The Parsonage Family

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.)

Christmas Rundown

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:30:00 +0000

Kate "got" Christmas a little more this year, knowing about Santa and singing Jingle Bells and the other kiddie Christmas songs, and—most importantly—talking about baby Jesus and Mary. She has a board book with the lyrics to The Little Drummer Boy, and knows that story well now. "He's sad because he doesn't have a present for Baby Jesus!" she'll declare, and then later in the book/song, "Now he's happy, because he can play his drum for Jesus!" She gave this summary upon hearing this song on the radio too. (Though obviously that's not a biblical story, I like that it's about a kid's experience of Jesus' birth.) After being in the sanctuary for Christmas Eve and Day services, she learned some other Christmas songs too, and when she heard "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night" on the radio in the couple days following, she announced, "that's a church song! We sang that at church!"

Our family Christmas gatherings started on the 23rd, when we went to Granna and Opa's house (a whopping three miles away!) for dinner and to open presents.

The girls' gifts to their grandparents this year were photo calendars made on KodakGallery. Kate helped me wrap them and made gift tags with fingerprint art on them. (Colorful fingerprints as light bulbs on a wire, with the greeting "you light up my life!")

Kate's gifts included several new additions to her pantry of play food: cupcakes and cookies.

Claire got some new toys and clothes as well. This is my favorite picture of her yet, I think.

Christmas Eve, the girls donned their coordinating Christmas dresses for the earlier of two services at church, followed by dinner with the whole family, including my parents, who arrived from Louisville earlier in the day, and Matt's aunt and uncle.

I tried so hard to get a good picture of the two girls together in their Christmas dresses, but it's a little tough, due to Kate's aggressive love...

... and the general moodiness and distractability of these ages!

After we got the girls in their jammies, Matt read them The Night Before Christmas before returning to church for the 11 pm service.

While Matt was at church, I made the egg casserole for the morning while Mom added the final stitches to Claire and Matt's stockings. She made my stocking, quilted fabric with a cross-stitch top, when I was a baby, and then made Kate's for her first Christmas in 2009. This year, Claire and Matt got theirs, and the row of four stockings all in the same design across our mantle just filled my heart with joy.

In the morning, we opened our stockings before church, saving the rest of our presents until after. Kate got play-doh, an Elmo book and coloring book, and a Hello Kitty bracelet in her stocking. (Three of those four items were from the Target dollar section—woo hoo!) Claire got some mary jane socks, cool giraffe-print sunglasses for the summer, and some Inchbug name labels like Kate had.

I prepped Kate before church, saying "People are going to ask you what Santa brought you, and you can show them your kitty bracelet," etc. I'm thinking we'll treat Santa as a character like Elmo, which is how Kate seems to see him now, but not make a big effort to make her think he's real or anything. Or maybe we'll talk about the real Saint Nicholas next year. Either way, we don't want to make a big deal out of asking Santa for stuff and being good to "deserve" the gifts.

Here, Kate, Nala, and I show Claire what "Santa" brought her.

We learned that Popi is a great play-doh artist, as he spent the day crafting snowman families and various animals to Kate's specifications. (Kate generally approaches art as a project manager, as opposed to a hands-on craftsman herself.)

The girls wore their pajamas to church, and since it was a more casual service, Kate was in there with us, rather than there being a nursery. She felt very clingy to Daddy, suddenly, and spent much of the service up front with him! Since she was quiet, and Daddy wasn't preaching, just reading scripture between songs, it was okay, but made me paranoid that she was distracting to others. Hopefully not!

We returned home for brunch and to open our gifts to each other. Nala and Popi gave Kate a camera, which she loved. I'll have to upload some of her photos later.

Popi has made a tradition of crafting gifts out of wood. He's made Kate a stool, a coat rack, and this year a hat rack with antlers shed by an adolescent deer. Claire got a cute little bench!

Claire also got a zebra lovey like Kate's giraffe lovey, "Raffi." We had Raffi I, II, and III, so she could have one wherever she went. I'm sure "Zeba" will be equally beloved!

We dined on ambrosia and our traditional egg casserole, plus Jesus' birthday (coffee)cake. We sang "Happy Birthday" and blew out the candles.

This was the first year we actually did birthday candles, though I've been planning on doing that since before we had kids. It's part of helping our kids understand (and reminding ourselves) that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, even if it is hard to explain why our celebration of his birthday takes on some of the forms it does—like we who already have so much getting and giving more stuff, and other non-religious expressions of merriment. (It may help that I put up decorations and plan for Kate's birthday for several weeks before Jan. 28, so maybe it makes sense that there is a month or more of hoopla leading up to Jesus' birthday party too!)

Happy birthday, Jesus! We sure enjoyed your party.

Wordless-ish Wednesday: Taking Flight

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:25:00 +0000

I'm working on my big Christmas post, but in the meantime, here are some shots of Kate's acrobatics at church on Christmas Eve. We arrived early, of course, so Matt could get things ready, and whenever Kate is in the sanctuary, she likes to leap off the top step of the chancel steps.

Merry Christmas!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:33:00 +0000

As our combination Christmas card/birth announcement says, "Our holidays are even more joyful this year..."

Seeing our four stockings hung by the chimney with care last night made my heart overflow. Merry Christmas from our little family of four.

My Limited and Unofficial Guide to Christmas at Opryland

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:02:00 +0000

If you live in Nashville or within three hours of Music City and have never been to the Opryland Hotel, that is a shame. You really must go. It is quite the sight to see—huge indoor gardens and waterfalls, great restaurants, rooms with balconies overlooking those amazing conservatories, and more. Their light displays have been a must-do for Christmas in Nashville for years, so we wanted to take the girls sometime this season, despite the legendary price-gauging.

Matt took me to the Italian restaurant there for our first date, and for our first wedding anniversary, we dined at that restaurant again and spent the night at the hotel. I'm tempted to tell some of our inside jokes and memories from both those visits (maybe another post :0) but for now, here's a run down of our Christmas visit last week...

On the way in from the parking lot, we stopped to admire the giant light-tree, the other trees amazingly lit with each branch wrapped individually, and a life-size nativity.

Me and the girls in front of the hotel's main entrance (Magnolia Lobby) dodging cars and horse-drawn carriages. Kate thought the horses were cool, but with a $5 charge even for kids (I didn't hear how much for adults) I can't imagine it would be worth it, especially since I don't think you see anything you wouldn't see from your car on the way in or out.

We'd had "see lights at Opryland" and "see Santa" on our list of Christmas family-fun to-dos, and we found that there was actually a Santa at Opryland to see, which seemed preferable to battling lines at the mall. There were huge crowds to battle on the little paths making our way through Delta Conservatory to where Santa was, but since there was higher demand to see the Dreamworks characters featured this year (Shrek, Po, etc.) than to see Santa, there was actually no line to see jolly old St. Nick! And, unlike the movie characters, there was no cost to see Santa!

The official photos and baubles they sold were exorbitant, of course, but unbelievably, they actually let you take your own photos at no cost!! So, Matt took at least twenty shots while the official photographer took his (which we didn't even bother to look at) and we had plenty of great pics to choose from! Here were a few of our faves:

The crowds in the conservatory were so crazy we didn't really look up and around at the decor there (which actually wasn't as elaborate as before the flood, especially as they've put more effort into attractions like ICE, with the Dreamworks movie theme, etc.) but we made our way back to Magnolia and ate dinner at the Irish pub. Great beer and some good bangers and mash, plus live music.

(Matt making Kate laugh, since she wouldn't smile.)

Locals know it's best to park for free at Opry Mills and walk, but we'd heard that they were now validating the crazy $18 parking if you eat in one of the restaurants. It turned out that was only if you ate in one of the "fine dining" establishments, of which the pub is not one, and yet still charges $20+ per entree. The whole thing is a racket, and we would have been better off paying $15 for a mall Santa photo and another $60 to eat at Carrabas, but if done rarely, the Opryland Hotel makes for a fun (if expensive) family outing.

A Real Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:07:00 +0000

My best friend and roommate in college did a lot of interfaith studies, and I remember her telling me about a visit she made to a Hindu temple for their celebration of a certain deity's birth. Like many churches during Advent and Christmas, they had a display featuring the infant deity on which to focus their attention and celebration. But unlike the beautiful crèches that have the fancy Jesus-dolly laying in a manger lined with gold lamé, the the Hindu worshipers had the figurine in a swing.

Like an actual, metal and plastic Graco swing. Like many of us have in our living rooms to rock our actual, human, 21st-century-born babies.

It struck us as a fascinating choice and raised interesting questions about the way we think about Baby Jesus. Those manger scenes that we display on our mantles and that people fight to keep on courthouse lawns are so beautiful (well, maybe not those cheap plastic light-up ones) but I wonder if they paint too quaint an image of a pretty, peaceful birth and infancy, and one very distant from our own experience with babyhood. We picture Mary kneeling glowingly beside the makeshift cradle and even if we recognize the roughness and filth of the stable (animal waste—hello!) we probably still don't think about the bodily functions and things that Mary—like any new mom—would have been dealing with. Breastfeeding, spit up, pee and poop...

Three years ago, when I was eight months pregnant with Kate at Christmastime, I reflected a lot on Mary's experience of expectation, feeling the baby move within her, etc. This year, with a newborn at Christmastime, I've thought more about these basic things of infant care that we often never think about Mary doing. I've sat there feeding Claire and thought about Mary nursing the Son of God at her breast, staring into his eyes and wishing her sweet baby a life of health and happiness . . . before he spits up all over her or her other boob leaks milk through that nice blue robe she's always shown wearing.

Kate—like most small children—doesn't see Jesus or the nativity with the unearthly glow that we do, though. She knows that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and that our depictions of Jesus at Christmastime are of him as a baby, and having watched me with her baby sister these last six weeks, she knows what babies do. She demonstrated for us at dinnertime last night, bringing the figures from our "nice" nativity (i.e. not her wooden Melissa & Doug one or the wooden Advent calendar with its rudimentary nativity scene) to the table and playing with them. Not wanting to perpetuate the idea that Jesus is untouchable (even if it meant the figures might get broken, which they didn't) I let her keep playing with them throughout the meal.

And what did she do? She put the tiny, two-inch Baby Jesus figurine on her shoulder, patted him, and said "Jesus needs to burp." She laid him down on the table, lifted his bottom, and said, "I need a wipe. I need a diaper." She even held his little mouth up to Mary's chest so he could eat.

She got it. The nativity means that the Messiah was born as a real, human baby, and all the stuff that brings with it. It was the beginning of a life through which God experienced the roughness of life on this earth. Through which God was with us. Immanuel—God with us. Immanuel doesn't just mean glowing, awe-struck wonder. It also means wet burp rags and dirty diapers.

Home for the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:27:00 +0000

Today, I'm linking up to Kelly Stamps' holiday home tour, giving a virtual tour of houses all decorated for Christmas! So, "Welcome!" whether you're a regular reader or just visiting from Kelly's Korner.

We just bought this house in May, so I had the fun and challenge of decorating a new space—deciding where the old decorations should go, and figuring out new things unique to this house now.

Like the long banister up the staircase in our foyer. It would be fun to add sparkly doo-dads to this garland and ribbon in the future, but for now, I figured that would just be begging for Kate to mess with it!

Straight ahead from the foyer is the living room. I was really excited that our tree this year would be where we would actually see it a lot and enjoy it in our daily lives (mine especially, since I'm on maternity leave and home most days right now). In our old house, we had the whole formal living room in front, casual family room in back thing, and the tree fit best in the front room, which left us trying to be intentional about hanging out in a room we didn't often hang out in, just so we could enjoy the tree. This is so nice, and since this room just has a half-wall separating it from the kitchen, the tree is visible from the kitchen too.

I love the fancy trees people do with a color scheme and the elaborate tulle-type stuff all around it, but what would we do, then, with all the sentimental ornaments we have, commemorating childhood hobbies and trips, milestones like graduations, our wedding, and the kids' first Christmases? Some people call it hodge-podge, but we like our meaningful tree! (Last year, I did a series of posts called "A Life in Ornaments," showing the story told by our collections of ornaments.)

I have nothing against putting kids' crafty glue-and-glitter ornaments on the "main tree," (I forced my own mother to keep my oversized felt thing from kindergarten on her tree years after she went the fancy route) but since we have this little 4-foot fake tree, it seemed fun to let Kate put her creations on it.

On the mantle, I have our cool metal nativity set (an epiphany scene, really, since it has magi, not shepherds), along with garland and berries.

For the coffee table, I needed something Kate couldn't destroy (at least not easily), and I had this wreath that used to hang on our front door until I got a nicer hand-me-down one from my mom. I was going to put a big pillar candle or something in the middle, until I realized it would be a great place to put Christmas cards as we receive them!

These three glass hurricanes were a wedding gift, and I've used them for candles, mantle decor, etc. in the past, but in the new house, I've got them on the dining room table and plan to switch out the contents for the seasons. In the fall, I had pine cones and autumnal potpourri, and in the spring I could put flower petals or something around pillar candles. For Christmas, though, I've got a sparkly mix of ornaments and gold beads.

Close up on the candle- and garland-laden buffet behind the table.

On the kitchen table is our Advent wreath and wooden Advent calendar, and the church's Advent devotional. We light the candles when we pray before dinner, and sometimes read and discuss the day's devotional. (Yes, I know the candles should be purple, but I couldn't find purple this year, or even burgundy, which is usually my compromise.)

On our kitchen counter right now is the gingerbread house Kate and I decorated and the light-up Santa figurine I got in our Sunday school Christmas party's white elephant exchange. (I'll be moving the Santa up to Kate's room soon!)

Already in Kate's room is a ceramic Christmas tree and wooden Santa (both passed on to me by a friend who doesn't "do" holiday decorations and who is probably quite amused by this whole post!) Also, we have the stack of Christmas books I pack away with the decorations and only get out at this time of year. Actual Baby Jesus stories stay out year round, but these fun seasonal books include The Little Drummer Boy, Lemony Snicket's The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming (LOVE this book!), Merry Christmas Curious George, and the Mary Englebreit-illustrated The Night Before Christmas.

And Claire has a music box that my family had from my childhood, as well as a few Christmas bibs, of course!

I love decorating for Christmas. How about you?

Works for Me Wednesday: Upcycled Gift Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:11:00 +0000

I don't have a lot of my own original advice for people. That's why I read books. But today I have one, so I'm adding it to Kristen Welch's "Works for Me Wednesday" linky.

It's tough to know exactly how many Christmas cards to order each year, and it's unlikely that your friends and family total a nice round number that card sites sell sets of cards in, so if you're like me, you have a few unsent copies of your 2010 card (and maybe further back) stashed in a drawer somewhere.

If you do, and can't bear to throw them away, then chop them up to make gift tags for your gifts this year!

Just cut out the greeting or your names (with or without a photo), anything except the year, punch a hole in the corner, and you're set! Use a Sharpie to write the recipient's name, if necessary.

That works for me!

Daily December (Week 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:26:00 +0000

The first few pics from this past week set a "people holding Claire" theme, but I promise there are more holiday-oriented photos further down!

Tuesday, Dec. 6: Matt's mom came over while Kate was in school so that she could cuddle Claire for a good long time without being begged to get up and play!

Wednesday, Dec. 7: Claire and I went up to Bowling Green, Ky., to meet my mom for lunch and shopping. It's only about an hour from Nashville and two hours from Louisville, so it makes a good midpoint to meet up occasionally between bigger visits. I drove back home praying that my girls would want to spend time with me as they get bigger as much as I want to spend time with my mom.

Thursday, Dec. 8: My friend Nancy brought me lunch and got to meet Claire, who slept in her bouncer most of the time while we chatted. It was good to catch up!

Friday, Dec. 9: Kate's Christmas program at school had this proud mommy grinning from ear to ear. It was a cute show and I love seeing Kate interact with the other little girls in her class.

Saturday, Dec. 10: Now that we're living in a house that wasn't built in the 1970s, we actually have outdoor outlets and can put up Christmas lights! Not much, we just hung some icicle lights across the front porch, but I'm excited about it, especially since our tree isn't visible in a front window.

Sunday, Dec. 11: I've been gradually wrapping presents this week—one of my favorite Christmas activities! On somewhat related notes, we had our Sunday school Christmas party tonight (at which we did a white elephant exchange and had a surprise wedding shower) and it was my dad's 60th birthday (another gift-giving event, so as I said, "somewhat related," even though I don't have pics of those!)

Monday, Dec. 12: Kate and I decorated a gingerbread house with a kit I picked up at 50% off after last Christmas. She wanted to eat some of the candy as we decorated, of course!

Afterward, we got in our jammies and drove around looking at Christmas lights. (If you are amused by pics of screaming babies being tortured by well-meaning older siblings, see the post with more from this shoot!)

And another bonus pic: earlier in the day, I used my camera's timer to take some pics of Claire and I by the tree. Sweet baby is six weeks old today!

Holly Jolly Sister Torture

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:32:00 +0000

Last night, I suggested to Kate that we put on our Christmas jammies and go out for a drive to look at Christmas lights. I admit, I had an ulterior motive in that I was a church widow last night (i.e. Matt had a couple meetings, so I was on my own for the whole evening) and hoped that the drive would lull Kate to sleep and make for an easy bedtime.

No such luck, but we did have fun. I built it up for Kate, saying "We're going to wear our jammies in the car. Isn't that CRAZY??!!" And she kept saying "it's CRAZY!" throughout the whole experience. I drove until long after the thrill had worn off, still hoping she would fall asleep, so we saw quite a few neighborhoods in our area. We found the Griswolds of south Davidson county, who must save all year just to pay their December electric bill. Man, that was a lot of lights.

Before we left, I wanted to take pics of the girls in their Christmas jammies. Kate loves to hold Claire (and hug and kiss her in aggressive, smothering fashion) but it always makes me nervous. Here's how last night's shoot went down:

"Hi Clairy-Beary! Let me hold you!"

"Look at the camera!"

"Mommy! Claire's crying!"

"What do you mean, hold our bears in their Christmas jammies? Now I can't squeeze my sister within an inch of her life!"

"Okay, I guess this works. Whaddayaknow? She stopped crying!"

"Well that didn't last long. Don't cry, Claire!"

And since Kate's jammies were obscured by Claire, here's Santa Monkey in all its glory.

And since I know you were dying to see it, here's that crazy house! There's a street that goes right behind their house too, and the back was just as covered in lights and electric flotsam as the front! Maybe I'll take a pic of the back when I take Matt to see this phenomenon.

We Are Those Parents

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:46:00 +0000

Last night was the Christmas program at Kate's school. We were definitely "those" parents, snapping photos, moving around to get the best angle, waving to our child when she looked for us in the crowd . . . then again, pretty much every parent there was acting the same way. It was so funny to see all the dads with their video cameras, standing off to the side. (What movie is it, where they show the kids' view from the stage and every parent has a video camera covering his or her face?)

It's crazy what pride and pleasure a parent gleans from these unpolished performances! I absolutely grinned from ear to ear like a loon throughout the whole thing.

Kate tried to come sit with us as she passed our row while processing in, but went on up front without too much trouble!

(The band-aid on her forehead, by the way, has become a permanent fixture lately. She had a strange bout of acne almost a month ago, and she kept picking at one spot on her forehead and one on her cheek such that they bleed again and thus will never heal if we don't keep them covered. I ran out of the small, flesh-colored band-aids.)

Another kid had a meltdown while processing in, and burst into tears another couple times during the program. Poor kid.

It was so sweet, seeing her up there with her little friends. The boy (barely visible between the girls) had several meltdowns, and the girls entertained themselves while the other classes sang. The girl in the pink turtleneck played nervously with her shirt, pulling it up Mardi-Gras style, and the girl on the other side of Kate was a ringleader in lifting her skirt up, Kate and the other brunette imitating her briefly!

I have to say, Kate was very animated and did motions that went with the words even when no other child did. (I don't know if they cut the motions at the last minute, the other kids forgot, or maybe the teachers just did those to help the kids remember the words and Kate mimicked it, but it was cute!)

The most awww-inducing song was the pre-K kids' presentation of "The Friendly Beasts." The kids were dressed up as the animals from each verse of the song, and individual kids sang the verses corresponding to his or her animal. I had to lean over to Matt and whisper: "I'm a lobster." "In the nativity play?" "Yes. I'm First Lobster." "There was more than one lobster at the birth of Jesus?" (Who can name that movie? It's one of my holiday favorites!)

All the classes sang "Wasn't That a Mighty Day," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." Kate's class did "Three Wise Men" (to the tune of "Three Blind Mice"). There was no soundtrack for their song, so the teacher held up the mic to amplify each child in turn.

Kate seemed to be having so much fun, hopping up and down sometimes, and clapping excitedly at the end of every song.

She was almost as excited as me ;0)

Mommy Moments

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 20:08:00 +0000

There are moments in and sights around our house that fill me with such contentment. Things that make me say, "wow, this is the life I've always dreamed of." Things like:

A refrigerator covered in kids' artwork

Random craft projects hanging around

A child playing dress-up

Doing fingerprint art and other crafty things with my kids

My daughter sitting at the counter while I'm fixing dinner

(a fond memory of my own growing up with my mom and the primary reason I wanted a house with a sit-at counter)

Going to school programs where it may be hard to understand what the kids are singing, and half the kids are crying or not paying attention, but they're still oh-so-cute!

And the very fact of having two little girls! I always wanted lots of kids, especially daughters.

Life's not perfect. There are definitely the times that try moms' souls (just had one, actually, which is why I decided to write this heartwarming post rather than have a breakdown or break out the Jack Daniels at two in the afternoon—and indeed, I do feel better after writing this!) but in between those moments when it feels like my head is going to explode in frustration (please tell me you have them too), there are the moments when I am just so happy and thankful for my sweet children and this beautiful life.

Smile!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Miller Kelley) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Claire started smiling this week!

I tried to capture it on camera, and got this little smirk :0)

I love how when babies first learn to smile, it's like "I know I lift my lip up and open my mouth..." so the process often looks like this:

One of my favorite Claire-faces, however, is still the little "ooooh" that always makes me make a noise like the aliens from Toy Story. So cute!