Langston's take on the "new sister party"

Our little photographer took a documentary-style series of what we called his "new sister party." He actually took a bunch more, but I don't think I'll post people's rear ends as they clean or chew with mouths open. :) And the pic of B. and me from the 8 mth. belly post is L's, too. I think the only person cut out of the big group shot is Lorette, Amir's mom. Both of Amir's sisters, Elisha & Briana are in it. Amir & Byron, Nichole, our "international neighbor," & the Grandparents Key also make an appearance. Barclay did the video for the event...I guess L. was the photographer. ;)

Celebration Time!

Barclay's wonderful department here at WIU held a celebration in honor of our baby girl this past weekend. Donna & DeWayne were up from Alabama for the weekend, so they were also in attendance. We had a grand time hanging out. One thing that he said from the first time he visited here (and I agreed the first time I hung out last spring) is that his dept. has some great folks. His former chair, and Southern historian, Larry, loves to joke with us about being Southern. His latest was that we "needed" a blue tick hound in celebration of our new offspring. What Southern home is complete without one of these? (He also asked Barclay if he was bringing "a can of fatback" for the can food drive. Nice.) He's pretty funny. The new chair, Ginny B., as she is called (there are 3-4 Jen or Ginnys in the dept.) is great with kids. She gave L. some great books as "big brother" gifts. And she supplies the toys-to-play-with at these events. Ginny G., or "Grandma Ginny," as she is known to us, is a grandma, and therefore knows how to interact with even a tired or hungry toddler. There are so many more...and I know I'll forget someone, so I'll stop there and say that we are extremely thankful for all those people and for our gifts (several hundred dollars in Target gift cards + many "big brother" gifts). The party was great. Also, I want to give a "shout out" to Nichole and the Oden-Shabazz family , who attended as friends. Thanks for celebrating our new one. Many other friends were invited, but thanks to the flu, were not able to make it.

Eight months / 32 weeks

We are in the final stages of "baby within womb" here! I can't believe it...I also can't focus very well bc of many wakings and L. wetting the bed and 6 something this morning...ah, parenthood. Nevertheless, we venture into the land of more-than-one-child. Prayers are welcome. Here are various belly shots to celebrate. I have to post one with the shirt up bc I've never seen anyone's belly button stick out as far as mine. Sometimes I can see the baby wiggling & pulling my bb back in! Strange, strange pregnant things. (I really should write, "An Ode to Wetting Oneself" in honor of this pregnancy.) Oh, and our own little photographer took the pic of Barclay and me at our baby shower...more pix to come!

The King of the ABCs

Langston Hadley loves to write...and draw...and learn. A few days ago, we "practiced" all our letters. He can do most of them without watching me or needing a guiding hand, but some of them (K, lower case E,...) need some work. He actually gets upset if his letters do not look "right" to him, so I hoped that a little practice might help him out. He seems to feel more confident. :) Here's one of the practice pages...and the king.

ideas for baby girl's room

So, Langston has a "gator" room (University of Florida), and it's the cutest room in the house. The time has come to ponder small girl's room. I am thinking birds & flowers in various shades of pink & greens. I want something bright, fun, and funky. Here are some fabric samples and an idea of birdies from Pottery Barn Kids/Baby. And, mom, the brightest fabric is my fav.

Mommy's helper

Langston is such a helper now that he's a "big boy." He wants to take out his trash, clean the bathroom (with the fizzy & stinky, as he calls the vinegar & baking soda combo), and do other chores...for his quarter. If he helps out with these & maybe putting away some toys and laundry, he gets an "allowance" of sorts. It's not weekly, but just about. He helps and then asks for his payment. I know someday this will be more meaningful (and cost me more than a $.25), but he's learning already. One pic is of him taking out his trash, on a day that he dressed himself completely. Underpants and pants were on backwards, shoes on the wrong feet, and that pj top is one of the only long-sleeved ones that he can reach. ;) He was beaming. And no, we didn't go anywhere in public that day, grandmas.
The other pic is of my little cross-dresser. He loves to play in make-up when I put mine on. Barclay is opposed to all kinds of make-up, in general, and Langston would pull out the whole set of clown paint daily, if he had his way. :) He thinks of all make-up as "dress up" or "Halloween," hence the silly face.

friends & neighbors

I thought I would post a pic of my sweet neighbor, Tanya, and wish her luck. She and hubby, Lynn, are moving this week. We will miss them so much! Our due dates are about a week apart and we had been so excited to have these babies together.:( I hope we are able to keep in touch when the babies begin to take up all our time!
New moms need each other...even if one of us has done it before. Oh, this pic was taken at her baby shower, which was really cute. Langston enjoyed himself *and his cake* very much. He even "won" a bear for knowing all the nursery rhymes in a game. He sleeps with "Teddy" (original) nightly now. And he comments on how much he'll miss Tanya...b/c he loves her.
The other pic is of a pal, Claire, who's mommy, Julie, is an A+ sitter. Langston had so much fun at her house a few days ago that he did NOT want to leave...to eat lunch. :) Yea, food is really important to the almost 8 month pregnant person, not the 3-yr.-old in a space helmet and moon shoes. We are thankful to have so many Macomb friends already.

Toxic cleaning

I am a crazy, concerned mom. I confess it. For the past few years I have been reading more about chemicals (in foods, cleaning products, our air) and I now am convinced that so much of our ailments, sleeplessness, or lots of other body issues come from all this pollution that we put into our homes and bodies. Pollution sometimes is caused by cleaning products. Hence, I have attempted to cut out all chemical cleaning products. One of the best books I read on the topic is Green This!: Greening Your Cleaning By Deirdre Imus. The book gives many examples of body burden studies and other forms of research which proves how much of the junk our bodies absorb. A really scarey one (that made me give up all teflon) was a study done in 2001 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that found "PFCs-a likely human carcinogen-in the blood of the vast majority of the human population." And here's the kicker...it was in "96 percent of the 598 children test," not to mention, "the umbilical-cord blood of newborns." (Imus, 102)
Speaking of cord-blood, that's what did it for me on chemical cleaners. The "Body Budern: The Pollution in Newborns," also done by EWG in July of 2005 noted some frightening things are in our babies at birth. Look for yourself. OH, and clorox? Yea, don't get me going! Same with ammonia. There are tons of studies that will scare your socks off. (And make you wonder why on earth we still use this stuff.) Imus drew from one study titled, "Chlorination, Chlorination By-Products, and Cancer: A Meta-Analysis," American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 8, No. 7, pp. 955-63. There are things out there showing chemicals linked to everything from childhood cancer to asthma, from autism to obesity. We really should think about what we are putting into our (and our children's) bodies.
So, what's a body to clean with, you ask? I am fond of Seventh Generation products to clean dishes and laundry with. I use distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, and Dr. Bronner's soaps daily. And I can't praise essential oils enough. (And you can mix these up...vinegar is an awesome fabric softener and it helps your towels absorb more water . And! try "bleaching" with peroxide. It'll work without compromising your fabric.). That's mostly it. It's amazing how much you'll save and how much better you'll feel when you switch to more healthy things. My list of things to clean with is not exhaustive. But I want to encourage all out there to give it a try. There are tons of books and sites on the web that will give you recipes and simply, organic cleaning ideas. Go forth and green thy home!
**the top pic my laundry pic (minus peroxide). next is L. with our "all purpose" stuff. next, the bathroom cleaners (which L. helps with). lastly, my "everything i own & use" pic. enjoy!

Athens, Georgia

Barclay and I took a (very) short trip to Athens over Christmas break. As we are with most SEC schools in fun college towns, we were suckers. We fell for the scene. We hiked around campus till my tummy muscles ached (which didn't take too much, considering), and had some friends, Alison & Fred, open their home to us, so the stay was free. As we do, we hung out way too much in ye ol' downtown bookshop. Our dough was spent on books and great food, but we had a blast. It was good to spend time with just the hubby and not have to put little L. to bed or get up 5 times during the night with him. (Grandmom and Grandad kept Langston. He only cried at night...probably from being tired as much as missing mommy.) Our "freedom" reminded me of that one whole year and nine months I once got to spend with my beloved (before my other beloved came along). Someday, we'll get to do "just us" things again. That's what retirement is for, right? Oh, and our pix consist of me snapping a sign that began with, "y'all" (I MISS the South!), our pose with "the tree who owns itself," Barclay on the field where the first college football game was played, and B. under "the arch." There's also one of us eating dinner on New Year's Eve at Farm 255, an organic, grow-their-own-food place that was too yummy.

12 whole hours!

Little L. officially slept for about 12 hours last night! 8:45ish to 8:30ish! Hooray! We had a long day of travel and a fun family night of basketball & movie, so he was pretty worn out. Plus, no nappie-poo for the guy. I'm going to try for the same thing today. I know that last night can't be repeated exactly...and it doesn't really need to be. He feel asleep (on Barclay) during the movie, so no bath, brushing teeth, or reading books,which isn't the way I would plan it, but...I'll take it. Barclay and I actually got to hang out for a few hours (which is unusual) and we had a great time. Only a few more months 'til those days are gone again! Hopefully, this sleeping thing with L. will give us a break (of 8 weeks or so) and inspire me to put baby girl in her crib more than I did with L-town.

He Sleeps....sort of.

Hi all. Here's an update on L's sleeping issue. Thanks for all the wisdom, btw. Last weekend, we had a gas leak in the oven (yikes), and I spent all afternoon finding someone to check it out, repair it, etc. I also had to run over to the OB's office to get my rh-negative-mom shot. (My dr. forgot to give it to me at my appt. and the nurse called to say that I had one hour to get it or else...blood work again. urg.) So, little Langston didn't get his nap that day. He went down at his usual (late), but slept for almost 12 hours! So, I have been weaning him away from naps. He has been sleeping better at night. I feel pretty draggy by nap time (thanks, 3rd trimester) and I'm not going to deprive him if he's super grumpy, but so far, he's doing well. (This also means *AHHH!*...when will I nap when baby girl gets here?) I guess we'll figure it out. Next comes pushing bedtime back. Keep the wisdom coming. I know we'll survive, but it's been a long and sleepy three years with this sweet guy.

What the Groundhog said...

Amir and Langston

Langston asked me why there weren't any pix of he and bf, Amir, so here they are. Amir belongs to Byron and Lorette Oden-Shabazz. They are good friends of our here in Macomb. We have kid trades often. ;)

Say a Little Prayer for Me...

Langston has joined us (we all pray) or lead prayer many times at the dinner table. He recently had a memorable prayer, though. It began as it does sometimes, "Dear God...[thanks for our family, friends, a few more thoughts]." Then came the funny part, "God, bless your heart. And I pay the money." Of course, at the familiar phrase, "bless your heart," I almost lost it, but when he followed it with, "I pay the money," I couldn't stifle the laughter anymore. Neither could Barclay. He said, "Amen." And we congratulated him on a job well done. We also explained that sometimes he said things that were so sweet, cute, or special, that we had to smile and laugh. He's a pretty sensitive guy, so I hope we didn't hurt any feelings. I would also like to add that this isn't the first time we have had this thoughtful praying. He does thank God for "helping the children, our house, milk," various foods before him, any friends with whom he has interacted that day, and specific toys.
During the month of November, we were really trying to get him to sleep "by self." This was our first real attempt in IL and to kick it off, I bought him a safety rail (that attaches to his bed), which he calls his "tent" (bc of the mesh fabric?). So the first few nights, his "tent" was awesome. He'd say that I could "go away" bc he had his "tent," he'd be fine. A few nights later, he changed his mind. We began the "monsters are in my room" thing. Urg. He isn't allowed to watch things with shooting, bad words, hitting, etc., so I haven't a clue where the "monster" thing came from.
Well, he and I had just finished reading through one of his New Testament story books. He had lots of questions about miracles, bringing people back from the dead, and that sort of thing. He did understand the basic principles of Jesus and prayer, though, and he enjoyed talking about that. I told him that he could talk to God anytime...happy, sad, thankful, scared, etc. So one night after I put him down and went back to my room, I heard on the monitor, "Hey Jesus...and God. I know you're magic. My mom got me a new Heffalump movie. It's got Pooh. She got it for my pooping. [A rental reward for going potty.] So, I know you're magic. You wanna' come watch it with me?" This prayer continued for a while. And he continued to pray like that, at night, for a while. Out of the mouths of babes...