Posts Tagged ‘Meri’
I’m *really* proud of how well I’m doing with learning how to knit. First, I put together just a small square for some practice, and then I tried another pretty new yarn. Sure, I’ve had to “frog” lots of times (did you catch that ~ I learned a new knitting word last night, LOL!). But I’m trying to be patient and go easy on myself because this is all so new. Last night, I practiced some purl stitches but was unsuccessful. I think that I need to watch a video online again in order to get it right. It’s so wonderful to have a craft that I can pick up so easily where I left off (which is essential when you have two young children!). When I get the purl thing right, I’m going to try my very first pattern: a waffle-stitch washcloth. It seems pretty easy, and if it turns out OK, it might be a nice little Christmas gift along with one of my handmade soaps. But I’m not getting my hopes up too high. I doubt that it’ll look as nice as the one in the photo! LOL! :) I want to see whether we have any cool yarn stores nearby, too. You know, all I really want to do today is sit on the futon in our bonus room and knit while the kids play. But nothing much would get done then, huh?
And now for a completely random note: I *really* admire people who enter the medical field. It’s something that I just couldn’t do. My friend Theresa is an xray technician in Indiana, and she has been working *really* hard with her career. It takes such a special person to care for others in that way. I have to take Meredith for the second part of her flu shot this Friday, and sometime I also need to schedule her lead check at the hospital (Luke had the same thing done when he turned two). I also have a routine physical in February, which I’m *so* not looking forward to! But it’s always good to get checked out. My cholesterol levels were *really* awesome last year, so I’m curious to see what they’re like now (hopefully the same).
Gotta go ~ this calendar project is calling my name. I’m *almost* done with it (which is a good thing, considering it’s already December!). I need to work on the cover and then print everything out to make sure that there are no mistakes. I’m waiting on some more information from our neighbor, too, in order to finish it. And when Luke goes to preschool this afternoon, Meri and I are going to make a grocery store trip. We are *seriously* out of food (unless a small box of brown rice and a few onions count, LOL!). Can’t make much with that!
Can you believe that the Christmas tree pictured on the right is made entirely from empty cans of Mountain Dew? My friend Cassandra in Minnesota sent me the e-mail forward with photos, and I couldn’t resist blogging it. I actually think that it looks kind of pretty! The two-liter bottle on top is such a nice touch! :) It looks like it probably took a long time to put together … there are wires soldered to the cans, and then somehow they’re hooked to the inner pole of the tree. I wonder how long it took for them to drink all of that Mountain Dew? Talk about a great way to recycle … and I’m sorry that I don’t know who created this Christmas tree, or I would give them proper credit here. (I hope that this isn’t a “hoax” ~ I probably should have checked out Snopes first!)
It’s almost 60 degrees here today. So nice! I went grocery shopping with the kiddos this morning (they were really good ~ yay!), then we took a walk around our neighborhood after lunch. (With the McDonalds that I ate yesterday, I needed some exercise ~ or some cheap diet pills, LOL!) Now that Meri is napping, I’m settling down to work some more on this quadricentennial calendar for our town. Later this afternoon, we’re picking up our next-to-last CSA share from the farm. Not sure what’s on tap for this weekend, but tomorrow I have to stop by our neighbor’s house to pick up something ~ and I’ll get to enjoy some “me time” on Sunday. We also have the Netflix movie “Kung Fu Panda” to watch. Happy Friday, everyone! :)
Whew, was I uncomfortable at this time two years ago! We were about to meet our precious daughter so very soon, right on her due date! I had been hoping that our “baby boo” would actually arrive on Halloween, and I remember how excited I was when the nurses in the delivery room told us that she was born at 10:55 p.m.! No tricks … just a sweet, beautiful treat! :) I’ve been especially enjoying snuggles with Meredith this week as I think back to when she was born and how much she has changed over the past two years.
Some of my favorite words of hers are “scug” (meaning “snug” or “snuggle”), “scrunkies” (meaning a “hair scrunchie”), and “flowies” (meaning “flowers”). She’s talking up a storm. If you ask her to say a word, she’s really good at repeating it. She’s into “Dora the Explorer,” My Little Pony, Mickey Mouse, stickers, purses, shoes, barrettes (a recent phenomenon), dresses, blankets, playing outside, and reading books, to name a few. (She frequently comes over to us with a book and says, “Please read!”) Her favorite foods are apples (which she eats the inside of but then spits out the peel!), yogurt, cole slaw (she ate a *ton* of it the other night at dinner!), fruit snacks (of course!), cereal, toast with butter, and basically anything we’re eating. She doesn’t care for bananas, though. She says that her favorite color is green (like Lucas’s), but she also seems to love pink. :) She’s also very good at singing the alphabet song, even if she doesn’t make it to the end just yet! Oh, and she *loves* to dance! She’s also such a “little mama.” She feeds her Learning Puppy and makes sure to cover him up with a blanket at night, and she brings Blue over to Lucas if he has laid her down somewhere. She also brought Lucas’s sippy cup over to him this afternoon! She definitely has such a caring, loving, kind spirit.
Her two-year checkup isn’t until next week, but she has been wearing size 2T and even 3T in some cases for quite some time now. For Halloween, she’s going to be a “youngling” (in other words, a tiny Jedi in training!). I am so in love with this little girl ~ words just can’t describe it. She is such an *amazing* blessing to us. I can’t wait to see what this next year has in store for her!
I’ve been so busy today that I’m just now getting around to posting a photo for Wordless Wednesday. The other night, I gave Meredith a bath. Got her out of the tub when she was done, wrapped her in a towel, dried her off, applied lotion, put on a new diaper, dressed her in comfy pajamas, brushed her hair ~ the works. Then, what did she do? Ran down the hallway at breakneck speed and jumped right back into the bathtub. Fully clothed.
I guess that she’s just a “bathtub junkie” like her mama. :)
My experience at SuperCuts this morning was awful. I took Meredith with me because I thought that she would be easier to keep track of than Lucas. When I walked in and told the lady that I’d like to get my hair cut, she looked at Meri, frowned, and said, “I can’t have her running around.” I said yes, that I hoped she would sit nicely on my lap during my haircut (which she did).
I sat down and showed the stylist a photo of Martha Stewart’s hairstyle, and she said, “Oh, that’ll be easy.” I told her that I had been trying to grow my hair out, and she replied in a nasty tone, “Why? For a pony tail or something?” Nice. And I kid you not … she made five or six snips and that was it. Rubbed some pumpkin-scented leave-in conditioner into my hair, and she was done. I told her not to be afraid to go quite a bit shorter with my length, but she said, “No ~ that’s all you need.” Huh? Thanks *so* much for listening to me.
Well, while Meredith was in my lap, I asked the stylist about whether we should trim her bangs and the sides of her hair, around her ears. She suggested that we just trim her bangs a little bit, and I said that was fine. I asked her, “Would you mind saving a piece of her hair, then, since this is technically her very first haircut?” She said sure. But when she started cutting, she just kind of let Meredith’s hair fall to the ground. I was *so* mad. I realize that her hair is thin and fine and that trimming her bangs didn’t involve much hair cutting, but a huge chunk of it fell down onto the floor. She just kind of blew it off and mumbled, “Sorry.” I wasn’t about to pick it up because the floor was somewhat dirty.
For a woman who has four children, she was certainly pretty rude to me and to Meredith. My haircut cost $15, and it was a *total* waste. (I even had a sale coupon for $3 off, so it was really $18. I could have bought this and been much happier.) Everything is expensive these days, and I don’t want to spend money on something that I don’t want or on bad customer service. Now I have a “haircut” that looks pretty much like it did before. I’m still mad about the whole thing. Generally, I don’t like to complain, but I think that SuperCuts will be hearing from me soon.
I felt so overwhelmed on Saturday. Between freelance assignments with looming deadlines, my ever-growing to-do list, longing for a little bit of a break, and not being able to accomplish much lately, it just all kind of “hit the fan.” I sat down and wrote a blog entry, mentioning at the end that my husband would be in Baltimore all week for a business trip.
A few hours later, my mom called. I knew that something was up, because my parents don’t usually call us on Saturday mornings. She asked me, “Do you have anyone to watch the kids while you go to your doctor’s appointment on Monday?” I said no, that I was just going to bring them with me (ugh!). That’s when my mom replied, “Well … would you like to have a babysitter?” Kind of puzzled, I said, “Uh … sure!” And then she said, “Well … *I* can babysit, if that would be OK!” Huh? My parents live in Indiana! All I could say was, “What?”
That’s when my mom told me that she was going to hop a plane the very next day and stay with us until Thursday. She mentioned phrases such as, “doing the dishes,” “working on some laundry,” “babysitting the kids,” “fixing some meals,” and so on. My eyes immediately welled up with tears. I kept saying, “Oh my God!” over and over. I just couldn’t believe it. We got off the phone, and I just burst into tears. She had absolutely *no* idea how much I needed something like this and what *perfect* timing it was. Jeff said that it was an answer to his prayers, too, because he was concerned about me having to watch the kids all week by myself. I was simply on cloud nine. We hardly *ever* get to see our families. Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday marked six months since my grandfather’s passing. That’s six months that he hasn’t gotten to see. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem real or possible that my grandparents are gone. When I do everyday things around the house, such as taking a tablecloth from the drawer of their dining room hutch (which my grandpa made himself) or cleaning off the dining room table (which used to belong to them), it feels surreal. I keep thinking about how these things shouldn’t be in *our* home ~ how they should be at my grandparents’ house in the exact spaces where they were before, with my grandparents still here to use them. I want everything to be how it *used* to be, but no one lives in my grandparents’ home anymore. Didn’t we just see my grandpa at Christmas? Seems like yesterday. I find myself looking at photos of him and thinking, “No, this isn’t real. I should be able to pick up the phone and give him a call. Right?” I keep thinking about things that I’d like to tell him. He’d be *so* proud of Lucas’s potty training and Meredith’s ever-expanding vocabulary. Sometimes I still just feel like I’m in shock that they’re both gone. It doesn’t seem possible.
Sorry to be a little bit of a downer. :( I think that today we’re just going to hang out here at home and get stuff done. Jeff and Lucas went outside to finish mowing the grass, and I need to pop in a few loads of laundry. I also need to work on some freelance assignments. Tomorrow, I’m working in our church’s nursery to help take care of the infants during the service, and then afterward we’re heading over to see our friends Vicky and Natalie. That should be fun! I have a doctor’s appointment Monday morning, and I’m kind of nervous about it. Always glad to get those over with. And I’m going to have to take Luke and Meri with me. After trying to corral two active toddlers during my checkup, I’m sure that my doctor will gladly refill my anxiety medication! LOL! :)
Jeff travels to Baltimore on Monday and doesn’t get back until Friday. It could be a long week!
It’s approaching 10:30 p.m., and I should probably head to bed soon. But I’m not quite ready yet, so … why not blog? :) Just a while ago, I posted an entry over at Wellness Journey with some cool links to Internet sites that I’ve come across recently. (Did you know that I have a second blog?) I think that blogging began as a way of sharing interesting webpages, so I’m just trying to go back to my blogging roots. :)
Went to our town’s beach today with the kids. Had a blast. The water was freezing, but after a while I got used to it and was swimming around like crazy. Got a little bit of sun, too. We tried to give the kids a little mini swimming lesson, and Meri did *really* well with kicking her legs and letting me hold her while she tried to float on her back. I think that I gave birth to two fish. :) I’m definitely going to take them there again sometime this next week ~ probably Wednesday after I finish this freelance assignment.
I sat down this evening and printed out a “schedule” for the next few weeks. I listed all of our appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, get-togethers, parties ~ you name it. I love being organized like that. I’ve just felt overwhelmed lately, like there’s *so* much to do. But today at the beach was *such* a nice break. I didn’t bring our camera, either … I just relaxed and had fun. Tomorrow, though, it’s buckling down to work on more freelance stuff.
And now, I think that it’s almost bedtime. Hope you’re all enjoying your weekend so far!
I don’t have much on my calendar for this upcoming week, but I have a *ton* of things on my to-do list. Among them are making a dentist’s appointment, rescheduling my doctor’s checkup, scheduling my yearly OB/GYN checkup, making a follow-up appointment for Lucas’s Lyme Disease at the pediatrician’s office, etc. I *dread* making appointments and will be *overjoyed* when they’re all done and over with.
I also need to finish this freelance assignment by the end of the day tomorrow. After that, I’m going to take the kids to our town’s beach. It might be kind of difficult because the beach is *so* rocky at first (you have to walk a bit of a distance to get past the rocky area). It’s not stroller-friendly at all (perhaps a Bugaboo stroller would work!), but maybe we’ll be able to navigate OK. I’ll be worried about watching the two of them by myself while we’re so close to the water, but since it’s not crowded there, it’ll hopefully be easier. I’d also like to take them to this really great area called the Ooms Conservation Area. It’s 180 acres, and one of Jeff’s coworkers told me that it’s “all the rage” now. The kids would get a wonderful chance to run around and enjoy the fresh air, and I might be able to snap some good photographs.
I can’t get over how *nice* our weather is today! It rained for a while, and I turned off our air conditioning because it’s *so* breezy outside. When the wind blows, I can hear the trees in our front yard creaking. I like to think that they’re talking to each other. :) Jeff took Luke and Meri to church this morning and then stopped by our friends’ house to play for a while, and I’m working hard on this freelance assignment. It’s nice to have some time *alone* here at home, in the peace and quiet! (Well, there’s the noise of the trees, of course, and I can also hear birds chirping and cars driving down our road.) Living out in the country just rocks.
By the way, I’m working on a little something new right now. A new endeavor, I guess you could say. Sorry to be so vague, but I’m *very* excited about it and can’t *wait* to tell you when I get everything all set up! It might take a while, though. I hope that it’ll be a success, but I’ll just have to wait and see. (Ahh, don’t you just love suspense?)
This morning before getting out of bed, I whispered, “Rabbit! Rabbit!” just like I do at the start of every new month. I just can’t get over the fact that today is July 1st. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow ~ just a regular checkup ~ but I’m dreading it. Medical situations make me pretty anxious, and I hope that the appointment will go quickly. I should make a list tonight of things that I’d like to talk with her about. Thank goodness our next-door neighbor is available to watch Luke and Meri. It’ll be kind of nice getting to go someplace by myself! LOL! :)
Now we’re not sure whether we’re traveling to Indiana this month or not. Jeff unfortunately has to work a *lot* (and also work many Saturdays), but we’re going to see. Maybe I could get brave enough to take the kids on an airplane and fly out to Indiana myself for a little while. Not sure about that just yet. I’m *terribly* anxious about flying, and I have no idea what it would be like traveling with a three-year-old and a 20-month-old in tow. But it’s something to think about.
A *huge* semi truck arrived at our house yesterday afternoon to deliver many things that belonged to my grandparents ~ things that they wanted us to have and also things that I asked whether we could have. Words can’t express how grateful and honored I feel to be able to enjoy these items now in our home. They’re amazing remembrances of my grandparents, who I was *so* very close to. I hope that they would be OK with us having these things. I plan to take *good* care of them forever. Thing is, I wish that the moving truck didn’t have to come at all. I wish that all of these things could be taken back, put back exactly where they were in my grandparents’ home, and that my grandparents could still be alive to enjoy them like they used to. I plan to write a blog entry about it soon, but the pictures that I snapped yesterday will remain private. (That just seems right to me.) It’s very strange to see all of these items in our house, but I’m *thrilled* to have these pieces of family history and remembrances ~ and we’ll also use them on a daily basis. I cried more than once yesterday, that’s for sure. It was funny to see a big rig parked near our driveway! (Thank goodness we didn’t need a truck accident lawyer, LOL!)
By the way ~ and this has nothing to do with furniture ~ my friend D. just alerted me to Gymboree’s new line of “Petite Mademoiselle” clothing. Oh. My. Goodness. I could *seriously* go crazy buying things for Meredith. This dress is just too cute for words. And she *must* have these pants. Credit cards, here I come! LOL! :)
