Troubleshooting

One of the IG accounts I follow has been doing a weekly series on tips to organize your life, based on a presentation she attended by Marie Ricks. The latest tip was on troubleshooting your life. Getting out of the trenches to take an aerial view, identify trouble areas, and do what you can to fix them.

But I have this problem where I go through phases. Sometimes I'm chill, sometimes I'm super uptight, sometimes I am super organized and sometimes I am a hot mess. Actually, I am usually a hot mess. Schedules, to-do lists, goals, resolutions. . . I fall for them every time! Trouble is that my "follow through" skills are lacking. 

So. I am troubleshooting and boiling it down to the basics. Getting my act together to make space for the things that really matter. For real this time.

"Halloween time"

My boy Jonathan LOVES Halloween. Our neighborhood goes all out, and when the pumpkins, skeletons, spiderwebs, and graveyards starting popping up last year he became obsessed. When the spooky stuff came down and the Christmas stuff went up he just didn't understand! How could Santa be as exciting as bones and pumpkins? For months he would ask to go on a walk to see the bones, and his conversational chatter about his Ewok costume lasted well into the spring ("I a Ewok. Mama is Leia. Dada is Darth Maul. No, Dada is Jedi. Darth Maul is mean. Jedi nice. Dada is nice.") On and on.

Fast forward to this year. As soon as he saw pumpkins in the grocery store he knew that "Halloween time" was back! Long story short, our house was fully decorated by the end of September. Most mornings he comes downstairs with a big smile, "I so happy it's Halloween time Mama!" Starting so early, we have had lots of time to stretch out our Halloween festivities. Here are a few of our favorites that will surely be traditions for years to come:

1. Halloween Books! My dream is to have a collection of books for each holiday. There is just something special about books that only come out once a year. But we have many moves ahead, and we are on a pretty tight budget, so the library is the way to go for us! We hit up different libraries to gather a few new books each week.

Favorites for kids:
Shivery Shades of Halloween
Too Many Pumpkins
The Bones of Fred McFee
Where the Wild Things Are
Birdie's Happiest Halloween

Favorites for parents/teens:
Rebecca
Coraline (great read aloud for older children. It is also a graphic novel)
And Then There Were None
Murder on the Orient Express
Also, I am currently reading Turn of the Screw. I'll let you know if it ends up being "list worthy"

2. Movies. J is old enough to get "nur-bus" now, so our selection is limited. This year we have been watching:
Room on the Broom (Netflix)
The original Casper cartoons (Amazon Prime)
Super Monsters (Netflix)

Matt and I look forward to the day when Coraline, Hocus Pocus, Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Simpson's Treehouse of Horrors episodes can be added to the mix.

3. Pumpkin painting. I grew up in Southern California with very warm Octobers, so we always painted our pumpkins. We would paint big faces on them and line them up on top of our front wall. Same situation here, although with the humidity we didn't even want them outside because they get moldy so fast! This year we painted mini pumpkins and lined them up on the mantle. Both boys loved it. J used so much paint that his pumpkins took 2-3 days to dry, but they were the coolest ones by far.

4. Food. It is Scott family tradition to have clam chowder in bread bowls on Halloween night, so we definitely have that to look forward to! In years past I have enjoyed baking pumpkin bread, making pumpkin cookies, pancakes, etc. But I have been off my game this year! Maybe I can bust out some pumpkin pancakes this weekend. We'll see.

The Blog is Back

Since I last posted, we have moved to a new state and had another child. I am "team leader" to two crazy boys, the sweetest dog, and a husband in the middle of pediatric residency training. Life is insane right now, guys. For real. But my sister reminded me of an old blog that I kept back in my single college days and tonight I went back and reread it. And guess what? I would have forgotten all of those stories and experiences, in all their awkward chubby-faced glory. So the blog is back. Because I don't want to forget!

I want to remember how Jonny gleefully announced that he had "done a double" (pee and poop) when I had no idea he even knew what the word "double" meant.

I want to remember how hard Matt works right now and how amazing he is to come home and give us his full love and attention at the end of the day, even if it's just for a few minutes.

I want to remember how Will starts to run away, but freezes until he knows I am looking so that he can flash a mischievous smile before continuing to wobble off in the opposite direction.

So here we go.

6 Months: Lessons Learned

                    

After 6 months of life, Jonathan has learned to:

• Sit up on his own
• Babble away at a remarkably high volume
• Nap for longer than 30 minutes (finally!!)
• Eat baby food. He loves sweet potatoes, but don't even think about serving him green beans unless you want to scrub green barf stains out of everything.
• Smile at absolutely anyone--this kid is such a charmer.
• Laugh! His little belly laugh is hysterical.
• Recognize Mom and Dad. There is nothing more gratifying than seeing him light up when one of us enters the room. This parenting thing totally rocks right now.

After 6 months of motherhood I have learned:

• Dish soap can get stains out of almost anything.
• The power of the "mom uniform." Yes I wear basically the same outfit every day, but hey if it's machine washable, nursing friendly, and makes me feel somewhat put together, it's a go!
• As soon as we find a routine, it changes. This little guy is In Charge and he knows it. It's a good thing he has me wrapped around his little finger.
• Jogging with a stroller is harder than it looks. Kudos to all you double-stroller people. I hope to be as cool as you someday.
• Cuddling my baby in the middle of the night really isn't so bad. Ok, sometimes it is, but sometimes I miss him when he goes back to sleep.
• With my arsenal of plastic grocery bags, I can handle anything. Spit up all over his clothes in church? We've got this. Epic poop explosion in the parking lot? No problem. I have those babies stashed in the diaper bag, in the car, and in every room in the house. 
• I can handle long days and sleepless nights as long as I allow myself a meltdown every week or two. It sounds crazy, but accepting the fact that the meltdowns will come (and hoping that I'm not the only one who has them...?) helps me to be gentle with myself when I feel like I'm not good enough.
• I have a very patient husband.

Time Flies!

**This post was written (and forgotten about) in January 2015

Sweet Jonathan is 5 months old! I can't believe it. A couple of my friends have had babies since he was born, and as I hold their newborns I just marvel that he was ever that small and fragile. In preparation for childbirth I remember reading that the first few weeks fly by in a sort of "haze." New mom is in survival mode; completely focused on and basically obsessed with her baby. I'm happy to report that although the haze has certainly cleared, I am still very much obsessed with this kid. Matt and I enjoyed our first holiday season with a wee babe (more on that later) and are now back in Houston enjoying our homebody (and school) routine once again.

November with the Scotts

So here's a recap of our November...

Matthew: Well into his surgical rotation and studying for his surgery board exam. Matt enjoyed his time in the burn unit and completed a couple of weeks on a general surgery team that does procedures for patients with cancer. He just started working with a team that does bariatric (weight loss) surgeries. Although he is extremely busy, he is good about making time to spend with Jonathan and I. The cooler weather has meant more zoo trips and walks in the park. He is also pretty pleased that one of Jonathan's favorite pastimes is watching ESPN.

Sarah: I'm adjusting to life as a stay-at-home momma and enjoying my "new normal." I'm getting better at venturing out into the world with an infant--walking/running in the mornings, playgroup, etc. There are always plenty of errands and chores to get done, not to mention the sheer amount of time it takes to care for a baby and meet his every need. But it makes such a difference in my day when I get out of the house--especially to do something fun! I took Jonathan to a morning matinee last week because I was dying to see a movie. We saw Interstellar and it did not disappoint.

Jonathan: 4 months old! He is still waking up 2-3 times at night, but he's getting better at napping during the day. We have finally started to figure out a good feeding/napping routine and it has made all the difference. Jonny is starting to laugh and goo more often, which melts my heart every time. He also found his voice in a high-pitched yelp scream . . . not quite as heart melting. No rolling over yet, but he has found his feet and rocks back and forth in a perfect "happy baby" pose. He is so talented :) Our healthy boy weighs 15.5 lbs and is 26 inches long.

Confessions of a Pinterest Addict

Having an infant means a lot of down time for feeding and snuggling throughout the day and night . . . and when you only have one free hand, and you're trying to keep your eyes open in the middle of the night, scrolling through Pinterest is the ideal pastime. I don't even want to know how many cumulative hours I've spent "pinteresting" over the past 3.5 months... Anyways, one of my favorite things to pin is pretty parties. Wedding receptions, garden parties, dinner parties, birthday parties. I have a dream, and that dream is to throw a pretty party. All I needed was an occasion!



So when it was looking fairly sure that Matt and I would be on our own for Halloween, my mind started running wild. I could put my own twist on a Halloween party and make it a magically spooky affair, complete with twinkle lights! Fast forward to October 30th at 3 in the morning and I am scrolling through Pinterest, my mind racing with ideas for outdoor lighting, extravagant centerpieces, garlands of bats and ghosts, elegantly arranged spiderwebs, and fall Mums strategically planted in the garden to enhance my flowerbeds. Sunrise brought with it a much needed reality check, but the twinkle lights remained. Although it was pretty simple, I was thrilled with how everything turned out, including the Scott family tradition of homemade clam chowder and bread bowls.

Happy Halloween!