Mouse in the House

There is a mouse in our house. This morning I woke up to lovely little mouse droppings all over my new kitchen. My parents had a mouse once. It ate part of a cookie that we were saving for my mom and my brother Colin got accused of eating it (because he was the trouble maker of the bunch). He got sent to his room until he came clean and admitted he stole it. Needless to say he was in there for a very long time.

A field right by our house.

Luckily nothing is missing things are just messy. Unfortunately I am home alone with the mouse--no husband, no brothers, no Dad. I'm getting real sick and tired of being brave. We've got spiders here. Lots and lots of spiders. There was a tarantula/field spider in a garage once and I was the one who came across it. We have Daddy long legs coming out of our ears!

Missy Sissy with Mommas hat.

I've sucked them up with the vacuum, squished them with shoes and sponges, and drowned them with water. Unfortunately I don't think any of those things are going to work with this mouse. WAAAAHHHH!

Delicious homemade low-fat cookies!

Why can't we just have a normal spider/mouse free house? I'm not a tough girl. I'm a run away and hide girl. This terror overtakes me and I'm all jumps, and screams, and shivers.

Worn flat out. 

When I was pregnant I found a spider on my pillow once and I pleaded with Brady to kill it but he is used to strong girls who don't have a spider phobias. He told me that I needed to learn how to kill them myself. I don't know if it was the pregnancy or the fear but I began to cry hysterically.

Avey and Grandma on 4th of July after Daddy and Grandpa finished the firework show.

I eventually walked my pillow (with the spider on it) into the living room and went to bed without it. Life is hard when you grow up with Terminex and marry a guy who doesn't believe in pest control. Hard and terrifying.

I need prayer.

I need an exterminator.

Little Update

What a month it has been! After moving into our duplex we discovered that all of the dsl lines in Blue Ridge were in use so we are having to suffer through a year of slower than a snail satellite internet. Ok. It's not that bad. An hour ago I began uploading 41 pictures for this blog so far we've managed 12. Go satellite internet! You're the best!

7 months.

She crawls now. Well it's not really a crawl-- more of a pushup lunge but she gets around. Tugging on cords, eating random things off the floor, getting into the DVD's-- she is mobile. It's exciting to see her grow. My eyes have been opened to how un-baby-proof my house is. We're trying to house proof the baby. I spanked her hand the other day and she looked at me like I was crazy. I'll let you know how it goes. 

Pushup lunges have become second in worry land to pulling up on furniture. This is a new skill that she has developed over the past few months. She is still not so great at it so I am pulled away from laundry, dishes, vacuuming, decorating, alphabetizing my library, and cooking several times a day. There is a bang and then a terror filled scream that can only be halted with a hug and a nurse. 

She still has little to no interest in baby food. I've begun giving her small little bites off my plate whenever we sit down to eat and she seems to do alright with that but she makes a big show of coughing and gagging anytime we try baby food. I think she may go from nursing to solids. 

After she wakes up she'll sit still and watch an entire episode of Baby Einstein that is when I get the majority of my work accomplished. She is pretty content to play by herself unless she's sleepy and then she wants me to sit next to her. 

At night Brady and I like to watch movies. She sits on the couch with us, in the crook of my arm, and watches too. She is turning into a little person--it's hilarious. 

weight loss. 

In March I weighed a whopping 220.3 lbs. I decided to start the 30 day shred and adopt a couple healthier eating habits. Before I got pregnant with Avey I weighed 204 lbs and at my heaviest weight ever--9 months pregnant and ready to pop I tipped the scales at 258 lbs. 

I remember the last time I was below 200 lbs. It was in 2008. The day after I hauled all my stuff to Colorado Springs to begin attending the New Life School of Worship. I stepped on the scales and was appalled to see that I was 198 lbs. I called a friend and swore that I'd never see the other side of 200. I was on a mission to get my weight under control but no matter what I tried--eating healthy, working out-- I just couldn't seem to lose the weight and when I came home in 2009 I was 212 lbs and it was then that I was told that I had hypothyroid disease-- an autoimmune disorder that can cause significant weight gain.

When we moved to Texas in 2006 I was 125 lbs. 

87 lbs in three years. 

It was horrifying and humiliating. I was 20 years old and I had stretch marks and cellulite. 

I've tried diet plans and gym memberships but nothing ever worked. I'm addicted to food. The other day the power went out and all I could think of was going to In-n-Out to get a burger because I was upset that my plans to decorate that evening had been spoiled. I eat when I'm sad, bored, happy, annoyed--any emotion is a reason to eat.

In March I began to lose. In April we moved and I used that as my excuse to go back to the way I ate before. I told myself that as soon as we moved into our new place I'd go back to the diet. I did not anticipate that our home renovations would take us two months. 

I weighed 209 lbs the day we moved into our new home and I am proud to report that I weighed in at 197 lbs this morning. 12 lbs in three weeks. I'm very proud of myself.

I've lost 23 lbs since March and 61 lbs since I had Avey. I am very very proud of myself. 

The day I saw that I was no longer in the 200's was a life changing day. I cried. I hadn't seen the 100's in three years. 

Today was also a very happy day. When I met Brady I was over 200 lbs. I have weighed more than my husband since I met him. This morning... I weighed less. It made me feel all skinny and womanly.

I would like to get down to at least 185 before we get pregnant again. We'll see...

A tour of our new little home is coming soon!

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

moving day.
After almost two months of living with my Grandparents we are finally moving into our new home!! There is still work that needs to be done but today I am happy to be unpacking-- filling up the cupboards in our new kitchen, positioning furniture the way I've planned it in my mind, and convincing Brady that the bed does indeed need to go in the center of the wall in our room instead of up against the wall. Silly boy wants to have one us crawl over the other one to get out of bed.

We did that before. In the apartment. It was short lived and after I finally convinced him to let me position the bed differently to his surprise he actually like it better. I have no doubt that he'll come around--eventually-- this time too.

6 month old little monster. 
We bought her a jumpy thingy because she likes to stand up and bounce around while you hold onto her hands. We figured she'd love it but she's still trying to figure it out. We put her in it and after five minutes she starts to fuss because she's done.

She's going through this awesome stage where she likes to have my attention every second of the day. If I'm not looking at her she gets upset. Like--woah. We had a diva. She fake chokes now because she knows that I immediately drop whatever I'm doing and rush to her side. Smart, funny, little diva.

The other day I made myself a sandwich for lunch and I had just sat down on the couch to enjoy said sandwich when Avey went into this coughing, choking, fit. At first I thought she was joking but then she didn't stop when I looked at her so I freaked out. Dropped my sandwich on the ground and then stepped on it while rushing to her aid-- ready to do some serious pounding on her back to get whatever was stuck in her throat out.

When I got next to her on the floor she started to laugh because Momma is a funny fool and Avey is a good little prankster. I don't know where she learned how to fake choke herself but she did and now she does it once or twice a day. I tried to tell her the story about the boy that cried wolf but I don't think her comprehension skills are quite up to par yet. Sister drives me crazy.

"I coulda been a contender."

She's also become a little mimic. For months I've been placing my hand over my mouth while I say "awahwahwahwahwah". Like the Indians. Then if she makes noise I move my hand over her mouth too. Like I said we've been working at this for months and the other day while we were sitting on the couch, in the garage, in the duplex she placed her hand over her own mouth and let out a mighty Indian holler.

She likes to use the back of her hand for her Indian cry--so funny!

I grabbed my camera and hit record while we went back and forth--speaking Indian to each other. It was AWESOME. 

Also awesome? The way she started crawling two nights ago when everyone walked out of the room and it was just us two. She got up on all fours and crawled... twice. I woke my Grandparents up in hopes that she would do it again but she didn't. Last night after several failed attempts at trying to get her to crawl toward me I placed the TV remote at my feet (because Sister loves the things she's not allowed to have). Wouldn't ya know it? Girlfriend got up on all fours and crawled right over to that TV remote. I called for Brady and he was finally able to see it too. The look on his face was priceless. Big, huge, grin-- mouth wide open, he was radiating proud papa.

duck face. 
Avey started making this sniffy duck face shortly after we moved in with my Grandparents. It's ridiculous how funny it is.

toys.
Avey likes the toy for the tag. If the toy doesn't have a tag she isn't interested.

wet t-shirt contest.
June 12, 2012
My Grandparents are having some work done in one of the rooms of their house, needless to say, there has been a handy man walking around for the better part of the morning. Avey and I are here by ourselves so I took it upon myself to play hostess and offer the man a cold, refreshing, beverage. He laughed and said he was fine drinking out of the hose. I insisted that he come inside and have something cold and filtered.

While he was drinking and telling me some silly story Avey started to fuss in the other room as I prepared lunch. When I sat down on the floor with Avey in the living room I realized that the front of my shirt was wet and thought to myself, "Hmm I must have spilt some water."

Wrong. 


Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 


Not water. Breast milk.

My handy dandy little milk pad was not positioned correctly and my milk let down-- in front of the handyman. I just thought I should share how utterly humiliated I am and how it sucks to be so leaky all of the time. Nursing is awesome, it saves a bundle, and it is much more convenient than formula. The pros outweigh the cons by far but sometimes I think back to a simpler time where my boobs were my own (+Brady's). One day...

Kisses.

Caught

It is not abnormal to find the four of us (My Grandparents, Brady, and I) sitting around the kitchen after a day of gardening, sewing, mommy-ing, and work--telling stories, eating dinner, and making jokes. Shortly after Brady and I moved in during one of these common gatherings in the kitchen my Grandma grabbed our attention with a muttered "oh no."

She had been cleaning and refilling the glass bowl of water marbles they'd bought while on vacation. She pulled out a broken marble. "I wonder how that happened..."

"Maybe somebody smushed it?"

All eyes were on me. I can't keep a secret to save my life "I thought that they'd be smushy. But they're not. I smushed it in half."

"You smushed it in half and then you hid it underneath all the others so no one would find it?" Brady asked with a smile.

I nodded. Guilty.

"She's like a little kid."

It's true. Growing up with six other kids to blame stuff on has not done me well. Brady always finds me out. There are tell tale signs--

1. I blame it on Eric. Brady's old roommate. 
2. I blame it on Avey. Been blamin her since I was pregnant.
3. I blame it on curiosity.
4. I cry.

But I don't lie.

To his credit he never gets mad. He always thinks I'm kinda funny.

Honest to God I don't know why I do the things I do. I could get real deep and introspective with this post but I wont because the truth is though 99.9% of the time I don't think things through (like smushing none smushable water marbles) it always eventually leads to a good laugh and a good razz.

Like the time when I was 16, days after we moved to Texas, I burst into my Aunts house and held my family captive while I told them how I saw a dead penguin on the side of the road. Still to this day anytime anyone in my family drives past a skunk on the road they text, or call-- "I just passed a Texas Penguin."

When someone eats all the ice cream I blame Avey. When something gets broken I hide it. I probably need to take a trip to the Dr. Phil Show because there is probably something very wrong with me. Something that probably has to do with my spider phobia and the way that bunnies creep me out. I'm not going to dwell today.

Today I have to figure out how to convince Brady to fix the coaster that I accidentally broke when I picked up my glass to take a drink. The glass coaster clung and then dropped to the concrete floor. Right now it's hiding in a gift bag on my dresser.

Dear Dr. Phil,

.....

Sew Happy

A month and a half ago we moved in with my Grandparents. My Grandmother is a seamstress. She owns her own business. She does custom embroidery, alterations, and screen printing. Her skills far exceed the above mentioned areas. She has made wedding dresses, wedding cakes, dozens of quilts, pants, painted houses, built walls-- you get the picture. I knew when we moved in with my grandparents that I was going to have a unique opportunity--that if I asked-- my Grandma would delight in showing me how to make whatever I wished.

When I was pregnant with Avey I spent a couple days with my Grandma learning how to make hooded towels. We had such a great time and it was such a fond memory that I was excited to learn more. My Grandma is a patient teacher she is someone who will give help when needed without being overbearing.

A couple months ago I found a neat idea on pinterest and I knew that in order to pull it off I would need my Grandmas help. The week after we moved in I asked my Grandma if she would teach my how to make a pillow case and more importantly I wanted to know how to use her BIG embroidery machine. She was excited that I was interested in something that she loves so much. She jumped at the chance and we were off and running in no time.

I learned how to use her embroidery program and I learned how to use her machine. I started to help fill orders.

Inspired by her enthusiasm and spurred on by a project she had going I decided I wanted to learn how to make a quilt so she took me to a quilt shop she loves. I was enthralled and severely overwhelmed by it all. I wondered around the shop scrutinizing and touching all the different fabrics. Listening to much more experienced women talk about all the different projects they had going on and all I could think was--


"I can do this."


"I can make beautiful, extravagant things that people ohhh and ahhh over."


"I can adopt this skill that would enrich the lives of my family and those around me."


I stopped dead when I spotted a fabric with the preamble to the constitution printed on it. I quickly gathered stripes, stars, and things that reminded me of America-- an idea quickly forming. For those of you who have never been to my house (before or after I got married) my entire living room (before I got married it was my bedroom) has an Americana theme. Brady-- patriot that he is-- is a fan of my decor choice. With fathers day around the corner I thought that I'd surprise him with a new quilt for the family room. He loves our country and our constitution-- I knew that he'd think it was really cool.

pieced together-unfinished. sans both borders.

Obviously that is not going to be his only fathers day gift. I've got something manly hidden away.

That was a couple weeks ago.

I am now working on my second quilt-- Brady knows about and has seen the Americana quilt. I was sewing when he got home from work and he found me out. He really likes it. I am blessed beyond compare to have a Grandma who has diligently worked at perfecting a skill that used to be a hobby and is now a thriving business. Blessed that she worked so hard and is wanting and able to pass what she's learned along to me.

All that to say-- on Sunday my soon-to-be sister-in-law had her Bridal Shower. I had thought about saving the throw pillow I had made for the wedding but I couldn't wait. I eagerly waited while she opened up gift after gift--getting closer to mine. The smile on her face did not disappoint.

the pillow says, "where he and she became we"

update.
Sunday Brady finally finished the floor in the duplex which means we can move in in 7 days. The only thing we are waiting on now if for the epoxy to cure, an air duct cleaning, and a professional deep clean.

So our move in date is set for June 16! Hallelujah!

I'm having mixed emotions. I am excited to move in but sad to see our time with my grandparents come to a close.

Our future is bright, my heart is full.