Pretty Toes

Madeline loves touching other people's painted toes. She couldn't keep her hands off of mine this morning, so I decided to see what she would do if I painted hers. I was surprised at how still she held her legs while I painted - she was absolutely mesmerized! Luckily the paint dried pretty quickly because she did a lot of touching. We won't make this a regular habit, but I thought they turned out pretty cute.

On another note, I am so grateful to have Scott back home after a weekend away at an Upper Cervical seminar in Vegas. Our home just isn't the same without him. I am also grateful for the low stress level in our family during this ninth round of final exams!

Rut

I've been struggling the last few months with the feeling that I'm in a personal rut. I have grown emensely in the last year from the wonderful experience of motherhood, but I have let many other facets of myself slide. I've set a few goals recently that have helped some.

I instituted a "no napping" plan for myself. I always feel tired from not getting adequate sleep on the weekends due to my night shifts at the hospital. For a long time I would try to sleep in the morning while Madeline took her morning nap. Consequently, our day wouldn't really get started until about 11:30 in the morning. I also found that I was just being lazy early in the morning so that I wouldn't be too energized to take my nap. That left me with a lot of things that just weren't getting done. I feel so much better now that I'm not sleeping during the day. I don't think I feel any more tired than I did before, and my days are so much more productive.

I started making a "to do" list each day. I've never been a list-making person, but I found it pretty helpful for a while. I haven't stuck to it very well, though.

I've made an increased effort to set time aside in my day for personal spiritual study. I love the peace and renewal I feel when I draw closer to the Lord and learn more about His gospel.

I've been trying to exercise most mornings. This has definitely increased my energy level and has helped my body slowly return to it's pre-pregnancy state (although I don't think that's ever really possible).

Those steps have all been very helpful to me, but I still feel like I could do more to better myself.

We bought an electric piano for Christmas last year. I have barely touched it because the only music I have had to play from is the hymnal. I finally bought some piano music last week. I sat down and played for a couple of hours on Monday night and LOVED it. It used to be a great emotional outlet for me. I don't know why I let myself not play for so long. My skills are definitely more than rusty, but playing truly brought peace to my soul. I don't feel like I have many talents or hobbies, but I guess this is one of them, and I need to use it.

The Hunt

Madeline went on her first easter egg hunt a few days ago. I didn't think she would understand what to do, but she picked up on it right away and ended up with a basket half full of eggs. She didn't figure out until we got home that there was actually something IN the eggs and that the something was CANDY.



She refused to let go of her basket, even when "the hunt" was over. She carried it around, went in the swing with it, and took it with her down the slide. I don't think I ever would have been able to pry it from her hands if she knew at that point about the candy inside.

It's so fun that she's getting old enough to semi-enjoy the holidays.

Flaws

There's something a little bit maddening about having your one-year-old point out your flaws. I had a huge, red zit on my chin this weekend, and Madeline pointed at it no less than 200 times. Thanks, baby. As if I needed a constant reminder of the large bump on my face!

At least she's not pointing out deficits in my intelligence, yet...

Dallas Arboretum Reprise

We spent part of our afternoon at the Dallas Arboretum yesterday. The flowers were beautiful, the weather was wonderful, but the picture taking didn't go so well. When we were at the arboretum six months ago it was MUCH easier to get my child to sit still and look at me. Madeline was too exited about all of her surroudings this time around. When I would sit her in front of some flowers she would immediately stand up, turn around, and play with the flowers.

.

I was again slightly appalled by the cost of entrance to the arboretum (in Madison our arboretum and our zoo were free). But, I again realized that I need to make the best out of our time in Dallas and it will probably require money to do a lot of what I want to do, and that's ok.