April 2010

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Miserable Failure

04.29.10 in My Crazy Life | 4 comments

Clearly, I have failed miserably at the month-long-five-day-a-week posting challenge that I embarked upon at the beginning of April. I’m not sure how many times I’ve actually posted, but I’m quite sure that I haven’t kept up my end of the deal.

Sigh.

But I tried. And I did write more frequently than I did in March. Which isn’t saying much. But still. I wrote.

Life has been a whirlwind over the past few weeks. In retrospect, April probably wasn’t the best month to begin a writing challenge, since we’ve been to both Starkville and Franklin, and we have even more weekend trips on the books. Busy time. But good.

I love spring. And baseball season. And sitting in Section M at Polk Dement Stadium at Dudy Noble Field. I’ll be honest. I don’t really watch that much of the game while we’re there. But I do so enjoy spending time with family, eating boiled peanuts, people-watching, and cheering for the bulldogs. Micah likes it so much she drools over it.

I love Starkville in general. It’s got Little Dooey’s and Abner’s and Bulldog Deli. Yum. I miss all those restaurants.

College days were good. Mississippi State holds lots of memories.

It’s where I met my husband. Where I made lifelong friends. Where I learned about life and love and faith and God.

I like going back.

But I also like coming home.

There’s no place like home, you know.

That’s enough rambling for now. I need to wake the little lady up so she can hang out with her Nana, Grampa, Aunt Stacy & Uncle Phillip. They’ll be here soon.

Until next time, grace and peace.

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16 and Pregnant

04.21.10 in Faith, Hodgepodge, Mommyhood | No comments

Ever since I found out I was pregnant with Micah, I’ve had a slight obsession with any pregnant woman or new mom on TV. No matter how different we may be, we are all the same, because we’re all facing one of the greatest challenges in life: becoming a mother.

It’s hard work, y’all. Being a mother is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. I’m grateful and blessed to have a loving, supportive husband at my side. I cannot imagine doing this alone. It’s even harder to imagine doing it as a teenager.

MTV has a habit of producing documentaries that capture my attention. The second season of 16 and pregnant wrapped up last night, and I’m heartbroken for some of those girls. When I watch scenes like this, I’m overwhelmed by the responsibility that little girl is about to face.

That’s just one example of a season full of difficulties those girls are facing because of rash decisions and careless sex. Some of the girls have partners who support them, but others, like Chelsea have baby daddies who couldn’t care less about them or their child.

Chelsea’s episode left me in tears.

I hope these girls make it. I hope they can survive this difficult time in their lives and come out on the other side better people. I hope that the hardships they’re facing change them for the good.

Watching this series made me realize what a responsibility the church has to help pregnant teenagers. It happens all the time. Some of the girls in our youth groups are pregnant and scared right now. We can preach anti-abortion all we want, but the only real way to encourage those scared little girls to choose life is to offer them a safe place to raise their children. We Christians need to step up and stand in the gap for deadbeat dads and parents who don’t want to have anything to do with their knocked-up daughters.

The church has to be the kind of place that can restore people. We have to love people into choosing the right thing. We have to be willing to step into a messy situation and hold a little girl’s hand as she struggles through what is bound to be the most difficult time in her life.

I’m willing to step up. Are you??

Until next time, grace and peace.

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An Invitation to Dinner

04.20.10 in Mommyhood, Senojal Designs | 4 comments

Micah and I loaded up early this morning and headed out to the pediatrician. The verdict? The tonsillitis is gone {praise God}, but she’s got a little bit of an upper respiratory infection. The course of action? A different antibiotic and some decongestant. I hope my baby feels better soon.

Last night I promised to share a couple of new designs with you. The big news is that my father made a generous donation to Senojal Designs and allowed me to purchase the most beautiful and elegant font I’ve ever seen: Adios Script font by Ale Paul. Because of this donation, I was able to design some simply elegant rehearsal dinner invitations for one of my favorite clients, Suzi.

We started with this:

I love the mix of hard and soft. The play between the swirling script and the straight-laced type. It’s beautiful, but it wasn’t quite right for Suzi.

So we tweaked it to end up with this:

Love this one too. The lime green pops off the invitation, and I love the way the M overlaps with the swirls. Beautiful, and perfect for Suzi.

I love custom orders. They give me a chance to try new things and be creative. I also had fun playing with the new font.

Open Type fonts are a fun new world that I’m just beginning to explore. Expect to hear more about them in the future :)

Until next time, grace and peace.

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Scattered Thoughts

04.19.10 in Mommyhood, My Crazy Life | No comments

I started to write earlier today, but Micah cut my post short when she awakened from her nap far too early. Fierce resistance of sleep is apparently our new normal. We’re headed back to the pediatrician in the morning to see if the tonsillitis has gotten any better. I know without even going to the doctor that something isn’t right with my child. She’s not her normal happy, healthy, easy-go-lucky, content self. That has made life a little difficult lately, which has not allowed me to keep up with my promise to post five days a week.

But last week I posted four times. That’s 80 percent of my goal.

An 80 isn’t a shabby grade, is it?

I would have flipped out if I had gotten an 80 on a report card. I was such an over-achieving perfectionist. I had issues. I hope I don’t project them onto my children.

I’m obviously scattered right now. I’ve found it difficult to collect my thoughts over the past week. Most of my energy {and that includes brain activity} has been focused around soothing my sick child.

It’s difficult for me to focus on much else.

But I did manage to complete a couple of custom designs last week, and I’m super excited to share them with you, but it will have to wait until at least tomorrow.

The doctor’s appointment is early in the morning, and I need to dry my hair before I can crawl into bed.

If you’re the praying type, please pray that my child will sleep well tonight. We could all use the rest :)

Until next time, grace and peace.

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Happy Signs of Spring

04.15.10 in My Crazy Life, Photography | No comments

Did y’all know that it’s spring already? I’ve been relishing life without running the heater as the thermostat in our house has risen from a steady 68 to 70 to 72 and has finally landed at 76. That’s when I had to turn the air conditioner on for just a few minutes. My baby was sweating on me while I rocked her. That’s a sure sign that it’s too warm in the house. AC or not, I’m already excited about receiving our next power bill; it has to be lower than it was last month.

Lower electricity bill aside, I love spring. It’s absolutely my favorite time of year. After the coldness and deadness and drabness and dreariness of winter, my soul needs the spring. It longs for sunny days, daffodils peeking through the grass, bursts of forsythia, and Bradford Pear trees burdened with thousands of tiny blooms.

Oh, and flip flops.

And painted toenails.

My soul needs those things too.

A couple of weeks ago, Micah and I ventured outside for her first outdoor photo shoot, and while we were out, I snapped a few shots of the forsythia and Bradford pear blooms. They’re the first herald of spring around here.


Sigh. Seeing those two things made my heart happy.

So do flip flops.

And painted toenails.

What makes your heart happy?

Until next time, grace and peace.

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Tripped Up By Another Hurdle

04.14.10 in Mommyhood, My Crazy Life | No comments

Well, that was a short respite. Just two days ago, I shared my theory that motherhood is a marathon of hurdles. I was basking in the glow of a baby who slept 12 hours at night and took three long naps all by herself. Life was good. Then she got a runny nose.

I took her to the doctor, thinking that she just had allergies, like her mama. But no.

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong with her,” said Dr. Freeman. “She’s got tonsillitis.”

“Tonsillitis? Seriously?” I asked.

“Seriously,” said Dr. Freeman. “Her tonsils are red, swollen and covered with puss.”

“But she’s not acting like her throat hurts. She only coughs when she tries to swallow the snot that’s running all over her face,” I responded.

“It’s tonsillitis,” said Dr. Freeman.

Dear friends. Just so you know. Tonsillitis on an almost-7-month-old baby isn’t fun. If she wasn’t acting like she was in pain earlier, she’s definitely acting like it now. Last night, we spent the night in the chair, after repeated attempts to lay her down in the crib. When her head hit the bed, she shrieked in agony {at least that’s how I interpreted the shrieks}. Needless to say, I called for backup. My mama {aka Nana} is here, and she has taken over rocking responsibilities for now.

Tonsillitis. I never would have guessed.

Hello hurdle. I’m not really pleased to meet you. Please go away soon.

Thanks.

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Before & After :: How Photoshop Actions Have Changed My Life

04.13.10 in Photography | 8 comments

Since Micah decided that she would take good naps yesterday, I was finally able to sort through the pictures we took on Easter, get them edited, and upload them for our friends and family to see. I’m sure that everyone in the whole world has known about photoshop actions for ages, but I only recently discovered them, and they have changed my life. As a communication major at Mississippi State, I took a photography class that covered rudimentary Photoshop skills, and for years, I have relied upon those basics to edit my digital pictures. I’m glad for the foundation I got in that class, but I’ve always wanted to be able to make my photos pop, and I wondered how other people did it with such ease. Now I know the secret. Photoshop actions.

The great thing about many free photoshop actions on the internet is that you don’t have to have the full version of Photoshop to use and enjoy them. I have Photoshop CS2, but my favorite actions are available for Photoshop Elements users as well. Yesterday, I used CoffeeShop’s Perfect Portrait action to transform this picture of Micah from dull to bursting with color and life:

Photoshop actions. If you’ve got PS or PSE, you should try them. It will change your life, just like it changed mine. And now, my secret’s out of the bag. It’s not so much that I take fantastic pictures as it is that I can manipulate them to make them better.

For more of my favorite amazing free Photoshop actions, check out The Pioneer Woman’s PS/PSE action sets.

Until next time, grace and peace.

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Motherhood :: A Marathon of Hurdles

04.12.10 in Mommyhood, My Crazy Life | 1 comment

Well, week one of the writing challenge didn’t really go that well, but even if I haven’t succeeded in writing five times a week as promised, I’m at least writing more frequently than I used to, which is a good thing, right?

But today is Monday. A new week means a fresh start, and I’m praying that this week goes better than last week. It has already started off well. Micah slept for almost 12 hours last night without waking up at all, and when it came time for her morning nap, I laid her down in the crib, and she drifted off to sleep without a fuss. For the first time in 7 days, Micah put herself to sleep. Glorious day! I love rocking my baby, but I don’t love being chained to the rocking chair while she naps in my arms. I’d rather rock her while she’s awake. Cuddling time is sweeter then.

I have a friend who just had a baby a few weeks ago. The other day on her blog, she quipped that motherhood is a marathon, not a sprint. She’s right. It’s definitely a marathon. But it’s a marathon of hurdles. Every time you drag yourself over a hurdle, there’s another one looming in front of you. Recovery time is short. And the hurdles just keep stretching out in the distance. I’m pretty sure they’ll never go away. Maybe with more practice, I’ll be able to handle the hurdles better and will hop over them with ease. For now, I’m just glad when they’re behind me. I don’t know what the next hurdle will be, but I’m sure that there will be one. For now, I’m going to enjoy the in-between time.

Until next time, grace and peace.

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Rock-a-Bye, Baby

04.08.10 in Faith, Mommyhood, My Crazy Life | 2 comments

Pardon me from my departure from the promised update yesterday. We had…extenuating circumstances…that kept me from writing. What are the circumstances, you ask? A water leak in baby girl’s closet and the arrival of tooth number two. Poor thing. She’s been ousted from her room and forced to sleep in the Pack ‘n Play in the office, which is where the computer lives, which means that I’ve been ousted from the office and forced to fill my time doing other things. Not that that’s a bad thing.

I’ll have to tell you the story of how the water leak came about some other time. The short version is that in Micah’s short life (only six and a half months), Dennis has pulled up the carpet in her room no less than four times. We’ve got to get out of this house. That’s become our mantra.

But since my baby girl is fussy and cranky and slightly feverish and gnawing on her hands constantly, I thought I’d share my favorite songs to sing Micah while we’re rocking. You won’t find Brahm’s on this list.  Ready? Here we go:

  1. Be Still My Soul
  2. Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone
  3. I Need Thee Every Hour
  4. How Deep the Father’s Love for Us
  5. Great Is Thy Faithfulness

It’s funny how the most comforting things I have to offer my child are the songs of my faith.  They are ingrained in my soul. Singing them is second nature. They soothe me and help me relax, which in turn helps her relax.

What do you sing to your baby when’s she’s fussy?  

Until next time, grace and peace.

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What a Long Day

04.06.10 in My Crazy Life | No comments

Sigh. It’s been a long day, y’all. The good news is that Micah slept for 11 and a half hours last night. The bad news is that I did not. I didn’t go back to sleep during Micah’s morning nap, either. I’ve been productive today, adding new invitations and cards to Senojal Designs and filling orders. All of that’s good, but it sure does wear me out.

And I don’t feel like cooking supper. But I didn’t feel like cooking supper last night either, so tonight, I really ought to cook something, even if it’s just hot dogs. But wait, we’re out of hot dogs. Cheese & crackers, anyone?

Do you ever have days like these? Days where you get all sorts of things accomplished, but you’re so worn out by the end of them that you can’t enjoy your work.

That’s today for me.

Which is why this post is so short and pointless. I am fulfilling my duty to post, per the challenge, but this time, I just lack meaningful content.

Sorry about that.

Until next time, grace and peace.

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