End of the School Year!!!

Oh -- hey summer.  That's what I think of when I walk past my gorgeous peonies.  They smell just as beautiful as they look.  The only bummer is that the petals go everywhere once they start to die.  They are so worth it because they leave behind really vibrant green bushes.  I'm so glad that the last lady who lived here left not only one, but two of these beautiful plants.  My neighbor and my mom are already calling dibs on both once the fall comes, and we can divide them.  I'm more than happy to share to prettiness!

Soooo... only one more week of school, and I can't wait to start having Dave home all the time.  Sometimes I can hardly believe that I am lucky enough to have a husband who is able to be home with his family as often as he does while also earning a living wage.  The state of the economy is making it very hard for people who have jobs to keep them and people who don't have jobs to find them.  I am very, very grateful for the fact that I don't have to worry about that right now.  Having Dave as a teacher right now just makes all that schooling that we both went through sooooo worth it.  I love that he is only a five minute drive or a ten minute walk away.  We pretty much live in the neighborhood behind the high school.  We couldn't get any closer to his classroom if we tried.  Life is so good right now :)

I was thinking about all the sacrifices Dave made in order to become a teacher.  At the time, it just seemed like life, but looking back, I'm amazed that he was able to finish his education in such a short amount of time (bachelors and masters in four years).  Just so the world knows, I'm going to make a list of all the junk he had to go through in order to get the education he needed:

-- Dave worked at UPS as a package sorter for two years in order to have money and insurance to go to school.  Not only was he doing hard physical labor, but he was working the twilight shift (from 11pm until 2 or 3 am).  He would then go to school during the day.

-- Post-UPS, Dave worked all of these goofy phone jobs like tech support, etc.  Those were mind-numbingly boring.

-- Pre-marriage, Dave lived on his own for a while.  He ate rice, frozen veggies, and other boring foods day in and day out in order to afford living on his own and going to school.

-- He had a 3.95 GPA when he graduated from his bachelor's program, and he had a 4.0 GPA with his master's program.  There is a lot of work involved in getting good grades like that.  What a smarty pants!  Fun fact: he got his first B when he started to date me.  I guess I was super distracting :)

-- Dave worked his hiney off to get into his very competitive master's program, including doing another quarter of school in the spring after he already had his bachelor's degree in order to get all the necessary classes needed for entrance into the master's program.  Not fun.... and that was a really long sentence.

-- Once he started the program, he had to quit any outside working.  We didn't know how we were going to pay all the bills since I was fresh out of my paralegal program and didn't have a job.  However, we just stuck to the plan.  Luckily, like two weeks before his program was to start, I landed a good job.  We were able to get through his entire program without him having to worry about employment.  However, he was working 24/7 to finish all the classwork that was required of him.  So, that was stressful, but he didn't have to worry about money.

-- Once he graduated, he didn't know where he was going to work.  Keep in mind, I was due to have a baby in August.  So, Dave pretty much needed to find a job in order to support a family.  No pressure, right?

-- Once he found his job at NHS, he had to figure out where we were going to live and all that jazz.  Not fun when you're searching for shelter in a town that is 40 minutes away :)

-- In two weeks, we did almost every stressful thing you could think of besides getting married.  We had our first baby, Dave started his first day of his first year of teaching (on the day we had our baby :), and we moved into our house the next weekend.  Um, insane, but totally do-able.

-- Oh yeah, and he's a drama teacher even though he had no experience AT ALL.  Dave had never even seen a high school play, much less directed one.  However, he has directed the Pink Panther Strikes Again, Brothers Grimm Out of Order, Kiss Me Kate (soooo not an easy musical), and Bang, Bang, You're Dead.  Yeah, talk about a crazy first year.  Only the young :)

I'm pretty sure Dave is like living proof that you can do absolutely anything if you put your mind to it.  He overcame so much and worked so incredibly hard, and I feel like we are totally reaping the rewards right now.  He pretty much made his dream happen.  Dave used to imagine being a teacher in order to get through sorting packages at UPS.  None of it was fun, but it has all been worth it.  I'm so glad to have such an ambitious, intelligent husband.  Now that I'm putting all this into words, I need to do something special for him for the end of the year.  He deserves it!

So, Dave was feeding Gwen, and she was being "fun" about eating.  Dave thought her food-covered face was too cute not to take pictures of.  I just love how she is showing off her little tiny head.  What a peanut!  That totally defiant face and hands is pretty much how we get through meals sometimes.  What a goof-ball.  She probably just wanted us to feed her something sweet instead of veggies :)

Gwen's Back!

One Fisher-Price Sprinkle N Splash Play Mat: $20

One faucet adapter to get warm water through the hose: $4

Watching the joy of a nine-month-old playing with the sprinkler for the first time: Priceless

Seriously, this was the best $24 ever spent.  I hope that I can take super good care of this play mat because it's sooooo perfect for babies.  As soon as I saw this thing online, I was just dying to get it from Toys-R-Us.  I had to wait a little while, but it's finally in stores!  Gwen really enjoys taking a shower, but this was the first time for her to just have free play.  So much fun!  

You know how sometimes you can have moments that you swear were just lifted from a Martha Stewart magazine or a Gerber commercial.  I totally felt that way.  Here we have this adorable little baby totally enjoying herself while her completely happy parents were just watching all of her excitement.  On top of that, we were sitting in the shade on a seriously nice day.  It's rare to find yourself that completely happy, but it really felt like we just had everything in that one moment.  It's been a good day to say the least :)  Gwen's been feeling so much better, and Dave only has two more weeks left of school.  I'm getting ready for our trip to Florida, and things are just falling into place for a great summer break.  It's so nice to not be college students anymore, and we're just moving on with our lives.  Life is good :)

Gwen's been getting much more vocal.  She's so sweet.  She was mimicking her daddy today.  She must think that we always just talk in really high pitched voices because she will carry on "conversations" with you if you shriek.  Otherwise, she's just not really interested in normal conversation.  Goofy girl.  Plus, today I caught her "singing along" with one of her toys.  Adorable!  I definitely had no idea that growing up could be so entertaining.  I'm so glad that I've started to keep track of all of the things that she's been doing.  Oh Gwen.... adorableness!

Under the Weather :(

Can you believe this active baby was actually still today?  She's usually all go, go, go, but she was actually slowed down today by a runny nose...  The morning didn't start out so hot as Gwen has not been feeling like herself.  I don't know if it's illness or teething, but she just wanted to sleep in this morning.  While I usually do not condone missing church, I just couldn't bring myself to drag in a mildly fevering, runny nosed baby.  She slept until 9 (which is unusual for our early riser), and then she was clinging to me all day long.  She took a two hour and then a three hour nap.  On top of that, she didn't want to eat much of anything.  She just wanted to nurse, which I let her do as often as she wanted to.  The poor kid.  I hope it doesn't last very long.  On the positive side, she did allow us to cuddle her.  Usually, she will sit for a hug and a kiss, and then she wants to be put down on the floor to explore.  However, she actually fell asleep in Dave's arms for bedtime.  You know she's tired when she's falling asleep in your arms!

When she gets all sickly, it's hard for me to not want to call the doctor to check her out for crazy things like the bird flu or whatever.  There are just all of those stories that float around about children who have what appears to be the run of the mill runny nose, and then it turns out to be some flesh eating bacteria or something.  Luckily, we have our normally scheduled nine month appointment on Friday.  Whatever she has will last that long if it's bad enough.  Otherwise, I'm hoping that she'll be a whole new kid tomorrow morning.  At the same time, Gwen will be nine months old!!!  I can't believe we are three quarters of the way through her first year.  I've already been planning her first birthday party!  She'll need to start making more baby friends in order to have a little baby party like I want to :)  I just can't believe that she'll be one in just three months.  Babies grow up way too fast!!!

Dear Lands End,

I think I love you.  Actually, I just love the wonderful, wonderful bathing suits you sell.  They are so nice, I teared up a little at the store when I tried one on.  They are fabulous!!!

So, today was the last leg of my getting ready for Florida shopping.  So far in shopping fun, I found shorts that I liked (two pairs, actually) at Old Navy.  Gwen got a swimmy diaper that can be used on future babies.  All I had to do was find a bathing suit.  Grrr....  Who designs bathing suits?!?!?  I would think that it would be easy to create a bathing suit, however, the people who make them TOTALLY MESS IT UP!!!!  What makes people think that every single person in the world wants their boobies hanging out?  I would find a suit that seemed really cute, but upon trying it on, I would realize that there was a hole right in the middle of the chest.  Whoa??  Then, if I found another one, it would be a v-neck all the way down to my belly button.  Grrr... I was getting so frustrated!  I was almost ready to just give up until....

I found the Land's End display.  I just fell in love with my bathing suit the second I saw it on the rack.  It was a perfect suit for me.  I would love to put a picture on here, but I don't know that I necessarily want me in a bathing suit on the internet.  However, if we get a good one while we are on vacation, I might be brave enough to post it.  It's black with white trim.  Basically, it's a tank top with a little skirt bottom.  Plus, I got an extra long white hoodie that matches it.  It was 30% off.  I'm just so happy with my new suit.  I'm finally ready for Florida!!!!

Hooray for Land's End!!!

Who's afraid of the big bad feminist :)

I was reading my all time favorite blog to lurk around.  They had this interesting post on the stigma of feminism.  This seems to happen to me all the time.  I find people who agree with me on all of these feminist ideas that I have, but they would never call themselves a feminist.  There is just this idea that feminist are more like fem-nazis who want to hate on all men and never shave their legs.  On the other hand, a feminist is anyone who promotes women.  This new, third wave feminism is so open and broad.  It's actually hard to not be a feminist.  Unless you believe in the oppression of all women, you're a feminist.  You don't have to necessarily wear it on your sleeve or anything, but why be so adamant about distancing yourself from feminism.  It's so funny to me.  I don't know what people seem to think a feminist is in today's world.  I don't know any feminists that burn their bras or hate men.  I'm somewhat socially conservative (more libertarian, but who's counting?).  I also happen to believe that women need more recognition for the work that they do, whether it be in the home or in the work place.  Women shouldn't be made to feel guilty about the decisions that they make regarding how they spend their time whether it be in the home, working outside the home, married women without children, single women, etc.  That's pretty much it -- we should stop worrying about what all women should be doing and just let people do what they want to do.  We need to focus on building each other up instead of trying to push all women into this one mold of what they should be.

I also have a little thing against how often women (more than men) are exposed to chemicals.  I don't know if that makes me more of a feminist, but I just do....  There are lots of chemicals in cleaners, pads, tampons, make-up... umm... I'm sure I can think of more.  For the most part, all of these products are chock-full of chemicals.  Back when I was in college, one of my favorite articles was "Hazards of Hearth and Home" by Lesley Doyal.  I can't seem to find this article anywhere online as I only found it in my text book.  This article was SUPER informative and really made me think a lot about my role as a SAHM.  What would happen to my lungs if I scrubbed with bathroom every week with bleach and its toxic fumes?  What's going on to Gwen's body when I use soap on her body that contains 1,4-Dioxane?  I am so guilty of just using a product because I just assume that it is safe since it's being sold in stores.  Who would think that Johnson's and Johnson's would use cancer-causing ingredients?  On one hand, I really don't think that Gwen is going to get cancer just from her shampoo, nor do I think I'm going to have respiratory issues right after scrubbing the toilet.  However, why would I expose myself to hazards if I don't have to?  I guess that's one of my big "feminist" crusades.  Just be sure what you're putting in, on, or around your body is safe.  Don't just assume that big businesses are looking out for you instead of watching their bottom line.  That's just how life is :)

Alright, that's my rant.  I'm going to go finish up laundry.  I'm hoping to get things done before mom comes tomorrow :)))))))

I'm attempting to let Gwen fall back asleep on her own, so I'm trying my best to keep myself from going in her room while she's crying.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  I really, really want to just go in there and rock her back to sleep.  However, I'm having horror stories of spoiled little girls running through my head.  I don't know that I would like to have a bratty 14-year-old due to the fact that I was at my child's beck and call ever since she was tiny.  She's getting to be eight months old, and I know that she knows how to manipulate her mother.  She just breaks my heart sometimes with the way that she calls for me.  She doesn't know how to talk yet, but she sometimes just cries in her bed, "Ma, ma, ma, ma..."  I need to invest in some good ear plugs because I get a ache in my heart to hear that sweet little baby calling and pleading for me to come get her.  On top of that, I have nothing better to do (except sleep, but whatever...).  I can pretty much just coddle her all day, no sweat.  I would, too, if she would just not wiggle so much and let me snuggle her.

On the house front, we got a lot done today.  Dave has been feeling especially productive lately, and I've been taking advantage of it.  He finished putting up the garage door opener, which means that we've actually been using the garage for the first time since moving in!  Then, this afternoon, I picked all the huge weeds out of our yard, and Dave came out to mow the lawn.  I wanted to keep this mojo going, so we went to Home Depot to buy ceiling fans for our and Gwen's bedroom.  We found two that we wanted, and he worked on them as soon as we walked in the door.  He had them both up, and he also relocated the dining room ceiling fan into the family room.  So, three fans in just a couple of hours -- go Dave!!  On top of that, I'm going to be doing some major landscaping work this week.  My mom is coming up on Wednesday (weather permitting), and we're going to be working on the landscaping until Friday.  With mom, you always get a lot of stuff done in a short amount of time.  I'm really, really looking forward to it!  I'm starting to make a to-do list for the summer.  First on my list is painting the house.  We have a brick house, so that means painting around the windows, so not as difficult.  However, whatever color we paint the windows, I want to paint the detached garage.  Then, I want to paint the concrete porch and the porch swing complementary colors.  That's a lot of paint.  If we can finish that, I want to turn those painting efforts to the inside of the house to paint at least the living room.  So, a lot of paint, and a lot of work.  I think we're up to it (but ask me again how I feel once we're already into the swing of a lazy summer).  Who knows... maybe Dave will get into another productive kick, and the house will be painted before you know it!

Gwen has been eating more and more raw fruits and veggies thanks to the food steamer.  I went to the store today just to get different fruits and vegetables for her to eat this week.  I got some yellow squash, pears, broccoli, tomatoes, and zucchini.  I'm so glad that we're able to give her this good variety, and it helps her mom eat more good things, too :)  Anywho, I just wanted to post this video because I like it.  However, at almost four minutes, it's really a video that only a mother could sit all the way through :)