My Journal
Saturday, November 20, 1999
Wow! Another week has FLOWN by! Today was a really good day. I am enjoying the girls so much! Both of them have such engaging personalities and seem to just be blossoming more and more all the time!We went to Albany on Thursday. Kayla and her Mom, Heather went with us. We had a really fun time. Got a few christmas presents for the girls and enjoyed eating lunch and seeing all the decorations in the mall. I was really glad to have my car phone which I seldom use. While I nursed Rebecca, Heather called around to Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, etc. to see who had the best prices on what we wanted. I was pleased to find the Pooh Lego set I wanted to get Julia. It was sold out in Thomasville. Target had it on sale for $24.44. Wal-Mart will match any competitors price. You just tell the cashier and she keys it in. They only had one left and I got it! Their price was $29.99, but I got it for the $24.44 minus a $2.00 off coupon. So actualy $22.44. Plus I have a $3.00 mail in rebate for it as well. Final cost will be only $19.44! I have got a lot of money saving ideas like this from the Parent Soup Boards. I have saved a lot by doing the pricematching at Wal-Mart. On the way home, I had to go by the Photography store to get some film for Mark. It was great that Heather was along and stayed in the car with all three sleeping girls so I didn't have to drag them in. I had gone to Thomasville shopping on Wednesday too. Julia stayed at the Harris's. I was trying to find Rebecca a Christmas dress. I got her an outfit, but it turned out to be way too big. I will have to take it back. So we did some more shopping today! Most shopping I've done in ages this week! We just went to Camilla. Both girls were absolute angels! We went to Moore's and hit the jackpot. They had a really big sale going on and lots to choose from! I got the girls matching outfits that are adorable! Hope to do pictures of them this week. Also found a couple of t-shirts for Mark for his birthday coming up Monday. Julia is excited about Daddy's birthday. Another great thing about Moore's is that they gift wrap at no charge. We had the two shirts wraped separately. One from Julia, one from Rebecca. Julia was so proud of the one to be from her! The sales people are also exceptionally nice in there too which is a big help to me! Rebecca liked everybody. Gwen's mother works there but wasn't working today, but the two clerks we had were super! We went to Winn Dixie next and got groceries, including a cake mix to make cupcakes for Monday. We will just have a small cake and icecream party Monday night and then will celebrate on Thursday at the Harris's in combination with Thanksgiving.
Rebecca was five months old on Thursday! It has been an incredibly fast five months. She has changed so much. It seems like all of a sudden she's not a "little baby" anymore! She sat up by herself Thursday! She loves the exersaucer and the swing. She is really strong. She is getting interested in things more and more. She loves to be sung to. She is sleeping a lot better too. She really likes the teethers that Julia never cared much about and chews on her hands a lot too. She was very friendly to everybody in the stores today. But still screams a lot at home if she wants me. And Mark and the Harris's still have trouble with her crying a lot when they hold her.
A memorable moments from today: Julia was in the bathtub and I asked her to do something, I don't remember what. She replied, "NO!" I said a little sternly, "Yes, don't tell mommy, no." She said, "Yes, Maam, I'm sorry Mommy!" I was very surprised. Julia has been very helpful and cooperative lately. She helps me with the laundry, cooking and taking care of Rebecca. She is such a sweetie! I just feel so very lucky!
Mark and Billy Horne got all the moulding down in the living room this weekend. It looks great! I am so excited about having a "real" Christmas this year! With the living room all decorated and Christmas morning in there with the girls! Hope to get our Christmas tree next week. Last Christmas was so miserable for me, I am really planning to make up for it this year. There are still a lot of days I wake up and smile and think "Thank goodness I don't have to go through this day pregnant!" We won't be buying many presents, but the spirit of the holiday will more than make up for that!
Sunday, November 14, 1999
We had a crew here working on the house again today, so we packed up and spent most of the day over at the Harris's. Amy and Starr were there for a visit and Julia adores them. Julia picked flowers from Mema's garden. We had a very pretty vase full of Gerber Daisies. She also picked up pecans. There are lots of them this year. And she was so cute walking Aunt Starr's dog, Tinker Bell. Julia loves the outdoors and so does Rebecca. Amy is a lot of fun and is really good with both girls. Look forward to seeing them again in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving. Jason is supposed to be coming then too.The workers made a lot of progress today. The back of the house looks really good and the front looks a lot better. They finished the back overhang today and put up the new molding all the way across the back along with the corner finishing board on all three corners. I didn't get a good look at the front yet as it was already dark when we got home. It is getting dark so early. Julia loves to look for the moon. She pointed up and said, "There's the moon, right there!"
We called Grandma D and Grandpa Newton tonight. I enjoyed talking with them, but couldn't get Julia to say a word! She talks about them all the time, but gets very bashful on the phone. I got Grandma's recipe for Cranberry Sauce and I am going to give it a try. I am very lucky, I barely have to do anything for Thanksgiving. Mark usually does the meat including a turkey and a pork roast. Mrs. Harris and Starr do the pies, cakes, and side dishes. All Yummy! And all I usually do is help set the table and clean up.
We have portrait sittings scheduled for next weekend, so will be trying to get set up for that this week. Still haven't sent off our Halloween pictures as we were wanting to add some more portraits of Rebecca to the roll. Hope to get some good one's of her too. We have the infamous Pollock clan lined up and they have another new baby cousin to include this year. Jonathan is 8 now and so is Matthew, Leslie is 5, Hannah and Cecile are 4, and the new baby is a couple of months old. It is always a riot trying to get a good group shot of all of them together. We also have Julia's friend Kayla scheduled and I am looking forward to that. She is so cute and very expressive. It should be fun.
I'm going to try to get Sandra started on babysitting this week too. We'll start with her coming in for an hour or two while I'm here and getting used to the girls and their routines. I think she will be a big help.
Julia is becoming more and more independent. I am always trying to decide how much I should guide and help her and how much I should let her do on her own. Also struggle with how much to let her make her own choices and when to lay down the law. She is generally cooperative, thank goodness. Today, she was saying, "I'm not going to do it" when asked to go to the potty or pick something up, etc. I don't know where she got that. But it was not said in a really defiant way. More like a test to see what I would do. I replied, "Oh yes you are going to do it" in a matter of fact tone, and then she complied without any problem. Very interesting.
Rebecca has been rolling over a lot and even getting up on her knees a little. Hard to imagine that she will be crawling before we know it. She likes the exersaucer and loves the outdoor swing. She coos and makes all kinds of noises and lots of smiles. But oh boy, when she doesn't like something, watch out! She is so loud it is unbelievable. If you didn't know her you would think something was seriously wrong. Sometimes she does this really high pitched scream and it is really nerve wracking. Then I pick her up and she is totally fine the next second! Strange.
I got to chat with Mom tonight. Miss them a lot. I tried to chat with Jon and Kellie but couldn't get it to work tonight. Wonder how they are doing? I know it is an exciting and busy time for them.
I have really been enjoying my Southern Stay At Home Moms group at the Parent Soup Website! A really neat bunch of ladies! Lots of fun. There is a Southern At Home Moms web site for it now and also our own chat room. I was laughing so much the last time I was there I thought I would wake everyone up. I usually go there after everyone's in bed. Time for me. The other Mommies are in the same boat so it is great! I am trying to catch up on laundry tonight. I will be going to check and see what my Southern Stay At Home Mom Friends have been up to between loads.
Saturday, November 13, 1999
We went to Old South Day in Ocklocknee today. It was wonderful weather and we really had a good time. We visited Ms. Becky's church bake sale booth and got a loaf of fresh baked wheat bread, some banana bread, and a pumpkin roll. Yummy! We saw our neighbor that I hope to have do some babysitting, Sandra Miller. She held Rebecca for me while I picked out my goodies at the bake booth. Rebecca really liked her. I am so glad! Hope it will work out with the babysitting. She seems like a very mature 13 year old and very nice. Julia played the duck pond game and won a nice big play ball with smiley faces on it and bells inside. She also got a Blues Clues dog on a stick that you push and it walks. Very cute. We have started watching Blue's Clues on Nickelodeon each morning at 9:30. It is cute. Julia's new love. Move over Barney, Arthur, Teletubbies, & Pooh. There was live entertainment and we all especially enjoyed the singing. Julia liked the clown too. Rebecca was good and enjoyed riding in the stroller and just being outside I think.Yesterday we did some shopping. On the way home we nearly missed being in a car accident. It was VERY scary. Happened right in front of us. I was going 65 mph. Had to slam on brakes and drive off the road into the median. Thankfully, we were all fine. Just scared me to death. We were very lucky not to hit one of the two cars in the middle of the road. My new car handles really well. It could have been disastrous. I had Rebecca and Julia in the back seat. Didn't phase them at all. Car seats are wonderful! Probably if Julia had been older she would have said, "Wow Mommy, didn't know you could drive like that!"
Julia has been showing some jealousy toward Rebecca lately. She seems to be O.K. now with Rebecca sleeping in her crib sometimes, but she got really upset about Rebecca using the outside baby swing that used to be hers. Julia refused to use the other swings and kept demanding to get in the baby swing and yelling "get Rebecca out" and swinging her arms at the swing. Finally, I told her we would get Rebecca a new baby swing and Julia could pick it out. She liked that idea and then was willing to let Rebecca swing in the old baby swing "until we got the new one". So we went shopping yesterday for the new baby swing. Julia was so funny. She was determined it had to be a blue one. Of course the only one's we saw were a red one and a green one. She wouldn't go for it so I decided not to get one and keep looking. Today she was good about letting Rebecca use the old swing. She has been really good overall. I know it is quite an adjustment for her. Rebecca adores Julia! She loves to watch her and smiles big everytime Julia talks to or plays with her. I'm always worried that Julia will accidently hurt her with her bear hugs and such, but so far so good.
Wednesday we got some very sad news that a good friend Mark and I used to work with died last week. He was only 38 years old and a really super nice guy. I had talked to him just about a couple months ago on the phone. He contracted a serious viral infection and didn't make it. I just can't believe it. I was very sad all day Wednesday. It just doesn't seem right. I am still bothered a lot by the death about 1 1/2 years ago of another friend that worked closely with my Dad. Super lady and she left behind a 4 year old daughter. It is very hard for me to come to terms with these kinds of tradgedies.
I finally finished writing Rebecca's birth story on her web page. I have not written Julia's birth story yet. I have some notes and will start on it next. Very different from Rebecca's. Mark got a scanner at work this week which is great! So I could add some pictures. It took me a while to write it, but was good to do. It reminded me of how incredibly lucky and blessed I am to have come through a difficult pregnancy, a wonderful delivery, and end up with a perfect, beautiful baby girl. The last three years have just been amazing in so many ways. To go from thinking I would never have children, to the tremendous fear and anxiety that things wouldn't work out throughout two pregancies, then to end up with two beautiful daughters! It is phenomenal!
Tuesday, November 9, 1999
I typed "Monday" then realized it was Tuesday already! Where did Monday go??? We went to visit Ms. Becky and the Sauder Family yesterday afternoon. We saw baby Tristan who has grown so much. He is starting to walk at only 9 months old. Julia started going to Ms. Becky when she was 9 months and was only just starting to crawl! Enjoyed our visit with them and picked up a bunch of Julia's things I had left there. Guess I still hadn't quite come to the realization that Julia wasn't going back. It was really a good situation for her and I feel so lucky to have had Ms. Becky when we needed her! Mrs. Miller, our neighbor on the corner, called today and said her younger daughter would be interested in doing some babysitting. Her name is Sandra. It would be nice because they are so close. Sandra is only 13 so probably would take the girls to their house mostly as her mother would be there to help if necessary. Their 19 year old daughter is already booked up with babysitting jobs. She sits for a set of triplets and a set of twins in Camilla! Mrs. Miller said that Sandra helps some too with the triplets so she is familiar with babies. So we will probably start in with one day a week for an hour or two so the girls can get aquainted. I'm going to try to work on some photography and framing jobs during that time. And hopefully if it goes well, I'll be able to go to wedding shoots as well.Thomas's room now has two new windows, the front porch is all cleaned off and half of the front is painted. It looks better. Mark is still working on the plans for the Central Heat and Air to go in. Luckily it is really warm here again. No need for heat or air at the moment. I love the weather here this time of year. This morning I moved a rocking chair for me, the exersaucer for Rebecca, and some of Julia's toys out on the deck. We really enjoyed being out there. After Julia went down for her nap, Rebecca and I went back out there and just rocked and rocked. She went to sleep on my shoulder and I finally put her down in her cradle.
Next Saturday will be Old South Day in Ocklocknee. We have gone every year since I've lived here. Ms. Becky's church always has a bake sale booth there and it is something we look forward to! Think Julia will really like it this year too. Lots of things for children.
Julia may be a little seamstress in the making. Hopefully she is following in her Grandma Mimi's footsteps! I went in my closet to get something and she followed me. She spied my sewing kit way up on a shelf. She said, "Mommy, mommy, I need to measure!" She wanted my measuring tape. I had taken her measurements oh two or three weeks ago I guess. And she hadn't forgotten. She took my measurements and hers. Then kept saying, "What else can I measure?" She measured Rebecca's feet and Annie, and everything else we could think of. Cute.
Rebecca slept a lot better last night, and both girls are napping now at 3:00 p.m. It is so quiet right now. It is a strange feeling. The new BIG bed is working out great!! I finally have enough room to stretch out. And Julia likes to get in when she wakes up in the morning so there is room for all four of us!! Thomas will be coming again for dinner tonight. So we will go get some Pizza when the girls wake up from their naps.
Rebecca had her first vegetables today at lunch. She had Gerber Sweet Potatoes and she really liked them!
Mark got a scanner for his computer at work!!! I am so glad! I can't wait to scan some more pictures. I would really like to learn some more HTML. I am really slooooow at working on our web site. I'm sure there are better ways to do it. I think I only have scratched the surface.
Sunday, November 7, 1999
Mark had to work AGAIN today. Poor guy. But they did send out a crew to work on our house. They are still repairing, scraping and painting the outside. Working on the front of the house today!!! Hurray!!!I didn't even make an attempt at church this morning. I really miss it, but it's just too hard to get there right now. Rebecca hasn't been sleeping well, and I am waking up very tired. Well, I guess you would call it waking up, even though I feel like I've barely been to sleep at all. The only way I can get her to sleep at all is in our bed. And she is waking up about every hour crying. The only way I can get her back to sleep is nursing her and keeping her in our bed. Our bed is just too small for the three of us! I have been very uncomfortable. So today we are moving a twin bed in next to our queen and creating this one huge bed! Maybe it will work???
Rebecca is taking a good nap this morning. She has been taking her morning naps in Julia's crib. She loves Julia's bed. I asked Julia first if it was O.K. for Rebecca to take a nap in her bed and she said it was O.K. When I put Rebecca in the crib, she just looks around at everything. She rolls and scoots around and rolls over. She likes the mobile and the dream show music box a lot too. We still haven't made up our minds about the toddler bed for Julia. We're considering bringing over the crib at the Harris's for Rebecca as an option also.
It's another gorgeous day! We have played outside a lot. Mark is putting up a baby swing for Rebecca on the swing set now.
Julia was funny this morning. She was about to stand up on a chair which is a no no. She looked at me right before she was going to do it and said, "Don't say 'No', Mommy!" Another Julia funny happened the day before yesterday. She has a little red plastic table with 2 chairs that is usually in the top of her swing set, her "tree house" we call it. We had brought the table and one chair up on the deck for her to play there. She kept asking me to bring up the other chair which was still up in the tree house. I kept telling her I'd get it but never got the chance. Finally, as we were headed into the house the next day after returning from the store, she took off toward the swing set. I was about to yell at her to come back we were going inside, when I realized what she was up to. Quick as a wink she was up the ladder. Then she picked up the chair, slid down the slide holding the chair, and came running back up to the house. Guess she decided to take matters into her own hands!
Rebecca did something funny today too. She was playing in her cradle with a rattle that is round like a skinny donut. When I looked back at her it was around her foot. I thought it was a fluke that she had dropped it and somehow accidently stuck her foot through the middle. I took it off her leg and gave it to her. A few minutes later it was back around her leg! Guess she is putting it on somehow. I am watching to see if she'll do it again.
Saturday, November 6, 1999
Another really fast week. Time is just flying by! We mainly just followed our usual routines this week. Julia and Rebecca just keep getting cuter and more and more fun! The weather has been really nice. We had a few really cool days this week. Warmer today. Rebecca and I went on a wonderful walk today while Julia took her nap. Mark had to work until about 4 PM. I hate that. On the way home from our walk I stopped in at our neighbors on the corner. They have two daughters age 13 and 19. Considering using them for occasional babysitting. Nice family.Rebecca has not been sleeping well...again. She is crying now so
