Preoccupied

So I obviously gave up on the posting everyday in November thing--and I'm okay with that. I've been preoccupied with that which I wasn't ready to blog about until I made the news public in real life. And now that it is public, I'm still preoccupied with this baby. And still very busy with church, especially this Advent season. So I'll be posting more than before November, I think!

Thankful

Today I am most thankful for the fact that I took a day off of work. Despite a sermon for Sunday looming over my head, I decided not to work on that or other work things that should be done.

Now, that doesn't mean I did nothing. I gave Baby Girl a bath; I did mountains of home bookwork and filing; I cooked two real meals (but not Thanksgiving dinner--that's Saturday here!); I did dishes; I played with Baby Girl and read her books and snuggled with her. I helped prep our bathroom for painting, which MIL and FIL did today. We'll go look at vanities and countertops/sinks tomorrow--here in town in the afternoon. I'm guessing this home improvement store won't be insane that time of day. Oh and fixtures and towel bars.

I also read a magazine and watched some football and played on-line. It's not yet 7 p.m. and I'm just about ready for bed. When Baby Girl goes to bed, I probably will too. Tomorrow I will need to do some work--like that sermon.

But for now, I'll just continue being thankful.

Baby Girl Needs...

a new blog nickname. Because....

come spring/summer she will no longer be the baby in our house.

Toddler TMI

Baby Girl may not like this so much, but it's on my mind right now. We are slowly trying to make progress on potty training. Which is much harder than I thought because this girl is so smart--and always seems to know when she goes. My mom was visiting this week and so we kept Baby Girl home from daycare so that they could work just on potty training. I thought it'd work. Not so much.

Currently Baby Girl is on a poop every other day kind of schedule. (Which is amazing since I recall the first time a changed a diaper without poop! I think she was 9 months old.) Anyway...she was due to poop on Friday and didn't. So when she was moaning and crying Mommy at midnight, I thought it was because the poop was finally coming. She didn't try to sit up at first, so I lay by her and rubbed her tummy and tried to be soothing--not sure what was going on. Finally, she says, "I want to go wee-wee on the potty." So we got up, she sat on her potty--almost falling asleep--and peed.

She can wake up to pee, but doesn't know in advance during the day? Huh?

I know I'm just ready for her to be done with diapers!

Whew

One important conversation had today. Was supposed to be over lunch, but sick children intervened. So it was over the phone. But it was important and good and I feel a bit relieved. Two more important conversations to go!

Now--if I could actually get some work done...like a sermon for Sunday. That'd be helpful too!

Better posts will resume on Thanksgiving when I have a few days off!

Planned!

Thanksgiving worship! ~ may need a tweak, but overall done
Confirmation lesson for tonight

Now...home to spend time with Baby Girl, back in 3 hours

Tomorrow
1. reference letter
2. sermon for Sunday
3. Advent/Christmas plan

I can do this!

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful to have the opportunity for our congregation to host the ecumenical Thanksgiving service in my city. But that means that I have to plan it...and I've been meaning to. But if I want any help (and I do), D-Day is in the morning. I have no experience planning an ecumenical service on my own. I'm meeting another pastor tomorrow to finalize it, but I want something to start with. I am becoming an awful procrastinator these last few weeks. I hate it. I just need to get caught up and then not get behind again!! Now...on to Thanksgiving. No more procrastinating by blogging tonight. Even if I don't want to fail anymore at this posting everyday thing!

Responsible One?

Yesterday after the morning of church, we went for a fast-food lunch. Baby Girl fell asleep on the way home. We got home, put her in bed and I laid down too--asking my hubby to wake me up in about an hour.

After that, these were my choices:
1. Stay in bed, sleep some more, spend a quiet (as quiet as it can be with a 2 1/2 year old) afternoon and evening at home

2. Drive an hour (one way) to a 2+ hour meeting for the church that I'm supposed to be at--and am supposed to bring two lay folks along to

Which was the responsible thing to do?

I did number two, even though I couldn't find lay folks to go. Which is why I felt even more like I should go. And I found it boring and frustrating. Many of the folks in the host city (not the host congregation) weren't even there. Really, I could take 2 hours of drive time to come to this and you couldn't take 20 minutes?

I still feel icky and tired. Today I wonder, was it worth it. I missed out on another nap, a time for my body to work harder on healing, restful time at home with Baby Girl and my hubby (and my mom who is visiting this week).

I can't do it all--why do I think others can? Why do all of us think others can? Why did we even have that meeting--it was so not useful. Ugh. That's all I have to say about it.

Yucky

I just feel yucky. My voice is fading. We'll see what tomorrow brings--I guess it will be what it is. Hopefully it will hold out enough for worship and Sunday School. The idea of a whole afternoon meeting is not appealing. I'd much rather curl up under a blanket and take a nap or watch football or anything else tomorrow. I suppose if I feel really awful I can skip, but I'm so not good at that.

Laundry

The pile is neverending, isn't it? I try to do it all on one day though--it really makes me feel as if I've accomplished something. I can see the progress, even if it is fleeting. Today I didn't finish and that's okay because I don't have a super busy day tomorrow.

I love having Fridays home with Baby Girl, but wish I could accomplish more of the 'stuff' that needs to be done around the house. A 2 1/2 year old just isn't much help. And now I'm exhausted, my throat hurts and I want to sleep. But I must wait for a bit--the laundry that needs to be pulled out of the dryer half done should be done soon. I'll hang that, and then it's off to bed.

I'm sure it won't take me an hour to fall asleep like it took Baby Girl!

Toddler Bed

Two nights of good sleep! About a week or so ago, we converted Baby Girl's crib to a toddler bed. She hadn't been sleeping well prior and that didn't change. Except the last two nights. She has slept well--she even fell asleep in her bed last night! (Rather than on the floor and then moved to her bed.) We put a kingsize pillow next to her so it was blocking the opening because she ended up on the floor most other nights--in her sleep. That wasn't what woke her up either surprisingly enough. I think the pillow helped. It added warmth. Maybe she thought someone was laying next to her. And it kept her from falling out. I suppose she could roll hard enough to push it out, but I'm not worried about it. If she didn't get hurt before...

And besides, anything can happen at anytime. I broke my collarbone at age 4 falling out of a regular bed. Just hit the floor wrong I guess.

And I admit, I kinda like her toddling to us in the morning. Slowly walking toward us, shyling whispering "Mommy," pulling her up into our bed for a snuggle. I could use a snuggle now.

Inspiration Please Strike NOW

So I have yet to prepare my confirmation lesson for tonight. What I've done in the past is really boring--even to me. But the curriculum I have to use now has so little content on this topic (in my opinion). I am having trouble finding a middle ground. And I need something for tonight! This has to be done first before I move on to the piles of other things. Inspiration now would be very helpful!

Sleep

I have always been a sound sleeper. Hubby tells me that once on vacation I slept through a tornado. (He looked out the window and said trees were blowing down to the ground.) I love to sleep--and need a lot of it.

Until Baby Girl. When I became a mom (and a breastfeeding one at that), I became a much less sound sleeper. But I still need lots of sleep.

Baby Girl (now 2 1/2) hasn't been sleeping well lately. That's debatable I guess--last night she wasn't up and awake, but she kept moaning in her sleep and crying out 'mama.' Which means 'mama' isn't sleeping well. I lay in my bed deciding whether or not to check on her. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I go in and lay on the floor next to her bed so I can just make comforting noises. Sometimes I fall asleep there--it's not very comfortable either. Last night was a bit unusual though; in the last few weeks, there have been many nights when she was really awake. And she doesn't usually want Daddy--which is good, since he usually doesn't hear her. And I end up awake anyhow. I guess I'd rather be awake and caring for her than just awake.

I am just so tired. And when I'm tired, I'm sluggish. And when I'm sluggish, not much gets done. And I have so freaking much to do! I have to push to get a ton done in the hour I have before I get Baby Girl. Maybe a to-do list for tomorrow will help!

Youth Ministry

So...youth ministry is an absolutely essential component of congregational life. I believe it. I also know that is not where my skills and talents lie. But...in this small, struggling in some ways--vibrant in others--congregation I now serve, this was an area where there really wasn't anything. So I'm trying--a once a month high school group. First time there were 2 kids, last night there were 6. And I just kind of let them go to see how they interact with one another and me and talk about faith stuff and life stuff.

I came home with a splitting headache. And some thoughts about how I need to go from here.

1. I need to make a youth room happen. This has apparently been discussed ad nauseum for years and they are feeling pretty defeated I think. They are all smart kids; they understand we have a really small space and the space would have to be shared--in that it may be needed at times for certain other things. (So no black walls or graffiti or stuff like that) They need to know I (and the congregation) really do care about them.

2. I need to make some 'ground rules' next time. Nothing major--just things like, oh, don't talk when someone else is talking once we get started. I'm all about just hanging out time too--but once we start a conversation--let's listen to one another. Really--that's about the only one. They were pretty good about checking phones and putting them away, rather than texting throughout--so unless that becomes a problem later, whatever.

What else--I'm pretty clueless. But for now, I guess this will do.

Almost Dead Battery

I did want to post tonight, but the laptop battery is almost dead. And my battery needs enough recharging too that I'm not about to go after the cord. So there blogging every day!

Fail

So I failed yesterday--though I wrote posts in my head. Does that count?

Yesterday was my day off--which means a day at home alone with Baby Girl (now in her TWOS--by which I mean we waited until 2 1/2 for the terribles to begin). We did laundry, got ready for in-laws to visit for the weekend, we cuddled and read books and napped, we went to see her older sister's variety show in the evening. We (okay--just I) got a little freaked out by what sounds like an animal in the chimney of the fireplace. Didn't see anything--Daddy will have to check this out today.

I only failed at the blogging thing. I was a good wife and mommy. And that's more important.

Wednesdays

I hate Wednesdays. One of my least favorite things about Wednesdays is teaching confirmation. In my last setting, I had 48 7th and 8th graders. I now have 10 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Both have pros and cons. Overall, I think this 10 would be preferred.

But...Wednesdays are horrible on our family. Hubby was recruited for choir--they need more than one bass; he makes two. When choir decided on a meeting time, the selected Wednesday evening at the same time as confirmation. Which we all knew meant Baby Girl would be along and that hubby would have to be the one to care for her during that time if need be. This was okay for a week or two.

Then, a couple things happened. One--other parents have been having to bring their kids. Baby Girl wants so much to play with them, but they are old enough to be self-sufficient, but not old enough to play with her unsupervised. This is a challenge.

Two--Hubby decided to join/support fledgeling attempt at a praise group, which is meeting the hour right before choir. Which means we are all at church even longer.

Yesterday was particularly bad. I don't think Baby Girl napped at daycare--normally, 'grandma' tells me, but didn't say anything in particular. However, she fell asleep in her carseat on the way home. I let her sleep for an hour, which mean we drove to church before she woke up. This (and refusing to eat most of her supper) made her a particularly unhappy camper.

And our building is small enough that she can almost always see or hear me and has been in "mommy mode" a lot recently. A number of factors conspired last night and hubby finally took her home early leaving choir. This is not working--for her, or me. It also means a late bedtime and a fight to do so. The bedtime time itself wouldn't be so horrible if she had time to decompress herself at home before heading to bed. It makes Wednesdays even more stressful--and confirmation, when I'm distracted by her screaming or them having to walk through to where the potty is.

The problem is that pretty much everyone we know in this town that we'd trust to watch her during this time is busy at church on Wednesday evenings. I dont' know what we are going to do. But we can't keep this up--it's just not working.

Garage

Having a garage isn't something I thought I took for granted--but I realized that I have. For the last two nights, I parked my car in our garage! A novel concept--it only took 3 months to get one of our cars in our new garage. Our last house had a HUGE two car garage (extra long and extra wide) and an additional shed that was essentially a small one car garage. The only downside was that the garage was detached. That was a pain, especially when carrying a baby (and often other things) and trying to not let the screen door blow away and get the door unlocked and get in the house. An attached garage was on my must-have list for this house.

Which it is, but it is a TINY two car garage. We have 3 vehicles, a number of bikes, strollers, workbenches, and general garage stuff. One vehicle seriously will never go in the garage because it doesn't fit--with the garage empty. We lovingly call this hand-me-down vehicle "the land yacht." Thank goodness this is the one with a functioning remote start--we are coming up on winter after all. Nights have already been frosty.

We did get one estimate to add a garage stall. Way more than we expected! We will get another estimate, but yikes. It was almost double what we thought--and what we thought would have been a stretch. We do have a tiny shed too, but still--I'm not sure we'll ever get two vehicles in a garage at this house.

At least I get the garage and don't have to scrape windows! I'm grateful for that.

I Hate/Love Fall

I hate fall. I hate the days getting shorter and the darkness descending earlier and earlier each day. I hate "fall back" with a toddler because I'm sure it won't mean an extra hour of sleep. I hate the weather not deciding if it's warm or cold. I hate it being chilly outside and then too warm inside, but not warm enough to open windows. I hate the cold, frosty mornings. I hate the wind. I hate knowing winter and snow will be here soon.

But I do love the colors of the leaves and the way the sun shines on them. I love when it is warm. I love seeing Baby Girl's face as we play in the leaves and throw them in the air.

I guess my hate list is longer, but I want to make sure to notice that there are always things to love!

NoBloPoMo -- is that right?

November Blog Posting Month? Something like that--it's been while since I've seen someone do the official thing--posting every day for the month of November. But it's a challenge I am going to take on. We'll see about success. And to up the likelihood of success, today's post will only be this. I'll save my other ideas for the next few days!