funny story

ok, so this isn't about thalia but i thought it was funny so i am going to share it! periodically, my car will frost overnight (yes, i know...poor me). this usually wouldn't be a big deal, except i didn't bring my ice scraper with me to NC. usually i will try to use my wiper fluid to melt the frost off my windshield...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. i have had to use my hands to wipe the windows but i had gloves on at the time (a $2 pair from target since those are in michigan too) anyway, today my car had frost all over it, and i didn't have my gloves. so as i debated what to do, i remembered that i had heard of people using cassette tape cases to scrape their windows when i was younger. so i grabbed a CD case that happened to be in my door, and...let me tell you...those things work pretty darn great as a scraper!!! i never would have thought that. so, lesson learned - if you are in a pickle and need a scraper, use a CD case.
on to thalia - we are having a pretty uneventful week. we have spent a lot of time at martha mama's helping her and uncle ronnie eat all the food their friends have been bringing over. it's a win-win for us - free dinner and spending time with family!! we usually don't leave until late and once we are home, i put thalia to bed. hence, not many pictures this week. but chris gets into town any minute so i will be sure to take some of the two of them and post them.
speaking of chris, i better head to the airport!
much love and much more sleep (i'll tell you about that later)
c, c, and t

one for the road

i couldn't go to bed without sharing this picture with you. that is my daughter, who figured out how to dump the box of cheerios over, even though there was a dish of cheerios sitting right in front of her. not only that, thalia got cheerio dust all over her hand, and apparently thalia is taking after her little friend teegan and doesn't like being dirty. so she kept showing me her hand with the dust all over it, totally upset! it was hilarious. thought you would like this. love you all!

random update

hi all,
thought i might give you an update on all the "fun" things thalia has learned how to do lately. please take note of the ""...they come into play.
first, thalia has learned how to scream at an extremely high pitch. she has been doing that for a couple days...its enough to drive you nuts! i am trying really hard to not react so she (hopefully) learns that it doesn't get her anything. so far, my "discipline" isn't working.
thalia has also learned how to get into my cupboards. this is her trying to get into the only cupboard i can lock currently. i figure i'll just put all the bad stuff in there and not worry about the tupperware or formula can. i was trying to get a better picture of her today actually trying to get IN the cupboard, but she caught me, and as soon as she sees the camera lately, she wants to play with it. i'll try to get a picture of her amongst my tupperware and lids...i think every kid has at least one picture like that.
i tried to feed thalia yogurt today...yiayia tried when she was here, and i don't know how that went, but my try was an adventure. thalia has grown tired of chicken so i am trying to find other sources of protein for her. yogurt seemed like a good idea. until she tried to spit it out! it was everywhere! if you click on this picture, it should get bigger so you can see that thalia has yogurt all over!
also, i don't know how but i think thalia has been sneaking into the family room at night and watching ultimate fighter because she has perfected a wrestling move that works every time. whenever i change her diaper...well, usually it is quite the ordeal, but sometimes, she will lay there nicely while i change her. until its time for me to snap her shirt. when i go to snap her shirt, she raises her legs up, crosses her ankles, and brings her legs down together, forcing me to let go of her shirt. it is really incredible...and i haven't been able to figure out a way to block it. guess i'll just have to start calling her rick flair or something.
those are the latest "fun" things she has been doing. today, she missed her usual nap and was so cranky it was ridiculous. getting her to go to sleep after that is a nightmare. i just have to try and swaddle her with my arms and she just screams and cries. but she has to go to sleep...i don't really know what else to do.
speaking of sleeping, she has been doing better lately. she has been sleeping from about 9 or 930 all the way until 4! i am trying to see if i can get her to just go back to sleep without eating. last night she took some water and fell back asleep for about an hour and a half. its a work in progress...but even the fact that she is only waking up once a night now is a HUGE improvement.
well, i need to put my groceries away and get thalia ready for bed. i'm sure there will be more stories to come...especially with thalia's daddy coming to visit for his birthday this weekend! but before i go, i just have to share this picture with you. i don't know why, but i just think thalia looks so old in this outfit. what do you think? she's adorable though, if i do say so myself!
much, much love and a bit more sleep,
c, c, and t

"walking"

thalia is ready for her snow day!

what a day we had today! almost all of the raleigh-durham area had a snow day today, and since my laptop doesn't recognize the internet at my apartment, thalia and i spent the day at martha mama and uncle ronnie's. and wouldn't you know it, jillian is in town all week, so thalia and jillian had quite the play date! and yes, i did get some work done! we actually started this super interesting research today. i won't bore you with the details but it is going well so far. tomorrow and thursday will be really cool to see what happens.

so this video and picture are from the weekend when yiayia was here. not the dancing video yet...i am still working on that one. but i think you will be amazed at what my lil' one is doing lately!

i need to get to bed...GSK is delayed until 10am tomorrow but i want to make sleeping in worth my while by going to bed early. speaking of bed, thalia slept from 945pm to 5am last night!! it was awesome! she didn't take many naps today since we were at jillian's so i am hoping for a similar night. here's hoping!

much love and more sleep,

c, c, and t

getting back

so chris left, yiayia left, and now thalia and i are trying to get back into the swing of living in north carolina by ourselves. so far so good though i must say. we went back to church for the first time in over a month. since everyone left, thalia has been pretty clingy and cuddly...i was concerned she wouldn't go to the nursery during service. actually, in the bigger picture, i was super worried she would throw a fit when i tried to take her to day care tomorrow. but she saw a toy she wanted to play with and off she went! i was really relieved and am hopeful that tomorrow should be okay. i am definitely going to leave a little early though, just in case. it will be interesting to see who will be her teacher in the morning. i'm not sure if i told you but her usual morning teacher put in her resignation just before christmas. another lady had taken over temporarily, but she isn't my favorite. that was a month ago though, so who knows. i'll keep you posted.
i had forgotten to give you thalia's stats from her 9 (10) month checkup. she weighed just over 17 lbs putting her in the 16th percentile!! poor little peanut! her length was 28 inches or something like that. that puts her in the 70th percentile. so she is a little bean pole! the doctor wasn't very concerned but said that if her weigth at her one year checkup doesn't move her up in the chart, we would have to work out a feeding plan. and of course with all the travelling and different beds and houses and babysitters the poor thing has had, she hasn't hardly been eating any solids lately. but she has been drinking plenty of formula, so that is good. i gave up nursing after christmas...with all the travelling, it was hard to keep up anyway. but i did it for 10 solid months so i am really proud of myself for that!
yiayia had a lot of fun playing with thalia all week. she taught thalia how to dance...thalia got this music box that plays nursery rhymes and whenever she hits the button, thalia will sit and twist her torso back and forth! it is the funniest thing! now thalia even knows the word "dance", so if you say "dance, thalia" she'll dance!! i am trying to get it on video but every time i get the camera out, she stops. yiayia also taught thalia "up". "out", and "off". such a smart daughter we have!!
our good friend martha had knee surgery early last week. my mom took thalia over to her house a few times to keep her company and help up around the house. not sure if yiayia did much of the second part ;o) thalia definitely enjoyed martha's walker. i have a video of her walking around with it. i still have to put it on my computer. i'll try to do that tomorrow. thalia will probably be walking before her first birthday.
please continue to keep us in your prayers as we adjust to life by ourselves down here. and throw up a prayer for something that is on my heart...i really appreciate it!
we love you all so much and really miss you. hope to see you sometime soon!
much love and a bit more sleep,
c, c, and t

picture overload

you guys are in luck...i spent the day in philadelphia doing research and thanks to the ice storm, my flight was canceled back to raliegh. you are in luck because i get free internet access at the airport marriott and since i have nothing else to do, i am going to update my blog! get ready for picture overload!!

as promised, pics from our parents renewing their vows

and from the engagement!!

a lovely picture of some of the most important people in our lives

i think this picture is terrible but you can see thalia's teeth have really come in

thalia's new favorite thing to do..."i don't know"
thalia in here official hawaii surfer suit

thalia's progression to swimming...

unsure... sure

staying warm with aunt nikki

hair-do courtesy of thalia's daddy

whew...what a good lookin' group of people! things are going pretty well now that we are back to our respective states. thalia is spending the week with her daddy and gamma and grandpa. i am not heading back to michigan until valentine's weekend so they are trying to get as much time with her as they can...it's really great.

the apartment is lonely by myself...but heading to this research has definitely broken my week up. chris and thalia get here friday and then yiayia comes on saturday because i have research in denver next week. i know...it's crazy. i am very blessed to have such a wonderful family that is so supportive and willing to help us out. i don't know what i would do without them!!

i guess that's about it. hope you enjoyed the pictures. i should be able to keep up with my updates now that things are "settling down" :o) hopefully i'll get some better sleep tonight. i have been sleeping terribly since i got back to nc.

have a wonderful week. we miss you all!

much much MUCH love and very little sleep,

c, c, and t