a.rose

I felt the baby move for the first time this morning! What a strange sensation...

Some Background Info: Hallie has been giving me a hard time with diaper changes lately, and I've had to put my foot on her chest/tummy to hold her down so I can put the diaper on. It's not fun. Hallie was being unusually quiet so I went to investigate what was holding her interest for so long. I found her in her bedroom, where she had carefully arranged all of her diaper changing stuff, and her stuffed bunny on the diaper changing mat. She looked at me to see if she was doing something wrong, but I was intrigued, so I just watched her work. She picked up a diaper and started trying to put him in it. Then she (and I kid you not) put her foot on the bunny's tummy, and spoke to him in a "stern" babble. (I could not stop myself from laughing at this.) She left her foot on his tummy and tried to get the diaper on again. Then she seemed to remember that she had skipped a few steps, so she got out the A&D ointment, and "put" some on him, then she ...

Hallie was brushing her teeth this morning, and I was combing her hair, and all of a sudden I remembered one of the dreams I had last night. I dreamt that we came home from the hospital with the new baby, and I was resting on the couch. Hallie and Devin went down the hall to put the baby in the crib, and I sat on the couch and realized I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl! I shouted down the hall, "so what do we have? A brother, or a sister?" There was a breathless moment, then Devin shouted back "It's a sister!" So, hmm. A sister? We'll see I guess... two weeks. Also, for my own records, a few new words Hallie has picked up: (and if I repeat any from previous lists, I sincerely apologize) water walk rock and my favorite new word: We were having tacos for dinner, and she wouldn't eat anything. She kept staring at Devin's taco, and so I said, "Hallie, do you want a bite of Daddy's taco?" And she pointed at it, and said ...

Hallie's first kiss. She's 18 months old, he's a few months younger, but younger men are very fashionable right now I believe. He is my cousin's little boy, but that makes them (I think, second cousins?) so that's legal. She has found a new little "boy"friend that lives closer, with whom she has shared many kisses. He is about a year older than she is, calls himself Bubba, and he loves trucks. I approve.

Have you ever had something so frustrating happen that you had to just sit down, distance yourself from the situation, and force yourself to relax? I had one of those moments the other day, and it was entirely my fault. I was watering the plants. An innocent enough chore, it would seem. I have a cute little pink watering can that Devin's mom got for me, and I fill it up, take it in to my plants, and give them all a nice little drink. I think that's how most people probably water their (indoor) plants. I have one plant that wasn't doing too well, it's really tall, and the bottom leaves had started turning a little brown, so I was pulling the ugly, dead ones off, and of course, I had set down the watering can to do so. At Hallie's grabbable level. I could hear myself thinking, "This pretty pink can is full of water. Hallie doesn't necessarily know that. She'll probably try to grab it." I continued gathering leaves. Hallie came over to inve...

On Saturdays we clean. Devin does the kitchen and bathroom, and I tidy, organize, do laundry, and basically try to restore order to our home. We like to listen to music while we do this (you know the song, Stacy. Scrubbing Day!) and a few Saturdays ago Devin found a CD of mine that I had labeled "Hot Hot Crate Dancing" and put that one in. Oh wow. It took me straight back to that crazy, fantastic summer of 2005 in Maine, which summer was one of the biggest turning points in my life. I sat on the bed folding laundry, and in my mind I was back in the barn, dancing to Michael Jackson. So I made a list of other songs that take me to other places, other times, with other people that I love so much: (in no real particular order) Daydream Believer - Stacy you know this one is about you. Our dorm room freshman and sophomore year, swinging our arms around and trying to not be stressed about school. (Remember how it turns out I actually was stressed, and the doctor prescribed...

Thanks for the pictures Lindsey. I think it looks great as the new banner for my blog. Everyone, look to see it on the 2009 Rose Family Christmas Card! (I'm mostly just kidding, Lindsey.)

Hallie and her handsome, handsome daddy. Well, she loves her daddy. And sometimes she lets mommy near too. (For some reason she really didn't want me too close in the pool if Devin was also in the pool. Who knows.) Again, I found some pictures that I didn't know I had! How do I do that so often, I'm not sure... my mom emailed me these ones, and I guess I forgot about them. Luckily, they aren't actually THAT old, from the Fourth of July, again. We had a good time.

We got to go watch my dad play soccer with some of his co-workers when we were up there visiting for the Fourth of July. I don't seem to have any pictures of him playing, but play he did, and he did play well. It was so fun to see him in action, although he did still love prowling the sidelines when he was not IN the game, which brought back fond high school memories.

I just found these pictures in a random folder on our computer. I don't really even know what they're from, but I can tell we are at Dan and Rachel's apartment, and Hallie is about six months old. She looks so different now! Also, don't forget to vote on my little poll on the side. I'm really curious to see what everyone thinks!

to an ultrasound near you. (ok, near me.) We find out on Sept. 9 if it is a boy or a girl! Wish us luck. Also, a few new words Hallie has picked up: off on water turtle horse towel red green blue purple orange yellow and she tries really hard to say, "Hallie." We're getting there!

Annibelle, Hallie, Emily, and Jill in front. I love this one.

This will be long. I can't help myself. I just read this incredible article. The writer starts off by talking about John D. Rockefeller, and how in 1905 he was quoted as saying, "God gave me my money." (Reo Bennett, "How the Richest Man in the World Observes Christmas," Woman's Home Companion, December 1905, p. 14) This statement made more than just a few people upset with him, thinking that he meant that he was saying God made him rich and left other people poor because he was better than them. That is not what he meant. A year later he clarified by saying essentially that he believed making money was a gift from God, and that you have to develop it to benefit mankind. He believed that God allowed him to have so much money because he used it to help others, and that if he stopped being so generous and giving of his money, God would take it away. The author of this article is Roman Catholic, so he does believe in God. But he is also an economist, and...

I had an experience this morning. It was not really a big deal, but it was to me. It was just one of those small things that had been worrying me, and I kept praying for it to work out, but was starting to get really nervous that it would not. Then, just as I had given up hope, I kept thinking maybe I should check one more time. I tried to ignore it, because, as I said, I had given up hope and I did not want to be disappointed again, but I finally realized that if I didn't check, and it was there, I would be so mad at myself for having given up! So, of course, I went and checked. Lo and behold!! Exactly what I wanted, just when I needed it. A small reminder that Heavenly Father loves me, that he knows what is making me anxious, and that he cares. Not that everything I want always works out the way I want it to, because His plan and mine aren't always exactly the same (still working on that) and his timeline and mine aren't always the same (still working on that) but H...

A note about previous blogs. Hallie does say "momma" now, she started saying it a few days after I posted her list, but she only says it when I ask her to. But to be honest, she only says any of those words when I tell her to, or when I ask her if she wants say, juice. Then she'll repeat juice. But she never spontaneously says any of those words. Except for her other two new words. Yesterday Devin taught her "off" and "on". She walked around saying "off" over and over. So go figure. Also, on my post about the bagpipes, one of the comments said that he was one of the bagpipe players. It's true! I don't know how he found my blog or that I had posted about them, but I went to his blog, and that's definitely the group I saw. So, if you want to see what they look like or check out their story, you can go to the blog that he put on his comment. Pretty neat!!! And a picture: Hallie's first time in nursery! (The 18 month ...