things I love 4 - wall colors

I'm not much in the mood for writing about things I love because I have the flu. My fever has been spiking around 104 all day. And I'm miserable because I didn't get to go to my Dad's scout award ceremony - my grandparents and brother are here and I didn't get to spend much time with them. But I couldn't even sit upright today so it was smart not to be out. My dinner was ritz crackers and Sierra Mist.

Anyway, something I do love that I was staring at earlier from the couch is all the fun colors on my walls! Our living room is a dark blue, office are is bright orange and the kitchen is called "Crocodile Smile" - it's really a bright apple green. Beca's room is yellow ("Morning Sun", I think) and her bathroom is "playful pool". I love having color on my walls - it makes it hard not to be in a decent mood when there's a bright pop of color looking back at you. And all the pictures and such look so much better with that background. Thankfully, I also love to paint because there's still more to work on in this house!

things I love 3 - generations

I am one of the few in this world that is lucky enough to have 5 generations of women alive and well! And I love it!
#1 - my great-grandmother, Mammy - Anna Reidenauer Weller. She still lives by herself in the house she's been in for years. She still quilts and other various sewing projects. I have several of her quilts and she has helped with several special projects for me. My two favorites are my wedding quilt, which was fabric from my father's mother and then Mammy and Grandma put it together. They also took a sheet that my Dad had painted Disney characters on that was my crib sheet when I was a baby and a Hawaii blanket and quilted those together when Beca was born!
#2 - my grandmother, Grandma - Sara (Weller) Wagner. Grandma's here right now! Beca adores her and my grandfather. I grew up with Grandma and Grandpop always coming to visit or always visiting them, even when we lived far away. They live in Pennsylvania but had a house in Myrtle Beach for a while. I vaguely remember the trailer there and sort of remember another house on the golf course. Grandma loves to shop and always finds the best deals, one of the many things that got passed down. She loves all her kids, in-laws (unless they hurt one of the kids - then all bets are off), grand-children, and her great-grandchildren. I also got a love for collections from her, I think. And I adore how her formal dining room is always set with beautiful dishes and place settings and how they change throughout the year. And, of course, the Disney collection in the house. It never hurt that I worked for the Disney Store for a few years to help out that collection. Grandma also like to knit and crochet. She makes the best afghans for cold days.
#3 - my mother, Oma - Dawn Christine (Wagner) Leister. One of the most wonderful people I know and my bestest of best friends. She lets me vent, doesn't take sides (unless you hurt one of her kids - then all bets are off), and she's the best secret keeper in the world. She's just a good person all around and would like everyone else just to be happy and get along. I get my habit of hiding presents I can't find later or that I forget I have from her (though I haven't wrapped my Christmas list in anyone's present yet). I pack-rat the same way and at the same time need the sense of order that she needs. She's way more patient than I am. But she also likes to collect things. Her shopping is more in spurts - the conintuous need skipped a generation.
#4 - me, Mommy - Angela Dawn (Leister) Cottle. I love me. Haha! Well, most days. I love to be funny and throw something amusing into a conversation when I can come up with it. It's easier with some people than with others. I also love that I think I can decorate, take pictures, and do everything else that I want to do.
#5 - Beca - Rebecca Dawn Cottle. And seriously, if you don't know much about her, you obviously haven't read enough of this blog. She's hysterical. And closing in on 4 years old.

So, that's our 5 generations. And here's our photo gallery:

First picture was unfortunately at my other great-grandmother's funeral (Mom's father's mother). But there's 2 month old Beca:
In November 2006, Beca was 17 months old and we went to PA for a weekend - just the girls. We took this at Lynn's at a girls only breakfast with as many woman in Mammy's family as could come.

Mammy's 95th birthday (Beca had just turned 2)
June, 2008 - we took our first "hand picture" - mine is the huge one in the bunch.
June, 2008 - Beca hd just turned 3 and we were able to go have a photographer take a picture of all of us!

Double docs for Beca

Beca, with all her sickness, had a busy week. Saturday morning we went to Target to get a new seat for my car so we could take the van for its regular service/oil change. It's a high-back booster seat so she gets to use the big girl seat belt. And she loves it. Right now it's only for the occasional trip in mommy's car. Her high fever started Saturday after already being on antibiotics for a double ear infection. She stayed home since Saturday afternoon to try to recuperate which really meant a lot of wallowing on her choice of parents, yelling at Zoe and watching TV, mostly Little Einsteins. I think we actually know some of the words to the episodes now (there are like 62 or 63 of them and most of them are on our DVR currently). There's this "lovely" feature that if you hit "play" at the top of the list, it will start from it's last point and just keep playing all the episodes. Would be cool for a marathon of an adult show but not so much on the kids show. Except that it kept Beca quiet. High fever persisted until Tuesday night but she still couldn't go to school on Wednesday - had to wait out the 24 hour fever free period.
On Wednesday, she finally got to leave the house. To go to the ENT. We were thinking it might be tubes again but the doc wanted to wait this out and see if her next growth spurt helped. Except that she has negative pressure in her ear and is developing some minor, temporary hearing loss. Which could explain a lot except that she's 3 and I think all 3-year-olds (and men in general) have selective hearing. The solution: a device that helps Beca blow up a balloon with her nostril. It's kind of funny to watch but she's already frustrated with it because I can do it and Daddy can do it and she'll sob at us "But I'm just a little girl". Which breaks my heart and makes me laugh all at the same time. So, Daddy had picked to go to that appointment.
And that left me with the dentist. Last time, it was sheer torture for all of us. She cried and kicked and had to be held down. This time, I started talking about it last week and I think she got excited about it - new princess toothbrush and all. She did really good, though she did keep trying to get up after every little thing but I think it was only because she had some sniffles in her nose and laying on your back with crud in your nose is no fun. But we made it through and her teeth were pronounced "gorgeous" by Dr. Dan. She picked out a Snow White toothbrush that is pink and white-ish with glitter in it and a Tinkerbell sticker, and a prize at the end! I don't think it hurt that I let her wear her princess skirt and top with pink tights today. It was very cute so everyone felt it necessary to comment on her. And now, Mommy knows just what to do to brush Beca's teeth! The cutest part about today, though, was dropping Beca off at her class. Her friend Flora immediately ran up and when the other kids realized that it was Beca, she suddenly had about 6 others running up and trying to give her hugs. They all stopped their individual work to come see her! It was so sweet! And Caroline and Erin were both trying really hard to wait their turn to give her hugs, which was even sweeter! Since I don't do it very often, drop off is very interesting for me, especially in the middle of the day. Beca didn't realaly worry that I left but I heard her tell her teacher Dee "that's my mom". She had a good day, but no nap. Hopefully, we're all done being sick for a while...

things I love 2 - music

I love music. all kinds of music. See, there's music for every occasion. Gwen Stefani works well when I am trying to get something mundane done at work - and some songs for cleaning the house. Some music (REM, U2, Barenaked Ladies, Alanis Morrissette, Garth Brooks, amongst others) remind me of high school and college. I love to unwind to classical. I love to dance. I love to sing old choral songs and songs from musicals and operas and all the music I listened to day after day working at the Disney Store. There's a place in life for punk (girl punk is one of Steve's favorites so I love to hear it), for metal, for 40's, for the Beach Boys, John Denver, Marilyn Manson, Trisha Yearwood, Marroon 5, Lily Allen, Rascal Flatts, and on and on and on. I love to have music on - and the radio is my car is awesome for it. I love to listen to choral concerts and orchestral music. I drag my husband to musicals. And Beca loves music. She often sings from one of the Little Mermaid movies while she's in the bathtub. And you can tell what she is singing. She loves the Sound of Music. She'll actually watch the whole movie. And I love that too.

Most exciting for me today on the music thing is that I will get to see some of my very favorite rock infused with everything music at the NO DOUBT concert in June! I am beyond excited that Stephanie agreed to get tickets for the Pit with me through the Fan club! Hmmm, now what am I going to wear?

Lent & the things I love

So my mother sends out a weekly note and this week's was about Lent. Here's her message:

this week starts Lent; traditionally folks get to 'pig out' today, followed by the Ash Wednesday service tomorrow and the beginning for most of giving up something for 40 days. While giving up something is still a good way to be reminded of the sacrifices Jesus faced, another way to look at Lent and the next 40 plus days (Sundays are usually excluded from the count) is to do something that you normally wouldn't do - instead of giving something up. And of course, God wants us to do these things by not boasting and saying 'look at me; at what I'm doing or giving up' but by doing it without all the noise. A few ideas to consider - reading a bible passage every day or a Lenten devotion, doing at least one thing for someone else each day, volunteering, saying kind words and maybe even putting money in a jar every time we say something negative... There are a number of things we can do - even making note each day of the blessings we all have in our lives - to each of us, it's personal what we decide. But as we move into Lent and the death of Jesus, we are reminded of how much God loves us; I hope you all feel that too.

So, thanks to the fact that I finally sat down and caught up on some friends' blogs, I came up with the idea to write about something every day that I love (thanks Mary!). That shouldn't be too hard. Coming up with a list was pretty easy. And I'm totally going to copy something else from Mary!
I love my daughter's name! Rebecca Dawn Cottle came to us very easily as a name for a daughter. Steve's mother is Mary Rebecca and goes by Becky. My mother is Dawn Christine and my middle name is Dawn. Rebecca Dawn was too easy and so easy to love. I tend to interchange Rebecca and Beca a lot. I know it drives people crazy that I shortened her name to Beca with one "c" and not two. Well, that's for something else I loved. I had a sister in college who I adored and she was (and still is) fabulous. I loved how bright and vivacious she always was and strong and smart. And her nickname was Beca with one "c". I've always loved how it looks and how easy it is to write or type in. And it is just a little different. Plus, 4 letters costs less than 5 when you have to pay by the letter so this appealed to my demented practical side. But it really was easy for Beca to learn how to spell the shortened version of her name. We started spelling out "B-E-C-A" before she was 2 and she mostly got the hang of it. She can't write it yet but she now knows that B and R both can start her name. And any letter in her name that she spots she will say "My name starts with that". But letters aren't her strong suit. Regardless, I love her name and I love to hear her say "I'm Rebecca Dawn Cottle".

Cruise

Ha - I did upload pictures somewhere... click on the Title of the post "Cruise" to see them!
I have honestly been focused on scrapbooking since the weekend after the cruise I went to the beach and did 46 pages on the cruise (um, but we're only through the morning of Day 3). This weekend I've done another 10 pages - only 2 more pages and day 3 will be done. And I've finally finished writing all my notes in and putting page protectors on our Disney December 2007 trip. So I'm kind of tapped out frorm writing about the cruise. Except that it was awesome and we are getting ready to go on another - which we'll be able to dod with our vacation club. Just need to figure out when.

Finally, a resolution I can stick to

I realized, with the insanity of the beginning of the year, that I did not really make a resolution. My friend Jeremy has said he has stuck by his and has not had a cigarette all year. That's only funny because Jeremy doesn't smoke! So, resolutions I can keep this year:
- No bow-hunting trips
- No shooting guns
- No starting riots
- No cleaning chimneys
- Cut back on roller derby

Actually, my resolution was originally to hurry through all the crap in our house in time to clean out for a nursery. I think I'll stick to that even if the nursery won't necessarily be needed within this year.
I also had a resolution to start cleaning my house up regularly (joint with Steve). We're doing pretty good, actually. 2 Dysons (1 for up stairs and 1 for down) makes it a little easier. Good thing too. With a cut in my pay, I couldn't afford the cleaning lady anyway. And we've found all kinds of things they missed.
And with the Wii Fit, I am actually getting some stretching, etc. in most days. So, I don't necessarily want to lose weight but I do want to get a little stronger.

I think I'll add "eat massive amounts of girl scout cookies" now. That sounds like a resolution I really can keep too.

funny little 20 year old

Well, sometimes the things that come out of Beca's mouth seem like she's 20!
My mom sent me this note the other day:

"did I tell you that in the middle of our dinner last Thursday, Beca said, 'Betty, how is your mother?' it was very cute. Then when we went to leave, she said, 'thank you very much for having lunch with me, Betty.'"

she's an absolute riot sometimes!

and, no I haven't written anything since we got back from the cruise. I've either been working on cruise pictures, cruise scrapbook, or being miserably sick. Beca has a double ear infection and Steve and I had the same ear/cough/congestion crud. Starting to feel better though - I can hear out of my right ear for more than an hour at a time now. We're all on some sort of antibiotic. Maybe this weekend we won't feel like shut-ins.

One more Beca story - tonight, she was at my parents while Steve was knocking some sense into 7th graders at confirmation class and I was supposed to be scrapbooking but I forgot my pictures and it's kind of hard to do that without pictures so I came home and made a baby shower centerpiece - it's a diaper cake. Anyway, back to Beca. My mom keeps an old set of curlers (or rollers) in her bathroom as decoration - the kind with the spiky things coming out of them. She used to have to sleep in these evil torture devices and there is the cutest picture of her and her sister where they have their hair up in these curlers. Pop-pop snapped this picture tonight:
Beca was all excited by the time she got home to tell me that she had curlers in her hair - which she loves to sing during "Maria" in Sound of Music.

Happy 33rd Fit Birthday!

Today, Beca had the most exciting day! Not only is it Daddy's 33rd birthday (and Uncle Bobby's), it was also Pajama Day and a Valentine's party at school! She was so very excited. With her purple Jasmine pj's on and pink poodle in hand, she was so excited to wake Daddy up and sing happy birthday and then watch him open his presents! His present was a Wii Fit. Beca told us that we needed to do what was on the box and the girls had to do the pose with our hands above our head. She kept trying to get her foot up on her leg to do the pose and then she'd swing her hands over her head. It was very funny.