More kid-isms...copied from our facebook updates!

David: Today at boudin cookoff, there was live music. Great weather with a nice breeze. Nadia says, "Look, Daddy. The trees are dancing!"
October 18

David: Baylor says to me this morning, "Hey, I'm wearing size 14 and they are not even falling off." I'm thinking, "Wow, I'm like 250% bigger than that." Hmmm.
October 14

Gretchen:
Nadia crawled out of her bedroom wrapped in a blanket. I fussed at her and told her to go back to bed. She stood up, and her pajamas were GONE. I asked her to go put her pajamas back on and go to bed. Her face crinkled up and she cried, "But... Momma, I was pretending to be a boy!" (This girl is ALWAYS trying to be like her daddy.)
David's Comment: Gave her g'night kiss, D: I'm going to sleep in my room.N: I want to sleep on floor next to you. D:OK, but I don't think mom's going to let you out of your room. N: I know, you go now & I'll hide under a blanket go later. D: OK, is that going to work? N: Oh yeah! She can't see me under the blanket.Part of me is laughing at cute, clever, and slightly naive 3 yr old, and part of me crying cuz if she is this crafty at 3, what do I have in store down the road???

Gretchen:
I was doing some school work with Baylor, and he was reading aloud to me about how God sent Abraham to Canaan. He looked at me and said, "Hey, isn't that where you went?" I said, "No, I've never been to Canaan." He ...replied, "Mom, aren't you and Granny and Papa from there?" The lightbulb came on...I said, "OH, you mean CANKTON!" Now that is Facebook funny!


Nadia News: It was her turn to pray tonight before supper. Here's the transcript: "Okay, Here I go....God. Thank you for our food. Thank you for our food. Thank you for our family and for Dawson. Thank you for our house, and thank you... for our breakable stuff. Ok God, Amen." When she was done, Baylor looked at me and said, "Mom, that was Facebook funny!" I agreed, so here it is.
October 13, 2009

Gretchen:
has been up since 3:30 am...Dawson started screaming. I gave up on letting him cry it out when I started hearing the other two kids waking up. When I walked in his room, he looked at me and did the sign for more (which is his way of saying he's hungry). After about an hour of eating he went back to sleep, which was just in time for my alarm to start ringing. I'm thinking today is a good day to stop for coffee...
Sept 23

Nadia News: We were watching Golden Girls today (which Nadia calls the Grandmas) and Dorothy was fussing at Sophia. Nadia listened for a little while, and then she turned to me and said, "Mom, that Daddy-Grandma is fussing at that little Grandma."
September 20

Gretchen: is outside Nadia's dance class. she comes out the room and says, "Mom, I want you to leave me like that dad left that other girl."
September 14

Home today with the little kiddos...

Today is fall break. For some reason the school board decided we needed a day off in October. Okay, I'll take it! Tomorrow is parent-teacher conferences, which means I'm going to spend the day tomorrow thanking parents for doing the great job they are doing (because only the parents of the good kids show up generally!)
I enjoyed sleeping until 7 am, and I'm enjoying watching Nadia discover the joys of play-doh. She is having a ball! I'm not sure why I never introduced her to play-doh before. She is so creative, and is making me ladybugs, rainbows, and a carseat. It's precious to watch her little imagination working overtime to come up with new ideas. She did start out with the cookie cutters, but she's branched out on her own now.
Dawson is walking all over the house now. I'd say running is a better description! He still isn't talking much, but he is walking, running, and climbing all over the place. He does say "Momma", "Da-Da", and "Nayia"...So cute!
Baylor went on his first retreat this weekend with the middle and high school kids from Trinity Bible. He had a blast, and is already talking about going to summer camp this summer. There is a mission trip to Alaska, and he wants to look into going on that as well. I can't believe he's old enough to be going on retreats already. David went on the trip as a chaperone...partly because they needed chaperones, and partly because I wasn't quite ready for him to go alone!
We are taking the pictures for this year's Christmas card this afternoon. I've been brainstorming about this for about three months now, and I think what I've come up with is a winner. I'll post pictures later, but for now I don't want to spoil the surprise.
We signed up to attend a parent information meeting at Lafayette Christian Academy in December. Nadia needs to be in school, and she needs some structure. This school comes highly recommended, and is affordable and close to work. I hope it's a good fit for us. (Ideally, we'd send Baylor there as well, and then Dawson when he's older, but we'll see how it goes.)
Baylor is still being homeschooled at Mrs. Elaine's, but I think it's time to put him back in school. We decided when we pulled him out of public school that this was only going to be for a year or two to catch him up. This is his second year there. I've signed him up with a program called www.time4learning.com, which is online lessons in English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. I'm having him work on several lessons a day. This is partly to fill in some more gaps in his educational experience, and partly to make being homeschooled a little less attractive so he doesn't fight me on going to school too much next year!
David and I are in the middle of a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Class at church. We are really enjoying it, and especially enjoying the benefits of paying off debt. We are hoping to be in a house this summer, and getting out of this neighborhood!

Birthday Birthday...and a bunch of Nadia funnies transferred from facebook!

Today was Nadia Blair's 3rd birthday, and Dawson Nicholas's 1st birthday. Yes, time flies! We had their birthday party at the Baton Rouge Zoo. The weather was dreary and misty, but temperatures were cool, and we got to see a lot of animals. Overall, we had a very successful day. I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that my little baby is not so little anymore.

Nadia News... N: Can I have some water? D: yeah, baby in a minute. Several minutes later N comes into the living room with 2 cups. N: Momma, do you want some water? Momma: sure baby. N: OK, here is a cup for you to get some water, and when you get so...me water for you, you can put some water in this other cup for me.Read More
Wed at 7:54pm

Daddy: Nadia, finish your broccoli, baby. Nadia: ROAR!!! D: What?!? N(in her dinosaur voice): I'm a dinosaur. D: you're a dinosaur? N: I'm a dinosaur... and dinosaurs don't eat broccoli.
September 7 at 3:40pm

Swimming at an indoor heated pool this morning. When heated water started coming out of the pool jets, I had Nadia come feel the warm water. Her response... "Feels like my leg is in a microwave!"
September 7 at 3:30pm

Last night, she was punished on her knees and immediately had to go potty. When she was told she couldn't get up, she waited until parents were not looking, then kneel-walked down the hall to the bathroom and kneel-walked back. She didn't get off her knees, but she managed to get her way. It was priceless!
September 7 at 4:04pm

Nadia: whine, whine, whine. Daddy: Nana!, dry it up...quiet pause. N: the cries are coming. D: you have to tell those cries to go away. you are the boss and not them. N: (full authority in voice) CRIES, YOU GET OUT OF HERE AND GO OUTSIDE OR I AM GOING TO SPANK YOU. DO YOU HEAR ME? ... long quiet pause. N: (as a matter of fact) Well, Daddy, I guess it didn't work. I still feel them coming.
August 31

End of supper: Gretchen,"OK David time for invoices." Nadia,"Momma, I have to do my invoices, too." then runs to her toddler laptop and "gets to work". Momma,"time for bed." Nadia,"BUT MOM, I am not finished my invoices yet!"
August 6

Checkers combos for supper tonight Start of supper: "Daddy, can I pray?" asks Nadia. "Sure, baby". Nadia,"Dear Jesus, we really love you. Thank you for good family, good food, paper, and these really big cups of drink. Amen"
August 6

Sundays

I love Sundays. We start off Sunday with church. Then it's home for lunch and visiting, followed by an afternoon nap. It's important to have some down time, and Sunday seems to be our day for it.

Baylor had his friend Vaughn spend the weekend this weekend. I'm glad he's been able to maintain this friendship since he no longer goes to public school. The kind of take turns spending time at each other's house. Baylor is 11 years old now. That hardly seems possible. I know it is, but when I look at how much my life has changed since he was born it kind of overwhelms me.

Nadia is a little stinker. She is so independent, and fights us on everything. It's such a challenge, but it's also such a joy. She is so strong emotionally that we are going to never have to worry about some guy taking advantage of her. She would hurt that poor dude~

Dawson is walking. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. He and Nadia have a birthday in two weeks. He has really been growing a lot in the last few months. He's starting to sing and hum, but not much talking.

Nadia is starting dance lessons!

Yes, that's right! I found a Christian dance school in Scott, and little Miss Nadia will be starting ballet and tap in August. She is so pumped because she'll be doing ballet like Angelina Ballerina on PBS. The school does a dance review every other year, and this is a dance review year.
I mentioned to her that she was going to take dance lessons and learn ballet and tap. She got so excited. She started running around the house screaming, "Woo Hoo, I get to wear a tattoo! I get to wear a tattoo!"
It took me a minute to realize she meant tu-tu! It was so cute.
Dawson is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything. Last night we had the suitcase from our weekend trip to New Orleans/Baton Rouge in front of the couch. He climbed up on top of the suitcase, and then climbed from the suitcase onto the couch. He was so proud of himself.
This past weekend we went to New Orleans on Saturday for Marissa's 1st birthday party. It was so hot, but we had a good time. It was at the park, and there was a really nice play area (if you ignored the homeless guy sleeping on the stage!). Then we drove to Baton Rouge to spend the night in a hotel. We spent the evening swimming in the pool. We got some Cici's Pizza, and ate in our hotel room. It was very relaxing, and some good family time.
We got up Sunday morning and drove to the Baton Rouge Zoo. It was nice. Dee Ann, Mark, Marissa, and David's parents came too, and we spent the day. We rode the train and the tram, and ate lunch in the outdoor cafe. I was pretty thankful for the double stroller!
I'm thinking about having Nadia and Dawson's birthday party at the Baton Rouge Zoo instead of the zoo here. The party package is much better, and it's the same cost. Plus, the zoo is much bigger. I have a couple of more months to decide, but as of today, their party will be in Baton Rouge.
Baylor is thinking he wants to have his party at the Rock Haus with just two or three of his friends. I can't believe he is about to be 11. How did that happen?

Why do I get writer's block?

Seriously, everytime I have a minute or two to update my blog my mind goes blank. I think several times a day about something I need to blog about, but when I'm blogging....nothing!
David is working hard right now putting the straps back into Nadia's carseat. We had to remove the cover to wash it in the washing maching. Apparently she had an accident in her car seat that I didn't notice until the scent of old urine hit me in the face when I opened the car the next day. Wow, what a potent smell.
Baylor is at his dad's again, and has been there for almost a week. I think he may be coming home tomorrow. Nadia has been asking to go pick up her Frere. She's lonesome for him too.
I've been home yesterday and today with Nadia and Dawson. It's been nice to just stay home and do nothing. (Well, as close to nothing as possible with 2 little ones on the loose!). Dawson follows me around the house crying all day. The ONLY time he isn't crying is if I'm carrying him. I give him formula during the day so that I don't have to readjust my milk supply when school starts, and he doesn't really like it. I think that may explain some of the whining.
Nadia found a new way to dry Penelope today. She called me into the bathroom, and was very proud of herself. She was standing over the floor vents drying her Penelope. If this paragraph doesn't make sense to you, or doesn't seem that funny, then you need this important piece of information: Nadia calls her private parts "Penelope". Now read what happened again and laugh.
It's almost midnight, and I'm going to bed. Dawson hasn't slept past 7 am yet this summer!

Finally: An Update

I haven't updated this blog in a while. I rarely have two hands available anymore, and it's really easier to type with both hands.
School finally ended this year, and I've really been relaxing and enjoying my summer. We've been spending time at the pool, hanging out at home, and just taking it easy.
Baylor has to do about a week and a half of summer school, I have a week of training in Baton Rouge in July, and a 3 hour Poverty Presentation in August when school starts, so I want some time to just do nothing. Last summer I overbooked Baylor, and then had to spend hours each day in the van bringing him from one place to another. It was not fun or relaxing.
Baylor spent a week at his dad's house, so he's only been home for a week since school let out. He bugs me daily to go swimming. I guess I'll have to figure out a way to make that happen. It's just so hard with the little ones. He's been playing video games and sleeping late. I'm making him read some, and he's not happy about that at all. My parents came over and planted some seeds/plants with him in our yard, so he enjoys going outside to water and take care of them.
Nadia is as rambunctous as ever. She is a full time job. Seriously. The girl is fearless and tireless. I can't imagine what she's going to be like when she's older when she's such a handful already. We will have our work cut out for us. She's also extremely funny. Today we were riding in the van and Baylor was saying that his room still wasn't clean. Nadia piped up, "Well My room is clean." (I cleaned it for her yesterday!)...Then, as if she realized that she was making him feel bad, she said, "But, my room IS a little bit smaller than yours." It was cute.
Dawson is crawling, rolling, and pulling up on everything. He has two bottom teeth that came out last week. He has a big, bright smile that lights up when he sees his Momma. Yes, we have a Momma's boy.
We are going on a little mini vacation in July to Houston. I think it'll be nice to get away for a few days and do some fun stuff as a family. We'll be going to the Children's Museum, the zoo, the jAquarium, and a few other family friends places. Plus, we'll be sleeping at Nanny Nola's house and hanging out in her pool in the afternoons. Ah, the joys of vacation time!
We sold some of our baby stuff today. After the fact David tells me that he's sad about getting rid of it because it seems to be officially saying that we are done having kids. Honestly, I am spread about as thin as I can handle, especially while still working full time. If I happen to get pregnant again, we can buy more stuff. Meanwhile, our house has a few less large items in it, and we have a few more dollars in our pockets! We could have made more if we'd have sold the items ourselves, but I just wasn't in the mood for the hassle.
I can't find the cord that connects my camera to my computer to update some pictures. As soon as I do, I have a lot of pictures to post!