Tis the Season

Lent season is here already. I can't believe it. In all honesty, I never really knew much about Lent until I started my job in Ohio. I grew up "evangelical" Baptist and we didn't follow the traditional church calendar. Obviously, our church doesn't follow it either.

However, it think it is good for my to "prepare" myself for the most important church holiday . . . Easter, so I do take time to ponder and consider "giving up" something for Lent in order to remind myself of sacrifice.

I have been pondering this for weeks now. I still don't know what to give up. A few ideas were, sweets (might be too hard for me to keep), TV (too easy for me to do), Internet (I use it a lot for work and to communicate with family), etc. I'm pondering giving up spending. It would mean just spending money on things that are absolute "needs" . . . like food for example.

If I do choose spending as my sacrifice, I would have to start today. I bought a used juicer and bread machine yesterday on ebay (for AMAZING prices), although those things will hopefully save me money in the long run. Also, I paid for them with money that I had earned by selling other things in our house.

What are things you are sacrificing this Lenten season?

The Tyrant

Ok, you all know that I love my husband and think he's great. Please know that what I write here is written in love and for fun. I must admit to you all . . .

that my husband is a TOY TYRANT!

That man seriously cannot stand ANY toys. Abigail now has a fair amount of toys for a girl of her age. They all primarily fit into a "toy basket" and then a few larger ones (a toy piano, scooter, rocking horse, ball popper, etc) fit into the hall closet. The living room CAN get cleaned up (toy-less) in a hurry if necessary.

However, there are still too many toys in our house for my husband. He cleaned out the toy box last night and made me give all the toys back that the sitter had loaned us (to the sitter), put some away upstairs, etc.

I can see him cringe and roll his eyes a little every time a new toy comes in the house. I think the solution is to work on our basement and create a "kid" friendly play room. I don't know. I am thankful that his up-tight-ness about toy mess does lead him to pick up the toys more often than he might otherwise.

Perhaps I should post pictures of the toys/living room area and I can get opinions on if it is too much or not! :)

Nobody's Happy

Sorry, I can't embed this video (you tube won't let me) but if you do one thing today, go watch this guy's common sense. Seriously! Go watch it now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

This (and my husband's amazing blog!!!) has got me thinking. Was anyone really happier before the recession - with more money? I mean I know times are tough for people with unemployment, cut-backs, etc, etc, etc, but . . . .

Haven't we all learned by now that more money, more things, more consuming, more excess . . .

does NOT make us happy (happier)?

Just something I'm pondering today.

Oscar Ponderings

I watched bits and pieces of the Oscars last night. I usually love them and would never miss watching. However, this year we've been considerably lighter on the movie going. Having a baby and having less money to spend on "wants" has definitely played the major part in this. We spent most of the evening sitting together in the living room and reading together (separate books) and it was very enjoyable.

At one point during the evening, as I was watching something during the show, several points from the morning sermon popped into my mind. This is a good thing, right? Anyway, it was about how we can't be standing on God's promises and letting Christ have 100% of our lives if we're toeing the line and dabbling in the world's things. I am not (NOT!!) saying that watching movies or the Oscars makes you "of the world". I'm just saying that it's good to pay attention to where your focus is. Your heart is where your mind and your money are, I truly believe.

I was thinking how sad it was that lots of money, time, and effort gets spent every year to recognize people for their acting . . . pretending to be someone else. Again, I'm not saying that people should not be recognized for their work or that I don't enjoy watching that as much as the next person. I'm just saying that there are lots of hardworking "saints" out there that ALSO need and deserve recognition.

This is something that probably isn't going to change. We're not going to have a big elaborate awards ceremony for the single moms, preachers, EMTs, missionaries, and other everyday Joes who are constantly giving of themselves. So, I was inspired just to make sure to say "Thank You" more often to the people who serve me everyday. I can only do what I can do. Right? Thoughts?

Grateful Friday

It is actually Saturday but I love doing the Grateful Friday posts, so I won't skip this one!

I'm grateful:

• for the yummy fajitas my husband made for supper.
• for my beautiful fun girl.
• for my nice cozy house.
• that spring is right around the corner (yeah!).
• that things worked out with our renter. (whew!)
• that tomorrow is Sunday!
• that we got our taxes done today and we don't owe!

Here are a few pictures from today.

4 generation picture. Andrew's mom (Susan), Andrew, Abigail, and Andrew's grandma (Rosalie). They came over for supper so we did some pictures. They turned out really well considering Abigail didn't have an afternoon nap and was restless!

Abigail and her Great Grandma Myers. Isn't this a cute picture?

So Excited . . . . . . . . .

I am excited to announce . . .

that my HUSBAND has started a blog!!!!! Yeah!!!

That's right! I can't believe it. I don't know how often he'll update but when it does, it will be good! You'll probably get a heavy dose of what you won't find on my blog (lots of political talk and deep thoughts). He says his blog won't be anything like mine, so you won't find pictures of Abigail, probably. He even threatened not to link to mine, so we'll see. But, I'm being a nice wife and linking to him. I don't think he has turn on comments yet but I will encourage that.

Anyway, I won't delay any longer. Here is the blog link. Enjoy!

forgottenfoundation.blogspot.com

Body Image Discussion

I strive for honesty on my blog but let's be real. I don't share everything. Many things are too personal, too painful, too disgusting (ha!) to be shared. One thing that I don't talk a lot about is my struggle with weight-loss and/or body image.

However it is an important topic. I now have another little pair of eyes watching me. Not only is Abigail going to watch what I eat (how I eat, etc), she's going to pick up on my self-image. I don't want to be a mom always unhappy with myself and always on (or off) a restrictive diet. I want to teach her love what God has given to her and to be comfortable in her owns skin. I've been doing much better on this point. It really happened when I had her. My body did amazing things (as it was created by God to do) and I have a lot more respect for it now.

I read this body image discussion on a blog recently and wanted to share. It is very insightful!

I got this from Kate Harding over on Salon.com.

I was once standing on the street talking to a business contact I hoped to impress, when a homeless man came up and asked us for change. The man I hoped to impress said he didn't have any, and the homeless guy spat, "Oh, fine, you just keep talking to the fat girl, then!" Which meant the business contact spent the next five minutes sputtering about how that guy was crazy and I shouldn't think anything of it, while my face flamed and I stammered, "It's ... OK, really, it's ... please ... it's fine." So much for the awesome professional image I was hoping to project.

I may not be as big as some of my friends and family members, and I may not be the size most people mentally associate with the word obese, but I am bloody well fat, and I have been most of the time since college. The homeless man might have been crazy, but he wasn't wrong. The friends who kept insisting "You're not fat!" were the ones out of touch with the truth.

But then the truth was never really the point. Thin women don't tell their fat friends "You're not fat" because they're confused about the dictionary definition of the word, or their eyes are broken, or they were raised on planets where size 24 is the average for women. They don't say it because it's the truth. They say it because fat does not mean just fat in this culture. It can also mean any or all of the following:

• Ugly
• Unhealthy
• Smelly
• Lazy
• Ignorant
• Undisciplined
• Unlovable
• Burdensome
• Embarrassing
• Unfashionable
• Mean
• Angry
• Socially inept
• Just plain icky

So when they say "You're not fat," what they really mean is "You're not a dozen nasty things I associate with the word fat." The size of your body is not what's in question; a tape measure or a mirror could solve that dispute. What's in question is your goodness, your lovability, your intelligence, your kindness, your attractiveness. And your friends, not surprisingly, are inclined to believe you get high marks in all those categories. Ergo, you couldn't possibly be fat.

This is fascinating stuff, isn't it! Too bad that "fat" doesn't just mean "fat". Just for the record, I've been counting calories lately. I'm doing really well at tracking what I eat. However, everyday I look at it and I think, "Wow, I eat way too many calories" and I don't do much else about it!

The exercise is a hit or miss. Many times I get to it a few times a week, then I'll miss a few weeks, or months. More about this in a later post but I'm just short on time when it comes to this.

Anyway, I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this. When did body image get so off in America? When did the ultra-skinny become the most desirable instead of a woman who can hold up under real life?

1 Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed!

One of Abigail's new favorite things to hear is that rhyme, "Five little Monkeys jumping on the bed" and so on. It all started when her Grandma Fairchild made her a sock monkey for Christmas. She loves that thing and I say the rhyme to her almost every day in the car when we're driving somewhere (to or from work). Well, Daddy watched Abigail today while I worked and she discovered that SHE was the monkey. Thankfully there were no broken or bumped heads in this house. She was so adventurous that I had to take some pictures!!

She's jumping on the air bed that we have set up in the office for Aunt Jenny to sleep on. Abigail discovered today that she can climb on it and jump!

Then she discovered that she wanted to "jump" off. It was more like stumbling or walking but an attempt at something dangerous, none the less!

"Jumping" off the bed. Yes, she is doing this ALL on her own with no assistance from us. See Andrew sitting by the computer and I'm taking the pictures. She stumbled once on the bed but miraculously did not hit her head on the book shelves behind her.

Climbing on again!

I'm concerned she's becoming a dare-devil like her dad! Yikes! :)

She conquered the bed but not the drool! Her other three molars are definitely working their way in!

She was so tired and slap-happy at this point. She managed to nap twice today but still had a very exciting weekend.

Weekend Fun

We had so much fun with my family visiting this weekend! I'll post more pictures later! Andrew is keeping Abigail today, since he has the holiday off. I know they're having fun. It's time to get back into the daily grind of "regular" life I suppose. My girl sure is fun! Here are some pictures that her Schechter Grandparents took of her on her actual birthday. It's a good thing they take pictures because we forget to!

Abigail bouncing on one of their chairs.

Abigail enjoying a nice spot of tea! (Just kidding, she hasn't tried tea yet, but I'm sure she'll be a connoisseur someday. It's in her blood!).

I am looking forward to a nice evening with my husband and daughter.

Fun Weekend!

These pictures will give you a glimpse of the fun we've had this weekend with my family visiting. I can hear the laughing going on while I'm blogging this! :)

Abigail's Aunt Jenny (my sister) pushes Abigail on her new toy from Grandma and Grandpa Fairchild, a scooter! She LOVES it!

This was taken a week ago. We were getting ready to go to IKEA and she just look so cute that I had to take her picture.

We took some pictures with Grandma and Grandpa today and I snagged the opportunity to take one of Daddy and Daughter, since he doesn't get his picture taken often. This turned out so cute!

G&G Fairchild & Abigail

The Grandpa's letting Abigail chew on germy playing cards! Yuck!

Abigail at her birthday party as a butterfly (the Theme). I'll post more party pictures later!

Steppin Out

In an effort to make it easier to comment on my blog, I have removed the Word Verification section. I'm a bit nervous about this. Hopefully it does not create any spam headaches. Oh well, if it does I will simply turn it back on. Comment away! :)

Abigail is escaping from me in this picture. Can her hear the whine coming from her when you look at this? She wanted to walk around and explore the new area (basement) and did not want to stand or sit still very long! I love this girl!!

Creativeness is out the window

I can't think of creative titles anymore. What is up with that? Anyway, Abigail has been sleeping better these past two nights. She has struggled some with going to sleep but hasn't gotten me up. That's nice. I say it that way because sometimes I see her sit up in her crib, put her paci back in and go back to sleep by herself. So, she's probably not asleep the whole night long but she's not crying for us either.

My parents & brother are on their way! :) My sister will be on her way tomorrow. I am excited for them to visit and share in the joy that is my daughter. She is so much fun!!

I guess that's about it. Our life has been rather boring lately, which is a wonderful thing in my opinion. We've just been getting ready for this visit and doing other routine things.

Hopefully I'll have pictures to post soon. I love posts with pictures but I don't do it as often as I should with my own blog. First of all, we don't take all that many pictures (although we should) and I don't get them put on the computer very often. I've got to work on that!

Thoughts and Observations

Some days I don't have anything profound to say. I just have lots of observations. Here it goes.

• My daughter is a cutie.
• Could my daughter have a cold instead of teeth issues? Now her nose is runny (clear, but runny). *She did sleep all night, though!
  
• Cookies have lots of calories in them. Now that I'm tracking that, I'm more amazed than I should be.
• When Andrew gets up late, it makes me late.
• I have my performance review today at work. I'm incredibly nervous for just being a church secretary.
• My taxes are almost done.
• My husband complains about having too many leftovers yet he won't eat them!
• I'm so excited about my family coming this weekend!

Have a good day!

Molars!

Abigail is teething like I've never seen her teething before. Yes, Jen you were right. After I wrote that post about her sleeping so well, she has had a few rough nights. I'm almost 100% sure that it's her teeth but I always second guess myself until I know for sure (which I do, then I still guess).

Her top left one has several spots that have broken through the skin. The top right one has one spot. The bottom molars just seem very very swollen and sensitive (like she screams when I touch them). She's been awake between 2 to 3 times a night the past few nights. She's been running a very mild fever on and off all weekend.

During the day when she's awake, besides the massive amount of drool that covers her chest, she's still pretty happy-go-lucky. She chews on everything so you have to watch that girl. She went straight for a little teether when she got to the babysitters today. Poor girl.

I even broke down and gave her a 1/2 dose of Tylenol last night. *Gasp* I know. Her first drugs. Such a big occasion. After I gave it to her, she slept better. Not 100% but better.

And . . . I'm tired.

I'd forgotten what getting up a lot a night (and working the next day) was like. I figure at some point I might have to bring in her daddy to give me a little night-time relief.

I've transferred by obsession!

In my early college days, I was obsessed with shoes! I loved buying all sorts of shoes for myself. I suppose that I grew up a bit and realized that my money needed to go to other things, like a mortgage, groceries, savings, etc, and am really over that phase. I haven't gotten shoes for myself since I was pregnant and that was a purchase out of necessity to save my back!!

Anyway, I have found a new love. Baby shoes. Oh. my. goodness. These are so cute I can hardly stand it. So far I have bought only two pair and I have bought them both used so they were only about 1/4 of the price but still. I must control myself.

Anyway, nothing deep to write for today. I just wanted to say that I love these shoes.

http://www.pediped.com/Product/CategoryInfo.aspx?cid=52

They are so cute!

Update from the good Doc

Abigail weighs 22 pounds (75%, which has gone up significantly from her last check-up where she was in the 50%). She is 30 1/2 inches long (90%), and her head is 18 3/4 inches around (99%).

The doctor said she is a beautifully formed baby (really a toddler now)! :)

We talked about nutrition, learning to talk, and her rash problem, which isn't really a problem anymore.

We stopped at Babies R Us on the way there. I should NOT be allowed to shop there without some accountability. Whoa! Thankfully I caught myself and put about six summer outfits back before checking out or it would have been worse. I just love summer baby clothes (winter, not so much) and can't resist all the cute Carter's stuff. She really doesn't have many 18 month summer clothes yet but I figure that I still have time to buy before then. I'm also going to try to buy as much used (or free) clothes that I can, to cut costs. Also, I might as well wait and see what she gets for her birthday.

However, I found Abigail the most adorable Easter dress and shoes today. I'm not 100% on the shoes. They may be too big. I may try to find another pair that will go with more outfits so I don't spend $12 on shoes she'll wear once. Now the only thing I need to keep my eye out for is a cute hair accessory for Easter. She only has two bows and her hair is getting long enough that we can accessorize. She never really did like the headbands.

Ok, she's up from her nap, so I'd best be off!

Grateful Friday

It's grateful Friday again. I've neglected this a few times so I thought it was time to do another one!

Here it goes:

• I'm grateful for our girls' night last Friday. We had so much fun "just talking". I can't wait for next month!
• I'm grateful for a wonderful time at our small group last night and for Anne, who watched Abigail again for us!
• I'm grateful that my daughter sleeps through the night 99% of the time! We are so blessed!
• I'm grateful for my husband who changed "the world's poopiest diaper" (his words) this morning before bringing Abigail to me.
• I'm grateful that my daughter is so easily entertained by a plastic thing that flaps around (not even really a toy) so I can write this.
• I'm SOOOO grateful for the warmer weather that is in the forecast for the next few days. Even if it gets cold again, it will be a nice break for a few days.
• I'm grateful that my family is making the long trek here next week to celebrate Abigail's birthday. We miss them and I can't wait for them to spend time with her (and me)!!
• I'm grateful that it looks like we'll break even on our taxes this year! :)
• I'm grateful that Abigail is getting her molars (one is in!) and she really isn't acting like she's in pain!

Have a wonderful Friday.

We're off to see the doctor at 2:00 pm this afternoon for Abigail's one-year well baby visit. I'm interested to see how much she weighs.

Striving

I think I'll write more about this later when I can gather my thoughts more completely but here is a wonderful blog for you to read.

http://onething.beautifulheritage.com/?p=1973

It is always something that I think about, even at the back of my mind. Am I doing everything I can to become more Christ-like? Today, I'm thankful that the Bible has a very wonderful description of what a woman-of-God looks like in Proverbs 31. I know I will never live up to it but I'm thankful that the standard is set for me to strive towards.

I SERIOUSLY need to work on the getting up earlier thing. I can't seem to roll out of bed before 6:15 am, even though I know that my family would benefit greatly from me getting up earlier. I truly believe that God is asking me to do this - to be a better wife and mother - to be prepared for my day. For me, it is a first step . . . something very tangible that I can try to do.

The Repeating Post

I think I wrote this post last year and the year before that.

Here's the gist of it.

We got some snow last night.

Lots of people don't know how to drive in snow.

Counties are out of salt so the roads aren't completely cleaned off (but still passable, believe me).

Got lots of IRATE parents calling this morning, asking why school was still on.

Next year in the winter, people will still not know how to drive in snow (tip - drive slowly) and people will still not know how to make decisions themselves (if you don't want to get out and drive in the snow - don't - it's fine - we understand).

Sorry for my soapbox morning. The IRATENESS (if that's a word) is just getting to me!!!

My Car

This morning I was wondering if I would have anything to blog about. Note to self: Don't wonder that or life will give you something to blog about. Really this story is about my forgetfulness, or mommy-brain, as it is commonly called.

It all started yesterday as I was arriving at my house for the evening. I pulled up next to our lovely mailbox and retrieved the mail. In the process of doing so, I rolled down my window to actually get the mail from the warmth of my car. My attempts to roll up the window were unsuccessful.

This is nothing new. Our car was hit by a deer (it slammed into the side of our car) in November of 2004. It has never been the same since. We have had difficulty with the windows since then, so I wasn't terribly surprised when it wouldn't roll up. I made a mental note to tell Andrew about it as soon as I got into the house, because he has fixed it many times, and I promptly forgot to tell him!!

Fast forward to this morning. I did my usual scramble to get out the door in the morning. I was carrying my purse, some bags of frozen food for Abigail, my oatmeal, a cup of water, AND the baby out to the car. (If you know of another way to load up my car, let me know. I can't leave the child inside by herself or she'll fall off of our step into the mudroom. she cries if I put her in the cold car first and run back in for the stuff, etc, etc, etc). I got everything loaded up and went to start the car.

It sounded very loud to me and suddenly I realized that the window was still down!! It's February 3rd, and it is COLD outside. I have a 20 minute drive with the baby to the sitter's house and then a 10 minute drive after that. I called Andrew, got a few instructions that didn't work, and decided to call my father-in-law.

He helped me tape plastic to the window, like the ghetto-fabulous car that it is, and I headed off to work. Oh, I can't forget the exciting part where we started to roll down the back window a few inches to help the air pressure in the car, only to realize that it won't roll up either. So it is down about 2 inches. Lovely.

Did I mention it is supposed to snow 1 to 3 inches today. Yeah!

I love my car, I really do. I just wish the windows worked. Thankfully that is something I can live without.

I suppose our solution will have to be just rolling all the windows up once and for all and leaving them up. No more drive-throughs or mailboxes for me! I'll have to get out of my car.

That is our exciting adventure for the day.

*Abigail had a lovely birthday. We had a mailbox full of cards yesterday and she loved looking at all of them. Thank you Mom/Dad, Grandma/Grandpa, Grandma Helen, Aunt Flo, and Donna for your lovely cards. She seriously carried them around and looked at them until bedtime!*

This Day - One Year Ago

One year ago, right at this very moment, I was in labor. I could not have imagined how my life would drastically change at 4:00 pm that day. It was, by far, the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced since I had a drug-free birth. It was also, by far, the most joyous occasion of my life (at 4:01 pm).

Dearest Sweet Baby Girl,

You aren't really that much of a baby anymore. You are certainly becoming your own person very quickly. You are trying new things, like climbing the stairs, and new foods, like meat! You like to test how far you can go but you respond pretty quickly to us when we tell you "no".

You are one-year-old today. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone and how much we both have changed. You continue to amaze us every single day by how much you are growing and learning. You now clap your hands when we say "Clap Your Hands" and you are saying so many new sounds, although no real clear words yet. I believe you know who Dada is and who Momma is but you have yet to really label us with your words.

We love you very much. We are so blessed as your parents to have such a sweet, good-natured, and lovely person for a daughter. You have certainly lived up to the meaning of your name, which is "A Father's Joy". You are not only a joy to your Father but to everyone else around you as well. I'm sure that God is looking down on you today and smiling at the beautiful child of God that He created!

Love,

Your Momma