Spiritual applications by Carly

Today Carly and I were looking at this picture:


I asked Carly who she thought was in the picture, and she immediately identified Jesus.
I asked her who Jesus was talking to, and she pointed to the man under the rag tent.
I explained that the man was sick and that Jesus was going to make him feel better.
I asked Carly how she thought Jesus was going to make the man feel better.

Carly thought for a second, and then said confidently that Jesus was going to put the man to bed and turn on the wind (humidifier).

Delight

Carly got a big treat today. Mommy let her dump out the cumbs and remnants at the bottom of the animal cookie bag, and lick them all up!

Can you imagine how exciting that is??

Piggy jammies and the offending little piggies

At bedtime, mommy let Carly pick out her own pajamas. Carly had a very specific request: her piggy jammies. Unfortunately she outgrew her piggy jammies last year. But Carly insisted, and mommy dug them out.

Once Carly got them on, she discovered that the piggy jammies hurt her toes. Mommy had a great idea that she had heard from her veteran mommy friends. So she got out a pair of scizzors, and did some jammie surgery.

Carly was devastated!

She kept screaming and crying that she wanted her jammies all fixed. Mommy kept explaining that the piggy jammies were now permanently toe-less. Carly decided in a fit that the only solution was to take the offending toe-less jammies off. Now! Mommy probably wasn't very helpful with all the picture taking of the melt down in progress. The camera went away at this point.

Once the jammies were off, and thrown in the trash, Carly and mommy started from square one picking out new jammies. But at the mention of new jammies, Carly broke down again, deciding that she really did want the piggy jammies. No others would do.

Piggy jammies came out of the trash and back onto her little body. The moment they were all the way on, she looked down and remembered their utter toe-less-ness, and the tantrum ensued once more. Mommy offered to throw them away again, but Carly insisted instead that we needed bandaids, and lots of them. She cried, "Mommy, you fix them? You put on bandaids?" over and over and over again. But me writing this sentence doesn't convey the absolute pathetic tone with which she just sobbed this plea. Mommy assured her that bandaids would not fix the scizzor inflicted wounds. She reminded the hysterical toddler that the toes of the jammies were hurting her own little piggies.

Carly melted into a sobbing heap on the floor. "I don't want to see my toes!" she sobbed.

Solution? Carly went to bed wearing toe-less, 2-size-too-small, piggy jammies with SOCKS over the offending holes.

This had to be one of the most hysterical exchanges I have had to date with my child. It was really hard to be comforting or compassionate to my exhausted baby because I was just laughing way too hard.

That said, I am NOT looking forward to bedtime tomorrow. Those jammies are going to make a quick exit in the morning.

Madness of March

That's right, it's that time again.

The time of year when husbands face off against wives.
When those who could care less about basketball actually check the score.
When non-sport-fans vaguely recognize names like 'Marquette' and 'Butler' from last year, though they don't even have a clue where in the country the campus is located.

It's time for March Madness!

The tradition of competition in our home dates back to that first March of 2004, when Marshall and I were just engaged. Marshall's roommates had a competition, and all who entered their abode were invited to fill out a bracket and tape it to the wall by the front door. Score was kept meticulously by Russ. Rules were interpreted and enforced by Dan. Marsh carefully highlighted winning and losing picks using the trusty green and pink highlighters. Ryan was good enough to play along (I think Maranda did too?).

I spent an hour or so one evening procrastinating homework in order to fill out a bracket. I even researched each match-up to see the strengths versus weaknesses of the opposing teams. I had no clue what a seed was, no idea who was in which conference, and didn't recognize any of the school's names. In fact, I hadn't really been to many college basketball games. But I was a good fiance, and played along to pacify my future husband.

I knew I would lose. I didn't mind that I would lose. I made jokes about how badly I would lose.


I won.

The whole competition.


Yes, and so began the ruthless competition in our home.
2004 - Me
2005 - Me
2006 - Marshall
2007 - Me
2008 - Marshall
2009 - Marshall

2010 - ?
Disclaimer: I didn't win the whole competition each of those years- I was just keeping track between myself and Marshall.

And so here we are, at another year. My bracket is filled out. No longer is it hanging on a wall in VP. We have now all dispersed and need fancier technology to compare scores. Plus it would kinda be awkward if we were still living in VP. So we have an ESPN group where we can all gather and talk trash.

It is the same cast though, plus a few additions from over the years. This year is the biggest group yet!

Would you care to join us? It is always fun to add new blood, and we need more non-sports-fans so that those who pick based on uniform color or cuteness of mascot will not feel left behind. You can join by visiting the "Andrews and Friends" ESPN group. You'll have to create a quick account using your email, and then you can make your picks using whatever strategy you'd like. You have until tip-off Thursday morning to get your bracket submitted. If you want to receive Marshall's round by round analysis of our competition, also get us your email address. You can email me, or leave it in a comment.

I look forward to beating you all!!

Two peas

Marshall and Carly are like this (if you were sitting here in my living room, you would see that I was crossing my fingers). They are that tight.

Carly loves her daddy. They are so much alike. I think it is sometimes hard to see your own personality's effect on your child, but I can see Marshall written all over her. The way he interacts with her has really shaped who she is. She is goofy, and carefree, attention seeking, sharp, and kind of a rough and tumble kind of girl. I bet she gets her attitude and bossiness from me. But that's beside the point. She probably also gets her active imagination from me. Also besides the point.

Carly and Marshall are both kinda neurotic. Marshall has always had a touch of OCD. He is generally disorganized (at least by my standards), but there is an apparent method to his madness. He is very specific about where his mess goes. He also has funny little habits, like putting the TV on a certain channel and volume every night before bed. Or lining things up a certain order. Or eating candy or cereal by color. Or eating his hamburger in a circle, every time.

Carly is the same. She loves to organize her alphabet letters by color and letter and in a straight line. If in the process she runs out of fridge, she has a melt down. She lines up her blocks down the hallway, and if I put one out of line, it is the end of the world. Her blankets have to be arranged on her bed in a specific order at bedtime. She has to be holding a certain stuffed animal during a certain movie. She has very specific ideas of where things go, and will tell me if its wrong.

Probably the biggest way Marshall has rubbed off on Carly is they way they rough house. Carly has been raised with daddy tossing her around and smashing her on the floor. She can't get enough. Shrieks and squeals and laughter are the background noise in our home when daddy is home, along with daddy's explosion sound effects. One of their favorite games when Carly was just starting to walk was "Super Bully." This is a game where Marshall would wag his fingers in his ears, while crouching down, and chanting "super bully! super bully!" And then Carly would scream and tackle him. Hours. On. End. And Marshall never misses a chance to practice his wresting moves on her, or piledrive her into the couch.

Now that Carly is verbal and so good at telling us exactly what she wants, conversations about rough housing are some of my greatest entertainment. Tonight before Marshall left for work she was asking him, "You pick me up and hang me upside down?" And "You pick me up and throw me on the bed?" Of course Marshall happily obliged.

And once he had left, it was apparent just how much this is all a reflection of Marshall, and how little of it has anything to do with me. She brought me a chip clip and said, "Here. You chase me and pinch me with this clip?"

Me? Not going to chase my toddler and pinch her. We put away the clip and she helped me make dinner.
Marshall? Totally would have.

And I love that that's their thing. That Marshall is able to shape her and give her qualities that I totally would not. I love watching those two become best friends.

8 months

Wes turned 8 months old on the 8th.

We don't see the pediatrician again until his 9 month appointment, so no stats this month. However, we did take him in to the doctor a week and a half ago to check for RSV, and at that time he was 18 lbs!! What a big guy!

- Wes is now crawling! He started 2 weeks ago, and is getting really good at being mobile. He follows me around the house like a puppy. If I walk into another room, I can hear his little pug-like grunting as he hurries to follow me down the hallway. One downside though...he now finds new and inventive ways to bonk his face on things. So the era of bruising begins.



- Wes clicks constantly. He is very talented at this. I don't know how he gets such a clear sound. Maybe it has something to do with not having any teeth, so he can click his tongue really far forward in his mouth. You can tell I have sat around trying to replicate. I have actually spent a lot of time trying to figure out his secret.

- Wes was starting to "mamama" for a while. For a couple days he was mama-ing more than dada. But then Marshall got wind of the new development, worked his voodoo, and once again we are a "dada" only home.

- Wes likes Carly. At least for now. But he really puts up with all of her abuse very well. We had our first instance of Carly trying to carry Wes this month. She just picked him up under his armpits and lugged him across the living room. Freaked. Me. Out. I'm sure there is more of that to come.

- Wes still sleeps well. He can now just be put down in his crib with a blanket, and knows what to do. I'm really lucky here.

- He is still eating more and more babyfood purees. He is learning he can let me know he is done by spitting it back at me. So much fun. Might be time to start baby signing. Less messy.

- Wes got a tooth!! Just one so far, on the bottom left. But the next door neighbor is bulging, so I'm sure it will be here in the next week or two. He cut his tooth last Saturday. He was not very willing to play along with mom trying to get a picture. Luckily, I'm bigger and stronger.

- Wes is really, really good natured. Kiernan and I have a theory that he got all his madness out in his first 2 months of life. He is such a sweet, laid back kid. Especially compared with the grumpy little ball of screaming that he started as. Thank goodness.

Fair weather

Carly has lately begun to understand the concept of "friends." Actually, I believe she has understood about friends for a while. I guess what has really happened is that Carly is becoming a master manipulator.

"You're my Best Friend" is a common accolade in our home when the present adult is giving our little angel what she wants. I think this phrase has replaced "I love you" to express her approval of whatever it is we are allowing her to do.

I read a book with her, I'm her best friend.

I give her chocolate, I'm her best friend.

I turn on 'Little Einsteins,' I'm her best friend.

I play 'ponies' with her, I'm her best friend.

She is fairly easy to please.

The other time we hear that we are her 'Best Friend' is when it is whined as a plea to avoid doing something. Normally this is when she is being put in time out, or in bed. When told to do something that she does not want to do, she will yell "but your my best friend!" As if best friends would certainly never send one another to the time out spot.

Ultimately, her pleading does not work. She is still sent to bed at the normal time, regardless of friend status for the evening. This leads to her 3rd use of 'best friend':

The "You are NOT my best friend!"

This is the threat. We hear it a lot. We go from best friends, to not, to back again many times in a day. Once in a while she can hold a grudge and pick one parent as a best friend and disown the other for a while. Usually at bedtimes when Marshall is at work. She will tell me that "you are NOT my best friend! Daddy is my best friend now!"

I know she uses this to try to manipulate my conscience to give in to her wishes. I know she really believes there are power in these words. I think that the decision to offer and withdraw friendliness is the definition of fair weather friending. And so it is our duty, as parents, to not encourage it, as cute as it is sometimes. I mean, if we reward this attempt at manipulation, will she forever scheme and connive and use other people's friendships to get what she wants?

So here I am, stuck balancing friend and parent. About 10 years earlier than I anticipated this becoming an issue. :::sigh:::

Only the worst Bachelor finale ever

I can't believe Jake chose Vienna!! :::::whiiiines and moans:::::

Anyway, please enjoy the talents of this lovely lady.

I will link 2 videos from her blog, where she does impressions of the top two. Wish I could embed the video, but I don't think she allows that. Either that, or I just can't figure it out without the video offering directly to let me embed at the end.

Vienna This is SPOT ON! I saw this 2 weeks ago, and I gotta say it made watching her on TV even harder.

Tenley

I hope this brightens your day after such a horrid evening!