Golden Friends

Lately, I seem to have a lot of childhood songs and poems popping into my head. I'm not sure of the exact title, but the one running through my mind right now goes something like this:

"Make new friends,

But keep the old.

One is silver

And the other gold."

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to spend the weekend with some "golden friends". Jeremy and I went to high school together. We have a long history together: I dated his brother; he dated my sister; working at summer camp together; attending the same church; participating in choir, band, drama club, etc. He even played the role of my father...twice...in 2 different musicals. It's amazing how years can pass, we can attend separate colleges, move to different states, start our careers and families, build new friendships, and yet, when we get together, it's as if nothing has changed.

Jeremy married an amazing girl named Julie and they have a little girl named Katie. Katie and Molly are only TWO DAYS different in age! We've gotten together a few different times...once when Julie and I were both pregnant and again when the girls were only a few months old. It's been fun to watch them grow together and to compare notes on all the crazy aspects of parenting a toddler.

It was while they were here visiting from South Carolina that we got our totally unexpected "snow storm" (if you can call less than 2 inches of snow a storm). The girls had fun playing in the snow...I mean, staring at the snow in confusion and wondering why their parents were forcing them to wear ridiculously puffy snowsuits and acting like crazy people while taking a million pictures ;-)

By the way, isn't Katie just a doll?

I was amazed by how quickly Molly attached herself to Julie. As you may have picked up from previous posts, Molly has taken the "stranger anxiety" stage to epic levels. It normally takes her a good long while before she warms up to new people. Not the case with Katie's mommy. It was like she knew that Julie was another mommy so she had to be alright. There were even a few occasions where I was holding Molly and she leaned over to reach out to Julie! She was so precious on the last night that they were here visiting. We were having a grand time decorating the tree, eating popcorn, and listening to Christmas music. Julie was sitting on the floor playing with Katie when Molly toddled over and sat right down on Julie's lap (on top of Katie!). It was like a little dogpile of friends. So cute!

So, remember that no matter how far you move from home, no matter how many career changes, life changes, or relationship changes you make, there will always be golden friends from your past that will remind you of where you've come from and of the experiences that have shaped you. Thanks for a great weekend, Jeremy, Julie and Katie! Can't wait to do it again sometime soon.

Beautiful Snow!

We were surprised by a lovely snowfall today. The weather yesterday predicted that a "dusting" of snow was a "possibility". Well, it turned out to be a lot more than a dusting and it is absolutely beautiful. It turned out to be about 2 inches, which is a big deal here in North Carolina. Our good friends, Jeremy and Julie, were visiting from South Carolina and Jeremy snapped this family photo for us. Too bad we already ordered our Christmas cards, because this would've been a great one!

The snow was so beautiful and turned our drab, brown yard into a sparkling winter wonderland. It put all of us in the Christmas spirit, so much so that we decided to go out and get our Christmas tree and decorate the house (more of that in a future post). With some hot cocoa and homemade popcorn, I felt like we were living in a Christmas movie :)

Molly wasn't really sure what to think of the snow. She did a pretty good job of walking around in the fluffy white stuff on her own, despite being squeezed into her 3-6 month snowsuit. That's just another benefit of being such a peanut; last year's snowsuit still fits (sort of)! For the most part, she seemed a little confused by the whole situation. She's definitely an outside girl and spends hours playing in the yard each day. I'm sure it was a bit unsettling to see her familiar yard covered in white powder. I'm so in love with the contemplative look she gets on her face when she's studying something new and interesting. Such a cutie!

"There once was a girl who had a little curl..."

At 15 months old, Molly has taken on quite a personality. Since I've never parented a toddler before, I have no idea what "typical" behavior is, if there is such a thing. But Molly has developed quite a repertoire of emotions lately. She can go from giddy to cuddly to sulking to frustrated to downright mad in a matter of moments. I'm sure it has to be frustrating to navigate the world at this age. Her mind is going a million miles a minute, but her body is still catching up with her. She wants to run and climb and communicate, but all of those skills take time to learn and, in the meantime, life can get a bit frustrating. Her behavior reminds me of a poem my mom used to recite to me when I was a kid:

"There once was a girl who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good, she was very very good,

But when she was bad, she was horrid."

I'd like to think my mom recited it to me because I had curly hair and not because I was horrid, but it could be both. The first part doesn't really apply to our little Molly who's still working on overcoming her newborn baldness, but the second part is definitely applicable. The majority of the time, she is very very good. She loves to laugh and has the most fantastic belly laugh when she's playing peek-a-boo. She's playful and curious and just so darn cute. She absolutely loves to play outside and has been having a blast tromping through all the leaves in our yard, as you can see.

But lately, we've been running into a few occasions where our "very very good" little girl has turned "horrid". Usually this happens when we're expecting her to do something that she has set her mind against doing or we tell her NOT to do something that she has decided she MUST do. For example, we went to the North Carolina Zoo last weekend and most of our pictures turned out looking something like this:

Why??? Because Molly did NOT want to sit in her stroller and Molly did NOT want to be carried in any way, shape, or form...not in the Beco, not in our arms, not even on Daddy's shoulders. What did Molly want to do? She wanted to walk! Well, the entire walking trail through the zoo is about 5 miles and Molly's legs are about 14 inches long so walking was not an option. This led to lots of kicking, screaming and tantrum-throwing. An interesting day, to say the least.

On the homefront, it's a little easier to give her the freedom to explore and move about. One of her favorite things to do is climb up and down the front steps of our house (and rearrange the pumpkins). The bricks make me so nervous, but we keep our hands close behind her and she has actually gotten quite good at navigating the stairs safely and efficiently by herself.

She also likes to practice her walking skills on the front walkway.

Most of the time, she is confident enough to toddle around independently...
But, occasionally she still likes to grab onto one of our hands for that extra dose of reassurance. (I just love this Daddy-daughter moment! Aren't they so cute together???) One sure-fire way to "calm the savage beast" is by reading. Molly LOVES to read and has a collection of about 20 favorite board books that we read through regularly. And there's nothing I love more than coming home at the end of the day and snuggling up on the couch with my sweet girl for some reading time. Her dolly has also become a regular participant in our story time lately.

Molly also likes to "read" by herself. She empties her bookshelf at least once a day, if not three or four times. It's so cute to watch. She plops herself down, takes off one book at a time, flips through it page by page, and then tosses it down to grab the next one. She'll "read" every book and empty the entire shelf, then walk away. We're still working on the "putting away" part and probably will be for a long time :)

A few other 15-month updates: Molly now weighs 19lb. 9oz. and she's 28.5 inches tall. She is at the low end of the growth curve, but her height and weight are still perfectly proportional and she's strong and healthy. She's just petite. Molly is also very "talkative". She doesn't use any distinct words yet, but she's constantly jabbering on in her own little Molly-language. Her little language is constantly cracking us up because she'll constantly switch back and forth between nonsense syllables, sing-song tones, high-pitched squeals, clicks, and other little mouth noises. I think she just prefers to speak in her language because it's just so much more fun than plain old English. It's incredible how quickly she's developing new skills, from walking and vocalizing to imaginary play. It will be fun to see how much changes over the next few months.

27 Weeks and Counting!

It's incredible how quickly this pregnancy is flying by! At 27 weeks, I'm on the cusp between my 2nd and 3rd trimester, depending on what book you read. I've gained 24 lbs. so far and my belly is measuring at 37.25 inches, which means I'm looking almost exactly like I was at this point in my pregnancy with Molly. Every measurement is almost identical. And just like his/her big sister, Molly, our little "newbie" has been extremely active. I've been watching my belly dance all over the place with little kicks, jabs, and somersaults.

Up until this point, I really haven't had any inkling at all about whether our "newbie" is a boy or a girl. But for some reason, this week, I've had this sneaking suspicion that we're in for another girl. I mentioned my thoughts to Eric and he revealed that he'd been having the same feelings. We both knew Molly was a girl, so we'll have to see if we're right again. I can't wait until February to meet our newest little Frueh!!!

Welcome to "Toddlerhood"

Well, our little Molly is officially a "toddler". She's been crawling and cruising for MONTHS, but never seemed all that interested in, literally, "taking the next step" to walk. Afterall, crawling seemed much more efficient and MUCH safer than all this walking business. But, for the last few weeks, she's gotten braver, taking steps here and there. If the distance was much more than an arm's reach, however, she was content to crawl. If she was going to walk any significant distance, it would only happen with someone holding one hand.

No more! On Sunday night, she just took off. Check out these epic "toddles" across the house!

Livingroom to Kitchen

Livingroom to Laundry Room

Fall Happenings

Autumn is finally upon us here in NC and what a wonderful autumn it has been so far. Fall has to be my favorite season of the year. I love everything about it: crisp apples, tart cider, chilly evening air, the golden sun low in the sky lighting up the multi-colored trees. We've been blessed with a beautiful fall filled with sunny days and just enough chill to make you want to grab a sweater and a hot cup of tea. It's been so much fun to take Molly outside to soak up this wonderful weather. She's definitely a little "nature girl". She spends quite a bit of time outside each day crunching up leaves in the yard, rearranging the gravel in the driveway, and hiking around the house. For the most part, she's been walking around holding one of our hands, but just this week, she's started taking several independent steps in a row. She can probably go a distance of 6-8 feet completely on her own. Just based on the progress we've seen this week, I wouldn't be surprised if she was totally independently walking in the next week or so.

It's been so much fun to watch Molly really experience all the fun fall festivities for the first time. A few weeks ago, we went to a local pumpkin patch together and had a fabulous time.

Trying to pick just the right pumpkin.

"I think this is the one, Daddy. Yup, definitely a perfect pumpkin."

It was so hard to get a picture of Molly's face on the hayride because she was so enthralled with all the new sights, sounds, and experiences. She was constantly looking here, there, and everywhere...except at the camera.

The pumpkin patch had a cool maze through the woods. It took us a REALLY long time to get through the maze because Molly insisted on practicing her walking skills. Taking in life at toddler pace is really quite leisurely and enjoyable :)

For Halloween weekend, we made a spontaneous decision to make a quick weekend trip up to Pittsburgh to visit with Eric's family. Molly is FINALLY starting to tolerate long trips in the car (it only took 14 months or so for her to realize that carseats are NOT medieval torture devices). And, spontaneity will only be more difficult after February when there are two little baby Fruehs to pack for. So, we figured it was the perfect opportunity for such a quick trip. It turned out to be a fabulous weekend and Molly was a wonderful little traveler.

The saving grace of this car trip was her bag of books. She probably spent hours reading, re-reading, and flipping through all of her favorite books. For some reason, she prefers to read most of her books upside down. Silly girl! (When we read to her, we of course read right-side-up). We had a great time carving pumpkins with Eric's whole family.
Molly very much wanted to join in on the fun. This whole pumpkin-carving business was quite fascinating to her.Uh, Molly, I think that one's a bit heavy for you!

The finished products! From left to right: Scary Witch (me and Eric), The Bride of Frankenstein (Jana), Spider Pumpkin (Stephen), Bats in the Belfry (Jonathan), and the Sad Jack-o-Lantern (Fred).We were fortunate on such a short visit to be able to spend time with both of Eric's grandmothers. At Molly's Great Gramma's house, she decided to show off some of her favorite tricks. Here, she's showing us that she knows where her head is...

...and her belly...

...and she knows how to clap...

...and she knows where her "kiss" is. We've been working on blowing kisses. She's gotten the first part down of putting her hands to her lips, but she hasn't quite gotten the "blowing the kiss" part yet.

Molly was a Sock Monkey for Halloween to match one of her favorite crib buddies. Her Great Gramma made her the sock monkey for Christmas last year and now they get to match!Couldn't you just kiss those little cheeks????Monkeying around with Daddy.She definitely looked like a little monkey when her Pop taught her how to eat a banana all by herself. She has always LOVED bananas so she's now thrilled that she has learned to eat one on her own. That's the only way she wants to eat them now. She even tries to snatch whole bananas and bite through the peel if we don't peel them for her.
"Thanks, Pop, for teaching me such a cool new trick!"Hanging out with Pop and her "aunt" Zinya. We were so pleased with how well Molly did all weekend hanging out with her Pop and her uncles. It was only a few short months ago that she was so afraid of men that just a wrong glance in her direction would result in shrieks and tears and holding her was out of the question. We are SO glad to see the "stranger anxiety" stage almost behind us. To all of Molly's loving male relatives, thanks for being patient. Now the fun part begins :)The highlight of Molly's trip was being able to take a bath in her GG's super-neat tub. She had a blast splashing in the water and making faces in the mirror. She looks like a little mime trying to do her "box routine" on the glass.

The most hilarious thing was watching her play "peek-a-boo" behind the clear glass wall. She thought this was the greatest game in the world. We didn't tell her that the clear glass didn't really make the best of hiding places ;)

Well, it looks like fall is quickly passing us by. Today's temperatures were in the 30s and 40s, meaning winter is right around the corner. All the Christmas decorations were up at the new Tanger Outlets when we went today. And I'm hoping we'll see more than a few snowflakes fly our way in the next few months. Amazingly, before this winter is over, the Frueh family will have expanded by one member. We're all excited to meet our newest addition and, by this time next year, we'll have two little pumpkins to share this wonderful season with.

Our Two Babies Together

Eric snapped this great photo last weekend at the wedding of some friends of ours. It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day and the wedding took place right next to this beautiful pond. Molly had a great time walking all over the place and she probably would've jumped right into the water if we let her. It's hard to believe that just 18 months ago, Molly was just a bump on my belly just about the size of the one I'm carrying right now. Since I haven't been very good about taking any official "belly shots" (chasing around a 1-year-old tends to keep me busy), I guess I'll snatch up this rare belly photo as an opportunity to update you on our little "newbie" (which I haven't done a whole lot of either).

At 22 weeks, our baby is about 11 inches long and almost 1 whole pound! His/her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct and he/she is beginning to develop tiny tooth buds inside the gums. I've been feeling lots of movement for the last few weeks. At first, he/she was very gentle, gracing my belly with a few nice flutters and strokes, but now that the baby is getting more active, I'm feeling more pokes, jabs and somersaults, especially in the late evening. I've also been feeling LOTS of Braxton-Hicks contractions, which the midwife said is totally normal, especially for a second pregnancy. It's just the uterus practicing it's stuff for the big show it will put on in another 4 months or so. I had an appointment at the birth center this week and everything is looking perfect. I'm measuring at exactly 22 weeks and the baby has a strong heartbeat of 160 beats per minute. Since it's still above 150, lots of people have speculated that we're in for another girl. However, I've also heard that the heartrate's connection to the baby's gender is a myth. Honestly, I haven't been getting a feeling either way. I really do want to be truly surprised when he/she is born so I'm not trying to guess one way or the other. I'm so excited to be surprised this time around! In other news, we've narrowed our name choices down to 4 boy names and 2 girl names. We can't seem to make any further decisions, but we're both ok with going into the birth center with six names and getting to know our new little one for a while before settling on a name.

Only 4 more months until the Frueh's become a foursome!

September: Come and Gone!

I know, I know. It's been a LOOOOOOOONG time since I've updated the blog. This school year has been seriously crazy so far. Every minute of my day from 5:30am to 7pm is filled with activity and once Molly goes to bed at 7, it's time for cooking, grading, planning, washing diapers, etc. I'm really looking forward to the 9 weeks of maternity leave I'll have from February to April! I know it will be filled with sleeplessness and all the ups and downs of life with a newborn, but at least I'll be home and un-scheduled.

As promised in my last post, I have LOTS of great pictures from the month of September. All the pictures taken over Labor Day weekend were taken by Eric's mom and dad with their fabulous camera. We were going to get professional 1-year-old pictures taken, but these all turned out so great that we never did. I have over 350 pictures from the last month, but these are just a few of my favorites:

SUCH a typical "Molly face"...a mix of pensive and worried.

LOVE those eyes!

Hanging out with GG after a bike ride.

We all went to see a Durham Bulls game.

I love this moment that Jeri captured between Molly and her Pop.

It looks like she trying really hard to figure out this crazy game of baseball.

Molly loves her Camelbak water bottle. We've tried every kind of sippy cup and straw-cup imaginable, but the only thing she'll drink out of is my Camelbak. So we got her a few of her own.

We also spent a day at Duke Gardens. It was a beautiful late summer day. Breezy, not too hot, and the gardens are just gorgeous!

Two lovely ladies: Molly and her GG.

We also tried out the newest and greatest addition to Alamance County, a little place called The Sneauxball Effect. They make authentic New Orleans snowballs. If you've never had one, you're missing out on a great treat! If you're ever in New Orleans (or Graham, NC), try one. You won't be disappointed.
Molly enjoyed a "Georgia Peach and Cream" with her GG.

Molly has been such a silly girl lately. She laughs hysterically at the funniest things. Here we were just trying to get a picture of her in front of these pretty purple flowers. I was playing peek-a-boo behind Eric to try and coax a smile out of her and here's the result. I'm in love with her laugh, especially the deep belly laugh she has when she's completely lost in silliness. It's one of the greatest sounds in the world!!!

With September comes FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!!!!! Can you tell that Molly and I are excited? The funny thing is that she wore this same exact outfit for the opening of Steeler's season LAST year! Granted it was quite huge on her then, but it fits her perfectly now since she's still in mostly 9-month clothes. Thanks for the outfit, GG and Pop!

And of course, we had to get a picture of the "newbie" in his/her Steeler's gear :) So here's our little 19-week old bean sporting a Bettis jersey. Since we aren't finding out the gender and we still haven't picked any names, Baby Frueh #2 has been officially dubbed as "Newbie". It's funny how different this pregnancy is. This is the first official belly shot we've taken! When you're chasing around a 1-year-old, you forget about the one in the oven :)

Another new development this month were Molly's first steps. She's still very tentative and has only taken a few steps at a time. The most she's taken has been 4 in a row. She finds crawling much safer and easier. If the distance is anything more than an arm's reach, she'll just resort to crawling. We didn't capture anything on video, but these pictures were as close as we could get.

And, now that's it's offically October and there's a fall chill in the air, I thought we'd end with a season-appropriate picture. We've already broken out the Halloween gear and tonight was Molly's first night in her new PJs. (Excuse the weird look on her face. It was bedtime and she wasn't in the mood to pose for pictures. She was ready for bed!)