Happy 3 months Anna (one day late)!

Our new baby girl Anna Jae is three months old!! And yesterday, she rolled over for the first time, from her back to her belly! Go Anna! Now every time I lay her down on a blanket, she flips over, and then starts fussing. Guess she doesn't like the feeling of having her arm caught underneath her and her nose smashed into the floor.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to plan Claire's third birthday party, which is only two and a half weeks away! By trying to plan I mean that I have GREAT ideas, and have bought the paper to make the invitations. That is it. Getting on the ball is really on the top of my list of things to do.

I did two phone interviews today, my first time to do any since Anna came along. One went well, and the other, not so well. During the first one, with an aeronatics engineer (so I was having a hard enough time understanding anything he said), Anna started fussing on the floor, so I picked her up and propped her up to sitting between my legs while I held my phone between my shoulder and cheek and typed with both hands. And no, Anna cannot sit on her own yet. So she wobbled around while I listened, typed and asked questions for all I was worth, until the inevitable happened: she wobbled forward into the table and bonked her little head on it. I had warned my interview subject that I had two little ones home with me today (I usually tell them that, and say it like it's a special occasion, even though it's really everyday), but he just kept right on talking while Anna wailed. Didn't get many quotes during those moments. Also during that interview, Claire was trying to get herself dressed, and kept asking me for help in a stage whisper (I had told her to be quiet while I was talking on the phone.) During the next interview, I was sure to clarify that I actually meant no talking, not just to be quiet. This time though, Anna wasn't quiet, but it wasn't with crying, thankfully. She laid in my lap and cooed loudly the entire time, but the investing consultant never commented on it.

We all took a walk on this beautiful afternoon down to the pond at the end of our road and did Claire's favorite activity: throwing rocks in while making up an elaborate story about the reasons for what we did. Red Riding Hood had fallen in the pond, and sharks were going to get her if we couldn't throw in enough flowers that transformed magically into a rope when we said the magic word. Then we threw rocks at the shark. Then we decided that wasn't working, so we just started making wishes on the rocks that we threw in.

I wished for good cinnamon rolls, because that's what we're working on right now, making my first-ever batch of homemade cinnamon rolls!! Pioneer Woman, don't steer me wrong (because it's obviously all her fault if they don't turn out good ;). Wish me luck!

Labor Day weekend (so far)

We had a great weekend with family! We won't talk about Friday, because that was the night Jay got called in to work at the Burger Shoppe at 7 p.m. when I was already dressed and made-up to go eat dinner! It's never good when Hub calls while you're in the middle of applying mascara and says, "Babe, you're going to be mad at me." I tried my best to be understanding, though.

Anyway, Saturday, Claire and I went to Coleman to spend time with Dani Rose and baby Molly, along with my other pregnant cousins, Dave and his wife Liz. Also all the usual Coleman Pannells. Good food and family time and an OU game that wasn't much of a game!

Sunday, Jay gave the lesson at Coleman, so we went back out there for church, lunch, and a little swimming (that's the pic)! Jay did a great job btw, but he was so nervous! He hasn't preached in a long time.

In Claire news, her Elmo addiction is starting to become ridiculous! She has learned how to turn on the TV using the remote, and loves to turn it on and request "Eh-mo?" She likes Sesame Street okay, but she really doesn't have much patience for it unless Elmo is on. Then she's pretty much transfixed.

The world of being a SAHM

...is the best! I sometimes feel guilty about how much I get to read and cook and play with Claire! But then I try to just count my blessings. My yearbook from the school I taught at last year came in the mail yesterday, and I did see a few students I would miss, but they were mostly seniors who are already gone anyway! The one candid picture of me in there, I had this look on my face like, "Please take this picture so I can stop gritting my teeth in a fake smile and go back to gritting my teeth and getting my never-ending load of work done." Also a hint of "When is lunch?" there. My desk was so messy; I've got to say I don't miss grading a single bit! However, as of now, I am planning on teaching two freshman composition classes at the college in the spring. So I'll have to get back into that grading mode in a few months!

I've been trying to get some video of Claire's new trick, nodding her head for yes. She loves it so much, because when I ask a question like "Do you want to go outside?" or "You need some juice?" she nods her head vigorously. She's also figured out how to point to a body part when she hurts it, which is very often. She points to her knees a lot, and to her finger the other day when some hot oil popped out onto it! Youch! She had this big fat blister on it for two or three days. Color me guilty on that one, folks! She's always fussy while I'm trying to make dinner, it seems! I end up either holding her or letting her stand beside me on a chair, either one of which is a recipe for disaster! (Pun intended!)

Here's Claire helping me clean--she enjoys a paper towel about as much as anything, going around cleaning the floors, cabinets, and her face. The second pic is her zoning out to Sesame Street! She's apparently had all the fun she can take, having strewn all her toys around the living room and waiting for me to put them all back so she can start all over!

Jay has been super-busy with his building project in Ardmore, and he also just started four houses in Calera. His schedule would be a lot to deal with if I was still working full-time, too.

This girl loves fruit!

Yesterday Claire and I were in the fruit section at Wal-Mart and I was loading up for my tutti-fruiti hubby and daughter. I put a bag of nectarines in the cart and turned to get some plums, and when I turned around, Claire had gotten a nectarine out of the bag and taken two big bites! The tricky thing is, it's hard to tell her my standard "Yucky!" for something she shouldn't put in her mouth when she knows very well that was NOT yucky at all!

When we got home, she also succeeded in getting a bite of a plum, and then eating about 1/3 of it (the peel turns her off a bit), and then an entire Clementine orange, after first trying to take a bite out of it, peel and all.