All American Santa with Mackenzie

Gremlins and other random thoughts

Ok, so it used to take me all day to clean my house and now, I seem to manage it in an hour and a half. Is it because I know there is a finite amount of time and I have to get it done before naptime is over? That must be it!

I think we have Gremlins in our house. I went to make the guest bed today and put the towels back in the bathroom and I seem to be missing a hand towel and some pillow cases. How does this happen? Are these the same gremlins that wake my daughter up 1/2 way from her naps by scratching at her face and making her cry? I think they are!

On another note - my fat girl jeans that I bought the other day because it's way too late to be wearing maternity clothes still, ehem, are loose! YEAH! But, I'm looking in my closet for a belt and I put my black one on - what a funny stinking joke! It doesn't even wrap around my waist anymore. They say to borrow your husband's clothes when you're pregnant, right? Well, I commandeered a belt today. So there!

Ah, and the drama over the bed is over. I upgraded to a very expensive mattress (who knew this would be a life-long process?) so that I could get a comfotable night's sleep. It was delivered yesterday and life is back to normal. Thankfully.

Bed Drama and printer happiness

After 15 months of owning this defective bed, I finally decided to take care of getting it replaced last week. I went in and tried out the beds that they told me were the actual replacement for the bed we have. What a freaking joke! We spent an ungodly amount of money on this mattress - because we both wanted to be comfortable. It was a fluffy pillow top and man, was it COMFY! Yesterday, they brought the new mattress to my house and replaced the old one. I should have noticed when it was 6 inches lower than my old one that it was going to be a problem, but I didn't do anything about it.

So, I baked a bunch of pumpkin muffins for a bakesale next weekend and finally decided to try to go to bed aroun 11 p.m. I tossed and turned for what felt like hours (which actually were hours) until Mackenzie woke up at 2:30 a.m. for an early feeding. So I fed her, and went back to try to lie down again. Tossed and turned a little longer..... til about 4:00 or 4:30 when I decided to get up and do some yoga and just wait for time to pass.

I took her to MMO (Mom's Morning Out) and parked my happy butt outside of the furniture store until they opened at 10:00 this morning to "upgrade" my mattress. So, I spent another $300 just to get the same quality (of course, she assured me it was an upgrade, which I don't believe, but whatever!) Hopefully tomorrow night I won't have to sleep in the guest room - which is where anyone would find me tonight.

On the printer note - I can finally print photos again on my printer at home! Thanks Dad! :)

Clever weight loss strategy

Ok, so I lost one pound this past weekend - probably the past week overall. Wanna know how I did it?

I cut 6 inches off of my hair..... :)

You should try that, too!

Zen.....

I don't know what it is about Yoga that improves your frame of mind and makes you feel balanced. Maybe it is because of all the stretching - it must release the toxins that build up in your muscles, and at the same time, it must release all those endorphins that make you feel good, but I feel FANTASTIC after 2 short 2o minute sessions. I dug out my old tapes which I had recorded before I ever met Phil, and then I found it on the Oh! Oxygen network at 6:00 a.m. M, T, W, F. I woke up this morning and taped today's show after starting it - but Mackenzie woke up, so I only got about 20 minutes.

Honestly, as out of shape as I am, 20 minutes is a good start. I can't believe how much I really needed that kind of a work out. We've been walking around the neighborhood, but my muscles feel like they are breathing, if that makes any sense at all! I am enjoying my coffee so much more this morning, too. It's just nice to sit and truly be relaxed and centered. This may sound kind of strange, but when I do yoga regularly, the "noise" of my life is replaced or removed and I feel closer to God. Today, I feel closer to God than I have in a long time, and that feels good, too!

I also had recently started feeling a pulling in my back - our 1 year old bed has a huge crater in the middle of it (which they should be fixing for us soon) that has been hurting my back to sleep on. I did my 20 minutes of yoga last night before bed, which really stretched my lower back out. when I laid down in bed, I could feel it stretching even more, and this morning I woke up and it hurt a little less than it did yesterday when I got out of bed. And, when I did the 20 minutes of yoga this morning, I didn't feel the sharp pinging in my back when I was doing some of the stretching moves. So, I am going to do my best to keep this up and you can help keep my accountable.

And, if you want, you can join me and we can do it "together". :)

Cha Cha Cha Changes!

I guess living with a baby makes you realize how quickly things change. I mean, I look at Mackenzie and can't help but think that one year ago yesterday, her daddy left for Iraq and she was somewhere inside of me and I didn't even know it.

I also look at her and think about 13 weeks ago, when I wanted her to come out of my tummy. I just can't believe she grew inside of me for 9 1/2 months! She's already so big, so when I hold her in my arms, I have thoughts of how small she was, even though she was big (if that makes any sense.)

She also has been sleeping in her own bed in her own room for a whole week now. The first night was hardest on me - not her! I get nervous having her room so far away on the other side of the house, but fortunately we have Bradley, who barks at the UPS truck or the garbage truck just for stopping in front of the house and driving down the street, to keep us safe.

As of today, her changing table is what was once her bassinet and it is also in her room. I have my room back! No more pack and play, no more bassinet. No more diapers, baby clothes, baby blankets - it's all in her room.

Now, the living room is another story. There are tummy time mats all over the floor, plus overhead play "gyms" and rattles, blankets, boppy pillows and various other toys strewn about, with an overflowing basket of baby laundry on the loveseat...... Who knew this kind of mess would actually make me smile????? If Phil could see us now - he'd wonder where my anal retention with regard to the clean house went!

Halloween in Lincoln

I think this is Austin!? Hard to tell under that dark coat of fur! This is Alex as a Dishwasher..... I've got some dishes for him!

I believe this is Ayden? What a cute, I mean SCARY dragon!

Look at that cute little smile under the giraffe costume! You look great Anna!

And the lovely unicorn is so tall, it must be Audrey!

The group shot!

St. Clare of Assisi

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintc03.htm

I just found the strangest thing – St. Clare of Assisi’s memorial day (and date of her death) is August 11, Mackenzie CLARE Raymond’s birthday! How interesting is that?

I googled it because I was explaining Mackenzie's middle name to Phil, my father in the law the other day. I think he's the only person who has gotten the entire explanation of why I chose Clare and the spelling.

I lost both of my grandmother's last year - my favorite Dorothy Louise Smith in January and my other one Clara Louise Carlton on November 5, the day before Phil left for Iraq. 2 weeks after Phil left, we found out we were expecting and I just knew deep down that we would have a little girl. I pinpointed what I thought to be the moment of conception (ironically, probably after Phil left, so I knew X chromosome sperm live longer).

Anyway, I loved my Grandma Dorothy (but didn't have much of a relationship with the other one) that I wanted to honor her in some way. But Dorothy, Dottie, Dotty Lou? I just couldn't make it work. So I thought about the timing of Grandma In the Mountains (Clara)'s passing. I didn't really want to name the child after that Grandma, since she was less than nice to us as we were growing up - even though I think Clara is a pretty name. I still couldn't do much with Louise (Sorry Marlene Louise).

I decided that naming our child Clare would honor both of my grandmothers. Afterall, Dorothy insisted that I see Clara every time I came to Fresno, even when I didn't want to. And she would go with me when she was able.

The choosing of Mackenzie wasn't quite as well thought out. I told Phil that I wanted to name the child Clare. He said he loved it and since we had the French side covered, we needed something Irish to go along with it. So I gave him a list of about 3 Irish girl's names that I liked and we never got past Mackenzie. He really liked that one, so we kept it. Initially she was going to be Clare Mackenzie, but about 7 months pregnant, I switched it.

Mackenzie means "daughter of a wise leader" and Clare (according to the link above) means "bright or brilliant" and our last name means "protecting hands".