So I Have This Sewing Machine . . . .

Several years ago I bought this sewing machine at a garage sale. 

If I remember correctly, it came on a table, which was kind of a disaster.  The table is long gone.

It had belonged to the seller's grandmother, who used it for decades, and was only selling it because she had a new, fancier machine. 
Of course, it wouldn't take much to be newer.
But fancier?  This comes with more feet than I know what to do with.  It comes with interchangeable wheels that can be inserted to make elaborate embroidery stitches.

And it comes with the original 1963 owners manual . . .

. . . complete with well-manicured hands demonstrating how to wind the bobbin.  What else could I ask for?

Maybe something to sew!

Well, if that's all I need, perhaps this weekend's sale ($0.99 for selected Simplicity patterns!) at JoAnn's would inspire me.  Yes indeed! 

Lizzie and I ventured to the grand world of JoAnn's for almost an hour on Saturday, where I scoured the Simplicity file cabinets, and Lizzie located "fuzz" from the floor, showing me the especially big or colorful pieces of "fuzz."  Yes, I let my child play with dust bunnies, fabric shavings, and ... I don't really want to think about it.  But everyone was happy.

I came home with a receipt that said that I paid $9.45, and saved $131.64.  I love receipts that look like that.


As you can see, I selected quite an eclectic assortment of patterns.  Skirts, baby gear, toddler dresses, infant shoes, aprons, shirts, curtains.  I should have no excuse if I ever get the sewing bug and don't know where to start.
 
Upon returning home, I put Lizzie down for her nap, moved the sewing machine from the office (soon to become guest room) into the master bedroom, and proceeded to accomplish a project.

The strap that allows you to collapse the back seat in the Suburban had busted, and it needed to be re-sewn.  Sam commissioned me to fix it, and fortunately, the dear old grandmother who originally had the machine also had heavy-duty needles.  Armed with heavy duty thread, and my trusty old owners manual, I figured out how to a) wind the bobbin, b) replace the all-purpose foot with a zipper foot, c) change the needle, and d) sew nylon webbing.

Before:

After: 



I feel so accomplished.  So inspired.  So ready to create something.

Now all I need is fabric.

Adventures in Breadmaking (1)

Last week I struck gold at the Salvation Army store nearby.  I've had several adventures there, one of which included locking the baby in the truck.  In fact, I hadn't been back since November; I guess that particular time was pretty traumatic.

For years I have thought in the back of my mind that it would be wonderful to have a bread machine.  About 20 years ago my parents bought a DAK machine, which is still running, even though the DAK company has been defunct for years. 

image credit DAK Auto Bakery

Nothing could quite compare to walking in the door from a long day of errands, piano lessons, or just being outside, and meeting the aromas of dinner in the crock pot and a golden loaf rising in the bread machine.  My mom is smart; she knows that errand day requires dinner to be made by a machine.

There have been a few times in the near 6 years I've been married that I have attempted to make yeast breads.  The effort was grand, and the results were less than stellar.  The conclusion is, if I want bread, it has to be the quick bread variety (like banana or beer bread), the kind the comes out of a can that pops when you open it, or I have to buy it made already.

But, this all changed when I saw this beast on the floor near the appliances.  And for only $12.99, I nearly squealed!

Really pretty, right?

I opened it, inspected it, took it apart (partially), put it back together again, plugged it in--everything checked out.  I hurried eagerly to the register and bought it before anyone else could see it and take it out from under me. 

When I got it home, it took me hours of searching online for a manual and printing it (seriously, it took me 45 minutes to figure out how to print the pages into a double-sided booklet), and it took me literally several days of prying, scraping, and pounding, using olive oil, two screwdrivers, and a spatula to remove the dough hook from the bowl.  Apparently many yeas of disuse left it nearly fused to its washers.  But I was not to be deterred!  I was at least going to test it out to make sure it worked.  I figure that at this price, if we get a half dozen loaves of decent bread, we'll get our money's worth. 

It takes up as much room on the counter as a microwave, and there's no way that and a crock pot or rice cooker would all fit in the kitchen at the same time.  It has to live on the floor in the garage when it's not being used.  But who cares, if the house can smell like a bakery for a few hours every couple of days?

Bread, glorious bead!

So far, I've made pizza dough, which was a success, and one beautiful loaf of egg bread, which will surely not live long enough to see the light of day tomorrow. 

Gorgeous and perfect egg bread, wouldn't you say?

I can't wait to try out wheat bread, cinnamon rolls, and bagels!

Do you have a bread machine?  What's your favorite thing to make?

In Which I Lock the Baby in the Truck

I thought the keys were in my pocket.

The morning started smoothly enough. It was a perfect, clear, sunny day--the kind that you wish were the norm every day of the year: chilly in the morning, and dazzlingly bright and warm by lunch time.

On a mission to find size 2T long sleeved shirts, I packed up Lizzie, the stroller, and a cup of Cheerios to hit one of the local thrift stores, where they have all clothes half off on Wednesday. Half off? Why don't I go there more often? I collected a handful of toddler shirts, pants, and a velveteen dress, plus a couple of kitchen accessories, paid for them with a $5 and two $1's, dropped the shopping bag in the truck, then walked to the big pet store chain in the same parking lot. The Guinea pigs were a hit, and we made friends with the kittens for adoption.

It was getting to be close to lunchtime, so we made our way back to the truck. I loaded Liz into the car seat, and hit the clicker, so all the peripheral doors would lock. Because it's safer that way. She was settled, was chowing down on her Cheerios, and I shut the door to throw the stroller in the back.

And then I froze.

There were the keys.

On the seat.

Inside the truck.

With my baby.

Who was happily chewing, smiling, and kicking her sneaker-clad feet. She held out the cup of Cheerios, offering them to me.

I smiled, waved, and pulled my cell phone out of my jeans' back pocket. Thank God I at least had the phone on my person. "It's OK, baby. Hi, honey!" I say, listening to the phone ring on the other end of the line. "Eat your Cheerios. Don't drop them!"

Maybe one of the doors wasn't all the way closed. I walked around the vehicle. Nope, they're all soundly latched.

Still no answer. I wave to Lizzie from the other side of the truck. "Pick up, pick up! Oh, please, Jesus! Make Sam pick up his phone!" Sam doesn't always hear or acknowledge his phone ringing.

Voicemail.

I hung up and dialed a second time, and he answered. "Sorry, my mom was talking to me--" I cut him off.

"I need you to come. I locked Lizzie in the truck."

"You lost Lizzie?!" Oh, thank God I didn't lose her!

"No, she's here, I locked her in the Suburban. I need you to come with a key."

"I'll be right there."

We live only about 5 minutes away from the shopping center where I was stuck, so I knew if we could all just avoid tears, everything will be OK.

Looking back, I'm glad no one called the authorities; I could have looked suspicious the way I was hovering outside a huge SUV, peering in the passenger window, and then nervously panning the parking lot and passing traffic. I think I freaked out the Hispanic girls getting back to their Beetle parked next to me. They loaded up their goods as quickly as they could, avoiding eye contact (not that I was trying to draw attention to myself in this embarrassing situation), and keeping a good distance from me.

L was completely oblivious. She was having a grand time. As long as she did not spill her entire open cup of Cheerios before her daddy showed up with a spare key, she would continue to be fine. But I worried, because I didn't want to have to try to console her from the other side of the locked door.

We played peek-a-boo. We blew kisses. We pointed at each other and laughed. She picked up individual Cheerios and held them out to me, as though I could bite them out of her fingers through the window. I commanded her to not drop them. We signed "I love you" (our version, anyway).

And then Lizzie signed "Jesus loves me" with the biggest pleased grin on her face. My heart stopped.

Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Over the past few days I had begun teaching her the song, but I didn't get a lot of feedback from her. "Strong" is Lizzie's favorite part of the song, because she flexes her arms and grunts, then laughs.

"That's right, baby, Jesus loves you. He's right there with you, even if Mama isn't in the truck with you." She was so happy, so content. So assured that she was safe. From that moment, our waiting was full of the peace of God.

Another few minutes passed before Sam pulled up, in full running gear, and we unlocked the truck. Rejoicing, I got in the car. I am thankful because though it was inconvenient, frustrating, and one of those really embarrassingly dumb moments, nothing traumatic happened; and I am also thankful because Sam had not left for his 3 mile run while I was out, which would have made his prompt assistance impossible. The rest of the day was uneventful; we drove home, had lunch, read stories, kept the laundry going.

And all afternoon, dwelling in my mind were the words, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

Kitchens, Plastic and Real

This weekend we hit one of our favorite subdivision yard sale extravaganzas. If we had any particular goal in mind, it was to buy Lizzie a kitchen play set. And a baby monitor, since our video monitor took a dive off a bookshelf and didn't survive. No luck on the monitor.

However, we had success, and found a large kitchen set in great condition, with a ton of dishes, for $25!

Now a colorful plastic "Country Kitchen" is in the dining room, in view of the real kitchen.

Liz is in love. She pretends to microwave a cup, pushing the buttons, closing the door, pushing the buttons again, removing the cup, then pretending to drink out of it. Then she giggles. And we giggle. Watching her pretend play is amazing. Her imitations are exaggerated, and almost exact. That girl wants to be just like me.

Humbling thought.

At least both kitchens are clean. I know they're clean, because I used Clorox wipes on them. The real one and the plastic one. Now I have two kitchens to pick up before bed every night. Or at least more dishes to put where they belong. I may have to implement a chore for Lizzie after dinner.

Recently I did a complete ceiling-to-floor cleaning of the kitchen. The last time I did that was during my 2nd trimester, and I have a 16-month-old child. The Clorox wipes are as close as it has gotten to thoroughly clean in a long time. If I had absolutely no pride, I would have taken "before" and "after" photos, but I only took one "after" photo of what I'm the most pleased with.

You know how those odd cooking staples like oil, vinegar, and all the things that get too close to the stove somehow have a film of grease, then the countertop gets all gunky, and so does anything that touches the gunky countertop?

And you know that one huge platter you have that you only use for Thanksgiving? The one that takes up half a cupboard?

Well, I repurposed the platter, and gave all the bottles a place to live. Isn't it pretty? It makes me happy.


Back to this weekend. To make room for the new kitchen set, I cleared the dining room table and took out a leaf. This means we have a clean dining room, too. It means we can eat without pushing papers and crayons and contact lens cases and batteries and scissors and power tools to the far end in order to find a place to set our plates.

The office is taking shape. There are no more papers on the floor. We vacuumed it. Yes, that's a big deal around here. Why, yes, we don't have company over very often. Why do you ask?

L's closet has only clothes in it that she can grow into. All her smaller clothes are in the attic. Next I will go through her toys. Slowly but surely I am making my way through the house. One day it will be clean; maybe even free of excess clutter.

Not free of clutter. Free of excess clutter. And I can live with that.

What project are you working on, what result are you happy with, or what do you hope to accomplish this month?

I'm linking up with the Moms' 30 Minute Blog Challenge at Steady Mom's blog today. I love the concept, and could stand to do this more than only on Tuesdays!

Randoms 7.23.10

This will not be a well thought out blog entry today. Just letting you know on the front end.

Today started off nicely, though a little late. I guess that's because last night finished up nicely, though also a little late. But that's been the pattern, so a whole lot of late nights add up.

Yesterday we went to a consignment sale and bought more board books and a couple of pairs of toddler shoes. Lizzie soaked her only pair of shoes at the fountain on Wednesday; that's when I realized the girl needs another pair of shoes.

I've been reading "Square Foot Gardening" since picking it up at the library on Monday. I'm inspired to plant a garden next spring. I was actually inspired to plant one this spring, but with Sam up to his ears in homework before graduation, the last thing I needed to do was hound him to dig up a garden for me. We have a very shady back yard, so we'll have to eliminate some trees, which costs money, so that's a project for later. We'd also have to figure out how to keep the dog (who has destroyed my potted herb garden this spring) from digging up anything we planted. That means some kind of additional fence. So it's no small project.

Sam's resume is out to a bunch of places, and he did receive a call back within hours of submitting to one place it yesterday. Unfortunately they've been playing phone tag, so he might not get anywhere with it until next week.

I want a nap.

Last night's dinner turned out surprisingly well. Dinners usually work just fine so I don't typically get excited about them enough to tell about it, but this one was good. I had a package of 2 frozen Mahi Mahi fillets that I thawed overnight. I didn't do much with those except sprinkle them with a little seasoning and coat them with oil, then sent them out to the grill. We also had a fresh pineapple that I sliced and we grilled. Amazingly the pineapple has that citrus edge to it like lemon, which helps fish not taste fishy.
Along with that I sort of followed a recipe for pasta that has noodles (go figure!), wilted spinach, garlic, red pepper flakes, garbanzo beans (chick peas), and of all things, golden raisins (which I didn't have, so I substituted dried cherries), mixed together with a little salt and chicken stock. Anyway, the combination of all of it was delicious.

I'm pretty sure Lizzie says "Elmo" now. It sounds like "Ehmo". We have an Elmo toy, and at Sunday School there are a couple of Elmo books, and we've been invited to a birthday party that has an Elmo theme, so she sees Elmo pretty frequently, even if we don't watch much Sesame Street.

She loves when we sing and do the hand motions for "If You're Happy and You Know it" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Only a Boy Named David". We can almost distract her entirely from having a fit just by starting to break into song. I know I shouldn't overuse it, but it sure comes in handy! It is also the only way for me to keep her still while changing her diaper. Here is Lizzie going "round and round and round and round and round and round and round".

Lizzie also has learned empathy to some extent. When the dog is outside and whining to come in, or if the cats are yowling about something, she will get a pouty look on her face, and start sounding like she's about to cry. It's kind of awful, because she knows they are "sad" and that makes her "sad", too. The last thing we want is for her to lose it just because the dog is whining.

On Wednesday for play group we went to the park where they have splashing fountains. It was a huge hit. We have to go back again!

We're in week 5 of Believing God, focusing on "Believing I Can Do All Things Through Christ". Is this what I need to hear, or what? My big takeaway from this week has so far been this variant of the definition for the word "minister": "waiter, one who serves food and drink". If there was ever a definition of the ministry of a mother, that is it! This gave me great encouragement in the context of: "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant..." (2 Cor 3:6)

Even so, I was still having a mini-melt-down this afternoon between lunch and nap time, because of a mess in the kitchen. You'd think I could be a grown-up. Maybe if I could grasp better the grace lavished on me, I would let some of it spill over on those around me.

I should probably quit now while it's still quiet, and try to get something accomplished without my little Klingon. Maybe I'll clean a bathroom (or two!), or clear the kitchen table for the first time in weeks. It's a toss-up whether we will have chorizo/egg/potato burritos, or stir fry tofu/pork/mushrooms w/ rice for dinner.

Maybe tomorrow I'll hit one of the local farmer's markets. It would be an adventure, anyway.

Update on Liz, Life, and My Heart

Lizzie update, 13 months:

Lizzie has fallen in love. With the motorcycle. Every time she thinks of it, hears the word, sees a picture of one, or sees us go into the garage, she growls and points to the garage, and then signs "more" because she wants us to take her to look at it again. Yesterday morning Sam was on the computer at the table while we were eating breakfast. He followed a link to a video where there was a motorcycle, and all of a sudden we had to watch "more" motorcycles, or there was going to be a heartbroken toddler in her high chair.

Yesterday, Lizzie learned to say the word "apple." It surprised me entirely, because I haven't tried to teach it to her. I was giving her some apple juice, and the next thing I know, she was saying what sounded like "abba" or "abbo." So then of course I gave her an apple, and we read a book that had an apple on the cover, and we showed off this skill over and over again. It's not a fluke - she says it consistently now.

This brings her word count up to 5, plus growls and grunts.
Mama, oon (balloon), k'k (kick), Dada, moo (cow; except it's more like raspberries followed by 'oo'), and various sounds for things that make noises: "who who" for sirens or a train, also for owls, "ow" for meow, "broo" for the elephant trumpet, and "hrrr" for dogs barking, vehicles rumbling, lions, bears, or anything that growls.
She signs "more" and "all done" and "change" (when I ask her if we need to change her diaper), round and round (fan, wheels, anything that turns or spins), and up. And of course, she points and gestures and whines. Nods "yes" with her whole body when we ask her something that she wants.
She also blows kisses, runs, twirls in circles, sways when she hears music, claps, and laughs (almost) on command. She puts her hands up when we say "Praise the Lord!" She can find and retrieve things if I ask her to (e.g., Go bring me your drink; it's by the piano.). She throws tantrums when she is very tired and can't communicate what she wants or just doesn't like what's happening at the moment.
Her 9th tooth popped through yesterday. Yesterday was apparently a really big day. Last night was the first night in about a week that I put her to bed without Ibuprofen drops.

In all, Lizzie is a joy and a very smart little girl. Today we went to play group at the mall, where we watched The Veggie Tales Movie (about the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything) during their free showing, then played in the play area, and ate at the food court. It was a very eventful day, and even after being home for a little over an hour, Lizzie is still unwinding. I am hoping she will eventually fall asleep, since she's been in her bed, clapping and chattering to herself for about 45 minutes.

I would have some more recent photos here, to try to break up the huge blocks of text, but I have lost the camera's battery. I'm praying it turns up soon, and not chewed up by a teething toddler.

Life, etc.

After talking with a few friends a couple of weeks ago, I got turned on to more serious couponing. I have always tried to be as efficient as I can, and take advantage of what looks good, but haven't been that consistent. Steph and Amy referred me to SouthernSavers.com where I have been finding some fun deals. However, I did go to Kroger twice this week already, and spent $85 the first time and $60 the second time, and then went to H-mart and spent another $31. But I am reminding myself that this is for groceries for the next 2 weeks, and it included some things like diapers and paper towels--those add up. I shouldn't have to buy anything except for more milk and probably some more tortillas until almost August. I also did save about $50 in coupons and sales, so I think it's OK.

That being said, I have a whole menu plan for the next 2 weeks:
Monday: Rotisserie chicken, salad, bread
Tuesday: Chicken enchiladas, fruit
Wednesday: Steak salad, bread
Thursday: Hamburgers, cole slaw
Friday: Chicken Divan, bread
Saturday: Hot dogs, corn casserole
Sunday: Beans & rice & meat, fruit
Monday: Chicken sandwiches, veggies
Tuesday: Scalloped Potatoes w/ ham, veggies
Wednesday: Arroz con pollo, fruit
Thursday: Mahi mahi, veggies, pasta
Friday: Shepherds Pie, veggies
Saturday: Stir fry w/ tofu, meat, veggies
Sunday: Spaghetti, veggies

If I were really smart, I'd double and freeze some of these things for other times. But I'm not that smart. Maybe next time. We also have stuff for sandwiches, mac & cheese, and other odds and ends for lunches and breakfasts.

Sam is still looking for work. We have gotten a couple of leads from friends, and we're praying that something comes up. Something good. Something close. Something that gives us insurance. Something that gives Sam a sense of having a purposeful career.

If nothing comes up, I'll have to start looking for work, and Sam can be a stay at home dad.

The heart.

It hasn't been a super easy week. I've been exasperated, short-tempered, snappy, mean, overwhelmed, and generally miserable. This did not serve to make the house peaceful. I should probably just leave it at that, lest I complain. But don't worry, I'm better now.

For several days I had a terrible pattern of being awake way too late, and then in the morning being awakened by Lizzie's voice (sometimes cheerful, sometimes not so much). This meant that I "didn't have time" for a quiet time. That of course started those days with me in a bad mood, thinking about how behind I already was, and how I would never be able to make up for it. And I dug myself deeper into the pit of despair when instead of honestly asking for help, I whined to Sam about how unfair it was that I had to do "everything," and implied in every way possible that it was somehow all his fault that things weren't going my way. Interestingly, that is not the way to encourage someone else jump in cheerfully to lend a hand; rather, they're more likely to avoid you so as not to hear more venomous complaints. Trust me on this.

This is on the heels of reading through the entire book of "Practicing the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence, and watching an awesome message from Beth Moore in our Believing God study on Sunday afternoon. In retrospect, it seems like the viciousness of the feelings I was having were a direct attack of the enemy--trying to steal any seeds of truth from actually penetrating my heart in a way that would wake me from my spiritual stupor. As the recently popular song says, "I don't want to be sleeping while the battle is raging."

Yesterday on my way to and from Kroger and the H-mart, I popped in the cd of the message from Sunday, about the way that God meets our needs when we ask, seek, and knock. He knows where we are, and wants us to need Him and wants us to ask when we need Him. Why do we have needs? So he can meet us in our needs. Why can I not do everything on my own? Because I need Him to be my strength and my wisdom.

This morning I was able to break out of the downward spiral by getting up (even after we didn't go to bed until after midnight) and having my quiet time. I got up before 7, which never happens. And I made breakfast, voluntarily, for all 3 of us, and was cheerful. And Lizzie and I went out, and I sang along with the radio. And I didn't complain to my friends about how awful my lot is right now. Because it is not awful. It is just part of my process.

I am not who I've been convincing myself that I am. I am who God says I am. 2nd Corinthians 3 says that I am "competent" as a "minister" by the Spirit, not the letter of the law. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Based on the meaning of those words, I am also "sufficiently equipped" to be a "waiter, serving food and drink" by the Spirit of God. I don't know what that might do for anyone else, but I think that just changed my whole perspective as of today. Most days I feel like that's all I am: a waiter, serving food and drink, constantly. And I don't even get tips. But if I am able to do so with the help of the Holy Spirit, then I have the opportunity to serve in faith, and produce life.

I want to have the perspective that goes beyond just the next 15 minutes, and into the next 15 years. Lord willing, into the next 15 generations. Simply doing something because it has to be done has no element of faith nor any enduring value. But doing it in faith, in love, in expectant hope, as unto God, it has the potential to affect more than just the here and now.

Friday, Crawling. Tree. Cards. Thanksgiving. Graduation. Waffles.

Good morning, it's Friday! I have French Vanilla decaf to add to the regular Folgers today, PLUS the Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer stuff in the fridge. You don't necessarily have to put them together, but it's not bad together! Good stuff.

Elizabeth is going to be 6 months on Tuesday, and for the last 2 weeks she has been crawling. Seriously, what is her deal that she wants to do everything already?! She sits up, crawls, puts her paci in and out of her mouth, babbles, tries to drink out of a sippy cup, pulls up onto toys, and can stand against furniture and toys for quite a while. She is growing up so fast!

Here is a short video of her from last week. She is getting better at crawling now, but this is so fun because she's cracking up as she goes.




We put up the Christmas tree on Saturday, which is the earliest I've ever put a tree up. I think I was so antsy to put it up because we didn't have a tree up last year. The combination of morning sickness and traveling left me un-enthused about decorating. We took a stinkin' adorable picture of Elizabeth on Sunday, which I already made into a Christmas card and put in the mail. I don't know what's gotten into me that has me ahead of schedule as it relates to Christmas. I have never had the Christmas cards out the first week of December, either. Weird.

Here is our Christmas card:



I uploaded it to Costco and picked up 100 the next day for only $29! Envelopes, and all! I did go through nearly $40 of stamps, though. I'm hoping to hand out a bunch at church this weekend, though, and anybody I miss Sunday will be mailed their card on Monday.

We hosted Thanksgiving here last week, which was delightful. We fried a turkey again, and everybody contributed to the meal to share the load. We invited my parents and brothers, plus a family from church: Josh & Becky and their two boys, 5 and 3 years old, who don't have family in the area. The boys set up a huge city of blocks on the coffee table, and had a great time playing with Lady in the back yard.

It is kind of a family tradition to "adopt" people who don't have family nearby, since we don't have family nearby, either. Besides, holidays are so much more fun when you share them beyond just your family.

I'm still coasting on having the house clean from Thursday. It's starting to look like it needs to be picked up and cleaned again. I also haven't gone grocery shopping this week, except for an abbreviated trip through Walmart Friday night. If we can hold out through Sunday, I'd be happy. And if that means we have to pick up something over the weekend, I'd be that much happier. Ha!

Since the house was clean and we were free, we invited Scott & Stephy over for brunch on Saturday morning. I made waffles (using the waffle maker they gave us) and a potato/ham/egg frittata. So delicious, and we had a great time having them join us. I think that may become a tradition: post-Thanksgiving brunch!

The bummer of the month is that Sam did not make the deadlines he needed to for his senior project, which means he will have to complete it next semester. So, unfortunately, he will not graduate this month, and it will be next May. This may mean that he can continue working part time as an intern through the HVAC company he's been working with for a couple of years. It also lets him stay a student, allowing him to stay at the school where he has his foot in the door with different companies who will be pursuing graduates. It could be what gets him a job in a few months. We will see how God provides.

I should be getting off the computer and getting my butt in gear while Elizabeth finishes her nap. Lately she takes 2 naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Fortunately she goes down without a fight anymore (not usually) and will sleep for at least an hour. It has changed my life! She also goes to bed at around 7:30 PM and sleeps pretty well through the night, usually up around midnight once, and sometimes one more time around 4 or 5. Last night she slept from 11:30 PM to 7 AM! Getting up earlier is a little rough, but it's great to be up and at 'em before 8 every morning.

All the more reason for the coffee.... :)

Baby Stuff

Look at all the cool things we got at a consignment sale a few weeks ago! I know, it's rather old news, but I am so thrilled by the deals we got that even if it's a little late in coming, I'm still excited about it.
The picture below shows what we bought for a grand total of $108!

The most expensive thing we purchased was the toddler-sized set of yellow loveseat and chair. They were a whole $25. Sam saw them immediately after we made our initial ($42) purchase and were loading up the car. He said, "Hey, you have to see these cute little chairs...." The next thing we knew, we had another $66 worth of stuff and went through the checkout line again!
We could barely fit all this loot into the back seat and trunk of my car - and my car has a lot of space! It took Sam and I and a guy who worked there to engineer it into allowing the doors to close.

We brought home:
A loveseat/chair set (fairly good condition - I might try to find a way to clean it, or cover it again with additional fabric. The cats love it, though.)
A Boppy pillow
A bouncy seat (with vibration and music, and it works!)
A bath tub and little hammock to fit in it - but the hammock wasn't made for that tub, so I picked up a different one at another sale the following weekend.
A mirror to see a rear-facing carseat from the front seat.
A "mail cart" push toy/walker for when she's older. Steph's boy loves his, so I was happy to find one for just a couple of dollars.
A shopping-cart cover (that colorful thing in the middle)
An exersaucer
A Baby Bjorn (for only $4!)
A Snuggli (picked up a 2nd carrier for another prego friend)
A (working!) swing
A lamp (works!)
5 books (2 for me, 3 for baby)
9 onsies
8 hats (Sam went crazy picking out hats; he has a very low resistance to cute)
2 sizes of neck wings (for neck support in car seat, swing, etc.)

Last weekend I hit another sale, where I spent only $32, and bought 24 items - basically as much as I could physically carry, because I forgot to bring a laundry basket or a bag or anything to tote my loot along with me. Half of it was maternity clothing for me, and the other half was clothing for her. I picked up a couple baggies of toys, and a couple of books as well. The most expensive thing I bought was a little blue dress for her, for a whopping $2.50!

At first we were not going to buy any baby things until after the shower, but we realized that it will be better to purchase some things inexpensively, to be able to take the less urgent or less important things off our registry, so that it may be more likely for people to go together on our big items (car seat and stroller, and play pen/bassinette especially).

Earlier this week I washed all the baby clothes that I'd bought and been given so far - it took me 3 loads (one was purely pink) to wash them all! I also washed everything removable from the seats, swings, etc., that could be washed. Now they are all put away, sorted into sizes in my little Ikea boxes.

And I still have 2 weeks 'till my shower!

Mylo/Lady

We have a new family member as of Sunday!

Saturday afternoon Sam and I hit Petsmart to see who was available for adoption and ran into a couple who was trying to adopt out their greyhound mix. We were immediately drawn to this dog, and after talking with the couple and hanging out with the dog for a bit, we got their phone number, talked about it, and arranged to adopt this pretty little lady.

She has been fitting in perfectly with the household - she is gentle with Jessa (who needs gentleness, since she apparently pulled a muscle this weekend and is moving very slowly), and she just wants to be friends with the cats. Her energy level is pretty low, until she gets outside, when she loves to run and chase and scout for squirrels.

The couple who had her before did all the hard work of training her, so we are enjoying simply having to enforce our rules, such as "off" the couch and chairs and bed, and no licking the dishes in the dishwasher, etc.

We keep being amazed at how well she is fitting in, and are constantly saying to each other how cute and how elegant she is. We never imagined that we'd be so impressed by a greyhound, but she is great!

Playing Catch-up

Apparently I have sort of forgotten I have a blog. Life has been busy and full lately, in a good way, so I'm fine with skipping around every so often.

This afternoon I will go to my parents' house to visit and help my mom get the house back to order after being gone for 6 weeks. They're also expecting company tomorrow evening, so there's actually a deadline to get things accomplished and presentable. They have been in California since mid-January working to empty my grandma's house to get it ready for a renter. It has taken literally all 5 weeks they were not on the road, and it's still not completely done. I am kind of looking forward to hearing all the gory details of their adventures in Grandma's basement. I've seen some pictures that have been posted on my brother's Facebook, but there will be much more to see.

We had birthdays last week. In my family "birthdays" means 3/5ths of the family had birthdays within a 3-day spread. I'm now officially only 2 years from 30, which doesn't actually bother me. Maybe it's the fact that I'm starting the parenting thing now, so at least one kid may be out of the house before I'm 50. My dad is 2 years from being 60. My next younger brother is 25. We threw him a birthday party of sorts, and that was a lot of fun. We invited pretty much everyone in our age bracket from church (at least those who are his friends) and had 21 adults and 5 children in our house at one point. It was so much fun, and I know it blessed him that we did something for him, especially while my parents were out of town. It also blessed us to have so many friends in our home. And to have a clean house, which we are still reaping the benefits of this week. It is sliding a little bit, but at least we had a good starting point.

The weather last weekend was pretty crazy; we had snow. We hadn't had snow at all this winter, except some of those big, lame flakes that you can't really tell whether they're snow or big rain drops.

And now I'm wearing shorts and we have the windows open because it is so beautiful outside. If time permits, I may just plant those annuals that I'd had stolen out of my front yard and returned a few weeks ago.

Sunday night we started the "new and improved" version of the Beth Moore Bible study, "A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place", which is a study of the Tabernacle. The women had done this study about 10 or 11 years ago, but I had not done it with them, so I am excited to get to go through it with them. In fact, when I couldn't sleep this morning between 4-6, I got up and did my homework for the day. I hope that I can get out of it what I need to, and that I don't just "do the homework" and at the end have nothing to show for it in my heart. I suppose that since I want to grow through it, God will be able to do whatever work He needs to.
Interestingly it is a 10 week study, which works out to 12 weeks total (including intro and conclusion meetings), and I have only 12 weeks now left of my pregnancy!

In mid-April our church is having a women's retreat, and I'm heading up the registration part of it. The theme is "Love Remains" and the theme verse is 1 John 4:16. I'm looking forward to being involved and just being a participant. Our last retreat, I was playing for worship each session (except for one), and also had one of the primary speaking slots. It was wonderful to be so involved last time, and I learned so much about God's faithfulness and I'm so grateful that He gave me something to share, but I'm glad there is not that much responsibility in my hands this time, aside from some behind the scenes stuff that is mostly preparation beforehand.
Interestingly, I will be 8-1/2 months pregnant at that point, so hopefully everything will be going smoothly still and I won't have any trouble being there for that weekend.

Yesterday I splurged on buying $61 worth of maternity (and large non-maternity) clothes for myself at Old Navy. They were mostly on sale and mostly clearance, so I actually walked out of there with 6 things! I'm pretty excited about having some more options, and having some options that weren't already worn by one of my friends (though thank God for having friends who are about the same size and willing to share their clothes!).

Since it's getting close to noon, and I haven't really done much of anything, I think it's about time to get up from the computer and get moving. I think I'll eat again and go for a walk when Sam comes home, then go from there....

Registering

Today (if we get around to it), we will finally go to Babies 'R' Us and do our in-store baby registry. We have been researching all the big things, and have them pretty well nailed down (stroller, car seat, high chair, bedding, etc.), but for all the little stuff, we are going to wander the store like a couple of deer in headlights with one of those little guns. I'm sure we'll have a blast - as long as I have lunch first.

I've been feeling a tad bit under the weather the last few days, with a runny or stuffy nose, but at least it's nothing worse. I can deal with it.

Anyways, that's the update for the day; check out the 2 posts below, because they're kind of more fun than this one.

Oh, yeah, while we're visiting, I want to ask you ... those of you who are moms, what do you remember having for your babies that were, in your opinion, the greatest thing since sliced bread?