Party On

It’s been a big, busy month full of fun surprises. Let me see- I went to a cupcake decorating class at Faboo Cakes , chopped off 11 inches of hair for   Pantene Beautiful Lengths , paid off another loan toward our goal of being debt-free, and enjoyed some flowers from Josh. I’ve wanted to donate my hair for years now, but haven’t had the will to go dye free for so long. I mean, you grow 1/2 inch of hair a month, so to donate 11 inches (only 8 inches from my shortest layer) I had to be dye free for years- 22 months just for the donated portion, and since I wanted some hair left on my head, well, it took a while. I’m still learning to style the new do’, but so far I love it. It is not a time-save either, I have to say, but it’s not too much work. We’ve been doing pretty well on going debt-free. We initially had a lower goal in mind, but since August (the last time we paid off a loan), Josh’s car crapped out and we were in a bind for a new one. So far we’ve paid off about 82k. It...

Wow! It feels like I haven’t written for years. What a difference three weeks makes. So, as you can tell, I’m dropping down Eli’s documentation to once a month now that he’s one. I would definitely have enough material to do it weekly, but I want to be able to do for our future child(ren) whatever I do for Eli. This year my goal is to have 4 steady pictures a month. Two of scale (one with his elephant, one with his chair), one with something that is his favorite, and one portrait so we can see how his face changes over his toddlerhood- everything else is gravy. Before we get into his update I’ll just touch on the happenings of the rest of the family. Starting Tuesday I am going to be a guest speaker for a 6 week small group focusing on overcoming anxiety using Biblical tools and techniques. I have been spending most nights writing up material and sending it to the leader, my great friend Natasha. It’s been pretty busy, but it’s also been exciting and encouraging. I am so thrilled she...

It’s been a full year and one week since our lives changed forever. Our little guy is so sweet and smart- it’s been a joy. A lot of work and sleepless nights and stress and worry- but always joy. I wouldn’t change it for anything. On the sleep front- Well, I don’t know what my assessment is. On the one hand, he’s gotten down to only waking once a night now that we’re home and back on a schedule. He’s going to sleep now without me holding him, but with me just singing to him in a chair next to his crib. This also means that he’s got to be feeling better. On the other hand, when he does wake he’s up for 2 hours. More often than not one of us takes him to the guest room to sleep with him while the other gets some (much needed) rest. With me, he’ll wake repeatedly even doing this- and it would be nice to spend a whole night a) asleep and b) asleep next to my husband. On the feeding front- we made it! We made it all the way to a year. Now we’re on the task of weaning. I started introduc...

This is a mash-up of my ‘must-have’s’ for baby’s first year plus advice I wish I would’ve had (or listened to!). So hold on to your horses! Let’s go. Birthing Pandora , heating pad , massage ball (like this one , but it vibrated too) 1. Hold off on the epidural until you seriously need it. Don’t risk the chance of using up your tolerance toward the meds when you’re only “uncomfortable” 2. Try music. I don’t care if it sounds cheesy, it works. We also used a massage ball and heating pad (which, by the way, they make you get rid of once you have the epidural) for pain relief, but what helped the most- see #3. 3. Have your mom there! She helped me through transition like Josh couldn’t, because she had been there and knew where it would hurt. This was particularly helpful when I was in so much pain I couldn’t speak. She knew- and she helped. 4. Don’t worry about other people. I tend to be very empathetic towards others and spent a lot of my labor worrying about others (What if Jo...