It's like a Cow's opinion...it's Moo...: January 2010

Jan 26, 2010

Need Hat, Will Knit...

I feel like writing a long letter to baby clothing companies and explaining that "one size fits all" is BS when it comes to baby. a hat that fits a newborn will not fit a 6 month old. (admittedly, my child has a large head). I could not for the LIFE of me find a hat for C for the rest of the winter. The one I had from ON was perfect, but she outgrew it, and of course, now they are all gone, selling swimsuits... in January.

But I digress.
Anyway, I decided to pick up my needles for the first time in over a year & solve my problems.

I think it came out really well! :) And I'm excited to be knitting again!

Jan 21, 2010

Expectations...

Expectations have come up a lot lately in my life. Expectations about being a mother. about being a daughter, a friend, a bible study member, a church go-er, a God follower, a wife... you get the idea.

I really don't think expectations have a place in our lives. I can't think of an instance where it's appropriate to expect something from anyone. Shall I expect my husband to come home and be perfectly willing (after a long hard day's work) to take the baby, change her, feed her, play with her AND take care of MY emotional needs. (And, expect that he shan't expect anything in return, of course.) On an even more basic level, I can hope that he honor's his commitment to me, but do i have the right to EXPECT that? (PS I have no doubt that he does/has/will honor this commitment, I'm just showing how deep our expectations can be...)

Should I expect my friends to call me and keep in touch (not thinking of ANYONE in particular, don't worry girls), so that I won't have to call them?

Should I expect that my daughter will never challenge me? Expect that she will grow up to be a God fearing woman just because I want her to?

Shall I expect to have a perfectly safe, protected life provided from my God? What right have I to expect anything from Him, when He has already given me His All?

I think not.

I loved when my church showed the video's from North Point Ministries called "iMarriage". I think everyone (married or not) will benefit from watching these. You can find them doing a youtube search. This video is from that series, just sort of a funny commentary on our expectations from Marriage...

I want to empty myself of my expectations. This is a daily struggle. Especially since I keep uncovering a new expectation I didn't realize I had, almot daily.

Expectations ruin my quest for contentment as well. Expectations that I have of myself, or (worse) think others have of me just cause me to struggle. Perhaps it is okay to expect things of ones self... but I'm not sure.

This post isn't really going anywhere, but I just wanted to share the idea that we all need to let go of our expectations, whatever they may be, and just seek Him first.

Jan 13, 2010

Wordless Wednesday

Jan 12, 2010

C's First Meal!

Daddy got to feed me!

I Love this one!!

Mommy gave it a go too!

Jan 8, 2010

9 months on...3 months off?

So, I know the saying is 9 months on, nine months off, but that means I only have about 3 months to lose that baby (ice cream) weight! While the big guys on the Biggest Loser (my new favorite show) can lose 30lbs in a week, I don't think that is super realistic for moi.

Sadly, SBL was a big fat (pun intended) failure. We did decide to buy a treadmill as a Christmas gift for each other. We've committed to the Couch to 5k running plan, so far B has completed week one. I've completed 2/3 of week one (I would've completed it today but SOMEONE woke up early from her nap, cutting my work out by 10 min or so. So I'm going to do re-do it tomorrow!) Ultimately, I'd like to run a marathon someday, but i think it will have to wait until my child bearing days are over! One of my friends mentioned doing her "daily 5" which i've been trying to do as well. You do 5 push ups and 5 situps a day, and then add 5 each week. It isn't much, but it's enough to start making it a habit. I've found that incorporating the baby in my workouts makes it even better; I do my push ups over her face and kiss her each time i go down. She LOVES it! And it's more fun for me! I also try to hold her over my head and bench press her a few times a day for a few reps- she's probably 17-18lbs, so that's something! I'd like to do some work out videos on my days "off" from Cto5K... But I dont want to waste money either. So please recommend your favorite workout videos! :)

My longterm goal is to lose 35 pounds. This would put me at a pleasant, but not too thin, weight for my height. I have no idea how long it SHOULD take someone my size to lose that much weight.

Losing the baby (ice cream!) weight would mean losing about 15lbs. Can I do that in 3 months? Maybe if I only eat salad? (not realistic! but i could cut out my 1/2 a jar of PB a week...what? I LOVE PB!)

Another goal I have is to cook more. I really want to love to cook, LOL. I am trying to cook (or eat leftovers from a homecooked meal) 6 days a week & include more veggies. I'm planning on making C's babyfood, so I'll definitely have more fruits and veggies around for her! So hopefully we will snack on her left overs! :)

I'm putting this all out there (again!) so that I have some more accountability... If you're trying to get healthier too, feel free to let me know so we can encourage each other!

Jan 7, 2010

Surprise!

So after a few (wonderful!) days at home where we totally relaxed and just enjoyed ourselves, we (of course!) hit the road again. We headed to PA to visit with a few friends we have there-- little to B know, it was also a trip for his surprise 30th birthday party! The party was a huge success, (largely thanks to the O'Toole family! Thanks again!!) he was SO surprised and we had an AWESOME turnout. I'm so thankful so many people came! It was a long drive for a lot of people, but because they love B they came!

Here are a few of the pictures. If you want to see the rest go here!