So Tired

This is Paisley after quiet time has ended! I didn't think that quiet time was supposed to exhaust a child, but hey, she plays hard. At our home Paisley doesn't have to sleep at quiet time she just has to stay in her room. She sometimes has trouble sleeping at night if she has a nap during the day so I don't enforce a nap. Some times she sleeps, sometimes she plays. Today she was playing and when it was time to get her she had just decided she was tired and wanted to lay down. We came downstairs and I had put on a movie for her to watch for a couple minutes while I was putting dinner in the oven and this is what I came downstairs to. I think this is so funny!! Cute girl!S

Wind

Here in Kansas we often have high wind warnings. When they send out the warning they mean. Right now it is blowing like crazy, I wouldn't be surprised to find many tree branches and roof tiles on the lawn tomorrow. I don't really mind the crazy wind when I am inside. It sounds big and scary but other than that it's ok. Tonight when I was talking to Jason about why it is so windy in Kansas he said "Because Nebraska sucks and Oklahoma blows." I laughed hard, really hard. We had just put Paisley to bed so I tried to be as quiet as can be, but I lost it and thought that comments was so funny!! Anyway, it seemed like the perfect thing to include in a blog post!

Taxes

I usually love doing taxes. I think it is so fun to get all your financial papers in order and get down to work. In our home we use TurboTax which is an excellent way for the do-it-yourselfer to get your taxes done right. I've never considered doing taxes to be hard (mostly because we don't make enough or own enough for it to be hard). This year however we threw one extra monkey wrench into the system and it became a nightmare!! Man, all that changed was the aquisition of a health savings account and BAM-O! Stress, headaches, and weeping galore (OK I didn't really cry). After numerous phone calls to me Dad over different questions I think I got it figured out. Tomorrow I'll go through the taxes one last time with Jason just to double check (although TurboTax did say my error check passed without errors) and then I'll get the guts to click eFile!! I will then be 8-10 days away from the biggest refund we've ever gotten and my savings account can jump for joy! Ya gotta love tax time!

I NEED a Project

I have been trying to think of a project I could work on. Cleaning the house isn't exactly what I had in mind even though that always needs to be done. I love to paint canvas to hang in my rooms so I feel like I am adding to the rooms I decorate instead of having everything come from the store. I do have a 3 piece canvas project I do need to get started on, but not while I'm alone with Paisley because she will want to paint and I don't want to deal with that mess while I'm trying to be creative.

In our backyard we always have tons of bird visitors. Our neighborhood is primarily an older generation and they tend to have a lot of bird houses in their back yards and such. Paisley and I love to watch the birds every morning while we eat breakfast. I decided that one fun project we can make is a milk jug bird feeder. This will take all of 10 minutes but Paisley will get a kick out of it and then we will have a lot more birds to watch in the morning. Luckily I thought of this while we had an empty jug laying around. Now all I need to do is gather supplies and hopefully tomorrow morning we can hang our bird feeder. This is so exciting!!

This small project, however, doesn't fill my need for a project. I would like one that takes a little while. I was thinking maybe a cross stitch, but what do you do with it? I'm not going to hang it in my house. The baby doesn't get to have a bedroom so I don't want to make some baby something. Anyway, it's something to ponder over and I'd happily except suggestions.

Abstinence is VERY Realistic

(WARNING: For those that know me, you know I am VERY opinionated, so spoiler alert, if you read this know that it has strong opinions in it.)

Not too many exciting things happen in Kansas very often so frequently on our nightly news there are celebrity updates or high profile people stories. Tonight they aired clips from Bristol Palin's interview in which she is supposedly an advocate for abstinence yet told the interviewer that abstinence is unrealistic. Well newsflash Bristol: Abstinence is very realistic and should be expected. Obviously I feel this way because of my religious views but far beyond that I think it is sick that everyone automatically gives up on the idea of abstinence without a true effort of promoting it. There is hope for young women living in this Sodom and Gommorah world to remain virgins until marriage. If a daughter is taught love for herself and womanhood, virtue, integrity, that she is a child of God, and nurtured by a mother and father I think abstinence is very likely. Often children rise to the expectations placed upon them. If your daughter knows that abstinence is expected until marriage, I think there will be an effort to achieve that. Now kids can make their choices and some will choose a different course than we would like, but with a lifetime of conversation, nurturing, explaining and loving it is possible to make it to marriage pure. Bristol Palin is definitely no role model for this home. I also fully expect to try my best to raise my children to know that abstinence before marriage is clearly the better choice and expected of them.

Hormones

So my wonderful hormones on top of giving me an insane craving for delicious food that is far beyond reach has made me break out worse than a 14 year old boy. I've never been one to have perfect skin, I have a couple conditions which guarantee me acne for the rest of my life unless I pay tons of money to visit Mr. Dermatologist for the rest of my life. I have come to terms with my skin issues, but this whole zit problems due to baby hormones are 100% frustrating. Even my extra powerful acne medicine from Mr. Dermatologist is no match for the baby hormones. Thanks a lot baby!

Small Towns are BAD for Cravings

Unlike some, I welcome my pregnancy cravings. I think it is a great excuse to need to get a treat or go out to dinner more often than we really should! Cravings turn ugly when you live in the middle of no where and fulfilling some of those needs (or should I say wants?) isn't possible because of lack of dining options. Some cravings come and go and it is ok when I don't get play into them, but others are longer lasting and far more painful (emotionally). For instance, I really, REALLY NEED some In N Out! This hamburger chain is only in a few western states and so for now it is seeming pretty impossible to get my hands on a hamburger from there. This is one craving that has not gone away and has made me cry on numerous occasions when it seems I will explode if I do not get some In N Out. Maybe by some miracle I'll get to take a trip to California sooner rather than later and put this craving to rest. One can only hope!