post a long time coming

I got some advice tonight on raising girls. And this is from a woman that grew up as a girl. "Don't cut the bangs"
What? Why? Are you nuts? Why? "it is just easier. Keep the hair outta her face and let the bangs grow"
OK.(shrugs) As long as momma doesn't object, I don't feel an overwhelming need to cut her hair.






Gma Sandy was over tonight. I missed it because I had an afterwork teambuilding excersize. Jill tells me that our little Kat is into giggling now. I have noticed this week as I have awaken her and changed her and dressed her that everything is a big joke. Pull open her sleeper and she giggles. lightly paddle her bottom while she pulls her feet in the air and she smiles at me.
You can see from the pictures above, she has a cute smile.
Last night, Kat went to a BBall game. The bird that took her, Robin, tells us that she doesn't like applause. But she does like people. She won many hearts last night with her shy smile and cute laugh.
Even as Jill makes banana nut blueberry bread, little Kat finds things to laugh about.

One tired day

Today was one of those mornings that no one wanted to wake up.

Kat woke up Jill at 5am. Who in turn poked me on the shoulder and told me that Kat was awake.

I went down to find Kat's pacifier and plug her mouth. This was one of those rare occassions that Kat wanted more than that. So I changed her and then plugged her and patted her to go back to sleep.

By the time I got back upstairs it was 520 and the time that Jill gets into the shower. So I turned on the light and stripped back the covers. Jill was less than appreciative. She DEFINITELY didn't want to wake up. So I pinched her hiney to get her moving. With a lot of grumbling, she got out of bed. As she walked past the dog kennel, she opened the door for Maddie. Maddie didn't even stand up. She raised her head as if to say, "what is the matter with you people?"

And when I got out of the shower and went to turn on Kat's light and give her bottle, she gave me the same growly bewildered look I am coming to recognize. "what do you think you are doing?" she seems to demand of me. (sigh) It is rough being the only morning person in the house.

On a different subject, tonight Maddie and Kat got together briefly. Jill went in to see what Kat was up to in her crib and Maddie tagged along. Kat stuck her arm through the crib slats and maddie licked it. Then Kat stuck her face against the crib slats and Maddie scooted forward, stretched out her neck and licked Kat's face.

This was the opportunity that Kat was waiting for. With her arm still through the crib slats, she grabbed ahold of Maddies fur on her head and grabbed one ear and pulled. Maddie wimpered a little bit but didn't retaliate in any way. This is hopefully a sign that the two of them will get along without bloodshed. We will see.

We are teaching Kat and Maddie sign language. So far, they are both picking it up about the same. Not much.

giving it up for others

Today I would just like to suggest that you go to www.sweetenedtaters.blogspot.com and wish the cutest group of triplet girls a happy birthday. They came into this world at 28 weeks and weighed a pound each (actually a little less). The fact that they are still here is a testament to modern NICU medicine. Leave a comment for them to wish them a happy birthday.

Then, I would like EVERYONE to say a prayer for a little 5 year old girl named Madi. She is at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and is having her brain operated on to remove a tumor.
She, like all of us, has a lot to live for and we want her to enjoy many years so that she may experience all of the wonders that most of us have taken for granted all of our lives. Include her in your prayers. Include her parents and brothers in your prayers.
Go out today and practice a random act of kindness for a stranger or an acquaintance.

Well, no wonder

Kat woke us up before 3AM this morning with a yowl. When I went downstairs to find out what her problem was, I discovered that she really wasn't awake. She was pretty uncomfortable, though. I would like to know why she wedged herself in the corner of her crib. I think if I woke up to find my head wedged in a corner I would howl, too!

Carpooling adjustments

Some of you may have heard that I wrecked my truck. This is simply not so. I was merely driving it when it went into the ditch. I assure you, I did not drive it into said ditch. I was just a passenger to its whims. As was the Kat. And no, it wasn't in 4Wheel Drive at the time.

That being settled, Jill and I are working VERY hard to get along with only one car. (No, I didn't have that rider policy on my insurance that pays for a rental. Yes, I do now.) Part of the pain of car pooling is that Jill has 15 hours of class each week and is trying to make up all of that time. So she wants to be at work by 7am to accomplish her goal. This means that she has to wake up earlier in the morning than she prefers. She isn't a morning person that bounds enthusiastically out of bed. Come to think of it, I pretty much have to turn on the lights and steal all of the covers (and pinch her hiney as a last resort) to get her moving in the morning. I have known since the week we got married that she isn't a morning person. That is OK. I am.

However, since we are trying to get out of the house early, Kat has to be wakened earlier than she is used to. At about 6am, I turn on the lights, pull back the covers, and flip her over to give her bottle to her.

And I laugh. The confused, bewildered look that she gives the world in general is so cute. "Why would you do this to me?" she seems to ask of me. "What were you thinking? What kind of imbecile are you?" she appears to accuse of me with her face scrunched up and scowley. Then I shake her bottle to get her attention and her eyes pop wide open. She would recognize that sound in the middle of a tornado. She reaches for the bottle, "You aren't forgiven, but this makes it a little bit more bearable." she seems to say. "Don't let it happen again." as she sucks down her breakfast.

I notice another parallel between Kat and her mother. Not only is Jill not a morning person, but I get TONS of extra points if I have an ice cold Mt.Dew waiting for her when she comes out of her scalding shower. After preparing Kat's bottle and my cereal, I will take a fresh can upstairs and put it on her vanity so she will see it right after toweling and putting on her glasses. Before she takes another step I will hear that distinctive sound of a can of pop being opened. Kat gets the bottle, Jill gets the Dew, I get forgiven for one more day.

PS. I fed Kat beans tonight and was the most successful I have been so far. She ate about 1/2 a container!

The face of failure

I work in Corporate America. I have been facing challenges in my job that have been very frustrating for me. I imagine I am pretty much normal in this regard. I would expect that everyone at some time or another has looked for a sign or more direction or something that will give me a clue as to what to do. It isn't always possible to develop a fact based decision tree to direct your actions. But somebody hired me and gave me enough rope to hang myself, er, trusted me enough to expect that I will make the right decisions.
Most people are afraid to fail. Throughout our lives there is a stigma attached to failure that is difficult to escape. No one wants to fail. And should a person fail, they frequently will try to hide that episode and not let anyone know about it. Why is that? Other than embarassment, few people find out what the penalty for failure really is. Chances are that for most of us, embarassment is the most we will pay for making a mistake. It takes quite a bit to lose your job for failing at a project. You aren't likely to lose your house or all of your possessions for a failed business.
While you shouldn't dwell on something that is not as successful as you had hoped, you should be able to learn from it.
The opposite side of the coin is that everyone wants to be successful. Can you be successful if you don't make decisions? A measure of success is making decisions that don't work out and how well you recover from them. By learning, you have a better chance at making a better decision next time.

New years watchin' FOOTBALL

After daddy shoveled the driveway from that beautiful snow that we got this morning, daughter and daddy reclined on the couch to watch Texas Tech take on Virginia at the Gator Bowl.

The start of a New Years day tradition?

BTW, I was talking to Jill about the beard that I grew over the holidays. I thought I looked sorta like Russel Crowe in Gladiator. Jill thinks I look like a bum she saw sitting on the curb of Division and Rush during St. Patty's Day back in college.

The two aren't mutually exclusive, I don't know what Mr. Crowe was up to back in spring of '92.

how ironic

How ironic is it that all three credit card bills arrived in the mail two days after Christmas. I know we overspent this year. It has been a blessed year for us and we wanted to share with everyone else. But TWO days? The harsh reality of paying for what we spent is upon us. I, myself, in a fit of defiance have resisted opening my statements until this morning. I waited til 'next year' so to speak.

...To grandmothers house we go!

I picked up mom and we took Kat to see Great Gramma. A nice visit was had by all. Lotsa cooing, and gurgling. It was good to spend time together.