That I am totally, utterly, completely, 100% sucked in to the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
It happens every 4 years, and it shouldn't surprise me...but it did. Going into this year's Olympics, I figured that I'd just pay close attention to the men's hockey tournament, but oh was I wrong about myself! I found myself engrossed from the very beginning, including the amazing opening ceremonies' interpretation of 1000 years of Russian history.
I'm just amazed at the dedication that Olympic athletes exhibit, even more than the athleticism on display. The commitment made by Olympians to compete at the pinnacle of their sport once every four years is admirable...to say that it impresses me is an understatement. They train and sacrifice time, money, and relationships (arguably). I'm not sure that I'd be willing to do some of these things in order to compete in the Olympics.
I loved watching a 40 year old Norwegian destroy his competition in the 10k bi-athlon.
I'm probably going to stay up late tonight to watch the 15k bi-athlon tonight....thanks bank holidays!
I was up at 6:00am this past Saturday to watch Team USA's men's hockey team play the Russians in one of the most exciting hockey games that I've seen. Katy was a big fan of my choice of a Saturday morning alarm...ha!
I've become very familiar with the Pampers (good timing for diaper purchases for us!), Coca-Cola, Home Depot, McDonald's, and other various commercials that air regularly on broadcasts.
I'm hopelessly addicted to watching curling. This may be due to the fact that it seems simple enough that I think I could compete at an Olympic level curling...very unlikely. Also, it's one of the few events that Team USA is a decided underdog. We're 2-7 as I write this. The Swedish and Canadian teams are very impressive.
I'm intrigued by the fact that Team USA's bobsled has been redesigned by a BMW engineer, and has been a closely guarded secret.
The Olympics may generally be a good thing for economies in their locations, but they also tend to open parts of the world that may not normally be open to the international community...such is the case with Sochi, Russia. There are stories of human rights issues, animal cruelty, and bribery in these Olympics. History will be the judge of the effect of the Olympics on Sochi and Russia in a broader sense.
Then there's the 60 degree temperatures, Bob Costas's grotesque eye issue, Vladimir Putin's selfie with Canadian athlete, and a myriad of other content and character stories designed to draw me further in to the 2014 Sochi games...like a really need that!
One more week to go, and it will be full of news, events, heartbreak, triumph and late nights & early mornings...ski jumping, nordic combine, medal rounds of hockey, and women's singles figure skating just to name a few. Katy will be glad for me to quit chanting Rus-si-a! I kinda like their chant. Maybe we'll get some good name ideas for our baby girl inspired by an Olympian
So.....I confess....I'm addicted to the Olympics!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Strollers and Onesies and Bottles...Oh My.
This weekend we conquered, or at least started the process of conquering, our baby registry. Getting that started has been on the top of our baby list for the last couple of weeks. Don't get me wrong, registering for anything is so much fun! This particular registry just required more research and more preparation that I would have ever anticipated.
Adam has spent weeks doing online research in an attempt to figure out all of the safety recommendations, the different types of products, and what we can even fit in our apartment. I compiled quite a few "must-have" registry lists into one five page list to try to keep us from missing things that we need. It also turned into googling items that I have never heard of and had (or have) no idea what purpose they serve. While we would never ask our friends and family to buy us present at all and do not expect or want people to go overboard, the registry is helping us to organize. We now have a better grasp of what is a necessity, what people suggest, and what is a luxury when it comes to taking care of a baby.
If you haven't had the opportunity to register for anything in your life, I would recommend that you do it! It is so much fun, no matter what the occasion! On your next birthday or celebration or Tuesday, go to your favorite store and ask them to register. They give you a little zappy scanner gun and you can go to town. Rather than being overwhelmed, you'll most likely find yourself zapping everything in sight that looks fun or handy or different. Do it.
This time around, for our first child, Adam and I decided to register at Target, Babies-R-Us, and Pottery Barn Kids. Target and Babies-R-Us are the two main registries, while Pottery Barn only has a few of the luxury items that we liked. We started at Babies-R-Us on Saturday morning. When we first arrived, there was no one else there. We got the prime Expectant Mother parking (an awesome perk of pregnancy) and sat down with an associate to begin our registry. Our best move of the entire experience was starting fairly early in the morning. The longer we were there, the more couples came in to join us. As we walked down the aisles, we overheard more and more arguments over strollers or outfits or bedding than I expected. With the sheer volume of stuff, I should have been more prepared. We tackled our glider first, then knocked off the other bigger items that we planned on choosing from Babies-R-Us. That made it much easier to enjoy zapping all of the smaller things, once the bigger things were off our backs. There's no way to know what type of product our little girl will prefer, so we tried to get a variety of things. After nearly two hours, we had to take a break for lunch and so, we took a quick Chick-Fil-A break, then headed back to finish up. One more hour at Babies-R-Us, and we came to the realization that we had done the best we could and would have to do whatever was left online. Thank goodness for the internet! We can updated and change anything on any registry at any time from home.
On Sunday, we hit both Pottery Barn Kids and Target. The experience was fairly similar at both of these places. However, Pottery Barn Kids has a much larger selection online than they do in store. So, basically, while we were there, we started the registry and left the store with a list of things we would have to add online. Our Target trip was to fill in the holes of the things we hadn't registered for at Babies-R-Us or Pottery Barn; and to register for those things we just wanted from Target. Honestly, I don't know what we did in life before Target.
Those of you who have kids will laugh at me after I admit to this, but maybe those of you who don't will share in my surprise; I had no idea how much paraphernalia that one little baby needs. You can't just get a crib sheet, you have to get several; three bottles won't do it, you need 4oz, 8oz, etc, etc; it goes on and on. This was just the planning part. We haven't actually gotten any of the stuff we need yet. It's a blessing that pregnancy lasts for forty weeks; how else would we get all of it done?
It's been such an exciting weekend; things are started to happen. We have made it to the fun part. Instead of just biding our time between doctor's appointments, we have made it to the part where we get to start planning, making decisions, and putting it all together for our little girl. We have seventeen weeks left; at some moments that feels like forever, at others, it feels unbelievably soon. Right now, I think we have a good handle on what we should be working on right now. Are we ready for her? Not even close...but can you really ever be completely ready?
Adam has spent weeks doing online research in an attempt to figure out all of the safety recommendations, the different types of products, and what we can even fit in our apartment. I compiled quite a few "must-have" registry lists into one five page list to try to keep us from missing things that we need. It also turned into googling items that I have never heard of and had (or have) no idea what purpose they serve. While we would never ask our friends and family to buy us present at all and do not expect or want people to go overboard, the registry is helping us to organize. We now have a better grasp of what is a necessity, what people suggest, and what is a luxury when it comes to taking care of a baby.
If you haven't had the opportunity to register for anything in your life, I would recommend that you do it! It is so much fun, no matter what the occasion! On your next birthday or celebration or Tuesday, go to your favorite store and ask them to register. They give you a little zappy scanner gun and you can go to town. Rather than being overwhelmed, you'll most likely find yourself zapping everything in sight that looks fun or handy or different. Do it.
This time around, for our first child, Adam and I decided to register at Target, Babies-R-Us, and Pottery Barn Kids. Target and Babies-R-Us are the two main registries, while Pottery Barn only has a few of the luxury items that we liked. We started at Babies-R-Us on Saturday morning. When we first arrived, there was no one else there. We got the prime Expectant Mother parking (an awesome perk of pregnancy) and sat down with an associate to begin our registry. Our best move of the entire experience was starting fairly early in the morning. The longer we were there, the more couples came in to join us. As we walked down the aisles, we overheard more and more arguments over strollers or outfits or bedding than I expected. With the sheer volume of stuff, I should have been more prepared. We tackled our glider first, then knocked off the other bigger items that we planned on choosing from Babies-R-Us. That made it much easier to enjoy zapping all of the smaller things, once the bigger things were off our backs. There's no way to know what type of product our little girl will prefer, so we tried to get a variety of things. After nearly two hours, we had to take a break for lunch and so, we took a quick Chick-Fil-A break, then headed back to finish up. One more hour at Babies-R-Us, and we came to the realization that we had done the best we could and would have to do whatever was left online. Thank goodness for the internet! We can updated and change anything on any registry at any time from home.
On Sunday, we hit both Pottery Barn Kids and Target. The experience was fairly similar at both of these places. However, Pottery Barn Kids has a much larger selection online than they do in store. So, basically, while we were there, we started the registry and left the store with a list of things we would have to add online. Our Target trip was to fill in the holes of the things we hadn't registered for at Babies-R-Us or Pottery Barn; and to register for those things we just wanted from Target. Honestly, I don't know what we did in life before Target.
Those of you who have kids will laugh at me after I admit to this, but maybe those of you who don't will share in my surprise; I had no idea how much paraphernalia that one little baby needs. You can't just get a crib sheet, you have to get several; three bottles won't do it, you need 4oz, 8oz, etc, etc; it goes on and on. This was just the planning part. We haven't actually gotten any of the stuff we need yet. It's a blessing that pregnancy lasts for forty weeks; how else would we get all of it done?
It's been such an exciting weekend; things are started to happen. We have made it to the fun part. Instead of just biding our time between doctor's appointments, we have made it to the part where we get to start planning, making decisions, and putting it all together for our little girl. We have seventeen weeks left; at some moments that feels like forever, at others, it feels unbelievably soon. Right now, I think we have a good handle on what we should be working on right now. Are we ready for her? Not even close...but can you really ever be completely ready?
The Purge
This year, instead of spring cleaning (or possibly in addition to spring cleaning), Adam and I have gone through a material purge since New Years'. Yes, part of it is by necessity. Adam, Scout, and I live in a one bedroom apartment that does have an extra mini-room they market as an office. Based on the tight living space, our purge has been imperative before we start acquiring what seems like an unbelievably overwhelming amount of baby paraphernalia.
Those of you that know me, know that I do have an organizational streak. Some may even argue that it's more than just a streak. So, the prospect of going through the entire apartment (daunting that it may have been) was not entirely unwelcome. I systematically went through each room of our apartment. We took more than a few trips to Goodwill to donate and sadly, almost as many trips to the dumpster. I know that throwing things away can make baby Jesus cry, but not everything can be salvaged, repurposed, or donated. Each time we identified something we could get rid of, it felt like a tiny weight was lifted. Room by room, that feeling grew stronger.
Then, I stepped back to look around. At this point, we had devoted fragments of the entire month of January to this project. I was feeling good, thinking we were making some headway. As I looked around, I realized something. If I hadn't know better, I wouldn't even be able to tell that we had purged ourselves of anything. Our apartment is still cluttered and full; "lived in," could be an understatement. Yes, we'd managed to empty out our small extra space in order to fill it up in the coming months with baby things and we cleaned out one of our very few kitchen cabinets to devote it to the same purpose. So, perhaps it was worth it...at least I'll claim it as a success. Right now, the purge had to happen and I was as ruthless as I could manage. It was cleansing and provided the jumping off point that we needed for a fresh start with our growing family. Honestly, I feel good about it as a whole. I would recommend a purge to start any new stage in life or just whenever you feel weighted down.
The whole attempt has reminded me, however, that we have so much more than we need. While we have our struggles, financial and otherwise, and it can feel like they deeper than those of our friends, we are incredibly lucky. I am all too often guilty of coveting the things, the space, and the time that others appear to have in spades, while overlooking all that I have been given. Take the time to do a purge of your own; separate out what you are willing to get rid of and then step back to see all that you have left. Be thankful for each thing, but don't put too much value in the things. Look past the cheesiness of my suggestions and embrace it!
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