Adventures in La La Land

I can NOT get this kid to hold still long enough for a clear picture. Haha. My little man is 7 months old today. He's hit some big milestones this month. A couple weeks ago he started clapping. It's adorable and he gets the biggest grin on his face when he does it - like he's so proud of himself. He's also really started sitting up unassisted in the past week or two. I still put pillows around him because he does randomly tip over sometimes, but for the most part, he's got it down. He even got to ride in the cart like a big boy without the carseat today! He loved it more than this picture lets on. Haha. He was too distracted by everything in the store to smile at me. He's perfected rolling from his belly to back, and does it as soon as I put him on his belly. But he still can't roll from back to belly. At his doctor's appointment last week, the doctor said now that he's sitting up, it's not a big deal, and he's just going

Last year, a friend of mine did Write31Days on her blog and I was intrigued by the idea. I signed up on the website and started getting email reminders a few weeks ago. I love the idea of writing about a certain topic for 31 days, but I really struggled to come up with something worthwhile. Eventually, it dawned on me that I am going to  turn  31 on day 10 of this exercise. So it seems like a no-brainer to incorporate that. I started jotting down things as they popped in my head - random things I would tell someone if asked, "What are some of the lessons you've learned during your life?" Now that I'm over 30, I'm a veritable fount of wisdom, so I came up with a variety of topics - lessons about marriage, parenting, and faith, but also some very trivial ones. And let it be said that giving advice and speaking in an authoritative tone is extremely out of my comfort zone. I will probably title most of my entries as imperatives, but that doesn't mean the

1. I started reading The Boxcar Children to the girls at night before bed. We're only 3 or 4 chapters in, but it's kind of blowing my mind. Who are these mysterious children with remarkable survival skills? How do they stay so optimistic in the face of adversity? Why aren't they more worried about their future? Are they ever going to go to school? Aren't people going to start asking questions about why Henry keeps appearing in town looking for odd jobs? Don't they get hungry on a diet of blueberries and milk? Do they live in a cold climate? What's going to happen when winter comes? What happened to their parents? Why did they think to pack a "cake of soap?" What kind of kid packs a bar of soap when running away? Is this how kids thought/acted in the 20s? My girls are not nearly as concerned as I am about these children . . . 2. I think I mentioned that we had a YouTube-free summer. I was feeling convicted about how much the girls were watching and

1. On Monday, I went to the doctor to discuss my depression meds. I actually feel like they haven't been working well for the past year and a half. But I was pregnant for a large part of that time, so I was hesitant to blame my emotions on the meds. I'd finally decided I'd had enough, though, and set up an appointment with my doctor. She agreed with me, based on some of my symptoms that my current meds aren't working as well as they should, so she switched me to Zoloft (which is even safer for breastfeeding than what I was already on). I share this hesitantly, because people have strong opinions about depression meds and I'm too fragile to handle criticism well. Lol. But I've been vocal about my depression in the past and want to continue. It's still there. I still fight it often. And give into it often. But I'm hoping the new meds will make a difference. The doctor told me to give it a couple weeks to start feeling effects. So hopefully by this time nex

1. The camping recap: we survived! No bears were spotted, and we actually had a really nice time. The weather was gorgeous, the pool was heated, and the campground was the cleanest I've ever seen. Plus, Levi and I didn't have to sleep in the tent!! Justin's cousin lives two minutes down the road and they graciously let us sleep in their basement. It was the best of both worlds. Don't get me wrong. Moments of peace like the one above were few and far between. I still think camping with little kids is crazy. I had to carry Levi everywhere, he would only sleep in my arms, I couldn't just set him down in the dirt if I needed my hands for something. The girls are incredibly needy. Lena had a rough time being out of our normal routine and spent a lot of time hanging on me begging me to hold her (when I was already holding Levi). Lucy wanted to swim the whole time, but Lena would only go in the pool if I went with her. Justin wanted to fish the whole time. I wanted to