Coffee

I don't remember whether I've mentioned this before or not, but I recently gave myself over to a coffee habit. I now drink a double cup of coffee every morning after breakfast. I read somewhere that a moderate amount of coffee was actually good for your heart, which seemed like a sufficient excuse to start drinking it. I've always had a somewhat romanticized view of coffee-drinking, probably because all my grandparents did/do it. Of course, half of them also smoked and I didn't have any sort of inclination to take up a cigarette habit...

Anyway, I like coffee. And now I drink coffee. This week, I determined that I only want my coffee to taste like coffee. I bought some cinnamon and something-or-other flavored blend, mostly because it was the only non-decaf blend that was on sale at the grocery store. (in case you didn't know, i'm obsessed with buying things on sale. i won't go into that now though. it is an obsession that deserves a post all its own.)

So I brewed a serving of this flavored coffee and decided after the first sip that I didn't like it and would be making another trip to the store as soon as possible. I waited a few minutes and then went ahead and took a second sip, just in case it improved after the initial shock. Nope. I pushed the cup over to Doug and went back to my water. With every flavored coffee I've ever tasted, the flavoring just tasted like chemicals to me. No different with this one. So, from now on, I will be getting only coffee flavored coffee.

My favorite is very dark French Roast and I drink it, not completely black, but with only 1/4 tsp each of sugar and creamer. I guess I like my coffee to wake me up by reaching out of the cup and slapping me. What I also find fascinating is the effect that my coffee habit has had on my night time cravings. I usually start craving caffeine at night, particularly when I haven't had a soda with dinner. Pre-coffee, this craving was always for Dr. Pepper. Now it's a craving for coffee.

Don't get me wrong, I still love me some D.P., but what I crave at night is coffee. It only took me giving in to that craving one time to realize that coffee has a lot more caffeine than soda, however. I drank a cup at 9:30 p.m. and didn't get to sleep until 1 a.m. Oops. Now, when I start to crave caffeine at night, I just go to bed. If I stay awake, then I'll keep wandering blindly into the kitchen and snacking. (we don't keep soda in the house anymore.)

Mother

Since Lila was a baby, she has called me Mommy. I couldn't see her calling me that forever, but it's the name I decided to start with. Sometime in the past year, she started alternating between Mommy and Mom. That is totally fine with me. I kind of like being called Mom. In fact, with both kids, whenever we'd talk for them, we'd have them referring to us as Mom and Dad. It just happened that way. I think that Lila's adoption of Mom came from hearing us talk for Eli and having him refer to me that way.

The odd thing is that, sometime in the past week, she has started calling me Mother. I have no idea where she came up with that and I find it unexpectedly disconcerting to be referred to in such a way. Especially by my 3-year-old. Picture this: Yesterday, as we were getting into the car at the gym, Lila turned to me and said,

"What are subways like, Mother?"

How random is that?!? I quickly recovered from my confusion (and the urge to laugh) and answered her question. For once, she was satisfied with my answer and just went on with her business as though it were perfectly normal for us to have had such a conversation. Strange child.

Kids are Awesome

The best thing that Lila asked all day: "Does God have a wand?"

Now that I've probably lost half my readers...

Yes, I am finally sitting down to type out a real post. I can't believe how long it's been since I did this! The problem, I think, is an increase in emails to read and the introduction of other distractions into my life. I'm thinking of making blogging a part of my morning routine. Wake up - Wii Body Test - Breakfast - Coffee - Blog. The only problem with that plan is that the creative part of my brain typically does not wake up until sometime after lunch. We'll see how it goes.

And now I'm sitting here, staring at the screen because I don't know what to write. . . . Oh! I could tell you about Lila's new gymnastics class! She finished up her swim classes in mid-January and I was planning to get her started in gymnastics at the beginning of February. However, due to my extreme procrastinator tendencies, it didn't happen until last week.

At any rate, she is now taking a weekly gymnastics class and loving it! I have some photos from her first class that I'll post soon. (don't expect too much - they were taken through a window) She looks super cute in her little leotard, with her hair in a ponytail. I was afraid she'd get into the first class and not want to do anything, but she jumped right in (literally)! They've spent the first two weeks working on "cartwheels" and yesterday they even got to walk across the balance beam! So fun!

Rain-X Car Care Kit Giveaway

Check out Meghan's Mindless Mutterings and enter to with a Rain-X Car Care Kit!

Giveaway

Check out this RC Airplane giveaway:
http://mommosttraveled.com/flying-model-aircraft-with-children/

Looks way fun!

This website has a bunch of cool stuff too: https://www.modelaircraft.org

9 Months Old

Eli was nine months old yesterday and we went to the pediatrician for a check-up. She wants us to take him to a specialist to be evaluated for a possible speech delay, but I'm really not worried about it. I mean, we'll take him and have him evaluated, but I'm just not worried. And here are his latest stats...

Weight: 18 lbs 13 oz (20th %ile)
Height: 26.5 in (4th %ile)
Head Circumference: 46 cm (70th %ile)

Movie Review

I went out for a late-night movie last night and saw, appropriately enough, 'Friday the 13th'. My review in four words: Don't waste your time. Rating: F-

I mean, I wasn't expecting anything amazing. This is Friday the 13th, Part 73, after all. But there was nothing remotely original about the plot. Several hedonistic young people go out into the woods and die horrible bloody deaths. Just like Parts 1 through 72. The sex was borderline pornographic. The language was foul. The horrible bloody deaths were... horrible and bloody. (that, at least, i expected.) The only redeeming quality was Jared Padaleki whom I have a soft spot for. He was also the only non-idiot in the movie.

All the Tens

Lila just said something so random and funny that it almost made me cry. Doug and I were discussing a weekly park day on Friday and I mentioned that it starts at 10:30 or 11 a.m. when Lila piped in with,

"Yeah! It starts at 11, and then it's 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and all the 10s get tornge."

I... umm... what?!?

It was all I could do to look her in the eye, with a straight face, and try to clarify this statement. She did, in fact, say 'tornge', though I have no idea what that means.

Confused

I'm sitting in the living room right now, listening to Eli cry. He woke up about 15 minutes ago and is refusing to go back to sleep. I'm guessing that I'll wait about four more minutes and then try feeding him. Hopefully that will settle him down and he'll sleep. I'm glad I decided to stay up late tonight because if I had gone to bed at the same time as Doug, then I would have been awakened after only 30 minutes of sleep. That is far more painful than not getting to go to sleep in the first place.

I'm feeling rather confused this evening over a big decision that I just had to make. I started reading a book recently called 'Just Courage' by Gary Haugen (i think that's the author's name - the book is in the room with my sleeping husband). [pause while i follow through on plans to feed baby and put him back to bed. seems to have been a success.] Anyway, this book is about following God's call to fight against injustice in the world.

I chose this book to read almost at random, but it has turned out to be quite challenging. In fact, it's the first thing I've read in a long time that challenged me to the point of making me uncomfortable. It started me really thinking about how comfortable I am in my little 'Christian cul-de-sac' and got me thinking about mission trips more seriously than I have before. Just after this seed was planted in my heart, I heard about a mission trip that my brother-in-law, Keith, is leading to Uganda in May.

Well, Eli has woken back up and started crying again, so I'll make this the short version. First I was excited about it and willing to do whatever I needed to make the trip work. I talked to Doug and he was generally on board. I got more details and it looked a little more daunting, but after some discussions it seemed like it still might be a good fit. I prayed and thought about the decision a lot and was feeling pretty confident that this was the direction God was leading.

I got Doug's input on the idea again and then suddenly (though not because of anything he said, i don't think) started getting very upset at the thought of leaving my kids - especially the baby - for so long (the trip is 2.5 weeks). I then went through a brief but intense internal battle where I felt like God was leading clearly in one direction, but my emotions were trying to take me in another. After more prayer and wrestling, and a couple of helpful conversations with other moms, I started to have some peace and excitement over the idea again.

And now it has basically fallen through due to logistical difficulties. If I had an extra month to research and plan before I made a final decision, then I might be able to do it, but there's just not enough time. So, what was that all about? Was it a test of willingness? I am happy to say that, though there was some resistance, God did find a heart that is willing to follow wherever He leads. Was this preparation for another, upcoming opportunity?

It is confusing for obvious reasons and leaves me feeling slightly insecure because I feel like I fought this major spiritual battle against my flesh and overcame it by the power of God... but for nothing. Now I know that's not true because nothing is for nothing. But I can't see clearly what it was for. Hmm... I think I'm starting to talk in circles now. And Eli is still crying, so I'd better go. Just thought I'd take the time to finally post something real. :)

I keep thinking of all these wonderful things that I'd like to post about, but I've been buried under a mountain of email for a week. I'm mostly posting this photo to let you all know that I'm still here. Don't give up on me! :oI~