(mostly) Wordless Wednesday- Mother's Day Edition

Just wanted to share a couple pictures of my Mom in honor of her for Mother's Day.  We love you, Mom!

our fam, circa 1982-ish

Mom surrounded by her kids and grandkids, Christmas 2010

 

daddy's little girl?

Today Violet said the words "I love you!" for the first time ever.

To her Daddy.

I'm kinda jealous.

re-boot

so i really want to get back into blogging.  i say this as i am a 100ish days away from having a newborn in addition to my toddler...  but i desperately want to be creative in some fashion.  my daughter is currently being creative by stacking VHS tapes into piles.  lets see if i can follow suit. 

meditation

Charity suffereth long,
and is kind;
charity envieth not;
charity vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things,
believeth all things,
hopeth all things,
endureth all things.

1 Corinthinans 13:4-7

if i want to be more like Christ, i think think this is where i should start.

Jesus, help me to love like you. Amen.

the best laid plans of mice and men...

yeah, so we don't have any mice, but you get the point...

i have all these plans, you see? plans to have a clean apartment. plans to see more friends. plans to make baby blankets for my nephews. plans to make amazing healthy food for my husband and baby girl. plans to lose my baby weight. plans to have an amazing relationship with God. plans to call my best friend in Chicago and my brothers on a regular basis. plans to get a baby sitter and go out with my hubby. plans to get the laundry done. plans to scrub the weird spots off the kitchen floor beneath where Violet's chair sits. plans to organize the apartment. plans to become a coupon guru and save us hundreds of dollars on everything. plans to make, write, and send out thank you notes for Violet's baby shower (from almost a year ago.) plans to work out. plans to read books. plans to make the bed.

plans to blog?

so, it's obvious that all of this (and more) cannot realistically all happen. seriously. i even have plans to use a daily planner. i buy one at least one or twice a year with every intention or making a plan in my planner for all my plans to happen. yeah, it's usually a waste of money. at least i get a discount at work.

how is this all supposed to really happen? is it all really important? don't forget all the blank canvases and paint brushes and paint (and that college diploma) that are sitting in the basement unused.

don't even mention the proverbs 31 woman. trust me, she was left-brained, or OCD or something. for me, unattainable.

but what is really important?

i'll tell you what my day usually consists of (in no particular order): playing with my daughter, feeding my daugther, changing my daughter, talking with my daughter, reading with my daughter, finding something yummy to cook for my husband (or saying "yes, honey, why don't you pick something up on the way home"), snatching a couple of minutes to go online or read a book, remembering to eat something, taking a nap, running downstairs to throw the diapers in the washer, begging the baby monitor to let my daughter sleep just a little bit longer, and possibly connecting with a friend in someway maybe once or twice a week. oh, and i usually call my mom once a day. is there really room for anything else?

but somehow there are other moms who do it. with 4 ducklings following behind all in a row. how?

but i guess that's not really the point of this blog.

the point is that i have lots of plans. ideas of what needs to get done. or what i'd like to get done. but, as we know, things don't always go as planned. nor should they.

so... the next plan that i have is... to have some basic goals for each week that i'd like to get done. in the interest of finishing this blog before my daugther gets up from her nap (please sleep just a bit longer, my dear) these goals are going to be a bit fuzzy. or basic. or some other word that would fit better here if i weren't anticipating that "mom-i'm-awake" siren.

i'd like for my goals each week to be:
1. to spend time with Jesus a little each day.
2. to invest in my daughter and my hubby each day, to say something encouraging to both of them at least once a day.
3. to do something intellectual each day. read a book, read a blog, listen to NPR while resting, write, or discuss something thoughtful with someone, for at least 30 minutes a day.
4. to "exercise" or get my heart pumping for at least 25 min a day, 5 days a week. this may happen in smaller increments during the day as long as they add up. this is by doctor's orders :)
5. to do something to save us money once or twice a week. this could be 30 min working on coupons one day, or going to the farmer's market for our produce on wednesdays.

uggh. there's still more that i need to figure out, but the external processing must end. the siren is sounding.

if anyone has any good ideas (right-brained, artist-friendly ideas) please let me know :)

sheltered life

I haven't really gotten the hang of leaving my house by myself with baby in tow. We tend to stay pretty much close to home base. We take some walks, and I'll throw us in the car maybe once a week to see a friend, but pretty much haven't gotten the hang of running errands with the kid. Part of it is I don't want to get into the habit of throw the kid in a shopping cart or the stroller at the mall to get out, I don't want her to grow up with the main activity in life being shopping. Part of it also is that healthwise, I am exhausted all the time. (We recently discovered that I have an underactive thyroid, and I guess the process of getting the medication right takes a while, so I pretty much still nap when she naps, and hope for lots of naps.)

All that to say, I really want to make a better effort to get out more with my daughter. I'd really like her to see more of the world, and I think I might need to see more of it as well. What to do with myself once I pack everything up and go is a quandary to me though. What can you go do with a baby? What should I go do with my baby? Can I just invite myself over to friends houses who have lots of children? How much walking can one really do? Sometimes I wish we still lived in Akron or in Columbus. We'd be all over those Metro Parks. Literally.

I suppose I should get over my fear of people seeing my legs and go to the pool or enroll in a Mommy and Me class at the Y. Of course that requires the shopping I am trying to avoid... finding a swimsuit at least. This post-pregnancy body is not looking forward to that.

I hope that regardless of what I do or don't do, that Violet will be fine. She's crawling and cruising, dancing, and ever-so-much into reading... Mainly I think she could get by with just a bit more socialization, and maybe we'd be okay. Oh the guilt-complexes that abound when you have a kid :)

So now for the video of the day. I like to call this one "Video for Aunt Libby" or "Someday We're Going to Buy YOUR Firstborn a Talking Book, Too!" :)







(of course, just so ya know, we really do like the book :))

busy, busy, busy.

So much I need to catch up on... this whole blogging thing hasn't become part of my regular routine... but I am determined!

about a month ago, a week before Violet turned 8 months old, she started crawling.





And life has never been the same since.


With new found movement came new found independence. My parents tell me that as a toddler I would frequently say "my do it myself!" I think I may have given birth to little miss "my-do-it-myself" the Second. She is determined. Determined to cruise across the furniture. Determined to grab whatever thing Mommy and Daddy DON'T want her to have. Determined to crawl in small spaces that she doesn't fit in. Determined to find every single cord in the house. Determined to NOT have her diaper changed. Determined to NOT fall asleep. Most of that sounds really negative, but boy am I glad she is determined! I am hoping that this is just a picture of things to come as a teenager and adult: determined to not give into peer pressure, determined to not let society dictate how she should act/think/look, determined to live pure and holy unto the Lord, determined to wait for the right guy and not to settle, determined to live an adventure-filled life.


Violet finding the one dead leaf on the floor I happened to miss:

Anyways... so with this independence though comes the stranger anxiety. There have been many times lately that I go to hand her to someone else for a moment and she clings onto me for dear life. I have to admit that I love this. Especially since she barely sits still long enough to cuddle anymore, I take my cuddling however and whenever it happens.


Violet has also started dancing. Which is ridiculously cute.

So in the interest of taking a shower while I have a moment's free time, I will summarize the rest: I've been having fun cooking, making food for violet, hanging with my family and all the new additions, trying to re-pickup couponing, and i got to cut my husband's hair. Oh, and there've been lots of thunderstorms. That should do it.

Here is Tom's new look:


Violet enjoying homemade spinach:

I leave you with this final vision of "the Cuteness."

Wordless Wednesday- On the Move

she's not crawling, but she's doing this?

a reprieve :)

After a chaotic Easter Sunday, Tom and Vi and I are now home enjoying each others company. A fresh breeze is blowing thru the window, Tom is napping on the couch, and Vi is rolling around on a blanket on the floor. It's very peaceful.

My family is my sanctuary.

Finally...

So I finally have the internet at home since we moved here in July :) which means I really have no excuse not to blog...
Needless to say we are no longer waiting for our little turtle. Our little Violet Yvonne Steele joined us on September 14th, 2009. A little later than expected, but oh-so-amazing. They took her from me via C-section, which was completely the opposite of what I had imagined our birth story to look like. But she came out fine, and my recovery went well. Violet is the most amazingly beautiful thing/person I have ever experienced, and I am head over heels in love with her. I even like the way her breath smells.

This is Violet at a week old...
And this is a picture of Violet at 6 months...



So... between the lack of internet and the amazing growing daughter i have on my hands, I think I have a good excuse fore being behind here... but now the plan is to actually blog more often. I'll try to catch up on Violet photos, but we'll see how it goes.

It's been a great adventure so far :)

Waiting

um, so, yeah... blogging... hasn't really happened for a while.

but that can change, right?

so, we are waiting. waiting for the turtle. waiting to meet our baby. waiting to not be pregnant anymore :)

waiting has good points: waiting helps in developing patience, waiting gives one a moment to reflect, waiting can be a time of rest.

i'm trying to remember these good points about waiting.

i ran out of "nesting" instinct a week and a half ago. i think it was walking up and down the stairs that lead to the washer and dryer in the basement 10 or so times in one day. the apartment is in decent shape, a little clutter here and there, but i am not sure it would be OUR home without that. our home has never been perfect. but the place is restful.

the thing that i am trying to remember right now is that Tom and i will never have this time again. once the little one comes, things will never be the same. i am trying to enjoy our freedom and together time. and the ultimate portability that is the child in utero. today we are going to a movie. tomorrow, who knows?

one of the things about waiting that i am learning to be patient about are other people who are excited for us asking "when are you due?", "is the baby here yet?", "are you STILL here?", etc. It makes it hard to wait, and also makes me want to avoid talking to people, because i have no new answers. I also have found myself avoiding calling people because everyone is expecting a call with baby news, and my first few words to the person on the other line have lately been, "no, i'm not in labor." i am so thankful though, for the friends at family who are so excited for us and the little turtle, and are possibly more eager to meet our little one than we are. this is one blessed and loved child. :)

so, here i am celebrating waiting :) perhaps next blog i will celebrate a baby!

A New Adventure

I never meant to stay here for long. I don't think WE meant to stay here for long. Bustling commuter trains, art museums nearby, free days at the zoo, and multiple languages spoken were usually involved in my ideal location of habitation. Diversity, culture, excitement. The city, either here or overseas. An adventure.

However, we find ourselves here, in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Many people, and rightly so, find this the ideal place to live. It's a family friendly area, where bad things rarely ever happen. The cost of living is low, there's a great park, and the hills outside of town are beautiful. And we have the Daily Grind, one of my favorite coffee shops on the planet. I've often been told, it's a great place to raise a family.

I guess we'll find out.

I've always seen myself as outside the box. Just a little different. I wore combat boots in junior high. I've never really liked the color pink. I carried a bouquet of twigs down the aisle. I don't like paintings by Thomas Kincade. I'm not a big fan of shopping. My husband is fairly outside the box as well. He has long hair. He enjoys reading Shakespeare as well as Marvel comics. He reads every bit of information on every sign at the zoo as time and company will allow. He plays guitar left-handed. He's pretty awesome.

A friend of ours, who had lived in Canton, had nicknamed New Philadelphia "Mayberry", obviously in reference to the town in the Andy Griffith show where life was simple and all problems could be solved by the town sherriff and a little red haired boy named Opie. There were white pickett fences and apple pies cooling in windows. (Maybe that was Donna Reed. Oh well.) There are times when New Philadelphia does feel like a place untouched by time and the world. And while there are so many things that are wonderful about our town, there are times that it can feel "boxy".

I'm either a whiner or a snob or both. Hmm...

Anyways, all that to say that I always imagined a big adventure of living in a big city or overseas. Instead, God has deemed it time for the biggest adventure of my life, and He has divinely appointed that adventure to happen right here in T-county.

I'm going to be a mother.

Yup, come September 8th-ish (however due dates work) a small human-shaped being made from the DNA of my husband and I and the handiwork of God will enter the world as we know it and change our lives forever. Technically this little person is already changing our world as we know it, the cries for food right now are just a bit quieter than they will be 5 or so months from now. It will be the greatest adventure of our lives.

I guess what I am figuring out is that adventures may have nothing to do with location, and may often happen in unexpected places; and that being where God wants you may have nothing to do with how well you feel like you "fit", but rather where he sees that you will grow. I am thankful for the support that I have in this town. I can see how God knew this is where we needed to be for so many reasons.

As far as becoming a mother, I am excited, scared, nervous... and in awe. And in more desparate need of trusting in my Saviour now than ever. I'm looking forward to the adventure.

In Mayberry.