Just 1 Step

Airport Photo Op

2012-02-15T21:24:00.001-05:00

While Krew and I were traveling home from Indiana a few weeks ago, a photo op presented itself when Krew started playing around a structural metal beam in the airport. It had holes in the center that a) made great frames for his little face and b) made excellent giant foot holes for him to use to climb (I had to limit his height - he got a little over-zealous, no surprise). :)

If nothing else, it provided some entertainment for both of us during a long layover in Chicago!

Music Love: Small Enough

2012-02-14T07:30:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love this song. It came up the other day on my iPod and nearly brought me to to tears. It always does. If you feel small, insignificant, forgotten, or overwhelmed, this may be a song for you...

Small Enough by Nicole Nordeman
Link to Video

Oh great God
Be small enough to hear me now

There were times when I was crying
from the dark of Daniel’s den
And I had asked you once or twice
if you would part the sea again

Tonight I do not need a fiery pillar in the sky
Just want to know you’re gonna hold me
if I start to cry

Oh great God
Be small enough to hear me now

Oh great God
Be close enough to feel me now

There have been moments
when I could not face Goliath on my own
And how could I forget we marched
around our share of Jerichos
But I will not be setting out
a fleece for You tonight
Just wanna know if everything will be alright
Oh great God
be close enough to feel me now

All praise and all the honor be
To the God of ancient mysteries
Whose every sign and wonder
Turn the pages of our history

But tonight my heart is heavy
And I cannot keep from whispering this prayer
Are You there?

And I know You could leave writing
on the wall that’s just for me
Or send wisdom while I’m sleeping
like in Solomon’s sweet dreams

I don’t need the strength of Sampson
or a chariot in the end
Just wanna know You still know how many
hairs are on my head

Oh great God
Be small enough to hear me now

Other music recommendations:
It's Alright
Always
Keep Saving Me

And last but not least, Happy Valentine's Day to my wonderful Dave. I love you hunny. :)

Toddler Room Dresser - Need Your Input!

2012-02-12T21:47:00.000-05:00

Dave and I are planning to move Krew into his new "big boy" room as soon as we finish getting it decorated and set up. But we are stuck. We simply can't decide on what to do with his dresser.

Observe:

Here is his new bed...

(The Kura bed from Ikea. After a short while we will raise the mattress up about a foot onto slats, and then in a couple years we will turn it into a bunk bed.)

and here is the dresser: (excuse the mess everywhere - right now it is a catch-all room :) )

Here is an image of the two together:

(As you can see, they don't match very well.)

We are going to add dark brown vinyl decoration to the walls (something Dave will design), and I also want to transfer over the following wall hangings from his nursery:

His name decoration from Ashley - I may paint the baby blue over with a darker blue to match the blue on the bed, but I definitely want to take it into the new room.

The song I put into a frame for him - Hold On To Jesus by Erin O'Donnell (I changed the female words to male words). Very special to me.

His framed lifetime hunting license (courtesy of Grammie and Grandpa Todd).

So...what do we do with the dresser? If we paint it, what color do we paint it? Do we leave parts of it the color it already is, or do we paint the whole thing? Should we do the drawers in different colors to match the rest of the room, like in this post: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/the-technicolor-dreamcoat-dres-97860?

Please, provide your thoughts. Dave and I really can't arrive at any final decision!

Easy Recipe: Orange Chicken Stir-Fry (with a gluten-free option)

2012-02-11T17:48:00.004-05:00

I have made this recipe for dinner a couple times in the last month. Dave and I both really like it, it's fairly easy and quick, and it has a minimal number of ingredients. Not to mention I've been craving orange juice lately so it tastes doubly delicious to me.

If you're looking for an easy Asian dinner to make at home, give this one a try. :)

Orange Chicken Stir-Fry
from http://busycooks.about.com/od/chickenstirfryrecipes/r/Orange-Chicken-Stir-Fry.htm

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp. soy sauce (Use gluten-free if necessary - I recommend Kikkoman brand, as some other brands still make me sick. You can find a location that sells it using this website: http://www.kikkomanusa.com/homecooks/products/products_hc_details.php?pf=10106&fam=101.)
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups frozen baby peas, thawed (We use steamed broccoli instead.)
1/2 cup cashew pieces
rice or noodles, cooked (use gluten-free if necessary)

Preparation:

Heat oil in heavy skillet or wok.
Add chicken, salt and pepper. Stir fry until chicken is cooked.
Combine orange juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch in small bowl.
Add mixture and peas (or broccoli) to skillet.
Stir fry 2-4 minutes until sauce thickens.
Stir in cashew pieces.
Serve over hot cooked rice or noodles.

My tips:
- As with most recipes, feel free to adjust the amount of each of the ingredients. The last time we made it, I thought it needed more sauce, so I made another half-batch of the sauce and added it.
- If your chicken breasts are giant, don't cook and cut up four. I learned this lesson the hard way. We now have a bunch of cooked chicken pieces hanging out in our fridge, and I have no idea what I'm going to use them for.
- If the sauce is too runny at the end, just keep stirring it over heat. It will thicken up over time.
- If you're adding already-cooked veggies, don't add them until the sauce is at the thickness you want it. Otherwise the veggies may overcook while you're waiting for the sauce to thicken.

Enjoy!

One of Those Weeks

2012-02-09T17:30:00.000-05:00

It's been one of those weeks at work. Ya know, the ones where by the end you're so drained that you just want to go sit in a steaming bath for three hours while sipping some hot tea and eating a giant bar of raspberry-filled chocolate and reading a fiction novel about someone else's life where everything is funny and a thing such a work stress doesn't exist and everything is all hunky-dory happily ever after. That's about what I want right now.

I often wonder about the purpose of times like these at work. What is God trying to tell me? How is He trying to move me or push me? Does He want me to respond through action or does He just want me to toughen up? Does He want to break me down to lean on Him more? Is this just sandpaper being used to turn me into the person He wants me to be? Is it just meant as a reminder that I do not belong in this world, but rather in eternity with Him? Or is it meant to tell me that I'm not where He wants me and that I need to start stepping in a new direction?

So many possibilities. No clear answer. Only the awareness that it's been one of those weeks.

22/23 Month Update!

2012-02-05T21:30:00.000-05:00

Krewson is 23 months old today. Just crazy. One more month till we have an official 2-year-old on our hands!!

I think the biggest development for Krew over the last two months has been his language. He now repeats EVERYTHING we say and has a rather impressive vocabulary. He strings two and three words together more often than not. He's even started occasionally using articles ("the", "a", etc.) which just started in the last week or so. His word pronunciation isn't the greatest yet, but I know that will develop with time. For now we just love listening to him chatter and having the ability to hold conversations with him. Sometimes he says things that we don't understand, which can be frustrating, but more often than not we're able to figure out what he's saying and respond.

We've also been working on learning numbers, shapes, letters, and colors. He absolutely loves to count to ten, over and over and over. Also loves to sing the ABCs. I try to practice his colors with him as often as the opportunity arises, but they don't seem to be clicking very well. He can sort objects into groups based on colors, but he can't seem to keep track of the color names. In fact, he just says that every color is red. Apparently his NC State-fan daddy has trained him well.

He loves his trains, cars, trucks, buses, and airplanes. Frequently while driving we'll hear "truck!" from the back seat. Then "BIG truck!"..."BUS!"...."Ooooooh BUS!". He loves to play with his toy train set that he got for Christmas, along with all his toy cars and trucks.

He also loooooooooooves to color right now. His favorite thing to use is his markers, but he'll sometimes go for his crayons, too. We had to have a few teaching situations for him to learn that we only color on paper and not on the wall or table, but he seems to have it pretty down-pat now.

Being outside is still one of his favorite things to do. He'll just go in the backyard and walk around, picking up objects and kicking a ball. Also really enjoys his sandbox. Thankfully we've had a very mild winter so far, so he's been able to go outside quite a bit. When he's not able to be outside, he enjoys throwing balls and frisbees around the house. He's gotten pretty good at shooting into the basketball hoop he got for Christmas, and he's learning the "proper" way to throw a frisbee thanks to his daddy.

He has always been a bit more on the "thick" side...very solid, heavier than you would expect him to be by looking at him, with a big belly in proportion to his body. But recently Dave and I both noticed that his body seems to be thinning out. His belly is shrinking. He feels easier to hold, more long and less thick. It's so weird. I pick him up in the morning, and I can totally tell he's changing. He feels like a monkey instead of a teddy bear, if that comparison helps at all. :)

Of course maybe all that body-thinning is because the kid runs a million laps around our house daily. No joke. He all of a sudden takes off and runs lap after lap after lap. Nearly every day. A lot of the times he requests that we run with him. "Daddy!! Mommy!! RUT!!!" ("Rut" = "run" in toddlerese.) Then he'll shout "STOP!" and we'll all stop. Then he'll shout "GO!" and we'll all go. Round and round and round. Till Dave and I are tired and begging for a break.

In terms of clothes, he's wearing 18-month pants, 18- to 24-month shirts, 18- to 24-month pajamas, size 6 shoes, and size 4 diapers. It's crazy to me that his feet haven't grown in what seems to be months. I'll be curious to find out his height and weight stats at next month's doc appointment.

He still prefers daddy over mommy, grandpa over grandma, and uncles over aunts. (Still makes me sad.) He still loves music, singing, and dancing (yay!). Favorite movies are still...once again...Horton Hears a Who (he has the sound effects for the first ten minutes memorized) and Blue's Clues (he sings and dances along with the songs). Veggie Tales has faded away a bit right now, but I'm sure it will come back eventually. His love for shoes has also faded it seems, thank goodness, so he's not as opinionated on which pair he wears right now. I hope it stays that way for a while. I enjoy picking out his outfits without worrying about what he thinks. :)

Watching Blue's Clues...
(the band episode, hence the drum)

He's started getting more particular about his food, which can be slightly frustrating. Foods he used to gobble up he'll now turn his nose up at, including spaghetti, mashed potatoes, chicken, and mac n cheese. I have no idea why this started, but I hope it doesn't stick around. He won't eat ANY veggies and it's pretty much driving me insane. I just keep pumping him with fruit (he'll eat fruit all day long) and then I try to fill in the veggie gaps with veggie/fruit squeeze packs. I also try to hide veggies in food items such as pasta sauce to get some extra nutrition down him.

We've set up his new Ikea twin bed in what will be his new bedroom, and we'll be moving him over to sleep in there sometime in the next few months. We want to get him used to sleeping in there well before the new baby comes so we have as few adjustment problems as possible. Either way, I'm sure we're going to have some issues when the new baby arrives. He is very much used to being a single child with Daddy's and Mommy's undivided attention. :)

Oh, one other thing that has developed is that he is now INCREDIBLY independent and INCREDIBLY stubborn. I mean, he was these things before, but they are markedly more obvious now. He has to do everything himself. And if we try to do something for him, he gets mad and falls apart. To the point where if we hand him a cookie, but he wanted to pick the cookie from the plate himself, he will have a meltdown and refuse the cookie. Yes, I'm serious. Our child will refuse a cookie when he feels that his independence is being challenged. Crazy, right?

Whew, well, that was a lot of updating. I'll share more for his birthday in a month. :)

God Wad

2012-02-03T21:39:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I read the book "Stuff Christians Like" by Jon Acuff. If you're a person who enjoys dry humor, I really recommend you check it out. I think he is hilarious. The whole book is basically him cracking jokes on Christians. Which is okay, because he is a Christian and is making fun of himself 90% of the time. He also manages to throw some spiritual lessons in there and really make you think about how un-Christian your "Christian" behavior can be, which is challenging and appreciated. Of course, if you're not the dry-humor type, you might think his jokes are dumb. But I loved them. So much that I bought the book for my dad and three brothers for Christmas. And they all loved it too. Of course, we all share the same sense of humor. Because, ya know, we're related. So risk it if you will. And please don't come back hating on me if you don't like it.

Anyways, a review of the book wasn't supposed to be the point of this post. What I actually wanted to talk about was the God Wad.

In one part of the book, Jon talks about his God Wad, which is a stack of index cards with Bible verses on them that he carries around with him in his pocket. I thought this idea was simply genius. Because, honestly, I am HORRIBLE at memorizing Scripture. I have about four passages half-memorized. And that's it. It's ridiculous. How much more would God be able to speak to me on a daily basis if I was carrying His written word around in my heart? I'm thinking quite a bit more. So my reasoning was, I would create a God Wad, carry it around in my purse, and memorize the verses when I'm waiting at the doctor's office, sitting in traffic, etc.

And create a God Wad I did. It's a continuous process. As I'm doing my morning readings right now, if I read a verse or passage that strikes something within me and I think to myself "I'd like to remember this later", then I write it down on an index card and add it to my God Wad.

And now you're thinking, "Yay, good job, Kara!! You are going to have pages and pages of Bible verses written on your heart for whenever a moment of need may strike!! God is going to be able to speak to you so much more clearly now!!" Right?? Wrong.

I haven't memorized a SINGLE ONE of those dumb index cards!! In fact, they're not even in my purse. They're sitting on my kitchen counter. So now I have an ever-growing stack of my most-preferred Bible verses (is it wrong to say I prefer some over others? I know it's all God's word...) sitting on my kitchen counter collecting dust. Taking up space in my house instead of in my heart. DUMB.

SO. It's time to crack down. I need to start some memorization. I need to put my God Wad to work. If any of you friends would like to be an accountability partner, please do so. When you talk to me, ask me how my God Wad memorization is going. Leave a random comment on a blog post inquiring about it. Maybe a little accountability is what I need.

And...of course I'd like to offer up the invite for anyone to join in. Anyone else need to start a God Wad and actually memorize it?? We could work together. :)

Ok. I'm going to go memorize an index card now before bed. :)

F.lux

2012-02-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

Today I randomly stumbled across this free software available for download. It was actually recommended by another website, which was trying to provide tactics for falling asleep more easily. I of course found it interesting, because I love discovering random finds like this, so I thought I'd share.

Basically, the software adjusts your computer monitor's color and brightness throughout the day to most closely follow the natural lighting you'd be seeing that time of day. Supposedly, if you are on your computer at night, this could help with the transition from computer to sleeping.

I haven't downloaded it yet, but I may have to give it a shot.

(Note: If you are a person who edits the color of your pictures on your computer, having the monitor colors adjust may not be such a great thing. This is why I'm a bit reluctant.)

Check it out!

F.lux: http://stereopsis.com/flux/

Enemies

2012-01-31T17:30:00.000-05:00

I find the below Bible passage to be one of the hardest for me to actually live out:

"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."

- Matthew 5:44 NKJV

I am feeling challenged by this verse as I have lately felt frustrated by people at work. I also get upset when someone is rude to me in public. Or when I feel wrongly judged. So many situations when I want to lash out, but instead Jesus tells me to pray for those people and bless them. So contradictory to human nature!

How about you? Do you struggle with this? What is a Bible verse that really challenges you?

So Sleepy

2012-01-29T20:43:00.001-05:00

This morning I woke up at 4am to catch a 6:25am flight home from Indiana. That, combined with only 5 hours of sleep and lingering pregnancy fatigue, has left me WIPED OUT. Whew.

I have a lot of things I want to do and share with this blog, but sheesh it's been hard lately. Just finding the time to sit down at the computer in the evenings seems so difficult. I also want to start working out (I've sadly done very little but a couple long walks in the past few months) to ward off the pregnancy weight gain that my suddenly ridiculous appetite is inevitably going to bring along. Oh, and I still need to edit and upload pictures from Christmas and everything since then. And read some more parenting books (my thoughts on the ones I've read should be coming in a future post). And prep the house for the new baby. So much to do, so little time to do it. How is anyone supposed to keep up with it all??

In case anyone would like to follow along, I'll be documenting most of my pregnancy at my new pregnancy blog: www.babybesidodos.blogspot.com. I may share a few pictures on this blog here and there, but the Besido Dos blog is where you'll see most of the tummy pics. I kept a pregnancy blog while preggo with Krew and recently printed it as a book, and I love it. I want to be able to do the same with this baby. So head that way if you are curious or nosy. :)

Alright I guess that's all for tonight. Just had some ramblings I wanted to get out. And now I plan on brushing my teeth and hopefully being in bed by 9pm. :). Adios.

8.3.12

2012-01-22T19:51:00.000-05:00

I'll let you put two and two together. ;)

Desktop Wallpapers - My Favs

2012-01-19T17:45:00.000-05:00

Just something small to share:

If you're ever looking for a desktop background for your computer screen, I love the designs created by Home Made Simple. I prefer to use the calendar wallpapers, which have a different wallpaper for each month of the year.

You can check out the calendar wallpapers here:
http://www.homemadesimple.com/en-us/homedecor/pages/words-to-live-by-calendar.aspx

They've got other wallpapers you can choose from, also. You can check those out here:
http://www.homemadesimple.com/en-us/homedecor/pages/words-to-live-by.aspx

Enjoy!

"My Brush"

2012-01-16T17:30:00.000-05:00

Our child has a major stubborn streak. He's such an easy-going kid, yet incredibly stubborn at the same time. Seems like a strange combination, I know. You usually assume that I child is either high-strung and stubborn or easy-going and compliant. Not ours. He likes to mix things up.

This stubbornness definitely leads to some battles of wills in our house. I'm slowly finding ways to instill a respect for authority into him, while still showing love and patience. It's a difficult balance. Sometimes I let things slide. Sometimes the situations end in tantrums or time out. But sometimes, just sometimes, they end well. Last night was a nice example of a battle of the wills that ended on good terms, which left me feeling like we'd both learned something. I thank God for situations like that, when I know He was guiding me in how to be a good parent.

Krewson: Comes running from our bathroom with my makeup brush in his hand. "My brush!" (Spoken in toddlerese, of course.)

Me: Squatted down to his level. "Honey, that's Mommy's brush."

Krewson: Gripping the brush tightly in his little fist, grin slapped across his face. "MY brush!"

Me: "No, that's Mommy's brush."

Krewson: "MY BRUSH!"

Me: "No, it's Mommy's brush."

Krewson: Silence, still grinning.

Me: "Whose brush is that, Krew?"

Krewson: Head bowed, grin still on his face. "Krew brush!"

Me: "No, that's Mommy's brush."

Krewson: Silence, head still bowed.

Me: "Whose brush is that, Krew?"

Krewson: Head still bowed, contemplative look on his face. "Mommy." Then his little arms reach out to me, brush in his hands, and he releases it to me without me even asking.

Me: Heart swells. "That's right honey, it's Mommy's. Thank you very much for giving it to me."

Krewson: Looks up at me, surprisingly without a hint of anger.

Me: "But you can play with it. Mommy will let you play with it."

Krewson: Grin returns, takes the brush from me, and happily runs out the bedroom door with it back in his grasp.

It's crazy how you have to pay attention to every little situation with kids. Every moment can be turned into an opportunity for learning. But you don't want to overwhelm them. You don't want them to feel like they're living under a dictatorship. But you want them to understand that YOU are the boss, not them. I've been reading some parenting books lately, and they all seem to mention how respect for parents' authority is the first step toward respect for God's authority. Which makes sense. And means we are somewhat representing how our children may later relate to God. What an incredible, weighty responsibility. I thank God for prayer and His guidance!

Sadly to say, our little boy stayed home sick from daycare AGAIN today. I called the pediatrician, and Dave took him in. Double ear infection. Poor kid. But we got some medication for him, so hopefully that means that we are all on our way to some full nights of sleep again. It's been a rough week, sleep-wise. But such is life with kids. :)

Long Day

2012-01-12T16:09:00.002-05:00

It's been a long day of running around after our little sick man, feeding him, wiping his runny nose and drool-covered chin, responding to his never-ending requests for me to read him a book or shoot hoops with him or sit next to him in his power wheels truck or color with him in his coloring book or clean up his most recent spill...

and whenever I'm not doing that, checking and responding to work email and trying to get work things done.

Did I mention he only took one one-hour nap?

Whew.

Boy am I looking forward to girls' craft night with my craft ladies!!! Props to Katie for always coming up with fun ideas for us. Can't wait for lots of creativeness and even more laughter. :)

Sick Again

2012-01-11T20:12:00.000-05:00

We've been fighting a lot of illnesses around here lately. Had to pick up the little guy early from daycare today because he was running a fever. When I got there, the heat was just radiating off of him and he was sweaty all over. Poor kid. Fortunately some time at home relaxing with mama cheered him up quite a bit. :)

Before long he was acting more energetic and happy than he does half the time that he's NOT sick. Crazy kid.

I'm also thinking he's started the teething of his two-year molars. Check out that runny nose and drool. Yummmmmmmmm. :)

Accidental Resolutions

2012-01-03T17:30:00.000-05:00

I thought to myself until today that I wasn't establishing any new years resolutions for this year. I've got quite a bit on my plate, and many plans for the future year (I'll go into those in future posts), so I didn't want to overwhelm myself by adding unnecessary goals just because I was "supposed to".

However, I realized this morning that I did unintentionally set up two goals for myself. It wasn't that I decided to do these things because of the new year...it just so happened that my life slowed down enough during the holidays that I was able to catch up and breathe a bit. Then ideas of things I'd like to do started filling my mind. :) Here are the two primary goals I've established:

1) Continue with my morning quiet time to accomplish reading the Bible in one year

2) Keep the house in its current state of cleanliness and order (or at least somewhat close) and work to make it a little better every day

And whattayaknow, two opportunities came along to help me achieve those goals.

The first is the Hello Mornings Challenge over at Inspired to Action. This won't really add anything additional to my to-do list...it will just add a support system to encourage me to maintain my morning quiet times. Basically, I'll be put in a group with other women aiming to have a morning devotional time, and I must check in with them at least weekly for accountability. If you've been looking to work on or maintain your morning quiet time, you should check it out. :) It's the last day to register for this winter session, so head on over: http://inspiredtoaction.com/resources/hellomornings/.

The second opportunity to show itself was at the blog Home Sanctuary, where Rachel Anne will be helping us to set up a home organization system that works. I used to be an avid follower of Rachel Anne's blog, but with the birth of Krew two years ago, my life was thrown for a bit of a loop and I lost track of everything. However, her blog is awesome, and I miss it...every day she provides you with something small to do to make your home a bit more of a sanctuary. I look forward to jumping back in. :)

So what about you? Any plans or resolutions for the coming year? Let me know and we can pray for one another. :)

Picaboo

2011-12-30T08:54:00.001-05:00

Sorry for my recent slack in posting. But I do have a legitimate reason.

About a year ago, I purchased $100 worth of Picaboo money for $30 on Groupon. My idea was that I was going to turn my pregnancy blog and possibly my blog posts from Krew's first year of life into books. The Groupon was valid for a whole year...until January 5th, 2012.

So of course, I waited until last month to start on this project. And of course, it's taking about 500 times longer than I expected. (And I do blame Picaboo for a lot of this...their program is not nearly as user-friendly as I was expecting.)

Needless to say, most of the time I would normally spend on editing pictures and blogging is going into making this book. I'm only doing the pregnancy blog, not Krew's first year. I'll probably use a different program to do his first year because I'm simply not a fan of Picaboo. I'm sick of working on this. It's taking forever. I've wanted to give up many times. But it's something I've always wanted to do, so I will endure.

You'll probably see me around more after January 5th. :)

PS Have any suggestions for good programs to use for my next blog book?? I was thinking maybe Shutterfly...

Cereal With Milk and a Hair Chop

2011-12-20T22:03:00.000-05:00

Last week I decided to give Krew his first bowl of cereal with milk.

And boy did he like it.

He gobbled it all up, then asked for more:

And when he was all done, he went and put the bowl "in the sink" like a big boy.

So proud!!

On another note, we got his hair chopped off last Friday. I don't think I truly realized how long it was. He definitely looks a lot older now. One of the kids at daycare didn't even recognize him at first!! When we go to church or some place special we spike it up a bit in the front, but I don't have a picture of it looking nice like that. Instead you get to see the following food-filled messy-haired picture:

You get the idea. Doesn't he look so different??

Now that I'm looking at pictures of it long again, it makes me miss it being shaggier. Maybe we'll grow it out again. :)

Life Catch-Up in Photos: Afternoon at the Playground

2011-12-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago, Dave and I invited Emily over to take the kids to the playground at the elementary school right outside our neighborhood. The school has three different levels of playgrounds, and one of them is for preschool kids and is perfect for our toddlers.

Ellie and Krew had quite a blast. :)

Awesomest static hair, EVER.

Baby Cate bundled up in her stroller:

Dreaming of days at the big-kid playground.

Life Catch-Up in Photos: Lafayette Visit

2011-12-13T07:30:00.000-05:00

The first weekend in November, I went to Indiana to visit my longtime friend Audrey and her new baby girl, Cora. It was a nice, relaxing visit, which we spent just hanging out, shopping, cooking, and of course in lots of good, deep conversation. Audrey has been my friend for longer than anyone else in my life - since we were 1 1/2 years old! - and I cherish her friendship so much. She is a practical, strong, Christian woman, and it's so wonderful whenever we get to spend some extra time together. When Krew was around 5 weeks old, she came to visit me and spent several days with us. Now it was my turn to return the favor. :)

Baby Cora

Krew loved Kevin, Audrey's husband.

"Whoah, hold up. What's she doing?"

"Um, ok, I think I'm done with this."

And, while we were visiting Audrey, my youngest brother Aaron got to come over for dinner since he's at college just a short drive away. It was nice for him to get some uncle-nephew bonding time. :)

Mom Moments That Warm My Heart

2011-12-11T19:33:00.001-05:00

Sometimes when Dave is gone, I play music really loud in the house and let myself loose dancing and singing at the top of my lungs. It's one of those things I used to do on a daily basis when I lived by myself, but I've tried to tone it down a bit now that I'm married. (Mostly because it's embarrassing to have an audience watching you while you're twirling around like a third grader.)

Tonight was one of those nights where I decided to let it all out while listening to my Glee Christmas CD. (Volume 2, if you're curious.) Krew (who hasn't yet reached the age where I consider him to be an actual audience) was playing by himself at the time. As I marched through the hall singing, I looked over at him, and his face had broken out in a grin. Before I knew it, he stood up and began following me, copying my every move and singing in that sweet little boy voice of his.

We moved into the living room and danced and sang through the whole song together. When it ended, he said, "More! More!" and shoved his little hands together, giving the sign for "more" as he still instinctively does more often than not. I restarted the song, and he kept right on going through the whole song again, just singing and dancing with all his heart, without a care in the world. And then he danced and sang to another song. And another. It was such a precious, precious moment for me to share with him. Music touches me to the core, and to see him experiencing it in a similar way, and for him to be sharing that with me, warmed my heart in more ways than I can express.

It was a moment that I'll hold onto in my memory for a long time.

I tried to get pictures of our feet together, and this is all he gave me.

And I may or may not have let him chow down on an Oreo during one of the songs.

House for Rent

2011-12-10T19:35:00.001-05:00

My dear friend Casey is moving to San Francisco and is looking for someone to rent her current home. If you live in the Triangle area and know of someone looking to rent, please spread the word! Her house is in Garner, just off of 40 and close to the White Oak Shopping Center.

Here is her ad, with a link to pictures of the place: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/apa/2745893472.html.

And yes, I am devastated that she is moving. She has been a very special friend to me for many years now, and I am going to miss her TERRIBLY. But I know that God has a purpose in this and is going to use this move to bless her, her husband, and their children. It will be a very bittersweet goodbye.

20/21 Month Update!

2011-12-05T07:30:00.000-05:00

Today our little boy is 21 months old!! Halfway between 1 1/2 and 2...crazy. And he's really started acting sooooooo much older in the last two months.

His vocabulary has exploded...but unfortunately his pronunciation skills have not, haha. He talks a ton, but usually only Dave or I know what he's saying. He's even started streaming two or three words together. His favorite phrase right now is "I got it!!!" whenever he does something he's proud of. I think it's super cute. He also likes to say "Daddy go???" ("Where did Daddy go?") and is always saying "Mo Mo?" because he wants to know where Maggie is (she is apparently his favorite dog right now, and we call her Moo Moo, but the closest he can get is Mo Mo). His favorite single word undoubtedly is "NO." Said loudly and defiantly with attitude. To any question you ask him or anything you request of him. It's gotten him in trouble more than once.

He now runs all over the place, and his run is getting smoother and smoother. When he first started running, he'd do this funny twist thing with his hips that would make his legs fly all weird and cause him to run slower than he walks. Fortunately he is doing that less and less. :) He's also become a super climber. He can climb ladders, playground equipment, up onto our very high bed, and up into the car and into his carseat.

He's definitely starting to hit the terrible twos and show a lot more attitude these days (typically using that "NO" I mentioned above). We had two mornings last week where he was furious with me and wouldn't play with me before work because I'd reprimanded him for something. It made me a bit sad, but I guess there's no way around it if I want him to learn to obey. I suppose that's the job of a mama...but it sure is hard sometimes.

In terms of clothes, he's wearing mostly 18-month pants (some 12-month in the bigger brands), 18-month shirts, 18-month pajamas, size 6 shoes, and size 4 diapers. I tried to make it through our full stash of size 3 diapers before moving him into 4s, but I just couldn't do it. I started worrying the diapers were going to cut into the poor kid's skin or block circulation.

He still loves his music so much, and it makes me sooooooooooo happy. He just sings and sings...and surprisingly sometimes even sings on pitch. Both Dave's dad and my brother noticed it in the last couple weeks and said something about it without me mentioning it...so I know it's not just my hopes and dreams putting notes in my head. :) And today he did something really awesome related to music (in my opinion). We were listening to Christmas music when a song came on that was just a guitar playing. I looked over, and all of a sudden Krew put his hand up and started to pretend to strum a guitar on his belly. I was like holy camoly he knows it's a guitar!!! I mean, maybe he totally didn't know, but it sure seemed like it, and I told him, "Good job buddy!! Yeah, it's a guitar!!!" and he just kept strumming and strumming. I was absolutely amazed. And super excited. Dave just smiled and probably inwardly rolled his eyes at me.

Krew still loves to dance, still loves sports with his daddy. Still loooooooooooooooooves to be outside, even in the cold. Favorite movies are still Horton Hears a Who, Blues Clues, and Veggie Tales. Still amazingly adept at playing on the iPad. And both of our iPhones. Still loves shoes. And usually has an opinion on which shoes he wears when.

I finally got him to eat some veggies this week by breaking up green bell pepper and giving him ranch to dip it in. He also ate some little steamed broccoli florets when I put little dabs of butter on them. I was stoked. (Other than that, he's been getting all his veggies through squeeze packs of pureed fruits and veggies.) I also discovered a trick about other foods he won't eat. I'd heard that a child could try a food many times before truly determining that he didn't like it. I decided that Krew should like pears, so I offered them for every meal for two or three days. He refused to eat them for the first couple meals, but then at the third or fourth meal, WHALLAH, they were gone! He ate them! I'm going to have to start trying that trick on other foods. :)

Speaking of food, Krew will NOT let anyone feed him anymore. Which means meals typically take twice as long and are four times as messy. But hey, I guess I should be glad he's learning to be independent. :)

Daddy is still his favorite person, although in the past two months he has started showing me a bit more love. There have been a couple times where he's requested me over his dad, which makes me feel SOOOOOO good. (No offense, Dave.) It's still a rarity though. He still prefers grandpas and uncles over grandmas and aunts, too. Which, a friend pointed out to me, is a good thing, because it means he's relating to men. I'd never thought about it with that positive spin, and it made me feel a bit better.

Well, I think that's about all for now. :)

Have a Merry Christmas!

Life Catch-Up in Photos: Halloween

2011-11-26T08:30:00.000-05:00

Although it's a bit late, just had to share some pictures from Halloween. :) Krewson was Tigger and Ellie was Pammy the Panda Bear. As you can tell from the pictures, Ellie was a bit bewildered by the costumes and picture taking, while Krew was completely oblivious.

We asked Krew to stand next to Ellie, but apparently he heard "sit", not "stand"...

But finally we had a success:

And even a bit of a smile around the thumb...

The picture taking was followed by some fun times trick-or-treating! It was their first time and they both loved it.

Thanksgiving Family Photo

2011-11-24T22:11:00.001-05:00

Had a great Thanksgiving today with my family. I hope you all had a good one, too.

Just a family photo to share. This is my immediate family - some are family by blood, some are family by love. So glad to have them all in my life. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-11-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving day!

Nothing too special to post today, just wanted to wish everyone the best, and challenge you to think of at least one thing you're grateful for today.

What I'm thankful for: A happy marriage to a loving husband and our beautiful, healthy son. A job. A wonderful extended family on both sides. Tons of loving friends. A Christian community that provides love and support. The opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with family.

What are you thankful for today?

God bless!

Life Catch-Up in Photos: Frisbee Nationals

2011-11-23T15:07:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long hiatus between blog posts. Dave, Krew, and I are in Indiana this week to spend Thanksgiving with my family. It's been a good trip so far, with some shopping and some hanging around and dinners together. And obviously not much time spent on the computer. :)

Thought I'd finally share some pictures from our trip to Sarasota that we took the last week of October. We went down for Dave's ultimate frisbee national tournament and stayed with my grandma in Bradenton. Dave's team took 5th place, and I was so proud of them!

I'm not going to provide a narrative of the tournament, because my friend Kathryn already did a great job of that over at her blog (and actually wrote her post just a couple days after the tournament - so much more on top of things than me!). You can check it out here: In Sarasota We...

Anyway, here are some of my pictures. (And yes, believe it or not, this is just SOME of them.) :)

Kiddos playing under the tent.

big sister Haley

little brother Liam

and of course our Crouton

Hanging with Grammie

My hubby in action:

Uncle Danny

family pic

frisbee mommas (and momma-to-be!)

Pool time!

Great Gran!

As you can tell, it was a great trip!

The Crooked

2011-11-15T06:51:00.001-05:00

Today is my Bible study's last week in the book "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow. It's been a great study...I have definitely felt more enlightened and challenged by this book than many of the others we've done. I'm somewhat sad to know it's over!

My favorite quote from today's chapter was the following:

"If we could fully comprehend God, He wouldn't be God -
He would be like us."

How true this is! So often I want to see and understand His plan, I want to know why, I want to be able to plan ahead or let go of the past based on the knowledge of what's going to happen (which of course isn't possible). And I'll get angry because I can't do these things - yet if I could, what room would that leave for God in my life? The fact that I can't see and understand His plan means it's so great and complicated that it's beyond my comprehension. And that's a wonderful thing!! If only I could remember this on a daily basis.

"There is the crooked that God causes and the crooked that we create for ourselves and God allows. We make mistakes, blunders, messes. We can create disorder, chaos, sadness, and suffering by breaking God's instructions concerning how life is to be lived. Yet He who is in control over all things says, concerning the seemingly crooked that He has made or the crooked we have caused, 'All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose' (Romans 8:28)."
- Myrna Alexander, originally appearing in Behold Your God

Go find some more encouragement over at We Encourage Tuesdays at Call Me Blessed!

The Day Krew Almost Got to Drink Lemonade All Day Instead of Milk

2011-11-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

Every morning, Dave or I put a container of milk in Krew's diaper bag to take to daycare. His daycare lady, Eileen, then puts the milk in her fridge and gives it to him to drink throughout the day.

This morning Dave also put some homemade lemonade in a container for himself, then threw it in the diaper bag on the way out the door because his hands were full. Unfortunately, he then forgot about it and left it in there.

The good news is that Eileen found his lemonade and put it in the fridge so it would not go bad.

The bad news is that she did not find Krew's regular container of milk. It was apparently hidden beneath some other stuff in the diaper bag.

Mid-morning I received a phone call from Eileen, and because I was in a meeting she left a voice mail. Her question, asked in a completely serious tone (God bless her): Did we want Krew to drink lemonade now instead of milk?

*Hand slap to forehead.*

I am on a roll with impressions lately.

I called her back, and assured her that no, we were not replacing Krew's daily 16-oz intake of whole milk with freshly-squeezed homemade lemonade (although I'm sure he would love that), and told her that there should in fact be milk in his diaper bag. She did a little digging and found it, and Dave and I were redeemed to the status of acceptable parents. And, much to his chagrin I'm sure, Krew did NOT get to drink lemonade all day.

Phew. Interesting parenting situation #24,583 has been overcome.

Baby Name Wizard

2011-11-10T10:26:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I like to think about baby names for fun. Because Dave and I do plan on eventually having another child, and that child will need to have a name. (And no, I'm not trying to hint at anything, so don't get excited all you over-analyzers.)

So I've discovered that my all-time favorite website for baby name fun is www.babynamewizard.com. This site has got it ALL. It's pretty awesome.

My favorite tool on the site is by far the Voyager.

One of my selection criteria for a baby name is that I don't want it to be too popular. This tool lets me figure out exactly how popular a name has been, is currently, and even lets me somewhat guess its future popularity by the trend on the graph. After you type in a name, it shows you the popularity of the name from the 1880s until very recently (the tool currently shows up through 2010). The height of the graph at any time point shows you the number of people given that name per million babies at that time. If you put your pointer anywhere on the graph, it shows you the actual rank of that name during that time period.

Pretty sweet, huh?

The website also offers a lot of other tools, including the NameFinder (which allows you to specify what you want your name to start with, end with, how many syllables you want it to have, etc.), the NamePedia (gives you a ton of background information on a name), and the NameMapper (allows you to see the popularity of your name in specific states of the US during certain time periods).

It's an awesome site. You should check it out. :)

(And no, they did not offer me any money for this post. I just really think it's a cool website and wanted to share!)

Neighborhood Impressions

2011-11-10T09:09:00.002-05:00

We recently discovered that our friend Joey (newlywed husband to my awesome friend Kristin) works with a couple people that live in our neighborhood. When Joey mentioned us, these people did in fact know who we are. I'd like to say that they remembered us for the warm batch of cookies that I'd delivered just to show some neighborly love (totally didn't happen), or at least that they thought of us as a loving, friendly couple with a very sweet son (which hopefully isn't too far from the truth).

Not so much.

One guy remembered us as the people who own the dogs that ran out at nighttime one time and attacked his dog as he was walking down the street.

Hmmm. I do briefly remember that. Sorry, neighbor.

The other guy? He remembered us as the house belonging to the guy who never wears a shirt and makes his wife do all the yard work.

?

Great.

Just for the record, can I say that I ENJOY yard work and actually request that my husband let me do it?

And also, may I mention that my husband has a constant internal body temperature equal to that of a boiling pot of water and therefore has a reason for his shirtlessness?

Anyway. I think I need to start baking some cookies.

Trip Time

2011-11-04T07:42:00.001-04:00

Krew and I are headed out of town again! Off to Indiana to visit my longtime girlfriend Audrey and finally meet her baby Cora!! So excited. :)

I'll share pictures when I'm back, but for now, adios!

Serenity Prayer

2011-11-01T21:40:00.001-04:00

God grant me the serenity
to accept that which I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference,
living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time,
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will,
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
- Reinhold Niebuhr

Tonight's Bible study lesson was about "What Ifs", which we all tend to dwell on from time to time. This Serenity Prayer was quoted in the chapter, and although I have heard the first four lines of the prayer many times before, I can't remember ever hearing the rest. I find this prayer to be incredibly valuable and probably worth memorization.

I'm a little late joining in since it's 9:30pm, but you can head over to Call Me Blessed to check out some other Tuesday encouragement. :)

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T21:46:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone! We arrived home from our trip about 9:30pm last night. We had a great time, and Dave's team took fifth place (in the country) so that's not too shabby. :) Proud of those boys!!

Tonight was Krew's first time trick or treating. He went with Ellie (and me and Emily) in our neighborhood. He didn't seem to be bothered at all by the cold front we're dealing with or the drizzly rain, and he learned quick. After the second house, he was happily scampering up to doors on his own, giving them a timid and nearly-silent knock, then reaching for the candy bowl when someone finally opened the door (usually after Ellie provided a proper knock). He wasn't quite ready to say 'trick or treat,' but he did mumble out some shy 'thank you's with my prompting. I'm proud of my boy!

After about ten houses, Emily and I decided we'd gone far enough with the kiddos and headed back to our place where Dave, Sion, and Baby Cate were holding down the fort and passing out candy. I'm sure next year it will be more like twenty houses before we're done, and it will just get worse and worse every year after that. But that's ok. I like candy. :)

And just to show my Halloween spirit, I wore an appropriately-themed shirt to work today. Too bad I can only theoretically wear this shirt one day out of the year. I really like it. :)

Alright, how was everyone else's Halloween?? Or if you don't celebrate it, what else did you do?

Pumpkin Time

2011-10-24T21:14:00.000-04:00

I feel like no October is complete without some type of pumpkin decorating or carving. So on Friday we had a few friends over to do just that.

Prior to people arriving, I took Krew to the nearby pumpkin patch to pick out his very first pumpkin. (Last year was his first Halloween, but he didn't have a pumpkin.) He walked all around the patch, seeming interested but not super excited. Then all of a sudden he let out an "Ohhhhhhh!!!" and ran toward a particularly warty pumpkin. He had found it. His first pumpkin.

After picking out our pumpkins, we headed back home. Krew had to go to bed before the decorating festivities began, but us adults plus Ellie had fun. :) (Ellie was there with mom Emily and lil sis Cate, but Emily and Cate missed out on the pictures somehow. We didn't just randomly steal Ellie for the night. :) )

Dave helped Ellie decorate her pumpkin. :)

We are headed to Florida on Wednesday for Dave's ultimate frisbee nationals. I look forward to this trip every year - I get to see my grandma (we stay with her), soak in some sun, hang out with the other frisbee wives and kiddos, and just relax for four days. Oh, and of course cheer super duper loudly for Dave. GO RING! :)

Another Date with my Craft Girls

2011-10-20T23:09:00.001-04:00

Tonight was craft night with my "craft girls", as I like to call them, since I only see most of them once a month when we get together to do a craft. Tonight was decorating coasters, wine, coffee, tea, and desserts. Sigh. So nice. I love our monthly dates!!

And thanks to my hubby for watching the kiddo and giving me a girls' night. :)

To see the process we followed, check out Katie's blog at Thrifty Finds and Redesigns! :)

Keepin' It Clean

2011-10-19T22:02:00.000-04:00

As a crazy busy wife and mom, I must admit that I'm currently really struggling to keep up with our house. I'm not sure what to do about it right now, though, because frankly we're just not home much. We're home long enough to make a mess, but never long enough to clean it. For example, due to our schedules right now, on Mondays through Wednesdays I have a whoppin' approximate 45 minutes of "free" time at home in the evenings before bed. This is the time I am supposed to use for all my cleaning, blog post writing, reading, and attacks on my to-do list. 45 minutes. That's it. Take any more time than that, and I lose sleep. (And trust me, this woman needs her 8 hours.) Tonight I used my 45 minutes to clean up Krew's room a bit, pack up his too-small clothes and winter coats to take to a friend tomorrow, and write this blog post. I sometimes have a free Thursday evening, but we're currently traveling nearly every other weekend, so Thursdays are usually used for packing. Or honestly sometimes I just want to sit and stare blankly at the TV because I've been going nonstop so much already that week. Plus I know that Dave considers watching TV together to be bonding time, so sometimes I slow down to watch some TV on a Thursday for him. Then we're gone Friday through Sunday. And the weekends we're not gone, I'm trying to catch up with all my friends who I have no other time to see. And I'm supposed to keep up with my house?? Um, mission impossible???

ANYWAY, what got me started on this rampage was that today I stumbled across a blog post with a free download of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cleaning check lists. They sort of made me feel worse about the state of my house and gave me a bit of a cleaning itch. But they also helped me come to the realization that I've finally reached the point where my expectations for what my house NEEDS to look like are becoming more realistic. I could read the cleaning lists, and calmly accept that I don't have time to do everything on the lists right now (especially not the weekly list), and decide that that's okay. I'm living life and enjoying my husband and son. And that's what's important...not the state of my house. I know that life is going to slow down in a couple months and then I can get the house back under control...but in the meantime I don't want to miss out on precious moments with my family. Sometimes it's so hard to keep those priorities straight!!

You can find the lists at this blog post: http://tidymom.net/2011/annual-cleaning/ and all the posts in the series at this location: http://tidymom.net/tag/countdown-to-cleaning-series/. They are pretty good lists, and are in fun colors, which makes nearly anything more exciting. :)

So fill me in...what's your weekly schedule look like? Do you have time to do all the cleaning you'd like? Do you follow a cleaning schedule or just do everything on the fly? Any tips or tricks to share?

18/19 month update :)

2011-10-18T21:32:00.000-04:00

It's about time for an update on our little man!!

And a little man he really is. I just can't believe how much of a mini-person he's becoming...glimpses of babyhood are getting fewer and farther between. It's rather bittersweet. So neat to see him growing and changing, yet sad to know that the baby in him is disappearing and I'll never get it back. I guess that's why they say to try and enjoy each and every day.

His 18-month pediatrician checkup actually took place when he was about 18 1/2 months old, so the percentiles may be a little off. Nevertheless, on September 19th he was 32.25 inches tall (44th percentile), weighed 24 lbs 11.5 oz (32nd percentile), and had a head circumference of 19 inches (61st percentile). As of today, he's wearing mostly 18-month shorts and pants (some 12-month), 12- to 18-month shirts, size 3 diapers (ready to move into 4s, but gotta use up our stash of 3s first), and mostly size 6 shoes (some 5s fit well).

He's become quite the jabberbox these days, often trying to communicate with us through words instead of whining or crying (which is awesome!). Problem is we still don't know what he's saying half the time. Some words he says with great enunciation (apple, no, up, dada, mama), others are somewhat distinguishable (help, please, more, dog, ball, I love you), and others are honestly just way off (help='up', diaper='popo', and all the others I can't figure out for the life of me despite him repeating them over and over).

He still loves to sing and loves to dance. He'll even sing and bop to songs I make up on the fly ("I love Mommy, yes I do" or "let's get ready to go, yea yea yea" have been past features), and he's becoming great at memorizing songs he hears frequently and singing his favorite parts at all the right times. We always make sure to have one of his CDs in the car so that we can stick in some of his music if he gets grumpy - 9 times out of 10, it cheers him up. I guess he picked up his mommy's love of music!

And while he loves singing and dancing like his mom, he loves sports and movies like his dad. He's developed quite the throwing arm and actually has pretty good aim for a toddler. He loves all kinds of balls - soccer balls, tennis balls, little balls, giant balls, bouncy balls, baseballs - any kind of ball, he loves it. He also loves to run, run, run all over the place. If we take him outside and let him, he'll just run up and down the street for an hour. Preferably while kicking or throwing a ball.

His favorite movies right now are Horton Hears a Who, Blues Clues, and Veggie Tales. He loves dancing to the Veggie Tales intro song, and he's memorized the sound effects for the first 10 minutes of Horton Hears a Who and provides his own rendition while the movie is playing. He's also become pretty adept at playing on the iPad (he now turns it on, unlocks it, scrolls to find his favorite apps, and starts playing), and he's currently going through a shoe obsession. He frequently tries to wear Dave's shoes or my shoes, and sometimes while wearing one pair of his own, he'll bring us another pair and ask us to switch them.

Speaking of veggies...I cannot get this boy to eat any vegetables. He just doesn't like them. At least not in their original form. If I feed him pureed baby food veggies, he'll gobble them right up. So even though he's close to 19 1/2 months, yes, I still feed my child jarred baby food a couple times a week. If it gets vegetables in him, then it's worth it. In the meantime, at most meals I continue to provide some type of vegetable in its original form, such as broccoli, green beans, or peas, in hopes that one day he'll decide they're not that bad. It hasn't worked yet. In fact, if I mix peas in with mashed potatoes or pasta, he'll take a bite, move the food around in his mouth, spit out the peas, and swallow the rest. It's really quite impressive.

Krew loooooooooooooooooooooves his daddy right now. I know he loves me too...but seriously, he's got a major crush on his daddy. If Dave is in the room, Krew wants nothing to do with me. Half of the time he won't even let me feed him a spoonful of food or bounce a ball with him and Dave together. Nope. It's gotta be Daddy and only Daddy. When I take him places and then pull him out of the car upon arrival, he exclaims under his breath, "Dada!!" And I say, "No, honey, Daddy's not here." And he responds with "Dada!!!!!" And I again say, "No, honey, we'll see Daddy later, but he's not here right now." "Dada!!!!" And on and on it goes. We got all the way inside Target today before he realized that I was in fact correct, we were in fact shopping at a store, and (lo-and-behold!) Daddy was not in the store. He managed to hold in his "Dada"s until we got home, at which point they started all over again.

And along with his daddy, Krew also really loves his grandpas and uncles right now. He must be going through a man phase. Poor grandmas and aunts get the second-rate treatment along with Mommy here. Oh well...our time will come, I'm sure. And it is wonderful to see him loving his relatives so much, even if the men are getting preferential treatment.

Alright, I think that about sums it up for now. Hopefully another update will be coming sooner than later. :)

Quiet Time Plan

2011-10-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

I used to be so devoted to my quiet time. Back in grad school, I read several Bible passages almost every day, read a commentary to go with them, and took notes. I prayed. I often read another Christian book later in the day. My quiet time was precious to me and was daily placed at the top of my to-do list.

Fast forward to now. Sometime in the midst of getting a job, getting married to a traveling ultimate frisbee player, owning a house, having two dogs, having a child, joining a Bible study, and joining a life group, I lost my quiet time. I've really been struggling with it for about three years now. I'll go through streaks of doing well, but it's never long before I fall off the path once again.

I recently decided to think hard about why my quiet time wasn't working for me. I really want it to work...I can feel a dramatic difference in my attitude and life between the times when I'm actively having quiet time and the times when I'm not. I think the major reason it wasn't working was because I was making it far too time-consuming and overwhelming. I was trying to read, study, and take notes as much as I used to in grad school, and frankly I just don't have time for that at this point in my life. I hope to get back to having the opportunity to devote that much time to studying God's word again sometime in the future, but right now it just doesn't seem to be an option.

After a lot of thinking and talking with my husband, I've developed a new plan. Here it is:

1. Every week day: set my alarm for 6am, hit snooze once, then get up and start quiet time with a pot of coffee. On the weekends, fit in quiet time at some point during the day.
2. Follow the following reading plan: "Reading God's Story: One-Year Chronological Plan" (available free from the Bible app on my iPhone). This reading plan gives one day off every week, so I am allowed to miss one day per week. If I miss more than this, I'll have to play catch-up.
3. Read from my (real, non-phone) Bible that has both The Message and NIV translations. (I prefer to have both versions available for most passages of Scripture. They both provide different insights.)
2. Write down in my journal the passages or ideas that REALLY stand out to me. Don't write down things that aren't super important (time waster).
3. If I get stuck on a verse, and I want to know more info about it, write it down on a list in the back of my journal to return to at another time. Don't get too bogged down by any one idea or verse (again, time waster).
4. If I get through the reading for the day and have time to spare, read ahead or enjoy reading another Christian book. (But give God the full time I've allotted.)

Once I finish reading the whole Bible chronologically in a year, then I may do a topical study or follow some other type of Bible study. But right now I simply want to get through the whole Bible. I've read all of it except for about the last fifth of the Old Testament in the past, but I want to read the whole thing together now. I've made it through six days so far...pray for me that I can keep going!

So on this We Encourage Tuesday, I'd love to hear what others are doing to stay devoted to their quiet times. What does your quiet time look like, if it exists? What would it ideally look like? What have you found works best for you? And I'm curious...do you drink coffee with your quiet time? :)

Head over to Call Me Blessed to hear from some other great Christian ladies!!

Mr. and Mrs. Jim Verner

2011-10-16T21:48:00.000-04:00

This weekend we took a trip to Atlanta to celebrate the wedding of my dear cousin Kahla. Love this girl to pieces and soooo happy to see her marry such a sweet guy who I can tell loves her oh so much and makes her so happy.

Love you guys and congratulations on such a beautiful weekend!!

The weekend in iPhone pics:

Loving the view out the hotel window.

Rehearsal dinner: me with the bride-to-be and with my hubby.

Atlanta Braves hat from some awesome friends of the family.

Wedding day: lunch at Chick-fil-a with two of my brothers

hanging with Uncle Collin

gorgeous bride

asleep in Great Grandma's arms

ride home!!

Worry Much?

2011-10-11T07:04:00.000-04:00

In preparation for tonight's Bible study with some of my girlfriends, I read the current chapter in our book, which was titled "Worry is Like a Rocking Chair."

You know,
"Worry is like a rocking chair; it will give you something to do but it won't get you anywhere."

As a person who was in the past diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder, I know a lot about worry. I've done a lot of reading on worry. I've gone through a lot of counseling for my worry. I've experienced a lot of anxiousness, stomach aches, shakiness, affected relationships, and fear of situations thanks to worry.

I am SO grateful to say that although I still struggle with worry as a typical person does, it no longer consumes my life. I really owe a lot of that to a wonderful Christian counselor I found. He helped me to feel like a normal person again. Thanks to him and God's intervention, worry no longer keeps me home from planned activities or keeps me awake at night. But that doesn't mean I don't still need to work on it.

My biggest current struggle with worry is this: although I know God loves me immensely and will only allow in my life what He can use for good, that doesn't mean I'm not going to absolutely hate some of the things He allows. That doesn't mean I'm not going to lose someone I love. That doesn't mean I'm not going to have horrible health struggles, that doesn't mean I'm not going to have situations that make my stomach churn. And the fact that I know God WILL allow those things in my life, despite His love for me, is the source of most of my current worries. And I can't quite figure out a way around that, other than acknowledging that He knows best and that I need to want and allow what He wants. But trying to do that just seems impossible sometimes!

The chapter in this book didn't provide any great revelations that solved my struggle for me, but it did give some great insight. Here are my favorite quotes from the chapter:

"All our fret and worry are caused by calculating without God."

"Quiet tension is not trust. It is simply compressed anxiety."

"Anxiety is...that which diverts us from present duty to weary calculations of how to meet conditions that may never arise. It's the habit of crossing bridges before we reach them."

"Worry has more to do with perspective than with circumstances. In similar situations, one woman can be anxious and another peaceful. A woman worries when she perceives a threat or a danger. I use the word perceive because the danger can be real or imagined."

"My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened." - French philosopher Montaigne

"Depression is the past superimposed on the present, and anxiety is the future superimposed on the present."

"It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It's when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God's. He begs you to leave the future to Him and to mind the present." - George MacDonald

(All of these quotes can be found in Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow.)

Here are some helpful Scripture passages that apply to this topic:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:34

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:7

And finally, one of my all-time favorite passages of Scripture:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7

Did you read that last verse? The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus. If you turn your worries and cares over to God, he will give you a supernatural peace that makes absolutely no sense to you or anyone around you. You will feel better without any explanation as to why (other than that you gave everything to God). It's like your own wonderful miracle going on right inside your head. What an AMAZING blessing!

All right, if you have any wisdom, Scripture, or resources to share about worry and anxiety, I would love to hear. And afterward, head on over to Call Me Blessed to find some more encouragement. :)

what I was sipping this morning as I typed :)

Busy Busy Busy

2011-10-09T21:01:00.000-04:00

Mondays - parenting class
Tuesdays - Bible study
Wednesdays - church life group
Thursdays - our day (thank goodness!)
Fridays - traveling every other weekend
Saturdays - ditto Fridays
Sundays - ditto Saturdays

Life's crazy for us right now. Dave's tournament this weekend got moved to Philadelphia last minute, which I was super bummed about because it meant I couldn't go. However, it allowed me some time to hang out with my little man and to catch up with some friends I hadn't gotten to see much lately. My to-do list still has many many items on it, I still have several girlfriends I need to catch up with, and I did absolutely no cleaning this weekend (just picking up and laundry), but I do feel much better than I did last week.

Our upcoming activities for the rest of October and November include my cousin's wedding in Atlanta, 4 1/2 days in Florida for Dave's nationals, a weekend in Indiana to visit my friend Audrey and her new baby Cora, hopefully a weekend visiting Dave's family in Charlotte, and a week in Indiana with my family for Thanksgiving. Whew!

And yes, I know it's been forever since I've provided any updates on Krew. The 18/19-month update will be coming soon - not so much for you readers, but for myself, because this blog is how I'm documenting his life. So I can't get too far behind. :)

Here are a couple recent pictures of him that I thought were cute to hold you over.

I Never Got What I Wanted

2011-10-04T21:21:00.000-04:00

A poem written by a 14-year-old boy, excerpted from the book "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow, originally from "Who Gets the Glory?" by Dr. Charles R. Swindoll:

It was spring but it was summer I wanted; the warm days and great outdoors.

It was summer but it was fall I wanted; the colorful leaves and the cool dry air.

It was fall but it was winter I wanted; the beautiful snow and the joy of the holiday season.

It was winter but it was spring I wanted; the warmth and the blossoming of nature.

I was a child but it was adulthood I wanted; the freedom and the respect.

I was twenty but it was thirty I wanted; to be mature and sophisticated.

I was middle-aged but it was twenty I wanted; the youth and the free spirit.

I was retired but it was middle-aged I wanted; the presence of a mind without limitations.

My life was over but I never got what I wanted.

Strive to see the beauty and purpose in today.

Fight For, Not With

2011-10-03T22:04:00.001-04:00

Dave and I are currently attending a parenting class on Monday nights at our church. Tonight we discussed many topics, but one of them was fights with our kids and our spouses.

I want to share some food for thought that we were challenged with tonight, some questions that we were asked to think through and discuss. I have no answers or great wisdom to share, and for the sake of the privacy of my spouse I'm not going to delve into the answers that Dave and I gave, but I do want to challenge each of you to think through these as they pertain to your own relationships with your children and spouse.

1. When you fight with your children, are you fighting WITH them, or FOR them? Is the purpose of your argument simply to win, or is its purpose to better your child? Are you focusing on your child's heart, or are you focusing on proving that you are right? (These questions could apply to your spouse, also.)

2. Think about your most common fights with your spouse and/or each of your children - what is the topic you are most likely to argue about? Decide on your answer.

3. Now, in regards to that topic...why is it a hot button for you two?

4. What does each of you really want out of that situation?

I found that thinking through the answers to these questions really challenged me to a) question my motives and my heart b) realign my intentions with God's will and c) consider what the other person is thinking and feeling. Which are all really good things. :)

Head on over to Call Me Blessed for some more encouragement!

I'll be back soon with a 18/19-month blog update our little guy. :)

God bless!

What I've Been Up To

2011-09-27T17:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA lately.

I've been doing a lot of this:

(That would be my work laptop, not my home laptop.)

Drinking a lot of this:

And really wishing to go spend time in this:

Although this weekend I did forget work for a bit to enjoy this:

And this:

Does anyone else feel like they missed out on their whole summer? I sure do. I went to the pool once, to one frisbee tournament, and never saw the beach. I guess some summers are just like that!

Still Gluten-Free!

2011-09-22T21:41:00.000-04:00

Well it's been almost two months and I am still moseying along with a gluten-free diet! I must say it's made a dramatic difference in my life. I'll spare you most of the details, but my bloated belly is gone and I'm no longer getting sick to my stomach multiple times a day. It's pretty liberating.

I met with a dietitian last week and she confirmed that she believes I am doing the correct thing with my diet. I was able to ask her about my concerns, such as any possible deficiencies my diet may have due to lack of gluten-containing foods and the possibility of Krew inheriting my gastrointestinal problems. She was incredibly supportive, and I left feeling all the more certain that I have made the right choice.

I can't lie, avoiding gluten is still sometimes difficult and frustrating, but it's getting much, much easier. I have had very few times where I've been in a situation where there's nothing I can eat to feel satiated. Would I rather have that whole wheat pasta? Do I wish I could chow down on that garlic bread appetizer? Do I want to whine and complain when my husband orders delicious takeout from the local Mexican restaurant? Yes. Most definitely. But I know that withstanding the pressure is not only keeping me healthy, but it's also growing in me an ability to overcome my food cravings, which is something I've seriously struggled with my whole life. (This girl loves to eat!!)

In case there are any readers who are thinking about starting up a gluten-free diet, I thought I'd fill you in on some of my tips and tricks.

1) Find support.
An old friend of mine, Nicole, noticed on Facebook that I was going gluten-free and jumped right in to help. I don't know what I would have done without her. She suggested books, talked through my symptoms with me, and helped me out with restaurant recommendations when I was back in our hometown and had no idea where to eat. I also had another old friend, Sarah, who talked through things with me and offered great support. You can find support through a friend as I did, through Facebook, through blogs, through forums, etc. But definitely find someone who can share in your experiences. It will help you immensely, both emotionally and logistically.

2) Be strict and strong.
You may feel impolite or uncomfortable sometimes, but remember that this is your health (and standard of living, if you get sick like I do) that you are talking about. It is not rude to ask questions to protect your body. Ask what ingredients are in your food when eating out. I know that most of Starbucks' drinks are gluten-free, but when I go to other coffee shops I ask to see their syrup bottles so I can check if they are safe. When in a sit-down restaurant, tell the waiter that you are gluten-intolerant. If they are not sure what food at their restaurant is gluten-free, then order a salad with a vinaigrette dressing (which is typically gluten-free) to be safe (no croutons!). If someone is cooking for you, make sure they are aware of your limitations ahead of time and don't be afraid to tell them that you can't eat something they've prepared. If they act offended, tell them you can get really sick from even a tiny, tiny piece of gluten.

4) Read read read.
I have read books, blogs, forums, etc. A lot. I'm feeling somewhat knowledgeable at this point, but there's always more to learn. I read the book The Gluten Connection and have also done a lot of online reading.

5) Download apps.
There are some GREAT iPhone apps for those who need to follow a gluten-free diet. My favorites are 1) Is That Gluten Free?, 2) Is That Gluten Free? - Eating Out, 3) and Find Me Gluten Free. Between those three apps and Google internet search on my phone, I've found that I'm able to either find a restaurant with food I can eat or determine if a certain food is safe usually within just a couple minutes.

6) Search your local stores.
You'll have to learn what's available at the stores around you. Trader Joe's has a GREAT assortment of gluten-free foods. If you ask someone at the store, they can provide you with the (5-page!) list. (Hint: Products that have a little "g*" on the front are guaranteed to be gluten-free, but not all items on the 5-page list have the "g*". So even if an item doesn't have the "g*", still check the list.) Whole Foods and Fresh Market are other great places to shop. Kroger has many items in the organic section of the store, and Target has many items spread throughout their normal aisles.

7) Search your local restaurants.
Check your local restaurants online or call the venue. Many restaurants are beginning to offer gluten-free options or even provide entire gluten-free menus. If you live in the Triangle area, you can eat at Daniel's, Carrabbas, Biaggi's, Chipotle, Jason's Deli, Bonefish Grill, Brixx Pizza, California Pizza Kitchen, Z-Pizza, and I'm sure many others. As I mentioned earlier, most (but not all) of Starbucks' drinks are gluten-free. (Yay!)

8) Figure out what you can eat and find replacements for your favorite foods that are on the no-go list.
I found substitutions for Oreos (KinniToos, found at Target and Kroger), brownie mix, refrigerated cookie dough, canned soup, penne and spaghetti pasta, egg noodles, and bread (Udi is the best). I also discovered that I can still eat most Baked Lay's, Tostitos (just not the new flavored kind), Chex, Butterfinger, and Snickers, to name a few of my indulgences. There are so many options and work-arounds, you just have to do a little digging and researching until you get your menu established.

So those are my main suggestions for anyone considering or struggling with a gluten free diet. Please feel free to chime in if you have any more advice. :)

JPEG vs RAW

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

It has been an ongoing struggle for me to decide whether I should be shooting my photos in RAW or JPEG format. I've read various viewpoints from photographers who take either side of the argument, and it's never been clear to me what is best. Currently I have my camera set to produce both a RAW and a JPEG file for each image...which takes up a lot of storage space and requires more time in post-processing, but at least has me covered until I make a knowledgeable decision.

I thought I'd share the following articles, which I just recently read (and watched) to help make my choice. Check them out:

1. RAW vs. JPEG at Digital Photography School
2. How are they different? RAW vs JPEG by Elizabeth at Pretty Presets
3. RAW vs JPEG (JPG) – The Ultimate Visual Guide at [SLR]Lounge

My final decision?

If I'm out site-seeing or in a situation with a lot of shadows contrasted with bright light, AND I will have time and motivation to spend time adjusting my pictures later, I will use RAW.
If I'm in a really difficult lighting situation AND, again, will have time and motivation to edit later, I will use RAW.
Otherwise, which will mostly consist of at-home shots that I want to be able to quickly upload for family viewing, I will use JPEG. Reason: I want my editing to be quick. For the times I do want to fiddle in editing, there is still tons I can do with my images in JPEG format. Plenty for me at my current editing level...especially considering that my photography is just a hobby and not a money-maker.

Photographer friends, what are your thoughts? RAW or JPEG?

FDA/Industry Statistics Workshop

2011-09-19T14:02:00.000-04:00

My company has paid for me to attend this weeks's FDA/Industry Statistics Workshop in DC, which is pretty exciting. I came with one coworker (Dora) and a good friend from grad school (Hilary), and we've run into other people we know along the way. It's kind of neat to be back in a learning environment again. As much as I was sick of classes and learning by the end of grad school, I've found myself somewhat missing it over the past year or so. (Which is pretty surprising, since I said after getting my master's degree that I would never ever ever ever go back to school. I still don't intend to, but I could see how it would be somewhat desirable. :) )

The only negative about coming was leaving my men. Especially Krew. I cried twice before we even left for the airport, and then broke into tears again saying goodbye. I felt silly but couldn't stop the tears. Luckily Hilary, who was with me, was sympathetic and understanding. (Thanks, Hil!) This is my first time leaving town without Krew, my first time being away from him for over 24 hours. Crazy how attached you get to being with your kids, even though they exhaust you and drive you nuts the majority of the time. Such is the love of a parent I guess.

Well, I've got free time at the conference but actually have some work I need to do. (I'm swamped at the office right now...which had very unfortunate timing given that I'm at a conference for 3 of my 4 work days this week.) So gotta jet. Hope you're all having a splendid start to your week!

Edit Me: Week 18

2011-09-16T08:30:00.000-04:00

This week's Edit Me challenge was a fun picture of a ferris wheel.

SOOC:

My edit:

First I ran the action Stained from My Four Hens. Then I added a purple gradient (top to bottom), used curves to add a pop, then used another curves layer to brighten only the ferris wheel sign through masking. I wanted the image to have a feel that was both vintage and bright, and I think I got it mostly to my liking. :) I then sharpened a bit and added my watermark.

Head over and check out the other edits at My Reflection of Something!

Link Love 15.Sep.11

2011-09-15T17:00:00.000-04:00

Here they are, my latest favorite blog posts!
I love to track my favorites like this, not only so I can share them with my readers (YOU), but also so I have them for future reference.

Courtship Contradictions
How to Glorify God at Work
Amish Proverbs
Homeschool Blindspots - An enlightening (although long) excerpt to read whether you plan to homeschool or not. (I do not.) It digs deep into the theology of Christian parenting. To read the even longer original article (which is probably worth your time!) go here: Solving the Crisis in Homeschooling
The Joy of a Stable Mother - Relevant to ALL women, mothers or not...especially those that tend to be emotional. :)

Also, I had started a list maybe a month ago, but it never got published. Here it is, although a wee bit late.

A Stripped Down Version
Television

These posts made me feel so much better about my child's recent tantrums:
The "Mini-Fit"
Pre-Toddler Goal: Don't Lose Ground

A Practical Definition of Forgiveness

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday's sermon at my church focused on dealing with anger, resentment, and unforgiveness. There were many things I enjoyed about the sermon, but below were the main points I wanted to remember:

Anger itself isn't a sin, but is very likely to lead to sin.

Anger always feels righteous in the moment.

It was once said that everything you can do with anger, you can accomplish better without. Do you agree?

We tend to think that people don't take us seriously unless we're angry. But the problem is really that most of us don't know how to achieve those things without being fueled by anger.

Don't carry contempt toward someone. It leads you to see them as less than you and to develop a superior attitude.

Remember that change starts from the inside. If you want to learn to not be so angry, it must start from the heart.

At the heart of anger is entitlement. We feel that we did not receive something that we deserved. And so we carry anger and resentment over those things we did not get. The problem is, most of the things that we think people owe us, they can never pay back. Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a decision to say "you don't owe me anymore".

This last sentence is what really struck me the most. I've never understood what people meant when they said, "You have to make a decision to forgive, even if you don't feel like it." I didn't understand what that looked like. I couldn't comprehend how to do such a thing. But when our pastor Jonathan said "It is a decision to say 'you don't owe me anymore,'" something inside me just clicked. It was a total 'aha!' moment. And it was wonderfully freeing. Suddenly I had a new understanding of how to forgive others, even when I still may be hurting inside.

If you'd like to check out the sermon, please do. An mp3 recording can be found here: http://www.crosspointe.org/messages/mp3s/2011_09_11.mp3

You can also check out all the messages in the current series here: http://crosspointe.org/messages/current_series/

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
- Romans 12:17-21

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
- Ephesians 4:31-32

Go dig into some other encouragement at Call Me Blessed!

Edit Me: Week 17

2011-09-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

I haven't participated in an Edit Me challenge in quite a while, and I miss it!! So I finally decided to buckle down and jump back in. Each week's challenge closes on Saturday, so I'm cutting it a bit close (it's currently 9:17pm on Saturday), but hey, at least I'm getting it done. :)

Here is the SOOC:

And here is my edit:

I did most of my editing in Camera Raw. First I cropped the picture to give it more of a landscape feel and to focus more on the barn. I also straightened it slightly. I used the Vintage Portrait preset from Pretty Presets. I then increased the fill light, lowered the exposure, and increased the hue a bit on the reds. I also added a slight vignette. After these edits, I opened the image in Photoshop to apply just a bit of sharpening and add my watermark.

My initial plan for the photo didn't include as much of a blue/purple hue, but once I saw it I decided I liked it. :)

Be sure to check out the other edits over at My Reflection of Something!

Blogger app has arrived!

2011-09-08T16:31:00.001-04:00

I was pretty stoked to discover today that Blogger FINALLY came out with a Blogger app! It's lacking in quite a few options, so it's no good for detailed posts (no preview, no scheduled publishing), but it's exciting for quick posts or if I want to jot down an idea.

Check it out if you have an iPhone! Supposedly it exists for Android too.

Favorites/Update

2011-09-07T07:30:00.000-04:00

Just a few of my latest favorite reads:

Disturbing Diet
What getting fat taught me about focus.
Inspire Me Tuesdays — Embracing the Present

Monday was Krewson's 18-month birthday! (Do you call it a birthday? Maybe it's better referred to as his 18-month birth anniversary? Hmmm.) So our baby is now a year and a half old. Crazy. His 18-month checkup at the pediatrician office isn't until for a week or two, so I'll have to fill you in on his growth stats later.

This next month looks like it's going to be the busiest of the year, so please forgive me if my blogging posts are sparse. According to my calculations, I have just one (yes, one) evening with no activities planned until September 26th. Whew. Keep me in your prayers.

God bless!

Prenatal DVD Giveaway Winner

2011-09-06T17:30:00.000-04:00

I used handy-dandy random.org today to determine the winner of last week's giveaway.

And the winner is...

Vanessa!!

Vanessa is one of my awesome frisbee girlfriends. (Meaning: We have grown close through several summers of sweating bullets all day in the hot sun while being pregnant and/or watching our kids so that we can support our hubbies' loves of ultimate frisbee.) She blogs over at http://vanessawashburn.blogspot.com/ if you'd like to check her out. :)

Congrats, Vanessa! Hope you enjoy the video!! It will be on its way soon. :)

My Parenting Books To-Read List

2011-09-02T08:10:00.000-04:00

I desperately need to read some parenting books. I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants these days. Krew is, bit by bit, becoming defiant, independent, and stubborn, and I'm incredibly torn on how to handle it. It's not that he's a bad kid, he's most definitely not. He is a wonderful child, and many people say he's the easiest to take care of out of most kids they know. Still, like all of us, he has that thing called sinful nature, and as his parents it is the responsibility of Dave and me to help him learn to recognize those sinful temptations and learn to resist them. And the way we do this is through that painful but necessary thing called discipline.

Books that have been suggested, which I plan to read and then choose bits and pieces from and smoosh all together, include:

On Becoming Toddlerwise by Gary Ezzo
Parenting by the Book by John Rosemond (currently reading)
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
1-2-3 Magic for Christian Parents: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 by Thomas W. Phelan
Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman
Parenting Beyond Your Capacity by Reggie Joiner

I'd love to hear if you've read any of these books, and if you have any other suggestions?? Also, I fully realize that some of these books are controversial, so please no rude comments. Feel free to share your thoughts, but don't tell me that I'm a horrible parent if I follow something that one of the books suggests. I'd like to make decisions about the books and my child on my own (with Dave of course)...and besides that, I want my blogging community to be one of support and love, not judgement.

Alrighty, with that said, share away. :)

Any suggestions?

2011-08-31T07:32:00.000-04:00

I'm struggling with some frustration, hurt, and resentment this morning. I have a few key Bible verses I turn to in situations like this, but could use some extra guidance right now.

Any suggestions? Bible verses, devotions, or other Biblical teachings?

In the meantime, I'll keep leaning on my God and trust that this situation will be used for His glory and that He'll walk me through it.

Irene

2011-08-30T21:50:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Irene, the ultimate tournament and our trip to Maryland was cancelled last weekend. As much as traveling tires me out, I have to tell you that I was pretty bummed about the cancellation. I was super excited for the trip. I was looking forward to traveling with my husband and watching him out on the field. I couldn't wait to put Krew in summer sports clothes and smother him in gobs of sunscreen and watch him gleefully run around the field. I couldn't wait to cheer and scream for my honey. I was looking forward to forced relaxation with friends. (Can't do housework when I'm not in our house.) As one of my friends very accurately described it, I felt pretty deflated when I found out we weren't going. But alas, that is life, huh?

So Friday night I somewhat nervously awaited the arrival of the hurricane. We are about two hours from the coast, and the last hurricane that had hit North Carolina in a similar way had caused pretty severe damage, even in our area. (This is according to reports from friends. Hurricane Fran, I believe. I did not live in the area at the time.) It was amazing to look at the radar on Friday night and see how massive the hurricane was...it was this giant spinning ball of red (yes, that's right, the strongest form of precipitation that the radar shows)...and it spanned well over 100 miles. Our little dot of a city on the map sat just outside the edge of the encroaching red ball when I took my last glance at the radar before laying down to sleep around midnight. It blew my mind to think about the storm's power and strength, and the fact that it was heading straight toward us. Slightly nerve wracking, I must admit. Especially with our young child in the room next door. We are to be his protectors...but what do we do when we can't even protect ourselves? Thinking about these things...the incomprehensible power of natural disasters on this earth...it blows my mind to think that God's might is infinitely stronger. And thank goodness for that.

Saturday I woke up to discover that the hurricane's arrival had been pretty anticlimactic. I hadn't awoken once during the night. I looked outside, and although it was gloomy and drizzly, everything was intact. Nothing had been blown around. I checked the radar, and although there was precipitation covering us, the red was gone. There was definitely wind, but other than occasional strong gusts it wasn't any cause for concern. It had turned into your average rainy, blustery day.

We hung out at home all day long. Despite there not being any horrible damage, there were still reports of trees blown into roads and power lines down. The gusts were still strong enough to keep you from unnecessarily driving too far. So we just relaxed inside. Well, Dave and I relaxed inside. Krew had other plans. And since it was pretty warm out, I let him do as he pleased. Which mostly involved running around in the yard in the rain with his Aquadoodle and playing in the dogs' water bowl.

"Krew, please don't make a mess."

"Wha-ter."
"Yes, Krew, that's water, but please don't play in it."

"Wha-ter."
Sigh. "Krew..."

"Oh ok...go ahead."

Needing a Face Lift

2011-08-29T18:00:00.002-04:00

My blog header is in desperate need of a face lift, no? The pictures of my son are from like 7 months ago. Given that he's not quite 18 months old, that's seriously outdated.

Any suggestions?

I'm thinking I may stick with the same theme, same blue background. Might just update the pictures. I'm pretty happy with it otherwise.

Not fully decided though.

We'll see what happens. :)

PS Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you're pregnant or plan to get pregnant or know someone who's pregnant or simply love Pilates.

Review and Giveaway: Prenatal Pilates Video

2011-08-28T08:06:00.001-04:00

To answer the question I know that half of you asked as soon as you saw the title to this post...

No, I am not pregnant. :)

I just happened to get selected to review this DVD because I have been pregnant in the past, and I am at a time in my life when I have pregnant friends and pregnant blog readers. Sorry to bust your bubble. :)

Anyways...I was recently selected to receive and review a prenatal Pilates video. It is choreographed and led by Dale Shea, who has been a certified Pilates instructor since 2001. Dale felt that there was a need for better prenatal workout DVDs, so she decided to develop one of her own.

I must admit I was a little skeptical when I saw the case for the DVD, but as people say, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Once I popped it into my DVD player and started working out, I was actually pretty impressed.

First off, I really love Dale's tone of voice throughout the video and how she seems to connect with you as a viewer. I felt like I was taking a personal class in her studio, not like I was watching a video.

Second, as mentioned previously, the video is directed toward pregnant women and provides a great workout for any momma-to-be. Although a slower warm up and cool down are provided, the video is not extraordinarily easy by any means. Dale herself was 31 weeks pregnant when she recorded the video, so you know that all the exercises are manageable and healthy for a pregnant woman, but the video still provides a healthy challenge. Although I'm not pregnant at the moment, I could remember back to when I was, and I know I would have surely appreciated Dale's understanding of the pregnant woman's body and her extra instructions in how to deal with it. (In fact, I'm definitely going to hold onto the video for if/when I get pregnant again!) Working out while pregnant can be very difficult at times...I know that I personally had aching joints from about 3 months on. A DVD like this would have been so helpful and let me still feel the benefits of exercising without the pain caused by running or other strenuous activities.

The DVD is split into seven parts: Intro, Warm up, Mat, Light Weights, Resistance Band, Stability Ball, and Cool Down. Every section but the Intro is about 20 minutes long, so you are getting a whopping 120 minutes of workout on one DVD. That's a lot of bang for your buck. You can pick the sections you want to do, depending on the time and supplies you have with you. The warm up section is great for stretching and relaxation.

Throughout the video, you can definitely tell that Dale knows what she is doing. And of course it's reassuring to see her carrying a baby belly of her own. You can buy the DVD at her website http://www.pilatesformoms.com/ or on Amazon - it's called Prenatal Pilates With Dale Shea.

And now for the fun part, Dale has offered for me to do a giveaway of one of her DVDs! This would be a great workout DVD to have if you are currently pregnant or plan to get pregnant. It would also be a great gift for a pregnant friend.

Ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post (not on Facebook - Facebook comments will not be counted).
2. Become a follower of my blog, then leave a comment telling me you did so (or that you are already a follower).
3. Put my blog on your blogroll or list of favorite blogs on your own personal blog, then leave a comment telling me you did so (or that I am already on your blogroll).
4. Post on Facebook about this giveaway, then leave a comment telling me you did so.
5. Tweet about this giveaway, then leave a comment telling me you did so.
6. Write a blog post about this giveaway (worth 2 entries), then leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will run until Thursday, September 1st, at 11:59pm. I will select a winner from random.org.

Happy entering!

Things I Love About My Witto Boy

2011-08-25T20:20:00.000-04:00

There have been so many times recently that I've thought to myself, I need to write this moment down. I need to record Krew doing this. It's so adorable, and this time will pass, and I want to always remember this...

So I'm finally writing a few things down. Here are ten things I absolutely love about our little boy right now and his fascinating toddler world.

1. He's learning to share.
A week or so ago, I noticed that he had some paper crumpled up tightly in his little fist. I asked him if I could please see it, and he handed it to me. Upon confirming that it was only a paper I had intended to throw away, I handed it back to him. However, he decided there was a better way to handle this situation...one that would clearly make us both happier. He promptly ripped the paper in half, and then reached up to hand one of the halves to me. I joyfully accepted it and said thank you, and he continued on his merry way.

2. He is learning to communicate his wants without screaming or whining.
He now tells us where he wants us to go by crouching down and pointing at the ground where he wants us to stand. If he wants us to go outside with him, he walks just outside the back door and then squats down and points to the patio. If he wants us to draw on the chalkboard with him, he goes over to the chalkboard then points at the ground next to him. If he wants us to go down the slide with him, he points at the steps. It's really adorable...and really helpful.

3. He has his own sense of fashion.
His favorite accessory at the moment is dog collars. Even the ones with dog tags hanging off of them. He frequently brings one to us, demonstrates his struggle to place it around his neck, then hands the collar to us. If we do not hook it around his neck and allow him to wear it for at least 30 minutes, mounds of toddler tears are inevitable. So if you see a picture of him wearing a bright pink and black dog collar, please don't judge. It was his own doing.

4. He's developing into a little chatterbox.
He talks his head off right now. Problem is, this is what it typically sounds like: "Dadoh bajoo dis dadihdah didoh djo dwajo dat bwow dahdah." And then he looks at us, like, Well? And we say something along the lines of, "Oh, I see!" And then he continues, "Bajoo dadihdah didoh bwow..." This goes on and on and on. I wish we had some inkling of a clue as to what he's trying to tell us.

5. His physical abilities are growing by leaps and bounds.
He's nearly running and oh-so-close to jumping. When he "runs", he throws his shoulders forward and his little arms go back-and-forth, back-and-forth while his feet go pitter patter pitter patter. When he "jumps", he throws both arms up over his head simultaneously, as if their momentum will left his little body off the ground. His little feet lift all the way up to the tips of his toes, but never quite make it all the way into the air. This past Tuesday he started actually walking on his tippy-toes with me, and we walked around the house while I chimed, "Tip toes! Tip toes! Tip toes!" Then I'd go flat-footed and say "Flat feet! Flat feet! Flat feet!" and he'd follow behind me slapping his flat feet on the ground.

6. He's learning to entertain himself.
Being outside is pretty much his favorite place in the world. If you let him go outside with a capri-sun...now that's heaven on earth for the little boy. He just walks around the yard, sipping on his juice, babbling to the dogs and the birds and the clouds, occasionally pulling an unripened tomato off its branch and using it as a ball. And if you turn the hose on for him? Oh goodness, he gets so excited. He exclaims "WAH-tis! WAH-tis! WAH-tis!" (his pronunciation of water - imagine "water" said with a British accent and an extra s thrown on the end for special effect) and sticks his hands in the stream or requests to hold the hose himself. Speaking of water, he's got some mad water-identification skills. He can point out water no matter it's location or form. If it's a picture of the ocean or a beach sunrise, if it's water coming out of a faucet, if it's flowing from the sink faucet, if it's a lake in the distance, if it's in a bathtub, if it's coming out of a sprinkler...no matter what, he always knows it's water. It really impresses me.

7. The actual words he says are just so darn cute.
My favorite word of his is still "bubble". I just find it simply adorable when he says it. It's so perfectly pronounced, with that little baby twang to it. I love it love it.

8. He loves his music.
He is still a dancing fool. He'll dance to nearly any tune. He likes to mimic dances, too, so if you've got any moves you'd like to share with him, I'm sure he'd appreciate it. His favorite song right now is probably "Itsy Bitsy Spider". We have an iPad app that plays it, and he skips through all the other songs so he can get to "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Then he does all the motions with the song to the best of his abilities. And along the lines of music, the little boy has also begun to sing. I am OVERJOYED about this, because if you know me well then you know I love my music and singing!! I've picked out some of my favorite childhood music for him (Psalty, anyone?) and to my excitement he loves the same music I do used to. He and his daddy and I like to all sing together with the music during bathtime. :)

9. He's starting to play make-believe.
His favorite right now is to "drive" a "steering wheel". Pretty much anything can be a steering wheel at this point. He's used a baby jar lid, a bathroom cabinet knob, even an itty bitty pretzel that came from the bag of free pretzels you get during a plane trip. He also likes to push around cars and trucks and say "VROOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!"

10. He gets confused about the simplest things, and it reminds me how new to this world he still is.
If you say to him, "Krewson, can you say fill in the blank?" he'll always respond. But it may sound absolutely nothing like what you said. For example, I'll say, "Can you say 'Up, please?'" and he'll respond "Di doo." And I'm like, um, what went wrong here. So then I'll split it up..."Can you say 'Up'?" "UH." "Good job!! Can you say 'Please'?" "TSSSSSSS." "Can you say 'Up, please'?" "DIH DOH SPPP." Hmmmm. If you ask him to say "yes" he'll nod his head. If you ask him to say "no" he'll point to his nose. If you ask him to say "truck" he'll say "VROOOOOOM!!". If you ask him to say "airplane" he'll start soaring his hand through the air while making a soaring noise. If you ask him to say "house" he'll click his tongue twice. (This is by far my favorite. I was so confused the first time he did this...I asked him to say "house" over and over, and each and every time he responded with two clicks of his tongue. I was pretty sure he'd picked up some alien language in his sleep until later that night when I finally figured out what was going through his sweet head. When we put him on his toy rocking horse at home, we click our tongues to make the sound of a horse's hooves. So when I say "house", he thinks I'm saying "horse", and he clicks his tongue twice to make the sound of hooves. So naive and so adorable, right??)

And if you're wondering why all the pictures of him in this post are of him eating...well, frankly...it's because it's the easiest time to get pictures of him. :)

Crazy Times

2011-08-24T17:45:00.000-04:00

Things sure are a bit crazy around here. An earthquake yesterday (don't get excited, I didn't even feel it), a hurricane aimed to hit this weekend (if just the rain would come, that would be GREAT, no damage necessary)...potential hubby job loss (sad face...stupid politics)...tons and tons of traveling and weddings (I believe we have five in total that we're attending this summer)...lots of ear infections for the kiddo and sicknesses passing between us all...and of course just "normal" life thrown in there...whew. It's a bit overwhelming and exhausting at times. And boy am I grateful to have my God to lean on and to cry to when necessary. I know He'll work it all for good and that He'll take care of me, whatever comes my way.

We're headed to an ultimate tournament in Maryland this weekend, and I'm super excited to spend time with our friends who live in Virginia and are graciously allowing us to stay at their place...dogs, toddler, and all. (Yay Mary and G!) And honestly I'm just super excited to see one of Dave's tournaments. I've missed out on most of the season so far and (much to my surprise) I LOVE watching his games. (If you know me well, you know I'm not a sports girl in any way, shape, or form. I don't like playing, following, watching, or talking sports. At all. Except for Dave's ultimate frisbee. For the first time in my life, I've found myself trying to learn more so I can understand the plays and join in the sports talk. Crazy, right?)

How is everyone else's week going? Or just life in general? Is it as crazy as mine?

And just because everyone appreciates a pic or two, here are a few miscellaneous ones from the last few weeks. I'm really behind on editing and uploading my pictures, so there are many more to come.

at Meade and Abby's wedding in Philly

our turbo child

little pilot

reading with Grandma Nancy and cousin Brady

just chillin'

Daddy's Shoes

2011-08-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

He just has a little ways to grow before he'll be just like his daddy.

In his eyes...

2011-08-16T18:36:00.000-04:00

When I look into his eyes, I see his daddy.

And I can't help but thank God over and over again for blessing me with two such wonderful men to love and to love me in return.

A Quote for Your Day

2011-08-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

I've been a busy woman lately and haven't had a ton of time for blogging. But this morning I wanted to share just one small quote that I find to be greatly significant and life-changing if truly taken to heart.

In my women's Bible study, we are reading the book "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow. Chapter 3 discusses Psalm 139, which tells us that God intimately knows each of us and lovingly created us just as he wants us. Dillow shares a quote from George MacDonald, the man C.S. Lewis called his mentor:

"I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking."

Wow. To take that to heart and live it in truth would surely change my outlook in many days and situations.

What about you? Which would you rather be?

Linking up with Jami's blog at www.callmeblessed.com. Head on over and find some more encouragement for your day. :)

Tomatoes, anyone? And a recipe!

2011-08-14T21:13:00.003-04:00

This is the second year that Dave and I have a) had a garden and b) grown tomatoes. This is also the second year that we've found ourselves with more tomatoes piled on our kitchen countertop than we could ever eat in a lifetime. I don't know if this is typical for gardeners who grown tomatoes, but Dave and I have tomatoes coming out the wazoo.

Observe:

If you don't think that pile is impressive, than may I mention that we've given away at least an equal amount, if not more, to our friends? And that Dave has been eating tomato sandwiches like three times a week? And that I have been eating tomatoes in my salads and as a snack almost daily? And that I had just used up about 50 cherry and black cherry tomatos in a recipe (see below)?

Oh yes people, it's for real.

We have a tomato problem.

(If you can call it that. Is it ever a problem to have an over-abundance of home-grown ~~veggies~~ fruits? I mean, even if some go to waste, isn't it better to have too many than too little? Food (hehe) for thought...)

So anyways, what to do with all these tomatoes has been an interesting predicament. And I'm very happy to announce that tonight I found a delicious recipe to use up some of those yummy red ~~veggies~~ fruits. Thought I'd share in case anyone else is interested. :)

Here is the actual recipe:

Spaghetti With Cherry Tomatoes and Toasted Garlic

INGREDIENTS
3/4 pound whole-grain spaghetti
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons
1/3 cup coarsely grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. While pasta cooks, pour the oil into a large skillet over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes. Increase heat to medium high, cover and cook until tomatoes are warm and softened but still retain their shape, about 3 minutes.
3. Add pasta, 1/4 cup each of the basil and Parmesan, and the salt and black pepper to the tomato mixture and toss to combine. Top with remaining cheese and basil and serve.

Now I'll give you my version, which is close but not exactly the same:

Kara's Gluten-Free Spin-Off from Fitness Magazine's Spaghetti With Cherry Tomatoes and Toasted Garlic
(Go ahead and say it. I know you're superbly impressed with the originality of my recipe's name.)

1. Cook up some gluten-free spaghetti noodles so you don't get a tummy ache after dinner.
2. While pasta cooks, pour some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add a bunch of pre-minced garlic. Try to eye-ball approximately four cloves. (Good luck.) Cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is golden brown.
3. Cut up all the cherry tomatoes and black cherry tomatoes that are sitting on your countertop. Feel relief at the realization that you do not have to eat a pound of cherry tomatoes for lunch this week.
4. Add the tomatoes to the garlic. Cover and cook until warm and softened.
5. Slice up lots of basil leaves, taken from the basil plant sitting in your kitchen. Add them to the mixture.
6. Dump in the remains of your grated parmesan cheese container.
7. Drain the gluten-free noodles and rinse well. Add to the garlic/tomato/basil/cheese mixture. Stir and stir and stir. Realize that rice noodles like to hang out in clumps. Add some olive oil and stir and stir some more. Announce to hubby that the noodles are kinda all hanging out in a pile, but they really should be delicious.
8. Serve to son and hubby and all three together decide that the dish is in fact delicious. Mmmm mmmm mmmm.
9. The end.

And because no recipe is as exciting without a picture, here is a picture taken from the Fitness Magazine's recipe webpage:

That's what it's supposed to look like. Mine didn't really look like that. At all. But it was still amazingly yummy. And I definitely think you should try it out. (Whether you follow Fitness Magazine's recipe or mine (or your own version!) is completely up to you.)

Dave said I could make this recipe at least once a week because of how much he liked it. Next time we'll probably cut up some of our other types of tomatoes and try them out. I'm hoping it still tastes as good.

Enjoy!

Refocusing on God

2011-08-10T22:02:00.002-04:00

While I was visiting my family up in Indiana, I found that my Bible reading and quiet time with God really fell by the wayside. It's great to be back home this week, back in my routine, and back to my Tuesday night Bible study and Wednesday night church life group. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with having two week nights taken up by activities, but weeks like this one show me how truly valuable those activities are in encouraging my Christian walk. My Bible study last night and my life group meeting tonight both helped me incredibly in refocusing my gaze on Christ. After a week away from home, I had found myself very much living in the here and now, completely oblivious to God's presence and will. And that's not where I want to be.

Last night's Bible study focused on seeing the positives in life, not the negatives. It was about accepting the trials in life, and running to God in prayer and submission, knowing that He will take care of you and give you peace that passes all understanding. We were challenged to practice the following four things, especially when we are feeling frustrated, hurt, or negative about situations in our lives:

1. choose to give our anxieties to God
2. choose to pray specifically
3. choose to be thankful
4. choose to dwell on the positive

Four things I know I should do but more often than not do not. (Did you catch that? I'm striving to be like Paul. Romans 7. Check it out. You'll get an awesome headache. :))

In tonight's life group, we wrestled with determining the time point at which temptation actually becomes sin. At what point has the line been crossed? We discussed guard rails (or training wheels, hehe Ashley), or extra precautions we take to ensure that we are avoiding sinful behavior. We discussed marriage, and how easy it may be for someone to fall into temptation. We also focused for a while on the topic of social media, and how it presents temptations that never existed fifteen years ago.

Within these past few days, I've felt encouraged to start memorizing more Scripture. Although I know many of the stories and lessons and rules in the Bible, I have very little memorized verbatim. Those few verses that I do have down by heart, however, I use on a very regular basis. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have more life-giving words at my fingertips, wherever I am, regardless of whether I have a Bible accessible? I'm thinking so.

So here are the verses that have stood out to me this week. I am going to focus on memorizing them. One of them I already have mostly memorized, but it's always good to do a refresher.

Philippians 4:6-8
⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

1 Corinthians 10:13
¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

James 4:7
⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Feel free to join in the memorization if you'd like. :)

17 Months!!

2011-08-08T22:38:00.000-04:00

Krewson turned 17 months last Friday on August 5th! I skipped a 16-month update so thought it was about time I fill you all in on his life a little. :)

He is now wearing 12 month shorts, 12-18 month shirts, size 5 shoes (and even some 6s), and size 3 diapers. When I weighed him tonight he was about 24 1/2 lbs. He's also definitely getting taller, although we don't know his exact height. He's suddenly almost the height needed to pull open the back door, and he's reaching a lot of other things that have previously not been a concern. It gives us an exciting new list of items to check for babyproofing. :)

He's a jabbering machine these days. He loves to babble and talk to us, although we're clueless as to what he's saying about 80% of the time. He's picked up quite a few words and frequently attempts to say mama, dada, grandma, grandpa, bubble, ball, dog, water, milk, outside, please, up please, down please, thank you, wow, yay, this, and that. I think there are some other words too, but I can't remember them at the moment. What I'm really enjoying is that he finally seems to be differentiating between Dave and me by using "dada" and "mama". It's great to actually have a name. :)

He loooooooooves dogs right now. He gets super excited and goes into fits of giggles when he sees any dogs, including our own when we come home to them at the end of the day or when they crowd around his high chair. We actually have to be careful, because he even loves dogs that are growling and snapping at him. (Scary, right?)

He's sooooooo close to being able to run. He walks super fast and picks his little knees up really high and pushes his shoulders and head forward as he goes. And one of his favorite things to do while he's almost-running is to charge between our legs like a tunnel. When he decides it's time to use our legs as a tunnel, he comes up and pushes through with his arms. And if you're not tall enough, watch out, because he'll just knock his head straight into your privates. (Trust me, I've seen it happen.)

He still loves books and still loves his videos. He's getting to be quite the climber and can climb onto much of our furniture on his own. He also likes to climb step ladders and stairways. Especially when we're not looking. And he still loves to dance, which makes me oh so happy. It's so sweet to see him sway and spin and bounce to the music. :)

He had a double ear infection for the last month, which was a pain to deal with. The first round of antibiotics didn't take care of it, but luckily a second round with a stronger antibiotic did the trick. I was grateful to be in Indiana during the last days of the antibiotics so my mom could check his ears and let me know that they were indeed healed. Thank goodness, because he was a serious mommy-hater while he was sick. I'm not kidding. He acted like I was the worst person on the earth about 80% of the time. It was rather depressing. As much as I didn't want to, I couldn't help but take it a bit personally and feel hurt. He didn't like for me to hold him or play with him or anything if his daddy was anywhere around. In fact, he'd go into a complete tantrum if I tried to do anything with him and Dave was anywhere nearby. Fortunately, now that he's feeling well again, he seems to be back to loving me. Phew. :)

Alright well this was a lot of rambling, but I'm tired and have a lot to do and so don't have the time to do my usual proofreading and rewording. Please disregard any grammatical or spelling mistakes. :)

And to finish up, here are some pictures from the last month or so. And yes, he has food on his face or shirt in half of the pictures. It's his way of life these days. :)

MIA for the Week

2011-08-01T21:30:00.000-04:00

I'm going to take a blogging break for the week. I'm up in Indiana without my laptop and with lots of things to do in the evenings after work. Sooooo I think it's a great time for a short hiatus. I will be back to blogging and visiting you all next week. :) Have a great one!

God bless!

First Days Gluten Free

2011-07-28T19:07:00.000-04:00

Well, I've made it a full 48 hours being gluten free. I'm happy to report that I've had just about zero digestive issues (which is pointing toward YES I have a gluten problem) and that I've somehow not starved yet. Suffered and drooled over bread? Oh yes. But not gone hungry. At least not for too long.

Tuesday when I decided to give up gluten, I made a mad dash to the grocery store when I realized that 90% of the items in our pantry are not gluten-free. That trip was a bit overwhelming. I headed straight to the Kroger organic section to begin my search, and quickly realized that all the gluten-free items were randomly dispersed among the gluten-filled items. I had choices from like two boxes of cereal, three types of cookies, two types of pasta noodles, and two types of bread. At least from what I could find in the mix. I was on a tight timeline, so no time for advanced searching. I grabbed a few items of each and headed home after paying $432.67 at the checkout. (Exaggeration. But not far off.)

The first thing I attempted to eat was the bread. Um...can I say cardboard??? Seriously. Tasted and felt like cardboard. I couldn't even finish my sandwich. (Fortunately since then I have read that there are good brands and bad brands of gluten free bread. I'm going to pray I was eating a bad brand.)

Then I took a bite into some cookies. Very crumbly, but very good. Thank goodness. I was not going to have to go cookie-less.

The next morning (yesterday) I tried eating my gluten-free rice-krispie-type cereal, and after one bite announced to Dave, "Cardboard". I then had him take a bite. His response? "I think I'd put some sugar on that." Me - "Do you think it tastes like cardboard?" Him - "Yes."

Fortunately, I can eat all the fruits and veggies and meat I want. (As long as there is no breading, and as long as I'm not dipping it in a sauce or dip that contains gluten.) Yesterday for lunch I had leftover rotisserie chicken, three different colors of tomatoes, and carrots dipped in ranch sauce that I ensured was gluten-free. Then I had some of those yummy gluten-free cookies for dessert. I actually felt pretty satiated.

Last night at dinner was a different story. We met our church small group at a local Italian restaurant. I was thrilled to read ahead of time that they served most of their dishes with gluten-free pasta for an extra dollar. When we got there, I asked the waiter what pasta came gluten-free. He said all of it, very matter-of-factly. To which I responded, "Ravioli?" "No," he said, "Not ravioli. But anything else." I didn't want lasagna, but just to find out I said, "Lasagna?" "Nope," he responded, again in a very matter-of-fact tone. No apology, no 'here let me specify which is available', no nothing. Just "Nope", like hello I should know this stuff. Despite the fact that he had just told me that all the pasta came gluten free. So I ordered penne alla casa. Then I sat and watched as everyone else at my table indulged in buttery garlicy appetizer bread. My stomach rumbled and gurgled, begging for bread. But I resisted. When the food finally arrived about 45 minutes later (yes, really it was that long), the waiter placed a plate with spaghetti noodles in front of me. I sat and stared at it dumbfounded for a moment, then said to Dave, "Didn't I order penne??" After my husband confirmed that I did in fact order penne (ya never know, I could have been confused), I asked the waiter about it. Whattayaknow, those are the gluten-free noodles they have, and that's what I get. Um, wouldn't that have been something to mention WHEN I WAS ORDERING AND ASKING WHAT KINDS OF PASTA CAME GLUTEN-FREE???? A simple statement of "the only noodles we have gluten-free are spaghetti noodles, but we will be happy to substitute them into any dish for you" would have been perfectly appropriate and MUCH NICER. But no, heaven FORBID he be kind and just tell me everything up front. Leave it to the newly gluten-free (and very frustrated and hungry) girl to figure it out on her own. Let her struggle through the menu, then receive a dinner that looks nothing like what she ordered. I mean, cuz it's not like she's paying EXTRA for this gluten-free dinner or anything.

UGH.

Ok, yes, I know I am complaining. And I know we just discussed complaining in my Bible study on Tuesday night and I am not supposed to complain because it is sinful and just makes me ungrateful for the things I have. So I will stop now. I am going to justify the writing of this post by saying that I needed to document my first couple of days gluten free. Because, you know, documentation of life is important. (And by the way, is it gluten-free or gluten free? When do I add the "-"?)

So, to start talking about positive things again, I would like to report that the spaghetti-not-penne meal was in fact very tasty, and I couldn't tell one bit that it was gluten free. I ate the leftovers for lunch today and it was still delicious. So I'd probably go back to that restaurant to get my Italian carb fix...and pray ahead of time that I get a different waiter.

Alright, time to be off and get to my packing. We are headed to Philly in the morning for a wedding. But before I go I want to send a huge THANK YOU to all the friends who have emailed and corresponded with me over the last couple of days to help me along my gluten-free endeavor. You've made the short but difficult journey already so much easier with lots of advice, tips, and support. So thank you. :)

And maybe tonight I'll sip on some tea while I'm packing. Ya know, my green tea that very conveniently says on the box "GLUTEN FREE". (Check your box - it probably says it, too.) Why, thank you manufacturer of my green tea. :)

Gluten Be Gone

2011-07-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

I've been having a lot of digestive issues lately. In reality, I've been having problems for years, but the problems have been especially severe the last six months or so. After discussing my past attempts at remedies and other possible solutions with my doctor last week, she suggested I may want to try a gluten free diet to see if I have a gluten intolerance.

I must be honest...I kinda blew off her advice. It sounded so extreme. It would require so much work. And I figured since my symptoms come and go, that couldn't be what it was. Because wouldn't I be sick ALL the time, like every day?

Fast forward to today. When I finally decided to do some reading. And discovered that actually, it IS extreme, but it's also really important. Because if I have a gluten intolerance and continue to put gluten into my body, I could be doing a lot of damage to my body. Not just temporary damage, but long term damage. And not only that, but the symptoms can come and go, just as mine are. Some people don't even show a lot of obvious symptoms, while internally their body is really struggling.

What really caught my attention was when I filled out the following questionnaire:

Do any of the following apply to you?
Weight gain
Unexplained fatigue
Difficulty relaxing, feel tense frequently
Unexplained digestive problems
Female hormone imbalances, (PMS, menopausal symptoms)
Muscle or joint pain or stiffness of unknown cause
Migraine like headaches
Food allergies/sensitivities
Difficulty digesting dairy products
Tendency to over consume alcohol
Overly sensitive to physical and emotional pain, cry easily
Cravings for sweets, bread, carbohydrates
Tendency to overeat sweets, bread, carbohydrates
Abdominal pain or cramping
Abdominal bloating or distention
Intestinal gas
“Love” specific foods
Eat when upset, eat to relax
Constipation or diarrhea of no known cause
Unexplained skin problems/rashes
Difficulty gaining weight

Have you suffered from any of the following conditions?
Allergies
Depression
Anorexia
Bulimia
Rosacea
Diabetes
Osteoporosis/bone loss
Iron deficiency/anemia
Chronic fatigue
Irritable bowel syndrome
Crohn’s disease
Ulcerative colitis
Candida
Hypoglycemia
Lactose intolerance
Alcoholism

I got a pretty high number of "Yes" responses, so I also had Dave fill out the questionnaire for me. I wanted to make sure I wasn't just getting hyped up and being a crazy self-diagnoser.

He counted 11.

Guess what the scoring sheet says.

Test Interpretation Guide (combine both sections)

Number of “Yes” Responses = Potential for Gluten Intolerance

4 or less = Not likely

5 – 8 = Suspected

9 or more = Very likely

Hm. Not what I wanted to read.

(Check out the full questionnaire and some very helpful information about gluten intolerance here: http://www.totalfitness.net/downloads/GLUTENQUESTIONNAIRE.pdf.)

I probably wouldn't have been as eager to jump on this bandwagon had I not already gone through all the other giant possibilities for my health issues. None of the other big diagnoses fit. Foods that should upset my stomach don't, foods that shouldn't do. I was getting sick at times that it just made no sense.

So I've decided that I will be trying the gluten-free diet for a while. One recommendation I read was two months. (Ouch.) If in fact I have a gluten intolerance, my intestine should be healed by that point and my symptoms should be alleviated. If that's the case, then I'm to remain gluten-free for the rest of my life. (OUCH.) And if I am gluten-intolerant and choose to ignore it and continue to just eat gluten? Well, I could be facing a lot of digestive issues and also predisposing myself to muscle cramps, hormonal issues, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, lactose intolerance, fatigue, weight gain, and food allergies to just name a few. That's a whole slew of stuff that is NOT worth having my Oreo cookie or bowl of Cheerios in the morning.

I'll try to provide updates on how the diet goes. My digestive issues have actually been a lot better the last day or two, and I felt a mix of surprise, relief, and sadness when I realized that my diet has incidentally been very low in gluten over the last two days. It would be great to have an answer, but I must be honest and admit that this is not the answer I wanted. I was hoping for a quick fix, a medicine. Not a permanent rest-of-my-life diet change. If you know me, you know I like to eat. Especially carbs and sugars. What oh what is this girl gonna do??

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm going to follow God's instruction to try this diet. He's been throwing tidbits or reminders about this diet in my directions quite a bit lately, and I've been ignoring it until today. But now it's time to listen. And if this is His answer to my prayers to be healed, then this is His answer and I will accept it with a grateful and content heart.

But whew. No Oreos??

Bridal Shower!

2011-07-25T20:42:00.002-04:00

On Sunday a bunch of us threw a bridal shower for my wonderful friend Kristin, who is getting married to the awesome Joey on September 17th. It was a wonderful shower, with yummy food, fun games, and great company. :)

The cupcakes that Debbie ordered for the shower were AMAZING!!

Get your own fancy cupcakes at Bitsy Bakes!

Happy almost-wedding Kristin!! Love you! :)

One Year Later

2011-07-23T17:44:00.001-04:00

July 2010

July 2011

Just one year's difference.

Wow my baby is growing fast.

Girls' Craft Night!

2011-07-22T10:54:00.002-04:00

My friend Erin invited me to a girls' craft night last night at her friend Katie's house. Complete with craft supplies, pizza, wine, and cookies. It was very nice to get out sans child for a while. I love spending time with Krew dearly, but sometimes I forget what it's like to just be me instead of me with a child.

Erin

Me and Erin.

My finished product. I think I'll hang it on the wall.

All pictures courtesy of my iPhone. And thanks for leading our craft night, Katie! :)

It's going to be a fun day today, with lunch with Ann and then Marbles Museum with Casey (and maybe Erin). The hubs has got lots of frisbee practices this weekend so more friend time may be in store. Or I may just stay home and get stuff done. But boy is that hard with a toddler!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Edit Me: Week 10

2011-07-21T09:10:00.000-04:00

I really love these weekly Edit Me Challenges! And I'm especially motivated since there's always a prize for the winner. It would be awesome to win a prize. :)

I thought this week's Edit Me photo was super cute.

SOOC:

My edit:

I did most of my editing in ACR this week. I used one of Pretty Presets' just-released ACR presets, Vintage Portrait. Then I lowered the exposure, increased the fill light, and sharpened a bit. I brought it into Photoshop to add my watermark, then resized for the web and sharpened a bit more.

Be sure to go check out the others!

Wish List

2011-07-19T21:30:00.001-04:00

There are several items on my wish list right now that I would just love to have. Given that I've spent a butt-load of money purchasing camera lenses and photography learning resources lately, I'm not exactly in a place to be dropping more cash. I think my husband might kill me. And I'd get that icky stomach ache that you get when you know you're spending more money than you should.

BUT...if any of you lovely friends and family are looking for a gift to buy me...here is a handy dandy list, ready for your perusal at any time. :)

1. Giraffe camera strap cover

{via}

Yes, this is the exact same strap cover that my friend Ann has. No, I don't really want to look for a different fabric. I like hers, and she doesn't mind matching. :) Although I do also like this one. Hmmmm...

2. Yahweh (Live) by Hillsong Chapel

{via}

I got the Hillsong sample CD for free from the Christian bookstore and I really like the sampler songs from Hillsong Chapel.

3. Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

{via}

I've heard good things about this book, so it's now on my must-read list.

4. Camera bag

{via}

This shop lets you pick a vintage bag and the fabric that you want your inserts made out of, then they make it personally for you. Um, AWESOME. :) I also could just get a camera bag insert to stick in a bag I already have. That might be a smart option.

5. Glee music

{via}

Alas, I cannot help myself. I love, love, love Glee music. (Well, most of it.)

6. Juice box holders

{via} and {via}

Preferably either the brand JuicePal or Dwink. I love giving Krew a squeeze pouch of juice or a juice box as a treat once in a while, but he usually ends up squirting a beautifully arched juice stream straight onto our kitchen floor. Which leaves me with just one more thing to clean up. Because I don't have enough to clean up already. (Sarcasm.) Hence, I think it's high time we get juice box holders.

What's on YOUR wish list??

Must Reads

2011-07-19T07:30:00.000-04:00

Read up:

to love their husbands.
Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank) (To be read in light of the fact that your marriage is always to come first!)
Grace on a Thursday: My gripe with the Christian talk show host
5 Ways Media Could Be Affecting Your Marriage

Recipes I want to try:

Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Enjoy!

Taste and See

2011-07-18T07:06:00.000-04:00

Taste and see that

the Lord is good...

- Psalm 34:8

Give Him an honest chance. He will lead you home.

My Goofballs and My Loves

2011-07-16T09:00:00.001-04:00

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago, but I came across them and just had to share.

My goofballs and my loves.

Edit Me: Week 9

2011-07-15T21:48:00.001-04:00

Time for another Edit Me challenge over at My Reflection of Something!

Here's the SOOC shot:

And here's my edit:

First I cropped a bit. Then I lightened his undereye circles a little by using a blank layer to paint a low opacity skin color over them. I removed the speck that was on the collar of his shirt, added a Florabella texture, and popped his eyes a bit using an action from Everyday Elements.

Hope you like! Head over and check out the others!

Photography Learning Resources

2011-07-15T07:59:00.000-04:00

I thought I would share my favorite resources for learning about photography and post processing. Most of what I've learned, I've learned from these sites. They are constantly updated with new tutorials and information, so there's always something new to learn. I also did a one-on-one mentoring session with Mandy from A Sorta Fairytale and a live group workshop with Amanda from Everyday Elements. Other than those two events, I've learned it all on my own. And I firmly believe that you can too if you're truly into it. :) Back in April I provided the steps that I went through when getting into photography. You can check them out here: Photography Help.

If you you're looking to buy a DSLR, I found this blog post: Looking to buy a camera? Here is my obnoxious advice.

Here are the links to the sites that I visit on a somewhat regular basis. I will add more if I think of them. Also be sure to check out the links to blogs in my "Photography Blogs" blog roll to the right -->. If you have any recommendations that don't appear here, please feel free to comment!

My Reflection of Something
Everyday Elements
MCP Actions (direct link to tutorials list: http://www.mcpactions.com/ps-video-tutorials)
The Creative Mama (direct link to photography-related posts: http://thecreativemama.com/category/photography/)
Texas Chicks Blogs & Pics
My 3 Boybarians (direct link to 31 Days to a Better Photo: http://my3boybarians.com/31-days-series/)
The Coffeeshop Blog (direct link to tutorials list: http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/p/test.html)
Anna Gay
Ramblings and Photos
Kim Klassen (direct link to eCourses, one of which is free: http://www.kimklassencafe.com/photoshopecourses/)

I'll Fly Away

2011-07-13T06:56:00.000-04:00

Last night I went for a run despite the hot summer heat (it was around 100 degrees) to relieve some tension I was feeling. As I pushed myself through the muggy air, "I'll Fly Away" by Jars of Clay came on Shazam on my iPhone, and I closed my eyes and just felt the music and the air hitting my face. And for a moment, everything else melted away and my soul felt full and I could imagine what it would be like to be with God in heaven and be past the worries of this world. It was wonderful, and just what my heart needed. Somehow God uses running and music to give me tastes of the glory of being in His presence eternally. It's like for a moment, I forget everything of this world, and I feel His presence surrounding me and in me and I feel complete. I know it sounds crazy, but it's one of the ways He touches me. I am so grateful to Jesus that because of Him, I can know with confidence that one day I will get to fully experience that peace and joy. Not just for a fleeting moment when the circumstances are right, but eternally, forever. Sometimes I ache for that time so so bad.

What about you? Do you have any of those moments? Where you can actually imagine what it will be like to finally be with Him eternally? When, for just a brief moment, everything of this world slips away?

I'll Fly Away by Jars of Clay, from the album Redemption Songs

Latest Fave Reads

2011-07-12T07:30:00.000-04:00

Gonna be a quick post today, because I spent too much time catching up on Glee with my hubby to write anything more. :) Here are my latest favorites. Thought I'd share. :)

galatians and casey anthony's smile
Sneaking out of church early.
Saying "I'll ask God that when I'm in heaven."
iPad, iPod, iPhone, or The Great I AM?

For photography:

Really Easy Colour Correction with Photoshop
Guest Post – Understanding the Numbers – Becoming Mom

New Shoes + Supportive Husband = Kara Runs

2011-07-11T08:00:00.002-04:00

My hubby sure has been taking care of me lately. He could tell I've been frustrated with how little I've been working out, so he ordered me these pretty things

and told me he's going to figure out a way to start letting me go for a run at least 3 days per week. Which is quite the challenge given our schedules.

He is such a sweetheart. And just the support I need.

And he's doing a good job going through on his word. Last night he reminded me that I hadn't run yet, then told me to drop what I was doing and go. So I did. And it felt great.

me red-faced post run. i have to wear over-the-head earphones because no ear buds will stay in my ears. seriously. it's bizarre.

I am so grateful to God for such a wonderful husband.
And new shoes. :)

Everyday Elements Workshop Recap

2011-07-10T09:00:00.001-04:00

I had a great time at Amanda's live photography workshop yesterday! If you're interested in learning lots about photography and also meeting others who share the same hobby (or profession) as you, you should definitely check out her next one. It was tons of fun, and Amanda is incredibly sweet.

My biggest takeaways from the day were probably
1) I understand metering much better now
2) I'm now a bit quicker at adjusting my manual settings
3) I learned about reflectors (and got one to take home, yipee!)
4) I loved meeting others who have the same interests as me
5) I got a goody bag of stuff to bring home
6) I learned more about gradient maps
7) I won a nice large picture frame from Ikea
8) I learned that 8-year-olds are much easier to shoot photos of than toddlers
9) I understand more how to avoid blowing out colors in editing

and much much more. :)

Here are some of my pictures from our workshop photo shoot. (The little girl is Amanda's daughter who was sweet enough to let us practice on her. The other people were just random men in a park. :) )

Edit Me: Week 8

2011-07-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Time again for another Edit Me challenge!

I am excited to say that I got "honorable mention" in last week's challenge. Not high enough to win a prize (or even a mention for most weeks - Branson was just being extra nice and mentioning the runner-ups since she happened to be judging this week, haha), but I'm still happy!

For this week's photo, I wanted my edit to be quick and simple because, frankly, I've got a lot on my plate right now and I need to move on to the million other things on my to-do list. So here it is.

SOOC:

My edit:

First I did a quick white balance adjustment, then lightened the midtones using a curves layer. Then I ran two actions from My Four Hens. The first action was Superb (a b&w action) with the conversion layer turned off. The second action was One Day. I tweaked both actions to my liking. Then I stuck on my watermark.

Speaking of photography, today I am attending a live photography workshop hosted by Amanda at Everyday Elements and I am SOOOOOOO excited!! I absolutely love all the tutorials that Amanda offers for purchase and free on her site...not to mention that she's super sweet and helpful if you have questions. If you haven't checked out her site yet and you're into editing in Elements or Photoshop, you should definitely head there now. :)

I will share about my experience with the workshop next week! Have a blessed weekend!

Thoughts on Second Kids

2011-07-08T09:05:00.001-04:00

With Krew being over a year old and friends all around us popping out their second (or third) kids, I've been asked countless times lately about when Dave and I plan on having another. Sometimes people just flat out ask, sometimes they shuffle it into the conversation as a suggestion ("Krew's so sweet, don't you want another?"), sometimes they just say something along the lines of "I keep waiting to hear that you have another on the way!"

See the thing is, I'm really wishy-washy about this whole second child thing. Some days I think to myself, Yeah, we should have another kid now! Many other days I think, No way I want to go through that all again and add another responsibility to my life. I love my little boy so much, and I'm finally starting to adjust to mommahood. I don't know if I want things to change again. Yes, I know I would love another child dearly, just as much as I love Krew. If I did happen to get pregnant right now, I would embrace it and feel joy. But I'm just not at the point where I'm ready to purposely make the decision to bring another baby into our lives.

Being pregnant was hard. Much more difficult than I expected, much more difficult than it seemed for my pregnant friends around me. I honestly hated it. I was nauseous and I felt large and bloated. I was unable to wear my normal pants and shorts starting at five (yes, FIVE!) weeks along. (Some women don't even know they're pregnant at that point!) My hips ached to the point where I couldn't walk without grimacing. I'd wake up in the middle of the night to my bladder feeling tied up in knots or to calf muscle cramps that made me want to scream. I had restless legs sydrome and couldn't fall asleep at night because I would have irresistible urges to thrash my legs. I had acid reflux that would burn my throat and make me gag. My chest (to use the more web-appropriate word) was so painful at times that I would want to cry when the shower water hit it. Krew liked to kick a certain part of my belly so much that it felt like I had a giant ulcer in that place. I was unable to wear many of my shoes and socks because my feet and ankles swelled so much. I couldn't wear half the maternity pants I was given because their elastic bands made me nauseous when they pressed on my belly. I had an abnormally large number of Braxton Hicks contractions and was restricted from exercising for the last two months of my pregnancy. I was emotional. I was hungry 24/7. I gained too much weight (according to the docs). My belly was larger than average. I felt gigantic. I missed my normal clothes and felt unattractive the entire nine months.

Then there was the labor. A horrible, horrible labor. In all honestly, probably one of the worst experiences of my life. I did not know that pain that severe existed. It seems that it shouldn't. I remember praying to God, "Why do You even allow physical pain this horrible???" (I'll have to share my labor story at a later point. The basics are that I tried to go without an epidural and Krew got stuck and my labor stalled and I was held in the most painful part of labor for hours before I finally got an epidural - and I can honestly say that if epidurals didn't exist I would NOT be having another child.)

Then postpartum depression. Most definitely the worst couple weeks of my life. I've been recently reading a book about a suicidal girl, and everything she says makes so much sense to me. It makes me sick to my stomach as memories come flooding back.

Since getting past the depression, things haven't been as difficult. But they haven't been easy. I know I may give the impression that I have it all together in this blog, but trust me, I don't. I am so overwhelmed trying to keep up with everything. I can never seem to keep everything in sync. Working four days per week, taking care of Krew, seeing friends, spending quality time with my hubby, visiting family, blogging, photography, Bible study on Tuesday nights, life group on Wednesday nights, traveling for frisbee throughout the summer, working out, reading my Bible, laundry, cleaning the house, cooking dinner, growing a garden, taking care of the yard, attending church, volunteering at church, coupons, grocery shopping, taking care of our dogs, planning activities with neighbors...I'm just exhausted. If I fit one item into my schedule, another seems to fall by the wayside. I'll finally start cooking healthy meals, but exercising will completely disappear from my life. I'll finally get my pictures updated, but to do so I'll stay up late and be unable to get up in the morning to do my Bible reading. I'll finally spend time outdoors getting our yard in shape, but then the house will be in shambles.

Don't get me wrong, I love my child to pieces, and I would never choose to go back to the way things were pre-baby. He has brightened my life in oh-so-many ways. And many, if not most, of the responsibilities above existed even before he was born. But wow were they a lot easier to manage back then. A child takes SOOOO much time. So so so much time. And energy. We have to get him up in the mornings, feed him, change his diaper, dress him, and take care of him while we get ready for work. We have to pack a diaper bag, and oftentimes a pack n' play with all his sleeping necessities, every time we leave the house. We have to take him to daycare and pick him back up after work. He needs doctors appointments, he gets sick and we have to stay home from work, sometimes all he wants is to be held. We have to feed him, bathe him, and play with him in the evenings. Any chore that we want to work on, we have to somehow manage while also entertaining him, unless he happens to be taking a nap or be in bed for the night. Everything we do takes ten times as long as it used to.

And now, you ask me if I want to add another child to this??? You must be out of your everloving mind.

I mean, yes, I love babies. I have definitely had many moments lately where I've thought, awww I want a baby again. I also want Krew to have a sibling, and I want them to be close enough in age to play together. But then I'll have a super stressful day or night, Krew will be screaming and I'll be sick and exhausted, the house will be a mess and we'll be out of dog food while the dogs are staring at me starving, no meal will be planned and my hungry husband will be home any moment, laundry will be piled everywhere and Krew will have no milk in the fridge, the lawn will need to be mowed and there will be a stack of unopened mail on the table, and I'll think to myself that there's absolutely no reason I should purposely add more responsibility to my life right now.

I've decided that I am just not cut out for the multiple-children lifestyle. Most definitely not three or four. I have no idea how you multiple-children mommas do it. (And to my mom - FOUR + OTHERS?? SERIOUSLY??)

Do I plan on having another kid? Eventually. Once I convince myself to take the jump, and once Dave is ready too. But I'm scared and nervous, because I know it's going to be a train wreck. Part of me just wants to get it over with, the other feels like I should wait till I feel in control of my current responsibilities before adding another. But will that point ever come? Will I ever feel in control? I'm thinking not.

So there you have it. My rambling thoughts on having a second child. Do I ever have the urge? Yes. But am I ready to take the plunge? No. At this point I'm just praying and waiting on a go-ahead signal from God, and it hasn't happened yet. God knows what Dave and I can handle, He knows the right timing. And He hasn't given me any signs that now is the time yet. So for now, I'm afraid all you anxious friends and family and acquaintances will just have to hold your horses and wait. Because this mom just isn't quite ready. And when (and if) Dave and God and I decide the timing is right, you will know. :)

Doozy

2011-07-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

Every Wednesday night Dave and I attend a church life group with about 8 other people. Tonight's discussion was a doozy. Some crazy deep stuff with no answers. Lots of thought-provoking words about heaven, hell, salvation, what it means to be a Christian, can those who have never heard about Christ be saved, etc. I wasn't feeling in tip top shape so it made it all the harder for me to digest. There was one point where I wondered if it would be rude to go lay down on the bed in the guest room where my son was sleeping in his pack n' play because I thought my head might explode from sickness and deep thought overload. (I resisted.)

All of the discussion arose from reading the book "Letters from a Skeptic" by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd. A very good book if you're interested in Christian apologetics. Very deep, but very good.

Anyways, due to how overloaded my brain is, this is about all I can come up with to say tonight. Now I'm going to get my sicky body in bed so I can hopefully feel a bit better and more refreshed in the morning.

Goodnight and God bless.

Yay for 4th of July

2011-07-05T22:11:00.000-04:00

Hope you all had wonderful holiday weekends! Dave, Krew, and I headed to Charlotte to visit with Dave's family. Krew got to have all kinds of fun times out on the lake and getting spoiled by his grandmas and grandpas.

naptime with Grammie and driving the boat with Grandpa Todd

playtime with cousins Caylee and Taylor

ice cream truck treats and swimming with Mommy and Daddy

ice cream....mmm mmm mmmm....

boat time with Grandma Teri and cuddle time with Grandpa John

We didn't do any fireworks this year. Krew gets scared easily by loud noises, and a really small firework that set off nearby scared him a lot on Sunday, so we decided that taking him out in a field where we'd be bombarded by noises at 10 times the decibel level with bright flashing lights everywhere may not be the most brilliant idea. We did let him throw some little snap pop thing-a-ma-jigs in the garage, and he got scared of those too. So maybe we'll try again next year. :)

My Favorites of the Week

2011-07-02T09:10:00.000-04:00

Here are some links to my favorite posts that I've read this week:

Where Have I Been? Pressing the Reset Button...

Waiting on God

I already shared this one in an earlier post, but I must share it again because it obviously makes the list of my top picks for the week: Pillow Talk Part 3

And finally, my favorite photography post of the week:
Photoshop Tutorial: The Basics of Curves

Enjoy! :)

Edit Me: Week 7

2011-07-01T09:22:00.001-04:00

It's time for another Edit Me challenge from My Reflection of Something!

For this week, Branson (the author of My Reflection of Something) is doing the judging herself. She gave us a picture of a flag and told us that we were to edit it and also add words to it.

SOOC:

And my edit:

First I cropped, then added the clouds using a texture from Chasing Dreams. Then I added two more textures from Chasing Dreams and another from Florabella, all on low opacity. Then stuck in the words and my watermark.

Head over and check out the other edits!

1% Change: Prayers for Our Children

2011-06-30T07:30:00.001-04:00

I've been feeling challenged lately to pray more for my son. And not just a simple prayer of "God, please keep him safe today," but prayer about the deep things we tend to gloss over and ignore, such as discipline, his future decisions, his future wife, his salvation.

** I need to pray that God guide Dave and me to the correct parenting methods and forms of discipline that are appropriate for our unique child and situations. One single way of raising a child isn't going to work for every family. We need God's guidance in finding the discipline that will help our particular child grow to be a godly man. And we need wisdom for each individual situation, because clearly the parenting approach should depend on the moment at hand. Just as there is no blanket parenting approach appropriate for every child, there is no blanket parenting approach appropriate for every situation experienced with a particular child. Raising a child is a blessing and an impossible responsibility all in one. And I need to pray that God fills in where Dave and I fall short.

** I need to pray for Krewson's salvation. I have begun adding this into my prayer at various times of the day, especially when I'm putting Krew to bed and when Dave and I are praying at night. This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most important things in my life. My son's salvation. I know my husband is saved, and I know I am saved. Next comes Krew. God has given Dave and me the responsibility of raising this child, and we will do all we can to direct him towards Jesus, but ultimately the decision will be between Krew and God. I know God listens to and answers prayer, so I will pray daily that Krewson will ultimately choose a path that leads to Jesus. All the rest in Krew's life is moot in comparison. Jesus is all that matters.

** Pray for Krew's future wife. I've heard of many parents doing this. It may seem like a weird thing to do, but really, wouldn't you like to pray for the person who will eventually become your child's other half, their most important person on this earth? Wouldn't you like to send up prayers for blessings on a person that you are going to love very dearly in the future? Wouldn't you like your child's future with his spouse to be unmarked by damaging past life events? Prayers make a difference! Start making that difference now!

** Prayers for Krew's future decisions. I cannot control every aspect of my child's life. I can set boundaries and consequences, I can teach him by example, but I cannot make his decisions for him. He is an imperfect and sinful human being. He is going to make mistakes. But if my prayers to heaven can lessen the number or graveness of those mistakes, then I'm gonna keep on praying.

There are many many many more things to pray for in my child's life, but these are the items that are standing out the most to me at this time. I want to challenge all you moms and dads out there to pray for your children. Perhaps you want to pray for one of the things above, perhaps you have your own prayer concerns. Either way, your child could use your prayers, and God would love to have more conversation with you. So send 'em up.

Linking up with 1% Changes over at Naptime Diaries. Head on over to encourage Jessi and the others who are trying to implement 1% Changes in their own lives.

Follow Me!

2011-06-29T17:00:00.001-04:00

I finally broke down and added "Followers" to my blog. I really think the whole "Followers" thing is silly, but seeing as how others will base whether or not they'll choose you to do a giveaway, a review, etc. on the number of followers you have, I figured I better add it in. Of course now it looks ridiculously low because I've never provided it as an option before. Awesome. :)

Sooo...if you really love me...and feel like you'd like to be a follower...just head on over there --> to my sidebar and start a followin'...

God bless!

*** Conveniently, just after this post went live, I looked at my blog and the followers gadget doesn't seem to be working. AWESOME timing. So if it's not working when you look over there, maybe check again next time you visit the blog. :) ***

Music Recommendation: Awake

2011-06-29T08:00:00.003-04:00

Thought today would be a good day for another quick music recommendation.

I bought this CD a couple days ago, and I really really really like it.

{via}

If you like Christian rock praise (is that correct terminology?) then I really want to recommend this CD. I could be slightly biased because my church sings a lot of these songs on a regular basis, but even so, I still think you should get it if it's in your genre.

Give the following video a minute of your time, and if you like the music you hear in the background, you can head on over to Amazon and make a purchase. :)

(And no, I am not affiliated with North Point Community Church, nor have I ever attended there. And I am not getting paid in any way, shape, or form for this post. I just really like this music. :) )

(Oh, and props to my church for pulling off this music so well. Our band sounds almost exactly the same!! Go Crosspointe!)

Married Women - Read This

2011-06-28T17:30:00.002-04:00

I ran across this post today, and decided I must mention it on my own blog.

It's a must-read for every married woman.

I'm not going to say any more. Just read it.

Go here: http://www.pixelperfectblog.com/2011/06/pillow-talk-part-3.html.

D-O-Gs!!

2011-06-28T08:00:00.005-04:00

(pronounced "dee OH gees!!")

I know that I tend to focus on Krewson in my blog most of the time, and so I thought it was about time I give our dogs Maggie and Rogan (our D-O-Gs, as Dave and I like to affectionately call them - see pronunciation guide above) a little blog love and attention. After all, they were our babies for a long time until Krew came along.

And really, they are pretty much the cutest and sweetest dogs in the whole wide world.

(I know every dog owner says that about their own dogs, but just humor me and agree.)

I mean, check out those sweet faces.

Oh yes, they are the sweetest things ever.

They let Krew do whatever he wants to them. Smack them, scream at them, poke them, pull their tails, pull their fur, grab their mouths, do full body dives onto them unsuspectingly (resulting in multiple scary moments for a not-quite-quick-enough mother)...

...and of course love on them with cuddles and give them ridiculous amounts of food. :)

I really couldn't have asked for better dogs.

I love my Maggie and Rogan!!

Linking up with Sweet Shot Tuesday and Little Somethings!

Randomness for Your Monday

2011-06-27T07:30:00.040-04:00

For your Monday, just a few things in my life that I thought I would remark on:

* On Saturday we (my Bible study girls) had a baby shower (more in the form of a very small late afternoon get-together) for Emily and her husband Sion. They are expecting their second child, due July 24th, who will be a little sister to their 19-month-old daughter, Ellie. So excited for them. :)

* Krew has developed a new affinity for squealing. In the most shrill voice he can attain. And he uses it for everything. When he's mad, when he's frustrated, when he's excited, when he's hurt. Everything deserves a squeal or two. Which of course sends me into panic mode about 50 times per day because I never know if his arm is being cut off or if he just absolutely loved that last sip of juice.

My little squealer. In a very messy shirt.

* Dave had his first tournament for his club travel ultimate team this weekend in Charleston. And they took first place. Go Ring!

* I had a weird rash of red bumps develop on my neck this week. It was barely visible, yet made my neck feel dry and itchy. Over a couple days it spread up to the bottom of my chin and almost to my ears. I did a bunch of reading online, talked to people on Facebook, and called my aunt (who used to be a nurse) and there was no definitive answer. My aunt did say, however, that she experienced something very similar once, and a doctor had suggested it was poison sumac, which can apparently in some cases be spread through the air somehow (?). Who knows. In any case, after Claritin (I don't feel safe taking Benedryl while I'm the only one home with Crouton) and a lot of hydrocortisone cream spread all over my neck, it seems to be getting better.

* We appear to have a fire ant colony in our backyard. (Mom, if you're reading this, just skip this bullet point and pretend you never read that last sentence.) I have no idea when it developed or how I never noticed it before since I'm in our backyard a ton, but all of a sudden yesterday, there it was. There were several times during the day yesterday that the ants got mad at went into attack mode, as they appear to have holes to their little dungeon everywhere (who needs 50 front doors???), but fortunately the only bites were one on my toe and on poor Rogan's feet (poor dog had no idea what was going on and was trying to lick them off, so I jumped in to the rescue and did a brush-down of her legs). I've gone through half a can of Raid and have ant baits placed in strategically-selected locations, so hopefully the colony will be dying down soon. However, while I was squatted down in one of my ant-killing frenzies, I looked up at the side of the house and also found a bunch of spider eggs. I smooshed them to smithereens, but I'm thinking we may need to do some serious exterminating around our house, beyond a can of Raid and some ant baits. I am not a fan of any little crawly things, I don't want to find them in my house, and I certainly don't want them biting my child. (Or my dogs or me or my husband or visitors, for that matter.)

* Dave and I have been somewhat throwing around the topic of paying someone to come clean our house once or twice a month. At first I was completely against it, but as I talk to people and discover that many others do this, I'm starting to back down a little. I have a hard enough time keeping stuff picked up around the house and doing the laundry, much less giving the house the cleaning it needs. With working four days per week, Bible study, small group, church, traveling a ton, and a little tornado living in our midst, I'm wearing down. Way way down. To the point where I *may* have had an emotional breakdown in our closet last week. Maybe. It may not have been me. But it may have. Ahem.

* And last but not least, I discovered this weekend that some of Krew's shoes that were supposed to fit no longer do so. Then I put a pair of size 5s on him yesterday and they fit perfectly. (They may have been purple girls' shoes that belonged to Ellie (hehe), but I'm assuming little boys shoes fit the same.) This means that he now wears size 5 instead of size 4. Which means this will be the third time he's changed shoe sizes in four months. Is that not crazy?? He went up two shoe sizes in the first year of his life and then three shoe sizes in the next four months. Parenting is so ridiculously unpredictable.

One last picture to share that I just thought was so adorable. Especially since both Emily and I play the piano.

Krew and Ellie. Hopefully future piano players, following in their mommas' footsteps. :)

Book Review: Chazown

2011-06-25T19:18:00.000-04:00

I went through a period of time over this past year where I really began wondering what God wanted me to do with my life. More specifically, what He wanted me to do with my skills and passions. Although I have a very good job, I was feeling an itch to use my abilities in a way that allowed me to more directly benefit God's kingdom.

It was around this time that I read the book "Chazown" by Craig Groeschel. Chazown is the Hebrew word meaning vision. In this book, Craig walks you step-by-step through a process meant to help you center in on God's vision for your life, and then he encourages you to pursue it. He pushes you to think about your talents and skills, your past, and your passions. He provides you with activities to guide you along the way, and his website provides a platform for participating in these activities.

One of my favorite quotes from the book was the following:

"When you begin to understand what you’re supposed to do, you can better discren what you’re not supposed to do. And this is important, because other people also have plans for your life. I can’t count the number of good opportunities and invitations I receive from people. But good opportunities shouldn’t distract from the better and the great. And because of the focus of my vision, I say respectfully over and over again, 'I’m sorry. I just don’t do that because that’s not in line with the vision that God has given me.'"

This quote is so pertinent in my life, because I do feel that I am constantly bombarded with opportunities to get "more involved". Whether it's with work, with church, with a group of friends, or with a service organization, there is always someone else asking for my time and attention. This book helped me to realize that it's ok to say no to those requests if they are not in line with God's vision for my life.

Through it all, Craig also encourages you to seek God's will in all situations and really lean on Him. I found that this book really pushed me to examine how often I was seeking God's guidance in daily situations, not just in the big issues. I also enjoyed the step-by-step process, homework, and online resources and activities that Craig provided to help me along my way.

If I had any negative comments about the book, my primary one would be that I would have organized the book differently. I felt that some items discussed toward the middle of the book would have been more appropriate at the beginning, and vice a versa. This made it hard for me to read at times, due to the way my logic works. There were moments where I thought, "Well, if I had known that this is what you meant back at the beginning, I would have thought about it all a little differently."

Overall, though, it was a good book that made me think. I would recommend it to friends who are feeling overwhelmed with life and yet like they're doing little of eternal worth. Chazown will help you figure it out, even if in a slightly-illogically-organized way. :)

Note: I received this book for free, in exchange for writing a review, from the program "Blogging For Books" located at http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/.

Edit Me: Week 6

2011-06-23T17:43:00.000-04:00

It's Week 6 of the Edit Me Challenges, and week #2 for my participation. :)

Once again, check out all the other lovely edits at My Reflection of Something!

Here's the SOOC (straight out of camera) shot:

And here's my edit:

This week I did all my edits in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) except for the watermark. First I cropped to remove the blurry leaves in the foreground and to really focus on the...uh...weird flower thingamajig? Then I increased the exposure, contrast, and clarity, removed a little noise, and slid the luminance slider for yellow quite a bit to the right to lighten up the yellows. Then I did a small pop using curves. Opened the photo in photoshop and added my watermark. Hope you like. :)

Be sure to go visit all the other edits!

Forever Love

2011-06-23T07:30:00.001-04:00

Just a quicky post today...wanted to share a song I've been listening to in the car a bit lately.

Sometimes songs touch me with their lyrics, but more often than not I'm moved by a song's musical composition over everything else. The song below is one of those songs. I just love the melody and the string instruments in the background. The music warms something inside of me, and I can't explain why.

So if you're one of those ~~weird~~ awesome people like me who is deeply moved by certain musical compositions, check out the song below. Or if you just like pretty music, it might be good for you too. :)

Oh, and please disregard the incredibly boring accompaniment video. :)

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

Forever Love by Francesca Battistelli