Growth Chart Moments

Jack turned 18 months last week.  A year and a half!  Time flies when you’re having fun!

Here are some cute things he’s doing or saying that I’m sure to forget if I don’t write them down.

• He says “BESS YOU” to anyone who sneezes, coughs, hiccups, or burps. 
• He calls all animals by the noise they make. 
• Dogs = FUFF FUFF!
• Sheep = BA!
• Cows = MMMMMMMOO! ( sometimes Mmmmmeee)
• Mokey’s = OOO OOO EEEE EEE EEEEE!
• He counts to two.  Sometimes he counts to three, but his three sounds like one, so we’re not really sure about that one.
• He yells “CHASE!” and “RUN RUN!” when he he wants you to chase after him.  His chase turns into chrase after a few times.
• He loves putting blankets around him while walking around.  He loves all blankets and hats, and he loves to wrap them around his shoulders or waist and see how far he can walk around the house before it falls off.
• He is in love with CHOO CHOOs!  The boy turns his food into choo-choos, and everything looks like a choo choo track to him evidently.  He can sit on Daddy’s lap and watch choo-choo videos online all day long!
• He still loves to read books.  He knows what he likes and doesn’t like each night for bedtime, and it changes every night!  His nursery floor is covered with books that he fishes through to find just the right ones for that night.
• He can identify most animals, but that doesn’t mean he wants to touch them or get to close.  He’ll enjoy looking from afar for now.

OH, and he’s sleeping through the night now!  It only took 17 or so months, but he’s not getting up much at all now.  YAY!!!!!

This is his favorite blanket to wrap around himself.  And he can’t go to sleep without it on top of him…even if his room is 82 degrees!!!

Our little Darth Vader Boy.

 

He likes to wear hats!

I Go Out Walkin’…

But it’s not after midnight, and I’m not searchin’, hoping you will be somewhere out walkin’ after midnight searchin’ for meeeeee. 

Oh Lordy, my life is one big song.  I had a choir director in college who would randomly break out into song whenever he was in a conversation.  Everything reminded him of a song.  It didn’t make for short conversations, but it did make for interesting ones!

Anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought I’d share with the masses (or maybe just my mom) what I’ve been doing since my 30 day fitness challenge ended.  I took some time off, but after about a week, I got back into a walking groove again.  Now, I’m up to walking 4 miles almost every weekday morning!  I think I’m doing about a 17 minute mile, which isn’t that bad, but I’m sure could be better. 

I thought I’d share with you what it is that makes me get up and walk, and what makes my walk manageable – dare I say enjoyable?!

I found on iTunes a podcast called Podrunner.  (You don’t have to have iTunes to use their podcasts – just an mp3 player of some sort)  DJ Steveboy (whoever that is) has created hour long mixes of techno music that stay at a steady beat per minute (BPM).  I started walking to 135 BPM for 3 miles and realized that I liked walking if I had a steady beat pumping in my ears.  I keep my volume low enough so that I can still hear and talk to Jack while I push him along.   I’ve steadily increased my speed to 140BPM and 4 miles.  

I even got my hubby to use them on his Blackberry while he runs now.  He’s using around a 148 BPM.  I tried running, but my knees swelled, and I couldn’t walk for a day or two. After I lose some weight, maybe I’ll try running again.

Another thing that keeps me moving is an awesome, borrowed jogging stroller.   My friend Andrea let me borrow her Schwinn, swivel wheel jogging stroller, and I never want to give it back!  As far as Jack’s comfort goes, it’s great!  It has a tray, which so few seem to have.  He keeps his water and toy with him and it doesn’t fall out (much) since it sits in the tray.  It also has a swivel wheel.  I LOVE that.  I think a lot of joggers think it’s unsafe to have a swivel wheel when you’re jogging, but I’m not jogging, so it’s wonderful for me. 

Next, my husband bought me this wonderful Camelpak for my birthday this year.  I was totally shocked when he bought it for me, but I love it so much now.  It holds 3 liters of ice and water,  my iPod, and anything else I want to throw in the pack.  (It’s made for cyclists, so it has compartments with their needs in mind)  I used a regular sports bottle one day last week, and hated how my water didn’t stay cold, and how I ran out of water before my walk was done.  This backpack is great! (Jack loves drinking from it too!)

 

And finally, I couldn’t walk for an hour and 8 minutes if I didn’t have a snack for Jack.  About half way through the walk, he starts to get cranky.  If his toy (usually a truck or Little People) isn’t keeping him occupied anymore, I’ll throw him a snack trap with crackers, raisins, or apple pieces in it.  That usually keeps him happy for the rest of the trip.  If not, there’s always my keys.

Now, if only the pounds would start melting off!  My diet is average to good, so I’m pretty frustrated that 4 months of walking hasn’t taken any weight off.  I’ve been in to see the Dr. for my thyroid, and we did find my numbers to be off, so that may be the culprit. I just can’t win!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Every so often, the reality that I’m turning into my mother hits me.  I saw it in the way I managed my 6th graders, I see it in the way I raise my son, and I even see it in the mirror sometimes.  There isn’t a week that goes by that my husband doesn’t say (or want to say), “Okay, DONNA!”  It doesn’t always have a negative connotation of course.   We say the same quirky words or phrases, and we respond to situations similarly.  I have always looked like my mother.  One time, at my grandparents’ 50th anniversary celebration, some of their ‘older’ friends came up to me at the guest book and said, “Oh, Donna, it’s been so long!"  Ummmm, I was 12 and my mother was NOT 12 at the time.  I guess I REALLY looked like her! 

My mother has always been an avid reader.  She LOVES to read.  She loves romance, mystery, and who-done-its especially.  She loves big name authors like Nora Roberts and John Grisham.  As far back as I can remember, she has always had numerous books on her nightstand.  I remember as a young girl going in and kissing her goodnight - she was always sitting up in her bed against her headboard reading a book.  I’d go in, sit on her bed and wait for her to finish the sentence or paragraph she was on.  We’d talk for a little bit, I’d kiss her goodnight, and she’d go back to reading.

I have found that I am becoming an avid reader as well. My favorites are Christian romance and mysteries.  When Jack was just a few weeks old, I started reading books while I nursed him.  Since I nursed him a lot, I read through books very quickly.  I still read when I put him down for a nap or bedtime, which sometimes takes more than an hour.  I then go to bed and read while Rick watches TV.  During Jack’s nap, sometimes I’ll pick up a book I’m in the middle of and just sit and read for the two hours.  (yes, my house is a  bit neglected).   Just last night I stayed up past midnight finishing my latest book.  Sometimes, I just can’t put the books down!  I will have two or three books going at once now, too.  One in Jack’s room, one in my room, and then maybe another one downstairs.  It’s crazy!

 

This stack of books was read in three weeks!  (Plus there are two upstairs that I’m in the middle of right now.)  I’m in the middle of four series.  I love it!  I can’t get enough of these stories and characters. 

If you’re interested, here are some authors I’m enjoying right now:

Robin Jones Gunn, Lori Wick , Debra White Smith, James Scott Bell.

Well, I’m off to read!  Just call me Donna!

655

If you’re not a Google Reader user, this post probably won’t matter to you.

As you know, I’ve been a little absent in the blogging scene.  It’s not just one sided.  Not only have I been absent in writing blogs, but I’ve also been absent in reading blogs. 

I have a couple (to put it very mildly) blogs that I regularly like to read.  I started using Google Reader to keep it all organized.  I like that they have a “next” feature – I can hit the button and it takes me to the blog site to read the most recent post.  I love seeing all the different blogs that people create, and when you get into a Google Reader habit, you miss all the pages.  (you read them like an email loader with only the text and pictures – no backgrounds or headers).  But the Next button takes you to the actual blog page (and all the hard work the author has put into it).

While I was busy raising my son and spending time with my husband (did I feel guilty for all the time I was spending on the computer??), I let my reader fill up with unread blog posts.  When I checked it this weekend, I had 655 posts that I had not read yet.  WOW!!! 

So, this weekend, I decided to catch up. It took me 5 days, but I’m all caught up! I didn’t read every single post, but I did read most of them.   I didn’t use the next button, so I didn’t give anyone page views.  Sorry.  But, hopefully, now I’m back, and I’ll actually count for your page views and be a kinda regular commenter again. 

I get a lot of out reading blogs.  Sewing ides, recipes, parenting tips, wife tips, ideas for saving money, activities for Jack, and craft ideas.  Not to mention all the cute stories and pictures of babies out there!

Speaking of cute babies….mine just turned A YEAR AND A HALF today!!  He has done so much growing and in so little time. 

*trying to find recent pictures to post has made me realize that I’ve been in a picture slump.  I don’t have a lot of cute pictures of him right now.  I’ll have to work on that!

A Quick Project

I found some flannel fabric at the store this weekend and decided to make some ‘company napkins.’  Our cloth napkins are well used and stained because of it.  We both still love using the cloth napkins, and whatever fabric I used was a great choice.  They mop up spills pretty well and they hold up to many washings and face smears.  (wish I could remember what kind of fabric it is!)

I’ve recently started thinking about having ‘fancy’ cloth napkins for when company comes over.  That doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I’d like to offer them something a little nicer than a spaghetti stained cloth.  I found some beautiful striped flannel and thought I’d use this for my fancy napkins.

Did you know that flannel isn’t very absorbent?  These napkins aren’t going to be the go-to napkins for a drink spill, but they sure do feel nice smooshed on your face!  I picked it purely on what looked nice, not what was practical.  I do that more times than I’d care to admit.

I cut the pieces smaller than I should have, but I didn’t measure anything, so what do you expect?  I sewed two pieces back to back (or front to front to put the seams on the inside), so that both sides would show the pattern.  Although one of them is front to back because of not paying attention and being too rushed to rip the stitches to do it over. 

I’m hoping the stripes hide stains well.  I’m also hoping the colors match every holiday and season.  It has a bit of every color in it.  The girls liked them the other night during our Girls Night, so I s’pose that’s all I can ask for!

 

Banana Clips, Friends, and Aprons

Remember these?

 

I wore them all the time in the 80’s!  I even had the big, permed hair to go with it.  They rocked!

Evidently, they still exist.  I bought some at Meijer the other day, thinking I would bring back the beautiful, ‘Mohawk-esque’ hairstyle. 

Evidently, I don’t have big enough hair for it anymore.  It slides right out of my hair every time I try to wear it.  So, alas, I will not be the one to bring back the banana clip anytime soon. 

But that doesn’t stop me from having some fun with them!

Last night was a Girls Night Out for me and my two high school friends.  Only, this time, we had a girls-night-out-at-home-with-the-husbands.  I hosted a cookout that ended up as a cook-in, since the rain kept us inside.  When my friends got here, I forced them to wear banana clips.  I’m such a great hostess! 

Aren’t they beautiful!? We had a good laugh over these, and wore them most of the night.

Because I’m not always mean to my guests, I gave them each a gift to make up for the forced banana clip wearing. 

I made them each an apron with fabric that fits their personalities and kitchens!  They loved them.

You can tell that I made mine from REALLY old, worn out jeans, and theirs from jeans from my mother that were so much nicer looking. 

Every few months, Heather, Beth and I get together to catch up on our lives and eat yummy food (mostly Chipotle).  This time it was nice that our husbands could join us.  It’s been 15 years since we graduated from high school, and we’re all three in different stages of our lives (one has two married daughters, I’ve just started my family, and one is still enjoying the single life).  When we get together, even without the banana clips, it’s like we’re transported back in time to the hallways of our school, sharing lockers and going to football games. 

I love my girlfriends!!!