Monday, January 31, 2011

the boob tube...or tv...or my bff...

i love tv. i LOVE tv! I.LOVE.TV!!!!!
there. i've said it...admitted what causes me no small amount of shame...hello, my name is amy and i'm addicted to tv. more specifically, i am addicted to the tv being on...i don't necessarily sit around all day watching tv...but the tv is on ALL. DAY. it is company...a constant noise that every once in a while will catch my attention, i'll watch for a few minutes, and then it's back to the task at hand. yes, i do DO things...my house is not a mess (in fact, quite the opposite...come on over and use my bathroom...i won't be embarrassed)...the dishes are done, the beds are made, the kids are fed, bathed, and most days clothed. tv doesn't keep me from being productive...it keeps me company.
i love to hear paula deen prattling on about butter in her southern drawl...i love to hear the neely's banter back and forth in their most flirtatious way as they make the most delicious looking ribs...i love to see which house the house hunters choose, how the wedding/birthday cake looks when it's finished, and what happens to the poor stupid teenage girl when her boyfriend realizes that HE can leave and she's left to raise her baby on her own.
last week i was feeling especially guilty about the tv being on so much...i decided one morning to NOT turn the tv on...i got jackson his milk and began to feed zoey...when jackson starts making the "please" sign and pointing to the tv. uh-oh. when i tell him "no, we're not going to watch tv this morning", there was an actual fit pitched...and that was it for me. no doubt about it, my addiction was now affecting my very impressionable one year old...crap.
i know exactly what must be done...DO NOT want to do it...but i must...break up...with the tv. it won't be a complete departure...we'll still be friends...it just has to be the end (or the limitation) of a very unhealthy addiction/obsession.
SO...
in an effort to watch LESS tv/keep the tv off, i've been trying to think of things to do and ways to replace the temptation that tv is to me...and now is to jackson...(oh, the sins of the mother!)...

cleaning...already do that

reading...could be tough to do with two little ones, but i LOVE to read. another embarrassing confession--i read with the tv on...i know--WHY?!!

crafting/decorating...not practical or necessary in my current situation

cooking...um, no thank you--i like to watch other people doing it--for me, it should remain a spectator activity

exercising...YES, definitely will be doing that when the weather warms up

blogging...yeah, i could probably keep things more current without having to post THREE months of pictures in one day

listening to music...YES!!!

jackson loves music...dances to EVERY commercial and theme song he hears...

***SO embarrassing***

(this is jackson listening to the ipad commercial...about twenty times...because we have a dvr and can rewind tv...his FAVORITE commercial--a one year old should not have a favorite commercial...if you watch long enough, you will see him begin to pitch a fit because we do not want to rewind it ONE MORE TIME)

why not listen to REAL music? why not listen to music that edifies? learn to count, learn the ABCs, learn "school-ish" stuff? OR what about all those sunday school songs...yeah, that would be good...cause they're about Jesus...and what's more important than learning about Jesus?!!

the songs that came to mind are the "hide em' in your heart" songs that steve green put out many, many years ago...the bible verse songs...would be good for jackson...and for his mommy who has such a difficult time prioritizing scripture memorization. found them this morning...on itunes...and...no offense, steve green, but if i have to listen to those songs all day, every day i'll go crazy. so itunes, being ever-so-helpful, suggested some other albums i might like and i found...



these are songs that i can actually listen to without wanting to pull my eardrums out. maybe you've already heard of them...they're super great...several different volumes...the website is linked below...

so, replacing some tv time with scripture memorization and worship is a good place to start...but by no means the end to my quest to occupy my time with something other than the boob tube...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

the mama says "no, no"...

jackson is learning animal sounds...SO super cute!!!
what does a cow say? "MOOOOOO"
what does a kitty say? "mow, mow" (meow, meow but sounds like mow, mow)
what does a bear say? "ROAR!!!!" (REALLY gets into this one and is the "go to" sound when he doesn't know what sound the animal makes)
what does a pig say? not quite a sound, yet...wrinkled nose and a head bob...hasn't learned to snort
what does a birdie say? "weet, weet"
and for fun one day i asked, "jackson, what does mommy say?"
his reply??? "NO, NO, NO"
hilarious.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

one more...


favorite position...
had the kids' pictures made...went to sears thinking that i'd go to a cheap place since i didn't know how they'd do...didn't want to waste a bunch of money for a "meltdown" kind of a day...no meltdowns, but it took forever...and then we discovered that sears is NOT a cheap place to get pictures made...after ALL THAT WORK of getting jackson to stay in one place and smile...after ALL THAT WORK of getting zoey to look at the camera without looking totally cross-eyed...cheapest package: $150!!! umm, no thanks. so, i ordered a few good ones...but you can see all of them at sears.com...
find the link to the photography studio
click on "my pictures"
enter session number: 137847
enter password: JTXV3

a good before the haircut shot...

yep, it was time...


first haircut...take 2...

on our way...no idea what is about to happen...

started out just as badly as the first...

...but this lady was prepared for the tears and snot...

with bubbles...
with "yo gabba gabba"...
with a super fun spaceship to sit in...

...and mommy was prepared

with french fries...
and chocolate milk...



and once he forgot that she was touching his head, he was able to watch his favorite TV show...he actually even smiled and laughed...



he looks like such a big boy...and SO HANDSOME!!!




not black and white...







hope realized...

these are the outfits mentioned in a long ago post...a post written before our first IVF attempt...i bought them to "be positive"...who knew at the time what their story would be...
miracle #1
"popsicle" and miracle #2...can you believe that this one was frozen for a year and a half???
if someone told me two years ago that i would have TWO kids in TWO years, i would have punched them in the face for being so insensitive to my infertility...

beyond what i could have asked or imagined!!!

first bath...

not too many to post...since most of the shots show how dirty my kitchen sink is...


she's very calm during baths...a good thing because she gets lots of them...with that much hair and mommy constantly kissing the top of her head and jackson constantly petting her...all signs of a well-loved baby...



christmas morning...

how much longer will we be able to...
...put candy that matt and i like to eat in his stocking?
...give them gifts that we return the very next day because they take up too much room?
...not buy them gifts because they'll never remember getting nuttin' for christmas?







thank goodness aunts, uncles, and grandparents aren't such scrooges or it would have been a sad little christmas in the miller house...



christmas jammies...