vivid dreams

My 7 month old son is down for a nap and I do wonder what he dreams about. I always thought it would be neat to invent a “dream machine” that hooks up your head while you sleep and plays your dreams like a movie.

I had this crazy dream last night (or in the wee hours of the morning, I guess) about going to the hospital to have a baby (no, I am not pregnant). There were these 4 or 5 birthing tables lined up side by side with no curtains separating them or anything. Also, there were nurses hanging up bags of water for the ladies who were going to give birth, but it wasn’t for an IV – it was for them to drink. I was sitting at the foot of one of the birthing beds and they bring this lady in to give birth. I could tell they were in a hurry with her – the baby was almost there.

So, they get her on the table and she pushes ONE time and this very furry baby comes out! It almost looked like a monkey because it had so much hair on its back. The weird part is there were about 10 family members watching this birth as well (men, women, children). It got even stranger when they rolled the lady off the birthing table (pretty much immediately) and said she was 69 years old! She looked that old and I was just amazed that she had a baby at that age.

So, here are my thoughts about this random dream:

• I think the furry baby/monkey thing came from an email from my sister yesterday. I believe the subject line was “Bill Nye says creationism is bad for children.” and the message of the email was “This makes me sad.” Well, it made me sad, too, because I always liked Bill Nye the Science Guy when I was growing up and for him to NOT believe in creationism is such a loss.
  

  Poor Bill Nye – all confused about how the world came to be.

• Another furry baby thing could be from my son’s small patch of fuzz on his lower back. I’ve always found it amusing.
• The water part, I’m not sure about. They let me drink water while I was in labor, but some hospitals don’t, I’ve heard. I’m a big H20 drinker, so maybe I was thirsty in my sleep?
• The old lady having a baby – I have NO earthly idea where that came from.

I dream pretty much every night – some random, crazy stuff sometimes. I think I should do a dream blog. Now, if I could just illustrate what I dream, I’d be on to something. Happy slumber!

more skies

When I posted all the photos of the sky the other day, I meant to include these, but failed to. These are all recent photos of southwest Virginia skies. Aren’t I blessed to be able to see this on a regular basis? I feel even more blessed that I actually take a minute to soak it in and realize there’s a great big God that paints those beautiful skies for my enjoyment.

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i just broke up with facebook

Poor Facebook (I’m going to say it’s a “him” for this post). He’s had a rough go these past few months with all the harping about the IPO and all. (Side note: before Facebook, I had no idea what an IPO was. Isn’t that sad?) Anyway, he made me mad a few weeks back and I decided I was breaking it off, but it was a really hard thing to do. One of those “easier said than done” tasks.

Weeks ago, I posted that I was leaving and I had a lot of “Please don’t leave!” and “I will miss you!” replies, which made me feel very valued, of course. But, all of his begging just wasn’t enough. I had to end the relationship.

So, now I’m back to my old boyfriend – the 90’s method of staying in touch – email. How will I keep up with all my friends and family? The way I used to. I’m just really glad email is still around and people use it. Don’t you think it’s just more personal these days?

flowers captured by mandy

Thanks to all of you who liked my blog yesterday! Since I got more response from my photography than my writing, I thought, “Why not give them what they like?” So, here are some pictures of flowers I’ve taken. These are probably more appropriate for spring, but they are so bright and colorful that they’ll work any time of the year.

Personally, my favorites are the poppies. Aren’t they the most fun flower? According to Meg Ryan in “You’ve Got Mail”, maybe not…

What’s your favorite? It doesn’t have to be pictured here.

beautiful virginia skies

I am so blessed to have an abundance of breathtaking evening skies to capture and share with you. Here are some of my favorites from over the years in my beautiful, Virginia setting.

Like a watercolor painting

Click a thumbnail below to view the larger images.

I see skies of blue…

i love the internet (even though i despise facebook)

So, dummy me leaves my key turned in my ignition today after rolling up my windows in my car. Later this afternoon, my husband points out that my lights are on. What do I do? Immediately say it was his fault because he was the last person to drive it. I had forgotten about my rolling up the windows.

After trying to unsuccessfully jump start the darn thing for about 30 minutes, I consulted the internet (and my owner’s manual). After following the instructions, we finally got it to start. Yay!

I get in to drive it around for a few minutes so the battery doesn’t die again and, what’s this? No power steering? Darn it!

What’s a gal to do? Consult Google. Yes, Google. Not Bing, not Yahoo, not Dogpile… Google. I’m a Google gal…like a Chevy gal. But, getting back to the point at hand.

Google let me to a page that instructed me if you jump start your car wrong (the black clippy thing has to be on another part that’s not quite as obvious as what APPEARS to be the negative post thing) then you blow the fuse to your power steering. So, back to the car we went to consult the owner’s manual…again. Guess what? There are no spare 60 amp fuses in the fuse box thing.

Why don’t they have a big sign under the hood that says “This is NOT the negative thing” (replace with correct terminology here).

I know this blog post was more about my car than the internet, but I said (or typed) all of that to type this: the internet probably just saved me a good amount of money on a garage bill. But, if I’m paying $50 per month for internet (yes, I have this MiFi gadget from Verizon) then how much money did it REALLY save me? Oh, the questions of the universe!

august 9th, 9 years ago

It’s pouring the rain tonight and I’m so glad that wasn’t the case 9 years today… that’s when I married the best man in the world. Now, everyone says that about their husband – ok, maybe not everyone – but, in my case, it really is true. Here’s a quick list of why he’s the best man:

• believes in God, goes to church and prays over our meals
• cleans the house (laundry, dishes, floors, toilets, you name it)
• pitches in and helps with the baby (but poopy diapers still make him gag)
• buys me gifts even when I don’t need them (a nice necklace for our anniversary)
• respects and supports me in all my crazy ideas

But, getting back to the subject at hand. I’ve been married 9 years today. In a way, it’s hard to believe, but in a way, it seems like it’s always been this way. We’ve been together 1/3 of our lives!

I pulled out our wedding photos a minute ago and it made me remember things I’d forgotten. We had the neatest wedding cake – I saw a picture of this cake with no icing at a bridal show and when I told my cake lady what I wanted, she couldn’t fathom (or as my husband would say “phantom”) it. I picked the daisies and brown eyed Susans for the decoration of the cake out of the cow pasture on my wedding morning. I bet the health department would arrest me if they knew that! Puts a whole new meaning to the word “organic”, huh?

The night before the wedding, I stayed the night at my mom’s house (where I had been living), but my sisters and I all slept in the same bed. It was fun to have a sleepover on my last night as an unmarried gal.

Looking back at the photos, it’s sad to see the loved ones that have passed away over the years and the friends I’m no longer in contact with. What will it be like in 10 more years?

I remember trying to put his ring on the wrong hand while we were saying our vows. He reached out his left hand, but I thought he was wrong and grabbed his right hand instead. The ring wouldn’t fit and he just looked at me because he knew what I was doing. I thought I was right, of course. Finally, we ended up laughing when I realized what I was doing.

All my family pitched in and worked hard getting ready for that day. My mom decorated the gazebo that over looks the river. My sisters helped me hand rake up the grass that had been mowed down the day before. My daddy walked with me down the lane that led to the gazebo and gave me away.

I also remember the night before the wedding, daddy was writing me a check for some of the expenses and he started crying when he said, “This will be the last check I write to Mandy (maiden name).” I started crying and told him to stop crying. It was heart breaking!

I leave you with one of my favorite pictures from that day. It was taken right after we walked down the isle as Mr. and Mrs. I think she just captured the joy we were feeling…and the fact that I was wearing flip flops.

A glimpse from my wedding day only 9 short years ago…

baby product advice for expecting mothers

I’ve been a mom for 6 months now and boy, have I learned a lot! I have a long time friend who is going to be a mom for the first time this fall and I told her I would give her my advice on what products have been great for me, and not so much. So, this is dedicated to you, dear Amy!

Ahhh… when I needed a free hand, you were there for me!

First up, the bouncer seat…my father in law assembled one very similar to this one the first week we were home from the hospital and my little E is still using this thing! It was super handy and has kept him entertained for hours.

Next, we have the inflatable bath tub. At first, we used this foam rubber thing in the sink – it was uncomfortable for the baby and not very good for us parents either. My cousin gave me this tub and it worked great. We just have migrated him into the regular tub a couple of weeks ago, so this is a great investment, I think.

The inflatable tub can double as a float in the river (ok, maybe not).

I don’t care if you ARE having a boy, the pink owl Boppy pillow is something you MUST have, especially if you are planning on nursing (go breast feeding moms!!!). Well, it doesn’t have to be pink, or have owls, but you need a Boppy. I still use that thing and probably will until I quit nursing when my son is 18. Not months, years! Ok, that’s gross and I’m just kidding.

While on the subject of breastfeeding, here are some more good things to have:

• Breast pump – I love my Medela Pump In Style
• Nursing Pads – The Lansinoh ones have worked best for me (makes me look a little lumpy, but that’s one of the sacrifices ya make, I reckon).
• Storage bags – the Medela ones worked great, but the Lansinoh ones tended to have a hole and leak when thawed.
• Storage tubes – I store my milk in these daily and just pour them into bottles at night for the next day.

They call it a pack and play, but it’s what my baby slept in for almost the first 6 months.

My Pack & Play also was a very good investment (thanks to family members giving gift cards, it didn’t cost me a dime!). I chose this one because it had a napper/changing table and it worked great for napping (for the baby – I tried to nap in it once and it wasn’t quite as comfy for me). Not so much for changing diapers – hurt my back after a while.

E. has loved his MAM pacifiers, too. I’m not sure why he likes them the best, but he never has liked the NUK ones.

I lucked up and got his Excersaucer for $30 used, but I recommend having something like this for when he gets bigger. It’s great and has kept him entertained for up to 20 minutes at a time (that’s a long time for an infant).

I’m sure there are a million other products I’m not thinking of right now, but these are the ones that have been the best for us. I was so excited about the following items, but they have proven to be more novelty…

• Bumbo – I was psyched about this darn thing and he’s never liked it.
• Lanolin – none of that stuff worked for me. Actually, I think it made my nipples more sore than they already were.
• 

  Fresh food feeders kind of remind you of those ring pops, huh?

  Fresh food feeder – I’ve tried it a few times with no avail. He doesn’t like the texture.

i’ve been chicken

Haven’t the past couple of weeks been interesting surrounding the whole Chic-Fil-A ordeal? I’m so fed up with the whole debate that I am closing my Facebook account. Yep, after I’ve archived it, it’s being deleted so I won’t be tempted to come back.

I’m all about free speech and opinions, but everything has gotten blown out of proportion and things seem so warped. I stayed out of the middle of it on Facebook, even though I was tempted to put my two cents out there. I was afraid I might hurt someone’s feelings or offend someone, but then I got to thinking, this is MY blog, so I can say whatever the heck I want, huh?

Truth is, I don’t believe in gay marriage. I have gay friends whom I love, but I can’t agree with homosexual marriage. Yes, I’m a Christian. No, I don’t hate anyone. And I’m not going into the debate of equal rights.

So, there. I’ve said my piece (or is it “peace”) and counted to 10. Besides, no one can argue about Chic-Fil-A’s lemonade and waffle fries. MMMMM good!