Mom, Lauren, Katie, and I had a wonderful trip to the Bahamas last week celebrating Katie and my 30th birthday. We had no obligations the whole time, unless you count dinner reservations as an obligation, and it was so wonderful. Most of each day was spent on the beach with a virgin mojito in one hand and a book in the other. This would be a pretty accurate description of Pete's personal hell, which is why he was not invited; he and Susie Girl had a great time at home while I was off enjoying some relaxation. I missed both of them, but it never got to the point of wanting to be home; more like, I wanted them there with me...for a lunch, or an afternoon snack. :) Figgy came to assist Pete with Susannah care for the first few days, and then PopPop came to do the same for the last few days; PopPop and SuSu were able to spend Christmas with us this year, which was a blessing. Susannah was way more aware of the fun of present-opening than I thought she would be, so we had a great time watching her excitement about each little gift!
Christmastime in the Bahamas looks the same but feels completely different: 80 degrees beach weather!
In the lobby of our beautiful hotel.
Everyday was absolutely beautiful!
The only twin pic we took was at the airport before parting ways. Katie's sweater, though...
Christmas morning excitement.
Must play with each gift upon opening.
Get this thing out of the box, Mom!
"Give Big Bear some kisses, Susannah!"
At the Gilberts' for Acker Family Christmas. Susannah didn't know what to do with a real tree.
That Nathanael is soooo handsome!
Bethany and Hannah ready to open gifts
Charis is getting strategy from her Daddy on how to best attack Uncle Petey in their indoor snowball fight (the most fun present of the day).
Emptying out any within-reach container of anything.
This little video was taken this morning. Susannah loves walking around the kitchen with broom in hand--not dragging it, but lifting it. Here, she's trying to hint at me at a needed chore, I believe.
We get to find out if Baby #2 is a boy or girl in a week! We both have a feeling it will be another girl, as the trend lately is for people to have streaks of the same gender; we shall see!
I made a big mistake last week. I was eating a piece of deer jerky on the couch, and Susannah, who was standing in front of me, wanted some (as she always does whenever anyone near her has anything edible). Since she still only has 1 molar, consuming a whole piece of jerky would be impossible; so I gave her a large piece to gnaw on. After a few seconds, she began to get frustrated, and without even thinking, I took back the jerky and ate it myself. Whoops. I have never seen her so mad. For the first time ever, Susannah wanted NOTHING to do with me. She started crying hysterically and waving her arms in the do-not-come-near-me motion that she typically does when I'm trying to give her food she doesn't like. When I reached for her, she screamed at me and pushed my arms away. So I just sat there, which apparently made her even madder because she started pushing my knees away from her as she continued in her hysterics. I finally had to just pick her up anyway, and she, of course, arched her back like crazy in attempts to weasel out of my grasp. So we did the only thing I could think of to distract her other than more food: we went outside to look at the birds, and all was forgotten. Poor Pete wasn't even home to sweep in and rescue her from the mean ole Mommy. Something tells me this won't be the last time Sus wants nothing to do with me, and I'll bet it won't be as easy to win back her affections either. Susannah is saying a few new words now: "Eh-mo" (Elmo), "An-ee" (Angie), and "neh-ted" (naked). Good thing she learned how to say that last one before, maybe, "hello," or "help," or "libertarian." Pics and a video!
We were so happy to have some warm weather this week!
Just doing what we do on the stairs. Up and down and up and down and up and down and repeat.
Sweet girl.
A little walker!
I leave for THE BAHAMAS at the end of the week, sans baby and husband. While I cannot WAIT for this much-needed vacation, please pray that I am not an emotional wreck from missing my babies!
I have haphazardly forgotten to mention a few things on here that I need to make note of! Here's a nice, organized list of said items:
Susannah got her first molar during the last week in November. Still no sign of any others, but we know they exist and will show themselves in no time, I'm sure.
We are down a chicken again. This time the deed was done not by Pete or the neighbor's dog, but by a hawk! How dramatic! Luckily, my attachment to the chickens has become virtually nonexistent ever since the dog tragedy, so we've successfully shrugged off her death as merely a minor setback in egg production.
I'm pregnant again! I had my 16 week appointment today and am feeling great. My belly is growing ever-so-slowly again, just like it did with Susannah, so I'm hoping one morning soon I'll wake up to an obviously-pregnant belly in order to get past this stage of just appearing chubbier than normal (though my annual Thanksgiving overindulgence did help me put on a few extra pounds than necessary, as the scale informed me this morning at my appointment...yikes...).
Here are just a few recent pictures:
Ambitious little girl!
She LOVES sunglasses.
Pete has to remind the birds who's boss sometimes.
Trying to take a pic with Sus on my 30th birthday. She's about as interested as she normally is...
We went to visit Santa.
And I'll leave you with a recent observation. Now that Susannah is not only on-the-move but is on-the-move with items in tow, I've realized that there are constantly things everywhere. I can do my best to pick all the things up, but if that little girl happens to see that I'm undoing what she's done, she immediately "fixes" it back to the way she likes it. Pete and I have laughed at Susannah turning our living room (and kitchen and bedroom...) into an obstacle course and absolutely loving it that way. She will either purposely step on whatever item she meets en route (practicing her balance maybe?) or she stops, picks item(s) up, inspects item(s), throws item(s) a foot in front of her, continues crawling or walking, and does the same thing when she meets the thrown item(s) again. It really is so cute and funny. I've never been a clean-freak (my mom and college roommates can attest), but I have grown to generally like things on the tidier side of "livable." So I'm choosing to see the humor and the pure entertainment this new clutter provides for all parties involved!
We had a great time in Harrisonburg/Massanutten for Thanksgiving. Pops and Figgy rented a house in Massanutten so that all their kids and grandkids could stay in one house together -- so generous and an absolutely wonderful time had by all. Pete's brother and his family (Jay, Carissa, Sydnie, Maddie, and [friend] Charlie) were able to come up from Texas for the festivities, which made the trip extra special. The Gilberts came, as well, so we had a nice crowd and lots of entertainment! Sydnie, Maddie, and Charlie were GREAT with the kids, and that allowed for some adult socializing--something we all know I am generally lacking. Aunt Sarah, Uncle Steve, Chip, and Chip's boyfriend Linsey were able to spend some quality time with us, as well -- we are so lucky to have such a FUN family. I did a terrible job taking pictures, so I had to steal a few from Carissa and Sydnie's Facebook pages, but here they are! (There is also a hilarious video at the bottom that we took at dinner tonight, too.)
Playing in the leaves with Daddy
Stolen from Sydnie's pics...that face!
Stolen from Carissa's pics... watching (you guessed it) Praise Baby!
Here's to the best babysitter in the world, Maddie
Out for a walk
At an overlook on Massanutten
Stolen from Sydnie's pics...selfie time!
The Children's Museum in Harrisonburg is so much fun!
And here's the cutest video in the world. I was trying to teach Sus to slurp up a spaghetti noodle:
I'm really slacking on keeping this thing updated these days. But that just means each post will contain tons more pics! We had a great time with family here to celebrate Susannah's first birthday -- the Gilberts came from Mechanicsville, Pops and Figgy from Harrisonburg, PopPop and SuSu from Collierville, and the Cutchins (our local adopted family) from a couple doors down. Susannah cried while we sang "Happy Birthday" to her but ate a good portion of her birthday cake before rubbing some in her eyes and was, thus, ready for a quick bath. She was extremely businesslike in her cake-eating, which was hilarious. Not a single smile the whole time, but it was still really cute. She's been toddling a good bit lately, too. Almost everyday she'll take two steps here, four steps there; so we know she's on the verge of being EVERYWHERE. More often than that, though, we find her "walking" on her knees, like a little beggar not worthy to stand before her benefactor. It's, of course, really cute and really funny. Lately Pete and I have been able to spy on Susannah in her crib either while she's falling asleep or when she first wakes up, and we've now seen firsthand how talented our baby is in yoga skills! Her favorite move is downward-facing dog, and she will move into this position several times before drifting off to sleep or deciding she's ready for someone to come get her. That baby loves her crib! Here are some cute pictures from the B-day party and week following:
Opening and closing DVD cases, a favorite pastime
Our party decor. We decided her 1st birthday theme would be "1st Birthday." Clever, I know.
Sipping on some milk and reading with her best friend, Miss Angie.
Homemade smashcake
The cake presentation and singing was...
...not Susannah's favorite part of the party.
But then she tasted the cake, and all was well again.
"Nobody touch my cake!"
Chowing down!
Riding on Rody, a present from Pops and Figgy
Her daily chat with the backyard birds.
This epitomizes our individual (and very, very different) attitudes about pictures...
More interested in Daddy's buttons than picture-taking
