The Baby Bathtub Has Left The Building

We have retired the baby bathtub. I realized it was time to graduate to the "big kid" tub when Lance tried to crawl out of his baby tub. He would turn himself around in it, lean way over the side to pick up toys that were on the floor, and just generally wouldn't stay put. He loves the big tub! He can crawl around in there, stand up, sit down, turn himself around and do the hokey pokey. This photo was taken on his 3rd bath in the real tub. He just loves it!

(You may have noticed a pirate theme going on in this family. A few days ago I posted a photo of Lance wearing a Jack Sparrow wig and hat, now you see that his rubber ducky is, in fact, a pirate ducky. Wait a second. I have another pirate picture for you!)

I don't know how well you can see, but the shirt says "Pirate In Training" and I bought it at Disney World when he was just a month old.

Arrrr.

The reason for this pirate madness? Well, a couple years ago the men in our small-group Bible Study decided to dress up as pirates and serve the ladies dinner on Mother's Day. (I have no idea why they chose pirates.) So now our group calls itself "Captain Doug's Prayer Pirates." It's very corny, but hey, every group needs a gimmick, right?

Here they are.

After serving us dinner, they chased us around the house and called us "wenches."

We have a fun time at Bible study. LOL!

Sick Day(s)

We've got colds.

Icky, nasty, booger-y, sore throat, head-swollen-up-to-twice-their-size headcolds.

Please say a few prayers for us! I'm not sure how many more times Lance will put up with that nasal aspirator!

Wordless Wednesday

In case there was any doubt that he is, in fact, a male child...



As promised, here is a "princess picture" from my weekend getaway! Details to follow. (I'm the one on the far left.)

Getting Away For the Weekend

Before I get to the main subject of this post, I just HAD to share this photo.

I LOVE "Pirates of the Caribbean." So when Hubby, Lance, and I were cruising the mall last weekend and poked around in the Disney Store, we couldn't resist putting this Jack Sparrow wig on Lance.

Halloween costumes already? Sigh.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I'm so psyched!!

Tomorrow, I get to go away for the weekend! By myself! (Along with a couple hundred women.) I am attending a weekend women's retreat being hosted by a local Christian musician and speaker. It has become an annual event and I can't wait!!

We're staying in a nice hotel on the beach. We have several sessions with the speaker who will be speaking on "Why We Need Girlfriends." We will have a pajama party, complete with DJ. (Macarena, anyone?) We're having a "Royal Feast" in which we get to wear a princess item. (I purchased a Belle tiara and scepter from the Disney Store. Thank heavens for early halloween costume sales!!)

Of course I'll post a picture of myself in my princess regalia when I return.

I'm just so ready for a little break from the normal everyday-ness that is Mommyhood. I won't be far away, just about 45 minutes, so if something happens, I'll be close enough to return home.

It's going to be great. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 15

I stink at this.

I've been holding steady around 152-154 pounds for two whole months. I can't seem to get down below 152.

Ah well. No need to wallow. Clearly, I need to redouble my efforts.

This week, I will:

1. Take a morning walk EVEN if it is hot outside.

2. Limit myself to ONE caffeinated beverage a day. (This is a very hard goal for me to accomplish. I've been saying that I will limit myself to one a day for several weeks now. Maybe this'll be the week it happens??!!) This is how I will do it. I will brew some decaf iced tea that I can drink in the morning for something with a little flavor. Maybe I can "trick" my body into thinking that it has caffeine, lol! I will be allowed to drink a Vanilla Coke Zero in the afternoon around 3:30 for a little pick-me up. If I go to Starbucks, I forfeit my afternoon soda.

3. Start going back to the gym. I purchased a Pilates DVD that I have been doing at home in lieu of going to the gym. I'm enjoying it, but I'm not seeing the same results that I got when I was doing 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. If I want to do Pilates, that's great, but it will be an addition to going to the gym.

4. Add an extra serving or two of fruit/veggies. Eat a piece of fruit with breakfast, a piece of fruit with lunch, and make sure there is SOME kind of vegetable with dinner.


Hm. If I think back to the beginning of the challenge, these goals I have set for the next week are things that I previously did regularly, and that was when I started seeing the weight come off. It's so easy to slip out of good habits!!

Temper Tantrum, Anyone?

He's not even 9 months old yet.

My precious, sweet, long-lashed heartbreaker of a son has an evil twin.

He's learned to throw a temper tantrum.

There is a particular piece of furniture in our home on which he likes to try and pull himself up to a standing position. The problem is, this piece of furniture is very lightweight. He's pulled it on top of himself and fallen three times already. Hubby and I are trying to teach him not to pull himself up from that table. As he lifts a hand to grab it, we gently remove the hand, give it a little smack, and say a firm, "No."

He doesn't like that very much. He throws himself facedown on the floor and screams.

I'm going to have my hands FULL when he's a toddler!!

A Coupla Contests

OK, I've just entered two contests, and as is normally requested, I am now putting up my "contest post." (I hope the owners of the contests don't mind that I'm sharing a post for them both.)

The first one (and I am mentioning this one first because I entered it first.) is an AVON contest, offered by Haley over at "Love, Life, Family, and Then Some." She's giving away a whole set of some great AVON body products. Head on over there to enter!

The second one is an INCREDIBLE givewaway of Scrapbooking supplies over at Three Wild Monkeys.

I just ADORE scrapbooking, but I don't do it often for two reasons: 1- it's hard to find time with a baby around, and 2- the stuff is so darn expensive. If I win this contest, I'll most likely have something to fit any page that I need. However, if I don't win it but one of YOU does, I'll be happy for you. (Maybe you can send me a sheet of stickers if you win, lol!)

"A is for Antidisestablishmentarianism"

I have two friends with whom I communicate extensively via e-mail. On our most recent marathon e-mail conversation (you know, the kind that has 15 "re:" in the subject line, lol!) I received the following comment from friend Roo:

"I can just see it now, Guinevere, Lance will be 5 years old and you'll be teaching him his alphabet, and it'll be like, "R is for Rhombus."

I won't bore you with the details of how our conversation began as a discussion of where to go out for dinner and ended with unusual shape names, but I thought I'd take it all the way and have some fun.

So here you are. Here is the Alphabet for Advanced Children. (And yes, they are all real words.)

A is for Antidisestablishmentarianism.
B is for Baboonery.
C is for Catatonic.
D is for Diabolical.
E is for Existentialism.
F is for Fortuitous.
G is for Gargantuan.
H is for Hyperthyroidism.
I is for Infinitesimal.
J is for Juxtaposition.
K is for Kleptomaniac.
L is for Lasciviousness.
M is for Malevolent.
N is for Nefarious.
O is for Opulent.
P is for Paradigm.
Q is for Quandary.
R is for Rhombus.
S is for Sadistic.
T is for Tertiary.
U is for Umbillical.
V is for Vivacious.
W is for Whippoorwill.
X is for Xanthochromia (Yes it's a real word.)
Z is for Zanzibar.

Hmm. I hadn't realized that a good portion of my "big-word" vocabulary consisted of words with such negative connotations!! Sadistic. Nefarious. Lasciviousness. Malevolent. Diabolical. LOL! I wonder what a therapist would do with me. (Are you any of you therapists, perchance?)

Evil Vacuum Cleaner!!

My son has decided that the vacuum cleaner is evil and scary.

I don't know where this came from. Only two months ago, he would watch in fascination as I ran the Dirt Devil over the floor. He thought it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Something has changed. Now, when I turn the devil on, he starts screaming. In terror. Real, honest-to-goodness, fear. It's heartbreaking! I can certainly tell a difference between his "I'm cranky and I don't want you to do that" cry and his "Mommy, I'm so scared, PLEASE turn it off!!" cry.

Where did this come from? Has some vacuum trauma occurred that I am unaware of? I certainly doubt it, as I am apparently the only person in the house who knows how to operate a vacuum cleaner. But that's a post for another day.

This morning at 7:00 am (yes, you know you're a mother when you feel the need to vacuum your house at 7 am,) I needed to run the vacuum cleaner because there had already been 3 occurrences of Lance picking up a little bit of something off the carpet and putting it into his mouth. (It's amazing how much garabge comes in on your shoes!! EVEN when you wipe your feet on the mat!) So anyhoo, in an effort to prevent my son from ingesting something that would not be good for him, I tried vacuuming. I thought that if I held him while I vacuumed he might be fine.

Not so much.

Screaming in terror.

Thankfully, Hubby had not yet left for work, so he took Lance back into the bedroom and let him crawl around on our floor while I feverishly vacuumed the rest of the house in 6 1/2 seconds. Well, not really, of course, but Hubby had to be out the door so I couldn't take my time and vacuum nice and slowly like I usually do, to ensure that all the dirt and dust buried deep in the recesses of the carpet gets removed. This quick little vacuum job was only able to lift the visible bits of mess off the floor. Those are the ones I was concerned about anyway! He can't pick up something he can't see now, can he? lol!

I think I got my workout for the day!

Let's hope this fear passes SOON! The last thing I need is yet ANOTHER chore that can only be done while Lance is sleeping. Sigh.

And now, just for a moment, let's all admire the cuteness of my child.

On three now.

One, two, three...

AWWWW!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 14

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, after a whole month of maintaining my weight, this week I can actually post a LOSS!!!

Not a huge one. Not even a whole pound. I came down a mere .6 pounds from my last report-in.

But still, it's nice to see the numbers going DOWN!!!

I have not been as good with drinking enough water or eating enough fruits and veggies. I will go to the supermarket today and stock up. I love eating fruits and veggies, it's just a matter of keeping them in the house! lol!

Off to go do my Pilates workout! :)

Things I Have Done Today

In case I have a horrible case of memory loss when I get old, I want to place this record of how a day in my life goes.

Sunday, August 12:

2 am. Wake up with screaming baby. Lull him back to sleep. He sleeps for 10 minutes, then wakes up screaming. Repeat process for 1 1/2 hours.

7:00 am. Wake up "for the day" with baby. Hurriedly get dressed to go to church.

8:45 am. Arrive at church. Drop off Lance at nursery. Go to back of sanctuary to rehearse music with band.

10:45 am. Pick up Lance from nursery and drive home.

11:00 am. Lance takes a nap. I take a nap, too.

12:30 pm. Lance wakes up from nap. I wake up, too.

3:30 pm. My dad arrives for a short afternoon visit, en route back to his home after a weekend of scuba diving.

5:30 pm. Hubby and Lance go off to Bible Study. I play hooky and stay home alone.

6:00-9:30 pm. Do Pilates workout DVD. Finish last 4 chapters of novel. Learn two new guitar chords.

10:00pm. Hubby and Lance are home. Hubby goes to grocery store, I feed Lance and put him to bed.


Not a bad day, all in all!

Sisterhood of the Shopping Mommies

There is a sisterhood. A bond between stay-at-home moms and weekend shoppers. Instead of shopping bags, we carry diaper bags. (Sometimes both.)

I was at the mall this week. I was on a mission. I had a very particular task to accomplish. As I looked about me, I realized that I belonged to a sisterhood. A sorority of sorts. We don't have a name and the only "ritual" to initiate one into membership is giving birth.

The Sisterhood of the Shopping Mommies.

We don't need to speak to recognize each other. There is no secret handshake or code word, just the exchanged glances of two women both pushing strollers making way for each other to get through the aisles.

Because of course, the people who design stores don't think about things like strollers when planning the layout of the store.

They certainly don't think about those rare occurences when two women with strollers are trying to get down the same aisle.

So it's up to us. The Shopping Mommies. We have unwritten rules. If the other mommy has more children than you, she gets to go past first. If you're about to have a head-on collision with another stroller, each mommy must keep to the right, creating "lanes" as it were. If a mommy is pushing a newborn in a stroller, carrying an older baby on her back in a wrap and leading a toddler by the hand and then proceeds to drop the item she is looking at, it is YOUR job to pick it up for her and give her a smile of sympathy. Unless, of course, you are also pushing a stroller, have TWO babies on your back and are leading a toddler and a seeing-eye dog. Then the poor gal is on her own.

Also, if you have better gear than the mommy who is in the aisle next to you, don't flaunt it. It's not nice. The size of the diaper bag doesn't matter!! (Of course, if you happen to notice that your gear IS better, it's OK to indulge yourself in a smug little smile when the other mommy isn't looking.)

And for goodness sake, when it's time for the Shopping Mommy to leave the mall and make the trek back to the car, hold the door open for her!!!! I can't tell you how many times I've pushed open a heavy department store door with my foot, pushed the stroller through it and let go, letting it roll a bit so I could get through with my bags, hoping the door wouldn't close on me and separate me from my precious cargo. I also can't tell you how many times I've done this with someone standing nearby with only a purse and a single shopping bag, just staring at me.

Thank God for the Sisterhood.

First Tooth!!

Wednesday, August 8, 2007: Lance's first tooth appeared. It's about time!!!

What to do, what to do???

Having a dilemma of sorts.

Do I take the part-time teaching job I've been offered? Do I leave Lance with babysitters? The ladies I've lined up are wonderful, dear, friends of mine. I feel like I'm imposing on them. "Here, you watch my child so I can go out and earn money." I'm making so little money at the job that to pay them the going rate for babysitting would be more than my salary. (That's so wrong, by the way, that babysitters get paid MORE than teachers!! But I digress. That's a subject for another post!) Perhaps I can take them out to lunch instead of paying them? Hmm, by the time I pay for lunch for each of us each day, I may as well have paid them the going rate for babysitting, so my whole paycheck would go to the restaurants. Why bother with that?

Do I need to work now, anyway? What is my motivation? We've been living on hubby's salary just fine, what's another year going to matter? In another year, Lance can go into preschool too. He could go to the preschool I teach in, which would be free!

A little extra money would be helpful, sure, but at what expense? I have the rest of my life to work, but Lance will only be a baby for a little while longer. Teaching jobs will ALWAYS be available.

I've been praying and praying, and I just keep going back and forth about whether or not this is God's will for me. If it was God's will, wouldn't I know it deep down inside? I usually do. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was supposed to marry my husband. I knew that it was God's will for me to continue in a church music ministry that I was *very* frustrated with for awhile. My flesh wanted to quit, but I knew God put me there, so I stayed, and now I'm grateful for that. When God called me to go to Tanzania on a mission trip, there was no going back and forth. It was clear what I was supposed to do.

This job? Not so clear. One day I think it's a great idea. The next day, not so much. Would this job be fun? Oh yeah. I'd have a great time! Am I just trying to "run away" from my responsibilities as a mother? If I was honest with myself, yes, a little bit. How heavenly would it be for a few hours a day to not be "mommy." A few hours without diapers and spit-up. But then, I'll be teaching 2, 3, and 4 year olds. I'll be "mommy" to a whole class full of kids.

Shouldn't I spend my time raising MY son and not somebody else's??? When he's old enough for school, then I can go and raise other people's children.

I need to make a decision soon. The preschool director would need time to find somebody else if I don't take it.

School starts in 3 weeks. I would be putting her in a horrible position if I backed out on her now. But what is more important? Her convenience, or that I do what I am supposed to do??????

Oh, the confusion.

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 12

It's been several weeks since I've reported in.

Well, I'm back in the game now. This was a crazy month, with hubby being out of the country and me being out of town as well.

Isn't it crazy how EASY it is to get out of good habits??

Well, I'm happy to report that while I have not lost any weight since my last weigh-in, neither have I gained. All right! That means I don't have to re-lose any pounds this time!

To help myself get back on track, I have planned out meals to cook for the week, and I purchased a Pilates DVD that I had previously borrowed from the library and really enjoyed.

Starting weight: 157
Last reported weight: 153
Today's weight: 153

It's slow going, but I refuse to give up!!!

And I Danced Him To Sleep

Lance was so sleepy. The eyes were drooping, mouth opening wide in gigantic baby-yawns, and he was squirming in that way sleepy babies have. Too awake to settle down, too sleepy to settle down. You know the stuff.

I rocked him. It didn't work.

I bounced him on my knee. It didn't work.

I put him in his crib and turned on his lullabye CD. Didn't work.

I lifted him out of the crib, held him close, and started to dance him to sleep. We swayed together in the middle of the nursery to the beautiful music of...my singing voice. :) We sang "Hushabye Mountain" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins, "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella, and "There's Always Tomorrow" from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Am I the only woman in the world who takes her lullabyes from children's movies? I've only got a couple that come from actual music artists, and even those were given to me from friends.

But I digress.

It was so sweet, dancing my small boy to sleep. Sleep has been a bit of an issue around here lately, what with Hubby being gone (he's back now, yay!) and working late nights and band practice and bible study. The little guy has had a hard time getting back on his routine.

Hubby was working late so it was once again up to me to get him to sleep. This is usually a challenge for me, since it's usually Hubby who puts Lance to sleep, so that's what he's used to. I had gotten quite depressed and down on myself, thinking that I was a bad mother because I couldn't get my baby to sleep. After all, oughtn't a mother to be able to get her child to sleep? I was dreading the next hour or so, knowing that it would take me that long. I was surprised.

The little guy was sleepy.

And I danced him to sleep.

10 Reasons Why I Have Not Been Good At Blogging This Week

1. Hubby was out of the country, leaving me and Lance alone for a week and a half.

2. I spent a good portion of that week and a half at my parent's house, and their internet was on the fritz each time I tried to get online and blog.

3. Lance decided that since Daddy wasn't home to put him to sleep at night that he would just cry. And cry. A lot. And once he fell asleep every night, he would wake up. Multiple times. Just to see if Daddy was home yet.

4. Daddy wasn't home yet.

5. Hubby arrived home on Sunday afternoon. Yay! Daddy put Lance to sleep and all was well with the world again.

6. On Monday (today,) Hubby had to stay at work late because the computers decided to crash. 20 of them. At the same time. And he had to rebuild them. As I type this, he is still rebuilding them. (11:30 p.m.)

7. So once again, Lance was waiting for Daddy to come home to put him to sleep. The little guy is so confused. When he gets confused, he gets loud and just won't go to sleep. Until he is so exhausted that he literally has to scream himself to sleep.

8. Now it's late and Daddy still isn't home. Mommy is exhausted. She wants to read all her friend's blogs but she's just too tired.

9. Mommy isn't mad at Daddy because it's not Daddy's fault that his grandfather passed away and he had to go out of the country, and it's not Daddy's fault that the computers broke tonight, and it's not Daddy's fault that Lance only likes Daddy to put him to sleep.

10. But Mommy IS mad. She just doesn't know who or what to be mad at.

So that's why she hasn't been great at blogging this past week.

It's a Good Thing I'm Not Afraid of Spiders...

...because last night as I was walking through the house turning out the lights, there was a brown spider on the wall right behind the switch for the lamp. It was the last lamp of the night. All the other lights were out. Lance was asleep, I had finally gotten the kitchen in some semblance of cleanliness and put his toys away and was eagerly heading to bed. As I switched off the last lamp in the dining room on my way to the bedroom, there it was.

A little brown spider. He was just a little guy, not even an inch long.

(Remember, I'm home by myself because hubby is out of the country attending his grandfather's funeral. It's just me and Lance. No strong protector man to kill spiders and get things off the top shelf for me.)

And I remembered.

I was in high school. In the hallway outside of the band room. Band kids were wandering around in various stages of undress, some with uniforms half on and half off, hats hanging down their back, undershirts and boxers poking out, instruments casually tossed about in an effort to GET THE HECK OUT OF THE HOT BAND ROOM AND OUT FOR BURGERS after the football game.

There was a teeny, tiny, barely visible spider.

Clarinet player Tiffany saw it. She shrieked. The sea of band kids in various stages of undress parted, allowing her a clear path to run to the door and out of the building.

And I laughed.

I laughed a lot.

It was just a little spider. This girl was freaking out. It was ridiculous.

Then last night, a similar spider was on my wall. I remembered Tiffany and smiled, grateful that I'm not afraid of spiders.

Popsicles and Planes

Wow. I haven't written a *real* blog post in a long time.

I wish I could say that I've been busy doing exciting and adventurous things, like parasailing or going for hot air balloon rides.

But I haven't. I've just been busy being a mom. Can I hear an amen??

* * * * * * *

I just love it when little things make me happy.

Last night, I shared a popsicle with Lance. It was so wonderful! Hubby was sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating popsicles. Lance was playing on the floor, watching intently. So, Hubby let him have a taste. The little guy just LOVED it! After Hubby took it out of Lance's mouth, Lance looked Hubby straight in the eye, and very plainly instructed him to give the popsicle back. He did this by opening his mouth wide open, looking very much like a baby bird awaiting a worm from it's mother.

I was literally rolling on the floor laughing at this. There Lance was, sitting on Hubby's lap, and though his communication was entirely non-verbal, we both plainly knew what he wanted. So, Hubby decided to let me feed Lance the rest of the popsicle and he went and got another one.

So we did. I held Lance and we took turns licking the popsicle. (I'm sure some of you think that is gross. Of all the bodily fluids that a mother and baby share, I seriously doubt that the saliva exchanged in the sharing of a popsicle is in any way significant.) It was so sweet!!

I discovered something else, too. Popsicles are great for teething babies. I'm going to find some of the 100% fruit bars to keep for him. He can't choke on the popsicle because even if he manages to "gum" off a little piece, it'll melt before causing any harm. Maybe some discomfort, but he won't choke, and he seems to love the coldness of it.

* * * * *

Hubby is currently on a plane. Over the Atlantic Ocean. His grandfather passed away yesterday morning, and he is on his way to South Africa for the funeral now. (Hubby is from South Africa. He came to the US in 2001 and hasn't been back to see his family until now.) While the reason for his trip is sad, he is very happy to go see everyone. I wish Lance and I could go with him, but we don't have a passport for Lance. Isn't it just ridiculous that babies need to have a passport??!! Seriously, what kind of security threat is a 7-month old????? I'm glad I don't work for the government.

It'll just be Lance and me for the next week and a half. Well, not totally. I'll be going to spend a week with my parents and sister. This will be the first time Hubby and I have been apart since Lance was born. I'm glad this didn't happen sooner, because in those early days I could barely get through the day on my own and I eagerly watched the clock until Hubby arrived home. He couldn't dare work late, let alone be away overnight! Now I know that I can handle Lance by myself, but it'll be a little creepy to be alone in the apartment.

Please pray for safe travel for Hubby, and also protection while he is in South Africa. I hear that the crime is getting much worse, and Hubby's mom's house was recently broken into. I'm a little nervous with him being over there, but it *is* his home country and I know he can handle himself. I just hate the thought that if something were to happen, I'm half a world away! So pray for me, too, please!

* * * * * *

Tomorrow is party time!! Woohoo!!!! Damselfly had the brilliant idea of hosting a "swap party" in which the attendees bring items from their home that they no longer want. It'll be like a big yard sale but everything's free. Isn't that a great idea? I'm bringing some clothes that will no longer fit me, a set of candle holders that don't match my home's decor, some very tacky plastic Christmas plates, and some earrings that I can't wear. (Because I don't have pierced ears. Because apparently my body is allergic to earrings. Because this is the second time I have attempted to have pierced ears, and both times the infection never went away and the darn things just grew back.) Hopefully I will return home with some treasures!!

Have a great night everyone!

Note To Self

Sorry this is going to be a short post- just making a quick note to myself so I won't forget.

Thursday, July 5th, evening: Lance crawls for the first time!!

Friday, July 6th, late afternoon: Lance stands up in his playpen.

Hang on, it's gonna be a wild ride!

Terrific Tuesday

OK, I've got quite a few things to write about on this Tuesday. Let's begin!

* * * * * * * *

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 8

I lost a pound this week!! ALL RIGHT!! However, you'll notice that my weight has actually gone UP since last week. Well, it went up, but went down again, so although I have a net gain for the week, I successfully lost one pound from my highest weight of the week until this morning. I refuse to be disappointed that my weight is higher than last week. Instead, I choose to congratulate myself on losing that pound! (I wonder just how many times I've lost that particular pound? Is it just me, or is this whole weight-loss thing a gigantic game of "two steps forward, one step back?") I'm choosing to look at the positive side of things! I would image those four pina coladas from last weekend contributed to the gain, but then Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I worked extra hard and took that pound right off again. So here are the numbers thus far:

Starting weight: 157
Last week: 152.6
Today: 153

Here's hoping for better self control this week!

* * * * * * * *

I am honored to be the recipient of the Rockin' Girl Blogger award! Thanks, Damselfly!

Hm. Who can I pass this on to?

1. Jessica at Don't Give Him Crackers! She rocks because she gives great tips for things like saving money at CVS and Target without sounding like she's writing an advertisement for them!

Side note: I'm getting real tired of reading blogs that have become gigantic advertisements for products. If you find a great product, sure, share it with us, but come on! I read blogs for the wit and brilliance of my fellow mothers. I want to read their stories and share in their experiences. I want to glean from the wisdom and mistakes of others, and know that I'm not alone in this journey called Motherhood! If I want a product review, I'll go to ePinions.com

Wow. I went totally off-topic there. Oh well, it's my blog and I can digress if I want to! hee hee!

2. Anne at Life in the Ketchup Bottle. How can you NOT rock if you live in a ketchup bottle??!! (Anne, I saw a t-shirt the other day and thought of you...it was a red shirt and said, "I put ketchup on my ketchup." LOL!)

3. Susan at Learning For A Lifetime. She is a teacher, and all teachers rock. Well, not all of them, I've had some pretty bad ones, but being in training to become a teacher and the experiences I have gained from my field studies have given me a MUCH greater appreciation of all my teachers, even the bad ones. Anyway, Susan writes about a plethora of things including her faith, her family, and she always is reading a good book that she's happy to share with us!

This is a caveat to my earlier "I don't like product review blogs." One of the FEW exceptions to this is book reviews. Susan often shares books she has read, and since the title of her blog is "learning for a lifetime," book reviews fit in with her "theme."

4. Horseymama at A Day in the Life of a Stay At Home Mom. She's a real-life friend of mine, and she just rocks!

5. Kelli at Holding the Mirror Up To My Soul. This gal was blogging within DAYS of having her little baby! I was impressed. It took me a couple of months to get back into the swing of things! Her little guy is four months old now. You rock, Kelli!


Those of you who have won the award, please find the "Rockin Girl Blogger" button on my sidebar. It's not a functioning button because the day I received the award from Damselfly, I had a devil of a time trying to snag the code to post it, so I did what any honest person would do. I right-clicked the image on her blog, saved it to my computer, and then posted it as a picture. Since I don't have the code, I can't provide it to you, but I'm happy to let you "lift" your award from my sidebar! (There are a lot of people who have this award already, if you find the code from somewhere else, you could snag it there, too!)

Crouching Mama, Sleeping Baby

It's official.

I'm loony.

Nuts.

Desperate, perhaps.

Yesterday, while settling my precious young man-child to sleep in his crib, POP open his eyes went! I quickly dropped to all fours by the side of his crib thinking that maybe just maybe he wouldn't see me and would go back to sleep.

There on the floor I hovered, breathing as silently as I could and trying very hard not to shift my weight not even by an ounce lest the floor creak beneath me.

I felt like I was in a scene from Mission Impossible. I heard the theme music in my head as stealthily I remained in my crouched down pose.

Crouching Mama, Sleeping Baby.

It was yet another episode of Baby Recon. I find myself doing this frequently.

Breathlessly I remained, awaiting the telltale sign of a sleeping baby: silence in the room. As I heard his tiny body settle in amongst the crib linens, I let out a slow, long, breath. Sleep had come.

I didn't dare stand up and risk awaking the small babe. I crawled across the room, down on my hands and knees, and gingerly pressed the "on" button on the baby monitor. Once safely outside the nursery, I slowly stood up and pulled the door shut.

Oh, sweet relief.

Do you like pina coladas? And going out in the rain...

*Warning: if you are against drinking, you may find this post offensive. I don't want to alienate anyone. Proceed with caution!*


I had a great night last night.

A great night.

Want to know why?

Pina coladas.

My husband is a champion pina colada maker. Nothing better to help an exhausted mommy unwind then one or two (or 4...yikes!) pina coladas.

We had friends C and K over for dinner last night along with their two daughters A and A. (We'll call them A1 and A2 so as not to be confusing.) We had a feast planned! A delicious appetizer of chili-cheese dip and chips, followed by steak and chicken on the grill, corn on the cob, salad, and double-baked potatos. The perfect summer meal.

And pina coladas.

C and I sipped them right when they arrived. We sipped some more while the men went outside to do manly BBQ-ish things at the grill. (That sounds dirty. Tee hee!) We sipped them with dinner, and we sipped them after dinner.

Before we knew it, C and I had each "sipped" 4 pina coladas. Our hubbies, quite brilliantly, remained sober in order that the children wouldn't go unsupervised. Such good men! Such presence of mind! (Lance was asleep by this time and A1 was starting to drift off. I don't want anyone to think we were getting trashed and not paying attention to the kids!)

This is unusual behavior for both of us. Our husbands were quite happy to let us get ourselves dizzy. Such great men they are! There we were, the two of us sipping pina coladas and giggling like schoolgirls.

I won't lie. We enjoyed it.

This morning though? Not so hot. Not horrible, but not so hot.

Do I have a point to this post? Just to say that every once in awhile, it's great to unwind, let your hair down, and relax. And if you're going to drink 4 pina coladas, you might as well do it with your friends from church!!

Suggestions, Tips, and Ideas Welcome!

Good morning!

As I mentioned before, Lance has learned to sit up.

Yesterday, I discovered that not only can he pull himself to a sitting position, but when he is placed in his crib, he can pull himself to a kneeling position, pulling up on the crib rails. There was silence in the nursery, I was sure the little guy was asleep. Nope! He was grinning at something in the room as he gingerly peeked over the side of the crib, up on his knees.

So how do we teach the little guy to get himself to sleep in his crib if he just starts playing?

Should I instead be grateful that I can put him in there and he can entertain himself for awhile, giving me a few minutes of peace and quiet?

Is it just a novelty and something he'll stop doing after awhile?

Usually, when he gets sleepy I can put him in his crib, he'll fuss for a few minutes, but then drift off to sleep. Now, instead of fussing, he sits up and starts playing with his teddy bear mobile.

What new and interesting challenges motherhood constantly presents! Just when I think I've finally got something figured out and begin to settle into a little bit of normalcy, Lance learns how to do something new which throws everything off! I'm glad that he's learning to do new things, I just wish he would wait for his mama to catch up!

Things That Make Me Happy (and a contest!)

I've been reflecting on things that make me happy. It's easy to get caught up in mommy-hood, and when you're a very tired mommy, sometimes it's also easy to overlook the happy things. So here is my list of things that make me happy.

1. Spending the afternoon at the swimming pool with friends
2. Brownies
3. Bear hugs from my husband
4. My son's giggle
5. The soft fragrance of my scented candle, and getting lost in thought as I gaze into the flame of the burning wick.
6. Reruns of favorite TV shows
7. Getting my carpet cleaned. For free. (We renewed our apartment lease for another year, getting us free carpet cleaning! Bonus!!)
8. Enjoying an evening of a clutter-free home because it's all stashed away in the closets because I had to move everything off the carpets so they could get cleaned. For free.
9. Did I mention my free carpet cleaning?
10. Oh! Also free shoes! A friend bought a pair of shoes that she ended up not liking and gave them to me.
11. Free stuff is great.

Speaking of free stuff, here's info to a contest I've just entered. Enjoy!

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


Wow, it seems that contests and giveaways are abounding in the world of Mommy-Bloggerhood.

I don't enter them often, but this one sounded good to me! A Solarveil Ring Sling which is made of a fabric that keeps the mama (and baby!) cool in the sun and protects from harmful UVA and UVB rays. Who wouldn't want one of these?

To enter the contest, go visit Steph.

To view the sling being given away, go check out KimzKreations.

I've been carrying Lancelot in a pouch sling that I just adore, but I have to admit I'm getting a little bored with it, and in this south Florida summer heat, it's just about unbearable to carry him in it. This sling sounds like a great solution to both problems!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 7

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I lost most of the weight I put on the last two weeks! Go me!!

Starting: 157
Last week: 154.2
Today: 152.6

Total loss: 4.4 pounds!!!

Something New

Lance did something new today!

From lying down, on his back, he sat himself up without help from us. (Well, we held his feet down, but he used his own strength to get himself sitting up!)

Funny how things like this get us moms excited. :) Happy Sunday!

Isn't my boy cute??

Throwback Thursday

Hey, I like this idea!

Throwback Thursday. A peek back in time!

My sister has recently started scanning in our old family photos, and I've got a handful of them, so here is what I have dug up for you today.

I was in a baton twirling group when I was about 11. We were called "Victory Twirlers." The group was run by a home-schooling mom, and most of the girls in the group were homeschooled. She opened the group up to girls in our church as well, so my little passel of pals from Sunday School and our little sisters joined in!

(I'm in the purple uniform at the far left, my little sister is in the pink uniform at the far right.)

We marched in parades all over the state. (We lived in California at the time.) We did Christmas parades, 4th of July Parades, local festival parades, etc etc. It was so much fun!

I wasn't crazy about having my hair put up in a bun and being attacked with hair spray. To this day, I never use hair spray. I hate the stuff.

So here's a photo of us in our cute baton-twirling outfits making goofballs of ourselves.

*Note: this was taken on the day of our "professional" picture day. After we all had to pose for what seemed like hours, my dad got out his camera and let us be ourselves! Good ol' Dad!

Have some old photos you'd like to share? Hop on over to Pinks and Blues Girls and join in the fun!!

Wordless Wednesday

I liked to play with these when I was a kid. I used to have a ton of them. These are all that are left...

A Little Bit Nervous

I believe I mentioned before that I got a job teaching preschool music this coming school year at a local Christian preschool.

I'm terrified out of my mind.

This will be my first "real job" and I'm not sure I can do it! I'm nervous about leaving Lancelot with a babysitter. Not because I'm afraid something bad will happen to him, but afraid that I'll miss something! His first steps, his first word, all kinds of things. I don't want to miss out on anything!

I know I'm being ridiculous. I'm only teaching 3 days a week and my school day is only 4 hours. It's not a high-pressure job. I get to sing songs with preschoolers and put on a Christmas program! This is the kind of job I dreamed about while I was in college.

So why am I freaked out?

Please pray that these butterflies in my stomach will relax a little bit!!

Two weeks ago I was able to participate in our church's VBS program. I helped out 3 days of the week, and the program lasted about 4 hours. Lancelot was in the church nursery while I was next door in the sanctuary running the sound equipment for the "Sing and Play" sessions. (This was not a tough job. I turned everything on and ran a DVD player. Very simple.)

I loved it. I loved the feeling that I was doing something. Something productive, something helpful beyond mothering. I was doing something for my own personal edification. Not that I don't love being a stay at home mom, I just ADORE it, but every once in awhile it's nice to feel like the person I used to be before the baby came along!

So if I didn't have a problem with VBS, why do I have a problem with this? It's basically the same thing.

Only it's EVERY WEEK. Not just one week of the year.

Lancelot won't be in the building next door to me. He'll be across town. I can't pop in to check on him in between classes.

I know I just need to have faith, but it can be tough sometimes!

Getting all of this out has helped a little bit.

Thanks for "listening!"

* * * * * * *

And because pictures of my little boy always cheer me up, here is something for your viewing pleasure:

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 6

Hmph.

Gained another pound this week.

Last week I had a valid reason for gaining weight.

This week I just blew it.

Grr.

Argh.

Well, I guess I'll just have to try harder this week! Hopefully next week I'll have happier news to bring you!

Edited to Add:

I suppose I should set some specific goals so I don't get lazy again like I did this last week! Here is what I will do:

1. Walk EVERY DAY. If it is too hot to walk outside, I will go to the mall and do a few laps with Lancelot in his stroller!

2. Get to the gym 4 evenings this week. There is no reason I can't get to the gym tonight, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Friday and Monday are the only days I can't make it.

3. Fruit with breakfast and fruit with lunch.

4. Caffeine ONCE a day.

5. Only half a glass of wine in the evening, or a whole glass every other evening.


I think these few things will help me. Let's see how it goes!

Just For Fun...

Have a look at this photo. Does something look unusual??



If this were to be published in a newspaper, I would imagine the headline would go something like this:

"Incredible One-Legged Man Saves Baby From Falling Tree!"

LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!

This was taken on our recent camping trip with Damselfly and friends.

I tried to tell him, but my husband had to learn the hard way that it's very difficult to push an umbrella stroller through a sandy trail. :) Don't even bother. Get yourself a sling or a good baby carrier instead!

Father's Day Weekend

I'm so proud of myself.

I have purchased an incredible, romantic, meaningful gift for my husband for his first father's day.

There is something he has been anxious to have for a long time, and I have gotten it for him!

It is a thing of prestige, a symbol of wealth, and will make him popular with his coworkers. (Not that he needs it. Everyone loves him!)

It is...

Dum de dum dum dum...

Drum roll please...

Wait for it....



a lava lamp.

My husband wants a lava lamp for his desk at work.

It was not what I was expecting him to ask for.

Not just ANY lava lamp.

Purple with yellow lava.

And I found it.

On my second shopping excursion for lava lamps, I found it.

At Target.

I'm feeling very smug.

Have a great Father's Day weekend, everyone!

Don't Cry Over Spilled Coffee

What a day!

God must have given me an extra dose of patience when I woke up this morning!

So far, we've had two doctor's appointments, two changes of clothes, a jaunt through the pouring rain, and a spilled cup of coffee.

Not just any coffee. Starbucks coffee.

A Christian comedienne I like is Anita Renfroe. She has a bit about Starbucks where she says, "In my family, we call it Fourbucks, because that's how much it costs to go there."

Today, I may as well have thrown four bucks in a puddle on the street and driven right through it.

This afternoon was my annual girly exam. No fun. I have begun a tradition in which after such unpleasant medical procedures, I reward myself with my favorite Starbucks poison. (Grande Raspberry Mocha without whipped cream, for those of you who must know!) I drank a little bit of it in the car on my way to pick up Lancelot from the babysitter.

I stayed and chatted with the babysitter who happens to be a good friend of mine for awhile. Had I left her house 5 minutes earlier than I did, I would have avoided a great deal of unpleasantness. As I was walking to the car, baby and diaper bag in hand, the heavens opened up and spilled forth. Torrentially. Babysitter offered me the use of her umbrella so Lancelot would not get wet. She offered to let me keep it for awhile so I could get into my house nice and dry. I took her up on the offer.

If I declined the use of the umbrella, I would have avoided about half of the unpleasantness of the day.

Once I arrived home (well, to the parking lot of the apartment complex that is,) I was very happy to have the umbrella. I very precariously propped it up between my shoulder and the roof of the car as I bent over to release Lancelot from the chair of torture, er, I mean the carseat.

My cup of Fourbucks, still nice and warm and waiting to be enjoyed, was also on the roof of the car. Big mistake.

I bent over just the wrong way, and the edge of the umbrella knocked the cup of coffee over. Of course, it couldn't knock it towards the back of the car or the opposite direction from me. It came, much like the rain, spilling forth on top of me. Coffee spilled on my shirt, my jeans, the diaper bag, Lancelot, and all over the backseat of my car.

I rushed inside, ripped off Lancelot's onesie and my shirt and tossed them in the washing machine so hopefully the stains won't set.

Murphy was giggling. A lot.

I managed to save the last few sips of my Fourbucks, so once we were both in dry, coffee-free clothes I was able to enjoy a portion of my reward.

Sigh. What a day!

Mommy, Mommy, Are We There Yet??

“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”
~ Oswald Chambers ~

As a child, I can remember taking long car trips every year for our annual camping excursion up in the Sequoia Mountains. It was a 6 hour car ride and to my 9-year old sensibilities seemed like an eternity. (Especially with a baby sister who kept touching me and scooting over to my side!) Every few minutes I would inquire of my patient parents, "Are we there yet??" The standard response to this question was "In about three hours." Once I realized that no matter how long it was actually going to be, my hilarious father would respond with "in about three hours," and then I stopped asking the question.

I may not have known where I was being led or long it was going to take to get there, but I knew my father would not drive us into oblivion. He would get us where we were going safely.

When I saw this quote by Oswald Chambers, it brought back those memories. How much are we like little children inquiring of God, "Are we there yet?" Once we know our Father and learn that He will always get us to where we are going safely, we no longer have need to ask that question because we know Him and love Him, and it ultimately doesn't matter where He leads us. Wherever He is, is where we want to go.


If you'd like to post your thoughts on this topic and join the CWO Tuesday 'In Other Words,' click on over to Iris at Sting My Heart. Read what other people have to say and share your own thoughts, too!

Wordless Wednesday: Avalanche Ranch!!

I guess I need a few words to explain the next few pictures.

Last week, our church had our Vacation Bible School. The theme was "Avalanche Ranch" and the sanctuary was dressed to the 9s to look the part! (We have a fabulous interior designer who does the decorations for VBS every year. She outdoes herself each year! On the stage was a log cabin and a horse, there were clouds strung up from the ceiling, and a pine tree forest in the choir loft. It was incredible.)

Anyway. The church was all decorated and ready on Saturday, which is when we have one of our contemporary services. Hubby, Damselfly and myself are in the band called Renanah which does the music for the service. Being the goofballs that we all are, we decided to dress to match the decor. We didn't play country music, though, although if you gave us banjos and washboards we sure would have looked the part!!



That's my sweet hubby playing guitar!!




A couple people told me that I look like Shania Twain in that hat. Aww! :)




We don't normally all wear hats like that. :)



Ride 'em, Cowboy!

A Question

For those of you who share a bathroom with the significant male in your life-

Do all men have pitiful aim, or am I just lucky???

A Cute Picture of My Kid

Because it's my blog and I can.

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 5

I didn't lose any weight this week. In fact, I gained some weight. However, I also went to the gym four times, drank plenty of water, and made a conscious effort to add fruits and veggies to my diet.

This week also happens to be my monthly ride on the crimson tide, so perhaps I'm retaining all that extra water I drank!

While it's disappointing to see the numbers go up on the scale, I'm happy to report that I am indeed establishing healthier habits and I can feel it. I have more energy and stamina, I'm sleeping better, and my clothes fit better.

Pooh on you, Mr. Scale.


Here are the numbers:

Starting weight: 157
Last week: 151.2
This week: 153.2

Total weight loss- 3.5 pounds (I'm keeping my button though, because I *did* lose 5 pounds! I just have to lose a couple of them again! lol!)

Of Zerbits and Funny Faces

My little man's personality is starting to come out!

He loves to give kisses, which consist of a sloppy zerbit-like (some call it raspberries,) slobbery kiss on the cheek. He also loves to receive zerbits on his belly. He laughs and laughs!

He's starting making some funny faces! He's learned to crinkle up his nose and lips in an expression of disgust, as though he was detecting an unpleasant odor. (I'll try to get a picture of it. It's the funniest thing you ever saw!) Hubby and I were in stitches last night, trying to get him to make the face! He happily obliged, and hilarity ensued for much of the evening.

He talks! He tries to, anyway. He just babbles away at anyone who'll listen. Two of his favorite "words" are "ah-blah" and "deb-deb." lol! He also smacks his lips making a popping noise. Last night we were sitting in the church service and he just kept doing this over and over. It was cute, but distracting other people so I had to take him out! (Our church does have a nursery available and we usually put him in there, but because I wasn't singing with the band last night, I decided to keep him with me. I had attended a Women of Faith conference that day and only arrived at church halfway through the evening service. I will write a post about Women of Faith later on. It was incredible!!)

As I've been sitting here typing this, I've been keeping an ear out for when he falls asleep for his morning nap. The nursery is now quiet, so I'm off to shower and get dressed and have breakfast. Have a lovely day!

Prayer Request

Good afternoon!

Today, my sister is on an airplane heading for the Dominican Republic on a 2-week mission trip. She will be working in a medical clinic. Please pray for safe travel, protection while abroad, and that God will use her in a mighty way. Also that she will have life-changing experiences and come to know God's will for her life.

This is her second mission trip. A couple of years ago she went to Uganda. She really has a heart to minister to those in other countries who may not have learned who our God is. She's really amazing for a 20-year old!

Here is a photo of us when we were children. I'm on the left, my grandfather is in the middle, and Natalie is on the right. Looking at the picture, I'm guessing I was about 9 and she must have been 5. Enjoy!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 4

I sure am glad our weekly weigh-in occurs on Tuesday, because for some reason, my weight shoots up on the weekend but plunges back down by Tuesday morning. Very strange. I always get very discouraged on Saturday and Sunday when I check my weight, but every Tuesday morning I am pleasantly surprised by what I see! Maybe I'm subconsciously making an extra effort on Monday because I know I'll be weighing in Tuesday. Who knows?

Here are this week's numbers.

Starting weight: 157
Last week: 152.6
This week: 151.2

Total weight loss: 5.8 pounds

Yahoo!! Now I can get my "I Lost 5 pounds" button. Tee hee!

Stories and Photos of our Camping Trip...

...are not to be found here.

We are having some weird computer problems, prohibiting me from uploading pics from our camping trip with Damselfly.

Fortunately for you, she has written a post about our camping trip and included LOTS of pictures, so head on over there to find out all about it!

A quick update...

I have neither the time nor the energy to put into a fun-filled witty blog post peppered with cute descriptions of things, so I'll keep things short and sweet for now!

The camping trip was great! Lancelot behaved admirably with the exception of waking up at 1:30 am and staying up for an hour. I carried him around the campsite and sang to him. I hope I didn't wake up the whole campground!

While on the trip, Damselfly introduced me to a new hobby- geocaching!! It's so much fun! It's basically a treasure hunt. People hide these "caches," usually plastic containers filled with goodies in hollowed out trees, under rocks, etc etc etc, and provide you with the GPS coordinates to find them. All you need to do this hobby is a handheld GPS unit and a sense of adventure! Sometimes they (the cache hiders--- it can be anyone. Damselfly hid one in a local park, and I found that one, too! hehe!) give hints to find it, sometimes not. At the park, we found 2 geocaches! After that, I went to the geocaching website and registered an account. It's fun and FREE and great to do with kids. (Not so great with babies. You sometimes find yourself trudging through swamp and bush to find the cache!)

We're having trouble with our computer, so I can't post pictures yet, but I promise I will as soon as I am able.

Have a lovely evening!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 3

I don't know what it is, but knowing that I'm going to be posting my weight on my blog for all the world to see seems to be working!!

The May Day Weight Loss Challenge has been on for three weeks now, and I'm proud to say that I did well this week! I went to the gym 3 times, went on a camping trip this weekend where I was *very* active, and I drank more water. I still need to watch my intake of potato chips and french fries. Those are my weakness. Especially when going out to eat. However, this week I also cooked 5 dinners (which is a lot for me,) so not only did I save us money on take-out and restaurants, I ate healthier than I would have, resulting in a 1 1/2 pound weight loss for the week!

I know that 1 1/2 pounds doesn't sound like a lot, but I would rather consistently lose weight than lose a whole bunch all at once and then put it right back on. The changes I am making are small, but they are things that I will always be able to do. I'm not "on a diet," I'm just trying to make healthier choices. For example, we ordered pizza during the week. I did not allow myself to go for seconds, which I would have done before. When making a sandwich, I use multigrain bread instead of white. (Pepperidge Farm makes a good one called "Light Style 7 Grain" that's really nice.)

I didn't do as well with my house exercises. I only went for walks in our neighborhood maybe two days, and I really failed when it came to my daily handweight exercises and abdominal crunches and situps. I'll work on that this week.

Here are the numbers so far:

Starting weight: 157
Last week: 154
This week: 152.6

Here's to a fabulous 4th week!!

Off to the Wilderness!!

Well, I'm in the middle of packing for our Memorial Day Weekend camping trip!!! Damselfly and her family along with two other families from our church are going camping Sunday night! It's only a one-night deal, but we thought that would be best considering the babies have never been camping before and we have no idea what to expect! (Also, Damselfly and I are singers in our church praise and worship band, my husband is our guitar player, and two other guys who are going on the trip with us are also in the band, (bass player and horns,) and we had to play for our Saturday Night Alive service tonight!)

I'm excited but also a little nervous. I love camping. I adore it. The last time I went camping was in 2003, on the 4th of July weekend. (That's when hubby proposed to me! It was so sweet!)

It'll be wonderful to get in the great outdoors!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend. I plan on being back with pictures Tuesday!

See ya then,

Guinevere :)

Lancelot waves hello!

Lancelot wanted to say hello to his mommy's blog pals!

He's just started sitting up on his own, but he tips over a lot. I set him in his play pen surrounded by pillows so he would stay up. I took this photo while wearing plastic gloves, because I was in the middle of cleaning my shower, but he just looked so cute! There was no time to remove the gloves. I'm amazed I was able to work the tiny little controls on the camera!

I Need A Clone

Of myself, that is.

Lancelot is napping. Yay! Now I simply have to make a selection from many activities with which to occupy myself for the next 45 minutes to an hour.

I can shower and get dressed, or I can sleep.
I can eat breakfast, or I can sleep.
I can run the vacuum cleaner, or I can sleep.
I can pull out the meat to thaw for tonight's dinner, or I can sleep.
I can wash dishes, or I can sleep.
I can file a huge stack of papers, or I can sleep.
I can fill out paperwork for my new job, or I can sleep.
I can practice music for this week's church service, or I can sleep.
I can blog, or I can sleep.

So many things to do.

What, oh what, shall I choose?

I think this time, I will select showering, getting dressed, and breakfast, because I have to be somewhere at 10. Otherwise I would probably sleep.

That pile of papers has been waiting to be moved to the top of my priority list for 6 months. I've set up a nice filing system, I just need to get the darned things in the files!! Now that Lancelot can sit up by himself, maybe I'll bring his play yard in here with some toys while I work on filing. Hm. That's not a bad idea. Cool. Isn't it neat how ideas come to you while typing??

What a load of pooie!!

Awesome Mom is having a contest for the best poop story.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a particularly unusual day in which poop plays the part of the antagonist. You can read about it here. If you have a good poop story yourself, post and join in!

I Got A Job!!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo!!!

I got a job!!

This coming up school year, I will be the new music teacher for our local Christian preschool! I'm so excited! I'll teach music classes to 2, 3, and 4-year olds, and run two chapel services a week. It's great because it's part-time, so I won't be away from Lancelot too long! It will be such a blessing to our family to have a little bit of extra income, too. This is my first "real job." I've worked various temp jobs or things outside of my field, but they don't count. This is for an entire school year and I'll be a real teacher!! Because it's a preschool I don't have to have a degree, which is good, because I'm not done with my degree yet. All I have left is student teaching! When Lancelot is old enough to attend preschool, I'll go back and do that and become a 100% fully certified teacher, then who knows what will happen??

I'm so happy! I'm jumping up and down and giggling over here! tee hee!

Have a lovely day!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 2

Well, another week has come and gone!

I'm down another two pounds!!! Yippeee!!!

Starting weight: 157
Current weight: 154
Total loss: 3 pounds
Workouts: 3 days in the gym, house exercises the rest of the week (crunches, squats, leg lifts, etc.) Also stroller walks!

You may notice that my numbers this week are higher even though I'm reporting a 3 pound weight loss. I bought a new scale this week, but it registers 3 pounds higher than the old one, so I'm adjusting my previous numbers up by 3 to account for the difference. I don't like the higher numbers, but it's still a 3-pound weight loss no matter where you start!

Sweet, Blissful, Freedom

Ahhhhh.

Perfection.

3 solid hours of peace and quiet to do with whatever I like.

I'm being a naughty girl and skipping out on my weekly bible study group this evening in exchange for sweet freedom. I'm not normally this desperate for me-time, but this has been an unusual week. Between hubby being sick the whole week long and my babysitter being on vacation, I haven't had a minute to myself!

I know. I'm spoiled. A babysitter twice a week so I can do whatever I want? A loving hubby who comes home from work and takes over for me? I'm a lucky gal.

This week was different. Hubby was home, but he was in bed, so it was me with Lancelot 24/7 this week. It's exhausting. I don't know how single mothers do it! (If any of you are single mothers, I greatly admire your stamina and patience!!)

So tonight, I asked Hubby if he would take Lancelot to our bible study and I would stay home. He did! I spent the evening working on my scrapbook, which I haven't touched for months! I think I did four two-page layouts. (Well, one of the two-page layouts had been done at a workshop a long time ago and all I did was add the photos!)

It was so nice. I just finished putting my supplies away, popped a frozen pizza in the oven, and started writing this post.

A perfect evening!

To top it off, after Hubby and Lancelot get home, I'll give the baby a bath and feed him, put him to bed, then get into my nice new cuddly-soft bathrobe and drink a glass of wine.

Ahhhh.

The Bread-Throwing Leprechaun

In my house, we keep our bread on top of the refrigerator.

Evidently, the bread is not the only thing taking up residence on top of the refrigerator.

We have a bread-throwing leprechaun living up there.

Most of the time, he doesn't bother us. But every once in awhile, we must do something to anger him, because for days on end, every time someone opens the fridge door, this little doofus throws the bread at the unfortunate refrigerator-door-opener.

I will innocently approach the refrigerator with the sole intention of removing a cold can of Diet Coke Plus. No harm meant to anyone. I just want to quench my thirst.

The Leprechaun doesn't want me to have a Diet Coke Plus. He becomes angry and starts hurling bags of bread at me. For no good reason!

Currently, there is a bag of white bread, a bag of multigrain bread, hot dog buns, whole wheat sub rolls (for tonight's dinner of meatball subs, YUM!), and two packages of tortillas.

This little guy has plenty of ammunition.

I honestly don't know what I did to anger the bread-throwing leprechaun, nor why he chooses to follow us to every home in which we reside. (This is our third apartment in three years. Thank goodness we signed a lease for another year. That'll be at least two years in one place without moving!!! The next time we move, it will be into a house. There we will stay for a long time. Hopefully sans bread-throwing leprechauns.)

Do you have mythical beings living in your home that like to wreak havoc and commit mischief? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Maybe we can get them all together, pack them in a box, and send them to wherever it was that Garfield tried to mail Nermal. Anyone with me??!!

Stand Up and Be Counted

...or sit up, as the case may be!

Within the last couple of days, Lancelot has started sitting up all by himself!! Unfortunately, he doesn't stay up long enough for me to grab the camera and snap a pic for you, but hopefully in the next couple of days he will!

I went to lunch yesterday with Damselfly and our friend Roo, and both Flybaby and Lancelot were sitting in high chairs!!! I can't begin to tell you how much easier it is to eat at a restaurant when Lancelot can sit in a high chair! He seemed to really enjoy it. I wedged him in there with a blanket since he's still a little tippy. It was so cute though!

I'm off to peruse my cookbooks to plan dinners for the next week. I've realized if I don't plan ahead and shop ahead of time for ingredients, we end up eating out too much and spending way more money than is necessary for food. Anyone have any great one-dish meals they'd like to share? I'm a crockpot and casserole kind of gal, I just need some fresh ideas!

A few days ago, I posted a pity party for myself. Thanks to everyone for the good thoughts and comforting words!

Later that day, after I posted, hubby asked me to take him to the hospital. I brought him to the emergency room. Some friends met us there and took Lancelot to their house for the evening. The poor little guy was terrified! He knew these people, but the situation was unfamiliar. As I put him into their car, he looked up at me as if to say, "Why are you sending me with these people?" I wanted to cry, but I had another sad baby in the waiting room! Once Lancelot arrived at their house, (which *was* a familiar place,) he calmed down and was fine.

They hooked an IV up and did a CAT scan. The diagnosis for hubby? Diverticulitis. Inflammation of the intestines. His pain was unbearable. He could barely move. I found out from a friend who knows someone with diverticulitis that the pain is as bad as or worse than childbirth! (The woman who said this has three children, so I'm sure she's telling the truth!) Poor hubby. That must have been horrible for him.

Anyhoo. He's been home all week on very strong medications and is slowly getting better. He'll have to change his diet, but he should be fine.

In the meantime, I have been kept very busy! I didn't realize how much of a difference it made to have him "take over" in the evenings when he got home from work. Just four days of this and I'm worn out.

I hope he gets better soon!!!

Week One Weigh-In

Well, week one of the May Day Weight Loss Challenge is over! I only joined in on Thursday, so I'm only 4 days into it, but here are my results.

Starting weight: 154
Current weight: 153
Gym workouts: 3 days

Wish me luck in the week ahead!

A Pity Party, If You Will.

Sniff sniff.

I need bloggy hugs from my friends today!

My first Mother's Day is a complete bust.

My poor husband. He didn't mean to suddenly come down with horrible stomach pains, requiring him to stay in bed all day long. Also preventing us from going out on our friend's boat with Damselfly for the evening. Wah.

Little Lancelot doesn't know that today is special. He didn't purposely spend much of the day screaming, whilst my ill husband lay in bed, unable to assist me.

And the good folks who keep the shelves stocked at Target didn't know that I was looking for a particular photo album. It's not their fault that my afternoon outing to cheer myself up was also a bust.

I'm pathetic. I know. I'm not mad at my husband or Lancelot, but it is kind of a bummer.

They did get me a lovely present that I was able to open today. I've had my eye on The Sweetest, Softest Robe in The World from Bath and Body Works for some time now. Every time I go into the store, I bury my face in it. I'm sure the salespeople thought I was very strange. Anyway, I dropped a very large, unsubtle hint that I wanted it, so hubby went and got it for me! The sweetheart!

Hubby feels so bad! He said he wanted to do so many nice things for me today. I don't want for him to feel guilty! I'm sure I'll get one heck of a mother's day do-over, though!

Sigh. I feel a little better now, thanks for letting me whine!

On a happier note, here is a picture of Lancelot and I in the swimming pool. It was his first time in the pool, and he loved it!!

Isn't that swim ring cool? I had never seen one before that was a double baby/mommy ring! I don't remember the brand name, but I got it at Babies R Us.

A Napping Dilemna

My son used to be an exquisite napper.

I prided myself on how good a mother I was because my son went down for naps so easily.

I was probably quite smug about it.

Turns out it had nothing to do with me.

Because now he's not an exquisite napper anymore.

He still takes naps, so I'm grateful for that, but I'm a little dumbfounded. I was very spoiled. I would see the first signs of fatigue, I would carry him for a few minutes, sing a lullabye, set him in his crib, and within minutes he would be off to dreamland. Lucky me!

Now, at the first signs of fatigue, I bounce him up and down for half an hour until the eyes droop and he's nearly asleep. Then I sing him a lullabye, set him in his crib, and he lies there fussing for a really long time. Now that he's able to roll over, he flips himself onto his back and gets all worked up because he hates being on his back. (Before he could do that, he would fuss and squirm for 3 or 4 minutes but would eventually fall asleep. Now he wakes himself up.) So now getting him to sleep is sometimes an hour and a half process.

He's getting heavy. I can't keep picking him up and bouncing him for 30-45 minutes.

I need some new tricks.

I'm trying not to be too upset because hey, at least he DOES nap. I just now spend the better part of my day trying to GET him to fall asleep.

This too, shall pass, I know.

Just asking for ideas from those of you who have been there before!

Weight Loss Challenge

I found something wonderful! (Thanks, Susan!)

This is just what I need. During my pregnancy, I put on a lot of weight. About twice what the doctor wanted me to put on. As such, I'm having a hard time getting it off! So, Tales from the Scales is sponsoring a weight loss challenge. There's a weekly weigh-in and you can get fun buttons for your blog with every five pounds you lose! Fun stuff! So go have a look if you also want to get in on the fun.

As part of the deal, you are to post your weight loss goals and other health-related goals. Before joining this challenge, I have already made a few changes:

1. Eliminate liquid calories with the exception of milk and orange juice. No sugary sodas or "fruit drinks." Coke Zero, iced tea with splenda, and lots of water.

2. Switched to multi-grain bread. The only time I have white bread is if we are out at a restaurant and wheat bread is not an option.

3. Reduce pasta and potatos. This includes potato chips and french fries, which are two of my major weaknesses. However, now that I've started eating healthier foods, I crave these items less and less.

4. Increase fruits and veggies.

5. Daily walks with Lancelot in the stroller (weather permitting) and 3-4 visits to the gym per week. I do this when hubby gets home in the evening. This accomplishes several things: I get a "mommy-break," he gets some downtime and/or daddy/son time. If I time my trip to the gym with Lancelot's evening snooze, then it's really good for hubby. He doesn't get much downtime anymore, poor guy!


I will continue these things throughout the weight loss challenge. In addition, I plan on adding some hand-weight exercises and abdominal crunches on a daily basis. Those are easy to fit in. Put Lancelot in his jumperoo, and he thinks I'm entertaining him. lol! It only takes a few minutes to do some crunches and a few sets of weight exercises.

My total weight loss goal by the end of this challenge (which is sometime in September, by the way,) is 30 pounds. I will report to you weekly my gains/losses. If any of you would like to join me, good luck to you!

Wordless Wednesday

Because I can't resist posting cute pictures of my kid!! Lancelot just adores his Pooh-Bear!

Sometimes You Feel Like a Mom, Sometimes You Don't

It just hit me the other day.

I am a mom.

I got a phone call from our church nursery asking for "parent volunteers" to take turns once every two months working a shift in the nursery. For a minute, I thought they had the wrong number. "Parent Volunteers" drive minivans. "Parent volunteers" do their kids' fundraisers for them. "Parent volunteers" make cookies for bake sales. "Parent volunteers" arrange "holiday parties" for their kid's classrooms. Parents were way, way, older than me. How can I be a parent when my own parents are still older than me? I haven't caught up to them, how could I be in the same club? Hmm?

I'm not a parent. Can't be! I'm 25. I haven't finished college, for goodness sake. Yes, I have a son, but I'm not a parent. Am I?

When did this change take place?

When I think of what a mom is, I think of my own mom. So grown up, so adult and mature. I'd come home from school and she'd be sewing, or getting dinner ready, or doing some kind of housework. Adults were boring. When they had parties, all they did was sit around and talk. No fun!!

Wait a minute. When I hang out with my friends, we... sit around and talk.

I spend my days taking care of the house.

But I don't feel like a mom! I still feel like a college kid. I'm just me, I'm who I always was, but now with a baby.

This is very weird.

I don't mean to disparage motherhood. I love being a mother! It just hadn't hit me yet that along with being a mother comes...being a mother. Does that make sense?