Category: thoughts

this week

Just a few pictures and words for you today.

This has been a bit of an exhausting week. My coworker was sick so I’ve been running a busy clinic alone all week (and will be until next Wednesday). Meredith has been having one of her “spirited” weeks as well. I’ve been reading this book and it’s given me a lot of insight. I’ve been using some techniques on Meredith and I do think they help…but the whole process is draining. It will be good though. She and I are very different, but I love my spunky girl so much.

We’ve been whole30-ing it up. Sort of. Trying our best. It’s a big deal and also not a big deal. We are going with the simplest of meals. Like, straight up ground beef and potatoes. Salad with shredded chicken (obviously). Pot roast. Chicken tenders. Easy.

I put up a few autumn decorations. A very few, but they make me happy. Last weekend I got to work more on my advent calendar and I think I might be able to finish my December after all. I don’t know. Maybe. I’m loving it though.

It got cool in the mornings so I dared to run outside one day this week. Turns out 82 degrees, sunny, with tree pollen sky high is still not good running weather. I was quite uncomfortable.

Liam pulled up to standing by himself for the first time. My big boy! He was so proud of himself until he fell on his bum. Then he cried. He’s been pretty sensitive this week. He’s on antibiotics for a sinus infection and has had some digestive difficulties as well. He’s nine months old today. I love my mama’s boy.

Tomorrow we are headed to the pumpkin patch and then to a big women’s health event at my hospital. It’s going to be a very busy Saturday indeed, and then I will need a 24-hour nap.

October 17, 2014
3 quick things i’m doing to get in the mood for fall

This post has been sponsored, but as always (for good or bad) all the content is my own.

I am so excited that it’s almost October. Except for the fact that it’s crazy how fast this year has gone by, I’m pretty happy that the summer is really truly behind us. October is when we usually get our first real cool front. October is our wedding anniversary (six years on Friday). October kicks off the holiday season which I love. The traditions, the rituals, the anticipation, the fact that most of it centers around the home…it’s all designed to make me happy. Me personally. It’s like with Lorelai and snow…and if you know what I’m talking about you know what I mean, and also I love you.

The point is, I’m really trying to maximize my enjoyment of the seasons and especially fall. Because as much as I love the holidays, I don’t like being cold so I’m not particularly welcoming the arrival of winter. But because I’m a working mom with a million personal projects on my brain, I’m starting with these few easy ways to get in the mood. Then if I find myself with some extra time and inspiration I might take on another seasonal project – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Here are the three things I’m doing now, and because of the awesome blogger that I am I even alliterated them.

Scarves & shoes

So many people love fall fashion, right? I know I do, because of the coziness factor. In reality, though, I’m still wearing my summer capsule wardrobe 95% of the time because it’s still so hot here. I’m also not sure that I’ll have the funds to put together a full autumn capsule wardrobe this year. In the meantime I find that lightweight scarves turn my summer outfits into fall-ish with hardly any effort. Now I need to collect a few more!

The same idea applies to shoes. I’ve started swapping out my Tevas for my Toms, and my sandals for my moccasins. Not a big deal, but still makes a difference.

Switch out decor

Alright let’s not get crazy here. I don’t have a ton of fall decorations, although I’m trying to add a little each year. For me this is going to look like framing the above cross stitch sampler to hang, putting up a pine cone garland and making small changes to the mantel, and maybe even finally getting some throw pillows for our couch.

Scent

The last thing is probably the best and easiest, and it’s just to make the house smell super good all the time. I always forget how much I love candles until I light one again and then I’m immediately happier. Next time you’re in the air care aisle grab a $5 candle and treat yourself.

I’m also a fan of the regular old plug-ins. Using them means the house will smell good when I walk in from being gone all day. They are also strong enough to fill our whole living room, and I don’t have to worry about the open flame issue.

So that’s my plan, what’s yours?

September 30, 2014
tgif : the i’m so tired edition

Taking a page out of Stephany’s book to recap my week. Contrary to the above picture (which was last weekend) it has been overcast and rainy the last several days, which is kind of appropriate. Even though it keeps me perpetually soggy, I am grateful for the relief from the intense heat.

The high of my week was a playdate at Chick-fil-a with my sister-in-law and one of our friends from church. It started out kind of rough, but eventually the kids calmed down and there was a solid 20-30 minutes where they were all playing happily and Liam was content in his high chair and we got to sit and have girl talk time.

The low of my week was an hour-long screaming meltdown by Meredith at bedtime…and all the other meltdowns (but that was the worst). She’s in one of those phases and it just might do me in – send chocolate.

The best money I spent was a medium cafe mocha at work the morning after the above meltdown.

A podcast episode I loved was “Decisive Blogging” on How They Blog with Kat Lee & Anne Bogel from Modern Mrs. Darcy. Thanks to Kerri for introducing me to this podcast! This was the first episode I listened to, and it was perfect for me in that Anne talked a lot about balancing her blog with her very full life.

My weekend plans include attending my second Houston Modern Quilt Guild meeting (I hope) and a huge family fun day for my company, as long as it isn’t pouring down rain. We are also hosting a dinner for our church life group. As far as personal projects go, I’d like to finish a book, get the tricky part of the binding done on my quilt, schedule some blog posts, and run 6 miles (the farthest I’ve ever run – yikes).

September 19, 2014
app review : kids academy

Hey, this is a sponsored post – I am being paid to provide a review of these three (free) kids’ apps, but I promise to always give you my honest opinion!

So recently I tried out the free versions of these three apps by Kids Academy, and I wanted to share some quick reviews of them.

Kids Puzzle

This is a straightforward game to teach your child about numbers. It has them tracing the number in order to collect fireflies and fill a jar. You can also create a little profile for your child including a picture which is kind of fun.

What I thought: It’s a really cute concept. I thought it would be way too hard for Meredith, and it is still a bit beyond her, but she definitely improved over the last couple weeks of using it. However, I’m not sure if the tracing with her finger on the touch screen will translate to actually writing the numbers.

With the free version, you only get numbers 1 to 3. It costs $3.99 to access all the numbers with an in-app purchase. The parent area is appropriately difficult to access, but when Meredith clicked on it she couldn’t get back to the game which was frustrating for her.

What Meredith thought: To my surprise she kept coming back to it, despite not being very good! She did ask me to do it for her a lot, but that is also how she learns – by observing. As I said, she got better and now she can do the 2 sometimes. :)

Find it here.

Learn to Read & Write

This app has a few different activities. There are easy mazes, mazes to help teach rhyming words, and uppercase letter tracing. A paid in-app purchase gets you access to activities on lowercase letters, vowels, and writing words.

What I thought: The mazes are a cute idea. However, your child has to know what the picture actually is to be successful, and some of the pictures even I didn’t know what they were supposed to be. The letter tracing is pretty straightforward, and again I don’t know if it translates to actual writing. This part was kind of beyond Meredith’s ability at barely 3 years old.

What Meredith thought: This was the most frustrating app for her, so I actually ended up deleting it for now because it would just upset her when she tried it. I think it would be worth retrying in a year or two for sure.

Find it here.

Preschool & Kindergarten Learning

This app has a bunch of different activities within it. It actually includes the numbers tracing to collect fireflies and the letter tracing. Then there is also a game that has an animated scene with pictures of things that start with each letter, and as the child touches them they do cute things and light up. It appears that the paid in-app purchase gets you the rest of the letters & numbers for all games (only three are included for each) along with tracing shapes.

What I thought: This is my favorite for Meredith for now. It has the number tracing, which she likes, and the letters, which are fine for her, and the animated scenes are the most appropriate for her age and I think they are super cute. I am actually tempted to buy this one, but it’s $9.99 so…I probably won’t. :)

What Meredith thought: As I mentioned, she really enjoys the tracing even though she’s not too good at it. And she likes that she can do the scenes on her own. She keeps coming back to this app!

Find it here.

Do you have any toddler apps to recommend?

September 13, 2014
new running shoes

I got new running shoes, and I kind of hate the way they look.

Let me start over, because apparently the fact that I got new shoes requires a back story and I have way more thoughts on the matter than one would expect. So.

The shoes I had been running in were probably about four years old. They were high quality, and I had been fitted for them. But I never logged a lot of miles in them because I ended up having two babies, so I thought that they might last me awhile. In the back of my mind I had a feeling I might need to get new ones prior to running a half marathon, but I still had hopes.

On Sunday I went running outside on the street since it was evening and cloudy and David agreed to watch the kids. It was my longest run yet at four miles and it was actually a really great run except I began having hip pain in what felt like my joints. Not bad enough to slow me down but it definitely made the run uncomfortable. The pain persisted all night (I woke up multiple times because I couldn’t get comfortable) and all the next morning until I finally took ibuprofen.

Now, I know that this pain might not be directly related to my shoes, but I got scared. I decided not to do another run until I got new shoes. (I also resolved to stretch well prior to each run, which I hadn’t been doing.) So on Tuesday I got to leave early from work and I took myself to Luke’s Locker and got fit tested again. I have a neutral step and wide-ish feet. I’ve definitely gone up a size since having kids.

I tried on a few different shoes that fit my needs, and the ones I ended up with are actually the same as my old ones, only the updated version. And I think they are kind of ugly? At the very least, they are the opposite of my style, which is neutral and clean and minimal. These are…not that.

I actually had kind of internal crisis after I bought them. I knew they were the best choice for me but I was sad about it. I think I was hoping for a change, and definitely a different look. I was bummed all evening about it (so silly) but Meredith saw them and said they are “so pretty” and made sure to tell me how much she likes the purple parts. And then I ran the fastest 3 miles I have in a long time, with no hip pain.

I could totally turn this into a metaphor for life right now but I won’t, because I’ve already had two introspective posts this week and we probably don’t need a third. I’ll just say that I guess I’m coming around to my new shoes.

September 5, 2014