updating my blog

Written March 31, 2006
I started to update my blog and it was a bit overwhelming since I haven't visited it for 5 months. Wow. I know some of you had been visiting it occassionally to see if there were any updates, but I have a feeling you must have abandoned ship by now. And I'd wanted to keep it as a record, in addition to my own personal journal and my scrapbooking pages, video and my memory book,of Matthew's growth and development and meaningful memories. Ok, when I listed it all out like that I realized it's pretty well documented, just in every media you can think of and in 5 different places, - oh, I forgot 2 others - my heart and my mind (not to mention my husband's, my parent's, my husband's parent's, my sister's, my really good friend's, and God's hearts and minds....) So, I don't think I'll be able to update the blog to the detail or extent that I had started it in. At least any time soon, that is. And I also don't think I'll be forgetting things I haven't written down. After discovering yesterday that I haven't written in my personal journal very regularly since Matty started crawling, which is right after the 7 mo birthday on the blog, I figured there must be a pattern. Aha! -
Sleeping, stationary baby = time to sit at the computer or hold a book to handwrite your every thought.
Crawling, walking, babbling, touching and discovering everything in sight baby = your life will never be the same and you watch every move he makes because you're just so amazed that this is what was actually inside your body for 9 months and is the most amazing, spectacular being you could ever be blessed with the chance to watch grow and experience the joys and pleasures of this life we live. YES! It's good to know I'm not just neglecting my blog - I have a legitimate reason for not having the chance to write.

Doesn't he nap you ask? Couldn't you write in the blog then? Or after he goes to bed at night? Ok. I'll answer that. Here's what I do during those times: Cook, clean, organize pictures of Matty, scrapbook with pictures of Matty, talk to God, talk to my sister or whoever else wants to hear about what Matty ate that day, sleep, watch TV, eat.... the list goes on. And why do I have time now? Couldn't sleep. And yesterday, when I got inspired to check the blog and start updating again, Matty was at his grandparent's house for the longest time ever during the day. It was the first time in 13 months that I've been alone in the house during the day (Chris has taken him to the store before, or his parent's house but that was for either a half hour store visit or I still left the house and did errands of tutored or something other than sit in a quiet house and not really know what to do with myself for 6 hours.)

So here I am, back to blogging and babbling and trying to be the witty writer that I'd like to think I am. I guess this desire to write in clever and thourough detail stems from my journalism background. I was editor of my high school news paper and then majored in journalism for a year before switching to child development. The skill of getting just the right word that would create the right impression for your audience, which takes more than just writing the first thing that comes to mind, at least for me, is so fascinating to me. Also I love the art of writing and the medium of the blog was/is something that I could totally get into if I had the kind of time that Dan seems to have. (He's my friend that I initially joked about having invented the blog because he was the first person from whom I and a couple of other people reading this blog had heard about blogs.) That man is hilarious and so good at getting to the core of what he wants to write about. He really has a gift. And he updates his blog like every 10 seconds it seems. I know I'm wordy, but if I spent time going back to revise what I have to say, I could tone it down to be like Dan's consice witt that seems to just come naturally. (That is how my husband is. He talks the way I write. Chris and Dan are so alike. It is a shame we don't live near them anymore to have dinner with him and his wife because we always went out of there laughing the whole way home at the way he and Dan think alike and Melinda and I are so in sinc from being friends since 5th grade.)

So, where do you think Dan gets the time to do such a complete and incredible and hilarious and well thought out, amazingly titled blog? Oh yeah, he sits at a computer all day and any chance he gets at home and he has NO TODDLER. ha ha . I don't even have time to read his blog (Chris and his wife tell me bits and pieces about it) let alone write with that kind of flare and creativity. Matthew would be pulling at the mouse, wanting to sit on my lap to play on the keys, moaning and whining that I'm not playing with him because I'm working on that silly screen again (this is what he did when I worked on the video project for his 1st birthday) and my blog would look like this JL:KEDFJWPOEIR ]-2374 [ARSPLSDIHF [O8afdlksjfoia yoing,mfdn iuesnriugjmno jfdslkgj uetsyjkgs j klsujks sk fdpsois. Well I wouldn't be surprised if my genius child could read and write his own language. That's about what he says all the time.... ha ha. I guess he could tell I was writing about him because he just woke up and is calling for his breakfast.

I may not be the amazing and perfect blogger that Dan is, but I'll get the details filled in when I get to it and it will be very cool for Matthew to see what fun things I shared about him to his cyber/ audience and fans and whoever chooses to read this online. I've been printing some of the entries out and will put them in his scrapbook. I will say this - (oooh he went back to sleep - good boy) : I am so happy to be starting another incredibly fullfilling day with my most adorable, precious, loving, cuddly, discovering, amazing son who I would never trade for all the time in the world to sit in front of a computer and blog. What an undescribable blessing that keeps on giving! I SOOOOO love being a mom. Have I mentioned that? And I'm so amazed at the connection, communication and deep bond that Matthew and I already have that is just getting stronger as he grows in his understanding of the world around him and starting to communicate his needs and wants in words and motions, instead of just cries. They're words and motions that only I really get and I can translate to my husband who just isn't around him enough to fully study them and acquire the Matty language of "I want that" and "I don't want that".

Thanks for your patience - those of you who are really wanting me to blog and are now getting this big EXPLOSION of updates and back logs of my life. Keep checking. There's more fun to come. :) And I'm going to try to post some pictures again soon too. :)