Tuesday, February 26, 2008

100 things about us


So I've hit a mental wall in the blogging department. I don't feel like saying much. And I had some fun pictures to post, but I couldn't get all of them to post right. So I've decided to take my friends' examples of writing 100 things about our family. (I couldn't think of 100 things about just me!)



Steve
1. He can sleep anytime anyplace and through anything.
2. This is why I don't leave the kids home alone with him very often.
3. Once I came home only to find Steve asleep on the couch, with the house in shambles and Allison asleep in the hallway.
4. He likes gingersnap cookies.
5. He also likes apple crisp.
6. We've been married almost 7 years and I didn't know he liked apple crisp until last week.
7. Loves frisbee.
8. Loves frisbee.
9. Loves frisbee.
10. Did I mention he loves frisbee?
11. Also likes frisbee-golf.
12. He once lit his bed sheets on fire when he was a boy.
13. He's really handy around the house.
14. Except for plumbing issues.
15. He can flood the toilet with the best of 'em.
16. His favorite store is The Home Depot.
17. He is obsessed with yard work.
18. He was really disappointed this past week when he had vacation and it snowed all week and he couldn't trim the hedges.
19. He is crazy about our two daughters.
20. He is really good at painting our 2 girls' toenails with pretty colors.
21. He does a good job with their toenails because he's got the "steady surgeon's hand."
22. If he had it his way he would still be wearing the same Levi’s and t-shirts he has had since he was 15.
23. He was fun to have around this past week on his vacation.
24. He grills a mean hamburger.
25. I love him very much.



Jamie
26. I can't sleep through anything.
27. Except when I'm at anything with church. Without my kids. THEN I fall asleep quickly.
28. Number 27 hasn't happened in a really LONG time.
29. I really need a haircut, but don't want to actually make the call.
30. I put off doing a lot of things, because I don't like making appointments on the phone.
31. My husband thinks that my blueberry cheesecake is to die for.
32. I've never made blueberry cheesecake.
33. I think this might be the source of some future contention.
34. Steve recently taught me a little about baking.
35. I'd never made anything requiring yeast.
36. That's not quite true. I did make a batch of rolls for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago that were a complete flop.
37. Steve taught me how to make scones.
38. Now I want to try all sorts of baking.
39. Baking does not help my goal of losing the rest of my baby weight before Lindsay is one.
40. Man, I really need to get moving on that goal. It's only 3 months away!
41. I've really enjoyed having my husband around this week.
42. I'm not exactly sure how we are going to make it through the next 4 months. His work schedule is going to be bad. REALLY bad.
43. I'm so excited for my mom to come visit in a few weeks. I've already got projects and fun stuff picked out for us to do while she is here.
44. I enjoy listening to classical music.
45. Steve introduced me to the wonderful world of NPR this last week.
46. We enjoyed an overnight trip to Indianapolis a few days ago.
47. I didn't realize how much I needed to get away from my messy house. It was lovely.
48. I think we had to stop 6 times for Allison to go to the bathroom in between Indianapolis and our house.
49. It's only 100 miles away.
50. We finally wised up and told her to hold it. Which brings me to the princess:



Allison
51. She is a very sound sleeper.
52. She gets this from her daddy.
53. Because she is such a sound sleeper, I think she may have to be in nighttime diapers until she is 18.
54. Allie got into my make-up today. She was very pretty with her red lips and mascara eyes.
55. She was pretty proud of herself.
56. She does this about once a week.
57. Two year olds have poor impulse control.
58. This is the mantra that I have to repeat over and over in my head.
59. Our little girl is quite the girlie-girl.
60. She loves to dance.
61. When we went to our "Christmas Ball" in December, Allison was WAY more excited about it than we were.
62. She told me the next day that we went to the ball to "dance and dance and dance"
63. I have a great video that I would love to post of Allison dancing with her "prince," but our internet is too slow to download it and get it to post.
64. We really need to get a new internet provider. I don't think our internet qualifies as "high-speed" any more.
65. Allison also has some mad soccer skills.
66. She has her daddy's cheerful temperament mostly, with a little of my flair for emotional meltdowns.
67. Maybe the second part of that is just being a girl.
68. Allie is a pretty smart cookie.
69. Allie really likes cookies
70. She will not eat vegetables, but she recently decided that she really likes raw spinach dipped in Italian dressing.
71. Spinach?????
72. I'm hoping that the other vegetables are not far behind.
73. Allie is a very social child. She love, love, LOVES playing with her friends.
74. She has been very stir-crazy this week. Sunday afternoon I found her putting her coat and boots. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "we go now." When asked where she was going she would only repeat "we go now" over and over. I think she was telling me that she wanted to get out of the house.
75. We went for a drive. Within 5 minutes of leaving the house, she was sound asleep.



Lindsay
76. Lindsay also inherited Steve's cheerful temperament.
77. But when she's unhappy she can SCREAM.
78. She's mostly just unhappy before bedtime.
79. Steve doesn't get to see her during the day ever. This week he keeps saying, "I can't believe how happy she is. She is such a happy girl." It makes me want to smack him upside the head. I've been telling him this for MONTHS.
80. Lindsay loves drinking from a bottle. And she is totally weaned. Finally!
81. She gets so excited whenever I get a bottle out. Her arms and legs get going so fast that they are practically a blur.
83. I don't know much about buying formula. Is buying the generic brand okay?
84. Because it's a heck have a lot cheaper than the name brand stuff.
85. Since Lindsay has started taking a bottle she doesn't seem to care much for baby food. She seems to want real food more.
86. She is getting pretty fat.
87. I just want to pinch her little cheeks all the time.
88. Speaking of cheeks, her other little cheeks are sure cute.
89. Lindsay always has her mouth open.
90. I thought it was a phase, but when I look back through the last few months’ pictures, I'm hard pressed to find one without her mouth open or her tongue out.
91. She is finally rolling over.
92. I think she might actually start crawling in the next few weeks. She's started scooting backwards in the last few days.
93. I'm sure glad I didn't try and think of 100 things about me. It's much easier to think of things about someone else.
94. Sorry if we are boring anyone.
95. Is anyone still reading?
96. John, are you still there?
97. John? John? I think he's gone.
98. My brother-in-law has a short attention span for reading emails and blogs.
99. At least my mom is still reading.
100. Right?

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Her First Exhibition

Allison has recently become quite the little photographer. Every couple days, when I pick up my camera, I find some new example of her creative genius. I thought that it would be nice to share her talent with the rest of the world. Mind you, I had to be very selective about which photos to display. Her portfolio is quite extensive.

Her first few pictures are a series of self-portraits.

Flash


(Wow, that mirror is dirty. Excuse me while I go and find some Windex.)
Nose



Lips



The next few pictures are some views from her view.

This picture is simply entitled "Couch." It should be noted that she took this picture before she decided to pour a bottle of bright orange acrylic paint on the couch. Let's just say that her creative genius was NOT fully appreciated that night.


Couch


The final picture in her collection is the view of the one of her favorite toys.

Cinderella



I post these especially because our little Ansel Adams has taken a recent interest in the internet. The other day I found Allie playing with the computer. When I asked her what she was doing, she simply looked at me and said "Mommy, I bwogging."

Humph.

The last picture that I post, I post for Valentine's Day. I think that this picture pretty much sums up my mushy, soggy feelings about this lovey-dovey day. I put Lindsay to bed tonight and she cried and cried and cried. Finally, I got her up and held her for a few minutes. I noticed a strange fruity odor coming from her diaper area, so I decided to change her diaper. This is what I found:



Yep, nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like a couple of candy hearts stuck to your bum.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Inside Out

In the small town I grew up in, there was a strange fad that broke out about the time that I was in high school. It was very popular to wear your sweatshirt inside out. You know, with the tags hanging out and the seams showing. I'm not really sure that this was a widespread phenomenon (my hometown was a little backward), but it was definitely a weird one.

Where am I going with this, you ask? I was leaving Target after my weekly excursion, when I tried to put my keys in the pocket of my hooded jacket. I soon realized that I had no pocket. I had put my jacket on inside out. Good job, crazy lady.

I'm wondering if I am going to start a new trend. Isn't that how trends start--with a 30ish mother of two kids wearing stained sweats and no make-up. We'll see . . .

On a different note, I just wanted to share that Lindsay took her first bottle tonight. I WILL have her weaned by the end of the month. Hello freedom, here I come!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Average

The older I get, the more I realize that I am just average. I'm not spectacular at anything. I don't have any amazing abilities or talents. I'm pretty good at some things, and pretty bad at some things, but most of all I just fall into the middle ground.

Usually I'm okay with being middle of the ground. Usually I'm happy with my small circle of influence. This past week, however, I started thinking about how nice it would be to be FANTASTIC at something. Wouldn't it be great to be able to paint beautiful art, or play uplifting music, or be an awesome soccer player? If I'm honest with myself, I realize that I am far too lazy to cultivate what little talent I have to become that inspiring person. I guess I just have to be happy with my little talents and making the little differences in my own little world.

So how do you feel about being ordinary? Are YOU okay with it? Or maybe you don't fall in the "ordinary" category. In that case, what is it like to be you, Mr. Extraordinary Person?