Life

I've been thinking a lot lately. Mostly about how a new person will be joining our family in (hopefully) less than three months and all the changes that will entail.

Am I ready for the lack of sleep that is involved with caring for a newborn? Will's toddler sleep schedule is pretty sweet. Going to bed by 7:30pm most nights and up at 7am leaves me plenty of free time in the evenings as well as enough time to get a good night's sleep if I so choose. I suppose I am as ready as I will ever be.

Will I be able to love my baby girl as much as I love Will? I assume that will come once I meet her. I loved Will before he was born and I love my daughter too, but my love for Will has grown so much over the past 19 months. I'm sure the same will be true with this child. I never knew how much love I was capable of before I had kids.

Have I really appreciated and enjoyed my time as a mother of one? This has been the hardest question for me to answer and given me the most pause. So often I am guilty of wishing my life away. "Things will be nice once this happens or that is over." "I can't wait for this far off event." Lately I have been wishing Will's toddler tantrums away. But unfortunately, I can't really get rid of the toddler tantrums without wishing him into an older child who won't explode with excitement every time he sees a bus because that is what his dad rides to work or who can't seem to function if he isn't within a yard of me even when I'm trying to cook dinner because I'm his favorite. I'm going to miss those things when he's a sullen teenager and would rather hang out with his friends than parents and thinks most things we do are uncool instead of awesome.

I think that figuring out the answer to this question to some degree is the trick to having a happy life. We need to learn to enjoy each season, taking the bad with the good, and be happy anyway. No stage of life is without its trials, and some are worse than others. But finding the bright spots in each day can make even the most difficult season of life easier to bear.

This week I've been thinking even more about how fleeting time is after I learned of the unexpected death of my cousin. I have always expected to live to an old age. I have no real reason not to and don't think we should plan on that not happening. But the truth is, that isn't always the case. Our time on Earth is a gift that we shouldn't take for granted and wish away. I'm grateful for the knowledge that I have of the eternal nature of life and families.

My heart aches for Cari at the loss of her husband and for his young boys at the loss of their dad. I feel for my Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Tim at the loss of their son and my cousins at the loss of their brother. I know my prayers are joining with the prayers of many others to send feelings of comfort and peace their way. I didn't know Kasey as well as I would have liked because my family lived far away from the rest of the family and is the youngest, but when I picture him I picture a friendly smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. My most vivid memory of Kasey is him playfully teasing me about a perm his mom had just given me when we were out visiting one summer.

So between my pending life change and this tragic accident, yeah, I've been doing a lot of thinking. And I keep getting lines from one of Will's book stuck in my head. It's called I'm Thankful Each Day, by P.K. Halliman.

I'm thankful each day
For the blessings I see,
And for all of the gifts
That God's given to me.

. . . .

I'm thankful for friends,
For laughing and sharing...

I'm thankful for family,
For loving and caring.

I'm thankful for all
The kindness I see.

I'm thankful for peace
And for pure harmony.

...If ever I worry
That trouble is near,
I always remember
I've nothing to fear...

For each hour is laden
With God's perfect love.

Each second brings comfort
And joy from above.

And I guess in the end
The best thing to say
Is I'm thankful for living...

I'm thankful each day!

I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say other than life is short. Take the time to hug your family and tell them you love them and don't wish it away. I wanted to write this down so I can have something to look back at and remind myself to not wish a season of my life away in a few months when I am sleep-deprived and feeling exhausted after our daughter is born.

lately

I feel like we've been keeping pretty busy lately, but our blog has little to show for it. Some of the things, namely cleaning and packing aren't really photo-worthy.

I suppose Will makes everything photo-worthy.

Eating
After a few months of pathetic meal planning that I am whole-heartedly blaming on pregnancy and food aversions, I have regained an interest in cooking. And meal planning. And scouring food blogs for inspiration. I am posting links to two recipes that have been big successes at our house this past month. They are especially great for summer because neither require the use of the oven and we generally have most of the ingredients on hand.

The first comes from my friend, Holly's food blog. Rather than type it up again, I will send you to her.

Mexican Tortilla Skillet

The only thing I do differently is I generally use ground turkey instead of ground beef, and I also make sure to use a mild rotel. My acid reflux has been really bad this pregnancy so I have to go mild.

The second comes from the blog of a weight watchers leader. When I did WW after having Will I occasionally attended her meetings when I couldn't make it to my usual meeting time.

Slow Cooker Weight Watchers Lasagna

Again, I usually use turkey burger, and it tastes just fine. I also forgot to buy ricotta cheese and had to use cottage cheese as a last-minute substitute. It still tasted great. I would say to make sure you don't over-cook, especially if you plan to have leftovers and prefer your pasta al dente. The first time I made this I cooked it on low for about 5 1/2 hours and the next day the noodles were very soft.

Grooming

I have given Anthony two haircuts since Will had gotten his last. Suffice it to say, the time had come. As great as the pseudo-mullet was, we were ready for cleaner-cut things. At least, I was. Will was fine with his shaggy 'do as long as it kept the clippers away from his head. Last Saturday, with the help of Anthony, Baby Signing Time and a watermelon dum-dum, I cut Will's hair. It wasn't pleasant, but it's done and I don't have to stress about it for at least two months.

Before:

After:

Crafting

My friend, Mitzi loaned me an awesome book that contains the pattern for this bag.


I never had a really good diaper bag with Will, and with two kids I know I am going to need something nice and roomy. This bag seems to fit the bill. I just finished it last night and was almost sad to do so. It's been really fun having a project to look forward to doing after we put Will to bed. We've been watching old episodes of Freaks and Geeks while I work, and that show makes me laugh every time I watch it. So clever. I'm hoping after we move and get settled I can start up another sewing project. If anyone has any cute or fun ideas send them my way.

Fender-Bending

We got in a minor car accident last weekend. Emphasis on minor. It didn't really seem to be that big a deal until the other party decided it should be. Needless to say, I am grateful for insurance. I don't think Tony has appreciated my increased backseat driving, but I just blame it on the other driver and how his erratic driving and dishonesty has caused me to lose faith in other drivers. :)