Our Little Wonder: Three Years

It's hard to know where to begin when a little life is lived so big that it's just bursting at the seams... 

Moriah is our middle girl, but she loves to live on the edge of extremes. She loves to play at full sound, running, jumping, dancing, giggling, chased and chasing...at the same time she can sit forever playing alone in her room talking softly to Peppa, princesses, baby dolls, or stuffed animals. Her temper can flare with screaming, vein popping, and exasperated sighs, but she's also the most empathetic member of our family. Countless times I've seen her carry the hurts of Felicity and Ephraim as if they were her own. I continue to marvel at where it all comes from and be thankful for the special work God did in creating Moriah Ann...

Moriah makes us a bit crazy at times. When things transition from loud to quiet too fast, you can almost guarantee she's upstairs changing her wardrobe AGAIN. Her favorites are swimsuits, tights, tutu skirts, and princess dresses. She's very independent and does a great job of dressing herself but gets extremely frustrated if things aren't working out and generally leaves a trail of wardrobe changes behind her. She also started waking up in the night again, and I'm not kidding she always wakes up sounding like a horror film. We're working on that. Age three goals. 

On the other hand, MoMo definitely keeps us all laughing. Her crazy, frozen, serious/somewhat disturbed with a bit of silly faces when she hears her favorite songs in the car have us rolling, and she has taken to dancing in a swimsuit on our ottoman every morning. "Mommy, can I have "Lights Shine Bright?" Her moves are a unique slow-Mo arm sequence with intense faces followed by supper fast punching arms. Gets me every time. 

No one will ever forget her grand entrance to the living room at Christmas proudly carrying the removable section of her potty chair and announcing her great accomplishment. She says the funniest things like "Look Mommy, I got screw drivas under my pillow. Wanna see 'em?!" and things we're still trying to undersand like "tamation is yuck. we have to clean it" and "let's go to the chocari baseball game" What is tamation and chocari? No idea, but she sure knows. 

A few other things can't be left out like Moriah's obsession with sweets and impersonations of Elmo and Cookie Monster. Her favorite foods are "Thai" which is anything with rice, chicken and red sauce and Tunisian cous cous. Every once in a while she surprises us with a Tunisian word and still wants a Tunisian story. She's a charmer for sure and seems to have a thing with older men. We are terrified! She adores her classes at church and all of the teachers and little friends that come with them. Chocolate eggs at Easter (almost a year ago), the crazy fireworks we saw on the 4th of July, open gym and Day Camp at Bloomingdale Church all made a lasting impression on her and come up pretty regularly in conversation. All things physical like summersaults and climbing seem to come naturally and without a hint of fear. And we've all fallen in love with the things she says:

tank tang/ chicken
tanakits/gymnastics swimmin' suit
green beams
swimmin' cool
You got armpips?
What you got?
What you say?
mash-a-tabowls/ mashed potatoes
I love you, sweetie.
Oh you so cute!
Oh my crash!
nuggle/granola bar

When I first coined her our Little Wonder, I had no idea how true to her it would be. As we leave year 3, I find myself on the edge of my seat excited and just a little terrified for what's in store for year four. No doubt some crazy, fun, hilarious, times ahead with just the right splash of sweet to keep us all under the spell that is Moriah.

31 weeks and the quintessence of pregnant...

It all started at the beginning of week 31 when I declared to our friends that the Moose Tracks ice cream in our freezer was FrOsT BiT and they might want to try another option. From then on it seems this week has been a series of events that confirm that we are at the height of this journey called pregnancy...impulse buys, less brains, more body, and many, many laughs!

Next came my first nesting purchase: the ExTenDaSauRuS:

This is the type of thing my husband usually brings home, and I roll my eyes and laugh,

but there was no stopping me when I saw this baby. I just couldn't help myself. Goodbye unreachable dust, cobwebs, etc.

This week also marked the first week of school. I have to say going to school with my sweet baby girl makes it so much more fun.

Thinking I had more than enough room to scooch by this poor boy in my class, I definitely underestimated my GiRtH. Before I knew it my belly was crashing into this poor boy. Of course all of the kids watching were giggling, and the whole class burst into laughter while I declared to said embarrassed fifth grader, "You've just been BeLliEd!"

Us on the first day of school.

Then there was the day I was grocery shopping at Caputo's and the chocolate covered CaNnoLiS just happened to be screaming at me from the bakery case. Needless to say I was done for:

Perhaps the most exemplary moment occurred at our dinner out at Chick-fil-A. Of course I was ravenous, but for some reason I couldn't seem to bring myself to get anything but those itsy, bitsy chicken nuggets. They're just too good to pass up so naturally when my dear husband left to go get a cup of water and Chick-fil-A sauce, I snuck a significant BiTe of his spicy chicken sandwich. Lucky for me my dear husband is often in some sort of dream land and suspected nothing when he returned. I thought I was in the clear until the end of our meal when this dear, sweet lady approached our table:

Dear, sweet lady: When are you due? You're just too cute.

Me: Aww, thanks. October 21st.

Dear, sweet lady: Yah, my husband and I were just sitting over there cracking up when he left, and you took a big bite of his sandwhich. I said to my husband, "Oh NO she DiDn"T"!

Dan: (very confused, not connecting the dots as to what dear, sweet lady is talking about)

Me: (cracking up at this point because clearly I've been caught)

Dan: (look of shock realizing the crime committed against him.)

Dear, sweet lady to Dan: Now you be nice to her and give her whatever she wants!

I still can't believe I got BuSteD. Unbelievable. Hysterical.

Basically Dan summed it up well when on the last day of week 31 he nonchalantly confessed, "I keep expecting the non-pregnant version of you to show up."

Thanks babe. I think it's going to be awhile until she returns. In fact, it's hard for me to believe she really ever existed. I guess we'll just have to keep laughing at the preggo version until the non-pregnant one decides to make a come back. : )

Fun Five

For pretty much every special occasion Dan and I have a tradition of getting at least two cards to honor the event...one serious and one FuNnY.

This year when I was picking out my FuN card, one particular card ScReAmEd, "I'm the one!!" It was the PeRfeCt card...At the same time, I thought to myself, "If Dan sees this one, he won't be able to resist!"

And guess what? I was right about both things. Amazingly enough Dan did get the same card...

...and it was the PeRfeCt card because I'm definitely loving this man...

...until I CrOaK :)

The End

My Husband the Birder...

Bird Man Dan on the lookout for his new found ObSeSsIoN...

He BeCKoNs them...Come forth ye birds or the AiR...

Delving into to the DePtHs of many DuPage County Forest Preserves....

Taking note of the ExQuIsIte songs, colors, size, flight patterns, and markings of these MaRvEloUs winged creatures...

Satisfied with his findings for the day, this BiRd MaN leaves with a smile having enjoyed a delightful afternoon with his wife and new found FeAthErEd friends...

The End

Pure Masculinity...

Thanks to our fabulous friends Adrian and Nita, Dan has now climbed the highest heights of manhood...Behold, PoCkY MeN's...

I'm pretty sure he'll finally be able to grow a full beard after devouring this fine box of bitter chocolate on a stick...Thank you friends for the laughs and the sweets...I tried one too. One can only hope my voice doesn't drop an octave and my ability to multi-task doesn't fade away as a result ;)

Too Late

I was just about ready to do a True Confessions entry on how my Christmas tree was still up and how I had AbSoLuTeLy no intention of taking it down anytime soon...how plugging the tree in and seeing its cozy, warm glow makes getting up at the DreAdFuL hour of six a.m. a little less painful, etc....



When much to my SuRpRiSe my love met me at the door on Tuesday, our tree in hand, hauling it to be disposed of in a location that shall remain UnDiScLoSeD (I'll simply say that I am a rule follower...Mr. Bailey is not ;)). It should also be noted that the tree was still wrapped in LiGhTs while it was headed for destruction! The scene was quite hilarious...scads of pine needles and ornaments everywhere...I must have said something to the effect of "No! I can't believe it's over...our tree, our beautiful tree!" about ten times...

I so wish I had a picture of Dan carrying our light adorned tree out of this place...such DeTeRmInAtiOn!

At any rate...after all of that I'm afraid I still have a true confession to make...

We haven't sat on our couch all week... I just can't bring myself to pack up those lovely ornaments...

Kids say the funniest things...

FrIdaY afternoon, our amazing ThiRd GrAdE BuDdiEs were making their weekly visit. The BuDdiEs were hard at work finishing up their How To books...you know, How to Make a PBJ, How to Make a Paper Airplane, etc. My FiFtH GrAdErS were supposed to be leading their third grade buddies in the effort.

As I walked around the room to ensure that everyone was on task, I stopped at a table of four boys working together on their book...well, one boy was working on the book while the others were being SuPpOrTivE observers :).

In an attempt to EnCouRaGe a TeAm effort, I simply said, "The whole group is supposed to be working on the book. Why are ThReE of you just watching G do all the work?"

Their response: "We're taking turns coloring the book 'cuz we already stapled the pages together."

My response: A PuZzLeD look followed by...."That's why you're supposed to StApLe it once it's FiNiSheD so that each of you can work on a page instead of just one person working on OnE page while everyone else sits and does NoThiNg".

Their response: Completely PuZzleD...

My response: A look of DiSbEliEf because no one in the group has thought to solve this problem by taking out the staples and passing out the pages so that everyone can be On-TaSk and the project can be completed in an efficient manner.

I calmly take the book from G and begin pulling out the staples by HaNd because I'm HaPhaZarD like that.

Their response: Utter AmAzeMenT. Seriously...You would have thought I'd just made something VaNisH into thin air...

One of the students who appeared to be the most puzzled KriNklEd his face as if seriously PoNdeRinG the matter and said in a high pitched tone of utter PeRplExiTy...

How'd you do that Mrs. Bailey?....
Did you have trainin' to do that or somethin'?

My Response: Of course I ErUpTeD into laughter at the thought of me and every other teacher in the WoRLd receiving training on how to pull staples out of paper by hand...as if this is some high-level SkIlL that all teachers must show competence in before being crowned with the HoNoR of teaching these little ones.

Through the LaUgHteR I replied, "Actually, no, I didn't get training in this. Believe it or not I just figured it out on my own."

CoNfuSioN still on his face, the student replied, "oh" and began working on his part of the book.

In these sMalL MoMeNts I'm ReMiNdeD of the great JoY found in what I do. I'm EnCouRaGed that even though my job can sometimes seem ChAoTiC, out of control, and OvErwHeLmInG to me, my clientele still think I'm a HiGhLy QuAliFieD GeNiUs, and I'll take that any day....even if it is just for tearing staples out of a book by hand.

Attention Husbands of the World...

So if you're a HuSbaNd, and you're leaving your wife for the weekend, and it just happens to be the end of an ExTrEmEly overwhelming week...you know, the kind that leaves the kitchen looking like this:







You might want to be PrOaCtiVe and SmArT about the situation.


For example, you might want to leave your wife a voice mail like this one so she's not surprised that you left her with the T.W.D. (this term was created by my dad: Toxic Waste Dump) you two have created over the course of the week:

"Hi Honey it's me. I just wanted to call before I leave to apologize for the mess that I'm leaving. I feel really sad about it. I can clean on Sunday when I get back and,
hopefully I can make it up to you with a date Sunday night."

Though acknowledging the situation in this way is good, you might not want to assume that a voice mail totally covers your tracks.
It does prepare her for what's to come, but let's be HoNeSt when she walks through the door and sees first hand the MeSs you and she have been trying to IgNoRe all week...and all she really wants to do is ReLaX... and she realizes that you are ReLaXiNg around some GoRgeOuS lake surrounded by trees turning their leaves into the BrIlliAnT shades of AuTuMn...and though the idea of you cleaning on Sunday sounds good, you know that in reality there's no way she could stand herself any longer if she left it until then...

You might also want to leave something like this:

Honey Love,

I miss you already. You are my love. I'm so sorry it's still a TrAsH PiT.
Please forgive me. I'll clean on Sunday. Think about our date on Sunday.

Love,
Grizz

...that way when she sees this:

...She'll MuSteR up a GrAciOuS attitude instead of FrUsTrAtiOn. SmIle and LaUgH instead of RoLl her EyEs and SiGh. She'll probably even forget the about the mess and MiSs you terribly...And who knows...maybe her just knowing that you recognize that she got the CrUmMy end of the deal this time might help her AtTaCk those dishes with GrAtiTuDe and LoVe as she thinks of her SmArT and PrOaCtiVe husband.

Ode to Christopher...

How I LoVe thee my BrOthEr dearest...Let me count the ways...A list of TeN things that make me GrAteFuL to call you BrOtHeR on this day of your birth and every day of the year...

Number 1: You're the only person in the world that I continually catch UnaShAmeDly checking themselves out in the mirror. I can't blame you...you come from a GoOd LoOkIn' family...

Number 2: Even though you sometimes implement ToRtuRe TaCtiCs, you still remain, in my opinion, an InCrEdiBle UnCle. I secretly can't wait to watch you work your MaGiC on my own children one day.
Number 3: You're really CoOl...SeRiOuSly...what were you thinking bringing along your sixth grader sister to the CrAnBeRriEs CoNcErT when you were a college kid? Did you know that was my first concert ever?...I'm glad I get to forever share that memory with you. I never hear DrEaMs without thinking of you my BrOtHeR.

Number 4: One time when I lost a FrIeNd you were the OnE who came to be with me. You put aside your busy schedule to be a BiG BrOtheR. Thanks for just being there. I know others in the family would say the same...

Number 5: As you know FoOd is of the UtmOsT importance in our FaMiLy, and I have to say you do your fair share of CoNtrIbuTiNg to the PaLlaTe PleAsInG meals at our gatherings...give me some of that SwEeT ChiLi !

Number 6: You are the SloWeSt eater on the face of the PlaNeT...I love that I can FoReVeR make fun of you for that :)

Number 7: You picked a RoCkiN' wife...seriously, I'm so thankful you chose ChRiStiNe. She fits in PeRfeCtlY with the Family, and I think she is HiLaRiOuS, CrEaTiVe, FuN, and CaRiNg...all essentials if you ask me.

Number 8: Basically you've always been one of my FaVoRiTe people to HuG. Thanks for putting up with me even in my most AfFeCtiOnAtE of moods.

Number 9: You truly CaRe about and LoVe each member of our family, and you ShoW it. You are one of the best LiSteNeRs I know, and I AdmIrE you for the way you take time to get to know and care about each one of us. You always make sure we have some QuAliTy talk time when we are together. I really VaLuE that time with YoU.

And FiNaLly Number 10: You put up with StuFf like my MaRiaH CaReY AlL I WaNt for ChRisTmaS song and dance...

and ThiS...
...ThIs...

...I can't forget to mention ThiS...

...somehow you're even managing to put up with ThiS...

...ThiS....
and EvEn this...

Yet at the end of the day you somehow manage to LovE us all...you're the BeSt. Thank you for being such an InCreDiBle brother to me throughout the years. I'm grateful for the opportunity to CeLeBraTe you on this day.

I love you Christopher,

Katie Did

A Garden Story

Once upon a time there was a LaDy named KaTiE who dreamed of having a GaRdEn in the NeIghBorHoOd CoMpOuNd...

So she talked her husband into digging up the sod with her in their CoMpOuNd yard...

After a bit of SwEaT and ToiL, the plot of land was ready for Dr. BeArD and his TiLleR...

A few days later fellow CoMpoUnDeRs joined the effort...

After a bit of TrEe BeArDiNg...

...AmErIcaN GoThiCinG...


...And yes, PlaNtiNg...

The NeIgHboRhOoD waited in ExPecTatiOn to see what GoD would bring forth from the EaRtH...

Only time would tell if their SoWinG would indeed ReAp a BoUntiFuL HaRveSt...

And this concludes Part I of our GaRdeN story...to be continued soon and very soon...

The other day Dan and I were at the StUpE having ice cream. For those of you who didn't go to WhEaToN, the Stupe is ThE place to go for IcE CrEaM. We decided to stop there and reminisce for a bit after ringing the tower bell (more on that later)...

We forgot that when you say one scoop at the Stupe, it's really the equivalent of three. Neither of us could finish our mound of ice cream, but as our cups were sitting there, Dan decided to use them as an IlLuStRaTiOn of us.

He grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of the cups. I thought he was documenting the ridiculous amount of ice cream left after we had eaten a good amount but, I was wrong. He remarked that looking at our ice cream cups said a lot about us and our differences. I then took a closer look at this:

I've marveled recently at how much easier it seems for Dan to lose weight than it is for myself. So naturally at first glance, I thought he was pointing out that I had ScARFfeD down more ice cream than him. Thus proving the point that I have far less WiLl PoWeR. All of this is true, but it wasn't his point. He directed me to look closer still...

HiS cup...

My cup...

I still can't figure out how this stuff seems to happen to me or better yet how I'm completely OblIvIouS to it, but I'm so grateful I have a perfectly CiViLiseD husband to point out that I'm a ComPleTe SloB!

It's a good thing he also shares in my ApPreCiaTioN for SiTuAtioNaL CoMeDy...Otherwise I don't know how he'd put up with his DiSaStEr of a wife!

On Blogging and Getting Over Myself...

Since I've started BlOgGiNg, things in life that at one time might have HoRriFieD or EmBaRRaSseD me have morphed into opportunities to LaUgH HyStEriCalLy, not take myself so SeRiouSly, and be GraTefuL to those in my life who make it far more InTeResTinG than I could ever manage on my own.

Allow me to explain by sharing a somewhat recent incident that occurred at our cousin David and Heather's wedding. It think it IlluStrAteS my point BeAutIfuLly...

The location was GoRgEOuS...

The BrIdE was RaDiAnT...

The company was DeLigHtFuL...

And to top it all off, I had my HaNdsOmE HusBaNd at my side and a NeW dress I had been saving for the PeRfeCt occasion...

The night was nearly MaGiCaL as we LaDiEs enjoyed TwIliGht in the garden...

Then suddenly, the UnThInKaBle happened, and my state of SeReNiTy quickly turned into this...

ReD, that's right, I said ReD wine SpLaTteReD all over my brand new dress! In great confusion, I turned to see my extremely apologetic brother BeN and his nearly EmPtY wine glass sitting on the table.

Now you see... at one time in my life, this incident would have HaD the potential to RuIn my entire evening, BuT this time, instead of being EmBaRrAsSeD and HoRriFiEd, I found myself enjoying the moment and taking advantage of this opportunity fully realizing its BloGgInG potential...See what I mean...

All I could do was LaUgH as my SwEeT sister tidied me up!

Having recently blogged about said sister, she did this dirty job with JoY realizing that doing so would most DeFiNitEly give her another appearance on yet another Blog Post... Thank you for your HuMbLe service dear sister...

In the end, it turns out a bit of SoDa WaTeR and SaLt does WoNdeRs on ReD WiNe dress disasters. I danced the night away without a care in the world...

And thanks to my place in the BloGoSpheRe, I can sincerely say words that at one time in my life would have been UnImaGinAbLe:

ThAnK YoU Ben for spilling red wine on my FaVoRitE, NeVeR BeFoRe WorN DrEsS.

I dedicate this post to you and consider myself forever InDeBteD to you for giving me a MeMoRaBle story to share instead of the standard slideshow of pictures I would have come up with on my own.