For the Love of Reading

After I had SD, I read a lot when I was nursing her...after Linus, not so much, afterall, I had a 2 year old running around, it wasn't exactly peaceful. This summer I bought some books from a friend and started reading them again. The first one was a little slow, but once I got about halfway through, I stayed up the rest of the night (until 11:30) finishing it. Now I am on to number 2 in the series. Currently, my side table in our bedroom is overflowing with books, on top and in the drawer. Our office also has a built in bookcase that has loads of books that I haven't read yet, but want to. So, here is my list of books that I have slotted to read...until then, I just can't indulge in anything Twilight :)

Confessions of a Shopaholic just finished by staying up way too late :)
Shopaholic takes Manhattan (almost finished) and the rest of the series, 7 books in all I think
Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover
Growing Kids Gods Way for toddlers and preschoolers

Not to mention that my entire top drawer is full of books, from books about Angel to Nelson DeMille's charm school. Now to get back to reading!

Project Pandemonium

I love projects, especially craft projects.  The problem is, I almost always buy a new project before I finish the last one...or the last 8.  Right now, I have a TON of projects, and I mean a ton!  Some I have had on hand for more than a year, some are newer and some are ongoing.  I think I am addicted.  I see great ideas in magazines or on TV and think...I can do that, so I buy the stuff to do it.  Well, effective today, I am officially on restriction from said purchasing activities until I finish ALL of the projects that I currently have in my house.  I do realize that it may mean I have to buy a couple of things to finish off the projects, but that is the only wiggle room I have.  So, in an effort to keep me accountable...here is the list of projects that I currently have waiting to be finished.

Sewing
1.  Christmas Countdown Tree (I saw this in a Pottery barn catalog and bought the stuff before last Christmas to make in time for last Christmas...still in the bag)
2.  Fleece Robes for the kids (bought before last winter, intended to be part of their Christmas gifts)
3.  SD's Halloween Costume - Aurora (I just bought this fabric)
4.  Summer dress for SD (was intended to be her outfit for her 4th birthday this past summer)
5.  Summer shorts for SD and Linus (again, intended for this past summer)
6.  Car Seat Organizers (I just bought this and want to try and get them made before we go to SA this Fall/Winter)

Needlework
1.  Nativity Figures (this will be an ongoing project, I got it this past year for my birthday and I intend to create a set each Christmas so that we can add to the collection, there are about 10 sets)
2.  Christmas Quilt (this is a baby afghan that I have been cross-stitching since BG and I got married, each square represents a year and has something to do with what happened that year, I am a couple of years behind and Christmas isn't stopping anytime soon)
3.  Needlepoint Purse for SD, we got this on clearance the other day, super cute and all PINK, for her to store stuff in



Scrapbooking
1.  I have an addiction to paper and 24 page workshops.  I host these as often as I can and do them at other times by myself.  It makes it really easy to get scrapbooking done, which is good since I am almost 3 full years behind now.  I recently purchased a bunch of paper packs when CTMH was having their big paper sale, and then again when the new papers came out, so I have 13 workshops that I need to do!
2.  3 years of scrapbooking behind!!!!!
3.  I want to do a book of our town and the places that we go
4.  I also have a scrapbook about me I need to do (from a Bible Study years ago, I did the Bible Study part, just not the scrapbook)
5.  Finish the scrapbook of my childhood pictures for my mom (part of a gift that started 5 years ago, hey...I got the other 3 siblings done, just not mine!)

As for prioritizing...I am trying to do 1-2 scrapbook workshops per week so that I can have them all done before my retreat in February.  I also need to have SD's costume done before Halloween and I would like to have the first round of needlepoint figurines done before my sister's wedding so that I can leave them in SA to be made into figurines before Christmas.

Skin and Water

It is amazing what water, or the lack there of, can do to your skin. For some reason, lately I have not been very good about drinking water. Usually I am really good about drinking water, but I have just not had a taste for it lately. And really, I need to be drinking a LOT of it. With nursing and running long distances, my needs have gone up. I am definitely paying the price for it now. Since I haven't been drinking enough, my body has been using the little water I have been drinking for nursing and to rehydrate after my runs. So, my skin, well, it hates me right now. See, I am a South Texas girl, which means 100% humidity, 90% of the time! Since living in the metroplex, my skin has tried to adjust, but is having a rough time. Now that it is winter and the air is even dryer, my skin is simply crawling off my body! The thing is, when it gets that dry, it hurts and itches, which makes it hurt even more. I am always putting lotion on, and it seems like it is never enough. So today, is water drinking day. So far (it is only 1:40 pm), I have already had 112 ounces and I am still thirsty! This will probably help with my weight loss too!

Is it drier this year or is it just me? I think it is affecting Linus and SD as well!

Little by Little

I am totally a Type A person, as most of you know. The problem is with a Type A, is that you want to do things, but sometimes they seem so overwhelming that you don't know where to start, so you don't! This is the case for me a lot of times.

Take my weight loss for example. I have never really had to lose weight, I just have had to maintain. That is until I had kids, but they were totally worth every pound! After I had Linus, I was pretty depressed about the flab around my mid-section and the way I looked. But then, I took my big goal and broke it down. I divided the remainder of the year into two week chunks and gave myself a little goal for each time period. I didn't say, run a marathon by the end of the year, I said run 2 miles, 3 times a week at 4/1 and then do it at 5/1. I also gave myself a goal weight and am steadily losing weight to achieve that. If I don't hit my target weight, then fine, but I will keep going and try not to beat myself up over it.

Then comes cleaning... I love my house to be really clean, but lately I have let it go. Part of the reason is that we are doing a study on Sabbath, and I am trying to use Sunday for family time and doing what I want to do, not what I ought to do. And when Saturday is full of social stuff, that means the house doesn't get cleaned! The thought of getting the house really clean seems so overwhelming to me. So, on Sunday I sat down and made a list of all that I wanted to do. Then I broke it up into little chunks to do throughout the week. Monday night was the first night and when I finally had time to do anything it was 9 pm. At first I was like, no, I can't finish my list for today, so I will just save it for Tuesday. But then I remembered something from this book that I am reading. It said to make a list, but understand that you might not get to everything on the list. That gave me such freedom in list making that I hadn't had before! It is better to make a list and a plan and just realize that it won't always happen, than to not make a list. You get more done if you make a list! Once I get the cleaning done, I am going to try and deep clean everything. The devotional I am reading suggests a book that talks about that, so I am going to look for it at the library today!

I will post my cleaning schedule tomorrow as it stands for this week. I am going to try and do a new schedule that allows me to do something each day and then I can really enjoy my family on the weekends and do other stuff that I want to do, like scrapbooking! So, tackle it little by little. Then all of a sudden, it will not seem so overwhelming and it will be done! Another piece of advise I am trying to follow is to do it immediately. Easier than letting it loom in your brain as something that needs to be done. By the time you have worried about it, you could have already had it done. Speaking of, the dryer is buzzing, so I better fold the clothes before they sit there any longer and I think about how I don't want to fold them!

Issues

I am having some serious issues with my body image. I torture myself every morning and try on clothes hoping that I will fit into them. The crazy thing about body image is that for women it really affects a lot of stuff! One of the biggest thing it affects is your sex life. If you don't feel attractive, then you don't feel sexy. Explaining this to men is really hard though, I know I was trying to explain it to one of my guy friends and it just baffled him. It completely baffles BG as well. He does not see my body the way I do, so he does not understand. I think through all of this, God is trying to teach me something. He is trying to teach me that I am "fearfully and wonderfully made" and that He looks at me in a totally different light. I think that until I realize that and believe it, I won't be able to lose weight. I think this is something that He really needs me to see! The cool thing is that He has given me a very tangible example of this in my husband. BG has never once commented on my body in a negative way. Even when I ask him point blank questions, he tells me that I am being ridiculous and that I look fine. I know men have it driven in their head not to make negative comments, but I don't think he does it because of that. I think that he really thinks I am totally wrong. He sees me as beautiful and amazing, not from the outside, but from the inside and that makes me beautiful on the outside for him! I am so thankful that God has given me such a wonderful and Godly husband!

Body Image

I have come to some realizations about my body and things I don't like, or wish were different, they are a little odd, so hang on for the ride. Some of them I have always wished were different, some have popped up post babies!

• I have really broad shoulders, I am fine with that. What I have noticed though is that my back looks really broad, especially in halter stuff. I am not sure if I like it.
• I have always described my body as a playdough ball with toothpicks sticking out. I have very skinny legs and arms. My legs have bulked up from running, which I like and I am trying to really focus on my arms, I don't like them moving when I wave. Anyway, my legs have never touched anywhere until I had kids, now there is a little extra fat on my inner thighs and they touch at the very top. I do NOT like this one bit!
• I am a white girl, and I have a white girl but, FLAT! I would like a little booty love, I think it would help balance things out. I guess I will have to resume doing Buns of Steel with Tamilee (who by the way, I was once on a cruise with and she fell down the stairs drunk, it was so funny). SD does not have a chance in this department, her daddy has some serious white-boy butt as well!
• I have always gained weight in my core, after Linus, it seems it has moved to depositing itself on my back. I hate that, I hate it jiggling when I run! That must go. So, we are doing Billy Blanks, he sucks, I hate him! Okay, it is really more of a love/hate thing!
• And I have saved the weirdest for last. My tailbone gained weight, I swear it!

So, off to munch on some carrot sticks while sitting on an exercise ball! Just kidding! I am about being healthy, not crazy!

Green Grass

Why do we always think the grass is greener on the other side? Is it part of being humans? It is so hard sometimes because it always seems like someone has it better than you do, or has more. Lately, God has really been opening my eyes to this and starting to "cure" me of my "jones-itus*." It is funny though, when you start coveting what someone else has, something always turns up to be wrong with the perfect picture you have painted in your head. Sure, I would love to have more disposable income, but I prefer my husband following his dream and being at home to watch his kids grow up. I would love to have a perfect body, but I am not willing to do it the unhealthy way. I would love to be at home more with my kids, but I am thankful that I have a job that I love and that gives me satisfaction. I would love....

We are doing a Bible Study with our LifeGroup about the Sabbath. The lesson this week was talking about being changed from the inside out. He told a story about a young boy that he ministered to, he finally got him to see his situation much differently than he was before. He said the boy's face and demeanor totally changed when he got it. Then he went on to say, "His attitude totally changed, although his circumstances didn't." This is kind of what I think about the green grass, the grass doesn't change colors, but when you change on the inside, you start to see the green grass on your lawn and maybe every one else's grass doesn't look as green as it used to.

What symptoms of "jones-itus" do you struggle with?

This disease of "jones-itus" is one of the main reasons I am trying to be transparent. None of us have it all together. There is always a want for something. I pray that we will stop acting like we have it together and be open and share our struggles, you never know who you might help in doing so!

*jones-itus refers to the old saying "Keeping up with the Jones" just in case you hadn't figured it out :)

Relishing Each Moment

Linus is still not sleeping through the night, although he is very close. He did it on Saturday night and last night. The problem, SD didn't! She woke up at 4:30 screaming, I think she had a nightmare! Anyway, she was up from about 4:30-5:30. Linus woke up at 5:15 hungry, so needless to say I have been up since 4:30 and I am a little tired. This morning, I almost let it get to me. Even though I was up that early, I didn't work out and I didn't get to work any earlier! I was getting frustrated and trying to hurry to work, then I realized, I had some awesome moments with my kids this morning.

I got to comfort SD and lay down with her, just us! I got to hold my baby boy for extended periods of time twice this morning before I had to go to work. SD and I got to cuddle on the couch while watching mouse! Do I have a ton to do at work, yes. Is my "plan" for losing my baby weight already hitting some speed bumps, yes. But, so what! I will never be able to get this time back, ever!

So, I enjoyed it and thanked God for it!

And it Begins

So, my "operation skinny" has begun. Actually, that is a misnomer, it is actually "Operation Healthy." I ran this morning 4/1 and it felt really good. We started up a hill on the first leg of the run and it was a killer. But in the end, I had that great feeling of accomplishment and my lungs felt open and healthy! Gotta love that. I created some spreadsheets this weekend to track my progress and give myself goals. I will post my goals tomorrow, or maybe on the sidebar, not sure yet! Let me know if you want them and I will email them to you! My workout schedule this week is run MWF & S and videos T/TH. My goals for this week are to run at least 3 times and do an ab video at least twice. My starting weight. 170.5 I think I have hit my plateau as far as baby weight falling off, now I am going to have to work for it, but I am ready! I did pretty well eating today, except for the cookie, but I am not about restricting myself completely, everything in moderation is just fine! Thanks for keeping me accountable. I am going to post every Monday on what is going on!

All about the Numbers

So, as I have been saying, I am trying to be transparent. Also, I was going to address the issues that made me sad last week. Today, we are going to talk about my body! Aren't you excited!! I am going to be transparent in a way that is really hard for me, I am going to give you actual numbers! Oh, let me give you a little history first. I believe my genetics are not necessarily stacked against me, but they are also not really doing my any favors. About half my family struggles with their weight, in some way or another (actually, I think there are very few people in general that do not struggle with some aspect of their body image). I am not one of those people who can eat anything and still be really skinny. But, I have been blessed with genetics that allow me to control my weight fairly easily if I want to. My parents also blessed me with the perseverance and hard work ethics to put my mind on something and accomplish it! It took me a long time to get to this kind of comfort level with my body. I have so many friends who are really tiny, and I mean tiny (most of them from college are under 5 feet tall or right at it) and are definitely single digit sizes! I used to compare myself to them all of the time, but I am not them, and that is okay. I don't need to be comfortable with their body, I need to be comfortable with mine! The cool thing is, they never made me feel like I was the odd man out (it was all in my crazy head), they love me for who I am! Thanks girls!

So, here it goes.

Before I got pregnant with SD, I was in pretty good shape. I was doing lots of weight lifting classes and running a good amount. I have never been a "small" person, but I have never considered myself fat or overweight. I am 5 ft. 8 in. and have wide hips. I actually have come to a place where I like my body and understand that being a size 6 is unrealistic. Like I have posted before, I think clothing sizes don't really matter anyway. So, back to my point. I don't know exactly how much I weighed before I got pregnant with SD, I am guessing it was in the high 140s or low 150s. I looked back in my pregnancy journal and found a weight of 156, which was around 13 weeks or so. With SD, I gained over 60 pounds, I stopped counting after I hit 200. Yep, I hit 200, and I was a big old pregnant lady, with a ton of water weight.

After I had SD, I did a pretty good job of working out, but never really killed myself because I knew I wanted to get pregnant again soon. I was running a lot and getting up in my mileage, but I was not toning anything. I had gotten back to my size 10s fitting really comfortably (in NY & Co sizes anyway, and that is what most of my clothes are). My weight was 162 at the doctor when I got pregnant with Linus. I am very comfortable being a loose size 10 (in NY & Co clothes) and really don't need a single digit size to make myself feel okay. So, once again I was pregnant and gaining weight. Thankfully this time I did not gain as much on the scale, but I also didn't work out as much, so I think some of the lack of weight gain was deceptive and was actually muscle weight loss, which I didn't want. So, I gained 40 or so pounds and hit 200 once again.

Today, 8 weeks after Linus was born, I am back down to 170 and have been steadily losing about a pound or two a week. I am in a size 12 jeans, pretty comfortably, but I don't like the flab that hangs out on the top. My goal is really to be around 150 pounds, I think that is a very suitable weight for someone my height and frame size. More than the number though, I want to be fit. I want to feel comfortable with my body. I want to have muscle tone and be able to run for long distances periodically. My biggest goal is to have tight abs. I don't need a six pack, although that would be nice, but I want to be strong. My tummy has always been my trouble spot, so it is going to be some work, especially since that is where I gain ALL of my weight, including pregnancy weight.

So, here is my plan. I am running, at least 4 times a week. I am training to do the San Antonio Half Marathon with my cousin and my best friend in November. I have started my training and am doing pretty well. My goal is to finish it, no certain time, not necessarily running the whole time either. I started off running a couple of weeks ago, by walking 4 minutes and running 1. I am now at week 2 of running 3 walking 2 for 2.5 miles. Next week, I will move to 4 running and 1 walking and then keep adding a minute of running each week/couple of weeks until I am up to 7 and 1 which is what I plan on doing for the half. I am also trying to do some weights and abs at least a couple times a week. My abs are pretty much shot after two babies via C-section, so I have a long road ahead of me there. As far as eating and weighing, etc. I am being very flexible on that. I am eating good things and trying to follow this book so that Linus gets what he needs in my breast milk. It means eating 2600 calories a day of certain foods. I am also only weighing myself once a week, on Mondays. This past Monday, I weighed in at 170, I will try to post my progress each week so you can help encourage and hold me accountable!! I will definitely need it!

So, there it is. So far this week, I ran on Monday and Wednesday, did abs on Monday and Wednesday, and did Yoga on Tuesday. Today, I will probably do Pilates or something. I plan on running Friday and Saturday as well. Sunday I take off, because it is too hard to run before church, we have a hard time getting there on time without me running! The cool thing is that we have been running as a family. BG goes with me and we take the double jogger with both kids. I think it is setting a really good example for the kids and I like that it is something that we do as a family!! This is one of the huge perks of BG working for himself and my job being very flexible! We are blessed!

It is Over!

My maternity leave that is! I am officially back at work today. Well, not exactly full time, but I still had to get up and get to the office this morning. I am getting to work 3 days a week at the office and 2 at home! I am so thankful for my job!! So far, so good. It is good to be back at work, I love my job, so if I have to work (which I do, insert shameless plug for RE leads for my hubby here) I am glad I work where I do and doing what I love.

This time has been so much easier than I went back to work after SD. This time I am going back to the same job that I had before baby. Unfortunately I let a friend talk me into switching jobs while on maternity leave, BAD IDEA!!! The only good that came from it was my current job, I hated the other one so much, that I left after only 3 months! Not only that, but instead of having to get two kids up and dressed and to daycare, my MIL comes over and watches them at our house, so I don't even have to get them dressed if I don't want to. I also don't have to pack anything or even get bottles ready. It is all at the house and she knows where it all is. Oh, and it is FREE!!!!!

It is also a lot easier with number two. I am more confident in my parenting and I know that I am not going to ruin their existence by working. It gives me time to have adult interaction, which I need, and to provide for them and help my husband follow his dream! All that being said, I would love to be at home more often, like part time. But for now, this will do just fine!

Transparent

I have been hiding behind another mask, well actually another blog. I used to have it as a link on this blog, but took it off. Not sure exactly why, but I did. God has been leading me to be totally transparent. There are people in my life who think I have it all together, and I can assure you that I do not. I am going to stop writing at the other blog and be totally transparent on this one. I should probably give a couple of warnings/rules before I do that though!

1. I am going to mainly talk about my opinion about things or things in my life that affect who I am. If it is a result of something you said to me or you do, please do not take it the wrong way. I am not in any way judging you or your actions, I am just trying to show what God is laying on my heart about how He wants me to change. Most likely the reason I am writing about it is because it is something that I am guilty of or something I want to change!

2. Don't worry, this blog is not going to be 100% serious and all religious like. It will still be fun, it IS fun right? And I will still talk about my kids, sorry, they are a big part of who I am!

3. I do NOT have it all together. I am a broken person trying to figure it all out! I want to be a good witness, which means laying my weaknesses out for all to see!

4. Do NOT feel sorry for me, please! God is doing some amazing things in my life and I am so excited to share them with you!

Love to you all!

On an unrelated note, I have found out that there are a lot of people that I didn't know about reading my blog. I am so excited about this, but they rarely ever comment, not that they need to, but maybe I should get one of those site meter thingys or whatever it is that tells you who is reading it. Maybe I shouldn't, that way I don't get concerned about who might be reading this and I actually am transparent! Well, I guess it is kind of related! Oh well, off to bed!

People Love Lists

What was I thinking? I can't live without lists! It became apparent to me after writing that post, that not having a list actually stresses me out more than not finishing what is on my lists. Not only that, but I totally messed up because I didn't have a list! I was supposed to take Spaghetti to church for VBX, and I totally forgot! My friend came to pick it up and I was sitting on the couch nursing Linus with nothing to give her! So BG started frantically preparing the spaghetti and I ran it up to church. I felt like such a moron!

My cuz, well by marriage anyway, gave me these two list pads as a TY for giving her a baby shower. She said she had read my post but still got them for me anyway because she thought they were perfect for me. I admitted that I was way to bold to think I could get away from making lists and I was so glad that she went with her gut feeling and disregarded my post!!!

So, I am back on lists, just in time to go back to work in a couple of weeks! Don't make me feel guilty, I need them okay!

The Perfect Day

Yesterday was one of those days. The kind that you wish you had every day, except then you wouldn't appreciate them as much. I was calm and relaxed pretty much all day. SD was pretty well behaved, she took a good nap and didn't whine excessively. Linus has been working on his BabyWise schedule and did a great job yesterday, taking good naps and barely crying before them. Not only that, but I was a good wife, homemaker and mom, not to mention I took some me time!

We went for a long walk in the morning, which both kids loved, and I actually took a stab at running a few steps! Don't tell my doctor :) It felt pretty good, except next time I will wear a better sports bra :)

Then, I got all of the ironing finished, cleaned the floors and got stuff ready for Amy's shower this weekend. I even crossed a bunch of stuff off my imaginary list. SD and I even got to spend some really good alone time together while Linus took a nap. We played outside on the swingset, did a game (thanks Carla, she LOVES it) and just hung out!

Then, at the end of the day, I felt satisfied and relieved that it was all done! So, I got out my needlepoint and am finishing up the kids stockings. I need them to be done by next week so that I can take them to SA with me and have them made into stockings. I will be so glad to be finished with them!

So far, today has been another great day! We got to see a movie with Aunt MAmy and Lukers (as SD affectionately calls them). And right now both kids are asleep. Oh, and I finally got the cable/internet/phone changed and picked up SD's charm bracelet and it is only 2!

Hope you are having a great day!

Addiction Recovery

They say the first step to overcoming an addiction is to admit it, so here I go. I am addicted to lists. I make lists for everything. I have pads of paper all over my house with various lists on them. I add things to my list, just so I can cross them off, it gives me a rush! While on maternity leave, I even made a list of projects I wanted to get done while I am home, never mind that I have a two year old and a newborn. I don't even have to write my lists down, I even keep some filed away in my head, there is always a running list.

The next step, overcoming my addiction. I am trying to stop making physical lists. I can't really stop the ever growing list in my head, but at least I can try and stop the cycle of writing them down. I will probably have to return to making them once I get back to work, so I can keep everything straight. Why you ask am I doing this? Well, they stress me out. I look at them and see all that I have not accomplished and get worked into a tizzy. I am trying really hard to be a source of peace for my family and I can't do this if I am stressed out. Like I said, I still have my mental list and I try and work through a couple of things on that list as time allows. But I am really trying to just take things as the come and do stuff as it pops into my head. So, can you help keep me accountable? Ask me when the last time I made a list was when you talk to me or email me. Don't ask about my grocery list because really I have to have one of those! Anyway, this is one of my steps into letting go of my OCD and Type-A personality and trying to live in the moment, even when that moment is a whiny toddler and a screaming newborn! God wants me to enjoy every minute, not just the rosy ones!

Introducing...the newest member of our family

Don't get too excited, Linus is not here! This is about a more electrical member of our family. BG brought home a new vacuum for me yesterday!!! I know, it doesn't sound too exciting and it was not a late Mother's Day gift, although I would have been completely fine if it was!!! What led to this new purchase (if you read this blog at all, you would know that we are thrifty and don't spend money without extensive research).

Well, on Saturday I was cleaning the house and my vacuum finally just pooped out on me. I was in the middle of vacuuming and it just turned off. I thought I had blown a fuse or something, but that wasn't the case. I have had this vacuum for about 2 years and for the last 4 months or so, it has seemed something was wrong with it. It is supposed to be self-propelled and it is a Hoover, but it was so hard to push, that it was turning into a workout! It didn't seem to be working at all, and I had been telling BG about it, but I don't think he believed me!

Now to the disgusting part. This is what I emptied out of my new friend today.

That is the box that the vacuum came in, just to give you a point of reference as to how much crap was in my carpets. And the disgusting thing is that none of the carpet even looked dirty.

This is just wrong, for so many reasons. For starters, I just vacuumed on Saturday, yes, three days ago! That is just wrong! I absolutely HATE carpet, it grosses me out! Thankfully, only our bedroom has carpet in it, the rest of the house has hard floors. We have area rugs around the house and the appeared to be clean, but when I would be picking up SD's toys and got a close up of the rug, I could see dog hair and other dirt, etc. on them. The thing about carpet is that it seems cleaner because you can't see all of the crap that is buried in it, but in actuality, it is nasty, nasty stuff. I like my house clean, and have never felt like I could get the carpet in our bedroom clean. It is a beautiful, and I am sure expensive, carpet, but I can't wait to rip it out and put hard wood floors in it (our floors are beautiful and expensive, so it will probably be a while).

I am so glad to have my new vacuum, I actually spent about an hour vacuuming last night. I vacuumed our bedroom alone 5 times and I was still getting stuff in the canister. The first time I did our bedroom, the canister was overflowing with dirt. I kept vacuuming until there was only a little bit of stuff in the canister. Our carpet is all nice and fluffy now and has those vacuum streaks in it, which I love. I am so glad to get this before Linus arrives, because I would hate to have him playing on the floor in all that nastiness! I like my house very clean and I can't believe that I have been living like this, unintentionally of course. I feel a thousand times better knowing that it is cleaner than it was!

Positive Parenting

My boss has a son who is a JR in HS and is starting the whole college process. My boss has taken him to some testing facility to see what he would be good at, he has been looking at all of these college books, trying to find the best college for his skill set, etc. All of this has gotten me thinking about how my parents handled my college experience.

My parents were very strict with me on most things, something I truly appreciate now that I am an adult. But college was a different story. For some reason, I knew that college was not really an option, but just something you did after high school, although my parents never actually told me that. When I was in HS, I started the whole college process, applying to schools, taking the SAT, etc. My parents never put pressure on me, I never took a prep course, and they didn't hound me to finish my applications. I was never stressed about college, not once, and I think it is because my parents did not stress about it. I think children feed off of their parent's stress without even realizing it (poor SD). When I had chosen a school, my mom took me to go visit. The visit was so much fun and it felt like I was there with a friend, not my mom. She just went along with it, didn't get nosy and intrusive when we met with the advisor, she didn't try and find out the "right" dorm for me to be in, or get worried about where I would park and how close my classes would be to each other. She didn't even suggest majors or fields at all.

Now that I am a parent, there are definitely things that I choose to do differently than my parents and things that I do the same. Our children's minister always says that a parent's job is to get their child ready to leave the nest. I think my parent's mastered this (sometimes they might think they too good of a job with me on this). They have always let me make my mistakes and were there to catch me when I fell, but didn't say "I told you so." They let me follow my heart and make my own decisions, even when they knew it was the wrong one. I will be forever grateful to them for this and I hope and pray that I will be able to do the same for SD and Linus.

Partying with the Blue Hairs

Last night I went to the neighborhood Garden Club meeting. Let me give you a little background, we live in a neighborhood that was "established" in the late 60s, our house was built in 1968, and only has 150 homes in it. It is tucked away in the trees and is a fabulous sleepy little neighborhood. Most of the people have lived there since they built their house, it seems that in order to get into the neighborhood, someone has to die! Anyway, my neighbor has been inviting me to the Garden Club meetings since we moved there last May, and I have not been able to make a meeting until last night. And it was a blast!

I know, you are thinking that I am crazy, especially since the average age of the group is around 65 or 70. I have been wanting to go because I like knowing my neighbors. We had a plant exchange last night, similar to a White Elephant Gift Exchange. I got number one and my first two plants got stolen, but I ended up with gorgeous pink hydrangea. Anyway, back to the blue hairs...like I said the average age was late 60s, one lady was even in an Electric Wheel Chair. They were the absolute sweetest ladies. They were so nice and polite. We even had refreshments, yummy deserts, stuffed strawberries, some cake that had to be made with 8 sticks of butter, and of course punch! The hostess had china and silver out and her crystal punch bowl. I met a lot of fabulous ladies who were all nice and polite and interesting. The cutest was the lady in the wheel chair, our next function is a dinner at a restaurant (last meeting until fall) and was talking about how good the margaritas were at the restaurant we were going to, then she was talking on her cell phone, it was funny! Oh, and they were so glad to see the "next generation" moving into the neighborhood. You see, they all raised their kids together, go to the same churches and were on PTA together. The great thing is that there was a lady there who was within 5 years or so of my age and she has a little girl who is a little younger than SD. We exchanged info and are going to try and get the girls together to play. Evidently, there are also two other ladies with younger kids in the neighborhood (one who has 5 kids and is pregnant with her 6th, and home schools them all!). Hopefully this next generation will be able to carry on the tradition and keep our neighborhood the way it was intended to be!

One of the nicest things about it was being with more mature ladies. Since we have moved, I don't know that many people. We are getting involved in our church so that is good, but the only other people I interact with are people I work with. Most of the women that I work with are girls, they are young. They are in a completely different stage of their life and some of them are slightly immature, caddy and emotional, which I do not handle very well! I was telling my MIL about it this morning and how it was nice to be with mature ladies who can mentor me and how different it is from being with ladies my own age (or younger) and she chimed in "and not having to be in competition over everything." This is so true! Amanda wrote a great post about this a couple of weeks ago, you should go read it!

Anyway, the ladies were explaining that the Garden Club was the closest thing that we had to a neighborhood association. It is not always about gardening, although a lot of these ladies are very in to that and good at it, but it is about really being a community and looking out for each other. It is crazy, they know all of the city council, mayors, etc. and what is going on in our city. I am glad that I am getting involved in our neighborhood and will be able to say hello to people I "know" now when we are out walking or running. The funny thing is, I talked to one male neighbor a while back, and he was telling me about the Garden Club and was kind of "mad" that it was only open to ladies and said it was because it was just a gossip club. It is funny! Hopefully I will have more stories about it as I continue to go to meetings.

Panic Matt

Not sure where that title came from, probably some movie line that BG quotes.

Well, I am officially in panic mode, not as bad as I normally am, but still. I woke up yesterday morning around 3 am thinking, "Oh My, I am having a baby in 6 weeks." Of course, all of the things that I want to get done by that time started running through my head. Then I started worrying how SD was going to handle it and who was going to watch her. How often will she come up to the hospital, will I be able to handle two at once? I shouldn't worry, in my deepest of deeps, I believe that it is a sin, and a sign that I do not trust God. Although I know that, that is how I am wired and I am working on it, but I am a work in progress!

So, here is my to do list before Linus arrives:
1. Repaint his room (BG and I talked about this yesterday morning, and my loving husband went out and bought the paint) I think that it will be easiest to do now since there is not a person in that room and we don't have to worry about as many logistics.
2. Finish SD's stocking. My goal is to have this done to send home with my mom after she is here. I have Linus' done since I originally did it for SD, so they both will have stockings this Christmas (it takes a while for them to do the backing on it, so the sooner I have it done, the better)
3. Clean out the playroom closet (I want to do this because it is very cluttered right now and we have space to put some stuff elsewhere)
4. Get down the bassinet (BG did not want to do this last time I was in the attic because he thought it was too early, so now it is worrying me)
5. Pack the diaper bag to go to the hospital, just in case I go early
6. Get caught up on some serious scrapbooking, it would be nice to have more done than I have now

Oh, and the one that isn't so much at the forefront of my mind, but would be nice, is to have everything at work squared away so I don't feel like I am leaving them hanging while I am gone for 8 weeks.

The good news, is I have actually gotten a lot done in the past month to prepare:
1. SD's stocking is about 60%+ done, I worked on it alot over Easter
2. I ordered and received Linus' baby book
3. I have washed and hung/folded all of Linus' clothes, he already has a ton
4. SD is in her big girl room and loving it! And her bedding is all done
5. I have trained the two new people at work, so they are at least taking some of my stuff over, which is allowing me to get the other stuff done I need to with our accounting system.

So, I shouldn't worry, right?

Wonderful Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend this past weekend. I didn't even blink at work or check my email, I needed a weekend like that.

Friday Night we had a friend in town (actually a former co-worker of my FIL, who had kind of become part of the family) from Peru where her husband is working. She brought her little boy, who is about 6 months older than SD, and they had a fabulous time playing! They were running around going crazy, needless to say, they both slept great that night!

Then on Saturday, I got to go to a scrapbooking workshop where I put together 24 pages for Linus, now all I have to do is add pictures and journaling. I am so glad to have his book started before he is even here! I ordered more paper for SDs book to be able to do the same thing and then I am going to do one next month as well. This means I will have 48 pages for each of them where I just have to add pictures!!! That will make scrapbooking for 2 kids much easier!! Then I took SD to get her picture taken, stinkin cute!!! I will post the pic later, it is at home.

Sunday we went to church and then while SD was napping, I got to run errands all by myself. I was so excited that I got the grocery shopping done before 3 pm and had the rest of the day to hang out with the family! We got SD's sandbox set up and ready for sand and she had fun running around naked outside since it was so warm.

The only downfall, our A/C is not working, so it got a little steamy yesterday. All in all, we had a fabulous weekend!

Too bad I woke up in the middle of the night starting to panic about having a baby in 6 weeks...more on that tomorrow.