keriland

Missing Out?

I don't know if it's because of the toys and things from my childhood that I've been seeing in antique stores lately or what, but lately I've been thinking fairly often about the things that my children will probably never have to do when they get older (like in their teens). It's crazy how fast this world changes, and it seems like recent technology is making it change so much faster than ever before. So, here's my list of a few of the things that I believe my kids will never have to do.

Be home at a certain time to watch something as soon as it airs on television. I predict shows will just be "released" to computers, televisions, phones, or whatever at certain times or on certain days. It's crazy that even at 3 years old, the kids expect everything to be available on TiVo. Don't even get me started on them never having to sit through a commercial.
Make arrangements to meet someone at an exact place and time. With cellphones, this is already happening for the most part. However, there's always the issue of someone not hearing their phones or being out of range of a good signal or being out of battery. I think none of those things will be an issue in the future. Who knows if "phones" will even be that method of communication by then?
Read a paper map or write out directions. It'll all be in GPS systems, and everyone will have one everywhere... in cars, on phones, on cameras (which are probably also your phones)
Worry about dropping any electronic devices into the water. They'll all be waterproof. Why aren't they already?
Buy glasses. Lasik (or whatever the technology is at that time) will be so cheap, it will cost more for contacts/glasses. Maybe this is further down the road than their teenage years, but we'll see.
Have to choose whether to spend the extra money on buying organic. I'm thinking by then, everything will be organic. Except maybe spam. But, I don't see them buying that.
Have to choose whether their new cars should run on electricity or fuel. I have a feeling fuel, as we know it anyway, will be only for old cars by then.
Use a landline phone. It's so weird to think that they'll probably never have to worry about a cut line or paying a monthly phone fee just so they can have TiVo. :) And, never mind even trying to figure out how a rotary phone works.
Use a payphone. I'm honestly surprised that these are even still around. The few times that I've needed to use a phone and haven't had one readily available to me when I'm out in public, I've actually asked a stranger to use his/her cellphone before even thinking about a payphone. Most of the time, I wouldn't know where to even look for one anyway.
Buy actual cd or dvd media. It'll all be digital. No need for that disk crap. :) And forget ever having to go to Blockbuster to rent a movie. I can just hear them saying "You mean you actually had to leave the house to go get a movie... and sometimes it wasn't even there?!"
Have their houses pre-wired for phone or cable. See above entries.
Have to worry about the VOCs when painting a room. I'm sure they'll have the whole paint in every color without having to worry about VOCs thing figured out by then.
Be a collector of something that you actually have a hard time finding. Thanks to ebay, craigslist, and other sites like those, you can be a collector of pretty much anything without leaving your house already. Although it's nice when you're missing just one thing in a collection, I also think it's kinda sad and that it takes the joy out of collecting something.
Take a polaroid picture. They may never even be in a polaroid picture aside from the couple that I have already. That makes me sad.
Get a roll of film processed. I'm guessing this will be super expensive if they ever do have to do this. And that it will only happen if they find and decide to print a random roll that I never had developed for some reason.

The Big Family Disney Trip- Brave Annabelle

Throughout the Big Family Disney Trip, Annabelle was amazing about the rides that she tried. When anything did actually scare her, it usually had to do with complete darkness (even on Nemo). Over the past couple of months, Annabelle has developed a fear of complete darkness so that didn’t surprise me too much. However… when it wasn’t completely dark… she was amazingly brave!

Annabelle’s first display of bravery was on Epcot’s Soarin’. Annabelle loves the idea of flying (in case you didn’t know, she wants to be an astronaut partly because she loves the idea of flying into space) so this ride sounded like a great idea to her! She definitely liked the ride, but claimed that she didn't want to ride it again after it was over.

I was so impressed that she loved Epcot’s Test Track as much as she did (we rode it twice at her request)! She loved all of the whacky tests indoors, but really loved the thrill of the speed outside. She’s such a speed demon!

Another crazy ride that Annabelle barely met the high restrictions on was Magic Kingdom's Splash Mountain. We rode this one as the last ride of the night at Mickey’s Halloween thingy. Annabelle was all about the getting wet part of it, but also liked the crazy drop.

Annabelle’s ultimate show of bravery was at Hollywood Studios where she rode The Tower of Terror! There are adults who won’t ride it, but my 3 year old was so excited about riding the “crazy elevator ride” that she couldn’t stop talking about it all day long until we finally went on the ride. She was ridiculously cute while we were sitting in the elevator car waiting for the ride to begin. She was so attentive to every thing that she heard the ride operator say. They were having issues with one of the seat belts not seeming to be connected correctly (which made me a bit nervous with her being in there), so they made us raise our hands (to make sure that everyone had the seat belts on) then pull on the seatbelts to make sure they were secure. She was very intent on making sure to do everything they said. She even heard another rider telling her friends to take their sunglasses off of their heads and she made me do it too. She was adorable! Kelly told her that it was going to tickle her tummy on the inside, so she was anxious about that.

Once the ride began, she was a little freaked out by the ghosts, but kept asking when we were going to start going up and down. Once the “up and down” part did actually start, she took it like a champ! She didn’t cry or scream or anything. She had the expected look of terror (that most people on that ride probably have), but didn’t complain about it at all! I loved it! After the ride, I asked her how she liked it and she surprised me by saying that she didn’t like it. She wasn’t upset about it though, just matter-of-fact about it. She told us that she liked the “up” part, but not the “down” part. I have to wonder if she would have liked it more if part of the drop didn’t take place in complete darkness. Regardless, I’m so proud of her for braving the Tower of Terror! What an amazing little 3 year old I have!

Annabelle's Babies

Annabelle has always collected acorns at school. Since she first started going there, she has randomly requested to wear pants with pockets so that she has somewhere to put the acorns. She used to just bring home 1 or two (which I usually found in the wash), but now she brings home pocketfuls or even stashes them in her lunchbox. She calls them "baby acorns" and talks about how they're "so cute". She gives them to me (or whoever else picks her up from school) as gifts ("I got something very special for you!"). Lately the "baby acorns" have started making "baby rock" (tiny rocks) friends, who also make their way home.

Corgan's Speech

A couple of things that I want to remember about Corgan's speech...

He says "again" and "there" in a super-thick southern accent!

He says "umm-hmmm" instead of yes when he very much agrees or wants to do something.

Annabelle's Career Choices

A: When I grow up, I'm going to be a ballerina teacher.

M: Oh yeah? What about a sea turtle astronaut?

A: I'm going to be that too. I'm going to be a ballerina teacher, a sea turtle astronaut, and a monster truck driver.

M: Wow! That's a lot of jobs. And quite a combination too.

A: I will have to start work at 4 o'clock.

M: What will you do during the rest of the day?

Baby Privacy

After a discussion about how the baby is too little to tell if it's a boy or a girl yet, then discussing that he or she needs to get bigger so that we can see if it has a girl pee-pee or a boy pee-pee on the pictures, Corgan said: "I don't want to go see the pictures because I don't want to see a baby pee-pee."

Our Skycoastering Adventure

Today we went to Big Kahuna's Water Park in Destin, and had a blast! But, the big highlight of the day was after we thought our day of fun had ended. On our way out to our car, we passed the Skycoaster where a family was about to take off. I told Annabelle to watch it because she dreams of flying and when she gets big she might like to do it because it's like flying. She watched the family of a daddy, mommy, and young boy go pulled up then swinging down toward the ground in awe. Once it was over, I said "Do you think you might want to do that when you get big?" She said "No, I want to do it NOW!" I totally thought she was caught up in the excitement, and I was not about it pay for the tickets only to have her chicken out. I was also using the excuse that I had already put on a dress for my dry clothes and I wasn't about to show everyone my panties (and Daddy had already said that Mommy would have to do it with her because there was no way he was going to do it!).
Annabelle kept insisting that she wanted to do it right now, not wait a few years! The high minimum was only 42" so I couldn't use that excuse. Keith told her he'd buy the tickets if she really wanted to do it, so I manned up and pulled on Keith's wet swim trunks under my dress, then grabbed my wallet and went to buy the tickets!

Once I'd purchased the tickets, Corgan came over and stood next to me and Annabelle. He asked me "Do you wear shoes to do this?", then when I said "No" he walked back over to Keith to leave his shoes with him. When he came back I asked if he wanted to go too, and he did. So... back to purchase another ticket.

As we were pulled up into the air, my heart was pounding! Not only was I scared for myself, but I had my two babies with me! When the countdown came, it was time for me to pull the rope to release us, and I nearly froze. Once I released us, it felt like we were diving straight toward the ground! Annabelle and I screamed, and Corgan froze with a look of terror, but didn't make a sound. Despite their different reactions, both kids absolutely loved it and I'm so grateful that we made that memory together!

I Love My Kiddos...

Juliet

Juliet's tiny fingers wrapped around my thumb.
The weight of a newborn draped across my chest.
Sneezes
Grins turning into smiles
Sleeping 6 hours/night by 4 weeks
Kissing her cheek and it being so chubby and soft that my lips suck it in
Feeling her tiny head fit in the palm of my hand

Corgan

saying "I Love You" all of the time
singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to Juliet when she cries
his love for math, identifying large numbers, and his interest in time
his porcelain skin
white-blonde hair that turns into curls when it starts to get long
desire to do everything that Annabelle does
interest in "boy things" really developing (boy "colors", Super Heros, etc.)

Annabelle

still enjoys having her parents come to her school activities
constantly saying that Juliet is the prettiest baby in the whole world
her freckles and cute birthmarks
willingness to try new things
her imperfect way of saying words like "Twortan" (for Corgan) or "Tworti" (as a term of endearment)
her love of dinosaurs, sea turtles, space exploration and everything pink!
that she still loves and needs her "pink blankie"

Mid-Year Goal Update

We're now half-way through 2012, so I wanted to go through my goals for the year to assess where I'm at...

Donate to Locks of Love - DONE

The big cut was made on March 6th, but I didn't get around to sending the hair until the end of May. But it's DONE! :)

Before

During

After!

Finish Filling the Empty Picture Frames- IN PROGRESS

I've printed a few photos, but still have to actually put them in the frames and still have many more to print too. This will probably happen in the fall. This is one picture that I will DEFINITELY be framing!

Continue to Make Contributions to Help People in My Community and Beyond - ALWAYS IN PROGRESS

I feel like 2012 has made our entire family more involved in helping out in our community and for those in need beyond our community. We have done some special projects for families in need, both of us have been key players in starting up community-based groups within our church, and we were blessed to be able to participate in the awarding of needs-based scholarships at the University of Alabama this spring. We've continued to get our kid involved in sharing by picking out things to donate to other kids and collecting money for a fundraiser at our church. Totally on her own, Annabelle has already started collecting her own money and is thinking of marketing ideas for the Nana's House Walk-a-thon that will happen in the late fall.

Grow Spiritually - IN PROGRESS

I still need to work on making daily time for prayer/devotional, but have incorporated both into my life on a regular basis. I have read a few books on spirituality (my favorite is one that I read for the 2nd time, When Christians Get It Wrong), spent many hours reading about spiritual and religious topics online, and have watched every episode of "The Naked Archeologist"! I have become very involved at our church with regular attendance, helping out with the preschool classes, joining in on social activities, and helping with special projects.

Support Keith with Pastime - IN PROGRESS

Pastime is progressing, and I'm right there with my cheerleading outfit on (haha!). :)

Help Annabelle to grow in her interests - IN PROGRESS

Annabelle is ALMOST able to ride a bike on her own, she has done 2 triathlons, attended a triathlon clinic, and we FINALLY finished her Fairy Forest 2 weeks ago! As soon as I can get my computer working again, I'm planning to get Rosetta Stone going and start working with her on French (she does still remember some that I've taught her in the past, and some random words that we've worked on at bedtime, and can sing a whole song in French about being a pizza--- but I can't take credit for that last one), and hopefully we'll get her doll house done by the end of the summer!

Help Corgan to grow as a young man - IN PROGRESS

Corgan and I have been on 3 lunch dates already, but I want to incorporate a few dinner dates where we get all dressed up specifically for a special night out. He has loved our special lunch dates, and we even found some new favorite restaurants for him thanks to it. His math skills are still growing and I found him a math camp that he already attended this summer (it was for 1st through 3rd graders, but he did great and LOVED it too)! The independence on getting ready is still a work in progress that I'm hoping becomes a natural thing once he starts kindergarten this fall. (Side note: Since he wants to keep up with Annabelle, Corgan also did the 2 triathlons and the triathlon clinic AND he has learned to ride his bike on his own!) We are very proud of Corgan's "can do" attitude as he tries just about everything (except for new foods) with bravery and 100% all-in!

Help Juliet to grow into toddlerhood - IN PROGRESS

My sweet little Juliet has more love comin' at her than she knows what to do with! Even at barely a year old, she is starting to show her own personality as well as following in her big sister's footsteps in many ways. She's so much more cuddly than the other two were, and I LOVE to soak that up! She does 6 signs (more, all done, food, dog, light, and cat), but I can tell that she's taking in some of the others and just waiting to start using them, and I'll continue to do signs as part of regular conversation so that she can keep learning them.

Help my marriage to grow - IN PROGRESS

We have been good at our monthly dates and have found some new favorite restaurants in the process (that's all Keith though... he's good at finding new places like that). We have been talking about plans for our "only us" trip, and it will probably happen near our anniversary in early December. I still need to find a good book on relationships.

Be a "Fit" Version of Me!

I'll break these down one at a time...

"To once again break 26 minutes in a 5K race" - WORKING

My fastest 5K so far this year was 26:39. This one WILL happen though!

Finish the Pineappleman Triathlon in 1:42 or better and to complete at least one more sprint triathlon - HALF DONE

I blew away my goal in the Pineappleman by finishing in 1:37:15! I was in the top 50% of my age group! I am signed up for the Battle of the Bridges triathlon in October and next week I start a triathlon clinic that leads up to it. I hope to find one more triathlon to do in the fall too.

Have a respectable time in a 10K race - TO DO

I'm having a hard time finding any 10K races... especially in the summer in Florida. There are a few in the fall, so I'll catch one then.

Do something "active" an average of 4 times per week throughout the year

I didn't start being "active" until the spring, but after that, I definitely met this goal. I took some time off after the triathlon too, but I'm back on track now! I am 1 week into the TapoutXT program and I start a triathlon clinic next week, so I should be nice and "active" for the next few months!

Run a mile in under 7:30 - TO DO

My fastest recorded mile to date is about 7:50. This WILL happen though!

Get through Level 1 of Rosetta Stone French - TO DO
Complete a "366" (not "365" since it's leap year) Photo Project for 2012 - DONE (So far)

My 366 project pictures are here, and I'm actually all caught up on them now! I've had to cheat and use random pictures for a few days, but overall, I've done pretty well with at least making sure that a picture has been taken every day (and Annabelle enjoys reminding me)!

FINALLY complete the Media Room! - WORKING

I've done lots of research on audio and video equipment, purchased some furniture, have some furniture to refinish, have an inspiration board on pinterest, and have some plans in my head! I'm REALLY hoping to finish this up this summer!

Missing Each Other

Tonight Annabelle and Keith went out for a special date to the Melting Pot, so Corgan and Juliet stayed home with me. Corgan had to go to bed before they got home. After he said his prayers, he began to cry, not because he thought it wasn't fair because he had to go to bed before Annabelle, but because he was sad that he wasn't going to get to kiss Annabelle and Daddy goodnight! Once I promised him that I would have both of them come in and kiss him when they got home, he was able to calm down and go to sleep.

By the time that Annabelle and Keith arrived home, Corgan was well asleep. I told Annabelle he wanted her to come kiss him goodnight. She did that, then told me she wanted to sleep on the floor in his room. She NEVER asks to do that. We made her a palette on the floor, and she curled up and went to sleep.

I love when they miss each other!

Details

This morning I was explaining to Corgan what "details" are, then I asked him what details he would use to describe me to someone. He said "You have brown hair, good helper, tall, and you have strong legs." I'll take it. :)

Corgan Multiplies 4 x 44

A conversation on the way to the airport to return our car...

Keri: This car was only $44/day at Enterprise. It would have been $88/day with Hertz.

Keith: Not bad. How many days did we have it?

Keri: 4.

Keith: (not wanting to calculate it himself, but half-kidding by asking the following question) Corgan, what's 4 times 44?

Corgan: (not missing a beat) Well... 44 times 2 is... 88. And 88 + 88 is... hmmm... 88 plus 100 is 188, but you take away 12 to get back down to 88 so it's... 176!

THAT'S RIGHT! By the way, the whole time he was calculating it, I was hurriedly trying to figure it out myself so that I could tell him if he was correct or not. And it probably took him about 10 seconds to come up with the answer. AND he's still 4 months away from turning 5!

Multiplyin'

Annabelle and I are working on her "homework" for their "100th Day of School" celebration. She has to count 100 of something. We picked dinosaur shaped sprinkles. As we were starting to count them, I said, "There are 5 different colors of sprinkles. Why don't we sort them by color equally. If there are 5 colors, how many do you think we'd need of each color?" I was fully expecting to go over the counting with her to figure this out, but instead she immediately (seriously, like within 2 seconds) replied "20!" I said, "That's right, how did you know that?" (thinking may she had just guessed, but nope...) She replied "Because 20 5 times is 100!"
That's right!

Lunch Date with My Corgan

On Our Lunch Date

This morning I dropped Juliet off with my mom and I got to go with Corgan's class on their field trip. The field trip went late enough that he missed lunchtime at school, so I decided to take the free time before we had to pick up Annabelle to go on a Lunch Date with my boy!
When I asked Corgan where he wanted to go on our date, his first answer was Chick-fil-A. I told him I wanted to go on a real date so we needed to go somewhere fancier than Chick-fil-A, a real restaurant. He said "Okay... Can we go somewhere with smoothies for dessert?" So we went to Longhorns. :)
On the way there, I prepped Corgan with how a gentleman should act on a date. I told him he should open doors for me, hold my hand, be sweet, order for himself, and that I'd even let him pay (with my money, of course). He was excited to try it!
When we got there, Corgan immediately grabbed my hand to hold it crossing the parking lot, then when we were safely out of the street, he ran ahead of open the door for me. I thanked him as I entered the doors. When we sat down, we immediately looked at the menus so he would know what he wanted to order. When the waiter came to take our orders, Corgan proudly asked for "Chicken fingers and broccoli, please" but he kept his eyes down when he said it. I told him to say it again and look at the waiter, and he happily did it. During the meal, he was sweet and offered me his oranges ("You can have my oranges because I know you like them."), talked to me about his field trip, and we played some of the games on his menu. The only "gentleman" thing he wouldn't do is sit down and put his napkin on his lap ("I'm not going to spill anything, Mommy."). He was a wonderful date!
On the way out, I accidentally started to open the door for myself. He gave me a big "Mommy!" and I stepped back and closed the door when I realized what I'd done. He then held the door for me, and even held it for someone else to come inside (without me asking) before he closed it. Then, he held my hand on the way back out to the car, and the cherry on top was that he ran to open my car door for me! I never even mentioned the car door!
I can't wait to see what a little gentleman my little guy is going to be, and I'm so thankful to our pastor, Nicole Olinski, for this idea! I'm going to have no problem exceeding my "dates with Corgan" goal!

My 2012 Goals

I realize that I'm a week late posting my goals for 2012, but I wanted to take a little time to really think about what I wanted to do this year. I made a list of goals for 2009, and it was a great success because I accomplished every one of the goals that year. In 2010, I created another list, and although I didn't accomplish all of the goals, I was able to check off quite a few. :) The goals that I did check off include getting lasik (in July 2010), part of "be in super duper shape" (I completed the Pineappleman Triathlon in 1:43:05 and the Art Festival 5K in 25:53- beating my record of 26:20 from 2009), was VERY active with Nana's House (including collecting items for fundraisers, helping Annabelle to raise $1200 in the walk-a-thon, producing promotional materials for fundraisers, giving presentations, getting them on facebook, and more), I visited a new U.S. State (Utah- February for a Ski Trip and a day of touring Salt Lake City), I saw "Wicked" (with Carla Ely during our trip to NYC in the fall and we splurged for 6th row seats), Keith and I took an "alone" trip as a 7th Anniversary cruise in the Caribbean, hopefully Annabelle and Corgan would agree that I was the best mom that I could be, and my most significant accomplishment was becoming pregnant with Juliet in October! Some of the goals that I wasn't able to check off, will now appear on my 2012 list (I missed making one in 2011).

So, without further ado, here is my official list of...
KERI DONALD'S GOALS FOR 2012!

Donate to Locks of Love

Yes, it's 2 years later, and my hair is just NOW finally long enough to donate without leaving myself with a super-short hair cut. Look for the new shorter "do" to be coming very soon!

Finish Filling the Empty Picture Frames in My House

During my period of bedrest in June 2011, I managed to fill most of the frames, but a few were left empty to fill them once Juliet was born and some where I just couldn't decide on the right picture.

Continue to Make Contributions to Help People in My Community and Beyond

I plan to continue to volunteer with Nana's House, but have become passionate about a few other organizations that I am very interested in helping where I can. These organizations include The South Brevard Sharing Center, KeepVolunteering.org, Scotty Sacks, and Need-based Scholarships in information technology at UA.

Grow Spiritually

Regular Prayer/Devotional Time Daily
Become Active at our church (Grace Church Melbourne), including attending services and catching up on missed services online and helping out where needed
Read books on having a relationship with Jesus and watch tv shows that educate me on the history of the Bible

Support Keith with Pastime, his new creative/entrepreneurship venture!
Help Annabelle to grow in her interests

Teach her to ride a bike
Do a few races (running and/or kid triathlons) with her
Teach her at least 50 words in French
Finish her "Fairy Forest" and work with her on redecorating her handmade doll house

Help Corgan to grow as a young man

Keep working on his math skills as long as he's interested
Take him out on at least 3 "dates" to teach him all about being a gentleman
Help Corgan to become more independent in getting himself ready to leave the house

Help Juliet to grow into toddlerhood

Teach her sign language
Give her all of the love (and more) that a baby needs!

Help my marriage to grow

Go on a getaway with ONLY Keith (no kids and no other friends/family)
Make plans for a date night at least once a month
Read at least one book on getting the most out of our marriage

Be a "Fit" Version of Me!

I may have a hard time breaking my records in both the Art Festival 5K and the Pineappleman Triathlon this year, but I intend to give it my all! My fitness goals are:

To once again break 26 minutes in a 5K race (this was a "life goal" that I met in 2009)
Finish the Pineappleman Triathlon in 1:42 or better and to complete at least one more sprint triathlon
Have a respectable time in a 10K race
Do something "active" an average of 4 times per week throughout the year
Run a mile in under 7:30

Get through Level 1 of Rosetta Stone French
Complete a "366" (not "365" since it's leap year) Photo Project for 2012
FINALLY complete the Media Room!

Here's to a successful 2012!

Juliet LOOOVES her Annabelle!

Last night I sat on my bed with Juliet chatting with 'Cole for a little bit. Annabelle stopped in to stay good night to us and to play with her baby sister for a few moments before heading to bed. Juliet was all smiles as Annabelle coo-ed and smiled at her, but as soon as Annabelle left the room, Juliet immediately burst into all-out sobbing! It was the cutest thing ever! I immediately called Annabelle back into the room to see if her presence would make Juliet happy again. As soon as Juliet got a look at her big sister, the tears stopped. Annabelle came over and gave her baby sis one last kiss, then headed out the door again and, immediately, the waterworks started again! We repeated this experiment a good few more times, all with the same results! It was SOOOO stinkin' cute!

I love that at only 4 months old, Juliet LOOOVES her Big Sister Annabelle SOOO much! I'm such a lucky Mommy!

Annabelle's 2nd Tooth Fairy Visit

Last week Keith bought some hard foam softballs that are standard softball size and started practicing with the kids on catching fly balls. He even rainbowed the balls to them at 2nd base from home plate, and they did very well at catching quite a few! So, last Friday (October 21st) when Keith took the kids outside for a little practice before our Saturday morning game, Annabelle wanted to try catching a fly ball with a real softball! Keith reluctantly popped up a few to her from about 20-30 feet away as I watched from the sidelines. She had a few misses, but then one went straight toward her glove... and into her face!
Annabelle immediately burst into tears as blood started gushing from her mouth! I saw her violently toss something from her mouth into the grass. I ran over to check on her and her bottom tooth was missing! I asked her "Did you just throw your tooth into the grass?" She realized that the thing that she had just thrown down was, in fact, her tooth, and the waterworks REALLY opened up! She refused to go inside and clean up the blood (which was GUSHING out of her mouth) until we found the tooth! I tried to explain to her that the Tooth Fairy would be able to find the tooth better than we would because of her tooth radar and that she would still get her dollar even if the tooth wasn't in her pillow, but she just wouldn't accept that. As soon as I finished explaining that, Keith miraculously spotted the teeny-tiny little baby tooth in the grass! I could not believe he found it since Annabelle had run a good 10 feet away from where she threw down the tooth before realized what had happened and went back to look for it!
With the baby tooth in hand, Annabelle and I went inside to clean her up. Once she calmed down and realized that she was going to get another visit from the Tooth Fairy, she wasn't nearly as upset. And now she has a cool "how I lost my tooth" story to tell!
For tooth #2, the Tooth Fairy left her another special dollar. She really liked how the Tooth Fairy colored and wrote on her first dollar, so the Tooth Fairy decorated this dollar too. :)

Close up:

Like with Annabelle's first dollar, The Tooth Fairy wrote her name, the date of the tooth, and the tooth number on the dollar so Annabelle would always remember it. She also circled and colored all of the 2s (for tooth number 2), colored an A (for Annabelle), and spiced up ole' George with some color (which Corgan did NOT like, for the record). Annabelle LOVES that the Tooth Fairy loves art like she does! :)

How'd We Get "Juliet"?

Long before we knew that Baby Donald 3.0 (now known as Juliet) was a girl, I had fallen in love with the name Aurora. I thought for sure that my next girl after Annabelle would be named Aurora. Keith likes the name, but isn't in love with it like I am. One day not long after we discovered that we were pregnant with baby #3, I had mentioned that I kinda liked the name Juliet. Keith immediately jumped all over that name.

I think the reasons that I feel a connection to the name "Juliet" is because I have always really liked the Romeo and Juliet story. I was a fan of the story when I was in middle school when we watched the movie in 8th grade English class. I chose a scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to act out in my 9th grade English class, and I wrote a "Verona Times" newspaper for a computer class in high school. Then many years later, when we visited Northern Italy in 2006, we made a trip to Verona, the residence of the Shakespeare's fictional Juliet. In Verona, we visited Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's House) where we were able to walk through the house created for the fictional Juliet character, stand on her famous balcony, and even rub her right breast for luck (oh yeah, and Keith got pooped on by a bird while we were there, but that has nothing to do with the story)!

Fast forward a few years to 2010... Marian (Keith's sister), Annabelle, and I tagged along on a business trip that Keith had in Munich, Germany. In Munich, Verona's "twin town", we happened upon the same bronze statue of Juliet that I saw in Verona. It turns out that Munich's Juliet statue was a gift from Verona. Of course, we rubbed her breast for luck there too!

Keith's connection to Juliet, in my opinion, stems from his infatuation with another fictional Juliet, Dr. Juliet Burke from LOST. Simple as that.

Because we both really like the name Juliet, it was definitely a top choice for a possible girl name for Baby Donald 3.0. When we told the kids about it, they didn't like it at all at first. Once we showed them the trailer (and website for) the new Gnomeo & Juliet movie, they warmed up to the name a bit (but only if baby had brown hair and green eyes).

When Juliet was born, we immediately decided that she was 100% "Juliet"! She is a perfect little Juliet, and I love that we both feel a connection to her name!

One final note, when I was in the hospital after giving birth to Juliet, the movie Letters to Juliet was one of the on-demand movies available to watch. I had never even heard of the movie, but was very excited to watch it based on the name alone, and even more excited when I realized that it was set in Verona and revolved around the letters to Juliet that are left at the Casa di Giulietta!

Taking the Time to Stop and Smell The Baby

Now that my first baby is in kindergarten, I really know what "they" have been talking about when they say "They grow up so fast!"

For a couple of reasons, I feel like I appreciate Juliet's newborn stage so much more than I appreciated it with Annabelle and Corgan. With Annabelle, I was never a nervous new mom and generally felt like I knew what I was doing, but everything was still so new to me. I was still always learning this new stay-at-home Mom routine and my new role as "Mommy". Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed relaxing on the sofa with her and getting excited about every little new thing that she did, but I didn't realize how fast every little stage would pass me by and didn't know to really just take it all in and appreciate it. Then when Corgan came along I already knew many of the Mommy tricks to caring for a newborn, but I had an 18 month old Annabelle to take care of at the same time. Corgan was a slightly easier baby from the perspective of him sleeping a little better than Annabelle did and he had less health problems than she did (although all of hers were fairly minor), however I rarely had the time to focus solely on Corgan without being totally exhausted myself.

Now, it's 4 years later and I already have "raising two newborns" under my belt. I did forget a few things, but most of it is comes back to me in an "ah-ha" moment. My next youngest "baby" was already nearly 4 when Juliet was born, so I don't really have another baby to constantly keep an eye on. Both of the Bigs are in school, so at the very least I have a few hours in the morning to focus on (or nap along with) just Juliet. A few days a week I have even more time than that because my parents now live nearby and love to take care of the Bigs in the afternoons too. Now that I am very confident in my mommy skills (as a mom of a newborn anyway), there is really very little "am I doing this right?" type anxiety with Juliet. I also realize how fast she will change, so I am really taking in every little moment that I have with her. I am doting on every little grin, every little coo, and every little snuggle. I LOVE to sit and play with her by sticking my tongue out as she mimics me and does the same or by laughing a silly laugh just to make her smile a smile so big that I can't help but smile and laugh even more! I also LOVE when I motor-boat my lips and she attempts to do it too. Or when she sees me chewing or talking and she opens and closes her mouth like she's trying to chew or talk too. I can see the intensity in her eyes as she tries to figure out how to do it!

To make things even better, I notice even more things that I never noticed before because her Bigs are so in love with her too and they constantly point out the adorable things that she does. They both LOVE to sit and talk to their little baby. They rarely call her their "little sister", she is their "little baby" or "baby girl". When she is in a swing or somewhere by herself and starts to cry, it isn't long before one or both of the Bigs is by her side trying to calm her by singing (usually either "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" or "Rock-a-bye Baby") and smiling at her. They constantly ask to hold her and both are getting quite good at it. They have never shown one ounce of jealousy in all (nearly) 3 months since she's been home! Annabelle daily remarks that she is the prettiest baby that she's ever seen, and she even adores the sound of Juliet's cry! Just yesterday she was describing her favorite of Juliet's cries to me, then when Juliet cried that way later in the day, Annabelle pointed out "That's the cry that I love!" followed by a little "Awe" in honor of how cute it was! I never would have imagined that 3 months later, they would still be so infatuated with their baby sister! I love that the excitement of the newness of Juliet continues with each new thing that she does, and I think that excitement rubs off on me too!

With Annabelle and Corgan, I felt like I couldn't wait for the next milestone and was always looking toward what they would do next. But with Juliet, I know that "next" will come soon enough, so I am in no rush at all. It does seem like the past 3 months have really flown by, but at the same time, I feel like I have let myself really enjoy them not only with Juliet and her newbornness, but with appreciating Annabelle and Corgan's new roles as Big Sister and Big Brother. Yes, Annabelle has been a Big Sister for over 4 years now, but it's definitely a different kind of role with being five-and-a-half years older as opposed to one-and-a-half year older. I know with my little brother (who is 7.5 years younger than me), I had a very different, almost motherly, relationship than I did with my sister (who is only 2.5 years younger). I very much value both of those types of relationships, and I am very glad that Annabelle and Corgan now seem to have both types in their sibling dynamics.

These first 3 months as a family of 5 have already been amazing, and I look forward to seeing what the future brings... but I'm not in a hurry to get there. :)

Annabelle's First Visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Annabelle's first loose tooth has been loose for quite a while. In fact, I was starting to get worried because she was experiencing what her dentist called "shark tooth"...

Last night, she FINALLY had a break through (literally)! Annabelle was eating jello (of all things!) and all the sudden started crying because her mouth hurt and was bleeding. I told her that losing her tooth was going to hurt a little, but that she should keep working at it and maybe it would come out soon. Not five minutes later she came running out of the bathroom with her tooth in her fingers and a hole in her mouth! I haven't seen her this excited about anything since Christmas morning!

For the rest of the night, her tooth was all that she could talk about! She was going over her ideas of what the Tooth Fairy would bring and told me about what some of her friends got from the Tooth Fairy. We discussed that the Tooth Fairy collects teeth because she takes them back to her home and grinds them up to make magic pixie dust. She was excited that she was going to get to tell her class and teacher about it the next day and that she would get to wear a "tooth necklace" in class. She even asked me exactly what time her tooth fell out so that she could tell her class when it happened (my estimate was 5:00). She was so excited that she wanted me to call her teacher and tell her about it right then. Instead, I offered to email her teacher about it and send a picture. She repeatedly said "I still can't believe that I lost a tooth!" As we talked about the Tooth Fairy, she ran to her room to retrieve the "TOOTH" pillow that my sister and I used as kids (Thank God she knew where it was because I had no idea!).

When bedtime came, Annabelle put her tooth into her pillow and put the TOOTH pillow next to her pillow. After saying her prayers, she told God that her "Thankful For" thing for the day was losing her tooth.

Once she went to bed, my Tooth Fairy job began. I had already hit facebook to ask my fellow Tooth Fairies for help on the going rate for teeth. Armed with this knowledge, I decided to go with a treasure hunt approach to giving Annabelle a special dollar for her tooth. At first I was hoping to give her a dollar coin, but in the end I'm glad I ended up with a paper dollar because then I (I mean, the Tooth Fairy) could write on it. I went to work cutting out "clue" paper and armed with my pen and crayons, I made up the clues.

I finished my clues around midnight and went around the house planting the clues. Once all of the clues were out, I went to Annabelle's room to put the first clue into her pillow and retrieve the baby tooth. As I slipped my hand into the pillow to get the tooth, my girl who sleeps through EVERYTHING immediately opened her eyes and said "What are you doing?!" I told her I was heading to bed and just wanted to check to see if the Tooth Fairy had come yet. Whew! I thought I had just blown the whole Tooth Fairy thing before she ever got to enjoy it! Fortunately she believed me, and just asked if she had come yet or not. I told her the tooth was still there and that she was probably waiting for Mommy & Daddy to go to bed too so that we wouldn't see her. She laid her head back down and drifted right back to sleep.

Not wanting to be caught again, I was struggling with whether to make my second attempt at the tooth/clue exchange before going to sleep or to wait until the middle of the night (or early morning). Also, I didn't want her to wake up and find the clue in her pillow before the morning because I REALLY wanted the treasure hunt to happen when it was light out, not in the wee hours of the night. Before falling asleep around 1 a.m., I decided to try again (in hopes of turning off my 3 a.m. alarm clock setting), and this time I was successful! Go Tooth Fairy!

After that, everything went exactly as I had hoped! Annabelle woke up to her alarm clock in the morning, found the first clue, and immediately came to show me! I helped her read the first clue, and she immediately found the second. She ran around collecting clues, getting more excited with each one that she found! While she collected clues, she told me that the Tooth Fairy probably gave her clues because she knew that she loves treasure hunts. She also complimented the Tooth Fairy's drawing and coloring skills (especially on the Wii Fit game), and she told me a story about how she actually saw the Tooth Fairy in her loft when she opened her eyes for a second. She said that she only saw her head with beautiful long blonde hair and her pink wand, and she thinks she didn't see anything else because she left quickly when she saw that Annabelle was awake. The whole time Corgan was on her heals helping her to find the next clue. It was priceless!

When she finally found the "prize" special dollar bill, she was on cloud 9! She loved that the Tooth Fairy wrote her name and the date on her special dollar AND that she loves coloring so much that she colored on the dollar bill too!

After Annabelle's hunt was done, Corgan said "Okay, my turn now!" When I told him that he was going to have to wait until he lost his first tooth to get to do a treasure hunt from the Tooth Fairy, he was totally bummed!

Annabelle asked to bring her dollar to school so that she could share about it in front of her class. She assured me that another friend had taken her dollar in a few days earlier, so I let her bring it (and cleared it with her teacher before she took it into the class). When I picked Annabelle up from school, she was so proud to be able to be wearing her tooth necklace and her teacher told me all about how well Annabelle did telling her class all about her tooth experience.

I am having a hard time believing that my baby is old enough to have lost a tooth, but I never imagined that this experience would be so much fun for her! She has been giddy about it all day long, telling me her "I saw the Tooth Fairy" story and about how she keeps reaching for her tooth to wiggle it only to remember that it's already gone! She has also commented many times that she can't bite her fingernails now because she doesn't have a tooth there. Her "Thankful For" again tonight was losing her tooth. I love her excitement, and I loved being her Tooth Fairy! I can't wait for Corgan's turn!