I need a fairy godmother...I'm pretty sure that Cinderella didn't have to clean under these conditions. Behold--my vaccuum cleaner

Frankly, I don't think the picture does it justice as to how incredibly sad it is. It has been mended with duct tape on the hose and on the cord, which is so twisted that the wires have come out. I just got another war wound this weekend. Pretty sad, huh? I'm starting to feel sorry for it and I'm wondering if I should put it out of its misery. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to pass on the cleaning today :)

My fairy godmother did, however send me a cook this weekend! Bill made us beer can chicken on the grill, with a bacon blanket. Sound tasty? It was! I think I'm going to have to keep him!

We also had my parents over and my mom took the kids 1 and 3 year pictures--so we're not quite on time--don't tell! Can you believe those weren't at a professional studio? Great job mom! I just can't believe how big both kids have gotten.

Growing Up

Now for a blog less about me and more about my munchkins! Changes are a'comin'. First--a boring one that I'm excited about. I have decided to get a blog makeover. Now that I have decided to keep up with this, I decided I should make it prettier. Sadly, I'm on a waiting list and my guess is that it will be about a month before it's done. So keep checking--one day it will look totally different! Yay!

Now, for a more exciting change. Rori Rose moved into a big girl bed this weekend! I can't believe it. I realize she's a little over three, but I always figured that as long as she was happy in her crib we would keep her in there. I didn't want to have to deal with her being able to get out and about by herself. But, recently she's been waking up at night and I think it's because she's so cramped in her crib; so we decided to put her in a twin bed. She's been up there for about an hour--and I haven't heard anything from her...so I think it might be a success!

When I found out that I was going to have a boy, I was worried that I wouldn't know how to play with him. Bill always was able to wrestle with Rori, but whenever I tried, it was pretty much lame. Well, on Friday, Liam was a bundle of happy energy. He was playing on the stairs (jumping off the bottom one) and then spin in the chair, (this one's obviously out of focus--because of the spinning--but look at his tongue!) then he was chasing the poor cat, and then he wanted to play tackle with me. And guess what? He had fun playing tackle with me--and I did too! I know how to play boy! Yay!

And, just to reaffirm my observations on gender roles--this is what Rori was doing

Ok, so she's not really reading The Princess Bride, but I bet if she could read--that's what she would be doing :)

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandpa Casey--1 day late!

Weary

I'm feeling weary, just tired to the bones. I'm not entirely sure why. Recently a woman at our new church lost her baby at 7 months. This brought me back to thinking about Faith. I am feeling frustrated and defeated. I feel useless. Since I don't know this woman, I can't do anything for her besides pray and tell her friends that I know, yes it's awful, it will get easier, but it will always be a part of their lives now. I just feel like God hasn't used me or my loss in a tangible way--I can't minister to this woman or her family. When will my experience make a difference? God brings this woman just so close--but not close enough for me to be of any use.
Then this got me to thinking about spiritual gifts. I'm pretty sure that I'm supposed to have one, but I don't have a clue what it is. I've taken the inventory tests and they're fairly inconclusive--not pointing to anything specific. I feel so inadequate--and the one experience in my life that sets me apart from so many others has yet to be one that I can use to help someone else. I just want to leave some kind of a legacy--make a difference--serve the Kingdom of God. And this desire has left me weary. As the words from one of the songs on my blog says, "Lord, I'm tired, so tired from walking." and I hear the Lord say back to me, "Jaime, press on towards the goal for the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus." So, I will do that.

Tip Jars

Today I went to Subway for lunch. I've been to this Subway many times before. Usually the workers are quite grumpy and give me dirty looks when I ask for extra pickles, or maybe a third strip of green peppers on my sandwich. I just accept their bad attitudes, take my sandwich and leave. Today, on the other hand, after they grumbled that they were out of Honey Oat bread, gave me 2 strips of green peppers and crankily asked if I'd want chips and a drink, I noticed that they had a tip jar! What is the deal with that? After I am paying for a sandwich from cranky people that are going to make sure that I get no more than the amount that is allotted to my sandwich, I am supposed to give them a little extra? Frankly, it made me angry. Then I thought about the last time that I was at Dunkin Donuts--which was a while ago, because in my cheapness I have decided that paying $1.85 for a cup of coffee is silly--and they had tip jar too! So, for the twelve seconds it took for the employee to put some cream and coffee into a cup and ring me up--a job they're already paid to do--I'm supposed to put my change into a tip jar? Sorry if I'm cheap, but I'm starting to get annoyed at people for their sense of entitlement. It makes me not want to go places that have them because I get all squirmy and feel greedy when they hand me my change and I put it into my purse. Should my sister get a tip everytime she teaches a kid a new lesson, or should I get one everytime I hire someone? Maybe we should all put tip jars out on our desks and see how it goes :) Anyway, that's my rant for the day.

Lessons on Vanity

I seem to be moving through the seven deadly sins. Hopefully it will stop here :) Last week I learned about gluttony, yesterday, it was vanity. Everyone always knows how lucky I am to have Bill--people tell me how lucky I am when they see how much he does with the kids or around the house. So, for once I wanted people to think that Bill was also lucky to have me. I decided that I was going to make these cinnamon rolls that I had been eyeing for months. They sounded scrumptions--complete with a maple frosting. I knew that I would bake them off and they'd be so fabulous that everyone I shared them with would think, "Wow, Bill's lucky to be married to such a fantastic cook!"

Well, this is how it really went. I spent almost the entire afternoon mixing the dough, waiting for it to rise, wrestling with the butter oozing out as I was rolling it, holding the wet, buttery, oozy, dough together enough to get them in the SEVEN pans that they made. I was feeling pretty discouraged from my endeavor. However, I still had hope that people would be singing my praises. I took them out of the oven and poured the sinful frosting on them and this is what they looked like.

Not too shabby. I couldn't wait to taste these delectable treats. I opened my mouth expectantly...and nothing. They tasted like nothing. Sweet, but still nothing. Bummer. What a waste of an afternoon. Oh well, that's what I get for my vanity. Hopefully they will get better with age because I froze them and my Sunday School class is going to eat them next Sunday whether they like it or not!

I think I'm done learning about the deadly sins now, thank you very much.

Recanting

Do you remember my post about how I was happy that my boy wasn't going to grow up to be the devil and how my nephew is sweet and adorable. Well, my sister has begged me to recant because her little boy, Noah, whom I thought was the perfect child, apparently is like all the other boys his age. I don't believe it...look at that face. Sorry Jenna--you can't convince me.

Lessons on Gluttony

Last night I decided I was going to make some bacon wrapped jalapeno things to go with my dinner. I was going to have a nice low carb dinner of those with a grilled chicken salad. Well, before the chicken was done cooking, I had eaten 10 of them! That is the equivalent to 5 whole jalapenos. I ended up not having anything else for dinner--or the rest of the night. This morning, I woke up sweating and feeling ill. 5 whole jalapenos are not a good plan. Lord, please teach me moderation--oh wait, You just tried!

What was I thinking?

So, I think that I have reached a new level in my shallowness. What I will do to myself in order to lose a few pounds...I am on day 9 of the initial 2 week Phase One of the South Beach diet. So far, I have had a feeling of filmyness on my teeth, probably bad breath, bad headaches, and heart palpitations--especially at night, keeping me up until around midnight. Then, this morning I woke up very nauseous and thought, "If I have to eat another egg, I think I will throw up." So, I had a piece of toast with peanut butter. I felt much better. I have decided that Phase One of the diet is not for me. So I am moving on to Phase Two a bit early.

I think I might need to come to terms with the fact that I've had children and my body is not going to be the same as it was when I was 25--boo! I feel kind of guilty that I tortured myself for about a week (the heart palpitations and the headaches didn't start until day 3) when I should be thankful that I have two ridiculously cute children and my extra jiggle is a reminder of what I have. Rori and Liam enjoy poking my tummy--it almost always gets a giggle. Who am I to take away their source of joy ;)

Big Foot

Have you ever wondered what a pair of $50 shoes for a toddler looks like? Well, look no further--here's a pair!


Please don't judge me...we bought Liam his first pair of real shoes this weekend. He had been wearing those leather slipper shoes up until now. We had tried a couple of different kinds of shoes--mostly size 5's, but also a size 6, and nothing seemed to fit his feet. So, based on a couple of recommendations, we took him to Stride Rite. They measured my 15 month old son and his feet are a 6.5 Wide!!!! His big toe is the same size as my thumb!


We justified buying the shoes because Rori gets multiple pairs per season, so it probably adds up to about $50. Plus, frankly, he needed them. So don't judge me. (PS Each set of Grandparents paid for one shoe, so they really didn't cost us anything! Thanks Grandmas and Grandpas!)

Gender Roles

My kids are living proof that nature plays a very key role in the development of gender roles. Rori loves loves loves her disney princesses. Liam takes no interest in them. He will, on the other hand, find the toy car in the room and push it around on the floor. The first time he did that, he'd never seen anyone do it before. He just knew.

The other day, Rori decided she had a baby in her tummy first she had a baby boy, then a baby girl. I don't know if I'm ready for twins!

She loves to push her barbies around in her stroller. She's mostly a good mommy--sometimes, though, when they're naughty, she throws them.

Last weekend we went to a birthday party that was at a children's neighborhood museum. Everything was child size. Rori loved the grocery store. Liam loved the construction site.

Every once in a while they do slip out of their gender roles, but I'm glad, because Liam shows his sensitive side and Rori shows her tough side :)

Smelly Cat

I promise I will go back to writing about my adorable children or my wonderful husband, and won't turn this into a diet blog, but I had to say that I survived day one of the South Beach Diet! How's that for a run-on sentence? Anyway, I chose South Beach because the first 2 weeks are similar to the Atkins diet, but after that you get to add in good carbs. I had done the Atkins diet before and did not enjoy it. I was desperate for something crunchy besides lettuce.

My big fear with the next two weeks is that I will go into ketosis which is some term about burning fat and how it exits your body, blah blah blah. Anyway, the reason I don't want to go into ketosis is because it makes you smelly. I remember being at the gym one time and a woman who had posted about her weightloss on the gym bulletin board got on the stairmaster next to me. Wow. She was oozing the smell of the ketones exiting her body through her sweat. It is not a good smell...I could hardly stand to be next to her. Please, please, if I start to get smelly, tell me immediately and I'll go eat a candy bar!