3 good things

Last week was a long one for me...lots of things to juggle at work! Now, I feel ready to conquer this week thanks to a few good things that happened this weekend:
1. Fun time as a family with Lee off this weekend. We made fires each evening,had pancakes Saturday morning and he got up with Sullivan on Sunday and I slept in! Ah...
2. Visiting my friend Cammy and her new 4wk old, Lexie, in the photo above. How precious is Lexie! It is so hard to believe how much they change in 12mos! Sullivan also loved interacting with Cammy's little dogs, Ernie and Sammy. She loves animals more than both me and Lee combined!?
3. Sewing. Well, maybe not exactly "sewing," but I did (for the first time in my life!) re-attach 3 buttons on my coats and re-stitch a tear in another sweater. Who knew this simple activity with needle and thread could do so much good mentally and practically! I am embarrassed to say all this as my mom is an amazing seamstress...It is my own fault for not becoming her apprentice, but perhaps my season to sew is only now upon me. Before I never had an interest and my gracious mom never forced it on me.

Saturday friends

Sullivan and I got an opportunity to meet up with a few college girlfriends this past Saturday morning. Meghan, Michelle, Amanda and Laura came from near (Atl) and far (Boston and NC) to be together this weekend in Atlanta and they were gracious to meet us in Commerce, GA, for a little brunch. Here we are enjoying some good 'ole southern treats in the Cracker Barrel. Thanks girls for being so loving and patient with me and Sullivan! I had a great time visiting with you and I really appreciate y'all getting up early and driving to meet up with us! *Thank you!*

In other news, another friend, our Smokey, has a rude awakening coming to her. Her belated Christmas present: a shock collar. Our 1.5 yr old shelter dog, a lab-doberman-who-knows-what-else canine is mostly a gregarious creampuff, but packs a big punch with her 65lbs of youthful enthusiasm. The barking during dinner, running away when we open our gate to our driveway, jumping on people when excited, etc., has all got to stop for us regain some harmony with our pup. So, Lee and I have finally decided to purchase the collar and hopefully train her quickly (with minimal shocking) to create Murphy-Smokey utopia.

the trouble with teething...

is that for us it means a low grade fever, various and random bouts of writhing and crying/screaming, as well as an unusual amount of saliva and mucus emerging from nose and mouth. Whoa! The poor child!? We are only on tooth #2, which just erupted today, and there are how many more!? Thank goodness for Motrin and Orajel, our two best buddies during said episodes of pain.
I also had to hold her down by myself (Lee's on call) and try to use the nasal aspirator on her to help relieve some of this horrible winter congestion...So, between the aspirator, forcing the Motrin in via medicine siringe, and prying my Orajel-coated finger into her mouth to try to rub her delicate gums, I've placed her into her bed, turned on her humidifier and sweet-sounding crib aquarium and I'm hoping she'll forget the trauma she just endured from Dr..., I mean, Mom.

Playtime for Sullivan, therapy for me

Here are some fun photos of Sullivan on the go. For some reason I couldn't get these to upload the other day.

I just have to give a shout out to my great friends here in Greenville. We are fairly far from home and did not know anyone before we moved here in June 2007. Now, thanks to those around us and this awesome town, I feel that this is truly home. We are really fortunate to have met some amazing people and also to be a part of a 17-person residency program that offers a sense of family to us during this challenging 5 year journey. Of the 17, almost 12 or so have children, and I get to spend lots of time each week with the other moms and their babes. I have realized that those "playdates" at the park, our library, the mall, coffee houses or people's homes have served as therapy of sorts for me, keeping me plugged in with friends and allowing me a place to be with adults, talk, socialize, etc. So, to all you residency wives and friends and beyond, here is a huge "thank you"! I am so grateful to have you here!

Around town

We have had really fun week and weekend, as my classes haven't begun yet and Lee hasn't been working nearly as hard, as he is now on a new, lighter 3mos rotation. During the week, Sullivan and I had fun exploring a new pilot Walmart, smaller and more upscale; wandering downtown to new coffee shops and the Reedy River Falls park; and practicing new moves around the house as Sullivan is on the cusp on crawling and at present rolls to get where she wants to go. This weekend I was able to go to the movies with girls from my bible study on Friday night (thanks to Lee!), Saturday morning I hosted a baby shower for our dear friend Shane and then to top it off, Lee and I had a smokin' hot date to a great steakhouse last night. This really beats the previous week when Lee was on call 4 out of 7 nights! Hooray for goodtimes free of work! It makes such a difference to have him home.

On a different note,I was thinking the other day how the last 18 mos in my life have been so interesting. From finding out about Sulllivan in August, 2008, to her birth in March and her first 9mos of life...it is really wild how quickly life can change and take our breath away. I love that I have this blog to help me sort it all out. And did you know that you can create a bound book of your blog for not too much money? I think I will do that each year...

Carving my own path

Right now I am sitting at my adjunct office desk and typing on a lovely, new computer at this brand new campus of my Technical College, where I teach Spanish. Thankfully, I am now in this new building, around the corner to Sullivan's child care at a quaint, country Baptist Church (read-kid-centered and all come dressed in the Target special! :)), and I even have a smartboard and a computer in my new classroom. For these things, I give thanks. In response to some recent friends' posts on mothering+staying sane+having to work, etc., I have been thinking on how I am making my own path. I was originally so sad and worried about having to work, but now I realize that it brings me sanity and productivity in several key ways.

One, I only have to work two days a week. Awesome! This brings perfect harmony for me, 2 days teaching Spanish (nourishing and challenging my mind), 5 days being a mom and wife as best I can (nourishing my soul and spirit). I don't think I would have this peace if I did have to work full-time, but if God gave us that lot, I know He would give me the grace to do it.

Secondly, I am much more productive when I have a busy work day. It forces me to use my time wisely and effectively unlike my other unstructured, do-whatever days. Just this mornnig, dropping Sull at school at 7:50a, allowed me to come here, work in an office and get a whole day's school work and prep done before 10:45am. By 10:45am at home I am lucky to have cared for Sullivan and had some cereal and coffee. I do love a good lazy morning, but today I feel refreshed by the freedom in completion! I am ready for classes to begin on Tuesday.

hands

I thought it was time to give an update on Sullivan's progress. At present, at 9mos, she is still fascinated with her hands: waving them, twisting them, flicking them back and forth, opening and closing them and most often, furiously grabbing whatever item in her view that is most interesting. The other day she practically dove out of my arms to grab hold of my paddle hairbrush on the counter. Convinced that she couldn't grasp it as it is almost as big as she is and does weigh at least a pound, I was stunned that the impending danger of falling headfirst did not deter her and she swiftly clasped her little paw around it and brought it straight to "discovery central," her mouth. Stunning! She also learned to clap last week and gave me "five" this morning in a patty-cake fashion. Neat!
She is also babbling new sounds almost daily which include "dah dah, juh, gah,bah bah, pa" and many combinations. She doesn't associate dah-dah with Lee yet. As we are raising her with both Spanish and English (we are doing the one-parent, one-language model, opol, with me in Spanish and Lee in English) she may have some delays in speech, but so far I can not see any. In fact, she seems very attuned to my every sound. I am quite sure that her inquisitive, steady gaze each time I switch to English, addressing someone else, is proof that she knows exactly the moment when I switch languages. I'll keep you posted on her first words...I don't know if they'll be in Spanish or English, although my guess would be Spanish as Lee's work keeps him away. So far, babble is babble and I can tell no preference for either language.
As her language is taking off, she remains physically pretty still. No crawling, but lots of standing on laps and on the ground. She is now able to stand unassisted for a few seconds, while holding onto furniture or something at her shoulder-height. She did assume the crawl position, with her torsoe off the crowd, for the first time today...but she didn't take move forward or backward. I am wondering that I didn't place her on her tummy enough. Oh well, she will become mobile one day, in her own time.