Marriage Time and More

Scott and I are participating in our church's Marriage Alpha program. It started a couple weeks ago, and we go every Friday night for 8 weeks. It's a way to focus on your marriage and learn skills and tools to help improve and strengthen it. These are Biblically-based principles, but someone does not necessarily have to be a Christian to benefit from the program.

One of the first principles that they introduce is the concept of "marriage time." They recommend that you set aside approximately 2 hours each week to focus on your marriage - free of interruptions like kids, phones, dishes, etc. During the program, you have "homework" to complete during the marriage time. Last week, we had the blessing of having Steve & Jess babysit for us while we went out to Starbucks for a bit. This was a great time to connect and discuss some things that affect our marriage. Thankfully, Kirsten did pretty well while we were gone and was well-cared for by Steve and Jess, of course.

This week, we decided to try and do marriage time one evening without having someone babysit. And guess what, tonight is that evening! I was very excited when I got Kirsten to sleep around 7:00, because it meant we might actually have some time together. Well, shortly after I came downstairs triumphantly, I heard her crying again. I waited a bit and then went back up to try and soothe her back to sleep. Once again, I thought I had succeeded, only to look down and see her big eyes looking up at me as she pushed her entire torso off the mattress. Nope, not sleepy time. Argh! So, I came downstairs with her and Scott said she'd take her for me. So currently he's outside walking her around the yard attempting to get her to sleep. Meanwhile, I am chilling inside and attempting to relax a bit.
********************* Blogging Break *************************************************
Okay, I took a blogging break because Scott came inside with a sleeping baby! So we had time to talk and do our marriage time. Although we didn't do a full 2 hours - hopefully we can snag another hour somewhere in the next few days.

Other news: I have recently found out that I have an issue with my thyroid. Apparently I have hypothyroidism. I am not good at explaining this whole issue. What I do know is that some of the symptoms that I have been having are most likely related to the thyroid issue. So I will be taking some medication for this and hoping that perhaps it will make a difference. And I will also be making an effort to get more sleep and take better care of myself. I know that sleep-deprivation is par for the course when you have a little one, but I also know that my constant fatigue and exhaustion has been affecting all areas of my life, including my mood. So I am thankful to perhaps have some answers and hoping that these changes might make a difference. Not to mention that spring is definitely here, and getting outside will be good for me and Kirsten too! Watch for another post about Kirsten's latest developments!

"I Told You So"

The following little incident took place about a month ago, but I totally forgot to blog about it. So here goes:

Recently we had a lot of mice taking over our house, and we finally decided to buy some traps instead of letting our cat catch them, only to let them go. We discovered this mice problem when I was getting some chocolate chips and walnuts out from my cabinet and found the bags with lots of little holes and bites in them! ICK! (Note: I then was inspired to completely clean out that bottom cabinet, get rid of any food that may have been touched by the mice, as well as anything that was expired - so it was sort of a good thing!) So we set the traps with some peanut butter and placed them safely under the kitchen cabinets where the dogs and cat could not get to them, of course. We always knew when a trap had caught a mouse because our [capable of drug-sniffing] dog would be sitting right in front of the spot with her nose pressed against the cabinet. Quite funny, actually.

So one morning when we came downstairs, we discovered Mia staring at the cabinet, and we knew there was another dead mouse. Scott got the trap out and sure enough, there was Mr. Mouse. So sad. Of course, Mia & Moxie were all excited and quite interested as Scott picked up the trap. Kirsten and I observed, and she was quite amused at all the commotion. Well, as Scott was getting ready to take care of the mouse, he wondered aloud what would happen if he held it up for Mia and Moxie to "look at." I said, "Well I think that Mia would just grab it - she's pretty quick." However, Scott chose not to heed this advice and instead attempted to show them the mouse. He held it slightly above their heads, and before you could say "boo", the mouse AND the trap were inside Mia's mouth! At this point, I think I said, "I told you so."

Scott then proceeded to attempt to get the mouse away from Mia. Let me tell you, when she has something in her mouth that she wants, she DOES NOT give it up easily. Other dogs, like Moxie, will let you push down on their lower jaw enough for you to remove the item. Or they will respond to a command such as "leave it." Not Mia. She is very adamant about holding on to things that she likes. The one way that we often get her to leave things alone is, oddly enough, by telling her to "sit." Somehow, that triggers an obedience nerve in her brain and she usually drops the item out of her mouth. I believe this is how Scott got the item from her, although I had to walk away in exasperation as Scott ate his words...

I only wish I would've had the video camera!

My Two Valentines

Today is Valentine's Day, and it has been a great day. I woke up earlier than I would've liked by one of my valentines... my dear Kirsten wanted to be awake at 6am. Thankfully, she was content to lay beside me and look around, and only required an occasional interaction with me. So, I was able to close my eyes for a bit longer. Well once Scott was awake we had fun just chilling out and watching Kirsten with all of her faces. Then I gave Scott his gift, which was an album full of pieces of cards that Scott has received as youth pastor at CCOD. It is something that hopefully will encourage him each time he looks through it. Scott then gave Kirsten & I our gifts, which were PJs for both of us : ) He said he's starting a new tradition, and that's a lot coming from a guy who doesn't really like traditions! So Valentine's Day will be PJ Day in our home. Scott also got me a movie that I really love: Dan in Real Life. I'm looking forward to watching it again soon.

Since Kirsten got up so early, she was back asleep for a nap by 9:00. That allowed Scott & I to have a nice breakfast of pancakes together. Then we got ready for the day as Kirsten napped for quite a long time! I was able to get my budget figured out for the rest of the month, plus finish my grocery list. Once Kirsten woke up and I fed her, I headed out for the day to do groceries and some other shopping. The grocery store was mobbed - not sure exactly why, but thankfully I survived. Then I went to Kohl's since I had heard from several people that their baby section had huge clearance sales going on. Well, I was NOT disappointed! In fact it was rather scary that I went there! I got several items for our girl, most of which are 12-24 month sizes. The most expensive item I bought was $7.50! That was for a winter coat that was regularly $50.00! It was quite exciting to find so many good deals, and these are things that I won't need to buy for her later on because we'll have them.

I was hoping to catch a nap in the afternoon but was unsuccessful because of timing issues. But I did make a splendid dinner for Scott and I, consisting of this scallop recipe, along with roasted potatoes and asparagus. And, if I must say so myself, it was DELISH! After this, my mom came to babysit Kirsten so that Scott & I could go out. We went to see Sonja from church play with a jazz band at a local theater - Next Generation Theater which is located inside Between Friends thrift shop in Brewer. It was a lot of fun, and we got some yummy dessert while we were there as well.

All in all, a good Valentine's Day!