It's a Girl!!

Ok, so we are not necessarily having a girl, but my sister-in-law is!!! A couple of months ago when I called Chris and Neisha to tell them about our pregnancy; she laughed and said, "We are too!" Obviously I was thrilled, but very shocked. My youngest niece, Gracelyn, is only 6 months old. It was a big surprise to Neisha and Chris as well! ha At their first appointment, the midwife told them she was either a lot farther along than they were estimating, or they were having twins. They promptly scheduled an ultrasound for the next week. The next week during the ultrasound, the technician revealed to them that she was actually 17 weeks pregnant. WOAH! haha Yesterday I got the exciting news that they are adding another girl to the family and they actually moved her due date up again to July 28th. Ethan (the only boy) told my brother they would, "definitely need more guy time!" haha

So yay for the Smoak family. I am excited for you! I love you!

update 2

I caved and called the office today. The office receptionist apologized for the lack of communication and told me she would get the message to the sales manager. That was 2:30pm. It is 9:23pm... no phone call. Really?

Update

Day 4 of heat fiasco. Day 3 after communication with sales manager. Day 2 of absolute No phone call about "I will see what I can do." I guess you are telling me you can't do much! To call or not to call the office, that is the question today.

My "blockbuster" kind of day

My favorite quote of this year so far came from a friend of mine recently arguing with an employee and two managers at a Raleigh Blockbuster: " I don't live in a pig sty where I have things stuffed in my couch where I can't find them." Long story short; they were trying to make her pay for a movie that she had turned in weeks before and she wasn't going to do it. If you want the entire story in all its hilarity, you should call Kristen... it is much funnier coming from her.

So that leads me into my "blockbuster" day. The day gets off to a GREAT start as I wait in the doctor's office for an hour and 40 minutes for Ceilidh's pediatrician to tell me she has Influenza. Thankfully it is the less severe strain but I'm still sad she feels so out of sorts. Once I get home and get her fed and settled, I turn to the other big issue in our household, our heat.

Saturday night after watching an incredibly disappointing loss by the Tarheels, we come home to a house without heat. Yes, our house literally dropped to 57 degrees before the morning. I am frustrated A. that we have no heat B. we just spent a lot of money a year and a half ago getting a BRAND new heating and air system C. it is a Sunday so it will be a weekend service call. To make another really long story short, the technician comes out and immediately tells us what is wrong, and that if the issue would have been caught when it should have been ( a year ago!), we would not have had any problems this last year, nor would we be paying for this service now. That is when Cyndy and Andrew turned on the Kristen blockbuster mode. Yes, mister technician, if it had been caught, we would not be paying for it , and oh yeah, we are not paying for it now either. He was able to rig our system to make the heat work, but said it could go out again at any minute. He said he would be back tomorrow (today) to put in the new part.

Mind you, we were both very nice, just expressed our frustration not with him, but with the quality of equipment we had. So today at 3:30pm when I had not heard one peep from the technician or the office, I call to see what is going on. Apparently the technicians are bad about committing to come the next day without knowing the schedule. Thanks for the call to let me know you weren't coming today. So I take the opportunity to talk with someone at the office about our frustrations of paying money for something that A. shouldn't be breaking down (only 1 1/2 years old) and B. should have been caught last year during yet another service call. Well of course I get sent from person to person until finally I get a call back from the sales manager who sold us the unit. He of course tries to tell me his technician spoke out of turn, and there is no way he could have known that the current issue was the same issue a year ago. (Mind you, the sales manager was the one that "fixed" the issue a year ago, and the symptoms are the same exact thing!) He keeps telling me they will give me a deal and only make me pay for the analysis fee and not parts and labor. Thanks but no thanks. I wouldn't even have an analysis fee if the problem had been fixed a year ago like your technician said it should have been!!!!!!!

So finally, he tells me he will call someone else and see what he can do. I say thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. He tells me it might take a few minutes and I say that is ok, I will wait. Well, we had this conversation at 4:10pm and as I write this it is 9:16pm. Who wants to put money on the fact I won't be hearing from him tonight? Wow, is all I have to say about my whole day. Stay tuned if you want to find out what happens. I am very proud of myself for staying calm and kind, but I'm not backing down. I can be kind in my assertiveness. ha

Happy Birthday Grappy!

Sorry this post is late mom, but I was planning on attaching b-day celebration pictures with it. Hopefully Ceilidh will be better next weekend. Love you and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Pictures!

Meet Baby Clendenin #3! Everyone is already weighing in on their thoughts about gender. What do you think? haha

Ceilidh's dancing skills

I PROMISE I am not being THAT dance mom. I really havent taught her anything. She has picked up things as she watches some of my classes. She gets so proud of herself. It is really adorable!


This is just a flower I am proud of! woohoo It didnt die! ha




This is Ceilidh's releve


This is her plie


This is her "besque" (arabesque). It really looks like she is doing an back attitude, but she calls it an "besque." haha

So obviously, we need to work on form some. But I am impressed with my little ballerina!!

What a day

So today was February 16th, which was the day we were supposed to endure a few hours of yucky labor, but then mark it down as one of the happiest days of our life due to a new baby. Obviously last September, we started preparing ourselves for the reality that that wasn't going to happen today. The whole day was just kind of weird. I felt like I had butterflies in my stomach all day. I am thankful for the emotional steadiness that Jesus gave me today.

Two of my very favorite names for the Lord are Messiah and Redeemer, and he definitely revealed himself as a redeemer today. Though Kenan will NEVER be replaced, the Lord helped redeem this particular date as we got visual confirmation that Baby Clendenin #3 has a strong healthy heartbeat and is due on September 30!!!! I will be 8 weeks pregnant on Wednesday and we are very excited about this pregnancy! Please continue to pray for this baby as well as my nerves.

So today was a bunch of mixed emotions, but mainly thankfulness for Ceilidh, Kenan, and Baby #3 even though they are all in different spatial and spiritual realms. I am excited and I am even more excited now that we have gone "public!" haha

Pictures to come soon after I find the time to scan the ultrasound picture.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine's Day. Ceilidh definitely did as she was invited to her first Valentine's Day party. The week started out with Ceilidh getting a card all the way from Long Beach, California! Grappy and Granddaddy are on a cruise and then traveling in the west so they sent their card early. Thanks for the card Grappy and Granddaddy!

Then she got a party invitation from ZZ and Pops for a Valentine's Day party. She was SO excited all week. She kept asking me if she was going to have cake. haha We walked into the house decorated with hearts and streamers! Ceilidh got to eat lunch, have cupcakes, play with new puzzles, make cards, etc. The party was just for Ceilidh and Zion so mommy got to go to downtown Southern Pines and shop! woohoo! ha Thank you so much for the great party and galloping horse, ZZ and Pops!

Long night

I guess Ceilidh and Zion were both up so late cheering the Tarheels to a VICTORY over Dook last night, that they were both pooped out this morning. Way to go senior heels for NEVER losing to the dookies in Cameron arena. That is quite an accomplishment! (Grandmothers, don't be alarmed... Ceilidh was in bed by 7:40pm and I am sure I can speak for Lydia that Zion wasn't up watching the game! wink)

While I was getting dressed and hanging up clothes this morning, Ceilidh and Zion started playing, "night night" in "Cinny's" bed. I love how Zion says "Cinny." They were adorable playing peek-a-boo, going "night night", and hugging each other. They both were acting out their bedtime routines, which as you can see by the pictures, obviously includes lots of hugs and kisses for both!

Happy Belated Birthday ZZ!

Sorry this post is so late, ZZ! We really had a good time at your party. We love you more than you will ever know!


Ceilidh is singing "Twinkle Twinkle little star..."


We had a sing-a-long at her party and the kids were the stars! They had SO much fun they literally were falling off the ottoman b/c they were laughing so hard.

Robbins Branch Trail

We had an open house yesterday and the weather was BEAUTIFUL, so we decided to go hiking to enjoy the weather. Andrew had heard some really neat things about a particular trail in the UWharrie Mt. range, so we decided to go check it out. Ceilidh loves her backpack. It makes it A LOT easier to walk, hike, shop, etc.





Towards the end of the trail, she started asking to walk. So... Ceilidh hiked her very first steps this weekend! ha She thought she was something else. She wouldnt even pause for a forward facing picture. She was determined to finish the trail! haha

Nature vs. Nurture

Other than my daughter being down-right CRAZY thanks to medicine (Dr.'s always warn you about drowsiness, they need to warn you about craziness and meanness with certain meds.), we had a really good day. Ceilidh was very excited about helping me with the laundry. I promise it isn't child labor, she really loves throwing the clothes into the dryer. It's really cute!



I am a way bigger believer of nurture than nature in the nurture vs. nature argument when it comes to most anything; but I do believe God created innate differences in men and women though. Today I pulled out some bowls and spoons for the kids to hear how differently sized bowls make different sounds. Of course within minutes, they both were banging as hard as they could and loving every minute. We were playing around with rhythms to see if the kids could follow what I was doing. They actually were getting a few of the easier ones.

Zion decided to take this to another level and started rocking out to "Jesus loves me" on bowls. He was literally singing the song and beating the melody with his spoon. Ceilidh would chime in every once in a while with a "Jesus" and a "me," etc. She was providing great backup singing. ha I told him that "Zion and the bowls" was sure to skyrocket with there #1 hit "Jesus loves me" techno style.





Ceilidh on the other hand rocked it out for a bit, but then flipped her bowl over and started stirring. She started pretending to pick up ingredients and put them in her bowl. She stood up and started to open the oven before I stopped her (her comfort level with the oven makes me nervous!). She looked at me and said, "Cook cancakes (pancakes). So, obviously we need some more work on how to cook pancakes, ie: not in the oven, but I just started laughing. She then placed the bowl on the stove, grabbed it off, stirred again, and placed one bowl on the table for "key key," and one bowl on the table for "Zi i." She then proceeded to eat her "cancakes" and kept asking Zion to eat his as well! haha





So yes, Ceilidh is exemplifying the nurture argument here as she is "playing" what is modeled before her. Obviously we cook/feed her. But I also think that there is just an innate need for women/girls to nurture others. I'm not saying that this should be the expected in a relationship, or that a woman should feel pressure to be that perfect housewife... but I do believe somewhere deep down in us, we need to "take care." In fact, I strongly believe gender roles should be discussed thoroughly before and during the engagement process b/c of the potential conflict that can rise from this issue. I think every couple has to determine who is going to do what for their own relationship, everybody has different strengths/weaknesses and desires/displeasures.

Ceilidh probably sees her Daddy cook more than mommy actually, and sees mommy beat on instruments and make noise way more than Daddy when she goes to dance with me. I definitely hope she sees and feels me nurturing her, I'm just saying from a literal standpoint, Ceilidh usually sees the opposite of what she was demonstrating today. Nothing life altering, I just thought it was a interesting observation.

Snowing again!!

Yay! We woke up to more snow this morning. It is really pretty and light enough that I can still dance, which is good for the paycheck! I love snow! Ceilidh was very excited about the snow, but was not excited at all about Lydia's sickness. When Lydia called me to tell me that she was keeping Zion this morning, Ceilidh started crying for, "Zi i!" haha It was pretty sweet. Lydia can back me up, she heard her. I think she was so depressed that she wanted to watch Franklin instead of Dora this morning. That is a BIG deal! haha

Always an Adventure

There are always adventures on Saunders St. during the weekdays. It actually started out as a wonderful morning with Ceilidh and Zion both loving mandarin oranges and oatmeal. Score for cyndy. We had fun making special crafts and reading a few books. Score again. Then, I had the grand idea of using the new sidewalk chalk just to get them into fresh air for a FEW minutes. It is pretty cold so I didn't want to keep them out too long. Since the play area is just across the street, I usually don't take my keys or phone. Well, today I bundled them up, grabbed my jacket, locked the door, and walked out. Nothing unusual. Exactly... as you are reading this you are thinking, duh... don't lock the door when you don't have keys! UGH!!

We had to walk next door to the neighbor's house whom I have never met and she has just had a baby. I actually have been telling Andrew for a while that we should meet them b/c they have lived next door for almost a year. She was really nice but I was really embarrassed that the first time I meet her I am asking to use her phone. I called our realtor b/c she is a friend and the only other person that has a key! ha I knew there was no way Andrew could leave so I had no choice. I am really thankful to Danna.

So I am trying to keep the kids hands in their jackets and running around to keep them warm. Ceilidh and Zion have LOVED being outside and have no idea anything is amiss. At this point, they are starting to get a little hungry and sleepy though, so a wee bit moody. We are playing with Ceilidh's Little Coupe car in the backyard when Suzanne pulls up to drop off the extra car seat for Zion. Playing has turned into discipline though as I am having to correct a screaming Ceilidh for not sharing and correct a screaming Zion for taking matters into his own hands to make Ceilidh share. So of course, my mother-in-law would show up just as her incompetent daughter-in-law has locked her grandchildren out of the house and is scolding both of them! ha Thankfully she had 5 children and understands most anything.

Danna got to the house while we were warming up in ZZ's car which the kids thought was great. For all their trouble (wink), they got suckers when we got back into the house! ha