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Showing posts from 2011

B-a-n-a-n-a-s

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I have 3 (admittedly half-eaten) loaves of banana bread hanging out on my counter currently.  This is dangerous as I am the only person in the house who consumes them.  Josh isn't a big fan and bananas have not "agreed" with Emma so far (I'll spare you the details..)  In the end, I will not be accused of wastefulness in regards to these beautiful potassium bread loaves, so all is not lost. I've had two people recently tell me how they enjoy the adventures I have.  While they aren't the most grand of adventures, I will admit that we conquered both Swedish Disneyland (aka IKEA) and the Pumpkin Patch all in one single weekend.  And we even did some naps on-the-go courtesy of this little beauty... That's right, the Ergo carrier.  It is magnificent.  My back thanks me every time I wear it.  And if we had an 8 year old son (as pictured above) we'd tote him everywhere on our backs.  Because 8 year old boys deserve a break like anyone else. We

Hope.

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First of all, I've had two people in the last few days comment on my "bald" baby.  Emma is quite fair I'll admit (and Josh laughed when I responded with that to the first "bald" commenter) and her hair is very blond, but still, there's hair hanging out there.  Do I have anything against bald babies?  I don't think so.  Would I buy her one of these if I really felt it necessary?? Of course. Either way, the second lady said there's a good chance Emma would have curly hair because she's bald.  Good to know.  :) Aside from silly baby anecdotes, I've been up earlier with Emma these days (she's taken a liking to 6am..) so I find myself watching the news and the Today Show.  While watching these, it's not long before I feel overwhelmed by the amount of terrible news in the world.  The devastating earthquake in Turkey, a missing baby in Missouri, and the chilling attack of a sophomore student on freshmen students

Harvest Time

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I had the delightful privilege of meeting some new lady friends (as I like to call them) last night as we played Bunko at Hilary's house.  I consumed more M&M's, Skittles, gluten-free apple pie (homemade no less), and Jelly Belly's than I care to remember.  I can't be blamed for this.  But I can blame the sugar rush (or most specifically the sugar crash) on my inability to focus during the second round.  I could also attempt to blame the red dye #6 treats on my inability to win.  But because it is culturally appropriate to yell out  "You're the Biggest Loser!"   in crowds now, I was deemed as such, given this lovely basket, and felt like it was  my birthday/National Coffee Day all over again!  Incidentally, I can also make my entire Halloween costume this year out of what I won! (I'll figure Hilary into the costume as well somehow)  Perhaps my multi-purpose jack-o-lantern glasses will ensure that we avoid the Halloween 2010 Debacle we all r

Sick.

#12 of the "50 Creative Ways to Make Your Blog Popular" website suggests: Write something funny or disgusting. (Don't make it a habit) Here we go people.  Yesterday, because Emma so desperately needed a nap and I so desperately needed a homemade americano (I exaggerate, yes), instead of risking waking her up by grinding my newly purchased Costco beans (roasted by Starbucks) in the kitchen, I decided to grind them...in the bathroom.  Don't be grossed out (or "sicked out," Jaime).  And don't worry, I won't make it a habit.  Or if I do make it a habit, I won't habitually write about it on here.  Because I'm banking on this "50 Ways.." blog to really be my ticket in life.  Whatever that means. Also disgusting is this head cold that came out of nowhere.  Thirdly disgusting is the rain that flooded my dreams of taking the tiny human to the pumpkin patch today.  But, I am hopeful that the little sunballs peeking through the clo

She threw up in my mouth a little...

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This is Jaime's current status on Facebook: " Baby Emma had a burst of affection all over my face. It got in my mouth a little bit... and on my eye lashes, Bieber bangs, clothing. Messy, barfy burst of affection." The good news is, the moment following the aforementioned barfy affection, our trusty and falsely-understood-as-compassionate friend Carolyn yelled out " Don't you dare wipe her off yet!"  (referring to Jaime)   as she ran to get her camera.  The bad news is that it's a new camera and Carolyn didn't seem optimistic about getting the picture to me anytime soon.  That makes one victory for baby and one for Jaime I suppose. In other news, if you're driving through Ohio and see one of these...  don't get out of your car.  It's pretty much like Jumanji. Reason #24 that I feel like a mom:  A "date night" to Costco feels luxurious.  There's free food, entertainment on big screens, and giant bags of e

Inspiration.

I'm not doing a stellar job at this blogging thing.  I felt a burst of inspiration after Glen Grove shared some kind words this week about how he enjoyed the blog when I was in Cambodia. Helping widows and orphans in a third world country is a seemingly far more glamorous platform than disclosing my thoughts about diapers and sleep schedules. ....On that note, I am on the fence with Target diapers.  Sometimes I think I might as well skip the diaper since her pants end up doing most of the work.  Incidentally, the Cambodians would endorse the no-diaper route.  ....On the other note, we slept a solid 7+ hours last night.  That's THREE nights in a row of sleep.  I really shouldn't be so dependent on coffee at this point because of that fact. But you know I can't resist you, tall Americano with one pump of classic and room for cream (just in case anyone should ever need that helpful information). Aside from unabashed kindness from Glen, I also feel inspired whenev

Refreshing.

I have admittedly not been blogging at naptime lately.  I've been doing dishes, reading, occasionally napping myself, and generally basking in the times when Emma does sleep.  We've had a rough time lately with nighttime sleep.  I went from feeling entirely defeated on Monday night (at last count I had woken up 5 times with the tiny human) to this same tiny human sleeping from 7pm to 5:30am this morning (and pulling her into bed with us as we all fell back asleep).  Quite the contrast. I had the distinct privilege during my "defeated" days of getting to attend the Northwest District Conference  for local pastors and leaders.  I wish I could start each morning by refocusing myself on the Lord accompanied by a live band like these guys.   So good.  The Starbucks helped too.  I walked away from the conference feeling very refreshed.  And not only because there were so many willing arms ready to snuggle Emma.  But partly that.  It was mostly hearing from such excell

National Coffee Day!

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Two momentous occasions occurred today. #1.  National Coffee Day aka International Coffee Day.   While the origins of this glorious day remain unknown, we do know that Krispy Kreme and 7-11 offered free coffee this morning.  I did not however take either of these establishments up on their offers.  I instead let my mom buy me coffee at Starbucks.  And it was delicious.  #2. The Day of My Birth.   While we do know the origins of this day (my mom told me), what you may not know is that it was one of the best birthdays to date.  I woke up to a cute baby, cute husband and some delicious homemade pancakes!  I told Josh it was like we were camping, but I didn't cry...(I've been known to cry while hiking.  Not because of the beauty of nature, but because of my wimpiness..) The husband gave me my birthday card with the disclaimer that it was homemade, and that it may be entirely creepy. And yes, that is a tiny baby head on my body.  Hallmark can't market this stuff.

Birthday Fun.

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 First of all, the tiny human we live with is 5 months old today!  And I'm fairly certain she and I were both awake at the exact time of her birth (6:07am) as we were both up approximately every hour and a half to two hours last night.  We apparently can't get enough birthday fun... She was far too busy doing big kid things to bother looking at the camera for this picture.  We'll go let her run around the McDonalds Playland later. According to this story,  Coffee consumption may lower risk of depression in women  I have consumed one mug of anti-depressants today.  3 more and I'd be that much closer to happiness. My personal take on it is that after 4 cups of coffee per day, I would be so caffeinated as to have no real gauge of my emotional state.  And I'd likely type much faster. Speaking of typing faster, I decided at the gym the other day (where all of my major life decisions take place) that when I eventually go back to work, I would like to be em

Oh, I see.

"Our biggest blessings make terrible gods." - Liz Sawczuk We had our second Ladies Life Lite session today and although we've all agreed that the videos we watch are a tad on the cheesy side, the group of women I'm privileged to sit with have enough depth and vulnerability to easily balance it out :) I'm not sure if I'm giving an entirely accurate quote above of what Liz shared today, but her thoughts struck a chord with me.  She talked about the frustrations that come when other people don't fulfill our expectations of them, when our agenda overrides God's and we set ourself up ultimately for disappointment.  She mentioned that our biggest blessings in life, whether it be our spouses, children, friends, etc, when placed before the Lord will only cause disorder and heartache.  And we can actually love them better by not placing them where they were never meant to be. I found this so freeing and a great re-focusing point.  I've been memorizing

Rainy days and Mondays

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I must admit that this rainy Monday has been quite lovely so far.  There is just something about the combination of watching rain falling outside, a fresh mug of coffee nearby, a little tiny human contentedly napping, a lit candle, and jazz music playing in the background that makes the day feel so cozy and delightful. Or perhaps it's the fact that we vacuumed last night for the first time in a while.  It's hard to say really. As much as I try, we're still a no-go with the "binky."  Her facial expression, to me at least, conveys something along the lines of "Sick. Why do I keep falling for this?" I went to Fred Meyer today by myself for 30 minutes while the husband played with the tiny human.  It was invigorating.  Also invigorating was Emma and I dancing with Ellen DeGeneres on the TV today.  We are really quite good.  Her high quality dance skills are inevitable considering her parents.

Fake Birthday Fun

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The husband and I had been planning today as a pre-birthday-day-o-fun for a while now, planning to frolic about in Seattle, go to REI, have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and finish out the afternoon getting our game on at  Gameworks .  We're gamers at heart.  Everyone knows this about us.  Emma's delightful aunties had agreed to watch her while we ventured out, and we planned out our whole day which would of course culminate in a brief pre-birthday-parade along the streets of Everett (not terribly dissimilar to the Dean Martin Parade  in Steubenville). Sadly, the sweet tiny human we're responsible for had been extra sneezy yesterday and woke up today with a stuffy nose and what we quickly identified as a head cold.  Not ones to be deterred, the aunties offered to watch the teeny one while we had an abbreviated pre-birthday-day-o-fun.  The aunties are so good to us! Even when baby isn't with us, monkey mirror always is.. A picture Auntie Brenda sen

More Spice

I'm utilizing the  "50 Creative Ways to Make Your Blog Popular" website once again because let's be honest, I've reached over 100 hits now (unheard of in the blogging world) and I have no choice but to attribute my success to this website.  And cute baby pictures.  People love cute baby pictures. Tip #2 says "Start a contest.  Make sure to end it too." Here's a contest.  Who can tell me why my baby is sneezing so much today?  She seems happy otherwise, and even makes a delightfully cute "wheee" coo at the end of her sneeze.  Adorable.  I will officially end this contest in 2 months.  Stay tuned.  The winner will receive free baby snuggles (whether real or virtual) and the potential for a tiny human to sneeze on you.  Tip #3 says, "Give away free goodies.  People love them." I'm giving away free baby snuggles.  Check. Tip #4 says, "Write about other bloggers to interest their visitors to read your blog.  Ke

I nearly went to the gym today.

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Why is it that my conscience has no problem with watching this... while making these... Maybe it's because I'm far less fearful of having my face ripped off by Anna Kournikova than I was of Jillian Michaels.  In other news, does flour expire?  And do expired flour cookies cancel out the scone and coffee cake I had at Ladies Life today??  Here are some brief snippets of conversation I've had in the past few days: Nice older man at the grocery store:  "Here's how you make homemade applesauce..boil the apples, add a little butter and some brown sugar and there you go.  [pointing to Emma] He'll love it!" Nice lady registering me at Ladies Life today: "This is your first time to use the Hub?  Great! [pointing to Emma] I'll help you get him all checked in!" This is one of the main reasons I so quickly recanted in my strict "no-pink-policy" when I found out we were having a girl.  Yet even with countless outfits like th

Defying Gravity. Part Deux.

Thought I'd add one of these "moving picture" things to enhance the Johnny Jumper experience.  

Defying gravity.

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Not only did Emma experience her first time in the Johnny Jumper, but also finally mastered the "salute" we've been trying to teach her. 

Spicy.

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Now that I am back in the blogging game, I decided to use this thing called "Google" to help me spice up my space.  My search landed on a page entitled "50 Creative Ways to Make Your Blog Popular."  Perfect.  I plan to utilize that list to ensure that I reach 100,000,000 readers by Tuesday.  Tip #1 suggests "Start a controversy.  Just remember not to cross the line." Here we go people.  Prepare to be offended.  I contend that these.. ...should not be sold at Target.  Countless times now Jaime or I have gone up to the clearance rack excitedly examining the cute "shirt" we have stumbled upon, only to lower our soon-to-be disappointed glance to the built in shorts.. That's right.  A romper.  Admittedly, I have purchased the classic "tank top sewn into the actual top" look, so I am not immune to these sorts of multi-purpose outfits.  I just cannot support the romper.  I'm sorry.  If I really wanted to "

Hot Stuff

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I love family birthday night... :)

Seafood.

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Emma caught sight of her very first fish at the doctor's office the other day and it's all she's been talking about since(we assume).  So today I headed to Bridges Pets (free plug) with Jaime (who is currently on a steady diet of saltines), Briell, Marli, and Jude (who went home with a new pet Betta fish named Whiskers that he tried to drink as we exited the building.  Not his fault, Whiskers looks delicious). ** In all reality, Emma was far more enamored by the bright lights of the store than she was by the animals, but with some silly faces from us, prolonged time in front of each glass casing, and the right camera angles, she had the time of her life..  In the words of Jaime Broxson, "You are sickin' me out big headed fish..." (my paraphrase) ** It should be noted that the Hansen family did not in the end take my "Whiskers" suggestion but went with the more clever name of Alpha the Betta.  Welcome home Alpha.