13 Things I Love About Autumn

In response to the awesome weather we've enjoyed for the past week, this week's T-13 is my "Ode to Autumn".

1. Violas. I've planted deep purple violas in our front flowerbed for the past 2 years. They bloom from September through May. Seriously--the whole time. And I dont have to do anything to them. I love them. They make me smile every, single time I drive up to our house and see them.
   
2. Thanksgiving. I know I babble on an on about Christmas, but I love Thanksgiving too. Time with family. All of my favorite foods. (especially Jason's fried turkey!) The Macy's parade. The A&M vs. UT rivalry game. Reflecting on all our blessings and being completely overwhelmed, year after year. Thanksgiving is great.
   
3. Football Season. Truth be told, we have a love/hate relationship. I love high school football (especially the smell of the grass under those Friday night lights!). I love Aggie football. I love the Super Bowl (and those great SB commercials!) I don't so much love Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and occassionally Thursday night football.
   
4. Crisp, cool temperatures and a break (finally!) in the humidity.
   
5. Chili weather. In this case, the food, not the temperature. (In case you can't differentiate between the two spellings) Chili was the very first recipe I "made up", and I daresay I make a mean pot...but something about making chili pre-October just feels wrong.
   
6. Fall colors. Brown, red, orange---they're so rich! I love decorating the house for fall!
   
7. Feast of Carols. An annual concert at Bryan High, in which the choir members dress in midievel garb and serve a delicious, 5-course meal, followed by a great Christmas/Chamber Choir concert. During the meal, the audience is put on the spot to recite funny poems and perform silly stunts. I loved being a part of Feast when I was in high school (goofy hat and all)...and I sure would love to go back as a dinner guest.
   
8. Cords! My absolute most favorite thing to wear. (I hope they're still in this year)
   
9. Trunk or Treat. Jason and I have participated (and dressed up!) in this annual church family event since the first year. I love seeing all the adorable kids in their costumes...one of whom will be Norah this year...but as for what's she's going to be...that is top secret!
   
10. Anniversary of our first date. Anytime we get a good cold snap, it reminds me of when Jason and I first started dating (October 1997) and how he was such a gentleman and offered me his prized letterman jacket to keep me warm.
    
11. Watching children jump in piles of raked leaves. If I'm lucky, I might catch this sight a time or two this year. It always makes me smile, and reminds me of my carefree childhood days. (I remember asking Memaw if I could rake her front yard once, just so I could jump in the leaves when I was through. Of course, I didn't include that tidbit of information in my offer to rake)
    
12. Hunting season. Not for me--for Jason. Its such a blessing to have a freezer full of venison to last us through the winter months. (Especially when that stock includes some Slovacek jalepeno-cheese sausage...yum!)
    
13. Christmas is coming!

Follow That Baby!

Man, are we ever mobile! Norah is into everything. Gone are the days that I can leave her alone in a room to entertain herself while I stalk down the hall to get a last-minute forgotten item. Last week she climbed into the bottom cubby of our entertainment center (where her toy basket lives). She is obsessed with wires of any kind. She loves pulling out Daddy's video game controllers and after completely entangling herself in them, she attempts to enjoy a good chew--which is usually short-lived, if she makes it that far into her routine before receiving a swat on the hand and a stern "No, no!" (That's right, folks, we support corporal punishment in Robinson County). She knows where the ethernet cord is, and where the laptop cord is, too. It doesn't matter how much we try to disguise them, she fishes around until she finds them. She also loves to get into mommy's knitting bag. (So I pretty much keep it zipped at all times...even when I working!) And yes, in case you're wondering, she has a multitude of toys. I think she must just think she's outgrown them.

She is still loving her precious books. Her current favorite is "Farmyard Hide and Seek". It's one of our Usborne books (Once in a blue moon I sell them, if anyone's looking for a sales-rep.) and each page has a lift-the-flap . She is so smart. She knows where all of the animals are hiding. But even more impressive to me, is the fact that she is patient, too. She resists the impulse to lift the flap as soon as we turn to a new page. Instead, she waits for me to read, "There are only 3 sheep in the field, where's Wooly?" and then she lifts the flap. I love reading with Norah. I have ever since she was a few days old. She is so content to just sit there in my lap and peruse the pictures with me. Sometimes she helps me turn the pages--but she's always gentle--as if someone taught her to be that way. (Maybe its all those Bible Class teachers singing, "This is the Bible, God's written Word. We will be careful as we turn the pages...") What a blessing each day is. God is so good.

In Honor Of AA's New Blog

This post is dedicated to my sis, Amanda, who finally decided to grace the internet community with a blog, to keep us abreast of her Austin excursions. (Doesn't she look like the proudest Aunt, ever?) Now, she probably wouldn't want me spreading around her web address...but there is a handy way to access her blog, right from Robinson County...at least until she threatens me to pull it down.

Hooray! Now Norah can see AA anytime she wants to.

Whistler's Mother

Norah loves the feeling of the wind on her face. She likes it when her hair blows in the breeze. For this reason, we often play a little game where mommy (or daddy) blows on Norah's face and she grins and laughs. This week she surprised me one morning,when I blew on her face...and she blew back. It was the first time I'd seen her blow. She liked it so much that she kept it up all day...and about half the time, her pucker was accompanied by a little whistle. Who'd have thought that an 8 month old could whistle? (not that it is controlled or intentional...but still, impressive!)

She's also back into blowing raspberries--big time. She'd quit for a while, and to tell you the truth, I had kinda started to miss it. But they're back with a vengance. She especially likes to blow them at strangers when we're out in public--I dont think anyone has taken it personally, as of yet.

One other notable (at least in my opinion) story from our weekend took place at church tonight. Our good friend (and Nascar fanatic) Brooke Avery, gave Norah a little Nascar matchbox car to play with during Foree's sermon. She was being so good---sitting quietly, chewing on her little car, when suddenly, she dropped the car. Now this wouldn't have been a big deal, except the car landed wheels-down on the sloped, slick auditorium floor. It took off. It raced down SEVEN rows of pews before someone picked it up! I was so embaressed! (I dont know if the embaressment was more from disrupting church, or the realization that everyone might mistaken Jason and me for geeky Nascar fans...just kidding, Brooke!) The icing on the cake (and the source of a lot of blushing) was when the guy who stopped the car passed it to the guy behind him, who passed it to the guy behind him, and so on, for SEVEN ROWS, until it made it back to us. Jason laughed hysterically for a few minutes, while I tried to contain myself...but I'm pretty sure the back quarter of the auditorium was all on to us. Oh well...I'm sure it wont be the last time we have an embaressing Norah tale.

13 "Me" Facts

I'm barely making it in under the buzzer as far as this still being a THURSDAY Thirteen...but better late than never. I'm at a loss for fun topics, so this week, I'll share a few things about myself that you may, or may not have known prior to this post.

1. I'm the oldest of three children in my family.
   
2. My first car was a 1987 Nissan Sentra, dubbed "Roary" (it wasn't the stealth model). It was a stick-shift and if you looked at it from behind and squinted your eyes, it kinda looked like a BMW...ok, maybe not, but it still got me from A-B from 1996-2000.
3. I've never had a cavity.
   
4. I have been called "anal" (on more than one occasion, by more than one individual--but I take it as a compliment) and exhibit several minor OCD tendancies, such as all the labels facing the same way in the pantry (think: "Sleeping With the Enemy"--only I'm not psycho), needing to have all identical hangers in all the closets in our house, and having to write with a specific pen (see last week's T-13).
5. My favorite food genre is Italian.
   
6. I love to write.
7. The second and third toes on my left foot are slightly webbed. (A trait I inherited from my dad, but failed to pass on to my own daughter--sorry, Dad.)
8. The one thing I miss about high school is choir. I loved everything about it. That feeling I got every time we opened a new piece of music for the first time, long rehearsals, contest, solos, musicals, all-region try-outs, sight-reading...everything.
9. My favorite color is red. Admitting this is a big deal, because up until the last year or so, I really and truly didn't have a favorite color. I even told Jason my favorite color was blue when we were dating because I knew it was his favorite, and I wanted him to like me.
   
10. I have made 3 quilts (2 king-size and 1-full) and have a 4th in the works.
    
11. I start getting excited about Christmas in August and put my tree up as early after Halloween as Jason will let me.
12. I've never had a ticket. (And I usually drive with my hands at ten and two)
    
13. I'm am capable of consuming mass-amounts of milk. I think that was one of the reasons why my dad was so willing to marry me off to Jason (well, and it might have had something to do with the fact that Jason's pretty much the greatest guy ever...but I think it's mostly about the milk)

Jumper-Snooze

Saturday night we went over to the Gilmore house for our usual dinner with my folks and brother (Sorry, AA....we miss you!). And as has quickly become custom, we put Norah in her new, favorite toy, the Jumperoo. She jumped, and bounced to her heart's content---just like always. Only this time, after an extended period of jumping, there was a pause. Grammy looked up and said, "Oh my gosh!", alerting us all to Norah's latest feat. She had fallen asleep, standing up!

I know this may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, if you could have seen the passion with which she jumped, coupled with the way she has been fighting anything sleep-related (naps, bedtime, you name it) of late, perhaps you would be able to appreciate the true humor of the situation. Granted, it was pretty mean of us to whip out the camera (I'm thinking these will definately fall into the "embaressing pictures we can threaten Norah with exposing when she's a teenager" category) At any rate, she was out cold. The flash from the camera didn't even make her flench. So, after we had documented the memory, Jason went to get her out of the jumperoo to put her in her crib, where she could get much better sleep, lying down. Much to all of our surprise (and entertainment), as soon as Jason put his hands around her waist to lift her out, she came alive! She started jumping 90 to nothing, as though nothing had happened! (Or maybe it was her way of telling us, "I'm awake! I'm awake! See, look? I'm still jumping!") Jason decided to take her out anyway--she was clearly exhausted. Sure enough, as soon as he picked her up, she laid her head down on his shoulder and was out like a light. Looks like we may have a little narcoleptic on our hands!

Busy Baby

Being a first-time parent is so much fun. I think we're learning as much as Norah is! The past few weeks have been a blast because our little girl is really on the move. She's been pulling up on everything--and she has the bruises to prove it! (See the one over her right eyebrow?)

Friday she decided that the school house is way more fun to play with from the outside. She crawled over to it, then pulled herself up and started pushing all of her favorite buttons. I thought maybe she was hinting that she'd like to be put in her little school house seat, but I was quite mistaken. She started fussing when I picked her up, so I put her back on the ground and she pulled back up and resumed play. She "walked" her way around and played with everything. I think she's definately proud that she is a biped (even if she still requires a little bit of help staying upright)



When she got bored walking around the school house, she discovered another way to make it fun again. She must have figured if it was that much fun playing outside of it, imagine how fun it would be playing under it! She quickly found out how fun. She crawled right under it and amused herself for a good 30 minutes. My favorite pose was when she kicked her feet up over her head and rested them on the base of the school house seat. She just looked like she was "just chillin'". (Her little legs look so long in those pants!)

But that wasn't the end of our play day. Oh no. Next, we got out all of Norah's usually preferred toys. As you can see from the picture, we had quite an array of rainbow colors cluttering the floor. But our little smarty pants knew that there were still a few more toys left in her "toy box". She crawled over to it, pulled up on it, and was doing her best to open it. I had to laugh--after I took advantage of the photo op, of course.

She tried and tried to open the box herself, but to no avail. (She even clued into the little latch on the front of the box...smart girl!) Finally, she turned around to beckon me for an assist, and I gladly complied. Once I put out the remaining toys, she was perfectly content, playing with the ones that were already out. I guess she just wanted the back up toys out, just in case.

13 Current RC Quirks

Today's T-13 is a rare glimpse into some of the random quirks you'll find on any given day in Robinson County. (Warning: After you find out how weird we are, you may not want to come back to visit us!)

1. I subconciously tap the top of my coke (read: Dr. Pepper) can twice before I open it. This particular quirk is of great annoyance to Jason, who originally brought it to my attention, and I do attempt to surpress the urge when I catch myself doing it.
2. Jason truly believes that "everything's better with a little ranch dressing". He's been known to douse pizza, fried rice, pork chops...you name it. And as far as salads go, there is no better companion for lettuce (Jason's "salad" of choice) than ranch dressing, and if you don't have ranch, he'd rather pass.
3. Norah has developed a chronic (fake) cough and uses it (quite effectively, I might add) to get attention. Jason and I have learned, however, that we can use this to our advantage. Norah thinks the cough is funny--that's why she does it. So when she starts to fuss, Jason and I have figured out that we can do our fake cough, and Norah will forget her woes and start coughing with us, instead.
4. The "dollop swirl" in the center of a new tub of butter is off-limits until the sides of the tub have been hollowed out. I think its pretty and kindly ask that it not be disturbed until necessary.
5. Sweet tea is the only tea in Robinson County.
6. Norah can be in a room full of toys, and the "playthings" she seems most interested in are: electrical cords, shoes, and the telephone.
7. Jason feels it his duty to our family (or was it his right as a free American...I can't remember which) to peel the label from any product that he comes into contact with. This includes (but is not limited to): water bottles, soup cans, and salad dressing (why would he need the label when all he'll EVER use is Ranch anyway?)
8. I am very particular about the pen that I write with. I prefer to use a Pilot G7, in black, otherwise known to my close family and friends as my "inky pen". I carry one with me at all times so that I can write with my pen, as opposed to the one provided for me at the bank, check-out stand, etc. I also keep several stashed around the house and will search all of my "hiding places" for one before succombing to using a lesser, albeit more easily accessible pen.
9. Norah has taken to singing in unison with me in the afternoons. We pick a note and hold it for a while, then start again. We're thinking about taking our act on the road.
10. Jason is nearly incapable of walking past a refrigerator without opening the door and looking inside. It doesn't matter if he's not hungry. It doesn't matter whose fridge.
11. There is no cable television in the Robinson house. Hasn't been for the past 6 years since we've been married...and I'd just as soon keep it that way. We do, occassionally bum cable from friends and relatives if there's a good football game on, or something we deem worthwhile, but other than that, I really don't feel like we've missed too much.
12. Our daughter is a shameless flirt. She loves to go shopping just so she can talk to the people around us in the stores. Her funniest flirt-tactic is saying "Aaa" to anyone with their back to her, then she stares them down with her sweet smile until they look her way. It has almost a 100% effectivity rate. The "Aaa-eee" usually turns around and starts talking to her as soon as they see the grin.
    
13. I've mentioned in previous posts that my husband is an awesome ball player. The secret to his strength (much like Samson's was his hair), are his vintage 1978 tube socks, in varying colors. It doesn't really matter if they match his uniform--in fact, sometimes I think he picks the pair that clashes the most, on purpose. He likes to wear them hiked up almost to his knees. I'm usually in deep trouble if its game day and he doesn't have a clean pair...speaking of which, he has a double header tonight, so I'd better get some laundry going!

A New Like and a Dislike

Norah has officially "outgrown" the bouncer. The past 3 times we've put her in it, she has bailed out (still strapped in, but hanging upside down), so we finally decided it was time to return it to Jenny. Jen, being the generous soul that she is, offered us a trade--bouncer for jumperoo.

We took the jumperoo over to Grammy and Grandpa's house Saturday night to let Norah try it out, and I think its safe to say, it was a very good trade! For two straight hours (and I assure you, I am not exaggerating--we timed it), Norah bounced and jumped and laughed and shrieked. She loved the boooiiinng (pronounced: boy - eee - oing) sound effects, and of course, the jumping. But I think her favorite part of the evening was watching Grandpa and Uncle Johnny's dogs. Sally and Doby didn't know what to think of the new contraption in their livingroom (let alone the energetic girl at the helm). They kept pacing past her--never getting too close--and each time they would pass by, Norah would go into hyper-jumping/shrieking mode, as though she was putting on a show for them. I wish you could see in the pictures how high she was jumping--she was really getting some good air. And let me tell you, she slept like a log Saturday night!

As for the "dislike" promised in today's title...we have finally stumbled across a food that Norah does not enjoy. Sweet peas. I still can't believe it. I love peas. How can my own child hate them so? Oh wait...I think I may know the answer to that question. Grammy. My mom hates peas with an unmatched passion...that is it was unmatched, up until I tried to feed them to Norah this week. The first two bites, she just smacked the peas in her mouth, as though something wasn't quite right. Then she began with the tongue-out show of disgust. Finally, around bite 5-6, she held the entire contents of the spoon on top of her tongue and started making a gagging noise. At this point, I decided we'd had enough peas for one night. Still, I didn't want her to learn that she can make a few yucky faces and get chocolate cake, so I went into the kitchen and got jar of green beans to fake her out. She was pretty apprehensive about the first couple of bites, but quickly adjusted to switched menu and devoured the entire jar.

I am not ready to give up on peas just yet. I've read that it sometimes takes several tries to gain success with a new food. In fact, we tried peas again last night and made it to about 10 bites before Norah's gagging tendancies returned. (Please spare me any nasty comments on how insensitive and mean I am...it was only a few bites, and she was rewarded with her favorite, bananas, when we got through with the peas) I wont push her too hard, and I am proud of what a good eater she is already, even if she doesn't share my love for peas.

Blogger's Block

I've been suffering from a severe case of "blogger's block". It's not for lack of material--Norah's been up to all kinds of fun...I just haven't had the words (or the drive) to blog lately.

One such noteworthy acheivement is her new-found discovery of inhailing through her nose. She started this about 2 weeks ago, but has been pretty illusive as far as letting us capture "the face" on film. Pictures just don't do it justice. It's hillarious! She scrunches up her nose and puckers up her lips and breathes in (rather loudly). We're not really sure where she picked up this new talent, but we've enjoyed the show!

In other news, Jason and I played disc golf this weekend (it was the first time in about 8 months for him, and the first time in over a year for me). Aggie Disc Golf Club league play started today, so we went out to Research Park yesterday to see if we were still able to throw worth beans. We took Norah in the stoller, and Jonathan brought his jack russell, Doby, much to Norah's delight. (She laughed at him every time he ran closeby). We also saw a huge softshell turtle, and some baby ducklings. Norah seemed to really enjoy her long walk in the park.

We had a pretty decent round yesterday, so Jason's mom and grandmother came to our house and watched Norah this afternoon so Jason and I could go play our "league" rounds. (Thank you so much!) It was (I believe) the first "baby-less date" we've had in the past 7 months. Norah did great--Mom R said she didn't fuss at all. And we really enjoyed our time together (we held hands and everything!) We both played really well too. (He finished 7 under, I finished 4 over--and yes, he's MUCH better than me!)

What a blessing to have so much family here in town so that Jason and I can steal a few moments alone together. (Not that we dont love our "together time" with Norah.)

13 Things That Smell Good

This week's T-13 goes out to my friend, Checky Becky, who requested a "Good Smellin' Stuff" topic. It's amazing to me just how many memories I have tied to smells! (Oh, and if you're wondering about the cow...see #3)

1. Norah's Head--ahhh...I love that subtle mix of Johnson's Head-to-Toe and Baby Magic! Fresh and clean and sweet as can be.
2. Popcorn--it reminds me of spending the night with Memaw and Papaw when I was a little girl...seems like they ate popcorn every night while they watched the news. As a child, I hated watching the news...except at Memaw and Papaw's house.
3. Cow Mannure--not kidding. Ever since I was a kid and got to play at my Uncle Robert and Aunt Johnny Ruth's farm, I've loved the faint smell of cow poo that was noticable as soon as we got out of dad's truck at the farm. It makes me want to play in the hay loft and go fishing with grasshoppers. And no, I dont like the smell of poop, in general...I guess I just associate the smell of cow mannure with farm, and farm with fun.
4. Leather--It just smells so fresh. I go weak in the knees everytime we go into a sporting goods store when I'm hit with that overwhelming leather smell (from all the shoes and baseball gloves, I guess). We even have an awesome leather candle that is my most favorite one to burn.
5. Blue Pinesol
--what my house smells like when it's clean.

6. Cinnamon
--one whiff of this and I've instantly got Christmas on the brain...although, it's never too far from there, anyway.

7. Sawdust
--I love the smell of fresh sawdust. It usually means that Jason is making something amazing. (I'm not as crazy about the sawdust when it finds its way into our house...but its a fair trade-off, I suppose, for all the treasures he makes for our house)
8. Rain--especially a good, soaking rain after a long dry spell.
9. Fresh Sliced, Juicy Watermelon--It makes me think of happy summer memories--seed spitting contests with the Gilmore cousins, and late-night 4th of July swims (which always end with the family sharing watermelon)
   
10. The Coffee Aisle at Walmart--I've never been a coffee drinker--can't stand the taste. But I savor every second of my weekly processional down the Walmart coffee aisle. (Which, by the way, I've discovered is more fragrant when traversed from west to east)
    
11. Sharpies--(the marker, not the dog) Yeah, go ahead and make your wise cracks. I don't sniff them to get high, I just like the smell. It reminds me of the beginning of the school year.
    
12. White Cake, Hot Out of the Oven--I've been baking and decorating cakes for nearly 6 years, and to this day, I still love the way it makes our kitchen smell. (And at the expense of a lot fewer calories, since we rarely eat the cake!)
13. Jason's Armpits--seriously. He's really good about remembering to shower and he even wears deodorant...and it smells really nice!

Who Needs a Yellow Submarine?

Norah has one more reason to love the water...a super-cool, inflatable rocket ship! While on our previously blogged, spontaneous trip to Academy, Mommy and Daddy picked up this sweet ride for 20% off! We cracked it open Friday night for a dip in Gramps and Grandad's pool. Norah had a ball! Her favorite feature is the horn, which actually honks (think: old-school bicycle horn).





She's been kicking in the water for a few weeks now, so this little boat is perfect for her because it has little holes cut-out for her legs to hang down so she can kick to her heart's content. As you can probably tell from the pictures, she was very proud of her new ride. (I mean, who wouldn't be--it's neon green with purple and yellow racing stripes!)





In all of our anxious anticipation to get to the pool and test drive Norah's new boat, we forgot to pack her swimsuit! (We did, thankfully, have some swim diapers, so at least she didn't have to skinny dip) She didn't seem to mind her lack of attire, one bit. She was pretty much in hog heaven zooming around in her rocketship.

Breakfast and a Bug Book

Norah got to meet her new buddy, Bella Kay, this morning. Karen and Shane were passing through town, so we met for breakfast at IHOP. Norah sat in a high chair for the first time Thankfully, mommy remembered to pack her trusty germ cover. (Cause everyone knows that cotton repels all sorts of germs). If nothing else, it definately made the highchair more comfy, and kept any left-over renegade syrup from finding its way into Norah's mouth (as pretty much anything she can get her hands on does)

I'd say the girls really hit it off...Norah could hardly take her eyes off of Bella. She spent half of breakfast hunched over her high chair, trying to get a closer look. I don't know what Bella thought of Norah. As you can see in the picture above, she was yawning a lot, so I think Norah may need to work on her conversation skills so she wont bore all her friends to sleep. She definately kept the people at the table next to ours entertained...when she wasn't looking at Bella, she was turning around staring at the couple behind her. Now I have to teach her its not polite to stare...Mom's have a lot of responsibility!


I also discovered today that Norah has a new favorite book. I started reading "Ten Little Ladybugs" with her a couple of weeks ago and right off the bat, she seemed really interested in the bright pictures and the bumpy, textured ladybugs. Two weeks later, she loves this book so much, she's been choosing it over her toys! (That's my girl!) She doesn't even need me to read it to her anymore. She put on quite a show this afternoon, reading and entertaining herself with her latest pick in children's fiction. (So of course, I had to get out the camera to provide you with a little diversion in what may have otherwise been a boring day)

We're definately getting our money's worth out of our books. Norah is a tiny book worm. (But she didn't eat those holes in the book...it came like that) I can't wait until she's old enough to really read! There are so many great books I'd love to share with her!