Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Eight Tag

I have a few post ideas cooking right now, but I haven't had the time I need to spend on such weighty topics as the economy, teaching our children modesty, and saving traditional marriage. I hope to do these posts next week when we're taking a week off of school, but as I am putting lots of things off until next week, it may be just as busy as all the others!

Anyhow, Rebecca tagged me for a game where we can tell any 8 random facts about ourselves. I've tweaked it a little, and I won't tag anyone, so just read and leave me a comment! And stay tuned--my next post is #200 and I have a giveaway planned.

Eight Things I Wish I Had More Time For:
  1. Reading--I have been reading Wives and Daughters for 2 months now--pathetic
  2. Blogging--this twice a week posting is driving me crazy
  3. Calling friends on the phone--this is a rare treat anymore, but used to be my daily staple
  4. Studying the scriptures--I do get in 30 minutes most days, but I'd love to spend more
  5. Traveling--although money is also to blame here
  6. Spending time with extended family
  7. Cleaning and Household Projects--sad, but true
  8. Developing New Talents--I really want to learn to sew, practice the piano, and so much more.
Eight Books I'm So Glad That I've Read:
  1. The Book of Mormon--I couldn't navigate my life without this one, hand in hand with number 2. I spend time reading it every day and it never gets old or fails to fill my cup.
  2. The Holy Bible--see number 1.
  3. Covenant Hearts--click to read my review. The best book on marriage I've ever read.
  4. The Well-Trained Mind--although I am still working through this one, I use it as a reference. It helped me develop my philosophy and hopes for homeschool into real plans.
  5. Anna Karenina--this powerful novel so beautifully depicts the Russian consciousness of the time and illustrates the tragedy that comes from selfishness and adultery. Possibly my favorite novel of all time.
  6. The Out-of-Sync Child--excellent resource on Sensory Integration Dysfunction/Sensory Processing Disorder.
  7. On Becoming Babywise--this book is considered to be quite controversial. And yet, most of the criticisms on it seem to be based on "hearing about the book"-- I did not find it's method of helping babies sleep through the night to be rigid or cruel at all. What I took away from this book was a philosophy to feed my baby when they first wake rather than right before it's time to sleep again. I tried to keep them on a 3 hour schedule, although I think you can tell if your baby is truly hungry and I certainly would bend in such situations. I always made sure to change their diaper before putting them down so that they would fall asleep in their cribs. My outcome (with babies 3 and 4--the babies I had after reading this book)? I did not have babies crying themselves to sleep. If they cried, I picked them up. What I had was babies who knew how to fall asleep without me suckling them, rocking them, or sleeping next to them. They were both sleeping 12 hours straight at night before they were 8 weeks old. Twelve hours. This method worked much better for us than what he had done previously, which was get the baby to sleep, put him down, and hope he stayed asleep. Those babies eventually had to be trained to put themselves to sleep when they were much older--and that's when the real "crying it out" took place!
  8. Pride and Prejudice--How could I not name this one? It's not that it has made me a better person or anything, but it is so well written, so delightfully funny, so very Jane Austen. This book is here for all of those great books that I couldn't fit on this list of eight.
Eight Foods I Can and Will Eat Any Time of Day (all are homemade unless otherwise noted):
  1. Macaroni and Cheese
  2. Apple Boysenberry German Chocolate Lemon Meringue Pie (German Chocolate from Marie Callendar's)
  3. Fresh Bread
  4. Granola (Homemade or Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond)
  5. Cheesecake
  6. Anything Chocolate
  7. Fresh Salsa
  8. Cookies
(Notice a trend there? It's almost all sweet.)

Eight Things I
Love About Being A Mom:
  1. Kissing a squishy, chubby cheek
  2. Saying "I Love You" after family prayers
  3. One-on-one tender moments with my kids
  4. Sharing books I love with my kids
  5. Hugging, holding, and rocking
  6. Singing
  7. Trying to interpret a one-year-old's language
  8. Watching them sleep

14 comments:

Scrappy said...

Bronwen is looking like little girl these days, not a baby. She is beautiful!
I wish you had more time for blogging too. I don't have much time to read though, so I guess it works for me. :)
I am glad you talked about the Covenant Hearts book. I meant to write that down when you posted about it a while ago but didn't and then forgot about it. Maybe I will get it for Christmas. I have heard of Babywise but did not really know what it taught. I have always fed my babies a while before bed because I did not want them to associate sleep with eating. Sounds like that book is right up my alley.
Spending more time with you and your family would definitely be on my list!

Rebecca Blevins said...

Love it! Your tweaks worked very well.

By the way, I fixed your name on my post. Sorry I misspelled it! :D

A Pendley said...

Michal,
Just so you know I am a blog stalker :)
I talked to Alli the other day and had a great time talking to her.
We are in the process of adopting 2boys and one of our sons is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's or High functioning Autism. The original diagnosis was Sensory Integration Dysfunction so I have also read the Out of Sync Child.
I wanted to call you or e-mail you sometime if that is ok. Alli gave me your contact info but my lap top crashed the other day and I am not sure how soon I can get it up and running again.
Would you e-mail me your e-mail address. My e-mail is pendleya@gmail.com
Your kids are ADORABLE!
Amy Pendley (Solum)

Erika said...

Wow! I can't believe you're already at post #200!! That is incredible!
I've been off the commenting train for a while because Scotty is in the sit on my lap while I am on the computer phase right now so I normally only have one hand :-)

I was chuckling because Bronwen's hair is now as long as Scotty's :-)

Hope to see you soon.xxoo

UtahJenny said...

I have to admit I started watching your blog JUST because of your title - love it. Then, of course, your content is so nice. I am just laughing about your book list - just the other week we were sitting with our Stake Pres as my husband was being called to the Bishopric. We have a 2 month old baby and the Stake Pres. asked how he was doing. My response is that he is a good baby, but still working on the sleeping. He just out and out tells me to do the Babywise method. It was very direct but full of love for us and our family as we take on a new challenge. Anyhow, I love the book, too, and my baby is sleeping better just a few weeks later. And I don't leave him screaming, but he has found his thumb! :)
Just had to share.

A mother heart said...

This is sweet. I love seeing pictures of your kids. They are such a good combination of you and Jared. (the kids, not the pictures!)

Prudy said...

Great post. Your little Bronwen is getting bigger since I saw her this summer. You know I love what you love. Just point me in the right direction. Thanks for the tip about the skirt. You know you're my guru so I'm checking your suggestions first.

Allison said...

That was fun to read. Thanks for not tagging anyone.

I can't believe you are at 200 posts! I think you must be getting plenty of blogging time.

Unknown said...

I am so excited to get reading some of the books on your reading list! Thanks for sharing.

I love the lists of eight! FUN!

nickandstaci said...

So nice to read your post. I miss them! I can only imagine how busy you are with four little ones and homeschooling. Keep up the good work.
Okay, I running out to get that babywise book! Max is 14 weeks and doing horrible in the sleep department. I need sleep! Thanks for sharing.

Christine said...

I love the picture of Bronwen!

Aly sun said...

Really good twist on the "get to know you" survey. Interesting choices and I enjoyed reading your lists. I found you through Christine again. I also have you linked from my blog because I love your blog.

Keli and Mike said...

I guess I need to read the baby book. Jamison still won't go to sleep on his own. He has to be cuddling with me, and he's almost 18 months now!

An Ordinary Mom said...

I second your list for "Eight Things I Wish I Had More Time For."

I have read part of the book Babywise. I should look into it again. Little Eli is now 12 weeks old and I hope he will start sleeping through the night soon. My first son, Cory, started sleeping through the night by 10 weeks (without Babywise, but my own method is pretty similar). Getting enough sleep makes a world of difference when it comes to mothering.