Bloggy Twilight Zone

Almost 2 months ago, I was going to visit my old office after one of my appointments. Walking around the corner to chat a bit, I was introduced to a mom and an adorable little girl.

Who happened to give me the biggest, sweetest grin ever!

The girl, not the mom! :)

I took about a minute after that and then had an "A HA!" moment.

I knew this person.

Knowing in the sense that I knew who she was and that she had a story.

So, I asked her, "Do you have another daughter?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a blog?"

"Yes."

"I know you!".

Or something like that.

Turns out that it was Kelly.

She has a beautiful story about her two beautiful daughters and shares the stories and her life on her blog.

And she takes incredible pictures too!

She even started LaLa Photography not too long ago.

It is even more fun to keep up with her now that I have actually met her!

Have you had one of those fun experiences yet?

Stacey

It won't make it down the river, but it's a place to rest his head!

After much fretting, I am 50% done with my baby sewing projects.

Since I am chicken when it comes to making that first cut into my fabric, I procrastinated way too long on these projects!

Luckily, most of my imperfections are invisible to most people. Well, except the huge one that I made at the very end of this project. Luckily, for now, the mattress hides it nicely and I will just go back and fix it when I have time.

Ha!

Inside view #1

Inside view #2

Front view

Bird's Eye view with a baby doll for special effects! :)


A little busy, but I really do love all the fabrics together! I actually made the mattress sheet double-sided. Rings on one side and red rockets on the other.

Just in case he gets bored!

I have started cutting out the bassinet fabric, but I am fretting and procrastinating again. I am using the bassinet pattern and just adjusting it. Adjustments make me nervous. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

What is the most special is all three kids will have used this same basket. The basket, with girl bedding, was a gift when my daughter was born. I made a simple boy bumper and sheet when we used it for little man. Baby boy is getting the deluxe version because of my mommy guilt that he has no room all done up with special touches.

Of course, there wasn't room at the inn for Jesus either, and look at all the great things He did.

I think I will put together pictures of all three in the basket at some point.

I can't wait!

Stacey

Baby Blessing and Beyond

Sunday before last, I traveled back "home" and received another baby blessing.

I almost said no to this one.

I desparately wanted to spend time with my friends, but didn't want it to turn into a greedy-gift-receiving thing.

But I was convinced otherwise. And I am so glad that I said yes. I got to make my wish list of attendees. People that are very dear to me. People that I just wanted to hang out with.

They could have all brought a gift bag full of rocks as far as I was concerned.

Know what I mean?

And while several could not make it, I hope they know how much I missed them.

Surrounded by friends before the festivities get started.

Such a beautiful table setting in blues, browns, and yellows.

Everyone wrote a blessing on the blue frame.

Then they all took turns lighting a candle and saying a blessing over the baby before placing their lit candle into the cake. That is my sweet friend Heather with me. I am not sure what she is doing, but knowing us, it is along the lines of trying not to cry!

Blowing out all my wonderful blessing's candles.

Not caring how I look here. Can you even resist his first pair of swim trunks?!!

Checking out my diapers.

My sweet friend Jennifer (who sadly could not make it to the shower due to a family loss.) totally read my mind and got the baby new gowns. The one tub that I have not been able to find has all my baby boy sleepers, gowns, and blanket/burp cloth type stuff. It was driving me crazy, but now I can relax. I love gowns on babies!

I really missed having Jen complete our circle that day!

A big boy outfit which sports a cool dinosaur guitar rocker! Little man has agreed to let little brother be in his band with such a cool shirt!

No doubt that he will be a monkey just like his big brother!

OH MY! Jennifer's mom, Cyndy, made me these precious burp cloths! And yes, they are for me! I will proudly show them off over my shoulder at church, but that boy won't be burping on them! :)


My much wiser friends who I adore! The one on the right is a super woman just like her daughter and my friend!

My friend, Janet. We used to go to church together. Now they go to a church that has a wonderful buddy program for kids with special needs. You can see the top of her sweet boy's head, but I just didn't feel right about posting his picture without permission. We look serious here, but we did laugh together and enjoyed catching up! She is an incredible mom and her son (and daughter!) are so lucky to have her.

Ahhh, my dear Pam, who I could never say enough good things about. I dread the fact that she won't get to love on my newest little one the same way she did my first two.

Christi is such a doll and makes me laugh!

Heather and I have been together in our group from the beginning. It is so good to have those friends with whom you can spend time with and it is easy because the background has already been established.

Shannon is the woman with answers! She is such a dear friend. Although a late-comer to our group, we would be so incomplete without her.

Laurie is such a down-to-earth gal and I am so thankful she lets me call her friend. She is another one that God purposely let us claim for our group!!

Rachel. What do you say about a friend who makes your head spin in a good way? She is always doing and we just stand back in amazement some times and watch. I am so thankful that she is one of us because our group would not be the same without her.

Amy is a friend from church. We are both OTs but in totally different ways. She loves difficult hands and I love difficult kids! I really enjoyed catching up with her.

This is Barbara. I hope everyone is lucky enough to have a woman like Barbara (and Lana who is below) in her life. One of those wiser women that you adore and learn so much from; one that loves and teaches your precious children like their own when it comes to learning about God; one that acts younger than you do some days and makes you laugh! If she would only learn how to ride an elephant instead of a donkey! ;) (No worries! Our little joke! She will probably laugh more than me!)

Sweet Lana! I really miss her too! Among other things, we shared the joy of teaching our young special ladies at church. Ditto on her on all the things I love about Barbara. Well, except I think she might prefer elephants! ;)

On a random note, this is just me, hiking up my pants for the zillionth time!


After my shower, the girls and I got to enjoy a bit more time together as we talked over Mexican food. I loved every minute of it!

See why it was so hard to leave?

Stacey

Baby Blessing

Our baby was blessed at a shower given by several girls from the church that we currently attend.

The church that is much different than where I would choose to attend, if I had a choice, but one that has known and loved me for over 10 years now as a result of marrying my husband.

The church, where, guess what?

I have discovered a few people just like me.

That part is a story for a different day, since today is about the baby and kindness.

I was blessed to have the deluxe baby shower. The one where it is given by girls that have embraced me rather than by the "committee". We all know the "committee", right?! :) The one hosted in the beautiful home of a very gracious lady that also happens to be my kindred spirit when it comes to the big town to small town move issues. Funny, she actually moved from a town very close to the one I moved from.

I walked in to discover the beautiful table setting.

And the cutest diaper cake you have ever seen!

And kindness.

And generosity.

This is my cousin by marriage. She makes me laugh.

She and her family got us this precious Eric Carle Hungry Catepillar Baby Journal.

Our cute new bath toy scooper.

A precious hand-made quilt.

How cute was this! I am so putting him in the truck and taking a picture!

What a fun surprise!

My snap-n-go stroller to go with the car seat we already have.

They would probably have a fit if they knew I was letting the world see them, but! The lady in blue makes the most precious baby quilts. Now I have three that she has made! The lady behind her is my Aunt J by marriage. She is the angel that will be keeping my sweet baby 2 days a week when I go back to work in September.

The living room crowd.

Me and my MIL.

Me and the hostess'. The lady standing next to me is the one who graciously opened her beautiful home for the shower. She also happens to be a L&D nurse. We have joked that we may need to pick her up on our way to the hospital if I go into labor. I think she is secretly hoping she gets to deliver him in the car! :)

Not my kid!

This week, two of my sweet little bloggy friends have thrown out some confessionals. Confessionals that are not too far off from what swirls around in my brain from time to time.

Awhile back, I thought to myself, "Whose kid am I raising here?!!". It usually comes to mind when we are having a hard time around here, whether it be behavior or attitude. Or the combination of both!

I mean, come on, where are those sweet, kind, obedient, loving kids that I gave birth too? And that didn't talk back to me in the "goo goo ga ga" days?!!

So my dears, over at Sorta Crunchy and Mommy Cracked, I will join your club today.

I don't want you to feel alone!

I realize that most of this falls under the category of "Lazy Parenting", a trap I believe we fall into from time to time, despite our best intentions.

Take the whole tv thing first.

My daughter didn't even pay attention to tv until she was at least 18 months old. And that was just a Veggie Tales video from time to time. My son got hooked in a bit sooner since big sister had her cartoons I would let her watch as he toddled around. So now with #3 coming soon, I begin to worry what happens now.

I kept it under control and didn't worry much about it because my kids were so versatile. They had great play and social skills; they loved outside, inside, pretend, puzzles, games, you name it. And most of the time that they did have the tv on when younger, they rarely stayed tune for a long time. They were usually off to play before a show even finished. I maintain my support of no cable in bedrooms. I can't say tv anymore because we allowed a tv for movies only for the kids in sister's room since we don't have a play or family room for an extra tv anymore.

All that to say, as versatile as my kids still are, they love tv a little too much now. I have DVR now, so I could have taken much more control of this sooner. But I didn't. I slipped and I slid just enough too many times that they began enjoying shows that were not really on my favorite list. Not shows that were bad per say, but shows that were too mature for them.

Shows that allowed kids to sport an attitude that I really don't want to hear coming from my 7 and 4 year olds.

Nor do I want to hear my 4 year old say, "I am going to marry a hot super model.".

Ahem!

As a parent, if you let the little things slide for long enough, they turn into bigger issues. They make your job (and oh my does it feel like a job some days!) as a parent feel so burdensome. The whining, the disobedience, the laziness. It wears you down, but it is really your fault.

I am talking in general terms here with "your", but believe me, this is all about ME.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I finally got my act together.

I used my DVR to lock all the shows I was ready to see go away. Still a bit of the lazy way out, but I needed to ease into the situation without the battle. I am too tired for that battle right now. I also made sure that I kept a good number of shows recorded on my DVR that I do approve. Options I feel good about.

Then on Tuesday night, I had another revelation.

We were watching Week 7 of the Esther study. It wasn't my favorite of hers for the study, but she did share some things from a book that struck a cord with me. Along the lines of who we admire among the famous, the lengths that some go to in order to get close to "stars", who our young kids want to be like. I didn't like what I was hearing. Nothing that I didn't already know, just stuff that made my heart prickle a bit too much for comfort.

You see, I like keeping up with the who's and the what's. I will watch a "reality" show when I can and I certainly loved my Google reader for bringing me all the latest on Pop Sugar and Celebrity Baby everyday.

But, on Tuesday night, I left the study knowing that I was going to say good-bye to at least the latter two mentioned. Who knows what I supposed to walk away with that night, but it is what it is.

When I got home, I not only said good-bye to those two, but to several other blogs that just didn't work for me anymore. They could have stayed. There was nothing wrong with them. But it was taking me more time than I have to click over and "marked read" without even reading them. I was ready to keep it a little more real.

So, I keeping it real with 51 of you at this point! :)

For some that number may still seem huge, but I can't even tell you how freeing it is to open my reader to 35 posts rather than 75 posts (or something like that!) from day to day.

As for me and tv, well, I am doing a pretty good job of keeping my shows that I enjoy limited to what I DVR. They are there when I am ready to watch them and I can get through them quickly. I don't feel much guilt there.

Allllll that to say, here I am as imperfect as I know all of us are, but always difficult to admit to those that you think are more perfect than you!

There is more I need to say along the lines of an orderly home, obedience, and a willingness to be helpful, but I will save it for later.

Just know that I am looking to hire another 4.11 year old to help me out around here because mine informed me that he "quit".

Yes, his exact words along with his arms folded for emphasis really made my day!

Stacey

I hate doing this, but...

I am so behind that a list will have to do for now!

* I had a doctor appointment today. Everything is still sealed up tight, so I am thinking no baby for now. My official due date is May 15th, but you never know!

* I about fell off the table today when I discovered a 6# gain in 2 weeks! Thank goodness he quickly assured me that it was mostly fluid retention. I have been doing so good in that department, but the last few days have found me with some nice fluffy ankles and fingers by the end of the day!

* I have two special activities, one for each child, that I would like to attend so my delivery date will have to work around them. I can either have the baby before the 8th or between the 9th and the 12th. I am not picky though! :)

* It has been almost one year since we moved and I have some thoughts about that.

* I have some incredible friends that I need to talk about.

* I found out last week that one of my dear friends is expecting her first child in December! Yay Jules!!!! :) So, so happy for her and her husband!

* A friend that I have made here (our daughters are in class together and good friends) found out that they are expecting a boy as well in August. How fun for our boys!

* In the last few weeks, I have been blessed with two baby showers. I want to share my thoughts and pictures about those as well.

* On Saturday, I almost completely finished my Moses' Basket bedding. I figure if I don't get the bassinet finished in time, at least he has one place to lay his head. Good enough for Moses' to float down the river, then good enough for him, right?!

* My pre-baby to-do list is dwindling, thank goodness!

* I have totally forgotten to talk about meeting another blogger at an unexpected time in an unexpected location! That is always fun! Will have to share that later.

* I have several posts labeled, but no time to write!

* Which is too bad since I am just a few posts away from my big 500! Wow!

That is all I can think of for my quick Monday summary!

Gotta go put my feet up!

Stacey

Just FYI

I had to mail some thank-you notes yesterday, which means I had to actually go into the post office.

Stamps are on the rise again.

$.44, up from $.42, as of May 11.

While I don't use a lot of stamps anymore, opting to pay bills online, send e-cards, etc, there are times when they come in handy for me. Such as Christmas and mailing thank-you's and birth announcements in bulk.

Be needing to do that soon! :)

I think I am going to stock up even before I need them.

Apparently, while supplies last, you can purchase "Forever" stamps which will still be good even after the price goes up.

Stacey

Easter 2009

After playing hard all weekend, I guess even the prospect of the the Easter Bunny's arrival couldn't budge them on Sunday. Although the extra sleep was nice for me, I was shocked to have to wake them up at 8:20 that morning.

As you can see, someone slipped in and shared a bed with sister the night before. It seems in leiu of covers, he opted for his baseball shirt. Notice that his legs are tucked nicely through one of the armholes!


They didn't realize what they were missing!

I like to do my own "baskets" and opt for a container that is useable throughout the year. This year, the kids scored some summer essentials like sunglasses, new beach towels, jump ropes, and kites. A few books and dollar items made them almost complete. Although I try to discourage the adoption of more stuffed animals, both of the kids had displayed a real passion for the Furr Real animals. I caved!


Even our impeding arrival scored his own bucket with a few new books.







Our Easter shots had to be indoors this year. Besides running late, we were dealing with loads of rain that morning.



He makes my life more interesting all the time!


My big idea this year was to create a strip of chalkboard paint on the buckets. For adding their names for Easter and then for whatever was in the bucket later on. You can see the dark image on the green bucket. Because I didn't really read the instructions until the day before, we only got the strips painted. They won't be useable until later this week, so we just turned the buckets around until then. I can't wait!

Stacey