Country Mouse

The Dance Goes On

2010-03-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

Some of you may remember this post, it was actually a guest post I wrote for a (now defunct?) blog called Domestigals. In that post I wrote about how Matt sometimes takes me in his arms and slowly begins to sway to the beat of his own love for me, and how that dancing used to embarrass me.

As he and I have traveled down this road called parenthood, I have noticed that sometimes my path seems farther away from him than I like. Some days we don't have our first kiss of the day until bedtime. Some days we don't share a kiss at all. And that? That is heartbreaking to me.

Two nights ago, after putting Jack to bed, I came out of the nursery and looked at my husband. I realized that in some small ways, I saw him for the first time in almost four months. I went to him, put MY arms around him, and began to sway to the beat of MY heart.

Matthew, I am sorry. I hope you know that you are a true blessing to me. That I have loved you, and will always love you, even when our paths seem a little distant.
I realized that I need to take time out of my day to invest in my husband. Yes, even if that means that I spend a little less time devoted to Jack. I know that the best thing I can give to Jack is the opportunity to grow up seeing his parents in a happy, loving, functional marriage.
Have you danced lately?

Martha Stewart I am Not

2010-03-02T11:06:00.004-05:00

Last night I decided to make burgers and fries for dinner. After I served dinner, I realized the fries were a little undercooked, so I popped them back in the oven for a few minutes.

45 minutes later Matt asked me if something smelled like it was burning.
Oh crap. Did it again! At least this time there were no flames leaping from the stovetop.

Can I blame this on "mom-brain" two weeks in a row?

Also...can you tell my oven heats a LITTLE unevenly?! Sheesh!

Reflections

2010-02-28T15:06:00.003-05:00

Two years ago today, I was working at a (awful)job that gave me a lot of time on the computer, I had family spread out across the globe, and I had some stories that were just bursting to get out of my system.

So I started this blog. My first post was this one, in which I learned what the term "getting laid" actually meant. (Don't worry, it's not a sex post!).

I've been rereading some of my first posts, and thinking about where I was at that point in my life. I was five months away from marrying Matthew, up to my eyeballs in wedding plans, and so full of excitement and anticipation.

If I could tell that girl anything, I'd tell her that she will be blessed beyond her wildest expectations by the next two years. She will marry a hard-working, loving man, she will move into a great little house on the banks of a creek with her goofy dog, and SURPRISE! She will give birth to the most beautiful little boy.

I don't know what I expected when I started this little website, I guess I thought maybe I'd be able to give my family a good laugh with some old stories, goofy pictures, and tales of life now. I didn't expect to gain friendships, find a new community, and learn so about life, but that's what happened!

So, thank you. Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, thanks for caring!

(And gag, I promise not to make this sappiness a recurring thing! It's the hormones folks!)

A Little Premature

2010-02-24T16:11:00.003-05:00

I went outside to take some pictures today, pictures of SPRING! Because, after a long winter, there is nothing better than new flowers sprouting in the garden, tiny hopeful buds on the trees, and fresh green grass poking up through the mud.

SPRING!

But right before I uploaded the pictures of SPRING! to the computer, my mom called to tell me that our plans for tomorrow(family night!) might need to be postponed.

"Oh why?" I naively asked.

"Haven't you seen the weather? 8 inches of snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. 50 mile an hour winds. White-out conditions." She replied rather matter-of-factly.

Ouch! Way to break it to me lightly Mom! Like rippin' off a band-aid I guess.

I am still hoping for a mistake on the weathermans part, like maybe he got it wrong and it will actually be a balmy 68 degrees tomorrow? Please? But just in case...I'm off to the grocery store, to shoulder my way through the masses of people buying bread and milk. Because when you're snowed in there is nothing more appealing than BREAD and MILK.

You'll find me in the cookie aisle.

My Favorite Things: Jack Edition

2010-02-19T16:03:00.007-05:00

Despite the fact that I love every single thing about this little guy, there are a few of Jack's attributes that I would like to bring to your attention.

1. These feet.
Could his toes be any chubbier? I think not. Perfection.

2. His rubber-band wrists.

Mmmm.

3. These lips.
So incredibly kissable!

4. His head to shoulder ratio.
I do love that big noggin of his! Also in this photo is number 5. Those eyebrows! Just like Daddy!

6. His fuzzy wuzzy hair.
But wait! Do you see what I see??
That would be Favorite Thing #7!

And lastly, Favorite Thing #8 cannot be photographed, but I adore his sweet baby smell. I hope I never forget the way he smells as he nuzzles into my neck to nap. I pray that that memory never leaves me.

Not My Finest Moment

2010-02-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

We got take-out for dinner last night.

We got take-out because dinner was inedible

Dinner was inedible because I added way too much salt.

I added way too much salt because I was flustered.

I was flustered because I had dropped the zucchini on the floor.

I dropped the zucchini on the floor because my hands were shaking.

My hands were shaking because I had just started a raging fire on the stove-top.

Tell me you guys have days like this too?

Party Hardy

2010-02-15T14:13:00.004-05:00

Saturday was my nephew Emerson's first birthday party. My sister came up with the cutest ideas, all rotating around Emerson's favorite word "dog"! The day before the party Emily, Valen (her sister-in-law), my mom, and I got together to prep.

We made pupcakes...
...Emily made a personal dog cake for Emerson. Seriously...how flippin cute is that?!

The party was a huge success, over 50 people came out to celebrate the birth of sweet little Emerson. He had a blast playing with his buds and getting kisses from his family.

He did get a little overwhelmed when we all gathered to sing Happy Birthday to him and watch him eat his cake.

And, as a side note, is there anything cuter than a baby in a party hat??
I think not. (By the way...this handsome little guy is Andrew, the baby you all prayed for! Isn't he a cutie?!)

He and Jack found each other very very interesting, they stared each other down for a good two minutes, which for a baby is quite a long time!
Jack hopes you all had a wonderful Valentine's day!!

Some Days

2010-02-10T14:15:00.002-05:00

Some days, I feel like I need to go stick my head in the creek. Just for a little while, just so it's quiet. Just so the crying is drowned out for a little while.

I'd offer up a backstory here, explaining why I feel this way, but I really don't think I need to do so. Jack is a baby, babies are notorious for crying. It's a part of their development, I know this, I just....aggggghhhh.

I think my feelings are amplified today because of the three feet of snow on my front porch that prohibits us from going ANYWHERE. I think possibly Jack is feeling cooped up and restless as well. He won't nap, he won't nurse, he won't play. But he will cry.

I feel so bad for him - nothing I do seems to make it better today. I feel like such a bad mother, because I'm hiding out on the computer while Matt takes his turn trying to console the baby.

Is this guilt just a normal part of motherhood?

Three Months, Two Feet, and Lots O' Pictures

2010-02-07T13:49:00.006-05:00

Like many of you, we were recently hit with a great deal of snow. Although winter is REALLY not my favorite season, I have to admit that the view out of the window is simply breathtaking. I don't know about you guys, but I get so caught up in the day to day business of life that I often forget to appreciate the wonder of the world in which we live.

The sunlight shimmers off of the creek in my backyard, there is a bright red cardinal hopping from tree branch to tree branch, and my dog is crapping in the snow. Oh, scratch that last part. I mean...he is, but it's not really part of the whole 'wonder of nature' thing.
Sorry about that...

Not only did we receive over two feet of snow on Saturday, but my little boy celebrated three months of living in the wonderful world.

We happily bundled him up and headed out into the snow.
At first he was a little overwhelmed by the brightness of it all.
But it grew on him!
Can you believe I get those two handsome boys to myself on a daily basis? Me either!

Right before we headed back inside, Jack decided he REALLY likes the snow.

You're killin' me smalls!

A VERY Blustery Day

2010-01-26T08:47:00.005-05:00

The storm that ripped through our area yesterday caused us to rethink our love for the massive trees that surround our home.

Why is that you might ask?

Here, let me show you...

Yeah...that was taken from the window in the back of our home. That tree uprooted next to our neighbors shed, and fell within three feet of our house.

Several other trees fell as well, but that one was by far the closest to the house. We have some serious clean-up on our hands, but when I think of how bad that could have been, I'm struck by how protected we were.

Now we are just keeping an eye on the creek. It's already running very high. To give you some perspective, that deck you see across the creek? There is a set of stairs that runs down about ten feet to the water that is now completely submerged.

Were you all affected by the storms of the past few days? Are you all okay?

Tomb of the Unknown Onesie

2010-01-21T15:03:00.004-05:00

It was a sad day here in the Country Mouse household.

The tiny socks lined up to pay their respects, the stuffed animals mourned, and the pacifiers wept.

A onesie had been killed in the line of doody (ha duty? doody? get it? ooookay...moving on).
His selfless act guaranteed the survival of the tiny sweater and pants ensemble that was worn on top of the onesie...

His sacrifice will not be forgotten.

Andrew is home!

2010-01-20T19:54:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to update all of you on sweet baby Andrew. After more than a week in the hospital, he is home! He came home from the hospital last night, and is doing well!

Thank you for all of your prayers for this sweet boy and his family. Below is his mothers thank you to all the people who kept them in their prayers. (taken from Facebook)

"Home sweet home! After a long trying, exhausting week we are finally HOME!!!! Thank you all for your love, support and prayers!!!"

Smile!

2010-01-19T15:58:00.000-05:00

Somebody loves his stroller!

A Request

2010-01-12T16:46:00.002-05:00

Today, the beautiful blue-eyed baby of a couple we know underwent his second open heart surgery, and I just received a message saying that it did not go well. To be honest, I barely know this family at all, but as a mother I cannot imagine the anguish that must accompany the knowledge that your child is dangerously ill.

Andrew is only a few weeks older than Jack, and he needs your prayers. Badly.

Braving the Frozen Tundra

2010-01-12T08:21:00.001-05:00

THE CREEK IS FROZEN! THE CREEK IS FROZEN!
When Matt comes home from work, he likes to have some time with Jack, and since this is around the time Jack usually takes a short nap, that means I am finding myself with some time to myself.

Yesterday I took advantage of this time to take Jaco outside and check out the frozen landscape. As usual...my curiosity got the better of me.
Hey, Jaco! Go out on the ice to see if it's thick enough to walk on!
What?!

Just do it you big pansy...if you fall in I'll save you! I promise!(I find that, as a last resort, name-calling usually works).
I don't know about this...seems questionable to me!

It's fine! Trust me.
I'll never forgive you for this, woman!
My feet are cold!
It holds! Is this far enough?

Thank goodness...because there is no way I was coming in there after you!
WHAT?!

I'm Calling it "Motivation"

2010-01-10T16:49:00.004-05:00

Today...two months after having a baby...I bought my first pair of skinny jeans...

...now if I could only remember where I put my skinny legs...

Two Months

2010-01-06T14:56:00.004-05:00

How on earth have two months flown by since I had my son? I suspect time travel...it's the only explanation that makes sense.

And now - a question for all the mommies out there. How do you know when it's time to move up a diaper size? Jack is wearing ones, but in the last two days he has blown out five diapers. They don't look small on him, but poop up to his hairline on a regular basis seems to suggest the opposite.

That Sound You Just Heard?

2010-01-05T07:07:00.000-05:00

That was the sound of my heart exploding.
Because this gummy smile was directed at me. The sleepless nights, the sore nipples, the stretch marks...all worth it. I barely remember the pain of labor because my son, MY SON, smiled at me. Can you believe that chin? Oh the pudge!
Sometimes I am completely overwhelmed by it all. I don't deserve this. I have done nothing in my life that warrants the pure joy that I have been given.
I am so blessed. It is so easy for me to forget this simple fact when bills start to pile up, dishes don't get washed, dirty clothes litter the floor, and arguments start.
I am so blessed to have these two in my life.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

2010-01-04T07:38:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I live in a...um...rural area. Some people might call it redneck country. Over the course of the past year Matt and I have come to learn that our neighbors are...uh...colorful, to put it nicely.

For example I have seen one of my neighbors towing a boat down the road with a riding lawn mower. A RIDING LAWN MOWER. TOWING A BOAT. I nearly wrecked my car (I also have seen neighbors filling up the gas tanks in the mowers at the closest gas station...I'm just sayin').
I'd like to introduce you...

Directly to our right is Leon and his brood. His grand-daughters are the ones that have massive crushes on my husband and gravitate to our house if Matt so much as looks out of the window. I kid you not, we have had to tell them that it's rude to look into the windows and yell Matt's name. Annoying yes, but really...can you blame them? He's cute, has a job, and he has all of his teeth. That's pretty much Mr. Right 'round these parts.

To our left is...well, I don't know WHO lives to our left, because we have NEVER, not once, seen them. I think maybe they are vampires that can only come out at night? I mean...we see evidence of them, they have a truck, their garbage cans somehow mysteriously make it to the road every Wednesday, but we never see people. I suspect the Cullens. Its strange to say the least. If I were less of a recluse I would have rung the doorbell and said Hi when we moved in, but I'm just not that outgoing.

Across the street is Mr. Wilson. Yes, my neighbor's name is Mr. Wilson..and that's not even the best part. His first name? The name he introduced himself as? PICKLE. Pickle Wilson. Pickle has lived here forever from the sound of things. He just recently introduced himself, we think he waited to see if Matt and I would be good neighbors or if we were trouble. He informed us that he likes what we've done to the place, and that he is having some trouble with the "damn kids and their bee-bee guns on his property".

And honestly? I wouldn't have it any other way. Our neighbors may be odd, but they are kind (well...the jury is still out on the recluse house to the left...but they haven't been overtly mean at any rate). I look forward to many summer nights sitting on the porch with Matt giggling over the antics of our fellow rednecks.

Do you have neighbors like mine? Do you even know your neighbors? Are you the redneck neighbor?

Oh Yeah...I Have a Blog...

2009-12-28T14:14:00.008-05:00

I've been such a bad bad blogger. I miss it, yet when I have a few minutes to spare throughout the day I always get caught up in something trivial like trying to scrub bright yellow baby poop out of the only pair of jean that fit my post-partum body. How silly of me!

Here are some highlights of the last month....

-Jack has started to smile at us. His smiles are few and far between, but they light up my world. I cannot tell you how much I love that gummy little mouth and his crinkly little eyes (just like his daddy!).

I'd normally insert a picture here, but I left my camera at my in-laws house...sleep deprivation does WONDERS for your memory people!!

-We celebrated our first Christmas as a family. We went to the Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church, Jack began to fuss almost immediately so he and I went into the nursing mother's room. At first I was a tad bummed to miss the lighting of the candles, but as I held my baby boy in my arms and danced around the room while watching the service on the TV, I savored that precious moment on Christmas Eve. Just he and I celebrating the birth of our Savior.

-Christmas Day was great fun! Jack slept through most of it, but little does he know that he was SHOWERED in presents from his loving family. I was excited to give him a Soothe and Glow Seahorse. He seems to really like it, he looks at it with the biggest eyes you have ever seen.

(Again....I would normally insert a picture here...)

-Jack is now well over 11 pounds...he gained almost a pound in only 12 days! Look at how much his face has changed!
Also...he seems to have a bit of a receding hairline. I mean, I guess I expected some balding, but not from the top first! He looks a bit like a little old man. Our tiny grandpa.

-MY LITTLE SISTER GOT ENGAGED! Sorry...I'm just a TAD excited about this...can you tell?
(I stole both of those pictures from Facebook)

I'm thinking that between the five of us, my parents have had a pretty huge year. Emily had a baby, I had a baby, Ashley got engaged, and Everett and Bethany both started college. If thats not a monumental year I don't know what is! Here's hoping 2010 is just as great!

What were the highlights of your year? I think we all know what mine was!

Hello?

2009-12-02T23:35:00.005-05:00

Is anyone still here after I've neglected you for so long? I'm sorry! I have had a million posts run through my head, but then Jack wants to nurse and Jaco vomits on the floor and I finally get a chance to shower and rinse off the smell of spit-up and before you know it, it's 10:30 at night and I didn't blog for yet another day!

I've missed it though. So..where did I leave off? Oh yes, Poop. We were talking about all the poop at Jack's newborn session. I am excited to report that, despite the presence of extreme amounts of human waste, the pictures Trinity captured are beyond amazing. I mean...just...incredible. See for yourself!
This one brings tears to my eyes.

Daddy and his boy...that's a post in and of itself.
I love his bicep in this one!

I mean really...those pictures are incredible are they not?!

In A Word...

2009-11-18T04:10:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, Jack had his first photo shoot this week. We had to stretch out the shoot to the next day as well, since Jack woke up and many of the poses that were planned for him worked only if he was asleep. If I had to sum up the shoot in one word...it would probably be...let me think about it...

POOP.

Poop EVERYWHERE. Poop on the baby, poop on Mommy's clothes, poop on the photographer, poop on the props. Seriously, it was like the sight of the camera made my poor child immediately empty his bowels. But did that bother Jack? Not one bit. Little dude was perfectly content and stared around the room just taking in all the sights while letting out all the...well...you know.

I must say, I was pretty proud of his man toots. At one point I was holding him in position while Trinity set up the shot, and he really let one rip. Trinity glanced at me and smirked. "Ohhhh no you don't! That was Jack!" I informed her. I think it's safe to say she was dutifully impressed by my little man.

How is it possible that someone who tips the scales at less than 8 pounds can, over the course of an hour or so, produce enough poop to cover two adult women, himself, a bean bag chair, two pairs of socks, and four diapers?

I'm just....I'm so proud of my little pooper!

Better Late Than Never!

2009-11-15T05:00:00.001-05:00

About two weeks before Jack was born, Matt and I went out with our dear friend (and fabulous photographer) Trinity Walker to do some maternity photos. This girl can take a picture y'all!
We went back to my Grandmother's farm, where I grew up, and in what can only be described as a perfectly golden evening, spent some time capturing my pregnancy.
I cannot thank her enough, nor can I express how beautiful I think these pictures are.

We made plans to get together to take a few more pictures, but before we could do so, Jack made his big appearance! In honor of that momentous occasion, she debuted these photos on her website that very night! Follow that link to see more from our shoot. They are stunning, if I do say so myself!
For this one we went to our local super market and gave the residents of our small town a big laugh!

On Monday Jack will have his first big photo shoot with her to take some newborn pictures that I already know will be darling!
Thank you Trinity, for using your marvelous talent to help us document and remember these precious, and all too fleeting, moments of our lives.

Oh Boy

2009-11-12T01:08:00.004-05:00

Shortly after arriving home from the hospital, I was excited to look up Jack's picture on the hospital website.
TA-DAAA!!! I squealed in glee over his chubby cheeks, his perfect lips, that tiny little nose. And I was excited to see that the blanket I made for him showed up well in the picture.

Then my mom pointed out something I had missed.

My son flipped off the camera.
Nice one Jack, nice one!

World, Meet Jack

2009-11-09T23:22:00.004-05:00

Can you guess why I haven't been around lately? If you guessed it was because our precious baby boy was born on November 6th you are right!

Showing off his pretty brown eyes.

Jack Quinlan was born at 8:37 pm, after only 12 hours of labor. He weighed in at 7lbs 1oz. and is 19 inches long...cutest little peanut I have ever seen! My water broke early on Friday morning, and by Friday evening my son was in my arms. My life was changed so completely in that moment, and I will forever be grateful for this precious gift of God.

Wide awake with Aunt Emily.

Bear with me as we get settled into a routine here at home, I can't wait to introduce you all to him a little bit more through this website. Thank you for your advice, your sweet thoughts and words, your well-wishes and above all, your prayers.

From being a couple, to a family...in the blink of an eye.