My Girls

Maybe the hint of summer around the corner has me in a good mood, but lately I've been praying for time to stop and my girls to FREEZE in the moment!  Margot is starting to interact more and more with Sylvia every day - the other night she swiped a toy from Sylvia's hand for the first time ever - on purpose - and we all did a double take.  She also started putting her toy basketballs into a hoop and then clapping because she's soooo proud of herself.  She likes to "sing" when anyone else is singing, which means she babbles and yells and tries to be louder than us, which is hilarious.  But my favorite part of this age is watching them snuggle.  Sometimes, when I'm nursing Margot before bed, Sylvia will tiptoe into her room, sneak up to the side of the rocking chair and coo, "Awww.....she's so cute!" Then she'll give Margot a little kiss on the head and say, "Nigh-night Margot.  I love you."

And my heart becomes a puddle of goo.

Here are some "keeping it real" pictures:


Ignore the fact that it's 4:00 in the afternoon and she's wearing her pajama top with black leggings.  Instead, pay attention to that ponytail and those rocking bangs!  My girl is getting so big...

Saturday, after I put Margot down for a morning nap, I couldn't find Sylvia and the house was quiet - never a good sign.  I discovered her in her room, putting her stuffed animals down for a nap, tucking them in with her and reading to them from her gigantic princess story book.  Usually I feel like I'm putting her on hold while I tend to Margot, so I asked her if she wanted to play and she said, "No thank you.  I'm reading to my friends."  So I grabbed my camera instead and took some pictures!

Sylvia picked out a Mother's Day cake from Kroger, one of those bigger-than-a-cupcake-but-not-as-big-as-a-real-cake deals.  She was VERY excited to eat it after dinner on Saturday, and Sylvain was working, so I broke out the fancy French dessert plates and we had a lovely girls-only Mother's Day celebration!  She painted her hands with icing.  Margot and I actually ate the cake.

Two things about Margot: 1) She's losing her mohawk and it kind of makes me a little bit sad. 2) She's still wearing these adorable jammies (sized 9 months!) that used to belong to Sylvia.  I was sad when Sylvia grew out of them so I'm kind of glad Margot is teeny tiny enough to still wear them.  They are SO COZY!

Sleepy Baby!

I did my best to capture a profile so I could make a one-year silhouette of Miss Margot.  Look at those sweet cheeks! 

And finally, here's the funniest picture I've ever seen.  Sylvia and I were snuggling on the couch watching Poppy Cat (which has now become a part of her bedtime routine...sigh).  Sylvia was snuggled on top of me, which never happens anymore, so I asked Sylvain to grab the camera and take a picture.  The camera was within reach, so in the ten seconds it took him to get the camera, Sylvia decided snuggle time was over and this happened....

I got smacked in the head and she fell off the couch!  Not our greatest moment.  But worth capturing, I think.

Finally, since I'm keeping it real tonight and hoping to remember what life was like in May of 2013, I guess it's worth noting that Sylvain's job at CCHS was not renewed for next school year.  We have mixed feelings about this turn of events.  On the one hand, losing a job stinks.  On the other hand, he's been contemplating a change for some time, so this is a good way to get out of a job he didn't love and move on to bigger and better things.  What those bigger and better things are, we have no idea.  But I have faith in him and in God's plan for him, so I know that whatever happens will be the BEST for us and our family.  I just hope that something happens soon because not knowing what's coming is a tiny bit stressful for a Type A Control Freak like me.  Any day now, God.  We'd love to know your plan.  We'll wait patiently but....pick up the pace, will ya?

Circling The Wagons

Well I should have known better than to type the words "things are easy!"  I totally jinxed myself with that last lovey-dovey post.  Oops.

I spent all day Wednesday soaking up every last ounce of baby I could get my hands on!  I stared at Margot all morning long.  We swapped smiles and coos, she grabbed my fingers and my hair and batted at my nose.  It was glorious.  I didn't let her leave my side all day.  I was too afraid I might miss something important.  I took her to see my Nana and we were sitting outside, enjoying the beautiful fall sunshine when.....I got THE CALL.

Sylvia had a fever. 

She wasn't allowed to go to school on Thursday.

You have got to be kidding me.

I left Nan sitting outside on the patio and raced to the daycare to pick up my poor, sick baby.  I made a flurry of phone calls to secure my sub for ONE MORE DAY and to let my principal know how sorry I was that I wouldn't be at school on my first day back from maternity leave!  I repeated over and over, "I promise, I'm not making this up!"  Because, truth be told, I was so relieved to have an excuse to stay home for one more day.  I was awarded one more day!!

Well, sweet Sylvia made me work hard for that one extra day.  The poor little thing was an absolute mess!  Wednesday night, her fever was so high that she was getting loopy.  She couldn't talk to us and her eyes were all glazed over.  I was scared.  I called the doctor who told me to keep trying to get her to eat and drink, keep an eye on her through the night, and to bring her in for an appointment in the morning.  Sylvain finally got her to talk and to smile and to start acting a little more normal.  Then, there was a beautiful thunderstorm outside and that really helped lift her spirits! 

The doctor assured us that she didn't have anything serious (thank goodness!) but her fever was still high on Thursday evening, so I was starting to panic about school.  I couldn't miss another day.  Sylvain decided to stay home with the girls (I didn't want to send Margot to day care because Sylvia wasn't going and Sylvain wouldn't be down the hall.  I know, it's crazy, but I just couldn't do it).  Friday would have turned out fine, except Margot is so darn FUSSY about taking a bottle!  She has never taken one from Sylvain, so I decided to go in to school for the morning and come home at lunch time. 

My students were great.  They are such a wonderful group and I can't wait to really get into the swing of things with them this year.  But I won't lie - I was glad to be home by noon, nursing my little Muffin and snuggling with my Nugget.  Both of those girls needed me - they needed US.  Sylvia's fever was gone, but everything hurt on Friday afternoon.  She'd say, "I hurt, Mommy!" and I'd say, "What hurts, honey?" and she'd scream, "IIIII hurt!"  Poor little thing.  She didn't want to get off the couch, she wanted Mommy or Daddy at her side constantly, and she watched "Tarzan" all the way through, from beginning to end!  It took both of us to take care of both of them, and that's when I realized that we made the right choice.  We had to circle the wagons.  We had to lock the doors, ignore the phone calls, and cancel all of our plans.  We had to focus on the demands and needs of two tiny girls who needed us and we had to constantly support each other when we were about to LOSE IT.  Thanks to that poor, sick toddler, and that silly, stubborn baby, I think I can confidently say that yesterday was the hardest day of my parenting life.  It was no fun. 

Today, everyone is better.  Margot is eating from a bottle.  Sylvia is playing and running and sleeping and negotiating like normal.  I went in to my classroom this morning and got ready for Monday.  Sylvain worked on some house projects and now he's at the UK game.  I put both girls to bed without any fuss from anybody, so I can tell we're back on track!  Phew!

So, Monday morning this wagon train will haul out.  Everyone will go where they're supposed to go and it will be a welcome change of routine!  We'll all be exhausted and confused, and The Girls will be needy, but that's okay.  We can always circle the wagons again in a couple months and get ourselves straightened out!   

Staying Cool

People act surprised to find that we've been out and about every day since Margot came home.  People forget that we have a two year old, so staying at home all day every day is like child care suicide.  People also forget that both of us are home for the summer, so it's really not too difficult to pack up the car and head to Target for the morning.  It takes some planning.  For Margot's first doctor's appointment I didn't even remember to pack a diaper bag for her until the very last minute before we had to walk out the door, so I just threw some newborn diapers into Sylvia's tiny backpack that we use as her diaper bag.  When I had to strip Margot down to her diaper in that cold doctor's office I could have kicked myself for not bringing a blanket, or even a burp cloth, to cover that child with!  I wrapped her up in my long shirt and stood there like an idiot until the doctor was finished.  Oops!  We're better at getting out of the house now. 

Margot is very portable these days; all we really need are some diapers, my nursing cover, and a blanket or two.  She sleeps ALL the time, so we're taking advantage of it while we can.  Last week, when folks were ranting about this insane heat wave on it's way, we took both girls to Aunt Dar's pool for one last early morning dip before it became too hot to even go swimming.  Check this out:

My baby is swimming!

Look at her go!

 Okay, she's not really swimming, but thanks to our new friend Bella, we've been introduced to the amazing PUDDLE JUMPER!  It's like a set of swimmies (or floaties, or whatever you call them), but they're made of foam and there's an extra foam band between them that goes across the front, so it teaches your kid to lean forward in the water and kick their feet, instead of a life jacket, which just teaches them to bob up and down and spin in circles.  I was skeptical.  Techically Sylvia is just a few pounds shy of the requirements for the Puddle Jumper, but we got her one anyway.  Here she is getting in for the first time - that's Bella next to her, a seasoned Puddle Jumper professional.

It took her a few minutes to get the hang of it.  She kept flipping on her back and getting stuck, so Sylvain had to teach her how to roll over onto her stomach.  She quickly figured out that if she kicked her feet the right way, she could get herself to be straight up and down, treading water.  Here's where she figured it out and here's where I was SOLD on the Puddle Jumper.  This thing is amazing, I'm telling you!

Once she had it figured out, that girl was kicking and paddling all over the pool.  Sylvain was always close, but she was definitely "on her own" and it was really fun to watch.  Way to go Nugget!!

Margot was not impressed:

Just give her some shade and a soft spot to lay.  Girl is one happy camper.

One Week and One Day!

Ugh!  I just finished writing a gigantic post about how hard it's been to adjust to a new baby, and how we have no routine anymore and all is chaos.  Then I put Margot to bed, at the same time and in the same way I've put her to bed since we've been home: in her jammies, nurse her, change her, swaddle her, nurse her some more, lay her down in her crib.  I was rocking with her while she nursed and I thought, "Wow.  Everything I just wrote is completely not true!  THIS is a routine.  And it's worked so far.  It might not work tonight, but it's worked so far, and I should erase that post and start a new one."  So here you go.  Much less complaining, lots of baby pictures.  Hooray!

Margot is one day old here.  I think she already loves her big sister!

Sylvia thinks Margot is the greatest and most wonderful being on the planet. Here's proof. Sylvia is very attached to two toy trains - Thomas and Percy. She carries them all over the house, they go with her where ever she goes, and one day last week we left them at Grammy's and OH, THE DRAMA! Well, the first morning Margot was home, she was snoozing in the bassinet in the living room. Sylvia came out of her room and saw her, then ran to the bassinet and tossed Percy in at Margot's feet. "Here ya go, Margot!" she sang, and walked over to the breakfast table, where Sylvain and I sat with jaws on the floor. It was awesome.

Aww, look at me sleeping.  You thought is was me, didn't you?  Because this kid looks way more like me than the other one does.

I highly recommend marrying a teacher and having your babies at the beginning of the summer.  We have six entire weeks home together as a family of four.  There's no rush to get things organized or scheduled.  My only job is to feed this baby and get some sleep.  Sylvain takes care of everything else.  I'm in charge of Margot and he's in charge of Sylvia, but we make sure to spend plenty of time with "the other one" during the day.  Sometimes we feel like a tag team, handing each other kids and switching from two year old talk to newborn talk at the drop of a hat, but it works for now and that's all that matters.

This job would be four hundred times harder without our family around.  Mom kept Sylvia during our time in the hospital and I couldn't be more grateful.  Lots of family have come by to visit, bringing gifts or food or just a couple of open arms to hold a baby and play with a toddler.  And we get to sit back and watch, and take a little break.  I'm convinced that having Sylvain home and having just the right amount of visitors has helped ward off the "baby blues." 

Margot sleeps like a champ (knock on wood, you never know what each night will bring)!  She can go for three to four hours between feedings at night, and she always goes right back to sleep after a feeding (except for her first night in the hospital and her second night home - those were all-nighters where we partied together like rock stars)!  Once again, the sleeplessness doesn't worry me one bit, because I know that while I'm up all night, Sylvain and Sylvia are sleeping soundly and I don't have to worry about her in the morning.  No matter how rough my night may be, she gets to spend the day with her Daddy, so I don't have to feel bad about sneaking in an extra nap while Margot is napping, which she does all day long.  I think she was awake for almost 45 minutes this afternoon - a new record!

Someday I'll have a picture of her with her eyes open, I promise!

Sometimes Sylvia gets a little whiney and needs Mama's attention.  She's been in time-out a few more times than usual.  But I wonder if that's just because she's a growing two year old?  I think she's starting to understand that the baby needs me and she has to wait sometimes.  She loves to feel like she's helping and I'm starting to find good things for her to do while I nurse.  I can tell that this time of adjustment is helping her to build good character.  I know it's all part of being a sibling and it's good for her.  I get very weepy when I see them together and watch the tiny seeds of a relationship being planted.  Sylvia loves Margot so MUCH.  And I love holding them both in my lap and thinking to myself, "These are my girls!  Both of them.  With me today, gone tomorrow."  I try to soak up their smallness as often and as long as I possibly can.

April's Over Already??

Oops.  We've been having way too much fun playing with our new "family members" and playing outside, so I haven't been keeping up with the blog AT ALL.  We've been exploring our neighborhood and Sylvia has made herself known to anyone and everyone she sees on the street.  Girl's a talker - imagine that.

Now that Sylvia's a big two year old, we decided it's time for her to start taking care of something.  And she loves fish, so it's a win win.  Say hello to Freddie:



 Sylvia feeds him every night before we eat dinner and we clean his water together every weekend. We have the same conversation every time we feed him.  I say, "Wow!  Freddie's hungry!" and Sylvia says, "Yeah, Sil-ya hun-ree too!"  Then we climb up to the big table to eat supper.  It's a pretty smooth routine at this point.

After supper, if she's had a lot to eat and she's tried at least one bite of everything on the table, we take a walk or play outside with a yogurt popsicle.  Here's a picture of the Nugget hiding from the Mama-razzi.  But take a look at her mouth...

...y'all, that's MY mouth!  I spend so much time gawking at this little clone of my husband that I rarely get to catch a glimpse of my side of the family in her.  But sometimes her mouth is all Neltner - sweetheart shaped and LOUD as can be!

She's digging those yogurt pops.  And she insists on walking through the front yard barefoot no matter how cold it is outside.  I can't deny her, it's one of my own favorite things, so....we're a barefoot family. 

A couple weeks ago, we spent a few after-dinner hours putting together baby's bookshelf.  Sylvia helped.  The room is coming along, but I'm still not quite ready to share pictures.  I have to paint the chair rail, finish the dresser, and hang some art.  Also, I need to hem the curtains and Mom's whipping up an idea for a cute crib skirt.  Once I get all that done and throw a few books on the shelves, I'll post plenty of pictures. 

Sylvia's been loving all the flowers in bloom around the neighborhood.  She has no qualms about wandering into neighbors' yards to "smell" the flowers, which she does by blowing air OUT of her nose, which is usually accompanied by plenty of snot and sometimes spit, too.  It's pretty funny to watch.

This Saturday, while Sylvia was enjoying "Sesame Street Live" without us (thanks, Grammy!), we went to buy our newest suburban homeowner purchase - a riding lawn mower!  It arrived yesterday and Sylvain could not WAIT to get out and cut that monster of a backyard.  He's been push mowing it about every other day, because by the time he gets down to the bottom to finish up, the top needs to be cut again!  He was awfully happy on this baby...

I was surprised at how nostalgic it felt to hear a riding lawn mower in the backyard.  It reminded me of summers at my Dad's house.  Sylvia and I sat on the back deck and watched Sylvain climb up and down the hill, smelling the fresh grass and listening to the birds sing.  It was glorious!  And you should see our freshly mowed yard, it's quite a sight!  We stood on the back deck after she went to sleep and Sylvain said about a hundred times, "Look at that yard!" 

So the month of April was sent off with a bang.  Now onto May....only eight more weeks until baby's here!  Yippee!!  I have so much to write about this little one.  She's a party animal, that's for sure!

A Special Birth Story

Since I've been collecting birth stories, I thought it would be neat to include a dad's perspective of birth.  I asked Sylvain to write down Sylvia's birth story, and he agreed on the condition that it would be written to her, not just for her.  I thought it was a great idea, as long as I could still post it on the blog.  So here's what he's been working on for a very, very long time!  The original copy is in French, of course, and that will be given to Sylvia when she's old enough to read it herself.  Since this is a translation, it might sound a little strange, but I think the sweetness translates quite well!  Enjoy.

That which follows is about the events that are related to your birth.  Certain thoughts run the risk of shocking you or making you cry, but I will try to relay them to you as truthfully as possible.  Honestly, the idea of hearing, or at least reading, a birth story seems rather strange to me, but I heard my own from your paternal grandmother more than once.  Why write it?  That, you'll have to ask your mother.

For almost nine months, I knew that one day you would be born, but it seemed theoretical to me, despite the fact that I had seen images of you, heard your heartbeat, and saw your mother grow.  I had been told that, generally speaking, for the fathers, the reality of having a child comes the day of the birth.  I am no exception, since I didn't feel your kicks or nausea or even a new perspective of my body like your mother did.  Alas, it was not a day, but a night.

For weeks, we followed classes to prepare us to welcome you in a natural way.  Despite all of our efforts, nothing went as planned.  We were expecting something predictable, but you completely took us by surprise. 

There we were, in the middle of watching The Colbert Report, with a stopwatch trying to determine when we should head to the hospital.  It was pitiful.  After a phone call to an expert, we decided to hit the road.  I knew where to go, but perhaps you know that driving at night (roughly 1 AM) in the middle of a storm where the street lights reduce visibility due to their reflection on the roads in the middle of a work zone where the lines are almost invisible...well, these things didn't make driving easy, considering your mother only wished to get there as soon as possible. 

Once at the hospital, the main entrance was closed, seeing as it was after hours.  Under the rain, we walked toward the E.R. entrance, stopping here and there since your mother had strong contractions.  Once inside, we quickly realized that you were going to be born from one moment to the next. 

The nurses and the midwife prepared everything: the birthing bed and gadgets that go "beep."  Bit by bit, you became more and more real.  The midwife announced that everything was going alright.  For what seemed to be an eternity to us, you were born relatively quickly. 

Towards the end of the labor, I knew that from one second to the next I was going to see you.  Between fatigue, lively emotions, and the anticipation, I saw the midwife raise you toward us.  How small and fragile you were!  From this point on, everything became hazy. 

Just before the official time of announcement from the midwife (3:19 AM), there was a rhythm: contractions, rest, contractions, etc.  On the other side, after your birth, so many things happened whether it be totally surprising or bloody, that it almost traumatized me.  I was numb.  I will spare you the details in case you one day want to have kids, but I have to tell you that when they asked me to cut your umbilical cord, I asked myself, "Why not?" because I was already so much out of my element.  While I'm at it, it's crazy that science has become so exact in relation to birth.  It could have been mistaken for a play in the middle of it's thousand and first rehearsal.  And that was relieving. 

Once the midwife determined that you were doing fine, the three of us ended up in a small room and it was in this room that I learned that I love you.  I was holding you in my arms.  You, wrapped up like a fragile package.  Me, reduced to a machine only capable of feeling just one emotion: that of love.  Some people might say that it's instinct.  Some people might say that it's universal.  Despite all of these possibilities, it was then that you became my daughter.

 
This sweet story was a big deal for Sylvain to put into words, as I'm sure it is for most dads.  I am honored to share it on Sylvia's second birthday!  I'm so glad he agreed to write it because he shared many details I never knew before.  I love the part about how the rhythm changed once she was born, and of course I love the part about our time in the recovery room with our little girl.  Now that we're getting closer to the birth of our next sweet girl, this story is a wonderful reminder of why I picked him, and why he picked me, and why we wanted to start a family together in the first place. 

Fill in the Blank

Last week, I came home from work to find Sylvain and Sylvia singing their ABC's together.  He would stop and let her say the missing letters and I was SHOCKED that she knew what the missing letters were!  I don't know why I was shocked; she's obviously the smartest person I know, no offense to everyone else I know.  So I tried some other songs over the weekend and darn it, that girl knew them ALL!  Twinkle Twinkle, You Are My Sunshine, our Night Night song, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Alouette...she finished every line!  Our favorite song to sing with her, though, is definitely Promenons-Nous Dans Le Bois, a sweet little French song about frolicking in the forest while the wolf is away!  Here's a video of her awesomeness:

And here are the lyrics to the French song, just in case you're dying to figure out what they're singing, along with my less than perfect, completely novice translation:

Promenons-nous dans les bois (Let's go prancing in the woods)
Pendant que le loup n'y est pas (While the wolf isn't here)
Si le loup y était (If the wolf was here)
Il nous mangerait, (He would eat us)
Mais comme il y est pas (But he's not here)
Il nous mangera pas. (So he won't eat us)
"Loup, y es-tu ? (Wolf, where are you?)
Entends-tu ? (Do you hear?)
Que fais-tu ? (What are you doing?)
"Je mets ma chemise !" (I'm putting on my shirt!)

At the end of each verse, the wolf is putting on another piece of clothing, getting ready to go into the woods and eat all the frolicking children (great song, huh?).  The version we listen to in the car has a nice, long wolf howl at the end of each verse, so that's why Sylvia and her Papa both go "Owwooo!!!" at the end.  Totally precious.

Keep Out of Reach of Children!

Well, I was planning to sit down tonight and write a post about my new light fixture project, which involves spray painting the old fixture we took down from over our table.  Instead, I'm writing a post about how I'm the worst mother in the world because my child sprayed herself in the face with a can of spray paint!  Agghh!!!

I went into the well-ventilated open-doored garage at 2:30 and spent a total of 10 seconds spray painting my light fixture.  I knew I had to do another coat in 30 minutes, so I ran inside and placed the can on the kitchen table.  Sylvia woke up from her nap earlier than planned, a little before 3:00.  I was keeping my eye on the clock, but it never occured to me to MOVE the can of paint OFF of the kitchen table and place it somewhere HIGHER.  Duh.  I just broke the first rule of Babysitting 101.  I would totally be fired if I were a sitter in high school! 

I was standing at the kitchen sink and Sylvain was standing by the door to the garage.  Neither one of us was more than four feet away from the girl when she grabbed the can, which was pointed toward her face.  She grabbed it by the neck, which had the trigger spray nozzle, and in less than a second, the right side of her face was covered in Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.  I heard Sylvain shout "NO!"  And when I turned around I couldn't see it right away.  He said, "She just sprayed herself in the face!" and she turned toward me - a giant, dripping mass of BLACK on the side of her face - hair, ears, checks, right eye, corner of her mouth...all the important places.  When I saw it, I screamed, then she screamed, and the longest fifteen minutes of my life commenced.

I'm still amazed at how quickly Sylvain and I went from "panic mode" to "survival mode."  He whisked her up and brought her to the sink.  I don't know how the clean, warm rag even got into my hands, but I had one.  I knelt down and started wiping it off of her cheek, away from her eye and mouth.  It stated coming off right away, thank God!  But it was everywhere, and I knew a watery rag wasn't going to cut it.  I said, "BATH!," and suddenly her clothes were off.  I guess we both ripped them off, but I don't remember that, either.  I know I was concentrating really hard on appearing calm, for her sake.  I was working really hard to hold it all together.  For a split second, I wondered if we really should put her in the tub, or if we should put her in the car and head to the hospital.

We ran downstairs to the tub and my brilliant husband brought the can of spray paint with him.  While the tub was filling with water, I lowered her in and started dumping cupfulls of fresh water over her head with one hand, and I somehow managed to open her baby soap and lather it up in my other hand.  I don't know where that third hand came from, but it was there!  By this point she was screaming, but I knew this had to be done and there was nothing I could do about the screaming, except say things like, "Wheee!!!  Isn't this fun!  A bath in the middle of the day, you lucky girl!  Look, you're getting ALL clean!  Hooray!!!"  I must have sounded like a nutcase.

Sylvain read the back of the can, which instructed us to flush out the eyes and mouth, then wait fifteen minutes to see if there was any irritation, redness, or swelling.  He handed me a little squirt bottle which he already ran under hot water, so I filled it with fresh bath water and tried to flush out her eyes.  No dice.  Finally, Sylvain had to take the bottle and I had to pin her down and hold her eye open with my thumbs while he squirted water in it.  It wasn't fun, but it had to be done, and we both knew it.  We never even discussed what to do, it was like an animal instinct totally took over. 

Finally, her eye, cheek, mouth and most of her hair was back to normal, so I took her out of the tub and wrapped her up.  She was still crying and whimpering at this point, but I could tell she was settling down.  Whenever she gets out of the tub, we put her in her purple robe, which we didn't bring downstairs with us, so she started crying for her "Bow! Bow!"  I took her up to her room (right past my mother in law who showed up during the drama!) and put her in her robe.  We rocked for a few minutes until Sylvain brought her some water and some milk, hoping it would help flush out her insides.  After a couple minutes of rocking, we all settled down and my heart rate returned to normal.  Her eye seemed perfectly fine, and she was drinking like normal.  After fifteen minutes, we decided she was going to be alright and there was no need to call poison control or take her to the hospital, but we made sure to keep a very close eye on her for the rest of the night.  She didn't itch, touch or complain about her eye all evening.  In fact, she was back to her normal, bubbly self as soon as I got her dressed and put pigtails in her hair.  Phew.

We went out for a lovely dinner with Mamie, then came home and gave her another bath (she still had a little paint in her hair and on her neck) and I put her to bed like usual.  It felt different, though.  Usually bedtime feels warm and cozy and safe for both of us, but I couldn't help thinking that this was not a safe day for her, and it made me feel icky.  I came downstairs and let the Mommy guilt wash over me and had a good cry about the whole thing.  How could I do something so stupid?  Why isn't Sylvain more mad at me?  What would we have done if it had been worse?  Oh my gosh, it could have been SO much worse.  Shame on me. 

I decided I better sit down and write about it in the hopes that someday I might look back on it and laugh.  But more importantly, I don't want to forget how scared I was or how guilty I felt.  I also want to remember how practical, forgiving and good-natured Sylvain was about the whole thing.  Once it was all over, he said to me, "It could have happened to anybody.  And something like it will probably happen again.  There's a good chance we WILL have to take a child to the hospital someday, so don't beat yourself up about it." 

So here I am, not beating myself up, asking any readers, family or friends, out there to forgive me, too, and please share with me your not-so-great Mommy moments.  I need to know I'm not the only one who's been scared within an inch of her life.

For the Family in France

After dinner almost every night, while I was dishes, Sylvain and Sylvia get some quality play time in the play room next to the kitchen/dining room.  It has been SO much fun to watch them interact completely in French!  She spends plenty of time with him during the day - he takes her to and from day care and they're together for a good hour before I get home.  Of course, I'm glad they get all of this daddy-daughter time, but I'm secretly glad that this is also good French immersion time for her, too.  In the last couple weeks, their after-dinner antics have been worth recording, so even though these videos might seem a little lengthy and boring to most of us, I think the family in France will appreciate watching Sylvia and Sylvain getting silly together.  Enjoy!

Daddy's Little Girl

Sylvain is rarely "at home" in public places, but if he had to pick his favorite public place to be, it would be a Natural History Museum.  Any of them.  We've been to many since we've met, and he always walks through them like a kid in a candy store.  He has a huge fascination with Natural History, and he's read countless books on topics like Biology and Gentics and Evolution and Space and....lots of other super nerdy things!

So, when my parents got us a one year pass to the Museum Center (3 museums in one!) as a Christmas gift, we smiled and said "Thank you so much, we can't wait to take Sylvia to the Children's Museum."

LIE!

Of course, we were excited about the Children's Museum, but Sylvain was DYING to go the Natural History Museum.  I mean, he's only been twice in the last seven years, and now he can go WHENEVER HE WANTS TO for a whole year!  Merry Christmas!

Monday was the day.  We hit up the Children's Museum because we felt like we had to, and Sylvia loved it.  It was crowded and Sylvain paced around like he was itching to get outta there.  We ate our packed lunch and decided to "swing through" the Natural History Museum, saying things like "We might as well take a look," and "We don't have to see it all because we can always come back!"

It was dangerously close to nap time, but we dove right in, expecting the worst and hoping for the best, as far as toddler behavior goes.  Well.......guess who else loves Natural History?

Walking through the ice cave, chatting about glaciers.

 

Climbing on the rocks, avoiding all kinds of prehistoric predators.

I have never seen her act so much like him before.  Maybe it's because he acts so much like a kid when he's here, but the smiles and the pointing....oh, it was precious!  They were both adorable.  Maybe I'm projecting our own feelings onto her, but I dare say Sylvia likes the Natural History Museum better than the Children's Museum!  It still had tons of interactive things for her to do, it was MUCH less crowded, and it wasn't nearly as noisy and light-filled and annoying.  Okay, that's probably my own reason for loving it, but regardless - she had a wonderful time!  I predict many Daddy-Daughter trips to the Museum once the new baby arrives.  And Sylvia will be reading a book on Evolutionary Genetics in to time, I'm sure.

Now, if it would just get warmer out so we could go to the ZOO!!!  I'll let you guess which one of them is dying to see the monkeys.

A Happy Year

365 days.  Each one more glorious than the one before it.  There were plenty of tears this year, but not a day went by that I didn't fall asleep thanking God for my family.  There was much more laughter than there were tears, though.  And every sweet smile from Sylvia, along with the sweet smiles of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, is worth a thousand tears, in my opinion.  So we'll take the good with the bad and celebrate all that has changed us this year. 

"Pitter patter sings my heart at the thought of what's to come..."

Song: "Glorious," MaMuse

What a Weekend!

My loving and wonderful husband, along with my loving and wonderful parents, planned a great weekend getaway for us in Lexington.  Mom and Jay met us Saturday afternoon and took Sylvia up to their house for the night.  Let me say that again: they TOOK MY CHILD AWAY FROM ME.  Do I sound mad, or sad, or upset?  Because I wasn't.  I was so, incredibly happy!  I love my daughter more than anything, but taking her for the night, and letting us have some fun, was the world's greatest gift.  I was thrilled!

Before I tell you how much fun I had this weekend, let me give you a little sneak peek at how much fun Sylvia had:

 (I took this video when we went to pick her up today - she did NOT miss me!)

After Mom and Jay took our kid, I found out that we would not be staying at a friend's house!  Instead, Mom and Jay got us a hotel room (as a birthday present) and I almost cried when I realized that I'd be sleeping in a giant, comfy, QUIET bed, without a baby waking me up in the morning.  Here's what we found when we got into the room...

 What I thought was an enormous box of chocolates turned out to be these babies!  Woah, Mama!

When I had a glass of champagne in one hand, a strawberry in the other, and a cozy couch underneath me, I told Sylvain I wasn't leaving the room.  Ever.  I told him to cancel all of our plans, because the champagne and strawberries were more than enough to fill me up for the night.  But then he reminded me why we came - we had reservations at the world's greatest restaurant - Malone's!  I sighed when I realized that I'm very, very lucky.

I suppose there are lots of people in Lexington that can eat at Malone's whenever they want, because some of the patrons were not as dressed up as I think everyone should be.  To us, Malone's is a big deal - for very special occasions - and we haven't been there since December 29th, 2009.  Laura talked me into buying a new blue dress just for this dinner, and darn it, we looked goooooood!  I've been dreaming about this meal for months.  We had the Lexingtonian Salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, I had the filet medallions crusted with bleu cheese and a side of fresh asparagus.  People, there is little in this world that makes me as happy as this food.  It is worth every penny and I savored every bite!  YUM!!!


Sylvain was very cryptic about our after-dinner plans, so I assumed something was up.  I figured we'd be meeting up with some friends to have drinks, but I though there would only be a few, since almost all of our friends have babies.  Well, there were more than a few folks waiting for us next door at Harry's Bar!  It was pretty much everyone I love in Lexington, PLUS a couple of babies!  Yippee!!

 Michael, Sylvain, Pete, Emily, Ben, and Emily.  

John, Megan, Clover, Laura (Ellie in her carrier!), Krista, Emily

 My awesome (and delicious) 80's themed cupcakes!

 Sylvain never smiles with teeth!  I love this picture!!!

 Laura and Ellie, right after she woke up and caught a glimpse of the lights and ceiling fan.

 John and Clover

 Thanks for talking me into this dress, Laura!

We sat outside, had some drinks, and chit-chatted about the good old days for hours and hours.  Then, around 11:30, Michael and I were ready to sing karaoke, or go dancing, or party until the "breaka breaka dawn," in his words.  But then I remembered that I'm old, and I thought about that amazing hotel bed and the fluffy cloud pillows, and I really, really, REALLY wanted to get a good night's sleep.  When everyone else left, so did we, and it was the right move.   I was tucked in and fast asleep by midnight.  We're not as young as we used to be, and I don't mind one bit!  

We checked out this morning and I said a tearful goodbye to our hotel room.  I was excited to get up to Mom's house and see my Nugget, though!  Clearly, she didn't even know I was gone.  She generally behaved like a wild woman, and I'm sure Mom was exhausted after trying to keep up with her.  

Since I'm a sucker for getting stuck with my baby in awkward public situations, I thought it would be a great idea to invite Ann and Cecilia out to a movie.  Ann loves Winnie the Pooh and always has, so as soon as I saw the previews a few months ago, I knew we would have to do this.  It was Sylvia's and Cecilia's first movie, so there was no telling how this would work out.

 Wouldn't you know, those girls sat on our laps and watched the WHOLE DANG MOVIE!!!  I could not believe it.  Sylvia never once fussed, or squirmed or tried to run around the theater.  Ann brought a few Winnie the Pooh toys, and we both smuggled in plenty of baby snacks, so these girls had the time of their lives!  It was a ton of fun.

 Cecilia was decked out in the finest Pooh Bear jumper.  What a cutie pie!

After the movie, Sylvia was worn out, so we popped over to Dad's house to drop of a birthday present for Sally (Happy Birthday!!!) and then we headed on home.  Now for a nice relaxing week or two before our entire world gets turned upside down.  I'll post soon about the house selling details, I'm forcing myself not to think about it for a while.

I Didn't Know I Was Waiting for This!

Things have been getting really crazy at work this week, and to top that off, Sylvain has been super duper sick (until today, thank goodness).  Our plan for this evening was for Sylvain to do all dinner and baby-related work while I ignored my family and worked on report cards.  Sylvia took a stellar afternoon nap when she came home, and ate a lovely, enjoyable dinner with us.  When dinner was over, I announced that I would, in fact, clean the dishes!  I know, how gracious of me, right?  I mean, a hard working Mom, taking time out of her busy day to do the dishes.  I really need a medal.

Anyway, Sylvia usually plays for a few minutes after supper before we put her in the tub and toss her in bed, but the warm weather and chirping birds were calling her name, so Sylvain decided to take her outside to play for a while.  Well!  Guess what happened to me?  I got all teary-eyed while I was washing the dishes!  I stand at that sink every. single. night. and wash dishes, staring out the window at the backyard and thinking of all kinds of crazy things.  When we first moved in to this house, and before we had a baby, I would imagine watching our kids play in the yard.  Then tonight, suddenly, out of no where...BOOM!  There was my vision, right in front of my eyes.  I wanted to write about it before it became common place, which I'm sure will happen very soon because Sylvia loves to be outside and the weather's really warming up.  It was a surreal moment.  There was my kid.  In my yard.  Playing.  Dishes.  Sunshine.  Soap suds.  Laughter.  It was awesome.  So awesome, in fact, that I stopped washing the dishes and ran outside to play.  I guess I'll give that dish washing medal back now.  Who needs it!

What Valentine's Day is All About

Valentine's Day makes me nervous.  I have a tendency to expect too much out of silly holidays like this one.  I need to remind myself that Sylvain cannot read my mind (although, I don't know how much clearer I could be - I practically run my hands through the beautiful flowers at Kroger EVERY STINKING SUNDAY when we go on our shopping trips).  Sigh.  I need to remind myself that the only thing he hates more than getting surprises is orchestrating them.  I have to remind myself that the love we have flying around this place is enough to last for today, the rest of the year, and then some.  Seriously.  We could fill a good 10 to 12 houses with all our love.  It's GIGANTIC!!

I knew all of this going into V-Day and I forced myself to semi-ignore the day altogether.  But that's impossible when you're a teacher with a baby!

I used to the think Valentine's Day was a made up holiday to sell Hallmark cards, but now I know better.  It's a made up holiday to eat candy at school!  My kids were SUPER excited about exchanging Valentines, and I love any excuse to make cupcakes, so we had a teeny, tiny, no-instruction-time-lost Valentine's Day Exchange.  It wasn't a party.  Don't tell my principal it was party.  We were learning.  I promise!

I also made cupcakes for Sylvia's teachers at day care, because (as I've mentioned before) I'm not above bribing the crap out of some college-aged girls if it means they'll give my baby an extra squeeze or hold her for an extra second each day.  I also sent in treats for the Valentine's Day Party in the crawler room.  I'm not even kidding.  Babies were having a party which involved treats.  I sent bananas.  Lame?  Or totally practical?  You be the judge.

So, after preparing for the school version of Valentine's Day, all of the energy I had left in my own Lover's Tank was used to get my hubby some of those awesome Peanut Butter Snickers that he adores.  I bought him three candy bars and a card.  Oh, and a pack of gum.  Romantic, huh?  Are you jealous?  He got me some chocolates and a card, which was really nice, and honestly, more than I expected.  Then, when Sylvia woke up from her early evening nap, we decided to go out to dinner.  On a MONDAY!  Who do we think we are?  People trying to salvage Valentine's Day, that's who!

Sylvia was very well-behaved at dinner and we had a lovely time.  We went to a very familiar restaurant and the food was okay.  I had just about given up on Valentine's Day altogether because I was so tired before we even started eating.  When I walked away to go to the bathroom, I was already thinking about the work waiting for me at home and at school tomorrow morning.  I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror and thought, "When did you get so old and boring?"  Then I walked back to the table....

and my heart melted.  Finally the Valentine's Day warm gushy goodness I had been waiting for.

Sylvia's high chair was sitting next to Sylvain.  I guess she started getting restless because he had pulled a bunch of toys out of her diaper bag and they were strewn all over the table.  But the two of them were leaning toward each other, head-to-head, looking at her favorite book: The Going to Bed Book.  Sylvain was reading to her and she was squealing and bouncing and turning the pages every time he finished a sentence.  His face was bright, cheery, and proud.  Her cheeks were chubby, smiling, and adorable.  There they were - sharing a sweet moment together in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

I sat down across from them and took a sip of my drink.  I sat back in my chair, watching them, and thought to myself:

How could I ever want more for Valentine's Day (or a birthday, or Christmas, or any other special gift-giving day EVER) than this?  This picture in my mind - of a Daddy that gave himself to me, loving a girl that he gave to me - well, that's worth more than any amount of flowers in the world, don't you think?  It's about these sweet, sweet, people.  It's about my sweet little family.  It's about the teeny, tiny, almost unnoticed moments that prove we all love each other, no matter what.  He's a thoughtful Daddy.  He's a wonderful Husband.  She's the smartest, cutest, most amazing little creature on the planet.  They are my Valentines and I love them more than I could ever hope to explain.

To Justify Our Purchase

Sylvain and I went out and bought matching iPhones today!  It was certainly NOT an impulse buy.  We've been hoarding our money for a while now, using it for very practical things, and we've been living with super cheap phones for at least two years.  In Sylvain's case, he's been carrying around a ten dollar "made from 95% recycled materials" phone for about four years.  Christmas was not the right time to buy new phones, but we started doing our research around then, just to see what was out there and what we wanted.  I used to have an iPhone, but it was stolen two years ago, hence the super cheap phone I've been using!  Well, Sylvain's been scouring the internet and looking for deals, and after all that scouring he magically decided that today was the DAY!   Yippee!  I was pretty surprised when he said he wanted one, and I haven't been able to pry him off of it all day.  Now that Sylvia's in bed, we're both playing on our phones and the internet and we've become downright sinful with the amount of media being thrown around this place!  Here's the first video I took with my phone.  I think it's super cute, and made the entire purchase worthwhile, if you ask me!

The Joy of Love

I signed up for a free, on-line photography class from Willette Photography.  This lady takes super sweet pictures and I'm very attracted to the words "free" and "class," so you can probably guess that I'm in love with this idea.  I signed up late, so I'm starting on day eight, but I got the gist of the first seven days and will try to post as much as I can during the month of February.  I have a lot to learn about my camera and editing photos, so for now, you'll have to bear with me.  It might just seem like an excuse to post pictures of my baby and my husband, but I PROMISE I'm fiddling with the aperture and ISO and exposure on my fancy camera!  Who knew that natural light was so hard to come by?  Especially when you leave before the sun rises and get home when the sun is setting!  Good photography is HARD!  Here are my first feeble attempts:

What They Do:
I was supposed to take a picture of a person I love, who is doing something they love to do. This weekend, Sylvia was in her second full week of NOT eating any food I tried to give her.  Since she was really lovin' on her bottles, I took a picture of her drinking a bottle: her favorite thing to do!

(Update: tonight she ate a ton of real food, so I'm very relieved!) 

What They Wear:
Sometimes I walk by the office to catch my husband wearing these amazingly old and nostalgic headphones.  Earlier this year, he took his computer speakers to his classroom, so he claims that these are his only option when it comes to getting good sound from his computer.  I think it's just an attempt to get me all riled up for a hot guy in headphones.  And it works.

Side note:  I'm totally cheating when it comes to editing these photos.  I just use picnik.com and choose the feature that makes them look the way I want them to.  Someday, I hope to be proficient in photoshop or some other photo editing software, but for now, I'll rely on the easiest things I can find!

I'll do my best to keep up with the whole "one assignment a day" thing, but I foresee a lot of weekend photo shoots in my future.  I might need to spread out these classes over a few months instead of just one day at a time.  I might just take my camera to school and see what kind of natural-light photos I can catch during my work day.  Lord knows our recess time is filled with all kinds of amazing fourth grade moments!  Stay tuned!

Fun (and FREE!)

This morning, Sylvain was disappointed to learn that the exhibit he wanted to see at the Speed Museum didn't start until February.  I remembered seeing a billboard for a toy exhibit at the history museum, so he looked it up.  Lo and behold - the history museum is FREEEE!!!  (for teachers)

So we packed up the Nugget and headed downtown.  The last time we took her to a museum was in Atlanta.  She was three months old and she loooooved the lights.  The time before that was the day I went into labor.  She loved that trip so much she wanted to come out.  :)

She had a quick snack before we left....

(I don't know if it's because she's been sick or what, but she won't eat anything except her bottles and cheerios lately.  What's up with that?  Should I be concerned?  I suppose that's another post.)

Anyway, we entered the toy exhibit, not knowing what to expect.  Sylvain found some old-timey soldiers, which reminded him of his toy box as a little boy, so he was really hoping to find some old-timey Lego's, but we had no luck with that quest.  He was a little sad about that. 

There were lots of dinosaur action figures, plenty of GI Joe's, and almost ALL of the Star Wars action figures - the originals, not the ones you can go buy at Wal-Mart today.  The GOOD ones.  And I was glad to see a pack of little boys gathered around the Star Wars case shouting, "Coool!  Luke Skywalker!" and "There's Jabba the Hut!" and "Hey!  It's Boba Fett!" And I thought, awww, what sweet little Star Wars nerds. I probably would have dated your dad in high school.  Sigh.

After all of those action figures, things started to get really exciting, and a little bit weird.  Remember, we're in a HISTORY museum.  Where they display trinkets of yore.  Relics of ancient times that need to be remembered for prosperity's sake.  Old, old, long lost things.  Things so OLD they come from..........the 80's!  Gasp!  Could you imagine?
 

We took a picture of this for Uncle Jordan.  I believe he got this for Christmas circa 1987.  

It's Castle Greyskull!  From He-Man!  However, She-Ra was no where to be found!  I was very disappointed in the exclusion of She-Ra's Crystal Palace.  The nerve.  I thought about writing a letter, but decided to just mention it in a blog post and move on with my life.  

I harumphed away, sulking, until I found.....

Wait for it.......

 THERE HE IS!  DO YOU SEE HIM?!!!

It's ELEROO!!!

And look how beautiful and tidy he is!  His orange hair is so fluffy and clean!  His Wuzzle pouch isn't frayed and falling off!  His Wuzzle tail hasn't been chewed all to pieces (you can't see his tail in the picture, but trust me, I checked)!  He looks so snuggable and friendly!  OH, how I LOVE HIM!!!!

Alas.  My Eleroo is sitting on my bed at this very moment.  He's worn and weathered.  Chewed and frayed.  Old, but not forgotten.  

Look at the dirt, I mean LOVE, on that poor thing!  The Eleroo in the museum just didn't get loved like mine did.  So which one is better?  I'll take the old, ratty one any day.  But it sure was nice to see a new one!  Hello, dear friend!

Sylvia had a BALL looking at all the toys.  She would kick her feet and giggle and scream every time we walked up to a new display.  Eleroo was in the same case with lots of Teddy Bears, and I think that was her favorite part.  She kept reaching for the glass and trying to put her mouth on it - I think she was upset that she couldn't reach in there and snuggle with all those fluffy teddies!  She's been very into snuggling lately.  She's probably dreaming right now about a giant room filled with cuddly stuffed animals that she can endlessly snuggle.  Sweet baby. 

In the last room, they had a bunch of toys out for folks to play with, so Sylvain and I had a rousing game of Connect Four while Sylvia played with a Rubik's Cube.  To our amazement, she did NOT solve it!  I know, can you believe it?  And here we thought she was soo-ooo smart.  Psh.  Stupid baby, can't even solve a Rubik's Cube!  Guess we better take her back!

 Okay, fine, we'll keep her.  She's lucky she's cute.  Just look at that face!  And those two adorable teeth.  It doesn't get much better than that.  Unless you count....

this. 

It was a great trip.  It made me think pretty carefully about Sylvia's toys.  I wonder what'll be in that museum when she's thirty years old (not that I'm thirty...yet).  Doesn't that give you something fun to ponder?