I Love Tia's Laugh

One thing that is amazing is that although young, Tia has a great sense of humor. She has her different laughs and I find it funny when she does the deep belly laugh. I even know when she is faking a laugh, which is funny. OR when she laughs because you are laughing. Regardless, her laugh is just so sweet. I love these pictures of her and her BFF Violet. These two girls were born less than week a part and have been together almost every day for the past two years. So cute!

Our Anniversary Tradition

Chris and I are both super practical people. When it comes to gifts, we try to 'receive' things we can actually use. Mainly, because we don't want others to spend money on things we just stick on a shelf. Now, I'm a girl, so of course, I love receiving those things that I may not buy for myself and of course those super thoughtful gifts too. I'm a super sentimental person and I will always be. But for Chris and I giving gifts for each other...we always do the practical route. What things can we get that we'll use OR what things should we not get that we won't. Before we had our first anniversary, I told Chris that we need to come up with a plan for anniversary gifts from the get go. I am not a huge jewelry person and although it is nice from time to time, it seems like the 'easy' gift guys get for their girls after years together. Don't get me wrong, it is nice, but if anyone knows me well, they know I just wear it a few times and put it in my 'sentimental' keepsake box. So I came up with a plan that we could cherish, but have an annual tradition that is fun. For those who have never heard of Oneshare.com, I used to use this site to buy gifts for friends getting married. I'd get them a share of stock to Tiffany & Co and put an inscription that read 'Congrats on finding your diamond in the rough'. Very cool gift and why not do this for our anniversaries. So we established that each year, we'd take turns picking out the stock, we'd use the same format of the inscription and over time, we'd have a wall full of framed stocks that just remind us of how much our love has grown as a couple. So here is what we have so far:

Caterpillar Stock
04.30.09
Chris & Angie Norris
1 Year Anniversary
"Building a Foundation of Love"

Disney Stock
04.30.10
Chris & Angie Norris
2 Year Anniversary
"Making all of Our Dreams Come True"

Coca-Cola Stock
04.30.11
3 Year Anniversary
"Sharing a Captain n' Coke for Life"

Microsoft Stock
04.30.12
4 Year Anniversary
"Together, we Excel in Love"

We went ahead and got next year's because there was a good deal and we can't wait to get more than fifty more of these stocks over time together. How cool would that be? So this is our tradition for anniversaries. We don't buy gifts for each other, but rather buy one share of stock that we share together. Love it.

Our Little Lexi

So we decided to name our little bun in the oven Lexi. We made our big announcement of her name on our Christmas cards that went out last week. We have known for quite some time we wanted to name our 2nd little girl Lexi, but we were waiting to figure out what her middle name would be before we told anyone. Then, we also wanted to tell people fairly so the family would all find out at the same time, so what better than the Christmas card. It is so hard when our family spans four generations and is as wide as can be. We came up with Lexi more on a fluke than a true suggestion. I have always liked the name Lexi from when I heard an old friend call his sister that as a nickname, although now I think he was calling her Lexa but some how I only remembered Lexi. My coworker named her daughter Alexa and I was thinking Lexi wouldn't be good because she called her daughter Lexa and then we'd have a Lexi - but when I told Chris that, he didn't seem to care about all of my reasons why it shouldn't be a good name - he just loved the ring to it and also how it went really good with Tia. Then I said, we'll lets put that as our favorite for now until we figure something else out. Originally, we were thinking Adriana Mia would be her name. Mia because Chris always liked it and Adriana Mia because it was my first cabbage patch doll and for some reason the Italian ring to it just seemed to work. But once we said the name Lexi, it really overpowered Adriana Mia...and for a few months, we'd call my belly Lexi and it just stuck. You know how you buy a new car and then you notice that that same car is everywhere and you always wonder why you never noticed? Well, that is the way it is with Lexi. I don't know a single Lexi and either does Chris. We were at church and the girl who checked her daughter in before us left the name on the screen and low and behold, her daughter's name was Lexi. Then in the Thirty-One catalog, on one of the bags appeared the name Lexi. Then someone told me that there is a TV show character on Grey's Anatomy and another Soap show. But, really we are just so excited and we love the ring to it. So our soon-to-be baby is Lexi!

Peanut

I remember when Chris used to call Tia peanut for the first few months of her life. She was so tiny and I remember he just nicknamed her peanut. When she got a little bigger everyone would ask him if he'd call her walnut or something else because that was his thing 'she's my little peanut', so when my Assistant Allie sent this to me, I had to crack up laughing and of course send it to Chris, which he loved...

Tia's 2nd Christmas

Tia made out like a winner this Christmas. She got so many gifts from all of her family, especially her Grandparents. For being two, she is pretty lucky to have such a great family who loves and cares for her. She had a blast with her cousins, new toys, and the dogs over at Aunt Jenny's house. It is amazing how big she is getting. I'm glad she had a fun Christmas.

Oh My Belly

So on Thursday, I took off from work early and headed to the mall with Lisa to do some holiday shopping. I did good at first, but it wasn't long before I started feeling funny. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I just knew I didn't feel right. I thought I'd just toughen it out since I needed to do some shopping and I wanted to hang out with Lisa. After the mall, we headed over to Target where I just seemed to get worse. Standing up and walking just seemed like the hardest things. My stomach hurt as if I were sick and my back was aching too. I felt a tightness in my belly that just consumed me. I was leaning over the cart as much as I could and crouching down to pretend to look at things when really I was just catching a break from standing and walking. I ended up sitting on the end of an aisle where every seemed to think the pregnant girl was going to go into labor. We made our purchases and I bee-lined it to the bathroom. But when I got in there, nothing happened. No sickness from either end. I wasn't sure what was going on. We went to grab a bite to eat because I thought maybe if I sit down for a while, I'll feel better, but I barely made it past waiting for a few minutes and we just left. I hated to leave, but I headed home, crawled right into bed and literally stayed there for 48 hours straight. I missed work on Friday, I didn't eat much, I didn't do anything, but literally was on bed rest for 2 days. I thought I had the stomach flu, but after Chris and I talked about my symptoms, we think that I am just having signs of early contractions and my body letting me know there is a baby coming. Plus, I'm sure my body was also saying 'slow down' since I seem to be going a mile a minute the past few weeks. So call it Braxton Hicks, call it early-early labor, or just the tightening of my muscles, I had something going on. I hated to miss the Norris family Christmas reunion in Godfrey, but was so happy Chris and Tia went without me.

Tia has another Ear Infection

The poor girl is back to square one when she was a few months old. One tube has fallen out and the other is on the verge. She has already had an ear infection around Thanksgiving, and now again another one. She is back on antibiotics and the diarrhea has started up again. The poor child can't catch a break. She went to the doctor yesterday for her 2 year check up and of course she got shots too. Doctor said she is more emotional than most kids her age in reaction to the doctor's office and getting shots. And YES, she is our little emotional, wear her heart on her sleeve, sensitive, little girl...can't blame her since her mommy and daddy are both the sensitive types. She is 32 3/4 long and 24 lbs 15 oz heavy, which are both in the 30%. Her head is still in the 75%. She tested at a 2 years and 4 month old which is great. Overall she is doing great and we'll most likely have her get an allergy test so we know what she is allergic too. She seems to have picked up the allergy gene from her daddy. But as we all know this St. Louis weather does not help!

Fw: Use the good napkins

This is too good not to share. I think

we are the last generation to know what 'napkins' are.

THE GOOD NAPKINS ... Ahhhhh.

The joys of having Girls...

My mother taught me to read when I was four years

old (her first mistake). One day, I was in the

bathroom and noticed one of the cabinet doors

was ajar. I read the box in the cabinet. I then

asked my mother why she was keeping ''napkins' in

the bathroom. Didn't they belong in the kitchen?

 

Not wanting to burden me with unnecessary facts,

she told me that those were for 'special occasions'

(her second mistake). Now fast forward a few months

It's Thanksgiving Day, and my folks

are leaving to pick up my uncle and his wife for

dinner. Mom had assignments for all of us while

they were gone. Mine was to set the table.

 

When they returned, my uncle came in first and

immediately burst into laughter. Next came his wife

who gasped, Then began giggling.

 

Next came my father, who roared with laughter. Then

came Mom, who almost died of embarrassment when she

saw each place setting on the table with a 'special

occasion' Kotex napkin at each plate, with the fork

carefully arranged on top. I had even tucked the

little tail in so they didn't hang off the edge!!

 

My mother asked me why I used these and, of course,

my response sent the other adults into further fits

of laughter. 'But, Mom, you said they were for

special occasions!!!'

 

Pass this on to your girlfriends who need a good

laugh

 

Life is too short for drama & petty things, so kiss

slowly,laugh insanely, love truly and forgive

quickly...and for heavens sake, use the good napkins when ever you can!

Tia's New Bunk Beds

This past weekend, Tia inherited a nice set of Potter Barn bunk beds. My bosses from work were redoing their daughter's rooms and decided to find a good home for the bed. Luckily for us, they asked us and of course we were honored to receive it. With another girl on the way, having a set of bunk beds will come in handy. At first, we thought we'd just put them downstairs until we needed them since we had already transitioned Tia to a big girl bed which was really a full. But after discussing it a bit more, we decided why not now. So we put it instantly into her room. Boy were we pleasantly surprised of how wonderful her room looks. It is not only more spacious, but it just goes with it being a kids' room. We love it and are so excited about it. Thank you Greg and Lisa for thinking of us. Tia loves it too. She had no problem sleeping in it from the first night. She just look great in it and the bed is so comfortable. Tia did hit her head trying to jump up and down, but I think she learned quickly that you can't do that. So we are excited to have this for our girls. They look great as bunk beds or we can separate and they can be two separate twin beds. Either way - what a great hand me down!

Does Tia Hate Santa?

Baby #2

I have about 6 weeks left before this baby arrives. Crazy! I'm feeling large, but I know I still have more to go. She is so low that I feel the pressure, but her activity level is so high that I feel her every move. I do love feeling her move about.

Does Tia have OCD Like Mommy

At Tia's birthday party a few things happened that were hysterical. The hysterical part is that they reminded me of things I do. One is when we gave her the veggie tray to see if she'd eat any and the veggies got all messed up. There was broccoli where the celery was supposed to be and tomatoes where the carrots should be. When we pulled it away because she obviously wasn't going to eat any of it, she pulls the tray down and organizes them accordingly. She put the celery stick back in the celery section and the broccoli back in the broccoli section and the tomato back in the tomato section. Everyone was watching in amazement and Leslie/Lisa said 'Wow, that is so Angie's daughter'. The other funny thing she did was telling Leslie that her camera was Mommy's. Leslie and I have the same Canon camera, but her lens is a bit longer. Tia was adamant with Leslie that she had Mommy's camera and she wouldn't let go of the strap and made Leslie bring it to me. It was hysterical. Tia has a great sense of things going in their spot. She knows where the trash goes, where the swifter goes when she is done with it, where her dirty close go, and when things aren't right, she fixes it. Um, can you say clone. Both Chris and I do these things and I can see she has picked this up. It is cute but I hope she doesn't get as OCD as I can sometimes or like Chris can on his things. Guess we'll see. Regardless, she has her little personality that is just so darn sweet. I love seeing her grow up and see more and more of her personality. Only 3 more days until she is 2. Wow!

No More Superbowl Baby

Baby #2 is due on Superbowl Sunday, which is February 5th, 2012. However, after my doctor's appointment, it looks like I'll have her on February 1st or earlier. My doc is headed out of town on February 2nd and he gave me the option to just wait and see what happens which means if I went around my due date, he won't be around to make the catch during delivery OR let him induce me a few days to a week early. I'm going for the week early route. I am sure I'll be more than ready then. So she may not be a February baby after all, we'll just have to wait and see. Plus, you never know - I could go extra early which many people are predicting because of how low this baby sits. My doctor said the reason is my body shape. I have a very short torso and she is head down, so there is more pressure further down. With Tia she was so high, but was breach up until the very end. Everything looks good though and after a couple weeks, I'll be going every single week to the doctor including one week to get my last ultrasound. I can't believe I'm in the home stretch and now even closer with possibly being induced. I'm so excited to meet her. I know she'll be so beautiful and we'll be so blessed with another little miracle!

Tia Pooped on the Potty

I know Tia would not want this to be live on the web, but I can't help myself. I am so proud of my little girl. She will be 2 years old in a week and is going on the potty all by herself. So big!

She has been going at school here and there, but at home it seems like her potty is more of a play thing than the real deal. But of course, when she says she has to go, we give it a try. I was out doing some holiday shopping and while I was gone, Daddy got a real surprise.

She said she had to go poopy, so he took her in there. She took off her pants and daddy helped her with her diaper. She wanted to keep her shoes on because as most girls are, she has a shoe fetish. So she sits on the potty and daddy said 'you done' and she said 'no' so he gave her some time. Then he asks again and nope, she wasn't done and nothing was happening. So he left the room and then about 10 minutes later she comes strolling out. Chris said 'are you done' and she said 'yep'. Of course he thinks he is just going to put her diaper back on and get her dressed when he saw that she had really done it...gone both poopy and potty all by herself. Wow, what a big girl.

She was all smiles before the video camera came out and then she thought she was in trouble, but of course we are just proud parents. So hopefully she'll get the hang of it. She is such a big girl.

The best is after the video was shot she said 'pee you' - hahaha

Tia's 2nd Birthday Party

Tia had a great 2nd birthday party this past Sunday.  It was mostly family and a couple friends.  She had all 7 of her grandparents there and three great grandparents there.  She made out like a bandit with all of her gifts - she was so excited to play with all of her new toys.  I think she definitely enjoyed her 2nd birthday party and I can't wait to help her celebrate many more in all of her years to come!  I can't believe she is 2 - wow!

Tia's First Haircut

Tia didn't have much hair until she turned 1 and a half, but then she started to get more all the way around. She had the mullet thing going on for a bit, but then her bangs started to come in too. Recently though, her bangs have grown and been in her eyes. She has been shaking her head to get them out from time to time. I wondered how I would cut her hair and at first I thought I'd do it when she was sleeping, but who was I kidding. I am 8 months pregnant and I seem to go to bed at the same time as Tia does. So I just decided tonight that I'd just do it while she was sitting in her high chair distracted by food and Barney. So I did it. I just took her bangs. Pulled her bangs up in my hands and cut away. I didn't take off that much, but enough for her to be able to see. This past weekend, I was at hobby lobby and saw the cutest little pink boxes that said 'First Tooth' and 'First Haircut'. I bought one for each of my girls. So I used Tia's First Haircut box and wrote on the bottom to put the date. Perfect!

So Sweet - Here Owie

Tia hit her boo boo last night. She leaned back and hit her staple right on the corner of the crib that we have set up in our room now. Instantly, we knew what happened. We know her staple wasn't exactly in right. One side of the staple wasn't tucked under and we were afraid she'd hit it throughout the week and it would bleed. In fact, I had given her a bath earlier and noticed a long blood streak dried in her hair. I felt so bad for her. It must have happened recently while she was awake because of how it dried. So we felt even worse when she hit her head on the crib. We scooped her up and gave her lots of hugs. I wiped it off and throughout the night she was saying 'owie' while touching the back other head. It broke our hearts. The thing that really made me almost cry was when she was holding her teddy bear that she calls Bebe and she said Bebe owie and Chris said 'where is bebe's owie' and Tia turned Bebe over and pointed to the back of her head and said 'owie'. Chris and I both 'awed' at the same time. It was so precious.

Today, she got her staple out at the doctor. It came out with no problem and Tia seems to be doing pretty good except she had to skip her nap (poor planning by mommy), so she was a little tired during the day.

So let's hope that her head heals nicely and she doesn't have any big scars. Also hope that she doesn't even remember this incident and she doesn't have any more big owies like this one!

Rearranging the House

Today, we put the Christmas Tree up and Christmas decorations. It is funny because when we bought all of our decorations, we weren't quite sure how many kids we'd have so we didn't know how many stockings we should get. We wanted them all to match the tree skirt and stockings we had picked out. I remember us sitting there saying, should we get one for you, me, and Tia. OR should we get 4 in case we have 2 kids. What if we had 3 kids? When we got the stockings out today, we weren't sure how many we bought. I looked and the stocking holders were NOEL, so I knew we had at least 4 of them which is perfect for this year, since we have 4 of us now. Then I looked deeper into the tote and saw the fifth stocking and laughed. Chris said, oh yeah, I remember - we can always get new stocking holders, but it will be hard to get the same stocking later. So we were definitely thinking about 3 kids...guess we'll see if that happens. We also moved the crib into our room. It is a tight squeeze, but we are trying to think of the best scenario for our 3 bedroom house. Tia has her own big girl bed now and so her room is her own with a play area. The office is still needed to be our all purpose room with all of our bookshelves, Tia's bedroom furniture, our office computer/printer, the rocking chair, and somehow the extra full bed for our guests. My mom is moving to Thailand permanently, but before she does, she'll help me get through the end of the pregnancy so she'll stay with us for a few weeks during that time. Then my little sister will need a place to crash when she is home from school so that room will need to be available for that purpose too. We would love to have it as Baby Norris #2's bedroom and will, but we'll wait until after the summer. Baby will be still young that we want to keep a close eye on her since we have curious Tia roaming the house. So this will be our solution for the time being until our new baby gets past those first months. Tia was in her own room from day 1, so we hope we don't spoil baby #2 by having her in our room when she starts out. Guess we'll see.

Tia's Ears

So Tia has had an ear infection all last week and this week she has done great. We still have a couple more doses of her medicine to see it through, but I think she is over this infection for sure. So she went to the Ear doctor and had a hearing test. The doc said the reason why she had an ear infection the week before was because her ear has filled with fluid and wasn't draining is because her tube is no longer there. I haven't seen it and I couldn't tell you when it fell out. Her other ear's tube was about to fall out. So now we have to watch out for ear infections. If she gets a couple more in the next few months, that means more tubes need to be put in. We hope she makes it without it! We also need to watch out for Tia's hearing and if she is able to hear well. The girl can hear the lightest sounds and it seems like she is speaking the correct words when she tries, but it is always hard to know for sure. Let's hope she doesn't have any hearing impairment or loss and hopefully no more ear infections!!!!

Allergies

Doc is finally saying that Tia most likely has allergies. This is really no surprise to us, but I guess hearing from a doctor is more concrete. There is no 'for sure' about it, but all signs point to allergies. We have to watch her skin allergies because she gets diaper rash that turns into blisters that we have to use Lotramin for days. We have to put doctor prescribed creme on her belly, behind her knees and on her elbows frequently or else she gets the worst dry skin that she scratches til she bleeds. I don't really have allergies, but some mornings the past years, I've woken up with some sinus issues and clogged passages and on those days Chris and Tia sound like old men. It seems like when allergies are high among everyone, Tia is right there with them. So I have had a feeling she has allergies. I hate that she has them, but at least we know and can help her through whatever ones she has.

Am I Nesting

So I was off for most of the day on Monday to take care of Tia and myself. I wanted Tia to sleep in and wake up on her own. I knew she had had a rough week and I wanted her to start it off in a great mood. She was really happy when she woke up and so I didn't take her into daycare until after 8am. After taking care of some work stuff, I ran a bunch of overdue errands and got back to the house I took care of my own ailment (bad case of pregnancy hemorrhoids) and I had an urge to organize. I ended up switching out the shelves in our walk in closet with a cuter, more feasible shelf from our bedroom and a matching one from our office. I took the two shelves from the closet and dragged them to our office and put them in the closet. I re-shelfed everything in the office and then I went through and organized all of my clothes into the new shelves. I have to say it looked fantastic. Chris got home and I knew he'd be upset with me, but regardless he did say it looked pretty darn good along with the clean house he came home to. I was really happy to get that off my list. I've been thinking about it for so long and it finally got accomplished! yay! So I do think I'm in my nesting stage because now I want to get the Christmas tree up. I told Chris all of my ideas for rearranging and he just laughed, but was hopeful we'd get to it next weekend. I'm feeling good otherwise. My baby bump is getting bigger and she has hiccups all of the time so I know she is doing well. I'm tired but not exhausted which I'm happy about. I hope I don't get that overwhelming tiredness like the first trimester, but I guess we'll see. So excited to meet our new baby girl angel.

Tia is Doing Great

We were hoping Tia would have a normal day after a long week and she did. She woke up in her big girl bed, came into our room to wake us up, and had a big smile on her face. Her poopy diaper wasn't diarrhea like as it was before which is an improvement. Her ears looked great and she wasn't batting at them. She has not even said the word 'ouwie' or reached to touch the back of her head all day. She just seems back to her normal diva self. So we are happy she is having a good day after a long week of being sick and visiting the ER. Chris and I wish I had some more days before going back to work, but we know duty calls. We gave Tia some extra TLC today. My little sister Sam was staying with us this week too so Tia has enjoyed having her around. Sam is heading back to school to MSU in the morning but Tia is having fun trying to copy whatever she does.

I've felt great all week. My little bun in the oven has had hiccups constantly and moves around like crazy. Chris downloaded a level app on his phone and set it on top of my belly. Little baby girl was rocking it so hard that Chris's eyes were bulging out in amazement. I'm telling you that I am super excited to get Tia into soccer and seeing how this little girl is even more active, I'm thinking we have two little soccer players on our hands.

Ever since my sickness those first three and a half months of pregnancy have gone away, I really have not had anything to complain about until this week. I have never had hemorrhoids in my life until now. With Tia, I don't remember having them but this week, I have had a bad case of what I think is hemorrhoids. Ugh! I am hoping my hand pain doesn't come back this time and I noticed for the first time yesterday that my ring felt tight on my finger. I guess being 30 weeks and rounding that final stretch will come more things to complain about, but all for something so worth it!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Please pray for Tia's head to heal nicely and the staple to come out with no avail.

Emergency Room for Tia

So it started out as another day for Thanksgiving family gatherings and we were having a great time. We were at my Uncle Chuck's house and there were about 30 people there all enjoying each other's company. Tia was having a ball trying to play with all the big kids. We were all taking turns watching Tia and for the first few hours, it seemed just like any other day. I was sitting at the table when I saw a flash of pink tumbling down the stairs. Yes, it was Tia doing some cartwheels down the carpeted staircase. I jumped up and ran over. Luckily, she landed perfectly on her bottom on the very bottom step. You could tell she didn't hurt a thing and didn't even cry. Me, however was traumatized by seeing my little girl tumbling down the stairs. I have had a lot of faith in letting her climb on stairs for months now and she had done so well. Even last night, she was going up and down the stairs with no hands and just did a great job. These stairs didn't have a hand rail and she was trying to take on more than she bargained for. So from that point on, we were all watching Tia like a hawk. Down stairs, all the kids were playing. They had a playroom full of fun stuff from a ping pong table, pin ball machine, a mini basketball court, foosball table, bar for the really big kids ;), and of course the gaming center for all the video games. There was also a work out station with weights and a weight bench that we had all been watching so none of the girls or little ones would go near. What was hard was Tia's cousins Juliean and Janelle were crawling all over it and she wanted to do the same since she is in her copy cat mode. It really only takes a few seconds for all to go wrong when Tia crawled up on the weight bench and fell backwards hitting the edge of the weight pole with her head. My brother and dad both saw it, almost in slow motion, but couldn't get there in time. My sister-n-law Dolor picked Tia up and told Chris she was bleeding. Chris just thought it would be a small wound but to his surprise, he put a towel on a part of the back of her head that was flooding with blood. I was coming down stairs to see if Chris wanted me to take over watching Tia for a while when they were running up the stairs as Tia is crying, everyone is yelling out what happened, and I am in shock over what was going on. My uncle got in the car with us as I held Tia in the back seat and we sped off to the ER at the local hospital. By the time we got half way there, Tia stopped crying and the bleeding seemed to have stopped mostly. I was happy because I didn't know how bad or okay the wound was and the whole experience was just so hard on us to see her in pain. We got to the hospital and checked her in. We had to wait a bit and finally got in to the doctor's room. The nurse talked to us and cleaned off her wound. At first, she made the comment that it would probably just be glued shut. That is what we were hoping for, but we weren't sure. Then the doctor came in a bit later and said Tia would have to have it stapled shut with two metal staples. We had to hold a numbing cream on her head for 20 minutes which was not fun because Tia just wanted to leave and get out of there, but we managed to do it and finally the doctor came in and gave her the staple. That was very hard for Chris and I to watch, but we know it is what she needed. She only needed one staple and we got instructions on how to take it out after a week and we were on our way. Tia was happy to get out of there. We got her some McDonald's fries and some tylenol and we were off to my uncle's house again. Tia seemed in good spirits saying 'ouwie' from time to time but overall she was doing well. Chris and I on the other hand were still a bit traumatized by the situation and both just felt so bad for her. When we got back to my uncle's, Tia was back to her smiling fun self running all over and flirting with her boy cousins. She was petting the dog and making everyone smile. She fell asleep on the way home and she seemed to be doing pretty good for the most part. Chris and I had a heart to heart talk on the way home about the worry that comes with being a parent and how we just wish and pray every day that they grow up with little to no permanent wounds. With another one on the way and maybe even a third, we just know that we have to prepare ourselves for years of worrying for our kids safety. And of course, we are just happy that the wound that Tia received wasn't worse and we pray that this will be the worst of any wounds she'll ever receive. She did not pass out or vomit, so we don't think she got any sort of concussion, thankfully. I was hoping she'd be like me and never have to go to the ER.

More Thanksgiving Feasts

Of course what is great about Thanksgiving is the food. We get to eat lots of great food all week and most of the time, we don't have to prepare anything. I made chocolate covered strawberries for all of the gatherings which seemed to be a hit. We went down to Ste Genevieve for the day and Tia had a blast down there too. She had some toys to play with and she loved running around. She got to pet a kitty and watch some TV. She didn't want to leave here either.

Thanksgiving

I have so many things to be thankful for and I pray every day to God thanking him for all of my blessings. My wonderful husband and soul mate, my beautiful daughter Tia, and my little girl in the oven are on the top of my list. Of course, my family, friends, and other loved ones are more things. Our jobs, house, good financial standing, and so many more things that I know many others can't speak of. I am so thankful for what our little family has and I pray that God continues to watch over us and bless us for all of our days to come.

Tonight, we went over to Uncle Danny's and shared Thanksgiving with Chris's Mom, and his Aunt Jenny along with all the kids. Holidays are quite hard for us because we literally could go to 9 different places. So we focus on our parents first, then if we can make others, then we try. It is getting harder as our family grows. Tia loved Uncle Danny's house. It is like a Christmas wonderland where he has the entire house decked out in Christmas decor, villages, trees, etc. She just had a ball. Not to mention she got a lot of attention from her cousins.

She loved Evan and Brandon along with the dog Calaber. She just had a ball and did not want to leave.

Ear Infection

It has been a while, but Tia has an ear infection. It looks like it started on Monday and was building until today. Her ear has started leaking and started to be really red. She started scratching behind her ear really badly too, even drew blood. On Wednesday, we got her into the doctor because daycare said she was hitting her ears constantly and being extra fussy. Doctor prescribed her two medications and we are obviously giving her a lot of TLC. She has started to get diarrhea and so I am praying it is over by the time Sunday rolls around. Luckily, none of our family Thanksgiving gatherings will have many young babies/kids so we won't have to miss any. Poor Tia, she has just had a rough go with her ears and ear infections.

Oh Sh!t

We've been noticing Tia saying something along the lines of 'Oh Sh!t' but at first we weren't so sure. She dropped something the other night and said 'Oh Sh!t' but when I talked to Chris about it, he said I was probably hearing it wrong and she couldn't have been saying that. Neither Chris nor I say that so we knew she probably was saying something different. But, then while I was at work and Chris was with Tia, he heard her say it a few times too. Her language is so cute and a lot of words sounds like that word like 'church' and some others, so we couldn't believe it. Then I threw her tiny golf ball sized puppy at her and it hit her right in the cheek, she laughed, but said 'Oh Sh!t' and this time, Chris and I looked at each other and said 'yep, that is definitely what she is saying' and she has the right context too..when something doesn't go quite right. So we have our suspicions on where she has picked that up from, but we won't say any names. After the incident not too long ago at daycare, we are certain that is not the place she got it from. But in all honesty, we'll just see how it plays out. I can't believe she says that and deep down, it is so funny, but on the surface, we don't want our 1 year old starting out life as a cusser!

Bowling

I bowled for five years on a league and 'retired' when I became pregnant with this baby. Ironically, Chris started bowling with work for the summer and this fall, they bowled on Tuesday nights. Since Tuesdays are when my league bowls, my intention of subbing sort of washed away. The reason was mainly because of Tia and bowling start times. In order for Chris to get Tia, take her to a babysitter and get himself to bowling, he'd have to leave work by 4. For me, it would be even earlier. Fortunately, Chris is off this week and when the girls asked if I could sub, it worked out. Chris was able to get her to AJs and to bowling in time. I didn't do too bad with a 155 average but I wasn't very consistent. I also got super tired half way through the second game. But it was so nice to see everyone on this ladies league. Chris bowled on his league about ten lanes down. It was fun!

Hiccups

The past few nights I have been feeling baby girl #2 just rocking out in my belly. It feels like she is having a dance party and I have had no idea what she was really doing. It didn't dawn on me until I woke up not able to sleep last night and woke Chris up so he could feel this constant kicking and he said 'does she have hiccups' and it just hit me 'yes, that is what it is'. I remember Tia having hiccups all the time and I guess I forgot about it with this baby. She has them all of the time and during the middle of the night is the hardest for me because it makes me have sleepless nights. Knowing that she is just not jamming out down there gives me comfort in knowing that she can't help having the hiccups and honestly, it was probably something I ate or did to cause it. The poor baby! At least now I know what it is. Tia was breach for most of her time in the womb and this baby is head down, so the feeling of hiccups is totally different. Either way, at least I know she is doing good down there. Can't wait to meet her.

Tia is 23 Months

It is crazy how fast 23 months went by. Tia seems so big now. She communicates and has such a personality. Chris and I were just saying how neat it is to see ourselves in her looks and actions. She has slept in her big girl bed most of the week and this morning she woke up, crawled out of bed, and walked into our room. I was so excited to see her do that. She is pickier than anyone and she knows what she wants. She is getting tall enough that she can reach things we put out of reach. She can turn on the iPad, switch from game to game, and watch her videos. She can get up on the step stool in her room, open the DVD player, take out the DVD, put in a new one, and hit play. She can get her own cup from the fridge and put it in the sink when she is done. Plus so much more. Wow on her growth! She is very sensitive and gets her feelings hurt easily but she has a small temper too that shines when she doesn't get her way. She is the faster runner I've seen that young and she has a little athletes body. I can't wait till she can play soccer when she is 3. So excited for her to get bigger. Not to mention she is going to be a big sister soon! Whoot Whoot!

Yay Tia

Tia has gone two nights sleeping in her big girl bed. I am so proud of her. She actually asks to go to bed in it! Whoot Whoot!

7 Month Appt

All looks good for Baby Girl Norris #2. Heartbeat is strong. I passed my glucose test. I'm not anemic. I am Type A+ so no RH shot. All looks good. I asked about her movement and how excessive it seems. Does she have A.D.D. Or will she be hyper active? He said never worry about too much movement. He says that is her personality coming out and that she is getting all the proper nutrients. He also said I'm more aware of movements and that to enjoy it. I love it and was happy to hear it is normal. Tia was very active but this baby is more active. So now I go to twice a month appts. Is it really the home stretch? Wow!

Big Girl Bed

In Tia's room, there is her crib and a full size bed in hopes to transition Tia to a big girl bed soon. We bought a rail for the long side of the bed that isn't up against the wall. A couple weeks ago Tia took a nap in the big bed and the past few nights, Tia has been trying out the big girl bed at night. She rolls a lot and so Chris will move her to her crib in the middle of night. As with all transitions, it just takes some time but we are seeing progress. I just wonder what happens when she gets out of bed in the middle of the night. I guess we will have to just see how it goes. She's done so great with the other transitions do far do hopefully this will also be a breeze. Guess we'll see!

Cervical Dilation

Not a Morning Person

Tia is proving to NOT be a morning person. This does not surprise me because neither Chris nor I are morning people.  I always seem like I am because my life has changed radically since having Tia, but the 30 years prior, I would sleep in until the last possible minute and snooze as many times as I could.  Because I had Tia and the responsibility of having her depend on me to get her up, fed, changed, and to school each morning, I have become the morning person I never thought I would.  Trust me though, given the chance, I will sleep in as long as I can. However, since having Tia, I have not had many days where I was able to sleep in. Chris, on the other hand, has still had the luxury of sleeping until the last possible minute and on the weekends much, much longer. I gave him this privilege w hen Tia was born with warning that when Baby #2 was born, he may have to start getting up with us a lot earlier than he's used to. Tia, the past week, has been the crankiest baby ever. So we'll see how it goes.

Letters from Santa

Believe it or not, Christmas is just around the corner! 

You are receiving this email as a past supporter of the Mercy NICUPS (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Parent Support) fundraising campaign, Letters from Santa.  I am writing to ask your help in passing along information to anyone and everyone you can think of so that we may continue to provide the families currently in our unit the support that can make all the difference in their struggles. The NICUPS are a volunteer organization which is funded entirely by donations and helps families by:

- Providing one-on-one emotional and educational support. 
- Provide, free-of-charge, books and other educational materials. 
- Having family classes and meetings. 
- Financial assistance during crisis situations. 
- Making available breast pumps, car seats, gas cards and other necessities as needed to those in need free of charge.

For those unfamiliar with this project, we generate a letter from Santa to a child(ren) of your choice (or adults and pets, too!), for a donation of $6 per letter. Last year, our small group of 35 graduate parents raised over $60,000 from the letters.

I'm emailing to let you know about the capability of our web site, www.miraclebaby.org to accept letter orders and contributions through the safe and secure Mercy processing center. And, since anyone, anywhere in the world can access the site and easily request a letter, we are asking for your help by passing along information about our site. We can also be found on Facebook as Mercy NICUPS!  On our web site you will find information making it very easy to pass along this wonderful opportunity to help the families of the NICU while sending a special letter.

If you feel comfortable emailing family and friends who might be interested, if you are part of any online discussion groups, if you have neighborhood newsletters or workplace newsletters, either online or printed - these are just some ideas of ways to let others know. 

Please visit the web site www.miraclebaby.org to contact the NICUPS and order your Letters from Santa.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, and thank you in advance for any help you can offer!

Have a wonderful holiday season! 

Scout Gibson
Fundraising Coordinator, NICUPS

On The Potty

So at daycare, they try to put the kids on the potty to get them used to it. Tia is one of those that actually likes it. At home she is constantly sitting on her potty and lately, she even pulls down her pants and sits on there. Yesterday at school, Tia went pee on the potty. She got a gold star and everything! So one step closer to potty training Tia. So proud of my baby girl!

Teaching for Junior Acheivement

Today, on my birthday, Chris and I are going to be teaching for Junior Achievement. We will be teaching 2nd graders all day at Jefferson Elementary School, an inner city school here in St. Louis. This is something the staff at my organization does every year. This is my fourth year doing this. I invited Chris to help out this year and teach so he will also be helping. My co-worker Karry and I have done it every year together so Chris will be a great addition to our team. We are teaching on Our Community which talks about living and working in a community. What is neat about Junior Achievement is that it gets kids excited about business. So seeing business people, such and us, volunteering to teach gives them more hope that no matter what your background, they too can achieve big things. I love teaching for J.A. It is a long day and it really makes me appreciate teachers! Karry is going to teach the first two lessons, I'll be teaching the 2nd two, and Chris will teach the third. It will be neat. I'm excited to teach with Chris. Now that we have Tia and another baby on the way, we may have a deeper connection with these kids than if we were non-parents.

Tia's School Pics

Tia’s school pictures are in. She is 1 year and 10 months old in these.
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Night Night Time

Tia is a night owl. She does not want to go to bed. She does everything she can to get out of it. Then when all else fails she puts on the charm. She'll start singing 'I love you...you love me...' and when that is done, she'll sing 'twinkle twinkle.' Then she'll say 'I love you' loudly then after you say it, she'll say it even louder...almost like her way of saying I love you more. Sometimes she'll ask for a drink and we'll take her to get one. Other times she'll request all of her stuffed items like Be-be a teddy bear, Lamby a lamb head blankie, and puppy which is a big puppy dog. Then sometimes she'll just squeeze you so tightly that it makes it so hard to put her down. She is just so sweet and on a whim, she'll cry out in anger because she hates going to bed. When we finally get her down, we can hear her talking for a very long time until finally she'll go to bed. Chris puts her to bed most nights so he gets the sweetness and the resilience. Nap time is the same way! The girl is definitely our daughter and I know Chris and I are night owls, so it doesn't surprise me.

The Candy Witch

I often hear some great ideas that make me want to do them with my kids. A friend who told me about the Elf on a Shelf told me about the Candy Witch. As you know I am a creative, which means I am attracted to creative ideas and am always coming up with creative ideas. So the Candy Witch is like the tooth fairy and is used the night of Halloween. Basically, you tell your kids they can pick out a few pieces of candy for each day of the next week and then they put the rest of their candy outside their door when they go to bed. Then tell them that the Candy Witch is coming and will take the candy but leave you a present. Then after they go to bed you take the candy and leave them a small present. My friend left her daughters a DVD. What a great idea since you know how much candy they get each year. I am definitely going to use this in the future.

Big Belly

All of a sudden this past week, my belly has grown immensely. Everyone has noticed and I feel further along than I am. Little Baby #2 really kicks me all of the time and let's just say that I feel pretty pregnant. I am just happy to be past that 'I don't have a beer belly stage' and am now noticeably pregnant. So excited about this baby and to see how Tia does. I really hope they are close growing up. Although with girls - you just never know!

Halloween was pretty good. It seemed like a light crowd compared to last year, but last year was on a weekend. I made some bags up with candy and some halloween toys. Tia enjoyed handing out the candy to the trick or treaters. Chris will laugh because I was calling them customers. Every time another kid would show up, I'd say 'here comes another customer' and Chris would crack up. Tia had some candy and she wore her Ladybug costume from last year. I can't believe she fit into it. Didn't she look adorable. Tia had a good Halloween!

Toilet Infatuation

So I know most kids go through a toilet infatuation but for some reason I thought Tia would miss it. Nope! She loves sitting on her potty but not too long ago we found her cup of milk inside it. Then this past weekend Chris found Tia coming out of our bathroom all soaking wet and he realized she had been playing in our toilet. Ew! Later I went to go to the bathroom and found my sock, my razor, and the toilet bowl cleaner inside. Thankfully she didn't flush. We have told her how icky it is but I guess kids just get a curiosity for toilets. Kids!

Happy Halloween

Up until last year, I had never handed out candy for Halloween. The past ten years have also been dedicated to the Halloween Bus Party until last year. Tia and I did walk around our cul-de-sac and did some trick or treating, but we also handed out candy for a while too. This year, I decided I wanted to do something better and so I ordered candy and some toys and bagged them so it is easy to hand out. I think Tia will have fun handing out these bags to the trick or treaters. Here are some pictures of Chris and Tia being silly:

Alright! Here You Go! Oh No!

I have to say that I love Tia's sayings... She has really started to talk and it is adorable. She says alright a lot especially when you do what she wants. Oh no when an oops happens and here you go when she gives you something. Chris's favorite is when she says 'oh no Tia' which cracks him up because she says it to herself. He calls her Jimmy from Seinfeld who talks in 3rd person. She is a little chatter box for sure.

World Series - St. Louis Cardinals

I am super proud of our St. Louis Cardinals. As a team who came back from being pretty much out of the running has now won the World Series for the 11th time. I made sure Tia was all dressed up in her many St. Louis Cardinals shirts. Thanks to Aunt Wes Wee (Leslie), Tia had a few cute Cardinal's shirts to wear the rest of the week. On Friday, October 28th, we went over to cousin Jeremy's house to watch the game and meet his new little addition Elliot. It was nice to catch up and relax. The game was well played by the Cardinal's and of course after they won, we were hysterically excited. Almost amazed really! So I am excited that in Tia's lifetime, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series and hopefully the first of many more in their life. Plus, baby Norris #2 is alive in my belly and is also witness to the exciting World Series win. Here is a picture of little Elliot experiencing his first World Series win.