Inside My Life

Still here!

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:25:00 +0000

It's been a while.... So, that means this post will be pic-heavy. And when I have some more time, I will have to post photos from our trip to Bandera. Caleb and Shona and I went out there for a couple nights last week. It was nice.

Shona turned 8 months on Saturday. She suddenly started crawling about 3 weeks ago (like, fast-get-into-everything-crawling) and now she is already pulling herself up and standing and climbing and all that sort of stuff. She's a real monkey. :) She's learned how to wave and say "hi" and "bye bye" and make lots of crazy faces and noises.

Here's Shona doing one of her new things--putting her hand up in front of the camera:

These are *some* (just *some*!) of the traybakes I made for during the communion

Is it my imagination, or is this a very smug look?

She was upset here because she wanted to crawl off the couch and I wanted to take her picture. She does this fake cough....I dunno where she learned it.

Again:

This picture is of Shona wearing a Blueberry pocket, and the next is of her in a Blueberry cover. I bought about 7-10 Blueberry pockets, covers and AIO's and I've been pretty happy with them (they're also incredibly cute).

She LOVES books. We're currently reading through Pilgrim's Progress at bedtime and she sits surprisingly still!

This photo is several weeks old. Shona went through a stage where she liked to hold onto the side of her bed while she slept. Since she's now crawling and climbing, this sleeping arrangement is no longer safe...but I wanted to share this photo because I think it's cute. When we were in Bandera, we accidentally left her seahorse in the car one night. Shona was having a hard time falling asleep, so Caleb braved the cold and went and got the seahorse, and as soon as she snuggled up to it, she went to sleep. :)

This is a common face she's been making for the past few weeks. It's hilarious - though not so much when she does it to people in the pews behind us at church. :P

This little yellow ball (which has a smiley face on it, and bells inside it) is a favorite toy of her. She likes to chase it around the house, but when it rolls onto the kitchen floor she has a hard time because she slips around so much :)

Okay, here's that face again. And now I've got to tell a story. Over the last week or two, Shona has learned what "Don't touch" means. When she crawls over to the bookshelf, I tell her "Don't touch"...and normally she's pretty obedient. Well, the other day, she headed toward the bookshelf, and I told her "Don't touch." That was fine, she didn't touch the books; but then she proceeded to turn around and push the books with her feet, while making this ridiculous face at me and shaking her head!!!!! (This photo is from another occasion, but it's the same face she was making.) I think she knew she was being mischievous!

Okay, got to run. Sorry for any typos! Hope to update again soon.

Apologies & etc.

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:24:00 +0000

I'm very sorry about the Twitter nonsense! I dunno what happened, but I just clicked on my blog and there were all sorts of random tweets by people I don't know. So, I took Twitter off my blog.

I haven't updated for a while because I've been busy cooking and baking to get ready for visitors arriving next week, dv. Since life (and having guests) is a little more complicated with a baby (to put it mildly :)), I decided to make & freeze everything ahead of time. So far, I've made about 25 servings of King Ranch Casserole, 25 servings of Broccoli Chicken Casserole, Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Corn Chowder Soup, Avegolemon (sp?) Soup, Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares, Crispies, 7-Layer Bars, Raspberry Oatmeal Bars, and 8 quiches. I still need to make Lasagna, Lemon Squares, Fruit Loaf, Baked Oatmeal, several breakfast casseroles, Mushroom Soup, and some other things. :-P So yeah, I guess we'll have plenty of food.

Shona is 7 months now, and doing all sorts of crazy new things. Her latest thing is to pretend she's going to sleep, and as soon as I walk out of the room, she flips onto her tummy and starts playing. Yesterday I had to go in and lay her back down 10 times. And during one of her nap times today I had to do it 8 times. She says "mama" and "dada" and "'ungry" (her version of "hungry"). She sits up really well and is working on learning to crawl. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth...but she usually goes backward instead of forward. :)

There are probably a lot of other random things I was going to say, but I don't really have time right now. So here are some photos to make up for it. ;)

A rose on my rose bush :)

She scooted backward under the couch

She really liked the chocolates Rachel sent me

Opening a gift from Aunty Rachel (sorry, the photos are all out of order)

Just some more photos

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:20:00 +0000

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Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:09:00 +0000

Photos from Jenna's party

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:03:00 +0000

Okay, these are photos from Jenna's party yesterday. She turned 3! She's such a cutie. :)

After the party, Shona and I went to Schlumberger to watch a soccer game. Photos are on FB.

Video: Shona saying "mama"

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:10:00 +0000

Just some random information

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:02:00 +0000

1) Caleb got glasses today. He has been needing them for a long, long, long time, and now that he has them, he is amazed at how clearly he can see!
2) I went to AT&T and figured out why the text messaging wasn't working on my phone. It now works, but please, don't text me because I have to pay $0.20 per message. It's only for "important" situations.
3) Shona had approx. half a dozen meltdowns in the night (starting exactly at midnight), so I didn't get much sleep, and she didn't either.
4) Because Shona didn't sleep well last night, she was miserable (that's an understatement) today...and refused to take naps. We spent part of the day just sitting at the park--and having to constantly fight mosquitoes-- in an attempt to keep her from screaming.
5) My del Sol failed the inspection because it does not have a catalytic converter (thanks Jimmy, you failed to mention that when I bought it from you :-P )...so it's going to cost about $200 to get one installed.
6) The good news is that Josh washed and waxed the car for me for free!!

Here's a neat photo from a while back. There are four generations here--my grandparents, my dad, me, and Shona.

L to R: Grammie, Uncle Ernie, Josh, Grandpa, Dad, Caleb holding Shona, and me

Okay, I guess that's it for now. I asked Nat if he has anything to include but he has nothing to say. :( Sorry yall, maybe next time. :)

New pictures!

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:45:00 +0000

Why I don't shop at Toys R Us

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Today Shona and I went to Toys R Us to buy her an outdoor swing. I was reminded of why I don't shop there--they have waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much stuff I want to buy! Seriously, that store is amazing. I'm talking like, a whole aisle of baby soaps, lotions, diaper creams; a whole line of all natural cleaners (totally safe for baby to touch); gorgeous baby clothes and shoes; and then toys...okay, let's not go there. Now I know for sure that I'm NOT going to visit Babies R Us, because that would be double trouble.

Oh yeah, I have a few photos to include...these are some of my favorites so far.

Shona is 6 months old!

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Okay, Blogger is refusing to let me rearrange photos. This photo at the top is one that I recently found on my cell phone. I am holding...guess who? It's not Shona. This is Benjamin, when he was about 7 months old. (Rach, correct me if I'm wrong.) I think Shona looks somewhat like him!

And here are some recent photos of Shona (as in, mostly from yesterday). She is now 6 months old!!! [Edited to add: Shona weighs 15 lbs and is 25 in. long.)

The party last night

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Last night was Tiph's 20th birthday party. Here are some photos, starting with Caleb and Craig doing "Daddy duty".... ;-) Just kidding.

Yesterday vs. today

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:49:00 +0000

Yesterday, I decided I didn't even want to think about "baby food" until Shona is like, a year old.

Today found me making my own baby food. So far we have apples--enough to last until she's 30--and avocado. I'm going to attempt pumpkin next.

Now, I only said I'm MAKING baby food; I didn't say Shona's going to start eating it everyday. But she's certainly showing all the signs of being ready, and last night she ate pears (organic, of course) like a pro and slept amazingly. So much for my plans to EBF for the first 12 months. What am I going to do next??!!

Things not to do during a 2 hour outing

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:09:00 +0000

Honk at another driver, even if they did suddenly back out into the highway, into your lane, while you are traveling at 60 mph. Honking at another driver can result in said driver becoming aggressive. Enough said.
Dress your baby in summer clothes before leaving the house, hence being caught unprepared when unexpected cool front hits
Attempt to order $100 prescription at CVS, using invalid discount card. (Pediatrician's fault - the company that issued the discount card has since merged with another company.)
Stop in at HEB (unwittingly) the day a $76M lottery ticket was sold. This means dodging dozens of news anchors and people with video cameras.

It was obviously a lovely outing.

Day at the beach

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:35:00 +0000

This was October 17th - Elijah's birthday!! We had a day at the beach with Caleb's parents, and Sharon, Elijah and Noah. It was SO fun! Shona enjoyed it too.

Picnic at the park

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Okay, somewhere between October 7 and today, we had a picnic at the park with Caleb's family. (Lately my brain has been hopeless when it comes to remembering dates.) I really, really, really enjoyed it. The weather was fairly cool, so I was able to carry Shona around in the sling without her getting too hot. Mercy brought Luska, and Luska had fun jumping into the lake and fetching things.

Excuse my messy hair!! I can't believe I spent the afternoon looking like that. :-D LOL.

Many thanks to Aunty Rachel for this lovely jacket! It was VERY useful!!

Warning: lots of photos of Shona

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:49:00 +0000

Sooo...where did I leave off last time? Oh yes, I posted photos of National Night Out. That was October 6. The next day was my birthday--and let's not get into unnecessary details like, how old I am--but even if (*if*) I got older, it was worth it because I got really special treatment. 1.) Caleb took me out for dinner at the Italian Deli here in town. I really enjoyed it. It was such a cute little place and the food was amazing. 2.) Nat surprised me with a turbo vacuum. Yep, if Nat buys something, it's gotta be turbo. ;-) But hey, it's a pretty powerful vacuum! 3.) Sarah gave me a wicker bench and ottoman (photo is somewhere below), and she and I spent the day repainting it and it looks as good as new. 4.) Caleb bought me a laptop!!! And it's pink! It just arrived yesterday, actually. It has a 500 GB hard drive, so it's just perfect for storing all my millions of pictures. :-P

Okay, here I am on my way to the Italian Deli with Caleb and Shona:

Here is Shona on the way to the restaurant. She looks smug. I think she thought it was her birthday.

Here is the bench and ottoman from Sarah:

Here is a random photo of Shona eating a book. Don't worry, it was a nutritious one.

This is a before and after photo so you can see how Shona scoots around. It's kinda old, though. She scoots a lot more now.

Straight out of the tub, looking very cuddly:

Mommy and Shona - some random day:

Being silly:

Enjoying her jumperoo:

Just being her cute self:

All ready for bed:

"Do you work?"

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:07:00 +0000

Why yes, I work. During the night, I get up to feed or soothe my fussing baby (sometimes a dozen times), and during the day I change diapers, bathe, feed and play with my baby, carry her around during most of her waking moments (only way to keep her happy right now), and soothe her to sleep at nap times; plan meals, go grocery shopping, cook; pay bills, reorganize budget, reply to emails; vacuum, mop, clean toilets, scrub floors, wash dishes, pack my husband's lunch for the next day, etc.; wash, dry, and put away laundry; wash, dry and put away diapers; wash, dry and put away baby clothes....the list could go on. I'm pretty sure if I was employed by Molly Maids as a housekeeper, or by Little Happy Smiley Faces Daycare (or whatever) as a childcare worker, or Coastline Accounting Services as a secretary, people would have no problem considering me "employed." So, how about I work for my husband, clean my own house, and take care of my own child? Am I any less "employed"? After all, the definition of employ is something along the lines of "to hire or engage the services of a person or persons" (Dictionary.com).

I was recently asked that question, "So, do you work?" No big deal, right? Well, I have been silently observing an online longstanding debate between working vs. "non-working" women...and I must say, I just don't see how sitting in an office, in front of a computer, working for a boss, is any more special or dignified than me working for my best friend (my husband), in our own home. Besides, you (that's the generic "you") are "just another employee" and if you left your job, chances are, no one would remember you a decade later. On the other hand, if a devoted wife and mother "resigned" her position, there would be some real impact.

This is not a stab at working mothers who have to support their children. This is not a stab at anyone. But I remember all those years that my mother tirelessly devoted to caring for her family, only to have people constantly make remarks like, "So, all you do is stay home with your kids?" "You mean you don't have a job?" "You should do something with yourself." Well I think she DID do something with herself. She lovingly raised 7 children!

Now for a couple quotes from a book I'm reading. If you'd like to know the title of the book, please email me.

"What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow." -- Martin Luther

"Of course, much of the world would agree that being a housekeeper is acceptable as long as you are not caring for your own home; treating men with attentive devotion would also be right as long as the man is the boss in the office and not your husband; caring for children would even been deemed heroic service for which presidential awards could be given as long as the children are someone else's and not your own." -- Dorothy Patterson

The purpose of this post is not to talk about how much stuff I do. All I do is the normal stuff that any mother/wife does, whether she's a working mom or a SAHM...the exception being that a working mom *generally* (though not always) has someone else care for her child while she is at work. My point is, because I choose to stay home and care for my child myself, and you go to work in an office (or wherever) while someone else cares for your child, does not mean you have a real job and I don't.

Rant over. Again, this is not directed at anyone. Mainly just some thoughts I wanted to share (aww, I'm so kind, huh? :-)) after reading the book I mentioned earlier.

It is not my intention to offend anyone; it is not my intention to hurt any feelings; but neither is it my intention to spend my life smiling and saying, "No, I don't work. I'm just a housewife."

Thank you for your time. :-)

National Night Out

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:22:00 +0000

These are my photos from National Night Out. Not the greatest pics, but I'm posting them anyway. Our neighborhood was visited by the town's firefighters, EMT's, regular police, police on bikes, and undercover police/detectives/investigators. Five departments!!! Aren't we special. :-) Sorry I didn't manage to get photos of the fire truck or ambulance.

Soooo...

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:18:00 +0000

Just a few new pictures. I need to post ones from National Night Out, but I don't know if I'll get that done today or not.

Clothes courtesy of Meemaw (Caleb's mom); legwarmers & headband courtesy of Etsy.com; flower courtesy of Mommy. :-) She was dressed up to go to the store (to get eggs) with Caleb.

Caleb and Shona. She LOVES her daddy!

I love her smile!

"Hmm, this looks tasty..."

"Yep, delicious! Just like I thought."

Your baby's emotional health and development

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:23:00 +0000

I've been meaning to post this wee excerpt from something I read about emotional health and development in babies. I really like what it says because it just sums up exactly how I feel about the subject (and maybe cos it also makes me feel justified in being so crazily happy. ;-) But it makes Shona happy...and I don't mind doing ridiculous things to make her laugh. :-))

==================================================================

Be joyful. Joy is the other side of healthy attachment. Breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and slinging are all excellent attachment actions, but they will be nullified if you are not feeling joy while you do them. A mother in Australia became frustrated because in her words, “I did it all. I nursed till they were three. I was always home and never left them, but still they struggle.” I discussed this with her, and she revealed that she had been miserable, anxious, and depressed when the children were young. She was unhappy with the father, and she didn’t feel understood, heard, or loved. She was absent of joy. It’s imperative to find the joy in life because your energy is shared by everyone, especially your baby. If you need to see a counselor, talk to friends, engage in hobbies, or join a mothering group, do it! This time in your baby’s life is far too short for the two of you to not be “in joy” with one another. And what is joy? It’s merely an alive expression of love.

Just some bits of nonsense

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:20:00 +0000

So hmm...what shall I say? I have some photos to upload but I don't think I'll get around to doing that today. Shona is napping right now, and she's probably going to wake up any moment.

Today I finished planting all my flowers. Yay!! (I need to take photos of the new flower bed.) Also, I made stuff for National Night Out. Yep, it's that time of year again. We're meeting in the cul de sac at 6 this evening. Last year, I was pregnant...and this time, I have a lovely 5 month old baby. :-)

Yesterday Shona and I did some MEGA shopping - grocery shopping, that is. We went to FOUR different stores in order to get everything we needed. So hopefully I won't have to go back for a long time, because I made a detailed shopping list for each store, and I didn't forget anything! Amazing, huh?

At one of the stores, I spent several minutes explaining to a lady what it means to "buy something online...." She had asked where I got Shona's headband. A little while later, I heard her on the next aisle, "I love that shirt. Now where did you get it?" And then a bit later, "I love that purse. Where did you get it?" And on, and on, and on! Soooo, I dunno if she was just crazy, or if she really liked Shona's headband, and that guy's shirt, and the lady's purse, and that kid's socks, and...well, you get my point. But anyway.

Um, so what else? Caleb has been going to work at 6:30 am, which means he gets home earlier and I get to spend more time with him. It's been nice! Now if only the mosquitoes would go away, maybe we could actually spend some time outside or go to the park or something. Shona currently has a mosquito bite on her arm, her leg and her toe. We try sooooo hard to keep her from getting bit, but they still manage to get to her.

Oh, I made peanut butter cookies today. That was the first time I'd made cookies in...well, let's just say a long time. I've certainly not made any since Shona was born.

Okay, I guess that's everything in my brain right now that's safe to post on Blogger. I don't particularly want to put my home address up here.

Cheers!

Forgot to include these in the previous post

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:58:00 +0000

Sleep - or the lack therof

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:09:00 +0000

Forgive me for bringing up this topic again. However, if you do not wish to read about it, may I respectfully suggest you go fishing instead?

Shona used to sleep a 5 hour stretch, fairly regularly. Sometimes she even slept 7 hours. Not anymore! And I am really not sure what to do. A couple nights ago, I put Shona to bed around 8:30 p.m. By 2:30 a.m., I'd already had to put her back to sleep 7 times! Every night, she wakes up 3 times within the first hour that I put her to bed. It's usually pretty easy to get her back to sleep those first few times. But at some point during the night (or more like, very early hours of the morning) she's started having screaming fits like she's in a lot of pain. Sometimes they last 40 minutes. It's getting pretty exhausting. So basically, she's gone from sleeping 5 hour stretches to now sleeping no more than 2 hours at a time. I thought it was supposed to get better by now????

Shona, wearing a dress from Aunty Rachel. It *used* to be a lighter color. That is, until I accidentally washed it with something too dark. But it's still really cute, and she still wears it a lot...even though it's getting waaaaaaay to small!

Shona at the beach on Saturday. She loved it!

Hanging out with Daddy. Basically her favorite thing to do!

In the stroller, watching Mommy sweep the driveway:

Going for a walk. Her personality is really starting to show!

Shona in the hammock. Caleb hung this hammock for me, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Shona does too.

Shannon keeping watch.

Shannon. Look at her cheesy grin!

Some of the flowers I'm growing:

Bedtime - Shona in her pajamas:

Shona and Mommy. Does she look like me at all?

Photos

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Nome, here's Shona wearing the cardigan you knitted for her. :)

So it was a good day...

Daisy84@gmail.com (Daisy) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:51:00 +0000

Yep, today was great--and I got a *lot* done. Shona took a 2 hour nap at one point, and I realized once again just how much I can get done in two hours. I re-organized our closet, tidied and dusted the sitting room, dusted/washed the ceiling fan, did a load of diapers, did a load of clothes, vacuumed, tidied the nursery, cooked bacon-stuffed chicken breasts with sauteed mushrooms on top (for supper), and sorted through a lot of papers, clothes, and random junk.

The weather is FANTASTIC right now. I took Shona to the park but we were swarmed by mosquitoes and had to go right back home. I thought the cooler weather would drive them away, but apparently not.

This is kind of off topic, but I have to agree with those who left comments on Of shopping woes and other things and said that they don't always find shopping lists to be incredibly helpful. I almost never go to the store without a list...but my lists often say something like: Milk, juice, stuff for supper, water, flour. Okay, obviously, I intend to buy more than those few things; but when I sit down (or rather, stand at the kitchen counter with Shona on my hip) to make a list before going to the store, I can't really remember what to put on the list. Or Shona is getting really fussy and I don't have time to write a detailed list. (Seriously, if I hardly have time to eat, it's unlikely that I have time to write a fancy, organized list of What to Buy at the Store. But like Sharon said, my memory is usually triggered when I see something in the store. "Carrots. Oh yeah, I need carrots." And like Mercy said, even when I have a list, I still wander from one end of the store to the other. And finally, as Rachel commented, even with a list, I still get home to find that I forgot things.

Okay, pity party over. But I do hope I recover my brain someday so I can enjoy it before Alzheimer's sets in.

Photos to come in next post.