Sunday, September 28, 2008

Win a Free Custom Blog!

Photobucket

Good luck (eventhough I want to win, of course!)

Trick or treat?



For us it is definitely a TREAT! Isn't she SO cute!
So Amber bought 2 costumes for Evelyn. Even though Halloween is a month away, a lot of the good costumes were gone. So she first bought the lady bug costume because it was all that was left that was "cute". This week she also found this puppy costume. Evelyn LOVES puppies. Every time she sees one on TV or in the street or as we're out and about she points to them and says "wuuff, wufff". We're not sure yet about how she feels when she actually gets to pet them.


On another note, fall is making itself known a little more and more these days. The colors here are just starting to show themselves. It's pretty cool how God threw that detail into His creation. He could have made everything turn brown, but instead we get the deep reds, yellows, oranges, and so on. And to all who commented on Amber's previous post on fall....I too LOVE fall. I love the cool air, the changing colors and the idea that winter is just around the corner.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Another crown?

You have got to be kidding me!?! I am pretty sure I need another dang crown! I owe it all to my chocolate obsession...

You see, tonight I was eating a good ole Heath bar (which I was so excited about since I love Heath bars and I found mini ones at Target and I let myself indulge in mini candy bars.) Anyhow, I was chewing the last bite and felt like I was chewing an awfully hard and gritty piece of toffee. As I continued to try and figure out what was so gritty whilst simultaneously clean the toffee out of my teeth I realized that a chunk of my tooth was missing. I also realized that I never found that gritty bit of Heath bar. Not only was I missing a big chunk of tooth, I also ate a big chunk of tooth. Yum. Hope I didn't make any of you lose your breakfast!

I checked it out in the mirror at the next commercial break during "The Office" (I couldn't miss part of the season premiere even for missing teeth chunks - that just wouldn't be right!) Yep - part of my top 5th from the front tooth on the right is gone. Now, you can just see the filling in the middle. A beautiful, old, amalgam filling. Funny, I never even realized I had a filling in that tooth.

So, here I am, giving myself a migraine (literally) over the stress of knowing I more than likely need another crown. I just had my first one put on in May and it was kind of stressful because I grind my teeth at night and I ground my temporary crown into a peak that made my tongue bleed. Not to mention, it forced me to go to the dentist a billion (actually just 4) times and need to leave Evelyn each time to do it, I have a small jaw that really hurts when I have to keep it open for more than .5 seconds, I hate that numb mouth feeling, dentist drill noises are scary... Need I go on? Argh...

And, of course, there is the ridiculous cost of all dental work, especially things like crowns. We do not have dental insurance. Jason's company is nice enough to reimburse us some, but because I just had a crown put on, our money for the year is completely gone. Do I wait 3 months with a jagged tooth and exposed silver filling to have it done? Can I just pay the nice dentist man for this year's crown next year? Would Jason's company fall for that? Why are my teeth so brittle (other than the night grinding of course!)? Why didn't they see my tooth had a crack in it when I had panoramic x-rays last at my last visit? Hopefully my call to the dentist tomorrow will give insight into a few of those questions.

Sorry to be a downer. Oh yeah, Jason just went to the dentist two weeks ago and they recommended a crown on one of his fillings sometime soon. Nice.

Well, at least it will be Friday when I wake up! Have a great weekend y'all and please, pretty please, stay away from the Heath bars. (Do you think I can at least have a few more if I chew them on the other side of my mouth? They are so good! :-)

Monday, September 22, 2008

In Our Neck of the Woods

Things are good - just busy!

Last week flew by...I can't even remember the highlights.

The weekend was fun. Friday started off with a bang - I started a new Bible study at a local church. It is a Beth Moore study for women on the book of Daniel. Great study! I am learning a lot and love how the study forces me to become a scholar again - she really focuses on LEARNING the material and synthesizing the information she presents and that we read in the Word. The ladies were very welcoming and I felt like it was a great choice of study. I met another mom with a baby daughter as well as other women in their 30's through probably 70's. It is great to be in the company of wise women who can mentor a young mama. The only thing that wasn't that great was the childcare. There are two young girls and one woman doing the childcare. None of them seemed very enthusiastic... Evelyn was in the study with me after a half hour in the nursery when she had checked out all the toys and kids and decided she was done! :-)

My mom came to visit on Friday and gave us our FIRST DATE IN OVER A YEAR! I was very nervous to leave Evelyn, but I knew she was in good hands with a woman who has raised 8 kids and taught me all my mothering tricks. Evelyn was in her own home with someone who looks like Mommy and plays all the same games Mommy does. Jason and I left the first restaurant we tried (way too expensive...even with our coupon) and opted for Mexican food. My milk came in several times as I thought of Evelyn and worried. The cell phone sat on the table and I checked it often. We rushed out as soon as we paid for our over-priced dinner (note: ask how much non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiris are before you order or you may pay $7 like I did...argh!) As we pulled up I saw Evelyn in my mom's arms in the kitchen. She was feeding her a few small bites of ice cream (apparently Evelyn indicated she wanted some as they were playing with the fridge magnets). It was so strange to see her on someone else's hip. I rushed in before Jason even parked the car in the garage and Evelyn hardly cared. My mom reported that she never once even whimpered and she is pretty positive she didn't miss either one of us. They played with the neighbor girls, collected leaves, went on a walk, and made and ate all "p" foods for dinner. I was glad, yet a bit disappointed that she didn't miss me! The date was nice, yet we felt so strange without Evelyn. It just didn't seem right.

My mom and Evelyn's fun times have made me think about how I need to play even more with Evelyn every day. I know I too often get caught up in household chores and other tasks and only take minutes here and there to play and teach. I know I could be better at incorporating more teaching and more playing into the day. My mom says she now knows what people mean by the whole grandparenting joy - you just get to focus on the fun of being with the child and don't have to worry about the discipline and daily care like parents do. I am so glad she likes being a Grandma! Thanks Mom for watching her! Most of all, thanks for teaching me how to be a Mommy and for letting me feel so safe and secure leaving Evelyn with you! I love you!

Saturday gave us a lazy morning and fun afternoon at the International Fall Festival in our historic downtown. Evelyn got to have two firsts: a parade and cheese curds! The parade was fun and we were thrilled to see that they don't have any city ordinances about throwing candy at the parade. Our last town was such a downer - no throwing of candy! Evelyn had a third first, I guess - a taste of Smarties! Ah, parade candy! She also scored a hot pink pom-pon and some literature on the local theatre performances coming up. We are due for a theatre performance!

Sunday was church - Evelyn lasted a half hour again in the nursery. We heard an uplifting sermon from a missionary the church sponsors in Chad, Africa. Wow - what a reminder that we need to pray more diligently for the unsaved and for the missionaries and their families who are serving in cultures that are so different than our own.

Sunday night we started a young married couples Bible study at the same church that I am doing my Bible study at (we have been looking for a church since we moved here and haven't officially decided where we are going to attend/join). This was a great experience and the childcare girls we GREAT! Evelyn was in there for an hour and was just starting to get sad at the end, but the middle school girl was so smart and just decided to start walking her around and showing her things to keep her distracted. Way to go babysitter! She reminded me of all of my sisters and their innate abilities to play with babies and kids so well.

Typing all of this sure makes me realize what great strides I am making in entrusting other people to watch Evelyn. I just cover her in prayer and give very specific instructions to call/page/come and get me AS SOON as she cries! I can't let my baby cry!

And, last but not least, I have been extremely preoccupied with something I am calling "Punkerdoops Diapers." Yep, I caught the entrepreneurial bug. I am planning to distribute quality diapers from several manufacturers. I want to take a teaching spirit with this - guiding moms in my area through their choices in cloth diapering through "Cloth Diapering 101" sessions and one-on-one walk-throughs of their options. Things will initially be in the basement with the hopes of one day branching into an online store. This is a HUGE endeavor and there is so much work to be done. I am just in the initial steps of getting my business registered with the state and so on. I am stuck right now - should I be a sole proprietorship or an LLC? Do I need a lawyer? An accountant? Overwhelming to say the least. Most of the manufacturers/wholesalers will not even communicate with you until you have an issued state business ID and in some cases a full and running website. I have so many websites bookmarked about getting this thing launched - I am up to my eyeballs in to-do lists.

That's about it! Hope all of you are well! Maybe I will catch up to reading blogs by the end of the week! :-)

Friday, September 05, 2008

In Denial of Fall

The windows are shut at night. I had to wear a jacket yesterday. Today's forecast brought wearing jeans. Evelyn has donned socks for the past few days (which completely drives her batty!) Fall is here!

I always was excited for fall. Up until just a few years ago, I was always starting school in the fall - I went straight from high school to college, then to grad school. I had the excitement of buying new school supplies, getting books, and taking great classes. The last two years I was at least working at a university and so I was surrounded by that certain energy that comes with the beginning of the school year.

This year has been completely void of that feeling and thus my denial that it is fall already! But, the cooler temperatures and earlier sunsets are reminding me of what is looming around the corner. Winter. Yuck.

By the end of summer the past winter is so far back in the remnants of your mind that you forget about the cold temperatures, shoveling, scraping of car windows, and isolation that winter brings. It is so much easier to jump in the van and go during the summer - no jackets, hats, boots, and warming up of the van to bother with.

So, I am determined to get out and enjoy the freedom that good weather brings while this lasts!

I miss not being around school, but I do still love the crisp fall air and the turning of the leaves that fall brings.

Happy Fall everyone!

Recovering

I am - from a bad haircut. This "curly" hair I have now is a pain. If it was all curly it would be fine. But, it is just the back of my hair. The initial haircut she gave me was a "modern shag." I felt more like an 80's rocker.

I went back and she fixed it the best that she could after I told her how much it was not "me" and that I was much more "glam" than "rocker." I think when I told her that I wanted a trendy cut she misinterpreted me.

I know that it will grow out, but it is so frustrating to have a bad haircut. I feel like my hair looks bad as soon as I am finished styling it. Argh. Oh well. Just venting into cyberspace and maybe making someone else in bad hair recovery feel a little bit better knowing that I feel their pain.

The Birthday Princess Had a Party

Any decent party has streamers, right? Trisha keeps reminding me that I have neglected to post pics of the house. I keep waiting until it is all painted - like a "reveal" for each completed room. But, here is one project completed - the new yellow kitchen and window treatments.
Daddy had the backyard looking great - complete with signage for the coolers, garbage, and recylcling containers. My sister accused me of being way too organized with signs. I was proud to tell her it was Jason who made them! Evelyn is doomed with two detail-oriented perfectionistic parents. I know we gave ouselves way to much stress over a family party! But, the family is big - we had 33 people here! I tried to keep the menu simple, but still ended up spending many hours in the kitchen.

Evelyn enjoyed opening gifts with all the uncles, aunts, and cousins around her.





Mommy baked strawberry cake because strawberries are Evelyn's favorite food.
"Hmmm....this is good!"
"Yeah, I'm about done now - can't find anymore strawberries in there."
Cake clean-up!
Trying on the new fairy costume from Auntie Hannah.
She just couldn't stay awake any more, so the peanut caught a quick nap towards the end of the party. Don't worry - she woke up after the traditional I-only-sleep-half-hour-Evelyn nap length to say goodbye to all the guests.

Thanks to all the family that joined us and for blessing Evelyn with so many gifts. She is enjoying having new play things. It was a great party!