7 Quick Takes, Vol. 3

After not having blogged for a few days, I was excited to realize this morning that it was Friday, and I would have the wonderful excuse of doing 7 quick takes with Jen at Conversion Diary

1. It won't be official for a few more hours, but Pat and I have decided to stay on FOCUS staff for another year. After praying about it for the past few weeks, and talking about it way too much we finally bit the bullet yesterday and made a decision, and I for one am feeling relieved that we can start living life again instead of just thinking about what we are going to be doing for the next year. I know that Patrick is so looking forward to starting a career, but we both feel that staying and finishing out our commitment is where God is calling us now. I am looking forward to being a part of the community of FOCUS again, and hoping that in the coming year I will be able to involve myself a little more in the day to day goings on, now that Tom is getting a little older.

2. Speaking of Tom, we have now been letting him cry at nap and bed-times for a few weeks, and it seems to be working for him. It still makes me cringe and want to cry right along with him every time, but he never cries for more than a few minutes. BUT, today something so strange happened. I took him in his room at naptime, turned the light off and he IMMEDIATELY started WEEPING and screaming. It was terrible. In my mind I thought "oh gosh..he knows that its time and that I'm going to put him down and he is NOT happy about it." I rapidly texted to mom to let her know that this was NOT working, as he clearly has developed a deep fear of his bedroom at naptime. After ten minutes of holding and attempting to rock him while he wailed, I finally just put him down in his crib and walked out. He cried for maybe fifteen seconds, and was out like a light. Apparently he was not crying for me to keep holding him, but for me to put him down??!?! Who knows, but I couldn't believe it.

3. Last night was the last of the four introductory classes to Crossfit before we all get pushed out of the nest and into the real world of WOD's and lifting actual weights instead of just a long piece of PVC. I have REALLY enjoyed the beginning stages of Crossfit so much more than I thought I would, and I am experiencing some level of excitement to actually get started, among some lingering traces of terror. But, I feel hopeful for myself for once, and I am looking forward to being challenged and finding out what I can do.

4. Speaking of Crossfit, I know that a big part of getting fit and being healthy is changing your diet. I will say that I don't eat terribly, but there are just a few things that I think I am going to find impossible to cut out. For example, my reliance on yogurt as its own food group is going to be a hard transition for me, and one that I am not sure I will even try to make. Same goes for getting rid of grains...I know this is a doozy and probably one of the most important things that anyone who eats paleo will tell you. For the moment I am using the excuse that I am nursing a very hungry almost-ten month old as my justification for eating toast and bagels almost every morning because I am JUST SO HUNGRY all the time. Which is true. But eventually I hope to be able to start cutting some of the grains out of my diet...we'll see how that goes.

5. Tommy is almost 10 months old. I really cannot believe that that much time has passed since he was born. I wish that I had the creativity and discipline to do what many of my favorite mommy-bloggers have done and track each month of his first year with photos, stats, and milestones to remember these fleeting months by. Unfortunately, I didn't and its a little late to start now, but I am doing my best to take lots of photos and soak in everything new. Some of the newest, and cutest developments are: Starting to wave, eating ever-y-thing that I put in front of him, still rocking the army crawl, and today while he was eating some grapes for breakfast I discovered that if I lean in and open my mouth, he will feed me a grape too, and he thinks its hysterical! Not the most comprehensive list, but I have a headache. Bottom line...he is growing UP TOO FAST. I love him.

6. The beginning of April signals the beginning of a very hectic time in our lives, one that I am looking forward to and dreading all at the same time because of the sheer logistical nightmare it is most likely going to be for our family. Over the course of the next 4 ish months, I will be attending at least two wedding showers, two bachelorette parties, a first birthday party for Tommy stuck somewhere in there, and will be a bridesmaid in the weddings of my two best friends, a month apart, as well as singing in one of them. For us this means back and forth, back and forth, back and forth from Kansas City to St. Louis, and I'm very excited, but I have no idea how we are going to make so much traveling happen.

7. I don't have anything more to say about me and mine, so here is a link to a pretty incredible article about the Pope and how he is Catholic. Seems obvious, but I think this article really brings to light what I find to be one of the most amazing and comforting things about the Catholic Church- She is unwavering in her teaching, and that sets her apart from all the rest.

Happy Friday!!