Monday, January 10, 2011

Six months!

Dear Baby Clare Bear,

How did you get to be six months old? It seems like just yesterday you were determined to claw your way out of me in less than ten minutes. It's ok, Baby Girl, you're so dang sweet I've already forgiven you for it.

And when I say,so dang sweet, I really mean the sweetest, happiest, most charming baby I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Man, I love you so much it's nearly beyond comprehension.

You're everything your brother wasn't at your age. You're mellow (among a dozen other nicknames, we frequently call you Mellow Yellow), and happy and perfectly content to just sit and watch the rest of us do our thing. You almost never fuss and when you do it's easily remedied with a diaper change, a nap or a snack. Where Conor's eyes were dark brown at six months, yours are bright blue and we can't go out in public without having people comment on how pretty they are.

And you're quiet. In fact, on several occasions I've had a moment of panic thinking I've left you somewhere. I haven't yet but maybe you could squeak every now and then to put my mind at ease.

Oh, you're just everything I could have hoped my little girl would be and I love you so, so, so much I can hardly stand it.

Keep on growing Little Bit, keep on growing.

Love,

Mama


Sunday, January 9, 2011

50 things

AFter being inspired by this post from Niki I decided that I too would declutter 50 items from my home.  I was a little daunted by the thought of getting rid of 50 whole items but once I got started-WOW!  I could have kept going all day.


1. An expired discount card from Jiffy Lube
2. An old comb
3. A stack of envelopes whose cards have long since been sent
4. A ziploc full of broken watch parts
5. Shadow boxes that I received as a shower gift but never hung
6. 5 year old dog treats
7. 16 cookbooks
8. two candles
9. A 10 foot long telephone cord
10. A dead bamboo plant and pot
11. flower seeds
12. nuts, bolts, other assorted junk drawer paraphenilia
13. knobs to Conor's homemade changing table that we never put on and that was given away more than two years ago
14. 2010 advent calendar
15. magazine clippings with great ideas that i will never implement
16. mostly used sticky note pads
17. pens
18. pencils
19. spent hi-lighters
20. breath mints
21. an apron that I've never worn
22. three homemade cans of salmon that I've had for over a year and never eaten
23. A cardboard popcorn box that held only a few packets of popcorn
24. A dog toothbrush
25. 2 finger thing-ys that you use to brush your dog's teeth (we take Tucker to the vet to have his teeth cleaned)
26. A receipt for a pair of shoes that I plan on keeping
27. Expired coupons
29. a thing for bubble blowing
30. lighters
31. Eductional materials that conor is too young for and that I will forget about when he gets old enough
32. an old blush brush that Conor occasionally uses as a microphone but most often ends up under the couch
33. window clings
34. A souvenier pencil
35. A dog nail file
36. a single used ear plug - disgusting
37. OSU coasters
38. UO coasters
39. Old Weight Watchers materials that are no longer useful as the program has been revamped
40. A tape cassette adapter for my ipod
41. A candle shaped like a mini ear of corn
42. wine corks for a cork board that has already been completed
43. a cleaning cloth for sunglasses
44. A golf tee
45. An empty bottle of hand sanitizer
46. A food scraper for the George Foreman Grill we no longer own
47. A bunch of plastic utensils that I have been collecting but not using
48. An extra corkscrew
49. A votive candle
50. A jar of unused relish


The great thing about throwing out or donating these items is that I already feel so much lighter.  I have cabinets with space in them, drawers with room for the next round of junk.  FEeling inspired by my 50 things I went through my bookshelf and was able to weed out what must have been 15 books that I borrowed from other people over the last two years.

Inevitably I will acquire more useless junk over the course of this year, but now, at the beginning of January, it feels so good to be a little bit lighter.



Friday, January 7, 2011

Conor and Finley

My name is Conor.  I think listening is for chumps.

My name is Finley.  I'm so cute even I can hardly stand it.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Into the New Year

The new year has brought some exciting changes and improvements around here.  But first, let's backtrack to Christmas.

This was hte firs year that Conor really "got" Christmas. And all I can say is So. Much. Fun.  Wow!  Christmas really takes on a whole new meaning when you see it through the eyes of your child.  Every strand of outdoor Christmas lights is reason to pull the car over and ooh and ahh. Every Christmas tree is the most beautiful one he's ever seen.  Every man with a beard or a Santa hat is the big guy himself.  In fact, on Christmas Eve Conor got a special call from Santa himself.  He was having a bit of a hard day and,well, Santa just happened to notice and thought a call was warranted.  Strange how Santa's voice was vaguely familiar...

But the best thing about this particular Christmas was a certain trade Conor had to make with Santa in order to get presents.  His pacifier.  Or passie as it's called around these parts.  We've known for quite some time that it was time for conor to give it up but his dentist assured us that most kids naturally give them up around 3.  Well, Conor didn't seem even slightly motivated so an intervention was in order.  So great that Santa was able to do our dirty work for us. 

Conor left his passie out along with the cookies for Santa and, while Christmas Eve and the next couple nights were a challenge, by New Year's Eve he was completely fine without it.  What a great kid.  As usual, we could have taken it away much earlier if we had given him more credit to handle it.

Now!  On to potty training...

As for Finley, my little nap champion/night time not-quite-a-champion has continued with her excellent nap time habits (2 two hour naps, plus 1 short cat nap in the evening) and added the wonderful bonus of 8 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep over night.  Now, because I don't happen to go to bed at 7:30 (although, if I'm being honest, I would if I could) I don't yet get a full 8 hours but I'm up to a good solid 6 so I'm pretty happy about that.

Finally, most of our sleep issues have been resolved.  Now that I've thoroughly jinxed myself, I'm sure I'll be awake all night long.

In other new year news, I've decided that I can no longer wish away any extra weight I'm carrying around.  In the past, if I noticed that I was gaining a few pounds I would sort of pay attention to what I was eating, maybe throw in a workout here and there and presto!  Extra pounds gone. No more, my friends, no more.  (I know, I know, cry me a river, right?)  As of New Year's day, I'm attempting to learn how to eat in such as way that I feel full and also lose weight.  Is that even possible?  I'm on day 4 and I've been eating really well and staying on track nicely however I've been freaking HUNGRY all the time!  Is this how it's supposed to work?

I entered a Biggest Loser style weight loss competition and hopefully the weekly weigh ins combined with the potential to win $700 combined with the possibilty of a very public fat-shaming will keep me accountable.  In addition, as a Christmas present I received a membership to Foot Traffic University which will help me to train for the Foot Traffic Flat Half Marathon on 4th of July.  Again, the accountability will keep me...well accountable.  I also looked at joining a gym today but I just don't know if I want to go that route.  The guy who showed me around the 24 Hour Fitness facility felt more like a used car salesman than a gym employee.  Its just so cold outside and sometimes it's a little lonely (and very easy to stay inside) to run alone.  I need to find a running buddy who somehow also comes equipped with a free babysitter. 

I did not come even close to making my goal of posting every day in December.  Basically I ran out of things to say and decided that in some cases (in most cases?) nothing is better than something crappy.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and a new year filled with lots of really great things.