A friend from church recommended an accountability group for adopting a healthier lifestyle at a perfect time. It happened to be on my mind, so I decided to give it a try. For the last 8 weeks, I've done ok following the guidelines. By that, I mean I've done poorly. Lol
There has been a smidgeon of weight lost and new information learned. I'd call that success.
With another 8 weeks about to begin, I've resolved to work harder at following the rules. In the end, I don't mind inching forward as long as I'm moving in the right direction. That's why I'm measuring this time. I couldn't find my fabric measuring tape the last round, so I bought a new one. The scale can be discouraging, but when it is, it'll be time to measure.
My primary goal is to develop a healthier lifestyle, for me and my family. If I succeed, I will lose weight and be in better shape. I'm looking forward to seeing more of those secondary benefits. ;) In the meantime, this is getting a lot of use...
and that makes the girl happy.
One of my latest preoccupations has been working with a general contractor to finish our basement. We signed a contract and began work in early December. Dry wall starts going up tomorrow.
In the beginning, when we were setting the floor plan and making a slew of decisions, I was spending as much as two hours a day researching and figuring out all of the details. It is exciting seeing the transformation, but I'm eager to see the end result. Hopefully, I'll be pleased when it's done.
Here are some pictures of the basement before we began:
As I think of what to write about our life, it keeps rolling through my mind that any one topic of singular focus could become droll. My personality is such that when I'm excited about something going on in my life, I can become incessant with it in conversation. Part of maturing is noticing weaknesses and working to be and do differently, even in something as simple as what to write about in a blog.
These thoughts occurred to me as I was working around the house. You see, it is not uncommon for me to think of something I want to share and find myself working through it while I do chores. Literally, every day this week, I've written a new post in my head that never made it to the page.
Today, I considered what fills my life. It is a very simple life.
God
Husband
Baby
Extended Family
Friends
Housewife-ing
Church
Crossfit
Cooking
Trying to establish a regular habit of reading (Reading is not my favorite. :)
Travel
Trying to establish healthier eating habits (Eating is my favorite ;)
My work (very, very part-time) with Matt has been on hold indefinitely, unfortunately.
Time with Collin has been considerably reduced since I had Maddy as well.
Going forward, my hope is that I will not weigh in too heavily on any particular topic. Maddy may appear more often than other topics simply for the fact that she is growing and changing SO quickly. (Matt and I were talking about a few of her "new things" today because it seems that every day brings one or more of them. We can't keep up!)
There was a time when I was younger that I would have had a hard time believing I'd find so much beauty in such a simple life. Nevertheless, my life is simply beautiful. Thank you, Lord!
One day last week, I knew right after feeding her that I needed to change Maddy's diaper. The hitch was that I was finishing up dinner and needed to add something to the pot and monitor it briefly. I told Maddy I'd be back in a little while to change her and asked her to play on her activity mat for a little bit. She did. Off I went to the kitchen.
After a few minutes, she made noises to get my attention and remind me she still needed that diaper change. Though she's only 5 1/2 months old, she prompts me from time to time if I can't get to it right away. I thanked her for reminding me and assured her I hadn't forgotten. :)
When she made her noises, I stopped what I was doing to tend to her. I had to get the changing pad situated, get the diaper and wipes out, etc. It didn't take long, only a few seconds, but when I laid her down to change her and pulled the diaper tabs, she let out a distressed whimper.
Immediately, I stopped what I was doing to look at her. I wanted to find out what was distressing her and I asked with a puzzled look, "You don't want me to change your diaper now?" and then asked, "Are you ok?" She kept gazing at me with the distressed look. That's when I decided to proceed slowly with changing her diaper. I leaned over to peak in the diaper and she was going. I closed the diaper in a flash. It was at that moment I realized she was warning me! She most certainly helped me avoid a mishap.
Now you may understand why I claim that good communication is key to every relationship ;)
When I was younger, I loved to sing but I was shy. At one point, I even considered beginning vocal lessons with a lady at church. Don't misunderstand; my voice is decent, but not anything to write home about. My goal at that time was to learn the mechanics of singing and to improve my voice as much as possible. I wanted to sound the best I could sound, but there were no allusions of grandeur.
Fast forward to today. I have a baby. She is very sweet. I love her and love spending time with her. What does she like? Music. Sounds. And a few other things I'll talk about later. So, what do I do? I sing to her, constantly.
My problem with trying to sing to my daughter in the beginning was blatantly obvious. I have this mental inability to memorize song lyrics. Even songs I've heard for years, I apparently have only put parts of them to memory. How then am I able to sing constantly to my daughter? I make up songs on the fly. Laugh with me people. That is absurd.
My poor baby. She has to listen to it, but somehow she loves it. My only explanation is that every song is about her. Here is "Our Song" created one night in the wee hours to calm her during her first few weeks of life:
Mommy loves Maddy,
Daddy loves Maddy,
Maddy is our special girl.
Mommy loves Maddy,
Daddy loves Maddy,
Maddy is our very special girl.
Maddy is smart,
Maddy is funny,
Maddy is sweet,
Just like honey.
That's our girl.
That's our girl.
There's another verse that regularly includes Mamaw and Granddaddy, but other family members are worked into verses from time to time as well.
Another roughly contrived song goes like this:
Oh, Maddy. My Maddy. Ohhh, Maddy.
Mama and Daddy love sweet Maddy.
Oh, Maddy. Oh, Maddy. Sweeet Maddy.
You are our speeeecial one.
Maddy. Oh, Maddy. Our sweet one.
We have waited for you so long.
Maddy. Oh, Maddy. We love you.
We are glad you are fam-i-ly.
That one is a bit rougher in my opinion because I don't have permanently set lyrics. I sing it to the same tune each time and make the second, fourth, sixth (even numbered lines) whatever comes to mind as I'm singing.
Another of late is a take on "Oh My Darlin' Clementine." Typically, I sing it like this:
Oh my darlin', Oh my darlin',
Oh my darlin' Madeline (read Mad-dah-lynn...long and slow like we Southerners speak ;)
Mommy and Daddy love you.
You are his; you are mine.
I sing that one over and over a few times or change the last two lines. Needless to say, she knows her name. Let's hope I'm not slowly turning her to become narcissistic.
Strictly out of necessity, I made up this beauty:
Nap time. Nap time. We love nap time.
Nap time helps us rest and sleep.
Nap time. Nap time. We love nap time.
Nap time helps us feel good and strong.
Nap time. Nap time. It is nap time.
Maddy feels better when she wakes.
Nap time. Nap time. It is nap time.
Time to lay your head down and rest.
It still needs a little work, but at least she's hearing that we love nap time. I hope the message helps her want to sleep when she needs it.
More importantly, I hope working in more new songs like this that don't focus as much on her will counteract the narcissistic brainwashing the other songs have provoked. :)
