Funny phraseology

Okay, some background info...

Our community Y has these "family rooms" so that the entire family can go in and change and take a shower, etc. After swimming lessons, Avery and John went in so she could take a shower.

"Dad, it smells bad in here. It (sniff, sniff)…smells like poop…..like (sniff, sniff)…man poop."

No further comments on that one.

"I have a secret, dad. But you can't tell anyone. Not even yourself. Okay?"
"Mom, can I have some of that spagaragous?"
"Ugh, those eggs smell like refrigerator".
"But dad! Next weekend won't even get here 'til Tuesday!"

Avery's learning a lot of prayers at school and we say a prayer before dinner each night. She always gets this one little part wrong, which is just so cute and funny. We try so hard not to laugh.

"...which we are 'bout to receive, from thy botchy, through Christ, our Lord, Amen."
(botchy is actually "bounty"-- so funny.)

Avery was also the "Star" at school this last week. She was able to cut out pictures of all the things she likes and answer some questions about herself. Then the teacher placed them up on this big board. She brought her favorite books and shared them. On Friday, John and I, Grandpa Tom and mom and dad came. She stood up in front of the class with a crown on (she hates to be the center-of-attention and it was painful to watchu) and used a pointer (which, at first, she though was her point finger) to explain why she cut out what she did. Her teacher went to sit down on the counter next to her and accidentally knocked her over and she fell. All the kids laughed and I though, oh no. She got up and started rubbing her eyes--a sign that she's just about ready to start crying. But, she recovered after mommy distracted her. I could tell we were going to be in for a brutal 10 minutes. We were...the next ten minutes were spent with one of saying "honey, we can't hear you" and my child completely disappeared in anxiety. I just wanted to go give her a hug, but I continued to watch and immediately prayed that she wouldn't have the same problem as me. I absolutely HATE (it's a strong word, but it's really true!) standing in front of a crowd and giving speeches. My dreams of becoming a star came to halt in 7th grade when I realized this. Practice makes perfect and I took this opportunity to just let this be her first "practice".

Her teacher proceeded to ask her questions about her magazine cutouts. On the page about her, she had a small picture of herself and a life-sized cutout of a face of an African-American girl. I thought this was interesting and at home I had asked her what made her cut out this little girl. Was it her pretty smile? Was it her hair? Nope, she stated she simply like her earring.

There were little cutouts that the teacher made after asking her questions prior in the week and they were hung with Avery's answers on them (these were questions the teacher asked again, Friday, in front of us). I read them and they were true, but everything changes in front of a crowd...

Teacher: What's your favorite color?
Avery: Black (it's red, always has been)

What's your favorite sports team?
The Hawkeyes (What?!)

Do you like spaghetti?
No (it's her all time favorite)

What do you like to do at home?
Nothing. (on the board, it said: plant flowers with mommy, which is true.)

Do you like movies?
No. (She loves all Disney movies)

This continued and I sat there in absolute horror! Where did Avery go? Did her twin who's favorite color is black and who loves the Hawkeyes step in? The students in her class sat there answering all of her questions--I LOVE spaghetti, they said. Oooh, the Hawkeyes are good, they yelled! Then they heard the other class singing a song and began clapping to it!

Finally, it was over. I got it on tape and will post it as soon as I figure that out! It is just painful to watch. But, so bittersweet in a way.

As soon as the teacher told her she could take her crown off and come sit down with mom and dad, she ran over and gave us a hug and returned to being her true self. We sat down at dinner and talked about it a little bit. That it is okay to be nervous, but that it's also okay to be honest and different. That God made us this way so that we can share our differences with others and learn from them! If He made us all the same, we wouldn't learn anything from each other. Hard lesson and one that I still struggle with as an adult. She is so precious to us and I can't wait to see her grow into a young lady, confident in herself!

Summer Happenings

I am just the worst. It has been two months since I last posted a blog. Jer thinks his two weeks is bad...man, I'm the worst. But, in my defense, I just am not on my computer at home a whole lot as by 9, I've finally gotten the kids down for bed and then head to bed myself so we can survive the next day! Excuses, excuses.

The last couple of months have just been so great and we are all trying to enjoy every moment as we know winter is nearing. I get anxious (and not in a good way) just thinking about it. I always think of the movie "The Christmas Story" when the younger brother puts on his snow suit and falls down in the snow and can't get up because his snow suit simply doesn't allow for bending. Makes me laugh, but then I look back at what Avery wore when she was a little baby her first winter and it was exactly the same type of suit, but in purple!


Well, as for Sophie, she has just been a much happier baby, though I've come to realize I have two very different children...


I think God gave us Avery first as a little favor. She was just such an easy baby. She's simply a go-with-the-flow type of gal, really, and was like this as a baby, too. She never really cried much, slept through the night at two months, didn't have any health issues, loved and trusted everybody and is extremely outgoing and independent. She is such a people-pleaser to her advantage sometimes and unfortunately, to her disadvantage at other times (much like her mother in that way, I'm afraid). I think she'll always be this way.


Sophie is already six months old and her personality differs from Avery in nearly every aspect. She is just an overall very sensitive baby. Lights, sounds, changes, people she doesn't know--these things bother her and she is most comfortable in the arms of mom or dad. This seemingly makes life difficult for everyone right now. Her health has been somewhat of an issue at times as well.


I think in past blogs, I've noted her colic and all the changes in my diet when I was nursing (no dairy, no tomato-based food, no spicy foods. Really just a lot of Malt-O-Meal--yum.). In August, we took a trip to the emergency room with her at about 1 AM as we thought she was having a seizure. There were a lot of signs and symptoms that aligned with those of a seizure and I was sure we were in for bad news. She was having trouble breathing, her body was completely rigid and she wasn't responsive to either John or I. We were just so scared and I, as always, assumed the worst (and prayed for the best) before I even asked any questions. The doctor told us that she has severe acid reflux, which we just couldn't believe. She had been on medicine prior, and we knew there were some issues. But, what I saw didn't seem like acid reflux. Well, we went home that night and increased her medicine dosage, propped about 10 text books under one side of the crib (so it inclined) as directed, and all was well! She was doing great and our worry subsided.

Then, two weeks ago, she began to cough. I dismissed it as just the common cold. Two days later, the cough turned into runny nose and fever. Then we went back to the doctor. Long story short, after x-rays and exam, her flu test came back positive. So, we stayed at home with her for five days and were up nearly every night on and off for a week because her cough gets worse during the night. I have felt like this poor little baby has been through so much in her first six months of life and I've prayed that we can finish out the year without any further sicknesses. Fortunately, none of the rest of us got the flu and we're all doing great. Sophie is feeling a lot better and is now laughing and smiling again.

John and I took a trip down to Ames to watch Iowa State play Iowa a couple of weeks ago--YIKES! Hard to watch (unless you're an Iowa fan, of course). MACS, Avery's school, does fundraising down at the game and parents can sell ISU programs. John and I sold programs (prooogram, prooograms, getchyour programs!) and then got to go to the game for free! It's a great idea and we really did enjoy it-except that John would always try to come sell his programs in my territory and that bothered me. Those programs were so heavy! And he's taller so all those people could see his head poking above the crowd while I got lost in it. It really was a blast, even though our team lost.

Avery's birthday was awesome and she got so many sweet cards and cool things! Thanks, everyone for sending cards. You'll be getting a thank-you soon (sending them out today)!

Sophie is now sitting up by herself and eating all sorts of yummy baby foods. She LOVES all sorts of veggies and the diaper genie gets filled up with stinky diapers quite often, now. Sometimes she leaves us with colorful surprises, which ironically match the color of whatever food she's eaten that day!

We've been treasuring the nice weather and try to go on a walk each night or head to the park, though, last night it was too cold. Sophie loves being outside and looks around with wide eyes taking it all in. There's a little park just down the road and every time we go, it's like Avery has never been there before because she's excited just as much the next time we go. I love her for this. I certainly wish I could feel like that each time I come to work or take a trip to Wal-Mart, etc.!! In fact, I'm going to work on that! Maybe it will become exciting if I just act like it's exciting!