Hearing voices....

Christmas Eve, Steven was trying to get some holiday ambience going, so he flipped the TV on and found It's a Wonderful Life playing. He left that on, without turning on the stereo receiver, thus rendering the movie a silent one, and proceeded to turn on a Christmas CD instead. So after a while, we walked into the living room to find Kyra firmly planted in front of the TV, watching the movie in silent mode. We chuckled at this, and proceeded to go about our business of getting ready for the following day. About 20 minutes later, my sister went back into the living room and sat down next to Kyra, who was still watching the movie with no sound. Kyra turned to her with a confused look and asked, Why don't they have any voices?

Tough Love

To prepare Kyra for Siana's arrival, we had long been hyping up how much fun she was going to have with her baby sister and how much they would love each other. This strategy seemed to have worked a little too well. We wanted to make sure Kyra loved her little sister, hoping to offset some of the jealousy issues by establishing a relationship even before Siana was born. However, we should also have incorporated some practice in how to touch and talk to babies in that process of generating excitement. Kyra has always been a pretty touchy-feely, physical kid. So from the first time they met, Kyra was right in the baby's face kissing her, squeezing her in big bear hugs, giving her "noses" (Eskimo kisses), and generally mauling her in the process of showing her affection. So every day now, it seems like the only word that comes out of my mouth is ....gentle.... This experience has given new meaning to the phrase "love her to pieces."

Welcome Little One!

We're overjoyed to announce that our 2nd beautiful daughter, Siana Nicole, was born today, December 13, 2005 at 4:01 p.m. She was a healthy 8 pounds, 21 inches long and fiesty from her first moments. As she was emerging into our world, her head came out and the doctor stuck her finger into the baby's mouth to suction out whatever goo comes standard in baby's mouths. Siana promptly chomped down onto the doctor's finger, to which the doc responded with a loud "Woo! She bit me!" It was quite humorous. Poor Siana's going to need all the spunk she can get to keep up with her big sister!

The Day Arrives!

Well, tomorrow is the big day...baby day! Since my due date came and went last week, my doctor decided on an induction, since the baby is so large and she doesn't want her to get any bigger. (Neither do I!) So we're going in Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. to start the process. Hopefully, by the end of the day Tuesday, the large bulge in my tummy will transform into a sweet little girl that we have to hurry up and name!!!

Goliath and Armor All

To the left of the door that enters our house from the garage is a large set of shelves containing all kinds of cleaning supplies, painting supplies, etc. The shelf about eye-level for Kyra holds a container of Armor All wipes for the car. I don't think she's ever actually looked at these shelves before, but she noticed them tonight. As we were walking into the house, she spotted that Armor All container, which features a logo of a giant Viking looking-guy, and exclaimed, "Mommy! There's Goliath! How did Goliath get on there???" I'd never really paid that much attention to the Armor All logo before, but she's right, I imagine that is kind of what Goliath would have looked like....

In the Secret...

There is a song that Steven and I love called In the Secret. One line of the song says, In the secret, in the quiet place, in the stillness You are there. Kyra has apparently learned this song in her Bible Hour-type class at church because in the car the other day, we were listening to this song and she said, "I know this song! We sing it in my class at church!" We thought that was pretty cool. Later on that day, she brought it up again. She said, "Mommy, we sing this song at church....In the Secret, Be Quiet Place." =) Not the original intent of the song, but I like that version too!

Just Give Me a Box

It's so funny to me how the things you think kids are going to love, they end up being neutral on, and the things you never expect are what they find the most pleasure in.... Steven, Kyra, and I went to the Barnes & Noble bookstore yesterday, as we do fairly regularly. On the way out, we noticed an Upcoming Events flier on the table and saw that Winnie the Pooh was going to be there in person, or in fur, the following day (today). So we thought, hey, Kyra likes Winnie the Pooh, she'll think that's like the coolest thing ever! So we go back to Barnes & Noble today for storytime and to see Pooh. Well, after waiting for about 15 minutes, all excited because we just know she's going to love this, and with both video and digital cameras in hand, Pooh Bear arrives. Steven took a few seconds of video and then turned it off because there was absolutely no reaction whatsoever from our sweet daughter when Pooh came around the corner. I was like, look Kyra, it's Pooh Bear! She looked up at me like Duh, and....? So yeah, our big plans to make our kid's day were crushed to bits before our very eyes. =) She was totally unimpressed. And then during the reading of the story, she kept getting up and going to get her own books off nearby shelves, bringing them back to her seat (front row, mind you), and reading to herself. Oh well. It was kind of like Christmas where you think you're buying the best toy ever and the recipient finds more joy in playing with the box it came in. Hey Pooh Bear, where'd you get your bear suit? Did you happen to keep the box?

Kyra Quote of the Day

Kyra to Daddy this morning as she was sitting in bed with us: "Daddy, I wish you didn't have any hair on your arms."

Good Touch, Bad Touch

Why is it that pregnancy brings out the crazies in droves? I was minding my business in Wal-Mart last night, when this woman and her friend enter the same aisle that I was in. As she passes me, she gasps loudly and says to her friend, Oh look...she's gonna have a baby!!! And then she proceeds to reach over and rub my belly as if she were expecting a genie to pop out. Excuse me, do I know you? I was so excited because I'd made it this far in my pregnancy and not had any molestation incidents yet. *sigh* And I'm not one with a whole lot of hangups about stuff like that. It doesn't bother me in the least when my friends or people at church come up to talk to me and touch my tummy. No problem. However, random women in Wal-Mart with fe-mullets who look like they just rolled in with Achy Breaky Heart blaring from their pickup truck, not so much. Little scary. Back away from the belly, girlfriend, and don't make any sudden moves....