Ahnna comes in and gives me a big hug.  “Oh hi mom! I love you! Kiss? – Muah -  Oh hug!…cookie?”

So gets worse before it gets better.  After I told everyone in the house what I was hearing, Nathan’s mom said she has been hearing the gate at the bottom of the stairs opening and closing when no one is home but her.  It’s one of those baby gates that you install into the wall and it has a lever on top that you lift to open and shut.  I keep blaming Nathan that he has been leaving the gate open but apparently it may have not been totally his fault.

So Sunday night the house was dedicated.  Just a special prayer to help us all feel safe and calm.  So far I feel much better.

For a while when I got up to feed Isaac at night I would hear footsteps in the hallway.  The first few times I thought Ahnna had woken up and was walking to the living room because it sounded like little strides at her pace.  But when I got up to see, there was no one there and Ahnna was always fast asleep when I put Isaac back.  I decided I was so tired that time of night I was delusional anyway. After a while it got quite unnerving.  I put Isaac in our room so I didn’t have to leave to feed him. Last night, Nathan was still up in the living room on the computer with headphones on and I was in the bedroom checking my voice mail when I heard Nathan walking down the hall.  There was no mistaking what I was hearing.  I got confused when I didn’t see him appear in the doorway or hear the bathroom door close.  I went out and asked if he had gotten up at all and he said he hadn’t moved.  That was the last straw for me.  I was freaking out the whole night, I wouldn’t let Nathan go and I had dreams of people hiding out in the house.  I’m still jumpy.

I’ve never been someone who believed in ghosts.  I’ve thought that there is always an explanation for everything.  I laugh at Ghost Hunters and I think it is all doctored.  I don’t watch scary movies because my imagination is too much for me to handle already.  However, I think I will stay upstairs at night until it is time for bed and then run to bed and get completely under the covers after Nathan is already there.  Then I might feel safe enough.

Wow I saw lots of family I haven’t seen on both sides in a long time this Thanksgiving and I didn’t take a singe picture.  I really dropped the ball on that one.  It was a good time though.  We reserved the church for Thanksgiving which was a good thing because there were LOTS of people.  Ahnna had a great time playing with 2nd cousins and was good and exhausted at night for a few days.  I think that is the best part of the holidays.  I sometimes feel bad that Ahnna doesn’t get to play with other kids her age as often as I would like her to.

For the longest time there was just one song I would sing to Ahnna before bed.  It is a long time favorite hymn of mine called “Abide with Me; ‘Tis Eventide.”  I thought it an appropriate bedtime song.  The first verse goes like this:

Abide with me; ’tis eventide.  The day is past and gone;

The shadows of the evening fall; the night is coming on.

Within my heart a welcome guest, Within my home abide.

O Savior stay this night with me; Behold ’tis eventide.

O Savior stay this night with me; Behold, ’tis eventide.

One evening not too long ago she started singing along.  It was so precious.  It didn’t even occur to me that she was actually listening to the words.  Now she will ask to sing that one.  She calls it “O Say” as in “O Savior.” She sings along with I am A Child of God now too.  Before she started singing I almost stopped singing to her at night because I was tired and wanted to put her to bed as quickly as possible…. I think I’m going to sing with my kids at night forever now.

Nathan’s first real job interview ever landed us in Othello.  A very small Washington town that is mainly farming.  It was more of a get to know you trip, see if you fit in with our group kind of thing instead of a real interview.  All expenses for the trip except gas was paid for.  We even had a gift basket waiting for us at the hotel.

Overall it seems like a nice little town with friendly people.  Real estate was really cheap too so it would be a nice place for a first home.  I felt very grown up and in the real world accompanying my husband on a trip to a job interview.  I was too excited about getting out on our own to  find anything wrong with the place that would make me not want to move there.  Generally I am not picky, and since this place has incentives to pay back all of your school loans, I was even less picky.

Isaac is such a happy boy

He is such a Momma’s boy and I love it…. most the time – Going out is hard to do.

Smile!!

Just had to show off Ahnna's new outfit from Grandma Spinelli. So Cute!! She is sucking in her stomach here - I swear I feed her...

Ok I really liked our Halloween costumes so I made this banner for the blog and had it up for about a day.  Well Nathan and I both decided it made us look a little (or a lot) extreme.  We like sci-fi and all but we aren’t crazy people about it.  Halloween was way fun.  This was the first year we took Ahnna out to trunk or treat.  Once she caught on to what was going on she had a blast.

So the hardest part about parenthood up to this point has got to be potty training.  I totally stressed out from the get go.  I’m just starting to relax a bit but whether she is starting to get it or not is completely unknown.  She does not quite get the reward system yet and every time she sits on the potty, if she goes or not she yells “WOOHOO!!” when she gets off.   She actually goes in the potty maybe half the time.  We are only a few days in and I know it can take a few weeks but every time she has an accident I melt down and want to quit.  Pathetic I know.  The only thing that has made me not quit is knowing that it is bad to start training and then stop over and over and I have tried a few times already so I HAVE to follow through.  Man this talk about them “being ready” applies more to me in this case.  My mom is sending me this book about using a doll to help train them.  I think she will do well with that because she always liked to change her doll’s diapers.