traveling...

so, last night, i started packing around 6:30 pm for our 9:35 am flight today.  i wasn't worried.  all the clothes were clean and i had my pick.  nora was in bed and david was watching tv.  perfect.  my goal was to be done by 8 pm so david and i could hang out.  would have worked great, except that at 8, when i was done with packing, david decided to get up and do his packing!  and then go to bed, since we were getting an early start. 

our departure time was 6:45 am.  i walked out the door at 6:47 am.  not too bad.  david had loaded the bean and sadie into the car, along with our four suitcases and three carry-ons.  we dropped sadie off (she is boarding at the house that fostered her...) and she was so excited to see this family again.  nora, however, cried when sadie got out of the car.  it was quite sad.  

on our way to the airport.  no problems.  david dropped the bags, the bean and me off and went to park the car.  he got back, and we got through security with no problems.  we did the whole, play with nora, david get breakfast, change nora's diaper one last time, etc until it was time to board.  nora was, again, an angel on the plane.  

THEN, we got to houston.  once there, we found out that our flight was cancelled.  i had my dad make a reservation at the marriott attached to the airport, just in case, while i was on the phone with continental.  i didn't want to be one of those people who get stranded at the airport because all the hotels were full.  

turns out, initially, the best they could get us was another flight on the 24th.  so, we stood in line for two hours and get to leave tomorrow night to go to nyc, then six hours later, finally fly to boston.  not too bad...  about the best you get when you combine bad winter storm, oversold flights and a decreased number of flights in general...

and through it all, nora was an absolute angel!!!  we are now in our hotel room, which is monstrous in size, and just finished our room service.  i guess when you are going to get delayed, this isn't a bad way to do it!  nora can run, climb the stairs (yes, i did say stairs in our hotel room... i told you it was big!!), eat and david can watch football!  and nora is going to sleep in the upstairs bathroom!!  thanks dad!

so, by tuesday morning, we should be in boston...  david decided that all my traveling has paid off, because nora was such a doll all day...

one last cute story... nora has picked up on the fact that i cross my arms (or anyone).  she has started crossing her arms, especially when she sees someone else doing it!  it's so cute.  i will work on getting a picture!

four hours

so, nora's diaper rash is back... and it's miserable.  however, today, she took a FOUR HOUR nap!  four hours.... it was unreal.  now she is so much more cheerful.  her third of four molars is now coming in.  (i think it may all be related).  i had to write about it before i forgot!!!

secondly, i keep meaning to write.  i got some grief about writing about sadie's destructiveness on the blog.  let me also mention that at all other times, she is a fabulous dog.  i have also been learning (in my many discussions with trainers and other dog lovers) that there is a difference between obedience and behavioral training.  we have a behavioral problem.  so, now we have to work to fix something that only happens when we aren't around!  sadie just likes people and doesn't like to be alone!  (she'll fit in well with our social family!!)  we have seen some good improvement this week.  

all that to say, we don't want her known forever as the dog who tried to burn down our house!  rather, maybe just as the dog we love!!!

we had a brunch the other day with some friends...  what a blast!!  we almost have everyone looking at the camera!!  such good friends!  

then, i met another friend at picture people where we were both getting pictures done of our kids.  they got to play in the train afterwards, and ben loved to hug and kiss nora.  she was a little annoyed, but i think it was more tiredness than him...  she was kind of done!  



nora and everett were being so cuddly on the couch!  it was so cute.  everett loved having nora just play with his head!  one of his other friends tried to do the same thing with his head, and he only wanted nora to do it!  it was cute. 

nora loves these glasses!  she just laughs when she puts them on!  

we had fun getting all dressed up for church on sunday.  nora had the cutest tights on with her white sweater dress.  

alright... the last of our events this busy week!  then, packing and off to the winter weather!  

finally... baby james

keep meaning to upload these pictures...  they are SEVERAL weeks old!  all he wanted to do was wave (or push the ultrasound probe away).  what a sweet looking boy!  for all of you who are curious, we have another big ultrasound appointment after christmas.  that's when we will know anything further... and hopefully our last appointment with the specialists!  we shall see...  after that, i should have more information, and will hopefully have a chat with the pediatric orthopedic surgeons about their plans for casting, etc.  we'll see!  

all else is going well for us!  the house is still standing (and we have left sadie home a few times since then...).  she actually has been behaving pretty well this week.  we had been trying some new techniques recommended to us by a trainer...  we are seeing some improvement!  so, that's the story!  

we tried to get nora's pictures done today... she was a little less that cooperative!  but, they still turned out really cute!  she's just so fun to be around!  hugs, smiles, so much love.  she continues to not want to get up out of bed when i go in to get her in the morning.  the other day, i thought she was acting quite tired and needed a nap.  so, i put her in bed, and she just played for an hour!!  

i never realized how much i say certain phrases.  this morning, i was trying to get nora dressed, and grabbed her foot to put on a sock.  she looked at me and said "okay".  she says "okay" all the time now, because apparently i say it quite a bit...  and i hear it now!  what are you going to do?  at least it's something simple!!!  

post #3 for today!!!

when i forward things from my phone, i can't figure out how to get them all into one post... so today you get three!!!  nora found some leftover buckets (they were party favors at her birthday party) the other day.  she loves carrying them around and putting things into them.  her daddy taught her how to put it on her head... so she demonstrated for us on the way home from church.

some new things.  i drop something (or she does) and she says "oh noooooo".  she knows it's Jesus' birthday this month (but maybe not that it means anything yet!  we are working on that!!)  she knows exactly where i leave something (like cookies or snacks) and walks right over to them to get some more.  she now asks to color.  she knows a TON of animal sounds (i think we did a post about that once...)

i have been trying for awhile to get our christmas pictures done.  i knew what i wanted...  so, saturday seemed to be a good day.  david and i both had off and the time.  a friend was going to take them, and he was free.  so, i was determined.  i did, however, neglect to check the forecast.  they were predicting our "winter" storm.  (meaning rain and wind)  so, when we got up on saturday, we noticed it looked a little foreboding.  there were large clouds in the sky.  but, we are 20 minutes from the ocean, so the weather can be quite different there.  

we planned to take pics at 3pm... after a good nap for nora, and my christmas events were out of the way!  it rained quite a bit that morning, but the sky didn't look so bad around 2:30.  we got in the car and it started pouring!  but, i was hopeful.  so we drove to the beach.  it rained the whole way.  we were crossing the bridge to coronado island, when it was suddenly clear and not raining.  i decided to press on!  we got to the beach, and were waiting for our friend, when there was a two minute downpour!  i got to see the most beautiful rainbow!  then it rained again, for another few minutes.  

our friend arrived a few minutes later, and we had perfect (but windy) weather for our pictures.  here are some of nora playing afterwards....  

as an aside... today it is raining horribly and i even saw snow last night on the mountains!!!  it's finally winter here!!!  

a picture...

maybe a new career opportunity?  nora realized that she could take the sink out of her kitchen set the other day, so it sits on top.  i didn't want it to get broken...  but now, she has learned that she can put her head in through that hole!!  cute baby!

why we still have sadie...

so, yesterday, we had a FULL day!  there were too many things to do and not enough time.  we have recently started going to two services at church (instead of going to sunday school, coming home and putting nora down, then watching church online).  it's been nice.  but, yesterday, we also had a christmas concert at 2pm, then another christmas party.  we decided to get a baby-sitter for nora, but that still left us about 5 minutes at home to drop nora off, get lunch, turn around and get back to the concert.  so, after some discussion, we decided to leave after first service.  we stopped and picked up some food, and as we walked up to the house, i could hear the smoke detector going off.  i was pretty sure it was our house!  

we opened the door and were met with smoke!  great....  sadie had managed to knock something onto the stove, then proceed to turn the stove on!  thank goodness (thank God!) we came home when we did.  so, now our house smells a little like burnt popcorn!  

all that aside, i have to comment that the christmas tree was UNTOUCHED!!  as was nora's teddy bear sitting on the floor.  but, the stove...  don't ask me to explain!  we can't figure out a pattern!  i had just been thinking that sadie was doing so well, and maybe we were making improvement!

however, nora LOVES her dog.  maybe she can sense that we were less than happy with sadie, but all morning, she has been hugging and snuggling to her dog, unprompted!  it's so sweet.  she just wants to hug and hug.  

also, i don't ever have to sweep the floor when nora is done eating!  it's wonderful!!!  that being said, sadie is a WONDERFUL dog when we are home.  david has REALLY trained her well...  i know this sounds like an oxymoron, but she is so well behaved when we are around... and we are trying to rectify the problem of when we are gone!!!

sweet baby...

this is how i found her the other morning...  cute baby!

new table!!

playing with her new table and chairs... another christmas gift!  she loves climbing into the chairs.  and she is so good at it.  she will just sit in her chairs and read stories.  she also really can say "sadie" now!  it's so precious.  she gets up from her nap and says "hi sadie"!!!  

what a fun kid.  we enjoy our time together SO MUCH!  more later...

christmas party!!

at our bible study christmas party today...  nora is in this ADORABLE dress, and i really think she knows how cute she looks in it.  it's got a little bit of tuelle, so i think she feels like a princess!  it's so cute.

yesterday, david came home from work in his uniform, and she grabbed his cover and put it on!  what a sweet girl....  maybe fortelling???

 nora has been repeating everything i say recently.  it can be very cute.  it also makes me think of the song we used to sing as kids "oh be careful little mouth what you say".  thankfully the repeated comments have been fairly benign so far, so it just makes me careful about what i say!  

nora is just so much fun!  we are watching little einsteins right, and it apparantly is one she knows well, because she anticipates things that are going to happen.  it's about the three little pigs, so whenever a house gets blown down, she says "oh nooooo!!!"  that's what the video is about!  

last night, i carried on a presley family christmas tradition for the second time by myself (the first since getting married!!)  i made pepparkakker (a swedish cookie).  some of my favorite memories surround the making of this cookie.  it was so fun to make, and nora enjoys them!  i gave her one when she got up from her nap, and she walked right back there after she was done with it, asking for more please!  i made the cookies when she was in bed, but i plan to carry on the tradition with her as she gets older!  

do you ever have those days?

nora on the phone... it's sad that she runs to it when the phone rings!  another new development... david was watching monday night football the other day, and nora came into the family room and said "football" (or something that sounded very similar!!)  sad!  
nora got a new kitchen from mom-mom and pop-pop for christmas (she doesn't know that it's not christmas yet... don't tell her!  we gave her our gift in october!!)  so far, she doesn't have kitchen type toys, but she is content using it to store books and stuffed animals.  she will put one book in, close the door, open the door, put another book in, close the door, open the door and repeat!!  hours of fun!!

david had his christmas party the other night, so we got all dolled up!  quite fun.  


do you ever have those days when everything seems to flow JUST RIGHT?  today seemed to be one of those days.  except that nora woke up at 5:30 am!  i was not too happy.  but, david was getting up, so he brought nora in to snuggle with me.  she just laid there so happy while i tried to go back to sleep!  and get her to go back to sleep!  david got out of the shower and took nora with him while he got ready.  so, i got to sleep in a bit.  i fed nora breakfast, and she was getting sleepy.  so, i put her back in bed.  she protested for a minute, but really didn't cry.  i turned the monitor on and there she was, just talking to herself for about an hour!  i could hear her playing and reading a book.  but, i left her, because i had decided that i was going to tackle my housecleaning!  so, i cleaned the house...  i mean cleaned it!  and i hadn't done that in awhile!!!  (yesterday, nora also got up at 5:30am, so i napped when she did.  on monday, she was teething, and fell asleep in my arms after an hour of crying, so we both napped together...)

so, i cleaned.  the bathroom, the kitchen, the little silver things under the burners that had food caked and baked on them...  after nora played for about an hour, i heard nothing.  so, i assumed she fell asleep, which she needed!!!  i finally got myself breakfast and a friend was due to arrive for a walk and a visit.  

well, no sooner had she walked in then i had to run to the bathroom (yes, my newly cleaned bathroom) and throw up!  i took my vitamins just before eating, and unfortunately, i think that's what caused it (the only two times i have thrown up this pregnancy have been after vitamins...).  i forgot to take them in the middle of my meal instead of the beginning!!  the good news is that i felt better afterwards (which is why i know i am not sick) and we had a lovely walk and visit.  nora also is currently having a great afternoon nap!!!  

meanwhile, i am trying to use our brand new computer and transfer my pictures to the new macbook!  it's fabulous!  hopefully it will inspire me to blog some more!  there you go... that's our day.  and really seems to be working out well!  hope your day is going the same

breaking my heart

in my last post, i talked about nora's sweet way of praying and knowing that Jesus loves her was breaking my heart.  i was thinking today about the MANY ways that your heart breaks as a mom, but no one warns you about...

nora has had a bad diaper rash.  i think it's mostly because of teething.  (which is also something no one tells you about until you are a mom!!  teething is MISERABLE!!!)  but, the other night, she went to the nursery while i had Bible study.  they called me out, because nora wouldn't stop crying, couldn't walk or sit, or let anyone pick her up, because her bum hurt so bad!  i wasn't much consolation, because she was in so much pain, and i just wanted to hold her, which in some way meant touching her bottom to pick her up and carry her!  i was crying right along with her!!!  it is miserable to change her diaper when it's that bad, but i have to, or it gets worse!!  so, my heart just breaks as i make my daughter cry to do something that ultimately is for her good...

that got me thinking about God.  He loves us like a father to His children.  i can only imagine what my sometimes rebellious attitude does to Him.  or when He disciplines me, that it really does hurt Him as much as it does me.  it painted such a clear picture for me of my relationship with God!!!

david had duty on wednesday, which means he doesn't come home until the next afternoon.  when he got home, we were all excited to see him!!!  we played and read stories with nora.  she gave him big hugs and kisses.  then, i turned on some music, and she came over to dance with me.  she came to my legs, and stood there with her arms up and open!  so, i picked her up and we danced.  then, "i loved her first" came on (it's a country song about a father's love for his little girl).  david came over, took nora from my arms and danced with her.  again, my heart broke (but in a good way).  it also makes me fall even more madly in love with the man i married!!!

one of my other favorite things, that breaks my heart in a good way, is when i am busy doing something, and nora comes over and just hugs my legs.  i wouldn't trade that anything else in the world!!!  it is just the most precious thing in the world!!!

i mean... seriously!!

this video could break my heart!!! nora has been learning animal sounds. so, i will ask her, "what does a dog say"... then, my last question is "what does a mommy say?" (mommies say "i love you", and nora will say that to me... in her own language) recently, we have been asking her who else loves her. every time, she says the same thing... "Jesus"! she is so cute!!!

she also is very intent about praying. if i say pray, or thank-you, Jesus, or fold hands, in ANY context (even telling a story to someone else), she folds her hands and bows her head, waiting for me to pray! i am so thankful for these little habits!!


so, several times this week, i have gone in to get nora up from bed. i let her play for awhile, sometimes not going in until she is whining a bit. (the other morning, that was over an hour!!!) i go in, and she'll smile and dance around, but then when i reach for her, she shakes her head "no". i can leave the room and do whatever i need to, until she is "ready" to get up from bed! it's the funniest thing!!! she will even hand me her pacifier and just play and chat. it's SO STINKING CUTE!!!

UPDATE: so, we sat nora down to dinner, and david started feeding her as i cooked. they prayed, she ate. i came to sit down, and nora looked up at me, folded her hands, and bowed her head! everytime i got up to get something, or check something, then sat back down, she got ready to pray again!!! cute baby!!!