Parental Textersations

Yesterday, while on a walk, I texted Casey the photo below with the following message: Always hold on to your little friend, even when napping.

Casey responded:  I want a little friend, will you be my friend?

I replied with the following message, accompanied by the below photo: Ok, maybe not always, haha!  But of course I’ll be your friend!

Casey responded: MAN DOWN!

To which I texted: Haha!  I was walking along and suddenly, thunk.  Abel just fell too deeply asleep to keep holding on.  Poor lil’ lion.

Casey: Haha, can I have him as my friend?

Me: The lion?  Of course; Abel will be glad to share.

Casey: No, Abel!

Me: Ohhhh!  Well of course, the lion would be glad to share… Especially now he’s been dropped on the sidewalk!

Casey: Haha

Who needs sexting when you can amuse your spouse with cute photos of your kid and silly stories about discarded lions?

Also, I think it’s really important Casey quits working so much and starts spending some time with his family and friends.  Definitely working on that this weekend!  Happy Friday to all!

Rest Too

I’ve got a great list going.  And I crossed quite a few things off yesterday.  Small things so far, but it’s good to get those out of the way.

Today wasn’t particularly productive list-wise, but that’s okay.  I didn’t sleep great last night and Abel was up early.  So I napped during his morning nap and kept things pretty simple the rest of the day.

Not that I did nothing.  And it’s important for me to recognize that.  So many times I think about what I didn’t do and don’t look at what I have accomplished.  Like today I may not have worked on my list items, but I did my daily tidying, made several batches of baby food, and did three loads of laundry.

As much as I want to be DOING the “list things,” I don’t want to overwhelm myself.  That’s when things don’t get done, when I try to do too much - all of it at once! - and end up doing nothing.  So some days it’s good to rest, to take a nap or watch a movie… or both, and get back to DOING the next day.

Also, as I mentioned above, I need to recognize what I put into each day – not just being intentional about tasks to begin with, but recognizing them when they’re completed.  That just because things weren’t on a list, it doesn’t mean I’ve done nothing.

As with everything else, there’s a delicate balance.  I’m practicing every day and things are always getting better.  It’s important to be kind to myself and to rest up for all the activity of non-rest days.  And of course, to always cherish each day, never taking my every days for granted… especially since they truly are fantastic!

Just Do It

I was writing a post today and then stopped, because it was full of things I’ve already written. Over and over. About projects that remain undone and lists that are rewritten without anything crossed off. About dreams and desires within in my reach that I only look at and think about but do not reach for.

It was about being over it. Over writing and complaining and looking and thinking, with not nearly enough doing. So I’m going to write a list. A long one that gets everything out of my head.  And then I’m going to CROSS ALL OF IT OFF.

After doing it all, of course.  For freakin’ real this time.

Oh Yeah, Shenandoah

I forgot (until I remembered and now I’m doing it) that I was going to post about our Easter Monday outing to Shenandoah National Park with Mom and Dad.

Entrances to Skyline Drive are about an hour from our house.  We had plans to drive more of it, but ended up doing only about twenty miles down to the Byrd Visitor’s Center, stopping at just a couple overlooks along the way.

Then the rest of our visit to the park, the majority really, was spent hiking to Rose River Falls.  It’s only a 2.6 mile hike, but parts of it have got to be at least a moderate on the terrain and incline difficulty scales… especially when you’ve got an extra twenty pounds in a carrier on your front!

Thankfully Abel was a great passenger.  He slept for part of the way down and part of the way up and only wiggled a little at the beginning of our ascent.

Along the path there were lots of wildflowers.  Not much wildlife, but the wind was whipping that day and you could hear it roaring through the tops of the trees.

And then finally there was the falls.  This is an early spring version of something that might be more spectacular in higher water season, but we were just glad, and proud, to have made it.

Even though the hike was a bit rough at times, it was an awesome way to spend the afternoon.  And to top it off, we went to Outback for dinner.  Pretty solid day, I’d say.

It Can Be Bittersweet

I’ve asked Casey a bunch of times to please go through his clothes and get rid of some stuff.  There were things lingering on his side of the closet that he’s owned forever and hasn’t worn, or even looked at, since who knows when.

He really doesn’t like it when I ask him to do this.  But finally, he gave in.  He gave in and emptied out a bunch of stuff, leaving a slew of empty hangers and a magical empty space on a shelf that was once piled to the ceiling haphazardly.

I went through and folded nicely the things he deemed okay to donate.  It was a bit sentimental and at times I kicked myself for being such a nag about getting rid of things he hasn’t worn in years…

Like the khaki cargo pants he wore when we got casually dressed up, including to dinners on our honeymoon.  The black denim jeans he’d wear when we went out, especially to bars and clubs, and paired handsomely with a black striped button up shirt.  Oversized t-shirts from college and shirts I didn’t really like, and some I did, but all I can remember him wearing when we were first together in high school.

It can be bittersweet when your husband does as you ask.  Thankfully, the empty closet space wins over keeping things from the past, especially when I have fond memories and photos that take up way less space.

Developments

Crawling. Is. Imminent.

In the meantime, this boy planks like crazy.

EDIT: Crawling FORWARD is imminent.  After a little fun research, apparently the “scooting” he has been doing backwards is considered the crab crawl.  This business he’s up to lately will be a “bear crawl” once he gets moving.

As Casey says, who comes up with these names?

Easter Afternoon

The weather on Easter afternoon was fantastic, sunny and clear and warm.

The whole fam-damily walked over to the park and enjoyed shooting some hoops and basking in the sunshine.

It was so warm, hot in the sun really, that Abel lost his fuzzy fleece pants and bared his chunky baby legs, rocking his monster socks and cowboy boots.

After enjoying as much time outside as we could, we had to head home so Abel could eat. We arrived back and settled in to watch The Masters, which was exciting and fun with Dad around, and eat a simple and tasty dinner.

It was an awesome Easter and I was so glad my parents were able to come down and spend it with us.  I love having family around and dream of someday living closer so it can happen more often.

Awesome Easter Weekend

My Mom and Dad came down for Easter.  It was an awesome weekend, one that I plan to present in several posts so as not to make one of novel-like-length.

On Sunday morning, we got Abel all dressed up and went to church.  He looked sweetly handsome and was wonderfully well behaved.

After church, we came home and Karen, Casey, and I got to look for Easter bags, filled with candy treats, hidden by Mom.  Then we made a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and waffles.

Abel got an Easter bag too.  With a sweet little stuffed bunny and a t-shirt onesie that says “Tough Like Daddy.”  He especially enjoyed the bag.

Though after the bag, he was given something that tasted much better: his first sweet treat, a Peep.  He mostly just sucked the sugar off and we didn’t really let him eat much of it, but he seemed to enjoy what he was allowed.

In the afternoon, Nana put out eggs for him to play with in lieu of a hunt.  Some were filled with coins and he loved shaking them to hear the noise.

Check back Friday to read more about our Easter Sunday, including a walk to the park, and sometime next week to read about our Easter Monday, which we spent on a trip to Shenandoah National Park.