For someone who has never had a thing for New Year's resolutions, I've got a pretty long list, which will get longer as the year progresses. I will admit...I'm still not going about it the traditional way. As you can see, we are week into the new year and I've just finished a preliminary list. This speaks to one of my first resolutions...in a word, flexibility.
Goal 1. Flexibility.
I would like to start the year off right by giving myself the opportunity to embrace flexibility...in my diet, my daily exercise, my endless to-do list...you name it. It is all too often that I beat myself up for not getting enough done in a day or for cheating on a diet or for skipping a workout. I now have a baby, and while I do not want to use having a baby as an excuse for avoiding things that I might not want to do, this year I am trying to remind myself that sometimes things just don't get done..and that's ok.
Goal 2. Healthy Diet.
Isaiah started solids on Jan 2nd (oh my god! I know!) and I am still desperate to lose the rest of the baby weight. Clearly a focus on diet is in order. While we are not fast food junkies or anything, I do cook like the Midwesterner that I am...lots of cheese and potatoes and such. I hope that "leading by example" will benefit us in the long run here... this is the year we learn to eat our veggies. :) I would love to eat entirely organic, but this is totally unreasonable from a financial standpoint. Instead I am making sure that Isaiah's diet is organic. This goal has turned out to be a blast so far. I've started making homemade baby food from organic produce.
Goal 3. Family Cookbook.
In order to keep our diet interesting...and to find ways to get my husband to eat broccoli, ha...I am trying at least 1 new recipe a week. So far this is working out great, but I have learned that any more than 2 or 3 new recipes gets to be a bit much....especially if they suck 3 nights in a row! I would like each new recipe that gets a thumbs up from both of us to go into a family recipe book that I'm creating. I don't plan on only having 1 child and I do plan on going back to work eventually...a book brimming with tested, healthy recipes will be priceless in the future I'm sure.
Goal 4. Exercise.
Mark and I used to exercise regularly. When we first met we probably would have described each other as athletic...today we are not quite as athletic as we once were. I am not going to commit myself to working out for an hour a day 7 days a week all year long, but I am starting out that way. I busted out our old P90X videos, which is an extremely intense home workout program. Of course, I can't get through the standard version that we used to do every morning at 4am (ugh!), but I've decided to start with the less intense program and am modifying exercises that are too difficult. Currently I workout for an hour a day (or longer if I have a fussy baby break, or two) and I rotate through core-focused exercises, cardio, shoulder and arm strength, ab work, yoga, leg and back strength, cardio kenpo (think Tae-Bo on steroids), and stretching. Once I finish the first 90 days, I'll re-evaluate my workouts and I am almost certain I'll cut back to working out every other day or so. I don't like exercise enough to workout every day, but I do want to be able to get back to rock climbing and hiking advanced trails once summer hits so I'll be kicking my own ass for awhile...I hope.
Goal 5. Craftivism.
Knitting and other crafty endeavors are not just a creative outlet...for me it is like meditation. I use it to relax. I only have to focus on 1 thing...my pattern. It is wonderful! This year I hope to share some of the thing I make with others so I have set a goal of making at least 1 item a month to give to a charitable cause.
Goal 6. Again with the Crafts!
I have a book of 365 different knitting patterns and have told myself for years that I would knit 1 a day. This is the year that I will actually do it...and I plan on knitting the swatches together to make a big blanket.
Goal 7. Write.
Whether its a silly children's poem for Isaiah or one of those more serious writing projects I have stuffed up my sleeve, I plan on taking the time to write something each week. When the focus of your life is writing for at least 8 hours a day every day, its pretty hard to imagine being out of practice...but it does happen. I look back on my previous blogs and it takes every bit of my will power not to go back and correct errors. I know once I start fixing things I won't stop and I'll end up re-writing an entire blog entry that I published months ago...how silly is that?! I could take the time to write my blogs carefully I suppose, but that sort of takes away for the spirit of the blog. Not to mention that I would never post anything because I would write...and re-write..then move this paragraph over here...you get the idea.
Goal 8. Read.
I need to spend more time reading adult things. I used to read constantly, especially when I was on bedrest. I haven't taken the time since Isaiah was born (gee, I wonder why :). This shouldn't be a difficult goal. I read to Isaiah every morning and every night...its usually Shel Silverstein poems, but I take the time to read nonetheless. I intend to replace one of those readings with something I'm interested in. Yay me!
I'd also like too:
- Reach pre-pregnancy weight, fitness level, and/or pant-size
- Keep a daily activity schedule for the month of Jan. I do this for Isaiah's diet since he is starting new foods and for his naps so I can try to get him on a relatively consistent schedule. I might as well do it for myself to make sure I'm sticking with my nutrition goals and to determine where all my precious time goes! Am I wasting too much time watching Oprah or am I actually keeping myself as busy as it feels?
I do have a long list of other things I'd like to try this year, but none of these are goals I am 100% committed to at present. Some of them include:
- Trying a new craft...potentially getting more involved paper crafts, recycled crafts, etc.
- Start a container garden with fresh herbs for the kitchen.
- Look into starting a home compost for the container garden.
- Paint the kitchen, sitting room, hallway, and master bath.
- Set up the office in the basement.
I'm sure I'll continue to add to the list of things I want to do this year...but that's a start. I am curious to see how dramatically I'll roll my eyes as I look back on this blog at the end of the year, while I wonder what the hell I was thinking. haha.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Reflecting on 2008
A friend posted this end-of-year meme on her blog, so I thought I'd do the same. Enjoy!
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? There were 2 biggies...1) I had a baby, and 2) For the first time in my adult life I did not earn an income...I refuse to say I'm jobless because I still work to earn my keep every day ;)
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I've never been one for resolutions, but this year will be different (I'll expand on this in another blog).
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I knew 12 people that had a baby last year...All but 2 were boys! Of course, the fact that my cousin had her son Benny only 1 month after I had Isaiah was ubber cool in my book. I can't wait to see them grow up and create mischeif together.
4. Did anyone close to you die? I lost my grandmother and was very sad to see people close to me lose loved ones as well. :(
5. What countries did you visit? None.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? ENERGY!
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 28th - gave birth to my son. Nov 3rd - my grandmother passed. Dec 4th - found out my mom has cancer.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Being a mommy!
9. What was your biggest failure? Not sticking to a healthy diet and consistent exercise.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had some difficulties with my pregnancy, but I wouldn't call that illness or injury.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Nutramigen!!!!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Mark!!! He worked looong days 6-7 days a week, helped around the house when I was on bedrest, stayed up all night with the baby when I was recovering from a c-section, and was always supportive...whether I wanted to go back to work or stay home with our son. Currently, I'm staying home with Isaiah.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I won't name names, but a few people win this award for the year. This is unusual since I can only think a handful of people that have disappointed me over my entire life.
14. Where did most of your money go? Hospital Bills!!!!
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Definitely having a healthy baby boy who I love more and more every day.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? That Cher song that they play on the Biggest Loser shows...Only because I hear it all the damn time...I keep watching Biggest Loser marathon shows. How sad is that?!
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier!
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter, way fatter!
c) richer or poorer? Poorer financially but richer in love and family. (This was Sam's answer and I think its perfect so I'm keeping it :)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? I wish I'd done more writing and working toward career goals.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Watching TV. We plugged in for the first time in a long time...its evil, so evil.
20. How did you spend Christmas? With my parents in the afternoon...with Mark's best friend and his family in the evening.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008? Oh yes...I love you, Isaiah!
22. What was your favorite TV program? Top Chef!!!
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nope.
24. What was the best book you read? hmm...Probably "Birth: The Surprising History of How We are Born" by Tina Cassidy.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Putamayo Kids series
26. What did you want and get? A healthy baby
27. What did you want and not get? a stress-free existence. :) haha
28. What was your favorite film of this year? I think this was the year of shitty movies...that being said I really liked Eagle Eye, but that might be because it was the last movie I watched.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 32 and honestly do not remember. Isaiah was only 2 weeks old at the time so I'm sure I was on zombie, new mommy mode.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A easier pregnancy...maybe next time. :)
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? FASHION?! haha. Elastic waistbands and oversized shirts...I think I lose the fashion contest.
32. What kept you sane? My blog and crafty projects.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? OBAMA!
34. What political issue stirred you the most? Oh that would have to be the Palin factor. Her views, and more importantly, the manner in which she promoted her views were offensive, close-minded, ignorant, hypocritical (she is a Christian is she not, but were her actions Christlike? I think not), and un-American (America is not about rallying a self-righteous "moral" majority to reign over the rest of us, I believe that was a motivating factor in fighting for independence).
35. Who did you miss? My sister. She did visit for several weeks, but sadly returned to East Africa in November.
36. Who was the best new person you met? my son
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. We are all stronger than we think we are.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. I couldn't think of a song lyric so I chose this instead, "The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” - Buddha.
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? There were 2 biggies...1) I had a baby, and 2) For the first time in my adult life I did not earn an income...I refuse to say I'm jobless because I still work to earn my keep every day ;)
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I've never been one for resolutions, but this year will be different (I'll expand on this in another blog).
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I knew 12 people that had a baby last year...All but 2 were boys! Of course, the fact that my cousin had her son Benny only 1 month after I had Isaiah was ubber cool in my book. I can't wait to see them grow up and create mischeif together.
4. Did anyone close to you die? I lost my grandmother and was very sad to see people close to me lose loved ones as well. :(
5. What countries did you visit? None.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? ENERGY!
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 28th - gave birth to my son. Nov 3rd - my grandmother passed. Dec 4th - found out my mom has cancer.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Being a mommy!
9. What was your biggest failure? Not sticking to a healthy diet and consistent exercise.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had some difficulties with my pregnancy, but I wouldn't call that illness or injury.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Nutramigen!!!!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Mark!!! He worked looong days 6-7 days a week, helped around the house when I was on bedrest, stayed up all night with the baby when I was recovering from a c-section, and was always supportive...whether I wanted to go back to work or stay home with our son. Currently, I'm staying home with Isaiah.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I won't name names, but a few people win this award for the year. This is unusual since I can only think a handful of people that have disappointed me over my entire life.
14. Where did most of your money go? Hospital Bills!!!!
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Definitely having a healthy baby boy who I love more and more every day.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? That Cher song that they play on the Biggest Loser shows...Only because I hear it all the damn time...I keep watching Biggest Loser marathon shows. How sad is that?!
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier!
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter, way fatter!
c) richer or poorer? Poorer financially but richer in love and family. (This was Sam's answer and I think its perfect so I'm keeping it :)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? I wish I'd done more writing and working toward career goals.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Watching TV. We plugged in for the first time in a long time...its evil, so evil.
20. How did you spend Christmas? With my parents in the afternoon...with Mark's best friend and his family in the evening.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008? Oh yes...I love you, Isaiah!
22. What was your favorite TV program? Top Chef!!!
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nope.
24. What was the best book you read? hmm...Probably "Birth: The Surprising History of How We are Born" by Tina Cassidy.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Putamayo Kids series
26. What did you want and get? A healthy baby
27. What did you want and not get? a stress-free existence. :) haha
28. What was your favorite film of this year? I think this was the year of shitty movies...that being said I really liked Eagle Eye, but that might be because it was the last movie I watched.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 32 and honestly do not remember. Isaiah was only 2 weeks old at the time so I'm sure I was on zombie, new mommy mode.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A easier pregnancy...maybe next time. :)
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? FASHION?! haha. Elastic waistbands and oversized shirts...I think I lose the fashion contest.
32. What kept you sane? My blog and crafty projects.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? OBAMA!
34. What political issue stirred you the most? Oh that would have to be the Palin factor. Her views, and more importantly, the manner in which she promoted her views were offensive, close-minded, ignorant, hypocritical (she is a Christian is she not, but were her actions Christlike? I think not), and un-American (America is not about rallying a self-righteous "moral" majority to reign over the rest of us, I believe that was a motivating factor in fighting for independence).
35. Who did you miss? My sister. She did visit for several weeks, but sadly returned to East Africa in November.
36. Who was the best new person you met? my son
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. We are all stronger than we think we are.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. I couldn't think of a song lyric so I chose this instead, "The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” - Buddha.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Randomness
During the holidays I feel particularly crafty and this year was no exception. Generally I make a lot of my gifts...I just think it means more. This year I planned to make cookies, my secret banana bread and various knitted items....well...sometimes plans change. It appears I didn't even mail a single Christmas card. Sorry peeps! Since almost everyone is in the same boat this year, most of my friends and family agreed NOT to exchange gifts this year. With a new baby in the house I have to admit I was relieved and dropped the ball entirely. To fulfill my crafty desires, without spending any cash, I dove into my box of randomness (eg, yarn, fabric, textured papers, etc).
I started with crocheted snowflake ornaments...make that ornament..singular. What a freakin' anxiety-inducing pain in the ass! I made the smallest one in the book (about 1" in diameter) and gave in. No wonder this crap had been sitting around for years...I subconsciously knew it would suck.
I then found partial skeins of green, red, brown and multicolored yarn so I made Mark, Isaiah, and myself stockings.
I moved onto to a fabulous ball of handspun yarn. My friend Robyn (the crafiest of them all) spun it herself and gave it to me as a gift. I grabbed what was left of the scrap yarn and made myself a cozy shoulder wrap. I think I'm going to put buttons on the far edges and make big kimono-like sleeves...I'll call it granny bat wings!
The last item is a Kusudama...a bunch of origami flowers glued together in a ball. I totally stole this idea from the Yoda of crafts mentioned above...Robyn. I made a small one out of scraps cut from old magazines (also Robyn's idea). I loved it so much I tore apart some crappy old book of angel pictures that I had (I don't know why) and made one for my mom. Each flower had a word on it like Miracle or Love:)
Other random shit that's fabulous...
Exhibit A
I found this image posted on Craftzine.com...these people pressed their bodies into the fresh, powdery snow on a car windshield. Now I'm totally going to have to try this sometime.
Exhibit B
www.craftingagreenworld.com... my new favorite crafty site. I found it via an artice on "Craftivism" (a crafting/activism combo) what a pleasant thought. I stumbled upon this newly coined term via a Chemo Caps website. I made a few for my mom recently and found a website dedicated to knitting caps for cancer patients. I don' see myself trekking through rainforests again any time in the near future, but that doesn't mean I can't contribute. Craftivism is a fabulous idea...don't ya think?
Exhbit B-2
The Knit One, Save One Campaign. Need I say more?
Exhibit C
The Tushy Cushy...essentially a handmade boppy. Awww. I found this at my favorite knitting site.. Knitty.com.
Exibit D
Ok...so maybe this isn't fabulous, but you have to admit the commitment is impressive.
Exhibit E
I'm all for recycled crafts...it is quite fun, but the prude in me says no way! I give you....the bra purse. Yes, it is true. What was once a bra can be your next handbag on date night. Scandalous!
I started with crocheted snowflake ornaments...make that ornament..singular. What a freakin' anxiety-inducing pain in the ass! I made the smallest one in the book (about 1" in diameter) and gave in. No wonder this crap had been sitting around for years...I subconsciously knew it would suck.
I then found partial skeins of green, red, brown and multicolored yarn so I made Mark, Isaiah, and myself stockings.
I moved onto to a fabulous ball of handspun yarn. My friend Robyn (the crafiest of them all) spun it herself and gave it to me as a gift. I grabbed what was left of the scrap yarn and made myself a cozy shoulder wrap. I think I'm going to put buttons on the far edges and make big kimono-like sleeves...I'll call it granny bat wings!
The last item is a Kusudama...a bunch of origami flowers glued together in a ball. I totally stole this idea from the Yoda of crafts mentioned above...Robyn. I made a small one out of scraps cut from old magazines (also Robyn's idea). I loved it so much I tore apart some crappy old book of angel pictures that I had (I don't know why) and made one for my mom. Each flower had a word on it like Miracle or Love:)
Other random shit that's fabulous...
Exhibit A
I found this image posted on Craftzine.com...these people pressed their bodies into the fresh, powdery snow on a car windshield. Now I'm totally going to have to try this sometime.
Exhibit B
www.craftingagreenworld.com... my new favorite crafty site. I found it via an artice on "Craftivism" (a crafting/activism combo) what a pleasant thought. I stumbled upon this newly coined term via a Chemo Caps website. I made a few for my mom recently and found a website dedicated to knitting caps for cancer patients. I don' see myself trekking through rainforests again any time in the near future, but that doesn't mean I can't contribute. Craftivism is a fabulous idea...don't ya think?
Exhbit B-2
The Knit One, Save One Campaign. Need I say more?
Exhibit C
The Tushy Cushy...essentially a handmade boppy. Awww. I found this at my favorite knitting site.. Knitty.com.
Exibit D
Ok...so maybe this isn't fabulous, but you have to admit the commitment is impressive.
Exhibit E
I'm all for recycled crafts...it is quite fun, but the prude in me says no way! I give you....the bra purse. Yes, it is true. What was once a bra can be your next handbag on date night. Scandalous!
Merry Christmas!
We had a damn nice Christmas this year. :) It was much busier than we had anticipated, but I think that made the day turn out better. Our little early bird woke us, as always, around 6:30am. I made a big breakfast, we lounged and watched the morning news, I sewed new buttons on Isaiah's overalls (damn baby is almost as tall as me), gave Isaiah a bath, etc. And then...the clock suddenly said 10:15 and we wondered where the time had gone. Mark and I both had to shower, dress, primp, round up the dogs, warm up the car, and pack baby shit (an attempt to not be as ill prepared as usual...though we were still ill prepared, as usual).
We arrived at my parent's house shortly after 11AM and I was impressed with how quickly we managed to get our shit together at the last minute. The 3 of us had lunch with my mom and dad and followed that up with Isaiah's First Christmas/Gift Opening Extravaganza. He got books and puzzles and a crazy rocking giraffe (as in rocking horse that looks like a giraffe). Among the many gifts from grandma and grandpa were a baby V-Tech laptop (Mark's favorite) and a musical gym. We put the gym together on the spot to see if Isaiah had any interest. My expectation was that it would take him a few days to figure it out...I was so wrong. He was entranced immediately. This continues to reinforce my belief that Isaiah will have a strong love of music. I was starting to believe this for the following reasons:
1. Only a few weeks ago we started playing a lullabies CD from the Putamayo Kids series during Isaiah's bedtime (the focus is world music in various languages from Swahili to Spanish). He sleeps so much better with a little quiet music playing.
2. He typically enjoys playtime more when music is playing. For instance, if he is in his jumperoo, he is more likely to jump about if we have the musical toys playing.
3. When he is upset I can usually calm him down with a sing song type voice (although I think this is probably true of all babies).
4. Isaiah threw a tantrum at a friend's house the other day. We both did everything we could think of to calm his cries...none of my usual tricks worked. Then Maya had the idea to play her favorite Thai music for him. He was immediately interested. The tears stopped about as quickly as they started. I was impressed! Now I will forever be armed with a CD...another tool in my bag of tricks.
5. Isaiah clearly has a preference for certain music. He prefers island-style songs, Jack Johnson, and world music with a softness to it. This is so exciting to me since I am completely devoid of any musical talent. If it turns out that Isaiah has musical abilities similar to my own, at least he will have grown up with an appreciate for music from other cultures. This will be wonderful in itself since Mark and I would like to expose our children to as many cultures as possible during their childhood. Clearly, music is an important part of every culture. (I could go on and on about the importance of cultural diversity, but I will save it for another day)
Ok...can I go off on a tangent or what?! So as I was saying we had a nice, albeit busy, Christmas day. We spent the afternoon at my parents, followed by an evening at Mark's best friend's house. He has 2 little boys around 6 and 8 years old. When I walked in the door I was completely speechless. The toy carnage was unbelievable. Thems some spoiled little boys. My son will never see a Christmas like this...even if we strike it rich. That's about all I'm going to say about that.
I know Aunt Jen is dying to see more footage of her nephew...I'm sure the rest of you will finding this unnecessarily boring.
We arrived at my parent's house shortly after 11AM and I was impressed with how quickly we managed to get our shit together at the last minute. The 3 of us had lunch with my mom and dad and followed that up with Isaiah's First Christmas/Gift Opening Extravaganza. He got books and puzzles and a crazy rocking giraffe (as in rocking horse that looks like a giraffe). Among the many gifts from grandma and grandpa were a baby V-Tech laptop (Mark's favorite) and a musical gym. We put the gym together on the spot to see if Isaiah had any interest. My expectation was that it would take him a few days to figure it out...I was so wrong. He was entranced immediately. This continues to reinforce my belief that Isaiah will have a strong love of music. I was starting to believe this for the following reasons:
1. Only a few weeks ago we started playing a lullabies CD from the Putamayo Kids series during Isaiah's bedtime (the focus is world music in various languages from Swahili to Spanish). He sleeps so much better with a little quiet music playing.
2. He typically enjoys playtime more when music is playing. For instance, if he is in his jumperoo, he is more likely to jump about if we have the musical toys playing.
3. When he is upset I can usually calm him down with a sing song type voice (although I think this is probably true of all babies).
4. Isaiah threw a tantrum at a friend's house the other day. We both did everything we could think of to calm his cries...none of my usual tricks worked. Then Maya had the idea to play her favorite Thai music for him. He was immediately interested. The tears stopped about as quickly as they started. I was impressed! Now I will forever be armed with a CD...another tool in my bag of tricks.
5. Isaiah clearly has a preference for certain music. He prefers island-style songs, Jack Johnson, and world music with a softness to it. This is so exciting to me since I am completely devoid of any musical talent. If it turns out that Isaiah has musical abilities similar to my own, at least he will have grown up with an appreciate for music from other cultures. This will be wonderful in itself since Mark and I would like to expose our children to as many cultures as possible during their childhood. Clearly, music is an important part of every culture. (I could go on and on about the importance of cultural diversity, but I will save it for another day)
Ok...can I go off on a tangent or what?! So as I was saying we had a nice, albeit busy, Christmas day. We spent the afternoon at my parents, followed by an evening at Mark's best friend's house. He has 2 little boys around 6 and 8 years old. When I walked in the door I was completely speechless. The toy carnage was unbelievable. Thems some spoiled little boys. My son will never see a Christmas like this...even if we strike it rich. That's about all I'm going to say about that.
I know Aunt Jen is dying to see more footage of her nephew...I'm sure the rest of you will finding this unnecessarily boring.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Words of Wisdom...From the Fetal Position
My cousin Jamie and her husband Richard recently came back to IL for a visit. I think their main reason for coming back was for a burial we had for my grandmother. It was a very small event with immediate family only and was a nice way to get closure. On the up side, this visit also allowed us to introduce our new babies! Isaiah was born about 1 month before Benjamin. It was so amazing to see cute little Benny grunting and sleeping constantly...the way Isaiah was only a few weeks before. While they are only 1 month apart, it was so crazy to see what a HUGE difference a few weeks makes in an infant's life. I am excited for them to get a little older so they can actually play together.
Benny and Isaiah were able to go see Santa. It was insanely cold that day, but we all managed to squeeze into Santa's little hut on Main St...This was no minor feat as Jamie, Richard, Ashley (my other cousin), Santa, an elf, both babies, Mark and I crammed into a hut meant for about 3 adults. Jamie and I made silly noises and faces at the babies while the Mark and Richard took pictures. We managed to get a few good pics with both babies smiling, although most of the time poor Benny was pissed that some strange man was holding him and Isaiah decided he was hungry enough to try to eat Santa's beard. I wish we had video of the beard eating attempts. It was hilarious. I have some photos up on flicker.
Of course all of the fun with the babies was balanced with some sadness. My mother was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer. I guess she was having a hard time swallowing and went to the hospital Thanksgiving night. After a series of tests we learned it was cancer. I don't think its appropriate to write in detail about this topic on my blog. I would rather try to keep things light here. It is a really big deal though and not something that I want to pretend doesn't exist. So, from time to time I may blog about this new event in our lives. My goal is to try to find the humor, even in this, and share it on my blog. Hopefully this will be a way for our family (and me) to have a positive outlet.
So stay tuned if you like. My baby blog may be taking a bit of a turn toward the various other aspects of our lives...I have been thinking of a new title for the blog and I think it should be something like Words of Wisdom From the Fetal Position. haha!
Benny and Isaiah were able to go see Santa. It was insanely cold that day, but we all managed to squeeze into Santa's little hut on Main St...This was no minor feat as Jamie, Richard, Ashley (my other cousin), Santa, an elf, both babies, Mark and I crammed into a hut meant for about 3 adults. Jamie and I made silly noises and faces at the babies while the Mark and Richard took pictures. We managed to get a few good pics with both babies smiling, although most of the time poor Benny was pissed that some strange man was holding him and Isaiah decided he was hungry enough to try to eat Santa's beard. I wish we had video of the beard eating attempts. It was hilarious. I have some photos up on flicker.
Of course all of the fun with the babies was balanced with some sadness. My mother was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer. I guess she was having a hard time swallowing and went to the hospital Thanksgiving night. After a series of tests we learned it was cancer. I don't think its appropriate to write in detail about this topic on my blog. I would rather try to keep things light here. It is a really big deal though and not something that I want to pretend doesn't exist. So, from time to time I may blog about this new event in our lives. My goal is to try to find the humor, even in this, and share it on my blog. Hopefully this will be a way for our family (and me) to have a positive outlet.
So stay tuned if you like. My baby blog may be taking a bit of a turn toward the various other aspects of our lives...I have been thinking of a new title for the blog and I think it should be something like Words of Wisdom From the Fetal Position. haha!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Thanksgiving
So its December and I'm blogging about Thanksgiving, but what the hell. I don't really have much to say except to brag that I spent the entire day making a pretty traditional, but tasty Thanksgiving dinner. While this isn't the first Thanksgiving dinner I've made, it was Isaiah's first Thanksgiving. I don't know why that mattered to me since he couldn't eat any of it, but it did. With all the excitement of the previous months, Mark and I decided to have Thanksgiving at home with just the 3 of us. It was perfect and peaceful. Yes, I even made a 13 lb turkey (which then became endless sandwiches and casseroles). We had sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, spicy green beans, gravy, stuffing, and pumpkin pie...I think that's it...my memory seems to be failing me a bit.
We definitely ate too much and spent the evening finishing off a bottle of wine while watching movies in our PJs. It was FABULOUS! I even managed to squeeze Isaiah into the little turkey onesie we bought him months ago. I nearly had to cut the thing off of the poor child, but at least he got to wear it.
We did have a big family Thanksgiving at the Hopper's on Sunday as well, which fulfilled my desire to lounge around playing with babies all day/night waiting for someone else to call out, "dinner's ready!" I heart the Hoppers. Their oldest daughter is Mark's age and has a 5 month old so it was all about the babies. Mrs H sent me home with a plate full of various pies too...can't complain!
We definitely ate too much and spent the evening finishing off a bottle of wine while watching movies in our PJs. It was FABULOUS! I even managed to squeeze Isaiah into the little turkey onesie we bought him months ago. I nearly had to cut the thing off of the poor child, but at least he got to wear it.
We did have a big family Thanksgiving at the Hopper's on Sunday as well, which fulfilled my desire to lounge around playing with babies all day/night waiting for someone else to call out, "dinner's ready!" I heart the Hoppers. Their oldest daughter is Mark's age and has a 5 month old so it was all about the babies. Mrs H sent me home with a plate full of various pies too...can't complain!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
3 Months Old!
It is still amazing how quickly babies develop. From an outsider's perspective, it probably looks like little has changed. When I look at Isaiah, I see a completely different baby than the one we brought home 3 months ago. He used to sleep, poop, pee, and chirp, that's about it. He then started to cry, smile, stay awake longer, and play. Everyday he develops a more distinct identity.
I now know that he's very independent. Unlike many other babies, Isaiah will cry and cry and cry while you bounce him, tickle him, make funny faces, etc. In the end, he just wants to be left alone. He demonstrated this Sunday night when we went to the Hopper's for Thanksgiving dinner (we call them Mark's yankee family). Shortly after we all sat down to eat, Isaiah started getting fussy. I expected this despite the fact that we loaded him up with a big bottle beforehand. Thankfully, with 20 other people in the room there were plenty of willing arms to try to appease him. I happily finished my plate while everyone else tried to calm his cries... nothing worked. Even daddy couldn't get him to stop. As a last resort we started to undress him and change his diaper thinking maybe he was uncomfortable, but once we picked him up he got pissed all over again. I laid him on the couch next to me hoping he would cry himself to sleep, and then it happened...silence and smiles. He simply wanted everyone to leave him the hell alone! Ah-ha! He looks like daddy, but acts like mommy. I was wondering if this kid had any of my DNA.
Another new development in Isaiah's life is his increasing desire to be mobile...yet again, a move toward independence. It started about 2 weeks ago. He was no longer content to be held like a newborn baby (unless he's feeling icky, then its ok to be treated like a baby...haha). I can no longer sit with Isaiah cradled in my arms unless he is eating. He no longer likes to sleep on my chest. Instead he prefers to sit up in my lap facing the world, like a big boy. Yesterday I observed 2 new behaviors. First, if lying on the bed or the floor he can kick and wiggle himself to a new location. I call it the reverse crawl. He is also strong enough to lift his bum with his legs, combined the with kick and the wiggle, he can get some pretty serious distance. Second, daddy introduced him to standing. Uh-ooh. Isaiah spent a good part of the night bouncing or "standing" on Mark's lap. As soon as Mark tried to sit him down...tears...oh the tears. This helped us decide on Isaiah's Christmas present...a jumper of some sort. We had already decided on books, but were still up in the air about whether another massive toy would be worthwhile for him...the answer is certainly YES!
*************
Now that Jen is back in Africa (and has easier access to the internet...hooray!) I will try to post more videos of the little one.
This was Isaiah 1 Month ago. He was smiling a little and just starting to find the mobile interesting. Most of the time he sat quietly pondering the world, and I wondered if this meant that he would be one of those introverted, thinky, shy types.
As the days passed it became obvious this was only a temporary condition. This was Isaiah about 2 weeks later.
I now know that he's very independent. Unlike many other babies, Isaiah will cry and cry and cry while you bounce him, tickle him, make funny faces, etc. In the end, he just wants to be left alone. He demonstrated this Sunday night when we went to the Hopper's for Thanksgiving dinner (we call them Mark's yankee family). Shortly after we all sat down to eat, Isaiah started getting fussy. I expected this despite the fact that we loaded him up with a big bottle beforehand. Thankfully, with 20 other people in the room there were plenty of willing arms to try to appease him. I happily finished my plate while everyone else tried to calm his cries... nothing worked. Even daddy couldn't get him to stop. As a last resort we started to undress him and change his diaper thinking maybe he was uncomfortable, but once we picked him up he got pissed all over again. I laid him on the couch next to me hoping he would cry himself to sleep, and then it happened...silence and smiles. He simply wanted everyone to leave him the hell alone! Ah-ha! He looks like daddy, but acts like mommy. I was wondering if this kid had any of my DNA.
Another new development in Isaiah's life is his increasing desire to be mobile...yet again, a move toward independence. It started about 2 weeks ago. He was no longer content to be held like a newborn baby (unless he's feeling icky, then its ok to be treated like a baby...haha). I can no longer sit with Isaiah cradled in my arms unless he is eating. He no longer likes to sleep on my chest. Instead he prefers to sit up in my lap facing the world, like a big boy. Yesterday I observed 2 new behaviors. First, if lying on the bed or the floor he can kick and wiggle himself to a new location. I call it the reverse crawl. He is also strong enough to lift his bum with his legs, combined the with kick and the wiggle, he can get some pretty serious distance. Second, daddy introduced him to standing. Uh-ooh. Isaiah spent a good part of the night bouncing or "standing" on Mark's lap. As soon as Mark tried to sit him down...tears...oh the tears. This helped us decide on Isaiah's Christmas present...a jumper of some sort. We had already decided on books, but were still up in the air about whether another massive toy would be worthwhile for him...the answer is certainly YES!
*************
Now that Jen is back in Africa (and has easier access to the internet...hooray!) I will try to post more videos of the little one.
This was Isaiah 1 Month ago. He was smiling a little and just starting to find the mobile interesting. Most of the time he sat quietly pondering the world, and I wondered if this meant that he would be one of those introverted, thinky, shy types.
As the days passed it became obvious this was only a temporary condition. This was Isaiah about 2 weeks later.
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