Category: around here

Sorry for the picture overload today but it was a good weekend. We went with all of David’s family to a local pumpkin patch first thing Saturday morning before the rain hit, and even though it was hot and muggy (I mean, it’s the middle of October so why wouldn’t it be?) the kids had such a good time. The highlight was riding ponies and the petting zoo. Super cute.

Then it turned rainy and miracle of miracles, Meredith was in a good mood the entire weekend, took decent naps on both days, and even entertained herself for a lot longer than usual. I was able to actually do some crafting while she was awake! I made a lot of progress on my niece’s stocking, cleaned and organized the house a bit, and made a start on some fall decorating. David also took Meredith to the store a couple of times so I hardly had to leave the house. We even got a date night in and saw the movie Gravity which was really good (but stressful, and emotional).

Yesterday afternoon as I was cozied up in the recliner in the craft room doing some embroidery, listening to the rain fall while Meredith napped, I thought of the Kurt Vonnegut quote: “I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’” My inclination was to turn over in my mind all the things I needed to do, or to double task by listening to a podcast or audiobook, but instead I decided to just sit there and listen to the rain and think, I am happy.

this bag gets packed several times a day with different stuff, usually swimsuits, socks, and shorts

library books for the win

her shirt matches the pillow

still love these stamps

painting my toenails and getting a Project Life spread done lifted my spirits

all of the stuffed animals and dolls need to be fed

choosing new carpet is kind of hard but very exciting

on a solo Target trip I bought a $6 full-length mirror the better to take Instagram selfies, of course

cross-stitching with 30 Rock 

on a walk to fight the no-nap tantrum

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On Friday afternoon as I was wrapping up at work I felt so energized, inspired, and geared up for life in general and the weekend in particular. Then on Saturday morning when Meredith woke me up at 5:30 per usual with whining and neediness and I looked around the house at all the projects I wanted to tackle that I never seem to have time or money for, I found myself getting really down.

Those moods can easily take over, and I was getting really negative quickly so I did some active things to fight it. First I took a shower. I made Meredith get in with me and even though she cried at first (she had already been crying beforehand) by the end of it she was happily playing with the water. Then I painted my toenails, put on makeup, and got dressed in real clothes. Already I felt a lot better. I did the chores, because they really don’t take long and I didn’t want them hanging over my head. Then we both ate a really good breakfast. By the time David got up (Saturday is his day to sleep in) I was back in a decent mood. Meredith went down for an early nap which we both needed and I was able to get a Project Life spread done and in the meantime David picked up a bunch of library holds for me.

Then we did something suuuuper exciting. We went to a flooring store to look into replacing our carpet! We have the worst carpet ever (it’s just in the bedrooms and hallway at least) and our dogs have utterly destroyed it and so even though we’d rather have wood to match the rest of the house, carpet is half the cost so we’re just going to replace it and then keep the dogs out of those rooms from now on. It is going to make a HUGE difference in how all the rooms look and how we feel about our house and having people over. I’m going to have to do a before and after video to really show you. So then David and I talked about other home improvement projects we want to make happen before the baby is born and now I’m just really excited about it. I’m so grateful that we have some money in savings that we can use for this and keep the rest of our (very tight) budget intact.

After that little excursion David took Meredith to get pizza and to my parents’ house to watch football and they were gone for four whole hours! I made a lovely solo trip to Target and then kicked back on the couch, did a bunch of cross-stitching, and watched 30 Rock. It was awesome.

I’m glad Saturday was so productive because not much happened on Sunday other than church stuff. Mere decided not to nap so in order to keep the tantrum away we took a walk in the heat but at least she was happy. I got a little computer time in while David watched football with her on the couch and then we went to our small group and had a lot of laughs.  So the weekend turned out great after all. :)

Last night was a normal night at home, but a pretty good one. I got home a little early, before David brought Meredith home which was kind of nice because I had a chance to get things tidied up (before they got messed up again) and a few things done quickly. I put together a batch of breakfast sandwiches to freeze for the rest of the week, then sat down to check out the state of Project Life. Right now I’m trying to put together the spread for July and I have the photos in place but I need to do the journaling and add the extras. I’ve decided that this monthly spread approach is not working for me because it gets SO overwhelming to catch up on and I lose a lot of little details. Hoping to get back to bi-weekly spreads soon.

My succulents sit in my kitchen window and are looking good. One day I will get around to adding more houseplants to my collection but for now we’re still in save money mode. The stacks of triangles are my quilt pieces. Progress on this has been sadly stalled for months. I have tried twice to start piecing them together but both times I’ve had difficulties with bunching up. I need a longer stretch of time to dedicate to figuring out the best way to do it. Either that or I need someone to come over and tutor me in sewing. Any takers?

When David and Meredith got home it was a flurry of happy activity. David cooked dinner while I finished up my breakfast sandwiches and Meredith ate a snack and played with the dogs. When I finished we went to the couch to watch her favorite TV show Jessie on Netflix. In the photo she is a blur because whenever the theme song comes on she jumps up and down and dances. It’s the best. Oh, and her pants and diaper had already been removed. I’ve just resorted to telling her not to pee and hope for the best.

After dinner we moved into Meredith’s room for some quieter play which usually involves reading all of the books. (I love that she loves books but I admit I am looking forward to when we can read storybooks or chapter books rather than The Belly Button Book, Nursery Rhymes, and Goodnight Moon over and over and over again. And those are the best ones.) Then she wanted to take a “peeshur” with me so I happily obliged. :) And thankfully the bedtime routine and going-to-sleep were only accompanied by a few cries and protests so I’m calling it a win all around.

Hey-o. It’s been a couple of weeks. Bear with me as life has been kind of a blur, but today I really miss blogging and want to get back into it. Right now a blog that is motivating me (and that I’m loving) is Camp Patton. I will never be as funny as she is but I love how she writes so regularly, just everyday relatable stories, and maybe I can do something like that.

So in that spirit, here’s what’s been up. Apparently I’m still growing a human inside of me, although I don’t always entirely believe it. But if we just go with the evidence, I’m 15 weeks along and into the second trimester now. Feeling pretty good most of the time. I think I’m in denial that my belly is actually growing because I walk around constantly sucking it in subconsciously, even at home alone. The bloating factor is out of control but it seems like lately the belly is maybe not all bloat?

Classy bathroom work pic I just took for the purpose of this post. I was hungry when I took this and not bloated (I don’t think) so this might be the current actual state of things. Not that exciting I admit.

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Here is something else cool and kind of crazy that happened. Last Friday I got a panicked email from one of my best friends who lives in Nashville and it was the kind of situation where I just knew I needed to go be with her and would regret it forever if I didn’t. Thankfully I have an awesome husband who hatched the plan and we ended up dropping everything and driving through the night to arrive there on Saturday morning, toddler in tow. David then slept all day and drove back home again leaving Meredith and me to have girl time with our friend. (How awesome is he???) I took Monday and Tuesday off and then we flew home.

Hanging out at the airport Starbucks. I had a frappuccino (I can tolerate a little coffee again!) and Meredith downed a chocolate milk.

What we did in Nashville during our down time was: eat almost every meal at a yummy local place, visit different parks, sit outside and read while Meredith explored and played with the dog, and take afternoon naps. Y’all, I am hooked on afternoon naps now. Since I wasn’t at home I couldn’t use Meredith’s nap time to do chores like I usually do so instead I slept or just laid on the bed and read if I couldn’t fall asleep. It felt so indulgent and awesome. I’ve decided that from now on, on the weekends, I am going to do my chores while Meredith is awake and force myself to rest during naptime.

Oh, and here’s an adorable video of Meredith chasing some geese.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps6d59XtY8M&feature=share&list=UUq1PjU9IHmGG-iKAwH9PNAg

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So you know how I’m kind of lazy about showers and baths? Well before my trip I was a couple days overdue for a shower and when I returned it took a few days for me to get around to another one and the result was about a week and a half since I had used my tub and the whole time an inflatable baby tub was sitting in it making the floor super slippery and yeah, I totally fell in the shower. I kind of caught myself, but I felt like a geriatric.

I was also super overdue for trimming Meredith’s nails and before work yesterday morning I all of a sudden couldn’t stand to send her to school with them long enough to be used as weapons but she was NOT cooperating with me. In a burst of inspiration I decided to give her my first bribe and told her that if I could trim her nails I’d give her a cookie. Immediate success ensued so I’m basically winning at this parenting thing.

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We’re on a strict budget now, trying to prepare ourselves for the bomb of a second kid to drop and all, and I’m pretty good about not spending extra money but right now there are several things that I don’t necessarily need but they would really make life a little bit better and those things are: a new blender to replace my broken one because I miss smoothies, a kid-sized table and chairs, some good quality flip-flops like Rainbows, and a bunch more maxi skirts or other summer appropriate clothes that can transition into maternity wear.

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Lastly, and this is the last point I promise, but I am making a plan to get my normal productive life back. This weekend my goals are to make and freeze a bunch of these breakfast sandwiches, meal plan and grocery shop for next week, and print photos so I can hopefully get caught up on Project Life.

So that’s my glamorous life, and get ready to hear more about it.

David was out of town most of last week, arriving home late Thursday night. Friday night I already had plans with a friend to see The Great Gatsby (loved it btw), then Saturday morning I had to work for a few hours. By that time we were both exhausted, but it was all better when I arrived home after work and Meredith yelled “Mommy!” then ran to me with her arms open for a hug. She’s never done that before and after this weekend I feel like she’s at the pinnacle of cuteness and she cannot possibly get any better.

The rest of the weekend was devoted to family time and low key fun, once the chores were done. I got exciting mail (more on the Popsugar box tomorrow), hung up a plant, made a couple of cards, worked on Project Life, and wrote a note to a friend. Meredith will finally sit in a chair at the table on her own instead of in my lap (bittersweet) and two cushions does the trick. We had a lot of great family meals that way and I was so proud of myself for remembering I had just the right ingredients leftover for throwing together an alfredo sauce.

We wore our maxi dresses to church and then my parents watched Meredith while I went to book club. On my own right now I’m reading Happier at Home and taking notes so as to plan my own home happiness project starting this fall. Plenty of time to prepare.

Good stuff.