Blog more, be happier.

A post yesterday, and now a post again today?! What is the world coming to?

Well, the thing is, I set a goal for myself to blog more. I set this goal as one of several New Years goals, which Nate and I developed for ourselves individually and as a family. I tend to do a lot of journal writing, so when I have free time for writing, pretty much everything goes in my journal. I've found it to be an invaluable resource for working out my personal feelings and frustrations. It's also important to keep a record of my life.

But some of my record keeping can certainly be public. While I don't think blogging should be used to air one's "dirty laundry" or to thrust upon the world every thought -- particularly not the more inane thoughts -- or for whining, complaining, arguing, or otherwise spewing forth darkness and vitriol, I DO think it's good to keep people informed and to provide uplifting discourse, whenever possible.

(Side note: A couple of weeks ago I had a wonderful conversation with my "uber boss" in which we discussed the importance of using social media to be kind, uplifting, and show forth Christlike attributes. The boss described himself as "a bit of a pollyanna". I decided that I want to apply his "pollyanna principle" to my use of social media. Ahhh... I just adore the uber boss; such an amazing person to work for. I feel really blessed to be under his leadership. (I really hope he's not reading this.))

I anticipate success with my renewed blogging efforts, since I recently repaired both my laptop and my netbook. Sadly, my tablet is not a good tool for blogging. (Arg! Typing with ones fingers is quite the challenge!) I am somewhat hindered, however, by a new rule in our house: No computers after 9pm.

I've been very good about that rule, except not last night or right now, since I'm trying to reach my blogging goal.

Anyway, it's past my bedtime. (Ack! It's 9:40!!!) I need to feed baby girl and go to bed. So, until next time.... Goodnight.

An evening gone awry, and other updates

This evening has not gone at all like I expected...

Nate is on a campout with the young men from the youth group. No surprise there. He came home at about 2pm (?), spent a couple of hours getting things together, and then left. Meanwhile, his mom watched the baby and I worked. A little after 5pm, I wrapped up for the day. I chatted with my mother in law while warming up some sweet potatoes for baby girl. MIL left, baby ate. I reheated some broccoli cheese soup for my own dinner. Baby got fussy while I ate (typical selfish little thing :o). We had some playtime, then she got a bath. I nursed her.

She was in her bed, asleep, by 7:15. Excellent. All normal, except for Nate's absence.

I started to write a blog post but couldn't think of what to say. I decided to ponder it while I finished up a project for New Beginnings. Down to the craft room with a week-old episode of Wait, Wait to amuse me. Sewing away efficiently, on target to quickly finish and then get some other things done before bedtime.

Baby girl abruptly awoke, screaming. That's not totally abnormal -- she sometimes needs a little extra burp after bedtime. I dashed upstairs, squeezed her burbs out, and put her back down.

That's when things started to slide off kilter. Usually she goes right back down, no fuss, easy as can be. It's bliss. But not tonight. She was very fussy.

Diaper change. Rocking. Attempted to nurse again. More rocking. A couple of 5-minute crying sessions (sometimes she just wants to be left alone, and she will cry for 2-3 minutes and go back to sleep; it sounds awful and I certainly don't like it, but sometimes that's what she wants). Turns out she was only content and willing to sleep if I held her.

Groan.

Of course I want to hold her. I love to hold her! And since dad is gone camping, I was going to have her sleep in our bed when I went down for the night. I just wasn't prepared for that to happen at 8:30!

So I shut down things in the craft room, closed up the basement, cleared the pillows from our bed, and brought the baby into my room. Where she fussed for 0.2 seconds and then fell asleep. I didn't have high hopes that she would stay asleep, but I needed to get myself ready for bed, so I just prayed that she wouldn't get too upset while I was in the bathroom.

Uhhh.... she didn't. She just continued to sleep. In fact, she's been peacefully asleep for an hour now. I guess this whole week of telling her, "You're going to sleep in our bed on Friday when your dad is gone. Lots of mommy cuddles!" really went to her head. :o)

So I sneaked around the house for about 40 minutes, first getting myself ready for bed, then getting the kitchen cleaned up, then starting a to-do list for tomorrow. Nate will be gone most of the day so it will be an all-day mommy/daughter date. Awesome.

What does our typical Saturday look like these days? Glad you asked...

We do a whole lot of running around. In the olden days, before the baby (we call this time in our lives "BK"), we would run errands any time, whenever we needed. But baby girl is needy and has her own schedule, so now we have to work around her. Plus Nate is currently the main person in charge of the young men in the youth group, so there goes two evenings a week. And I'm working part time. So the TO DO items pile up during the week until, finally, it's Saturday.

There's pretty much always a Saturday (usually morning) grocery store trip. We're trying to do a good job of planning our meals a week at a time, and making sure there are lots of leftovers. (This is all part of a broader plan to eat healthier, smarter foods -- but that's probably a whole separate post.) On Fridays we make our list of meals and compare the recipes to the food in our cupboards. Saturday we squeeze in a grocery store trip, usually between baby's naps. Sometimes we start cooking through our meal list on Saturday, but sometimes it doesn't start until Sunday. Either way, we're usually polishing off the assorted leftovers by the next Friday and ready to start the cycle over.

(Side note: Lately, it seems like our lives are nothing but one continuous loop. Every day follows a similar schedule; every week is nearly identical to the one before and after. Sometimes I lose track of time -- when someone asks me about my weekend, I have to wonder if my memories are from the current weekend or the one before! It makes me feel like an old person. :o)

A couple of weeks ago I finally had enough time on Saturday to make bread again. I haven't made bread since BK. I was probably 8 months pregnant the last time I baked bread. It was liberating to pop a couple of loaves in the oven again.... but it didn't help that Nate consumed all of it in about 5 days. (No joke.)

Hmmm....

It's my bedtime. I think there was more that I wanted to say, but I have to stop now. This bright screen is totally giving me a headache. So, rather abruptly.... The End.

Going old school with "20" questions

Does anyone remember those old "20 questions" emails? They were pretty popular back when I was in middle and high school. I use to enjoy them. I always loved it when I would get one from my sister because she has this snarky, sarcastic sense of humor that totally cracks me up, and invariably she gave the best responses.

My sis-in-law Amy posted one on her blog a couple weeks ago "tagged" everyone. I promised her I would fill it out. She's had her baby since then, so I'm pretty sure she doesn't care anymore, but a promise is a promise. Here it goes...

Words you always mis-spell typing: None come to mind.

Words you don't know how to spell: Nauseous. I have to google it every time; drives me crazy. I also struggle with necessary and occasionally. Why does necessary have a single c and a double s while occasionally has a double c and a single s? Bah!

Things that really annoy you: Bad drivers!!! Probably because my mom is an exceptionally good driver, and thus the standard to which I hold all other drivers. No one else compares; only grandma even comes close.

What's that meal you can always eat over and over again? It changes. I go through phases where I really love one particular thing and want it all the time, then it gets old. Recent examples include Moroccan chicken, mango chicken, Thai food, and QBC (quinoa, broccoli, chicken). Now that I'm looking at my list, maybe I should just say "chicken dishes". :o)

Do you brush your teeth at night? Yup. Can't sleep unless I've brushed my teeth. I also brush after lunch and sometimes after breakfast.

Dumbest movie ever: Napoleon Dynamite. I hated it after about 15 minutes; I wanted to kill myself after about an hour. I'm not trying to be dramatic -- I loathed that movie.

What's a song that you would be embarrassed to admit you really like? Hmm. Nothing comes to mind.

Are you capable of eating an entire bag of candy in one sitting and not feeling THAT sick? I'm not. I would hurl.

Do you love sea food? I love a few types of sea food. I miss my bro-in-law's cooking for precisely this reason; he prepared salmon and halibut better than any other person or restaurant. Yes, even better than Tony Starlight's salmon.

When you fix meat, are you anal about what you've touched, and sanitize a lot? Yes. I try to make N8 take care of "the meat part" of meals because ugh... I just hate it.

Do you put your leftovers in the fridge after dinner in fear of it spoiling or can you wait? I've become a frequent reader of food-related articles the last couple of years and have consequently learned a lot about food safety. Things go in the fridge within an hour, staying out only that long if they need to cool a bit first. I get uncomfortable if food is out any longer.

Do you use a sponge or rag to wipe your counters? Sponge! They are super easy to sanitize in the microwave and do a better job clearing off surfaces (in my opinion). Plus, after a sponge gets a little old, I can use it to clean the toilet and then throw it away!

What's your favorite Holiday? Flag day.

What's your favorite pie? Apple, but really only if my grandma makes it. (Okay, my mom's is pretty close to gma's; I like it too.)

What's your favorite candy bar? It just depends on my mood -- sometimes I want caramel, sometimes peanut butter. But I always return to Snickers, so I guess you could call it my fav.

When you pick something up at the store and change your mind, do you put it away? Always. I think it's exceptionally rude to put things in the wrong spot, forcing someone else to go around and pick up after you. Sure, it's part of someone's job to put things away in the right place, but it wouldn't be if people weren't so rude and would just put things away themselves.

Do you like raisins in your Cinnamon rolls? Yes. But I prefer them un-raisined.

Do you shower every day? Every single morning. I don't feel awake until I've showered. Plus I shower after I work out, and sometimes in the evenings too.

Are your dreams scary? Sometimes.

Do you like scary movies? Love them. Psychological thrillers are my favorites. But I don't like gory movies.

Do you like roller coasters? Again, love them!

Do you have a fear of needles? Yes. It's pathetic. I get light-headed and have been known to pass out. N8 has to hold my hand.

What's your guilty pleasure TV show? Oh gosh, so embarrassing.... Vampire Diaries.

What is something you're really stuck up about? Keeping a clean house. I don't need other people's homes to be clean, but I need my house to be in order. ESPECIALLY the kitchen. I turn into a really scary crazy person when someone gunks up my kitchen.

When you're at a restaurant, can you ask questions about the food? I suppose I could, but I never feel the need.

Are you a lake or a river person? River. I like water that flows; I like to wade.

Are you a good swimmer? Nope, terrible. I can barely doggie-paddle to save my life. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that I basically hate swimming. We had a swimming pool growing up and my friends always wanted me to throw swim parties but I couldn't have cared less. Swimming does not appeal to me. (I don't even own a swimsuit.)

Do you like to camp? Yes but... again with the cleanliness and showering... I have a hard time with the fact that I get dirty when camping. A couple of years ago I camped on a lake, and was able to bathe in said lake on both days of our trip. It was freezing cold glacial water and there were mosquitoes everywhere, but at least I was clean!

Do you like rodents? Not especially. Some are okay, some are heinously disgusting. (Think: hamster vs. nutria.)

Are you afraid of spiders? I don't know if fear is the right word. They make me quite uncomfortable.... They give me the creeps, let's put it that way. When I see one I imagine it crawling on my skin, especially getting in my hair or on my face. Shudder.

If you could be an amazing singer or dancer, which would you be? Dancer. For the exercise benefits. Oh, and the flexibility, which I sorely lack. (Insert teasing from my mom.)

So now I'd like to TAG all of you! Especially Dianne (because she's always so funny) and mom, I know you're busy, so pick your favorite 5 questions :o)

Some baby pictures

Amy, these are pretty much for your amusement. So...enjoy!

Dual surprised faces:

Dry tub? Why not!

She takes up more of her crib space than she use to:

Cute!...

Blue dress -- opinions wanted/needed

Once again, I'm working on a project and I just can't seem to make up my mind!

I made a very pretty blue dress for the baby, and I sewed a white ribbon around the middle. Now I'm trying to to decide if I should add a white bow with ribbons hanging down, or leave it as-is. Personally, I think it's cuter with the bow, but I'm just not sure! So here are a couple of pictures. Please let me know what you think.

Without the bow:

With the bow (sorry it's not the best picture):

In case you're curious, here's the back:

A close-up of the back (I couldn't get the white ribbon to line up when I sewed it down -- arg!):

me as a baby : my baby

During the past couple of weeks, several people have mentioned that our baby is beginning to look more like her dad. I can't really tell. I don't doubt them, but at the same time, my mom says the baby still looks just like me as a baby.

Anyway, these conversations reminded me that I've been wanting to share a pair of photos, for comparison:

(Somehow I managed to clone myself :o)

More Dress Pictures

Below I posted pictures of some outfits (dress, hat, undies) that my mother-in-law made for the baby. There are four total, but I don't have the fourth one yet.

Now I know it would be nice to see the baby in each outfit, but I didn't particularly feel like playing dress-up with the baby (because really, she's not a toy, and we have better things to do with our time together). Eventually she'll wear each dress of course, and then I will take pictures. But for now, here are some shots of just the outfits:

I also just made her a dress.... sorta by accident. I had a dress pattern that I wanted to modify, so I got out some "scrap" purple fabric so I could test the modifications I wanted to make to the pattern. The dress turned out pretty decently (not perfect, but hey, I'm not much of a seamstress). As I was staring at the plain dress, I thought, this would look nice with a flower or something on it. So then I made a little flower (which detaches for when it's time to wash the dress! I'm proud of my cleverness on that point). Then I thought, this would also look cute with a little ribbon around the middle. So I added a ribbon.

It's kinda simple and it's not perfect, but I love it. I'm happy that I could make something for my daughter -- something unique from me, just for her.

(P.S. She wore this to church a couple of weeks ago. Somehow I neglected to get a picture of her wearing it... probably because we always throw her in her church dress at the last minute and then change her as soon as she gets home. Anyway, I'll have to get a picture next time she wears it!)