25 Random Things About Me

1. I hate oranges and orange juice. I get heartburn just thinking about either one.
2. When I was a kid I used to say that I wanted to be a boy when I grew up. I also wanted to be a professional roller skater. Thank god for unanswered prayers, right?
3. For Christmas of 1990, I asked Santa for spandex. I know this because my mom still has the Christmas list I wrote that year. I don't remember if I got them or not but pictures from the early 1990's would indicate that I did.
4. My childhood hobby was cutting and collecting expired coupons. I would cut them, rubberband them into batches of 100, and store them in my pink Smurfette suitcase. I don't know why; I was strange.
5. I spent most of my youth trying to act as grown-up as possible. (Even taking note to sip my hot cocoa the same way my mom drank her coffe.) Now, with nearly 28 years under my belt, & one husband, house, and child later, I still feel like that same kid pretending to be a grown-up.
6. This spring will mark 14 years since I fell madly,deeply, head over heels in love with my hubby. That means that at the age of 28, I have officially spent half my life loving him (to steal a line from Jewel).
7. I thought about keeping my maiden name when I married my hubby but decided against it when I realized how important it was to him that I took his name...and I am so glad that I did. I am proud that he chose to share his name with me and our daughter; and proud of everything we went through to get here and of the life we've made together.
8. I LOVE to purge things.
9. Efficiency is an obsession of mine. I even check my email while brushing my teeth. The downside of this is that it isn't always easy fo rme to just sit and play with Emmy or relax with my hubby.
10. I typically wear my hair short because if it is long enough to wear in a ponytail, it will be in a ponytail.
11. I love my daughter ferociously. So much so that it can feel overwhelming at times. And I worry about having other kids because I don't know how I could love anyone else as much as I love her. Even though I know in my heart that my love would just grow.
12. I think the biggest compliment someone can pay me is to ask me for advice or ask my opinion.
13. I am constantly riddled with self-doubt about the job I'm doing as a mother. Every night I go to bed thinking about what I could have done to be a better mommy that day.
14. I lack any form of self-discipline.
15. I love food. This does not combine will with #14.
16. I am really good at managing other peoples' money.
17. I have one cup of coffee every morning but will only drink it with French Vanilla creamer.
18. I have always wanted to be a mommy and am perfecty happy to devote the rest of my life to taking care of my family.
19. I am addicted to the internet and blog stalking.
20. I am often times mistaken as a snob when in reality, I am just painfully shy. Being shy does not mean that I let people take advantage of me. That does not happen.
21. I am not a very romantic person. I don't need schmaltzy romance, just to hear a sincere "I Love You" on a regular basis.
22. If money was not an issue I would have a ton of kids. I'd give the Duggar family a run for their money.
23. I analyze people constantly.
24. I have an uncanny ability to analyze my relationships in a business like fashion. If I don't find a relationship to be mutually beneficial, I walk away from it. And for me, that is very easy.
25. I am perplexed by abstract thought. I admire it in other people but concrete facts and figures are more my style.

Be Still My Heart

Shhhhhhh...If you listen very carefully, you may hear the sound of my heart melting.

Why? You ask. (And you know you do.)

Because, for the first time ever, Emmy told me she loves me.

Here's how it went. Everytime I lay Emmy in her crib I tell her

"Goodnight. Sleep tight. I love you."

And she usually smiles, sometimes says "bye" and lays down to sleep (or plays with any of the bagillion toys in her crib.)

But today, it went like this:

Me: "Goodnight. Sleept tight. I love you."

Emmy: "Rah, rah, rah, rah. You."

And then she smiled, rolled over and went to sleep. With her belly full of delicious soup and her Moo snuggled up in her arms. Amazing, right? I have only waited 19 months, 7 days, 15 hours, and 25 minutes to hear her say that. (Not to mention a 15 hour labor and 36 hour induction.) But hey, who's counting?

A Stay-At-Home Mother's Guide to Beating Cabin Fever

This recent Mid-Western arctic blast has left us trapped in the house. The resulting cabin fever has definitely been a test of endurance for us so it only seemed prudent for me to share some of the tips we learned. Here they are, in no specific order:

- Indulge your child's inner-artist by providing lots of craft supplies.
- Feed your family lots of homecooked, hearty, comfort foods like mini-meatloaves and pot roast.

- Resist the urge to bake _______ (fill in the blank: a cake, brownies, cookies, a pie...) even before last night's ________ (fill in the blank: cake, brownies, cookies, pie...) is/are gone. Learn from my mistakes and take my word for it. Your waist will thank you for it later.

- Don't let the cabin fever convince you to do things yourself that you would otherwise hire a professional for. (i.e. Decide that you are perfectly capable of giving your daughter a haircut. I won't explain how I came to know this but if future pictures show up of Emmy with a mullet, you'll understand.)

- Bear in mind that your children may need some space too. Just like you've been stuck in the house with THEM; they've been stuck in the house with YOU. Which means that this...

...probably won't go over as well as you'd like. Take my word for it.

(And last but not least...)

- Get down on your hands and knees, every night, and pray that the weather tomorrow will, miraculously, be 75 degrees and mostly sunny.

Wasting Time That Should Otherwise Be Spent Productively

Yesterday, while wasting away another naptime on the evil internet {I am a junkie and it is my fix} I came across this blog: http://www.lovelylisting.com/. It is HILARIOUS! I read through a few pages of it just about falling off the couch laughing. If you're looking to waste time (or even if you're not), you should check it out. It will be worth it.

It's cold...really cold.

So we've been hibernating at home the last few days. I love days at home where there is no pressure to get out and run errands but feel bad for Emmy because I worry that she is going stir crazy. In an effort to break through the arctic blast ho-hums, I brought out her art easel (that she has never used before) for her to play with. JACKPOT! We got it out after nap time and she played with it the rest of the day. I literally had to wrestle the crayons away from her at bed time. At one point she had me and daddy sitting on the floor on either side of her coloring with her. Turns out we all enjoy the art easel.

Our family masterpiece. Do you know who this is?

Lazy Winter Days

Now that the holidays have passed, we're trying to get back into the our normal routine. It has been hard to get out and moving again in this cold weather so we have spent the last few days at home and are finding creative ways to pass the time.

What do you do when you're bored?

I ease my boredom by covering my baby with address labels. Now, if she ever wanders off, there will be no mistake about where she belongs.

That was fun for like 10 minutes. Anyone have suggestions for what to do with the rest of the winter?

I'm Back

Happy New Year from our family to yours.

The holidays were VERY busy for us but oh so wonderful. I am still waiting for all of the dust to settle around these parts so that I can get back to regular blogging. I have missed having this outlet. Hopefully I'll have more posts soon.