yesterday micah was climbing on her play kitchen. i asked her to get down a couple of times, then went over and picked her up. i said, "gosh, i really need to take you to the park, because you must really need to climb right now!"

just now, after asking if we could play outside and being told no, she climbed onto her kitchen again. i asked her to please get down. she hopped down, put her hands on her hips, and said, "you must need to take me to the park right now, because i need to climb!" she outsmarts me a dozen times a day. i wonder what it'll be like when she's 16...


this morning we went to the wedding of two of josh's best friends from high school. monday morning is an odd time to get married, but december 8th is their dating anniversary, and they had to be on a plane to mexico by 4 pm. the ceremony took place outside in a grove of trees. the weather was really mild. i was happy it turned out so well for them! the reception food was yummy bbq brisket sandwiches, baked beans and potato salad, with sweet tea to drink. in lieu of a wedding cake, they served apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream! it was so relaxed and fun.

after leaving the wedding, which was out in lucas, we drove to plano to see josh's mom. it was a really good visit. sometimes visiting her at the nursing home is really stressful with the kids, because they're into everything, and it's not that clean there. plus, i have seen syringes and mystery pills lying on the floor... ugh. but today i kept rowan in the mei tai, and micah was content to sit on her grandma's roommate's bed and eat chocolates. not great for her tummy, but great for my sanity.

after that, we drove back north to mckinney to my sister-in-law's house to pick up an outfit my other sister-in-law had bought for micah (cuuuuuute), then we went home. josh fixed some yummy garlic chicken with sour cream & chive mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner, and right now it is ten till 9:00 pm and i'm trying to get micah to go to sleep. rowan and josh are already in bed snoring.

more cute micah-isms from today:

• "i'm going to nurse until death!"
• "i love mommy, i love daddy, i love rowan, and i love myself."
• (after using the potty) "great job, bum!"
  

just yesterday i wrote about how i wanted micah to feel comfortable going to sunday school by herself, and this morning she stayed in class by herself for more than half the time! she is getting so big. as usual, micah, rowan and i sat together in the sanctuary for the first half of service, until they dismissed the kiddos for bible hour. i took rowan to the one-year-olds' room and dropped him off, leaving my dad's cell phone number (i'd left mine at home) for the teacher to call if rowan started to cry. then micah and i went off down the hall to her classroom. this morning, all kids ages 3 through the 2nd grade were in the children's theater. micah had never been in this classroom before. the class was great; we sang songs, memorized a verse about generosity, and some kids were chosen for a relay race. right after the race, i spied my dad walking in the hallway outside the classroom with rowan. i whispered to micah that i would be right back, and stepped out to see if rowan was okay. he'd been crying in his classroom, so his teacher brought him out to my dad, and my dad brought him to me. i walked the hall with him for the rest of bible hour, and micah stayed and enjoyed her class! for the rest of the hour, i ventured farther and farther with rowan away from micah's classroom door, thinking at any moment she'd run out to find me. but she didn't... she stayed for the whole class, and when service was over, i went and got her. she looked at me like she'd never even noticed i'd gone.

the only other time she stayed in class by herself, i made a big deal about it afterwards, telling her how proud i was and what a big girl she was becoming. she didn't want to stay in class for a long time after that. i opted not to do that this time... i simply took her hand and we walked out together, and i asked her if she had fun in class. she said yes, then started talking about something else. today was a really good day with her...

i think it's really cute when micah uses big words the wrong way. : ) example: (to one of her dolls): "oh leah, you are so concerned, i will take care of you." it only takes a little while before she learns to use the word correctly, but it's really cute while it lasts. : )

santa's village

we went to santa's village last night, and we got to see all the lights come on right at 6 o'clock! that was neat; the lights were so beautiful, and it was exciting to see them all come on at once. it was a little too cold and crowded, but i think micah had fun. we plan to go again this thursday night, when the lines might be a little shorter. after perusing the village last night, we went out for pizza with friends. (yeah, i was craving pizza all day yesterday, and i got it! i love that!)

here we are posing with frosty the snowman...

and here's micah with her friend, isaac...


here is micah trying out the jingle bells in the symphony house...


here's rowan and our friend, isaac enjoying pizza and laughs...


and here are micah and isaac playing a shoot 'em up together.

i am craving pizza like a pregnant lady today.

well, we were supposed to go to a christmas parade this morning, but... micah and rowan napped together for a total of about 3 and a half hours yesterday, so we were up late. i think past midnight. so of course we slept in, until about 9:30 am. the parade would have been fun, but what i'm really excited about is santa's village tonight at 5:00 pm. some friends are meeting us there, and it's micah's first time to go. i think she's going to love it!

i really want to enroll micah in some art, dance and/or gym classes. i think it will help with her uneasiness taking directions from adults other than myself or josh, and i think she would just have a great time. we took her to a free trial gymnastics class a couple of months ago, and she was crazy about it... but would only participate if josh walked through the activities with her, and wanted to stay a good distance away from the teacher and the other kids. if the teacher addressed her directly, she buried her face in josh's leg. now, i know my daughter, and she always has a negative first reaction to new experiences and environments... so i totally expected this, but it was/is still frustrating. i hate to spend the $100 on a series of classes if half or more of them are spent trying to coax her into participating. then i'll feel like i'm forcing her to do something she doesn't want to do, and it won't be fun for either of us. i would just like for her to get to the point where she's not so uncomfortable doing things like this, or like staying in her sunday school class by herself, etc. it does not concern me that she's not comfortable doing it (she is fiercely independent in her own way, and very attached to me, and i to her), i just would love to see her confidence and security build to the point where she doesn't feel threatened by brief separations from me. i wonder if i am expecting this too early...?

there are some art and gym classes at our local rec centers that i could attend and participate in with micah. so i'm thinking of enrolling her in one of those, and having my mom watch rowan on those days so i can give my full attention to micah and spend some fun, quality time with her. my friend alison and i are also going to have our kids enrolled in a gym class together, that she and i can also attend with them. i think if micah sees her friends participating and having fun, she'll enjoy it more.

ladies night at exposure indoor rock climbing was such a blast! i went with four other moms, and we all climbed for a couple of hours. i made it to the top of three walls, and made it about half-way up several others. it's been such a long time since i did anything physically challenging, and it was very refreshing and empowering! i definitely want to go again. ladies night every wednesday after 6pm is a great deal ($10 per lady), and monday after 6pm is 2 for 1 night, when two people can climb for the price of one ($20). josh and i are going to go soon for a date. : ) and my sister, naomi and i made plans to go when she's in town for christmas. i can't wait! one of the moms last night took some good pictures of us, so as soon as i have those i'll post them. i thought i would be super sore today, but i feel fine! my right ankle was tender when i first woke up, but not anymore.

one of my best friends from high school had her baby boy today, 6 weeks early. they are resting and doing well. : ) i can't wait to see them!

i love, love, love jason mraz's voice.

today micah, rowan and i went to see wall-e at the dollar movie with my friend alison and her kiddos. tuesday is 50 cent day, so i paid a whole dollar (rowan was free) for our tickets. micah and her friends sat through most of the movie, then got a little restless at the end. it was cool, though, because we had the theater to ourselves, except for one elderly lady, and she smiled at me several times while i was chasing rowan up and down the aisles, so i don't think she was bothered. it was a really fun outing, except that i got motion sick in the car on the way to the theater (even though i was driving) and then got even more motion sick in the movie, and ended up feeling horribly nauseated and migraine-y. i took a hot bath when we got home, and that plus a couple of hours of resting made me feel better. by the time my friend katherine came over for a visit in the evening, i was fine.

wall-e is the cutest movie ever and i want to own it so i can watch it over and over. : )

josh and i have new pet names for each other. he is "negative nathaniel" and i am "positive penelope". it all started because he was warning me he doesn't think i'll have a good time going indoor rock climbing tomorrow night, because he knows my normal level of physical activity, and believes it will be more work than play. this may be true, but i don't get to go out and do stuff like this very often since i became a mama, and whether it is a breeze for me physically or not, i know i will get a kick out of doing something new and challenging. we just have different ways of looking at it: he went indoor rock climbing a while back and found it discouraging, while i'm pretty sure i'll just have fun hanging (pun intended) with my friends.

despite having his doubts that i'll enjoy indoor rock climbing, as soon as he found out i wanted to go, he was on the phone with one of his former supervisors trying to line up some painting work so he could earn money for me to go. he is amazing. : ) he's planning on taking micah and rowan to a drum circle, along with a good friend of ours whom we haven't seen in ages, tomorrow night while i'm out enjoying a good upper body workout. i hope they have a good time! micah hasn't been separating from me well, but this evening i took rowan to the grocery store and left her home with josh, and she was okay. she cried when i went out the door, but was fine as soon as i was out of sight. she also fell asleep without nursing again, tonight... she is growing up!

ah, what a difference an early bedtime for the kiddos makes! night before last, micah and rowan were asleep for the night by 7:30 pm. josh and i made some dinner, watched a movie, surfed the internet, chatted, snuggled... and somewhere around midnight, we crawled in bed next to the kids and fell asleep. perfect! next morning micah woke me at 8 am, i made eggs and bacon (burned it) and blueberry toast for breakfast, and we went to church. then all four of us napped from about 2:20 pm until 4:00 pm - i could not keep my eyes open. due to the nap, last night we were up a little later - i think micah was down by 10:00 pm. this morning, we all slept in until 10:30 am. tonight, micah fell asleep in the car around 8:00 pm on the way to the grocery store, and i was able to get her from the car to the bed without waking her. so far, she's woken herself up twice coughing (i didn't give her any allium cepa tonight) but i've been able to get her back to sleep. after the first waking, she needed to nurse. but just a moment ago, she woke up and i was able to just lay her back down and cover her up with a blanket... and she went back to sleep just fine. this is highly unusual, but exciting. :) micah falling asleep without nursing is rare, but it's something we've been working on. she is getting better and better at it.

today i took rowan to our pediatrician for his second half of the flu shot. he slept through the shot. that's right... slept right through it. i didn't know this could happen. he passed out in the car on the way to the appointment, stayed asleep on my shoulder in the waiting room and in the exam room, then slept through the nurse taking his temperature in his ear, wiping his leg with the antiseptic, and sticking a needle into his thigh. he kind of stirred when she took the needle out. sheesh...

tonight we put up the christmas tree at my dad's house. it looks so pretty. :) christmas is going to be small present-wise for everybody in my family, but i am looking forward to it so much. it's my favorite holiday. i love giving gifts, though this year i don't know if we'll have the money to buy any for all the people i'd like to. i love being surrounded by my family. i love the fresh start of a new year. i love reminiscing about all the adventures this closing year brought us, and giving thanks for all the tremendous blessings we received.

something else i love: having stuff to look forward to! this week and weekend are jam-packed full of fun family plans. beginning tomorrow with a movie, the kids and i have something fun to do with friends every day this week, with a few "me" plans and "whole family" plans thrown in as well. now i just hope no one gets sick...