Happy SITS-Day, to One and to All!

Once upon a time I heard about this new online blogging community called SITS (The Secret is in the Sauce for those who don't know). They promised to connect women (and men) from around the world and give everyone a chance to meet someone new and exciting and to share experiences (and laughs).

Well have they ever delivered! SITS has gotten so huge since its inception a few months ago that this little Southern girl is overwhelmed sometimes! I think the concept is wonderful. I know that I have met some great people through SITS who help me feel better as a mom by hearing about the experiences and who give me great ideas through their creativity.

The only thing that makes me sad is that I don't have the time to commit to SITS like I'd like to. I read every morning about a great blog to try out, but being a busy mom I barely have time to spend quality time with my husband, let alone check out the daily read. However, I am happy that on the days I have had the time that I got to discover (or continue following) some of these wonderful people:

Angie, AKA John Deere Mom
Mrs. Apple Joos, who is recently back from her self-imposed sabbatical and ready for action
Maternal Mirth, a closet NKOTB-lovin', super-hip mom who's livin' it large in LA
Jaci at Ravings of a Mad Housewife, whose wit, candor, and realism I so admire
cherry's jubilee, a woman whose creativity I'd like to steal for a day

I want to start now and try to make a little more time to explore all of the great blogs that SITS has to offer. My next great blog read might be right around the corner!

Happy SITS-Day, everyone!

Things I'm Thinking of Thursday...

Stupid me forgot to put the info up for each picture before I closed the window out.

I finally got an internet connection. Hooray! Seriously, if a fly farts in the wind near our house we're going to lose our internet, and seeing as it rained all day yesterday, you can figure how that went. Anyway, I absolutely LOVE Flickr, and I may love making mosaics from its pictures even more. I think I'm going to make it a more regular feature on my blog, because the world is always a little brighter with some pretty pictures.

Today's mosaic is things I've been thinking of today. Some of these I think of on most days, so I'm pretty much using it as an excuse to look up pretty pictures. From top left, they are:

1. Fall leaves, especially red ones. They really steal my heart.
2. Sunny days. It was very dreary yesterday, so it was a welcome sight for the sun to peak through today. At least my drought-ridden part of the world received rain!
   
3. Babies. I have one, so they're always on my mind. And I'm babysitting an even littler one, so it was double time today.
4. Fall for Greenville. This is one of my new favorite traditions. It's this weekend and involves lots of food. And for some, beer. (Not me. I'll have the occasional Woodchuck, but that's about it.) Pictures and tales will be shared next week.
5. Rainbows. My favorite thing ever, and I'm surrounded by them at home so they're always on my mind. (I hope I don't get Willie Nelson in my head.) This is my new favorite, non-Livers picture. And now my desktop background. If I lived in San Francisco I'd so want that house.
6. Crafting. I have so many projects I'd like to make it makes me giddy. First up, making curtains for our bedroom. I'll finally, after three-and-a-half years, be able to block out the sun during naptime. And I'm in LOVE with this person's craft room. I might have to do some overhaulin' here soon.
7. More crafts. I just thought this was pretty.
8. Christmas. I know it's two and a half months away, but that doesn't mean I can't be waiting for it like a little kid. In less than a month I'll start putting up lights! I know this makes me sound like a crazy person, but I'm the Clark Griswold type with my yard, and in order to make it bigger and better than last year I'm going to have to start early to avoid the 12-hour marathon session from last year.
   
9. Fall again. And rainbows. I love this picture :)

If you want to play along, go to Flickr and use this website (CLICK HERE) to make your mosaic. Just pick nine (or less or more if you want) things on your mind and see what you come up with on Flickr. If you do it, let me know in the comments and I'll check ya out!

Happy Thursday!

This Sucks Thursday

If I see one more picture of a frustrated stock broker, I'm going to lose it. Seriously.

Yes, CNN.com, we all know that the economy sucks, but do you have to show us the same pictures every day? How about an old picture of the military testing atomic bombs in the 50s? Or original artwork meant to accompany Dante's Inferno. Even better, mix it up and show a cute kitty. That's throw us for a loop and momentarily take our minds off of the insanity of the world. Anything but day after day of this:

or this:

or this:

Fluffy kittens. Sunshine and moonbeams. A picture of AIG executives forced to have their business meetings at a rustic cabin with no running water or electricity and having to hunt and gather for food. Because we all need a break, even temporarily, and would like to see and hear some goodness and happiness.

That's all I'm saying.

Photostory Friday - I Heart My Daddy

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

************************************************************************

For the most part I would have to say that my Livers is a Mama's Girl. She gets VERY upset when I leave. Last weekend I tried to go to the grocery store alone, and she got so upset that I had to bring her with me. Whenever Daddy leaves she will give him kisses (sometimes with prodding) and go on her merry way. If I leave the room to go to an area out of her reach she usually pitches a fit. She usually is OK with Daddy leaving (though sometimes she'll pitch a fit).

This doesn't mean she doesn't love her Daddy. She has started to do the cutest thing with him. If he falls asleep on the sofa (or pretends to), she'll get this look of concern on her face and will run up to his face and kiss him to wake him up. It's absolutely precious! When she realizes he's OK she'll gently run her fingers over his head and carefully grab a few strands of hair and tell him that it's "cute!". Seeing her so loving with her Daddy just melts my heart!

Cure for Baby Fever

My house looks like an explosion of baby.

Yesterday I hauled the following items, carefully packed away in the garage in large plastic bags, back upstairs: the high chair, the exersaucer, the baby swing. Already upstairs was the activity gym and the bouncer.

I'm sure your first thoughts are that I'm pregnant again. Thankfully I'm not. Not that I don't want kids again, but I'm just not ready. In which case, I probably sound like a crazy person.

The reason for the explosion is the little man I just started babysitting. He is the cutest thing. He's five months old with huge blue eyes and brown hair that is long enough to have already been cut. Even cuter: it's always parted on the side :) His mom is a nurse and often works two 7PM-7AM shifts in a row, so I babysit the little man once or twice a week so she can rest up for shift number two. She gets sleep, I make a little spending money, and everyone is happy.

Except Livers.

She can get quite the jealous streak with him at times. She only wants to play with his toys and screams, "Holdyou Mama!" when I'm holding him or feeding him and can't possibly wrangle her, too. That's not to say that she's a complete holy terror with him, because there have definitely been some precious moments between the two of them, such as:

• Her putting the phone to his ear to talk to someone she's "talking" to
• Grabbing his tiny hands and giving him "peace" (it's a Catholic thing)
• Whispering, "T's sleeping!" when I put him down for a nap
• Getting on her belly next to him to laugh in his face because she thinks he's cute
• Petting him gently on the head, like he's a puppy

It's just difficult for her because she is used to being the center of Mommy's attention, and she doesn't like sharing the affection. I know she acts out because she is jealous and wants me back, and I feel bad for her because of it, but it's a good lesson for her to learn.

It's also been a great vaccination for baby fever. The experience has shown me that yes, babies are great and cute, but I'm not ready to give up the life that my husband, Livers, and I have yet. I like getting sleep, having predictability, being able to shower my love on only Livers without guilt, and having the occasional opportunity for time to myself (like now). It has shown me that I want to wait until Livers is potty trained and is more able to control herself and understand the needs of others.

I do want more bab(ies) someday, but for now I'm content to watch the Little Man for six hours, happily hand him back to his mommy, and head off with Livers for a much deserved afternoon nap.

A Would-be Mosaic and Thoughts

I have a headache and I don’t know why. I hate it when that happens. Usually they’re from hormone levels dropping off when it’s that time. It’s probably from using my computer too much today. I finally got Scrapblog working today and have been trying my hand at a little (free) digital scrapbooking. I must say, it’s a whole lot of fun. In the time I would take to make half of one page (I’m a wee anal-retentive) I made two on Scrapblog. I hope to get a decent understanding with it (and the help of my copy of Digital Scrapbooking for Dummies on its way from Half.com…yes, I’m a nerd) so I can break into the bigger leagues in the future.

There’s not a whole lot on my mind right now. I suppose it’s a good thing, because I could be mentally oppressed. I hate a great post planned this morning. I woke up with it and knew it would’ve been a real insightful winner. It’s gone now. By the time I’d gotten Livers her breakfast it had slipped my mind. Don’t you hate it when that happens? A sign of aging, I guess.

About the only major thing on my mind (and I’m sure other Americans) is the economy. For the most part, realistic Lindsay is able to tell herself that her family will be OK. We’ve for the most part have been fairly careful financially, so hopefully we’ll be able to weather this poop storm with some grace. We just need to use our heads and not get stupid with our money. Learn to be more frugal, which can be difficult with two people who like to buy things and to do stuff. It can be tough to maintain this realism, especially with the way the media likes to bombard you through all outlets, 24/7, with a constant update of just how bad it can be. With this it doesn’t take long for my pessimistic side to rear its head and try to cloud my good judgment. It doesn’t help that I’m a stay-at-home mom with plenty of time to sit and think (between time outs and loud toddler voices).

I need to learn to be a more creative mom. I get myself into a rut with Livers and me sometimes. We’ll sit and I’ll tick of the minutes until lunch or naptime or when my husband comes home. I know that it sounds bad, but I’m sure that other moms feel the same way from time to time. Heck, I’m sure any working person feels that way about their job every once in awhile. I know that my husband does. He’s said so. Luckily it’s not everyday. Fortunately two things work in my favor: it’s fall and finally cool enough to go outside, so I’m going to start going to the park more often, and Livers is growing up, so we’ll be able to do more arts and crafts. Enjoying craftiness myself it’ll be fun for the two of us to sit at the kitchen table and work on projects together.

* * * * *

As a brief afterthought, I'd like to have included a Flickr mosaic. Those things are so much fun and I'd like to do them more often. However, my internet here is a crap shoot. I've disconnected and reconnected no less than four times in the last thirty minutes just to maintain a connection. Luckily we'll be switching from our current service really soon. One less reason to get a headache. Hallelujah!

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta!!! - Exploring Her Creative Side, One Finger at a Time

One thing I have been sadly remiss with is fostering Livers creative side. It's a shame, too, because one of my own personal favorite pleasures in life is finding various creative outlets to express myself with: sewing, beads, painting, photography, scrapbooking. I have recently vowed to make a better effort with her creative self-expression, which leads us to these pictures.

I'd once before gotten out the finger paints, but attempt #1 didn't go so well. Note to self: have a well-fed child before engaging in finger paint play. She was very crabby and wouldn't listen when I told her not to eat or shove paint into her ear. Attempt #2 went much better. She had a blast, and was asking to do it again tonight. Since bath time was over, we opted for the less messy option of crayons.

We hope you enjoy our creativity!

The picture is blurry, but I think it captured her thoughts on finger painting really well.

It can be hard to tell since she doesn't have a lot of hair and is half naked, but Livers is a girl. Really.

Come join in the fun and check out other phantastic photos at Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Finish Fiesta!