R.I.P. JING

I guess today we entered into the throngs of parents who have substituted a "look alike" pet for a recently deceased one. Yep, after only 10 days in our possession, JING is no longer living. Elise wanted to play with her earlier, so I took her out of the cage to put her on the floor and the carcass just kind of FELL out of the shell. I caught it before Elise noticed and shoved it back inside. I put her on the kitchen floor like nothing was wrong. We watched her for a few minutes and I said, "Well, Elise, I think Jing is really tired today." She responded, "Yep, she so tired, Mommy. Put her back in cage to go night-night." Gladly. I called Adam (on his drive home from being in Florida for a few days) and told him to stop at Petsmart on his way in. He did and the "New" Jing was in the cage when elise woke up from her nap. We explained it as "you change clothes everyday, sometimes Hermit Crabs change their shells. That's what Jing did. She just put a new shell on today." That satisfied her and kept us from going into the whole death/heaven/God discussion that really didn't seem necessary when dealing with a hermit crab we'd only known for a week. Also, my dad sent us a link to 'hermitcrabs.com' which said they're social animals, so Adam got Jing a little sister. (one for Elise and a little one for Ainsley!). Elise, totally on her own, named the new one "Doc."(?)

Another Pet in our house....

Some of you may remember Lucy (aka "Woosy") the Hermit Crab we 'pet-sat' a few weeks back. Elise loved that thing and when the friends came back from vacation, they had (Surprise!) a hermit crab for Elise to have of her own. There could be worse things, I know, so we accepted it and now have to deal with another creature in this house. In thinking of a name for this little crustacean, we kept suggesting different options to Elise, "Hermie", "Herbie", "Crabbie", "Crawley", "Pinchy", "Shell", and a few others were asked, but she said "Nope" to all of them. Keep in mind this was 2 weeks ago. We were watching the Olympics- and Elise especially loved the Platform Diving. She was stoked each time it was on and it was so cute, she would watch the dive, say "oooohhhh...Good Bob" ("Good Job"), clap enthusiastically, and then ask for "more?". That was a side note. The night before she kept repeating the name of one of the top Chinese female divers. "Gwo Gwo Jing Jing" as Elise called her. So, I offered one more name option, "Elise, how about 'Guo Jing Jing' for your Hermit Crab?". Her response, "Ok, Mommy and Daddy, we call her Jing". There you go. "Jing" is our new Hermit Crab. She smells a little but it's still cute.
The Diver, not the Crab

"Because I Said So"

Elise was in rare (but HORRIBLE) form earlier this evening. She played games, sang, laughed her way through her nap this afternoon, so she was sooo over-tired by the time dinner and bedtime came around. She was melting-down at every.little.thing. It was funny, sad, and pitiful at the same time. poor thing. But then...POOR US. She was a mess. She was throwing a fit in the playroom b/c I asked her to put some toys away. She started crying over it. I kept my calm for a minute or so, then gave her one last warning. Adam was standing on the other side of the room watching. I finally snapped an obnoxious singing "Old McDonald" toy away from her, put it in the toy box, and forcefully closed the lid, emphasizing "Mommy said No More Playing Now". As the lid closed, it hit the button and "Old McDonald had a farm..." started up. I opened the lid quickly and tried to stop it. I closed the lid again immediately and the song started again...AUGH! Totally foiled in my plan to look tough, Adam was cracking up across the room, and I had to hunch over so Elise couldn't see me laugh. That didn't work, either. With NO HELP from Adam, mind you, I couldn't stop laughing. Elise caught onto our laughter and started giggling. The moment was lost. No discipline from Mommy (or Daddy) on that one. Maybe next time. Did that stuff ever happen to our parents? It must have.

Singin' in the Rain

So, I've blogged about it at least once already, but Elise LOVES running around in the rain. If it's raining outside, she'll usually ask if we can go and dance/play/run in it. It's fun that she enjoys it so much and I love letting her be "free" in that- not to worry about being dirty, sloppy, etc...she'll have time for that the rest of her life! With Tropical Storm Fay's influence, we're getting some nice rain around here...we were playing outside this afternoon and a storm hit QUICK. Elise asked if she could stay in the rain since we were already outside, I said "Sure". She spun and spun and laughed the whole time...she used her favorite Babydoll and was practicing her "Ring Around the Rosy" that neighbor Kristina taught her. She and Babydoll had a blast and I caught a few shots , too...



Ok, is that left leg Broken!?! How is it pointing that way?
simple joy

according to Elise,

So, once again, Elise cracks me up with little things she says. These ar all just within the last 24 hours... Enjoy:

(After a pretty serious Leg workout yesterday...)
Erica: Ugh...Elise I'm sore this morning
Elise: No. You're just a mommy. You not a sore

(at 2am, Adam backing out of Elise's room after a quick cry/soothing session)
Adam:Goodnight, Elise. I love you
Elise:Night night, Daddy. Close door very quietly.

(Elise sitting in the sun yesterday)
Erica: Do you see the sun shining on your legs?
Elise: I have hair all over my legs. Just like Daddy (we're just all thankful she didn't say
" just like Mommy"!!! It probably wouldn't be a huge surprise, though!)

(After a successful potty visit yesterday)
Elise: Oohhh, mommy. THREE poopies. One big, one medium, one wittle. MY Poopies

(Working on the letter "B" together):
Erica: Blanket, Elise, B-B-B BLANKET
Elise: Yep, Mommy. B-B-B GWANKET

(just moments ago...)
Erica:Elise, are you SURE you don't have to go potty. I don't want you to have an accident in your panties
Elise:You not have accident in YOUR panties, Mommy, either.
Erica:yep, that's the goal....

Sorry, dad!

I've been telling my dad for about 2 weeks that I'd put these two pics in as a main blog entry so he can print them...but, like a lot of things these days, I keep forgetting! Here you go. Sorry again!

Nana's visit

Adam's mom ("Nana" to the girls) was here a week or so ago and we (as always) had a great time with her visiting! Nana stayed home and played with Elise so I could take a nice (and SLOW) grocery run, we had our favorite ice cream (Yeah for "Ye Olde Fashioned Ice Cream Shoppe"!!), visited the Middleton Plantation again, hit the local Farmer's Market, etc...a great three days. =) I'll stick a handful of pictures on here from her visit and add some details as captions...
A goat in the petting zoo portion of Middleton Plantation. He was cool
The gardens are breathtaking!
It's easy to see why there are 100's of weddings here every year!
Ainsley was sleeping happily, so the three of us posed together
Elise loved the animals, adjusting her sunglasses in the shade!
Nana also gave elise her first guitar!!! She LOVES it...and it's pretty loud, fyi. look at that concentration
The first daddy/daughter jam session...ok, not really. =) Elise loves listening to us play, so it's fun for her to try to play on her own, too. Thanks, NANA!

Tuesday, 11:30pm

I should be sleeping right now...Ainsley is a little sick, Elise is 2 1/2, I need my energy during the day. But I CAN'T STAY AWAY from the OLYMPICS! Even though us "Right Coasters" have to stay up late, I know there are a lot of us staying up past 'bedtimes' for the next few weeks. So, I made myself comfy, put in my Crest Whitestrips, and finished dusting the downstairs while I'm watching. The US Women gymnasts just finished Round 2 and did very well. Everyone is pleased and it's almost time for Michael Phelps to swim again...I won't sleep until 2am at this point...it's just soo good.
I think little Shawn Johnson is adorable, but I can't help thinking of Fivel (from "An American Tail, circa 1986) when they show her...it's cute, and this isn't the best picture of Fivel for the comparison, but you get the idea...

Favorite new phrase..

Although not grammatically correct, Elise has warmed my heart twice in three days. Being 2 1/2, she loves her independence and she often says, "I ok. I do it ALL BY MYSELF"....(not in a bossy way, just informing us of her abilities.) A couple days ago, she took it to a new level of cuteness by saying, "I do it all by myself and you do it all by Mommyself".
"Mommyself"...how great is that!? Webster may not love the word, but I do.

The Lingo...

I love the Olympics. I really do. I love the competition, the teamwork, the "we all rally together for the spirit of our country", etc... but it makes me laugh to listen to ourselves as we're watching the Games every evening. In keeping up with friends' blogs, several have written about the AMAZING Men's Swimming Relay victory on Sunday night, the disappointing Women's Gymnastics showing in the prelims, the great show in fencing for the US Women, etc...and it cracks me up to read us all throwing stuff out there like, "too bad she over-rotated on that landing. All she had to do was stick the landing and she totally would've made the event finals", "Michael Phelps really uses his lower body strength to push him through the water better than most swimmers", or "The Chinese women really hold their tuck in well during the synchronized diving, but those Germans blew that one." You get the point. Very few of us would know that stuff without listening to the NBC commentators and watching the slow-motion shots, but it's fun to think we really know what we're talking about! Another lawyer in Adam's office (26 years old ish...) played big-time college water polo and was watching that competition today at their office. She has played with and against most of the women on the US team and REALLY knew what she was talking about. But it's fun and humorous all at the same time. It really is great to watch these 'kids' (because, seriously, the vast majority of the athletes are close to 10 years younger than us!) excel and to see a country totally divided by politics, College Football rivalries, and environmental zeal come together and all enjoy the same stuff for a few days. It's encouraging and cool and makes us a little patriotic together. Yay to Armchair Olympians! GO TEAM USA!

Woo-see

Our good friends across the street left yesterday for a week's vacation and we volunteered to 'pet-sit' their hermit crab, Lucy. ("Woo-see" acc. to Elise). She LOVES this little thing and would be happy to watch Lucy crawl around the kitchen floor for hours. I guess it could be worse, it could be a nasty, smelly guinea pig/hamster/ferret or something...we want her to be exposed to nature and animals and to not be afraid of silly little stuff, so I'm fine with having it around. However, it seems like once The Rettigs reclaim Lucy next week, the Moseleys will be heading to PetSmart for our very own crustacean...=)

The Harvest, con't...

On that same note of 'backyard news', we are continuing to eat the spoils of our garden (Adam insists we call it our FARM, but with less than 10 total plants, I think "Garden" really is more appropriate!). Anyway, this weekend we ate chives and two bell peppers straight from the yard- that was fun. Just DAYS after I blogged about our HUGE, yet not productive, Watermelon plant, we saw some small fruit growth hidden within the vines...in just 3 weeks, the watermelon have gone from the size of a green bean to a full-sized watermelon! unreal. We have at least 5 that are this size. Elise runs to the window several times a day and reminds us, "The watermelons are growing, mommy...look! They so big!". I love it and we'll let you know when we actually pick them and eat. The best part is that three of them have grown on the actual deck! We didn't want to damage the melons, so we let them grow right there. it's pretty funny.

A new resident

Although I a definitely consider myself a biologist and was a science teacher with SNAKES in my classroom, I DO NOT LIKE the little slitherers....so when we heard from neighbors that there have been at least two 'incidents' with RATTLESNAKES in our neighborhood, I wasn't happy. Apparently, they're pretty rare around here, but two confirmed sightings- one of them just 2 houses away...I shudder just thinking about it! Gross.
The biggest issue is just that I'm scared of letting Elise and Gus out in the backyard without my being right next to them. We love our backyard garden, great fenced in green area, good shade to play in, etc...I used to let Elise run around and play while I sat on the deck (within 20 feet of her!) feeding Ainsley or whatever. Now I won't do it. If she pays attention to her favorite cartoon characters Dora and Diego, she thinks it's ok to play with snakes, pick them up, put them around your neck, etc...but we've been practicing better snake "handling". I ask her "What do you do if you see a real snake outside?" "Run away and yell 'No snake, no snake'". Nice.
On that same note, Adam's mom has been here all weekend (a Great visit-more on it later!), and she was outside for a few minutes at one point and came running in quickly to tell me there was a SNAKE in the backyard. AUGH. My curiosity overtakes my jitters, so I grab a camera and run outside. It was about 3 feet long and, according to neighbors, it was a non-poisonous Black Snake. I still didn't like it. Here are a couple pictures. We followed him around the yard for about 10 minutes and then he slithered out under the fence. I'm VERY concerned now about another little (or not so little) guy getting in, but we won't give up. We'll continue to play in the backyard, but make a lot of noise when we go out and my eyes scan the fence and sunny spots as soon as I step outside...we'll see.

Us 4 vs. Ainsley 1

If you aren't a fan of the parenting strategy of "let them cry it out", you may not want to keep reading this....
Ainsley is 6 months old as of yesterday and earlier this week we decided that her waking up in the middle of the night to eat still just HAD TO END! I'd had enough of it and knew she had the ability to make it through the night without food. So we just had to wait it out during some middle of the night crying. It's so hard! Over the course of the week, I've sat in bed and listened to her crying for several HOURS, only caving once to go in and feed her (Monday overnight 4am). Other than that, she's gone between 10-12 hours each night without food. My little one has done it! Waking up at 7am this morning and knowing I just got 8 1/2 hours of sleep STRAIGHT is almost unbelievable....so great! I'm so thankful for Adam telling me to 'tough it out' (as he rolled back over the sleep all night long). Although I know I'll miss that one-on-one peaceful time with Ainsley, I can't wait to have more energy during the day to chase around Miss "I never stop running, and talking" Elise. =)

Mmmmmm...goodness

Way back in the day....circa 1993-ish, Erica F and I were on a competition dance team. Several times a year we travelled for competitions and would often room together in hotels in exotic locations around Ohio, Indianapolis, Pigeon Forge, Niagara Falls, etc...our STAPLE meal on these trips included a GIGANTIC Cinnamon Bun from Cinnabon. (those huge, gooey cinnamon buns that you find at malls and airports that pack about 4000 calories per bun!). So, I haven't had one for about 10 years, but when Erica F was here a few weeks ago she introduced me to the greatest ice cream ever- Ben and Jerry's CINNAMON BUNN!!! It is the closest thing to the real cinnamon buns you can imagine and I loved every bite of the pint she brought. So, when my sister-in-law Amanda was here, I passed on the new knowledge to her...but we didn't eat any. Here's a link to her blog that just made mention of the same yummy goodness that Erica F re-introduced into my life. Apparently she liked it, too! (ok, I don't know how to do the active-link thing, so cut and paste from this or just follow the link to Amanda's blog from our main page....
http://amandahmoseley.blogspot.com/2008/08/cinnamon-bunn-ice-cream.html

More potty humor...

I'm sure most of you are sick of hearing about potty-training, but Elise cracked me up (once again!) just moments ago. I was putting her in her highchair for lunch and did a quick potty check:

"Elise, do you need to use the potty before lunch?"
"No, mommy, I good"
"Ok, are you sure? You don't need to go tinkle?"
"No, mommy, my wittle bottom all empty."

7 YEARS...

Wow....7 years ago RIGHT NOW (3:15pm), I was hanging out at St. Barnabas Church in Cincinnati with my best girl friends, getting dressed, giggling a lot, fighting off a little nervousness, and waiting for MY WEDDING to begin! Unreal how that sometimes seems like that was yesterday and sometimes it seems like FIFTEEN YEARS ago...in a good way, of course! right!?! Seriously, I couldn't ask for anyone better to share my life with and I LOVE seeing where God has led us over the past 2,555 days. We NEVER would've planned our first few years of marriage to take us from Ohio to Florida, then ACROSS THE WORLD and back, 2 kids, a dog, 2 houses, 14 months of separation, and now together in another "new house" and celebrating our first anniversary in three years TOGETHER in the SAME COUNTRY! I love it. What an adventure...and, with Amanda here visiting last week, we had our second date in 6 months! She kept the girls on Friday and we hit a dirty little Mexican joint for dinner and then saw the new Batman movie. It was so fun to get out for a few hours totally 'kid free' and see a cool (but super creepy! ) movie. Here's to the next 2,555 days! =)

"Aunt Manda"

lots of books were shared
The newly decorated Fairy Wings!
Ainsley seemed happy to meet Amanda for the first time!
Adam and his sister with Elise- showing off her Big-girl panties!

Last week, Adam's sister Amanda visited us for 5 days and it was soooo fun to have her around! Adam had to travel for work for a couple of those days, so it was perfect to have Amanda here to help with the girls, too. Amanda arrived with a TRUNKLOAD of presents for her nieces, so Elise warmed up to her aunt immediately! The gifts included books, clothes, a Care Bear, a set of decorate-your-own fairy wings, Play-Doh, several pairs of 'big girl panties', etc...it was like Christmas! Elise really loved Amanda, played HOURS of Hide-n-Seek, read tons of books together, took a shopping trip together to Target, and shared many more activities in the five days together. =) It's so fun for me to see Elise enjoy all the visitors we've had lately and to share our little family with other people we love. Ainsley also did well with Aunt Manda around- she took two bottles from her, which was so nice for me, too! Here are a couple pics...