sigh...

First of all, Adam and I would like to congratulate Gracen on her new skill of removing herself from the crib without any assistance whatsoever. You are indeed a very talented little person.

Fortunately, she discovered this ability during naptime the same day that we were planning on transitioning into her big girl bed for night sleep. I guess she overheard us talking and just wanted to get a head start. That's our little overachiever. She has been insisting that I lie down with her first in bed, which I do not mind at all. She pats the bed beside her and says, "Mama, bed." Refusal just isn't even an option, and she's just so cuddly. She does have to sleep with her entourage: Froggy (of course), X-Mas Curious George, Monkey (yes, that's his name), lil' Froggy (with attached pacifier that confuses her), Ali G (her new alligator from the Everglades), and Psycho T (teddy bear wearing UNC's Hansorough's jersey). Entourage must also go downstairs for breakfast in the morning.

So far she's loving her new room. We are having a bit of an issue with her getting up from nap and playing with all of her toys, and I literally mean ALL of her toys. She's pulls everything down from the shelf before starting to play. Usually by that point, I've come in to tell her to go back to bed, which she does until I close the door. We've been working on our current nap for an hour and fifteen minutes. She's still playing, though she's at least moved her toys to her bed. Perhaps this is a step. In the crib days, we would just lie her down, and she was asleep in about two minutes, so this may take some time.

Avery's room is starting to take form. I broke into the stored 0-3 month clothing last night, and the excitement is growing. I have been much calmer this time around in waiting for birth to come, though Adam may choose to disagree. Nesting is kicking in, and I can't seem to get anything completed quickly enough. Yesterday, I kicked Adam out of his dresser (without him knowing) and carried it up the stairs (by myself) to put in Avery's room. For some reason, Adam thought I should have waited for his brute strength to take on such a task. He doesn't really get the whole nesting urgency perspective. I'll post pics of both girls rooms once I get them a little closer to completion.

So, the babymoon...

I think I've waited so long to blog because it has been tough transitioning to reality. Islamorada

is beautiful. We stayed at the Cheeca Lodge and Spa, which was much fancier than I had expected. The boy went all out. The weather was warm all week, though it rained a couple of days. Even the rainy weather was great, as we spent the days in our lovely apartment or in the tiki bar just lounging and reading. We accomplished very little, and it was perfect. We played golf, very poorly I might add, and took a kayak out to some far off keys. We had planned numerous other activites, like snorkling and swimming with dolphins, but we opted for hours of uninterrupted relaxation. I also had a Mother Earth prenatal massage, and I came real close to dragging that little lady back home with me in the suitcase.

Gracen did well in our absence, and didn't really seem to miss us. My mom came for the first part of the week, and she came down with some flu-type of bug. Fortunately, Gracen had been dosed up on some Astragalus and Echinacea all week and was able to get by with a slightly runny nose. Yay for herbs (and Amy who tells us all about them)!! Adam's mom came to save the day, taking care of Gracen and Ghi-ghi. Gracen loves her grandmothers, and we are so grateful both of you took the time to give us this opportunity to travel. It was so good to have a chance to reconnect and remember just how much we love each other.

There are more pictures on our Picasa photo site.

Poison Control

1-800-222-1222

This is a good number to have handy in case your child ever eats a half a container of extra strength Tums.

I had serious heartburn issues when I was pregnant with Gracen. I kept containers of Tums in my car, by the bed, in my office, and when I went to teach classroom guidance, a student was in charge of keeping them safe and making sure I didn't forget them behind. When my students would see me in the hall without them, 1st graders especially, I would quickly be reminded to turn around and go get them. For someone who had never had heartburn, it was shocking that my body could turn on me so dreadfully. It didn't help that my feet were swelling far beyond the confines of my flip flops at that point. Avery seems to be attacking my digestive system like her big sis, and I've had to turn back to my good friends, Tums.

A couple of weeks ago, Gracen snagged one in my car. They taste like candy, as I get the tropical fruity variety. I didn't worry about it too much, but it did slightly alter her "output" for a day or so. The other morning, I was busy putting on a load of laundry and ignoring my child who had travelled upstairs on her own. I heard what sounded to be her playing with her Curious George wooden tool set at the top of the stairs, so I continued with my negligence. A good 3-5 minutes later, I climbed upstairs myself only to be hit with a bottle of Tums. She throws the thing at you when she realizes she's not supposed to be playing with something. I suppose if she does it quickly enough, she assumes you will not have noticed the error of her ways. Anyway, I fished a couple of crumbled Tums out of her mouth and was bitten several times. The bottle, which had been in our home for less than 36 hours was now half full. I know I eat a lot of them, but I'm pretty sure I didn't take down half a bottle.

So I called Poison Control (I'm happy to report we made it 21 months without having to use this number before). Apparently, no harm shall come to her as long as I quit allowing for opportunites such as these to arise. If it's a "continued exposure" it could affect her calcium levels, which could be bad. I'm sorry sweet girl. No more Tums for us. I'm graduating to Zantac.

Intresting poo report from excessive Tums exposure:

1. It makes them come out WHITE. Or maybe a dull light gray, but shocking nonetheless.

2. It makes a child poop in the tub for the first time in her life. I won't expand on this one, but just know that it wasn't pretty.

Gracen ended up in bed with me about 5 AM, since her daddy was out of town and she'd been awake since 2:45 laughing and talking. I woke up this morning to Gracen pulling my eyelids open saying, "Mama, up, up. Mama nudge ooo (love you). Mama, miss oooo. Mama, up, up. Bye-bye." It hurts my heart to love this kid so damn much.

Also, I will be out of touch for the next week. Adam is taking me on a BABYMOON!!! We're heading to the Florida Keys on Sunday and returning Friday. Grandmothers will be taking over parental duties for the week. I can't believe we're going to be away from her for so long, but we figure this is the last time for some years that we'll be able to get away with just the two of us. We'll miss you!

Baby Hog

Gracen is practicing for her upcoming role as a big sister. So far, she's loving lil' cuz Zachary and doesn't seem to mind me loving on him either. I'm hoping this is a good sign for a transition to a bigger family unit this summer. We love this little man.
Aunt Belle and Uncle Sheppie spent the weekend in Chapel Hill. Annie wouldn't let anyone else hold baby Zach, including his mother, for two days. I begged and pleaded, but was denied.

Aww, the girlies together again (me, Hannah, Laura and Annie). It's so good to be surrounded by the people who know you best. Please come back over.

Gracen's favorite person in the universe seems to be her Uncle Sheppie, and she was very sad to see him leave. Aunt Belle would probably have been stricken with jealousy had she not been hogging Zachary the entire visit.

I apologize for the excessively cheesy post last Wednesday. I was indeed feeling overly emotional (hormonal) and overwhelmed with my auto-anthropomorphic break-up. (Cort--thank you. I forgot I loved that word so very much. Wordly Wise, eh?). Let me introduce you to my new friend, '96 Chevy Tahoe. She's big and old and solid and drinks a lot. But I think I love her. I do find myself feeling slightly guilty about the fuel efficiency; however, I drive very little. And I can haul A LOT of stuff in this girl, which is quite exciting. And if we ever get snow or ice, which hasn't happened in years, I'll have a 4 wheel drive to get me safely around town. So bring on the blizzards. We're ready.