Might Be Something In the Water

A New Life

2011-10-04T18:41:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling a bit of a need to brag. This is not coming from vanity, self-righteous behavior, or any sort of gloating. More from that exuberant, intensely proud part that comes when one feels they're finally doing something right.

This July I made a decision to stop. Stop blaming myself, blaming others, blaming anything and take the control God can give me to stop my obesity.

I've been on at least one diet a year since the age of 14. To be honest, I probably started sooner than that, but I distinctly remember watching an infomercial diet that advertised individuality, appealing to my adolescent need for self-distinction. Acquiring the diet plan didn't take much pleading, as my parents have been continually and rightfully concerned for my health and encourage all healthy actions to better myself. The diet plan worked a bit; I was only 5-10 lbs overweight at the time (based on the BMI index, not age) and as long as I could keep up with my "individualized" diet and exercise plan would I be able to succeed. Only... I was stifled. My diet plan consisted of few foods which appealed to my palate, so I ended up eating only baked fries, salad, egg whites, toast, and lean chicken. Not bad meals, really, but when that's all you can eat, every day... reverting back is almost irresistible.

I miss Belle :(

Since then I've steadily gained weight. I've tried the aforementioned Six Week Body Makeover, no fat/fried/sweets, eating baked fish 24/7, Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, counting calories. I've tried exercise plans like Slim in 6, Tae Bo, Wii Fit, etc. I even tried applying for the Lap-Band, although the qualifications at the time were more stringent and costly than I could afford. All with fast short term results, instant gratification, and no staying power. Weight Watchers and South Beach were the best ones in terms of my dedication, and I can definitely see people using those plans, losing weight, and staying healthy. In fact, every diet I've tried has merit. There are people who've used them in a non-clinical atmosphere and had success. I am not one of those people, and blaming myself for failing has led me to higher weight and more depression.

This July I realized my problem. I'm too focused on the here and now, on being a size 2 next month. I'm too focused on adding strict rules, numbers, gadgetry, anything to make it "easier" that invariably I get bogged down and hopeless. I'm too focused on food in general. I don't want to keep a food journal. I don't want to try and figure out how many points are in every piece of food I put in my mouth for the rest of my life, or give up certain whole food groups (minus fats & sweets) only to bloat back up the moment it crosses my lips. This isn't true of everyone, just of me. My teenage individuality is rearing its head :).

So I've made my life simple. Rather than start a short term diet, I've changed my complete lifestyle. Rather than maintaining a strict count what I'm consuming, I'm keeping a fluid knowledge of what is best for my body in terms of healthy weight loss (calories, fat, protein, sodium, fiber) . If I cross that, I'll forgive myself and do better the next day. Rather than eating only certain types of bland healthy foods, I'm eating all types, focusing on eating more fruits and veggies but not limiting myself to only those. I've subscribed to Cooking Light, one of the best decisions I've made on my road to being healthy, cooking primarily from its contents. I have cut out certain foods, not groups, that lead me back to bingeing (sp?), like potato chips and candy and certain types of cooking that have no nutritional value (e.g. frying).

Say No to Chips

I have had to accept parts of myself that I wanted to reject, such as the knowledge that I will always want to over-eat, I will always want to choose convenience over health, I will always want to be lazy rather than exercise :). Submitting to those wants has put me here in the first place.

But the reward for taking a hold of my life has been sweet. I can see myself changing, my outlook happier, my complexion even clearing. I feel more confident in my skin and confident in change. I don't obsess about food as much as am aware. I'm watching my daughters enjoy foods many of their peers abhor.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta, Cooking Light

The best part? I've lost 22.8 lbs over the past 9 weeks. My goal is 30 lbs this year, continuing over the next year and half until I'm back in a healthy weight range. Hurray!

One of Those

2011-07-18T23:25:00.001-05:00

Today has been one of those days. You know, where Fuel's Bad Day keeps playing in your head, followed by Free Bird, and you empathize a little too much with Abigail Salmon.

Fuel - Bad Day (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Fuel

There was a bright spot today, and his name is Zazzles. Or Portal. I still haven't decided :). In March my sweet sweet kitty of 12 years breathed her last breath. Belle's death hit me very hard and after a few months grieving I have been ready to let another feline into my heart. Matt has kindly allowed me to get a cat for my birthday :). We've picked him out, just waiting for his neutering to take place and we'll be bringing him home to the family tomorrow! Check him out. What do you think his name should be?

Is he not gorgeous?

Sweetest personality ever.

The girls might be excited. Might.

Meet-n-Greet went well :)

Name suggestions:

Zazzles

Portal

2011-06-14T21:00:00.000-05:00

Two posts, back to back?! *Faint*

It's pikcha time!

The Smiths, long time friends of Matt's family, came for a competition and visit a few weeks ago. We had a great time visiting with them and the girls were t.h.r.i.l.l.e.d. with Kendall and Taryn.

Kendall and Taryn were having the worst time ever.


Crazy girl with purple/pink nails!


Sisters in Hammock

Buddies

Hammocks = Delight


Ruuuun Free! Free as the... something something.

Ok. I have more pictures, but it takes forevs to load these and I am smeepy. More pictures from Mom & Dad's picture session to follow.

4.45 and 2.80

2011-06-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile. I know, I know. Partly because I moved up to most of my audience, partly because I was tired of writing sad poor-pitiful-us posts, partly because we've been busy, and mostly because I've been lazy. I've found it so much easier to take pictures of the girls with my phone than deal with a DSLR and all it entails. I'm regretting that big time now, as my phone takes pretty low-grade pictures and that will be all we have to document the past year or so. Thankfully Matt has come out of his photography funk with the arrival of friends and family to the area.

Since the last post about Aly's birthday life has been getting steadily better. I started work with Wes' company, bringing in much needed cash flow. Matt landed a tailor-made job: IT support for Comcast! We found a place to live and moved out at the end of April/beginning of May... life has finally come back on track for us. I could go on, but it would be boring. Let's get to the good stuff: my babies.

Aly's still as energetic, as talkative, as friendly as ever. She's very slowly learning to recognize letters, draw them, and can even spell "rainbow" if you catch her in a non-ADD moment. I spend quite a bit of time in Mommy-guilt, knowing she would be probably reading now if I spent more time teaching her letters, for she is that smart.

Aly has the most wondrous imagination of any child or adult I know. She will make up a wildly entertaining and creative story on the spot. If no audience is found, she'll use voices with her dolls and have them play out her dramas. I know that she will be an storyteller of some sort, whether in writing or in theater.

Lorelei is that little girl who knows exactly how cute she is and how to make it work for her. Everyone she meets gets wrapped around her little finger. She is also crazy smart with an analytical brain. Although she still takes the time to get to know a group of people before she warms up, she has definitely come out of her shell. Her speech is still a bit slower than other kids her age but she is becoming clearer every day. She loves to sing, can even harmonize a bit, and will make up songs with always the words "COME TWUUUU(true)" belted out at the end. She loves to use "forever" as her only sense of time.

Defender of Men

2011-02-18T16:17:00.003-06:00

It's almost a month late, but better late than never, right?

This past January 27 was the birthday of one very special little girl. Unfortunately, my ideas for her birthday these past two years have fallen short, and it is by the grace of God that she's either forgotten my promises or I managed to keep my thoughts away from her ears. She's rolled with the poverty punches though, and hasn't complained too much when her last two birthday were subdued affairs and she didn't get the boatload of gifts children of this generation have come to expect.

Since we have no friends up here as of yet, Aly's birthday was only family. I figured this would be my last stress-free birthday party for her for at least 16 years, so we milked that. We bought (not made gasp) a yummy chocolate cake per her request from Magpies and Wes & Carole treated us all to dinner at Macaroni Grill. Not the typical birthday dinner for a four year old but she was ecstatic, knowing it was her day and enjoying every second. Before that, however, came Matt and my gift to her: ear piercings and her own picked-out-by-Aly earrings.

We went to Claire's in West Town Mall. Aly snuggled a bear while the patient piercing specialist (sometimes we all need a fancy name) prepped her ears and her mind, only interrupting to ask a few questions, quietly soaking in the unfamiliar atmosphere and situation permanence. Upon being given over 30 earring possibilities she chose my birthstone, ruby, because it was bright red ;). Apparently January's garnet dark red just wasn't red enough for her. She tensed a bit and brought her hand to ear in reaction to the first piercing but didn't even react to the second. There were no tears, no complaining. She sat perfectly still as we adjusted the piercing, cleaned the wound, etc. Nothing more could have shown me how much she has grown up.

This video doesn't really show anything except Aly getting marked for piercing.

Since then she reminds us when it is time to clean the piercing, can clean and spin the earring herself, and hasn't tried to take them out. I'm hoping this is a precursor to how responsible she will be growing up.

Aly at four is a smart, sweet, funny, creative, imaginative princess. She is a master of colors and shapes, picks up patterns easily, but is still having trouble recognizing letters and numbers. She can entertain with the best of them and has an imagination that makes my heart swell every time I hear her voice it. She can infuriate me like no other. She equally tattles on and takes care of Lorelei, keeping them as close friends as I imagined when we first knew of Lorelei's possibility. Connie's gift of a Dora computer game has proven Aly to pick up computer skills incredibly fast, which still amazes me as she handles the game with ease and confidence. She can't stand to be by herself or not be a part of something, even if she is bored. She can be lazy and ask for anything and everything to be done for her, but for the most part she insists on doing everything herself, for she's a big girl. She loves to dress up and be a princess. Aly also loves mysteries, clues, and things to solve.

Today she's been sick and feeling a little blue, so I created a survey for her to help keep her mind off her illness.

Who is your favorite princess? Sleeping Beauty. Really? I thought you loved Ariel. I do love Ariel, I love Ariel AND Sleeping Beauty. Well, which is your favorite? .....Ariel.
What is your favorite color? RED!
What color do you not like? Green. (insert yucky face)
What is your favorite thing about yourself? (after much explaining and inane answers like horse and monkeys, she understood) My hair!
And by the way, she couldn't think of anything she didn't like about herself :).
Favorite food? Peanut butter jelly and turkey sandwich (which she has never had and would find disgusting if I ever combined all three in sandwich format)
She also could not think of a food she dislikes. She simply said, I like everything.
Favorite movie? Scooby Doo
Favorite hobby? Coloring
Favorite animal? Monkey!
Favorite season? Winter.
Favorite outfit? The dress Aunt Laney gave her for christmas, all pink and gray striped and soft.
Favorite song? The ABCDEFG song.
What makes you sad? When people spank me. (insert heartbroken Aly face)
What makes you angry? When you don't get out of bed (LOL!)
What makes you happy? When you do good (ROFL). What does that mean? Is there anything else that makes you happy? Yeah... I love yous!
When did you cry last? When I wanted my mommy
What is your favorite book? (after pointing to the first book she saw and being said that doesn't count) Little Red Riding Hood!
If you had money, what would you buy? A toy stroller
Do you know your birthday? January 27.
What color is your hair? Red
What color are your eyes? Brown, like yours.
What do you want to do when you grow up? Reach chips. No, no, I mean, what sort of job do you want to have? I want to work. (After explaining more and giving examples of jobs) I want to paint pictures.
When you grow up, do you want to be tall or short? Tall!
Who is your best friend? Hailee!

Pictures of the ear piercings to be added as soon as we can figure out how to get them off Matt's phone ;).

2011-01-14T16:03:00.000-06:00

Since Wes revealed today that he has not been keeping up with my blog these past few months, I feel I can safely unveil my true purpose in the Warren household in Knoxville: investigative reporting on the lives and minds of in-laws.*dun dun dun* Matt and I cleverly actuated job loss throughout the Warren clan so we could claim, after a reasonable job search/loss of income/loss of house time period had passed, that we needed lodging to get back on our feet. The Warrens had no clue that this was all in our master plan. True, not many would have had the temerity to go to such lengths to get a couple of stories, but going halfway would be beneath us. I'm sure, once they've seen what we've done, all will be forgiven and maybe, maybe... even congratulated.

So here is the first account:

HOW TO KEEP YOUR FATHER-IN-LAW HAPPY

(I'm also toying with "How Not to be Thrown Out", "The Good Daughter-In-Law", and "Sea Bass: The Final Journey". I'm open to suggestions.)

Step One: Personal Space

Fathers-in-law, or Fillies as we domestic investigative freelance journalists like to call them, absolutely adore you when they cannot open their eyes without being reminded of you and your children. Toys, clothing, trash, half-eaten pieces of food: all are essential to Step One. Be sure to leave these objects in obscure locations as well as the obvious, such as closets, drawers, stairs, and inside socks.

Step Two: Dinner

Fillies love to try new and exciting dishes. They may not admit it, but they also love to have their food dislikes incorporated into each meal. For example, Wes detests onions. To ensure Filly/DIL happiness, I add onions to everything he puts in his mouth. White flecks in brownies? Onions. Slightly tangy water source? Onion. He thanks me later, silently.

Step Three: Grandchildren

The best way to encourage family joy is through abandonment of responsibility. In one scenario, plant your children in the same room as their grandfather, making sure to turn their whineometer on high. Then, leave the room to pursue own interests. Fillies certainly enjoy being left in charge of parental duties, from dirty diaper changes to countless milk refills, even sibling fights. In a second illustration, make sure to let your kids run wild while the Filly is on a phone call or watching Cash Cab. They will appreciate the challenge of maintaining concentration through chaos.

Step Four: Hobbies/Entertainment

One way to ensure a bond between father and daughter in law is the mocking of each others interests. If your Filly enjoys sports, throw out some good-natured ribbing of his favorite teams, making sure to leave room to root for the opposing side. There is nothing Fillies love more than banter. If he's watching a movie, assist his deduction of the ending with thinly veiled clues, if not the outright conclusion.

There are countless other ways to keep the family joy abounding, but stick with a basis of these four steps. You'll find upon application that bliss is inevitable.

So sayeth Mr. Darcy

2011-01-07T12:50:00.001-06:00

This past November 19th I ordered some very nice, very expensive yarn intended for a hat for Mandy and a shawl Mom ordered for Aunt Kimmie. The girls and I had plans to drive down to Moselle on the 27th, but the combination of Priority Mail and the store's relatively close location in Atlanta ensured that it would be delivered on the 22nd, plenty of time before we left. The 22nd came and went, and upon looking at the tracking information I found that my expensive yarn package was in Mobile, not following the normal shipping route.

Alas, I had, in my excitement over finally having some luscious yarn on my hook, filled my address out incorrectly, writing a Mississippi zip code instead of our Knoxville one. I promptly emailed the company, who had impressed me so with their wide array of yarns and colors, low prices, and fast shipping, letting them know of my idiocy and requesting that they let the USPS know of my updated zip code. EatSleepKnit, just as promptly, wrote me back informing me that, once in the USPS's hands, their packages are out of their control, and they would notify me once the package was deemed undeliverable and sent back to their company. I called the USPS's main office and two of the Knoxville branches to find if I could at least pick up my own package before the Thanksgiving holidays began. I was assured that the package should be sorted and delivered by the 27th-29th, but I could not pick it up until it had been sorted.

I ended up visiting a local yarn shop and finding a similar sort of yarn for Mom's order, and joked about it with my sister, secure in the knowledge that if the yarn arrived while I was in Mississippi, I would still have plenty of time to finish the hat before Christmas. The girls and I traveled to Mississippi, I made all of Mom's orders and most of my Christmas gifts in the two weeks we were down there. The tracking information never changed from Knoxville's processing center, and lost package calls to the USPS only resulted in a confirmation number that someone was eventually going to look into it.

After sitting in Knoxville for 2.5 weeks, my package bounced around the South. I finally gave up on the USPS after 10 calls and two confirmation numbers. I had emailed the company as well several times, asking for help, for them to file a claim, for something. My last email went ignored, which has aggravated me the most through this whole ordeal. For the most part I have blamed myself, but after two weeks of hearing nothing in reply from EatSleepKnit has allowed me to share the blame. I gave up on them too, yesterday, and spent the day writing complaint letters in my head.


They changed the Expected Delivery Date from November 22, 2010 to today this morning ;)

Today the package was delivered. Out of the blue. I had looked at the tracking info yesterday and it showed that it had been processed through Atlanta on Jan.5 as the last update. I had been hoping, fingers and toes crossed, that they were sending it back to the company.

The yarn is so pretty :). I can finally make Mandy's Christmas present and I also have some yummy Madelinetosh yarn to dream up projects for.

Although I did finally get my yarn, this experience has completely soured me to the USPS. It took 47 days for someone to finally write the right zip code down and send it on. I believe UPS will be my parcel service from now on :).

The Great Big Wonderful Moselle

2010-12-29T14:11:00.001-06:00

Crazy, I know, but driving 16 hours round trip can be a bit expensive. This year we had planned for the girls and I to travel down for a week over Thanksgiving, but after Grandaddy's funeral jaunt our Moselle bound funds were up. Thankfully we worked it out and came down the week after Thanksgiving. Our trip that was supposed to last 7 days turned out to last 20... it was hard to leave and the trip back seemed so daunting. Mom and Dad were gracious enough to rearrange their renovating schedule and put some of the rooms back together for us to stay :). The whole visit turned out much easier than I had bargained for, and I was able to finish Mom's crochet order while I was down there.

Mimi and Papa had some great ideas for entertaining the girls while the weather was dreary. Here are some reindeer cookies that turned out quite tasty :).

There was always outside entertainment too :).

Mimi made some awesome play-dough!

Nashville traffic is insane.

2010-12-29T11:42:00.001-06:00

I am soooo behind in updating this for my lurkers back in Mississippi and in going through pictures taken. I can't seem to condense pictures of particular moments down to one or two, so the last few months will come through in several belated posts.

This past mid-November my grandfather died. Although not completely unexpected, suffering through so many ailments and diseases, he had teetered at the brink for so long that his death still came as a surprise. He is missed every day, but I know for him passing on to heaven must have been a huge relief.

Travelling back to Mississippi with the girls for the funeral was not easy, but thankfully due to Andy and Mandy, much smoother than I had expected. Aly is a first rate traveller, with a brief lapse in vomiting due to heat and evil Nashville traffic. Lorelei is two and even treated the ride much better than I could have imagined.

Being together with family, visiting with members I hadn't seen in a few years was a highlight in a sad time. Grandaddy's great-grandchildren are all female, which made the meal after amusing.

Of course it would be Aly clapping and throwing her arms up.

Getting the toddler and Lorelei in on the fun

And now the solo is taken by L

Hailee is so awesome.

The trip was fast, traveling two days and staying one, so we enjoyed every moment spent together.

Trick or Treat!

2010-10-31T22:44:00.001-05:00

Aly, Lorelei, and I both just finished our first Halloween trick-or-treating. As far as my memory serves, I've never been. They were both old enough to go last year, but Mandy's wedding trumped that :). This year I probably went a bit overboard since it was the first time for the three of us :).

Aly was the Princess from the Princess and the Pea. I ordered her dress from minimooh and handmade the rest of her outfit. She had a gold thread tiara, a peapod with three sweet peas (we named them Peony, Daisy, and Peter), and carried a pillowcase to keep the theme. The pillowcase was a badddd idea. For makeup we princessified her, with this inspiration. At the last minute I made up a wrister pattern so her hands wouldn't be cold whilst out begging for candy.

Lorelei wasn't old enough to understand/care when I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween, so she was stuck in a mass market butterfly costume. I did make her a bit unique by adding some fairy makeup :).

I was the only adult brave enough to wear a costume. Enter Brain Slug headband, from Futurama.

We went up and down Delaney's neighborhood. At first Aly and Lorelei were appropriately cowed by the prospect of door-to-door candy delivery, all for the price of a three word question. Eventually, as the wonder wore off and the exuberant generosity of the neighbors played its part, the greedy monster in them came to the fore. At one point Aly started asking specifically for chocolate, and Lorelei would steadily take candy package after candy package and deposit them in her basket.

Although we had a lot of fun, this sort of event really brings to mind how much we miss Matt and how much he is missing. We've been here over a month now with Matt only visiting three days out of that. Keep us in mind as we go through this job application process AGAIN this year, as Game Stop does not seem to want to transfer him.

Harry Potter

2010-10-30T09:49:00.000-05:00

Since the first part of the last Harry Potter-made-into-movie will be here in just 20 days (squee!), this seemed apropos :). I DARE you not to be interested by the trailer.

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Discouraged

2010-09-03T07:34:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling very discouraged right now. Every hope we've had the past few months has gone awry, with this morning's just the latest in a long line.

First was the hope that we'd be able to sell conventionally, but the Realtor's honest market appraisal ruined that. Next was Matt's friend Patrick, who wanted to buy our house, being denied mortgage approval until he could sell his current residence. Now we thought we had finally found a good home for Darcy, a home that would assuredly take wonderful care of Darcy, with kids just the right age to really bond with him... and that hope has been crushed as well. Worse this time, since we were just two days away from the new owner picking him up.

Maybe all these hopes, all these potential saviors for a particular part of our present situation (I can't even feel excitement over my alliteration), are just signs that we're not following the path that we should be. I can't help but think of how everything came together for Wes and Carole to move, as if God had blessed their move.

I don't know what to do. I just want to go back to bed until the creditors come and take the house away.

I know that we could have it much worse, that we've been blessed in how much we've had our family and friends help us thus far, and that we at least have a place to go. Two really, with my parents offer as well. With that understanding I've resigned myself to many things, albeit not always quietly. This is my end, though.

Soon

2010-08-26T14:55:00.002-05:00

Life around here's been a-changin'. We now have less than a month before we move to Knoxville to start over. Boxes are being packed, every room is a shell; dismantled piece by piece.

Part of me is terrified; terrified that our life won't change enough, will change too much, that we are making a bad decision. I've always ignored that terrified little voice when I've had a chance to visit or move somewhere new, maybe because I've not had that many chances to do so. Now that I have lives to consider beyond mine, are we making the wrong decision?

San Jose, Costa Rica


Backstage at Carnegie Hall, NYC

Annnnnd then the excitement takes over. Living closer (too close for them, probably ;)) to all of Matt's immediate family, closer to my sister and her husband, close to a part of the country that I've always wanted to live... well, that takes most of my concern away. I'm still left with a teensy bit of guilt for taking my parents' grandchildren so far away from them, but even that can't temper all of my hope and excitement.

I've been trying to not get my hopes up, not expect anything, and just focus on the present in terms of moving. Nonetheless, I have no doubt that some of my depression and worries will alleviate with our new locale.It will be so nice to get move on, work towards a stress free point where we can start reaching for our ideas and dreams again. Matt has been super excited too; he has missed living close to his family. Aly asks nearly every day when we're moving to "Ten'see."

House wise, things aren't looking so great. The Realtor we had appraise the house gave us a figure that would mean we would still be paying for it long after it sold. With that option out of the way, our only recourses are short sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure if short sale doesn't work, or foreclosure if that happens first. Life becomes exceedingly humiliating and depressing when you can't afford your own home.

Despite of the financial sadness, there are been quite a few happy occasions. Matt's birthday was last week. The girls and I colored a banner for him, stuck up a few streamers, and made his favorite cupcakes. He ate them so fast I didn't get a picture in!

My brother's wedding is in three weeks to the lovely April. Thinking of all three of us married definitely strikes me as weird, and makes me feel old. 26, blargh.

We've also found a home for Mr. Darcy, our yellow lab. He will be moving to Alabama to live with one of my sister's high school friends and her family. I'm so happy that we've been able to find him a good home, much better than the one we've given him. He will be leaving us next weekend. :(

I've been keeping myself busy with other activities besides packing. I've been making a few "remember me" gifts for friends as well as making costumes for Halloween :D.

Laurel Falls Scarf for Jessica :(

I've never been excited for Halloween before this year. Aly is finally old enough to grasp door+"Trick or Treat"+costume= candy. Her only problem is that she hasn't quite understood that Halloween is a day, not a place or an event. She asks everyday if we're going to have Halloween (right after she asks about going to "Ten'see" and before she asks about Danny's wedding), sigh. At least this will excite her for when it is Halloween.

I found a dress on Etsy that is perfect for Aly's Halloween costume. She is going as the Princess from "The Princess and the Pea" fairytale. I've been making her amigurumi peas to carry with her, and plan to make a little tiara as well. Thinking about letting her carry around a pillowcase as her candy bag, what do you think? Matt finds the dress cute, but doesn't think anyone will get it. Bah, men.

Princess and the Pea Dress by minimooh on Etsy

Amigurumi Two! Crocheted Toys for Me, You, and Baby Too by Ana Paula Rimoli

Lorelei is a bit harder, as she's not quite old enough to have let me know her wishes. Maybe, I should say, not quite forceful enough. Aly, it seems, has been saying "Princess" for as long as I can remember intelligible words coming from her mouth. We're going to carry on the animal tradition with her, and she shall be... Catarina! She's got the meow down pat, as long as one doesn't need to hear the "me" part of that onomatopoeia. I guess I'll make her a kitty bag, so I don't feel guilty for not handmaking part of her costume.

Matt will go as Cthulhu. We found a mask for him that I can make and I think I've figured out a way to crochet some scary wings, as scary as crochet gets. I'm going to let him figure out the claws part ;).

Mine is already mostly done, all I have to do is sew it to a headband. You'll probably just think I'm crazy unless you've seen Futurama.

Futurama's Brain Slugs pattern by Alicia Ramirez

Aly's Birthday

2010-08-26T11:47:00.001-05:00

Here is another group of photos I never published. As Matt got fired right after Aly's birthday, our plans to take her and her cousin Hailee to NOLA's Children's Museum were canceled. Mom graciously took up the reins, and threw a small birthday party for her at their house. Here are the pictures, in no particular order :).

****Sidebar: Someone needs to give me photography lessons, stat. These are just pitiful.*****

February 20

Cake!

Princess Aly and her ladies in waiting

Pretty Pretty Princess ;)

April being attacked at all sides

Yeah, this is a bad picture. But I love the angle and the look on Aly's face

For Lorelei, cake is srs bsns

Bubbles!

My beautiful sister-in-law

Playtime

Papa and Hailee helping Aly swing in a big girl seat

<3 Papa!

I think there might have been a game of tag going on

She was blowing on of the party favors

Wind + soapy water = bubble trail!

My big 3 year old

Hailee

Our Happiness

2010-08-26T09:01:00.001-05:00

A draft I found that I never published. The pictures kept getting all wonky. I think everyone's seen these pictures anyway on Facebook, but here they are again for your viewing pleasure.

Jan.28.2010

Feb.03.2010

Feb.12.2010

Feb.13.2010

A Horse of a Different Color

2010-08-01T23:32:00.003-05:00

This year I did something supremely selfish; I spent a bit of my birthday money actually on myself. I'm not being sarcastic or insincere, I truly feel guilty for it. After six months with us getting by on the grace of God and family with no tunneled light, spending money that doesn't cover a basic need is very frivolous. But what's done is done, and I am trying to just enjoy my purchase :).

My gift was 3 felting kits. After seeing some gorgeous needle felted and wet felted art on Etsy, as well as loving the fulled look of something I've crochet, I was itching to try my hand on it. There is an element of sculpting with felt that can't be done with crochet, or at least takes much more in depth analysis of the stitch mechanics to do so. Needle felting intrigues me more with its wool + needle = felt. Crazy.

Sam the Sophisticated Skeleton by Papermoongallery

My first project was a bunny magnet from Etsy's Hifiberkits. I made him into a red, widow's peak-less Bunnicula from James Howe's series.

Roving

A few billion stabs later

Starting to come together after the National Deficit's worth of stabs occur

And I'll form... the head!

I had to make him a bit more lop-eared so we could open the refrigerator without fear

My next project: a needle felted and wet felted geode :) from Spiderfelt.

Then finally wet felted soap from Spiderfelt.

Thennnn... I let my imagination run wild. I have a bit of roving left over, and as this is where my imagination lives....

River Forest by prozac1

... this is what I made.

Pictures

2010-07-20T08:31:00.000-05:00

I realized that we haven't been taking pictures of the girls lately, too much caught up in the 'what if's' to remember the present. All the pictures that have been taken the past few months have been to advertise things I've made. These aren't the greatest pictures, but oh well. They're still cute :).

July 10

2010-07-17T18:51:00.002-05:00

I write like
Vladimir Nabokov

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I'm actually pretty happy about this.

A man in the house is worth two in the street.

2010-07-09T17:40:00.001-05:00

- Mae West

Pray for us. I've been contacting a realtor about our house and, God willing, she will tell us we'll be able to sell it for enough money. The contact started fortuitously; she (a high school classmate) saw that I had joked on Facebook about selling our house and asked me about it. She seemed very encouraging about the market, and mentioned her clients were very interested in living in Petal! Maybe our first house will go for as quick as it came. I firmly believe God led us to this house, so maybe he's helping us get out of it.

Until that can happen, though, we have to get it clean and uncluttered as much as possible. That has been taking up our entire week, and it still is no where finished. I got the bright idea (doh!) to pack up non-essentials while cleaning to open the rooms and have less for Lorelei and Aly to mess up... I'm currently regretting that decision as I'm sure my parents are regretting allowing us to store so many boxes at their already box-filled abode. Oh well. I cleaned out two cabinets, microwave, and refrigerator today, yay!

These past months I've been realizing how much we'd bought on the spur of the moment that we could definitely have done without, especially this week as I've been packing it up. Matt has been selling video games we weren't playing, and today we sold quite a few baby things. I have a tendency to want to hold on to everything, because I know how helpful it was to receive so many hand me downs and I don't want to deprive siblings of objects and clothing that can go through another child or two. The thought of packing all this stuff up that we don't use/need, especially if we move out of state, is rather daunting to my hoarder spirit. So, Matt won a few rounds and we sold off things we didn't need at a friend's garage sale. Matt also got rid of quite a few of our dvds/blu-rays, I was so proud of him! :)

A Fine Frenzy - Electric Twist

2010-07-03T18:29:00.001-05:00

I dare you not to smile!

Contentment R Us

2010-07-02T11:11:00.000-05:00

For my midyear resolution (what? You didn't know about mid-year resolutions? Well, hop on the bus, it's a very happening new trend. So happening, it just... happened.) I resolve to be content. No more seeing that glass half empty, being a Negative Nancy, Debbie Downer, or Big-Poopy-Head Bethany. I'm going to find the happy in situations that would normally bring out my complaining, whiny side!

For example, yesterday's me would have been quite annoyed that Lorelei has learned how to open doors, implementing her new technique at naptime instead of actually napping. I would have complained to the world at large. World! Hear ME! I am annoyed! My problems outweigh disease, hunger, and cable re-runs! Blaaaarrggh! Not today's Bethany, no no. Today, I'm looking at the bigger picture. She decides to open her door constantly for 30 minutes instead of actually napping makes her overall naptime/banishment to her bedroom 30 minutes longer. Yay!

Or how Aly has been un-potty training herself lately, deciding her bathroom floor is a better medium for this particular form of self-expression. I could complain, but no! There is a brighter side, a silver lining! Um. It's.. that...uh...

Ok, I need help on that one. Blaargh.

A Healthy Diet

2010-06-28T23:46:00.001-05:00

...people you know who eat practically whatever they want and stay lean and healthy — what is their secret? It is quite simply that they have never fought their bodies, never made themselves feel deprived or starved, their metabolisms never got damaged and this allows for good levels of energy and a stable healthy body weight. - Guest blogger Chris, Zenhabits

One of the truest healthy diet* explanations I've ever come across. I will be there someday!

Read the rest of the post :). It's a good one!

*di·et¹ [dahy-it] : "food or feed habitually eaten or provided" definition, rather than "a particular selection of food, esp. as designed or prescribed to improve a person's physical condition or to prevent or treat a disease"

I think I can I think I can I think I can

2010-06-23T09:42:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling excited, more like myself than I've felt in years. Yesterday I had a few inspirations that let me to what I'm about to start shooting for. And yep, this is another post about crochet. You can stop reading now if you were hoping for Aly and Lorelei updates/pictures :).

Everyone thinks the ennui-challenged are my biggest fear. While that and mental patients are my prominent corporeal terrors, fears of humiliation and rejection have been beating me down for years. They aren't unfounded; many times when I have become passionate about something, I became an object of slight derision and condescension, as if I am a child to be indulged, with behavior to be repeated to others with a bemused laugh. Others more confident than I shrug such reactions off, but of course I take it to heart, making me hesitant to share my fervor.

Now, about this, I don't care. Ok, ok... that's a lie. I do care, I'm just not going to let it beat me down and halt all creative process.

A few months ago I had an idea to create a crocheted rose and attach it to a fine chain. I didn't know how to do the chain, so I focused on items I could make then. Another pitfall came when I searched Etsy and found a seller who had the same ideas I had, including the variations; except she had her idea a year earlier. I've quibbled that point for several weeks, wondering if I should even try. Her necklaces look great; I didn't want to create their poor cousin.

My beautiful sister quipped "There's nothing new under the sun" in relation to something completely different, but that thought stuck with me. There are definitely reasons why I shouldn't try to create something in a handmade market that already has something similar, but I decided to look at it positively. Her necklaces are beautiful, and have sold. So this isn't just another one of my ideas that look great in my imagination but flop in tangible reality.

Meanwhile, I have been selling a few custom crocheted items. Most of these are from another's patterns. Although permission had been given to sell items created from those patterns, I still didn't want to sell on Etsy items that weren't mine in conception. Then yesterday I had some inspiration on the Etsy/Bigcartel front, and I know what I'm going to do!

I am going to make an Etsy store, and create things to be sold "ready to ship" rather than made once orders are given. My products will be in the jewelry/accessory niche, with me creating those crocheted roses, motifs, flowers, etc to attach to variants of necklaces and headbands, as well as making a few scarves and jewelry frames. That way I won't feel rushed to make something in time, my paranoia over getting too many custom orders = too little time to finish unfounded. I'm still going to offer those custom orders on my blog, but now I'll just create a custom listing in my store to ease confusion. Once I can get enough customers and press, I'll move to Bigcartel, but that's another story.

I still have things to do, like finding packaging, tags, tinkering on the designs, but I feel that is attainable. I'm not going to let my doubts rule me. Wish me luck, and send your prayers.

Happy Day Day!

2010-06-20T22:42:00.000-05:00

Thank you Matt, Danny, Wes, and Dan for being such great men and wonderful fathers. We love you!

2010-06-19T15:59:00.000-05:00

Winter Is Coming

**crossing fingers** Here's hoping that Alan Ball never ever touches this.

I'm gonna hug him and pet him and call him George!

2010-06-09T18:55:00.000-05:00

I have a new computer! Yay! My old computer was great, but was tending to have some problems and run games very slowly. Brian (aka Andrew) gave me his former computer and it is awesome. There have been a few problems getting it ready but thankfully it is all worked out.

I used the word former because to say 'old' indicates (in technology terms) that it is out of date, borderline useless metal. This... I think might turn into a Transformer. The computer is a monster. I can't even describe all the technical terms that Matt would use in order for you to realize how much better it is than my previous one, so you'll have to take my word for it. Not only are things running faster and better, George is freaking huge. We had to take out a shelf just so it would fit in my computer armoire.

To thank him (since we are po') I made a fireflower amigurumi. There is a whole world of geeky amigurumi and crochet out there, it's amazing. I don't know when we'll be able to get it to him, but I had to post the picture. It's way too awesome.

My sister's birthday was two weeks ago, and typical of me that I have just now finished her gift. Are you noticing a trend here? Yep. If you're getting a gift from us, for a while now it will probably be crocheted. Sorries!

Anyway, I decided to add a little happy in the package for Andy. I hope he likes it :).

Jewelry Frame

2010-06-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

I've seen some things like this on Urban Outfitters and I personally love the idea; especially as I could hang a picture with my jewelry and would thus get it out of my kids reach :D. I was thinking of making one just for myself, but then wondered if this would be something a lot of people would like. I'd use a wooden frame, though. The price would have to be a bit steeper than the other things because frames aren't cheap + yarn + other materials + my time. What do you think?

Some things on Etsy that made me happy today :)

Heidi Faux Vine Crown by whichgoose

A Place of My Own nightlight by sugaredfrippery

Alice in Wonderland Eat Me/Drink Me Party Favors by pinkcherrymama

Bring on the Rain

2010-06-07T09:36:00.004-05:00

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
Anne Dudley Bradstreet

Life down here is starting to feel a bit more like normal. Matt is working, there are PAYCHECKS! WOO!, the girls are growing, and I believe our grass is some sort of super grass/weed mix that grows a foot tall two days after you've mowed it. We've still a bunch of kinks to work out, namely finding me a job, but I'm sleeping a little easier at night knowing that we've crossed the biggest hurdle.

Our biggest problem right now (at least in my mind) is whether or not to keep the house. Matt's pay and hours aren't enough to pay all the monthly bills at the moment, so we're looking into lowering the monthly mortgage bill. If that doesn't work out and/or I'm not able to find a job, we're probably going to have to sell. Keep us in your prayers that everything will work out the way it's supposed to.

Aly and Lorelei have been growing in leaps and bounds lately. Sometimes I see Aly and I'm a little shocked at how tall she is... she's able to use light switches now without a boost. Maybe that's normal, I don't know, but it still has been an awakening :). She has started wanting to do a lot more for herself, which has been nice. She had a few rough weeks, behavior wise, around the time Matt got his job, but we've been able to work through that. She has lately become Mommy's little helper, taking initiative to clean up her own messes and gaining a ton of satisfaction from helping me accomplish something. I'm hoping that once we get our financial situation under control that we'll be able to send her to ballet as we planned.

Lorelei has officially started her terrible twos, albiet at only 21 months. She loves to say no, dig in her heels, and sometimes even throw herself on the ground crying if something is suggested that she doesn't want to do. She gets into everything that she knows she shouldn't, and then tries escape by flashing her cutest grin when she's discovered.

Lorelei's language skills are still a little behind what Aly's were at this age, and Aly was a bit slower at that too. She seems to understand nearly everything I tell her, she just isn't quite able to get past the baby blargle. She's saying a lot, don't get me wrong, giving orders sometimes, just all in incomprehensible speech.

Matt's job has been going well. When he got the job he was to be employed at a Hattiesburg Gamestop, but due to Petal's assistant manager going on sick leave Matt's been only working at that store. He seems to really enjoy every part of the job, and I love that for him. Seeing the difference of how he goes to this job and how he went to Frito-Lay is a big indication of just how much he hated working at Frito. He actually comes home happy; not just because he's happy to be home, but because he truly enjoyed the hours he just put in at Gamestop. He is still tired all of the time, but that's more from trying out games with his new friends than from having to put in rough 16 hour days. He is willing to help me out a lot more, and he is able to spend a lot more time with the girls. :) :)

Current Loves

Aly: Scooby Doo, cleaning, playing in the dirt, baths

Lorelei: "No," lollipops, slides, baby dolls

Matt: Starcraft 2, 30 Rock, Cracked.com, sleep

Bethany: natural fiber yarn, ravelry.com, Doctor Who, me time

The Things I Do for Love

2010-05-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

There are certain rules that, as a parent, I am obliged to follow. I have to make sure my children have food, water, shelter, good hygiene, attention, creativity, rest, exercise... the list goes on and on and makes me want to crawl back in bed.

I also have to be the crusher of dreams. We've all had our dreams trampled by the parentals a time or two(a day); been told we can't bring stray dog/cat/turtle/pollywog/jackalope inside the house, that we can't leap off the house to try out our obvious superheroey skills, we can't have the super awesome toy that would make all the other ~~neighbors~~ kids jealous.

"No, Aly, we can't go to Grandma's. It's bedtime and Grandma lives six hours away."

"No, Aly; we can't color on the walls."

"No, Aly; we can't go see Howl and Sophie."

*I am only conveying Aly's most frequent wishes. Lorelei currently does not articulate well enough for me to dishearten.*

**As a wife, I get to crush Matt's hopes as well. But that's another story.**

Sometimes, we individuals who claim a -ther suffix, we get to surprise and uplift those dreams. Today's wish? Pink blueberry pancakes. (They were whole wheat, so shh.)

I actually took a picture of the pancakes, but the picture looked too gross for me afflict you with. But Aly and Lorelei loved them; Lorelei had 3 and Aly had at least 4.5.

Now on to crushing Aly's dream of visiting Mimi today.

It Almost Makes Me Wish

2010-05-17T19:32:00.000-05:00

that I could sew.

Which I can't. Not even a button. Everything I've ever touched looks more like Frankenstein's monster than whatever it was supposed to be. I tried, quite seriously, to learn when pregger with Aly. My mother had a pattern for a stuffed ballerina bunny. Needless to say I gave up on sewing altogether when the toy began to resemble a zombie kangaroo in a ballerina costume.

But these projects make me almost want to.

Sewing 101: How to Make a Shower Curtain at design*sponge

Boutique Style Skirt ebook Pattern by Gingerlouise Clothing on Etsy

Owl Softies Pattern by Retromama on Etsy

Bohemian Poppies Fabric Bins by Sewingmomma on Etsy

and...

How to Upholster a Headboard on Better Homes and Gardens

That one might require some silly other skills like carpentry...psh. Easy peasy.

Off subject, these make me happy. Except the clown. That one can burn.

It's Alive!

2010-05-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

Wow. One week ago I put some pictures up on Facebook to see if anyone would be interested in the hats, necklace, and scarf I had made. I got a lot of compliments, but nothing really confirming I could sell my crocheted products. Now... I have a lot of hooking I need to be doing rather than writing this post. I have 5 hats to make, another necklace to donate, and my Facebook message box is getting a lot of action these days. I've had other ideas to modify the hat patterns I have, but who knows when I'll get the time to make them and advertise them :D. This is awesome. I feel very gratified and encouraged to keep going. Thanks to everyone who has ordered and/or helped!

Recent Crochet

2010-05-03T07:55:00.000-05:00

Owl Earflap Hat

pattern design by Adrienne Engar

Acrylic and Cotton in black, white, yellow, and silver heather

Sizes 3-9mo, 9mo-2yrs, 3-8yrs, teen/adult

Froggy Earflap Hat

pattern design by Adrienne Engar

100% Cotton in Hot Green, White, Black

sizes 0-6mo, 9mo-2yrs, 3-8 yrs, 9+

Flower and Leaf Necklace

pattern design by creativeyarn

100% Cotton - sage and cream; vintage button

Circle Scarf

pattern design by smeckybits

100% cotton - Sage

Finally

2010-04-29T14:46:00.003-05:00

If you're our friend on Facebook or in the immediate family, you probably already know that Matt got the Gamestop Assistant Manager job. This is a dream come true and answered prayer for us; not only that we'll finally have some income but also how much Matt wanted this job. His workforce passion has always been retail, and this will provide both that plus his most favored hobby: gaming. There were be opportunites for advancement, good insurance... everything one can take for granted until it's gone. The pay rather sucks, so I'll still have to get a job, but that is worth Matt being happy with his job and Matt being -home-.

Unfortunately I still haven't found a job. I've decided to try my hand at selling crocheted items, but I'm not anticpating anything like that equaling the pay I'd get at a normal job. Just something that will *hopefully* sell a few items while I'm feeding my creative urges. Might work, might not. I'll be posting some pictures soon on here and Facebook and would love input. I most definitely don't want to use up yarn and time on something that nobody wants :).

Thanks to Carole and Wes, Matt is passionate about photography again. He's made a Facebook page, updated his Deviant Art page a bit, and is hopeful that something on the side will come of that. Check it out :).

Aly and Lorelei are their normal destructively cute selves. I'm not quite sure how they will take it when Matt goes back to work (or being put in daycare so I can work, for that matter) as they have grown very used to seeing Daddy all day.

Thank you everyone, from the bottom of my heart, for all you have done and are doing for us through this time. We appreciate everything and will never forget it. I must ask that you still keep us in your prayers as I search to find an appropriate job and income, and as Matt reenters the workforce.

Your turn, Wes! :)

The Little Boy Who Didn't Know That Letters Grew On Trees

2010-03-18T09:32:00.001-05:00

As Wes told me this past weekend, I've been a long time in that corner. Maybe it's time for me to climb out.

This past month and a half have been the most stressful of my life. On the opposite side of the coin, however, I've come to see just how wonderful our family is. Aly and Lorelei daily lift my spirits by just being Aly and Lorelei, by having unwavering trust that we'll take care of them. I wish I could take that lesson to heart. We've been blessed emotionally and financially by our family, and not a week goes by without someone out of the blue asking how we are and letting us know that we've been on their minds and in their prayers. We have not had knowledge of any unsupportive people, and for this I am incredibly thankful. I am constantly bewildered by all the love flowing from all around us.

Aly's birthday came and went without much fanfare. We had decided before the evil Frito-Lay/Dollar General coup that we would take Aly and Hailee, her cousin, to New Orleans Childrens Museum for her birthday. Unfortunately that didn't come about, and my mother and father took up the reins and gave her a small family birthday party. It was wonderful.

On the job market we've had quite a few up and downs, hopes revived and dashed. Matt currently has the best chance he's had this past month with an Assistant Manager position at Game Stop. He's become good friends with the Petal branch store manager, had an interview with the district manager, and we're currently waiting the couple of weeks it will take for the position to be open. Nothing is final yet, but it is a lot closer than any other option we've had. Can you imagine a better job for Matt than that? He'll get to manage retail as he loves, and talk about his favorite subject all day long. Please keep Matt in your thoughts and prayers that this job will come to fruition.

I will have to get a job, however. I've been mainly looking in the health field, as they have the best insurance. Keep me in your prayers that I will be able to find a job that outweighs the loss of staying home with the kids and putting them in day care.

We've also started moving Aly and Lorelei in together. We borrowed the Warren's toddler bed for Aly to use for a couple months until Lorelei is ready for it. I honestly thought it would probably be her second birthday before she would be mature enough to try the toddler bed, but I might be wrong. She definitely got the concept yesterday when we put it together for Aly. Decisions, decisions. We're making Aly's room into a play room/guest room to offer a bit more versatility when family comes to visit (and hopefully keep their toys contained).

Will post pictures from the past few months next time :).

Excuse Me While I Go Hide in This Corner

2010-02-06T04:10:00.000-06:00

In my heart, I know God has a plan for us, and that we will be okay. I know this. I do. But someone needs to tell that to the ulcers forming in my stomach, because they didn't get the memo.

I tend to have unreal expectations. Just ask my family, I bet they're nodding in synchronization. Bethany, that dreamer. I've always rationalized that while yes, I do dream unrealistically, if we all pursued the path set before us, no lofty ideals above our station, we'd still be in caves hunting and gathering. Unfortunately for me, however, I don't have that special something to usually make my dreams a reality. Then the cynical part of me takes over.

I was expecting that by now we would have some sort of lead(s). Every idea we brainstormed about while crossing our fingers that Frito-Lay wouldn't fire Matt for the stupidest reason ever hasn't panned out. With all the people we know working at corporations and jobs Matt could do/would enjoy, none of them are hiring.

I know. I've been silly. I'm sure all the people who were laid off during the recession would laugh hysterically at me for thinking we'd have some sort of bite after searching for a week. And I know that we're young, so our bounce-back ability is much higher than it could be. Our family is healthy. We have an awesome network of friends and family who've been unconditionally supportive and encouraging. For the moment, we still have our house. We still have food on the table. Things could definitely be worse.

Try as I might to focus on these blessings, on being adult and taking things in stride... well, my thoughts seem to linger a moment on the happy and then race back to worry. While Matt is still mostly confident, practical, and optimistic, if I continue down this path I will eventually bring him down to the sleepless emotional turmoil that I'm dealing with.

I know everyone who reads this blog has been praying for us (I can't explain how much that means to me), and I ask that you continue praying. While you're on the subject, would you mind saying a little prayer for me? So I can handle all of this gracefully and optimistically?

Another Brick in the Wall

2010-02-03T09:44:00.000-06:00

Buy Pringles, everybody.

Today Matt is officially unemployed. He has been suspended since Monday, and we were left with hope that his route would be changed or he would be at least demoted, but the evil 2010 gods of chaos would not let that be so.

Right now, I'm stressing. Having accepted his fire as inevitable this past weekend, then beginning to hope from the insinuations of Frito-Lay managers has left a sour taste in my mouth. While we had resolved to view this as an opportunity for Matt to find a more family-friendly, intellectually motivating career, we had both begun to believe that search would be done from the comfort of a weekly paycheck.

Matt is upbeat and confident that something will come his way. I feel helpless, annoyed with myself that the responsibility is falling upon his shoulders. Truly, his work experience outweighs my degree in finding a decent paying job. Why do college advisors allow degrees in English without a second degree of business, journalism, or education? Travesty.

Please keep us in your prayers that not only will Matt find a good-paying job quickly, but that said job is a good match for him.

Raindrops on Roses

2009-12-31T09:49:00.010-06:00

2009 Favorites

Ok, for almost everyone this year has sucked. But denying my natural pessimism and recapping our favorite parts of the year is the order of the last 2009 day.

Favorite Moments
9. Times with family & friends
8. The few and far-between moments when all worry and responsibility dropped away
7. Reconnecting with old friends (one of which lives only 5 min away :))
6. Loaded Questions with the Austins and Warrens :)
5. Watching Lorelei devour cake on her birthday
4. New Orleans mini vacation
3. Lorelei's firsts and Aly's more subtle development
2. Aly being completely potty-trained. WOO!
1. Witnessing my beautiful sister marry the wonderful Mr. Andy Willhite.

I'm sure there are significant times, things, pictures, etc. that I've neglected or forgotten. Sorries!

Favorite Discoveries (mostly superficial)13. Shark Steam Pocket Mop (You Might Be a Housewife If...)12. Aly's Kai-Lan Magnadoodle (Fairly new but she hasn't tried to color on the walls since. Score!)

11. Warcraft. It's not new for us, but it was something we'd stopped and come back to.

10. Etsy :) 9. An outside activity we both want to do: Bike Riding! 8. iPhone wonderfulosity
7. Eat This, Not That. Love it, love it, love it. Not a diet, just very good advice.
6. Rediscovering my fashion taste
5. Photoshop CS4 and all the nice things that accompany it.
4. Visiting a church that will hopefully evolve into our church.
3. Masters of Library and Information Science. Gotta get cracking on the GRE studying!
2. Crocheting :)
1. Discovering a teensy bit of confidence in myself

Favorite Pictures

January

February (there were too many to choose from to pick just one)

March
April (too hard to pick just one here either)
May

JuneJuly

August

September (another of those months)
October

November (two here, whoopsie!)December

Danger is My First Name

2009-12-28T11:24:00.005-06:00

in attempts to say 'Alexandria'....

Aly: Mommy, do you know Aly's name?

Mommy: Yes, I do. Do you?

Aly: It's Aly... Aly-danger-a.

(A few minutes pass)

Aly: Mommy, what's your name?

Mommy: Mommy.

Aly: Mommy... danger-a. You're Mommy-danger-a.

It's Beginning to Not Look Like Christmas...

2009-12-16T12:28:00.004-06:00

Snow last week, then weather in the 70s. It's finally going down a bit, but still not weather I associate with Christmas. Ah well, I made these ornaments anyway.

Cupcakes!

Toadstool

Jellyfish

Christmas Tree

It's a cookie! No one seems to get it, maybe I should have made it brown with chocolate chips? Or crocheted it into a bitten cookie?

Snowman

Bonzaiiiiiii!

2009-12-15T11:06:00.008-06:00

Matt's first week on his new route has come and gone. His new route now consists of the towns surrounding us, so he's never more than 30 minutes away from the house. I have prayed that this route would be much shorter with more pay like Matt had guessed, and so far it seems Matt was right. Matt has been getting home around 5-5:30 most nights and believes that once he smooths out some kinks he'll be getting home even sooner. It feels like Christmas has already come! On his Columbia route the kids only got to see him a couple of times during the week, and by weekend we still didn't get to see very much him since had to play catch-up on sleep and energy. Now we're able to plan times for errands and appointments, he comes home in much better moods, and we're all able to spend time together. God is good.

Aly and Lorelei are doing well. Aly seems to be growing in articulation and eloquence every day, surprising me with how much she understands and the sentences she makes. For example, this past weekend Matt and I discussing something while she was trying to interrupt and have all attention on her. We kept talking, and Aly flopped into her chair, exclaiming 'Mommy and Daddy are mean. They're ignoring me.' That may not seem like much, but verbal communication hasn't been as strong developing for her as for other children. That she recognized what we were doing and made complete sentences stating how she conceived it, well... that's not been in her repertoire for very long. It's been much easier to reason with her, and to explain why or why not we do things the way we do. She's recognizing other's emotions, branching a bit away from 'me! me! me!' Her tantrums still amuse me though, since she's started stompily (if that's not a word, it should be) turning her back on whomever has wronged her and exclaiming 'I quit!'

I can actually believe she's about to be three. This year hasn't been the easiest for us; dealing with two children only 19 months apart by myself 90% of the time isn't a walk in the park, especially when the toddler age child has such a stubborn and willful personality as Aly. I'm happy to see Aly's age 2 disappear into age 3, with all its phases and messes I never want to recapture. I'm probably going to lose my mom card for that one.

As she is turning three we've been contemplating what to do for her birthday. I wanted to do something more centered around her this year, something smaller. I think we might take her and a friend (probably Hailee if April lets us, Hailee is Aly's very most favorite person (sorry Grandma!)) to the Children's Museum or something like that and then have a dinner another day so she can celebrate with the family. Thoughts?

Lorelei is growing all the time, amazing us when we forget how fast the first 1 1/2 years go by. I love watching her personality develop, as I've stated in numerous previous posts. Lorelei's personality is so dissimilar from Aly's, and yet so much the same as well. Lorelei is very much the observer, content to be on the sidelines until she gauges the situation and people involved. She will follow, but will stick up for herself if necessary. She's been saying 'ni ni' at bedtime and waving goodbye, 'no no' (lovely, huh ;)), blowing kisses, clapping, dancing, and mimicking to the best of her ability whatever she hears and sees. Biased or no, the verbal communication seems very impressive considering all the ear infections she's had.

Although handing me something and then taking it back is her favorite game, she isn't adverse to making messes. This is her getting into the bread flour. I still have no idea how she got it down from the counter, without tipping it over. 11/13

On 11/15 we went to Temple Baptist Church in Petal's Fall Festival. This church was just down the street when we lived in the rental house, and to be honest I had thought it was closed. Jessica's brother in law started preaching there this year and she's been very active in the youth, trying to help the church grow. Unfortunately when we went by there weren't too many people there, but traffic picked up as we left so hopefully it got better afterwards.

Aly went in the moon jump/bouncer thing with Ann and Emma (Jessica's daughters). I'm not sure she knew what to do, but she seemed to have fun.

Lorelei is here with Jessica, deliberating whether or not to warm up to her or not. She later did the goldfish pond and sat in a sack ;).
Aly completely surprised me when she picked out the sun for her face. I would have put money on something girly.
After that she had wanted to race with the older girls. To their credit, they didn't mind, even when the race was help up by Aly not moving an inch. Poor Aly. I'm hoping we can find a church soon with kids her age, she really needs that interaction. After patiently watching the little girls have their sack race and seeing a kid run up to Jessica begging for a sack race, Matt decided to race against the little boy, surprise. ;)

Here he is with his participation prize, a Sonic Free Cone coupon. LOL!

After all that Aly wanted to do the ring toss. Poor baby, she threw like 20 rings, some which should have encircled the cans, but none took.

I know most of you have seen these pictures before and were even there to watch them being taken, but some haven't, so you're going to have to suffer through them. Mwhahahah

Uncle Bill & Lorelei on his birthday, Thanksgiving week with the Warrens. The Lorelei & Grandad

Grandma had a Tinkerbell costume which Aly LOVED.

It was crazy how many pictures we took of the girls at the BWI ranch, and how few actually turned out well. They were not in the picture taking mood, especially not at the same time. Here are two pictures that didn't make the Christmas card (must.send.those.out).

I'm sure there have been things I missed, but kudos if you're still reading this far. I won't torture you any longer. I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season thus far :).

OOPS!

Alllllso, if you guys are looking for something inspirational to read, I definitely recommend my friend Karen's blog, Reflective Reasonings. I love it and look forward to each post. She is wonderful.

My Haircut Makes Me Look Like a Mohenjo-Daron

2009-11-13T19:09:00.002-06:00

Aly: Mommy, have you seen my dinosaur?
Mommy: Dinosaur? I don't think you have one of those, Aly. What does it look like?
(Using arm motions to explain)
Aly: Well, he's big... And round.... And he's GOING TO GET YOU! RAWR!

Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

2009-11-12T14:30:00.004-06:00

Earlier and earlier these days we are required to know what we want to do in life. For those who achieve higher education, junior year seems to be the deadline... otherwise you may not pass Go, you may not collect $200. In high school I didn't know what I wanted, all I knew is that I wanted to get out of Moselle/Ellisville and attend a Christian school. At William Carey I flipped from theater to history to education to....nothing. Finally I had to sit down with my advisor and make a decision. I wanted to pass Go, to collect that $200, so I let others make the decision for me. I remembered all the times people had mentioned speech pathology to me, so I went with that. Luckily speech pathology is a career that begins at a graduate degree, so I was able to choose a liberal arts degree and worry about my career path later. I chose English, because literature is one of my passions and I'm good at the subject. Easy choice.

The first trimester of my senior year I did all that was expected of a good soon-to-be graduate student: I visited the university of my choice (University of Memphis), shadowed a speech pathologist, bought the GRE book, aced both of the Praxis(es?i?), planned to double-minor in Spanish and Education leaving me a back-up plan. Something didn't seem right though. I wasn't enthused about my future, just hopeful that I would become more interested as time went by. Unfortunatly came the adverse effect. I let the GRE sign-up date pass me by, dropped the education minor after a few classes (horr.i.ble), and graduated with my shiny liberal arts degree and nothing to do with it. English is a good major, don't get me wrong, but it needs something else to make it whole, i.e. business, education, journalism.

Since then I've been coasting along again, letting the decisions for my career future wait. I'm going to stay with the kids until they're in school, we decided. We've been focusing on what Matt wants to do, which is still undecided. My career/future/life other than family became easier to set aside as I became depressed. In the moments that I would think of what I wanted to do, nothing came to mind. I would mention publishing to others, joke about owning a bookstore.

Today I realized our plan of waiting until they were both in school wasn't going to pan out easily. I flipped through Monster.com, finding absolutely nothing that would justify me leaving my girls. I don't want to work to pay for daycare, and I don't want to work in a job that would leave me more stressed than I am now. Monster then asked me to write what my dream job would be. My first, most truthful instinct was 'anywhere that surrounded me with books.' Most people would probably laugh at that, but it gave me an epiphany. I've always wanted to work in a library. Some of my fondest childhood memories are at the Hattiesburg Library. As I started researching librarians, a certainty came over me, one that I've only felt a few times in my life. I found that my degree is a good, recommended stepping stone to a Masters of Library Science, the median annual earnings are definitely something I can justify, and there are other career paths I can follow other than a librarian with the MLS, such as archivist, curator, museum technician, the list goes on. I also found that USM offers a Masters of Library and Information Science, which can be obtained completely online if I choose, and also offers dual Masters of Library and Anthropology, or Library and History, which greatly interest me. I also found that if I so choose I could go further and even get a PhD... something I would most likely not attempt but is nice to have as an option.

So, I'm excited. I have a new plan in mind, which is to try and get a part-time job at a local library, to ensure that this is something I want to pursue. Then, work towards getting a Masters. I finally feel like there is a goal for me, something I can do and will be passionate about. No more floundering and letting time go by. Let the librarian mocking begin.

Mentionables

2009-11-08T07:30:00.008-06:00

Although Aly is not my favorite person at the moment, with her incessant whining since she got better from her infection, there have been a few moments where the words coming out of her mouth weren't beginning with 'I want...' I have to document them to keep my sanity.

door closes in hallway
Aly: Mommy, be very quiet! My baby is sleeping.
Mommy: Where is your baby?
Aly: She's in Lorelei's room.
Mommy deduces Lorelei is not the aforementioned baby when squeals are heard coming down the hall.
Aly: Shh, Lorelei! My baby is SLEEPING.
Aly: Mommy, I need a bottle. Baby is thirsty.
Mommy: Ok, but let's check on the baby first. She may be still sleeping.
Opening Lorelei's door, Mommy sees a towel wadded in a swaddling position on the ottoman. Aly runs to the towel, opens it up, to show Mommy her baby... a wiimote.

Dinner conversations
Daddy: Aly, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Aly: I... I want to work in a flower garden. And it's bath time. I need a bath because the flowers are thirsty.

After Matt caught her cup from falling off the table:

Daddy, you're a good catch.

Daddy: Aly, where do you want to go to school when you grow up?

Aly: Red college. Red.

and this morning...

Aly: Mommy, will you open the door? It's ponytail time.

Disney video

2009-11-06T07:38:00.005-06:00

Some of you may have seen this already, but I was reminded of it while Aly and I watched Snow White this morning. Make sure to turn off the player at the bottom of the screen so you can hear the song accompanying the video, it fits perfectly ;).

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

You win again, Technology.

2009-11-02T18:41:00.007-06:00

An eventful weekend has passed, hence the relatively close blog update. Mandy's wedding was this weekend, as you all know, and there was never a dull moment.

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner, and although it had been pouring all afternoon/night, the dinner itself went well. Matt and I connected with several of Mandy's friends, and everyone had a good time. Including Aly and Lorelei, who were upstairs with a babysitter. Aly enjoyed herself so much that she made her very first boyfriend, a little boy her age named Ian who has a very similar energy level ;). My little flirt and Ian apparently smooched several times. I still giggle to myself when thinking about it.

That night was not easy... Lorelei had been up since 5:30 that morning with tiny cat naps in between, and had reached the overtired point. She cried for a few hours, played for an hour, and then woke up four hours later... which meant she, Aly, and I only got four hours of sleep.

Mandy's wedding day loomed sunny and beautiful, God was merciful. Unfortunately poor Mandy woke up with and kept a headache all day. Matt was completely awesome, taking care of the girls all day long, uncomplaining, doing whatever we needed. He really proved how mature and just wonderful he is this weekend.

A few of the females met for a Bridal Brunch with Mandy, then off to the hair salon. Mother had her hair done... The first time I've seen something done to it other than her normal curled under shoulder length bob. It was beautiful, and as soon as I'm allowed to share pictures of the wedding I'm sure you all will agree.

Mandy + wedding dress glamour + excitement over marrying Andy = complete gorgeousness. Even though she was sick she was the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. :) I didn't drop the ring, bouquet, step on her dress, trip, or anything I imagined ;). Everything was beautiful, hopefully pictures will be allowed soon.

Lorelei in her dress, completely grumpy.

Aly in her dress, feeling like a princess

April's daughter Hailee, is completely wonderful with Aly. Definitely one of Aly's favorite people!

Poor Lorelei kept on feeling bad, making Matt step out 10 minutes in and keeping her grumpy throughout the reception. Nonetheless, she made a beautiful pig.

Aly was her usual precocious self as Princess Pirate. I forgot her hat, oh well.

Remember smoochy boy? She and Ian did a little dancing. One of the most hilarious things of my life, especially after a long day on 4 hrs sleep.

Unfortunately that night Lorelei had another over-tired spell, and since we were right beside Mandy & Andy's room as well as out of concern for Lorelei, we made the trek home. Probably not the smartest thing since Matt was tired from taking care of the girls all day and I was hanging on by a thread, but we made it.

Yesterday was pretty bad. Aly has a bacterial infection which resembled a stomach virus in symptom, and Lorelei has developed an ear infection plus the tummy problems she's had for the past two weeks. I'm so glad Matt had taken that day off as well, or I'd probably have assumed the fetal position for most of the day. :(

In absolutely great, wonderful news, Matt won the Ellisville/Moselle route bid! Yaaaaaay! We had no idea that he was going to, had heard that someone higher up had bid, but thankfully (for us) that driver wasn't eligible to bid on a route right now. So Matt, circa 6 weeks from now, will start working only 45-50 hour weeks, have a route that is super close so there won't be the hour drives just to get to his warehouse, leaving him so much more time for family, and, well, life! His world has been just work this past year, to the point that out of town family members would find out about Lorelei and Aly's milestones before he could. This will even leave him time to start edging back into school.

In the Original Greek, 'tragedy' literally means 'Goat Song'

2009-10-28T09:43:00.008-05:00

Keep Matt in your prayers for the next week and a half. Two routes, Prentiss and Ellisville, have come available in his district, both of which would be a step up for him. The one (Ellisville) he prefers is uncontested at the moment, but he's heard someone higher on the food chain wants it. Prentiss is rumored as well to have someone higher planning to bid on it. If that happens then he could bid on the other guys' previous routes, but one (Petal Wal-Mart) would be snatched up pretty quickly and the other (Camp Shelby) would be very unpredictable in hours and pay. Anything would be better at the moment in terms of hours and pay, but we of course are hoping, praying, finger-crossing that Camp Shelby guy will change his mind and Matt can get Ellisville's route. Matt's currently working 70 hours a week on average, which leaves very little time for anything else.

My beautiful sister is getting married this weekend. She's been super stressed trying to get this wedding together whilst working and moving from Memphis to Nashville, and I can't wait to see this over for her. I know the wedding will be beautiful and creative, everything Mandy touches always is, and I am anticipating the experience. There will be masks, children in Halloween outfits, mustaches on a stick, pumpkins, live music, and Creole food. You know you're jealous.

My experiment with crocheting has turned slightly obsessive. At any point in the day you can find me trolling the Etsy website looking for patterns or whipping my little hook around some beautiful yarn. I've made Aly an amigurumi elephant (will post a picture as soon as I attach a smile to its little face), a gift for Carole (the very first thing I made, awww), a scarf for Aly, been working on other gifts, a scarf for Matt, and me some fingerless gloves. It's been satisfying my little crafty urges. Beware, at any moment you may open your mail to see a handmade little something. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Warrens Should Be Seen and Not Heard

2009-10-10T18:49:00.006-05:00

There's always that couple/family at the restaurant that you try to Jedi mind trick into leaving ASAP. You know, the couple that won't stop playing kissy face or talking on their cell phones too loudly, or the family with the screaming baby and wild kids.

Tonight, that was us. We were the family that everyone kept staring at, muttering about. Tonight we decided to go out to eat at O'Charley's. We don't actually go out to eat too often, more like bringing the food inside the house, so Lorelei and Aly are a bit out of practice. Thanks to Aly, Lorelei has begun a raptor screeching scream that can mean anything from 'I'm enjoying myself' to 'Give me more!' The screech is so piercing that I know the neighbors have to believe I'm abusing them, and I keep waiting for social services to show up/my eardrums to burst. But I digress.

While we were waiting oh-so-patiently for our food to arrive, there was that miraculous, simultaneous lull of conversation that makes any public area sound like the strictest library. Lorelei chose at that time to let loose her screech. It might not be the loudest and shrillest that she's ever produced, but at that moment it felt like it. Heads turned. We tried to distract her with croutons, but she wasn't too enthralled. Every few minutes she'd screech again, so eventually I gave up and went to pick her up. People watched me, so of course I stumbled with the unbuckling and pulling her free. Matt tried to help, and ended up spilling his drink across the table. More stares. The servers around us ignored us at that moment, so Matt was left to sop up the beverage with the two silverware napkins before they disintegrated while I stood, bouncing Lorelei, wearing Dr. Pepper soiled pants. Meanwhile, Aly couldn't sit still, snatching croutons and lettuce from my salad, and announcing to the world every thought that entered her mind.

I think the cooks let us know their opinion of the debacle, for when our food arrived the rolls resembled hockey pucks and my rice was completely burned. Fun. Times.

The Happy Hooker

2009-10-07T22:54:00.003-05:00

Har har, how wonderful is that title? It's the name of the new crocheting book I got today, well, half of it, and crazily enough, the least offense half of the title :). The past weekend I just couldn't wait on Amazon's slowocity, so I went out and got a few hooks and a crochet for beginners book. I definitely don't recommend Complete Crochet. I couldn't even figure out how to do a slip knot, the very first thing you do, from the book, much less any of the crochet stitches or chains. I had to rely on good ole interwebs to direct me, and even then (maybe I was looking away at that point) both the video and the book told me to crochet incorrectly.

With the book I got today, I've gone from my incorrect versions of slip stitch, single, double, and triple crochets to the correct versions, plus a few extras. What I learned over the weekend and week < today. Needless to say, the other book/internet bit it. I'm hoping that I can become comfortable and decent enough to be able to actually make wearable/I'm not ashamed/bragable gifts by Christmas time. But I'm really enjoying it, so that is all that matters, right? Right.

In Aly news, she + potty training = me going through the five stages of grief. Seriously, I realized it today. First was denial, denying that she was using pee as an excuse to get out of naps and punishment, that she was any moment going to revert back to the exceptional little girl who only had two accidents in her first two days (yeah, took her that long to see how she could work it to her advantage). Then came anger, when I realized what Aly was doing and couldn't see a way to stop her from manipulating her bladder control. Then depression (3 & 4 mixed up for me), as I seemingly nonstop cleaned up wet panties and shampooed furniture and saw no way out. Now we're on to bargaining, where we're offering her a Barbie if she can get through ONE day without an accident (deliberate, mainly). Good trade in my eyes; one barbie = one day of sanity. No Barbies so far, but she did really well this afternoon so the bribe might be sinking in. Other than that she's doing great, can mostly sing her ABC's, vocabulary keeps jumping by leaps and bounds, loving to play pretend, can count to 13, and drew an 'A' a few days ago.

She went bowling for the first time this past weekend. My brother's soon-to-be stepdaughter Hailee had her birthday party at the bowling alley and Aly and I participated. The first bowl she tried to do all by herself, slinging the ball at a snail's pace. When the ball didn't roll fast enough she bolted after it, promptly falling midstride. After that we threw it 'together,' and Aly led for most of the game, with a score of 90 something! Woo!

Lorelei is getting steadier on her feet, now able to be dragged along after Aly without being literally dragged. She's learned to wave (if she likes you), can fit blocks together, loves figuring out how things work. There are times that it is very apparent that she's trying to say actual words, but mostly gibberish abounds.

Matt is working all the time it seems. His days keep getting longer and longer, with him going through a neverending cycle of work, sleep, work... you get the idea. He had a really good past weekend, though; spending a few hours at a gaming party with some friends and coworkers and then having a friend over Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, these type of weekends come along once in a blue moon for him, so when we can get a spare moment together job searching will certainly be on the agenda. Pray for both him and Bill as they try to find jobs more cohesive with family life.

I wish I had pictures of the girls to show you, but unfortunately Lorelei broke off an essential piece of camera flash and no pictures have been taken since. I just don't like using the camera without the flash, the difference is like night and day (ha!) to me, but I suppose I'll have to get used to it unless we can figure out how to fix the flash. Suggestions?

Discouraged

2009-10-02T17:22:00.004-05:00

As the title indicates, I'm starting to feel a bit disheartened. Aly did so well Tuesday and Wednesday, each having one accident, that I guess I got too confident. I realized on each of the accidents she had panties on, and she seems to think of her panties as a diaper. So yesterday and today I tried putting leggings and panties on her more, getting it into her head that they aren't diapers. Yesterday she had three accidents, and even then I wasn't too discouraged because she still seemed to get the point, and I knew the realization would come. Today... has not been fun. She has seemed to regress big time, almost like my first attempt at potty training her, before she was even two. Before noon (and she woke up at 8) she had 5 accidents. Since then she's done better, only one so far, but still not the most uplifting day. She has gone to the bathroom every time I've put her on it, which is the only encouraging part. I knew this wouldn't happen in a day or two, I guess I just didn't think she'd do so well to go back so far. Bleh.

Pull Out the Rocker

2009-09-30T12:22:00.002-05:00

I think that I may like to learn how to crochet. Crocheting and knitting have always seemed to have 'old lady' connotations, but it seems like younger people are getting into it and creating fabulous things. On etsy I always seem to find things like headbands, hats, and even jewelry as well as mod scarves and gloves that inspire me to try my hand at it. Digi-scrapping is my creative outlet, mostly, but there are time that I just want to create hands-on, know what I mean? Any ideas on how to get started with this potential hobby? Or, reversely, let me know if me + sharp objects = disaster.

Potty Training (Might Contain TMI for Some)

2009-09-29T22:08:00.004-05:00

Okay, I can't help but brag. I know this day one, this will most likely be at least a week long process if not lots longer, but Aly totally blew me away today. Most of you know why I've waited this long to finally potty train Aly, and lately it's seemed clear that phase is over and she's ready to be a 'big girl.' Anyway. This morning I filled a jar with some of the leftover candy from Lorelei's birthday, and let Aly know that each time she peed or pooped in the potty, she'd get a piece. The theory is that by the time the jar is empty, the reinforcement won't be necessary and the habits will already be in place. Well, each time I took her to the bathroom she would use it. She learned to pull her dress up, let me know when she needed to potty, and let me know when she was done all in one day. Seriously. I even lined her bed with some plastic sheeting aka garbage bag with the sheet over for her nap, and I shouldn't have even bothered with how well she did. She did have one tiny accident, when I put panties on her instead of letting her go commando. I can barely believe the day went so well; I've had my green machine and Shark mop filled and ready for the expected accidents. I've replaced some of the candy with 'jewelries' for non-sugar prizes; otherwise she'd be on a permanent sugar high. By the end of the day she was spending less and less time on the potty, realizing what was expected of her. I'm euphoric, can you tell?

Stomach is the Universe

2009-09-28T12:05:00.003-05:00

Lorelei's birthday party was *finally* this weekend. Although I always get stressed out with birthday parties and holiday functions that I host, I'm happy to have done them when it's all said and done. My family was big help, coming out and cleaning so I could focus on cooking and decorating. Is it Thanksgiving yet? I'm feeling very thankful.

Anyway, party seemed to be a big hit. Lorelei came out of her shell after about 15 minutes and charmed everyone, and the house was awash with kids laughing and running, oohs and aahs over Jessica's cake, and general social activity. Our little family loved it. Although the rain did start once everyone got there and made the inside rather than out the place to be, everyone seemed to have a good time. Even Matt slicing his hand open didn't deter the fun. The gift part was especially fun; all the kids helped Lorelei and me open her presents. Everyone who came brought such great gifts; Lorelei is one lucky little girl.

A truly remarkable thing happened when we watched Lorelei eat her piece of cake. She picked it up (this was a man sized piece), and somehow consumed it without taking a break, or even chewing for that matter. Here's a video from Matt's phone.

The rest of the weekend went really well, also. Wes & Carole stayed with us Saturday night, and it was awesome being able to spend time with them. We've all missed them lots since they moved away. On Sunday Lorelei and I went to a wedding shower for Mandy, who amassed much loot. The other highlight of the day was trying out the new sprinkler (yep, at the end of summer) with the girls. Aly would run towards it, but would make wiiiide circles. Lorelei just stood there, enjoying the water. They weren't quite sure what to do but enjoyed it anyway.

Unfortunately it seems the only pictures taken of the birthday party were with Carole's camera, so until I can wheedle them away (pretty please!) I have nothing to show.

Public Service Announcement

2009-09-23T07:01:00.002-05:00

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Squee!

2009-09-21T16:13:00.005-05:00

Just a teaser....

Mandy's wedding will be this Halloween, so she's requested that the attending children wear costumes during the reception. P is the lucky letter, as Aly will be a piratess and Lorelei will be a piglet. I dressed Lorelei in her costume to make sure I hadn't repeated the too small trend, and it fit perfectly. Her in that costume was honestly the cutest thing I've ever seen, one of those you just want to hug and squeeze and hug and squeeeze... and make sure she's still breathing.

Randomosity

2009-09-18T11:45:00.003-05:00

I think I am finally coming out of my funk. I have had a low self-esteem issue most of my life, but it really wasn't until the end of my pregnancy with Aly that it developed into a full-blown depression. For the past nearly three years I have tried my hardest not to look in the mirror, not visit old friends for fear of judgment, basically hermiting myself under excuses of being too hard to get out with the girl(s), migraines, and other valid reasons that could have been overcome. I haven't been happy with myself for a very long time, and I know that it affected the relationships I have with, well.. everyone.

I'm tired of being that way. I'm tired of putting myself least on the totem pole, of feeling so ashamed everytime I saw myself... of staring at the ground, hoping no one noticed me. I've attributed it all to being fat, knowing that I could be so attractive if only I'd lose the weight, but that really isn't the problem. It may be the root, but I'd forgotten how to like me for all the quirks that make me Bethany. I know and see plenty of women who come across beautiful to me, be they my size or larger, just because they have confidence and self-worth.

Upon my quest this year to lose weight I stumbled across some truths about myself, things I had always known but never acknowledged. I'm working through it, gaining confidence, ignoring criticism, and forgiving myself. Almost as sneakily as I became depressed, I am gaining back my joie de vivre. I was doing some online browsing for me a couple of weeks ago, and was amazed when I sat back and realized what I had been doing. Other than maternity clothes, I haven't shopped for me in three years, saying I didn't want to sink my self-esteem any lower by finding out what size I actually am. Today I actually bought a few shirts, knowing that this will pass, I WILL be smaller one day, but I need to dress for the person I am now. I'm happier now than I have been in a very, very long time, and maybe in a few months I'll even let Carole keep a picture taken of me. ;)

Matt has been getting home earlier this week. It's been awesome, I feel so spoiled! I've actually seen my husband more than two hours a day this week, hurray! He is working hard to get in shape as well, and we've enjoyed going to the gym and working out on Wii Fit & Sports Resort together.

I am so proud of Aly. Today we went to the park on a play date with a friend of mine and her daughter, and although Aly has only met the little girl two or three times, she of course never meets a stranger. They held hands at the beginning, hugged at the end, and had a good time chasing each other around. Here are some pictures I took of Aly this week.

Lorelei is getting to the age where Mommy leaving the room = tantrums. I don't really remember Aly doing this, so Lorelei is definitely asserting her very different personality.

Speaking of Lorelei, I made some crab cakes from my Cooking Light cookbook last night, and she LOVED them. Matt and I loved them too (Aly was neutral) so I wanted to share the recipe with you guys. Although there are a fair amount of ingredients, most of them are pantry staples and the recipe is really easy.

Wild Rice Crab Cakes (All-New Cooking Light Cookbook)

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 1 hour, 20 minutes (depends on wild rice directions, took me only about 45 minutes from prep to finish)

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice (only kind we had was Zatarains, which took 25 min to cook)

1 lb lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed (imitation works as well)

3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup minced shallots (green onions if your grocery doesn't carry them)

1/4 cup light mayonnaise (I used mayo made with olive oil, as I think it's healthier for you)

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (jarred kind works too)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

1/8 tsp black pepper

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

4 tsp olive oil, divided

1. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add wild rice, cover. Reduce heat; simmer 1 hour or until tender. Combine cooked wild rice, crab, and next 11 ingredients in a large bowl. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, shape each into a 1 inch thick patty.

2. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 4 patties; cook 4 minutes. Carefully turn patties over, and cook 4 minutes or until golden. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and patties.

Yields: 8 servings (1 serving: 1 patty)

Cal 186; Fat 6.4 (1g sat, 2.9g mono, 2g poly); Protein 15.1g; Carb 16.4g; Fiber 1g; Chol 59mg; Iron 1.6mg; Sodium 524 mg; Calcium 87mg

This was so good, you'd never be able to tell it was a healthy recipe (for crab cakes,that is).

Darn These Long Legs!

2009-09-17T11:27:00.002-05:00

Mandy is getting married on October 31st, and one of the first things I did was get Lorelei's wedding outfit. My mother has been pretty firm about wanting pictures taken with the family, and so I used this as an excuse to get my all-time favorite girl's clothing designer, Luna Luna Copenhagen.

Although I tried Aly's dress on her the moment we received it in the mail, I neglected to try on Lorelei's until this Monday. Yeah, it's too small. It would fit her fine, be a bit snug maybe, except for her being so dang tall. She would have to stand straight up the whole time, and never soil her diaper, for once she tipped over or got wet, the world would know. It's a bubble dress so it's not meant to be long, but it is starting to get a little Babies Gone Wild. The online boutique I ordered it from won't take it back, as it was a sale item, the meanies. So, I need to find a way to sell it. I'm going to offer it here first and then I guess try to sell it on ebay if I don't get any bites. The dress is called Taj Mahal, and is originally priced at $105 plus. I got it for $55, which is what I'm going to sell it for. No other place on the internet it selling it this low, if they have it at all. Size 12-18 mo (probably for the child who is wearing a large 12 mo or small 18 mo). So if you know anyone who is looking for a holiday dress and would be interested, let me know. If you can't tell by the picture, it's a gold damask on top with a sheer gold tulle bubble skirt covering a silky gold layer. Gold sequins sprinkled on the skirt, and the bow is black. We wouldn't have paid that much had it been for any other occasion, and the dress is so beautiful I want someone to enjoy it :(.

And Now For Your Viewing Pleasure...

2009-09-15T09:10:00.002-05:00

This is a couple of years old, so it might not be new to you, but it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Wake Me Up...

2009-09-14T11:28:00.004-05:00

It has been such a dreary week! There has been little chance to get outside, do anything with the rest of the warm weather while it is raining all the time. Forecast for the rest of the week: more rain. :(

Lorelei turned one last week. Happy and sad all mixed. Unless God has other plans I'm not having any more children, so this was the last first year we'll go through. September 2008-2009 has been a crazy year for us, from buying a house, having a second child, chicken pox >.<, and all the everyday adventures. She's kept us stay sane (while making us a little more loony), and I wouldn't change a thing.

So now she's one, and things will change even more. She's a walking/falling, gibberish-spewing, banana-noming machine now, who with a flash of dimple and twinkle in her bright blue eyes can warm even the most curmudgeonly heart.

--SOAPBOX--

Why do people take perfectly cute babies, mix in a crocheted hat or headband, and dollop with a huge bow, oft times larger than the babies' heads? I don't understand! The overall effect is just hideous, and I keep coming across it everywhere! These oh-so fashion conscious people are pairing it with completely ugly petticoat/tutus. Foster care is the only answer. The only good thing about this trend is how strong the babies and toddlers neck muscles must be getting, from trying to keep their head from tipping over.--STEPPING OFF--

Seemingly every holiday and birthday that comes around is full of everyone asking me what to get for whomever and whatever. I usually end up telling just one or two things, which doesn't give the person asking much choice. I don't like that, peoples! So! I've had a kaboodle.com account for myself for a while now, and I've added a wish list for the girls and for Matt (though his is empty, and will be filled as soon as he deigns to tell let me know his wishes). You may peruse and buy for at your own discretion. I think you can reserve items, which will let everyone know that it is spoken for, and when they receive things it will let you know what they do and don't have. This isn't a 'you must get us something from this list!' command, but rather something to consider when you're out of ideas and about to press the call button. I'd LOVE if everyone else would do the same, so we wouldn't have to bother you and find out what you want :D. There's even a way to keep your lists private so that only specific people you invite can see them, or a way to keep them completely private, as an idea list for others. Kaboodle.com, sthrnbelle05 is my username.

Eat This, Not That

2009-08-30T13:58:00.003-05:00

Recently I was recommended a group of nutrition books of the name 'Eat This, Not That.' They aren't diet books, telling you to cut out whole food groups or eat specific amounts at specific times of day, but rather a guideline to make smarter choices. I loved the books (I got the original and supermarket versions) and would recommend them to anyone, be they perfectly in shape or a total fatty like me.

The thing about the books is that the author(s) don't tell you what not to eat. If you really want pizza, the books give you examples of the right type vs. the wrong type of pizza to eat. There are best and worst of any type of food you can imagine, plus the brands. The supermarket book in particular will change your mode of, well, thinking about the food you partake in.

Another truly awesome part of the books is that the author(s) don't rate the food based on a couple of nutrition facts, but the nutrition information as a whole. There is no just looking at the carbs, or the calories and fat intake, or the sugar... For example, frozen chicken dinner A may have 30 less calories and 2 grams less fat than frozen chicken dinner B, but is worse for you because of the amount of sodium, calories from fat, and lack of protein and fiber.

I know this isn't a super exciting post, and most of you probably stopped at the second paragraph. I'm just really happy to have stumbled across these books because they have changes that EVERYONE can make, no matter your favorite types of food, whether you eat out or in, or what type of physical lifestyle you follow. So go buy or check out the books. If you don't, that next appetizer you order could be the one that has 2,900 calories and 182 grams of fat.

Why Do I Even Try? part deux

2009-08-27T14:32:00.002-05:00

This time it's with my daughters' pediatrician's nurse.

(Three hours after initial phone call to pediatric clinic)
Bethany: Hello?
Nurse: I'm calling for Ste..Bethany Warren.
Bethany: This is she.
Silence on other end.
Bethany: Okay. Well, I called because my husband works in an area that has been hit hard by swine flu, and he's started to feel the symptoms himself. Since my daughters are both under three, I was wondering if there was a medicine they and I need to take to help prevent, you know, them getting it (one of my finer linguistic moments).
Nurse (deadpan voice): There is no medicine for that.
Bethany stares ahead, in shock, after reading about the increased risk for children under four, and the preventitive properties of Tamiflu and Relenza, at the completely unhelpful answer to her question.
A few seconds later...
Bethany: Okay, well yeah. I guess that's all I wanted to know.
Nurse hangs up the phone.

Why Do I Even Try?

2009-08-24T20:38:00.001-05:00

Scene 1, Act 1
(Mommy sits in Lorelei's room with Aly and Lorelei as the girls play, sound of cars speeding by beyond the window)
Aly: Mama, mama, mama!
Aly (poking Mommy quite forcefully while brandishing yellow Baby Einstein block): Look,
Mommy, mana!
Mommy: I see that, Aly, but it's a banana.
Aly: No, Mommy, it's a mana.
Mommy: Say it with me, Aly; banana.
Aly (loudly): Mana!
Mommy: Banana.
Aly (yelling shrilly, quite frustrated): MANA!
Mommy: Calm down, Aly. Let's say it slow. Buh.
Aly: Buh.
Mommy: Nan.
Aly: Nan.
Mommy: Uh.
Aly (excitedly): Uh!
Mommy: Great job! Buh-nan-uh.
Aly: Buh-mana.
Mommy (happily): Even better, Aly! Banana!
Aly (high-pitched, proud voice): MANA!
(Spotlight slowly fades and car noises die away as Lorelei gums a Dora figurine, Aly dances a victory jig, and Mommy stares at ceiling, looking for an intervention.)

New Tim Burton movie

2009-08-17T20:46:00.003-05:00

Can't wait! Though, do you think it's in a contract somewhere that Helena Bonham Carter will continue to have Tim Burton's babies and be his fiancee if he will put her in all his movies?

These Small Hours

2009-08-17T15:42:00.007-05:00

I have learned a lot of new and exciting things in the last week and a half. I don't make a very good blind person, the only way to avoid waiting rooms at the ER is to bleed (broken bones/dislocated joints need not apply), and my mother in law is a completely giving and patient person. Well, to be honest, I already knew that last one, but it was definitely reinforced.

Last week I found out I have a corneal ulcer in my right eye. I think I would prefer to have any other illness, injury, whatever that I have experienced so far than another ulcer. You would think that a person with a -10.00,-8.50 contact lens prescription would be used to not seeing clearly, but I kept my lens in my eyes so much that it was only when they'd basically fall out from old age that I'd remember that I actually can't really see too well. Therein lies the crux of the injury: keeping contacts in too long, not taking care of my eyes. If you were like me and would laugh it off when the opthamologist mentioned taking out your contacts at night, letting your eyes breathe... you should change your ways now.
So while I was basically incapacitated from the pain, light sensitivity, and blindness, my family took awesome care of the girls and me. I am so lucky that I have parents who would willingly take their personal days from work to watch the girls when I need them to, and a mother in law who would drive seven hours, sleep on the couch, put up with me and my hourly eye drops, and watch the girls while I couldn't. Society purports mother-in-laws to be harassing, derogatory, jealous, and condescending. I am eternally grateful that Carole is the antithesis to said definition.

Matt is currently looking for a new job. The hours, long drives, drama, and general job unhappiness has finally caught up with him. The breaking point seemed to be when he worked 70 hours two weeks ago, then was censured for wanting to take off Tuesday as well as Monday to take care of me. I could probably count on two fingers how many times Matt has taken off since he got the job over a year ago. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he searches for something more suited for him.

Aly is so funny these days. She's such a girly girl. I'm not quite sure where that comes from. She's gone from requesting daily 'princess' dresses to claiming everything she puts on is 'princess' wear... princess shirt, princess shoes, etc. She also has some plastic jewelry that she likes to refer to as her 'jewelries.' I can help but giggle when 'Where're my jewelries' comes out of Aly's mouth. Her perception of the world around her as well as her communicability has greatly improved over the last few weeks. She asked me one day if Matt was at work on the truck selling chips, something that completely surprised to me since I've never told her exactly what Matt does.

Lorelei is sick, again. Another ear infection. I'm not sure of the exact number she's had, but I know it's more than 5. I tend to get more worried with her being sick, kind of a throwback to when she was at such a high risk to get chicken pox at days old. She's getting better now, thankfully, and still trying her hardest to walk. Today she followed me around holding on to the back of my pants.

I filled up her closet with 12-18mo clothes today. Sigh.

8/11

Self-Inscribed Princess!

The British are coming, the British are coming!

Doggy kisses.

If a picture had been taken right after this one, you could have seen Lorelei hitting Aly on the backswing, and Aly laughing like it's the most fun she's ever had.

Is this what you wanted me to climb, Daddy?

Gone baby gone.

Aly desperately wanted to help swing Lorelei. This is one of the times she did so successfully, without being hit on its way back. Lorelei just looks incredibly pensive, probably unsure of her safety.

Are you sure you'd want her watching over your back?

Swinger.

8/15

Lorelei's temperature had gotten back up to over 103, so I was trying to cool her down with damp cloths while Mimi fed her. Yep, my soon to be 1 year old is too lazy to hold the bottle herself.

8/16

New skegging outfit, on her way to go to "Aly's" park.

The Future Has Arrived

2009-08-06T08:30:00.003-05:00

I'm thinking today is the day. I keep looking over at Lorelei to find her standing in the middle of the room, and she just took three steps in a row. Today will be the day. She's already walked from the dresser in her room to me in the middle of the floor. Yep, just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait.

Thanks for the new clothes, Grandma! Lorelei was SO excited she just had to try them on today. Honest.

Two-Step Shuffle

2009-08-04T12:33:00.004-05:00

I am free!

Such is the expression of my soon-to-be eleven month old sweetie, Lorelei, when she is standing and taking steps on her own. Yesterday she developed a new method, where she will stand up all by herself, take two steps, then stop. Doesn't matter if she's lost her balance or kept it, she will move to crawling position after those two steps and go from there. Never one step though, she's an accomplished two stepper, after all!

Aly has flown the coop. She's on vacay in Texarkana with one of her most favorite people in the world, Grandma (her other favorite person is Mimi, I'm noticing a bit of a trend) and Grandad. . Life has been quieter, cleaner, and calmer. I'm enjoying the time with Lorelei. I haven't really had much chance to see just her personality, not her reacting to Aly, and she's just as sweet as ever. Lorelei is starting to move towards the destructo-curious stage of development though. She's already tried to empty the tv stand twice.

Things have been looking up for me lately. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, which went much better than I thought it would, and found that the followup appointment could be changed to this week. Originally it was not going to be until August 20, which had bummed me out since this is a prerequisite visit before I can get what I want done, so things seem to be moving in a good direction.

Matt had been wanting to write a book for a while now, and although we have solidified a main plot, he hasn't had the appropriate medium in his mind available. Thanks to his ever generous parents, he now has it. He got a new laptop for his birthday when his parents came to visit this past weekend. It's all shiny and new, and he has even forgotten my iPhone in favor of it (I will never forget you iPhone, my wonderful everything device). He has downloaded some software to get him started in the write (haha) direction, so here's hoping he's going to make fame and fortune with some fantabulous book just waiting to poured onto page. Maybe not fame, though... I don't photograph well.

Coraline comes out today! So excited, I loved watching it in theatres, can't wait to see it again. Go out and rent/buy it today...ay...ay...a...y....!

Off to go figure out what to do for Lorelei's birthday party, hopefully you'll be getting an invite in the mail soon.

Milk

2009-07-27T14:49:00.005-05:00

I'm in love. Her name is iPhone (didn't you know phones are feminine?), and except when Matt appropriates her, she's not far from my side.

Yesterday I bought some milk and was completely bowled over by the expiration date...August 6th? It's already almost August? Which, of course, led to my realization that I have little over a month before Lorelei's birthday, 3 months until Mandy's wedding, just six months until Christmas and the new year. What have I accomplished this year?

I don't want another year to pass me by with the only points showing me it has gone by being my daughters' development and expiration dates on milk.

Speaking of ze little monsters, I got some batteries (thanks Wes & Carole!) so took some pictures of them today. Aly's getting counting to 12 down, and Lorelei is going to walk any day, seriously.

Just 'cause she's cute.

Ah the ever-changing emotions of toddlerhood.

See! I wasn't lying about how close she is.

Happy baby :).

One of her signature expressions. Not sure what it means, and her 'na-na-na-na's don't tell me much.

Another one of her favorite faces. This is her 'I'm so ugly, I'm cute!/All your Cheez-It are belong to us' command.

Lorelei licking the preservative fake cheesy residue off her hands.

Missed You

2009-07-21T13:00:00.002-05:00

Still no batteries :(. So, no pictures lately. I need to just get off my booty and take pictures with the normal flash, but compared to the big flash it just doesn't seem right.

The tenth I was able to go do something I haven't done since, well, really before I was pregnant with Aly... go visit someone all by myself. Though the trip to Mandy's was a bit tedious with only me in the car to keep me awake, I loved it. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, love Matt, but it's so nice to just have my thoughts to myself for a while, go do things while only worrying about myself, heck, just getting me ready. Mandy, her soon to be sister in law Shannon, and I went searching for bridesmaid dresses, and then Mandy and I went to see Wicked. It was wonderful! I absolutely love musicals and plays, and this one was great. We had the best seats I've ever been in for a play, the actors and actresses did a great job, and I simply loved the costumes. The story was.... a bit different than the book, completely filled with deux ex machinas (and you thought there could be only one), but it didn't bother me. I'm sure you've all heard me complain about True Blood, so it really surprises me that a musical depicting one of my favorite books didn't annoy me with its changes. You simply have to go see it.

My cell phone has almost completely bit the dust, and it's finally time for me to upgrade... so the iphone is on its way! Woo! I'd been wanting an ipod, needed a new phone... vamoosh! It's on its way here right now... curse you UPS man for not delivering it already.

Lorelei has 5 teeth now, stands up by herself, and lately will walk with if she has a hold on one hand. Matt just found out a route is coming open, so unless someone higher bids on it, he hopefully will be getting a much better change of pace. Aly is.. Aly. She's becoming a little easier to handle, while at the same time her antics are a bit more destructive. Last week, the day after I came home from Memphis, she decided to decorate the floor, hearth, tv stand, and modem with chocolate milk. This was caught soon enough that the chocolate milk only cut out the phone line. Of course the next day she decorated it with water, which cut out the internet too. Not. fun.

P.S. Send Batteries

2009-07-07T21:19:00.003-05:00

For those of you who prayed and thought about my grandfather, a little update. So far I still haven't been to see him, since I didn't want to give him the cold/ear infection/whatever I had and timing hasn't been right, so this is secondhand. The description the doctor gave us for the rest of whatever Grandaddy's life was pretty bleak. Thus far Grandaddy has been doing much better than anyone had expected. It seems like he's adjusting to nursing home life and has had up and down days in the pain area. They told my family that if he fell it would paralyze or kill him, and he fell a little bit a few weeks ago, and he's still alive and kicking (sort of).

Life has been going. I had meant to take pictures of what little I had accomplished during the baby-free week (or as I like to call it, return to sanity), but neither of my projects got completely finished. I want to make sure they're as perfect as I can get them before I post my achievement. I will give a synopsis: the outside closet was cleaned, slightly painted, and organized. Aly's room was painted, organized (ha), and now I think fits her personality much better. Most of you probably won't like the color I chose for her, but her exclamations of 'Mommy! It's PRETTY!' override your opinion, so there. ;)

Matt has been doing the same, with only the ebbing of work hours to show any sort of change, poor guy. Aly is... well.. remember when she made those devil-baby noises? Yeah. They weren't imitation. She reminds me of those Sour Patch Kids commercials. Perfectly.

Lorelei is her shadow. She'd lemming herself if Aly went first, I think. It's incredible to see them growing closer each day, and I hope they're able to stay this way. Aly is becoming even more of an entertainer. She has taken to singing nearly every day, putting on shows with a vaccum cleaner cord as her most recent microphone. She'll thrust her hands behind her high in the air, showing how much her song of nonsensical words is affecting her. She'll dance, growing softer in sound, then stop with a big crescendo. Deciding when to exploit her is my next big decision.

Lorelei is growing up way too fast. :( She's still cuddly and sweet, but when she isn't crawling 90 miles a minute after her sister she's exploring, pulling up and letting go, to wobble on her feet for a few seconds before she actively sits herself down. She's become very squeaky, maybe to go with Aly's songs, and sometimes they just squeak at each other, seriously. She's got 3 teeth now with another on the way, learning to feed herself with a bottle and cup, and chattering all the while. I can't believe that in just two short months she'll be one. Let's all heave one big sigh.

Speaking of, 25 is coming up. I am incredibly frustrated that at 25 I'm not where I should be with myself, in so many different ways. So, in the next few days I'll be actively trying to change a few things, so all prayers for God to give me strength would be greatly appreciated. I'll comment more on what I'm doing when I'm more certain of it. Let the speculation begin.

P.S. Send Batteries. I can't take pictures of my hellacious childrens without them to power the flash, which Matt keeps raiding for his own nefarious purposes.

Grandaddy

2009-06-20T06:10:00.004-05:00

A lot of new things have happened in the past few weeks since I've posted, but I've waited to share very much because I haven't quite finished what I've been working on, and I want to be able to post pictures with them. And now I have something much more important to post about.

My paternal grandfather, Curtis Austin, has had a rough past few years. He developed diabetes, has some sort of blindness (I'm unsure of the cause and how blind he is) and hearing loss, and I'm sure other afflictions that I'm forgetting right now, with a life that consisted of going to the doctor every other day. It has been hard on him and on his wife, Grace, who has diligently taken care of him. Thursday night apparently he accidentally hit a button on a chair he was sleeping in, a button which lifted him to a standing position, causing him to fall forward, get a gash on his head, and break his neck in two places. The doctors have said that he wouldn't survive the surgery to fix the worst of the breaks, so he is required to wear a neck brace for the rest of his life while lying in a specific position. He's going to have to learn to swallow wearing this brace, as he can't do so right now, and he will have to go into a nursing home. If he gets sick, falls and hurts his neck again, or anything of the like he will most likely die from it. It is heartbreakingly sad to know that this is what the rest of his life will be like. Needless to say, this will probably be his last Father's Day. Please pray for him and my family.

You Give Me Fever

2009-06-04T09:40:00.007-05:00

This has been one looong week. It seems like every day is full of new things. I'm probably going to forget them all, especially in light of the past few days.

Tuesday Lorelei woke up with a 101.8 fever, which turned to 104 by the middle of the day. I've never had one of them with a fever that high, so I naturally freaked out and took Lorelei to the ER. We waited there a few hours to find that she had an ear infection. I felt a little silly taking her to the emergency room for an ear infection, but I don't do well with high fevers. Neither, it seems, does she. She's been so miserable, just sleeping and crying, screaming bloody murder every time I wasn't holding her. Yesterday her temperature got that high again, and I had to give her tepid baths to try and get it down. I even had to call the doctor again, because to me that just seems way too high for an eight month old baby.

God has answered my prayers today. Although she woke up with a 103.2 fever, after eating breakfast she started acting like she felt better. I took her temp, and it was normal. She started acting like she wanted to crawl again, would let me put her down... I even got some smiles and laughs out of her. You know she's feeling bad if there are no smiles. I'm hoping and praying that when she wakes from her nap that she'll still be fever free, with the worst of this gone.

Now on to some pictures and updates! Matt and I are the same, nothing new concerning us. Aly went to a party two weeks ago and had a great time; she apparently lifted a little girl's shirt and tried to 'buzz' the girl's stomach... the little girl was not amused. I wasn't there, Lorelei was teething pretty ferociously. Speaking of which, she now has two teeth on the bottom. Here are some pictures of that day.

5/25
She asks all the time to wear 'princess dress'es now.
Trying to shade Lorelei's eyes from the harsh lamp light.

Funny face montage.

Trying to hug Lorelei away from the camera. She doesn't like to share her spotlight.

I've been trying to organize a bit more, and one of my favorite things is keeping little toy cubbies in our living room. The girls can play and help me put it back, and there is no string of toys leading from their rooms (mostly and in theory). Aly finds it much more fun to take all the toys out of a box and stand/sit in it rather than play with the toys themselves. I'm thinking refrigerator box for Christmas this year...

5/26

Ah my Lorelei. She is growing up way too fast. Everyday is something new for her. This past Saturday she taught herself to clap, she started cruising on Sunday and Monday, tomorrow it will be algebra.

5/27

Using the most dangerous area in the room to pull to stand and cruise.

5/31

Price check on Aisle 8.

Aly has been learning her abcs and to count to 10. She will count only 1-3, 4-6, or 7-9 on command, but sometimes you'll hear her counting all the way to 8 or 9 when she's not aware of being overheard. She's even learning to overcome her prejudice of 4. She's also growing more independent in putting on clothes. If I don't put the clothes she wants to wear on her right then she'll make an attempt herself. Not always perfect, but valiant nonetheless.

6/01

For instance, she decided to go through Matt's drawer and put on as many clothes as she could. I found her on the floor in our bedroom, complaining that she couldn't move *snicker*.

I know this picture is bad, I just wanted to illustrate just how many shirts she had put on over her dress. I believe the body count was 9.

Recently as well my mother and sister had birthdays. Lorelei was sick on Mother's and Mandy lives 5 hours away, so we didn't get to see them on those days. Mandy also got engaged on her birthday, and they've set the day to October 31. Only Mandy would choose Halloween ;). I'm in the search for good, quality costumes for the girls for the reception, so suggest away.

Aly has just reminded me of another of her new favorite things (in addition to chocolate juice, "What's that?" and 'prince' dresses), which is knock knock jokes. She doesn't say 'who', but she will go on forever asking for and saying knock knock jokes. She always seems to say tent for the person who's there, I don't know what that's about. And when I reply with the boo knock knock joke, she pretends to cry. I blame Matt.

Cry

2009-05-22T10:07:00.003-05:00

Yesterday the Mama & Papa Warrens came by on their long roadtrip to Knoxville. It was great to see them and to see Aly's reaction, she loves her grandparents so much and she's always asking where they are. While they were here Lorelei decided to show off. She crawled to where I was sitting on the floor, put one hand on my leg, the other on my arm, and preceded to make her way to a standing position, all by herself. I kept my arms out to catch her if she fell, and though she did teeter a bit a couple of times, she did it. She even stepped towards me and let go holding on with one hand. My baby is growing up. I knew it would happen, and if I stood back and looked at her age and rate of development, this wouldn't surprise me. But it does. Time keeps passing, babies keep growing, and next week I'll see them graduate college.

Here's Lorelei going up, up up, getting into her box o'toy.

She's an adventurous one, always with another mountain to cli... exersaucer tunnel to explore.

I made doughnuts. Molly likey.

Wild Things

2009-05-19T10:43:00.004-05:00

I have my own island of wild things.

Yesterday Matt went to the store since we were out of baby food, and he decided we shouldn't have to go back for, eh, a year or so.

Aly smiled at me today, and I was startled by how much she resembles the monsters from Where the Wild Things Are. Maybe I'm crazy, you be the judge.

Lorelei found Nemo...tasty.

I have decided to start some spring cleaning. I have been sweeping, mopping, sweeping some more, and polishing the living room floor until it almost looks clean. Next: vacuuming and shampooing the rug, sofa, and chairs, folding clothes, cleaning glass, dusting, and arranging the bookshelf. Then cleaning the rest of the house. Probably all at once, as I have cleaning ADD. Yes, these are things I should be doing all the time, but I'm lazy, and I don't want to. Usually the normal picking up after baby tornados and dealing with two year old stress is enough for my day, thank you very much. So, these should be weekly rituals that I haven't done in who knows how long will be done by tomorrow, and Aly and Lorelei will have destroyed it by Thursday. But it may stay clean for a couple of hours, you never know.

Recipe Time

2009-05-14T06:46:00.009-05:00

Since Carole is going to start cooking *wink wink*, and Mother is trying to get a few easy recipes that are healthier, I'm going to list a few of my current favorite recipes. They come from either allrecipes or weight watchers, and I'm just going to use the stock photos if they have them since I haven't thought about taken a picture of the 'delicious foods' until they're already gone ;).

Spinach and Feta Pita Bake (found at allrecipes.com)
6 6-inch whole wheat pita bread
(whole wheat pita pockets work as well; you can use in lieu of the pita bread rounds or stuff them)
1 6-oz tub sun-dried tomato pesto
(I listed a recipe below for the pesto in case your store doesn't carry it or you'd rather make your own.)
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch baby spinach, rinsed and chopped
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup reduced fat feta cheese
2 tbsp grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.
Spread tomato pesto onto one side of each pita, placing them pesto side up on a baking sheet. Top with tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, cheeses; drizzle with olive oil and season with pepper.
Bake for 12 minutes or until bread is crisp. Cut into quarters and serve.

So seriously, the prepping and assembling takes about five minutes. Tack that onto the baking time, and you have a good meal of Mediterranean pizzas in less than 20 minutes. You could add other things, like substituting the tomato pesto for basil pesto, or adding things like onions, olives and bell peppers, whatever you like.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto (allrecipes)
4 oz. sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
(I have used 1 tsp. dried basil and parsley when we didn't have fresh, worked just as well)
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped pine nuts
3 tbsp. chopped onion
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1/3 cup crushed tomatoes
(you can substitute diced if you can't find crushed)
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl with warm water for five minutes, or until tender.
In a food processor or blender, combine sun-dried tomatoes, basil, parsley, garlic, pine nuts, and onion; process until well blended. Add vinegar, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and red wine; process. Stir in olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt to taste.

I've read that others substituted red wine vinegar, but I can't attest to how it changes the taste. This goes a long long way, freezes really well, and has about 40 servings. I've tossed about 1 - 1.5 tbsp. with enough whole wheat spaghetti or angel hair, yummy and fast. Since it does go such a long way, there are only 45 calories a serving :).

So if you've bought the whole wheat pita bread and have some left over and don't know what to do, never fear... Pita Chips are here!

Pita Chips (from allrecipes.com)
12 pita bread pockets
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. dried chervil
(aka 1/2 tsp. dried parsley and 1/2 tsp. tarragon)

Preheat oven to 400.
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, black pepper, garlic salt, and chervil. Brush each side with mixture, or each piece after slicing.
Cut each pita pocket into 8 triangles or slices (I like crispier chips, so I sort of butterflied each pita pocket and made 8 slices from each side, essentially getting around 16 slices from one pita pocket. I would brush each side of the disassembled pita pocket with the mixture before I sliced them into the 16 pieces). Place triangles/slices on lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if wanted.
Bake for about 7 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy. Watch closely as they tend to burn quickly.

Last but not least, a really good Weight Watchers dip. I mentioned the pita chips recipe primarily because the local markets don't carry pita chips, and I wanted to use them with my dip. So, of course, you can just buy pita chips.

Sour Cream and Roasted Red Bell Peppers Dip (weightwatchers.com)
2 tsp. cilantro
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
(or a teaspoon of minced garlic)
1/2 cup basil
16 oz. roasted red bell peppers, drained
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream

In a blender or food processor combine peppers, sour cream, basil, and garlic powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper, garnish with cilantro.
1/4 cup=serving

Life in Technicolor

2009-05-12T13:23:00.006-05:00

This past weekend was not so great and great. Saturday was not fun, with Aly making two messes that I won't describe, ruining the whole day. Sunday was Mother's Day, with Matt and the girls being wonderful. Unfortunately due to another headache we weren't able to see my mother until the afternoon, but she really seemed to like her gift of blueberry bushes :).

Lorelei has really taken on crawling, moving longer stretches each day. She learned to sit herself up this past week, and we seem to always find her sitting up in her crib now. With Aly I was always excited about the next phase in development, but I've learned with Lorelei to just enjoy every part as it happens.

Here are some pictures of Aly from this weekend. She's a strange little girl, but we love her anyway. ;)

5/09
Aly put the teething ring around her ankles and penguined around the room. It was so funny, and then she did a Marilyn Monroe pose when Daddy got the camera out. Methinks I know what she and Grandad have been watching...

Braaaiinnnnnssssss

5/10

This has been the weekend that she wanted to layer things on. Saturday she put one of Lorelei's night shirts under her dress, put another of Lorelei's shirts on her head (I was so impressed, one arm was actually through the armhole), and one of Matt's shirts on top of the whole ensemble. Sunday, as the picture below shows, she took apart their mat and made an outfit out of the letters. Just when I think I know what she's going to be when she grows up, she surprises me again. Now she's going to be fashion designer, and we're all going to be wearing puzzle/mat pieces in the future.

The Last Warrens in Mississippi

2009-05-07T10:02:00.003-05:00

Since most of the people who read this blog are Warrens, it comes to no surprise that M's parents completely moved to Texarkana last Thursday. Wes had been working over there for eight months, so quite obviously they're really happy to finally get the Clinton house sold and get settled into their new home. So, now that B and D are in Knoxville, W and Ce in Texarkana...we are the last ones here.

Most of you have quite possibly been on the receiving end of M's complaints about his job. While he enjoys the security, pay, and having weekends off, he's quite bored with it. He's always wanted to move up in retail (go figure) and be in management, and has transferred his dreams of higher Target management to Frito Lay. This past week M had a problem with his route and a client that he could not control. To keep it short, he resolved that problem in a way that impressed his boss, leading to comments that once M made his route into a positive rather than a negative, he would recommend M for promotion to District Sales Lead (I think that's the title). M said this wouldn't happen for months and months, but it's a start.

Once M gets this position, he would be transferred. I am especially excited about this, since I've been wanting to move out of Mississippi for a while. I am not trying to degrade staying in the same area you were born to, for indeed there are wonderful advantages to that; i.e. ready-made babysitters, seeing family whenever you want, having history and heritage in one place. I just have always wanted to see new places, new people... and have been feeling stuck.

It would be nice for M to get home earlier than six, and definitely nice for him to be able to take off time if he needs it.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2009-05-05T11:49:00.004-05:00

May excitement

2009-05-05T08:20:00.006-05:00

I caaaaaann't wait! Agh, so excited! I just got a shipping notification for the new Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris. I preordered this months and months ago and had mostly forgotten about it. I love this series, I've been following it since I was a sophomore in college. Go get the first book, Dead until Dark, and start reading! I promise you'll be hooked! If you don't like the HBO series True Blood, that doesn't mean you won't like the books. I think that Alan Ball just took the setting, the names of the characters, and made up his own storyline.
I also am getting to go see Wicked with the sister this July. I love Broadway shows and haven't been to one in nine years, so I'm seriously overdue. This is one I've been wanting to see for a while.

Since I posted last L has mostly learned to crawl. She kind of rocks back and forth and then hops a little, then gets up on her toes, and suddenly she's a foot further than she had been. It's the oddest crawling I've ever seen, but she still has time to master it :). She also learned to sit herself up last night, but I wasn't there to see it :(. Her word/sound of choice at the moment is 'dada', though I think she might be saying it just to say something, rather than knowing the meaning behind the deconstructed noun.

A keeps saying more and more words, making more complicated sentences, and astounding us with what she's learned. This may be normal for a two year old, but a few nights ago she counted to six (skipping four, she doesn't like four). After that the rest of the night (except when we tried to get her to do it for Grandma and Granddad) she would at least count to three when I asked her to count. Her favorite word for the past few days is "Awesome!", her favorite phrases tying at "Oh Goodness!" and "Aw, man!"

I added a video of M and A, with A saying I love you to Granddad and Grandma. Yes, that's only to two people, but if you haven't seen her in a while you can watch her be shy for once.

Speaking of videos, I was looking through the ones lately and found the one Matt had shot with the web cam when L first did her bunny crawl. I would put it up, but it's kind of long, she doesn't go as far as we were hoping, and I look like a beached whale. I avoid mirrors, but this I could not avoid. I honestly did not realize I had gotten that fat, I had become that person in the supermarket that I could relate to myself and say 'At least I'm not that big' (yep, sensitive I know). So, super weight loss time. No more excuses. Any time I'm feeling tired and don't want to cook, or want to eat the Puff corn M brings home, I'm going to watch this video. Then picture that cow walking down the aisle in a bridesmaid dress. Weight watchers and Slim in 6, here I come.

Blessed

2009-04-20T09:15:00.002-05:00

There are so many times that I focus on the negative whether I mean to or not. So many times I complain about needing time to myself, without taking in account the perks and blessings I get every day. Every day Aly surprises me with how much she's learned, how sweet and helpful she strives to be, as well as filling my life with laughter at her antics. Lorelei constantly takes my breath away with her sweet, sweet personality and gorgeous smile. They are healthy, above the average, and so much easier to handle than other children. Even the biggest concern I had while pregnant with them was pih.
One of my friends recently had a miscarriage. She was so excited, and close to 5 months. He would have been her first. I can't imagine how much pain she is in, nor do I know what to say, as I have been so completely blessed with my own family. All I can do is thank God for my girls and appreciate what they have and continue to give me.

Picture Time

2009-04-16T15:38:00.008-05:00

... yet again. I was actually going to post this last night, but L decided to be sick and not go to sleep until 12:30. :( Poor little thing, I wish I knew what was wrong.

This is from a day I forgot to upload. It was the first time A and L actively played together, rather than A trying to tickle L/move her arms in dancing motion/pull her along or L trying to pull A's hair/give her a bath in drool/use her as a teething instrument. - 4.10

A wanted to wear her extra ladybug costume from Halloween. -4.14

I finally used the gift card my grandparents gave A for her birthday to get her a present, and she loved it. She kept calling the doll 'little sister' and being so sweet. And yes, in the first picture she is trying to feed the doll Easter candy. -4.15

There are a lot of pictures coming after this. I bought L and A outfits at the same time that complimented each other a month ago (the outfit A's wearing in the Easter pictures that is not the dress), and due to total fault of my own, Lorelei's didn't get here until yesterday. **Hint: When you move, make sure you change your Paypal and Ebay addresses, or simply be observant. Either way works. Aaaaanyway, I had a 'photo session' with her (I use the term loosely, especially compared to S's photo shoots) and I have no discernment in pictures. I think they're all cute. :) -4.16
Showing off her outfit.
Both of my girls love dolls, but in slightly different ways...
Baby cleavage!
Some of the longest strings of drool ever belong to L.
"Look, it's A's little sister!" - direct quote from A

Lorelei and her attempts to crawl. She gets so frustrated, because she only scoots backward so far.
A wanted L to wear the tiara. Poor baby was getting sick even then.
This picture was taken because A brought me the camera and kept saying 'Picture!'I love it when they gain the coordination and balance to sit upright without support. It opens a whole new level of play and heh, pictures.

Britain's Got Talent

2009-04-13T21:42:00.002-05:00

I've not watched American Idol for the past 6 years, but I came across these clips and had to share them.

Youtube wouldn't let me embed this next one, so if you want to check it out, use the link.

Grandma! Grandma! Grandma! Grandma!

2009-04-13T08:39:00.036-05:00

********This is a long one. M and C took great pictures this weekend, so I've got a ton to share. Scroll at your own risk.********

This Easter we went to Clinton to spend the holiday with M's parents. M helped his parents load up/deliver some unwanted items and furniture, and we were able to go to their church for Easter. I had bought two similar outfits for A and L so we could get their pictures taken at Mynelle Gardens, but that didn't exactly work out. L's outfit still hasn't come in, and Mynelle Gardens was closed the times we hoped to go. We were able to take the girls to Clinton's Nature Center and photograph them in their Easter dresses and then in some springy outfits.

Saturday, April 11:

The first pictures of A are when C was getting ready. It was too cute, but as I doubt C wants pictures of her in her nightgown posted on the internet, I'm just showing some close-ups of A. C lets her play with brushes and makeup pads, and A imitates her. It's precious.

Sunday, April 12 (Easter):

I'm terming the girls as 'Bohemian', when really I'm just a bad mother. I kept putting off getting them Easter shoes that when our plans changed for the weekend I had no time left. A had on sandals, but they fit weird and her feet kept slipping out the back. L I had hose and decent enough shoes for, but we were in such a rush to get to church yesterday morning that I forgot about them while C was dressing her. So she went sans stockings and shoes. And yes, the outfit A is wearing other than the dress is the same as the day before.

Pretty flowers + my beautiful girls = great pictures. Don't be surprised if you get one of these printed in the mail soon.

Another thing I meant to do Saturday was get their Easter baskets together, but didn't get the chance. C to the rescue again! :)

This picture is blurry, but I think it's still pretty :).

After all this we went back to have a massive storm come through that possibly killed W and C's dryer and cable box :(. On our way back to Petal we had to drive through the storm, stopping and taking an hour longer so we wouldn't drive into a tornado. I always feel guilty for praying for a tornado/hurricane/escaped convict/rabid bunny monster to go somewhere else, knowing if my prayers are answered that someone else would get hurt. But maybe that's just me...

Project 365

2009-04-09T13:09:00.011-05:00

Since the first of the year nearly every digi-scrapbooking blog or site I frequent has mentioned 'Project 365.' I don't know if this is specifically for digi-scrappers or photographers in general, but the gist is that you take a picture each day. The scrappy part is you're supposed to scrap the week's pictures in one layout. I wasn't really interested in it, but I've decided to give the photography part a chance. I'm not going to make a point to take pictures every day, but I do want to record our everyday moments with a lot more abandon than I have had. I want to make sure that those who are going to be missing more than they'd like can watch the girls grow through these pictures.

Annnyway, these are the pictures I've taken over the past two days.
Wednesday:
(sidebar: A has started completely not wanting to take naps or go to sleep in general. Nap times and bed times have become this tug of war where she is put in bed, and over an hour(s) she will destroy her room, then try and come out. She's put back into bed and so the cycle continues.) These pictures were taken after she wanted every single stuffed animal she owns to sleep with her. She decided she wanted to wear her swimming suit to bed, and this was a picture in one of the times she SHOULD have been sleeping.

Today L had one of her first revelations with cause and effect. She played with her keyboard and piano, and had such an excited reaction when she pressed on the keys and voila! Lights and music.

Today's tummy time/attempt at crawling

Trying to eat the camera
When playtime is over, eat the evidence.

I found this today, and thought it was crazy. I haven't made up my mind if it's crazy awesome or just crazy.

Might Be Something In the Water

A New Life

One of Those

4.45 and 2.80

Defender of Men

So sayeth Mr. Darcy

The Great Big Wonderful Moselle

Nashville traffic is insane.

Trick or Treat!

Harry Potter

Discouraged

Soon

Aly's Birthday

Our Happiness

A Horse of a Different Color

Pictures

A man in the house is worth two in the street.

A Fine Frenzy - Electric Twist

Contentment R Us

A Healthy Diet

I think I can I think I can I think I can

Happy Day Day!

I'm gonna hug him and pet him and call him George!

Jewelry Frame

Bring on the Rain

The Things I Do for Love

It Almost Makes Me Wish

It's Alive!

Recent Crochet

Finally

The Little Boy Who Didn't Know That Letters Grew On Trees

Excuse Me While I Go Hide in This Corner

Another Brick in the Wall

Raindrops on Roses

Danger is My First Name

It's Beginning to Not Look Like Christmas...

Bonzaiiiiiii!

My Haircut Makes Me Look Like a Mohenjo-Daron

Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

Mentionables

Disney video

You win again, Technology.

In the Original Greek, 'tragedy' literally means 'Goat Song'

Warrens Should Be Seen and Not Heard

The Happy Hooker

Discouraged

Pull Out the Rocker

Potty Training (Might Contain TMI for Some)

Stomach is the Universe

Public Service Announcement

Squee!

Randomosity

Darn These Long Legs!

And Now For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Wake Me Up...

Eat This, Not That

Why Do I Even Try? part deux

Why Do I Even Try?

New Tim Burton movie

These Small Hours

The Future Has Arrived

Two-Step Shuffle

Milk

Missed You

P.S. Send Batteries

Grandaddy

You Give Me Fever

*Cry*

Wild Things

Recipe Time

Life in Technicolor

The Last Warrens in Mississippi

For Your Viewing Pleasure

May excitement

Blessed

Picture Time

Britain's Got Talent

Grandma! Grandma! Grandma! Grandma!

Project 365

Cry