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..