It's hard to believe that just last week, the weather was decent and we could go OUTSIDE.
Saturday, we wandered down to the park with the kiddos after much begging from Izzy. She doesn't get out much and I know that's my fault but with the dogs and Lily, it feels like it's a hassle to get out for walks on a regular basis. Anyway, she ran and laughed pretty much the whole way to the park. Once we got there, we found our neighbor and his daughter there so Izzy was in heaven. She loves playing with Bailey. Ben walked their dog around the park for a while and the girls tried to rearrange all the shredded bark in the swing/playground area. I don't know what is so fun about it but they couldn't stop throwing it into the air.
Sunday, we went to the park again when our neighbor called to say they were gonna go and would we like to join them? It was considerably chillier but not unbearable with sweaters/jackets.
Monday, we went to lunch with Nicole and that's the last time we've been outside. It wasn't too chilly and it was nice to get out for a couple of hours. The girls love seeing Nicole and talking her ear off. Izzy's always asking if we can go to her house.
Tuesday morning, the ice hit during the wee hours and the way it pelted the windows woke Izzy up. She doesn't like strange noises at all. I laid down with her for close to an hour and we couldn't get back to sleep. Ice hitting glass is probably one of the most annoying sounds in the world! At about 5am, it was just not working to stay in their room so I bundled the kids into our bed. Not a whole lot of sleep going on there. Chad took Lily back to the girls' room and the ice finally stopped long enough for Izzy and I to drop off for about 45 minutes. She woke up and started crawling over me to go to the bathroom so we got up a little while after that.
Today has been fun. The girls woke up at 5:30 and I laid them back down only to be woken up an hour later when the power went out. Rolling blackouts. Yay! It finally came on for good at about 9am so at least the fireplace hasn't been our only source of warmth. I changed my dental appointment... hopefully the roads will look safer in the AM. I'm in such a hurry to get my rootcanal/crown over with, can't you tell? :)
Potato/corn chowder hit the spot for dinner but I think tomorrow might be chicken taco soup day. Thanks to Megan for posting about hers! :)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Briefly considered.
Last week, I briefly considered going internet-less to see how much more I can accomplish in a day. Unfortunately, remembering to GO internet-less was not one of the things I was able to accomplish. To put it plainly, I forgot.
So, tomorrow? I'm not sure how much this desire is born out of a real need to cut back and how much is born of feeling like I should at least be able to deny myself something like that. Like "millions of other moms don't have an outlet like the internet for taking a break from being mom/housekeeper, why should I?" Self-imposed guilt.
Currently watching Lily shovel huge mouthfuls of peas and carrots into her mouth. She looks so happy and focused when she has food to enjoy. She's even using her little piece of sourdough bread to push the food onto her fork. That's how serious my little 20 month old is about her food.
Today's accomplishments, so far:
baking the sourdough that I started yesterday morning
washing the dog-towels
mopping
taking out the trash
putting away a thousand toys
I'm attempting a spending diet this year. I've tried this in the past, with no real plan, of course. And it didn't work. Of course. How can one succeed at something if one doesn't know how one intends to go about it? So this year, I have to have a plan. As soon as Lily is clean and able to run off to entertain herself, I'm making a list of needs/wants and hopefully posting that in a conspicuous place will do the trick. I need the daily reminders or I derail rather quickly.
In fact, I think this speaks to my one HUGE flaw. I do not follow through well. I am easily distracted and easily convinced of failure. As an example, I believe the only reason my children are here is because follow through was inevitable. Everything else I've done has slowly skidded to some kind of ignominious halt.
So, tomorrow? I'm not sure how much this desire is born out of a real need to cut back and how much is born of feeling like I should at least be able to deny myself something like that. Like "millions of other moms don't have an outlet like the internet for taking a break from being mom/housekeeper, why should I?" Self-imposed guilt.
Currently watching Lily shovel huge mouthfuls of peas and carrots into her mouth. She looks so happy and focused when she has food to enjoy. She's even using her little piece of sourdough bread to push the food onto her fork. That's how serious my little 20 month old is about her food.
Today's accomplishments, so far:
baking the sourdough that I started yesterday morning
washing the dog-towels
mopping
taking out the trash
putting away a thousand toys
I'm attempting a spending diet this year. I've tried this in the past, with no real plan, of course. And it didn't work. Of course. How can one succeed at something if one doesn't know how one intends to go about it? So this year, I have to have a plan. As soon as Lily is clean and able to run off to entertain herself, I'm making a list of needs/wants and hopefully posting that in a conspicuous place will do the trick. I need the daily reminders or I derail rather quickly.
In fact, I think this speaks to my one HUGE flaw. I do not follow through well. I am easily distracted and easily convinced of failure. As an example, I believe the only reason my children are here is because follow through was inevitable. Everything else I've done has slowly skidded to some kind of ignominious halt.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Who needs money anyway?
Time to cut spending to a bare minimum. I am going to admit that I'm a bit mystified about how to do this. When I had no money, it was easy. I looked in my wallet and didn't have anything so I didn't spend it. Since getting married, though, I've always used a credit card and Chad deals with all the financial stuff. I have gotten to the point where I'm starting to forget what money means. I still shoot for low totals and sales and whatnot but it's been a long time since I've had to choose what to buy based on 'can I afford this?'
So this is a new challenge for me. I am sure it can be done because I have a friend who somehow manages to get by with spending $40 a week at grocery stores. I am not sure I can do that but it's worth a try. I think it's going to mean NOT going to Target/Wal-Mart for groceries any more. It's too easy to decide Izzy needs another pair of pants or socks or a movie. Lily is still getting by just fine with hand-me-downs so it's been a while since she's gotten something substantial and new.
This week's goal is to use up pantry/freezer items. I anticipate some difficulty, both in finding new ways to serve things up and finding the time to plan those new ways.
Next week will be harder, I think. I'm scouring weekly ads for grocery stores and it's disheartening because the things on sale are not things I use and the coupons or card priced items are only meeting the price of items I buy as generics. So... I just have to buy less. Argh.
So this is a new challenge for me. I am sure it can be done because I have a friend who somehow manages to get by with spending $40 a week at grocery stores. I am not sure I can do that but it's worth a try. I think it's going to mean NOT going to Target/Wal-Mart for groceries any more. It's too easy to decide Izzy needs another pair of pants or socks or a movie. Lily is still getting by just fine with hand-me-downs so it's been a while since she's gotten something substantial and new.
This week's goal is to use up pantry/freezer items. I anticipate some difficulty, both in finding new ways to serve things up and finding the time to plan those new ways.
Next week will be harder, I think. I'm scouring weekly ads for grocery stores and it's disheartening because the things on sale are not things I use and the coupons or card priced items are only meeting the price of items I buy as generics. So... I just have to buy less. Argh.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Counting down now.
Currently, we have 4 months till Lily's 2nd birthday. This brings a few things up for me.
Any day now, the language and concept-comprehension explosion will begin. We were amazed daily at the things that Izzy suddenly understood. The fact that she could tell us that the dog was outside or that daddy was 'wuk' caught us by surprise. We'd just gotten used to thinking of her as a person, for Pete's sake.
Soon, we'll be ready to start potty training. I think I started at 20 months with Izzy and it didn't click for her till she was 2+. So I'm not rushing anything this time. I'd like her to at least be able to tell me she needs to poop before we tackle that beast.
2 months at the max till I need to start actively planning her party. I don't really have a theme in mind yet, because she doesn't seem to care about anything beyond her babies and 'ye-haw' (Woody). Maybe it'll be a Toy Story theme? She's seen at least parts of all three movies and seems to enjoy them.
3 months or so till we should be able to convert the crib into a toddler bed. We put Izzy in her twin bed a couple of weeks before Lily was born, I think. This seems crazy to me now because Lily seems like such a baby still and surely she's not ready for a BED bed. But I know for a fact we got the bed before Lily was born and moved Izzy into it so we wouldn't be putting her in a new bed AND bringing home a baby at the same time. So... yeah. I have a premonition that if we convert Lily's crib into a toddler bed, we will be finding her in Izzy's bed in the middle of the night. Maybe we should just assume that's the way it's gonna go and have them share?
Argh. The thought of Lily in a big bed is so sad. Soon we'll be getting ride of the crib. :( I am NOT ready to do that. I need baby things in the house or it will feel so foreign!
I'm not counting down to Izzy's birthday yet. It's 6 months away and it'll mean she's 4 and closer to school age and more independent and these things scare me.
Any day now, the language and concept-comprehension explosion will begin. We were amazed daily at the things that Izzy suddenly understood. The fact that she could tell us that the dog was outside or that daddy was 'wuk' caught us by surprise. We'd just gotten used to thinking of her as a person, for Pete's sake.
Soon, we'll be ready to start potty training. I think I started at 20 months with Izzy and it didn't click for her till she was 2+. So I'm not rushing anything this time. I'd like her to at least be able to tell me she needs to poop before we tackle that beast.
2 months at the max till I need to start actively planning her party. I don't really have a theme in mind yet, because she doesn't seem to care about anything beyond her babies and 'ye-haw' (Woody). Maybe it'll be a Toy Story theme? She's seen at least parts of all three movies and seems to enjoy them.
3 months or so till we should be able to convert the crib into a toddler bed. We put Izzy in her twin bed a couple of weeks before Lily was born, I think. This seems crazy to me now because Lily seems like such a baby still and surely she's not ready for a BED bed. But I know for a fact we got the bed before Lily was born and moved Izzy into it so we wouldn't be putting her in a new bed AND bringing home a baby at the same time. So... yeah. I have a premonition that if we convert Lily's crib into a toddler bed, we will be finding her in Izzy's bed in the middle of the night. Maybe we should just assume that's the way it's gonna go and have them share?
Argh. The thought of Lily in a big bed is so sad. Soon we'll be getting ride of the crib. :( I am NOT ready to do that. I need baby things in the house or it will feel so foreign!
I'm not counting down to Izzy's birthday yet. It's 6 months away and it'll mean she's 4 and closer to school age and more independent and these things scare me.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
What's up, Texas??
Since when did snowfall in winter become a normal Texas occurrence? Izzy still talks about last year's snowman so she's already anticipating the same this time. "After my nap, I can put on my real gloves, not my kitchen gloves, and build a snow man!" I love how she differentiates between pretend items and real world items.
Lily has discovered calling people 'honey'. I always wonder how those things click... when and how do toddlers comprehend that a word you're saying actually MEANS something and WHAT it means. About a week ago, she surprised us by crawling into her Daddy's lap and saying 'hi! hi, honey!' Sometimes she calls her babies honey or even 'Nuny', I guess because that's what she hears from us all the time. She's suddenly developed a love of baby dolls and carries them around all the time, talking to them or singing to them. When she puts things on her head or tries to wear something of mine, she breaks into song, always starting off with 'ah-aaaah-ah-aaah'. As if she's mimicking opera. :)
For the last month or so, Izzy has been talking about her next birthday. She's decided she wants a Snow White birthday party this time around. I figured she'd change her mind multiple times, depending on what we watched or did between now and then but she's pretty stuck on this idea. Should probably just be glad to have this much advance warning of what she wants so I can properly plan this time.
Posing for Hanukkah pictures. :)
Poking around in Mommy's kitchen.
Practicing round braids. :)
Lily has discovered calling people 'honey'. I always wonder how those things click... when and how do toddlers comprehend that a word you're saying actually MEANS something and WHAT it means. About a week ago, she surprised us by crawling into her Daddy's lap and saying 'hi! hi, honey!' Sometimes she calls her babies honey or even 'Nuny', I guess because that's what she hears from us all the time. She's suddenly developed a love of baby dolls and carries them around all the time, talking to them or singing to them. When she puts things on her head or tries to wear something of mine, she breaks into song, always starting off with 'ah-aaaah-ah-aaah'. As if she's mimicking opera. :)
For the last month or so, Izzy has been talking about her next birthday. She's decided she wants a Snow White birthday party this time around. I figured she'd change her mind multiple times, depending on what we watched or did between now and then but she's pretty stuck on this idea. Should probably just be glad to have this much advance warning of what she wants so I can properly plan this time.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Where did the year go??
It's already 2011 and I don't think I ever got used to it being 2010.
This year, Izzy turns 4 (FOUR!) and Lily will be 2. I am NOT ready for being baby-free. :( I can't even think about it much longer than it will take to finish this sentence because it WILL make me cry. I am not ready for my girls to grow up.
Yesterday, Lily crawled into Chad's lap and started to snuggle into his chest saying 'hi! hi! Honey! Honey!' This was such a sweet moment I started to tear up. I love that she's hit the age of knowing what an endearment means and using it toward her daddy. She absolutely adores him. :)
The time is coming for Izzy to start a class of some sort. She loves dancing and singing and I think she'd benefit from being around other kids in an environment like that. I don't think she's ready to be around a bunch of kids full time, like school or daycare, but she certainly loves being with a group her own age. And maybe a dance class would be limited enough in exposure that she wouldn't learn too many habits? I dunno. She's not a dream child... it's not like she does everything right and never acts out so I'm not deluded into thinking that she's perfect and everyone else's kid is the Bad Seed. But still... as long as she's only around us, I feel like we have a better handle on the moods and crazies.
Winter is HERE. I do not like this for several reasons. My skin gets super dry. My nose hurts all the time. My fingers crack. I have to wear knee highs/leggings all the time or my legs will ache from my pants rubbing on stubble. This is probably the worst part of winter for me. So very sad.
Classes at temple are going well. I think we have a few weeks left and then we get to find out what the next step in the conversion process is. I'm anxious for this. It's becoming more imperative to have a religious identity.
This year, Izzy turns 4 (FOUR!) and Lily will be 2. I am NOT ready for being baby-free. :( I can't even think about it much longer than it will take to finish this sentence because it WILL make me cry. I am not ready for my girls to grow up.
Yesterday, Lily crawled into Chad's lap and started to snuggle into his chest saying 'hi! hi! Honey! Honey!' This was such a sweet moment I started to tear up. I love that she's hit the age of knowing what an endearment means and using it toward her daddy. She absolutely adores him. :)
The time is coming for Izzy to start a class of some sort. She loves dancing and singing and I think she'd benefit from being around other kids in an environment like that. I don't think she's ready to be around a bunch of kids full time, like school or daycare, but she certainly loves being with a group her own age. And maybe a dance class would be limited enough in exposure that she wouldn't learn too many habits? I dunno. She's not a dream child... it's not like she does everything right and never acts out so I'm not deluded into thinking that she's perfect and everyone else's kid is the Bad Seed. But still... as long as she's only around us, I feel like we have a better handle on the moods and crazies.
Winter is HERE. I do not like this for several reasons. My skin gets super dry. My nose hurts all the time. My fingers crack. I have to wear knee highs/leggings all the time or my legs will ache from my pants rubbing on stubble. This is probably the worst part of winter for me. So very sad.
Classes at temple are going well. I think we have a few weeks left and then we get to find out what the next step in the conversion process is. I'm anxious for this. It's becoming more imperative to have a religious identity.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Time change, schmime change
I am not a fan of moving my clock's time forward and back ever year. It seems unnecessary. And once you have children, it causes all kinds of unnecessary anxiety.
A week ago, I was moderately ok with my girls waking up at 7:30 every morning. That's a normal waking hour and it's pretty reasonable to assume that Mom needs to get her day going at that point. We'd wake to sounds of squeals or shrieks or laughter or talking or a mix of all four and I'd get up and start my day. We'd eat by 8 or 8:30 and by 9:30, we'd be ready to go somewhere or do something before lunch.
Suddenly, the time changes and now the girls are waking me up while the clock insists that it's actually just 6:30 am. I am cranky and disoriented and not at all well rested. I beg them to go back to sleep and they do not and we're up and eating breakfast by 7:30 and ready to DO something by 8:30. Meanwhile, nothing interesting is open and it feels too early to grocery shop but we have to if we want to be back home in time for Lily to take her first nap at 9:30. Yes. 9:30AM. My 18 month old is taking a nap at 9:30 AM like she did when she was 4 months old.
Why does this have to happen? The time they wake hasn't really changed. Internally, they sleep and wake by the same clock no matter the time of year and I should be able to follow along and just enjoy being up and half done with the day's tasks before 10am.
It seems to me that the answer to this problem that I'm sure more that one mom faces is to actually USE the time change properly. It was meant to help farmers, right? So we should return to farmers' hours and just enjoy the extra sleep gained by being in bed at 8pm. If I slept from 8:30 till 6:30, I would wake up happy and ready to go, too.
A week ago, I was moderately ok with my girls waking up at 7:30 every morning. That's a normal waking hour and it's pretty reasonable to assume that Mom needs to get her day going at that point. We'd wake to sounds of squeals or shrieks or laughter or talking or a mix of all four and I'd get up and start my day. We'd eat by 8 or 8:30 and by 9:30, we'd be ready to go somewhere or do something before lunch.
Suddenly, the time changes and now the girls are waking me up while the clock insists that it's actually just 6:30 am. I am cranky and disoriented and not at all well rested. I beg them to go back to sleep and they do not and we're up and eating breakfast by 7:30 and ready to DO something by 8:30. Meanwhile, nothing interesting is open and it feels too early to grocery shop but we have to if we want to be back home in time for Lily to take her first nap at 9:30. Yes. 9:30AM. My 18 month old is taking a nap at 9:30 AM like she did when she was 4 months old.
Why does this have to happen? The time they wake hasn't really changed. Internally, they sleep and wake by the same clock no matter the time of year and I should be able to follow along and just enjoy being up and half done with the day's tasks before 10am.
It seems to me that the answer to this problem that I'm sure more that one mom faces is to actually USE the time change properly. It was meant to help farmers, right? So we should return to farmers' hours and just enjoy the extra sleep gained by being in bed at 8pm. If I slept from 8:30 till 6:30, I would wake up happy and ready to go, too.
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