I have thoughts #7

+ Imogen's first birthday is in four days. FOUR DAYS. She has the best personality, and I can't wait to see what that personality looks like as she gets even bigger (not that I'm wishing time along or anything!). She's sweet and silly and loves to make us laugh. She will grunt and squeal at strangers until they have no choice but to look in her direction so she can give them a big toothy grin and wave at them. She will try a few bites of almost any food we give her, but isn't a very big eater and makes me a little worried about what will happen when we start swapping out formula for milk soon. She has been a decent sleeper for the last couple of months, but in the last few weeks, her sleep has gone to absolute crap and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to fix it. Despite only getting about 9 hours of sleep at night and 2 hours of naps during the day, she's still the happiest baby and is rarely cranky.

She has 8 teeth and reddish blonde hair (just like Isaiah's mom and my grandma) and we joke that the reason she's obsessed with blueberries is because she needs to eat a lot of them in order to keep her eyes the color that they are. She isn't walking on her own yet, but she's getting braver by the day and is finally willing to use her walker to go back and forth in the kitchen without sitting down after only a couple of steps because it makes her too nervous. She loves to climb the stairs (praise God for baby gates) and chase the cat and she can even point out the kitties and doggies and ducks in her picture book.

Sometimes, I can't believe it's been a year since she was born. Most of the time, I REALLY can't believe it's been a year since I spent 27 hours in labor.

+ With Blogger/Google being stupid and not fixing the comment issue so many people are having, it seems many people are turning to Disqus to solve the problem instead. Confession: I hate Disqus with the fire of a thousand suns, and I can't bring myself to comment on blogs that use it. I hate having to sign in, I hate that it doesn't work half the time and/or I can't remember my log in, and to be honest, I really don't like my comment being replied to right there in someone's comment section. Reminds me too much of Facebook and it feels a lot less personal.  I've had some really good discussions about various topics with people via email, spurred by something they said in the blog, and I feel like that relationship aspect of blogging is basically shoved aside when all you get is a quick response right below your original comment.

+ Isaiah bought me a new laptop for my birthday a few weeks ago! I've been using my Macbook (that he also bought me for one of our first married Christmases) for something like 7 years, and while it's held up fairly well considering, it was just getting slower and slower and not functioning like I wanted it to, even after taking it to the computer doctor in town and having it cleaned and updated and more memory installed. Not to mention, I've been wanting to go back to a Windows computer for a while now. I like my iPhone and iPad just fine, but I spent all day every day on a Windows PC at my job the last 15-ish years, and a lot of Mac functions just don't work the same way that Windows functions do, and the way I'm used to. I was tired of not having an actual "delete" button, I got tired of the function/control/option/command buttons all doing weird things I wasn't used to, and I find it a lot easier to organize folders on a Windows OS as well. So...hi, Hewlett-Packard, nice to meet you.

Also, hey Apple, how about a print screen button? Who even remembers shift + command + 4 every time they need a screenshot? (I had to Google it AGAIN just to add that line to this post.)

+ My mom is flying up day after tomorrow for Imogen's birthday, will spend a few days here afterward, and then we're all headed back to Washington together for a little vacation. Imogen and Isaiah and I are headed to Mt. Rainier where we've rented an Airbnb cabin on the Cowlitz River, and the plan is to 1. relax, 2. hike, 3. relax, 4. hike, and 5. relax. I could not be more excited about this plan. I've been obsessively searching Instagram hashtags like "packwoodwa" and "mtrainiernationalpark" in preparation for this trip.

+ I feel like July is the new IT month for us. July of 2016, we went to Iceland. July 2017, we had a baby. July 2018, I finally get to do some hiking at Mt. Rainier - which you'd think I would have done having grown up in Washington, but I haven't. I'm starting to like July a little bit.

Life Lately #18

Reading: Nothing. It's terrible. I started Spaceman WEEKS ago and haven't even touched it since the first chapter. It's not that it wasn't interesting - it actually grabbed me right away - I just never think to read during Imogen's naps, there are so many other things I'd rather be doing these days. At this rate I'm never going to meet my reading goal for 2018. Although we are going on vacation in a few weeks, and maybe I'll get some reading in then.

Watching: America's Got Talent on Hulu. Does anyone else watch this show? Isaiah and I have a theory that they let some of the awful people be on just so they can have someone to kick off every now and then. We're also suspicious that they're planted because some of these people are just so. bad. Last night there was a (very cute, I will admit) elderly couple from Cuba who were "dancers." I was expecting some amazing ballroom dancing routine. Nope. All they did was bump and grind (badly) to "Talk Dirty to Me." It wasn't gross, but it was...awkward?? AND THEY GOT THREE YES VOTES. You can watch it here if you want to see their "dance routine." I do think Mel B was a little too offended. I'm not really a fan of hers. 

Listening to: The new Snow Patrol album!! Also Isaiah's heavy breathing because he's working out in the kitchen. Yes, the kitchen. That's how small our house is.

Eating: Next to no carbs. I've done pretty well, but the other night I was craving ice cream like my life depended on it. Thankfully it was 10pm when the craving hit and mama ain't going to the store at 10:00 at night, no thanks.

Loving: My new lavender hair! No picture, sorry. I'll think about posting one on Instagram soon. Get this, though. Nobody in town sells purple shampoo for blonde/silver (or lavender) hair. There's only one store I haven't checked, but it's a really small grocery store so I seriously doubt they have it. Even our drug store didn't have any. So, I had to do a quick Ulta order and hopefully my hair doesn't turn brassy before next week when my shampoo is supposed to get here.

Annoyed with: Movie and television plots that force female heroes just so they can say they had a female hero. I'm fine with strong female characters, obviously...but I don't appreciate my gender as a whole being used as a pawn for some social justice cause that doesn't even exist.

Creating: Multiple DIY projects for Imogen's birthday party. We don't have the luxury of a Target/Walmart/party store/Joann/Michaels or anything of the sort here, so I'm having to order literally everything online. And it's cheaper just to make certain things myself than have to buy them. So, like, a three tiered cupcake stand...gonna hit the thrift store, find a trio of mismatched yet coordinating china plates and (hopefully) some pretty candlesticks, grab some epoxy, and make my own darn cupcake stand.

Laughing at: The show Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It's really stupid (and nothing will ever measure up to The Office as far as I'm concerned) and it took me a while to get into it, but the last few episodes we've watched have actually been pretty funny. We're still on season 1, so hopefully it continues to get better.

Disappointed with: The latest season of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The first couple seasons were so funny. I don't know if I even laughed once watching this most current season. It's just gotten really weird and like they've kind of run out of jokes, they make a lot of references to people and things that I don't understand, the characters have just gotten really weird...meh. Probably won't even bother with the show anymore, to be honest.

Feeling: A little scattered lately. There's just a lot going on with life and family right now and my brain doesn't feel like it's functioning at 100%!

Hoping: That it works out for my mom to still fly up for Imogen's first birthday, because she hasn't even seen her since Christmas. The aforementioned "life and family" stuff involves my dad (for those who don't know, he has Alzheimer's) and there are a few things that need to fall into place quickly, both for his sake and so my mom can take a break from the stress and come up to visit us for a little bit. 

Anticipating: Opening my new Etsy shop next week! Keep an eye on Instagram, I'll post about it there when the time comes. Hint: It has nothing to do with crocheting.