• Analiese and I made our second solo trip to Bloomington, Indiana to visit some of my housemates from college. Ten of us lived together in a big old house within a very short walking distance to campus. We were the “707 girls”. We had so much fun together. It was a bit surreal to be back on IU’s campus with my 6 month old daughter. Her first college visit.

• I started an Etsy shop! I’ve been wanting to do this for so long and I finally picked a name, set up my shop policies and started listing items. Most of the items that are in the shop now are ones that I already had done for us or friends and just tweaked the information to protect their privacy. The last name I’ve chosen for any samples that include a picture of our family is “Westen” – a reference to our favorite burned spy, Michael Westen.

• I have been in a habit of rearranging rooms lately. Like almost on a daily basis. I blame it on the amount of time I spend in our house these days. It’s usually a small change, but sometimes it can be a major room overhaul like the night I decided to completely take apart and put back together our guest room/office without Ross knowing. He was upstairs and I had just put Analiese down for the night. I am a master at doing things quietly. Ross is not. I guess it’s a good thing that Analiese gets a little of both extremes. However, I’m always stumped at how she can sleep through major road construction right outside her window and wake up to Ross sneezing. Then again, have you heard him sneeze?!
• I’ve been on a sewing kick. Part of that room rearrangement I mentioned above allowed me to bring my sewing machine up from the basement so I have easy access to it when I want to work on a project. (It also meant that Ross moved the computer into his closet. Yes, you read that right. His closet. This guy has more quirks than you may have known about.) Anyway, these projects are finally getting done thanks to our new guest room/craft room. It feels so good to be so productive. Pictures coming soon. :)
• I really love breastfeeding Analiese and I can see how it’s hard for some moms to let go of the intimate bonding time with their baby which can lead to breastfeeding well beyond a year. I’m pretty sure that’s as long as I’ll go, but I will miss it. One thing I will not miss is pumping every morning and every night. Now that solids are in Analiese’s diet, she’s not eating as much from me, so I need to pump to keep the supply going. But it is SO BORING! And so, I’ve gotten into this awful habit of watching tv shows on Hulu to pass the time. I actually enjoy some of them, but when I started watching The Bachelor Pad recently, I knew something had to change. While I’m pretty limited to what I can do during these 20-30 minute time periods, there are other things I could spend my time doing. I could pray. And I could listen to a sermon on iTunes. I decided to listen to a sermon from The Village Church this morning instead of watching the fourth episode of Bachelor Pad. And even though I only got 5 hours of sleep last night, I feel so much more refreshed than if I had watched a trashy, drama-induced reality show.
• One of my favorite things about college was how my involvement with Campus Crusade for Christ fostered such a unique community with other believers. I was challenged in my faith, learned how to pray to and trust God with big things. I grew a lot over those four years. In particular, I loved getting together with other women who asked hard questions and kept me accountable in various areas of my life. While I have many wonderful women in my life now, I’ve missed the one-on-one fellowship I was spoiled with in college. Needless to say, I’m going to start meeting with another woman from church. She’s been such an important part of our lives as parents and I love and respect the way she’s raised her own daughters. I’m really looking forward to reading the Word with her and talking about life with a Biblical perspective.

Today, I went back to the blog to respond to a comment and saw the “archives” in the sidebar. 

Somehow, between working 9 hours a day, taking Parker out on numerous walks (because he’s been scratching at that door like it’s his job lately…perhaps he’s feeling a little neglected with all of our running around and just wants some extra attention? Just wait for that baby to come!), shopping for carpet and painting (yes…we’re STILL painting!), my sweet husband found time to accommodate my request. It wasn’t a big request. It probably didn’t take a lot of time. But I know he has a lot on his plate and I want everyone who reads this to know how much I appreciate him.