30 Musings......

I'm not usually big into making sure everyone knows when it's my birthday; it's just never been that huge of a deal to me. However, this year, I hit the big 3-0. I thought of several different posts for this topic. Perhaps I would list 30 things I have learned about life, or maybe 30 goals for the future, or 30 things I'm thankful for. All swell ideas, but, well, I'm not that clever. So instead, here we have 30 random musings.
1. Dan took me out to celebrate over the weekend. We went out to dinner and saw Transformers. A great meal and a fun movie. But the real gift was my good husband knowing that his new-baby-tired-and-frazzled wife needed to curl her hair, wear clothes other than sweats and spend a few hours more than 10 steps away from the wee one.

2. My little brother gets married in 4 days. He's such a neat guy. I could talk about movies, or music, or books, or whatever for hours and hours with him and come away with a different and fresh perspective.

3. My little sister turns 27 on Friday. Yup, we are 3 years and 3 days apart. She's also not a big birthday person. In fact, she had a stretch there when she was around 9-12 where her birthdays really stunk. One year, she got her fishing pole thrown in the lake. I hope this year is better for you, Bee.

4. Lana is incredible, adorable, sweet and beautiful. I think we're starting to see bits and pieces of her personality as she gets more active during her wake time. Maybe we should admire a photo:

5. Dan is just as smitten as I am. In fact, right now, he's holding Lana, talking to her and trying to get her to give him a big belch. He's such a great Daddy.

6. We live out in the country, so it should come as no surprise that we have our fair share of wildlife. I like the deer and the loud hawks don't bother me and the chipmunks are kind of cute, but I still get a bit creeped out when I hear the coyotes howling when I'm up in the middle of the night.

7. We have a neat little scripture-a-day calender in the kitchen. On the day Lana was born, this was the verse: "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you... In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." Job 12:7, 10. Who would have thought that such a lovely, uplifting verse would come out of the Book of Job? Not I, that's for sure. I usually don't think "uplifting" when I think of Job. It was definitely an unexpected surprise. I think it's foreshadowing of the unexpected surprises we'll get from our dear Lana.

8. Since we're on the topic of Bible verses. Here's the one for July 7, my birthday verse: "For the word of God is living and active. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12. Oooh, ouch. But it's just what I needed to hear. God knows when I paste on a smile on the outside, but have a bad attitude on the inside. Yup, he's omnipotent like that.

9. It's 9:48 pm. I just put my daughter down for the night. Anyone wanna place a bet on when the first middle-of-the-night rendezvous between the two of us will be?

10. Had I asked the above question last night and you guessed midnight, you would have been the big winner. Had you then gone for bonus points and followed up with 2 am, 4:30 am and 6:30 am, you would have been the very, very big winner.

11. It's ten to ten and I'm beat, so I'm going to bed now and will finish my birthday musings tomorrow. I know, it will no longer be my birthday tomorrow, but perhaps sleep will get my creative juices flowing and I will have more interesting things to muse about.

12. Lana gave me a fabulous birthday present. She slept from 10:00 pm to 3:20 am. Yup, that means that I got about 5 solid hours of sleep before she was up and wanted to party. Of course, after she went down again at 4:00 am, she was up again at 5:15 am. We seem to have trouble with waking up again quickly after a long sleep. Anyone have any ideas of how to combat this? Oh, please don't get the impression that Lana sleeps this long always, refer back to musing #10 above.

13. The next time I get 8 solid hours of sleep, I think I'll create some type of monument.

14. About two weeks ago I decided I needed to work on getting my pre-pregnancy body back. I tried to do a sit-up. Just one. It wasn't happening. I couldn't believe it. Even at my most out-of-shape, I could always crank out some sit-ups or crunches. Neither were going to happen. Dan was very empathetic and reminded me of everything my ab muscles had recently gone through and told me to go easy on myself. So I dug out a work-out ball and started by doing easy ab exercises. I am happy to report that I can successfully do about 12 sit-ups at once. No rock-hard abs to show off yet (I doubt there ever will be), but I am improving.

15. Lana is old enough now that she needs to spend time everyday on her stomach to strengthen her neck and back muscles. We work out together. When she has tummy time, so does Mommy.

16. We went into Pullman today so I could get my nails done. We also walked laps around the playfields. The playfields are certainly not the most scenic, but the park has my three new requirements: 1)a paved trail for the stroller 2)easy parking 3)accessible restrooms.

17. Speaking of my fingernails, I haven't had them done in over 2 months and I really missed them. I just feel prettier and more put-together when my hands look nice.

18. Dan just came home with a meal from a super-wonderful and generous woman from church. It's heating in the oven and smells awesome.

19. Here's our Lenssen version of the 'American Gothic' painting:

20. Non-baby related goals I want to accomplish during my maternity leave:

-paint my dresser so it better matches our bedroom

-actually read a book for pleasure

-paint/cover wooden LANA letters for above her crib

-get out the touch-up paint for Lana's room. Middle of the night feedings are great for showing me where her room needs some work

21. This is the longest post ever. If you're still with me, thanks. I'll try to keep the rest short and sweet.

22. My parents and California grandparents are visiting tomorrow on their way to Post Falls for the wedding. I'm excited. I haven't seem mu Grandma Ree and Grandpa Bob in a long time.

23. Little known fact: My Grandma Ree and I have the same birthday.

24. Another little known fact: These same grandparents have been married for over 50 years. They are a true inspiration.

25. I have a feeling our little Lana will get lots of loves at the wedding this weekend. Grandparents and great-grandparents are good at that.

26. Lana is three weeks old today. Let's celebrate with a cute picture, shall we?

27. It's now July 9th. I started this post on July 7th. It has officially taken me three times longer to write this than I anticipated.
28. For those with kids: Does it usually take three times as long to get stuff done while holding and catering to an infant?
29. I'm glad these musings are almost complete. I have vacuuming to do.
30. And we're here! The end. 30 musings. Next year, I will not attempt 31 musings. Maybe I'll try all 31 flavors at Baskin Robbins or something fun like that. Thanks for sticking with me and putting up with my birthday musing randomness.