Elbow Grease

I have a faint memory from my childhood where I was cleaning something. I don't know if I was cleaning the bathroom or the kitchen or what surface I was cleaning. All I remember is that there was something that was hard to get off. My mom came and sat by my side when I told her that I couldn't clean the entire mess up, and she proceeded to tell me that some messes require "elbow grease." I expected her to take the rag and start scrubbing, but she handed the rag back to me and told me that I just needed to put a little more effort, strength and time into what I was cleaning, eventually it would come up. So, I scrubbed. I also thought how foolish my mother must be. She was stronger than me, and it would easy for her to scrub off the gunk that was such a challenge to me.
This experience came to my mind the other day as I was cleaning off an exceptionally stubborn mess on my kitchen counter. My mother's words, "Use elbow grease" popped into my head. I chuckled to myself as I realized how wise she was in teaching me about elbow grease and not rescuing me every time a mess got too difficult to handle. Somehow, in my childhood mind, I always figured she would be around to clean up anything that needed elbow grease.
The truth is, this goes far beyond housekeeping. As life continues to unfold, I realize that mom was teaching me to apply "elbow grease" to all of life's tough situations. There isn't always someone around who is stronger or even willing to clean up your life's messes. This may seem trivial, but I have a very difficult time making phone calls that have to do with day to day business (bills, doctor appointments, banking, insurance, etc.). For some reason, I thought that I would just get over it one day, or I would marry someone who would take care of the phone calls. Well, neither happened, and phone calls still need to be made. I've had to use elbow grease and just put a little more effort, strength and time into getting over this phobia of mine.
Messes happen in life. Sometimes, I think Heavenly Father does exactly what my mom did with that mess from my childhood. He doesn't come clean everything up for us when it gets hard. We still have to do it on our own, but the Savior is right beside us, teaching us the best way to make it clean.
Where do you have to use elbow grease?

Busy Body

This is what my kitchen towels are supposed to look like:But this what they end up looking like at least three times a day:

It seems like if I turn away from her for just a few minutes, she's making a mess or is about to make one. I found her just short of spilling oil all over my laundry room/pantry area this morning:Yep. Somehow she managed to get the lid off my oil. Watch out Mimi...I'm coming to your house next!!! I decided it was time to redirect her attention away from mess making for a bit. We had some friends over for dinner last night and had to pull out our big table. Adam hadn't put it away yet, so I made it into a slide for Charlotte:

It then became a tunnel:
This occupied her for about ten minutes. Then it was back to making messes! I'm okay with that. It's kind of a nice excuse on days I don't feel like cleaning. I just tell meself, "Don't feel guilty. Charlotte's just going to mess it up again. Besides, she'll only be a baby once. There will be messes to clean up forever."

Cheesy

This is Charlotte's new way of smiling. Let's hope she grows out of it before she starts dating...

I Heart Georgia

Adam just finished up his second year of podiatry school. We are now half way through. YAY! Originally we planned on hanging around the Cleveland area for Adam's week and a half break. After his last final, he came home and said we should go to Georgia. I jumped all over the offer! We drove down early Thursday morning and spent a week there.

Georgia is a lovely state. Actually, there is something just beautiful about the South. I did not appreciate the charisma of the South until I moved away from it. Southern hospitality is REAL! People in the South are so nice. Georgia is so green and warm. There is something rejuvenating about watching my parents chickens peck at the ground and going outside to pick a fresh head of lettuce from their garden for our dinner salad. By the way, I cannot wait until I have a yard where I can plant a garden and have a plethora of fresh vegetables at my fingertips! I told Adam that my heart belongs in the South. Even though I wasn't born there, I'll always consider myself a Southern girl.

Having a BBQ:

Papito and Charlie dancing:

Uncle Dito holding Charlotte. He thought she was a little heavy, but then again...he's pretty strong! ;)

Our last day there, Charlotte and I went with my mom to pick strawberries. Charlotte loved the strawberries. They were so juicy and very fun for her to squish!

Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture and Spitting Games

In a previous post, I promised that I'd put up a video of Charlotte dancing. We were finally able to get it without her being distracted by the camera. Daddy's ringtones are her favorite jams! :)

Also, my child and husband are so kind as to give me a shower every morning before I even get out of bed. What you see in the following video has become a morning ritual that I don't particularly care for, but it makes Adam laugh. That counts for something, right?

Happy Mother's Day

I know this is a day early, but I hope that all you mothers can be as inspired as I was by the words spoken here.

Crafty

The above adjective is not a word I would ever use to describe myself. I have had a bountiful amount of craft projects gone terribly wrong. It just doesn't come naturally to me. It actually hardly comes to me at all...I have really good intentions; I try really hard; I practice, and I have accepted the fact that I have been given different talents that help me out in a lot of areas outside of crafting.

Because none of this comes easy to me there is a project I have been working on for months that many people would knock out in a week or less. Despite it having taken so long to complete, I am very proud of it just for the fact that it turned out. It's not a disaster, and that's why I'm posting pictures.

Here is my dresser before (Don't mind the blue tape):

And here it is now:

Nine Months

Little Miss Charlotte has now been outside of me as long as she was inside of me! Let me just say that these past nine months went MUCH quicker than the ones when I was pregnant. I weighed her this morning and she now weighs 16.4 lbs. It was a rough estimate without much of an increase since last month. I promise we do feed her...lots! She loves to eat what Adam and I have on our plate. She'll eat the baby food we give her, but tries to get through it quickly so she can have what we're having for dinner. You can't see them in any of the pictures, but she now has 5 teeth (two on the bottom and three on top). Let me just say, that will all the teething that went on this last month I felt like I was an endless snot rag. Not fun!

C has learned how to pull herself up and loves to practice all day.

She prefers the army crawl still, but can crawl with her tummy of the floor if the occasion requires it. This past month she started dancing whenever a song comes on, even if she sitting in the shopping cart at the grocery store. She likes to "move it, move it!" I'm still trying to get a video of it.

Jabbering comes out of her mouth most of the day. When playing peek-a-boo, she says "buh" after I say "boo." I like to think she's attempting to say "boo," but most likely she isn't.

Something else of note from this past month is that she has become attached to a blanket. It's a must at nap time, if she gets hurt while attempting new things, while riding in the car or just for a plain recharge.

She's gotten so snuggly lately, and I will take every cuddle I can get!