Tuesday, August 25, 2009

"Abbie Mae's Dish" - Her Blogging Debut!!!

It's time for a few thoughts from the shortest member of our family... She plays with squeaky toys, sleeps on top of the couch cushions, thinks she's a human, and loves us right back (We're so glad...)! So, without further ado, here is her blogging debut. No doubt she has a very unique perspective on our home. After all, she IS about foot tall! Take it away, Abbie...


Abbie here... I've decided that I LOVE Xanax. Really and truly. Since my family moved to Lincoln, I've been tormented off and on by planes, trains, and yes... automobiles. Daddy and Mommy found the greatest little place for us to call home out here for awhile. But to the North (yes, dogs can tell direction) there is the Lincoln airport and Airforce airfield, and the fly-bys are NOT my fave. Then to the South, there is the biggest train junction in the city. For some odd reason, they decide during the Spring and Fall (yes, dogs can tell the seasons) to load empty rail cars in the middle of the night and the resulting CRASH's and BOOM's make me jump out of my skin! THEN, there are the pretty spectacular thunderstorms out here in 'Braska and the Midwest. Let's just say that I can hear it coming before the rest of the family can and I continue to shake and tremble uncontrollably for hours afterward. I'm a regular Canine Barometer. Dad will look at me, sleeping on top of the couch cushion, not a CARE in the world... Then I'm shaking like a leaf and looking outside at the sunshine. Then I hear him say, "...Check out Abbie. Must be storm coming." I do what I can to help out.

This brings me full circle to my original statement. I loooooooooooooove Xanax! My doc has prescribed plenty of those cute yellow pills so that Daddy and Mommy can actually get some SLEEP when it's Spring and Fall, and fly-by time, and when there's a storm... You get the idea. The funny thing is how they try to disguise the fact that they're getting me high. They take the pills and cover them with this deliciousness called a Pill Pocket. And then they tell me that I can have a treat. Like I don't know what's in there and I didn't just sit and watch them prepare the thing!!! Puh and Leaze!!@! But they're yummy so I take it and act like I don't know what just happened. Then the world gets kind of colorful and I sleep for awhile. Before I know it, it's morning and I'm doing great.

But this leads me to an interesting list. I'd like to call this:

WHAT THEY SAY and WHAT I ACTUALLY HEAR

  • "Abbie, treat!" ----------> "Abbie, Come take your disguised medicine and/ or actual treat!"
  • "Abbie, no bites..." -------> "Abbie, please stop chewing on Noah's ears and toes."
  • "Abbie, outside go potty." -------> Yeah, this one cracks me up. Usually a pajama-clad parent will come and pick me up off the couch between 9 and 11:00pm, take me outside to a patch of grass and expect me to... you know. I'm fully aware that this is the last time I will see said grass until approximately 7 or 8:00am the next morning.
  • "Abbie's food." ----------> "Abbie, quit sitting under Noah's chair waiting to catch any escaped Lucky Charms marshmallows and go eat your own food."
  • "Abbie, Mama touch." --------> "Abbie, don't be alarmed but I'm going to pet you or scratch your ears or pick at your face or even pick you up and snuggle with you against your will." (When I hear this, I just freeze in place and hope for the best. Grandpa Smith thinks this one is hilarious...)
  • "Abbie, Good girl." ----------> "Abbie, you're the best sweetest most adorable and amazingly smart little girl ever. We love you. You are in our will. Aunt Heather wants to take you home. Noah will want you to sleep with him on his bed soon. Stay this young forever. Here, have some more Xanax..."

That's it for Abbie Mae's dish for now. I'm a budding journalist, so you'll see me again soon. I'm hoping for a monthly column spot! Wait...

I think someone is opening some cheese.... Was I saying something?

Friday, August 21, 2009

My Two Year Old


"You don't raise heroes... You raise sons. If you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes... Even if it's just in your own eyes."

- Walter Schirra, Sr.



Our good friend and amazing photographer (Stacie) took Noah's 2 year pictures, and I can't begin to tell you how much I LOOOOOOOOOVE them. She captured "2" perfectly... even down to the bubbles and slide! For more of her awesomeness, see her website HERE.

These are some of my favorites, although I love them all.


"Never be surprised when you shake a cherry tree if a boy drops out of it; never be disturbed when you think yourself in complete solitude if you discover a boy peering out at you from a fence corner..."

- David Grayson



"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."

- Stacia Tauscher


I still have six more months of Noah being two, but sometimes I don't want it to ever end! Good times.

Love,
Nicole
@>->--

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A Teaching Moment...


So Noah and I were coloring pictures of Sesame Street characters the other day. I was trying to get him to wind down a little before attempting to get him to take a nap. It's a proper negotiation some days. Hostage negotiators should really take notes from mothers of toddlers! Anywhoo...

Noah started talking about how his Sesame Street friends are all different colors. Elmo being red, Oscar green, Big Bird yellow and so on. I thought this would be a great teaching moment. We started talking about how people sometimes are different colors and that no matter what color of skin we have, we are all the same. He looked a little confused, so I tried to paint it into something he could grasp. (Lincoln is actually quite a diverse city with the university and all the different cultural hot spots in the area... We're so glad!) I told him no matter what a person looks like on the outside, we all have two eyes. Noah pointed to his eyes... We all have a nose. He pointed to the cutest little boy nose in the world... And we all have a heart. Then my little dude taught me a lesson. He looked at me and said:

"... All haf Be-Bo's!"

"Be-Bo's" being belly buttons. See Sandra Boynton's awesome book HERE.

Yeah.... He got it. But I was the one being taught. :)

And yes. Noah proudly displayed his belly button to anyone who would watch the rest of the day.

Love,
Nicole
@>->--