Simple Pleasures

I've recently become more aware of some of the basic pleasures in life. We don't live a luxurious life by American standards, but by the standards of the rest of the world, we're quite wealthy! Here are some specific physical things I'm thankful for:

1. Coffee. I've never been a serious coffee drinker, but I do enjoy a cup every now and then. I had to give it up early in the pregnancy, because the smell didn't agree with me. Yesterday, it sounded really good, so I gave it another try, and YUM. My personal favorite coffee concoction is coffee, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a generous slug of Hershey's syrup, milk, and Splenda. I've always loved my coffee sweet!
2. Heat and hot water. Several of my friends teach English in China, and it gets plenty cold there, and rains most of the winter. My friends have heat (sort of) and hot water, but NONE of their students do. Can you imagine going through a whole winter without heat or hot water??
   
3. Washer & Dryer. As much as I whine about the endless laundry, etc., how wonderful is it that I can just walk to my kitchen and plop some dirty clothes into a machine, turn a few dials, and get clean clothes? Then I can put those clean clothes into another machine, and they get all warm & dry & fluffy. It's a great blessing, when you really think about it! (Now getting the laundry folded & put away is another matter...)
4. Clothes. Now that I'm wearing maternity clothes, my options are somewhat limited. And yet, when I chafe against boredom & lack of variety, I think of our Compassion kiddo in the Dominican Republic - he's got 2 shirts & two pairs of shorts, if he's lucky. I'm getting bored because I only have 8 shirts to choose from?? What a blessing it is to have extra clothes to wear!
5. Books. I'm an avid reader, and I'm trying to raise Wendy with an appreciation for books, too. I love reading to Wendy (as long as she's not elbowing me in the belly), and I really enjoy most of her books. One of my favorite ways to spend a lazy afternoon is snuggled up in bed with a good book. I especially like Christian fiction - stories that involve you and help illustrate important principles of life.

What are you thankful for today?

Knitting Projects

Some of you who know me in real life know that I love to knit. The things I make are pretty basic, since I have constant distractions that might interfere with a complicated pattern. For example, I started a blanket for David on Friday, and it was the most complicated pattern I've tried to date. I got about 4 hours into it, finished a row, and realized I was one stitch off for that entire row. Since it was a new pattern, I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I had to unravel the whole thing.

Since then, I've started again, using a simple pattern of my own design, and it's going beautifully! I've got about 6 inches done. It's a beautiful berry blue color, and fairly tightly knitted so that his wee fingers won't get tangled up in any open stitches. When it's done (hopefully before he's born!) I'll be sure to post pictures.

I'm going to interrupt that project as soon as I find some good yarn, because just LOOK at this picture:


I found this hat on Etsy, right here. This lady's store is fantastic; she's got several styles of wonderful newborn hats, all shown in professional photos like the one above. I love this hat, and I'm pretty sure I can make it, even without a pattern. And if I do, I want to get a similar picture of David once he arrives.

I'll be sure to let you know my progress with the knitting. It's something I really enjoy, and I definitely take pride in my projects! There's also something amazing about knitting for baby while pregnant - I'm knitting something for David, while God is knitting David together!

Generalizations

I've read in a couple of different pregnancy guides that by this point in my pregnancy, I "should have gained between 10-14 pounds."

Right.

So, the fact that I've lost 25 pounds & not gained a single pound back?

My OB isn't concerned at this point. The ultrasound last week showed that David measures a few days bigger than his gestational age. Shoot, when I was pregnant with Wendy, I lost a total of 45 pounds, and she was a healthy 7 lbs., 9 oz.

I don't think pregnancy guides should use the word "should".

A Cabin-Fever List

Last night and today, we've had freezing rain. That means, for this girl, there will be no going out. At all. Not even to the mailbox. Pregnancy makes me afraid off all kinds of things, like falling & going splat on the pavement. And driving on slick roads? Nu-uh.

I've got a little bit of cabin fever; before I heard the forecast, today was going to include a big trip to Target to look at baby stuff. Since that's not going to happen, I'm writing a list of randomness.

1. I had my first Braxton-Hicks contraction last night. I had a lot of them with Wendy, so I'm familiar with the slightly-uncomfortable tightening, and feeling like I suddenly have a fully-inflated basketball in my belly. I'm 21 weeks, so I guess it was about time.
2. It was bound to happen - we've been asking Wendy where "Mommy's baby" is, and laughing when she pats my tummy. Yesterday, I asked her where her baby is (meaning her baby doll) and she patted her own tummy. It was pretty cute!
3. I don't think we're going to get everything on my list done before David arrives. And in addition to my long list, James has to take a day-long licensing exam on April 24th, about a month before David's birthday. He has a lot of studying to do, which means that much less time to get other stuff done.
4. I'm ready for spring.
5. I'm thinking about finding a new home for our dog. She's a good little dog, but she's definitely at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to care & attention. She would probably be happier with someone else, someone who can dote on her & lavish her with attention & let her sleep on the bed at night.
6. Taking a newly-potty-training toddler to church is an exercise in, well, exercise. I think we average 3 trips to the potty during a worship service, because it's too early in the process for me to tell her to hold it.
7. Wendy loves fish & tartar sauce. I don't know why that surprises me, but it does.
8. I'm getting bored with my maternity clothes. Since I only have 16wks left, I'm just going to deal with the boredom. I am going to look through the stuff I haven't tried lately, since I've lost 25 pounds. The stuff that didn't really work early on might work just fine now.
9. Confession: I've been eating Wendy's M&Ms. The ones that are in a container as a reward for her potty-training successes. I'm a bad Mommy.
10. I can't think of a #10, but it would seem strange to have a list of 9 things. So here's#10.
    

Where Did All These Toys Come From, and Can I Just Throw Them Away?

Before I had a child, I had definite ideas about how my children would be raised. A few educational toys, lots of books, very little TV, lots of good exercise, good nutrition, etc. We've done pretty well with a few of those ideas - Wendy has lots of books, even though she only ever wants to read her favorite two. Her nutritional status is pretty good, as long as no one expects her to eat the lima beans. Good exercise - she does that all on her own!

The toys. Oh. The toys.

I've stuck to my plans and have spent maybe $150 in toys over Wendy's lifetime, including birthdays & Christmases. Most of these toys are ones that require a lot of imagination, and some are great activity toys (like the Bounce & Spin Zebra I wrote about last week).

However.

Wendy is the first grandchild on James' side of the family. She's the first granddaughter on my side of the family. I'm not going to put all the blame on her grandparents, but at least one set has bought her way too many toys. (Not the set that lives close by.) Wendy also has several aunts & uncles who like to see her face light up when she gets a new toy - especially if it flashes or moves or sings or otherwise requires batteries.

Somehow, between 2 birthdays, 3 Christmases, and many "I just had to get this for her" moments, Wendy has enough toys for a whole day-care center. (I think there may be some toy hanky-panky going on during the night, because some mornings I'd promise there are more toys than there were at bedtime.) Something has got to be done. I don't think it's good for children to be swimming in toys. I know for sure it's not good for my tiny house and my pitiful attempts at organization.

So what should I do?

Do we just get rid of about 85% of her toys?

What about the toys she's outgrown, that we want to save for David?

What should we do to maintain a reasonable amount of toys, when people keep giving us tons of stuff?

Mom Song

I'm sure most of you have seen the following video, but in case you haven't, I thought I'd share:


Since Wendy is just 2, there are many things in that song that I don't say...yet. But here's what I DO say. Over and over. And over. Every day. Ad infinitum.

• No jumping on the chair.
• No climbing on the chair.
• Chairs are for sitting.
• No jumping on the couch.
• No climbing on the couch.
• The couch is for sitting.
• Look at Mommy.
• Do NOT smack Mommy!
• Come here! I said, come here!
• Do NOT make that sound. (referring to her supersonic shriek.)
• Give it to Mommy.
• Put that down.
• Put that down, NOW.
• Stop kicking.
• It's time for night-night. No play.
• Are you my sweetie?
• WHAT do you have in your hair?? (Usu. cereal, ketchup, PB, or snot.)
• Mommy loves her Wendy.
• Do you need tickled??

I'm sure there are several other things I say a lot, but this list is pretty representative. As I look over it, I'm overwhelmed by how negative it is! I'll have to work on that!

It's a...

BOY!!!

We could not be more thrilled! Seriously! (And I'm sure, had it been a girl, we'd feel the same way!)

His name is David James, after baby's two Grandpas and his dad.

I'll try to get some ultrasound pics up soon; he was cooperative but not terribly photogenic today.

We're SO excited!! Now to plan his room & the baby registry...

Overheard in the Van

On the way to Grandma's house today.

Me: Wendy, do you want a brother or a sister?

Wendy: Budder.

Me (just to clarify): Do you want the baby to be a boy or a girl?

Wendy: Boy!

30 seconds of silence

Wendy: Sisser. No boy.

Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow!!

If...

...a toddler who normally naps for 3 hours every single afternoon doesn't nap at all

...exhausted, crabby pregnant Mama doesn't get to nap either

...dinner plans are thrown awry by an important ingredient missing from the pantry

IF all of that is true...
...the right course of action is NOT for said exhausted, crabby pregnant Mama to attempt to make it all from scratch, involving 3 boiling pots, a hot oven, and constant whisking, all while dodging/placating the VERY crabby toddler.

Also - a little bit of flour spilled on a linoleum floor is very slippery.

Jumping Bean

This Friday, Jan. 23rd, at 8:15 a.m. is what I've been waiting for the whole pregnancy. It's the BIG ultrasound. Of course, we're hoping that all signs point to a healthy baby. We want to see that little heart beating away, we want to see those legs & arms flail about, and we want to see all kinds of development since our last ultrasound two months ago.

But what I'm really excited for? We want baby to show us those privates!!!

This is no time for modesty.

There's a poll up at the top of my sidebar so you can vote for what you think we're having. I just knew that Wendy was a girl; I'm not as sure with this one, but I'm leaning toward a boy.

Come back Friday afternoon for the big reveal of the baby's sex & name!

A Zebra Saved My Sanity

Wendy has always been very physically active. She turned over at three months, crawled at 7 months, climbed stairs at 8 months, and walked at 10 months. Occasionally she will sit quietly with a book or a puzzle & keep herself entertained, but for the most part - if the child is awake, she's moving. Running, climbing, jumping, spinning, dancing, wrestling, MOVING.

That can be tough in the wintertime & rainy days, when playing outside just isn't an option. Our house is small, and one very active toddler can really wreak havoc with the place. If we had a spare, you know, $30,000 laying around, I'd build on a playroom & floor it with gymnasium mats. Seriously. She'd love it.

She got a toy for her first birthday that has survived all the romping and has really become a favorite. It's her Fisher-Price Bounce & Spin Zebra. She used it a little from around 12-18 months, but she needed help balancing on it. But now? Now, she can jump and bounce and spin on that thing like crazy.
I seldom give out unsolicited product recommendations, but I just had to share the wonderfulness of this zebra with you, especially since a lot of my readers have toddlers underfoot. This toy is fantastic. If Wendy's being especially active, I ask her, "Why don't you go jump on your zebra?" She usually says, "Oh, awwight!" and happily bounces away for a while, burning up lots of energy!

The packaging says this toy is good for 12-36 months, so if you've also got a very active toddler (who may or may not drive you crazy when confined indoors) give it a try!!

New Look - and a GIVEAWAY!!

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WINNERS!

Beth@Sportsmomma

Shel

Rondadoug

Congrats, and happy snacking!!
(winners - look for an e-mail from me!)
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I've been feeling a little twitchy lately. If I had money, and energy, and Wendy wasn't in the early stages of potty training, I'd go shopping. If I was allowed to lift more than 10 lbs, I'd rearrange furniture. Since I can't do any of that, I decided to work on my blog a little bit this morning.

What do you think?

It's from the same design kit I bought when I first changed my design several months ago. It comes from Sweet Shoppe Designs, and is one of their "Blog in a Box" kits by designer Zoe Pearn. If you click on a link, you'll see that you can buy a customizable blog design kit for less than $6. The instructions are easy to follow, and there are several ways to put the pieces together to redo your blog. (I wish I had known they had Christmas designs - I would've been all over that!!)

And now - a GIVEAWAY!

This is big news, y'all. Little Debbie is now making 100 calorie snack packs. I recently received a HUGE box of samples in the mail, and they were delicious!! They're the same treats you grew up with, but resized into a healthier portion. I'm not as concerned with the calories right now as I am with the carbohydrate content, but I was able to fit these yummies into my diet plan. I especially enjoyed the Nutty Bars & PB Stix.

Little Debbie will send THREE of my readers a big box of their own! That's 8 full-sized boxes of Little Debbie treats! Just leave me a comment to enter! You can get extra entries for tweeting about the giveaway - just live me an additional comment with the link to your tweet!

Giveaway ends at 8 a.m. CST Monday.

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Edited to add: I forgot - this giveaway is only for the continguous 48 US states. Sorry for not posting that sooner. (I apologize, Scribbit!)

That's What I Thought

I promise I won't keep giving you potty training updates, but I just had to say that the hard part has begun. Yesterday was okay; she had several successes and two accidents. But today? So far we're 0 for 3.

No M&Ms have been given at all.

I'm keeping the Oxi-Clean handy.

And I might need to buy a timer.

Prayers for Tiffany

Many of you are friends, either IRL or online, with Tiffany from Snapshots of Life. She is having a C-section this morning to deliver little Mr. Austin Wyatt into the world! Please think of her today, & say a prayer that everything goes well!

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Update: He's here! Austin is 6 pounds, 13 ounces, 19ish inches long, and has black curly hair! Yay!

(Thanks for the info, Sandi!)

Potty Training, Day 1

Wait - I thought this was supposed to be hard.

After offering Wendy the chance to go potty 3 different times over the weekend, with success each time, today we began in earnest. She was completely on board with the decision, asking for her "patties" (panties) after I took off her night diaper.

She has successfully used the potty 5 times today.

She has initiated the potty use each time, even interrupting her play.

She has not had any accidents. At all.

She's gotten a single M&M after each success, and happily eats her "deendy." (candy)

I'm so surprised, and so pleased. I'm just waiting for the hard part to start.

I Live in the Boonies

Out of desperation, I got Wendy ready, and she and I headed out in the pouring rain to the library. I took a list of your suggestions with me, in the hopes of finding some recommended books.

I struck out.

Well, almost. I did find several books by Karen Kingsbury, so I'm giving those a try. But that was it - all your other suggestions of authors & titles, and my library didn't have any of them. I was also looking for potty-training guides. They had one. I checked it out.

There are times when I fantasize about moving back to Missouri. Today is one of those days.

Emergency!

Not really.

But I'm out of things to read. I finished the Twilight series earlier this week, and then read a couple of other books I had sitting around, and now I'm out. There is no fiction in this house that I haven't read at least once. I'm going to have to make a trip to the library, possibly this evening after Wendy's nap. I just have to have reading material.

What books should I look for at the library? My favorite genres are historical fiction & Christian fiction. I like things that are well-written and complex, but still easy to read when I'm sleepy.

Any suggestions? Any authors you love? Any special series I should look for?

Potty Training

I'm finally ready to re-start Wendy's potty training. I put it off for awhile because I was so sick, and then didn't want to start right before the holidays, so here we are in January. If I want to accomplish anything before the Jumping Bean's arrival, we've got to start ASAP!!

Maybe it's just a nervous first-time potty-trainer thing, but I really want to get a book or two & read about different approaches, first. There are a couple of books I'm looking at; if you have experience with either of these (or other guides, for that matter) will you please let me know in the comments?

The first one is Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, by Nathan Azrin. It's from the 1970s, and apparently it's worked for lots of people. A huge benefit is that the book is cheap & short - it would be easy to buy & read quickly.









The other book is Stress-Free Potty Training, by Sarah Au & Peter Stavinoha. The "stress-free" part sounds awfully good to me. The main appeal of this book is that it has several different approaches, since kids have different temperaments & personalities. Since our only attempt so far has been unsuccessful, maybe there's a good strategy out there that would fit Wendy perfectly.



Anyway, if you have any suggestions for good books about potty training, or have specific advice regarding these two books, please let me know! I'll probably go to the bookstore tomorrow & see what I can find!

WFMW: Simplifying Toddler Bedtime

About eight months ago, we decided to work on getting Wendy to sleep in a toddler bed. Her crib is convertible, so we took about an hour and put the special rails on the front so she wouldn't fall out. We tried and tried to train her, but it was like her bed had become a trampoline - she'd just bounce right out when we tried to put her to bed.

We switched the toddler bed back into a crib, and left it that way for several months. Then James had the brilliant idea of just taking the side panel off of the crib, instead of going to all the work of switching it over to a "toddler bed." The side panel is easily removed & put back, and we've used that to train Wendy to stay in bed. If she gets up once, she gets a good scolding & gets put back in bed. If she gets up a second time, the side panel gets put back on & she has to sleep in a "baby bed."

Another brilliant idea that James had is to send Wendy to bed with a board book. She can't really damage a board book, and it holds her attention as she gets drowsy & ready for bed. She likes the routine of picking out a book, saying bedtime prayers, and getting tucked in to "read."

Those are two tips that have really simplified Wendy's bedtime. Right now the big struggle is getting her to bed on time, but we're making progress!

For more great tips, head over to Works-For-Me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer!

Yet Another...

Y'all are going to get tired of seeing pictures of my big pregnant belly, but it just amazes me. I was about to get ready for bed, and caught a glimpse of myself in profile in the mirror.

Wow.

18 1/2 weeks.

I think I'm getting bigger every day. Which, I suppose, is how it's supposed to work, but...wow.

Good thing this baby will arrive at 37 weeks. I don't think I'd be able to walk at 40.