Saturday, February 26, 2011

Fun Father-in-Law Facts

  • He loves his family
  • He loves his family a lot
  • He’s supportive & encouraging
    Growing up, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my Grandpa loved me, and was proud of me, and would be there in a second no matter what I needed.  I was confident in his love more than any other person in my life. I can see that my FIL will be the same way with his grandkids.  It makes my heart happy. 
  • Popular artists when he graduated high school were REO Speedwagon and Journey, as opposed to The Monkees, Aretha Franklin or The Doors who were popular when my dad graduated.  (This fact is more fun for my FIL than my Dad…then again, if we’re going for the music solely and not the date reference, my FIL may have gotten the short end of the stick.)
  • He is a Navy veteran.  I’m really proud of that fact, for two reasons.  1) My enormous respect for the military and 2) I think it was good for his family.
  • He loves to share.  He also loves sweets.  So, he particularly enjoys sharing sweets.  You turn down a cookie he offers you, and he gets that look on his face like a puppy that got left out in the rain.  You get the point. 
  • Actually, now that I think about it, he’s like a puppy in more ways than one.  He’s about as loyal as Lassie. 
  • He won’t be the least bit offended that I just compared him to a dog.  He’ll know what I meant.
  • Best. FIL. Ever.  Just sayin’

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Love/Hate

·         Country music
o   Love:   Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, Zac Brown Band
o   Hate:  Jason Aldean, Sugarland
·         Colors
o   Love:  blue, green, yellow
o   Hate:  fuchsia
·         Food to cook with
o   Love:  jalapenos
o   Hate:  cilantro
·         Actors
o   Love:  Jimmy Stewart
o   Hate:  Megan Fox
·         Animals
o   Love:  horses, dogs, giraffes
o   Hate:  snakes
·         TV shows
o   Love:  The Office, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist
o   Hate:  most reality shows
·         Movie genres
o   Love:  comedy, military
o   Hate:  horror
·         Weather
o   Love:  warm & sunny
o   Hate:  cold & snow
·         Dessert
o   Love:  coconut cream pie
o   Hate:  most types of cheesecake

Thursday, February 17, 2011

My Thoughts on Love

Valentine’s Day was this week.  I went all out and gifted my husband with…nothing.  I’m sweet and romantic like that.  Don’t worry, he didn’t get me anything either.  We did go out to eat the week before in celebration, or at least that’s what I said to justify eating at Logan’s.  Really I just wanted an excuse for someone to cook me steak.  I love steak.  It’s the way to my heart.  Just ask Dean.  He took me out for steak on our first date and look where it got him.  I went on a date with a guy in college who took me out for Sushi.  I don’t even remember his name.  Sorry, I may have gotten a little off topic.  I don’t think the point of this post was steak.  What was it again?  Oh yeah, love.  Aside from steak, I also love my husband.  I may even love him MORE than steak.  I think love is a little misunderstood, though. 
Love isn’t buying chocolates and flowers once a year.  Love isn’t even a feeling.  Well, it is that too, and it definitely starts that way.  But love isn’t just a feeling.  If you rely simply on the emotion, love won’t last.  There’s just too much stuff to get in the way.  Life gets in the way.  True love has to be an action.  I love my husband, so I show him that I trust him, that I respect him.  He loves me, so he makes it known that he values my opinion.  Actions.  Big actions like following his lead on a decision, even though it’s risky and kind of scary.  Small actions like scraping the ice off my windshield because he knows I hate the cold and doesn’t want me to have to be in it any longer than is necessary.  It goes beyond just a marriage relationship, though.  Love should be an action in any relationship.  I love my daughter by talking to her, and showing her attention.  Our Sunday School class loved us by bringing us meals after we had Dinah.  My mother-in-law loved us by making cookies and shipping them to us when we didn’t have a working oven.  I hope you’ll think of love as it should be, an action more than a feeling. 

Monday, February 7, 2011

Favorite Things

It’s fun to start seeing Dinah’s preferences emerge, as her personality and tastes evolve more and more.  In some ways she’s a typical baby, and in some ways she’s a little quirky.  Sometimes her preferences change as her mood changes, but there are some consistent favorites. 
Meet the Love Bug. 


She occasionally plays with other toys, but this is her absolute favorite.  When I offer it to her, her eyes light up, and she waves her little arms and reaches for it.  

She stares at it...

and jabbers to it, and of course, sticks it in her mouth.  It’s so much fun to see her reaction to it, and how much she enjoys playing with it. 













Another favorite:  the changing table

I’m not really sure why she loves the changing table, but she does.  She can be upset and crying, and when you lay her on the changing table, she stops crying and starts smiling.  I’m wondering if it has to do with the fact that she hates having a wet or dirty diaper, and she knows that’s the place where her discomfort goes away.  Whatever the reason, I find it amusing.  I think another reason she likes the changing table is that it gives her the opportunity to play with another favorite toy…



Her feet. 
She looks at, and jabbers to, and chews on her feet, much like her beloved Lovebug.  She prefers to play with her feet when they’re bare, though.  Socks just get in the way. 






Thursday, February 3, 2011

Spotlight on Family: Mother-in-Law

One of the things my husband and I have in common is that we both have a mother.  Oh, everybody has a mother?  Hmm… Well, we still have it in common. 

First of all, I will tell you that I am lucky, no blessed, to have a mother-in-law with whom I get along nicely.  I realize that is not an extremely common thing, and I am very glad for that.  She’s different from my own mother in that 1) she did not give birth to me, 2) she understands football, and 3) she shares a birth year with this car:

As opposed to my mother, who shares a birth year with this car:

And, now that my own mother has disowned me, let’s move on with my mother-in-law. 
She differs from a lot of MIL’s (we’re going to abbreviate mother-in-law from here on out, okay?) because when it comes to my husband and me, she is supportive and not pushy.  In most cases, she will give her opinion and then step back and let us do what we think is best.  We respect her opinion, but sometimes we determine the best thing for our family is to do something different, and she understands that.  See?  Told you I was blessed.  She is happy to do anything to help her granddaughters, and loves to spend time with them, even if that means changing a stinky, messy, dirty diaper.  
I love her.  And, it's not just because she’s been known to make me cookies and UPS them to me…although that helps.