What Goes Down Must Come Up

Puke-a-palooza continues. Today, Molly had to be picked up from school. Tomorrow I will be home with her. I have spent the evening cleaning the other two couch cushions (see previous entry) and yet another spot on the Oriental rug. My dad saved the day by leaving work early to rescue the school administrators who were hanging onto Molly and her pale, lethargic, toasty warm (not in a good way) body. I raced home from Dyersburg, frantically trying to decide how to handle the rest of the week with no daddy in town and sick kiddos and a full work schedule. Hmmmm.

Kids are all in bed now, after Rebecca sobbed upon realizing Big Sister wasn't sleeping in her bed with her tonight and Amelia practically gnawed her fist off in a teething fit after dinner and Molly passed out by 6:45.

The weekend cannot come soon enough!

Having a Baby Changes Everything

I was watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics (now I can finally get to sleep at a decent hour) with Molly. Since this is an historic event, I was bending the bedtime rules a wee bit. Amelia was sleeping in her crib, and Rebecca was already asleep on the couch. The Johnson & Johnson commercial came on with the slogan "having a baby change everything." Molly: "Is that true, Mommy?" I nodded. "What does that mean? How does it change everything?" Mom: "Well, there are things you used to do that you can't do anymore once you have a baby. But you don't mind so much, because you love your baby so much, that you'd do anything for her. And until you have a baby, you can't even imagine that much love." Molly smiled. "Oh."

Approximately 5 minutes later, Rebecca--while sleeping--puked all over the couch cushion and the very expensive, very hard to clean Oriental rug in our den. Having a baby changes everything...

Get On Your Feet!

Amelia started walking last week. Last Sat 8/9, she took a couple of steps. By Wednesday, she simply stood up from a sitting postion(without holding onto anything) and walked across the room to me. Molly and Rebecca were my witnesses. She spent the rest of the week walking everywhere, frustrated when she couldn't get all the way to her destination, and delighted to move between her big sisters.

You know, with your first kid, you're very excited when this happens. And I am excited for Amelia. However, I just promptly ordered safety gates and conversion kits (to attach them to the bannisters) and sighed, realizing my little Speed Racer is now off to the races...and I have to try to catch her.

I was kinda counting on a couple more months of crawling. After all, she's only 10 months old.

Amelia Meets the Sippy Cup

So this is a sippy cup? I like it!



Is this how you do it? No?



Oh, this is it!



Yay for me!

We love Nana and Pa!

They came all the way from Oregon. Nana took the girls shopping and to the movies and generally hung out with them while Peter and I worked. We ate too much food and did a little relaxin', too. Uncle John and Aunt Barbara were here from Oak Ridge and they went with Nana to see some final resting places of some long-gone relatives--we learned a bit more about the family tree from Uncle John! See y'all soon!

Week One, All Done!

School has begun! Molly started 1st grade and Rebecca started Pre-K. Molly loves her teacher, is reading happily and well and managed to negotiate the bus all week, with some help from Aunt Laurie and cousin Hallie. Rebecca returned to our favorite Montessori school. Many of last year's students returned and there are some new friends as well. Both of them LOVE school--we are so grateful for that, as we know it will carry them through a lifetime of learning.

Amelia at 10 Months

Cooling Off in Downtown Memphis

It's been pushing 100 degrees here (the heat index is well over that) for about two weeks. Time to chill out! On one of their last days off before school starts again, Molly and Rebecca went with me to Mud Island, down on the Mississippi River. There's a museum there about riverboats and stuff, but we were going to walk the River Walk and play in the fountain. No learning, just wetness. At the end, when the mission had been accomplished, I said to Rebecca, "I guess I should have put your swimsuits on for this adventure." She replied, "Actually, it was more fun to swim in our clothes!"

riding on the monorail over the river to the island


posing in front of the desoto bridge


before mommy announced it was okay to get clothes wet!


in the River Walk, with the real river as a backdrop


now the clothes are fully wet!


drippysplishysplashy


if that doesn't cool you off, what will?

Date Night

Last night, Peter and I had a date. It's still hard to fathom that our first one was over 17 years ago--Beale Street music fest 1991. The kids were having a blast with Granna and Papa, so we caught a late afternoon movie and had dinner. The movie wasn't great (Mamma Mia!--a little too much Abba, a little too much Pierce Brosnan "singing"), but it was nice to hang out without strollers or potty breaks. We browsed at a grocery store afterwards (look, what you like to do on a date evolves with time, okay?) then went to dinner at The Grove Grill. Always good to eat at a place without kids menus and high chairs. Turns out another Memphian likes the casual fine dining at The Grove--we shared a dining room with Morgan Freeman! Peter decided it would be fun to entertain me with his Morgan Freeman impersonation throughout the meal, even though I could hear the real thing two tables over. Nothing like Morgan in stereo surround sound. I fought the urge to rush him and beg for a picture together with my camera phone and an autograph on a Wendy's napkin in my purse. We--and everyone else in the restaurant--left him and his dining companions alone, giving them the peace that he must enjoy in a smaller city like Memphis. After dinner, we shopped briefly for clothes to finish out the tax-free weekend. Shopping for groceries and clothes are always harder with 3 kiddos in tow, so we were able to just casually walk the aisles and have grown-up talk. Maybe we need to plan these more often....