Mostly Charmed Life

Sunday, April 26, 2009

New Faves

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I've been MIA. I'll 'splain later.

But for now, I just have to let you all in on my newest obsession. For those of you who don't know this about me, I have a tendency to go through "phases." These phases can involve all kinds of things: foods I eat over and over again (Cheerios was a big one when I was pregnant. I've also eaten yogurt and fresh berries like it's going out of style), shoes, different types of clothes (cotton peasant skirts, anyone?), and websites. I get this obsessive side from my dad. My brother, Cade, has it in him too. I think it drives my mom nuts.

Well, these new obsession are websites. Oh, dear, I could spend all day on both. The first is Overstock.com. I know what some of you are thinking: "Umm...hello, Giordi? Welcome to 2005. Where have you been?" And the answer is: I don't know. I mean, I had heard about it but never meandered over. The other day there was an add for it while I was checking the news and since I had nothing better to do, I meandered.

Wow. All that wonderful furniture and bedding. All those shoes. I could literally spend hours just looking. I don't need to buy anything. I'm happy just to look and dream.

The other I found in a home decor magazine. It's called sproost.com and the basic idea is that you take a short style quiz by looking at various rooms to determine what your aesthetic is. Brilliant! It's so fun, I've done it twice. So then when you're finished, it tells you what your style combination is (mine is Vintage Modern/Contemporary with a hint of Cottage Chic) and how you can decorate accordingly. They also give you some ideas of things to buy you might like, and let me tell you, they were spot-on with me. Of course, that doesn't mean you need to buy anything, and I certainly won't at those prices but it's fun to look anyway. And it's nice to have a direction to head when decorating. I always feel so scattered and this helps me focus a little.

So, if you've got a few minutes, you should head on over to these sites. Way fun. Total waste of time.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Sicko

Thursday wasn't a good day.

It didn't start off so badly. It was pretty normal, actually. But around 1:00 I got a call at school from Jack's babysitter who told me that he had thrown up, seemed to have a fever, and just wasn't being himself. Great.

Luckily, I could get a sub in quickly and I picked him up by 1:30. He already had a weight check appointment later that day but I called the doctor's office to see if they could get him in any earlier and if he could see a real doctor. They were so helpful and they squeezed him in about an hour earlier than he would have been. So the two of us went home for a while to wait until it was time to go. Jack slept most of the time and the rest of the time he just lay on my shoulder. He really wasn't feeling well at all.

About twenty minutes before our appointment, I got the boy all loaded up in the car, grabbed the purse and diaper bag and reached for my keys that are always in my purse.

Hmmm... no keys.

They were in the house. The locked house. The locked house that has no spare hidden anywhere for such an occasion. It's a good thing I didn't lock the car earlier so at least we could sit in the car while we waited for the locksmith to come rescue us. As we were waiting, I called the doctor's office to let them know we'd be a little late. The locksmith people assured me that someone would be over within five to ten minutes and they didn't lie.

The only problem was that in the short time we had to wait, Jack started fussing in his car seat so I picked him up to cuddle him for a while. That's when it came. All the food the child has ever eaten came spewing out of his mouth and onto both of us. It was smelly. It was slimy. It was completely disgusting.

So here we are, sitting in the car, covered in baby vomit, locked out of our own house, and late for an appointment. The locksmith eventually gets here (hallelujah!) and promptly lets us in. I apologized for the smell and in all his nineteen-year-old superiority says, "Yeah, you've got something on your pants." Thanks, dude.

So we get in the house, change (Jack into his pajamas and me out of my dry-clean only work clothes. Bummer.) and hit the road. By this time, we're about 45 minutes late, which means we could have made the first appointment beautifully. They are still gracious enough to fit us in somewhere and we find out the Jack is gaining weight but that he's got some bug that we just have to wait out. We did make it home without incident, though.

I thought that this would just be a quick little thing, but he's still been acting sick. He threw up a few times yesterday and is still acting like he feels terrible this morning, which is why I'm home now. Poor kid. Hopefully we can take care of it. And hopefully we can do so without anymore major puking incidents. We'll see.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Snow day

Jack is sitting in a sled his grandpa rigged up. He doesn't seem too excited about it.

The dogs attacked Nik and I as we were making snow angels.

Notice Jack's white-trash boots. We didn't have anything else and I guess they worked just fine.

Just in case you were wondering, last week was the best week ever, educationally speaking. Because of the snow, we had a two-hour delay on Monday, a one-hour delay on Tuesday, and no school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Does it get any better than that??

Today, we finally got with the program and went outside to play in the snow. After running all over town, we met Nate's sister and brother-in-law, Nikolai and Brad, and their daughter, Cherith, at Beau and Beth's house. All of us, minus Beau due to some major issues at the church (I'll just tell you that the front doors were frozen shut and you can use your imagination with the rest), walked up to the golf course to do a little sledding.

We didn't actually sled much because the kiddos were cold and Beth had some work to do, but the walk was beautiful and well worth it. If the snow sticks around, I'd like to go back up next week too. It looks like I'll get the chance since we've got over a foot of snow on the ground and currently it's blowing about a million miles an hour and snowing like crazy. I feel like I live at the north pole.

Here are some pictures of our day.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

It's snowing like crazy out there today.

Which means both Nate and I got a snow day. Yea! I just love those. It's still snowing at our house, although it's raining in Mount Vernon. Weird.

But the forecast is for more snow and freezing temperatures so that should make the roads nice and slick for tomorrow.

Maybe no school again?

Doesn't hurt my feelings.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas Carols

We sang "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" today at church. Love that song. They lyrics are so worshipful and I just get lost in the gorgeous music and beautiful tradition.

Isn't it amazing the the Lord of creation chose to come to earth to save us from the muckiness that we've made? And that he chose to come as a baby in such a dumpy place? I mean really, a stable??

Since I've had Jack it makes me think about all of these things with a fresh mind. How must have Mary felt? Can you imagine watching the Savior of the world learn to crawl? And putting him to sleep each night? It's so humbling. He chose to become helpless to help me.

Wow. There really are no words. I hope you all have time to reflect on this incredible season. Joy to all!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Thankful

I've got so much to be thankful for. Really. Here are just a few:

Husband: He's truly the best. He works hard everyday, comes home and loves on us, and even puts up with my weenie-whining. He's my rock and my BFF. (He'd hate it if he knew I said it like that!)
Baby boy: This kid brings me so much joy. He's so happy, and lovey. When Nate and I walk into the room, his face just lights up. It's nice to be so loved.
Home: I love our little dump. It's not perfect, but it's got personality and it's ours.
Family: If you don't know our families, you should. They're great.
Jobs: With so many people out of work these days, I'm more and more thankful that we have good jobs. And we even enjoy them!
Third graders: They completely drive me crazy sometimes but I love them. One of them thanked me for "being the best teacher in the whole school" the other day. Can you say, "Aaaawwwww"?
Friends: I don't get to see most of them very often but they are some of my best blessings.
Sleeping baby: Did I mention he put himself to sleep tonight? Love that!
Me-time: I actually had time to paint my toenails!
Savior: None of the above would be possible without His grace and love. He gives me so much more than I deserve and loves me as no one else can.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you're looking forward to a blessing-filled Christmas. I know I am!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Growing up

Here are some recent pictures of the darling boy. I was telling my friend Beth today that he's becoming more and more fun. Not that I didn't like him before, but you know. He's learned how to give kisses and is very insistent when he wants to give them. Hmm...not going to take rejection well? He also has developed quite the sense of humor. He thinks Nate is hysterical. I just love this kid.

His first bath with toys. So fun!

Rocking the faux-hawk.

He's learned how to stand up in his crib. Luckily he still can't pull himself up very well.

At the pumpkin patch. He was so tired and wouldn't give us a good smile, but I just love this picture anyway.