Parenting Practices - Part 2

And so continues Part 2 of Parenting Practices that "former self" PK (pre-kids) would have raised her eyebrows in wonderment at...

TV Watching and Other Electronics: Rated No Big Deal PK

So this practice has developed in phases...

Phase 1 - Pre-pregnancy - I only know that I thought watching tv, playing video games, etc was no big deal for kids because (1) I love tv and I was a kid once and I turned out fine, (2) I remember having no qualms about letting kids that I babysat watch tv and the big one ---> (3) I never had any reason to research the pros and cons of sitting in front of the tube for hours upon hours.

Now, Phase 2 - Pregnant with child #1 - All of a sudden I was ANTI-TV 1000%. I was reading all sorts of things about the horrible effects of television on children under 2 so of course, child #1 was not going to be watching any tv. (I will say that I didn't really start doing anything about this until I felt he was more aware of his surroundings - maybe around 4-5 months.) With child #1, he did not get to watch tv ever until around the time he turned 1. (Funny story though, he somehow started **miraculously** knowing who Elmo was...so I have always wondered who it was that let him watch Sesame Street...lol)

Phase 3 - See Phase 1, #1 above, specifically the first part. I remember thinking, "Well, he has to know who the Bernstein Bears are! I love the Bernstein Bears! Oh and Little Einsteins is educational! I want him to love music!" And so on and so forth... But I would still limit it to about 1 show every day or so. I also was not keen on other people letting him watch tv since I wouldn't have any say on the type of show it was. I was very intentional about what shows I would let child #1 watch. I wanted (and still do) the shows to be positive with good lessons built into the story line. Also if they were educational that was a big plus.

Phase 4 - Pregnant with child #2, husband is working A LOT and/or I need a shower... - TV has become somewhat of a babysitter, as much as I hate to admit it (seriously, I'm squirming in my chair...). When I need child #1 to be occupied consistently with almost no chance of him moving from his spot on the bed/couch, I put his favorite show on. I am still very intentional about what shows he watches and I try to make sure the messages are all positive but he admittedly watches way more tv then I ever thought he would at this age purely out of convenience. It's still limited to 1-2 shows/day or 1 movie on "special" occasions (special meaning any situation I need a little longer time to complete whatever it is I'm doing...). It's not that I feel like this is somehow making me a bad mother or he's going to have problems but I just want to set a standard of "high activity" in the house and not a standard of "laziness" where we are always sitting in front of the tv. Basically I want to create good habits.

Current Phase - Similar to Phase 4 but now child #2 probably gets more tv viewing in then her older brother did at her age. She's never really just sitting in front of the tv left to watch it and she certainly never watches tv alone (it's always because older brother is watching something). But I feel like overall we have come to a good place - not too extreme in either direction of the tv watching spectrum. We don't just leave the tv on with whatever show is on to let little eyes take in whatever the world has to offer. But we also don't prohibit any and all television which helps this mom get things done, like making dinner. And if I feel like child #1 is becoming too dependent on watching tv then I just leave it off for a few days and "reset his clock" so he's not asking to watch tv out of habit.

The electronics aspect was added to this post later only because I didn't feel it needed a seperate section. It closely relates to the tv watching in that it started out at 1, on a scale where 1 is not allowed at all, and has slowly moved up the scale to where it's at now which is about a 3-4. We let child #1 play on the iPad or my phone which has puzzle and coloring games on it. Again I try to limit this to an hour throughout the day, at most. If I feel like it is becoming a habit to just go to the iPad and play on there instead of choosing other toys or activities to play with, then I scale way back again to get out of the habit. I do notice that if child #1 has had to much tv/electronics time that his mood starts to suffer and he doesn't listen or behave as well. So that's my motivation to turn it off and get us all doing something active and engaging!

Diapering, Babywearing and Solid Foods - Rated as Not Even Thought About because...why???

I decided to cloth diaper when I was about 5-6 months pregnant with child #1. I also discovered babywearing, as in the use of wraps or other sorts of slings to "wear" a baby, when I was at the end of that pregnancy or right at the beginning of the newborn days. And solid foods was something I researched as I got further in my "Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" book and it become more pertinent to life as we knew it. All of these things were decisions that were made almost instinctively - it just felt right. Cloth diapering made financial sense too. Being an accountant, it was kind of hard to ignore that. Babywearing was convenient and a way that I could keep my baby close when out and about and wanted to keep wandering, germy hands away. This was especially nice with child #2 who I had "out and about" much quicker than child #1. With child #1 I just did not like putting him down. Unless he was sound asleep after driving somewhere and looking quite comfy in his carseat, I liked holding him and since he became a fairly large baby quite quickly, this saved my arms when I was holding him at functions/parties. I did try to wear him once when I was walking every day but in that case, I found the stroller to be much more useful. I didn't like huffing and puffing next to the other moms who were otherwise enjoying their walk as they pushed their smooth gliding strollers. With child #2, she lived in the wrap for her earlier months and it was a heaven-sent blessing because I was running around after a 20 month old who needed constant attention and we often went outside to let loose the pent-up energy. As child #2 has gotten older, I've had less of a need for the wrap and will often put her in the stroller and let child #1 walk. Child #1 almost never goes in the stroller anymore but if we're in a situation that requires it, then I just put child #2 in a wrap. I never bought a double stroller.

Solid foods is something that is a little interesting. I assumed baby food bought in a jar was the way to go PK. Wouldn't have had any other reason to believe otherwise. Then I heard about making your own baby food so that became something I was a little interested in. Then I heard about BLW (baby led weaning) and, after attempting to feed child #1 purees, realized this was the way to go. Child #1 did not like purees and I found it to be a bit of an inconvenience. I mean, why go to all the hassle of either (1) making the food or (2) opening a jar only to have the kid spit it all out and not ingest any of it?? Didn't seem worth it to me. PLUS I was reading in "Womanly Art" that solids aren't even necessary for the first year of life so, whoop! there went my motivation right out the window!

Continuously over the first year of life, I had people that appeared to be quite concerned that I wasn't feeding my child. But I learned to just kind of brush off the comments because I knew that it was ok. He LOVED to nurse and was getting all the proper nourishment from breastmilk so I had no reason to worry. When he started trying to pick things up with his little fingers, I started giving him minuscule pieces of food. Now, I will say that I was always very nervous about this because having never done this before nor ever seeing this BLW thing done in person, I had no clue what I was doing. So I just scoured the internet forums that supported this type of thing and hoped and prayed that my child would never need the Heimlich. There were a few instances where I thought my child was surely dying (child #1 was a gagger) and I would curse the day that I ever heard of BLW but once we made it through those earlier days, I loved it. Sure it made quite the mess as he tried to feed himself but I feel like he's such a great eater because of it. And now with child #2, I worry almost never. I'm much more confident and adventurous in what foods and food portions I give her to try. (For the record, I thought she was going to be my puree-eater so I bought a HUGE GIANT box of organic baby food, yes... in jars... but she turned out to hate having anyone put anything in her mouth. She's very much an "I will do this myself thankyouverymuch" type of girl...so the box of jarred food is still in my pantry. But she is also an AMAZING eater, much better than older brother ever was at her age.) IF there is ever a child #3, I will not be buying any baby food, even if the child does love it, because I'm a firm believer in BLW now.

Crying and Sleeping Through the Night (as it relates to an infant less than a year old) - Rated Normal and Necessary PK

This is such a controversial topic among mothers these days but because of that I am addressing it here because I want my children to know how it was for me. And I want to remember how we parented since the years have a funny way of erasing details.

As soon as child #1 was born, there was no way I would have let him cry unnecessarily. If there was something I could do to keep him from crying I would do it. This practice is one of those that was developed purely from instinctual feelings. I feel like a crying infant always has a reason to cry. They're hungry, their clothes are uncomfortable, their tummy hurts, they need to feel secure in the arms of momma, etc etc etc. Crying is an infant's only method of communication and while we as adults may think that they are crying too much, think about how much we talk in any given day! An infant has to communicate somehow and crying is it. Because it felt right in my heart, I did whatever I could to keep the crying to a bare minimum. If I couldn't stop the crying then I would research the dickens out of it trying to figure out what else I could do to help my baby. That included cosleeping (see above, child #1 did not like to be alone!), holding for naps, letting babies nurse whenever they wanted to, and giving up on the notion that they would sleep through the night when I was ready for them to. I feel like it is my responsibility to make an infant's life as stress-free as possible. Children are people and deserve respect. And, yes, they are still children with undeveloped brains (albeit developing at exponential rates!) and they don't understand this world yet. So often when I get frustrated, I try to put myself in their shoes. How would this look to them since they don't know that I still exist even though I left the room? And that has helped me in my attempt for sensitivity and patience as I address their needs.

Now, given the above sentiment, I will say that I may have been extra ultra sensitive as a first time mom to child #1's every whimper and while I don't think it hurt him in anyway, I find that I am less likely to jump at the first sound of child #2 and tend to listen first to what type of cry it is. Child #2 also has a very different temperament and is verrrrry easygoing so I know that if she whimpers a little, she's probably not going to erupt into full scale emergency cry if she's not tended to immediately. And I have found that child #2 will even soothe herself oftentimes if given a few seconds. I still don't let her cry for more than a few minutes and I can usually discern when it is a "need something" cry as opposed to a "just trying to get comfortable" cry. And speaking of "types" of cries, interestingly enough, child #2 also has an "I just got my feelings hurt" cry which is a very high-pitched, shrill cry that makes you want to cover your ears. It has actually temporarily deafened me at times and I am not kidding. Child #1 never had a cry like that although he does have a "pouty lip, giant crocodile eyes" facial expression that does the trick so, once again, to each his own...whatever works! And they have definitely figured out what works!

So that's that...for now. I may have forgotten something and in that case, I'll be back for an epilogue!

Parenting Practices - Part 1

One of the things that no one really tells you before you have kids is how you will question everything you thought you ever knew. It's probably because those people know that whatever they say won't really matter until you have kids of your own. BUT before I had kids, I thought I would do things just. like. this.. 

and I would never do that, *covering your mouth so said parent of child performing heinous deeds can't read your lips*

oh yeah, and what your kid is doing??

Abominable...

until my kid does it every day...and then? Perfectly acceptable.

I am being a bit facetious but seriously, I don't think I'm alone. Even after one becomes a parent it's still pretty common to look at another mother and wonder "what the heck is she thinking??" but then, at least now, I know to quickly remind myself that she is doing what she feels is best and it probably is the best for her child.

That's another reason no one tells you about the great "brain transformation" that occurs after you have your own child -- every kid is different and requires special treatment uniquely suited to their needs, temperament, etc...

So yeah, surprise doesn't adequately describe what "former self" would feel if she were to fast forward to see what "current self" is doing on a daily basis. It makes me wonder what my children will be thinking before they have kids. Will they remember how they were raised? Will they have developed an "oh no she didn't!" mind-set about other parents only to find themselves doing the same thing a few years later? I want to be able to remind them how they were raised and how I, as their mother, used what may seem to be unpopular parenting practices in order to parent them in the best way I knew how.

Also before I get started on my list (which I decided to post as a two part series because the post became rather long), I have to also add that even in the 2.5 short years of parenting, I have already changed my mind about certain mothering "policies". Is that bad? Maybe to former self from 1.5 years ago, but to current self, no. It's about being flexible and adequately changing to the needs of your family.

The Players in this comedy called Parenting:

 The Parents

 

Child #1 aka Jayden Noah - 2.5 years old

 



Child #2 aka Ava Grace - 10 months old

(Photo taken at 9 months old)

 

So without further ado, my current parenting practices - PART 1:
(I will be rating each practice according to what former self felt about such practices PK [pre-kids])

Breastfeeding: Unrated as I hadn't really thought too much about it until I was pregnant with my first child. If anything I would say I would have rated it as "the normal thing to do".

I really can't remember thinking too much about breastfeeding PK other than to think, oh my gosh that woman is feeding her kid right there in the middle of all those people!!!!!!!!!! How uncomfortable...poor thing...

LOL!!

I mean to former self, it was less about feeding a kid and more about the "nudity" aspect. Like, "you better cover that up!" I do remember seeing someone nurse their walking toddler in the middle of the forest once when my family and I were out rock climbing and I just tried not to stare.

As far as nursing older babies/children, I would have definitely rated that a GINORMOUS NO.

Now...I would say to each their own.

For myself, although open to the idea of nursing as long as child #1 wanted to (that is, once I reached the 6-9 month mark, since before that it was a mental, and sometimes physical, challenge to even get to the 6 month mark), I became pregnant with child #2 when child #1 was 11 months old and could only stand it another 4 months before saying "Enough!" I couldn't handle the sensation anymore given the current state of my extremely sensitive everything...i.e. boobs, hormones, personal space...15 months was the end of my son's breastfeeding adventures. Child #2 is now 10 months and I want to at least make it to the 15 month mark so I don't feel that I've given her any less than her older brother and then we'll see how it goes after that. I do think about the fact that there are MANY people out there promoting breastfeeding to at least the age of 2 (current World Health Organization suggestion) but I look at my 2.5 year old and cannot imagine how I could possibly still be breastfeeding him. I mean, ew. I don't know if it would be different if I had never stopped but I can't even really wrap my head around that because all I can think about is "ew". That's just weird to me. (Note that it only became "ew" once I actually had a 2 year old myself who had not been breastfeeding for several months. AND that only applies to ME breastfeeding MY 2 year old. I don't think "ew" when I see other people breastfeeding THEIR 2 year old...or 3 year old. Seriously. I really feel like "to each their own".)

Co-sleeping: Rated a big NO-NO in my pre-children days

This next practice lends itself naturally to breastfeeding so makes a perfect second practice to discuss. Co-sleeping in our family started out as an "accident" but has become something that I am pretty passionate about. Initially it was a way to get. some. sleep. Something that I took for granted just days before my son was born, when my one and only all-nighter in college resulted in me sleeping the entire following day to catch up. Yeah, that doesn't happen once you have kids. So you find other ways to cope. For me, that was co-sleeping. Child #1 was not a good sleeper in terms of being able to (1) go to sleep on his own and (2) stay asleep on his own. So I found nursing him to sleep was easiest and he was often held while he slept. I loved that and everything I was reading was saying that was great. (Granted I was not reading books like "Babywise" or Dr. Ferber's book - the great "cry-it-out" advocate -- or any other books out there that said that you must teach a child to sleep on his own. One of the first books I read was "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" produced by La Leche League and I can probably thank them for all these "crunchy" tendencies that have since developed.) So when it came to nighttime sleeping, I couldn't very well hold him because I become rather limp when I sleep so the next natural step was to lay him next to me. He got to eat whenever he wanted to, I didn't have to get myself out of my oh-so-comfy bed to get him when he cried (which would have been all. night. long. since he didn't like being by himself) and I hardly had to wake up to attend to his nourishment needs.

So those were the early days, but since then...I have discovered other great benefits of co-sleeping...

(1) Breastfed babies thrive in the presence of their mother and the risk of SIDS goes waaaay down. The baby's breathing becomes regulated and they often wake more frequently which helps to avoid "failure to rouse" which is theorized to be linked to SIDS. (Failure to rouse is terminology used to describe a very deep sleep when it is difficult to wake the baby - almost like a coma.)
(2) When they make little noises and you're not sure if all is well, you can just peek an eye open and see yep, they're still breathing and go back to sleep.
(3)  When they puke in the middle of the night, you are right there to turn them over and make sure they don't choke. (Yes, this has happened and I was SO glad that we were right there to attend to his needs.)
(4) There is more time to bond with the baby especially when you work full-time, like I do! This one has always eased some of the mother guilt that I have from working full-time. (A mother is always measuring the minutes she spends with her children, as if there is some chart out there that says a certain amount of minutes spent with children equates to being a good vs bad mother...)

And those are just a few of the benefits, there is much more scientific evidence that I've discovered as well but those ones up there ^^^^ are the most important to me.

Part 2 of Parenting Practices will continue mañana...that's tomorrow...

Jayden - 2 Years Old

Oh my goodness, where do I start? First of all, I feel so guilty for not having this post already written! Jayden has been 2 years old for 10 whole days now and although I've certainly THOUGHT about writing a blog post to document my feelings on this, it has not been done. Life is SO busy right now, but I think that busy is here to stay, so I just have to sit down and do this!

My Jayden, he amazes me every. single. day. He is a talking, singing, running, hopping ball of energy. The joy this kid brings me is unimaginable and I know this because never in my life before having this child did I know that my life could be so FULL just by adding a little person to it. I love it. And yet, it also brings so much worry, guilt, heartache and fear at the same time. I've never known such a paradox and I am often shocked by the turmoil that I can find myself in. I've always been a fairly even keel person, at least not one to make big scenes (my parents may object to this since I may not have always been like this, i.e. stories have been told about blood curdling screams in very public places when I haven't gotten my way...but people, I was TWO or thereabouts...); however, now, I would without hesitation or any doubt in my mind, throw myself in the front of a moving bus if it meant saving either of my children or, on a less dramatic front, confront anyone who so much as thinks about hurting my child. And that is something to be proud of I think. The momma bear in me is fully matured. 

I find it interesting to see how I have evolved as a mother and how I am still very much a "baby" momma, trying to learn this very complex job of being a parent. It's been fun having Ava around for that reason because I can compare myself now to how I was just two short years ago in this same life stage of my child. I am more relaxed, for sure. In fact, my mom was visiting last week and noted that I did not immediately jump up and rescue Ava when she so much as whimpered. I can remember that feeling of slight fear, not knowing what was wrong with my baby for him to make such a sound. But now, I am more familiar with the sounds of a baby and don't feel the need to jump at every innocuous cry. I am quicker to listen and slower to act when the situation doesn't call for it. It is a comfortable feeling knowing that one is familiar with the sounds of her children.

But enough about me, I'll write more on my thoughts of being a mother later. For now, I just have to write about my amazing, complicated son who has me intrigued with every word that he says.

Jayden's interests these days revolve around trucks, especially construction trucks that were in abundance around our house this summer, stickers galore, trains, pine cones, and general hoarding or "packratting". We all find it pretty amusing at Jayden's tendencies to store things in little pockets all over the car, house, garage, or anywhere else that he frequents. Here is a picture of the items that we emptied out of Ava's cosleeper pocket. Hilarious? I think so. Random? Definitely.

Some things that Jayden likes to do are:

• Watch Little Angels - he would watch this all day, every day if he could. As it is, we allow him to watch all or part of 1 movie each day. He knows more about Noah than Santa Claus which became apparent to me the other day when, pointing at a picture of Santa Claus, someone asked him who it was, and he said Noah. I had to agree there were similarities with the beards. So funny.

• Do puzzles. I think we need to start giving him some more complicated puzzles because these are becoming too easy for my smart little boy! He can finish them in minutes!

• Play with stickers. He loves to stick these on paper, on himself, and basically anywhere that has a surface.

• Play with water and sand in his water/sand table. He received this table from his grandma and grandpa this summer and can spend forever playing in it. He likes to find rocks and sticks and trucks and a whole variety of other things to play with in the water and sand. And usually this play time evolves into playing with the water hose.

• Play with his Legos and build towers and houses. I love that there are activities that he is interested in now that keep his attention for more than two minutes! This is one of them.

• Moving things from one place to another. This may actually be the thing that takes up the majority of his time! He moves everything around -- stuffed animals, pieces from his toys, cards -- he likes to move them all over the house and put them in piles of like items. And if we are going upstairs, he is always intentional in bringing certain toys that must go with us upstairs. Not that he wants to play with them up there, but just to have their presence upstairs...I guess.

Jayden is a great eater but oh so messy! We are trying and trying to keep him from throwing things on the floor when he eats but it is a rare meal when the floor stays clean. But Jayden is usually pretty willing to try anything we put in front of him even if it's just enough to appease us. He is known for just barely touching his tongue to a new kind of food in order to satisfy our need for him to at least try it. He is a sneaky one, that boy.

Jayden is wearing 24 month and 2T clothes. The 2T clothes are usually too long and we mostly just have pajamas in this size so it's not a big deal. The 24 month pants are really too big but the 18 month pants were too short so he is officially stuck between sizes when it comes to pants. At his 24 month appointment, he weighed 28 pounds and is 33 inches!

We haven't started potty training him yet, mostly because I don't feel that he is ready and also partly because I'm not ready nor do I have the time right now. Since he just turned two, I will start thinking about it and hopefully by the time he starts showing more signs of readiness, I can muster up enough courageenergywhateveryouneedtogethroughthispottytrainingbusiness to get him trained. (I've heard it's rather difficult...)

Jayden is a good little talker. He has a pretty decent vocabulary, is saying two and three word sentences and will work at getting his point across when we don't get it at first. He is really cute when he says words wrong and he knows it, because he will try again and go really slow, enunciating it very carefully.

He can walk up and down stairs, run without tripping (98% of the time), is starting to understand football or at least really enjoy the games, can sing "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and the ABC song, can count from 1-10 (always skipping 6), can take off his shoes and buckle his car seat, and many more things that I had no idea two year olds could do! What can I say, I'm a proud momma!

There is so much more that I want to say but it is late and this is getting long so I will end with this. Jayden's personality is so sweet. He is funny, considerate - always saying "thank you" without being prompted, thoughtful, helpful - always helping his momma whenever I ask him to bring me things, and so very smart. I love watching his brain work and process things. The past two years have been an adventure and, although I fear time is already moving too quickly, I cautiously look forward to the years ahead with him and am grateful that I have the Lord to guide me since every new change with Jayden scares the crap out of me. Sort of joking but not really... I am realizing more and more that DJ and I are in charge of molding this little body into a God-fearing, responsible, respectful man and that is some "I-am-in-this-thing-with-no-way-out" scary stuff!

Happy Birthday baby boy!!

We spent Jayden's birthday day in Austin, Texas for the Wyoming Cowboys first football game of the season (with my brother - DJ was in Laramie already) and with no real plans, per se. We were just waiting for our flight later that day. So this video was our attempt at "officializing" his birthday with candles and a cupcake. (More to come on that trip later!) The first 50 seconds of this video are the best part and then the rest is kind of drawn out; it was such a random day!

Unexpected Encounters - Part 2

Yesterday I started telling you about my experience at the GM Dealership, of all places. I told you about Ruth and the amazing example of faith that I found her to be. Today I want to tell you about another person I met. 


While Ruth and I were talking another guy came into the waiting area. Ruth was called out to discuss some things related to her car and the guy next to me started a conversation with me this time. Again, remember I tend to be a bit wary of random people talking to me, especially men, so when this guy asked me what my car was in for, I was ready to shut the conversation down. Can never be too careful with strange men ya know... But for some reason we continued talking; I must have decided I didn't need to shut him down in a rude sort of way (sometimes it's necessary unfortunately because there are those people who ignore basic social cues...). Little by little, I start learning a little about him. I learn that he's married (ok, my walls go down a little bit more, no longer do I feel like I could be getting hit on... granted, I could have probably crossed that one off the list immediately as a given since I am, after all, 37 weeks pregnant, but remember, crazies.... strange men... I am always on guard...). I also learn that he has two young children (my walls go down further...a family man, come on!). I learn that he's an army guy and might possibly transfer to the air force since he's an airplane mechanic. (Funny what we consider "safe", army to me is safe so, combined with the other information I have learned, I pretty much don't consider this guy a threat anymore...not to mention, I can read people pretty well and he wasn't giving me any weird vibes...) He and his wife are now living in Laramie because they moved back to finish their degrees. His wife wants to be a writer and he is finishing his aeronautical studies degree. We talk a bit about the airline industry (seriously, how much random information can a girl learn in one 2 hour waiting area experience??? First Borzoi breeds and now airlines...) and in the course of that conversation, I also learn that this guy is a Christian too! He mentions here and there how they are basically waiting on God to show them where they need to be. Currently the airline industry is taking a big hit and jobs are scarce hence why they decided to finish their degrees. Waiting a year might give them more options. 


Well, what makes this guy so interesting to me is first, the way I just met him and second, the way it appears that him and his wife might be people that DJ and I could really click with. See, I have been praying for friends that share a love for the Lord and I have been praying for a couple that both DJ and I can enjoy spending time with. As I was talking to him, I was struck by a lot of similarities that they shared with us. Currently we don't have friends like this and I feel a big piece is missing from our lives as a result. Well I find out that this couple goes to a church that I attended when DJ was out of town once. I liked the church but I wanted to know a little bit more about the pastor(s) so I was able to talk to this guy about that. I learned about more opportunities for meeting other couples (through small groups, which is what the church calls Bible study groups that meet during the week) and even a women's group. The guy then happened to mention that his wife used to love going to MOPS in the town that they moved from but she hadn't found a group here. (MOPS is Mothers Of PreschoolerS but the group is flexible in their definition of a preschooler since your child can be a little older or younger than that age group.) The crazy thing is that, although I had never attended MOPS before, I have been trying for months to go to the group located here and for various reasons, it's never worked out. I was excited to be able to tell him the details and now, his wife and I are going to attempt to meet up on Thursday to attend MOPS together (after we have gotten to meet each other!)


I should also mention that this couple has lived all over the country too, just like me and DJ, and they just recently moved from Virginia where they had only lived for 8 months and then had to move because various jobs fell through. Sound familiar??? (In case you aren't familiar with our story, DJ and I lived in Tennessee for only 9-10 months before also having to move as a result of a job falling through!) He shared that they had the same concerns we had in being so far from family while trying to raise a family and also felt like they were living in another country living so far east. It was so crazy how similar our stories were in a lot of cases.


Well, we ended up swapping numbers, or rather he gave me his wife's name and number, and hopefully I'll get to meet his wife on Thursday. I am so curious what she will be like and if truly this might be the start of a friendship that I have been praying for. If not, that's ok of course because if anything, it made for a very interesting morning that could have otherwise felt like a lot of wasted hours just waiting. But I'm hopeful that God has something more in store!


What a great way to start my leave yesterday! Today Jayden started a new schedule at day care and I will tell you more about that tomorrow! We're enjoying extended Momma and Jayden time today!

Unexpected Encounters - Part 1

Although my maternity leave technically started last Thursday, I still had to do some work last week so today was really the start of my leave in my mind. And I spent it getting all sorts of stuff done which was great! I love being productive!


One of the places I went was the GM dealership to get my car's sunroof looked at (it's been leaking) and I had the most unexpected experience. It really made me think about how God is always working in our lives whether we see the visible signs or not, and it sure is fun to have it pointed out in full view sometimes!


First I met a lady who turned out to have quite a fascinating story. We initially started chatting because she had a beautiful, big dog inside the sitting lounge with her and I asked her about him. He was a Borzoi, or a Russian Wolfhound but what was even more amazing was the fact that he was just a puppy (he looked full grown to me!) and he was so calm and well-behaved! So we spent quite a bit of time talking about the dog and I learned quite a bit about that breed. Now one thing I should mention is that I don't always chat up strangers especially if I start talking to them and they kind of rub me the wrong way, like if they are a little too friendly right away or too high energy, maybe you know what I mean. I start feeling uncomfortable with people like that, maybe it's from my time spent in Albuquerque where you just couldn't be too careful about the crazies out there! Well, this lady was neither of these things and so I continued chatting with her, which turned out to be a great way to pass the time because it took over 2 hours for them to look at my car and get me on my way.


I'm going to try to not let this post get too lengthy because it seems so much happened it just the short 2 hours that I spent in the waiting area. I found this lady and her adventure, as I kept calling it, so interesting. What's most interesting to me though is that this lady, let's call her Ruth because I never asked her for her name...pregnancy brain thank you very much..., turned out to be a Christian. And she was such a testimony of trust and faith. She mentioned a few times that she had no money; her car had broken down on her way from Idaho to Chicago, which was how she found herself in Laramie. She was actually taking this dog to a new family who had purchased him and they were paying her travel expenses for her to bring the dog to them. She had just purchased the car that was now broken and later we would find out after she spoke with the dealer who sold her the car, that he would stand behind his word when he had told her that the car would definitely make it from Idaho to Chicago. Well, it didn't, so he was going to pay for the GM dealership to do whatever they needed to do to figure out if it was salvageable. That was one way God was working in this unfortunate situation because there was nothing besides this guy's word that would show that he was responsible for the car's demise. The car was sold "as is" and the dealer was not to be held liable for whatever happened after the car left the dealership. This was just a good guy standing by his word. I love that. 


And there's more. 


The first night, Ruth stayed in a rest stop; I surmise that was because she obviously literally had no money and this was not a part of the original plan thus the rest stop was her only option. The second night though God provided her with a hotel room. She met a random lady in the Walmart parking lot (this other lady obviously realized the same thing that I did and knew Ruth wasn't crazy or at least not the kind of crazy that you need to be afraid of) and the Walmart lady brought Ruth to her home and fed her. Ruth told me that she hadn't eaten in 2 days so that was a blessing in itself. However the food didn't completely agree with her very empty stomach so she was a little wary about going another night without access to bathroom facilities (I know, a little TMI but it's a part of the story!). The lady, not knowing how Ruth was feeling but just being kind, wanted to offer to let her stay in her home but understandably her children were not comfortable with letting a strange lady spend the night with their mother, so the lady bought Ruth a room at the Holiday Inn which Ruth ended up accepting only because she wasn't feeling 100%.


And now, I will probably never know what happens to Ruth but in the short time that I got to speak to her, I learned a lot, and not just about the Borzoi breed. All this information just came out in bits and pieces as we spoke over the course of two hours and little by little I realized I was getting a glimpse into someone's life who had chosen to life by faith. I was reminded of how God provides for us even when we're at a complete loss. Ruth found herself in an unfamiliar town with absolutely no money, food or shelter and yet God was fixing her car, feeding her, housing her and guiding her along this "adventure". Ruth didn't know what was coming next but she told me that she trusted God and that showed to me the amount of faith that this woman had in our Creator and it really struck me. When I left, Ruth had also let me know that if the current car they were trying to fix wasn't fixable then they "happen" to have another car that was comparable to what she needed. Oftentimes we are very shortsighted and when something doesn't work out, we think we need to figure everything out but usually all we need to do is fix our eyes on the One who already has it worked out and knows our future and put our trust in Him. Such a timely reminder for me!


I will finish Part 2 of this story tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day

We don't really "celebrate" Valentine's Day around here; honestly, I just see it as another way for stores to get our money and to commercialize yet another aspect of life that doesn't need so much commercializing. Does Valentine's Day even stand for love anymore? Or is it really just a day of attempting to meet expectations or trying to erase the feeling that everyone but you has "someone special" or even worse, an excuse to buy candy?? I just have a problem with all of that. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with Valentine's Day; in fact, I think it is a good day to remind us what love really is. I just have a problem with what our society has made of it.

The Bible says a lot about love. Out of curiousity, I did a quick search and the word is mentioned 500 times in the New King James version. That's a lot; it must be important. The verse that comes quickest to mind for me though is this one:

I Corinthians 13:13

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

God said those words. He said that love is the greatest. But how often do we use that word to relay a simple meaning such as "I love pancakes" or "I love that book" or "I love dark chocolate hearts with caramel filling with a little sea salt sprinkled on top"? What??? You've never said that? Well, admittedly I have overused the word and you've probably said something similar, if you're being honest. But in all reality does that compare to this:

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Do I love pancakes so much that I would die for them? Um, no. I may like them a LOT (and crave them constantly, even when I'm not pregnant and eat way too many of them when I do eat them) but my "love" for pancakes is nowhere close to the love that God has for each one of us. When God talks about love, it's highly significant. I've never read a verse where he talks about loving inanimate objects; he loves people. He even talks about loving our enemies, which is a bold step for most of us. That's not an easy one. 

I guess this may come across has sounding kind of "bah humbugish" and perhaps like I have something against Valentine's Day but I don't really intend it to be that way. I do get fed up with the way we tend to let commercialization run our lives sometimes (that may be one reason that Thanksgiving becomes my new favorite holiday...stores haven't yet figured out a way to convince us to start swapping gifts that day). But maybe more than anything this day should just serve as a reminder that LOVE is the greatest. This day, instead of bringing us down as it may for some or making us feel that we have to do something to stay out of the ubiquitous doghouse, instead, can re-focus us on the One that loves us so much that he actually gave His son to die in our place. And it can remind us to love those around us on a daily basis, whether in big ways or simple small ways. AND it can remind us that love is not reserved only for those that are easy to love, it is also necessary and required to love on those people that make it difficult.

So Happy Valentine's Day! I do hope that today is special for each and every one of you but not because you got great chocolates or really pretty roses, but because you chose to love in a different way, in a way that God intended.

I John 4:7-11, 20-21

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

(In full disclosure, I spent some money this year on cards and candy. I'm not sorry I bought that stuff but I am sorry that I did it only because it was Valentine's Day. This year, Valentine's Day for me IS a reminder that every day should be treated special so this sort of jumpstarted a new beginning.

Also I want to add that I know that some people really enjoy getting gifts and it means just as much to them as spending time with those I love means to me. Everyone has their "love language" and I respect that. There is nothing wrong with gifts; it's just the intentions or the reason behind the gift giving that started this post.)

Courageous

I have to give my two cents about the movie DJ and I went to see on Friday night. It actually knocked Crash (a movie that came out when I was in college) out of the #1 place on my favorite movies list. It was that good. I really haven't stopped thinking about it since we saw it; it made such an impact on me which is somewhat interesting because it is really aimed at men/fathers. But I really found that the women in the movie had quite an impact as well, in supporting roles.

I mentioned on Friday that we would be seeing this movie and that I was excited to see it because the movies that these directors put out always have a good message. Well this one was no different. The message was relayed in a very believable way that I could apply to my own life quite easily. The scenarios that were important to the plot of the movie were not far-fetched at all and in fact, most people could probably relate to them. Yes, the acting wasn't always spot on which is why this movie won't be getting any Academy Awards any time soon, but for me, I was able to overlook the few times that the acting was amateurish. I was more interested in seeing if the message was believable. And it was.

The movie was full of action, from suspense to comedy to tear jerker moments, it really had it all. The sad parts were devastating (to the point that I wanted to go to a corner and just sob my eyes out). The humorous parts were hilarious, laugh out loud moments (for those that have seen it...Snake Kings!!). And the suspense had me tightening up in my seat (there's one fight scene that is incredibly intense. Of course, this is no Saving Private Ryan and I can't speak for the men out there -- there idea of suspense is going to be different, I know that, but I can't help but feel that this movie was put together very well so that men and women alike could enjoy it.

Most importantly, this movie plot was centered around God's plan. As a Christian, it is very hard to watch a movie these days without finding at least one thing that could have been removed from the movie to make it "cleaner", often it is so much more than one thing. Even Disney movies these days need to be cautiously guarded! So when a movie like this comes along that is completely enveloped with scripture-based lessons and dialogue, it is hard not to love. For me, it made the movie all the more emotional because I knew this was what God wanted people so badly to hear. His message. I feel like the directors of this movie (Stephen and Alex Kendrick, by the way since I have mentioned them so many times) have really listened to God's call in their lives and that is evident in the success that their movies are having. I'm really not sure what a non-believer would think of this movie because God really is part of this entire movie. He's not just written in here and there. It's all about Him. So it makes me wonder if the main reason I love this movie so much IS because I'm a Christian and I believe 100% what this movie's message is all about. I was hoping that friends of ours who aren't believers would go to the movie this weekend after we told them how much we loved it just so I could hear their take on the movie. It would have been interesting to hear what they liked and didn't like. For this reason alone, I would suggest to Christians out there to support this movie just so there continues to be more movies like this one produced.

So, I obviously recommend this movie to anyone although I think young couples, parents and single people will probably get the most out of the message itself. And if you do see it or have seen it, I would really like to hear how my reaction to the movie compares to yours. A small part of me wonders if my pregnant hormones have played a part in this emotional response (especially when I can't watch anything about a mistreated or endangered child, especially young children about Jayden's age, without crying immediately). Regardless this is a movie I could watch over and over and it's one of the few that I feel motivated to buy.

40 Days of Lent - Feelings of Anticipation and Excitement

This year I am especially excited about the time of Lent. Growing up in a Protestant family, we were never taught about Lent, or at least not in the sense of how the Catholic church teaches and recognizes these 40 days before Easter. This year is different for a couple different reasons and I'm excited that God is teaching me something new.

First of all, I had decided a while back (about this time last year in Knoxville) that it was important that I attend church with DJ. As a family. When we were first married, DJ and I had agreed that we would each attend our respective churches. I went to an Evangelical church because that is where I felt most comfortable. DJ went to a Catholic church. But, although I very much enjoyed attending the Evangelical worship services, I always felt like something was missing. It felt strange to meet people and let them know I was married but my husband wasn't someone that they would probably ever meet. He was my other half and I didn't feel like people could really get to know the person that I am without also knowing DJ. That wasn't always true but for the most part, I didn't like that DJ was always this unknown person to them. So I decided to start attending church with DJ. I feel like that is where God wants me but it took me awhile to figure it out. There is a whole other post there which I might someday decide to write but for now I want to stay on the topic of Lent.

So in attending the Catholic church I have learned to enjoy the rich traditions that the church follows. One of them, of course, is Lent.

The second reason that this year is different from past years is I am in a place in my life right now where I could really use a focused time to get my heart back into the right place. My priorities have been skewed for a number of different reasons and I think this Lenten season is just the thing to get those priorities back into the proper focus. The timing is right. Again, it's very exciting to see God working in my life and I want to give Him the full reins of that task. Since Lent focuses a lot on prayer, I know that time spent in quiet will give God that opportunity to teach me.

And lastly, because I'm in a constant state of learning when it comes to the Catholic church, I'm curious (and excited) to see what the Lenten season does to my perspective of Easter and the Resurrection. In years past, Easter, of course, means the Resurrection of Jesus and it's exciting because we worship a risen Saviour but I don't think I ever fully dwelled on that fact. It was just a fact that I grew up knowing and believing. But I yearn for something different, something deeper. I want to feel the impact of what our Lord has done for each and everyone of us. Not just on a superficial level but on a much deeper, more profound level.

So I've been reading a lot about what the Church teaches (and requires) during Lent. I don't think I've fully grasped everything yet but this is not an all or nothing thing. I'm pretty sure God will use whatever I give Him so I'm not worried about getting it perfect.

Here are a few things that I've decided to do:

• Not eat meat on Ash Wednesday or the Fridays during the Lenten season (including Good Friday)
• Wake up 30 minutes earlier each day and spend those minutes in quiet prayer and meditation of God's Word
• Give up Facebook for 40 days and pray when I "miss" it (This one is a little embarrassing to admit because I spend a ridiculous amount of time each day checking Facebook just to see what's going on. Hopefully it won't take long for me to stop "missing" Facebook and I will just use that time in more productive ways.)
• Participate in a Lenten devotion with DJ
• Find little ways each day to increase my giving to others whether it's through my actions or monetarily.

I have great expectations of how God will use these 40 days to work in my life. It's obvious to me that He doesn't need anything special to work in however He sees fit because He's continually working in my life everyday. And I'm so grateful for that. However this time will help me to get back in step with Him sotospeak. Hopefully it will create new habits. Habits that I can carry past the Lenten season.

And that's just exciting to me.

New Year's Resolutions

I've never been one to make an official New Year's resolution but I do think the beginning of the year is a good time to make changes. It always gets me thinking about what I want to do better, newer, more of, different over the next year.

This year I've got healthy on the brain.

Healthy eating.

Healthy living.

Healthy lifestyle.

I know why, of course. It's all because of Jayden. I think when you have a brand new little life that you're completely in charge of, naturally, you don't want to scre..um, mess it up. (Jayden might read this some day. Gotta watch my language ya know.)

But even before Jayden came along, DJ and I have tried making changes to our lives a little at a time to make them healthier. Some specific things that we have changed... We make a conscious attempt at eating more veggies. We try to drink a lot of water every day. We stopped using popular brands of peanut butter. We check the ingredients of foods that we buy and if possible, we make things from scratch, like spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, that sort of thing. 

But I want to continue to take those healthy steps forward because I think we... I can do better!

Another thing that has been on my mind in terms of "bettering myself" is BEING INTENTIONAL. Being intentional in my marriage, in my relationship with God, in my role as a mother and as a woman. Instead of just taking what life gives me, I want to have a say in it.

I don't want to just be satisfied with a good marriage; I want it to be GREAT.

I don't want to just say that "I'm a Christian"; I want my life to reflect God's goodness through my ACTIONS.

I don't want to just "make it" as a mother; I want to be a ROLE MODEL.

I don't want to just live with my new postpartum body; I want to be FIT and make my husband PROUD.

I think reflecting on our lives at the beginning of the year is a good thing. It gives us an opportunity to switch directions if we aren't quite going the way we want to be headed.

Jayden Milestones: This really isn't a milestone per se, but Jayden went 5 hours today without eating! Which means, of course, that I worked for 5 uninterrupted hours! That hasn't happened since August 13. It was definitely enough to make us (as in the nanny and I) stop and take notice. Jayden slept for 3 of those hours so I guess he was just wiped and food took second to sleep today.

Nicolette, the nanny, took Jayden on a quick little walk today but he didn't last long before he was out.

Excuses? Maybe. But Here's the Reason for my Absence...

So I'll just go ahead and state the obvious here...it's been awhile since I last posted. At first I thought it was just because DJ and I haven't been doing much so I didn't feel there was much to write about; nothing was particularly exciting about spending a day at home. But as the days go by and I think about my blog, I realize the lack of posts was more of a reflection of how I was feeling.

This has been a hard winter for a couple of reasons. One, Knoxville is apparently seeing one of the coldest, wettest winters that they've had in a long time. For some, that might be great news because they are getting much needed moisture which they had been lacking due to a drought previously. However, for me, it was a reminder of how much my body, soul and mind desperately need the sun. I was reminded of my days in South Dakota when winter seemed to be never ending and I was again reminded of why, at that time, I so desperately wanted to move somewhere warm. While I was living in New Mexico, I would tell people just that when they asked me what brought me to New Mexico. I just wanted to get away from the cold and needed to be somewhere warmer because it got cold in South Dakota! But after awhile, those just became words and I soon forgot what a real winter really felt like. I have since been reminded. This winter has felt very much like those winters that I ran away from.

So because Knoxville is having a snowy, rainy, gray winter, I've been somewhat depressed. It may seem dramatic or odd to think that something as simple as sunshine could have such a powerful effect on a person but I realized that for me, sun and light are essential elements for my good health. I crave it. They actually have a name for what I have. It's called SAD - seasonal affective disorder. I realized I had this disorder when I moved to New Mexico. Every winter before New Mexico, I would feel down or blue or uninspired or unmotivated but I never connected it to the weather. I just knew I felt that way. But when I moved to New Mexico and there was sunshine almost every day regardless of how cold it got, I never felt the way I did in South Dakota. And then I heard of SAD and it made complete sense to me. After I realized how the weather affects me, I was always very hesitant to move anywhere that didn't get a good amount of sunshine. When we found out we were moving to Knoxville, that was one of the first things I looked at - what are the winters like? My research gave me averages and statistics on past winters and it didn't seem terrible plus it was the South! I never thought it got that cold in the South. Well, research can't yet predict the future so no one could tell me that this winter would be "not so average."

The other reasons this winter has been hard are simple. It gets longer and longer since I've seen friends and although family come to visit, it's only that, a visit. There are no family dinners to look forward to, no birthdays to attend, no parties to celebrate at, none of the activities that fill up one's calendar and make long winters a little more manageable. And due to the reasons already stated, I haven't been making much of an effort to make friends here. So it all just kind of adds up.

Alright so I say all of this to journal a reason for my absence. Today it's sunny and yesterday it was sunny and there have been birds chirping and I can't tell you how much lighter I feel and more hopeful and as you can see by the presence of this post, I've become inspired again. I feel the need to journal what's been going on with me since that's the reason for the existence of this blog. I want to be reminded of all the details of my life, even the not so fun ones. I know winter is not quite over yet but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - spring is just around the corner! I made it through another long winter and soon, this winter will be just a memory.

Take a Walk in My Shoes

I've been thinking a lot lately on the topic of perspectives. How our perspectives change as we get older, how perspectives and the ability to see from other people's perspectives is a beneficial trait, how perspectives can affect our day to day life and make our lives better or worse - for some reason this has all been on my mind since well before the holidays and I'm just getting around to writing about it. I think I will do a series on this topic so I can get it all out of my head and "on paper."

We'll start with how our perspectives change as we grow from being a child to becoming an adult.

I don't think all people take the time to really think about this topic but it can be so helpful in so many ways. For me, I'm hoping that remembering what my perspectives to different situations were like as a child can help me be a better parent. If I can remember what it was like to be a kid, that can help me understand my children better and hopefully relate to them more on their level.

For example, I remember a lot of what I was thinking at certain stages in my childhood and how I perceived adults and how I acted toward them. I can distinctly remember my thoughts and how I WANTED to act but was either embarrassed or too shy to actually act. And I can remember how I wished the adult would act or say something to make my situation easier. I am guessing this is probably a more general realization and that many people could probably relate to this memory.

Something more personal to my childhood and probably not something everyone can relate to is how my individual personality affected what I did, didn't do, behaved and interacted with others. For one thing, I was very stubborn. I still am, which DJ would testify to in a heartbeat, but I've at least learned when to stop being stubborn, or at least I'm getting better, whereas when I was a kid I didn't know that I was really only shorting myself.

When I think back to all those instances where I vehemently refused to do anything I was asked or told to do, I realized that really those things would have been really fun for me or at least produced a sweet memory. Instead thinking about it leads to a lot of regrets. I definitely feel for my parents who had to deal with their ridiculously stubborn child and I think I understand a little better now how hard it was probably for them to know that I was doing that to myself. They wanted me to have fun experiences and I absolutely refused.

HOWEVER, I have decided there is an upside to this. Even though I do feel huge regret sometimes for being that way, I feel like I am probably destined to have as stubborn, if not more, of a child because that's just how it works, isn't it? What comes around, goes around. And I'm sure my parents repeated that mantra as a small comfort when I was stomping my 5 year old foot on the ground in defiance.

So where's the upside?

The upside is that when I have my stubborn defiant little girl (let's be honest, boys aren't near this bad...), I will at least have somewhat of an idea of what's going on in that little head. And hopefully I can use that to my advantage and in effect, use it to her advantage and hopefully she won't have as many regrets when she gets older. 

Let's get one thing straight here before I end my discourse.

I don't blame my parents for my stubbornness. Or any of my regrets.

They really did the best they could and I'm sure they used all the tricks of the trade but let's face it, I didn't get my stubbornness from them. They are both very NOT stubborn. In fact they are often quite reasonable. So they didn't really have the weapons in their arsenal to face off against the tempest that was Nichole Spring Nelson.

My hope is that I can keep those memories,even when life becomes more hectic, and remember to "go to the mattresses," er, maybe "go to the crib" would be more appropriate here, and not just "fight" blindly when the going gets tough and challenging. I don't ever want to give up and I think remembering that perspectives are different at all different ages can help me to be a really good parent.

So there's the upside. There's always an upside in life. It's all about perspective!

The Blues

As I try to get back into a routine after being gone for a week and then having company for a few days, I realized that I'm not ready for life to return to normal. I liked the hustle bustle of the holidays and being on a trip and having family here. I decided I have a little bit of the After Christmas Blues. I've been racking my brain to come up with something else that I can devote some of my time to. I'm drawing a blank.

My house is clean. (For the most part.) I don't have any projects in mind that I could complete. (Until I can start working on my office...more on that later.) I'm waiting for the library to have the next book in the series I'm reading but I'm third on the list so that might be awhile. I'm pretty tired of watching t.v. because I did a lot of that while in Atlanta and when we had company.

I think I need to start thinking outside the box.

I will inform you now that this, this unsettledness, is a Nelson thing. This cabin fever/after Christmas blues/whatever you want to call it when you feel the walls closing in on you and you just have to get busy with your hands and DO SOMETHING....it runs in my family.

Take my dad for example. Actually he is an EXCELLENT example. Every winter, you can bet gold on the fact that he will do something new and different. He'll take up a new hobby. He'll plan a trip. He'll buy new things. It's always something different. Every year there will be something to take up the dead time during the slow season.

One winter he decided to get involved in training airport security after Homeland Security revamped the policies in airports. That took him away for a few weeks at a time during the winter. Another year, he bought a semi-truck with the intention of helping my uncle transport cars to and from Denver and making some extra money. Another year he decided to buy the house next door and start working on making that into a lodge for the campground. Those are just a FEW examples. Trust me there's more. This year he bought an old refurbished 1960s or 70s (or some really old year, I don't know) pickup truck and re-energized an old hobby of researching old cars, which, of course, involves going to car shows all over the country. Him and my mom have several trips planned to Phoenix already this winter. I can't wait to see what my dad will come up with for next year.

But you know what? I really like this about my dad. I like that he has tons of interests and, instead of sitting around dreaming about what it would be like to do this, that, and the other, he makes good use of his down time and gets to it! And I like that I have the same desire to not just sit around and do the same ol' thing every single day. Life would really get boring I think. So I guess it's not really a curse to have this itching desire to always be DOING something in the dead of winter when there's not much to be done but rather, more of an opportunity to try something new and to start a new hobby or finish a project or gain more knowledge. I think God made winter, at least for the Nelsons, so we could be motivated to branch out in life.

That's what I've decided. Cabin fever/After Christmas Blues is actually a blessing in disguise. I'm going with that.