Ding Dong Merrily on High

Has it really been 2 weeks since my last blog post?

I wish I could say that my time has been eaten up by baking christmas cookies, wrapping presents and decorating the tree, but the honest truth is that the TV and I have recently become reaquainted. I managed to catch up on ALL the shows I've been watching, PLUS I watched the season's 1 & 2 of True Blood (swoon!).

We still have a ton of boxes left to unpack, the tree is naked aside from the pinecones that came affixed to the tree out of the box, and the house still needs some TLC in the deep cleaning department.

Alas, it is Friday, and I have a whole weekend ahead of me! Now that I'm not feeling under the weather, perhaps I can accomplish a few items on my to do list!

-Ship gifts to S. Carolina
-Clean the carpet and the couch with upholstery/carpet cleaner
-Hang up our clothes (finally) in the master bedroom closet
-Bake Christmas Cookies!
-Finish Holiday Decorating
-Watch some Christmas movies!

If I've got time, I'd love to finish moving into the house. We have so many unpacked boxes. However, I'm done with work for the rest of the year after the 23rd, so I should have ample opportunity to get a lot accomplished so my small family can have a good start to 2010!!

11 Months Old

Mikey hit yet another monthly milestone on his way to becoming 1 WHOLE YEAR OLD! OH MY! He is frickin' adorable. A pill at times, but wonderful still, nonetheless. We love him so much our hearts ache!

And even though we are a few days late (technically he was 11 months on the 29th of November) a photo opportunity did not present itself until today.

'Cuz sometimes its cool to wear dad's boxers as a necklace, and mom humors you by allowing you to wear one of her headbands.

Christmas of Love...

Much to our suprise and delight, Thanksgiving mostly went off quite nicely. The Turkey was DELICIOUS! Here is the recipe from the Food Network - I recommend it! Our 21 lb bird only took 2.5 hours to cook, which was way less than we thought it would. I do have pictures, but unfortunately they are all on my husbands Blackberry, so I'm waiting on J's parents to forward the pics to me when they get the chance.

Speaking of J's parents - what a god send they are! It was awesome to have them around for the week. I got to sleep in til 8:30am almost everyday! They also spent all day Sunday with Mikey, allowing us to finish moving out of Maricopa and the rest of the way into our new home in Gilbert. Even though we still have a lot of boxes left to unpack, at least they are all with us now. I can't even describe how wonderful it was to have J's mom taking care of things like cooking delicious turkey soup with the leftover bird. Other awesome things? Watching Mikey interact with Grandpa Mike. Those two have a crazy bond - I love it! They will be sorely missed at Christmas time this year!

And, oh yeah, Christmas is right around the corner. I'm bound and determined to make a big deal out of Christmas this year. I'm off to Target and maybe Big Lots on my lunch this afternoon to try and snag some cheap decorations for my office AND home. I've got a great idea for decorating the ledges in the kitchen and entryway (oh, you wouldn't know about those since I haven't posted pics).

Since I'm leaving you hi and dry in the picture department today, I leave you with my two favorite Christmas Songs:

Christmas of Love: Little Isidore and the Inquisitors


The Christmas Waltz: The Carpenters


Happy December!

The First Thanksgiving

Holy Milestone! Kerith is cooking her first turkey, like, ever. Yeah, I know, I wouldn't eat it either! Oh, snap, I guess I kinda have to if I expect others to endure my cooking.

Fortunately, I've prepared myself by watching 30 hours a week of The Food Network each week for the last 4 years. Oh, and did I mention that I've watched the Rachael Ray 60 Minute Thanksgiving II at least 5 times in the last 3 days?

I am so ready to rock this. Besides, no one comes to dinner for the turkey anyway - it is all about the side dishes - which I SHOULD be able to pull off.

In other news, Mikey has been sick for the last week. Sniffles, snot and overall displeasure at life in general, oh my. He definitely picked up J's lack of ability to function under the duress of a cold! Plus, I've turned into EVIL MOM!! and keep attacking him with a booger sucker and insisting on changing him out of his frequently soiled diapers. Thanks mucous. Thanks. And, yes, I'm sorry your tushie hurts little dude, but if you'd just sit still long enough for me to dip you in desitin, you might feel better.

And to think, at this time last year I was waddling (thanks, Mikey) in sadness due to our recent presidential election, rubbing my tummy, fearing for my childs future, yet simultaneously wishing him to GET OUT OH GOD PLEASE BE DONE.

This year, I'm thankful for my family, that my in-laws are in town, that J and I might get to go see New Moon - maybe - assuming the in-laws are willing to babysit for us one night of our four day weekend. I'm thankful for Joe Lieberman. I'm thankful to be employed. I'm thankful for my sweet baby, even if he is cranky when he is sick. I'm thankful for The Food Network, and Mommy Bloggers, and Weight Loss Bloggers, and friends who Blog. I'm thankful for an amazing husband WHO DID NOT WAKE ME UP ON SUNDAY MORNING and instead let me sleep in ALL THE WAY UNTIL 9AM!

I've got a lot to be happy about. What are you thankful for this year?

The Good Stuff...

I'm feeling so inspired lately - which really is a nice change for me. I think it is the change in scenery. Between the new house and the new neighborhood, things just seem to be clicking lately. Even though I have a lot on my mind, it all seems manageable, and I just have this wonderful sense of calmness, happiness, and warmth.

Maybe it has something to do with this little person?



We have so much fun together, and when J joins in on the fun, it is a laugh riot. Mikey loves to play "chase" and loves to rough house with his father. It is so amazing to watch the two of them play together.



So, we are mostly moved in. Mostly. Still have a bit of unpacking to do, and a few straggling boxes at the old place. There is some furniture that just isn't making the trip. We both need new computer desks as ours were on their last legs before the move. Definitely in need of a few new bookcases (liking the Billy at Ikea). But, overwhelmingly, looking to make the place home and make it ours, even if it is only for a year or two.

Halloween Magic...

Mikey's first Halloween was sweet and simple. We visited a few houses for photo opportunities, and other than that we just snuggled Mikey all night in his adorable little costume.



You were the sweetest little cub ever...

Leaving My Foolishness Behind...

Have you ever seen Clean House? Its been awhile since I've seen it, but the host of the show is forever discussing the subjects of that episodes "foolishness." Essentially, these men and women need to stop their utterly ridiculous behavior if they have any hope of ever having a clean house.

I want a clean house.

More than that, I want to leave ALL my foolishness behind. I promised myself that I WOULD leave it behind in Maricopa when we moved into our new home. Now, we are still amidst total chaos living halfway between two homes, but I could no longer continue on with the fast food and other ridiculous behavior. I know better, and I know that even after living in our old house for 3 years we still weren't unpacked and moved in. So - if I wait until we are actually moved in to our new home, I'll never turn over a new leaf. I'll never change. I'll never be better.

So, I just went ahead and decided to completely stop my foolishness this morning. This decision was made in part by the recent surgeries that two of my co-workers underwent in order to have their gallbladders removed after a life of eating fattening foods and living "typical" American lives. Yeah, I'm in my twenties, and they are in their forties, but I don't even want to get close to needing to have my gallbladder removed.

Perhaps you are wondering what exactly my crimes of foolishness are? No? Well, here they are anyway.

1) I don't clean... much. Occasionally I might vaccuum, but other than that, It takes weeks of pep talk and finally becoming disgusted with the filth to convince me to clean. Then, when the house is 1/2 clean, I get distracted and move on to other more exciting things, and leave the house be until it gets back to general dissaray.

2) I don't do chores... laundry, paperwork, walking the dogs, changing the litterbox, doing the dishes, paying the bills. Na, none of that. At least not regularly. I am totally the type of person to leave the dishes in the sink for several days, and the poor cats have gone as long as a week before without me changing out their box. Poor kitties.

3) I don't eat right. I don't exercise. I allow myself to put garbage in, and I don't counter balance it with hitting the treadmill. I'm on the fast track to becoming morbidly obese and obtaining a myriad of diseases.

4) I don't take care of my appearance. It is hard to get psyched about dressing up and makeup when nothing fits right and I don't feel good about myself. The end result is that I'm not the woman my husband married (appearance wise).

5) I don't do enough to cherish my family. Enough said.

So, there it is - my foolishness. I know I'm probably leaving things out, but these are the primary offenders. And since I had to start somewhere, I started at the grocery store this morning. I now have a drawer full of healthy breakfast, lunch and snack options to last the rest of the week at work. As soon as Josh and I nail down a budget, we can determine if we can afford to become members at the Gym I've been eyeballing. I've implemented a new method of "emptying my brain" on to paper so I can form a to-do list each day (I'll write more about that later). Lastly, I'm trying to clean a little bit each evening so I won't have quite as much to do this weekend, and I'm unpacking boxes all week (a bit each night) so, again, it won't be so overwhelming when we get the rest of our things this weekend. My goal is to be completely moved into the house, organized and clean by the time the in-laws arrive for Thanksgiving.

Moving In

Hello Everyone! Sorry to have been MIA for so long. J and I have been busy moving our little family into our new house in Gilbert. I can't wait to show everyone pictures! We are still unpacking, and getting organized, but expect a large update from me tomorrow!

Saturday Morning...

J is back from his trip. It was a long week without him. Even though he was only gone for 3 days, I really felt empathy for all the "single" mom's out there who have to do it EVERY day on their own. Kudo's to you, ladies. We also found out lastnight that Josh's aunt passed away suddenly, and that combined with everything else has just worn us out. We were all set to move in to the new house on Sunday, but we went ahead and rescheduled it for next Sunday. In the meantime, I'll try to make an effort to enjoy our last few days in Maricopa, and continue organizing so our move into the new house is smooth.


Mikey will be 10 months old on Thursday! I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures!

Getting Crafty... Digital Scrapbooking

I've been meaning to give digital scrap-booking a try for some time now. I don't know why I put it off for so long, because once I finally just did it, it was so much fun! Plus, it was way easier than I thought it would be. Did I mention there was no glue or scissors involved? No picking up after myself, either. Perfect project for me! I used Shutterfly to create a photo book of cute pics of Mikey to send to his grand mother for her birthday. There was a great how-to post on digital scrap booking done over at Becoming Mom that really has me inspired to finally start digital scrap-booking on a regular basis. What saved me? Taking the time to carefully catalog all the pictures I have taken of Mikey as I've uploaded them during the last 10 months.


I really can't believe that Mikey is almost 10 months old! Only 9 days left! Where has the time gone?! So looking forward to spending my favorite part of the year with him (Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas). I've got some awesome projects planned for The White House (thank goodness for websites like Apartment Therapy for great ideas on decorating rentals), but while all that is going on, there is an awesome Halloween carnival in Gilbert on the 24th, an ASU homegame on the 31st (where better for Mikey to wear his adorable costume) and of course I'm looking forward to the rest of the fall/winter after the ridiculous hot summer we all just endured here in AZ.

The White House...

J and I picked up the keys to the new place tonight. The home was NOT cleaned to our standards, yet, it was fine. We'll have to do a little cleaning ourselves, but we can handle that. I'm excited about our new temporary living space (we will likely only live here a year or two). I never decorated the home we owned, however, I feel inspired a million times more by the layout of this home and the wonderful nooks, crannies and built in shelf's around the great room and kitchen. As I mentioned before, the house is white - white everywhere - with the exception of gray carpet. The plan is to move into the White House next weekend. Who said "If you want god to laugh, tell him your plans..."?

New...

Today is a day for new things! New home (we get the keys today), new utilities. In fact, ALL of our utilities will be different (Electric, City Utilities, Cable/Phone/Internet). It all gets turned on today, but we will likely not be living in the new house for over a week when the hypothetical movers that I'm planning on calling today will transport our things from one city to the next.

Other new things: Mikey is walking. Amazing.

I look forward to this next chapter in our lives.

The Weekend Ritual...

Today has been peaceful, calm, serene. A perfect Sunday to end a somewhat stressful week. J and I have managed to get by the worst, and we are ready to begin again, starting over with the intimate knowledge of bankruptcy, foreclosure and all of the other worst possible things that anyone can experience financially. But, we are ok. We made it through, and we still have each other.


This week seems like a good week for soup. The cooler weather always makes me want to curl up with a good book, and of course fill up the house with the delicious scent of a home cooked meal. It isn't quite warm enough for pot roast, but we are getting close! In the mean time, I've got a potato and garlic soup planned out, as well as a leek and potato soup for this week.


I'm becoming more and more interested in vegetarian eating, but I'm worried what implications that would have for Mikey. I want to make sure he is getting everything he needs to grow up healthy and strong. Also, it doesn't help that J is very anti-vegetarian. For that reason alone, I am tempted to just continue on with my old habits. Cooking several different types of food for meat and non-meat eaters sounds like a lot of work!


Speaking of Mikey and his nutritional needs, J and I are worried that he isn't getting enough to eat. Now, of course looking at him you would think we were silly. He is easily in the 99th percentile for weight and height. My primary concern is that I'm not feeding him the right types of foods, and then again, I'm also concerned that I am not exposing him to enough variety.


I need to explore the internet and find out if there is a community especially designed for feeding children!


Big week ahead of us here in the Gaines household. We get the keys to the new place on Friday. I'll need to get the utilities and cable/internet turned on by Friday so we can start moving in right away. Did I mention that we haven't packed a single box? Yeah, probably should get on that, too. I'm sure I will take plenty of pictures to document all the excitement coming our way!

About 'Making Gaines'

This blog is a gift. Imagine, if you will, that your mother, or grandmother, had started a scrapbook many years ago. Perhaps the day you were born, or the day she was married. And also imagine that this scrapbook chronicled the simple every day events, that when strung together over a lifetime, were truly magnificent. Wouldn't it be fantastic to be able to know the music your parents or grandparents were listening to, the foods they loved, to witness the seemingly mundane everyday events that you, or your parents or your grandparents experienced over the years? While the concept of blogging was one that I have always been enamored with, I have always struggled with a purpose in writing, until I realized that this blog wasn't for me. This blog is a gift to my children, and their children. A way to remember the good times, our struggles, milestones and accomplishments. This is my gift to you...


Enjoy!

If I Had A Million Dollars...

I think I could spend it all at Old Navy today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after I was done making that purchase, I would have roughly 999,800.00 left to spend. Perhaps I should have picked a more expensive store than Old Navy. Seriously, though - it is all so awesome!

So I go on stuck here in the backseat

I don't need to know where we're traveling
I don't need to know if we'll make it there
I just need to love you while I can.
-The Noises 10

Today felt like a brand new start to me. A day to start being a better mom, a better wife. A better everything, really.  I think these feelings are being inspired by the change in season here in AZ (finally!). I love the fall. It is the first relief we have from the waves of Arizona heat. Its mostly been in the 80's here... and I can't wait for it to drop into the 70's so I can finally pull out my sweaters!

To bring you up to date, J and I put a security deposit down on a rental home in Gilbert. We are so excited to get out of Maricopa, and back closer to civilization. The home has a nice sized kitchen w/ an island (hooray for counter space!). A few other things I'm excited about are the soaking tub in the master bathroom, the full length covered patio (with misters) in the backyard, and the enclosed garden in the backyard. Fortunately, the landlord is completely fine with animals - no pet deposit or pet rent required. Oh, and J? J is just happy to be back w/in the area that Cox Cable covers so he has reliable internet, lol. The house is in an awesome neighborhood, and there is a park 50 yards across the street. Awesome awesome awesome. Besides all that, there are a few more "conveniences" that this house offers that our current dwelling does not. First, you can walk into the kitchen from the garage (ie, you don't have to carry your groceries across the house) and there is an actual laundry ROOM! No more laundry closet for me, thank you very much.

One challenge - the house is completely stark white. Very neutral. White walls, gray carpet, light colored cabinetry. I'm sure the landlord would be fine with us painting a wall or two to liven the place up, but it might be a fun challenge to decorate the place without resorting to painting.

My plans for the rest of today are to finish devouring "Love Soup," and to cook up a pot of delicious soup for dinner this evening. I'll take pictures and report back on my success.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Reality Check...

Have you ever seen yourself one way, but in reality you ACTUALLY look completely worse than you figured. For example... I know I need to lose weight. I know my clothes don't fit. I know I'm miserable, out of shape, out of breath and tired. I know I have a terrible diet. But, for some reason it just didn't look so bad in the mirror. /shrug. And then, a cruel and unusual camera that was merely attempting to snap a pic of my sweet baby, managed to capture my fat ass on camera at the same time. Lets just say it was just the dose of reality I needed!



Doh! Especially since a mere 2 years earlier (pre-baby... pre-pregnancy even) I was looking quite alright:



But, I am armed with a google reader list full of great blogs relating to weightloss, healthy eating and exercise, a couple of workout DVD's, some awesome new cookbooks:



and photographic evidence that I truly am a fat ass.

On Kindness...

The subject of weight loss has been a hot topic in my office recently. I think all of us (or most of us) want to lose some weight. But, what I'm quickly realizing is that most of the people in my office are just into TALKING about weight loss. When I suggested a team contest over the next 90 days to see who could lose the most weight, I was laughed at. "Silly Kerith... don't you know what is coming our way in the next 90 days? Halloween Candy? Turkey, Stuffing and Potatoes? Christmas Cookies and Holiday Ham? Of course I can't lose weight in the next 90 days... in fact, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to be gaining weight."

Yeah, pretty much everyone said just about that. They told me to come sign them up for a competition on January 1st, the time when it is NORMAL to be miserable and lose weight.

I tried to convince them - I tried to tell them that we didn't have to be miserable. I tried to tell them that we didn't have to suffer. Alas, no one wanted to hear anything more about it. So, it appears that I'm embarking on this 90 day *discovery* all alone. I have named it a discovery because it won't be a diet, per se. I'm more interested in exploring new, healthier ways of living. I want to know exactly why blueberries are so magical - and I want to overcome my fear of all things carbohydrate (or at least not feel guilty for eating Quinoa). I want to learn more about how my body reacts to certain foods. I want to start treating my body with a little respect after years of abuse with fad diets, under eating, over eating, junk inhaling and other terrible acts of war I waged against myself. Perhaps instead of hitting the treadmill and lifting weights, I'll hit the yoga mat, learn to belly dance and swim for my cardio. There is also the matter of giving my work space a more calming atmosphere, especially that I spend over 40 hours a week there - I believe bringing peace to my cubicle will go a long way to making me a more relaxed person in general.

Finally, I will attempt to delve into the spirituality aspect of all of this a bit more. My spirituality is something that I have long struggled with, but I don't think it is doing myself any good to just push it aside and ignore it.

I think one of the most important lessons you can teach your children is kindness. I like to think that I'm generally a kind person. Somewhere along the way I missed the lesson on being kind to myself. I'll try hard to impart this message to my children as they grow up.

I'm excited to share all that I learn in the next several months with all of you.

I leave you now with a song that is kind on the ears (as opposed to my normal metal tendancies):



~*~ Now We Are Free - Lisa Gerrard ~*~

9 Months Old...

Mikey, my favoritest baby... today you turned 9 months old! I can barely stand the thought of how quickly time has passed, and how much you have grown even in the last month. You are standing on your own, and even taking a step or 2 as long as the video camera isn't anywhere in sight. You crawl fast as lightening - and Daddy and I have so much fun getting down on all fours to chase after you. As we chant "I'm gonna GET YOU!" over and over, you squeal in delight and sometimes forget to crawl away from us, and instead end up charging straight in our direction. Most recently, you have discovered the joy of clapping. You clap excitedly in the early morning while I change your diaper - and you clap when anyone tells you how adorable you are. You are more than happy to crawl around on your own, getting up to no good - trying to figure out how to open cabinet doors and pulling pans out of the drawer under the oven.

You've officially sworn off pureed foods --- none of that squishy stuff you, thank you very much. Oh, and could you please just let me feed myself - I'm perfectly capable. What exactly are you eating? Yes, I'd like some of that, too.

Today, when I asked you to say Mama (over and over again) you'd laugh and say "Dada... Da Da..." VERY FUNNY MISTER! Then, I sang "Return to Pooh Corner" to you, and you fell asleep in my arms. What a perfect end to another perfect evening with you.

I love you so much, Mikey.

If I could buy it all today...

These are most of the things I would purchase to decorate my home:

Paint Color: Tree Branch (Sherwin Williams)



The perfect shelf/case for pictures and knick knacks from Ikea:



the matching shorter, wider shelf, also from Ikea:



Perfect couch from Ashley Furniture:



Rug for the living room from Kohls:



This decal behind the couch (from Etsy)



Those would be the main things :) Based on this, what the heck is my style called?

Wishing...

More Internet Window Shopping...

Diaper Dude @ Amazon


Constellation Turtle for Mikey's Nursery @ Amazon


that will make his room look like this at night:


Wall Decal's for the Babies Bathroom @ Etsy