Odymm Pandemonium
Aniam Puppynoodles
Moo-pies Anonymous
My apologies. It's actually Moody Mania. That's the last time I'll hire John Travolta to introduce my blog.
If you missed him butchering Idina Menzel's name at the Oscars this year, the tale of his troubled tongue is only a few clicks away on Youtube.
So back to the Moody world:
I've always wanted culture in my house- in the form of listening to classical music while doing chores, watching a ballet on TV, painting, writing, etc. Ryan, however, is used to another form of it: AGRICULTURE.
Back in November he had a successful hunting trip. He had gotten his first deer (I refuse to say 'shot' or 'killed'). But I tell myself that the chicken I ate last night probably didn't leave this world on such a high note, either. I digress.
He was so excited and talked about the animal having a new home. I assumed he meant on the grill or in the refrigerator. Imagine my heart rate and face color when he explained that he was getting it mounted and intended to hang it in our house.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when the taxidermist had finished his job. Ryan told me to make room for it in the car, so I shoved a few pairs of shoes and books aside in the floorboard. But I would soon learn that wouldn't quite do it. What I thought was supposed to be a head ended up being half of the guy's upper body. I was tricked. That thing is MASSIVE. So massive, in fact, that he was worthy of a name: Bernie (after Bernie's fried chicken in Columbia). He was also entitled to the shotgun seat in the car- pun sadly intended.
Never in my life did I imagine that I would have a deer head sticking out of a wall in my house. It looks like he ran through the woods, into our house, and got stuck there.
But I suppose this troubling trophy falls into the "worse" category of our "for better or for worse" vows. However, I'm a pretty good sport, so if Bernie happens to make our Christmas card this year, consider yourself warned.
The temporary peace in our home is as unpredictable as South Carolina weather. One minute it's a sunny, 70 degrees, and then the next, a storm or cold front comes bursting in without warning. Case in point:
One night recently I was exhausted and didn't feel like cooking (this particular day ended in "y...."), so I picked up some fried chicken in one of those boxes from the grocery store. When Ryan took the first bite he grumbled, "This has been sitting out all day!" Seriously?? It's FRIED CHICKEN. It's delicious anytime. What about food at a tailgate? That sits around all day.
But he insisted that it wasn't fresh and looked at the front of the box:
"Prepared at 12:10 pm." In a devastating turn of events, we were eating this chicken six hours after it was ready.
I later made cookies to soothe the situation, and I served them with a friendly note:
Take THAT.
Maybe I wouldn't be so miserably tired if the world's cutest alarm clock would actually sleep through the night.
"When the clock strikes two, three, and four,
If the bottle is gone we'll yell for more..."
I do appreciate the times that Ryan feeds her at night. However, like a man he wants to skip the step of waiting for Emerson to fall asleep before putting her back down. This means that even when I don't have to feed her during the night I still have to get up anyway.
He's like a captain escaping from a sinking ship.
Not my problem!
But when she does finally fall asleep, it's serious business. So serious to the extent that she can practically enter dreamland in any position:
And speaking of being TIRED, never have I dispised "springing forward" as much as I did this year. Because the fact is, EVERY night I lose at least an hour- sometimes three. So moving the clock forward for kicks and giggles last weekend hardly made me happy.
As a result my snooze button had bruises this past Monday, and getting out of bed was more difficult than getting a live insurance agent over the phone. It was absolutely painful.
As usual there has been no shortage of chaos or accidents around here. The only thing seemingly missing are my marbles. I was the butt of everyone's joke on the East coast after realizing one afternoon, (at 5:30 pm, nonetheless) that I had been wearing my shirt not only inside out but BACKWARDS all day. Either no one else noticed it, or they were too embarrassed to tell me, but really??? Since when does someone get the following monogrammed on their shirt:
Merona
Size S
100 % cotton
Machine wash cold w/ like colors
Macy's sweater: $39.99
Optional movie theater, butter flavored collar: $9.99 extra
And a couple of days later while carrying Emerson into daycare I remember thinking she was extra heavy that morning. That's because instead of her bottle bag I had brought in my work computer and files.
Dell: It does a body good.
I am always extremely grateful when our families come to town, because regardless of the reason for their trip they always help with her at night so we can rest. Forget beauty sleep; I need a brain reboot!
Team Poppy to the rescue!
This particular time the Carlson clan was in town for my Mom's ablation (heart procedure). To say that lots of thought and care went into this operation before it took place was an understatement. The way my mother agonizes over paint and fabric colors one can only imagine how much research goes into selecting a heart surgeon.
"Pick me!!! I can spin around on my head, clean toilets, solve a Rubik's cube, and perform an ablation simultaneously!"
Consider yourself hired.
Thank the LORD that the procedure went flawlessly and that the doctor was pleased with the results.
At least part of their visit included fun and games.
This little girl has brought our families even closer, if that was possible. Just a week and a half ago she turned four months old, which was on the exact day last year that we found out about her. Simply sweet!!!
On this exact morning we woke up at 4:00 am to find that she had completely flipped over in her crib. Now she considers herself a resident expert on stomach sleeping...
And now that Miss Priss has learned to roll over, she does it ALL THE TIME. I'm going to start calling her Beethoven for that very reason...and also because of her hair sometimes.
Her newfound talent makes it particularly difficult to feed and change her, and once she gets on her stomach I usually find her like this...instant frustration.
Why did I put myself in this position???
*Editor's note: she gets immediately cuddled and hugged after making such a pitiful face.
But I'm beyond grateful that her growth is right on track! She also took her recent shots like a pro. Seriously who looks this cute at the doctor's office???
When I'm at the doctor for an appointment I usually look something like this:
but to Emerson it's just another day of being adorable.
Hey, Mom, at least our doctor's visit is better than doing this at one of your work meetings.
Then there was the rice cereal feeding heard 'round the world. It was suggested that we spoon feed it to her, but that incident was about as pleasant as listening to a choral concert by Smokey the Camel.
"Do, re, mi, HACK, so, la, COUGH, do!"
We ended up feeding it to her from a bottle instead of a spoon.
But don't go feeling too sorry for her just yet. Baby love was SO excited about her jumper from the wonderful Moody grandparents and Uncle Kevin.
I have HOW many things to play with???
We've also had some great times at the FBC nursery, as always.
They now have this awesomely cool paging system so they can call us in church for emergencies.
"Attention, Mrs. Moody, your cheese fries are now ready baby needs you!!!"
And little Miss Sunshine continues to be a social butterfly.
With very passing second I love little Emerson even more, and every time I hold her I'm reminded that she will never be as small as she is in that moment. And every night that I put her to sleep is one less night that she'll have with me. Honestly, that breaks my heart. So when she looks back at her (10,000 and counting) baby pictures and sees that her cheeks are rosy red I can tell her that it was because I couldn't stop kissing her that day. When she asks why our house is messy I will tell her it's beacuse I spent the evening cuddling her instead of pushing around the Oreck. And if she notices that I'm more overbearing than a dog around bacon I will explain that it's because my love for her is greater than the entire universe.
Seeing her at the end of each day is like meeting her all over again. At four months old she has changed my life forever, which made me ask: what will I leave behind for her one day? Will she be proud to call me her mother? My job every day since being born again was to shine the love of Jesus. Now it includes living a life that will be an example to my incredible, heart consuming daughter. And we all know that doing things the Katharine way is an out-of-the-box experience.
Everyone will leave marks on the world. One of mine happens to be "Cleanup on aisle 11."
Yep, guilty as charged. I am solely responsible for this threatening cone. That juice came out of nowhere. But you know what? That cone represents an imperfect person serving a perfect Lord. ....and it also makes me laugh hysterically.
With a love for sleeping and not for sweeping,
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