This afternoon after Andrew got home from work, we decided to make a run to the bank to take care of some business. After we were done at the bank, Andrew suggested that we go to the mall for something to do together. The mall? I thought. Of course!
We did a bit of window shopping and took Holly to run around at the kid's play place. By then it was well past our dinnertime, so we decided to go down to the food court and grab a bite to eat before going home. We ordered our food, and then Andrew took Holly to go find a seat while I paid and waited for our food. When the time came to pay, I realized my wallet was with Andrew--oh, no! So I ran to grab my wallet and when I turned around, I came face to face with...my past.
Well, not really. Just a guy I went to high school with and we were in choir together. Choir was a big deal to me in high school, and those of us who were in choir hung out a lot. And I didn't really come face to face with him, either. He was passing by, oblivious to me, when I decided to screech, "Jared!" to get his attention. He was, er, a little surprised to see me. Let me explain myself. My hair was in a ratty ponytail, I had no make-up on, I was sporting my glasses, and my outfit of choice made me look like I was still pregnant. And not cute pregnant--just thick around the middle and yucky. (We were not planning on going anywhere where I would be seen in public. My mistake.) To top it all off, little Josie was perched in my Baby Bjorn strapped to my chest. To say that I looked a little rough is an understatement. Yikes.
By contrast, Jared has always been someone who takes great care in his personal appearance. He always wears very fashionable clothes and looks put together. Anyone passing by would scarcely have believed that we even knew each other.
As soon as I called his name and he stopped to talk, I was embarrassed by myself. What followed was an extremely awkward conversation as I tried to catch up with him and managed to be in the way of no less than 25 people waiting to order their food. Needless to say, I came away from the exchange feeling like I had done a disservice to myself and stay-at-home moms everywhere!
We don't wear ill-fitting clothes, wandering around the mall aimlessly, with our raggedy-looking children in tow. We are cute, hard-working women who love our children and husbands and who (should) take pride in our appearances!
So...here's to taking pride in my appearance and getting dressed every day.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Stroller
A week or two ago, Andrew and I had an argument a discussion about double strollers. To get one, or not? Which kind? How much to spend? We both came away from that little session frustrated and no closer to solving this age-old dilemma.
Well, the next day I was taking a look on Craigslist when I found an ad for a double stroller for $30. Dost mine eyes deceive me? Was it too good to be true? I called the phone number and the stroller was still available. I enlisted my mother to come with me to check it out lest I get kidnapped.
On our drive over, we decided on a code to use while we were looking at the stroller so we needn't be rude if I wasn't going to take it. Unfortunately, we were not on the same page with the code; as I checked out the stroller I was trying to ask my mom what she thought. She was giving very vague signals so I was completely on my own, decision-wise. After much deliberation and freaking out, I finally decided to buy it. I mean, it was $30. How could I pass that up?
Here's Holly checking out her sweet new ride. She decided she approved and drank her morning cup of milk in it, alongside a little reading material. I am not suffering under the illusion that my new stroller is a thing of beauty; I realize that it was made circa 1992 and has some mileage on it. But I think it will meet our needs just fine.
But if I live to regret my purchase, I probably won't let you know. I have too much pride to do that.
Well, the next day I was taking a look on Craigslist when I found an ad for a double stroller for $30. Dost mine eyes deceive me? Was it too good to be true? I called the phone number and the stroller was still available. I enlisted my mother to come with me to check it out lest I get kidnapped.
On our drive over, we decided on a code to use while we were looking at the stroller so we needn't be rude if I wasn't going to take it. Unfortunately, we were not on the same page with the code; as I checked out the stroller I was trying to ask my mom what she thought. She was giving very vague signals so I was completely on my own, decision-wise. After much deliberation and freaking out, I finally decided to buy it. I mean, it was $30. How could I pass that up?
Here's Holly checking out her sweet new ride. She decided she approved and drank her morning cup of milk in it, alongside a little reading material. I am not suffering under the illusion that my new stroller is a thing of beauty; I realize that it was made circa 1992 and has some mileage on it. But I think it will meet our needs just fine.
But if I live to regret my purchase, I probably won't let you know. I have too much pride to do that.
Christmas
I just realized I didn't post about our Christmas this year. Oops. Here's the story.
We spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with Andrew's family. We went out to his parents' house, but I forgot to pull out my camera the entire time we were there. We had a yummy roast beef dinner, and all the kids ran around like crazy while the adults played games and put together puzzles. We had a blast, and got home really late. We were all cranky and irritable the next few days, a sure sign of a good time.
Christmas Eve was spent at my parents' house. We invited some new friends from our ward to join us.
This is Monika. She's extremely photogenic and I hate her. Actually, I love her. But I hate that she's so photogenic.
Here's Monika's husband, John. He and Monika totally held Josie for most of the time they were there, which was awesome.
We ate and played games all afternoon. Then when evening came, we opened presents. Holly's big gift was a dollhouse, which she fell in love with immediately.
Holly's favorite component of the dollhouse is the potty. She made all the dolls sit on it and was making sound effects for them. She still does, actually. She also had to try out all the furniture by sitting on it herself, never mind that it is TINY.
I asked Holly to stand next to the dollhouse, so naturally she stood on it. Things got a little rough at this point in the day, so I took her pants off to make her happy. Don't judge me, okay?
Christmas morning took place at our house with just the four of us, which was lots of fun but a bit rushed as we were trying to get out the door after breakfast. It was a cozy beginning to a really fun day.
Here's our sad little tree with a few presents underneath it. I think we had already started opening presents when I remembered to take this picture.
Holly was pretty tired and had to be coaxed to open her presents. Why did we buy them again? I'm kidding--I think.
Josie hung out in her swing and sucked on her hands while the rest of us went crazy with presents. This kid loves to suck on her fingers! I don't know what we're going to do.
And now, here's a little something to leave you with:
I didn't say it was pretty, just that we had a good time. How was your Christmas?
We spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with Andrew's family. We went out to his parents' house, but I forgot to pull out my camera the entire time we were there. We had a yummy roast beef dinner, and all the kids ran around like crazy while the adults played games and put together puzzles. We had a blast, and got home really late. We were all cranky and irritable the next few days, a sure sign of a good time.
Christmas Eve was spent at my parents' house. We invited some new friends from our ward to join us.
This is Monika. She's extremely photogenic and I hate her. Actually, I love her. But I hate that she's so photogenic.
Here's Monika's husband, John. He and Monika totally held Josie for most of the time they were there, which was awesome.
We ate and played games all afternoon. Then when evening came, we opened presents. Holly's big gift was a dollhouse, which she fell in love with immediately.
Holly's favorite component of the dollhouse is the potty. She made all the dolls sit on it and was making sound effects for them. She still does, actually. She also had to try out all the furniture by sitting on it herself, never mind that it is TINY.
I asked Holly to stand next to the dollhouse, so naturally she stood on it. Things got a little rough at this point in the day, so I took her pants off to make her happy. Don't judge me, okay?
Christmas morning took place at our house with just the four of us, which was lots of fun but a bit rushed as we were trying to get out the door after breakfast. It was a cozy beginning to a really fun day.
Here's our sad little tree with a few presents underneath it. I think we had already started opening presents when I remembered to take this picture.
Holly was pretty tired and had to be coaxed to open her presents. Why did we buy them again? I'm kidding--I think.
Josie hung out in her swing and sucked on her hands while the rest of us went crazy with presents. This kid loves to suck on her fingers! I don't know what we're going to do.
And now, here's a little something to leave you with:
I didn't say it was pretty, just that we had a good time. How was your Christmas?
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Shopping!
This past week, my wonderful sister Emily and her equally wonderful husband Josh came down for a visit and a break from the cold they're experiencing up in Fargo, ND. We have had a blast visiting with them and Holly has had a blast chasing around their dog, Lilo.
On Thursday, we went to the outlet mall to cash in one of my Christmas presents--new clothes from my parents! Desperately needed, by the way. It turns out that safety pins and rubberbands will only go so far to hold clothes together. My loved ones had to stage an intervention to tear me away from ill-fitting clothes that do absolutely nothing for my new, lumpier post-Josie figure. Thank you to all who were involved. I looked terrible, but it's slowly getting better.
For those of you who are considering driving three hours each way to get lots of shopping done with two kids under age 2 in tow: seriously think about what you are doing before you do it! I spent about half the time we were there changing diapers, nursing, and feeding and consoling a cranky toddler who had cabin (stroller?) fever. It was a little rough. But we had immense success in the clothing department and I bought myself a new cookbook to boot! During one of our breaks, we ate some Auntie Anne's pretzels and hung out by the little river thingy and let Holly blow off some steam.
Holly posing with her Auntie Em. She wasn't really into the whole picture-taking thing.
Both of my girls with Auntie Em and Uncle Josh. Sorry, Josh, that the top of your head is chopped off. You can't tell, but Josie was protesting loudly because it had been an hour and a half since she had last eaten and she was going to die if she didn't eat something, stat.
Melts my heart! What a little angel. I just adore my Holly. Too bad that five minutes after this, she was freaking out from lack of naps and too much shopping. Oh, well.
We will miss you terribly when you leave, Josh and Emily! You better come back to visit us soon! And we will make it up there...someday when the snow melts and I will be able to go outside up there without 25 layers of clothing on.
Oh, and P.S. I forgot to add to my last post that I also made blackberry jam that day. I was on fire! Am I awesome, or what? Too bad my kids and I looked like ragamuffins.
On Thursday, we went to the outlet mall to cash in one of my Christmas presents--new clothes from my parents! Desperately needed, by the way. It turns out that safety pins and rubberbands will only go so far to hold clothes together. My loved ones had to stage an intervention to tear me away from ill-fitting clothes that do absolutely nothing for my new, lumpier post-Josie figure. Thank you to all who were involved. I looked terrible, but it's slowly getting better.
For those of you who are considering driving three hours each way to get lots of shopping done with two kids under age 2 in tow: seriously think about what you are doing before you do it! I spent about half the time we were there changing diapers, nursing, and feeding and consoling a cranky toddler who had cabin (stroller?) fever. It was a little rough. But we had immense success in the clothing department and I bought myself a new cookbook to boot! During one of our breaks, we ate some Auntie Anne's pretzels and hung out by the little river thingy and let Holly blow off some steam.
Holly posing with her Auntie Em. She wasn't really into the whole picture-taking thing.
Both of my girls with Auntie Em and Uncle Josh. Sorry, Josh, that the top of your head is chopped off. You can't tell, but Josie was protesting loudly because it had been an hour and a half since she had last eaten and she was going to die if she didn't eat something, stat.
Melts my heart! What a little angel. I just adore my Holly. Too bad that five minutes after this, she was freaking out from lack of naps and too much shopping. Oh, well.
We will miss you terribly when you leave, Josh and Emily! You better come back to visit us soon! And we will make it up there...someday when the snow melts and I will be able to go outside up there without 25 layers of clothing on.
Oh, and P.S. I forgot to add to my last post that I also made blackberry jam that day. I was on fire! Am I awesome, or what? Too bad my kids and I looked like ragamuffins.
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