Lessons Learned in Yardwork

1.) Invest in knee pads, especially when having to kneel on/over concrete (ouch!).






















2.) Being ambidextrous would come in quite handy - evening out the playing field for your arms

3.) Ensure that the hole is indeed deep enough for your plant. The first hole I dug wasn't and I knew immediately upon placing in the plant that it probably wasn't going to make it (despite my best efforts to remedy the problem). Here it is just 2 days later :-(















4.) You can in fact trim a tree with just a bow saw, ladder and 2 people (one sawing and one pulling the branches down). Gloves help tremendously for the one holding the branches down.















5.) Know your neighbors - they just might have the tool you need. Thanks for the saw, Clara!

6.) A weed-eater that turns 90 degrees does wonders for trimming the edges of your sidewalk.






















7.) Two flats of impatiens go a long way!

8.) A sprinkler system would be amazing! I fear I will soon slack in my watering and kill all my hard work :-/






















9.) It is all quite enjoyable - it's nice to be outside in the dirt every now and then :-)

Chatter-box

Miss Layla has become quite the chatter-box. She has always been a talker, but these last two weeks she has really stepped it up.

She's mimicking what we say. New words have been added to her vocabulary in just a short amount of time.

She jabbers ALL the time!

She has always liked "talking" on her cell phone...which simply consisted of holding it up to her ear (head tilted slightly) and saying "hi."















Now she walks around with her phone carrying on a conversation in her own little language. If only I had a video to show.

She will say something and look up at me as if I should understand what she just said. Talking to us (and herself) has become quite the norm.

It's actually nice as she will entertain herself a bit better now...reading a book and talking away.

She is currently talking to herself in the mirror on the closet door

Some of her new words are: all done, apple, nana, pappaw, hat, eye, nose, mouth, toe, wow, whoa. Add these to her other list of words and she's developing quite a vocabulary.

She says more in a mimicking fashion ("say ____")...but if you were to hear them outside of that context, you probably couldn't make out what she's saying.

She knows some animal sounds (dog, cat, cow, sheep, snake, and duck sort-of).

She can point to all her body parts (head, ears, nose, mouth, eyes, hands, arms, feet, toes, knees, belly). She prefers to point out the parts of others, though.

If you open a book and ask her to find various items she will point to them (i.e. cloud, flower, mouse, fish, lots of animals).

I am just amazed at how much she learns every day.

Might we have a little girl who will be one of those kids that just never stops talking??? Lord, let me think it's as cute then as it is now. :-)

Vitamins, Shadows, & Chess

I have been completely awful about taking my prenatal vitamins with this pregnancy. I wasn't the greatest with Layla, but this is just ridiculous. I *maybe* have taken a grand total of 2 weeks worth of vitamins :-/ Jeremy teases that our child is going to have a third arm. He said this with Layla and I just laughed it off...but this go-around I have quite a bit more guilt and truly hope I haven't affected this baby in a negative way with my lack of proper nutrient/vitamin consumption.

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Several weeks ago Layla found her shadow for the first time. It was so stinkin' cute to watch! It kept her occupied for 7-10 minutes and had me laughing the entire time. She would run over where she could see it in front of her and do several things. She first "ooo-oooo-ooooed" in perfect Layla fashion while looking back and forth from her shadow to me. She would bend down in an attempt to touch it and/or pick it up. She waved her arms around while watching her shadow do the same thing. She waved her head back and forth. But the cutest part of it all was her side-stepping over to me to get away from it...keeping an eye on her shadow and watching in wonderment/amazement/confusion (I don't know?) as it followed her right along. She would then give up and run right to me and turn around to see that her shadow had disappeared. She would run back over to the foyer (where she could see it the best) and repeat the process over again. TOO CUTE!!! If only I had a video camera to capture the moment...

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Let me just preface by stating that I have been thinking about this particular blog topic for quite some time...before I even had a blog...and I could possibly go on and on about it, but I'll stick to the main points.

Driving is quite comparable to a chess game. Although I'm not a chess player (I think I've played twice in my life), I know to be good you have to think several steps ahead.

I don't know why I never got into chess because I actually enjoy games with this type of mental requirement. Actually, I'm sure I never got into it solely because it was a game my dad was always wanting to teach me and have me play. Oh how I can wait for those days when Layla chooses to do quite the opposite of what I suggest/advise.

But I'm getting off topic.

Driving.

I am constantly thinking several steps ahead while driving. Not so much in an effort to prevent accidents (which is how I should be using such mental acuteness), but as a way to get me where I want to go sooner. Looking ahead to see what lane I need to be in...judging this info. not simply on the car in front of me, but the cars 5 or 6 ahead of me. This might require me to go against my initial instinct to switch lanes, but I feel such success when I begin passing those cars in that particular lane.

This also applies to stoplights and stop signs. Depending on the color of the ligt as I begin to approach determines if I continue on to the light or turn sooner to avoid a red light.

With that said, it truly is one of my pet-peeves to be riding with someone who doesn't "play the game" like I do. It's fairly easy for me to bite my tongue when I'm in a car with a friend or acquaintance. However, I have had to do quite a bit of tongue-biting when in the car with my wonderful husband Jeremy.

It really shouldn't bother me so much. I should just enjoy the ride. But I can't help it...it's a game that was ingrained into my being from all the driving back and forth from college my freshman year at ISU. It's just a part of who I am.

This speaks of my natural competitive nature, I think. I have to be doing the best, picking the best options, getting somewhere the fastest way possible, etc. It's a character trait I have been working on over the past several years when it comes to playing actual games with company. I guess some are turned away from a competitive nature...but it's seriously all in fun.

Unless of course you are blatantly not being fair. I have a perfect example of this happening during a game of Monopoly.

But I'm off topic again.

I will continue to play my chess game as I drive. I will most likely continue to predict appropriate moves for the driver as a passenger...but will work on not getting so inwardly frustrated when the driver does not have the same strategy (or no strategy at all) as me.

Lego Friends

This morning in church the pastor compared our intimate friendships with a Lego block. A person can have roughly 8 intimate friendships in his/her life (maybe a couple more, maybe a couple less) - just as a Lego can hold up to 8 different pieces on its frame.

I long for my Lego friends!

I never truly had these Lego friends until I began college. I had always longed for them and never understood why I never had a true best friend. I think maybe God was just giving me no reason to rely on anyone else but Him.

College began and so did my life with Legos! I found friendships that quickly became the closest ones I'd ever had. Life was wonderful.

College graduation came around and slowly my Legos were leaving. It took a couple of years, but eventually all my Legos left town (aside from my hubby whom I love dearly).

This was a very difficult time...

I don't think there is a time in your life that so perfectly allows you to develop such intimate relationships as college.

I've learned to deal with the fact that my Legos are not able to swing by for a nice chat or fun evening out.

Have I dealt with it well? If you consider swallowing my time with work and family "well", then I guess you could say yes.

But I am a woman! I need my relationships! My husband is wonderful...but I need some girls to simply hang with, let loose with, etc.

Will I ever have the opportunity to create such relationships again? I hope so...but I'm not holding my breath for any time soon.

An old girl scout (?) song just popped in my head - Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other's gold

I am in NO WAY looking to replace my current Legos! They are irreplaceable! But I do still have a few prongs left for some new ones.

Maybe God is once again telling me I simply need to solely rely on Him and it's taken me 3 years to figure it out...

Links

I have added a spot to the right to add some favorite links. I'm pretty excited about the first one on the list. I JUST discovered it about 10 minutes ago so I have yet to try any recipes...but I'm looking forward to several I saw in my quick visit!!!

CT Awards Night

We were graciously asked to be a part of the Awards Night at the Community Theater last night. Jeremy performed a musical number and Layla and I presented two awards. She did an excellent job during her stage debut! :-)

How I miss being in shows! The day will come again when I have the time (and energy) to perform on stage. Until then, I am blessed with the opportunity to raise such a beautiful little girl!

Here are a few pics of the night:


Cheesin' for the camera before we left. I ended up changing headbands b/c the red was too bright...it was a cute headband, too :-(






















Family picture backstage





Cutie!











Look at those molars!

unsettled

About 2 weeks ago, Jeremy & I watched Marley & Me for the first time. There was a part of the story that really got to me. **Warning - spoiler alert - skip the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to hear about the movie** I'll get straight to the point...in the movie, Jennifer Aniston's character gets pregnant! At 10 weeks, they go in for their first ultrasound and find there is no heartbeat...the baby has died. Coincidentally, I was also 10 weeks pregnant at the time. We had just had our first visit didn't get to hear the heartbeat like we were hoping for. Not because they couldn't find it, but because they didn't even try. I was already feeling a little uneasy still not hearing the baby's heartbeat - and now I see a movie where they find out there is no heartbeat when the woman is as far along in her pregnancy as me! Fabulous!

We ended up breaking the news to everyone publicly, despite not yet hearing the heartbeat. However, I still have yet to tell my co-workers. Partly because there hasn't been a good chance. But mostly it's because I don't want to have to explain to these people that I barely know that I have had a miscarriage (if that were to even be the case).

I would feel so much more comfortable if I can just hear the heartbeat!

Do you remember Might Molly and her dear parents? They found out about a month before Jeremy & I that they are pregnant again!! It was very exciting news!! They're due date is Oct. 19 and ours is Nov. 18.

I came home today to read this. My heart aches for my dear friend and her husband! I can't fathom the pain they're feeling yet again.

And that is why this particular post has come into being. I was once again reminded of Marley & Me...and it has hit closer to home with a friend. Both stories about as far along as I am now when they were told the news.

All I can do is continue to pray for this little one and his/her little heart (and healthy growth).

To sum it all up, I am now even more unsettled about not yet hearing the baby's heartbeat. I will probably now be waiting until our next appointment (May 21) to break the news to my co-workers. I never dreamed I'd wait that long! But as the date gets closer, it's getting a little easier to do.

I can only hope for a speck of the strength & faith of my dear friend, Becca, if we were to hear the same news...