Quickly

Just some updates for the "Baby Book"
* Caelen can read and write her name all by herself. She knows how to write about half of the alphabet and there's only a few letters left that she doesn't always recognize.
*Addison is saying, "Ah Da" and waving her hands for All Done. She also had certain sounds for certain things like Dog and Night Night and Bye.

We're shut up with the flu, and by "we" I mean me. Thomas seems to be doing alright and Caelen just told me she has a sore throat. I haven't had the body aches and chills in a long time. I think I'll put on Wonder Pets Save the Nutcracker and take a nap.

Mini- Heart Attack #742

So after a huge fat lip, then a run in with a friend that left Caelen's face in disrepair, she scratched her cornea on her right eyeball!! UGH
Poor baby was out in the living room trying to dress herself when I hear screaming. I come out to find her covering her eye and screaming. When I asked what had happened all she could do was point to the plastic hanger that was half way removed from the neck of her dress she was going to wear. I comforted her, said it would be OK and we headed to my moms.
2 hours later she's still covering her eye and screaming bloody murder ever 30 seconds or so, so I'm figuring this is far and above the usual drama attributed to an owie. We head to the doctor who stains her eye, shines a purple light on it and there it was in all it's glory: a huge triangle shaped scratch across her eye.
She spent the rest of the day screaming and fussing and holding her "bauchie" to her eyes. She went about 4 hours without opening either eye and we had to have all the lights off and blinds closed. So here's my Helen Keller "watching" Wonder Pets.

My nerves were destroyed by the end of the day. The poor girl was in a ton of pain, but these heal wonderfully quickly as the pediatrician assured me. Sure enough, she woke up this morning and never said a thing about it!
Then she burned her hand on the fireplace....

You shoulda seen the other guy...

Here's Caelen literally half an hour before -

- she said, "Watch me Daddy! I'm tricky" and ended up like this:
She jumped over a full laundry basket, landed in it and her face went flat on the hardwood floor. She was screaming before she could stand up and by the time I got to her she was bleeding all over the place. I think her teeth just mangled her lip up. We got a ziploc baggie of frozen breast milk, put a paper towel around it and had her hold that to her lip all night (changing the paper towel about 6 times) until she said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. The next morning it was still bleeding a bit. Luckily by the end of the next day she just had a little scab on the front of her lip. I swear the girl gives me mini-heart attacks all day long.

One Piece of the Whole Picture

We're about to get pretty philosophical and very theological tonight folks.
What prompted my musings was a very common, absolutely daily occurrence in my house. Addison found one of her 4 hour old bottles on the living room floor, just barely peeking out from under the coffee table. Just as she brought it to her lips, I snatched it away gently and said, "Yucky baby, Mama will get you a new one." Man, did she start to wail! just as she always does. My reassurances were barely heard over her sobs as she crawled, head down into the kitchen after me. She parked herself at my feet and continued the crying as she watched me clean the bottle, fill it with nice warm water and being to scoop formula into it.
And all of a sudden I saw myself, only I was Addison. Wailing and moaning because the thing I just knew I wanted had been taken from me. Things weren't going the way I expected, as far as I could tell, Whoever had taken it from me was mean and spiteful. The only problem was, I didn't know the whole story.
Just as Addison didn't know the whole story. She didn't know that the 4 hour old formula would not only taste bad, it might make her tummy sick and it was almost empty. Her mommy had to take the very thing she thought she wanted away so that she could give her something better; A full, warm and new bottle. Something more wonderful than what she had been clinging tightly to.
Oh isn't that us!? We think we know, from our limited information and young perspective what MUST be best! We know exactly what we think we want and what must be right and true. But there is so much that we don't know. So much that only our Heavenly Parent knows, and yet when He takes something from us, or makes us wait for something, we holler and scream and say, "WHY!? I don't understand!!!" And if we would just quiet down a bit, we'd probably hear Him saying, "Be patient my child, I'm working on something even better than what you had your sweet little heart set on. Trust me because I love you."

Addison's Dedication

I think a dedication really must be the parents dedicating themselves to raise their children to know the God of the universe. And a great chance for their church family to meet the precious child they've been blessed with. So on Nov. 8 we dedicated our precious Addison. I really felt like it was just a sweet step in the process that began the moment I knew I had conceived her and I prayed to the Lord that that child would just love Him more than anything.

This is me, rolling my eyes at my husband in front of the entire church. The story goes like this: I told him I had a verse picked out to read for Addison, I had been praying it for her for a few weeks and had it written on an index card. I reminded him a couple times that morning to get it, he said he had the reference memorized. I only found out, right here in front of everyone that he had forgotten the reference and had no idea what the verse was. So there you go, hence the glare! :) I'm so the righteous wife.....

The verse was Proverbs 14:26 - "He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge."

He talked about a spiritual heritage and anyone who knows Thomas knows that he can talk eloquently in a tight spot, so it was all good.

No more hauling firewood for her!

The eldest Miss Kline has recieved a bug (most likely spider) bite to her right hand. It's on the side along her pointer finger and boy is she all worked up. She says it really hurts and she pitches a fit about it every 30 seconds even though we're trying to distract her with Wonder Pets. I noticed a tiny red bump there last night before she went to bed so I'm figuring it's nothing to worry about since she's not vomitting or has a fever by this point.
So we've iced it and put a Baking Soda/ Meat Tenderizer paste on it and we'll see how it goes. I did attempt some nice cherry flavored Children's Benedryl which she promptly spat out all over her party dress. Hopefully her friends' birthday party will distract her otherwise I'll be going crazy by the end of the day.

Last night Addison was saying Night Night to her Daddy. As I held her she waved to him and then we headed to her darkened room so I could walk around and cuddle her before putting her down. She lay with her head against my chest, then suddenly looked up and out of her room, said, "Da!" and started waving again. Oh I about died! She wanted to say Night Night to Daddy one more time.

An older Peek A Boo

Here's a long overdue video of my sweet Addison, who could not be a happier person if she tried.


Riding home from Bible Study I asked Caelen what she learned about:
Caelen: Umm... the light and the darkness... and rest and play....
Me: Did you have fun?
Caelen: Yup
Me: Did you hear a story?
Caelen: Yup.... About the light and the darkness.... Mom, I already told you, how many times do you want me to tell you?

Addison waves now, but only for Night night. I don't really know how she figured it out but the other night I said, "Say night night" and she just started waving to Papa and Caelen! She also does a half baked sign for "All Done" so I can't tell if she's waving or saying she's over it.
She also says, "Hi" in her own little Addison voice, and peeked over her high chair down at the dog and said, "DA. DA."

Life Lately!

I have no excuse for how busy I have been and how few blogs I have been turning out, so here's some quick updates!!

The newest member of the "commune" was added on Nov 29th - Maximus Spolini.

Then there was Halloween which we weren't even sure was going to happen since our missy here refused to dress up and go to the Harvest Party for Awanas. I had to bribe her, "I'll dress up like the scarecrow if you'll dress up!" So there you have it - Dorothy, Toto and Scarecrow.

My little leader of the pack was on to the next house before some people had gotten there candy at the current house. She said Trick or Treat before and after the door was opened to her and sometimes stepped inside and helped herself announcing, "I'm Dorothy!" No one seemed to mind and were gracious hosts to my outgoing girl. (As I hollared from the sidewalk, "Caelen come out honey! I'm sorry ma'am!")

For the life of me I can't get this picture to turn the right way so tip your head to the right. It's Caelen's first drawing of a person. She's not yet 3. The round circle is his tummy and the line is the mouth.

My Miss Addie was dedicated to the Lord this Sunday at church along with 4 other babies! She's so beautiful if I do say so myself.

And next time I get a minute I promise I won't play Bejeweled on Facebook, I'll blog!!

Special Girls

Caelen AND Addison fell asleep in the car on the way home from my Mom's on Monday, literally changing my whole life. One whole hour in the middle of the day brings sanity I never knew could exist, it's a respite so to speak. But enough about that...
After Caelen woke up she came in from the car in the garage for some lunch. As she's eating she asks for a napkin, which I promptly give her and then she says nothing. So to jokingly remind her of her manners I spouted off with the well-worn joke, "Thanks Mom, you're the best!!"
She just stared into oblivion. I said, "No?" She just stared.
A full minute later, still staring somewhere over my right shoulder she says in such a sincere but exhausted voice, "Mommy you are the best, i just don't know if i can say it right now."

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Once her energy returned and she was bouncing off the walls she melted my heart with, "Mommy, I just like you in my heart."

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Little Miss Addison enjoys the rocking horse pictured in the last blog and now when she gets on it she actually begins to rock it herself. If you're playing a game with her and you stop, she tries to get it going again. I'm sorry but when did this child grow into a toddler.

And if that wasn't enough she said her first word on Tuesday. "Up." She was crawling around and making the "Pppp" sound, so I asked her to say Up and she said, "AH-Pppp" I was so excited. An hour later my Mom comes to me carrying her and says that Addison tried to say Up again to her, but she said, "Pppp - AH". LOL!

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I have mentioned before that Caelen's sweet teacher Miss Shannon has a skin cancer on her face that she's in the process of treating. On Monday Caelen received a card in the mail from Miss Shannon thanking Caelen for praying for her "owie" and saying it will be better soon and that Caelen is one of God's special children. We put it on the fridge so that we would always remember to be praying for Miss Shannon.

This morning while I'm doing morning dishes, I look over and see Caelen with her head leaned up against the fridge and her hands covering her face. She was mumbling quietly into her hands, then she leaned back and said, "Hey-Man!" You guessed it! I said, "Whatcha doing baby, you praying?" She said, "Yep!" "For who baby?" "Miss Shannon's owie."

Photos of the Week

I apologize for the quality of these photos. I don't know if toddlers handling cameras can affect the performance, but I have to wonder if one too many falls to the floor are compromising my camera?....

She looks so old in this pic, but she holds on like a big girl and I bounce her up and down. She just loves it and is even climbing over to try and get on it now.

Here's my sugar bean, but don't let her hear me calling her that because she'll make sure you understand she's not a Sugar Bean, she's a Caelen.

This past week Addie began greeting me after naps just like this. Oh I just love it, it makes my heart melt!

Today at lunch Caelen and I were clapping along with the radio and having a great time when all of a sudden Addison puts her little hands together and begins to clap in her high chair! She was very deliberate about it, it looked like it took every ounce of concentration for her to get those hands to obey, but she kept doing it! We praised her and got so excited as she practised over and over. Then Caelen was really proud when I told her she taught Addison how to clap (well she did, Addie was watching her the whole time, I'm pretty sure!)

Glad I didn't say, "Give her a bite."

So Addison is in her high chair while Caelen is enjoying her popsicle in the chair next to her, and they're staring at each other. Caelen asks, "Mommy, can I give Addison a bite of my popsicle?" I reply, with my back turned on them while I do the dishes, "Well... not a bite honey, but you can give her a lick."
Yes, my friends, I turn just in time to see Caelen lick her sister from chin to nose. She then turns to me, just a little confused and asks, "But Mommy, how is she going to eat the popsicle?"

Her Imagination Amazes Me

Caelen (crying in her carseat because she couldn't reach a toy): Raindrops fall from our eyes Mommy, just like the clouds.

Caelen: When I grow up, I'm gonna be a Jumbo Jet!!!!
Me: REALLY??
Caelen: No, a firefighter.

One of Caelen's most favorite Sunday school teachers recently starting treating some skin cancer on her face. The topical cream should do the trick but it's an obvious"Owie". In the meantime one of Caelen's favorite pretend games to play with me is Sunday School. She's the teacher and socks are usually the felt pieces that go on the board to tell a story. So one day, as proper and serious as can be Miss Caelen looks at her "class", puts a hand to her face and says, "I know you all see this owie on my face, but it's gonna be okay. Sometimes it itches." Then she got down to the serious business of teaching.

I'm just not the source of all things

When I have a day like yesterday I have to ask myself, "What is the problem"? Let's get to the bottom of this. Why am I so impatient with the simplest request, like for a juice cup refill? Why can't I handle one more spill on the ground, and why am I feeling like this raging monster inside is about to jump out at my children and scare the crap out of them, not to mention scar them for the rest of their lives and give them plenty to tell their therapist one day?
Then I realize that that "one more spill on the ground" happens in the bathroom while I'm trying to get a little privacy to do my business and theres an ankle biter crawling around my feet, tugging at my legs and crying because she wants me to hold her hands and walk with her all day. And now, the one responsible for spilling my iced tea is taking her clothes off and throwing them everywhere while I begging her to get a towel to clean up the massive puddle that her sister is about to crawl through.
The juice cup is being asked for while I'm right in the middle of a nursing session and when I say it'll be a minute, the whining starts in. And the laundry has been sitting in the living room waiting patiently just to be sorted for 3 days because I literally haven't had a moment without 5 different demands from a child on it.
Then I realize, my Caelen is not the type of child who can play by herself, or even be by herself at all. I have to go pee with her, I have to go to her room with her, I have to look for her juice cup in the playroom with her. If I tell her to go by herself, she starts The Dance. The one where the feet stomp back and forth, the breathing gets panicked and all the excuses started flooding out in an ever-increasingly hysterical voice. This drives me so nuts I'd go to Antarctica for a juice cup just to make it stop.
So Caelen is always there. While I feed Addison, she's climbing on my chair and up my back. While I nurse Addison, she's jumping on the couch 2 inches away. While I go potty she's sitting on the edge of the bathtub staring at me. I find myself racing away down the hall while she's distracted, hoping I can do any task without her following after me and asking what I'm doing. She's usually hot on my heels.
So add to that a 7 1/2 month old baby who is literally only happy one of two ways: eating (which requires much preperation and attention on my part) and using my hands to walk herself around the house. She literally crawls around the house bawling because she just wants someone to walk with her. Aside from my new chronic backache, I can't multitask while doing it! I can't pay attention to Caelen at the same time, or fill any other request, while both my hands are occupied and I'm hunched over to the ground. And don't stick Addie on a walker, or push toy, she knows what you're trying to do and it just makes her mad!
This was my day yesterday. All those examples happened and I was about to hyperventalate, or run away, or pretend I was deaf. Something, anything to get a breath.
Then, a miracle.... Caelen was playing with her Littlest Pet Shop and Addison was at an activity table and both were engrossed. I sneaked away and began to sort laundry. The only sounds coming from the play room were happy, contented sounds and I began to breathe: nice, long, deep breaths.
I only got the laundry sorted. Chaos broke out after 5 minutes, but what a blessed 5 minutes!! I got a breather, they gave me a moment. Just one and I soaked it up. And it was then that I realized, I just needed a second to miss my kids. If I could have little stolen 5 minute segments interspersed throughout the day, I'd probably be okay.
When people look back at these days (like I one day will) and sigh and say, "I wish I had those days back, " or "I wish I'd enjoyed it more," or any manner of things that make those of us in the moment wonder what's wrong with us that we're about to go nuts, they need to remember that IT WAS CONSTANT. It never ended. If you're longing for those days, then you've probably had a long breather and are thinking you could take on some more. I would be too, but right now, I never get a breather. The demands are never ending, emotionally and physically. Soon, you're running on empty and have no recharging station in site and then days like yesterday happen.

My recharging station is not a bubble bath, or a movie date or extra sleep although all those things are wonderful, they ultimately don't get me through a day like yesterday. My recharging station is getting in the Word and I had not done it the night before as I had a million other demands on that time. So I woke up the next morning depleted already. I knew what the problem was and last night I spent 1 1/2 hours in the Word and study. I'm just that weak folks. I can't do an ounce of this on my own strength! I gotta have the Spirit's power and that's just the truth. So I've prayed over today, I've blogged about yesterday to purge it from my system and I think we're ready to go. Bring it on. I wasn't made to be the meeter of every need anyway, He was.

Pictures and Peek-A-Boo

While visiting with my girlfriends and oblivious to anything but diaster in the backyard where the children were playing, Caelen ran up to me and handed me my camera, kinda like she was saying, "Here's your camera back mom." So I turned that puppy on and found 68 pictures just like this:

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Okay, tell me that's not the sweetest picture you've ever seen! She still takes the prize for the happiest baby even though she's super grump trying to learn to get around on her own. She's quick to forget frustrations and offense and returns to her normal self (smiley & laughing) almost instantly.

My ham! She's getting so big and smart. She got her first patch from Awanas at church and her teachers tell me she is just so well-behaved, well mannered, polite, a good sharer and quiet! Go figure that last one....

Addison never crawled so fast to date as when she saw the first fire of the season in our fireplace. She crawled half way across the living room in a matter of about 30 seconds and crawled right up. Caelen wanted to know what all the fuss was about, but of course she's been a fire lover her entire life as well. Both girls spent their first months often in front of a fire watching it's hypnotizing effects.

And now a new skill - Peek-A-Boo!

Videos for your spare 3 minutes today

Here's just a little bit more joy from the youngest during the horsey ride song. She starts vibrating and raspberrying like crazy.

If the way Addie drives this walker is any indication of the type of driver she is, it's gonna be awhile before she's getting her license ;) This girl is crazy. She flies all over the house now, following me everywhere. It's like she's walking with a massive intertube around her waist, I think that may be how she sees it LOL. Anyway she recently realized she can go almost anywhere and get to almost anything, so a new favorite: Mama's junk drawer!
In the video my Caelen is enjoying her rainbow sherbet cone since we had just gotten home from a family date night. It was the first time Thomas and I had dinner out since our anniversary in May and it was greatly enjoyed. Caelen was such a doll, we felt ice cream cones were in order.

As for the Addison September Madness, add in saying "Mama". I love it! And she has pulled herself to a stand. Watch out world, she just might be walking by Christmas. Gotta keep up with the sister you know ;) If Addison DOES walk early, then I'll be convinced that my kids really are just precocious and that I truly do not push them. Poor Addison has had to figure out almost everything on her own since I'm so busy and all over the place and she's still keeping a good pace. We'll see.

I think Addison should be Toto.

Who knew September would be "Addison's Month"? She decided 7 months old was a good time to start doing everything and her little milestone calendar has a new event on it almost every day now!
The day of my last post Miss Addie started crawling and everyday she gets better. We're witnessing multiple advances before she flops on the floor and waves all her limbs about. She started babbling and making Caelen very excited when she thinks she recognizes a word. Addison is happiest standing, does it for long stretches and often lets go completely, thinking she should just be able to do this thing. Now she's walking while holding our hands, and I didn't think it was possible, but I think she saves her biggest smiles for the moments her little feet are stepping across the floor. I've heard it three times from strangers this week and I agree, What a doll baby!

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Ask Caelen if she's anything: a goofy girl, one big tomato (she eats a lot of them), a little froggy and she's likely to answer, "No Mommy!! I'm a whole Caelen."

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Fall is here, calendar-wise and weather-wise. I thought summer would give us one last Hurrah. My mom kept telling me the weather forecast said 100 degrees for about 5 days, but everyday would pass and would be surprisingly cool and shock us all. By cool, of course, I mean 85, but that's a far cry from the awful heat wave they warned us about. The nights are cool and we slept with our windows closed last night for the first time in months. This morning is cold, and I'll probably begin the spring-fall routine of dressing in multiple layers because you never know what's going to happen around here. Good old Mediterranean climate. Us and Chile..... and the Mediterranean of course.

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I may have mentioned that the horse for Halloween idea went out the window as soon as she saw a Dorothy dress at Target. My thoughtful and precious girlfriend Courtney found some "ruby slippers" on mega sale at a kid's store and I dug out some blue socks to complete her outfit. The only thing missing was any knowledge on Caelen's part of who Dorothy was! She's never heard of her. So when we tried her outfit on yesterday at her request, I asked her if she's like to know who Dorothy was.

We spent the afternoon watching a film that I haven't seen in literally about 20 years. Talk about memories!! I used to watch that movie at least once everyday of my life for years dreaming of being Judy Garland. Here's a little secret, I used to tell everyone Judy was my grandma when I was in the first grade. I don't know how many kids believed me, but I believed me, so who cared? Yesterday I remembered all the songs and all the emotions I used to experience when I watched it. So strange, so fun. And now Caelen is so excited to be Dorothy.

Like Father Like Daughter

The first thing Caelen did when she received this awesome tool belt from her Grandma Faith was announce that she needed to work on the playhouse. Which makes perfect sense since the only time in the past year that she's ever seen her daddy with his tool belt on is when he is doing that exact thing.

As for this one, all you have to do is show her a camera and this is what you get :)

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7 Month Stats:

Addison really despises baby food, so at this point we're just feeding her whatever we're eating, interspersed with baby food I bought and don't want to waste. She's still trying to master feeding herself. The problem comes with the transfer from the fist to the mouth, but she's making progress.

She's getting on her hands and knees and rocking now! She's just so close.

Yesterday she starts making the "B" motion with her mouth. No sound, just air but she's getting that "Ba" down.

I can say she officially babbled for the first time yesterday as well. She shouted "MaMA!" from the baby swing (total fluke) and Caelen got so excited, "She said Mama!!"

She has pulled herself up to standing so many times by now, but there's always been a little bit of help or she hasn't gone all the way up. So I can't mark it on her calendar yet :) but she totally could if she wanted to. And ALL she wants to do is stand and take steps. I've never met a more wiggly baby. I don't even know if Caelen was this wiggly or constantly grasping for you so she could stand up. Everything is a means to an end at this point and that end is standing.

Here she is rocking out to a song on the computer during breakfast.

Stick a lightbulb in her ear and it might light up

Thomas: Caelen, where do you get all your energy?

Caelen (without missing a beat and super-matter-of-fact): My tummy.

We get hand-me-downs a lot. I LOVE it. We recently got some hand-me-downs with little hand-print keepsakes. You cement the child's handprint, one for when they're 2, another for when they're 3. So I'll give the Age 2 to Addison, since Caelen is almost done with that stage of life, and Caelen will get to do the Age 3.

Well she's not too keen on sharing. She wants both and doesn't care what kind of explanation I give. So today she grabs the tin off of Addie's dresser and says, "I don't want her to have it, I'm sending it to jail with Jesus." I informed her Jesus wasn't in jail. She asked where He was and I told her Heaven so she said she was sending it to Heaven to be with Jesus as she shoves it under Addison's crib. I'm looking totally confused at this point and she points under the crib and says, "That's heaven under there. That's where Jesus is."

That's right, we got a little bit o' heaven right here in our house.

Bad guys go to the can.... the trash can!

As Caelen was having me read through her Picture Bible with her we were discussing Moses. Basically how he was in a basket but one day he'd grow up and make the Pharaoh stop hurting God's people. Pharaoh was a bad king etc. So we had all the basics down. We turn the page and there's Moses as a grown man.
She gets this excited look of realization and says, "There's Moses and he's a big boy! Now he's gonna throw Pharaoh in the trash!!!"
Maybe you just had to be there.

Caelen was also dicussing her red birthmark she has on her right pointer finger. She told me she didn't want it there. I told her I was sorry but it's kinda like the color of you hair or eyes, you don't get to choose. And she went on a mile a minute, "My hair and eyes are brown, but nothing's red, red like that chair, nothing's red. We don't have red, but I have red on my finger and I don't want it on my finger."
She didn't seem too distressed and was riding on her toy car happily within seconds.

The Old Man is Snoring & Little Johnny Wants to Play

Well, whether the playhouse was ready for weather or not, it came. I've never experienced a September storm like this (or one at all?). After being awakened at 1:00am because I thought someone had finally nuked San Francisco and I was just hearing the explosion, we spent the night enjoying the rare sound of thunder and watching our bedroom light up until the morning. Our window was open and we could smell and hear the rain. And we were amazed when the lightening to thunder count was 15 but it was still lighting up our room. The next day looked like this almost all day long...

and Thomas and Caelen had to take refuge under the eves when the rain started up again later that afternoon. Judging from the talk around town I think most people really enjoyed the change of pace. I know we did.

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... and what you can't see are the three bags of cucumbers, one bag of bell peppers and 2 other watermelons in our fridge. Yes, we're swimming in produce. But that's about it, as this time of the month is when I'm praising the Lord for stored up deer meat in the freezer and produce from the garden because every bill comes due at once and I'm counting the days until the next paycheck. I'm also trying to figure out how to make a fun new recipe out of venison and tomatoes for the fifth time that week....

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I forgot how hard this stage is, when all the baby wants to do is stand up. So they're clambering all over you, pulling hair and clothes just to stand up and be so proud. You hold them and they wiggle because they want to go but you set them down and they cry because they can't.

I'm smiling in this photo because Addison isn't whining, which is about all she does these days because she is smack dab in the aforementioned predicament.

My precious girls love the camera. They both pose in their own special way :)

Minutes later Caelen began singing Jesus Loves Me. Many months ago (I believe in one of my Jan 09 posts) I have a video of Caelen singing this while she's on time out. Here it is again 8 months later, complete with hand motions.