Yeah!

I'm enjoying my agreeable daughter for now - I know she is going to learn the "no" word all too soon...

Ratatouille Part I

It all started two weeks ago as I was doing my morning routine of puttering around the kitchen when I heard this conspicuous noise from under my sink. The overwhelming optimistic side of me decided that must be the garbage settling, not that I ever heard the garbage settling before. On I went, shuffling my slippers around the kitchen when I heard it again. It most certainly was NOT garbage settling, and I finally admitted that there was a creature under there. That was it - I made the executive decision not to open the doors to my lower cabinets for the rest of the day. After all, the creature just might come flying out of the cupboard at me with red beady eyes, take a bite out of my neck and paralyze me. One just can't take these chances with a baby in the house.

That evening Sam got home and did his manly duty of checking under the sink at the request of his ridiculously cowardly wife. No mouse or rat was present, but a hole chewed through the drywall under the sink left no doubt that there had been one. Eeps! My creative husband's solution was to find a piece of cardboard, soak it in the nastiest stuff possible in the garage, and pin it up over the rodent hole. "Eat through that, Sucker," was Sam's thought. I decided to take a different approach and went out the next day to buy some mouse traps and bait. I was quick to hand over these goodies to Sam as I still had vowed to not enter the rodent-cave and therefore assumed no responsibility. And so under the sink they went, still in the shopping bag, just waiting for the rodent to be curious enough to chew the packaging eager to gnaw to its death.

The following Monday I awoke at 5:15 am to the slamming of the door leading to the garage. It was slightly on the early side for Sam to be up, but whatever, and so I rolled over and tried to sleep. Slam. Slam. Errrrrch. Thump. Slam. This had gone on for about 10 minutes when my morning fuzzed brain registered that these noises were not Sam making a lunch. I, Jenni-zilla, wresteled my robe on and marched down the stairs to give my husband an eyefull of the consequences of not letting me get my beauty sleep. My jaw dropped as I rounded the corner to the kitchen. There was Sam, mop in hand and bucket by his side, standing in a pool of water that extended from the kitchen all the way to the family room.

"Your rat is back," Sam cursed bitterly.

He then showed me under the sink where yet another hole had been chewed through the drywall, and the size of this hole clearly indicated that our hungry critter was indeed a rat. Next Sam showed me where the rat had proceeded to chomp away at the hose leading to the dishwasher, thus the pool of water we were wading in. Ironically, the bait had been flooded by the water and the mouse traps would have been useless by their size.

We then started mopping up the mess and began to discover our laminate flooring was bubbling and water was squeezing up through the cracks as we walked. I was quickly discovering what I was going to be doing for the rest of the day. After we completed mopping up the water, Sam headed off to work leaving me with my imagination running wild.

Part of my brain envisioned Remy (the chef rat from Ratatouille) cooking in my kitchen at night, which in a way would explain why I constantly find more leftovers in my refrigerator than I expect. The other part of my brain imagined this friendly culinary rat morphing into a huge villainous rat during the daytime while Sam is at work. This evil rat has oily black fur, a long pointy snout, gleaming razon sharp teeth, and tummy bulging over his feet full with food from my trash can. Oh yes, the red beady eyes also complete this vision as well.

Much to my delight, my rat visions and anxiety about home repair were subsided by the fact that our friend Nathan was in town for the day. He helped pick out and install a new hose for the dishwasher. We also picked out rat traps and bait which got a lot more attention from Sam this time around. With traps set and bait positioned, Sam and I laid our heads to rest on our pillows that night.

The next morning we woke up to a bait dish that had been visited by hungry creatures, but the rat traps had not been touched. Was this the end of the rats? Only time would tell…

The Face

Nora has been expanding her range of talents. Most recently she has discovered how to blow spit bubbles, mastered her "Indian war cry", and has become obsessed with making "The Face". I think the best way to describe the face is a pug snort with a touch of adorable. Her favorite time to make the face seems to be during a meal, sometimes getting us all sidetracked and forgetting why we had her in the highchair in the first place. Here's a cereal smeared version of The Face from this morning.

Learning to Share

About two month ago Nora and I had gone over to a friend's house for a play date (a term used very loosely since Nora was hardly mobile at that point). We had Nora sprawled out on her blanket with her toy and she was having a grand time interacting with the adults. Here comes Riley in the room, a jolly little two year old who loves Nora (or "No-No" as he first called her), ready to play with the baby. As Riley approached, Nora cautiously swept her toy close to her chest for safe keeping. Apparently Nora considered sharing her toys with Riley as a no-no.

A few weeks later Grandpa Buddy had taken Nora on a walk through our garden. Grandpa refers to these as "species identification walks" where he lectures on the different fauna they see and Nora touches and plays with leaves, branches, and flowers. Upon return from their walk, Nora had clasped in her tiny hands a pretty little flower. Grandpa brought Nora over to me and was encouraging her to give her flower to me. Nora kept her a tight grip on that flower showing no intention of giving it up. My father helped her extend her arm toward me and I picked the flower out of Nora's hands thanking her kindly for the nice gift. Out came the lip and her eyes welled up with tears. I have the feeling she wasn't really bringing that flower in for mom.

I'm starting to get the idea that we need to work on sharing a bit. It's just so tough for a little girl!

Watch out world, here I come!

Now that Nora has mastered the art of crawling, she seems to have gotten this silly idea that the next step for her is to get up on those feet. She just looks over at me with a mischievous grin, her eyes telling me, "Look Mom, I'm going to be walking in no time!" Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "Oh super duper!" But hey, I am proud of her. Unfortunately all of her curiosity and bravery often leads to tumbles and tears.

Earlier this week she was sitting up like a big girl on our hardwood floor playing with her toys. I was walking past her, and she followed me with her head and before we both knew it - WHAM - she had fallen over backwards and hit her head. Oh the water works! I picked her up and then she spied some super cool newspaper sitting on the couch which brought the drama to an immediate halt.

Her other favorite trick right now is to crawl into some tight spot she can't get out of. Like while I was writing this, she crawled between the ottoman and the love seat and made an immediately turn to wedge herself between the couch and the love seat. There she was a howling and flailing until I came and plucked her from the tight corners. And now she's off again, diaper butt on the move, seeing what else there is to discover.

First Vegetables

Grandpa decided on Saturday night that Nora should try something to eat other than cereal. Carrots it is! Watch the video and decide for yourself if carrots were a hit.

Bring on the Lucky Charms!

Last night was a big step for Nora as we attempted her first solid food. At first she was much more interested in figuring out what dad was doing with the camera, so while it was easy to get the spoon in her mouth, it was going down her face more than her throat. It only took a few tasty bites for her to discover the "Mmmm" factor and soon she was eagerly grabbing for the spoon and bowl for more. What a good eater!

Victory smile!

Picture update

Here are some of the picture highlights from the past month or so...

Nora discovering roses with Grandma and Grandpa Barnes

Nora chillin' with Unk Ben

Sam entertaining Nora with bubbles. Whee!


Nora using her "cleavage" as a place to hang up the phone. Sam says she learned this trick from me...whatever that means.

Sam and Nora snuggling on the couch. Don't they both look so content?

Nora's trial run in the highchair. It's was a success for maybe 3 minutes.

Nora having fun with the table cloth at dinner. Is this her idea of a nose job?

Nora and Riley already holding hands. Gasp!

Nora's first trip to the zoo. I'm pretty sure she spent more time looking at Riley (the hansom boy in the picture above) than she did at the animals. She got a pink stuffed monkey as a souvenir.

Sweet Victory

For the past few weeks Nora has really been working her knees up under her body in attempt to crawl. Unfortunatly, she hasn't figured out the all-fours approach, and instead is working on the tripod bulldozer method where she uses her head as a shovel. Today I caught a brief moment of this on video.

Bubbles & Beer

Blowing bubbles for Nora is quickly becoming the standard for Sam keeping Nora entertained while I'm making dinner. The other night Sam was so busy blowing bubbles that he forgot to take his freshly poured beer out with him. Being the great wife that I am, I took Sam's glass of beer out to him so he could enjoy the beverage while he entertained Nora. This was a wonderful idea up until he dunked the bubble wand into the beer....

As it turns out, beer doesn't make bubbles.

Oh, and soap in beer isn't very tasty (says Sam).

What a bust!

Bubbles & Giggles

Earlier this week Nora let loose the first of her giggles while I had her on the floor kissing her belly. The soft laugh was the sweetest sounds I've ever heard. Music to mom's ears for sure!

Today I decided to try blowing bubbles just to see what kind of reaction we could get out of Nora. The first few minutes Nora would start shaking her whole body in excitement, her mouth would gather into a tight "O", and her head would move side to side tracking all of the floating suds. Eventually the excitement turned into giggles. I'd say the bubbles were a hit.

Super Powers

I'm doing a bit of research that requires some creativity and I'm hoping I can get some input from those of you who read my blog. Here's the question: If you could have ANY super power in the world, what would it be? Please post a comment with your reply. Note: you don't have to be a blogspot user to write comments, just click the "Choose your identity" radio button that suits your fancy . :) I'm looking forward to some good ideas.

A Whole Lot to Tell the World

This little girl has become quite the talker. Perhaps she has inherited from her father what he likes to call the "gift of gab." Here's a video of her babbling away.

An Unexpected Outing

Now that the good weather is here, one of my tasks every morning is to water the garden and lawn. This morning I decided to start in the front yard since I knew I last left the sprinkler there. I strapped Nora into the front pack and we bounded out the front door for our watering session. Being the brilliant mastermind that I am, I decided to lock the front door since I knew that I'd just be heading around the house to the back in a few minutes. This was a wonderful plan up until I started heading around to the back yard and the "duh" light bulb went on. Guess who forgot that the back door was also locked! Sure enough, I went over and the back door wouldn't budge. Neither would the garage door. Darn our thoroughness of locking doors! As it turns out, I was able to get one of the screens out of the window, but the window was locked. I stink at breaking in to houses - even my own house.

Now let me paint a clearer picture for you. I had rolled out of bed only about 20 minutes ago, and the only thing I had done to prepare for this "outing" was put on shorts and a t-shirt. My hair is...interesting, heaven knows how I smell, and I probably have some sleep drool crusted on the corners of my mouth. Oh, let's not forget I have a baby strapped to my front who is still in pajamas.

Now I'm thinking of my options...
1) Stay outside all day until Sam comes home. Can you imagine how full of a diaper Nora would have by then? Hey, talk about an opportunity to get a lot done in the yard!
2) Go next door and call Sam at work. However, I knew Sam had an important meeting he was going to be in this morning, so who knows if he would even answer his phone.
3) Break a window. Although that sounds a bit dangerous and expensive.
4) Walk over to Rosenberry's. Maybe he has a house key. But who knows if he's still home or even has a house key.
5) Maybe locking the front door was just a hallucination.

For some reason, questioning my sanity with option 5 sounded a lot less harmful (and more probably favorable!) than the others so I finally went around front to check the door. I put my hand on the doorknob and did the twist forward-push motion. While the knob did not turn, the door did push open. I guess I had locked the door but had not pulled it completely shut. Talk about a close call!

And so I went about watering the back yard, chuckling the whole time.

The Pantry

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and did a little bit of stocking up in the pantry. Whenever I add to my pantry, one of the things I keep in mind is what we would eat in some kind of emergency where we had no access to food. After my thorough survey, it looks like we would have a diet primarily of spaghetti, corn, and cake mix. I'd estimate that we have about two weeks worth of this meal. Hey, it beats top ramen!

Of course I have other items in my pantry, but I think I need to work on diversification a tad more.

Jumping Jellybeans!

Nora was getting quite a kick today out of her jumper. She just kept jumping away, stopping every now and then to take notice of the flashing lights on the panel, then she's start up again. With this kind of endurance, I can easily see a long distance runner or bike rider in her! I have a feeling she's going to sleep well tonight.

A Shopping Trip Worth Remembering

Nora pals around with me most everywhere I go, and more often that not that destination is the grocery store. I always stick Nora in her little front pack that sits against my belly and we toddle around the store pushing the cart. Up until recently, Nora would fall asleep only moments after being placed in the front pack and snooze through the entire shopping trip. About a week ago was the first time she actually stayed awake for grocery shopping, and she was enamored by all of the colorful mounds of foods and stacks of boxes that lined the aisles. Her eyes were wide and she just kept moving her head from side to side taking it all in. It was great fun watching her amused by this until last Friday...

I had a number of errands to run, the last one being the grocery store. It was Sam's birthday so I was trying to get a few things for the party and some meals for over the weekend. I had only a few items left to get when Nora suddenly decided she was hungry. Unfortunately the time between her first signs of hunger and a full out wail is usually less than two minutes. Such was the case on this particular shopping trip.

I had 3 items left to get when Nora started sucking on her fist. Fritos! Sam had mentioned he wanted Fritos for his chili, so I was off to the other corner of the store to pick up the birthday boy's request pushing the cart a bit faster than usual.

Next item on the list was hamburger buns. I picked up the pace and made a B line for the bread aisle as Nora started squeaking and grunting. Buns - check!

Now what is a birthday party without ice cream? I zoomed the cart over to the frozen desserts in search of the last item on my list, but by the time I made it there it was obvious I had pushed the little girl too far. By now her eyes were clamped shut with tears, face a lovely hue of monster red, and belting out a scream from the bottom of her toes. Quickly scooping up a gallon of ice cream, I rushed over to the checking counter with perspiration forming on my upper lip and my checks flushed with embarrassment.

I started frantically unloading the cart onto the conveyor belt, which is always an interesting chore with a baby carrier on my front. It is exceptionally challenging for those items which manage to roll to the bottom of the cart. This becomes an exercise of holding Nora's head with one hand in attempt to not bump her noggin' on the basket, squatting to an elevation allowing my hand to reach the bottom of the cart (bending over = dumping baby), and then stretching to the far corners in search of whatever item is so important that I would allow myself to look this ridiculous in public. Add a screaming baby to the mix and you get the full picture.

The woman who was standing in line behind me took pity on my situation and asked if she could help put my groceries on the belt. Before I could say one way or another, she was unloading my cart. In our joint effort we quickly accomplished the task and I assumed the position in front of the debit card machine. The checker still had a few items to scan, but not enough to where I could start bagging. Meanwhile a woman from the juxtaposed aisle with an older infant on her back and a toddler in the cart approached me and asked if she could bag my groceries. I actually had to ask her again what her question was since it was difficult to hear much over my angry decibel baby. Usually I would decline, but by this point in time I had lost all sense of pride and gladly accepted. She was putting the final items in the bag as I finished paying and I heartily thank her for her assistance. In response she grinned at me and said, "I was there not that long ago."

Nora continued testing her vocal chords all the way out to the car. I opened up the hatch and starting loading sacks into the back. Yet another woman had seen my distress (seriously - who could have missed us?) and came over to offer her help. By now I only had one more bag to transfer so I appreciatively declined.

As the car started, the screaming subsided as Nora was lulled by the hum of the engine. I took this chance to reflect the past few minutes of chaos and in this moment was reminded of two things: 1) I'm not the first person to have a crying baby at the grocery store. 2) There really are great people out there who are willing to help out a perfect stranger. This experience has reminded me of the importance of practicing the second point more often, but I wouldn't mind going without the humility of the first. :)

Easter in Prineville

This last weekend we spent Easter in Prineville. This was a great opportunity for Nora to meet and see a lot of her grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The baby was basking in all the attention she was getting.

Whenever my mom is around, she always offers to take Nora for the nights. Sam and I are always thrilled with this offer as it means we are pretty much guaranteed a good night of sleep (something we greatly treasure these days). The first night we were there my mom watched Nora and brought her up to us early in the morning since the baby was waking for a feeding. I was adjusting Nora in my arms when I felt something on her back that felt like a growth. In my grogginess I examined this growth a little more carefully with my fingers and in realizing what it was I ended up waking Sam up with my cackling. Snapped into Nora's jammies was non other than her pacifier. We jokingly accused my mom of not knowing which end the pacifier belongs in. Moral of the story - don't change a baby's diaper in the dark.

With so much family around, there was an abundance of photo opportunities...

Here's Nora and her great grandma. Mom-mom was busy working the smiles out of Nora.

This next pictures shows the 4 generations of the Barnes family.

This is Sam, Nora, and me on Easter.

Here is Nora in the sunglasses she got in her Easter basket. Stylin' for sure.

And finally here is Miss Nora showing off her pretty Easter dress.

Spring!

This last weekend was our first taste of spring with 70 degree weather. With this fine temperature, we broke out the shovels, wheel barrow, and Nora's sun dresses. The first picture Auntie Dev said she looks like a flower. The second picture, I just say she looks simply adorable (or "aNORAble" as Sarah would say).

The Play Center

This week Sam and I bought a play center for Nora. It didn't take long to get a smile out of her when we layed her down under the mobile.

Tummy Time

Here's Nora showing off her muscles. She rolled over last week all on her own. You go girl!

The pout

As a baby I was VERY colicky. My mom says I did not stop crying for 3 months straight. It has also been told that my father would sit me on the couch and watch my lip quiver as I cried. Apparently he thought it was the most adorable thing ever. Personally, I thought the story was a bit strange myself - who likes to see a baby cry?

...And now I understand. Okay, so I don't think I would make her cry on purpose, but when Nora starts to cry the lip sticks out in a pout, tears fill her eyes, and when it's really dramatic the lip quiver appears. I often find myself either laughing or "Aww"ing whenever this happens because it is extremely cute. I guess there are some things you don't understand until your parents (and I know I have a LOT more to discover).

Squeals and Smiles

Nora makes quite a wide range of faces and noises. I've heard everything from a dinosaur roar to a horse whinny out of this kid. It's quite an amusement for us, although it's typically not quite as amusing at 2am in the morning.

While she has been smiling for a few weeks, last week was her first to smile in response to something. Her first smile was directed at her Great-Grandpa Smith who was whistling at her. Sam's comment: "I'm not sure how I feel about her liking older men whilsting at her." Since then she has smiled for a few others and I was finally able to capture a smile on camera today. Gotta love the toothless grin.

Life as parents

It's been two weeks since I've sent out an update and sure enough, little Nora is growing like crazy. I took her in to her pediatrician appointment yesterday and Nora has gained nearly 2 pounds in just over two weeks!!! She's only in the 32 percentile for weight, but she's going to catch up in no time at this rate.

Sam has officially declared us as parents. Apparently this did not come automatically with the birth of our baby girl, but we gained the official stamp of parenthood once we were both pooped, peed, and spat up on. It didn't take long!

Nora finally had a successful experience with tummy time thanks to Sam's help. Trial 1, Nora was more interested in eating the couch. Trial 2, Nora decided to be fussy and cried until mom caved in and picked her up (she knows I'm a sucker). Trial 3, dad finally succeeded and got Nora to hang out on her belly for a good period of time with no fuss.

Bath time is still a bit of a trial, but she does seem to be taking it into consideration a bit more. We have made considerable progress from last weekend when Sam was helping me bathe Nora. In the middle of bath time and Nora's raging fit, Sam started laughing and said, "Look Jen, she's giving you the finger!" Sure enough, I looked down and Nora had a death grip on Sam's hand with the exception of her middle finger which was pointed right toward me. I'm suddenly reconsidering the teaching baby sign language approach...

Nora has been considerably spoiled as both of her grandma's have had the opportunity to come and stay with us since her arrival. I'm not sure what Nora's going to think when I'm the only one left to take care of her during the day. Sam and I have much appreciated the help of these two wonderful ladies who have made this transition for us a heck of a lot easier than it could have been!

Baby Nora has Arrived!

Here are a few pictures of our new baby girl. Isn't she just the cutest? Okay, so I'm just slightly biased.

It's hard for me to keep my eyes off of this beautiful child. She was well worth the wait.

A proud papa.

Baby's first bath. I think it's quite apparent how much she enjoyed the event.

This is Nora the Sea Turtle. At least that's what I think she looks like in her fleece travel suit that is really meant for 3-6 months. Hey, whatever works.

1 Week Out

Today marks 1 week from my due date. I've been rather ammused how the proximity has changed a few things:

• My mother holds her breath every time I call her
• I've started answering the phone stating "No, I'm not having contractions yet"
• When people ask my due date, some people step backwards when I respond
• Sam has been encouraing me a lot more to go for walks...I think dad is ready. :) Give it a few more days and I expect him to pull out the spicy food card.
• Strangers are even more likely to come up and touch my belly

Baby Nursery

I'm exactly 3 weeks away from my due date, the baby should be full term by now, and her nursery is finally put together.

Now all we need is a baby...

I spy with my little eye...

Since we moved about 7 months ago, there have been a handful of items that mysteriously disappeared during the move: Sam's black belt, a stuffed (VERY special) rabbit, and the second set of sheets to our bed.

The other day I was rummaging through the closet looking for an extra hanger when I spied two hangers next to each other, each holding a belt. "Well, no sense in that," I thought. Why do I need a hanger per belt? Obviously belts have recently been an accessory for my closet rather than my growing waist. How about that, one of the belts turned out to be Sam's - oh, and it happened to be black. Case 1: CLOSED.

With only a month to go until baby's due date, it was time to put the nursery together. This meant a several room rearrangement. The guest bedroom was to be transformed into a nursery, the office into an officy guestroom, and the living room was about to inherit the futon from the office.

• Step 1 - move the guest bed.
• Step 1a - take the mattress off of the box springs and move to the office.
• Step 1b - scratch your head - how in the heck did a stuffed rabbit get placed between the mattress and box springs, have guests sleep on top of it for 7 months, and nobody ever knew?

Case 2: CLOSED.

And so the hunt for the second set of sheets for our bed continues. Inspired by the stuffed rabbit, we even checked between the mattress and box springs of our bed (since such activities we found surprising fruitful in the past few days). But if you can think of other completely random places to look for things, let us know, and we won't dare question why you suggested that location!