My Girl Wants to Potty All the Time

Alayna is 17 months and she is changing almost everyday. She is saying new words, picking up new habits and just amazing me everyday with how God made us to be so intricate--such a miracle. I get sad when I think that she was just this small..













Then I get excited when we go swimming and she loves the water like this...
















Then, just when I think, my little girl is still little, she climbs on playground equipment like this...














When I think it's too much, and I think she's growing too fast, she shocks me when I say...Alayna, do you have to go potty? She says, "Yes." I take off her diaper and lead her to the bathroom and sit her on the big pot. She went! LOL! Now we're going to have to go buy a Dora or Elmo pot and a DVD so I can explain to her the milestone that will save us hundreds of bucks in diapers being potty trained at 17 months. Way to go, Alayna, it's all about the bottom line. Get it, bottom line, potty? HAHAHAH!

She always poses for her trigger happy, momma.













But she still curls up like my little munchkin, and is still my baby.

Back Down Memory Lane

I got this idea from Natalie's blog.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

--MommaWheel

Am I a bad person?

I have this weird sense of humor. There are certain instances where if a specific event happens, I cannot contain my laughter no matter how serious the moment, irreverent and ill-timed my humor may be. There is just something incredibly hilarious about watching someone fall down the steps. I don't care if it's the President, the Pope, my pastor, my mother, or wife. Even baby girl is not exempt. Speaking of her...

We have a gate at the bottom of the steps to keep her downstairs. Sometime ago, she figured out how to move the thing out of her way. The only thing that prevents her from climbing the stairs is a firm admonition to "leave the gate alone". Well, on this particular instance, she decides to ignore my warning. So she climbs up the stairs, smiling with that impish grin. Halfway up the stairs, she thinks she's grown and decides to stand completely up on her two feet without holding onto anything. Not only does she stand up, but she had the nerve to do a little dance. Laughing, she's obviously enjoying her moment of independence because she has a look of giddiness on her face.

Now it's amazing how quickly one's demeanor can change. Suddenly she lost her balance. The look on her face turned from sheer enjoyment to sheer panic in a heartbeat. She had this look like Wile E. Coyote right before he fell off a cliff, the words plainly spoken on her face, "Oh, sweet Jesus, help me!!!!" She falls backwards down the steps, her head hitting each and every (carpeted) step. She doesn't stick the landing and lands in a heap. At least 15 seconds must have passed before even a sound came out her mouth, although her mouth was open. She was terrorized, in a state of shock.

When I saw this unfolding, two instincts automatically took over. The first instinct, was to run over to pick her body off the floor. The second instinct -- a nano-second later -- was to bust out in uncontrollable laughter. I tried to rationalize that if I laugh, she might not cry as hard. Ultimately, I realize that's incorrect. I laughed because she reminded me of a slinky falling down the stairs. The wife (if she was there at the time) would've freaked out. Me? I thought it was too funny. I'm laughing right now just thinking about it. My brain says "stop laughing you insensitive clod! You're daughter could have snapped her neck!" But I just can't help it. There's certain things in life that are priceless. That moment was one of them. But I wonder, am I a bad person?

--PoppaWheel

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

I have always been a starter and stopper when it comes to crafts. I see something I like that is just way too expensive, and I determine in my mind to make it myself. (Let's call it the pitiful version of DIY) I get all gung ho and I buy all the materials. The latest project is making hair bows for Alayna.

Alayna and I frequent baby boutiques, just ogling over the cute little bows on the racks. They can cost upwards of $8 each FOR ONE BOW! For Alayna to just rip it out of her hair or chew it or lose it at the park? No thank you. Now, there are some bows that are so big that my baby will look a like J o n B e n e t Ra m s e y (God rest her soul, but that aint the look I'm going for) :)

So, I embark on this adventure to buy all this stuff. I got ebooks to teach me how to make bows; I buy hot glue guns, ribbon, some funky chicken wire stuff, and believe it or not, I even tried to put some bows in the oven to "curl" them...no such luck. I even tried to enlist my friends to join in on the fun, but I quit before I even got started. I get so worked up and then I give up lol. HELP!

The whole point of the post was to marvel at people like my Aunt Mary who are crafty and ACTUALLY finish their projects. She knitted this hat and scarf for Alayna and this girl will wear it this winter as well!













She even sent bows that she handmade for Alayna. You'd think I would just give up on my crafts. Even when I was a stay at home mom and thought that's what we were supposed to do, lol, I never finished! My cousin, Sherrelle is the quintessential scrapbooker. I used to drool over the beautiful chronicles of life that she made for her family. I made 6, count 'em, 6 pages and that was 5 years ago. Go figure!

Whenever I finish a project, I'll keep you posted. :)

--MommaWheel

Lake George, NY

For my boss' wedding, we went to see the festivities in Lake George, NY, about a 5 hour trek from our doorstep. At first glance. the town looked like Anyresorttown, USA replete with funhouses, Ripley's Believe It or Not museums, and all the fare that comes with a town that you think is only for tourists. Boy, was I wrong.


Take one turn and you'll find yourself back at this hotel, from Dirty Dancing, well, not the real hotel, but one that reminds you of Baby and Patrick's swaying hips. Ok, so the resort from the movie was in Virginia, but you get the point. :) The view alone was enough to make us want to buy property there!

The Sagamore Hotel. Apparently Rachel Ray spends a lot of time here. Wish she would have cooked the food, but alas, the view was enough. Nestled at the base of the Adirondack Mountains and surrounded by beautiful Lake George, this place was a sight to see.














But I digress...

My boss and her husband are deaf, and what would have been a 130 guest ceremony, turned into an all eyes on us 350 person plus spectacle, and for good reason. The ceremony was done by a hearing pastor and 2 sign language interpreters. I am an interpreter by profession, so to see 2 people interpret a wedding ceremony was beautiful. They were so unobtrusive, so "not there, but there" that it was breathtaking. Here's that view I was talking about.














Whenever my husband and I go to weddings. I remember what it was like 7 years ago to say "i sure will" to my best friend. Marriage is under attack these days and people aren't doing it as often as they should, so it was good to see love can still happen.


-MommaWheel

First Words

Now is as good as ever to talk about how fun it is hearing a 16 month old learn to talk. Alayna repeats EVERYTHING...she sings LOUDLY and cracks us up every time she wants to say something. She is particularly funny when she says something, and we don't answer her right away, she will SCREAM to repeat herself just so she is heard. We have come up with a table to keep track of all the words she is saying, so here goes:

1. Momma
2. Dada
3. Daddy
4. Mommy
5. Ma
6. Jesus
7. Flower
8. Please
9. Cheese
10. Yes
11. Puppy
12. Up
13. Down
14. I
15. See
16. That
17. Have
18. Amen
19. Duck
20. Dog
21. Cat
22. Bird
23. Thank
24. You
25. Bye-bye
26. Elmo
27. Elbow
28. Whoa
29. Wow
30. Uh-oh
31. Up

If I go get some tape for our camcorder, I will upload some video. :)


-MommaWheel