Lentin' for Punishment

My mother would be so proud.  This year I am going to honor Lent in every way us Catholics are supposed to.   Everyone knows that Lent is when you're supposed to give up something, most folks do the usual chocolate or sweat stuff.  In a society where multi-tasking is must, I can understand where some folks see it as a "two birds with one stone" opportunity.  That diet you've been wanting to try, why not give it a whirl during Lent?  Give up soft drinks for 40 days and surely you can give them up for good.

At Christmas time we all get hoards of "Remember the reason for the season!" cards, so unfortunately I'm going to use that same ole tired line for Lent.  Don't forget the reason you are skipping that piece of chocolate, saying no to that refreshing Coke.  If you're going to participate in the Lent traditions, than make sure you know what the purpose of these traditions are.

I'm not usually one to jump on a religious bandwagon, so I'll make this brief... As Catholics, or any Christians for that matter, we believe He died for our sins.  So Lent is a time to remember His great sacrifice, so in return we sacrifice a little something ourselves.  As you abstain from that slice of cake, don't just do it because you want to loose weight, but do it as just a little gesture to God that you appreciate all He did for us.

So what am I giving up you ask?  Well as Catholics, we're supposed to not eat meat on Ash Wednesday and then every Friday from now until Easter.  So that's the first part of it, but I also decided to give up curse words.  Yes, curse words.  I know, it's silly... but I need to give it up anyways because my daughter is to the point where she repeats everything I say... and I think it would make me a better Catholic... and --- wait.... this sounds alot like I'm multi-tasking doesn't it???  :)

Girls will be girls

It has come to my attention that we might have a girly-girl on our hands.  Case in point:

Note how Emma has these little plastic rings around her wrists.  These rings are from a tic-tac-toe toy my MIL gave her on her first birthday.  From the minute we unwrapped the present, she grapped up those rings and put them on her wrists.  How did she know to do this?  I don't usually wear many bracelets other than my watch.  Where did she learn that you can put things on your wrists?

Here's another example, our neighbor gave us her daughter's old dollhouse with a few dolls and accessories, one of which is this little chest of drawers that has a brush attached to it by a string.  Do you know she drags that chest of drawers around everywhere so she can use the brush to brush the doll's hair?  Now I know she's been fascinated with Mommy & Daddy brushing their hair.  She's even snagged our brushes a few times and insisted we pick her up so she can brush our hair (Which by the way, is not a fun game.  She leaves you feeling like your scalp was peeled.)

So maybe some of these gender specific traits just come naturally.  For me, growing up on a farm and with two older brothers, I didn't have the "girliest" of homes.  Not to mention my mom wasn't big on make-up, fancy jewelry, or any of those other feminine things girls learn from their mothers.  In fact, my mom purposely kept my hair short as a kid, mainly because I had curly hair that was prone to tangling, but also because my mom (and I quote) "didn't know how to fix it".  Which also lead to many awkward situations where folks would mistaken me for a boy.  It didn't help that I'm basically the spitting image of my brothers and my dad, but still...  It's only later in life that I realize this upbringing might have helped me be more independent, less materialistic, etc, etc.

So as silly as it may sound, I remember finding out we were having a little girl and being somewhat intimidated, because I didn't really know how girls are "supposed" to be raised.  But maybe some of that stuff is just engrained in us?  As tomboy-ish as I was raised, I still remember playing with Barbie dolls.  Obsessed is more like it, I'm pretty sure I was in middle school before I gave them up.

So if I do have a girly-girl on my hands, as uncomfortable as it makes me, should I support her?  One things for sure, I'm not spending gobs of money on fancy outfits, jewelry, whatev.  I'm afraid plastic rings from a tic-tac-toe toy will have to suffice for bracelets my dear (atleast at this age).  Or is this the turning point?  When many parents decide to indulge in their child and we end up with spoiled kids that never learned the value of working for/earning their living.  Let's not open that can of worms...

Well here's to finding a happy medium of making my child feel that her wants, interests, personality traits, what have you... are supported by her parents, but not to the extent of having everything her heart desires.  Sorry cupcake, but that's just life...

I'm feeling old...

Don't know if it's the recent birthday that's got me down, or the recent discovery of my lack of tech-knowledge (more on that in a bit), or that I decided to wear this adorable short-sleeve cardigan today and when I looked in the mirror I realized my mother's reflection was looking back at me - either way, I'm feeling old today.

Googled "old lady cardigan" and found this pic.
Why is she in the woods?  Idk, but it cracked me up.

Update on the computer, apparently we got a lemon.  Said we could exchange it, but for some reason in the past 16 days since we purchased the laptop, they have discontinued our model and no longer had any in stock.  (Sounds fishy to me...)  So they gave me a "comparable" computer that was conveniently $50 more but had 4 hours less battery power than my original.  Anyways, decided to bend over and take it accept their exchange offer and now were back up & running with laptop #2.

All of this recent tech failures got me to realizing, I'm way behind the times.  I used to be somewhat tech savvy.  I remember always having to help my mom setup any new gear she happened to stumble upon.  Now I'm no different!  And heaven forbide I have any problems and have to explain to Geek Squad that the do-flicky that makes the thinga-ma-bob go "whoosh" is now going "beep" and the whatcha-ma-call-it is giving me an error.  I recognized the "Uh-huh" they gave me - I use the same with Emma & her baby babble...

Man down

Forgive me as I use this outlet as a way to express some fears.  My brand new laptop, less than 30 days old, has broken....  Really?  How does this happen?  I was so careful not to let Emma touch it, despite the temper tantrums that ensued after every disciplinary "No" I gave her to not play with Mommy's computer.  And I never set a drink near it, or even typed with greasy fingers, nothing!  But yet, somehow, it's on the fritz.  The function keys (speaker on/off, volume up/down, wifi on/off) aren't working and the mousepad area has hit or miss functionality.  So I'm hoping maybe there is just some setting I accidentally put it on and with a click of a button they can fix it.

But what's looming in the back of my mind is how we decided to opt out of the Best Buy protection plan (>$300) that would replace/fix any problems we had for the next three years.  Our thinking being, what could happen in just three years?  We've had the same computer since college and have never had problems with it.  So what's the point of spending money for a protection plan that we'll probably never use?   Oh God, famous last words... 

Birthday

Yesterday I said goodbye to 27 and hello to 28.  And oh what a birthday it was!

I moved my work schedule around so that I'd have the day off.  So me & Emma started the day with a trip to the gym.  Emma played in the nursery while I went to my Power Punch class - that I love!  It so empowering to punch the crap out of something.  :)  Then we met Cody for lunch and had some great family time together.  Then it was afternoon naps (for the both of us) and then to get ready for the evening's festivities.  Thanks to my wonderful hubs for letting me take a night off from my Mommy duties and join some girlfriends downtown for dinner & drinks.  A delicious dinner turned into entirely too many drinks but oh what a night...  So many great laughs, so many fun stories, and, oh, did I mention - so many drinks!

So to my girls I say pass the salt, swallow the cake, give me a big cup, and oh yeah, salud!  Thank you for helping make this birthday one of the best ones yet.  I heart you.  ~Eduardo

I have arrived!

After 18 months with a little one, I've finally come to the realization - I have arrived as a Mom!  What brought on this grand epiphany?  No, not the 9 months of growing a human in my belly, not the 11+ hours I spent in labor, and not the past 18 months of having a mini-me clung to my leg.  Nope, it was a missing carrot, well a toy carrot, actually only half of a toy carrot.

It's one of those pretend foods that the kids "cut" with a plastic knife.  The food is already cut, they're just held together with velcro.  But it's one of Emma's favorite toys - and for some reason, the carrot especially.  It would capture atleast 20-30 minutes of her undivided attention, she would cut, put it back together, cut, back together... whilest I was cooking supper, cleaning, or just enjoying some "free" time.  So to me, it was priceless.

Pic from Small World Toys

So this whole week I have looked through couch cushions, under furniture, dug through toy boxes... meanwhile Emma keeps pulling out the other half, trying unsuccessfully to cut it, then turns to me and pleads "Uh Uh", which translates into "Mommy fix it!".

Then I thought to myself, have I really hit that point in my life where I'm stressed over a toy carrot??  Then it dawned on me... holy hell I've become a MOM!

There were signs.  The interest in buying jeans with a higher waistline so that when I'm bending over with Emma they don't drift so low that I start resembling a plumber.
  

Saturday Night Live

Or the fact that when I did my annual "clean out the closet" (i.e. - if it hasnt been worn in a year, donate it to Goodwill) I cleaned out every high heeled shoe - even the ones I kept after college in case I ever wanted to get glammed up one night - and left the clogs and tennis shoes and other shoes of comfort.  And why didn't I notice it was strange when I passed the mom in a minivan and found I was envious of her spacious vehicle with its built-in DVD player and doors that close with a click of a button.

Gone are the days of driving around in my Daddy's pickup truck and blaring some Bellamy Brothers (little shout out to my redneck girls there).  The cowboy boots and hat that were once a staple in my bar hopping, NC State tailgating, frat house partying wardrobe, are now collecting dust in the basement (no haven't brought myself to Goodwill them yet).



Yes that's me, several years ago, with beer spilled on my leg and holding the poll so I don't fall over.
But aren't I cool with my boots & NC State belt buckle?  Classy.

 But it's funny, I remember in college when I'd make an early morning (probably 10am) grocery store trip - half hung over, wanting to buy every munchie in there but since I was flat broke from last night's bar tab, only getting Oodles of Noodles & Gatorade - and passing Moms with their adorable rugrats strapped into the carts and thinking, I can't wait till thats me.  When I wasn't worried about grades and school and what I was going to do with my life.  When life would just be simplier.  (Yeah right!)

I happened to catch a re-run of Sex & the City the other day.  The one where an old friend of Samantha's who used to match her step for step in the... ahem... man department, was now married, moved to the 'burbs and was having the gals over for a baby shower.  All of the girl's new friends had names like Mary Beth, Mary Kate, & Mary Jane (Martha Rose?) and were dressed as plain as possible and couldn't talk about anything other than how wonderful their kids were.  Of course Carrie was mulling over how could someone change so much and could she ever see herself in this suburbian life.  This difference between me and Carrie (amoung other things - glameous wardrobe, fabulous hair, big city life) is that I could always see myself in the 'burbs with a family.  I always knew I was destined for this, eventually.

So here I am, I have arrived at last!  I am a Mom - in all it's glory.  So while I say a bitterweet goodbye to my days of being young & dumb, I say hello to my Mom Jeans, comfy shoes, and missing toy carrots.

Christmas

So can you tell we've been busy??  5 weeks since my last post!  Whew, it's been unreal, but hey, I'm here now, so let's get this ball rolling....

So Cody, Emma, and I had a wonderful Christmas!!  After our whirlwind Thanksgiving, I decided I wanted Christmas to go a little differently.  While I know Emma hasn't really learned the joys of Christmas & Santa yet, I still wanted to spend Christmas morning in our own home.  Last year we went down to NC on Christmas Eve and she spent her first Christmas in my parents' house.  We had a great time and loved spending that momentous occasion with family.

Christmas 2009 ~ 6 months old

 However, when the day comes that Emma learns about St. Nick, it'll be hard to explain how he'll find her at Grandma's house.  So at some point, we'd have to make some changes.  So why not this year?  So I did it.  I coordinated with family so that we could spend the morning here.  And I'm so thankful I did!

Growing up, our tradition was going to Christmas Eve Mass.  Now typically this is a "Midnight Mass", but over the years my family & I have went to 10pm masses, 8pm, 9pm, etc. but never actually at midnight.   But since this is our first year going to one in Roanoke, I didn't know what to expect... but to our surprise, they were holding a 4pm mass in which the nursery would be open too!  Score!!  So we dressed Emma in her adorable Christmas dress and off we went.  Unfortunately, what we didn't know was that you have to get there early to get a seat... oh well, we'll know for next year!  But here's a couple pics we took after returning home:

So there are several things I've learned about parenthood that no one ever tells you.  Most of them have to do with things being alot harder than what you thought they'd be, but let me know you... Christmas is one of those glorious secrets that turns out to be so much more FUN once you become a parent!!  I had a blast setting up all her toys/gifts after she went to bed.  No wonder Santa is so jolly!  It's the best job ever!

Christmas Eve

 
And I was so giddy the next morning that I woke up a whole 2 hours before Emma or Cody.  But this video of Emma's first reaction says it all.  It made it all worth it...

But we had the best, most laid back Christmas I think I've ever had!  And it was wonderful!  Emma got several other gifts, including a backpack and a potty (that we hope to begin using soon!).

We then ventured down to NC (in the snow) to have a Christmas day supper at my parents.

The following day was spent at Great-Grandma Herman's and finally at Cody's parent's.

Stockings @ Great-Grandma Herman's ~ ages range from mid-60's to 1 y.o.

Christmas is one of those times you sit back and enjoy the many blessings you have.  This year, I thank God for new traditions, a beautiful White Christmas, laid back family gatherings with wonderful people, delicious food and drink, and, of course, my darling daughter and her loving father.