Where I'm From

I'm from bunk beds, heart wallpaper, and worn pink carpet. 

I'm from Germany and Poland and France. But really just Missouri.

From don't smack your gum, don't let the door slam, push your sleeves up, and of course you can have friends over.

I'm from after-school trips to feed the cows, unlocking the gate, and imagination in a rickety hay loft.

I'm from nature walks with an empty ice cream bucket, pine cones, and an art project.

I am from Cardinals baseball, brown eyes and curly hair, from Bob and Peggy, Tom and Joan, and Chink and Rose.

I'm from deep fried everything, homemade ice cream, angel food cake from a box, and chicken and dumplings made from scratch.

I am from St. Vincent's. Baptized, Reconciled, Given Communion, Confirmed, promoted, graduated, married, and witness to another Baptism.

I'm from 50 something slushies, bike streamers, and a million trips around the block.

I'm from sunsets on a glassy lake and thin crust pizza.

I'm from an overflowing tree on Christmas morning, homemade costumes on Halloween, snap-n-pops and sparklers on the 4th of July, and a Hoeckele's birthday cake every August.

I'm from three-ring photo albums with handwritten descriptions and digital photo books ordered online, all stacked on the fireplace shelves.

Thanks to Sarah, for planting the seed for this post!

A Few Questions

I don't normally do these things, but Bonnie asked me to. And I like Bonnie. And she writes for Virtuou Pla.net now so I better do what she says.

What is your occupation right now?  I'm a speech-language pathologist. I work for the local school district testing 2-5 year olds for speech and developmental delays. I also have a small caseload of preschoolers that I serve. I get to travel around to local pre schools and day cares on a daily basis. My office is in a pre school and I love stopping by the baby room to peak at the kids who are a month older than Hannah to see what she'll be doing soon.

What are you listening to right now?  Nothing. We never have the tv on and rarely play music.

What was the last thing that you ate? Guacamole and chips for dinner.

 How old are you today? 26

What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Cardinals baseball!

What is your favorite drink?  A margarita on the rocks with salt.

What is your new favorite song?  "Empire State of Mind" by Jay Z. Yes, I have a weakness for rap...

What is the last movie you watched?  I couldn't even tell you. We rarely watch movies.

Favorite day of the year? Any Friday in the fall. Especially if there's a home football game that weekend. That probably goes back to my high school cheerleader days. I just love the energy and the crispness in the air.

What was your favorite toy as a child? The video camera. We made music videos, commercials, movies...

What is your favorite season? Fall-Missouri's not Mississippi's

Cherries or Blueberries? Fresh-blueberries. Canned-cherries

When was the last time you cried? Tuesday at the doctor's office when Hannah has to be catheterized. It is so, so hard to watch your baby cry. (she's ok now by the way)

What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes, purses, and a box of spare sheets.

Who is the friend you have had the longest? My cousin Jamie-friends since birth!

What did you do last night? Drove back from a conference on Apraxia in Jackson.

What are you most afraid of? Nah-no need to dwell on that one.

How many states have you lived in? Two-Missouri and Mississippi!

What is your favorite kind of flower? Tulips. Hands down. Remember when I got these? (Beware-that was the post about the dead bunny.)

Green for the Green-Cloth Diaper Edition

Call it what you will-crunchy, granola, green. I really don't care. There are aspects of our life that definitely fit this hippy, earth loving category and other aspects that fall far from the green tree. More often than not, my motivation for doing something seemingly "green" comes down to money.

I'm a pretty frugal person. Like, really, really frugal. Exceptionally frugal.

Ok. Ok. I'm cheap.

How cheap? Ted texted my dad a picture of Hannah. My dad replied, "It looks like she's storing peanuts in those cheeks!". Ted responded, "Ha. She's sneaking them into the ballpark because they're too expensive inside." To which my dad said, "Oh, so she doesn't just look like Katie...."

Ouch.

But when all three years of our marriage have been spent with at least one spouse in graduate school, cheap isn't an option-it's a necessity. In an effort to help others who may not have access to that ever elusive money tree, I'm going to lay out some of the things we do that could be considered green. A few might surprise you. And not all of them are done for the savings.....


The most obvious aspect of our so-called crunchy life would have to be cloth diapers. When money isn't readily available, we try to save as much as we can by not buying things that are just going to be thrown away. Using disposable diapers just feels like pouring cash directly into the trash can. A very poopy trash can.

We spent a few hundred dollars (about 350 I think) on our entire cloth stash. Almost all of that was money we got from baby showers. We definitely could have done it for cheaper (by buying a different kind of diaper or buying used) but I wanted to get something that would hold up should God choose to bless us with more butts to diaper.

We have 18 BumGenius 4.0 with snaps and one Fuzzi Bunz that we use for a swim diaper. All of them are adjustable-we will never need to buy another diaper for Hannah as they will grow with her until she's potty trained. We stuff them with an extra hemp insert at night and rarely have to change a diaper in the middle of the night.

We also use cloth wipes, which just make sense if you're already using cloth diapers. Our wipes are a collection of BumGenius wipes and random baby washcloths. We have a water bottle by the changing station that we use to spray the wipes before we use them.

All of it gets thrown in the wash every two to three days. Some might argue that the increased water bill offsets the savings from using cloth diapers, but I would have to disagree. Our water bill increased about four bucks a month since having Hannah. Even if all of that was cloth diapers-it would still be a dramatic savings. But we do double the laundry now even if you exclude the diapers! Just washing burp rags and onesies alone would have increased our water bill, so the expense for washing the diapers is negligible.

Regular detergents are harmful to cloth diapers, so special soap must be used. I make my own detergent, again, because I'm cheap. It's a combo of borax, washing soda, and Oxy Clean. Works great. Costs pennies per wash. Score.

Since diaper rash is rare with cloth babies, we don't have to spend money on yucky diaper creams!

The only aspect of cloth diapering that we don't do is line drying. But you better  believe that as soon as I get a clothes line these puppies will be hanging from it every other day!

Is it extra work? Yes. Is it worth it? You bet. Other benefits of cloth: it's obviously better for the environment and arguably better for baby. And while I'm glad these are benefits-they're definitely not why we chose cloth. When it's all said and done, it comes down to saving money.


Do you use cloth diapers? Do you have any questions about how to make it work?

Quick Takes (27) Am I the Only One?

-1-

Am I the only who actually enjoys going to the dentist? It forces you to take a break in the middle of the day, sit and read a magazine for a few minutes, recline in a comfy chair and just rest for a half hour. And when it's over-your teeth feel great!

-2-

Am I the only one who gets cavities after pregnancy? I've had two since being pregnant and can't remember the last time I had one before that. I hope you're happy with all my calcium Hannah.

-3-

Am I the only one who is annoyed by the new Walmart Great Value brand label? It's so white and ugly and boring. It makes my cabinets look white and ugly and boring. I don't hate it enough to stop buying it though. Cheap usually wins out.

-4-

Am I the only one who doesn't vacuum in places that aren't easily accessible? The side of the bed against the wall, under the computer desk.... They can't be that dirty can they?

-5-

Am I the only one who sits down to write a blog post and spends too much time reading other blogs only to run out of time and never get the post up?

-6-

Am I the only one who has NO motivation to chart postpartum?

-7-

Am I the only one who has always trouble thinking of a seventh quick take?

10 Things

I was tagged by Megan in this little "10 Surprising Things About Me" chain post event quite a while ago. I haven't been in the mood until tonight.

If you know me in real life, I'm sure very few (if any) of these things will be a surprise. I'm pretty much an open book and don't keep things in. Here goes...

1.  I hate this kind of stuff. Chain letters, email forwards-I just think it's all stupid. Megan-if you weren't such an awesome blogge,r I wouldn't have felt honored to be "tagged" by you (but you are and I did :)

2.  I form very strong opinions about things almost immediately upon hearing about them. I always do my own research and spend some time in prayer evaluating those opinions, but there hasn't yet been a time when my gut reaction has later changed. (I'm not saying it couldn't happen.) My strongest sense is my sixth one.

3.  For example, I don't ever remember being told that abortion was wrong (I'm sure I was-but I have no memory). When I was eight or nine years old I just knew it was. I remember standing in front of my bedroom mirror rehearsing what I would say to President Clinton to convince him that abortion was wrong if I was ever given the opportunity. I was sure I could change his heart. I needed to be ready.

4.  My second strongest sense is my sense of smell. I have a good nose. Too good. When I was a kid I would wake up from a sound sleep when my dad made popcorn. I would crawl down from my bunk bed and go into the living to share some. I can smell cigarette smoke on the clothes of someone across the room from me-even if they smoked hours earlier. I can recognize certain people coming up behind me just from the way they smell. I was always curious how it could get even more sensitive with pregnancy (people told me this was common.) It hasn't changed. I don't think it had any room for improvement.

5.  I minored in Child and Family Development in undergrad. The classes didn't feel even feel like school. I loved them. The only reason I didn't pursue a degree in that field instead of Speech-Language Pathology was because the money was waaaaay worse, the job outlook was waaaay worse, and the flexibility was waaaaay worse. I'm using a ton of what I learned about child development in my current job. It works :)

6.  I didn't know I had curly hair until I was fourteen. My mom doesn't have curly hair and she had no idea how to fix it. We just let it dry frizzy and stuck it in a bun-like ponytail. When I was on vacation once, a girl who had really curly hair fixed mine for me. My parents were amazed.

7.  I can't hear rap music without dancing. When we go to baseball or basketball games and rap songs come on, I dance in the bleachers. Ted is only slightly embarrassed.

8.  Ted and I get the Reader's Digest every month as a Christmas gift from my mom. I'm always ridiculously excited to read the jokes. We save them for right before we go to sleep and then I read them to him in bed. I laugh out loud at a lot of them-but they're not really that funny. In fact, we just got a new one in the mail..... You all know what we'll be doing in bed tonight now!

9.  I RARELY laugh out loud when I'm watching tv or a movie. I find things really funny and laugh in my head-but never out loud. It sometimes looks like I'm not enjoying myself-but I am. (Comedian Brian Reagan is the one exception. I laugh so hard I cry.)

10. I'm horrible at Geography. That is a supreme understatement. I'm REALLY horrible at geography. I thought Oregon was next to Missouri. I didn't know Haiti wasn't in Africa. I can't put any states that begin with the letter "I" where they belong on a map (except Iowa and Illinois-they DO touch Missouri!) And when Ted and I first started dating he was trying to "impress" me with his knowledge of state capitals. I named the state and he gave me the capital. I was trying really hard to stump him and I finally got him. He looked at me with a blank stare. "Ha! I thought of one you didn't know!" I said. Which "state" did I finally stump him on you ask? "What's the capital of.....Chicago."

I understand if you never want to read my blog again.

An Un-Clever Title

I've been thinking. About this blog. I think I'm trying too hard. I don't post as often as I would like because I need almost an hour to sit down and type out a complete entry. I have a feeling that an hour is not a normal amount of time to spend on one post. I know what my problem is. I'm too anal.

I've discovered that I feel like every single post has to have a "theme". I can't just ramble-or give an update on how I'm feeling. Oh no-that would be too easy. I must share my thoughts that are centered around one overwhelming (and very interesting) theme. This is exhausting. I'm not that interesting and it's hard to try to be something you're not.

Each blog post must have a unique title. I have sat for far too long thinking about titles for my posts. This must stop.

I also feel pressure to "educate" others with my posts. And while this isn't a bad thing-I don't need to do it every time. I dont need to defend the teachings of the Church or talk about the Gospel passage in every single entry. Some days it will be ok to just write about how crappy I feel, how sad I am, or how awful my mood swings are. Exciting stuff, huh?

I should NOT care who reads this blog. I would lying if I said I really didn't care who was reading this. Humility has never been my gift. I care what other's think and I sometimes write in ways that I think other people will find interesting. I'm going to TRY to stop this. No promises.

On that same note, I'm going to try to stop caring if people are interested in what I have to say. Sometimes I shy away from posting things about life outside of the infertility bubble. Believe it or not I don't spend every waking moment thinking about having kids. I do other things. I hang out with friends, spend time with my husband, complain talk about work, etc. I don't write about these kinds of things because I think I'll be wasting the time of other IFer's who are reading this. They are the ones that comment (thanks ladies-comments make my day!) so I feel like I need to keep them interested, keep them satisfied. This is stupid. I feel stupid just typing it.

I also don't need to shy away from posting boring or detailed information about my medicine or symptoms. I think that some of my friends are reading this (although they don't commet-and that's ok! it's good for my humility lacking self) and I sometimes avoid writing about specific details of infertility thinking that they won't want to hear it. That they will only read if I'm witty, interesting, or share some kind of insight worth reading. And even if they do only want that kind of post, that's ok! Every browswer has an exit button and they can use it at any time they wish. No obligation to read every single thing I write. Come and go as you please!

Typos are not the devil. I do not have perfect grammar. I'm not the best speller.  But I spend far too much time proofreading and spellchecking every single post. If you are turned off but typos and missing commas, from now on-feel free to move along.

I'm crediting this liberation to All You Who Hope and Life From Inside the Wheelbarrow. I recently went through and read their archives. Some of the titles were cutesy and unique-others were not. Some of their posts had a "theme" but most were just updates about how they were feeling and what was going on. And you know what? I was on the edge of my seat (not literally-I was reclined on the couch with my feet on the coffee table). I cried tears of sorrow and tears of joy for each of them. Even though there may have been a typo or a rambling post from time to time. Thanks girls.

And now, a story to highlight my analness, even though it doesn't go with the rest of this post. (this is killing me-I promise you, but I'm forcing myself to do it.). The other day I stood in front of our fridge and glanced at the dry-erase calendar on the freezer door. I noticed a tiny black dot on Monday, April 5th. I erased the dot immediately and asked Ted, "Did you put a dot on Monday?" When he picked his jaw up from off the floor he said, "How in the world did you notice that?? You are insane!!" He put the dot there to remind him of when we last ran the dish washer. He wanted to know how often we ran it, thinking that we could try to cut back. I laughed and laughed. I really am incredibly anal and notice even the tinniest thing out of place. He decided that he was going to start changing things all over the house and see if I notice. Nothing big-tiny little things that no normal person would ever notice. I'm sure I'll probably find most of them. And the ones I don't find will drive me crazy knowing that they're out there and I haven't "fixed" them yet. I'm excited for this new game!

What's In a Name Part II

My real name is Kaitlin. That what it says on my birth certificate and social security card. However, I was called "Katie" from as far back as I can remember. My entire family (except for a few aunts and cousins) call me Katie. Everyone in grade school and high school called me Katie. And when I went to college everyone called me Katie again. Until I got into the classes for my major. There was another Katie-and she was there first. I just decided that it would be easier to let me professors call me Kaitlin-to avoid confusion. It was the first time in my whole life I ever remember telling someone that my name was Kaitlin.

I thought that would be it-my professors and the girls in my major, but after a while the girls in my major also became my friends. Friends that called me Kaitlin-I never had any of those friends before. Then I started working in the speech-language clinic (in connection with my classes) and had to continue the cycle of Kaitlin. I was Kaitlin to all my supervisors and adult clients and Ms. Kaitlin to all my kids. Then I got into my graduate assistantship and internships and 'Kaitlin' just kept coming. Soon I was Kaitlin to more people than not.

When Ted and I moved to Mississippi I had to make a decision. Katie or Kaitlin. Katie is who I really, truly feel like when I look in the mirror. But Kaitlin is so much prettier. And I like the way my parents spelled it (thanks mom!). It's a little less common and sounds more grown up. Lots of good reasons to choose Kaitlin. I introduced myself to everyone in the south as Kaitlin and that's what I've been for nearly nine months! So while I spent the first 22-23 years of my life as 'Katie', I spend every day of my current life as "Kaitlin."

While this may not seem to have any relationship with the purpose of this blog-think of this. A name is the first (and sometimes the only) thing people know about you. I really feel the need to have this name confusion figured out as I try to become more like "myself". And by "myself", I mean more Christian, more like Jesus and His momma. And I think Jesus will call me Kaitlin when I finally meet Him because that's what I was baptized as.

So I've decided on Kaitlin. I want to be Kaitlin. And the longer I'm Kaitlin the more I'll really feel like Kaitlin. I know most of my really close friends will object-and I won't be upset with anyone if they can't find in themselves to call me Kaitlin. But if you're able-try Kaitlin. Even Ted is trying to make the switch. I do have a few nick-names from some select people ("Katie Mae" from Lauren, "Katie Doo" from my neighbor Patty, and just "Kate" from my mom and dad, Lindsey, and Jamie) and I'd like to keep those. Nick-names are fun. But to everyone else-it's Kaitlin.....please :)

And parents-no shortend forms, no nick-names. Just name your kids what they want to be called. Spare them the confusion I've suffered from for so many years :)

Can I get an "Amen" from all the Dan/Danny/Daniels, Liz/Beth/Elizabeths, and John/Jonny/Jonathans? Ya'll understand don't you?

And now, just one thing left to do. Change my facebook name. It's not official until it's on facebook right?

What's In a Name

Well-I have a blog! It's something I've been considering for a while now-something to satisfy that urge inside of me to get my thoughts out and make them more concrete. I think that comes from being such an extrovert-I don't actually 'think' it unless I 'say' (or type) it.

I suppose there's an obligatory "About Me" that comes with starting a blog. Here are the cold, hard facts: I was born Kaitlin Nicole and now proudly carry the name Kaitlin Nicole Rose thanks to the great Sacrament of Confirmation. I'm 24 and have been married to Ted since August 9th, 2008. We're coming up on a year and a half of marriage!

I've got two younger sisters, a mom and a dad, two sister-in-laws, one brother-in-law, a father-in-law, a mother-in-law, and a stepfather-in-law.

I'm originally from Missouri and now live in Mississippi while Ted gets his master's in Fisheries Science. I have my bachelor's and master's in Speech-Language Pathology from Missouri State University and work as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) for a local school district. I work with about 50 preschool aged children that have everything from a "simple" speech-sound disorder to a severe language and developmental delay. Some of my kids have Autism, others have Down's Syndrome, most of them talk, some of them don't, all of them are beautiful and loved.
........
Now that that's out of the way...What's in a name. The main thing holding me back from starting a blog (apart from the fear that no one will want to read it, that I'll sound stupid, and that I'll expose my thoughts and beliefs to people who may hold them against me) was coming up with a title. Nothing was coming to mind. I thought about titling it after certain issues that are heavily pressing on me at the moment-but I want this to be long term and those issues are hopefully NOT long term (more on this later). I wanted the title to represent my life as a whole-not just one aspect of it. And for reasons of pride and self-esteem, I wanted the title to be "cool" and "catchy"-of which I am neither. And although I even googled "How to Title a Blog", the decided upon title really just popped into my head (although I do suspect the workings of my guardian angel).


Upon reading the title one might assume that I have a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but one would be wrong. I WANT a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And these are two very different things. I guess my hope is that in trying to keep my blog along the lines of conforming my life to Mary's example I will actually be ABLE to conform my life to Mary's example! Don't get me wrong-I love Our Lady. I've been blessed to have been raised Catholic my entire life and am honored and privileged to be a part of the Church that upholds Our Lady and teaches fundamental truths about her life and her role in our lives. I just haven't gotten to the point in my life when I can truly call her a friend. I'm working on it-and this blog is my biggest step yet!


My original thought was to title it "More Like Mary~Less Like Me" meaning that I wanted to rid myself of the vices and sinful tendencies I possess and take on the virtues and good nature of the Blessed Virgin. I realize, however, that becoming LESS like myself isn't necessarily a honorable goal. In His infinite wisdom (or great sense of humor), God made me the way I am and there is little I can do to change that. I can, however, become MORE "me" and improve myself to make a better "me".


I realize that many of my friends/readers may not be Catholic and possess the same love for Mary as we Catholics do. And that's ok-just know that the purpose of this blog is to chronicle my life as I strive to become a better person, to model my life after an amazing, historical woman (and mother) who made all the right decisions while she walked on this earth. No matter your faith background, I think that's a goal that everyone can relate to.


And now, let the journey....begin!