Fill-You-In #7

I think I'm over "Fill-You-In FRIDAY" and will just Fill-You-In as needed. I got stuck with the dreaded winter cold that has been going around, we enjoyed an extra-long weekend at home with Jon for President's Day, and then he got snowed in for a day during Winter's reminder that he's not gone yet. I can say with confidence that I am over winter, and ready for spring. It usually takes all season for me to get there, because I do like the cold, but it's time. Get going and good riddance. We could use some spring rain (and flowers and green leaves and warm winds).

My friend, Lindsey, posts weekly pregnancy updates, and I like the format of a questionnaire for these Fill-You-In posts. I might make up my own questions and start posting them regularly. It will be fun to look back and see how we progress through the year. Thanks for the idea, Linds! :) Now, to get the questions together...

While I'm talking about my friends and their blogs, Dani at Be Good Natured, makes very cute wool-felted creations, and I am the lucky winner of a cupcake this week! I know a little girl who will be very excited about our cupcake. I'm excited, too!

I've also made my return to running. It was made official by the purchase of new running shoes (Asics) and a pair of shorts (Nike). It's a slooow comeback, and none too pretty, but it feels good to get out there again. Wish me luck! I'll be running in the Color Me Rad 5k with some friends in April.

Here are our Instagram pics for the week:

Eve turned 6 months old. Time flies. I can't believe she's THIS big. She "talks" all the time, eats oatmeal every day, and is slowly showing her sweet little personality. She's an easy-going gal, and she is loved so much. What did we do without her? Sleep, but other than that...

Speaking of sleep, sleeping children are the sweetest.  We still wear Christmas jammies. It's a waste not to!

I think sleep is a theme this week. Cuddling a sleeping baby is one of the many joys of being a mommy. I love these moments with my baby SO much. If you're wondering, Eleanor loves cuddles, too. I need a BIG recliner so we can all cuddle and read books together. I hope Santa reads this!

Currently reading: Winter's Bone, In the Time of Butterflies and Nancy Clancy (to Eleanor). I have to make a real push this week, so I can get started on my next book club read.

Projects on the horizon: Curtains for our back door, spring pillow case dresses for the girls


Have a great week, friends!

I Forgot to Fill-You-In Friday #6

Whew! I'm way behind on my updating and my blog. The blog is still on my mind, it just can't seem to make it to the top of my priority list. I've had A LOT of "billable" work lately, and it's a huge blessing financially and as a reminder that I have skills outside of mothering. Go me! So, I've been working in my spare time, and in my spare-spare time, I'm trying to keep up with reading and exercising.

Last week I talked about balance, and how I struggle with it. Honestly, who doesn't? Everyone I know deals with something like this: If the house is clean, the kids are not having fun, if mom has herself together (well-rested, well-fed, exercised, socialized) the house is a mess and the kids are a hot mess. It's life. I just need some perspective sometime. It's a GOOD life. God willing, I know there will be many, many days years from now where I will wake up to grown kids and have plenty of time to do it all, and I will miss my sweet babies.

My new strategy for dealing with my "to-do" list is organization. Every morning I write out a vision for the day complete with color coding and prioritization. When I'm standing in my kitchen trying to make sense of my day because I'm short on good sense, I go to my vision and remember, OH YES, I really wanted to read 30 pages in my book, read a book with Eleanor, put together a new brochure for the ad campaign, take a nap, or put away laundry. Yes, naps make the list. They should make your list, too. I also promised myself to not put things that definitely won't get done on "the vision". Yes, we need to patch the wall where Eleanor ripped the curtain and the rod completely out, but c'mon. It's not getting done until at least May (maybe Christmas) and I'm not going to be the one to fix it, so why pretend?

A recap in pictures and words, because I'm long-winded:

 

 Eleanor got a haircut! I did, too. We both needed it. Isn't she beautiful?

 

Isn't SHE beautiful, too? She's sitting up AND eating solid food AND she'll be 6-months-old this month. She hadn't been sleeping well, and the caption on that bottom picture was something like "stealer of sleep, but maker of happy". We've been working on a "trading down" sleeping method, and it's uhhh-freakin-mazing. I've never been a proponent of cry it out, because I'm the one crying the hardest by the end of it. This approach is much gentler and has seemed to work for our family. (Please, don't take that statement as an attack on those of you who can cry-it-out. I'm from the school of "do whatever works for you".)

 She begged and begged to eat the "sucker that looks like a magic wand" that she got at Sunday School. I finally said "OK" and she took about 3 licks and decided it wasn't that good. Yessss. (I hate red dye 40 candy and limit it as much as possible.)

Eleanor and I ventured into the back yard with little sister. It was the best. Eve likes to swing, and Eleanor likes to push her. Speaking of swing, Eleanor magically developed the ability to pump her legs and swing by herself. Praise the Lord!

That was the fast and furious recap, and reminder that I'm still here, and still have blogging on the mind.

Mari

Fill-You-In-Friday #5 and BOOKS

I've been terrible about taking pictures this week. Sometimes, no, all the time, I have trouble with BALANCE. Balancing kids, balancing friends, balancing family, balancing work, balancing exercise, balancing housework (yuck)--balancing everything. In general, I bite off more than I can chew, rushrushrush then CRASH. To remedy this, I've been making little lists and keeping a better calendar to help manage my commitments. It's helping, and so is my mother. She helps me with my little monsters while I take care of some of the more grown-up parts of my life (like work). God bless my mom. She is a saint. And because my dad is probably the only person reading this, he's all right. Most days.

I've been contemplating how I spend my time. I'm not the most efficient person. THIS blog post has inspired me to use my time better, because there is no "more" time. In an effort to save time and money, we're ditching the satellite in favor of a ROKU player. Eleanor is in love.

I'm going to share with you one area of excess in my life, and one of my lists. BOOKS. If you follow me on GoodReads, I'm not the worst offender out there, but my "to-read" list is HUGE and always growing. In 2013, I have high hopes. I've gotten off to a slow start, but my hopes are not dashed. I maintain one book club, and am excited about another one, so my list of "personal" reads may have to get shorter, or I'll have to become better at pushing my own agenda at book club.

Reading List
Book club x12 x24

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
• A Feast for Crowns by George R. R. Martin
• Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer - In process. I love Krakauer's writing.
• Watership Down by Richard Adams 
• Wicked by Gregory Maguire
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - I might be the only person who hasn't read this book.
• In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez 
• Divergent #3 by Veronica Roth - Due out in Fall of 2013. I WILL pay full price for this book to read it as soon as it drops. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer 
• The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene - A friend recommended this to me years ago. I bought it, but haven't read it. This is the year.
• Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
• Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell - I want to see this movie (I'm behind the times, I know), but I want to read the book first. It's the same story with Les Mis.
• The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins - No, I'm not questioning my faith.
• This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• Flavia de Luca - I don't even know the title of the book, but it's a British mystery series and I've been wanting to read it. I know one of my friends will fill me in on the details I can't remember.

Looking over this and my GoodReads account, I'm realizing that 40ish books are probably unlikely, but it will be fun to see what gets read, what gets added, and what gets pushed to next year. I'm also trying to read chapter books to Eleanor, so throw some of those in the mix. The Wind in the Willows, Stuart Little, and a few others are on my list, but girlfriend likes more fantastical stories. I can't blame her.

Have a good weekend, friends.