A couple of quick Ada stories

There have been a few Adaisms lately that I want to share and record for my own sake.

First, remember the book that Ann gave to Ada for her birthday? Well, we now read it every night before bed, and to keep Ada interested, I have added lots of "drama" to the reading. In one story, Zaccheus maybe, the people yell, "Jesus is coming!!" So, the first time I read it, I put my hands around my mouth and yelled it with much emphasis. Well, Ada loved it. She now calls the book, "Jesus is coming," and she loves yelling that part of the story every night. She won't let us read other stories, in fact. And tonight, Scott had to leave to go to bible study, and to explain that to Ada, I said, "daddy is going to church to learn about Jesus." Ada looked at me and nodded knowingly as she said, "Jesus is coming."

Second, as Ada gets older, I have realized how much she is able to remember. I absolutely believe that children's brains are like little sponges, and they can take in so much more information than we realize. I want to take advantage of that. So...we have started teaching Ada the shorter catechism for children, and she is learning it surprisingly easily. (we have shortened all the answers to two words, which is working so far. For example, "what else did God make?" "all things," or, "why did God make you and all things?" "his glory.") I don't think she has one clue what she is saying, but I am still all for pouring truth into her brain. One day that truth will equal understanding. We have made it through the first four questions, and we are about to start working on the fifth. Maybe soon we can video it somehow.

Third, Auburn. Truth from the bible, truth about what we believe, and truth about Auburn. I have my priorities in order, right;) I taught Ada to say war eagle, hey, with the hand motions, and she really likes doing it, particularly the hey part. (anything that allows her to shout loudly). Well, I thought it would be cute to teach her to answer, "war eagle, hey!" when I ask, "what does a tiger say?" Yesterday we were looking at a book together, and we came across a picture of a lion. I asked her what a lion says, thinking she would roar, and she replied, "war eagle, hey" complete with her fist in the air and everything. We'll keep working on that;)

And finally, tonight Ada must have had the new baby on the brain because as I was bathing her she once again began to ask me about going to the doctor to check on the baby. I was rather surprised because she hasn't mentioned that since last Wednesday when I went to the doctor. Anyway, her inquiry sparked a conversation about the baby, and I told her that the next time I went to the doctor we would find out if she was having a brother or a sister. She kept playing with her bath toys as she said very matter-of-factly, "a sister." So, I guess that's settled, a girl it will be.

Oh Ada, I think two is so much fun. I love all of our conversations through out the day, and it has been incredibly fulfilling for me to begin to actually teach you things. I know that the daily ins and outs of infanthood is equally important, but I am beginning to experience some of the fruit of motherhood, and I am loving it.

Our little personal trainer

Because I have a feeling there are a few people out there who are dying to see some new pictures (yes, family, I am talking to you), here are some shots from an evening spent at a local park.

In this first picture, Ada was glaring at the children who were in the swings that she normally plays in. You know the kind--that are more for babies? Anyway, she loves those things, and on this particular night the swings were occupied. Ada could not understand why the world didn't stop for her.

At this particular playground there is a mile long walking trail. Ada and I have had walked the trail several times with her in the stroller. Well, one night, after playing for a while with Scott while I jogged the trail, Ada decided she wanted to walk the trail--no stroller for her. Ever since then, we can not leave the playground without her walking (and running!!!) this mile long trail. In fact, often times, Scott and I are not going fast enough for her. She turns around and shouts, "run, mom, run!!!" I am worn out by the time she is done with me!!And, finally, I want to issue a thank you to a blog reader, Stephanie, who very, very generously sent us a box of fall clothes for Ada. Her daughter had outgrown them, and she thought Ada might be able to use them. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The box was much appreciated. I wanted to send you an e-mail or thank you note, but in my typical scatter brained "ness," I have misplaced all ways to contact you. I so hope you happen to read this blog post, and please know how thankful we are!!

Let the Games Begin

well, like most of the south, football is on the brain.

I actually had to drive through Auburn today on my way back to Atlanta from Greenville, AL. I drove the four hours to Greenville yesterday evening to spend the night with four of my college roommates. One roommate is getting married in October, and that, of course, calls for celebration. Celebrate we did, as we stayed up until 4 AM!!!!!!!!!! talking about everything under the sun. Oh my word. Am I a crazy woman?

Four hours later, I woke up for the day. At 17 weeks pregnant, four hours is not cutting it. I can barely hold my eyes open.

But

I want to watch the Auburn game. (Thank you ESPN 360!) I want to watch the Alabama game. I want to some how join in the camaraderie of the first football Saturday.

Scott got super lucky and scored a free ticket to the Alabama game from a friend from church, so I am here alone. I am happy that he gets to go, but I can't help but hope that Virginia Tech walks away with the victory. He knows my heart on that issue;)

And, as I mentioned, I made a quick pit stop in Auburn on my way home today. I couldn't help but feel left out as I saw the sea of orange that was College Street. I quickly ran into Zaxby's to grab some lunch, not foolish enough to try to venture further into Auburn than that, and even that small glimpse made me long for my college days. Will I ever stop wishing that college had never ended?

So, now I must turn my attention to the game.

War Eagle, ya'll!

The Kitchen

Finally, Ada has her kitchen. I know that mom is dying to see these pictures, so here they are.

It was quite a disappointing meeting between Ada and her kitchen. Once the kitchen was out of the box, we realized that it was not the one we thought it was, but it is instead, the exact same one as Ada's friend Ruth (Tutti's daughter). Ada is very familiar with Ruth's kitchen, so when she saw the kitchen, Ada began to open the cabinet doors and she was confused when all of Ruth's accessories weren't included in the kitchen. She immediately began to ask me about some specific thing, which I couldn't quite understand. I ran upstairs to get Ada's kitchen accessories, and then she began to play. Oh parenthood. We work so hard to do exciting things for our children, and then they act ungrateful. This is my official apology, mom and dad, for all the times I reacted ungratefully to the millions of things you did for me.

Anyway, without further ado, Ada and her kitchen.

a few notes.

As you can see, we were fresh out of bed. We do mismatched pajamas around here. After bath, we find a clean pair of pj pants, a shirt that will be comfy enough, and we call it pajamas. It saves time:) And, you get to see Ada's hair in all its morning glory.

Second note, we do not plan to permanently keep Ada's kitchen in the foyer. I am assuming that Scott didn't feel like moving it elsewhere when he finally finished putting it together. (I was already upstairs asleep, so I just found it there this morning).

Midwife Explanation

I realize that this is my second post tonight, but I realized that this was the second post where I mention a midwife without explaining.

The practice that I go has several doctors and several midwives, who are nurse practitioners. Both the doctors and the midwives deliver babies, but the patient chooses which they want to deliver (obviously). I love the midwives at my practice. They are empathetic, kind, reassuring, and make time to answer all of my questions. The doctors are doctors--in and out, cut and dry, etc. etc. So everything in me leans toward having the midwife deliver.

There is one problem. Ann had a terrible midwife experience when she delivered Ellie. Terrible. Granted she was in New Mexico, across the country, at a completely different practice. But I can't shake her experience, so I choose the doctors. I have heard story after story of wonderful midwife experiences. And, to be completely honest, if Ann had had a wonderful midwife experience with Ellie, and I heard story after story of terrible midwife experiences, I would probably choose a midwife. I am heavily influenced by my family. So...I choose the doctors. But until the very end, I choose to see the midwives because I actually prefer them.

Let me give you an example, today, as I came out of the "examination room" to get my check out (?) papers from the midwife, she turned to me and said, "I love that shirt. It's so cute," and then she proceeded to give me a little back pat/rub and tell me that she will see me next time. And, when she first walked into the examination room and asked me how I was feeling, I told her that I was feeling loads better, and she replied, "Thank God," as if it was all she had been able to think about since the last visit. The doctors don't say or do things like that. They are strictly business. But, on birth day, I prefer strictly business.

I had an incredible birth experience with Ada. I appreciated all the decisions that my doctor made, and it resulted in a very easy, uncomplicated delivery, so I am sticking with the doctors. On birth day.

Baby Update

I finally made it to the doctor today. I went a new way, recommended by Kelly (the same friend who told me about the kitchen!!), and I had no problems getting there on time.

My doctor's office is right across the street from the hospital, so I felt some comfort seeing how easy it was to get there going the new way that avoids down town. I have felt some anxiety at the thought of getting all the way across town when in labor, especially if things decided to pick up during rush hour. My anxiety was calmed today.

Everything went great. I heard the heartbeat for the first time, which was a relief. Until I can feel the baby move, I like some reassurance that everything is going okay in there. And then today I heard that steady sound, and the midwife said that the size of my uterus tells her that everything is developing just as it should, and I felt calm about the health of the baby.

The most exciting news? We scheduled the ultrasound for September 29th, and then we will know if Ada gets a brother or a sister. Last night I vividly dreamed that it was a girl, but who knows, right?

I told Ada that I was going to the doctor to check on the baby, so the rest of the day she repeatedly asked me about it. I heard concern in her voice. She would say, "baby? doctor? did it hurt?" And she asked me if I would get a band-aid. I told her that unfortunately, this situation would not be solved with a band-aid. She likes to hug and kiss my stomach, and she says good night to the baby, but I have a hard time believing that she understands what is going on. I wonder if she finds it confusing that we keeping referring to a baby in my stomach. I wonder if she thinks we are all crazy;) She will see soon enough, won't she?

So, there's a baby update. Things are moving right along. I can't wait to feel that first movement. That is hands down my favorite part of pregnancy. I love, love, love that feeling.

p.s. Scott is currently putting the kitchen together, so I should have pictures of it tomorrow. I can't wait for Ada to see it. It feels like Christmas Eve:)

Change of Kitchen Plans

As you know, because I keep blogging about it, we are in the process of getting Ada a new wooden kitchen. We had decided on this one, but it looks like plans are changing today.

Well, my friend Kelly (our pastor's wife) called me yesterday to let me know that a local furniture store that sells (used? discount? not sure) furniture has a kids kraft kitchen, still in the box, for 60.00. This one.Well, we are going today to snatch that thing up before anyone else can buy it. I am thrilled because the above kitchen normally sells for about 180, I think. And I don't have to use any of my swagbucks that I have worked so hard to save up. This means, I have about 70.00 worth of Amazon credit to use towards Ada's Christmas present. As always, God provides in the most unusual ways.

I have already been searching through Amazon's vast amount of Melissa and Doug products deciding on what I want to order for Ada's Christmas. And I have several months to earn more swagbucks, so I am hoping that I don't have to pay for any of her Christmas out of pocket. Thank you, Lord. He does provide, doesn't he?