We Are So Cute

After many failed attempts to get Savanna to show off her ponytail for the camera, Caleb was more than willing to show her up.

Here's the ponytail...that you can't see.

You know Savanna loves dinner when...
(I think Bryan loved dinner too.)

36

Caleb reading aloud to Savanna.

Not Much to Blog About

I'm surprised it has been 2.5 weeks since I last blogged. It's not that nothing has been happening, because stuff has been happening (department of redundancy department here). I just have not had a lot to say (I know, shocking, especially to my closest relations).

But last night when I was uploading 169 pictures onto my computer from months ago (because the memory card was finally full), I found a few pictures I haven't posted here yet. And now I might actually have something to talk about!

This painting was my absolute favorite Christmas gift.
Many thanks to my dear, sweet husband! ;)

Savanna

No need for a caption here.

We had some friends over for a game night. Here we were playing Scum, and our friend Lara brought hats for every position in the game. Bryant was the scum, wearing the plunger with flowers.

This is Savanna's princess. No, not dress, princess.

Daddy and Caleb have been building things. I'm not sure who enjoys it more...

Hmmm.... What else can I tell you? Bryan will be done with his AIT year toward the end of June. But we could be transferred before that, or not. Once he's done, we have to wait for an opening in the company. Which could happen really soon, or not. And if not, we'd probably stick around here for a while until something opened up. It's so up in the air that it's hard to make plans.

I'm almost 35 weeks now, and counting down the days. Unfortunately, that makes it go slower. I'm not really in a hurry (okay, well maybe I am), but I am getting more uncomfortable as time goes on. My first kid came 3 days late, my second came 15 days early. I'm really hoping for the 15 days early again this time. (Now watch, he'll come late.)

Caleb continues to amaze. He can read just about everything now, including big words like "nevertheless" and "withersoever." He is also expressing interest in taking piano lessons. I've taught him a few things, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to make that commitment!

Savanna is talking (and understanding) much more now, which lessens the frequency of tantrums. Yay! She's interested in the potty, but hasn't been interested enough to actually do anything about it yet. Which, frankly, is fine with me. I don't really want to deal with the regression that will inevitably come in a month. Savanna is about to be blindsided...

The baby is running out of womb. And his bones and muscles are very strong. Either that, or my insides are redistributed differently this time around. He can kick so hard it hurts, and in places I didn't know I had!

The end.

Who Do I Look Like?

When Savanna was born, she looked a whole lot like me as a baby. And people would even comment that she looked so much like me, as an adult. I'm thinking not so much now. She definitely has lots of Bryan in her. But some people still say she looks so much like me. What do you think?

So then I got to wondering, from an unbiased standpoint, who do I look like? Here are pictures of my parents at about the same age I am now.

Dad

Mom

Oh, and just for fun, here's me, I think about 18 months old. Yeah, Savanna definitely has much more hair than I did.

Week in Review (Last Week, That Is)

For Savanna's birthday, we invited our good friends Jeanne and Bryant and their kids. Their youngest, Hudson ("Hun," as Savanna so affectionately calls him) is Savanna's age and best friend. Here we are playing Duck Duck Goose.

Savanna's turn

Unwrapping presents

Blowing out the candles, all two of them.

Afraid of the fire

Digging in (loved the ice cream and the frosting, left the cake)

Hudson also wanted to dress up in Savanna's new jammies, so we let him.

At the end of the week, Bryan's friend Jon got baptized.

32 weeks

Shout Out

Bryan is out of town for the baptism of his good friend Jon. So I thought I would try to clean the whole house while he was away. And here's how that went:

We used to have two vacuums. One was a large upright vacuum with no attachments, and the other was a small handheld vacuum with the option of an edging attachment. The little one went kaput, so we have been using the large one for everything for a while. But as you can imagine, the edges got severely neglected for several months. So we finally bought a new vacuum.

Last night, I took our new vacuum on it's maiden voyage, with the thrill and excitement of vacuuming all the carpet in the house and all the edges! It was a good workout, and it took me at least an hour. But I should probably tell you that half of me was saying, "You're gonna regret this tomorrow..." And the other half was just telling the other half to "Shut up! This is uber-exciting stuff, getting all the edges clean! Back off!"

I knew the second half was right, so I kept on going. But I found out that the first half was also right when I went to bed. I tried to stand up, and literally couldn't because of the pain. Some of you may think, "Oh, sure, your back would ache after bending over the vacuum for an hour." No, no, no, no, no. You, my friend, have never had sciatica. It is not just "Wo, is me, my aching back." It is severe, acute, shocking pain that hits the nerves in your lower back and shoots down your legs and up your back, rendering you entirely unable to use one or the other leg. Or in my case last night, both legs at once. Could. not. stand. up.

So on and off all day, I hobbled around, trying to take it easy, but still overdoing it at times.

And there came a point when all I could do was lie on my bed and do nothing. Thank heaven both kids were taking a nap at the time (that never happens).

So when our good friends Lara and Jeremy called and invited to take me and the kids to a movie and feed us pizza, I was very, very grateful. After dinner, Jeremy also took my car and put gas in it for me. I feel so blessed to have great friends like them.

And tomorrow our other good friends Bryant and Jeanne invited us over after church to pass the rest of the time that Bryan will be gone.

And I should probably tell you that both of these good friends are going through their own trials right now, but are still reaching out to silly (stupid) old me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. The housework I got done? You guessed it: vacuuming.

The Dumbest Thing I Ever Did to Fit In

Okay, so you all know what it's like to be 13. Add severe shyness to the mix, and you get *trying to fit in* versus *trying to disappear*.

So those of you who know me very well and those of you who share my musical hobby will enjoy this story from my adolescence:

In my 8th grade English class, everyone was reading some book about something. And for some reason, the teacher wanted us to stand up in class and sing some song. Solo. So about half the class went before I did, none of which were in tune. (The other half also were not in tune.)

So what did I do? I also sang it out of tune.

On purpose.

So I wouldn't stick out.

The end.

Why are babies naked in utero, anyway?

After picking Bryan up from work, Caleb had this epiphany:

"Mom! I know how you can get clothes on the baby! Just take some clothes and eat them, and they'll just go on the baby."

At first we thought he was making a joke, until he was offended that we were laughing at him.