Lots to Celebrate!

I don't know why I think I will get this updated more than I do. It never quite seems to work out like I plan...

The first weekend of December, we had Matt's Shea Homes Department Christmas party at our friends Bradd and Corrinne's. We were designated the appetizer people, so most of our Saturday was dominated by whipping up sausage stars, little smokies in a blanket, and avocado dip. Not that I mind...any occasion to eat sausage stars, I am in. The party was a lot of fun, and the highlight was the live lobster that showed up in the white elephant gift exchange. It got a lot of laughs.

Monday, I made the mistake of taking Alden to the Bo Jena clinic at the barn. Last year, when she was still immobile and cuddly, she was a champ sitting and watching the rides. This year, I don't know what I was thinking, because she stayed in her stroller all of 15 minutes, and was making horse sounds while one of the riders was doing one-tempis down the diagonal, and basically wreaking havoc wherever she went. I did finally get to watch a little bit from the barn, standing in a stall and looking out the window, with Alden closed in. As you can imagine, I left not having gleaned any bits of wisdom from Bo, and Alden left covered in shavings and dirt.

On Tuesday, poor Alden had her 18 month checkup, and received 4 shots. Ouch! She is still holding strong in the 25-50% range, weighing in at 24 1/2 pounds and standing 31 inches tall. She was really good for Dr. Taylor, and let her listen to her heart, and look in her eyes and ears. It is a good thing that we are finally at the end of all the shot series. I know she will be thankful.

Thursday, Alden and I headed to Raleigh, and Matt followed us on Friday. Amber was graduating from nursing school Friday night, and her birthday and our anniversary were Saturday. We had a busy, but fun weekend, with lots of celebrating for Amber. Everyone came back to the house for dessert and snacks Friday night, and we especially enjoyed having Nana, Aunt Vickie, and Dillon with us! Alden loves Dillon, and even tried to say his name some. We are all so proud of Amber and all she has accomplished! She will be starting a job in mother/baby at Wake Med, the same place she has been working as a CNA, as soon as she takes the state boards.

Saturday was a crazy day, as we attempted to get Alden's Christmas pictures and a family portrait done. Of course, the place was running an hour behind schedule. Don't they realized that the timing for the pictures is very complicated, involving the strategic timing of naps, bath, snacks, clothing, and the gravitational pull of the earth to make sure the child is photo-ready?? We did come away with some good pictures after the fact, but not so many that it was hard to pick. Amber likened the photo experience to buying fabric, one of her most-hated, boring tasks. After pictures, we had to wait yet again for over an hour for our table at Cheesecake Factory. We got a big bucket of popcorn from the movie theater while we waited and Alden devoured it. So much for toddlers not supposed to be eating popcorn. Dinner was worth the wait, and it was very special to get to celebrate all together.

Sunday we enjoyed the great weather, and took the dogs and Alden down the greenway to the park and enjoyed dinner that night with the Livecchis and the Edmonds. Matt had to head back to work that night, but Alden and I got to stay a few extra days, enjoying Grammy and Amber helping out! We got to do some shopping, and Mom even got to get out by herself some, which was AMAZING!

We had a great playdate on Wednesday at Megan and Abby's house, and have just been catching up on errands these past couple days. We are headed to Aiken tonight, and are excited to see Matt's parents and be down there again. Lily is especially excited about Hitchcock Woods!

Turkey Day and Beyond!

Belated Happy Turkey Day, that is. Of course, I am again delinquent in the updating of the blog. Ahh!

We had a great Thanksgiving, and really enjoyed having my family come to us and stay here Wednesday night. The Alden family all gathered at Nana's for a fantastic meal. All except for Alden, whose Thanksgiving vittles consisted of Chex mix and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, after she nixed all the glorious offerings from the Thanksgiving buffet. She had a great time playing outside with her cousin Scottie, and getting a lot of attention from everyone.

Right after dessert, Matt and Alden and I took off for Big Canoe, GA, to visit Matt's BFF Josh, his wife and his parents. Josh and Nicki live in St. Louis, and we hadn't seen them since I was pregnant with Alden, so it was great to catch up with them, and Josh's parents who are like a second family. It was a cold weekend in GA, but we were able to get out and hike a little bit and drive around Big Canoe, which is beautiful. Alden made friends with Josh pretty quick, and let him carry her in the backpack, much to our surprise. She even started signing "friend" for Josh. Some of her highlights were:

* Playing with Mrs. Kijanko's giant bear, big stuffed dog, and the firetruck

* Discovering that Thanksgiving leftovers are, in fact, delicious...especially cranberry salad, turkey, and stuffing

* Going over to Angie and Ryan's and playing with all their kids' toys and their potpourri

* Going over to the Kijanko's friends' house and playing with their kids' toys

* Trying on Mr. Kijanko's special boots

* Playing with the coasters

It was hard to come back to real life after the holiday weekend, and this past week went by quickly. We had our last library day for the year on Monday, Bible study on Tuesday, a playgroup on Thursday, and a very special visit from Jessica, Miles and Lydia on Wednesday. They were in town since Robert had training at the BofA HQ, so they were staying with his parents in Gastonia. It was great to have them over, and to get to see how much all the kids had changed. Lydia just turned 3, and Miles is almost 1. Alden had a blast, and would not let Miles have any space, always wanting to hug and kiss him. She also enjoyed chasing Lydia, because, as everyone knows, nothing makes a toy more attractive than when someone else has it.

This weekend we got our Christmas tree up and decorated, and had Matt's department Christmas party at our friends Bradd and Corinne's. Sunday, we went to church, I went to the barn, and we hung out around the house. Alden is really enjoying the holiday season and is very interested in Santa, in all his forms and representations. She says "ho, ho, ho" and sometimes tries to say "Merry Christmas". We have a stuffed Santa from The Polar Express that she LOVES to carry around, and also really likes Matt's old nutcracker, who likes to "tell" her to eat her vegetables. Matt set up his train set around the tree, too, which has been a great source of entertainment for all of us. Alden wants it on all the time, and enjoys putting things in the cars - alligators, lollipops, playing cards, if it fits, it probably been around the tree.

Speaking of the tree, only the top 3/4s are decorated, with the exception of a few unbreakable ornaments. As we were trimming the tree on Saturday, Alden was "pleasing" every ornament that we took out of the box, and was heartbroken that she couldn't play with them. Too bad, so sad.

Alden's other shenanigans this week include, but are not limited to:

* Eating and learning the signs for lollipops and oranges

* Taking off her shirt and running around like a wild woman one night after dinner. Did I mention that our house is 69 degrees and freezing??

* Learning signs for "socks" and "play"

* One morning, I was in the shower and Alden was pulling things out from under the counter. I heard her squealing about something...she had found 4 paci's that she had stashed in the white strips box.

* She was eating goldfish ("gol, gol") for her snack, and kept disappearing to the front room. Pretty soon, her bowl was empty and she wanted more ("mmmmmmor"). I gave her some, and then spied on her as she went in the front rooms. She was putting them in the hole in the trunk in our dining room. I found my cell phone in there one time, too. Who knows what else is in there??

* She has really enjoyed playing in her bath, but none of the business parts of it now. As soon as we reach for her, she lays down on her back and kicks, or tries to submerge herself. This is the coolest thing for her, now that she has figured out she can lay her head on the bottom of the tub.

* When we run the vacuum, she grabs her lawnmower, or pushtoy, and "helps" us.

Pomp and Circumstance

Reading on the tricycle and playing with the charade sticks.

Again, I apologize for waiting so long to update the blog. We have had a lot going on! Two weekends ago, my mom came up to spend a few days while my dad was on his annual fishing trip. Alden got very spoiled from all of Grammy's attention, and surprised us by saying "Coca-cola" and finally saying "more" instead of just signing it. She has also said "please". While I was at clinical on Saturday, Matt was able to get out and go to an airshow nearby, which he really enjoyed, and made him even more excited about being a pilot.

This past week, we finally found a vegetable for Alden. Edamame. She will eat it like candy. What a relief to feel like she gets something green in her diet. For example, for dinner tonight, she ate:

Tortilla chips and guacamole -

Fish sticks - with 3 different dips

Green olives

Edamame - about 12 pods worth

Tonight was a bit of an exception since the guac and olives were green too, and kind of vegetable-like.

I had graduation from my class on Saturday, after our last day of clinical. We all went out to Olive Garden afterwards to celebrate and get our certificates. Here is what I learned in my class:

1. How to fry chicken - we had a lengthy discussion about chicken numerous times. No one could believe that we never fry chicken at our house..."Girl, whatyou mean you never fry chicken?" or that my family never did growing up. Apparently it is a staple for a lot of my classmates, and I got a lot of advice on how to cook it. I told them I was intimidated by any chicken that was not a nugget, or boneless skinless breasts. They think I am crazy.

2. The numerous possibilities for African-american hairstyles including, but not limited to weaves, braids, extensions, senegalese braids, cornrows, etc. Hair seems to be a source of much concern with my classmates.

3. That your average 2nd grade teacher could take the state test and pass - as did my friend Sam's mom who took the sample test online and aced it.

4. How to roll hair - I masqueraded as someone proficient in rolling and setting old lady hair. One lady even wanted to tip me.

Overall, my CNA class I did learn some health care related nuggets in my class, but more than anything, it was a fascinating cultural immersion experience.

In other news this week, Alden has discovered how to crawl from her little wooden chair into the big chair and does this over and over. She really likes peppermint sticks. She learned the signs for monkey, blanket, and friend. Owls are now "hoot, hoot" and turkeys are "gobble, gobble". She has also begun going to our linen closet at bath time and insisting a wash cloth. Whenever you take her diaper off, she says "Brrrrr." She has finally slept the past two nights, much to our relief. At the consignment store today, she saw a gorilla backpack - this thing was hideous, pretty much a gorilla head with back pack straps - and did her scared sign, and would not go near it.

Aunty Amber came this past weekend for a night, and Alden learned the sign for "aunt" and did it a lot for Amber. She has been expending a lot of energy randomly running laps around the house, and back and forth upstairs, especially naked after her bath. She loves getting things out from under the bathroom counters, and even decided to move right in one day.

Matt has been selling some old toys on eBay. Alden was checking the structural integrity of the Ewok Treehouse.

What a Week

Note: bruise on right forehead, scrapes on right cheek, gouge under left eye, snot dripping from nose.

It all started Saturday night with the recurrence of Alden's teething. I think she is getting her bottom "fang" teeth in and is congested and can't breathe through her nose. This is a major problem when you have a pacifier. Alden will suck on it a couple times, then pull it out and breathe, then suck again, take a breath. She was up a couple times Saturday, the next night, and every night this week until last night when finally our prayers were answered for a full night's rest. Part of the problem is that all of the infant cold medicine has been taken off the shelves. I thought I had hit the jackpot at Wal-Greens the other night with some toddler decongestant, and when they rang it up, it said the item could not be sold. I was about to cry. We went to the doctor yesterday to plead my case for SOMETHING to make it better. The PA had mercy on me, and told me to give her some Benadryl and Motrin, something she calls the Night -night cocktail. Now that it worked, Mom and Dad need their own cocktails.

To add to our drama this week, I had to bail off Misty on Sunday and landed on my right side, bruising a lot of my body. She has a tendency to walk off as I get on, and Sunday, as I was mounting, she walked off, I couldn't get my right leg over in time, and ended up behind the saddle, sitting on her back. Misty, of course, was irritated, and started bucking like a rodeo horse...Bouncing all around the arena, and jumping into the dressage arena, where some poor woman was praticing her test. Time slows down in those situations, and I found myself weighing all the possibilities. Obviously, I wasn't going to get back in the saddle, so I tried to jump off before she decided to take off across the farm, or jump through the mirrors like Frieling. We parted ways without either of us getting hurt, and the plus side, was that I had a GREAT ride after a little bit of remedial lunging in the round pen, to refocus Misty from her rodeo-horse mindset back to Dressage-horse Misty.

And there is more...on Wednesday, we ventured to Uptown Charlotte for the FIRST time to have lunch with Sarah, one of my high school friends who was in town for a drinking water quality conference. Riveting, huh? We found a parking spot, and I sat in the backseat to change Alden's diaper and get her jacket on. I closed the door to get the stroller, and when I opened it again to get her out, she fell out the door. I was able to break her fall some, and gouge her in the cheek with my fingernail, but she hit her head and got some scrapes on her face. Mom is not doing a good job here.

Besides Alden's sicky, teething yuckness, she has had a great time this week discovering the box of white strips under the sink in the bathroom. These are the #1 source of entertainment in our house right now. She also really likes to be chased, and will hide behind the curtains in her room, the closet, or the corner of our room. We had dinner at McDonalds on Friday night, and we taught her the sign for McDonalds. She will just randomly do it now, and "sings" the "McDonalds, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut" ditty. Please don't read this and think she actually says any words. It is just the general sound. She also really enjoyed collecting and piling up the aerated dirt terds at Bill and Ashley's last weekend. Go figure.

Another fave right now for Alden is standing on a chair at the table eating tortilla chips. Sometimes, she takes them to her rocking horse; sometimes she spills the whole bag on the floor.

Grammy is coming down today to give us a break, and to free Matt from his Saturday responsibilities while I am at clinical. We are really looking forward to it! And, I only have this 1 1/2 days of clinical left and four more nights of class. We are nearing the end! The great thing about next week is that we have 2 tests, too, which for anyone who knows my nerdy side, will know that I love taking tests.

First Pigtails

Isn't it hard to believe that it is November already! Why does it still feel like summer???

Alden and I have been having a pretty chill day, after lots of fun yesterday. We went to Barnes and Noble for storytime, which again, meant Alden running around and playing with the Thomas the Train set, and not really listening to the kind, engagi. She was really excited about the firetruck, school bus, and motorcycle board books that had wheels on them, which led us to meeting some new friends, Erin and her son Ryan, when Alden moved in on his territory.

Then, we went to the park, which seemed to be a hotspot for nannies yesterday. Kind of eerie, but I think I was the only one there with my own child, and one of 2 adults that were native English speakers. Again, Alden monopolized the swing and spent the rest of the time collecting sugargum balls.

Last night, Matt took Alden to Petsmart, and to the CJ Woodmasters store. One store for Alden, and one for Dad. Alden loved the birds and the cats, both of which we will never own ourselves, and especially liked the parrot. Matt said she was squawking really loud at him...in an embarrassingly loud way.

Amber had mentioned on the phone yesterday that we were really fun parents to do things like that with Alden. As any other parents know, it has nothing to do with being fun, but more to do with a survival mechanism, and an attempt to stay out of the house. Your own toys are only fun for so long, and pretty soon, the tupperware, DVDs, piano, Mom's bathing suits, and Dad's shoes lose their charm, too.

I realized this afternoon, as we have been waiting for Matt, that I have never put Alden's hair up. So, we had a little beauty parlor time, and behold her first pigtails! She really likes them!

Trick or Moo

We had a very Happy Halloween, beginning with mom and Alden getting to the library in time to sign up for Jumping Beans. Whew! What a relief! While we were there playing afterwards, Alden saw a little boy in a lion costume, ran up to him and said "Rrrarr!". She proceeded to follow this poor little guy around and just kept saying "Rrarr, rrarr!" each time with growing intensity. Fortunately, I was able to grab her before her mom called animal control on us.

We spent the morning at the park with our friends, where as you can guess, Alden spent 98% of the time in the swing, and the other 2% in the sand volleyball court, and in that 2% of the time we were there managed to get sand on 90% of her body.

Matt was able to come home early yesterday, so we got Alden dressed up and took some pictures before I left for class. Alden seemed very pleased with her cow costume, as you can tell by the video, and kept saying "mmmmooo". Matt took her to our neighbors' house to trick or treat (see photo above), and then they had a special Halloween dinner with Nana and one of her friends. At Nana's, Alden did figure out how to unzip the top part of her costume, so she spent most of the evening as a cow from the waist down.

A Wedding and Some Pumpkins

Since we were at my parents' house for the fair, Alden has been doing something really funny. Out of the blue, she will say "Pop pop", then sign Grammy, and then sign dog for Kaile. Recently, she has started adding "Swing, swing." Like she just happened to be thinking about them, and going on the swing at their house. It is crazy that they just pop into her head and she tells us about it.

Another one of her latest faves, is watching her Baby Einstein videos. It has taken a lon time for her to be really interested in them, but now she points at the TV, signs please, and wants to sit on her rocking horse to watch them. Of course, her attention span is still limited, but she usually will sit for 20 minutes enraptured with "On the Go" or "Baby's First Signs."

She and Matt have been having a good time together in the evenings while I have been at class, and it is funny to see the things she remembers from her time with Matt that she will do the next day. Like, Thursday morning we were in the kitchen and she started stacking up the cans from the pantry. I was thinking that she was being clever just figuring out how to do that on her own, but it turns out that she and Matt had done that the night before. She has been an angel for Matt, and then when I was home Friday night, she was awful. Maybe I should be away every evening...
We made a quick trip to Raleigh this weekend for my high school friend Sarah O's wedding. I was able to leave clinical at noon on Saturday which was GLORIOUS, and just made it to Apex in time to shower and get to the wedding. Matt and I had a great time catching up with friends, seeing a lot of the old Sheperd's Vineyard Swim and Racquet Club people, and enjoying a night to ourselves. The reception was at the NC Museum of History, which was really cool, and was totally a reflection of Sarah and Justin. Almost all of my middle and high school memories involve Sarah in some way, so it was very special to be there.

Sunday we took the dogs and Alden on a walk down the greenway to the park, where Alden went down the slide once and wanted to swing the rest of the time. On the way home, I swear she said "lawnmower". My mom said Alden said "seven" and "nine" the night before. We all went to Smithfield's BBQ for lunch, our Sunday afternoon ritual, and took Alden to the pumpkin patch at church before we headed back to Charlotte. It was a late night, and Matt had an early walk to start his week off this morning. So, back to the old grind.

Scratch and Sniff

One of Alden's favorite things right now is a scratch and sniff book called The Sweet Smell of Christmas. I had a copy when I was little and remember liking it, too. However, now she thinks that books with paper pages, not board books, you can smell. She is also very into Baby Goofy Catches a Fish, which Matt and I have memorized and have read to her about a hundred times the past few days. I swear that Saturday she touched my hair after I had showered and said "wet". Another funny thing is that she will see dirty socks, dirty diapers, and trash around the house and make a "cucch" sound in her throat like "yuck". We got back from a run the other day and were sweaty, and she was touching my belly button. I told her it was sweaty and she said "cucch". Now, whenever she sees my bellybutton, she thinks it is "ccuch". I have tried to explain that mommy does sometimes take showers.

My first day in clinical was a little slow, although I did get to bathe and shave my resident, Mr. Grier. I think I might start talking with a little ebonic flair after being around all the girls in my class, the teachers, and the staff at the Assisted Living place. Even after one day, I have to stop myself from saying, "Whatchu doin?" It wasn't quite as gross as I thought, although the smell of the dining area mixed with the cleaner, and the smell of old people was pretty sick. I felt like I needed to take about 4 showers to get it off. Cucch.

Saturday night we had a great time at Bill and Ashley's and enjoyed not having to cook dinner. Sunday, we went to church, I went to the barn while Matt watched some football, and then we took Lily and Alden to the park. It seemed like a good full day, except the disappointed end to the baseball playoffs. I won't pretend to know if it was AL or NL, or even if those are the right abbreviations.

Crazy Week

Note: I wrote this Friday...I was trying to load a video and it took forever and didn't end up working...pretend you are reading this a couple days ago.

What a week we have had!!! I started my CNA class on Monday nights, which is a big time committment, but little did I realize how much it would disrupt the rest of my days. It has been quite an adjustment to get dinner ready by 5, and fit in all our other errands around naps and playgroups. Add the pressure to keep the house clean to sell and I am about to go crazy! Maybe I am a bad time manager, but I don't know how working moms do it.

Plus, Monday night Lily wanted out every couple hours, and then starting Tuesday night, she was still in and out, plus Alden was up for a hour or so. This continued into Wednesday, and needless to say, Matt and I are exhausted. Lily and Alden and I were at the vet yesterday for 2 1/2 hours waiting to be slipped in between appointments just to make sure she hadn't swallowed a rock again. Luckily, no rocks, just a GI upset. Thank goodness, since our pet insurance said 2 rock removals are all they will cover.

Today Alden and I were at the doctor for an hour just to make sure her ears are ok. She is getting her bottom molars in, and I just wanted to make sure there weren't any other problems. Luckily, she is clear.

Matt has been amazing taking on the evening shift of bossing Alden. She has been wild in the bathtub, and enjoyed Dad's leniency with extending bathtime. Tonight, she splashed half of the water out of the tub, and kept standing up, sitting down, and then turning on her back and to her front. She is crazy, and our bathroom is a disaster.

This past weekend, we were in Raleigh, and enjoyed a great time at the fair. Alden loved seeing all the animals, lights, carnies, and rides. She really liked cotton candy, and LOVED the lemonade that came in a plastic cup with its own straw. She has been drinking out of it all week (we've washed it, don't worry), and it seems to be a good way to get her to drink more water. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, and will have to post the pictures when my mom sends me hers.

Last Friday, Ashley, Mom, Alden and I went to see a bunch of the Parade of Homes. We thought that Alden would be bored silly, but she LOVED running around the empty houses, climbing stairs and laying on the carpet. Mom and Dad are looking at house plans for their property in Chatham county, and Matt and I got to see one of the front runners with my mom on Saturday.

As far as the class goes, let me sum it up for you...we talked about telling military time for twenty minutes. Seriously. Does that give you any indication of what I am sitting through 16+ hours a week?? I am sure that we will eventually be learning SOMETHING, and I have my first clinical tomorrow. It is at an assisted living facility, which kinds of freaks me out, since I am not super comfortable with older folks, but I just looked it up on line and one of the requirements to be there is bladder and bowel continence. Whew! That eliminates a lot of concern on my part. I already do enough botton wiping during the day!

I will let you all know tomorrow how it all goes, and how Matt and Alden enjoy their day without me. Hopefully, we will all get some sleep tonight!

Catch Up

Whew! It has been awhile since I updated the blog, and to be honest, I have been dreading it since I have let it go for so long! Put on your reading glasses, grab a snack, and settle in, because this is a long one. But, there is a surprise at the end...I figured out how to load a video!

At our last post, Matt and I were preparing to leave for the lake, which was wonderful. I got home Friday after dropping off Alden and Lily with my mom and the house was so quiet...in a good way. Matt and I got to run together, sans baby jogger, and headed up to Lake James. My friend Laura's parents were so gracious to host us all at their new home, and we all had a blast. I had never heard of Lake James, but it was so beautiful! I am not a lake person, but this one felt like a swimming pool; none of that lake-y funk when you get out, and no suspicious feeling of fish and Nessie swimming around beneath you. We totally felt like we were on vacation. We all cooked out, caught up, and played a lot of Catch Phrase. Matt and I took the jet-skis out, bummed around in the boat, Matt slalom-skiied, and I eventually got up on water-skis, after Laura's fiance, Matt, patiently turned around for me about 20 times, and Whitney's boyfriend Chad, gave me some advice. The result was about 10 glorious seconds of skiing, and 2 weeks of recovering from a serious fresh-water enema. 'Nuff said. I went to pick Alden up Monday morning stayed with my parents until Wednesday. She had a blast with my mom and Amber over the weekend. Can I say again how good it is to have family close?? It was good for me to ease back into life with Alden again, after our weekend of freedom. We both missed her, but hadn't really thought much about her during the weekend. I think that is ok. One of the highlights of my time at home, was getting to have lunch with my mom's friend Elaine, after whom I was named (no grammatical critiques on that...I know it sounds awkward...). We had a great lunch at CPK, before Alden and I had to head back to Charlotte. It was good to all be back together as a family again!

One of the results of my staying in Raleigh, was discovering a Nurse Aid class I can take. The last couple days of our week were spent gathering paperwork, going to the doctor for a TB test (negative, luckily) and taking it up to the Nurse Aid Institute of Excellence for registration. I had wanted to work part-time while Matt was in flight school, and having this certification will at least allow me to log hours towards applying to PA school eventually, plus, it will be a lot more interesting than working at Old Navy. I start Oct. 15th, and for 5 weeks, will be going 6-10:30 at night M-Th, and 8-4:30 on Sat. These are going to be a hairy few weeks, but the alternatives were at least 3 times as long, and with our house for sale, getting something done quickly is key.

One of Alden's new things that week was yelling really loud and putting her finger over her mouth and saying "SHHHH". The yelling sound is pretty annoying, but it really makes me laugh. I have to turn my head so she doesn't see me cracking up. She got a tricycle a Grammy's that she is really into, and drives it around saying "Vroom, vroom". She is also very into wearing people's shoes.

Friday night we had dinner at Nana's with Kitty Scott, Dickie, Elizabeth, and Scottie. Kitty Scott had passed on some of Scottie's things to Alden, and there was a pair of white sandals with kittens on them that Alden HAD to wear. Never mind that they are 3 sizes to big. She had them on the whole night, and wanted to have them back on in the morning. Now they are in the closet, waiting for next summer.

Matt's parents stopped by on their way back from a week in Aiken on Saturday. Although it was a quick visit, it was great to see them, and a treat as always, to go out to dinner at Harper's, which we love. They left as we headed off to church on Sunday, and we will look forward to seeing them again in December when they are in Aiken for a few months.

Well, in the midst of all the travels and visitors, I completely spaced the sign-ups for the library. I figured I could just show up this past Monday and sign up on the wait list, and still get in. Very naive. I came at the end of class for "hang out" time, and the lady asked me what me name was, noticed I had come in late, etc. Apparently, showing up like that is "not a good idea" and basically, I am not welcome for class, and only "maybe" for the non-structured time afterwards, which is the best part because all the moms just get to talk while the kids play. We all had a good laugh about the Nazi library lady, and are very said that Yanna left because she was AWESOME and NEVER checked role. So, Alden and I will remain shunned from Jumping Beans until sign-ups for November, and you can guarantee I will be first in line!

That week was the beginning of our life with "no." It started at the park..."Alden, would you like to get out of the swing?" Serious look, shakes head, "no". "Alden, would you like to do something other than sit in the swing, maybe go on the slide?" Again, a look that could kill, and "no". It continues..."Alden, would you like some green beans?" "Are you ready for bath-time?" "Do you think Hillary will win in 2008?" "No", "No", and "No."

This past week, Matt and I also started gearing up for the Charlotte Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. We ran it last year, and realized that we probably need to get started training if we are going to do it again. Matt has been much better about running than me, because it is always more fun for me to go to the barn instead. I got out a couple of times last week, and Misty is doing better and better. We are working a lot on consistent rhythm, and trying to ignore all the scary horse-eating monsters that disguise themselves as birds, chairs, weed eaters, trash bags, etc. I am going to try to take a couple lessons a month with the eventing trainer at the barn, hoping to polish up my year and a half of riding without feedback! For instance, I know that I am not weighting my left side equal to my right. Why is that so hard? Apparently, this is a common problem, because one of the girls at the barn suggested to think about looking back at Misty's tail, while tracking right, and it helps weight that side. No big deal, huh? As far as looking where I am going, that is a technicality that we will have to work on.

This past weekend, we thought our friends Andrew and Lori were going to come down, and unfortunately Lori's grandpa had a stroke and passed away on Saturday. We send our prayers out to her family and know that they were all very close to her grandpa. Instead, we ended up keeping it low key here, and invited Nana over for dinner on Friday. Saturday, we went to The Fork, a big privately owned nature area/horse trials venue for the NCDCTA Horse Trials. It was an amazing facility, something like 1700 acres, and a barn nicer than most houses. www.forkstables.com They host a World Cup qualifier there in the spring, but this one just went up to Prelim. We got there in time to watch the last couple Prelim horses go, and all of the Training horses over cross-country, plus got to see some of the people from Hidden Spring do dressage. Alden and Lily were great horse-show goers, and Alden enjoyed running around, neighing at the horses, and Lily especially like eating grass and playing in the water jump. A good time was had by all, and it was a great excuse to be outside. The highlight for Matt was stopping at Wendy's in Midland for a Cheerwine and Vanilla Frosty Float. I think it is still on his mind...The picture below is of us by/on a huge Prelim corner jump. Maybe one day I will be brave enough to jump one!

Sunday, Matt finally got out and went mountain biking at one of the local parks, and had a blast. We had dinner with some church friends, and Alden enjoyed playing with their kids, and especially their toys. She really liked pushing the baby in the little stroller, which she loved at Scottie's house, too. Maybe that is a signal that Mom and Dad should get her one...Maybe it would also be a distraction from motorcycles and trucks.

One of the highlights of the weekend was having two showings of our house on Saturday! Neither of them resulted in an offer, but we got great feedback and really high scores on the surveys. That is really encouraging, and we are just trusting for God's timing in the sell-the-house-get-Matt-in-school situation.

And, now it is Wednesday, and I have to say that I have really enjoyed my time with Alden lately. I think having a break from her to ride a couple times a week, plus our separation during Bible Study on Tuesday mornings makes a huge difference in my mental health. Plus, she is getting more and more fun. Of course, she always likes to read, but she has been enjoying her puzzles lately, and insists that I wear the Minnie Mouse ears headband that my dad brought back from Eurodisney all the time. It kinds of hurts my head, but she seems to get a kick out of it. She still loves putting things around her neck, and I leave you with another little gem of her sporting my bathing suit bottoms.

I wasn't really sure where to put this one, but it is so funny, I had to include it. Matt took it and it reminds me of a National Geographic picture. Except that Alden is not a lion, and this was in Norwood, NC, not Kenya..

Underwear Necklaces

I can't believe that it is already Friday morning and I am just sitting down to update the blog! This week has flown by. Matt had a crazy busy week last week, getting home after 6 most nights, which is really unusual. It seemed that 3 of his worst homeowners had work to be done all at the same time. I think we were all a little frazzled by last weekend. It was nice to spend some time at home. We had a great dinner at Nana's with Elizabeth, Paul and Scottie on Friday night. Alden overheard Elizabeth asking Scottie something about her calf (on her leg) and Alden goes "MMMMooo". It was funny how she just picked that up from someone else's conversation. I got to ride on Saturday morning, which was a much welcomed escape. I am riding a mare named Misty who is coming back from a couple years of motherhood. She is still pretty green, but knows enough to keep me accountable for what I am doing, too. We are taking things slow, but she is doing better all the time.
Sunday we went to Latta Plantation after church and hiked around. It was so refreshing to be outside and not be pouring sweat. I think Lily was especially grateful! We had a great pizza dinner at Elizabeth and Paul's on Sunday night, and enjoyed watching Alden and Scottie play. It is fun to think that their age difference is the same as Elizabeth and I, and to imagine us as little girls.

This week has been a much better week for Matt, and as a result for the rest of us, too. He has had a lot of days to be home early! Alden and I have been busy at the library, bible study at church, and playgroup at our house. She is really into putting things around her neck lately, including bathing suits, underwear, bascially anything she can get her head through. Right now, she is sporting three pairs of underwear like necklaces. At least they are clean, right? She is also likes pointing out everything that is Matt's. His socks, his things in the bathroom, the grills at Lowes, she points and does her "Dad" sign and says "Da." It is really cute. The other day, she was "helping" me with the laundry, which means that she picks things up and shakes them and wads them into a ball. She picked up one of Matt's non-descript grey shirts and did her "Dad" thing. How does she know these things? We are beginning to realize that she is aware of a lot more than we think...kind of scary.

This weekend Alden will be staying with Grammy while Matt and I go to Lake James with some of my college friends and their significant others. This is exciting since it is the first time Alden is staying away overnight and the first time we are getting away by ourselves! Yay! I am meeting Mom in Asheboro today to make the handoff of Lily and Alden, and then heading back Monday to stay in Raleigh with them for a couple days.

For Sale

Well, it is official! Our house is on the market. This is another huge step of faith for us as we head down the path of Matt going to flight school! Matt has always loved flying and has thought about at least getting his private pilot's license quite a few times in his life. What a way to combine something he loves, with a good career, and to have a blast doing it!

We are excited to have a little bit of a plan, at least for the next few months. Hopefully, as soon as our house sells, Matt will be able to start school in Richmond, and Alden, Lily, and I will live with my parents in Apex until he finishes. We don't know details after that, but it is encouraging to be on a forward-moving path towards something!

We spent this past weekend in Raleigh, and got to visit with my parents and Amber. Jessica was in town, too, for her mom's birthday, so we all got together Saturday night at Debbie and Craig's to celebrate. It is so nice to have Jess and the kids within driving distance again! Hopefully, we will be able to get to JAX to visit them soon!

Alden and I are just waiting around this morning for the guy to come recaulk something in the bathroom. Kind of puts the damper on the morning, but so far, Alden is holding herself together. We are up 3 nights in a row that she has slept! Hooray!

Has the Teething Subsided?

Just wanted to record for posterity that last night was the first night in over a month that Alden has slept all night without the benefit of Motrin or Triaminic. Her snotty nose is finally drying up and hopefully, we are out of the woods with the teeth for a while. Please, Please.

It figures though, that while Alden was sleeping blissfully, Lily howled at 3:30 this morning and woke us up and then we were awake another hour while Matt battled allergies. Why is sleep so elusive??

This morning we went to the reading time at Barnes and Noble, which Alden likes for about 4 minutes, and then to Katie's. I got to get out to the barn this afternoon, and now Matt is out with his guys. We are headed to Apex tomorrow!

Great Long Weekend

What a wonderful long weekend. It seemed extra long since our Frontier friends Chris and Julie arrived on Thursday night to kick things off. What fun to have them in our house and catch up! One of the Frontier Interns from our last year was marrying a girl from Charlotte, so we were able to reap the benefits of all their guests being in town.

Saturday morning we went to the Labor Day parade in downtown Matthews, which is apparently on of the largest LD parades in the southeast, or country or something...There must not be a lot of competition in this category, because it wasn't huge. Fun, but not giant. Our friends Bill and Ashley met us with their daughter, Ella. Alden really enjoyed the balloons, floats, and people in animal costumes. She loved the softball players from Matthews Rec. Tractor trailers and softball...what is this leading to??

Bill and Ashley came over for dinner Saturday night, which was great. We have really enjoyed our friendships with folks here in Charlotte. Unfortunately, we missed the late night after-reception festivities with all the young single wedding guests up town. Alden fell asleep, and really, have Matt or I ever been out past 12:00 that often in our whole lives??

Sunday we did church, which we love, and then Shelly, Sarah and Vinton (more Frontier folks) came over on their way out of town. Sarah saved Alden from her first very-near-death experience. We were all talking in the kitchen, and Alden was milling around. Sarah looks into the living room, and Alden is almost to the top of our 8 foot ladder that we had out to hang curtain rods. Matt and I both saw her as Sarah was running into the room to rescue her. Please don't judge our lack of parental supervision...I promise it is better than that.

Sunday afternoon my parents and Ashley met at our house and we went to Nana's 87th birthday party at Aunt Kitty Scott and Uncle Dickie's. It was fun to have everyone together and Alden especially enjoyed playing around their fountain and riding Cousin Scottie's scooter. One of our favorite things about being here is spending time with Nana, and it was really special to get to celebrate her!

Sunday night Matt's college friend Sean and his girlfriend stayed with us on their way to the beach. I had never met them, so it was great to put a name with a face, and have more old friends at the house.

Monday we had breakfast with everyone at Nana's and my parents kept Alden over there so Matt and I could run some errands and get started on some house projects. What a blessing to drive off without her!!! We needed a little break. With my parents help, we got so much done around the house and had a great dinner with them afterwards. No trip to Concord Mills is complete without visiting the fish at Bass Pro Shops, so that pretty much rounded out our long weekend.

Busy Weekend

Wow, it is hard to believe that the weekend is already over! We have had a great time with friends and family this weekend, and have gotten a lot done around the house.

Saturday was our friend Anna's 1st birthday party. It was fun to celebrate with our friends, and enjoy the park. Anna was much more pleasant at her party than Alden was at hers and ate her cake and wore her hat like a champ. We thought for sure that Alden would konk out on our way to Nana's for dinner, but she stayed up and then played and played with cousin Scottie. I don't know where her energy came from, but even after we got home after 9:30 she was still gung-ho about playing in the tub. Mom and Dad were exhausted even if she wasn't! And then, to top it off, she was up for 3 hours that night! AHHH!

Sunday we had lunch after church with Bill and Ashley and their daughter Ella. Then, we took a dip in their neighborhood pool, which may be one of the last swimming days of the year! On the way over to their house, we stopped at the grocery store, and hear Alden in the backseat going Vrooom, vroom, and looked to see her doing her "motorcycle" sign. Sure enough, their was one parked right near us. It is amazing how much she is noticing and communicating! She is very interested in big trucks still, as well as airplanes and trains.

H-O-T

We had a busy weekend with a visit from one of our Colorado friends, Kimmy. It was soooo nice of her to drive up from her vacation in Georgia to visit Chez Wyatt. We had a great time catching up, and reminiscing about times in BV. One of the old Frontier interns, our friend Allan, lives in town and hung out with all of us on Saturday giving us a guided tour of Charlotte. He has lived here a little longer than us, but knows so much more of the city. We spent some time at the Whitewater Center, watching the rafters and all the planes flying by, but boy, was it hot.

This week has been cram-as-many-days-in-at-the-pool-as-possible week. Katie has been so gracious to let us come to her pool all summer, and sadly, those days are nearing their end, as the pool closes during the day after this weekend. Connor and Alden have been very kissy lately, and luckily today I remembered the camera!

Diagnosis: Ear Infection

So, maybe there is something to be said for the baby signage. Alden did have an ear infection! After much screaming at the doctor's, we were able to leave with a prescription and get started on some medicine. Hopefully, this will mean the return of a full-night's sleep for mom and dad.

The only good thing about the doctor was a yellow sucker, which Alden loved and was kind enough to share with me...on my shirt, in my hair, on the car...and even with Lily. Needless to say, the Lily-haired sucker's next stop was the garbage can.

Beach Trip

We had a wonderful week at the beach this past week with Grammy, Pop pop, Amber, Ashley, Andrew and Nana. I think we lucked out on missing the HOTTEST week all summer in Charlotte, too. Alden LOVED the water and was in and out of the ocean over and over. It was great to have a pool, too, which she liked, but became more interested in walking around the deck as the week progressed.

Some highlights:

* First steps in the ocean...not wanting to touch the sand though
* Alden dancing on the counter eating a giant piece of watermelon.

* Enjoying the huge pile of shells left on the porch, and distrubuting them all over the deck.

* Great dinner out to Capt. John's in Calabash, which had an alligator (stuffed, of course) on the roof. Alligators say "Snap!"

* Auntie Ashley taught Alden to say "Wow"

* Time alone at the beach for mom and dad!

* Getting to spend time with Ashley's boyfriend, Andrew

* Alden going #2, and then bringing mom a diaper...probably a fluke, but cool in the moment nonetheless

* Playing with seaweed, but then realizing it is a whole different animal when the water moves it and it touches your leg...FREAK OUT.

* Seagull noises, fish noises (what does a fish say, you may ask, and the answer is "Glub, glub")

* Playing in the blow-up dolphin exclusively in the house, and shunning it completely in the water

* Dancing at the beach music concert, and going on a search with Pop pop to find the giraffe at the miniature golf place

* Happy hour daiquiris courtesy of the "Cabana Boy" aka Pop pop

* Holding a sand fiddler

* Going to the pool with Grammy and Pop pop and starting to swim

Now it's back to the old grind. Alden seems to have come back from the beach with either teeth coming in, an earache, or a combination of both. She told us last night, in her spotty baby signage, that her ear hurt. We are going to the doctor today just to make sure. Welcome home!

Photo Shoot

I wanted to post a couple of the pictures from Alden's latest visit to the photographers that were cute, but didn't make the cut to print...

It has been sooooo hot here the past couple days, which is making us even more exctied about going to the beach tomorrow.

We had playgroup at our house this morning with Katie and Connor, Darci and Anna, and Megan and Abby. Fun for Alden because it is an opportunity to pirate snacks from other people. Things like grapes and goldfish that she would shun if they were offered to her in her high chair, but take on a whole new appeal when someone else has them. Fun for mom to have adult conversation!