Baby Luvin' 08.30.06
If there's a baby in the vicinity, my dad will find it. Him luvs babies. I'm thinking he's pretty much ready for the second Lawton grandchild to be born.
This shot was taken at Kristin's baby shower and the baby pictured is not hers, rather the sweet chubby munchkin baby belongs to her good friend Daya. Kris and Adam's baby girl already has lots of female playmates built in. I know Livia is already planning on rubbing her cousin's head (it borders on obsession, her desire to rub babies' heads) and giving "big hugs" to her when she arrives.
Thank heaven for little girls.
Five Pints 08.29.06
Though I was a bit hesitant to get started, canning was all I could think about late last week as a huge load of tomatoes began the process of decaying on my kitchen counter. I borrowed a large canner with a rack from a friend, purchased a jar lifter and wide-mouthed funnel from a hardware store of all places (thanks, TG!), had two girlfriends and my mom on call, waited for Punkin Baby to take a nap, and then jumped right in. I used one Mrs. Wages salsa seasoning packet and, voila, now I am the proud owner of five pints of homemade salsa.
At the time the steam clouds disappeared from the room, however, I wasn't so proud of my handiwork. ALL that labor and effort, all that tomato juice that splurched uncontrollably over my countertops, all the boiling of jars and lids and salsa -- and only five glass jars to show for it? But then, something greatly encouraging happened: Renae oooohed and aaaahed over my jars, calling them "beautiful" and other such complimentary words. Her sweet cheering lifted my soul and made me proud of what I had accomplished for the first time.
Go ooh and aah over someone's five pints today. I'm sure there's a tired canner near you who needs a cheerleader.
Pressure Cooker/Canner 08.22.06
I'm looking for a pressure cooker/canning system or even just the equipment required for canning with a simple water bath. Anyone have one they'd like to sell? Leave a comment or email me directly. Thanks!
Somewhere out there is a Blind Mr. Potato Head
This, THIS!, is the part of parenting that I adore. Whereas I'm completely obsessed with appearances when it comes to public tantrums and fits, I'm the kind of mom who thinks a huge noggin covered by teeny green glasses is hilarious. Last Thursday Liv wore a pair of yellow ones (perhaps belonging to Mrs. Potato Head) into HyVee. This girls cracks me up.
The Weekend 08.21.06
* Friday night saw the addition of the newest Tredway to our household. (In order to do this properly, I'll add photos later.) I would like to introduce the world to: Betta "Goldfish" Tredway. He's blue, has fins, and lives in a water-filled glass bowl. What's not to love? Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Livia's passion is now a reality.
* By Saturday morning the main floor of my house was sparkly clean and filled with a bevy of lovely women, and a few good men, celebrating the impending arrival of Baby Girl Lawton. Kristin's belly is growing delightfully and we're all eagerly awaiting the day we get to hold this child in our arms. I can't quite find the words to express how thrilled I am to become an aunt for the first time... Suffice to say I feel duty-bound to purchase every cute pink item I see for sale. Isn't that what an aunt's supposed to do?
* After a busy weekend (which also contained Miami Vice and a great martini bridal shower, separately of course), Sunday worship at Zion was food for my hungry soul. For the first time in a long while, we attended the late service and I found the music to be incredibly worshipful. What I both like and dislike about the late service is that it's very well-attended. The sheer mass of voices made chorus and hymn singing feel like we were blowing the roof off with praises to the Eternal King -- it filled my heart with joy at a time where I felt somewhat lacking in the joy category. I want to throw out a big bloggy thank you to Karen Choi who continuously labors to lead and make music at Zion. Thanks, Karen. You do a wonderful job week in, week out, and we all appreciate you.
* Finally, sweetly, delightfully, a Sunday evening walk through the neighborhood. Anyone else LOVING the lightweight August temps we're experiencing in Lincoln? A little downtime with Jeremy, Livia and a few pb&j's wrapped up the weekend in a very peaceful kind of way.
Reading & Appreciating 08.18.06
John Rosemond's parenting column in the Lincoln Journal Star:
One does not have to teach antisocial beahvior to toddlers. They are by nature violent, deceitful, destructive, rebellious and prone to sociopathic rages if they do not get their way. Example: A 2-year-old who has never experienced, witnessed, or even heard described an act of violence will slap his mother across the face or bite her most accessible body part if she dares deny him a cookie and then ventures too close to his tantrum. Toddlers are convinced that the rules do not apply to them, that they are under no obligation to obey legitimate authority, that in fact is is they who are to be obeyed. It is surely a measure of either God's mercy or the purposefulness of evolution that unlike other mammals, human beings to do not grow to full size in one or two years.Socializing the toddler is the Single Biggest Challenge of Parenthood.
Hallelujah! Someone understands my life!!! Thank you, Mr. Rosemond, for a healthy dose of empathy and encouragement during the exact moment I need it most.
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She Got Up Off the Couch, by Haven Kimmel
The couch in the den was the color the crayon people called Flesh even thought it resembled no human or animal flesh on Planet Earth, and the couch fabric was nubbled in a pattern of diamonds. It was best to prevent the nubbles from coming into direct contact with one's real Flesh, so there was usually a blanket or a towel or clothing spread out as a buffer. Also no one wanted to pick up the blanket, the towel, and the clothing and fold them. Or even pick them up. So it was a fine arrangement.
This book is Kimmel's follow-up to her earlier memoir A Girl Named Zippy. The author is hilariously detailed in recording her childhood memories and I've enjoyed this set of memories as much as the last. I'm not yet halfway through the book, so I've got more to go, but one story in particular about her father's encounter with a nest of rats had me laughing out loud. Good stuff.
Quiet in the House 08.14.06
Every mom knows she should worry when it gets quiet in the house. After a few minutes of dead quiet, I rounded the kitchen corner to find my daughter. And there she was, lips painted ever so slightly with Burt's Bees Nutmeg Lip Shimmer. Her left hand clutched the exposed tube of chapstick, her right hand held the cap, and between her sparkling white baby teeth was chunk of Nutmeg. Niiiiice. After last night's hairbrush-caught-in-her-teeth fiasco (truly priceless, yet unphotographed), I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a shot for the blog.
Sculpture Garden III 08.10.06
Grrr... I'm trying to figure out how to place my Flickr pics onto my blog in the right size. Anyone have a suggestion for me? Help!
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Keith, thanks for the help!
I'm new at this Flickr thing and, as my husband well knows, I tend to be slow to change. I was reluctant to start blogging and I'm still dragging my feet with Flickr. I like the idea of Flickr but it kind of freaks me out a bit, too. I feel much more in control of my photographs here on the Prairie Box (what is there to control? you might wonder, rightly so). I'm not too fond of the idea of random and unknown bloggers posting my pictures, but then again, I've never been much of a group project person when it comes to creative assignments. Also, I admit I'm totally intimidated when it comes to the a-ma-zing photography on Flickr. Instead of propelling me to go and do likewise, I feel like giving up this hobby because so many people are so much better at it than I am. Silly, but true. Anyhow, Renae's been after me for a long time to get aboard the Flickr train. So here I am... With a Pro Account on my birthday/Christmas wishlist.
Two Years, Three Months
Dear Livia,
Even though earlier today I told your Uncle Adam that I just may have the worst job in the world, I was wrong. This photo shows why I have the best job in the world. It may perhaps be the hardest job as well, but smiles like these go a long way in easing the stress of it all. You are in the middle of the toddler testing phase and I can't even count how many times you were forced onto the Naughty Spot this past week. This discipline gig is not an easy one, especially when you say "I'm sorry" before you even make it to the Spot for two minutes. I still don't like it when you cry, but I've discovered I don't like it at all when you do things like throw your chicken nuggets on the floor at Burger King (or bite Mommy in unbloggable locations, or chuck your sippy off your highchair, etc etc etc). But the smiles and hugs and sweet caresses you've recently been giving, those lovely things make my job the most beautiful one imaginable.
Love,
Mama
Beautiful 08.09.06
Remember this blushing bride of a year ago? Well, today's her birthday.
The Tredways love you, Nae Nae! Happy birthday!
Why Blog? 08.07.06
Blogging is a strange medium that has great potential for allowing misperceptions and miscommunication to run rampant. To put it bluntly, you may not really know me if you only read my blog. Like any other blogger, I pick and choose what I post in this space and my readers get a very skewed version of Rebecca Tredway because of my picking and choosing. Recently I've had numerous conversations with close friends about the oddness of blogging. Sometimes a blogger's voice truly shines through his words, and at other times a blogger's posts don't reflect his personality at all. I've heard of bloggy crushes that have developed based on a perception that is far removed from reality, and I myself have quit reading blogs because my own perceptions created frustration and irritation with the particular blogger.
All in all, I think there needs to be a lot of grace issued in the blogging world. Grace to understand that messages recorded in print may not tell the full story, that comments listed may not truly reflect one's heart, and that each item posted simply records a moment in time, that the blogger herself may change her mind on the same topic tomorrow.
Finally, these conversations with friends (in particular, one with my dear friend Sarah late last night) have pushed me to question, why blog? Here's the best answer I've come up with...
I blog for three reasons. One, blogging is a fabulous creative outlet. I'm able to combine two passions -- writing and photography -- into one small space on the web. Sentences have a way of composing themselves in my head, and if I'm smart enough to record them quickly, I end up having great fun with words. I have loved to twist, turn, manipulate and create with the English language as long as I remember. Most everything I write here is factually true, but I admit I take a writer's liberty with the telling of it. As a child I'd hear my mom relating a story on the phone and I'd think, Wait! She's not telling it right!! The truth was that my mother was telling her own story, complete with the nuances important to her. That's exactly what I do here. Okay, back to my three reasons for blogging. The second reason I blog is that The Prairie Box is my personal Soap Box -- it's my chance to speak my opinion freely on matters like breastfeeding, public schooling, child advocacy and politics. In the same manner, I can give personal opinions on movies, books and television programs. Lastly and most recently, blogging has become my kid's scrapbook. I am far too perfectionistic to create decent scrapbooks by hand, but the blog allows me to post photos and memories of Livia's baby years. (Many a time I've wanted to retitle the blog, "The Livia Project" since it's mostly about her!)
Any thoughts on all this? Why do YOU blog?
Easter Bunnies on My Soles 08.02.06
The only thing worse than stepping on toy cars in the dark is, perhaps, stepping blindly on plastic cookie cutters. The bottoms of my feet have now experienced the piercing pain understood only by a cold blob of sugar cookie dough.
World Breastfeeding Week 08.01.06
Title makes you a bit squeamish? That's okay—I experienced a similar reaction when first reading about WBF on Kristen's blog, This Classical Life.
Today I began leaving a comment on her first blog post this week and I realized it really should be posted on my own space in the WWW. So here 'tis:
I was a breasted baby and grew up around people who breastfed, so honestly I didn't understand the important of WBF—until now. I recently heard a statistic that went something like this: a majority of the American public thinks it is inappropriate to breastfeed in public and an even larger percentage (71%?) think breastfeeding is indecent when shown on tv. Now, I'm just repeating what I've heard/read and I don't have the proof in front of me, nor do I know what the actual survey stated, but still, the notions behind these statistics are absurd! Breastfeeding is GOOD and DECENT (when a bit of discretion is used, of course) and is a GOD-GIVEN way to feed babies. I find it hard to believe that it's considered appropriate to show breasts in sexually suggestive ways on television but not as a way of feeding a child (you know, the same child that was carried in the same woman's womb for nine months). Also, I wonder if the "public" is aware of how often a newborn infant eats…. To say it's inappropriate for a woman to breastfeed her child in public is like saying this same woman doesn't deserve to live outside her home for more than an hour or two at a time. Ridiculous.
I will never be a militant supporter of breastfeeding and I do believe some women go overboard in their methods to support it. I do wish that well-intentioned people would quit asking me if I've heard about breastfeeding adopted babies (for the record, yes, I have) and I do wish that breastfeeding and bottle-feeding mamas alike would support one another's choices. There's way too much judgment flying around women in this arena and it only serves to make someone feel guilty about the choices they've made.
Still, I find it hard to believe how uncomfortable the general public is with breastfeeding. I'd be more blunt with my thoughts here, but well, I'm trying to keep this blog rated G. Or, maybe PG-13.
