Labor Day Weekend

We had a very low-key weekend; no specific plans. It was our last weekend before the new church launches! (Soooo excited about that; more about it sometime later.) The only adventure we had involved Elijah falling and chipping one of his front teeth. Yikes!

It's hard to see here, but here it is:

We didn't even have a dentist for him yet. But a quick call to the pediatrician (they were actually open on Saturday morning!) got us 2 referrals, and both dentists called back right away. By 10 a.m., we were holding him down for his first dental exam and X-ray. No major damage, fortunately! But the dentist recommended that we come back in on Tuesday to have it bonded.

(Side note: we did discover something unusual: he has 2 extra front teeth---baby teeth---behind the ones that are already there. So it's possible that he may have other extra ones, or missing ones somewhere. The dentist said around age 3 we may have to have these extra ones removed because they're growing up and back, and they could interfere with his permanent teeth when they come in. Darn!!!! I feel sorry for him already...dental work is no fun. Not to mention expensive. Maybe we'll have dental insurance by then??)

So, on Tuesday I entered the dentist's office with much trepidation, not knowing whether they were going to have to give him drugs or what...but they weren't kidding---it was a really fast procedure. From the moment we walked in the door until we were back out at the car was about 5 minutes. We had to hold him down on the chair (I had his legs, the hygenist had his arms, and the dentist had his head), but they just painted on the plastic bonding material, cured it with a UV light, and we were done. No restrictions on activity, eating, or anything. Amazing.

Poor little dude...he did NOT like being restrained like that. Afterward, he hugged me tight...held on to me like never before. Fortunately he let me put him in the car seat. Here's to hoping he's not deathly afraid of anyone in a white coat from now on.

And here's the "after" photo:

It looks just like it did before, though the bonding material made his tooth slightly thicker. And it's funny, in this photo it looks like a slightly different color than the other teeth, but it doesn't look like that in person. Must be the flash on my camera.

So now I just have to pray that the tooth is healthy and doesn't turn gray at any point...I'd love for him to have his baby teeth until they're supposed to fall out!

I'm hoping for NO more adventures for a very long time. But with him heading into his toddler years, and being a boy, I'm not too optimistic!

Ugh, not now!!!

In the midst of one of the busiest weeks of my life (ok, I exaggerate; I'm sure there have been others), I am coming down with a cold. I have been burning the candle at both ends, which I'm sure is the reason. Plus, the little dude has had a runny nose for a couple of days. (I would add a photo, but I have a thing about photographing him with all those boogers. Grosses me out. Wait a sec, did I actually just write "boogers" in my blog?)

So I have at least six design projects to finish (some haven't been started yet....shhh, don't tell anyone), plus a rehearsal for worship team and I fear that I'm losing my voice. Noooooo!! I am chugging the Throat Coat tea (I swear by that stuff...it tastes bad but does the job), downing the Airborne, etc., and lots of water. The only thing missing is sleep. So, with that....

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Make Your Own Street Signs!

While designing some street signs for the elementary school environment at our new church, I stumbled upon a really great website that allows you to type in your text, click a button and download a PDF or an image of a street sign. Then I was able to open the PDFs in Illustrator, make some final tweaks, and voila! Kindergarten Street on up through Fifth Grade Drive were done in a flash.

I'm kind of a font geek, so I already have 20+ street (and highway) sign fonts. And I could have done it myself. But this saved me SO much time. Here's a link, in case you want to try it!

And oh my goodness, Wigflip.com has lots of other fun little tools, too! I could waste hours here. But I won't...lots of other graphics to crank out tonight!

Ten Things

Another little thing I make myself do to (try to) keep the house clean is to put away ten (or five) things whenever I enter a room. Even tiny little things that are out of place count---doesn't matter what it is. It just matters that I'm putting stuff away. Sometimes it's pieces of clothing that go in the laundry, bath toys strewn on the edge of the tub, or the hundreds of ballpoint pens that seem to multiply in the strangest of places.

I can't always do this when Elijah is awake, but when he's napping or in bed for the night, I try. Though as you can see from the previous post, there area often quite a few more than ten things out of place in any given room. I've done this on and off for years, and it keeps me in a "put things away" mindset. Or, it keeps me sitting in one place so I don't have to pick up anything. (Ha, ha!)

Cleaning Out the Tupperware Cabinet

He took it all out; since I have to put it all back in, I might as well re-organize it in the process!

Another cleaner little area

Given our lack of a spare bedroom, office, basement, etc. I had to get
creative with the location of our file cabinet, printer and network
components. This little corner in our bedroom serves that purpose
nicely, and there is also room for the laundry sorter, ironing board
and drying racks (also needing a home since we don't have a linen
closet or laundry room). A bigger house would be lovely, but I'm
getting pretty good at small-space living!

So this area is a dust magnet, but it is also now CLEAN!

One Clean Spot

This may not look like a big deal, but this dresser has been piled
high with papers, clothes and other miscellaneous items (plus lots of
dust) for weeks, maybe months. And now it is clean. I even cleaned the
light switches. The dresser is full, but organized.

I'm still trying to keep up with my goal of cleaning out or organizing
one little spot in my home every week. I also re-hung some drapery
hardware today. Two projects before 10:00 a.m.! I'm on a roll. Time to
get moving again!

Little Cubs fan!

This is the little Cubs outfit my dad bought for Elijah. So cute!

Loving this stage

Every more-seasoned mom out there may laugh at me, but I am just taking a moment to marvel at Elijah's growth and development over the past 11-1/2 months. I was watching his little legs holding him up as he stood next to the sofa. Yes, stood! He's been doing it for a while, but it struck me how amazing that is. That teeny baby grew into this little person who can go get a toy to play with, go pretty much wherever he wants, and is constantly trying new things. And one day he decided to use those little legs to stand up. I didn't teach him how, really, just helped him along. One of these days, he's going to see what happens when he steps away from the furniture without getting back down to crawl away...and walking will open a whole other world to him.

I don't know if I'll be less in awe at these simple things when we have another child (someday! not anytime soon!). But right now, everything amazes me. His love of airplanes, and how he points up to the sky when he sees or hears one. His giddy little laugh when something strikes him funny. How he wants to be independent and go off on his own, but sometimes still just needs a hug. Watching him grow amazes me.

And now, he's playing with something he probably shouldn't, so I have to go!