My Livers has started to sing. Surprisingly some of what she sings is actually recognizable. She can sing approx. 20% of the alphabet song, sort of. Only the T-U-V, W-X part. It's cute to hear a 16-month old attempt this. She also has two favorite real world songs she likes. When she was a little baby I made a CD of songs that I'd heard on TV shows (mostly Lost) and elsewhere to put in the car. Livers seemed to like them, so I would play them A LOT to calm her down. Well, the hyper-repetitiveness seems to have paid off, because whenever I even MENTION going to the car she starts going "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" and "ahh ahh ooooooh," which is part of the Three Dog Night song "Shambala". She absolutely LOVES this song.
And today we went to the last installment of Picnic in the Park, and another song on her CD was playing, called "Ruby" by the Kaiser Chiefs. I was just driving along and from the backseat I hear "dooya, dooya, dooya" and realized that she had started to sing this, too!
Too cute for words! I need to come up with a new CD and soon, because a person can only hear the same 5 songs so many times.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Wordless Wednesday - HAWAII
This is an old picture from four years ago when my husband and I went to Hawaii. He wasn't my husband before we went but he was going to be by the time we left. It is of a green sand beach on the island of Hawai'i, located around South Point, the southernmost point in the United States. One of the neatest things I've ever seen (but suckiest to get to--2.5 miles ONE WAY). I forgot to wear sunscreen on my legs, and I have never had a worse burn ever. Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Catch Ya Later...
I've been too tired and too busy the past few days to post. Hopefully I'll be able to write something meaningful tomorrow!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Menu Plan Monday - April 28
We did pretty good with sticking to the menu last week, but we backslid a bit this weekend and went out to eat Sunday. The husband just wasn't feeling what was on the menu :)That being said, here's this week's menu. Monday is the same corn chowder from last week; we just didn't make it.
Monday: Corn Chowder
Tuesday: Enchiladas (recipe courtesy of Mama's Losin' It)
Wednesday: Tuesday leftovers
Thursday: Philly Cheese Steaks
Friday: Sloppy Joes with fries
Saturday & Sunday: sloppy joe leftovers one night; eat out the other
Friday, April 25, 2008
Typical Situations
It's Friday night, and I'm at home. Alone.
Reading that, it sounds depressing, but it actually isn't. I HAD the opportunity to go out tonight. My husband said to go ahead, because I don't get to go out often. But here I am. We didn't eat dinner till late (as always), and my plan people didn't get off their bee-hinds until 9:30, and they weren't sure how late they were going to be out (implying not). I decided it was not worth the effort, because I had eaten my weight in Indian Fried Chicken (de-lish, the husband does it up good), was tired, and if I'm only going to go to a smoky bar for an hour, it's not worth the $500 in gas money and the rancid bar stench to make my appearance.
So my husband went instead. (He said that someone should go, why not me?)
No problem here. I get to catch up on my blogging and actually make a craft attempt. My current project is beading some cheap 20 cent felt I got at Hobby Lobby. I'm not sure what the final design will be; I've just been wanting to do something crafty. Photos will be posted when the project actually looks decent.
* * * *
In unrelated news, I took Livers for a playdate this evening with a girl we met at the park last week. She didn't so much want to play as much as steal the other girl's pacifier (and then try to put it back in her mouth), her juice, her sister's bottle, her mother's keys, her grandmother's keys, her father's phone, etc, etc, you get the point. She did enjoy herself....and the massive handful of sand she ate. I knew it was going to happen. She had a bucket full of sand that the other girl's father had gotten her to play with, so Livers takes it and dumps it all over her feet and into her shoes. She then reaches down, grabs a hand full (at this point I knew what was going to happen, but like watching a train wreck was powerless to stop it), and shoves the entire thing in her mouth. Good thing I had the foresight to bring a sippy of water with us.
P.S. One of the worst sounds in the world is sand crunching in teeth. ****cringe****
Reading that, it sounds depressing, but it actually isn't. I HAD the opportunity to go out tonight. My husband said to go ahead, because I don't get to go out often. But here I am. We didn't eat dinner till late (as always), and my plan people didn't get off their bee-hinds until 9:30, and they weren't sure how late they were going to be out (implying not). I decided it was not worth the effort, because I had eaten my weight in Indian Fried Chicken (de-lish, the husband does it up good), was tired, and if I'm only going to go to a smoky bar for an hour, it's not worth the $500 in gas money and the rancid bar stench to make my appearance.
So my husband went instead. (He said that someone should go, why not me?)
No problem here. I get to catch up on my blogging and actually make a craft attempt. My current project is beading some cheap 20 cent felt I got at Hobby Lobby. I'm not sure what the final design will be; I've just been wanting to do something crafty. Photos will be posted when the project actually looks decent.
* * * *
In unrelated news, I took Livers for a playdate this evening with a girl we met at the park last week. She didn't so much want to play as much as steal the other girl's pacifier (and then try to put it back in her mouth), her juice, her sister's bottle, her mother's keys, her grandmother's keys, her father's phone, etc, etc, you get the point. She did enjoy herself....and the massive handful of sand she ate. I knew it was going to happen. She had a bucket full of sand that the other girl's father had gotten her to play with, so Livers takes it and dumps it all over her feet and into her shoes. She then reaches down, grabs a hand full (at this point I knew what was going to happen, but like watching a train wreck was powerless to stop it), and shoves the entire thing in her mouth. Good thing I had the foresight to bring a sippy of water with us.
P.S. One of the worst sounds in the world is sand crunching in teeth. ****cringe****
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Thursday 13 - Now That I'm a Mommy...
13 Things I No Longer Have Time For/the Ability to Do Now That I'm a Mommy:
1. Paint my toenails
2. Sleep late on weekends
3. Stay awake long enough to craft
4. Go out to dinner on a whim with my husband
5. Spend real consistent quality time with said husband
6. Deal with a hangover (therefore, I don't drink now)
7. Pay attention to what the priest says during Mass (because Livers is usually trying to get into somebody's something or other)
8. Have a double header (watch two movies at a theater in a weekend)
9. Watch any movie in the theater without LOTS of advance planning (the husband and I used to watch A LOT of movies; now I don't even know what's out...sad...)
10. Do anything with my hair (except a ponytail or bun)
11. Read People and drink chai lattes at Barnes and Noble on a lazy weekend afternoon
12. Leave my office door open without fear of it looking like a bunch of headbanging crowd surfers have been in there
13. Finish a blog entry before the baby---
1. Paint my toenails
2. Sleep late on weekends
3. Stay awake long enough to craft
4. Go out to dinner on a whim with my husband
5. Spend real consistent quality time with said husband
6. Deal with a hangover (therefore, I don't drink now)
7. Pay attention to what the priest says during Mass (because Livers is usually trying to get into somebody's something or other)
8. Have a double header (watch two movies at a theater in a weekend)
9. Watch any movie in the theater without LOTS of advance planning (the husband and I used to watch A LOT of movies; now I don't even know what's out...sad...)
10. Do anything with my hair (except a ponytail or bun)
11. Read People and drink chai lattes at Barnes and Noble on a lazy weekend afternoon
12. Leave my office door open without fear of it looking like a bunch of headbanging crowd surfers have been in there
13. Finish a blog entry before the baby---
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Jon and Kate Event
As mentioned in my post yesterday, I had the privilege of seeing Jon and Kate Gosselin (of the TLC show Jon and Kate + 8) speak on Saturday. I found out about the event through their website. They had a section that showed where they were planning to speak, and out of curiosity I checked to see if they were coming near where I live. I was surprised to see that they were coming to speak at a church about 40 miles from my house, so I figured out how to get tickets (they were luckily free!) and managed to get them. Since I'm the only one in my family that watches the show, I had to go by myself, but that was fine by me.
Hearing them speak was very moving and thought provoking. I know that it has to be difficult to raise eight kids (twins and sextuplets), but I had no idea some of the hardships that they had been through. What really struck me through the night was their complete faith and devotion to God. I'll try to recount some of the main points that they spoke about.
1. When their twins were 2 1/2 Kate wanted to have another child, but Jon didn't yet. Kate was working as a labor and delivery nurse and met a young patient who she bonded with. The girl had just told her parents a couple of days before that she was pregnant, so the girl was wanting to give her child up and really wanted Kate to adopt him. She really wanted to, because it was very difficult for her to have children and she really wanted another one, so she talked to Jon about it. What was moving to me was how they put their faith in God to give them the strength to make the right decision for their family. They decided not to adopt the child.
2. Getting pregnant with the sextuplets. The fertility doctor wanted them to reduce the number of pregnancies, but even through their fear they knew that was completely out of the question. The thing that struck me most about it was through her tears as the doctor was adamant about reduction she looked to Jon and asked him if he could look God in the eye one day and say that you had no problem killing some of your children to make your life easier. This got the point across to the doctor and he shut up. I know that had to be an incredibly difficult decision for them to make, but they put their trust in God to see them through.
3. Kate had to go on bed rest starting at 7 weeks. SEVEN WEEKS. That had to be absolute misery. She said that when she went into the hospital at 20 weeks that she could only lay on her right side for the remainder of the pregnancy, and that it was actually FLAT after the fact. She tried to move to her other side but the babies kept jumping on the bed so much that she had to turn to make them happy.
4. Jon lost his job three weeks before she went into the hospital. His employer fired him essentially because it was going to cost his company too much to insure them. I cannot even IMAGINE how difficult and frightening of a situation this had to have been for them, but what struck me was how they still, though their terror, but God in control of their situation. Kate said that the important thing that came out of it was that Jon got to spend time with the twins, because beforehand the girls had been shipped off to daycare, which really bothered her because she wasn't able to care for them.
5. Jon didn't get a job until SEVEN MONTHS after the sextuplets were born. (My husband says he remembers them mentioning this as some point on the show, but I don't recall this.) Things were so difficult that Kate was having to call utility companies trying to work out a payment deal because of their situation. They were in real danger of losing their house. But God provided for them. Whenever it seemed that something was really necessary for them, He always found a way for them to get it. One story that particularly struck me was one night they were between feedings with the babies and Kate mentioned to Jon that they needed paper towels (they were going through two rolls a day) and to tell their helpers to put it on the list. (Their helpers had a list of things that they would provide for them if they needed it.) Two hours later their help for the next set of feedings came, and they said that there was something on their doorstep for them. What was it? A case of paper towels from Sam's. Now if that's not God providing, I don't know what is!
Jon continually tried to find a job, from something like Target all the way up to something in his field. The story was always the same: he was either underqualified or overqualified for the job and they wouldn't pay his insurance. Things were getting tough. Then one day someone with the government got a hold of his resume and told him that he was going to personally deliver it to the higher ups. The man followed through and he got a job (with great state insurance). Jon never even applied for the job; someone just heard about him and helped.
After they spoke they took 25 questions, ranging from how their privacy has been affected by the show and the role of faith on their show to raising their kids with organic food. I wish that they had been able to answer more questions than this, but that was how many the group that organized the event allowed. (It easily could have gone on...happily...for hours.) After the event they had a picture signing. You weren't allowed to take your own pictures (they're under contract with TLC over it and would've gotten in trouble), but they were selling ones of their family and kids that had been professionally done, and the money is going to a college fund for their kids. I waited with about 100 other people to get some pictures and to speak with them. Unfortunately I guess I got a bit of celebrity shock, because by the time it was my turn to speak all I could get out sounded like "der, dum, blah blah blah urg". It didn't help that the people behind me were chomping at the bit to talk and pretty much pushed me along. Jon did speak to me a bit. I told him it was the first time I'd gotten out without my girl (meaning in a really long time), and he said I should go shopping, and I said I did.
* * * *
I truly enjoyed hearing the Gosselins speak. Hearing how God has influenced their lives has made me take stock of my own life, and I hope that I am able to keep learning these lessons in the days to come and develop a faith as strong as they have had through their hardships.
* * * *
NOTE: I took the pictures down because I realized today that they were copyrighted. Yikes! No harm was intended.
Hearing them speak was very moving and thought provoking. I know that it has to be difficult to raise eight kids (twins and sextuplets), but I had no idea some of the hardships that they had been through. What really struck me through the night was their complete faith and devotion to God. I'll try to recount some of the main points that they spoke about.
1. When their twins were 2 1/2 Kate wanted to have another child, but Jon didn't yet. Kate was working as a labor and delivery nurse and met a young patient who she bonded with. The girl had just told her parents a couple of days before that she was pregnant, so the girl was wanting to give her child up and really wanted Kate to adopt him. She really wanted to, because it was very difficult for her to have children and she really wanted another one, so she talked to Jon about it. What was moving to me was how they put their faith in God to give them the strength to make the right decision for their family. They decided not to adopt the child.
2. Getting pregnant with the sextuplets. The fertility doctor wanted them to reduce the number of pregnancies, but even through their fear they knew that was completely out of the question. The thing that struck me most about it was through her tears as the doctor was adamant about reduction she looked to Jon and asked him if he could look God in the eye one day and say that you had no problem killing some of your children to make your life easier. This got the point across to the doctor and he shut up. I know that had to be an incredibly difficult decision for them to make, but they put their trust in God to see them through.
3. Kate had to go on bed rest starting at 7 weeks. SEVEN WEEKS. That had to be absolute misery. She said that when she went into the hospital at 20 weeks that she could only lay on her right side for the remainder of the pregnancy, and that it was actually FLAT after the fact. She tried to move to her other side but the babies kept jumping on the bed so much that she had to turn to make them happy.
4. Jon lost his job three weeks before she went into the hospital. His employer fired him essentially because it was going to cost his company too much to insure them. I cannot even IMAGINE how difficult and frightening of a situation this had to have been for them, but what struck me was how they still, though their terror, but God in control of their situation. Kate said that the important thing that came out of it was that Jon got to spend time with the twins, because beforehand the girls had been shipped off to daycare, which really bothered her because she wasn't able to care for them.
5. Jon didn't get a job until SEVEN MONTHS after the sextuplets were born. (My husband says he remembers them mentioning this as some point on the show, but I don't recall this.) Things were so difficult that Kate was having to call utility companies trying to work out a payment deal because of their situation. They were in real danger of losing their house. But God provided for them. Whenever it seemed that something was really necessary for them, He always found a way for them to get it. One story that particularly struck me was one night they were between feedings with the babies and Kate mentioned to Jon that they needed paper towels (they were going through two rolls a day) and to tell their helpers to put it on the list. (Their helpers had a list of things that they would provide for them if they needed it.) Two hours later their help for the next set of feedings came, and they said that there was something on their doorstep for them. What was it? A case of paper towels from Sam's. Now if that's not God providing, I don't know what is!
Jon continually tried to find a job, from something like Target all the way up to something in his field. The story was always the same: he was either underqualified or overqualified for the job and they wouldn't pay his insurance. Things were getting tough. Then one day someone with the government got a hold of his resume and told him that he was going to personally deliver it to the higher ups. The man followed through and he got a job (with great state insurance). Jon never even applied for the job; someone just heard about him and helped.
After they spoke they took 25 questions, ranging from how their privacy has been affected by the show and the role of faith on their show to raising their kids with organic food. I wish that they had been able to answer more questions than this, but that was how many the group that organized the event allowed. (It easily could have gone on...happily...for hours.) After the event they had a picture signing. You weren't allowed to take your own pictures (they're under contract with TLC over it and would've gotten in trouble), but they were selling ones of their family and kids that had been professionally done, and the money is going to a college fund for their kids. I waited with about 100 other people to get some pictures and to speak with them. Unfortunately I guess I got a bit of celebrity shock, because by the time it was my turn to speak all I could get out sounded like "der, dum, blah blah blah urg". It didn't help that the people behind me were chomping at the bit to talk and pretty much pushed me along. Jon did speak to me a bit. I told him it was the first time I'd gotten out without my girl (meaning in a really long time), and he said I should go shopping, and I said I did.
* * * *
I truly enjoyed hearing the Gosselins speak. Hearing how God has influenced their lives has made me take stock of my own life, and I hope that I am able to keep learning these lessons in the days to come and develop a faith as strong as they have had through their hardships.
* * * *
NOTE: I took the pictures down because I realized today that they were copyrighted. Yikes! No harm was intended.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
A *Nugget* of Humor
Poor Livers has some horrible diaper rash right now, so after bath time we decided to give her some nakey time to air her poor baby booty out. We put her in the kitchen and put the gate up, and I sat at the husband's computer to research diaper rash. Livy ran all around the kitchen in excitement and tried to hang off of the kitchen table like a monkey. Everything was great, until I heard Jeremy gasp. Livy had pooped on the kitchen floor. Yes, pooped on the kitchen floor. Ironically I had just Swiffered the floor to get it clean for her since she'd just had a bath. Guess I should've waited. Yuck...
What a Wonderful Weekend
This weekend was great. It wasn't particularly productive, but I got some much needed time to myself. Saturday the husband agreed to watch Livers for the day (rather than the evening) so that I could go out and have some time to myself. He had already agreed to watch the little lady for the night so that I could go to see Jon and Kate Gosselin speak, but I decided to make a day of it (shopping, movies, eating), and he obliged.
The day started with a car cleaning, because I was driving his car and needed to remove the massive amounts of bird poo off of the windows and didn't need to be embarrassed. I then did the obligatory stop at Babies R Us and bought practical things for the little one. On the way out I almost had fit because the husband's car was playing dead. All that kept going through my mind was "I'm going to see the Gosselins, even if I have to take a cab or rent a car," but luckily the car pulled through and didn't give me anymore problems.
Next I went to see a crappy movie. That was not my intention, but it was now it turned out. I saw Smart People with Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, and Thomas Haden Church. The premise seemed interesting enough, and I thought to myself, I like Dennis Quaid, I love Sex and the City so I should enjoy watching SJP, Ellen Page was great in Juno and Thomas Haden Church was hysterical in Sideways, so this should be great. It was not so much. I left feeling I'd have been better off spending my time shopping or reading magazines and drinking chai at Barnes and Noble, but too late now.
I then had an abbreviated shopping trip at the mall. It was productive, but there were far too many under 18's there. It was like wading through a high school hallway. I kept trying to find a Chico's, because I had seen this beautiful red beaded tunic shirt in an add in the recent Real Simple, but to no avail. It's a good thing that I didn't find it, because once I got home I found it online and it cost about three time what I'd be willing to pay for it. Crap salad.
I then made my way to the Jon and Kate event. I had my clear directions from Google Maps in hand, and I was within a mile of the church where it was being held in no time, but there was a slight problem: a necessary bridge that I needed to cross what being replaced. I had only budgeted enough time to get to the place right on time, so I was freaking out. Luckily my good sense of direction and the grace of God kicked in, because I managed to figure out how to get where I needed to go right on time. Even more helpful was the fact that Jon and Kate were running late themselves (they had been recognized in their hotel upon leaving and had to stop and talk). The event was so wonderful. I want to do it justice, so I will wait until tomorrow to post about it because it's late and I am pretty tired.
After the event I got directions to get back to the interstate and decided to finally get dinner because I was STARVING. I drove to Don Pablos, because I was really craving some of their queso dip, and it was nice but lonely. Nothing like eating at a restaurant bar by yourself on a Saturday night....
The evening was capped by a trip to the Barnes and Noble next door for some chai and browsing. It was very nice and relaxing, and funny because I saw the same creepy smoker guy that my husband and I always saw there when we started going there together six years ago. Ahh, the nostalgia.
Sunday was nice as well. I got up and took Livers to Mass, which was nice but difficult to pay attention. All she wanted to do was throw everything out of my diaper bag, climb on things, and go throw everyone's purses. Nevertheless I think it's important to get her to church early in life, so I deal with it. After church we ate a quick lunch and drove to Greenville for Artisphere, the local arts festival that was being held this weekend. This was really neat for me. They had some BEAUTIFUL work (too bad it was about 20 times more than I could afford). Due to impending sleepiness, I think I'll have to blog about this later.
All in all, it was a wonderful, event-filled weekend. I hope I can get some more of these real soon :)
The day started with a car cleaning, because I was driving his car and needed to remove the massive amounts of bird poo off of the windows and didn't need to be embarrassed. I then did the obligatory stop at Babies R Us and bought practical things for the little one. On the way out I almost had fit because the husband's car was playing dead. All that kept going through my mind was "I'm going to see the Gosselins, even if I have to take a cab or rent a car," but luckily the car pulled through and didn't give me anymore problems.
Next I went to see a crappy movie. That was not my intention, but it was now it turned out. I saw Smart People with Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, and Thomas Haden Church. The premise seemed interesting enough, and I thought to myself, I like Dennis Quaid, I love Sex and the City so I should enjoy watching SJP, Ellen Page was great in Juno and Thomas Haden Church was hysterical in Sideways, so this should be great. It was not so much. I left feeling I'd have been better off spending my time shopping or reading magazines and drinking chai at Barnes and Noble, but too late now.
I then had an abbreviated shopping trip at the mall. It was productive, but there were far too many under 18's there. It was like wading through a high school hallway. I kept trying to find a Chico's, because I had seen this beautiful red beaded tunic shirt in an add in the recent Real Simple, but to no avail. It's a good thing that I didn't find it, because once I got home I found it online and it cost about three time what I'd be willing to pay for it. Crap salad.
I then made my way to the Jon and Kate event. I had my clear directions from Google Maps in hand, and I was within a mile of the church where it was being held in no time, but there was a slight problem: a necessary bridge that I needed to cross what being replaced. I had only budgeted enough time to get to the place right on time, so I was freaking out. Luckily my good sense of direction and the grace of God kicked in, because I managed to figure out how to get where I needed to go right on time. Even more helpful was the fact that Jon and Kate were running late themselves (they had been recognized in their hotel upon leaving and had to stop and talk). The event was so wonderful. I want to do it justice, so I will wait until tomorrow to post about it because it's late and I am pretty tired.
After the event I got directions to get back to the interstate and decided to finally get dinner because I was STARVING. I drove to Don Pablos, because I was really craving some of their queso dip, and it was nice but lonely. Nothing like eating at a restaurant bar by yourself on a Saturday night....
The evening was capped by a trip to the Barnes and Noble next door for some chai and browsing. It was very nice and relaxing, and funny because I saw the same creepy smoker guy that my husband and I always saw there when we started going there together six years ago. Ahh, the nostalgia.
Sunday was nice as well. I got up and took Livers to Mass, which was nice but difficult to pay attention. All she wanted to do was throw everything out of my diaper bag, climb on things, and go throw everyone's purses. Nevertheless I think it's important to get her to church early in life, so I deal with it. After church we ate a quick lunch and drove to Greenville for Artisphere, the local arts festival that was being held this weekend. This was really neat for me. They had some BEAUTIFUL work (too bad it was about 20 times more than I could afford). Due to impending sleepiness, I think I'll have to blog about this later.
All in all, it was a wonderful, event-filled weekend. I hope I can get some more of these real soon :)
Menu Plan Monday - April 21
Hopefully we can stick to our menu this week. We didn't do half bad, but some days were shifted around. Enjoy!Monday: Pasta with Marinara Sauce; salad; garlic bread
Tuesday: Flat-iron steaks with mashed potatoes and baked carrots
Wednesday: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus wraps and Tabouli
Thursday: Indian Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables
Friday: Corn Chowder*
Saturday: eat out
Sunday: leftover Corn Chowder and sandwiches
**We double the recipe so it lasts longer, but we also add a can of cream of cheddar + 1 can milk. It adds extra flavor to it. Also, we put cheddar cheese and bacon on top.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
THURSDAY 13 - Versus
Here's a list of thirteen things: what I WILL be doing this weekend versus what I WANT to be doing this weekend. Luckily some of the things I will be doing aren't too shabby.... :)
1. Cleaning up approximately 109 handfuls of thrown food of the floor
2. Sleeping in until noon
3. Changing 13 poopy diapers
4. Watching a movie in an actual movie theater
5. Vacuuming up 10 lbs. of dog fur, 5 bags of Cheerios, and a 1/2 of a ripped up rug pad (complements of Livers)
6. Crafting without interruption (and with motivation)
7. Talking Livers to "PAAAY!!", AKA the playground
8. Seeing Jon and Kate Gosselin at a local MOPS event (This is actually true!!! I'm so excited!!!)
9. Letting the dogs out 15 times a day
10. Traveling to ATL for a weekend of shopping, site-seeing, concert-going, and swank hotels
11. Taking a nice, relaxing walk with the dogs while the husband watches Livers
12. Sit a Barnes and Noble all afternoon drinking chai lattes while catching up on celebrity gossip (ahh, the peaceful pre-baby days...)
13. Getting kissing and cuddles from my Livers and Jeremy (ahh, the wonderful present...)
1. Cleaning up approximately 109 handfuls of thrown food of the floor
2. Sleeping in until noon
3. Changing 13 poopy diapers
4. Watching a movie in an actual movie theater
5. Vacuuming up 10 lbs. of dog fur, 5 bags of Cheerios, and a 1/2 of a ripped up rug pad (complements of Livers)
6. Crafting without interruption (and with motivation)
7. Talking Livers to "PAAAY!!", AKA the playground
8. Seeing Jon and Kate Gosselin at a local MOPS event (This is actually true!!! I'm so excited!!!)
9. Letting the dogs out 15 times a day
10. Traveling to ATL for a weekend of shopping, site-seeing, concert-going, and swank hotels
11. Taking a nice, relaxing walk with the dogs while the husband watches Livers
12. Sit a Barnes and Noble all afternoon drinking chai lattes while catching up on celebrity gossip (ahh, the peaceful pre-baby days...)
13. Getting kissing and cuddles from my Livers and Jeremy (ahh, the wonderful present...)
Silly baby!
Livers can be so strange. She loves to put things down her shirt (blocks, Cheerios, fruit, Noah's ark animals, other random toys) and gets furious when she can't do it herself or it falls out the bottom. She's currently mad at me because every time I help her put her bottle down her shirt if falls out . Crazy baby.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Menu Plan Monday - April 14
I started reading I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog about a month ago and loved how she and her peers posted their weekly menu plans online. I am trying to make a more conscious effort at frugality (however, considering my love for grocery shopping, this can be difficult) and have been menu planning on my own for a bit. We don't always stick to it, but I try to do the best that I can.Here, then, is my first Menu Plan Monday participation:
Monday: Steak and Blue Cheese salads
Tuesday: Crock Pot Ribs, mac-and-cheese, veggies
Wednesday: Sock-eye Salmon, garlic-sauteed green beans
Thursday: 3-bean chili with Spring Pesto
Friday: same as Thursday, but with roast beef and provolone sandwiches
Saturday: eat out
Sunday: Flat-iron steak, veggies (sweet potatoes)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
International Festival Fun-ness
This weekend we attended one of our family's favorite events: Clemson University's yearly International Festival. Specifically, the food festival. Every year at the beginning of April Clemson celebrates its varying cultures with different events like foreign movies and cultural showcases, and the week ends with a four hour food affair on Bowman Field. Jeremy and I love us some foreign food (particularly Indian; thank God for the large Indian student population; translation: lots of Indian food booths), so we packed up the car with Livers, a stroller, a PB & J (for Livers; she's quite picky and couldn't be guaranteed to eat anything but desserts), and headed out to Bowman.
We once again were not disappointed. I have to say that the first booth was possibly one of my favorites, at least as far as main dishes were considered. It was the booth for the Philippines, and they had some delish skewered beef and pork barbeque.
The Indian food didn't disappoint, either. Livy particularly enjoyed the Mango Lassi and was kind of confused by the Gulab Jamun dessert.
Her favorites were a Turkish dessert called Irmikli Pudding and a Palestinian pudding called mulhalabiah, as were mine. They were scrumptious.
After about two hours in the hot sun (it was far hotter than we thought, and we both got our first real sunburns of the year) and squishy grass (it had rained a lot the days before) we headed home fat and happy (I felt and looked like I was 5 months pregnant again...food babies are not cool), looking forward to next year.
Here are some additional pictures from the festival:
Cute Asian kid in Asian clothes
Happy Indian lady in traditional attire
Happy Indian man smiling for the camera
Nice but pushy Vietnamese man who wanted to watch me eat the veggie spring roll he gave me
Delicious food (particularly the fry dumpling). Unfortunately do not remember the country.
The African countries tent. I had eaten too much food by this point to try any of theirs. Too bad, because some of it looked really good.
Flags on Bowman for countries represented at Clemson.
Jeremy (in gray) checking out some coffee at the Costa Rican booth. Very good the next morning (we bought some).
Real Scottish man modeling real Scottish attire for the International "Pageant". He was pretty and sounded equally so.
We once again were not disappointed. I have to say that the first booth was possibly one of my favorites, at least as far as main dishes were considered. It was the booth for the Philippines, and they had some delish skewered beef and pork barbeque.
The Indian food didn't disappoint, either. Livy particularly enjoyed the Mango Lassi and was kind of confused by the Gulab Jamun dessert.
Her favorites were a Turkish dessert called Irmikli Pudding and a Palestinian pudding called mulhalabiah, as were mine. They were scrumptious.
After about two hours in the hot sun (it was far hotter than we thought, and we both got our first real sunburns of the year) and squishy grass (it had rained a lot the days before) we headed home fat and happy (I felt and looked like I was 5 months pregnant again...food babies are not cool), looking forward to next year.
Here are some additional pictures from the festival:
Cute Asian kid in Asian clothes
Happy Indian lady in traditional attire
Happy Indian man smiling for the camera
Nice but pushy Vietnamese man who wanted to watch me eat the veggie spring roll he gave me
Delicious food (particularly the fry dumpling). Unfortunately do not remember the country.
The African countries tent. I had eaten too much food by this point to try any of theirs. Too bad, because some of it looked really good.
Flags on Bowman for countries represented at Clemson.
Jeremy (in gray) checking out some coffee at the Costa Rican booth. Very good the next morning (we bought some).
Real Scottish man modeling real Scottish attire for the International "Pageant". He was pretty and sounded equally so.Saturday, April 5, 2008
Kisses and Cuddles
For me putting Livers to bed at night is the highlight of my day. Not just because I finally get a moment's peace without earsplitting shrieks of "DAAAAAAT!!!", her exclamation of wanting something, but because it is the only reliable time each day where I can cuddle up with her. Since we no longer breastfeed, it's just about all I've got. Tonight was particularly precious. After reading our new favorite book, "I Love You, Good Night", we did our usual prayers. I always ask her to give me goodnight kisses, but usually she's too preoccupied with asking me what various things are in her room. Well, she did that tonight, but as we were saying our prayer she kept laying her head on my shoulder and then looking up at me to give me kisses. She did this like five times. I felt my heart melting! It's times like these that make me proud to be a mommy and make me forget things like food flinging, tearing up pieces of the rug pad, or trying a zillion times to climb on the sofa to mess with the lamp.
And she tried to brush her own teeth tonight! My baby's growing up. (Let's just hope it's not too fast...)
And she tried to brush her own teeth tonight! My baby's growing up. (Let's just hope it's not too fast...)
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Being a Stay-at-Home Mom
One of my goals for my blog that I had in its inception is to use it as a cathartic outlet for the various thoughts that come through my mind. However, I have steered away from getting too personal for a variety of reasons, but would like to delve into one thing that weighs on my mind greatly from time to time.
When I was in high school, I was the hyper-motivated, obsessive bookworm. I always had to be the best at everything, much to the annoyances (I'm sure) of those around me. My Holy Grail was to be my class's valedictorian, and I worked very hard to try and achieve that goal. Up until my senior year I was poised to be that person, but then I came to some very important realizations about who I was. In order to become valedictorian, I would have to take two classes (and do well in them): AP Physics and AP Economics. I did not like these classes AT ALL. They were tough, boring, and a bit over my head. A short time before I would have gritted my teeth, sucked it up, and taken the classes, but something inside of me said no. Why torture yourself and be very unhappy for a whole year to reach a goal that you very possibly would not be able to meet? I thought very hard about this, because I had wanted to achieve this goal for a LONG time and had worked really hard to get to where I was, but I realized that my happiness (and possibly my health) were not worth the expense that would have to be made. So I did something that was difficult: I accepted my weaknesses--that there were some things that I just wasn't good at (which was a very tough thing to admit)--AND THAT IT WAS OKAY. I still did manage to graduate from high school with a 4.0 and 3rd in my class, and sometimes I do look back in sadness that I did not achieve what I had wanted, but I know that I am a happier, better person for it.
Fast forward to college. I was still motivated and still wanted to do very well academically, but I started to realize that there was more to life than chaining yourself to books. There were experiences to be had and lives to live, and I decided that I would do that, too. So I stayed up till 3 AM during the week, I crammed for (MANY MANY) tests, I put off studying, went to concerts on a weeknight, drank when I shouldn't, got into conversations, and had fun. I still did well in school, managing to graduate magna cum laude, but I started to experience some of the same frustrations that I did in high school. The major that I had chosen for myself--Biology--put me in contact with many hyper-competitive, driven people. I would say most of them were planning to go to medical school or research. Then there was me. I had absolutely NO desire to go to medical school and I absolutely HATED research. I was afraid of blood (NOTE: in my Anatomy Lab when it came time to crack open our dead cat's sternum for dissection I had to cover my ears, close my eyes, and have someone else do it. It made me sick.), did not like the potential life style that doctor's would have (long hours away from family), and I though research was BOOORING. I, however, loved the actual material in Biology (and still do), and I thought that the best way to use this was as a teacher. High school. Now this put me, in my eyes, at odds with the other Bio majors, because I felt like I wasn't as good as them because I didn't have plans of being a doctor of something, and for awhile I was tempted to give up being a teacher and try to do something "better" with my degree so that I would feel validated in life and so that I would look like I'd done something with myself and my degree. Just like in high school, though, I came to another life-changing realization about who I am as a person. I realized that I am not person who wants to do something because everyone else is. Just because 80% of Biology majors (I have no clue if this statistic is correct, but it seems so based on experience) go into the medical or research field doesn't mean that I have to do so as well. I had a love for something, and it was important to express it in MY way, not the way that 80% of those like me do.
So I became a high school Biology teacher.
Fast forward once again till Summer 2006. I had recently found out I was pregnant with my first child. I had been working as a high school Biology teacher for two years in a rural school. And I HATED it. (The school thing, not the being pregnant thing.) It was kind of depressing in a way, because I had spent five years in college (four for my degree and another one getting certified to teach), numerous years in pre-secondary school, and two years out of school pursuing a dream that I had ultimately come to realize was not for me. I still loved the material...science is cool...but sadly I did not like the bulls**t that comes long with being a teacher. Parent-teacher conferences, meetings, recertification, standards, discipline, I still have nightmares about it (no joke). I did have something that I knew that I was going to like and love: a beautiful baby on the way. I grew up with a stay-at-home mom, and though there are some things that I'm sure could've been better, I always loved having my mom there in the mornings, at home with me when I got home from school, and throughout the summer. I never had to experience the pain of being left by my mom at daycare and loved having the experiences that I could only have if she had been there. And I knew that I truly wanted to be there with my baby; partly because I wanted out of this job that I had come to loathe, partly because I had started to realize that I preferred the simple life to the high-stress, fast-paced work world, and much because I didn't want to miss a single minute of my baby's steps through her own life. It killed me to think that I would be there for first smiles, coos, steps, words, laughs, and many other things. I wanted to experience them firsthand rather than have them be retold to me by a daycare worker. And so, with much discussion between my husband and I, we decided that I would be a stay-at-home mom for as long as it was financially feasible.
I grew more in love with Livers every day. I was not one of those picture-perfect mothers who is all rainbows and moonbeams the second she sees her offspring. It was a gradual but growing love that increased more and more, and I started to dread finishing off the last six weeks of my school year before I officially entered SAHM-dom. So much so that decided I couldn't stand to go back at all. So I didn't. I made arrangements with my long-term sub, and she agreed to take care of business for me if I gave her some plans to follow. It worked fine from our end, but I had to break my contract to do it, and as a result I cannot teach (legally) in the state until July 2008, which doesn't bother me because my time away from teaching has cemented the idea in my head that I will NOT teach again unless there is absolutely no choice.
Now, how exactly does this tie into my discussions about high school, college, teaching, and my realizations about who I am as a person? The problem that I sometimes tackle in my mind is this: am I a stupid person and am I wasting my life by being a stay-at-home mom? This creeps up on me all the time, and I hate myself for it. I feel like I should be Miss Do-Everything Working Mom with the perfecthouseperfectkidsperfecthusbandperfectjob (that's a lot of perfect) who still has time to do all sorts of wonderful things for herself and who has a well-rounded, fulfulling everything. I feel guilty for spending 5 years in college and to be sitting on a degree. (Which was brought to my attention Saturday while picking up ribs at Sardi's--a former teacher asked what I was doing these days--I said taking care of my kid--he said what was I doing with my degree--and I said just that, sitting on it, to his shock.) I feel like that same girl in high school who felt like I should take classes that I hate; that same girl in college who felt pressured to be a doctor or a researcher even though she knew she wouldn't like the sacrifices to life involved. It is tough, because I know in my heart that this is the right decision for me right now. I absolutely love being home with my daughter. Sure, it can sometimes be boring because I don't have anyone to talk to much of the day (she can't hold a good conversation yet) and doing the dishes 18 times a day can get old, but I would much rather be spending time with her than with some snotty high school kid who hates me and anything I have to say about science. I have problems reconciling who I am with some sort of preconceived notion of who I feel the world thinks I should be. I want my daughter to be proud of her mommy and my husband to be proud of his wife. And I don't want to feel guilty because I am at home instead of working.
It's getting late, and that's all I got for now. This is something that I hope resolves itself more every day, and I'm sure eventually it will.
When I was in high school, I was the hyper-motivated, obsessive bookworm. I always had to be the best at everything, much to the annoyances (I'm sure) of those around me. My Holy Grail was to be my class's valedictorian, and I worked very hard to try and achieve that goal. Up until my senior year I was poised to be that person, but then I came to some very important realizations about who I was. In order to become valedictorian, I would have to take two classes (and do well in them): AP Physics and AP Economics. I did not like these classes AT ALL. They were tough, boring, and a bit over my head. A short time before I would have gritted my teeth, sucked it up, and taken the classes, but something inside of me said no. Why torture yourself and be very unhappy for a whole year to reach a goal that you very possibly would not be able to meet? I thought very hard about this, because I had wanted to achieve this goal for a LONG time and had worked really hard to get to where I was, but I realized that my happiness (and possibly my health) were not worth the expense that would have to be made. So I did something that was difficult: I accepted my weaknesses--that there were some things that I just wasn't good at (which was a very tough thing to admit)--AND THAT IT WAS OKAY. I still did manage to graduate from high school with a 4.0 and 3rd in my class, and sometimes I do look back in sadness that I did not achieve what I had wanted, but I know that I am a happier, better person for it.
Fast forward to college. I was still motivated and still wanted to do very well academically, but I started to realize that there was more to life than chaining yourself to books. There were experiences to be had and lives to live, and I decided that I would do that, too. So I stayed up till 3 AM during the week, I crammed for (MANY MANY) tests, I put off studying, went to concerts on a weeknight, drank when I shouldn't, got into conversations, and had fun. I still did well in school, managing to graduate magna cum laude, but I started to experience some of the same frustrations that I did in high school. The major that I had chosen for myself--Biology--put me in contact with many hyper-competitive, driven people. I would say most of them were planning to go to medical school or research. Then there was me. I had absolutely NO desire to go to medical school and I absolutely HATED research. I was afraid of blood (NOTE: in my Anatomy Lab when it came time to crack open our dead cat's sternum for dissection I had to cover my ears, close my eyes, and have someone else do it. It made me sick.), did not like the potential life style that doctor's would have (long hours away from family), and I though research was BOOORING. I, however, loved the actual material in Biology (and still do), and I thought that the best way to use this was as a teacher. High school. Now this put me, in my eyes, at odds with the other Bio majors, because I felt like I wasn't as good as them because I didn't have plans of being a doctor of something, and for awhile I was tempted to give up being a teacher and try to do something "better" with my degree so that I would feel validated in life and so that I would look like I'd done something with myself and my degree. Just like in high school, though, I came to another life-changing realization about who I am as a person. I realized that I am not person who wants to do something because everyone else is. Just because 80% of Biology majors (I have no clue if this statistic is correct, but it seems so based on experience) go into the medical or research field doesn't mean that I have to do so as well. I had a love for something, and it was important to express it in MY way, not the way that 80% of those like me do.
So I became a high school Biology teacher.
Fast forward once again till Summer 2006. I had recently found out I was pregnant with my first child. I had been working as a high school Biology teacher for two years in a rural school. And I HATED it. (The school thing, not the being pregnant thing.) It was kind of depressing in a way, because I had spent five years in college (four for my degree and another one getting certified to teach), numerous years in pre-secondary school, and two years out of school pursuing a dream that I had ultimately come to realize was not for me. I still loved the material...science is cool...but sadly I did not like the bulls**t that comes long with being a teacher. Parent-teacher conferences, meetings, recertification, standards, discipline, I still have nightmares about it (no joke). I did have something that I knew that I was going to like and love: a beautiful baby on the way. I grew up with a stay-at-home mom, and though there are some things that I'm sure could've been better, I always loved having my mom there in the mornings, at home with me when I got home from school, and throughout the summer. I never had to experience the pain of being left by my mom at daycare and loved having the experiences that I could only have if she had been there. And I knew that I truly wanted to be there with my baby; partly because I wanted out of this job that I had come to loathe, partly because I had started to realize that I preferred the simple life to the high-stress, fast-paced work world, and much because I didn't want to miss a single minute of my baby's steps through her own life. It killed me to think that I would be there for first smiles, coos, steps, words, laughs, and many other things. I wanted to experience them firsthand rather than have them be retold to me by a daycare worker. And so, with much discussion between my husband and I, we decided that I would be a stay-at-home mom for as long as it was financially feasible.
I grew more in love with Livers every day. I was not one of those picture-perfect mothers who is all rainbows and moonbeams the second she sees her offspring. It was a gradual but growing love that increased more and more, and I started to dread finishing off the last six weeks of my school year before I officially entered SAHM-dom. So much so that decided I couldn't stand to go back at all. So I didn't. I made arrangements with my long-term sub, and she agreed to take care of business for me if I gave her some plans to follow. It worked fine from our end, but I had to break my contract to do it, and as a result I cannot teach (legally) in the state until July 2008, which doesn't bother me because my time away from teaching has cemented the idea in my head that I will NOT teach again unless there is absolutely no choice.
Now, how exactly does this tie into my discussions about high school, college, teaching, and my realizations about who I am as a person? The problem that I sometimes tackle in my mind is this: am I a stupid person and am I wasting my life by being a stay-at-home mom? This creeps up on me all the time, and I hate myself for it. I feel like I should be Miss Do-Everything Working Mom with the perfecthouseperfectkidsperfecthusbandperfectjob (that's a lot of perfect) who still has time to do all sorts of wonderful things for herself and who has a well-rounded, fulfulling everything. I feel guilty for spending 5 years in college and to be sitting on a degree. (Which was brought to my attention Saturday while picking up ribs at Sardi's--a former teacher asked what I was doing these days--I said taking care of my kid--he said what was I doing with my degree--and I said just that, sitting on it, to his shock.) I feel like that same girl in high school who felt like I should take classes that I hate; that same girl in college who felt pressured to be a doctor or a researcher even though she knew she wouldn't like the sacrifices to life involved. It is tough, because I know in my heart that this is the right decision for me right now. I absolutely love being home with my daughter. Sure, it can sometimes be boring because I don't have anyone to talk to much of the day (she can't hold a good conversation yet) and doing the dishes 18 times a day can get old, but I would much rather be spending time with her than with some snotty high school kid who hates me and anything I have to say about science. I have problems reconciling who I am with some sort of preconceived notion of who I feel the world thinks I should be. I want my daughter to be proud of her mommy and my husband to be proud of his wife. And I don't want to feel guilty because I am at home instead of working.
It's getting late, and that's all I got for now. This is something that I hope resolves itself more every day, and I'm sure eventually it will.
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