Getting Ready to Leave When....

This is why Bear coming home Saturday can't come fast enough.

This is why I would never last as a single mother.

This is why I'm so tired.

This is why she's so much fun. ;)

The Death of Me

Esther Grace thoroughly enjoyed sneaking Jonah's Valentine candy from his preschool party this morning.

This was her third bath of the day at 2:00. Does anyone see a pattern? A better question might be...does anyone know of a good stain remover?

Wordless Wednesday



Wordless Wednesday

Cookies & Cocoa

Tonight was Cookies & Cocoa with "You Know Who" at Jonah's preschool. I'm proud to say we survived relatively unscathed. We started out in the craft room making ornaments. Jonah made a gingerbread man...

...and a snowflake "for Esther Grace".

I was really proud of Bear. He got into it.

Then, we went into the snack room where Jonah got to make "Snowman Soup". I really want this recipe because it's like froo-froo hot chocolate (if hot chocolate could get any more froo-frooier).

Yes. That is powdered sugar. I'm sending the bag with him

tomorrow night when he spends the night with Pop & GB.

Up next? Make our family Christmas plate. However, "You Know Who" was in the room that you had to walk through to get to the family Christmas plate station. I held my breath and we pressed on. Thankfully, the cookie table was opposite the "You Know Who" station and we found ourselves completely engrossed in deciding which delicacy we would be trying after making our plate.

We made our plate (Sorry! No pictures...our fingers were all dipped in paint making fingerprint Christmas lights on our plate tree. Trust me. It's very cute!) and headed back to the cookies. I knew what would soon follow.

"Hey, Daddy! I want to get a picture with Santa."
"No, Buddy. Let's eat our cookies."
"But I really do," in a quiet little voice.
"No. Oooo! Look! Red, sparkly cookies!"
"See? Santa is real."
Yikes. That got me a look. I quickly intervened.
"Hey, Jonah. (I'm whispering because I don't want every pre-school parent sending me hate mail in Jonah's lunch bunch envelope.) Remember when we talked about St. Nicholas and how he helped people? (Nod.) Remember when we talked about how good people dress up like him now and help make people happy? (Nod.) That's why that man is dressed up like that. He's pretending to be St. Nicholas and he helps give to the poor and needy."

Jonah now probably thinks everyone that goes to school with him is on food stamps. What can I say? It's better than telling him how that man probably makes six figures in just two months out of the year. Add to the scene Bear stepping in to say that man probably enjoys taking advantage of little children's parents during a time of year where everyone's materialism exponentially increases instead of their selfless sacrifice of love and service in the Name of the person you are to be celebrating. Trust me. It wouldn't have been pretty. (On a side note: the "You Know Who" was really very good. I encourage everyone to visit the Lake Oconee Ritz Carlton and see him for yourself. Of course, I don't think that would be top on my list of priorities if I ever made it to the Lake Oconee Ritz Carlton...they have a spa.)

Bless him. Bear really was trying to be festive. I was very proud of him. And I was proud of Jonah for not pitching a fit. He was very grown-up about the whole thing.

We all enjoyed our cookies...um, some a little more than others.

Before you go posting comments about her

white dress, let me just say- that's what a

Clorox bleach pen is for.

Then we took family pictures together as a consolation. Well, we tried to take family pictures together.

I'm pretty sure she's stealing Jonah's cookie in this one.

Could someone please tell me why my children look be-you-tiful with their Daddy in every picture ever taken

but with me, we get this:

I don't know if that's panic in my eyes because we're

sitting 20' away from "You Know Who" or if it's

excitement that it's going so well. Either way, I look

like a deer in headlights.

A little better but Esther Grace is more interested in

her candy cane. (It matched her dress. She had to have it.)

And WHAT am I looking at?!

Jonah, the amazing jumping bean

Esther Grace is mad because her candy cane's gone.

Why can't I just have a normal picture with my kids???!!!

Anyways, after that Bear headed back to work and we drove around a little bit looking at Christmas lights. I was waiting on the candy cane to wear off before unstrapping her out of her car seat. We have a decorated tree at home that thanked me as soon as I walked through the door with her in a snoring heap.

All in all, it went well. Bear was glad we went as soon as he saw Jonah beam as he introduced us to every friend & teacher he saw. He even showed us where the bathrooms were "in case we needed them in anumerjincee". And don't you worry about Beanie being disappointed about no pictures. Bear promised him that on Sunday, we will be getting our picture made with Baby Jesus at Journey to Bethlehem and he's pumped! He has already cast a mini-series in his head about how he and Daddy "are going to 'scape from King Herod's evil soldjers and rescue that Baby so's no one can kill Him".

That's my boy.

Taggie Update

So, we never found Taggie. That weekend was a long one. I have two "substitutes" that I thought I could use.

Both are made of the same polka-dot fabric but are just not quite right. She rubbed them on her face like Taggie but once she reached for those ribbon edges only to find out they weren't there, the jig was up. Long story short- I found out who made our original Taggie and ordered another one. In the meantime, she offered a substitute Taggie that was solid brown. Needless to say, my child was not amused. I don't think she could find it at night in the dark because she was looking for spots. Well, that's just my guess anyways.

We've gotten our Taggie the II and all's right with the world once more...except we're cutting our eye teeth. Bless her heart- a sister just can't get a break around here!

Bow Battles

I would like you all to know we had a huge victory in our household Sunday morning.

And it was still there when I picked her up from nursery.

The score is now:
          Mommy          Esther Grace
                  1                    3,407,093

I'll catch up sooner or later, just you wait and see.

(Yes, we are eating our breakfast out of a QuickTrip kid's cup.)

Dr. Keeling, Logophile

I have a weird and uncanny talent with words. The daily routine with infants and toddlers can get rather monotonous without some type of distraction. I offer what I can with my odd monologues that relate to whatever we're doing at the time. This goes way back to my teaching days. I've acquired many an eye-roll from kindergartners putting up their bookbags to my annoying inspiring tune of the day. Other word lovers have made millions off of their obsession with vocabulary.

Take Dr. Seuss for example. I can rhyme. Just this past week, I made one up in the shower.

Jonah Beanie

Trampolinie

Squash, Banana, & Zucchini

Had a happy Halloweenie

On occasions is a meanie

But those times are oh-so-teenie

Treats his sister like a queenie

He's the best kid on the scenie

That's our big boy, Jonah Beanie!

Jean Feldman, known as Dr. Jean to teachers world-wide, makes her moolah off of writing songs to familiar tunes. Got that covered. In the hospital when I had Esther Grace, I couldn't believe that a kindergarten teacher was naming her child something with 11 letters! (Do you know that Pottery Barn limits their monogramming to just 10?) So, I had to quickly remedy the situation.

(To the tune of "Mickey Mouse Club")

To spell your name is so much fun!

It's easy as can be-

E-S-T   H-E-R

G-R-A-C-E

Esther Graaaaaace, Esther Graaaaaace

We're so glad you're part of our family! (Yay! Yay! Yay!)

There's a girl who can't be beat

so spell along with me, oh-

E-S-T   H-E-R

G-R-A-C-E

And not to leave Jonah out.....

(To the tune of "B-I-N-G-O")

There's a boy that once you know

You'll never be the same.

J  O  N-A-H

J  O  N-A-H

J  O  N-A-H

And Jonah is his name.

Honestly, this takes me all of about 2 seconds to come up with and is quite a normal occurrence in the Keeling household. (Much to my husband's chagrin.) So. Where's my million, huh? I think I've earned my doctorate in child-rearing alongside all the greats. Of course, their's probably didn't come smeared in dried oatmeal and Desitin.

Halloween: A Double Feature

Here are our Halloween pictures from 2009. I never shared these with anyone so I figured better late than never, right? That and I didn't have a camera handy and just got these from my neighbor. Thanks Kelli!

I was all about the sibling theme last year.


 
Is he not the cutest? He's still such a proud big brother. I miss these still days of Esther Grace. She's a whole lot of fun now though!

 
Jonah & Carter- the best of buds!

 Can someone please tell me how come I look the exact same as I did 3 weeks after having a baby?! It's been a year! It may have something to do with a thing called cardio...or lack thereof.

And here's a look at 2010. I warn you- there less poised than last year. It was a hands-full kinda night! We didn't run into Carter & Riley Kate either this year. They went on ahead of us while we finished watching Georgia/Florida. We still missed the end of the game though. Bear kept asking the score from door to door!


Jameer (Wolverine) and Jonah (Buzz Lightyear)

Boston, Jameer's younger brother, chillin' in the wagon.


Our very own Butterfly? Fairy? Flowergirl with wings? Who knows! I used the dress she wore at Katie's wedding & added wings. That was our sibling theme this year. Wings. Horrible, I know. I thought about dressing her up as Jessie but she doesn't have Sarah's (our cousin) adorable red locks and a red yarn wig would've been ridiculous.

This was before she knew candy was involved. She was content just sitting and picking at the bushes. Then, Daddy rolled up on the Kabota and she realized this was serious business tonight.

Do you see how discombobulated we are? That's because once she figured out people were giving away free sugar, it was a mad dash to the door! Who cares about being cute when candy is at stake?! We were crumpled all night, but still cute.

 

Wearing down after 3 suckers, a pack of Smarties, and one Crunch bar + the wrapper.

 



I tried to make Halloween this year not all about candy and picked up 2 Unicef boxes at Toys 'R Us. You collect change while trick-or-treating and then mail a check or your Coinstar receipt to their headquarters and the money helps needy children. This year is their 60th anniversary. $0.07 provides 50 kids with safe drinking water for a day. $2.00 buys 1 liter of therapeutic milk for sick infants. $19.00 buys 3 mosquito nets to protect kids from malaria. There's a whole list on the back of the box of what different amounts can provide.

Please tell me some of y'all did this as a kid! Bear had never even heard of it and thought it was a complete scam. He wouldn't let the kids take their boxes around to the neighbors and ask for money. He thought it was crazy to send our kids out like beggars at Turner Field. You know how you're always bombarded after a Braves game? He said we could just write a check or something. Oh well. We raided GB & Pop's change jar in their closet instead and filled up our boxes. Maybe next year. :)

That was our night. Now I'm crawling into bed and crashing from my sugar high so I can get up in the morning and make chocolate monkey bread for the Sunday School class. I can tell this is going to be a very nutritious week at the Keeling's!

[P.S.- Taggie has not been found.]



LOST!

No, this is not a commentary on the television show.

WE'VE LOST TAGGIE!

You may be asking yourself, "What in the world?" Allow me explain.

Taggie is a little 1' x 1' square of fuzzy polka-dots that Baby Girl adores. It was a gift from Lisa Johnson, one of my GB's friends. The opposite side of it is silky pink and there are tons of different ribbons all around the edges....just perfect for rubbing when you're sleepy.

Sadly, this is the only picture I have of our precious Taggie. :( And it had to be on our set of back-up sheets that doesn't match a thing in our room.

The boys went to Tyler's football game in Commerce tonight so it was just us girls. We went to Wal-Mart to stock up on some reinforcements for the evening. You know- candy corn pumpkins, a Richard Crowe film, just the bare essentials. Esther Grace wasn't feeling so hot (hence the reason we stayed behind) so I let her carry Taggie into the store. She was happy as a dove riding around in that buggy. You'd have thought it was a convertible the way she was acting. I didn't notice until after we checked out that Taggie was missing. I spent the next hour retracing my steps all around the store, the checkout lanes, and the parking lot. No Taggie.

I was in tears and beside myself when the sweet little greeter lady at the door told me that she was on duty until 10 tonight and she'd look for me. She actually stored my number in her cell phone as "Baby Blanket" and told me she'd call. Well, it's now 10:20 and not a single peep from my phone. I've called the store myself about 5 times since 7:00 but no luck. She sleeps with it every night and at every nap. It travels in the car with us, goes to the library, to Bible Study, and comforts her in nursery. I don't know what I'm going to do. I've already called my Dad about 10 times asking if Lisa, who's at the game, can tell me where she got it so I can order another one. He did not find that amusing one bit. Apparently my Taggie saga doesn't hold a candle to Tyler's high school football career. Hmph. I always knew he was the favorite. It's just because he's the baby. And only boy.

I feel so guilty. I mean, I was such a better mother than this to Jonah when it came to Lovie. Partly because I pictured myself huddled in a corner of his room loving that little lamb the night he moves away to college, but still. I was a good mother. I've just slacked off with Baby #2. I mean if I'm this laissez-faire with a Taggie, then what will I be like with her boyfriends? (I knew French would pay off. Spell check didn't even flag that. I googled it just to check myself. Madame Carlson would be proud.) But seriously. I prayed over Jonah every night when he was younger. I labored in my journals over his future and daily hourly approached the Throne on his behalf. With Sister, I'm just grateful when she closes those eyes and I can change into some jammies. What am I doing?! I have got to be more purposeful with her. And if the Lord uses a square foot of fabric to teach me that, I'm grateful. It could've been worse. The lesson could've come in a 6' foot tattooed package with piercings named Flash. Oh thank You, Lord.

Anyways- I seriously doubt anyone reads this blog that lives in Monroe. I think the only people that do read it are family and that's just because they feel obligated to since I refer to it at every holiday function as of late. BUT- if anyone finds our sweet Taggie at the Wal-Mart in Monroe, I'd offer you a large reward. Okay, maybe just some homemade pumpkin bread or something. I'm sure a little one-year-old would be very appreciative.

Esther Grace Keeling

About this time a year ago today, I was staring at my sleeping baby girl, so tiny in that little glass cart beside my hospital bed, wondering what in the world I was going to do with all that pink. Tonight, I still stare at that baby girl asleep in her crib, but now I wonder what in the world I'm going to do with all that personality! One year old. Wow. Time flies, doesn't it?

Some of you know the story of how our little Esther Gracie came into this world but others may not. Bear with me but tonight I feel a bit nostalgic and would like to post a small recap. [Warning: this may be long.] Where do I begin? Ah, yes.

 I. was. HUGE.

Yes, that's a 46" belly.

I had just snuggled up with my bowl of ice-cream to watch "The Biggest Loser" when, what do you know, my water broke. I was so excited! (I'm not a very good pregnant person. Did you see the 46 on the tape measure?) We got all of our bags and packed Jonah to stay with my parents. After dropping him off at their house, we went ahead and headed to St. Mary's. Now I know you're supposed to wait until your contractions are 3 minutes apart or screaming your head off in pain, whichever comes first. But I wasn't about to chance getting stuck at home.

You see, the whole week previous there had been flooding in metro-Atlanta. Flooding. As in, water on the road. The hospital is a good 30, maybe 40, minute drive from our house. I just knew we were going to be stuck and I would have to birth that baby in my car without an epidural! It was raining the night my water broke but the waters remained in their river banks and we got to St. Mary's without delay. I walked into the emergency room where I waited patiently in line behind an oh-so-pregnant young lady who was obviously much farther in her labor than I was at this point. She did not look like she was enjoying this. I could also tell that it was definitely her first child because her husband was loaded down with bags, pillows, books (who reads a labor & delivery book while in labor?), etc. and kept asking every 15 seconds, "Are you okay?" My husband was parking the car.

Finally it was my turn to register with the girl at the desk. I literally hopped right up to her and said, "Guess." She didn't laugh. I thought it was pretty funny. She confirmed all of my information in the computer as I bounced from one foot to the other. (Again, did you see the 46? I'm pretty sure I was sucking in when that picture was taken. I was so excited!) She began to tell me how I might be checked in for observation but that I'd probably be sent home if I wasn't far enough in the labor process. Apparently my hopping did not allude to the fact that I was actually having some pretty good contractions. All I had to do was show her my pants and say, "This is not pee." That did it.

A guy came to escort me, my friend & co-laborer, and her husband to the baby ward. (My husband? Still parking.) He asked if we needed wheelchairs. New mama said, "No, (ugh) I'd (hunh) much (mmmhh) rather (grrrnn) walk these out. (pant, pant) It speeds (huff, huff) up labor. (groan)" Oh. One of those. That explained the big exercise- I mean, birthing- ball in the lobby. Well, if WonderWoman here didn't need one I guess that meant Hop-a-Long didn't either because he never even offered me one. As he sprinted down the hallways, we had to make frequent stops because my friend kept leaning over and basically collapsing at every doorway. The little fella kept looking at me like, "Is she gonna be allright?" while hubby just looked scared to death. "First one?" I offered. "Yeah (moan). I've been in labor since (arrrr) yesterday and they've sent me back (hunnngh) three times." What. Okay, so I'm pretty much going home. Might as well turn around now before Bear had to get one of those parking ticket thingies from the little machine and we have to pay 3 bucks for this little trip. Maybe we could stop at the Varsity since I didn't get to finish my ice-cream.

We got to the baby ward and the nurse took my friend to a room pretty quickly. Another one came up to me and asked me how I was doing. "Great!" I exclaimed. "I'm not going to be pregnant anymore!" That got a courtesy laugh. Well, she was polite. She said that normally they have some kind of test strip to determine whether or not my water had actually broken. Then, while looking behind me at the trail I'd left along the hallway, she turned her attention back to me and said, "I don't think that will be necessary in this case here." Sweet. A room and a bed. Almost like a vacation. :)

Fast forward a few hours and several episodes of "The Duggars" later: Bear made it to the room and has now positioned himself in the fold-out bed in full out coma. I'm so excited I can't stand it. My mom and Ouida are asleep in the waiting room. Toni, my step-mom-in-law (or MOSMIL- mean old step mom in law- for short) and I are the only ones who can't control ourselves. She's not mean, we just say that as a joke because step-moms are normally mean in all the stories. She had never seen a baby born from the other end before and everyone else was already used to me and my shenanigans. I needed the sympathy and she wanted the show. :)

They checked me to see how far along I was and I am proud to say that I was "a good 8 centimeters", which in Kristen-ese is "practically dying and how in the world are you being so brave and strong without being numb from the waist down". I was so proud of myself. Honestly, I wasn't even hurting the teeniest bit but I really didn't want to hurt so I went ahead and got the epidural then. I know, I know. I'm a baby. For the record, I have no doubt in my mind that I know I could have a baby naturally & probably would do it with grace & dignity. I just don't want to. Not even the teeniest desire whatsoever.

By the time it came for the actual birth part and everyone was awake, Toni and I had convinced ourselves that having 19 or so kids was a great idea and we didn't know why everyone didn't have that many. Do you know how sweet Mrs. Duggar is? Her voice is that of an angel. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Toni & I are not allowed to be alone together anymore. Needless to say, Esther Grace Keeling entered this world on September 30, 2009 at 5:52 a.m. weighing 7 lbs, 11 ounces. What a sweet pea.

Even though there was no more flooding here in Georgia, our family has been flooded with such a joy of this little girl! She is happiness, giggles, and grins. She claps her hands anytime there's music on, which is usually praise and worship music at our house, and lifts her hands to the Lord unashamedly. Our house has been flooded with pink, pink, pink. Babies and bracelets have flooded the playroom. I pray that her life is flooded with the Holy Spirit and she is bold and courageous like her namesake to act in obedience with His call. May Living Water overflow her heart and soul with a compassion for the lost and a burden to share the gospel with everyone she meets. And when the enemy comes in like a flood, may she call upon the Spirit of the Lord to lift up a standard against him.

As for my friend, I have no idea what her name was. I don't even know if she had a boy or a girl. All I know is that about 3 hours after Esther Grace was born, I was stepping out of the shower and heard a noise that I'm pretty sure has never been heard in a civilized setting. It was something primal, uttered from a place that I'm sure I never want to go. I quit towel-drying my hair and froze. There it was again. This time it was followed by, "She's pushing!" and several nurses running into the room a few doors down. A shriek, equal to that of a banshee, echoed throughout the corridor and then- silence. A soft tinkling of chimes sounded, announcing the birth of a new life in the hospital. I clicked on my hair dryer and smiled. Thank you, Jesus, for the epidural.