Groves Family Happenings

50 Pounds of Baby Love

2012-01-28T15:59:00.005-06:00

I am a big fan of baby wearing, at least this time around. With Lily I had a borrowed Bjorn, which was horribly uncomfortable for both of us. I have since learned that those are considered "crotch danglers" and are not only bad for the wearers back, they are not good for a developing baby's spine and hips. I also had a peanut shell sling, which worked decently enough, but Lily was the independent,not so big on being close sort as a baby. Truth be told, she isn't really a big snuggler now. That is, unless I have Margie in the Beco Butterfly II. Then she crys that she wanted to be in the carrier. And while this carrier could easily accomodate her, Margie has clearly claimed it as hers, what with the spitting up on it and chewing on it. And the way her eyes light up and she gets the biggest smile ever when she sees me putting it on. So I decided to strap Lily in with my Maya Wrap. She was happy and secure and while I didn't get tons done, she was no longer exhibiting the jealousy towards Margie.

Margie loves loves loves to be worn. She will sleep, she will chew on the straps, she will coo. She is such a cuddly baby and sometimes it is the only way to attend to an almost 4 year old (sob!) as well as a must be held all the time baby. With Margie my go to carrier is my Beco. Best money spent. I haven't had her in the Maya for any length of time, but when she was littler (like newborn up to about 12 weeks) I loved my Moby. I still love my Moby and do occasionally use it as well. I think all three of my carriers will be interchangable in the months and years to come! And oh yeah, the only way I was even able to type this is with Miss Margie snuggled and asleep in the Beco.

Sometimes Lily likes to wear her baby (in a Moby type wrap I fashioned out of a scarf):

And sometimes she likes to be worn:

General Musings

2012-01-17T12:33:00.006-06:00

Well well, whaddya know! One day is not adequate time for a laptop to dry out when a three year old spills a pint glass of water on it, but two days is! Thank goodness! Of course, Matt had already gone and purchased a big mamma jamma hard drive and a doo-hickie to transfer everything from the lap top's, and then deleted everything from the lap top's hard drive, but a couple hours time and the nominal amount we had been planning to spend on a big external hard drive but just hadn't yet sure beats having to live without the computer while it got fixed or having to buy a new computer. (How's that for a run on sentence?) So I am very, very, very happy that the computer recovered. However, remember when I mentioned the other day that I thought I messed up the alignment on the van. Yeah, I did. And we needed two new tires. Run flat tires, because the van doesn't have a spare, or space for one. So while we didn't have to buy a new computer, we did have to spend more money than I cared to (right, like I wanted to spend any money!)on van repairs. Matt did some calling and shockingly the dealership was actually the best price. So we now have a working computer and a better working van. Thank goodness we didn't have to spend big bucks on both.

This afternoon I changed Margie's diaper and went to wash my hands and use the bathroom. Since I never, ever get to use the bathroom alone, it was just par for the course that I had Margie on the bath mat and Lily barging in. Lily asked why Margie was on the floor and I told her that it isn't safe for babies to be on high surfaces where they can roll off and get hurt. I told her about how she rolled off our bed when she was a baby and luckily she didn't get really hurt but mommy shouldn't have left her there even for a second. (For the record, she was on the bed and I literally turned around to get something out of my dresser and she rolled off. Still, bad move mommy!) Anyway, a couple minutes later Lily came up to me and said "I forgive you." I said "Thanks Lily, but why do you forgive me?" She said "For putting me in a not safe place and letting me roll of the bed and get a little hurt." Cue mommy guilt.

I am so over winter! We have really only begun to get winter weather...just a week ago it was 50 degrees. But all the same I am done with winter. The mild temperatures have me tricked into thinking that spring is around the corner and then the next thing I know it is snowing. I didn't used to mind winter but ever since having kids it is just a pain in the butt. I want to go outside and not need a coat or have to worry about bundling the kids up. My ideal temperature range is between about 40 and 80. Rain, sun, wind...all fine. In six months I will be complaining that I am so over summer. I really just need to live somewhere where the climate is mild.

I am super addicted to Pintrest. I love looking at it. There are so many amazing things out there. But it leaves me feeling conflicted and confused. On one hand I am pinning all these recipes that look so yummy and I can't wait to try and then on the other hand I am pinning all these cute outfits and workout routines and inspiring quotes for working out. They just sort of seem to contradict each other. I am sure that if I were to try out all the recipes I have pinned I would end up looking even more like Jabba the Hut and would have dashed any hope whatsoever of looking cute in the outfits I have pinned.

Okay, that's my rambling for today...

Computer Down

2012-01-14T20:37:00.002-06:00

Lily spilled a glass of water on the laptop yesterday. We were hoping it would dry out and be okay - silly us - but it wouldn't come back on this morning. Therefore I likely won't be posting until it is repaired or we get a new one. Thankfully Matt was able to retrieve everything off the hard drive!!! Anyway, I am posting this from my phone which is a bit tedious. Hopefully we will have a working computer shortly!!

Snow!

2012-01-12T21:04:00.004-06:00

It's finally starting to feel like winter! And for once the weather forecasters were right on the money. It started snowing right about 8:30 and has been coming down since. I am thankful it started right as we got out the door...it saved having to dig out this morning. I dropped Lily off at school and headed to my doctor's appointment. I was expecting Margie to sleep the enitre time but she was wide awake. Luckily she was happy and smiled at all the ladies gushing over her. As I was driving home she started crying and I couldn't find her paci and I didn't really want to dig around for it while driving since the roads weren't the best. I decided to pull over and totally started to slide as I was pulling into the parking lot. I missed hitting a sign by just a few feet and smacked into a curb. I am pretty sure I jacked up the alignment on the van. Awesome! It was pretty hairy on the way to pick up Lily as I slid through pretty much every intersection. Thank goodness they were all four way stops, though everyone seemed to be sliding. We got home from school, ate lunch, and my SIL came over and brought my Starbucks. We hung out all afternoon and watched the snow and chatted. Lily tried her hardest to steal all the attention. My friend called and asked if she and her son, one of Lily's best buddies, could stop by before she picked up her older son. I am always happy to have my friend over and an added bonus was someone to distract Lily :).
Unfortunately I also got a phone call telling me the soccer class I had signed Lily up for was cancelled due to low enrollment. I had anticipated this because when I checked online a couple weeks ago it showed only two people signed up (Lily and one of her friends). I had been monitoring it, but no one else signed up. I am kind of bummed and so is Lily. She really wants to play soccer, and since my sisters and I all played soccer for most of our youth, I was eager for her to play. Plus, I am always looking for an activity to burn off some of her seemingly boundless energy. I guess we will just have to try again in the spring. Now we will just have to see if the swimming lessons I signed her up for are still on. According to the website, there is only one person (Lily, I assume) signed up.
My evening wrapped up with dinner (I made the chicken lemon soup again that I made on Monday, along with some garlic bread). Lily crashed on the couch and Margie is snoozing in her bouncy seat and I folded some laundry and now I am just kicking back on the couch watching TV. Thursday night is the best night for TV: Bones, The Office (though I am kinda over it now that Michael Scott is gone!), Vampire Diaries. I know it is bad, but I am so happy to have all the shows back on after the winter break. I love ending my evening vegging in front of the TV! Now if I only had some chocolate....

Climate Change

2012-01-11T21:33:00.004-06:00

Today it was 55 degrees. In Chicago. In January. It is the third 50+ degree day we've had. Tomorrow we are supposed to get 6 to 8 inches of snow. Lily is so excited. She got dark rosa snow pants for Christmas and has been anxious to wear them. By the way, she says all her colors in Spanish. I'm not sure where she picked it up initially - Dora probably - but I have since added Google Translator to my phone because she is constantly asking me how to say something in Spanish. I kinda wish I remembered more of my high school Spanish. I was pretty proficient my senior year. Sigh...
Today was the first day since before Christmas that actually felt kind of normal. Margie was kind enough to nap while Lily was at school so I took a blissfully hot and long shower. After school we ate lunch and then Lily was being a little mouthy so I sent her to play in her room and Margie and I took a little nap.

We then headed to ballet. Ballet is at 4:15 but for some reason every.single.week I think it is at 4:00 and therefore we get there way before class starts. Today Lily ran around the lounge area outside the dance studio singing at the top of her lungs about how she will protect Margie...from the windows, and the ceiling, and the plant, and the exit sign...It was hilarious. I don't know where that girl gets her energy! When Matt go home we went out for pizza. There is this great little place that sells pizza by the slice and has a nice selection of microbrews. I have been craving pizza for a while, and I am not actually usually a huge fan of pizza, but this place is just that good!

After that we ran by Target. I wanted to get the little book tabs for my Bible and also a devotional to do with Lily, both of which I had been told you can get at Target and neither of which I could find. If the roads aren't too bad tomorrow I think I will be heading to the Christian Book Store. I have been wanting to do a devotional with Lily for a while and just today she was saying I never do anything with her. I don't think that is true, I think she is still adjusting to sharing me, but I think this could be our special time each day. After Target Matt dropped us girls at home and ran by the library to pick up a book for me and a couple movies while I got Lily ready for bed. When Matt got home he got the last few things arranged in the garage so we could pull the van in before the snow. I am all for a little snow. I have really liked the warm weather, but it just doesn't feel like winter. That being said, I have a small window tomorrow where I need to get Lily to school, then to a doctor's appointment a half hour away, and then back to pick Lily up and extra traffic because of crappy road conditions won't help. So if the snow could just hold off until about noon tomorrow I will then gladly welcome it!

Fussy Pants

2012-01-10T21:23:00.003-06:00

Margie has many nicknames: Apple Dumpling, Baby Cakes, Cheeks McGee, but her newest moniker is Fussy Pants. She has been the so fussy the past 24 hours. Last night she came straight into bed with me and nursed all night. Today she didn't nap while Lily was at school, denying me a shower. I couldn't put her down so I couldn't even make myself breakfast. I put her in the Beco and was able to vacuum and do laundry, which both needed to be done, but those little luxuries like food and hygeine were not to be had. After we picked Lily up from school my sister came over. She is moving to North Carolina in a couple days and it was nice to visit with her before she leaves. I am going to miss her! In the past couple years my sisters have really become my best friends. Luckily Jackie was obliging and held Fussy Pants a bit so I was able to make us lunch and change around loads of laundry. Lily, Jackie and I spent a relaxing afternoon sitting on the couch just visiting. Margie would occasionally nap briefly and was right back to wanting to be held. Jackie left and we had dinner and I went my deep water conditioning class. I decided last week to do something for myself and signed up for a class at the park district. Today was my second class and I love it. The nice thing about working out in water is no one can see what a boob you look like if you are super uncoordinated, like yours truly. When I got home last week I went straight to Facebook raving about the class and one of my friends actually signed up. I need to get a new bathing suit though. I am currently rocking my maternity tankini. The bottoms are too big and the top floats up so I wear a belly band underneath it which I pin to the bottoms and then I knot the top like people did with t-shirts in the 80s. I really need to get a new suit, but the idea of bathing suit shopping is scary enough, let alone with a fussy infant and rambunctious preschooler. I got home from class to find Matt holding a recently settled Fussy Pants. Apparently Margie screamed the entire time I was gone. Poor baby just wants her mommy.

And thanks to Fussy Pants, it took me about an hour to type this silly little post. I hope the fussiness passes soon! Lily was such a chill baby I feel like a first time mom again...

Back to Normal

2012-01-09T22:22:00.003-06:00

Today, after two weeks off school and activities, which is really more like three weeks since Lily missed most of the week before Christmas due to the plague, we are back to our regular schedule. As nice as our break was, I kinda like knowing what day of the week it is again! We are so off schedule, still, that I actually had to wake Lily up this morning. Luckily she was easily roused with the promise of mini pancakes for breakfast. She actually let me pick out her outfit this morning as well. I got the three of us ready and dropped Lily off at school and then Margie and I headed to Hannah Circle. I really like Hannah Circle and love the ladies in it. We are doing a book/Bible study on Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. I had to remember to set my alarm on my phone so I could get Lily in time. Margie was awake the entire time we were there, which isn't really a big deal, but admittedly, I like it when she sleeps and I can really concentrate and enjoy some mommy time. I picked Lily up from school and we came home and ate lunch. I put on some cartoons and fed Margie and tried to get her to nap. The past couple of days she has been doing more cat napping than actual napping. I was in a super crabby mood for some reason. It might have something to do with me totally craving something sweet! I decided I was really going to cut back on sweets and sugar, which if you know me is kinda drastic because I have a major sweet tooth. I want to make some healthy changes to my diet and there is so much conflicting information out there - fats are bad, fat is necessary; carbs are good, carbs are bad; meat is good, meat is bad; you get the idea. The main thing that everyone seems to agree on is that sugar is bad. I have done pretty good, but I was totally craving something sweet. I decided I would have a couple of coffee - I got a Keurig for Christmas and it is my favorite thing ever! I made a cup of decaf and added some half and half and cocoa powder. It was like a mocha, but not sweet.
It didn't totally do the trick, but it was really good and took the edge off!

We had a play date this afternoon at the park district. The childcare area is closed for a couple hours in the afternoon but you can pay and bring your kids to climb around and play and you watch them. A group of us from MOPS have gone a couple times and it is nice for the mommies to visit and the kids to burn off some energy. Lily has this little friend that she is always talking about but when they get together to play they don't always get along. Lily will decide she doesn't want to play with her and there are tears and it is just so funny because she always asks when she can have a playdate with this girl but then doesn't want to play with her when they have the chance. Hanging out with some of my mommy friends totally helped my mood! I love hanging out with people in the same stage of life as myself. We came home from the play date and I made dinner. It was a little tricky because all day Margie has wanted to be held and pretty much screamed if I put her down. I had to let her scream so I could just get dinner started and then as soon as I picked her up she was happy as could be. I can't wait for her to get a little bit bigger and then I can hopefully put her in the carrier on my back when cooking. She loves the Beco, but I can't do much in the kitchen when she is on my front. I made this soup recipe that I found in Cooking Light and it was really good. After I cleaned up for dinner, Margie and I headed out to meet a friend for coffee. It was so nice to have a chance to catch up with my friend and time always flies so quickly. We were sitting there talking and the barista rudely announced to the six or so people in Starbucks "Thanks for stopping by, we're closed, go home." Thankfully this wasn't at my normal Starbucks! And for the record, I just got a latte (decaf of course, since I am nursing!)and wasn't even tempted to get a sweet drink.

And before I forget, I have to add a little Lily funny. It didn't happen today, but I want to write it down before I forget. I was singing (badly)"Joy to the World" before Christmas. I sang the line "Let earth receive her King" and Lily thought I said something about saving the king, so now she always asks me to sing the save the king song. She is just too funny!

Margie is 3 Months Old!!

2012-01-09T12:33:00.011-06:00

Last week Margie turned 3 months old. I say it every month, but I just don't know where the time has gone! Due to illness, we were at the doctor so I know for a fact that she weighed 14 pounds 5 ounces the day before her 3 month birthday. Margie is a great sleeper still, getting up to nurse at night but going right back to sleep. She still doesn't have real nap schedule, but basically sleeps when she wants, anywhere, any time. She prefers her bouncy seat or the Beco, and sometimes her swing. If I put her down in her crib or our bed she sleeps well but wakes up screaming, like why the heck am I alone?

Margie is a pretty good eater, and much like her sister, she is a puker. After every feeding she spits up all over herself and me. We go through a lot of burb clothes. It doesn't bother her though, so I guess I have another happy spitter.
Margie wears pretty much all 6 month clothes and wears cloth diapers full time, as she has for the past two months. I am so happy to cloth diaper my babies. Weird, maybe, but I enjoy it.
Margie is generally a very happy baby. She is super smiley all the time and loves to laugh and babble. She loves to chew on her hands and has found her thumb. I think she may ditch the paci soon in favor of her thumb, just as soon as she can find it more regularly! She is very cuddly and loves to hang out in her Beco. She is very squirmy when you hold her - we call her squirmy wormy - but in her carrier she is just so chilled out. We took a walk the other day and she rode and napped the whole way, just happy as could be! She loves to watch Lily playing and I know she just can't wait to get up and follow her around.

Just before Christmas Lily brought home a little cold from school. We all ended up sick, three of us over Christmas, and Margie was the worst. She had RSV and bronchiolitis, which caused her to wheeze a lot. We treated her with a nebulizer, but it didn't do much, so we were back to the doctor's a week later and left with a prescription for Prednisone. I have love-hate feelings about Prednisone! First of all, it was very hard to give it to her. She cried and spit a lot of it out. At least it seemed she did. She is also a drooling monster lately! It give her flushed cheeks. It made her irritable. I am pretty sure it upset her tummy. The poor baby didn't know she was sick until we gave the medicine to make her better. However, it did clear up the wheezing, so I guess it was good afterall.

Margie is just the sweetest baby and we are so blessed to have her as part of our family! My two girls are the greatest!

Resolutions

2011-12-09T13:02:00.004-06:00

Do you make resolutions for the new year? I kinda do, and they kinda last maybe a week. I have very, very poor follow through. I have lots of craft supplies for hobbies I am obsessed with...for a little bit. I work out hard core...for three days. I eat a healthy diet...until I get hungry or my sweet tooth gains control. I save money...until I want something. Do you see where this is going? This year, I am not so much making resolutions as making goals. Resolutions, in my mind, just seem destined for failure. I am kind of an all or nothing gal, so when I have a misstep with my resolution, I just chuck the whole idea. Also, though January 1 comes at the same time each year, I seem to be caught with lots of junk food in the house. Or I'm too tired to work out. Or, or, or...lots of excuses.

Some of my goals for 2012:
1) I want to be a "yes" mom as much as possible. I hate that because of my own selfishness, laziness, and agenda, I tell Lily no when she wants to do a craft, or play hide and seek, or help me with chores. I want to say yes to her more often (within reason...cookies for breakfast...no, not on a daily basis!)
2) I need to stop taking out my bad mood on my husband. He is my partner, my best friend. If I am crabby, I should look to him for support, not b*tch at him (there is no better word for what I do, sorry!)as though it is his fault. Taking out my crabbiness at him doesn't solve anything and doesn't make me feel better.
3) I want to eat real. I want to lose weight, but I am not going all fat free, low fat, etc. I want to cut out sugar and processed foods and not worry about eating a little butter.
4) I want to work out a little most days. So what if it is just some push ups and crunches in the living room? Anything is better than nothing and Lily and I had a good time doing "exercises" the other day. I need to get it out of my head that I need to do a video or go to the gym or whatever. Whatever I do at home is a step in the right direction.
5) I want to save up money. I need to make sure I am not buying things on impulse.
6) Better around the home! I need to get on a better cleaning schedule. I need to make sure I make a menu plan. Cooking at home will go a long way to a couple of my goals. And I love to cook. And I get huge satisfaction out of making a meal for my family, even if Chickie isn't always interested in what I make.
7) I just want to relax and be more chill.

What about you? Any goals for the New Year?

And oh yeah, I am not necessarily waiting until January 1 to start these changes. I figure might as well ease myself in...

One of Those Days

2011-12-07T12:56:00.005-06:00

I am hoping a nice cup of tea corrects my mood today. Today, well today is one of those days. I am tired. My head hurts. My nose is stuffy. I don't feel like wiping bums or changing diapers. I don't feel like fixing lunch. Why oh why won't the baby nap? She usually sleeps all day. Why is today the one day in the history of ever that the pre-schooler doesn't want to watch cartoons? All I want to do is lay on the couch and take a nap. Is that so much to ask? Sometimes, as a mom, it is.

Today I am throwing myself a pity party. The thing about pity parties is that they can get out of control and turn into real ragers pretty fast. They can turn into the type of parties that, if they were actual parties, the neighbors would call the cops. It started with a little stress. When I stress, I eat. I eat cookies. Like a whole bag. And then I feel like a pig (which, kinda I am - it is pigly behavior!) I think how I wish I was still pregnant. But only for one very vain reason. I liked my appearance when I was pregnant. My hair was awesome. My skin was the clearest and brightest it has ever been. My clothes were comfortable and fit appropriately. I was expected that I would have a large tummy. And full panel maternity pants give that big ol' belly a nice smooth appearance. Sure, I was as big as a house, but that was a given. I was growing a life. Now, well now I am just flabby and mushy and ick! My skin is broken out and I have begun the lovely postpartum shedding.

There are so many things I want to get done today. I want to clean the house and put away the laundry. I want to finish a project with Lily. I would like to start wrapping gifts for under the tree. I want to look forward to making dinner tonight instead of dreading the task. Today, however, I am choosing to give myself grace. I am accepting that I have a two month old baby, that I am fighting a little cold, that I am sleep deprived. I am accepting that pigging out on cookies won't make my clothes fit better, but beating myself up about it won't help either. Today I am going to sip my tea and try to take a nap before we have to rush off to ballet. I am going to remember tomorrow is another day and that it is okay to push off today's chores every once in a while. I am going to remind myself that everyone has, from time to time, one of those days.

A Good Old Fashioned Lily Update

2011-12-06T20:40:00.012-06:00

I haven't done a Lily update in a while. Okay, I haven't done much of any updating. Time to rectify that. Lily is awesome. She is in preschool four days a week and loves it! Everyday she asks if it is a school day when she wakes up. We had her first school conference at the end of October and her teachers had nothing but good things to say about her. She is the youngest in her class - they decided to put her in the older 3s younger 4s class instead of the three year old class - and she holds her own. She comes home with tons of projects and the best part of my day with her is the huge smile on her face and her yelling "Mommy mommy mommy!" when I pick her up after school. Don't get me wrong, she jumps out of the car without hardly looking back at drop off, but her reaction at pick up lets me know my little girl is still happy to see me despite her independent attitude. She knows all her letters, both upper and lower case. The other day Matt was wearing a shirt that said Polygamy Porter (that he got a million years ago at a Blues and Brews Fest in Salt Lake City!) and Lily asked what it said. He told her it said porter. She said what is that word, pointing to polygamy. Matt told her it said porter also. She said no it doesn't it has some different letters. And last night at dinner she told us the salt was sea salt (which it was). We asked her how she knew, and she said it said so on the bottle. She never ceases to amaze me! She is also starting to write her name. For the longest time she had no interest in writing at all, but I am happy she is starting to show some!
She is doing ballet, which she has been doing since summer. She really loves to dance and sing. She is constantly running around the house, dancing and making up songs. She always asks if I like her songs when she is done, and just to be sure I am paying attention, she asks which part I liked best.
Even though she runs around and is super loud at home, she is a bit reserved and can be quiet in a group of kids until she feels comfortable. It is always amazing to me to see her sitting quietly, playing by herself at playdates. She warms up, but she can start out shy.
Lily dresses herself every morning, which is awesome. I let her wear whatever she wants as long as it is weather appropriate. She is really good about making sure she has long sleeves, pants, socks, and clean undies. She usually picks out one of her summer dresses to put on top. Almost nothing matches except the two socks. I think it is fantanstic! I love her sense of style. In fact, this morning she told me she doesn't like matching, as she walked out of her room in blue animal print pants and a Halloween dress. With pink socks.
My chickie and I really seem to have hit our stride lately. I am really enjoying her and feel like she is listening and behaving better. It is the little things, like her letting me do her hair without complaint as well as the bigger things, like staying with me when we are out. She is still a little firecracker though! She says the funniest things and keeps me laughing constantly. Lily is such an awesome big sister. She is so loving towards Margie and lately she keeps telling me the best day of her life is when Margie "got borned." She says she will never stop loving Margie and she hopes they are sisters forever. Seriously, I don't know where she gets this. Her heart is just that big!
Lily has a busy winter coming up with ballet, soccer and swimming. And preschool four days a week. We will be busy, but hopefully we survive. We have been doing a lot of projects lately. Lily loves projects and asks to do one every day. Her attention span is a lot longer than it used to be, so I no longer mind doing projects as much. I used to get frustrated with how quickly she would be done with a project.
I can't believe my first baby is such a kid now. She is so independent in so many areas. I am so glad she can go potty on her own and dress herself and get her milk or juice out of the fridge, but sometimes I look at her and have to really squint to see the baby she was, and it makes me a little sad. She is growing up so darn fast!

Gorgeous picture taken by my friend Kelly

She loves to play soccer

Making bird feeders on Thanksgiving at Grandma Chris's

Lily's sense of style

Making cookies with Grandma Mari

With Daddy at Holiday Magic at the Brookfield Zoo

I love that she actually smiles for pictures now!

Margie is 2 Months Old!!

2011-12-06T16:57:00.006-06:00

Margie is two months old! Time has really flown by. We had her two month check up today. Stats as follows:
Weight: 13 pounds, 90th percentile
Height: 22 3/4 inches, 75th percentile
Head: 15 1/2, 70th percentile

Size wise she is just a wee bit smaller than Lily was at the same age. Like 3 ounces and half an inch smaller. Head wise she is actually half a centimeter, or whatever unit they use, bigger than Lily which blows my mind because I always thought Lily had such a big head and don't think that about Margie. Margie wears 3 month or 3-6 month clothes and is in cloth diapers full time. She eats when she is hungry, which is every two to three hours during the day and she is up twice at night to eat. She is an awesome sleeper - I never knew it could be like this with a newborn (ahem, Lily!). Her most awake time is from about 6 pm until 11 pm, but sometimes she is a little crabby then. She is super strong and can hold her head up with no problems. She is even trying to roll, though I think we have some time. She is a little sad today because she got three shots :(. I actually got a little teary as she was getting poked.

I was afraid having a baby in October would mean we were destined to be cooped up until spring, but Mother Nature has been kind to us with mild temperatures (though I think it is changing as we speak!) Margie has been to the zoo twice and regularly hangs out in the Moby while I take Lily out to run around and kick the soccer ball around.

Lily is an awesome big sister and just loves Margie to death. She is a great helper and I am so relieved with how well she adjusted. If she ever shows any signs of jealousy, her discontent is directed at me, not the baby. Lily loves to help pick out Margie's diaper and likes to help me with her laundry by stacking up the clean wipes. Any time Margie cries, she tells me she thinks her baby needs some milk. She will run and get a paci or burp cloth when I ask and patiently waits if she needs something while I am nursing. I so hope my two girls will be the best of friends when they are older, like I am with my sisters. I know Lily is anxious for Margie to be able to play with her, and Margie is already starting to stare at Lily with fascination. It melts my heart! Where ever Margie is, Lily isn't far.

I just love my two girls so much! Margie is such a perfect addition to our family!

Margie is One Month Old!!

2011-11-08T22:21:00.004-06:00

On Friday Margie turned one month old. I can hardly believe it! It seems like she has always been a part of our family. We didn't go for a one month well baby visit because when we took her for a weight check at about 10 days, the doctor was pleased with her weight gain and told me that since I was "an experienced nursing mother" and she couldn't get any vaccinations at the visit anyway, we could just come in for a two month check up. Therefore, I don't have her actual stats, but her unofficial weight (me stepping on the scale alone, then stepping on the scale with her and doing the math) at one month is 11.1 pounds. She is definitely a well fed baby! She is well fed, but we seem to still be getting the hang of nursing. Obviously she is getting plenty, but some feedings it is a struggle. Maybe I am just remembering the later months of nursing Lily, but I don't remember as many frustrations. Margie is also a cuddly baby. So cuddly in fact that she will only sleep on me at night. During the day I can get her to sleep in the bouncy seat, and once she napped in her crib for about a half an hour, but at night she wants to be held. I oblige her by propping myself up in bed with pillows and she sleeps on my chest. My upper back and neck are getting quite achy, but I am trying to remember that this time goes so fast and she won't always be so cuddly and needy (ahem, older daughter!). Margie is growing so fast. She wears 0-3 month clothes, with a lot of them being 3 month. She was able to fit into newborn clothes longer than her big sister, though. She wears a size one diaper. We haven't moved into cloth yet. I did try them for a day, but even my smallest diapers were a bit bulky. I need to try again though because that was a couple weeks ago and she has definitely grown since then. Margie definitely has her fussy time and she loves to be held, though she protests if I put her in the Moby. As much as I love holding her, it is hard sometimes. Lily doesn't always understand why I can't always do what she wants. But she sure does love her little sister! She tells me about a hundred times a day that "I'll never stop loving her." She wants to hold her sister and hug her and kiss her all day long. Margie is starting to smile and interact a lot more. I don't know if she really is smiling or what because I didn't think babies smiled at this age, but I love all her little expressions.

I tried doing a little one month photo shoot and Margie was not having it! But isn't she adorable! And big! My friend found these little month stickers on Etsy and they are so perfect since they have apples for our little Apple Dumpling. She said she just had to get them when she saw them! Also, I would always see pictures like this and think "I can't believe people buy onesies each month!" I think these stickers are genius!

Today

2011-10-12T22:10:00.012-05:00

I am really going to try to do a better job of blogging. I want to record as much of Margie as possible, especially in the beginning, when she changes daily. I started blogging when Lily was a couple months old and think I did a pretty good job of documenting her first year at least, though I certainly haven't been good about keeping record of all the big things in her life lately.

Anyway, we had a pretty good day today. Margie slept decently last night and I got some sleep. Matt had a really early conference call so he dealt with Lily when she got up so I could nurse Margie and get a couple more minutes of sleep. I dragged myself out of bed and got Lily ready for school. It was a little later than I intended to get up, so thankfully Matt had already fed her breakfast. Matt took her to school while I fed Margie again. While I was feeding Margie the phone rang. My aunt called to say she was going to be out this way and wanted to know if she could stop by and meet Margie and see Lily. Oh yeah, and she wanted to bring lunch and dinner for us. Um, yes please! My sister Jackie, who is back from Arizona for the week, was coming to help out today, so it was a great opportunity for my aunt to see her as well. I jumped in the shower while Margie napped and Matt did some work. When Jackie got here she took over Margie duty and actually got to see her with her eyes open. I finished getting ready and then it was time for us to go pick Lily up from school. When we got home from school Lily was so excited to show us the book she got from the library. Mr. Happy, in case you are wondering. She "read" it to a sleeping Margie on the drive home because it is Margie's favorite book, according to Lily. We hung out for a bit and then the UPS man came, bringing gifts for Lily and Margie from Aunt Laurie. Lily opened her new books and then Aunt Lulu arrived, bringing lunch and more gifts for Lily and Margie. I think Lily is liking this big sister thing, especially since she has received so many big sister gifts! We ate and visited (and Margie slept!) and Jackie and Lily made Halloween cupcakes until it was time to head to ballet. Jackie drove us and it was nice to have some time to talk to my sister without Miss Lil demanding all her attention. When we got home from ballet, Jackie and Lily decorated the cupcakes while I sat down with my snuggly baby and just relaxed for a couple minutes. Unfortunately Jackie had to head home and Lily watched some cartoons while I fed Margie. Matt got home from work and we had some dinner and then gave Margie her first bath while Lily enjoyed one of her cupcakes. I know, I know, she is eight days old and we are only now giving her her first bath. I figured she would scream her head off and was dreading doing it, but she actually was pretty calm and didn't cry the whole time like I expected. I put Lily to bed while Matt finished up a little work he had and Margie hung out in her bouncy seat by him, which brings us to now. Lily is in bed, Margie is sleeping next to me in her bouncy seat, and Matt and I are catching up on our DVR.

I should also mention that today is Matt and my eighth wedding anniversary. Obviously we aren't doing anything exciting. We will do something later, when Margie is a little older and life settles down. But I can honestly say that eight years ago I married my best friend and I couldn't be happier with our little family and our life. Things aren't always perfect, but then they never will be. We get each other and each bring our strengths to our marriage. It is so wonderful having such a great partner in this crazy world!

And now some pictures!

My Little Ballerina

Decorating Cupcakes

She liked to eat the sprinkles

Look at that sweet (and sticky!) face!

First Bath! How adorable is she??!?!?!?

I know I look pretty rough here, but I have had about 20 hours of sleep total in the past 8 days!!

My sweet sleeping baby!

She's Here! She's Here!!

2011-10-11T16:06:00.019-05:00

Marjorie "Margie" Addison Groves arrived last Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 10:21 am. She was 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She is perfect in every way! She looks a lot like her big sister. I can't believe how in love I am with my new baby girl!!

We are all doing well and everyone seems to be adjusting nicely. I am recovering well from my c-section, but my incision is a little sore. It is annoying not to be able to drive and it just makes me so sad that I can't pick up my big girl for a couple more weeks. It is hard because I know she needs my attention and cuddles too, but she isn't very good at being gentle with me, so I have to limit our snuggles, especially when she starts getting silly! Lily has had a few moments, including one where she was very near tears over Margie not being named Apple Dumpling. We have come to a few compromises and she now accepts that the baby's name is Margie (I'm not even going to try to explain to her that her name is in fact Marjorie but we call her Margie) though she can call her Apple Dumpling if she wants. She mostly just refers to her as baby, though she has even called her Margie a couple times.

Margie is just the sweetest little baby. She is only a half pound smaller than Lily, and still an 8 and a half pound baby, but she just seems so tiny compared to what Lily was. She has skinny legs and her hair is darker than Lily's was, though she doesn't have a lot. I was so convinced I was going to have a nine pound plus baby with lots of dark hair that looked nothing like Lily, but I guess I was wrong! So far she is a pretty decent nurser and pretty good sleeper. She developed a little jaundice, which can make babies sleepier, so I have had to wake her up to feed her about half the time which is a bit frustrating. When she is awake though, she nurses like a champ! She is also starting to act like a typical newborn now, keeping me awake in the middle of the night. She is super snuggly and LOVES to sleep on my chest. I hope she is always a snuggly baby!

We came home from the hospital and had an eventful weekend. On Saturday I needed to have my staples from my c-section removed, then Margie needed some blood drawn to check her bilirubin level (broke my heart to watch her have her heel pricked!). It was so nice we decided to stop by a park. Then Lily had to go potty and since there was no bathroom at the park, we headed over to my inlaws for a surprise visit and to pick up the dogs. Sunday we had to take Margie to get more blood drawn and we hit up another park and played for a bit and then took a walk. We just have to take advantage of this beautiful Indian summer! Yesterday Matt headed back to work and my sisters came out to take us to Margie's newborn check up. We went to the doctor and then went to Portillo's for lunch. We then headed to the park, again, and then went to Target. Today was the first day I didn't leave the house. In fact, I never even got out of my pajamas!

Getting ready to head to the hospital

Baby Margie's first picture

The Proud Big Sister

Sisters!!

Sweet Sweet Margie

My sweet girl

My precious sleeping baby

Sleeping Sweetie

Touchdown Baby

Going home

Eyes Open

Mommy and Margie at the Park

Lily look alike

Lily as a newborn. Don't they look so much alike?!?!?

The Final Countdown!!

2011-09-28T17:24:00.004-05:00

Here I am! Less than a week until Apple Dumpling joins our family! This time next week I should be snuggling my brand new, 24 hour old baby! I am so excited that the end is near. This pregnancy has both flown by and totally dragged. I have been plagued with tons of aches and pains that I don't remember from my first pregnancy. I think a lot has to do with injuring and never fully healing my back when I was first pregnant. Also, this little girl has her head pretty much buried in my tailbone which is quite painful. I have also had some of the worst insomnia ever. Funny thing about this insomnia though...I don't mind when Lily gets up extra early because I can't sleep anyway. Or I should say I don't mind theoretically. It is still hard to drag myself out of bed, literally! I have been so anxious for this little one to arrive, hoping for the last week or so that I would go into labor, but now I am content to wait 5 more days. I know I am getting the anestesiologist I want for my c-section. Plans are all set for Lily and the dogs. Lily has also been fighting a little cold so I am hoping her sniffles are completely gone by Tuesday. Of course, she goes to preschool three days a week, so we may not be sniffle free until May. Just the nature of school I guess. We have a couple last minute things I'd like to get done, but everything that needs to be done is done. I am looking forward to enjoying my family of three the next couple days before we become a family of four!

I have gone from feeling very anxious the past month or so to really relaxing. I think there is something about knowing our lives are about to change that has helped me realize what the important things are. Everything fell into place. Matt has a nice little routine where he works from home most mornings, which is really nice and will continue until he has to start travelling again. Lily is still challenging me hourly, but I have changed my attitude a bit and what do you know, I may have been more of the problem then her! To sum up, life is good right now and it is about to get so much better!

Next time I check in I will hopefully have pictures and all that good stuff about our new little one!!

The ABC's of Me

2011-09-09T14:39:00.002-05:00

The other day my sister asked me if I was going to start blogging more again once the baby was born. I think she thinks I have been neglecting my poor little blog. One of my favorite bloggers – Frugal Babe – recently posted an “ABCs of Me” post. I figured it was an easy way to blog without having to actually think. So here we go!

A – Age. I’m 31.

B – Bed Size. Queen.

C – Chore I dislike. Is all of them an acceptable answer? I really dislike dusting the most, followed closely by cleaning the bathroom.

D – Dogs. We have 2 crazy mutts. At the moment, we actually have three as we are dog sitting my inlaws pup. As my husband likes to say, we are rich in dogs.

E – Essential start to my day. Cuddles with Lily. And coffee. Except when pregnant and nursing, the decaf isn't quite the same.

F – Favorite Colors. Neutrals. People tell me I look good in blue.

G – Gold or silver? Silver, or white gold.

H – Height. I’m 5’4″ish.

I – Instruments I play(ed). I briefly played the clarinet in 5th grade. I am not what you would call musically talented. At all!

J – Job title. Stay at home mom and homemaker.

K – Kids. One crazy three year old girl and another little girl "popping out" in a little over three weeks!

L – Live. A cozy (read: small) house in the suburbs of a big city. We have all four seasons and are entering my fav!!

M - Money tip I like best. Live like no one else so you can live like no one else.

N – Never plan to… hmmm, go fake tanning again.

O – Overnight hospital stays. I had a three night stay when Lily was born and am probably looking at the same when Apple Dumpling arrives.

P - Pet Peeves. When NFL announcers describe a player as athletic. As in "Jay Cutler is an athletic quarterback." No kidding. He is a professional athlete that makes millions a year. I sure hope he is athletic!

Q - Quote from a movie. We're gonna need a bigger boat. I love Jaws!!

R – Righty or lefty? Righty

S - Siblings. Two sisters who are two of my best friends.

T - Time I wake up. For the day, I am usually up by 7:30. However this is a cruel question because I have some fierce pregnancy insomnia right now, so I am pretty much up all night and only start to really get into a good sleep about 6:30 am!

U – Underwear. Yes, I wear underwear.

V - Vegetables I don’t like. Mushrooms. Are they even an veggie? I don't like cauliflower or raw onions or cooked peppers (but I love them raw!)

W – What makes me run late. Other people, namely my husband and daughter!

X – X-rays I’ve had. Dental, and when I threw out my back. Probably more, but my brain isn't working right now.

Y – Yummy food I make. I like to make soups. And I like to cook Indian food. I make a mean Indian chickpeas!

Z – Zoo animals I like. I like the penguins and the condors.

Do you have a blog? If you do, consider yourself tagged!

A Day at the Park

2011-08-10T20:54:00.004-05:00

Okay, it was more like a couple hours at the park. The weather was so nice today! I don't think it even reached 80, which is my kind of weather. The sun was shining, a breeze was blowing...it was just perfect. I know Lily has been itching to get out, and to be honest, so have I! I feel like I have been a bad mommy this summer. My three year old is actually sick of cartoons. I mean, what kid doesn't want to watch more cartoons? It is just that it has been super hot, super humid, super rainy, and super mosquito-y. Add in a pregnant mommy and a house under construction, and you get a lot of PBS and Sprout watching. Anyway, I knew we needed to get out. I really wanted to go to the Arboretum or something more exciting, but the mosquitos have been so bad and Lily just gets eaten alive, despite bug spray. And then she reacts very badly to the bites, swelling up and miserably itchy. I decided that a park nearby seemed the best bet. It was cool enough that it didn't unreasonable to dress us both in long pants, socks and tennis shoes. I sprayed her with bug spray before we even left. This park has a big sand area, which she loves (I figured less bugs in sand?) and isn't all that shady, so I thought it would be perfect. It was! I didn't notice any bugs at all. And I don't think Lily has any new bites besides the two she woke up with this morning. There must have been a mosquito in her room. I would say she looked like a happy girl at the park!

After we got home from the park, I parked the van in the street and Lily rode her bike and drew with chalk while I sat and watched her and read a book. Really, the park is close enough to walk to, but I tend to have a lot of back pain if I do much physical activity. My pain is exactly where I hurt my back when I threw it out in January and I am hoping that it feels better after I deliver. I had started seeing a chiropractor and felt much better, but then I found out I was pregnant and stopped treatment. I really hope the pain resolves after the baby is born. It kind of sucks that too much walking, like a day at the zoo, or even a trip to the park, has me almost unable to move the next day! Enough complaining! I am so blessed to be pregnant and I know that, but I guess I am a complainer by nature! Anyway, we came in and had some lunch and I cleaned up the kitchen while Lily played a bit. I put on some cartoons and Lily was so good to let me doze on the couch for a bit. She has been pretty good about letting me get in a little rest on the couch each afternoon, even though she doesn't nap anymore. I started dinner (two nights in a row!) and we went back outside to play and wait for Matt to get home. I am bound and determined this week to make dinner since Matt is home. He has been out of town a lot and we have been eating out a lot, or Matt has been cooking. I hate that I don't have the energy to be my normal domestic goddess! And since there is little point in cleaning since the house is a construction zone with sanding done each night, I figure at least I can make a home cooked meal and not feel like a total slacker!

10 Weeks to Go!!

2011-07-26T12:47:00.007-05:00

I officially have ten weeks left in this pregnancy. I am not sure if I can get much bigger. I can't really compare how big I am this pregnancy as opposed to my pregnancy with Lily because there are almost no pictures. One of the nice things about having a scheduled c-section is I know when this baby will be here. Ten weeks from now at the latest I should be holding my new baby, my second daughter, in my arms. I am so excited.
We have to put up a wall to make the babies room. My husband and dad are going to do that in a week and a half. My mom is going to come with that day and we are going to go shopping for anything I need for Apple Dumpling. I shouldn't need too much, but at the moment I am having a hard time remembering what you need for newborns. Since we are having another girl, I shouldn't need much in the way of clothes. I think I am good on onesies and jammies. Unfortunately I can't really go through all the stuff we have in the attic saved from Lily until we have a place to put it all. But now that we have a date set for putting up the wall, I feel a lot more relaxed that things will get done. I want to do a decent size purge of the house to make more room for all the baby stuff that will be coming out of retirement. Since we will essentially be rearranging three rooms, a couple things will definitely need to go.
I am also going to try to get a couple meals in the freezer for after the baby is born. Matt is a good cook, so it isn't like we won't eat if I don't, but I still think it is a good idea. Maybe a couple soups or some meatballs. Too bad I hardly feel like cooking right now.

Lily is getting very excited for her baby sister to pop out. We have her registered for a big sister class at the hospital I will be delivering at and she is very excited about it. It is rather inexpensive and I've had a lot of friends tell me that they found it a helpful way for their older children to feel involved, even if the class was a bit cheesy. Lily is also starting preschool in less that a month, which is crazy to me! I can't believe it. We bought her a princess backpack the other day and she can't wait to go. Last week she had VBS and she was so disappointed that there isn't any this week. It was nice to have some time to myself last week, even though I didn't do anything terribly useful. One Sunday all the VBS kids sang at church and it was adorable. I was so proud of Lily. She sings all the time but wouldn't really sing the songs with me at home. But as soon as she got up with all the little kids she was singing and doing all the movements.

With Lily starting school in just a month, it is really starting to hit me that summer is almost over. Everything will be starting up again. I always feel the start of a school year is more of the beginning of a new year than January 1. Fall is right around the corner, even if it doesn't feel like it outside. I just hope we are able to enjoy some of our normal fall activities with a newborn. I am hoping we can still make a trip to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard.

Well, off to get the house straightened up a bit. I think I am going to start purging....

Untitled

2011-07-19T09:19:00.008-05:00

You know what's tricky? Trying to blog with a laptop on your lap when you no longer really have a lap. But I am lazy and don't feel like moving to the table, so I will persevere.
I am home alone for three blissful hours. Lily is at Vacation Bible School all week. It is very, very strange. Yesterday I dropped her off and had to run to a doctors appointment, which was nice. I didn't really have time to dwell on the fact that I was leaving my baby someplace for the first time. Sure, I have left her with family, and rarely, friends. And she has been in the childcare at MOPS, the gym, Hannah Circle, but I was always in the same building. Really, I have nothing to worry about. For starters, Little Miss Independent could care less. She has never really had a problem with me leaving. And her VBS teachers are all my friends from MOPS and Hannah Circle, so it was actually like leaving her with 4 friends that know and love her. So here I sit, home alone with three hours to myself for the next four days. What to do, what to do...
I could take a shower, ALONE, for as long as I want until the hot water runs out, without someone requesting a juice box or informing me Mickey is over or that the dog is on the couch (where they sleep all day...why is this news?). I could take a nap. I am still considering this...someone was up a little earlier than I would like. I could clean, uninterrupted. But I have the rest of the week for that. Today I plan to blog, watch a DVR'd show or two, eat some chocolate chips (I AM pregnant, remember)and perhaps take a nap.

So what have we been up to the past couple days? I had one mission on Saturday. I wanted to get a new diaper bag and the Vera Bradley outlet was having a sale. 25% off...couldn't pass it up. We headed to the outlet mall. Lily actually loves the outlet mall. As does Matt. First stop is always Starbucks...for Matt! I joke with him that after years of loving myself some coffee, Matt embraced the craze just as I had to start making do with decaf. We hit VB and the place was a zoo. I was looking at the baby bags, which are way too small for me, and Lily was helping a worker stock lunch bags. I picked out the bag that looked perfect for me and as we were checking out, the worker Lily was helping came over and asked to borrow her. I waited in line and Matt and Lily went with the worker. She asked Lily which one was her favorite and GAVE IT TO HER! I walked out of the store with a bag that will be perfect for my new diaper bag, and Lily walked out with a free, $20 value lunch tote. Score!

I know the bag looks enormous. It is! BUT! I am a bag person. I always over pack. And with cloth diapers, a nursing cover, plus all the stuff for a baby and a three year old, and my stuff so I don't have to carry a purse...well, it is perfect. Not to mention will probably be toting my big camera around a bit more when I am out and about with a subject that actually sits still for a picture!

On Sunday we took Lily to see her first movie in the theater. We went and saw Winnie the Pooh. Lily loved it and Matt and I loved the watching her excitement. She particularly loved the popcorn. It was the perfect way to spend a hot afternoon. We are in the midst of a heat wave here. It is super hot and humid, even for summer in Chicago. Thank goodness for airconditioning. I am not a fan of heat anyway, and add in the preggo-ness and it makes for a not so happy mommy.

Yesterday we had a pretty busy day as well. I dropped Lily off for her first day of VBS, resisted the urge to scoop her up and take her with me, and headed to a doctor's appointment. I am 28 weeks and officially in my third trimester, which means I will see my doctor every two weeks for the next eight weeks, and then every week. My c-section is scheduled and I can't believe our new little one will be here in 11 weeks! There is so much to do and time is just flying. Buying the diaper bag is probably the first thing we have done on a list that just keeps getting longer. There are a couple major things we need to do, like put up a wall to make the baby's room and buy a crib. The crib we used for Lily was awesome, but it is a drop side and they are banned now and I am just not comfortable with a little baby sleeping in it. Since we are having another girl, I don't think I need to buy much in the way of clothing, though I am sure there will be some since Lily is a March baby and Apple Dumpling will be an October birthday...seasonally I will probably need to fill in the gaps a bit. Anyway, yesterday I had an ultrasound. She was being super shy and I didn't even get a glimpse of her face, let alone a printed picture. She is head down and 2 pounds, 12 ounces. I can't wait to meet her! After I picked Lily up from VBS, we stopped home for 2 minutes to change her into her ballet clothes and headed out to ballet. After ballet we hit up McDonald's (which I had been promising her for about a week) and quickly ate lunch. A friend stopped by to drop something off and then another friend came over so we could do a little transition on MOPS stuff. Last year I was the financial coordinator for MOPS, but with a new baby on the way, I decided doing steering this year would probably be too much. I am sad not to be doing steering this year, but a bit relieved to have one less responsibility. Not to mention extra space on my book shelves after handing off my finance stuff.
Well there you have it. My first hour home alone has passed quickly. Better get to my recorded shows and nap :)

A Few Pictures

2011-07-12T21:21:00.010-05:00

I haven't really been taking a ton of pictures with my big fancy pants camera lately, but there are a couple cute ones from the last couple months that I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Florida

2011-07-11T20:49:00.021-05:00

**Warning! This is a very long post. It also isn't a very well written post. It seems that when I am pregnant, as the baby grows, my brain shrinks. I am sure over the course of the next twelve weeks I will just melt into a pile of goo, unable to form even a simple sentence!**

I have sat down to blog about 5 times this week, but each time I lose my motivation about three sentences in. I have so much catching up to do. I promised myself I would do at least one post tonight, and our Florida trip seems like the perfect topic for a couple reasons. For starters, I don't want to forget the memorable and magnificent time we had. Also, I am finally coming out of my post-vacation-letdown-depression-malaise and feel that I can blog about it now without getting too misty eyed (just kidding...kinda...)

We took a wonderful, week long trip to Orlando with my parents and sisters. It is honestly one of the best vacations I have ever taken. My parents' have a time share that we used for our accommodations. It was an awesome two bedroom, two bathroom condo. It had two pools and was very family friendly. My family generously gave Matt, Lily and I the master bedroom. We all bunked in the king size bed. The bed was enormous and plenty of room, but I am convinced that no matter how much room she has, Lily still insists on sleeping right up against me. Even though I don't get the best night's sleep with Lily pushing me out of bed, I secretly love having her snuggled up against me, with her sweet little face turned toward me.

Lily took her first plane ride and was thrilled with it. I was pretty nervous about how the flight would be, but everything was fine. I am not really a nervous flyer, per se; it is more that I just think it is a pain. However, our flight was easy both coming and going (well, every thing went smoothly...there was some turbulence!) It is funny because the last time I flew I was pregnant with Lily. I don't get out much!

When we arrived in Florida, we got our rental car, complete with rented pink carseat. Lily thought it was so neat. We checked into the condo and then half of us went to the grocery store and the other half hit the pool. We made a plan for the rest of the week and just hung out. It was very relaxed...no real time tables or anything. On Monday we just hung out at the pool. The pool had a pirate ship in it that sprayed water and had a couple smaller slides. Lily isn't really a fan of water spraying, and didn't initially like the slides, but she loved her pool noodle and just jumping around in water that came up to her chest. She would sing "I'm a little fish. I'm a little fish. I'm a little little little little little fish." She just had so much fun!

Tuesday we headed to the Magic Kingdom. It was hot! The first thing we did was get in line to meet the princesses. Lily was in awe! She talked to each princess and was just so excited, though we weren't really able to get any pictures of her smiling with them. Next we went to meet Mickey and Minnie. She turned to Matt and told him she didn't know they were so big. We headed over to It's a Small World for our first ride. I think Lily was a little overwhelmed but she enjoyed it. Then we went over to Pirates of the Caribbean. She wasn't all that thrilled with the ride. As soon as it started she buried her head in my side and started saying "get me out of here!" I pointed out the funny animotronic dog and she decided the dog wasn't scary and started to like the ride a little better. After the ride it was time for lunch. The only real line that was long and hot was the jungle cruise ride we went on after lunch. I think we waited only a little over half an hour, which is really pretty good considering it is Disney World! We saw a couple shows - The Country Bear Jamboree and Mickey's Philharmagic - which were welcome reliefs to our tired legs and sweaty bodies! We used the fast pass for the Winnie the Pooh ride. I thought the ride was a little trippy, but Lily really liked it. Lily also saw the Dumbo ride and insisted on going on it. She and I waited in line for about 30 minutes for the 30 second ride while the rest of the group found some air conditioning. Lily loved the ride though, so it was worth it. We ended our day with another show, where Lily promptly fell asleep. As we left the park, we discovered the monorail was not working so we had to take the ferry. Luckily we left when we did and only had to wait for two ferries because the line was really long behind us. This was by far the worst part of the day. Luckily Lily was asleep in her stroller. My feet were killing me and I was done! One would think a day at the Magic Kingdom would have Lily down for the count, but once we got back to the condo we had a little dinner and she was ready for the pool! I don't know where she gets her energy!

Wednesday we headed to Cocoa Beach, which is about an hour east of Orlando. I love, love, love the ocean and was excited to introduce Lily to it. I think we went on the perfect day. There were some nice waves and the water was so warm. We went to Cocoa Beach Pier, which allowed us to rent an umbrella and a couple chairs. We took Lily into the waves, but she wasn't really sure about them. We were holding her and had to be sure to lift her everytime a wave came. She told us the ocean doesn't care about us because it kept hitting us with waves! We decided to play in the sand and she had a blast. It was nice to have six adults because there was always someone to stay and play in the sand with Lily while the rest of us played in the waves. My mom was eventually able to convince Lily to play in the surf, which she really enjoyed. We had some lunch at a little restaruant on the pier and then walked to the end of the pier. We played in the ocean some more, but eventually decided to call it a day. The sun was hot and all of us, except Lily, we starting to get a little burnt, despite our rigorous application of sun screen. I have to give a shout out to California Baby Sunscreen. I bought some for Lily before we left but was shocked at how expensive the stuff was. I used some of the stick on my face, but really only used the lotion on Lily as to not use it all up. Lily came home from Florida with little tan lines, but never once was even a little pink! And she was in the sun just as much as everyone else! Lily was cracking us up the entire hour drive home. Again, I was totally thinking she would crash but I should know better. She was hyper and talking the entire way. At one point I was in tears I was laughing so hard. We ordered pizza for dinner and just chilled when we got home. I spent the evening trying to get the sand our of our suits.

Thursday was another pool day. We relaxed and just really enjoyed swimming and hanging out with each other. Every day at 3 pm they resort had an ice cream social. For this preggo lady, it was awesome! We went out to a fancy restaruant for dinner. It was quite the ordeal. First they brought out the wrong appetizer, which actually worked out in our benefit because we got to eat the mistake along with the one we ordered. The food was really good, but they forgot Steph's meal, and then when it came out her steak wasn't cook correctly. Luckily Lily's kids meal of fried shrimp was a huge portion and she barely ate it, so Steph just ate it. Also adding to the excitement of the meal was Lily insisting on having to go to the bathroom every two minutes. Not the best resturant experience ever, but my crab cakes rocked!

Friday we went to the Animal Kingdom. The first ride we went on was the Kilamanjaro Safari. I should say the first ride everyone else went on was the safari. Since I am pregnany, I wasn't able to go on it. Instead, I got an iced coffee and found a shady spot under a fan and just played on my phone. It was actually very nice. I am a little bummed I couldn't go on the ride because it looked so neat, but now we will just have to go back! Then we walked through the jungle area and took the train to Rafiki's Island. Lily wanted to meet the characters that were there - Pochahontas (Lily called her the Hawaiian princess), Rafiki, and Jimney Cricket. We went out to the petting zoo area and then took the train back. We decided to see a show called It's Tough to Be a Bug. Major fail! It was a 3-D movie that started out with a giant spider. Lily was NOT having it and I ended up taking my crying child out of the theater. Matt told me we left just in time. It was only like 8 minutes long, but he said when the lights came on half the kids were crying. In all fairness to Disney, there are signs saying it is loud and may be scary to kids. They weren't kidding. Lily kept asking me why I took her to the bug movie. "Why did you take me to the bug movie Mommy?" is seriously something I still here her ask over two weeks later! We had some lunch and then went to the Lion King show, which Lily loved! We snagged some fast passes for the Mount Everest ride and went to the Nemo show while we waited for our return time (well, actually Matt, my dad, Jackie and Steph - Lily and I couldn't go on it and my mom didn't want to). Lily loved the Nemo show as well. After the show there was still a little time so we went to the Dinoland area. Lily wanted to go on the dinosaur ride which is exactly the same thing as the Dumbo ride except you ride in dinosaurs. We waited about two minutes to go on the ride. Next time we hit Disney, I think we will skip the Dumbo ride at the Magic Kingdom and just go on the dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom. It was starting to rain at that point, which actually felt really nice. We headed over to the Mount Everest ride, but just as we got up to it, they had to shut down the ride because of the weather. We tried to do a couple other things, but they all had to shut down because of lightning. We did a little shopping and decided to head out. Lily fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept straight through until 7:30 the next morning. The first thing she asked me upon waking up the next morning was "Mommy, why did you take me to the bug show?"

Saturday was our last full day in Florida. The weather was a little iffy at first but it turned out to be another great day in the pool. We went out for a nice dinner - much more successful than our previous dinner - and started packing. We ran into a family in the elevator that was just beginning their vacation and gave them Lily's much loved pool noodle since we couldn't take it with us. Sunday we went out to breakfast and then headed to airport to head home. There was a bit of weather, but after a couple false starts boarding we were able to get on the plane and get home. The flight home wasn't as good as the flight there and I decided if I ever fly 6 months pregnant again, I need to fly first class! I was so sore after the flight. I think it was just my body reacting to the eventful week, but still.

We had such a wonderful trip. Lily loved having breakfast on the porch with Grandma Mari and Grandpa Tom. She loved having six adults doting on her. I loved that this vacation felt like a vacation because I got to rest and wasn't just doing the same thing I do every day but in a different place. I am not sure about Matt because he had to jump right back into work, but Lily and I both had a bit of a hard time readjusting to being home. It was actually kind of hard for me because I was so used to being surrounded by my family. A huge thank you to my parents for treating us to the wonderful vacation. If it wasn't for their generosity we never would have been able to go! Just a day or two into the trip we were already planning our next vacation!

Lily is going to have.....

2011-05-17T10:22:00.002-05:00

A BABY SISTER!!!!

We had our 20 week (okay, 19 week, 1 day) ultrasound yesterday and found out the gender of our new little one. Another girl. I would say I was surprised, but I started getting a really strong girl vibe a couple days ago, despite the fact that this pregnancy is soo different that my pregnancy with Lily. I was sick for the first trimester, and still am sometimes. Heartburn, check. Digestive issues, check. I was so sure for the first 18 or so weeks that we were having a boy, but all of a sudden last Thursday I just started feeling like this baby was a girl. Matt admitted that he started to get that feeling a little bit too. If I am going to be honest, initially I was a bit disappointed. I would love to have a son. But then I got to thinking about how much fun Lily is. And I already have tons and tons of clothes. I quickly got over any disappointment. Lily has already named her little sister Apple Dumpling (from Strawberry Shortcake). She is excited and sings to my belly and hugs my belly and gets up every morning and asks me if the baby popped out yet. She is such a hoot!

Speaking of Lily, she is currently in swimming lessons and while she isn't exactly a little fish, she sure loves the water. She is getting more brave each week and now puts her head under water. She is also signed up for "ballerina class" which starts in a couple weeks and she is so excited. She loves to do her ballerina dances for us all the time. Lily is every bit girl, which is so funny because I am totally not a girly girl. She loves princesses and sparkly crayons and is obsessed with putting lipstick (chapstick) on. She insists on wearing a dress every day, so she can do her ballerina dances, and loves to play dress up. She is very nurturing to all her babies. She has a million stuffed animals and I never know which one will be baby of the day. I think she is going to be such a wonderful big sister. She already tells me all the things she is going to do to help, like get diapers and wipes for me.

Lily is also very 3 lately. While the really rough patch seems to have subsided a bit, she is still very strong willed. I know this will serve her well in her life, but right now it can be frustrating! She is also a bit of a picky eater. I am constantly at a loss what to feed her. Something she loves one day she won't touch the next. She is almost completely done with naps, although sometimes if I put cartoons on around dinner time while I make dinner I find her conked out on the couch. She is a total bear to wake up. Seriously, it is scary. She gets that from me :)

I will try to be better on updating. I don't want to miss things and I can't seem to remember what I did 20 minutes ago most days.

Toodles!

Earth Day

2011-04-22T18:35:00.003-05:00

Today is Earth Day. In honor of Earth Day, and because I am really trying to post more, I thought I would list some of our "green" habits. I am by no means perfect in my quest to be green, but I try. I will confess I haven't been nearly as good lately as I was when Lily was first born, but I plan on really embracing my crunchiness again.

- Cloth diapers. Duh. This is the number one biggest thing we did that was planet friendly. I am excited to cloth diaper again. Lily wasn't in cloth diapers for the last couple months she was in diapers, mostly because she had outgrown them. I had one size diapers, but one size wasn't the best fit on my active toddler. I didn't buy any bigger ones because I was so sure she would be potty trained any minute. With this new one, I will just buy the bigger diapers if necessary!

- Also cloth wipes and cloth nursing pads.

- Reusable shopping bags. Check.

- Recycling.

- Hand-me-downs. I accept almost all hand-me-downs, be it toys or clothes. It saves on resources being used to produce new ones and it keeps the old ones out of the landfills. And it is pretty nice on our wallets as well.

- We garden. It isn't super extensive and honestly isn't always all that successful, but we eat a portion of our produce each summer out of our garden.

- I hang dry some of our clothes. Not everything - I don't have enough drying racks nor space to put them, but at least one load is saved from the dryer. When our appliances bit the dust a couple years ago, we were sure to upgrade to a more energy efficient washer and dryer.

- I do some cleaning with baking soda and vinegar. Again, not everything, but I try to avoid the heavily chemical laden stuff as much as possible.

- I don't wash my clothes until they are dirty or smelly. I have one pair of jeans. They don't go into the laundry until they need to. I wear the same jammies all week, as do Lily and Matt. It really cuts down on the laundry if we don't throw things into the hamper until they need to be washed.

- I made my own baby food for Lily and I breast fed. No formula packages, no little jars of baby food going into the recycling. I intend to do this again.

- We compost a bit, but not nearly as much as we should.

- We live in a small house. This isn't necessarily a choice, as the housing market is crap and we can't move even though we want to. That being said, even my small, energy inefficient house, uses a lot less energy.

- I keep the heat low and the air high. I like to snuggle under blankets and be cozy, so we keep the thermostat about 67 in the winter and pull out the blankets and slippers and sweaters.

- Ok, this one is a little gross, but "if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down". We saves gallons and gallons of water by doing this. Obviously we flush every couple times as to not clog the loo with all that toilet paper.

That's all I can think of right now. I am sure there are more green things we do, and there are definitely areas we could be better. However, I like to think I am doing my part for the planet.

Some Recent Pictures

2011-04-19T17:16:00.013-05:00

Some recent pictures, in no particular order. Just a note, I think the focus on my camera is a little off. I need to look into that!

Simple Woman Daybook

2011-04-19T14:57:00.003-05:00

FOR TODAY…

Outside my window...it is raining and windy. And about 40. Brrr!

I am thankful for...the little life kicking in my belly!

From the kitchen...I am making chili, which is oddly appropriate for this mid April day.

I am wearing...yoga pants, a sweatshirt and my slippers.

I am creating...I am working on decluttering a bit, so I guess I am attempting to create some peace, space and order in my home.

I am going...nowhere. I'm in for the day.

I am reading...Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff, but I am having a hard time with it.

I am hoping...for better weather! Lily asks about every ten minutes if we can go outside to play.

I am hearing...The Cat in the Hat, which Lily is watching. Yep, it is a cartoon kinda day!

Around the house...not much going on. I should put away the laundry that has been on the drying rack for a few days.

A few plans for the rest of the week...Lily has her art class at the library tomorrow morning, then we clean my mom's house. Thursday she has swimming lessons, and that pretty much sums up the plans until Sunday. So thankful for a boring week after our crazy one last week.

From my picture journal...

My Chickie and I on Valentine's Day 2011

Untitled

2011-04-19T10:28:00.002-05:00

I haven't been blogging much lately. Have you noticed? Half the time I forget I have this little blog. I don't think too many people read it anyway. But I really want to get better about keeping up to date on our lives. And it is therapeutic as well. Especially when I don't want to annoy my friends by calling to complain about how my three year old is acting like, well, a three year old. Or how I am exhausted. Or how we are broke. Or how my house is never clean. I can get it all out here. Not that I really have anything to complain about. Ever since having my pants shocked off on February 10 (the very surprise phone call telling me "Umm, your HCG level is 16000 - you are pregnant!!") I try to have an extra grateful heart and keep my complaining to a minimum. Except I seem to be hard-wired to complain about something. I am well into a complaint before I realize I am even doing it. In fact, I believe I may be complaining now.

Anywho, what have we been doing lately?

Lily is taking swimming lessons. We are going to Florida with my family in June and the itinerary is basically hanging out by the pool. I wanted Lily to at least be comfortable in the water so I signed her up for two sessions of swim lessons. We are almost done with the first session. She loves the water, but has a bit of a hard time following directions. And she won't put her head under water. But she is getting closer. I am happy that she loves the water and seems very comfortable. She is three. She is never going to be left alone, unattended in the pool. I don't care if she can actually swim at this point. And she is awesome at floating on her back and doing monkey-airplane-soldier, otherwise known as elementary backstroke. And dang if she isn't just the cutest little swimmer!

We have also been doing a little landscaping in our backyard. Okay, Matt has. I have been watching and playing with Lily. The front yard is next. After almost 6 years here, and since we are stuck here until the housing market rebounds (ha!) we decided it was high time. We also will be converting the playroom into the baby's room later this summer. All that really entails is putting up a wall, putting a door on the already framed doorway, and changing the light fixture. It will close up the house a bit, but such is life.

I have been feeling better the past few weeks. Hardly any gagging and wretching and no puking! But I have been exhausted, which should have passed by now. Except I wasn't all that tired in the beginning, probably because all I did was lay around trying not to barf. Now that I actually attempt to be a normal house wife and stay at home mommy, I find I have zero energy! I am pretty sure I have been feeling the baby moving. It is so exciting, but I am just hoping I am not making it up! I had a doctor's appointment last week and heard the heart beat (I heard it a month ago too!) and the doctor said it sounded great. My ultrasound is May 16 and I can't wait to find out if we will have another little girl or a little boy! My gut tells me boy because this pregnancy is so different than with Lily, but who knows. I have friends with two boys that tell me their pregnancies were totally different with each one, and my mom tells me her pregnancies were totally different with all three of us girls. Lily wants a baby sister and won't even humor the idea of a baby brother. At least we will have 20 or so weeks to prepare her if she is indeed having a brother! I don't quite need my maternity clothes yet, but we pulled them down from the attic this past weekend. I was pregnant exactly opposite seasons with Lily and I also was working full time, so I have a couple 3/4 length t-shirts and one pair of jeans that will work, otherwise everything is long sleeve and business casual. Looks like I need to do a little shopping.

Let's see, what else has been going on? We have been having typical Chicago spring weather, which means we had a couple days of 70 and 80 degree temperatures and now it is not even 40 and raining/snowing. Lily is so bummed because she wants to go out and play in her sandbox, but that is so not happening in this weather. I am sure in a couple weeks it will go straight to 80s and stay there until October. I feel like I am being gypped out of some good spring thunderstorms too.

Alright, I have a little girl who wants to play, so signing off for now!

This Too Shall Pass...I Hope!!

2011-03-29T16:46:00.003-05:00

We are about three weeks into what can only be described as the terrible threes. I patted myself on the back for so long because Lily never really had the "terrible twos". She has always been very verbal, so we never had much of issue understanding what she wanted. About six months ago, her behaviour started getting a little, well, naughty. She wouldn't listen, threw some tantrums, and so on. But the past couple weeks..whoa! It is like she isn't even the same child. One minute she is happy as can be, and the next she is kicking, screaming, yelling, hitting. At first I thought it was boredom. We have been watching a lot of cartoons the past couple weeks while mommy laid on the couch trying not to puke. And I thought maybe extreme cabin fever had set in. We have had the longest winter ever. And maybe it has something to do with transitioning out of the daily afternoon nap. But I think what I really need to admit to myself is we hit that rough stage that all new parents are warned about. And while I certainly wouldn't consider us new parents anymore, this stage is new to us. I find myself questioning daily if I am really cut out for this parenting thing. Lily is pleasant and then she is horrible. I am practically tip-toeing around trying not to set her off. I am learning her triggers. If she isn't ready to change activities (or leave the park, swim lessons, etc) then I can expect a meltdown. If she gets hungry, she is super moody (as am I!) I am getting to the point that I don't even want to go anywhere anymore.
While I may be learning what sets Lily off, while I may be able to curb some issues by keeping her belly full, what I can't seem to do is figure out how to stop the tantrums mid tantrum. I don't know what to do to calm her down. Sometimes she calms down in the blink of an eye, and we are best friends two seconds later. I just don't know how to get her attention in the midst of meltdown, especially out in public. I can warn her that I am going to take her toys away, and she will tell me she wants me to take her toys away.
I am at my wits end most days, but as everyone keeps telling me...this too shall pass!!

It's Been a While, But I Have Good Reason!

2011-03-27T08:43:00.003-05:00

In case you can't read Lily's shirt, it says "Big Sister". We were so excited to share the wonderful news with our families, and Lily, yesterday. And then in short order, we shared with everyone we know! My due date is October 9, which puts me right at 12 weeks. As I exit the first trimester, I am really hoping that the morning sickness hits the road. I have been pretty sick this time around, which is new to me because I hardly felt any nausea with Lily.

Everyone is very excited. It is hard to know for sure if Lily gets it, but she seems to. She got a stuffed elephant for her birthday from her Nee Nee and this morning she told me she hopes she can share her elephant with her baby. It helps that just last week we went to visit my best friend and her new baby. Lily held the baby and sang to her and was quite smitten.

Anyway, it has been a long six weeks keeping this news to myself. I am feeling so wonderfully blessed! I really need to catch up on things like Lily's 3rd birthday, the terrible threes, the death of our computer, and other things that have been going on.

Take care!

I Should Have Known

2011-02-09T12:45:00.003-06:00

I should have known when she threw the mother of all tantrums, the likes of which I have NEVER seen out of her, on Monday.

I should have known when she has been unusually obsessed with her paci.

I should have known when I heard the "funny noise" in the middle of the night, which I knew was her coughing.

I should have known when she had a temp of 99*, even though she ran around for a half hour straight, singing "The Wheels on the Bus".

I should have followed my gut and cancelled my plans, yet again. Instead I sent Chickie to my mother in laws so I could go to the dentist and go clean my aunt's house, which I had cancelled the previous two weeks (due to me being sick and the weather.) My little Chickie is sick. Croup. I knew it when I heard her cough at 5 am Tuesday morning. It woke both of us up. Matt didn't believe it was her coughing and went searching for the noise. It was just two little coughs, but I had a pretty good idea where it was headed. When she woke up she was coughing a little bit. She had a very low grade fever. I gave her some Motrin and got us ready for our day. I made the judgement call that many many moms make every day. Should I stay home? I don't often have plans. And I almost never have something going on that can't be rescheduled. Matt was due for a dental appointment. I could have sent him instead. And my aunt would have understood if I had to cancel for the third week in a row. But alas, I decided to push through. She didn't seem that sick. And my mother in law tells me she wasn't. She was just fine. Until about noon. Then she ran out of steam and spiked a fever. 101 something this time. She gave her some Motrin at the appointed time. But when I got there to pick her up, she was just resting on the couch, watching cartoons. One look and I knew. This was gonna be worse than I thought.
She slept a little on the way home. She seemed to pep up just a bit when we got home. Maybe she was just sleepy? I put on Bubble Guppies and gave her a popsicle. She had been complaining of a sore throat all day. Cough, sore throat, fever. I should have known. I asked if her nose hurt, her head hurt, her ear hurt. Nada. But that cough. That croupy cough. Croup is the inflammation of the vocal chords. It is not the inflammation of the airway, generally. And usually it sounds worse than it is. Or so I am told. But we have been there before, and by 8:30 pm when she was crying and coughing and getting herself so worked up and gasping, we decided to head to the ER for some steroids and a breathing treatment. We've been there before. After examining her, the doctor declared she had an ear infection (wha? she told me her ear didn't hurt!) and mild croup. There is a scale apparently. She was a one. She had the cough, but no retracting. We couldn't see her ribs when she took a breath. She wasn't flaring her nostrils. She was given a steroid and antibiotic. No breathing treatment. The nebulizer employees a stimulant, which is effective, but also can make little ones' hearts race (or really anyones!). I was okay with it. We were sent home and Lily and I had a slumber party in our bed while Matt bunked with the dogs on the couch. She slept pretty well, only waking up crying and coughing a few times. She snuggled right up to me. Sure, it is a queen size bed, but I was almost falling off. I hate that she doesn't feel well, but love how cuddly she is. How much she needs me. Most days are spent with her yelling for me to go away. She slept in and is currently back down for a nap.

And now Matt doesn't feel well. He is home sick today.

I was really hoping this was the week we returned to normal.

A Little of This, A Little of That

2011-02-07T16:44:00.002-06:00

I haven't been around much lately. Have you noticed? I wish I had some big, exciting reason, but the reality is I have just been uninspired. And out of sorts lately. It started two weeks ago when I woke up with the worst sinus infection ever! Matt took pity on me and worked from home so I could get a little rest and go to the doctor, sans kid (which usually only adds to my headache!) The first dose of the Z-pack had me feeling good as new. Seriously, I am not so much a fan of medicine, if I can avoid it, but dang it works! Then, the next day Lily and I ran some errands. I hit up Target, Michaels, and the pet store. I was making conversation with Lily on the way home, asking what she wanted for lunch. As we were driving past McDonald's she informed me she wanted chicken nuggets. I knew we had some chicken tenders in the freezer so I thought we would pass on the fast food and save some cash. I was feeling so pround of myself the entire drive home. I should have known that no good deed goes unpunished. I bent down to get a cookie sheet out of the drawer under the oven and was immediately on my knees, tears streaming down my face, in blinding pain. Yup, I "threw my back out!" It took me about 15 minutes to get up, and then I called Matt bawling. He said he'd be home in 15 minutes and was darn close to the mark. For the record, it usually takes about 25 minutes from his office to our house. I took some advil and tried to lay down while Matt fed the kid and determined what to do with me. It seemed urgent care was the best choice. He got us into the car and over to urgent care and as soon as the doctor walked in the room he said "yup, you threw your back out." Honestly, this was a relief. I was so worried I had done something really serious, like herniated a disc or something with the amount of pain I was in. I left with a Rx for pain killers and muscle relaxers and all was right with the world. That is, until I was laying in bed and sneezed and my back started spasming and I was just laying there screaming in pain. Poor Matt! He looked absolutely horrified and couldn't do a thing! Eventually it was time to get up for dinner, which took about a half hour to get me out of bed. Thankfully we were able to make arrangements for my sister to come and take care of Lily/me the next day. Jackie was awesome, helping out with Lily, switching around loads of laundry for me, and just generally helping out. I was amazed how much better my back felt by Thursday. I no longer felt like I was going to die and I could pretty much take care of Lily and stuff. Seriously though, there were times in the week following my "injury" (and yes, it was an injury, but how I hurt myself is so ridiculous I feel stupid calling it an injury!) there were times that my back just like when I had back labor with Lily. Just a constant, super uncomfortable but not really limiting pain. I have started going to a chiropractor, and while I am amazed at how often they want to see me (3x a week for 3 weeks, 2x a week for 3 weeks, 1x a week for 6 weeks, 1x every two weeks, etc, etc) I do feel it may be helping.
Just when my back was starting to feel better and I was looking forward to being sprung from my week of house arrest, the predicted a major blizzard hitting the area. Now snow and wind in Chicago in the winter isn't really anything new. And the weather people have a tendency to over hype things. But for some reason, everyone took them seriously this time. And rightly so! The storm was supposed to start on Tuesday afternoon. Monday I went grocery shopping like I do every week. Me and 100,000 of my neighbors. I have never seen the store so packed! It was insane and everyone had lost their freaking minds! Everyone was rude and pushy. The shelves weren't bare as we would see on the news in other stores, but the place was a zoo. I decided to cancel my plans on Tuesday, even though I was hoping to be home by 1 pm. I just didn't want to get stuck if I was running late. Schools and businesses were already planning to let out early. Tuesday night Matt and I watched the storm. It was awesome! The snow! The wind! The drifts! Once I knew all my family were safely where they were supposed to be, I was a lot less anxious and more excited to see what mother nature had in store. We woke up Wednesday morning to about 20 inches of snow and four foot drifts in our yard. Matt went out to work on shoveling and I made breakfast. Since we were stuck at home, I decided to deep clean the bathroom. Man did it need it! Wednesday night the temperature dropped to well below zero and again on Thursday many things were closed due to the cold and people still trying to dig out. While the storm didn't eclipse the previous record for most snowfall/biggest storm, it certainly was not over hyped and I was glad to have my little family safe and cozy in our house. Friday morning we had MOPS and everyone was so eager to get out of the house!
And that is about that. I should also mention (you know, so I remember) that Lily is about potty trained. She almost never has accidents and even stays dry over night and at nap time more often than not (though she is in a pull up for them!) I was feeling like a bad mommy because she was closer to three, but once she was ready, she just got it and now I am fine with it. Now if I can only get her off the darn paci. She has been wanting it all the time lately, and our rule is only bed time of nap time. She will actually go and sit on her bed for a half hour, just to have her paci. Lily has also been a handful lately. I have always been a more, I am not sure, confident mommy, not thinking I needed to read every parenting book out there, but I am right now reading The Five Love Languages of Children. Next on my list is Love and Logic. I just need some tools to parent her more effectively and more importantly, keep my cool with her!
Oh yeah, one more thing. I am starting Weight Watchers again. I am just going to do it on my own, more of the older program since I know they just switched it up. I have to do something! Prior to my, ahem, injury I was going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, and plan to get back into it, but I need more. I lost maybe 3 pounds in a month. Yeah, definitely need help in the diet department. And WW has worked for me in the past - until I stopped going and gained all the weight plus more back. The only thing is that it was so much easier when I worked full time! Anyway, we are going to Florida with my family in June and I need to lose weight! Come to think of it, my back will probably feel better to if I lose some weight!

Have a great week!

My Top Ten....Books

2011-01-17T16:54:00.003-06:00

We love to read in our house. I should say Lily and I love to read. Matt has been reading more lately, but he certainly doesn't devour a book the way I do. Of course, he tends toward historical non fiction, which is a bit harder to just fly through. Anyway, this year I decided to go through some of the classics. In my queue at the library are Wuthering Heights, Emma, Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility. Once I work through these, I will decide on another vein of "the classics". Any suggestions?

Anyway, in no particular order, here are my top 10 all time favorite books:
1) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (the whole series is great!)
2) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (not included in my above because it is already sitting on my night stand)
3) Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (actually, I really like all the Little House books and can't wait until Lily is old enough for us to read them!)
4) A Time to Kill by John Grisham (his first book and in my opinion his best, though I enjoy most of his books)
5) Stones into Schools by Greg Mortensen. This is the follow up to Three Cups of Tea, which is also excellent.
6) Better Times Than These by Winston Groom (the author of Forrest Gump)
7) A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway is a toughy to read, but just an amazing author. In fact, I think I am going to add For Whom the Bell Tolls to my to read list this year. I have gotten about halfway through it, but never finished it, which is quite unlike me.
8) East of Eden by John Steinbeck
9) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
10) The Help by Kathryn Stockett

What about you? What are your favorites?

Untitled

2011-01-13T18:33:00.004-06:00

FOR TODAY…

Outside my window...just an ordinary winter evening. There is snow on the ground, but it isn't snowing today.

I am thinking...how I am feeling kind of all over the place lately. I need some grounding...

I am thankful for...my daughter, even though she has been driving me a little bit crazy lately.

From the kitchen...Matt had his holiday party, so Lily and I had chicken fingers for dinner.

I am wearing...yoga pants, a sweatshirt and my slippers.

I am creating...Lily and I made a count down to no more paci chain this afternoon. Hopefully in 30 days we will say goodbye to the paci for good!

I am going...nowhere. I'm in for the evening.

I am reading...Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. I need to get working because I am a little more than halfway through and it is due tomorrow and it can't be renewed!

I am hoping...that I am a good mother, that I am doing right by Lily.

I am hearing...Beethoven.

Around the house...Lily's playroom is a wreck. My bed isn't made. I need to put away the laundry that has been dry on the drying rack for three days.

A few plans for the rest of the week...MOPS steering meeting and then lunch with friends tomorrow, my cousins baby shower on Saturday, Bears game Sunday!

From my picture journal...

My sweet Chickie on Father's Day 2009

Oh Potty Training!

2011-01-12T09:19:00.003-06:00

I hesitate to write this because things are going pretty darn well right now and I don't want to jinx them. At the same time, if I don't, I fear it will never get written, due to my, um, procrastination problem. Anywho! We are in the midst of potty training. I would like to say, for the record, that potty training is like being a brand new mommy. Gone are the days my almost 3 year old (gulp! when did that happen?) playing happily by herself while I read through UsWeekly online. Oh no, not anymore. I am hyper aware of every.little.move she makes, much like when I had a brand new baby. "Is she squirmy? Does she need to go potty? Is she doing her "gotta poop" dance? Did she finish all that juice?" These replace the "Is she breathing? Is it normal to sleep that much? Did she get enough to eat?" And much like a new mommy, my hyper awareness is largely unwarranted. After asking every ten minutes for a hour, Lily turned to me, gave me "the look" and said "MOM! I will TELL you when I need to go potty." Sigh. She is old enough to tell me, and I do trust that she knows her own body. Let it go mommy, let it go. I mean really, the worst that can happen is an accident. I think potty training at home is a non issue now. She's got it down.
However, again much like a newborn, my potty training child needs a lot of assistance. I had been lulled into this false sense of "not quite so needed" lately. Lily can do a lot of things on her own - climb into her car seat, get out toys, feed herself, climb in and out of bed, etc. What she can't do is pull her pants up and down or climb onto the potty seat of the big potty. She needs assistance washing her hands. At let me tell you, it is much more of a process than just changing a diaper. While I believe she is pretty well potty trained at home, she is far from independent in her endeavor!
She is doing well staying dry at naptime. I do put her in a pull up, but she hasn't wet it. Night time is going pretty well also. She did have two nights where she was dry all night, which shocked the pants off me since she is a super heavy wetter at night. But I am not so concerned about night time right now. As I said, she isn't really independent in her potty use, and I like my sleep. She is, however, using the potty as a stalling technique at bed time. We go right before bed, but sure enough just when I get settled on the couch with my cup of tea and have the DVR all cued up, over the monitor I hear the little plea "Mommy, I have to go potty!" And so the ten minute ordeal begins. She also gets me up a little earlier each morning, having to use the potty. Don't get me wrong - I am stoked at the prospect of not having stinky diapers in my trash and not having to buy diapers. It is just that potty training is really cramping my lazy style (NOT a bad thing!)
And then there is the out and about aspect of it. In a restaurant the other day we visited the bathroom three times. THREE! We were there, like, an hour. But when she pulls on my sleeve and tells me she has to go, we go. Again, and again, and again. She is still in a pull up away from the house, but it pretty much stays dry. We did have a couple successful ten-minute-never-got-out-of-the-car trips yesterday. I am getting braver. We may make the hour trip to my mom's later this morning in big girl panties. Or maybe not.
Lily is so proud of herself, and I am really proud of her too! She cheers me on when I use the bathroom. She cheers on her stuffed animals when they "go potty". She got really upset the other day when we tried to put her in a diaper for bedtime. She isn't a baby anymore! She is a big girl now!

Sob. Yes Lily, you are a big girl, but you will ALWAYS be my baby!

Chickie-isms

2011-01-05T20:08:00.003-06:00

Now that I am caught up on "The Holidays", I wanted to jot down some of the super cute things Lily has been doing lately. These are mostly so I remember, but others may get a chuckle out of them as well.

- Before Christmas, we were driving through our neighborhood and someone had a giant inflatable Santa. Lily saw it, pointed, and said "Look Mom, Santa! Santa, I'm being good!"

- A couple weeks ago I was doing something (this is why I need to write these down right away!!) possibly singing, maybe just driving. Anyway, Lily told me I needed to go at a slower tempo. I was amazed not only that she used the word tempo, but that she used it correctly.

- She tells me to relax on a daily basis. "Just relax mom!"

- If she asks something and I answer in the negative, she says "Oh sure you can," or "Oh sure you do," or "Oh sure I can." Cracks me up!

- Lily received several princess crowns for Christmas. She is constantly putting them on Eli (Lucy will have none of it!)

- Whenever I call her for a meal, she always has at least two babies or stuffed animals with her. They are hungry too, after all.

- For Christmas she received a stuffed monkey, which she named Hoe-ez, a doll she named Cinderella, and a Baby Alive she named Baby Pencil. I believe I previously mentioned the pinata named Piyotee.

- While playing at a friend's house, she found a toy whistle that actually whistles. She knew whistles made noise, but I guess she thought she had to make the noise because she held it about an inch from her mouth and made a screechy-whistley noise.

That is all I can think of off the top of my head. I am sure there are tons and tons more!

Two Dogs and a Chickie....Together

2011-01-05T17:21:00.005-06:00

As I've mentioned before, Lily loves her dogs. At times I worry she loves them a little too much. She is always hugging them, loving on them, following them around, putting blankets on them,"taking care of them." If I try to get her to leave them alone, she tells me "but they are my little baby puppies!" Never mind that the dogs are 6 and 7 years older than her! Luckily Eli and Lucy are really good sports!
Our dogs are also kinda spoiled. They are always on the couches, especially the love seat. Lily likes to climb up there and sit with them. Matt made up a little song about it:
Two dogs and a Chickie.....together!

Yeah, that is the only line.

Good Bye 2010, Hello 2011

2011-01-05T16:58:00.006-06:00

I can hardly believe it is already 2011. 2010 just flew by! Why does time see to go so quickly as an adult, when it went so slowly as a child? We went over to our good friends' house for a little get together on New Year's Eve. They have a daughter just a month older than Lily. It was very low key, which is awesome. I like low key. I reaaallly like low key. Especially with a kid. And they live about 10 minutes away, so no long drive home late at night! The adults talked, the kids played, we snacked on munchies and yummy enchiladas and rang in the new year, then headed home. We would have stayed a little later had Lily gone to sleep. I tried putting her down in their guest room, but she wasn't having it, so she was up to celebrate at midnight! For the record, she has been up at midnight for two of the three new years she has been alive for.

Lily and Sophie

They are best buds!

A somewhat decent family picture.

And another one...I am really going to try and get more nice family photos this year!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Day

2011-01-05T16:36:00.010-06:00

Of all the mornings to sleep in, Lily chose Christmas! While Matt and I enjoyed the extra sleep, we were excited for her to open presents and see what Santa brought. I finally went in around 9 to wake her up. She pushed me away and told me she was still sleeping (a glimpse into the teenage years, perhaps?) until I told her we needed to see if Santa had come. That got her up! She jumped from her bed and ran down the hall to see if Santa had indeed brought the Hello Kitty umbrella she had been asking for for months. Seriously, in the months leading up to Christmas, when anyone asked what she wanted Santa to bring her, she would simply reply with a Hello Kitty umbrella. After opening presents and having cinnamon rolls for breakfast, we headed over to Grandma Chris and Grandpa George's house. As usual, we were all spoiled this year! Thanks everyone! We had a great time opening presents, munching on appetizers and cookies, and playing. Then we had a nice dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, and brussel sprouts with mustard sauce that I made. It was a new recipe that I used, and I actually didn't have all the ingredients for the mustard sauce so I improvised. I was a little skeptical on how it would be received, but I had nothing to fear! The brussel sprouts were a huge hit, and the mustard sauce was awesome and was even really good on the ham. By the end of day, we were all exhausted! It was a wonderful Christmas!

Santa brought her umbrella! She was so excited!!

She loved the slinky from her stocking!

Daddy got her an electronic drum set, just like Marina's from Fresh Beat Band!

Rudolph! Just like from the movie!

New princess shoes!

Even with all her new toys, Lily still loved playing with the Baby Jesus from the nativity scene. We were going to sing Him happy birthday, but she kept telling us He was still sleeping! It was so cute!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-05T14:21:00.008-06:00

This year we spent Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family. We always do a food/drink theme and wear our jammies. This year the theme was Mexican. We had sooo much food. There was a couple different kinds of salsa, guacamole, chorizo and artichoke quesidillas, posole, tamales, beef, chorizo and broiled tilapia for tacos, beans (my contribution), churros, cookies, a tres leches cake (me again!) and margaritas. I am sure I am forgetting something. Everyone contributed and everything was made from scratch. Since we weren't going to be seeing my parents and sisters on Christmas, we exchanged gifts with them. We also had a pinata, which Lily named Piotee (pronounced pie-yah-tee!) We did our normal Yankee Trader game. Everyone was totally stuffed and we just had so much fun hanging out!

Lily riding Piotee. He was filled with candy and little booze bottles!

Grandpa Tom got Lily "The Night Before Christmas". It was really cool because his voice is recorded in it, so it is like he is there reading it to her!

Lily received a lot of princess stuff! She was in heaven!

She got a princess castle (aka pop up tent) from my parents. Here she is in it with Daddy!

At first she was a little sad and confused as to why we were all hitting her new BFF, but she quickly got over it when he spilled candy all over the floor.

SNOW!

2011-01-05T13:58:00.002-06:00

On December 4 we got our first real snow. Lily was so excited! We just had to go out to play in it! We attempted to build a snowman, but it wasn't quite the right snow, so we just played instead. One of her favorite games was making tracks through the fresh, untouched snow in the yard.

That afternoon we went and saw the zoo lights at the zoo. It was magical! It was snowing, but not too cold. We were able to see a lot of animals and we had a great time with our friends at one of our favorite places. My friend and I take the kids to the zoo fairly often, but it was nice that the daddies could join us as well. And just another reason I love my van...all seven of us, including three car seats, were able to ride together! We hit Naf Naf, this great little Israeli restaurant on the way home. Of course, those pictures are on a different camera....must.find.the.cord...

Putting Up the Tree

2011-01-05T13:53:00.005-06:00

I decided to get a jump start on Christmas this year. Every year I vow to enjoy December and not be rushing around. Every year I am still doing Christmas shopping the weekend before Christmas. This year I thought I would get the tree up extra early...before Thanksgiving! We had a blast decorating and Lily loved putting the ornaments on.

Thanksgiving

2011-01-05T13:29:00.006-06:00

Thanksgiving is so totally my favorite holiday. I mean, the day is about food, right? I love me some food! Oh, also about being thankful. We hit on that too. This year we were at my parents' house. We switch off every year, which has worked well for a while now. It was a small group for dinner this year...only 11. I remember growing up my mom sometimes had as many as 40 people! This year everyone was able to fit at the same table. There were jokes about Lily having to sit at the kids table, but since she is the only kid, it just didn't seem fair! I made cranberries and Pioneer Woman's Soul Sweet 'Taters. I made them a couple years back and my sister Steph probably wouldn't let me in the house if I didn't make them. Have you tried them? Super easy and oh-so-scrumptious! I usually like my sweet potatoes just plain, no butter, not candied, just straight out of the over...but these...they are like dessert! As typical, there was tons of food, lots of wine, and great time spent amongst family. Lily serenaded us at dinner with all her newly learned Jingle Bells...on repeat! We went around the table and all said what we are thankful for (something hard to do when there are 40 people in three different rooms!) Lily was just precious when she said "my family" completely on her own.
After dinner, my cousin and her husband came by, as did my aunt, uncle and another cousin. We had dessert and my dad had a little quiz for us about Thanksgiving and all manner of things related to it. Did you know that Israel eats the most turkey per capita? You do now (keep in mind the population of Israel is rather small...!) My cousin and her husband played as a team and won, answering correctly a measly one question more than I! I called shenanigans since they were answering as a team - I tend to be a little competitive :) I am not even sure there was a prize! It was a great day!

Lily has to play with this decorative fruit whenever we go to my mom's house. And of course, we also spent the day watching football.

Isn't my husband so handsome! I just love him!

OMG! It is actually a decent family photo!

Halloween!

2011-01-05T13:03:00.006-06:00

Way back in July I asked Lily what she wanted to be for Halloween. "A dragon," she told me without hesitation. "Okay," I replied, sure that in the coming months she would change her mind. She did not. Then, about a month before Halloween, while over at a friend's house, discussing with some other mommies what their children were going to be for Halloween, I mentioned Lily wanting to be a dragon. One of my friend's spoke up, saying her mom had bought a dragon costume for her son after Halloween last year, but he wasn't going to use it and offering it for our use. A free costume to boot! A couple weeks later I picked up the costume. It was actually an alligator costume, but Lily didn't seem to mind. She loved looking at her costume, but was reluctant to try it on. Eventually we coaxed her into it and she was hooked!
Matt has an obsession with those cheesy Halloween stores that pop up in all manner of vacant store fronts for a couple months each year. While visiting one, he found an actual dragon costume, in Lily's size, and bought it. Lily wasn't having it. She wanted to wear the "dragon" costume she had. And though marked size 3-4, I sincerely doubt Lily would have fit in the new costume last Halloween, when she was only 18 months old. We attempted to return it, but those silly stores have an all sales final policy. We tried arguing that the costume was not as represented, blah, blah...we eventually convinced the kid to let up exchange the costume for some candy, batteries, etc. (I think I was successful it getting Matt to agree that those stores are hopeless wastes of money which we will not be stepping foot in again.)
On Halloween day we went trick or treating around our neighborhood a bit, but it was quite lackluster. Hardly anyone was home, despite being a Sunday afternoon. We decided to put our candy to give out in a bowl on front porch (which I was surprised to find still had candy in it when we returned!) and head to my in-laws for a little trick or treating in their neighborhood. OH.MY.WORD!!! We won't even waste time in our neighborhood in the future - we will just head right over to their house! Almost every house had someone home, there were tons of people out, and everyone was super nice. Thankfully everyone asked "And what are you?" so Lily could tell them she was a nice dragon. I don't even think one person called her a alligator! Lily had a lot of fun and was more interested in actually going up to every house than the actual candy.

Lily painting one of our many pumpkins from pumpkin patch.

The nice dragon next to the pumpkins I spent the morning carving. Note to self: bigger pumpkins have thicker walls, and are a huge pain (literally!) to carve! It took me forever and my forearms were sore for days!

The nice dragon...this time smiling and looking at the camera...sort of...

Trick or treating with Molly, Daddy, Grandpa George and Mommy. Molly even got dog treats at a couple houses. Trick or treating isn't just for kids!

Hello dear bloggy, I have missed you!

2011-01-05T12:02:00.003-06:00

Alternately titled "Potty Training Hell and Other Stuff"

Since this blog is supposed to record our normal every day happenings, I have about 9 posts I am hoping to write this afternoon if a little person cooperates and takes a nap. I have to get caught up! Chickie only naps every couple days, maybe 2 or 3 times a week now. It frees up our schedule but at the same time the "witching hour" has taken on a whole new meaning. If she naps, even for only an hour, we are still fighting to get her to bed at 10 pm. If she doesn't nap, the hours between about 4 and 8 are brutal! Mommy's hair is turning gray at an alarming rate!

Today Chickie decided she wanted to wear big girl panties. I thought that since it was her idea, perhaps we would have more success than we have been having. I changed her out of a wet diaper, put her on the potty, where she went, and put her in some princess panties. Not even ten minutes later she had an accident. I told her it was okay, but let's try to keep the princesses dry and to tell me if she needs to go. I put her on the potty, cleaned her up and put on a fresh pair of panties. Five minutes later she came crying that the princesses were wet again. We then put on a third pair of panties and she has thus far kept them dry for an hour. I would actually be surprised if they ended up wet since she has told me every 2 minutes that she needs to go potty. Wanting to encourage her to tell me, I have taken her every time, and she has indeed peed a little every time. How to you explain to an almost three year old she needs to completely empty her bladder?
I even stopped giving the M&M rewards after the first 5 times. I told her now we are going to set the timer on my phone and she should try to hold it until the timer goes off. Is that wrong? I thought the idea of the child being potty trained as opposed to being mommy trained was that they realize when they have to go and listen to their body's cues as opposed to just "performing" on a schedule?!?!?! Any advice any one has would be GREATLY appreciated!

Okay, moving on to other topics...we had a lovely break with Matt home the week between Christmas and New Years. We kept it pretty low key, going to the gym, visiting with our families, just hanging out. It was awesome, but by Monday I was ready for our "regular" routine, which isn't all that structured, but just enough. However, it has been hard for me, the stay at home mommy, to get back to the routine, so I can only imagine how hard it is for those with school aged children (or my dear hubby!) to get back in the swing of things. To top it off, Lily and I, and Matt a little too, all seem to have colds. Which is pretty much par for the course, because every time I get back into going to the gym, which I so desperately need, I get sick. Blah!

Alright, this post is a little bit all over the place, but then again, so is my brain! I hope to get caught up this afternoon on the holidays and such!

Snowman

2010-12-16T11:46:00.003-06:00

As the first little flurries of the season barely dusted the ground, Chickie bounced up and down by the back door begging to go out to build a snowman.

"No honey, this isn't enough snow," I told her.

A couple days later when we got our first real snowfall, she once again jumped up and down "Is there enough now mommy?" "Yes honey, but it might now be the right kind of snow." She looked at me quizzically. There are kinds of snow? Ah yes. We bundled up to go out to play and alas, the snow wouldn't really pack well enough.

And then it rained, making the snow heavy and packable, but conditions outside less than ideal.

And then it turned bitterly cold, as is apt to happen in Chicago in the winter.

And so, with snow on the ground for a couple weeks now, we haven't built a snowman yet.

Not to be stopped by trivial little nuances like imperfect conditions, Chickie took matters into her own little creative hands.

May I present our indoor snowman (Daddy holding the top ball required!)

The Grocery Store

2010-12-03T18:23:00.003-06:00

The grocery store.

It isn't necessarily my favorite place, but I don't really mind it, even with Chickie in tow. In fact, I kind of miss my shopping partner on the very rare occasion that I go alone. Of course, if I happen to have a Chickie who hasn't napped, well that is a whole different story. And that is exactly what I had today...a no napping Chickie, combined with a crazy busy grocery. I think perhaps people are afraid of the big snow coming. **Big snow = about 6 inches forecasted = not really all that strange for this part of the country this time of year. Except that people freak out. Hello folks, it snows in Chicago every.single.winter!**

Anyway, I needed to run and pick up a few things. I am making chili tomorrow. We needed stuff for breakfasts and lunches over the weekend. We needed diapers. You know, not a major grocery shopping, but more than just run in, grab item, run out. I really enjoy people watching at the grocery store. And I am somewhat amused to how some people react to my interactions with my child. Today I was not disappointed.

First there was the little old couple that seemed to have the same path mapped out as I. They stood blocking the butter, debating the virtues of salted butter as opposed to unsalted. Then they stood in front of the beans, deciding between black and pinto. I was starting to get frustrated, but I then thought how that could be Matt and I in 50 years and I suddenly thought this little elderly couple that were thwarting my every move were actually rather cute.

A 40 something woman remarked that I shouldn't be giving my child coffee as I shared my Starbucks hot chocolate with Lily. No kidding lady, thanks for the tip. When I pointed out it was hot chocolate, she changed her tune and thought is was so sweet that we shared our winter treat.

Then there was the mom in the baby aisle that gave me a knowing look when I told Lily "Now this is the last box of diapers I want to buy!"

There was the guy in the frozen foods aisle filling his cart with about 20 frozen pizzas. He also had lots of chips and soda in the cart. I wonder if he just likes junk food. Or maybe he is having a party. If the latter, I certainly hope he showers.

Several people gave me strange little smiles as Lily and I sang "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" a little loudly through the cereal aisle.

And then there was the lady behind us in the check out line. Now I admit, by this point Lily was getting a little restless. She was squirming and twisting in her seat. The buckle on her seat was broken and I hadn't bothered to switch carts. I know, bad mommy. Anyway, she was squirming and twisting and I told her to be careful, she didn't want to fall out and get hurt. And then lady behind us took it upon herself to tell Lily that she could die if she fell out, or end up retarded. First off, nice lady! Secondly, I really don't need you teaching my child a word that is offensive. Now I realize that both are possibilities, but you know when someone is saying something like that to a child, they are really talking to the parent. And perhaps not having Lily buckled in wasn't the best mommy move ever, but to make remarks like that to Lily was totally unnecessary. Not to mention the tone which the comments were made was very rude. Even if Lily didn't comprehend what the cranky lady was saying, she understood the tone. Some people!

2010-11-29T20:47:00.001-06:00

This gorgeous little princess

is very much acting her age today! Mommy *might* be going crazy!

Sweet Potato and Acorn Squash Curry

2010-11-15T20:17:00.003-06:00

I like to cook. I happen to think I am pretty good at it. It comes rather naturally to me - something I inherited from my mom. She has an amazing ability to create a gourmet meal out of whatever is laying around. I have had a couple sweet potatoes and an acorn squash languishing on my counter for weeks. While they were far from being "old", they were taking up precious real estate on my already over flowing counter. I was sick of looking at them. I couldn't even remember what I had originally intended them for when I bought them. So I put my thinking cap on and started dreaming up some uses. We love Indian food around these parts. Hmmm, how about a curry? I did a quick Google search and glanced through a few recipes but didn't find anything that fit the ingredients I had on hand. "Oh well," I thought to myself. "I'll just make it up as I go along." And so I did. And OH!MY!WORD! Success! Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
3 sweet potatoes
1 acorn squash
1 medium to large onion
1 TBSP vegetable oil (or whatever you have - canola, olive, ghee)
1 heaping tablespoon curry paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 TBSP turmeric (did you know turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties?)
1 - 2 TBSP curry powder
1 can light coconut milk
1 large can chickpeas

Method:
Peel and chop sweet potatoes and squash. Chop onion and saute in oil until translucent. Add sweet potatoes and squash. You will want to add a little bit of water, just enough so the potato and squash are covered and start to cook. Simmer until they are starting to get tender, about 20 minutes or so. They don't have to be done, just starting to soften up. Add spices and curry paste. Let cook for another 10 minutes or so. Rinse and drain the chickpeas and add them to the party. Stir in coconut milk. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Serve over Basmati rice.

You may notice that I say "about" a bit. I just kinda cook. I am not sure on the exact times. And I am just guessing about the amounts for the spices, as I didn't really measure. You could certainly up the ingredients a bit to suit your taste. This came out flavorful but not spicy. If you like spicy, by all means, add some heat. Since I have a two year old to feed (in theory anyway - she wouldn't eat dinner tonight!) I scale back a bit on the spicy. You could also add some frozen peas or green beans in towards the end.

Enjoy!

Random Thoughts

2010-11-14T21:56:00.003-06:00

I know I keep promising to post about things and then not doing it. I really do intend to post about Halloween, Lily's first sleep over, my new love of scrapbooking, and all the other things that have been happening lately. It is just that life has seemed a bit out of control and crazy lately. Do you ever feel like that?

It is already the middle of November, which means the holidays are already right around the corner. I actually feel pretty good about the holidays this year. I have some lists made, and I just need ideas from family members. I am totally taking advantage of Lily's age and use the "let's ask Santa" line frequently. I am also a really big fan of "Santa's watching, better be good!"

Speaking of Lily's age, we moved her to her big girl bed on Wednesday. So far she has done really well. I don't think she realizes she can get out of bed on her own. I am hoping this lasts a while. We have been working on potty training. While she seems to have no problem with the concept, she just totally lacks interest in it. I know she will come around eventually, but it is frustrating! Lily can be quite a handful. She is smart and funny and polite...except to me! She has been telling me lately that she wants to get a new mommy from the mommy store. I have no idea where she came up with that notion and am trying not to take it personally! My little girl has a mind like a steel trap. If you make a promise or suggestion, you better be prepared to come through with it, because I guarantee she will remember! It is really remarkable.

My house is threatening to swallow me up, which is really not a good sign as we are heading into winter! I have the itch to majorly purge! I would love to get rid of our desk top computer and computer desk and just get a laptop. However, since our desktop is working just fine, I can't actually justify doing that. I hope the economy turns around and housing prices rebound because we really need more room! I know that our house is just fine and that it is a good size house for many parts of the country and more than many, many people in this world have to call home, but I still desire something bigger! It leaves me feeling conflicted!

There finally seems to be a hint of a real chill in the air. I think we may even get some snow flurries this week. The daytime temps are supposed to be in the 50s, but overnight the temps are supposed to be below freezing. I love snow. I love a good snow storm, particularly on a Friday night, when we have know place to go the next day. Lily is in bed, the snow is falling, and I am curled up on the couch with my sweetie, watching a movie, enjoying a glass of wine, or maybe hot chocolate. The world just feels cozy and still. Of course, the reality usually is more like a child who refuses to go to sleep, we have no food in the house and a million things planned for the next day and the cable is out. But a girl can dream, right?

I really have been lacking motivation and direction lately. I have been horrible about grocery shopping, meal planning, cleaning, etc. It bugs me. I am never a super motivated person. I am the biggest slacker I know. However, I try to remind myself that my job, in this season of my life, is to be a homemaker. If I was shirking my duties in any other profession, I would be fired. And just because I can't actually be fired from my job doesn't mean I can just slack off. Hopefully I will pull myself out of this funk and join productive society again soon. I am probably driving my husband nuts!

Okay, I need to go change around a load of wash. That's productive, right? Until next time friends!

2010-11-04T12:17:00.002-05:00

Hi! Remember me? I am the author of this little blog. I haven't been around much the past month. We have been having fun, hanging out. October was a super busy month. We had two weddings, Halloween, I co-chaired a fundraiser, and about a million other things. I really do intend to blog about the past month, but for now, I just wanted to check in and let you know I haven't forgotten about this little blog!

Doing Fall Stuff

2010-10-07T09:47:00.015-05:00

I big puffy heart love fall! It is my favorite time of year. After a long, hot, mosquito-y summer, we are trying to get out and do as many outside fall things as we can.
A couple weeks ago we hit up Blackberry Farm.

This past weekend we went to the pumpkin patch and apple patch. Lily insists it is an apple patch, not apple orchard. We were lucky to be able to pick our own apples. The very next day after we were there they were done with u-pick apples for the season. Because of the weather we had this summer, all the apples were maturing 8-10 days earlier than normal.

And now if you'll excuse me, Chickie and I have some applesauce to make and an apple pie to bake!

Hot Sauce!

2010-10-07T09:21:00.006-05:00

Over the years, we have grown various veggies in our garden with varying levels of success. After more zucchini than we knew what to do with last year, we decided to par it down to just the staples - peppers and tomatoes. I make a lot of Indian food and a lot of Mexican food, so we are always using tomatoes and peppers. This year we planted jalapenos, poblanos, hot banana peppers, and Caribbean hot peppers. We also had some bell peppers that never really produced and a cherry pepper plant that yielded only a couple peppers. The Caribbean hot peppers really took off. We had tons and tons. And let me tell ya, those suckers were HOT! Like so hot that Matt tried a teeny, tiny bit and promptly spit it out and got the hiccups. And then couldn't cool his mouth off. Awesome - tons of super hot peppers that we can't even use. Or could we?

Matt decided to try his hand at hot sauce. Now I need to stop here and point out that this was Matt's idea. I rolled my eyes at first and really didn't feel like doing it because I didn't know how. Many, many times I don't do things because I don't know how and I am afraid of failing. My husband? notsomuch! He will try anything. He searched the internets for some hot sauce recipes, took a little from this one, a little from that, and created a masterpiece.

We (he) started with this. Matt roasted these babies on the grill to bring out their flavor.

Peppers roasting away!

After the peppers were grilled, Matt peeled and seeded them. He added some secret ingredients and lots of vinegar and ended up with a blender full of gorgeous and spicy yellow liquid. We bought a bunch of half pint jars and decided to try canning. I am not sure if it is entirely necessary to can but we decided to try it. Thing is, we don't have a canner. The jars were small and I do have a large stock pot and my "try something" voice was yelling at me. I decided we could try a homemade hot water bath canning. I looked up directions on the internet and we got canning. And I am happy to report that we heard the delightful ping of a successful seal on every.single.jar!

Hot sauce cooling! Ignore the coloring of the photo. I obviously didn't have my white balance set appropriately!

The hot sauce is amazing! It is spicy and vinegary and pretty much universally good. Some hot sauces are more of a Mexican hot sauce, some are more of a New Orleans style. This hot sauce it good on everything! Tacos, chili, red beans and rice, chili dogs (amazing on chili dogs!!) added to soup, pizza (super yum!). Pretty much everything we have tried it on has been totally rockin'! We are on our third jar and have given a couple away. And our plants still have a bunch more peppers that need to be picked before the first hard frost!

Random Thoughts Thursday

2010-09-30T12:55:00.002-05:00

- When I have my sunglasses on, I think I have a rather cute nose. Without my sunglasses, I am not such a fan of it.
- I think cookies and coffee are an appropriate breakfast for myself, but prefer to feed Lily something healthier.
- I think I might start scrapbooking.
- I haven't printed any pictures in well over a year. So while I do have a million images of Lily on the computer, I don't have many actual photos.
- I really need to lose weight. Like, really really.
- But I love food and loathe exercise, so...
- I need to renew our zoo membership.
- We are way behind on our DVR'd shows. I think we have about 5 hours of programming to watch from the past week. And we have watched a couple hours. And yes, I realize we watch too much TV.
- But in my defense, I read on average 3 books a week.
- I don't really have that much free time. I read fast and stay up too late.

A Post About Wind and Insomnia

2010-09-23T23:35:00.005-05:00

I can't sleep so I am sitting here listening to the wind. Don't get me wrong, it is not the wind that is keeping me up, rather my chronic insomnia. I was lying in bed for a bit, listening to my husband snore, but thought rather than smother him with a pillow, I would get up and blog, out where it is quiet and I can hear the wind better. I jest...I would never hurt my husband. But those of you who share a bed with a snorer know the itch is there some nights! Anyway, insomnia sucks. There are a multitude of factors contributing to my insomnia. Motherhood comes to mind. Even though Chickie has slept through the night pretty much for the past 18 months, in the past two and a half years (on Saturday!) I have not slept as well as I did before becoming pregnant. Or in that first trimester when I slept like the dead. Oh bliss, to sleep like that again! The temperature is another factor. Even with the A/C totally jamming, I still find I don't sleep as well if the outdoor temp is above about 50. And I have my alarm set because I have Bible study in the morning. It is almost guaranteed that if I need a good night sleep, I won't get one. I need one tonight. I have a busy day, topped off with a concert tomorrow night. Sleep. At least I can listen to the wind as I wish for sleep.

I love the wind. Convenient since I live in The Windy City. Okay, I actually live in a suburb 40 miles away. Coincidentally, Chicago is not nicknamed The Windy City for its wind. At least not entirely. It's position on Lake Michigan does indeed make it a windy city. However the actual nickname is attributed to Chicago politicians and there propensity to "blow a lot of wind." There are a couple other theories on the origin of the nickname as well. Don't believe me? Google it! Betcha didn't actually think you would ever learn anything on this little blog, did ya! Anyway, I love the wind. I love listening to it, feeling it. I love the rustle of leaves and the jangling of wind chimes. I really should be more leery of the wind, considering I have an enormous 40 foot maple tree in my front yard. Of minor concern and annoyance is that fact that every time the wind blows it rains little sticks (and in the spring, helicopters) all over my lawn. Of more significance is that fact that the tree towers over my humble one story abode. If a limb were to come down, it would likely land right where I am sitting. Or on the van in the driveway. Or Matt's car in the street. Or on my neighbors garage. But nonetheless, I love the wind. It's magical to me.

Now if it could only blow some sleep my way!

Random Thoughts Thursday

2010-09-23T17:17:00.003-05:00

- I bet those Halloween Spirit stores are getting a really good deal on short term leases this year, due to all the vacant store fronts they have to chose from.
- I really like the sound of the Rihanna/Eminem song, "Love the Way You Lie", but the actual lyrics are horrifying.
- If it is the ninth month, there is absolutely no way the temperature should start with a nine!
- I only have one pair of jeans. I think I need to invest in a good pair, maybe two, so at least I have a backup pair.
- I had a "break up" with my oldest, though not closest, friend about six months ago. It still hurts and has been on my mind and heart a lot lately. I should just get over it, but I have a hard time letting things go sometimes.
- Even though it is stupid hot out today, it is also very windy, which makes me happy!
- Tonight is the season premier of "Bones" and I am super excited.
- Tomorrow Matt and I are going to see Roger Waters perform The Wall all the way through. It is kinda like a date, though we are going with one of Matt's co-workers/friend and his girlfriend.
- I clean my mom's house every week (she pays me) but my house hasn't been touched by a dust rag in who knows how long.
- I have a freakish love for my blue enameled cast iron dutch oven. I use it whenever I can.

In Honor of the Autumnal Equinox

2010-09-22T13:08:00.003-05:00

(image from some website that said free images, don't sue me if it is yours)

Autumn Movement
by Carl Sandburg

I cried over beautiful things knowing no beautiful thing lasts.

The field of cornflower yellow is a scarf at the neck of the

copper sunburned woman, the mother of the year, the taker of

seeds.

The northwest wind comes and the yellow is torn full of holes,

new beautiful things come in the first spit of snow, on the

northwest wind, and the old things go, not one lasts.

I Can't Think of a Creative Title

2010-09-20T17:45:00.008-05:00

I can't think of a creative title so I won't even attempt to be witty or anything. My mind has gone a bit numb. I blame Lily's insistence on watching Go Potty Go! repeatedly. Normally I would make her go play or something, but she got her flu shot today and is feeling a little punky. Her leg hurts. Poor Chickie.

Yesterday we played outside after the Bears game. I took a million pictures of Lily. I haven't taken many lately, so it was nice to get reacquainted with my camera. Would you like to see a few? Of course you would...that's why most of you stop by, isn't it?

I realize Lily isn't really smiling in any of the pictures, but she almost never looks at the camera or lets me get all up in her face.

She sure is a cutie, isn't she?

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2010-09-18T09:43:00.003-05:00

FOR TODAY…

Outside my window...it is cool and cloudy and I think I am hearing some rumbles of thunder. Sah-weet! I love thunderstorms!

I am thinking...how sometimes you want something so badly that you can almost convince yourself it is reality.

I am thankful for...my husband who I have hardly seen this past week. He is working today, again. He has pretty much been working every waking hour for the past week. He works so hard to provide so much for our little family. These crazy work weeks don't happen all the time, but I really appreciate the normal weeks after the crazy ones.

From the kitchen...since Matt has been working like crazy, I have a back up of meals to make in the fridge. I think I am going to make chili today, per my menu plan.

I am wearing...jammies still. It is quite possible I will be in jammies all day. Depends on if we decide to do anything.

I am creating...a plan for the day.

I am going...nowhere today, at least not as of now.

I am reading...Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah.

I am hoping...that I can convince Matt to go to church tomorrow. After the week he has had, I am hoping he doesn't hate me for making the suggestion.

I am hearing...Lily playing at her little desk.

Around the house...I should probably clean up a little. I really want to decorate for fall, but I can't get the decorations out of the attic by myself.

A few plans for the rest of the week...not much going on today. Hopefully church and the Bears game and some family time tomorrow.

From my picture journal...

My baby Labor Day weekend last year.

A Perfectly Stinky Afternoon

2010-09-17T17:50:00.004-05:00

Lily was in quite a mood when she woke up from her nap today. She had been making noise for a bit, but every time I went in to check on her, she was still asleep. Finally, though, I decided she needed to get up. I have been trying to limit her naps in an attempt to get her in bed before 10 pm. We had a big morning today, she went down a half hour later than normal, and I was relaxing and reading a book, but at 4:30 I just needed to get her up. She wasn't all that happy about it. Her hair was all over her face, sweat gluing it to her forehead and cheeks. She was yelling at me to go away. I picked her up and she started punching and hitting at me. I don't blame her really, I don't like to be woken up either. I held her and rocked her and rubbed her back. I asked her if she wanted me to sing her some songs. She wasn't having it. I carried Lily into the other room and sat down in the rocking chair. I started rubbing her back while she laid with her head on my chest. She started calming down as I talked gently to her. It was quiet and there was a gentle breeze coming in. This was bliss! My baby isn't so much of a cuddler anymore. She is busy with little girl with toys to play with, dances to do, dogs to chase and books to read. Sitting on my lap, rocking with me while I sing her songs doesn't usually fit into her schedule.
And then, all of a sudden, she relaxed completely. Immediately my nose told me why. But you know what, my little stinker asked me to sing her a song. And then another. And another. All the while with her little head rested on my chest, me stroking her hair. I was happy to oblige her. I asked her if we could go change her diaper, and she said tomorrow. I decided to sing her "Tomorrow". I don't really know the words in the right order or anything, but she doesn't know that. When I finished she told me it was a beautiful song.
And that is why, for a half an hour this afternoon, with a stinky, sweaty little girl on my lap, I was in Heaven.

Random Thoughts Thursday...Friday Edition

2010-09-17T12:50:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Random Thoughts Thursday...Friday Edition. Yesterday was one insane day in mi casa, so I didn't get a chance to blog. Such is life sometimes. Here we go!

- I love fall weather. I love cool, blustery days and crisp evenings. I like to wear jeans and sweaters and sweatshirts. I think I am trying to rush that kind of weather this year and mother nature is revolting. To make her point, every time I wear a sweatshirt, I inevitably end up sweating my butt off. It should be noted that if I am wearing a sweatshirt I will 100% of the time be wearing my holiest, most pit stained, nastiest or otherwise inappropriate t-shirt underneath, removing any option of taking off the sweatshirt.
- No matter what Lily tells me she wants for breakfast, when I put it in front of her she will refuse to eat it and ask for something else.
- My battles with Lily eating have nothing to do with her being a picky eater that doesn't like a certain food and everything to do with her asserting her stubbornness.
- I have no idea where she gets her stubbornness. Ha!
- I love the sound of geese flying overhead honking.
- I have dragged my butt out of bed before 8 every day this week. Sometimes I have even dragged my butt out of bed before Lily gets up. It is my new goal...to be out of bed by 8. I aim to be out of bed by 7:30, but I won't beat myself up about getting up at 7:59 as long as I am out of bed by 8.
- I must make my bed every day! There are months worth of dust on every surface in my house and my tub needs a scrubbing, but my bed will be made every.single.day.
- We have our first lost library book. I am devastated by this because I try so hard to keep track of all our library books and keep them separate from our other books. I am sure it will turn up, but for now it is really bugging me.
- I joined another mom's group, called Hannah Circle, at the church we sometimes attend. On our way there on Monday morning, Lily excitedly told me it was her first day of school. It was both adorable and heartbreaking because I don't want to think about my baby going to school yet.

Random Thoughts Thursday

2010-09-09T17:15:00.004-05:00

- The weather is finally cooling off so Lily is now sporting her traditional half pony instead of a full ponytail. It makes her look a lot younger, which I am happy about.
- My dinner is baking away in the oven. I am so excited to try it, but unfortunately a bit spilled on the bottom of the oven, so I am smelling burnt food with a slight aroma of cabbage rolls.
- My one dog is snoring, my other dog is sprawled on the couch in the other room. I have very lazy dogs.
- The greys in my hair are taking over...I need to color it ASAP!
- Tonight is the first NFL game of the season. Also, Vampire Diaries starts tonight. I am insanely excited about fall TV. But I will still miss Lost.
- Lily is adorable, but also very 2 lately.
- I very much want to go to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch this year. We didn't make it last year :(
- My 2 year old is almost too tall for some 3T pants! She is a tall kid! Must get that from her daddy, because I am notsomuch on the tall side.
- Our computer desk, which I just cleaned off the other day, already looks like an office threw up on it.
- I love having the windows open on fallish evenings, even if I wake up in the morning cold. I love snuggling into my blankets!
- I sometimes think I am wittier than I really am.
- I almost always say what is on my mind, which makes me appear brash, crass and uncouth. But at least you never have to wonder what I am thinking.
- Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of my favorite songs. I also really like Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.
- I love to paint my fingernails, but I prefer my toes bare.
- I am really excited for my dinner.

{Untitled}

2010-09-09T08:58:00.004-05:00

FOR TODAY…

Outside my window...it is cool and feels like fall! I am sure that it will warm up this afternoon, but this my perfect weather!

I am thinking...about all the things I have on my to do list. For starters, calling Com Ed...yuck!

I am thankful for...finally feeling better.

From the kitchen...tonight I am making one of my favorite blogger's, Notes from the Frugal Trenches "Poor Man/Lazy Man Cabbage Rolls". I am excited to try them out because I love cabbage rolls from my favorite German restaurant.

I am wearing...jeans and a sweatshirt! Yay sweatshirt weather!

I am creating...still working on a plan to simplify my life!

I am going...to the zoo tomorrow with Lily and our friends! The weather should be great, hopefully it won't be too crowded, and we need to get out!

I am reading...In theory, I am still reading The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. However I haven't picked it up in a while.

I am hoping...that a friend's critically ill son responds to treatment.

I am hearing...Lily singing and "tap dancing".

Around the house...not much going on. I have some laundry to put away.

A few plans for the rest of the week...errands today, zoo tomorrow, BBQ at my aunt's on Saturday, and the first Bears game on Sunday!

From my picture journal...

This was taken about 6 years ago on vacation for our first anniversary. It was taken with our first digital camera.

Where Has the Time Gone?

2010-09-02T16:35:00.003-05:00

I was reading back through my blog while Lily was napping. All the way back. Back to the beginning, when I had a three month old and had just started cloth diapering. Back to when in each post I lamented the lack of sleep I was receiving each night because of my poor-sleeping-baby. She is a better sleeper now. She has slept through the night since she was about one. She naps. Getting her to bed is a whole different story. I was celebrating milestones such as rolling over, sitting up, her first tooth. Now I am anticipating potty training and a big girl bed. Instead of playing with her toes and jumping in her exersaucer, she is "reading" to the dogs and telling knock knock jokes*.

I can't believe how big my little Chickie is getting. Sure, everyone says they grow up so fast. I am well aware of this day in and day out. Reading back through the past two years really drives that point home. The little baby that slept in my bed every night for nearly six months has very little interest in taking a rest with momma. Yet at the same time we seem to have circled back in some respects. I once again wake up to my baby in my bed. Daddy gets her out of her crib most mornings and she comes in to see me. I lift her on to the bed and we read stories for a while. I no longer have a nursling snuggling up, but rather a little person eager for some Dr. Seuss. It is honestly the best way to start my day.

Some days I find myself wishing away the tantrums, the picky eating, the refusal to go to bed. I wish Lily would just potty train already, or take off her shoes when I ask her to (she has no problem doing it in the car!) instead of telling me she can't and asking me to do it. And then I get so mad at myself. She still accepts help more often then not. She still needs me now. I know a girl always needs her momma, but right now she still understands that she needs me. Before I can blink my eyes she will be a teenager and think she doesn't need me anymore.

When I have trying days with Lily (and today has been a bit of one!) I just need to remember, time goes too fast!

*Lily: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Lily: Peach.
Me: Peach who?
Lily: Peach yogurt (falls on floor laughing)

Lunch

2010-09-02T13:08:00.002-05:00

YUM!

Coffee With Grandma and LuLu

2010-09-01T10:36:00.007-05:00

Last Thursday my mom and aunt, two of Lily's favorite people (and mine!), were coming out our way to have lunch with my Grandma's best friend and visit the outlet mall. Since the outlet mall is just a few short miles from us, they invited Lily and I to have coffee with them. We were happy to oblige! Lily loves having coffee (actually chocolate milk!) with the girls! And I love going out for coffee, especially since my husband is just now coming around to the coffee, so my dreams of sitting in a coffee shop with my honey have yet to become reality. Unfortunately we were just a few days too early for Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes! But believe me, I did ask about them! The barista was holding out on me. He didn't tell me that they would be back in less than a week!

We enjoyed our coffee and then walked around the mall. It was a beautiful day to walk around outside (even though I was dying...I had a doctor's appointment later that day!). My mom and aunt are crazy addicted to Vera Bradley. They sell cute quilted bags and purses. Of course we had to go in. Heaven help me! Why oh why did I, an admitted purse and bag addict, go in?!? I know better! I loved all the styles of bags and cute patterns. I couldn't justify a new bag, but I really and truly did need a new wallet (honestly! There was a hole in the change part of my old one and I was losing change everywhere!). LuLu and Grandma decided Lily needed a little purse, so they were so sweet to buy her one. She looked adorable walking around with her little Vera Bradley shopping bag.

Of course we had to hit up the Eddie Bauer Outlet. It is probably my all time favorite store, and I had a $10 off coupon! Yippee! I bought two cardigan sweaters and an off white T-shirt to go under one of them. In true Kelly fashion, I am considering returning one. I will have to get Matt's opinion. My mom approved of both of them, so I know I don't look like a frumpy dork wearing them, but sometimes Matt thinks otherwise. Besides, I don't know that I need two sweaters. I mean, I love sweaters, but lets face it, I already have a couple and spend most of my fall and winter in fleeces and sweatshirts. Still mulling it over though...I am sure if I return one I will regret it later...

I ventured to the mailbox this morning (to gather two days worth of mail) and there was a lovely card for Lily from LuLu. Enclosed were the above photos. I love the pics, and Lily LOVES the card! She loves cards. She has all the cards she has received this year in her little desk and plays with them daily! Thanks LuLu! And thanks for coffee and shopping ladies! We are happy to meet up with you any time! We love you and love spending time with you!!!

Spending Fast

2010-09-01T09:37:00.005-05:00

Finances.

Did the word send a shiver down your spine? It does mine. My husband makes a very nice salary and we live in a modest (read - small) house. Yet somehow it seems there is always more month than money. I will admit it - we have a tendency to live beyond our means and we aren't always good at self control. And while there are many, many people who are truly struggling, we feel the pinch every now and then. Oh sure, I do a budget. But that is it. I write out on a piece of paper where our money should go each month but then fail to make sure we only spend the allotted money on groceries, or entertainment, or whatever. We took a 13 week class - paid to take a class - on getting our finances in order, and while we have made some improvements, we definitely need to get back on track.

So I proposed something radical. A spending fast. For a month. September. September will hopefully be a low key month for the Groves household. Gas and groceries. That is it. That is all we will purchase. Of course, I will still pay all the monthly bills. And Heaven forbid we should need to dish out some moola for something medically related, we most definitely won't hesitate to. Obviously if some emergency crops up, like both cars break down, we won't just hitchhike for the month. But trips to the mall, or even worse, Target, will be on hold. Eating out - not gonna happen. We will have to say no. No to invites out with friends. No to being lazy and going out instead of cooking. This will probably be more of a challenge for Matt since pretty much every day someone pops their head in his office inquiring if he wants to get a burrito at lunch. And I fully appreciate the challenge for him. His job is stressful and getting out of the office for an hour at lunch is sometimes very necessary for his sanity. It won't be easy on me either. Starbucks just brought back their Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I have to go an entire month without one. I wait all year for Pumpkin Spice Lattes. And while I can try to mimic them at home, they just aren't the same.

So what will we be doing? Well, I don't know. This is going to be hard. We very often go out for lunch on the weekends. For some reason, lunches on the weekend are just better out. I am going to really need to be on my game as far as grocery shopping and menu planning. I usually plan about 5 dinners for the week and the rest is filled in with eating out, leftovers, or whatever.

Despite September coinciding with Pumpkin Spice Lattes, which gave me pause and made me reconsider the idea, it also lines up with the start of football season. Sundays are taken care of entertainment-wise. And we have memberships to the zoo and arboretum. We will just have to pack lunches (which is honestly better anyway since zoo food, while convenient and kinda a novelty, is overpriced and kinda crap!). Hopefully the dreadfully hot weather will abate and we can enjoy some parks and forest preserves again. We have a gym membership and Lily loves the childcare there. Matt and I can go work out on Saturday mornings. Really, there is so much to do that doesn't require spending money!

I will be upfront though. Matt and I are going to see Roger Waters perform The Wall at the end of the month. The {very, very pricey} tickets have already been paid for. However, there will be a few {extremely overpriced} beers bought by Matt. We may go out to dinner first. It is a long planned and very overdue date for us. And my husband is turning into a shaggy hippy, so I will give him a pass and let him get a haircut. He just couldn't find the time recently. Other than that, I can't foresee any expenses that can't hold off until October. And maybe by October, we will decide we don't need whatever it is any more!

Wish us luck!

{Untitled}

2010-08-31T17:37:00.005-05:00

FOR TODAY…

Outside my window...it looks beautiful and sunny, but I haven't ventured out, and it is nearly 6 pm. My cold/allergies/sinus infection/bronchitis seem to be better when I don't go outside. Sigh. But the thermometer says its 90* so I am not too sad about being in the air conditioning!

I am thinking...FALL! I love fall and am hoping we have a nice, long fall this year. I love everything about the season!

I am thankful for...Lily not catching this nasty bug which has been plaguing me for THREE WEEKS!

From the kitchen...roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and corn for dinner. I may still be in my pjs, but we will eat well tonight!!

I am wearing...(hangs head in shame) my pajamas, still!

I am creating...a master plan to simplify my life!

I am going...to the doctor (again) tomorrow if I am still not feeling better!

I am reading...The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. It is for book club, which is tonight. I'm not going because a) I am still sick and b) I am only a third of the way through the book. See a.

I am hoping...for a successful spending fast for September. The plan is to only buy gas and groceries. I am hoping we can stick to it. We do have something that has been planned for a while at the end of the month, so I know we will spend a bit on that, but other than that, I hope we can stick to it. This is going to be especially hard on me since Starbucks just brought back their Pumpkin Spice Lattes yesterday. If anyone wants to take me out for coffee, I am game!

I am hearing...Lily playing.

Around the house...it is kinda a disaster.

A few plans for the rest of the week...I have a meeting I must attend tomorrow evening, other than that I am just hoping to get better! I have a 2 year old nearly bored to tears since mama's been under the weather!

From my picture journal...

Matt and I at a friend's wedding 4 years ago. I was skinny then! Oh, to be skinny again!

My Day Today - This Week's Edition

2010-08-30T13:56:00.003-05:00

It is only 2 pm on Monday, but I can say that this week has already been more productive than last week! I am still not 100% better. In fact, I am pretty sure that in addition to my bronchitis, I now have a sinus infection. Why the antibiotic allowed this to happen, I am not sure. But I would bet the proverbial farm that I have a sinus infection. Those who have also suffered from them know...when you have one, you just know! Anyway...my day:

8:00 - Matt brings Lily in to our room, his subtle way of saying get your lazy backside out of bed. Chickie and I read stories for about 20 minutes. It is a nice way to wake up...cuddling and reading to my favorite gal.

8:20 - Check email and facebook.

8:30 - Make Lily breakfast. Blueberry pancakes and eggs. I am awesome already because I actually made her a breakfast that resembles, well, breakfast!

9:00 - Get us ready for errands. I must accomplish a few things today. We head over to the church to do a couple MOPS things. Then we hit Starbucks because a little birdie told me Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back. Yeehaw! This day is gonna rock! I enjoy my Pumpkin Spice Frappachino (because it is 90...I much prefer the warm lattes, but hello! a little too warm for hot coffee!) on the way to the bank. Make my deposit and it is time to head to the grocery store. I actually have a list and solid menu plan this week. My final bill is quite painful because I haven't done a good grocery shopping in a couple weeks. Also this week just happens to be the week we need dog food, toilet paper, and diapers! And yes, I did use cloth. For over two years. But Lily outgrew the cloth diapers, and since I was so sure she would be potty training any minute, I decided to switch to sposies rather than buy a bunch of larger sized diapers. Of course, she only has intermittent interest in using the potty, so my idea that it would be more cost effective to use sposies has probably bitten me in the arse. But either way, I still saved a boatload of money by doing cloth for as long as I did.

12:00 - Home from running errands. I turn on the boob tube so I can put away my groceries in peace. I also hit up FB to share my dog-food-toilet-paper-diaper misery with anyone unfortunate enough to friend me. Others can empathize.

1:00 - I realize I haven't fed Chickie lunch. Oops. I feed her a meal of left over chicken, watermelon and a smoothie. She barely picks at it. I eat some left over chicken, quinoa, and smoothie.

1:30 - Put Chickie down for a nap and clean up the kitchen. Start the dishwasher, change around a load of wash, and think about putting the sheets back on the bed. Decide to put that off for now and blog.

So there you are! I already feel as if this day is off to a good start. I am going to watch The Cove, which I recorded last night. I will continue doing laundry. The bathroom really needs to be cleaned. And vacuuming! I must vacuum, though that will have to wait until Chickie gets up. My floor is one moving sea of dog hair. Ick! I am making not one, but two kinds of soup for dinner. We will eat one, and the other will go into the freezer for a quick meal at a later date. I was hoping to go to my yoga class, which I have missed the past two weeks, but I don't think that will happen. Just going from sitting to standing creates such a pressure change in my head, I am sure downward facing dog wouldn't do me any favors!

So that is my Monday! What's yours look like?

Blah!

2010-08-26T17:23:00.003-05:00

After coughing, coughing and more coughing for the past two weeks, I finally decided this little cold of mine wasn't going away. Hi-ho, hi-ho off to the doc I go. Turns out, my sore throat, horrible cough, stuffy nose and plugged ears aren't a mere cold. Nope. Acute bronchitis with bronchospasm. *Awesome* One antibiotic, inhaler, and blissfully wonderful script for a cough suppressant with codeine, and I figure I should be a model of health in no time! I am very excited about the cough syrup because I haven't slept decently in two weeks. I am pretty sure Matt is excited as well, because when I am hacking up a lung or two all.night.long, I doubt he is getting much rest, though he hasn't complained! The doc did offer a script for a muscle relaxer for my aching torso (from coughing) but I declined...I do have a two year old to look after!

My Guy is a Stud!

2010-08-25T20:22:00.009-05:00

This is my Chickie

Coincidently, she is holding a toy chickie she received in her Easter basket.
Chickie loves books, which thrills me to no end because I prefer a good book to almost anything else any day of the week.
But Chickie has tons and tons of books, which had overtaken her allotted space on our book shelves in the toy room. We looked high and low, but couldn't find anything that suited us. We found something close, at Ikea (I big puffy heart Ikea!) but it wasn't exactly right. We found something perfect at a boutique furniture store, but price nearly gave me a coronary. What to do, what to do? Why build one of course!
See, this is what I love about my husband. He can do anything! And if he can't actually do said thing, he learns how. It is really amazing, and really just incredible. He has so much more drive and sense of adventure than I do in this department!
The book shelves turned out ah-mazing! They exactly fit in the area we intended to put them, since they were built to specifications, and I think Matt really enjoyed working on them. Wait - I just asked him and he said "Yes." He's tired. He didn't elaborate.
Check them out:

Of course, the shelves haven't looked that neat since we brought them into her room ten days ago, but every.single.day she beckons "C'mon mommy, lets go see my book shelves!" And then we proceed to read endless books. I love it!

Next up, Matt is considering building a bed for Lily. We are getting ready to move her into a big girl bed, but have yet to find a bed we like in our price range. Matt has scoured the internet and thinks he may have found just the plans for a bed we both really like. And after that, he might build me a bookcase for our family room to hold our DVDs. And other random stuff. My only requirements are that I can put a Pothos on top and let its tendrils hang down and that it has adequate space for my Moose-tivity come Christmas time! Matt's only requirement before embarking on his next endeavor is that it cool off so he isn't slaving away in our million degree garage like he was for Lily's shelves.(since we don't have a basement, the garage has become his workshop!)

And on a completely unrelated note:

Lil found my "swimming glasses" and decided they would enhance her cartoon viewing. Note the zillions of mosquito bites on her legs. I am sooo longing for a good hard frost. And then back to the 60s. Summer and I don't get along!

My Day (Alternately Titled Holy Crap She Remembers She Has a Blog!)

2010-08-23T16:53:00.003-05:00

My day has gone a little something like this:

Get up about 9. Don't be jealous. I get up when the kid does. And she only sleeps until 9 because at 11 pm she is still talking her pretty little head off in her crib. Which is a direct result of a long and late nap, which is a direct result of getting up late, which is a result of...do you see where I am going here? I may get to sleep in, but I don't really get those blissful "after bed time" hours.

In an attempt to kick this black plague of death hellish cold I have had, I decide on smoothies for breakfast. Smoothies are easy to make. Unless you have my piece of crap blender which hardly works, but does still work enough that I have a hard time justifying buying a new one. Plus I want a Blendtec, which costs about $450. I kid you not. It is one expensive little gadget, but from what I hear and read, sooo worth it. I consider venturing to Bed, Bath and Beyond in search of a new, working but not so pricey blender, but realize I don't have a 20% off coupon. Also, the old one still works, kinda. And I would have to get dressed, so...

While attempting to make my smoothie, I get my Monday morning phone call from my BFF Jen. It is a happy phone call. We chat a while and I realize that I really look forward to my Monday morning phone calls from Jen and they are pretty routine. We make plans to hopefully meet up later in the week, which I really need. Because a girl needs her BFF! While talking to Jen and also making breakfast, I think to myself that my bestie has likely already been to the gym, showered, feed all 4 kids breakfast, sent two off to school and saved some puppies. She is superwoman and I love her. Except when talking to her reminds me how lazy I am.

Laundry. Really not much to say. I seperated it, threw in the sheets, followed by towels, lights and whites together because I didn't have many, darks, and then Lily's laundry. It is folded and put away, except for the sheets that will hopefully make it on the bed before we go to bed. No promises here. I do them as my first load so they have the best possible chance of being put back on the bed, but often we sleep on the mattress pad. Gross? Maybe, but whatev.

I read Chickie about 45 million books. Since putting her new bookshelf in her room last week (more about that later!) she has totally gone crazy with her already admirable love of books. However, Mommy has a wicked cold which has recently included nasal participation so talking and reading out loud leaves something to be desired. None the less, we read 45 million books. Or more like 10 million books, with each being read multiple times.

Lunch. Pineapple, left over Chipolte burrito bowl and cheese quesidilla. We split the burrito bowl and quesidilla. Chickie hardly ate anything but I rewarded her with the remaining half of her treat from the other day...a chocolate covered graham cracker. I am so winning on this motherhood thing. I should mention lunch was about 12:45.

1:30 and nap time. For the 4th day in a row Lily was actually asking to take a nap. I put her down, switched around some laundry and watched Whale Wars (best.show.ever!) from last week. Gotta love the DVR. I also surfed the internet a bit, folded some laundry, and then watched some Law and Order. Eventually I decided I should get Chickie up (somewhere around 4:15) so maybe she will go to sleep before the Daily Show so I can watch John Stewart grill Blago in peace. Somewhere in there I considered calling a friend just to chat, but decided against bugging her. I have since talked to her, but she called me :) (and totally was not bugging me!)

Send my sister a text because I think today is her first day teaching at her new school. But since I am an asshat, I can't actually remember. I figure 4:15 is probably an acceptable time, because surely she is out of school by now...

That brings us to about now. I look down and realize both Chickie and I are still in our pajamas. Matt should be home soon, but hopefully doesn't forgo his warning phone call. On most days he calls to tell me his leaving work. I tell him to do this so I can start dinner if necessary. Really though, I know I have a half hour to make it look like we had a productive day. And to gauge his mood. But don't tell him. Anyway, still no warning phone call, but I should get us dressed, and vacuum, and possibly put the sheets on the bed. Oh yeah, and maybe start on dinner, though we are grilling pork chops, and that is his domain. And Chickie is begging me to read her The Very Hungry Caterpillar one.more.time!

And that, my friends, is my day.

Conversations with My 2 Year Old

2010-07-19T15:30:00.002-05:00

If you have a two year old in your life, this post may seem familiar. The things that comes out of Chickie's mouth keep me on my toes, make me smile, make me laugh, occasionally make me blush, sometimes make me want to bang my head against a wall, and never cease to amaze me.

Recent examples:

Last night at dinner, with a full plate of food in front of her (all which she has eaten and enjoyed many, many times!):
Lily: Umm, I need a snack.
Me: You have a full plate of food right in front of you. Try the chicken in some dip-dip, it's yummy.
Lily: No, I think I need a snack.
Me: You need to eat your dinner.
Lily: Umm, I think I will just watch cartoons.
Me: looks at Matt and smacks own head as child climbs down from table

About 10 pm last night.
Lily (over the monitor): Momeeeeeeee
Me (going into her room): What's wrong baby, why aren't you sleeping?
Lily (fake crying): I want to go in the pool.
Me: It is sleeping time now, we can't go in the pool. Besides, it is dark out and we wouldn't be able to see. We can go in the pool tomorrow, if it isn't raining. We will go do errands, eat lunch, and go in the pool.
Lily: And have a snack too.
Me: If you eat a good breakfast and lunch, we can maybe have a snack.
Lily: And go in the pool.
Me: Yup.
Lily: And have a snack.
Me: You have a two track mind. Go to sleep, I love you.

Today at the grocery store, passing a woman in a full on burqa, face covered and all:
Lily (pointing, of course): What's that?
Me: It is a woman grocery shopping, just like us. (and hurrying out of the aisle!)
At least she didn't ask what that smell was, because this woman was, umm, fragrant!

Today, once home from the grocery store. I am trying to unload the groceries.
Me: Lily, please watch some cartoons while I unload the groceries. Then we will have lunch and can go in the pool.
Lily (after having been re-directed into the other room at least ten times): Mommy, why are you mad?
Me: I am not mad hun, I am just a little frustrated that you aren't being a good listener.
Lily: But why are you mad?
Me: I am not mad, but please try to be a good listener.
Lily: But why are you mad mommy?
Lily (a couple minutes later, after the above has been repeated no fewer than 8 million times): It's okay mommy, we are both sorry.
Me: Okay. Wait, wha? (bangs head repeatedly against wall)

Five minutes after lunch is done.
Lily: Umm, I need a snack.
Me: No (walks away....)

This is just a sampling of the last 24 hours.

I think I need some Advil.

Small Victories

2010-07-13T22:50:00.003-05:00

I have been a mommy for a little over 27 months now. Most days I would say it isn't too bad of a gig. Most days I would say there is nothing I would rather be doing. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I am a rather lazy parent. I have poor follow through. I don't always do a good job of setting boundaries and communicating expectations. I am the strict parent in the house, and that statement alone is a joke. We are lax, but that has worked for us. We aim for a relative bedtime. We suggest helping to pick up toys, or the toys may have to sit in time out for 24 hours. I have been known to dole out snacks within 30 minutes of an uneaten lunch, or dinner, or breakfast. I have also been known to engage in - and lose - arguments with a two year old. I think I, er, we, have been able to get away with this because, as a whole, Chickie is a pretty clever, easy-going, mild mannered child.

Lately, however, I have reached the conclusion that we need some discipline and I am going to have to make more of an effort to set boundaries and limits, follow through on discipline, and so on. Today is a great example. Today was a rough day. Today started off with Chickie sleeping until almost 10. Personally, I don't usually drag my extra large behind out of bed until Chickie is ready to get up. I know some of you hate me for admitting I sleep in until 9 some mornings. So when she sleeps that late, guess who else is sleeping in? Yup, we both got up late this morning. I was bound and determined to get something done. The bathroom majorly needed to be cleaned. I had laundry to do. The house needed to be dusted and vacuumed. I also thought that a shower would be nice. Silly me and my best intentions.

Before I got to work, I decided we should play outside on Chickie's water table. She adores the thing and it keeps her occupied for hours. I wanted to do a little weeding in the garden and re-pot a couple plants that needed it. Unfortunately the hornets, or wasps, or bees, or whatever exact species of flying devils that Matt has been battling for three weekends are still hanging around. They don't really bother us, but there are enough of them that I don't want to play outside mere feet from where they have taken up residence. Chickie could easily step on one, or lean against one on the hot tub. I don't want her getting stung, especially since I am not sure exactly what they are. Anyway, I also thought it would wear her out since she had slept a little later and I had BIG plans for her nap time. But it wasn't to be. I threw in a load of laundry, started on the tub, and left Chickie playing with her toys. For good measure and added insurance that she would be occupied, I also put on some cartoons. She played relatively well and only asked for the mysterious "bear cookies" for a snack a couple times. (Seriously, she requests bear cookies for a snack all the time. We have no idea what they are. She takes us to the fridge, but can't find them. She takes us to the pantry, but can't find them...) All was going well. Since we had a little bit of a later breakfast, I distracted her when she asked for snacks since I wanted to try to stick to a somewhat normalish lunch time. I made her a lunch of grapes, a cheese stick, a jelly sandwich, and some milk. All things she eats. All things she likes. She can be picky so I usually only make things I know she will eat. Today she wasn't having any it. Not even the grapes. She always at least eats her fruit, unless it is a banana. I told her fine, but I am tired of throwing away food, so I left the plate on the table, put the milk in the fridge and told her she could watch Word World and then it was nap time. Almost immediately she came looking for a snack. I told her no snack, but she could eat her lunch. No dice. She didn't want it. Another thing she had no interest in - napping. I wasn't totally surprised, since she had slept in a bit. Still, it was messing up my plans!

The afternoon was rough. She would play, she would ask for a snack, I would tell her no but offer her lunch, she would refuse, she would be under foot and whiny. She would hit at me, we would try time outs. She would throw a fit. I even put her in her crib for a time out, in hopes that she would fall asleep. I don't generally like to use her crib as a disciplinary tool because I don't want her to associate her bed with punishment. No dice still. I resigned myself to the fact that my itty bitty bathroom was going to take me all afternoon to clean. That shower I was hoping for wasn't going to happen. I had to use all my energy not to totally lose my flip-flip-flippity-flipping mind!

The victory? Besides not totally losing it...at 5 pm, after asking a million times for a snack and refusing her lunch a million times, Chickie finally decided she wanted to eat her lunch. And she ate every bite! It doesn't seem like much, but I did the happy dance because I won this battle. The battle wasn't so much with her, though. I won the battle with myself to stick to my guns, let her know who was boss, and show her I meant business. You don't have to eat your lunch, but you aren't getting a snack five minutes after leaving the table (despite what usually happens!) I felt like a real mom. You know, the ones that actually discipline and set good examples. The ones that aren't total push overs. Yup! That's me. And after that, the whole day turned around! She still ate some dinner. And an earlier bed time to boot!

I think I might be getting the hang of this mommy thing...

My Family

2010-07-12T00:22:00.002-05:00

Saturday we spent an almost perfect day with my family. I say almost because the dang mosquitoes were out in droves. Unfortunately it seems that Chickie is just as tasty as I am to the blasted little bloodsuckers! I counted 10! bites on her while giving her a bath this afternoon. We spent the afternoon and evening sitting on the deck, talking, eating, watching Lily play in her little pool, just doing what we do best. I asked my mom no fewer than five times if we could move in. I just love being at the house I grew up in, surrounded by my family.

I seriously have the greatest family in the world. We are loud. We are boisterous. Occasionally we are crass. Often we are funny. We talk, we drink, we eat. Any one of the aforementioned may be done in excess at any time, by any member. We laugh. A lot. Sometimes people get pissed. Very rarely someone crosses the line. We tell it like it is. A stranger would be terrified, possibly even horrified. But no one remains a stranger long in my parents' house. If you tolerate people interrupting each other, good company, even better food, and being amongst people who truly would choose to hang out with each other, even if they weren't tied together by blood, then you are welcome with open arms.

The Cast.

Dad: This former jock did pretty well, despite being blessed with three daughters and zero sons (biological anyway...he does have one pretty kick ass son in law!). All three of his daughters can throw spirals like no one's business. He is one of the hardest working people I know and just a ridiculous source of information. The man knows everyone and everything. He would give you the shirt off his back. We butted heads a lot when I was growing up (because he was uber strict!) but I love hanging out with him now. He loves his family and I think being a grandfather is one of his biggest joys. He has a special bond with Lily and has since she was born.

Mom: This lady can cook like no one's business! She is the best cook I know, hands down. My mom knows how to do everything. I can't remember calling her asking how to do something and her not knowing. She is creative and grows a mean garden. My mom has a huge heart and great ears (you know, for listening). I am sure we also butted heads when I was younger, because I was a brat to be sure, but nothing comes to mind. She is never more than a phone call away, but even that seems too far sometimes. I think I am a lot like my mom, and while some people might cringe being told they are just like their mothers, I take it as a huge compliment. My mom is truly one of my best friends.

Jackie: Middle Child. Independent. Doesn't take crap from anyone. Funny. Hilarious. A total clown. Whatever you do, don't interrupt her sleep! Opinionated, but in a good way, because she knows what she is talking about. She is the grammar nazi and has her finger on the pulse of current events. She is tough as nails, but beneath her iron exterior, she is really very sensitive.

Steph: The Baby. I don't think she will ever move far from home. Shares my love of celebrity gossip. We talk all the time. She talks all.the.time! Lily's godmother. Compassionate. Huge heart. A born teacher - I see her with Lily and teaching is just what she was designed to do. Sometimes a drama queen but a lot stronger than I think anyone gives her credit for.

That's them. In a nut shell. I could write volumes about the people that mean the most to me in the world, beside Lily and Matt. We are an ornery bunch to be sure, but fiercely loyal. You won't get far talking smack about one Smith in the presence of another. We are a goofy group. But on a Saturday afternoon, in the middle of summer, there is no one I would rather be surrounded by, and no place I would rather be, than with my family on my parents' deck!

Things I Love Thurdsday: Exergen Temporal Scanner Thermometer

2010-07-08T09:04:00.004-05:00

Chickie has had a fever for the past couple days. It averages around 102, goes down with Motrin, and then comes right back up at about the six hour mark. We are leaving for the doctor's in about an hour. I really hate fevers! Chickie has no other complaints other than she is hot. The problem I was having, aside from the unexplained fever, was getting a good reading on what her actual temperature was. This is only the second fever she has had, so I have made due with the couple of, ahem, cheapy thermometers I had. I had an underarm one. I think it was pretty accurate, but you try keeping a thermometer under the arm of a two year old for three minutes. Ditto on the temple thermometer which had to be held against the temple for a minute. Our ear thermometer has never really worked, not to mention the battery was dead and I have no idea what kind of battery it takes. Small and roundish? And rectal temps...yeah, forget that. I read somewhere a while ago that it was accurate but there was a danger of inserting it too far and injuring your child, and that was enough for me. So what is a mommy to do?
Well, Facebook of course! I put out the call for thermometer recommendations, and almost every.single.person! responded with the Exergen Temporal Scanner Thermometer. And then something in my brain registered...I think my BFF Jen told me about three years ago that it was pricey but a baby must have. I am a little slow on the uptake sometimes.
This thermometer is a little on the pricier side, about $49.99 at Walgreens and BabiesRUs (I did find it at Walmart for $33.94!) but as any parent knows, when it comes to your child's health, no price is too high! What I love about the Exergen is that I merely hold down the button and scan it across my daughter's forehead, from the center to the hair line, and it instantly reads her temp. It takes about three seconds and was with in .2 degrees five times in a row. My husband and I had fun scanning each other's foreheads all evening. What can I say, we are easily amused! But the thing never wavered! It read true all night long. Ahem. When I give her a dose of Motrin at 6 pm and know that it is about worn off at midnight, I no longer have to risk waking her up to take her temperature. I can scan this across her forehead while she sleeps! The only thing that would improve this thermometer is a backlight display so I don't have to scamper into the hallway to read it. Truly a worthwhile investment.
And as a funny coincidence, when I was in the recovery room after my little surgery last week, the nurse used a similar type thermometer to check my temp. In my post anesthesia stupor, I am pretty sure I asked the nurse if it was an expensive thermometer because it would sure be handy to have to take Chickie's temp. I am also pretty sure she looked at me like I was crazy. And I am positive that the one she used was a super fancy one that probably cost more than my house.
Anyway, what do you love this week? Head over to The Diaper Diaries for more Things I Love Thursday! And by all means, if you are a mommy, get yourself one of these babies!

2010-07-07T13:49:00.003-05:00

Outside my window..... I can see that the bushes out front really need to be trimmed.

I am thinking..... about starting to think about the upcoming MOPS year. I am doing Finance this year.

I am thankful for... a wonderfully successful surgery last week.

I am wearing.... khaki capris, a printed green tank top, and some of my new Lia Sophia bling...a necklace, earrings, bracelet. Oh yeah, and I actually put mascara on today.

I am remembering..... that I need to pay a bill.

I am going..... to veg on the couch and watch TV while Chickie is napping. Technically I am still recuperating!

I am currently reading..... The China Study, The Celestine Prophecy, and The Time Traveler's Wife.

I am hoping.....that Chickie stops running a fever.

On my mind..... thinking of a friend who lost someone unexpectedly.

Noticing that.....I really need to repaint my nails.

Pondering these words..... Live like no one else so you can live like no one else.

From the kitchen..... lunch dishes need to be put in the dishwasher and we are having spaghetti for dinner.

Around the house..... mounds of dog hair that reappear within mere moments of being vacuumed up!

One of my favorite things....my little girls giggle!

From my picture journal.....

Chickie and her Gi-Gi-ma, almost exactly two years ago. I miss you everyday Grandma!

{Untiltled}

2010-07-06T13:44:00.002-05:00

As I am sure my sister is just about to point out, it has been almost exactly a month since I have posted anything. So I guess you could say I am due - well, over due. Life has just been trucking along here. Not too terribly much has been going on. We have been enjoying summer. I haven't touched my camera in weeks, so I don't have any new pictures. Lest you think I am not taking any, I have been using my iPhone, which is significantly smaller and fits in my pocket. It allows me to be both a participant in activities, as well as the photographer. The only problem is I haven't quite gotten around to figuring out how to get said photos from phone to computer. I am, however, really good at posting them to facebook. That has to count for something. I am in a bullet point kinda mood, so here is a bit of what has been going on:
- This past weekend was the 4th of July. It was a bit low key due to my recuperating from minor surgery, but Chickie loved the fireworks. She calls them "Big Booms" and made the connection (all by herself!) that they are like thunderstorms. I never cease to be amazed at her little mind working. Soon, very soon, she is going to be able to outsmart us. Wait...she already can!
- I had laproscopic surgery last Thursday for some girly issues. I am feeling pretty good, and the surgery was a big success. I was more nervous about the outcome and will gladly deal with the healing process since it was so successful!
- We (okay, Matt!) finally got the pool up yesterday. Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned surgery, I can't be in the pool for a couple weeks. This is very hard on Chickie as she asks me every 20 seconds if we can go in the pool. I have to keep reminding her about the owie on my belly button. She seems to understand, but it breaks my heart not to be able to take her in it. Especially when in is 90 degrees out.
- Even though I just chopped my hair at Easter, I have decided to grow it out again. It is looking quite two tone right now and I am having a hard time deciding if I want to continue being a blond or go back to my natural color (which is technically known as blah). This keeps me up at night.
- I have been craving sushi ever since I had it over a week ago. It is like an all consuming thought. Clearly, I have issues.
- Chickie loves to sing. It is the cutest thing.
- Except her dancing, which is equally as cute.
- I love my little girl so much.

The End

A Good Old Fashioned Chickie Update Post

2010-06-07T15:30:00.007-05:00

It's been a while since I did a good old fashioned update post. Other than the new carpet last week, nothing terribly exciting has been happening. We have been spending a good deal of time outside, trying to get the yard "summer ready". The garden is planted and Chickie's carrot seeds, which she planted in a pot, are starting to come up. Sadly we haven't put the pool up yet. It will probably take a day to get it up and filled, and then a good couple days of full sun and warm temps to get it tolerable to swim in. I am keeping my fingers crossed for this weekend!
Yesterday Matt and a friend were in a canoe race. Chickie and I went to a park along the river to watch. We weren't sure what time they would be coming by,so we spent about 2 hours throwing rocks in the river before we saw them. Who knew that throwing rocks in the river could be so much fun. And if you count the fact that Chickie only almost fell in the river once, well I would consider it a very well spent morning!

Chickie is talking more and more everyday. I can honestly hold conversations with her now, and sometimes I forget I am talking to a two year old! This morning at the park (yesterday was such a hit, we had to go back!) she sat down next to a little girl and said "Hi, what's your name?" She is very much testing her boundaries and I really need to step up my disciplining. I have so far been very lax about it and I don't want her getting the idea she rules the roost here (shh, don't tell her, but really she does!)! Chickie is very good at expressing her emotions, telling us if she is happy, sad, mad, crying (I still am not exactly sure what this is, since she isn't usually crying. I think it is somewhere between upset and actually crying, perhaps another way of telling us she is sad?) She likes to tell us everything she is doing and she has learned to yell, purely for the enjoyment of hearing herself scream and seeing mommy cringe! She loves to play with all her toys, especially her puzzles. Her stuffed animals are her friends and she wakes up needing to see her friends.

Chickie loves music. She has recently started making up her own songs and we often hear her singing to her baby when she wakes up. She will also tell us she is "singing a beautiful song." We have nightly dance parties. She loves to dance to Iron Maiden, much to her daddy's delight. Mommy just rolls her eyes! This is probably my favorite time of day! Throughout the day she often comes up and tells me she needs to dance! It is so cute.

Chickie isn't much of a cuddler anymore, but she tells us she loves us probably ten times an hour. There is no sweeter sound! She is also very affectionate with the dogs, and for the most part they take it, Eli more so than Lucy. She is always saying "I love Eli" or "I love Lucy!"

She hasn't shown much interest in potty training yet, but she almost always tells me when she needs a new diaper. She sometimes will come up and say "I am soafing wet!" No matter how many times I tell her it is soaking, she insists on saying soafing. I love it! I am hoping by the end of summer to have her day trained, but I am not really rushing it. When she is ready, I figure she will let me know. She also still sleeps in her crib and loves it. So far she hasn't tried to climb out, so I think we will keep her in it as long as possible. And thankfully she still naps more often than not throughout the week. She looked like she was ready to ditch the naps a while ago, but I guess that was just a phase! She is a pretty good eater with a HUGE preference for fruit and beans. She eats a pretty wide variety of things that I wouldn't normally expect a two year old to like, but she also loves nuggets and cookies and goldfish. Sometimes she will tell me she needs "a little little snack" as I am wiping her up after a meal. *Eye roll*

Well, that should do it! Here are some recent pictures, although I will admit I haven't been taking all that many lately.

Hitching a ride after a hike

Helping plant the garden

Conked out after a long day in the yard with no nap

Loving the swings

New Carpet

2010-05-25T15:43:00.003-05:00

We are getting new carpet. Not really by choice, although I imagine the old stuff could be salvaged. Laying it back down, despite the cuts we had to make really couldn't hurt it's already tired appearance.

The story goes something like this:

Sunday we killed ourselves doing yard work. Okay, we didn't really kill ourselves, but it was hot (90 or so, about 20 degrees above my maximum comfortable temp) and we are wimps. Well, I am a wimp, Hubs actually did some hard work. But I digress...
After toiling away in the hot sun, we were both desperately in need of showers. Matt went in to take one while I stayed outside with my no napping child who was enjoying herself splashing in (on?) her water table. About two minutes after he went in, he came back out and asked if I had spilled anything on the carpet by our bedroom door. I had not, and was about ready to go kill the dogs, thinking they had had an accident. They had been inside all afternoon since we were working with the gate open (but not longer than they are on days when we are gone.) I went in to check it out and the first thing I noticed was the only wet spots I could see were in the shape of foot prints. Then I gingerly stepped my toe on the wet area and squish! We are talking lots of water...the carpet was soaked and it was coming up! That can't be good. We did a little more investigating and realized the carpet all along the wall that divides our room from Chickie's was wet, in both rooms. *Awesome* Matt called the plumber and we quickly figured out that the pipe to the outside faucet had burst. You know how they tell you to take the hose off the spigot before it freezes...yeah, best to pay attention to that one! We did take the hose off for the winter, but apparently not soon enough. When we used the hose for the first time this season, the water started leaking. And we weren't just using the hose intermittently, but I had it on for a couple hours, with one of those sprayers on it. So even though it wasn't flowing because I wasn't holding down the sprayer, it actually was flowing, just into our house. The good news was that the leak was in a good spot, so it wasn't actively leaking if the faucet wasn't on. Which was good, because calling a plumber at 5:30 on a Sunday evening is probably like 5 times the normal rate (even though our plumber is really cool!) The plumber told us he would be out at noon the next day to fix the leak, but in the mean time we needed to pull off the base boards and pull up the carpet to let it dry out. Mind you, this is after a long day of yard work. Not only did we not want to be moving furniture, we were dog tired and barely could move it! Like I said, we - or at least I - are wimps. We pulled up the carpet and it smelled mildew-y already. And we had to cut the carpet to get up one area of it. And when working in Chickie's room, we noticed an area where the drywall looked to have been patched. We had noticed the spot before, but never really paid attention to it. But wouldn't you know, when the plumber came the next day, that is exactly where he cut. Wonder if the previous owner's ever made the same mistake.
Anyway, since Matt had taken the day off yesterday to deal with the plumber (he has this thing about wanting to be here whenever any work men are here, which is fine with me because then I don't have to deal with it!) we decided to just go and get a feel for what carpet would cost. Our carpet was beyond trashed when we moved in five years ago, and with two dogs and one toddler, it certainly isn't getting any better. It turns out it wasn't quite as expensive as we were thinking, and we know that we would need new carpet before we could ever sell the house, so we decided to go for it. The guy came today to measure (him and Matt really hit it off...I think they talked guitars as long, if not longer, than they talked carpet!) today and the carpet should be installed on Friday. It will be nice to have carpet that actually looks clean when I vacuum.
However, since we are essentially re-carpeting 2/3 of our house, it is a pain to pack up and move everything we can into the garage, family room, and kitchen. And poor Chickie is bored out of her gourd because she can't play like she usually does because our bedrooms are essentially in her playroom since we had to take the carpet up to let it dry out.

And least we have a long weekend to get the house put back together. And tomorrow is the drop off for our MOPS garage sale, and I am thinking all this moving around of our possessions may just inspire to donate a few items!

Natural Bug Repellents?

2010-05-15T17:57:00.005-05:00

Today we had another adventure. After a false start that included picking a forest preserve that didn't really have much in the way of hiking, we found a secluded little path to stroll along. Chickie was a trooper, picking dandelions and sticks until the very end, when she became oh so pokey! Daddy scooped her up and we finished the very end of the hike. She wanted to walk to the car, and that is when I noticed it...A TICK! in.her.hair. Luckily it was just crawling there and hadn't burrowed in, but there was a tick on my baby! It doesn't make for a happy mama when possible disease carrying, head burying little critters are crawling on your little girl! We decided to head home and give ourselves a good once over when I felt a little tickle on my forehead. Yup, you guessed it! A tick was crawling out of my hair. I still have the heebie jeebies!
Now I realize that ticks are part of the great outdoors. And despite the fact that I am still squirming, even after a thorough inspection of all three of us, showers and every stitch of clothing we were wearing being washed in super hot water, we have no intention of giving up our adventures. But our very mild spring weather will soon be giving way to full fledged summer, which means in order to comfortably hike, we will have to avoid the heat of the day and hit the forest preserves when mosquitoes are out in force. So what I am wondering is this...Do you have any good bug repellent tips? Preferably natural ones. While I recognize that covering ourselves from head to toe in DEET may sufficiently repel the bugs, hiking in a cloud of toxic chemicals kinda ruins the whole filling our lungs with fresh air thing.

So lay them on me folks...your best natural bug repellent tips!

Adventures

2010-04-27T11:30:00.010-05:00

We have a new weekend activity...adventures! We hop in the car and search around for a forest preserve or nature area or park. It is a great way to get out, get some fresh air, see nature, and just explore. Matt and I love seeing what is in the area and Lily loves picking up rocks and dandelions. To date, we haven't done much planning. Maybe a two second Internet search on the way out the door, or maybe even just using the trusty iPhone after we have hit the road. If we were really on our game, we would pack a picnic lunch, but we enjoy finding little restaurants to try out as well. And while it has been a little overcast the past couple weekends, it has actually been perfect. I enjoy the cooler weather, there aren't a ton of bugs yet, and it is totally not crowded. Our adventures aren't huge. We typically are only gone for a couple hours, max. We get some lunch and are home for nap time. It really is amazing how many cool little areas there are within twenty minutes of our house that allow us to feel like we are escaping the 'burbs for a while. Sadly, these little adventures do get me longing for Salt Lake or Moab or Phoenix or New Mexico or Colorado, where outdoor adventures are always just a short way away. But it is nice to be able to take advantage of the wonderful Kane County Forest Preserve District. Maybe with a little more planning, we will head a little further, for a little longer. I am thinking Starved Rock maybe. Or out along the Mississippi. Of course, planning isn't really our forte. We are more of the get up-what do you want to do today-okay lets go type. But our little adventures our good for our souls! And our relationship. We have the best conversations as Lily picks up sticks or inspects leaves. I love our weekend adventures!

Big Rock Forest Preserve 4/25/10

April Pics

2010-04-23T18:03:00.014-05:00

A Post Where I Complain A Lot - Consider Yourself Warned

2010-04-21T17:47:00.004-05:00

This week has pretty much sucked. Lily has been sick, which always stinks. Matt and I haven't been feeling great either. My house is a disaster. I am pretty sure that disaster is it's default setting. One which it defaults to constantly. There are toys everywhere. And dog hair. And clutter. In theory I know my house is big enough for us, but in reality I have been feeling rather suffocated here. I am mad at myself for feeling discontent with what I have instead of gratitude. In all facets of my life. I have been discouraged and uninspired lately. The weather has been wonderful, so I can no longer attribute my crappy attitude to bad weather. I've totally been a slacker lately as well. Lily has been wearing a lot of disposable diapers, instead of cloth. We have been eating fast food, or out, or easy prepackaged meals instead of yummy home cooked ones I used to pride myself on. In short, I am in a funk. And I must get out. Because the way things have been going lately is making me really annoyed at myself.

Thanks for listening to me vent. I promise the next post will be happy.

{Untitled}

2010-04-14T14:26:00.002-05:00

Dear Lily:

For the love of all that is holy, please TAKE.A.NAP!!!! You have been thumbing your nose at the most sacred time of day way too often lately. Mommy is close to losing her mind. Just so you know, when mommy loses her mind, it isn't pretty. You are two. Two year olds nap. I think it might even be in the Bible. I will get back to you on that. Regardless of the biblical implications, napping is part of your job description. My job description entails everything from wiping tushes to making you healthy meals to molding you into a model specimen of humanity. I realize I don't always achieve my job description everyday, but just because I shirk my responsibility now and then doesn't mean you get to follow suit. Besides, I don't get paid for my job. My payment is the few blissful hours I have a day when you nap and I can clean or fold laundry or blog or, ahem, finish the Twilight series. I know napping seems horrible, especially on such a beautiful day, but trust me one day you will long for a few hours every afternoon to conk out. Rest is good for the soul, good for the body, and good for mommy.

I love you Lily! Now please stop jumping in your crib and GO TO SLEEP! Or just stop jumping. I will settle for that!

Love,
Mommy

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2010-04-06T16:16:00.002-05:00

2!!!

2010-03-26T09:11:00.006-05:00

Yesterday Lily turned 2! I can hardly believe it! We didn't really do anything yesterday. We are likely going to do something just the three of us tomorrow and then maybe celebrate with our families in the near future. She is 2, so she doesn't really care. Next year I will be more on the ball.
A couple observations from my two years of motherhood:
- I realize that I will never sleep as much as I want ever again. Even if given the opportunity (and I rarely am), I worry too much about Lily, and every possible thing related to being a parent.
- I have not, in the past two years, been home completely alone. I don't even remember what it is like to not have another person in the house with me.
- I was a much better parent before I had a kid.
- Even when I am the one to make her cry (you know, because I won't give her a cookie for breakfast), Lily still comes to me for comfort.
- Nothing makes me happier than watching my husband and daughter play together.
- Except maybe watching my daughter discover new things.
- "You are a good mom" is one of the best things I can ever hear.
- Topped only by whatever comes out of Lily's mouth. She is so funny and I love seeing how her mind works.
- I wouldn't trade one single minute of the last two years for anything in the world. Even the challenging times. Even the endless sleepless nights. Even the super icky diapers.
- Wait, I lied, I would trade in any moment that Lily was hurting or sick...I would take it from her.
- Being a mommy is the best job in the world.

And now, prepare yourselves...this isn't pretty...

This is much better:

And today (well, yesterday!):

Sunday Nights

2010-03-22T12:20:00.002-05:00

Every week it is the same thing. Sunday nights are always the same. No, I am not talking about some fun family event like going over to Grandma's for dinner or anything like that. I am talking about sleep. Or, more accurately, lack of sleep. For some reason, no matter what the circumstances of the day, I cannot sleep on Sunday nights. It doesn't matter what time I try to go to bed or whether or not I have been super busy all day. This goes back to my working days too. Sunday night I go to bed and toss and turn. I just can't fall asleep. I hear every little noise, which keeps me up. The dogs and Matt snore more loudly on Sunday nights than any other night of the week. The house creaks more on Sunday nights. And on the outside chance I do actually fall asleep before 1 am, I am up constantly and have a hard time going back to sleep. Even if I fall asleep really late, I still wake up a bunch of times. And while I don't sleep like a baby every night (probably because I still have a baby, err, almost two year old!) I never have as many problems as Sunday nights. As if Mondays aren't hard enough, I get to face them groggy and bleary eyed. Awesome!

One of Those Days

2010-03-15T13:51:00.003-05:00

Today has been one of those days. It isn't even 2 pm, yet I am mentally exhausted and physically drained. It might have something to with the time change, or being gone all day Saturday and then being a vegetable all day Sunday. Perhaps it is because Matt was out of town last week and we literally saw each other for 20 minutes between when he got home and I left for Hearts at Home. Either way, today is tougher than most Mondays, which are typically not my favorite day of the week anyway! In no particular order, here are my adventures of the day:
- Hurricane Lily. She is on a tear today, throwing things around, emptying her book shelf, scattering all her shoes all over her room. If I clean something up, she has messed up something else. She also threw her ridiculously expensive Thermos sippy on the ground, breaking off the lid, so it is no longer able to be closed up and thrown in a purse. And she tells me "a don't worry mommy,FIX IT!!!". I will get right on that melding plastic thing...
- Someone, probably me, left a tissue in something that went into the washer. We all know what happens. I likely had said tissue in the pocket of the hoodie I wore yesterday because Lily has a runny, icky nose.
- The nastiest diaper I have seen in a long time. This is day three of icky icky diapers.
- A 25 minute search for blankie. My house is small, yet Lily finds someplace to hide it and then conveniently forgets, so I am left desperately searching if I have any hope of her napping.
- When said nap time finally rolls around, I put my little angel down and jumped in a nice shower. Nice for about 2 minutes until the UPS man rang the doorbell and the idiot dogs started barking, waking Chickie up. She is still awake in her crib. But mommy needs some quiet time (and to blow dry my hair!) so she will have to go back to sleep. And she will...eventually.
- I stepped on a block, again, totally hurting my foot, again.
- I am out of Coke Zero, which is probably good since I have been drinking way too much soda lately, but I could really use one right now.
- My house needs to be cleaned, at least superficially since my MIL is coming over to babysit while Matt and I go to FPU.
- And Matt is going out of town, again. Boo!

On a positive note, I did have a great conversation with one of my oldest and best friends. You would think after 20 plus years of friendship, we would know everything about each other, but I discovered we have yet another thing in common. It is a very cool thing!

Okay...off to dry my hair...

Hearts at Home

2010-03-14T20:17:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I attended the Hearts at Home National Conference. All I can say is WOW!!! If you have never been, but are a mom, particularly a Christian mom, then I would highly recommend going! The conference started with a main session where Jill Savage spoke. The theme this year was Mom's the Word and Jill spoke about four types of words our family needs to hear us speak (affirming, accepting, appreciating and apologizing) and how what is in our hearts pours out our mouths. It was very thought provoking and it really inspired me to be more careful and intentional with my words, both to my husband and to my child. Nicole Johnson also spoke and did some dramatic skits, which were amazing. And Christy Nockels performed. She was amazing. She sings worship songs, which have never really been my thing but are now!
After the main session, we were set free on the campus of ISU to attend our other workshops. The other workshops I attended were Measuring up as a Mom, Living with Less So Your Family Can Have More, Navigating Friendships, and Real Moms...Real Jesus. I was really fortunate to have Jill Savage as the speaker at two of my workshops. I enjoyed all of them, but Jill is just an amazing speaker. I will admit that my attention really waned during the Navigating Friendships workshop. The room it was held in was really warm, plus it was after lunch and I had had too little sleep the night before. Also, a couple of the women I went with went to a different session during that time called Growing Grateful Kids, which I strongly debated switching to (you aren't really supposed to switch up your schedule) and apparently it was just amazing. So I guess I wish I would have broken the rules!
There was an afternoon main session as well, which featured Christy Nockels again, as well as Julie Barnhill and more from Nicole Johnson. I really enjoyed Nicole. She was amazing. Her talk at the end was about how as moms we are sometimes invisible, but we are doing great work in our children and God sees. She compared it to the great cathedrals in Europe and how the builders would work their entire lives on cathedrals and would never see them finished and never get credit for their work, but the work was for God. And as a funny aside, I just finished reading about a month ago a book called "The Pillars of the Earth" which was about building a great cathedral in England in the twelfth century.
All in all, the conference was amazing. I laughed, I cried (who me? I never cry!) and I learned so much! It was great being away for 24 hours to recharge and be inspired. I was a ton of fun to get to really know some of my MOPS friends better and to spend some time with people who totally get me at this stage of my life. I mean seriously, there were like 4500 women there! That is a lot of estrogen!
I almost forgot - a man spoke who is former sponsored child from Compassion International. He spoke about what it means to be sponsored and how his life could have turned out. He spoke about meeting his sponsor after twelve years of sponsorship and how he and his wife and his brand new baby girl are living in the US right now, training to go back and become ministers in the community he came from in Uganda. It was truly inspiring. Sponsoring a child is something that has really been on my heart the past couple months, and while now isn't the right time for us to do it, I really hope one day soon is!

Hehe! I just read this to proof read and realized I use the word "amazing" to pretty much describe everything! What can I say - it was AMAZING! so I am not going to change it!

The Eco-Nomical Baby Guide - A Book Review

2010-03-10T18:05:00.005-06:00

I was given the extraordinary opportunity by Joy and Rebecca over at Green Baby Guide to review their new book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. Let me just tell you, I wish this book had come out about two years earlier! I did or do a lot of the practices outlined in the book, but I had to do all my own research (a lot from their blog). This book would have saved me tons of Internet hours!

The book is "a down-to-earth way for parents to save money and the planet." It is 193 pages of little things we can do as parents to save some money and save the planet, which I think is just awesome, because really, who doesn't want to leave Earth better for our children? I think a lot of people want to do the green thing, but are put off by the cost they associate with being an eco-conscious parent. Joy and Rebecca outline topics such as necessities versus niceties (and let me tell you, I know from experience that you don't need half the stuff that BRU tells you you do!), buying used gear, supporting eco-friendly companies, cloth diapering (my fave!), feeding your baby (breastfeeding and making your own baby food, as well as organic store bought options), and simple things you can do right now.

I think the thing I like best about this book is they say throughout "progress, not perfection." The attitude of the book is that every little step helps and you shouldn't beat yourself up if you can't achieve a negative carbon footprint. And all their tips are tried and true! The write from their experiences, so they have had success with the tips they write about. Aside from some very simple tips, they also give actual cost breakdowns and websites.

I would highly recommend this book for any new or expecting parent, not just the ones with a tendency towards the greener lifestyle. This book spoke to both my "crunchy" side as well as my frugal side!