New

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: New

Ready?

GO.

I love fall.  And I love that it is new to Caroline.  The cooler temperatures turn her nose red, and the leaves are an endless source of fascination to her (see picture below).  

Lots of folks have warned us that as soon as we think we've got our baby figured out, she'll change and we'll have to figure things out all over again.  Sometimes this takes conscious thought, and sometimes you adapt without realizing your behavior has changed.  For instance, on our walk today, I almost pulled a flower off a bush for Caroline to play with as we strolled, but then I remembered that since her SIXTH tooth started coming in, everything goes straight into her mouth, instead of studiously turned over and over in her hands.  So, we went home to play in the leaves, and I tried to teach her to spit them out after she ate them (since another new-found talent of hers is blowing raspberries).

I know it's sad to see your baby grow up, but I am so excited for her to explore her world more and more, and I'm excited to teach her new things about the leaves she's eating, among other things.

Because

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Because

Ready?

GO.

"Because I have been given much, I too must give" is the first line of one of my favorite hymns.  I'd like to take a minute (or five) and think about all the gifts I've been given this week, and how I can pay it back or pay it forward.

Because my sweet dog (see below) gave Caroline a huge loving lick on the face last Saturday, and because Caroline loved it, I will try to spend some quality time with both of them the next time we're at my parents' house.  Poor Tess is getting older, the dog I wanted my whole life, and I'm going to give her a bit of extra attention.

Because I was in a training class all week with a group of the nicest strangers you could ever meet, I am going to try to keep in touch with them, and try to be friendlier with people I don't know very well -- it might turn out you have a lot in common and could become fast friends, even in just a week!

Because my husband helped cook dinner tonight, then did the dishes, and folded the laundry, AND has listened to me talk for two days straight about this book I just read that is not really of any interest to him (though he listens attentively), I am going to make him peach cobbler for breakfast. 

And of course, I hope by paying things back and forward, I can pay back a little bit of my debt to my Heavenly Father.  Because I have been given much.

STOP.

Hold

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Hold

Ready?

GO.

You won't believe me, but I actually picked out the "picture of the week" before I saw the prompt.  The only way Caroline will sit still long enough for us to read her a book is if we give her a bottle at the same time.  I was talking to a friend last night, who also has an exceptionally active baby, and turns out we both love it when our babies fall asleep in the car and we can carry them inside, all snuggly against us.  Both of us admit to stalling putting them in the crib, just to get a few extra minutes of that quiet peace with a baby nestled in our arms.

I have thought several times this week about how important physical touch is for humans.  I gave out a couple of extra hugs this week (one to my brother about 10 minutes ago for babysitting for us while Caroline is cutting her 5th tooth).  I hope that even though my baby is so wiggly, we can find quiet (or loud) moments to snuggle or play pattycake or eat each others fingers.

STOP.

Ready

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Ready

Ready? 

GO.

Oh, I'm not ready to write a 5-minute blog post.  I've got a pretty terrible sinus headache this afternoon.  But I guess that's the point - we're never ready.  I've been doing a lot of introspection lately (apart from these 5-minute Fridays), and I'm realizing more and more that I am a planner, and I tend to end up with very set expectations (not necessarily high expectations, but just a pre-conceived notion in my mind of how something is going to go).  More often than not, obviously, things don't go according to plan.  Most of the time, that's a good thing!  I thought I'd join the Foreign Service, do two tours overseas, come back to the US when I was 29 and try to get married.  And instead I met Mike four months into the Foreign Service and now I'm 29 and we are married with a baby.  Or......we were really planning to go overseas again for our third tour, but ended up in DC, which turned out to be such a blessing with Caroline's colic.

So yes, when things don't go according to plan, it's usually a boon for us.  But sometimes when things don't go according to plan, it shakes me up.  I feel like I have to go through all the very intricate details about the future that I had organized in my mind and replace them one by one with reality.  With the reality I was unprepared for.  That I wasn't ready for.  Like trying to calm a screaming baby for 10 hours when I thought we would get lots of quiet, sweet cuddle time.

But now I'm trying to be ready for anything, and to just accept life in the moment, enjoy it if I can, and if not, just.....well, hang in there.  And know there will always be another moment in the future to get ready for, that won't be what I expect, but that maybe I can enjoy even more than I expected to enjoy the last moment.  Like seeing Caroline's face light up when she rode in a swing for the first time.  Biggest. Smile. Ever.

STOP.


I don't think the picture needs further explanation.

Whisper

If you missed my Five Minute Friday introduction last week, check it out here.

This week's prompt is: Whisper.

Ready?

GO.

"Whisper" makes me think of quiet people.  I had lunch today with my husband (a quiet introvert) and a friend who is also quite softspoken.  We sat outside and I thought "How on earth will they be able to understand each other?"  But quiet people are often good listeners, and they made do, despite the noise of sitting by the street.

I am going to start reading "Quiet: The Power of Introverts" or something like that (no time to look it up, have to keep writing!).  I haven't even opened it yet but I know I will love it because I'm pretty sure I already understand the premise (actually, I'm pretty sure I live with the premise).  Introverts like Mike are often misunderstood and pushed aside in our society, to make way for the loud extroverts.  Oh, extroverts have their place too - but introverts have excellent analytical, detail-oriented qualities that are often passed over in the rush of the extroverts getting their ideas out there.  Or, the introvert is labeled as "I can't read him," or "She never says hi, I don't think she likes me."

Look folks, get to know them.  And if you're an introvert, start with your fellow introverts and just try to say hi.  You don't have to be best friends right off the bat.  Or ever.  But don't let us continue muddling through life without your amazing friendships, ideas, and advice.

STOP.

Picture of the week:

My sisters' 17th birthday dinner!!!!  I can't believe it, poor girls, I think I still treat them like they're 8 sometimes.  But they are most certainly lovely young ladies and have come of age (in the wizarding world, anyway).  The introverts outnumbered the extroverts at the table that evening, but Caroline's incessant extraversion may have evened out the balance.  She won't stop moving!  She started crawling this week, and immediately tried pulling herself up on anything within reach.  All so she can be where the action is, with all the people all around her.  ALL the people.

Five Minute Friday Introduction

Hi everyone, sorry it's been awhile.  Instead of going back and trying to recap the last few months, I am going to introduce you to something called "Five Minute Friday."  I discovered it through a friend from church, Holly, and I am hoping that by writing for five minutes every Friday, I will be able to keep you all up-to-date a little better.  And since I enjoy writing, I'm hoping for a fun challenge!

So, every Friday (well, Thursday night to be exact), Kate Motaung posts a single word prompt.  On Friday, all who want to participate spend five minutes writing about that prompt.  They can then add a link to their post to her blog.  I'm probably not going to join the link party yet, since I see many of the posts are spiritual and inspiring, and mine for now are going to be random scatter-brained thoughts (and I'll always post one unrelated picture!).  But I love this idea, and I'm going to roll with it for a little while.

So, the one-word prompt this week is "Reach."

Ready?

GO.

Reach.  I've seen a lot of people reaching on the Internet lately.  They're reaching buckets over their heads (or someone else's head) and dumping ice water on themselves.  Some people found out later in the game, but I think by now everyone knows that the ice-water-dumping is to promote awareness of the disease ALS.  This is a serious degenerative disease that often strikes young men.  My Grandfather passed away from ALS, and so anytime I hear it mentioned, it kind of jolts me.  It has been, well, weird to see all these people (on Facebook, the news, in somebody's yard down the street) laughing and throwing ice water on themselves.  Like, how is this helping?  Why is everyone laughing?  But I guess it is helping, money and awareness are coming in in droves.  I don't think I'll be doing the bucket challenge, but I think I will find an organization to donate to, instead of just glumly thinking of my Grandfather and how it's too late for him.  He was already over 80 years old and had lived a full life.  I hate to think of these young fathers, professionals, athletes, husbands, never reaching their potential.

STOP.

Random picture:

Here is Caroline with her second cousin at my cousin Doris' wedding!  She (Caroline, not my cousin) isn't what you would call crawling, but rather launching herself onto her face, then picking herself up to do it again, all in the name of forward progress.

Flag Day in the USA!

(Caroline helping me with the laundry :)

Hi everyone, I am finally ready to catch you up on the last few months.  We are finally settled into our new house in Arlington, and Caroline is doing 110% better. 

Let me explain.....no, there is too much, let me sum up.  (Princess Bride :)  Pretty much, Caroline had pretty bad colic the first few months of her life.  Colic is defined as screaming 3+ hours a day (not right in a row) 3+ days a week.  There were a few weeks when Caroline could scream 10+ hours a day.  The pediatrician's office tried to reassure us at first, "All babies cry" etc etc, but after we came in and told them that in the last 24 hours she had only slept 4, they took us seriously.

We tried everything under the sun, including a really strict elimination diet for me.  After cutting dairy, then soy, then all legumes like peas and peanuts, something out there was still bothering her, but it is really hard to diagnose allergies at this age, and an elimination diet is tricky because of the lag time between when you eat and when the baby is affected.  This week, we made the switch to hypoallergenic formula, adding some rice cereal to help settle her stomach, and it has made a world of difference.  It was a little scary for awhile a few weeks back -- her stomach was bothering her so much that she was eating less and less each time, until she was hardly eating anything at all, just screaming.  She may have lost about a pound in weight, which is a lot when you only weigh 12 pounds.  We will see if she has allergy issues in the future, but we're hoping she is able to grow out of them after her stomach heals.  I definitely felt a lot of societal pressure to continue breastfeeding, but as soon as I mentioned that I wanted to switch Caroline to formula, all the doctors were very supportive.  I get the feeling that no matter how beneficial breastfeeding might be, it's not going to help as much as a happy, healthy mother, and a non-screaming baby.

Meanwhile, we've been trying to work our way back to reality.  I made pancakes this morning, and I kid you not - I felt as proud as if I had won an Olympic medal.  Bursting with pride.  Mike has been working non-stop on setting up everything in.....our new house!  We bought a townhouse in the Shirlington area, and we love it.  Parks and trails and restaurants all nearby. 

I had a bunch more I was going to blog about, but I can't remember what it was.  More later!  Here is our Flag Day picture with our brand new flag!