Eight Months

Dear Fiona: You are eight months old! And then some....but lets not be picky about it.

But I'll be frank. You are wearing me out. Have I said this before? Well, I mean it again. You are my darling delight but you are a LOT of work. You want to move. You want to walk. You want to feed yourself. I'm constantly working to find places where your brother can play and you can get on the ground. Because it's not fun to maintain Constant Vigilance about keeping barkdust out of your mouth.


The hemangioma is nearly gone. We're quitting your medicine early. Partially because it's a total pain in the neck to try to give it to you. If it starts growing again, we'll get back on. But it's nice to have one thing off the list.



Fiona, we must talk about your sleeping habits. One, you are still particular about your naps. Conditions must be perfect. Thanks to the swing, you get at least one good nap a day. And it will get you to sleep so I can read your brother some stories in peace. But must you wake up several times a night. And be happy about it? Mommy doesn't want ANY happy noises at night. Cry, nurse, fall back asleep. It is not playtime, girlfriend. More sleep for Fiona equals more sleep for Mommy equals a really happy Mommy that wants to help Daddy be happy as well.

And mealtimes are another issue. While I really appreciate your raging independence (I swear you are more independent than your brother age difference be damned), I'd also like to just get some food in your tummy. I hate to tell you, but you cannot use a spoon consistently yet. Is it such a bad thing, to let me feed you? I know you can do it, since every time your Nana watches you I hear about how big an eater you are.


We think you are so fun, so beautiful, so perfect for us. I love hearing you talk to me. I love watching you get closer and closer to walking. I love cuddling your sweet body as we nurse at night (for about 10 minutes). You and your brother just giggle at each other, and Patrick loves going to "check on you" after you wake up from your nap.

I love you, my sweet girl!
Love
Mommy

Home Improvement, but where is Tim Allen?

Everybody keeps asking, "How's the floor going?" Well....it's quite slowly going, but it's the best we got right now. We need to finish the subfloor, then Kevin can start laying down the Pergo. But there is enough of a smooth surface that Fiona can get down. Our schedules are just killer on home improvement projects.

And speaking of schedules, Kevin started on rehearsals for "The Elixir of Love" with Tacoma Opera. I can't wait to visit with everybody and show off my kids! I think, however, they'll appreciate me leaving my germs at home. With Patrick coughing and my running eyes and nose, I think we'll wait on that. Almost all our babysitters are lined up. Fiona was quite cranky with tonight's babysitter. I paid her extra. Kevin is getting great hours at work considering all his limitations, which we are very grateful for. It just makes it hard. My Father-In-Law said he'd help when they get back from China. Praise the Lord and pass the power tools.

The house is coming along. Thanks to the blessing of a few decent days, the painting has begun! We decided to shake things up with the paint color. No worries, family, we aren't following our old patterns of bright (horrid) colors. Just a slight change. It's Slate Tile, Grecian Ivory, and Manor House (dark gray). Quite suburban. And after getting the roof, gutters, and windows cleaned, it's really looking good. And Kevin says I can get a new dishwasher now as we replace the floors! Ours is so awful and has been since we bought the house eight years ago. I'm just so excited to get things looking nice and fixed up. With our student loans finished THIS DECEMBER! we'll have a healthy chunk of change...once we pay off the Visa and our VW loan.

I'm going to try singing again with our worship team at church. Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings, right around the kids' bedtime. We'll see how it goes.