Home Life & Peep Toe High Heels

Here's some riveting recap of our day-to-day of late:

Be Careful What You Wish For...  I was recently sympathizing with an old neighbor who had sold his motorcycle but got the better end of the deal by marrying his wife and later, welcoming their son.  I retorted that with each child we add to the family, the lowlier Alex's car becomes.  He was driving this cute, new Celica when we were dating; my first gift when we were dating was an audio sermon from Dave Ramsey who eshews new cars and payments and was becoming a household name.  From new Celica to '95 Civic with 200,000 plus miles and white spray paint to cover the chipping car enamel. Well, that faithful car kept me and Sarah safe on the way home from errands a few days before Thanksgiving.  We were plowed into by a thankfully compact car driving without its light on (and a driver with suspended license) and spun into the shoulder.  A fireman was on scene and witnessed the wreck, Sarah was unscathed from our "adventure" and we got a very generous check from the other driver's insurance.  Homeboy is now driving a 2008 Prius that he's been eyeing for awhile but couldn't justify.  We had just upgraded our car seats in that car for the proper weight restraint for each child and the car was hit on the opposite side of Sarah's seat.  That'll remind you in a New York minute that your days are not your own and life in not a random series of events.

3 close peas in a Prius pod

Sleep Cycles and Upticks
October and November threw us all back into the crazy cycle as Jay's sleep cycle regressed.  Add a fall and bruised nose (it checked out fine) to the mix and you've got some cheerful adults.  We are getting back on track sleep wise with J sleeping without interruption (or at least not several interuptions) and the boy is killing it lately in terms of his progress in direction following and showing what he knows.  His OT coached him to write "Christmas Tree" and draw the correct shapes to make a Christmas picture.  I rarely keep kid 'art' long term but he made it himself!  Each letter!  So we are jumping right in there and I'm having him trace the sentences we are reading ("I like my Dad" "I see my dog").  He's been making his numbers and shapes correctly for a while now but he is now able to start taking direction on the size of the letters to make words.  It's a step, but it makes me SO PROUD!  He's learning to read and write just like any other Kindergartner. WOOT!

He can read this!

    A keeper

Mama's Dancing Shoes
My 3 inch kitten heel, peep toe black suede pumps (with sequins, you understand) came out of the closet early this year!  They usually only see the light of day for the annual company party, but they got sprung early for my dear friend's bachelorette party.  We were like, so wild, and made it home by 1 a.m.  You know you're a wild thing when you reference having to make it home to teach 4s choir Sunday evening. And your dear friend "outs" you as a mom of 3 who homeschools.  Mani-pedis and an evening in Virgina Highlands? Oh, I do that all the time.  When I'm not in rushing to the Chik-Fil-A bathroom to avoid an INCIDENT.  In all sincerity, it was such a wonderful reminder of what marriage can be and how blessed we are when the right person enters our life. My friend remarked that dating her now-fiance was easy in light of past dating relationships.  He doesn't leave when there is a disagreement.  He is safe and trustworthy.  He makes her feel secure and special.  He took efforts to surprise and honor her for their engagement.  He loves her and he loves the Lord.  Marriage will be hard, but courtship should be easy!  If I could give advice to unmarried women, it would be this.  If there is strife before a commitment has been made, you are under no obligation to stick it out!  Trust that you are worth something better than second best.  It really is out there.  My sweet friend waited, and she was rewarded!  So, so happy to see this marriage begin a few days before Christmas.

 

The Girls
Rachel is all-out walking in stride and so flat-out beautiful it kills me. I love toddlerhood.  Sarah is my side-kick and keeps us laughing.  She's a pistol. 

Case in point:

Alex:  "I'm gonna bust a cap, fool."
Sarah, without missing a beat: "Don't bust a cap, fool."

This interchange was right before our Advent storytime. 

We laughed like crazy and Christmas hymns were playing in the background and it was a moment you just can't capture. Which says it all to me.

Wishing you unexpected moments this Christmas.

Thoughts from My Recent Hallmark Christmas Movie Binge

I've got reviews of "A Very Married Christmas", "Baby's First Christmas" and "A Very Merry Mix-Up" to add to my authorative look at MFTCM. For now, let these musings inspire you to select a better class of Christmas movie.

Top Ten Life Lessons Learned from Made for TV Christmas Movies:

10. If you are single and someone starts calling you by your first and last name and punches your arm, fellas, watch out. Might be love.

9. If you find yourself with an attractive, bubbly stranger: in a jail, a hospital, with a stray dog, handcuffed to the passenger's seat, or under an assumed identity, watch out. Might be love.

8. If said person loves: antiques, vintage clothing, his/her grandma, his/her grandpa, is estranged from his/her parent(s), is close to his/her parent(s), again. A Christmas love miracle is unfolding before your very eyes.

7. If you have two incredibly handsome suitors vying for your affections, you have a fabulous sense of style, and you are both a strong, capable woman while maintaining a childlike vulnerability just below the surface; girl, you already gone.

6. God/Santa/Fate brings a a lost treasure back into your life: a love note, a handmade clock that stops ticking the minute you first met your amore, your wedding ring you threw away... TRUE LOVE. "True love begins in eternity." You can quote a Very Merry Mix-Up on that.

5. You are dating a plastic dude who wants to remake your life, sell your business, tells his friends you do what he says; just wait. Mr. Wonderful's about to enter, stage right. He's hot and he makes furniture with his own.two.hands. Or rediscovers his benevolent heart. Or rocks a baby. Whatevs. He's perfect.

4. There are no "accidents". Spending the weekend with a family you think is your intended's and instead finding out your new family are not home and hearth people? Hitting an old lady with a swinging door and losing her dog? You are on your way to a job promotion, a home saved for foreclosure, and rediscovering yourself in one fell swoop.

3. It only takes from Thanksgiving to Christmas to change your whole life. Love everlasting? Handled. In 6 weeks or your money back. (Thanks, Lara.)

2. Be with someone who makes you better. Especially if a doorman/police officer/minister/voice of wisdom reminds you that every moment running from the one you love is wasted. (True.)

1. Christmas is magical. Because Faith, Hope and Love are real.

The Pure, Unadulterated Delightfulness...

Of the most cheesy-made-for-TV-movie time of the year!  ABC Family, Hallmark, and Lifetime each have their own festive offering, so it's bound to be a delightful cinematic season.  The Hallmark Channel begins airing new movies this Saturday.  Queue up the DVR! To get us in the spirit, here are a few notables in my pantheon of:

Made-For-TV Christmas Movies (MFTCM)

You know that happy glow you feel looking at a lit tree?
That's how I feel about these types of movies.

A Christmas Kiss- My first delightful MFTCM of 2013.   Basically an assistant to a mean ol' boss (think a very B-version Merle Streep from The Devil Wears Prada) falls in love with the boss's boyfriend and kisses him in an elevator.  Of course, she's incognito and he doesn't recognize her when they are introduced.  But they both felt 'flutters' (Gag me.  The guy says this repeatedly).  Dude's rich and has amazing hair a la Gordon Gecko of Wall Street. The actor comes off as very vanilla, but the female lead has two sassy best friends/roommates whose wise quips keep things from getting too queso.  The two lovebirds are thrown together planning Dude's Christmas party.  Of course they fall asleep on each other's shoulders watching movies.  Of course it's innocent.  Of course Boss Lady/Girlfriend goes on the attack.  And of course the sassy friends intervene.  This one is currently on streaming Netflix.  If you like to put your mind on hold like me, you could do worse for entertainment.


Hitched for the Holidays- Joey Lawrence of Dancing with the Stars and Blossom fame stars.  He carries the film well.  Quite dashing and roguish as memory serves.   He's an ad exec who hates to be tied down to anything (lost little boy inside and all that).  His love interest needs a date due to her family's growing concern for her after being jilted at the altar (there's a story there).  He's Catholic, she's Jewish, and both need a date to save face at holiday functions.  And his dying grandma's last wish is that he find true love.  But she's not really dying.  Oy!  Crazy family shenanigans! Watch it!  Airs this Saturday at 10 p.m.  And copious times thereafter.

Holiday in Handcuffs- This had me at Mario Lopez (a la Slater from Saved by the Bell and Dancing with the Stars). Anyone see a pattern developing here? 90s star plus DWTS stint equals revitalized MFTCM career. Melissa Joan Hart (again with the 90s teen stars) is a scatterbrained, struggling artist that needs to bring home a suitable date to her family Christmas in a remote cabin.  She flubs an interview, gets a bad home perm, and basically grabs a pistol at her waitressing job and hijacks Mario/Slater at gunpoint.  Yeah, he could wrestle her.  And the pistol is an unloaded antique just hanging out by the register.  Details.  Crazy eyed Melissa/Sabrina (the Teenage Witch) gets him in her car, secures him with novelty handcuffs and voila, instant boyfriend!  Of course they see through the kidnapping and fall in love.  She puts on an ice skating routine for him.  They play chess.  He stops trying to escape.  That's a formula for true love right there.  

Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade- This is a cute one and I was struggling to remember the exact title until I followed my own advice and scheduled my Hallmark movie marathon via my DVR!  This plays Sunday at 4 p.m. on Hallmark.  She's the Thanksgiving planner who wears vintage everything (a nod to her deceased mom); he's a slick suit brought in analyze her event and rain on her parade (wink).  They bond over a chance meeting at the grocery store and share cute phone calls while watching holiday movies.  It's fluffy, mindless, and the good girl gets the right guy. Not a bad distraction while you're folding towels.

Mrs. Miracle - This stars James Van Der Beek (aka Dawson) which should make this a lock for my generation.  A magical nanniy (Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond) helps a young widower (Dawson) with his young sons and surprise, not letting love slip through his fingers.  Real sentimentality, not schmaltz.  Very sweet. 

Recipe for the Perfect Christmas - I watched this a few years back and it has some decent acting.  Food critic (Carly Pope) and chef (Bobby Cannavale) meet cute.  Overbearing mom tries to live through food critic daughter.  Complicated relationships, second chances... all staples of any good MFTCM. 

Snowglobe- Another loud, eccentric, overbearing family causes our heroine (Christine Milan) to dream of a perfect Christmas, the one she sees in her snowglobe.  The magic of this snowglobe whisks her into the wholesome land of a perpetual Christmas.  Turns out fantasy is way more boring than reality.  Especially when your imaginary snowglobe boyfriend shows up in real life.  Yeah, that happens.  She still finds true love. Christmas movie magic, people.  

A Very Brady Christmas  Words fail at such a wonder.  If you need to laugh and have 90 minutes to spare, I highly recommend watching it in its entirety here on Youtube.  I probably watched it with my sister for the first and only time 15 years ago and I still remember some of the lines.  Wondering if you should make the first move, ladies? "If the idiot won't ask you, ask the idiot!"  Entertainment and solid dating advice. 

All that's left to due to look up the newest offerings from these fine channels to help plan your viewing season.  Delightfulness guaranteed! 

ABC Family Christmas Movies 2013

Hallmark Christmas Movies 2013

Lifetime Christmas Movies 2013

That darn clock setting

This headline caught my attention today:

American women and having babies: Not often and early, but rarely and late http://t.co/ExCWl8e8h7
— HuffPost Parents (@HuffPostParents) October 13, 2013

Nothing in the article was surprising: The more educated (in terms of degree acquisiton) a woman is, the older she tends to be when she has her first child.  This particularly caught me eye:

"Only for mothers with full bachelor's degrees, or more, does 30 signal the start of peak child-bearing years. And only for them has there been a major change in the likelihood of having a first child after the age of 30."

The article did a good job of reporting these statistics without bias for or against a particular maternal age. I think we ladies can agree that we all have plenty of thoughts and feelings on this topic whether or not we are a mother.  And said thoughts and feelings are in a constant state of flux.

For myself, I had the "10 year plan" approach.  College, First Career Job, Marriage, Early Married Years, Babies.  That's how it fell out for me, along with all the unexpected life that comes along with best laid plans.


I barely "beat" the above statistic, having my first child a few months before my 29th birthday.  Like I said, there is nothing truly newsworthy in noting that 30 is this generation's benchmark for family life. What interests me is our generation's priorities. My priorities and the value of motherhood. And setting aside one dream for another.

I've stepped off the career track indefinitely. I wonder if I could step back in and if I'd be viable. I have some fuzzy dreams of growing myself as a writer. But for now, growing my kids' minds and hearts is definitely my aim and big dream. No, not mutually exclusive with a traditional career. But for me, for now, it is.
The one income thing?  Hard.  Stressful.  Don't want to eat Alpo at 75. We're a work-in-progress.

Still,  as I approach that all-too-soon distinction of ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE (buh, buh, BUHHHH), I look back and think I was a bit too concerned about "the checklist".

I remember thinking people who got married before finishing college were a tad bit, um, crazy.  That college degree in hand and mortgage in place before babies came was the responsible thing to do.

And while those are nice things to hold, I can speak for myself that I put security above dreams of motherhood.  I very carefully guarded my desires to be a mom for the first years of our marriage to protect myself in case they wouldn't be fufilled.

That worked out about as well as you'd expect.

I pretty much came to the realization one fateful day that that it was time to start a family, jack.  In a completely adoring way.  (I was a screaming, emotional lunatic.)

Jeremiah was on his way the next month. Never underestimate the power of tears on a husband.  (But seriously, folks.)

All of that to say that it's neat and orderly to map out your life, but it's not always so relevant to actually living it.

It's time to have a child when it's time to have a child: when a husband and wife agree before God to accept and love the child He might give them. (Insert Nike tagline here.)

So I can say to myself at the same time: "What took you so long?" and "35-ish isn't that bad."  I don't know what the future holds and I never did.

That's the thing about becoming a parent.

It changes you.  And your schedule.  That's what makes it an adventure.  It's hard.  Much harder than I imagined or can imagine still. But I believe it's worth taking.

Toddler Fashion Throwback

 Rachel, September 2013, 12 months.

Sarah, January 2011, 12 months.

I sincerely believe part of my life's purpose is having a little girl to dress.  Having sisters and seeing formerly loved preciousness on another child delights me.  I'm already giddy at the thought of putting Rachel in Sarah's Christmas outfit.  If only I could exert this mental energy on other productive tasks.  Like budgets.  Or flossing.

We went on our first field trip with a group of homeschooling friends.   Our last visit was when J was almost 2 and Sarah a few months old.  

Since I'm on a roll, here's something that lays me out in awe and gratitude.

Three 1st birthdays

I'll close now before I start chasing down "coming home in the baby seat" and ultrasound pics to compare.  You know I would in a New York minute.  Til next time ;)