And we're back...maybe...

So it's been over 3 months since I last blogged...many reasons for this, but the main one is...I just haven't felt motivated to blog lately. Every time I've thought to sit and write a post, I just haven't felt like it. Instead, I've been falling asleep with E when she goes to bed, or reading a book, or reading other people's blogs.
Not sure if I'm coming back to blogging regularly or not. I alternate between thinking I am going to close it down altogether, and thinking I am going to post every day and put up a glossy new header. We shall see which wins out.
So anyway, let me catch this blog up a little...
All has been really, really good around here. Sooo happy that Spring is finally here and Summer is close by. Miss Elizabeth continues to grow about 10 inches a day, it seems.
We took some fun day trips over April vacation...
To Southwick Zoo with Misty and Paden:

To an indoor water park...

And I won two tickets to the New England Aquarium in a raffle at work!

And on Mother's Day, she had her first swim (sort of) of the year...

And then the annual May event around here...the Enka Fair...

And E still loves her pink wig...

That's it for now...hope to be back soon, if not on a regular basis:)

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Catching up

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I last blogged... I have plenty of excuses- too busy (those candies aren't going to crush themselves, you know...), too tired, too stressed, blah, blah, blah...

Anyway, I'm back, so let's get to it...The last couple of weeks have included...

A trip to,the zoo:

 

 

 

 

E loves this little zoo, and the two times we've gone there, we end up spending hours (I actually ended up looking up on my iPhone when closing time was so I could know when I could get her out of there!)

 

Another day, we went to a really cool pond and spray park:

 

 

E has been going to summer camp at the Y, and seems to like it. One day, she inexplicably decided to go dressed like this:

They are outside most of the day, and also she did a project with glue, so her new sneakers came home looking like this:

We've been enjoying the pool at out apartment complex, one of the things I love about living here! Paden was over after camp on Friday, so the kids got in some swim time:

Yesterday we went over to my friend A's house, where E (reluctantly) got her hair done by A, and got to play with A's son and niece.

Hard to believe, but E will start 1st grade (!!!!!!!) in less than 2 weeks! This summer is flying by, like they all seem to now...I still have not gotten any of E's school supplies, yikes!

 

 

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What is ok and not ok to blog about?

As Elizabeth is getting older, it is feeling more and more important to me to respect her privacy. This means being really mindful about what I share on this blog. Vague-blogging (i.e. "something really major happened last night, but I can't blog about it since it's so private...") drives me nuts. I hate it when people do that. I won't be a vague-blogger. But I am left with kind of a dilemma. Mostly I post cute pictures and recap stuff we've done. And occasionally I'll write a more "deep" post about my feelings about something usually adoption related. But I very rarely blog about the more intimate details of our lives, the real ups and downs we have around here. Since it's just Elizabeth and me, with no one else to dilute things, it can get pretty intense. E is an amazing, awesome kid, but oooh yeah, we have our challenges. It's hard for me to blog about the hard parts for a couple reasons, 1- the privacy issue, and 2- I guess a big part of me feels afraid of being judged as a parent if I write openly about our struggles. It just seems easier to post smiling pics of us at Disney on Ice and not go into all of the other stuff. Now just to be clear, our "challenges" are not anything out of the ordinary. I'm not keeping some deep dark secret (not being a vague-blogger, I promise!). Basically I'm just talking about the ordinary challenges that a single working mom and her kid go through. How much is ok to blog about? Often, I think I'd like to get into more personal stuff (sometimes a mama needs to vent, ya know?), but it feels like an invasion of E's privacy so I don't. If our pictures and names weren't already out there on this blog, maybe I would feel more free to. But since they are, I feel limited in what I can/will share. I'm not complaining. More just thinking out loud. I actually like my blog (if I do say so myself ;). I think it will be a great record for E of her childhood. And while I sometimes would love to vent about the more challenging things around here, because it would be nice to get the support (being a single mom can be tough, people!), I won't give up my daughter's privacy to do it. So I guess I just keep going how I've been going, lots of cute pics and recaps of the fun stuff E does. Because that stuff is real, as real as all the mundane stuff that doesn't get blogged about.
I would love to get any of your thoughts about the privacy issue, all you mommy bloggers out there. Where do you draw the line about what you will blog about?

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My first time guest posting!

 Tammy, over at I Must Be Trippin' was calling for guest posts from people about how Foster Care has touched their lives. I decided to contribute, something I've never done before. Tammy is a Foster Mom extraordinaire. What I love is how she has maintained such close relationships with the children who have been in her home, and their families, once the children have left her.
Go check out Tammy's blog and my post. Mine is the second one. I plan to actually do a little tweaking of that post, and put it up here as it's own page, since it tells my story leading up to Foster Care and adoption, and I haven't gone into that at all on this blog.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend:)
 

Social Media is taking over my life, and I kinda like it!!

So...I finally checked out Pinterest yesterday.  I know, late to the party as always...Well, I liked it, which is probably not a good thing...Like I need to spend more time on the computer...sigh...oh well...

I also made a Facebook "All About Elizabeth" page...Yup...social media addict here...

Anyway...you can follow me on FB and Pinterest by clicking on the badges on the right hand side.  I don't have too much on either of them yet, but I will be adding stuff shortly.

Also...don't forget to click on the brown banner above to help me move up the ranks on Top Mommy Blogs!  You can do that one time a day.  Thank you!!!

Boy this blog is getting crowded with all these buttons!

Sometimes...

Ok, so I'm feeling like this blog just focuses on the happy, fun stuff.  I don't want to give the impression that our lives here are perfect, or that it's all a breeze.  'Cause it ain't!   I know I appreciate "mommy blogs" that are honest and talk about real life stuff.  So I thought I'd write a little bit about some of the challenges we have here.  Before I do, I just want to say, the happy fun stuff I post about is real.  We have lots and lots of great times, and our lives are pretty darn good.   There is a lot of love and laughter in our little household.  But in the interest of keeping this blog "real"...

Sometimes...

-I lose my patience
-I let E watch too much TV
-the cost of full time Day Care makes me cry
-I get annoyed when a mother who's husband goes away for few days refers to herself as a "single parent"
-I hate having to work full time, even though I should be grateful that I have a job
-I hate going to the playground and would really rather just stay in and read
-I feel really guilty that E is in Day Care 9 hours a day
-E can at times be defiant and not too nice to me
-E puts up so much fuss when I try to do her hair that I now take her to a beauty salon regularly to avoid the stress
-I worry that I'm not explaining adoption well enough to her
-I feel sad that I probably won't adopt again
-I feel like a loser because we live in a rented apartment, instead of owning a house or condo
-E still sleeps with me, and I like it, but miss being able to read in bed before going to sleep
-I forget to be grateful for all that we do have...

PS: Don't forget to click on the brown button on the right to vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs.  Thanks!! :)

Vote for me maybe!

See that brown button on the right, that says "vote for us!"  Please click on that button, and you will be voting for my blog on "Top Mommy Blogs."  Right now I'm ranked #16 in the adoption blogs category.  Help me move up!!  You can vote for me once a day by clicking that button.  Pretty please...???  As a reward, I will offer you this very brief rendition by E of "Call Me Maybe."  :)

Resolutions update

Since we are half way through 2012 (!!!!), I thought I'd give an update on how my New Years Resolutions are going...I first blogged about my resolutions back in January here and here.  My two main resolutions were to 1) "be a better blogger,"" and 2) lose weight, be healthier.

So how have I been doing?  Let's see...

1) Be a better blogger... I've been doing fairly well on this one, I'd say.  I was not able to blog every day in January like I wanted to.  Somehow I just couldn't get it done (it's harder than it sounds!).  However, I have definitely been blogging more frequently than I was.  And, I (finally) did a complete blog makeover.  It took me forever (and that's only a slight exageration) to figure out how to do it, but I did it, and I kinda like it, if I do say so myself :)  Also, I've been making a point of trying to comment more on other people's blogs.  So, while I have room for improvment in this area, and lots of ideas for posts that I haven't written yet, I think I've been doing ok on this one...

2) Lose weight, be healthier...Actually yes, I've been doing this...Since February, I've lost a buncha weight :)  Thanks to kicking out just about all food that I enjoy processed foods, diet soda, and beer, plus working out regularly at the Y, I've made that number on the scale go down :)  And I definitely feel better (no more "carbo comas" or food hangovers)  Just hope I can keep this up!!!!!


 Just for comparison, below is a picture from July 2011, then a picture from July 2012. 



July 2011



July 2012

So...that's where I'm at right now...still a work in progress, and actually, I'm cool with that.  I think we should always be growing and evolving.  Otherwise, what's the point, right? 

Hmmm...this has been a pretty "all about me" post, hasn't it...?  Isn't this blog supposed to be "all about Elizabeth?"  No worries, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming shortly :)

Anyone out there want to share their progress on their New Year's resolutions?  Love to hear from you (especially you lurkers out there, you know who you are :)

Blog make over

So, I decided that this blog was long overdue for a makeover.  I really don't know what I'm doing, but I stayed up half the night last night playing around with different banners, etc.  I thought this banner looked bright and summery, and reflects E's love of the water.  What I really want is to be able to put two or three photos in the header, also, but I don't seem to be able to figure out how to do that.  I see it on tons of other blogs, so I know it's possible, I just can't do it myself.  So if anyone out there reading this can give me some pointers, that would be great!  :)

Vote for me, pretty please?? *UPDATED*

So, I decided to enter a little mommy blog contest on Circle of Moms, just for the fun of it. I entered in the adoption blog category. There are about 2 weeks left to pick the top 25 blogs. You can vote 1 time per day, by clicking on the sign below. So if you feel like sending me some bloggy love, hop on over and gimme your vote :)

4/12/12:Update: Never mind, the contest has been cancelled by Circle of Moms

Oops, missed a day...

Well, so much for blogging every day in January...I missed yesterday. I had every intention of blogging after Elizabeth went to bed, but I fell asleep along with her :) Oh well, I'll keep trying...

We had a great Sunday. Our friend Maria took E to Church, so I got a couple of hourse to myself :) The only problem was, Maria brought Elizabeth back about a half hour later than I was expecting. My mind automatically went into "worst possible case scenario" mode. Maria doesn't use a cell phone, so I couldn't call her. By the time they came back, I was convinced they were both unconscious in a hospital, with no way to identify E or how to reach me. Ugg...Let's just say, I was sooooo happy when I saw them pull up to Maria's house, where I was waiting.

Later, my mom and I took Elizabeth to a children's show that my mom had baught tickets for. It wasn't exactly what we expected, and was kind of slow, but E did ok, and it was fun to get out to do something different. Afterward, we went to my parents', where E got to ride her bike (still no snow here- amazing!!) and play with the neighbors' kids.

All in all, it was a great weekend!

New Year's resolutions

I'm usually not big on New Year's resolutions, but for some reason, this year I feel inspired to make a few, some of which I'll probably blog about in the coming weeks. But for right now, I want to say that one of my goals for 2012 is to be a better blogger, and to post more often. To start with, I'm trying to update my template, but I'm not too savvy about how to go about it, so I'm kind of figuring it out as I go along. I'm making a few tweaks to the blog design here and there, as you might notice. I may end up outsourcing, and getting someone else to do a complete blog makeover for me. It depends on how frustrated I get trying to do it myself :) The other thing I'm going to attempt to start the year is to post every day in January...I'm going to try!! Even if it's only a picture, I'm going to at least try to get something on here each day of this month. Wish me luck, lol! Ok, off to bed now...my cute little alarm clock goes off early in the morning :)

This and that...

Well, it's been a while...Trying to be a more consistant blogger, but honestly, there hasn't been too much blog worthy stuff going on lately. Just the usual routine of working, Day Care, cooking, cleaning, sleeping...with some fun stuff thrown in on the weekends...lather, rinse, repeat. I'm not complaining. I love our little family life. I do wish I could work just part time. I would love to have more time to keep our apt as clean as I would like, and cook the meals I'd like us to eat. Oh well...
I do have one exciting piece of news...I'm running away from home!! For 4 days, anyway...On 11/10, I'm going to Texas by myself (!!!) to visit a friend of mine who I've known for 23 years, but haven't seen for almost 10. I am sooo excited, but a little nervous too. Elizabeth will stay with our friend Maria while I'm gone. I know she'll be fine, but I've never been apart from her for so long, or so far away. So while I am counting down the days til my little vacay, I do feel some Mommy guilt about leaving her for 4 days. However, Elizabeth is very comfortable with Maria, so I know they'll have a great time together. I'll miss my girl...

Here's a picture E's teacher emailed from school. My preschooler hard at work :)

Blogger ate my last post!

Well, I did have a kind of "catch up" post up, I posted it on Wednesday. However, Blogger has had some problems over the last couple of days and so my last post has dissappeared. Hmmm...