Category: personal

  • this week

    Alright folks, link roundup posts are getting pushed to Saturdays because we could use some more real life shenanigans around here, couldn’t we? I say yes.

    SO. Just two weeks ago Liam and I were home sick for a week, then we had a week of recovery and getting back to normal, then this week I felt like we were hitting our stride again. Half marathon training began on the same day as the gym opened at work, and I made it through a weeny 1.5 miles on the treadmill.

    training begins

    It was pretty boring and I’ll have to get used to it, but still better than dying from heat exhaustion. Anyway, the same day Meredith started swim lessons. The last time I took her to the pool she was scared out of her little mind so this was a birthday gift. It’s a class where she goes every day for two weeks, and I was expecting tears or whining or crying or something of the sort because parents aren’t allowed in the pool area, but she did SO GREAT.

    swim lessons

    And that night I even threw together a salad for dinner! I was pretty pleased with myself for a Monday.

    So then Tuesday came around and threw my week off entirely when Meredith got a fever at daycare. I thought that winter was the season of sickness, but apparently we like to be different in our household. I spent that evening on the couch watching Frozen with her and my dinner plans went out the window in favor of David picking up Chick-fil-a because it just wasn’t happening.

    Wednesday I stayed home and we got a doctor’s appointment for 10:40 so I kept Liam home all morning too. Anyone else’s kids love to just watch you play with their toys or is mine just a weirdo? Anyway, there was a lot of stickers, coloring, and Play-Doh going on.

    play-doh

    And another viewing of Frozen, of course.

    So on the way to the doctor we dropped Liam at daycare because why go through that with two kids when it’s not necessary? Meredith was really well behaved even though we had to wait 40 minutes. There was no obvious source of infection so…virus it is!

    Afterwards we stopped at Starbucks for a treat because we deserved it. I had one bite of her cake pop but I wanted the whole thing.

    treat

    Then why not go to the craft store? I picked up some sewing stuff and I was verrrry tempted to buy multiple quilting books despite the fact that I can’t even really call myself a quilter when I have not completed a single one yet.

    quilt books

    We got home and then things started to go downhill. I don’t know how she did it considering she was running fever and obviously exhausted, but she managed to not nap until 4pm. So for about two hours I could do nothing but hold her and try to stop her from crying. For example, she wanted to go into the room where her play kitchen is, but she didn’t want to play with it. She wanted ME to play with it. I told her I didn’t want to play with it. Freak out. Then she just wanted to stand in the room so she could LOOK at it. I did that for about ten seconds before I was bored.

    sick day

    Eventually she passed out, right after David got home feeling sick himself and was unable to help me because of how bad he was feeling.

    asleep at last

    I probably should have used the time to make dinner, but instead I started actually quilting, and it made me happy.

    quilting begins

    Before long I had to go pick up Liam, and then Meredith woke up screaming and demanding to be held again, so for dinner we had fruit and nuts and we were in bed at 7:30.

    Thursday I was determined to go back to work but David was still sick and incapable of watching M. My mom to the rescue! They had an awesome day and Meredith didn’t have a fever all day so after work I totally mommed up and picked her up, brought her home to change into swim clothes, picked up Liam, went to swim lessons with both of them, then came home and made dinner (also it was totally yum – egg salad with bacon lettuce wraps).

    egg salad with bacon lettuce wraps

    This morning everyone is pretty much back to normal. (“Say cheese Liam! Why isn’t he saying cheese?”)

    meredith and liam

    Thankfully Butterball Thumbsucker Forbes (who is busting out of this 9-month romper) stayed healthy throughout the week and is content if you just put a boob in his mouth every once in awhile.

    liam

    And that was our week! Over the weekend I’m planning to get a longer run in and do some more quilting, or maybe finish the top part of Liam’s stocking. I’d also love to get some art journaling in and pick out my next Bible study. (I’m sure multiple viewings of Frozen will happen as well. I’m getting my money’s worth out of that one.)

    Now tell me, how was your week and what do you have planned for the weekend?

  • instax home life / 1

    I started a new little project for myself a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to play around with my Instax mini camera some more, so I started taking a photo with it once a day(ish). The only parameter I set was that it has to capture our home life. So far these have all been taken inside our house, but I will probably expand to outside or our neighborhood at some point.

    I am still really terrible at using this camera, but I hope by using it every day I will get better! And I can’t wait to eventually do some sort of project with them.

    instax 1

    >my side of the bed
    >a mirror in our bedroom
    >making pancakes

    instax 2

    >opening a birthday gift from us
    >sick baby
    >first art journal pages

    instax 3

    >phone
    >Bible study
    >hanging out in the kids’ room

    instax 4

    >father and son have a chat
    >bath time
    >on my dresser

  • meredith lately

    meredith lately

    meredith lately

    While driving we pass by a house under construction…
    David: Look Meredith, a house is being built.
    Meredith: When I get bigger I buy dat house.
    David: Yeah because you’ll want to live near mommy and daddy right? And you’ll have a lot of money so you can buy it.
    Meredith: I want all YOUR money.
    David: Don’t worry, you’ll have it.

    Reading books before bed…
    Meredith: I came out of your tummy and then it was baby brudder’s turn.
    Me: that’s right and I’m so glad you came out and are growing into my big girl.
    Meredith: I want to do it again!
    Me: what?
    Meredith: go in your tummy!

    After accidentally knocking Liam on the head with a book and he is crying…
    Me: Meredith, you just hit Liam on the head, you have to be careful around him.
    Meredith: no I didn’t!
    Me: then why is he crying?
    Meredith: probly he just needs to take a nap.
    Me: well how did he get this bump on his head?
    Meredith: he just fell down. he needsa learn how to walk.

    meredith lately

    meredith lately

    While Liam was babbling nearby…
    Me: what’s Liam talking about?
    Meredith: he saying I love you sister.

    At daycare dropoff saying goodbye to Liam and another preschooler was touching him and kissing him too…
    Meredith: that’s my baby brother!
    Me: it’s okay, she’s just saying hi.
    Meredith: we share?
    Me: yes you can both kiss him.
    Meredith: but I wanna touch that leg!!!

    While looking through an old photobook and coming across a picture of her and her cousins with Santa…
    Meredith: who is this?
    Me: that’s Santa.
    Meredith: I don’t like him.
    Me: oh there’s no reason to be scared of him, he’s a nice man that brings presents at Christmas.
    Meredith: he’s from Christmas?
    Me: yup!
    Meredith: he is Jesus?

    meredith lately

    meredith lately

    While David and I were discussing dinner options, she pipes up…
    Meredith: I don’t like meat.
    Me: oh you don’t?
    Meredith: no, I just like strawbeedas, chicken nuggets, fruit salad, and carrots.
    Me: that’s all you like?
    Meredith: oh and bacon too!

    In the morning getting ready…
    Me: I’ve gotta change Liam, he peed out of his diaper and it got on me.
    Meredith: I wanna see it.
    Me: see right here this wet spot?
    Meredith: ewwww, that’s isgusting.
    Me: yeah.
    Meredith: Liam you are isgusting. You can’t come to my birthday party.

    A few days before her birthday…
    Me: so do you want to go somewhere fun on your birthday?
    Meredith: yeah I wanna go to zoo and doctor!

    meredith lately

    meredith lately

    After I wiped her face clean after breakfast…
    Meredith: my face is soooo pretty.
    Me: yes it is!
    Meredith: God made my face.

    Getting the kids and all the stuff loaded in the car in the morning, and she got in her car seat herself and I was about to turn the car on…
    Meredith: hey! You forgot to put my seat belt on!
    Me: oh yeah, you’re right!
    Meredith: silly goose.

    After a rough morning…
    Me: you’re gonna go play with Daddy for awhile now.
    Meredith: why?
    Me: because you’re driving me crazy.
    Meredith: you ARE crazy.

  • the houston project / july

    Last month we were able to fit in a couple activities on my Houston project list. First of all, we attended a kids’ storytime at a cool independent bookstore called Brazos Bookstore.

    brazos bookstore houston

    It started at 10:30 a.m. but weirdly Meredith fell asleep in the car on the way there (weird because she is usually wide awake well past noon). Waking her up is never fun but it wasn’t close so we did it. She was fine while the story was being read in the cute kids’ room, sitting on my lap with Liam in the Ergo.

    brazos bookstore houston

    brazos bookstore houston

    Next was craft time where the kids were supposed to draw a picture of their best friend. This is where it all went downhill when the little girl sitting next to Meredith dared to use the markers she was using. (We are working on sharing.) We had to leave craft time but I thought we could look at more books in the kids’ room. That didn’t work out either (euphemising here…it was a disaster) so we had to leave pretty quickly.

    brazos bookstore houston

    I was bummed because M. is usually so pleasant at that time of day and gets along well with other kids. We learned our lesson not to wake her up from car naps if we can help it! I did get to browse the store a little bit, and I loved it. There were handwritten book recommendations all over from the staff and cool displays. If we had had more time there I definitely would have bought something to support it.

    brazos bookstore houston

    Then David and I finally got a date night in! We have two sets of willing grandparents ready to babysit at almost anytime, and yet we still go on way too few dates. We decided to keep this one low-key and just visit a new restaurant nearby called Torchy’s Tacos that is located at an outdoor mall area that has live music and events. Loved the food, and we sat outside (the weather was miraculously cool) and talked like we hardly ever really get to do.

    20140803-091311-33191906.jpg

    Then we wandered down to rest by the lake and I convinced David to take a picture with me…

    20140803-091312-33192011.jpg

    …and we saw ducklings!

    20140803-091312-33192270.jpg

    Finally we visited the Nestle Tollhouse store where I had a scoop of ice cream and we each got a cookie treat to take home for later (and we brought Meredith home a treat too).

    20140803-091312-33192557.jpg

    Usually for our date nights we just go to a movie but I’m so glad we are opting for new things now. Can’t wait to explore the city some more!

  • currently (& a new feature)

    20140730-204944-74984931.jpg

    New favorite picture of the kids.

    Every other Friday I’ve been sharing links to some good stuff I found around the Internet. On the other Fridays I like to pop in with a quick personal post, and today I want to add a feature to those “currently” posts.

    One of the podcasts I love is called One Bad Mother (warning: there are swears) and every week they share their genius & fail moments as a parent. It’s probably my favorite part of the show, and I thought it would be fun to share my own personal genius & fails with y’all every couple of weeks. And of course, I’d love it if you’d chime in with your own!

    Genius : getting myself and the kids ready in the morning can be…stressful. The worst is getting Meredith dressed, because she takes SO LONG. If she can’t get the clothes on right she might possibly have a breakdown. And if I try to help her, omg, it’s like I’m torturing her or something. Half of the mornings result in tears. So one night this week David took her to Kohl’s because he had some Kohl’s cash that was expiring and he bought her a cute little shirt and shorts. She was so excited she wanted to wear it to sleep, and I realized: genius. In the morning she was excited to wear her new clothes to school and it saved so much time. It’s worked a couple days in a row so far!

    Fail : for the last two nights in a row Meredith and I have gone to bed almost two hours later than usual. Therefore we both woke up super grumpy and emotional today, I definitely snapped at her which made me feel super great about myself (sarcasm), I didn’t have time to make our healthy breakfast, and now I’m REALLY having to work to snap out of it. Bed at 7pm today!!

    Currently : 

    trying to shake off my funk.

    missing Twitter and Instagram. I’ve been more active blogging, but less active there and I miss the conversation and the friends. Lately the trend is to cut back on social media but I find myself wanting to make more of an effort at it.

    ready to get back to my quilt. I’ve been in the mood to sew and I want to get the quilt finished so I can move on to other projects. Next step is basting and then quilting.

    fitting in more reading time here and there and I sense that my slump is ending.

    excited about starting half marathon training next week! Our work gym opens the same day my first run is scheduled, which is so nice because I didn’t want to run in the heat and I don’t mind the treadmill for shorter distances.

    signed up for a 10k at the end of September with my brother and sister-in-law.

    planning a date night for this weekend. I think we are going to do a food truck crawl!

    enjoying an afternoon coffee break most days at work.

    eating mostly paleo except for a little cheese and yogurt, and…

    snacking on dark chocolate covered almonds daily.

    writing snail mail letters and cards to friends.

    praying about where to serve in my community.