I’m a Shoe Addict–that’s the 1st step, right?

Okay, not for me. I don’t especially like shopping for shoes for me. I feel like I have gigantic feet (9 1/2), and I was always so embarrassed by them especially because I am not very tall. Shopping for shoes for Madeleine is a whole different story. I hope she’ll always keep her cute little feet. My weird feet wish for her is that she’ll end up a perfect size 7, isn’t the best shoes always a size 7?

Luckily, I am a bargain shopper. I make about 70% of all Madeleine’s clothes which works great for being able to perfectly fit her small frame, plus saves me a lot of money. However, I haven’t the foggiest idea how to make shoes, nor do I care! I get the majority of Madeleine’s shoes from the seasonal consignment sales in our area, and I scored big time last night! I spent a total of $34.50 on all the shoes in the above picture (minus the cute feet, they were priceless). The bulk of them were brand new with tags or hardly worn at all, and I got some fabulous brands (Nordstrom, Stride Rite, Old Navy). In case you were wondering, we have a thing for shiny shoes in our house.

My Woodworker

I have been so crazy busy lately! I am now in the primary presidency in my ward at church, and I was tasked at the beginning of the year to hold an 8 is Great or baptism preview for the kids who will be turning 8 this year and making the choice to be baptized. I drove myself crazy the weeks before getting all the details perfect. I made a baptism workbook for the kids with their name on it, and an information sheet for their parents on everything they would need to know to get their child baptized. It turned out so great! I was exhausted, the night before I stayed up ‘til 5:30 in the morning finishing details and then up at 7:30 for church. We sent out invitations to all the kids and their parents to come. I started the night with a baptism quiz for all the kids, then I had a little girl that I had been baptized last year give her experience, following which the Bishop did a mock interview. He was so cute and had all the kids go down to his office and sit in chairs all around his desk, and he told him the questions he would ask them in their baptism interview. Then he took them on a tour of the baptism font and even let the kids get down in the font – they thought it was the coolest thing ever!!! We finished up with a brief intro in the Faith in God program and Cub Scouts/Activity Days and had yummy 8 cookies and punch to finish out the evening. So glad that is over!!!

Next we have had the viruses that love to invade our home come back for a visit – seriously?!?! I’m so over this sick season, from the yucky, horrible cold we had to take Madeleine to urgent care for in November, Hand Foot and Mouth disease – the worst ever!, and now, as Madeleine calls it the pee pee poops, formerly the dee-ree-rahs, how fun for me. Especially when the pee poops decides to make a surprise appearance in the tub. How much longer ‘til spring?

In other randomness, I was helping Andrew do some things for work down in the basement (his new office) and he was motivated to do some wood work and called on his trusty assistant. Don’t let the video fool you, she was all about the drill press until she knew I wanted to video her doing it, that stubborn stinker! She eats it up being able to help her daddy. I sure do love this little family of mine!

Daddy’s Little Helper

Strawberry Shortcake

Ok, I know that Halloween was a ridiculously long time ago. However, I want to remember this past Halloween, if anything for the hours and hours I poured in to making the costume – ridiculous, I know.

I’m not the best “go with the flow” type mom – okay that’s not entirely true, just mostly related to what she wears. I know one day I’ll have to somewhat hand over the reigns and actually let my child decide what she wants to be for Halloween. Let’s face it, at 4 she changes her mind all the time anyway, so I’m just helping to guide her on the right path, right? Okay, not really, but while the fight is not too great, I relinquish control. When we were thinking about what to be for Halloween, we went through the possibilities of all the princesses, and I was looking for some inspiration. Cha-ching! It hit me. What about making an adorable vintage strawberry shortcake costume, like the one’s I played with as a child. Problem is, they reinvented Strawberry Shortcake to make her more current, hip, and cool – what’s up with that? So getting Madeleine convinced she wanted to be that Strawberry Shortcake was a little tricky. I checked out the vintage Strawberry Shortcake DVD at the library and had her watch it. That helped her warm up to the idea, but she still wasn’t 100%. She called it “the little Strawberry Shortcake” because in the old version their houses were all humongous looking cakes with gigantic fruits all around – something I never really thought about. I wasn’t deterred! I told her she would have the cutest purse and next year she could be … (fill in the blank, because you know as well as I that next year she’d come up with a different idea altogether). Done!

I of course should have planned ahead and started way ahead of time, but that’s not how I roll. I did paint the tights ahead of time. In case you were wondering, it’s near impossible to find green and white striped tights for little girls. So there I was the day of our church Halloween Trunk or Treat, sewing like a mad woman (and to set the scene further, going through some pretty intense miscarriage pains), but I was bound and determined to get it done! I did, just in the nick of time, and she LOVED how it turned out so that made it so fun. She won a best costume prize at church, which you wouldn’t think would be a big deal to her, but it was and that’s part of the fuel for my madness. Luckily the costume got tons of use – Ward Trunk or Treat, to preschool, dance, friend’s party, and Halloween itself.

Madeleine and Cammie Jane– they are cousins and close friends

Her token silly face…

So you can see the back detail. The pinafore was the biggest pain because I just had to make it up as I went. Really happy with how it turned out!

    

And so I have it noted for posterity, the year before she was Madeline from the Ludwig Bemelman books and I was Miss Clavel, the nun over the school.

I’m Baaaaaaaaack!

I know, it’s been a ridiculously long time. I’ve resolved to post over the course of the past 2 years (yikes!) and obviously did not succeed in those resolutions for whatever reasons, but here I am now!

As far as it relates to me, I think social media is a blessed and cursed thing at the same time. It’s incredible the relationships that can be made and fostered, the wealth of ideas and knowledge easily at your finger tips (huge fan of Pinterest!!!), and the ability to shrink our world so people and ideas are not as far away as they used to be. Say goodbye to the notion of long, lost, friends – hello facebook! With all the wonderful things, there is also the flip side of the coin. It can be such a black hole of time that I can get easily sucked up in. Public gossip, online drama, comments, followers, and overall constant comparisons to others can work against my general happiness and purpose, if allowed, and let’s face it, that can easily happen. I will never have the most friends, be invited to every activity, do picture perfect activities all the time, dress the best, go on the most exciting places, easily pop kids out on a whim (I jest :), but that is okay, because I really like me! I try to remember that often people show the rosy world to what there reality is, and that is not a fair comparison.

I bring this up because part of my hesitation in the past to post was my own self consciousness of what I contributed to my online presence. Must have amazing photography – check! Must have witty and grammatically correct writing – check! Must show interesting lifestyle – check! Avoid any view of less than perfection – check! What is THAT? My life is not perfect, now don’t get me wrong. I lead a pretty awesome life, but I have my own share of trials and heartaches. I am in the constant fight to remain positive in my miscarriage battle. I am not great at it. This past year I added another 2 miscarriages to bring my total to 8, and I’m not going to lie. It STINKS!!! I feel like I get the wind knocked out of me and it takes a while to build my resolve for happiness again, but I do it! Another secret, err, not so secret to those who show up to my house unannounced, I’m a horrible housekeeper. So I can make a mean meal, I can sew a pretty awesome outfit for my 4 year old, I’m pretty good photographer – these are my strong points to offset my faults.

My precious girl after church today.

In my blogging void, I have missed out on journaling what has happened in my family for the past (almost) 2 years. I hate that! I’m terrible about sending my family pictures, including Madeleine’s birth family. This is for me the best place to share, the good, the bad, and the ugly! So forgive me for bearing a little bit of my soul. I’m encouraging myself to put my best real self forward, if not for anything else, but for my family, and if I can reach out to some friends too, I would love it!

We’ve obviously stayed a family of 3, but our adventures increase. Because Andrew works from home now, we have the ability to spend a lot of time together, and I love it when Madeleine will say, “Hey guys, we’re a family, aren’t we?”. It’s like we have our own personal fan club.

Speaking of Madeleine it’s amazing to me to see how much she’s grown. She’s taken gymnastics ever since she was 1 and has really excelled at her gym. If you could see her cartwheel (bragging alert) I’m sure you would be amazed. She’s got an amazing talent for someone so little. Her gymnastics’ teachers love her and push her to work hard. She’s also taken t-ball and dance, but gymnastics is her favorite! She’ll start kindergarten next year whether I like it or not! I can’t believe how the past 5 years have flown by with her in my life. Time goes on warp speed with Madeleine, and I don’t like it, not. one. bit.

Madeleine with Ms. Janey 

Because of the housing market collapse our home remodeling company was no longer able to support our family and an opportunity presented itself last year for Andrew to work with a friend in his outdoor equipment company. Basically they sell all the backpacks, gear, sleeping bags, you name it to wilderness rehab programs. Andrew loves to work with all the different companies and research gear, it’s right up his alley!

Me, I’m just same old me. I really feel like I haven’t changed much over the past couple of years. I drive Madeleine to preschool, go to playgroup, sew, cook, take pictures, repeat!

So here I am, back to blogging!

Food

I love food – isn’t that obvious!

I’ve been thinking a lot more about food lately. How it’s processed, what’s added in, things that I before thought was crazy mumbo jumbo I’m starting to pay more attention.

One of my friends has given me some great resources on places you can look online for getting better food:

www.eatwild.com this links you to local farms, we’ve found a place where we can buy a half of a pasture-fed cow, much better meat for very reasonable prices

http://www.localharvest.org this links you to local farms that might offer fresh fruits and veggies, even CSAs or community supported agriculture

Food, Inc. is coming on tomorrow night on PBS, you might want to check your local listings. I’ve seen clips before, but this will be my first time watching the whole thing. One of the clips that struck a chord with me was the glimpse of the average chicken from the 1950s to today – scary!

I still buy “regular” meat, but I have to admit, I’m now looking for other options. Andrew’s even somewhat caught the bug, being more weary of high fructose corn syrup.

So if you’re interested, check out Food, Inc.

My good girl

My baby says she’s not my baby anymore. If I ever say, “I love my baby”, she’ll say, “I’m not a baby, I’m a GOOD girl”. A few weeks ago I was talking to her about adoption (which I feel very strongly that it is an ongoing conversation), and I was trying to explain to her about her adoption. I said, “Madeleine, you are adopted”, to which she replied, “No, I’m not adopted, I’m a good girl” – totally caught me off guard and I had to laugh. Of course, she’s adopted AND a good girl (well… sometimes – she’s two!).

My good girl is growing so fast, I want to find someway to stop the time from passing so quickly. We’ve said a lot of recent goodbyes. Goodbye to the ba bas (pacis), goodbye diapers (HALLELUJAH!!!), goodbye high chairs, and goodbye crib (I totally had a break down over that one). It’s so hard not knowing if I will ever get the experience of having another baby again, but it also serves as a constant reminder to never take the moment for granted.

I am so very thankful that I get to be called this special good girl’s mamma.

The most tardy Christmas post (ever?)

Yes, I know it’s the middle of April. And I know my web presence is non-existent – did you miss me?

2010 has proved so far to be the busiest year yet, and I’m finally feeling like we are catching up from Maine and the holidays, pathetic, I know!

I didn’t want to forget our 2009 Christmas, it takes the cake for my favorite. We spent Christmas Eve with Andrew’s family, a breakfast at Anne’s in the morning with yummy waffles and the most delicious parfait, and that night we unconventionally went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner and had those who could make it over to our house afterwards to just hang out. I really loved that. After everyone left, I stayed up way too late getting last minute gifts wrapped and making sure all the final details were ready for Christmas day.

Christmas morning we got up and went downstairs to see what Santa had brought. It was so exciting to see Madeleine all excited, and she totally cracked me up when she saw her new toys laid out she thought she had to pick one (she picked the polly-pocket-like Snow White dress-up dolls) and declared, “I want, this one!”. No silly girl, these are all for you! We let her play for a little bit than we packed up and went to my parents’ house, which this year we were so fortunate because the whole family was there!

Madeleine was having a blast. She got to where she started to open presents like it was a process. She would unwrap a gift (throwing away all paper as she tore), say how much she loved the gift, then would run give it to daddy and then demand the next one! I was totally tickled when she was opening this one gift, held in a Macy’s garment box, as soon as she tore through the wrapping paper and saw the Macy’s logo she said, “Thank you sooooo much for my present!” – ha ha ha! like all she got was a Macy’s box, it ended up being even better a new princess dress to wear.

 

We ate a typical ginormous breakfast, snacked on leftovers for the rest of the day and got totally worn out playing on the new Wii. So embarrassing, by the next day I could hardly lift my arm from doing some serious sword fighting!

I didn’t want Christmas to end, but luckily, it’s now only 8 months away!