Day 320 - November 16

We had a pretty busy day! It started with a 5k and fun run (Jason did the 5k, I did the fun run). And it ended with a fall festival full of bounce houses and a hay ride.

The 5k and fun run were the important part of the day, though. It was the Miles for Midwives run, which is put on by the Alabama Birth Coalition. In Alabama, it's illegal for a midwife to attend a home birth and that's just ridiculous. Home birth certainly isn't for everyone, but everyone should have the choice to have one if they want, and to be able to do it safely and with the help of a trained midwife. This run (which I went to last year, too) helps to raise both money and awareness to help get midwife-assisted home births legalized.

This year's shirt is wicked awesome, too.

Day 319 - November 15

*sigh*

No one can say she's not her own person.

I'll just break this down for you...

Pajama top.

Zebra and flower skirt.

Babylegs on her legs (blue with brown polkadots) and arms (pink with fairies on them).

Fairy wings on her back.

Fancy black shoes with rhinestones on them.

Flower headband.

And I think there were shorts under the skirt, even though the skirt has it's own built in bike shorts.

This is what I saw first thing this morning, after laying out her actual school clothes last night and telling her to put them on when she got up so we could save some time.

Following directions is apparently not a strong suit.

Day 318 - November 14

First of all, Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

More importantly, though, Jason surprised me with this beautiful thing when he walked in the door after playing golf on the other side of the bay today.

Yes, that IS a Dunkin cup. The one in Fairhope is now open and the countdown is on for the one if Mobile to open, too!

Day 317 - November 13

Cate very nicely helped me unload the groceries this morning.

She pulled all of the bottles of essence water out of the bag they were in and nicely arranged them on the kitchen floor. Then she moved them to another spot on the floor. Then she started to walk away from them so I had to take them away, which resulted in a tantrum.

But for about 10 minutes, they kept her very entertained. And me, too!

Day 316 - November 12

I don't recommend what I'm about to talk about.

Michaela went to the dentist today. It was her first trip. And she's 4. That's the part I don't recommend.

Thankfully, she handled it just great and my delay in getting her there didn't impact her dental health at all.

Day 315 - November 11

Chili's restaurant very nicely offered free meals to active duty and veterans for Veteran's Day. So we took advantage of that and headed out for some dinner.

Michaela caught me in a moment of weakness and I let her order chocolate milk for the first time ever.

She said, "It tastes like candy chocolate!!!!!" and smiled the world's biggest smile after her first sip.

I squashed her spirit immediately and let her know not to expect it again any time soon. Ha!

Day 314 - November 10

Cate is a creature of habit. She goes to sleep at night at about 8 or 8:30. Generally, she nurses before she goes to sleep and theoretically shouldn't need to nurse again for quite a while.

But she wakes up from her first sleep cycle around 10:30 or 11 and the only thing that will get her to conk out again is to nurse again.

I can't say I mind too much... it gives me the chance to snuggle for just a few more minutes before I head to bed, too. I would say "until the morning" or something silly like that, but I'll see her again in a few hours.

It's a good thing she's so good at cuddling and being cute. Otherwise it might bother me that I'm on over 16 months of not getting a full night of sleep.