That's What You Sound Like!

So Cody was very impressed with Kaitlyn's...well...um...ability to pass gas last night. So he made a funny sound and told her that she sounded like it. Kaitlyn started laughing so hard, so he did it again and she laughed even harder. So luckily the video camera was close by and I got it taped. It's a little repetitive, but it's so cute to see her laugh!!

Valentine's Day

Here are some pictures of Kaitlyn that we took out in the backyard on Valentine's Day. She's the sweetest Valentine ever!!!

Still can't do it!

So I always love teaching my penguin unit each year at school.  We play games where the kids role play as penguins and have to waddle and pass the egg to each other, we measure how tall we are against an emperor penguin, and so much more.  My kids always learn so much and are thrilled when I tell them we are going to watch real penguins in March of the Penguins.  And  I tell my kids about the part where the penguin is eaten, when the baby is frozen, and when the baby gets killed by the bird.  I explain about the circle of life and all that jazz.  Well, once again my kids were just fine with all the parts, but of course their teacher is crying like a sappy sap.  It just gets me every time.  I know it's all part of this amazing world, but I just can't watch it first hand!

Solids!

I can't believe that our doctor told us to go ahead and start Kaitlyn on solid foods! My little baby is growing up too fast already!! She passed her four month check up with flying colors and is a whopping 12 pounds 10 ounces. Doesn't sound like a lot for a four month old, but we're excited considering how little she was at birth and technically being a "preemie." I knew that solids would be coming soon because we just couldn't keep her full! She was downing 6 ounces of formula every two and half hours! So we started with the rice cereal. The box said to make it really soupy the first time and Kaitlyn was a bit confused, but seemed to like it. (I have a video that I'll upload on here later of the experience.) The next day I made it less soupy and she really liked it. We did that for a week and now we've tried oatmeal. I wish I would have taped that! I couldn't feed her fast enough! She loved the stuff! I can't wait to see what types of foods she will like and won't like. And I love seeing her new expressions as she discovers new tastes. Mommyhood is just so fun!!!

HUGE Responsibility!

I've been working on cleaning out our house, which is different from cleaning up the house. We just have too much stuff! Anyway, while I clean I like to listen to music, because well, without music it's just boring. :) So Kaitlyn and I were in the back room (office/guest room) and I had on 94.9 which is the Christian station here. The Casting Crowns song, "Slow Fade" came on. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this group. All their songs are just amazing! The kid singing at the end always gets me, but today it was a different line in the song that stopped me in my tracks. There is a line that says, "Be careful little feet where you go, for it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow." Wow. That says it all right there. Kaitlyn will be watching Cody and I to learn about life. How we interact with each other, family, and friends, how we eat, how we keep house, how we worship, how we talk, - everything. What an amazing responsibility! I've been "looked at" before being a teacher and I've seen kids imitate me. (You find out real quick what phrases you use a lot when you teach kindergarten!) :) But now I'm not Mrs. Bush, the teacher. I am Mom. That word hasn't even sunk in yet. Maybe it's because Kaitlyn isn't using it yet, but somehow it hadn't hit me yet. But Mom - that's me now. And Cody is no longer just Cody - he's Dad. We have such a job ahead of us! I am thankful I have a wonderful, loving, and Godly husband that is here to help me with this job. This is the most important job either one of us has ever held! It scares me and thrills me all at the same time. I know the years ahead will be full of laughter, tears, and prayers as we figure it all out. And we will be watching what we do because Kaitlyn will be watching us.

Too many toys!!! (And she's not even 4 months old!)

Well, it's finally happened. It didn't take long for Kaitlyn's toys to overflow the storage we had in her room. And because Christmas was just here, we now have way more toys than we have storage for. So instead of buying more small baskets that match the ones we already have, we decided to buy her a toy bench. I looked and looked and had so much fun doing so. There are some really cute stores online that I never knew about! But most of the pink and brown ones were either way more than we wanted to spend, or just not the style we were going for. I finally picked one out that sort of matched her room. It's not pink and brown, but we have some of the Love Bug collection from Babies R Us in her room, so it sort of matches that too. The colors are a bit different, but not everything she has is going to be matchy matchy. :) Cody liked it too, well, honestly I don't think he cared all too much. ;) So we ordered it and it should be here in about a week! I can't wait! I know she won't be using it for a good long while, but me, being the organizational freak that I am, will be so happy that the toys will have a good place to be!

The Case of the Serial Comma

After getting several Christmas cards that "bothered" me I looked up the comma rule. (I know, I am SUCH a teacher.) But here's what I've come up with:

The Mystery Solved

Dear Readers,

Many thanks to all who responded to my plea for help in tracing the origin of the Wrong Rule about omitting the final comma in a series ("red, white and blue" instead of "red, white, and blue").

Your letters and my further research have revealed this: The only authorities who advocate omitting the final comma are newspaper style guides (which wish to save column space) and some English writers (who waffle on the rule).

My original assertion stands, with minor qualifications: Except for journalists, all American authorities say to use the final serial comma: "He went to the store to buy milk, butter, and eggs."

The reason for the final serial comma is to prevent the last 2 items' being confused as a unit (butter-and-eggs).

From Grammar Girl:

Although the serial comma isn't always necessary, I favor it because often it does add clarity, and I believe in having a simple, consistent style, instead of trying to decide whether you need something on a case-by-case basis. I also think using the serial comma makes even simple lists easier to read. Really, unless space is incredibly expensive, I can't imagine why anyone would decide the best method is sometimes leave it out and sometimes add it in*.




Okay, okay, I know I'm being tacky, and hopefully not too on the rude side, but I hate it when I don't see a serial comma before the word and!!! Unless you're a newspaper editor you should be using it! (I'm sure I'll get lots of folks telling me I don't use proper punctuation after this.......haha......I like my ellipsis so don't even start with that................... :)

And if you did send me a Christmas card and didn't put the serial comma that's fine. I still love you for sending me one. Just next year keep in mind that it's great to sign them as follows:

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Cody, Heather, and Kaitlyn :)