First Baseball Game (plus weekly weigh-in.)

Hi! If you're here from Tales From the Scales, scroll down a bit for my weigh-in post.

Lance got to enjoy his first baseball game last night!! Hubby was able to score some AWESOME seats down on the field right next to the bull pen for the Cubs-Marlins game. (He got them through work somehow. Either from a client of theirs, or someone they are a client of-- I dunno. I get them all mixed up. I think Hubby's company buys software from the company that gave us the tickets, making Hubby's office the client??? Make sense to anyone?)

Anyhoo. It made for a great night out of the house, and Lance had SO MUCH fun!! One of the Marlins players (Miller,) who was hanging out in the bull pen gave a baseball to Lance! Isn't that sweet? We were hoping to get a photo of Lance with Miller, but there was a big sign on the fence between our little area and the bull pen that said "Do Not Disturb the Players During the Game." So we honored that, and just smiled a thank-you to him.

This little area where we were sitting is a pretty fancy-shmancy area. You didn't have to go out to the concession stands because they made hot dogs and chicken fingers right in there for us, and there was someone to serve us drinks. PLUS there were THREE hot-tubs in this area. No one was using them, so we let Lance splash around a bit. He had such a great time! (And got soaked. And got me soaked. And got Hubby soaked.)

Do any of you find an unfair ratio of pictures of your child with their father to pictures of your child with YOU? I'd say ours is about 5 to 1. TONS of pictures of Lance with Hubby, and only a handful of them with me. When he grows up, he'll think I wasn't around. I'll just have to remind him that yes, in fact, I was there because I was the one who shot the picture. LOL!

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Well, it's time for a new challenge. Last week I reported an 8-pound weight loss for the duration of the May Day Weight Loss Challenge sponsored by the ladies at Tales From the Scales. Well, this week we begin a new challenge! The Look Great in 2008! Challenge.

My starting weight for this challenge was 149.8.

This morning, I weighed in at 148.2. Hooray!

Total loss for the week? 1.6 pounds. Not bad at all!!!

Family Mission Statement

I belong to a bible study group composed of moms. We have a very descriptive (albeit not too creative) name for the group:

Tuesday Morning Moms.

I just adore it! Anyhoo, we've just started a new book called Mom PhD and the first chapter compares the running of a home to the running of a business. Many businesses have vision/mission statements, so the author challenges us to come up with a mission statement for our family. This is what I came up with.

Honoring God, Loving Each Other, Caring for the World.

Very broad, I know, and can mean a lot of different things, but when I think about what I want my family to be like and how it will function, I think that's the way it should be. Honor God and His commandments. Love each other. Care for the needs in the world. That also goes along with what our pastor is currently preaching on. She is encouraging us to have a "ministry in the church and a mission in the world."

Yesterday I wrote about how my band played at a local homeless shelter. Well, I'm hoping to begin volunteering there or doing something to help meet that need. There are needs in this world everywhere we look. While it's wonderful for church people to take care of each other, it's so easy to forget that there are people outside our church doors yet in our backyard that need our care.

I hope I can raise a family who will honor God, care for each other, and care for the needs of the world.

What can you do to take care of a need? Maybe you can bake some cookies to take to YOUR local homeless shelter. Do you know anyone who has family in the military overseas? Send a care package. Donate some school uniforms to a school in a low-income area, or volunteer a couple hours a week to do some tutoring.

I've been thinking about things like this all week. What are the two most important commandments? "Love Your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."

I hope that my "family mission statement" will stir the members of my family to be able to do just what it says:

Honoring God, Loving Each Other, and Caring For the World.

Beware the Babysitter!

This is what happens when you leave your little boy in the care of your friends who have two daughters.

"Mommy, I don't think this blue dress matches my grey and green baseball shirt. Can you please ask my babysitter if she has it in a different color?"

This is also what happens when you leave your baby in the care of your friends who have recently left the baby years, so they clearly miss the days of wrestling squirming, wriggling, infants into tiny little bitty clothes. They miss it so much they keep putting different costumes on your child.

Now that's more like it!


Tee hee hee. Poor Lance.

He spent several hours yesterday afternoon at the home of my friends C and K while Hubby and I were with our church band, playing at a local homeless shelter. We played outside for about two hours. It was quite the experience. I'm not sure if "shelter" is quite the right word for it, it was more like a halfway house. People have to go through an orientation program, and they are required to look for work and find it. As they get more and more on their feet, they "graduate" to nicer living areas.

I think the thing that most struck me was the children. When you think of homeless people, you don't often think of children. But there they were! It was really quite heartbreaking. While I know that God used our band to bring some joy and light into these people's lives, I think we all learned a thing or two as well.

Weight Loss Challenge: Final Results

Well, this is the last week of the May Day Weight Loss Challenge that I joined beginning in May. My goal was to lose 20 pounds. I didn't quite make it, but I have made significant progress toward that goal.

My starting weight was 157. This morning, I weighed in at 149 for a total loss of 8 pounds for this challenge, an average of a half pound a week. I was hoping to do better, but you know the saying, "Slow and steady wins the race." I found that I did better losing weight when I weighed myself more frequently. It allowed me to see the results of the previous day's eating/exercising. I discovered that you can ruin an entire week of healthy, good choices by indulging yourself on the weekend. I also discovered that I am less likely to lose weight in a given week if I drink soda, diet or otherwise.

I learned that "useful" calories are much more filling than an equal amount of "empty" calories. For example, a sandwich made with Pepperidge Farm Harvest 7-grain bread will keep me full for HOURS. The same sandwich on white or even "honey wheat" bread requires additional side items for the meal, and I'll be hungry again sooner. Not only do you feel full eating less food, your body will feel a satisfaction that you don't get from junk food. It's almost like you can feel your body absorbing all the nutrients and putting them to use, rather than storing them up for later or simply getting rid of them.

Fortunately for me, the gals at Tales From the Scales are beginning a new weight-loss challenge, "Look Great in 2008!" I will join in this one as well. If you'd like to be part of a community of bloggers with the goal of becoming more healthy and losing weight, please join in with us! You simply weigh in each week and report your goals, successes, failures, improvements, etc. You do not have to post your actual weight, but instead can just say how much you lost or gained in a given week.

My ultimate weight-loss goal is 120, which is, according to the "charts," a healthy weight for my height and age. That means I have 29 pounds to lose. Let's see how much I can lose during this next challenge!

The three things I am going to focus on for this challenge are:

1. DRINK WATER!!
2. Add fruits and veggies
3. Reduce salt intake

Good luck to all my fellow participants!

First Haircut

Here are pics from Lance's first haircut!! I'll come back later and edit this post with the story, since it's WAAYYY too early in the morning and I'm not thinking clearly yet. :) (Gotta love those wee-hour postings, hmmm?)

An Unexpected Burst of Productivity

Wow. I have been more productive this morning than I am in some entire days.

It's 9:45 am. Already, I have:

-Fed and dressed Lancelot
-Showered (including washing hair, shaving legs, and underarms!), dressed, and fed myself
-Done a load of laundry
-Finished loading the dishwasher
-Pulled linens off the guest bedroom bed
-Written a blog post! :)

It's a good feeling to be productive. Why can't I do this other days? I'll tell you why. I'm not always expecting weekend guests. My parents are coming for the weekend, so I want the house to be in good shape for them! Not that they expect it to be spic-and-span. They're very understanding. The best parents a girl could ask for, actually. Anyhoo. I guess because I know they don't expect my house to be perfect causes me to want it to be nice for them.

It's amazing how much I can get done when I've a mind to. Other days, I wouldn't have bothered showering yet, and most likely right now I would have gone back to bed while Lance takes his morning nap, rather than spending it blogging and continuing clean-up.

I still have left to do:
-Wash the sheets for the guest bedroom
-Clean the second bathroom and prepare it for grown-up use (which means picking up the bath toys and removing the faucet guard, also putting the shower curtain back down. Right now it's looped over the rod so Lance won't tug on it during his bathtime!)
-Vacuum the floor
-Windex the glass-top end tables and coffee tables
-Clear away clutter
-Go to the grocery store
-Get Lance's first haircut. (This one makes me nervous! He really needs to get his hair cut because it's growing down over his ears and is starting to look like a mullet in the back. Thankfully, I have a friend with 6 children who has a hair salon in her home. If I can trust anyone to cut his hair, I can trust the woman who has cut the hair of her own 6 children!) Our appointment is at 3:30 today.

So much to do. I better get my rear end out of the computer room and get to work!!

Wishing you all a productive day!

4 A.M. wonderfulness

It's 4:00 A.M.

I just changed the wettest, soggiest, soakingest, drippingest, heaviest, most dense collection of infant urination that I have ever encountered in my 9 months of motherhood.

Just thought you should know.

Time for a clean sweep!

I have the sweetest, most loving and understanding husband in all the world.

Just last night I was bemoaning my inability to keep the house in good order the way I did before Lance came around. I was on a schedule, assigning specific housecleaning tasks for each day of the week so that grime and dirt never built up. The showers were scrubbed once a week. The kitchen counters were wiped down daily, and weekly they were REALLY cleaned, as in I would move things off of them and clean behind and under appliances and get all the crumbs out of the corners. I even wiped out the inside of the microwave and the refrigerator shelves.

Dusting and vacuuming was assigned to another day. I went through the house with my Swiffer duster. I not only dusted furniture, but I dusted the outside of the air vents and all the blades of all the ceiling fans.

My house was clean. Cluttered sometimes, but clean.

Now, 9 months after having a baby, I've been letting those things go. I might pull out the duster once every couple weeks and quickly swipe over visible places and run the vacuum cleaner in high-traffic areas of the house, but I can't remember the last time I moved things off of counter surfaces or table tops. The space behind the toilets have seen neither sponge nor Lysol in an eternity.

So my husband came up with a fantastic, incredible idea.

We are going to hire a cleaning service to come in and get this place spic-and-span. It's much easier to maintain an already-clean house than to try and start from scratch. And it's just frustrating to only have one room of the house clean at a time. (Which is the way it usually ends up. Every so often I'll find myself with two hours in which to clean, so I'll attack a room with a vengeance. Then I'll feel great about it, until I leave the room. Can I get a witness??)

Isn't he just a darling man? I think so.

I'm over the moon. Going to get quotes from a few places now. Have a lovely day!

Have You Seen This Yet????

A friend emailed this to me. SO CUTE!!

**disclaimer: This is not my video. I do not claim it as my own work, but unfortunately I cannot give it proper credit because I have no idea where it came from. By the time it arrived in my inbox, it had been forwarded multiple times. If you know where this came from, please let me know so I can properly give credit! Thanks!

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

In some parts of the country, summer is over. The air is turning crisp, leaves are fading from bright green to the lovely palette of burnt oranges and reds signifying autumn. (Hey- I can get poetic when I have a mind to!)

That is not so where I am here in South Florida. The only indication that fall is on the horizon is the fact that my calendar is turned to September and the fall equinox is marked in a box. Additionally, people are throwing their end-of-summer/Labor Day barbecues, one of which we attended last week.

Here is a picture of Lance enjoying a watermelon.

That's my arm there next to him. :)

This photograph tells a story. A story that most likely I will be the only one to remember. Just minutes before this photo was taken, Lance and I took a spill. A nasty spill.

At this particular gathering, there were two other families with young children, ranging from age 2-6. They were running back and forth between the house and the slip-and-slide which is not pictured here. The patio floor, as a result, was wet. I did not know this. As I was carrying Lance out to the backyard to join in the festivities, I slipped in a puddle and the two of us went down. Hard.

I landed on my knees and then toppled forward. Then, things went in slow motion. I saw Lance falling away from me, his head milliseconds away from smashing on the hard tile floor. Then, I heard it. A loud "smack." I saw his head bounce. I was certain that when I lifted him up, I would see blood all over the floor.

Miraculously, there wasn't. Everyone who was in attendance saw something different from what I remember. They all said that they saw me catch him, with my hand behind his head, and that it was my hand that hit the floor.

I'm tellin' ya, they must have seen the hand of the Lord supporting my boy's head, because to my recollection, my hand was nowhere near his head. Plus, if my hand had indeed hit the floor with the weight of a 22-pound baby pressing it down, surely there would be a bruise or something, but no. I felt no pain on my hand and there's not a mark on it.

Someone grabbed Lance from me, and someone else helped me up to my feet. They were all asking me if I was okay, and I was annoyed with them for not immediately getting something to stop the blood gushing out of his head (because I was sure that it was) and/or calling 911. I didn't understand why they didn't seem to care.

It's because they witnessed a miracle. They witnessed my child's life being saved by the hand of an angel. I wish I could have seen it, too!

My knees got a little banged up and bruised, and they're still a little tender, but other than that, we're all fine! As you can see from the photo, Lance calmed down as soon as we gave him some food! I think he was more scared than anything else.


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If you haven't already, stop by Growing A Life and wish Flybaby a happy 1st birthday!



Here is a picture of Flybaby and Lance in adjoining high chairs at a local ice-cream place. Damselfly, J.P., Lance, Hubby and I went out to celebrate with them. His birthday was on Friday, but today Damselfly and J.P. are hosting a party for him at their home. More pictures to follow!

Doin' A Little Happy Dance

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

For those of you who have been regular visitors here, you know that I have been participating in the May Day Weight Loss Challenge. Every week on Tuesdays I report in with my loss or gain for the week, along with goals and ideas for the upcoming week. Well, I haven't been good about reporting in because I was holding my weight steady. I just couldn't get below a particular number on the scale. (while I was grateful that I was not gaining any weight, it was still discouraging because I've got quite a ways to go to achieve my goal.)

To my surprise this morning, when I stepped on the scale I was one pound below the number I previously couldn't break through!! It was a complete surprise. I don't know why we seem to assign magical values to particular numbers, but for some reason I had it in my head that if I get could to the weight I finally achieved this morning, then it would become easier to continue losing. I know, it doesn't make any sense at all, but that's how things work in Guinevere's head.

So now, my total weight loss for the challenge is 7 pounds.

Only 30 more to go. I can do it!!

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.

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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!