Bunch-A-Nuts.com

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Well, I admit I have embellished a story a time or two. Who hasn’t. However, this isn’t one of those times. Our Little Bit or Alittlebit as she is getting called more and more, likes to ask what we are doing? I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. Now I won’t claim it is a full clear as a bell sentence. It’s hard to reproduce exactly but it’s “whatdo?” Ok it doesn’t sound like much but it’s so cute. It’s always said to someone and with genuine question on her face. She got up in the Dr’s face Monday while he was typing away on his electronic chart and questioned him. It was cute. She’s been doing this for almost 3 weeks now and it’s getting clearer with a little more distinction between the words and even a you-ish” word thrown in sometimes. Yesterday she added “wherego”.

Last night she was playing with dishes and babbling away the whole time. “Lanie, have you taught her to do a running commentary while she is playing.” “Yes,” she replies even though she doesn’t have a clue what I mean. This morning she’s in her high chair eating sausage and Chad heads toward the garage door with his bag and she says, “By by Dada”. I think we may have another little talker on our hands. Maybe I should get Chad ear plugs for Father’s Day instead of the ……… we got him.

We’ve been out of touch for a while now because Chad has been down. On the 22nd he had an incisional hernia repair done. It’s pretty much right in the middle of his tummy. He has been recovering at home for a week and was a good patient. Elizabeth doesn’t understand why Daddy isn’t picking her up but, he will be able to soon and her memory is short enough she won’t hold it against him. He went back to work today. Not that we didn’t enjoy having him at the house but, we can get back to our normal routine now (love you honey). Seriously, we are glad for his swift and very low pain recovery and pray we don’t have to do this again, ever. Thanks to those who called or messaged and checked on him.

This morning Lanie was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The “Hot Dog” song has this phrase: “We’ve got ears it’s time for cheers.” Just as calm as can be she says, “Donald doesn’t.” However, I asked her a question about another part of the show where they choose to put 2 pieces together to make the right length. I ask what they could have done with the longer piece and she says, “put it away?” when I was going for cut it or make it shorter. Maybe she hasn’t outgrown them yet.

I post this now so that it will not be a surprise when I post one day that we’ve made an emergency trip and Elizabeth has _________ (fill in the blank with a number of stitches, cast, ….). She has become quite the climber. She loves to stand in Lanie’s wooden rocking chair. We’ve had to start putting the stool Lanie used to get in her bed up on the bed because Little Bit, who for a couple of weeks had liked to climb on the stool, has now learned she can hike that little leg up while on the stool and pull herself onto Lanie’s bed. There is a plastic file box behind Chad’s recliner that is a boundary line for them so they don’t get into the cords to the lamps, phone, etc…. Sometimes she just squeezes that little body past it and is where she doesn’t belong but, other times she all of a sudden pokes her head over the chair at Chad as she is standing on the box. By the time I got around to her last night she was standing on one foot with the other leg hanging in midair. Luckily she was holding onto the chair. That trick landed her in baby jail for a stint (aka the pack-n-play which is filled with toys and in sight of the TV so, kinda like real jail). During her bath this morning she flips herself out of the tub and has a fat lip to show for it.

A little bit ago I was typing an e-mail and she is playing around the living room. Lucky for us (with much sarcasm) she is starting the running commentary while playing just like Lanie. So when she is suddenly quiet it catches my attention. I turn around and she is STANDING on the coffee table! Of course she gave me the “aren’t I cute smile” that is hard to resist cause, darn it, she is cute. My gut reaction of course is to swoop her off of there. That got an even bigger smile and likely turned it into a game. Yikes. Luckily she started rubbing her eyes and it was 9:45 so off to nap she went.

Lanie is gone on an overnight trip with Grandmommy but I just see the scene playing out again some day while I’m in the kitchen and Lanie will say, “Mom, she’s on the table” like it’s no big deal or “Elizabeth get down I can’t see _____ on the TV.” My, my how our quiet little homebody life has changed in 4 short years. For the better of course cause they are cute and mostly sweet.

Lanie got a PlaySkool MP3 player for her birthday. She loves it and listened to it all afternoon Sunday. Yesterday I loaded the girls in the car and went back in to get the purse, diaperbag, etc. Lanie lets out a couple of shouts. I stick my head out the door and ask what’s wrong. “My player won’t make music. I hollered at it a couple of times and it still won’t play.” I tried not to crack up as I took it inside and replaced the batteries. As I gave it back to her I gave this guideline, “If it can’t holler back, it will do no good to holler directions at it.” “Oh,” she says.

Saturday we held our first backyard birthday party for Lanie. I consider it a success. We had 12 kids and a slew of grownups too. They played with bubbles, balls and the swing set. We played a couple of games and even made our own chia heads (well sorta). However, the biggest hit had to be the peach tree. It has (well had) hundreds of still green very unripe peaches on it. Someone started picking them and it soon became the activity of choice for many of them. When everyone was gone we had a wagon full of unripe peaches. By the time we made it to cake and ice cream everyone was ready for a drink and we guzzled 3 bottles of lemonade in a matter of minutes. In hind site I should have had a cooler of water but I was too busy to realize how thirsty we were getting. Luckily no one dehydrated. It was nowhere near as hot as it will get this summer but for the cool weather we have been accustomed to lately it was HOT at 2 in the afternoon. There was a 2 ft stretch of shade along the house and the adults were lined up in their lawn chairs in it. It was kinda amusing actually.

Lanie received a great variety of toys, clothes and even cute stuff for her room. She played with everything on Sunday. To any of you who were part of her day, thank you. She had been looking forward to her party since Christmas really but especially the last 3 weeks (since we had Elizabeth’s party). To our friends and family that couldn’t be with us, we missed you and hope to see you soon.

I’ve applied for a job at the Mother’s Day Out program that Lanie attended. Yesterday morning the phone rings and caller ID says its the church. My heart races a bit and I think, “Maybe she’s going to offer me a job.” Well, that’s not quite what she had to say. Her voice shakes as she says my background check came back with some bad stuff, like theft and drugs. “NO! NO! NO!” I say. “That’s not me.” She says she couldn’t believe it either so that’s why she called. We double check the SS# and addresses listed. The FELONY arrests are in a county I’ve only set foot in once and that was for a bible school conference.

We hang up with her telling me not to freak out and she’ll do some more checking. I do freak out a little and then call a friend who’s a police detective. I explain what’s going on and ask what I do to straighten it out. He “looks me up” (hadn’t thought about him being able to to do that) and discovers a girl with the same birthday, first name, last name, hair color, height and similar SS#. Our middle names are different but start with the same letter. And guess what, the arrests are hers. Whew! I don’t understand how it happened but I feel better knowing there’s nothing bogus under my SS#/name.

When the director calls me back she has obtained the same information. She grew up in the county with the suspicious activity so she made a call too. As we talk I learn the checks were done by a company. I surmise they pull up the information and then compile a “report” to send so what she was looking at was my name/# with data listed under it. Apparently someone got a little careless when transferring data. She’s sending me a new form to fill out and she’s going to resubmit it with a note explaining what we know so I will have a “clean” report with the church. She promised to personally call me when it came in. She apologized over and over again. It wasn’t her fault and I’d rather it come up in a situation where someone knows me and would think to double check the info than with a larger institution where I’m just a name on a paper and would be dismissed without a second glance.

Man what a day. I’ll feel better when a good report comes back but, at least she didn’t believe the bad stuff and was even going to bat for me with someone at the church. I hope that’s a good sign she may have a job to offer me soon.

Unbelievably so, it was 4 years ago today that I was in labor at Baptist Hospital knowing I would meet my first daughter before the day was over. We had been there since around 3AM after my water broke at home. It was 11 days before her due date and I had 7 days of school left. I had told her all along that we had to make it to the end of school but, apparently she had her own opinion on things even then.

It has been quite an adventure. She is funny, smart, pretty and as of lately she realizes that too. She is a good helper around the house and with Elizabeth, well most of the time. She shares everything she is feeling. Just sit back and listen to the running commentary while she plays and you learn a lot about her. Luckily we still have another year before she must start school. I want to keep her a little girl for a few more years. She however talks about being able to drive and living in her own house. But just last Saturday after some chattering about being in her own house she then told me I would be there too because she needed me to tuck her into bed and give her hugs and kisses. She’s so funny. Even during the difficult moments (remember she is 4) I wouldn’t trade my Lanie Bird for anyone or anything.

We gave her her first present last night so Chad could see her open it. It is a Dora doll. I know, I know, she needs one of those like she needs a hole in the head but she saw it in the store a few weeks ago and fell in love. It broke her heart to leave her there but she was still so sweet about it. She has told both of us “thank you for my Dora” spontaneously several times already. It went to school with her today along with some outrageously purple cupcakes with hot pink 4’s on the top. As we got in the car this was her directive to me, “Tell Mrs. Heather the one with the dots is for the Birthday Girl. Don’t say Lanie, say Birthday Girl.” I hope she has a good birthday and last day of school till this fall. Her party is not until Saturday so she’ll enjoy being the birthday girl for the rest of the week I’m sure.

I had to check Lanie’s ears tonight to make sure they didn’t look like bat ears. She had just gone to bed and Amanda sat down in her chair all the way down the hall and around a corner from Lanie’s room and started clipping her fingernails. A couple of seconds later Lanie comes in to the living room and says, “I need mine done too.” She heard Amanda clipping her nails from her room! Bat Ears I tell ya. Bat Ears!