For a while I've had a pressing issue on my heart. I've wanted to go deeper in my Christian faith. I hear challenging questions being asked about Christianity and I find myself wishing I had the courage and knowledge to answer them. Unfortunately, my mind comes up short for a good answer. I think of all the "pat" answers I've heard throughout my life in all the churches I've visited on deputation. If' you've ever been a missionary's kid, you know how grueling deputation can be. What was really fun?? Getting to sit through dozens upon dozens of different Sunday school classes, learning the same lessons, old material and more pat answers. I honestly don't remember going to any Sunday school classes that I ever came out thinking "Wow, that was fun and different and I actually LEARNED something new!" Why is that? Why do churches not put more into their Sunday school classes? Why don't they invest in bringing exciting lessons, challenging discussions and really get their students fired up for the Lord?
I'm not saying that ALL churches have boring Sunday school lessons. No. Definitely not. There are churches out there that really put effort and class into their SS programs. I guess it's easier for everyone though when we follow the standard curriculum, teaching the Old Testament stories and doing the crafts.
But what would happen if we really started challenging kids, teenagers, young adults and, um, older adults with some questions that would make their heads spin?! Wouldn't that be a nice change from the typical SS lesson? Well, I know one church where that is already happening. (yes, this is going to be a very small, shameless plug for my church!) In my SS class at GracePointe Baptist Church, we are doing just that. We do a variety of different types of lessons. It changes constantly and we like that. Sometimes we will do a video series and have a 45 min video with discussion time afterwards and sometimes we will discuss a book or a group study series. We've even just gone through a book of the Bible and studied it verse by verse. It's nice to have the variety. We're a small group but we have some pretty big discussions. It's been my SS group that has brought this desire to search deeper. We don't have enough time in an hour, once a week, to get as deep as we could so I'm wanting to take that further.
My new endeavor is a new blog I have created. It is titled: What's In My Coffee? The title sounds kind of silly, I know, but it does have a meaning. You can go over to my new blog and check out my first, introductory post about the purpose for my blog. My hope is that all my followers here on my personal blog, will also follow my new, discussion blog as well. I would love some input on some questions or topics you've always wanted to look into deeper. While my blog has a "coffee" motif and I will use humor and sarcasm quite a bit, I do take it seriously and will be putting a lot of thought and research into my posts. I probably won't have time to do more than one post per week. That's my goal. If I can accomplish that, I will feel pretty good. It will probably take me about a week just to put together a well thought out and informed post. I have no intentions of just putting my thoughts out there without something to back them up. This is a new thing for me so I will probably make some mistakes...hopefully not many though.
You can also follow me on twitter: @JavaWithSteph.
Please head over to my new blog and leave me a nice comment and a topic or question you think would be a good idea for my blog. I'll be willing to discuss anything just about anything!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sleep training: an unexpected surprise
This week, on Tuesday, we began full-on, hard core sleep training with Brooklyn. Since we stopped swaddling her at 5 months, she has taken our bed as hers and only occasionally slept in her pack n' play and none in her crib. At first, I didn't mind her sleeping with us. She wasn't rolling over and she was pretty calm. BUT, the older she got, the more she moved in her sleep and the more room she took up. It was getting pretty cramped in our bed with the three of us. So I decided that once I was out for the summer, I would sleep train her, thus avoiding going in to teach 137 teenagers on little-to-no sleep. Good idea!
The plan was to start it the very first week of summer break but that week we had our family reunion and I didn't want my hard work during the week to be undone that weekend when we stayed at the hotel. Then the next week rolled around and I didn't want to do it then either, so now, in the third week of summer break, I have finally gotten the ball rolling on this. The first two nights were torture. We decided to go with the Cry It Out method. She cried for exactly an hour the first night before finally falling asleep. She slept that night from 10:20pm till 2am when we tried to get her to go back to sleep in her crib, without a bottle. I went in there first to try to calm her down and was in there for 5-10 minutes, then I left because I saw she wasn't going to go down without a fight and I didn't feel like fighting. Waylon went back in there and rubbed her back and she got quiet for about 20 minutes but as soon as he would stop, she would freak out so he brought her back to our bed where she slept the rest of the night. Next night was about the same. She cried for a little less an hour and then slept till about the same time and we brought her to bed with us again.
We deviated from this the third night because I was out later and she was already pretty groggy when I got home. So I rocked her in her rocking chair and then laid her in bed and she went right to sleep. Since that night, we've done a little routine where I put on her jammies, give her a bottle and rock her while singing to her. I also have the noise machine on "waterfall" which is the same as white noise on other machines. (Mine's fancy. All the sounds are "nature" sounds. lol) So I sing to her and she has the white noise in the background. I rock her for about 10-15 minutes and sing pretty much the same songs every night. By the end of the 10 minutes, she is usually asleep or almost asleep so I lay her in her crib on her belly or side. She might fuss for a few seconds but has been going right to sleep and staying asleep until about 2-3am. We are very pleased with the progress this far! Just having our bed to ourselves for the first half of the night has been a HUGE improvement. I don't mind snuggling with her the rest of the night. We are hoping that she will eventually start sleeping later though. I do not give her a bottle when she wakes up at that point. I wait until at least 4-5am before giving her a bottle. She usually wakes up around then and wants one. She will actually point to it if I have one on the window sill. It's amazing how much she already knows.
I know that some of you who are great at routines are probably thinking this sounds horrible and that I'm not being strict enough, but for me, this is really doing well and I feel good about it! I do eventually want her sleeping through the night and not coming to our bed. I don't know when this will happen. Brooklyn is not a heavy sleeper and wakes up on her own several times a night. I don't know what else to do to keep her from waking since I'm already not giving her a bottle when she does. I know that if I left her in her own bed and just let her cry in the middle of the night that THAT might help too, but I'm just not ready to be awake for 20 minutes or more in the middle of the night for her to settle down. I can handle bringing her to my bed so I can get a little extra sleep. Call me lazy! lol.
What I have enjoyed about the sleep training is the time I rock her to sleep each night. That's been the unexpected surprise for me. I've really enjoyed snuggling with her and singing to her. I also take that time to pray over her. I always pray for her to have a peaceful night and get lots of sleep and rest and that God watch over her and keep her healthy and that she will be able to live a long happy life. I enjoy that private moment with just Me, Brooklyn and God. I pray out loud so that she hears it too. I also want to get to where I read to her but right now she just tries to eat the book and I get frustrated so I'm waiting to implement that. I want to get a good children's Bible with pictures for that time too.
So there is my journey so far in sleep training. If this post seems a bit discombobulated and broken up, it's because it has taken me 3 days to write it! Yes, I've not had enough time to sit and write it all at once so I'm writing a little at a time! Hope it wasn't too bad!
The plan was to start it the very first week of summer break but that week we had our family reunion and I didn't want my hard work during the week to be undone that weekend when we stayed at the hotel. Then the next week rolled around and I didn't want to do it then either, so now, in the third week of summer break, I have finally gotten the ball rolling on this. The first two nights were torture. We decided to go with the Cry It Out method. She cried for exactly an hour the first night before finally falling asleep. She slept that night from 10:20pm till 2am when we tried to get her to go back to sleep in her crib, without a bottle. I went in there first to try to calm her down and was in there for 5-10 minutes, then I left because I saw she wasn't going to go down without a fight and I didn't feel like fighting. Waylon went back in there and rubbed her back and she got quiet for about 20 minutes but as soon as he would stop, she would freak out so he brought her back to our bed where she slept the rest of the night. Next night was about the same. She cried for a little less an hour and then slept till about the same time and we brought her to bed with us again.
We deviated from this the third night because I was out later and she was already pretty groggy when I got home. So I rocked her in her rocking chair and then laid her in bed and she went right to sleep. Since that night, we've done a little routine where I put on her jammies, give her a bottle and rock her while singing to her. I also have the noise machine on "waterfall" which is the same as white noise on other machines. (Mine's fancy. All the sounds are "nature" sounds. lol) So I sing to her and she has the white noise in the background. I rock her for about 10-15 minutes and sing pretty much the same songs every night. By the end of the 10 minutes, she is usually asleep or almost asleep so I lay her in her crib on her belly or side. She might fuss for a few seconds but has been going right to sleep and staying asleep until about 2-3am. We are very pleased with the progress this far! Just having our bed to ourselves for the first half of the night has been a HUGE improvement. I don't mind snuggling with her the rest of the night. We are hoping that she will eventually start sleeping later though. I do not give her a bottle when she wakes up at that point. I wait until at least 4-5am before giving her a bottle. She usually wakes up around then and wants one. She will actually point to it if I have one on the window sill. It's amazing how much she already knows.
I know that some of you who are great at routines are probably thinking this sounds horrible and that I'm not being strict enough, but for me, this is really doing well and I feel good about it! I do eventually want her sleeping through the night and not coming to our bed. I don't know when this will happen. Brooklyn is not a heavy sleeper and wakes up on her own several times a night. I don't know what else to do to keep her from waking since I'm already not giving her a bottle when she does. I know that if I left her in her own bed and just let her cry in the middle of the night that THAT might help too, but I'm just not ready to be awake for 20 minutes or more in the middle of the night for her to settle down. I can handle bringing her to my bed so I can get a little extra sleep. Call me lazy! lol.
What I have enjoyed about the sleep training is the time I rock her to sleep each night. That's been the unexpected surprise for me. I've really enjoyed snuggling with her and singing to her. I also take that time to pray over her. I always pray for her to have a peaceful night and get lots of sleep and rest and that God watch over her and keep her healthy and that she will be able to live a long happy life. I enjoy that private moment with just Me, Brooklyn and God. I pray out loud so that she hears it too. I also want to get to where I read to her but right now she just tries to eat the book and I get frustrated so I'm waiting to implement that. I want to get a good children's Bible with pictures for that time too.
So there is my journey so far in sleep training. If this post seems a bit discombobulated and broken up, it's because it has taken me 3 days to write it! Yes, I've not had enough time to sit and write it all at once so I'm writing a little at a time! Hope it wasn't too bad!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Summer Week Three
We've hit the third week of summer break now and things seem to be winding down for me. The first two weeks were extremely busy and now I think I'll finally be able to get into some sort of routine.
There are still a few things that aren't working out the way I would like but I know God is in control and will bring these things to a resolution.
For one, our van is still giving us major issues. I'm beginning to regret buying it but my dad keeps reminding me that for the price we got it for, even if we put a couple thousand into it to get it fixed, it would still be a great deal. I will be so happy when the stupid thing is running right. The battery is being drained by an unknown source. We've tried checking the fuses and Waylon and I even looked into our owner's manual and took apart the dash to disconnect the 6 disc CD changer. We did this in the blazing heat of Texas summer (I actually went in halfway through because I had Brooklyn out there and she was getting really hot and sweaty and wanted a bottle) and that still didn't fix the issue. It costs $97 at Honda to run the diagnostic to tell what's wrong. We may have to just break down and take it there and shell out the money to get it fixed. They're going to be the best bet to find what's wrong. We've taken it to Autozone and Sears auto center and neither one has been able to tell us what's wrong and we've paid several diagnostic fees and have no answers! It's so frustrating! Once that's fixed, the next thing will be to get the A/C running. I've driven it a few times now and I'm tellin' you, it's a bummer driving a car with no A/C in Texas! That's a definite must for our car. But until the battery situation is fixed, we're not getting the AC fixed.
I'm still struggling with keeping the house clean. You would think that since I'm home most of the day I would be able to keep up on that but it just seems to not be in the cards for me! I've got to find things to keep Brooklyn more entertained. After her birthday she will have more interactive toys and I think that will make a difference. Right now, we don't have a lot of toys and she gets bored very easily with the few we have. She mainly wants to play with the remotes (the $50 XBox remotes) and my computer, or power cords or the dog food or cabinets. I don't understand the fascination toddlers have with those boring things when they have bright, colorful, noise-making toys they could be playing with! It doesn't make sense! lol.
My exercising goals have yet to come about at all. I haven't done a single thing (except for the rare walk around the block with Brooklyn) for exercise this summer and I've gained a couple of pounds. I'm really frustrated with myself for being lazy and not working out. It doesn't take much of an obstacle to keep me from it. Most mornings I'm exhausted because I didn't sleep well the night before so I don't feel like putting Brooklyn in the jogging stroller and going for a stroll, or even going by myself. Then, in the afternoons when I could go to the rec center, I don't have anyone to watch Brooklyn unless my parents drive all the way over, which I don't want to ask them to do just so I can go get on the elliptical for 40 minutes. I could do my Turbo Jam video in the living room but there's usually toys everywhere or Brooklyn won't stay asleep long enough for me to do the workout. See?? I told you, tons of little obstacles. I think right now my best bet is trying to get the 20 minute Turbo Jam workout in right after putting Brook down for a nap. I'll just have to make myself do it, even if it's at different times of the day. There is no way I'm going back to work in August bigger than when I left!! NO FLIPPING WAY!!!!! So there, I've got it out there and now you guys can pester me and ask me if I've worked out that day or not. Thanks!
Brooklyn is doing new things on a daily basis. Here's what she's up to right now:
- She walks quite a bit. She actually does it more and more each day and chooses to walk more than crawl.
- She's weaning off formula. I'm doing 2 ounces of whole milk with 4 of formula. It doesn't seem to phase her at all.
- She's eating a tiny bit more food than used to. This is still an area of concern for me. She's an extremely picky eater! Her newest thing is only wanting to eat whatever we are eating and it has to be from our plate. If I sit her in her high chair and fix her a bit of what I'm eating and try to give it to her on her tray, she won't eat it. It has to come from my plate or she thinks she's getting something different and will shake her head "no" to it! Little stinker! She's too smart!
- She shakes her head "no" now when you ask her a question and she doesn't want to do/eat whatever you are asking her. She has also started shaking her head "yes" but I don't think she knows what it means yet.
- She just yesterday started saying "uh oh". I think this is influence from her cousin Cooper who is a pro at saying it.
- She "talks" while playing and you can tell she really thinks she's saying something important. It's so cute!
- She has started trying to click her tongue.
- She claps anytime she hears anyone clapping, even if it's on TV. It's hilarious when we're watching a show and they clap on it and she starts clapping and getting excited as if she knows why we are clapping.
- She still wants to crawl around and put every little crumb or speck on the floor in her mouth.
- She LOVES to swim! We took her to the aquatic center in Hurst and she absolutely loved it! When we were in deeper water, she wanted me to let go of her and was trying to squirm out of my grip! I couldn't believe it. She just took off in the shallow, kiddie pool area and wasn't afraid of anything. It was fun watching her. Her swimsuit is cute too. ;)
- She'll point to things she wants now, especially her bottle. She says "bah-boo" which sounds like bottle but I don't think that's what she means b/c she says it constantly and not just when she sees her bottle.
- She will try to imitate you if you open your mouth or make noises with your mouth or raise your hands.
- She can suck out of a straw.
Those are the highlights right now of her development. I have been horrible at putting them in her baby book! I feel so guilty about that and I need to sit down and catch up with it. Thankfully I have Facebook and my blog to look back and remember what she did at what age! Oh technology, how I love you!
I did two caterings last week at Bartley's (where my mom works and where I used to work) and with that money (or knowing it was coming this week), I went shopping on Sunday and finally bought myself some new clothes! It felt so good! I got quite a bit for the money I spent. I got two pairs of comfy shorts, one black and one tan, and a pair of comfy, brown capris. Then I got several summer tops that were really cute. I didn't pay more than $10 on any single item and most of them were around $5-8. I only bought things that I tried on and really liked and knew that I would wear them a lot and they were comfortable. All the shorts and pants I got had elastic waist. Yes, I'm THAT person now. The person who only wears elastic waisted clothes. I don't care. I'm tired of pants squeezing my gut and trying to be comfortable in UN-comfortable clothes. I'm all about comfort now, more than ever, so elastic it is! These are also all clothes that if I lost a few pounds by the time school started, they would still fit me, especially if I wash and dry them and they shrink a little.
I'm feeling more optimistic about the summer. I will get better at this staying at home thing. I've decided to read through the book of John for my quiet time right now. I got an idea for a reading plan from this website that gives a good reading plan for beginners or people who don't know where to start in the Bible. It doesn't give a day by day plan but an order of which books to read. I'll be doing this at my own pace and I'm excited about it!
Now I'm going to go to Walmart with my mom and buy a noise machine for Brooklyn. We have got to get serious about sleep training her and I hear noise machines are a life saver in this area. So off we go!
There are still a few things that aren't working out the way I would like but I know God is in control and will bring these things to a resolution.
For one, our van is still giving us major issues. I'm beginning to regret buying it but my dad keeps reminding me that for the price we got it for, even if we put a couple thousand into it to get it fixed, it would still be a great deal. I will be so happy when the stupid thing is running right. The battery is being drained by an unknown source. We've tried checking the fuses and Waylon and I even looked into our owner's manual and took apart the dash to disconnect the 6 disc CD changer. We did this in the blazing heat of Texas summer (I actually went in halfway through because I had Brooklyn out there and she was getting really hot and sweaty and wanted a bottle) and that still didn't fix the issue. It costs $97 at Honda to run the diagnostic to tell what's wrong. We may have to just break down and take it there and shell out the money to get it fixed. They're going to be the best bet to find what's wrong. We've taken it to Autozone and Sears auto center and neither one has been able to tell us what's wrong and we've paid several diagnostic fees and have no answers! It's so frustrating! Once that's fixed, the next thing will be to get the A/C running. I've driven it a few times now and I'm tellin' you, it's a bummer driving a car with no A/C in Texas! That's a definite must for our car. But until the battery situation is fixed, we're not getting the AC fixed.
I'm still struggling with keeping the house clean. You would think that since I'm home most of the day I would be able to keep up on that but it just seems to not be in the cards for me! I've got to find things to keep Brooklyn more entertained. After her birthday she will have more interactive toys and I think that will make a difference. Right now, we don't have a lot of toys and she gets bored very easily with the few we have. She mainly wants to play with the remotes (the $50 XBox remotes) and my computer, or power cords or the dog food or cabinets. I don't understand the fascination toddlers have with those boring things when they have bright, colorful, noise-making toys they could be playing with! It doesn't make sense! lol.
My exercising goals have yet to come about at all. I haven't done a single thing (except for the rare walk around the block with Brooklyn) for exercise this summer and I've gained a couple of pounds. I'm really frustrated with myself for being lazy and not working out. It doesn't take much of an obstacle to keep me from it. Most mornings I'm exhausted because I didn't sleep well the night before so I don't feel like putting Brooklyn in the jogging stroller and going for a stroll, or even going by myself. Then, in the afternoons when I could go to the rec center, I don't have anyone to watch Brooklyn unless my parents drive all the way over, which I don't want to ask them to do just so I can go get on the elliptical for 40 minutes. I could do my Turbo Jam video in the living room but there's usually toys everywhere or Brooklyn won't stay asleep long enough for me to do the workout. See?? I told you, tons of little obstacles. I think right now my best bet is trying to get the 20 minute Turbo Jam workout in right after putting Brook down for a nap. I'll just have to make myself do it, even if it's at different times of the day. There is no way I'm going back to work in August bigger than when I left!! NO FLIPPING WAY!!!!! So there, I've got it out there and now you guys can pester me and ask me if I've worked out that day or not. Thanks!
Brooklyn is doing new things on a daily basis. Here's what she's up to right now:
- She walks quite a bit. She actually does it more and more each day and chooses to walk more than crawl.
- She's weaning off formula. I'm doing 2 ounces of whole milk with 4 of formula. It doesn't seem to phase her at all.
- She's eating a tiny bit more food than used to. This is still an area of concern for me. She's an extremely picky eater! Her newest thing is only wanting to eat whatever we are eating and it has to be from our plate. If I sit her in her high chair and fix her a bit of what I'm eating and try to give it to her on her tray, she won't eat it. It has to come from my plate or she thinks she's getting something different and will shake her head "no" to it! Little stinker! She's too smart!
- She shakes her head "no" now when you ask her a question and she doesn't want to do/eat whatever you are asking her. She has also started shaking her head "yes" but I don't think she knows what it means yet.
- She just yesterday started saying "uh oh". I think this is influence from her cousin Cooper who is a pro at saying it.
- She "talks" while playing and you can tell she really thinks she's saying something important. It's so cute!
- She has started trying to click her tongue.
- She claps anytime she hears anyone clapping, even if it's on TV. It's hilarious when we're watching a show and they clap on it and she starts clapping and getting excited as if she knows why we are clapping.
- She still wants to crawl around and put every little crumb or speck on the floor in her mouth.
- She LOVES to swim! We took her to the aquatic center in Hurst and she absolutely loved it! When we were in deeper water, she wanted me to let go of her and was trying to squirm out of my grip! I couldn't believe it. She just took off in the shallow, kiddie pool area and wasn't afraid of anything. It was fun watching her. Her swimsuit is cute too. ;)
- She'll point to things she wants now, especially her bottle. She says "bah-boo" which sounds like bottle but I don't think that's what she means b/c she says it constantly and not just when she sees her bottle.
- She will try to imitate you if you open your mouth or make noises with your mouth or raise your hands.
- She can suck out of a straw.
Those are the highlights right now of her development. I have been horrible at putting them in her baby book! I feel so guilty about that and I need to sit down and catch up with it. Thankfully I have Facebook and my blog to look back and remember what she did at what age! Oh technology, how I love you!
I did two caterings last week at Bartley's (where my mom works and where I used to work) and with that money (or knowing it was coming this week), I went shopping on Sunday and finally bought myself some new clothes! It felt so good! I got quite a bit for the money I spent. I got two pairs of comfy shorts, one black and one tan, and a pair of comfy, brown capris. Then I got several summer tops that were really cute. I didn't pay more than $10 on any single item and most of them were around $5-8. I only bought things that I tried on and really liked and knew that I would wear them a lot and they were comfortable. All the shorts and pants I got had elastic waist. Yes, I'm THAT person now. The person who only wears elastic waisted clothes. I don't care. I'm tired of pants squeezing my gut and trying to be comfortable in UN-comfortable clothes. I'm all about comfort now, more than ever, so elastic it is! These are also all clothes that if I lost a few pounds by the time school started, they would still fit me, especially if I wash and dry them and they shrink a little.
I'm feeling more optimistic about the summer. I will get better at this staying at home thing. I've decided to read through the book of John for my quiet time right now. I got an idea for a reading plan from this website that gives a good reading plan for beginners or people who don't know where to start in the Bible. It doesn't give a day by day plan but an order of which books to read. I'll be doing this at my own pace and I'm excited about it!
Now I'm going to go to Walmart with my mom and buy a noise machine for Brooklyn. We have got to get serious about sleep training her and I hear noise machines are a life saver in this area. So off we go!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Dear Dad,
Thank you for being such a wonderful father. You have lived your life putting God and your family first. You have persevered through tough times in your personal life and in your ministry but have always trusted the Lord through it all and became a stronger man and better father. I could not have asked for a more loving and supportive father than I have in you.
Any time any of us kids ever wanted to do something, you always encouraged us to try it (and sometimes had to actually push SOME of us to do it...ahem...Bryan...not mentioning any names though...). You were a good teacher and mentor and pastor. You've been my pastor since I was born and I can honestly say I've never wished otherwise. We have always looked up to you and believed you were always on our side, watching out for us, loving us, forgiving us and taking us in your arms and comforting us when needed. Through all my personal "issues" that I went through, I always knew that no matter what happened, you and mom would always help me and love me and forgive me. For that, I am forever grateful. He, in all His wisdom, put me with a father and mother who knew exactly what I needed in my parents. Thank you for loving me so much.
On this Father's Day I want you to know how much all of us kids (and your grandkids) love you. I hope you enjoy your day and that we have many more Father's Days to come to spend with you.
We love you!
Love,
Stephanie, Waylon and Brooklyn
P.S.
Any time any of us kids ever wanted to do something, you always encouraged us to try it (and sometimes had to actually push SOME of us to do it...ahem...Bryan...not mentioning any names though...). You were a good teacher and mentor and pastor. You've been my pastor since I was born and I can honestly say I've never wished otherwise. We have always looked up to you and believed you were always on our side, watching out for us, loving us, forgiving us and taking us in your arms and comforting us when needed. Through all my personal "issues" that I went through, I always knew that no matter what happened, you and mom would always help me and love me and forgive me. For that, I am forever grateful. He, in all His wisdom, put me with a father and mother who knew exactly what I needed in my parents. Thank you for loving me so much.
On this Father's Day I want you to know how much all of us kids (and your grandkids) love you. I hope you enjoy your day and that we have many more Father's Days to come to spend with you.
We love you!
Love,
Stephanie, Waylon and Brooklyn
P.S.
You will always be the first #1 man in my life.
Summer thus far: The second week
I'm in my second week of summer break and it hasn't felt like much of a break yet! I've been busy, busy, busy!! I knew it would be like this at the beginning and I would actually prefer if it stayed a little busy because I will get bored if I have any lulls.
Last week was a week of getting the house projects underway. I did lots of loads of laundry, some yard work, started my garden (which I will do a post all of it's own with pictures), cleaned house, and went to the Ross family reunion. We had a lot of fun at the reunion and I will write about that more in a moment.
Waylon also finally started his new job selling Verizon service door-to-door. It is a straight commission job, but he is selling something that people actually want and has a famous brand name. He is good at sales and enjoys it as well so I think he will do really well with this. He already made 5 sales just on Wednesday and Thursday when we went out on his own. Today he made 2. This is a good start and I'm happy to see my husband doing something he enjoys and that challenges him! It's also going to relieve some of the financial stress in our lives.
I've enjoyed getting to spend A LOT more time with Brooklyn. I'll admit that during the school year while I worked, I felt more like a "part-time mom" since I was the person who got to spend the least amount of time with her. It was really depressing and some days I just didn't want to get out of bed. That also might have had to do with the fact that I struggled a bit with contentment at my job. Those two things coupled together are not conducive to having an upbeat spirit! The good news is, that even though I'm losing a wonderful colleague and close friend who has to move for her husband's job, I've renewed my spirits for work next year. I'm refusing to let my job bring me down. This attitude change has a lot to do with a series of sermons my dad has preached about being content with your work and how to have a more fulfilling life at your job. I realize I just went off on a rabbit trail. I was talking about the joys of being a SAHM for the summer with Brooklyn. Things haven't quite been what I expected them to be. It's a lot more work than I thought it would be, but it has been very rewarding. The fact that my daughter is actually getting attached to me is a great thing! That's not to say that she wasn't before, but now I feel more of a bond with her since we've spent so much time together. I'm starting to understand her better and see her little personality coming out in full force!
The past two weeks has also brought me to see a few things about myself. I will never be an organized person! For some reason I thought that motherhood brings on a sixth sense of organization and that suddenly you are able to keep the house organized and everything in it's place. That couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, it's even harder to do! I start something and get interrupted so I drop that and go tend to the baby. Once she's entertained again, I start on something else that has caught my eye, only to have to drop that to go tend to the baby again. The cycle goes on and on until there are several things laying around the house that I never finished and now have created a mess! It's frustrating, but I'm learning.
In a few minutes my dad will be getting here to to watch Brooklyn as I go to my Financial Peace University class...alone. Waylon will no longer be going with me because his job requires him to work every Saturday. They want him to work 9-9 and I said absolutely not! He is going to speak with his boss today about that. As if the 60 hours during the week aren't enough!!!!
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I will have a post all about my garden experience and Brooklyn's upcoming 1 year birthday. I want to get to blogging more, I always feel better after writing about things.
Last week was a week of getting the house projects underway. I did lots of loads of laundry, some yard work, started my garden (which I will do a post all of it's own with pictures), cleaned house, and went to the Ross family reunion. We had a lot of fun at the reunion and I will write about that more in a moment.
Waylon also finally started his new job selling Verizon service door-to-door. It is a straight commission job, but he is selling something that people actually want and has a famous brand name. He is good at sales and enjoys it as well so I think he will do really well with this. He already made 5 sales just on Wednesday and Thursday when we went out on his own. Today he made 2. This is a good start and I'm happy to see my husband doing something he enjoys and that challenges him! It's also going to relieve some of the financial stress in our lives.
I've enjoyed getting to spend A LOT more time with Brooklyn. I'll admit that during the school year while I worked, I felt more like a "part-time mom" since I was the person who got to spend the least amount of time with her. It was really depressing and some days I just didn't want to get out of bed. That also might have had to do with the fact that I struggled a bit with contentment at my job. Those two things coupled together are not conducive to having an upbeat spirit! The good news is, that even though I'm losing a wonderful colleague and close friend who has to move for her husband's job, I've renewed my spirits for work next year. I'm refusing to let my job bring me down. This attitude change has a lot to do with a series of sermons my dad has preached about being content with your work and how to have a more fulfilling life at your job. I realize I just went off on a rabbit trail. I was talking about the joys of being a SAHM for the summer with Brooklyn. Things haven't quite been what I expected them to be. It's a lot more work than I thought it would be, but it has been very rewarding. The fact that my daughter is actually getting attached to me is a great thing! That's not to say that she wasn't before, but now I feel more of a bond with her since we've spent so much time together. I'm starting to understand her better and see her little personality coming out in full force!
The past two weeks has also brought me to see a few things about myself. I will never be an organized person! For some reason I thought that motherhood brings on a sixth sense of organization and that suddenly you are able to keep the house organized and everything in it's place. That couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, it's even harder to do! I start something and get interrupted so I drop that and go tend to the baby. Once she's entertained again, I start on something else that has caught my eye, only to have to drop that to go tend to the baby again. The cycle goes on and on until there are several things laying around the house that I never finished and now have created a mess! It's frustrating, but I'm learning.
In a few minutes my dad will be getting here to to watch Brooklyn as I go to my Financial Peace University class...alone. Waylon will no longer be going with me because his job requires him to work every Saturday. They want him to work 9-9 and I said absolutely not! He is going to speak with his boss today about that. As if the 60 hours during the week aren't enough!!!!
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I will have a post all about my garden experience and Brooklyn's upcoming 1 year birthday. I want to get to blogging more, I always feel better after writing about things.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Defunking...
So I realize it has been a very long time since I blogged last. I also realize I haven't posted pictures in quite some time either. So I'll be giving an update on things and posting some pictures on here.
First, I want to update on how things have been going in our lives the past month. One of the reasons I haven't posted (and the reason for the title of my post) is that I've been in a funk of sorts. When I'm in a funk, I lose all desire to blog. The funk has many reasons behind it, none of which are an excuse to let myself fall into this funk and forget that God is always in control.
We have had many things happen lately that have been neither fun nor easy. It all started about a month and a half ago when the van's battery kept dying. I had to jump start it almost every morning and then get jump started at work before coming home. That was a pain. Then we discovered that the AC in the van did not work either and that it will cost somewhere between 1000-1500 dollars to get fixed. Bummer. We don't have that kind of money laying around.
On the Saturday before mother's day Brooklyn ingested an anti-depressant at my in-laws that she found on the floor and no one saw her swallow. By the time Waylon got her home to me, I could tell something was very wrong with her. She usually fights sleep to the end and I couldn't keep her awake when I took her out of her car seat. She was very groggy and her head was bobbing around. After waiting and observing a few minutes to see if she was just working her way out of a very deep sleep, we realized this was more than that and Waylon called his mom to see what she could have swallowed. We got the name and strength of the pill and called the ER who then referred us to Poison Control who then told us to go immediately to the ER, they would call ahead so the ER would be waiting for us. That was a very scary drive. I sat in the back with her and tried to keep her awake and it wasn't easy. Waylon drove as carefully and fast as possible. It was a whirlwind of activity once we got there and I don't want to relive all that. They confirmed through a urine test that she did indeed have the drug in her system and then called Cook's Children's to bring an ambulance to take us there for an overnight observation stay. We later found out (at Cook's) that this particular drug is very dangerous to toddlers and can kill a toddler with just one pill. I'm glad I didn't know that until the end when they had already assessed that she would be ok and just needed to sleep it off. We were at Cook's until noon on Mother's Day. I was never more happy to get home and see Brooklyn being her loud, active self. We spent the night at my parent's house that night as well to get some extra sleep and help with her since we were both exhausted from sharing a twin size bed in the room at the hospital.
A week and a half later, we were in a wreck. We were T-boned on a busy street near our house while I was making a left turn into a shopping center. All three of us were in the car but thankfully Brooklyn was in her car seat behind the driver's side and we were hit on the passenger's side. Waylon was sitting in the passenger seat and if he hadn't had his seat belt on he would have jumped over into my lap. He screamed the loudest, only to be out-screamed by Brooklyn after the initial impact. It scared her quite a bit. I jumped out of the car as soon as we stopped (we hadn't even moved the car out of the street) and got Brooklyn out and she didn't have a single scratch or bump on her (Praise the Lord!). No one was hurt, save a bruise on my knee and a crick in my neck. The girl who hit us was very young and was crying. She started crying when she saw me pull Brooklyn out of the car. She was so afraid she had hurt the baby. I assured her that Brooklyn was fine and we asked her if she was ok and she said she was. I think her leg was hurting a bit. The cops came and looked everything over and we were actually able to drive our car home. Both doors on the passenger side were un-usable. We got a rental and turned the car in the next day. We still have the rental but are hoping our PT Cruiser will be ready either tomorrow or Wednesday. Wrecks are a pain in the rear, but if no one is hurt in the end, it's really not that big of a deal. We could have walked away a lot worse than we did and like the cop said, that's why we have insurance, to cover these risks.
Around the same time as our wreck, we got a notice of disconnection in the mail from our electric company stating we owed almost $500 and that if it wasn't paid by May 17, we would have our electricity disconnected. The due date on the notice said that the payment was due on April 24th, but we got the notice in the mail on May 4th. Everything about this was off. We had been paying our bill every month so I didn't know where they were getting this amount that we owed. We called them immediately and found out that b/c of our dogs and the fact that our gate was locked to the back yard, the meter guy had not read our meter and had estimated our usage and they billed us an estimated amount based on previous month's usages. The notice was the difference of the three months that were estimated and what our actual usage had been. There was a lot of tension and going back and forth trying to place blame on someone as to why they had been able to read our meters in previous months but then for January through March they had not been able to. It all came down to the fact that they could do nothing to help us and we were going to have to make payments. So now, we're on another payment plan to get caught up with our electric bill.
We are still paying off the tickets Waylon has gotten.
I was sick for 2 days in April (like really sick, not just a little) and stayed home from work even though I didn't have any PTO. Because of this, my paycheck was $500 less than normal. You can imagine what a dent that puts in your budget when you just got started on making a strict budget and have places planned for every cent that comes into the bank. Thankfully, Waylon's pay check was quite a bit bigger than normal because he got a lot of subbing in March and April. This helped make the difference. We are making it work and finding that we can live on much less than we thought we could. God is providing for us and keeping us on our feet during this financial time.
Now, lest you think that only bad things have happened, let me make sure you know that we have had our share of blessings lately as well.
Waylon will start a new job tomorrow! He will be working for a company called 20/20 who is a marketing brach of sorts for all the major cable/internet/phone companies. He will be going door to door to sell the Verizon plans. He likes sales and he is good at it so I think this will be a great fit for him. He also turned in an application for a dispatcher for one of the police departments here. This will be a long application process though as he has to pass tests and stuff to be a 911 dispatcher. It's a salaried position though that pays very well and would be a huge help for our getting out of debt plan.
Another good thing is that Brooklyn has begun taking steps! She's such a big girl! She's growing like a weed. I'm going to do a whole post about her later though so I won't say much about her now. I will post a couple of pictures of her though:
A new favorite way to sit
This one is just so precious to me, I had to put it on here.
I hope this makes up for the lack of posting. I'm coming out of my funk and will hopefully be posting on a regular basis again. This is my last week of work and then I'll have a whole summer ahead of me to do lots of fun things with Brooklyn and have a lot of mother-daughter bonding time.
Can't wait till Friday!!
First, I want to update on how things have been going in our lives the past month. One of the reasons I haven't posted (and the reason for the title of my post) is that I've been in a funk of sorts. When I'm in a funk, I lose all desire to blog. The funk has many reasons behind it, none of which are an excuse to let myself fall into this funk and forget that God is always in control.
We have had many things happen lately that have been neither fun nor easy. It all started about a month and a half ago when the van's battery kept dying. I had to jump start it almost every morning and then get jump started at work before coming home. That was a pain. Then we discovered that the AC in the van did not work either and that it will cost somewhere between 1000-1500 dollars to get fixed. Bummer. We don't have that kind of money laying around.
On the Saturday before mother's day Brooklyn ingested an anti-depressant at my in-laws that she found on the floor and no one saw her swallow. By the time Waylon got her home to me, I could tell something was very wrong with her. She usually fights sleep to the end and I couldn't keep her awake when I took her out of her car seat. She was very groggy and her head was bobbing around. After waiting and observing a few minutes to see if she was just working her way out of a very deep sleep, we realized this was more than that and Waylon called his mom to see what she could have swallowed. We got the name and strength of the pill and called the ER who then referred us to Poison Control who then told us to go immediately to the ER, they would call ahead so the ER would be waiting for us. That was a very scary drive. I sat in the back with her and tried to keep her awake and it wasn't easy. Waylon drove as carefully and fast as possible. It was a whirlwind of activity once we got there and I don't want to relive all that. They confirmed through a urine test that she did indeed have the drug in her system and then called Cook's Children's to bring an ambulance to take us there for an overnight observation stay. We later found out (at Cook's) that this particular drug is very dangerous to toddlers and can kill a toddler with just one pill. I'm glad I didn't know that until the end when they had already assessed that she would be ok and just needed to sleep it off. We were at Cook's until noon on Mother's Day. I was never more happy to get home and see Brooklyn being her loud, active self. We spent the night at my parent's house that night as well to get some extra sleep and help with her since we were both exhausted from sharing a twin size bed in the room at the hospital.
A week and a half later, we were in a wreck. We were T-boned on a busy street near our house while I was making a left turn into a shopping center. All three of us were in the car but thankfully Brooklyn was in her car seat behind the driver's side and we were hit on the passenger's side. Waylon was sitting in the passenger seat and if he hadn't had his seat belt on he would have jumped over into my lap. He screamed the loudest, only to be out-screamed by Brooklyn after the initial impact. It scared her quite a bit. I jumped out of the car as soon as we stopped (we hadn't even moved the car out of the street) and got Brooklyn out and she didn't have a single scratch or bump on her (Praise the Lord!). No one was hurt, save a bruise on my knee and a crick in my neck. The girl who hit us was very young and was crying. She started crying when she saw me pull Brooklyn out of the car. She was so afraid she had hurt the baby. I assured her that Brooklyn was fine and we asked her if she was ok and she said she was. I think her leg was hurting a bit. The cops came and looked everything over and we were actually able to drive our car home. Both doors on the passenger side were un-usable. We got a rental and turned the car in the next day. We still have the rental but are hoping our PT Cruiser will be ready either tomorrow or Wednesday. Wrecks are a pain in the rear, but if no one is hurt in the end, it's really not that big of a deal. We could have walked away a lot worse than we did and like the cop said, that's why we have insurance, to cover these risks.
Around the same time as our wreck, we got a notice of disconnection in the mail from our electric company stating we owed almost $500 and that if it wasn't paid by May 17, we would have our electricity disconnected. The due date on the notice said that the payment was due on April 24th, but we got the notice in the mail on May 4th. Everything about this was off. We had been paying our bill every month so I didn't know where they were getting this amount that we owed. We called them immediately and found out that b/c of our dogs and the fact that our gate was locked to the back yard, the meter guy had not read our meter and had estimated our usage and they billed us an estimated amount based on previous month's usages. The notice was the difference of the three months that were estimated and what our actual usage had been. There was a lot of tension and going back and forth trying to place blame on someone as to why they had been able to read our meters in previous months but then for January through March they had not been able to. It all came down to the fact that they could do nothing to help us and we were going to have to make payments. So now, we're on another payment plan to get caught up with our electric bill.
We are still paying off the tickets Waylon has gotten.
I was sick for 2 days in April (like really sick, not just a little) and stayed home from work even though I didn't have any PTO. Because of this, my paycheck was $500 less than normal. You can imagine what a dent that puts in your budget when you just got started on making a strict budget and have places planned for every cent that comes into the bank. Thankfully, Waylon's pay check was quite a bit bigger than normal because he got a lot of subbing in March and April. This helped make the difference. We are making it work and finding that we can live on much less than we thought we could. God is providing for us and keeping us on our feet during this financial time.
Now, lest you think that only bad things have happened, let me make sure you know that we have had our share of blessings lately as well.
Waylon will start a new job tomorrow! He will be working for a company called 20/20 who is a marketing brach of sorts for all the major cable/internet/phone companies. He will be going door to door to sell the Verizon plans. He likes sales and he is good at it so I think this will be a great fit for him. He also turned in an application for a dispatcher for one of the police departments here. This will be a long application process though as he has to pass tests and stuff to be a 911 dispatcher. It's a salaried position though that pays very well and would be a huge help for our getting out of debt plan.
Another good thing is that Brooklyn has begun taking steps! She's such a big girl! She's growing like a weed. I'm going to do a whole post about her later though so I won't say much about her now. I will post a couple of pictures of her though:
She loves to craw...
I hope this makes up for the lack of posting. I'm coming out of my funk and will hopefully be posting on a regular basis again. This is my last week of work and then I'll have a whole summer ahead of me to do lots of fun things with Brooklyn and have a lot of mother-daughter bonding time.
Can't wait till Friday!!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
A different type of Mother's Day post
Typically you will see mother's day posts dedicated to the mother of the poster. At least that's what I'm used to seeing. Well, I will be partaking in something similar to that, so my Mother's Day post on my blog is going to be a bit different. I'm going to share my journal entry from my new journal about MY first mother's day and how it makes me feel. It may seem a little self-centered but that's not the point of it. I want to share this with my few readers because it means a lot to me. I think Mother's Day isn't just about celebrating your mom but celebrating the fact that you ARE a mom...that is, if you ARE a mom. If you aren't, well, you should just celebrate how wonderful your mom is. :)
So here goes...copied straight from my hand-written journal entry this morning:
Tomorrow I will celebrate my first mother's day sinc having Brooklyn. Last year I was 7 months pregnant for mother's day, and I still considered myself a mother, it's just more real now. I am actually living the life of a mother instead of planning for it and imagining it. Last year I was feeling her move inside me; this year I'm chasing her all over the house. Last year I still had moments of quietness with her, even when she was kicking and moving; this year there's no such thing as quietness if she is awake. Last year my arms were empty; this year they carry a beautiful baby girl. Last year I was wondering what my daughter would look like; this year I know and she is far more beautiful than I could have imagined. Last year my life was simpler but this year my life is filled with a love I had never known or understood.
Love can complicate things - you can't go on living life for just you when you love another person so much.
Motherhood hasn't been anything like what I imagined it would be. It has been more wonderful in some ways and much scarier and harder in others. I never imagined being able to function on such little sleep. I also never thought my heart would fill with so much love and pride as I watched my daughter grow and learn to do new things. Sometimes I just want to sit and watch her play for hours - it's such a beautiful thing to do.
I worry if I'm being a good enough mom. I worry about her future and everything that could go wrong. I have to give her to the Lord constantly or I will be useless with worry.
Life as a mom has been an adventure. There have been times when I questioned why I thought having a child was a good idea but it only takes one look at Brooklyn to remind myself that I would never take back anything. I love Brooklyn from the bottom of my heart and I look forward to being her mommy for the rest of my life.
Brooklyn, I'm so blessed to be YOUR mommy. God gave your daddy and I the most beautiful, perfect give he could ever give us. Mommy loves you SO much!! I am celebrating this Mother's Day by remembering the day of your birth: the day you made me a mommy.
To all the other moms out there: I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow and get to see your moms and your children and celebrate the wonderful gift of being a mother and having a mother.
Happy Mother's Day!!
So here goes...copied straight from my hand-written journal entry this morning:
Tomorrow I will celebrate my first mother's day sinc having Brooklyn. Last year I was 7 months pregnant for mother's day, and I still considered myself a mother, it's just more real now. I am actually living the life of a mother instead of planning for it and imagining it. Last year I was feeling her move inside me; this year I'm chasing her all over the house. Last year I still had moments of quietness with her, even when she was kicking and moving; this year there's no such thing as quietness if she is awake. Last year my arms were empty; this year they carry a beautiful baby girl. Last year I was wondering what my daughter would look like; this year I know and she is far more beautiful than I could have imagined. Last year my life was simpler but this year my life is filled with a love I had never known or understood.
Love can complicate things - you can't go on living life for just you when you love another person so much.
Motherhood hasn't been anything like what I imagined it would be. It has been more wonderful in some ways and much scarier and harder in others. I never imagined being able to function on such little sleep. I also never thought my heart would fill with so much love and pride as I watched my daughter grow and learn to do new things. Sometimes I just want to sit and watch her play for hours - it's such a beautiful thing to do.
I worry if I'm being a good enough mom. I worry about her future and everything that could go wrong. I have to give her to the Lord constantly or I will be useless with worry.
Life as a mom has been an adventure. There have been times when I questioned why I thought having a child was a good idea but it only takes one look at Brooklyn to remind myself that I would never take back anything. I love Brooklyn from the bottom of my heart and I look forward to being her mommy for the rest of my life.
Brooklyn, I'm so blessed to be YOUR mommy. God gave your daddy and I the most beautiful, perfect give he could ever give us. Mommy loves you SO much!! I am celebrating this Mother's Day by remembering the day of your birth: the day you made me a mommy.
To all the other moms out there: I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow and get to see your moms and your children and celebrate the wonderful gift of being a mother and having a mother.
Happy Mother's Day!!
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