What a Difference a Year Makes

Last year: The Obligatory Screaming, Crying, Please-Get-Me-the-Heck-Out-of-Santa's-Arms Picture
This year: Not too happy, only would sheepishly whisper, but actually sat still and did NOT cry.


Maybe next year we'll actually make it to talking to Santa!

Wanted:

Three-quarter length blue and white boatneck BabyGap shirt, circa fall 2008, in ANY size larger than 2T. Goes by the name of "Airplane Shirt". Please find before the one above is outgrown, or we're going to be up a creek. Way up a creek.


I don't know exactly why, but Livers has grown far too attached to the aforementioned and above shirt. I called it her "Airplane Shirt" because last year I wanted to get her excited about taking a flight to her grandparents and I bought her a new shirt for the occasion, and it stuck. She now wears it all the time and for many MANY days in a row.

Monday night she had an absolute conniption fit because it was in the laundry and she couldn't wear it. She was in her room quiet, and I thought asleep, when all of the sudden I heard gut-wrenching cries coming from her room. I thought she was hurt or sick or something since, you know, she was supposed to be asleep.

She was not.

Somewhere in her twilight period before falling into blissful slumber she must have thought about her shirt and the fact that she couldn't have it, and she absolutely fell apart. She was naked flailing about her bed and I could not comfort her. Every time I suggested something else to wear she got upset and screamed even louder. When I tried to put something else on her (because a child can't sleep naked) she would punch and kick and scream until she wiggled out of it. She got herself so worked up she started doing those sad cries where your whole body heaves and you start hyperventilating. It was a truly sad sight. (And kind of funny. It took all J and my strength to keep for laughing.)

After about twenty minutes I finally calmed her down enough to put on clothes and drift off to sleep, but I was left worried about what to do when her most favorite shirt no longer fits. I don't know if she'd let me sew pieces of it to a larger shirt, and I don't know if she'd let me make her a blanket from it, either. I just pray that I can find a larger one before she finally outgrows it, or it's gonna be trouble...

Fight, Tigers, Fight, Fight, Fight!

Last night Livers, J, and I went to our first sporting event together. It was a basketball game, which was nice because it was much shorter than a football one, and the team was a guaranteed win, which meant we could leave early if we had to do so. We were a bit nervous as to how it would play out, because Livers is a high activity child, and we didn't know how long her patience would hold up.

Man, did she prove us wrong! She was completely enthralled by all of the action. For the first ten minutes she sat awe-struck in her seat watching everything going on around her. When people would cheer she would get into it, and she discovered tubas when the band was playing, which she now things is the coolest thing ever. Seeing as she's almost three she did get antsy, so I took her for a nice long walkrun around the coliseum towards the end of the game. Overall it was a very pleasant experience. Usually only the Pops gets to enjoy the sporting events in the house, so it was a whole lot of fun for me, too, to get to enjoy this with him and as a family.

Too Uncreative for a Title, So We'll Just Say, "Hello"

Hello, internets.

It's been awhile.

A long while.

No hard feelings, I've just had other things that I'd rather give my attention to for quite some time. (And other things, like overactive and demanding nearly-three-year-olds, that keep my attention distracted like it or not.)

It's possible that this foray back into blogging might not last all that long, but I am starting to get a little of the writing itch back. Maybe it's the need to start expressing myself in writing again or the demands of motherhood are starting make me feel a little batty and I need to reconnect with others experiencing the same thing, but I want to attempt this writing thing.

Since I haven't written anything of significance in quite some time, I thought it would be a spectacular idea to start ANOTHER blog as well. Makes sense, right? One thing that has been keeping my attention diverted is my love of all things crafty. I was taught to knit in August and I decided to teach myself to crochet at the same time, and I am in LOVE. I've also been trying out some other things as well, and I decided it might be a good idea to chronicle my crafting endeavors in their own place. It's not much right now because I've barely gotten a crack at the layout, but if you ever want to see what else is going on, check it here:

Tales from the Rainbow Room

I hope to look back in at some point in the future and see how far I've come as a Crafty Chica. If I can update regularly, that is :)

Well, that's it for now. All I can muster as the little one and her little playmate need attention (along with the fifteen puzzles that they have scattered around the den). Until hopefully soon....

Wordless Wednesday - "Fun" at the Shore

I know it's been almost a month (gasp - a month!) since my last post, but I had to put this picture up. We'll call this a Wordless Wednesday, because there were almost no words.

I'm at the beach with Livers and my parents, and while watching Livers play delightfully in the surf I happened to look up and saw this about 15 feet away:

P.S. That's not a dolphin.

I don't think I've jerked her out of somewhere faster, even when she's in trouble.

Because I Really NEED Another Project....

I saw these quilt blocks on Flickr awhile back and have been in complete awe since them. Methinks I might be getting gutsy enough to attempt something like this on my own. I have done a little bead embroidery practice before, and while not that difficult to do it is VERY time consuming and certainly not something I can easily do with Livers around.

Seriously, I honestly don't need another project. I just started taking up knitting (I think I'm in love) and will be starting my mom's quilt very soon and a large mixed media collage for my office, so I definitely have my free time filled up. I will definitely keep you posted if I decide to take the plunge!


1. Red Block, 2. Orange Block, 3. Yellow Block, 4. Green Block, 5. Blue Block, 6. Purple Block

Livers' Completed Quilt!

I finally finished Livers' rainbow quilt about two weeks ago, but between family and friends visiting, helping my parents, assisting J in his newfound beer brewing hobby, and spending time with J after Livers goes to bed, this is the first real quiet time I've had to sit and discuss my work.

I must say, that for a second quilt, I'm pretty proud of myself (and very motivated to start my next one!). The mistakes are relatively few. The only ones I really noticed are with the blocks around the border. For whatever reason they ended up smaller than the rest of them. Luckily they are all uniformly about a half inch smaller on the edge than the other ones, so it ends up looking intentional.


I'm particularly pleased with how the binding turned out. I have never hand-bound a quilt before, let alone attempted mitered corners, and I was needless to say nervous with the venture, but it worked splendidly. I was most nervous with how to hand sew the final step of binding, but I found a great tutorial on how to use a ladder stitch to sew it, and it worked great. I think it ended up being my favorite part of the entire quilting process. I found it very cathartic to sit on my sofa and watch TV and just bind away. Once I got the hang of it the process went very quickly. It only took me a few hours to do, and it was done in a day.



The flannel backing was a good choice. It is so soft and comfortable, and I could personally wrap myself up in it and read a good book all day. I wish Livers felt the same. She has formed a very strong attachment to her baby blankets, and even though Mama worked very hard on making this for her, the sentiment is lost on her. I will often cover her up with it at night when she's asleep so that it at least gets a little loving. Maybe one day she'll grow into it...


The process was very fun, and I hope to start my next (and very ambitious) task within the week. My mom wants me to make her a quilt for her king-sized bed, and though it will take FOREVER, I'm looking forward to it. It will be made with simple 5" x 5" blocks, but with a quilt that size it will total over 500 individual blocks. I guess I need to start cutting fabric!

A Rainbow Quilt for Livers

I've been working on a quilt for Livers on and off for a couple of weeks, and this afternoon I got the top finished. She enjoys rainbows like I do, so I decided to make something special for her (and get some quilting practice in to boot) using 4" x 4" squares from eBay that I had stocked up on a while back. My original intention was to use them in the quilt I'm making for myself later this year, but the fabric quality of the squares was less than that of the fat quarters I've been purchasing, and I didn't want to mix them.

With the whopping two quilts that I've worked on I've never used a pattern I've found but instead have come up with something that would work with the materials that I had. I would've preferred that her quilt had more color squares, but I didn't have enough of them available that I really liked, so this is what I came up with.

Overall I'm pleased with how it is looking. It definitely has its imperfections. I incorrectly measured the sashing between the block rows and had to trim off of the ends of the edge blocks, so all of the ones around the border are smaller than they need to be. I'd like to say it gives it character :) I'm cutting myself slack, because this is only my second quilt and I have to learn somewhere.

I worried that the blocks would be a little dull, but once I added the white sashing I became very pleased with how bright and cheery it looks. Livers definitely likes it. She has been going up to the different squares while I've been working and telling me that this one is her "favorite," though they change every time. It has been driving her mad not to touch it, either, because she's very tactile and must get into everything!

Since she is going to use this as a blanket in her crib I wanted to back it with something very comfortable, so I chose a light blue flannel. I pulled out the batting for it today, and it was so amazingly soft and thick. I can't wait for her to enjoy it! The binding for it is black with small white polka dots. I really enjoy the contrast of white and black with the bright colors.


I wanted to take her picture next to the quilt, but as soon as I asked her to stand she decided she must have her camera to take pictures of it, too. She uses my old beat up one that I had before my Panasonic. Almost everything she takes turns out blurry, but she absolutely loves to try and take pictures.

A New Skill Set

I don't have a DSLR. I wish I did. Hopefully one day.

A big reason why I would like one is because the macro lenses on those bad boys are awesome, and I love to be able to take really detailed close up shots. Unfortunately, point and shoots have their limitations. Last summer I bought a newer point and shoot, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5. I absolutely love the camera, and it takes great pictures, but I've been stumped on how to take awesome close-up shots.

Today, however, I think I had a breakthrough. I went with Livers and my parents to Highlands, NC, for a day trip, and I was in awe of the flowers they have planted everywhere. I was in photographers' heaven at the opportunities to partake in photographic goodness, but I just could NOT get a decent close up (and I mean within a few centimeters of closeness) picture. I kept zooming in and zooming in, but my camera never could focus correctly or it would focus on something behind the shot instead. I then tried unzooming and just getting my lens as close to the flowers as possible, and voila! I finally started taking amazing shots. I would love to find a place near here with beautiful gardens to make sure that today was not a fluke and to test out my new skill.

Here are some of the products of my handi(lens)work:

A Return, and a New Direction?

For the longest time I've really not had the desire...or the time...to do anything with my blog. I haven't felt that there was anything I truly wanted to say and I didn't want to force myself to come up with something that my heart wasn't into. Those few times that the writing bug tried to bite, things like watching all three seasons of Heroes in the span of a month, working on a quilt for Livers and a skirt for me, going to the beach, and general life happenings sprayed their bug spray all over my ideas and ambitions and sent them running.

I feel that the bug might be coming back if I can work on my time management skills. Last night I changed my blog layout to get the dust off of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and in hopes of producing some ideas. I somewhat feel like taking this blog in a new direction--perhaps more crafting and photography, two of my great loves--but I am not quite sure. At the very least I want to incorporate these two passions of mine more readily into my writing, especially since I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head. In any case, I'm not exactly sure where my blog is going, but hopefully into wonderful places and to possibly new, unchartered territory.

As of May 26, 2009...

Until conditions improve I think I might stick with bullet posts. My brain is working best this way these days. We shall see...

1. We have (semi-)reluctantly begun potty training Livers, and it's been going surprisingly well. I won't go into any details, because no one really wants to hear that. I will say, though, that by the time this is said and done, one of two things will have happened to me: I will have gained 15 pounds from the Reese Pieces rewards or I'll cringe at the sight of them.
2. We had a Black Widow Spider on our front porch this weekend, which J kindly squashed to a pulp. What is with the poisonous critters trying to invade our space??? It's far too close for my comfort.
3. We had a "date" night Saturday, by which I mean we got to go out with friends sans child. We got to see the new Terminator movie. Luckily I didn't have the bar set too high because it was going to be all action, but I was a little sad that they didn't flesh out the characters more. I am a huge fan of the franchise and have watched the first two movies about eighty billion times, and I wish they'd return to that. Unfortunately it seems most movie goers prefer to have mind-numbing action rather than mind-blowing acting, which I find sad.
4. J and I did something that I haven't done in YEARS on Friday: stayed up till 3 in the morning watching TV. I don't know when the last time was that I stayed up that late for anything not pertaining to baby (and that was a LOOONG time ago...thank you good sleeper). We were watching a billion episodes of Season 1 Heroes, and I must say, so good. I've heard it goes downhill, but I'll judge for myself.
5. I've been in fabric collecting mode for such a long time that I've really not made anything. I'm going to start remedying this starting this weekend by turning this stack of fabric into a small quilt for Livers. She likes rainbows, too, and I had originally planned to incorporate this into the large quilt I plan to make later this year. Unfortunately I started to realize that the fabric I'd been collecting was of a better quality than these squares, which makes them useless for my plans. I'm glad that they will put to use.
6. To that end, I hope to start planning my design for the rainbow quilt in July. I've just about exhausted my resources for fabric. I'll keep using Etsy a little while longer, and we'll be going to the beach around Charleston in the next few weeks, and I plan to see if they have any fabric stores down there to try. After that I probably will call it quits for collecting. At almost a 100 different fabrics I would hope that would be enough!
7. Speaking of beach, Livers is JACKED UP to go. She asks to go all the time, so much so that it's the first thing out of her mouth in the morning and one of the last to escape at night. I'm looking forward to going with her and seeing how much fun she is going to have!
8. I watched the train wreck that was Jon and Kate last night, and the whole thing left me so sad. I saw them at a church a year ago, and I don't think I could've seen it turn into what it is. Say what you will about them, but I'm sending my prayers to them, because no couple should have to experience the pain of a breaking marriage.
9. Memorial Day Weekend was sadly pretty dull on the whole. It was pretty dreary and rainy, so we couldn't go outdoors much, and J had to help a friend demolish the kitchen and dining room of his new house for renovations, so it was mostly just me and Livers (which gets a little old when it leaves you with no weekend). This weekend is supposed to be much prettier, so hopefully we'll be able to enjoy it.
10. Livers and I did a baby bird rescue a la "Are You My Mother?" while at the park yesterday. An ugly little starling baby had fallen from its nest way up in a picnic overhang, and I couldn't let him flop around and die. Luckly there was another kid who was able to hold the bird so I could hoist him up to put the bird back in its nest. I was worried the mama bird wouldn't go near it since it could smell us, but I think everything turned out OK. It made me feel really good to give this little thing a second chance.
    

I leave with some pictures from the past week and a half or so. I've been going through old videos of Livers, renaming them so they'll make sense when viewed years from now, and I am amazed at how grown up she has become! She's no longer a cooing, pudgy little bald baby with a giant head, but she's becoming a constantly talking, active, thinning out toddler with a mass full of curls. It truly amazes me!

Roughly 2 years ago (above)

Roughly 1 year ago (above)

* * * * *

The past week and a half (BELOW):

On the phone with her agent. Apparently she's been watching Zoolander...

We can't all be winners...


She was running around reading wearing a shirt, a Pull-up, one shoe on the wrong foot, and later my belt as well. I don't get it.

Quick Little List Post

Because I apparently just don't have the time to sit down and make a real fleshed out post...

1. As I was letting the dogs out this morning a cockroach nearly fell on my head. I hate cockroaches. Not a good way to start the day. (Here's to uphill from here!)
2. Mother's Day was great. Livers slept till 10:30, we had McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, went to the lake, took naps, relaxed. Just about perfect.
3. I got my first handmade Mother's Day present from Livers. A picture of what she says is "butterflies". I'm not seeing it, but I'm touched :)
4. We are almost done painting the foyer/hallway. And by we I mean people we got to do this. It is way too monstrous a task to complete on our own, hence why we've lived here four years and it's just now happening. Pics to come later.
5. I finally installed a child carrier on the back of my bike last night and took Livers for a spin last night. And we fell. Luckily we were stopped so I could take a breather, because pedaling a 28-pound child up a hill will in fact give you a heart attack. I felt the bike start to tip and once it starts there's no pulling it up. I managed to gently land it on the ground with no injuries. She was momentarily scared, but when I got the bike up she kept asking playfully, "What'd you do, Mama?"
6. I can't believe that LOST is over for a whole 7-8 months! I'm so heart-broken and awe-struck at the same time, because that finale rocked! I'm going to join the LOST nerds over at Doc Arzt's Lost Blog and try to rewatch the entire series 3-4 episodes a week at a time to keep the momentum up for the last season and to help give me my fix until then.
7. Luckily, thanks to Netflix on demand, we've been able to start trying out some new series. We just started watching Heroes, and I must say, the first season is spectacular. I've heard it gets worse, but hopefully I won't care.
8. I need more hours in the day. Between caring for Livers, taking care of the house, taking care of J, and resting from all of that I have hardly any time to read the books I have backlogged or read in John. Don't get me started on personal projects and crafting.

That's all my brain can muster right now. I'm off to take care of lots o' chores. Happy Friday!

(Semi-)Wordless Wednesday - Images of Mother's Day

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Mother's Day. A post with words will hopefully follow later today. Between Mother's Day, having our foyer and hallway painted, and becoming totally addicted to Heroes, I've just been too busy and haven't had the time to sit down and actually compose my thoughts. Hope that everyone's weekend (and Mother's Day) was wonderful!

(Love) and Marriage

I had a different post in mind tonight. I was going to talk about how I felt lost when I woke up this morning, because I didn't know what to do today and felt I needed direction. (I found it, by the way.) I was going to go off into an animated discussion of how I cleaned my buck nasty fridge today. (Be glad I didn't.) I was going to mention how I need to work on my patience, because living with a two-year-old who isn't a fan of listening is working my poor temper into a frenzy. (We'll get back to that sometime soon.)

But then I read a fellow blogger's post this afternoon and have been thinking about it since.

Her post about the state of her marriage has really gotten me thinking about mine and marriages in general. (No, family, we're fine. No, J, I'm not going to divulge any personal secrets. Y'all can breathe easy.) I've been thinking about how easy it is to let something good fall away. About how easy it is to let life--finances, rearing of kids, personal interests, friends--get in the way of a good thing that two people have going, and how pretty soon two people are left wondering what the &*@% happened to their relationship.

I know that the daily grind can be very boring, not to mention exhausting, and that I'm guilty of letting these two things keep me from building up my relationship with J. It doesn't make me happy in the least. I can remember how in the early years of the relationship it didn't matter how tired we were, we'd take the time to spend time with each other, even if it was after a long Mexican food-induced coma nap and it was now 1 in the morning. We got up from our nap, pulled up the Law and Order: SVU we had TiVoed, and vegged out on the couch till 3 in the morning, just to spend the time with each other. But after seven-and-a-half years, one kid, and demanding jobs it can be difficult to maintain that kind of "romance". Either or both of us are left after hectic days wanting a little personal time to decompress, whether it be blogging and crafting (me) or interneting and iPhone programming (him), or just a night out, letting Coors Light (him) or a movie (me) shake the crazy off for a little while. In my effort to take care of myself I realize that I run the risk of letting us flounder, and that is something that scares me and that I do NOT want to happen.

I will say right now that J and I don't have the perfect marriage. Just like ANY married couple we fight, we get annoyed with each other, we get pissed with each other, we nag each other over little things that bug the other (me--I nag him about messes he makes; him--he nags me for ALWAYS trying to talk to him when he's on the phone with someone). But I feel we do have a darn good one. I know that part of marriage is the ups and downs. They don't have the whole "for better or for worse" clause in wedding vows for nothing. But after reading the aforementioned blog post today, I am more convinced than ever that I want to make it a high priority to always fight with all my being to make sure that we make it to "till death do us part."

It doesn't take a monumental event like an affair to send a couple down the slippery slope to separation, estrangement, and divorce. It can be a series of someone finding their needs more important than the other, someone holding their feelings inside, or snide remarks that can escalate into something much larger than "so and so never takes out the garbage". Or it can be that both parties get so worn down dealing with life's little details that marriage gets put on the backburner.

I know that we're in a good place right now, but I know that we're human and that without nurturing our marriage it's not insane to think that it could be us. And that is what has had me thinking today. Her post has been a reminder to NEVER take J and our relationship for granted and to work to never be complacent being in just a "good place".

Giving Thanks

After Monday's ever-so-cheerful post, Mommy Mo' reminded me with her brief but poignant post that I should stop worrying about what sucks and start dwelling on what doesn't. She posed the question, "What about you?" What are you thankful for? And I want to take a brief moment to put into words the things that I am thankful for in my life and in this world. Some of them are likely trite by some standards. Some are probably kind of stupid. Some are serious. Nevertheless, they are my reasons to wake up every morning, take a deep breath, and realize that through it all, the stress, the worries, the fears, and the apprehensions, there are still things that are beautiful in this world and things for which I must give thanks.

So what am I thankful for?

• God, who has given me life on this earth and the promise of another one after this one passes, and who always has my best interest at heart.
• J, who loves me despite my flaws, who takes care of me in ways no one else can, and who works so hard so that I can have the opportunity to stay at home and raise our children and give him a home worth coming home to every night.
• Livers, whose constant sweet chattering is music to my ears and whose smile, laughter, and tiny little girl hugs and kisses melt my heart even in the darkest of times.
• Rainbows and bright colors, because their warmth fills my mind with joy and happiness.
• A roof over my head and a warm bed at night in times when people are losing theirs.
• Food in my family's bellies when some go without.
• Livers going to the potty 4 out of the 5 times (!!!!!) that I put her on it today. Two times were in public! (I must complain on my blog more. Apparently it leads to results on her end :) I'm kidding. Really...)
  
• LOST, because I need something fantastical to escape to every now and then.
• Discovering that you can buy supplies on Etsy for craft projects! I have become a button collecting FANATIC (one day they'll be used for something; now they're just pretty to look at), and eBay is no longer cutting it. I was elated to discover how to find them and other crafting supplies on Etsy yesterday.
• The chance to go to dinner and the movies with J and friends this weekend. Even more exciting since J proclaimed two months ago that he no longer likes going to movies and would prefer to watch them at home in his Lay-Z-Boy.
• Dr. Seuss, for enchanting the mind of another generation of readers. Who cares if he was probably on drugs while writing his books.
• My health and the health of my family.
• Happiness in my life. I am in the longest single stretch of happiness in my almost 28 years of living, and it makes me...happy.
• The mass of fabric, paint, ribbon, beads, and button knick knacks that I have amassed. I love to sit back and just imagine what they can one day become.
• Molly and Lacey, my slightly overweight, completely lovable fur balls who show me everyday the meaning of unconditional love.
• Water. We had been frighteningly without up until the start of winter, and our area is finally in a position of cautious excitement.
  
• Comfort in a time of confusion.
• An (almost) organized house.
• Family. They aren't perfect (and whose is?), but they are mine, they love me, I love them, and I wouldn't be the woman I am without them.
  
• The people that I've met through blogging. You listen to my irrational fears and stories of happiness, and your help this week has meant the world to me.

I encourage you to take Mommy Mo's initiative and think about what is important in your life and what you have to be thankful for. It will surely put a smile on your face and a little peace and joy in your heart, because no matter who we are or what we are facing, there is at least ONE thing in life and this world to be thankful for.

Airing Out My Fears and Apprehension

I am a worrier by nature, but I credit myself a lot for making improvement with this in the past few years. I am getting better at just rolling with the punches and trying to let things happen as they will. I have learned that stressing myself out over things that I have no control over is pointless at best and can get you into a depressive hole very quickly if you let it.

However, a few things are starting to really work their way into the deep parts of my mind.

The "silly" one first.

Will I ever get Livers potty trained? Because her la-di-da approach to it is starting to get under my fingernails just a wee bit. The logical part of my brain screams not to push her. She'll be ready when she's ready, and forcing the issue will make it worse. However, the exhausted mom who's sick of changing poop diapers and the husband who's had enough want her to get this the eff over.

Next, it's the economy, stupid.

I feel that I've been pretty reserved with my fears. I watch the DOW ticker on CNN bounce up and down (OK, just fall down, down, down) just like any other Joe Schmoe American, but I've been quite realistic with how it will effect me personally. My husband and I didn't get ourselves over our heads when we could've. We've been pretty decent about managing our debt. He has a pretty solid job that should stay that way. But on bad days it can be very difficult to keep myself from imagining when the house of cards will fall for us and things will REALLY start to hit home. I pray that we will continue to have the blessings that we have had.

Finally, the big one.

I have been pretty peach keen (how 50's of me to say so) until this weekend when the Swine Flu media blitz started to hit a fever pitch. I don't know if it is the constant media coverage or the documentary still fresh in my mind that I watched not two months ago that described what would likely happen in the next pandemic, but I am quite frankly scared s#@less. I can usually push my (irrational) fears into the recesses of my mind, but this has been all-consuming to me for days. A lot of it has to do with the fact that it's not just me that I have to think about. I have a husband I love and a daughter I adore, and the thoughts of losing one of them or dying myself and not being there to grow old with J or to watch Livers grow up has me sweating. I also know that, unfortunately for the world as a whole in this type of situation, we are a true global society, and any type of illness is 24-hours to anywhere. There is no hiding from illness, because we are all so interdependent on each other as a nation and on other countries that we cannot hole up on the family farm and ride things out, because all of our basic necessities have to come from somewhere or someone else. And we don't have family farms anymore.

I want to stop living in fear. I know I can't throw caution to the wind, but I do want to go on living my life (with care), because worrying about what might not be gets me nowhere and sends my mind down a bad road that is difficult to turn around on. I know this isn't a very chipper post, but I needed to get this out of my head and hopefully gets some words of encouragement and prayers from afar.

Thursday 13, Minus 3 - 10 Random Thoughts of the Moment...OK, Week

Call this an update, if you will.

Ten, because I can't quite get myself to 13 today.

1. I went to the doctor for my "contact dermatitis" (aka, what I think is poison ivy. Thanks, dogs.) I could not longer take the misery of constant scratching that kept me up three (THREE) nights in a row.
2. On that note, steroid packs are awesome.
3. However, the super antihistimine she prescribed to help me sleep and to stop the itch makes me "I'm pregnant" drowsy. Which I assure you I'm not.
4. I rode my new bicycle today. First time I've been on a bike since I was a sophomore in college. I was reminded of just HOW out of shape I actually am.
5. I (accidentally) stabbed myself in the thumb with a pair of scissors today whilst trying to remove the water bottle holder for said bike. How I managed not to fill the neighborhood's cool night air with a barrage of expletives is BEYOND me.
   
6. I have a billion projects I'd like to work on in my head of things to make. I think a problem I have is that I enjoy looking at the things I've collected to incorporate into projects (buttons, fabric, ribbon, beads) so much that it'll be hard to part with them. I guess that just means I'd better stockpile! ;)
7. Last night I totally had a Sweetest Thing moment (you know, the Cameron Diaz/Christina Applegate movie. Total hilarity). Looking at myself while getting ready for bed, I couldn't help but look at myself and go, "22, 28. 22, 28."
8. To that end, I am not against a boob lift after this kids thing is said and done. I'm not a vain person who loves plastic surgery. I just don't want to have monkey boobs the rest of my life.
9. The sound of children whining, no matter the age, is one of the worst sounds in the world. Like fingernails on chalkboard.
10. On the other end, the sound of your child singing has to be one of the most beautiful sounds in the world, right up there with choirs of angels. It can also be hilarious, especially when your child is singing, over and over, "Cheese, cheese, cheese!" to the Jeopardy theme song. Which she does.

"Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese!"

(Relaxing to the Wiggles, post nap.) They learn so early, don't they?

Enjoying flipping through Mommy's books in her office (aka, the Forbidden Room). She didn't care that they were about breastfeeding and crazy toddlers. She just enjoyed being a big girl.

P.S. Someone needs to stop singing in her crib and take a gosh darn nap already!

A Weekend in Words...and Pictures

Up until today this weekend has been beautiful. Sunny skies and cool breezes. Dogwood trees are blooming like crazy. Temperatures are so mild that you actually want to venture outside. Spring is definitely here. We tried to spend at least some of this gorgeous time outside. (Except right here when I was trying to get a not washed-out picture of a sleeping Livers.)


Thursday Livers and I spent time in the very small part of our yard you can play in getting it and the back porch cleaned up and lounge ready. While I swept, blew, and raked leaves and tidied up, she played with rocks in sticks: a true nature lover. It's actually been quite lovely going out in the yard with her. She is past the age (for the most part) where EVERYTHING goes into her mouth, and she is getting better at listening (with me at least) when I tell her to stay close or to do/not do something. Also, being a true Mama's girl she tends to stick close to me anyway, so I can actually go outside and do some mild yard work without fear of injury.

We've also started going out in the driveway and playing. We have close to an acre of land, but it is very sloped and covered with English ivy, so it's not very child-friendly. As a result the driveway is our main play space. I got her a tricycle and sidewalk chalk to use, but she just wanted to take her "big red car" that she's had for a long time and play with it instead. I showed her how to roll it up the hill and then push it until it crashed at the bottom of the driveway, and she loved that.


Saturday we went to the birthday party of a friend's child. It was a lot of fun, and it was good for us to get to speak to other adults and Livers to get a chance to interact with other kids. Being a stay-at-home mom, she doesn't get many opportunities to do this, but in spite of this she gets along really well with other kids and with adults, too. I think it's a testament to her general good-naturedness and the fact that though I stay at home we get out in public a lot, so she's learned some of her social forays.



I find it interesting observing other people's kids, because you can get a feel of how the kids will probably act when they grow up and how good of a job their parents are doing at raising them. It could be that I'm a little judgmental, but I could basically tell which kids were going to be pretty cool and well-mannered when they grow up and which ones were going to be the jerks. I got really angry at this one little kid (is it bad to have visions of suckerpunching an obnoxious 5-year-old), because she was being rude to Livers. They were playing with a Big Wheel, and all she was doing was opening the door. She wasn't trying to get in but was just investigating, and the boy kept yelling "No, stop it!" and trying to push her away. The Mama Hen in me got really angry. Another kid tried to take something away rudely from her, and I wasn't going to have it so I stepped in and gently but firmly took care of business. On the flip side there were awesome kids who you knew were being raised right. Livy was playing in the Big Wheel and a boy around 7 volunteered to drive her around. He was really sweet about it, and he even helped bring it around back to get recharged. His sisters were just as well-mannered and kind as he.


I got a bike this weekend. I'd wanted one for a long time, and I plan to get one of those child seats that attach so I can get exercise and drive Livers around, too. However, I have a horrible rash on my face right now. I'm pretty sure it's poison ivy that I either got doing yard work or from one of my dogs who probably roll in the stuff when their outside. (I've also read that you can get it from mangos, which we eat a lot of. The same toxin in poison ivy that gives you the rash is also found in mango rind. Who would've thought?) No matter where I got it from, I'm miserable and itchy and red, and I didn't want to make the trip to Wal-mart to get the necessities to make the bike Livers-friendly, so I'll have to wait till later in the week to get it ready. I'm super excited, because I HATE the gym but love walking and riding a bike, so this will be a nice way to get healthy and enjoy the beauty of spring (and the heat of summer).

I got to try and test out some camera functions this weekend, too. I mentioned earlier that the dogwood trees are blooming around here, and in my neighborhood there are literally hundreds (dozens in our tree-filled yard alone), and I enjoyed trying to take a few snapshots. I would love to one day get a D-SLR of some sort so I can take my photography hobby to the next level, but that will definitely be far in the future. I've still yet to take full advantage of Photoshop Elements in exploring digital scrapbooking. I need to hop on that.



Itching aside, this weekend was pretty good. Hope that everyone had a great one yourselves!