Oh to be three again

Maggie describes her Bath

Last night, Maggie really needed a bath and to have her hair washed. When I asked her if she wanted to take a bath she said: "A baff? And I say 'Mo-om' and you say 'wha-at' and I say 'my hair is wet and der's water in my eye!"

Resolution Update

So it's been MONTHS since my last update. And how have I been doing?

1. Find a new church home: DONE! We have decided to join the Methodist Church we started attending earlier this year. I've been singing with the Praise Team and they even have a couple's group we are attempting to join. Maggie loves the Children's Sermon and we even debated sending her to VBS. It was going to be an ordeal as it ended at noon, so we decided to just wait for next year. But she did join in trying to sing the songs during the Children's Sermon that Sunday.
2. Lose weight/exercise more: Okay, I'm back on schedule. My goal is to be down to 160 (that's right, I'm putting the number out there) by the time we are able to start trying for another baby -- so that's about 7 pounds in 6 weeks. Which is doable in a healthy manner.
3. Eat healthier: We jump on and off this bandwagon. Last night I made a tomato and cucumber salad that was really good (and would make a great salsa with some garlic). I try to keep frozen veggies in the freezer and add them to a meal. But tonight, I'm making fried chicken . . . Double battered . . .
4. Eating at the table: We are kind of back. I like it as it keeps me motivated to clean up after supper. I even, gasp, WASHED the dishes after supper last night. Sure, there are still dishes "drying" on the counter, but they are CLEAN. The other night, after the blessing, Maggie turns to her Dad and says "So, how was your day, Dad?"

Mommy, I want to help

I don't do dishes. I have a dishwasher and it is the appliance I do not want to live without. It allows me to shove dirty dishes in, push a button and take out clean dishes, without, for the most part, getting my hands wet or icky. This week, due to poor planning and a poorly written grocery list, I ran out of dishwasher detergent. The dishwasher is filled to the brim with dirty dishes and I can't get anymore in there and expect the dishes to come out clean. So tonight, I set out to wash dishes from supper. I can probably count on one hand the number of times Maggie has watched me do dishes, and have 4-5 fingers left over. "Phineas and Ferb" was on, so I thought I had a few free minutes to wash. Maggie had a different idea and decided that she wanted to help. So I let her:

I'm going to enjoy the willingness to help while I can.

Camping, Montana Style

This past weekend, we joined my cousin Christy and her family at the Tongue River Reservoir for some camping and some boating. It was Maggie's very first boat ride and she loved every minute of it. We bought her a swimsuit with a floatie built in and then added on the state required life jacket and she became the Unsinkable Maggie Dailey. Though she never did want to let go of anyone. She clung to Daddy, me and even her new best friend Torrey whenever she got in the water, but still begged to stay in and go back in. Sunday morning involved a lot of pouting as she wanted to go back in the water practically the minute she woke up.

We got to the Tongue River around noon-ish on Saturday, set up camp and Maggie, Justice and Ethan got into the water just as fast as they could -- well, we all did as it was very hot and we were all very sweaty after setting up the camp. There's not a lot of tree cover at the river and we decided next time, we are going to bring some kind of awning to provide some relief. At lunch, we just watched the cheese melt.

We spent several hours on the boat, swimming and tubing. The water temp was in the 70s and the air temp was in the 90s. Rocky, the smart man that he is, found 85 SPF sunblock and it worked very well. We ended up with some color, but not as bad as it could have been -- Christy got the worst of the sun. I had forgotten to keep the top of my head blocked by a hat or even spraying some sunscreen, so I have a bit of a sore scalp. I did end up sore, but I think it's more from the swimming than the sun. Maggie got a little pink on her nose and her chin is peeling a little.

Evening was lovely as we had a nice breeze and finally some shade. Justice, Ethan and Maggie chased toads. We enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, smores and some badly popped Jiffy Pop -- they really need to make a longer handle on the Jiffy Pop so you can use the campfire to pop it. The bugs were minimal and it really didn't even get chilly. Rocky and I enjoyed sleeping on our new air bed and frame. We brought our new 20 degree sleeping bags, but didn't need them at all.

Sunday morning, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, much to Maggie's chagrin (Mommy, can we please go in the water now? Please Mommy, please!) and tried to make coffee. We never did get the water to boil and Rocky picked up some coffee for all the adults when he went to get more ice. We took down the camp, except for our tent rainfly. Rocky and Torrey rigged it so we could have some shade to have lunch in before we left. A few more hours on the boat and we all enjoyed watching Torrey try to knock Ethan off the tube.

It was a wonderful weekend and we all can't wait to go again. Now if we can just get our scheduled to match up!

Photos can be found on Facebook.

We have achieved normalcy

How quickly time flies. It's already been a month and I'm returning to my physically and somewhat emotionally former self. I know the old "normal" is gone, as it should be, and would be if the pregnancy had continued. But I can see a baby or pregnant woman without longing for what might have been; and I can even watch Maggie "play with" the baby at daycare without wanting to burst into tears. Rather than thinking about the loss, I can look forward to watching Maggie playing with a younger brother or sister. I see her with the baby and know she really will be a good big sister. She loves looking at the baby's tiny feet, hands, nose, ears. Yesterday, she and her friend Madison went back and forth with "look at her . . ." until they ran out of body parts -- they even included her tiny tummy and knees!

I do feel a bit of an eagerness/urgency to jump back on the wagon, which may be more because of my age than anything else. I'm ready to add to our family and to let Maggie be the wonderful big sister I know she will be. And to give her someone else to play with, because we're pooped!

Outrageous, Contagious Joy

A couple of years ago, I got Rocky the book Outrageous, Contagious Joy, by Ed Young Jr, a TV preacher we enjoyed watching while we were on our church search, and when Maggie was a baby and we would skip church in Virginia. The book is good. He writes about the difference between Joy and Happiness, and while Happiness is fleeting, true Joy continues through all mood swings. So, are you happily married, or joyfully married?

I was looking at some recent photo folders on the computer and found some videos of Maggie that I hadn't watched in some time and I realized that she is not just a happy little kid, but joyful. Oh sure, she can be Miss Grumpy Pants in the mornings (but if you ask her, she will reply, "I'm Maggie and my pants are nice.") But Joy is not about circumstances or the moment. Joy is deeper, not about feelings, but about something spiritual. In the past month, there has not been a lot for me to be happy about: the miscarriage, lots of hard changes at work. But I can choose to be joyful, and not let these circumstances define me. But watching this video of Maggie reminds me how easy it can be to ACT joyful: