Merry Christmas from my family to yours. Hope you’re enjoying some wonderful time with family and friends, and reflecting on how amazing it is that our Lord and Savior would come to earth as a baby boy.
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A Day in the Life {12/22/14}
23 DecI always think it’s interesting to get a peek into other people’s lives, so here’s a peek into my world yesterday.
5:00 & 6:00 am – I hear Emma cry/moan a little, but it’s too early! So I wait to see if she goes back to sleep, and she does.
7:00 am – I hear Emma again and it’s time to get up anyway, so I go get her out of her crib and try to rock her in the glider for a bit while I wake up. She’s raring to go though, so I change her diaper and let her play.
7:30 am – I get Emma breakfast (yogurt, raspberries, oatmeal squares) while I drink coffee and eat a yogurt. I go wake Travis up too.
7:50 am – Travis is up with his coffee and we do our morning Jesse Tree reading (we’re behind, so we do 2/day).
8:00 am – Wash Emma and let her down to play, while I finish the Jesse Tree script for the remaining days (nothing like the last minute!)
8:45 am – Emma wants to “cook” with water in the kitchen (which she lets me know by pushing one of the kitchen chairs over to the counter), so I set her up and move my computer into the kitchen.
9:00 am – Done! I get Emma dressed, then I get dressed, do my makeup and put my hair up. It’s a no-shower day.
9:20 am – Tidy up our bedroom, change our sheets, start a load of laundry with the dirty ones, do the dishes
10:00 am – Eat a bowl of oatmeal squares with banana while Emma draws at the kitchen table, talk to Travis a bit while he gets another cup of coffee.
10:30 am – Head out to run some errands at Costco (gas), Walmart (a zoo!!) and Office Max.
12:05 pm – Arrive back home; Emma fell asleep in the car. I plan to wake her up for lunch and have her down for a nap around 1:30 but she is OUT so I carry her in and rock her back to sleep.
12:30 pm – I attempt to put Emma down in her crib, but she freaks out, so I end up holding her for her whole nap. Travis brings me my phone so I read blogs and Facebook, and work on a blog post.
2:15 pm – Emma wakes up. Lunch time! Emma and I both have leftover tacos from the previous night.
2:50 pm – I call my mom to chat a bit about plans for our family celebration happening next week while Emma entertains herself by looking through what we bought at Walmart.
3:20 pm – I pop into Trav’s office to say hi and tell him about what I talked about with my mom.
3:30 pm – Emma and I go downstairs to play and she ends up taking a digger into the wall while playing on the guest bed (poor girl), back upstairs for ice and laundry, then we read books and play with her toys.
4:30 pm – Emma wants to play with water in the kitchen again, so I wrap a Christmas present while she’s occupied.
4:50 pm – Emma and I make her Christmas presents for Grandma and Grandpa (her participation is supplying the foot and hands for paint).
5:30 pm – Travis is done with work! I keep working on the gifts for G&G while he entertains Emma. Then we all go on a family walk to the mailbox (yes, it was pitch black outside).
6:15 pm – Travis starts making dinner (elk burgers for us, leftover mac & cheese for E, sweet potato fries for all).
6:50 pm – We eat dinner and do our evening Jesse Tree reading.
7:15 pm – I clean up dinner and do the dishes while Travis gets Emma ready for bed. He gets her bedtime bottle and starts her bedtime routine while I pick up toys.
7:45 pm – Emma is acting like she’s not tired, so we let her play for another 15 minutes.
8:00 pm – Emma’s bedtime! She’s still NOT a fan of the idea, so she cries for 20-30 minutes. I hate it when that happens. But we know she is tired.
8:15 pm – I leave for my women’s Bible study at a friend’s house.
10:30 pm – I’m back home and sooo ready for bed! But I’m also hungry so I eat a bowl of oatmeal squares and watch the end of a Blue Bloods episode with Travis.
11:00 pm – Bed!
Christmas Thoughts: On Trees
21 Dec
One of my favorite parts about getting ready for Christmas is decorating the tree. This year, we have a real 8-foot Fraser Fir, but every other year that Travis and I have been married, we’ve had a 3-foot pre-lit tree that we just pulled out of the box and plugged in. There are benefits and drawbacks to either real or fake, I think. The fake ones look a little too nice to be real, but they are convenient, economical and much less messy. The real ones are fun to pick out and smell good, but ornaments are often too heavy for their branches and they are needle-dropping factories.
The best part about either kind of tree, though, is the ornaments you put on them. And in my opinion, the best part about ornaments is not whether they color-coordinate or match, but the memories they bring to mind. Maybe it’s because I grew up with a hodge-podge tree full of ornaments that had been gifted, made or were unique in some way, but I personally prefer a tree full of memories and not-so-perfect ornaments than a tree that looks like it belongs in the mall or Martha Stewart magazine. Though those trees definitely have their place too!
Travis’ mom bought him an ornament every year when he was growing up and wrote the year on it. When he got married, we inherited his collection, so that makes up 80% of our ornaments right now. There’s only one creepy ornament that I could do without – a boy wearing a stocking hat and singing.
Am I right?
I liked Travis’ family’s tradition so much that we’re going to do the same thing with our kids. Emma’s ornament last year was the token “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament.
For Travis and me, I buy a picture frame ornament every year that either includes the year or I write it on. The picture I put in is a highlight of the previous year.
Right now, our tree is at least half decorated with standard red, blue, white and green balls but I look forward to all the new memories that we’ll collect and hang up over the years with fun and unique ornaments – even the very-homemade ones contributed by Emma and her siblings. 😉
Denver Babymoon
20 DecTravis works for a small engineering company where all the employees work remotely. Since it’s rare for everyone to be together at once, his boss flew both of us out for the company Christmas party and paid for our hotel two nights! Seriously, Travis works for a great boss/company. We are blessed. Anyway, we thought we’d extend the trip for the whole weekend and make it our babymoon.
Travis’ parents came down Wednesday night to watch Emma for the weekend and we left early Thursday morning for the airport. I think it might’ve been hard on Emma to have us leave while we was sleeping (and then return when she was also sleeping) so maybe next time we’ll try to time it differently. But Emma did great while we were gone regardless.
We flew into Denver around noon on Thursday, ate lunch with one of Travis’ co-workers and his wife (who had been on the same flight as us), and then checked into our hotel. I took advantage of being in the big city to use one of my gift cards at Massage Envy for a prenatal massage, and then went and got a mani / pedi. So wonderful. I seriously haven’t had my nails done since before Emma was born.
That night was the Christmas party, which was really fun. All of Travis’ co-workers and their spouses were there. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. Travis’ boss bought all the employees gag gifts from Sky Mall. It was funny to see what everyone got. Travis got a Snuggie, since our basement (where his office is) is so cold.
Friday, Travis had a couple of work meetings in the morning so I hung out at the hotel doing some reading and writing. When he got back, he had to do a little more work so I took the rental car and got Einstein Bros. for lunch. I ate my sandwich outside on the patio in the sunny, 70 degree weather. Man, I miss that about Denver.
We went out for sushi that night – I got the fully cooked varieties but they satisfied my sushi cravings. (Seriously, why is that you always crave what you can’t have during pregnancy?) Then we drove out to the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield for their Trail of Lights display. Unfortunately, we had originally planned on seeing a movie after dinner so I had worn flip-flops! My feet were icicles by the time we left, but it was fun anyway.
Saturday, we slept in and then met our friends D and Doug for lunch at New Peach Garden in downtown Golden. It was great catching up with them. Then we went to see The Homesman in the theater – the most depressing and disturbing movie I’ve seen in a long time. I would not recommend it. It still haunts me. Ugh.
After we checked into a different hotel, we went over to a friend’s house for dinner, and saw several of our friends from our old church. So fun catching up! I wish it were easier to stay connected across the miles.
Sunday, we ate breakfast at Panera (we made sure to eat at restaurants that we don’t have in Brainerd!) with our good friends Randy, Cathy and James, and their 2 kids. We had seen them the night before, but it was nice to have more time with them to catch one on one.
Then we headed to our old church for the morning service, and stayed after to talk to more friends. We drove straight from there to the airport and just like that, our babymoon trip was over. It had a really good mix of busyness and downtime though. We got home relaxed and rested – only to be thrown back into the furnace of Bisky care! She had slept through the night every night while we were gone. Then the night we returned, she woke up about 30 minutes after Travis’ parents left and was awake for a couple hours. Uff-da. (But since then, we’ve extended her awake time by an hour or so, and so far, that has helped a lot!)
Thanksgiving Weekend 2014
2 DecI had grand plans for Thanksgiving this year, but apparently God wanted to teach me a lesson in slowing down and letting go because things didn’t go quite as planned.
We hosted the big meal at our house for Travis’ immediate family, my parents and my brother. We’ve never hosted a fancy meal for that many people so it was a learning experience! Monday, I went grocery shopping after Emma went to bed. Tuesday, I deep-cleaned the house while Emma was at daycare. So far so good.
Wednesday, I attempted to repurpose an old tablecloth that didn’t fit our new table into a table runner and placemats. Well, somehow I got my math wrong because the table runner ended up being too short and then my sewing machine broke in the middle of the placemats. I ended up borrowing a tablecloth from my mother-in-law. It worked, but that wasn’t the plan! (Luckily, the table runner fits our table when we only have one leaf in it.)
Some more of our fall decorations:
My parents, Travis’ brother and his girlfriend arrived Wednesday night and we had elk steaks, roasted vegetables and mac ‘n’ cheese for dinner. After getting everyone mostly situated, I hit the sack for an early morning – running the local turkey trot. Never mind that it was supposed to be about 0 degrees at the start.
Unfortunately, that plan got derailed as well because I developed a horrible sore throat and cough overnight that made me sound like a 50-year-old chain smoker. Running outside in the freezing cold probably wouldn’t be a great idea. So no turkey trot. Money down the drain.
Being sick also meant that I couldn’t help out in the kitchen much, since who wants a sickly person making their food? Instead, I took a nap, a long hot shower and directed people to where things were and what else had to be done. (I must admit, it was nice in some ways.)
The most important things though – food and family – were perfect. We all ate until we couldn’t eat anymore and enjoyed conversation, watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and playing Big Buck Hunter.
Teeny tiny table
Emma was not impressed with the Thanksgiving fare
Quick family picture in the single digits!
The cute cupcakes that Travis’ bro and his girlfriend made
Everyone left that evening except my parents and brother. It was nice to have some extra time with them.
Friday morning, Travis and I headed to our 21-week ultrasound while my parents and brother watched Emma. Everything looks great! I have my 22-week appointment with my OB tomorrow.
Legs up over the head
After my parents and brother left, it was Emma’s naptime – which, these days, means time for mommy or daddy to hold Emma for a nap. She was a little sick and we’re pretty sure she’s getting her 2-year molars. She’s been putting her hands in her mouth a lot, drooling up a storm and seems to be in pain quite often. Poor girl. After Emma’s nap, we attempted some Black Friday shopping but Emma had a meltdown so we just came back home.
Saturday, Travis’ uncle got married so we journeyed down to the Cities for the wedding. It was nice to see his extended family again, and Emma actually did really well. There was another little girl there her age and Emma walked right up to her and gave her a big hug. So cute! I am proud of Emma for being so friendly and outgoing.
Eating a tide-me-over at McDonald’s before the wedding
Sunday, we went to church and then hung out at home until our date night! Some friends watched Emma while Travis and I went to Mockingjay Part One. It was good – different than the other Hunger Games movies and a little slow at first, but we enjoyed it overall. Then we grabbed a quick bite at Buffalo Wild Wings before we picked Emma up.
It was a fun weekend! Unfortunate that I had to get sick (and am STILL sick) but such is life, right?
Adding My $.02 to the Age-Old Debate
20 NovSince everyone and their grandma has opinions on the working vs. stay-at-home mom debate, let me throw mine into the mix.
I went back to work 3 days a week when Emma was about 4 months old. I was blessed to have such a long maternity leave – I think both Emma and I needed that time together. But even though I was a little nervous at the thought of someone else taking care of Emma, I was ready to go back to work. I needed some structure to my week and was looking forward to having a reason to shower and get dressed nicely.
I enjoyed working 3 days a week. Having 3 days at a computer allowed me time to think coherent thoughts and feel accomplished in a professional sense. It also enabled me to send personal emails, schedule appointments, and play fantasy football (haha) during random downtimes. Even though getting bottles ready, pumping and commuting an hour each way made those days a little hectic, it was nice once I got to work to be able to breathe and have a break from baby stuff.
Working those 3 days also made the days I stayed home with Emma extra special – we stayed in our jammies until noon, did random stuff around the house, ran errands and hung out with friends. I felt more energetic and creative as a mom when I was with Emma as a result of having the time away from her.
When we moved to Minnesota, I stopped working. My employer had already made a special concession to let me go down to 3 days – I doubt they would’ve approved working from home on top of that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay anyway. On top of no longer working, we lived 10 minutes outside a town of 300 for 3 months. Talk about a huge shift.
I knew that I couldn’t judge what being a stay-at-home mom is like based on those 3 months, so even though I wasn’t *loving* it, I was patient. I have now been a SAHM with Emma for about 9 months – equal to the time I was a working mom. Emma and I have gotten involved and have a fairly regular weekly routine, so I feel like I have a fairly accurate idea of what being a SAHM is like. And I can say that I prefer working part-time. Don’t get me wrong. There are many things that are great about staying home full-time. I like the ability to get things done during the day instead of taking care of them after work or on the weekends. I like cooking dinner at a reasonable hour. I like seeing Emma grow and learn new things, and being the one taking care of her. I like going to playdates and MOPS and spending time outside.
But just like working outside the home has its challenges, so does staying home. You don’t get a break. You have a little needy person (or persons) with you constantly. It’s impossible to get anything done without being interrupted and some days, you need an extra gallon of patience that never seems to arrive. So sure, hypothetically you have all the time in the world to bake and clean and craft and Facebook, but in reality, you’re just chasing a kid around all day, keeping them from injuring themselves, drawing on your furniture or yanking on the dog’s tail.
More than that though, I miss the personal fulfillment of working. When I gave birth to Emma, I became a mom, but I didn’t stop being me. I am happier and more myself when I have a creative outlet, a personal goal, time to think and accomplish things without a little person tugging on my leg or the worry that naptime will be over soon.
That’s me though. I am not a natural ‘kid person’ and never have been. Some people are, and that’s great. Some moms love staying home, and that’s great. Some moms love working, and that’s great. There are tradeoffs, sacrifices, challenges and benefits of each way. I truly believe that every family needs to do what is right for them. Travis and I are fortunate to have the financial means to make the choice freely. I know other families do not have that option.
What I would like to see is for women to stop picking sides and declaring which way is ‘right’ or ‘better’. Just the other day, I read a supposedly objective essay on this debate, and the author was clearly biased toward staying home (because she happened to be a SAHM). Just because you do things one way doesn’t make it the right way. And let’s be honest, fellow SAHMers – do we REALLY want all of the college-educated, intelligent, driven women to check out of the workforce once they have kids? Do we REALLY want a society run by males? We do not! Women are a crucial part of the workforce.
I realize that I may come across as slightly hypocritical by saying that, since I am not currently working outside the home. Even though I would prefer to work part-time, I have found that the number of professional part-time jobs out there (especially where I currently live) are virtually nonexistent. I know plenty of women who work full-time, but I personally would prefer not to (and I’m blessed to have that choice). So that might make me a hypocrite, but so be it.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the age-old debate of working vs. stay-at-home mom. Neither is easy. Both have challenges. Both have rewards. All moms love their kids.
The Importance of Eternity
12 Nov
If you’ve read my blog for a while, you probably know that I spend a lot of time focusing on accepting the circumstances God allows – true joy comes from surrendering to His plan. It’s waaay easier said than done because to be honest, I often don’t like the circumstances He allows. They’re hard. They hurt. Sometimes they just plain suck. But the truth remains: If I want joy, I must humbly submit myself and my life to God.
I still wholeheartedly believe in this and the book I’m working on is about how I got to that place. But I’ve noticed a potentially bad result of that mindset: forgetting eternity.
Finding joy by accepting what God allows isn’t just about making this life more bearable. The Bible is full of verses about the importance and benefits of trials, suffering, and persecution in a believer’s life. But the reason WHY those are so valuable is eternity.
The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” God is our hope and joy in this life only because He’s our hope and joy in the next. There is no gospel without eternity. We cannot let go of this life and truly trust God with everything unless we are staking our hearts on another life, a better one – one spent face to face with Him. Paul also wrote, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” (Philippians 1:23b)
It’s good to give thanks for God’s daily, tangible blessings and provision — doing so helps me connect the larger reality of the gospel to my everyday life. But it’s best to give thanks for salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. Only that will never change and never be taken away.
Though Satan should buffet
Though trials should come
Let this blessed assurance control
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul
In the Swing of Things
9 NovOne of the hardest things about moving back to Minnesota was the ‘stalling’ of normal life. We spent 3 months living in a town an hour away from where we knew we were moving, so it was very impractical to get involved in anything, in either place. Our lives were essentially on hold – especially, it felt, for me. I was a stay-at-home mom for the first time since being on maternity leave. I didn’t have a house to manage, decorate or organize. I didn’t have any activities or obligations. I was floundering.
God used that season to test my faith, and stretch me beyond my comfort zone. I was reminded that growth never comes from doing what’s easy or comfortable – only from being pushed beyond what we think we can handle. That said, I’m glad that season is coming to a close!
Emma and I finally have some semblance of a ‘normal’ weekly schedule. (With Travis’ crazy work schedule, our family’s schedule still isn’t normal, but hopefully it will be more so by the beginning of next year.)
I joined MOPS, which meets about 2 Mondays a month (some months only 1).
I enrolled Emma in an Early Childhood and Family Education class, which I attend with her, called Time Together on Thursdays. We do crafts; learn animals, songs and sign language; and play with other kids.
We have been going to the same church for the past month or so. We’re not ready to commit to being members yet, but we like what we’ve seen and heard so far. And we’ve met a lot of great people, which has been so nice.
I’m in a book study with 3 other ladies on Thursday nights. We’ve been reading The Home Experience by Devi Titus and while she’s very southern and some of her suggestions are impractical for mothers of preschoolers, it has been a great encouragement in this season of staying home to study how being a wife and mother is a valuable, worthwhile calling, and how I can bless those around me by taking it seriously.
And finally, starting next week, Emma will be going to daycare one day a week on Tuesdays – so that Mommy can have a break and pursue her dream of writing a book!
It is very nice to have life starting to look more ‘normal’ again. I’m glad, though, that it has taken as long as it has, because we have been able to be intentional about what we’re filling up our weeks with, instead of just adding stuff for the sake of being busy.
Now if my husband were just able to stop working so much, we’d be set!
Halloween 2014
8 NovEven though we don’t get into Halloween very much, we did take Emma trick or treating around our neighborhood for about an hour this year. But to be honest, it was just as much about us getting to meet more of our neighbors as it was about Emma getting to show off being the most adorable ladybug. (The candy was a nice bonus too.)
We went out around 6:30 and got back around 7:30 – and man, was it dark outside! Our neighborhood doesn’t have any streetlights so the only light we had was a little lantern we brought with us. It was also in the low 30s, so we were bundled up in our winter gear (Emma had several layers on, plus her ladybug costume).
A few weeks before Halloween, we went to a fall festival fundraiser at the Pillager school. Emma dressed up in her costume, played some games (her favorite was picking rubber ducks out of a bucket of water and matching them for a prize), squealed in delight when she saw the Husky mascot, and even jumped in the bouncy house with Daddy. Some of our new friends were there too, so it was fun to see them.
And that was our Halloween this year!
Emma Grace: 18 Months
28 OctOh man, this post is SO overdue. But whatevs.
Emma is so fun these days! And I know every parent thinks this, but she is the cutest little kid in the world. I keep telling her that if her sibling is as cute as she is, we’re going to die from cuteness overload. I mean, seriously.
New mittens!
Cheese fiend
At her 18-month appointment, Emma was 23 lbs 14 oz and 32 inches long with a head circumference still in the 90th percentile. So still growing well.
She still doesn’t have any consistently used words though, so we’re getting her ‘evaluated’ by a child psychologist and speech clinician. Our pediatrician recommended it, it’s free through the school district and they come to our house, so even though we’re not that concerned, we figured what the heck. Emma understands what we say to her – we can say “Where are Emma’s socks?” or “Where is Emma’s nose?” and she’ll go get socks, or point to her nose. But then we’ll say things like “Can Emma say dada?” or ask Emma to come, and she will act like she doesn’t have a clue what we’re asking. So we’ll see. She’s kept pace in all other areas of development though.
At 18 months, Emma loves playing with:
- Makeup and barrettes
- Dishes (real and play)
- Balls (she can kick!)
- Dog leashes (never gets old)
- Dirt
- Paint/yogurt/food
- Water
Emma also enjoys:
- Playing in the car (but she figured out how to open the doors!)
- Pushing buttons on remotes, coffee makers, phones, etc.
- Drawing in her notebook (we usually give her a pencil because she is dangerous with a pen – hello walls – and still eats crayons)
- Playing outside
- Doggies (we went to a school festival and she squealed in delight upon seeing their Husky mascot)
- Chocolate (girl asks for it – by waving – all.the.time.)
- Feeding herself with a spoon or fork
- Drinking bottles of milk before naptime and bedtime (we’re not ready for the battle yet)
- “Brushing” her teeth herself (I think she just likes the taste of the toothpaste)
- Putting things in her mouth (just recently realized that if I want her to not do this when we’re not at home, I can’t let her do it here either… aye.)
- Bathtime! (this is one of the things that Emma consistently understands – when we say “Let’s take a bath,” she goes to her bathroom.)
- People watching and playing with other kids (she’s a very social kid!)
- Figuring out how things work
Emma does not like:
- Being thrown into the air
- Mommy leaving the room
- Loud noises, like a pressure washer, vacuum, electric drill, etc.
- Cartoons or books (she will not pay attention to them at all! Mommy likes cartoons though)
- Shirts getting stuck on her head
- Wearing shoes or socks (she takes them off in the car all the time!)
- Things in her hair (she will not leave barrettes, headbands or rubber bands in at all)E
Emma’s favorite foods are:
- Pickles
- Fruit snacks
- Mac & Cheese / noodles
- Clementines
- Grapes
- Pineapple
- M&M’s
- Cheese
- Graham crackers
- Licorice
- Yogurt
- Applesauce
- Trail mix (we don’t give her the big nuts)
She loves water during the day, but is very attached to her bottles of milk before naps and bedtime.
We installed Emma’s big girl carseat shortly after our San Francisco trip. It hasn’t made a huge difference in her enjoyment of the car (she was fairly content before) but it is easier to pass her toys and snacks now that she’s facing forward. And I like that it has a cup holder – Emma gets pretty cranky when she’s thirsty.
Pickles for breakfast
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