Ramblings

I know it's been a while but I've got a million and one excuses.  Starting with - I've been PACKING TO MOVE!!!  We are all set to close (on the sale of our current house) on Friday. We've secured an apartment to move into in the meantime and we will most likely build a house.  I naively thought packing wouldn't be too bad because when we listed the house we went through every. single. room. in the house and took cars full of stuff to Goodwill.  We've sold a ton of things on Craigslist.  And still, in spite of the fact that N brought home literally a car full of flattened boxes, we are nearly out of boxes. And we are not finished packing.  Seriously, where did all this stuff come from???  I know it will get done and I appreciate both sets of our parents for being willing to help us with the packing and moving.   

So, we have all this packing to finish since we are moving Thursday (that's day after tomorrow if you're counting).  Instead of packing here's what I've been doing today:

1. Getting a mani/pedi (my nails are now painted "asphalt" gray and I LOVE them).
2. Spending too much time (and money) in Target under the guise of looking for the last piece of the little man's Halloween costume (I got new boots - yay!).
3. Spending more money in Old Navy for the same reason as #2 above.
4. Buying Christmas presents. So we have more stuff to move.
5. Drinking obscene amounts of coffee.
6. Eating ice cream straight from the carton (don't judge me - we have no bowls, there was only a scoop and a half left in there, and I AM A GROWN UP AND CAN EAT IT FROM THE CARTON IF I WANT TO!!!).

The little man had a 15 month birthday. He is sort of walking. The most he's walked w/out hanging on to anything is about 6 or 7 steps and that has only been a few times.  Most times he's content to cruise around the furniture or hang onto our fingers. And that's fine. He'll get there. He's also starting to try to repeat a LOT of what we say. We have to be VERY careful.  He's also developed a fake cry.  He will sound like he's really crying until right before he takes a breath and then his voice goes up like he's questioning whether he's really crying.  It's pretty hilarious. He "talks" constantly and looks at you like you should really know exactly what he's saying. It's very cute.  He says "Oh yeah" and "OK" over and over, he has said "blueberry", even enunciating the "bl" sound (which I was impressed with at first and now has evolved into him walking around all day saying "blah blah blah blah blah"). He knows the things he's not supposed to touch - doesn't mean he won't walk over to it and look at you, shake his head "no" and touch it anyway, but at least he's aware he's not supposed to. He has also learned the word "no". Small wonder that wasn't his FIRST word, as often as I feel like I say it to him.

I guess that's about all for now. I will try to get back with some semi-regular posted once we get moved, and at the very least update with pics of Halloween costume and such. In the meantime, I leave you with the following pics of our sweet little man:

Bathtime - Daddy was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and he was just in awe:

Playing around with the camera:

I think he looks like such a big boy here. So grown up. And so tired of mom taking pictures of him all the time. :) 

Hope you're all having a fabulous week.  Looking forward to cooler weather, fun plans with friends this weekend, and getting settled in our new (even if temporary) space.

Catching Up. Sort of.

Alright. I know it's been ages since I've posted. Since the powers that be changed the extended deadlines for ALL tax returns EXCEPT individuals to be September 15, I've been a little busy, working some evenings, weekends, etc. to get it all done. So my "free time" has been spent with my family rather than blogging.  I do hope you'll forgive me.  This post probably won't be super long, unless I get a second wind and the motivation to load all the pictures I need to post.  We'll see where this goes.


First, for all of my praying friends (which I do hope is all of you), I have a couple of very specific requests for the next couple of days.  We have had our house on the market since May. We have had BOATLOADS of people come through here at (seemingly) all hours of the day and night, had people ask all kinds of questions and ask us to jump through some ridiculous hoops...but not a single offer.  We have a plan for if the house doesn't sell this time around, HOWEVER, it would be REALLY nice if it would.  Milo has started a mother's day out program that is quite far from the house, closer to the area we want to live in when we move. What this means is that I am in the car for no less than two hours each Tues/Thurs driving him to school, myself to work, back to get him, back home. And that's the days I DON'T have an inconveniently scheduled appointment RIGHT BY HIS SCHOOL but RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE of the four hours I get to be at the office (this happened yesterday...I may or may not still be bitter about my lack of planning).  To say I'm already weary of it (after nearly two whole weeks) sounds pathetic, but it's true.  I feel like that's wasted time that we could be doing other things.  I will gladly continue to do this if that's what we need to do because we feel like he is in the right place.  BUT, the point of this whole (lengthy) paragraph is this. I am praying very specifically for the next 48 hours that we get an offer (a good one) on this house. We have two showings tomorrow and one of them is a second showing (we've had several of these already also, and even some THIRD showings). 


The second item on the prayer list is our sweet little man.  He has started the MDO program and seems to really enjoy it, and I feel REALLY good about his two teachers.  But it appears we are having quite an adjustment period. He has been extra clingy, tired, etc. the last 5 days or so and we think may have had a little virus with some tummy trouble...plus he's got four molars in various stages of coming in. He's just not himself and we don't like it! Mind you, I am soaking up all the extra snuggles I get, but I will certainly be happy to see my little busy body back again! 

First day of school - the look of irritation on his face is because his teeth were REALLY bothering him this morning.

So, the two things I'm asking you to pray are that (1) We get an offer on our house this week and (even more importantly) (2) that Milo adjusts quickly and thrives in this new stage and that that's really all this is...an adjustment period.


Moving right along. We went to Ikea last weekend to get a few things for the house (and by a few things I mean we MAY have filled the trunk up to the point that our luggage MIGHT have had to ride shotgun all the way back home...maybe).  Milo seemed to enjoy looking around at all the fun things. We also got him a couple of Christmas presents. I can't wait for Christmas! I think he's going to be so excited...he climbed all over the box for one of them so he will probably be more excited about the box than what's in it but I think it's super cute. :)

Some of the spoils of our trip...I am IN LOVE with that ottoman.  Seriously. I'm trying to dream up other ways to use them in other rooms so I can get another one.

Let's see.  What else has been happening. Oh, there was a zeppelin in the city for a couple of days this week. For just $350 you could take a half hour ride or for $750 they'd fly you over downtown.  We did not indulge but it flew nearly right over our house so I snapped some pics w/my phone (I did not actually know what was going on, I was just outside waiting for N to get home when we spotted it).

The little man has learned the sign for "more". I had showed him maybe a handful of times but was never consistent.  His sitter WAS consistent however, and we noticed him doing it over the weekend.  I thought it was a fluke but then he kept doing it so I texted her to ask if she had showed him that and she had!  I love it that he knows how to tell us at least one or two things (he's quite good with the head nod also).  He's also apparently got the Daddy's OCD gene:

Cleaning the recliner (had had already cleaned the side table, the floor around it, and his face). 

I took this because he had lined his waffles up on his tray. The look I captured was just a bonus.  By the look of things, he also got the Daddy's ornery gene.

Alright. I think that'll do for one evening.  I have things to post to Craigslist and I need sleep. Hope you enjoy the pics of our little monkey, and thanks in advance for the prayers!!!

Four by Four

Howdy! So my bloggy friend Abby tagged me in a four by four (four questions, four answers each) and since I'm putting off doing some property tax forms, this seemed like the perfect activity! Here are mine, read on to see if I tagged you at the end (this is a group participation activity kids)!

01. Four Places I Go
- work
- church
- lake/river trails to run
- TARGET!!!!

02. Four Favorite Smells
- freshly bathed baby Milo (really baby Milo any time)
- waffles and bacon cooking at Mema's house
- the fresh smell of ozone right after a rainstorm (Abby - I stole this one but it's ALWAYS on my list)
- Christmas trees (real ones, not the smell of dust off of the one that just got dragged out of the attic/basement)

03. Four Favorite Movies/Shows
- Big Bang Theory
- NCIS
- How I Met Your Mother
- The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (love all the movies but saying it this way it only counts as one entry - see how I did that?)

04. Four Recommendations
- Spend a weekend (or a week if it takes that long) and clean out your closets and anywhere else you have extra stuff stashed. We just did this (five carloads to Goodwill!) and I cannot tell you how good it feels!
- Get up early sometimes. Especially in the spring/early summer (you can often catch smell #3 mentioned above), and even if you aren't a morning person. You don't have to go run five miles, just get up and sit on the porch with your morning beverage of choice and enjoy the quiet.
- Go check out my friend Erick's new album here. He's awesome. His wife is crazy talented too. They're like a musical power couple.
- Go read my sister's blog here. She's a riot. You'll laugh til you cry, I promise. If you don't, you're taking yourself way too seriously.

And now, (drumroll please) I tag:

Audrey (the aforementioned sister) @ Goodbye Dignity, Hello Motherhood

Miranda @ A Tale of Tractors and Tiaras

Elise @ Millers on the Move

Shannon @ Meet Me In St. Louis

Annnnnddddd.....GO! :)

Too Tired to Think of a Catchy Title

I'm not really sure of my purpose (see how I used that word again?) in writing this post. Maybe just to put my thoughts down and organize them, maybe just to waste time that I should be spending doing something productive around the house.

I am tired. I mean, I am T I R E D. A little bit of history. From about the third day we were home from the hospital with Milo, he slept through the night, waking only once to eat. We did not realize how good we had it. When he reached four months old, he started waking a minimum of three times each night. Did I say minimum? It was usually more. We finally figured out that he's teething. There will be nights that he will just scream and arch his back and there's nothing that will console him, except to eat. About two weeks ago, it got better for a few nights and we realized one of his teeth had FINALLY broken through his gums. And now, it appears he is working on the one next to it because we're back to the same routine. Oh, and did I mention when this is going on he's also not napping? Naps will be 30-45 minutes MAX and he'll take four or five of them a day.

IN ADDITION, it appears the last day or so he's also having a growth spurt and eating every two hours. ALL. DAY. LONG. This has made for one tired mama.

Then we get to this morning. I want nothing but to sleep in (and by that I mean sleep until 7:45) but I need to go get my allergy shots so I get up and take a shower while Milo is still sleeping and get myself ready. And the whole time I'm aggravated because this was so much easier when I didn't have to load up toys and burp rags and pacifiers and carseats, when I could just "run get my shots". And then I'm sad because I don't want to feel resentful that I have this sweet baby (and truly, 99.9% of the time I don't, I just have these rare moments when everything hits all at once). So I put on my happy face, take him from his Daddy so I can feed him and what happens? He bites me. Twice. The second time he draws blood. And I'm aggravated again. I tell him no, and just look at him and he just smiles at me but I can't smile back because I don't want him to think I'm encouraging that behavior. So then for the next hour, he will barely look at me and I feel like a big jerk. And now, this thing that's supposed to be so amazing and such a bonding experience is suddenly something that I know I still want to do but every time it's time, I start to tense up and I'm on edge the whole time he's eating wondering if he's going to bite me again instead of enjoying snuggle time with him.

I'm reading a book right now, Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. I just read a chapter where she talks about being content with our roles. It's something I already was conscious of trying to do but this kind of re-focused me. I AM content with my role as a mommy. I certainly can't imagine doing this when I was any younger than I am now - I'm still too selfish for it I think but I'm more unselfish now than I have been before. And I'm very lucky to have a healthy baby who, if I'm honest, really is happy most of the time (in spite of the fact that he NEVER SLEEPS). If I'm honest with myself, I don't wish I was still single or wish we still didn't have any kids. But days like this I have to REALLY remind myself that I'm happy with the place I am, with where God has me.

A little disclaimer here. I'm not necessarily looking for advice here. If you have something helpful, feel free to share it in the comments. If you have something that worked for you, I'm happy to read those comments and consider.

And now, it has been 25 minutes since he went to sleep and he's awake again and VERY upset about something so I'm going to go investigate.

Nothing in Particular

Nothing really to report here right now. Tomorrow the little man is five months old! There will be pics at some point in the next week or so. Probably.

We just had a rough couple of days at our house. At the tail end of all three of us being sick for about a week, Nathan had to go to Midland for work and I was a single parent for a little over 48 hours. For that 48 hours, I slept very little, I discovered multiple places where Kona had decided to "water" things in the house (including my dry clean only drapes), I got a surprise visit from the pest control man (which is a whole story in itself and mildly entertaining because it involves me running around wearing only a towel AND trying to feed Milo all while trying to figure out what's going on with this guy being outside my house, but it's not entertaining enough to go into further detail here, I'll just let that mental picture marinate for a while), Milo went on a sleeping strike, I dropped my wedding ring perilously close to the toilet (it rolled behind a shelf where I was eventually able to contort myself enough to retrieve it) and then, for the grand finale, I dropped my less than three month old phone not close to, but actually IN the toilet. A bowl of rice and 12 hours later, it seems to be doing alright. I suppose only time will tell. Needless to say, we were glad to have the Daddy back home!

I do have a cloth diaper update. We recently invested in a Bottoms Up reusable wipes set. I wasn't sure about it at first but now I LOVE it. The set is around $60 and includes 25 wipes, one "clean" tub, one "dirty" tub, a "clean" and a "dirty" essential oils blend, and a little travel bag to take them with you when you are out and about. You put a little water in each tub, add a few drops of the appropriate essential oils blend to each, and you're all set. Then when it's time to do laundry, just take the "dirty" tub and dump it, wipes, water and all, in the wash with the diapers and that's it! Here's our setup (the orange tray is one I bought to put the tubs on and protect the dresser from stray water droplets):

Things I love about them:

• I can use only one and get him CLEAN, a feat that I am usually unable to accomplish with disposable wipes.
• The essential oil blends smell good, keep the water/wipes from smelling mildewy, and the "clean" blend has something in it (tea tree oil maybe?) that is helpful if we have a little bit of red bottom.
• We are cutting WAY down on the amount of trash we have by using these and since we're already washing diapers, it's not an extra step!
• We're saving money!

My only complaint is the ease of use of the tubs. (I should probably clarify here that by "tubs" I mean plastic containers that are around 6-8 in. square - "tubs" makes them sound huge...they are not.) The lids snap on with a little latch on each of the four sides and if you are surprised by a dirty diaper and don't have them already open, it's a little difficult to do one-handed (while you're holding said dirty diaper in place and trying to keep little hands and feet out of the mess). However, this is NOT a big enough inconvenience to make me not use them. The benefits far outweigh this minor issue.

I'm currently reading the Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight. We're trying to get Milo sleeping good, and sleeping through the night. After yesterday I was ready to throw in the towel and just let him sleep with us so I could get ANY amount of sleep. Today things are better though - he's napping like he's supposed to, went to sleep on his own with ZERO crying (I tried letting him cry it out for exactly 20 minutes one night and that was WAY too long for me), and has been in such a good mood today - I think it's because Daddy is home now. Anyway, the book seems good so far. A happy medium between crying it out and running to pick them up every time they whimper.

And finally, for today, a little sneak peek at our Christmas cards. We received them yesterday and will hopefully get them in the mail in the next week, but first we have to get our Christmas decorations finalized (and buy and decorate a tree) by Sunday because we're hosting the college group from church Sunday morning. Yikes! Lots to do. So I will go get busy while it's still naptime. Pics of Christmas decorations and five month pics coming soon!

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!

Spring is in the air...I just had myself a Cadbury egg...HOORAY!

I know I haven't updated in a while - not a lot going on here.


Well, that's not entirely true. We ordered furniture for the nursery - it will be here in 8-14 weeks. Hopefully before the baby arrives! We also ordered the bedding for his room:

I liked this set because it was different than a lot of the other stuff I'd seen. Also, my sweet husband got me this for Valentine's Day:
I know it's hard to tell but the hearts have our initials on them - an "n" on one, a "b" on the other. I love it! He said he almost ordered one with the baby's initial on it but he figured as soon as he did that we'd change our mind about the name (which we have not decided 100% on AND we're not sharing anyway). So we'll wait on that.

Well, I know it's not much but my time is up for now. Oh, thanks to my brilliant friend Mommy M.D. for blogging about baby slings...I was just wondering about this today after I saw something on the Early Show and this helps make some things clearer for me...thanks, B, for the post!

Lists

Things that make me happy right now:

1. The girl at the Station BBQ who remembers that Lana and I always ask for pickles. And last week when we forgot to ask and she wasn't working the register she made a point to go get pickles and bring them to us!
2. The lady at the other Station BBQ who calls everyone "Love" and asks each person individually how they're doing.
3. Hearing Ani DiFranco (and quite frankly anything else) on the Spy. It was my radio station in Stillwater right up until the second they turned top 20 and played Britney all day long. They're back and they're awesome.
4. Having a play date with my nieces last week. I love watching them get excited about playing in an inch of water or running around in circles in a big empty room.
   
5. Cheetos. And Mac and Cheese. And pretty much anything else with processed cheese in or on it. Not the best thing for me but it's so yummy!
6. The cashier at Crest tonight who, in spite of all the crazies out stocking up for the "big ice storm" was very pleasant. (And for the record, we actually needed groceries, not supplies for the end of civilization as we know it.)

I guess that's about it for now. It's past my bedtime. :)

Ugh.

Apologies to anyone who came here looking for entertainment. Tonight isn't the night. I'm feeling very down this evening. I'm having one of those weeks where there is just a lot of "yuck" in the world and it's overwhelming. I'm dealing with some issues personally that I'm just not sure how to deal with. I thought I was finished with it but I'm apparently not. I thought I had forgiven someone but I still have weird/angry/frustrated feelings toward them and I really don't know what to do.

Then there's all the other yuckiness that's going on that isn't necessarily directly impacting me but it's impacting people I know, or even people I don't. In the past week I've learned of two little girls, Tatum and Kate, (you can read about them here and here) who are fighting cancer. It's eerie how similar the situations are - how the parents in both situations are expressing the same emotions, how they both know that nothing will ever be the same in their lives again. And one of the moms has said how all she can think sometimes is "come Lord Jesus".

I know we're supposed to want that all the time but sometimes (or most times if I'm honest) I have my own agenda of things I want to do before that time comes. I want to have kids of my own, I want to grow old with my husband, the list goes on...for some reason I can't get it through my thick head that Heaven is like a gazillion times better than this place here...or any place on earth I might ever be. This week though, I'm wishing for it a little more. And then that makes me wonder, am I really ready? Should my "list" include more things like "forgive that person over and over and over and keep on forgiving them until Jesus comes back", "have a better attitude about teaching five 2-4 year old boys on Wed. nights because I may be the only person in their lives that shows them Jesus?", and "give more to others instead of worrying about what/how much I have?". Of course it should, but it's so hard. I'm very selfish (which I'm sure is why I'm still hanging on to that hurt I thought I let go of).

I feel like this doesn't make much sense but I feel SLIGHTLY better having gotten it out. Now I'm going to sign off of here before the lightning zaps the computer.