide Show Part II--The Finale

Bigger than the Beatles

There's a 14-year-old phenom called Hannah Montana (real name: Mylie Cyrus) who has captured the hearts and pop-star-obsessed minds of girls everywhere. She has a show on the Disney Channel and several CDs. She's pretty wholesome, being a Disney creation and all. Her angle is that she is a "regular kid" who goes to public high school as Mylie and has a secret identity as a rock star called Hannah. Her father (played by her real-life father Billy Ray Cyrus of "Achy Breaky Heart" fame), her brother and two friends know the truth, but she relishes in being able to live a normal life in addition to her famous one. She sings sugary-sweet songs, pop at its finest, the kind that grown-ups can't seem to get out of their heads.

Hannah Montana is on tour as we speak. And she is coming to Memphis on November 29, to the FedEx Forum no less. A huge venue, where our NBA team plays. And this little 14-year-old kid SOLD OUT the concert in no less than 8 minutes. All the local radio stations and TV stations are featuring outraged parents, who assume (probably correctly) that the tickets intentionally went to professional scalpers who are already advertising Hannah tickets for $800 or more. The insidious part is that the same outraged parents will probably fork over that kind of dough to ensure that little Muffy gets to see Hannah not-so-up-close-and-personal. If there weren't some stupid parents, the scalpers couldn't make any money.

Fortunately, I did not tell Molly and Rebecca that Hannah Montana was coming, so they are none the wiser. I am certain this blissful ignorance is short-lived. Some kid at one of their schools will, in fact, have a parent willing to sell their next-born child for tickets to the concert and the kid will brag about it at school. These things start as early as preschool, I have learned, so I cannot hide this sad information forever. There is a rumor that, since promoters have not officially declared HM a sell-out, they may open the arena further, making available some partially-obstructed view seats and the like. We'll see...

You think they'll be just as happy to see "Madeline's Christmas" at a community theater in December?

Fresh-Squeezed (well, almost!)

I'm not sure where the idea came from, but for a couple of months, the girls had been asking to have a lemonade stand. Moving and cooler weather prevented this undertaking before we left Iowa. When we first got to Memphis, it just never seemed to be the right time. I promised them that we could do this once we got into the apartment--and I added that we'd probably get more customers there since there is a steady stream of residents. They held me to that promise one very hot August Saturday (we figured it was only 98 degrees that day, practically Antarctic weather compared to the 105-110 we'd been blessed with in preceding weeks). They helped stir the lemonade and put the lemon slices in the cups with me. We took ice separately, so when we had buyers, their lemonade was ice cold but not yet watered down--and each cup had a fresh lemon slice as well. We had 8 customers in an hour, lots of "awwww"s and grins, and many compliments on the taste of the lemonade itself. Gotta love the CountryTime folks!

The stand came from Linens & Things (thanks, Granna!). I know in the old days, kids made their own out of refrigerator boxes or card tables, but who has time for that!? The girls DID color this one, though, making it semi-homemade. Good enough!

taste-testing

Who can resist buying lemonade from this kid!?