Bitty Baby

This is how my mommy hugs me.

Am I too big for Bitty's stroller?

This works better

Bitty needs fresh air, but I didn't bring a blanket for her

Do you think she looks like me?

Bitty deserves her own entry. I never thought something could replace Dolly, a soft-bodied doll given to Carolyn last Christmas, but I think Bitty Baby managed. Carolyn really enjoys her new role as mommy. Bitty gets kisses, hugs, dropped on her head. All the regular stuff. The one thing she doesn't have is a name. I somehow managed to name all of Carolyn's stuffed animals, but nothing seems right for Bitty. Ideas?

Merry Christmas!

Here are some snapshots from our first Christmas as just the Horners. It was a very enjoyable day. If you aren't here for the pictures of a cute baby, maybe you should come back some other day! We have tons of pictures.

Carolyn found the joy of having candy before noon


Opening the first present, piece by piece


Throwing away each piece before finishing opening the present


Grooving out to the music


Getting ready to strike the Heisman pose

I love Christmas. Yes, I have just posted all the pictures of Carolyn with presents, but one of the best moments for me this season was when Carolyn repeated "Jesus" for the first time. I feel like she'll remember in some way that Christ has always been the central part of Christmas in our home. It also melted my heart to hear her say "thank you" after each present and see her give hugs to her cousins after opening a gift. Love it all!

Kelly Comes to Visit

Right after Thanksgiving, one of my oldest friends came to visit, Kelly Jane Faust. It's nice to wax nostalgic with someone who has known you for so long it's hard to remember when you became friends. It was so much fun to have her here that we posed for a couple of self-portraits of the three girls. Thanks for making the drive! Kelly made the 2.5 hour drive home in about 5 hours. She's lucky she left when she did because the storm that hit closed a 20-mile stretch of I-5 later that night.

Bowling with the Family

I know this is old, but I am blogging about it anyway because I won! Over Thanksgiving, while Joseph, Laura, and Spencer were here, we went bowling together as a family. It was tons of fun, except keeping Carolyn away from the lanes, the heavy balls, the ball feeder thingy. Even though I won, Ethan was the only one that had two strikes in a row! Go Ethan!

Ugh!

This must be what I get for being so confident in my last post. After Carolyn fell asleep Monday night we had no issues for the rest of the evening. She even slept until 6! Yesterday's nap didn't go so well. And last night--oh man last night--she cried from about 7-12:45. That's right. Almost 1 am. On top of that, there is some dissension on how to effectively wean from the binky. So she got one at 12:45. And then she woke up at 6:25. I even skipped the gym hoping to get some rest. That was a mistake. Now she is crying in her crib protesting nap time without her pacifier. I know we shouldn't have broken down last night, but, I'll admit it, I was too darn tired to think straight. Her tears were starting to intermingle with mine. So now we are at a crossroads. Do we give up and try in another month? Do we make her go cold turkey to avoid confusion? How does one ever get any sleep?!

I have no answers, so I am taking suggestions.

UPDATE: So, it's nap time, and I gave her the pacifier. I just couldn't do it. Jeremy and I will have to come up with a plan of attack and implement it later. To justify my weakness, I say it is because she has developed quite the cough. With that and her vaccinations, I think it is too much. So hard! I would still like anyone's ideas on how to get rid of it for when I think I am strong enough.

Binkies?! We don't need no stinking binkies!

Carolyn has two best friends: Elmo and the pacifier in her mouth.

One of those friends ended up in the trash can today. Elmo, I can handle. What I can't handle is waking up multiple times a night to replace the binky. Or my 18-month old sleeping less at night than when she was two months old. Or hearing a drawer opening and slamming to find Carolyn trying desperately, and screaming all the while, to grow 5 more inches so she can retrieve the binks that have been put away.

So I found a new best friend: the trash can.

As you can imagine, my day has been far from fun. We skipped the afternoon nap. We skipped most meals. Unless you count the food that accidentally made it into her mouth as she flung her dishes at me. I tested my willpower listening to her cry while Dad was at a Blazers game. Then I reached my end. My daughter fell--jumped?--somehow escaped from her crib. We have a nice raspberry above her left eye to remember it by. Just in time for her doctor's appointment tomorrow. I managed all day with no tears. That didn't last.

Miraculously she has fallen asleep. All without the aid of a binky. It only took one hour and a traumatizing experience for it to happen. But my daughter? She don't need no stinking binky!