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I just LOVE Sundays. For so many reasons.
First, our family is almost always together on Sundays. Bryan never has to work, so we get the whole day together. We eat breakfast together then go to Sunday School and church. It is so great to get together and worship with all of the wonderful people at our church. And of course the God we worship is pretty awesome, too. :) For those who think church on Sunday is a chore or a waste of time...well, I feel bad for them. They are missing out. Big time.
I love to dress Kyla up in one of her pretty dresses to go to church. Sometimes she stays in the nursury during church, but often she sits with us. I love the cuddle time. She is very good about falling asleep and taking a nap through the sermon.
After church, we enjoy a relaxing lunch together. Often Sunday afternoon means a nap for me. Bryan might take a nap or might get some stuff done outside. I did get a nap in this afternoon
Sunday evenings are the perfect end to a great day. We usually have a supper of popcorn, fruit, and whatever else we find to go with those. We might watch a movie or just some TV. Kyla plays on the floor nearby. We watch her and laugh at her silly antics.
Tonight was a little change in the Sunday evening routine. We went a community supper at a church in a nearby town. Broasted chicken, potatoes and gravy, dressing, corn, coleslaw, cranberry sauce, and pie. It was delish!! Kyla had her first taste of lemon meringue pie (sans meringue). She looked at me like "I don't know what that was, Mom, but it was GOOD!"
Anyhow, it was a great day. Here's a picture of Kyla before we left to go eat supper.
Eight months ago today, this was me:
Fifteen hours and fifty-three minutes after checking in at the hospital, I got the first real-life look at the beautiful child that had been responsible for so many strange happenings over the previous nine months.
Now, eight months later, I cannot imagine my life without that child in it. Every day is a new adventure in learning, watching, and marveling.
In case you read this someday down the road, Kyla, here is an abbreviated look at your life at eight months:
- You love to eat crackers, cheerios, bread, applesauce, squash, and sweet potatoes. You are very skilled at picking up even small pieces of food with your fingers and putting them in your mouth.
- You have no teeth and no sign of any showing up anytime soon. I have heard that the later the teeth come in, the better they are. You are a smart girl. You must know that.
- Your favorite thing is pulling yourself up on anything that you possibly can. You grin that goofy smile and look as pleased as can be about your accomplishment. Then you scope out the new above-ground territory to see what you can now reach.
- You sleep much better now that you are in your crib upstairs in your bedroom. You only woke once last night. You had a nipple snack and went right back to sleep.
- You never mind riding in the car. You usually take advantage of the time to catch up on a little sleep.
- You wear primarily 6-9 month clothes but are starting to outgrow some of them. You fit some of your 9-12 month clothes. When you wear a disposable diaper, you wear size 2; but in a pinch size 3 works too.
- You thoroughly enjoy your baths. You crawl from one end of the tub to the other jabbering the whole time.
- Speaking of jabbering, you are starting to form more sounds. You are adding consonants to your vocabulary.
- You are a morning girl, just like your Mommy. You wake up early and happy. By late evening, smiles are much fewer.
- You are best friends with your pacifier, though we usually only let you have it when you are either in bed, in the car, or someplace where we'd really like you to be quiet (like church!).
- You love to put on a show for anyone who's watching. Strangers in Wal-Mart stop to talk to you all the time because you give them such a big smile.
- You are learning what you are and are not supposed to do. When I tell you, "No," you scrunch up your face looking for all the world like your favorite kitty just got run over.
- You are not a cuddlebug. The only time you ever cuddle with Daddy or Mommy is when you are asleep and entirely unaware of what you are doing. We wish you liked to cuddle more, but we understand that there are much more exciting things in your world.
- You are such a happy, beautiful, smart, sensitive little girl. You are Daddy and Mommy's princess, and you always will be!
We love you so much, Kyla Grace!
Gasp! Two posts in two weeks!?! Yes, friends, things are finally slowing down a bit around here...for me...not so much for my hubs. He puts in very long hours these days, but he loves the chance to be running a tractor that is actually working correctly. Except for last week when the tractor started on fire. Then I guess he had to use his manly fire-fighting skills.
We had a major break-through at our house this week. For 4 or 5 weeks now, Kyla has been waking up more and more often during the night. She used to only get up once a night to eat and go right back to sleep. Then it became twice, then three times, four, and finally SIX times a night on both Sunday night and Monday night. (Insert frustrated Mommy scream) Something had to change.
Ever since she was born, Kyla has slept in our bedroom in her Pack-n-Play. The reason is that her bedroom is upstairs, where ours is on the main floor. I didn't like the thought of having to run upstairs every time she woke. Honestly, I wasn't ready to let her sleep that far away, either. (When we decorated the nursury, I never imagined it would be an issue for me. I never thought I would be one of those moms who woke up all the time just to see if her baby is still breathing, either!)
On Tuesday night, Kyla spent the first night in her bedroom upstairs all by herself. She cried for the first 20 or 30 minutes after I put her in her crib. But eventually, she fell asleep. She only woke twice the whole night! And the daycare provider said she slept so much better than she usually does at daycare that day, too. Wednesday night: She didn't cry at all when I put her to bed, and she only woke ONCE during the night. Something worked...whether it was the bigger bed, soft music that plays all night, or just the newness of everything that shocked her system right out of its bad habits.
I actually think Kyla handled the move much better than her Mommy did. I have never slept so far away from my baby, and I don't think I got a lot of sleep that first night. I laid awake for long periods of time, and when I slept I dreamt of my little angel upstairs. Bryan made a pretty accurate observation of the situation. He said that maybe we could just have her sleep in her Pack-n-Play in the living room for a few nights before she moved upstairs to "wean us off of her." NOT to wean her off of us. So true. We are very attached to our little girl.
We are all adjusted now. Running upstairs in the middle of the night isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Bryan and I enjoy being able to talk in more than a tiny whisper and even being able to turn on a light in our room after 8:30 p.m. Our little girl is growing up.
I guess we just need to get used to it.
Ok, I admit. I'm not very good at this blog thing... Sorry to disappoint anyone who has checked the blog in the last couple months and has found nothing new to read. I will try very hard to do better...to write more often...to have something to say when I write...really. I promise. Or something like that.
This morning it was 39 degrees. I really, really, really love fall, so part of me is rejoicing in the cool-down. Bryan is busy helping my uncle with harvest, which is yet another sign that fall is truly here. Of course, the influx of Asian beetles that will soon invade my house is a sign I could definitely go without this year, given the choice. I'd like to say that as I write this, I am sipping a cup of hot apple cider. But I'd be lying. I do, however, have cold apple cider in the fridge. Pardon me while I go warm up a mug.
Ok, I'm back. Hot apple cider. Check. I overheated it in the microwave, though, so it will be another couple of paragraphs before I can enjoy it. As I was saying, it is brisk this morning. The house is just a tad chilly, as the sun has not yet had a chance to warm it up. So, the question of the morning: Do I dare turn on the heat? We live in an old farmhouse that has electric baseboard heaters throughout. Kyla, who will be 8 months old next week, has yet to learn the meaning of the word HOT. Once I turn on the heaters, though, she will be forced to learn. So I decided to start small. I brought our little bathroom space heater into the living room and plugged it in. Sure enough, Kyla immediately crawled to it with every intention of checking it out. I firmly told her no. She did it again. And again. This time I accentuated my "no" with a slap on her beautiful little hand. She was devastated. Tears poured down her cheeks, and snot ran out her nose. She gave me the "Don't you love me, Mommy?" look. Here she goes again. I will report.
Ok, here's how it went. Reach. Touch. "Kyla, no." Two beautiful brown eyes look up to meet mine. Reach. Touch. "Kyla, no!" No response at all this time. "Kyla, no!" Hand slap. Kyla sits back on her butt and immediately bursts into tears. But...she quit trying to touch the heater...for now. Ahh, sometimes it hurts to be the Mommy.
Last night Kyla and I went to visit my aunt Kathy for the evening who was watching three grandchildren. My cousin Nikki was also there with her two children. So, between us three adults, we six children to watch, ages 5, 2, 1, almost-8-months, 4-months, and 3-months. Supper time, bath time, snack time, bed time. Hilarious...sorta. The 1-year-old, who had just gotten out of the bath, ate her root beer float with her hands and had to be washed from head to toe again. The 2-year-old sat as quietly as a sleeping infant watching the chaos around her. When everything had finally quieted and most of the kids were in bed, she very quietly announced to her mother, "I'm ready to go to bed now." What a kid! The 5-year-old and 1-year-old sisters were put in the same bed. The 1-year-old has a favorite singing glowworm that must accompany her to bed. When checked on later, her 5-year-old sister had fallen asleep with hands over her hears and eyes scrunched tight. When I was ready to leave, Kathy and Nikki stated that they were keeping Kyla and sending one of the crying children home with me. I believe Kyla only stayed quiet because there were enough other children to handle the noise-making responsibility for the evening. As soon as we were in the car, Kyla began to cry incessantly...until she fell asleep from the sheer exhaustion of it all. Favorite quote from the evening: I brought along Kyla's little chair that attaches to the side of the table or island counter. Kathy looked at the chair and asked me "What holds that chair on there?" Without missing a beat, Nikki promptly replied, "Prayer."
An update on the heater situation. We are making process. Kyla crawls to the heater. I firmly say, "Kyla, no." She skips right to the bursting into tears part without even getting her hand slapped. But, as soon as I say no, she pulls her hand away from the heater. Of course, I won't leave this heater here without supervision, so eventually we are going to have to move on to the baseboard heaters.
Perhaps tonight.
