Yes, Another One

Speaking of cargo area for strollers ... I bought another car. I think I have a problem. Let's take a stroll down memory lane...

16 years old: Hand-me-down 2001 Dodge Intrepid. It was a lemon or something. It was fairly new with very low miles, yet I spent more time on the side of the road waiting for it to cool down than I did driving it. That and it was a SO NOT COOL, MOM! I wrecked the heck out of that thing in the short time I had it.



17 years old: First car! 1992 Honda Prelude. I put 40,000 miles on it in 9 months. Then someone else totalled it. Sad face.



18 years old: Brand new 2002 Chevy Camaro in "Arrest Me" red with t-tops (t-top, singular, ha)! Loooved this car. It had a lot of mechanical problems, but they were mostly all covered under warranty. I drove this car for 3 whole years! Partially because I loved it, and partially because even after putting $4k down and 0% interest, I was upside down for a long time. I have a lot of good memories with this car!



21 years old: 2004 Toyota Camry. Black on black - my true love. Alas, it was a disaster of a car and my newly adopted dog(s) didn't fit in the back seat.



21 years old: 2003 Honda Pilot. Loved, loved, loved. I also drove this car for 3 whole years. My ex husband made me trade it in because it had 150,000 miles on it. I literally cried.


25 years old: 2005 Infiniti FX35. AWESOME TO DRIVE. If you like to drive fast, Infiniti is your car. However, it got about 12 mpg, and was super small in the back seat, and was very bumpy ride for passengers. Having just had a newborn baby, I did the responsible thing and traded it in for a Mom car.



26 years old: 2008 Honda Accord. Snorefest. It only got 18mpg, and I hated not having an SUV. It was a long year and a half with this stupid car.



BOOM! Divorce means I need a new car, right? New me, new car? Whatevs, I love it. LOVE my new car. It's black on black leather (LOVE), it's a Pilot, and it has all the bells and whistles. I'm in love. Did I mention I LOVE my new car?! I'll live in an old house for 6+ years and love it, but I can't seem to keep a car for very long. I have a feeling this one is going to be a keeper!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was wonderful. My picture taking skills are not. I did remember to snap a few, though!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saralouisel/sets/72157632229748201/



What stands out to me about this holiday season is the little person that has emerged from my tiny baby. Olivia seems like such a little girl, I almost don't recognize her anymore. She has opinions and choices and feelings that are all her own.

She received a purse and fixin's from her aunt and cousins, and she just looves to take her purse with her. "My purse! My purse!"



Not to mention the stroller she received for Christmas. She strapped in her kitty-kitty so fast, and now we have to take that kitty for walks constantly. When we leave the house, she even wants to put the stroller in the cargo area with her real stroller.



Yes, my mind is blown by that last picture. Who's that person in my photos?!

7: An Update

Do you remember this post and this post where I talked about 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker?

Month 1 went really well! I cheated a few times and took some liberties, but it really taught us (me) about how little we need to survive and how to enjoy the basics. It helped to hit home about, "Eat to live, don't live to eat."

Well, as usual life got in the way, and I blew off the rest of the plan. However, I've noticed myself spending more and more time on my phone when I should be playing with my daughter. I picked the book back up to read the chapter about a month without technology, but fell in love with the chapter on belongings.

So my goal for December is to give away 7 things a day. This is not going to be easy, only because I had a massive garage sale/freeby Craigslist giveaway about a month and a half ago. I sorted, decluttered, and cleaned out my whole house. So now, I'm going through things I already sorted through and picking things to get rid of. A few things I've sold, but it's going to be 90% charity.

I've found that the less we have, the cleaner my house is, and the cleaner my house is, the happier I am. I don't need all these possessions to make me happy, and what better time of year to focus on family rather than belongings?


Happy Holidays!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saralouisel/sets/72157632247336100/

Just Because

... She's so cute. Beet juice!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saralouisel/sets/72157632229748201/

Bang

The last pictures I uploaded here were before Miss O had bangs. Since those photos were taken, she had bangs cut, I had to trim them twice, and they are already in her eyes.

In related news, I'm working from the office again!



Will my blog see a revival? Surely.
Am I happy to be back to showering daily and leaving my house? Yes
Do I miss my baby girl? Absolutely.

Juicing

Just some random pictures I found from our Staycation.

We have been making our own fruit and veggie juice at home. Olivia loves it!




Happy Election Day!

Slideshows!

As much as I love having all of my photos here to look back on, Google is sick of it, and my storage is full. :-) I'm going to give Flickr a test run. You'll have to follow a link to see the photos, but then at least you can look at my eleventybillion photos if you want to, or not if you don't. Naturally, I'll stick you with one or two here. ;-)

The rest of our Staycation consisted of swimming, playing, swimming, and swimming. We hit up Hamilton Pool, Mansfield Dam Park, Guadelupe River State Park, and of course visted Grandmother in Kerrville.



Watch the slideshow here!

No News is Good News

I sure left off on a sad note! In this case, though, no news is good news. That very same day I found out I would have the opportunity to work from home for the remainder of the year. Combine that with 4 weeks of vacation, and we've been having a lot of fun around here! In my usual form, I'll update with photos! It's probably a good idea to post the summer photos before winter arrives, and "winter" Texas style is scheduled to arrive this evening!

My first vacation was primarily a staycation. We did take a little day trip to Boerne, though.

 

The geese took them right out of her hand! She was so brave.

Sad Post

I better write this quick - while I'm feeling transparent.

School has started in Austin, and my Facebook and Mom groups are filled with pictures of the first day of Kindergarten, 1st grade, and so on ... The reviews from each parent's child varies from excited to scared over leaving their parents for the first time.

This is a grand assumption on my part. I am not trying to chime in on the Mommy War, and my opinion is admittedly very biased.

I should be happy that Olivia is getting so many life experiences, and that she is building the self confidence to explore the world on her own. Selfishly, though, I am not. I want her to want me all the time, and I want to be there all the time.

I'm very happy as a single Mom. Olivia's father is happy as a single man. We both are who we are, and therefore everyone is happier when we're not married. That doesn't stop a part of me from feeling angry from time to time. I'm angry that marriage didn't play out how I wanted it to. I wanted be home to raise my child(ren) no matter the sacrifice. I wanted to be there for every moment of her young life. I wanted school and separation to be a distant thought, not a part of our daily routine from the beginning.

After spending ten days with my baby girl, my heart is aching for her today. I miss our leisurely breakfasts, day time adventures, cuddles before nap time, and every cute moment she thinks up during the day. I hate hearing second hand about how she put her baby dolls away after nap before she even left the room. I want to praise her macaroni art work, and teach her 1-2-3.

I want to be a stay at home mom. On my worst days, I have to admit I still blame Chris for being selfish. I blame him for not making the sacrifices that would allow for a more conventional life, the one I thought we were building. In the end, though, that's not reality. Most days, I feel nothing but how grateful I am to have her. I never question why I married Chris so young, or why I stayed as long as I did. The bigger picture is that Liv is the why. She was meant for me and she makes my future nothing but bright.

My First Attempt at a Staycation

I'm back to our routine after a nice long "staycation." Needing to burn more vacation hours before my real vacation next month, I took a little over a week off to spend with my baby girl.

We had A TON of fun, and I have a ton of pictures to go with it. For today, though, all I have is random iPhone pics of her sweetness.

I'm not sure why I find this so cute. It's a baby ... in a box.

 

She put the necklace and hat on herself and was soooo proud of herself!

She wants to be just like Mommy. She found the gloves and cleaning supplies herself. Again, I'm not sure who's prouder - her or me.

 

 

This all started with her finding a mitt and thinking it was a sock. Once I showed her it was for her hands, she started insisting on wearing socks on her hands. And her feet. At all times, even in Texas August heat.

 

 

Two notes on this child's hair:

1. Look at how blond our staycation made her hair! One guess what we did everyday for a week. ;-)

2. I (meaning she) can't take it anymore. Bangs coming to an Olivia near you this Wednesday.