Oh, the guilt.

So I can't take it anymore. The SMELL that emanates from the Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers we have been using for about 9 months now. I have tried *everything* -- and it will be fixed for awhile, but then it comes back. It's because we have an HE washer, I think. There just isn't enough water there to get them clean.

So we have switched back to disposables. I will be contributing to the landfills now. The only consolation is that I got these online, and they are biodegradable. So at least I am still being green, right?

I just so loved using cloth diapers. Boo.

A few odds & ends

Last week, we got our Advent wreath made:


And made some construction paper ornaments to hang on the tree:


Natalie is doing a great job of participating in crafts. I'm so excited!! She really focuses and gets involved and way excited about everything. I think we'll try finger paints again this week, to make some crafts for people for Christmas.

This weekend, we put carpet tiles in the nursery at church. It's really coming together! I'm so excited about that. This weekend, I may put some paint on the walls. I'm going to look for some wall stencils, maybe with a Bible verse about children. I think that would be really neat.

Here is Natalie helping with the tiles:




I'm also working on Natalie's stocking. DH and I have stockings that my mom made -- my mom made them for the whole family, as each of us was born. I'm recreating that, and it's coming out really well! I'll post a picture when I'm done w/ it.

Today I am mailing Christmas gifts out, and hopefully straightening up this place a bit. It's getting a bit cluttered!!

Oh, and I'm hosting Christmas this year!!! I'm very excited about that. I love organizing and planning stuff, so I'm thrilled. I wanted Natalie to be able to just hang out here on Christmas, and have people come to her. And I also wanted to cook dinner. :)

My girls are coming back!! Hurrah!!

18 Months!?!?!

OK what happened here? My daughter is a year and a half today!!!! That can't be right!! :) She just came home from the hospital!!
















And here she is last week -- looking a little rundown from her UTI, poor thing. But we got to go outside and have a little fun playing in the backyard.



















I have been thinking all year that once my little Bug turned 18 months, I wanted to start some sort of loose curriculum with her -- for a routine to the day, and also to have different arts/crafts to entertain her. So I ordered this the other day -- Little Acorn Learning -- it's nature-based, and seems really neat. I'm going to try it this month and see how we like it. There are a couple crafts for each week - and this week, they are based on the start of Advent this past Sunday and St. Nicholas day tomorrow - and I'm not sure if N would enjoy them or if they are too old for her. We are going to make an Advent wreath today. Also, the curriculum recommends that I get up before everyone else for some quiet time. What a novel idea! :) So this morning I am up. While N sleeps. I haven't done this in ages!! I'm enjoying a cup of coffee, the laundry has been started, and the house is quiet. Ahhh...

We tried finger painting yesterday - we made our own from flour, water, and food coloring, and she wanted nothing to do w/ it. I even tried to encourage the mess-making -- sticking her hand and feet in it, to make hand and footprints... and no. She started wailing. Okay then! :)

It's been awhile since I posted, so brief update:

• N and I will be out east for awhile at the end of December/beginning of January.
  
• B still has his job, and is still working from home. We are doing pretty well with that, I must say.
  
• I have been a Christmas cookie baking fiend lately! I have lemon bars, toffee bars, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, oatmeal/pb/choc chip cookies (holy yum!), and peanut butter cookies in the freezer, ready to be given out to friends and Santa. :)

I love this time of year!! :) Ah, she awakes... forgive any typos, I don't have time to proof this!

Update

B did not get laid off, thankfully. But his entire department did, and they are having him and two other managers work from home now. We're not quite sure what the future holds, but for now everything is okay. :)

Thanks for the reminder, Steph! Sorry I did not update sooner. Things have been crazy -- there was that, and then my mom was diagnosed with lymphoma (waiting on more info on that right now), and then I went out of town for over a week.

My friend is coming into town tomorrow, so I'm in busy clean-up-and-get-work-done mode right now.

Mini-Update

Just a quick update on me -- nothing too exciting to report.

~We are waiting to see if B gets laid off this week. I'll post more about that later this week after everything goes down.
~I twisted my knee last Wednesday and it hasn't gotten better, so I'm calling the doctor tomorrow to go see what they think.
~The church nursery is coming along quite nicely - everything is organized, just waiting on the carpet I ordered to arrive, and then I'll finish it with that and a big gate to separate the crawlers/babies from the walkers.
~We found a great new park! It has three separate areas for kids, each complete with a different size jungle gym area. There is one that is perfect for N - she can climb all around on it (pretty much) on her own.
~N is really into everything, and saying more words every day. This week's big word is "uh oh!" She went through a day or two where she would throw things on the ground and yell "UH OH!" and be quite pleased with herself. Now it's just limited to when she falls or something accidentally falls. She also said "bless you!" to me (in her own language, but I understood it!! :) ) when I sneezed this morning. Too cute!
~After spending a couple of weeks trying to count points (Weight Watchers), I spent this weekend just pigging out with the stress of hubby's job situation. Not good! I also made the mistake of getting on the scale in the midst of all that, and was not happy w/ what I saw. *sigh*
~I took our screen door off outside. It looks a zillion times better. We were the only people in our whole neighborhood who had a nasty screen door, probably the original one from 1997 when the house was built. Everyone else either doesn't have one or has a fancy one. So now you can just see our wood door. I'm going to add a coat of paint on the wood around the door, and it will look spectacular.

That's me in a nutshell from the past couple of weeks.

Picture of the Week

Kiki, the Lactivist

Who would have thought that I would be so into all of this? I guess I just never realized how weird people are about nursing. I'm so thankful I haven't come across the nastiness that some people have, but I just find it fascinating to read about situations that come up, and sometimes, like with the Bill Maher segment, I get all riled up about the ignorance that exists.

Here is a good article on the Huffington Post. Nothing earth-shattering, but it's a follow-up of sorts on the Bill Maher situation.

I guess he's doing his job really well. He's getting everyone riled up by being "politically incorrect." I guess the reason it bothered me was that it's not just him. He's speaking for a surprisingly large group of people, I think.

In other breastfeeding news in cyberland, here is a great article with some awesome pictures of women breastfeeding out in public (gasp!) in the 1940s. So cool!

Shorter hair...

I got my hair cut even SHORTER. I will post a picture sometime this weekend.

Nothing much going on. I'm just feeling very grateful lately for everything wonderful in my life. My daughter is such a joy. She has reached that age where she is interactive and even though we aren't actually having conversations, it feels like we are.

She gave DH a tough time while I was getting my haircut, though. I think she did it on purpose, because she gave me the most conspiratorial smiles when I got home. What a toot! :) She erased 2 hours of work on his computer, too... oops!! I'm torn between feeling horrible for him and giggling because that's who she is! A little destroyer. :)

Ok off to bake some cookies and watch the Office. Just wanted to check in. My last post was a bit of a tirade and I wanted my blog to move on from that. :) :)

Oh Mr. Maher....

I am getting SO SO tired of the attitude towards breastfeeding in our society. Luckily, I haven't ever personally experienced negative feedback while NIP. Quite the opposite, actually - I have had several supportive comments, and nobody has ever so much as looked at me cross-eyed while I'm nursing. And overall, I am able to have a sense of humor about most of the things I see. Like that news guy who was caught on camera pretending to lick the nipple of the image of breasts on-screen, when he was supposed to be reporting on breastfeeding. He didn't know the camera was rolling, and I'll admit I laughed at that. Silly things like that don't bug me.

But this... this is just ridiculous. This sums up the way a lot people out there think (as evidenced by all the laughs Bill got during his segment), and that saddens me. Breastmilk is the most natural and wonderful thing one can give her child. It's a bonding experience, it's nourishing, and it helps protect both the mom and child. (reduces obesity and illnesses for the child; prevents cancers for the mother) Those are facts. The AAP and the WHO both recommend that women breastfeed. Even formula companies say that breastmilk is best. So why is everyone so quick to put down those of us who are choosing to breastfeed!?! The bottom line is -- it is our legal right as women, as mothers, to nurse our children whenever or wherever they need to eat. I think it's a beautiful, wonderful thing. I truly don't understand why people are uncomfortable with seeing it. !?!? We have 13 year old girls running around dressed like hookers, but me nursing my little girl is disgusting??? So backwards and strange.

Anyway - here is what I'm talking about (the part I'm referring to starts at 3:14):

Oh Britney.

Her performance on the VMAs was so sad. She HAS to be on some sort of drugs. It looked like a junior high talent show. There is something very wrong with that girl.

The whole situation is heartbreaking - her poor kids.

The Starbucks Saga.

So I made it through the week without my iced venti non-fat chai. But I have to admit, it was hard! I missed that little treat each morning. I found myself eating more sugar throughout the day. I'm so pathetic, I know.. but I don't know if I can go all month like this. I need it!!

Hi, my name is Kiki, and I'm a Starbucks addict. Is there an SA around???

15-month appointment

We had N's 15 month appointment yesterday, and she did GREAT. I did decide to get the MMR vaccine, and not separate it out or anything, and so far she seems okay. A bit of a fever this afternoon, and the usual post-shots clinginess, but overall she is chipper.

She weighs 20 lbs, 7 oz and is 31" long. I was definitely able to tell that she had been chunking out a bit. I was so glad!! She's still in the ~15%, and we figure that's just where she is going to be.

I did have an issue w/ a couple comments the ped made about my continuing to breastfeed N, though. He said that I should think about cutting back, and when we talked about wanting to try for baby #2 in a few months, he said this would be a perfect time to wean. Arrgh. I'm going to chalk it up to him having a bad day & forgetting who he was talking to, and his not knowing that I want to nurse her until she is 18 - 24 months. As soon as I said that was my intent, he dropped it.

I was just really irked with the whole thing, though. Because he shouldn't be pushing for weaning. Even the AAP has come out with information saying that there are immunological benefits for the baby to nurse up to TWO YEARS. That's my ped's organization! I guess it's just the way our society is right now, that nursing beyond a year is strange and unexpected.

He also really pushed the flu shot, and even said that there will be a world-wide pandemic soon, and everyone needs to be vaccinated. Ugh. We are NOT doing the flu shot. We didn't do it last year, and we are not doing it this year. That's that.

We'll see how the 18 month appt goes. If he's still weird about everything, then he and I are going to have a little chat. This was not the norm with him - he is usually so open to what I want, and willing to work with me, and talk to me about what's what w/ the shots and all.

On the positive end of things, he said that N will be an early talker. He was really impressed with the number of words that she can say. I'm so proud of my little chatterbox. (Gee, wonder where she gets that!?!) :)

Curtis Roger

Last year on May 31, my friend Chantel gave birth to a stillborn baby boy at 40 weeks. His name was Curtis Roger. Since then, Chantel has gotten involved with a foundation called MissingGRACE. They do a lot with stillbirth prevention awareness, stillbirth awareness, grief support, memorial events and other projects. Chantel and her family are participating in the 2007 Kaila and Grace's Hope and Hearts Run, which is put on by MissingGRACE.

If you would like to sponsor Team Curtis, please visit this web site:

http://www.firstgiving.com/ateamforcurtis

Do they put crack in there?

I am embarrassed to admit how much I am dragging w/o my morning chai from Starbucks. Do they add something to it? Am I addicted? EEK! Only 3 days until I can have another one. It's going to be a long month people. A looooooooooong month.

First day with no Starbucks...

I did it! I did miss that small amount of caffeine, though. It makes a difference! But my daughter took a much better morning nap, so maybe this will be a good thing!! :)

I got some decaf hazelnut creme coffee at Safeway yesterday and it's pretty good. It did the job this morning.

Nothing too exciting to report today. Even though I am not working in an office, it still feels like a Monday to me. So weird.

It's only 8:20, but I'm exhausted. So I'm off to bed!!

September -- Less Starbucks!

I have become SUCH a consumer lately. I know that I should probably try to do a "no spending" (beyond the necessities) month in September, but I'm a wuss. I'm worried I wouldn't stick to it. I can think of a handful of things already that would be considered "luxuries" -- moms group, paint I need to buy tomorrow, a haircut, etc. And the holidays are coming... I need fall decorations... and I'm the midst of this "mommy makeover"... excuses, excuses....

So instead -- I am going to make a pact with myself that I will (gulp -- can I do this??) only get Starbucks on the weekends. I know, I know... such a sacrifice! But I have been getting Starbucks EVERY. DAY. That is a lot of money -- $4.15 x 30 = $124.50!! So starting tomorrow, (which, wee hee! happens to be a weekend!!) September will be a weekend-only Starbucks month. Can I do it?? Stay tuned.... :)

A small step...

So in my quest to be more green --- I have made a few baby steps:

~We finished up our kitchen sponges and we are now using cloths to wash dishes instead. I know that's not a HUGE deal, but that's a tiny bit less trash that we are putting out there!
~Even though we still have another package of paper napkins, we have been using cloth.
~I haven't bought any paper towels since we ran out way back when (despite DH's complaints!). Rags/towels work just as well!!

So those are my tiny steps forward. I also went to the farmers' market last weekend. I can't remember if I posted that already.


Here's a picture of my little punkin to start out the week. When I was little, my dad made me a little cradle to rock my dolls in. Well, I finally took it out for N because she's getting to that stage (she has started dragging around a baby doll we got from a friend), and she climbed right in!! She was quite pleased with herself. Climbing is her new talent/obsession. We got a Little Tykes table and chairs in the mail today, and instead of sitting at the table and calmly coloring - as I had pictured her doing when I ordered it - she proceeded to climb up and stand on the table and chortle to herself. Such an adventurer! :)

The text

OK I'm a computer dummy. I couldn't figure out how to get the text on my previous post without it getting all screwy :)

Anyway - that's not a great picture of my hair (and pardon the babe sleeping in her Mei Tei in front of me!) because it's in shadow and tucked behind my ears, but there you have it :)

I feel like a kazillion times better! :)

Before & After

The haircut is in two hours!!

I will post before & after pictures later today or tomorrow. I'm so nervous!

I think I am going with the "pob" (thanks BT for giving me the correct lingo!):

No-Spend September??

OK so I am pondering doing something I read about on one of my message boards. Not spending any $$ in September beyond what we need -- groceries and such. Can I do it?? I also really need to cut back on Starbucks, so I'm also pondering a No Starbucks September. EEK! That frightens me...

Long time, no post...

Holy schnikey I have been a slacker at this blogging thing! (Thanks for the reminder, Geeners!!)

So I met one of my "green goals" yesterday. We finally went to the farmers market!! It was quite small, but that's probably because it's so stinkin' hot out. I got some zukes, tomatoes, and potatoes. I will make some zucchini bread later today or tomorrow and maybe take a loaf to our new neighbors.

There really hasn't been much to write about lately. I have created a playroom area in my office for N, I am working on painting the kitchen/family room bit by bit, and when I'm not working on those things, we are playing or I'm trying to get some of my work done (around the house AND for my paying job).

I've been in the midst of a "Mommy Makeover", too. I am not happy with my appearance lately. I don't put much energy into it, and I end up looking REALLY frumpy. I know have some excess weight to lose, and that's slowly coming off (7 pounds down, 28 to go!), but in the meantime, I need to take care of me. I have a haircut scheduled for Thursday and I have started getting some nicer clothes. I have a pair of shorts, a top, and some pants. That's all that two long days at the mall netted me. This is tough!! I'm making sure to buy things that really work for me, and things that are NICE.

That's been life lately -- oh and also working on the nursery at church. I need to get some quotes on carpet, cabinets, etc. and present it to the Vestry next month. I have organized/cleaned everything really well, and now it's time to really fix it up. We had a new girl there this morning, and I think both the mom and the baby had a good time. So hopefully that is another young family !! She was the only one there besides N, so that gives you an idea about how few families we have. :(

Confessions

So, you know I have been trying to go "green". I haven't made any great strides in that area in months. The reason? It's too tiring. How lame is that?

An explanation for those of you sitting out there, scratching your heads and saying, "How can it be tiring to take care of the environment? It's the most natural thing!" Yes, yes it is. But, for a perfectionist as myself, it's tiring. We are cloth-diapering, recycling more, yada yada yada -- but there is always MORE I could be doing. Every time I use a paper napkin (we are still working through that stash -- but I am using cloth after they are gone!!), I cringe. Every time I drive a quarter mile to the grocery store b/c it's too damn hot to walk there, I cringe. Same goes for every time I get takeout in a Styrofoam box or toss my Starbucks cup in the trash instead of recycling bin. It's like Pandora's Box - once you start thinking about the environment and make a few changes, you realize how much more you could be doing. And it's tiring.

So I'm confessing to you all -- I have been slacking off with this. I'm hanging my head in shame. Because, logically I know that even if I'm not "perfect" with being green, at least I am doing something and thinking about it. And the more I incorporate all these little things into my life, the more naturally it will come, and the more things I will do. This isn't a quick project that I can cross off my to-do list. This is a lifelong goal that will constantly be improving. And while that is hard to swallow for someone who likes to feel a sense of accomplishment, it's a good learning lesson and very humbling at the same time.

So without further ado -- here are my Green Goals for July:

~Look into better lighting for the house -- light bulbs that give off less carbon and use less energy
~Fill a bag for the Amvets with stuff we can do without
~Check out the local farmers market

Since July is almost over, I'll leave it at that.

:-)

Summer Favorites

Some things I discovered this summer that I am loving:

Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List
Kate Forsyth books
The Grocery Game
Mothering Magazine's website & message boards
HP photo paper
Spa One
FitTV's Namaste Yoga
homemade chai

So. Tired.

Oh my goodness. I am exhausted!
And yet, I couldn't sleep when I laid down by N for her nap. What's up with that? Now that she is up, of course, I can barely keep my eyes open... *yawwwn*

That's all for today. Sleepy Sunday!

Super Saturday

Happy weekend!

Not much going on here - getting DH packed for a business trip, getting the house straightened/cleaned, and getting some work done! I still haven't closed out June for work yet. N has been pretty fussy with the teething, so that means abbreviated naps and lots of snuggle time.

We also need to get out of the house. We have been closed up in here (except for our daily Starbucks run) for most of the week b/c of the heat outside. I am hoping we can go swimming or something like that today.

Totally random side note -- does anyone watch So You Think You Can Dance? What was up with Jessi going home? DH and I both think something nefarious was at play - that they discovered drugs in her system or refused to take a drug test or something like that. She and Pascha were my favorite couple, and I think she was by FAR not the worst dancer. That one girl spent half of her "life saving" dance stripping! What the heck was that??

That is my TV rant for the week. :)

Vacation

We had such a great time in California! The drive out there wasn't too bad, which is easy for me to say because DH did most of the driving. We decided to drive overnight, caravan-style with my ILs, so N could sleep in her car seat. She doesn't do well if we are in the car too long during the day. She wants to be out and about, checking things out. So, this overnight driving worked really well for that.

We got there Saturday morning and immediately went down to the beach. It was HEAVENLY. The sound, the smell, the feeling of **cool air**. Especially after the AC being broken -- we were just in paradise. We then went back and the three of us took a 3-hour nap, which was also amazing.

We spent the next few days doing a lot of walking and going down to the beach. DH did some boogie-boarding with his brother and sister's boyfriend. Natalie loved the ocean, as I said in an earlier post. She is truly a water baby. I got very choked up watching her face light up with such pure joy at being in the water and experiencing something new. It's the greatest gift I have ever received, watching this little part of me walking around and soaking up life without any reservation. It's completely overwhelming and I don't even know words to describe it.

Outside of the water, we drove to another beach town and did some shopping. I got a Navajo flute and a really great bag, and of course lots of seafood and clam chowder.

We took a trip to my SIL's house out in the boonies and lost part of the bottom of our car in doing so. There is a little creek right before their house and while driving through it, DH picked up a huge piece of concrete. The ILs brought it home with them, so it will have a place of prominence in our garden. Their property is absolutely beautiful -- about an hour or so from town, which is a little scary, but also so peaceful. I was a bit envious, I must admit.

The next day, we drove a couple of hours away to visit DH's old neighbors from when he was growing up. These are some of the kindest people I have ever met, and we had a blast that night and the next day, sitting around and talking and eating way too much food.

Then on Saturday, we went to my niece's first birthday party, which was a BBQ pool party and very fun. The food was delicious and the birthday girl showed N how to chow down on cake. She must have learned something from her, because since we returned home, N has been more interested in table food. Yaay! Anyway, we left from the party to drive straight through the night again to get home. (Again, mostly DH!! I drove the last 1/3, he drove the first 2/3. He rocks.)

And here we are! I have spent this week getting myself pulled together. Although I am VERY low energy today and wish I had a second chai from Starbucks this afternoon... mmm...

Get me out of here!

This is the time of year when I want to MOVE! It's a high of 112 here today. For a month or so every summer (July/August), we just close ourselves up inside with the AC blasting and the blinds shut. They even had a heat advisory on the TV just now, saying that you should check on your neighbors and pets and stay inside and drink plenty of water.

Oh what fun!! I miss California!!

What a month!

WOW. Just... wow.

Since I last posted, DH went out of town for work.
The next week, our A/C broke on the evening of the 13th. It was fixed for a couple of days, and then broken again for 4 days until it could be fixed. We went to live with my ILs during that time.
Then we went out of town -- to California, to the coast.
And now we are back home, where it is HOT HOT HOT. I can't wait for monsoons and fall. Ahhh.

Anyway - it has been insane these past few weeks, and I am working to get re-settled and back into the groove of things.

I have to brag about something - we cloth diapered for our whole road trip! A 12 hour drive there and back, and lots of driving in between. I did it!! I think we used ONE disposable diaper and two disposable swim diapers. That's it. I am very proud of myself, so I'm tooting my own horn on that one. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and everyone was so supportive. My SIL even asked all about it, and wants to maybe start doing it. :)

Which segues quite nicely into my next part -- I am copying/pasting my efforts to be more green into my blog and doing a little check-in with all of that:

~*~*~*~

Things I am doing now:
~Cloth diapering - CHECK! This is up and running and going strong, so I am removing it from my list, since it's now a permanent part of my life.
~Going organic -- yeah well... I haven't been great at this with all the craziness of the past month. It's expensive and kind of a pain. So I need to get cracking on this again.
~Cloth napkins/rags -- still using cloth rags. We ran out of paper towels and I have not bought anymore. Still using our supply of paper napkins.
~Setting the thermostat up a couple of degrees. HAHA!! Yeah well for a week it was up about 20 degrees. Whew! But otherwise, it has been up a couple of degrees, at 76. I am looking forward to getting our new electric bill to see what a difference this has made.
~Quit going out to eat! Uhh. yeah. With traveling and not living at home... this hasn't been good.
~Making food from scratch and using less pre-packaged products. Until we "moved out", I was doing really well with this.
~Using the library instead of the bookstore. -- Yep, doing well with this. I haven't bought a new book in ages. Oops -- I did get some from my Literary Guild b/c I didn't send the response card in fast enough. But that was a mistake!
~Less TV. (this is HARD!) -- This is way easier now that it's summer.

What I am working to do in the future --

~Grow my own fruits/veggies. -- too hot to even think about. Will work on this over the fall/winter.
~Dust off the sewing machine and SEW!! -- sewing room is now cleaned out -- going to paint the room this month and get a couple tables in there, and get moving on some projects I want to do.

Something that wasn't on my list that I started was a clothes line. I have been using it to dry diapers for now, but I plan on doing more of the drying out there. Things dry really fast here!

~*~*~*~

That's about it for today - time to bathe the babe and start our nighttime routine.
I will post more about our vacation later... FYI - N RAN into the ocean on her own, and had a blast out there. She did not get on a boogie board, but we had a great time swinging her around out there and dipping her in the water. She loved it!! But thanks for all the responses reassuring me that I was not being an overprotective mama.

My sweet baby girl

Beach!!!!!!!!!

We are going to the beach for a week at the end of June. I am so excited. Beyond excited. I know it is a different experience when you have a toddler, but that's okay. I know I won't get to lay on the beach all day with a book, but just hearing the waves crash and seeing everything anew through my little girl's eyes will be even better.

Question of the day though -- would you let your hubby take your one year old out on a boogie board, about 20 feet out? I don't know about this idea, but B swears that it will be okay. What would you do???

My new celebrity hero

I now adore Maggie Gyllenhaal. I love that she is nursing in public and being so blase about it. I really hope it helps breastfeeding become more mainstream.

Here is a link to her recent "exposure". I'm so glad that the hoopla over the last photos didn't sway her from either quitting NIP or hiding out to do it. Go Maggie Go!

This and that...

While I am out and about, I think "Oh I should blog about that!" but then I get home and sit here in front of the computer and...nothing. A total blank. Hmm...

My little girl turned one yesterday. She also has started walking. It all seems so normal, but when I think back to a year ago today, how tiny she was and how new everything was... I can't believe we are here already! She's such a determined little creature with her own personality already. She is a lot of fun and a really neat kid. I feel blessed. (I say this as she is reaching up to my printer and trying to grab all the papers out... she definitely keeps me busy!)

B is out of town for work this week, so it's just us girls. Yesterday we were pretty lazy, but today we are going swimming with our moms group and then I teach a flute lesson this afternoon.

Oh my big accomplishment this weekend -- I baked a chocolate chip cake from scratch. :) When I was growing up, I had a chocolate angelfood cake every year on my birthday. That was unique and different and special. I don't even know if Natalie will like chocolate (ha!) but I tried to think of something a little different to make for her, and I hope that it will be her tradition. Maybe not, maybe she will like something else, who knows.. but it was so much fun to put extra care and effort into her first birthday cake.

I guess that's it from me for now. The house is still clean from the party this weekend, so I don't have a long list of things to do, and I did all the laundry Monday so B could have clean clothes for his trip. So I am feeling pretty relaxed. :)

My New Blog!!

This is my first post to blogger.com. Hurrah!

I named the blog "A Little Bit of Everything" because that's my life. You know how most people can be defined by a couple main characteristics or interests? Well, that's not me. I had way too many majors during my time at college because everything sounded SO exciting and interesting, I still don't really know what I want to be when I grow up... and my interests are all over the place. I tend to make decisions based on emotion which makes for lots of different things going on in my life. Some may call that flaky, but it's who I am. I get caught up in lots of cool ideas and projects, which while exhausting at times, is really a lot of fun. I'm an enigma.. ooo... yeah, okay. Maybe not so much. :)

The things going on in my life right now are raising my almost-1-year-old beautiful baby girl with my dear husband, homemaking, working part-time from home doing bookkeeping/HR for a small mechanical engineering firm, being an organization junkie, a quest to be the next Betty Crocker or Rachael Ray, learning more about the environment and trying to incorporate what I'm learning into my daily life, and an array of church, music, and outdoor activities. I'm also a TV and book junkie, when I have time.

So those are the things I will most likely post about. I am not making this private (is that even an option on blogger? I guess I will learn!), so things will be pretty anonymous to anyone who doesn't know me.

Welcome to my blog! Enjoy! :)