Show Us Your Life: Living Room

Kelly's Korner has started doing her Show Us Your Life blog event every Friday after taking a break this summer. She is going to do house tours with the living room to start off. Here is a picture of our living room just after we got the new couches in May. I took this picture for the adoption stuff we had to send after we got the information about Logan.

To the left across from the sofa is the entertainment center with our television, DVD's and scrapbooks. The dining table is behind the sofa and the kitchen is to the right. I love the new furniture, but I'm not sure what we are going to do with the Christmas tree. Normally, it would go where the overstuffed chair is. The chair may have to be relocated during Christmas, or maybe we can just move out a side table. We'll just have to play around with it when the time comes.

Show Us Your Life-Activities for Kids

Sophie is at that age where she really just wants to walk around and get into stuff. Seriously, she walks from one basket or tub of toys, takes everything out, then moves to the next. If there isn't a basket handy, she'll take everything off the table or out of the cabinet. I even caught her pulling all the toilet paper off the roll. She also loves to climb and/or get into places.

Because of this, I try to find something to do outside of the house everyday. If I walk at the mall, we'll stay and play in the kids area. We may have a play group event, or the city's free kids concert. Some days, it's just going to the church for work.

Because she loves exploring so much, anything new is great for her. I try all kinds of activities with her, even stuff she is probably too young for, but I figure one day, something is going to click and it will become her new favorite.

But mostly, I just let her empty stuff and then I try to get her help in putting it all back (except the toilet paper, of course!)

You can get more ideas at Kelly's Korner!

Show Us Your Life-Wedding Proposal

Will you marry me?
Because Paul and I had been talking about getting married, Mom suggested that she and I go look at rings, then she would tell Paul what I liked. It took the saleslady a few minutes to figure out that I didn't really know what I wanted or liked. I did eventually choose a great set with a square-shaped diamond. We were asking the saleslady to write down the identifying information so Paul could come back and get it, when she suggested I just take it home (after applying for their credit line). "You can always bring it back, if he doesn't like it," she said. Next thing I know, I'm walking out the store, having bought my own ring. It took all of two yards before I just about lost it, realizing how absurd this was...who buys their own wedding rings?!? Paul didn't care, but did get a different diamond. He took the engagement ring back with his parents and replaced the square-cut with a beautiful round-cut. The actual proposal occurred at some friends house where we were housesitting. Paul had gone to pick up the rings with the new diamond setting. He made it official and asked the question. My sister and mom were having dinner and called me to join them, so I got to show how great the ring truly was!

For more stories check out Kelly's Korner.

Show Us Your Life-Things You Love

Over at Kelly's Korner, she is having us tell about things we love or that make us happy. These are the 2 things that make me the most happy. Of course, if you've followed this blog, you've seen my lists of things that make me happy. I started that list when we hit the 1000th day of waiting for our adoption to go through (we are adopting from China). I am trying to do one happy thing for each day since then. I am hoping that I don't have to come up with 1000 things. That would make me really happy!

Show Us Your Life-Favorite Books

Even though I may not get to link to Kelly's Korner, please go there and check out all the others (especially if you are looking for something new to read).


As a preschool director, I get to read a lot of children's books all the time. I have a few favorites, but I really love finding books that have special meanings. My all time favorite books are the "If You Give" by Laura Numeroff.

I have a nephew who only lived 7 weeks. After he died, I started hunting for books that had characters with his name. As it happens he was born the year before the tsunami hit Africa. There is a wonderful story about a baby hippo orphaned because of the tsunami and a very old tortoise who became his friend. The hippo's name is Owen, the same as my nephew. They have published several books about these two. I can't read A Mama for Owen without crying.

There was a wonderful gentleman at my home church who recently passed away. Anyone who was asked would always say how they remembered Tom's reply of "I am blessed!" whenever someone asked how he was. The day of his funeral I happened to glance at a book rack in the grocery store (of all places), and there was a book titled I Am Blessed! Of course I had to get it, and I think of Tom every time I read it to Sophie.

Because of the adoption, I'm always on the look out for adoption stories, especially about those from China. My favorite is I Love You Like Crazy Cakes. I would really like to find one that talks about an older boy who gets adopted and ends up with a baby sister. I may have to write my own for that, though!

Show Us Your Life-Kids Names

So if you want some suggestions for children's names or are curious how people choose the ones they do head over to Kelly's Korner.

Paul actually chose Sophie, and I don't think there is really any special meaning behind it. He just really liked the name. He hates tricked out names, either just unusual or because of some crazy spelling. He wanted a nice, normal name. I would describe it as "classic". The Rose for her middle name is a family name. It is my mom's middle name, too. Plus, I was born in the Rose Capital of the World, Tyler, Texas.

I had already come up with a name for our child we are adopting from China if it was a girl...Michaela. Since we call the China baby MIC this name kept that part. Of course, my dad and our pastor are both named Michael, so I'm sure they would read more into the name than we did.

Now that it looks like we are getting boy from China, we are really stuck. Paul has decided he wants to name him after his dad, George Bernard. I hate having close family members with the same name (it gets too confusing trying to determine who you are speaking about so people become Big this or Little that). So I am fine to use George as a middle name. I tried to come up with a name that would allow us to keep the MIC, but Paul hasn't liked my suggestion of Micah. He also doesn't refer to him as MIC much because in his mind MIC was a girl.

So, now we are on a quest to find a name that goes with George that we both like!

Show Us Your Life-How You Met

Over at Kelly's Korner this week, we are sharing how we met our spouse. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures on this computer from those early days. Paul and I met at a bar. I know, very cliche, but I liked dancing and he liked watching the NBA finals on the big screens. The sports bar was close to my apartment so I went most weekends to listen to the bands and dance with my friends. Paul had seen me there before but apparently took a while to actual come talk to me. Since the Mavs were playing well, we saw each other a few times that week. He did eventually ask me out to dinner, and the rest , as they say is history. Because we had both been married before, we cut through a lot of crap right away. I think it was the second date that I told him I wanted kids and if he didn't we shouldn't date. I think it was that level of honesty at the beginning that led to us getting married 1 year after we met.

Show Us Your LIfe-Teachers Gifts

At Kelly's Korner, she has asked for ideas for teachers gifts. Technically, Sophie doesn't have teachers yet, but I do have a great group of ladies who work for me and have helped with Sophie all year. At our preschool, we have the teachers fill out this form that has their favorites listed on it...things like restaurant, food, candle scents, shopping locations, books, music, etc. Parents can then use these to get them gifts, things they actually want. That's what I am doing for them. I will get gift cards from their favorite places. I think gift cards can be really impersonal but at least this way I know it is a place they will go.

As a teacher/director, I get gifts each year. And I truly appreciate everything I get. I have gotten some unusual gifts (like the bottle of vodka), some very functional, practical things (like the set of thank you cards), but honestly, my favorites are bath products. I love bubble baths and I rarely have to buy it because the kids keep me stocked.

Show Us Your Life-Organization Tips

I like to think I'm pretty organized, but I definitely took it up a notch while I was pregnant. That nesting urge is really strong. Here are a few of my tips:
1. I have kept my shoes in clear plastic boxes for years. You can label them, but it worked fine without the labels since the boxes are see-through.

2. I don't necessarily have lots of gifts that have to be wrapped, but I had this drawer unit so I turned it into a wrapping station. There are drawers for tissue paper, bows, plus the big one for gifts I find during the year to be used later. The picture after that is an "accordion file" type thing my mom found to hold gift bags. It definitely makes it easy to find the right gift bag.

3. This is my grocery list. I can keep it on the fridge and Paul can mark off stuff as he uses it. I even set it up so that it follows the path I take at the store.

Get more tips at Kelly's Korner.

Show Us Your Life-Cleaning Tips

Those who know me, please don't laugh too hard. I am not much of a "cleaner". I keep things picked up and put away, but the actually cleaning part is low on my list. I do have a couple of tips that I can share.
1. I love, love, love the Swiffer products. We have pets so a regular broom just wasn't getting all the fur and hair. So the dry swiffer works great for that. I have always found the dirty mop water disgusting, so the wet swiffer products are wonderful.
2. I try to do a load of laundry a day. Others prefer to do it all at once, but that was so depressing for me. Now, I do tend to have a load waiting to be washed in the washer and one that has been dried in the dryer, but I do occasionally have both the washer and dryer empty as well as all the folded clothes put away. I also sort mine differently, which drives my mom insane. It started when I was single, and I've just kept it up. I have darks (blacks, blues, & greens), lights (whites & creams), browns (includes yellows), and reds (includes pinks & oranges). I don't separate the type of clothing (towels get washed with jeans and shirts), but I do separate Sophie's from ours.

You can get more tips at Kelly's Korner.

Show Us Your Life: A Typical Day

This week at Kelly's Korner we are telling about our typical day. Since I work part-time I'll start with a workday. I'm about by 6:30, and hopefully have time to get ready and fix lunch before Sophie gets up. I've been playing around with her feeding schedule so right now she gets breakfast at about 7ish with Daddy, then changed and out the door at 7:30am. We are at work at 8am and she hangs out in the stroller for a bit while I get everything situated. Some mornings she'll go into the One's class until about 9:15 other times she's in the pack 'n play. She has a bottle at about 9:30 after most kids have been dropped off and the parents are gone. If I'm lucky she go down for a nap by 10:30 and stay there an hour. During that time I either work in the office on the computer or try to stay out of the office doing things elsewhere. After nap, we'll move to the exersaucer then have lunch about 12noon. After lunch, I just move her from highchair to pack 'n play to exersaucer to keep her entertained. Of course, that's naptime for the kids and usually a teacher or 2 will come get her to play on the floor in their room. The last few days, I've given her a bottle just before we leave at 3pm. Some days she'll fall asleep on the ride home and if I leave her in the carrier she'll sleep 2 hours. Which is great because it gives me a chance to clean up at home and get dinner going. (okay and check email.) I shoot for dinner at 6:30 then move to bedtime routine of bath, books and bottle. Once she's asleep it's time for the TiVO to start. I used to stay up later, but now 10pm is late for me.

Show Us Your Life: Collections

So, over at Kelly's Korner this week, we are showing our collections. Those treasures and knick-knacks that we truly love. My collection is elephants. It started when my great-grandmother passed away. My grandmother gave me about a dozen little figurines that had been great-grandmothers. These included several elephants, plus some dogs, bears and cats. When my sister came along 7 years later and got her own room, I divided the collection, keeping all the elephants for myself and giving her everything else. There was truly no reason why I did it that way, probably just being a little Type A for a 10 year-old. From there people started giving me gifts that were elephants.

At one point I tried to count how many I had (several hundred), but there came a time when I moved from one apartment to another that I decided to box most of them up and put them in storage. When we decided to have children, I decided that the nursery had to have some sort of elephant theme, then I could bring out some of those elephants from their storage boxes. Before we even decided on the adoption, I had chosen our crib bedding (and purchased it before we even completed all the paperwork). After we got pregnant, I went up in the attic and started going through each of the boxes, pulling out items that could go in the nursery.

Some of the originals

Humidifier for the nursery

More on top of the changing table unit

For the art table

Antique ashtray

Show Us Your Life: Exercise & Diet Tips

Okay, so over at Kelly's Korner, we are giving our exercise and diet tips. Those who know are probably rolling on the floor laughing so hard that I am even attempting to participate this week...but I have just come home from my third workout (in one week) with StrollerStrides. I found out about this group while Christmas shopping, and decided to join. So far I love it. Because it's other moms with their kiddos, I don't feel pressured to push myself harder than I should. I've always hated going to the gym, mainly because I feel so inadequate compared to everyone else there. But not with this group. As mom's we're probably not trying to run marathons (although some may be working towards that) or bulk up and be able to lift hundreds of pounds...we just want to be able to pick up our kids without our backs hurting. So that's my tip for this week. I'm not even going to attempt dieting tips. That would just be ridiculous coming from the woman who ate nothing but carbs 3 days ago (bagel for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, and cereal for dinner). Oh, wait, I do think I finished off some Christmas chocolate that day too. And of course, had my vanilla coke as well. You'll just have to check out the other posts for diet tips.

Show Us Your Life: Halloween Costumes

Over at Kelly's Korner, we are showing off Halloween costumes.  Most people who know me know I hate dressing up, rarely do it.  I do however love to dress up the pets.  Of course they seem to hate it as much as I do.

This year I also dressed up our daughter.  She had a different costume for preschool and then one for Halloween night.

At preschool she was Sophie the Rose Witch and I was her black cat.

Here is our little Princess Leia.

Show Us Your Life: Dessert Recipes

I missed this one as well, but again you can go there and fine hundreds of recipes. This has become one of my favorite holiday treats.

Easy English Toffee (Stephanie Carl's recipe)

1 cup of sugar
1 stick of butter, softened
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup slivered almonds (3.5 ounce package)
1 cup chocolate chips

Rub butter along edge of a microwavable bowl. Put first 4 ingredients in bowl and microwave 8-9 minutes. Pull out as soon as it turns light brown. (Watch this part carefully.) Spread almonds on buttered cookie sheet. Pour mixture over almonds. Let sit about 1 minute. Pour chocolate chips on top and spread out as chocolate melts. Put in fridge until cooled. Break into pieces.

I probably only use about 2/3 of the cookie sheet, I like my toffee a little thicker. I also prefer semisweet chips, but you could use others. I store the toffee in the fridge, but love to make this as gifts.

Show Us Your Life: Dinner Recipes

So, I missed getting to add my recipe to the list, but you can go to Kelly's Korner and check out hundreds of recipes for dinner. Here's my contribution:

Aunt Doris' Enchilada Casserole

1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can El Paso enchilada sauce
1 pound ground beef
1 dozen corn tortillas
2 cups grated cheese

Brown ground beef and drain. Combine beef with soups and enchilada sauce. Slice tortillas into bite-sized pieces. Place a layer of tortillas in a greased, flat baking dish. Cover with beef mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Repeat until all beef mixture and cheese are used. Place in oven for approximately 20 minutes at 350 degrees until cheese and sauce are bubbly.

You can substitute ground turkey for the beef. I also use whatever kind of cream soup I have in the pantry (2 cans of chicken, cream of mushroom instead of celery, whatever works for you). I use kitchen shears to cut the tortillas, makes for fast work. I usually use a Mexican blend of shredded cheese, but that's personal choice. You can make this in a 13x9 pan, but I always do 2 8x8 pans, and freeze one for later.

Show Us Your Life: Baby Gear

Over at Kelly's Korner this week, we are looking at baby gear. Sophie's only 4 months old, so I'm still getting ideas for later, but here are some of my must-haves and overrateds. I will say that being older parents (late 30's), we are financially able to provide Sophie with whatever latest gadget we think she needs. I never thought I would have a house filled with so much baby stuff, but I do. I have 3 sisters, 2 sister-in-laws and countless friends who all had babies before me, so we have lots of hand-me-downs. My mother-in-law keeps 2 of the nieces and nephews and she gives me the duplicate stuff after they've out grown it. So here's my list:

1. Bumbo Seat: Love it! We started to use it so that Sophie could sit on the table while we ate, or on the counter while I washed bottles. After that I used it in her baby pool. Now we use it for feeding her. We will get a highchair, just haven't decided on which one yet.

2. Graco Pack N Play: Some people use this in place of a bassinet, but we had a cradle that was given to us. However, Sophie gets to go to work with me (I'm a preschool director) and I put the pack n play in my office. One feature I love is the changing table part. Makes it quick and easy to do diaper changes. It also has a storage area to hold the diapers and other stuff. It has a built-in wipes storage but it doesn't keep the wipes moist.

3. Exersaucer: I have one at work and one at home. She likes them both, especially because she loves to be standing. they both have toys attached but she doesn't care much at them. She's still pretty small, so I bunch a big fluffy blanket around her for stability.

4. Jeep Walker: I know walkers are so taboo, but I feel like this one is pretty safe and we don't have any stairs to fall down. It is the same basic concept as the walker, except it stays in the kitchen (on tile, not carpet) and she can push herself backwards. She has also figured out how to beep the horn and play the "radio".

5. Einstein Musical Motion Jumper: We haven't used this much yet, but I'm sure we will. This is in her bedroom. We have an exersaucer in our bedroom, and the jeep in the kitchen. The swing is in the living room, and we have an infant seat/rocker in the computer room. I also have a bouncer in our bathroom for when I take a shower, but she doesn't like it much.

6. Bath tub with sling and shower: We liked this one because it fit over the kitchen sink. Right now I just use the sling in the big bath tub, but plan on going back to the baby tub once she can sit up a little better. When it's on the sink we don't need the shower attachment, we just use the kitchen nozzle. Sophie loves having the water spray on her.





Here's some things that are overrated or at least not used much:


1. Swing: She will go in it sometimes, but she pretty much has to already be in a good mood. It definitely isn't something I can go to when she's fussy.


2. Bouncy seat: Same as the swing. I use both when I need a place to put her, but I could just as easily put her in her crib.


3. Bassinet/cradle: We had a beautiful wooden cradle my mom got my sister who handed it down to me. We used it in the living room for the first 2 and half months for naps during the day. Since I didn't nurse, having her in our room wasn't necessary. Plus my mom was with us for the first 5 weeks and helped with nighttime feedings. So from day 1, Sophie slept in her crib in her room every night. It also turned out that at 5 weeks she went from 2 night feeding to only one and at 8 weeks was sleeping through the night. I do use a monitor (sound only, but with the added motion sensor to "prevent" SIDS).


4. Diaper Genie: To be honest, we don't have one, but I asked around beforehand. Most people found them to be cumbersome and complicated to work. My sister has a newer version that has a step-lever for opening it. She seems to like that but our changing table unit has a cabinet for the trash and so the step part wouldn't have worked for us. Instead I just use a plastic trash can with a push-top lid. We don't put dirty diapers in it (walk those to the big trashcan). We have cats so I'm emptying litterboxes regularly anyway, so taking out the diaper trash was that big of a deal. I do keep an air freshener in the cabinet with the trashcan, and sometimes I buy those scented trash bags.


5. Wipes warmer: Again, not something we have, but I did think about getting one, especially when a friend said it was wonderful for her baby. Turns out Sophie doesn't really care about the cold. I also don't have a fancy bottle warmer. I use to warm up water in the microwave and then put the bottle in that...then I found out Sophie will take the bottle cold. She just doesn't care.





Things the jury (aka Sophie) is still out on:


1. Baby sling: I tried the peanut shell and the slingrider when Sophie was teeny tiny. I just couldn't see haw she could be comfortable. The sling rider was little better than the peanut shell, I felt like she had a little more room and wasn't completely smooshed. Since then, I use the peanut shell in the kangaroo position (Sophie facing tummy to tummy with her legs on either side). i don't have a lot of movement with that, but it works for me when I'm on the computer and at my desk at work. I also have front-pack carrier (like a Baby Bjorn, but different brand) that worked better at work. I can use it when I need to walk the halls and check on the classes.


2. Infant seat/rocker: I actually have 2 of these. My swing uses this type of thing, plus I have this one in the office. she seems to like the rocker better than the infant seat. the infant seat basically just has her laying back, too reclined for her taste. This one has the vibration option, which she seems to like most days. She has just started to notice the hanging toys, so she may like it more now.

Show Us Your Life: Baby Showers

Over at Kelly's Korner this week, she asked for baby shower ideas. I'm sure I probably have pictures from other showers, but these are from my own showers for Sophie. I actually had 4 different ones, friends and family, church members, preschool teachers, and preschool families.

A few days before I went on maternity leave, we had a reception for the preschool families. The board set up a table with goodies for the parents and kids. I was stationed beside to the table to greet the families as they picked up their kids. It was a lot of fun to see everyone before I left and many of the children wished me a "Happy Baby!"


The teachers wanted to have a separate party just for them. It was also very lovely. each one brought a different food item to share. These are the petit fours Ms. Marsha brought.



My sister threw the family and friends shower. Because Sophie's nursery is decorated in elephants she wanted an elephant cake. She and my mom contacted several bakeries to try to get one and no one could do it. (They could "airbrush" a photo of one, but that's not what they wanted.) Finally one of the grocery store bakeries was able to do this one using one of the wall decorations as a template. I think it turned out great!


My mom created this decoration for the shower. It is now hanging in my kitchen window, but I guess I should take it down at some point. We also used some of the elephants from the nursery to decorate as well.

Each of the preschool classes gave me a gift. This blanket is from the 2's class, it has each child's hand print. They also had each child decorate a plain bib with fabric paint. One class created a card with a class picture, another decorated a picture frame, and the oldest group (Pre-K) made me a keepsake box and book. They asked each child how to take care of a baby and then recorded their answer in a book. Some of those kids knew a lot about babies!

Show Us Your Life: Vacations

This week's post is about our favorite vacations. Although I don't like the journey, I do like to be in new places. A couple of years ago, Paul and I went on a cruise. I had always thought that a cruise would be the perfect vacation for me and I was right. We had a great time. I loved getting dressed for dinner and having all the amenities right there on deck. We were able to relax by the pool or enjoy the various activities, whatever we felt like that particular day. In port, we were able to enjoy the sights and had a great time.

Show Us Your Life: Wedding Reception & Honeymoon

Okay, so http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ is the one that does the Show Us Your Life. Again, I don't have any digital pictures from our reception or honeymoon, but I'll tell you all about it. After our small, immediate family only wedding, we went to Pappasitos for dinner. They were wonderful and put us in there "party" room even though we hadn't paid for it. We had several of their large platters brought out so our family could just enjoy whatever they wanted. My mom had gotten us a cake, it was a tiered heart shape, with frogs for the topper. We had been to a museum exhibit and learned frogs were a fertility symbol so they became our personal good luck charm ( and it only took a little over 4 years to work).

Because our friends were not able to come to the wedding, we decided to hold an informal reception for them at the bar where we met. My wonderful friend Anea had the place decorated for us when we got there. Once all our friends assembled we had the world's best waiter, Alan, bring everyone a Wedding Cake shot! Not your traditional reception, but we had a blast and I think our friends did too.