Adventures In Babywearing, Year In Review

Seen at Mama C-ta, I thought I'd join in, too...
posting the first sentence from the first post of each month in 2006.
(Click on the month to view the entire post.)

Adventures In Babywearing, Year In Review

January- With family recently, Gray was so happy and smiley (as usual!) and everyone was commenting on how happy he is, how early he is smiling (earlier than my other boys did) and how he is just the best baby!

February- We recently returned from an amazing trip to San Diego, CA courtesy of the Make A Wish Foundation of Indiana.

March- Today marks Noah being on the keto diet for two years!!!

April- Gray’s growing up fast!

May- What a great day to start over if you're in need of a new beginning... don't we all in at least one area of our lives?

June- Today was an errand day.

July- Apparently G.I. Joe & Buzz Lightyear were in Bethlehem that Day, too.

August- And in my washer, too.

September- I had heard they did this originally in one take.

October- Grayson was dedicated yesterday at church.

November- Larry La Prise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey," died peacefully at age 93.

December- The tree has been up for over a week now, at the insistance of the kids.

And I wanted to add the first sentence of my last post of the year (aside from this one)...

Somehow we made it happen!

Mom's Night Out Times Two?

I don't like to brag or anything, but I will anyway...

After letting hubby sleep in this morning, making breakfast for the three hungry bears and me, and tackling cleaning of several rooms on several floors all at once, I collapsed on the couch earlier this evening.

Soon I was having a full body rub from hubby and the occasional pat from Gray. Then a foot rub. Then hubby insisted that I go get dinner by myself at Panera and just chill out with a book.

Oh, and right before all this he vacuumed and cleaned the whole basement, too.

Yeah, he's a keeper.

Mom's Night Out

Somehow we made it happen! Five blogging friends escape for a Mom's Night Out! Hey- it can still be a good time if you bring baby, too. However, you will notice here than I am the only one sans baby and that was quite all right with me!!

And something we realized among us- we all have only boys!! There are 12 boys among this group of five fabulous moms!

Pictured (with my lame camera) left to right: Lori & Mark -Glass Half Full, Robin & Carter -Life With All Boys, Sheryl & Ethan (seated) -Peanut Butter & Jelly Boats, Me without any kids whatsoever, and Ashlee & Xavier -New Mama's Nest.

What Are You Into This Month?

This Month...

Weirdest present that I received: I got some pretty good gifts this year, I must say. Hubby got a gigantic jumbo desk calculator from someone at work- it's kinda freaky looking...

My favorite blog entry from this month: Maybe this one.

What's keeping me busy this month: Aside from the usual, I am on a "simplifying" kick and joined a local freecycle group. I love it!

The movie or show I liked watching: I honestly didn't watch much this whole month, but lately I have had the diy channel and love it!! (Especially the knitting shows!!)

My New Year's Resolution: Start my One Year Bible again on January 1.

Blog I Am Always Visiting: I am so happy to have my friend The Flip Flop Mamma back in blog-business!

What I'm Most Looking Forward To Next Month: A new year! And my birthday (hint: also the same day as Elvis' birthday!)

I'd love to hear what you are into this month- If you want to play along, let me know in your comments!

Because You're Just Dying To Know

I was tagged by Super-Mommy...

5 Things You May Not Know About Me

1. I was a theatre & music major in college with the dream of a career in children's musical theatre someday.
2. I met my husband and we were engaged within three months!
3. We had our first house built and moved into it after our honeymoon. We still live here and plan to for a very long time! I love our little house! We do have a dream for when the boys are all grown and have families of their own... we hope to have a large enough house so that we can all be together during the holidays and everyone can have their own rooms to stay overnight!
   
4. I can not eat dairy, eggs, or peanuts because I am still nursing Gray and he is allergic. (He will outgrow this.)
5. I have always loved animals and had many pets growing up including many dachshunds, turtles, fish, gerbils, rats named Hendrix & Marley, a chinchilla named Presley, and two cats now in cat heaven - Morris & Shadow.

I'd like to read 5 things I didn't know about everyone
-especially Sheryl who has a birthday today!!
Be sure to stop by (she's also my blog of the week)
and wish her a happy birthday!

Random Adventures From This Week

Well, our Christmas blessing was a provision in advance... our dryer stopped drying and we needed it repaired. Christmas blessing: $100. Dryer repairs, parts, & service call: $101. Not bad!

Also that long shower that I had on Christmas Day was so good that it has been tiding me over for a few days now. Hopefully I'll get a shower tonight before church!! Um, I promise I'll have a shower tonight before church!

We decided Santa could come to our house this year. Hubby's family didn't do Santa and mine did. Our boys were just now talking about Santa this year, and we went along with the fun. But, the other night, after Christmas had come & gone, I hear Noah pulling a stool up to the counter:
Me: What are you doing?
Noah: I am putting cookies out for Santa so he knows to come back!

He had written him a note, too. I can't blame him! I mean, he probably thought this gig is cool! Leave cookies out each night to get new toys! We gotta be more clear about things next time...

Last night at Best Buy I was looking for a car adapter for my MP3 player. I found a young kid working there (you know the Best Buy-young-kid-type that thinks you don't know anything about anything) and asked where to find it. He showed me one for $40- an FM transmitter. I was looking for something much cheaper... so I asked if he had anything that just went into the cassette player.

He looks at me wide eyed: You have a cassette player in your car?!
Um, yeah.

Well it worked out great because he said honestly that's even better. He said the FM transmitters don't work very well. And my cassette player car adapter was $15. Woo. Hoo.

Wordless Wednesday: Pajama Party

Truly A Season Of Miracles

I heard harps play and angels sing "Hallelujah!" as I had my Christmas miracle... the longest uninterrupted hot shower of the year as all three boys slept Christmas morning.

All kidding aside, that really was a miracle and something I've been believing for!

This is the first Christmas since Noah was 1 year old that he has been seizure-free and off his special diet. Hubby made his sales goal at work this month- which means bonus for our family!

And Christmas Eve, just before we left for the candlelight service at church, I felt I should check the front door in case someone left us a present. I have no idea why someone would, but I opened the door and a Priority Mail envelope fell at my feet. It was from Animal Planet's Funniest Animals... a t-shirt and a check for $100! Years ago- and I mean years ago, I sent in a tape of our dogs when they were just puppies in Christmas sweaters. They want to use it and will call us when it is going to air. That $100 is a Christmas miracle for our bank account for sure.

I already have a feeling that the New Year 2007 will bring many more miracles our way...

Merry Christmas To All!

Christmas 2006

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with church in the morning and a candlelight service in the evening. It was a fun day to be together as a family, and we had a late snack when we got home while we watched A Christmas Story. Add tears and then Carter's face in this picture is similar to the face he made the whole time Flick had his tongue stuck to the flag pole... and hey- the shirt I am wearing is one of my freebies from Sears!

This morning the boys will find presents in their stockings and then we are heading to my parents' house for a big country breakfast, with everyone in their Christmas pj's. After we eat we'll have a huge present-opening-fest certain to last for hours! (My family is big on presents!)

I hope you are having the best Christmas ever!

Is There Room?

A baby, the King, was about to be born and there was no room at the inn, and they were turned away. He was to be born in a manger.

There is no one too dirty, too dark, or too low that He can not love. If He could be born in a lowly manger, He can live in the lowest of hearts. But, you must not turn Him away.

I ask you this Christmas, in your heart, in your life, in your day, is there room?

Christmastime Thanksgiving

I was folding laundry yesterday and Noah gives me a hug and says "I am so glad we have a house and bedrooms and can wash our clothes."

Ah, my 5 year old has his heart in the right place. "Yes, Noah, we do have so much to be thankful for." And we proceeded to name everything that we have that many, many other people don't have.

I am thankful that we have a warm home in which to celebrate this Christmas, unlike the very first Christmas many years ago. Who are we compared to a King that was born in a lowly manger, in a stable for animals?

Why do I complain about doing laundry when I have an automatic washer & dryer inside my home, in it's own laundry room? How can we grumble about making our beds, when at least we have beds?! With blankets!

And the thing that made Noah's eyes so wide most of all, "Mommy, some kids don't even have pj's to wear."

I think I'll be donating some pajamas somewhere now... and I'll try to have a bit more spring in my step when I see dishes to be done and laundry to be folded and carpet to be vacuumed and...

Fortune cookies from last night, read aloud at our table...

Noah's: You will step foot in many lands in your lifetime. - love this!

Carter's: Luck will follow you wherever you go. - nice!

Hubby's: You will get lucky tonight. (Roll of the eyes and slap on the arm by me.) You will travel far and wide for both pleasure and business.

Mine: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. - ouch! But oh isn't that the truth in motherhood?

It's Christmas Break

I've been in my pj's all day long. And that's okay!

We're making tents, forts, & caves in the living room.

Wouldn't it be fun to take your nap in a cave, boys?!

Yay! say the kids.

Yay! says me.

Hubby says we can go out for dinner tonight.

Yay! says me. But I have to get out of my pj's?

Alllll-right.

Ready, Set, Holiday!

UPDATED!

Ok, who is totally loving the Sears commercials this holiday season? Ah- can you tell they are so geared toward us moms?

Well, the awesome people at Sears and M80 Teams gave me a $30 gift card to spend at their new Holiday Website For Mom at Readysetholiday.com, offering items from Sears, Kmart, & Land's End.

There is still time to shop! Plus, if you don't have time to have something shipped, many items can be bought online and picked up at your nearest Sears location- guaranteed in 5 minutes!

I do happen to have all of my Christmas shopping done, so I thought I'd take a look around at the site and see if I could get any ideas for someone else with birthdays coming up & all. I clicked on "Find a Gift" to see what kind of ideas they had.


When you click to shop "By Interest," the options are cool!! This is great if you need a gift for the 'person who has everything' or you're just not sure what to get, but you know what they're into. They have one called Fashionista- um, that caught my eye! You can shop for the Gourmet, Green Thumb, and even the Spa Queen! I love how they've titled these categories- they are so real!

So, back to Fashionista... I got to thinking that this time of year we are going to church services and holiday parties and what not... I should get something for myself so that I have something new to wear! I sorted the items by "low to high" in price and hello, clearance! Into my shopping cart went this in Java, this shirt in black, and this skirt in black! (They don't all go together as one outfit or anything, but can totally enhance my current wardrobe!) All for under $30!

Another cool feature is the reviews section. People who have purchased the item before can leave their review- I find this so helpful when buying books or toys online- it should be necessary when buying clothes online, too!

The checkout process was fast & smooth. I purchased this late Tuesday night and already had an email Wednesday that my order had shipped and would arrive within 1-3 business days! Not bad! I might have something new to wear for Christmas Eve. Woo hoo! *Updated to add that I received this today (Thursday!) WOW*

Readysetholiday.com will be available until January 12, 2007. Go here for a one-stop-shop for last minute gifts, for that hard-to-buy-for-person (definitely check out how they've titled their categories by interest!), -or just to get something for yourself! You deserve it!

Works For Me Wednesday: Story Time Of The Future

So, I've found a fun new use for my toy !

In no way will this ever replace my actual reading to the boys, but it sure does come in handy in the car or when I need something to keep them occupied.

1. I video tape myself reading a story.
2. I load it onto my computer, then onto my MP3 player.



The kids love it, and I surprise them with new stories every now & then. It's so easy. I like it better than them playing a handheld video game or watching a movie. (Well, to be honest we don't own any video games or portable DVD players, so this will have to do!)

Plus, it's Mommy's voice reading to them... they love this! While waiting in a long line the other day, Carter was quiet as a mouse watching his "stories."

My plan is to video tape both Grandmas reading, too. I know they'll just love that!

And, if you watched that video and thought the book was cute, this post was where I saw these adorable personalized books by Jiff-E-Books! I got one for each of my boys for their stockings and also a couple to give as birthday gifts!

Also, as I love doing reviews and get the occasional treat to review on my blog, the people at Philips wanted me to mention- for those very last minute shoppers:

To help beat the holiday gift rush, Philips has launched an innovative, fun website to take the uncertainty out gift buying, with lots of inspiring ideas from Philips Consumer Electronics, Domestic Appliances and Lighting, and all on a single easy to use website here.

Just because the Christmas shopping season is over doesn't mean shopping for gifts gets any easier around here- there are 3 birthdays in January in our family and don't even ASK how many birthdays there are in February!!!!!!!

Ah, anyway, to see more Works For Me Wednesday helpful tips, be sure to visit Rocks In My Dryer today! Have a good tip to share? Let me know in the comments below!

Babywearing Tip of the Week

A sleeping baby upon your chest, or back, is just too precious.

Some would say that he should just be in a crib.

But he really wanted Mama to hold him, and Mama needed to clean the kitchen, tend to the other children, wrap some presents, and then do a little laundry...

And a sleeping baby that just needed Mama to hold him, upon my back, is just too precious.

On Santa's Lap

Lori wants to see all your Santa's lap pictures! Here's one from last year- I think Santa looks like he needs a bit more jingle in his jolly...

Christmas 2005

We happened to be at the mall after church one Sunday morning, so that 's why my kids look so proper and matching & all. I popped Gray out of the sling and he stayed sleeping for the picture- probably for the better!

Let me know if you're playing along in the comments below!

True Intimacy

This morning during snuggle time with Gray, skin to skin, quiet time with no distractions, I felt a closeness to him and a feeling I hadn't felt in a while. Maybe since he was a new baby. We were just looking into each other's eyes, my head touching his head, and I wasn't busy reading him a book or showing him how to do or say something. It was just a closeness and a bond unspoken.

And as we shared such a moment I thought about the last time I really was intimate with the Lord. Where it wasn't me asking for something or bringing something up in prayer to him, or even when I wasn't praising him. A moment where I really didn't allow distractions. An intimacy where I just felt his presence and cherished it, allowed it to move me. Something I vow today, from now on, to do more.

And of course almost as important, when was the last time I shared a moment like that with my hubby? Where we don't talk about our day or the kids or what stresses us, have the tv on, or even try to make each other laugh. But, where we just hold each other with no other intentions but to be close. For which I vow today, from now on, to do more.