the scooter

Dust's parents gave NJ his birthday gifts early. The big gift was a scooter--a school bus that you can ride on or push. He loves to take rides on it! His feet don't touch the ground if he sits on it. We were all exhausted this past weekend from pushing NJ all around the house.

NJ does occasionally like to push the scooter. There is a big handle on the back that he puts one hand on and he uses his other hand to hold my hand. If I also try to put my other hand on the handle, NJ will remove my hand. He is either being independent or selfish.

The scooter also has buttons that make noise and play a song. We have them memorized now: "Everyone sit down, let's go to school! Stop and Go, Stop and Go, on to school and take it slow. With a Beep, Beep, Stomp, Stomp, all around the town, Stop and Go and 'round and 'round."

11 days and counting.. and reflecting on life after baby

I have 11 more work days until I leave the work force to be a stay at home mom! I am training my replacement right now. Things seem to be going well there. She watched me do the job for two weeks and now I get to watch her do the job. I know it sounds weird but that's what the boss wants.

Balancing work, housework, and NJ has been difficult. I have been stretched in ways I never thought possible. I was used to only alloting the amount of time it took me to get ready in the morning. Now, I have to add at least a half hour for feeding NJ and dressing him. And I have to allot enough time in the morning to get the house in decent order before T comes over to watch NJ. There are mornings that I have been awake for about three hours before I even get to work. I have become even more disciplined and structured because of this. I remember going at least 4 to 5 days between running the dishwasher before NJ came. I am not proud of that. When I was working full time before NJ was born, I would leave the week days dishes in the sink until the weekend and then run the dishwasher. Now, I run the dishwasher every night so NJ has clean bottles for the next day. I also seem to do a load or two of laundry every day. I used to only do laundry one day a week. And I fit it in about 2-3 loads.

I am looking forward to a more stress-free life!

more NJ pics

Dust has some NJ pics on his site. I had wanted to post some too. I don't really have much to say these days. Enjoy! Have a good Memorial Day!

deluge

Have you ever heard a word and thought, "that's a cool sounding word" ? I heard the word deluge the other day and really liked the way it sounded. It was in the song, "Landslide of Love" by the Newsboys. "Let's get drenched under God's good rain, caught in a deluge of mercies." I like the rest of the song. "Like a pebble clings to dirt, we're still clinging to bedrock sin. Let's get swept off our feet again. Caught in a landslide of love."

I hadn't heard the word deluge in quite a while. It's not really a part of someone's everyday vocabulary. I learn most of my words now from Dust. I guess it hasn't made his vocabulary. Or maybe it has and I have tuned it out. : ) just kidding, Dust.

figuring people out

It's hard for me to make small talk with people that I don't know. There are situations where you need to make conversation -like when you are getting your hair cut, or going to the dentist, or dr. office. I try to size people up immediately on whether they might have kids because I have that to talk about now.

I went to the dentist on Wednesday. The hygeinist (sp?) and I struggled at first to come up with small talk. I saw a picture of a little girl. I asked if that was her daughter. No, she said it was the dentist's granddaughter. She didn't mention that she had kids and I figured that if she did she would say something. She asked if I had any vacations planned. I told her my cousin is getting married in July in Michigan and we might make a vacation out of it. She then mentioned going on a river rafting trip with her teenage son. I then assumed that she is divorced. She made reference to the son's father. She asked if I had seen any good movies lately. Usually, that is my hot topic of discussion. But with the baby, I haven't seen many movies lately. Finally, the dentist arrived and we were released from talking.

pranks

I enjoy watching pranks being pulled on people. I am usually not creative enough to think of ones of my own. However, I eagerly join the bandwagon if one is going on. The tv show, The Office, has had some great jokes: calculators in jello, cell phone put in the ceiling rafters, desk put in the men's room.

At a previous job, a co-worker set out some jelly beans for people to eat. We didn't tell anybody that they were bertie-bots. (jelly belly's prank jelly beans) flavors were: puke, boogers, hot peppers. Another co-worker came up and took a handful of the jelly beans. We couldn't go through with it. We had to tell the co-worker they were prank jelly beans.

In college, I took a picture of my roommate on the toilet. And then put it on the bulletin board in the dorm lobby. That is my extent of pranks. I was actually mad at her because she did something to me. I too k the picture in the first place because she always left the door open, and I thought that might teach her.

notice

I put my notice in at work today! We are at a point now financially where we can afford for me to stay home with NJ. I am so excited! I did however agree to train my replacement. My boss wanted me to give him about a 4 month notice. So it looks like I will be working until the end of July. I know it sounds crazy that I agreed to a 4 month notice. I didn't want to leave the company hanging.

T has done a great job watching NJ. It will be sad not to see her everyday.

my faith

I have been thinking about how my faith appears to other people. Do I come across as a genuine person living a consistent christian life? I hope so. Am I letting God use me when He needs me? Or do I rationalize not doing something or saying something for Christ because of fear?

I was listening to Greg Long's song, "Fifteen" yesterday and it made me cry. Usually I just think these type of songs are cheesy sounding. "If it takes fifteen times to hear about Jesus, for someone to believe. I may be the 3rd, I may be the7th, there may be years inbetween. What if I'm fifteen?" I think there were times that I may have been and I didn't come through. I then started thinking, why would God keep me around if I'm not doing anything for Him? I am just taking up space.

I really want to be useful. I think I have been lazy lately. I want to be different.

balance

I received some good advice from an old friend yesterday. I realized that I needed more of a balance in my life in regards to taking care of myself. I told this friend that I was exhausted. She couldn't understand why. She said, "You're not one of those moms that won't put their baby down in the play pen and will sometimes skip showers." Yeah, I was. I hadn't been taking a break for myself. I felt sad about going to work and not having time with NJ. So, when we were together, I crawled around with him and was with him all the time. Just this week, I started putting NJ in the playpen in front of the tv while I was getting things ready in the morning. My mornings have been less stressful. Before, I was sitting on the floor blow drying my hair with NJ right there beside me.

I took some time out for myself yesterday. I got finished with my work, so I left early. I went to get a haircut! I can't remember the last time I took time to get my hair cut. That's why it grew out! I also went to use some of the gift cards I got for X-mas! I went to Kohl's and bought an outfit. I am feeling really good about myself. And not so guilty about letting NJ watch tv so I can take care of the house and myself!

battle of the wills

We knew when NJ was just a month old that he had a strong will. He would fight to get free from our grip. NJ is fighting again in regards to taking his pedialyte. NJ has been suffering from vomiting and diahrrea since Tuesday. The doctor said that I should give him 2 to 4 ounces of pedialyte every time he has diahrrea.

NJ refuses to drink the pedialyte from the bottle. He knows that his formula comes from the bottle and if it isn't in there, he pitches a fit. He cries so hard that I have to stop to calm him down. I tried giving it with a spoon and he turned his head each time and closed his mouth. I have tried different types of spoons, cups and bottles. I was bound and determined to get that pedialyte down him. I turned on our baby einstein video to distract him. As he was mesmerized by the show, I slipped in 4 oz. of pedialyte by spoon! I won this round, NJ.

NJ update

Today NJ crawled/scooted forward for the first time! The last couple days he has attempted going forward, but it was hard to tell if it counted as crawling forward! T thinks it counts! He has been crawling backwards for several weeks now. It is really exciting! After I gave him a bath tonight, I put his pj's on and sat him on the floor. I walked over to his laundry basket and NJ definitely crawled forward after me. He was interested in his laundry basket. I can't wait for him to really take off crawling forward!

Last week, NJ pulled/pushed himself into a sitting position for the first time. It seemed natural for him when scooting backwards to sit himself up. It was awesome seeing that for the first time!

NJ has lots of "firsts" that I can look forward to experiencing with him.

Valentine's Day pasts

I was just thinking about what happened last Valentine's Day. I had my sonogram and found out that we were having a boy! That was a very special V-day. Dust and I have usually gone out to eat at restaurants to celebrate. I then tried to remember what I did for V-day before I met Dust. One V-day in particular stands out.

It was my freshman year in college. It was Valentine's Day and nobody on my floor had a date or plans. Some of the girls wanted to do makeovers to make them feel beautiful. Autumn decided that she wanted to color her hair, so a few of us went to Wal-Mart with her. Autumn had auburn hair and would switch back and forth between red and brown colors. Anyway, while we were at Wal-Mart, Lisa decided that I needed to do something with my hair. Autumn thought that I needed a perm. She said she could give me one in the dorm. I agreed to it. I sat in the bathroom and Autumn put my hair in rollers. Lisa came in to look and got nervous. She didn't think Autumn knew what she was doing. That scared me and they wouldn't let me look. The whole floor reaked of perm solution. Apparantly, we aren't allowed to give perms in the dorm. The end result wasn't that bad. It was curlier than I expected! Almost like a spiral perm, but I had chin length hair. I usually don't do things on a whim like that, but I was glad that I did.

"Things that make me gag"

I went to bed early tonight because I have a cold but couldn't sleep. My mind wouldn't shut off. So, a new post entered my mind and I decided to write it down now. Has anyone ever wondered what I really think about things? I used to say the line, "gag me with a spoon" in the '80's. This is a list of things that make me "gag."

• People who seek out to date and then marry someone with the same first initial that they have. They name their kids with that same first initial. And their dog. Too cutesie! gag.
• People who will only date/marry someone with the same hair color that they have. Example: Someone has blonde hair and they want to marry someone with blonde hair so that they can have kids with blonde hair. "gag" me. Can someone say superficial?
• Someone who only uses china dishes in their house for every meal. They serve pretzels and popcorn on china.
• Teapots. I can't stand them. Collections of teapots make me gag. Tea parties also make me gag. It seems too fake and showy.
• Fluffy dresses and tutus. Ballerinas. Leotards.
• Bows. Any type of bow on anything. Bows in hair.
• Tulle used in weddings.
• Couches with plastic covers on them. Usually in living rooms that are just for show and not used by anyone.
• Sequins.
• Any type of floral pattern.
• Most shades of the color pink.
• MaryKay parties and consultants and products.

I apologize if I offended anyone. Blame it on the cold medicine.

my time

I look forward to "my time" after the baby goes to bed every night. Dust has class on Monday and Wednesday nights so I am alone with my thoughts. I usually end up on the computer doing blogs, myspace, and emails. I love the peace and quiet. The dryer and the dishwasher are going so I do hear that rumble.

"My time" has dwindled down a lot. Especially on the weekends. I have some gift cards from Christmas that I haven't spent because I haven't had the time. I think once the weather gets warmer and NJ gets older, I will take him out with me to run my errands on Friday. Dust usually stays home with him on the weekends when I have to run errands. It's not the fun errands like shopping. I don't consider grocery shopping a fun errand.

I have some housework to do yet, but I will surf the net next.

paper cuts

I sliced my finger pretty good today on a piece of paper from my binder at work. I wrapped it in a tissue and pressed firmly. I took it off, but another drop of blood formed. I remembered that I put some band-aids in my purse. Last time I had a paper cut, I had no band-aid.

I am extremely prone to paper cuts. It's so embarrassing!! It sounds like such a nerdy problem. Dust has this problem too. : ) Not that Dust is nerdy or anything.

A year ago, my co-worker got a paper cut on her finger at work. I told her that I had a band-aid. I put it on her desk, but she didn't use it. I couldn't figure out why. I ran scenerios in my head of why someone wouldn't accept a band-aid. I knew she was a smoker but was hiding that fact from everyone. Maybe she didn't want to get the band-aid on fire when she smoked. I think I ended up taking the band-aid back off of her desk.

I think if I used more lotion on my hands I wouldn't have this problem. See Dust, I fixed my own problem. I guess I shouldn't talk about paper cuts anymore. : ) j/k (see Dust's blog)

know-it-all

The phrase "know-it-all" has negative connotations. It shouldn't be a bad thing to possess knowledge. The key is how you relay the information to others. And the attitude and tone. I have been trying to evaluate myself to see if I come across as a know-it-all.

There is a reason that I have been thinking about this. I have noticed that I get annoyed when I am around a "know-it-all." Sure everyone gets annoyed by that type of person. I think my reason has to do with the fact that I wanted to be the one to share the knowledge of whatever it was. A couple of people have stolen my thunder. (nobody in blog land : ) ) Maybe I just need to be quicker to talk. I think I have an inner desire to be a teacher, so I like to share things.

I told Dust that I wanted to come out and tell these people that he/she is a know-it-all. Dust said that wasn't a good idea. : ) A scripture verse came to mind today when I was thinking about all of this. It says something to the effect of "for as much as it depends on me, live peacefully with one another". That is kinda hard sometimes.

American Idol addict

Yes I have to admit that I am addicted to American Idol. I have been watching the tryouts that played last night and I am watching it tonight. I like the brother and sister that made it to Hollywood. They had pretty skin-their mom was white and dad was Pakistani maybe?

I bought Chris Daughtry's CD a couple weeks ago and have been listening to it in the car. I like his rocker voice but the songs are aimed at people younger than I. It seems that all pop/rock songs are about broken relationships with yourboyfriend/girlfriend. I can't relate.

I also received Carrie Underwood's CD for Christmas. I like her voice also but some of the lyrics I can't relate to. My brother teases me about liking her song, "Jesus, take the wheel." He thinks it's cheesey.

Maybe I will grow out of this Idol phase that I have been in. Or I might just think twice about buying the CD's.

quality time and laughter

I like to spend quality time hanging out with Dust. A friend from college used to tease me about how much time I used to spend with Dust. She was single and probably jealous though. She would say, "Every night is Dust night." Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night etc. Of course all couples are inseparable when they first start dating.

Reading the Sunday comics is something that Dust and I like to do together. We also like to laugh about lines from tv shows and movies. Dust likes to quote stuff a lot. Laughter is very important in our family. Dust gets NJ to laugh a lot when they play and "rough house" together.

Dust enjoys showing me clips from u-tube that he thinks I will laugh at. He also shows me various comics online that he thinks I will laugh at. I usually need the laugh because I tend to take myself too seriously!

fresh start

I like January because it is the beginning of a new year and I feel like I have a fresh start on everything. I do try to make some new year's resolutions each year. They usually only last a couple months at the most. Here is a list of what I am working on:

• Reading the entire Bible in one year. My brother told me that he was doing it and I decided that I would also. We can encourage each other to stick with it. We are reading it chronologically. We are using the list on www.backtothebible.org. I think that trying to read it in 60 days is too hard and you won't have much comprehension.
• Having a healthier diet. I tend to eat a lot of junk food. I want to eat more salads and fruits and veggies. I want to limit my pop and chocolate intake.
• Investing time with people. I get annoyed when I am trying to work/get a task done and someone talks to me. I need to enjoy people more and establish better relationships.
• Taking time out to spend with NJ. Chores can always be pushed back especially to when he is sleeping. Play and be a kid again with him!

1st Christmas

This Christmas was special because it was NJ's 1st Christmas! At Grams and Gramps house he yawned through the opening of his gifts. NJ tried to help out with the ripping of the wrapping paper, though. At Grandma and Grandpa's house, NJ liked putting the tissue paper in his mouth and playing with it. He was getting cranky because it was his nap time so we had to hurry through his gifts.

Grandma had an exersaucer at her house for NJ to play in. It was a circus theme and had different animals sticking up on it. NJ loved putting them in his mouth. There was a seal, elephant, monkeys in a barrel, and a circus tent.

NJ was spoiled by both sides of the family. He got a lot of clothes and toys!

I think next Christmas will be even better. He will be walking around and talking then!