Going private, but not so private

There was a time I considered going private.

That thought didn't last long.

Then I thought, maybe I'll pretend to go private. And when everyone professes their undying love for me, begging me to stay, sending me their email addresses asking for an invite, I will announce that I had privacy remorse and will, indeed, stay public for friends and blog stalkers alike.

But that never happened. Not yet.

I could still possibly go 'pretend private' in the near future.

I'll keep you posted.

So I went back and forth-

to go private, or to not go private. That is the question.

We all have stories of our neighbor's, sister's, daughter's, best friend's, cousin's, fiance who knew someone who actually had a real life blog stalker... of the crazy sort. And those stories are scary and not very comforting. But I figured that since I'm going to be famous one day (most likely discovered from an extra witty, or perhaps super crafty blog post) it would defeat the purpose of going private. Because just like Cheers, everyone will know my name.

So I'm here. Public. Waiting to be discovered. Which I'm pretty sure is going to happen.

Sometime in the near future. Or never. But I'm staying optimistic.

And since I've decided to stay public I found a little bit of a compromise.

I don't mind the idea of people coming and going from link to link on my blog, but I do get a little weirded out by the idea that people are finding my blog via google. There was a time I allowed search engines to find me just by typing in a key word e.g. bath time kid pictures, cute girls, naked babies, *peeing with the door open.

Creeps me out just thinking about it.

So here's what I did to fix that little issue...

Go to my Dashboard> Settings Tab> Basic Tab> and half way down find Let search engines find your blog and check NO.

Problem solved. Now I'm private, but not so private.

FYI- (copy and pasted from blogger) "If you select "No", everyone can still view your blog but search engines will be instructed not to crawl it. If there are links to your blog from other websites, search engines may still suggest your blog in response to queries."

*Now let me clarify, if you pee with the door open- you are considered, in my book, normal. If you have to google and read about people peeing with the door open? Umm, I just don't understand it. Unless, of course, you are Nate and you're googling it in search of a support group. Then it makes perfect sense.

. . . . .

8 months of Eden

Does it make me a bad mom if I say that I love Eden more today than I ever have?

Not that I didn't love her 8 months ago, 'cause I did... lots & lots.

But now she actually loves me back. Or at least I'd like to think she does.

She beams with excitement the moment she see's me. And when I pick her up she nuzzles her head right into my chest and pulls at my obnoxiously frizzy hair. And I soak her in... all 8 months of her chubby goodness. And I think for just a moment that maybe, just maybe, I could have another one of her. But then I realize that that's the crazy in me doing the talking.

8 month stats

• She's sitting up like a big girl.

• She likes to fall asleep holding her toes.

• She's finally sprouted two bottom teeth.

• Coincidentally, that same week I started find little red welts and sores all over her feet.

• Apparently, her toes have become a little bedtime snack.

• She could possibly be the spawn of Edward.

• She's a very serious little girl, but makes up for it with sweetness.

• She decided that sleeping through the night is not such a bad idea.

• That was until her top teeth started coming in.

• It was a blissful two weeks while it lasted.

. . . . .

The 411 on 911

It was 4:00 pm and I was thoroughly enjoying taking my monthly shower when all of a sudden the door flew open and in burst Macie. She quickly ran up to the shower as I cleared away the fog from the glass door so I could see what the all commotion was. Her eyes were welling up with tears and she had a look of sheer panic on her face, "MOM, I CALLED 911!".

I hurried and grabbed my towel and slid out of the shower. Macie stood in front of me holding my old out-of-service cell phone in her hand. She started to cry big alligator tears and she tried explaining to me in a shaky fearful voice what had happened, "I, I... I didn't mean to. It was an accident, Mom. I PROMISE! Are they going to come take me away?!"

I began to laugh (a very sympathetic laugh, mind you) as she stood there trembling with fear. I realize that this sounds heartless, but it's a problem I have- laughing at the most inopportune times. I never like it when things get to serious.

I knelt down close by her and she started to giggle at the sight of me laughing. "Oh, honey!", I said comfortingly, "They're not going to come take you away!" and then the long lengthy lecture began about calling 911.

Later that night, at 11:15 pm to be exact, there was a loud knock at the door. Nate opened the door only to be greeted by a local city police officer, "We got an abandoned 911 call from this address. I'm just making sure everything is alright". Nate explained the situation to the police officer and offered an embarrassed apology.

As the police officer walked away I looked at Nate just to add my two cents, "Isn't it comforting to know that our local police have a speedy response time of 7 hours?"

Oh, yes. Very comforting indeed.

And Macie? Well, lets just say I don't think there will be any more 911 calls in her future. At least I hope not.

P.S. I did know (and informed my children) that you can still make emergency calls on out-of-service cell phones. I did not know, however, that my child would actually do it. It's like the red button that says 'Do Not Push'... my children would be the ones that would have to push it, you know, just to see what happens. Quite honestly, I could possibly be that person too.

. . . . .

Impulsive: it's not my middle name, but it should be

This past week I decided completely last minute to take a trip to

surprise my friend who just had a baby

[see below picture]

So cute, right?

One minute I was here (Thursday) the next I was gone (Friday).

Nate was kind enough (or rather, smart enough) to not question my impulsive irrational behavior and just let me go.

So I jumped on a plane and left my kids and responsibilities behind me

and headed to surprise my friend.

It was priceless, absolutely priceless, to see her reaction when she saw me.

There was lots of screaming, and jumping, and hugging, and crying.

(I'm just going to pretend that her reaction had nothing to do

with the massive amounts of hormones streaming through her new mom body)

My weekend involved lots of baby holding, good friends, yummy food, and a whole lotta catching up.

When it was finally time to come home I was refreshed and ready to be a mom again

and the topper was being greeted by this...

Feels good to be so loved.

P.S. Don't let me forget to tell you about the crazy lady in the airport. I'm not normally one to pass judgement on crazy since I roll with the best of them, but really, she was. It went from her telling me about her daughters wedding to me possibly going to hell for believing in organized religion. Well, that and the fact that I'm not nursing my baby any more. Apparently, all babies should be nursed for as long as possible... cause she did... until they were 48 months... all 8 of her kids. I know.

Either way you say it, 4 years 0r 48 months, it leaves me filling a little bit disturbed.

. . . . .

10 Years in a Shoe Box

Nate and I have been married 10 years today.

I found myself downstairs rummaging through a mess of cardboard boxes

when this small black shoe box caught my eye.

I grabbed that box, dusted it off, and carefully toted it upstairs.

I sat down at the kitchen table and lifted the lid gently off the box.

Instantly, the memories came flooding back

as I traced my fingers through the papers and scanned through old photo's.

It's amazing the amount of memories one tattered shoe box can hold-

10 years worth to be exact.

That box was filled with odds and ends,

a collection of cards and hand written I love you' s,

lots of pictures that make me grateful for the invention of the flat iron.

Not to mention this little gem from when Nate and I were dating.

It was Halloween.

He was Maverick. I was Charlie.

A stack of papers with sweet messages written on each one.

Nate had hidden them throughout our little 2 bedroom basement apartment.

I think it took me a good few weeks to find them all.

So I sat there, lost in nostalgia, for a good few hours-

soaking in all the memories and I loved every.minute.of.it.

Makes me thankful for old shoe boxes

and my hoarding issues...

which in this case, turns out to be a good thing.

. . . . .

Dave Says

Life was good. Ignorance was bliss...

Until Nate welcomed another man into our relationship. At first I was a little resistant, you know, two's company; three's a crowd and I'm not quite sure there's room enough for one more.

Reluctantly I gave in- thought I'd test out the waters a bit just to see if it would work for for me... as it turns out, it doesn't.

Who's this man? Well, his name is Dave, Dave Ramsey, and he's kind of raining on my money spending parade. He's really no fun at all.

Nate and I have been taking the Dave Ramsey course for a few weeks and it has put things into financial perspective for me. Every Thursday night Nate and I read out of the bible of Dave, which has now added a new phrase into my vocabulary- "Dave says".

Unfortunately Dave usually says, no. Here, let me show you how it works;

"Can we go out to eat tonight?"... Dave says, no.

"Can I buy myself those killer pair of green heels?"... Dave says, no.

"How about we buy ourselves a new car?"... Dave says, no.

"What about a quick run to the local gas station to grab a 32 oz Diet Coke in a styrofoam cup?"

Dave says, maybe. As long as it's in the budget and you don't make a habit out of it.

See what I mean? No fun.

Sure, Dave's good and all for people who want to actually have money and get out of debt. But what about those of us who want to believe that money just magically appears in the bank account each month? Perhaps I'll write a book on that. Take note, my friends. Pretty soon you'll be reading out of the bible of Ginnie. It might put you in financial ruin, but at least you'll have fun in the process.

. . . . .

My TV thought of the week:

Glee, you're killing me. Totally disappointed. Anyone else with me on this?

. . . . .

Celebrate Good Times

First off, thanks to some of my girls for surprising me and showing me a great time for my birthday.

Cafe Rio + Karaoke = stellar par-tay!

You can see more pictures on Heidi's blog.

and pictures from my little 80's party with my family...

Kaleb thought my hair was a wig... yes, it was that fabulous.

I did blow out all 30 candles in one breath, just in case you were wondering.

Thanks Mom for birthing me!

And thanks for all the birthday wishes here and on Facebook-

especially on Facebook.

Now I know why I signed up for a FB account.

. . . . .

Joining the 30 club

"Some birthdays are more meaningful than others because they remind us of

where we've been,

what we've learned,

and where we've yet to go."

This sentimental thought brought to you by Hallmark

Today I turn 30.

My mom tells me I was born in the morning, but she lost all credibility the day I found out that my birth story- the story I was told all my life about how special and unique my birth was- was really in fact my brothers.

This morning I woke up to a longer than usual kiss on the neck by Nate followed be a quick "happy birthday" as he ran out the door for work.

An hour or so later the kids came in to get me out of bed. Scribbled signs led me down the hall and to the kitchen where a homemade breakfast and a "Happy Birthday" banner were waiting for me.

Last night I was surprised by a group of friends who took me to dinner and karaoke.

[insert picture of us singing a bad version of girls just want to have fun here]

Tonight I've planned myself an awesome 80's party with my family. It's going to be epic.

I think turning 30 is going to be good. Real good.

(baby E thinks it's going to be good too)

. . . . .

::Baby Love::

Baby shower spoiler alert: If you're having a baby any time soon,

odds are you might be getting one of these in a recycled wedding gift bag from me.

My little list of baby favorites...

:: 1. Sophie the Giraffe Teether- this little ditty happens to be the #1 best seller on Amazon baby items list, it's true.

:: 2. Loving the all the cute baby mobiles I am seeing these days, this Cloud one is no exception.

:: 3. I'm feeling like a late night TV watching nerd, but really, this Gyro Bowl is calling my name.

:: 4. I can't tell you how much I love these Jeggings from the Children's Place. Makes me giggle every time I see Baby E's little ghetto booty in 'em.

:: 5. My friend received this Tickle Monster Book and Gloves at her baby shower. I instantly fell in love.

:: 6. Love this Grass Drying Bottle Rack from Boon.

:: 7. This is absolutely one of my favorite baby blankets EVER. Macie has one of these ultra soft blankets from Koala. She has slept with it every night and it is still in perfect condition.

:: 8. Killing you with cuteness with these shoes from See Kai Run. I'll take a pair in a size 7.5, please.

:: 9. A cleaner and cuter alternative to the nasty key chains by Kleynimals.

:: 10. My SIL introduced me to Burts Bees Baby products. Tried them. Loved them. It now ranks high on my list of baby shower gifts.

:: 11. Best swaddling blankets ever. period. These muslin blankets from Aden & Anais are one of my favorites purchases I've made for Eden. FYI- these can be pretty pricey, but Target carries its own line for cheaper $$.

:: 12. I've been eyeing these onesie's for the babe from Sand Box Threads. The Bono one might be finding its way to my home soon.

:: 13. My sister gave us the Beautiful Oops book for Christmas- so fun, bright, and colorful! Love it.

:: 14. Target is doing something right with all of their crib betting... especially with their Dwell Studio line.

:: 15. I wish you could see Eden's face every time I give her her blankie from Sweet Pea Baby. Her arms flap and her breathing gets rapid and then I think for a quick moment that maybe, just maybe, she might take flight. It's priceless.

. . . . .