More Lucy Than June

Caia is nearing 14 months old. 

Not sure quite how that happened, but whatever.

And it has been in this past week that I feel like she has jumped to a whole new phase in developing her sense of identity. (Does that make sense? I’m no psychologist. I just babble and make random comments that I question whether anyone else understands.)

She is still very much a snuggler.

In fact, just this morning, all she wanted was for Daddy to hold her. It was the sweetest thing to watch!

She kept pulling on his pants leg and jumping up and down, whining the whole time of course.

When he picked her up she continued whining until he let her curl up in his lap and snuggle up against his chest.

She is a Daddy’s Girl.

But, where her independence has showed itself the most has been in how she plays.

She could care less if I’m there with her or not. She would rather crawl off into Kenni’s room and play with her, or wander off on her own to find something to do.

Stephen says, Enjoy it.

And I do. I had a friend tell me that, in the long run, that second child makes things easier on you because they already have a built-in playmate with the first child.

But, I often wonder if I’m giving her enough attention.

Stephen, ever the dismisser of my worries, says to just look at the fruit.

How is she developing socially? Is she withdrawn? Does she cling to only you? Does she trust you? Does she want to spend time with you, even if it’s just a little?

Well, in those aspects, she’s doing fine.

She is very much a people person. In fact, last night with our friends, she would crawl into whoever’s lap would hold her. And at one point, she just snuggled up to one of our friends on the sofa, laying her head on his shoulder.

But, as the arrival of Parris Baby #3 draws nigh, I worry that she’ll get that “middle child” complex.

She’s not the oldest. She’s not the baby. 

Oh, but she is loved. And she is special.

So, how do you know? How are you sure that you’re giving them what they need in the way of playing with them and letting them play on their own?

You’d think I’d just be happy that she’s so happy to play on her own and with her sister. 

I guess, at the end of the day, all I can really do is pray for the guidance to be their mommy.

Besides, do any of us humans REALLY know what we’re doing? I think we all muddle through it until we come out on the other side, and then we can look back and say “That worked” or “That didn’t”.

There is much to be said regarding the counsel of those who have walked in our shoes before us.

The Future Generation of Bloggers…

Isn’t she precious?

At 13 months, she’s quite a climber. Not so much a walker yet. But definitely part monkey or mountain goat.

Her sister walked at 11 months. Caia is perfectly content to just crawl around…she’s developed callouses on her knees as a result. They’re truly something to behold. Just beautiful.

In other news, tomorrow we take Kenni to her Preschool Open House. 

I may cry.

She’s only going to “school” for two days a week, three hours each day. But I can’t help but feel a little sad that my baby is growing up.

We’ll be missing our regularly scheduled Wednesday playdate to attend Open House.

And let me just say, I have so enjoyed our Wednesday playdates that our little group has put together. I look forward to it as much as Kenni does.

But I know Kenni is excited about school. I think this is really going to be a great thing for her.

We’re going to go pick out a backpack once we’re finished with Open House. 

Let the good times roll.

And to completely change the subject…speaking of school…(nice segue, huh?)…

Is anyone else just READY for fall????

Fall is my absolute FAVORITE season!!! I love everything fall!!!!

Pumpkins, apples, leaves, pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks… (I was told I could have one on Sept. 6th. Yes, I asked when they were releasing them. These are the important questions in life that must be answered.)

I cannot wait to buy a pumpkin scented candle. I am about to pop waiting to bake my first fall apple pie. 

But, I am breaking my September rule and will be baking a pumpkin pie for our journey group on Thursday. 

Normally, those things should not be baked before September. It just doesn’t seem right.

But my friend Allison requested it. And so she shall have it. And I have to find a pumpkin chiffon recipe because my friend Melissa mentioned it, and it sounds too good not to try.

And the fair….

Oh, I LOVE the fair.

I know. I know. It’s dirty and smelly and all that…but I LOVE the fair.

And I’m not ashamed of it. And yes, I’ll go on dollar night or whatever it’s called.

And yes, I’ll go through those warehouses where they display the prize winning tomatoes.

And yes, I will pet those questionably treated poor little animals and let my children feed them stuff with their bare hands.

I am a little sad that I will not be able to ride The Sizzler this year. It’s my favorite.

Oh well. I suppose the safety of my unborn baby is more important than taking a whirl on a rickety traveling fair ride.

But, then again, if I’m concerned about safety, maybe I shouldn’t eat that fair food.

..things happen. Conversations. Things get said and misunderstood.

And you’re left feeling like the rug got pulled out from under you.

WARNING: Melodramatic thoughts ahead.

Plain and simple: today, I feel hurt.

I don’t even know if, logically speaking, I should. But when you deal with emotions and such, logic doesn’t play such a huge role. 

If I could detach myself from the situation, I might not be so inclined to say that I am hurt. 

Before anyone jumps to any crazy conclusions, Stephen and I are fine! In fact, we’re in this one together.

And, to give God glory through this, tonight I prayed as I walk into the bedroom,

Lord, could you please send someone to encourage Stephen right now?

As I said that, I heard his cell phone ringing. 

I looked at the caller ID. It was a good friend, so I answered it for him.

He just wanted to see if Stephen wanted to grab some dinner. I think he just wanted to keep him company tonight. (To be honest, I was a little surprised that God answered my prayer that quickly…)

And I so appreciated that. He didn’t assume that someone else would call him. He just did it himself.

Oftentimes, people think that those who are in church leadership have scores of adoring friends that they could call on at any given moment.

This is simply not true. And anyone who has led you to think otherwise is not telling the truth.

Anyway, I’m not angry. I don’t even think I would feel right about using the word “offended”. 

God and I talked about this while I drove home tonight. And I know that things are going to be okay. But I hate feeling like this. I hate situations like this. 

I hate it when things are “messy”.

But, deep down I know that God uses messy. God takes messy and makes them beautiful.

I’m looking forward to it.

…until we find out what the baby is.

Do we want a boy? Oh, sure.

Do we want a girl? Oh, sure.

After two girls, I don’t know how good are our odds are of having a boy, but that’s okay.

A very well-meaning lady said to me the other day, 

Oh, I just know you want a boy SO BAD.

Really, I want a healthy baby. A baby without REFLUX who likes to sleep. That’s what I  want.

I don’t want people to pity us if, on September 4th, we come back from the doctor and say that it is a girl.

We will honestly be thrilled either way.

And aside from diapers and other things like that you can’t pass on from kid to kid, we’d be set for all that we really needed.

We don’t have names picked yet. We’ve narrowed it down to a few that we like, but we haven’t quite settled in on one for either gender.

When I was pregnant with McKenna, we just KNEW it was a girl. 

I had a dream before I even got pregnant with her that our little girl was named Bailey McKenna.

Well, we ended up with McKenna Belle. 

McKenna means able, and Belle means beauty (and it’s a family name).

And she  has lived up to her name.

With Caia, right up until the ultrasound, I thought she MIGHT be a boy. Not that same overwhelming feeling with Kenni, but just a thought.

But as we waited for the ultrasound tech, I thought that maybe this one could be a girl too.

We had chosen Kyan Christopher for a boy, but had no girl name picked.

So, at lunch that day, we settled on Caia Christianne. Sort of  spin-off of Kyan Christopher.

And it meant “to rejoice” and “follower of Christ”. 

So…here we are…two weeks out from the big ultrasound, and I’m just hoping the bean cooperates with us and shows the goods. Or lack thereof. Was that wrong? Oh well.

With Kenni, the ultrasound tech was amazed at how active she was. All over the place and would barely be still.

Ah, yes. She’s still like that.

Caia was asleep for the first half of her ultrasound, then woke up with they kept mashing on her. She rolled over, gave us one good money shot, and that was that.

This bean seems to be a quiet one as well. At 16 1/2 weeks, and yes…I know that’s still early, I’ve barely felt anything. But I had with both of the girls by now.

Of course, I fret sometimes, but ultimately, God is sovereign.

And as Stephen says, I should not complain if this one is just a little more laid back than the first two.

We could use the break.

No one ever said my babies were easy babies. Least of all me. But I’ll take an easy one should God see fit to grant me one.

Caia was born with digestive issues that plagued her (and us!) for several months. She also caught RSV and two of the nastiest non-RSV colds you could get by the time she was five months old. She was a handful.

Kenni just had a personality that wouldn’t quit. In nearly all of her newborn pictures, she is staring up, wide-eyed, at whoever is holding her. She rarely slept. There was just too much for that child to see/do/be involved in. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but at nine months old, she gave up regular naps. And at 18 months old, gave them up altogether. What a joy.

We shall see what the future holds for us with Baby#3.

But since the day I saw the pink line pop up on the stick, I have prayed for a reflux-free, sleeping, laid back kind of baby.

The Dark Knight, that is.

Stephen has been dying to see it since it came out. Me, uhhhhh, not so much.

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate good acting and all. But violence and such does me in. (Although, I do LOVE 24, and that can get pretty violent, sooooo……I guess I’m weird.)

Anyway, we enjoyed Japanese for dinner. And really, that was my favorite part of the evening.

No children to pick up after. Just adults. Eating adult food. Taking my time.

I tried to explain to Stephen that one of my favorite parts of a date night is getting to eat my food. I don’t know if he quite gets this.

Every meal I have at home, or out with the girls, involves….so much work.

First, there’s food prep…including getting their plates ready, at the right temperature, cut to portion sized bites.

And once you think you’re ready to sit down and eat your food, someone’s out of their drink and needs more. (My kids are what we refer to in our house as “heavy drinkers”.)

You’re lucky if your food is still warm by the time you get ready to eat it.

Anyway, Dark Knight.

I didn’t tell him this until right as we were ready to purchase our tickets, but…I really had no desire to see it. I was doing this solely because he wanted to. (Hmmmm…..too bad I saw Mamma Mia already. I could make him repay me by taking me to see that.)

So, I think that I spent about 40% of the movie with my hands over my face.

And it was SO LONG. (My tailbone was killing me halfway through the movie.)

I mean, yes…I thought Heath did a great and creepy and disgusting job. I was totally grossed out by that character.

But…oh, it was just too much for me. Disturbing. And to know that shortly after that film was made, Heath passed away…argh. It was too much for me.

And Batman’s voice. DId that get to anyone else besides me? So…breathy. Like Darth Vader with a tracheotomy. Is that wrong to say? I don’t know.

And don’t get me started on Harvey’s face. Sheesh. That was much. I purposely made myself focus on the “nice” side of his face.

I’m sorry if you loved this movie. Really, these are just my opinions, and….well, they don’t mean much. So, take them for what they’re worth. Which isn’t too much in the grand scheme of things.