Category: Living the Life

Public Service Announcement

Published by dee on February 13, 2008

When washing the clothes of a potty-training toddler, be sure to check all pants for hiding pull-ups before you put them in the washer. Otherwise you may come home to find a flood in your basement.

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Don’t hate me for this, but I would really love to win these!

MommyKnows is hosting the Think Love, Think Peanut Shell® Valentine’s Day Giveaway! Go on over and comment and be entered to Win one of two prizes packages each containing a Peanut Shell® Baby Sling and a Peanut Shell® Nursing Cover.

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Internet, Meet My New Friend

Published by dee on February 6, 2008

Sunday is my 30th birthday. A year ago it seemed like 30 was the beginning of the end, but now that it is very quickly approaching it doesn’t seem quite so dramatic. I’m sure the day will feel just like any other. However, I did decide that I needed a little something special to mark the passing of my 20’s. Knowing that money is tight and that it is going to get even tighter in the coming months, I’ve been saving a little bit. My in-laws gave me money for Christmas so I put that back. Then I got a small bonus at work and put a little of that back. Finally, I knew I had a little bit of cash coming in the form of birthday gifts, so I added those as well. I was still a little short, but I convinced Hubby to let me spend the rest as my birthday gift from him. Then I just had to make up my mind of exactly what I wanted. I came really close to buying this but at the last minute decided that what I really wanted was a new camera instead. Internet, meet my new friend.

Canon Powershot

I couldn’t wait for my actual birthday to arrive. I was so anxious to get my hands on this that I rushed out and bought it tonight. I debated between a tiny little camera that I could easily carry around or this one, that will hopefully help me take some better pictures and learn a little more about photography. Obviously this one won out. I can still carry my old camera around in my purse when I want something more compact.

I haven’t done much with it tonight other than snap some shots in auto mode, but I can already see a big improvement over my old Kodak, especially in the less than stellar lighting conditions that exist in my house. One huge difference that I see already is that I can actually get pictures of Zach without red eyes. I only had to touch up red eye in two photos out of about 40 that I shot tonight, compared to almost every photo I’ve ever taken of Zach with my other camera. I’m definitely very amateur when it comes to photography, but I’m already very impressed with this camera. Now I just have to figure out how to work all those extra features!

So, want to see some of the results?

It’s also nice that I have such a cute subject to take photos of!

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Morning Thunderstorm

Published by dee on February 5, 2008

My dogs hate thunder. Whenever it rains, we usually end up with Zeke (the big one) up in our laps because he gets so frightened. When I woke up this morning, it was black as night outside and we were in the middle of a nice thunderstorm. I opened the bathroom door after my shower to find Zeke standing there waiting for me. As soon as he could squeeze in, he huddled up in the bathroom with me. Izzy soon followed and they sat there like this until I finished my morning routine. Then they followed me around the house until I left. I almost hated to kennel them when I had to leave because I knew all they wanted was a little snuggling.

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And Now I Need a Nap

Published by dee on February 5, 2008

I’m finding it harder and harder to blog these days because I feel like all I have to write about is how tired and uncomfortable I am. I’ve been trying not to complain too much (in real life, anyway) but everything I do just seems so much harder right now. It gets really frustrating when doing even simple things wears me out so quickly. I want to keep up with my regular pace, but it just isn’t possible anymore.

Weekends seem to be especially busy around here and this weekend was no exception. Saturday morning Zach and I headed out to the mall so that I could get a desperately needed hair cut and Zach could get a couple more pairs of desperately needed shoes. My mom met me at the hair salon so she could sit with Zach while I was getting my hair trimmed up. They had some fun with Grandma’s camera while they were waiting.

After that, we finished up our shopping and then let Zach ride the carousel in the mall. He was very excited to ride on the horsey and was very unhappy when he had to get off even after getting to ride a second time.

After that we grabbed some lunch and then headed home just in time for Zach to get a nap in.

(Just to show you exactly how tired I am, I couldn’t even finish this post in one sitting. Zach got up and when I went to put him back to bed I fell asleep with him! Good thing I saved my post before I got up!)

Then it was time for Sesame Street Live. Zach was really excited to see Elmo. We met up with my sister and her family for the show. My 8-year-old nephew was not so excited about Sesame Street, but he did at least enjoy his cotton candy. Zach, Ryan, and even little Brayden seemed to really enjoy the show. I kept trying to get pictures of Zach smiling while he was watching, but he was so into it that he sat with a very serious expression on his face through the whole thing!

Sunday was a very busy day as well. We had church, a dinner after church, took Zach for a haircut (because I was just too lazy to do it myself this time), then a small Super Bowl party at our house. It is now Tuesday and I’m still trying to catch up!

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Notes From A Tired Mind

Published by dee on January 31, 2008

I apparently have the Thursday blahs today. I’m not sure if it is due to the pregnancy-induced insomnia that I’m now suffering from (even though I’m completely exhausted), the insomnia and general grouchiness that Zach has been suffering from the last week or so, or the fact that we were supposed to get up to eight inches of snow today and so far all I’ve seen is a few flurries. I was seriously hoping for a snow day. Eight inches of snow and an unexpected day home snuggling and watching TV with my boys was exactly what I needed. But no such luck. I woke up (late), looked out the window to see how much snow had fallen and all I could see was dead grass and a clear driveway.

The one thing I have to look forward to tonight is watching LOST. I’m seriously excited about that. I’m so excited, in fact, that I’ve been trying to come up with creative ways to get Zach to bed and asleep before 8:00. I’m guessing my chances aren’t real great though since it has been taking well over an hour lately to get him settled and asleep. I keep making the mistake of laying down with him until he falls asleep, but most of the time I end up falling asleep before he does. When I wake up – usually an hour or so later – he’s sound asleep. Unfortunately, this usually leaves me with a headache and by the time I get up and do the various other things I need to do before I go to bed I’m wide awake and can’t get back to sleep. I spend the rest of the night tossing and turning, covering and uncovering as I try to find the exact right balance of blankets and sheets, adjusting my 4(!) pillows that I seem to need these days, and stretching my calves in order to ward off the leg cramps that keep trying to set in. Oh, and when hubby tries to get all snuggly it takes everything in my power not to push him away. I love him dearly, but the last thing I need when I’m totally uncomfortable and can’t sleep is someone snuggling up next to me so that I can’t move.

So, back to the point of this post. I’m really looking forward to watching LOST. I’m just hoping that I can actually stay awake long enough to watch it and that I can remember enough details from last season that I’m not totally lost.

Don’t forget to keep checking in over at Recipe Corner. The Super Bowl is coming up Sunday and we’ll be posting some great snack ideas over the next few days, like my sister’s yummy (yet oh so fattening) mozzarella dip.

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Who Needs Productivity When You Can Sleep Instead?

Published by dee on January 28, 2008

This weekend ended up being extremely unproductive for me. I had all kinds of grand ideas for cleaning and organizing my house this weekend. I had even planned on taking down and washing curtains, dusting blinds and all sorts of things that I never actually do. As with anything I actually plan, none of that really happened. In fact, I didn’t get to any of my cleaning until about 9:30 Sunday night.

So, what did I do with my weekend instead? Actually I’m not sure. It seemed like the absolute shortest weekend ever. It started out Saturday morning with an emergency shoe shopping trip for the boy. He had been complaining about his shoes for a couple of weeks so I finally measured his feet and discovered that his shoes were entirely too small. He was wearing size 8 and actually needed a 9 1/2. Oops. No wonder he was complaining! So, we headed out for a quick shopping trip that ended up taking entirely longer than I had planned.

By the time we got home it was well past nap time. I got Zach down for his nap and then sat down to check my e-mail. Next thing I knew, two hours had passed and I was sitting up sleeping on the couch with my hand still on my laptop. Apparently I was a little more tired than I thought. We finished the night off with dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants and a visit to a friend’s house.

Sunday after church we ended up hanging out at my sister’s house. We were just about to head home when my brother and sister-in-law stopped by with my new niece so we had to stick around and visit with them for a while. By the time we finally got home it was after 6:00. I fixed Zach a quick dinner, then we sat down to snuggle for a bit before he had to get to bed.

By the time Zach was settled and in bed I was nearly ready for bed myself. I put in a load of laundry, picked up the living room, vacuumed the floor, folded one load of laundry, and headed to bed. I really can’t believe just how fast the time went.

Now here it is Monday night and I can’t believe how fast another day has gone by. There’s never enough time in the day to do all that I want to do. Well, not if I want to sleep anyway.

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