My baby is 8 months old

Let's see... Emily was 8 months old two days ago. Let's see... she is absolutely mesmerized by anything that shows a shadow or a reflection... she's easily distracted... (Wonder where she gets that from?) She pulls herself up to a standing position from ANYTHING. I think she is working on "cruising." She loves her leapfrog activity table. I need to get a picture of her at it.... she stands there forever. And she also takes some pretty good falls now that she is standing up - but she is a tough cookie. ;-) Of course, right now everything goes into her mouth ... toys, books, activity tables, shoes, Mommy's hand, Mommy's zipper... She still spits up quite a bit - which is extremely gross since she is eating food. So - I carry around a baby wipe to clean up the carpet, toys, and "puddles" left behind her. We love her so much. She provides us with great entertainment.

Look at those gorgeous eyelashes!!

Emily with her monkey, Chunky.

There's a pretty smile from my big girl!!

Perplexing Questions

In the song, It's the most wonderful time - why do the lyrics state, "There'll be scary ghost stories and tales ..." Who tells scary ghost stories at Christmas time? The only thing I could come up with is The Christmas Carol - but clearly it is plural meaning more than one story?? Couldn't the author think of something better ... maybe ... " warm family stories and tales of the glories" or "funny old stories and tales of the glories" .... ???

Also - Why are Frosty's first words "Happy Birthday?" My memory of the story is a bit foggy... was it someone's birthday when he comes to life? Otherwise - Why does the song Frosty the Snowman start with "Happy Birthday?" I doubt that Frosty is wishing Baby Jesus "Happy Birthday" .... ???

The gift of the magi

"And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronical of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest of all. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest..." ~O. Henry~

I am sure everyone is familiar with the old Christmas story, "The Gift of the Magi." Here ... sad to say... is my true life version of this story.

Matt & I had decided not to spend much money on each other. We decided to see if we could make a gift for each other. I seriously considered knitting him a lovely sweater but ..... ;-) opted to create a cd of music for him. Okay - I decided to put mushy love songs on it and include some of our favorite songs & wedding songs. And in the meantime, Matthew was busy working away at something as well. A few days ago - he was teasing me about my gift. He said I will be so excited... and he would be too. He said I might jump up and down. WOw!! What could it be?

... Weeks later (namely yesterday), I was driving home from dropping the twins off at school when there was a funny noise and the gas pedal did something funny. I wondered what that was all about. Then, the car just "felt funny" particularly the gas pedal - I am quite a mechanic technician... LOL! I drove home slowly - didn't stress out - just prayed I would make it... and thankfully I did. In my wisdom - I wondered if it was the transmission...

Last night, Matt went out and checked the car out. Sure enough - our 98 chevy blazer that has been paid off - for several years ... has a sick transmission. It probably is not worth sinking money in to since it doesn't have much value. So - we have discussed options - and we will see what works out. Thankfully Matt has a work truck to use but I am carless... and had to take Wed & Fri off from work.

As we were sitting in the living room last night by our lovely Christmas tree the white sparkling lights casting a warm glow on the room - with soft Christmas music playing in the background, Matt reached over and took my hands in his... and pulled them slowly to his lips. "Darling, I need to tell you about your gift." he softly whispered his voice cracking mid-sentence. (snicker snicker... it was sort of like that... ;-)

Matt had worked for several days to fix our automatic lock keychain. Since Emily was born it hasn't worked - before that actually. So, imagine this ... I come to the locked car... I unlock the front passenger door with a key - reach in and unlock the back door to put Emily in and then go around & get in myself. Same thing in reverse... I get out... go around and open Emily's door ... then open the front passenger door to lock all the doors. The automatic locker/unlocker would have been wonderful. Matt said he thought that it would make my life easier on a daily basis. How sweet & thoughtful. I was very touched by the thought & time & effort that he put into it. I was also sad that now it was for nothing. sniff... sniff...

In the words of O. Henry, "And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas a quick feminite change to hystical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat."


Caution: This post may be rated PG due to a romantic scene.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

This looks funny... but has more cultural significance than I first realized.



By Martin Asser
BBC News

"Around the Arab world, if you want to escalate a situation, by saying for example "I'm going to thump you", add the words "with a shoe" and you're literally adding insult to injury, at least the threat of injury.

It's that cultural significance that has added real sting to assault by an Iraqi journalist against US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.

In Arab culture it's considered rude even to display the sole of one's shoe to a fellow human being.

Certainly, crossing one's legs ankle-on-knee style should never be done in a public place for fear of offending the person next to you.

The sensitivity is related to the fact shoes are considered ritually unclean in the Muslim faith.

In addition to ritual ablutions before prayer, Muslims must take off their shoes to pray, and wearing shoes inside a mosque is forbidden.

Shoes should either be left at the door of the mosque, or carried (preferably in the left hand with the soles pressed together).

But beyond the Islamic significance, the dirty and degrading implication of the sole of a shoe crosses all religious boundaries in the Middle East. "

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Interesting comments on my post - that is no longer up. Hmmmmm..... I have much I would like to say... but I'd better let it die.