I Love My Blue-Eyed Boy

Diaper-Free 24 Hours

This past weekend, I was able to experience 24 hours without changing a diaper, cutting up food into tiny pieces, picking up a sippy cup from the floor, or even carrying around a diaper bag. It all felt a little strange. But not so strange that I couldn't enjoy myself immensely.

My friend Laura just finished weaning after over a year of breastfeeding. You go girl! So we decided that this occasion deserved a celebration and Girl's Night Out.

Our 24 hours of kid-free fun included manicures and pedicures, shopping, a yummy Tex-Mex dinner, gabbing into the wee hours of the night, sleeping in at a hotel, a leisurely morning, and a delicious brunch. What more could a girl ask for?

There is something about getting away...even if it's just 30 miles away. Sure a big portion of our conversations were about our boys. And sure I was excited to see Tate again. But just that brief little break from the Mommy duties reminded me of a person I knew a little over a year ago. Myself.

MLK

"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' " - Martin Luther King, Jr.

When I visited the Civil Rights Museum this past summer, I was deeply moved by those that led the civil right's movement. It's so hard for me to even imagine what life was like for African Americans just 40-50 years ago. But it is our history. I am thankful today for the work of MLK and many others, so that those acts of segregation and racism now seem unthinkable.

Oh How I Love To Cook!

Just kidding. But seriously, oh how I love to find something that is easy and makes it seem like I cooked!

If you haven't discovered Bertolli skillet dinners for two, you must run to your nearest freezer aisle right now. I have never been a big fan of cooking, but Bertolli has changed my ways. Who cares if my sister laughs when I say that I "cooked" dinner, and we really had a Bertolli meal. Hey, I did have to heat up the skillet. However you define cooking, these things rock. Yes, I even just did the three-finger rocker hand signal. We had a new one tonight...Chicken alla Vodka & Farfalle. Yuh-mmy!

We’re Official

After a difficult decision and several months of looking for a new church home, we have found it. We are now official members of Richland Hills Church of Christ. For some reason, Wade turned down the free Bible they give to new members. Doesn’t he know how much I love a freebie? Anyway, we are both really excited about this new chapter. This will be a very different experience for us, but one that we look to with much eagerness.

We took our time searching and visited so many wonderful churches with so many wonderful people at them. This decision did not come easy, but was one we were both confident in.

Of the three of us in our family, I may have the hardest adjustment. I’ve never been the best at asserting myself and meeting new people (unlike my husband who knows no stranger). But at the same time, I cherish and hold so close the special friends that have been placed in my life over the years through church.

So I look forward to the weekly Bible study I signed up for and several events coming up that will hopefully help force me to branch out of my comfort zone some.

Although the process has not been easy, it is also exciting to think about Tate having some of his earliest memories here and knowing that we’ll have many important memories as well as we continue to experience the ups and downs of life.

I look forward to our new church home being a place to worship, to serve, to connect, and to grow as a family.

I’m Scared of My Toothbrush

Yes, my toothbrush. A few months ago at my dental check-up, my friendly hygienist pointed out that she firmly believes in the ultimate cleansing power of the Sonicare toothbrush. I scoffed at the idea of paying close to $100 for a toothbrush and thought my manual version did just fine, thank you.

Well low and behold, a few weeks later, our insurance company sends us a special offer for this same toothbrush. For a hold-your-horses good deal, we could have our very own. I’m still rather intrigued and skeptical at the coincidental timing of all of this, but did some research and fell for the deal. I mean decided to invest in our dental health. So I purchased two cute matching toothbrushes.

Being the techie that he is, Wade was pretty pumped about putting the toothbrushes together and getting them all charged up. That should’ve been my first clue. Since when do you have to put a toothbrush together?

He ran in with his mouth full and buzzing away in Sonicare cleanliness. Looked easy enough.

Holy Toledo is all I could say. The combination of foaming toothpaste running all down my mouth, every hair on my arm sticking straight up from the vibration, and my teeth feeling as though they were being jack hammered, all led to my now scared state of the toothbrush.

In the middle of his laughs, Wade also reminded me that the instructions say that it allows for 12 days for the toothbrush to fully rev up its cleansing power. They don’t want to scare you too much the first day. So much for that.

I’m convinced mine has been super-sonic charged and is unleashing several toothbrushes worth of power on me. I am now scared of my toothbrush.

13 Months Old

On the 5th, Tate turned 13 months old. What a fun month this has been. The holidays are still somewhat of a blur, but at each occasion we’ve celebrated, I couldn’t help but look at this little boy and be so thankful for the year we’ve had with him. It’s hard to believe that last Christmas he was just three weeks old. This year was lots of fun, and we’re still able to celebrate because our home has turned into Toys ‘R Us!

With a birthday and Christmas in the same month, we went from not that many toys, to welcome to the Strzinek Land of Fun. In fact, I’ve taken some of the older toys and put them away for a few more months.

His big birthday present was an outdoor swing. Sadly, our little 4-year-old trees have a ways to go before they could support a kid on a swing. So, we went with the frame version. Since I’m not the handy one in the family, here is a glimpse into what is sure to be the first of many toys that Wade will put together.

I love that he reads the instructions! That’s a trait we definitely need to pass along to Tate. His wife will thank us one day.

And voila! Wade did a great job putting it together, and Tate absolutely LOVES it! He loves it so much that if we go by the window inside the house and he sees it outside, he’ll throw a small little fit wanting to go swing.



The big Christmas present to Wade…I mean Tate…was a bike carriage. It attaches to the back of Wade’s bike. Tate did not enjoy putting on the helmet at first. But once he was strapped in and riding around, he loved it. I was on my new bike behind them (yes we’re now a full cycling family), and I couldn’t believe how big and grown up he looked.



And yet another Chuck E. Cheese moment at our house is the new ball pit. This was Daddy’s present to Tate. I think I’m saving it for rainy day activities in the house. But, the kid can not get enough. He could play in this thing all day if we let him.

One holiday celebration we had this month was with our friends the Manes and Lamberts. I used to work with the two girls. Now we all try to get together once a month or so. This month we had a holiday brunch at yummy Brio. Before we had even all sat down at the table, Tate had already broken a plate. Needless to say, restaurants seem to get a little more difficult at this age. We’re big fans of Chipotle and Pei Wei, since we can get his food fast. Once he’s eating, he does great. It’s the before and after that are really hard.

Speaking of food and frustration…oh my goodness. I love the fact that he seems to have a little bit of an independent spirit. I really do, but that spirit can just about send me over the edge sometimes. It’s turned into quite the daily battle to see what he will eat. Besides yogurt and anything in the carb/bread family, what he likes and will eat changes every day. As of today, the favorites seem to be pasta, peas, bagels, cheese, mac & cheese, and yogurt, of course. He seems to now detest fruits and meat.

His physical therapy is continuing to go well. It’s a very slow process, but he is showing small improvements. He is getting a little more mobile trying to get on all fours and slide around. In his crib, he’ll pull up on his knees. When we’re in therapy/work mode, he’ll stay up on all fours with assistance and will stand with assistance. We still crack up at his Sit & Spin move. Just picture a kid on the Sit & Spin toy, but without the toy. He’s quite good at the 360 degree turns. So far, the pediatrician and physical therapist are both calling the issue low muscle tone. So we’re working hard at building up those muscles.

As I seem to say every month, he is still quite the talker. I’ve heard him say bird and shoe after repeating me (nobody else was there), but most of his words are still his Tateish. It’s obvious that in his head, he is clearly trying to communicate something. He will look right at you and emphatically “talk” or even pick up a book on his own and “read” it aloud to himself. Too bad we have no idea what he is saying. Here’s a glimpse into some of his noises and the impressive volume that goes along with them.



Right now, he loves to turn the pages of the book we’re reading, play parachute under the sheets on Mommy & Daddy’s bed, take a bath, be tickled, throw anything he can get his hands on, knock over his blocks, do the sign for “please,” watch Macy run around, give you a “kiss” by burying his face into your face, throw a little fit on the changing table during diaper changes, pull off his socks, and play, play, play.

Love him!

Crank That!

I figured I should record this to go back to when I needed a laugh. One of the funniest moments of 2007 had to be the evening that my sister and I decided to learn how to do the Crank That -Soulja Boy dance. Being that neither of us has a ton of rhythm and the fact that she was 8 months pregnant at the time, it was quite a sight.

After about 30 minutes of replaying the instructional video, I think we were turning into quite the Soulja Girls. Yes, the Enright sisters are two wild and crazy gals! And before you ask, there will be no pictures or You Tube videos to prove our impressive skills.

2007: My Year In Books

So this is the first year in I can't remember when (maybe since my Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley High days) that I've had the time and opportunity to really enjoy reading for something other than a test, presentation, or figuring out how to do a job. Here's what my year in books looked like. Don't worry, the baby book theme doesn't last the entire year.

What to Expect the First Year:

• Liked it.


• Helpful month-by-month info.


• Didn't seem to answer all questions.

The Baby Whisperer:

• Liked it, but did skim a lot.


• The most helpful to me was the cycle of eat, awake, sleep.


• Had good tips.

The Happiest Baby on the Block:

• Loved it.


• My favorite book about baby stuff.


• Almost all of the "S's" worked for Tate.


• The whole fourth trimester concept makes a lot of sense to me.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child:

• Liked it.


• Somewhat hard to read because he wrote it from a doctor's perspective.


• But, the sleep training tips were very useful and worked for Tate wonderfully.

To Kill a Mockingbird:

• 2007 New Year's Resolution.


• Had never read it in school and wanted to see what the big deal was.


• Loved it.


• Loved the storyline, characters.


• The Dad was my favorite.


• Even watched the movie. Glad I read the book first.

My Sister's Keeper:

• Loved it.


• Really interesting story.


• Makes you think... a lot.


• Great characters.

Nineteen Minutes:

• Liked it.


• Scary that it could be a true story.


• Somewhat predictable ending.

Plain Truth:

• Liked it.


• Interesting culture to read about.


• Sad story.

The Kite Runner:

• Loved it.


• I went into it thinking the Afghan culture would be too difficult to understand and read about. Not true.


• Totally drawn in to the two main characters. Heart wrenching!


• Made me cry, and books typically don't make me cry.


• Can't wait to see the movie.

A Thousand Splendid Suns:

• Loved it.


• Again, it was easy to become engaged in that culture.


• Learned a lot of recent history that I really didn't know very well.


• Made me sick to my stomach to learn about how some women in other countries are currently treated.


• Heart wrenching as well.

So that about did it. It looks as though my 2008 has started off with a similar theme as last year, except this time it's books about toddlers. Now that I think about it, I guess I still am reading books about how to do a job. Too bad I can't get a raise for that!

2007 Finale

What a fun way to end 2007...with a 42-36 CAL win over the Air Force at the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth.

Don't let this picture fool you. There were actually 40,000+ at the game. In fact, about 39,500 of them were cheering for the Air Force. As we drove to the game, I made my Dad and Wade promise not to be obnoxious "visiting team" fans. I didn't want the crowd revolting on us.

I then became very nervous about what our car ride home would be like when at the end of the 1st quarter, the score was 21-0...not in our favor. It was a little quiet in our quaint cheering section. But, the Bears came back in a big way. (Wow, do I sound all sports talk radio or what!!??)

The game was fun. The cheese nachos were tasty. My gold & blue pom-pom was well utilized.

GO BEARS!