unspoken rules... and I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!!

okay, so you know how there are just unspoken rules.  i mean, you don't ask a women if she is pregnant.  or her age.  or how many times she's had plastic surgery.  or if she is considering it.  or her weight.  

but, my new favorite...  are you having twins?  some woman (yeah, a WOMAN of all people) told me today that there were really two babies in my belly.  now, aside from three high level ultrasounds, two by experts in their field and two 3-d ultrasounds, IT'S JUST RUDE!!!  

on another note.  i have the best husband ever!  he came home yesterday to a wife who wasn't feeling very good, and a girl who really wanted to do the pookie dance.  what a sweet man.  he got a new job (that he starts in a few weeks).  on friday night, i went to his farewell party.  it's so fun to hear everyone talk about what an amazing man you married!  i mean, i know it, but it's awesome to hear it from their perspective!  he's so smart and driven...  i just love him!

besides that, he is letting me go away for the WHOLE weekend!!!  with my three SD besties.  all WITHOUT KIDS!!  (you should see the size of my smile!!!)  what a good man...  and did i mention that it's superbowl weekend.  I LOVE YOU, DAVID HAILE!!!

eating...

so, nora has discovered that she can, with fairly good success, eat using utensils.  now, by fairly good success, i mean, make it to her mouth about half the time, and end up with quite a bit of food covering her face, hands, clothes and bib (which we now use again!!).  but, she wants to do it on her own.  both meals yesterday, she insisted that she eat on her own.  it's kind of nice, because i can eat or do something else in the kitchen while she eats, but it does take significantly more time and clean-up!  again, a huge reason we have our dog!!!  she is the perfect toddler cleaner-upper!  it's also fun to see nora want to do things on her own and try to establish her independence in a good way, and not with temper tatrums on the floor!!!

she also loves to say "hi".  to anyone and anything, anytime and anywhere.  from people in the grocery store or library to the birds and airplanes overhead.  this morning, we heard the garbage truck, and nora thought it sounded like an airplane, so she walked around saying "hi ai-pane".  all day yesterday, there were birds chirping.  so, nora said "hi bi-dy" all day long!  it's so sweet.  and she will say it until i acknowledge that she is saying it.  i do feel bad when people ignore her.  she tries so hard to be friendly!!!

chair....

sadie has been behaving so nicely recently!  when we leave, we tell her "sadie, chair".  and she gets in her (david's) black leather chair.  sometimes, it takes a slightly raised voice, but she does it.  and stays there until we are out the door.  today, we got home and sadie was a little excited.  nora looked at her sternly and said "chair".  

for Christmas, nora got a birthday cake.  it has two separate layers, candles and flames.  i finally have organized her room, and each toy has a place to go (which also means that i have finished unpacking all of her suitcases of toys from Christmas!!!)  so, today, she and david had a cake party while i cooked dinner.  i went in to check on them, and nora looked at me, pointed and said "chair".  i understood... i was supposed to sit in the chair and partake of the cake.  i obeyed!  when we were "done" eating our cake, nora got up, got an empty plate, and set it on the floor.  then, she said "sissy" (which is what she calls sadie).  david and i laughed... when we are done eating meals, david will take the plates and put them on the floor for sadie to eat the scraps!!!  what an observant child!  

the highlight of nora's day the other day was to walk around in my shoes.  she had so much fun, and kept saying "shoes... shoes".  it was so cute.  

just one pic

so, here is the first pic of the new car...  mostly for the color, since everyone has been asking!  but, we love it.  nora even says "new car car".  it's so cute.  we went to visit a friend today who has a new baby (almost two weeks old).  nora was so sweet with him.  she tried so hard to push him in the swing (surprisingly gently), and kept walking by him and saying "shhh...".  it was so cute.  she really didn't want her new friend woken up.  

we don't go shopping together a lot, mostly because david is home so early.  so, shopping becomes my break.  grocery, mall, target, you name it.  but, we went to bed, bath and beyond and ikea today.  nora held one of the boxes i put into the cart, and didn't put it down the whole trip.  i think she thought she was being such a big help!  plus, she's SO friendly.  she says hi to EVERY single person that walks by.  i feel so bad when she gets ignored!  

new car

so, i my car was 10 years old.  we decided after the last major repair that that was it.  when it went again, we would get a new one.  or, we would get a new one before james came.  so, last week, it went.  i spent a few days driving it while it shook and sputtered.  not so much fun!  on monday, nora went to play with jeffrey ("jeff-jeff) and his dog brindie ("bindy") while we went car shopping.  you can see that nora and jeffrey have a lot of fun together!!!  (there are also a few more pics from this weekend, including nora on the carousel.  but, she only had fun with daddy... screamed when i took her on!  and, she got her first taste of cotton candy!!)

okay, back to my car.  they took my old one, with 170,000 miles on it, off of our hands and gave us a little towards my new one.  i ended up with a 2007 honda pilot!  it's beautiful, and doesn't shake.  in fact, when i got to bible study today, i was making sure i had everything, then went to get my keys.  i realized that i hadn't turned off the car, but couldn't even hear it!!  ahh... new cars!!!

so, this weekend, nora had about 10 seconds alone with the computer.  i was in our room getting ready for church, and david was gathering up stuff.  in that 10 seconds, she renamed our hard drive, figured out how to open documents (david and i can't even do that on our new computer yet!!!), and named them, and also opened up a weird website!!!

today, i went to bible study.  david called while i was there, so i called him back (it's RARE for him to call me during the day...).  he said he got a phone call from our home number and thought maybe nora had picked up the phone and dialed (she has dialed 911 before...).  since nora was with me, the only option was the dog.  somehow, she managed to get the phone, scroll through our directory and call david's cell phone!!!  

how is it that our dog and 17 mo old are so technologically savvy???

speaking of the dog... a quick update, as i seriously knock on wood!!!  we boarded her over christmas.  she stayed with the woman who fostered her.  since getting back, she has been a FABULOUS dog!  she goes to her chair every time we leave, and just stays there.  there has only been one stuffed animal casualty (and i think the batteries were eaten out of it... we'll see...) and otherwise, a WONDERFULLY behaved dog.  alright... i am going to knock on wood again!!!  

slacker...

alright... so i slack at this!  but, here is a video from this weekend.  nora thinks her daddy is about the funniest thing in the world.  i can try to imitate what he does, but it does not elicit the same response from her.  sad.  running around outside is a favorite pastime.  she just wanders from one side of the yard to another.  it's quite cute.  she really likes to make noise in the leaves.  at least she now knows that she has to have shoes on before going outside, so she will stand at the door and say "shoes".  

stef (auntie coco) came to visit this weekend.  nora had a great time with her!  she wouldn't let mom do anything!  all she wanted was coco.  when she woke up from her nap after coco left, she was so disappointed.  we had brunch on friday at our favorite spot in la jolla.  then, we went for a walk around the water.  i had to laugh at the memory of being here many times before.  one in particular (i posted the pic.... from early 2004).  how my life has changed!  

nora has an ever growing vocabulary.  she loves airplanes, and will say "air- pain" whenever she hears a loud noise overhead.  she also loves choo-choo's.  she now knows the exact spot where the trolley goes over the highway on our drives, and says "choo-choo" whenever we get close!  

her new favorite song is "row, row, row your boat".  it's known to nora as "row, row".  actually, she says it as a question... "row, row??" while doing the sign for more.  then, she pumps her arms like she is rowing a boat.  i think she can sing the "merrily, merrily" part, too!

home again, home again...

we are back in san diego... and just in time.  it snowed over 12 inches in twinsburg the day we left!!!  but on saturday, we went to the beach!!  i have to say, while it was fun to be home and on vacation, it is good to be home.  we enjoyed this weekend, at the beach and catching up with friends.  and i think nora was most excited to see her sadie dog (whom she calls "sissy" now).  i think even more than daddy!  we do laugh, because she has no problem saying dada, but can't get the "d" in sadie. 

on the way home from the airport, nora starting saying "choo-choo".  it took us a few minutes to realize she was seeing the trolley that runs near the highway at some points.  choo-choo's are a new favorite.  

right now, she is sitting with me on the couch, her arm linked around mine and resting on her brother.  it's so cute!  we went to visit a friend who had a baby this weekend, and nora really didn't know what to do with this tiny baby.  she just stared!  

yesterday, david was playing robot with her.  she would run, and he would act like a robot as he chased her around the house.  she thought it was the FUNNIEST thing ever.  i don't think i have ever heard her laugh that hard!  unfortunately, it was right during the middle of the football game.  so, after about 15 minutes, i felt bad for david, and decided to be the robot instead.  she started running off, turned to see if he was coming and saw me instead.  she stopped and said "no", while shaking her head vehemently!  it was cute to see that she was having so much fun with daddy!!!  i tried not to take too much offense!!

it's over...

today is the day that makes christmas feel officially over... everyone was back to doing the things they usually do (school, work, etc).  my mom even started taking down her decorations (thankfully, i took ours down before we left, so i won't have to face them this weekend!!!)  we are still in ohio for the week...  and enjoying it. except my lips are so chapped i am not sure they will ever be normal again.  one more reason that christmas should be in san diego next year!  

thankfully, the rest of our travels went without a hitch.  we got upgrades on the rest of our flights, and everything was relatively on time.  we had a wonderful time in boston, and now twinsburg.  it's been a very relaxing few weeks for me.  i think i have changed three diapers and held nora twice.  i was starting to worry a little bit, because she would only go to my mom.  actually, anyone but me, but definitely favoring my mom.  she slipped and fell the other day, and chose ME over anyone else!!!  for a good thirty seconds until she lunged again for my mom!  oh well...  my mom keeps telling me i was the same way with my mom-mom!

i took this pic the other day when nora was sleeping.  i love that she still sleeps with her little legs curled up underneath her.  just like when she was days old!  what a big girl she is becoming.  

i forget if i wrote about "bishou".  it was a phrase that nora was repeating over and over again.  one of the first things she seemed to be saying intentionally.  and it was so cute to hear her say it.  well, it's been about a month or so since we first heard it, and since then, nora's vocabulary has increased exponentially.  she loves to talk about airplanes and will point out any car she can see.  she is very good with names, and points at pictures around the house, saying "coco" or "byssa" (my sisters' nicknames, if you didn't know).  we are getting closer to uncle david, and mom-mom and pop-pop sound alike.  she asks specifically for things she wants and is so attentive.  anyway, the other day, she looked at me and said "bean show".  it finally dawned on me that all this time, she meant bean show as she would say "bishou".  (bean show is what we call any tv/dvd/youtube vid that she watches...  all day, she has been walking around asking for "bean show", and it's so hard to deny this sweet little voice of the one thing she wants in this world!

i have, however, denied her on occasion.  i don't want her to watch THAT much tv!  but at least it's only baby einsteins or other educational material!