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Mar
29
baby blanket
Filed Under Crafts, baby, quilting, sewing | Leave a Comment
Here’s a baby blanket I made for my step-bother’s new baby coming in June. I used minkie red on the back and a cute baby print fleece on the front. Then I appliqued red and white minkie and blue fleece circles for decoration. The pattern is from Bend the Rules Sewing, which I love. Minkie is a little unruly for scallops - it came out a little messier than I hoped, but I still like it.
Aug
8
Haircuts…
Filed Under baby, haircuts, parenting | 6 Comments
Haircuts and almost two-year-olds don’t go great together. Even when the barber has a cool chair that looks like a horse. But, here are before and after pictures for my faithful reader. Hi reader!
Jul
11
Walking!
Filed Under YouTube, baby, first steps | 2 Comments
I’m so excited. We’ve been waiting and waiting, and now William is finally taking steps regularly. He’s getting more and more confident. I really love the hurky-jerky movements, like he’s a funny little zombie. Soon, I know, he’ll be running circles around me. Enjoy the movie!
This is also the first movie I’ve put on you tube. I’m trying to find a good way to share movies with family…seems like this is much better than emailing the smaller, harder-to-see versions. Anyone else use any thing like this?
Jul
7
Mail Call!
Filed Under Stampin' Up!, baby, blabbery, yarn | 3 Comments
Today was an excellent mail day. I got the new Stampin’ Up! catalog from my friend Lysa, and I got the fruit of 7 different eBay auctions I won last week. Yarn, yarn, yarn - all from the same seller. I got 30.5 skeins for $60 - and they’re all super fancy yarns that would cost at least $6 or $7 a piece!
I also went on a date with my sweet baby. We went to Chipotle where he refused to eat his cheese and rice quesadilla and I wolfed down my chicken burrito bowl. Man, I love that place. The good news is that he drank half a cup of water! He NEVER drinks water, and this is a great concern of mine, so I was stoked that he loved the novelty of the coke cup with the bendy straw and the ice so he could go, “burrr” and shake his head all around every time he took a sip. Whatever works, right?
My husband is in Phoenix for work for a couple days. There’s been talk of us transferring there. He’s been going on and on about the 116+ degree weather and how awful it is, and then he went to the plant where he might work and he loved it, so he was like, “I think I’d love to take that job!” He’s obviously not a salesman. You can’t lead with the 116+ weather. He should have lead with the “I’ll be home by 2pm everyday!” Even that isn’t very motivating for me. Just kidding :)
Hope everyone else had an excellent Friday!
Oh yeah - and I sold TWO sets of stamps on eBay. I have about 30 to sell, and I’m listing a couple everyday, but those two sold in the first day on a Buy It Now price! Exciting stuff - I didn’t even have to wait for the auction to end!
If you’re an eBayer, you might want to consider auctiva (link at left). It’s really made my listing life much easier, and the best part is that it’s free! I love free!
Jun
11
Babies at Dinner Parties?
Filed Under baby, blabbery, blessings, cats, childbirth, family, friends, furniture, leather sofa | 4 Comments
We went to a lovely dinner party last night - hosted by good friends. They had just purchased new, beautiful furniture, and they wanted to show it off a little. First let me say that I was crazily jealous of this new furniture. I’ve mentioned my five cats before, and the uselessness of getting new furniture, but still…when I saw their awesome leather couches and beautifully matched yellow chairs, I was sooo jealous.
Our cats would ruin that stuff in one day.
Anyway, I got over it, and sat down. Meanwhile, my cute kid was driving his trucks all over their living room.
There were eight adults total at the dinner party, and exactly one 18-month old. I was nervous about this. Luckily, my kid is really, surprisingly well behaved. I’d love to take credit for this, but sadly, I am positive I’ve had very little to do with his happy-go-lucky personality.
The moral here is that we stayed two hours past his bedtime, and he was a perfect angel the whole time. He even provided a bit of entertainment. And I got to enjoy a nice evening with adults - very interesting, funny, smart adults. I think that was the first gathering I’ve attended since becoming a mom where I didn’t “hide” behind my kid. I mean, I used to be really outgoing - able to strike up a conversation with anyone. But once I had my son, I noticed that people only asked me about him, not about me, and I would just fade into the background. But not last night. I had real conversations with people about all kinds of things - hardly any of them being diapers, milestones, or new teeth!
I may be getting the hang of this “being my own person while raising a person” thing.
May
24
Memorial Day
Filed Under America Supports You, Arlington National Cemetery, Army, Army Reserve, Family Tree, Iraq, John Edwards, Marine Corps, Memorial Day, Military Appreciation Month, National Guard, Support the Troops, baby, blogging, freedom, military funeral, mom, war | Leave a Comment
Just for info…because LOTS of people don’t know…here’s what Memorial Day is all about: it’s a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.
Two years ago, I was in DC for a conference for work. I was seven months pregnant, and I decided to hike a few miles through Arlington National Cemetery to find my maternal great-grandparents’ graves. It was so hot, and I didn’t bring any water. It took a little doing (and a lot of sweating), but I found their graves, and I was so proud. As I was walking back to the Metro, I saw a full funeral procession, complete with caisson and I started bawling. Even sadder was all the fresh grave sites at the front of the cemetery.
This little journey was as much a tribute to my unborn son, mother and grandmother as it was to my great-grandparents. My mom passed away on June 5, 1994. The day I went to Arlington was June 6, 2005. My grandmother died before I was born. My great grandfather was a West Point grad, retired as a Colonel in the Army (after serving in WWI and WWII), and then worked for the CIA. My great grandmother gets to be buried next to him, so they rest side by side in the nation’s most well known military cemetery. I cried for all the family my son will never know, and for the proud military heritage I have on both sides of my family. On my mother’s side, military service goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War. On my father’s side, I’m the latest (and the first female) of at least one of each generation serving in either the Army, Air Force or Navy. We don’t have any Marines - yet. But we do have a nurse, a few pilots and at least one Airborne Ranger.
I plan to visit the other national cemeteries where my family members are buried. Even the one in Hawaii where my great uncle - my father (and my son’s) namesake - is buried, after being shot down during WWII.
I hope we all remember to take a minute to remember these men and women - and to be grateful for their sacrifice. I’m certain I wouldn’t be running my mouth on this blog all the time if it wasn’t for them ensuring my free speech.
John Edwards has set up a great site called SupportTheTroopsEndTheWar.com - it’s got a lot of activities we can do during Memorial Day weekend (or every day - if you’re motivated) to voice our feelings that our Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors should not be in Iraq any longer.
May
19
SAHM no more?
Filed Under SAHM, baby, blabbery, family drama, guilt, mom | 5 Comments
Update: The interview went well. I liked the people, and I felt excited at the prospect of the job.
Then I came home, and my son gave me the biggest hug, and he wouldn’t let go, and he rested his sweet little baby head on my shoulder, and I thought about how this isn’t going to last forever, and how surly my friend’s teenager is.
Thanks for reading everyone, and for your words of experience and encouragement!
I recently applied for what looked like the most perfect job ever. I do this every once in a while, just to force me to keep my resume up to date. Well, they called me for an interview. Never mind that none of my work clothes fit (how about four sizes too small!). Never mind that I don’t want to put my son in day care at all. Never mind that I have finally gotten my husband to understand and appreciate the benefits of a stay-at-home parent. We decided that I would go to the interview.
So it’s in a few days and I’m nervous. I have suitable pants, but I’ll have to purchase a shirt or sweater set or something. And I think I kind of want the job. What I really want is for them to say I can telecommute most of the time, so I can just get a babysitter in my house.
If we lived exactly the way we do now - only off of my husband’s pay - we could use my salary to pay off all of our debt in one year. We could plan our second baby during that year, and I could work until I delivered, and then quit. (Man, I hope the company isn’t reading this.) Financially, it would solve everything.
Emotionally, I don’t know if I can handle it. I keep telling myself to stop being a baby, that mother’s go to work all the time, and that there is nothing wrong with daycare. And I do believe those things. But I can’t help but feel like they’re just not going to know when he’s tired or hungry or bored like I do. Are they going to pay attention to him? Will he be happy? The honest answer is that he’ll be fine. He might have a runny nose more often, but he loves other kids, and he’d probably be thrilled to have someone other than mommy and the cats to play with. (The cats don’t give him the time of day.) He probably needs the socialization. And now that he’s figuring out the whole fake-cry-to-get-my-way, it might be better if a stranger stepped in and didn’t fall for it.
But that doesn’t make it any easier.
May
8
Conceive Magazine
Filed Under IVF, baby, childbirth, conceive magazine, infertility, pregnancy, surrogate | 1 Comment
One of my most favorite people in the whole world recently started working at Conceive Magazine - an excellent resource for families trying to conceive. My favorite part is the success stories - you can submit your own on their website. They also have a really cool link called Support Group that goes to a message board full of information. I think a gift subscription would be nice for friends and family that are trying to have a baby. I know two couples that have had IVF treatments two or more times with no success. It’s heartbreaking. I also have a friend that has two children of her own and has been a surrogate twice. She just loves being pregnant.
I feel so blessed to have my son. If you know someone dealing with infertility, perhaps they can find some hope and/or guidance in Conceive.
Mar
29
Happy Feet ~ sad times
Filed Under BBC, baby, fish conservation, guilt, happy feet, live green, movies, save the fish, seafood watch, wild salmon | Leave a Comment
Have you seen this movie? I loved it, and I was glad it had a happy ending (sorry for the spoiler, if you haven’t seen it) for my son’s sake, although he didn’t really care. BUT, I was crying like a baby because that happy ending is so implausible in real life.
So, since I’m not a huge fish consumer, I thought the best way for me to take a little action is to share the list of fish recommendations provided in the DVD. It seems like a handy list, and I hope people start taking this seriously, because scientists have already reported that there will “virtually nothing left to fish from the seas” in 45-50 years!
I can’t imagine that my grandchildren my never get to taste wild salmon. It seems like a small thing, but really, what a huge hole in the ecosystem. And what about all the metaphors about salmon swimming upstream? When I tell my grandchildren about hard work, and I use salmon as an example, they’ll be like, “you’re crazy, grandma, what the heck are salmon?”
Don’t forget to check out the Seafood Watch list of recommendations:
Mar
28
Photos for our Easter cards
Filed Under Easter, My Butt Hurts!, baby, blabbery, blessings, chocolate bunnies, homemade onsies, iron on | 6 Comments
Update: I found the source, Snorg Tees. I hope they don’t sue me :) Go buy the shirt from them.
I saw this funny shirt online somewhere and decided to recreate it with my handy Office Depot printable iron-ons and a new white onsie. I got the bunnies from Microsoft’s media gallery and made their conversation boxes in Photoshop. I hope my grandma thinks it’s funny :) Oh yea, and isn’t my son the cutest kid ever?!!
Do you get it? Here’s the real picture…
I’d love to give the real artist credit, because this thing cracks me up every time. If anyone knows who it is, please let me know!
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