Little Q is 1!

Little Q is now 1 year old!! It’s surprising how fast that time went and amazing how much we love him even more every day! He has blessed our family more than imagined and want to spend as much time as possible with him. My husband, D and I are grabbing all the snuggles we can before he grows up and doesn’t want anything to do with us. We are cherishing every moment!

Q currently enjoys plucking silverware out of the dishwasher to make room to crawl in and play with the spinner. He loves to flirt with any and all girls and doesn’t want to be left out of anything going on. When we lay on the floor Q loves to crawl on top of us, grip our hair to twist his face on top of ours. Then yells and licks our faces for about 10 minutes. If the dog is inside, he joins in making lots of slobber all around.

Little Q loves to crawl around the house as fast as his chubby, little legs will go then stops to see where we are behind him. He shrieks and takes off again when we are crawling either right on his tail or already above him. Listening to any kind of music makes the little tot bounce and wiggle in his prairie dog pose. When it becomes abruptly quiet Q’s likely scouting out one of the bathrooms either to climb in the tub or merely playing in the toilet because, you know, there’s water in there too. I’m certain he’ll be capable of starting the water in the tub shortly, then we’re in for big trouble. Dinner time wouldn’t be the same now without little Q chucking food over the side of his highchair. The dog sits right below him hoovering any scraps and licking sticky, little fingers. He’s getting spoiled.

Walking will be happening soon along with multiple teeth coming in to join the 4 little Q currently has. Eating pretty much anything you put in front of him, even sauerkraut, is assisting his growth. Our family is gradually learning some sign language, but definitely require more practice.

My husband and I would look like idiots if anyone saw us crawling about, dancing around the house, or making monkey noises while jumping around the kitchen. Luckily, we just don’t care!! Little Q laughs hysterically, which in turn makes us laugh. Our family is slowly figuring out what works for us. What time to eat dinner, when to put little Q to bed, how long to allow him to squawk at night (a more recent development), and how often to give him a bath since he never wants to get out. Our timing on things has continuously changed over this last year, but we’re getting everything worked out for this specific time in Q’s life.

My advice is to enjoy the time you have with the people you love while you are able. Life is short so make it count, even if it causes you look foolish. Cherish every moment!!

Christmas Spirit

I have been struggling coming up with something to write about lately and while trying to concentrate on that topic my brain kicks over to what needs to get done before Christmas. Gifts mailed out, check. Christmas cards sent, check. Buy stocking stuffers, somewhat checked. Figure out what we’re doing for little Q’s birthday a few days later, kind of checked. So on and so on. Then realized I’m missing the whole point! I should be focused on what we are doing for others and not stressing about buying additional stuff.

Tomorrow I am going out to get a couple last minute stocking stuffers and hoping not to have to shop any more this month, other than the grocery store. Shopping isn’t at the top of my list of things I love to do. I will be stopping by Starbucks to buy some $5 gift cards and pass them out to the Salvation Army men and women standing in front of stores, freezing, with a smile on their faces. And to the customer service people who are getting blasted with customers asking for discounts, returns, or upset their items haven’t arrived yet. All the people I encounter, that I can afford anyway, that are making this holiday season possible for others.

For many, I believe this holiday has become very commercial. It’s turned into how much money can we afford to spend on gifts before delving into debt and what we should ask for. My husband and I want to adjust this perspective for our family. I realize little Q is a baby now and he has quite a few grandparents, but we don’t want him to get to the point of tearing open a gift, pitch it behind him just to rip open another.

With ideas on traditions from friends and online, we have a strategy on what we’d love the holidays to be like for our family. This year Q will receive one gift from us under the tree along with pajamas, a little car, and silverware to use himself for stocking stuffers. Our plan is to give a smaller gift then do something later as a family. It doesn’t need to be right away or extravagant, but something together to make memories. On top of that, we are going to spread out gifts during Christmas. Open one on Christmas Eve, stockings Christmas morning, then maybe around lunch, and if needed, that evening depending on how many are received from family. We’d like Q to appreciate what he receives and thank the person, or people, the gift was received from.

Okay, so those are our ideas for the Christmas season since I knew you were perched on the edge of your seat wondering. Smile and be polite while you are out and about this time of the year. Remember the Christmas spirit and what this season is really about. What are your family traditions and may I steal your ideas?

Holiday Traditions

Santa, trees, and elves! Lights, music, and food! Establishing traditions while little Q’s a baby seems like the most appropriate time, even though I’m certain we’ll add to over the years. Q saw Santa for the first time this weekend and we are planning to take their picture together soon. To begin with, we had to point Santa out to him and the look on his face was pretty comical. It was a mixture of “why are you dressed like that”, “you’ve got a longer, whiter beard than my daddy”, and “why are you waving at me, crazy guy in red”. Little Q didn’t really smile but he did end up waving back. So no picture yet, but maybe next weekend.

This last weekend we went Christmas tree hunting, which remains my husband’s family tradition. Begining with breakfast in town with family and friends before heading up to the mountains. After everyone had picked their trees and were back at the trucks, we drank hot chocolate and snacked a lot. The older kids went sledding, while Q cried because he was teething and needed a nap at that point.

There are many Elf on the Shelf ideas that look fun. I’m excited to establish this tradition and will preserve pictures on Q and his daddy’s finds. Our elf has been at our house a couple of days now and has possessed a letter about his job, watched TV with the remote in hand under blankets, and is currently helping with the tree.

We are anticipating looking at lights, listening to Christmas music, and doing some baking to give Little Q the whole Christmas experience. What are your holiday traditions?

Holiday Kindness

The holidays can be stressful and hard. The hassle of acquiring the perfect gift or conceiving what you want to get but can’t find it, more traffic, money pressures, crowded stores, and congested parking lots. Planning and preparing a meal(s), setting up decorations, baking, and attending programs and parties. It can be traumatic and taxing, especially for those without family, have depression, social anxiety, family drama, various religious beliefs, or sadness due to the loss of a loved one during this time of year.

If you know of someone who lacks a place to enjoy a meal, invite them over or give a small gift card to a restaurant. You might see someone that looks like they are stressed (especially those working in retail this time of year), give them a smile and a kind word or two. Donate used coats, hats, and gloves to a homeless shelter or a family in need. Please help in any way you feel comfortable, but help.

Isn’t this the specific time of year we are supposed to spread joy and happiness? People get caught up with purchasing the ideal gift, preparing a fabulous meal, and so on. Cut back on buying everyone gifts, spend your holidays with friends and family and enjoy each other. Remember everyone has a different situation, but we are all people. A little kindness can go a long way. Share the love and happy holidays!

Blessed

Laundry is done, however not put away, little Q is teething and is getting over a cold, the house needs to be vacuumed, and we looked up what needs to be accomplished to renew our passports but didn’t start it. The house still isn’t decluttered, the baby wet through his diaper so his sheets need to be washed again, never got around to planting my potted flowers in the ground for winter, and am unprepared for the holidays.

On the up side. We have heat for the winter, a solid roof over our heads, working vehicles, shoes on our feet, food to eat, and clean water to drink. Everyone is healthy (other than colds), we have beautiful fall weather, are both employed with good jobs, have some incredible family and friends, each other, and an adorable adopted little Q. I had a rare weekend to relax with my precious family and even took a snuggly nap with Q. We are sincerely thankful for everything and everyone in our lives. We are extremely blessed!

I love mauling my daddy!

Life is Short – LIVE

Approximately 151,600 people die each day around the world according to ecology.com. That’s 6,316 each hour! I’ve been remembering family and friends who have passed away too early, for me anyway. Lung cancer in a lady who never smoked, a mother with multiple children getting brain cancer, a father’s heart stopping, and numerous others. I don’t comprehend how it’s decided when someone goes, but I miss these people as do countless others.

My guess is if I passed today, I would like to come back to advise everyone to LIVE and cherish every second!

• Do what you love.
• Live in the moment and not the past. Make new mistakes.
• Be thankful for EVERYTHING! Another day, each breathe, food on your table, a roof over you head, clean drinking water, all the little things we take for granted. They are ALL gifts.
• Forgive others
• Truly appreciate each day
• Show people how much they mean to you.
• Be adventurous
• Have faith
• Be kind
• Show empathy
• Be positive
• Show gratitude
• Be compassionate
• Be honest
• Help others
• Respectful yourself and others around you
• Stop trying to please everyone else
• Make a bucket list and start marking things off
• Find a way to improve the world, no matter how small

I sincerely love being a mom and genuinely cherish my husband and best friend! Becoming parents has made us closer where the more important aspects of life come in. We want to demonstrate these values to show our son how to be a good person so he can pass it on. Hopefully, we can help the next generation to be better people.

Life is short and it’s the only one you have. Make it count.

Toddler Entertainment

We were recently sitting at a restaurant with little Q in his high chair just letting out screams. Big, happy screams mind you, but screams, nonetheless. He then smiles big before more screams escape. At least the table close to us didn’t seem to mind or notice from what I could tell. They must have noticed he was doing it for fun and was not distressed. Little Q gets a bit squirly even though we have snacks, little cars, and toys for him to play with. Not that we go out to eat frequently or hang out for hours while we’re there, but he wants to roam and a restaurant isn’t quite the most suitable place for that.

I have a larger makeup bag I got for free at some point that I’ve filled with things around the house for Q to do during these times. Pages from a coloring book, crayons, little cars, paint swatches to match colors, and of course, snacks. When he’s a little older, I can add cards, stickers, and lacing toys where they sew or lace yarn around a figure. Some genius people used a metal lunch box or mini tool box to hold the toddler entertainment items. Some other ideas were letter matching games, creating a pattern with Legos for the child to recreate, nuts and bolts and I think all of these are brilliant ideas too. My mom used to make quiet books when I was young so maybe she’ll make one for Q. It would probably help if I ask her though. Hi ma!

Q also likes to play with the wipes while getting his diapers changed. If we don’t keep it closed he’ll just pluck them out, lick and/or bite them, then grab another. Those are typically the times he’s got a more time consuming diaper change that are requiring more than 1 or 5 wipes, I am confident you grasp what I am getting at. We have numerous wash cloths for him, so I filled an old wipe container with colorful folded ones that he can pluck them out like Kleenex.

I’m not sure if you’ve seen the busy boards that have latches, locks, casters, calculators, knobs, and anything else you want to put on them. We possess so many parts from projects around our house that I‘m going to talk my husband into collecting these so I can make one this winter because I‘m sure he’ll need something to do when it’s cold out. Pretty sure he requires my help to keep him busy. Love you, D!

Inexpensive and/or free items we already had around the house or I urged my husband to save to question my intentions. Got to keep him guessing. Use these ideas or develop your own versions to keep those little ones learning and entertained!

On a Sober Note…

There are 25 million Americans affected by substance abuse with an additional 40 million indirectly affected including family members per Mental Health America. Newsweek.com says about 42.5 million suffer from mental disabilities every year including bipolar, schizophrenia and depression, which is one in five people. I have multiple family and friends who have substance abuse issues and/or mental disabilities. Recently, there have been more situations I’ve heard about and I want to address it.

Mental illness is due to a brain disorder, and they often do not get the treatment that they need for various reasons. I do not understand how addiction affects some people and not others or the differences on how they are dealt with. Please do not misunderstand, I do not judge them for the choices made in these circumstances. I have made my fair share of mistakes, and mine were caused by my own faulty decisions, no additional help needed. I doubt I’ll ever truly understand substance abuse or mental disabilities but please, don’t shut those people who are wrestling with these issues out of your life. These people need your support and understanding. Give of yourself what you are capable of whether it’s a ride home after a party, watching TV with them so they aren’t lonely, or discussing the possibility of going to rehab to get help.

It’s hard to watch someone who has so much going for them hit bottom because of a substance, especially when they have a family. Or the adult who shoots at someone after a night drinking and goes to prison for assault with a deadly weapon. Or the teenager who commits suicide because they saw no other option. Or the person who has stayed sober for almost a year rebound with drugs or alcohol and end up in the emergency room needing dialysis for the rest of their life. It is their decision to be helped, and they are the only ones that can change because they want to. The people outside the situation can only do so much, but please help if you can. Sometimes a little kindness and hope can go a long way. Also, many people with these conditions hide or mask their issues so please, just be kind to everyone.

Enjoying Little Q

The holidays are coming!! Time to gain some more weight that took me a while to get off last year. Yea. Our family is getting prepared for Halloween and setting plans for Thanksgiving which will be here before we know it. I‘m looking forward to candy, sweet potatoes, and ham, but can completely skip the turkey.

Last weekend we went to a friend‘s house who had a pumpkin picking bar-b-que. They live on a farm so little Q got to see actual calves, goats, geese, and pigs. We have a stuffed cow and pig that when you squeeze them they make the real animal noises. It’s sad but really funny that Q starts crying every time the cow moos, but at least he liked the real calves and the other animals. He also got to pick his first pumpkin even though he basically just looked around to see what his foolish looking parents were doing.

Not that it takes much for him to entertain us, but Q has been pretty hilarious lately. He doesn’t like the roaring noise of the vacuum cleaner but loves banging on his little piano with an enormous smile on his face. Last Friday night he was sitting on his daddy‘s lap and started screeching, again, with a huge smile on his face. Q and daddy had a screeching contest with a lot of laughing thrown in which lasted about 40 minutes. He has currently developed a version of an army crawl, which is also fun to watch. He’ll be amazed how much quicker crawling is when he succeeds in figuring that out. Yikes!

As for the daddy and I, we are eating earlier with no TV or phones and at the actual table. The uninterrupted communication between us is so much better. I’ll actually remember now when dad has fire department meetings or trainings. Little Q is doctor approved to eat anything we do as long as it can be smashed or made small enough for his 2 tiny teeth. He smiles when all of us are eating at the table and he‘s snacking on puffs after his real meal. I think he enjoys it too.

After dinner we play on the floor and read him books. I’ve always wanted to learn sign language so we are all slowly learning that too starting with the baby signs like “more”, “done”, “mom” and “dad”. Little Q gets a bath a few nights a week which he highly enjoys and splashes everything, I mean everything. Q musters a beaming smile when I try to get him to say “Mama“, not because he wants to pronounce it but because he knows he‘s going to say “Dada”. The little booger!

We tag team projects that Q isn’t much help with, like winterizing the camper or examining his clothes that no longer fit to store. I‘m looking for a place to set up his smaller pool for pit balls to play indoors for the winter since dad has already nixed a few spots. I haven’t gotten much further on the decluttering other than a portion of the laundry room, most of our bathroom and recipe magazines. However, there is a very long way to go if I only had extra time. All those projects can wait though since our number one priority is our precious, baby boy. He constantly entertains us and makes us a better family. Sappy, I know.

Pool Party!

My husband took a picture of me last night in a blow up pool erected in the living room who then texted friends to establish if an intervention were required for me. Okay, so it was a little large for the living room, but I intended to purchase a big pool to play in so it was perfect. In my defense, there was no water inside just blankets, pillows, little Q and I with a sheet covering half of it like a tent. Q had a magnificent time! If my phone would have been nearby, I would have recorded a video because his little arms and legs were kicking vigorously at the sheet and he was screeching and laughing uncontrollably. The pictures I had taken are all blurry due to his excitement. I am thrilled our friends said everything looked perfectly normal since I wouldn’t have changed one bit of it for his happiness. Even our niece wished she would have been there with us when she saw the picture. My husband is going to be in there with us tonight when I first place the sheet on because Q is just hilarious.

I have extensive plans for the pool, so we’ll see how they all play out. Now is an excellent time of the year to buy discounted pools since summer is basically over in the stores. It’s an enjoyable way to corral Q with toys and blankets with enough room that we can join him in there too. In the winter the pool can be downstairs to fill with balloons, toys, construct a small city for cars, or whatever we want to help entertain him. One of these days I want to set up a screen outside so our family can watch movies on the patio while sitting in the pool on pillows with blankets and each other to snuggle with when nights gets cool. I am extremely delighted I bought the pool for cheap entertainment for the entire family! I highly recommend it.

Living Healthier

Little Q is sitting up on his own and is super close to crawling so we ought to be in better shape to have the energy to chase him around and tell him “no”. He’s creating bigger messes, rolling further under furniture and into other rooms, drooling on more floors and surfaces than needed, and even has his own old, battery-less remote to play with and chew on since he craves to possess the ones we use.

You might have read that my husband and I got Q a little later in life and we are attempting to stay healthy to be here as long as we can for him. This last grocery run was a little bigger since our pantry contains more processed and high carb foods than it should. It’s the quick snack I reach for during busy, times which will be my biggest hurdle to get over, and the plan is that if it’s not in the house then it’ll require me to figure something else out. I bought extra fruit and vegetables in this last shopping trip than I have in a long time, but I did throw in some cookies for those times I need to pacify my sweet tooth.

Since Q woke up a little earlier this morning and I didn’t have time to eat much so I had a banana for breakfast, but I brought cheese, granola, and dried fruit for a snack. Lunch today includes fresh fruit, hard-boiled eggs, sugar snap peas, and cottage cheese. I put a ham in the crock pot this morning for dinner and we’ll use that for lunches this week. We bought broccoli from the farmers market recently that will be baked with olive oil and sprinkled sea salt along with baking sweet potato fries and fresh peaches that just might be assembled on a small scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. We will blend up some of our food that’ll be prepared without spices for little Q tonight and if he likes it we can cook extra to freeze for future meals which will save money.

Now I’m not saying that everything I planned is correct, like I might have too much sugar in the fruit I brought for lunch or I’ll just eat too much of it all. I just know that it’s healthier than some foods I could have brought. This month’s meal planning may not be thought out or the rest of the week or tomorrow for that matter and it may not be completely low carb and healthy all at once. I am working out the kinks, but I am going to force us eat healthier. It is essential for my husband and I to be healthier so we can continue to communicate “no” to little Q to help him develop skills to become a better person. We need to teach him manners like “it’s not polite to spit your food at mommy”, “please don’t screech in daddy’s ear because you’ll make him more hard of hearing”, or “it is impolite to gnaw on her face with your two little teeth”. I guess we’re all a work in progress.

Real, Genuine People

Recently, I was out of town and encountered a number of people who would renew your faith in the humanity. Countless stories about a selfless lady who pulled over to help someone change a tire without hesitation, a man snow blowing the whole block’s driveways in the winter because he could, and a couple that spreads happiness and smiles wherever they go. Those are just a few I heard. It is extremely nice to hear there are people out who consistently try to be decent and are not only watching out for themselves.

Okay, here’s my rant. I hate watching the news since the majority of it is depressing. There are too many reality TV programs that essentially advise you to lie and deceive and then the contestants get rewarded for it. Or the shows where everyone “make out” to see who falls in love. Who came up with those ideas? Seriously?! And it can’t merely be one person who came up with it because there are multiple programs with those similar ideals. Plus, there are numerous people who want to be on the reality shows! Some of the crime programs explain how to manipulate the system, get away with unlawful acts, or basically become a criminal. I do realize not all the genres mentioned are bad, there are very good ones too. By looking at just these few examples, why wouldn’t there be discouraging and heartbreaking news stories?

Okay, so maybe I’m old-fashioned, or just too old, but what happened to shows that taught family values? For example, “Leave it to Beaver”, “The Andy Griffith Show”, “Little House on the Prairie”, or “Highway to Heaven”? Or movies like “Mary Poppins”, “The Croods”, “Up”, or “”Nanny McPhee”? I have watched a few previews recently that may have family potential like “God Friended Me” on CBS or “The Village” on NBC. I have hope that better programs will come out that we can watch as a family. End of rant. Thank you for being patient.

I believe that all children need to learn more family values than what is found on TV, movies and social media. Children require skills to succeed in the real world since it is larger than the bubble they currently live in. Chores to know how to work hard when it comes time to get a job, learn how to communicate clearly without manipulation to get their way so they can keep jobs and friends, manage money to be self dependent, and make sound choices, including mistakes, will all be helpful in becoming a good person. Learning honesty, manners, respect, responsibility, empathy, commitment, gratitude, compassion, dependability, forgiveness, and kindness is going to make them so much happier in life than money.

Yes, I have ambitious aspirations for little Q. I want him to be a genuinely, good person throughout life. I wish for him to assist someone who requires it for the reason that he wants to and not because he has to. I want him to make sensible choices so he’ll be happy in life and be able to share that happiness with others. I want Q, and us, to be able to improve this minuscule part of the world a small amount every day to make everyone we encounter a tiny bit happier. People in this world need a little more happiness. So enjoy your day and pass along a little sunshine of your own!

7 Month Old Parenting

Parenting a 7 month old is somewhat easy, so far. They haven’t quite figured out precisely what you’re saying yet, but appear to understand and they look so endearing smiling up at you while waiting for you to smile back. When I tell him “No” he looks at me all serious and after a few seconds blows again. I tell him that we’ve had this discussion before and there is no bubble blowing while he’s eating! Even though he has butternut squash and green beans up his nose, on his eyelashes, and even in his hair, has the high chair coated after he sneezes to discharge bits from his nose, we have fragments about our shirts, all he has to do is give us a giant smile, and he’s forgiven. Even covered in food, he is simply precious!

I do realize parenting is going to get harder. We are reading to him, showing him colors, and numbers, but it seems like we’re behind teaching him these lessons. He’s only awake a couple of hours after we are home at night. Feeding, burping, giving him a bath, and getting him set for bed with a little playing and reading thrown in taking up that time. The weekends seem like they are full this time of year with weddings, family reunions, and birthdays, so don’t always get suitable uninterrupted, quality time with him. I’m not sure if all new parents feel that way or just me and my foolish brain. Anyway, I’m working on not needing to have the house clean all the time and having more worthwhile time with Q. My husband often reminds me that he is our main priority when I start stressing about projects to finish around the house. He’s so wise! I think I’ll keep him.

Family Fun

Family is the greatest gift that you should forever treasure. Family is more than blood. They are the ones that will be there when we need them, take care of us when we’re sick, teach us, tolerate us when we’re naughty, protect us, and will always love us conditionally.

Our goal is to make memories that little Q will remember when he’s older. He won’t remember store-bought possessions he had when he was young. If he does, then we didn’t do our job right. He has a big extended family and we aim to instill the importance of them all. We want Q to treasure all of his relatives and not take them for granted. If my husband and I are blessed enough for him to have a sibling, he’ll be taught to respect them and understand they will be friends when he’s older even if that’s not continually the case while they’re young. If we do our job properly, Q will appreciate our quirkiness, traditions, and cherish the time he spends with his family.

Let the enjoyment continue!

Our Little Family Adventures

Little Q is 7 months old right now and he’s been camping, enjoyed a couple of family reunions out-of-state, we constructed a little fort in the living room that we all played in, cooled off swimming, and hiked in the mountains. That’s not too bad for 7 months! Family activities should be a big part of his life since those are the events we’re hoping he’ll remember. I’m not talking multiple, expensive, long trips or anything like that. Little family adventures can be free or at least cheap. We are happy going for a hike in the mountains, a picnic in the yard, swimming, or camping. Q doesn’t care what we do, but loves to be outside and take it all in. It’s pretty amazing when you realize he’s seeing everything for the very first time and the curiosity in his face is so adorable!

Our dog comes camping with us and it seems like he stops to smell every rock and pile of poo along the way, sprints to catch a Frisbee to get distracted by a leftover crumb in the fire pit before he sees another dog to play with. Q smiles big and giggles when the dog comes over to lick his feet, then he tries to pet him. By “pet” I mean grab a fistful of dog hair and pull. It is helpful that the dog loves kids and simply sits there. We will treasure every little experience and, hopefully, my husband and I will recall them when we’re in the nursing home.

Here are some cheap/free family ideas that we’re planning to do, some when Q gets older.

• Scavenger hunt
• Take a bike ride
• Sledding
• Make pizza from scratch
• Roast marshmallows and make s’mores
• Go fishing
• Have a game night
• Water fight
• Go to the zoo
• Movie night
• Create crazy dessert night
• Fly kites
• Community service/Random acts of kindness:
• Cook dinner for someone
• Color pictures and take to a nursing home
• Make care packages to take to children in the hospital
• Play Ding Dong Ditched
• Donate old toys or games to a homeless shelter or Ronald McDonald house
• Pick flowers and take to a neighbor

We aren’t too picky as to what we do as long as we are together. No matter what that entails, it will be perfect!

Community Service

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And, if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” Dalai Lama

My husband and I help with the harvest festival that’s been celebrated for over 100 years in the small town we live by. A couple of us are gathering items for games, ordering food, filling the schedule, and getting all the little details ironed out since it is coming up quickly. Q isn’t quite old enough to do much yet but he will be there this year for moral support and flirt with all the girls. It must be something in the male DNA because he loves the girls. He gives out kisses and will slobber all over them if they let him! It is beneficial that he is so adorable! Grandma and Grandpa are coming here to feed, nap with, and look out for him so his dad and I can run around like crazy fools. It will be fun even though he won’t remember his first festival. Maybe he can ride in the fire truck with his daddy during the parade and I’ll take pictures.

Anyway, we want Q to learn that the world does not revolve around him and that helping in his community can make a difference, even if it’s just to try to keep this little community together. Whether he is coloring pictures for a nursing home, taking old towels and blankets to an animal shelter, drawing pictures for the VA hospital veterans, making a thank you card for the lady who delivers the mail, or taking old toys and movies to the children’s hospital, he needs to know there are other people who need help and love too. It is our job to inspire these values in his life and more in ours also. In any case, little Q will be out slobbering, showing off his big 2 teeth smile, and supporting all of us running around! That’s rather respectable for community service for a 7 month old.

Eating Healthier

The Greek poet Hesiod said “moderation in all things” which, sadly, also encompasses food. I have a big sweet tooth and love bread! A great start, right? Well, my husband and I are in our 40’s so we need to stay healthy to be here for our son as long as we possibly can. We need to eat healthier now before Q starts eating more foods that requires additional teeth. I have found many delicious, low carb recipes on Pinterest, my preferred website for…well, pretty much everything. Okay, I do go to other websites too but it’s my first stop.

My husband loves to cook and is always butting in adding more spices when I’m in the kitchen therefore he often gets that task so I’m very appreciative he is incredible at it! He is fantastic on the grill and even makes his own delectable rubs. He’s just dreamy! At any rate, I don’t want us to spend the whole evening in the kitchen so I look for crock pot or quicker recipes, which in turn lets us spend more time with Q before he goes to bed. Our average time to make a meal at night is around 30 minutes which gives me enough time to feed Q before dinner is ready.

We usually eat fairly healthy but need to stop eating as much premade foods with so many preservatives. Some of my favored recipes are below but there are various versions of these so pick what suits you and your lifestyle.

• Beef and broccoli
• Sausage and potatoes with asparagus, zucchini, and squash
• Baked sweet potato fries
• Chicken salad wrap
• Skillet recipes with chicken or shrimp and sausage with vegetables
• Chef salad
• Ham in the crock pot
• Quesadillas

Going back to moderation, we are not cutting everything out. If we’re in town we will go out to eat but try to find something a little better for us than a bacon cheeseburger. We still eat ice cream or angel food cake with strawberries for dessert if it’s needed and it typically is for me. That darn sweet tooth!

Clutter Management

I hate clutter and we have it! At night I run around picking things up, putting things away, and as soon as I feel like everything is somewhat under control, we get mail with magazines, other toys pulled out for Q, pots, pans, and food hauled out to start dinner and in under 30 minutes it doesn’t look like I did anything.

While doing some research I found some sites to help declutter your life. That was when I realized that we definitely have acquired more stuff than we need. I really love to organize, but there has not been enough organizing time and we’ve accumulated even more now that we have Q so our home is just cluttered.

We started this decluttering project in our laundry room since it’s also a mud room that collects numerous un-laundry type objects. First, I trashed the junk and took out everything that needed to be deposited to another room like the garage, shop, or basement.

That cleared out quite a bit before I made piles to recycle or donate. Strong cleaners for tools, pet brushes, and dog shampoo all went to the garage, paint supplies under the stairs, etc. All of that and more is just from our laundry room which needs more room for baby detergent and stain remover for Q.

Items that stayed were reorganized. More convenient space was made available for actual laundry items. I can now reach the extra detergent without standing on my tippy toes. It’s the little things.

If you end up with piles to get rid of actually TAKE the items to donate, recycle, trash or wherever. Don’t leave them around your house! Otherwise, if you’re like me, you’ll second guess yourself whether you need it or not and keep it which defeats the purpose. The first decision is usually the best.

So as of now the laundry room is the only room I’ve had time to make it mostly through and it’s already accumulating other junk so I’m working to keep it clutter free. It’ll take some time to go through the whole house but you just need to start somewhere. I am really looking forward to the end result!

Managing Time

Squirrel!! I am like Dug, the dog in “Up” where he gets utterly distracted when he sees a squirrel. I start putting laundry away and (squirrel) see something that needs to go to the living room, then tromp out there to (squirrel) remember I needed to text someone yesterday and (squirrel), I really need to water the plants outside, and so it continues. It’s difficult to focus some days when I see so much that needs to be done.

In a perfect world, I would have homemade baby food for Q’s chubby, little tummy every night, a 4 course dinner on the table for my incredible husband, have the all laundry clean and put away, the floors spotless, a gleaming kitchen, and the bathrooms immaculate. Well, that’ll just stay a pipe dream.

Exercising in the morning before work is a beneficial way to wake me up. Some mornings I do yoga, the elliptical or just stretching and crunches. Not sure if you read my About page, but I really dislike working out so none of this morning routine is necessarily fun for me, just required.

I choose to spend more time with my family on the weekends, so I’m doing chores every night to make that take place. Appointments come up during the week, so it doesn’t always work out, but being flexible is beneficial with a child anyway, right? Plus, if I can take care of at least some of my list during the week it’s better than nothing.

• Monday – vacuum the floors and put away any extra laundry from the weekend
• Tuesday – clean bathroom mirrors, sinks and counters
• Wednesday – clean bath tub and shower, and put away anything out-of-place
• Thursday – dust, start laundry and make grocery list
• Friday – finish laundry and possibly to go the grocery store

We are limiting TV, email, internet, and social media because that can suck you in and take a lot of precious time. It may be more entertaining than cleaning the house or yard work, but for some people I’m pretty sure it makes them daft. Not you though. 🙂

Making something for dinner that we can have for lunch the next day or dinner later in the week has been useful. In the winter we cook a couple of days making breakfast burritos or bierocks/kraut burgers to freeze for those last-minute lunches we don’t have leftovers for.

If you haven’t read it yet, I LOVE to organize! Now that we have a child the house isn’t quite as organized as I would prefer. We are currently decluttering our house to get things more organized so there’s less to clean and the rest has a place to go.

This is what we’re working on right now to be able to spend more quality time with little Q. I’m sure we’ll need to change our management paradigm as we go but I’ve got high hopes right now.

Baby Love

Babies eat, sleep and poop. Yep. There is also bathing, cuddling, napping, playing, cleaning bottles and clothes, reading books, making stuffed animals talk, having a funny noises contests, making mommy and daddy laugh until they cry, going for walks, and taking a bunch of pictures. Babies take a great deal of time, but he’s growing so fast and we are cherishing every moment! Little Q has 2 lower teeth so he’s chewing on his fingers constantly and occasionally both fists at the same time. He has a little mouth, but somehow he makes it possible.

During our time of waiting for a child, I started making a baby book because I knew that after we had a baby I would want to spend all my time with them. So far that assumption was correct. I’ve only put two pictures in it, but partly because the majority of them aren’t even printed since there are so many to pick from. That is merely one of numerous things on my To Do list.

We had previously heard kids take up a lot of time and that we should enjoy our sleep and quiet time before we got a child. Q has actually been sleeping through the night, or at least most of it, for a few months now so we’ve been really lucky on that. We actually enjoy not having as much quiet time since we’d been waiting for years for a child. I guess I still thought I would have time to do some other things done while he was napping and playing. So far that hasn’t been the case for me. It is the summer so my hope is when the weather becomes colder we will have more time at home that I can accomplish my goals of organizing and working on his baby books.

Q is now starting finger foods! He’s eating sliced avocados, watermelon, and bananas to start out. His favorites so far are the bananas and avocados, but he’s still learning to keep the food at the front of his mouth until it is mashed enough to swallow. Smashing watermelon between his tiny fingers with juice running down his arms and legs, Q’s having a fantastic time! Being the smart parents that we are, we decided to feed him outside a bit more for the time being. The dog is very grateful for his little treats that drip down on him and waits patiently for the next. Family fun for all!

So, long story short, I feel like I have no time to clean and organize the house, make homemade baby food like planned, work on his baby books before I forget things that have happened, and little Q is growing up quickly and I don’t want to miss it. However, we are having a blast snuggling, playing, and loving him as much as we possibly can! Everything else can wait.