Where Is Spring?

I really do love living in Iowa. But seriously. It's spring. Go away snow!! I have serious spring fever and would love to be outside working in the yard and getting my garden ready to plant, but I guess God is trying to teach me patience? It's ok. I'll try to learn the lesson without much more complaining...

There are some advantages to being stuck inside all day - spring cleaning. I've been going through boxes and drawers and closets, tossing and cleaning and sorting, selling some stuff on Ebay, taking stuff to Goodwill, etc. It feels good. But I still want to be outside!

Last week I went to see my new family doctor. It was really difficult for me to truly say goodbye to Dr Hempy. She's been such a great doctor and I do miss her. But I guess when you move you have to do what you have to do... and Dr Huwe is very nice - and Casey likes her. Now, I have to do the same with the dentist. It stinks, because we had just started going to Dr Gilbaugh, the best dentist I'd ever been to, and then we moved... I guess while I'm on this line of thought - - we also had to find a new church. The whole search process stunk! We visited a LOT of churches, and a lot of different kinds of churches. We finally have ended up at Heartland Vineyard, and love it! God definitely led us there, because we weren't even going to visit - it was all kind of a fluke. But I guess it was a devine fluke. For which I'm grateful!

Moments Like These

What do you do when you find yourself in the middle of piles of dirty laundry, stacks of dirty dishes, toys all over the house, clean laundry in the basket waiting to be folded, dust billowing off every piece of furniture, sticky kitchen floors, dirty carpets, piles of this and that everywhere and that's only the beginning?!?!

You sit down with a nice cup of hot tea and read a good book. (While my daughter is napping of course!)

Or at least that's what I did/do. It's all too overwhelming and I need to step back and take a break from it all. When this happens, which it does more than I care to admit, I often wonder if I'm the only mom in the world who struggles with the never-ending chores of being a Domestic Engineer. Then I have the express joy of seeing my daughter smile and laugh and say the funniest things, I get to put her down for a nap (which hopefully she will take...), I get to be with her and see all these things that I would miss if I were working outside my home - and I realize that it's all worth it! In the end, the only things that will truly matter are the times I read her a story, kissed an owie, played games and hugged her close - just to name a few.
Then I can live with the mess that surrounds me, knowing that it's not forever. Someday, I will have all day to clean my house and have it be spic 'n span all the time. For now, God has given me these few precious years to raise my daughter and attempt to teach her to love Him with her whole heart.

And that's what I intend to do. With God's help, of course!!

15 Years!

This week Chris & I celebrated our 15th Wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's been that long already. I used to think that people who had been married for more than 10 years were old folks...but at 15 I still don't think we qualify! A lot has happened in 15 years. I wish I had wedding pictures to post, because they would be a hoot! But for now, I'll post one from our anniversary trip to Mexico in January. Chris and I have experienced God's blessings often during the last 15 years, but I think we would both agree that the best one was when Casey was born. When we finally accepted the fact that God had chosen a different path for us other than parenthood, we found out that I was pregnant. Funny how God works that way... Casey has changed our lives in ways we never expected. She's the joy of our lives and at 3, the comedy entertainment in our house! Truly. I mean, when she asks me, "Are you a strange animal, mama?" Hmmm... where does that come from? She keeps us on our toes and has made the last 3 years of our marriage wonderful and tough at the same time. My prayer is that the next 15 years will be just as full of love and God's blessings as the last 15 - maybe even more!

March 1 - Really?

Ok, tomorrow - really! - I'm going to start losing weight again. I mean, here we are - 2 months gone from this year and I'm only down 4 pounds! Something is so wrong with that! I'm so disgusted with myself for not trying harder. I need to stop using the cold nasty weather as an excuse, because frankly - it's not a good one.

I'll let you know how things go... 'night!

Another week down...

Thank you, Beryl, for reminding me that I started this blog for a reason - to BLOG! :) I shall try harder to keep my posts fiber filled (ie: regular). I know, that was lame, but hey! it's Friday and it's me. Anyone who knows me, knows how random and strange I can be at times, so I won't apologize for saying lame things... :-)

It's been a fun week at our house. I started officially teaching Casey her ABC's. My goal is to spend an hour a day doing "school". It will help add a bit more structure to her day, rather than just letting her run wild and play all day. Plus, it's fun for me to come up with different ideas every day. I love being creative like that, and hopefully she'll learn something in the process. And NO, I am not planning to homeschool! No offense at all to the many wonderful homeschool moms out there. It's just that it is not for me. Preschool is one thing - beyond that, I don't want the responsibility. We have a wonderful school system up here and I intend to take full advantage of it! Of course, I plan to volunteer and help out as much as a mom can, but I'll let the teachers at school do what they do best! :)

Today we went mattress shopping for Casey. She's only 3, but at 39.5 inches, she's basically outgrown her crib... along with many other things, namely clothing and shoes!!! We were trying to decide if we should go with a twin or full size, and finally decided on a full size. It really isn't much bigger than a twin and doesn't cost that much more - only makes sense. Now I need to figure out what to do with the crib, because we aren't going to need it again. :)

I loved the nice weather this week! It really made me ready for spring. But then, I was ready for spring last November... Casey and I went for walks on the really nice days. Casey had a blast splashing in the puddles and sending leaves floating down the street. It was fun watching her - so carefree and happy - I can learn a lot from her.

Random Post Wednesday

I hope the "newness" of FaceBook wears off soon, because I've been spending way too much time there... That's totally the reason this dear blog has gotten neglected. And I do feel bad about it. Really.
This is going to be a random post. In fact, I think I shall officially dub Wednesday as "Random Post Wednesday". Doesn't that sound nice? Eh, whatever... It's nearly midnight and I'm not really responsible for what I write at this point...Since Casey turned 3, a little over a week ago, we have entered what I can only describe as - The Terrible Threes! Where did this child come from? Who knew that things could take a turn so quickly! She's demanding, self-reliant (or so SHE thinks), bossy, naughty, disobedient and many more which my tired brain isn't recalling at the moment. Either way, it's set me back on my haunches just a little. I'll figure it out, I hope. I guess I shouldn't make her sound so terrible, she does have good moments...My upstairs bathroom is nearly done! It's so small, it's hard to get good pictures, but I hope this will give you an idea of what it looks like. I'll post more when it's completely finished. For as small as it is, there is a ton of storage, which I love! The linen cabinet is deep and easily holds my extra bedding and towels and then some. We're going to put some shelves up over the toilet, too. Oh, by the way, when you're sick, you can sit on the toilet and throw up in the sink - don't have to worry at all when it's coming out both ends... Isn't that a lovely thought?That's all for my random thoughts today.

She's officially 3

We have officially finished celebrating Casey's 3rd birthday. We've had 3 parties over a one week period - do you think that's enough? It's been fun, and not just for her. She loves being 3. And she loves birthday cake - we've had cupcakes, a small birthday cake and a large strawberry cake. I'm afraid she will be disappointed that she has to wait until Chris' birthday for more cake... (I can't have cake around all the time or I'll eat it...) We went to Chuck E Cheeses with Grampa Miller & Gramma Dee; Nana came up on Casey's birthday; Grampa & Ganna came from Michigan - it's been a fun and busy time. I also took her to a new doctor for her 3 year well-child check up. She's in the 95th percentile for height and weight: 39.5 inches tall!! and 38 pounds! My little girl is growing up so fast.

Some of the milestones of the past year:
*Started singing - and carrying a tune!
*Fully potty trained in October - yippee! (after 7 months...don't ask)
*Figured out how to make her tricycle move - and fast!
*Can open most doors by herself
*Speaks in full sentences - lots of full sentences...
*Jumps all over the place
*Likes to give her mommy instructions...

I'm loving every minuted of it! I can't wait to see what happens this year :)