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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Long post, long overdue...


I’ve failed to remember that this blog, although important for me to document bits and pieces of our lives, is not primarily for myself, but for those who read and expect updates.  I apologize for failing.  Unfortunately, this means that we are way behind!  I am sorry in advance for the scatteredness that is about to happen.

(Molli has learned that she loves food!)

In the past month Molli and I have spent about one week at our house.  It’s been so wonderful to spend time in different states visiting our families.  We spent two weeks in Alaska with my parents, came home for a week and during that time Myles’ step-dad’s mother passed away so we high-tailed it to Boise for a week.

Grandma Phyllis’ death was not expected, which of course makes the loss more difficult to accept, but I can’t help but rejoice in the fact that although elderly, she was in good health for the most part and able to enjoy her life right up to the end.  I am sorry that I did not get to know her better, but I am honored that Molli got to be part of her life for these past seven months.  Not everyone gets to be a great grandma!  I am sure that Molli’s “Grandma Phyllis quilt” will be a special one for a very long time. We went to Boise to support the family, particularly Myles step-dad, John, and Myles’ siblings, who, undoubtedly, were taking this change with very heavy hearts. Although we were there for a sad reason, I am so glad we went.  Despite the fact that she was not present for this trip, I got to know Phyllis by looking through old photos and hearing stories of her life…and what a life it was!


Other important things:
Molli has officially been on 13 different flights
Our car has been through a tornado (tornado hit the airport where our car was parked the same day we left!)
Molli now has 6 teeth!
We got to visit with two of my brothers in Boise, and meet Emily, Zach’s girlfriend
We got to spend Rorie’s 20th birthday with her
Molli crawls like a maniac and can pull herself up onto things!  (see photo)
We saw Russell and Emily (very close friends of ours we met here in Lincoln) not once, not twice, but THREE times!
Molli had her first Easter
Molli was held by approximately six-trillion people and loved by all

(who couldn't love this face?!)

Since we’ve been home I have been working to get our house back in order again.  I’m amazed at how quickly our small house fills up with messes and I’m sure my parents are equally amazed at how much it bothers me.  (I was the kid who completed a room cleaning by spending hours tediously organizing all my hair ties, sticker collection and nail polish perfectly. Then color coded all my hangers and books but shoved everything else in the closet and under the bed.)  Times have changed and now I can literally feel myself tensing up and becoming anxious and irritable when I am among messiness.  Disarray does something to my very core that drives me wild and I can’t focus on anything else.  Maybe it’s a control thing, maybe it’s a reflection of an obsessive-compulsive personality.  Whatever it is, it’s taking up quite a chunk of space in the blog, so I’ll stop.  Point of this paragraph: things are messy and I need to clean them.
Which leads me to my next thought…
Molli doesn’t permit much time/space for tasks such as cleaning (or showering, or dressing, or anything else that involves her not being quite nearby, preferably the center of attention).  She is a baby unlike any I’ve met before.  She is a dramatic little time-bomb!  She goes from 0 to 100 and back in a millisecond on a regular basis, definitely keeping me on my toes!  I love her to pieces, but I sure hope future baby #2 is a whole different ballgame, otherwise I might never sleep again!


Oh yeah, and she’s a terrible sleeper.  We’ve resorted to her sleeping in our bed. (I know, I know, no need to chastise.  YOU take her for a couple nights and see whose bed she ends up in.)  I have to say, since she’s been sleeping with us, she and I are getting much better rest!  Daddy…not as much, but hey, it’s my turn to sleep!  Plus, although this would not be my primary position if I had an easy sleeper, I will only get to have my baby this little once and I am truly loving getting to have all these snuggles!  She has a very sweet face to wake up to!  (Stay tuned to future post(s) about our adventures in sleeping and trying new things.)

This is getting entirely too long, I’m sorry.  I will try not to go so long between posts!  I will leave you with this video from the park this week.





Friday, April 1, 2011

Fun times in Alaska


Coming home is always a refreshing experience, and this visit is no exception.  There is something so nice about the familiarity of driving the roads, seeing the businesses and reuniting with old friends.  All this is very welcoming, but nothing comes close to the joy I have in watching my parents interact and bond with my daughter.  It's so sweet to see them get excited about such simple things that I, undoubtedly, take for granted.  Mom said to me the other day, "Papa got to give Molli her bath two days in a row, but it's okay because I got to give her a bottle tonight."  The thought occurred to me that while I tend to feel bad having them do all these "tasks" I should just let loose and let them do all this stuff!  Baby food? Have at it!  Diaper? Knock yourself out! Jammie time? Go for it!  It's been wonderful having two sets of willing hands at my fingertips.  It'll be a shock to my system to go back to the real world and have to do most everything myself again.  For now, I'll relish the help!

I've also gotten to spend some time with a couple friends who happen to have little guys Molli's same age.  In fact, last time I was here, I was about 22 weeks pregnant and my fellow pregnant friends and I got together for a fun picture.

Less than a year later, we have our rug rats wiggling around and chewing on things.  It was so funny watching them interact!  I love how kids, essentially the same age, can be so very different! We have already had three play dates, one of them with two special friends.  Henley and Carson played hard and were so cute together!


Carson conked first...

Then Molli joined him...


And finally, Henley too.


Naturally, after naps, everyone got clean diapers and we just had to strip them down for a nakie photo opp! From left to right Henley- Ellen's, Carson- Kaity's, and Molli- Erin's.


We have been slowly exploring new foods with Molli and last night was her first experience with a banana in her mesh feeder.  Such an absolute mess, but look how much fun she had!


And of course, we've had LOTS of play time on the floor with Grammy and Papa.


Look who is trying to grow up!  Noooo!


Papa loves his girl!!


Most of these toys are practically ancient.  Mom and Dad saved them from when we were little and Molli seems to enjoy them just as much as we did.  She throughly enjoyed Uncle Nate's favorite toy- the stackable rings



And of course the squeaky wrench. I think this was Uncle Zach's.


Mr. Carson came back over today and had some fun.  Some slight fussiness was quickly cured by rice puffs...they both were happy about that!


Carson went home and this girl couldn't stay awake a moment longer.  Down she went for her "nap." Her grammy says she doesn't nap, she recharges.  Recharge she did, and 20 minutes later she's up and blowing bubbles, followed by a stream of mamamamama and finished with a juicy raspberry.  Welcome back little one!