I've Been Tagged.

I was tagged by Katie Loop-de-Loop Foshea. These things sure are making a resurgence lately!! Ok so 7 random facts:

1. My bathroom counter is always VERY messy. When we bought this house David was so excited to have 2 sinks in the master bathroom, but unfortunately for him I only use his. Mine is full of my blow-dryer, curling iron, at least 2 brushes, and a diffuser. Then I tend to fill up the whole vanity area with other random products. This is all humorous to me because I'm not really that much of a product girl and the rest of my house is pretty tidy.

2. David and I had a pretty rough marriage in the start. At one point we both thought we wouldn't make it to the end of the calendar year. We had so many issues with his parents, our faith, and just being young. We got married when I was 22 right out of undergrad. Sometimes I still can't believe we've made it almost 6 years. I'm thankful for 2 wonderful counselors and that we happened to grow in the same direction instead of apart.

3. My mother-in-law works for George Bush, Sr. and consistently invites us to big Republican events. She doesn't know we are both registered Democrats. Oh and David and I once made out a little in GB's office. We've both met him several times, and he is very tall.

4. I think my son has picked up my imagination combined with David's ingenuity. I was really hoping for a creative little boy and was a little worried how I would respond to a kid that loved geology like David did. I think Tommy will like geology, but I could see him also wanting to dress up like a rock for Halloween. Currently he likes to pretend he is a baby and or a monkey, he makes my legs into train tracks, and he is really into making crafts like the "Turkey Pumpkin" I hear about all day long.

5. When we were dating I gave David a HUGE hickey on the side of his neck. We had just moved to Houston and were meeting all his parents friends that weekend. It was August, so a turtleneck was not an option.

6. Even though I hate pregnancy and this one has already been terrible, I'm a little sad that this will most likely be my last baby to carry inside me. We'd like to adopt and don't want more than 3 kids. I guess I'm also a little relieved that I won't be carrying any more children. It's a lot of mixed emotions.

7. I take a nap from 1-2pm daily. If I miss a day I get a little grumpy.

Pregnancy Prayer

Dear God,
Please give us a healthy little baby boy or girl to join our family.
Please help me not to gain more than 30lbs. this time around.
Please help me to continue working out and roughly doing the SB Diet.
Please help my boobs to not go above a D/E cup.
Please help this baby to latch and breast feed with ease.
Please give me confidence in decisions we make that are best for our family this time around.
Please help my v-jay to not be torn to smithereens during labor.
Please help my v-jay not to re-tear 6 weeks post-partum if it does tear.
Please no mastitis, painful clogged ducts, and strange large leaks in public places.
Please no back spasms left-over from the epidural.
Please don't let me lose all my hair in clumps in the shower.
Please no hemorrhoids.
Please no 12 straight weeks of bleeding.
Please help me lose the weight before my baby is 18 months old.
Please put some of the weight in my actual belly instead of just my chin.
God, please have mercy on me, since all these things happened last time.
Amen.

Cakes, Farms, Politicians, Trains, and Lions, Oh My!

The past two weekends have been filled with fun. Last week I took my first cake decorating class with my friend Mae-Luen from high school. We learned how to make delicious butter cream frosting as well as several kinds of cakes from scratch. We also spent time cutting off the dome, smoothing the icing, making borders and roses, and learned how to make letters. This is my finished product...

It doesn't look very elaborate, but it tasted great! I'm excited to keep practicing Tommy's birthday train cake, now in less than a month!

This weekend has been fabulous. Friday night we went to the children's farmstead near our house for "Night of the Living Farm." Tommy wore his costume along with all the other kids. They had moon walks, hay rides, games, and trick-or-treating, all of which my son was scared of. He shrieked with horror upon seeing a kid dressed up as a goblin. Poor guy. He is a monkey (specifically Curious George) this year, but he is only half of the Halloween costume fun at the Lisenbys. Stay tuned.


Barack Obama came to Kansas City! We didn't get to hear his actual speech on Saturday (Tommy and I got hungry and the lines were crazy), but being part of this historic event at the WWI memorial downtown was fascinating. I loved that there were people there from all different cultural backgrounds and socio-economic classes. I felt like walking around with 75,000 other people had to be similar to being part of MLK's "I have a dream" speech. The pictures do not do it justice or show the magnitude of the number of people who came out. It was powerful.





After a quick dinner at Fritz's Train Stop in Crown Center, David dropped me off at the Music Hall to meet my mom and her friends for The Lion King. I've seen quite a few off-broadway shows over the years, and this one clearly takes the cake. I would rank it above Wicked, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Annie, all of which I have seen in either Devner, KC, or Chicago in the past 5 years. To be honest I wasn't that excited to see this show. After all, I've seen the Disney Movie several times and own the Elton John CD. Boy was I wrong. The costumes were incredible, and I was inspired by the South African singing. My cultural tank has now been filled, which is a good thing because after puking when I got home last night at midnight I'll be laying low for the week.

Love These Things!

I am- creative, intuitive, organized, and fun.
I want- at least one more child.
I have- a pretty posh life.
I wish- for more interesting discussions and cultural experiences.
I hate- racism and ignorance.
I fear- that Sarah Palin could really end up as the next President.
I hear- that one of my 15 cousins has had plastic surgery.
I search- right now for Puppy. He's been missing for weeks.
I wonder- where David will get his first professor job when he finishes school.
I always- wake up at exactly 7:15am. Getting out of bed is another story.
I usually- practice winning an award in the mirror about once a week.
I am not- really that nice when it comes down to it.
I dance- only at exercise class and weddings.
I sing- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to Tommy every night.
I never- laugh aloud at a movie.
I rarely- miss Sunday night TV. Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters...the best shows on television.
I cry- when I'm angry. Usually not when I'm happy, only sometimes when I'm sad.
I am not always- on time.
I lose- my cell phone. Constantly.
I’m confused- about Tommy's obsession with his wooden trains. He puts them to sleep for naps.
I need- to keep practicing remaining in the present moment.
I should- I try not to live by these.
I dream- about random former crushes from middle school.
I TAG- Becky, Angie, Mimi, Carolyn, and Julie.

Shout Out

I'd just like to give a quick shout-out to the manager at the new Price Chopper by my house. I always feel pretty good after breakfast, so on Tuesday I ate, sent Tommy to school, and then went to the gym. After the gym I went to school for a bit but started to feel...sick. Very sick. I left school immediately and drove straight to the new grocery store to go through the salad bar line. As I was loading my plate with strawberries, it happened. My breakfast came up. And the little snack I had after working out, and my water, and everything else. I did aim away from the salad bar though. The manager was paged and rushed over. I apologized profusely, explained that I was 11 weeks pregnant and have waited too long to eat after working out, and offered to help him clean up. He was so nice, cleaned up my puke graciously, and even gave me a voucher for a free salad next time. I came straight home and wrote this man a hand-written thank-you note (as my mother taught me to do), thanking him for understanding my situation. I hope he is somehow blessed by someone today.

Update

1. So the South Beach Diet isn't really that bad. Especially when you are pregnant and can cheat just a little. For example, you are not supposed to have sugar, but when I feel nauseous I still eat a popsicle. I figure 3 popsicles a day is much better than cake or cookies or something along those lines. So far, I've actually lost 3 lbs. and have been feeling better, since I'm getting more protein. The goal is not to lose weight, but just to gain a healthy amount in this pregnancy. And the SB little Pizzas are good!

2. Having a personal trainer at my gym is awesome. I should have set aside the money to do this long ago. I feel strong and confident even though I know my body is about to change. I do Courtney's workout (not the devil woman, a new one) 3 times a week and then walk or ride a bike on the other days. I love having a plan. And Courtney's approach is more along the lines of encouragement, not abuse.

3. You know you have been sick for too long when your son begins to look for you in your bed when you are gone. Last night I was at class and David reported that while he and Tommy were playing, young Thomas ran back to my bedroom, turned on the light, and said, "Mommy?" He figured if I wasn't playing with him, I must be in bed. Sad.

South Beach, Phase 2

My doctor has recommended that I do my best to follow the 2nd Phase of the South Beach Diet through this pregnancy. Here is a note to all my child-bearing aged friends: DON'T LET YOURSELF GET IN A POSITION WHERE YOU NEED TO DIET DURING PREGNANCY! Basically I have made it out of the 1st Trimester only gaining 3 pounds. Whew. BUT I started this pregnancy 15 pounds higher than I did with Thomas. And when you are 5'3" and carry all your weight in your face and boobs, 15 lbs. is a lot of weight. So now instead of giving into my craving for a box of Mac and Cheese per day, I'll be going shopping tomorrow for nuts, cheese, and salad. My plan is to take Sundays off so I don't feel totally restricted. I'm pretty nervous about my ability to actually do this, so I'll need the support of the blog world. The first step is the next 14 days. I am going to do this for 14 days with the hope that after that point I will feel good and see the results of minimal weight gain. That will motivate me to continue. Pray for David...he gets the brunt of the overall grumpiness when cookie cake is not indulged in.

Expecting.

I was trying to wait until 12 weeks to post anything, but I'm getting close enough. We're expecting! And I have been sick as a dog, hence the lack of interesting posts lately. We are very excited but of course a little nervous, especially until the official 12 week mark. Our due date? Cinco de Mayo. We can't wait to meet you, little Pepe.

A Conversation

Tommy: "Mommy and Tommy have a poo-poo party!"
Me: "You want to sit on the potty and go poo-poo?"
Tommy: "Poo-poo party with hats. Dorothy." (Goes to get the birthday hats out of the decorations drawer).
Me: "You mean Dorothy Elmo's pet goldfish on TV?"
Tommy: "TV, Mommy. Poo-poo party!" (puts the hat on my head)
Me: "Was there a party on Sesame Street today?" (At this point I go turn on the DVR'd Sesame and fast forward to Elmo's World).
Me: "Tommy you are right! Today was Dorothy's Birthday Party on Elmo!"
Tommy: "Yes. Mommy and Tommy have a poo-poo party. Hats and cake."

Let the celebration begin. He had watched Sesame Street that day at 9am. This conversation took place at 4 in the afternoon!

Off.

I've been feeling...off. Thomas was sick this week and of course then I got it. I realized today that I haven't spent quality time with David or Tommy all week long. I'm overwhelmed with school and therefore haven't taken time to be creative or be alone. I think it is time for me to freely admit that if I am not pursuing my hobbies I'm going to feel this way. Writing, projects, teaching Tommy, and doing something outside of our county with David are the things that fuel my soul. So why do I feel so guilty for pursuing things that do not pay? Looks like some changes are coming our way...

Waiting Patiently

I'm trying to be patient for my shows to come back on. Season Premiers start September 26th. Here are some sneak pictures of my three shows. You'll know where to find me on Thursday and Sunday nights.

Pro Plastics

Don't get me wrong, as soon as David and I are done having kids and sock enough money away I want to get a tummy tuck and possibly a breast reduction (depending on how big the girls get after subsequent babies), but Cindy looks like a total freak. And I'm not just saying that because I hate the Republican ticket this year (PS-Could anyone be more party polarizing than Sarah Palin?) Here is an article about Mrs. McCain I found on the net. I hope all my Lisenby relatives jump off the McCain train before she eats them.

Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, is quite familiar with plastic surgery, as anyone who’s looked at her for more than five minutes can attest. Rumors abound that she’s had at LEAST a facelift, some eye and brow work, lots and lots of botox, maybe some fillers, injections, pretty much anything that can be popped into a syringe and injected is fair game.

What do you think - she just looks so plasticy, doesn’t she? For some reason she really scares me, like if she saw a kitten and she thought nobody was looking she might think about eating it. Just a nibble, you know. She looks the type to want to eat a kitten. Isn’t that part of the Republican platform?

First Day of School

Ahhh. I love the Fall. School starting, new planners, fresh pencils, drum line practice, and hopefully crisp air soon. Here are my boys on their first day of school. Thomas is going with David to the pre-school on campus two days a week.

Grey is a Beautiful Color

For some reason today is the day for a more serious post. Ever since moving back to Kansas City I've thought quite a bit about who I was in high school and then college. I really grew and changed in Denver...partly due to seminary, a lot due to marriage, and mostly just from growing up. The most tangible thing that has changed for me is my faith. My faith is so different from what it used to be that I hesitate to even blog about it because telling everyone what I believe is what I USED to do. But, I'm an external processor so here we go...

I met with my college roommate today for a play date and had the urge to stand on top of one of the Step 2 play structures and proclaim how much I've changed and grown since 1999. Here is this amazing woman that I never really got to know in college because I was living in my narrow bubble. I want to apologize to everyone I run into from my past about parts of the person I was, especially in college.

I was introduced to the idea of faith in high school through a ministry called Young Life. For the most part I remained fairly open minded and well rounded in high school. I was friends with a lot of people in many different circles. After my senior year I went to work at camp for the first time and came back...different.

My view and scope of God and people started to get VERY small and VERY judgmental. There was one right way to have faith. That included a daily quiet time, memorizing verses from the bible, only hanging out with other Christians so as not to corrupt yourself, no drinking or sex, and seeking out "mountain top/spiritual high" retreats and camp experiences. Enter my friends at the Tri-Delt house. Very few women were living in my box at the time, so I had very few friends. Looking back, I think my personality needed black and white answers to feel good about myself. I was struggling with weight issues and needed to become a super-Christian to compensate. I was asking the question, "How do I have faith in college?" The answer was simple: do these things and be part of this campus ministry and you will be a "strong" believer.

The problem wasn't that I had faith. The problem was that it became my life. I wasn't open to new ideas and experiences BECAUSE of my narrow faith. It was my way or the highway, so most people in my mind were cruising down I-70 (they were probably headed toward the West Coast where all those liberal hippies live). With each year of college my thinking became more judgmental. My friends and mentors were telling me my thinking was "right" or "good," but deep down I knew better. I had to escape. So, I graduated early and moved to Boulder. I played my guitar on the street and worked in a public school to earn money. I didn't go to church or seek out Christian friends. It was the most open minded thing I had done in 4 years.

Enter David...back at spiritual wonderland, i.e. the camp where we both worked, David began to catch my eye. Here was this guy that had traveled all over the world, was pretty open minded, had rejected his black and white Baptist upbringing but still had faith. Hmmm. So in true spiritual high form we got married. FAST. Finally I can have sex. What a relief.

Our first two years in Denver were when things began to unravel for me. No one was praising me anymore for getting up early to read my bible. David wasn't really interested in going to church or reading his bible everyday. I sat in seminary classes and became more confused than ever by all the different ways to translate scripture. I became exposed to the world around me and saw some not so pretty stuff. HOLY SHIT. Faith is not a matter of black and white answers! Why do some people not have a home when others live in mansions? I don't know. How could God let some kids starve when I get to eat out all the time? I don't know. Why didn't I "feel" as close to God as I did when I was working at camp? I don't know. Why was the church shunning homosexuals or AIDS victims when they are the ones Jesus would have loved the most? I don't know. Why does the church I go to seem to care more about their new building campaign than the people without a winter coat down the street? I don't know. Why did all the "godly and submissive" wives I know really seem to be resentful and angry along with emotionally unhealthy? I don't know. With 6 Billion people on the planet, how could there only be one road to heaven? I REALLY don't know.

Then there I was in year four of living away from Answerville. For the first time since high school I have gay friends and alcoholic friends and party friends and Buddist friends and Latino friends. David and I were attending a church that cares more for their neighbors than whether the sermon envoked an emotional response. We still believed in God and had faith, it just looked incredibly different than it did before. Things were grey, and I was at peace with myself and in my relationships.

You know what is coming next, don't you. David decided that more than anything else he was passionate about people discovering their cultural identities and applied to several PhD programs, one of which was KU. I was pregnant, so we moved on home and immediately went through shell shock. I hadn't kept up with many people from high school when I was more free, so I jumped back in with the college crowd. I figured I could be my new, open-minded self even with my old friends. I'm sad to report that for the most part those friendships have not worked out very well. We had based our friendships on being like-minded in our faith, and since I now see faith as just a part of my life instead of my whole life it was hard to know where to begin with people. We also began at a church that didn't fit so well with our new selves either.

And so for the past year we have been left to again define who we are, what we want to teach our son about life, and who we want to associate with. We are not sure about the typical, evangelical, American church. So, we haven't gone to church very much. We love our gay neighbors and family members who have never "proclaimed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior." We try not to say things anymore like, "God is so good" or "God has a plan" because sometimes the world is pretty crappy. We are registered democrats because we believe that people need help. And you know what? No one knows for sure what happens when you die. I do believe there is a beautiful place like heaven, but I also think there will be a lot more people there than I ever imagined.

So, to close my longest blog post ever, no, we are not cynical anti-Christians. Yes, we are going to raise Thomas as part of a church community. (We think we found one yesterday www.saintandrewcc.org that could be a good fit). Yes, we believe in God and that Jesus Christ was his Son who came into the world and died for us. Yes, we believe the church's main role is to promote social justice and civil rights, not to get your friends to come hang out with you over a donut. Yes, we are praying for soft, understanding hearts, especially with our friends who the black and white answers still work for. And no, we hope never to jump back into the hard-core evangelical circles we have both worked hard to break free from. Oh and no, we probably won't promote Young Life or Youth Group to Thomas unless it aligns with our/his values. Everything else we aren't sure about, but I do know one thing. Sometimes, even when your personal shopper that you won a free session with at an auction tells you grey isn't a good color for you, grey can be a pretty beautiful color, especially when you only used to wear black or white.

Am I Marriage Material?

So we are becoming good friends with our neighbors. They came over for dinner on Tuesday night and told us about a fight they recently had about the cleanliness level of their house. The husband mentioned that our house is always clean when he comes over (which it is, I admit), and the wife, who works full-time, began to brim with frustration. "Why don't you just marry Adrienne then!" she shouted.

Now just so you know I did not have many dates in high school or a long line of men who wanted to marry me. I was slightly flattered that the cleanliness of my house would cause a dispute and therefore charge to marry me. However, it was extremely easy to come up with some good reasons why our neighbor may not want to consider his wife's proposal. In a true wifely confession format, here we go:

1. I am a grump in the morning. I don't speak to anyone until at least 9am. I've been known to bite David's head off for saying, "Good Morning, Beautiful."
2. I'm pretty selfish with how I want to spend money. If it were up to me we would spend all our extra money on clothes and things only for me. Maybe I would get a few things for Thomas, but definitely nothing for David.
3. I may have trained myself about how to be a good housekeeper, but I CAN'T cook. I would eat the same thing every night for dinner (a bowl of cereal) and be happy.
4. The bat wing factor. Enough Said.
5. I can never make up my mind. I have to change my mind about a decision at least 12 times before settling in to something. Tommy's music teacher knows this to be the case. This semester I have switched from the Thursday to the Tuesday to the Wednesday class.
6. I am impulsive and intense about certain topics.
7. I have two brothers that would kick the ass of any man that ever hurt me. To say they were skeptical of David at first is an understatement.

I DO however, excel in other areas. Pretty big areas, if I do say so myself. So here are some things my neighbor might want to at least consider, you know if David decides the above list is too much for him.

1. I have a HIGH sex drive for about one week a month. And I love sex once you get me going.
2. For the most part after 9am I am pretty easy going, friendly, and loving.
3. My house is always clean, for the most part.
4. I'm funny.
5. I'm very creative.

So there you have it. Let the proposals roll in.

Book Review-Yes Ma'am.

I was honestly really disappointed in this book. I thought its predecessor, Preparation for Parenting (Or Baby Wise) was really helpful, but I gained very little from this read. I think I might need to read the Growing Kids God's Way version.

The only thing we are implementing from this theory is to have Thomas respond when we give instructions with a "Yes, Mommy or No, Mommy" and to continue to create structure and routine in his day. We had considered carrying on the Lisenby tradition of having him say "Yes, Ma'am and Yes, Sir," but David doesn't want his own son to call him "Sir." Plus, David's parents never made the transition out of this stage and still expect a "Yes, Sir" from us today. I think Ma'am and Sir has brought a degree of formality in the Lisenby family that I do not want with my kids. Thomas will be required to answer with more than a "What? or Yeah?" though, which is what I did as a kid.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on favorite parenting books? How does (did) manner training work in your house? I'm kind of on a roll of creating structure and routine after reading Dr. Ferber's sleep book and Toddler Wise.

Funny Faces

Does anyone know why my son will smile for the camera when he is alone in a picture but not when there are other people involved? Below is an example of my dilemma. This is my friend Carly from high school (also a bridesmaid in our wedding and namesake of the family dog) with her new son Peyton back in KC. Tommy wants nothing to do with smiling in this picture or other recent family shots. At least Carly and Peyton look good!

Santa Fe

Santa Fe is my kind of place. I love it there. In fact, the SW is my kind of region...laid back, environmentally friendly, fun, culture, unique shopping, etc. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our 3-day trip.

What the Cabin is Like...

I used to put pictures of a white Jeep Wrangler in my dad's briefcase when I was 15 just to make sure he knew what kind of car I wanted. It didn't work out for me then, but I get to drive this white jeep here.

The area is so close to New Mexico that there is definitely a Southwestern flare. I love these address tiles my parents got in Taos last year. I've slowly been adding a little SW touch to my house myself.

These black-eyed susans are outside the kitchen window. I love these flowers.

The rest are just some pictures so you can see what it is like here. The first is the view from the driveway in front. Next is the front of the cabin. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The flowers are my mom's wildflower garden where I usually check my e-mail b/c the signal is the strongest outside. There is a hammock in the back among the evergreens and aspens to take a little snooze before the afternoon rains. And the bridge goes over the pond that Tommy constantly wants to swim in.

Chillin'

We are back at the cabin until the 15th. For this trip we are planning our annual trip to Taos, meeting some Wilderness friends for hikes near hippie towns, reading "Toddler Wise" to learn more about our crazy 20 month old, and watching Sunset Tan on cable. Today we went to feed some carrots to miniature horses while we acclimate to the 9000 feet. Now that we have internet here, I'm going to try to post every few days so readers can get a feel for what the cabin is like. Right now I have a bad altitude headache but am sitting outside while I type in front of my mom's wildflower garden. Thunder is rolling down the valley and humming birds are swarming the feeder David just filled up. It smells like evergreen. Beautiful.