water fun!

i typically have a hard time finding a good opportunity to clean the bathroom attached to atticus' room - i don't like doing it while he's awake and having him around the cleaners, messing with the toilet brush, and playing in the toilet. but i can't do it while he's sleeping because the bathroom is directly off of his room (it's a master bed-bath setup).

in case you were thinking i just went ahead and let my kid play in the toilet (explaining how sopping wet he is in the picture above), get your mind out of the, well, toilet and let me tell you about WATER FUN DAY!

i just put a little bit of warm water (maybe an inch or so) in a tub with a tiny bit of dish soap for bubbles, gave him some kitchen utensils, put him in one of my old t-shirts and bought myself an entire half an hour of his fascination.

(just a note before the terrible mom society invites me to join, i did keep my eye on him, since kiddos can drown in as little as an inch of water.)

seriously, i think this is going to be a weekly activity and i'll be praying it doesn't lose its appeal.

i'm glad i'm not alone in this, but...

"today is spring cleaning day. yes, i know it’s january; i’m not an idiot. but if you do your spring cleaning in january, guess what you don’t have to do in the spring? anything."

– michael scott

one fish, two fish, red fish, sardines.

in preggo news, i'm still all about the benjamins.

and by benjamins, i mean seafood. as we speak (er, as i type) i am eating sardines covered in mustard on crackers. with sweet pickles on the side. (even though i'm craving fish, i'm not sure sardines are really up my alley. i mean, i knew that sardines were just tiny fish...but i didn't think through the fact that they still would have bones and skin...does no one remember the post where i was shocked to discover canned salmon? fish bones really gross me out.)

anyway, that somehow has not convinced me to stop eating them, although the mustard they came packed in just isn't mustardy-enough so i might have to bust out the french's (who am i kidding? the aldi brand mustard).

apparently all the omega-3 fatty acids have been going to the baby, though, because i have SERIOUS preggo brain. i found atticus' bib in the trash, discovered an empty toilet paper roll in the kitchen utensils drawer, and put my underwear on over my pajama shorts.

atticus makes me feel better about it, though, because he can now say MAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hooray!!!!!!!!

admission.

can i admit something? i haven't been okay lately.

i think it's just pregnancy- (and maybe weather-) related, but i have been struggling with depression, anxiety, migraines, insomnia. i feel lonely, stressed, isolated, exhausted and restless. i toggle between lethargy and running ragged. there are days that i drink cream soda for breakfast and make brownies for lunch because i want comfort food, but then i feel even worse throughout the day because i'm not taking care of myself. i'm exhausted at the end of the day, but anxiety keeps me awake for hours (or wakes me up once i'm asleep). i cry - or snap - at a moment's notice. i'm not okay.

for the last few weeks there have been more good days than bad days, but then a bad day will come and kick my butt. today has been one of those days.

i have realized through all this, though, that god is gracious and faithful and gives me what i need to get through my day. sometimes it's by supernaturally granting me patience when i have none left, and sometimes it's just by being someone to talk to in a voice other than my 'atticus' voice.

i have also realized that, in spite of how trying and inconvenient and downright horrible things might be (or seem to be), there is no doubt in my mind that motherhood is a high, high calling. this is all worth it - i never wonder. so many women have hesitancy regarding becoming a mom or committing themselves and their time fully to raising their kids...but it's so priceless in so many ways. and even when things are hard and at the end of the day you feel like you have nothing left to give, god so blesses mothers for being mothers! i have been just so reassured of this lately. so this has been a hard, good time.

any advice?

calling all mamas out there:

atticus has been teething the last week or so, and now has one molar partially through and one on its way. he really has been an awesome trooper, and other than the snot and drool all over his face, most of the time you can't even tell.

he also has been having some weird sleeping patterns. for the last few days, he won't sleep at all during one of his naps (it's not consistently one or the other, but he consistently doesn't sleep during one of them). he also wakes up at like 6:15 and messes around in his bed for like a half an hour. (when he's awake in his bed, he's not crying or in pain or anything, he's just awake and messing around.)

so my question is, would you treat this as just a side effect of teething or would you think that he's getting ready to drop down to one nap a day? should i try messing with his schedule or wait it out until he's done teething (which i've heard can take a looong time with molars)?

done and done.

spring cleaning is done! it only took barely over 3 days (a modern miracle), and that is even after taking into consideration that i had atticus the whole time! (i got in the car to take him to jamie's yesterday and...dead. battery.) so, my house is clean from the top of my cabinets to under my fridge. as i went along, i brainstormed some decorating ideas...and may i say i am VERY EXCITED?!?!

in the meantime, here's a little slideshow (a "vid," if you will) that i put together for my family for christmas. i thought i'd share it with yall since a) i like to think of you as family (aww, how sweet) and b) i am not skilled at ANYTHING techie, and i kind of want to show off my first attempt at using windows movie maker. so without further ado...

ahhh, fresh new year.

whoa...guess who's 13 months old today?

i just love the beginning of the year. not the weather, so much...(it was -22 saturday morning. ew.) but the feeling of having a whole year to do with what you want. and oftentimes, by july you forget that you had big plans for this year, but i'd like to change that this year. i want to appreciate the year all year.

2010 will be the year.

i have been working on developing the perfect resolutions - not too many, not too idealistic. they're still a work in progress. in the meantime, i've started spring cleaning. (as my connection group pointed out, i like to play it fast and loose with the word "spring.") i just like starting brand-new...plus, if i wait until spring to do it, it probably won't get done since i'll be 9 months pregnant. (unless that whole "nesting" thing kicks in, then i'm doing a lot of work in advance for no reason.) it's been interesting trying to get stuff done around nap schedules, but i think it will all get done. for everything that i can't do while atticus is awake OR asleep, my friend jamie will watch him for a couple hours tomorrow.

in addition to the regular cleaning, todd and i overhauled our apartment and switched the furniture in the two bedrooms. atticus is now sleeping in the master bedroom, and we're sleeping in the old nursery, which is the bigger of the two rooms. watch for pictures soon!

best of: 2009

http://teamvanvoorst.blogspot.com/2009/02/not-me-monday_16.html

 

http://teamvanvoorst.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-foods-new-hair-and-new-ride.html

 

http://teamvanvoorst.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-newest-thing.html

 

http://teamvanvoorst.blogspot.com/2009/12/stole-idea-from-allison.html

nothing to write about, so...

just a couple of thoughts.

..it really irks me when people steal carts from walmart or target to carry their stuff to the bus stop, then just leave them there. seriously, it's stealing, people. it probably makes your life easier, but as todd says, you wouldn't steal a boombox from walmart so that you can listen to music while you wait for the bus, then just leave it there when the bus comes. just because you leave it at the bus stop doesn't mean you didn't steal it.

okay, enough ranting.

..we have friends who are MAJOR subaru enthusiasts, and i thought it was really funny when they told us they were members of a subaru social networking group (in real life - they go bowling and stuff). then our friend andy told us it's actually not uncommon for groups to form based on what kind of car they drive. i wonder if there are any ford windstar groups, because i would TOTALLY join.

..i have been craving different foods a lot more with this pregnancy. sea food/fish, jarred jalapenos and olives have been my strongest, most recent cravings. i don't even like olives; i think they're gross even as i'm eating them, but i just can't stop. two nights ago, i ate like half a jar of green olives and chased them with straight lime juice. less surprisingly, i've been craving donuts, chocolate anything, cheesy anything, and microwave popcorn with crazy salt. also...salad.

..i got a couple of craft/sewing books for christmas, and i am having the HARDEST time deciding what to make first!!!

..atticus is THISCLOSE to saying "mama!" i'm so excited!!!!!!!!

..my husband is the best. and i'm not exaggerating. he is the best husband there is.

having myself a crafty little christmas

this year, i've really tried to take advantage of some of the creative opportunities that christmas holds. here are some of the things i've been working on:

i replaced the blue glass in this vase with some festive red berries and some sticks from our "backyard" (the trail behind the garages).

the wreath i made out of pages from one of todd's old textbooks. (go here for a tutorial.) next time i think i'll make a little one from a bible! (or at least not a textbook on argumentation...or at least pay attention to which pages i'm using and not put the page entitled "GAY MARRIAGE!" right in the middle...)



ahh, there it is right above the couch!

our tiny tree...we didn't have enough room for a full-size tree, so my mom picked a 3-footer for us from the dollar store and i just picked out some of our older, smaller ornaments in a red, cream, and green theme. no star? no prob, i just tied a ribbon on top. i didn't have a tiny skirt either, so i just bunched up some burlap around the bottom.

...AND MY FAVORITE PART: OUR STOCKINGS!

i made all of our stockings this year, which was really fun!

this is atticus'. i made it out of burlap and sewed on the cross-stitched cuff my mom made for him last year.

todd's i made from an old gap sweater i found at the salvation army, then i sewed on some antique mother-of-pearl buttons in a snowflake pattern.

this is mine. i made it from some discarded...ahem...men's undergarments and some ruffles i bought at hobby lobby.

this is penelope's. i made the stocking from some quilted material, then i sewed on an antique hand-crocheted doily for the cuff, then cut apart another antique doily for the flowers.

here they are all hung up!! i found that board in a pile of trash wood at a campsite, then just screwed on some cup hooks. (there's an extra hook for a growing family...who knows what next christmas will look like?!)

you can see the fresh wreath i hung in the window (for that perfect christmas-y smell). i've been stringing the christmas cards and letters we receive with clothespins.

here's a sampling of some of the gifts i've wrapped. i used brown contractor paper and cloth ribbon to give them kind of a home-grown look. (the one in the top left is embellished with burlap, since i ran out of ribbon.)

my sister found this pair of little dutch shoes at goodwill and gave them to atticus. they were in pretty rough shape, so i gave them a fresh coat of paint, then sanded them to age them. in dutch tradition, kiddos put out their shoes and santa (ahem, i mean sinterklaas and his sidekick black peter) fills them with gifts. basically like stockings, but i couldn't decide which i liked better, so atticus will get both this year.

it has been so fun working on this stuff! once christmas is over, i'll turn my crafty energies toward penelope's nursery and girly-girl outfits. (i'm thinking...tu-tus.)