Motherhood: Season 1

Children, Train Up Your Parents

2009-08-20T08:40:00.002-05:00

I know that I will have a lot to teach Emmeline one day. The inevitable day will come when she learns to talk, and in addition to all the I-love-you-Mommy's come the you-can't-make-me's and the i-do-it-myself's and of course the simple "no". It may be short, and sweet, but oh, so much rebellion comes packed into those two little letters! However, these days, even though I am supposedly bigger, stronger, and smarter than little Emmeline, I find more and more that it is she who is teaching me.

She teaches me to be a morning person. Every day I get her out of bed and she is happy, alert, and has a huge smile on her face. She did not get that from either of her parents! Speaking for myself, I almost always wake up grouchy--at least I used to. In order to keep up with her, I am learning to get up earlier and with a better attitude. It's still a struggle, but that is when Emmeline most wants to have quality time with me, and if she can give me her best at 6:00 am, then I should be able to give her my best as well.

She reminds me to keep my priorities straight. This is also one of the blessings of being a working mother. If I have to choose between dishes, or family, I've decided to choose family every time--or at least until we run out of dishes. I have 30 minutes in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening, and she is growing up fast. Life is too short to spend it all on chores. Our house may be a disaster, but please excuse the mess--I'm making memories.

Emmeline shows me joyful contentment in action. Emmeline has been blessed with a closetful of clothes and toys, but how is she happiest? In her diaper, being held by Mommy or Daddy. Instinctively, she knows that people are more important than things. This is something I could do well to remember the next time I grow dissatisfied with the items in my closet. I pray this is something she doesn't grow out of--or worse, something I train out of her with my tendencies towards materialism.

Emmeline also demonstrates childlike faith to me. She can't talk yet, but the way she looks at Josh and I says, "I trust you completely." If that isn't proof enough, then watch the way she tries to climb, leap, or roll out of our arms. She has no fear--she knows that whatever happens, Mommy or Daddy will catch her. It's both an awesome blessing and a huge responsibility to be on the receiving end of faith like that.

I have to admit I sometimes wonder at the idea that I'm supposed to be the mature one. There I stand, pettily complaining about rude customers at work, or the lack of sweets in our pantry, and Emmeline cries out to be held. She just wants her mommy, and she is satisfied. If only I longed for my Heavenly Father the way she longs for her parents, maybe I would be more content too.

9 Reasons Why Emmeline Makes Me Smile

2009-08-09T18:11:00.004-05:00

1. Big, open-toothed grins
2. Funny faces galore
3. So much to say for someone who can't talk
4. Giant-sized determination in a pint-sized body
5. Warm, cuddly snuggles every day!
6. Big, curious eyes that want to see everything that's going on
7. Looks of joyful, contentment whenever she knows her mommy and daddy are watching her.
8. Dainty fingers and toes
9. Pink dresses, ruffles, and bows!

Who makes you smile, and why? Make that the 10th item on my list!

New Layout

2009-08-09T10:31:00.001-05:00

The last one didn't have enough pizzaz for Emmie and me.

You're Never too Young for Read Alouds

2009-07-26T21:53:00.002-05:00

This Little Piggy?

2009-07-24T19:22:00.001-05:00

Motherhood does some funny things to your brain cells. For instance, here is the version of "This Little Piggy" that I have so sweetly been reciting to Emmeline recently:

This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy had none.
This little piggy had roast beef.
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy went wee, wee, wee--all the way home.

She's Irresistible!

2009-07-23T08:48:00.005-05:00

Josh sent me this picture at work yesterday. It's from Emmie's afternoon nap. She loves silky things. She loves to rub her face in them (this includes--in addition to the blanket pictured--a pair of Mommy's silky pajama pants, and the underside of her lovey). Is this girl a princess, or what? She has very cultivated tastes for an 11 week old. I'm looking forward to mommy-daughter spa days when she gets older.

I'm going to have to get a picture of her doing her new favorite sport: walking. No, not on her own (she may be a genius, but she's not THAT advanced!). She gets so excited when you stand her up, and she loves to try and take steps. I love watching her wobble around on those little bowlegs while she tries to figure out what to do with her feet. She always has the most excited look on her face when we help her stand up. I'm pretty sure we have an independent, strong-willed daughter. I don't know where she could have gotten that from! I'm thankful for it though--it might make disciplining hard later on, but if she keeps this attitude up, she can conquer anything she sets her mind too!

She also has discovered the television, and she is fascinated. Her favorite thing to watch is Enchanted. I think she likes the songs, and the bright colors. Apparently this morning her daddy leaned down to kiss her and got in the way of her movie, and she was quite put out. The other night she was watching the Wiggles during her tummy time. We turned it off so she could skype with her grandmommy, and she was not happy about it! I guess she's ready for Baby Einstein dvds now. Might be easier on our ears, too! No offense to the Wiggles, but "the Beatles for kids"? I'm just not seeing--or hearing--it. Enchanted, I don't mind so much though.

Two posts in one week? My readers might get spoiled.

Working Girl

2009-07-21T23:37:00.002-05:00

I only have time to write because I'm waiting on Josh to fix me a hot water bottle. Sitting at a computer all day, then holding a baby all night (not that I mind the second part) is terrible on my back. Do you know, today when I got home from work, I actually heard myself say the following?

"I spend all day at work and it's still not enough to pay the bills, and I never even see half my paycheck because the money is taken out before it gets to me."

Now, I know that phrase was uttered in a low-blood sugar induced fit of passion, but still, when did I turn into Ward Cleaver? And I'm sure if my dear old dad had heard me, he would have either had a heart attack, or he would have been gleefully shouting I told you so's. If working full time has taught me anything, it's that I make a lousy husband. And, if staying at home has taught Josh anything, it's that he makes a pretty poor housewife. Some people say a role reversal helps them appreciate their other half so much more, and I guess in a sense, that's true, but I have a better way to put it: it makes me appreciate and long for my (dare I say "God given"?) role as a wife and mother. I was not cut out to be the financial support for our family. Josh, try as he might, is not cut out to be the family's emotional support, and he knows it.

In times when I find I'm longing for my circumstances to change, I always think of the Trace Adkins song "You're Gonna Miss This" (I could probably make this my life song, the way I struggle with discontentment). Am I ever going to miss working full time? Maybe. I'm sure, that one day--when I am blessed to be able to stay home full time--there will be days when I am covered in spit up, the baby is screaming, and the house is a mess, and I will sinfully start to think "Life was so much easier when I spent all day at the office." I hope I don't ever find myself thinking that way. If God works all things together for good, then here is the good that I hope to gain from my present situation:

I hope, that when I am a full time wife and mother, that I will be able to find joy on even the most difficult of days, because I am the one that gets to be there to wipe the spit up, soothe the tears, and manage the home.

I will appreciate Josh when he gets a job, and honestly (although I should appreciate him the same no matter what) I will probably appreciate him even more when he is working and I am not. Honestly, when I do get to come home, he will probably appreciate me more, too. We both know that we are not wired for this type of role reversal. Walking a mile in Josh's shoes may teach me many things, and I am begrudgingly grateful for that, but that still doesn't change the fact that my shoes fit me better.

And my hot water bottle has been ready for awhile. In fact, I think it's cold now.

It's Tough to be a Baby

2009-07-14T11:48:00.001-05:00

Last week I started work, and poor little Emmie had her life turned upside down. I know people say she doesn't really understand what's going on, but I think her pacifier would beg to differ. Starting last monday, the paci got promoted to full blown "baby crack" status.

In addition to the new pacifier obsession, she stopped napping for a couple of days. Apparently, she had gotten used to falling asleep while breastfeeding, and the bottle just wasn't quite as soothing.

Did I mention it's a bad idea to schedule your baby's first shots in the middle of your first week back at work? Watching them get the shot is not the hard part, apparently. Holding them for the day and a half that follows while they cry inconsolably is the hard part. It was all I could to not to run out of work early Wednesday and Thursday.

Also, for the first 8 weeks of her life, Emmie had Josh and me both home with her all the time. She must have gotten really used to it, because now her favorite thing to do is sit there and stare at us while we both give her 100% of our attention. She will sit there and watch us watching her and go back and forth from Josh's face to mine. It's very sweet and funny in a pitiful way. She gets so happy and relaxed when we're both paying attention to her.

Did I mention that Emmie is too big for her bassinett? The problem is we still don't have her crib, so she sleeps in bed with us, which she loves because she gets to spend all night cuddled up next to me. Part of me loves it too, because I like to snuggle with her, and (call me twisted) because knowing that she needs me to fall asleep makes me feel needed and special, but the other part of me knows that I am not getting enough sleep because she's sleeping with me.

And yes, I know I should not be looking for ways to feel needed, that there will be plenty of opportunities so I shouldn't be inviting more of them in, but those Mommy emotions can be funny things sometimes. Sometimes, I even think that I'll be sad when she is potty trained.

Sorry that turned out to be such a dry news brief, but I'm tired and short on time these days, and that's not very good for my writing style I'm afraid.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T20:51:00.002-05:00

Listening

2009-06-26T12:52:00.003-05:00

Right now I can think of a million other "better" uses for my time than this blog. There's the floor that hasn't been mopped, the laundry that needs to be folded, and the bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in...wait a minute, when was the last time we cleaned the bathroom? All that aside however, I want a chance to brag on my baby girl for a little bit. Of course, every parent thinks their child is the prettiest, smartest, most athletic, et cetera, and I am no different. So, you'll have to indulge me.

Since Emmie was born, every one who has met her says they can't believe how alert she is. Now she is seven weeks old and if you hold her and talk to her--when she's awake--she will stare at you and wrinkle up her forehead and listen to every word you say. She wrinkles up her forehead lots, like she is busy thinking hard about the world. I can't believe how much she loves to listen to everyone talk. She just learned how to smile, and she smiles alot, but it's hard to catch her at it, because there are so many other things that occupy her attention. As soon as we get the camera out to take a picture of it, she is fascinated by the camera. As soon as someone holds her and tries to get her to smile she won't do it because she's watching them, and listening to them talk. When Emmeline is like that, it makes me think of what Eudora Welty said: that every good writer must be a listener and an observer. Who knows, maybe one day Emmeline will be winning Pulitzer Prizes too!

"When at length we bought our first automobile, one of our neighbors was often invited to go with us on the family Sunday afternoon ride. In Jackson it was counted an affront to the neighbors to start out for anywhere with an empty seat in the car. My mother sat in the back with her friend, and I'm told that as a small child I would ask to sit in the middle, and say as we started off, 'Now talk.'"
--Eudora Welty, One Writer's Beginnings

Four week milestones

2009-06-04T15:46:00.003-05:00

It's just no fun to post without pictures! This is our little princess in her bubble bath. She's all ready for trips to the spa now. Her actual first bath was slightly more traumatizing for the poor baby girl, because her silly parents didn't have the water hot enough and did not fill the tub up enough, so she was freezing the whole time. Then on top of that her mommy (me) hit her head (not hard) on the side of the tub. Our poor firstborn--we are going to make so many more mistakes on her!

Emmeline is four weeks old today. She loves snuggling and tummy time, and she likes listening Billy Joel and Taylor Swift. She is 9 lbs and 1 oz. She is very expressive and she wiggles alot for a newborn! She has quite the little personality. She's a good baby and doesn't fuss much. She even stays pretty happy in spite of her acid reflux.

Everyone in this house now has their days and nights confused, not just Emmeline. We sleep from about 2 in the morning until noon. The time when we used to go to bed (10-11) is when Emmeline is usually just waking up for the night. And, honestly, even if she does happen to be asleep before 2 am, at this point I'm so used to going to bed in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes I'm not tired before 1. Everyone in this house needs to work on their sleeping schedule I suppose.

And because I love to show her off, here is a four week old birthday picture:

The blanket and the outfit were a present from her Auntie Ashley.

Emmeline

2009-05-20T14:37:00.002-05:00

I hope this works. I wanted to share a video of Emmeline that Josh put together. If it doesn't work, just follow the link and watch it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMBL5kXgakg

Announcing...

2009-05-11T23:35:00.003-05:00

Emmeline Renee Krebs
Born May 7, 2009 at 2:58 pm. 7 lbs, 13 oz, 20 1/4 inches long.

Being a parent is wonderful! We are enjoying Emmeline so much. She is already 4 days old, and I can hardly believe I was supposed to still be very pregnant right now! God's timing is perfect; I can't imagine life without our sweet baby girl.

Stuck in the Middle of the Learning Curve

2009-05-05T09:37:00.003-05:00

Before you experience the new parents' learning curve, you get to go through the first time pregnancy learning curve. I'm finding out all sorts of information that will be useful--next time around.
Here are a few things I've learned along the way:

When I first got pregnant I couldn't understand why people would ask me how I was feeling if they didn't really care about my answer. Now I know that it was because they knew how bad it was going to get. There I was telling them about how tired I felt, and they're thinking, "If you think that's bad, wait until you're still tired, but you can't even clip your own toenails to boot."

Second, books about pregnancy are good for cute drawings of your unborn baby, and for telling you how big they're getting and what sort of new body parts they're developing. But, for any other sort of advice, they're worthless. Apparently the people in those books live in some sort of dream world where you can miss work just to get some more sleep--because it's what's best for your baby--and you have the time and energy to cook yourself fabulously healthy, from scratch meals every night. Then again, if you really could miss work every time you felt like the baby wanted you to get some more sleep, then you probably could cook yourself fabulous meals every night, because you would be sleeping all the time.

And people tell me that every pair of new parents goes through the experience of going to the hospital for a false alarm. They may just be saying that to make me feel better, but at least I don't feel quite as embarrased about it this way.

Among other things, the trip taught me that labor and delivery nurses are not concerned about your privacy at all. Other nurses, if they tell you to undress, they at least leave the room while you're taking your clothes off. Labor and delivery nurses stand right there and watch. I finally got used to people seeing me naked, but now I have to get used to people watching me get naked. What's next?

I'll tell you what's next: I learned I don't like doctors who make guesses about things like when my child will be born. One medical expert says something like "You'll probably deliver in the next 48 hours," and of course that puts you on pins and needles, but then guess what happens? Nothing. So, to sum up, could the very highly paid medical professionals whose opinions I trust please not make random guesses about things like the birth of my child? If you tell me I will probably give birth tomorrow, please make sure you are darn sure about that first! Come on--doctors go to school for how many years? I don't think this is too much to ask of them.

I have learned how little I actually know about my own body. I've read the books and taken the classes, but it comes down to the simple fact that I've never experienced anything like this before, and honestly, I have no clue what's going on. I just hope I figure it out before the baby falls out! Okay, I actually am not worried about that. I'm trusting everyone who has said that yes, it does get more obvious what's happening when it is actually time to deliver the baby. But you know, then again, you hear these horror stories--but let's not think about that. That's why I don't allow myself to watch "I didn't know I was pregnant" on the Discovery channel.

Finally, I've learned that nothing makes you appreciate the baby growing inside of you quite like seeing your husband sitting on the couch telling you how left out he feels because he doesn't get to experience all of the little kicks and wiggle. When I see how much he would love to have that special connection with our daughter, it is a great reminder that pregnancy--even with all of its quirks--is indeed a blessing!

Belly Pictures

2009-04-13T12:14:00.002-05:00

This is for my non-Facebooking readers. I don't want to leave you out of the fun! I just got my haircut, so I'm sorry to say I'm more photogenic than I was when I took these. Do me a favor and just try to picture me with better hair when you look at the pictures.

7 Months (that would have been March 25):

Week 33:

Molding Young Minds

2009-04-03T13:27:00.011-05:00

I felt like taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to share with you what is probably my favorite daycamp story of all time.
----------------------------------------------------

Back in my Cy-Fair Discovery College days, there was a kid named Andy in the acting class I worked in. Now, an acting class always brings an interesting variety of kids to daycamp, and Andy--a towheaded nine year old, who liked to wear sunglasses and black shirts, and who performed the worm for us in class--was no exception. He performed the worm several times actually; he got a good audience reaction when he did it, and actors love to please the crowd, you know.

Andy liked to fix his hair. No, he was not gay--more of the "metrosexual ladies man in training" type. He showed up one day with a fauxhawk which I of course complimented him on.

*side note*
I'm dating myself now--this was back when David Beckham was still a soccer player with hair, which he--like Andy--liked to fix. David Beckham was still a new commodity in America, which made him very popular, add to that the fact that he was British and "so dreamy", and it's no surprise that everything he did got copied by everyone else. When he decided he wanted the look of a mohawk but not the inconvenience of shaving the sides of his head, the phrase "fauxhawk" was born, and shortly thereafter it became a household word.

*now back to my story*
So, I told Andy I liked his fauxhawk, and he asked me, "What's a fauxhawk?" Well, I couldn't have one of my trendiest little students wandering around clueless about his own hairstyle, so I educated him. He took in the information and returned to his snack.

The next morning, Andy showed up again sporting his fauxhawk; he must have been pleased that it got a good crowd response the day before. Ruth, another daycamp worker who was not as well-versed in the ways of pop culture, unwittingly told Andy she liked his "mohawk". Andy turned to her with this jaded, worldly, "I can't believe you actually called this a mohawk" sort of look on his face, and he said to her, like she was so stupid for not knowing this already, "It's a fauxhawk." Then, without another word, he went quietly on his way.

I was so proud of him.
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We do non-baby related things too!

2009-03-12T09:30:00.004-05:00

Josh has been painting some furniture for me, and I wanted to show you some pictures of his handiwork, but I always forget to take pictures when I get home, so I'm giving up and writing anyways. He really has done a very good job--he made me a headboard for our bed (he took a picket fence and painted it barn red--it's very cute!) and he painted our desk green (he's going to stencil flowers on it for me too). It pays to have a handy husband. We realized that the only two pieces of furniture we own that we paid more than $100 for are our couch and our bed. Of course, we haven't bought curtains yet either (probably because they will cost us more than $100--are you sensing a trend here?).

It was a beautiful day here last Saturday so we went on a spur of the moment hiking trip at Percy Warner park. Everybody was there with their labradors, german shepherds, and golden retrievers. Yes, Percy Warner park is no place for yappy dogs. Josh said when we were through with the 3 (?) mile hike that I can now tell people that I hiked a 600 ft peak while I was 6 months pregnant wearing flip flops. I don't think I'll brag about the flip flops. That was an accident--I didn't know we were going to be hiking, so I didn't put on sneakers--and I started to regret my choice of footwear about halfway through.

And because I seem to enjoy writing three paragraphs at a time, here's some more news for you. I've had to cut back on the amount of news I read. I started paying alot more attention to current events when I started working, because I had the time and I was always sitting at the computer with internet access. Unfortunately, this hasn't exactly been good for me. Really, not everyone can handle being well informed. The more and more I know about what's going on in the world, the more pessimistic I get. Then, one day I read an article about some Russian scholar who said predicted the U.S. would fall apart by 2010 and Russia and China would become the new world powers. Now, every piece of bad news I read is just more evidence that we're all going to hell in a handbasket and pretty soon Russia will take over and no one will have clean towels anymore.*

It's a good thing I didn't marry a politician, because I am going to have to find some other way to fight the culture war--a way that doesn't involve me needing to know very much about current events and public policy. I know! I will have more than two children and I won't put any of them in public school. Yes, that will do for a start at least.

In the meantime--why doesn't anyone write about good news anymore? It's all death, dying, and despair. Journalists must be very unhappy people.

*I don't know how in my mind communism became equated with dirty towels. You can hazard a guess if you want to, but I think it might be safer to leave that one untouched.

3 Months Left!

2009-03-02T15:45:00.002-06:00

I can hardly believe I'm on the last leg of the journey now. I'm encountering new obstacles and new blessings the bigger I get. I can no longer comfortably (or safely) shave my own legs. Josh offered to step in and help, but we're both pretty busy, so I'm wearing a lot of pants these days. Sitting in a folding chair is torture, which makes listening in sunday school much more difficult. On the other hand, Josh has become a very sweet mother hen: he does most of the housework at night and makes me lay on the couch and rest. For some reason I fight him on this almost every night--maybe the hormones are making me irrational. It's also fun to be pregnant enough so strangers notice. I get lots of attention now when I go out in public. And no, no one has touched my belly or told me their labor horror stories--that's probably why I'm still enjoying the attention so much.

Josh and I went to our first childbirth class last week. Most of the people in the class are yuppie couples who work for Vanderbilt (apparently it's a fluke that so many Vandy employees signed up for the same class). There was one hippie couple--he was a former wrestler and she looked like her clothes could have been made from hemp (I'm sure it was a natural fiber). The highlight of the class was the lady who said that the most wonderful thing about being pregnant was "the power of creation." I guess for her pregnancy is the ultimate power trip. There was one couple that was nice and down to earth, of course, Josh already knew them from work. "Ms. Cecil" (she is not even 30) teaches 5th grade at West End.

And...we registered for gifts. I'm very proud of how we did on our registry. We tried very hard to make sure it wasn't very long, and also had a wide variety of prices featured. Baby stuff is so expensive, if you're not careful you can end up with a registry where there aren't any presents under $50, and I'm not exagerrating. Whether we get any presents or not, I think just the act of registering for stuff is fun and special. One of the best parts of being pregnant (I think) is getting to plan for the baby. Josh may have a different opinion next week when we organize his things to make room for Emmie's clothes. Poor guy--he is already outnumbered and our baby girl isn't even here yet! He's very excited I know, but I'm not sure what he's going to do with two women in the house.

She's got Rhythm

2009-02-09T14:15:00.003-06:00

Baby girl and I are still cruising along over here. February 25 is the six month mark. Lately, I've found myself thinking more and more in terms of "how much time do I have left to buy a car seat?" instead of "how much longer until we will see our baby girl face to face?" This is either a funny result of the pregnancy hormones, or just another example of me needing to get my priorities straight. I suppose it could be both.

Also, all of those comments I made about her "dancing" are really not far from the truth. She starts kicking whenever fast music comes on. She kicks in the middle of Sunday morning worship, or just yesterday she was getting quite a kick (pun intended) out of that Jose Cuervo song when it was on the radio. You know the song; it goes: "after 1/2/3/etc. rounds of Jose Cuervo..." and it's all about this guy that goes to the bar and gets drunk on tequila and acts ridiculous. I don't like it, but Josh thinks it's funny, and apparently Emmeline has chosen to side with her Daddy on this one. She makes me laugh. I don't know what it is that makes her start kicking, but I guess she hears something she likes.

I also caught her punching her daddy in the hand this morning--over and over again. Josh slept through it, but I could tell.

People keep asking me if I've had any cravings since I've been pregnant. Josh is probably the better person to write about this since he's the one that's had to put up with all of it, but I can tell you it's been a wild ride. During the first trimester I decided I didn't like sweets, but during this second trimester my sweet tooth has returned very much in full force. There was the week I wanted wildberry skittles everyday (until I made myself sick on them), and the week I wanted gummy bears everyday (until I decided I only liked Haribo gummy bears) and then there was the sudden, inexplicable desire for wedding cake. Yes, it was very late at night. Yes, I walked up to Josh, deadly serious, and asked him to get me wedding cake. No, I did not get any wedding cake that night. :-) My latest kick has been cherry coke icees. I can't pass them up (they're available in the Wal-Mart and the Target closest to us). I do share my large icees with Josh, but only with the understanding when I share with him it's to be considered a down payment on a future icee. Right now I'm thinking how nice it would be if there was an icee machine at Lifeway. Maybe I should call my local congressman and ask him to make provisions for that in the stimulus package.

Oh yes, there was also a phase when I hated meat, and another phase when I hated whole grains. Both of those have passed, but now I don't like jelly anymore (except sometimes on biscuits). It's all very complicated. Josh does a good job of keeping up.

Babymoon

2009-01-28T15:28:00.015-06:00

Never heard that word before? I swear I didn't make it up. Google it and see for yourself! A "babymoon" is a romantic getaway which is taken by an expecting couple. You see, since your life is about to change completely, you go on vacation and take some time to cherish each other (and your freedom) before the baby comes. Josh and I went to Louisville, KY last weekend and had a fabulous time. And now...pictures!

For breakfast on Saturday morning we went to Lynn's Paradise Cafe. It was featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay and on Oprah. If it's good enough for Bobby and Oprah, it's good enough for Josh and me! It is crazy in there, and I'm not just talking about the crowds--there are legs growing out of the ceiling, pants made out of used tea bags, oh, and our table had a train set underneath it. While we were waiting to be seated we browsed in the World of Swirl gift shop, which is mostly full of items from FredFlare. Among the crazy merchandise was a hat section. I sensed a photo opportunity!

I like to call this, "A wolf in Josh's clothing"

What an egghead!

Oh, and the food at Lynn's? Worth the wait. It was amazing! I had smoked sausage frittata with tomato cream sauce, served with a side of the best cheese grits I've ever eaten. Josh had french toast (which was sliced at least an inch thick). His french toast had a crusty layer of cinnamon and sugar on the outside, and it was not soggy--the mark of a good french toast.

After returning to the hotel for naps (when you're five months pregnant, what could be more romantic than sleep?) we got spiffied up for our evening out. We started the evening with an early dinner at The Melting Pot. It took us 2 1/2 hours to eat, and it was good. We were so stuffed! We decided that The Melting Pot made a very nice, romantic dinner, but it's a lot of work. It may be a while before we want to go back. Oh yes, our favorite course? The cheese course. The bread was our favorite thing to dip, but I surprised myself by also loving the Granny Smith apples dipped in the cheese sauce. Here we are with our dessert course.

After dinner we went to see Wicked! at the KY Performing Arts Center. Josh and I have wanted to see it for a long time, and it was the main reason we wanted to visit Louisville this January. It was wonderful. The seats in Whitney Hall, however, were some of the most uncomfortable seats I've ever sat in. Puny armrests plus no cushioning, they definitely failed the sore butt test.
Here's proof that we were actually at the theater:

I realize I look drunk in this picture, but I promise it's just the poor quality of the photo. We had to take it ourselves. Of course, it could be the sugar high from that super sweet chocolate fondue we ate.
Here's our view of the stage:

And Emmeline kicked whenever an especially loud song came on. Now, it could have been that she was on a sugar high too, but I think we have a little Broadway baby!

On Sunday afternoon we went to go see the world's largest baseball bat.

Pretty impressive, huh? Oh yes, I'm also exactly five months pregnant in this picture.

Josh, sensing the imminent danger posed by the leaning bat, rushed to save the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum from certain doom.

Don't worry, he can fix it!

We decided that while we were there we should try to find me a good baseball glove.
Remember, when you're looking for a glove, it's essential to find one with a good fit.

This looks about right!

In case you were wondering how big the giant glove is, my sweet, obliging husband climbed inside of it to show you.

We bought Emmeline a couple of souvenirs from the gift shop. After all, she is half the reason why we went on the trip in the first place.

You'll never guess who wanted to buy her the little bat. :-)

Baby is kicking--I think.

2009-01-22T15:09:00.002-06:00

Josh and I have found something new to get excited over: we can feel Emmeline kick now! Well, at least we think we can. It's very possible that we're "oohing" and "awwing" over a gas bubble or a muscle spasm. But, considering the fact that these mysterious little interruptions are occurring more and more often, and always in the same general area of my belly, I've decided it must be our future Rockette practicing her eye-high kicks.

I get to feel her kick more than Josh, which I think made him a little bit jealous at first, but then one night he was talking to her and she kicked him a couple of times, and he was over the moon about that. Also, little Emmeline's favorite time of day is first thing in the morning, apparently. The alarm goes off around 6:30 am, and then it's like a mini version of A Chorus Line until I get up to take a shower. I guess Josh and I should start bracing ourselves for life with a morning person.

It's a girl!!!

2009-01-08T21:11:00.001-06:00

We're going to have a daughter!

Halfway done and counting...

2009-01-07T11:52:00.002-06:00

It seems that time has been getting away from me. I'm halfway through my pregnancy and I haven't written anything pregnancy related on my blog since I made the first announcement. The baby will be here before we know it and my poor blog readers would be none the wiser. I can hardly believe it, but I'm four and a half months pregnant. Time has been speeding by so fast I feel like I just found out yesterday. The first trimester didn't have any newsworthy events, unless you consider some extra pimples and more exhaustion newsworthy. Granted, I did have acne on my neck that kind of looked like vampire bites--maybe I should have posted about that, eh? My back did bother me more than usual, and that meant I had trouble sleeping at night, so I was pretty tired all the time. However, I was so grateful to not have any morning sickness to deal with that I felt like I'd be whining if I complained too much about my little problems. And therefore, the blog went ignored. And now that I've caught you up on the last three months, let's move on to the good stuff, shall we? Now that I am actually visibly pregnant, I have to admit that I spend alot of time staring at myself in the mirror, because I can't believe it's really me that looks like that. The fun part of that is now I get to wear maternity clothes! After over a month of nothing fitting (I had two pairs of pants and a couple of shirts that I wore ALL THE TIME) it's nice to have cute clothes that are actually comfortable to boot. I think part of the pregnancy "glow" is just sheer relief that I have outfits in my closet to choose from! My mom took me shopping for maternity clothes when they were in town and I had a great time picking things out with her. The weird part about actually having a belly now is that it gets in the way! It still feels so early to me, but already it's harder to do things like bend over, sit on the floor, or roll over in bed at night. I have to admit, I feel ridiculous. Call me naive, but I thought it was only the women who were "really pregnant" that had trouble doing those things. I figured that gave me at least a couple of more months. And oh yes, I got a prenatal yoga dvd, and it's really funny to see those pregnant women in their unitards doing all of the yoga poses. At least I thought it was funny until I was really sore after I did the workout the first time! I guess I have alot of progress to make before May 25 gets here! That's all the news for now, but we find out the sex of the baby tomorrow (YAY!!) so you can expect another post pretty soon. And here's my week 20 picture:

My project for next week is to find a better backdrop! That white wall would wash anyone out.

Thanks for reading!

Pictures!

2008-12-13T19:54:00.014-06:00

As promised, here are the pictures of our apartment. They aren't in order, so you won't get the "walk through" effect. Sorry.

This is the living room, complete with pretty Christmas decorations, and a blue blanket which I neglected to put away before I took the picture.

This is our dining room table. Josh promised to paint the chairs white for me to match the table, and as you can see, that hasn't happened yet.

This is where we sleep and get dressed. Josh also promised to make me a headboard for our bed. It's going to be very cute when it's made. He's also going to paint the dresser red. He's going to be very busy!

This is the bassinet, in the corner of our bedroom. I realize that the baby will not be here for several months, but it comes in handy for storage.

This is the bathroom. It's pretty self-explanatory. I actually took this picture before we moved in, but it hasn't changed much since then.

And this is my pretty kitchen!

So that's it! It's still early, so there aren't any pictures on the wall, and we don't have curtains. It will get homier over time though. I guess I'll just have to post more pictures later!

Oh yes...I realize that y'all really just want to see the "belly pictures," and you'll get some eventually, but it will have to wait until I feel cute enough to take a picture. Honestly, I'm still pretty small, so I only look pregnant in some of my clothes, and even then, that's just if you know what you're looking at.

Movin' on up...

2008-12-08T15:48:00.002-06:00

Well, we haven't moved to the East side. And we have moved to an apartment, but it's ground level; it's not in the sky. But that makes such a clever little title, doesn't it?

Josh and I are in love with our new apartment. We just moved this weekend. You can be jealous of our commute: it only takes us 20 minutes to get to work! Yes! So instead of leaving the house at 7 am, I'm waking up at 7 am.
My other favorite part is the kitchen. It's newly remodeled with brand new, shiny black appliances. Josh said I can have the kitchen all to myself. I don't think that's a huge sacrifice on his part, but it's still all mine. :-)
Also, it has a really big laundry room, but until we find a permanent home for all of our boxes of books, the laundry room is functioning as interim bookshelf.

In the process of unpacking I discovered that the baby bassinet we were given (it is very cute) makes an excellent holder for all of my stuffed animals. I'm not sure where we'll put the baby though...maybe a drawer? Josh could give up one of his probably.

We also have our Christmas tree put up. We had an interesting time decorating it. Last year we had a nice 6' tree, but this year they were all out of the 6' trees. So, we got a great price on a 7' tree, but we really only have enough ornaments for a 6' tree. We can just enjoy lots of lovely tree branches in all their evergreen glory I guess.

Oh, and in baby news, Josh and I heard it's little heartbeat last week. That was very exciting, and it was also a nice little reminder that, yes, there is a little person in there. If I think about that for too long I start to feel like somebody out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I mean, of course it's the beautiful miracle of life and all of that, but let's face it, the whole concept is a little bizarre.
We will find out the sex of the baby on January 8.

I will post apartment pictures as soon as our internet is connected, which will be Saturday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-25T08:01:00.011-06:00

Josh and I are gearing up for our trip to Louisiana. One more day of work, and then we get to visit family! I hope you all have an enjoyable holiday too. I'll leave you with a comic from one of my favorite strips: Pearls Before Swine. I love it when comic strip writers (artists?) make a good literary reference! And I'm sorry it's small and hard to read. I don't understand my computer and therefore don't know how to make it bigger AND fit it on the page.

2008-11-13T09:44:00.002-06:00

I feel like writing today. It's probably because it's a nice foggy day outside and I am drinking coffee with amaretto syrup in it. I ran into a slight problem though, because I don't really have anything worth writing about. Oh sure, I have a sinus infection this week, and it's really the whole nine yards--I missed a day of work, am taking antibiotics--just scintillating stuff. But, christmas colored snot isn't really polite blogging material--even if we are approaching the holiday season.

I decided to copy something from my mom's blog. It's a very long list, and I don't expect you to actually read the whole thing (heck, I didn't read the whole thing when my mom did it on her blog), but I really wanted to post it so I would have a good book list next time I'm looking for something good to read.

On a side note--if you don't read the whole list, you will miss out on my fabulously witty commentary. It's up to you. I'm sorry for the many parenthetical comments, but I don't know how to have witty commentary without using parentheses.

The Big Read

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.
The Rules:
1) Look at the list and put one * by those you have read.
2) Put a % by those you intend to read.
3) Put two ** by the books you LOVE.
4) Put # by the books you HATE.
5) Post.

The List:
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen**
2. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien* (they were excellent books, but I have met people who LOVE these books, and, since I am not fluent in Elvish, I cannot be one of them.)
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë** (I have nothing humorous to say here. The Bronte sisters are to melancholy to make fun of.)
4. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling** (Is anyone else upset that the next movie is not coming out until July? Anyone? Anyone?)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee** (Ooh! Book trivia! Why is it a sin to kill a mockingbird? Mom, you are not allowed to answer. You have read this book one hundred times.)
6. The Bible** (If I was allowed to give a book three stars, I would give the Bible three stars. I would also give Harry Potter three stars. I hope that's not sacrilegious.)
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë (I bought this book for a dollar once. I decided not to read it though. I think I gave it to Goodwill.)
8. 1984 - George Orwell (Aahh! Big Brother is reading my blog and he will know I haven't read his book! I actually started it, but I didn't like it so I quit reading it. I don't think you're allowed to hate a book if you didn't finish it.)
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens# (I'm sorry, but I don't like Charles Dickens. Don't stone me; I have read several of his books, and I am allowed to not like him. He was paid by the word, folks, and I have no interest in page long descriptions of plum pudding.)
11. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott* (She has her merits, so I don't hate her, but she really is a little too sugary sweet for my taste.)
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (This book is about a prostitute! I said "prostitute" on my blog! Heeheehee!)
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (Seriously? Who has read the COMPLETE works of Shakespeare? That would include all the poems that are NOT sonnets and that play that may or may not have been written by Shakespeare--just in case.)
15. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier (Wait a second...is THIS the book about the prostitute? Now I'm confused! I obviously have not read Tess of the D'Urbervilles or Rebecca)
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien*
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks (This is actually the prequel to To Kill a Mockingbird.)
18. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger* (This is a really interesting book, and an excellent example of an unreliable, first-person narrator.)
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (Never heard of this one. You tell me--should it be one of my "intend to read" selections?)
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot (Alas, no, I read Mill on the Floss instead, and I didn't like it, so I never read Middlemarch.)
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell# (I haven't read it, but I saw the movie, folks. No thank you!)
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (I have read plenty of his short stories. Why aren't they on the list? Eh, well, I saw the movie at least.)
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens (This sounds like a light, fun read.)
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (Even the movie version was too long!)
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (I haven't read this one, on account of the fact that I'm not a geek.)
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh (The title makes this book sound gory. I'm not sure if I want to read it or not. I should find out what it's about.)
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (The first two chapters were EXCELLENT.)
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (I haven't read it, but I AM familiar with the Veggie Tales version, so I should be covered.)
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll* (I'm pretty sure I read this when I was little, but Alice in Wonderland is such a psychedelic experience, I'm not sure if I read it or if I just dreamt the whole thing whilst smoking marijuana.)
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (The cartoons on PBS were my favorite!)
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (The movie Music from Another Room gave away the ending, so no, I haven't read it.)
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (Mr. Dickens, please stop hogging the "best books of all time" list.)
33. Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis** (Okay, I lied. I haven't read all of them. But I loved the two that I did read.)
34. Emma - Jane Austen%
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen**
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis** (This one's a freebie because technically it's here twice.)
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (This might be an "intend to read" but it also might be a little too "modern intellectual" for my taste. I don't know if I can trust a book that they sell at Starbucks.)
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Bernières% (I probably would have watched the movie if it wasn't for Nicolas Cage, so you know what? Why not! Let's read the book.)
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden% (Again, the movie is excellent. You know, I'm beginning to think I watch to much tv.)
40. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne** (Oh wait, I have not read these books. I will love them anyways though. I hold my mother solely responsible for never reading me Winnie the Pooh. I have seen the cartoons though...)
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell*
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown# (I really only hate it on principle for all of the hoopla it caused. I don't like hoopla.)
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (I have heard that awful song Lady in Red before--are they similar?)
46. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery*
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (Margaret Atwood's books are a little too feminist and weird for my taste.
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Zero desire to read this one.)
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan# (I gave it a fair chance, but wow did I hate it.)
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel (This is another one of those "I am intellectual because I am reading this book" books, and I don't like to read those--just to spite everybody.)
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen** (I know people think you're weird if you have read and loved everything by Jane Austen, but I am not weird, it's just nice to know that if I feel like reading a book with a happy ending, Jane Austen will be there for me.)
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth (This is the prequel to "A Good Man is Hard to Find".)
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Where did they dig these books up?)
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens# (Ok, ok, it had a good ending. But that was the ONLY thing I liked about it!)
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley#
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (Somebody needs to learn to write shorter titles...)
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (I am told that the whole thing is very depressing, and that doesn't exactly send me rushing off to the bookstore.)
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (I haven't read it, but I do know that it was turned into an opera! Does that count for anything?)
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (Somebody called this the "creepiest book they had ever read." I'll read it right after The Secret Diary of a Call Girl.)
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (Books about death and Heaven are usually really weird, and often sappy too. I don't trust them.)
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (Books about swordfights are for boys.)
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac (Isn't this the same guy that tried to build that fire? That was a boring short story!)
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (Poor Jude...he is so obscure probably nobody even wants to read his book!)
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (I...you'll never guess...yes, that's right...I have only watched the movie.)
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville (Ahh...the book that launched the sentence that launched a thousand cliches.)
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (Ok, Dickens is on here umpteen times, but Shakespeare only gets one listing? Who wrote this stupid list, anyways?)
72. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
73. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
74. Ulysses - James Joyce
75. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath* (That was in my, "Ooh, look at me! I'm reading literature I don't understand!" phase.)
76. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
77. Germinal - Émile Zola (This sounds appropriate for flu season, doesn't it?)
78. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (I read the first page and then lost interest.)
79. Possession - A.S. Byatt (This book is about 9/10ths of the law.)
80. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens*
81. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (Cloud atlas? I wouldn't even want to read a real atlas!)
82. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
84. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert*
85. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
86. Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White** (And for christmas I want the annotated version of Charlotte's Web with all of E.B. White's notes in it! Seriously...I the last lines of this book are some of the best ever.)
87. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (Whoever wrote this list is relying too heavily on the New York Times Bestseller list.)
88. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
89. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
91. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
92. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks (That title is giving me nightmares!)
93. Watership Down - Richard Adams
94. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
95. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
96. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
97. Hamlet - William Shakespeare** (Seriously? I am almost to the bottom of the list and I FINALLY see one measly little play on here? Who wrote this list?)
98. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl*
99. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo* (That was my "Look how smart I can be" phase.)

I have no idea how I only ended up with 99 books instead of 100.

Well, on second thought, maybe I won't use this list for ideas next time I'm in Borders. I'm questioning some of the choices, but I haven't read them all, so I won't judge. Anyways, everyone knows these lists are so arbitrary.

But really? Some of the greatest works of literature of all time, like Dante's Divine Comedy or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales weren't on the list. If I were Chaucer or Dante, I'd be protesting in my grave right now!

Another News Update

2008-11-07T15:59:00.003-06:00

Some exciting things have happened here on the KrebsFront. I had sausage biscuits for breakfast, and we were out of juice so I made some tea instead, and then I brushed my teeth and then after that...

Ok, I'll be serious now. Josh got an official job offer! I am very proud of him for looking so hard and persevering even when it was months before he found something. He's going to be working for Metro Nashville Public Schools starting November 17. He will be an educational assistant assigned to one of the special ed teachers at West End Middle School. This means that we should be able to move into our own apartment in the beginning of December--just in time for Christmas.

And also...Josh and I have finally put a weekend getaway on the calendar. We're going to Louisville in January. And this time, we won't be changing our plans because we have already bought our tickets to go see (dum da dum!) Wicked. We're looking forward to our little mini-vacation. We're going to do something special and relaxing just the two of us before the baby comes and our life is, well, less relaxing, and less "just the two of us."

On a side note, I ordered our tickets to Wicked at 6:00 am the day they went on sale, and almost all of the performances were already sold out. Is that crazy or what?

We're also counting the days until Thanksgiving when we get to go to Louisiana to see all of my family.

Ok, so anyways, after I brushed my teeth I decided not to floss because I can do that tonight and I went downstairs and took my brown coat with me...

Oh yeah--the news is over now.

I have a dream...

2008-10-29T13:27:00.006-05:00

I had a dream actually.

I think having strange dreams about the birth of your child must come with the territory of being pregnant, because I still remember a dream my mom told me about when she was pregnant with Kevin. She dreamed she gave birth to a baby that was fully dressed and talking to her. Now I guess it's my turn to have weird dreams.

I dreamed Josh and I were at the hospital, and we had just had our baby, and they brought it to us, but the baby they brought us wasn't our baby. We knew it was the wrong one because it had teeth--but not just any teeth. It had a full set of adult teeth. We tried to explain to the doctors that it wasn't our baby because it had teeth, but all they said was, "well, even if it isn't yours, it would take months to switch the babies back." So, we were stuck with it.

I'm pretty sure that the image of an infant with a mouth full of ferocious chompers will haunt me for a while.

That's My Baby!

2008-10-23T18:31:00.004-05:00

This is the official announcement: Josh and I are going to be parents! This is little Baby Krebs's first picture. If you have a well-trained eye, you can not only see the head, but also little arms and legs too. Baby Krebs gave a very good performance for the camera by waving its arms and legs alot. Our first child (it's weird to put that in writing) is due into the world on (or around) May 25.

And to answer the questions that you and I both know you're going to ask...
1) I'm feeling alright. Thankfully, I have not thrown up at all, but I'm still nauseous, and I don't just love eating, which is kind of a bummer.
2) We haven't met our doctor yet, but everyone we've come into contact with at Vanderbilt (which is where we're having the baby) has been extremely nice and very professional. If that keeps up we will be in very good hands for the next several months!

Book Recommendation

2008-10-13T14:03:00.003-05:00

I remember when I used to enjoy reading sad books and watching sad movies. Now I think, "If I am going to take some of my precious free time and spend it reading or watching a movie, why would I want to watch something that is going to depress me?" That's why I refuse to watch the movie Atonement, because the thought of watching a train wreck--good drama or not--doesn't sound that appealing. The problem is, for those of us who like happy endings, it gets very difficult to find good books to read these days. Apparently, sad endings are the only things that get published anymore. If you want a book that will make you smile you're reduced to ChickLit (although some of it is good, it gets tiring after a while) or kids books (and kids books are great, but it is nice to have something to read that's longer than 20 pages).

However, in a literary world full of death and despair, I recently managed to find a book that is both well-written and uplifting. The book is called Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! by Fannie Flagg. I'm sure I'm probably one of the last people to read this book, as Flagg is not a new author, and this book was published 10 years ago. But, if you are like me and you've passed over this book in the bookstore over and over again thinking "I should read that book, it looks good" well, you should read it. It comes in a handy thrift edition for less than ten dollars, and it's worth it. Flagg is a great writer, and the story has plenty of conflict and suspense, but this book also has a nice, sweet ending that will make you feel good about life.

Now, doesn't that sound better than watching a train wreck?

Lessons Learned at the Flea Market

2008-10-03T09:48:00.004-05:00

I am a baby flea market shopper...we went last Saturday, and I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into. Yes, it was a very educational experience.
Lesson one: make sure you're dressed for the weather. Wearing jeans when it's 90 degrees out does not make a happy shopper.
Lesson two: Eat lunch before you go, or arrive early in the morning, and eat early. Josh stood in line for twenty minutes just to buy me one hotdog (it was an excellent hot dog though...hmm, now I want another one).
Lesson three: know what you're looking for. I mean, really know what you're looking for. I had a pretty vague idea, but next time I go, I'm going to walk in there looking for one thing, and that's it.
Lesson four: If you aren't dressed for the weather, didn't eat before you left, and don't know what you're looking for, then make sure you're shopping buddy is very patient and prepared to listen to lots of complaining.
We did have a succesful trip though. Aside from the excellent hotdog (which makes me want to visit James Coney Island) we found a dresser. We found the dresser on our way out to the car, after we had given everything up as junk. It's just like my Mom used to say, "You always find something in the last place you look." So true, Mom.
Was this post boring to you? Go buy me a polish hot dog and cheese fries (with hot sauce on top!) and I'll try to be more interesting next time.
Here's a picture of our dresser (it's blue right now, but it's getting repainted. We're not blue people.)

Nashville Farmers Market

2008-09-21T19:27:00.012-05:00

Josh and I went to the farmers market this weekend. Here are some pictures from our trip:

I hope you enjoyed my pictures! We had a good time. And yes, those are real, handcarved tree trunks. We didn't believe it at first!

Happy birthday to me!

2008-09-16T14:45:00.008-05:00

I don't know why, but twenty-three feels like an old number. It's such a serious sounding number. When I say "I'm twenty-three" I feel like what I'm really saying is "I have a college degree, a career, and a professional wardrobe, I go to bed early, and I can no longer related to those crazy kids. Would you be interested in hearing my five year plan?"

Ehh, that's ok...at least twenty-three is more interesting than twenty-two. All twenty-two said was, "I'm divisible by eleven!"

I apologize, folks. I had several topics in mind I wanted to write about, and any one of them would probably have been more interesting than "Katie's psychology of numbers."

I was going to tell you that I have started scrapbooking our wedding pictures. It's the easiest scrapbook I've ever made, because the pictures are so gorgeous, they don't need any embellishment! I can't wait to finish it so that finally, more than a year after my wedding, I will be able to show off my pictures. Except now people probably don't care about my pictures anymore. Darnit!

Also, I made fresh salsa the other night, and it was so good I made it again. Then I realized that both times I had made it I left out an ingredient (same ingredient both times). So, I like the way it tastes, which should lead me to conclude that it's good, it doesn't need improving, and I should just enjoy it the way it is. Instead, every time I eat the salsa I start to wonder, "What if what I think is great really is great, but it's not as great as something greater?" (I copped that quote from a movie...anyone know which one?).
I've decided I'll have to make it correctly at least one time, just to set my wandering taste buds to rest once and for all.

Josh and I discovered that there is a 10,000 Villages store here in Nashville. We went in to explore because Josh didn't know what it was. It turned out that they were having an "Earth Friendly Entertaining Event", and there was a drawing accompanying said event, which I (actually Josh) won, and I got a free cookbook out of the deal! I was excited because it was a $22 cookbook, and so regardless of whether it's any good or not--but I'm sure at least some of it will be--I still won $22.

Josh and I have started exploring Nashville on the weekends. We aren't completely consistent, but we're trying to find something new to see or do every weekend. This weekend we're going to the Farmer's Market. I've been asking him to take me for a while. Maybe the next time I write I'll have stories about our ecologically friendly adventure!

This and that...shouldn't I be in bed right now?

2008-09-03T21:42:00.002-05:00

No answers to the above question; it's almost 10 pm, Josh thinks I might be getting sick, I have to get up early for work in the morning...fabulous! It's the perfect time to start writing!

By now you probably all know this, but our Labor Day weekend wasn't what we'd expected. We ended up spending the weekend in Houston for my grandfather's funeral. He will be missed, but this isn't "goodbye", just "see you later". I expect when we do meet again he'll have a smile and a joke, just like always.

In the meantime, it was good to see family last weekend, even under the circumstances. I'm thankful for the extra time in Houston, but I've learned that one weekend is just enough time to remind you how much you miss your family but not enough time to really get to see them much. When will they learn that they need to move to Nashville?! I tossed around the whole "move to Houston" idea that everyone keeps suggesting, but really, if you've been to both cities and you are able to compare, Nashville is just a nicer town. Even considering how great Texas is, it's nice to live in a city that has more than one city park. And the people are nicer. Living in TN has shown me just how un-southern Houston truly is (and I can't speak for the rest of TX, but I have my suspicions).

Of course, the great thing about Houston is the people who are in it, so I'm working on a plan to transplant all of my favorite people to one spot, sort of like a mini-rapture. You'll know if I ever get it to work, but you might want to have some bags packed just in case.

Considering that I just compared myself to God, I don't think this particular post can go anywhere good, and if I continued with the above line of thought I would probably end up writing things like, "take, read, the words of my blog!" and "those who read my words and ignore her who wrote them will not be my friend and will not be included in the coming rapture."

Yes, it's probably good that I ended the post before I wrote anything sacreligious like that.

P.S. If you're scared of lightning, you may not want to sleep to close to me tonight.

Domestic Goddess/Fabulous Prize Winner

2008-08-19T12:31:00.003-05:00

Pride may be a sin, but I cooked a great dinner this weekend and I feel like bragging about it. Josh and I had the house to ourselves and we spent all weekend doing exactly what we wanted (for Josh this was watching 24, for me it was cooking). I made Sopa Tlalpena--even the name impresses you, doesn't it? It's basically tortilla soup, but I made it from scratch--stock and everything! I know my dear husband would eat anything I set in front of him, even if it was spaghetti noodles covered in pancake syrup, but this was good. But wait, there's more! For dessert I made a lemon cheesecake with a cherry fruit topping, and you couldn't even tell it was low-fat. You can trust me on that; my mother raised me right--no cool whip!

Ok, now I'm starting to feel bad--this is getting to be way to much of a self-love-fest. Ok, one more thing...I won a radio prize today. Can you unscramble this celebrity anagram?

"Here Silly Maniac"

I can! I won a gift card to Captain D's (enjoy, Josh, my seafood loving husband) and one to the Libscomb Univ. bookstore. I checked out their website, and no, I will not be forced to spend it on textbooks and "Go Lipscomb" clothing. They have other books as well.

Oh yes, Josh and I are going camping on labor day weekend. This is exciting for several reasons, which I will now list out for you:
1) We have never been camping with each other.
2) This is the first time we've gone on vacation since our honeymoon.
3) We get to use one of our wedding presents for the first time (a fabulous picnic grill from Aunt Lorri and Uncle Jody--but our apartment complex wouldn't let us use it)
4) We are going to Kentucky, and I have never been to Kentucky.
5) Josh is going to teach me how to kayak.
6) We are going to use the new tent Josh got for his birthday.
I'm making Josh exercise with me every night so I can get in shape for all the rugged outdoor activities I will be partaking in. I'm just trying to figure out how to go camping and wear cute outfits at the same time. I mean, I am going to be taking pictures--I can't just wear any old t-shirt and shorts, now can I?

Ok, I think I've talked about myself enough for now! So, if you will excuse me, I have to go powder my nose.

My blog is fabulous now!

2008-08-15T15:54:00.002-05:00

See?

Sometimes when I sit down in my office chair I want to reach for my seatbelt.

2008-08-14T15:30:00.006-05:00

It's true. And then I remember that I'm not in my car. And lately I'm starting to worry my hiney is going to become attached to my seat. I need to get some exercise! The worst part of working is sitting in one place all day. Of course, today is worse than usual because I had an abnormally large lunch of fried chicken and all the good southern sides that go with (office birthdays=free food). Can somebody just roll me out the door to my car please? I don't even think I ate that much, but with all the butter and carbs in a good southern meal--you don't have to to start reeling from all the good food. One of these days I should get Josh to take me down to Savannah, so we can check out Ms. Deen's restaurant (there's a reason that woman looks so happy all the time, and it's not prozac, and I want some of it!).

But there's more to life than food...Josh and I have been working through the study "Men are Like Waffles, Women are Like Spaghetti" and it's so good. The study has already helped us with some of our biggest communication issues.

And speaking of spaghetti, Josh and I got an Olive Garden gift card from a couple we dogsat for. Yea! Can you say date night? So, my loyal reader, are there any good movies out we should go see?

Funny story about that dogsitting experience. We were watching two dogs. One was named Leo. And the other was named...well, we forgot to ask. So after about a day we got sick of saying "hey dog" so we just started calling him Blackie (it was a black dog--we were very creative). After a couple of hours he warmed up to his new name quite nicely and answered to it all week long. When "Blackie's" owners came back from vacation we told them the story. Guess what his real name was? Max. Only the most popular dog name around. But did Josh and I guess that? No. In true Katie and Josh fashion, we had to come up with our own creative solution. Oh well...life's more interesting that way!

Well reader, thanks for visiting. I needed to get a little stream of consciousness out of my...um...conscious.

I'm not naming my posts for you people.

2008-08-08T09:05:00.003-05:00

Oops...too late I guess. Let's face it. My blog is pretty low on your reading priority list. You are probably more interested in the quints or the fabulous vacation pictures. However, I will valiantly write on, knowing that as long as I don't have pictures of cute babies, I will be writing for myself. I suppose I could come up with a clever idea for a funny blog and then I would have widespread blogging fame and fortune. Who am I kidding, though? Being funny is like trying to invent something. Whatever joke you make or idea you come up with--somebody else has made the joke first. You have Robin Williams to thank for that, most likely.

I'm not much of a philosopher, but in today's thoughts: I was reading an article about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and I started thinking--what do you think it's like for the children they adopt? I wonder if it feels surreal to go straight from complete obscurity into the world's most famous (and probably richest) family. Most kids get adopted into a "normal" family but these kids get dropped straight into the lap of luxury. And they didn't really get a say in it--Brad and Angelina did, but the kids didn't. I wonder how that feels. Ehh--the world will never know.

Any news on the Krebs front? Not really. An issue with the post office, a fridge that has no food in it, and lunch with an old friend today (Hi, Alaina!). Josh had a birthday, and we bought him pants and a tent. Yes, I am earning major wife points for volunteering to go camping. I have also recently earned wife points for making several classic rock references in one conversation, and also for saying "Let's watch all of the old Indiana Jones movies before the new one comes out!" I'm pretty sure when the phrase "Indiana Jones marathon" came out of my mouth Josh fell in love with me all over again.

That's enough for today. The national attention span is very short now, and you have probably already moved on to today's lunch menu.

Why haven't I posted in awhile?

2008-07-18T16:20:00.001-05:00

Among other reasons, I forgot the email address that was on the account. I'm at work currently, but I'll be back. Unless I forget my email address again.

Weekly Happenings

2008-06-04T22:49:00.002-05:00

I'm a little behind on updating, and even if my audience is small, they are still important, and I hate to let them down. I spent a fun week in Houston visiting my family. We ate, shopped, held babies, watched movies, but we never did get in that game of Scrabble (sorry, Mom.) I'll just have to keep practicing for the next visit. For more details on the trip visit Mom's blog. She has already written a nice detailed post about the visit. My visit also coordinated with my best friend's visit which was wonderful! It was nice to converse in person for a change instead of over the phone (as wonderfully convenient as phones might be). Oh yeah--I cut all my hair off too. I finally have a low-maintenance hairdo that is long overdue, if you ask me. It takes me about thirty seconds to dry my hair and that is a dream come true. As much as I love having thick, luscious locks, they are hot and difficult to blow dry. While I was gone Josh stayed behind in Nashville and helped his dad catch up on the yardwork. I definitely got the better end of that bargain.

When I got back I was greeted with a nice phone call from Lifeway informing me they have a job for me. That is an answer to prayer. Starting June 16th, which is also my wedding anniversary, I'll be a real career woman working in Lifeway's customer service department. Now if Josh can get a good job we'll be two for two. We'll just have to keep on praying I suppose.

Before I go check to see if the washing machine is free I'll leave you with a movie tip. One of my favorite things about our netflix account is all the old movies we have access too. I love to watch the old Disney family films from the 60's and 70's. They are all so funny--Josh and I just watched The Happiest Millionare, which is really cute. We fast forwarded through the songs though, because they were corny. Every now and then it's just nice to relax with a wholesome and happy film. You can't go wrong with good ol' Fred McMurray.

Congrats Grad!

2008-06-03T14:27:00.003-05:00

This is a couple of weeks overdue, but I wanted to post some pictures of Josh on his graduation day. He looks so handsome! After four years of blood, sweat, and tears, he finally has a college diploma to show for it. I'm so proud of him.

Breakfast and Blogs

2008-05-14T10:44:00.001-05:00

--this comic was just a bonus.

Josh made me pancakes this morning. What a sweet husband! I learned that if I asked him to make me breakfast I could catch another 15 minutes of sleep untroubled. The pancakes were pretty good too. It's been so long since I've actually eaten breakfast (sorry, Mom), that it inspired me to get writing at the early hour of just, um, 11:00 am. Note to self: start getting up earlier.

Right now we're getting ready to move out of first apartment and head to Nashville. We've taken all of our pictures down off the wall, boxed up our books, and we said goodbye to church friends. I had a job interview Monday, so if all goes well I should be set to climb the corporate ladder starting June 16. and speaking of June 16, our first anniversary is coming up! Josh and I have been married almost a year. Also speaking of June 16, I got our wedding pictures finally. I won't post them all online, because that would take away my fun of getting to show them to you in an album, but I'll give you a little taste to whet your apetite, and on that note, I'll leave you.

What's Happening?

2008-05-02T17:13:00.000-05:00

I wanted to start a blog again so I could get back into writing, but I didn't think it through completely, because I now need to come up with something to write about. Josh told me to "just be my normal, funny self." No pressure there. But anyhoo, here's a look into the fabulous life of...me.

On TV:
I have two new guilty pleasures.

1. Dancing with the Stars. Everytime I watch it it makes me want to put on a skimpy costume (I think some of my lingerie would probably suffice) and leap and twirl around our apartment. The only drawback to the show is the part where people get kicked off. Why can't they just all be winners?
2. The Bachelor. I turned on the season premiere out of curiosity, and then I got hooked. My favorite moment so far? On last Monday's episode, Matt sent Amanda packing, and right before she left he tried to feed her some crap about how he really meant everything he told her, and she said "well you couldn't have meant it or I wouldn't be sitting here." Then, she told Matt (who was already bright red with embarassment) that he was a d*%$#! b@^. It was priceless!

(His response? He said "well, I didn't feel it as much with you as I did with the other girls." Yeah, that's right, 'fess up, Liar.)

In the DVD player:

Life's been pretty stressful, what with the job hunt still in full swing, and the upcoming move to Nashville, so if I sit down to watch a movie, it had better make me laugh or feel good. High on my list of favorites right now are 27 Dresses and Enchanted. 27 Dresses makes me want to get married all over again (but preferably on the beach...to James Marsden), and Enchanted makes me want to have little girls (or, as Josh puts it, "living dolls that you can dress up and buy stuff for").

In my purse:

Most people put books on their nightstand, but I like to have a nice juicy mass market paperback in my purse. For eight dollars I can guarantee I will never get bored on the go. I just finished My Best Friend's Girl which was pretty cute (for a $6 book), but it took me 150 pages before I realized the main character was African-American. It mentioned her corn rows early on, but did I get the clue? No, the picture in my mind looked something like this:

Well, that's all folks! I'll catch you on the flip side the next time I have nothing better to say.
-Katie

Mom, this one's for you.

2008-04-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

get excited.