Silhouette

Julia was playing by the front door one day (seriously just a ploy to
get to the nearest adult shoe...!) and I thought her silhouette was
beautiful and yet cute at the same time.

(In one picture, she is attempting to reach the door latch -- yes, the
door is locked. In another, she is watching a fly buzz around on the
door.)

erin

Cousin Time

This last weekend (March 27 - 29), Julia and I took a trip to Tomah,
Wisconsin, to spend time with my parents (Jeff and Sue) and Julia's
cousins (my sister's daughters, Laila and Hannah). Julia had an
extraordinarily fun time playing with her cousins... if you watch them
play together, you would really know and believe that they were born
to play together... they are definitely family!

Julia enjoyed watching the girls cut out cookies with Grammy (my mom,
Sue) and Julia enjoyed cookies with her cousins on the living room
floor (sorry for all of the vacuuming you had to do, mom!).

Julia also enjoyed her cousin putting shoes on her... again, she LOVES shoes!

And, Julia especially enjoyed the table and chairs that were in the
dining room and tipped over in the chair approximately 500 times that
weekend... and even though she cried every time, it did not deter her
from getting back up and into the chair... one... more... time.

This weekend was also the turning point in Julia's walking... since
early January, Julia has been walking... a few steps here and there,
and basically it was about two to four steps a day for a while.
Recently she became more confident in her walking ability, but even
still, she preferred crawling and would crawl to something, pull
herself up, walk a few steps, fall down, and keep on crawling. So...
she was walking, but preferred to crawl.

Well, over the weekend, she turned that corner and now prefers to
walk... we can set her down in a standing position in the middle of
the floor, and she will walk until she falls. And... even then, she
may try to get rigt back up again. Crying is not really involved
anymore. It has been really neat this last week to see her walking
around... we have witnessed her walking the length of full rooms
now... something that even a week and a half ago would not have
happened. She is suddenly very confident in her walking abilities,
has been walking at daycare as well, and I'm sure will be running
circles around us come summer.

We had a great visit with the family even though it was very short.
Here's hoping we can get back to Wisconsin in June when my sister
flies home from Georgia so that we have time to visit her and her
girls both.

erin

--
*** Visit my Blog at: erin-quilter.blogspot.com ***

Red Shoes

Is it any wonder that my child is already in love with shoes?

Julia has taken to putting on shoes of any size and variety... she
will even toddle down to the coat closet and ferret out Adam's shoes
and attempt to put them on her feet... but she is partial to my red
Crocs. Now that she is walking (and does so intentionally and seems
that she would FINALLY rather walk than crawl -- yay!!!), she finds it
partcularly amusing to attempt to walk in our shoes. The Crocs cause
a bit of a problem on the wood floor as rubber/plastic shoes against
wood cause a bit of friction, but it doesn't keep her from trying...!

erin

The Cheerio Incident

A few weeks ago, I set Julia on a chair (an adult chair, no less,
which she thinks is super fun) in the middle of the dining room so I
could do a few things in the kitchen. She wanted a snack, so I gave
her a bucket of Cheerios.

Things went well for a bit; she thought it was enormous fun and was
quite giggly and ready to look at the camera. Then, suddenly, I heard
the tub hit the floor. Consequently, in order to save my sanity, I
wasted about 40 cents worth of Cheerios and vacuumed up the whole lot
of them instead of trying to pick them up and put them back in the
bucket.

erin

The Twilight Zone

Yesterday I decided that I needed a movie break and popped over to a
Redbox and rented "Twilight".

I doubt very much that I have blogged about the Twilight Series by
Stephenie Meyer; I don't often write about the books I read.

I read them in succession (the first three, anyway) soon after Julia
was born and then read the fourth this last summer / fall.

No doubt, you may have heard, the books are highly addicting and I was
through them in a flash. Meant for the young adult genre (YA
fiction), I was slightly taken aback by some of what I felt was "too
adult" in the books for young teenagers to be reading, but regardless,
I enjoyed the books thoroughly. Even though I don't think the writing
was on the same level as that of J.K. Rowling, Steven King, or even
Anne Rice, I don't dispute the fact that the books have created a
large fan base and that the readability and subject matter lend to a
really good series of books for the general public.

I anxiously anticipated the release of "Twilight", the movie, but
after some initial research, I was in disagreement with the selection
of actors/actresses and then when I started hearing reviews after the
movie came out, I stopped wanting to see it so badly.

However, yesterday it seemed like a good way to kill two hours and I
thought it might be enjoyable. So... here are my thoughts.

1. Even though it is almost always too hard to put every key aspect
of a book into a movie, I feel that the writers/directors picked
applicable scenes to set the stage for the mood of the movie and to
create possibilities for sequels. There wasn't "enough" of the book
in the movie for me, but then, RARELY is there ever "enough" of any
book in any book-to-movie I have seen. (Exceptions: "The Lion, Witch,
and the Wardrobe"... "Contact"...)

2. The lighting in the film was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Absolutely
beautiful. Throughout the movie I was struck over and over again by
how beautifully they lit the movie. The mood the lighting set was
spot on.

3. After my initial disgust over who was cast as the main
actor/actress of the movie, I would retract those judgements and say
that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson both did an amazing job and
excellently portrayed Bella and Edward. I now completely understand
why all girls under the age of 18 (and some over) are head over heels
for Robert Pattinson. Between the lighting, makeup, and style, he was
a perfect Edward. And, Kristen Stewart did a beautiful job as Bella.
I also think that the lighting and makeup did their best to make her
stand out among the crowd and yet portray her character as Stephenie
Meyer did in the books.

4. I didn't particularly like who was cast for Jasper or Carlisle. I
understand that Jasper was supposed to be a "new" vampire and was
meant to look dazed a bit, but he didn't need to look like a moron.
And, the actor playing Carlisle resembled Tom Cruise's Lestat TOO
closely that for about 5 seconds, I almost wondered if it wasn't Tom
Cruise again. I knew it wasn't, but the resemblance was uncanny and I
had a hard time getting past it.

5. I didn't like the "fast-forward/flashing" motion type of stuff
done with the vampires to show that they were "fast". I understand
WHY it was done, but I don't think it was necessary for the movie to
be successful.

6. The setting in general, though, was beautiful for the whole movie.
I think that the writers/directors/whomevers did a really great job
utilizing the setting in the movie -- it wasn't JUST a setting... it
WAS truly part of the movie, and I really enjoyed that.

7. I admit I was fearful that seeing this movie would completely
destroy my the "world" I had created in my head around Stephenie
Meyer's books. Too often, the ideas of others don't match my own when
it comes to what I see in my head. For example, I am one of the few,
but I dislike the Harry Potter movies. The first movie completely
destroyed everything I had created in my head, and I stopped reading
the books and watching the movies after the second movie came out. It
was simply not what I had seen in my head and I couldn't get past it.
(One of these days I will go back and read the books and watch the
movies and I'm sure I'll be "over" it by then.) So, I was pleasantly
surprised when I watched this movie and realized that my "world" was
NOT destroyed and actually the movie only enhanced it. YAY!

It is obvious that I should not be a movie critic, but I wanted to
share some of my thoughts on Twilight. I am actually glad that I
watched it and will put it on my "movies" to own list. I had to keep
from watching it a second time last night, that's how much I enjoyed
it. So, I would give this one a 4 out of 5. And, even though book #2
wasn't my favorite in the series, I will look forward to the sequel
coming out this fall.

erin

Picasso Maybe

Tonight after I fed Julia her dinner, I sat down myself to eat as she
toddled around playing and such.

After a bit, I realized it was quite quiet and I became concerned as
to where Julia was.

I stood up... and there she stood in the corner of the dining room,
drawing on the legs of the island/table with her crayon. Apparently I
missed that one when I picked them all off the floor the other
day...!!!

Thank God for Magic Eraser. She sure seemed proud of her work!

erin

Hey, Baby!

Today was my 2nd OB appointment with my Awesome Doctor and Saint of a
Nurse. *sigh* They are wonderful.

A few things I noted today:

-- Regardless of the amount of stress or how wildly my emotions swing,
I still manage to maintain a good blood pressure: 112/70

-- This baby is going to be a stinker and from here on out will be
affectionately known as The Stinker. It took the doctor about 5 - 10
minutes (okay, I am guessing, because it felt like an ETERNITY) to
find the heartbeat today. Silly Little Bugger. Heartrate today: 170
bpm

-- I gained 4 lbs this last month. Whoops. I attribute this to:
drinking soda (bad), not sleeping enough (bad), and being a bit
stressed (bad).

-- I love my nurse. As in, I really love her. She may as well be
family. When a different nurse came to get me today, I about crumbled
to the ground (emotional much?) and started crying. I kindly asked
where Joan was and the nurse said she was busy and she would be with
me soon. (Whew. Sigh of Relief.)

-- My doctor is wonderful. Aside from taking care of the normal
doctor/patient stuff, he was kind enough to listen to me about Life
Stuff, and kindly and with assuredness reminded me that God is my Rock
and He is in Control. I needed that reminder today. Thank you, Dr.
C! (Ditto, Joan!)

-- Right now I am 14 weeks and some days along. I feel GREAT (other
than the lack of sleep thing). I am pleasantly surprised at how good
I have felt thus far in this pregnancy.

-- My next appointment is April 22. Woohoo!

erin

Postcards

You may or may not know this about me...

I collect postcards.

I am probably not a True Postcard Aficionado in that I do not keep them in binders, keep track of who gave them to me and when, or even take very good care of them. I have even been known to take a postcard from my collection and send it off to another person in the mail.

But, all the same, I love postcards and find that it is a fairly easy collection to maintain and all of my postcards are on a cork board in my office or in a drawer. (I would guess the cork board holds ~100 and the drawer contains ~300 or so.)

I thought to post about this, because as I was cleaning the dining room and the Horizontal Surfaces in the dining room (the clean of which is Long Overdue), I found a postcard that Adam (my husband) had brought home for me from his latest mission trip to Texas back in February. Adam tries very hard to find me a postcard from each trip he takes. One of the last mission trip postcards was of a bull of some sorts and the postcard was from Oklahoma. The postcards he finds for me on these trips have become a joke between us of sorts... I think that now in his quest, not only does he try to find me a postcard, but one that is... not necessarily of True Postcard Material. We have a good laugh when he brings home postcards.

I thought I would share with you the latest... and maybe you'll get a good laugh too when you realize why I say it is not of True Postcard Material. But, all the same, it is a postcard, and maybe one day it will make it on the board.


Maybe in the future I will post pictures of some of my favorite postcards. And, if you are ever on a trip and are near postcards or want to hunt and find me an obnoxious one, I'd be most grateful.

erin

On My List

I have decided that my blog needs a banner. What's that you say? Well, it's the pretty or cute or neat or awesome or whatever piece stretched across the top of the blog site. Mine is pretty Boring right now... it simply contains the title of my blog.

So, that is now on the list of Things to Do... create a cool banner for my blog site.

I'm projecting completion round about August 2011. I suppose it's the thought that counts for now, though.

(P.S. If anyone is interested in helping me create a banner, as I really don't know How to go about creating one, I would appreciate any insight. Or, if you just want to do it for me, that's cool too.)

erin

Seeing Red

For you Men of the World, this blog entry will probably make no sense to you.

For the Rest of You... here's hoping for a good laugh or at the very least, a little sympathetic nod of the head.

A few weeks ago I decided to start couponing. Not in a Big Bad Couponing Way -- I have no intention of stocking my shelves until they are overflowing with Things We Have Never Used In Our Lives on the off chance that we might use them -- but, I am willing to try new brands of products we always use -- Charmin is on sale? Sure, we can use Charmin. Dove Body Wash? Sounds like a winner. Huggies instead of Pampers and I can get those Huggies at 1/3 the cost of the Pampers? Sold.

So far, I'm pretty happy with some of the deals I've gotten. Relatively "good" shampoo for $0.99. A big bottle of Dawn dish soap for $0.99. A bottle of Spray 'n Wash for $1.00. These are all things I love and my goodness, have been spending on the order of $2.50 - 3.50 per bottle for the last X years... ludicrous!

Last week I decided I was going to scour the ads for coupons for razors -- yes, the razors you use to shave hair off one's body. I had run out, and while I had been using the Rather Expensive Variety, I was willing to sacrifice and try something new for the sake of the budget.

Now whether you know much about razors or not, they have come a long way, baby. And while I sometimes think the general public is fooled by how great the swiveling head and multiple blades must be, I have to admit, the better the razor, the better the shave AND the longer the razor lasts. So, you really DO need to compare quality vs. cost in this case.

BUT... I had a $2.00 off coupon for the Bic Soleil , and based on the original price, one had to imagine they were relatively okay razors. Imagine my surprise when I found they were ON CLEARANCE at Wal-Mart, so with my coupon, I was able to buy these razors at 1/4 the original cost! Oh, joy! Oh, rapture! I had just saved our family money on something I desperately needed!

And then I shaved.

Ladies, I am proof that the swivel or tilting head DOES do wonders for ones lumpy and bumpy legs. Little did I know that the lack of this razors mobility would cause it to not just remove the hair from my legs, but also level each and every tiny little bump, resulting in a Spot of Red Otherwise Known as Blood. I can't say that it hurt very much, but you all know what a pain in the behind it is to deal with bleeding legs after a shower. At any rate, it was not a overly fun experience, though the shave WAS relatively smooth.

Now, this will not deter me from buying the razors that are a good deal. Saving money is more important right now than worrying about a few nicks here and there. But just know, in the world of razors, you ARE getting what you pay for.

erin