Justin, Lily and I were in the kitchen cooking dinner on Monday night. Knowing Lily loves to hold on to things, I grabbed a plastic spoon for her to play with, and this is what we got …
(1) If she could talk, she’d be saying, “Feed me … now!” Kind of looks like she’s about to get serious with that spoon, huh?
(2) This one was just to sweet to pass up …
(3) And this one screams, “You want me to eat THAT? Seriously?”
Posted in family, lily, nablopomo, photography
Last Saturday’s escape from the sleep positioner which subsequently led me to remove everything from Lily’s crib was not a fluke. This is what I walked in to at 4 am this morning …
That would be a Lily sideways in her crib, sleep positioner buried under the blanket that’s at the end of her crib. The girl’s an escape artist in the making, and certainly showing off the beginnings of her life as a mobile person!
Silly Lily!
On my way to work a few weeks back, I was listening to Dr. Adrian Rogers’ segment, “A Magnificent Marriage,” on the Love Worth Finding radio series (XM 170). The segment was based on Ephesians 5:22-24 …
Ephesians 5:22-24 (King James Version)
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
The theme was submission and the distinct roles of husband and wife. According to Dr. Rogers, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. They are not to act as dictators, but are to be the head of the household while acting as a loving leader. This concept of submission does not mean that wives are to do as their husbands say regardless of what it is, but are to show respect. The concept is this – if wives give husbands the room they need to lead, they will in turn respect us and our roles, and will also be more willing to help out where we need them (If we ask in the right way.). Naturally, Dr. Rogers had a much better way of putting it, and I urge you to listen if you want to learn more. It actually made great sense and wasn’t demeaning at all.
While the entire segment was interesting, I took a particular interest in (and got a good laugh from) the following:
A little boy was looking through the family picture album, and he came to a picture of his mother when she was a very young girl just after they got married. And he saw his beautiful mother; he said to his dad, “Daddy is that when mother came to work for us?”
To that, I could relate. Yes, having a child truly changes you, your relationship with your spouse, and your life in general. But you already knew that, right? I won’t even go there, but I will elaborate on the chaos of it all.
We welcomed our daughter into the world just over three months ago – I didn’t know it then, but on that day, I truly began to “work” for my family. I’ve since returned to work full-time (Sigh.), and there’s probably not a day that goes by that I don’t feel overwhelmed with all there is to do between the two “jobs.”
When I get home from work each day, I start my second job of wife and mom, and that shift typically doesn’t end until around 11 pm. Every night, there are the typical tasks we’re all familiar with: dinner to make, laundry to do, bottles to prepare, lunches to assemble, dishes to wash/load/unload, mail to go through, bills to pay, a little person to feed and bathe, etc. In the midst of all that’s required, each day I find time to play with Lily – whether it’s walking outside, rolling on her play mat, reading a book, or jumping in the jumperoo. Every evening is exhausting by the time it’s all said and done.
Weekends are much the same – and those two days typically start by 6 am. I spend one day running my errands and the other cleaning, preparing for the week, doing laundry, and catching up on household chores. In case you weren’t aware, everything with baby takes 4 times longer than without baby, so it seems very little gets done (I typically have Lily to myself all weekend long.). Weekends are equally as depleting as weekdays, and every single last minute is precious.
Overall, I wish things didn’t have to be this way. I wish I didn’t have to work (Part-time or something from home would be fine, too!), as I long to spend more time with our girl. Though we’re together every night and all weekend long, I don’t feel I get enough fun time with her, and so often it frustrates me. I just want more time; I long for more time.
Would I go back to the way things were before I came to “work” for my family? Heck no! However, I would choose to make some changes, and can certainly relate to what the boy said to his dad.
Sometimes, folks, it’s just a bit too much …
Posted in family, life, lily, nablopomo, parenting, religion
Tagged adrian rogers, ephesians, family life, home, infant, love worth finding, parenting, submission, time management, work, xm 170
… me.
Really. I’m unhappy with several aspects of my life, and I need the inspiration, motivation and courage to do what I want to do with them. I’ve got a fantastic and uber-supportive husband, a wonderful (and also very supportive) family, and various skills to put to use. Yet I won’t jump; I won’t change. Why?
I don’t know. I can think of at least five things I need to change. Two have the potential to be huge and life altering, the second is straightening something out that’s gone awry (At least in my opinion.), and the last two just take time that I don’t have right now and probably won’t have for a good, long while. Sigh …
Why am I so unsure of myself? I know one thing – it’s in my personality to over-prepare for things in a HUGE way. Before I make even a simple decision, I consult several resources. Research may be an understatement – seriously. I beat issues to death until I’m sure I’ve made the right decision. Then I second guess myself. Why? Again, I don’t know.
When I actually DO start something, I put 110% into it. I attempt to perfect it, and often put more emphasis on the process than the thing itself. And when the thing itself struggles because I’m focusing in the wrong place, I get frustrated. It’s a viscous cycle.
Without constant reassurance, I don’t thrive. And without a reason to jump, I’ll stand on the edge until the very. last. second. It’s so aggravating. And though I know I do it, I don’t change. It’s so silly.
I also tend to leave things unfinished. I love starting new things, but if they have an end, I usually don’t see it. I either get bored or decide to move on to something new. Again, in many cases it has to do with the “focusing in the wrong place” thing. If it’s not working JUST as I had planned, it’s not worthy and I won’t see it through. Ridiculous.
Maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to make a change. For now, I’ll return to my normal, stagnant life. I’ll continue to mull through each day, always keeping these things in the back of my mind. I will continue to research them; continue to be unsure of myself; continue to do nothing. For now, I’ll just “float on.”
Get creative! This week’s links are of a crafty nature – whether it be sewing, photography, cake decorating or quilting, there’s something here for you!
Posted in blogging, lists, nablopomo
Tagged cake decorating, crafts, creative, fonts, photography, quilting, sewing
Will someone please tell me why this sheep (Forgive me, or is it a lamb? Nevermind, I just learned that a lamb is just a sheep under 12 months old!) is wearing a striped spandex suit??? I know there has to be a reason, and I’d feel much better knowing.
Okay, so I googled “why put spandex on a sheep” (My other word combinations didn’t generate any results.) and got to this … apparently it’s a lamb tube and it’s intended to keep them clean between showings? Is this correct?
And is it the same principle for the goats? Why don’t they get the cool spandex tubes? And why do some of them wear hoods?
I’d love to know – seriously! I wonder every year as we check out the animals at the fair and would love to know the answer.
We had a date with Brum Brum at the HC Fair last night, and it was a blast! It was a nearly perfect night for it; if it had been just a bit less humid, it would have been ideal. Still, the weather was gorgeous!
We got there and ate, then walked around and looked at the 4H entries – unbelievable produce, cakes, crafts and photography. Many of the kids entries in each category were absolutely amazing! We then walked around the vendor pavilion, finding little of interest. Our final stop was the livestock; we checked out the pigs, sheep, goats, cows, chickens and rabbits. Because she fell asleep midway through our livestock stroll, we decided to skip the rides; I know she would have loved the lights and motion, but they don’t do much good through closed eyes, right?!
All in all, it was lots of fun, but truly an exhausting night for Lily. By the time we got home, she’d had enough and was totally ready to eat and go to bed!
We’ve gotten our fill, and will await next year’s county fair. Next summer’s fair should prove to be even more fun, as little miss will be walking and much more aware – sounds like a formula for lots more humor and excitement to me!
It’s got to be – the girl must be growing. (Please let it be growing, because if this is the new permanent pattern, I’ll crumble.) We had this awesome schedule down – eat 6 oz around 10:30 pm, wake up around 2 am for some chow, and sleep until 6 am (Sometimes 7 am!) or so. I could totally dig getting up once. Somewhere in the past week, however, that schedule has been replaced with one I’m much less thrilled with. While we’re not quite to the point of, “if mommy’s not happy, no one is happy,” we’re getting close.
Last night, I got a nap from 10:00-11:00, then another from 12:00-2:00, and a third from 3:00-5:00. That’s a total of 5 hours of sleep in glorious crappy nap format. That girl was up at 11:00 and 2:00, and there’s simply no need for that, especially considering she ate 5 oz at 11:00 and only 3 oz when she got up at 2:00 (No wonder; she didn’t need to be eating then!)! There was even an additional spell at 4:00, but I let her work through that one as it didn’t seem to be a cry for food but more of a “I woke up and want you to put me back to sleep” cry. Thankfully, she didn’t need me to put her back to sleep! That’s at least one thing we’ve done right!
I haven’t decided which approach I’ll take tonight if all remains the same, but we’re either going to soothe without food or cry it out (within reason) at 2 am. Knowing me, I’ll probably ditch both, give in, and feed her anyway. No, I will keep my sheriff attitude – this is my camp to run, not hers. (The sheriff meant business last time … here and here.)? Tonight, I’ll be tough … I just don’t know how tough.
Dear Lily,
You know how much mommy loves you, so I’m sure you’ll understand and do what you can. I’m tired – I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since May 9th, and I’m exhausted. Please learn to sleep well again, because this new stuff is totally wearing me out. I know you can do it.
All my love,
Mommy
Now, wish us luck, please! I think we’re both going to need it to get through this!
curmudgeon: [n: ker-muhj-uhn]
A difficult and often bad-tempered individual.
Posted in blogging, nablopomo, smarts, wotw
Tagged curmudgeon, define, dictionary, vocabulary, word of the week
Yeah, it’s true. Well, maybe it’s not entirely like that, but our beloved Siberian husky HAS worn lip gloss. Though he didn’t know it was lip gloss. Fine, so he ate lip gloss and ended up wearing it, okay?
Husband, Peanut and I had gone to the Greene Turtle for some dinner (The specific intention was to get wings … mmm. They weren’t that good, but it was my fault … I made him get boneless. Sigh. Next time, I’ll just deal with the bones.) on this particular Thursday evening. When we returned, my husband got out of the car and opened the door while I worked on getting Peanut out of the car. I always worry when I hear, “Oh, Cody. He got into …” come out of my husband’s mouth. This time, it was, “He got into your Mary Kay.” Oh sugar.
Now let me explain. I’ve been trying to get rid of some of my older MK stuff on eBay for some time. I had packaged one set up back in May, taken pictures, and made my list of what was included so I could write my eBay listing. Unfortunately, that’s as far as it made it. The mailing envelope of MK sat in a basket next to our couch for nearly 3 months (Yeah, I’m THAT organized.). Apparently, on this particular Thursday night, Cody had decided he’d had enough of the waiting – the smell of the lip gloss just became too much for him to bear.
What did he eat? Well, thank goodness he didn’t get into the nail polish; I would have cried. There were plenty of other products he broke into, though! Two different lip gloss colors, an Eyesicles eye color, and about half a dozen other beautiful cosmetics. Yeah, he ruined one of our area rugs, but thankfully it was the white one – the one we’re looking to replace anyway.
We ended up having to cut the fur from his paw – this turned out to be okay at this time of year, considering there’s no snow in August. He had lip gloss up both of his front legs (The right looked much cooler than the left!) and on his lip.
I’m telling you, this dog is a trip! Our lives are never boring with Cody around.
Note: If you are a Siberian husky lover, or even a dog lover in general, jump over here and give the Painter Pack some love. They recently lost their Sibe, Koova Bleu, in a tragic accident and could use some prayers and positive vibes. Thanks!
Posted in blogging, humor, life, nablopomo, pets & animals
Tagged ebay, greene turtle, husky, lip gloss, mary kay, pets, siberian husky
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