Necktarines

Ever since Madeline was a wee little babe, I have been nibbling and kissing on her.  As a parent of beautiful and healthy chubby babies, I have truly enjoyed their deliciousness.  I love how their little arms and legs look like they have rubber bands on them... and lets face it: chubby knees! Hello! How can a person resist chubby knees on a baby? And those toes! Those toes that look like they aren't really a part of the foot and as if you could just pluck them off like a grape. 

For fun, and as a way to make my girls giggle in anticipation of being nibbled and ticked on, I gave each scrumptious little part a name; a name that referred to a food.

Food = Delicious = My little babies... you get it. 

Necktarines = That little neck - the one that seems to go deeper than a mine.  The one that is almost impossible to get completely clean. I think I found a boot in Abigails neck the other day.

Corn on the cob = the arm.  I like to nibble up and down the arm as if I am eating some corn on the cob. I say, "Can mommy have some corn on the cob?" and they giggle and giggle.

Peach cobbler = peach pit = armpit (it's a stretch but you get it).

Orange slice = naval (naval oranges)

Turkey leg = the upper leg or thigh area = chub central! I love it!

Cherry toe-ma-toes = toes. The word "toe" is (sort of) in their twice people. It just made sense.

Anyway, so the other day I asked Madeline if I could have some corn on the cob, and I grabbed her arm and began to chomp - our normal routine.  And instead of giggles and squirming with excitement she pulled her arm away and she said,

"I'm NOT food mom!"

I was stunned. shocked.  startled... and then? Sad.  My little girl is growing up. 

Thank God for Abigail.  And then when she grows up?
Well, I guess I will just have to keep having babies forever and ever. Or maybe that's what GRANDbabies are for. 

Wait.  I just realized something.
I am raising my children in a different country than the one I grew up in.  They are being exposed to the WORLD and all kinds of people. As we begin travelling more they are being exposed to all kinds of places.  A smart person can only deduce from this that the likelihood of my children living close enough to me for me to have regular access to their children to nibble on is UNlikely or a very low percentage.  Do you realize what this means???!!! We need to buy a jet.

Update On Our Dear Abby

May 1st Abigail will already be 4 months old.  The time has gone by so ridiculously fast, and as it was with Madeline, it feels like Abigail has always been here with us. She totally belongs here and fits in so well with our little family. 
Abs currently wears anywhere from a size 6 month to a size 12 month in clothing - depending on the brand - and most people are quite surprised at her age when I tell them.  They always assume she is older.  Both of my babies were healthy, chubby babies and both of them have been very good at nursing. This is a true blessing in my life!  I know some mothers have a difficult time nursing and it has always been so easy and wonderful for me and my girls. 

Abigail can hold her head up very well now.  She absolutely LOVES tummy time.  Madeline never liked tummy time and would not spend more than a second or two on her tummy before screaming like I was torturing her.  Abigail on the other hand wants to do it all day long.  She has been working at holding her head up for several weeks now. She grunts and moans and arches her little back... she wants to move SO badly. She squiggles and wiggles so much that she often scoots herself down her chair and he legs will hang off. I will be really surprised if she isn't walking at around 9-10 months. 

Abigail can roll all over the place and if I happen to leave her on her blanket during tummy time, for just a second or two, I will sometimes find her on the other side of the room.

She is also already trying to push her little bum up in the air and move her legs and crawl.  She just needs to work on her arm strength now.

Because of all the moving, Abs is on 24-hour surveillance. Someone is always watching her to make sure she isn't on her face or rolling out the door.
Abigail loves music.  Whenever we sing to her she gets the biggest smile on her face and she begins moaning along with us.  When she is sad her sister sings the ABCs or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her and she immediately stops crying.

From birth, Abigail has been very vocal.  We have anywhere from 5 to 20 minute conversations sometimes. She just makes goo goo ga ga coo noises over and over.  Sometimes Abs will sing with Madeline or me when we sing to her.  She has a beautifully clear voice and good pitch.

Tubby time is so much fun! She kicks her little legs like crazy. The other night she was kicking so fast some water splashed in her face. At first she was startled and almost cried, but then she started giggling.

Abigail wiggled down her chair with legs hanging off.

She loves peek-a-boo and when we pull faces at her and surprise her.  She also loves to be held and will get very upset if we don't let her sit up on our lap or give her hugs and kisses.

Her sad face is the saddest face that has ever existed.  It makes me want to cry.  So we try to keep her happy!!

Abigail has recently discovered her hands and loves looking at them. She also loves playing with her little chew cow and her sheep. 

From the beginning I have felt a very close bond with Abigail Lily.  Her soul is a mature soul, and at times I feel like she totally understands what is happening around her. She always has this look on her face like she knows something I don't know.  Sometimes it freaks me out, but most of the time I just feel a sense of awesomeness for being chosen to be her mother.

I love how different my girls are and that I can still love them both so unconditionally... being a Mother to these two girls has been the biggest, most important calling and blessing in my life!

Madelinisms

Paul is sitting on a chair in our dining room holding Abigail, Madeline is standing next to him, and I am in the kitchen cleaning up dinner.  Abigail begins to cry:

Madeline - "Ohh Abigail, it's okay. Mommy is right there (pointing to me).  Yook at your mommy. She's right there. Isn't she beautiful Abigail?"
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Every morning Madeline asks me for her gummy vitamins like this:

Madeline - "May I have some gummy vitamins please yes you may thank you!"

She just has the whole conversation herself so there is no confusion as to what should happen.
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Tonight at dinner:

Madeline - "Ohh, I'm hungry Mom, so you fix me dinner, yeah, thank you!"
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When being put in time out:

Madeline - (screaming and crying) "I'm SO FYUSTRATED MOM!!"
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While opening a box full of candy and toys from her Grandma:

Madeline - "Ohhhhh, Holy cow! I yuuuuvvv candy! Yook Mom!! YOOK!!"

Happy Easter

Each of the holidays we have spent here have turned out to be pleasantly fun and meaningful.  I think people go above and beyond here when it comes to holidays in the compound because certain ones are forbidden by law from being celebrated for religious reasons.  Being forbidden to do or say something only makes one want to do it even more... strange how that works. 

So this was our first Easter here in Saudi. The entire weekend has been very fun and exciting with friends and egg hunts and craft activities and lots and lots of candy and running around until we were dead tired. It has been really wonderful.

We've also done a few things for ourselves, for our own little family. Now that Madeline is a little bit older and can understand a little bit more, the holidays have been really exciting for her.  I've tried to teach her the meaning of these religious holidays - what they are really all about - but I think this is more of an endeavor I will attempt next year because I get two seconds into an explaination and she is too busy making her toes talk to each other.

I remember in elementary school, on St. Patrick's Day, a teacher of mine once put little green footprints all over the walls and desks to make it look like a leprechaun had visited while we were away to lunch or recess.  So I took that idea and painted little rabbit paws all over our floor. 

Madeline was totally blown away, slightly concerned (that a rabbit could get in our house from the back door), and genuinely impressed with the display.

She spent a good amount of time trying to rub the footprints off the floor and seeing if she could hop in the same exact place as the bunny did. 

Mr. E. Rabbit left her some lovely Eastery shakers, some candy, and some lovely new jewelry.  He also decided to take a little taste of Kitty's food apparently. 

And then, rumor has it, he just POOF! Disappeared to go back to the forest and prepare for next year(because mommy was sick of painting feet at that point).

We actually celebrated Easter on Friday morning because that is our "Sunday" here in Saudi Arabia.  It crept up kind of fast on us.  On the real Easter, a work day for Paul and a school day for Mads, we basically had a regular day.  But every day with my cute little family is a holiday, and every day we remember those who have sacrificed so we can have a better life. Happy Easter!

 

Momma's B-Day

Today is my Momma's birthday.  How do I write what I feel about this woman?  I just don't believe there are words that can properly express the love and admiration I have for her. She is my best friend and loves me unconditionally - like a mom should love her children.  She gives the best hugs.  She always, ALWAYS knows what to say.  She is an amazing cook! She has a talent and a gift to heal others.  She is the mother of all mothers!

Happy Birthday to you Momma!  I love you forever!

Precious Rap

Whatever happened to that cat we used to have?  Oh you mean, Precious Kitty?

We still have her!

Kitty took a backseat when Madeline was born, and now that Abigail is here? Let's just say I feel awful on a regular basis for the neglect of this poor little cat.  In spite of it all, Kitty keeps active - attacking chair legs; running really fast on the wood floor in the middle of the night; hiding outside a door so she can jump out and scare the crap out of us when we leave a room; attacking toys Mads may have left out; Meowing an opera downstairs at least once a week around 3 in the morning; puking on all my rugs; hangin' in the garage on the car; hangin' in the backyard meowing at birds... she's a good kitty, and I make it a point to give her a nice scratch and a pet each night.  She always comes and sits by me whenever we are relaxing or watching a movie.  She brings a smile to our faces on a regular basis... wait. Did you just read that? 

"She brings a smile to our faces on a regular basis."  - that TOTALLY rhymes and would be awesome in a rap song. Lemme see what I can come up with off the top of my head:

K. I. T. T. uh T. T. Y.,
Kitty sits and whines at birds who fly in da sky.
She's a maniac at night when she chases her tail
Betta watch urself girl, when you jump o'er that rail. (Mee-yow!)
Don't worry 'bout dat feline, she will land on all fours
But if she don't! watch herself! she can run into doors! (Hay-ohhhh!!)
She eats like a horse, we're alwayz fillin' her bowl...
S'okay, with nine lives, livin' long is da goal!
She's hangin' like a dog, waitin' for some dropped dinner
in a race down the hall, she is always the winner
She twitches in her sleep, and makes a lot of weird noises,
Must be dreamin' 'bout the times little Mads takes her toyses.
She brings a smile to our faces
on a regula-lar basis
oh yeah we love our Kitty, Kitty, Kitty Kitty - Mee-YOW
I said, we love our kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty - Mee-yow!
K. I. T. T. uh T. T. Y.,
I said uh
K. I. T. T. uh T. T. Y.,
Hollaaaaaaa
K. I. T. T. uh T. T. Y.,
Preciousssssss (in a whisper)
Peace (Spoken while holding up the peace sign and a kitty toy).

I would totally buy that on iTunes.

Easter-a-thon

It's exciting and calming to know that you can be invited to someone's house for an Easter breakfast and be so comfortable, and have so much fun that all of the sudden it is 7:30 pm.  We are making some really amazing friends here, family, in Saudi and I just love it.

If today were to be expressed in a word collage this is what it would read like:

Good morning, sunshine, smiles, welcome, comfortable, craftiness, Nemo, happy kids, K went pee pee - Yay! Yay!, B went pee pee - Yay! Yay!, M went pee pee - Yay! Yay! Egg casserole with Jimmy Dean sausage, pancakes, fruit, blue berry danish, orange juice, cold water, my own personal tea pot with yummy vanilla tea, chatting, hugs, running in circles, keyboards, drums, puzzles, stories, trains, laughing, pictures, movies, future travel plans, window painting, egg huntin', swinging, sliding, relaxing, snacks, "Luke I am your father," cuddles & tummy time, sharing, "hi!" running, pizza, wontons, Easter baskets, smiles, thank you, hugs and goodbyes, quiet soft cool night, tubby time, stories, loves and sleep.
Some pictures from today (in no particular order because I don't want to organize them right now):


Yummy fruit tray I brought

 

K & K doing an Easter craft



The Man - he totally got into decorating his Easter craft

The kids getting ready to hunt for eggs

Sliding

J with K & M running and laughing. It was a cute moment.

Sweet T, calling for her Dada and looking adorable.

K with her Dad swinging really high and fast!

M, J, and K watching Star Wars!

A and The Man watching Star Wars

The kids swarming The Man because he had candy

Story time in the playroom

F reading to the kiddos

An EGGcellent woman and friend

Cute little rice krispy baskets with coconut grass, skittles, peanut M&Ms, and gummy worms and frogs

A delicious blueberry bread danish homemade by K

The Beginning of Something.

Everyday I check my blog to see if something new has been posted.  Nothing. What the Frederick? So I've decided to start small.  Little posts of tid bits. One EACH day.  Even if it's just a picture of something... I must do better. 

I do have something to talk about today though, so...

Today Madeline and I were invited by a new friend of ours to an Easter egg hunt activity.  I've known Jennifer about a year now. I met her when we first moved to Saudi Arabia.  She invited me to a playgroup. She was actually the first person to ever invite me to a playgroup.  I wonder if she knows that.  Now, a year later, I am this playgroup freak! She also made me bread once and it was Ca-razy good.  Anyway, I say "new friend" because, although we have known her about a year, we have really only spent a small amount of time with her and her family.  She has a daughter who is a little older than Madeline, who Mads just loves, and two sons, and a very nice husband. She is one of those people who you immediately trust. A genuine, real person, who means well, and tries to make others feel welcome and happy.  A good person. She is also a Mormon.

I don't talk much about religion on here, and I'm not going to start to get too deeply into it at this moment. That will be another time... maybe. But it does have a little bit to do with what I am writing so that is why I mentioned it. 

So I got the sweets all dolled up in her little Easter skirt and sun hat and we headed over to the activity.  When I first drove up and saw all the people sitting on a blanket near the field I glanced and saw no one I recognized.  It wasn't until I saw a familiar face that I got out of my car and headed over.  As we were walking over I did that thing I do when I am nervous sometimes - I acted like I was talking to someone when I was actually really just moving my mouth to look like I was talking to someone. Only this time I really felt like an idiot when I realized what I was doing because the only person near me was Madeline - who was busy trying to collect as many sticks off the ground as she possibly could.  I did that mouth thing in school as a child... NO idea why I thought it made me look less alone.  In retrospect, I probably looked like a psychotic loner loser as opposed to just a regular loner loser.

After some initial "who are you?" stares and some introductions to a couple of friendly folk, the festivities began. They had cute little egg-shaped, bubble necklaces for the kids and there were plastic eggs spread all over the field for them to find.  Madeline had so much fun running all over the place finding eggs to put in her basket.  And when she discovered there was CANDY in them... those eggs were cracked and eaten in less than 5 minutes.  She recognized and enjoyed playing with a couple of her little friends from playgroup and play school and seemed very at ease and comfortable. 

I love my little girl.  I love her so much, and I love watching her interact with other people socially.  She really is a sweet, friendly little twerp.  And her energy level has no limit. 
We had a good time.  It was nice.  I was glad we went, and glad Jen invited us.

It was my first actual activity with the LDS here and it, strangely, reminded me of home. Weird, considering I do not know most of the people that were there.  Yes, some looked at me funny - or was that just me and my brain being tricksy? Some came up and introduced themselves. Some faces were familiar and nice to stand next to and talk to.  But that familiar Utah feeling I sometimes had growing up, that togetherness that I haven't felt in a long time, was there, and it was nice.  How cool is that?  I remember after the activity was over, driving home and feeling almost as if I had entered a different world for an hour or so and now I was leaving it and coming back to reality.

So this activity, although small, and not a big deal to most, was a good thing.  It has made me think. Thinking is good.

The reality is – I need to make some decisions.  Decisions about a lot of things, but in particular, what I want to teach my girls about life and about God.  What kind of people I want them to be around.  It's not just ME now.  I think about it a lot, especially now that Madeline is beginning to try us and test our patience and parenting abilities on a minute to minute basis.  The people we allow her to interact with do, and will always, have an influence and effect on her and how she behaves and on the choices she makes.  I am genuinely concerned that she grow into a well adjusted, happy, successful, well rounded adult who loves her fellow man and knows what is really important in life - and it scares the crap out of me.  

So THIS is what it is to be a parent and to really love someone with every fiber of your being (as my mom always says). These little people are totally dependent on us. Is there even a word to describe how frightening that is? But at the same time, God sent these little angels to us.  He is giving us the job to raise them - so we must have done SOMETHING right and I can find peace in that.  
Every person has these thoughts and feelings at some point in their life, right?  I feel like living here, in this country where certain beliefs are forbidden to be publicized or practiced and believing in certain things can be dangerous, that  those of us living here are strongly compelled, even forced, to examine our souls and what we ourselves truly believe in - even more than a person may need to living somewhere else in the world.  I'm thankful for that.