It's a Boy!

I hosted a baby shower for my sweet sixteen year-old sister last night. The night before the big day, going down the list of things I still needed to run to the store and get, counting guests, sending out a reminder, reminded ME why I do not like hosting parties. I have this thing...this thing where I OVER-STRESS about every little detail. (Remind me again why apparently I *wasn't* a Bridezilla?)

I am always freaking out about decorations and having enough food, those kindsa things. But my #1 freakout is about the PEOPLE.

First off, I'm a bit of a grudge holder for no-shows. Even at other peoples parties! Unless you had a pretty stinkin' darn good reason for not coming and I knew in advance, I get really disappointed. That's one of the many reasons I'm not the go-getter type in my Mary Kay business. You get a LOT of no shows. And I know...life happens. But I can't stop myself from feeling bad.

Secondly, I need everyone to be having a good time. I am always horribly stressed about keeping everyone doing something and it being a pleasant and fun activity. Which, surprise surprise...is another thing that is pretty much out of my control. I can provide as many forms of entertainment as possible, but if somebody is in a bad mood or just isn't interested, there's nothing I can do about that.

 I prefer parties hosted in the home rather than at a church, or restaurant or anyplace like that. I find it to be much more comfortable and intimate. It decreases my need for a lot of people to fill the void, because in a home even one extra person feels like something special.

So, anyway...the day came. The bell signaling that the first guest had arrived made me jump. Nervously I go through the rough draft of a schedule of events in my head for the trillionth time while I snatched my hair out of a messy ponytail and throw on the shirt I waited until the last minute to put on because I didn't want to be sweating nervous bullets wearing it until I had to.

 

And then, amazingly, somehow...it all came together. One by one, close friends and family arrived and we had so much fun talking, laughing and celebrating the joy of a new, special person coming in to all of our lives.

My first experience with fondant. I made homemade marshmallow fondant the week before and sealed it up to use. I had a back up box of cake mix to whip up some cupcakes if it didn't go so great, but I think the cake turned out pretty cute, don't you?

Adelaide was running around handing out balloons to everyone for...no reason except to be precious. ;)

Playing a baby shower game. ABC's! 1 word that has something to do with baby for every letter of the alphabet. But you only got 5 minutes! Congratulations to Karel who had 16!!!!

We also played the, "Don't say baby" game. Everyone got 3 clothes pins when they walked in the door, and the taboo word for the night was "baby"! Anytime somebody caught you saying it, they got to steal one of your clothes pins. Brittany and Abby tied for first! I lost all of mine fairly quick...haha. Though it was almost a relief not to have to worry about it anymore!

Nick and RyRy. The boys had to stick together. ;)

 While I was explaining the ABC game rules, my niece Adelaide ran up all worried because, "I don't have a paper!!" Luckily I had some extras, so she was playing right along with everyone. ;)

 

Everybody was so amazing and so generous. Emilie received some much needed (and TOO CUTE!!) goodies for baby Jay.

 So, to all of my lovely guests....

THANK YOU!

for being the super amazing people that you are. At the beginning of every party planning it's a great idea, in the middle, not so much....days before the set date, WHAT WAS I THINKING?! and when it's all over...it rolls back to being such a great idea.

 So, the thing that stresses me out the most about parties is the people. But, you know what? They're always the best part, too.

And I will dwell in the kitchen of my house forever.

For me, dieting has always been a huge hassle, and here are a few reasons why.

#1. As mentioned in the previous post, self-discipline is one of my largest downfalls. I wasn't exactly the best homeschooler, because I never had enough desire to do it myself without being nagged to death to do it. And really not even then...dieting takes a MASSIVE amount of self control when you've just let yourself do yo thang pretty much every day and not suffered any immediate consequence. The pounds usually pack on so slowly over time it seems barely noticeable until one day you wake up and wonder what happened. Hah.

#2. Which way to choose? Should I leave out meat? Should I leave out dairy? Should I avoid butter and oil like the plague? Do I exercise in the morning? Afternoon? Night? Before I eat or after I eat? All in one 45 minute to 1 hour go, or spread out throughout the day? Is walking enough? How much should I run? How far? What do I do if I'm stuck inside because it's FRIGID outside and can't afford a gym membership? Yoga/Weight Training/Cardio? All of the above? Everyone says different things!!

#3. It's gotta be all or nothing. For some reason, I have this mentality that once I start some kind of diet, and restrict myself at all...once I break the rules I've set up for myself, that's pretty much the end of it. It's ruined, oh well, I'll try next monday. Next month. Next...whenever.

#4. I don't want to so much, that I make it so circumstances have to be perfect before anything happens. Well, I really want to, but the day is halfway through and I forgot, so I'll start tomorrow. Well...it's too cold outside/too hot outside/too wet outside/to what the heck ever to do anything...so today is shot. Maybe tomorrow. I don't have the right shoes. I don't have a good outfit. I don't have a place to set up a DVD without people watching me. We have too many sweets in the house and I WANT THEM IN MAH BELLEH.

I've pretty much always been down on my figure. I've been slightly overweight probably since I was 10. People are always telling me I look fine, and even though I vehemently disagree with them...I've always been able to suck it in just right and pose just so in front of the mirror than I'm like, "Pssshaw. It ain't so bad." Lately, that's not happening. Lol. The sucking in doesn't improve things much if any. And for my sake, for marital sake, for health's sake...I'm going on a little diet of my own.

I have set no standards or goals that I MUST reach, therefore, I cannot feel a failure and quit. However, if I lose X amount, I'm going to reward myself with a trip to get my nails done. (Anybody wanna go?) I didn't want to choose food as a reward, because I haven't set up any certain restrictions. I'm allowed to eat anything, but I have it constantly in my head to make a healthier choice. I'm not putting olive oil on my spinach and romaine salad....It's iceberg lettuce, with lots of cheese and I'm dousing it in ranch dressing (I hate salad...) but isn't that STILL better than slices of pizza I would have gotten? Once I get used to making somewhat healthier choices, perhaps I shall move up to adding more/making them more intense. But right now, I'm used to nomming away at cookies with no inhibitions, so...we're improving. =) I run up or down the stairs instead of sending someone else to do it. I fly Ryan like an airplane and work out my arms a little. I go Christmas shopping and drop dead from exhaustion when I return.

It's something and it's nothing at the same time. If I lose some weight, great. I'm excited. If I don't? That's okay too. You'll probably still see me enjoyin' some take out every once in awhile. Don't hesitate to ask me to go out to Monical's, and if there's a Birthday party I will definitely be eating some cake.

Yea, though I drive through the valley of the shadow of death every single flippin' day...

Train up a child in the way he should go...

While pregnant with Ryan, I read a book borrowed from my mother called, "To Train Up a Child" in preparation for the inevitable rough spots where I don't know what to do.
You know what ol' saying, "don't believe everything you read"? I tend to struggle with that. I have a hard time forming my own opinion from the things I've heard, and am easily influenced by others words and attitudes. I happened across some bad reviews online while looking up the website for the book the other day. I could feel myself being pulled in by their negative comments, my attitude turning more sour with every critical word I read. I had to pull myself up from drowning in their opinions and focus on what I know to be true based on God's Word.
I enjoyed the book then, and I enjoy it still...as I am currently rereading it. Some of the things in the book I wholeheartedly agree with, and intent to implement them into my child training. Others, I have decided to do without. (Potty training my infant? Not even gonna think about it.)
I think of all the things that I pray will stick with me is the teaching about being consistent. That's another thing I've always struggled with. Self-discipline is probably my most common downfall.
But one section talks about how parents will discipline their children in anger because they've let themselves get upset with telling their children something over and over again. That if you consistently expect them to behave the 1st, (Or maybe the 2nd) time they're told, eventually they will, and you can calmly discipline them when they've misbehaved because you've only told them once before a spanking was in order. I'm sure you've experienced this yourself or watched it happen. "Baby, don't do that. Did you hear me? Baby, I told you not to do that! BABY! STOP! Don't do that or I'm going to have to give you a spanking! OKAY, THAT'S IT!" Children (I know I did) learn how you operate, and know that they don't have to obey until the 7th time they're told, because that's when it finally gets serious.
Another thing I liked was that you train for behavior, but you discipline for attitudes. Never to let yourself get upset because the child was clumsy, had an accident or something like that. Rather watch out for a mean and rebellious heart.
Another, that spanking purges the child of guilt, and they can resume having a cheerful attitude and heart immediately, instead of sitting in a corner or a room to brew and dwell upon being in trouble and hurt feelings. I remember when my mom used to have to spank me...she'd hug me after and tell me that she hadn't wanted to do it, but she did because she loved me and wanted me to grow up to be a good girl. At one point she stopped doing this because she thought I was too old, but I remember telling her that I missed it and still wanted to be hugged after being in trouble, because I know it helped me release any bitterness I was holding against her. I didn't like feeling that way.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd share some of the thoughts about child rearing that have been going through my mind lately. I definitely don't have all the answers, and I'm sure it's way harder than it sounds! But it's all in my head at this point, haven't really had to try any of it so far. =)

I hope that YOU are having a wonderful day.