Random thoughts, in list form

1. I love Aldi's. I've heard from several people (including BooMama) that shredded cheese is up to $4-5 for a two-cup bag. Yikes! I went to Aldi's today and their shredded cheese is $2.99 for a three-cup bag. Yay for Aldi's!!
   
   Other things worth mentioning - their milk is $2.29/gallon, and their generic cereal (which, in my opinion, is just as good as name brand) is $1.89 for a 14.5oz box of the generic honey combs. If you've never shopped at Aldi's but have one in your area, you really should check it out. (Just be sure to take a quarter for a shopping cart, and realize that you'll bag your own groceries and will either need to buy bags or take your own.)
   



2. I realized today that my life has been taken over by little girl's hair thingies. You know, hair clips, hair bands, barrettes, etc. I find them in the car, in my purse, in my pockets, and all over the house. This realization made me feel simultaneously content and old. (Odd, I know.) Content because it makes me feel so mom-like. And old because, well, it makes me feel so mom-like. Oh the irony!



3. Confession: I made chocolate chip cookies this weekend and I think I ate an entire dozen (or two) all by myself. I felt blah all day yesterday.



4. Do you know how nice it was to take all of the dishes I dirtied while making cookies and plop them into the dishwasher? I love it! I feel like a whole new woman in the kitchen. (Does that make me sound like an infomercial?) If only it would also wash away the calories. **sigh**
   



5. Do you also know how nice it was to pull into an attached garage yesterday after church, during the Ike monsoon? At our old house we would have had to concoct a strategy for getting everything and everyone from the car to the house, and it would have involved some form of running or dashing or, at the very least, speed walking. Maybe a hop and skip in there as well. Between the dishwasher and the garage, I feel like I'm living in the lap of luxury.



6. Regarding this lap of luxury, something I realized a few weeks ago is that I would not appreciate the luxuries of my new house if I hadn't experienced the frustrations of my old house. Having to live for a time without certain things makes us appreciate those things even more, once we do have them. This is a good reminder for me, and also a good truth to remember as I parent.
   
   Sometimes being a good parent means saying no, even when it is within my power to say yes.



7. It is shocking to look at Kaitlyn and love her so much, and realize that sometimes being a good parent means saying no, even when it is within my power to say yes, and wonder how often God feels that way about me.
   



8. Kaitlyn had her two-year check up last Friday. It was an eventful visit to the doctor because she was SO! LOUD! in the waiting room. By the time we were called back, everyone in the waiting room knew that the fish tank had blue fish, and that the batteries in the toys were dead. For fifteen minutes that's all she talked about - over and over and over and over again.
   
   Hopefully everyone in the room either understands what it's like to have a two-year-old, or they went home with a new-found appreciation that they don't have a two-year-old.



9. Kaitlyn is 36" tall and weighs 23 lbs, 2 oz. She is in the 95th percentile for her height, and the 50th percentile for weight. And yet, she is still in 18-month pants. (And 2T or 3T shirts.) Crazy.



10. Our cat, Emmy, has formed this strange love/hate relationship with Kaitlyn. She'll saunter over to where Kaitlyn is playing, and pretty much beg for Kaitlyn's attention. Then she complains and looks tortured the whole time that Kaitlyn pets her, but she won't go away. Weird.