Batter up!

The batting coaches give the batter some last minute instruction...

She lines up for the swing...

It's a foul ball...

Try number 2... a home run!

And the crowd goes wild!

Did you know toes were a delicacy?

Yes, I know, I'm the cutest duck you've ever seen.

Oh look, it's  a family of very cute ducks!

Duck kisses are a pure delight.

I love my duckies!

And now, an Ainsley funny...

Last night, as she was wearing her duck towel, she looked in the mirror and said, "I'm getting married, mom."  Wondering what her concept of marriage was, I asked what that meant.  "It means you have to be nice," she responded.  I smiled at that, thinking well, yes, I guess you do have to be nice.  "So who are you going to marry?" I said, again wondering about her concept of marriage.  She gave me that, "I'm not quite following you" look, so I told her that I was married to daddy, so who was she going to marry?  She quickly replied with a big grin on her face, "I'm going to marry Grandpa!"  I guess we'll have to see what Grandma has to say about that.

We all have days like that, right?  When we're a little more "high maintenance."  We need our husbands to do more, love us more, we need our children to cooperate more, obey more, settle down more, etc.  Our children also have some more "high maintenance" days than others.  While Lorelei is wearing the high maintenance bib today, it's Ainsley that's really the high maintenance one.  She's really sick now.  The fever, cough, runny nose has digressed into a stomach bug as well.  YUCK!!  My poor little girl.  Pray she gets better very soon and that her little sister does not get any more sick than the runny nose she already has.  (And this is selfish, but pray for me, too.  I don't handle stomach issues well at all.  Plus, I need to stay well so I can take care of my little ones.)

Other than that, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed today.  The Easter cantata is over and that means I need to get to work on my next project for church.  Pastor has asked me to create a new church brochure.  I gave him an enthusiastic yes when he asked me, but now I'm not feeling so good about it.  He gave me a huge file full of church brochures he's picked up here and there and now I'm feeling very inadequate.  As I stated in my last post, I have taken on my church's publicity as my ministry.  I feel it is a way to use the talents God gave me and the degree I acquired for His glory.  I have a broadcast journalism degree and worked as a television news producer for five years before my children came along.  While I love staying at home with my children, and I know that's where God wants me, I would be lying if I said I didn't miss working from time to time.  So, I rejoice that God gives me these little ministry opportunities.  No, it is not really what I was trained to do, but I do enjoy it and feel it is a way I can minister.  That all being said, a brochure is not something I have ever undertaken.  So pray for me, as I have also volunteered to do all the research necessary to find the best and cheapest printer.   The nerd in me got the best of me, as I love to research, but what was I thinking????  God is going to get all the glory for this project when it is finally completed, because I am certainly not up to the job.

I saw this on someone else's site and had to take the quiz.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofintelligencedoyouhavequiz/

This was my result...

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

I know, all of you are saying, of course that's the kind of intelligence you have...  But it was fun to take anyway.  Take the quiz and let me know what kind of intelligence you have.

October 4, 2006...

Six very well-fed months later...

I can't believe my baby is six months old today!  Is it possible that I've been holding her in my arms for six whole months??  I am praising God today for my beautiful, healthy baby girl.

We started a tradition with Ainsley, taking her to the park and letting her swing on the swings for the first time when she hit six months.  I wanted to do the same with Lorelei.  I knew it was going to rain today, so we headed out to the park yesterday.

Just look at those cheeks!

Lorelei at six months (with Ainsley's hand)        Ainsley at six months. 

Here is Ainsley again at six months.   Here's Lorelei on the same slide 2 1/2    years later.

These cracked me up because you can see their little personalities. 

Ainsley: "I love the slide!  Please, please, please let me do it again and again and again.  Just let me go.  I'll be fine."

Lorelei:  "Get me off this thing.  I don't like it, not one little bit.  Mommy, please don't make me ever do this again."

At least she liked the swing, right?

Any day that starts with a frantic call to the pediatrician is not going to be a good day.  That's how my day started.  Sweet baby Lorelei did a flip off the changing table.  I was standing right there when it happened.  Well, actually I was leaning over.  Our changing table has drawers underneath it and that is where Lorelei's clothes are.  As I do every morning, I laid her on the table and then leaned down to grab some clothes for her.  I even keep my hand on her belly when I do it, but today, she rolled, I didn't have the leverage to stop her and my baby ended up on the floor, worse she knocked her head on the corner of the open drawer.  Thankfully she cried immediately, which I knew was a good sign, but she was hysterical, and so was I.  My poor, poor baby.  Ainsley never fell off anything when she was that little and to this day (thank the Lord) has never done any serious damage to herself.  (The black eye from a few weeks ago was probably her worst injury.)  So, I was a little lost as to what to do.  I was visibly shaking when I called the doctor; however, Lorelei had already calmed down.  They told me I could come in if I wanted her checked, but since she cried immediately and seemed ok, she was probably fine.  I should just call back if she seemed lethargic or otherwise "strange."  Now, hours later, she seems fine, besides the lovely bruise and scratch on her forehead and down her face.  Meanwhile, I feel like the worst mother in the whole wide world. 

While no one else has been injured, the day has not gone that much better, I tripped up the stairs and really hurt my knee, I spilled cookie ingredients on the floor, burned some cookies, spilled liquid fabric softener all over, had mud tracked through my house by a 3 year old in desperate need of the bathroom, I have also been spit up on and pooped on today.

Someone should take my motherhood privileges away before I seriously injure someone or burn the house down.

Purple, I need to go back and read your poem from yesterday...

It's been one of THOSE days...

  What kind of Mom Am I??

 The kind who lets her daughter play in big giant mud puddles.

(Yes, unfortunately, that is our backyard.)

The kind who smiles, but inwardly cries at each milestone.

(Yes, that's my baby, my little, little baby sitting up all by herself.  Why do they have to grow so fast?)

The kind who keeps a little friend overnight, dresses little friend and daughter alike and brings them to a children's museum to see people do double-takes when the look at them and then me. 

(I heard some very funny comments from people.  I kept having to tell them that the red-head was not mine.  It must have been the clothes, they don't look alike, I don't think.)

The kind who buys her daughters matching Easter dresses.

(If you would have told me even last year that I would be doing that, I would have laughed at you, but aren't those the cutest little dresses?)

The kind who doesn't kill her husband when her husband does this.

(Ainsley thought this was great fun, of course.  I'm never letting him get his hands on Lorelei.)

What kind of mom are you??