30 Days of Thanks: Day 30

This one is kind of strange but here goes anyway - I am thankful for my memories. Especially at this time of year, I'm glad I have the memories of holidays past, with all of my family. With grandparents that are gone, with friends that live far away now, with my immediate family that has grown from five (my parents, my sisters, and me) to 12 (add three husbands, four kids, and three dogs). I know a lot of people don't have memories like I do - because they weren't lucky enough to live near grandparents, or because holidays weren't a big deal with their families, or any number of reasons. But they're a big deal to us. Not because of presents or food, but because we get to spend time together and do silly things like wear redbirds on our clothes and make crazy bedazzled "glamour shots" Christmas ornaments. And because I have the blessing of having such great memories, I want to be sure that Milo has the same opportunities to make memories as well!

This is the last post in this series - I know some of these things have been silly, some serious, but it's helped me to remember, I have SO much to be thankful for and this list doesn't even begin to scratch the surface! Thanks for sticking with me!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 29

I am thankful for my health. Overall, I'm pretty healthy. No major issues, just some allergies here and there and minor annoyances, but I'm able to get out of bed every day and take care of my baby boy and go for runs and go to work and do all sorts of other things a lot of people aren't able to do. When I was pregnant I questioned whether I'd ever feel good again but I do and I am SOOOOO thankful for that! I probably feel better now than at any point before in my life!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 28

I am thankful for home. I have already been thankful for my house but this is entirely different. For the better part of my life, I've loved traveling. I mean, for a few years, I owned a house that I was only actually physically present in for about 30% of the time, at most. And that didn't bother me. But now, I am turning into a home body. It happened even before we had Milo. I love being at home. That doesn't necessarily mean this house in particular, just the place where Nathan, Milo and I hang our hats. Right now it happens to be this house.

It was nice to see family over the holidays but it was equally nice to get home last night. To go to "my chair" (which oddly enough used to be Nathan's chair) where I feed Milo. To tuck Milo into his bed. To have our usual bedtime rituals. To NOT have to hurdle over the three truckloads of stuff we took to my parents and subsequently had COVERING the floor of our room there. To wake up this morning and not have to open my eyes to get to the coffee pot. And now, to sit on our bed, listening to Milo as he half-heartedly whimpers (with eyes CLOSED mind you) trying to keep himself awake at naptime.

Yep, it's good to be home!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 27

I am thankful for 2 hour naps for the baby (finally!). His mama needed a good long stretch and even though I didn't take a nap, I felt better that HE got a good one!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 26

I am thankful for laughing so hard my stomach hurts. My sister and I had some fun with photo booth on my brother-in-laws Macbook and oh my goodness...it's been a long time since I laughed that hard but my stomach hurt, I was crying. Good stuff. If you want to see what we did, she tagged the pics of me on FB so you can go find them there, but I certainly am not going to do anything to make them easier to find. :)

30 Days of Thanks: Day 25

Today I am thankful for yummy food and that I am inside where it's warm and dry while it's cold and rainy and windy out!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 24

I am thankful for vacation days and time with family. We are spending Milo's first holiday with our families and so far we're having a great time. His cousins are just so excited to play with him (even though he's not really playing much yet) and this is his first time to meet a lot of my family. We're going to take it easy the next couple of days and just enjoy our time off!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 23

Today I am thankful (mostly on behalf of my coworkers but also for myself) that the Great Flood: Round 2 did NOT happen at the height of tax season! In fact, I think if we had to choose a time for it to happen, this would have been it. There's definitely a mess to clean up but it's minuscule compared to the disaster we would have had on our hands had this happened just 6 weeks ago. I am also (selfishly) thankful that my personal space at the office went completely unscathed in said flood.

Shameless Plug

OK. So many of you know that I read about a gazillion (ok, slight exaggeration, only about 30 or so) blogs pretty regularly. One of them, Gussy (who by the way has FABULOUS ruffled goodies that I believe I've blogged about before), is doing a giveaway. It's for a $50 gift certificate to Tiny Prints. I have been drooling over their stuff for a couple years and would love to win this to get my Christmas Cards from them!

Also, if you want a good way to find super cute handmade goods, check out Gussy's blog here. She's got a holiday gift guide (three days worth of awesome shops!) plus she shares a new shop or two every few days. I have found MANY of the things I've bought as gifts (and for myself!) through her blog. It's a gold mine!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 22

I am thankful for warm weather for my run this morning! It's that last gasp of summer (yes, summer) before winter roars in here in a couple of days.

We had our windows open last night and during one of our wakeups we decided it was TOO HOT AND HUMID...IN LATE NOVEMBER. So, we did what any normal people would do, we closed the windows and TURNED ON THE A/C...IN LATE NOVEMBER. Yes, really. I was annoyed with the heat last night but I assure you when I saw that "66" on my iPhone weather this morning at 5:45 when I got up to get ready for my run, that put a little spring in my step! Fabulous!!!

I will continue to enjoy it until the 20 degree lows come in later this week. At which point I will be thankful for down blankets, warm hats, and hot chocolate. :)

30 Days of Thanks: Day 21

I am thankful for short work weeks and family time. I know it hasn't started yet (and who are we kidding, technically EVERY week is a short work week for me) but I'm excited that Nathan is only working two days and we get to spend four or five days in a row together and with our families. Most days it seems like the day is gone before we know it. I'm up early and out of the house for a run, then home to trade off watching the kiddo and then Nathan's at work all day then when he's home it's time to trade again so I can get some things done and before we know it, it's bedtime. I'm thankful I'll get to spend a little quality time with both of my boys in the daylight! I'm excited for Milo's first Thanksgiving as well!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 20

Today I am thankful for our dog, Kona.

Even though he doesn't get quite as much attention as he used to, we still love him and he still makes us laugh! Example: Kona usually sleeps in his bed underneath the table next to my side of our bed. His bed has a blanket in it and he must be covered up at all times in order to sleep. Funny at first, annoying after the 500th time he wakes us up crying because he's come uncovered. But I digress... One other piece of background information, in the winter, Kona has a fleece hoodie that he wears (and I'd include a pic here except that we haven't reloaded our pics onto this computer after having to reformat and reinstall our OS after my e-mail got hacked earlier this week). I know, it seems ridiculous to put a sweater on a dog, but really, he's much happier with it on. Again I digress...

A couple of mornings ago Nathan woke me up and he was laughing. He said he'd taken a couple of pictures for me. Here is the first:

Kona's bed was empty. The obvious question: so where is Kona? And where's his blanket? The answer:

Under the bench on the other side of our room. Apparently he'd gotten out of his bed but the fleece had caught the blanket and instead of getting out from under the blanket, Kona, the blanket and all had walked (or more likely wandered blindly) across our room, coming to rest under this bench. We suspect he'd been getting up for a drink of water, couldn't find his way out, and just stayed here for the rest of the night. He didn't seem any worse for the wear.

Anyway, we love him and he keeps us entertained, and most times alerts us to unusal activity around our house. He's a good dog. :)

30 Days of Thanks: Day 19

I am thankful for weekends! Weekends mean Nathan is home and we get to spend our time together. Even if it's cleaning house or grocery shopping, we get to spend time as a family. Plus, he's usually hopped up on caffeine on Saturday mornings so I get free entertainment! :)

30 Days of Thanks: Day 18

Today I am thankful for late breakfast with friends, pumpkin pancakes (with caramel apples on top!), and the willpower (that I'm pretty sure came straight from God) to do my run today!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 17

I am thankful for middle of the night feedings. I grumble about them sometimes but I try and remind myself to enjoy this time with my little man before he grows into a big man and goes away to college and so on. Besides, the middle of the night is when I get some of the sweetest smiles!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 16

I am thankful for surprises. I'm having kind of a yuck week (yes, already and it's only Tuesday). Maybe in a week or two the events of this week will inspire a humorous blog post but for now, suffice it to say that getting my e-mail hacked was the cherry on top of a bad couple of days. I've been in a funk for the past 48 hours or so. I was in such a mood that I was having a hard time thinking of anything to be thankful for. Sad, I know. This afternoon I opened our front door to find these:


Nathan and Milo sent me flowers! And I also found an encouraging note from a sweet friend. Both of those (and some peach jello that my husband made for me) really helped turn the week around.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 15

Today I am thankful for my cousin. Of course I'm thankful for all of them, because I'm actually friends with all of them besides just being related to them. But today, specifically I am thankful for my cousin that lives just a few blocks away and is my running partner! A few weeks ago at lunch she randomly asked if I'd be interested in training for a half marathon in May. I had actually wanted to do it this year but was pregnant so obviously running (or even walking) 13.1 miles at that point was out of the question. So, I told her sure, thinking in a week or two we'd get a plan together and get started. Much to my surprise (and somewhat to my dismay) that afternoon I received a Google calendar link to a training schedule that started THAT DAY.

There I was just barely 3 months after having a baby and not having done any sort of regular exercise in quite some time and I was about to start running? We did start our training and as of today have finished four weeks! I can very honestly say that if I didn't know she'd be waiting outside my house at 6:30 a.m. three days a week, I would have already quit. But I'm still going! It's great because she's patient with my slow pace, she's encouraging, and she's helping me get back into shape (probably better shape than before the baby)!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 14

I am thankful for our house. It's not my dream home, but it's a very comfortable roof over our heads. It's pretty in the snow.


It's got character. It's got great woodwork, wood floors, and more than TWENTY original glass (from 1918!) windows that offer views like this:


There's plenty of room for our little family and we even have an apartment that allows one of our good friends (and a wonderful baby sitter) to live close by! We live close to my cousin, Nathan's cousin, my aunt and uncle, and close to Nathan's job. When I say close, I mean within 9 blocks of all of the parties mentioned and within 2 miles of Nathan's office. I complain about our house often - being as old as it is, it's got it's issues. But it's really a good house, and a great place for us to start our family!

Four Months!

I cannot believe he's four months old already. In the last month he's started to roll over (not regularly but more than once so we know it's on purpose). He's a drooling machine, and he's got quite the personality. Pretty much always a happy boy! Here are a few pics from our "four month photo shoot":

30 Days of Thanks: Day 13

I am thankful for early Saturday mornings....seriously, who WOULDN'T be a morning person with this sweet face to look at?



...and puppy dog feet. I don't mean actual feet on a puppy dog, I mean this kind:

I was up and at 'em early today because the little man decided 6:15 was wake up time. And I was OK with that. I was able to wake up a little bit before heading out for my run, and we got a lot done today. Yay for early Saturdays! (Never in a million years thought I'd say that.)

30 Days of Thanks: Day 12

I am thankful for praying friends. Last night we had our first outing sans bambino. We have both gone to work at the same time before but this was different - we left him with a sitter and went to an awards dinner where my uncle was being honored. We love the sitter we left him with and we totally trust her but that didn't stop me from feeling a little anxiety. OK, a lot of anxiety. So, I texted a good friend who I knew would pray for me and told her what the deal was. I had no doubt she'd pray but her response was so great. By the time she texted me back (just a few minutes later) she told me she had already prayed, and would continue to pray. But she didn't stop there. She told me specifically what she was praying for me so that I could (as Beth Moore would say) "claim it". I have no doubt this is what kept me from being a COMPLETE basket case last night.

In my discipleship group in high school one of the things that I remember one of our leaders telling us was that if someone asks us to pray for them that a great thing to do is to do it, right there, with them on the phone or wherever you are. That always stuck with me but it was one of those things I either never had the guts to do or didn't think about until after the fact. But, being on the other side of that last night, I can say that was truly such a blessing to me. So, to my friend who did that for me, thank you!

(By the way, everything was totally fine, the little man was sound asleep when I got home and no one seemed any worse for the wear.)

30 Days of Thanks: Day 11

Today I am thankful for all of our servicemen and women. From my uncle Kit's facebook post today (speaking about my grandparents, uncle, and great-uncle):

My mom was "Rosie the Riviter" at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. She assembled DC-3 aircraft... a work horse in WWII. Dad was in the Navy and had the USS Houston shot out from under him in the Pacific. Brother George was a MACV advisor in the Nam and uncle Ike was a tail gunner in a B-24... they are all my heros.

I'm thankful for all of their hard work and sacrifices so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we do!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 10

I am thankful for my family, but in particular my grandparents and great-grandparents. I have been blessed to know all of my grandparents and two of my great-grandparents (that I can remember). In fact, my Granny (my dad's grandmother) was alive until I was 23!

I have learned from all of them and have had a close relationship with all of them since I grew up in the town where they all lived. I am lucky enough to have FIVE grandparents who have been examples for me of what a Christian life looks like. From what I see from my friends, growing up that close to, and spending that much time with, any grandparents at all is pretty rare, much less getting that relationship with ALL of your grandparents! And even though we don't live in the same place as our parents (Milo's grandparents) we are close enough that they get to see him pretty regularly and they can be involved in his life, and for that I am also thankful!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 9

I am thankful for technology. Sometimes I have a tendency to let it run my life BUT, it allows me to keep in touch with my parents, in-laws, and grandparents who don't live in the same city. It allows us to have "face-time" with Milo's aunt and uncle. It allows me to video chat and "see" my cousin who's currently living in Africa. It allows family members and friends who live far away to keep up with Milo since they don't see him often. As long as I use it (and don't let it use me) it is a wonderful tool!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 8

I am thankful for the opportunities I've had. Specifically, my education and the things that were a part of it. I am so blessed to have parents who thought it was important that I get a good education and that, if I chose to attend a Christian university, they were willing to pay for that education. I don't know that I've ever told them thank you for that, so since they read this...THANK YOU! Thank you for allowing me to get my education and not have that student loan debt following me for years and years. I know a lot of people don't have that blessing and the older I get, the more I realize what a big deal that is.

As part of my education, I was lucky enough to be able to spend an entire semester living in Vienna, Austria and traveling in Europe. I did learn a few things from books on that trip but much more importantly I learned many life lessons and acquired a love for travel. I learned to be more independent, I learned how to step outside my comfort zone, to appreciate other cultures, and that if you brave it and go somewhere without your closest friends, you just might expand your circle of closest friends! The relationships I made and lessons I learned that semester have served me well in the 13 years (holy smokes that was a long time ago!) since I've been back.

I've had a gazillion other opportunities I'm thankful for but those are probably the two that have been the most important as far as how my adult life has turned out. So again, thanks to Greg and Pam for giving me those opportunities!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 7

I am thankful for fall! There are things I like about each of the seasons, and I'm grateful that I live in a place that has four distinct seasons (brief though they may be), but fall is by far my favorite. It means cooler weather, pumpkin spice lattes are back, college football is in full swing, beautiful colors on the trees, and all is right with the world. Just another way I am reminded of God's amazing handiwork!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 6

I am thankful for our church family. This family has gone through many changes since we've joined it, and continues to go through more. And even though, generally speaking, I don't like change, I am excited to see where God is taking us. Not only that but without this family I most likely would not have the aforementioned job or mommy friends! And we have made lots of friends as a couple too, something that we didn't really have an opportunity to do before we got married since we lived in separate cities! We have a whole support system of people who help us grow as a couple and as individuals in our spiritual lives, and a "village" to help us raise our son!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 5

I am thankful for new(ish) friends. Having a baby has changed my life in a lot of unexpected ways. I'm making new friends who have kiddos too and it's lots of fun! Some have kids older than mine, some younger, and that's really a great deal! I can get advice from those who have already been through it, I can reassure (I hope) the ones who are going through something I've already experienced, and I get to know sweet people who I might otherwise have only had a more "surface" (for lack of a better word) relationship with. These women are so much more than just my "mommy friends", they are Godly women who help me grow in my spiritual life, they are good examples, they are accountability partners, and so much more!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 4

I am thankful for old friends. You know the ones. The ones that, when you hear certain songs you immediately think of them and remember singing along in the car or the dorm or at a concert. The ones that, no matter how long it's been since you've seen them, you don't hesitate to hope on a plane and cross a couple of states just to hug (in person) one of them that's having a rough year and spend the next three days talking and spending time together and it's like you were never apart. The ones who have seen you at your worst and still love you, and can even help you laugh about (and learn from!) the stupid things you've done!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 3

Today I am thankful for my job. This may seem strange but it's true! I like (and get along with) everyone I work with and for. I don't think that's happened at any other job I've ever had and it makes it so much nicer to go to the office! I work with and for Christian people, another first. My employers are flexible with my schedule so that I can still work but also spend time at home with Milo! They took a chance on me - I had zero experience with tax preparation but they let me try and it's working out wonderfully!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 2

I am thankful for my sweet baby boy! (I know, these first couple are the obvious ones and perhaps I should save them for last but I've never been a patient person. Additionally, after this, these things are in no particular order of importance.) Milo is the next best thing to happen to me (and the only reason he's not first is because without Nathan I wouldn't have Milo!) He is the sweetest baby. He's most always happy and even when he fusses it's very halfhearted, like he's not really convinced that's the thing to do, he just knows he's supposed to once in a while to keep us on our toes. He looks like his Daddy. And he reminds me every day that God really does some amazing work!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 1

I realize I'm way behind the curve on this but I'm stealing the idea from some friends because I think it's a good one and I could certainly stand to be reminded how blessed I am. The idea is to post something I'm thankful for each day in November. Obviously I won't ahve a post every day since today is already the 10th but I will catch up today and keep it up the rest of the month.

Day 1: I am thankful for my husband. He is by far the best thing to ever happen to me. He's amazingly patient, he's got a servants heart, he's the most UNselfish person I know, and there's no one in the world who would be a better match for me!

(This pic was taken less than 12 hours before we found out for certain that we were expecting baby Milo!)

I realize I'm way behind the curve on this but I'm stealing the idea from some friends because I think it's a good one and I could certainly stand to be reminded how blessed I am. The idea is to post something I'm thankful for each day in November. Obviously I won't have a post every day since today is already the 10th but I will catch up today and keep it up the rest of the month.

Day 1: I am thankful for my husband. He is by far the best thing to ever happen to me. He's amazingly patient, he's got a servants heart, he's the most UNselfish person I know, and there's no one in the world who would be a better match for me!

Back on the Horse

A couple of weeks ago we went to lunch with my cousin. She casually asked if we'd be interested in training for the Memorial Half Marathon. Little did she know...I've wanted to do it (at least walk it if not run) for a couple of years but this last year I obviously had other things going on... So I said yes. That afternoon she sent me a Google calendar link with our training schedule and the next morning at 6:45 we took off. So now we're on week three, running three days a week, more often than not leaving the house before 7 a.m. For those of you that know me well, I'm not really a morning person but that's when she goes and I'm more likely to stick with it if I've got company. I've had to buy a new pair of running shoes (a FULL SIZE bigger than the ones I was wearing before I got pregnant) and I've been reminded that I have almost no cartilage in my right knee. But in spite of that, I'm enjoying it (mostly) and it's good time spent chatting with my cousin (or listening to her since I can't speak due to shortness of breath). Once it warms back up and we have a jogging stroller, the little man will be able to go with me on some of my runs, but for the time being he stays home with Daddy and they get some man time early in the morning.

All of that to say...I'm training for a half marathon that happens on May 1, 2011. Holy smokes!

Cloth Diapering

Disclaimer: I know that cloth is not for everyone. It takes some planning sometimes, a learning curve at first, asking a lot of questions AND a husband who does the laundry at your house. :) It's not always easy and I know it's not a good fit for everyone and I'm not judging anyone for not using them - I just happen to be a big fan and think they're a good answer for us.

I've had a lot of people ask me how the cloth diapering is going so I thought I'd do a post about it. Let me just say right up front, I am by no means an expert on this matter. I learn something new nearly every day. But, for now, here's what I know.

There are about a gazillion different variations of cloth diapers (and that's not really much of an exaggeration). Below is a pic of three of the kinds we use. From L to R: all in one (AIO), one size pocket diaper, fitted.

• AIO - exactly what it sounds like. One piece, nothing to take apart, no cover required. Pretty easy. Down side to these is that they can take a lot longer to dry, but not a big enough deal to discourage me from using them.
• One size pocket diaper - this diaper (which is what we have the most of) will fit from birth to potty training. They have snaps that adjust the size so they fit even little babies. The pocket part is where you put an insert, which is the part of the diaper that soaks up the fluids. Has to be taken apart for washing.
• Fitted diapers usually (I think) come in a couple of different sizes so you have to have new ones as the baby gets bigger. These also require a water proof cover (the equivalent of the old school "plastic pants" that went over diapers...they're MUCH cuter these days).
• Prefolds - these are the ones that used to be the only kind of cloth diaper, required diaper pins, and you see more commonly used for burp cloths these days. Pins are no longer required. I just recently started using these and they're much easier than I thought they'd be, plus they're a very cheap option to increase the number of diapers you have (and thus decrease the number of times per week you have to do laundry)!

Laundry. We do a lot of it. We were doing it about every three days and then in the course of a week Milo outgrew 12 diapers and now we're doing it every other day. You do have to use special soap - the kind we use we've actually started using on all of our laundry. The good thing is (and this is what a lot of people ask about) as long as he's nursing, there's no dunking or rinsing required. If he dirties a diaper, it comes off and goes straight in the pail just like the wet ones. The diaper pail is just a large kitchen trash can with a lid that we put a large wet bag (pail liner) in. Here's what laundry day looks like at our house:


The finished product:



OK - I'm not going to lie. Part (or maybe all) of my original motivation for using cloth was how cute they are. I mean really, how handsome is he??



Another benefit of cloth, besides the cuteness, is that we have had almost no diaper rash. You do have to use a special kind of diaper rash cream if you use cloth because some creams can affect the absorbency of the diaper. We have a GroVia Magic Stick and it truly lives up to its name. Works like a charm. The other thing that is rare with the cloth diapers is blowouts. We've had three and I can trace two of them to operator error (not getting the diaper on tight enough or using a diaper that was a little too small). We used disposables for the first 2-3 weeks we were home from the hospital because people had given us some so we thought we'd use them up and put off the laundry for a little while. I can't even count how many blowouts we had with those!

I think that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge. I would like to take this opportunity to give a big shout out to my friend Katie who cloth diapers her kiddo and has been a great source of help/information - thanks Katie!

Oh My Goodness!!!

So, here's hoping this works. Milo rolled over for the first (and second and third) time last week. I managed to catch the third time (and the last - he hasn't done it since) on the video camera on my phone. He starts to cry at the end, I think because he bumped his head on the floor when he flopped over. But isn't he talented!!!

Fall Festival

The day before Halloween we had our Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat at church. Nathan and our friend Michael transformed the trunk of the Honda into a giant face:



With dry ice fog:


Milo wore his cute little pumpkin outfit (made by our uber-talented friend Shannon - check out her blog/website here):


And he fell asleep within 20 minutes of arriving at the building and slept nearly the whole time. Clearly he was just overwhelmed with excitement.



And a couple more shots of the whole outfit once we got home and he was awake. Please excuse the horrid lighting. And yes, he's standing with little assistance. This kid LOVES to stand up. Must have gotten the natural boundless energy from his Daddy.