There’s a Baby in There! September 9, 2009

We had our ultrasound yesterday.  So fun to see Baby P #2 kicking around in there.  Actually, he/she (no, we didn’t find out) did a whole lot of transverse lying and relaxing, legs crossed, sucking a thumb. This explains why I’ve been feeling so W I D E this pregnancy!  We couldn’t get him/her to budge from that spot.  But we got some cute pictures, anyway (which I’m too lazy to scan in right now).

Anja did pretty well at first, but since my placenta is anterior (in the front), it took a little longer to get clear shots of the baby, and she grew impatient.  Daddy would say, “Look at the baby on the TV!” and she would grab his face with both hands and say, “No!  Look at Anja!”  Hope this isn’t a preview of things to come…

Speaking of Baby #2, does anyone have any good recommendations for a double stroller?  Brands, types (side-by-side or tandem, jogger or non)?  I’m in the market.  :)

I got an hour and a half to myself this morning (Anja was at half-day daycare today since they were closed on Monday).  I read a book.  I’ve really been enjoying Bryson’s stuff this summer (this is the third I’ve read; also these two), even though he occasionally branches into the bizarre or lewd.  His descriptions of Midwesterners in The Lost Continent made me howl with laughter because they are so accurate.

We’re enjoying rather mild weather, and I’m loving it.  I had sunshine for all three of my photo shoots this past weekend, which was an amazing blessing.  It’s supposed to rain this weekend, but hopefully we won’t be rained out of senior pictures.

I’ve been contacted twice by a lady nicely asking me to link to this website and inform you about this buying local initiative.  I haven’t had a chance to read through it all, so hopefully it’s something I agree with!  Here’s an article that tells more about it.  And I happen to know a fantastic little photography business you can support if you’re wanting some treasures to put on your walls or in a keepsake album!  ;)

Oh, and it’s 09/09/09.  I just HAD to post today.

Francie Pants July 24, 2009

I’ve been reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn the last two days, and though I haven’t gotten terribly far into it, I’m really enjoying it.  Reading about Francie’s lifestyle makes me A) long for a simpler life and B) thankful for my complicated life at the same time, if that’s possible.

Other summer reads have included Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (good!), Neither Here nor There by Bill Bryson (hilarious but quite raunchy at times),  and two pregnancy books I read last time around, The Pregnancy Book by Dr. Bill and Martha Sears and Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade Curtis and Judith Schuler (recommend them for expecting mothers).

What have you been reading this summer?

Two Sentence Posts March 5, 2009

I have had a severe lack of posting lately, partially due to the content of the article I recently posted.  Connections are good, to be sure, but am I spending so much time on them that I am losing community?  Could be, could be.  I encourage you to read the comments on that post, too, because there’s some really good stuff there.  I especially liked Gretchen’s (Lifenut) illustration.

Lack of posting leaves many drafts swimming in my head.  Since I have not the time, nor the motivation, nor the energy to write full posts of all of them, I will place them here, succinctly, in hopes that you will magically fill in the gaps and enjoy them like they were full posts.

1. After work today and after getting back from the gym I walked around on the ice on my driveway.  It was rather warm today (near 40 degrees!), and the melting has created those pleasant little ice shelves that buckle and creak under your feet; I heart them.

2. I heard someone today make the comment that those who are able to see the bigger picture, who have faith in something greater, make it through recessions and other trials in much better shape.  All I can say to that is thank You, Father, for Your grace.

3. Husband recommended a book to me today, saying it looked like something I would be very interested in (he was right, by the way), then picked it up from the library so I could read it.  Isn’t it lovely when someone knows you well?

4. Losing “those last ten pounds” is extremely hard when you really, really like baked goods.  I really, really like baked goods.

5. I stinketh.  I will go shower now.

6. I really didn’t have an entire post based on that last one.  I just needed a way to end the post, which is now rurnt.

Sunday Sunshine 11.16.08 November 16, 2008

There is something frank and joyous and young in the open face of the country.  It gives itself ungrudgingly to the moods of the season, holding nothing back.  Like the plains of Lombardy, it seems to rise a little to meet the sun.  The air and the earth are curiously mated and intermingled, as if the one were the breath of the other.  You feel in the atmosphere the same tonic, puissant quality that is in the tilth, the same strength and resoluteness.   – Willa Cather, O Pioneers!

I see great beauty in the area in which I grew up.  It is flat for miles and miles, a leveled valley surrounded by end morraine.  The sunsets are unrivaled.  The air is clear.  The seasons are marked by farming.  In autumn, we expected the roads to be covered with giant clods of dirt.  We kept careful watch for beet trucks pulling out of fields at all hours of the night.  Farm kids would miss several weeks of school due to harvest.  In winter, when the wind wasn’t howling (which was almost always…it gets a 300-mile running start across North Dakota, you know), it often felt as if you were stepping out into a blank sheet of paper, the impossibly white ground fading right into the impossibly white sky, with no trees or mountains in between to give hint of a horizon.

Husband had no appreciation whatsoever for this kind of beauty.  He grew up around hills, swamps and trees, and to him, that is what is beautiful.  Mountains and lakes are great, too.  But flat plains?  No way.

Me, I still get homesick when we drive up there.  The open fields, the shelter belts, the modest homes cause my breath to catch in my throat.

O Pioneers! November 14, 2008

I am in the middle of reading Willa Cather’s novel by this title, and in the beginning of Part II, I was struck by the description of how the land has changed in less than two decades.

I am already in love with the characters: Alexandra and her visionary, strong heroine role, Lou and his distractibility, Oscar and his rut-running determination.  It took grit to settle the Great Plains–grit that I’m not sure I have.

I watched a PBS reality show of sorts back in 2002 (I think it aired in 2001) called Frontier House.  They sent several families into the wilds of Montana to “settle” it 1800s-style with just a week of training under their belts.  I doubt I would have survived.

Think of the innovation and effort it took to do things like harness wind power and build railroads.  I would like to say I would have been one to stop activity, lean on my hoe for a moment, and see the possibilities for enterprise, but it’s hard to really know for sure  I can’t help but think that these days we’ve let our bodies and minds get soft.

How about you?  Would you have been able to survive the early days on the Plains?  Would you have been one trying to make the load easier through invention and teamwork, or would you have put your nose to the grindstone and stuck to hard, yet routine, work?

Personal Accountability November 13, 2008

This is not a paid review–I read this book last week for a class I took at work.

“The lack of personal accountability is a problem that has resulted in an epidemic of blame, complaining, and procrastination. No organization–or individual–can achieve goals, compete in the marketplace, fulfill a vision, or develop people and teams without personal accountability.”

This book by John G. Miller, The Question Behind the Question: What to Really Ask Yourself to Eliminate Blame, Complaining and Procrastination, has been just what I needed to hear this week. In an hour’s read, I learned to place responsibility for my actions on myself, to be proactive about making situations better (rather than whining “Why does this or that happen? Why me?”), and to ask questions that help me assess how I can play a positive role in whatever circumstances come up. Now, whether or not I am able to consistently put these skills into practice will be The Question Behind The Question Behind The Question.

Seriously? READ THIS BOOK. It is not your typical “you’re special and people should (gosh darn it) love you” book. It teaches application of scripture, even though it is a secular book: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3,4 NIV) And…accept personal responsibility. I, for one, am in need of a kick in the pants in this area.

It’s sometimes therapeutic to get on my blog and rant and rave about how this nasty person did that or how so and so is not smart in this way. But you know what? How does my complaining help you or the situation about which I grumble?

Personal responsibility starts with ME!

————-

I actually borrowed the book from work to re-read, and Husband and I read it together some on our looooooong trip to and from Mom’s house this past weekend.

A New Way to Feed Your Baby August 26, 2008

Anja has been eating a lot more “big person” food these days. Tonight her dinner was chunks of cooked tofu, yogurt, banana, tomato, soy milk and water. She’ll probably have more of the same with us when we have dinner. She ate the tofu fine yesterday and the day before, but tonight she decided she would have none of it, and threw almost every piece on the floor.

Being the good, attentive mother that I am, I left it there. Knowing her proclivity for things from the floor, I figured she would be back to eat it later. And sure enough, as I type this, she is noshing on tofu. What is it about the floor’s “seasoning” that makes it so much more desirable?

—————–

Anja has developed many new “skills” over the past few months (assuming one can call mischief a skill). Here is a list of my new favorite and not-so-favorite things she does:

• Getting food into every possible orifice on her head as well as in her hair while she eats

• Paging through mommy’s journal and other “don’t touch” books

• Talking in a “language” all her own (I should try and post a video—it’s priceless. But I’m sure it’s much the same as any other baby’s babble. It’s special, though, because she’s MY baby.)

• “Reading” books using that same language

• “Sorting” the recycling

• Pulling up to standing and walking around furniture (she mastered this one in one day’s time—I was astounded). Now she’s standing on her own, too. I told her to take her time with walking…

• Calling numbers on the phone whenever she can get her hands on it (oddly enough, one started with 555-, as if she knew she shouldn’t be dialing real numbers)

• Tipping over chairs

• And my personal favorite: looking fantastically cute. But she mastered that one long ago…

Between One Page and Another July 10, 2008

Beck tagged me with this fantastic book meme. So here it is. If you want to do it, too, I’m always interested in what other people read.

1. Do you remember how you developed a love of reading?
I watched a lot of Sesame Street, which focuses on letters a lot (sometimes rather scarily), taught myself to read (by age 3! I know; I’m a stinking genius…haHAha!), and got heavily involved in the world of Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie.

2. What are some books you loved as a child?
- The Bobbsey Twins Series
- The Little House on the Prairie Series
- (rather unfortunately) The Babysitters’ Club Series

Are we noticing a trend here? Pretty much if it was a series, I read it. Trixie Belden, Boxcar Children, Sweet Valley Twins, and on and on. Barf.

- My one redeemable quality was that I was also in love with Roald Dahl. Matilda, James & The Giant Peach, The Twits, George’s Marvelous Medicine, Danny Champion of the World. He’s a great author. And you can’t beat his illustrator, either.

3. What is your favorite genre?
Right now? Probably non-fiction (is that a genre?). I read mostly manuals about how to operate a baby. When I have free time, I delve into fluff or my husband’s books, like A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss or the Narnia books or C.S. Lewis.

4. Do you have a favorite novel?
Nothing notable, I’m sure.

5. Where do you usually read?
Anywhere I can. I bring books or other reading material with me all the time.

6. When do you usually read?
All the day long. Books? At night after Anja goes to bed.

7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Rarely less than five.

8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
Well, yes…I’m usually looking for information from a non-fiction book. I don’t often read them for entertainment value. Place? Not so much.

9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
I buy most, check them out second (may as well buy them for the amount of overdue fees I accrue), and borrow last.

10. Do you keep most of the books you buy?
I try not to, but I’m one of those people who gets attached to material objects, especially ones that are made of paper and have WORDS on them. So the answer is yes, yes I do.

11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them?
Since Anja’s at that “I like board books except for when I want to rip something up” phase, here’s what I plan to share with her as she gets older:

I’m with Beck on Ramona books and Archie comics (my mom had a vintage stack that I would read through almost every summer), but other than Roald Dahl (which she WILL read, even if she HATES it!), I rather hope she’ll take after her father and read something meaty. The Redwall series by Brian Jacques (yes, a series) and the Mortimer books by Joan Aiken (oh, how I LOVED them—how could I have forgotten?).

And I still love The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Even as an adult, if you haven’t read it, you MUST.

12. What are you reading now?
The Bible, Your Baby’s First Year Week by Week, Digital Photography by Eismann, Duggan and Grey (isn’t Grey a lovely word?), Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp and Camera RAW by Rob Sheppard.

13. Do you keep a To Be Read list?
Kind of, in my head.

14. What’s next?
I’d like to get my hands on Believing God by Beth Moore, and I own about 40 books I’ve not yet read. The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton is in the running.

15. What books would you like to reread?
I simply salivate over the word pictures in Roald Dahl’s books (and sometimes, gag), so I might pick up one of those again sometime. Mere Christianity (C.S.) and The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, too.

16. Who are your favorite authors?
C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl and Joan Aiken come to mind. Apparently, I’ve never grown up. I think I’m okay with that.

What Would Jesus Eat? June 9, 2008

Husband and I received a cookbook by that name for a wedding shower.  I’ve cooked maybe one or two things out of it, but man, has it been fodder for jokes over the years.  I can’t believe that people would really think we should emulate what Jesus eats to a T.  Things that were available in that time and place just aren’t around here unless at a great expense.

That said, Husband’s relatives are coming over for dinner on Friday night, and I would love to make them a summery meal, either Mediterranean or Mexican in theme.  One of the relatives is a vegetarian, so the meal either needs to be vegetarian or easily adaptable.  I would love to hear your suggestions as to what to make.  Here’s what I’m looking to serve:

1-2 light appetizers

Salad (possibly optional, depending on Main Course)

Main Course

Dessert

And I think I’d like the dessert to be some sort of pie or tart, if that helps.  So, help me!  What recipes have you made that have been fantastic?

——–

On a completely unrelated note, Anja’s favorite thing to do these days is leaf through her board books under the coffee table.  That’s right, under it.  It’s very cute until she hits her head. 

Baby Can’t Read Yet May 7, 2008

Yeah, I know that’s shocking. At 8 months, she still can’t read.

Anyway, I asked you all for book advice back in February, and you happily gave it. While I wanted to buy ALL the books you suggested, we don’t have that kind of a budget, so we narrowed it down to a few.

Husband LOVES Jan Brett (as do I), so we bought The Mitten. Two I remembered from my childhood were Harry the Dog and Blueberries for Sal. Since none of these were really appropriate for where she is right now, I grabbed the Baby Colors book by DK. Even with those literary classics in the mix, the BABY chose the baby book. She loves the colors and will sit patiently while I read every object on the page. As a result, we went back and bought a couple more DK books the other day–an alphabet one and a body parts one. We also picked up a copy of Rosen’s/Oxbury’s We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, which she also enjoys a great deal. Over time, we’ll be able to build our library even more (even though we have many bookshelves that area already full of grown-up books). We hope Anja will love to read as much as her parents do!