The Talley Family

I was e-mailing with my friend Amy earlier this morning and the topic of “free time” came up.  For a minute, I paused, trying to remember the meaning of the phrase…  Free… time?  Free time?  Can those words be used together like that in a sentence?  Seems like I vaguely remember what “free time” is, although I think it has since gone the way of the dinosaurs and Dodo birds…forever lost, only to be relived through folktales and historic relics, like college photo albums and the mountain bike collecting dust in my garage.  The cataclysmic event…the birth of my child.  Children, actually.  Three of them.  These three kiddos now consume every waking (and some sleeping) moments of my day.  Yes, the legend of “free time” still lives in lore and in my heart, but the phenomenon itself is long gone.  The extinction of which lends to my lengthy absence from the blogging world.  My apologies.

So here is a list of recent events to bring everyone up-to-speed on the lives of the Talley crew…

Lucas Palmer Talley

Our 3rd child, Lucas Palmer Talley, was born April 1st, 2010.  He was a very healthy 9lbs. 9 oz. despite being a few days early.  (Thank goodness they didn’t leave him in any longer, or I might have birthed a toddler….)  Luke, as we call him, is now almost 4 months old and is a very handsome young man!  And he is totally enamored with his big sisters.  He watches everything they do with the sweetest smile on his face.  The boy is a sucker and, as soon as those girls (especially Kate) figure it out, he’s in big trouble.  We are trying to warn him now, but I don’t think it is getting through.  So all that is left to do is equip him with valuable knowledge in the hopes that it will lessen the blows…  For instance, he’s been told, “When they say, ‘It won’t hurt,’ it probably will.  But, most likely, only for a minute.  And thanks to Kate, Mom already knows the fastest route to the ER and has a good rapport with the staff there…”  And, “When they say, ‘Hold on tight, Luke!’ HOLD ON TIGHT!!!  As a matter of fact, just go ahead and send one of them in to tell Mommy so she can call and give the ER a heads up and get the car started…”  And we can’t forget, “When they say, ‘Wanna try a bite?’ ALWAYS say, ‘No thanks,’ even if the temptation is great and their promises seem sincere…”  I know it is useless, but I thought it just wasn’t fair not to try….

Here are a few more pictures of our new bundle.

Kate is now 20 months old and in the midst of going for the World Record for Most Temper Tantrums Thrown in a Lifetime.  Personally, I think she has this one in the bag.  Other notable achievements include, the Second Place Award for Fewest Nights of Solid Sleep (Mommy narrowly won first prize), and World’s Youngest Stunt Person.  She has also begun potty training, but her heart isn’t totally in it yet.  She has requested drive-by pottying because she’s not too hip on stopping what she’s doing long enough to use the potty seat.  That request is still being reviewed and logistics are still being discussed…

Here’s a shot of Kate mid-tantrum. I’m telling you, she’s a master…

Tantrum number eleventy billion

Annika just turned 10 years old earlier this month.  “What you talkin’ bout, Dena???”  It’s true.  Double digits and the beginning of her entry into the awkward “tween” years…training bras, first pimples, and the realization that boys can actually be cute.  Her world is changing and slowly she’s beginning to leave childhood behind and become a young lady.  She’s found lots to do this summer to keep her busy, besides turning another year older though.  She has gone to Disney World with one of her besties, Hannah, and gone away to summer camp for a week with her other bestie, Kalie.  The three amigas also traveled to Savannah with their Girl Scout troop.  And then there was two weeks of Music Theater Camp and a week of Art Camp at CCS, and a trip to Atlanta with her dad to see Phantom of the Opera at the Fox Theater, as well as, the World of Coke, the Aquarium, the Natural History Museum and the High Museum of Art.  Now, in just a few short weeks, she’ll be entering her last year of elementary school and I’m left here wondering where the time has gone…

Here are a few shots of Annika’s summer fun.

The Three Amigas - Annika Hannah and Kalie

10th Birthday Fun

Hannika at Disney

As for me and Daniel, we are just holding on tight and trying to keep up with the crazy pace of our lives these days.  We celebrated our third year of marriage April 14th, although, our definition of “celebrating” has changed somewhat over the years…  We’ve traded candlelit dinners at nice restaraunts for cold pizza and warm bottles of milk.  It is worth it though, I suppose.  However, I can’t say I wouldn’t enjoy a kid-free dining experience, where I got to eat my food while it was still hot and someone else did the preparation and cleaning afterwards!  I never knew how much I took simple things for granted until I had children and they were gone.  For instance, being able to take a long hot shower at my discretion.  Or watching prime time television without the worry of traumitizing my children.  Or even, just being able to complete an entire telephone conversation without being interrupted eleventy-billion times with, “Hey Momma!  Hey Momma!  HEY MOMMA!!!”  In all seriousness though, we truly are blessed to share our lives with each other and this frantic household full of kids.  Daniel and I are just loving each other through it, which is, after all, the best remedy for a wild and crazy, sometimes hectic and frantic, often sleep-deprived and whiney, life!

Annika’s elf Pinky has come to spend the holidays with us again.  Pinky is quite the prankster.  Here is today’s prank for your viewing pleasure!

I started this post about a month ago and will attempt to finish it today.  Bear with me as some of it is old news and some recent….

Ok, people.  When you multi-task as much as I do, at least one area of your life is bound to suffer.  And in my case, this blog is one of those areas.  So I am using this time to multi-task once again and am going to attempt to catch the world up on our family’s progress in recent months as I eat lunch with Baby Kate.  And for all the critics out there who say, “Shame on you, Dena!  You should be relishing this time with Kate andsavoring every minute of your lunchtime together instead of blogging at the table during mealtime,” I say, Kate seems perfectly content to throw her pieces of my sandwich to the floor for the dog to eat whether I am “relishing” her or not.  This is a new tactic…if I ignore the feeding of the dog, will she still findit fun?  So far I think my theory is working.  More sandwich has made it into Kate’s mouth than the dog’s….

So, where to begin….

Well, Annika began her 4th grade year at Chattanooga Christian School this August and is having a great year so far.  She is very active in many extracurricular activities.  Every Monday after school, she participates in Girl Scouts; every Wednesday afternoon, she attends Spanish Club; and every Thursday after classes let out, she spends an hour in Drama Club.  Her weekends are usually filled withone social event or another, either spending the night at a friend’s house or having a friend over or going to a birthday party or playing down the street with her classmate.  And every spare moment that she is not sleeping or involved in one of the other activities, she spends with her nose in at least one book.  Currently, she is reading the 5th Harry Potter book, a book about Arizona for her state report for school, The Ark the Reed and the Fire Cloud, and just finished the 4th Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  The girl is a bookworm!  Andif you know anything about any of these books, these are no picture stories.  Two of these books alone boast around 800+ pages a piece!  Seriously.  The girl LOVES to read!

Kate is rapidly advancing as well.  She turned a year old November 7th (where has the time gone) and she is leaps andbounds ahead of many other babies her same age.  What can I say…I make super kids!  Kate took her first unassisted steps around the end of her 9th month and has not slowed down since.  She runs through the house now, has excellent balance, and climbs.  Yep.  Runs and climbs.  My days are never dull.  She says a lot words.  Momma and Da Da of course are among them.  She calls Annika “Nanna” which is so cute!  She also says ball (with just a tinge of Southern accent…”bawl”), cat (”kah”), dog (”dawg”), out (”aught”), Scout (”cow”), more (”moe”) and her newest word, no (”NO NO!”).  Crazy to think that a year ago I was eating eggplant parmesan every meal trying to induce delivery, and now she is eating table foods, walking, talking and climbing!  Oh, and how can I forget the dancing?!?!  Kate is a dancing queen!  We will post video soon, but you seriously have to see it in person.  It is just precious!

Now for the icing on the cake, Daniel and I found out a few months ago that we are expecting another little bundle of joy!  Our newest addition to the family should arrive sometime around April 11th..or 5th…or 2nd.  You know how exact the prediction of a baby’s delivery date is.  Kate and Peanut will be about 17 months apart.  We had planned to start trying again for another baby after Kate turned 1, but have been so productive we beat our goal!  I guess we are just a couple of “go-getters”.  Why wait when we can do it now???  We are thrilled and found out just before Thanksgiving that our newest addition will be a BOY!  Now Daniel won’t be quite as outnumbered, although he and I together definitely will be.  Our parental strategies have been challenged.  Annika can be easily handled with a little one-on-one defense.  Kate, however, most times requires double coverage.  I don’t know what we are going to do once the new baby arrives.  Definitely going to have to try moving from man-to-man to zone coverage…  Maybe we can enlist Annika as a double agent to help too?

Now to gear up for Christmas…

I am afraid I have been a bad little blogger as of late and remiss in my duties to the 3 or 4 people who actually read this post.  My apologies.  Our summer has been full of fun and various sorts of activities and in all the hustle and bustle I have failed to update this post.  So here is a summary of our summertime activities and milestones so far…

Annika kicked her summer off by participating in music theater camp at CCS.  In just two weeks they put together a very fine production of Cinderella, in which Annika played the part of Perla the Mouse.  She was most proud that she had several speaking parts and took her role very seriously, even researching and rehearsing mouse movements and characteristics.  The production was a HUGE hit and I was really impressed with how flawless the performance was with only 2 weeks preparation from start to finish!  And of course Annika was a star and played her role perfectly.  My little actress in the making.  All right, Mr. DeMille, she’s ready for her close-up…

Immediately following the close of music theater camp (and I mean as soon as the curtain dropped and we had our mouse rounded up), we set out for Ponte Vedre, FL for a business convention Daniel’s company sent us on and a subsequent vacation to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Satellite Beach, FL.  We departed Chattanooga around 3:30 in the afternoon and did not arrive to our hotel until around 1:00 in the morning.  It was a less that pleasurable road trip to say the least.  We got caught for 2 hours in Atlanta traffic, Kate cried most of the time, so much so that the rest of us were almost in tears.  We discovered the reason behind Kate’s misery (and ours) the next day when she woke up with her first 2 teeth!  She has proceeded to cut a total of 7 teeth over the course of the month since vacation…it’s been a long month. 

The rest of our vacation was rather pleasant, however.  After a few days in Ponte Vedre at the conference, we headed down the coast for Grandma’s.  We decided to take A1A so we could take the scenic route down the east coast and stopped off in St. Augustine to see the Spanish fort there and tour the historic part of the city.  It was SO HOT but we had a really fun day there.  After seeing the sites and doing a little shopping and sweating off about 5 pounds a piece, we continued down A1A toward Satellite Beach.  It was a beautiful drive through small coastal towns along the beach.  We stopped at a great seafood place called Dixie Crossroads just before arriving in Satellite Beach that night.  Grandma and Grandpa were happy to see us (and us them!) and Grandma and I stayed up nearly all night catching up!  The following days included trips to the beach, the zoo and the Space Center where we actually got to see the shuttle Endeavor on the launch pad!  Very cool.  Unfortunately the trip came to an end all too soon and we headed back to Chatty just in time for Annika to turn around and travel to Gulf Shores with her Dad for a week (literally…she left for Gulf Shores one hour after we arrived home from Florida.  Poor girl!).

Other activities this summer for Annika have included two weeks of art camp at CCS, seeing the latest Harry Potter movie (The Half-Blood Prince), and Annika’s 9th birthday party and sleepover which we held here at the house.  The party was a good time.  We rented an inflatable slip-n-slide and cooked out and had a couple of the girls spend the night.  A TON of people showed up (Daniel quit counting at 47) and I think a good time was had by all!  It is hard to believe Annika is 9 years old already…  She starts school in a couple of weeks and will be entering 4th grade at CCS.  She is very excited to have gotten the teacher she wanted and to have some of her very best friends in class with her.  It seems all she can talk about these days is getting her school supplies and back to school clothes and what after-school activities she wants to participate in.  I love that she is still so enthusiastic about school.  I think it says a lot about what a great school CCS is.

Kate is 8 months old now.  She is crawling (or speed-crawling rather) and standing up by herself at times and walking while holding on to things to steady herself.  I think her first steps are right around the corner.  She has also started eating some soft solid foods and she’ll try anything that you put in the general direction of her mouth.  So far there is nothing the child won’t eat (although some foods produce better faces than others).  She has 7 (almost teeth and likes to try them out on EVERYTHING!  Her crib rails look as if a beaver has been sleeping in her crib instead of a baby.  Guess I should work on some crib rail covers….  Kate LOVES the water and has been thrilled to play everytime we have put her into a pool or ocean or even a tub over the summer.  She kicks and splashes and squeals and we all end up soaked to the bone.  It is great.  Maybe she is not only part elf, but also part mermaid….

Daniel and I are doing well and just trying to keep up with these girls!  It’s a full-time job for sure.  We have treated ourselves with some new appliances (new dishwasher, stove, microwave, washer and dryer) and a new Big Green Egg grill for being such exceptional parents….  Now we are preparing for school to start back in a couple of weeks and anxiously awaiting the start of college football season (GO DAWGS!).

Summer has been spectacular and busy and fun and has passed entirely too quickly.  But we are savoring every minute of it!!!

I can’t believe it but today marks the halfway point of Kate’s first year of life.  Unreal.  Time has just flown by.  Well here is a little update on Kate’s accomplishments and feats of strength these days…

Kate has been sitting up by herself for the past couple of weeks and has started trying to crawl.  She gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth for a minute and then either starts spinning in circles, scooting backwards or lunges forward onto her face.  I don’t think it will be long before she gets the hang of it and begins exploring.

Kate has also started “talking” a lot.  She makes all kinds of coos and noises.  Lately, she is especially find of the “B” sounds and will just start chatting away saying, “Bah bah bah bah bah!”  It is so cute.  Today she started saying “Dah dah dah” and a few times she has said, “Ma ma.”  She has become quite the singer too, and she has the sweetest little sing-song voice.

The past week has had some rough moments though.  Kate is cutting her first tooth and it has made for some pretty cranky episodes.  The tooth has not broken the surface of the gum yet, but you can see it underneath the surface.  We have been trying infant Tylenol drops and cool teething rings but she pretty much only wants to be held and comforted by Mommy or Daddy and nothing else will do.  She screams and cries anytime I put her down or leave the room.  It is pitiful and trying, but this too shall pass.  Other than the crankiness, she doesn’t seem to have any other negative side-effects that often accompany teething like fever or a runny nose, so we do have that to be thankful for.

So little Kate, HAPPY HALF-BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!  And many more…

Here are some more pictures of Kate and Annika from Avery Claire’s birthday party two weeks ago.

Daniel and I celebrated our second anniversary last week and I have to say that these past two years have really flown by.  I mean, it sort of seems like we have been on the newlywed speed round…engaged, married, honeymoon, moved in together, got pregnant, put our house on the market, had a baby, bought a new house…sheesh!  We don’t waste anytime, do we?  I guess it is good that we approach our life together with such gusto though.  And we never have a dull moment…

Daniel and I stole a fun idea from some friends of ours (thanks for sharing Matt and Katie!) to make each anniversary different and interesting.  We use a different letter of the alphabet as the “theme” for each anniversary.  Our friends have done destination anniversaries using a different letter of the alphabet each year and initially that was our plan as well.  So since we went to Asheville, North Carolina for our honeymoon, we thought that would make an excellent start to our destination/alphabet/anniversary theme.  After all, A is for Asheville!  But then life happened and just before our first anniversary, we found out we were going to be blessed with a baby.  So instead of a destination like the Bahamas, we decided that B could also be for Baby (after all, the tropical vacation money would be better spent on items we would need for our new arrival).  Still…not bad.  It went a little something like, “Happy Anniversary Sweetie!  You’re getting a baby!”  This year, our move to our new home fell on the weekend just before our second wedding anniversary, so conveniently, we decided to revisit the destination theme…C = Chattanooga Valley, which is where our new house is located (we are actually located just off Old Chattanooga Valley Road).  Now the joke is, “What will next year’s anniversary be?  D for Dalton?”  Maybe.  I think the exotic “D” destinations are going to be out unless we fall into a pit of money or some long lost uber wealthy relative comes along and feels generous.  That’s ok though, as long as I am with my sweet hubby, we can be anywhere or nowhere at all!  Dublin would be nice, but Dalton will be just as sweet as long as I have the love of my life at my side.

It has been a wonderful and exciting 2 years Daniel and (despite my sometimes less than sunny demeanor…) I have loved every minute of it.  I look forward to years D - Z and then going through them all again!  Happy Anniversary Honey!

Well, we finally did it!  We have moved into our house on the hill here in scenic Flintstone, GA!!!  There are still boxes piled high waiting to be unpacked, but for the most part the furniture is in place and we are settling in.  We found the box containing the can opener this evening, so I think we are going to be just fine now.  Pictures will follow soon.  We just got our internet connected but still do not have the desktop computer set up so I am having trouble uploading photos.  Soon though, I promise.

Well, we did it!  Friday morning, April 3, we finally closed on the sale of our home on John Ross Road!  For the next week we are squatting in our former/the new owners house while we pack up our things.  Our next step is to close the deal on our new home in Flintstone this coming Friday and then spend next weekend moving.  By this time next week we will be residents of Georgia!  We are so excited and anxious and have a million things to do over the course of the next week, but we are thrilled to finally be moving!!! 

Also, I have assured Annika that the Easter Bunny has been informed of our change of address and has directions to the new house (this also goes for Santa, Pinky the Elf, the Tooth Fairy and all other mythical and fairytale creatures who may come to visit from time to time….  Couldn’t very well have her missing out on her basket and other goodies now could I?? 

P.S.  I know I am terribly behind on posting pictures to the site and I apologize profusely.  Our home computer has been on the blink, which has all of my photo software, and I have been using my laptop in the interim to try to post updates at the very least (yes, I know I live with a computer guru, but he’s been tied up with packing and such, so I am cutting him some slack on the delay in fixing the computer).  I promise that as soon as I have access, I will update old posts with pictures and post a bunch of other pictures of our sweet girls and our new home.  So there is a little teaser to keep you checking back in for updates and pictures….you junkies!  Who am I kidding…I am a junkie for these sweet girls too!  They are just too precious for words.  You have no idea how hard it is for me to restrain myself from just squeezing them all the time!

Well, little Katharine Emory…you are now 4 months old.  And it is incredible how much you have grown and learned over the last 120 days.  As of just 6 days ago, you have started not only rolling from your stomach to your back, but from your back to your stomach without any help at all!  And you love to show off your new skill any chance you get.  You have also learned that you do not have to screech like a little banshee or bellow out like Tarzan, but can coo softly to get our attention.  Don’t get me wrong…you still wail at the top of your lungs when you are really excited and especially adamant about what you have to say, but at least you are starting to learn how to CONTROL THE VOLUME OF YOUR VOICE!!!! 

At your 4 month check-up with the doctor last Tuesday, you weighed 14 lbs., 8 oz. and were 25 inches long!  Dr. Smith said you were gaining well and ahead of the game in motor skills as he was impressed that you were already rolling over and grabbing items easily and pulling them to your mouth.  He also said that we could begin you on cereal and stage 1 baby foods, so after picking up big sister Annika from school we headed out to Greenlife for some organic rice cereal and jars of pureed fruits and veggies.  Annika helped pick out only the best food for her baby sister, which included at least 2 of every food they had on the shelf.  She is just so excited for you to try all these new flavors and was a little disappointed that you would not immediately be diving in to a 5 course meal when we got home.  I had to explain that your little tummy would need some time to adjust and get used to something other than Mommy’s milk. 

You got your first taste of cereal at our Tuesday night family dinner at Great Grandmother Becky’s house that night.  After a day of vaccinations and battling a cold though, you just didn’t have much of an appetite and let us know after just a few bites that you had had enough.  Wednesday night we had another go of it and this time Mommy just couldn’t shovel that cereal in fast enough!  You loved it!!!  Thursday night however, you threw Mommy and Daddy a little curve ball.  You seemed hungry and agitated through the entire meal, fussing every time the spoon left your mouth and sure enough, you finished the entire bowl again.  After your cereal and nursing for a bit though, Mommy noticed what looked like hives breaking out all around you cheeks, above your lips and on your chin and neck.  Suspecting an allergic reaction to something, we called the nurse who suggested keeping a close eye on you to be sure the reaction didn’t get worse, but that perhaps you may be allergic to your rice cereal.  Being Your Mother and Father’s child, it is no big surprise really that you might actually have a rare allergy to something as benign as rice…sorry kid, you got gimpy genes.  So cereal is out for a few days to let your system “reboot” and then we will try a barley cereal and see how you do on that before attempting rice again.   In the meantime, you can snack upon your chubby little toes, which you can now easily pull to your mouth.  Again, this is a skill you come by honestly.  Mommy has always been quite good at putting her own foot in her mouth on a very regular basis.

In addition to all of these other firsts, Mommy is quite suspicious that you might be getting ready to cut your first tooth.  You’ve turned into a regular drool bucket and pull everything you get your hands on into your mouth.  You especially love to chew on fingers whether they be your own or someone else’s.  Mommy tried to explain to you that this might be viewed as cannibalism to some and usually frowned upon in polite society, but it does not appear to have deterred you from this behavior.  I feel quite certain that we may be forced to muzzle you once you become mobile to keep you from tasting and/or ingesting every object your little hands place into your mouth.

Happy 4 months Kate!

P.S.  Thanks for being such a great sleeper!!!  10 - 12 hours a night and 2-3 little naps a day are working out great for mommy!!!