The Parsonage Family

Life on the Go

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:21:00 +0000

Life has been insanely busy lately, which explains why my first post in over a week is to share a few cell phone pics while pumping at work. Our weeks (Monday through Thursday) have been simply insane ever since I went back to work about six weeks ago. I'm glad to be a working mom, but we've just been run ragged. I will upload pics from my nice camera soon, but these few I had on my cell from the past few weeks offer a glimpse into our day-to-day life right now.

MONDAY
The start of another week. I wake by 5:30, get showered, give Claire a dream feed, and go downstairs to get things ready for the day. I love that early morning time, especially if we remembered to set the coffee pot the night before! Once the kids are awake, it's off to the races, and we all get out the door by around 7:40. I've been thinking that since workplaces are so casual these days, "Casual Friday" really has no meaning any more, and we should implement "Dressy Monday" instead. I often dress up a little more on Mondays—partly because it's easy just to wear whatever I wore to church on Sunday, and partly it helps get me back in the professional mindset for my work week.

I saw a blog post from Kem Meyer, communications director at Granger Community Church, asking people how they would depict their work in one visual. I immediately drew this:

My work, both when I edited books and now editing Ministry Matters and Circuit Rider, is all about making information and ideas more accessible to church leaders for use in their ministry. The arrows on the left, heading into the funnel, symbolize making authors' writing clear and well-organized and aggregating the work of many writers. The work is then distributed in print and/or online to reach many church leaders and advance the work of the church.

TUESDAY
Matt has been taking a pastoral care class on Tuesday nights this year, so every Tuesday afternoon, we "trade off" the kids at my office so that he can get on to his class and I can take them home. Usually I meet them in the parking lot, but sometimes Kate wants to come in to my office to color with my highlighters, eat my leftover lunch, spin around in my chair, and watch Abby Elmo on my computer. With all but that last activity, I can manage to get a little more work done before heading home with my girls.

Plus, I love having a growing collection of Kate-art on my wall.

WEDNESDAY

Just kidding. Not Chicken McNuggets. Amazingly, all our running around does not typically result in junk-foody meals. These are actually pictures Kate took with my camera of her play McDonald's food our dear church secretary gave her. Wednesday night is church night, and I meet Matt and the girls at church for dinner, a book study, and choir.

THURSDAY
Kate has gymnastics on Thursday evenings. She still gets anxious during the opening warm up, but gets really into it by the time they break into groups for various activities. My action pics never turn out that good, but here's Kate sitting patiently on the mat until it was her turn to do the balance beam again. She's done so great with the rings and uneven parallel bars—she loves hanging and flipping. I can't wait until the Olympics this summer. She will love watching the gymnastics on TV!

Matt and I love going to "'nastics" too and watching Kate play. (Matt is sad when he has a Thursday night meeting and has to miss it.) It's another "busy" thing, but definitely one of our favorites.

By the weekend, we are more than ready to chillax and have fun. Speaking of fun, I have to share this cool knit hat I saw in Parents magazine. Kate would look just like Matt if she wore that!

I'm sooo glad it's Friday again. Time to relax.

(Actually, this pic Kate took of me toward the beginning of maternity leave, back when I actually was relaxed most of the time!)

It's a very busy season of life, but it will be over soon enough and I don't want to wish away a moment of my girls being small. They'll still be small this summer, right? :0)

My Downton Abbey Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:34:00 +0000

Anyone here a fan of Downton Abbey? It's fabulous. I hate that Matt and I keep falling for these period dramas that are so expensive to produce that they have short seasons and long gaps! (Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, now this. . .)

This prayer slipped from my lips this morning, and inadvertently sounded just like Carson the Butler. Not a bad prayer, eh?

11 Questions Tag-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:56:00 +0000

Have I mentioned I love questionnaires, polls, and surveys of all kinds? Since this is the second bloggy-linkup-Q&A sort of thing I've done in a week's time (the first being that Valentine's Love Story one), it should be obvious. This one comes from Leslie at A Blonde Ambition. (Leslie, by the way, is one of the folks who met their significant other/now spouse through the "Show Us Your Singles" linkups on Kelly's Korner. I think all those couples and Kelly should appear on the Today show.)

The Rules

~you must post the rules

~post 11 fun facts about yourself

~answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you; then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged

~tag 11 people and link them in your post

~let them know you have tagged them

My 11 Fun Facts

My favorite TV shows right now are Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, and Downton Abbey. Two of these aren't even on right now, so I really don't watch much TV! (I'm still obsessed with Friends, though, even though it has been off the air for 8 years. Matt and I quote it at least once a day, usually more.)
Since having kids, my hair has been in a perma-ponytail. I just feel so much more polished when it is pulled back from my face. I feel self-conscious when it is down. I still wear it down sometimes, but only because I feel like I should (i.e. my mom thinks I should).
In that same vein of mom-style, I don't wear heels near as much as I did before kids. I wore 3.5-inch black patent peep-toe pumps throughout my whole pregnancy with Kate, but now, I'm really glad ballet flats and flat-soled boots are in style right now. I still like heels, but I've found I need to put them on and take them off at the door, because they're just not conducive to crouching down to put Kate's shoes on, picking up toys off the floor, etc. Walking upright in the office is fine :0)
And, since this is kind of a stream of consciousness thing, and I just mentioned "walking upright," I'll mention that Tarzan is our new family movie. I got it because our only other full-length kids movie was Sleeping Beauty and I want to keep the whole "princess" culture balanced out. I like Tarzan mainly because of the Phil Collins songs in it, and didn't realize how sad and violent parts of it are! There's a body count of at least five, and the poor monkey mama loses her baby, which just kills me!
I edit MinistryMatters.com and Circuit Rider magazine. I used to edit books as well. I enjoy all of it, but I tend to enjoy planning and editing more short-form articles more.
I LOVE being pregnant. (I'm not pregnant right now, just to clarify, but I love it when I am.) Only my belly expands, so I feel really good about my body, and the tiredness and vomiting don't dampen my enjoyment overall. I would consider being a professional surrogate if it weren't for the giving up wine for nine months!
Speaking of which, I love wine. I enjoy chocolate, cupcakes, and M&Ms, but I would be willing to give sweets up forever if I could have wine and cheese for every meal.
I love shopping for my girls' clothes on eBay. I mainly search for Gymboree, "monogram K," and "monogram C," and sort by size and lowest price, including shipping. I limit myself to buying just one size higher than what they currently wear; otherwise I'd be stuffing Kate's closet with stuff she won't wear until first grade and spending way too much!
I love that Matt's nickname for my working mom persona is Power-Chick. And that his song for me is Billy Joel's "She's Always a Woman." It kills me because the basic premise of the song is that she's a crazy b*tch but he loves her anyway!
I put things on lists just so I can cross them off, and write things in my planner after they happen, just so I can have a record. I keep notes about future things to remember written in the back of my planner so I can put them on next year's planner and so on until it's actually that year. Next July's dentist appointment, gift ideas for next Christmas, the approximate date we should start trying for Baby #3... and so on.
I love the fact that when I asked Matt "what's a fun fact about me?" he named three things that I would never, ever share with the world wide web! That's intimacy right there.

Leslie's 11 Questions

If you could raid any celebrity's closet, who would it be and why? I really have no idea, but I'm going to say Jennifer Aniston. She seems stylish and down-to-earth.
If you were a shoe, what would you look like? I'd be a black peep-toe slingback pump. Classic and ready to take on the world. A Power-Chick shoe.
What is your biggest pet peeve? People saying "expresso" and other misspellings and mispronunciations. And stickers and tags; they gross me out.
Favorite song of all-time? I don't know about for all-time, but maybe "100 Years" by Five for Fighting?
Are you a dog person or a cat person? And why? I've had both, and love both. I like the self-sufficiency of a cat, but once all our kids are potty-trained, we'll probably get a dog, because they're just so fun.
You're queen for a day. How do you spend your royal 24 hours? I would hop on my royal private jet and fly to Rome or Munich or Budapest and just hang out, strolling the streets and sipping coffee at a sidewalk cafe.
What's the most delicious thing you've ever eaten? A market-price steak at a French restaurant my high school sweetheart took me to a couple months after we'd broken up. (It was an amazing piece of beef, but I always wonder if it was just the sweet taste of revenge. Long story. Kind of a "Hit 'Em Up Style" sort of thing.)
What scares you the most? (This can be deep and complex or shallow...whateva you feel like!) On the shallow end, snakes. On the deep end, losing a child.
Which celebrity do you wish would drift off into obscurity? The Kardashians. Why are they famous, anyway?
You're 16 years old again. What advice would you give your younger self? Don't let boys get you so stressed out. You are valuable on your own, and when it's meant to work out, it will.
What's your Starbucks order? Grande, nonfat toffee nut latte.

I'm tagging Rachel, Nancy, Kristen, Kim, Jenni, Katie, Liz, Tearza,and Jessie.

Here are your 11 questions. Go!

Where would you go if you had an all-expenses paid trip somewhere?
What do you remember about kindergarten?
Where did you and your spouse go on your first date?
It's 10:30 pm on a weeknight. What are you doing?
What did your senior prom dress look like?
If you could instantly be fluent in one language, what would it be?
What is the proudest moment of your life?
Are there any words people say you pronounce funny?
What do people need to know about you to "really" know you?
What was your favorite class in college?
You're craving something salty. What do you grab?

(Given that a couple of the people I tagged are pregnant, they are probably off to grab something salty now. :0)

theparsonagefamily.com

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:59:00 +0000

... no longer belongs to a certain Mr. and Mrs. Parsonage who live in California! Hooray!

I looked into getting my own domain a couple years ago, but an actual family with the last name "Parsonage" owned theparsonagefamily.com (though they weren't even using it), and rather than decide on an option like .net or parsonagefam or something, I just went on with my life and didn't worry about it.

But after spending a good five minutes on Sunday telling someone "matt-and-jess-no, not an ampersand-kelley-with-an-EY-dot-blog-spot..." I thought maybe it was time to look into an easier URL. And lo and behold, the Parsonages have given it up. Actually, they might be the same Parsonages who own the Parsonage Family Winery (no, despite the stock in my pantry, that is not us) who are now found at www.parsonagewines.com.

Technically, we don't live in a parsonage anymore, but hey, Vanderbilt Wife's husband isn't at Vanderbilt anymore either. So, all that said, you can now find the homeowning Rev. and Mrs. Kelley-with-an-EY with the adorable kids at (drumroll please)...

www.theparsonagefamily.com!

Tell your friends. And thanks for reading. :0)

P.S. It's still hosted through Blogger and everything, so you don't need to reset your Reader or anything. Thanks!

Hiding

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:40:00 +0000

One of Kate's "things" lately is hiding from the camera. She thinks it's hilarious. She can pose wonderfully for the camera when she wants to, but of course this falls into the category of "do the opposite of whatever my parents want at this moment."

The reason I was trying to take a pic period here is that Kate and Claire were dressed kinda matchy-matchy—at Kate's request, of course! Kate's red and white striped jumper (with apple buttons) is from over a year ago (which is why she has to wear leggings under it now!) and Claire's romper just happens to have red and white stripes too (and some big red flowers), so Kate likes for them to wear them on the same day.

As you see in this pic Kate didn't run away from (but didn't pose for either).

Sometimes, she likes to shout, "Take my picture!" and then as soon as the camera is up to my face, she laughs and runs away.

"What the heck is my sister doing?" -Claire

We had been taking a little walk in the rain, so I thought both girls looked so cute in their hoods and tried to take a pic in the garage before going back inside. Instead, we got this, over and over (and over) again.

Fine, then. Claire is a captive (and super-cute) subject. Smile, Clairy-Beary!

And HA! I'm still putting your pictures on the blog anyway!

Crafts and Crafts

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:23:00 +0000

In high school, I went on a choir tour every summer with my awesome church choir, Revelations. One year, two crazy girls who were best friends brought a bunch of construction paper, scissors, pipe cleaners, etc. to entertain themselves on the bus, making silly things and hanging them above their seats.

They told everyone, "It's crafts and crafts. No arts, just crafts."

I had a big postpartum nesting impulse last Friday (is that a thing?) and went on a little spree at Michael's.

Project 1: A set of four wall frames to display together in a grid. I found the cheapest frames I could (black) and painted them gold. I also got a couple plain wood frames in the dollar bin to save for future projects, but since Kate wants to do whatever I'm doing, I let her paint them. She made one for her room (which holds a 4x6 of her and her friend Becca), and one for my office (with a pic of Kate and I in it).

Project 2: Catch up on scrapbooking. Saturday afternoon, Matt took Kate with him to a meeting and out for a Daddy-Daughter Date so that I could have some crafty time. I did my annual page for housing all the photo cards we received over the holidays. It looks a little vintage-y, I think, and has the headline, "Sending You Holiday Love."

I also did the spread for Claire's baptism, and got started on Kate's birthday pages.

Matt and Kate returned home while I was still working, and of course Kate was interested in what I was doing. I handed her some extra pics and stickers and let her go to town. I put it in the scrapbook, since it's Kate's first scrapbooking page!

Project 3: Felt hairbows. Easy, cute, and wintery. I pinned this tutorial a couple weeks ago and practiced with the felt I had on hand, but since Claire doesn't really have any hunter green or tan clothes, I had to get a better color before attaching one to a headband. It's a no-sew thing, just felt, scissors, and a glue gun. I glued a triad of pearls to the center of the bow, but one came off even before church on Sunday, and the other two came off once we got home. (Only two have been found.) Claire looked so cute wearing this with her red valentine dress. I'll get a pic when she wears it again on Tuesday!

Project 4: Mantle art. The wall above our mantle has been blank since we moved in last May; I had been planning to wait until Claire was born and get a good family pic on a canvas, but none of the ones from the newborn/family shoot really suited me (better to have one when Claire is big enough to look at the camera and show some personality), plus it needs to be vertical because of the paneling. Maybe a pic this spring will work.

Anyway, I decided to get a canvas and do something crafty to fill that space for now. I used scrapbook papers in the color scheme of the living room and repainted a big K that was hidden away on a bookcase. Just a papercutter, ModPodge, and a vision produced a decent work of art!

I wrote significant dates for our family into the collage.

The quilty-look is a little folksy for my taste, but it'll do for now! Here's our whole mantle, including the Valentine heart garland I made a few years ago.

Hope you can enjoy some crafty time this weekend—or whatever activity relaxes you and brings you joy!

Our Love Story Linkup

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:43:00 +0000

I'm notoriously into celebrating holidays small and large. And, I love responding to questionnaires! So I jumped at the idea of this linkup on From Mrs. to Mama's blog.

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

8 1/2 years. Wow. That's getting frighteningly close to the 10-year/one-third of our lives mark. Eek!

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

We met Aug. 24, 2003--the day I moved to Nashville. Our orientation at Vanderbilt Divinity School began with a salad supper in the Refectory, which included some welcome talks from the deans and some get-to-know-you games. We met during a game of People Bingo. Matt approached me and we introduced ourselves. I could tell he was interested in me, so I decided to be coy when he offered to sign my bingo sheet. "I've already got five in a row," I said. "I don't need you!"

That was a Sunday night. We chatted at various gatherings that week, and at a party on Friday night, he asked if I wanted to "hang out" Saturday night. I assumed "hang out" meant pizza and movie at his apartment, but when he called to finalize the time, he said he was taking me to dinner at the Opryland Hotel. That was a "date-date," and it was a really great first date. It was while sitting on a bench in one of the hotel's conservatories that we discovered how much we had in common and really connected.

We spent tons of time together over the next six weeks or so, which then got overwhelming. We "took a break" from mid-October 2003 until March 2004, during which time I casually dated someone else and Matt and I became best friends. Our more-than-friends-ness became the elephant in the room by February, and the day I told Matt I'd broken up with the other guy and asked him to be my date for the upcoming Divinity School Gala was the beginning of the rest of our lives, since we knew that getting back together was "for good."

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}
We got engaged in November 2005 and married October 14, 2006. So that's almost 5 1/2 years now!

4. If you are married, where did you get married? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

Our wedding was in Louisville at St. Paul UMC, with a dinner-and-dancing reception at the Brown Hotel. It was pretty big, and just fabulous!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Nothing in particular. Baby. Sweetie. Dear. We try to be intentional sometimes about calling each other by our names. It feels more intimate than nicknames sometimes, don't you think?

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He's selfless, patient, and and loves me in spite of my flaws. (That's all one, that goes under the heading of "great husband!")
He is such a great father. He would do absolutely anything for his girls, takes Kate on special "daddy-daughter dates," and is very intentional in his words and actions with her.
He's a great pastor. Yes, I often wish he had a "normal job" (i.e. 9-to-5 with weekends free!) but I also really admire his work in ministry, the way he cares for people and helps people grow closer to God. It is not a job for the faint of heart!

Super-Daddy!

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

Matt hid the ring inside a matryoshka—a Russian nesting doll—since I love all things Russian. He brought it to my apartment as a "housewarming gift," since I was about to move into the duplex that we had picked out together to be our first home when we got married (so obviously, I knew a proposal was coming sometime!) As I oohed and ahhed over the gift and opened the doll's layers, revealing the story of the Ugly Duckling (a personal favorite and somewhat of an inside joke!) it suddenly dawned on me this might be his proposal. When I got down to the smallest doll that could still fit a ring inside, I tried to discreetly shake it to see if there was anything inside. I didn't hear anything, so I thought "ok, no, this isn't it." I opened it to see a princess-cut diamond ring nestled in tissue paper to keep it from rattling, since he knew I would shake it—just like he knew I would poke around his apartment for a ring and therefore hid it at his friend's place!

V-day 2011 in the Clarksville parsonage

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
Sometimes he has brought flowers home, and he makes sure we have wine in the house, but we usually just mutually decide to go out for dinner or to cook Italian food (our favorite) at home. When we go all out, our Italian feasts include caprese (tomatoes and mozzarella cheese), bread with dipping oil, pasta, and wine. Heavenly!

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?
We're not huge beach people, though I do enjoy a nice dinner anywhere. We definitely enjoy curling up to watch movies or TV shows we missed.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
We dream of living abroad for a while, even if it's just a month or two. We want to experience another culture as residents as opposed to tourists, renting an apartment and going grocery shopping, etc. We think it would be great for our kids to experience another culture in that way as well. (And that is actually probably a less stressful way to take kids abroad than dealing with hotels and restaurants all the time!)

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.
We're going out this Friday night—avoid the Feb. 14th rush! (Plus, weeknights are always busy for us anyway!)

Me on our V-day date, pre-kids (2008)

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?
No, we don't do gifts for V-day or anniversaries. Just cards sometimes. Last year, I asked him to write me a love note. After balking at my romanticism at first, he ended up writing notes to me, to Kate, and to "Baby Kelley #2," who we didn't even know for sure existed yet!—Valentine's fell during the few weeks between "trying" and taking the pregnancy test. Sure enough, Claire was in there, so now we have a sweet note for the baby book, showing how we loved her even before we knew her!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
Just sit and talk. In that precious hour or two between getting the kids to bed and hitting the hay myself (since I can't stay up with Rev. Night-Owl) we too often sit glued to our respective laptops, only interacting to share something funny or interesting we're reading. If we do try to do something together, we generally fall back on the evening entertainment from our pre-parenthood days, "should we watch a movie or play a game?" It really brings us together to just sit on the couch with no screens on and TALK!

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Family cuddle!!!

This whole exercise (rather, the attempt to illustrate it) has shown me just how hard it is a) to find photos of oneself from the pre-digital camera days, and b) to find photos of Matt and I together without kids from the days since becoming parents. Note to self: need to take more "couple" pics!

Happy Valentine's Day, all!

When She Grows Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Kate isn't yet able to tell us things she wants to "be" when she grows up—a doctor, an artist, a yellow fire truck. (I've heard some doozies from kids over the years!) But Kate is starting to use the phrase, "when I get grown up..." not in the context of a career, but as in:

"I don't like coffee. When I get grown up, I will like coffee."
and
"I don't have an office. When I get grown up, I will have an office."

Last night, I took the girls to the library after school/work while Matt was at his class. After checking out some books for Kate, we noticed that a hip hop dance workshop was starting. Sounded like fun, so we stuck around. The woman talked about the history and philosophy of hip hop for about 20 minutes, and then we all learned a dance and did some freestyling! (Hard to imagine, isn't it?)

The song we did the dance to had the lyrics, "I can be anything . . . you can be anything . . . boys and girls can be anything." I liked that affirmation a lot, and as we got in the car, I told Kate how much I liked it, "because you can be anything!"

She thought for a second, and then said:
"I'm going to be naughty!"

3 months and 3 years

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:32:00 +0000

Both my girls are THREE! One's measured in months, the other in years, but either way, we've got some milestones to report!

Here's one fun "first"—first time in matching outfits!

Claire turned 3 months on Feb. 1. She weighs around 10-10.5 pounds, I estimate (no doctor appt this month), still my petite little girl. People comment in public how little she seems, guessing that she's younger than she is. She just moved up to a size 1 diaper this week and is starting to wear 3 month clothes. She still wants to nurse every 2 hours or so when she's with me, and is eating four bottles of almost five ounces each during the school day. She holds her head up wonderfully, is cooing so sweetly, and is close to rolling over! She did roll over from back to front once on accident, and when she woke up this morning, was practically turned over and quite upset about it!

She's sleeping through the night! She had a little relapse this past weekend, I believe the consequence of my bragging on her Friday night, but right at three months at least, she was sleeping through the night! :0) She sleeps from around 9pm to 5am, give or take a half hour, wearing her SwaddleMe blanket (with her arms free) and her Sleep Sheep playing whale sounds as she drifts off. I rock and nurse her to sleep, which is something I'm theoretically opposed to, on the grounds that babies should be put down awake or else they won't learn to fall asleep on their own—but she sleeps for eight hours, and it works for her, so I'm good. We give her a paci, but she doesn't really care about it much, preferring her hands, or better yet, a nipple.

Zantac and gas drops have helped her reflux some. She still spits up a lot, and prefers to be nursing or in the sling to any other position. She doesn't like the swing (it's the Graco Soothing Center, but she didn't get the memo that it is supposed to soothe her!) but will sit in her bouncer or on her play mat for a while on her own. She has a sweet disposition, smiling and cooing at us, and we love her so much!

Kate turned three years old on Jan. 28. She's a wild and crazy girl, very active, very strong-willed. She is perfectly average in height and weight, and true-to-size. Her hair lost its natural ringlets in the last six months (bummer!) but is still so long and pretty. She's had several haircuts, and chooses a bow or ponytail every morning. She also picks her own outfits and, fortunately, we rarely butt heads about it! (That is, she's generally open to guidance about what top and tights go with her chosen jumper, etc.)

She says and does the funniest things, and we have so much fun together. She's old enough to talk about things and make plans together. She's also maddening in her insistence on her own way and her meltdowns when she doesn't get it. She's been especially mercurial since Claire's birth. She loves her sister so much, hugging and kissing her all the time, but definitely shows signs of jealousy when we pay too much attention to Claire. Kate is potty trained during the day, wearing a pull up at night, but—ahem—knows how to get our attention away from Claire and back onto her when necessary. It's very frustrating. But she's been doing very well lately. (The cat, on the other hand, has started pooping in the dining room. What the heck?!)

Kate's favorite toys are baby dolls, pretend food, and puzzles. I love that she's getting to the age where we can play games, like the Memory game she got for her birthday, and I love doing several puzzles with her before bedtime. She hates going to bed, and spends much of bedtime standing on her head (to keep us from taking off/putting on shirts) and jumping off the bed. Kate is the life of the party with people she knows well, but clams up and takes a while to open up with new people and in new situations. Her daddy and I can definitely understand that!

One of those "new situations" is gymnastics class. She's been three times now, and shows some anxiety for the first part of class, finally loosening up for the latter part. She loves all the equipment at the gym, and loves watching the big girls do their fancy tumbling, both at the end of the class that meets before hers and on YouTube. She also likes to watch herself in the one video we've taken at gymnastics. I'll take my nice camera for some good shots soon! In the meantime, here's Kate on the zip-line!

The Preparty

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:36:00 +0000

Kate loves being three. She announces several times a day, "I'm three now!" She has also said the following:

"Five more weeks and I'll be eight."
and
"Three more eights and I'll be R."

Guess we need to work on her math skills. And on the difference between numbers and letters.

Anyway, plenty of time for that. Just wanted to share real quick the little pre-party birthday celebration we had over breakfast on Saturday. So that the number of gifts wouldn't get out of hand at her party—and so she could enjoy her big gift some during the day—we had her open gifts from Mommy and Daddy over muffins in the morning.

(FYI, if you put a candle in a hot muffin, it will melt into the muffin.)

Then she opened presents, including a couple puzzles and some new clothes (in which she showed more interest than I expected!)

And then, after opening a bike helmet (and wondering what it was), we led her out to the front porch to see her new bike! We'd thought about getting a tricycle, but I thought she was big enough to handle a little 12-inch bike with training wheels.

"What is this thing?"

"Ok, I'll give it a try."

"Here I go!"

Big girl Kate and her bicycle.

She still needs some practice to get the pedaling motion down, but we'll get lots of practice with this balmy February weather! We haven't gotten home before dark any night this week—church meeting, grocery, Wednesday night church, gymnastics—but the weekend's a-comin'!

Half Her Life Ago

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:52:00 +0000

When I'm sitting at the computer and Kate wants to sit on my lap and I don't want to watch "AbbyElmo" (i.e. videos on SesameStreet.org) I pull up some of my favorite blogs with pics and videos of little kids and babies. Kate gets a kick out of that, constantly asking "What her name?" at every picture. And when I get tired of answering that question, I pull up our own blog and show Kate pictures and videos of herself.

From these trips down the memory lane known as all-posts-tagged-"video," I have determined that the video below is my all-time favorite. It was shot while waiting for the pediatrician at Kate's 18 month checkup. 18 months. That was half her life ago. It was a huge, adorable deal that she could say her own name and point to various body parts, and here she is at three, talking constantly and more prone to pointing to my body parts than her own (like when I had the girls in my office yesterday evening after most people had gone home, so I fed Claire with only a strategically arranged scarf for modesty, and Kate practically shouts, "why you covering your boobie up?!")

Half my life ago, I was fifteen, starting my sophomore year of high school and still awkward as can be. What about you?

Kate's Party

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:45:00 +0000

Kate's third birthday party was Saturday and oh-so-much fun! This was the first time Kate has been really aware and interested in her own birthday, the party, etc. She's been talking about it for weeks. "I'm going to be three soon!" "We're going to have ice cream at my party and make a big mess!" We invited the kids in Kate's day care class, and from what the parents who RSVPed said, it sounds like Kate had been talking the party up for quite a while—her friends were so excited to come!

It was a wonderful party, and Kate had such a good time, which is what's really important! As you know, I love to entertain, so let me share the whole shebang!

The Theme
Kate loves ice cream, and at some point a few months ago, I decided that would be a fun party theme. The main attraction therein may have been those cupcakes you bake in the ice cream cones. I remember them from my childhood, and instructions were easy to find online (and on the back of the cone box, in fact!) You just fill the cones about halfway with cake batter and bake like normal! (Fill more than halfway and they'll overflow.) Possibilities on the decorating are endless, but I used an icing bag with no tip to make a simple swirl that looks like soft serve. I think they turned out pretty well!

I made this decoration for the front door. If you look really close, you can see the trim around the "welcome" sign is made with sprinkles. I saw that idea on Pinterest, of using sprinkles like glitter, where you put glue down, sprinkle the things on, and dust off the excess.

I made Kate's party hat with no illusions she would wear it for more than a second while we were blowing out candles—and then forgot to put it on her at all! (Tip: I bought the cheapest party hats I could find several years ago—they're Spongebob underneath—and decorate them to suit my theme.)

I made tissue paper puffballs and adhered cone-nee-Spongebob party hats to them to look like ice cream cones. Didn't get a good shot of them, but you can see them okay in this pic:

And this was the favor basket, filled with ice cream cone bubbles (Target, party favor aisle).

The Outfit
I found Kate this cute ice cream cone top online by Sew Cute Creations, and since it had the tulle ice cream and it was her birthday, after all, I suggested she could wear one of her dress-up tutus to her party if she wanted. She did, and I think she just looked darling! Over-the-top-festive, as is one's prerogative on her third birthday!

What was even cuter, though, was that when the first pack of friends arrived, she basically handed out tutus at the door so they could dress up too! (Warning to new mommies of baby girls: you will get a lot of pink tutus. We have four and didn't buy any ourselves! But they sure came in handy today!)

The Food
The ice cream cone cupcakes were the highlight, I think, and I can't believe they didn't fall off the cake stand. They're top heavy after baking of course, and were falling like bowling pins in the kitchen while I was decorating. (A muffin pan prevents this for the most part, both during baking and decorating.)

Here's my girl about to blow out the candles. Notice she changed shoes in the middle of the party!

We also had an ice cream sundae bar. What would an ice cream themed party be without actual ice cream! Most of the veggie tray went uneaten—I wonder why!

The Fun
The girls played all over the house much of the time, in the playroom and up in Kate's room (where they took every puzzle piece from every puzzle and dumped it on the floor). I almost hated to interrupt the fun to have them eat cake and open presents!

The present-opening marked a new stage for me as a parent, I found. Whereas last year, I still had to help her open each thing, this year she just went for it and I was on the background, barely able to catch what she was getting, much less who gave it to her. Fortunately, my mom stayed in the center of the chaos to keep cards with things and control the craziness a little bit!

And then they went back to playing! I got a kick out of this pic of Becca putting lettuce in the toaster. (I handed my camera off several times, so some of the pics we got were surprises even to me!)

And just to prove baby sister was there. . .

We didn't get any family pictures or Kate and Claire together, unfortunately. This was an action-packed, fun-filled, crazy little girl party, and we had a blast. Hope all our guests did too!

Happy third birthday, Kate!

Memories of Two

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:18:00 +0000

As Kate approaches her third birthday, let me share a few of the quirks and antics of Kate-at-Two that I don't want to forget (and that—let's be honest—I just want to share with you!)

The way she said certain words this year, like the C=T sound toward the end of the year here. Claire=Taire, Santa Claus=Santa Taus, candy=tandy, clock=tock, and so on. I also love how the way she says "sparkly" and "broccoli" sound just alike, so when she wears her sparkly gray jumper, it sounds like she's telling everyone "I got broccolis."
The way she slept on the floor of her room more nights than not after we moved to our new house. It's nothing against the big girl bed, really; she was sick of the crib even before we moved, but prefers to migrate around the floor of her room all night, surrounded by blankets and other stuffed flotsam. One night, I heard her screaming, and she had migrated into the diaper pail, knocking it over onto herself and thus waking with a giant plastic thing on top of her! She also has nightmares sometimes where apparently she is being forced to do something she doesn't want to do (isn't that every 2-year-old's nightmare?) and screams in her sleep, "I don't want to! I don't want to!"
The incessant repeating of "why?" and "where is it?" It actually became a (really annoying) game as she would say "Where is it? I can't see it!" and "What you say?" over and over when she actually had no trouble hearing or seeing. (Believe me, hypochondriac me wondered if maybe she did have a hearing or vision problem, but from follow up questions, it is clear she knows exactly what was going on, and is just trying to drive me nuts. She succeeded.)
In her worst moments, hitting and biting, and having a complete breakdown if we scolded her. Even if we were just giving a mild warning like "be careful," she would get belligerent and say "No talk at me! No look at me!" Those are the moments I won't miss (though in retrospect, they are a little cute). I actually could barely keep from laughing when she would add "any more" to those angry words: "No talk at me . . . any more!" This all hit its peak this summer at 2 1/2, and fortunately is pretty rare now.
How she used to not be able to stand getting water on her clothes, insisting on changing. (Once, I even "accidentally" got a little water on something she was wearing, since she'd insisted on wearing things that didn't match.) Then, after starting in Ms. Marian's class at school, she started saying, "It'll dry," and tolerating the wetness. Thank you, Ms. Marian!
In that same vein, it's adorable how she'll try to make light of things that I might get annoyed with, like if she's made a mess or broken something, she'll say, "It's okay, Mommy. Don't worry." Or even, "It's okay. You can fix it with tape." Or, "you fix it with glue," but "glue" sounds like "goo." It's so cute.
She starts most sentences with "Probably" now, even when it's a "definite" something she's talking about. "Probably my dress is blue."
How "all" goes at the end of the phrase: "When I finish my dinner all, then I have some candy."
Ever since that fun night when we put on our jammies to go ride around and look at Christmas lights, and I played it up how "crazy" it was to wear jammies in the car, "crazy" has become one of her favorite words. "It's crazy!!"
Another favorite declaration lately is, "It's a big mess!" This started with my description of the state of the playroom, such that even before getting toys out, she has said, "I'm going to make a big mess!" And if she sees a lot of stuff in any one place, even if intentional, like the buffet of food I put out on the dining room table for Claire's baptism party and now in preparation for Kate's birthday party, she'll tell me it's a big mess. Thanks, Kate!

My favorite little quip of hers lately was twice in one week, when we heard announcements over loudspeakers at a gas station and then in the grocery. Kate takes notice and says, "Somebody's talking! Probably Santa."

And another, reflective of the stereotypical child's love of potty humor (which, honestly, Kate hasn't displayed too much): "The red marker is missing. Probably someone threw it in the toilet!" And then she laughs like crazy. For the record, it really is just a joke, not a confession; the red marker has been missing for months and I doubt a Crayola marker could be flushed without us noticing.

I love how much Kate's vocabulary and imagination have grown this year. I can't wait to see what crazy things she says at age three!

Working Mom Wednesday: Selfish at 5 am

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:49:00 +0000

Now that I'm back at work, I may try to do some Working Mom Wednesday posts again. This week, I want to tell you how much I love my morning routine, and how it has been essential for my sanity in the mornings.

Blogger/author Jon Acuff talks about being "selfish at 5 am." For him, this was about getting up to write early in the morning because he dreamed of being an author but had a day job and a family that made it tough to write at any other time of day. He now encourages this in his (third or fourth!) book, Quitter, which is about pursuing your dream job while keeping your day job.

I'm not looking to change careers, but I have discovered the joy of being selfish at 5 am. Well, not 5, but 5:30. I tried practicing my intended routine once while still on maternity leave, and was back in bed by 6:15. 5:00 may be too early for me, but 5:30 has worked out well, enabling me not just to get myself and the girls ready so that we can all get out the door by 7:30, but to have some "me" time as well, that I'm typically too exhausted to enjoy by the time the kids are asleep in the evenings, the kitchen is cleaned up, bottles prepared for the next day, etc.

My alarm goes off at 5:15, because I love hitting snooze a few times (who doesn't?) but I try to get out of bed by 5:30 and shower immediately. I come downstairs to enjoy a cup of coffee, which has just finished brewing from the auto-timed start at 5:30, and putter around on the computer for a while. Yesterday, I worked on Kate's birthday party decorations a little, but usually I just spend this "me" time checking email, blogs, etc. I head back upstairs by 6:30 or so to finish getting myself ready and get everybody else up. If Claire hasn't woken up in the night, then her waking is a variable in this morning routine (as it was this morning, since she slept from 9:30pm to 5:30am—woo hoo!) and sometimes I hit snooze a few more times than I should, but if at all possible, I still try to steal away to have a little time to myself before the craziness of the day begins.

Sure, it's hard to get up earlier than I would naturally, but as I read recently in Girl on Top: Turning Dating Rules into Career Success (just couldn't resist that title!), "I'm tired at seven, and I'm tired at six. So why not get up at six?" It's true. Left to my own devices, I would probably sleep until 8:30 or so. But I never have that luxury, so if I'm going to artificially wake myself anyway, why not do it at a time that brings peace and satisfaction to my mornings? Plus, I have a number of go-to "wake up songs" in my head that I can sing and dance to in the shower to shake the sleep from my eyes (Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" and The Pointer Sisters' "Jump for My Love" are two favorites, as is Matt's once-annoying, super-chipper cell phone alarm, "pa pa POW Good Morning, POW Good morning, pa pa POW, it's a beautiful day!")

I've always wanted to be one of those people who rises at 4am to study, do a devotion, practice flute, actually eat breakfast, etc. (these examples reflect a particular person I knew in college!) and 4am just wouldn't be smart when I don't get to bed until 10:30 or 11—it's important to get 7-8 hours of sleep, if possible—but this new routine works for me and makes me a happier person and a better mom, I think. Like Matt says in his pre-sermon prayer each week, "Lord make us masters of ourselves so that we can be the servants of others." Being disciplined with my wake-up time and morning routine gives me the serenity I need to care for my family in the mornings in a calmer and more loving way.

Now on with my day!
pa pa POW pa pow pa POW good morning... it's a beautiful day!

Stream of Consciousness

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:06:00 +0000

I just downloaded the blogger app so I can blog from my phone while pumping 2-3 times a day at work. I always try to find non-computer work to do in the pumping room, but sometimes it is more trouble than it is worth.

I wish I had an office with a door so I could pump while working, but you have to be really high up in my company to get an office with real walls and a door. Otherwise you are in (relatively nice) cubicles with six foot walls. So you can't see each other but can hear everything. On one hand this is more efficient because rather than getting up, calling, or using email, you can just ask in a slightly raised voice, "so did you post the article by that crazy pastor Matt Kelley yet?" On the other hand, you can easily start random and distracting conversations with nearby colleagues.

The slide out keyboard on my phone has a bum V key, so I have to push really hard and at an angle to get that letter. Already in this post, I've nearly written hae, eerything, and conersations. And now that you know that, I will stop worrying about it and you'll just deal with my annoying typos.

As an editor, typos drie me crazy, but I'll deal. Fun fact about me: wheneer I receie a manuscript to edit, I have to put the piece in 12 point Times New Roman, single spaced, or I can't bear to read it. Weird. And did you notice I made sure to get the V in "have" just now because otherwise you might hae thought I was saying I hate to put it in 12 point Times, and that would mean the exact opposite.

Man, my thumbs are getting stiff, but this sure does pass the time. I hate that I'm haing to pump 5 times to make the milk Claire drinks in 3 bottles at school, since one can guzzle more easily from a bottle and my production is a bit out of sync with that.

I was in an inexplicably good mood this morning. We were running a little late since I slept in til 6, and just before heading out the door we realized that Claire hadn't eaten since 4 and I needed to feed her before leaing. How could I get too upset about that, though, since I loe nursing my sweet baby? And since she always sleeps more than 6 hours at night now and sometimes 8!

After feeding her and getting in the car a little late, I pulled to a stop at the front of our neighborhood and a pink slinky rolled out from under the passenger seat. How can that not make you smile?

Kate started gymnastics last night. With how active she is, jumping, climbing, etc., and has such great balance, we've been saying foreer that we need to put her in gymnastics, and finally did. We went to an open house at the gym on Monday, and she loed playing on all the equipment, and loed watching the bigger girls tumbling, but got kind of overwhelmed when the class started last night. There were 13 kids and they all knew the usual warmup actiities and such, so it took her a while to relax and play along. Just as she was timid the first time at ZooTwos, I knew she'd be fine by the second class, and sure enough, about 40 minutes into the 60 minute class, she loosened up and was running and clapping and doing everything (including disobeying!) like normal. (The disobeying was just flopping down on a mat with a couple other rowdy girls when they were supposed to be sitting on a line.) It was really fun and now she can't wait to go back. (And I'll take a camera other than my phone next time!)

Speaking of next week, I have only one week to get things ready for Kate's birthday party, which is a week from tomorrow (on her actual b-day). I hae had the invites filled out for weeks and hae gien out many in person, to folks at Claire's baptism and to Kate's classmates, but the few going in the mail haent made it there yet! And though I usually have the house decorated for the party almost as soon as the Christmas decorations come down, I still haven't decorated. Claire's baptism party is partly to blame, but I didn't decorate for that until 24 hours before either!

I just haen't been able to get anything done at home in the eenings since going back to work! I need this weekend to be really productie, but I'm worried that's not going to happen!

Man, there are a lot of words with Vs in them!

Flashback: Kate's Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:25:00 +0000

In writing yesterday's post about Claire's baptism, I realized I only posted three little pics of Kate's baptism three years ago! I did a little party for her after the worship service on her baptism day too, but never shared. And as I said, I love decorating for parties—so I've got to share, even three years after the fact! (And two weeks from now is Kate's third birthday party, so more decorating—woo hoo!)

Dr. Meeks performed Kate's baptism too, and we had a gathering at our house afterwards. It was a sit-down lunch last time, which was a little bit stressful, so I opted for an open-house, more-the-merrier style this time. I did Kate's in pink and yellow.

We had to have a card table in addition to the main dining room table to accommodate everyone. (The parsonage in Clarksville had one long dining/living-room combo, so both tables were in the same room.)

I had monogram cookies for Kate too :0)

Can't believe this little angel is going to be three in a couple weeks!

Claire's Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:56:00 +0000

Our sweet baby Claire was baptized yesterday. Knowing that some friends/readers don't believe in infant baptism—I myself was raised Disciples of Christ and baptized on my own volition at age eight—Matt and I have both written posts in the past about why we believe in infant baptism for our children. I think it's funny how Matt's post is based on early church history and theologians, and my reasons for baptizing babies are rooted in my own experience and reasoning about faith formation. If you know us, it kind of makes sense!

Anyway, our celebration of this blessed event was beautiful, as we promised to help Claire learn about God and be like Jesus. Claire was very smiley and talkative yesterday, so angelic and delightful. She wore the heirloom gown Matt's mom made for him in 1980, which his brother wore also, and then Kate in 2009.

I nursed her through most of worship, and then the baptism service (and renewal of baptism for everyone, since it was Baptism of the Lord Sunday) came at the end. Dr. Doug Meeks, our professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School, came as guest preacher and to do the honors. Dr. Meeks' main message came from Isaiah 43:1, "Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name;
you are mine."

The choir sang "God Claims You," from The Faith We Sing songbook. It's like a lullabye and just so beautiful! You plug the child's name into the refrain: "Claire Moriah, God claims you; God helps you, protects you, and loves you too."

After church, we had a little reception at our house. I LOVE to decorate for parties, and did this event in green and pink with flowers, ornaments hanging from the light fixture (70% off at an after-Christmas sale; I thought the pink and green baubles we a nice combo of winter sparkle and springy baby-style), and butterflies (green, sparkly, and an appropriate symbol of rebirth!)

Kate had a great time too, playing with BFF Becca.

God bless you, Claire Moriah!

The End :0)

(Here are some pics from Kate's baptism, if you're interested :0)

So How's It Going?

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:34:00 +0000

Many sweet friends, family, and church members have been asking how my first week back at work after my eleven-week maternity leave was going. I've held off on blogging about it (not that I've had time to!) until at least this first week was under my belt.

The short answer is "fine." I haven't cried. I haven't held Claire's car seat hostage and refused to let Matt take her to day care. I'm fine.

The longer answer on the work side of things is that I've been a little overwhelmed at times but glad to be back overall. I spent Monday just getting my feet wet again, catching up on what's been happening while I was out. I checked e-mail periodically while I was out, so I only had about two weeks' worth to sort through upon my return (and since those two weeks were over the holidays, they were much lighter than they might have been!) Tuesday, I had a few freak-outs as I got deeper back into the swing of things, and by Wednesday my to-do list was growing faster than I could mark things off of it. Thursday and Friday, I was more or less on top of things, though I still haven't taken back the reins on everything I'd passed off to colleagues while I was gone. (I really would have been overwhelmed had I taken back all my old responsibilities immediately, so thank you, S and B!)

I've been pumping 2-3 times a day, which is much more difficult this time around a) because I don't have a little, rarely-used conference room near my office like I did with Kate and have to walk a ways to get to the designated pumping room (which is nice and clean and has a lock, so that's good) and b) because I wasn't already pumping a million times a day like I was with Kate. I knew this would be tough, since boobies and babies respond differently to pumping/bottles than nursing. So, I'm having to pump 4-5 times a day (i.e. before and after work as well as during) to make the milk she drinks from three bottles a day at day care. I have no spare stash this time—a total change from the chest freezer in the garage full of bagged milk I had last time! I'm trying to get my supply up, hopefully to the point that I can just pump twice a day at work and maybe build up a fridge/freezer stash, or at least to where I can only pump at work and not between feedings at home as well!

On the home front, it's been exhausting, especially since Matt was busy every night this week, so I've been outnumbered in the evenings. This has been difficult because I can't really give attention to both girls at the same time, except for those brief moments where I'm holding Claire and Kate body slams us both with a big cuddle. So, I feel like when I'm doing something with Kate, I'm neglecting Claire (or more accurately, missing Claire, since it's me that it bothers, not her) and when I'm cuddling Claire, I'm ignoring Kate and risking a meltdown or intentional potty-accident if she feels usurped by the baby. I'm craving one-on-one time with each girl. I feel like I'm neglecting Kate more now than when I was on leave, I guess because now my home-time has to be shared by both girls, whereas I had all day with Claire before and more easily turned my attention to Kate when she came home. I do miss my days at home with Claire (and, let's be honest; I miss Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, and Hoda and Kathie Lee), but I'm coping.

I anticipated mornings to be crazy, getting all four of us out the door. They've been pretty good, actually, but only because of my resolution. I've been setting our clothes out the night before, getting up at 5:30, showering, enjoying some "me" time with a cup of coffee (from a coffeepot set the night before to brew while I shower!) tending to the kids when they wake up, getting bottles and lunch and myself and everything ready. . . I'm proud of myself. I've had to be a little flexible some mornings, but Monday went perfectly as planned, which has given me the resolve to stick to the desired routine, and we've gotten out the door on time (or early) every day.

Here's my list by the door to make sure we've got all our bags: a purse, pump bag, lunch bag, two backpacks, and sometimes other accouterments for school.

And your reward for reading all the way to the bottom of this post:
Guess who rolled over on Sunday? It seems to have been unintentional and she probably won't do it again for a month or more, but I left her on her back on a blanket while doing something with Kate in the kitchen, and a few minutes later, I heard Claire fussing, looked over, and saw this!

Yes, of course I grabbed my camera before going to assist her. She's not so crazy about being on her tummy!

I'm so glad it's the weekend—and a three-day one at that!

Miscellanea

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:51:00 +0000

A few random things to share:

Yesterday (Friday) was a little rough. Not so well-adjusted as Wednesday's post implied. On my last weekday of maternity leave, I was really mourning the loss of that special Claire-and-me-only time. It's crazy, and it's exactly what I experienced with Kate, but it's like I subconsciously feel like I'll never see my baby again. I told Matt yesterday morning, "I have a haircut and a few errands to run this afternoon." He replied, "oh, do you need me to keep Claire?" I was wearing Claire in the sling at the time and immediately clutched my hands around her and said, "No!! She'll be going with me." That instinctive response indicated to me how strongly I felt like I was losing my time with Claire. During nighttime feedings the past few nights, I've started to get emotional, only to remember, "hey, this part isn't changing at all! Calm down."

I got through Friday, though, and felt much better last night and today. Kate and Matt are here with Claire and I, like a normal evening or weekend (normal meaning "like it would be if I was working Monday through Friday"), and it's okay. Claire didn't up and disappear or anything. I know it sounds crazy, but it felt like I was Cinderella anticipating the stroke of midnight, only to discover with relief that everything stayed the same.

Today, we took down the Christmas decorations. We always leave them up for the full twelve days of Christmas, but it was really starting to feel overdue this time. Kate was a big help, and so Matt and I got the tree and all the other decorations down in record time. Cleaning up all the pine needles that fell was another matter, but Kate's broom and dustpan she got for Christmas was a big help!

I took both girls to the grocery, which was a milestone in itself, as I'd feared such outings immensely when Claire first came home. I didn't know how I'd ever manage to wrangle Kate in a parking lot or in and around the cart at Target or Kroger while toting Claire as well, but without fanfare, I had several excursions just me and the girls over the course of maternity leave—to playplaces, to the library, even to Target—but this was the first to the grocery, a fitting way to end my maternity leave and announce to the world that I really can handle two kids. Kate stayed in the car cart for most of our shopping, which is new, only wanting to get out and walk/hang on the side of the cart for the last five minutes of shopping, rather than while we're still in the produce section.

Since Matt got to have some alone time while we were at the grocery, he kept both girls downstairs for a while this afternoon while I scrapbooked upstairs. This is one of the pages I did. I'd had this layout sketched out for ages, having seen it on some other scrapbooker's blog more than a year ago, and I really like how it turned out.

This evening, we had an "Italian feast" of caprese, bread with dipping oil, salad, and eggplant parmasean. And red wine, of course. Dining this way every night (and sometimes for lunch too) for ten days is how Matt and I each gained about fifteen pounds on our honeymoon in Italy five years ago. At least there was no creamy pasta in this meal. Helpful hint for parents: we tell Kate that eggplant parm is "tiny pizza," and she eats it well. Plus, the marinara we use is Prego Veggie Smart.

Another random: I won this cute monogrammed romper on eBay. I love eBay for kids clothes, and especially for a boutique brand like Kelly's Kids and a monogram, making it un-handmedown-able, I would never pay full price. I even set an alarm on my cell phone so I could check the auction ten minutes before it ended, so that I could up my bid without giving the other bidders a chance to outbid me. Victory!

Lastly among the miscellanea is Claire's checkup stats, which I didn't have when I wrote her two month milestones. Turns out, she is more petite than Kate was, but still very healthy. She weighed 9 lb, 11 oz at her appointment, which was only 12th percentile. Length was 22 in, 27th percentile. Her head circumference was 74th percentile. Kate was always about 50th percentile (perfectly average) in height and weight, and 90th or higher percentile in head.

We told the doctor about Claire's voracious eating habits and frequent gassiness (stiffness, arching her back, lots of spitup, fussiness, etc.) and the doctor said it sounds like classic colic/reflux, and put her on Zantac. I remember our pediatrician mentioning the possibility of putting Kate on Zantac, but I guess it got better with her. Even the little nodes I'd been feeling on the back of her head (which I remembered feeling on Kate too and therefore didn't panic about) were related to the reflux: they are lymph nodes that get enlarged when there is a lot of liquid/agitation in the throat. We've done a couple doses of the Zantac so far, but it doesn't seem to be making a difference yet. The doctor also said a bit of chamomile tea in a dropper could ease Claire's tummy pain, but Claire spit that right out again.

So that's what's up. We'll see if I have a panic attack tomorrow night as I prepare for work the next day, but chances are, I'll be totally adjusted by Wednesday, and that's what I'm keeping in mind.

Family Fun at the Science Center

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:57:00 +0000

When Matt and Kate were home with us on Monday for the extended New Year's holiday, we decided to go have some family fun time at Nashville's Adventure Science Center. Kate and I had only been one other time (about a year ago), and Matt had not been since he was a kid going on field trips there!

The featured exhibit right now was "Animal Secrets," so Kate got to examine tiny things with a magnifying glass and try to guess the animal from its skull and a few descriptors.

We got to wear chipmunk costumes and crawl into a tree to learn how little rodents store up acorns for the winter.

Claire was just along for the ride in her stroller, of course. She and I did laps and rode up and down the elevator while Matt and Kate climbed the four-story "Adventure Tower," a complex of science-y activities, steps, and slides that goes all the way to the glass cupola that looks out over downtown and for miles around. They took off into this thing as soon as we had entered the center, and while I kept trying to keep a visual spot on them as they made their way up, I lost them pretty quickly despite taking the elevator to the various floors, and eventually just had to pace around and wait for them to return!

(I admit the pics above and below are mainly to show Claire's cute hat and Kate's cool dress-tights-boots ensemble. She's so stylin'.)

We also explored the space area and the body exhibit before and after climbing the tower a few more times. I think she spent at least a third of the time we were there in that thing.

So much fun, we'll have to go back again sometime. Don't worry, Claire—we won't let the triceratops eat you!

Maternity Leave Comes to an End

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:07:00 +0000

I have certain treasured memories about my maternity leave with Kate three years ago (twelve weeks, from Jan. 28 to mid-April, 2009), like sitting out on the front porch with her as the weather got warmer, enjoying the first rounds of March Madness at home, and clocking countless hours on the breast pump as I quickly adjusted to my role as an exclusive pumper.

Ever since I realized that my maternity leave with Claire would coincide with the holiday season (a loaded term, I know, but my leave does include Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and New Years, so I really do mean a season of holidays) I looked forward to doing Christmas shopping and wrapping with Claire by my side, spending a whole week in Louisville over Thanksgiving, and doing other fun family things with all the unscheduled time we would enjoy. And it has been lovely.

This is my last week of leave, and while I'm feeling okay about returning to work on Monday (and packing a fun bag of new picture frames, Christmas candy, a mug warmer, etc. for my office), I'm still a little sad about not having my sweet days of so much one-on-one time with Claire, and about entrusting my baby to other caregivers during the day.

As my leave approaches its end, I want to record some memories. It's amazing how quickly we forget little things. Even now, as I glance through my planner (in which I record everything, even after the fact), I find myself saying "oh, yeah! I forgot about that!" So here's what stands out about these last eleven weeks:

my week of "me time" before my due date, during which I enjoyed a mani-pedi, read novels and sipped lattes at Starbucks, scrapbooked, and lunched with a friend.
Halloween activities with Kate while we expected Claire to arrive "any day now."
Claire's shockingly quick labor and delivery (six hours from first discomfort to her birth)
Charlotte's disappearance and miraculous return
seeing SIL Alexis, Uncle Wayne, Uncle Jim, and Cousin Layne, all of whom just happened to be visiting Nashville during Claire's first two weeks of life.
shopping for those matching Christmas dresses I'd daydreamed about from the moment we learned we were having another girl. (Ended up with simply coordinating dresses, not matching, since they didn't have the plaid one in 0-3 mos.)
shopping for Christmas gifts during the day with Claire in the sling or stroller, rather than battling crowds on Saturdays or squeezing mall trips into evenings after work.
holding Claire in the sling as I sit at the computer, blogging and doing my cyber-shopping, since she likes to be held all the time and the sling enables me to have two hands free.
spending Thanksgiving week in Louisville (and Kate's crazy behavior, a result of new-baby stress mixed with routine-busting travel, it seems), especially going to Light Up Louisville for the first time.
watching the Today show almost every morning, which I love, and sometimes switching over to Family Feud, Jeopardy, and Millionaire if I'm just hanging around nursing Claire or doing things around the house. My desire to be on a trivia-based game show at some point in my life has been reaffirmed.
Kate's aggressive affection toward Claire, smothering her with hugs and kisses.
but also her adjustment behaviors—wanting a paci, crying more easily and pathetically as she needed more parental attention and care, and maybe having a little regression in potty training (she wasn't totally accident-free before the baby, so I'm not really sure if Claire had an effect).
helping out with Room in the Inn and our church's food pantry, things that are difficult to make time for when I'm working.
spending weekdays just me and Claire, whether cuddling at home or running errands. She's so kissable and sweet!
doing things just me and Kate as I try to give her individual attention: doing crafty things and taking her to the library, the Monkey's Treehouse (indoor activity place) or bouncy places. Often, however, when Matt's able to keep Claire and I suggest going somewhere "just you and me," she says "and Claire?" excitedly, wanting Claire to join us even as I'm trying to meet what I thought was a need for alone time with Mommy. So, we've done a lot of things "just us girls," as Kate says, leaving "that boy" (as she sometimes calls Daddy!) at home.
So many other fun things: hanging with my MIL and SIL for a leisurely afternoon in downtown Franklin (a cute little town south of Nashville); seeing my parents more often than usual; taking the girls to an ice skating show; doing Christmassy things with Matt and the girls like getting our tree, seeing Santa, and Kate's school program; doing Furman admissions interviews for my alma mater (they've invited alums to meet with prospective students in their area—cool, huh?); date nights with Matt for his birthday, the Sunday school party, and just because; singing the the cantata at church; and more.

Some of these things could have/would have happened even if I was working full time during this season, but some wouldn't have, and it has been fun to have this leisurely time to get Claire out and acclimated, getting us accustomed to having another member of our family, and just treasuring this time bonding with my new baby girl.

My motto for Monday and the days following is "it's gonna be okay." Have you seen those "IGBOK" bumper stickers? That's what I'm plastering at the front of my mind right now. I'm not near so distressed as I was before returning to work after having Kate. I've done this before, and survived, and it only took about three days to adjust emotionally. I love my work and I don't regret being a working mom, and if I became a stay-at-home mom, I'm not naive enough to think it would be like a never-ending maternity leave. This is not our "real life," so to speak, but more like "playing house" as I wrote when on leave three years ago. Monday will be a "back to life, back to reality" moment, a new normal as we learn how to get four people up and out the door each morning, but the fun and fulfillment certainly doesn't end.

There's so much I'm looking forward to in the coming months: Claire's baptism on the fifteenth, Kate's birthday two weeks after that, the many milestones Claire will have in that busy 3-6 month stage this spring (and beyond!), planning a spring/summer vacation, playing outside when the weather gets warm, going to the pool this summer, and so on. We're moving into a new stage, and while I'm a little sad for this time to end, the good times just keep on coming.

Two Months

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:57:00 +0000

Happy new year!

Claire was two months old yesterday, Jan. 1, so here's a little update on what she's up to!

She's been smiling and cooing so sweetly. I'll croon "oooooh" and "ahhhhhh" and she'll smile and coo back softly. She's started to be able to entertain herself for up to 10-15 minutes on her play mat, kicking the inflated ball that hangs from it and looking at herself in the mirror. She's started to be more interested in her sister, who of course had to get in on the photo-shoot (with the star-shaped slinky she just broke).

She is still eating a lot, wanting to nurse every 1-2 hours when she's awake. She takes a good morning nap, starting in the sling and then being laid down, but has been able to be put down in her crib awake at night—a very important skill! Just as at her 1-month update, she'll sleep up to 6 hours for the first stretch of the night, and then wake another time or two in the few hours before dawn. She actually slept for 7 1/2 hours Christmas night, a nice gift for Mommy!

People say she looks like Kate, and we definitely see the resemblance, but I think Claire's features are a bit more delicate with her little nose and chin, where Kate's face was more round. I've said from the beginning that our little All Saints Day baby is an "old soul," seeming very wise. I finally captured that "wise and reflective" face on camera...

We don't want to compare the girls too much, but it's inevitable to some extent. I just happened to photograph Claire wearing an outfit and laying on a blanket Kate had in some photos at about two months old (seriously, I didn't stage it—she happened to be wearing the outfit, and that blanket was sitting right there!) So here's a side-by-side look:

As I said, Kate's cheeks were a little rounder. Claire seems smaller to us in general, but it might just be that we forget how small little babies are! (I'll get her stats at our doctor appointment later this week.) They have about the same amount of hair here, though Kate had more originally and then lost some during her second month, whereas Claire has had the widow's peak (or as my dad called it, a faux-hawk) from the beginning.

They're hitting milestones around the same points—smiling, cooing, kicking the ball on the play mat. I forgot how early certain things happen until I looked back in the week-by-week journal I had for Kate! (I'm keeping one for Claire too, since Diapers.com gave them away as freebies with each order around the time Kate was born.) Claire is a needier baby, always wanting to be held. Kate could be laid in the pack-n-play or on a blanket and nap just fine, whereas Claire prefers to be worn in the sling to fall asleep. Kate was sleeping through the night by now (an 8-hour stretch after her 11pm "dream feed"), and Claire still wakes 2-3 times a night. I don't mind, since I love nursing her, though I'm sure I'd enjoy eight hours of uninterrupted sleep! (The bright side of getting up a few times a night is that I get to enjoy that awesome "falling into bed" feeling several times a night, rather than just once!)

I don't mind that Claire is a needier baby—especially if she's an easier toddler than Kate! They are each their own person, and I love to watch them both grow and especially how they interact. I love both my girls so much.

Daily December (the rest)

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

So after weeks one and two, I wasn't so good at sharing my "Daily December" pics here, but I did get them scrapbooked, which was the real point anyway! So take a look at my album! Rather than making a small album just for Daily December, as most of the scrapbookers I'm aware of who do Daily December do, I used some of the divided pages from the Project Life kit I've been using for two years now. Here's a peek at those fun, collage-style pages, featuring...

Claire turning one month on the first, getting our tree on the third...

Taking the girls to the ice show on the fourth, Kate's Christmas program the ninth...

Kate and I decorating the gingerbread house and wearing our jammies to go look at Christmas lights on the twelfth...

Having a spa day (hydrotherapy soak, massage, and mani/pedi as my "push present" from Matt), and then going to the Opryland Hotel to see Santa and the lights...

Baking cookies with Granna on the seventeenth and taking our present (an amaryllis bulb) to her teacher on the nineteenth...

And our fun family Christmas gatherings the twenty-third through the twenty-fifth!

A few highlights of life in the final week of December that will round our my Daily December scrapbook pages include...

Using our new Emeril cookware that my parents gave us for Christmas,

Getting crafty to make this fancy frame for my girls' Santa pic. The frame was $1 in the Target dollar section, and I added the ribbon and embellished with my grandmother's earrings, pearls from the necklace I wore in my SIL's wedding (Kate broke it a couple years ago—sorry Alexis!) and some red crystal beads leftover from making the necklaces bridesmaids wore in our wedding. I'd been keeping the loose pearls and beads around for some special craft, and I'll get this frame out to enjoy every Christmas!

And last but not least, seeing Claire learn to entertain herself on the play mat, kicking the ball and looking at the pretty baby in the mirror!

Hope everyone has a fun New Year's Eve! We're taking it easy at home to ring in 2012!

(Newborn and) Family Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:07:00 +0000

Yesterday I shared Claire's newborn pics from our session with Kelsey Harrison of A Thousand Words Photography. Today, some pics of the rest of the family...

Newborn (and Family) Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:48:00 +0000

We did a photo shoot in November with Kelsey Harrison of A Thousand Words Photography. My priority on getting the digital pics was making our Christmas card/birth announcement, so I never shared them on here. It was a newborn shoot with some of our whole family as well, so I'll start by some of Claire's newborn pics and share some of the rest of us tomorrow!

I think my favorite is the nakey one on the pink scale with the crocheted pink flower headband. Lots of people have asked, so "no," I didn't make the crocheted headgear, but got them on Etsy. (The purple one with the chinstrap is the photographer's, not ours, but I think she got that on Etsy too.)