Conversation with 6-year-old Ariana last week on our way home from school . . .
Ariana: “Mom, do you know what ‘photo spores’ are?”

Lori: “Uh . . . no.”

Ariana: “I’ll give you a clue: They are responsible for an organism’s bioluminescence.  Do you know what ‘bioluminescence’ is?”

Mom: “Uh . . . no.”

Ariana: <patient sigh!> “I’ll give you an example: Jellyfish are bioluminescent because they have photo spores.  It’s kind of like glowing in the dark.”

And I thought that parents only become “dumb” during their children’s teenage years.

Highlights from last week’s fabulous Southern California vacation . . .

Attending Eva’s baptism and Logan’s baby blessing

Spending time with Gran, Uncle Matthew, Aunt Eva, Dilon and Logan

Sea World (Because Ariana is studying about the ocean at school).

Ariana and Bryan sitting in the SOAK ZONE. (They don’t call it the “soak zone” for nothing!)

Ariana riding her first (and maybe last?) roller coaster–Atlantis!

Mom chickening out of riding the roller coaster

The mother’s rooms–GREAT idea!

Mom and Eva getting SOAKED on the river raft ride and sitting in the SOAK ZONE at the Shamu Show.

The Beach

Searching for the perfect sea shells

Getting WET! (Next time, I’ll bring a change of clothes for everyone).

This was the first time I’ve been back to California since my family moved away, and it surprised me how melancholy I was.  But even though so much about my childhood home has changed, Southern California, with all of the wonderful memories it conjures up, will always be one of my favorite places to visit.

Where we love is home.
Home is where our feet may leave
but not our hearts.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Vivi loves hair (especially to get a good handful of it). . . maybe because she doesn’t really have any of her own.  She’s always in hot pursuit of Marina and loves to pull the cat’s tail.

So, I got a chuckle out of a predicament she had gotten herself into this morning while she was supposed to be napping.  When I went in to see why she was whimpering, I found that she had gotten a hold of a doll through the bars of her crib and ripped all the hair off, somehow getting wound up in it in the process.  It was wrapped pretty tightly around her fingers and toes, so it took a few minutes to extricate her.

This will be a good test for Ariana when she gets home this afternoon.  The doll was a special one that she had made.

“Pack your bags, honey!  We’re headed to WACO!”

Bryan loves to surprise our family with spontaneous, unusual weekend jaunts.  Labor Day weekend was no exception.

Antiquing in Waxahachie

One of our favorite things to do as a family is to go antiquing in sleepy little towns.  Although we mostly window shop, we have found a few treasures along the way.

Bryan prepares a “Treasure Hunt” list of things for Ariana to search for, and Vivian, strapped in the Baby Bjorn, is surprisingly content.

Westfest

As a child, I was indoctrinated (brainwashed???) to believe that carnival rides were not only a waste of money but were also horribly unsafe.  So, when my own precious child wanted to go on the $3/ride roller coaster-like ferris wheel at Westfest on our trip to Waco over Labor Day weekend, you can imagine my hesitancy on several levels.  The “Voice of Reason” (aka Bryan) assured me that everything would be fine.  The ride operator strapped Ariana in, and off she went . . . higher and higher, faster and faster . . . and FASTER!  “She’s going to throw up! She’s going to fall out!” Teary and terror-stricken, I rushed over and demanded that they stop the ride and let my baby off the death trap.  I was relieved to have Ariana back on solid ground, but to my surprise, the first words out of her mouth were “Aaaw!  Why was the ride so short!”

At Westfest, we also learned that Vivian’s new favorite food is a cherry snow cone.

Cameron Park Zoo

A quaint little zoo in Waco was a fun place to spend Labor Day morning.

Homestead Heritage

Call me boring . . . call me weird . . . but one of my new-found favorite places is Homestead Heritage, a traditional crafts village located just outside Waco.  It features pottery, woodworking, quilting, blacksmithing, gardening, and a 1700’s operational grist mill.  We attended their annual Sorghum Festival and plan on going back for their Thanksgiving Craft and Children’s Fair.

Our sojourn back to Frisco was far more difficult than anticipated.  At least one major accident had I-35 closed.  Bryan navigated back roads to get us home.  Knowing that delays were likely to only get worse the later it got, we opted to not stop anywhere for dinner.  Bryan dined on MRE’s (meals-ready-to-eat) straight from the foil packets (we’re still trying to wean him from some of his bachelor ways) while Ariana and I opted for granola bars and trail mix.

September 8, 2006.  Can it possibly have already been six months since your birth, my Sweet Vivi! You are such a miracle in our lives . . . a priceless treasure in our home. I LOVE your toothless grins . . . your infectious giggles . . . your sweet spirit that binds our family together. Within the last few days, you have started to pull yourself up to the standing position. Although you’ve already sustained a few bumps and bruises, in the words of your big sister, you’re not a “giver upper.” Earlier this week, I discovered you kneeling in your bassinet with your arms hanging over the side.  I felt prompted to remove the bed from the 3-foot high base and place it on the floor.  The next day, I went in to check on you during your morning nap time and found you lying on the ground next to your bed . . . unhurt, but scared.  You’d somehow climbed over the edge of the bassinet.  I shudder to think how horribly you might have been hurt had I not put your bed on the ground only a few hours earlier.  I am profoundly grateful for watchful eyes from above that helped prevent a possible catastrophe. Lest you erroneously think that I am a perfect mother, on your 1/2 birthday I took you to get your ears pierced.  What was I thinking!?!  You cried, and your poor little earlobes are inflammed.  I’ve been cleaning them and doctoring them every few hours with antibiotic ointment; I’m worried sick that they will get infected and hurt you even more.  Oh, how sorry I am to have put you through that. You are still not sleeping through the night.  If you only awake two times, it’s a good night.  Some nights, you wake up every one to two hours.  Thank goodness you have such a good daddy that helps in every way. It’s looking like you will be a social butterfly, just like your big sister.  You love to interact with other people. We love you!  I’m so grateful that Heavenly Father sent you to bless our home in countless ways.

Named after her great-great grandfather (Vivian Jones) and her great grandmother (Grace Jones), Vivian Grace Tolbert is the newest addition to our family. Miss Vivi, as we affectionately call her, was born on March 8, 2006 at 4:22 p.m., weighing in at 7 1/2 pounds and measuring 19 1/2 inches long. Although I really wanted things to progress on their own, I ended up being induced a day before my due date, simply because I couldn’t endure another day of being pregnant. I also wanted to ensure that Dr. MacDonald delivered our baby and not just one of his on-call associates.

I’m fairly certain that Dr. Mac was grateful to no longer have me as a patient. Very early on, I got him to agree to not weigh me at my visits. And at the end of my pregnancy, whenever he’d check to see if I had dilated any, he flinched when he’d have to answer, “Nope. Still a 2.” He is a wonderful doctor, and I hope that he’ll accept me as a patient if we ever have another baby.

When I married him, I knew that Bryan would be a wonderful husband and father, but during the first four months of Miss Vivi’s colicky life, I developed an even greater respect for him. Even her incessant SCREAMING (and my postpartum WEIRDNESS) didn’t seem to get to him. I wish that I could say the same for me.

?

I was always afraid that I wouldn’t ever be able to love another child as much as I love Ariana, or that another child would somehow diminish my love for my firstborn, or that Ariana would feel like she wasn’t loved as much as Vivian . . . but like most things I worry about, my fears were unfounded. It warms my heart to see watch Ariana interact with Vivian. She is so attentive to her baby sister’s every need, and Vivian saves her biggest smiles and her cutest giggles for “sissy.”

Shortly after Vivian was born, each child in Ariana’s kindergarten class wrote something that they felt fortunate for on a shamrock. Ariana wrote, “I am lucky because I have a sister.”  Her shamrock is a special keepsake.

Although Bryan persists in calling Vivian, “passable,” the rest of the family thinks that she’s a doll.

Vivi loves to suck her big toe . . . sometimes both of them at the same time. She also loves her baths, the ExerSaucer, Baby Einstein videos, and the cat (although Bryan is trying to brainwash her into believing that all cats are evil!).

She started crawling at 5 months old, and can even go from crawling to the sitting position, all by herself! She’d be pretty near perfect if we could get her to sleep for more than 2-3 hours at a time at night. I have a feeling that she’s going to keep me very busy over the next few years . . . . and I’ll share her adventures right here on my blog.