iMaGeS

The other day my cute little niece ran up to me, very excited to tell me about a favorite new TV show she'd been watching.

"Zoey 101 is soooooooooooooooo cool!" she told me.

I knew I'd heard about that show somewhere but couldn't quite place it, so as soon as I got home I googled it. I'm sure you've heard of it too - it's that teeny bopper show featuring none other than Jamie Lynn Spears, Brittany's younger sister.

Though I've never watched it, I'm sure the show itself is fine. It's the actress I have a problem with. Or, rather, the fact that she's a young, teenage mother in the public eye. I am not denouncing teenage pregnancies, because I know many wonderful moms who had babies at a very young age. It's simply not something that every young girl is cut out for, and I don't feel it should be "glorified" by the media.

Since Ms. Spears delivered her baby girl, she's graced the cover of dozens of magazines across the country. Articles quote her gushing about how much she loves being a mom and how it's so great and wonderful undoubtedly sending the message to some youngsters that parenthood is all fun and games. In reality, parenting is hard. Really, really hard. She's sending the wrong message. Period.

She's not the first young, teenage superstar to find herself in this situation and she won't be the last. It's simply depressing to think that this is the image my nieces are seeing.

Celebrities in general seem to have lost their moral compasses in the last few years. Just look at the alarming number of celebrity couples - Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie, Keith Urban/Nicole Kidman - who have children together but are not married.

Again, this is something that has been glorified by the media. The Los Angeles Times recently published an article entitled Hollywood's unwed parents club while Forbes.com writes "living together makes more sense than marriage."

I recognize that marriage isn't for everyone and that for some couples, it really does make more sense to live together and, perhaps, even have children together without marriage. All I'm saying is that this crud should be kept out of the limelight; it shouldn't be something that is played up by newspapers, TV, and magazines as "a new trend in parenthood."

On the other hand, I don't believe that couples should be "forced" into marriage simply because they have a baby. I've seen too many relationships crumble under that stress and wouldn't wish it on anyone. I guess, I just really have a problem with the fact that my young nieces and nephews (and some day my own children) gain so much cultural experience through television. I wonder if these celebrities can even fathom how influential they are. They're suposed to be role models, but lately all I've seen are perfect examples of how our society shouldn't be.

Sporty

Yay! Mark's team won the volleyball league title tonight! They've actually won the last five years in a row...they definately have a good thing going. It's a co-ed team that includes Mark, his brother Randy, sister-in-law Kris and our friends Callie, Steph and Craig. They have lots of fun and work really well together.

We've got lots of sporty stuff coming up in the next few weeks. This weekend Mark and I are running our church's volleyball tournament. His brother Dave has run it for the last few years, but is taking over the food/beverage end of the annual church picnic so Mark volunteered us for the job. It's going to be a lot of work...looks like we have 12 teams signed up so far. We've got to organize the brackets, set up the nets, keep track of the wins/losses, act as referees and handle the pay-out at the end. It will definately be a learning experience, but we both enjoy volleyball and more importantly volunteering and helping out with a church-related event.

Though the bar volleyball league is done as of tonight, Mark's Thursday night golf league still has a few weeks left to play. Pretty soon football starts, so that will be a busy time as well. Mark and his brother have coached the seventh grade youth football team for the last seven years and this year are moving up to coach 8th grade. They're very excited about the step up because the kids get to kick/punt at this level. Mark and Randy work so well together and are great coaches! I think to think I'm a good sideline "mom" - I end up being a surrogate mom for them during practice and games...I've got to make sure those meany coaches don't yell too much!

So, it will be a very busy, very sporty time for us for a while. Oh, well I knew that when I became part of this family. Sports are in the Breckheimer blood stream!

9 Months

::Beauty::

Today, Mark and I have officially been married 9 months! I'm not going to lie - things have been rocky, but all that matters is we're back on track and looking forward to our future. It's hard to believe it's been this long...time sure has flown by. We also recently celebrated four years together...it feels wonderful to know I've found my soul mate, the man who will always be there for me through the good times and the not so good.

Let's cross our fingers that the next time I title a post "9 Months" it will be to announce an addition to our family! This might be tmi (too much information) but we went shopping this weekend and I stocked up on home pregnancy tests! When the time comes, I don't want to have to run out to the store to find out...I'll want to know right away! Mark, of course, rolled his eyes. He does that a lot because he thinks it's ridiculous how badly I want a baby. He doesn't understand that all I've ever wanted was to be a mommy. When I was four years old and my aunt asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I answered,

"A mommy...and a truck driver." Lol. Such ambition!

:::Blessings:::

Today, I'm counting my blessings. I don't do it nearly enough, but it's oh so important to take time to stop, think and give thanks and praise for all I have and all I'm able to do.

Things that made me smile/feel blessed/give thanks today:

1. Phone calls from my husband just to say "I love you."
2. A favorite song heard on the radio
3. A rain-free day so my family could finish the hay
4. Mark treating me to a special dinner
5. Finishing another blue baby bootie!
6. ...that our mailbox included an invitation to a wedding and a letter from a dear friend instead of all bills.
7. Helping my mom organize the new house she's waited so long for...
8. My brother's happiness
9. Freshly cut flowers on my desk at work
10. An email from an old friend
11. LOVE!

Babies on the Brain

Seems that a lot of my posts center on my fixation with babies/pregnancy and lately knitting. This post includes all that!

I found this cute pattern for knitting baby booties and have decided to knit three boy-colored pairs and three girl-colored pairs to stow away in one of the dozens of tubs full of baby clothes I've gotten from my sisters-in-law. As I mentioned, I really want this to be a fun tradition for each of our newborns to wear a pair of booties, knit by mommy, home from the hospital.

One blue baby bootie done!

Here are the purple and pink booties (two of each) and the start of another blue one.

Here's the start of another pink bootie!

Hopefully we'll soon have little feet to fill these booties! In the meantime, I'm having lots of fun with my knitting. I've also found a pattern for newborn hats and I'm thinking I might try to figure out that pattern once the booties are done. How cute would that be to have a little one wear matching hat and booties!

Hope you enjoy my ramblings about babies, cuz I don't think they'll stop anytime soon.
On another note, I got a call from my two and a half year old Godson yesterday. He was so very excited to inform me that he "Went poppy on the potty!" Yay Jade! I don't know how I ever lived without these 25 amazing nieces and nephews in my life!?

Date Night, Knitting, Sweaty Temps

Jade grinning after catching beads at the parade!

Ooooooooh we had a busy, busy weekend! Friday night Mark wanted us to have a date night so we went to Appleton to eat at Applebees and see a movie. We ended up seeing "Wanted" with Angelina Jolie. It was very good, but also very gory and had quite a bit of swearing in it. I couldn't believe it...there was a boy who was like 11 years old sitting in front of us and the movie was rated R! I have no idea how he got in there, but I felt uncomfortable with the fact that he was there and hearing/seeing certain parts of the movie. Yeesh, some parents!



We both later realized that Friday (July 18) was the anniversary of our first date! We're both very glad we had a date night to celebrate, even though we didn't realize at the time what or why we were celebrating.



Saturday we kind of lounged around and did some cleaning. I got a lot of knitting done.... a pink pair of baby booties and a purple pair! I'm working a blue pair right now. Mark picked out the blue yarn and was so proud of himself, because now that I've got the first blue bootie started we can see that the color is very pretty. I'll post pics later...I'm having so much fun!



I had to run around to take a few pics for work in the afternoon, then we stopped by parent's place to see how their new house is coming. It looks sooooooooooo nice! Beautiful, really! I'm so happy for them! They'll start moving in this week and should be completely ready to live in the new house by Friday!



Saturday night Mark went to play cards and I stayed home because I was feeling a bit icky-ish from all the darn heat and humidity we've been having. I can handle the heat, but the humidity just zaps my energy. I've also been having lots of headaches lately that I think are allergy related. Anyway, I stayed home and did some more knitting and watched "The Other Sister" which is probably one of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen it...you must watch it!



Yesterday we went to the parade and pretty much melted/sweated our butts off. We sat with Kris and the kids so that was fun, but it was definitely too hot for my liking. We went out for brunch after, then went to Wal Mart so Mark could pick out the baby boy yarn. We lounged/napped/watched TV for the rest of the afternoon then went for Scoops ice cream later. Let me tell you there are some benefits to having my brother/sister-in-law own an ice cream parlor, but there are also some evils ... like the fact that we go there at least twice a week!



Today, we're back to the grind and counting down the days to our Wisconsin Dells vacation. I can't wait to take a few days off work and relax with my hubby. Never know what surprises might happen....

Headaches Galore

I don't know if it's allergies or stress or what....but I've been feeling very headachy and tired for the last few weeks. It's getting pretty sickening....wish it would stop!

We didn't end up meeting with the financial advisor the other night because they called and told us the road in front of their building was flooded and shut down because of the rain! See, I knew it was a bad idea to go.

Mark golfed yesterday and then I went to the musical "Damn Yankees!" with my mom, so I only saw him for about 15 awake minutes yesterday. That can be so tough on our relationship, but yet sometimes it's nice to have some time apart....it makes us appreciate the time we have together.

I was cleaning out the closet Wednesday and found a scarf I started knitting back in December. I really got back into knitting for a while there and even made scarves for a bunch of family members for Christmas. I'm working on finishing up that scarf now, because I realized I never made one for myself last winter!

I've also been looking online for patterns for baby booties, because I read an article where a mom made special booties for each of her children to wear home from the hospital. I thought that would be a nice tradition to start as well. (No I'm not pregnant....yet!) I decided I'll get started making them now and since we know we want to have at least three children, I'll probably make a couple pink pairs and a couple blue ones.

I picked up some really softy pink yarn and some cheap-o ugly stuff. I'm going to make a practice pair out of the ugly yarn, but first I have to find an online tutorial because I cannot remember how to knit a purl stitch!

Back Track: When I was about 11 or so I took some knitting classes through 4-H and learned how to do lots of fun stuff. Then I broke my elbow and had to have my arm in a weird sling for nearly three months and I couldn't knit. This past winter I decided to take it up again, but couldn't remember how to do a simple knit stitch! I found an online tutorial and it all came flooding back to me, but now I'm going to need a refresher to learn the purl stitch and "knitting in the round" which is what the baby bootie pattern calls for.

Mark is kind of rolling his eyes about the idea, but I love knitting because it's something I can do while I watch TV and I don't really have to think about it. He always gets so annoyed because I can never just watch TV, I always have to be doing something else while I watch. Usually it's cleaning or organizing something but lately it's been knitting.

We have an appointment tomorrow to look at a house, though I'm not sure where it is. Mark just left a quick message. It's fun to look at houses even if we know we're not interested in them...we always get good ideas and then we can see what we like and what we don't like. We're really in the market for a fixer-upper ... I think it will be so fun to do the work ourselves! Mark has lots of experience working construction and so does his brother Randy, and I looooooooooove to paint and pick out colors and all that stuff!

Phew. That was a lot of rambling about a lot of different things. I'd better get back to work... (Smile)