Then and Now

Yesterday was one of those yearly milestones for me. It got me thinking about how much my life has changed in the last year. I've gone from single to wife to mommy. So much has changed due to those things. Here are a few:

Then: Did three loads of laundry every other week.
Now: Do three loads of laundry every other day.

Then: Had a boss that showed little appreciation for all the long hours I put in.
Now: Have a "boss" who snuggles, coos, smiles, poops, urps, and sleeps to show her appreciation for all the long hours I put in.

Then: Had plenty of discretionary money for things like professional massages, eating out, and movies.
Now: Don't have discretionary money OR time for such frivolous things but I have a husband who gives great massages, makes dinner occasionally, and checks out old movies (my favorite kind) from the library.

Then: Had the means to travel to Europe and around the U.S.
Now: Drove to Birmingham (an hour away) without Phil yesterday to take my mom to the airport. Eden's fourth trip to the BHM airport (in her short 4-week life) because so many people want to visit her.

Then: Spent the day listening to KUER/NPR streaming on my computer while I worked.
Now: Spend the day listening to KUER/NPR streaming on my computer while I work.

Then: Worried and fretted about my future.
Now: Worry and fret about Eden's future.

Then: Lived near family and friends who supported me through the good and bad. A good, comfortable existence.
Now: Making new friends and holding on to the old as much as possible.

Then: Ate too many sweets.
Now: Eat too many sweets.

Then: Had to wash my own car, take out my own trash, do my own dishes.
Now: Phil washes the car, takes out the trash, and does the dishes.

Then: Wondered if I'd ever be a wife and mother.
Now: Can barely remember when I wasn't a wife and mother.

Then: Very blessed.
Now: Very blessed.

Eden's Big Day

On May 27 (Sunday), Eden turned one month old! She has changed so much in that little amount of time. Our lives have changed a bit too! On her one-month birthday she received a name and a blessing at church. Phil pronounced a beautiful blessing for Eden. My mom knows shorthand so she was able to record it and then type it out for us. It was brief but very wonderful. A couple of women who work with Phil came for the blessing and that was especially nice (along with having mom there of course!).

I made a white dress for Eden. As it turned out, there was exactly enough fabric left over from my wedding gown (which my mom and I made) to make a dress for Eden. It is very simple but I like it and especially like that it has sentimental value (and that it was FREE!). My grandmother sent a beautiful white afghan for the big event as well (as did my dear friend Charlotte and Phil's cousin Gail).


It was a very nice day.

Stone Mountain

I can't believe it has been ten days since I last posted. My mom has been here for the past week. That has been great! She came for what she thought would be Eden's birth (she already had her ticket). We've had lots of fun. On Friday we went to Atlanta, GA and went to Stone Mountain. It was interesting to see the Plantation buildings and the carving. Just to give you perspective, Robert E. Lee's ear is about the size of an average man. That is pretty huge!

The carving is of Robert E. Lee (in the forefront) who was the Confederate General. To the left of Lee is Jefferson Davis who was the President of the Confederate. To the right of Lee is Stonewall Jackson (the "hero" of the Confederacy).

It is fascinating to hear about the Civil War and the Confederacy from a southern perspective.

We had a nice drive to Stone Mountain and enjoyed a picnic near the Grist Mill. It was a nice day with my cute little family and my mom.



Here is a picture of my mom and Eden.

Eden Gets Vertical

At the risk of having Child Welfare Services show up at my door, I must share what happened yesterday.

Eden and I were headed out for a walk. I put her in her carseat and then put the carseat in the stroller (which we keep in the garage - near the garage door). Then I went to the other end of the garage and pushed the button to open the garage door. When I turned around, imagine my shock, horror, guilt as I saw the garage door lifting the stroller up with it!!!! Fortunately I made it back to Eden before she and the stroller were completely flipped but she did get a little more vertical than she is used to. What had happened is that the lip on the garage door had snagged the lip over the front wheel of the jogging stroller and lifted it up which in turn began to flip the stroller. Fortunately Eden was strapped into the carseat and the carseat was secured to the stroller. She howled for about 30 seconds and then calmed down and we went on a very nice walk. Every time I went over a bump though she would whimper - I'm guessing she was having flash backs!

She continues to be such a cute and sweet little soul - for which we are grateful. Phil's theory is that a week from today (her due date) she'll transform into a more typical baby - we hope she remains the content little person she is though.

Here is another picture:

Why is it?

So the name of this blog is "Musings and Mysteries" and yet it has become "All About Eden." To right that, this will be a non-Eden post. In fact, this will be a "Mysteries" post. The following are mysteries to me...



Why is it that a tornado warning can come on a beautiful clear day?

Why is it that I can eat ice cream anytime, anywhere and never get sick of it?

Why is it that the very people who were so complacent and willing to accept G. W./Cheney's reasons for war are also those so willing to now pull out without any sense of responsibility for the mess we've made there?

Why is it that blogging has become the new scrapbooking (ie: the newest fad) for young moms?

Why is it that so many who will fight like crazy for the right of an unborn child to live are unwilling to support social programs that will provide that child with a life. (Pro-life is absolutely my stand but I think society's responsibilities for those children go beyond birth.)

Why is it that hot cocoa tastes good to me in any season?

Why is it that Fox News has convinced so many people that it is unbiased, fair and balanced but NPR is still considered by many as part of the leftist machine?

Why is it that I still haven't found someone to cut my hair here in 'bama?

Why is it that my husband's favorite comfort food is graham crackers?

Why is it that people put the thermostat at 70 in the summer and 75 in the winter?

Why is it that people start smoking in this day and age when so much is known about the harmful impact of smoking?

Why is it that Kudzu doesn't harm the plants/trees on which it grows?

I think that is it for now...

Putting on weight and losing weight

Eden had her two-week check up on Thursday and she is back up to her birthweight and "perfect in every way." It is so nice that she is growing. She is such a good eater (from a bottle only though - she still doesn't like it the way God intended it). She just gets chunkier and chunkier. Her little skinny legs are starting to plump up and those cheeks just get fuller and fuller. I think she is looking more like her daddy these days.

I'm doing well too. One of the benefits of feeling so awful at the end of the pregnancy is that in comparison the post pardum has been really good. I am two pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm hoping to continue to lose as I could stand to shrink some more. It feels nice to have put away my maternity clothes and to be wearing my pre-prego jeans again.

Our biggest frustration remains the eating issue. I pump, she drinks from a bottle, she's getting good nutrition (mothers milk), dad gets to help, in some ways this is ideal! However, we sure wish that she would nurse the natural way. When we try though, she just gets so upset and frustrated and then I get frustrated and emotional. We are trying to decide whether to push it or just give in to this "solution." I don't know. Yesterday, when we gave in and warmed a bottle Phil said, "ok, you can have a bottle but this doesn't mean we're buying you a car when you are 16!" Seriously, if we give in so easily will we be total push overs as parents? Or should we just be grateful she is growing, grateful that she gets to be fed by dad and have that bonding with him, grateful that we can split the night-time feedings, grateful that she is such a cutie!

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions!

Eden

Here are some updated pictures of our little Eden

Eden is a wonderful baby who rarely cries (except when she is naked - she doesn't like to be naked - I guess she won't be a stripper!). She usually wakes up twice at night with a lip-smacking noise, not a cry. We feed her and she goes straight back to sleep. Not bad eh? Of course we are feeding her mothers milk through a bottle because she won't take it the natural way yet. She didn't have much of a sucking reflex when she arrived (many preemies don't) and so we started with a syringe and have graduated to the bottle. Next step is to get her to take it directly from mom! We will tackle that this weekend when dad is home to deal with the frustrated mom and baby.

By far, her most impressive talent is pooping! She produces lots of it and has a way of timing her voiding so that she makes a huge impact. Yesterday morning I was getting out of the shower and heard Phil say, "oh, mom is going to be bitter, you are just wet, mom always gets the bad ones." Then while I was blowing my hair dry I heard a screech. This screech wasn't from Eden but from her daddy. I turned off the blower and peeked around the corner to find Phil in his undergarments looking like he'd soiled himself terribly. Obviously she had done the dirty deed. The amazing thing is that she was able to squirt the yellow muck over her diaper, over the diaper changing pad and directly onto her daddy. Seriously, I bet it went a foot and a half! She has some amazing force to her movements! So what had begun with just a wet diaper ended in four soiled diapers (all before she actually got closed up and dressed) and a soiled daddy. This isn't an isolated case. She has shown this talent many times for mommy, aunt Emily, Grandma, and our friend Hollie. She is generous in sharing her talents... :)

Well, that is it for now. She's sleeping and I'm going to go take that advice no one takes but everyone gives and try to sleep while my baby sleeps.

Surprise!!!

That last post was on April 26 at 1:40 or something. I did spend most of the day in bed - as ordered. Then instead of making dinner, we decided to go to Olive Garden. Phil's parents were in town helping us do some updating on our home and they had some gift cards and we just got an Olive Garden so off we went. We had a nice, slow meal and then went next door to Target to look at some baby stuff.

When we returned home I, somewhat begrudgingly, returned to my "down" postion as the four of us started a DVD. About 30 minutes into The Lake House, I felt a warm gush of liquid. I announced (somewhat giddily and somewhat frightened) that I thought my water had just broken. It had! One month - to the day - ahead of my due date!

A mere nineteen hours later our beautiful daughter was born. Although 4 weeks and a day early she was born a healthy 7 pounds, 1 ounce. (I'm so glad I didn't go full term - she would have been HUGE!).

So that is our exciting surprise.

Bed Rest?!

So, I am typing this post while in bed. I had my doctor's appointment today and was told (by the nurse practitioner since my doc is out of town - Disney World to be exact!) that I need to be on bed rest. I have some swelling and my blood pressure was up. Since I have a family history of preeclampsia and since I'm "special" (euphemism for over 35), I get to be extra cautious.

Ok, so this is the same woman whom I saw on my very first visit. On that visit, she called me back for an ultrasound (the doctor wanted to get an initial ultrasound to establish a good due date). I told the nurse practitioner that I wanted my husband to be there for it. She looked at me like I was a total weirdo and said, "well if you really want him there, he can come." So in we all went. Then she started to take my "history" and one of the questions was if I had experienced any menopausal symptoms. At that point, I told her that I didn't think so and that I had just had a pregnancy test in the lab and it came back positive. She then laughed and confessed that she thought she was doing an ultrasound to look for fibroids (who wouldn't want their husband there for that?). After performing the ultrasound she told us that we were the second "elderly pregnant couple" she'd seen that day. Elderly????? We'd heard "high risk" but that was the first time we'd heard elderly. I'm still in my 30s (barely).

So, here I am seeing her again and this time she calls me "special" and tells me I have to stick to my bed with my "feet at or above heart level." Let's hope that when my doctor is back next week she'll reverse this decision.

-your special, elderly, bed-ridden friend

Confederate Memorial Day?

This morning I had a great time with Erin D. She is 2 1/2 and full of spirit and personality. She's quite adorable. The reason she was hanging out with me is that her mother was going to get her Alabama driver's license (they recently moved here from Michigan). Imagine our surprise when Corrie got to the government offices and found out that they are closed for a state holiday. What state holiday you may ask? Confederate Memorial Day of course! This holiday memorializes the end of the Civil War (on April 26, 1865) and more especially, it celebrates the confederate soldiers. I had no idea that such a holiday existed but it appears that most of the south celebrates it.

And now we know...

Mother Knows Best

When I was in high school I was very social and very involved in choir and theatre. I loved it. I wasn't so serious about the more academic subjects and I certainly wasn't interested in homemaking skills.

I remember one day having a discussion with my mother about my need to assess my priorities. She said, in exasperation, "your husband is not going to care how well you sing or how many shows you were in! He will care how well you can cook!" Well, according to Phil, she was absolutely correct. The other day as I was making dinner (I quite enjoy cooking these days) this conversation of long ago came flooding back to my memory. I mentioned it to Phil and he confirmed that my mother (as always) was right.

Phil often mentions what great "perks" the good meals, cookies, breads, etc. are. He truly appreciates the fact that I enjoy homemaking. He thinks it is cool that I made my own wedding gown (although it ended up being a complete fiasco) and that I am using the remaining fabric from it to make our daughter's blessing dress. He likes that I crochet and even asked me to teach him (although he didn't find much satisfaction in doing it himself). Just as I'm in awe of his ability to create art out of thin air, he is in awe of my ability to "throw a meal together" (often without a recipe). He really DOESN'T care that I was in several musicals/shows in high school (except he likes to tease me about kissing Howard Bickle on stage). How did mother know?

Of course there are other things that he appreciates about me and these aren't just perks. He loves that I have a testimony of the gospel and a respect for the power of the priesthood. He loves that I enjoy children and the way I interact with them. He truly appreciates that I am interested in social and civil issues and that I like to be informed and form opinions about things that are going on in our nation and communities. He is proud of my degrees.

Although it took me a while, I'm so glad I listened to my wise mother and finally developed the skills that bring me such satisfaction and cause Phil to swell with pride about his talented wife. That mom, she's pretty smart! Here is a picture of her with my nephew, Caleb, after being drenched on the log ride at Lagoon. (isn't she cute?) :)

Young Women

I work with the Young Women in the branch of my church and most of the time it is great fun. There are about a dozen girls ages 12-18. They attend several different schools and in many cases are the only ones in their grades who belong to the church. In addition to getting together on Sundays, we also meet every Wednesday night for learning and fun activities. They are so funny. Once a month we also meet with the young men (scouts). Last Wednesday was one of these combined activities. I was asked to pull together some team/leadership type activities.

The first activity that we did was to stand on a curb and without stepping off the curb rearrange themselves youngest to oldest. If someone stepped off, they had to get back into their original order and start over. It was interesting to see how they worked together (or didn't) and how they "solved" the problem. It took several tries, but they eventually managed to get it done.

The next activity they did was a team relay where each team had a bag of clothing that they had to put on then run to their teammates, undress, and the next person would then put the silly clothing on. This was pretty funny to watch these big kids dressing up in all kinds of funny costumes.



We also played the "dot game" - you get a dot of lipstick when you mess up. Poor Spencer:


They also had to un-knot themselves (holding random hands in a circle and then figuring out how to make it an un-knotted circle).



The last activity was a values activity. They were each given 100 jelly beans and 12 categories to bid on. The values included "family harmony," "educational success," "testimony," "love of friends," etc. Then we had an auction. It was interesting for the kids to see what they were willing to spend their jelly beans on.

After each activity we talked about what they had learned in general and about themselves in the activity. I think they had a good time and perhaps they even learned something. Kids just crack me up. At the same time, I so admire their strength in dealing with the world. It isn't an easy thing these days!

Mrs. Charlotte Cantwell

Well it is 2:21a.m. on Saturday, April 14, 2007. My best friend, Charlotte, is getting married today (in approximately 12 hours). She's probably sleeping like a baby but not me! A little over a year ago things were very different for both of us. In Nov. 2005 I was at the end of a very long relationship/friendship/confused existence with my now-husband and in Feb. 2006 she ended a 3-year long relationship. We both wondered (usually with faith but sometimes with frustration) how our lives would turn out. In Feb. 2006, Phil and I decided to make a go of things again and became engaged on March 5. Just a few months later, Charlotte began hanging out with and then dating Eric (whom she is marrying today). We are both quite amazed at how different things are. It is too bad that my advanced pregnant state prevents me from being at the sealing but we both have such great joy knowing that our lives are progressing and we are both where we need to be. I was able to visit with her last month and we had some pictures taken of her in her gown and me in my belly. It was such a nice visit as we both gushed about our men-folk and shared the excitement and funnies of our current situations. It is awesome to have great friends!

Stuff

It is amazing to me how expectations can change. I used to think I was a slacker if I only worked an 8-hour day. Today I felt great achievement when I got dressed and even put my shoes on. How sad is that? Ok, that is somewhat of an exaggeration but seriously, it took me 20 minutes to put my shoes on today (yesterday I never did put shoes on - just slippers). I spent 10 minutes getting myself psyched up to bend over my ever-enlarging belly (also known as my sweet daughter whom I am so excited to hold rather than "carry") in order to put my tennis shoes on. That accomplished I took 5 minutes to recover from the exertion and then another 5 minutes of psyching up in order to tie them. When I was done, I proudly proclaimed a "ta-da" to a laughing Phil. Of course I had to point out to him that the bow of the laces was, in fact, in the middle - no cheating side-bows here! When I called Punka (the term of endearment for my dad - that's another story) and told him, he was thrilled that I now understand what he goes through every day (he's had many health issues including a new hip and back surgery). So, pregnancy has allowed me to empathize with my father? That's a little strange!

Update on the roaches: the terminix guy came and sprayed, we are still seeing a few in the morning but we are very hopeful that within the month we'll not see them anymore.

Update on the nursery: Phil did the sketches today for the animal scene he is painting on part of the nursery walls. He amazes me! They are so cute. I'm getting really excited to see how that will all come together. I'll post pictures when we are done. For now, here is a picture of the glider-rocker we just got (a gift from my siblings).

I guess that is all for now.

Lime-Cilantro Pork Tacos

Here is a recipe I tried for the first time this week and it was pretty quick and very yummy (and healthy too!). It is from the Cooking Light, June 2004 magazine.

Lime-Cilantro Pork Tacos
1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into thin strips
1/4 t salt
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
2 t olive oil
1 1/2 C thinly sliced onion
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chipped (I actually used bell peppers)
1/2 C fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1/2 C chopped tomato
3 T chopped cilantro
2 1/2 T fresh lime juice
8 flour tortillas

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; sprinkle pork with salt and black pepper; add oil and pork; saute 4 minutes or until browned; remove pork from pan; place in bowl.

Add onion and pepper to pan, saute 5 minutes or until tender; add broth, reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; stir in tomato; simmer 2 minutes.

Return pork and accumulated juices to pan; stir in cilantro and lime juice; cook 1 minute or until pork is done.

Serve with warmed tortillas and fat-free sour cream.

Calories: 208 each taco
Fat: 6.5 grams
Protein: 15 grams
Carbs: 21.5 grams
Fiber: 1.8 grams
Cholesterol: 62.5 mg
Iron: 1.9 mg
Sodium: 284.5 mg
Calcium: 50.5 mg

It came together in about 20 minutes and was really good! Try them, you'll like them!