I Should Be Doing Other Things

The entire contents of my refrigerator are on the counter. I've been windexing and sudsing its various components when Phoebe awoke from her nap. This is fairly normal for her about forty-five minutes in... she's startled, needs a hug to settle down, and then is back out for another hour or so.

Well, my attempt to soothe her was unsuccessful. Enter the gallant Daddy. He often works when I don't. I have no shame in admitting that she is a Daddy's girl, even at a young age.

This is the scene that I stumbled upon a few minutes ago, wondering if everyone was okay -- since Michael had not returned to his perch on the couch, and yet there was no noise coming from Phoebe's room...Looks like Daddy said, "Watch me!" And all were resting peacefully.

Purge

First of all, to Dad:  This post will be without a picture.  I am SO sorry, but I'm using Michael's laptop!  Thank you for so faithfully reading our blog... we love you!!

So, Christmas was wonderful.  We were blessed so richly this Christmas, but the blessings really made me want to get things organized so everything could find itself a home.  This has, of course, been a long time coming.  I don't know that I ever REALLY organized after moving in, but rather just "made do", what with teaching, pregnancy while teaching, and the arrival of Phoebe Kate.  Also, I was extremely motivated to find a home for my new toy and homemaking essential, the sewing machine my sweetheart surprised me with.  

Anyway, what started out as a simple clean-out-the-closet project turned into a full-on clean house project.  Things had been neglected in the weeks leading to Christmas, so I certainly had a lot to do.  But after sending several items to the giveaway or garbage heap and better utilizing the space I have... wow!  The closets have plenty of room to spare, I'm in the process of freshening up the guest room, and best of all -- the sewing machine is up!  If only I knew how to actually use it!

My sweet husband has also been purging away, and has completely made over the garage.  It looks dynamite!  I'm practically giggling at the mostly empty shelves ready for purposeful storage!  The purging feels pretty good!

If only I'd remembered that fact while eating all of the goodies over Christmas!  (JUST KIDDING, Mom!)

Not a Creature Was Stirring

...not even a Phoebe Kate!

I should probably devote an entire blog to the sleeping adventures of Phoebe Kate. This is probably punishment for all my pride about her being such a good sleeper and me being such a good sleep trainer. Because for two months, my friends, sleep has been an adventure for our tiny little lovebug. Whether it's insane nighttime sleep, difficulty going down (nobody told me she would wail, "dadadadadadadada!" when she didn't want to sleep!), or shortened naps... let's just say that I don't remember what it's like to go a whole twenty-four hours without a sleep hiccup.

I'm having to adjust my expectations a wee bit.

Poor Phoebe is the meter stick for all future children, so we're doing a whole lot of learning on her. I don't think she's any worse for the wear, but it sure does add to the sanctification process of her mommy and daddy.

So yes. It's 7:50. I'm thankful that she's still sleeping, even if it means I had to refrigerate her bottle.

Anyway, this was supposed to be a Christmas post. Christmas was wonderful, and it was absolutely delightful to spend it with oodles of family on both sides, and also with just our sweet little family on the day after Christmas. As expected, Phoebe was most interested in ribbons and paper, but we were blessed to watch her delight in her "shiny things". In the midst of all the shiny, though, it's our prayer that even at her tiny little age, she wasn't distracted from the Babe in the manger.

Phoebe gave us some early Christmas presents this year... talking! On Wednesday, Phoebe was taking her bath (I'll leave it to Michael to really blog this with video and all) and Michael had the video on. I think he knew something big would happen. Anyway, after being prompted to say "Dada"... she did! Loud, clear, and indisputable. And yes, she babbles away with "dadadadadada" but this is different... it's specific, and it's when her "Dada" is around! And then, to add insult to injury, I'm out getting my haircut Thursday when Michael, Phoebe, and Jaker are all playing together. While Phoebe is playing with Jake (her favorite), she says, "AKE!". It's the cutest thing, really. But seriously. Dada, then JAKE? Where's Mama? I've been working on it tirelessly, but not a glimmer. I see where I stand. :)

No matter what she's said, it delights us all the same. And although there are no creatures stirring right now, I'd better go drag all three of them out of bed!

Miracle Worker

Friends, my husband is a miracle worker. A magician. A saint. A hero. Nothing less.

I woke to shower at 6:40 (should've been 6:15). So did Phoebe, probably from my alarm beeping several times from its incessant snoozing. While I showered, Michael soothed her. When I got out, she was still murmuring.

At 7, I prepared her breakfast, certain that she'd be up in moments. Michael went in for one last soothe, and then... pow. She's out.

It's 7:45.

Hallelujah!

When your child no longer blissfully sleeps through the night, waking with yucky teething pain and stopped up noses... well, let's just say you'll take an extra few minutes in the morning.

Did I mention that I love my husband?

Nine Months

Busy...

Although that really does describe my current status, I think it better describes the currently sleeping nine month old that lives with me. On Friday, Phoebe celebrated her nine month day! It's hard to believe she's been with us as long as I was pregnant with her. What a blessed nine months we've had.

I've been reflecting on a lot here lately with her, and I don't have the time to share all of that (I've promised myself no more than 15 minutes to check this off my list while I suck down some coffee) but I'll try to at least share a little. First of all, this is my first Christmas with a little one (obviously). But as I've pondered Mary this season, I've been absolutely overcome with emotion. In fact, I was teaching our little fours on Sunday about the birth of Christ in Luke 2, and as I tried to tell them about Mary kissing and loving sweet baby Jesus -- that he was a real, live baby -- I got all caught up in my throat. I mean, I adore our little Phoebe. But she's as sinful as the rest of us. I cannot even imagine loving her more than I do. But knowing that my baby was the son of God? Wow.

We went to the Andrew Peterson "Behold the Lamb of God" show at our church, and it was incredible. Really incredible. I would've brought everyone I know to it if I'd known how incredible it was. God is really using these artists to share Truth through their incredible music. If you ever have the chance to go next Christmas, you need to. Anyway, one of the songs that was part of that was called "Labor of Love". Here's an excerpt:

But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love


Anyway, I can't even imagine. So that's been part of my pondering...

Also, as I stepped on Noah's Ark pieces that were scattered all over my bathroom yesterday, I realized how much fun has infiltrated my life since Phoebs came along. She is simply a delight, truly. I don't think I can even begin to list all of the fun things that she's doing right now, but I'm going to try...

• She claps her hands, both when she's excited and when she's frustrated. She does this a lot on the changing table and in the high chair, so I'm not sure if she's trying to sign "All done" or not. She doesn't do it consistently, so we're keeping an eye out. (Also, when I ask her if she's all done, she does not sign anything... so... who knows.)
• She is crawling faster than a speeding bullet... I mean, this girl is really efficient!
• She pulls up on furniture, toys, the refrigerator (talent!), just about anything!
  
• She can transfer from one object while standing to another -- like from the coffee table to the couch.
• She will occasionally walk while holding on to a piece of furniture, but only a few steps. She is willing to take one hand off whatever it is she's holding onto, though!
• She LOVES books. She does not love to sit in a lap for longer than about one minute to read, but she absolutely loves to pull them off her shelf and play with them. She opens, closes, and turns pages. She chews and sucks on the ends of paperbacks, but "reads" board books. She particularly loves books with "real" pictures -- especially pictures of babies.
• She can identify puppies and ladybugs in books. I'm not surprised. Have you heard me talk about how much she loves puppies?
• She and Jake are even better friends than we hoped they'd be... he lets her literally walk all over him!
• She will eat just about anything, but her appetite is not very voracious. At her nine month check up she was 16 pounds, 8 ounces (15%ile) and 28 1/4 inches (75%ile). They really want her to start gaining weight better. I promise we feed our baby! She's just so active, it's hard to imagine that she "keeps" any of the food she eats.
• She still has no teeth! I thought I felt something this morning, but then again, I've thought that about 20 times in the past four months. Someday!
  
• She is responding well to training, but sometimes forgets. For example, Michael had her well trained to not touch the fireplace... she kind of forgot... but now she's retrained again. I imagine it'll be constantly train-retrain for a long time!
  
• She will repeat one phrase: "Dada". Mommy is not pleased.
• She gives "high five" when prompted and is particularly delighted when she does it. She only does this for men and Mommy!
• She continues to delight her Mommy and Daddy!

There's more, I am certain. But my time is up, so I'm going to end and finish up my Christmas chores! Since you've made it this far, I will promise a picture... as soon as I figure out how to blog one from a .NEF file!

Where's Sarah?

I'm not even going to attempt to blog about the last two weeks. Honestly, I have no idea what we've even done in the past two weeks! I did finally get over Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease... and so did Phoebs, and we're all finally healthy, at least for the time being -- Praise the Lord! Phoebe even appears to be turning the corner with her wonky nighttime sleep, which perhaps require even greater, louder praises. (We slept all the way through last night for the first time in at least a month... WOW!)
Then last Tuesday, Mom came and got Phoebe and me, and we travelled North for an extended visit. My parents graciously offered to purchase me a new pair of glasses, so the eye appointment was the "excuse" for the visit (not that we needed an excuse!), but my sweet, sweet husband allowed us to stay for fun girl time with Mops and Pops. We did miss "Daddy", though -- so he came up Friday night after a very busy week at work. I think he probably enjoyed the ability to work extra hard, as he's been trying to wrap up a project for a VIP. :) Anyway, we had originally planned on going back home on Sunday, but Michael has a meeting up here tomorrow morning, so we decided to extend the visit. Hooray! It has been so wonderful to have fun up here, but I think it'll be nice to wrap up preparations for Christmas and get back into a routine before Christmas! (Only 15 days away!)
We are extremely excited about going to see Andrew Peterson tomorrow night in concert with a bunch of friends, and this week promises fun and festivities for the season. It's difficult to get into the Christmas spirit with 80 degree weather, but I think these parties will be just the ticket!
Anyway, it's high time I get busy folding up some laundry and getting us ready to head home... but when I realized that it had been almost two weeks since I'd last blogged, I figured I'd do a quick update!
More to come!