Many Things

Isn't that the most precious little girl you've EVER seen in your whole life?

This is one thing Joanna LOVES to do when getting settled for bed. She'll get ALL her babies and put them in bed with her.

Joanna eating at Fuddrucker's -- what a big girl! I took this picture because it reminded me of the first time we took Joanna to Fudd's. She was little bitty, not eating food yet. It stands out to me because she slept in her carseat the ENTIRE time Matt and I had dinner. This was unusual because she usually cried like she was being tortured when riding in the carseat. On this occasion, however, she fell asleep and stayed that way. I guess she knew her Momma and Daddy needed a date. :)
On our last trip to Kroger for some final Thanksgiving-y things, I let Joanna ride in the car cart. I think I've been a little nervous to let her -- like she's going to get into some kind of trouble up there. She LOVED it, of course! She is her father's daughter.

For Thanksgiving this year, we did our usual rounds. I really love not cooking a whole Thanksgiving meal. I'm sure I'll get around to it some day, but I'm happy being fed for now! Our first stop was Matt's brother's house. We ate at 2:00, and Joanna had had just a light lunch in preparation. She'd also had NO NAP -- you'll see the repercussions of that in a moment. She's a BIG fan of Thanksgiving food, especially mashed potatoes... and pie... and fruitcake.

This is Joanna with no nap:

Story behind the mooning streak picture: She had on a very cute pink dress until she pulled a spoonful of dip onto herself. I got her stripped, but she was just too wired for me to dress -- literally: bing-bing-bing! She's just started wanting to pull down her diaper -- nobody talk to me about potty training. We are soooo not there yet!

After a wonderful meal at Uncle Mark's house, we went to my grandmother's house for more family, and yes, more food! I was really sad that my stomach wasn't any bigger than it is. Oh well, I did the best I could. :)

On Friday we all went down my my Aunt Kalli's house in Houston for more family time (more food!) and a little video project.

First, Matt and Joanna enjoying the meal outside.

Yup, that's my Aunt's backyard -- or a small part of it, anyway. Oh, Joanna wanted to swim in that water and climb on those rocks.

Here's the video part: Kalli's living room got all set up for some family story-telling. My grandmother is one of three children, one of whom has passed. I think the main goal of this video time was to get stories of their childhood and the childhood of their children (my mom's generation) on tape for generations to come. Present in my grandmother's generation were my grandmother, my great-uncle Val (her brother) and my great-aunt Pat (his wife). They've been married for a gazillion years. It's cool. Present in my mom's generation were my mom, her brothers John and Mark, her cousins Kim and Kalli (Pat and Val's children), and her cousins Robert, Carl, and Merri (Great-Uncle Brad and Aunt BettiAnne's children. I think the only ones missing of my mom's generation were her two sisters and her cousin Jim. I think that's pretty good, although I know they were missed. My wonderful husband corralled sweet Joanna (again no nap) out in the clubhouse/gameroom thing so I could be inside and watch a lot of the taping. It was really fantastic to listen to the stories. Much of it I'd heard before, but some things were new. For a time when the kids (mom's generation) were growing up, all three families (Brad and Bettianne/Pat and Val/Aurice and Homer) lived on the SAME STREET. Isn't that amazing?! Combined they had 11 kids. I'm not completely sure they were all born at that point, though. (Hey Home Group -- talk about a compound!)

I must say that I truly feel I may have turned the economic situation in this country around with all the shopping I did this weekend. Obviously, I'm kidding, but we did pick up quite a few things we've been meaning to. A lot of my favorite stores had some pretty amazing specials going on. Matt and I have talked about getting a wagon for a while. I've had my eye out on Kingwood Yard Sales, but hadn't found the one for us yet. We broke down and bought one NEW (but on sale, of course!). Joanna thinks it is wonderful, and keeps asking "push."

This next pic is Joanna and Matt on the way into church this morning with her newest thing that she really perhaps doesn't actually need. She LOVES it, though. And she'll actually roll it, meaning Mommy doesn't have to carry it.

I've had this feeling over the past week or two that I really needed to get going getting ready for Baby Sister. I really like the idea of the house being in order before the baby comes. I don't want to be digging through stuff buried in Joanna's closet while caring for a newborn and a toddler. And I want her little nursery corner baby-ready before she comes. It's an obsessive compulsive/anal-retentive/right brain kind of thing. It's the same part of me that finished Christmas shopping by the beginning of October. Ooooohhh, I do need to get some things in the mail, though. And it's the part of me that just might strap the base to the infant carseat into the car this week. Maybe if I make all these preparations, she'll hold off until January! I know I still have a lot of childbirth reading to do. I mean, I remember how it basically works, but a refresher wouldn't be a bad idea.

Here is Baby Sister's nursery corner in our bedroom. I still have a little work to do in there -- but isn't it cute?!

We still have a glider chair to get. I used a rocking chair with Joanna. It belonged to my Aunt Gail and I LOVE IT, but it's in Joanna's room, and a glider really works best for my purposes. Sometimes I like to rock pretty strongly, and the rocker sort of slides across the room until it hits a wall. I may also pick up a few more warm newborn and 0-3 month clothes. I went through all of Joanna's hand-me-downs this weekend. Joanna was born on the cusp of spring, and has quite a few warmer things, but this baby will be here in full-on (Texas style) winter. And our room is a little bit colder than the rest of the house. I actually didn't shop much (or at all) for Joanna's tiny baby clothes, we were given a lot of wonderful things. I think it will be fun to pick out a few tiny outfits! I'm not going to go overboard or anything; we don't know how big she'll be -- she may not even need newborn things!

Tonight we went to the Hanging of the Greens service at church. Joanna did SO WELL sitting with us in church. It's a good thing Rev. Judy was across the aisle from us; she kept Joanna entertained for about the last 15 or so minutes of the service! At one point it was time to pray, and Joanna bowed her head like Judy and put her hands together and closed her eyes. She is so amazing, that girl. I love being a Momma.

Finally, two very cute new Joanna things.

• I've discovered that I can get her to smile by asking her to "say cheese!" I don't know if someone taught her that or if it's an innate reflex we all have, but if I time it just right hitting the shutter button on the camera, we have some cute pics!
• I was singing "Jesus Loves Me" to Joanna the other day before nap when she started to sign to it. I just about lost it; it was so precious. I'm tearing up now just thinking about it. I LOVE Mother's Day Out! Joanna is a much more well-rounded individual than she would be if she was stuck with me all the time.