A different version of "Jesus Loves Me"

Today Elizabeth decided to change the words to her favorite song (the one she sings so loudly during church services that people from all around the church turn and look and then smile as if to say, "How cute."). Shane got back from Sonic with our cokes (We usually don't go to Sonic every day, but since Granbarry was treating...), and Elizabeth started singing the tune to "Jesus loves me." However, we only THOUGHT she was singing "Jesus loves me" because instead of saying, "Jesus loves ME," she ended with "Jesus loves MOMMY'S COKES."

I guess it's time for me to cut back on the caffeine?!!

Living this crazy life

This week has been CRAZY.

Elizabeth and I went to Houston this weekend for two birthday celebrations--my sister's and dad's on one night and my niece Shaelyn's on another. Friday, E and I made it to Houston in time to visit my mom at her school. She's beginning her second year at public school and last year since I taught on Friday, I was never able to get away. This semester, though, Friday is my day home with Elizabeth so we got to leave early and make it to her school in time to get the tour, meet the other teachers, and see her classroom. It's so cute how all those first-graders just doted on Elizabeth. They seem to like feeling "big" around somebody. Maybe that's why so many kids that age love younger kids. It's cute.

After that, I took Elizabeth to the park in my parent's neighborhood (the same one I used to go to as a little girl). It's a great playground with really safe equipment and completely shaded by pine trees. Elizabeth loved it. Then we went to my parent's house and waited for the others to arrive.

We ended up having a really good weekend with all the family (sans Anthony and Shane--missed you guys!). Shane couldn't come because Shaelyn's birthday was on Sunday and well, Shane, is a little busy on that day. Elizabeth loves playing with her cousins: "Bettitt (Barrett), "Bookin' (Brooklyn), Jackson, and Shaelyn.

E and I headed back to Gatesville on Sunday after the party. She slept most of the way (whew!) and was quite disappointed (and a little distraught) when we got home and Daddy was not here. He had left for Abilene earlier in the day for ACU's Lectureship. So, it was me and Elizabeth until Wednesday when he got back home. Only, it wasn't that simple. Elizabeth ended up getting a "fever virus" on Monday evening and was running a fever of 103. She and I were up most of the night on Monday, and since she couldn't go to the babysitter's on Tuesday, I cancelled my classes and stayed home with her. This was the first time I had to cancel my classes, but it's nice to have a flexible job so that I can do so. Then on Wednesday, I got sick with a headache and pain in my left side, which has lasted through today. I'm going to the doctor next week for this, so we'll see what's going on there. I hope I get to feeling better soon because Shane was just given tickets to the Longhorns game this weekend and we're planning on going. We haven't been since we were dating (when he had season tickets) and are excited to see Colt McCoy live in action. Granbarry is going to hang with our girl. Granna left this week for Russia and will be gone for two months. Elizabeth isn't going to understand why her Granna isn't there when we get to their house. Earlier this week, she said, "I go to 'Gana's' house," and I told her, "Granna is leaving for Russia and will be gone for two months. We're going to miss her, aren't we?" She responded, "She needs to take me with her!" And I said, "But Mommy and Daddy will miss you if you are gone for two months. That's a long time to be away." She wasn't sure what to say. At least it was a dilemma for her and she didn't just say, "I go with her" (Because we know how much she LOVES her Granna!).

Tagged

I've been tagged by Chesley for a different kind of Q&A: "The Game of Tag about your MAN"

1. Who is your man? Shane Peyton Alexander
2. How long have you been together? 6 years, 5 of them married (We were engaged in less than 6 months! That’s another story)
3. How long dated? 10 ½ months
4. How old is your man? 30
5. Who eats more? Shane eats a lot, but he doesn’t snack at all; whereas I’ll eat my meal and then have snacks all day (but I’m also pregnant, so that’s my excuse now).
6. Who said "I love you" first?He did. We were sitting on the couch about to go visit some of his family for the first time and he said it. I didn’t say it back on the time (He still reminds me of that!), but I said it in the next few days.
7. Who is taller? Shane (not Cody!--He's my cousin!) is 6'3, I'm 5'4
8. Who sings better? Shane, hands down. I like to sing, and I try really hard, but I can’t carry a tune. I sing off-key. And I have bad hearing. All of which work against me!
9. Who is smarter? Hmm. I would say that Shane is. His is natural whereas mine comes from discipline and hard work. I made better grades in school, but that doesn’t make people smarter.
10. Who's temper is worse? I think mine is. It’s that Irish blood in me.
11. Who does the laundry? ME!!! He doesn’t mind doing it, per se, but he waits and waits and waits until he runs out of boxers, which never happens when you have a two-year-old and have to do it every week! Ha!
12. Who takes out the garbage? Shane
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I sleep on whatever side is closest to the bathroom. Even when I’m not pregnant, I have to go to the bathroom all night because I drink so much water late in the evening. Shouldn’t I have learned by now?
14. Who pays the bills? Our bank—automatic withdrawals! I right the checks and keep track of the money. We’ve gone to a cash envelope system, and since I usually spend the money, I keep track of it. I think he may take over this job at the end of the year, though.
15. Who is better with the computer? We’re both pretty good. Since I teach web design, graphic design, visual design, and writing on the computer, I’ve stayed up with it. Shane loves to learn it, too, though. He created the logo for our new church, helped design the brochure (with the rest of us), and wants me to teach him Dreamweaver web program. He is also much more of a computer gamer than me.
16. Who mows the lawn? Always Shane…at least when we had a lawn (right now we’re living in a townhome), and when it wasn’t raining all summer (like it did this summer)! I had my fill of mowing growing up when I always mowed our lawn, which was really, really large.
17. Who cooks dinner? Me, especially in this temporary place where the oven is way off and the burners are tilted so nothing cooks evenly. Shane does all the grilling, however…only after I’ve already prepared it. We both like it, though.
18. Who drives when you are together? Usually him, unless we’re driving into town on a Sunday morning and he has to get ready for his sermon, or if I’m just wanting to drive. I’m a much faster driver, and sometimes I just want to get there in a reasonable amount of time!
19. Who pays when you go out? Me, now that I have all the cash!
20. Who is most stubborn? We are both really stubborn (so is our daughter!), but he’s more likely to give in.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Neither of us like to admit it when we’re wrong, and most likely we still hold to our opinion in the end, but we do tend to move on and forget and forgive.
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Shane’s parents since they live the closest and both of my parents work (and one of them works in DC!).
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first. I was NOT going to kiss him first!
24. Who asked who out? Long, fun story, but he asked me out first. We went to dinner at Cotton Patch Café in Abilene and then to see Planet of the Apes at the movie theater.
25. Who proposed? Are you kidding me? I’m not Monica on Friends (even though I thought her proposal was very romantic). Shane proposed to me in Albany, Texas (where the great steakhouse is) in a white gazebo on He is sthe courthouse lawn.
26. Who is more sensitive? We both are.
27. Who has more friends? We have about the same number.
28. Who has more siblings? Me. I have 3 siblings and 3 sibling-in-laws; he has two siblings and 1 sibling-in-law.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Odd question. I really think we make decisions equally, although he may have a different answer!
30. What do you love most about your husband? He loves God, loves me, and loves Elizabeth, all unconditionally. What more could I ask for?

I want to tag Shane, but his answers to almost every question would be the exact same thing. But I’m tagging him anyway to see what he answers to certain questions! I guess you'll have to change everything to "WOMAN" rather than "MAN"!

I also tag:
Kim
Kellee
Anita

Shopping for Dolls

Yesterday I went to KB Toys to get birthday presents for two of my nieces. My niece Eleanor (Shane's brother Brent's daughter) is turning one this month, and I wanted to get her a doll for her birthday. I began looking at all the dolls in hopes of finding one that resembled her a little bit. What I found was VERY disappointing, and I am going to write the toy companies to make them aware of this situation.

Eleanor is an adorable little girl whose mom is Asian-American (born in Taiwan and migrated when she was five) and whose dad is well, Shane's brother, white. So, Eleanor's skin is a little darker than Elizabeth's and her eyes are a beautiful dark shade of brown. She has a beautiful complexion, which we're all jealous of. So I began looking at all the doll choices and only found two: an extensive collection of white dolls, all of which had blue eyes, or a few African-American dolls, neither of which fit my purposes.

First of all, I could NOT believe that there were not any white dolls that did not contain blue eyes (how's that for all those double negatives?). I, for one, have brown eyes and most all my immediate family has brown eyes. Now that I am married into the "Family of Blue Eyes (literally EVERYBODY has blue eyes, including my own daughter), I'd never noticed that all of the white dolls in stores have blue eyes. Has anyone else noticed this? Where are the green eyes, hazel eyes, black eyes, grey eyes, and all the other beautiful colors we have? They make it seem as if every little girl who doesn't have blue eyes should wish she did have blue eyes. Because aren't the dolls supposed to be the most beautiful representation of humankind and they all have blue eyes?!! Duh!!

Second, I find it troubling that the only two choices for dolls are white or African-American. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad there are at least TWO choices when there used to be only one. But what about all those other people who do NOT have blue eyes and are NOT dark-skinned? What kinds of dolls can little girls like Eleanor find to love and cuddle? What about my next child who may have brown eyes? There aren't many choices for children (even though we claim to be such a diverse society).

Distraught, I left the aisle full of hundreds of different types of dolls (all white with blue eyes and a few African-American ones, of course) and wondered what I was going to do. Every little girl needs a doll! So I kept walking around and finally saw one more doll. I decided to get this one for Eleanor, even though it's not an Asian baby and even though it doesn't have dark eyes like Eleanor, and even though the skin is darker than her skin. The baby I found is actually a Hispanic baby doll. The only way I could tell was because the entire box is written in Spanish. So, I hope that this baby doll will suffice until I find another one worthy of Eleanor's beauty.

Sporadic posts

So, I haven't been posting very much lately. Unlike last year, it isn't because the school year has started at Baylor. This time, it's because I'm having a baby! Yep! I am actually quite far along (10 weeks already) and have been feeling pretty awful almost the whole time. So that's my excuse for so few posts lately. As soon as I'm out of this first trimester, I hope that I'll feel better and post more often.

We are really excited about this one (and it also doesn't hurt any that this one is going much quicker than the first one--yea!!). The due date is April 8, right in the midst of tax season for many of my in-laws (sorry, guys!), but good timing for me so I can be home all summer with the little one. Elizabeth is especially excited. Yesterday she came up to me and said, "Mommy, I want the baby to come out and play with me." She hugs the baby (my tummy) every night before she goes to bed, and she prays for him/her, too. She talks to my tummy and says, "Hi, baby. I'm your big sister, and I love you." She's going to be a wonderful big sister. She sure is sweet.

We've already seen the baby on the ultrasound and everything looks good. We are appreciative of that. Keep me and the baby in your prayers! We'll keep you posted with the developments!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fun Labor Day weekend. Thursday night, Shane's parents came up and stayed with Elizabeth on Friday and Friday night. I had to go in for a faculty meeting (Friday is my day with Elizabeth), and then that night we had a dinner for the faculty in my department and so Shane and I went to that. We had a good time and almost went to the movies afterwards to take advantage of our time, but we wouldn't have gotten home until well after 1 p.m., and I can't make those late nights anymore now that I get up by 6 a.m. every day.

Saturday, we drove to Temple for a family reunion with my dad's side of the family. We had a great time seeing everyone and visiting with people. I did find out that it's a small world because my cousing Lyndsay is dating a guy (Jeremy Sprott--any of you remember him?!) who attended ACU with me my freshman year. But I got to see them, so that was neat.

The kids had a good time playing around. The dessert table was right at their level, so Elizabeth kept sneaking chocolate and cookies and other goodies. Ha! They also had a good time playing in the cemetery out behind the church. Elizabeth even saw some pretty flowers and picked them up and took off running. My sister Kim got a really funny picture of it, and the memory makes me giggle.

After that, we came back home with my parents and my brother Kurt's kids. They spent the night with us and Elizabeth enjoyed hanging out with Nana and Teddy and Jackson and Shaelyn. She couldn't stop telling Teddy, "Teddy, look at my BIG GIRL PANTIES!" over and over and over. I also discovered that she's a little sensitive. Shaelyn was going to sleep in her room with her and then at the last minute she wanted to sleep in Nana's room. So, we moved the pallet to the other room and Elizabeth couldn't stop crying. I went up to check on her because I could tell she was so distraught and I asked her what the matter was and she said, "I want Shaelyn to sleep in my room." It really hurt her feelings that Shaelyn didn't want to sleep with her. I told her that she was probably scared and wanted Nana, but it didn't seem to help. Poor girl!

It sure is interesting getting 3 kids who are 2 and under ready for church on Sunday. I always get Elizabeth ready by myself because Shane goes up to the building really early, but it's very different with 3. Mom and I barely made it in time (but Teddy was able to make 2 coffee runs in the meanwhile!!). Ha!

Elizabeth's new thing is to break out into song right now. I mentioned that she loves to sing, but this has gone to even new levels lately. Her favorite song right now is "Jesus loves me." What's interesting is that when she sings it, she SCREAMS the words. She was even so loud in church on Sunday that our song leader ended up changing the closing song to "Jesus loves me" because "out of the mouths of babes" and "we should all think such pure, sweet thoughts as children." Too funny. I think Elizabeth is going to be a HUGE asset to us with church planting. She has no qualms about talking about Jesus...or shouting out songs as we walk around the neighborhood. :)