Steve Haskamp

Have you ever seen these books?


Chances are, you either own one of them, or have given one as a baby gift to someone. The illustrator, Steve Haskamp, is my cousin.

Well actually, he's Ben's cousin - my cousin-in-law by marriage. Ben's dad and Steve's dad are brothers. And that makes me (kind of, sort of) related to a really awesome artist.

Steve doesn't just illustrate books. He creates greeting cards, fabric designs, calendars, art prints...even scratch-and sniff stickers! You name it, he does it. Here's a (copy) print of his that I won in a drawing at the last Haskamp reunion:



Pretty awesome, huh? The crazy thing is, I've never met Steve. He lives in California, and we haven't crossed paths at any family functions since Ben and I started dating. So unfortunately, I have to admire his work from afar.

But that won't keep Amelia and me from enjoying his books. And it won't keep Ben and me from admiring his art work as we are brushing our teeth in the morning.



If you have a minute, check out Steve's blog. You can also shop in his Etsy store...pick up something for Christmas, if you'd like!

I'm sure you'll find his work as impressive as I do. And maybe someday, I'll get to tell him how much I love his art in person!

HOLLA -

Keeping Things Private

Now that I'm trying to blog regularly, Ben has noticed that often our conversations, events, and pictures end up online. Lately, when I take a picture of him or he does something funny or noteworthy, he usually says, "You're going to blog about this, aren't you?" The truth is, I would never embarrass Ben. I would never write about or post anything private that made him uncomfortable - like how I caught him rocking out to his iPhone the other day while he was going poop. I would NEVER blog about that. I only like to blog about other things, like cute babies.


And brown bath towel slugs.


And striped socks.


And pictures that look like paintings.


And mommies who love their little girls.


And leisure time activities.


And scooting booties.


And mushroom heads.


HOLLA -

Big Fricking Weenie

Oh my gosh - I have turned into an old lady. It's 9:26 and I can't believe I'm still awake and functioning. BA (Before Amelia) I would stay up at least until 10:30, watching movies, playing on the computer, chatting with friends, etc. And now after putting Little Bit to bed at 8, I'm lucky to make it to 9 without calling it a night. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm getting WAY more sleep now that I'm a mom. Last night I laid Amelia down at 8, stayed up watching the Chiefs until 9:30, then went to bed. Amelia woke up at 6:15, then went back to sleep until 7:30. That is TEN HOURS OF SLEEP FOR ME, PEOPLE!!!! What the #*!&?

I am totally counting my blessings that my babe is such a good sleeper. But what is MY problem? No wonder I can't get any blogging done - I am typing with one hand right now and propping my eyelids open with the other. (Mild exaggeration.)

I had actually talked myself into going to the grocery store tonight after Mills went to bed. Yowzers - who was I kidding? Jammies: on. Contacts: out. Car: definitely parked in the garage until morning.

I miss staying up and doing "stuff", but there's no substitute for good, deep sleep.

Now if someone could explain to me why I keep having dreams about getting tattoos...

HOLLA -

Ramblings of Home

I don't really have anything important to blog about tonight. Amelia is asleep, Ben is downstairs watching something on t.v., and I am catching up on other people's blogs, facebook, and other internet oddities that are surefire timesuckers.

I have been furiously looking up houses lately. I can't stop. I love looking at houses anyway....floorplans, mostly. When we were growing up, we would drive around on Sunday afternoons and go into Open Houses just for fun. Sometimes we'd go into newly developed neighborhoods and walk on boards to get into concrete slabs and wooden studs and wander through skeletal rooms, imagining what it would all look like when it was done. My dad used to subscribe to the Family Handyman, and I would scour issues for floor plans, running my finger through rooms like unsolved mazes. Now Ben and I religiously watch House Hunters and place bets on which house will be chosen. My favorite part is after they move in, and they show the Before and After footage of what they've done to the place. LOVE IT.

We want to move, oh so badly. I always told Ben I would NEVER live in this condo and have a baby. EVER. And here we are, still in the condo, with an almost seven month old. We have made peace with the suffocating space and mess of toys and play gyms, but I can't help but fantasize about extra rooms and more than one tiny living space and a basement and storage.

We hope to put our place up for sale in the spring, after updates have been made and tile has been laid and carpet has been replaced. Please say a prayer for us that God will guide us in the right direction for selling AND buying.

Although this house has been good to us, we need space and room to stretch our legs and grow our family, and make new memories. There's nothing wrong with the past that was built here, but Ben and I are ready to start our own story in a new place.

The moving bug has seriously bitten. I hope it won't be long...

HOLLA -

Throwing Stones

I've been thinking a lot about judgement lately. What it means, what it does, what harm it can cause...and how much I do it. It's such an automatic response sometimes; I don't even give it a conscious thought. I've had lots of conversations about judgement with a friend lately, and it's really forced me to stop and think about what role it plays in my life.

When I think about my place as a Christian, these verses come to mind:

"Stay away from complaining and arguing, so that no one can speak a word of blame against you." Philippians 2:14

"Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone." John 8:7

"Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." Matthew 7:5

The "complaining and arguing" part is tough for me. This doesn't just apply to people, but to situations as well.

As if words from God aren't enough, I think about what it feels like to be sitting in the seat - perched high up in the air, arms resting on the gold, embellished chair, finger pointed, head held high...and it twists my stomach. There's something about the first jolt of a judgement that automatically turns the spotlight around on....well....ME. When I judge others, I give them (and anyone else) a free pass to call out my shortcomings. "Step right up and take your best shot!" You can't have judgement without instant vulnerablity. As my friend Rachel recently said to me, "I live in a glass house, too."

So, what happens when we stop? First, a release. A release from guilt and entitlement and finger pointing (both at me AND them.) Then comes grace. I recently passed a church billboard that read,

"Be Kind, For Everyone is Fighting a Battle."

And I thought long and hard about how true this was. Yes, even nasty, mean, hateful, proud, selfish, lazy people (ESPECIALLY these people!) are fighting a battle. When I look at them this way, humble, full of grace, through the eyes of Jesus, I see past the faults and feel the thorn in their side.

I've been throwing some big stones lately. But I've also been putting some down and walking away. It makes me feel light and unbound...much better than carrying the weight of other people's decisions and my opinions about them.

In becoming who God wants me to be, I hope to judge less and love more.

HOLLA -

Two Dorks in a Car - A Photo Montage.

D.B.D. (Dork By Default):

Green...as in Beans

I've never really struggled with food. Eating it, that is. Cooking it is a different story. Preparing it is another. But eating it? Take a look at my rear end and you'll notice that it's never really been a problem. But feeding my daughter? Now we're getting to the challenging part.

I started off breastfeeding Amelia. It took me about four months to get the hang of it, and just when it started getting easy, I went back to work and my milk dried up. Then we went to bottles. Of course, I had no idea how the whole formula thing worked and I was a nervous wreck about it. How much will she eat? Can I use tap water? What about warm tap water? What kind of formula is best? How many bottles do we need? It was like a mysterious art that I had yet to master. But eventually, bottle feeding became effortless and natural, and we checked another accomplishment off of our parent to-do list.

But then Amelia got bigger. And hungrier. Our babysitter kept saying, "I think she's ready for food. I know babies. She's bored with formula!" And I would say, "You're probably right! But I'm going to wait until her six month appointment because I have no idea what I am doing."

Wow. Freaking understatement of the year.

After Amelia's six month appointment, I go and get some cereal, fruit and veggies. Yes, my kid is surviving, and no, I do not plan to feed her organic baby food. Getting two socks on her that match and her nails clipped once every two weeks is about as accomplished as I get these days.

We feed her cereal, and she spits it out. We feed her green beans, and she raspberry's them across the high chair. We give her applesauce, and she pushes the spoon away. Good thing this food isn't serving any nutritional purpose, because I don't think she's swallowed one bite yet out of about five tries.

Most nights, I forget to even give her any. We get busy cooking or cleaning or playing, and before I know it, it's her bedtime and I'm going, "Crap! We forgot to give her some food!" Is it terrible that she maybe gets one food a day every few days?

She's going to be the only kid that shows up for Kindergarten with only a bottle of milk in her lunchbox.

Hopefully, like breastfeeding and bottle feeding, this food business will in time become second nature.

CAN'T WAIT FOR POTTY TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-(

HOLLA -