no bib!

Tripp really does not like wearing a bib when he eats. He rips it right off his neck. This is a battle I am not willing to fight, I would much rather just change him after he eats. So that is what I do.

a confession on cleaning

I feel like I have something to confess that I realized the other day. First, I need to apologize to Winsor for misleading her a little bit a while back. See, she asked me if our house is always as clean as it was when she and Weston visited. I said yes. But I think I need to clarify that- organized, yes but clean, no. See, just the other day, as I was working on my coupon deals for the week, I ran across a deal for some cleaning supplies. I thought, we don't need any of those. But as I got to thinking about it even more, I realized something. I usually use a spray Lysol to clean our bathroom and kitchen. We have had that same bottle of Lysol since we were married. Almost five years ago. Not only that, but there is still some left in the bottle.



That is pretty bad. Now, one thing to my credit is that we had a small bathroom and kitchen in our apartment, and we have a small bathroom and kitchen in our house. But to not even use one bottle of cleaner in five years? It's cleaning powers were probably gone after the first year, when most people would have used it up. Then I thought about my dusting skills. Surely those can't be as bad. That is when I realized that the only bottle of Pledge in our house is a trial size bottle that is, you guessed it, not empty. Not even close to being empty.



I thought that possibly I didn't need to dust that much and that is why I don't. So I just took a look around our house to see about that dust. I did not find any dust bunnies, no, I found dust monsters. Yep, monsters. So apparently I do need to use that Pledge more. So now that I have probably grossed you all out, I should go on to explain my next realization: my cleaning skills have improved dramatically since Tripp was born. That might sound counter intuitive since usually kids make lives more crazy and there is less time for things like cleaning, but in my case, I have had to make time for cleaning for one reason that can be summed up in two words: My mom. See, she comes and watches Tripp at our house two days a week. And there's nothing like the feeling of wanting to prove to my mom that I've got it all under control to keep me motivated to clean. I thought I was doing a good job of that until last week, I got a text message from Nelson that said something about how my mom had left a newspaper article for me on the dining room table. He would not tell me what it was about. So I just had to wait till I got home. When I came home, I found an article on cleaning supplies! I should have guessed I couldn't fool my mom. Now my only hope is that she will soon get cataracts and no longer be able to see the dust and dirt that collects in our house. Until then, I will just have to keep working on my cleaning skills. Or we could hire a cleaning lady.

P.S. Please don't be nervous to come over to our house- I always clean before company. And if you decide to drop by unexpectedly, you probably want to do it on a Monday or Friday cause those are the days that my mom watches Tripp, so our house will at least be somewhat clean.

Stanley

Meet Stanley, Tripp's good friend. He is a handmade dog that Steph gave him. Stanley is what we all called Tripp before he was born. He has only been with us since Christmas but he is already an important part of our lives.

i was wondering where my hair towel went...

this is where I found it- oops!!

this is why i love saturday mornings...

our little pirate

To say that Tripp is similar to his father in name alone is a misstatement. In a lot ways, they are pretty much spitting images of each other. Name, temperament, looks, interests (technology, fast cars, and the like), and now we found out that Tripp gets to wear an eye patch just like his dad did! It turns out Tripp has a mild form of strabismus (where your eye turns in) and the pediatric ophthalmologist is hoping it can be fixed by some patching. So every day for the next 6 weeks, you can find baby Tripp sporting his sweet patch from about 3:30-5:30 p.m. (nothing special about the hours, just happens to be the time that one of us is always home with him-as opposed to his babysitter or my mom, not like no one is with him the rest of the time). And just like his dad, it really doesn't bother him one bit. For the first minute or so of wearing it the first time, he was a little thrown off, but since then, it is no big deal. We would appreciate your prayers that this patching regime does fix it, and he does not have to have surgery (although the doctor told us 80% of kids with this have to have surgery). We are praying to be that other 20%!

100,000 miles

I have been looking forward to this moment for a long time: my altima reaching 100,000 miles. My dad and I have talked about it for so long-about how we would be in the car together, watch the odometer roll over, high five, etc. Today the moment finally came. And it couldn't have been more perfect. Seriously, the mileage gods were with us. Here's the scenario: I got to work this morning with 99,993 miles on my odometer. I work 6.6 miles from home. How perfect could that be? I got in my car tonight and started my drive home. I hit a lot of traffic on the highway, but I decided to stay in the right hand lane because I did not want to risk any extra distance by crossing over lanes. I literally pulled in front of our house with the odometer reading 99,999. I called my dad, he said he would be right over. He came, we hopped in the car and proceeded to drive. Where did we drive? to Walgreens of course. and where did the 100,000 miles hit? in the Walgreens parking lot of course. I don't think it could have worked out more perfectly. We pulled into a spot, high fived, took some pictures and had a moment of silence. I wanted to go in and get a drink to celebrate but unfortunately Walgreens does not sell those kinds of drinks anymore. We will just have to mix up our own margaritas tonight. I am pretty sure this day is the third most important day in my life so far, following close behind our wedding and Tripp's birth. Seriously, this is great. And the joy will not stop because tomorrow when I get into my car and turn it on, there will be 100,000 miles beautifully staring back at me. Well, here's to hoping for at least 50,000 more!

8 months old (well almost)

Tomorrow is Tripp's 8 month birthday! He was just looking too cute today to pass up posting these pics so they will have to count for now!


weekly bath (maybe one of my new year's resolutions should have been to bathe my child more often)






why did you give me that piece of rice cake? it doesn't taste good...


wow, a star with things inside of it! who knew!?

a great past few days

New Years Eve was great. I made a romantic dinner for us to enjoy by candlelight,



and then we both managed to stay up for the ball dropping (who cares that it was East Coast time and we are on Central). Then Friday was great- Nelson had the day off of work so we hung out and ran errands as a fam. Then we dropped Tripp off at my folks house for a slumber party so that Nelson and I could go to dinner and a movie. We got to sleep in a little bit this morning since Tripp was still at my folks. We picked him up and had our traditional Saturday morning breakfast together, this time at First Watch (we usually rotate between a few places). Then tonight for dinner, we had some incredible steak, guinness, and cheese pie.



The recipe is Jamie Oliver's but my brother and sister-in-law recommended it. According to my brother, he introduces me to the finer things in life, and this is definitely one of them. It is a perfect wintertime, Saturday night dinner. Now we are off to finish up watching Battlestar Galactica. What a great weekend so far!

Happy New Year

2009 was probably the best and hardest year of my life so far. the reason for it can be summed up in one word: Tripp. having a baby is the most amazing and miraculous things i have ever witnessed. first this little baby grew inside of me with really no help from me, then he was born and is growing, developing, and becoming this little person. i can not think of much else that is as amazing a testimony to the existence of an all-knowing, sovereign, powerful, and loving God. but having a baby is also one of the hardest things i have ever done. for me, it wasn't the pregnancy or childbirth that was particularly hard (although there were definitely some scary moments), it's the months that have followed that have been the most challenging. and i will be the first to admit that Tripp is pretty much a dream baby. sure we have had our moments, and probably the hardest/his fussiest was the first four months. but once we got rid of his pacifier, a lot of things improved. the hardest thing for me is adjusting to what it means to be a mom, what my role looks like, learning to prioritize my time and having to constantly die to my own desires, wants and even needs to take care of Tripp. learning to be selfless when it comes to most areas of my life is hard. really hard. and it is something that has taken almost 8 months to even remotely start to improve. you can ask nelson- he has been the receiver of many snippy remarks, bad attitudes, and hours of the silent treatment because i am ticked off about something that i shouldn't even remotely frustrated with (things even as ridiculous and small as having to change a diaper or feed my son). i have been learning, for probably the first time in my life, what it means to love in a way that is patient, kind, not self-seeking, and not easily-angered. and i am learning what it means to be a wife of noble character- who gets up while it is still dark to provide food for the family, to set about my work vigorously and to be clothed in strength and dignity. i know this process is not easy, and it will be a process that lasts my whole life. but in the meantime, i will enjoy the blessings God has given me- the gift of salvation, a wonderful husband and son- and i will look forward to the ways He will continue to refine me.