Will the introverts please stand?

I was talking to someone this morning at church who asked if I had connected with alot of other moms here in town since we moved here.  I said that I hadn't really, that I wasn't going to any moms groups or anything like that and was giving myself time to just settle into routine and get to know the town at my own pace.  She began talking about wanting to invite some young moms over for coffee so that they could get to know each other.  I said that this was a great idea but also mentioned that I'm an introvert so I don't even really notice if I go weeks without really talking to anyone besides Nathan and Levi.  She was astounded and this led into an interesting conversation about the differences between extroverts and introverts.  (She is about as extroverted as they come!)  Funny, though, we realized that while I was more extroverted when in high school, she was more introverted and hardly talked to anybody.  Interesting how things change because now we are both fairly far on our sides of extrovertedness and introvertedness.  Huh.

Anyway, I mentioned this conversation to Nathan on the drive home from church and he mentioned that there was something on facebook about how to care for introverts.  I read through these and was like, "yup!"  People get me and there are other people out there like me (obviously alot)...so my question is: why is the world still hung up on #12??  :D

Are there any other introverts out there reading this?  How does this list sound to you?  Accurate?

A-Z

I'm totally stealing this from someone else's blog...thanks Erica!  I figure it's been a couple years since I've randomly given out facts about myself so here ya go!

A. Age: 2012-1985=26, turning 27 (yup, I have to do the math)

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the bathroom, specifically the tub/shower

D. Dogs: yep.  I have had a total of 5 dogs in my life!

E. Essential start to your day: being allowed to wake up slowly 

F. Favorite color: depends for what!  yellow, grey, teal, green...

G. Gold or Silver: Silver (or white gold) :D

H. Height: 4'10"

I. Instruments you play: piano

J. Job title: wife and mama, small business owner (wow, I like the sounds of that...)

K. Kids: LEVI!

L. Live: small town

M. Mother’s name: Irene

N. Nicknames: Niki, for a while there Dollface was sorta on the list :p

O. Overnight hospital stays: tonscilectomy when I was 3, 4 nights when I had Levi

P. Pet peeves: incorrect grammar/punctuation, people being inconsiderate of others

Q. Quote from a movie: "Sanka mon, whatcha smoking?" "I'm not smoking, I'm breathing!" 

R. Right- or left-handed: Right.

S. Siblings: 2... older sister, younger brother

T. Tastes you do not like: salad dressing, coffee, cream cheese

U. Underwear: yes?

V. Vegetable(s) you hate: sweet potatoes, water chestnuts, warm chunks of zucchini

W. What makes you run late: Not being organized ahead of time

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Ha!  Just had one today!  Well, Levi did, but I'm sure they must have caught the edge of my hand as I held Levi's arm down to check out his wrist!


Y. Yummy food that you make: For a person who spent the first 20+ years loathing the very existance of pizza, I do make a variety of AMAZING pizzas!

Z. Zoo animal: Lemurs!  I saw some in the zoo in Fresno and they were SO much fun to watch!  By far the best zoo animal I've ever seen.


Hey hey, that's it!  Time for me to go!  So, whadda ya say? Are you going to steal this and give me some random facts about yourself on your blog??

Oh, and here's one more random fact that I learned this week: Putting two spaces after a period in a sentence isn't the correct way of typing anymore.  If you don't believe me, google it. It's true.

Doodles

Our little Levi learned a new word tonight at supper. 

"Noodle."

He said it over and over again as he was very excited about the noodles he was eating.

Except no matter how much he practiced, it always came out as "doodle."

hehe...what a sweetie.

His daddy and I really are so in love with him, and growing more and more in love every day.

Is this normal?

I have a 17 month old.  I love my 17 month old to bits.  He is wonderful.  He is fun.  He is energetic and exploring and learning...busy.  Busy is good!  Busy is healthy.  But busy leaves me tired.

I've noticed in the last few weeks/months that I guard my naptimes agressively. As soon as Levi is in bed for his nap, my mind goes in 20 million directions trying to figure out what the best use of my "free" time would be.  I almost panic trying to come up with just the right thing to do so that I won't feel as though I wasted even a minute of the precious time I have to myself that day. And if something threatens to come in the way of that time, watch out.  Don't distract me.  Don't ask me to do anything out of the blue during that time.  Don't come into my space.  I have only limited time every day to do my own thing and be alone.  And I never know how long that time will be so if I get distracted by something/someone unexpectedly and Levi wakes up, it could be another 24 hours before I get some time to myself again. 

It struck me lately that this just doesn't feel...healthy?  normal?  It's gotten to the point where I'd rather not eat lunch with Nathan (Levi naps over lunch time) because it means that I have less time to myself.  I'd rather sit and read or crochet or even just creep around facebook than ask my husband how his morning was.  That doesn't seem right.  And yet...that's my energize time.  That's my "keeping sane" time.  I feel like I need that time... 

Is it ok to ignore everything else during that naptime each day?  Is it ok to guard it protectively?  Is it ok to hope that nothing unexpectedly comes in the way of it?  *sigh*  Does anyone else feel like this?  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I feel like I'm at a place where I either need to be ok with being distracted or else give myself permission to guard that time ...

On worship...

Something that I've experienced many times but only put words to this morning is how, when moving to a new place, worship is something I miss.  Not worship in general, as that goes wherever a person goes.  But worshiping with the certain group of people.  I had never really realized this before.  I assumed that just because I found a new community of believers to worship with, worship went with me.  But things change.  Different worship leaders lead worship differently.  Each leader guides the congregation into worship in their own way...in the way they are gifted.  Every once in a while, I'll be listening to worship music and certain songs will take me right back to a "congregation" that I've been a part of and a certain worship leader who was leading in that place and time.  Worshiping together is a very intimate and special thing for the Body of Christ, the church.  And whether or not you're actually in a church building or calling yourself an official church, each "worship service" has it's own unique offerings to our Lord.  I love to reflect back on the people I've worshiped with over the years, whether I knew them personally or not, and give praise to my Father who has given me the opportunity to worship in many different places all the while giving honour to the same God.  What an amazing God we serve.  And what an amazing thing the Body is.  Look around you...who is a part of the Body that you're worshiping God with today?  Take time to appreciate the unique worship that you're a part of right now...

On being an introvert.

I've been realizing more and more lately that the fact that I'm an introvert is something to be embraced rather than fought.  Interesting that I ever picked up the idea that being an introvert wasn't a good thing, no?  I'm fairly convinced that the society in which we live has been designed by extroverts.  And this has often left me feeling like there's something wrong with me, like I just don't quite fit and, on top of all that, like I'm the only one who feels this way. 

As I live in more places, get to know more people and function in new and different situations, I'm realizing that I am not, in fact, the only one.  There are more people out there who feel like society isn't quite designed for them.  People who would rather sneak through the church foyer than have to stand and "mingle" for 20 minutes (an eternity, yes).  People who would rather brainstorm on their own than get together in a group and throw out ideas or plan an event.  People who have no problem spending the majority of their time at home alone, rather than scheduling their week full of coffee dates and activities. 

For the majority of my life, I've found myself dreading things like group work in school, ice breaker games, "mingling"...and the whole time I just thought it was something I needed to just deal with and get over.  And as I am getting older, I'm realizing that the introvert in me isn't something to be somehow overcome.  It is not something that needs to be stuffed away and ignored.  There is great value to being an introvert and, more than that, it's who.I.am.  That alone is reason to respect how I feel and to give those feelings a voice.

I have started giving myself permission to be true to the introverted part of myself.  That might mean not being fully immersed in every area of the church right away (gasp!).  It might mean not pushing myself as hard to set up playdates or coffee dates or to have people over for supper every week.  Sometimes I just need time and space.  And that's ok! 

It has been extremely life-giving to have come to this realization.  Why did it take me so long?!  It's quite likely that nobody else notices any difference, yet the change in pressure that I'm not putting on myself has been huge!  I'm still learning to tell myself that it's ok to sometimes pull away and give myself space.  It's getting there :)  Being an introvert who is fueled by time away from the action is ok and normal.  Aah...talk about a breath of fresh air!

Our Little Levi (at 16.5 months)

Levi has been growing up alot lately.  It's hard to believe he's only 16.5 months and not at least 18 months.  He's such a bundle of energy and joy (unless he's teething, but that's another story).  He adds laughter to our days and sleeplessness to our nights.  He.is.lovely.

Levi at 16.5 months is...talkative.  He's starting to say actual words and works very hard to get those words to sound right.  In his vocabulary so far are: Mama, Daddy, more (mmmmmore?), snack (nnnnak?), wow (more like WOOOOW), night-night (na-na?).  He also tries to say things like: downstairs (his favourite place to play), and Lennox (our puppy).  But sometimes he just can't get across everything he's trying to say as quickly as he'd like so he just babbles on and on using whatever sound is intriguing him that day: didi!, giggle/wiggle, dub-a-dub-a-dub.  It's been fun to hear him trying to put words to life but even more exciting is the fact that he's starting to realize that making an effort at communication is to his benefit.  He very clearly lets us know when he wants to come out of his high chair by waving his arms in the air and will often steer us to whatever it is that he wants/needs with pointing or leading us by the hand (this often results in us standing in front of the pantry where his snacks are kept and Levi reaching for the doorknob).

Speaking of snacks, Levi isn't the greatest eater but he's not the worst either.  He far prefers snack-type food to "real" food.  He'd eat Gerber Graduates fruit snacks ALL day.  He also loves the Gerber puffs.  And marshmallows, cheerios, Life cereal, puffed wheat, goldfish, chocolate chips and graham crackers.  Oddly, he will not eat Teddy Grahams.  He does have a fairly healthy selection of foods that pass for real meal foods including peas, corn, scrambled eggs, fish sticks, oranges, apple slices, bananas, and pizza to name a few.

Levi thrives on routine.  Every morning before his nap, we go for a walk with Lennox to get the mail and often stop by the library, Credit Union, and/or grocery store before heading home.  People around town definitely know us!  We walk everywhere with a red and yellow bike trailer/stroller (or red wagon) and Lennox.  We stand out a little bit in this small town.  But I love it!  I love seeing the women who work at the post office getting to know Levi and the ladies at the bank and the grocery store commenting on how big he's getting.  This is a huge reason why I hoped that we'd find a job in a small town!  After our walk it's snack time then nap time.  As a small baby, Levi was a short napper.  I remember clearly when 45 minutes felt like a long nap for him.  But now that he's down to one nap a day, it's usually close to 2 hours.  He isn't the greatest sleeper but he's finally (in the past two weeks) stopped crying himself to sleep every single time we put him to bed.  Let me tell you, this is a huge relief for my nerves!  I would be wound tight as a ??? (what do you wind tight?) whatever.  I would just be tense as Levi would scream in his crib at both naptime and bedtime for up to 30 minutes before falling asleep.  I hated hearing him cry and scream and yet trying to console him only made it worse.  He just simply did not want to sleep, and yet he needed to!  It seems we are finally past the worst of that battle, praise the Lord!  He sleeps around 12 hours a night, 8pm-8am which is a decent stretch.  He doesn't regularly make it through the night without waking, though, but hey.  What can you do?  Eventually he will sleep through the night more regularly than he's up but for now I'll continue to go in, offer him a drink, give him Tylenol if he's teething, recite a few of his books to him from memory until he calms down, put his blankets back into his bed, wrap him up and hopefully go back to sleep until morning.  We tried the sleep training thing (cry it out) when he was 7 months old and it did help, but I just don't think it's worth the fight for us to try again right now.  After sleep training, Levi hated his crib and we're actually at a point again where he enjoys his bedroom and his bed so I think I'll take this and pray for restful nights again soon.

What else is Levi doing?  He's running, jumping, dancing, climbing...active all the time!  He loves to "fall" off things into our arms, though sometimes it results in a face-plant off the living room chairs when we're not ready for him or when he gets too excited and throws himself off the edge randomly.  Levi likes to play with his Chuck the Truck toys, his Little People Barn, and his mega blocks right now.  He also loves books; he always has (hence me having a few of them memorized to be able to recite them in the wee hours of the morning).  Levi loves to stand on a stool or chair at the counter and play with whatever is within reach.  Fortunately for me, he hasn't figured out how to get down yet so it comes in handy when I'm cooking and need him contained for a while. : )  Levi loves babies and always makes a bee-line to the nearest baby carrier when we're at church - and believe me, there is quite the selection to choose from these days in church!  He's not quite sure what to do once he sees the baby, especially if its crying, but he sure likes to look and see what/who he'll find inside!  He also LOVES Winnie the Pooh and often watches a bit during his night snack on Youtube.  When it gets close to 7pm, Levi will go to the laptop and try to open it and make his "I want some!" noise where he moves his tongue in his mouth and kinda hums so it makes a really funny noise.  Strange kid... :D

Levi loves to play outside and often after our morning walk, I'll leave him all dressed and let him go out on the deck and just play.  He hates getting his jacket/boots on so if he's dressed already, I may as well make use of it!  He always begs to go outside so why not just let him outside when he's already good to go??  He doesn't know the difference.  It's also handy that it's a covered/screened/carpeted deck so I can just leave the door to the house open on warm days and he can just go in and out as he pleases.  I can't WAIT for summer when he can play out there all the time!  He is going to love it, I'm sure!

Levi is small for his age, coming in at just over 30" tall and around 21 lbs.  It sure makes carrying him around alot easier.  He's a typical first-born and loves to be picked up and carried.  I get WAY too many comments when we're out about how he's almost as big as me and how I won't be able to carry him for much longer (though I have muscles in my left arm like you wouldn't believe!).  I'll admit, I get pretty sick of hearing people say that, but I usually just smile and say, "Yup, he's getting big!" and carry on with my business.  It's really not worth getting upset about and certainly not worth trying to reason with them or blowing up in their face about it (not that that's really my style anyway!).

So that's our boy!  He is cute as ever and we love him to bits!

Fresh Diapers!

I am officially glad that I bought my $500 diaper stash from bumGenius!  As I mentioned in an earlier POST back in December 2011, I was disappointed that my diapers had holes along the sides and in random places on the lining.  They hadn't lasted very long at all.

Well, I wrote in to Cotton Babies in early January (the makers of bumGenius products) explaining my frustration, linked my blog post so they could see the pictures, and asked if there was anything they could do for me or any suggestions for fixing the diapers or helping them to last longer.  A couple emails went back and forth and in the end they offered to replace ALL of my diapers!  All I needed to do was fill in a form and ship my diapers to them, and in about 6 weeks I received a package with 18 brand new bumGenius Elementals! 

I am so pleased with the customer service I received from Cotton Babies!  Communication was excellent, I was very happy with the service I received and, ultimately, I'm thankful for a brand new stash of cloth diapers that will see Levi through potty training and hopefully provide for the rest of our babies!  I would definitely recommend bumGenius diapers to anyone looking to cloth diaper.  They are a trim-fitting, easy to use diaper and come from a great company.  Plus, they're just adorable!  But what cloth diaper isn't??

Thank you Cotton Babies! 

little rant

Ok, so sometimes facebook is wonderful and sometimes it is just plan terrible.  I was just on facebook, seeing all these people who have gotten married in the past year and are already pregnant, and I was getting really discouraged.  I'm sorry if this is you and you got pregnant in your first year of marriage or as soon as you started trying to have a baby.  This rant isn't against you personally...it's just that when it takes SO.MUCH.TIME (and EFFORT and TEARS and WORK and PRAYER) for some to get pregnant, how is it fair that others just get pregnant as soon as they decide that they'd like to start a family?  WHY?  Why can't everyone who so desperately desires to be a parent just have it happen like it does for others?  Why couldn't it either be hard for everyone or easy for everyone?  Why can't we all be on a level playing field here??  I guess I just don't understand.  And I guess I'm still a bit bitter that we had to wait THREE+ years to welcome Levi into our lives, four years and one month from the time we started to try until the time we met him face to face.  Don't tell me that God has a plan.  Don't tell me that things turned out better this way.  Don't tell me that we waited this long to have Levi and that if we'd had a baby right away it wouldn't have been the same baby as we have now.  Don't give me pat answers because this isn't a simple issue.  It isn't a simple issue.  I still deal with the effects of having struggled with infertility for over 3 years.  I still hurt because of it.  I still have questions.  The pain and wondering doesn't go away with the positive pregnancy test...with the baby's first cry in the delivery room.  It's easier to forget about the road that it took to get here, but the road is still there.  The memories are still there.  The scars are still there.  And every once in a while, like when I'm stalking around facebook, it hits me like a truck.  It's not gone.  It still hurts.  And it's not fair.  IT'S.NOT.FAIR. 

turning corners

Levi has been sick this week.  It seems that every time he hangs out with his little buddies who have even a hint of sickness or a cold, he gets it.  This is quite the opposite of his first year of life as he wasn't sick at all.  I guess the antibodies that come from a mother's milk really do make a difference! 

Speaking of sickness, the other night Levi was up coughing and crying.  I offered him water and he refused.  I tried snuggling and rocking him.  He just arched his back and screamed louder.  He kept reaching for the door (which he always does when he doesn't want to sleep) so finally I just went with it, like I have before, and left his room.  He kept crying and reaching so I just kept following where he led.  Once we reached the fridge, he reached for it and I opened it and gave him his milk.  He GUZZLED.  Like, the world is ending, guzzled.  And stopped crying.  And then, once he was finished chugging back his milk, he snuggled into my chest and reached the other direction.  Seeing as he had led me to what he wanted in the first place, I thought I would just follow his lead again.  He led me to our bedroom (the only light on in the house at this point) and I lay down in our bed with him.  He just lay there on my chest, perfectly calm and happy (though still the occasional cough).  Three minutes earlier he had been a screaming, inconsolable mess and now he was laying on me as though nothing was wrong.  I still needed to do a few things before coming to bed so I asked Levi if he could snuggle with Daddy for a few minutes.  He shook his head, but he often shakes his head when he hears the "question" tone.  He shakes his head 'no' to everything.  So I handed him over to Nathan while I went and got ready for bed.  He screamed the.entire.time.  Apparently he meant what he said when he shook his head 'no' to Daddy.  I got back and he calmed down as soon as he was in my arms. 

Now, this whole scenario isn't so much about the details of what happened, as about turning a corner in communication!  For months, Levi has been whining and having melt-down after melt-down because he couldn't communicate.  He would try and I would try to understand and help him, but often the melt-down would come before he really got across what he was trying to say.  But since that night, it has been a complete turn-around!  I think I might actually enjoy being a mother of a toddler now! (not that I didn't enjoy most of it already, but it certainly wasn't shaping up to be my favourite of life stages...those tantrums are something else!)  Now, even if Levi is in melt-down mode, I can ask him calmly to show me what he wants, and he'll make a honest effort, and most of the time he feels understood!  And when he feels understood, even if I say 'no' to him because he can't have what he's asking for, the tears are fewer and he moves on to something else more quickly.  Aah.  We turned a corner with that one!  Whoo-hoo!

In other news, I got a huge stack of crochet magazines this week from one of the women who works at the local post office.  She has seen my packages of yarn coming in and my scads of product going out and thought I might be interested in these.  The magazines are from the years 1988-1993 and I must say, I had some good laughs.  There are a TON of patterns that I want to try (at least a variation of), but some of them...well, why don't I just show you?

I offered to make this for Nathan (so he could wear it in case his body was cold but arms were not).  He's considering it.

Full crochet suit, complete with hat?  Yes, please.

Aren't we all hoity-toity, reading a book with perfect posture and shawl tied just so? *hem hem hem*

Ugly Christmas sweater!!!  I might just have to make this one...you'll notice that I have it "marked" for future consideration.

 

 

 

Stylish blazer...and bun netting thing...*shudder*

And last but not least...the old becoming new again!  Doesn't this vignette look quite "now"?  Aside from hanging an afghan on the wall (today it would be wall-paper, another nod back to the 90's).  But couldn't that be an Ikea lack table there in front?  I may very well make this one.  It wouldn't be for our house, but is anyone else interested?  As a side-note, I'm pretty sure my dad has those very same book ends...

And that is that.  What an interesting day I had yesterday looking through all these magazines, marking all the patterns that may be of interest.  And with that, I'll leave you to carry on your day!  Have a good one!

clean and tidy

Tonight as Levi has been falling asleep, I've been tidying the house.  Not cleaning, per se, but just putting things back into their place.  I've been working my way from one end of the house to the other, top floor and basement, just straightening and organizing and setting things right again.  And here's what I've realized:

I've become way too accustomed to seeing things out of their place.  

For example, I tidied the basement rec/family room and thought, "There.  That's pretty good." And then I stepped back to look at it again and saw that there were still two or three remotes laying around, one right there in the middle of the floor.  There were still a couple of alphabet blocks scattered along the walls.  And I hadn't even touched my desk!  Wow.  I came upstairs and there was still a pair of Levi's socks in the hall that I'd meant to take to the "too small" box downstairs.  Levi's belt was still sitting beside the dryer where it fell as I did laundry today.  I just have gotten too used to seeing random things around the house in random places.  Now, that is partly due to having a son who loves to carry things around the house and drop them wherever he sees something more interesting to pick up.  It brings me great joy to find some of these treasures (broom in bedroom, hairspray in living room, cup at the end of the hall by the deck door).  But I bet that's not the whole reason.  I think I've just become a bit lax when it comes to keeping the house tidy. Instead of putting things away when I'm finished with them - like my mom tried to teach me over and over again growing up - I've gotten into the habit (anyone else tend to spell "habit" like "hobbit" with two "b"'s?) of just moving on to the next thing and leaving my project sitting on the floor for days or putting something in a pile to be dealt with later.  I still have Christmas cards/letter sitting on the microwave from December for crying out loud!  It's been two months!  And yet, I am just so used to seeing them there and have no idea what to do with them, so there they sit.

Today I was watching Levi play, like I often do.  He was playing with his Little People Barn that he got for Christmas.  It is interesting because, when he plays, he is very intentional about all his animals standing on their feet.  If he puts the goat in the barn and it falls over in the process, he'll carefully reach in and set it back on its feet.  Seeing this got me thinking about whether this will be a life-long characteristic of his...will he always be particular and want things to be proper and in their place?  I have had phases in my life where I have been like that.  Everything had to be in its place, facing the right direction, and no clutter piles whatsoever.  (My dorm rooms at Bible college, both first and second year, were amazingly clean and tidy ALL.THE.TIME.)   And you know, life is alot less stressful like that!  I enjoy having a place for everything and putting things back where they belong as soon as I'm finished with them (or at least at the end of the day).  But it's easy to get lazy when there is a house full of people (and animal) who don't necessarily have the same vision as you.

Well, all this is to say that yes, my house can get untidy.  It is usually clean (enough), but the clutter builds up.  I'm human.  I admit it.  BUT, my goal after this evening, is to designate a place for everything and then, instead of just getting lazy and making piles everywhere of things to be put away, I think I might actually try putting stuff away right away!  Could you imagine?  Putting something away as soon as you're finished with it instead of just setting it aside to be cleaned up later?  Oh, what freedom the evenings would bring!  haha.  Well, it's been nice to dream.  Back to tidying the house...!

February - A Month of Promise

February will always mean a little something extra to me.  It was never a particularly special month to me growing up.  It was shorter than the rest of the months, even on a leap year.  It had Valentine's day, now also Family Day.  But it was still winter and just meant another month of winter routine. 

Eventually I got married and, just over a year later, we started trying to grow our family.  Years came and went and still we weren't pregnant.  I remember one day as I was praying and pleading with God to give us a child, I heard God say, "Expect a baby in February."  That was it.  No details other than that. 

This statement stuck with me and one or two February's came and went with still no sign of a baby.  I had pretty much forgotten about this promise until February 13, 2010.  I took a pregnancy test and it was positive.  As soon as I saw that positive, I remembered God's words from years earlier.  And I knew that this was God fulfilling his promise to me: "Expect a baby in February."

I still find myself doubting that God actually speaks.  That He actually answers our prayers and can be trusted.  I find myself knowing in my head, but wondering in my heart.  But when February comes, it will always be a reminder to me that God does speak.  That He does answer prayers and keep His promises. 

I am humbled and amazed...God you are good and your mercy endures forever...

What to write?

I've been uninspired lately.  Uninspired to blog, that is.  I've been inspired to do many other things, certainly, but when it comes to this blog, I just haven't had much to say since, oh, November 2010?  Hmm...right about the time Levi started being more aware and responsive and SO MUCH FUN!  Haha.  Yup, that's definitely part of it!  I don't read other people's blogs nearly as much as I used to either.  There's just something about having only one, maybe two precious hours to myself each day and not feeling like blogs (either writing or reading) are the most attractive way to spend that time.  I'd rather:
...work on my business!
...correspond with people on a more personal basis (ie. email, fb messages, etc)
...clean the house (ok, wouldn't rather do this, but sometimes it just needs to be done)
...do something crafty
...plan my menu
...make supper/bake

Yup, there are so many other things to do these days.  It pains me a bit because for so many years I blogged so faithfully and enjoyed it so much...and was so encouraged by my readers!  Thank you!  I have met wonderful people through blogging and received many kind words and prayers while we were experiencing infertility.  So, for the sake of the past, I shall attempt to write at least weekly blog posts this year.  Think I can do it?  Watch me.

Well, hmm...what to write about today?  For starters, today I am getting three garbage bags full of little boy hand-me-downs!  That's exciting!  I LOVE hand-me-downs.  Seriously.  Love them.  I got an email from a friend from church this morning offering me her son's old clothes.  How could I not gratefully accept her offer??  So, once Nathan gets home from his lunch meeting, I will have three exciting, "get-your-heart-racing" garbage bags of clothes to look through!  Whooie!  On the slight downside, I won't be able to look through them until tomorrow because, as soon as Nathan gets home from his lunch meeting, we are heading to the city!  Now, I can handle the delayed gratification with the hand-me-downs because, drumroll please... ... ... I get to go grocery shopping!  Yeah, I'm weird like that.  I really really enjoy grocery shopping.  There's just something about taking inventory of your pantry, making a list, and then going to the grocery store and crossing things off your list as you put them into your cart.  Then, you haul them all home and put them all away exactly where they belong, where there was nothing before, now there is something!  A fully stocked pantry!  Can anyone else relate?  I know lots of people dread grocery shopping, but, well, I quite enjoy it. :)

After grocery shopping, I will be dropping off a Uniquely Me Design order with a good childhood friend of mine.  It'll be short, but long enough for a quick hug.  Then, it's off to meet a friend from Manitoba who is in the city for a couple days each winter.  Last year he met our 3 month old son and this year he gets to see how much Levi has changed!  Really, he's hardly the same boy...  Anyway, we get to spend this evening hanging out at our friends' hotel and catching up, maybe do some swimming and see if Levi likes it any more than he did this summer (which wasn't very much...is a general dislike of swimming a genetic thing?).  Should be good!

After today, we have a day off.  Nathan has Fridays off, so we will get to spend a day as a family (!!!).  Always a highlight.  THEN, on Saturday, I will have my first complete day away from Levi.  First ever.  Like, I will most likely leave before he's up and will certainly arrive back home after he's sleeping.  Levi gets his first-ever Daddy-day!  I am pretty excited for the bonding that will happen between my two men and to hear the stories that they will have to tell.  I am equally excited for a day to visit with a good friend a couple hours from here and to spend the day scrapbooking!  I haven't started Levi's baby book yet, so I hope to finish my pregnancy album (after 3+ years of infertility, I figured that the whole "making Levi" story deserved its own book) and then get started on Levi's book!  It's intimidating, so I'm a bit nervous to start.  It's probably why Levi is 15 months old already and the pictures are just stacking up higher and higher...

Well, that's about all I can think of right now.  I suppose I should go find some pictures to add to this post to make it at least a little more interesting  :P  (Isn't Levi CUTE?!  It's all those years of praying for a beautiful child...)  Hope you all have a wonderful end to your week!  And an even better weekend!  Take care!

A little "in"...

Here's a little "in" on what I used to do in my spare time back in high school:

I dug these out of a box when I was at my parents' place this Christmas.  I was SO proud of them back in the day.  I was probably around 13 when I made the rabbits and maybe a bit older when I made the dolls.  Not sure.  Definitely still in school though.  My great-grandma used to make dolls like the ones in the top picture and, when I found some doll faces in my mom's craft stuff, I decided to make some dolls of my own.  They are supposed to have little vinyl hands as well, but I guess we didn't have any of those lying around.  What do you think, if I could get my hands on some more of those vinyl faces/hands, do you think that there would be a market for things like this in my Uniquely Me Design shop?

bumGenius Organic AIO - Cloth Diapering Question

Ok, so normally I have absolutely NOTHING bad to say about my cloth diapers.  I seriously LOVE them...I would never choose disposable over cloth, ever.  When I started cloth diapering, I chose the bumGenius Organic AIO (one size).  There are fewer chemicals (obviously), fewer leaks (proven by the number of leaks I had while using disposables on and off the first few months and how they stopped as soon as I put a cloth diaper on my son), and fewer smells (depends whether you prefer to smell chemically altered wet/dirty diapers or the real thing).  I only have one problem with them:

Do you see those holes along the side of the diaper?  Those holes started appearing when I had only used my cloth diapers around 5-6 months.  I'm not sure exactly why they are there.  My guess would be that the drying time is so long because they're AIO that the heat of the dryer (even on a low heat setting) is just too much for the cotton and it breaks down rather quickly.  BUT...really?  Not everyone lives in a climate where they can just hang their diapers up to dry every time.  If I hang them outside, they freeze solid within 5 minutes for 7 months (or more) of the year.  If I hang them inside, even with a fan blowing on them, they take around 20-24 hours to dry completely - and I even have to turn them "inside out" if I don't want the inside to be damp forever.

So I guess I have three questions:
-  Is this normal?
-  Has this happened to anyone else?
-  Is there a way of "patching" the holes or somehow preventing them from getting bigger every single time I do laundry?

I was hoping that these diapers would last through multiple kids (they were quite expensive - bumGenius's most expensive syle of diaper, chosen for the ease of use) but now I'm just hoping that I won't have to buy more cloth diapers or *sharp intake of breath* use disposables for the last few months until my son is potty trained.

Are there any other cloth diapering mama's out there?  Which cloth diapers do you use?  What do you love/hate about your diapers?  If you've cloth-diapered through multiple children, did you have your diapers eventually wear out and how long would you say that a diaper generally lasts??  As much as I love my bumGenius Organic AIO's for their look, ease of use, and fit, I must say, I am fairly disappointed that they started wearing out so quickly...

*Sidenote: I did try to get warranty, Cotton Babies was very willing to look at my diapers and consider them for warranty even if the diapers arrived after the one year warranty mark, but I had ripped a seam in all my diapers (there was a seam across the back of the sewn-in insert and I removed it to allow more airflow during the drying process - it did help) and I wasn't sure if that would affect the warranty and didn't want to be without my diapers for the month or two that it would have taken to mail away my diaper stash without being sure that they would be replaced.  Not having my diapers replaced on warranty is completely on me, and is not a hit on Cotton Babies (the makers of bumGenius products).

And other things...

Well, after the infamous pudding painting experience, and a more recent traumatizing first bubble bath for Levi (what is that stuff?!  Get it OFF of me!!!), I've finally found something that Levi loves and is enthralled with!  It's called "food-colouring-fun-in-the-bath."  Here's how it works: you run a bath.  You strip down the target.  You put said target into bath.  THEN, you direct the target's attention to a small bottle of food colouring being held just above their head, pointing down toward the bath water.  Squeeze slightly and *presto*!  One drop of food colouring goes into the bath water.  Target may not notice right away what has happened so you may need to point out the beautiful colour that is infusing their bath time with fun right before their eyes.  Target may attempt to "catch" the colour, which makes this activity even more fun as the colour will only spread instead of being caught!  Once target has tired of this first drop, try a second drop!  And a third!  The possibilities are endless (or at least endless until you've finished your bottle of food colouring and the bath water is no longer translucent because it is saturated with FUN).  Ta-da!  I will note, however, that green, yellow, and red food colourings may not be ideal choices.  To each their own, I guess, but don't say I didn't warn you...

What else have we been up to?  Hmm...well, Christmas is coming!  We will be celebrating Christmas as our family of 3 on Christmas Eve this year.  Then, after the church's Christmas Eve service, we will make the late-night trek to my parents' place to spend a couple days there with my family.  It is so nice that we will ALL be able to be together twice this year!  What a treat :)  Now that my sister is living back in Canada (as of yesterday), hopefully it can happen a bit more often.  Between Christmas and New Years, Nathan will be speaking at a summer camp staff retreat at a camp nearby.  Levi and I will be able to go with him and hopefully it will be a bit of a retreat for us as well as encouraging for Nathan as he really enjoys speaking at these types of events.  On New Year's Day, we will head out to Nathan's parents' place where we will spend two nights and celebrate the holidays with his family.  It is nice that everyone on this side of the family is within 90 minutes of driving so getting together is something that can happen fairly easily a few times a year!  So nice.

I have been busy crocheting (I've averaged about .75-1 toque EVERY SINGLE DAY since mid-October).  I've finished all my current outstanding Christmas sales, though, and now am only working on my own personal projects.  It's a nice change of pace.

Nathan has a week of holidays this week, but so far it has been spent doing alot of prep for his speaking engagement next week.  Hopefully he can finish that up sooner than later so that we can spend some quality family time together before he heads back to work in the new year.

Well, that's about all I can think of.  Oh wait, you're probably DYING to know what Levi has been up to lately!  Well, he's 14 months old and is walking, talking, dancing, pointing, asking, running, climbing, squirming, cuddling, reading, playing, rocking, throwing, and in general just MOVING.  He's a real joy (for at least a portion of every day) and we love him to bits. 

And that's our life in a nutshell!  I'm really hoping to get back into this blogging thing a bit more in the new year.  I've really missed it.  But now it's time to say goodbye and enjoy the last little bit of Levi's going-on-two-hours naptime.  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

p.s-nope, no real pictures.  Sorry.  I'll try to get some up again in the new year :)

Pudding Painting

So...I thought it would be fun to shake up our daily routine around here and do some bathtub pudding painting one afternoon.  I made vanilla pudding and coloured it blue and purple (was supposed to be hot pink...oh well).  Then, after Levi's nap and lunch and outdoor adventure (aka. getting the mail and buying groceries), we stripped down - or at least the under 2 year old population in the house stripped down - got to work!  I put Levi in the bathtub, but there were still little puddles of water leftover from morning showers so the whole project started out with a slip in the tub and Levi almost landing on his back (I caught him) in cold, leftover shower-water.  There may or may not have been tears.  Now, I should have just gotten him out right then and saved the colourful pudding for afternoon snack.  But no.  I thought that might be robbing him of the greatest adventure of his lifetime!  So we did some finger painting.  Or at least I did some finger painting.  I'll let the pictures take it from here:

 Levi carefully (index finger and thumb on edge of container so as not to get dirty) put both containers on the edge of the tub.  The mess you see in the picture is compliments of mom, trying to show him how much fun it is to get messy...and did I mention that it tastes good too?!  He wasn't a fan.  He then proceeded to push the blue pudding off the edge and *SPLAT!* onto the floor. 

 "Mom!  Please get me out of here!  It's cold and icky and I just want OUT!"

 "Please, Mom?  Please can I come out now?"

 "Are you done taking pictures yet?  Can I come out?"

"Oh, ok.  You're going to run a nice warm bath for me.  This is good.  I can handle this.  Hey, I've never been in here WHILE the water is running...I'm going to try to catch it!  Annnnnd.....NOW.  Maybeeee....NOW.  Boy, this stuff is hard to catch..."

Ok, you'll have to forgive the cheesy Levi-commentary.  Parents just tend to have a hard time not putting words into their children's mouths.  (Alas, I'll have to work on it so that I do not continue to do this once he can speak for himself.)  It was an adventure and definitely broke up our routine, but I wouldn't say it's something I'll try again anytime soon.  I did discover that our boy prefers not to be dirty.  Face is good, hands is good, but it had better be food-dirtiness, and it's had better be there because I put it there and not there because mom is trying to rub slime all over me.  Haha.  I think what Levi needs is a little brother or sister so get right in there with him and show him how it's done.  Isn't the second sibling often much less worried about getting dirty and trying new things?  Don't worry, I'm not announcing anything.  I'm just saying, the thought crossed my mind as I was getting Levi cleaned up...maybe next time I try this, I'll have two little bodies to scrub clean afterward :)

Christmas Letter 2011

Alrighty, I guess since Christmas is coming quickly, I should get this letter written!  What a year it's been, though.  Where to start?

January!
When last year started, we had a 3 month old baby.  We were excited to put Levi in his Jolly Jumper for the first time, and were watching all his developments (daily!  is our kid the smartest ever?!).  I'm not sure what else we did.  I think we did alot of hanging out in the house, avoiding the cold!

February!
This month officially marked one year of knowing that we would be expecting a baby in 2010!  As far as other things in life, it was fairly uneventful.  Levi was 4 months and also started sitting by himself at the end of February!  Nathan took a short homework break for Christmas so February brought the writing of his Master's thesis.  If my memory serves me right, I believe he wrote the majority of his 148 page thesis this month.  (If anyone wants a copy, by the way, I'm sure he would gladly send one out to you electronically!)

March!
March was more homework for Nathan.  At some point he realized that he just wouldn't get any homework done at home with an increasingly aware and interactive baby, thus began Nathan spending his days in the Bethany College library.  Levi and I hung out at home, with one guaranteed outing each day to get the mail and pick up any groceries we may have been needing. :)  It was also the month when Levi started scooting around on his belly to reach whatever desirable toys were out of reach.

April!
At the beginning of April, Levi and I packed up and flew to Indiana to visit my sister.  The trip was about 5 days long and we enjoyed seeing where she was living, and exploring some of the Amish shops nearby.  Shipshewana, anyone??  Levi was a perfect travel companion and an even better shopper.  He just hung out in the Moby wrap for an entire day of going in and out of stores.  We joked that I would be shocked if our next baby hates shopping because Levi is just so calm and happy when we're out!  April also brought the exciting development of introducing solids to Levi.  Took a few months for him to really catch on though...peas, anyone?

May!
Nathan was finally done his Masters degree!  He officially has a Master of Arts majoring in Theology.  Levi and I were so proud of him for finishing in the originally planned two years.  Plus, this meant that I got my husband back!  Nathan being a student for the first half of 2011 was hard, but also incredibly perfect for the first year of Levi's life.  While Nathan had homework to do, he also had a flexible schedule, so when I was up all night with Levi, Nathan was able to get up with Levi in the morning and give me an extra hour or so of sleep.  That just wouldn't have been possible if he'd needed to be at work at 9am!  Anyway, back to grad.  We flew down to Fresno, CA to be part of the graduation ceremonies.  Our parents joined us down there for the festivities and it was also wonderful to catch up with friends from our year living down there in 2009-2010.

June!
While Nathan graduated in May, he still had a few requirements to finish up before being completely DONE.  He finished up these requirements at the end of June/beginning of July with a trip to LA with some classmates.  In June, our question of "what's next?" was answered as we were asked to candidate at a church we'd applied to and a couple weeks later were officially asked to fill the position.  As I'm trying to keep details like our complete names and locations to a minimum on this blog, I'll just say that the church we are working at is an answer to prayer.  The town and church that we are a part of is more than we ever hoped or imagined it would be.  Like I say when people ask how we've settled, "we are 100% sure that we are exactly where God wants us right now and that is a wonderful feeling.  It's been home right from the start."  Just days after being asked to fill the position at the end of June, we drove to our new town and bought a house!  This, too, was an answer to prayer.  After moving half a dozen times in the past two years, we were really hoping to be able to move straight into a place where we could see ourselves being long-term but weren't sure if this would be possible having just been students for the past two years with no regular income.  Praise God the funds were there and we were able to purchase a home!

July!
July was a vacation month for us.  We spent time with friends and family, and ended the month with a family gathering/reunion with my mom's entire side of the family to celebrate my grandma's 85th birthday.  I think there were only three families missing...and that's pretty good considering the number of families who could make it!

August!
We moved into our house on August 2.  The first two weeks of the month were spent unpacking and exploring our new town.  Nathan started work at the church on August 15.  We soon realized that it was just as perfect a fit for him as it seemed and he's been enjoying work ever since!

September!
I'm not sure what there is to say about September.  Levi continued to grow.  Every couple days I would be reminded of the previous year when we spent the whole month of September waiting for Levi to make his appearance.  Lots of memories of a big belly, trying to get labour started, and getting up 12 times a night to use the bathroom...what a long month it was in 2010.  This year, we continued to get settled into our house, though it soon felt like we'd been here forever.  Church programs started up.  Levi and I did alot of playing as Nathan is gone during the working day for the first time in Levi's life.  Life is good!








October!

Levi celebrated his birthday on October 8!  He started walking instead of crawling days later (though he had been taking steps for a couple months already).  He is suddenly more of a little boy than a baby!  We had both of our families here to celebrate his birthday as well as thanksgiving and Levi's baby dedication at church.  We also had a couple out of town friends here for the weekend.  We were so glad to have our house full of people we love!  I should probably also include that this month Nathan was finally able to buy his first motorbike!  He and my dad made a road trip out to Edmonton area with a truck to pick it up from my uncle's garage (with permission, of course).  This is also the month that, after almost 2 years of having an online shop, my home business "Uniquely Me Design" really took off and started making me busier.  I make handmade gifts and sell primarily through my etsy shop (uniquelymedesign.etsy.com).  Shameless plug, I know.  Sorry :)  It's been fun to be able to use my skills to provide other people with quality handmade items.  It's been a great creative outlet as I had been holding myself back, not wanting every.single.item in our house to be made with a crochet hook and yarn!

November!
We made quick trips out of town to visit both parents this month.  With being so close (4 hours to my parents, 1.5-2 hours to Nathan's parents) we try to see each set of parents/grandparents once a month, though sometimes that just doesn't happen with the busyness of life.  Levi had his first bout of sickness in November which resulted in a trip to the emergency room while visiting my parents.  His fever lasted 5 days in total...not fun.  While at the hospital, the mother of one of my good friends (a nurse in town) was ever-so-kind and took care of Levi so well.  It was nice to have a familiar face while waiting to find out what was making Levi feel so down.  Nathan continued to be busy with work this month...lots of evenings which is quite typical of pastoral ministry.

December!
December brings with it anticipation of the holidays!  We are blessed to be able to spend time with both families this Christmas season, including all of our siblings!  It is SO nice to be closer to family than ever before in the time we've been married!  Levi and I have been doing a bit of Christmas baking together.  Levi is walking all over the place, climbing, dancing, eating, "talking", and is just such a joy!  He certainly keeps us busy but we wouldn't have it any other way.  Our Christmas tree is up (still...Levi has been respecting it and all its ornaments - except the ONE that I have given him permission to play with...we can't expect him to not touch the tree at all, now can we?  Where would the fun be in that??) and it's beginning to feel alot like Christmas!

With all that said, I'm sure Levi will be waking up from his nap anytime now and wanting some lunch.  So, from our home to yours, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  May God bless you richly in the coming year!

Love,
Nathan, Niki, and Levi
McCorkindale

p.s-Oh, and yes, Nathan's head is cut off in our family picture (top of the blog).  I truly thought it just made for a cozy effect but Costco didn't even print it right away because they thought it was a mistake.  Oops.  What do you think?  Is it ok?? 

Picture Post

I sometimes feel like uploading so many pictures to facebook is just too much.  SO...I'll post them here!  You all like to see what Levi is up to, right??

This was this morning...I was shooting a rubber band and Levi thought it was hysterical.  This was my first indication that he was feeling better after a week of sickness!

Levi LOVES his medicine and cries when he can't have any more after the recommended dosage :p

Levi was sick for an entire week.  He hardly ate anything (and dropped at least 1 lb).  He had a high fever for 4 days.  He was listless and just spent days snuggled with me and crying over every little thing.  Poor guy...

He hates being bundled up because he can't move or do anything.  So if you can't move, why not just sleep?  Hehe...I love his nose!

And here he's just playing under the table.  He loves to play under things...pretty normal kid, I'd say!

Hiatus

I think maybe it's time I just admit it to myself and let you all know that I'm just taking a bit of a break from blogging.  I don't feel like I have much to say or much time to come up with things to say.  My business (Uniquely Me Design) has really taken off this fall so I am finding that every spare minute is spent working on orders for people.  I am loving it, but it leaves very little time for other things.  Optional things.  Like blogging.  And cleaning the house :)  haha.  Levi still gets plenty of mommy-time though.  Have I mentioned how BLESSED I feel to be able to be a stay-at-home mom?  Work-at-home-mom I guess I am now...  But anyway, now that I've let you all know that it'll probably be pretty quiet around here for who-knows-how-long, I'm gonna go work on some more orders!  I believe a purple toque for a special 3 year old is up next...