I'm a Fraud

I guess I've always known the day would come when Norah would come to the startling realization that I am not the smartest person in the world...I just didn't count on her discovering it quite this soon. This morning, my normally mild-mannered toddler burst into tears of frustration because I failed to solve the Rubik's cube she had brought to me with instructions to "Fix it, Mommy". I twisted the cube a few times and got about 75% of yellow on one side, and handed it back to her, hoping that would be good enough to satisfy her, but oh no. She pushed it back toward me, saying, "No. More yellow Mommy." And when I failed to perform this seemingly menial task, the waterworks began. Sorry, sweetheart, Mommy's not a genius, after all--it's just been an elaborate hoax.

I Like Eli

Well, of course I like my Eli, that goes without saying. Who could help but love this sweet grin? But the Eli I'm referring to in my post title is Eli Manning--as in quarterback for the champions of Super Bowl 42. About halfway through the season I noticed how much scrutiny the poor guy was under by all of the sports commentators on ESPN (and everywhere else, really), and I declared that I was pulling for him. I mean, it's gotta be rough enough being known the "little brother" of stand-out quarterback, Peyton Manning (who, by the way, I also like a whole lot) without having to be constantly reviewed as "lacking" by anyone who matters in sports. Add to that a former teammate who gave an interview stating that Eli was comical and awkward as a leader, and you've got a great Cinderella story when the guy comes back to upset one of the greatest football teams in the history of the game (I'm referring to the now 18-1, formerly perfect '07-08 New England Patriots, who just about everyone expected to win the Super Bowl with no trouble).

Now I'll admit, about 80% of my initial liking of Eli Manning had to do with the fact that he has a great name...but the more I watched him, the better I liked him, and by the time the Super Bowl rolled around, I was really pulling for him. After having watched it, I can honestly say that he didn't' disappoint. It was, in my opinion the best Super Bowl I've ever watched, and the icing on the cake was watching all those formerly critical commentators on ESPN eat crow. I predict an avalanche of Peyton/Eli sibling rivalry commercials in '08. (Oh, and by the way, the sleeping pictures of Eli don't really have anything to do with this post, but I figured I'd throw something cute in for the non-sports-enthusiasts)

Speaking of football, I did a fun cake for a Super Bowl birthday party this weekend, so I just had to share.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled (non-sports-inclusive) blog. (Oh, and for the record...I like Norah too)

Party at the Farm

Uncle Grant and Aunt Paige graciously allowed us to invite Norah's friends out to "the farm" for Norah's 2nd birthday party.






I went with overalls for the cake and invitation designs, because my experimental goat and chicken drawings looked pretty grim


The kids all had a great time feeding the baby goats...















and petting the goats...












Goat charmer, Uncle Grant, taught Norah his secret...(Hint: it involves a handful of feed)











Norah just had to "ride the goats". (She repeated this phrase 20-30 times until Daddy and Uncle Grant complied.)

And what farm shin-dig would be complete without a hayride through the back pasture? Uncle Grant did a great job driving the tractor to the kids' chorus of "faster! faster!"

All in all, I think the party was a great success. And the weather was beautiful! Thank you so much Uncle Grant and Aunt Paige for showing the kids a great time-- we love you both!

And for the record, Eli's still growing! He slept through most of Norah's second birthday, but I have a feeling he'll be a much bigger participant in next year's celebration.

Birthday Lunch

We had planned a big, outdoor birthday party at Uncle Grant's farm for Norah's actual birthday (January 19), but had to postpone it one day due to weather. It just felt wrong not to celebrate a little though, so we felt a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's was in order.

Norah wore AA out going down the slide gazillion times! (but it was fun, wasn't AA?)





Daddy took Norah for a virtual ride. She really enjoyed it...





So she went for Round Two, in her very own seat! (I know she looks scared to death, but she loved it so much she asked to do it again)


It was a fun impromptu lunch, and worked great to get us in the mood for the main event!

Norah's First Meme

Norah has been tagged by Baby Bug of Island Life to complete her very first meme--"8 Random Things About My Life". She may be a week shy of two years old, but Norah's a bit chatty--I'm sure it'll be hard for her to limit herself to 8.

My mommy says my mission is to find 8 things about myself to share with you. Since I always do what my mommy says, "Let the mission, begin!" (That's "Little Einsteins" humor for those of you who failed to recognize it)


1. Upon my promotion to "Big Sister", I decided I'm much too grown up to continue referring to my mother as "Mommy". I immediately began calling her "Mom" the first time I saw her after Eli was born. Mom didn't take too keenly to this new moniker, so after a few days of her relentless pleading, I've compromised and have since been referring to her as "Momma". (But occasionally I forget my age and regress back to calling her Mommy...I think these brief mental lapses make her a little bit happy.)

2. My typical lunch consists of a half turkey (or roast beef if Mom's feeling a little dangerous) and Miracle Whip sandwich with colby jack cheese, 3 slices of apple, and Cheetos...if I eat everything else first. If I bat my eyes and say "Pleeeaaase" I can sometimes even score a cookie for dessert!

4. My mommy thinks I don't know how to count because I often choose to omit the number 3 from my counting sequence. Did she ever consider the possibility that I might have an aversion to this particular number because she and daddy occasionally count to three when I am headed for a spanking? I mean, would you like a number that always resulted in a beating? And for the record, I can count to eleven (and I do, at times, include 3, just to humor my parents).

5. Naps are for babies. I wish I could convince my mom of this, but she keeps insisting I take one every day.

6. I don't understand why if it's so important to share, that I can't borrow Eli's paci. He never uses it, and it's so clean and new...and blue. I'm happy to share all my toys with him, so what's the big deal?

7. One of the biggest highlights of my day is checking the mail. I love going out to the mailbox with my mom, and she lifts me up and lets me open the box all by myself. I even get to carry the mail inside and help her open it. Best of all, she lets me throw all the junk mail away for her!

8. I am the queen of 2-year-old (well, soon to be, anyway) stall tactics. If we're headed to Bible Class, I just fake out my folks by telling them I need to "Go Potty!" (This technique also works great if I happen to get caught out of my bed after lights-out) I can also prolong the "going to bed" process by making puppy dog eyes and saying, "Snuggle, Daddy?" (or Mommy, dependent on who's night it is to have the pleasure of putting me to bed). That gets 'em to stay at least 5 more minutes, every time!

Well, that was easy enough. Now it's time to tag some of my friends...how about Aidan of Design on Post, Cal of Los Livingstons, Clay of The Knightly News Report and Shelby of Growing Up Garner. See you on the next mission!

Sweet Kids, Sweet Daddy

I love my kids! I love watching them interact with each other. Witnessing the transformation of Norah from "only child" to "doting big sister" has been priceless. (And that isn't meant in any way to imply that the transition is complete...but she is doing great with it)

Norah truly loves Eli as much as we do. She is nurturing, patient (most of the time) and genuinely sweet with him. She is always concerned when he is upset (and quick to alert us when "E.Y.'s kuh-whyin'!", in case we failed to notice) And he responds to her, too! Her voice can soothe him, and he seems curious to know about everything she does. It is my prayer that they will be close for all of their lives--and I know that their ties have already begun to form.

Those who know me well can attest that I'm pretty crazy about Norah. So much so that throughout my pregnancy, I really was concerned about showing favoritism when the "new baby" arrived. But I'm pleased to report that (just as so many of my friends and family assured me), I am absolutely in love with my son, and my worries were completely unfounded.

Isn't he handsome?












Here they are watching Norah's favorite, "Little Einsteins" (notice she's so distracted that she completely forgot the lesson I had just given her about holding Eli's head carefully)


Norah quote from lunch:
N: "Mommy, more Cheetos?"
A: "No. No more Cheetos today."
N: (with renewed sense of hope in her voice) "Mommy, more fingers?" (translation: "Can I at least lick the Cheetos-dust off my hands?"
A: "Sure. Knock yourself out!"

In other news...last night sweet Jason gave me my birthday present (he's said he just couldn't bear to wait). He informed me that he thought Eli needed to be changed (which, for the record, Jason does change his fair share of diapers, and no, that's not the gift), so I took him into the nursery and popped open the wipes container, to reveal 2 tickets to "Movin' Out", an OPAS musical that I've been DYING to see! It's all Billy Joel songs (which I love), not to mention it means a special date-night with my hubby. I can hardly wait!!

Christmas Goodies

Sorry these aren't photos of the kids...those are coming (as soon as I can remember where I put the camera). Instead, here are a few of my sewing projects from Christmas '07.


This is a quilt I made for my mom and dad. (Yes, Denise, I actually finished it!) It is a king, so, unfortunately, I couldn't really get a good photo of it in it's entirety. There are two more borders outside of the brown-- the first is forest green, and the second is gold/tan. Mom loved it so much, she's gearing up to paint her bedroom a coordinating shade of green! (It's on my bed in the photo)



My little sis requested a shirt with her childhood nickname ("Manda Panda") on it...this was what I came up with. (I fell in love with the green and blue fabrics when I saw them at Lonestar Quiltworks, which recently relocated much closer to our house!)

This was an initial t-shirt ordered by a friend as a Christmas gift. (More fabric from Lonestar...)









These three shirts were special-ordered from Abilene as Christmas gifts. The red shirt was actually for a soon-to-be newborn, so I had to wait until he arrived to put his "surprise" name (which, by the way, I love, Meg) on it.


The family's last name is Knight and each year they send out a Christmas card with a Knight/Night play on words ("Silent Knight", "I'm Dreaming of a Knight Christmas", etc.) so I thought these shirts were a very clever and thoughtful gift. They were not my idea--the concept and sketches for the shirts were dreamed up by Kelly McDonald, a friend of the gift recipient.