A quick update...

I have neither the time nor the energy to put into a fun-filled witty blog post peppered with cute descriptions of things, so I'll keep things short and sweet for now!

The camping trip was great! Lancelot behaved admirably with the exception of waking up at 1:30 am and staying up for an hour. I carried him around the campsite and sang to him. I hope I didn't wake up the whole campground!

While on the trip, Damselfly introduced me to a new hobby- geocaching!! It's so much fun! It's basically a treasure hunt. People hide these "caches," usually plastic containers filled with goodies in hollowed out trees, under rocks, etc etc etc, and provide you with the GPS coordinates to find them. All you need to do this hobby is a handheld GPS unit and a sense of adventure! Sometimes they (the cache hiders--- it can be anyone. Damselfly hid one in a local park, and I found that one, too! hehe!) give hints to find it, sometimes not. At the park, we found 2 geocaches! After that, I went to the geocaching website and registered an account. It's fun and FREE and great to do with kids. (Not so great with babies. You sometimes find yourself trudging through swamp and bush to find the cache!)

We're having trouble with our computer, so I can't post pictures yet, but I promise I will as soon as I am able.

Have a lovely evening!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 3

I don't know what it is, but knowing that I'm going to be posting my weight on my blog for all the world to see seems to be working!!

The May Day Weight Loss Challenge has been on for three weeks now, and I'm proud to say that I did well this week! I went to the gym 3 times, went on a camping trip this weekend where I was *very* active, and I drank more water. I still need to watch my intake of potato chips and french fries. Those are my weakness. Especially when going out to eat. However, this week I also cooked 5 dinners (which is a lot for me,) so not only did I save us money on take-out and restaurants, I ate healthier than I would have, resulting in a 1 1/2 pound weight loss for the week!

I know that 1 1/2 pounds doesn't sound like a lot, but I would rather consistently lose weight than lose a whole bunch all at once and then put it right back on. The changes I am making are small, but they are things that I will always be able to do. I'm not "on a diet," I'm just trying to make healthier choices. For example, we ordered pizza during the week. I did not allow myself to go for seconds, which I would have done before. When making a sandwich, I use multigrain bread instead of white. (Pepperidge Farm makes a good one called "Light Style 7 Grain" that's really nice.)

I didn't do as well with my house exercises. I only went for walks in our neighborhood maybe two days, and I really failed when it came to my daily handweight exercises and abdominal crunches and situps. I'll work on that this week.

Here are the numbers so far:

Starting weight: 157
Last week: 154
This week: 152.6

Here's to a fabulous 4th week!!

Off to the Wilderness!!

Well, I'm in the middle of packing for our Memorial Day Weekend camping trip!!! Damselfly and her family along with two other families from our church are going camping Sunday night! It's only a one-night deal, but we thought that would be best considering the babies have never been camping before and we have no idea what to expect! (Also, Damselfly and I are singers in our church praise and worship band, my husband is our guitar player, and two other guys who are going on the trip with us are also in the band, (bass player and horns,) and we had to play for our Saturday Night Alive service tonight!)

I'm excited but also a little nervous. I love camping. I adore it. The last time I went camping was in 2003, on the 4th of July weekend. (That's when hubby proposed to me! It was so sweet!)

It'll be wonderful to get in the great outdoors!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend. I plan on being back with pictures Tuesday!

See ya then,

Guinevere :)

Lancelot waves hello!

Lancelot wanted to say hello to his mommy's blog pals!

He's just started sitting up on his own, but he tips over a lot. I set him in his play pen surrounded by pillows so he would stay up. I took this photo while wearing plastic gloves, because I was in the middle of cleaning my shower, but he just looked so cute! There was no time to remove the gloves. I'm amazed I was able to work the tiny little controls on the camera!

I Need A Clone

Of myself, that is.

Lancelot is napping. Yay! Now I simply have to make a selection from many activities with which to occupy myself for the next 45 minutes to an hour.

I can shower and get dressed, or I can sleep.
I can eat breakfast, or I can sleep.
I can run the vacuum cleaner, or I can sleep.
I can pull out the meat to thaw for tonight's dinner, or I can sleep.
I can wash dishes, or I can sleep.
I can file a huge stack of papers, or I can sleep.
I can fill out paperwork for my new job, or I can sleep.
I can practice music for this week's church service, or I can sleep.
I can blog, or I can sleep.

So many things to do.

What, oh what, shall I choose?

I think this time, I will select showering, getting dressed, and breakfast, because I have to be somewhere at 10. Otherwise I would probably sleep.

That pile of papers has been waiting to be moved to the top of my priority list for 6 months. I've set up a nice filing system, I just need to get the darned things in the files!! Now that Lancelot can sit up by himself, maybe I'll bring his play yard in here with some toys while I work on filing. Hm. That's not a bad idea. Cool. Isn't it neat how ideas come to you while typing??

What a load of pooie!!

Awesome Mom is having a contest for the best poop story.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a particularly unusual day in which poop plays the part of the antagonist. You can read about it here. If you have a good poop story yourself, post and join in!

I Got A Job!!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo!!!

I got a job!!

This coming up school year, I will be the new music teacher for our local Christian preschool! I'm so excited! I'll teach music classes to 2, 3, and 4-year olds, and run two chapel services a week. It's great because it's part-time, so I won't be away from Lancelot too long! It will be such a blessing to our family to have a little bit of extra income, too. This is my first "real job." I've worked various temp jobs or things outside of my field, but they don't count. This is for an entire school year and I'll be a real teacher!! Because it's a preschool I don't have to have a degree, which is good, because I'm not done with my degree yet. All I have left is student teaching! When Lancelot is old enough to attend preschool, I'll go back and do that and become a 100% fully certified teacher, then who knows what will happen??

I'm so happy! I'm jumping up and down and giggling over here! tee hee!

Have a lovely day!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 2

Well, another week has come and gone!

I'm down another two pounds!!! Yippeee!!!

Starting weight: 157
Current weight: 154
Total loss: 3 pounds
Workouts: 3 days in the gym, house exercises the rest of the week (crunches, squats, leg lifts, etc.) Also stroller walks!

You may notice that my numbers this week are higher even though I'm reporting a 3 pound weight loss. I bought a new scale this week, but it registers 3 pounds higher than the old one, so I'm adjusting my previous numbers up by 3 to account for the difference. I don't like the higher numbers, but it's still a 3-pound weight loss no matter where you start!

Sweet, Blissful, Freedom

Ahhhhh.

Perfection.

3 solid hours of peace and quiet to do with whatever I like.

I'm being a naughty girl and skipping out on my weekly bible study group this evening in exchange for sweet freedom. I'm not normally this desperate for me-time, but this has been an unusual week. Between hubby being sick the whole week long and my babysitter being on vacation, I haven't had a minute to myself!

I know. I'm spoiled. A babysitter twice a week so I can do whatever I want? A loving hubby who comes home from work and takes over for me? I'm a lucky gal.

This week was different. Hubby was home, but he was in bed, so it was me with Lancelot 24/7 this week. It's exhausting. I don't know how single mothers do it! (If any of you are single mothers, I greatly admire your stamina and patience!!)

So tonight, I asked Hubby if he would take Lancelot to our bible study and I would stay home. He did! I spent the evening working on my scrapbook, which I haven't touched for months! I think I did four two-page layouts. (Well, one of the two-page layouts had been done at a workshop a long time ago and all I did was add the photos!)

It was so nice. I just finished putting my supplies away, popped a frozen pizza in the oven, and started writing this post.

A perfect evening!

To top it off, after Hubby and Lancelot get home, I'll give the baby a bath and feed him, put him to bed, then get into my nice new cuddly-soft bathrobe and drink a glass of wine.

Ahhhh.

The Bread-Throwing Leprechaun

In my house, we keep our bread on top of the refrigerator.

Evidently, the bread is not the only thing taking up residence on top of the refrigerator.

We have a bread-throwing leprechaun living up there.

Most of the time, he doesn't bother us. But every once in awhile, we must do something to anger him, because for days on end, every time someone opens the fridge door, this little doofus throws the bread at the unfortunate refrigerator-door-opener.

I will innocently approach the refrigerator with the sole intention of removing a cold can of Diet Coke Plus. No harm meant to anyone. I just want to quench my thirst.

The Leprechaun doesn't want me to have a Diet Coke Plus. He becomes angry and starts hurling bags of bread at me. For no good reason!

Currently, there is a bag of white bread, a bag of multigrain bread, hot dog buns, whole wheat sub rolls (for tonight's dinner of meatball subs, YUM!), and two packages of tortillas.

This little guy has plenty of ammunition.

I honestly don't know what I did to anger the bread-throwing leprechaun, nor why he chooses to follow us to every home in which we reside. (This is our third apartment in three years. Thank goodness we signed a lease for another year. That'll be at least two years in one place without moving!!! The next time we move, it will be into a house. There we will stay for a long time. Hopefully sans bread-throwing leprechauns.)

Do you have mythical beings living in your home that like to wreak havoc and commit mischief? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Maybe we can get them all together, pack them in a box, and send them to wherever it was that Garfield tried to mail Nermal. Anyone with me??!!

Stand Up and Be Counted

...or sit up, as the case may be!

Within the last couple of days, Lancelot has started sitting up all by himself!! Unfortunately, he doesn't stay up long enough for me to grab the camera and snap a pic for you, but hopefully in the next couple of days he will!

I went to lunch yesterday with Damselfly and our friend Roo, and both Flybaby and Lancelot were sitting in high chairs!!! I can't begin to tell you how much easier it is to eat at a restaurant when Lancelot can sit in a high chair! He seemed to really enjoy it. I wedged him in there with a blanket since he's still a little tippy. It was so cute though!

I'm off to peruse my cookbooks to plan dinners for the next week. I've realized if I don't plan ahead and shop ahead of time for ingredients, we end up eating out too much and spending way more money than is necessary for food. Anyone have any great one-dish meals they'd like to share? I'm a crockpot and casserole kind of gal, I just need some fresh ideas!

A few days ago, I posted a pity party for myself. Thanks to everyone for the good thoughts and comforting words!

Later that day, after I posted, hubby asked me to take him to the hospital. I brought him to the emergency room. Some friends met us there and took Lancelot to their house for the evening. The poor little guy was terrified! He knew these people, but the situation was unfamiliar. As I put him into their car, he looked up at me as if to say, "Why are you sending me with these people?" I wanted to cry, but I had another sad baby in the waiting room! Once Lancelot arrived at their house, (which *was* a familiar place,) he calmed down and was fine.

They hooked an IV up and did a CAT scan. The diagnosis for hubby? Diverticulitis. Inflammation of the intestines. His pain was unbearable. He could barely move. I found out from a friend who knows someone with diverticulitis that the pain is as bad as or worse than childbirth! (The woman who said this has three children, so I'm sure she's telling the truth!) Poor hubby. That must have been horrible for him.

Anyhoo. He's been home all week on very strong medications and is slowly getting better. He'll have to change his diet, but he should be fine.

In the meantime, I have been kept very busy! I didn't realize how much of a difference it made to have him "take over" in the evenings when he got home from work. Just four days of this and I'm worn out.

I hope he gets better soon!!!

Week One Weigh-In

Well, week one of the May Day Weight Loss Challenge is over! I only joined in on Thursday, so I'm only 4 days into it, but here are my results.

Starting weight: 154
Current weight: 153
Gym workouts: 3 days

Wish me luck in the week ahead!

A Pity Party, If You Will.

Sniff sniff.

I need bloggy hugs from my friends today!

My first Mother's Day is a complete bust.

My poor husband. He didn't mean to suddenly come down with horrible stomach pains, requiring him to stay in bed all day long. Also preventing us from going out on our friend's boat with Damselfly for the evening. Wah.

Little Lancelot doesn't know that today is special. He didn't purposely spend much of the day screaming, whilst my ill husband lay in bed, unable to assist me.

And the good folks who keep the shelves stocked at Target didn't know that I was looking for a particular photo album. It's not their fault that my afternoon outing to cheer myself up was also a bust.

I'm pathetic. I know. I'm not mad at my husband or Lancelot, but it is kind of a bummer.

They did get me a lovely present that I was able to open today. I've had my eye on The Sweetest, Softest Robe in The World from Bath and Body Works for some time now. Every time I go into the store, I bury my face in it. I'm sure the salespeople thought I was very strange. Anyway, I dropped a very large, unsubtle hint that I wanted it, so hubby went and got it for me! The sweetheart!

Hubby feels so bad! He said he wanted to do so many nice things for me today. I don't want for him to feel guilty! I'm sure I'll get one heck of a mother's day do-over, though!

Sigh. I feel a little better now, thanks for letting me whine!

On a happier note, here is a picture of Lancelot and I in the swimming pool. It was his first time in the pool, and he loved it!!

Isn't that swim ring cool? I had never seen one before that was a double baby/mommy ring! I don't remember the brand name, but I got it at Babies R Us.

A Napping Dilemna

My son used to be an exquisite napper.

I prided myself on how good a mother I was because my son went down for naps so easily.

I was probably quite smug about it.

Turns out it had nothing to do with me.

Because now he's not an exquisite napper anymore.

He still takes naps, so I'm grateful for that, but I'm a little dumbfounded. I was very spoiled. I would see the first signs of fatigue, I would carry him for a few minutes, sing a lullabye, set him in his crib, and within minutes he would be off to dreamland. Lucky me!

Now, at the first signs of fatigue, I bounce him up and down for half an hour until the eyes droop and he's nearly asleep. Then I sing him a lullabye, set him in his crib, and he lies there fussing for a really long time. Now that he's able to roll over, he flips himself onto his back and gets all worked up because he hates being on his back. (Before he could do that, he would fuss and squirm for 3 or 4 minutes but would eventually fall asleep. Now he wakes himself up.) So now getting him to sleep is sometimes an hour and a half process.

He's getting heavy. I can't keep picking him up and bouncing him for 30-45 minutes.

I need some new tricks.

I'm trying not to be too upset because hey, at least he DOES nap. I just now spend the better part of my day trying to GET him to fall asleep.

This too, shall pass, I know.

Just asking for ideas from those of you who have been there before!

Weight Loss Challenge

I found something wonderful! (Thanks, Susan!)

This is just what I need. During my pregnancy, I put on a lot of weight. About twice what the doctor wanted me to put on. As such, I'm having a hard time getting it off! So, Tales from the Scales is sponsoring a weight loss challenge. There's a weekly weigh-in and you can get fun buttons for your blog with every five pounds you lose! Fun stuff! So go have a look if you also want to get in on the fun.

As part of the deal, you are to post your weight loss goals and other health-related goals. Before joining this challenge, I have already made a few changes:

1. Eliminate liquid calories with the exception of milk and orange juice. No sugary sodas or "fruit drinks." Coke Zero, iced tea with splenda, and lots of water.

2. Switched to multi-grain bread. The only time I have white bread is if we are out at a restaurant and wheat bread is not an option.

3. Reduce pasta and potatos. This includes potato chips and french fries, which are two of my major weaknesses. However, now that I've started eating healthier foods, I crave these items less and less.

4. Increase fruits and veggies.

5. Daily walks with Lancelot in the stroller (weather permitting) and 3-4 visits to the gym per week. I do this when hubby gets home in the evening. This accomplishes several things: I get a "mommy-break," he gets some downtime and/or daddy/son time. If I time my trip to the gym with Lancelot's evening snooze, then it's really good for hubby. He doesn't get much downtime anymore, poor guy!


I will continue these things throughout the weight loss challenge. In addition, I plan on adding some hand-weight exercises and abdominal crunches on a daily basis. Those are easy to fit in. Put Lancelot in his jumperoo, and he thinks I'm entertaining him. lol! It only takes a few minutes to do some crunches and a few sets of weight exercises.

My total weight loss goal by the end of this challenge (which is sometime in September, by the way,) is 30 pounds. I will report to you weekly my gains/losses. If any of you would like to join me, good luck to you!

Wordless Wednesday

Because I can't resist posting cute pictures of my kid!! Lancelot just adores his Pooh-Bear!

Sometimes You Feel Like a Mom, Sometimes You Don't

It just hit me the other day.

I am a mom.

I got a phone call from our church nursery asking for "parent volunteers" to take turns once every two months working a shift in the nursery. For a minute, I thought they had the wrong number. "Parent Volunteers" drive minivans. "Parent volunteers" do their kids' fundraisers for them. "Parent volunteers" make cookies for bake sales. "Parent volunteers" arrange "holiday parties" for their kid's classrooms. Parents were way, way, older than me. How can I be a parent when my own parents are still older than me? I haven't caught up to them, how could I be in the same club? Hmm?

I'm not a parent. Can't be! I'm 25. I haven't finished college, for goodness sake. Yes, I have a son, but I'm not a parent. Am I?

When did this change take place?

When I think of what a mom is, I think of my own mom. So grown up, so adult and mature. I'd come home from school and she'd be sewing, or getting dinner ready, or doing some kind of housework. Adults were boring. When they had parties, all they did was sit around and talk. No fun!!

Wait a minute. When I hang out with my friends, we... sit around and talk.

I spend my days taking care of the house.

But I don't feel like a mom! I still feel like a college kid. I'm just me, I'm who I always was, but now with a baby.

This is very weird.

I don't mean to disparage motherhood. I love being a mother! It just hadn't hit me yet that along with being a mother comes...being a mother. Does that make sense?

Updates

I seem to have gotten over my writer's block, for the moment.

There are some exciting things going on!! *Unofficially,* I will be the new preschool music teacher at a local Christian school. I went today to watch the 3-year olds rehearse for their spring program, and they were so cute! I'm going back later next week to observe some classes and discuss details of employment with the preschool director. This would be a great opportunity for me to make some extra money while not abandoning my post as "mother," as it is a part-time position. Already I have managed to find childcare for at least 3 days, which may be enough. I'm very excited about this! The whole thing kind of fell into my lap. In my experience, when good things fall into my lap like that, they're usually gifts from God and I would be foolish to turn them down.

An additional update- a very good friend of mine will be helping me set up a photography website! (You know who you are, very good friend. As your "real" name will most likely be on the website somewhere, I'm keeping your identity secret unless you'd like the publicity! lol!) I have enjoyed photography as a hobby and I've been wanting to set up an online gallery for some time. This very good friend of mine is excellent at designing websites, so I'm excited for the opportunity to get it up and running! When it is, I'll post the link so everyone can check it out.

Let's see. What else? The families of Damselfly, our friend Roo and myself are planning a camping trip on Memorial Day weekend!!! Yay! We don't know how it will go camping with babies. We're only camping one night as a trial run. Then hopefully this fall when the weather isn't so morbidly hot, we'll take more camping trips with the little'uns. Any suggestions from those of you who are more outdoorsy? (Any Canucks in particular who like to get back to nature, albeit somewhat wildly? lol!)

Well I guess that's all for now.

Wait, I think I'll share what I'm cooking for dinner tonight.

Chicken fajitas! Yippee!! Last week, I roasted a chicken and I have a ton of leftover meat and I was trying desperately hard to figure out what to do with it. (I am NOT creative in the kitchen. If I don't have a recipe in front of me, I could have an entire grocery store full of food in the house and not be able to figure out what to cook. Anyhoo.) I'm going to cut up the rest of the chicken, grill it with some taco seasoning and we'll have fajitas. All I need from the store are tortillas, lettuce, and cheese. Very easy. Now all I need is a side dish. Maybe spinach dip? Hmm.

What else have I got to tell you?

Nothing. I'm going to go take a nap now. Have a lovely day!

Writer's Block

I need some help. I can't think of a single thing to write about. Suggestions??

Eau de Baby

A little while back, one of you dear readers was posting about a new fragrance that supposedly was "baby-scented." (Whoever it was, drop me a line and I'll give you proper credit. I just can't remember who it was!) Well, I thought and thought, and I think I came up with a new recipe for a fragrance to truly smell like a baby. While all of us mothers know instantly how heavenly that sweet, right-out-of-the-tub fragrance of our freshly bathed children is like, that scent only lasts for awhile. Most of the day, it's something like this:

1. Essence of freshly-soiled diapers
2. A few drops of drool right out of the baby's mouth
3. Day-old dried babyfood directly from the bib
4. A dash of Desitin
5. And finally, you could not make Eau de Baby without a whiff of full diaper pail.

Have I forgotten anything?

Today I had yet another chiropractic visit. (They're going very well, by the way. I feel so much better, I'm sleeping better, and my back does not get so sore. I was going twice a week for a little while for the adjustments, now it's every other week. Hooray! lol!) Anyhoo, my chiropractor is allergic to most fragrances, so they have a sign posted requesting their patients not to wear perfumes or colognes. (he gets headaches, apparently.) I completely forgot this, even though I've looked at this sign many times over the past month. This morning, I was so desperate not to smell like the concoction I described above that I used some fragrant body lotion and a spray of perfume. (That's very rare, folks!) So here I am, thinking of how un-frumpy I look and smell, and then I'm reminded of the chiropractor's allergies. I felt SO BAD! He didn't say anything to me, but I still felt bad. Next time I'll remember!