What Do You Do?

"What do you do?" It's probably the most common question to ask someone when you're making small talk or trying to get to know them. I ask new people at church that question a lot. I don't actually like the question but after I ask,  "How'd you find out about GrassRoots?," it seems like the only thing left to ask someone I don't know. 

I don't like the question because it indicates that what you do is who you are or is how you find value or something like that. You know what I mean? And that's been confirmed for me by how people answer the question. In this economy a lot of people are going back to school or working jobs they don't like or unemployed or underemployed. So when they answer the question they answer in a tone that says they're not very proud of what they do. And then I feel bad for asking. 

So my question for you is, what's a better question to ask? Is there a way to get to know someone better without asking what they do? Or just a better way to ask the question. 

A Good Day

Today is a good day. My awesome, baby whispering husband put Ava down at 10pm last night and she slept till 1am. When I fed her at 1am and 5am, she went back down without a sound. This made for the most sleep I've had since she was born. I feel so alive today! 

Other good things include getting back into pre-pregnancy jeans. Even though they were my "I ate two slices of cheesecake last night jeans," not my "I ran three miles this morning jeans" and Ava threw up all over them less than an hour after putting them on, it still made me happy. I'm not sure who has to change clothes more times in a day, me or Ava.

I'm getting a hair cut today! A friend recommended a salon that's right beside my house, which is awesome because until I teach Ava how to take a bottle (I will I swear, I've just been busy) I'm always on a 2 1/2 hour countdown when I leave the house. As for the cut, I think I'm going to go shorter. But not this short. 

That was a mistake of epic proportions. Any suggestions for the new do? 

Another good thing is Joe Thorn's book Note To Self. The book is made up of about 50 short notes where the author helps you preach truth to yourself on a slew of different topics. If it weren't for this book, I'm not sure how i'd be having a quiet time right now. I recommend it for everyone, but especially for someone who's in a busy season of life. The Resurgence has published several of the "notes" as blog posts if you want to read an excerpt. 

All of these small things are just gifts from a very good God. The best thing of all the good thing from today is just knowing I'm His child- a concept that has become even sweeter in the recent weeks.  

Welcome Ava

I'm sure you've seen Ava's pictures on Facebook, but I figured I'd post a few here for her blog debut. When I'm a little less sleep deprived I'll share her birth story, including how I went from being Mrs. All Natural to Mrs. Say Yes to Drugs. It's a wonderful 25 hour saga ;)

In the Hospital

First Bath at Home

Emergency Car Feeding

 Car Burping

Hair Styling with BeBe

Weekend Update

Brian and I had such a productive weekend! Friday evening we had planned on getting in some face time at the Wholefoods coffee bar to review our marriage small group material, but we got so caught up in the nursery that we ran out of coffee bar time and had to settle for a late night grocery trip. 

Saturday morning we had our friends Jason and Stevie over for breakfast. Since we're not sure how having Ava is going to change our routines for a while we wanted one last pre-baby hurrah with them. 

 After waffles, they helped us with some nursery stuff like figuring out how our wrap and baby carrier work. We practiced with a stuffed bear.

 Brian's was much easier than mine.

Then the four of us took our cars to a local car wash. Brian's and my car needed vacuuming in the worst way. We wanted to clean them before we installed our car seat. Which Brian did all by himself even though everyone had told us we'd need professional help because it was so hard. That's one thing about engineers, they can read an instruction manual!

Also this weekend, Brian gave me roses for my first ever Mother's Day gift. Wasn't that awesome?

Today we had our 38 week appointment. I tested negative for group B strep, so I don't have to have an IV during delivery and we won't have to stay an extra day in the hospital. I was prepared for it if we did, but I'm so glad we don't! 

Friday

I called this post "Friday" because I have no direction about what I'm about to say. I just feel like bloggin' and it's Friday. 

Today my MIL came over and we she worked on the crib skirt for Ava's room. I originally bought the fabric for a crib bumper, but thanks to the hospital and the CDC, I have been scared out of using one. I figured a skirt could add the same kind of flare with a comparable amount of fabric. 

She brought some old curtains to use for the middle part of the skirt that goes underneath the mattress and since I had washed the new fabric we figured we should wash those too so nothing would shrink. And that gave us time to kill. During that time I found these great tubs at Sams. I've been seeing the same tubs at Target in every color but the ones I wanted. I'm going to use one for toys and the other for dirty clothes. 

Our travel system arrived yesterday. But we weren't home, so UPS left it with our neighbor. Which is a little weird considering we don't know our neighbor. This afternoon I knocked on her door and she had it waiting on me. I'm glad we have honest neighbors. I'm sure you could sell a baby travel system for a pretty penny on the black market. 

Well Brian's home, so I'm going to sign off here. More randomness later!

Nursery Progress

Even though Ava is due in just 3 weeks time (but would not be considered early if she came this week), I cannot post pictures of her perfectly decorated and organized nursery. But I'm getting closer! 

This weekend Brian and I finally put together the crib and bought some of our last minute things. If she came early we'd be okay for the most part. 

This is documentation to prove that we did something! My mother, mother-in-law and a couple friends have been worried that I'd never get around to doing the nursery. I'm posting these pictures to put their minds at ease. Ava has a bed and clean sheets!

I did nursery "research" while Brian did the heavy lifting. That's life around here these days. 

She has more clothes than I do! Fortunately my friend Stevie sized and organized all of her hanging clothes. Now I just have to do the same with folded clothes. 

I'll keep you updated on my progress. 

Did I Do the Right Thing?

Today at Costco I snagged a sample of some streusel and overhead another patron asking the sample lady if eating that everyday is what made her so beautiful (gag). He proceeded to ask her if she worked out and what she did to look so good. He had a bit of an accent and I couldn't place it. I'm not sure if shamelessly hitting on wholesale employees is normal in his country or not, but I felt bad for the lady. It was clear he wasn't going to be deterred. So I found the nearest Costco employee and said, "You might want to go rescue your sample lady. There's a customer hitting on her." Which he promptly did. 

I don't know how that story played out because I went on to sample other things. But I wonder if I did the right thing. What do you think?