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One Year Ago!

One year ago today, I was a brand-new mommy, in shock and awe of the amazing process I had just been through. There is so much to say about this past year. I am thankful for the amazing gift of Kirsten Jael in our lives. Today was her birthday, and unfortunately she has been running a fever since yesterday. I felt so bad for her. She has been crying and fussy, and just not herself. So we didn't do too much celebrating today. We did give her a little birthday gift this morning, and then had a "birthday cookie" tonight. But the real celebration is tomorrow night, and I am praying for a healthy little girl by then!

40 Days of Grateful

Last night in our small group, our application was to choose one discipline to practice for the next 40 days. This is not an attempt to become "more spiritual", but simply a way to allow God to use us, and to ultimately love God and love others more. There are SO many disciplines that I could choose, because honestly, I am very undisciplined when it comes to my spiritual walk. This is something I have struggled with for a long time, because I know that I should do better with daily devotions, etc. Thankfully, God is full of grace and does not base our salvation on how many hours per day we think about him, or read the Bible, or pray.

So rather than choose a discipline based on "doing", I decided to choose a discipline based on "being." More of an attitudinal discipline rather than something that I can "check off my list" of things to do. Since I typically have a rather critical attitude, I am choosing to focus on being grateful over the next 40 days. Now this is something I have been working on for quite a while, but I really want to be intentional about this and truly think about what I am grateful for each and every day. And I am going to write it down each day. Perhaps I will even update my blog with the list.

So, day 1 (yesterday): I am grateful for my small group! They are a great group of people and I am glad we are able to share with each other.
Day 2: I am grateful for the sunshine and the yellow leaves outside my window.

So what are you grateful for? I'd love to hear, and let's put together a great list!

A Pain in the Neck

Well I woke up Saturday morning with a huge pain in the neck. No, it wasn't Scott... LOL! It was a literal pain in my neck! It was about 5:30am, and Kirsten woke up for one of her many awakenings lately. As I sat up to decide whether I was going to go in to her or wait it out, I felt this pain all around my neck and upper back muscles, and could hardly turn my head. "Oh, no!" I thought, remembering the last time this happened (about 3 years ago). That time it was so bad that I actually had to go to the doctor's office - and Scott had to drive me because I couldn't even drive.

Well, thankfully this time it wasn't as bad. But, it did cause me tons of discomfort, and after feeding Kirsten (with the hopes that it would buy me some extra sleep time), I went back to bed. I couldn't fall back asleep for about an hour because the pain was keeping me up! I put some pain creme on and that helped some, and eventually I went back to sleep. Once Kirsten woke up again, thanks to the dogs barking a lovely chorus downstairs, I had the joy of feeling the tense muscles in my neck. I spent most of the day trying to figure out how to do my normal activities while having limited motion of my head and neck. It's not easy, people!

Thankfully Kirsten wasn't too fussy Saturday, or I don't know what I would've done. It was great that she took 2 good naps, and I slept during both of them! But by the time 5pm rolled around, I was starting to really need some help. I called Scott (he had been gone on a youth trip all day long and was scheduled not to return until after the missions conference that night) and asked if he might be willing to leave after the potluck and come home to help me. He did, and I was so grateful. He brought me some Chinese for dinner, and as soon as he got home, he took over with Kirsten and allowed me to rest.

Now, on Monday night, I am still feeling some dull pain, but it's not nearly as bad. I have done tons of stretching, neck rolls, etc to try and work it out. I have also used my pain cream plenty, as well as my prescription muscle relaxers from the previous incident, and ibuprofen as well. However, I am looking forward to this stupid pain being gone. It makes me ever-so-thankful for my otherwise healthy body, and the fact that I don't have any major ongoing health issues! Meanwhile, I may be checking out some local chiropractors and/or massage therapists if this type of thing keeps happening!

Sleep is NOT Overrated

Many people say that sleep is overrated. I couldn't disagree more. I think that most people who say sleep is overrated are not moms. Every mom I know LOVES her sleep! When something becomes scarce, it becomes more valuable, right? At least that's my experience.

When you have a baby, your whole concept of sleep changes. Sleep becomes anytime you can close your eyes for longer than 10 minutes, not necessarily a full 8 hour night. Sleep becomes the thing that you long for when you are making breakfast, folding laundry, or taking your baby for a walk. Sleep becomes more important than eating sometimes! (And if you know me, that is saying a lot!)

Thankfully, I am getting a lot more sleep than I was when Kirsten was a few months old. I definitely get longer chunks of sleep now. However, there are still days (and nights) when I just long to sleep with NO interruptions. To close my eyes and not be awakened until I want to be... approximately 11am, thank you. However, I realize that will probably not happen anytime soon! And that's okay. Because as much as I would love to have a full night's sleep or the ability to take a 3 hour nap, I wouldn't give up my baby girl for anything!

It's definitely a life-changing experience to become a mother, and sleeping becomes a much-loved pasttime, but the joy of seeing a child grow and change is priceless.

Fall is Here!

I love fall. I have officially decided that it's my favorite season. While I love summertime, and all the adventures it brings, there's something reassuring about fall. It's the time that everyone starts to come back home, settle down, and enjoy life. The leaves begin to turn and we're reminded of just how fleeting life is. The cooler weather prompts me to pull out my sweaters and fleece coats, which I love to wear. And now, another great thing about fall is that my beautiful daughter's birthday is right smack-dab in the middle of it!

So, to celebrate fall, here are a few of my favorite photos of this season!













Below: my daughter's hands inspecting a beautiful red leaf.













Below: Kirsten enjoying a stroller ride on a breezy fall day.

Writing

I have been thinking a lot more lately about my love of writing. I realize that as I have gotten older, and in some ways, busier with life, I have spent a lot less time writing. Yet, when I do write, I love it, and I sometimes get comments from others about how they enjoy my writing. So I am going to *try* and write more often, if only to get better and practice more. Perhaps one day I will decide to write a book. But for now, I will have to focus on writing on my blog. Hopefully my 5 readers will oblige me!

Of course, when one decides to begin writing more, one's mind goes blank. So this will be it for now, although I have another post with some updates on life in general.

Kirsten Meets Her Great-Grandparents Pier

My Grandparents Pier (my dad's parents) live in North Carolina, so they have never had the chance to meet Kirsten - until yesterday. I was so excited when they decided to come visit Maine for a special event going on here in the area, both because I would get to see them and because Kirsten would get to meet them! So on Sunday, I took Kirsten and we went to church at CPC, where I went growing up, since Grandma and Grandpa were going to be there. Then after church, we went back to my grandmother Lawrence's home for lunch. Thankfully Kirsten took her nap after church, so when she woke up, she was super-cute, and she thoroughly entertained all of us! Here are a few of my favorite photos of this first meeting!

The Incident

Picture this:
It's a quite Saturday night. We have spent the entire day working around the house, getting yardwork done, and just having a nice family day. Kirsten went to bed early, around 7:15, because she refused to take her afternoon nap. It was a wonderful chance for Scott & I to just chill out, watch some TV, and get to bed at a decent time.

That is, until we hear some extremely loud noises from the bathroom. It's a combination of barking, whining, and growling, and it's much more than Mia's usual freaking out at squirrels, etc. So we both got up and went into the bathroom to figure out what was going on. In the bathroom, we saw Mia but not Moxie, which was odd since they both had been in there previously. But the bathroom window had been open about 4-6". Now, it was open much wider and the screen was popped out of place. Scott ran outside, because it's never good when there's a dog missing. I followed shortly behind him with some treats, but they weren't needed.

Scott came walking towards me with Moxie, who was totally freaking out and had porcupine quills all over his face! We managed to get him inside, but he continued to freak out and whine - obviously in a lot of pain and confused about what had happened. I called the vet and they told us to bring him in, which I was already planning to do. Scott had attempted to remove a couple quills, but Moxie wouldn't stop moving long enough to even get to his face. He did, however, manage to take a couple photos before I left with Moxie.

The ride to the vet's office was not very pleasant. I had to listen to Moxie growl and whine at him self. And he tried (and succeeded) several times to get into my lap while I was driving - I had to pull over once to get him to move. It is very difficult to see a dog in pain but not be able to do anything. Once at the emergency vet's office, I had to wait for at least 1/2 hour before they did anything. THEN, the technician tried to take his pulse (didn't work) and THEN she tried to take his temperature - rectally. Yeah, not happening. The poor thing was in pain and then someone tried to shove something up his rear. I wouldn't want that either!!!

Thankfully, they were able to get him in, give him anesthesia and remove the quills pretty quickly. It was 10:30 by the time I got home, so my relaxing evening was toast. But I was glad to have Moxie back to "normal", even though he was pretty doped up still. Oh, the joys of having a dog!

Kirsten's Birthday

Kirsten will turn ONE in just under 2 months! This is hard to believe, but I find that I am growing more and more in love with her as she gets older. She just continues to become more fun, and I love seeing all the funny things she does now.

I know that this is a bit early, but at the request of my friend Jessica, I am putting a few ideas of things she might like for her birthday. By no means do we expect gifts, but obviously some people might want to buy something. So here are a few ideas:

-Stacking Toys like this one
-Linking toys like these
-Duplo blocks or something similar
-Swirly Orb
-Bead Toy like this one or this one
-Little Chef Set
-First Words
-The Poky Little Puppy
-Bear Snores On board book
-My First Word Touch & Feel
-Going to Bed Book or Opposites or any of the Boynton books
-My Big Animal Book
-One Fish, Two Fish (board book)
-Polar Bear, Polar Bear
-Panda Bear, Panda Bear

The Squirrel Saga

Well some of you have heard this story already, but it must be documented for all the 5 readers that I have.

This past Friday morning, we were sound asleep with Mia cuddled up at our feet (she snuck up because I forgot to put the gate up). Well, she started getting anxious for food, so she got off the bed. I thought she was going downstairs, when all of a sudden we heard all this thumping. Scott got up to check it out, and then there was a lot of commotion, followed by Scott forcing Mia downstairs. When he came back into our room, he told me that there was a squirrel in our office! I was half-awake, and I think I asked him a couple times whether it was really IN the office (rather than just in the wall) and whether he SAW it. The answer was YES and YES.

Well we both had to get ready for the day - I had to go to work, and Scott had to leave for Man Camp. When I got home that day, Mia was still obsessing (i.e. pacing the kitchen and standing at the gate whining incessantly), and the squirrel was still upstairs in the office. Kira was also quite interested in this whole ordeal as well. That night, when Kira alerted me to the squirrel's location, I decided to attempt to catch it. I brought a pair of oven mitts and a tupperware container upstairs. I thought maybe I could grab it out of the drawer where it was hiding, but I was super scared of getting bitten or scratched up. Hence, the oven mitts! Well, let's just say that was a silly idea! As soon as he saw me coming towards him, he freaked out and jumped in behind the drawer again.

I went to bed that night, trying not to worry about a squirrel coming to visit me in my room. I also had to lock Mia in the bathroom so that she did not drive me crazy. The next morning, I checked on the squirrel, and he was still in the drawer. He looked a lot calmer, so I thought maybe I could capture him this time. First, I went outside and got the live trap and set it up. That, in and of itself, was quite a job. Then I took part of the graham cracker that I had put in the trap and stuck it in the drawer for the squirrel. Then I got my tongs and thought, perhaps I can just reach down and grab him and then dump him in the trap. Attempt #2 to capture him was not successful either. Once again, he was a lot faster than I was, although he was definitely a bit slower after sitting all night with no food or water.

I had to leave that day for a trip down to a birthday party, so when I returned home, I went upstairs to check things out. Kira ran up with me, and we saw the squirrel scrambling back and forth between two windows in the craft room. That's when it occurred to me - open a window! I did that while the squirrel hid in the heating register. I was hoping that he would realize that the window was open and escape that way.

Later that night, I looked around and listened and determined that attempt #3 was successful! Thankfully, I can report that our home has been squirrel-free since. Now, if we only knew how he got in...

To Florida and Back!

Well, we have been home since Monday but this is my first chance to sit down and blog about our trip to Florida. On Monday the 10th, we headed out from Bangor and flew to Orlando. Scott was really nervous about how Kirsten would do on the flight. Thankfully, none of his fears came to fruition. She did fabulous overall. She did get a little fussy, but that was because she was tired. So I nursed her, and she fell asleep.

Once in Orlando, we got our rental car and headed to our hotel. After a few minor disagreements, Scott and I decided to try and do our best to get along and not fight over silly things. So that night we got settled in the hotel, and then the fun began! Tuesday we headed out for our first day at Sea World. Based on the map I had, Sea World was very close to our hotel. And since we knew it cost $12 to park at Sea World, we decided to walk instead of drive. Well, needless to say, in 90+ degree heat and high humidity, this turned out to be a very sweaty walk! Scott was pretty soaked by the time we got there! Thankfully, we discovered a secret parking lot on our way back that afternoon, and the next day we drove instead!

Sea World was definitely one of my favorite places when I went to Florida as a kid, and it remains so once again! We saw all kinds of fun animals, from sea lions and seals to penguins and puffins to dolphins and whales. Since it was so hot out, we often visited the indoor attractions, such as the penguins, because there was AC in there and it felt really nice to cool off! Kirsten did pretty well, but did get fussy due to the heat and tiredness during the dolphin show. We endured a looooong walk back to the hotel, stopping off at McD's to get something cool to eat/drink. We first checked a "supermarket", but it was really sketchy and didn't have anything that we were looking for. That evening we were invited over to Sheila & Tim's condo for dinner, and we got to go swimming in the pool. Kirsten LOVED it!

The next day, we had breakfast and then DROVE to Sea World, parking in the "secret" lot. That meant that we started off much less sweaty, which was nice! On the second day we saw the killer whale show, "Believe", and it was pretty awesome. We also went into the Arctic Zone to see the Polar Bear, Beluga Whale, and Walruses. God's creation and the variety and intricacy is just incredible! We splurged and got Kirsten a little stuffed penguin to "remember" Sea World by. Plus, we videotaped and photographed tons, so even though she won't remember it, she'll be able to see what we did.

Wednesday afternoon we had to head over to the airport to pick up my mom. Then we rushed back to get ready for a special celebration that I had earned. Mom watched Kirsten while Scott and I attended. We got to see comedian/juggler Jeff Civilico, and he was pretty incredible and funny! Thursday through Saturday were full of training, workshops, etc, for my business. It was so much fun and a lot of exciting announcements were made. It re-confirmed my dedication to building this business, as I see how the company continues to grow and find ways to help the average person get ahead. Scott was amazing, taking care of Kirsten during the times that I was in my business sessions. There were a couple times that I had to leave to help him, but that was pretty minimal, and she was my priority, of course!

Sunday was our final day of "vacation", so we went to Aquatica with Mom. Aquatica is Sea World's water park, and it is tons of fun! We found a place to keep all our stuff, and then we rotated - 2 people going on rides while the 3rd person stayed with Kirsten. This worked pretty well, and we all got to go on several rides. The lines were pretty long, but we discovered a few that had fast-moving lines, and we went on those. I did wait really long to go on the "Dolphin Plunge" - that is the one that has a clear tube for part of it, and you actually slide through the Commerson's Dolphins' tank. It was pretty awesome, and I got to see the dolphins when I went through (not everyone sees them - it all depends on where they are in the tank).

The week ended on a great note, with Mom agreeing to watch Kirsten on Sunday evening so that Scott & I could go back to Sea World and do some of the rides (since we couldn't do them when we had Kirsten with us). We did the "Kraken" and "Manta", and both were CRAZY, scary, and fun!

Here are a few photos of the week:

Summer is Here

Well given that I've seen more sun in the past week than the past month, combined, I officially declare that summer is here! I am enjoying being out in the sun as much as possible, doing lots of fun summer activities. This past weekend, my sister arrived from Pennsylvania, so we have been trying to hang out as much as possible. On Saturday evening we spent time out at the Dunfee camp, and we went for a boat ride at sunset. It was so beautiful, and we saw a group of 5 loons!












On Monday, Naomi and I decided to hit the road and enjoy the beautiful day at the coast. We went to Schoodic Point, and it was a great day for adventuring. Kirsten slept the whole way down, which worked out perfectly. Once we were there, we climbed around on the rocks and watched the waves. Kirsten really loved climbing on the rocks, too. In fact, she got mad whenever we picked her up - she just wanted to explore... a girl after her mother's heart!
















Last but not least, one of my favorite summer activities is blueberry picking! I stopped today on my way home from Machias, and there were loads and loads of blueberries right on the side of the road. No signs, nothing saying not to pick... so I did. I got 4 quarts in about 1/2 hour. It was crazy!

One of Those Days

Today was one of those days when...

• Scott was gone from 8:30am till 9:00pm, and I really could've used his help!
• I tried to do too many things and felt like I didn't get anything done.
• Kirsten was into everything and I couldn't look away for 2 seconds.
• Kirsten wasn't happy unless she was into everything.
• I had piles of dishes to do... got a few of them done, but still more to do.
  
• I had piles of laundry to fold & put away, and more piles to do, and did neither putting away nor washing/drying.
• You want to have lunch but it takes you 2.5 hours just to get to eat.
  
• I felt like crying and did.
• I was happy to see the sun but was stinkin' HOT and wished I had A/C.
• Just when I thought it wasn't going to get any worse, I walked into the kitchen to find dog puke on the floor and on the carpeted cat stand.
• Kirsten should've gone to sleep by 7:30 but at about 8:15 I gave up and just let her play on the floor.
  

Thankfully, Scott got home and rescued me. And my day got a lot better. Scott got Kirsten to sleep in about 5 minutes. I ate dinner. At 9pm. And now I'm going to have a big bowl of Moose Tracks ice cream and then go to bed.

A Good Deal

We have never bought a new vehicle... until now. When our friend Wendy mentioned the "Cash for Clunkers" program, it got us thinking. Then when I saw an ad for a vehicle that looked like what we were interested in, for a decent price, it got me thinking more. On Monday, we drove to Charlie's Motor Mall in Augusta to take a test drive. Knowing that we could turn in Scott's old Toyota Tacoma and get $4500 towards a brand new vehicle made us very interested. We couldn't do anything that day since the program was not finalized. Things finally were finalized yesterday, and Chrysler had also announced that they were matching up to $4500 for qualifying vehicles. Ours did not qualify for the full amount, but it did qualify for $3500. After all was said and done, that means we had $8000 off the price for 2009 Jeep Patriot! Now that's a good deal... one that we decided would be a good one to take advantage of, especially since Scott has had his truck for 7 years and we had been thinking that it would be time to upgrade soon. Scott went and picked it up today. He says I can look at it.... haha. I am hoping to drive it sometime soon!

Another bonus: lifetime warranty on the powertrain, plus 3 year warranty on other stuff. And, it gets much better gas mileage than his truck did.

So here's a low-quality pic, but I'll post some better ones soon.

Beautiful Jewelry

I am so excited about this contest! You can enter to win $500 of free jewelry from this beautiful etsy shop. I am in love with this bracelet:

Here's to hoping I win! (Or, if you win, you can share the love with me!)

Sample Scrapbook Page

Here's one of my pages from a book I am working on. You can see why I love this so much!

Into Everything... and More

I am inspired by all my friend's recent blogs, and I realize that I haven't blogged in quite a while. That is probably because I've been busy keeping up with Kirsten getting into everything, working part-time, doing business, and getting Scott ready to leave for 10 days. Speaking of which, he left last night for Belize, so keep him in your prayers!

Kirsten is now 8 and 1/2 months old, and she is constantly pulling herself up to a standing position. She likes to stand by the rocking chair and the couch the most. She also likes to do a little swaying dance, which often results in a tumble and then the crying ensues. Thankfully it's fairly easy to distract her, and I find that stepping outside works the best for this. Although with the weather lately, we haven't been doing that as much!

Along with standing up, she is also crawling all over the place and seems to want cords, outlets, and other dangerous items the most. It is wonderful that she is developing so well and gaining independence, but she defintiely requires constant supervision!

We are still struggling with bedtime, since due to this newfound skill of standing, she often wants to stand up in her crib when it's time to go to sleep. Sometimes when she wakes at night, and I go in to nurse her, she's actually standing there! It's crazy. So we are working on trying to get her settled down more before going to bed, and that is working some of the time. Other times it is requiring me to go into her room several times to lay her back down and pat her back and help her to calm down. I asked for advice on this topic on facebook, and boy did I get responses! There are definitely tons of opinions on this issue, and I am finding myself somewhere in between the two "exteremes". Generally I let her cry for a bit before I go in, but then I also try to settle her down when I am there. But the best option is to get her much more sleepy before laying her down, and then she just falls asleep without much fuss at all.

Well I am off to give her a little bath and get her ready for bed. I'd love her to go to sleep around 7 or 7:30pm, but it's usually closer to 8:30 by the time she goes to sleep. Perhaps we will get there earlier tonight!

New Obsession: Digital Scrapbooking

Ok gals (I am figuring it is mostly gals who read my blog) - I am now obsessed with digital scrapbooking. A while ago I purchased the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus. I have heard from many others that this is a fast and easy way to create photo books, while still using a lot of the paper and stickers that are available from CM. As a former CM consultant, this appealed to me. Not to mention that with a new baby, there is not a lot of time for scrapbooking.

So the other night I finally decided to try it out. I downloaded one of the power pallete kits that you can buy to go with the program. I chose the Delight Baby Girl since of course I would be doing mostly baby photos. It took me a bit to get this program figured out, but I am finally getting it. And let me tell you, it is SO COOL! The program comes with a few kits already installed, and then you can add on as I did. The neat thing is, once you have a particular kit installed, you can use that paper over and over again. And you also have a variety of embellishments, different fonts, stickers, etc that you can use. So the possibilities for creating your pages are truly endless. And unlike traditional scrapbooking, where once you use one element or piece - it's gone - with this, you could create 20 of the same pages if you wanted to! Then when you complete the book, you are able to get several copies made if you choose.

I am excited about this as it will make for great gifts, as well as being a lot easier and faster to create than a traditional album. I still love my albums and will probably continue doing them to some extent, but I am definitely in love with this new digital thing as well! Here's one example of what the pages can look like - since I haven't figured out how to upload one of my pages here:
And here's the link about how to create this if you are so inclined!

Kirsten Growling