Fell off of the face of the blogosphere

Well, I didn't really.  I still frequent a few ladies' blogs (Sarah and her new baby boy, Amber and her adorable Batman, and of course Melissa with her new baby girl) to comment and read about what they've been up to, but it's been a needed break.

School started and I just needed to deal with the grind again.  I also needed to spend time with Evie when I could.  The mom guilt is getting worse each day as I know that I'm not going to be able to devote all of my time and attention to her in the very near future.  I'm still working, and I will up until I go into labor, but I'm also in need of an outlet as things get closer to the end.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm hoping to get back on the wagon.  I want to clean up my look and try to reconnect with my (few) faithful readers.  I'm missing the capability to write about what's on my mind.  I'm going to take it one step at a time, and I will not pressure myself to post every day...especially with a baby boy on his way in the next 4 weeks.

Here's a quick update for now:

Evie is doing well back at daycare.  We had a rough transition at the beginning of the school year.  She was tired out all of the time from playing all day.  She was a total bear each evening, and it was a little stressful.  She began hitting me, and asking to go on timeout....YIKES!!!  I was very scared.  If she wanted to go on timeout, what the heck should her punishment be????  The solution for that one is a blog post in itself...so I'll try to write about it soon!

I'm currently 36 weeks and 1 day.  I had my 36 week appointment yesterday and was excited to find out that I'm 1 cm dilated!  I was also very disappointed (and freaked out beyond belief) to find out that the baby is currently breech.  My doctor scheduled an external cephalic version (attempt to manually turn the baby from the outside) for Friday afternoon....but that's another post that I plan to write tomorrow!

So, I guess I'm back on the blogosphere...

So, I'm on Twitter...

I did it; I joined Twitter!!!  I'm known as Mama2Evie. 

At this point, I have no clue what I'm doing, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. 

To my fellow blogging mamas, if you're on twitter, leave me a comment with your screen name (or whatever they are called in the twitter world)...I'd love to follow you and keep up with your posts! 

New Breastfeeding Page

Now that I have completely weaned Miss Evie, I decided to compile all of my breastfeeding posts into one convenient place.  I created a new "Breastfeeding" tab at the top of the page for anyone who is currently breastfeeding, thinking about breastfeeding, has ever breastfed, or is just plain interested in the topic.

Most of my posts are in the latter stages of breastfeeding because Evie was 10 months old when I began this blog.  However, I also posted links to some of the websites that I found most helpful when we were first starting our breastfeeding experience. 

Evie and I were very lucky that, overall, breastfeeding went very smoothly for us and was a great experience.  I'm more than happy to share any tips, etc. with anyone who is nursing right now.  I guess I just miss posting about boobs breastfeeding.  :( 

Anyway, check out the page and let me know what you think!!

Why I Blog

This blog is not an update for family and friends around the country.  Actually none of my family or friends even know that I do this, nor do I want them to.  I don't have a need to share the minutiae of my life with the world.  This blog does serve as a means to document Evie's childhood, but it's about me too. 

If someone asked me, "So, why do you blog?" the answer would be relatively simple.  I love to write.  I may not be great at it, but I've always enjoyed writing.  I used to keep a journal, from the time that I was 13 all the way through college and those tricky first years after college.  I love to look back at it and read about the things that were SO amazing/devastating/dramatic at the time.  (My favorite entry is about the first time that M told me he loved me...January 16, 2002.  Yup, I'm a sap like that.)

In high school, I had a knot in my stomach turning in English papers, afraid that my teacher would judge me for my thoughts.  I got over that my senior year because of an amazing English teacher who was incredibly hard on his students, but also believed that each of us could live up to his expectations.  As a teacher myself, I have even more respect for him now.

In college, I enjoyed writing papers.  I actually looked forward to writing my 40-page master's thesis last year. (I'm also a nerd like that.)  Researching was not my favorite, but putting all of my findings and ideas down on paper was a great experience.   I love to tweak and edit.  I often publish a post, and then go back and change it 5 or 6 times because I decide I don't like a certain word or the way I originally phrased something.

In another life, I think I was meant to be a writer.  Blogging is my way of putting my thoughts down on "paper" with the added bonus of reading others' thoughts about similar topics.  I have been surprised by some of the connections that I have found in the blogging world.  I never thought that this could help me through a tough time or make me laugh the way it has.  Blogging will definitely be a part of my life in 2012!!

One funny story:  Once, I actually even said in a job interview, when the interviewer asked what my dream job would be, that I would love to be a travel writer.  The interview was not for a teaching job, but for a position as a receptionist at a bank.  What was I supposed to say???  "I want to answer your phone for the rest of my life."  What a terrible interview question!!!  I got the job, and promptly left it 6 months later for my first teaching job.  ;)

Button, Button, I've got a button!!

I figured out how to make a button...finally.  It's something I've been meaning to do for a while, but I sat down and figured it out a couple of nights ago.  I used this website, picassa (which I use for all of my pictures of Evie), and photobucket as the website recommended.  It was actually really easy!!  I am still not completely satisfied with it, but here it is:

and here is the code if you'd like to grab it:

<br /> <a border="0" href="makesperfectsense.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g411/makes_perfect_sense/Button1-1.jpg"/></a><br />

I've very excited about it!!  The picture is from Evie's one year pics (which were more like 13 month pics), which I plan on posting about in the very near future.  Anyway, please let me know if there are any problems with the button or the code.  I'm still a newbie at the more complicated aspects of this blogging stuff.  :)

A to Z of Me

I saw this over at Momma Totally in Love, and I thought it was neat, so I'm going to give it a try!

A. Age: 29 (Wow that looks strange when I actually see it in writing.)

B. Bed size: Queen. 

C. Chore that you hate: Vacuuming.  Fortunately M takes care of it for me!

D. Dogs: Keeka, our oversized dachshund

E. Essential start to your day: Hitting the snooze at least twice.  ;)

F. Favorite color: Red (Go Badgers!)

G. Gold or Silver: Silver or White Gold

H. Height: 5'8"

I. Instruments you play:None now.  I played clarinet in high school, I even wanted to be a band director for a while.  

J. Job title: Spanish teacher

K. Kids:Evie, 14 months

L. Live: Wisconsin

M. Mother's name: Karen

N. Nicknames: My sisters call me "Duck."  I really don't remember why.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Only when I had Evie

P. Pet peeve: Teeth on a wooden stick (like a popsicle stick), I take all popsicles and corn dogs off of the stick.  

Q. Quote from a movie: "Holy Schnikes!"  from Tommy Boy (I am not ashamed that I still use movie quotes from the 90s)

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: Two younger sisters

T. Time you wake up: 5:15...after the two snoozes it's more like 5:30

U. Underwear:cotton bikinis, I'm not fancy.

V. Vegetable you hate: green beans...barf!

W. What makes you run late: myself!!

X. X-Rays you've had: ribs, spine, teeth

Y. Yummy food that you make: scotcheroos

Z. Zoo animal: giraffe

So, do I sound Canadian?? - The Accent Game VLOG

I've been accused of sounding Canadian in the past...a couple of times actually.  I grew up in northeastern Wisconsin (near Green Bay) and I've lived in southern Wisconsin (Madison area) for the past 11 years.  I would guess that my accent in pure Wisconsin...whatever that means.  We often get lumped in with Minnesota, but I think that it depends on the person.  I can the hear the "Wisconsin" in some people, which leads me to hope believe that my accent isn't quite as strong.
 
I first saw the game at Country is a State of Mind, and I thought it was an awesome idea.  I'm a huge language nerd, and I love anything to do with world languages/accents/colloquialisms/etc.

All you have to do is read the list of words and then answer the questions.  I'm sure the word "both" will probably be my biggest hurdle...lol!

Here are the words and questions:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions:
•What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
•What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
•What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
•What do you call gym shoes?
•What do you say to address a group of people?
•What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
•What do you call your grandparents?
•What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
•What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
•What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

So, the big question is: Do I really sound Canadian?!?!!?

P.S.  I was sitting in our glider rocker, so sorry about the rocking.  I didn't notice that when I watched it before I uploaded!  Oops! ;)  I also don't realize how quickly I talk.  My students actually complain about that sometimes...plus my memory card was running out of space...so many problems!!

NEW!! NEW!!! NEW!!!

I've added some new, fun pages to my blog!!  Well, I was excited about them anyway.  

Along the top of my homepage, I now have an "About Me" page.  

I also created an email to tie into the blog so that I can be privately contacted, if anyone would feel inclined to do so. 

Enjoy!