A sick little girl

Our Chloe had a rough day yesterday. Lots of vomiting and snuggling with mommy (and sometimes both at the same time). After many outfit changes and baths, she held down her dinner of a popsicle and saltines. I know, very nutritious. We snuggled some more and after much rocking she fell asleep in my arms. Ah, I'd forgotten how precious that can be! Though my arms were asleep too after rocking my 30-lb.-not-a-newborn-anymore-sized child. She slept well last night and didn't wake up to be sick and seems to be in good spirits this morning. I'm glad she's feeling better but I think I'll miss her excessive snuggling. :)

Here's a funny anecdote from Chloe's sick day yesterday. It was mid-afternoon and Chloe and I were snuggling in the living room reading books and singing. She was on the verge of sleep and nuzzling my chest. All of the sudden, I hear a knock on our front door - a very rare thing for us. So, I gather up my bundle of Chloe to answer the door. Mind you, our house was not the most picked up tidy place after all of Chloe's ordeals yesterday so I wasn't too excited about welcoming a visitor into our messy home. Anyways, in walks my neighbor (I was hoping to chat briefly and keep her out on the porch) and plops herself down on the couch. I explain that Chloe isn't feeling well and that explains her lethargy and our messy surroundings. She brushes off those things and plows ahead with her proposal to hire me as her math tutor for the summer. Sure thing, I say, trying to close up the deal and wrap up the visit. She goes on to explain her situation more in-depth - her struggles in the past, her college history - when Chloe quietly vomits up her lunch and snack contents. And my neighbor goes right on talking! Granted, she didn't notice Chloe's spewage at first but as I stood up with my erupting Chloe and ushered my neighbor to the door, she got the hint. Good timing, Chloe!

Hope you and your kiddos are keeping healthy during this winter season!

Chloe will be 6 foot tall?

Last week, Chloe had her 18 month well child check-up. She weighed in at a whopping 30 lbs. 5 oz. and measured 37 inches tall! Her growth curve continues to be off the charts (above the 97th percentile).

Our doctor, who I like but who always races through our exams and doesn't offer much education, predicts that Chloe will be 6 feet tall when she's an adult. What?!? Sorry Dr. Kline, but I have to disagree. No one in our families is that tall and I know that height is linked to our genetic potential (I only found that out after a bit of google research). It's like this, the genes from mom and dad give the child a potential maximum height. If the child reaches that potential maximum height is based on nutrition and environmental factors. (Click here to read more.)

So, here's my question for you experienced moms out there. How does the height/weight percentile measurement compare with your real life experiences with your children? If you had a baby who was low on the percentile charts, did she stay small and underweight as she grew older?

(Want to have some more fun with this? Check out these height predictor tools for an estimate of your child's future height.)

My latest sewing project

Thanks to my mom's recent visit, I had some help on my latest sewing venture. Since we don't have money to spend on decorating our home, we don't have many curtains hanging. I really like the homey-ness of curtains though and for a while now I've been wanting some cherry curtains for our kitchen.

After some depressing searching on e-bay for cherry fabric ($7-$10 per yard plus shipping), my mom and I visited a Jo-ann's superstore in a nearby city. WOW, we were both blown away by the huge selection of fabrics and the cheap prices. I found some cherry fabric for about $4 a yard and some ribbon for 10 cents a yard. Voila, kitchen curtains!

Here are some photos of the finished lovelies (please don't look too closely at my sewing handiwork):























This larger window is above our kitchen sink (those are clean dishes drying).


















A far-away shot of the smaller window over the stove so you can see the full effect of the curtain.


















My attempt at showing both windows in our small kitchen.

Blood Emergency!

We are experiencing a blood emergency in northeast Ohio as the recent winter storms have curbed blood donations. I'm so thankful to my mom for always being a role model to me in blood donation. She gives regularly and consistently (except now she can't give blood for a year since she went to Mexico recently).

I haven't been able to give blood since Chloe was born simply because I never have a babysitter (I can't imagine that Chloe would sit patiently in her stroller while I give blood) and I seldom have a car at my disposal to travel to a blood drive. Since my mom was here this weekend, I jumped at the chance to have her watch Chloe so I could give blood on Monday. THANKS, MOM!

I encourage you to donate if you can to help our nation's blood banks recover their supply. Use this link to find a nearby blood drive. Happy donating!

Back online after a week-long absence

I forgot to tell you all that my mom was coming for a long weekend visit. And that explains my recent lack of blogging. Instead I spent my time enjoying my mom (we played 4 games of scrabble, did the Sunday crossword together, shopped, and sewed kitchen curtains) and took a break from the computer.

Chloe and grandma had a grand time together! They had a special evening alone so Matt and I could go on a date (YAY!). They also enjoyed dancing, playing, coloring, and reading lots of books together.



Unfortunately, we didn't get many good photos of our creative 18 mos. old Chloe. She's extremely aware of our camera and as soon as she spots it she races over to see the picture display on the back. Here are a few of our best shots.

















Elmo mesmerizes Chloe.

















Fishies! Fishies!

















My mom just beamed with pride when Chloe wanted a purple balloon (my mom's favorite color) at Applebee's! And boy did Chloe impress the waitresses when she pointed and said "pah-pull".






















Chloe and her cool Subway backpack.


















What am I doing? Duh, mom, as anyone can see I'm obviously scooping up snow and putting it into my tupperware bowl to save for later. Do I have to explain everything to you?

An unexpected Valetine's gift

Better than a box of chocolates is the unexpected gift I got today - Matt's school is closed because of our recent snow dumpage! YAY! No classes for him to attend and no classes for him to teach all day. What a great break for him and what a blessed Valentine's treat for us to have him home.

Unfortunately, he hasn't had too much time to read or study. He spent most of the morning shoveling our driveway and sidewalk and then he did a few neighbors' sidewalks. This evening we're going to splurge and have a dairy queen dinner (we just love their bacon cheeseburgers) and either play a game of scrabble or watch a movie. I'm hoping for scrabble. Matt's whomped me the last two times we've played and I need to redeem myself. :)

A quiet snowy Valentine's Day for our family trio. How nice! How are you celebrating today?

The cutest girl in the universe

It's not up for debate. My Chloe is the cutest girl in the entire known (and unknown too, those aliens have nothing on her) universe. :) Here are some recent photos to prove my point.
















You said we had to get ready to go mom, so I decided to help and put on some mittens and a hat. They seem a little big though.


















Aren't I glamorous, dahling?























Styling my pigtails for church.

Chloe sings you a song for your Lord's Day

Forgive the poor quality of this little video. I was trying to record this while Chloe was sitting on my lap and attempting to avoid getting any of myself on the video. And don't I sound like I'm trying to be on Broadway? Maybe I should consider a career change? Anyone know why the sound is a bit delayed?


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Survey says . . .

Thanks so much to all of you who posted about your thermostat readings! I found it really interesting to read all your comments. Because there are so many variables, it's hard to compare and contrast the findings. But, for those of you who are graph-oriented (feel free to call me a nerd), here's just a basic chart depicting average daytime thermostat temperatures . 68 degrees was by far the most popular temperature choice.

Enjoy your weekend and stay warm!

Thermostat Survey

As the arctic chill moves across the midwest, I've attempted to convince my husband to crank up our thermostat. And he did! We've gone up one whole degree to 68! Thank the Lord for a working furnace and indoor heat to stay warm during these crazy frigid days.

Our household thermostat debate has made me curious, what temperature is your thermostat at during this winter weather? When you post your answer, also indicate what type of abode you heat (apartment, one-story house, duplex, etc.) and also which state you live in.

Stay warm!

Superbowl quandry

Here's a question for you: What happens to the hundreds of hats made for the losers of the superbowl? You know how they make up hats that say "XLI Superbowl Champions" for each team to wear just seconds after the game ends? I imagine there were hats made for the Bears in the unlikely event that they won; what happened to those caps? Do they get destroyed? Or sold on ebay for pennies?

I didn't think I'd find an answer to this question by mere googling, but after 3 tries, I came up with this article link (technology is astounding!). Turns out the 288 shirts and hats made up for the losing Chicago Bears were donated to World Vision, an African relief organization . Those Bears are so kind to lose so their shirts could be donated to needy souls.

Superbowl recap

This photo is of Chloe as she imitated the superbowl players when they were introduced last night. It was so cute I had to snap a photo. She thinks she's just as tough as they are! I'm sure she's at least tougher than Rex Grossman (that dig was for you, my dear friend, Tricia).

We were disappointed by the superbowl commercials this year. Most of them were serious or just dumb. Out of the poor selection our favorites were the beard comb-over (Sierra Mist) and the Robert Goulet (Emerald Nuts). We also chuckled at the "surviving the work week" commercials by careerbuilder.com. Did we miss some good ones at half-time? We turned the tv off at half-time though I did sneak a peek at the artist-formerly-known-as-prince-and-now-known-again-as-prince.

What commercials tickled your funny bone?

Chloe's jumping talent

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Excited for church tomorrow!

Since we missed church last Sunday due to illness, I find myself greatly anticipating the fellowship of believers tomorrow! Our pastor is preaching an awesome, and very practical, series working through the book of James. He just began the series so right now he's talking about how to consider our trials as valuable joys. If you're interested and have the time, I highly recommend you listen to his message from last week. (While you're there, check out the Gettys' concert at the 1-21-07 evening service! They are modern hymn-writers and have written some beautiful sound songs in the last few years. They've been at our church for the last year and I just found out they co-wrote one of my favorite new hymns, In Christ Alone.)

Enjoy your Lord's Day tomorrow!

Playing with markers

In my constant quest for fun creative activities (finger-painting, painting with water), Chloe and I have recently been coloring with washable markers.

What a mess Chloe made during her first time with markers! And those markers come off on EVERYTHING. She got marker all over her hands and then proceeded to wipe her mouth. That wasn't the best though. The funniest moment came when she had an open red marker in her hand and decided to scratch her head with it! Oh my. Her golden hair turns out to adhere very well to marker colors. So, I had a bit of fun and colored her tresses some funky colors as you can see in the photo below.



















Here, mom. Try the yellow marker on my head!

Recipe call for February

After a month off from the recipe swappers blog, we're back with a new theme for February.

I don't know about you, but I'm still struggling with some extra holiday and winter weight. So, let's make February's recipe theme, HEALTHY COOKING. Submit any recipes that are tasty and use healthy ingredients. Maybe you have a dessert recipe in which you've substituted applesauce for oil. Or a delicious fish recipe. Or maybe a veggie and lentil packed soup recipe. Or a whole grained bread or casserole recipe. Or maybe just have a tip for a healthy snack. The possibilities are endless! Send your yummy healthy recipes to me at aliciahorn@hotmail.com.