7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 73)

--- 1 ---

This has been an extremely busy week for us.  A fellow teacher's father passed away last week and between David and I, we are subbing for her all this week.  David also started his new job (at a coffee shop) this week.  He is in the middle of nine days in a row of work, in addition to working hard to complete a fellowship application due at the end of the month.  I tend to get crabby and stressed during busy times, but I'm trying to focus on how bless I am to have a source of income and such a hardworking husband. 

--- 2 ---

I sent out Lucia's birthday party invitations last week.  I put regular stamps on them and sent them out, only to realize as soon as I had that they are square and thus require extra postage.  I have been waiting for days for them to be returned, but they never were.  I was starting to get frustrated (with myself) because her party is less than a month away, but it turns out they were delivered.  Not sure why, there must have been an angel at the post office who decided to mail them off anyway. 

--- 3 ---

I'm overdue for Lucia's eleven month post. She's started doing so many fun new things this month (including blowing kisses!) that I've been dying to share, but I just haven't seemed to find the time to write the post (see #1).  Maybe this weekend.

--- 4 ---

Something not so fun this month: sleep (or lack thereof).  We thought we had everything figured out.  We cut out night nursing and David got up with her at night to pat her back to sleep.  We even got one or two night in without her waking up.  But then things turned ugly and would no longer go back to sleep when David patted her.  She would get hysterical.  She also reverted to needing to be nursed to sleep (something she hasn't done in months).  Having my sweet baby girl is definitely worth sleepless nights, but I feel like my lethargy is eventually going to negatively impact my students.  I have a huge appreciation for full-time working mothers who have this struggle daily.

--- 5 ---

Regardless of who you wanted to win the election, make sure you take a moment of time to express gratitude for the opportunity to vote.  I sometimes forget how many people worldwide still don't have a say in their government and how unique we are in having this guarenteed right.  My friend Kendra posted a great reflection on voting the other day at Fine Linen and Purple.

--- 6 ---



for details on this outfit, see my post here

I'm a fashion blogger.  He he, this makes me laugh!  Just a year ago, I would have never thought myself to be fashionable.  Never, ever.  But in the past six months, I've finally started puting together my "grown-up wardrobe", found my personal style, and learned to mix, match, and coordinate.  The past few weeks, I've joined Fine Linen and Purple's new linkup, What I Wore Sunday, and was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Katie Rose of It's Fun to be a Girl asking if I'd like to join her list of Catholic fashion bloggers.  Well, okay!  If you check out my right sidebar, there is now a Catholic fashion blogger button to proclaim my new status.  There are very few other bloggers on the list (which makes me sad), but you can see the list here.  And maybe, just maybe, you're called to join too?

--- 7 ---



My big giveaway event in honor of Lucia's birthday is finally here.  There are currently two giveaways up for the Happy First Birthday, Baby! event, with another one going up every two or three days until Lulu's birthday on December 5th.  Check out the event page here for a list of sponsors and links to current giveaways and product reviews.  Many of the sponsors are small businesses or work-at-home moms (WAHMs) so I encourage you to check out what they have to offer with Christmas presents in mind.  We all know how important it is to support local, small businesses when we can!



For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!