Like father, like daughter.

I entitled this post, "Like father, like daughter" for the simple fact that Anne-Kelly learned to climb in the last day or two. Brent loves rock-climbing now as an adult, but the stories are many about Brent's climbs up various things as a child. Anne-Kelly's favorite thing to climb is stairs. She figured out how to climb just a few stairs from the sunken den at her Papa Tom's house, but has since graduated to trying to climb our stairs here in our living room. It's time to invest in a baby gate, people.

I'm sort of from the school of thought, however, that I don't want to completely babyproof my house because then she won't learn not to do things. Does that make sense? If you just barricade the stairs, how will she ever learn that she's not supposed to go up them when they are no longer barricaded? There are two ways of thinking about babyproofing, I've heard. Anyway, I think we are definitely getting a baby gate, but we aren't going overboard with all the other gadgets. For example, I only have one cabinet latch, and it is for the cabinet under the sink that has cleaning products in it. The rest of them have stuff in them like pots and pans and tupperware, which is Anne-Kelly's favorite. She drags it all out and has a grand time doing it.

Anyway, looks like this post has gone about as far as it can go. Anne-Kelly is crying and needs her mommy.

A quick update, however. This Thursday we are leaving to go to my parent's farm in Kentucky for the weekend. Joining us will be Brent's mom and brother, his McDaris grandparents (Gary's parents), Aunt Whitney and the kids, and my grandmothers. Possibly my brother too, I'm hoping. We should have a great time, I hope. Or we might drive each other nuts! We'll see. Just kidding about the nuts part, haha. Hope you're having a nice week!

joy. brightness. geniune meaning.

Anne-Kelly turned 10 months old this week. I cannot believe it. What a blessing she is. I cannot express in words the joy and brightness and genuine meaning she brings to my life. I wanted to celebrate her little life.

So I was in Target today and I saw the cutest little pink swimsuit with a TUTU around it. Who knows if it's actually a swim suit and the tulle can get wet and all that, but for ten bucks it was worth it and perfect for celebrating Anne-Kelly. Look how adorable she was running around in it today:




















My mom is here visiting all week, which is really fun and nice as well. We're hoping to get some serious cleaning and rearranging done tomorrow. We have promised each other that we're not taking showers tomorrow until we get all our cleaning done. It's going to be a pretty monumental task.

Which reminds me: to all my friends who are pre-baby and possibly thinking about buying a house...be sure to look at all angles before purchasing one. We have zero storage space, especially in the kitchen area, and that is why I'm having to completely regroup when it comes to storage. We were fine until Anne-Kelly arrived! But unfortunately, having another person in the house brings more stuff. Not too much, as I'm trying to be a minimalist when it comes to raising my child...but still stuff nonetheless.

And speaking of stuff, I am starting to plan for Anne-Kelly's first birthday party, at which I'm sure she will receive a great pile of presents. And on the one hand I find it wonderful that our friends and family love her enough to buy her something, but on the other hand, I don't want her to grow up attached to things and as a spoiled-rotten American kid. Part of our deal is that I really don't want a lot of plastic. It seems like every toy out there is made of plastic. Not that we don't have a few plastic ones that we're fond of; we do. However, for the most part, we are shunning the idea of plastic. So I'm hoping to encourage the people who feel obligated to buy presents (which you are most certainly not...your presence is our present!) to buy more classic, wooden toys or books. Those are lasting things that we will keep for a long long time. :) And that is lovely for everyone, including us and the wonderful Earth that we live on.

Which leads me to my final point: it's Earth Day this Thursday, and our family is trying to do our part to live more sustainably. Composting bins and rain water bins are on sale this weekend at Whole Foods, and we're excited to purchase our very first composting bin, yay! Also, we have cut down MAJORLY on the amount of trash we put out this year by cloth diapering, recycling and reusing, and my favorite, of course, breastfeeding. I encourage you to try and live more mindfully toward this sweet world that we live in. It's a gift from God, and it is ours to take care of, is it not?

Prayers your way for a beautiful week.

Jumping, sunshine, and green bean tricks.

Yay! The sun was out today! For the first time in several days, it hasn't been dreary, cold, wet, etc. I was so thankful. Yesterday, I dropped by Whole Foods to pick up a few things, and I bought a lovely bunch of flowers just because I needed a shot of spring! Those of you that know me well know that I am really not a fan of hot weather. I would actually much prefer cold temperatures to warm ones, but I get in a serious funk without sunshine. Most likely due to the fact that I was raised on a big ol' farm, I have to have a good dose of yummy, sunny fresh air in my lungs to keep my body functioning properly. And I got it today :) Thanks, Lord.

Also new on the agenda today was the discovery of a baby jumper that our neighbor gave to us. I initially thought jumpers were a bad idea (in case you don't know what they are, they're those things that hang from a doorway that a kid sits in and bounces around), but Brent, my wonderful engineering husband, did numerous safety tests on the thing and then reassured me that it was safe and sound. I still don't like the idea of putting her in it without watching her closely, but since she's been so fussy in her Exersaucer (see earlier post) I thought I would give it a try.

Well, hallelujah! When we put her in it, she went crazy. You would have thought we'd let the kid drink a mountain dew or something. She started spinning and bouncing and just going reasonably insane. It was all pretty wonderful and cute to watch. I'm hoping to post the video once I have a chance to upload what's on our camera.

On a separate note, I decided to give Anne-Kelly green beans for the second time ever tonight. I haven't really mentioned it here yet, but Anne-Kelly is not a fan of the green veggies. She hates peas so much that she projectile vomits them out if I try and feed them to her. I'd say it more nicely, but there's really no other accurate description, ha. Green beans, however, are just sort of a "I really don't like these so I think I'll grimace until you give me pears" abhorrence. Therefore, being the genius supermom that I am, I decided to give her some pears and cereal with a side of green beans tonight. And here's how it went: two bites of pears, one bite of green beans, two bites of pears, one bite of green beans, two bites of pears, one bite of green beans. And it continued. Believe it or not, it worked! I thought she'd be too smart for me and see through my sly tricks, but she didn't. So now I'm giving myself a pat on the back. That's today's big accomplishment for me. Is that sad? I don't think so.

Anyway, the blog stops here because I have to head for bed. It's nearly ten-thirty, and I'm trying to get up with Brent every morning at 5:45 to start the day now. It's hard, but I get so much more accomplished when I get up early. It also allows Brent and me to spend some time together in the Word before he leaves for work at 6:30. And we find that time invaluable. I can't imagine a better way to start my day.

A day with "baby Kelly"

As you know, the biggest snow to sweep through the southeast came through in the last few days. Well, it was more like ice for us, but that's neither here nor there. Naturally, because we live in South Carolina, all services at our church, Simpsonville First Baptist, were cancelled. For those of you reading that are thinking, "What? You got one soggy inch of ice!" Let me explain something about us southerners. We are terrified of snow. To us, driving in a light dusting is simply unthinkable and probably up there on the danger scale with something as crazy as skydiving or setting yourself on fire. Ok, so maybe I'm being a bit facetious. But either way, services were cancelled.


However, I'm lucky to be married to my husband, Mr. Adventure. Mr. Adventure stayed in the house yesterday until about 11 am, at which point he declared that he had cabin fever and "had to get out of here!" So after about two more hours of showering, packing up baby stuff, agonizing over whether we should actually go out, and finally deciding it was safe enough for us to go, we set off for Barnes and Noble. By the time we arrived, it was already 10 after five, and there was a sign on the door that said B&N was closing at six o'clock. Guess what? Due to snow! Bah humbug. "Ok, let's go get some Chick-Fil-A," we said then. So we load everything back into the car and set off for Chick-Fil-A, only to see that the sign is not lit. Closed for snow. You've got to be kidding me, I think. So finally we swing by Whole Foods to grab a bite. Just closed at six. Bummer. However, for Mr. Adventure, the trip to Whole Foods wasn't a total loss as the entire parking lot was empty and a solid sheet of ice. To my unfortunate surprise, he decided to take our car straight across the icy parking lot, with true Mr. Adventure style and flair. What this means is that he did anything possible to scare me, Mrs. Cause-and-Effect, you might call me. When we finally made it out of that parking lot alive, we drove down the road to Publix, which was in fact open. We bought one of those Bird's Eye Steam Fresh Meals for Two. This is Mr. Adventure's idea of cooking for me. I appreciate it.

Then we go home to put the little sweet potato to bed. Well, little sweet potato has other plans, since she's currently cutting her second tooth. Needless to say, she didn't go completely to sleep until we did, which was around 11:30. It was a long night, to say the least.

Today, however, we had a great day, in spite of our church's services being cancelled. We met friends from church for lunch at an Italian pizza and grinders place for lunch. After, we headed over to Papa Don and Nana's. These are Gary's parents for those of you who don't know. Nana made us a yummy dinner and followed it up with a delicious banana pudding. Yup, you heard right! We had two amazing banana puddings in one weekend. I guess karma or whatever you'd like to call it wanted to tempt me twice. This time, I did sneak one bite of the banana pudding. I just couldn't help myself. The meringue was too beautiful.

Anyhow, Grayson and Tinsley, son and daughter of Dale, Gary's brother, and Whitney, came over to Nana and Papa's soon after we did. Tinsley loves Anne-Kelly, or "baby Kelly," as she deemed her shortly after her arrival into the world. Tinsley is almost exactly two years older than Anne-Kelly. Her birthday is June 27. Anne-Kelly's is June 17. Anyway, the kids played all afternoon. And by the kids, I mean Anne-Kelly, Tinsley, Grayson, and Brent. Brent and Grayson played basketball, Grayson's new-found passion, and Tinsley entertained Anne-Kelly with various stunts and vocalizations. It was a great evening for everyone. Whitney, Nana, and I also got to have a good talk. As you all know, it's been a rough year for all in the McDaris family, but especially Nana, as she lost both her sons, and Whitney who just lost Dale, her husband, October 8.

But these small gatherings are good for all of us, as the kids keep our family feeling somewhat normal, in spite of all that has happened. As Nana said, the children are what keep her going. So, with that thought in mind, I leave you with a few adorable pictures of our beloved munchkins.

The Case of the Missing Brain

I aptly entitled this blog, "The Case of the Missing Brain," because it basically fits what I've been going through lately! My ability to remember anything seemed to disappear as soon as I became nine months pregnant! And it's not only remembering things that I'm having trouble with (you know, the sort of...."I just walked into this room to get something, but now I can't remember what it is" kind of thing), but I'm also just plain, outright spacey! Now, I know some of you are just sitting there thinking to yourselves, "Rachel - you've always been a little spacey." Ok, point well taken. I am not exactly always overflowing in the common sense department, but things around here these days are just getting ridiculous! So, in the interest of this "case study," let me present some circumstantial evidence:

• Two nights ago, Brent and I had just gotten into bed and were trying to fall asleep when I suddenly remarked: "Gosh, it would be nice if we had a ceiling fan in here. I am so hot!" Well, needless to say Brent started laughing, looked at me, and said: "Honey, we have a ceiling fan. Look up." Totally forgot that I had a ceiling fan in my room! Now...how does that happen!?
• The other evening, things were winding down for the day, and I asked Brent if he would mind refilling my water bottle (or Nalgene as I call it). It had water in it, so Brent asked why I needed it refilled. I told him that I'd filled it up when I was at the pool earlier and it just didn't taste right! Again, Brent starts cackling and looking at me sideways. Then he remarks: "Honey, no wonder it doesn't taste good if you filled it up with pool water!" Ok, in my defense: I didn't fill it up with pool water. I filled it at the water fountain at the pool! However, I seem to have lost the ability to express myself clearly, so Brent just assumed that I had, indeed, been drinking pool water for several hours.

These are just two examples of what I've been going through. Ok, so I realize this is a little bit comical. It's just really hard to remember to do things! I know what you're thinking: make a to-do list, right? Well, the problem is that I make the to-do list, but then I lose it! Haha. Great, I know. I guess this is just how it's going to be from now on. Lots of moms, new and experienced, have told me that your brain subsequently disappears more and more after each child. So I'll be very interested to see how I'm doing by number three!

On a separate note, I went to perinatology (or paleontology, as I sometimes accidentally call it!), which is the specialist we've had to go to to do some growth scans for Anne-Kelly every three weeks. As I said in my earlier post, I had to quit working around 31 weeks. Long story short: I was measuring small, and they sent me to the specialist to make sure Annie was growing ok. The way they measure a baby for growth is by looking at the baby's head, abdomen, and femur (leg) length, and then averaging them. Annie looked normal in every other way, but her little abdomen seemed tiny. So, they said it could be caused by a number of things: 1. I could be getting preeclamptic/toxemia, 2. My placenta could be lagging a bit and not delivering nutrition completely normally, or 3. She could just be a small person! So, we went back after three more weeks (34 weeks), and everything looked good. Her abdomen was still small, but that was when they said it's definitely not preeclampsia, and if my placenta is lagging, it's not enough for her to really suffer. The only way it's affecting her is the fact that she's not quite gaining belly fat. They explained that when a baby's nutrition is a little compromised, that's the way that they "take care of themselves." They're fine without belly fat, so they conserve all the blood flow for their brains, kidneys, etc. And the good news it that I went back this morning at 37 weeks, and they told me I don't have to come back and see them anymore! Wahoo! They said that even though her belly is still little, she seems absolutely normal in every other way, so they're going to leave us alone! This is an answered prayer and a huge blessing. Please just pray that Annie-K continues to grow, and that once she's out here in the world that she'll really start packing on the pounds once I can start nursing her. Also, they think she's about 5 pounds 8 ounces right now, which is great :) If she stays in until 40 weeks (due date), they said she'll probably be somewhere between six and seven pounds.

All this excitement in the past few weeks surrounding Anne-Kelly has taught me a lot. I initially went into the situation with a "woe is me" mentality, worrying about every possibility, and basically trying to take care of things myself. I'm a "fixer" and a "doer" as I'm sure most of you know, and when something is out of my control, I'm usually not a big fan of it. This experience has been a wake-up-call from the Lord, saying, "Rachel: I know you better than you know yourself. I know what is best for you. Trust me." I've heard this over and over and over in my head for many weeks now, and it took a while before I accepted it. However, I have realized that fighting God and accepting His plan are two totally different things. By fighting His will, I felt like Jonah and the whale. I just kept getting swallowed up, overwhelmed, and enveloped in my own self-absorbed darkness. When I realized that by "casting my cares on the Lord" (1 Peter 5:7), I was really letting go of them myself, I felt an amazing burden lift. Instead of being in the belly of my own proverbial whale, I then found myself in a different Biblical tale: walking on the water with Christ. I know this is a familiar story to most of us, but I felt just like Peter when Jesus asked him to get out of the boat and step on to the waves. That water sure did look deep, but when I looked away from the water and into the face of Christ, I forgot all about my worries. And I can't tell you what a freeing experience it is to know that Jesus has all of my life in his more-than-capable hands. And more than that, to know that he has Anne-Kelly's life in his hands as well is pretty humbling.

As parents, and I use the term sparingly because I realize I'm not quite there yet and really have no wisdom on the subject, it seems like we always assume that we know what is best for our children. Amazing how these feeling cropped up for me even at this early stage. But how liberating it is to know that God not only knows me, but he knows Anne-Kelly and He sees every day of the life He has set before her. Wow! So I leave you with these words by David from the book of Psalm. I hope you read them, take them to heart, and stand in wonder at God Almighty who knows us all better than we know ourselves.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongues,

behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,"

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

the darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's
womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in
secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the
earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of
them,

the days that were formed for
me,

when as yet there was none of
them.

- Psalm 139:1-16