Happy Halloween

Miss Luci was a Sugar Plum Fairy this year for Halloween. In addition to Pea, we also call her Sugar Plum...so it felt right. Does it look familiar? (Thank you Clara). She likes to be 'so pretty' (that is what I say when I put bows in her hair...so if you say anything is so pretty she thinks it goes in her hair ;), but doesn't like to leave the 'so pretty' accessories alone.

Luci & Eleanor in the wagon...their favorite thing to do immediately upon hanging out is to switch sippy cups. Literally, EVERY TIME.

Lil Luc had kind of a rough Halloween. She woke up at 6a with a monster poopy diaper that had adhered itself to her bottom :( It was all red & broken out...not sure if it had just been there too long or if it was because she had a bit of a strawberry yesterday. We gave her strawberries at 9mo and they resulted in a ROUGH diaper rash so we hadn't given them to her again...until yesterday. So it is back to no more strawberries for awhile. Then she had a rough time at playgroup (just generally fussy...we left early), and then woke up from her nap sobbing...which didn't stop, even when I picked her up & rocked her. We looked at books....still crying. Ugh. 20 minutes & some Tylenol later she seemed a bit better. We played until 5p when we walked down to Clara's on the way to the park. She did all right at the park, but was fading fast by 6:10p or so when we started the trick or treating. She rode in Eleanor & Caroline's wagon with Eleanor...when she started to fuss I decided that having a lollipop for the first time ever might make for more fun & pleasant times. It may have, but after a few minutes Trina noticed the lolli part had come off of the stick! I had to dig it out of her mouth & she was NOT happy about it...she was certain it was the best thing she'd ever had. We replaced it with another lollipop...but by that time she had totally melted down. We hit the second house & she decided she wanted out of the wagon...and she wanted to walk up to the door like all of the other kids, but she had no idea what to do when she got there! There were lots of big kids all around so I kind of scooped her up & took her back to the sidewalk. And at that time, she wrapped her tiny hand around my finger & started pulling me home...so off we went.

It was kind of a rough day, but she sure looked cute :)

My only real complaints for the day were the mosquitoes & the heat. And the heat really wasn't bad, but I did sweat (ew, I know) carrying my heavy child all over the 'hood. Compared to cold rainy Halloween memories of my childhood, I guess it shouldn't seem so bad.

bloody lip

If you click on this & blow it up you might see a bit of a fat lip...but it really wasn't nearly as bad as I was afraid it might be.

This cat has an UNBELIEVABLE tolerance for our child. See the blood on Lil Luc's pant leg? poor sweet baby...

Ugh...Lil Luc got her first bloody lip today. She was playing on her little directors chair in the kitchen (hardwood floors), and all of the sudden I heard crying/screaming. I hung up on Clay & dashed over to find my baby face down on the hardwood floor...and I saw blood. I scooped her up & saw blood coming from her mouth...I put a wet cool paper towel on it...but it kept bleeding. I was terrified her tooth went through the lip...and I couldn't really see it because she was crying so hard...

So what did I do, you ask? Why, I ran down the street to Amanda's for help, of course! As soon as we got outside Luci stopped crying and started making her dog noise (there was a dog barking somewhere near-by) so that made me feel better immediately. And once we got to the Lawrences, Luci was so excited to see them that she was totally fine. Expect for the blood...which ended up all over Amanda's cream sweater (so sorry). Luckily Amanda had a 'boo boo buddy - jungle' that Luci was delighted to chew on, and sweet sweet Clara shared one of her favorite bears, Pink Bear, and the paci baby twins. We are SO lucky to have such great friends.

15 months!

my first attempt in the chair with the bear...

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take two...after her nap...a happy pea waving to you!

that sweet baby was 15 months old on Saturday the 25th...can you believe it? man, time is flying.


just a few notes tonight...I'm sure I'll add more over the last few days as they come to me...
-she's working VERY hard on using her fork & spoon
-she's very into feeding her baby dolls & the cats a toy bottle...always upside down!
-she's a babbling FOOL these days..mamamadaaaadmom & dadadadadmom are a few of her favorites
-she's still drooling like crazy. like soaking her shirts crazy.
-she's in some 12-18mo clothes, and some 24mo clothes
-she will wake up around 4am or 5am if she is cold...and won't go back to sleep until the heat is turned on
-if you ask her to put her paci in the box on her dresser after a changing or her nap she will! we now try to limit the paci to nap time, night time, changing time, or carseat time. it doesn't always work out that way, but we try!
-she is SUPER into buu..buu....which depending on the moment could mean books or balls...she is crazy about both of them!
-she's also all about 'cuu, cuu'...aka...her cup

aaaaaand - we're back!

the reason for the season...the jobeknutson wedding!

this would have been a great photo if not for that annoying professional photographer's light in the middle...stupid professional photographer...ruining MY shot! the nerve! ;) me & liz. doesn't she look stunning? me & schmol

me & Jen me & Clay...despite the appearance of a forced smile, he really was having a good time ;)

and on Sunday...SO happy to be home with our pea!! check out her Colts gear...can you tell Grandma Pierse was in charge of getting her dressed?


The last week has been busy busy busy for Clay & me. On Tuesday Grandma Pierse arrived to hang with Luci so that on Wednesday Clay & I could head up to Chicago. On Wednesday & Thursday we did a crazy 350 mile tour of the Chicagoland & Rockford areas to see if we could find a suitable place to live should we decide to head back that way. Don't get me wrong...we'd LOVE to live in the city again, but it just isn't feasible for us now with Lil Luc & our budget. So we set off for some 'burb shopping...because my previous lives were spent in the city...like any respectable urban dweller I avoided the 'burbs like the plague. Turns out there are suitable places outside of the city...we did indeed find two places we really liked...(Crystal Lake & Plainfield), a few we liked & may like even more in years to come as they develop their downtown (Cary, Oswego & Yorkville), and pretty much ruled out several others that we thought might be appealing but were not (Woodstock, Huntley, Rockford, Roscoe, MacHensey Park, Minooka & Channahon...although Clay fell in LOVE with a 'ready to build' lot there). All in, it was a very successful two days of 'burb shopping.

And to top it off we lunched with our friends the Nielsens, spent 2 nights with the Determans, an afternoon with the Tankborns, and a great day of wedded bliss with the newly married Knutsons. It was a fabulous, fabulous trip. I must say the dance party that followed the wedding was my favorite, as Schmol had the guns blazing in a way I haven't seen in more years than I'd like to admit, and Jen somehow managed to cut up the dance floor despite having a teeny weeny newborn at home.

i have great friends. thank you great friends.

and i have a great mother-in-law who took wonderful care of my baby...the special kind of care that only a grandma can give that brings peace of mind to baby's mama...so that baby's mama can enjoy said great friends who live too far away.

thank you mother-in-law.

i love you all :)

a few firsts re: play

we've had a couple of firsts in 'play' arena in the last few days!

luci has lots & lots of play dates, but the play is usually just two or more kiddos each doing their own thing in the same room, with the extent of interaction being occasionally going after the same toy followed by one or more kiddos in tears.

but...on thursday luci actually played WITH clara! clara wanted to roll a ball back & forth...i told her i thought luci might like to do that with her. so i sat on the floor with luci, and helped her roll the ball back to clara. after maybe 10 rolls, luci decided she wanted to sit on her chair to play roll the ball. so clara would roll the ball to me, i'd pick it up & give it to luci, and luci would actually roll the ball to clara. all by herself. she was SO excited she turned into a goofy giggle monster...eagerly anticipating the ball coming back & then pushing it away back to clara in delight. it was super fun to see :-)! she did not repeat today at her friend eleanor's birthday party...luci was very much back to doin her own thing...often heading to where no one else was (outside if everyone was inside, or inside if everyone was outside)...which i think is totally normal for her age. but man, it was sure fun to see her little eyes light up & delight in playing WITH clara.

luci also colored for the first time this week. we sent baby asher his blanket yesterday & luci helped me make his card. she scribbled on it & put a few pumpkin stickers on the front just to spruce it up a bit. after the successful card making venture, i decided it might be time to start regularly playing with crayons....here are some photos from our first attempt!

how exciting! VERY proud of herself!
double fisting some crayons...i think she is right handed, but i'm not 100% sure yet
putting the crayons back in the box...this seemed to be a more familiar type of task
and then throwing them all at once...so we are now working on how we treat our crayons...

(ie we don't eat them, we use one at a time, we put them in the box when we are done, etc.)

she's also become a babbling fool in the last few days. damom, dad, dad, dad, daaaaaaadmom, mom, mom, momdaaa, dadmom....all in a row...all day long. duuwwwuuuu was a new one as of this morning. seems she's just bursting with sound lately...it is lovely to hear her sweet (very deep ;) voice. i wonder if it will stay this deep?!?!?!?

random videos & a blankey for asher

well i had hoped to make it to tucson this week to give baby asher his blankey myself...but apparently all of those snowbirds are headed back to AZ cuz flights were full all week. boohoo. hopefully we'll make it over soon...i can't wait to see that baby! in the meantime, lil luc has been lovin on his blankey...

pointing to her eye... trying to find mr. snail's eye...

and some random bits...

here is an example of the touching both sides thing I was talkin about...

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Pumpkin Patch

picking out a pumpkin...



running through the maze chasing her dad


and after the maze she just kept runnin...right to the swings!


luci on her first hayride...we got VERY up close & personal with several large cows!

brave girl touched a goat!

and rode a pony!
luci also took her first train ride...we saw lots of ducks, swans, cows, horses & goats.

and one pig.

Happy Anniversary Guh & Guh Pierse

the girl loves her some elmo & some giggler monkey. i don't know why, but i find this adorable...sitting...touching her toes...

and in honor of your anniversary, lil luc learned a new trick! she's now climbing up & down and in & out of furniture all by herself. these attempts are among her first few...she's since perfected her method & is much more efficient. and safe (i think).

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thank you for listening

sweet lil mama feeding her baby...but always with the wrong end of the bottle!

sweet lil mama takin her baby for a stroll...
not so sweet lil mama flinging her stroller under the table...
not so sweet lil mama sittin on her baby!
and thinkin it is HILARIOUS!

-we were at the park last night when amanda pointed out that when luci listens or does something she knows she's supposed to do (like sit on her bottom) she claps for herself....regardless of whether or not i'm watching & respond with the usual, 'thank you for listening, luci.' or 'good listening, luci'. since amanda pointed that out i've noticed about 12 times in last 24 hours where luci claps for herself when she does something she knows she's supposed to do...regardless of my reaction. and when she does something she knows she's not supposed to do she usually shakes her head no while doing it (like pushing buttons on the TV)...regardless of my action (or lack thereof).
-she is really into touching both sides of her pack-n-play (arms stretched as far as they can go), and using both sides of a railing at the park
-she like to close doors. i'm sure the opening part will be happening as soon as she grows another inch.
-she likes to sit on things...it is a sign of affection, really, but it can be painful & silly! she plops right down & the scoots her little booty into us, the cats, or as of yesterday, her baby dolls!
-she somehow figured out what kleenex is for. i grabbed a tissue this morning and she started blowing out of her nose! i put it up to her little nose & she actually blew into the kleenex.
-when her snack or milk is gone she'll come at me wavin the cup in the air as if to say...hey ma...it is empty! i want more! if it is empty & she doesn't want more she just discards the cup at the precise location she was at when the snack/milk was finished.

where, oh where, should the pieeerses move, oh where, oh where should it be?

if you know us very well, you know we are always moving somewhere. sometimes we have 1 houston summer left in us, sometimes we have 3. but never more than 3.

the answer tonight is brunwick, oh. it was recently named #3 on the 2008 parents.com best places for families to live. there is a gymboree music & play 8 minutes away in medina (for Luci & me), and a national park 16 miles away to the west (for Clay). oh, and an airport 16 miles north that clay could be based out of with cal. no commuting. and it is affordable. now it isn't houston affordable...but, then again, it isn't houston*. and no, i'm not basing our future on gymboree music & play locations, but rather using that as a proxy for the number of tot/stay-at-home mom combos to be expected. and clay needs hills & trails to ride that bike of his.

some days we are moving back to chicagoland. in fact in 2 weeks we are headed up early to liz & craig's wedding to look at the 'burbs from crystal lake to channahon for a few days. some days we think we should move to rockford. we even threw out iowa city as a possibility (don't get too excited mom & dad...sadly, it just wouldn't work).

for 4 days 2 weeks ago it was denver, co. then it was albuquerque, nm. then maybe flagstaff, az. and then it was back to chicagoland.

but, for tonight, it is brunswick, oh that has us excited. no; it is not chicago. but i could still make the 5.5 hour drive when the flights don't work out. it is not in the middle of both sets of (grand)parents, but we could one leg fly to each. and we could drive to indy. and my dear husband wouldn't have to commute...and that is a BIG deal. might we have found a winner??!?!!!


*this is in no way a reflection of our overall opinion of the woodlands. if i could plop the woodlands & all of my amazing texan friends down in the north we'd be delighted to stay put forever. i just cannot do the mosquitoes, long summers and lack of snow forever. i need snow in my life. i need to be able to get the mail without wearing bug spray. i think we need to head north. or west. ugh...see...we just can't decide!

Welcome Asher Kishen Jani!!!

Lil Luci wants to say "WELCOME CUZ!" to Brooke & Sunidh's sweet new baby boy. Asher was born on Friday, 10/3, at 3:15p MST. He was 6lbs, 6oz, and a lanky 19 3/4 inches long...and he looks JUST LIKE HIS MAMA!

Asher

one chosen by God to have many abundances

Kishen

(pronounced kee-shun)

the God to whom people turn for abundances

Mama, Baby & Dad are resting at home...all happy & well.

Congratulations! We can't wait to meet you baby Asher!

PS.

poor, poor cubbies. maybe next year. but don't worry lil asher...aunt britt & uncle clay have already purchased 'my first cubs tee' for you...and i promise to pay your daddy back by dressing you in it at the first opportunity!