Lauren just had Daddy pull her loose tooth - her 2nd molar to go. It took a lot of working-up-to, and there were quite a few tears (before any actual pulling happened, mind you), but it is out. She told us that she understands the expression now "It's like pulling teeth" - about how you dread something so much but then once it is done, it isn't such a big deal, and it is a big weight off your shoulders. :)
Anyhow, she is writing a note to the Tooth Fairy. She is kind of hoping that the Tooth Fairy will make Muddy have her puppies tonight as Lauren's reward for the tooth. So, anyhow, she is drawing little pictures of teeth along the top of her note like a little border, and she just said, "Mom, will you come look at this? Because I was trying to draw teeth at the top here, but I think it kind of looks like dancing toast instead!" :)
I love that kid!
She's writing her note on a hot pink notecard, explaining how our dog is pregnant - hint, hint! I wonder what kind of response she'll get from the Tooth Fairy. She writes the sweetest notes to the Tooth Fairy - makes sure to ask her questions about how she is doing, tells her that she hopes she is having a good summer, and so on. She told me once that she thinks most kids don't ever think to do that, and she wants to be a good friend to her, instead of just some regular kid who isn't thoughtful.
Again, I love that kid.
Friday, July 23, 2010
It has begun
It's 9:10 p.m.
Do you know where my 9-year-old is?
And has been for the last 45 mninutes?
Outside, talking on the phone to her "bestie", Rachel. Because there is, apparently, not enough privacy in the house, so the 98 degree heat is preferable for her conversation.
I didn't realize that 9-year-olds did this. I remember being in this situation, but I think I was 16.
During the time that she was in the house and I was in earshot, they were talking about the noises that rabbits make and whether Darby, Rachel's dog, likes to lick people's feet. :)
Do you know where my 9-year-old is?
And has been for the last 45 mninutes?
Outside, talking on the phone to her "bestie", Rachel. Because there is, apparently, not enough privacy in the house, so the 98 degree heat is preferable for her conversation.
I didn't realize that 9-year-olds did this. I remember being in this situation, but I think I was 16.
During the time that she was in the house and I was in earshot, they were talking about the noises that rabbits make and whether Darby, Rachel's dog, likes to lick people's feet. :)
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Swimming lessons
Lauren is taking swimming lessons this week - today is the last day, actually. She was INCREDIBLY nervous before they began - the kind of nervous that doesn't allow you to sleep, weighs on your shoulders, etc. Dreading it. However, getting that first day over with was good for her, and she was much less nervous about the next couple of lessons. Every morning she would say, "I am nervous and excited about swimming today." So I was feeling pretty good about the decision to have her take lessons. She is taking private lessons from someone locally, at their home pool. I don't have ambitions for her to be a phenomenal swimmer, I just want her to be able to not drown if she gets into water that is over her head. So, as I said, I was feeling pretty good about things. We had the library swimming party on Tuesday night (after 3 days of lessons) and she was going underwater to pick up toys and floating all over the pool using a noodle when it was over her head and having a good time with a friends - a significant change from typical pool experiences until now.
Then, yesterday, day 4 of lessons...
I've been sitting in my car during lessons for at least part of the time. I think that she is braver if I am not there for her to run to. But I don't want to drive all the way home, sit for a few minutes, and drive back, so I've been reading in the car. Occasionally, she has come to get me to have me watch her do something new. So yesterday she came to the car and I figured she had mastered something and wanted to show me. Nope. Her teacher was asking her to try sit-diving off the edge, and Lauren was freaking out about it. She wanted me to come into the pool area and stand near her, which was fine. But she sobbed the entire time, and had a really hard time calming down. It is so hard for me to watch her be so distressed - my instinct is to not make her do it. I don't know that sit-diving is critical to the swimming process - I can't do it - but I was trying not to undermine her teacher, so I sat near L on the side of the pool and talked her through doing it. Twice. She was such a tense little trooper - I could literally SEE in the set of her shoulders that she had realized that no one was going to save her and she was going to have to find a way to make it through this nightmare before we could go home. I felt awful.
So we finished up, went home, cleaned the house, had a friend over to play, then she went to the friend's house to play, went to Book Cooks class, and came home. She asked if we could cuddle together in the chair, and told me that she was dreading tomorrow, because she doesn't want to sit-dive any more. As it turns out, it was freaking her out that she had to do it in the deep end, where she can't touch, and can't swim on her own. She thought that if she failed at it the first time, she would drown. Which I think is a fairly valid concern when you are little.
So, I am going to ask her teacher to skip the sit-diving today, or at least work on it in the shallow end. I have the gut instinct that I am bailing her out of something that might be character building...but I just can't bear to put her through it when she won't be learning anything important from it.
You know that quote about how once you have kids, a part of your heart lives outside of your body? Case in point.
Then, yesterday, day 4 of lessons...
I've been sitting in my car during lessons for at least part of the time. I think that she is braver if I am not there for her to run to. But I don't want to drive all the way home, sit for a few minutes, and drive back, so I've been reading in the car. Occasionally, she has come to get me to have me watch her do something new. So yesterday she came to the car and I figured she had mastered something and wanted to show me. Nope. Her teacher was asking her to try sit-diving off the edge, and Lauren was freaking out about it. She wanted me to come into the pool area and stand near her, which was fine. But she sobbed the entire time, and had a really hard time calming down. It is so hard for me to watch her be so distressed - my instinct is to not make her do it. I don't know that sit-diving is critical to the swimming process - I can't do it - but I was trying not to undermine her teacher, so I sat near L on the side of the pool and talked her through doing it. Twice. She was such a tense little trooper - I could literally SEE in the set of her shoulders that she had realized that no one was going to save her and she was going to have to find a way to make it through this nightmare before we could go home. I felt awful.
So we finished up, went home, cleaned the house, had a friend over to play, then she went to the friend's house to play, went to Book Cooks class, and came home. She asked if we could cuddle together in the chair, and told me that she was dreading tomorrow, because she doesn't want to sit-dive any more. As it turns out, it was freaking her out that she had to do it in the deep end, where she can't touch, and can't swim on her own. She thought that if she failed at it the first time, she would drown. Which I think is a fairly valid concern when you are little.
So, I am going to ask her teacher to skip the sit-diving today, or at least work on it in the shallow end. I have the gut instinct that I am bailing her out of something that might be character building...but I just can't bear to put her through it when she won't be learning anything important from it.
You know that quote about how once you have kids, a part of your heart lives outside of your body? Case in point.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Lauren and Grandpa
Upcoming "Additions"
So it appears that we'll be having puppies at our house in the very near future. A few days ago, we realized that our weimaraner was looking different. Weimaraners usually have fairly extreme tucks, but Muddy's belly was rounding out and she's been extremely lethargic. So we started doing a little counting-backwards math and realized that, yes, the last time she was in heat would be about 8 weeks ago. And yes, that was the day that she was left tied up outside in the shade, not in her pen, and there was a boy dog in our yard when we got home. Oops.
So we spent yesterday in a frenzy of preparation, because her physical changes have been happening so rapidly that we keep moving up our totally-guessing-even-though-we-aren't-professionals due date. Stuart made an AMAZING whelping box. It is even air conditioned, since the heat index has been around 110 degrees every day for the past week, and looks to be that way for at least the next 10 days. He even painted the box to match our garage, since the whelping box sits up against the garage. Lauren said this morning that she thinks we should contact the Guinness book of world records, since she is sure there has never been another whelping box as nice as this one. :)
It is 6 feet tall at the back and 4 feet across - yesterday Stuart, Lauren and the dog were all hanging out in there together, so it is plenty big!
We filled the bottom with rags and fabric and let Muddy in. I think she's come out about twice since then! That dog knows when she's got it good!
Lauren had swimming lessons this morning. It was day 3 of her lessons, which she had been markedly unexcited about initially. However, she has a great teacher and she's enjoying them more and more each time. Not enough to take 2 extra days of lessons (which the teacher offered to us this morning), but I'm thrilled that she is enthusiastic now. We have a swimming party tomorrow night, and after lessons today she was disappointed that the party is not today, because she can't wait to show off her new knowledge to her friends! I've been sitting in the car during her lessons so that she doesn't watch me for my reactions to things. I think that she is braver when I am not there as a possible "safety net". But she came to get me from the car today, excited, for me to come watch her pick up toys from the bottom of the pool. And then her teacher had her float on her back all the way across the deep end! She was practicing keeping her face in the water while she did arm strokes, and also jumping into the pool and remembering to blow out through her nose, so that she doesn't get water up her nose. I can't believe how much she has learned in 3 45-minute lessons! It's unbelievable to me that she has come so far in such a short time - I'm so proud of her!
So we spent yesterday in a frenzy of preparation, because her physical changes have been happening so rapidly that we keep moving up our totally-guessing-even-though-we-aren't-professionals due date. Stuart made an AMAZING whelping box. It is even air conditioned, since the heat index has been around 110 degrees every day for the past week, and looks to be that way for at least the next 10 days. He even painted the box to match our garage, since the whelping box sits up against the garage. Lauren said this morning that she thinks we should contact the Guinness book of world records, since she is sure there has never been another whelping box as nice as this one. :)
We filled the bottom with rags and fabric and let Muddy in. I think she's come out about twice since then! That dog knows when she's got it good!
Lauren had swimming lessons this morning. It was day 3 of her lessons, which she had been markedly unexcited about initially. However, she has a great teacher and she's enjoying them more and more each time. Not enough to take 2 extra days of lessons (which the teacher offered to us this morning), but I'm thrilled that she is enthusiastic now. We have a swimming party tomorrow night, and after lessons today she was disappointed that the party is not today, because she can't wait to show off her new knowledge to her friends! I've been sitting in the car during her lessons so that she doesn't watch me for my reactions to things. I think that she is braver when I am not there as a possible "safety net". But she came to get me from the car today, excited, for me to come watch her pick up toys from the bottom of the pool. And then her teacher had her float on her back all the way across the deep end! She was practicing keeping her face in the water while she did arm strokes, and also jumping into the pool and remembering to blow out through her nose, so that she doesn't get water up her nose. I can't believe how much she has learned in 3 45-minute lessons! It's unbelievable to me that she has come so far in such a short time - I'm so proud of her!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Running
Tonight, I started the Couch to 5K running program. Again.
I started jogging a few weeks ago, in an effort to lose a few pounds and not sound like an elephant when I have to hustle anywhere for very long. Lauren has been very enthusiastic about tagging along with me - in fact, more enthusiastic than I would prefer, to be quite honest. For the first several nights, she came with me and we walked/jogged around town, then we made the connection that we could walk to the high school, run on the semi-squishy track, and then walk home - if my knees could talk, they would be saying "ahhhh" right about now. So we did that for several nights. But Lauren doesn't run as fast as I do, and she doesn't want to run as far as I do, but she doesn't want me to leave her behind. So she was cramping my style. :)
She was perfectly comfortable with the idea of walking to the track with me, playing in the infield while I ran, and then walking home with me. And, in theory, I'm fine with that. However, in practice, there are other people there. People I don't know. People who PROBABLY are not wierdo child-snatching stalkers, but I'd hate to be wrong about that. So I keep making her walk & run along with me - I'll run ahead, then turn around and run back to her, then walk with her, then repeat the process.
Finally, one day, after my patience was wearing thin, and it resulted in Lauren crying because she didn't want to make me feel impatient, she and I struck a deal - she'd come with me every other night. And I also realized that my mom has a treadmill, so I could go run over there and Lauren could play while I run. Jackpot! I've been loving running on the treadmill because it doesn't let me slack off. It forces me to keep running at the pace I set, AND it counts my calorie burning. That's very motivating for me. I need a chip in my wrist that shows me that at all times. :) I bet I'd mow the lawn more often.
So I was feeling good about the fitness plan, and my running stamina, and fitting into some shorts that I couldn't fit into earlier this summer (or all of last year). And then we went away on vacation. And then it was raining all the time. And we had 4th of July celebrations in the evenings. Ugh. I totally got sidetracked from the running program. And I was doing some crazy vacation eating, too - you know, the whole "calories don't count if you aren't at home" mentality.
So, today, I started fresh. Well, okay, to be really honest, I stared with a piece of my mother-in-law's chocolate cake for breakfast. Because it is pretty much criminal to let that go to waste. But after that, I started fresh. I had Rainier cherries for a snack - one of my favorite foods ever - and Subway for lunch, and a chicken sandwich for dinner, with no other snacking. Fairly reasonable.
With the knowledge that I'll be eating cake at my sister's baby shower tomorrow. But then I'll run in the evening. Balance, right?
I started jogging a few weeks ago, in an effort to lose a few pounds and not sound like an elephant when I have to hustle anywhere for very long. Lauren has been very enthusiastic about tagging along with me - in fact, more enthusiastic than I would prefer, to be quite honest. For the first several nights, she came with me and we walked/jogged around town, then we made the connection that we could walk to the high school, run on the semi-squishy track, and then walk home - if my knees could talk, they would be saying "ahhhh" right about now. So we did that for several nights. But Lauren doesn't run as fast as I do, and she doesn't want to run as far as I do, but she doesn't want me to leave her behind. So she was cramping my style. :)
She was perfectly comfortable with the idea of walking to the track with me, playing in the infield while I ran, and then walking home with me. And, in theory, I'm fine with that. However, in practice, there are other people there. People I don't know. People who PROBABLY are not wierdo child-snatching stalkers, but I'd hate to be wrong about that. So I keep making her walk & run along with me - I'll run ahead, then turn around and run back to her, then walk with her, then repeat the process.
Finally, one day, after my patience was wearing thin, and it resulted in Lauren crying because she didn't want to make me feel impatient, she and I struck a deal - she'd come with me every other night. And I also realized that my mom has a treadmill, so I could go run over there and Lauren could play while I run. Jackpot! I've been loving running on the treadmill because it doesn't let me slack off. It forces me to keep running at the pace I set, AND it counts my calorie burning. That's very motivating for me. I need a chip in my wrist that shows me that at all times. :) I bet I'd mow the lawn more often.
So I was feeling good about the fitness plan, and my running stamina, and fitting into some shorts that I couldn't fit into earlier this summer (or all of last year). And then we went away on vacation. And then it was raining all the time. And we had 4th of July celebrations in the evenings. Ugh. I totally got sidetracked from the running program. And I was doing some crazy vacation eating, too - you know, the whole "calories don't count if you aren't at home" mentality.
So, today, I started fresh. Well, okay, to be really honest, I stared with a piece of my mother-in-law's chocolate cake for breakfast. Because it is pretty much criminal to let that go to waste. But after that, I started fresh. I had Rainier cherries for a snack - one of my favorite foods ever - and Subway for lunch, and a chicken sandwich for dinner, with no other snacking. Fairly reasonable.
With the knowledge that I'll be eating cake at my sister's baby shower tomorrow. But then I'll run in the evening. Balance, right?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
An Anniversary, of sorts
I'm always posting a day late...
Yesterday, July 5th, was an anniversary of sorts for us. 12 years ago yesterday, Stuart asked me to marry him, sitting on the futon in the living room of my apartment in Hutchinson. I had long since made up my mind that this was the man God intended to be my partner, so it was a blessing to be able to joyfully say yes, with no reservations! What a blessing to have been married to my amazing husband for these past 10 1/2 years and to be raising my daughter together with this man who is committed to being a role model of moral and Christian character traits.
Going away on vacation this last week was such a gift for us - a reminder of how much we enjoy spending time together. It's so hard when we are both working, and when Stuart is so pressured by keeping his business afloat, to squeeze out that time to spend together, just enjoying each others' company. Spending that uninterrupted time as a family reminds me of how much I cherish my husband and daughter and how much I appreciate the minutes that we spend together.
Yesterday, July 5th, was an anniversary of sorts for us. 12 years ago yesterday, Stuart asked me to marry him, sitting on the futon in the living room of my apartment in Hutchinson. I had long since made up my mind that this was the man God intended to be my partner, so it was a blessing to be able to joyfully say yes, with no reservations! What a blessing to have been married to my amazing husband for these past 10 1/2 years and to be raising my daughter together with this man who is committed to being a role model of moral and Christian character traits.
Going away on vacation this last week was such a gift for us - a reminder of how much we enjoy spending time together. It's so hard when we are both working, and when Stuart is so pressured by keeping his business afloat, to squeeze out that time to spend together, just enjoying each others' company. Spending that uninterrupted time as a family reminds me of how much I cherish my husband and daughter and how much I appreciate the minutes that we spend together.
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