Deactivating Facebook.

I generally keep the knowledge of this blog's existence to myself. I'll admit it, I'm a closet blogger. I hate associating myself with the term. The word blog makes my skin crawl. I feel like a nerd. I prefer to write to the anonymous void rather than a crowd of people I have to see on a regular basis. I even hate the thought that Tim reads this (he's not allowed to read it when I'm in the same room.)

But since making the decision to deactivate my Facebook account on January 1 (along with Tim) I figured there were a handful of people out there who would want to keep up with our life. So I thought I'd throw caution to the wind and let all 813 of our combined friends know this is where all future updates will be found. Big decision and hopefully not one I come to sorely regret.

Why do I blog if I harbor so much shame for the process? Much like a dieter enjoys the cathartic process of reviewing the number of apples versus pieces of cheese they ate in the day, I find the writing down of menial, everyday goings on a strangely therapeutic way of making a normal life seem fascinating. The real question is who out there is trying to live a more interesting life so they have something better to blog about?

So there you have it. I blog. I'm a blogger. Welcome to my blog.

Merry Christmas!

Sitting at the in-laws, sipping coffee and finally watching A Christmas Story. Half the fam is here, the rest are sick with the flu poor things. Jack is a happy clam :) Timmy gave me the gift of yarn and knitting needles which I get more and more excited about as I anticipate the lovely things I'll be able to make (as soon as I learn how to knit!)

I can't wait for Christmases to come when the magic and wonder of the birth of Christ and the holiday season grows and develops just like our little family. I also can't wait to think on new traditions to build with Jack to make his Christmases just as memorable as ours were as children.

There's so much to look forward to and be thankful for. God is so good.

All the time.

Our pretty little home :)

Recycling.

I like to think of myself as environmentally friendly. Sure, I often leave the water running while I brush my teeth. I don't always buy local produce and I'd rather drive than take the bus. But for the most part - at least when it comes to recycling and littering - I try to be very diligent about being kind to the planet.

The thing is, I'm great at collecting recycling but I'm terrible when it comes to actually recycling it. That is... sorting, bagging and leaving it out on the curb to be collected. I'm not going to lie - I hate that part. So does Tim. But since I take care of the finances, laundry, vacuuming and a few other various household duties, it's given me the opportunity to leave some of my least favorite jobs** to Tim - which basically comes down to... you guessed it... sorting, bagging and putting out the recycling. Unfortunately, Tim finds this task just as tedious as I do, which results in a corner of our kitchen looking like this:

** other "deferred" jobs include (and are limited to) taking out the garbage and emptying the diaper genie, both of which are often also left until overflowing occurs. I've been laughing the whole time I've been writing this post because it humors me to think how lazy we both can be sometimes (clearly, I could do all three of these jobs myself or take care of them pre-overflowing, but that would mean effort and who has time for that?)

Oh... and on that note of being environmentally friendly, I also don't use cloth diapers (hence the diaper genie). That is still a sin (in the non-Biblical sense) in my eyes, but I know myself too well to even begin to believe that if I used cloth, there wouldn't be hundreds of poopy diapers lying around, unwashed (again, with the laziness/procrastination). I guarantee if I used cloth I would forever be without a clean diaper and always resorting to the disposables anyways. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, I applaud all mothers who take the time and care to use cloth.

5 days till Christmas!

As previously mentioned, we're trying to be healthier these days in what we eat, which includes cutting out sugar as much as possible. Today, however, in a very serious tone, Tim said, "I'm really needing some sort of holiday sweet." I half reluctantly agreed to make some sort of Christmas cookie, but wanted to try a new recipe, so I turned to the mother of all crafts and baked goods - Martha Stewart. Outrageous Chocolate Cookies (found here) are what Tim decided on. All I have to say is.... this one's a fail Martha. Tim will probably love them, but I find them sickeningly sweet. Plus, I'm not a fan of cookies that have that hard outer "shell" and are all gooey inside. I should have gone with my initial idea of making chocolate chip banana bread.

Tonight Tim is at his workplace's Christmas party. We'd both forgotten it was tonight and I had all my ideas on how to spend the evening together once Jack was in bed not to mention I was in the midst of making him his cookies... and I'm not going to lie - we had a bit of a disagreement over the whole thing. I admitted I overreacted and made it into a way bigger deal than it needed to be... plus he had kind of sold me on the idea after talking up the gift card raffle that would take place. Things like "$500" and "win big" were some words he used, so I secretly joined him in his anticipation of what sorts of loot he'd get from this event. Maybe he would come home with an early Christmas present!!!!

He won a $10 gift card to Starbucks. Bahahahhahaha.

(not to seem ungrateful of course..... its two cups of coffee we didn't have before I suppose!)

Poop!

Well.... I had my first experience with a seriously poopy diaper.

Tim and I have both been sick the past couple of days - me since Friday, with an upper respiratory version of the flu, Tim with, shall we say... the "lower half" version of the flu. Naturally we have been concerned that Jack would contract one or both strains of the virus. No serious symptoms have arisen, however today he gave me a run for my money with a diaper explosion.

While Tim was getting an MRI, I took Jack out to the car to feed him during which he let out a couple horrendously smelly farts (the rotten egg kind) and them preceded to fill his diaper - to the max - with a liquid form of said fart. Haha - this is so gross, but imagine having to change that diaper!

I was hoping the warmth on his back was just.... sweat? Nope that's definitely poop! And sure enough it had just covered his back and soaked through two onesies, both of which had to be disposed of in the bathroom garbage at the clinic we were at. I admit, I contemplated trying to salvage them but between the giant stains and the foul odor that would follow me around, I decided to leave them behind. Speaking of the bathroom, the area I assumed was meant as a changing station was not lit... at all... so I was trying to wipe poop off of everything in the dark. It was fun, to say the least. Oh, and a nice lady just happened to come in as I was beginning to change him and was kind enough to offer some encouragement even amidst a most offensive smell and the ever-present threat that diarrhea would come shooting out of Jack's bum while I wiped away.

Anyways, we survived. Though I can't seem to get the smell of that poop out of my nostrils.

Baby Bowen

I posted about this little baby boy several weeks back and I'm going to mention him again because he is just so sweet and in a small way, reminds me of Jack. I don't often have warm fuzzy feelings about other people's children, especially children who are complete strangers, but for whatever reason this little baby and his family are heavy on my heart and I feel this deep compassion for them and their situation. I am continuing to pray that God strengthens and comforts this little baby in his distress, as well as his parents. Please visit Bowen's blog (click the link!) and watch the new video... he is so sweet. My heart always breaks when I see the feeding tube coming out of his nose, but I'm so encouraged by his progress and the fact that he's home.

Oh, and I've watched the video Matt posted like 20 times. This baby is SO cute!

Healthy! Woo!

Lately we have been on this pseudo detox/health craze thanks to Cameron and Ellie who are apparently training for a triathlon. I say apparently because I'm still not sure if they know which triathlon it is they're working towards, nor when nor where. But in any case, they asked us to go along with the diet they're on, and so far so good. We've been blindly following Ellie's advice on the detox portion of it which at this point still hasn't eliminated refined sugar... which I'm pretty sure is one of the first things to go. Instead, it was caffeine which resulted in the boys having killer headaches which we all know = caffeine addiction.

Oh, and may I just say that in regards to the word caffeine, the whole "i before e except after c" does not apply here!!!!!!! I had a teacher tell me years ago that that rule is absolute on any word. So now every time I see a word, such as caffeine, where the rule does not apply, I think of that teacher and wish I could call her and say, "Guess what lady?!" Except in a nicer, kinder way :D

I finished all my Christmas gifting for Tim... now I just have to decide on some gift ideas for myself. We decided to keep the limit for spending at $50 for each of us because there's really no need to buy more (or buy at all for that matter) but it does make it difficult to think of more than one or two things that stay within our budget. So far, all I've come up with is a new watch band which Tim feels is terribly boring. I ordered this book for myself the other day (totally off topic) and I'm pretty darn excited about using it. Jack is 7 days from being 6 months old (crazy!) which means real food. We've been cheating a bit early with some of these... which he loves ... but haven't officially started replacing one of his milk meals with a food meal.

Eeeek, I hate too much baby talk because I know it turns into blah blah blah for other people and I always promised myself I wouldn't be that mom that has lost any interest in topics of conversation that don't involve her child(ren).

Ok ... quick what else?! Nope, I've gone blank. I will say I'm soooooo pumped for the Miami Heat/Cleveland Cavs showdown tonight. The return of Lebron... what will the Cleveland fans do? I'm not a sports person, but when Lebron was here I really got into basketball. Since "taking his talents to South Beach" I've reverted back to a blissful indifference to sporting events, except of course for this one monumental game. And of course I'm hoping Miami loses.

Oh and did I mention that I love, love, LOVE that it's Christmas season and that when it's chilly outside I can be inside all cozy with my friends and family playing Settlers and sipping hot tea with toast? Well I do!