Christmas Decorations

Norah decorated the house this morning. We have bows on knobs, pulls and all appliances. The door to her right is the trash. She said, "Look Daddy, now the trash is all beautiful." You go Norah, make the world's trash beautiful!

Christmas Treats

Here is our "cookie house." Before you get too awed, it came pre-assembled. We just made the icing (which you cannot eat because it's made with egg whites!! What?!) and decorated it.

My mom and I made Christmas cookies every year when I was young. It was one of my favorite traditions. Norah stuck out the whole process; she helped make every cookie. The thumbprints are my favorite. My Grandma Struck made me a whole tin full the Christmas before she passed away.

This fudge is much easier than the one my mom and I made. I chose it so we could do shapes and decorations.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Norah's 3rd Birthday

We had Norah's "Chuck E Cheese Princess Party" with "lots of friends" last night.

She had so much fun, and we were blessed to have so many friends and family members come!

Norah and I decorated the cupcakes. I didn't expect her to help me, but she really liked it.

I love Norah's sweet smile and Kyah's facial expression!

The kids

and adults had a good time!

Happy 3rd birthday Princess, Ballerina, Cinderella, Cooker and Our Little Girl!

Pillow Proud

I am so proud of this pillow! It is the first thing I have sewn. I started a sewing class last night, 6 -9 pm. I thought we were going to take all 4 weeks to make our pillows. The teacher laughed. We made them in one night. My family was SO sweet. Norah asked for one. Finley asked for three. I should get pretty good at making pillows. Any Christmas requests?

Norah made her bed

Norah made her bed for the 1st time this morning, and I didn't even ask her to! I must deserve some sort of Mom medal for this right? Probably not, especially if you look at the rest of my still-unpacking-unorganized-house. All the same, I am so proud of her, and it will remain all day, even the babies on the floor. Fin remined her to put them on the bed, and she informed him that there is simply "no room".

Going "bumpity bump"

Finley and Norah took a Sunday last month and went off-roading at an ATV park in Hot Springs. They had a great time! Norah thought it was funny that the leaves were "tickling" Daddy's truck.

Dance Class

Norah started dance class on Tuesday. Fin and I got to watch, and I was really impressed that they were learning real dance moves. All in all Norah did great, but at times, she was so funny. I wish I had a video of the teacher gracefuly pointing and tapping alternate toes while Norah's interpretation included bending her knee, grabbing her foot and bouncing.

Mother's Day is past

"It has been Mother's Day at the Vinson Blog for a while," Sarah McGooden recently told me with her normal Sarah-tine whit. So, I will attempt to update and get back on track. Thanks for your gentle proding, friend.
Things we have done this summer:

1. MOVED! Oh yes, I am still unpacking.

2. Finley recently resigned from DCI. He will be the Traffic Engineer for Conway.

3. Gone to our new neighborhood pool and Wild River Country (Norah loved both)

4. Norah moved seamlessly into a big-girl-bed

5. Erica got heat stroke.

6. Norah is getting so funny! Today, she followed me around Kroger singing, "I have decided to follow Mommy. I have decided to follow Mommy, No turning back, No turning back . . ."

Norah' new room

Our new backyard

Norah and Reagan in the creek by our new house

Mother's Day

I woke up first on Mother's Day. After Norah had been up for a while I asked Norah to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. She replied, "Naa, it's too scary." But I did get a Mother's Day dance and lots of cuddles, and the scary eventually wore off. : )
Thank you Finley and Norah for a wonderful Mother's Day.
I am so blessed to be your wife and mother!

Historic Arkansas Museum

I was so glad to see a friend at the fair who could take our picture.  And we should be having a dress-up picture coming!

Making a mother's day card.  She gave it a lot of time and care and made dots for the first time.

Norah got to pet a chick, goat, snake and baby alligator.  Yesterday, she told me, "Mommy, my love snakes."  So she was very excited to get to touch one!  Whose child is this?

We ate lunch at the RiverMarket.

Trip to the Zoo

I could not believe how long this grizzly bear's claws were or how much (s)he liked attention. After multiple passes, Norah decided that the bear was "no scary anymore" and let me get this picture.

Bella

Finley and I stayed up late watching a movie. Often when that happens, I regret the choice when the movie is over, and I look at the time. But not this time.

We watched Bella, a beautiful movie based on a true story. It was more like a good book than a lot of the movies we see, there was symbolism, foreshadowing and character development. And like all my favorite movies, I had to question things about myself and wrestle with God. I don't want to go into detail and give the movie away, but Finley and I both recommend it.

Tutu

Call for Appointments

Finley fell down the stairs a couple of weeks ago, then he fell again this weekend. Combined with the stress of redoing the house, he has had a stiff neck and back ever since. He is going to the chiropractor, massuse and getting many massages at home. Norah has starting rubbing Daddy's "back ouchie." This morning she enlarged her client base.

Chamomille

Norah has started drinking tea with me in the morning - Chamomille Lemon. Here is her first go. She even held the pose for me while I went to get the camera.

Big Mommy

This is "Big Mommy." If you squeeze her wing, she sings and jumps. We don't do that. Norah used to really like listening to Big Mommy, until Big Mommy fell and bumped her head while singing.

Norah calls any singular animal or person, "Mommy." I love it! I am honored to be so dear to her. If there is a second entity, it is Norah or Daddy, depending on size. And if there are three, we are all included.

To completely change gears:

Let me start with my defense. Norah has pneumonia, so we had Ramen noodles for lunch. Could there be anything more comforting or appeasing to an illness-induced picky eater?

I eat mine with chopsticks, using a twirling trick I learned from a college roommate. Norah wanted to use chopsticks. She quickly dropped one but was not deterred. She took many one noodle "bites" with one stick.

Being White in America

About a year ago Ben Parkinson of Fellowship Memphis gave a sermon called "Being White in America".  I recently listened to this sermon, and it has had a tremendous impact on me.  I encourage all followers of Christ to listen to it.  It is about one hour long.  Click here to listen.  I would also love to hear (or read) your comments.  Thank you so much.

Through Norah's Eyes

Norah looked at my wedding portrait the other day. She told me I looked pretty ("Mommy pretty") then commented that I had a "towel" on my head. I love getting to see things from her perspective.

And, my hcg levels are under 2!!

hcg

My hcg levels are at 23!!!

I go back next Monday.

Funny Norah

Three times today Norah has made comments that have made me laugh and fear that I am not treasuring my time with her enough.

1) Today was puppets at church. I asked Norah what they talked about.

Norah: (to) Shh, be quiet

2) This afternoon Finley and I were carrying our tree out to the curb (yep, it's mid-January).

Norah: My help, too. Manatee go bye, bye.

She ran to help Finley carry the base.

Norah: Thank you Daddy, help me (as if she were doing the heavy lifting)

3)Then this evening, Finley and Norah went to visit Fin's dad and step-mom. They entertained Norah while Finley studied. I scrapbooked and looked at kitchen design books. Before they left, Pap gave Norah a pear to take home, told her to carry it with both hands and be careful.

Norah: (coming to me carefully cradling the pear) Pear careful, Thank you Pap, Thank you LuLu, Pretty pear, Green

We discussed the pear at length.

Me: Norah it's time to go to bed. Let's put the pear in special place on the counter.

Norah: No. (adamant) Pear upstairs.

Finley and I look at each other.

Me: Okay, the pear can come upstairs.

She carefully carries the pear upstairs with two hands. The pear reads books with us, passes between us via Norah and receives much conversation. Then it's time to pray.

Norah: Thank you pear. Thank you Mommy. Thank you Mommy hold pear. Thank you Daddy hold pear. Thank you Vicki-Grampa. Thank you Mama-PePaw. . . Pear Turn.

So I said a prayer that would make any pear proud. Thankfully she agreed that the pear should not sleep in her bed. So, it is sitting on her chair-side table. Slightly gouged. Waiting for tomorrow.

Merediths

Thank you Georgia, Kurt and Carter for coming over and sharing some soup!  We sure miss you guys.  Norah will be telling us about baby Carter for weeks.  I can hear it now, "Baby Carter play Norah.  Baby Carter eat mouth.  Baby Carter take nap."  

Update

I got my blood levels back yesterday; my hcg dropped to 131.  It was the doctor's best case senerio.  We are very happy!!  I go back next Monday.

Hydatiform Mole, Happy Birthday Finley

Today is Finley's birthday.  He got presents in bed and a breakfast to order.  We took Norah to LuLu and Cap's so we could have a date.  

And then we got a call from the doctor, on Saturday, not a good sign.  He told us that he got the results back from the tissue we miscarried on Monday, and it was a Molar Pregnancy.  The odds are 1 / 1000.  I've since learned that a Molar Pregnancy is when a sperm fertilizes an empty egg (resulting in 1 set of chromosomes) or two sperm fertilize an egg (resulting in 3 sets of chromosomes); neither senerio leads to baby.  But the placenta grows, and there is a 20% chance of cancer developing.  This cancer is almost always easily treated with chemo.  But I'll have to be monitored weekly for months.  The earliest we can try for another baby is 6 months to a year.  The waiting is what I am most disappointed about.  We wanted our children to be closer together in age.

I am impressed that our doctor called on a Saturday.  He is talking about bringing in a specialist and was planning on doing research before he sees us again on Monday (he is a fertility specialist and said he doesn't see a lot of Molar Pregnancies).

I am praying about being open to God's plan for us.  I am encouraged that the miscarriage was somewhat random.  This is our 3rd one in a little over a year (actually 2 true miscarriages and 1 chemical pregnancy), and we were getting scared that something was wrong.  We were planning to move forward on genetic testing.  But it seems likes bad luck (this is hard for me to find words for because I don't really believe in luck).

Drive In

My days have been sad since our last miscarriage on Monday, that makes 2 official miscarriages and one "chemical pregnancy".   I don't have much more to say about that now.  But joy is peppered in thanks to Finley and Norah.   Here, Norah got her baby and pushed her car in front of the TV to watch "Ah Ha".

The Grinch

I have mixed feelings about Christmas lights disappearing.  Norah loves them.  Loves them!  Every time we get in the car she asks to go look at lights.  "Ooh, so pretty!"  Then she discovered an inflatable Grinch at Izzy's.  And every time we got in the car she asked to see "ights" and then "minch . . . minch, look minch, minch . . ."  We have sat outside 2 homes with car windows open and danced in the parking lot of a closed restaurant on Christmas night - all to be near the Grinch.  I am happy to say that the last inflatable Minch has been deflated tonight!  

Goodbye, until next year, dear Cheermonger.