Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Okay, I’m in a bit of a quandary (aren’t I always?). We have a family wedding coming up next weekend, and I can’t find anything to wear!

What is appropriate for a formal, indoor, summer wedding that begins at 8 pm (no formal dinner, just a dessert reception)? Is sleeveless okay? Bare legs (with a skirt and shoes, of course)? Black if the mother of the groom is wearing black? Add to the mix that Matt is a groomsman and will, therefore, be in a tux.

Help, It’s been a while since I’ve been to a dressy event (as if that weren’t obvious)!

Thanks, in advance, for your kind comments and advice.

*Update* I’ve since learned that the mother of the groom is wearing a sleeveless, cocktail length dress; that helps.

A few days ago I was tagged by my wonderful SIL Lu to play along in a meme. I know you have all been anxiously awaiting my great and insightful answers, and you shall wait no longer…

1. Last year I experienced the miracle that is life for the first time – pregnancy and childbirth – what amazing and beautiful experiences.

2. In 2004-2005 I experienced buying and then selling (11 months later) a house for the first time. I learned that when you offer your life, your marriage, your home to God and truly mean it, He sometimes takes you up on the offer.

3. In the last four years I’ve learned how very difficult it is to leave a group of friends who are like family and that the work involved in maintaining a strong friendship across the distance of hundreds of miles is worth it.

4. Over the last four years I’ve grown in my understanding of God, His will, and His church and learned to trust and believe in new and increasing ways.

1. I want to have more children if it is the pleasure of God to bless us in that way.

2. I would like to experience the freedom of living a debt free life (we’re almost there!).

3. I want to teach Little to read.

4. I would like to learn at least one new skill or hobby.

I honestly can’t remember who all has already participated in this one, so I’m not going to tag anyone. If you would like to play along, let me know in the comments so I can read your responses.

“Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam

This is one of the songs on the soundtrack of my high school years. I’m so glad someone finally figured out the lyrics.

Ack! So many things to post, so little time to write! Lu tagged me for a meme several days ago; I’m trying to get to it, I really am.

Anyway, about the MamaKanga contest…

Stephanie of Adventures in Babywearing is just full of great give aways lately. This time it is a $75 gift certificate to MamaKanga.

I’ve been thinking about purchasing a wrap or Mei Tai to carry Little, and MamaKanga has some adorable ones. If I were to win the gift certificate, I think I would get the HotSlings Baby Bella Pouch or the BabyHawk Turquoise Gothic Rose Mei Tai .

If you are interested, click over to Adventures in Babywearing and/or MamaKanga.

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer hosts a wonderful round up each week called Works for Me Wednesday. I thought I would jump in this week with a couple of things that have worked well for us with Little (my 10.5 months old daughter). These may or may not be things that you have already figured out, but they were great discoveries as a first time mom.

First up is the Nuby straw sipper cup. Being exclusively nursed until a few weeks ago, Little had a tough time figuring out how to use a regular spouted sippy cup. A friend suggested that I try these cups as they had worked well for her son (who was bottle-fed, but couldn’t figure out how to tip the sippy cup to get to the good stuff). Little figured the straw out right away, and they have been wonderful.

Next is our make-shift TV guard. When Little began pulling up she quickly discovered the buttons on the TV. It wasn’t really a safety problem, but it started to get annoying when she became good at turning the TV off and on. I had heard of clear plastic TV guards that adhere to the front of the TV to keep little fingers away from the buttons while still allowing the remote to function properly, so I checked them out on Amazon. The problem is that the area of our TV where the buttons reside is curved, so the adhesive type of guard wouldn’t work for us. I had a picture in a clear acrylic frame on top of the TV and thought, “Hey, this might work until we can find something else.” I removed the picture from the frame, slid the bottom part under the TV, and, voila, a guard that protects the buttons from Little without blocking the signal from the remote.

So, that is what is working for us right now. Head over to Rocks in My Dryer to see what is working for others in the blogging world.

A few weeks ago I posted about beginning to move Little from nursing to a sippy cup. I thought some of you might be interested to know how it is going.

I was afraid we would have a hard time because she could not seem to figure out how to drink from a regular, spouted, spill-proof sippy cup. We were using Nuby sippy cups because she could bite on the silicone spout to get the liquid to start flowing; once she realized what was in the cup she would begin to suck the spout normally. However, once she started using the cup regularly, she noticed that it was fun to stick her finger through the vent in the spout, and it was even more fun because now the liquid would flow freely out of the cup and onto the floor and furniture! A delimma for sure.

A couple of days later I was talking to my friend Lindsey and she told me about Nuby spill-proof straw sippers. She had used these for her youngest son who also had trouble figuring out the regular sippy cup. We bought a couple for Little, and they have been great. Right from the beginning she was able to get liquid through the straw with no problem.

As of yesterday morning, we have stopped the last of her nursing sessions. Because her bedtime session seemed to be the least important to her, we cut that one first and then moved backward through the day. She took to the cup right away and didn’t even act like she wanted to nurse except at the times I offered. We waited at least 3 days after cutting one session before we eliminated the next. The first few sessions we eliminated I gave her a week to get used to it before I introduced the cup at a new time. She never seemed to hesitate about drinking from the cup and doesn’t seem to miss nursing at all.

All in all, it was a much smoother process than I anticipated, I guess she really was ready to move on.

I’ve been a bit lax on posting my menus the last few weeks. I am menu planning, I just haven’t been able to get a post written on Monday morning lately.

So, here is our menu for the week:

Monday – leftovers from Olive Garden lunch yesterday, Italian Cheese Bread

Tuesday – Paula Deen’s Chicken and Rice Casserole, rolls

Wednesday – Casserole leftovers

Thursday – Meatball Subs, jalapeno potato chips

Friday – cheese pizza

Saturday – quesadillas for lunch / leftover Meatball Subs for dinner

Sunday – eat out for lunch / waffles for dinner

Hope your week is filled with good eats!

On Monday, Little and I were invited to spend a few hours at the pool with my friend Diane and three of her children. We loaded up about 10 o’clock and headed to Shelby Forest State Park about 30 minutes from our house.

This was Little’s first trip to the pool, so she wasn’t too certain about the water at first. She was perfectly willing to get in with me but was sure to keep her legs firmly clamped at my hip and her hands grasped on my arm or swimsuit. She enjoyed watching the older children splash and play, and after 30 minutes or so she would sit on the top step and splash with her hands and chase the bubbles made by her splashing. By the end of the three hours we were there she would let me hold her out in front of me and pull her through the water.

She kicked and squealed and smiled and splashed and had lots of fun. I wish I had pictures to share, but I didn’t think to take the camera. We definitely had a good time and look forward to swimming at Grandmommy and Granddad’s house later this summer!

Today I’m playing along with Lauren and doing a themed “things about me” meme. Lauren gave me three themes to choose from – family, marriage, and colors – and I thought it would be fun to see what I could come up with for colors. So, here we go…

1. Blue is my favorite color, and it has been since I was but a wee child. Growing up, my bedroom had blue paint and carpet. I’m fond of most shades of blue, but my current shade of choice is periwinkle.

2. White is the color of choice for all wood work in my house (baseboards, door frames, mantle, built-in bookshelves, etc). This has created a lot of work for Matt since we’ve had to paint all of the wood work in both houses that we’ve lived in. He has, however, thusfar refused to paint the kitchen cabinets white.

3. The kitchen in our house in Knoxville was painted bright yellow and a bright orangey/terra cotta color. The colors made me feel very happy. Here’s a picture:

4. I prefer to have colored walls and neutral color furniture. I’m sure this puts me in some minority of weirdo home decorators, but it is true. It is significantly less expensive to paint a room than to purchase new furniture when I get tired of a color.

5. My foot and toes were once a nasty shade of purple/black/green as gravity pulled the bruising from my sprained ankle down into my foot.

6. Little’s room is painted Spring green and decorated with light pinks, yellows, and greens.

7. I always gravitate toward Spring colors; this could have to do with the fact I was born on the first day of Spring.

8. My favorite flowers are bright yellow daffodils and orangey-pink tulips with yellow tips.

So now you know a bit more about me. If you would like to play along, let me know in the comments and I will e-mail you with some topics from which to choose.

I’ve learned a few lessons this week that I will be able to carry with me throughout my life. Hopefully, by sharing these lessons, I can save you from experiencing something similar.

Life Lesson 1 – Bath Towels: It is never good to step out of the shower only to realize that the closest towel is in the closet at the other end of the hallway. Unless, of course, you prefer to dry your body with toilet paper.

Life Lesson 2 – Frozen Vegetables: Always follow your instincts on how long frozen vegetables should be microwaved, even if the package states that one cup of lima beans should be microwaved on high power for 10-12 minutes. Unless, of course, you prefer your lima beans crunchy.

Life Lesson 3 – Lemonade Mix: Lemonade prepared from a powdered mix is not very good when you use a ratio of two quarts worth of powder to four quarts of water. Unless, of course, you prefer your lemonade half-strength or are looking to stretch a buck.

Profound lessons, are they not?