Slipping through my fingers

Today my sweet husband called me from work to ask me out on a date. He'd already been in touch with a babysitter (my mom, who else?) so everything was set. We went to see Mamma Mia and I loved it, which is what I expected. I never met a musical I didn't like.

I was excited to go on a date, because the last movie we saw in a theater was Juno and it was February. I put on makeup and changed my outfit and everything, so it was reminiscent of college. Jordan and I have fond memories of the days when he'd come visit me in Manning Hall, the girls' high-rise. We'd talk on the phone and I'd ask him if he wanted to come over and watch a movie. He'd say sure! I'd say "great--just give me about an hour." After I'd showered, brushed my teeth, blow-dried my hair and put on makeup (plus probably made him wait in the lobby at least 15 minutes) I'd go down and get him. All to sit in a crummy dorm room and flirt. It's amazing the silly little things one can find to worry about before she has a baby.

The thing about post-baby dates is even when you drop the baby off you still have her with you. You look over your shoulder without thinking to see if she's sleeping in the car seat just to see it's empty. Your eyes tear up during "Slipping Through My Fingers" because you realize in 19 years that will be your daughter and even though you're on a date with your husband you wish she was in your arms. When you discuss it in the car later he admits he had a lump in his throat, too.

Just pound your troubles away

Suzi and I spent half the day out shopping. She was such a good helper and we got several compliments on our ring sling. We went to the mall to pick up a gift and while we were there we found this:


It's a Melissa & Doug Pound and Roll, and while it said it was for 2+, I'm pretty sure Suzi is gifted so I picked it up anyway. She's been pounding the fool out of those wooden balls! As a bonus, this toy makes no beep-beeps and plays no annoying songs. My heart swells with puerile joy as I watch her wield the hammer. It's stinkin' cute.


Another cute thing she's picked up? The concept of ownership. The other morning when we were sitting in bed she grabbed her Sleep Sheep, placed her hand on her chest, and said "Me. Mine." She keeps saying it about other things, which may or may not be hers. The other day while we were sitting on the couch together she flung herself on her daddy and declared that he was hers. I was highly insulted that she didn't claim me as well, but after a few minutes she indulged me.

She has been having a tough time with teething. I thought it was bad when those first four teeth came in, but now she is cutting several molars! Ow. Here she is hurling her Pound & Roll balls at us two at a time. She has been kind of testy lately.

Trading diapers for beer

While I am a regular at the Clemson-Central babywearing group, before last night I had never been to the Greenville meeting. It was an hour away, and since the same topics were covered I figured I wasn't missing enough to warrant a trek out to Greenville. But I was wrong.

I rode with Janet and we left our sweet babies at home. At the meeting I met Kawani, whom I'd already been blog-stalking only slightly. There was also a lady with six children from 19 years to 11 months, all homeschooled, and I got some great advice from her! (My idea of how I'd like to homeschool Suzi is taking shape, and soon I'm going to do a post on my tentative plan.) Several people tried my carriers on for size--especially the hotslings, which would be perfect for airport babywearing--so I'm glad I took them with me.

We had to be out of the library at precisely 8:15 (bummer) but Carey, Janet and I went to a bar in downtown Greenville and ordered black bean hummus and a pitcher of beer. Sitting in a bar drinking and talking without cigarette smoke was heaven. I may have gone downtown more often in college if that had been an option. Anyway, I still owed Carey $10 for some diapers she gave us for Suzi, so I paid for some of her beer and now I think we are just about square. Diapers for beer is a novel setup, I think. It was not the type of beer I would usually drink, but the emptier my glass became, the better it tasted. I might even try it again someday.

I feel so lucky to have met my babywearing friends. Who'd have thought that going to one meeting to learn how to work a baby carrier could change the way I parent?

Definitely going to Greenville next month.

And, as promised, a little video from Clemson...

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

Suzi was standing off to the side, wide-eyed, like I can haz cereal too? And she did get some a few seconds later.

My guest post on Crunchy Domestic Goddess!

Several months ago I found a wonderful informative blog to add to my must-read list: Crunchy Domestic Goddess. Amy's thoroughly researched posts on issues from circumcision to vaccination to breastfeeding have helped me make decisions and have kept me informed. I joined her five-minute shower challenge as well and have been pretty successful with it!

That's why I'm so proud to be one of the guest bloggers while she is on vacation. I'm also a little nervous; this is my first guest post ever and there are probably a lot more eyes reading it right now than have read any of my other posts! Please go read it and tell me it's okay!

Have you heard of tapping?

I am an anxious person. I worry that I might say something inappropriate (which has, in fact, happened before) or that I might offend someone. When I say or do the wrong thing I replay it in my head and wonder what the other people involved were thinking.

Usually it isn't so bad, but it peaked for me in the weeks following Suzi's birth. Aside from the usual anxiety, I worried that something bad would happen while Jordan was at work and I was home alone with the baby. The worst time was when we went to our new house one night while it was still empty to start prepping Suzi's room for painting. I felt an inexplicable feeling of impending doom (which I talked about earlier in this post). When I went to my six-week appointment I told my OB-GYN and asked if he thought I should see a psychiatrist. He basically told me it was probably nothing a few pills wouldn't cure and jotted out a prescription.

I have a psych degree and an opinion to go with it, especially as someone who has suffered PPD. Pills don't always magically cure depression; frequently something else (or something more) should probably be done. To me, it's akin to someone with sky-high cholesterol downing three bowls of ice cream a day and taking Lipitor to fix it! If the anxiety has been a lifelong habit caused by environment, how is a pill going to cure that?

I should have gone to a therapist for my PPD but decided not to; instead, I began stopping mid-thought and telling myself something along these lines: "This is ridiculous! (Fill in blank with horrible situation) is not going to happen; just stop thinking about it." Then I would find an activity, such as crocheting, to take my mind off the thought. It may sound silly, but I am not an expert and it was all I knew how to do.

I wish I had known about tapping. It was mentioned on a blog or message board I read a couple of weeks ago and I looked it up out of curiosity. There are dozens of YouTube videos on it, and after watching a couple of them I tried it briefly tonight. I had a nagging thought which is hardly worth mentioning, and when it started to bother me I began tapping through the routine Magnus of tapping.com demonstrates in this video. I only did it once (he has you run through it numerous times) but it seemed to help. Of course, it could have been because I was expecting it to work; also, the self-talk involved in the routine is helpful for many people by itself. It could just be that it's a distracting activity to perform with one's hands, similar to crocheting. Or it could be that tapping one's acupressure points truly is beneficial. When I was morning sick during pregnancy, I did find some relief with the use of Sea Bands, which are intended to press down on the Nei Kuan point on each wrist.

I do not believe that tapping is going to fix all my problems and make me a millionaire, as some fans of The Secret believe. I recognize that positive thinking has great value, but The Secret goes further than that and conflicts with my religious beliefs in several ways.

It does seem that tapping may be useful for reducing anxiety, anger and depression, among other things. Even if it doesn't work for everyone, it's free and seemingly harmless to try.

Have any of you tried this? What do you think?

Saturday's treasure hunt (and contest idea)

I even found a little treasure chest at our first yard sale--along with a bunch of clothes.

I added yards of fabric to my stash; this isn't even all of it:

This sale had a big table full of fabric, along with all the ribbon, lace and other notions you see here. I don't even know what some of it is, but my mom will. The box it's all in is a homemade wooden toy box on casters that we got for $4. I figured we could put Suzi in it, give her a wooden spoon and let her row around the kitchen.


I got this apron for 10 cents. The couple holding the sale were in their seventies (I think) and the woman asked the man "Wasn't this your mom's apron?" He sold me his mom's apron for a dime! It makes me sad but I'm glad I can give it a good home. It is stained but I kind of prefer it that way. It means I might actually use it, and when you hold it you can just feel all the hard work she did while wearing it.


Plate and cup sets for when you're having a drop-in; guests can securely hold the plate and cup with one hand. The bulk of our get-togethers involve pizza and beer instead of hors d'oeuvres and punch, but maybe these will come in handy someday.

And my idea for a monthly contest: I love finding cool stuff at yard sales, but sometimes I'll find something I love that I can't use personally. It'll be a beautiful ring that doesn't fit, for example--which is what I found yesterday. Anyway, I've decided to do a monthly Treasure Hunt Giveaway with these things and occasionally things I make. I'm not doing one right now because I just did one, but I plan to start in a week or two. Let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

Gather ye blueberries while ye may

Last weekend at Nana and Papa's...

Suzi had her picture made!

We bought her a pretty pink potty.

We had a 10 PM donut run. The people eating donuts inside saw the camera flash and thought, WTH? Jordan was embarrassed.

Suzi and her sweet Daddy. That picture over Jordan's shoulder is of him at Suzi's age. I wish you could see it better--his chubby little knees were adorable!

Suzi took a ride on the Wonder Horse her daddy used to ride.

I picked (and ate) lots of blueberries off the bushes in the back yard.

Then yesterday I made blueberry muffins!

Lots of them.

Coming soon: Our Saturday treasure hunt (yard sales) and a monthly contest proposal!