Tuesday, December 18, 2007

A much-needed update

I am finished with school for the semester (yay!) and am finally taking some time out to update my blog. For those of you who don't know, we are now living in Waco! It seems like that's been a long time coming, but we are enjoying our new house and trying to find some time to open up all these boxes and put things away where they go. It is quite an ordeal (to say the least)! I don't know how some of you do it/did it right after having a baby. Wow--that's impressive! We are in a real convenient location and it only takes me 10 minutes to get to work. What a difference!

We have lived here for about a week and a half now and are slowly getting settled. I realized late last week that Christmas was fast approaching and only then did I get to begin my Christmas shopping, which is really late for me! But living in a city has made Christmas shopping much easier.

Shane and I have been preparing for our transition from Gatesville Church of Christ to The Grove Church--the church we are planting here in Waco. Shane's last Sunday preaching in Gatesville is the Sunday after Christmas (only two weeks left--wow!), and then we will shift our focus to the ministry here. We are sad about leaving the church and our friends there, and I'm mostly sad that Elizabeth will be leaving her little buddies (and that they won't have her around either). She and her friend Aydan are really close, and she's going to miss him a lot. We are really excited about the new possibilities here, though, and are looking forward to getting started on something we've been dreaming about and praying about for almost two years now. Keep us in your prayers!

Baby #2 is doing well, although he is measuring three weeks ahead of where he should be and might turn out to be bigger than Elizabeth. I'm not someone who wanted to wait until the baby came to find out what it is (since we don't necessarily have to anymore), and I have enjoyed calling him by his name. I'm not sure I've posted what his name is going to, so here it is: Peyton Poe Alexander. Peyton is Shane's middle name (and Elizabeth is my middle name), so our kids will each have our middle names as their first.

Elizabeth is doing well. She is now sleeping in a big girl bed and doing very well with it. I honestly thought it would be the most difficult feat for her (and for us!) since she had been sleeping in a crib for so long, is a major squirmer while she sleeps, and loves having walls surrounding her. But she has done quite nicely with the new bed. Only a couple of times have we had to be firm with her to stay in the bed. Now every morning I wake up to a little girl tugging on my sheets saying, "Momma, can I get out of my bed now?" :) Um, well, since you're in OUR room asking me this question, you already are out of your bed, but yes, you can get out now.

Here are some other Elizabeth notables:
1. The first morning Elizabeth's crib was set up in the nursery (Peyton's room), Shane found her jumping in the bed. He got her out and reprimanded her and she came running up to me (who did not know what had happened), stopped just short of my belly, and yelled, "I was jumping in your bed, Peyton!!!"

2. Elizabeth is still saying to me, "I want Peyton to COME OUT!" I do, too, honey. Just not yet. We still have a little over 3 months to go.

3. Elizabeth is now "daytime" potty trained, and let me say, "It is wonderful!" It's so nice not to have to change diapers and smell poopies. It took her a while to go poopy on the potty, but now she has the hang of it, lets us know, and makes it to the potty just in time. There is one downside to having a potty-trained child, though, and one that I never really considered: when she and I went Christmas shopping last Saturday, every store we were in (sometimes two or three times), she always had to go potty. And since you can't bring your unpaid merchandise into these restrooms, it really became quite a hassle. But not too bad, since most of the time, I had to go, too!!

4. Whenever Elizabeth meets a new person, the first thing they always say about her is, "That girl really talks a lot ." To which we say, "Yes, she is a very verbal girl." (Sidenote: I really like how much she talks because you always know what she's thinking, but it's the volume of her talk that is a bit disturbing because she only knows one level!) People also always make the assumption that she's much older than she is and when we tell her that she's two, they say, "Wow, she knows a lot of words and speaks very clearly for her age." To this I usually say, "She gets a lot of practice!" (To those of you who know Shane, she is his daughter in this way (a talker), and since I love listening to him, I love listening to her, too. Her daddy has had a bit more of an adjustment to her constant talking than I have."

5. Like I said earlier, Elizabeth loves to talk. The other day we were in Marshall's and she was singing her ABCs at the top of her lungs. Several people gave me those "knowing grins" that people give when they want you to control your child, but one nice woman came along and talked with Elizabeth a long time and was very nice to her--despite her loud singing.

6. Elizabeth says words that I didn't even know she knew: "breakable," "batteries,"Cinderella." These are the ones I can think of right now.

7. Elizabeth has this much-loved bear that Aunt Kellee and Uncle Anthony gave her while they were living in Chicago. Elizabeth named this bear "Cago" (the word "Chicago" is engraved on his chest), and today she was feeding him from her pretend high chair. I asked, "Cago, what are you eating?" And she said, "Momma, Cago doesn't talk. His mouth won't open."

8. Elizabeth's favorite TV shows are Dora the Explorer, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch, and Go Diego Go. She rarely watches The Wiggles or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse anymore. It's nice to learn about new shows!

9. Ever since Elizabeth was born, my dad has been on TV quite a bit and since we don't get to see him very often, we always like it when she can see him through the tube. We try to catch him on TV whenever we're home, and whenever he appears, Elizabeth runs up to the TV and waves at it, screaming, "Hi Teddy! Hi Teddy! That's Teddy!" I wonder what she thinks about seeing him this way. Is she impressed that Teddy is on the same TV that Dora comes on?!!

10. Elizabeth is really big on saying, "Remember when...." and then filling in the blank with one of her recent happenings. Her most common "Remember whens" involve going to the zoo, playing on the playground at the school, throwing up in the car on the way to Austin for Thanksgiving, living in the apartment, filling up her sticker charts, and hurting her knee. I find it really interesting that she has memories at this age, mainly because she won't remember these memories in a few years.

11. One day we all went to Fuddrucker's for lunch. We ordered the sliders (the new mini-hamburgers they have). Elizabeth ate one all by herself, and then there was one left over. That evening, I had an event with my department and Shane fed her that leftover hamburger for dinner. The next morning, I fixed her some oatmeal and when Shane came in the kitchen to see what we were doing, she yelled, "Daddy, I didn't have a hamburger to eat!" Was she excited about this fact, or did she want another hamburger?!!" Who knows?

Since the move I have not been able to find the device that downloads my pictures from my camera. When I do find it, I'll post some recent pictures. Hope all of you are doing well and that you're enjoying the holiday season. Take care!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Motivating factors

I have learned what works best to motivate my daughter to do well with potty training--a potty chart! We were doing so well this summer but with travel and different schedules, it has NOT gone well this fall, to say the least. We virtually stopped for several weeks. Nothing was working. We tried M&Ms and candy treats and letting her watch a special TV show. And nothing motivated her to try. So, I decided to try again with a potty chart.

You have to understand one thing. Elizabeth loves to be involved in whatever it is we are doing. She always says, "Me help!" Anytime I am cooking, she always wants to pull up a stool and help. When I'm doing laundry, same thing. When Shane makes cookies, same thing. She is a GREAT helper! Anyway, I printed out a Dora the Explorer potty chart and we went to work. She filled up that thing so quickly that within a week we got to take a trip to Wal-Mart and get a treat. She ended up choosing a Veggie Tales CD that only cost 5 bucks. What a deal! We started a new one this week and she even went #2 on the potty. She gets two stickers for that! We're still working on the poopies and hopefully she'll be fairly trained when we move to Waco next month!

Since it looks like my child is motivated by extrinsic prizes, we've now started another reward chart that includes brushing her teeth (which she HATES!), cleaning up her toys (which she isn't too good at yet), and helping out with chores (which she does well at). I can't believe she's become this way so early! At least it seems young to me. Kids are smart--do what your parents say or want and get rewarded with a prize.

Friday, November 09, 2007

The Bee Movie

One thing that Gatesville is unique for is that it has a drive-in movie theater. When I was pregnant with Elizabeth and when Elizabeth was a baby, Shane and I used to go to the drive-in pretty regularly. It only cost $5 for a carload, and you get to see a double-feature of current movies. We haven't ventured out to the drive-in since Elizabeth couldn't/wouldn't sleep through the whole thing, but when we saw that the Bee Movie was showing tonight, we couldn't resist.

We got hamburgers from Sonic and headed over to see the show. Elizabeth sat in her car seat the whole time, and we had a nice time. Since Elizabeth wasn't familiar with the characters, it took her a while to get into it and learn what was going on, but once she learned about Barry the Bee, she watched the whole thing and even chanted and cheered for the bees. She pretty much talked through the entire movie, and I can see why we haven't ventured into a real movie theater with her. In our car, she can scream and cheer and ask questions without raising too many eyebrows. So, the first movie she ever saw at a theater was the Bee Movie.

I do have to say that this movie was quite impressive. Jerry Seinfeld was one of the writers and the script was funny, clever, and nuanced. Shane and I both liked it a lot, and I'm sure it will be appealing to children everywhere. I hope it does well. If you or your kids are looking for a good flick, I recommend this one.

We didn't make it for the show after this one--The Seeker (I had never heard of it anyway). Elizabeth was getting restless, and so we decided to come home and put her to bed. All in all, it was a great night. We will definitely miss that place when we move to Waco. Hopefully, we can take the whole family to the theater when everyone's a bit older. That would be a lot of fun. If you live close to Gatesville or just want to go to the drive-in, keep Gatesville's in your mind. Have a nice weekend.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

"It's a .............."

Shane and I went to the doctor this morning and got to see our little baby movin' and shakin' around on the screen. Just like with Elizabeth, these people are always talking about how much this baby is moving around. I do wonder if there is ever a baby who DOESN'T move around?!!

Anyway...we saw two eyes, a heart, two feet, a kidney, a stomach, lungs, arms, legs, and, (dare I say it?), a penis!

Yes, this next one is a boy! No doubt about it. 100% sure.

I haven't been home yet so I couldn't scan in an image of the you-know-what (maybe I won't anyway to protect the little guy's privacy), but I did want to provide a visual to commemorate our baby being a boy. Since Elizabeth is a "Daddy's Girl," maybe this one will be a. . . Now is that such a bad thing?!!!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Pictures III--Halloween

In honor of how Elizabeth calls every insect she sees a "wadybug" (especially ants!), Elizabeth was a ladybug this year for Halloween. She looked so cute in her red and black. Once again this year we went to Baylor for their annual trick-or-treating in the residence halls. All the freshmen girls were dressed up in fun costumes and had a good time handing out candy. Elizabeth was a bit shy this year, which doesn't quite fit her, but has really enjoyed eating all these treats!

Here's our little munchkin with her bucket that she now likes to take with her anytime we leave the house.






















We especially liked the back of her costume.






















Here is Elizabeth walking down the decorated hall in the dorm.























Mommy and Elizabeth


















Daddy and Elizabeth


Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Wake up calls

Elizabeth is our wake-up call. I don't think I've had to set an alarm but a handful of times in the past few years--even when I have to get up at 6 a.m. to get ready for work! Now that we are living in a two-story apartment we have a monitor so that we can hear Elizabeth when she calls.

Anyway, on Sunday we wake up to these sounds through the monitor:

"Daddy! Come get me." (in a sing-song voice)
"Daddy!"
"Daddy!"
"Daddy!"
"Come get me!!!!!!!"

[LONG PAUSE]

"Shane! Shane! I neeeeeeed you!"

Shane and I looked at each other and started cracking up, even though it was 5:15 on Sunday morning (Daylight Savings Time meant nothing to our girl.). What's funny is that Elizabeth often hears me say, "Shane, I need you," and when I yell this across the apartment, he comes quickly to help. Since Elizabeth knew that Daddy comes for Mama when she calls him Shane, she figured she might as well try to call him in that same way.

Needless to say, it worked.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Pictures II

Here's another round of pics. These are all from August! Wow--that long ago!

Elizabeth loves her sweets! Here she is eating a cupcake at cousin Brooklyn's birthday. Yum-yum!




















All the kids took Shane's parents out to dinner for their 35th anniversary in August. We at at Jasper's, a restaurant in The Domain in Austin, and it was really, really good, and we had a great time. We went to eat at Amy's Ice Cream afterwards and that's when we told Shane's siblings that we were pregnant.
















Here we are laughing it up. Elizabeth loves tickle-tickle time!
















The Alexander Clan:
Barry and Karen (Mom and Dad)
Zach, Shane's brother, is on the far right end.
Brent and Josephine and their daughter Eleanor are the other ones in the picture. They, too, are expecting another baby. These two will be really close in age (less than a month apart, we think!).
















And here is our little family. We don't get to take family pictures very often, so I wanted to post one of the few that we had.

Pictures I

So I finally downloaded pictures off my camera. 287 to be exact, going back to August!. I figured I would post some of them here. Enjoy!

Here is Elizabeth playing around on one of the numerous cars located in the Waco Mall. Sporty! She was content to just go from car to car that I never even got the chance to put a coin in the slot!
Elizabeth loves Uncle Zach. This picture was taken right after we had eaten Sunday lunch after church. Elizabeth had a frilly white dress on, which we took off so she wouldn't get pot roast, gravy, or carrots on it. For some reason, we didn't put another shirt on her before her nap so here Zach is reading to her like this. I tried to get them to raise the book high enough so there wouldn't be anything too revealing! E loves that Mickey Mouse!

Elizabeth loves her tricycle, her "gasses" and her penguin, so here they all are together in one picture.
We went to Austin a few weeks ago while Gatesville interviewed a preacher for Shane's position. Here we are at Zilker Park. For some reason, the pictures of the kids wouldn't load!!

I hope to post more pics soon, especially the ones from Halloween. Fun! Fun!