Alayna's Adventures

So, life has been busy for the last six or so months.  First, I was pregnant.  And miserable.  I truly hate to say that I was miserable, because a new baby is a huge blessing.  But for the sake of transparency and honesty, I was not a happy camper for the last few months of my pregnancy. Some people love to be pregnant, would be pregnant all the time if they could be...  I could not WAIT to be NOT pregnant and to hold and see my sweet baby boy.   Each of my pregnancies has been rough in its own way, but one thing that has been constant is a weird pain under my ribs toward the end.  With each subsequent pregnancy, this awful pain comes earlier.  I tend not to be a complainer when it comes to pain, as I consider myself to have a pretty high pain tolerance (I mean, I did take on a minivan with my head)...  But this pain was bad enough that I was taking Tylenol almost constantly, and my ribs were still tender about seven or eight weeks AFTER...

I have now cried most of my week away.  Staying up late crying.  Crying with the kids at home.  Crying while I'm cleaning.  And just so everyone knows, it's not because I'm pregnant... John is looking to make a career move that would include purchasing two car washes.  In Youngstown, OH.   It's a two hour drive from here, and he doesn't want to drive four hours a day forever.  So he wants to move closer to Youngstown.  Outside of Youngstown, or in Jamestown or Greenville, PA, where my parents are, are all places we could move to. And I'm devastated.  Absolutely heartbroken to the point of tears.   I love my community and the people we live life with now.  I hate change.  I love Pittsburgh.  I love my church.  I love my friends.  My friends' kids are awesome friends for my kids.  I love where we live.  There are hundreds of cool cultural attractions nearby.  I go to a gre...

I am mother of the year.   Yes, I'm not bashful.  I'm just letting you know.  And why am I mother of the year this time?  (Oh yes, I have deserved this award many times over, by the way.)  Let me just tell you a little Mother's Day story to help you see why I deserve this honor - yet again.   Just this week, Isaiah and I had a wonderful afternoon that included copious amounts of baby powder on the living room floor, spread around generously by my sneaky three year old while I was attempting to make dinner.   When I discovered that he had emptied 36 ounces of baby powder on the living room floor and was swimming in it, I did what any good parent of my generation would do...  I took a picture of it.  Then I followed some very small baby powder footprints up the stairs to see what my daughter had gotten into, as she was also way too quiet.  It turns out that she was emptying a package of diapers onto her floor to accompan...

Do you ever feel like you just CAN'T get your act together? The house is *still* a mess. The four bushels of clothes to fold and put away are staring you down. Your body is screaming at you because you haven't done anything even remotely close to exercise in two months. You just want to hide from your kids, watch an entire season of Friends, and go to the bathroom alone. Oh, and you haven't showered in days.  Do you feel me? I started this year with gusto and goals.  I composed many lists, things to accomplish, an everything to do list, a blog topic list, and even a "great ideas" list.  I subscribed to a blog about decluttering.  I was even working on an organizational wonder, my "homemaking" binder, which I promise is not as ridiculous as it sounds.  It is meant to be one spot to have meal plans, family calendars, to do lists, idea scribbles, and blog jottings.  How do you think that is working out for me?  Is my life or even my house organized y...

So, I'm pretty new to blogging really.  My blog just turned a year old, a few months ahead of my little girl, Annika Ruth.  I had never had a blog, but had always loved writing.  Maybe I was too busy to blog or too lazy to set one up, but I finally joined the blogosphere last year.  I felt a little nudge from God to do it, so maybe that was the final straw.  I have always had a feeling that I would one day write a book , but maybe it's not a book that I'm destined to write.  Maybe it's just my blog.  Or an e-book, which I suppose is still technically a book, but the prospect of writing an e-book or blogging seems much less intimidating than a ginormous chapter book with an editor, a publisher and deadlines.  Besides, where would I even start?!  I don't know what the future holds, so only time will tell about authoring a book.  Until then, I have my blog and you, my reader! Along my writing journey, I have had some timely and wonderful o...

Confession time.  I'm not going to hold back, so here it it.  I have used the f-word many times in my head lately, especially in the last week.  Many.  And I used it in a text message to my husband.  Eeek.  If you know me, you know that I do not swear with any regularity.  If you knew me a long time ago, you may wonder what the big deal is.  But that's another story for another day.         In reality, it's been more than that.  I have been angry with my son.  Like, wanted to smack him across the face, angry.  I didn't, because I don't think it's right to do, but there were a few times that I really, really wanted to, and had to stop and breathe to avoid doing something stupid.  I have screamed at my children.  Like, I wonder if the neighbors have concerns about what is going on, screamed.    I almost always apologize, but that's hardly the best way to conduct myself when they dr...

Broken crayons...  I think anyone who owns a box of crayons, also owns broken ones.  I like to keep things in order, nice and neat, and if it were up to me, the crayons would always be in color family order in the big box of 64 Crayola crayons with the mini sharpener on the back.  But apparently, I had to lay my desire for nice and neat aside, because I have a two year old.  He doesn't feel the same way that I do about crayons, so they are busted and beat up in an old plastic Huggies wipes container.  With broken ones comprising at least a quarter of the bin.  The trouble with broken ones is that I now have an 8 month old...  Who crawls... Everywhere.  So now, I have to worry about tiny crayon bits looking like food to her.  One more choking hazard on the floor.  What to do, what to do?!? I'll tell you...  I made cute crayon rounds from our broken bits.  Here is my fun photo tutorial for what to do to recycle broken crayon...

Last year I discovered pick your own produce at several local Pittsburgh farms.  The wonderful farm that I have fallen in love with for pick your own is Triple B Farms which is tucked away 15 miles south of Pittsburgh at 823 Berry Lane in Monogahela, PA.  They have so many pick your own crops and festivals all growing season long, you can't help but love them!   Now is the time for strawberry picking at Triple B, which started around May 20 and continued into June with the Strawberry Festival on June 2 and 3.  Strawberry picking will wrap up mid June, just in time for red raspberry picking which starts June 9 & 10.  When I was a kid, my mom used to take us strawberry picking and then she would make strawberry freezer jam.  I saw a recipe for freezer jam on Pinterest and my nostalgia kicked in and I couldn't wait to make some!  So when I heard that pick your own strawberries were ready at Triple B, I couldn't wait to go! ...

Now that I'm home with the kids (yes, it's official, I'm a SAHM!) we are welcoming the year of the membership!  As in, buy a year long membership to ABC Place and go a million times to get way more out of it than you paid for it.  So far we have a membership to the Carnegie Museums and a membership to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium .  And in the first week of our zoo membership, we went twice!  I highly suggest at least the two memberships that we have and here is why...   Isaiah chillin' with the fishes! 1)  Memberships are inexpensive.  For a family, a Carnegie Museum membership costs $100 if you have one child under 2 (because they are free!) or $150 for two adults and up to four children.  It may sound like a lot, but the membership pays for itself very quickly.  If you take a family of two adults and one child over two to the Carnegie Science Center THREE times in a year, you have gotten your money worth.  Three times....

So we have had a busy and productive week this past week...  Tuesday, October 25, 2011 is a day that we will never forget, a day that we have been patiently waiting for and, at times, hoping would arrive sooner.  On Tuesday, October 25 at 9:22 am our daughter, Annika Ruth Richard, arrived via C-section.  She weighed in at a chubby 8 pounds 9 ounces and measured a healthy 20 inches long.  She is gorgeous!!  (Of course, I am completely biased.) Annika Ruth when she is minutes old... Many people have wondered why we named her Annika Ruth.  Middle name first... Ruth is my middle name, and a family name on my side.  Ruth was a grandmother somewhere in my dad's lineage, and honestly, I don't know much about her, but I intend to find out more so that I can pass it on to my daughter in the future.  I also love the Ruth of biblical fame.  She was really a standout woman - loyal, hardworking, faithful, and full of honor.  Her...

On Monday, October 10, I drove away from my last day of work before maternity leave for baby number two and I was filled with a certain mixture of emotion.  Emotion that I'm not sure I can describe yet, but will undoubtedly be sorted out in the coming weeks and months ahead.  In the emotion I think that there was a bit of uncertainty, a bit of finality, and some fear and apprehension.  It may have been my last time driving away from my job.  Which is scary to think, admit and write.  I called my hubby as I drove away and left a rather disjointed voicemail, unsure of what exactly to say or what I was even feeling.  There was no fanfare, no big exit, no cake or balloons, no big deal really.  I wasn't expecting such theatrics, but it made the exit and drive anticlimactic and weird in a way.  For the last seven plus years, I have had a good job, a job that pays well and has always allowed me the work-life balance that my family has ne...

This is me... So, this is a picture of my baby belly.  I am 35 weeks pregnant with a little girl.  Thirty-five weeks along in a pregnancy where 40 weeks equals the end.  I'm so close to done, 5 weeks until 40 weeks, and only 32 days until my scheduled C-section.  Time is drawing to a close and in many ways, I am mortified.  I know what you are saying, I can hear it...  "What do you mean, mortified?! Isn't this a beautiful, happy place to be?!  What's wrong with you?!?"  (Cue facial expressions of horror and disgust.)  Okay, okay, let me explain.   I am mortified.  Scared.  Petrified even.  I am frightened about the future and all it holds in this moment.  Surely, I am excited to meet our little girl, curious about what she looks like, and longing to hold her in my arms.  These things are true, but it's also true that this new step in our lives brings with it a lot of fear and trepidation.  ...