A few Christmas pictures

Madelyn in her new Dora pajamas.

Pierce sporting a pair of his new pjs.

After all the gifts were opened Christmas morning, Madelyn chose to play with paper bowls and cups.

Madelyn reassuring Pierce that he got a cool new towel, too.


After we got home from celebrating Christmas with extended family, both kids chose to play with the toys that Madelyn received for Christmas two years ago.

And we're back...

Sort of. Sat. morning we are driving down to Center Cross for Christmas with the Taliaferros. My sister-in-law just got engaged (Yaaaaay, Sarah.) and we will enjoy her engagement party while we are in town. We will be there until Mon. morning.

We left my parents' house a little after 6:00 this morning and arrived home at 1:01 this afternoon. That, in my opinion, is very impressive. The kids traveled great! We only had to stop once each way and Pierce slept like a champ. I will say that the portable DVD player is a modern-day miracle. Madelyn, and Pierce to some degreee, was entertained by Boz, Barney, Elmo, Pooh, and Mickey.

The kids had a great Christmas and received some not so needed toys and some much needed clothes. Madelyn has had a growth spurt and some of her long pants are becoming capri pants. Pierce has been busting out of his pajamas for the last month, but I have resisted buying a larger size b/c I had put the word out that he needed some. My family came through superbly! Madelyn also enjoyed giving some ornaments that she designed to her grandparents.

I received a fabulous new camera and I took a ton of pictures. I need to sort through them, and once I do, I'll post a few.

And we're off...

We're heading out tomorrow morning. JD says, "I think we'll leave around 5:00." I decided 6:00 would be better. Hopefully, what should be 6 hour drive w/no kids will only be a 7-7.5 hour drive. Anyway, if you think about us between the hours of 6:00 am and 2:00 pm, pray that we are all maintaining our sanity.

Just a cute picture

This is a picture of Madelyn and her buddy Jake (or Jakey as she calls him). Margaret and Sean kept Madelyn last week while we went home for Grandmother's funeral. Madelyn informed me that they were watching Boz on Mrs. Margaret's bed. She keeps asking when she gets to see Jakey again, even though she just saw him yesterday! Is it too early for betrothal?

Is this cruel?

Since Pierce became mobile, I've had a difficult time getting good face shots of him. I discovered, though, that if I put him on the steps, he was nervous enough to sit still. I don't go out of reach, and it really is a pretty effective technique for the time being. I know this won't last long, as he will be able to maneuver around this pretty soon. But until then...






And proof of the problem:




For this picture, I think he was deliberately turning his head the other way.

A night out

Two weekends ago JD's office had their office Christmas party. I just haven't gotten around to posting this picture, but it's so rare that I get to dress up, I felt that I should. I thought we looked pretty spiffy.

P.S. Special thanks to Phil Taliaferro for taking this lovely picture.

To lighten my mood...

I did this.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1490155924

You'll have to copy and paste the address into the browser. For some reason the link isn't working.

Odds and Ends

I'm exhausted right now. As soon as I finish posting this entry, I'm going to bed. (It's 8:50 pm as I type this.) In addition to the traveling and the emotional strain of this past week, last night we had two Christmas parties to attend. One started at 6:00. The other at 8:00, so we were able to stay long enough to enjoy both events. However, we did not get home until midnight. We also had to be out of the house by 7:30 this morning because we had nursery duty during the 8:00 church service.

Between the hours of 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm, I cleaned up 4 rounds of throw up. Pierce is sick. I'm praying that we can make it through the night without another vomit episode and also that the rest of the family can stay healthy.

On Monday of last week, Pierce had a well-baby check-up. He weighs 21.75 pounds (70th percentile) and is 31.25 inches long (95th percentile). He's almost given up army crawling and is starting to get pretty quick with "normal" crawling. He can also pull himself to a standing position. He also has four pearly whites.

Okay, I'm going to bed. I have some pictures that I'll hopefully have a chance to post soon. I don't have the energy to go upstairs and get the camera right now.

Sad news

My grandmother died on Monday morning. John David and I flew down to the funeral Wed. and drove back to Vienna on Thurs. with my parents. It's been an emotional, stressful, and sad week. My grandmother suffered a stroke 2 years ago and had been declining in health pretty rapidly over the last few months. We will miss her, but I find hope in the fact that she is now in the Lord's presence and is no longer suffering.

Thanks to our friends the Hills and Haynes for keeping our children over those two days! It helped a lot knowing that they were well cared for.

We will be driving back home for Christmas, and we are looking forward to spending more time with family and sharing more memories of my grandmother then.

November pictures

are posted here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmtaliaferro

Bathtime conversation

I gave the kids a bath last night. Here is a conversation that took place:

Madelyn: Mommy, you need to wash Pierce's ponytail.
Me: Silly, Pierce is a boy. He doesn't have a ponytail.
Madelyn: (laughing) Yes, he does.

I got the kids out of the tub and started putting lotion on Pierce.

Madelyn: Mommy, you need to put lotion on Pierce's ponytail.
Me: You're silly. Pierce doesn't have a ponytail. His hair is too short.
Madelyn: Yes, he does. (pointing) It's right there.
Me: Where?
Madelyn: There! (pointing again) His private parts!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Look what happened at our house today:

Just a couple of inches and it's supposed to be in the 60's next week, but hey, it's the first snow of the year, and Madelyn is fascinated. I don't think she remembers seeing the white stuff last year.

Gingerbread Nativity

Easy, fun, family activity! No baking! Everything included!

That's what the box on the gingerbread nativity said. So, I bought it thinking that Madelyn and I could do it one morning while Pierce napped. Well, let's just say it was not easy! It could be a family activity if everyone in your family is older than 15 AND are all magnificent artists. We didn't have to bake anything and everything was included, but let's just say the box was pretty misleading. Nevertheless, we did our best. Here is our manger scene:

O, Christmas Tree

We picked out our Christmas tree on Sunday, and I must say that it is the prettiest tree we've had so far. It's a Douglas Fir and it smells so good. Here are pre-trim and post-trim shots of our tree.

So many funny things...

On the way home from school today, I heard Madelyn singing in a whisper. The tune sounded familiar, so I asked her to sing a little louder. Here's the song:

We wish you a many Christmas
We wish you a many Christmas
We wish you a many Christmas
And a happy new ear.

I did confirm that it is EAR not YEAR.

Also, the fact that we use the word MERRY and MARY during the Christmas season is very confusing to my two year old. To make things more complicated, in Madelyn's little Bible that we read at night, the Christmas story also mentions that Joseph and MARY were MARRIED. She's definitely having trouble keeping it all straight.

We picked out our Christmas tree on Sunday. As we finished putting the lights on the tree, JD found a gadget that you plug your lights in to and use voice commands to activate the lights. The gadget understands four commands. Depending on how bright you want the lights you say--"Computer, high", "Computer, medium", "Computer, low", and "Computer, off". Madelyn thinks this is great, and I have found her yelling at the tree on multiple occasions. It doesn't understand the word "Bemuter", though.

We babysat our nieces on Saturday, and the girls all had a great time playing together. They decided to do a puppet show entitled, "The Three Little Pigs but Really the Two Little Pigs." Taylor (5 years old) came up with that title. I'm sure Taylor got frustrated with the whole process because she was the only one with an attention span to really see it through, but Madelyn and Kathryn (3 years old) still participated pretty well.

Christmas Craft

A couple of weeks ago, I took Madelyn to Michael's to get some Christmas crafts. She had a blast looking around at all of the decorations. I told her she could pick out a craft to do for herself and some crafts to give as gifts. We finally had time to work on them yesterday, and this is the finished product, along with some action shots. What you see here is her "Puppet Man". I'll post pictures of the other crafts later...I don't want to ruin any surprises.

Holiday conversations with a two year old

Madelyn's teacher threw a Thanksgiving party for her class last Tuesday. She gave each kid a treat bag. The kids also made Thanksgiving cards for their parents. As I walked into her class, Madelyn rushes to me with the card a treat bag and says, "Happy Gift-giving, Mommy!" I still can't get her to say Thanksgiving.

In the car this afternoon, Christmas music came on the radio. Here is the coversation that followed:

Mommy: Ooooh, Madelyn, Christmas music.
Madelyn: Christmas music?
Mommy: Yes, it's Christmastime. Do you know why we celebrate Christmas?
Madelyn: Christmas?
Mommy: Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth. It's kinda like his birthday.
Madelyn: Birthday cupcake? Is Jesus one?
Mommy: No, Jesus is quite a bit older than that.
Madelyn: Two?

I wonder how old she thinks I am.

Glasses

JD and I both wear glasses. I wear contacts most of the time, but at night, I take them out and wear my glasses. I was putting Madelyn to bed one night and she kept talking about glasses. I wasn't really sure what her concern was, but I just figured she was interested because I had mine on. Well, I finally figured out that she wanted her glasses (sunglasses) and that she thought that I wore my glasses to bed. Try explaining the need for eyeglasses to a 2 year old. I was finally able to get out of her bedroom without getting her sunglasses, but she was so sure she needed to wear her glasses in order to go to sleep.

My parents visited last weekend and they both wear reading glasses, so Madelyn decided she needed to get in on the glasses wearing action:

I hope her interest in glasses remains because based on her genetic makeup, I'm pretty sure she'll need them one day.

We will prevail.

Saturday, JD and I drove down to Blacksburg for the Virginia Tech/Florida State football game. We left Madelyn and Pierce here in Vienna with a babysitter. We had 16 hours away from the kids! What a treat! In addition, we visited one of my favorite places on this planet. JD and I both went to Virginia Tech, so the campus and surrounding Blacksburg community are very near and dear to our hearts. This was the first time we had been back to campus since the shootings that took place on April 16. I wasn't sure how I'd feel when I stepped foot on campus, but when we got there, I realized that things just seemed normal. People were excited about the game, playing on the drill field, perusing the bookstore, waiting in the endless line in the coffee shop...just like old times.

We visited the April 16 Memorial on the drill field, and it remains a very solemn place. Virginia Tech fans still file around it to pay respects and reflect on the events on that day, and yesterday, there were many Florida State fans as well. This is just something that transcends rivalry, and it was a great reminder of how nice people can be. I remember feeling very numb on April 16 and the days following as I watched the constant news coverage of the event. I finally allowed myself to cry as I watched the campus memorial service. Several university officials spoke, as well as President Bush and Governor Kaine. At the end of the service, Nikki Giovanni, a poet and professor at Virgina Tech, read a poem that she had written to commemorate the event. Here is some of what she read:

We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.


We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it,...No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think we are and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.



After she read this, the crowd erupted in chants of "Let's Go Hokies.", and it was then that I finally let myself cry. I was sad but also proud in how my Alma mater was handling this tragedy.

Here are some pictures of the memorial:











And it wasn't all serious. We did go to the game and witness VT beat Florida Sate for the first time since 1975.

We will prevail. Go Hokies!

8-Months Old

Pierce is 8 months old today. He is babbling a lot, really trying to crawl, very good at army crawling, and cutting his third tooth. Here are some new shots taken today:

Just after his nap.

He really wants to crawl, but...

army crawling is quicker.

And just after his bath.

Goodbye Daylight Saving Time!

Have you ever wondered why we change the time twice a year? Well, you can go here for an explanation:

http://geography.about.com/cs/daylightsavings/a/dst.htm

While an hour one way or the other is not a big deal in theory, it does throw me off a bit. If it throws me off a bit, I can imagine that it messes with the kids a bit, too. Actually, the kids didn't do badly this morning. By their biological clocks, they actually got to sleep a bit later compared to a "normal" Sunday morning. We go to the 8:00 am church service, so we are up early on Sundays. What I really don't like is that it will be dark within an hour or so of the kids waking from their afternoon naps, making jaunts outside a little more challenging.

The fun thought, though, is that in 4 weeks, I will allow myself to start decorating for Christmas. Yipeee!!!

October pictures

October pictures are posted here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmtaliaferro

My Sweet Husband

This past week was a rough one, mainly because I don't function well on little sleep. Friday was the breaking point, as we had stayed up late on Thurs. night to watch the VT vs GT football game, and Pierce once again graced us with his cries at 4:30 am. I was very short with JD Friday morning and felt bad all day about that. I was also sluggish all day with the kids.

As I was getting Madelyn up from her nap, the doorbell rang. My first thought was "I'll just igore it." It rang again, and I decided I should check to see if I it was someone/something important. I'm glad I checked. This is what was waiting for me:

Halloween

We have tried several times to get Madelyn to dress up in costumes, and she really hasn't been interested. She has an Elmo costume that I was sure she would love, but it really almost terrifies her. JD says it's because she thinks she's putting on a real person. I guess when you think about it like that, it is kinda scary.

Last night, we had a few trick or treaters come to the door. Madelyn was somewhat interested in giving them candy, but she really wanted to know why she didn't get a twick or tweek. I explained that she needed to wear a costume in order to go trick or treating. So, she decided she would put on her little ladybug shirt, and JD got home a little early last night. They went to visit a couple of neighbors and she told me she was brave enough to say, "Twick or Tweek". Now, every piece of candy she sees is called a "twick or tweek."



Another funny word: axsick--I didn't mean to hit Pierce. It was an axsick.

My Sweet Girl

I have found myself getting more frustrated lately. Pierson is more easily agitated. I think he wants to move faster than he's able to right now. And he knows what he wants, but he just can't seem to get to everything. In addition, Madelyn is trying to revert to babyhood on many issues, and I know it's in retaliation to Pierce "becoming a person" as opposed to being the tiny baby she used to love. It also doesn't help that he has decided that 4:00 am is an appropriate time to wake up. (Two nights in a row--the first nigh he went back to sleep. Last night he didn't.) So, I'm a little tired. I decided that I needed to spend a little time focusing on the good things about my children.

Yesterday, Madelyn went to school and when I picked her up at the end of her day, the first thing she said was, "Jocelyn wasn't here today." Jocelyn is one of her little friends. Madelyn then told me that Jocelyn was sick. We came home and got ready for her nap. We went through our routine--potty, pull-up on, story, pray, sing song. As I was walking out of her room, she said, "Wait, Mommy. We need to pray for Jocelyn." She then said, "Dear God, please help Jocelyn feel better. Amen." That was good for my heart.

Some funny things Madelyn says:

Nemember--"Mommy, you said I could have a snack, nemember."

Bemuter--"Daddy, I want to listen to music on your bemuter." (Watch You Tube videos on the computer.)

When she's stalling--"Now, wait a second..."

And even though she has zero interest in dressing up for Halloween--"Twick or tweek"

The Honeymoon Is Over

I knew it would happen. I just wasn't sure when, but Madelyn's complete fascination with Pierce is officially over. I think he has become very real to her and she's starting to treat him like she treats her friends. You know how it goes. Most of the time kids love their friends, but every now and then, the friend grabs a treasured toy or interferes with an agenda and BAM-yelling, grabbing, the occasional push or hit occurs.

Well, Pierce has just found his voice and is babbling. It started last weekend when I would hear the occasional "ma". Just before his nap today, I heard "ba, la, ba, ma, la..." In addition, he can scoot pretty well, now. So, he is no longer this little blob that just lays around. Madelyn has not appreciated his attempts at toy snatching and she is becoming quite jealous when Pierce gets more attention than she does. I've heard lots of "Look at me, Mommy. "lately. I've also witnessed a lot more of Madelyn grabbing things from Pierce and she's also really into "helping" him learn to crawl. This actually looks like she's cramming his body into the ground. I think you get the idea.

Yesterday, we were at the mall and the kids were riding in the double stroller. Madelyn insists on riding in the front. As we were leaving, very much past naptime, Pierce started grabbing Madelyn's hair. I would pull them apart and he would immediately pull it again. Madelyn was screaming, "Stop it, Pierson." very loudly and was close to hysteria. I felt bad for Madelyn, but she refused to move and part of me was thinking, "Atta boy, Pierce." as he was getting a bit of revenge while his sister was strapped down.

Pumpkin Carving

JD decided to buy two pumpkins for carving, one for Madelyn and one for him. After Madelyn's nap on Sunday, JD thought he would show Madelyn how to carve the pumpkin.



Madelyn was very into it until it was time to pull out the pumpkin guts.



She decided she would just hold the bag.



And here is the finished product:



JD has not completed his pumpkin. If it is blog-worthy, I'll post a picture when he's done.

Flashback

As I was watching Pierce this afternoon in his efforts to move around, I experienced major deja vu. I dug around in our files and found this photo:




Nearly two years to the day, I took this picture. New computer. New kid. Same fascination.

Are you kidding?

Checking today's date...yep, Oct. 15. Okay, as I'm sitting here watching the Fox News channel, I am viewing a Christmas commercial. ARRGGGHHHH!

A heart issue

Since football season started, Madelyn, Pierce, and I have been wearing our VT gear every game day. I'll have a Tech t-shirt on and Madelyn will say, "I want to be a Hokie." Then, we'll go in her room to get her VT gear. She then wants to make sure that Pierce is a Hokie, too. So, we'll get Pierce all dressed up, too. I think we have succeeded in our attempts at early indoctrination.

For whatever reason, JD has chosen not to participate. So, on Saturday, JD and Madelyn went out to pick up dinner. As they were waiting in line, Madelyn starts talking about how Mommy is a Hokie, and Pierce is a Hokie, and Madelyn is a Hokie. She, then, informs JD that he is not a Hokie (because he doesn't have on a VT shirt). Talk about a punch in the gut. JD tried to explain that you don't have to be wearing a Hokie shirt to be a Hokie and that being a Hokie is in your heart.

I'm thinking that there's a deeper message/lesson to be taught here, but I wasn't quite sure how to tie being a Hokie in your heart with a message about loving Jesus and having him in your heart. Something to ponder for next time.

A new look

I decided to play around with my blog and change it up a bit. I don't know if I'm finished tweaking it, so you may see more changes in the days to come.

7-months old

Pierce is 7 months old. I'd like to say time flies, but I feel that is becoming trite as I want to say that all the time. He's starting to prefer standing. When I try to sit him in the floor, he gets really stiff and forces his feet to the floor. I usually have to bend him at the waist to get him to sit down. He will rock back and forth on his hands and knees for short periods of time but hasn't figured out how to move his arms and legs to crawl. He's starting to move to get to something he wants using a combination of rolling, scooting, and stretching. Changing his diaper is a two-person job because he rolls over so much. I really do feel exhausted after getting him dressed. I know many things will get more difficult when he starts to crawl, but I think my back will get a bit of a rest from having to carry him all the time.

He's a very easy-going baby and usually has a smile on his face. Madelyn loves him and is good at making him laugh, but I sometimes think he wishes she would give him a little more space. She doesn't give much service to the concept of personal space. And as much as she loves him, I've seen bits of jealousy here and there, but I know that is to be expected.

I feel very thankful to have two healthy, sweet children. Here are some shots of Pierce on his "7-month day."

Pierce is discovering that air blows out of the register and he really wants to catch it.

As I mentioned, he's starting to move to get what he wants. I took my shoes away from him once and moved them to what I thought was a safe location...those shoes are pretty dirty. It took him a few minutes, but by golly, he got them again.

Play-Doh

Madelyn has developed a mild obsession with Play-Doh. It's fine with me, though, because it really keeps her entertained. Yesterday, she made me dinner several times and Pierce felt left out because I wouldn't let him eat my "dinner." He really did get frustrated when I wouldn't let him take a bite as I pretended to eat my "cake." I actually had to feed him dinner a little early. Here are a few pics. You can see that Pierce got into the action a little bit.

September pictures

September pictures are posted here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmtaliaferro

Weekend Visitors

We had a nice weekend with my parents and my mother-in-law visiting. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Swinging with Grandad.

Building a castle

Interesting look, don't ya think?

Watching the game with Grandad.

Resting after an intense ending to the game...too close for comfort.