Tooting my own horn

I think that phrase is so funny. Just the idea of tooting someone else's horn is gross. Spit in a musical instrument that is your own is gross enough, but someone else's? No thanks.

I digress. I have been knitting about a year now, and I had a baby shower to go to last week, so I decided to make a little hat. It was the first hat that I have made that actually turned out to be sort of newborn size. I am bad at sizing! Although it is far from perfect, I think it turned out pretty cute, and the mother to be seemed to really like it.

Excuses, Excuses

It has been almost a month since I have blogged. I wish I could say it is because I have been extra busy with the holidays and all. That isn't really the case. Closer to the truth is my husband has discovered Facebook and now intrudes on my nightly computer time, a time when I would frequently blog. The real truth is I didn't feel like writing about a great Christmas and happy new year and resolutions and all that. Don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful Christmas, probably one of the best we've had as a family. But I just wasn't in the mood to write about it. Or post pictures, especially since the camera memory card has a new residence inside the digital photo frame I got for Christmas, since I can't figure out how to put pictures on the frame without the card. I need to read the directions. Fun.

Kids are doing well. Bailey's back at school. It's hard to believe the school year is about half over. He is busy with scouts and piano and awaiting baseball to start in the spring (with dad as coach again). Mackenzie is still "potty learning", slowly. I will be happy when we go a whole day without an accident. She is really good at holding it when we are out and about, so I think that is a good sign. She just forgets to actually go to the potty to pee. I am trying my hardest to be patient, which I am 99% of the time. Naptime isn't going well. In fact, she has been in her crib for 1 1/2 hours and hasn't fallen asleep. No screaming, just a lot of jumping in the crib. This isn't child torture is it? I just really need there to still be naptime. Mackenzie is a busy child and still gets into things she shouldn't. I need that little time to myself. Selfish? Yes. But it helps me be a better mom. Or so I tell myself.

The weather this winter hasn't been too bad. Yet. But I am already counting down the days until spring. Life just seems so much happier when birds are chirping and the grass is green. And any day you can wear flip flops outside without the potential for frost bite is a good day.

My sort of resolution for 2009 is to not sweat the small stuff. I don't want to get upset about things that aren't going to matter in the long run, to get mad at the kids about things that aren't a big deal, to just be a more easygoing person. Go with the flow and be happy with whatever life has in store for me. Because this life is about learning and growing and becoming the best me I can be (as corny as that sounds). Although I hate it when life is hard, I know it is for my own good and I will be better and stronger because of it.

Naughty, not nice

It was an interesting day in our household. I had so much to do. I realized that Christmas was only 9 days away and I had to wrap and ship all of my family's gifts. Luckily I only needed to buy one last thing for their package, but I was running short on time. I decided that today would be the day to get that stuff taken care of. So I set Mackenzie in front of the TV, watching her favorite show of the moment, Spongebob. I was wrapping away in my bedroom, getting a lot done, when I realized that Spongebob was now over, but Mackenzie was still quiet. So I went to see what she was doing, and this was what I found:

She had taken off her underwear (yes, we are working on some potty training, it is going OK) and had put diaper rash cream on herself because she has had a rash, and decided she wanted to cover the rest of her body with it as well. Especially her hair! Yuck! So she immediately went into the bath tub:

Even after lots of scrubbing, it wasn't coming out! Oh well, I had things to do. So I tried to comb it out of her hair and this was the result:


I decided to give up. It wasn't too bad for around the house, but when we went out I was sure glad it was 25 degrees so she had a reason to wear a hat!

Later on, we had a little fun with her hair for a change. We gave her a mowhawk!



What a day. And the diaper cream isn't all the way out of Mackenzie's hair, although it is way better than it was. The secret is if you ever get anything greasy anywhere, use Dawn dishwashing soap. I am sure she will need another bath tomorrow, but at least I find it funny. Now.

L-A-Z-Y

Yup, that's me. LAZY. I have been too lazy to blog these days. Of course I have a million ideas of what I could write about, but that takes too much effort. So because of my laziness you will not get to read a post about everything I am thankful for, you will not hear about what I ate for Thanksgiving or what I bought on Black Friday. Aren't you lucky? Instead, you will be happy to read this:

Things I am Proud of.

1. Bailey is doing well in school. He is no genius, but I can accept that. His reading level is where it should be at the end of second grade, so he is doing very well in that aspect. He is a wonderful friend to everyone in his class which is so nice to hear. His teacher even said she wished she had 15 Bailey's in her class. A nice compliment, I think. (Now I know I am talking about things I am proud of, but I wanted to add the only "negative" thing the teacher said was about his handwriting. Oh, it isn't pretty. It is bad enough he is a boy, but he is also a lefty. Maybe he will be a doctor someday!!)

2. The binky is gone and is never mentioned!! Mackenzie just seems to be growing up before my eyes.

3. A couple weeks ago, I went to Walgreens to buy some razors that I had heard was a fabulous deal after coupons. I also bought 4 bags of holiday candy because they had a $5 rebate on them. When the cashier rung up my purchases and ran my coupons through, he was shocked. The register said that Walgreens owed me $1.16. He called the manager, and I was a bit worried about what would happen, but the manager told the kid to give me the money since that is what the register said!! I walked out of Walgreens with 4 Soleil razors and 4 bags of candy and $1.16! Crazy! And I applied for the $5 rebate. It was my proudest moment as a couponer!

4. Tonight we put up our Christmas tree, and there was no fighting!! It was actually one of those nice happy family moments. Mackenzie loved putting the ornaments on the tree. We are trying to tell her not to take them off, but oh well.

5. I have 2 really great sister in laws. They have always been so good to me and have treated me like family since the beginning. I love them both so much and think of them as sisters. Even though our lives have been crazy, I think all of the stuff going on has made us closer and appreciate what we have!

6. My husband has been trying so hard to be a better dad and husband. He isn't perfect, but I know he is trying, which helps me to try to be a better mom and wife.

7. I have really been trying to not worry about things that aren't important. If I can't change it, then I try not to worry about it. Because of this, I have felt so much happier, like a weight of perfection has been lifted from me. I can't be perfect, because it isn't possible.

A Blessing In Disguise

Yesterday my car was in the shop, getting a few things worked on. My husband called later on in the afternoon and said that his car broke. The car he drives for work is the car my parents gave me when I was 18. It is a little blue Neon, and I know it is a bit embarrassing for my husband to work around cars and drive this little thing around. But it is the best thing for us to do financially, so he bares with the teasing. He had the car towed and I had to go and pick him up.

My very first thoughts were "why is this happening? This is not the best time of year for car repairs!!!" At this time I had no idea how much it would cost us, and it got me feeling down. But I just had a feeling that we would be blessed for our faithfulness (or at least, our attempt at faithfulness). So I prayed that we will be able to handle the financial aspect of it.

This morning my husband gave me an update on the car. He said it needed a new gear shifter, which was about $200 or so. Not bad, I thought. But when they looked at the car, they saw the tie rod (which holds the shocks to the wheel or something like that, they are important) were so close to breaking that they would have him sign a waiver if he didn't let them do the work. To fix this will be another $300 or so.

I got off the phone, felt sad for a minute about the money we were about to spend, but had an epiphany. If the gear shifter hadn't broken, the car wouldn't have gone into the shop. The tie rod could have broken while my husband was driving, and he could have been seriously injured. Instead of feeling like the broken car was a burden, it felt more like a blessing! As soon as I realized this blessing in disguised, I thanked God. I feel so lucky that our prayers of safety have been heard.

Bye Bye Binkie, Take 2!

Mackenzie went to her 2 year doctor appointment on Thursday. I knew exactly what the doctor would ask me "How is she sleeping at night?" Lately, she has been waking up 1 or 2 times a night, usually in search of the darn binkie. This has gone on for about a month, so I figured it was time to get rid of it. But I needed the doctor to give me the advice to get rid of it, so in my mind I could think "the doctor said we had to get rid of the binkie".

I decided Friday was the night. Mackenzie asked for the binkie, like always, and I told her they were all gone. I threw the binkies away, so I wouldn't give in to a moment of weakness. I showed her the spot they are usually kept, and once she saw they were gone, she was pretty much OK with it. No crying when going to bed, which is good. But naptime hasn't been as easy of a transition. There has been crying and throwing things out of the bed during naps. I am just trying to be patient about it, because she definitely needs a nap on most days.

Last night was the first night in over a month that she didn't wake up at night. Sort of. She did wake up at 10, but we were still awake so it didn't disrupt our sleep.

The doctor said it should take about 4 days for her to be over it. Tomorrow is day #4, so I guess things will only get better! Right?

Much Anticipated

Here are pictures from Bailey's baptism. I didn't get to take quite as many as I would have liked, but oh well. I got enough to remember the day.








And here are from Halloween. Gotta love my cuties. The poodle is my niece Alyssa, and the dragon is my nephew Taj. They are all so cute!! I had pictures of my other niece Victoria, but for some reason they are not on the computer.







(Maybe I am doing it wrong, but it is hard to tell from the little thumbnail pictures which ones are the good ones and which ones have people with their eyes closed or looking dumb. And rarely do the pictures stay in their intended order. Sometimes I hate technology for making me feel stupid.)