For those of you that rarely come out of Feedly/Bloglovin', today is the day you must click through that wall. Because the old bloggity blog received a FANCY facelift and I'm abnormally excited about this re-design.
I knew I'd eventually hire Stephanie at How Sweet Designs again since she did an amazing job with my previous design two years ago. I mean, it was a must for me since Porter was not in the old header or profile and I'm in a major 'must update everything in the house/life to reflect Porter's addition to the family' phase.
Plus, I really wanted my site to look cleaner, sleeker, and run a little faster. Heaven forbid I stop using hundreds of photos per post! I was ready for a change to add Porter and subtract some of the busyness, and began scouring other blogs and Pinterest for inspiration.
So I created a long list of 'must haves' on my phone and became a really annoying client for Stephanie YET AGAIN, because I had so many (very specific) ideas. It all came together beautifully and I'm truly in love with the new design.
I think the new header is my favorite part. It's simple, I love the font/style, and wanted to have all of those navigation tabs on top and bottom to make everything easy to find. It's a little embarrassing to admit how happy two little bars of blog tabs make me right now. Take a look around and you might find a few brand new tabs, like 'birth stories', 'popular DIY posts', 'advertise' and 'reviews.' I also spent a ridiculous amount of time updating the other tabs--especially 'kids gear', but most of the others should all be up-to-date, also.
You'll find a new tag line that took me a solid few weeks to create;)
A new profile picture and description.
A super fancy 'Pin It' hover option over my images, along with the ability to follow me or share a post through social media. About time, huh?
I hope the new design makes the site load a little quicker, makes it easier to navigate (oh, I have a 'search this blog' option, too!), and that commenting is easy as well. Because I always love to hear from you, dear readers.
In celebration of the new design and as a way to say 'thank you' for taking the time to read my blog, I wanted to do a little giveaway. I *had* planned to do something special when I published my 1000th post on this blog but apparently that was 42 posts ago. Oops. So consider this a 'yay, new blog design' and 'yay, blog has been around for 1000+ posts) celebration. And a 'thank you for reading' type of thing, too.
Up for grabs: A $50 Target Gift Card. You'd have to use it on something fun for yourself though, alright?
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below and tell me a little about yourself. How long have you been reading my blog? Are you a mom? Do you dig the new design? Play around a little bit and let me know if anything needs to be fixed, or updated. You gain additional entries by following me on IG @mrsjuliagoolia and FB at My Life in Transition Blog.
Also, if you have a blog and are interested in treating it to a little nip and tuck like mine, Stephanie is giving $10 off her base package to my readers until October 1st. Just mention that I referred you and have fun!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
[Girl Moms] Wednesdays We Wear Pink
My friend Erinn asked me to do a feature post on her blog for a little series called 'Girl Moms: Wednesdays We Wear Pink'
Which is funny to me because I actually am wearing pink today....but I usually wear it most days anyway;) I wanted to contribute because not only am I a 'girl mom' but originally a 'boy mom', so having a daughter this time around brings a few differences from what I knew before Cecelia. Basically I'm just a regular old mom who gets to constantly compare my boy and my girl. Pretty fun!
So find me over at Strawberry Swing and Other Things today!
Which is funny to me because I actually am wearing pink today....but I usually wear it most days anyway;) I wanted to contribute because not only am I a 'girl mom' but originally a 'boy mom', so having a daughter this time around brings a few differences from what I knew before Cecelia. Basically I'm just a regular old mom who gets to constantly compare my boy and my girl. Pretty fun!
So find me over at Strawberry Swing and Other Things today!
Winner of Starbucks giveaway
Reading all of your amazing comments on my reveal post was so much fun and it was awesome to hear all about my readers lives. Some of you have been reading for years and others just found me recently. I was stunned by how many of you found me because of my miscarriage posts, as many of you have gone through the same thing. I'm glad that my loss served some purpose for internet strangers and reading about it comforted just one reader then I'm happy I took the time to be honest about my loss. Loved hearing from the other moms out there---and some of us have a LOT in common, to the point where it's kind of eerie! But it's also neat to see that a lot of you don't have kids yet but still come back here to read all about mine. There is just such a mix in this group of readers and it was great to learn more about you. Thanks for coming out of lurkdom, guys! Blogging is a cool thing sometimes. I'm glad I'm still doing it with my new fancy blog design.
And the winner is...
#19 Loni
Email me your mailing address, Loni---I don't have your address through your sweet comment. You can find my email address through my pretty new 'contact me' icon ;)
And the winner is...
#19 Loni
Email me your mailing address, Loni---I don't have your address through your sweet comment. You can find my email address through my pretty new 'contact me' icon ;)
Upgraded | Transition
I will try to stifle my squeals from this post, but you guys! I'm so excited. My blog has been upgraded by the wonderfully talented and super patient Stephanie G. Designs. I mean, REALLY upgraded---not just my usual switching up a homemade header every 6 months. Big time upgrade. I have a favicon, a rotating photo banner, a tag line, and a ton of other new and fun features. I'd love for you to come out from Google Reader or your phone and check out the new life Stephanie breathed into my old blog. Another transition, if you will.
I found Stephanie through Laura, and when I saw how gorge Laura's redesign was I knew I should finally take the plunge and do one myself. In case you haven't noticed, I kind of wavered for a few months about whether or not to continue blogging. It was just feeling like one more thing on my plate and I wasn't motivated to spill my guts to the internet anymore. But then I started blogging more just to test the waters, and whaddya know? I still really thoroughly enjoy my little space on the interwebs. The bottom line for me has always been that I want to document this time in my life for future reference. Lord knows I would forget all of the details of raising small kids without permanently capturing them on this blog. And what better way to connect to other women, a lot of whom are going through many of the same challenges and triumphs as me? Blogging gives me a strong sense of camaraderie in this sometimes scary, lonely, and frustrating gig of motherhood. If nothing else but to hear, 'I've been through *that* before and I survived, as did my child'---even just that sense of support is priceless to me. Not to mention that this blog has earned me nearly every one of my real-life friends in Milwaukee and many others that I feel I 'know' and cherish although we've never met. This may make me a creepy internet girl but I'm okay with that, and Nate's becoming used to it, too.
The effort that it takes to pound out a blog post is definitely worth every minute I spend at the computer. And so, I'm back and feel like making my blog pretty and modern and moving it past the same old template I've had for five years is a fun way to say, 'I still like you, blog.' I hope it appreciates the effort.
So Stephanie was awesome. She listened to all of my very specific requests and ramblings and came up with a fresh design that I adore. You can see we sort of have an arrow theme going on, which makes my inner nerd happy to see it as a symbol as moving forward, or transitioning. I chose my tag line of 'even if I stumble, I'm still moving forward' because I simply googled 'quotes about change' and found that one. Love it. Nate helped me decide on it;) Because I certainly can't claim to be perfect and I have my fair share of stumbles on this path of motherhood, but life must go on. Might as well blog about it in the process.
I had to narrow down my original THIRTY pictures I wanted to include in my rotating banner to just 19 and I'm glad I did---pretty sure you wouldn't want to sit through a 30 minute slideshow at the top of my blog. The four sets of photos we have up there an awesome slice of our life and some of my faves, of course (about 80% taken by the fab Andrea, of course!)
Then you will see a brand new navigation bar with a few new tabs, including a 'bloggy friends' page with links to blogs I like to read. I went back and forth over this one because I don't want to make this blog feel like high school, like 'these are my friends and if you aren't on the list, I don't think you are cool.' Totally not like that. I just listed the blogs listed in my Google Reader that I try to give comment love. Every time I get comments on this blog from readers I make a mental note that I need to check out those commenters blogs and add them to GR to return the love. I'll admit that I don't always follow through with that thought. But I'm getting there!
You'll see my brand new profile, where I picked an image of me from my wedding day. Because, duh--it's the prettiest I've ever looked and I'm completely obsessed with my makeup that day. Bloggers can be kind of vain, right? ;) I could have chosen a 6 am iPhone self-portrait complete with bags under my red-rimmed eyes and a screaming child at my breast, but I went with the wedding shot instead. Can you blame me? I have a 'grab my button' tab now and then a whole bunch of cute buttons that link to some of my favorite topics within this blog. So yeah, come and take a peek if you will.
Because I'm feeling all happy and mushy and high on the internet today, I wanted to do something fun for my readers. I have my loyal commenters, the brave commenters who 'de-lurk' once when the topic suits them, and then a crazy amount of silent readers who don't comment but apparently read my ramblings, following along with my transitions. I seriously appreciate all of you and like I said before, hearing from you is what keeps me writing. I much prefer this blog to be a two sided street, with give and take. I think I'd get pretty bored with myself without the feedback I get in comments.
So I'd like to give a $15 Starbucks gift card to one of my readers. And I totally stole this idea from Laura, too, and already told her upfront that I'm copying everything she does. She has a restraining order on me, NBD. But I love me some Starbucks and figure most people are with me on that, especially this time of year with their deliciously comforting red cups. All you have to do is comment on this post and let me know a little about you and how long you've been reading this blog. If you are really struggling to write about yourself you could even tell me what you get at Starbucks because I think that in itself says a lot about a person. For instance, I usually get a grande half-caff Americano or sometimes just a black coffee. No cream. No sugar. Hard core. Lately I find myself reading the menu of the 'foofy' drinks and wanting to try some of them, but alas--nothing compares to the bite of a smooth Americano, my friends. Much love to a Salted Carmel Mocha when I'm feeling really wild and really rich;)
So leave me a comment by Thanksgiving Day, and I will use one of those random number generator thingies to pick a commenter, revealing the winner sometime on Black Friday. Ah, Thanksgiving week. Why are you so awesome?
Thanks again, awesome readers of mine. And happy face lift, dear blog.
{ETA: Is it a total pain to comment on my blog? Does it tell you that the comments aren't going through? I end up getting a lot of duplicate comments to moderate lately and wonder if it's messing up on my end. I removed the 'captcha' but you will still not see your comment immediately, it makes me approve it first before it's published. Let me know if things are wonky in comment land! Still just figuring the mysterious internet out after five years, I guess
Also--I'd love to respond to each and every one of these comments but if I don't pack for this trip to MO I will be kicking myself later when I forget everything that I wanted to bring. I'm just making mental responses in my head, hope you can read my mind. Love hearing from you guys!}
I found Stephanie through Laura, and when I saw how gorge Laura's redesign was I knew I should finally take the plunge and do one myself. In case you haven't noticed, I kind of wavered for a few months about whether or not to continue blogging. It was just feeling like one more thing on my plate and I wasn't motivated to spill my guts to the internet anymore. But then I started blogging more just to test the waters, and whaddya know? I still really thoroughly enjoy my little space on the interwebs. The bottom line for me has always been that I want to document this time in my life for future reference. Lord knows I would forget all of the details of raising small kids without permanently capturing them on this blog. And what better way to connect to other women, a lot of whom are going through many of the same challenges and triumphs as me? Blogging gives me a strong sense of camaraderie in this sometimes scary, lonely, and frustrating gig of motherhood. If nothing else but to hear, 'I've been through *that* before and I survived, as did my child'---even just that sense of support is priceless to me. Not to mention that this blog has earned me nearly every one of my real-life friends in Milwaukee and many others that I feel I 'know' and cherish although we've never met. This may make me a creepy internet girl but I'm okay with that, and Nate's becoming used to it, too.
The effort that it takes to pound out a blog post is definitely worth every minute I spend at the computer. And so, I'm back and feel like making my blog pretty and modern and moving it past the same old template I've had for five years is a fun way to say, 'I still like you, blog.' I hope it appreciates the effort.
So Stephanie was awesome. She listened to all of my very specific requests and ramblings and came up with a fresh design that I adore. You can see we sort of have an arrow theme going on, which makes my inner nerd happy to see it as a symbol as moving forward, or transitioning. I chose my tag line of 'even if I stumble, I'm still moving forward' because I simply googled 'quotes about change' and found that one. Love it. Nate helped me decide on it;) Because I certainly can't claim to be perfect and I have my fair share of stumbles on this path of motherhood, but life must go on. Might as well blog about it in the process.
I had to narrow down my original THIRTY pictures I wanted to include in my rotating banner to just 19 and I'm glad I did---pretty sure you wouldn't want to sit through a 30 minute slideshow at the top of my blog. The four sets of photos we have up there an awesome slice of our life and some of my faves, of course (about 80% taken by the fab Andrea, of course!)
Then you will see a brand new navigation bar with a few new tabs, including a 'bloggy friends' page with links to blogs I like to read. I went back and forth over this one because I don't want to make this blog feel like high school, like 'these are my friends and if you aren't on the list, I don't think you are cool.' Totally not like that. I just listed the blogs listed in my Google Reader that I try to give comment love. Every time I get comments on this blog from readers I make a mental note that I need to check out those commenters blogs and add them to GR to return the love. I'll admit that I don't always follow through with that thought. But I'm getting there!
You'll see my brand new profile, where I picked an image of me from my wedding day. Because, duh--it's the prettiest I've ever looked and I'm completely obsessed with my makeup that day. Bloggers can be kind of vain, right? ;) I could have chosen a 6 am iPhone self-portrait complete with bags under my red-rimmed eyes and a screaming child at my breast, but I went with the wedding shot instead. Can you blame me? I have a 'grab my button' tab now and then a whole bunch of cute buttons that link to some of my favorite topics within this blog. So yeah, come and take a peek if you will.
Because I'm feeling all happy and mushy and high on the internet today, I wanted to do something fun for my readers. I have my loyal commenters, the brave commenters who 'de-lurk' once when the topic suits them, and then a crazy amount of silent readers who don't comment but apparently read my ramblings, following along with my transitions. I seriously appreciate all of you and like I said before, hearing from you is what keeps me writing. I much prefer this blog to be a two sided street, with give and take. I think I'd get pretty bored with myself without the feedback I get in comments.
So I'd like to give a $15 Starbucks gift card to one of my readers. And I totally stole this idea from Laura, too, and already told her upfront that I'm copying everything she does. She has a restraining order on me, NBD. But I love me some Starbucks and figure most people are with me on that, especially this time of year with their deliciously comforting red cups. All you have to do is comment on this post and let me know a little about you and how long you've been reading this blog. If you are really struggling to write about yourself you could even tell me what you get at Starbucks because I think that in itself says a lot about a person. For instance, I usually get a grande half-caff Americano or sometimes just a black coffee. No cream. No sugar. Hard core. Lately I find myself reading the menu of the 'foofy' drinks and wanting to try some of them, but alas--nothing compares to the bite of a smooth Americano, my friends. Much love to a Salted Carmel Mocha when I'm feeling really wild and really rich;)
So leave me a comment by Thanksgiving Day, and I will use one of those random number generator thingies to pick a commenter, revealing the winner sometime on Black Friday. Ah, Thanksgiving week. Why are you so awesome?
Thanks again, awesome readers of mine. And happy face lift, dear blog.
{ETA: Is it a total pain to comment on my blog? Does it tell you that the comments aren't going through? I end up getting a lot of duplicate comments to moderate lately and wonder if it's messing up on my end. I removed the 'captcha' but you will still not see your comment immediately, it makes me approve it first before it's published. Let me know if things are wonky in comment land! Still just figuring the mysterious internet out after five years, I guess
Also--I'd love to respond to each and every one of these comments but if I don't pack for this trip to MO I will be kicking myself later when I forget everything that I wanted to bring. I'm just making mental responses in my head, hope you can read my mind. Love hearing from you guys!}
11 things
Andrea tagged me on this post and I figured I'll play along instead of 'resting my eyes' on the couch while Truman naps:)
The Rules
1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in the post you were tagged in
4. Create 11 new questions for your tagees to answer
5. Tag them on Twitter, Facebook or your blog
11 Random Things About Me
1. This is really great for me to do because I have a '100 things about me' tab on my blog that is BUGGING me lately. As in, I wrote it when I started my blog 5.5 years ago and now so many of those 'things' are outdated it's just ridiculous to even have it up there. I mean, a lot of my old posts are sort of cringe-worthy but I guess that is what happens when you blog for so long. Stuff changes. Hence the 'transition'. :) {ALSO, this is not an appropriate 'thing' about me for these 11 things but whatever. At least it's random!}
2. If I had to pick my favorite song in the entire universe, I think right now I'd choose Bon Iver's 'Holocene'. I started listening to his album last summer after my miscarriage and this song in particular gave me chills and made me cry every time I heard it. It still does, really. The lyrics are haunting and amazing and the melody is one of those that will never, ever get old to me. The phrase 'And at once I knew I was not magnificent' means so many different things for me, as I'm sure it would for you, too. Last year, it represented the harsh dose of reality I experienced with my loss and how I was humbled beyond expectation, begging God for guidance and mercy and hope. And now, I know I'm anything but 'magnificent' because of this amazing gift of life growing inside of me. Again. Thank you, Lord, for this gift I surely don't deserve.
3. On a lighter note, I am sort of hard/gangsta-like because I can recite every lyric to 'Gin and Juice' and other various rap songs. In fact, one time I dressed up as Nelly the rapper for some sorority event when every other girl went the cutesy/girlie/fairy route. Like I said, I'm pretty hard core.
4. I was a lifeguard during many high school and college summers. And yet, I also almost drowned once in high school. Not in a pool, but in some muddy river when I got sucked under a bridge through a metal culvert. Pretty freaking scary, really, but since I was a naive 17 year old I don't think the experience shook me up as much as it should have done.
5. I'm pretty Type A and anal-retentive about a lot of things. For instance, I cannot stand to have any unopened mail in my in-boxes. I have about 4 email accounts (all appropriately divided for specific purposes/people, of course) and I will immediately open, respond, or 'star' the emails instead of just letting my in-box hold unread mail. I always unsubscribe from mass emails/advertisements because I cannot stand for those to clog up my in-boxes either. Zeroing out my in-boxes is really like a sickness for me and I'm not even in the 'business' world, where you actually do get a lot of emails during the day.
6. I'm also a compulsive list-maker and I live/die by my To-Do lists. I will definitely add a task on my list that I just completed, just to cross it off and feel that accomplishment. I get a little panicky when my list starts to mount up and I feel infinitely better about life when I've crossed everything off. Does this make me a psycho?
7. I'm tall at 5'10" and my husband is 6'3". My mom and grandma are also both 5'10". They told me I had to marry a tall man and my mom has told me many times that it's one of her biggest pet peeves when short girls marry tall guys. I think that is because it takes one more tall guy away from the tall girls and is simply unfair to us giants:). She also said I should marry a 'last born' in the family and not a first born, since I'm a strong-willed first born and we go best with the more laid-back babies of the family. She was a psychology major and really into birth order----and whoops, I married another first born. At least he's tall? (and since my whole family loves Nate as much if not more than me, I think they will forgive me for this oversight)
8. I'm a picker. As in, I LOVE to pop zits and pull hangnails and pick Truman's boogers. Yes, I'm one of the gross moms in the world but I can't help it. Should have been a dermatologist or something.
9. I'm reading the Hypnobirthing book right now in attempts to learn how to avoid another panic attack during labor. I would really REALLY like it to be more zen and calm and enjoyable this time around. If I don't have to be induced, I'd even go so far as to say I'd love to avoid an epidural if possible. But I'm not totally committed to that idea just yet because I definitely do remember the feeling that I was going to die during childbirth from the pain ( I still say what I experienced during my 40 hours of induction could not have been anywhere near 'normal'. I'm hoping it wasn't the norm, at least!). Apparently this author of the Hypnobirthing book says my intense pain was because of fear (and probably the insane amounts of Pitocin coursing through my veins)---and I will admit I was totally freaked out by the intensity of my contractions after my water broke. So this time around I'm hoping for less of a Cursing-Like-A-Sailor/OMG-I'm-Going-To-Die mindset and more of a This-Is-Going-To-Be-Okay mindset. But if my anxiety does get the best of me or if I have to have Pitocin, I will not hesitate to ask for drugs. For real.
10. I am really horrible at math, which is funny since my dad is a CPA. I mean, it's really bad and I hope our kids always ask Nate for help with their math homework. Nate loves to tell everyone the funny story from when we first started dating and I admitted my hatred towards numbers. There was some comment from me about how I could get confused about whether 75 and 15 was actually 100, or if it was really just 90. I don't really remember this comment but Nate sure does and loves to rub it in my face. Whatevs. Math is not my strong point, but I think the more artsy/creative stuff is (and Nate doesn't have anything on me in that department. Hmph. Take that, fellow first born 'overacheiver' husband of mine!)
11. I went to a private grade school/middle school, public high school, and a private college. Nate and I both feel strongly about sending our kids to 'good' public schools and I sure do hope they choose state colleges instead of pricey private ones. Student loans really suck.
11 Questions from Andrea
1. Massage or facial? Massage. Hands down. I think I've only had one facial in my life but a ton of massages and could really go for one right now.
2. The one facebook-ism that gets on your nerves (eg. cliche status updates, game requests, kissy face photos, etc). Oh, definitely the annoying 'ambiguous/mysterious' or 'fishing for questions' posts. Like, 'I'm so excited!.....' or 'I wish I could tell you a secret but I can't' type of thing. I realize the entire concept of Facebook is sort of attention-seeking but it bugs me when people beat around the bush hoping they will get comments about it.
3. Be honest. What's your biggest insecurity? Hmm. Usually my small boobs but right now they are pretty gigantic, and will surely balloon out even more in the next few months. Yay for pregnancy and breastfeeding!
4. One word to describe your life AT THIS MOMENT. Changing. You know, the new house and new baby thing will do that to life.
5. Did you have any odd habits or preferences as a child? I was the strangest kid ever. I think I mentioned on here before that I played in sandboxes with yellow dishwashing gloves because I hated the feel of sand. And my parents had to do Easter egg hunts on the sidewalk for me because the feeling of grass on my feet was too much to handle. Maybe I had some sensory/tactile issues?
6. On what side of the sink do your dishes pile up? Well, both, since we don't have a dishwasher right now. The right side holds dirties and left is clean ones that are drying. Did I ever mention that our new house will have a new dishwasher for us? Dying thinking about it.
7. What's the most embarrassing thing in your fridge right now? Nothing 'embarrassing' just yet. But this question makes me think about when I had a giant urine collection jug in our fridge every week for about a month when they were checking for Pre-Eclampsia with Truman's pregnancy. God, I hope I can avoid that whole thing this time around.
8. What websites and in what order do you visit them every morning? Emails, Facebook, Google Reader, Pinterest, Blogger. Not really every morning, though, more like throughout the day on my phone. (which, by the way, I still say Andrea NEEDS a smart phone more than anyone else I know. Life changing, girl!)
9. Did you (or do you) have a myspace page? Not anymore but I totally did have one. And it was beautifully personalized. :)
10. Would you ever sky dive? Nah. But at one time I was ALL about it for some reason.
11. Post the last thing you pinned on Pinterest. It's been awhile! Where have I been? But this is my most recent one and I love it. Does anyone else think that Pinterest is being taken over by chevrons? Love.
11 new questions from me:
1. What would you do if you won $1000 right now?
2. What inspires you? (very vague, I know).
3. Where in the world would you go if you had an all-expenses paid vacation gifted to you?
4. Favorite season of the year and why?
5. Favorite place to shop, online or in store?
6. If you could meet any celebrity, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
7. What is your worst habit?
8. This or That: Wine or Beer. (Mmmm, salivating). And why?
9. Name the three things you'd grab from your house in a fire.
10. What's your favorite trait about yourself?
11. If you had to eat one thing every single night for dinner what would it be?
Hmmmm, who to tag? How about:
Erin at It's All Happening)---(since she has nothing else to do with a brand new baby at home:) But since she is a super-blogger maybe it's not totally ridiculous to think she might muster up the time for this?)
E@Oh! Apostrophe
Rachel and John
Allison at A Little Blueberry
Lauren at LiveLaughLove
Or anyone else that wants to join in the fun, or leave a comment with answers!
The Rules
1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in the post you were tagged in
4. Create 11 new questions for your tagees to answer
5. Tag them on Twitter, Facebook or your blog
11 Random Things About Me
1. This is really great for me to do because I have a '100 things about me' tab on my blog that is BUGGING me lately. As in, I wrote it when I started my blog 5.5 years ago and now so many of those 'things' are outdated it's just ridiculous to even have it up there. I mean, a lot of my old posts are sort of cringe-worthy but I guess that is what happens when you blog for so long. Stuff changes. Hence the 'transition'. :) {ALSO, this is not an appropriate 'thing' about me for these 11 things but whatever. At least it's random!}
2. If I had to pick my favorite song in the entire universe, I think right now I'd choose Bon Iver's 'Holocene'. I started listening to his album last summer after my miscarriage and this song in particular gave me chills and made me cry every time I heard it. It still does, really. The lyrics are haunting and amazing and the melody is one of those that will never, ever get old to me. The phrase 'And at once I knew I was not magnificent' means so many different things for me, as I'm sure it would for you, too. Last year, it represented the harsh dose of reality I experienced with my loss and how I was humbled beyond expectation, begging God for guidance and mercy and hope. And now, I know I'm anything but 'magnificent' because of this amazing gift of life growing inside of me. Again. Thank you, Lord, for this gift I surely don't deserve.
3. On a lighter note, I am sort of hard/gangsta-like because I can recite every lyric to 'Gin and Juice' and other various rap songs. In fact, one time I dressed up as Nelly the rapper for some sorority event when every other girl went the cutesy/girlie/fairy route. Like I said, I'm pretty hard core.
4. I was a lifeguard during many high school and college summers. And yet, I also almost drowned once in high school. Not in a pool, but in some muddy river when I got sucked under a bridge through a metal culvert. Pretty freaking scary, really, but since I was a naive 17 year old I don't think the experience shook me up as much as it should have done.
5. I'm pretty Type A and anal-retentive about a lot of things. For instance, I cannot stand to have any unopened mail in my in-boxes. I have about 4 email accounts (all appropriately divided for specific purposes/people, of course) and I will immediately open, respond, or 'star' the emails instead of just letting my in-box hold unread mail. I always unsubscribe from mass emails/advertisements because I cannot stand for those to clog up my in-boxes either. Zeroing out my in-boxes is really like a sickness for me and I'm not even in the 'business' world, where you actually do get a lot of emails during the day.
6. I'm also a compulsive list-maker and I live/die by my To-Do lists. I will definitely add a task on my list that I just completed, just to cross it off and feel that accomplishment. I get a little panicky when my list starts to mount up and I feel infinitely better about life when I've crossed everything off. Does this make me a psycho?
7. I'm tall at 5'10" and my husband is 6'3". My mom and grandma are also both 5'10". They told me I had to marry a tall man and my mom has told me many times that it's one of her biggest pet peeves when short girls marry tall guys. I think that is because it takes one more tall guy away from the tall girls and is simply unfair to us giants:). She also said I should marry a 'last born' in the family and not a first born, since I'm a strong-willed first born and we go best with the more laid-back babies of the family. She was a psychology major and really into birth order----and whoops, I married another first born. At least he's tall? (and since my whole family loves Nate as much if not more than me, I think they will forgive me for this oversight)
8. I'm a picker. As in, I LOVE to pop zits and pull hangnails and pick Truman's boogers. Yes, I'm one of the gross moms in the world but I can't help it. Should have been a dermatologist or something.
9. I'm reading the Hypnobirthing book right now in attempts to learn how to avoid another panic attack during labor. I would really REALLY like it to be more zen and calm and enjoyable this time around. If I don't have to be induced, I'd even go so far as to say I'd love to avoid an epidural if possible. But I'm not totally committed to that idea just yet because I definitely do remember the feeling that I was going to die during childbirth from the pain ( I still say what I experienced during my 40 hours of induction could not have been anywhere near 'normal'. I'm hoping it wasn't the norm, at least!). Apparently this author of the Hypnobirthing book says my intense pain was because of fear (and probably the insane amounts of Pitocin coursing through my veins)---and I will admit I was totally freaked out by the intensity of my contractions after my water broke. So this time around I'm hoping for less of a Cursing-Like-A-Sailor/OMG-I'm-Going-To-Die mindset and more of a This-Is-Going-To-Be-Okay mindset. But if my anxiety does get the best of me or if I have to have Pitocin, I will not hesitate to ask for drugs. For real.
10. I am really horrible at math, which is funny since my dad is a CPA. I mean, it's really bad and I hope our kids always ask Nate for help with their math homework. Nate loves to tell everyone the funny story from when we first started dating and I admitted my hatred towards numbers. There was some comment from me about how I could get confused about whether 75 and 15 was actually 100, or if it was really just 90. I don't really remember this comment but Nate sure does and loves to rub it in my face. Whatevs. Math is not my strong point, but I think the more artsy/creative stuff is (and Nate doesn't have anything on me in that department. Hmph. Take that, fellow first born 'overacheiver' husband of mine!)
11. I went to a private grade school/middle school, public high school, and a private college. Nate and I both feel strongly about sending our kids to 'good' public schools and I sure do hope they choose state colleges instead of pricey private ones. Student loans really suck.
11 Questions from Andrea
1. Massage or facial? Massage. Hands down. I think I've only had one facial in my life but a ton of massages and could really go for one right now.
2. The one facebook-ism that gets on your nerves (eg. cliche status updates, game requests, kissy face photos, etc). Oh, definitely the annoying 'ambiguous/mysterious' or 'fishing for questions' posts. Like, 'I'm so excited!.....' or 'I wish I could tell you a secret but I can't' type of thing. I realize the entire concept of Facebook is sort of attention-seeking but it bugs me when people beat around the bush hoping they will get comments about it.
3. Be honest. What's your biggest insecurity? Hmm. Usually my small boobs but right now they are pretty gigantic, and will surely balloon out even more in the next few months. Yay for pregnancy and breastfeeding!
4. One word to describe your life AT THIS MOMENT. Changing. You know, the new house and new baby thing will do that to life.
5. Did you have any odd habits or preferences as a child? I was the strangest kid ever. I think I mentioned on here before that I played in sandboxes with yellow dishwashing gloves because I hated the feel of sand. And my parents had to do Easter egg hunts on the sidewalk for me because the feeling of grass on my feet was too much to handle. Maybe I had some sensory/tactile issues?
6. On what side of the sink do your dishes pile up? Well, both, since we don't have a dishwasher right now. The right side holds dirties and left is clean ones that are drying. Did I ever mention that our new house will have a new dishwasher for us? Dying thinking about it.
7. What's the most embarrassing thing in your fridge right now? Nothing 'embarrassing' just yet. But this question makes me think about when I had a giant urine collection jug in our fridge every week for about a month when they were checking for Pre-Eclampsia with Truman's pregnancy. God, I hope I can avoid that whole thing this time around.
8. What websites and in what order do you visit them every morning? Emails, Facebook, Google Reader, Pinterest, Blogger. Not really every morning, though, more like throughout the day on my phone. (which, by the way, I still say Andrea NEEDS a smart phone more than anyone else I know. Life changing, girl!)
9. Did you (or do you) have a myspace page? Not anymore but I totally did have one. And it was beautifully personalized. :)
10. Would you ever sky dive? Nah. But at one time I was ALL about it for some reason.
11. Post the last thing you pinned on Pinterest. It's been awhile! Where have I been? But this is my most recent one and I love it. Does anyone else think that Pinterest is being taken over by chevrons? Love.
11 new questions from me:
1. What would you do if you won $1000 right now?
2. What inspires you? (very vague, I know).
3. Where in the world would you go if you had an all-expenses paid vacation gifted to you?
4. Favorite season of the year and why?
5. Favorite place to shop, online or in store?
6. If you could meet any celebrity, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
7. What is your worst habit?
8. This or That: Wine or Beer. (Mmmm, salivating). And why?
9. Name the three things you'd grab from your house in a fire.
10. What's your favorite trait about yourself?
11. If you had to eat one thing every single night for dinner what would it be?
Hmmmm, who to tag? How about:
Erin at It's All Happening)---(since she has nothing else to do with a brand new baby at home:) But since she is a super-blogger maybe it's not totally ridiculous to think she might muster up the time for this?)
E@Oh! Apostrophe
Rachel and John
Allison at A Little Blueberry
Lauren at LiveLaughLove
Or anyone else that wants to join in the fun, or leave a comment with answers!
7 meme
Because I have become such a lazy blogger (ie one who posts so infrequently it's amazing I still have readers), I usually don't partake in any 'tagged' posts or any giveaways. But when Leah tagged me in her 7 meme post, I was intrigued and thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane, remembering times when I actually did post a lot. I guess it will be 4 years of blogging this November----so 606 posts later and I should really be able to complete this tagged post with no problem, right?
What this is about:
To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.
Rules:
1) Blogger is nominated to take part
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
- Your most beautiful post
– Your most popular post
– Your most controversial post
– Your most helpful post
– A post whose success surprised you
– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
– The post that you are most proud of
3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers
5) And so it goes on!
6) The site Trip Base is sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on their blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links
________________________________________________________________
My most beautiful post:
Probably this one---I wrote it to Truman on the last day of my maternity leave. It still sort of makes me want to cry just thinking about how emotional my return to work was for me. Being on the other side of the whole transition, knowing that we are both thriving with our current work/home balance, I am much more at peace now. But it was still a very special post to me.
________________________________________________________________
My most popular post:
I got the most number of comments on this post, when Nate posted Truman's birth announcement for me --116 comments from happy readers who followed my dramatic labor and delivery and wanted to hear the outcome!
But a close second was the exact opposite of that happy post---the one where I announced our pregnancy loss got 112 comments. I really love that I have been 'virtually' supported through the ups and the downs of my life on this blog.
________________________________________________________________
My most controversial post:
Honestly, I am not the most controversial blogger. I tend to stay pretty neutral on the 'hot topics' and choose my words very carefully if I DO think what I'm saying will ruffle feathers. I guess I'm just a big pansy that way:) I think that when I posted about The Best Birth topic, I was most concerned that it could be too controversial for some and I might get some opposite opinions posted in the comments. Lucky for me, my readers tend to be pretty nice to me even if they disagree with my statements (now, watch---this will jinx it and I'll get hate emails)
_________________________________________________________________
My most helpful post:
Hmmm, probably my posts about pumping as a working mom, found here in part 1 and part 2. I think I probably get the most 'thank you for posting this information' emails from readers about this topic so it must help someone out there.
Or maybe the ones I've written about cloth diapering, and how it works for our family. Those tend to be linked to quite often, too.
Wait, can I choose a third? Apparently I consider myself a very helpful blogger:) This post about my DIY upholstered headboard gets a huge amount of hits according to Google Analytics, which is sort of funny because it's so old that the images are all blurry now.
_________________________________________________________________
A post whose success surprised me:
Maybe the post about Truman being a garden gnome for Halloween? I didn't really think everyone would like it as much as I did, but apparently it was a big hit.
__________________________________________________________________
The post you feel didn't get the attention it deserved:
I never really thought about it before, but I guess any post that gets less than 10 comments seems like it wasn't really popular to me. So maybe Truman's 12 month post, since it only got 5 comments. But then again, I had just done two maybe three whole posts on his birthday party itself and then another 'one year' post to Truman so more than likely my readers had already commented multiple times about the fact Truman turned 12 months old:)
_________________________________________________________________
The post you are most proud of:
Just to be wild and stray from all of my mommy-posts, I'll go out on a limb and say that my post about running a full marathon has to be one of my proudest accomplishments.
Or maybe one of my anniversary posts, like this one for our second anniversary, when I get to remember how much fun we had at our wedding and how lucky I am to be married to Nate. I really like that second anni post, too, because I have the video of our actual vows embedded into it and I love hearing those words all over again.
_______________________________________________________________
so here are my five bloggers, although I know some of you might have already been tagged. Again, I'm lazy:)
Jenna at That Wife
E at Oh! Apostrophe
Erin at It's All Happening!
Molly at A Day In Mollywood
Mary at Girl Stand Still
Why blog?
Ahem.
Let me figure out how to work this thing again. Bear with me. Aside from Truman's 10 month post the last time I typed here was 12/14. Dang. It feels even longer than that, actually.
But this time I'm not going to type the usual 'wow, it's been awhile' introduction and then move into Truman updates. This time I am blogging about blogging. Or really, more specifically, I'm writing to discover why I write. Deep, huh?
I never really buy it when bloggers say they blog solely for themselves. If that were the case then why put it out on the public web? Wouldn't a little private word document suffice? I started this blog 3.5 years ago as a way to stay in touch with friends and family back in Missouri. I even have a nice little tab up there for all to read on the topic of why I blog. But the funny thing is that this blog morphed into something much more than that. The friends and family are still there but usually get updates via emails instead. This blog has given me most of my real life Milwaukee friends in one way or another. It's given me some faithful commenters who could absolutely qualify as 'real' friends, too---many of whom I forget if I've actually met them in real life before or not. It's given me an outlet to vent my frustrations, to sing praises of my family and friends, and of course it's given me a way to beam with pride over my precious son. I embrace the title of Mommy Blogger whole-heartedly and do not see that as a negative identity at all. And yet, I constantly toy with throwing in the old blogging towel but I just can't seem to do it.
The reason I'm having such a hard time walking away is that if I don't use this venue to capture my fleeting thoughts on mommy hood, I'm afraid they will slip away. Truman is changing at mind-boggling speeds these days and although I try to write in my paper journal I don't do it often enough. I've caught myself looking back through old posts a lot lately to reminisce about Truman's early days and I'm so thankful I blogged as much as I could because the first few months are a total blur. It's like these posts serve as virtual bookmarks, to slow down the spin of the world a few minutes at a time, so that the ordinary days don't fade away into the past. And now that I've typed those thoughts I see that it's really about control for me. Go figure. If I can blog about a problem or an accomplishment or just a regular day in the life----then I have control over those events since I put words to them. Huh, just another control issue I guess.
Yes, I could just type it all out on a Word document and then transplant that to my yearly digital album (because that has always been a reason for blogging---documenting life not just on the invisible internet but in a tangible album). But I'd be lying to you if I said I don't care about comments. The feedback I receive from complete strangers is incredibly powerful for a new mom who feels absolutely clueless at times. The support, the virtual interactions, the contact with other women living a similar life is truly uplifting. Somewhat addicting, actually. The 'hey, I went through the same thing with my kid and made it out alive' comments, and the 'you are doing a good job, lady, and your son is super cute' comments are like happy little pats on the back. And I admit that I like them.
I remember back in the day when I posted regularly, commented on other blogs religiously, and stalked my own stats frequently---it was incredibly time consuming and yet I felt so connected and....liked. Is that what blogging is all about? A high school popularity contest? I definitely don't fit that bill anymore and I'm trying to decide where I stand in the blogosphere these days.
I could easily throw out the 'I'm too busy, don't have the time' statement but I probably have more free time with this job than I did 6 months ago at my previous one. It's just a question of HOW you spend your free time, what your priorities are, and what you make time for; blogging has not been on my radar for awhile now. Even though I have a long list in my head of potential posts (first birthday party planning, cloth diapering a 10 month old, the saga of breastfeeding late in the game of babyhood, a day in the life now compared to back then, finding time to exercise as a working mom, my body 10 months postpartum, etc) I just can't seem to formulate the posts. And again, I'm not entirely sure why that is.
I'm not saying all of this as a way to beg for comments on why I should stick around. I think I'm typing it because I'm testing the waters a bit. Is this still fulfilling for me? Does anyone still read this blog? Does it make me feel like I'm soaking in the moment a little more, capturing my thoughts, making that instant a little more real? Or just the opposite? I'm still not sure.
I'll ask you, readers, if you also blog: Why? Why do you make that a priority to fill your free time? Do you feel the need to bookmark life with a post so that the moment doesn't drift away? And more selfishly of me: why do you read this blog? Is it because you are also a mommy and like reading about our parallel lives? Or you just think Truman is insanely cute (because he is and I never tire of hearing that one!)? I'm curious and clearly wavering.
I worry that my decrease in frequency of posts means that I'm forgetting more of the everyday treasures in our lives. And that is just not okay. Because I never ever want to lose these simple moments of happiness in the years to come. I still think this whole first year of being a mommy has been truly magical.
And with that, I feel obliged to show you a bit of that magic. Truman now gives open-mouthed, sloppy, wet kisses on command. And I'm asking for them about 72 times per day, in case you were wondering. :)
Let me figure out how to work this thing again. Bear with me. Aside from Truman's 10 month post the last time I typed here was 12/14. Dang. It feels even longer than that, actually.
But this time I'm not going to type the usual 'wow, it's been awhile' introduction and then move into Truman updates. This time I am blogging about blogging. Or really, more specifically, I'm writing to discover why I write. Deep, huh?
I never really buy it when bloggers say they blog solely for themselves. If that were the case then why put it out on the public web? Wouldn't a little private word document suffice? I started this blog 3.5 years ago as a way to stay in touch with friends and family back in Missouri. I even have a nice little tab up there for all to read on the topic of why I blog. But the funny thing is that this blog morphed into something much more than that. The friends and family are still there but usually get updates via emails instead. This blog has given me most of my real life Milwaukee friends in one way or another. It's given me some faithful commenters who could absolutely qualify as 'real' friends, too---many of whom I forget if I've actually met them in real life before or not. It's given me an outlet to vent my frustrations, to sing praises of my family and friends, and of course it's given me a way to beam with pride over my precious son. I embrace the title of Mommy Blogger whole-heartedly and do not see that as a negative identity at all. And yet, I constantly toy with throwing in the old blogging towel but I just can't seem to do it.
The reason I'm having such a hard time walking away is that if I don't use this venue to capture my fleeting thoughts on mommy hood, I'm afraid they will slip away. Truman is changing at mind-boggling speeds these days and although I try to write in my paper journal I don't do it often enough. I've caught myself looking back through old posts a lot lately to reminisce about Truman's early days and I'm so thankful I blogged as much as I could because the first few months are a total blur. It's like these posts serve as virtual bookmarks, to slow down the spin of the world a few minutes at a time, so that the ordinary days don't fade away into the past. And now that I've typed those thoughts I see that it's really about control for me. Go figure. If I can blog about a problem or an accomplishment or just a regular day in the life----then I have control over those events since I put words to them. Huh, just another control issue I guess.
Yes, I could just type it all out on a Word document and then transplant that to my yearly digital album (because that has always been a reason for blogging---documenting life not just on the invisible internet but in a tangible album). But I'd be lying to you if I said I don't care about comments. The feedback I receive from complete strangers is incredibly powerful for a new mom who feels absolutely clueless at times. The support, the virtual interactions, the contact with other women living a similar life is truly uplifting. Somewhat addicting, actually. The 'hey, I went through the same thing with my kid and made it out alive' comments, and the 'you are doing a good job, lady, and your son is super cute' comments are like happy little pats on the back. And I admit that I like them.
I remember back in the day when I posted regularly, commented on other blogs religiously, and stalked my own stats frequently---it was incredibly time consuming and yet I felt so connected and....liked. Is that what blogging is all about? A high school popularity contest? I definitely don't fit that bill anymore and I'm trying to decide where I stand in the blogosphere these days.
I could easily throw out the 'I'm too busy, don't have the time' statement but I probably have more free time with this job than I did 6 months ago at my previous one. It's just a question of HOW you spend your free time, what your priorities are, and what you make time for; blogging has not been on my radar for awhile now. Even though I have a long list in my head of potential posts (first birthday party planning, cloth diapering a 10 month old, the saga of breastfeeding late in the game of babyhood, a day in the life now compared to back then, finding time to exercise as a working mom, my body 10 months postpartum, etc) I just can't seem to formulate the posts. And again, I'm not entirely sure why that is.
I'm not saying all of this as a way to beg for comments on why I should stick around. I think I'm typing it because I'm testing the waters a bit. Is this still fulfilling for me? Does anyone still read this blog? Does it make me feel like I'm soaking in the moment a little more, capturing my thoughts, making that instant a little more real? Or just the opposite? I'm still not sure.
I'll ask you, readers, if you also blog: Why? Why do you make that a priority to fill your free time? Do you feel the need to bookmark life with a post so that the moment doesn't drift away? And more selfishly of me: why do you read this blog? Is it because you are also a mommy and like reading about our parallel lives? Or you just think Truman is insanely cute (because he is and I never tire of hearing that one!)? I'm curious and clearly wavering.
I worry that my decrease in frequency of posts means that I'm forgetting more of the everyday treasures in our lives. And that is just not okay. Because I never ever want to lose these simple moments of happiness in the years to come. I still think this whole first year of being a mommy has been truly magical.
And with that, I feel obliged to show you a bit of that magic. Truman now gives open-mouthed, sloppy, wet kisses on command. And I'm asking for them about 72 times per day, in case you were wondering. :)
Three Months
Truman has officially left the 'fourth trimester' in his life and is entering 'big boy-hood', according to me at least:) Three whole months have been packed full of growth, change, a ton of firsts, and a ridiculous amount of smiles. He's changed so much even in the past month and I've heard a lot of my friends say, 'He looks like a different baby now!' when they see him in person. Although change usually freaks me out and makes me anxious/sad, the changes that Truman is undergoing are exciting and fun---no sadness here. It seems like every day he gets more interactive and happy and I am SO looking forward to his next three months.
Some of Truman's favorite things include, but are not limited to:
-Being in the great outdoors. Seriously, this boy loves to look at the trees and smell the fresh air so much that just by stepping foot outside, we can usually calm him down from a near meltdown. Just like his daddy he'll probably be an outdoorsman. :)
-The 'visualizer' option on I-Tunes. Specifically, the 'jelly' version. And more specifically, anything by Dave Matthews or Coldplay. I didn't catch the screaming fit going on before we asked Dave and Chris Martin to soothe our baby boy, but imagine him sobbing his eyes out and being totally inconsolable. Then as soon as we hit 'play' his eyes glaze over and he is immediately content. I kid you not, it's absolutely hilarious and crazy and awesome. Dave and Chris are my babysitters sometimes, for real.
-Recognizing his mommy and daddy and then flashing his gummy grin, which of course, makes our hearts melt. Loveitsomuch.
-Napping in his cosleeper, with his 'sleep blankie', like a big boy. No rocking or soothing needed.
-Bath time outdoors on our new front porch (did I mention that my father-in-law built an actual railing, so we can go out to our porch without fearing a catastrophic fall?) Awesome. And baby Truman loves to splash his naked bootie in his tub while watching the leaves move.
-His hands. They are still the bomb, apparently.
Also, we've stopped swaddling Truman and usually we don't even need a sleep sack at night anymore with this warm weather. I was SO nervous to ditch the swaddle but he's a champ and seems to enjoy sleeping with his arms freed. It didn't make a difference in how long he can sleep at all. It's still all over the place anyway:) Plus, he's accepting the pacifier more often now, especially after he's eaten and before a nap, which makes me happy to have another soothing method for mister T. It's still not his fave and most of the time he just spits it out but at least it helps some of the time.
My little Zoolander:
The other day I was visiting Andrea and baby Eli (he is so stinking tiny and cute, by the way) and she had a baby scale, so I weighed Truman with clothes and diaper on. The boy is 16 pounds now which is insane to me. He's more than doubled his birth weight and is obviously still loving the boob and tolerates the bottle when he has to. Looking at baby Eli I can barely remember when Truman was 7 pounds. And looking at Erin's Henry, who is 7.5 months, I can barely imagine Truman being that big and mobile. And yet, it keeps happening with a blink of the eye.
I got a nice little surprise this week when I got called off at work on Tuesday. We were overstaffed and I was up next to be canceled which meant that I had Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and my regular Wednesday off with baby boy. I enjoyed the crap out of our time together and managed to snap approximately 700 pictures in those days. :) So my father-in-law was off the hook on his first babysitting day but Thursday will be his day to start watching Truman for the summer. And of course, Friday is our first day of daycare (eek! I'm kind of excited for some reason??). Nate also started his clinicals on Tuesday and I'm so proud of him for beginning this last leg of his graduate school journey. He's going to blow them away I'm sure.
We've made a huge decision and are planning to make our first road trip down to St. Louis with Truman. I am totally freaking out over here, you guys. I mean, the logistics of having a three month old breastfeeder in the car for at least 6 hours is stressing me out. I'm sure the drive down and back will include multiple stops and hopefully not infinite amounts of crying (on my part at least:) ). But once we are down there, I'm worried that T will be ALL out of sorts and will refuse to sleep at all. No matter what, I want to go down there and see all of our friends and let them meet Truman so we are just going to suck it up and give it a go. But I'm trying to make a list of stuff to bring and it's a bit overwhelming. Like anything else, I'm sure it will be just fine once we just do it. And I can't wait for Truman to get his first taste of Missouri summers!
(a little gray here, but too lazy to edit)
I'm finding that being a working mom and a blogger leaves little time for updates, witty posts, or anything other than tons of pictures of baby Truman. I still enjoy blogging and know that this is a great way for family and friends to see Truman's progress and for that reason I will likely continue to blog. But I can't help but feel like my blog has become watered down, boring, and rather stagnant at times and it does bother me a bit. If I'm only blogging for my friends and family, then wouldn't Flickr pictures and Facebook updates do the same thing that this blog does? I know how great it feels to get comments on posts but I'm not able to do the same for other bloggers out there like I used to do (sorry guys!), and thus I don't get as many comments in return. I mean, I'm not blogging solely to get comments and feedback but it is one of my favorite parts of the blog. I guess I just need to look at it differently, with me putting posts out there for myself, for friends and for family and any feedback from the public world out there is just a bonus. This blog has been alive for almost 3 years now and it's bound to evolve a bit over time, right? I guess I've just been asking myself the all-important question that every blogger must ask herself: Why do I blog publicly? I don't really know the answer to that question right now and I don't expect anyone to answer it for me. I guess I'm assuming that since I love to read about growing babies, and to see their pictures on other mommy blogs then my readers probably like it, too. Enough rambling and over-analyzing though, how about I just show you two million pictures of baby boy now?
I had an 'ah-ha' moment yesterday when I realized that I always use my kit lens for pics of Truman. I used to love my 50mm f/1.8 for pics of Henry but then with Truman I've gravitated to the kit so that I can zoom in and out easily. Well, the 1.8 is a much better lens than my kit and I decided to get some practice moving my body closer or farther away to zoom. I really like the results. :)
and a little Photoshop time always helps, too! Such a luxury to have the time...
And our photoshoot from today, in my favorite 'muscle shirt' outfit:
Some of Truman's favorite things include, but are not limited to:
-Being in the great outdoors. Seriously, this boy loves to look at the trees and smell the fresh air so much that just by stepping foot outside, we can usually calm him down from a near meltdown. Just like his daddy he'll probably be an outdoorsman. :)
-The 'visualizer' option on I-Tunes. Specifically, the 'jelly' version. And more specifically, anything by Dave Matthews or Coldplay. I didn't catch the screaming fit going on before we asked Dave and Chris Martin to soothe our baby boy, but imagine him sobbing his eyes out and being totally inconsolable. Then as soon as we hit 'play' his eyes glaze over and he is immediately content. I kid you not, it's absolutely hilarious and crazy and awesome. Dave and Chris are my babysitters sometimes, for real.
-Recognizing his mommy and daddy and then flashing his gummy grin, which of course, makes our hearts melt. Loveitsomuch.
-Napping in his cosleeper, with his 'sleep blankie', like a big boy. No rocking or soothing needed.
-Bath time outdoors on our new front porch (did I mention that my father-in-law built an actual railing, so we can go out to our porch without fearing a catastrophic fall?) Awesome. And baby Truman loves to splash his naked bootie in his tub while watching the leaves move.
-His hands. They are still the bomb, apparently.
Also, we've stopped swaddling Truman and usually we don't even need a sleep sack at night anymore with this warm weather. I was SO nervous to ditch the swaddle but he's a champ and seems to enjoy sleeping with his arms freed. It didn't make a difference in how long he can sleep at all. It's still all over the place anyway:) Plus, he's accepting the pacifier more often now, especially after he's eaten and before a nap, which makes me happy to have another soothing method for mister T. It's still not his fave and most of the time he just spits it out but at least it helps some of the time.
My little Zoolander:
The other day I was visiting Andrea and baby Eli (he is so stinking tiny and cute, by the way) and she had a baby scale, so I weighed Truman with clothes and diaper on. The boy is 16 pounds now which is insane to me. He's more than doubled his birth weight and is obviously still loving the boob and tolerates the bottle when he has to. Looking at baby Eli I can barely remember when Truman was 7 pounds. And looking at Erin's Henry, who is 7.5 months, I can barely imagine Truman being that big and mobile. And yet, it keeps happening with a blink of the eye.
I got a nice little surprise this week when I got called off at work on Tuesday. We were overstaffed and I was up next to be canceled which meant that I had Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and my regular Wednesday off with baby boy. I enjoyed the crap out of our time together and managed to snap approximately 700 pictures in those days. :) So my father-in-law was off the hook on his first babysitting day but Thursday will be his day to start watching Truman for the summer. And of course, Friday is our first day of daycare (eek! I'm kind of excited for some reason??). Nate also started his clinicals on Tuesday and I'm so proud of him for beginning this last leg of his graduate school journey. He's going to blow them away I'm sure.
We've made a huge decision and are planning to make our first road trip down to St. Louis with Truman. I am totally freaking out over here, you guys. I mean, the logistics of having a three month old breastfeeder in the car for at least 6 hours is stressing me out. I'm sure the drive down and back will include multiple stops and hopefully not infinite amounts of crying (on my part at least:) ). But once we are down there, I'm worried that T will be ALL out of sorts and will refuse to sleep at all. No matter what, I want to go down there and see all of our friends and let them meet Truman so we are just going to suck it up and give it a go. But I'm trying to make a list of stuff to bring and it's a bit overwhelming. Like anything else, I'm sure it will be just fine once we just do it. And I can't wait for Truman to get his first taste of Missouri summers!
(a little gray here, but too lazy to edit)
I'm finding that being a working mom and a blogger leaves little time for updates, witty posts, or anything other than tons of pictures of baby Truman. I still enjoy blogging and know that this is a great way for family and friends to see Truman's progress and for that reason I will likely continue to blog. But I can't help but feel like my blog has become watered down, boring, and rather stagnant at times and it does bother me a bit. If I'm only blogging for my friends and family, then wouldn't Flickr pictures and Facebook updates do the same thing that this blog does? I know how great it feels to get comments on posts but I'm not able to do the same for other bloggers out there like I used to do (sorry guys!), and thus I don't get as many comments in return. I mean, I'm not blogging solely to get comments and feedback but it is one of my favorite parts of the blog. I guess I just need to look at it differently, with me putting posts out there for myself, for friends and for family and any feedback from the public world out there is just a bonus. This blog has been alive for almost 3 years now and it's bound to evolve a bit over time, right? I guess I've just been asking myself the all-important question that every blogger must ask herself: Why do I blog publicly? I don't really know the answer to that question right now and I don't expect anyone to answer it for me. I guess I'm assuming that since I love to read about growing babies, and to see their pictures on other mommy blogs then my readers probably like it, too. Enough rambling and over-analyzing though, how about I just show you two million pictures of baby boy now?
I had an 'ah-ha' moment yesterday when I realized that I always use my kit lens for pics of Truman. I used to love my 50mm f/1.8 for pics of Henry but then with Truman I've gravitated to the kit so that I can zoom in and out easily. Well, the 1.8 is a much better lens than my kit and I decided to get some practice moving my body closer or farther away to zoom. I really like the results. :)
and a little Photoshop time always helps, too! Such a luxury to have the time...
And our photoshoot from today, in my favorite 'muscle shirt' outfit:
TGIF
Seriously, what a long week. Anyone with me?I feel like I'm neglecting you, dear blog, as evidenced by my poor showing of posts in the months of June and July. Please observe, death by numbers:
Sad. I know. I'm just so freaking tired and uninspired these days. It's been hard to even comment on my favorite blogs lately and for that I am not proud. But I do have a few posts lurking in the wings so don't give up on me just yet.And with that I wish you a fabulous weekend complete with much napping and relaxation. Really, what more could a girl want?
welcome, creep shows!
It's long overdue my friends. Keyword search terms, that lead some lovely readers to my blog. Let's all wave hello to the crazies! Especially the ones who use 10+ words as search terms:
1. Creepy, but good looking makeup {I can only assume we are referring to one Edward Cullen on this one? Very creepy yet good looking, indeed}
2. Comparison my life before and after i came to usa {I can't help you there, buddy, but you're still working on your English a bit, huh?}
3. Find the pale Wisconsinite pictures {LOVE this one. LOVE. Could be my new blog title all together}
4. How to loosen up and love life {really? You came here to read about this? Pretty sure I'm fairly uptight myself. Hmmm.}
5. I chopped off my hair may 2009 {Good for you? I didn't.}
6. Is a cockapoo asexual {He's a little metrosexual, actually, but definitely a male. A wussy male, but none the less}
7. Julia who is transitioning into female {again, with the sexuality. Am I undergoing a sex change now? I wasn't aware}
8. Slutty tinkerbell costume {Never have I talked about sluts, Tinkerbells, or many costumes for that matter. No clue but I think I love it.}
9. What's the name of the song that goes...shes sold three thousand and eight, you sold {are you serious with the 17 word search phrase? Really? And I can tell you right now, Fergie does not say "You sold 3008" it's "You so 3008". Duh. Even I know that}
10. I never have a dog in my life {okay. And your grammar is awful. }
And I also have a few Nate quotes for you, just for added entertainment:
1. "You need to start using your fork more like a shovel, like I do. You are such a pansy when you eat all slow and stuff." {yes, he called me a pansy and told me to use my silverware like an outdoor tool. Do you see why it's hard to control my portion sizes around here?}
2. "How is it possible that there are four Twilight books? What can they even write about for that many books? Are they still glistening?" {why, yes, they are. And when I told him that Bella and Edward might finally get to do it in the last book, he was not as excited as I'd hoped. His loss, right? Sigh.}
3. "Symbolism is for stoners. That's why I always hated English." {referring to the fact that deep, thought-provoking movies/books were made for stoners. I personally love symbolism but he thinks it's for people sitting around in a circle and contemplating imaginary undertones to complicated plots. I could not disagree more, but I love that he attributes symbolism to stoners.}
4. "Our marriage is basically like one big bachelor party, you know." {I wasn't aware of this fact.}
1. Creepy, but good looking makeup {I can only assume we are referring to one Edward Cullen on this one? Very creepy yet good looking, indeed}
2. Comparison my life before and after i came to usa {I can't help you there, buddy, but you're still working on your English a bit, huh?}
3. Find the pale Wisconsinite pictures {LOVE this one. LOVE. Could be my new blog title all together}
4. How to loosen up and love life {really? You came here to read about this? Pretty sure I'm fairly uptight myself. Hmmm.}
5. I chopped off my hair may 2009 {Good for you? I didn't.}
6. Is a cockapoo asexual {He's a little metrosexual, actually, but definitely a male. A wussy male, but none the less}
7. Julia who is transitioning into female {again, with the sexuality. Am I undergoing a sex change now? I wasn't aware}
8. Slutty tinkerbell costume {Never have I talked about sluts, Tinkerbells, or many costumes for that matter. No clue but I think I love it.}
9. What's the name of the song that goes...shes sold three thousand and eight, you sold {are you serious with the 17 word search phrase? Really? And I can tell you right now, Fergie does not say "You sold 3008" it's "You so 3008". Duh. Even I know that}
10. I never have a dog in my life {okay. And your grammar is awful. }
And I also have a few Nate quotes for you, just for added entertainment:
1. "You need to start using your fork more like a shovel, like I do. You are such a pansy when you eat all slow and stuff." {yes, he called me a pansy and told me to use my silverware like an outdoor tool. Do you see why it's hard to control my portion sizes around here?}
2. "How is it possible that there are four Twilight books? What can they even write about for that many books? Are they still glistening?" {why, yes, they are. And when I told him that Bella and Edward might finally get to do it in the last book, he was not as excited as I'd hoped. His loss, right? Sigh.}
3. "Symbolism is for stoners. That's why I always hated English." {referring to the fact that deep, thought-provoking movies/books were made for stoners. I personally love symbolism but he thinks it's for people sitting around in a circle and contemplating imaginary undertones to complicated plots. I could not disagree more, but I love that he attributes symbolism to stoners.}
4. "Our marriage is basically like one big bachelor party, you know." {I wasn't aware of this fact.}
ahem
Remember when I asked for your input, dear readers? I wanted to know which types of my ramblings you enjoy the most. The results were rather surprising to me---the majority of you like my random/marriage posts the best, even though those are the ones I feel are most scatter-brained and disorganized. Who knew boring newlywed life was so popular? "It's a blog about nothing and everything" seems to fit my theme, right?Well, the reason I asked about your preference is because I have been asked to be a regular weekly contributor to Elizabeth Anne Designs-Living. In fact, my introductory post went up today so it's official: I'm a blogging fool. Whoo hoo! I'm really pumped to blog over at a 'real' website about living and newlywed stuff because apparently, that is my forte:) But I definitely don't want to neglect this blog in the process....or have both places turn into clones of each other. No, that simply won't do. So because I love lists I decided to break it down like this [or at least attempt to do it this way]:
Random/Marriage posts [your #1 pick]: will be both at EADL and here. There's just so much to blog about, might as well spread the wealth:)
Running [a surprising second place!]: will stay here. I figure my dear readers have endured numerous 'training for a marathon' posts in the past and you deserve a whole summer full of them....again! Aren't you lucky?
Photography [a close third]: will stay here, mostly. I mean, this is the blog with gigantor sized pictures so it's only fitting.
Decor/crafts [fourth]: definitely over to EADL since I'm pretty sure that's what a lot of their readers would like to read. You know, something that actually helps others instead of mindless personal ramblings.
Books: not sure, it's so rare but probably here?
Weather: oh, you know this will be sprinkled in between the two starting in about....October, when it gets cold again. I'll give it a rest until then. Enjoy the break.
So yay for blogging at two places. EADL has asked a whole bunch of us post-wedding bloggers [not sure some of us qualify as newlyweds anymore after two years?] to join the crew. Can't wait to 'meet' the other girls and see what happens with this new adventure. I'm sure you'll be able to find me easily in the group since I'll probably be the long-winded one. I just can't help it sometimes, you know. :)
You should definitely add EADL to your Google Reader if it's not there already...go along now, go explore the site and check out my intro post. As if you haven't read all about me 8 million times by now. Is it getting old yet? :)
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