New Beginnings

Well, I took a big step in life recently. I've decided to become and Educational Consultant with Discovery Toys (http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/jenmclarty). This is super exciting for me. I have found a product that I can really believe in and really sell! Yay! I need to keep reminding myself that it will take work ... I'm not going to have  tons of customers right from the start - it's something I need to build up to. But it still gets a bit discouraging when no one seems to want to come to my grand opening parties! :) So, here I am, praying that this will take off and be a successful business for me. :)

Taking Cues

So, it's been a while since I've written on here. I keep thinking that I have nothing good to say but then I've been thinking - who cares? It's my blog, I can write what I want! :) So I will write ...

My daughter has been screwing around with her feeding schedule. She is now 9 months and has been eating solids for 3 meals plus drinking 4 - 9oz bottles a day. About 2 or 3 weeks ago has been loosing interest in supper. And then she started loosing interest in breakfast and then, she started puking at night and peeing so much she soaked not only her diaper (that NEVER leaks) but also her pants ... seriously soaked - like she just sat in a tub of water with all her clothes on!. Well, took her to the doctor and he couldn't figure it out so he ordered some blood work - worst thing to ever do to a little baby!!! No results were given to me (which means they were probably fine) ... But she was still puking ... and only at nights. Weird! Well, couple days ago we realized, hey! we were probably over feeding her! So yesterday we cut out one of her bottles and fed her supper earlier (at the time where she usually had her 3rd bottle so that she could still have her last bottle just before bed).  Yeah, cutting out 9 oz cold turkey is NOT a good idea. Last night she woke up at 10:30, 12:30, 1:30, 4:30, 5:30 and then finally 7:30. Not fun! :) I ended up giving her a 5 oz bottle at 5:30 and when she saw it coming she got super excited! Yeah, she was hungry. So it looks like I will have to start topping her off at 10/10:30 again and slowly weaning her off that bottle ... again. Also, I'm finding I need to start adjusting how much she eats at her mealtimes and I need to remember that it's OK if she doesn't eat as much as other babies around her - as long as she is growing and healthy. :) But it should be good ... at least we're hoping it will be. :)

In addition, I've been very frustrated with my weight gain (I'm just 10 pounds lighter than I was at my heaviest during pregnancy) - not a nice feeling. It's been hard to stay motivated but I have a super supportive husband. And when I do eat right and work out, my body loves me. :) So, I'm going to keep up with strength training, use the Kinect for my cardio and take up jogging. Yup, I'm going to jog. Maybe one day I'll even run in a marathon - who knows.

So this is all about taking cues. Taking cues from my baby as to how much she wants to eat and taking cues from my body to keep it healthy and loose this baby weight before the next one comes along! :)

Here's to taking cues!

Pursuit

This is something that I wrote last year while teaching ... just found it back and I still like what it makes me think about so I thought I'd share.

Pursue. The dictionary defines this as "follow in order to catch" and also as "engage in". The Bible shows us how God pursues us. We see this in the story of Israel throughout the Old Testament. We see this in the story of Jonah - how Jonah ran from God and God chased after him to catch him in such a dramatic way. We see it in the story of the Prodigal Son - how the Father actively searched for his son. And we see it in the story of the lost sheep - how the Shepherd leaves the 99 to search for the one that is lost. God pursues us with fury and passion. He will not let His children go - no matter how far we fall. Instead, as Psalm 40 says, "He lifts us out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he sets our feet on a rock and gives us a firm place to stand."


If we are created in God's image and are called to be imitators of Christ, how are we pursuing those around us - specifically  our students? Do we chase after them with passion? Sometimes this means times of hard discipline as in the story of the nation of Israel or the story of Jonah. Sometimes this means "leaving" our whole class just to reach that one lost student. We are not just working with our students' minds but with their souls. There is so much at stake! Are we pursuing them as God pursues us?


So, that's all I had written at the time but I could probably go on ... and this can also relate to how we pursue our children, our friends and family, our neighbours ... are we imitators of Christ? Are we pursuing people for him? :)

Defiant Baby

"Baby's understanding of your reactions is rapidly developing. He might start testing you to see what he can get away with, but don't treat him like a defiant teen -- he's curious, not malicious." This quote is from the newsletter I got this morning from The Bump. Hmm ... not malicious? Maybe not, but certainly defiant! Take our attempt to teach Annalise (7 months) not to touch the stereo. Every time she touches it and plays with the buttons, she tell her no, pull her away, maybe pat her hand. The look in her face is already defiant. I might tell her a few times one day not to touch. The very next day she will look at me and quite deliberately crawl to the stereo and start touching it! So one day, she did this and I said, "Annalise! No!" She looked at me, picked up her soother and with an extremely defiant look in her face touched the stereo with her soother! As if to say, "ha! Now I'm not touching it!" But you could tell by the look in her face that she certainly knew not to touch, even with her soother! :) So cute, but so exasperating! :)

My Prairie

So, the other day I was looking through some of my old things, deciding what to toss and what I really wanted to keep, and I found this poem that I wrote. I think it was in high school that I wrote this - maybe 13 or 14 years ago. (Was it really that long ago that I was in high school?!?!) Well, I love my prairie so I thought I'd share this poem of mine.

Seas of gold unbroken
but for an occasional tree,
haven for the creatures of
the heavens and the deep.
Wind, child of the skies,
laughing, singing, crying,
a constant game of hide and seek.
Snow, cold but bright,
hard and angry
a sheep in wolves clothing
and a wolf in sheep clothing.
Wind frightens Snow away
but he never learns;
keeps coming back
Sun, warm, caressing,
mother of the skies and land
ends conflict, brings new life;
scorching, eager,
dries the land, burns its creatures;
sad, hiding, sends
Rain, father of the land and skies,
cool, refreshing,
gives support, aids growth.
Seas of gold unbroken
but for an occasional tree.

Diaper Rash

Yup, that nasty redness/bumps all over the diaper area. My little girl seems to get them more then most. Recently made a discovery as to WHY she gets these so frequently. Turns out she's allergic to hemp! And her cloth diapers use hemp inserts. Tried solving the issue by using a cotton flannel liner on top of the hemp insert but no luck, the liner bunched and any exposed skin ended up with a nasty rash. So, what's a mom to do when her little bubs has a nasty rash that just can't be healed? Well, if you're using cloth, first switch to disposable (so you don't ruin the cloth diapers) and then apply a thin layer of Calmoseptine to the affected area. Seriously, in a matter of hours to a day, the rash will be cleared. I've found the worse the rash, the longer it takes to clear it up but that is to be expected, of course. I call it my miracle cream. I LOVE the creators of this product and highly recommend it to any mom who's bubs, toddler or child may be prone to nasty rashes - and not just diaper rashes! :)

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. As the name says, this is life as I know it. I'm a teacher become stay-at-home-mom and life is a never-ending journey. What you thought about life changes as you grow and change yourself. Each of us has a beautiful story. That being said, will I always tell "story"? Probably not. Because, even though life's story can be beautiful, you've got to admit it's often also filled with monotony. :) Do you honestly want me to blog about every diaper I change, every new food my baby tries, every snotty nose I have to wipe? Didn't think so. So perhaps sometimes I will blog about new products I discover and love, stores I love to shop at, foods I love to eat/make, creative things I love to do... I guess we will all just have to wait and see what the future brings.