Time for a proper update? I think so.

Sorry I've been gone for so long... I'm internet-less up in the woods! At first I enjoyed it... a good time to get my priorities back in order. (1. Kid 2. Work 3. Housework 4. Internet) I'm not going to say what order they were in before, but let's just say its been needing an overhaul. Truth be told, though, feeling disconnected really gets to you after a few days... and its definitely adding to the loneliness factor.

I'm stealing wireless in a nearby apartment complex while kiddo naps for a bit, and then I've got to work... I'm taking 12 kids to a church retreat in a different town this weekend... and bean girl is going with us (of course!) some people would say that's absolutely insane, and I would agree wholeheartedly with all of them. It will be an adventure to say the least... The jury is still out on whether or not I'll be traveling to visit husband-pants after that... I suppose it all depends on how exhausted we are.

Husband-pants loves his new job, and rightfully so! Its treated him well so far, especially today, when they sent him lovingly home (to the hotel) because of a fever. Turns out he has an upper respiratory infection... now sending him home because he's sick may not seem all that out of the ordinary to most, but his last job was not the same... if you were on your death bed, you better figure out a way to wheel it up to your cubicle. Missing work was a bigtime no-no. Anyhow, he's doing big things and feeling quite proud of himself... every time I talk to him he sounds like he's grown 10 feet... I'm not yet sure if that's because of the job, or just being in Texas.

Bean girl is really enjoying farm life. Our little cottage sits on a rather large working farm, complete with horses, chickens, some dogs and a few cats! Its really quite a treat for us, as its all fairly new! She's only flattened a chicken once, and for as many times as she's gone after them, I'd say that's pretty good... and he made it out ok... if not a little more cautious around fast-flying toddlers (as he should be!)

Planning the ever-important first birthday party has proved to be mighty time consuming... I'm enjoying it, though. I need to get everything set in stone this week, and I think I'll start to work on a Bean-sized tutu for the special day... all so much fun...

Anyhow, I'm sure the apartment-dwellers are starting to wonder about the car in the parking lot with the strange lady hunched over and trying to duck the sunlight... I'd hate to give the rent-a-cops reason to wake up Bean-girl, so we'll be going...

I promise we'll be back soon. In the meantime, send me lots of good thoughts and I'll do the same for you.

<3

There's really nothing worse in the world than an ugly baby... I mean, babies are supposed to be cute, cuddly little balls of joy... right? "Ugly baby" is an oxymoron in itself... except not. There are too many of the little buggers rolling, crawling, and toddling around right now to not believe its true. Ugly babies do exist, and its just down right wrong.

You have 3 categories of ugly babies, too. The first is the ugly baby belonging to the doting parents who would never think that their child is anything but a beautiful little creature they imagined for those 9 long months... I mean, they realize he's a little funny looking... sure his little nose is all squished, his eyes are just a tad crossed, and his head is still cone-shaped by the time he's mastered the art of crawling, but its just a phase... he'll grow in to it!

These are the parents who will inevitably send you 15,000 pictures of their little angel's 2 month photo shoot, where the kid really resembles a confused fur-challenged monkey.


The second category is the poor little guy whose parents realize the full extent of their kid's ugliness... but it can go two ways.

You've got the cool parents, who realizing it, play it off while hoping that kid will grow into his odd features... and hey, if he doesn't, at least he'll have a great sense of humor

But there are those parents, who realizing their adorable little sunshine princess sortof looks like a bulldog, put some serious work into making her look absolutely frilly every time she's out of the house... bows, ruffles, the works... the overcompensation is ridiculous, but you can't just cover a turd with chocolate and call it a treat.


The last group, and this is, in my opinion, the unluckiest of them all, are the kids whose parents are in complete and total denial that their kid is ugly... these are the kids that have it the worst because at some point in their lives they're going to see a baby picture and realize "damn! i was one ugly little kid!" and that sucks... every ugly baby should at least be a little prepared for it! We won't even go into the appearance of the parents on this one, just expect tons of pictures around Christmas time, and try your best not to show them off to friends and family like you're pointing out toothless carnys at the county fair... unfortunately, that's frowned upon no matter how crazy that kid looks.


The only good thing is that most ugly babies, at least the ones I've seen, don't go on to be ugly kids, or ugly adults... now I'm not saying that there aren't plenty of ugly people out there, it can definitely happen... but an ugly baby is not necessarily doomed... but what would I know? I've got very limited experience with such things... even covered in peaches my kid is freaking adorable...

I've been a terrible blogger here lately... I'm sorry, y'all.

Big news, though! Husband-pants quit his job today! He's got a new job with Bear Transportation Services, located in our hometown of Fayetteville (which is about 45 minutes away from where we live now) so we'll be moving back! (Yay!)

I'm nervous, stressed, and a little overwhelmed, but I'm absolutely THRILLED that he got this job. It not only means we're going back to Fayetteville, its also a substantial pay increase + paid health insurance (Yay!) He'll be doing transportation sales, and while I can't really tell you what that means, I assure you its great work that pays well. He's been doing a similar job at the Sam's Club corporate office, but for much less pay, so he's been looking for a new position for a few months now. I really couldn't be more proud.

I am stressing bigtime about our upcoming move though... we moved to our current house around the same time last year. I was big and pregnant and it was the move from hell because I couldn't help much, I overworked myself in a big way, and I had to spend quite a few days in bed recovering from everything. This year I'm doing it without husband's help and with a baby... yikes! It'll be good, though. His family is all signed up to help with everything, and ts all worth it for the great job and being back in town! It couldn't have come at a worse time, though... Bean has officially reached her "let's unpack things" phase, so while she'll be super-helpful when we actually get moved in, she's not the best packing partner right now.

I just have to pack up all of our junk, sell/give away all of the stuff we don't need, oh, and find a new house, of course... Whee!!

Bean is walking... in a serious way. She took those monumental first steps on January 3rd, and husband pants totally missed out. He went to see a movie with a friend, and bean girl and I had just finished dinner. She's been walking around the couch for months now, but I positioned myself just out of arms reach and asked her to come see me. She toddled on over, and when she reached me looked up like "oh wow... that was cool." She's been alternating between crawling and walking since then, and is just fascinated with this whole walking thing. She's doing it all the time now. The dogs aren't nearly as excited about it, of course, but they don't have much of a say in these matters...

Also, check out those mad dancing skills! The kid loves sad old country songs, what can I say- its mostly husband's fault. She's a sucker for a good beat- TV, radio, catchy cell phone ringtone... she'll be dancing for sure.

She's pretty darn fantastic, I know...

As a parent, I'm bad about putting my child's needs before anything else in the world. That's definitely not a bad thing, I realize, but it makes for some unintentionally hilarious moments sometimes. I just jump to do whatever it is that she needs and don't stop to think about what I did until after its done. Such was the case last night...

I'm a youth director at a medium sized Methodist church. I have about 15 kids in my group on an average night, and I am so very lucky to have a family involved with my group that is just incredibly helpful. If there's anything that needs to be done, its done. They are supportive and kind, the kind of people you just really enjoy being around. A few months ago, they started taking Bean over to their house on Sunday nights for me. That way, I could lead youth uninterrupted by baby squeals and they could get some Bean-time. Its really a win-win. Well last night as I was packing up all of Bean's snacks we realized her sippy cup was looking a little empty. I remembered that earlier I'd seen juice in the church fridge, so I just ran in there to pour her some. I sent her on her way, and as the youth kids were sitting down to dinner I realized I'd totally poured Bean a big cup of communion juice. Regardless of whether or not it was pre-blessed, I was so embarrassed. I couldn't believe I hadn't realized there was, in fact, a purpose for that big jug of grape juice... in the church refrigerator.

Not one of my brightest moments for sure, though bean girl is being especially cute today... giggling and singing since she woke up this morning! Maybe she's feeling a bit more spirited today. (har har)

I've never been big on new years resolutions, but this year I made a huge one. I've always said that resolutions are made to be broken, so who knows how long I'll stick with it, but this year, I'm going to have sex with my husband every day.

Every... day.

I read this article in Glamour and was inspired... and while I really hope our ultimate outcome isn't another pregnancy (yikes!) I do hope we rediscover each other and grow close again.

Its January 4th and I've already questioned my resolve, but we've gotten into a rut I'm determined to get us out of. Every night we do the whole "sleep or sex?" thing... and honestly, sleep usually wins. We're parents... and even though Bean sleeps like a champ for the most part, its still nice to get a good 8 hours in!

Sex is important, though. In fact, I just don't think we've put enough emphasis on it so far. We went from being newlyweds to having Bean and we're putting all of our energy into taking care of her, instead of ourselves. Its a mistake all parents make, I'd like to think.

So I've resolved to have sex with my husband every day... to put away whatever arguments or frustrations we dealt with throughout the day, to give up my worries about the house, the bills, and the baby for just a little while. Honestly, I've slept better in the past four days than I have in months! And even more interesting is that my house is cleaner, and he's spending more time playing with Bean and hanging out with me.

I know it may sound crazy, but having sex with my husband may be improving my marriage. Who would've thought!?

This week brought our most important milestone yet... the dreaded, yet ever-important, first haircut...




I don't have to tell you how out of control the hair had gotten, do I?


We awoke on Christmas morning to some insane baby-hair and found that nothing would fix it... no comb, water, or hat could make it any less wild, so after much consideration we decided it was time. The way I see it, the kid's got more hair than some 3 year olds, so I didn't feel terrible about cutting it before her first birthday (a no-no, I've learned) yet I worried... I mean, she's always getting compliments... her eyelashes, her overwhelming adorable-ness, but everyone loves her long hair... if I took that away would I be dooming her to mediocre-looking babydom? That would be awful. If you don't know how serious I am you evidently haven't seen how people ignore those so-so babies. Its a tragedy, really. (No offense to those of you without insanely adorable kids, of course.)

Anyhow, we cut it. Luckily, I didn't have to bribe her with salami and ice cream like Katie did with Olive, but you better believe I had some crackers on hand just in case it got ugly. I handed her a night light and a bar of soap, and asked my mom to keep them out of her mouth while I snipped! It worked well, and by the time she realized what I was doing, it was over. We were very surprised at how thick her hair looks now! Its a lot easier to keep clean too, which is a definite plus for someone who finds great joy in smooshing apricots into her ears!