Happy Halloween

I knew there was a good chance sweet Emma would take after me when she decided to show up right before Halloween. Honestly, who would want to miss the one holiday where it is acceptable to demand chocolaty goodness from perfect strangers at not one or two houses, but at as many houses as your little legs will take you too...

Genius Idea.

Knowing there was a good chance we would be engrossed with our newest little one when the holiday arrived, I attempted in vain to have all the details in place as early as possible. Sometime in September or early October I came home with the cutest little owl costume for Mia. At the time, her owl sound, "whooo whooo", was so cute I thought I might actually die upon hearing it. 

Thus, the owl seemed like a logical choice...until Mia actually saw the costume.

"No owwwwoolllllllll. No owwwoolllllllll. No owwwoollllllllll."

After both John and I attempted to persuade her to try it on time again, we decided to fold and take Babies-R-Us up on that return policy.

It's a Halloween costume- oh well.

We'll save the "you must put this on in order to leave the house" battle for when she's twelve and tries to exit the house in shorts that more resemble the size of panties, the length of shorts seems like a more appropriate battle to fight than some fabric with an owl face on it.

Since my attempt to plan ahead didn't fair so well, I honestly had no idea what Mia was going to be. She attended both the gymnastics dress up day and the Wake Forest trick or treat in festive clothing rather than in costume. Neither place seemed concerned over the lack of costume wear, so I decided I wouldn't be either. 

Until 7 days before Halloween and 6 days after my due date, when John and I ended up walking the loop at the mall while trying to progress my contractions. Around once, around twice, around three times the mall we went... to the food court and back around. 

This is not a method I will endorse as a kick start to labor. Okay back to the story....

That's when we saw the college apparel store. And the cute little cheerleading outfits inside. Since the cheerleading outfit is basically clothes and didn't involve a hood, I was fairly confident Mia would wear. So, one day before Emma was born, while walking the mall, having contractions, we ordered Mia a NC State cheerleading outfit. 

It showed up a couple of days before the 31st and Mia ended up looking pretty cute, if I do say so myself. 

Unfortunately even newborns are too little for the JV squad and therefore no matching uniform was found for Emma. We decided it might be best to leave Emma at home for an hour or so while we braved the streets looking for sweets.

The days leading up to Halloween we did a little roll playing to try to get in the spirit. I played the roll of the Good Witch who demanded granola and Mommy played the roll of my servant.

When I was finished being the Good Witch, Daddy took a turn and tried to use his magic to help carve us a pumpkin.

Turns out his magic still involved us having to use our hands. I was a little nervous at first.

But quickly warmed up.

Taking a break....

Before the carving began.

Admiring my work.

I will say Emma is really going to have to start pulling her weight in this family... she slept the entire time!

Mommy wanted a cute picture to document our first holiday together... but this is all she got, get used to it Mommy.

Emma finally started to show signs of waking...

And for a minute there I thought she might actually make it to trick-or-treating time....

But nope, she was out again.

I was sad she didn't go with us to the Halloween festivities but quickly got over it when I stuffed my emotions with my first ever cupcake brownie. I love being able to reach the table now.

Trick or Treating with my NC State Cheerleader's Dad.

What a difference a year can make!

Happy Birthday Emma Claire!

Welcome to the world Emma Claire Eanes! It can be a hard place to be, but it's pretty amazing place as well... we can't wait to share all of it with you. We waited a long time for you little one; welcome to our family.

Emma Claire Eanes. 10/25/2012. 7lbs 10oz. 21 inches long.

Headed Home.

I"ll think we'll start with the ball pit and then move on the trampoline... I have so much to show you Baby Sister Emma.

The Name Game

Back when John and I first got married I did what all rational newly married women do... I named our unborn children.

One by one I carefully contemplated their first and middle names and wrote them in beautiful flowing letters across the corners of papers during meetings, or conferences, and maybe even once or twice during a Sunday morning sermon. Hey, nobody's perfect. 

I signed fake Christmas cards and thank you cards and said their names all together to make sure each sounded good when said with the other... And then we got pregnant with Mia. 

My names, which one Mr. Eanes had been silently listening to for four years of marriage were rejected- one by one. Apparently silence does not equal approval... who knew?  

After throwing out literally hundreds of names due to the memories they evoked of past students, we quickly decided on Mia Kate and went on to live in baby name bliss for the remaining 20 weeks of my pregnancy with her. 

And, even though as a social studies teacher, I would defend our need to learn about our past saying the contrary to this... it turns out history does not always in fact repeat itself.

Sometimes something that seemed so effortless once does not end up as effortless the second time around. 

Which is how I ended up 38 weeks pregnant with not one but two names for my sweet baby girl #2. One name that John deemed his favorite and the other that was mine. We would go back and forth in conversation about the two names getting absolutely nowhere in the discussion but back to the beginning, he liked Name A and I liked Name B. 

One day I called him at work and said "I've been thinking... I think we should go with "your name" it's a cute name. Only to hear "well, funny you said that... today I decided we should name her your name... it's growing on me". 

Oh geez.

We did not want to wait until she was born to "see what she looked like", past experience told us she might not look much like either name we had picked out. The planner in me wanted her name on the nursery wall and monogrammed on something for her to come home and the  calculated decision maker in John wanted a rationale decision made before we got to the hospital. 

So, we decided to take the next natural step and let our middle schooler's in our small groups from church vote. 

Emma or Avery?

They voted on Emma. We went home and discussed it some more.

Three days later Mia spent her very first night away from home, without us there. We have left her for the weekend before, but we have always left her at home. You know- where the plugs are covered and the drawers have child safety locks. And, she has traveled plenty of places before but we were always there, you know- within in arms reach of all potential impending disasters. But alas, the time had come for her to venture out.

The day before Mia was set to take her big adventure the day was changed. Mia would not spend Friday night away, she would spend Saturday night away. This gave her grandparents more time with her, me more time to get a pedicure, and her father more time to "get things done" before the baby came. 

So Saturday came and off she went. In our original "Friday night" plan Mr. Eanes and I had decided to try out what we refer to as a "fru-fru" restaurant downtown. You know... the kind of place that gives you leaves instead of lettuce, charges you outrageous prices for what looks like a child sized portion, and has their lights dimmed at all times for the romantic feel. He was going to gaze into my eyes and tell me how happy he was I was going to the Mother of not one but two of his daughters... right before he grimaced at the cost of drinks on the menu.

But, it never happened. When our dinner date got shifted to Saturday night we knew we had to find somewhere we could eat AND watch the LSU game at the same time. 

We may not live in the SEC, but we pretend like we do.... on Saturday's you watch football.

From the comforts of my pedicure, massage chair we tossed various options back and forth via phone until I remembered this unique restaurant in the W-S. It's technically a sports bar by day turned into a fine dining, candles on the table, yes- I am overcharging you for your food but it's all about atomsphere place, by night. So, we decided to go there after we went to the pottery place and painted the "new baby" a piggy bank for her room.

When I was 6 months pregnant with Mia we painted a piggy bank to match her bedding. We put her name on the back of it, wrote the date on the bottom, and marveled at how creative we were. Said piggy bank now sits in her closet because, well... it's breakable and she's two. But one day, we get to pull it out again.

Baby Girl #2 or Baby Mona as she was dubbed by my friends needed a piggy bank.

So at 38 weeks we went into the pottery place and decided we would not leave without a painting a name on the back of the piggy bank. 

We borrowed a paint-able coffee cup and I wrote Emma twice and Avery twice on a left over Starbucks wrapper from my car and threw them into the cup. We shook it up and drew out the name... Emma. Just for kicks I decided to draw again and see what name came out... Emma again. The numbers guy of the family (aka Mr. Eanes) informed me there was a 16.7% chance we would draw the same name twice. 

We kept painting, talked about it some more and painted her name on the piggy bank.

Baby Mona finally has a piggy bank!

Being the fast paced mover that I am, I wanted to immediately send out the picture to all our relatives and begin ordering "homecoming" clothes complete with monograms... but John thought we should wait. 

So, we went home, put the extra seat on the stroller, watered the lawn, unloaded the dishwasher and fretted about the decision. It just seemed wrong.

And then John said... "we'll make a decision at dinner."

To which I responded "ok" but actually thought something more like, "ok, because dinner is going to be so different than the past 9 months we've talked about this."

Regardless, I got all dressed up in my one of three pregnancy shirt options I have at this point and to dinner we went. When we walked in, we noticed all the tables nearest the TV playing the LSU game were taken so we asked if there was anywhere else we could sit in order to see the game. The hostess looked at us and said "well, I mean... you could sit over here", as she pointed to the bar side of the restaurant which was currently closed. We told her that was great with us, we really just wanted to see the game and down we sat. 

On the closed, bar side of the restaurant, with no silverware, no white table clothes or flower center pieces, no little romantic candles or white lights like the other side had.But, keeping our priorities straight, we could see the LSU game.

Side by side we sat discussing names, discussing the game, and discussing how likeable our waitress was albeit not a very good waitress. Even as we sat waiting for forks, spoons, something- anything, to eat our food with we talked about how easy it was to like her. When John suggested we name Baby Mona after her. 

I told him we had really hit rock bottom if we named our unborn child after a bad waitress with a good personality. He gave her more credit- saying she wasn't even technically supposed to be waiting on us... this side was closed. He thought we should just ask  her opinion on the two names, which I still wasn't thrilled with and then as he pondered some more he said... "What if her name is Emma or Avery? I mean that would be enough for me to say ok- that's her name." I told him that would be rather neat but highly unlikely and reminded him that we do not in fact live in a movie. 

Sometime after our food had been sitting in front of us, our likeable waitress remembers to bring over our silverware and John presents her with a task. "Can you help us out- we want your opinion on baby names." She is really excited about her given assignment and wants to know if we are looking for girl names or boy names. To which I respond, "girl names but he is going to give you two choices... we don't want you to pick just any name." She says, "ok" and waits patiently as Mr. Eanes (with a sideways grin) says, "The first name is Emma and the second is...."

John never gets to the second name because our 25 year old waitress stops him and says...

"I'm not sure what the second name is but my name is Emma, and I really like it so I'm going to say go with it." 

Let the open mouth staring contest begin.  

She smiles and bounces away still to remain super likeable but not the best waitress we have ever had. And John says... "wow, well that does it for me."

Sitting on the closed side of a restaurant, we hadn't even planned on being in, on a date night we weren't even supposed to be having, we ended up with a waitress named Emma. 

Now, granted, if you walk into a 1st grade class room your chances of finding an Emma are pretty good- it's a pretty popular name. But this girl, born before the "Oh my word I love Friends and Rachel named her baby Emma boom" was probably one of one in her class.

So it was decided...

Emma Claire Eanes

Praise the Lord- she had a name! Sweet Emma Claire Eanes. The phone call we made next was to an old building in a strip center, answered by an old school answering machine. "Ummm, hi... I was in there today and painted a piggy bank... can you set it aside? I need to make some alterations before you put it in the Kiln"

Mr. Eanes worked his magic.

I'd say it turned out pretty good. We love you Emma Claire and while we acknowledge you will not be the only Emma you ever meet, we feel certain you will be the only one with such a colorful story behind their name!


 

Our Road to the Olympics

I feel it is safe to assume we all have those "is there a hidden camera following me around just to catch my reaction so it can later be used against me" moments. You know, just when you think the situation cannot get any more bizarre your mother-in-law asks you what color your underwear is, or maybe just when you think you can't take it anymore a stranger in the grocery store checkout line throws up on your person...

...clearly hidden camera moments.

If I decide to stay truly honest and only surface level deep I would say that motherhood (again aside from all that heartfelt and mushy stuff) has far and away given me more opportunities to experience the "no really this cannot be happening in real life- what show am I on?" moments.

And so, that brings us to baby gymnastics.

When Mia was around 16 months old we began exploring the idea of her participating in some sort of "extra- curricular" activity. Now, if we stick with the proper definition of extra-curricular, this means we were looking for activities that fell outside the realm of Mia's "normal" curriculum. 

So, basically something other than our daily... well you know...teething, chewing on her pacifier, pushing her push toys around, and throwing everything off her high chair when she was finished eating.

We settled on baby gymnastics; were saddened to discover to that for some reason the W-S is the only city in the entire US not to have a Little Gym, and then re-motivated when we learned a "real live" gym offered classes for parents and tots starting at age 1. 

Here we come Olympics 2024!

Our first class was comical to say the least and along the way there have been plenty of post worthy moments... but today, nearly 10 months into our gymnastics "lessons" was something for the record book.


Regardless of who the "teacher" is, all the parent/tot classes start the same; circle time. My humble opinion is that circle time exists only to torture the parents and humiliate them in front of one another by way of putting unfair expectations on their toddlers for an absurd amount of time. 

Take for instance our very first circle time ever.

The "students" or should we say "1-3 year olds" were asked to sit in a circle close enough to the foam pit, slide, trampoline, and scarfs that they could touch them... but then told..."oh wait, you can't touch them yet". Instead you must listen while I explain 10 minutes of directions followed by 10 minutes of warm-up exercises beginning with you completing a downward dog position and then walking on your hands through your parent's legs.

Right, when I signed up did I mention that my child still has no recognition of her own name, much less this downward dog position you speak of?

But I regress, back to today.

We walk in for circle time and I immediately notice the massive mound of hula hoops in the middle of circle time. Since our teacher does not instruct us to get one but instead shares her usual greeting of "everyone find a shape to sit on", I say a silent prayer that Mia has somehow missed hoop heaven in the center of the circle. And soon it becomes clear... not only has Mia seen hoop bliss, but so have her other 15 nearest and dearest 2024 Olympic hopefuls. I would say there was a general feeling of I want a hoop and I want it now, as 15 mom's grasp tightly to the limbs of their children who are pulling toward hoop heaven.

We get our hoops, a song comes on and we are instructed to hold them over our heads like they are the sun shining on us- a kid on the other side of the circle who I would peg at around 15 months starts a spin that could rival the Tasmanian Devil. Not only does he take out his neighbor but the kid next to his neighbor too, and soon he's down and crying as well. 

When we put our hoops down to pretend they are trampolines, William seems to get the wrong message and takes off at record speed into the foam pit. 

Two siblings caddy-corner to us begin fighting over which hoop color they want, more tears and hoop to head contact occurs. 

Our fearless leader keeps on directing. Pretend your hoop is a steering wheel; pretend it's a basketball; pretend it's a jump rope; with no less than four kids crying or running from the circle at all times. Let's not forget the one who was drug out of the middle by his feet clawing at the extra hoops.

Since we were sitting right next to the teacher it seems my "under the breath" comment about hoops bringing out the crazy in kids was not as "under my breath" as I had hoped, and she responded something to the effect of..."you're telling me." 

The true pinnacle of circle time came at the end when everyone was asked to once again sit down and wait for their name (and all 15 other kids names as well) to be called so they could say their ta-da. "Miles" Miss Monica says rather quickly, we look over and Miles has just been pulled out of the foam pit by his mother, he is hanging upside down screaming and kicking. "Moving on, June" she says, poor June clearly feels super uncomfortable in her surroundings and becomes instantly frozen in place. "Walter, Mia, so-on-and-so-forth just get this over with" she continues with her list. 

And then as we all squat down to ta-da together one last time, a mass of crumpled toddler comes rolling across the floor screaming and kicking and lands right on top of Miss Monica's feet. I stare, Mia stares, the person next to me giggles and Miss Monica says, "Hey Robby. And now everybody 1, 2, 3.... ta-da"! Robby's kicking body is quickly hoisted up and escorted away by his mother using the proper full body "toddler hold".

The remainder of the class follows suit. Two kids have a head on collision while running on the spring floor. The one way, one at a time only tumble track becomes littered with dozens of toddlers and one gets stepped on when she decides the middle of the trampoline would be a good place for a nap. Mia demands to "hang" on every bar we see but says "no" and runs off anytime Miss Monica tries to help her rotate over the bars. At one point I look over and the tunnel which was originally set up to crawl through was bent in half and lying in a mess on the floor. 

I begin to wonder if our Olympic dreams are dwindling right before my eyes. Surely at age 2 Gabby and Aly were completing stunning floor routines without having to be chased down by their exasperated parents? 

Regardless, if we ever make it to 2024 or not, after today's experience I am certain there is a place for all of us on reality tv.

And since I don't have any pics from today to share, here is a medley from our "Gold Medal Day" back in June. We were given a "routine" to perform about 10 minutes before it started and a "circuit" to complete which included a cart wheel. We skipped the cart wheel but rocked the part where they told us to wave to the crowd like nobody's business.

There, there everyone no need to stand. Really, please sit your devotion is noted.

Mom, I could really do this circuit alone.. it's so embarrassing that you're helping me on Gold Medal Day.

Funny, in class no one has ever asked me to flip over the bar but it somehow ended up in our "routine" for preview day.

I believe they wanted us to ta-da at this point, but I had never tasted a gold medal so that was first on my to-do list.

Farewell my fans! I love you all!

Many months later when GG came to visit in September. Notice my mom is practicing the one hand shirt hold to ensure I do not run off with the pom-poms on cheerleader theme day.

The tumble track- every toddler's dream- until we learn you have to keep moving and can only go one at a time. Check out my fellow jumper being restrained behind me.

Uh-oh... I just got by passed by a cheerleader.

Too bad I have on a diaper... these foam blocks are so relaxing... they would make the perfect potty.

Learning to Hang. Step one-place your hands on the bar.

Step 2- pick your feet up.

Step 3- concentrate really hard and your dreams can too become a reality.

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It Takes a Village

Depending on who you ask the version of the story slightly varies, but as far as I can piece together it happened something like this...

My mother, who I cannot accurately describe without an entirely separate post, was milling about Babies-R-Us about 3 days after Mia was born. Now, as anyone who has had a new baby knows... this Babies-R-Us milling was far from the first Glenna had done. The woman might of as well slept in one of their super cozy display cribs or pack-n-plays the first week for all the time she spent in that store. 


Buying, returning, re-buying, and well buying some more.


Eventually her trip ends where they all do in Babies-R-Us, at the cash register, and (as I am told by reliable sources) she is something of a mess. 

Items are flung on the counter, receipts are strewn about any available surface, change (I am sure) is overflowing from her 2 ton wallet, and many jokes about not having her glasses and needing to find her coupons are being made, as she begins searching for said lost items in what might as well be considered the floor of the Pacific Ocean... her purse.


The people in line begin wondering if their children will have indeed outgrown their current diaper size while waiting, when Glenna drops the bomb...

She cannot find her Babies-R-Us rewards card. And she will not be checking out without it.




The "I am due in less than a month and cannot stand here all day" girl behind Glenna decides it is her time to shine and becomes a savior to everyone in line when she offers Glenna her rewards card. 


And that is really how a great adventure began.


It turned out that my Mom had not only noticed "I am due in less than a month and cannot stand here all day" girl already, but had at multiple moments contemplated cornering her in the store and demanding her life story. 

Something such as this may seem strange to the average person, but to Glenna it's just another day in her "I talk to everyone I see and 10 times out of 10 find out I am related to them or dated their cousin" life. 


The girl, who later properly introduces herself as Stacy, was visibly pregnant, young, and wearing a Kappa Kappa Gamma t-shirt from LSU. While such a shirt would rarely turn heads in the South, here in N.C. we don't see many of those. And so the conversation begins...


Glenna: "My daughter went to LSU. She graduated in 2003. She was a DG. She just had a baby 4 days ago. When are you due?"


Stacy: "I'm due in about a month. I also went to LSU but graduated the year after. We just moved here 2 months ago."


Glenna: "My daughter just moved here 3 weeks ago and she doesn't have any friends."


Stacy: "That's nice."


Glenna: "Here's her number. You should be her friend."

Unfortunately I wasn't there to witness such a conversation as I was at home trying to figure out how to be a Mom to a baby who was confused about night and day. And, fortunately I wasn't there to stop Glenna from doing what I deemed totally irresponsible and awkward when she gave a stranger my name and phone number.

It's 2010 here Glen... an email address would have been sufficient.

But no, she gave her my number.

Everyone who has ever seen a Lifetime Movie knows that is a terrible idea.

Fast forward 2 days and a strange number calls my phone. I quickly hit ignore and hope the caller won't leave a message. She does. I call back and pray she doesn't answer. She doesn't. 


Somehow, amidst all the phone tag and awkward pauses the "I'm due in a month and cannot stand here all day" girl and her Mom, who happens to be in town visiting, end up at my house with stuffed bell peppers in hand 9 days after Mia was born. 

And to top it off... she was normal. 

Born and raised in Baton Rouge, LSU bred whether she wanted to be or not, and like me not super excited about the idea of living the high life in our new town. 

Our situations were fairly similar and yet very different in one way. Stacy was here for 2 years, and we are here... well... until Mr. Eanes says so. 

I remember it so clearly. Her sitting on my couch looking at my new baby, probably wondering if she was having a boy or girl, saying... "But hey, two years is a really long time. That seems like forever."


Two years later I can safely say... two years does not feel like forever.


When you have a baby there are certain things you just need family for. There are days, especially in the beginning, when you need someone, even just for an hour, to hold your baby while it cries so you can sleep. There are times when you wonder if maybe someone should come and put the baby down and instead hold you, while you cry yourself to sleep. There are times when the days become so long and lonely that being able to call up someone and ask them to keep you company could honestly save your life.

And later on as the baby grows, the list of things you could use family to help out with begins to change with your changing baby. You could use a shower, a nap, an hour to cook dinner, a trip to the dentist would be great, and that haircut you decided to wait to get until after the baby was born... well it's surely not happening now. 


But what happens when you don't have family close by? That is the question that Stacy and I were both faced with. And so just having tipped the brink of the huge ice berg known as motherhood Stacy and I begin to rely on the only people either of us knew... each other.


Honestly, don't know how I could have done it without her. After almost 22 months as a Mom, I can confidently say...motherhood was not meant to be done alone. 

It really does take a village. 


Almost two years and dozens of "Hey I'm at Target do you need anything?", "Do you want to have lunch out today like real people?", "If we don't hang out with someone else soon I may go mad- we're coming over", and "Really just bring her over here and I will watch her for you" laters...

our tee tiny babies grew to toddlers who shared so much life together I often joked Mia spent more time with Stacy and Caden than her Dad. 


It's funny how two years can go by so quickly and yet when you think back on them so much life seems to have occurred. 

Questions about breastfeeding became questions about baby food, which turned into our most recent questions about how to keep those super mischievous rascals from throwing their mac and cheese all over the floor. Concerns over sleeping through the night and nap time transitions foreshadowed the more recent discussions about toddlers sleeping with newborns in the house and in big kid beds.


Those newbie Mom's on the brink of that great big adventure, became slightly more seasoned and decided it was time to try the whole thing again.


When Stacy welcomed her 2nd son in March, I could not have been more excited for their growing family and at the same time slightly heart broken for mine. I knew the time would soon come when they would pack up their things head off on their next great adventure and our kids who know each other so well would eventually fade from each others memories. 


And while our kids might not have the capacity to remember, I have no doubt stories will be told and many eyes will be rolled as we sit and tell our children of their first childhood friends. Friends who if only in our lives for a season, played an integral role in their early days.

We are so glad Stacy took a chance and called the number the crazy lady in Babies-R-Us gave her. Our meeting is proof that God really does care about the littlest details. Thanks for being such a good friend these past two years, we are so excited to have a reason to once again visit the land of football and crawfish!

Mia and Caden's first date: Well Mom, I know you said we would be great friends but I had hoped my friends would at least stay awake on our playdates. Not sure how this is all going to unfold.

He's awake this time, but he certainly looks like he is up to no good.

Really... you really went there... matching jackets?

Perhaps if I pull some of his locks out I can glue them to my head and it will go unnoticed.

Boys... totally impressed by the little things.

I see you think flashing my bloomers about it funny but I'm gonna need those back before I go.

Again with the matching outfits Mom? Gag me please.

 Yep, Mia I am quite certain it's a leaf. I saw one in my book once.

Girls... totally impressed with the little things.

Let us out of this house of unending matching.

 Ok, explain why we are smiling right now when there are cookies to be eaten?

 I feel this is totally inappropriate Mom.

 So this is what feet taste like. Yum.

Um do you mind? Your sorta interrupting the Valentines Day mood I was trying to set here.

 So Caden I know your baby brother was just born a few hours ago, but your on your own for this buddy. I'm outta here. When the parentals roll in I'm not taking the
heat for this mess.

Look, you got this. You are way more prepared than that other kid. Remember... never say die.

Busy Mom, busy...

Mia you have misunderstood... the bread is for the ducks!

When I am gone our lives will be bound together in the sands of time... don't forget me.

A last date kiss. You will always be my first friend Caden. I love you.