my words to live by

On this eve of the new year and decade, I'm offering to you some of my mantras to digest. I'll admit that I don't always follow through, but I aspire to carry these over into all the relationships in my life.


1. BE A FRIEND A FRIEND WOULD LIKE TO HAVE-
This comes from a Tim McGraw song called "Live Like You Were Dying," and really hit me the first time I heard it a few years ago. To me, it means making the effort to follow through on an email, phone call, dinner meeeting, or whatever. It also means going beyond to help a friend in need. This one is really important to me.

2. TAKE THE TIME TO LET SOMEONE KNOW THAT THEY'VE DONE THE JOB WELL-
How often are you willing to take the time to let a supervisor know when you've been dissatisfied by the service or treatment you've received? If you're like me, you probably don't keep quiet when you've been wronged by a service provider. Nor should you. But let me ask you this...when was the last time you took the time to let a supervisor know when you received OUTSTANDING service? You know what I mean...that guy at Starbuck's who gets your coffee ready for you as soon he sees you walk in? Or the guy behind the cheese counter who takes the time to give you tastes of 7 different cheeses in order to find the perfect one for your dinner party? Of the physical therapist who ROCKS and got you back in tip top shape faster than anticipated? You know how you feel when your boss tells you that you've exceeded expectations? Well, PASS IT ON!!!

3. BE PRESENT-
This is my parenting mantra, and I honestly remind myself of it multiple times per week. To me, it means not being glued to the TV, my phone, or my chores (and I STINK at that last one) when I'm playing with Emerson. When I'm with her, I need to be WITH HER, and give her the attention that I would want. I honestly think this is the single most important thing I can give her, and I continue to work at it all the time. Now, this does not mean that I don't try to get things done around here during the day, but when I'm playing with her, I strive to give her my full attention.

4. DEAR GOD, PLEASE GIVE ME THE QUIET IN MY HEART TO HEAR YOUR WORDS AND THE PATIENCE AND GRACE TO LIVE YOUR WILL-
I spent a lot of time thinking on this one over the summer, and created this little prayer to remind myself that I need to let go of the reigns and allow God's will to be done in my life. And remember that sometimes, God's timetable is a bit different than mine.

Here's to a happy, healthy 2010! Happy New Year, everyone!
a.

Our Christmas card

Make a Smilebox greeting

This year, we're not going to be sending out traditional Christmas cards. But I still wanted to share Christmas Greetings with you! Merry Christmas from the Girlings. Thanks for reading the blog!

scenes from a smoothie

Last week, Herself decided that she wanted a smoothie for her afternoon snack. Do you think she enjoyed it?

musings from a frigid day

Since the "real-feel" temp never got above zero here today, we were home bound. And that makes for a looong day. But Emerson was full of giggles today, and having a friend over to play definitely broke up the monotony. Here's some thoughts that popped into my mind today...

*When the recipe for homemade playdough says it'll keep in an airtight container for several months, that does not mean 8+ months. Guess I'll be making a new batch tomorrow.

*I hate that while Emerson is looking at playtime as a fun adventure, I'm looking at it from the perspective of how much mess I'll be cleaning up. I really need to lighten up on that one.

*Vacuuming inside the closet while the cat is sleeping there can lead to a heart attack on 2 counts...the cat and the vacuumer, who pert near got run over as said cat fled to safety.

*This pregnancy has seemingly ruined salmon for me. It just does not taste good anymore, and I'm sure even after I deliver, I'll remember this odd-taste. Bummer, 'cuz I used to like salmon.

*I'm sad that all day, I looked forward to cleaning the kitchen. Again, I really need to lighten up.

*Being home bound has it's advantages...the house is vacuumed, the sink is scrubbed, the kitchen is clean, and I did 5 loads of laundry. AND I got lots of playtime with my little girlfriend.

*One of my biggest accomplishments of the day was that Emerson only watched one 1/2 hour episode of TV ALL DAY!!! You don't know how tempted I was to just turn it on all afternoon...

*I {may} explode from heartburn any day now. I woke up @ 3am to a volcanic eruption in my chest. I H.A.T.E heartburn.

*After spending time with a friend with a 2 year-old and an infant, I realize that I'm completely unprepared to have 2 kids. Oh Lord, please give me strength. (And give some to Shanna while you're at it, Lord. Or sleep...I know she'd appreciate that.)

*I'm really enjoying Christmas carols this year. And yes, they're Christmas carols. Not Hanukkah songs or Kwanzaa carols. Deal with it.

*It's really funny to me that Emerson is now old enough to actually play WITH a friend, as opposed to parallel playing. She kept saying things like "Come on, Greta. Let's go to the jungle," or "Let's go to the mall" (both of which involve walking ad naseum around the dining room table, by the way) And bless Greta's little heart, she'd do as Emerson commanded. Em loved being "the leader."

*One of my favorite moments of the day came when I had a tea party with two 2 year-olds, and a stuffed penguin, polar bear, and moose. It really is the simple things in life. Moments like that make me count my blessings that I get to stay home with my little girl.

Stay safe and warm tonite.

some pics

Here are some Project 365 pics of late.Jeff's dad has given us a number of Egyptian ornaments over the years, and we like to hang them from our dining room light fixture.

This is one of my faves of the season. Em and Grammy playing with the train. Pure bliss, on both parts.

We usually put up our tree over Thanksgiving weekend. This was the first year that Emerson helped out. Her attention span wasn't the longest, but it was wonderful to decorate the tree as a family.


Jeff came up with an impromptu project on Saturday night. Who doesn't love a giant piece of paper, stickers, markers, and fuzzy pompom balls? We worked on our family tree and hung it proudly on the front door.

Another Christmas tradition that Emerson was able to partake in...The Charlie Brown Christmas special. I'll admit that she didn't love it (I mean, there was no Mickey Mouse involved), but still.

So we were at the mall today, and Emerson had a little treat from the candy store. It left her mouth quite blue, and I caught her hamming it up in the mirror. This was one of those numerous moments this year when I was so glad that I had my camera with me.

That's about all from here. Hope you're not buried under 4o feet of snow wherever you are.

is this normal?

In the last few months, we've definitely observed the development of Emerson's imagination. To see her creativity develop, literally before our eyes, has been tremendously cool for us. And as much as people say that television is a negative for young children, I have to say that it's been instrumental in helping her think imaginatively. She frequently reenacts scenes from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her stuffed animals {aka: buddies}, and I just don't seen anything wrong with that. So I mostly share the rest of this post in mock horror. But, do all 2 year-olds do this?

During the last week, she's taken it to a whole new level. Her favorite musicians are Laurie Berkner and her band, and there happens to be 3 members: Laurie, Susie, and Adam. She's declared that she is Laurie, I am Susie, and Jeff is Adam. She calls us by these names, and speaks about herself in the 4th person (??). For example, "Laurie is eating cereal for breakfast." Or "Laurie's Grammy has a vacuum in the closet." She even woke from a nap last week and called our for me by saying "Mam...Susie- I'm awake!"

This week, she's shifted to another of her favorite TV shows...Jack's Big Music Show. Another show with 3 main characters: Jack, Mary, and Mel. Jeff=Jack, I am Mary, and Emerson is Mel. And sometimes, she's working double duty, saying things like "Adam is Jack." It's all in fun, and she loves it, so it must be good for her, right?

this one is for adri

You know what happens when the boys eat blueberries? Well, the same thing happens when Emerson eats Kiwi. And yet, I continue to feed it to her, oh, 3 times a week. It's one of only a handful of green things that she'll eat these days. That, and peas. I'm open to other suggestions...

3 epic things

Well, admittedly not likely epic to you out there in cyberspace, but pretty darn epic around here to this Mama.

1. We went to a friend's house on Friday night to hang out before walking to town for the holiday festivities. After the requesite 2 minutes of shyness, both girls (aged 2) walked into the playroom, where they proceeded to play for about 15 minutes. Without us. By themselves. Happily. I was even able to drink a hot cocoa without sharing.

WHAT!?!?!?!?!

2. My daughter chose to play alone in the basement today while I put the groceries away. She knew I wouldn't be down there with her, but chose to go anyway. Alone. Happily.

HUH!?!?!

3. My almost-28-month-old daughter, who already sports size 3T, no longer needs the cuffs of her jeans rolled up because her legs are that long.

Dude.

What goes ON around here???

it's the holiday season...

We are having the best time this weekend. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

some november pics

Howdy all! I know it's a busy week and many of you are hitting the road to be with family and friends this week. Safe travels to everyone, and a very happy Thanksgiving!

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks...can you believe that it's 11-24-09 ALREADY!?!?!

My man has been jonesing for a quiet Sunday morning coffee, so we stopped at a favorite local place that is across the street from our church last week. He was in a state of pure bliss.

Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa came in for a visit. We decided to head to town to check out the Christmas parade. Emerson was enthralled with the lights, sounds, crowds, and general hustle and bustle. We were able to see a beautiful Christmas train display as well as the parade. She did a great job waiting for the parade, and was such a trooper given that both dinner and bedtime were much later than usual.

She did not, however, love her hat. Too bad, because I think it's really stinkin' cute. We spent a good deal of time in this pose as we waited for the parade to start.
For a while, I forgot to watch the floats...I was focused in on watching it through her enchanted eyes. She was captivated by the lights and music. Christmas really is magical through the eyes of a child.

deuce is rockin' and rollin'

So kid #2 has been busy growing these last 5 months (I'll be 6 months on Tuesday!?!?!?!?), and he (and I use that descriptor loosely) is finally big enough to be seen and felt from the outside. While Emerson had major in-utero stage fright any time someone would try to feel her kick, this one put on quite a show for Jeff last night. As the pregnant person, I feel a teensie bit of guilt when I can feel the baby move and he can't, but those days are over for us. Deuce's activity can even been seen from the outside now. So cool. I'm really excited to meet this little person come March!

And on a side note, I know that I've been MIA this week. To be truthful, I have been trying to get over the heartbreaking loss that the Hawkeyes suffered at the hands of Ohio State last weekend. I REALLY hate Ohio State. Really, really, really. How's that for a bit of holiday cheer?

;)

i am so stinkin' excited...

My Iowa Hawkeyes have a HUGE game today against Ohio State. It's an uphill battle, for sure, as our starting QB was injured last week and won't be playing. Instead, we're starting a 19 year-old kid who is as green as they come. But our defense is amazing, and these boys are fired up. You see, the winner of this game wins the Big 10 conference and gets the ultimate prize: a trip to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on New Year's Day. There's a reason that the Rose Bowl is called the "Grandaddy of them all." It's a huge honor to play there. And it's just within our grasp.

60 minutes of football today, boys. You can do it. You HAVE to do it, for the seniors, for Ricky Stanzi, for the fans, for all of the Hawk Nation.

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!

one more thought about stoplights

I had an idea about a follow-up activity for the stoplight project. Remember the game "Red light, Green light?" Well, you could make some props to use when playing with your little one that would reinforce the color concepts as well as the vocabulary words fast, slow, and stop. Just take some paint (or markers or crayons or whatever you have available), paint some paper plates, mount them on sticks (I was thinking about the scores of paint sticks that we have collected in the basement, but a ruler would work too), and voila`, a game is born.

Of course, I haven't actually done this yet. But it's in my mind for something to do. I don't know about you, but my kiddo LOVES to run, and since we're spending more and more time indoors, it's a great way to burn off some energy.

Happy weekend, everyone~

she's crafty

So lately, I've been a bizarre combination of Mr. Rogers and Martha Stewart. I feel like we're spending all of our free time doing crafts or baking. Take an early "nesting phase" and combine it with cool weather and grey skies, and BOOM! That explains it.

Yesterday, we baked cranberry orange bread. It has been one of my faves since I was little, and my mom always made it at Christmas time. But since I'm the mom now, I get to decide when we bake it, and since I was craving a bit of tangy goodness, voila... a bread was born. I don't have any pics since it's hard to monitor a busy toddler, measure ingredients, and play Annie Liebovitz all at the same time. But Emerson was the best listener that she's ever been while baking. She stayed interested the whole time, and was pretty good about keeping her fingers out of the bowl. She did manage to stick her hand into the box of baking power for a taste before I could stop her, but I think she learned a valuable lesson there ;)

Now, onto the crafts. Today, we made a mosaic stoplight. When we're out and about, I've showed her the stoplights and talked about what the different colors mean. She even pushed her doll stroller around and periodically waits "her turn" for a green light. So she gets the concept. I thought it would be fun to reinforce it with a concrete example. Plus, she worked her fine motor skills picking up all the little bits of paper to glue on, as well as maneuvering the glue stick. First we sorted the little bits of paper into piles based on color. (There's that sorting again...I love it!)

Then we glued on the mosaic papers to the colored circles. Lastly, we glued the "lights" onto the black paper.

You may remember our leaf sorting activity from last week. Well, yesterday we used some of those leaves for a turkey craft. We practiced shapes as we put the beak, eyes, legs, and feet on our circle head and oval body. {I didn't know what to say about the gobbler-thingy, other than it's a squiggle.} Last week, we had our friend Greta over to play. The girls busied themselves with a texture collage project. We talked about smooth, hard, soft, squishy, and crinkly as they added objects to their collages. It was amazing how quiet they got as they concentrated on gluing the items down.

Here's a few others that we've done recently:

We made an acorn using dried oats and Grape Nuts cereal. Then we looked for squirrels outside and talked about how they find nuts.

I love this cute Frankenstein that we made the week of Halloween. He's still on our kitchen table. We just can't bear to part with him.

Here's a peek at our "gallery." She's so proud of all of her projects!

I can't take credit for the vast majority of these. There's a link to a blog called "No Time for Flashcards" on the left side of this blog. She's the brain behind most of what we do (although the turkey was my brainchild, thank you very much :) If you have young ones in your care, check it out!

Make it a crafty week~

super-cute picture of the day

I just love this picture of Emerson and Jeff from this afternoon. Hope you do too~

Make it a terrific week, everyone~

dodging a bullet?

Rewind a few days to Wednesday afternoon. I was able to get an intramuscular H1N1 shot, since I'm on the high priority list as a pregnant woman. The good news is that I've had the vaccine. The bad news is that it takes about 2 weeks to take effect. So I'm still not "safe."

Fast forward to last night. After a fun dinner at the golf club with Grammy & Grandpa and some good friends, we came home to get ready for bed. Emerson had a grand old time at dinner, and was laughing, chatting, singing, and generally in a terrific mood. But at bedtime, she felt a bit warm to me. Temp was only 99.4, but it made me nervous. Any doctor will tell you that no-one has the "regular" flu right now, so my immediate concern was H1N1. I checked her temp throughout the nite, and by 2am, it was over 101. We cleared our schedule for the day and hoped for the best, but were not overly optimistic.

She woke this morning about an hour and half later than usual, and was in a horrendous mood. Didn't want to play, wasn't singing or even walking around. She just wanted to lay in our bed and read books. But after a little breakfast, she perked up. She had no fever, but we were still assuming that she had H1N1. By mid-morning, still no fever. After lunch, still no fever. In fact, she's been fever free all day. She has, however been sneezing up a storm and is in full booger-factory mode. We've been blowing her nose all day. Our assessment? She's prone to sinus-type issues, and I think that's what is going on here. She's really stuffy and congested, which is in direct contrast with what the doctor told me to be looking for with H1N1. And her energy has been right on target with usual...she even wanted to play soccer outside this afternoon.

Seems like we've dodged a major bullet. Keeping our fingers crossed on this one.

And in other news, I'd like to have a moment of silence for the Hawkeyes season-of-a-lifetime. They put up a good fight, and losing Stanzi was not the way we wanted to go down. 9-0 was fun, and amazing. Chins up, Hawks. Let's just go out and nail it next week.

fall learning activity

Today, I had a good idea. We were outside (Praise God, the rain has finally let up and it is beautiful here today), playing in the leaves when we started collecting some pretty ones to use in upcoming projects. Emerson helped me find some interesting ones, and we brought them inside. My plan is to make a turkey using leaves for the tail feathers, as well as use some in a texture collage. But, it occurred to me that I didn't need to wait to do crafts to benefit from our haul. We did a color sort using the leaves! Sorting is a great activity for toddlers, as it stimulates their mathematical thinking (see, that's the teacher in me coming out). Plus, it reinforced her concept of colors with real-world examples that are not always as clear-cut as a box of Crayolas. Translation: she had to actually think about where to put some of them. She loved it! Here's the proof...

my days of waking in daylight hours have come to an end

At 5:05 this morning, I was treated to the harmonious sounds of my darling Emerson singing her arrival into the day. 6:05 would have been really early for her, but given the time change, it was really, really early.

Good thing she's so darn cute.

a recipe for you

I feel compelled to preface this recipe by telling you that I can cook. In fact, I love to cook. I can make lasagna, cheesecake, chicken saltimboca. I make stir fry from scratch and NEVER buy bottled pasta sauce...I always make my own (my Mom taught me that!) I have an herb garden, year-round. I've hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas at my house. I can even make a souffle. I really can cook. Okay? Are you convinced?

The reason I mention all of this is because of the recipe I'm going to share. It's one of our favorites, but it's so stinkin' cheesy. I got it from an online scrapbooking message board that I used to frequent several years ago. There's nothing fancy, and it even calls for a box of cake mix. But trust me, it's so yummy!!! So here's to good eats. As Julia would say, Bon Appetit!

PUMPKIN CRUNCH CAKE
1 box yellow cake mix (w/0 pudding in the mix)
1 large can pumpkin (28 oz or so)
1 can evaporated milk (10 or 12 oz)
3 eggs
1 cup butter (HOW CAN THIS NOT BE GOOD?!?!?!)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (I used roasted, salted pecans)

I also add some ginger, cloves, nutmeg.... the usual pumpkin pie spices.

Melt butter and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, and spices. Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Pour pumpkin mixture into pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix on top. Pat down and sprinkle with nuts. Drizzle the butter over the top. Bake at 350 for one hour. Let stand for at least 10 minutes to set before turning out onto a platter. Let stand 2 hours or refrigerate before serving. Peel foil and slice.

Mmmmmm...

it fills me with dread OR "fall behind"

Ah yes. In high school, it meant one more hour of sleep. In college, it meant we had one more hour at the bars. But as a parent, it means only one thing: my child is going to start waking before 6 am. I maintain that the person who thought up daylight savings did not have a toddler.

Last year, the time change was disastrous for us. See my post from last year. It did not go very well. She regularly woke up at 5:15, 5:30, and on-the-joy-of-sleeping-in...6:00 am. Ugh. This year, I'm taking a more proactive approach. Starting last Sunday nite, I've been putting her to bed a few minutes early. As of tonite (partially because she blew off her nap today), she went down 1/2 hour early. We're going to keep this up until the time changes on Saturday nite. Then next week, she'll go to bed a bit later than the regular time (which will ultimately be the same time as this week...get it?) until she's back to her regular 8:00 pm bedtime.

Piece of cake, right?

i heart fall!

Fall is my favorite season of the year. The pumpkins, the leaves, college football, crisp weather, yummy treats, Halloween, Thanksgiving...the list goes on and on. So I tend to go a bit overboard, trying to cram as much into the season as possible. Wanna see?

Emerson has her own tiny rake and was excited to have the chance to use it. She's Papa's helper girl.

This year, Em was old enough to be mildly interested in pumpkin carving.

Here is our finished Jack-o-Lantern, before the squirrels ate his nose and mouth off.
We had a Halloween party at Gymboree on Friday nite, and Emerson debuted her M&M costume. Unfortunately, my camera was not cooperating and this is the best picture that I got.

We went to this pumpkin patch last year (it's the one my parents used to take me to as well), and had our picture taken by the scarecrow. This year, we're 3 feet tall!

She was so proud of herself when she was able to carry this heavy pumpkin.

I love this picture of the 3 of us at a local park. Jeff came up with the idea and we used the self-timer on the camera to get the shot. Too bad Emerson looks so tiny though.

Happy fall, everyone!

have you heard?

The Iowa Hawkeyes are 8-0!!!! It's great to be a Hawkeye!!!!!

sneek peak

We had a trial run last nite in the M&M costume. Here's a preview....

{Emerson is shouting "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" in the picture.}

Not too shabby, huh? And you thought we couldn't pull it off ;)

i get by with a little help from my mom...

So, last week, I told you that my mom was a Godsend in helping me keep Emerson entertained while I tried not to let me head explode. Thanks, Ma.

Throughout my whole life, I've concocted elaborate plans that I don't have the skills, patience, or resources to complete. And who do you think has been my bail-out for said projects? You guessed it. My mom. So when I decided to sew Emerson's Halloween costume this year (mind you, I don't own a sewing machine nor do I know how to use one), who do you think I envisioned as my helper? Enter my mom.

She was happy to come along to the fabric store, indulged my "vision" of what this costume would look like, didn't balk when I insisted to create it without a pattern, and even went on a recon mission of her own, surreptitiously taking pictures of patterns at Hobby Lobby with her phone. And after a few hours of debating over the proper size for a head opening, giggling at the cat who insisted on sitting on the project at all times, and teaching me about the basics of using a Singer, we DID it.

Here are a few pictures from along our journey. I apologize that they're all out of order...Blogger is not cooperating with me and I don't have the time to figure out why.

You'll have to wait for the weekend to see Emerson in full M&M regalia as we have a costume party coming up.

i am still alive

For the last week, I've been fighting a sinus infection. Being that I'm preggers, I was leery about taking antibiotics. And by Sunday, I was definitely on the mend. But I woke up in the middle of the night Monday with the most excruciating pain that I've ever experienced, childbirth included. My whole left cheek was pulsing, throbbing, stabbing. I chalked it up to a full sinus, hoped that shifting position would help, flushed it with the Neti Pot, and waited. And waited. By 10:00 am, I was literally nauseous from the pain, and caved and called the doc. When I went in, I was hoping that they would be able to give me a shot or something to ease the pain. Unfortunately, nothing is safe for pregnant moms, so they told me to take warm showers and wait it out. It seems that my sinus cavity is pressing on a nerve in my cheek. No wonder it hurt!Yesterday, the pain went from a 10 down to a 5, which was HUGE, but I was still in pretty bad shape. Today was much better, and although it still hurts a bit, I'm a totally new person. This brought a whole new meaning to the expression "mind-numbing pain."

Thank the Lord that my parents are close by, and were able to help me with Emerson. The little girl has had a fun week, regardless of the fact that Mama was out of commission.

Couple that with the fact that I have LITERALLY spent every moment that Emerson is sleeping working on training for my new job, and that's why I've been an absentee blogger.

Hope you've had a better week~

a real friend

Know what a makes a real friend? You can show up at their house with a wicked sinus infection, no makeup, hair undone, and your own box of kleenix, and the welcome you in with open arms.

I am so blessed.

how 'bout some pictures?

I've been up to my ears in training for my new gig lately, and literally have no spare time anymore. I'll tell you more about it soon.

Anyways, here are a few pics for your viewing enjoyment.

This is just silliness, but I couldn't resist.

A few weeks ago, we were cooped up during the rain when Emerson asked to play outside. After thinking for a minute, I thought "why not?" We have the gear. So we suited up and went out for a wagon ride in the rain. Needless to say, we received a few strange looks and snickers, but we had fun and that's all that matters.

We spent a day in the city, and she was mesmerized but the sheer size of it all.

We took her to her first bakery, and she could hardly speak from excitement. We let her pick whichever cookie she wanted, thinking she'd go for one of the big, frosted balls or smiley faces. But she chose a small, simple butter cookie with sprinkles. Pure bliss for this sweet-toothed girl.

Hope you're having a good week.