Our trip to Dallas

Rebekah and I spent the last week in Dallas with all 4 of her grandparents! We had a great time and ate lots of yummy food! Of course, Rebekah's obvious genius was noted with great delight!

She learned that each of the 4 grandparents were "good" for something-
Grandmama (my mom)- aka "Mama"- purse- Rebekah asked to go thru her purse every time she saw her

Grandaddy (my dad)- aka "Dada"- side- R asked to go outside with him to see the turtles, which she also asked for by name

Nana (Phyllis)- aka "Nana"- glasses- R looked for her glasses and asked for them even tho she was repeatedly told no touch (similar to her purse experience)

Papa (Mike)- aka "Papa"- there wasn't a word for Papa, except that he was her fave this week- she would look for him and ask for him by name frequently even tho he was the least familiar- we attribute this to his similarity to Josh. She also assigned her toy ladybug to Papa's safekeeping. If ever Mike were to put it down, she would bring it right back to him. Fun side note- when we returned from TX, Rebekah was perplexed at seeing her Dada, then she squealed his name excitedly...then she examined his face with great seriousness and said questioningly, "Papa?"

Rebekah learned so much so quickly- it was amazing!

With her 3rd cousin, Olivia...

With Papa- notice the plastic ladybug at his side...

With Papa on the stairs...

2 of my college roommates- Tammy, her 11-week-old daughter, Isabella, Kathryn, her 9-mo-old daughter, Sophie, and us...all 3 of our girls have Grace as their middle names!

My brother Billy and his wee one, Riley...

Me with Riley...she was a sleepy little cuddlebug!

...add Becky...

Apparently, R still remembers "so big"....

With my dad...
We weren't very good at taking pics, but that's what my mom sent me, so at least we have these!

Rebekah's hair

You may wonder about my obsession with my daughter's hair....however, if you know me, I am a nut about hair. Strange since I never, ever do my own, but that's b/c I never, ever like my cut. Anyway, I feel I owe part of my obsession with her hair to Carrie Sterner. When she and Hannah kept Rebes a few weeks back, they decided to play with her hair. It was a slow process- going to pony, adding a curler, taking it out, all without attracting too much attention.
Here are some of the results...




I'm already picturing prom pictures...this is R's future husband, Isaac.


Today, Josh insisted on 3 ponies...the normal Carrie/Hannah-inspired top pony, as well as 2 side pigtails....however, he was not about to do it himself...just served as moral support.

The first one is Rebekah carrying around her bib, pretending to wear it. She kept it tucked under her chin for quite a while.

Apparently, the laundry basket is still a hit...




Nana Phyllis bought her these pj's for when she would be 2...they fit now...crazy! I picture her in something like this on Christmas morning.... :) They have a ladybug on the front, which fascinates her...she pulls them out of her laundry basket and then looks for her ladybug book...

Today, Rebekah busted her lip and she is still recovering from smacking her face against the coffee table last week right before she crashed on the driveway and scraped up her elbows...poor baby! She cried pretty hard for the cheek and lip...during the lip incident, she stopped long enough to say choo choo (referring to her train book we had just read) and then returned to getting sympathy...apparently a pattern is developing....

Best in Show

I just have to brag on Rebekah. Today was the first time in a while that she didn't cry when I dropped her off at nursery for both services. She was looking rather lovely, too, I might add. Anyway, when I returned to retrieve my honey, I asked how she did. They said she was the best-behaved, very social, and visited every other baby! I was tempted to clarify that my daughter was the blond one in the navy dress...:) I was so proud!

New verbal developments:

Squaaaash- recognizes and delights in it!
Goose- her Mother Goose Book
Choo-Choo- her freight train book
Bebe- her ladybug book in which she points out all the ladybugs
Jaaaaash- Josh
Emmy- Emily
Saaaack- sock which she likes to stuff in shoes
Sasa- sausage (she ate 12 Little Smokies yesterday after asking for them- she wouldn't touch them today, I'm guessing b/c she had her eye on my poppyseed cake)
Wawa- apple (Josh took her to the Orchard again yesterday which she immediately recognized and started asking for wawas; she also identified fellow tractor passengers' shoes and body parts)
She also barks at dogs we pass. It only encourages Samson.

Rebekah can identify most of her and our body parts (and my knee, especially if I'm wearing holey jeans). She freely doles out hugs and kisses, but I seem to be the only one who gets arm-around-the-neck hugs!

When she wakes up, she immediately calls out "Mama" in a very sleepy voice. If I am too slow on the draw, she resorts to "Dada."

She also thinks everything is a game, especially changing her pants...she likes to giggle as she romps on the changing table, kicking her feet out of her pants.

I guess that's it for now! ;)

Check out Becky and Riley's Page!

Y'all have to see my beautiful baby niece! Check out their link and see if the first pic doesn't melt your heart!

Just funny Rebekah stuff

Although I was my usual lethargic self, Rebekah is finally feeling better and is back to her usual perky, energetic self!

We went to the doctor to make sure her ear was better...Rebes hates getting poked and prodded, so getting her ears checked is quite an ordeal. Rebekah was sobbing as the thingy was in her ear, but she paused long enough to tell herself "good girl" and then went back to crying! Pitiful, but precious!

This afternoon, we were playing outside. By that, I mean I was lounging in the hammock while R was running around. She likes to climb in and out of the empty plastic pool. Today I noticed she was having way too much fun...we had 5-10 minutes before we had to leave to have dinner at a fellow pastor's home, so I decided to grab her. I noticed her purple pants were darker than usual...and then I realized it had rained and she was playing in the water! Rebekah's feelings were very hurt when I pulled her out to get her changed.

Fortunately, we had fun dinner plans at Steve and Judy Rachkes' place- he is the pastor of adults at our church. Anyway, Judy was very generous with the ice cream and brownies so she and Rebes were instant pals! Additionally, they have a small dog, Lincoln, who delighted Rebekah! After dinner, Judy pulled out a box of her boys' old toys and Rebekah sized them up and then chose a small turtle (an inch long) with a bobble head to focus upon. She oscillated between "throwing" (ie dropping) the ball for Lincoln and searching for the turtle, which she called "tur-tle." The Rachkes gave her the turtle :) and sadly, R dropped him in the car. We couldn't find him, but Rebekah patiently petitioned Josh the whole way home, pulling every applicable word out of her arsenal for its retrieval: Dada, tur-tle, pease (please), uh-oh...(she repeated this line the whole way home).

Apple-Picking and Toddling

Just a little fun after church at the Olive Garden...I would like to add as a side note that I do NOT hairspray her hair like that!!! So many people have to touch it to confirm this...this is just the stage we're in in the growing out phase...it has grown on me...

We visited Wilson's Orchard, which is just about 8 minutes out of town. Isn't it lovely? Apparently, this was not a good apple season, but we didn't know the difference! It was a crisp morning and just gorgeous outside.




I maybe haven't mentioned that Rebekah LOVES apples- but on her own terms...of course! If I dice it and hand it to her, it's okay...however, if she gets to hold the whole thing, she will hang onto it for hours and devour it! Yesterday, she walked to Josh and handed him the seeds and stem! Crazy!

Here she's getting to pick her own apple, in addition to already having one, which you will notice frequents many pictures...




She also really enjoyed the tractor ride thru the orchard...



Now, of course, we enjoyed the Orchard's fresh, warm apple turn-overs, which inspired me to make my first completely homemade apple pie!! I made the crust, picked, peeled, cored, sliced, and seasoned the apples! It was a beauty!! (p.s. Note my lovely Pampered Chef pie dish...this is dedicated to my sweet friend, Dericca who is just staring her career with them! The PC pie crust guard did also keep my crust edges from burning! :))


Rebekah enjoying some fun outdoor (and one fairly disgusting indoor) activities...


Some live action footage...she's really walking!



Not sure what provoked this face...

She walked up to the tree and said "tree!"

Something fun to think about...

Baby Malone #2!! That's right, it's official, I am 9 1/2 weeks pregnant with our second child!! I didn't feel like scanning them in, so these are pictures of the pictures! Peanut's heartbeat is great and (s)he was even moving around with stubby little arms and legs!

They may look the same, but this one has Peanut's back facing up and the arms and legs are tucked in.

In this one, Peanut has rotated so that (s)he is facing us and his/her little appendages are more visible. You really have to have had a sonogram before to see all this!


Answers to your many questions:

1. Yes, we are super-excited!
2. No, it was not a surprise!
3. Rebekah wants a "sissy" (it's what she says every time)
4. We have NO idea how many kids we want...2 sounds good right now! ;)
5. April 13th is the due date. (R will be 21 months- yikes!!)
6. Yes, we will do our taxes early.
7. I have been very sick (just like with Rebekah) but the last couple days have been better (I am taking an indigestion and nausea medication).
8. Yes, you can tell anyone you want!
9. Yes, we will find out the sex the second they let us (apparently at 20 weeks).
10. No idea about names and NO, we're not telling when we do know! That's the one thing we're sure about!

If this doesn't get a comment, I mean, seriously!! Would love to hear from y'all and answer anything I left out!

Updates

Well, the good news is that Rebekah slept thru the night last night. Yea!

However, she awoke with a very hoarse voice, no gunk in her eyes (yea!), and a bad cough, but no high fever...anyway, I went ahead and did our due diligence and took her to the doctor to find out that she did have a low-grade fever and an ear infection! Yikes!

So, now I have the added privilege of administering eye drops 3 times day, amoxicillin (spelling?) twice a day (we did pay the extra $3 to add flavoring to make it better...can't imagine what it would have been like without...), and Motrin 3 times a day...it goes something like this:

me: Rebekah, time for yummy medicine!

R: (wary look)

me: Open your mouth....

R: No.

Me: Please....

R: Please (thinking that saying it gets her out of it)

Me: Open!

R: No, no, no (now flailing like a banshee)

It was like this with the doctor, too...I'm not sure if she has gotten so many no's from a 14-month-old before.

Anyway, it has an excruciatingly long day....so I am signing off.

I love pink, but come on!

2 pink eyes!! Yikes! This morning, after Rebekah squirted milk in her eye, I noticed that it looked a little pink and had more than just milk in it...ugh! I knew right away pink eye was the culprit...I mean, we seemed to have gotten past a 2-week cold, then 5 days of a blistered bottom from severe diaper rash, so life was getting a little too simple. I called Mercy On Call, our hospital's amazing hotline and got the doctor on call to prescribe eye drops. We then skipped church, of course, to get it and avoid infecting other innocent by-standers. Have I mentioned how much Rebes hates eye drops? Always a pleasure...especially as she's getting older and a decidedly accusatory glare comes into her eyes as I administer said medication...anyway, her temp was normal, she was just clingy, so we watched a ton of Backyardigans to keep her hands out of her eyes. After lunch, Rebekah CRASHED in her carseat...I looked back there to hear her moaning herself to sleep, with huge tears rolling down both cheeks...not even the energy to cry properly. Broke my heart. I pulled out my sleeping baby, only to awaken her as I put her down in her crib. She then moaned herself back to sleep for 3 hours (napping, not moaning!)! That's never a good sign! These pics are from her getting up- she slept in a little ball in one corner of her crib- I know b/c I kept looking for signs of breathing, etc...anyway, she was on fire and shaking when I picked her up, as well as coughing, sputtering and mad as a hornet (thanks, Dad, for a great line that so accurately described Twinkie). Unfortunately at this point, I realized it was spreading to her other eye...ugh again! Now the hope is to keep her ears clean! Anyway, she had 103.1 temp so we called the hospital hotline again and they said to give her Tylenol or whatever and just make sure it came down, which it did. Not to be outdone by Cousin Rara (Riley), I did have quite the little snuggle-bug! As she felt better, she ventured off my lap :( and started to act more like her spunky self. I do have to give her huge props, tho- in the midst of all this, she still did her animal noises (cow, horse, pig, bunny rabbit, fish, duck, dog, cat, and sheep) and still gave me kisses with little half-smiles...precious!

Pray for her, please...this will probably be a rough night...does it get more pitiful than below?

Thank you, Jesus!

Rebekah loves for me to put this bow in so she can pull it out!


Clapping at Bruegger's today...

Giving "the look" to Dada...I love this kid! She was wolfing down kalamata and green olives, as well as pickles and feta cheese at a Mediterranean restaurant!
Wiping the table for us...such a helper! I was able to put her bangs in a top pony tail, but I am not a fan of the Bam Bam look, so I clipped it down...way better than thick bangs in her eyes. I am fighting the temptation to trim them because I want th.em long enough to pull back.


Today was an interesting one...Josh lets me sleep in on Saturdays since he's here, so he gets Rebekah when she wakes up. Apparently, she kept chanting "Mama" so they came in around 7:30...we played on the bed for a while- Josh likes to knock her over and make her giggle a lot, so it was pretty fun. She decided at 8 she was terribly hungry, so when I said do you want breakfast, she got really, really excited! Anyway, we grabbed bagels together at Bruegger's after feeding her her normal breakfast of Little Smokies Sausages and fruit. At Brueggers, she was very interested in my water and kept asking for "wa wa." Then, she pirated a napkin and pretended to wipe the table. When we returned home, we jumped on our bikes and headed for downtown for Farmer's Market. She did great in the convertible burley/stroller and on the way back was when the trouble hit. I just saw the turned over burley (what Rebekah rides in) and heard crying....I guess a car wasn't stopping completely at a stop sign where Josh had the right of way, so he quickly manuevered so as to miss getting possibly run over. In the process, he hit a curb with the burley (it's wider than the bike) and Rebekah and her carrier flipped over. Unfortunately, I had failed to strap her in correctly (forgot there was an extra lap strap), so she kind of tumbled more than she would have. She was totally fine and just crying from fear, of course, but was super-excited when she found that the diaper bag had inadvertently come into her reach. She was quickly comforted. Thank you, Jesus!

Furthermore, I guess it was fairly traumatic, because she took a 2 1/2 hour nap (I took an even longer one- I do so love naps!) and when I got up, she and Josh were watching the Texas A&M game! We even tried to dress her in he corresponding tee-shirt only to realize all her clothes are patterned and we didn;t have anything to match. If you know me, that's not cool, so she wore her ballerina tee and ballerina leggings. Well, actually, I just skipped the interesting part...I woke up and laid in bed for 5 minutes, then felt like it was time to get up. I went to the bathroom, and as I rounded the corner to see my girl (presumably with Josh), I see that she is at the edge of our crazy dangerous basement stairs, about to go down! I ran to catch her- to her credit, she was attempting to back down, but after the first 3 steps, they are open-backed and asking for trouble. Somehow, after letting Sam out, the door just hadn't been shut securely...Thank you, Jesus again!

Anyway, Rebekah was a pretty good sport about watching the Ags almost lose to unranked Fresno State (should I give a shout-out to Jesus again?), as long as we gave her snippets of Backyardigans during half-time. She even snuggled in between us on the couch an watched the game for a while. Funny moment- she found a hidden Goldfish stash behind the couch pillow and was pretty pumped. I gave her a few and thought I secretly threw them to Josh, who hid them behind his back. I was surprised when Rebekah didn't stare me down to get more. Rather, she backed off the couch, walked over to Dada (yes, she is pretty much walking now!), and SIGNED "more" perfectly while saying "more!" We couldn't believe it! Of course, she got more. Seriously, we haven't signed in months....

Rebekah's repertoire of vocabulary:

Mama, Dada, Sam, up, down, out, watch, Grace, baby, Rara (Riley), baba (blankie), more, ee (empty for when her cup is empty, accompanied by shaking aforementioned cup for added emphasis), bbs (blueberries), dada (men in general or anything framed..?), cross (she has some hanging in her room), Bible, BabyC's (ABC's- she has 2 ABC books that she expects to be read when she commands BabyC's- she's really only interested it the songs Josh makes up, besides the original ABC song which must be sung while pointing to the corresponding letters), buffalo (there's a water buffalo in a book that's she quite fond of), gull, yak (also in books), something that means Backyardigans, plus she understands way too much!!

Riley Jane McCord has Arrived!

Yea!!!! My precious niece arrived on Wednesday, September 5th at 12:12 am, weighing in at 7# 2oz and 19.5in. She is beautiful (as you can see) and looks just like my brother, Billy! Who knew that Josh and Billy could have such gorgeous daughters?! ;) Funny to have our girls favor our men...anyway, in her brief 2 days of life outside the womb, I think Riley has been put down for about 5 seconds! Apparently she is quite the snuggle-bug, which makes proud parents, Billy and Becky, very happy. Evidently, she is also "quite advanced" in that she already can turn her head and push up a little! Shocking she is already a genius!