What a Waste

Y'all.

I hate talking about diets with anybody, and I really hate the thought of putting this out there on the Internet. But in the interest of the public good, I feel like I have to tell you this.

I am, currently, trying to shed a few pounds of post-baby weight. Because evidently, I gain weight after babies are born. Nice. Anyway, I think carefully about every tiny morsel I eat right now, because I have discovered that it is next to impossible for me to actually lose weight -- even with diet and exercise.

Anyway. I picked up some Chick-fil-A on the way home from a friend's house today, because I thought it would be a fun Friday treat for Phoebe and me. I did the saintly thing and ordered a Chargrilled (260 calories, 3 grams of fat, 7 grams of fiber), a Diet DP, and planned to poach a few of Phoebe's french fries. Honestly, that meal right there is just fine!

Well, they do this evil thing. They throw in a sauce packet. It is delicious. Honey Roasted Barbecue Sauce. Friends, do NOT put this on your Chargrilled. This tiny, ketchup-sized packet has FIVE grams of fat! And 1/4 of the calories of an ENTIRE Chargrilled sandwich!

That delicious little packet was so not worth it.

Anyway, that's my public service of the day. Your waistline can thank me, while mine spends a few minutes cursing me.

Phoebe at 22 Months

The other day, someone asked me how old Phoebe was. My response?

"Almost two."

Yikes! I can't believe we're almost to two! And yet, these are the most fun days yet; it literally gets better every day. Phoebe is such a delightful little person, and she really bounds through each day with so much energy and excitement.



It's literally impossible to capture all of the things Phoebe does in one little blog post. Instead, I think I'm just going to try and give an all-around snapshot.

Phoebe...

• has officially experienced a verbal explosion. She talks. All the time. All of that energy she's always had? Totally directed to talking a lot of the time. I literally cannot list all of her words... she repeats almost everything that we say if prompted, and most of the things we don't prompt. She also strings two and three words together: "ouch foot", "Mama hug", "Dada work"... etc.
  
• loves to read, and is still really fascinated with print. She'll sit still for almost anything that interests her, even if it's long. We've started having some marathon storytimes here lately.
• is demonstrating increasing awareness of spiritual things. She reminds us to pray before meals especially, and will say "amen" at the end of prayers. She also is really into carrying around a Bible, and I've found her sitting on little perches reading it during the day. We praise the Lord that He is already developing in her a love for His Word!
• responds really well to boundaries. She has a scheduled "quiet time" in her crib every morning, and often will take one in the late afternoon, too. Her behavior after these times is noticeably better... it's a good break for her. We've also started blanket time for her, and I can't tell you the immediate change I noticed in her attention span. Phoebe is more content and more focused when she has physical boundaries (a blanket) that she can understand.
  
• loves to pretend. She makes me pretend plates of food, pretends to change diapers, etc. It's becoming more obvious that she has a vivid imagination, and I love it.
• is incredibly perceptive. She loves to point out things that are the same/matching... one of her favorite games is to find a picture in a book that matches the cover. Matching is definitely one of her favorite things to do!
• loves Mamas and Babies. Anything that is big is a mama, and anything that is little is a baby: pairs of animals, different size shoes, and she even notices Mama and Baby letters. Occasionally, it will be Dada and Baby.
  
• loves to listen to music, and for Mommy to sing. She listens to music during her quiet times, and we often listen while doing chores around the house. If anyone has recommendations for some good children's music, I'd love to hear them! (We already love Cedarmont Kids.)
• falls more in love with Nora every day. She loves to dress like her (no surprise - she loves things that are the same) and loves to be with her. She tries to play with Nora often, and will shake toys, touch her body parts and name them, and pet her head. She also really likes to help change her diaper.

I'm cutting myself off here, because honestly... this is getting excessive. Life with Phoebe is wonderful. She challenges me all the time, and the Lord is really using her to grow me; I'm so thankful that He chose to use her! I can't imagine a more delightful firstborn to have in our house.


And that almost two thing? I think they're going to be terrific twos.

Life Happens

It's been a long stretch since I've written anything of substance. Daily, it's a battle to spin all the plates I need to spin...and to figure out which ones need to be set aside for a little while. Often, blogging is one of the first things that I set aside. (I'm sure that's no surprise to anyone, really.) But I've also been hesitant to write because, honestly, things have just been hard lately.

I really hate writing about hard things, especially here, because I like this blog to be a place where things are hopeful. But I feel like it would be dishonest of me not to share some of this, and to instead present only our sunnier days.

Anyway, it isn't any one thing that's been particularly hard. A few months ago, it was easy for me to name our challenges: hospitals, unexpected bills, new babies, etc. Now, it's just a something. It comes, it goes. Some days are harder than others. Whatever it is, I just haven't felt much like myself lately.

But God is good. He is present in the good times, the challenging times... and even better, He makes good out of our bad. It's encouraging to know that during days like these.

I'm hoping that now that this is all out in the open -- that it isn't always all sunshine and roses over here -- I'll be less hesitant to post around here.

Nora is 3 months old!

So I totally planned on returning to blogging WELL before today... but we've had quite the full New Year so far. So, while this is interesting only to me and the grandparents...I've got to do the traditional monthday post.

I've learned, in the last three months, that you really do forget all those great things that you learn the first time around. I can't tell you how many things I've had to re-learn this time around...and I'll probably have to re-learn next time, too!


Here are a few things Nora is up to these days. Nora is...

• sleeping through the night, most all the time. (She started on Christmas Eve...what a great Christmas gift!) We typically feed her around 10:30, and then she will wake up around 7:30 the next morning. I am getting up with her about once a night to give her a paci; she'll typically go right back to sleep. (That said, last night I was up with her three different times.)
• eating 3-4 ounces at a meal, every 3 hours.
• still having some tummy troubles. Lately, she's been shrieky-fussy while eating, and we're starting to see some return of her reflux symptoms (which were managed beautifully with Zantac). We just changed her medicine today to a higher dose, so we're hoping that helps!
  
• napping with relative predictability, even if it doesn't look quite the way I'd want it to. At least I know when she's only going to nap for 30 minutes, right?
• about the happiest baby I've ever met. Seriously. She is so easygoing and sweet. She is pretty much content wherever she is, but still especially loves to be held. Or naked. Or in the bath.
  
• easily excited, especially by bright colors and faces. She kicks and squeals with fervor.
• extremely talkative. She is seldom quiet! Love it!

Also, I kept a pretty detailed notebook for Phoebe that detailed her daily schedule. Since I barely have time to think these days, I wanted to record her typical daily schedule here.

7:45 - Wake up, eat, tag along with Mommy and Phoebe to get dressed/clean up the kitchen/etc.
9:15 - Nap
10:00 - Wake up, Mommy usually tries to get her to go back to sleep...or at least stay in the crib until mealtime
10:45 - Eat, tag along some more, blanket time
12:15 - Nap
1:15 - Wake up, Mommy tries to get her to stay in the crib until mealtime... (notice a pattern?)
1:45 - Eat, special time with Mommy
3:15 - Nap (this is her best nap of the day, most days)
4:45 - Wake up and eat, tag along time, family time
6:15 - Catnap
7:00 - Wake up, family time (Bible, prayer, getting Phoebe in bed), bath
7:45 - Eat, try to get her to go to sleep
8:30 (if we're lucky!) - Bedtime
10:30 - Dream Feed

Bedtime is still a little bit of a struggle. She goes down great for naps, most of the time, but nighttime has always been harder. It dawned on me yesterday that we weren't doing much of a nighttime routine, so I'm trying to bring that in to her evening. Tonight, I rocked her and sang to her until she got drowsy; it was a little more successful, and a lot less stressful for me. We'll see!

Since this is officially a novel, I'm going to close up shop on the 3 Month Update. More to come soon, I promise! (And I mean it, too!)

Still Here

We're still around... I've got a mountain of pictures and heaps of things to say, but in order to do that I need to get out from under all of the piles at the house. I'm hoping to get caught up soon!

This Christmas

It's been a different Christmas, especially for me. I think I've spent the entire Christmas season coping with this, trying to figure out what exactly that means for me.

Having Little People in the house made me really want to recreate some of the Christmas magic I so fondly remember. I mean, Christmas has always been really magical for me. I have these grand memories of idyllic Christmas mornings around the tree, Christmas Eve services, time with family, baking in the kitchen...the whole package, really. And even though Christmas really was wonderful in years past, I know the memories are a little bit inflated: we never have been a Norman Rockwell family, even if we are one in my mind.

But these memories led to some warped expectations for me. I wanted to burst forth into the Season with beautiful decorations, tantalizing aromas wafting from the kitchen, smiling children, perfectly wrapped gifts, et cetera, ad nauseum. Frankly, I've been battling my expectations since Thanksgiving... all the way on through Christmas. And it's made me a pretty miserable person.

These inflated expectations led to major disappointments. I "failed" when only nine ornaments made it on the tree, and the gifts didn't even have bows or tags on them. I was a "disappointment" when Christmas Eve supper was hastily warmed up while the baby screamed. I was a "terrible mother" when I failed to produce engaging Christmas crafts and activities for my toddler. I'm sure you can see why I was pretty miserable this season?

I wanted to create all this magic... and in it, I managed to forget the real Magic of God, with us. Emmanuel. A tiny baby came, to die, to reconcile us to our God. He was born of a virgin, bore the sins of the whole world. God is with us.

Now that is something to celebrate.

Are Any Words Necessary?

For the record...this is a Costco-size box of Honey Nut Cheerios...so she's not totally tiny!