The Best Valentine's Present Ever

Okay, it's a tie. Last year Mom came up for Valentine's Day which was also really awesome. This year, Matt, Delayna, and Eva came! It was SO GOOD to see them, because we haven't seen them in 6 months and we miss them SO MUCH!!! I can't even express how much we love them and miss them. Delayna is 36 weeks pregnant and cute as a button. Their new little bundle (Zachary Matthew Schneider) is due on St. Patrick's Day, but we're hoping he'll grace us with his presence a little sooner :). I had a little chat with him and informed him of our plan; I think he'll follow through :).

They arrived Saturday afternoon, and we all hung out and chatted and it was so wonderful. We all decided to save money by eating in. I made dinner, and they provided dessert. It was really fun because each person had their own little treat, including the girls. Carolyn had a chocolate-dipped strawberry, which was so cute. Our girls had a great time. It was a short visit - just over 24 hours, but I won't despair too much because she has requested that I coach her through her delivery again. I am so excited to meet Zac. Witnessing a brand new little life come forth is such a miracle, and I feel so blessed and honored that she chooses to let me share in that (and of course she returns the favor, which is equally appreciated).

A little slow

I've always said that Carolyn is a fantastic communicator and is a pretty easy baby as long as you pay attention to what she "says". Well, last night we were all hanging out and she kept throwing her shoe at me/slamming it on me. I wasn't thrilled with being hit with a shoe, and she was pretty cranky. She stopped and a few minutes later grabbed her coat, put it on my lap, and said, "bye-bye?". ::: Look of comprehension :::, and I said, "Oh, you wanted mama to put your shoes ON?" And she nodded. So we all got bundled and headed outside for a walk. Smart girl, slow mama =D.

Mommy-daughter date

Craig needed some quiet time last night to work on a paper, so B and I headed out for a date. We picked up some groceries, went to the Dollar Tree, and bought a bottle of BBQ sauce from the restaurant where Leta works. B lit up as soon as she saw Leta - it was really sweet. Then Leta took her in the back to grab the sauce, and let B push all of the buttons on the cash register for the sale. She thought that was great fun. Then we went to the Palace for a 1.99 kids' meal (yeah it's cheaper than a fastfood kids' meal, and hello, WAY better). I'm afraid B and I won't be dining out just the two of us until she has some concept of appropriate restaurant behavior. Not too bad with two adults to handle her, but a bit over the top for just me. Bless her little 17-month-old wild self :). After playing for a little while and of course being very happy to see Daddy, we watched most of the new American Girls movie "Kit Kittredge" before she went to bed. She LOVES kids, so she liked it a lot.

So proud

Not only is Carolyn really developing her verbal skills, but she is understanding A LOT more as well. Today she followed me into the bedroom and I saw the bottle that belongs to her little doll Madeleine lying on the floor. I picked it up and said, "B, this belongs to Madeleine. Could you go give it to her?" She scampered off down the hall with it and I really wasn't sure what she would do, but a minute or so later Craig called me to come out and see what she was doing.Carolyn had grabbed Madeleine out of her stroller, climbed up on the couch beside Craig, and was feeding her. It was way too cute.

I got a new computer!

Okay, I can't actually afford a new computer, but it feels new because Craig fixed it! I has been rapidly going down hill for the past couple of weeks, and finally yesterday it was time to throw in the towel. So we backed up all of our photos and important documents, and Craig wiped it completely. Then he installed Microsoft Vista (it was previoulsy running on Windows XP), and voila, a computer that works! =)

I'm a fan

I had my fifth and last iron infusion yesterday. I have to say I'm s huge fan. Not that it's particularly thrlling getting hooked up to an IV, but it has made me feel SO much better. Now I don't have to go see the Dr. again until May. Woohoo!

More new words

We had a lot of new words this weekend!

Bath (bas)
duck
Frog (fog)
water (actually sounds closer to agua - we approve of being multi-lingual)
cat (cak)
bear (bowr)
ear (arr)
ball