Wednesday, March 30, 2011

It's Alright

Just another song that touches my heart. I hope you enjoy.


It's Alright
by Brandon Heath



Tiny boat on an angry sea
Sails torn and tattered
How could Jesus be fast asleep
Like it doesn't matter
Soon as He opens His eyes
The storm just dies

It's alright
Everything will be okay
You just hold tight
I'll be with you the whole way
When you're weak, I'll be strong
Keep going, we're almost home
It's alright
Everything will be okay

Mother Mary's got a broken heart
From the words they're saying
Her baby boy's being torn apart
By the world He's saving
He says, Mother, don't cry for me
You know where I'll be

It's alright
Everything will be okay
You just hold tight
I'll be with you the whole way
When you're weak, I'll be strong
Keep going, we're almost home
It's alright
Everything will be okay


No promise of an easy road
Just a destination
Next time you forget your hope
Somebody's waiting
Soon as you open your eyes
You'll realize

It's alright
Everything will be okay
You just hold tight
I'll be with you the whole way
When you're weak, He'll be strong
Keep going, you're almost home
When you're weak, He is strong
Keep going, you're almost home
It's alright
Everything will be okay

1% Changes 3.30.11



My friend Jessi over at Naptime Diaries has recently begun a blog project called 1% Changes.  She describes it as follows:

"One percent changes is a new blog project to encourage and connect other women as they make one percent, baby changes, to slowly and surely walk towards a life of healthiness and walk away from unreasonable expectations of ourselves. The idea is, if we're making tiny and yet still costly changes daily (or weekly! or monthly!) that stick, sooner or later we'll find ourselves healthier women - able to live our lives a bit fuller and a lot less focused on how unhealthy we feel."

I decided to join in. :)  (See the 1% Changes button on my sidebar????  That makes me official.)

Last week I actually did have a 1% Change, I just didn't get a chance to blog about it.  It was to resist one dessert per day.  (Sound ridiculous?  Ya, if you knew the number of desserts I eat in an average day you'd probably pass out.  And agree wholeheartedly that that was a good first step.)

So here is my 1% Change for this week:

I will read my Bible at least once per day.

Not my whole Bible every day (that might be a bit over the top), but at least one little snippet.  Every day. Even if it's just one verse.  Because I know that the Word of God will brighten my life and make me healthier in so so many ways.  So many days I feel tired, worn down, or emotionally exhausted, and opening my Bible sounds like such a chore. But really, isn't a good dose of God's love what I really need in those circumstances??

So starting today, daily Bible reading.  My 1% Change.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Nanananas

One of Krew's few words, besides "Dis!" (this) and "Dat!" (that), is "Nananana!", meaning banana, or, any food really, just feed me NOW!

One nananana

plus one hungry little man

equals one quickly devoured nananana

one full tummy

and two sorely disappointed dogs.

First Birthday Bash

Okay, here they FINALLY are...a few of the bagillion pictures from Krew's first birthday party. :)  It was a great day...Dave's parents and my parents both came, and we had tons of friends stop by, many of them with their little ones.  I have a lot of pictures of people from the party, but for fear of either a) leaving someone out or b) writing a blog post a mile long to include everyone, I've decided to primarily share pictures of the party decorations and the fun he had eating his first birthday cupcake - and yes he ate the entire thing!!




Krew's new chalkboard, decorated by his friends with "birthday messages." ;)

   

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Pokemon for Japan

My friend Jason (my wonderful friend Casey's husband), was given money by his church that he was instructed to multiply for a good cause like in the parable of the talents.

What did he do with his money?

He purchased Pokémon games.  And this weekend he and four others are working together to play a Pokémon marathon.  Veiwers can watch them online, and in return they are asking for donations, the proceeds of which will all go to Japan through MercyCorps.

{via}

So check it out!  The five guys are playing through five Pokémon games, and Jason is playing game #4, which should be this afternoon through tonight.  You can even hear each guy as he is playing and chat with him while he plays.  So funny but so cool.

You can watch here: http://www.wavedash.net/pokemon-marathon-for-japan/

And donate here:  http://www.mercycorps.org/fundraising/jasonm3d
(There is also a place to donate on the webpage above, just below the chat window.)

Please donate even a couple dollars if you can! Thanks so much!

The Mysteries of Pledge

I was recently given the opportunity to review a can of Pledge from a BzzAgent campaign.  I noticed on the can that it said Pledge could be used on stainless steel.  I was like, Really, stainless steel????  But I decided to give it a try.

Let me tell you - it worked AWESOME.  Seriously, our fridge hasn't been that streak-free since we bought it.  I was absolutely amazed.  Just the other night Dave said how impressed he still was with how great our fridge looked, and how he was so glad I'd discovered the Pledge secret.

Soooo....lesson here?  If you've got stainless steel appliances that always seem to have fingerprints or streaks on them, go out and get yourself some Pledge.  You'll be glad you did it. :)

You can read about all its uses here: http://www.pledge.com/domore/.

{via}

Disclaimer:  I am a member of BzzAgent and received a free bottle of Pledge from the SC Johnson campaign.

Friday, March 25, 2011

My One-Year-Old

Although I've decided to relax on the weekly updates now that Krew is a year old, I still want to document some of his happenings and milestones.  So here is the latest. :)

On Wednesday March 16th, he started really walking, and I was oh so excited.  When I went to pick him up from daycare, Eileen joyfully announced, "We have a walker!!!"  At which point Krew stood up from her lap and walked about four steps over to me.  I was so proud I could have cried.  I immediately took him home and proudly plopped him on the floor to perform for his Uncle Aaron (who was visiting on his spring break).  Aaron was equally impressed, and also super excited that he got to share in one of Krew's milestones. :)  He's   been getting progressively stronger with his walking day by day, and for the last two days he has held my hand and walked to the mailbox with me.  He walks super stiff-legged like his legs don't bend, but it's oh so cute.

Last Friday the 18th, Krew got mad at me and tried to hit me.  It totally caught me off-guard, and at the same time impressed me because I realized how grown he is becoming - he knows he is an individual, and that he wants his way, and that he's mad if he doesn't get it.  As soon as he swung at me, I grabbed his hand and held it down and said in the lowest voice I could muster, "NO."  He smirked at me, but he didn't try it again (to my surprise).  We'll see how long until he takes his next swing. :)

Last Sunday the 20th, he said "Mamamamamama" in what seemed like a purposeful way for the first time.  I was SO excited!! I tried responding super positively every time he said it so that he'd get the hint that "Mama" is a GREAT word to have in his vocabulary.  It turned into "Nanananana" by the end of the evening, but I am hopeful that sometime soon he will learn that I am his Mama.

I'd been struggling ever since his first birthday to get him to switch to whole milk.  First of all, he wasn't a big fan of drinking milk out of a cup in the first place, even if it was frozen breast milk.   He'd rather it come straight from me. (This didn't seem to be an issue for Eileen at daycare, I assume because I wasn't around with the "good" stuff.) We started switching him to sippy cups of frozen breast milk during the day and nursing only in the morning and at night at around 11 months.  He was drinking so little milk during the days that I was home with him that I was practically following him around the house, shoving a sippy cup in his face any chance I had.  Things slowly got a little better, and once he started drinking it out of the sippy cup a bit more regularly and he turned a year old, I began adding whole milk to his cup.  I thought it was working well for a while, but we seemed to get stuck at the point where the milk was half whole.  If the ratio of whole milk to breast milk was even slightly in favor of whole milk, he'd spit it out immediately, drop the cup, and refuse another sip.  I tried it cold, I tried it warm, I tried it room temperature...and it was all a no-go unless the breast milk dominated the whole milk.  I was getting worried our frozen supply wasn't going to last long enough for the transition.  Then all of a sudden, just this past week, he switched.  Like seriously, overnight he went from refusing whole milk to guzzling it non-stop.  To the point where now I have to limit how much whole milk he gets to drink.  (More than 24 oz per day of milk can lead to anemia.)  Crazy, right?  But definitely a blessing.  The whole milk thing was stressing me out.  Now I'm just giving him a mix of breast milk and whole milk in the mornings and evenings until our frozen stash is gone, because I still believe the vitamins and antibodies in the breast milk are beneficial.

So what does this all mean?  Well, it means I'm not nursing anymore.  Which leads to my next topic...

Oh the DISCOMFORT!!!  I have now gone 72 hours without nursing.  I feel like I might burst, but I'm told it will get better.  And I'm praying soon.  I am not the least bit comfortable.  Krew doesn't seem to be missing it at all, which is a great relief.  He's gone down to bed all three nights without a problem, despite his nighttime nursing session being gone.  I'm so so thankful.  I would have felt terrible if he'd been reluctant to give it up.  But as it is, I'm the only one suffering.  A friend told me to try wrapping Ace bandages around myself.  It's a tempting idea. Any other suggestions??

Below are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks.  And yes I know I still need to post birthday party pictures...I promise they're coming soon!

Playing outside on St. Patty's Day.
(In a Fighting Irish outfit, because I found it most appropriate. :) Not to mention that Krew's Uncle Aaron was visiting, who is a huge Notre Dame fan, and it was Uncle Aaron's 19th birthday, so we had to show him our love.)

This is how he sits in the grass 90% of the time. With his right leg as high in the air as he can get it.  I assume he doesn't like how the grass feels on his feet?

Sunscreen hair!

Swinging at the park.

Hanging out with Uncle Aaron!

Snuggles with Daddy.