What does Addie like to drink?

What does Addie like to drink?
It may be hard to deduce from looking at these pictures.

Any guesses?

Here's a hint--despite what this picture may seem to evidence, her favorite drinks are non-alcoholic.

In addition to the normal staples of milk, water and juice, in the last week Addie has imbibed:

• caffeine free Dr. Pepper. We'll be in trouble once she discovers the hard stuff
• lip gloss, though not for the first time. She also attempted to change the color of her eyes with said lip gloss.
• most of a bottle of gripe water (homeopathic colic treatment). Was she feeling gassy?
• the remainders of a bottle of teething tablets, mostly powder by that point. She is cutting her 2 year molars, so . . . .
• a tube of baby toothpaste
• 3 times (3 times!) she has snuck into the diaper bag and emptied the contents of the formula container into her mouth. I could understand trying it once, but going back? You'd think the smell would have slowed her down. Maggie won't even touch the stuff. I guess it's good someone's drinking it.
• and finally, guess what was in the bottle she's just polished off?

One final hint--it wasn't formula.

My Sweet Girls

Our friend Debby took some wonderful pictures for us when Maggie was only a week old. Oh, she was so small and fuzzy. Here's the link if you'd like to check them out.

Reaching Out

I've often said that I have no fear of public speaking. I can get up in front of a room of people and talk, prepared or un, no problem. National TV, that got my nerves jumping a bit, but didn't tie my tongue. Initiating conversation, though, will get me every time. And that applies to verbal and electronic communication. I over think what I'm going to say and how I'm going to say it, and generally come across awkward or unsocial. I've made some strides forward recently, though.

On Saturday night, I announced to my family that I was running away. My 4 year old burst in to tears, and though I felt a little bad that my pronouncement upset her so, I ran away anyway. I really needed it and knew I would be a better mom when I came back. So I stopped at See's candy for a few choice treats and proceeded to a thrift store in an attempt to get back to my more eclectic roots. As I was shopping, I noticed a cute girl sifting through the stacks of small plates. I circled the aisle, trying to figure out what she was doing without actually speaking to her. I gave up, though, and opened my mouth.

"At the risk of sounding creepy, can I ask what you're planning to do with the plates?" Not creeped out at all, she explained that she was picking out yellow and black plates for serving dessert at dinner parties. The plates didn't match, but the colors did, and I could imagine what a cute table she would set. I thanked her for her inspiration, and moved on, secretly patting myself on the back for actually conversing with a stranger.

I've made steps in my electronic communique as well. I've been reading a lot of blogs lately, many of them written by strangers who are wise and witty. One of them had also written an article that I enjoyed in a magazine recently, and after thinking about it for days, I went ahead and wrote her a comment telling her how much I appreciated her article. This was a big step for me, and may even lead to me commenting on some of the other blogs I've been anonymously stalking.

But there is an area where I really failed lately because of my reticence to approach people and I'm sitting here in a big pot of guilt stew right now. In my church congregation, there is a young woman who I feel a connection to. She's been struggling lately, and while I've tried to be friendly, I haven't reached out to her like I know that I should. Recently, she was living out of state for a while, and week after week at church I felt prompted to talk to her mom and get the girl's address so I could send her a little note of encouragement. But I didn't do it.

I got nervous that her mother wouldn't want to talk about what was going on. I worded and reworded how I would ask for the address (such a small thing) until I got so tongue tied I couldn't say anything. I forgot. I didn't do anything when I remembered. I got distracted. I talked myself out of talking. I didn't reach that tiny bit out of myself.

And today that young woman got herself in a world of trouble. I know what happened isn't my fault, but that won't stop my failure in reaching out to her from earning a high place on my list of things I will always regret.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been thinking about things I need to improve on, including being closer to and recognizing the Spirit better.

To begin with, I will start conversations.

Happy Birthday Adelicious

Our little imp turned 2 on Saturday. I can't believe she's already so old. And that I've survived the last 2 years. From the beginning, this girl has had incredible energy and incredible volume. I still remember her startling the doctor in the hospital when she let out a shriek. And last year, the theme of her party was "Loud." She continues to voice her opinions loudly and often, and lately in complete sentences. And with tons of cuteness.

We gave her most of her presents in the morning. Chloe volunteered to help her open them, but Addie had it under control.
She got some new (to her) books, some no spill bubbles (she'll find a way) and a movie.
Then we went outside and gave her a new (to her) car!

Chloe even pushed her around in it, while Addie read some of her books.
As I made breakfast, she snacked on sprinkles she had dumped on the counter. These were the remnants of the sprinkle container she had dumped out on Chloe's birthday. "Mom, I eating spinkles!" Because it was her birthday, I let her.

Fortunately I had some backup sprinkles, so there were still some for her cupcakes that night.

This picture reminds me of when I was younger, and all of us kids would dive for the candles as soon as they were blown out.
I asked Addie to smile for the camera for me, and I got this. She's pretty cute, if I do say so myself.
The next day, we had her grandparents and aunt and cousin over to celebrate. She went on her first birthday treasure hunt.
She had lots of help from Chloe and Syrus, whether she liked it or not.
It was all they could do to keep from opening the present for her.
She got a baby doll from Aunt Eden, and got right to work feeding it. She's been watching a lot of baby feedings lately, so the look on her face is just right.
I made a grown up dessert, peaches and cream cheesecake, not noticing I picked a dessert that matched her hair.
She didn't notice either. She was too busy diving into her gifts.

She was pretty excited about the Ariel doll from Grandma and Grandpa Mannion.
Me and my birthday girl. Still feeding her baby. She's obviously learned babies are always hungry. I sure love my Addie. She has an infectious zest for life, and I'm glad I get to share it with her.

Grinning, with evidence

I'm sure there will be better pictures to come, but here are a few of my smiling girl.
And her sister.
Love those grins.

Poser

Someone in our house has turned into quite the little camera hog lately.
Bet you can't guess who it is.She's got poses like you've never seen.
And fierceness--no question.
She works well with food.
And props.

She hates to miss an opportunity to get her picture taken, even if she's not the current subject of the photoshoot.
She'll make it about her.
If she can't get a solo shot, she'll gladly take a group shot.
And totally steal focus.
She can do action shots.
And not so active shots.

And I'm just not sure how much lovelier she could be.
Watch out America's Next Top Model Cycle 42.

Ruth is Tired

This is a note of complaint. If you don't want to hear me complain, feel free to not read it. I just don't want to hear about it if you do.

Ruth is tired

• of not being able to sleep at night, either because a baby won't sleep, or because of the shooting pains up her arms, or because she simply can't sleep.
• of not being able to use her hands, of trying not to cry when she can't undo the snaps on a onesie, or bounce her daughter to sleep one more time, or do any project, or open a jar, or hold a book to read without pain.
• of not being able to see the Orthopedist about fixing her hands because though she has a referral to see him, she needs a nerve conduction study done first, so she had to go see her General Practioner, then had to wait several days to get a referral to a Neurologist, who will need to evaluate her first, then set up another appointment to do the nerve conduction study, after which she will finally (hopefully) be able to see the Orthopedist, and who know how many appointments she will have with him before she has to stop living in fear that she will lose all strength in her hands and drop her baby on the floor.
• of being afraid that all this won't be taken care of this calender year because we've already met our deductable for the year, and who knows what insurance coverage we'll have after that.
• of worrying that another suprise bill, like the one for the hospital stay, may not be covered by said deductable.
• of dealing with the continuing fallout from Bracken being laid off including loss of income, insurance hassles, starting a new career in a horrible market, and the general umbrella of rejection and frustration that hangs over our home.
• of a new job that is not making ends meet, is a somewhat unpleasant work environment, and makes somewhat unreasonable demands on Bracken for somewhat less than fair compensation.
• of wondering why an MBA doesn't come with actual job experience, because no one wants to hire an MBA without prior work experience, and the experience Bracken has is useless in this market.
  
• of feeling the need to bring in additional income for her family, but not liking the options available to do it.
• of trying to figure out why she got a degree in costume design instead of something useful, knowing that no faithful Mormon will get a theater job in this town anymore.
  
• of pretty much all of her family being at least equally, if not more, slammed by this economy. And they are all better people than she is.
• of learning again and again that being a good person does not exempt her from trials, but still thinking if she were a better person, maybe some of these problems would pass her by. And then feeling badly that she's not a better person. And then not caring. Lather, rinse, repeat.
• of knowing it's not truly a sacrifice if it doesn't hurt a little, but still expecting immediate blessings.
  
• of being constantly reminded just how far a small glass of milk can spread.
• of not being able to find any bulb syringes or medicine dispensers because they have been magiced them away somewhere.
• of needing to send children to time out.
• of them touching each other.
• looking at each other.
• thinking about each other.
• of tattlers.
  
• of being a servant. And knowing she's supposed to be a servant. Jesus said so. But she doesn't always want to be a servant-slash-better person. See above.
  
• of staring at the mess accumulating in her home, knowing no one is coming to take care of it for her. Because she is the servant.
• of the food she wants to eat making her fat. And hearing that nursing helps you burn calories. As her behind spreads.
• of not being grateful enough about her blessings to stop the constant worrying about her problems. It's just not that easy.
• of wondering what that smell is, and where is it coming from.
• of trying to hide the junk food that she's eating from her kids.
• of stain removal.
• of sweat.
• of not being able to figure out when to ask for help and if she actually needs it or not, because lots of people can do it on their own, why can't she?
• of herself, and this whining.

The End

For now.

And just so you know, anyone who posts that things will get better, or tries to cheer me up will immediately be added to the list. So there.