blah blah blogging.

BLAH!!
I hate when I get out of the blogging habit.  When you don't blog often, you feel like you have to have something to say before you write a blog.
My favorite part of blogging is that it is just the everyday stuff, sometimes meaningful, sometimes mundane.
I'm out of sync and it's bugging me.

The REAL reason for my blogging lag has not been medical, it's been technical.
I got a new laptop for Christmas and {whispering} i don't love it.
I can't figure out pictures and I just HATE trying to manipulate blogger without a mouse.
Laptops are much more conducive to {whispering again} bed-ish rest.
But NOT if they make you more stressed out than just sitting up in a chair!
So... I'm writing this post from my actual computer and I FEEL GOOD!
ha!

How about some randomness just for old time sake?
OK...

1- HAIR-- I got my hair cut at a really nice Salon.  It's funky and fun and shorter and layerd.   I never know if I really like it better or not, but it's fun to have something different.  Want to see a picture?  Yeah... the only shots I have of myself are on my iphone and i'm not quite sure how to load them up... I'll try.

2- FACIALS-- I was GOING to get a one hour facial, because i thought i deserved one, cause I'm being a good, pregnant mom and all.  I decided at the last minute to cancel my appointment and just go for a consultation.  (I know nothing of facials.)  The sweet facial lady laid me down on the table and looked at my face under a microscope and gushed over me.  She kept saying what beautiful skin i had and that she didn't think I needed a facial at all.  She said I should avoid the chemicals.  She encouraged me to exfoliate by covering my face with plain yogurt for 20-30 minutes a couple times a week.  My "beauty routine" was perfect.  {Ha!  um, I use plain water at night and Clinique yellow moisturizer in the morning before I apply a small amount of makeup.}  Honestly, 20 minutes of her saying what perfect skin I had after I was prepared to hear her chastising me for years of facial neglect... SO NICE.  I like going to the Spa.

3- HUSBANDS-- Just have to say, I am married to a saintly man who is less than saintly at handling the normal mothering routine.  The less I do around the house, the more I get to SEE what I really add to our home.  First, I keep us sanitized by bringing the dirty kitchen rags to the laundry.  Second, I am the calm and peace of the day.  When I'm not in the middle of things, little things become big things and big guys and little guys all get cranky over easily re-routed little things.  Did ya get that?  Third, there is "picked up" and there is "picked up".  There is a house of order and there is a house of dad-order.  They are different.  Thus the words "I cleaned the house" means very different things depending on who says them.  And that, my friends, is what I'm learning from the couch.  Laying or standing, Mom is still the one who keeps the house running.

4- ATTITUDE-- Perspective is EVERYTHING!!!  Nobody is GOOD or BAD... everybody is both.  Some days I think my kids are rotten and ruined and contentious and lazy.  A few hours later I think my kids are adorable and kind and wonderful.  They don't change, I do.  I'm SOO thankful that most of the time I really, really think my kids are GREAT.  Because, they ARE great.  {They're rotten too, but we ALL have rotten in us.}  And, when I think of them as great, I treat them as great kids having a moment and then they act great.  Just so you know.

5- SMOOTHIES-- Um, green smoothies are really good when compared to eating one lb. of raw kale or beets alone each day.  But...  UGH.  They're killing me.  {I said it out loud.}  Every single day.  I'm trying friends, I'm trying... but some days I'd rather eat nothing than drink one more cup of green mush.  I know, I know.  I'm trying to vary my recipes and I just drink them semi-fast so I don't think about it.  I FEEL good drinking them... but, I don't love them.  I'm not someone that does well with repetition.  I like variety and change and I could eat 100 pieces of fresh fruit a day, but the spinach/kale is killing me.  {dramatically spoken- yes, i did drink my smoothie this morning.  it wasn't THAT bad.}

6- BED REST-- I'm not officially on bed rest, yet.  I'm on "take it easy" modified bed rest.  Because I was bleeding for a long time at the beginning of this pregnancy, I did go on official Bed Rest for some time.  Yes, it worked.  I stopped bleeding.  Can I tell you something that I've found?  Bed Rest HURTS!!  My body ACHES when I lay for too long.  My arms ache, my back aches, I started to get heartburn, my joints were sore, my tummy cramps.  BLAH!  You THINK it's going to be long and boring, but I never imagined that it would HURT!!  Oh, how I love to walk around, bend down and pick something up, carry a baby, VACUUM a floor!  Seriously, you don't realize how nice it is to move until someone tells you not to move as much.  Do me a favor?  Just pick up your baby and run downstairs with her in your arms?  It feels amazing, I promise.  {We are buying a reclining chair that I think will be better as my pregnancy progresses, but who knew that taking it easy could be so uncomfortable?} It's no wonder that less active people have so many aches and pains-- our bodies are not designed for rest, we are designed to stretch and move and work!  Sigh.

7- REST-- Rest does NOT come from wasting time.  Wow.  There is nothing like a marathon "Say Yes to the Dress" session to remind me that I crave goodness and intelligence and stimulation.  When I read a mindless yet harmless book, or watch mindless yet harmless TV, I feel hungry.  My soul feels low.  There is nothing like an inspiring book or an accomplished goal to lift my spirits and change my mood.  Rest is not the same as escape.  REST is not the same as ESCAPE!!  We need to seek more rest.

8- FOURTEEN-- Jakob turned 14 on Monday and got braces this morning.  {We've been waiting many years for his molars to fall out and grow in.}  He's adorable.  Pictures coming.

And, that is all I have to say this afternoon.
Life is good.
Hope all is well at your house!