11 months old..and I can't believe it!

Today we celebrate Elizabeth turning 11 months.  I cannot believe how fast she has grown.  Here are 11 things I love about her:

1.  She shares her bottle.

2.  She gives the best bear hugs.

3.  She occasionally blows me kisses.

4.  She has the sweetest smile that displays her 2 lower teeth.

5.  She adores her daddy.

6.  She has the cutest little crawl.

7.  She loves to snuggle.

8.  She gets super excited when our neighbors come to the door.

9.  She likes to hold daddy's books.

10.  She is a delightful baby.

11.  The mere fact, I could go on for days listing the things I love about her. 

So what is this 11 month old doing?  Here is a video that captures what she does best...

...makes a mess for mom!

Our little Sock Monkey

I know this post is a little late, but I wanted to share Elizabeth's Halloween costume with you.  We went to Target the day of the 31st and got this one at a lovely discounted price.  I think we have found our tradition.  (I know we are kinda cheap.)

Here is the Sock Monkey and her friend the Dinosaur.

This Sock Monkey really likes the leaves on the ground.

The Dinosaur trying to encourage the Sock Monkey to look up at the camera.

And finally, we broke the Sock Monkey's fascination with the leaves long enough to take a picture.

Commemorating a hero

One of my all-time-favorite authors is C. S. Lewis. Forty-five years ago today, Lewis passed away. To remember him, I wanted to put up two of my favorite stories about Lewis.

Walter Hooper tells this one in his book, C. S. Lewis: A Companion & Guide. Keep in mind, Lewis is only nine in this story.

It was also a young boy that a future C. S. Lewis, champion of Reason,
emerged. Warren Lewis [his brother] has given us an example of that
'dexterity of riposte' for which his brother later became so famous. It
was 1907 and the family was preparing for a holiday in France. Warren
said, 'Entering the study, where my father was poring over his account books,
Jack flung himself into a chair and observed, "I have a prejudice against the
French." My father, interrupted in a long addition sum, said irritably,
"Why?" Jack, crossing his legs and putting his finger tips together,
replied, "If I knew why it would not be a prejudice"' (Hooper Companion & Guide 4)

Again, Walter Hooper tells this one in the introduction of The Weight of Glory. This is one of the stories toward the end of Lewis's life after he had awaken from his coma.

Even before he went into the nursing home I marvelled that Lewis had lived
so long without setting himself ablaze. Except when he dressed for a
special occasion, he wore an old tweed jacket, the right-hand pocket of
which had been patched and re-patched many times. This was because
Lewis, when wearied of his pipe, would drop it into his pocket, with the
results that it would burn its way through. And this happened so often
that there was none of the original material left.

The nurses in the Acland, having found him nodding wtih a cigarette in
his hand, would have none of this. And so it was that, except when I
was with him, they would not allow him to have any matches. What puzzled
Lewis was that after I had left him with a box of matches, a nurse, would,
as soon as I left, rush in and take them away. "How do they know?" he asked me one morning. "Give me a box I can hide under my bedclothes." I had then to confess that while I was the supplier, I was also the informer. "Imformer!" roared Lewis. "I have what no friend ever had before. I have a private traitor, my very own personal Benedict Arnold. Repent before it
is too late!" (Lewis Weight of Glory 5-6)

As much as I like to read stories by Lewis, I love hearing stories about him. Last year, I was able to sit and listen to Walter Hooper tell many stories (these two included) about Lewis. I don't think I will ever forget it. Here's to you, C. S. "Jack" Lewis: November 29, 1898-November 22, 1963.

just one more night

For the past week Jonathan has been gone to Providence, RI to attend the ETS conference. Elissa and Josiah planned a trip to keep me company while he was gone. Initially, I thought ETS would only last until Thursday, but then Jonathan told me he would not be home until late Saturday afternoon. (they have a 23 hour bus trip back). Of course, he told me after Elissa had already bought her ticket to come up and boy, was I dreading Thursday to get here.

This morning I woke up with my arm around a box of cereal. Ever creak the house made woke me up last night. At 1:00 am, I laid in bed, hungry and wide awake. After gaining enough courage to escape the security of my cozy room and walk through a dark house, I grabbed a box of cereal and Diet Dr. Pepper. I then proceeded to retreat back to fort (aka my bed) and turn on the TV. I thought for sure Bernie Mac would put me to sleep, but he didn't.

Originally, I thought the only perk of Jonathan not being here was that I was able to watch movies in bed. But I discovered another one: eating in bed. He hates it when I do that. When I was pregnant with Elizabeth I HAD to have a couple of crackers before I got up in the morning. So, there on the night stand, laid my delicious Zesta crackers that I thorough enjoyed as it eased my nauseous stomach. Apparently, I'm a messy eater (but who isn't with crackers? plus I was probably about to pee myself, so I HAD to eat them fast) and I got cracker crumbs all in our sheets. Jonathan would come home after a long day of work, only to hop in to sheets that felt like it had grains of salt in them (truly, it may have been salt. I HAD to brush the salt of the top of the crackers. Do you know was salt does? It swells you up, and that is one thing a pregnant lady does not need--more swelling!). I knew he didn't like it, but he knew the necessity of the whole ordeal.

I miss him. Those two perks aren't enjoyable enough to make me look forward to him leaving. I can't wait until tomorrow night when I can wrap him up in a big hug. I know some people like having there alone time, but I think I'm just too needy. I love it when he is here and I hate it when he is gone. But regardless of where he is, I still feel the closeness of our unity. His absence reminds me of one of my favorite John Donne's poem, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"

Tagged

So awhile back Kimberly tagged me with one of these things. Since Jonathan has hijacked our camera and I have no thriving idea for a blog, I thought I would do this. You are supposed to tell 7 things that people probably don't know about you. Then you are supposed to tag seven friends, and I'm totally down with the whole seven theme and all, but I don't think I want to tag any one in particular. So, if you read this, consider yourself tagged. You can leave me seven things I might not know about you in my comments. Then, we will be vulnerable together. :-)



1) I used to want to play in the WNBA (and at one point thought I really could, ha!).

2) I always wanted braces for two reasons: so I could wear the rubber bands and have a retainer. Gosh, how I wished I had the cool "retainer lisp" my friends had at slumber parties.

3) When I was younger I was sometimes afraid of taking baths. For some reason, I thought the tub could morph into a giant witch bowl. And I'm still a little bit scared if I do take a bath. (i'm hoping to grow out of it, honestly).

4) My all-time-favorite childhood TV show was Rescue 911.

5) I'm deathly scared of snakes and fire.

6) My dream car is an Honda Odyssey. (the newer they are, the cooler they are)

7) Lord willing, I want about a 1,000 kids. (okay, I may be exaggerating a bit)

All Natur-ale

I should have known I would never be the natural, organic type. With the first throbbing of a headache, two Tylenol appear on the scene. When I found out I was expecting Elizabeth, I never struggled with "should I get an epidural, should I not?" I knew what I was going to do. In fact, you will rarely hear me say epidural, without a possessive pronoun accompanying it--my epidural.

What inspired this post was an article I saw about not using shampoo (via another blog that gives me a laugh). No "pooing," as they like to call it, sounded very interesting to me. I read that article and even googled other articles obtaining to the same subject. I kept picturing my non-chemical-hair waving in the wind, and the beauty of my skin that didn't guzzle down the hap-hazards of my shampoo--all between the sips of my refreshing diet Mountain Dew. I could tell my interest started to fade, when I would have to make my own shampoo. I hardly like making dinner (and I love food!). So I decided my Herbal Essence is natural enough for me. Sigh.

When I discovered that cloth diapers still existed, I was really into that idea. But, I had changed one too many of Elizabeth's poopy diapers, and I decided that if we were to ever have a child that didn't poop, cloth diapers would be the way to go.

So apparently, I'm into the organic/natural way of life, just not that in to it. As I sit here typing this, I have a splenda-filled coffee sitting beside me. I just have to realize that although some of these things sound so great, I lack money, energy, and motivation to choose this way of life. I'm a helpless cause. Avoiding most processed meats, is about as natural as I get, and for right now, I'm okay with that.