Media diet

You'll be seeing a lot less of me on the internet for the next 4 weeks.

I'm hoping to get a chance to blog regularly still, but our family is going on a media diet and that means limiting my time on the internet as well. My husband knows there is no way he can take away my internet completely and still have a sane wife, so we're simply putting a daily cap on the internet instead of taking it away completely (like we are with TV).

We've been having discussions lately about what we are spending our time doing - how much time is spent vegging out in front of TV reruns, messing around pointlessly on the internet, etc. - and about the quality of stuff that is entering our home in general. So this is our experiment to see how much we can do without and if we are happier, better adjusted individuals when it's over. Less entertained maybe (I do love my TV) but I would put money on the better-adjusted part.

We will be doing more together as a family. We will be doing some of the chores we have been putting off. We will likely be doing more ready and games and conversing instead of flopping on the couch with mindless entertainment in front of us.

To remind himself, my husband removed the batteries from the TV remote. He disabled the wireless card in my computer (which I made him restart since I DO still get to come online) to assist with the reminders, too.

We went 2 months 2 years ago without cable (and therefore without much access to TV at all) and really got out of the habit for awhile of just having the TV on and watching reruns of reruns of shows we like (you know, on the cable networks that show reruns of still-running or recently defunct shows for hours every day) . We were better for it and we weeded out the shows that we didn't really care about that much to begin with. But now we're in a rut again and it's time to do something about it.

There's a blogger I've read for years now that doesn't have a TV. They rent movies and even some TV shows on DVD and watch them on her laptop. Sometimes they even watch the shows you can find online if they are really interested. But their kids have very little to no TV in their lives and I bet they don't miss it at all. If I weren't such a TV addict, I would happily go that way, myself. And maybe, when this is done, I can. Who knows how we will feel on the otherside of this experiment? But I'm ready to try it out.

So, you may see me less often on Facebook. You'll definitely not see me racking up any new high scores on Bubble breaker. I'll still be visiting my favorite blogs and my favorite message boards, but possibly less frequently. And I'm not sure that I'll be any worse for it, honestly.

Convicted

I've been getting a lot of information lately about how negatively the media effects our children, regardless of their ages, etc. It seems to come from different sources, all trustworthy, and at different times, but it is really starting my mind rolling.

Daddy Fuss and I don't talk with "bad" language - we don't say a lot of curse words or call people derogatory names (well, there have been times in the car that we use the word "moron" too often, but I digress...) and we aren't violent people, so there isn't a lot of that in our house. But we love movies of all kinds and I'm starting to think we might need to reevaluate our own movie and TV choices whether the kid(s) are around to watch them or not.

Less language, less violence, less sex and other questionable "entertainment." I was reminded today that we need to hold ourselves to the standard of Phillipians 4:8
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

My Goals for 2010

I hate New Year's resolutions. I kind of feel like they are an excuse to put of good-behavior ("it's December 17th and I should really work on sticking to a budget - I'll do that for my New Year's resolution and then I don't have to start for another few weeks!"). I also hate that once people mess up on said resolutions they practically give up on even trying again. ("Oops. It's January 13th and I ate too many cookies! Guess my New Year's resolution to lose weight is over. Pass the cookies!")

I have 2 things I'd really like to do this year. (Well, 4, but I'll touch on the others, too)

1) Lose fat. I'm seriously hoping to get pregnant this year, but I know that I can still lose fat content, even if I don't lose pounds due to the pregnancy. (Which is what I did the last time)

2) Start writing again. I know that I can write every day, thanks to NaBloPoMo. I mentioned at the end of that, that I wasn't crazy about writing 7 days a week, but I was inspired by Maggie who wrote a novel during the month of November for NaNoWriMo. I'm going to figure out monthly goals (since I've currently got no ideas, I'm going to have to start slow) and I AM going to stick to them.

3) Have a baby. Only God and nature can really control this, so it's a goal, and I'm going to do anything in my power to accomplish it, but there is truly only so much I can do.

4) Be a better mom. I'm on my way to this already. This new training system is really helping both her behavior and my temper. But there is always room for improvement. This will likely be one of those that I renew every year for the rest of my life, no matter how well I do the year before. It was certainly on my list for 2009.

What are YOUR goals for 2010?

Booty-full

I have to tell you about my party! I had so much fun! Cherry and I headed over to Liz's apartment and had a blast visiting and catching up. Her schedule is SO crazy this year (she's a speech pathologist for a school and she commutes 2-hours round trip 5 days a week - she's gone from her house from 6am-6pm every day) and we haven't had much time to talk, so it was great to visit.

We got there a little early and arrived just as Lisa, our consultant (called a Bootician, no I'm not making it up) arrived and was setting up. She was funny, full of energy and very friendly, but not in that fake, over-the-top way. (I don't know how many in-home product parties I've been to over the years and that fakeness really drives me crazy.) It helped that she was actually friends with Liz and they used to work together.

Liz had this FABULOUS pumpkin dip and a bunch of other healthy snacks set up (plus, rum punch) and it was delicious. When the party started, I was a little wary, since she had everything all set up at her table and there were some unusual items on display. But, we started out with the beauty products - bubble bath, scented/flavored sparkly dusting powder, pheremone-laced body butter, etc. We were all completely into this stuff. It smelled amazing, it felt great - this stuff that was like a liquid bronzer, actually made me look sort of tan! (for me, this is a BIG DEAL. My skin doesn't tan - even with fake help)

There was this delicious chocolate body fondue that isn't sticky on your skin and tastes like liquid fudge. (Yum!) There was body honey in several flavors and nice massage oils that felt so fantastic. There was aphrodisiac lipbalms and lingerie. All sorts of fun stuff.

She started to introduce the toys. There are levels of toys, of course. Some "beginner toys" and some "moderate" toys and "advanced" toys. We checked them all out (G-rated - this was not a demonstration party!) and some of them were funny and some of them were intriguing and some of them were, I confess, appalling to sheltered little ol' me. (Can I confess that I have never actually seen a vibrator in real life? TV, on sitcoms and the like, yes, but never in real life. Maybe that makes me really sheltered, but I think I'm okay with that.)

We all bought a few items - some for beauty and some for fun. Cherry and I are talking about scheduling a party - hopefully in November. The shipping is very fast (we expect to get our orders on Wednesday of this week) and Daddy Fuss and I are looking forward to trying out our finds and I'm guessing we'll be looking at some more of the products in the future.

There were some moderately embarassing moments during the presentation - but it was a comfortable setting, so it really wasn't too bad. It was a lot of fun.

The language of Fuss

I've been worried about the Fuss's language development for a little while, but some improvement has been made over the last few weeks. I mentioned my concerns to her pediatrician at her 15 month appointment (they asked if she had 5 words. She had half that - 2 that she used often, one that she occasionally said but didn't seem to know what it meant.)

Since turning 17 months, she has gotten a few more words. Her vocabulary thus far, is this:

Words she uses all the time, no prompting:
1. Dada/dah-dee
2. No
3. Go go

Words she uses regularly, with some prompting:
1. Mama
2. Wow
3. Yeah
4. the animal noises for dog (woof), cow (moo), lion (rahr)
5. Goo-gah (good girl - this she likes to repeat when I've told her she's been a good girl)

Words she uses occasionally, with or without prompting:
1. Meeee
2. Gah (often used for dog)
3. Cah-kee (cookie)

Wednesday night, for the first time ever she said Mama without prompting, directed toward me. I had run to the pharmacy to pick up Daddy Fuss's prescription and left her with her Daddy at home. When I came home, she ran to the door (as she often does when her daddy comes home) and started calling "mama! mama! mama!" It kind of made my night.

So we shall see what the pediatrician says this coming week at her 18-month appointment. I'm hoping she will agree to send us for an evaluation, because I'd rather be safe than sorry. Both Daddy Fuss and I were early talkers (I was saying "superfragilisticexpialidocious" around 14 months old) and we're very verbal now (hence my two favorite past times are reading and writing), so it surprises me that she isn't more verbal. But at the same time, she was an early crawler/walker, so I know that can make a difference in development.

I hope I get my favorite partner at the pediatrician's office this time. She's easier to talk to and I don't feel like she's patronizing me when I bring up my concerns.

2 completely separate topics

I was going to write about this whole "what am I going to do with my life?" debate I've been dealing with (and I will), but I just read Alexa's post about Ollie and I have to say something about it, and the sorrow parents are dealing with all over.

I am saddened regularly to hear these stories - so many families dealing with tragedy. I love the internet communities I have become apart of and adopted as my friends. I love that I can have friends across the country, and all over the south, and midwest, etc. and that I can share their lives and they, mine. If it were not for the internet, I would never have met these people.

I want to be supportive of these parents. I want to help remember Ollie and Maddie. I want to help remember Liz. Because it's important to their families to have people remember their loved ones. I avidly read Heather's blog and Matt's (the husband of Liz) because I want to support them in their grief and be part of the community who reminds them that their loved ones meant something to the world and will not be forgotten.

But sometimes it gets overwhelming. It gets really sad. Sometimes I want to take a break, but at the same time, when do they get to take a break?


***********************

On a less serious note:
Have you heard the radio commercials for the wireless router that is being offered by, I think, Verizon? It talk about a small business specialist, etc. and the example they use is this catering business run by a mom, daughter and grandmother who all need to be able to access information and the internet while they're out, etc. My husband thinks the technology is cool, but the commercial makes me think more about the business itself. How fun would it be to run a catering company with my mom and grandma?

Not that I'm a great cook. I can hold my own, but I'm not spectacular. My grandma is, but she's starting to really step back from the cooking. And not that spending that much time with them wouldn't drive me up the wall. Because it would. I love them dearly but we are all both too much alike and too different, if you know what I mean.

But I would love to have a small business where I regularly worked with a couple of women I was close to. This is a new thought for me, because I have NEVER wanted my own business. I grew up in a family who owned a small business and I HATED it. In college when everyone of my classmates was talking about starting their own business and being their own boss, I was running the other direction and looking for a corporate job with an agency or department within a corporation.

But I desperately want some sort of social-professional regular contact. I miss the time with my female coworkers. I miss the office gossip and the small talk while waiting for the coffee to brew in the office kitchen.

I don't know what this means, exactly. I still want to be able to be home with The Fuss. As much as she sometimes drives me crazy, I think I'd go nuts without her for more than a day or two. (This is not a judgment on anyone who puts their kids in daycare - everyone does what they have to do for their family and whether that means financially or mentally needing to be out of the house or whatever, I totally support your choices.) I always thought I would prefer to be home, but would be okay with working, since I was sure we'd need the money of my full-time employment, but God has blessed us with raises for my husband at the exact right times and his ability to be an incredible budgeter.

But I digress.

Maybe this is why the thought of the previously-mentioned business opportunity was so appealing.

But what can I do for a business that would give me the social aspect? What can I do in general? My hobbies include reading and blogging and a love of movies. My cooking skills are just decent, my sewing skills are minimal, my cleaning skills are poor (but I'm getting better!). I have little experience party-planning (but wouldn't that be fun?) and I know how to throw a wedding on a small budget (but wouldn't a wedding planner usually only apply to those with a bigger budget?) but what else is there? I'm at a loss. I used to be creative, but I don't know what happened.

I'll have to keep thinking. I'll have to keep exploring the options. But in the meantime, I can just keep going along with what I've already got, I suppose.

New opportunities

Over the weekend I attended a makeover event with a friend of mine. It was fun. And then we sat through a presentation which was essentially a recruitment spiel. It got me interested.

I'm not interested in climbing their ladder. I don't want to be a director and have a bunch of people under me (it's a multi-level marketing deal), I just want to be able to make enough money that I can quit my part-time job and still spend most of my time with my baby and future babies.

So I'm seriously considering it.

Daddy Fuss is supportive. We started doing some online research about the success of such a program. And naturally, there are a ton of horror stories on the internet, etc. But I know that you have to take a grain of salt with pretty much everything you read on the internet, right?

So I sent off an email to a friend who is involved with this program, but who lives too far away to be my mentor. I wanted her advice on the realities of what it takes, etc. and what to watch out for, etc. This girl and I were casual friends in high school, but she is the best friend of one of my SILs and we have kids the same age so we've kept in touch a lot the last couple of years. The only thing is, I don't know how often she checks her email... so I'm nervously anticipating her answer and I don't know when to expect it.

I don't think this is necessarily the answer to my questions about what to do with my life, but I think it might be a step in the right direction. I know I hate the job I'm doing now and it will be nearly impossible to do when I have a second child. At least if I find something else to do that would be of a different schedule, there might be a chance I could still be productive when we have a second child, when it will be even more important to do so.

When I've gotten more information and made more a more definitive decision, I'll share more about what this is (not that you can't guess).

New Fuss Skills

The Fuss has learned a few new things lately and I thought I'd share her new habits.

• She dances. If you tell her to dance or ask if she is dancing she will begin to dance. Usually this entails sort of a "running in place" kind of thing (think the dance in Flashdance to "Maniac") but sometimes she'll do that, while twirling herself around and around. When she hears music she likes she just can't help herself - she MUST dance. She also MUST dance when she gets really excited. She has happy feet, what can I say? I cannot wait to enroll her in ballet classes.
  
• She's learned to nod "yes." If you ask her a question she will usually answer, but most often she nods yes, whether she means it or not. It gets frustrating sometimes, but she is so cute when she does the little nod - she seems so sincere.
  
• She's learned to say "no." She says it a lot, though she hasn't begun to use it for everything yet, though I know she will eventually. I hear her telling herself and the dogs "no no" when she's doing something, especially when it's something I've told her no about before. She echos me when I repeat it, and sometimes she says it so emphatically that I'm wondering if she really does in fact mean it.
• Her hair is getting longer, especially in the back and she is beginning to let me put bows and clips in it for longer periods of time (longer than 30 seconds). I've learned to show her the bow before I put it in her hair and she'll leave it in longer. I figured that out when I'd put one in, she'd pull it out, look at it, and attempt to set it back on top of her head. The hair on the sides, though, is still not nearly as long as the back and I still can't do pigtails. I'm bummed about that.
  

I just made you say "under where?"**

I have to tell you about my new bra. I love it. And I am in no way getting compensated for giving this positive review, they haven't asked me to do so, but I seriously love it so much that I have to tell you about it.

I got an ad in the mail the other day from Victoria's Secret. It was one of those cards for a free panty (no purchase required) and $10 off the price of a bra. I do this all the time - I go in, I get my 1 pair of free underpants and I leave. I purchase nothing. There was a time when I only wore VS underclothes, but those days (the days of lots of income and no responsibilities... sometimes I miss those days) are long gone. I didn't get the $10 discount since the bra was already of sale for a cheaper price, but regardless, I walked out of there a very happy girl.

I tried The Perfect One (tm), the new VS bra. It was awesome. It was so comfortable and it fit like a glove and the fabric is really nice. I don't usually go in for the VS ads - like most ads for that kind of thing, they promise you the world but end up not always delivering. But this one, it really is The Perfect One (tm).

Right now it's on a promotional price for under thirty bucks. So worth it. I think it's usually going to be about $45 and while that's a little high, I think it would be worth it. This bra is seriously terriffic.

I've had some trouble with my current stock of bras lately - I've had 5 of them tear out their underwires in the last 3 months. Don't know what that's about. Also, post-pregnancy/breastfeeding my shape is VERY different that it used to be (I know, everyone tells you this is going to happen - I'm not surprised, but it is annoying when I can't afford to replace them en masse). So I was in serious need of a bra pick me up (pardon the pun).

If you're in the market for a new bra that is pretty and comfortable, I'd suggest you check this one out. I really think it might be The Perfect One (tm).

** Anybody know what song the title of my post is from? :)

Little Things

The Fuss has done a couple of new things recently (in the last 48 hours)

1. This morning, she really wanted an animal cracker, which she recognized from the box. She was very clear in expressing her desire, though she wouldn't even try and talk it out. She pointed, she nodded when I asked if she wanted a cookie, she clapped when I pulled out the box. I tried to get her to say "cookie" and she wouldn't even try and mimic the sound, but when I said "will you say mama for a cookie?" she said "mama" and smiled. She totally got that cookie.

2. She pulled off her diaper during her afternoon nap. Typically, she sleeps dressed, but she had dumped her lunch all over her earlier and it's hot, even with the AC on, so I let her sleep in just her diaper. I won't be doing that again. Her nap was shorter than usual and she woke up crying. When I went in, her diaper was on the crib mattress and she was stark naked. Oops. Guess I'll be changing those sheets.

3. We went to a Memorial Day BBQ and pool party. 5 couples, each with 1 child under the age of 2. It was a blast, and The Fuss had been in the pool before, but this time she really loved it. It's the first swim for the season and I'm looking forward to seeing her swim more.

4 months

Hard to believe my baby is 4 months old. She is such a happy little thing, always smiley and we've fallen into a great pattern of life together. We have daily "AM Smiles" when she first wakes up in the morning and smiles non-stop as we're getting her up and changed. And she laughs with excitement as I get ready to feed her for the first time each day. I love it.

She had her 4-month appointment on Wednesday and got her shots/vaccines. It wasn't a happy time, but it wasn't nearly the horrible experience it had been at 2 months. Daddy Fuss joined us for the appointment, and he distracted her during the pokings. I have to say I think that made it worse for me - nothing to distract me or to focus on except the fact that I couldn't stop my baby from being in pain.

It's been a crazy week. I'm helping my dad at his business while people are taking vacations and so I've really messed with her schedule lately - waking her before she does naturally, feeding her at odd times, etc. Daddy Fuss has also picked up a temporary job with his former employer working a few weekend and evening hours. It's fun stuff for him, but it simply means more time apart. There have been days where he hasn't seen the baby for more than 10 minutes in a 24-hour period. We're starting her on solids this weekend - rice cereal at first and soon fruits and veggies. I picked up a couple of jars of baby food - green beans and bananas. I've read conflicting theories about whether to choose a vegetable or fruit for the first food, so I think I'll try the green beans first and if she completely rejects them, I'll do the bananas and move on to the green beans again later. We shall see what happens.

Travel

Caroline took her first road trip this past weekend for my cousin's wedding. We drove to GiGi's house (my grandmother) and relaxed for a few hours with my uncle and 2 of my cousins and went on to the wedding from there. (Gramma drove - boy was that interesting! But Daddy Fuss declared we're buying a Buick Regal - much easier to handle the carseat with that big old backseat!)
It was a beautiful wedding and we were so glad to be able to go. The Fuss and I mastered the art of nursing in the car and overall, it was a great experience. The Fuss didn't seem to mind the interruption to her usual routine and surroundings and kept to her usual schedule, even overnight. It was so good to see the extended family and show off the baby!