Friday, May 22, 2015

Oh, Internet... {69}

We're getting on an airplane tonight!

Like, really late tonight.

Like, 10pm tonight.

It was the only flight available that would allow us both to work a full work day today and still leave tonight as opposed to tomorrow (but only just).  Please, please say some prayers that we'll make it in one piece and with minimal tears and/or screaming...

More pleasant than a late night flight- the awesome things on the internet this week!

I don't want to be a girl boss.  Preach.  I'd like to make and do and create but I don't want to manage.  I will never make it to the boardroom, and I hate that modern feminism sees this as detrimental to womankind.

If you feed them, they will come.  I always thought it was a southern thing, but I, too, associate food with hospitality.

Finally: a defense of children at weddings!  Are kids loud and messy and unpredictable?  Yes!  Does that mean they will absolutely ruin your special day?  No!

And for some crafty inspiration:

10 Colorful Dip Dyed DIY Projects

5 Ways to Repurpose a Drawer

What awesome things happened on your internet this week?

Much love,
The Geeks

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Throwback Thursday: Last Memorial Day

Memorial Day 2014 // *personal photo*
We're going to see Mammaw and Papaw for Memorial Day again this year- only this time, we're going to them!  Someone is so excited to ride on an "airmane" once again, even if we're a little nervous about the fact that this particular plane won't be taking off until well past bedtime.  Here's hoping she sleeps on the flight!

What are you doing for Memorial Day this year?  Has a lot changed for you since last year?

Much love,
The Geeks

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Wordless Wednesday: Adventure

Everest! // *personal photo*
Today I'm linking up over at Focused on the Magic for the Wordless Wednesday Disney blog hop!  Today's theme is Adventure.  We both really enjoyed our adventure up Mount Everest at Animal Kingdom on our honeymoon!  Click the button below to join in on the blog hop!


Much love,

The Geeks 

Monday, May 18, 2015

Fashion Adventures: Mother's Day in a Tutu

So.

I bought a tutu.

No, I'm not enrolling in ballet classes again.  I bought a tutu for everyday wear.  Well, not every day.  Fancy days.

Mother's Day was a pretty fancy day.  Mr. Geek and Chief took me out to a delicious brunch, they gave me a beautiful new watch, I got to relax all afternoon, and we went to church in the evening.

And I got to wear my new tutu!


Chief went shopping with me when I bought this outfit at Kohl's, and I was really hemming and hawing over whether or not to actually buy the skirt.

"Is Mommy too old to wear something like this?" I asked her in the dressing room as I checked to see if it made my butt look too big.

"No!" she said forcefully, grinning at me from her stroller and kicking her feet.

Well, okay then!  I guess I'm allowed to wear a tutu.






sweater, skirt, shoes: Kohl's                                                                                            on her:
pearls: gift                                                                                         sweater, dress, shoes: gift
watch: Kate Spade                                                                                                socks: Kohl's


We clean up pretty good, eh?

What did you do for Mother's Day?  (Which, yes, was over a week ago, and I'm just now blogging about it.  Hush, I've been busy!)

Would you wear a tutu as everyday wear?  (Well, as fancy day wear.)

Much love,
The Geeks

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Oh, Internet... {68}

image via IMDB
I'm watching The Tender Trap as I assemble this list (late, as per usual) and it's a pretty adorable movie.  Even when he's an absolute cad, Frank Sinatra sure is charming ;)

Here's some charming things that happened on the internet this week:

A Beautiful Mess shared a list of 10 easy DIY projects that make me excited to one day (maybe? hopefully?) buy a house!

Make It and Love It shared her Ultimate List of Favorite Sewing Supplies.

Studio DIY shared a simple tutorial for clay trinket dishes that would make great gifts!

Catholic All Year shared how she uses PicMonkey to make even ordinary photos look incredible!

Miss Hammerhead on Weddingbee shared an awesome DIY aisle decor idea that uses photos instead of flowers!  I'm going to have to show this to my sister...

The oldest runner at Disneyland's Tinker Bell Half-Marathon was an 84-year-old great-grandmother who is absolutely adorable!  I hope I'm that active when I'm 84...

Petite Panoply is pretty much my fashion muse, I think.  (At least she's my favorite fashion blogger that I follow anymore.)  I mean seriously- look at this outfit!

"Have you ever felt like being a mother has ruined you?"  You owe it to yourself to read this beautiful piece from Carrots for Michaelmas.

Molly Makes Do and a bunch of my favorite Catholic Bloggers have started The Credo Project.  I'm thinking about participating!

What charming things happened on your internet this week?

Much love,
The Geeks

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Throwback Thursday: Spring Break of Yesteryear

I hated putt putt golf then, and I hate it now // *personal photo*
Let's throw it aaaaaaaaaaall the way back to spring break in middle school, in honor of my adorable sister who just got engaged, and who I get to see very soon.

Much love,
The Geeks

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Currently, Chief is... {18 Months}

Can you believe our little girl is already a year and a half?  So little time has passed- and it's passed much too quickly- since we celebrated her first birthday, but she has changed SO MUCH!  Let's talk about these past few months:

Opening Christmas presents at 13 months old
Growing like a weed!  She very quickly outgrew the 12-18 month range of clothing, which leads me to believe this was her fastest growth spurt yet- up until this point, her clothing size was the same as her age.  She's got some 18-24 month stuff that fits, but mostly we're in 2T now, though pants tend to be a little long and shirts a little baggy- but I find that to be better than stuff being too tight.  Now that the weather has turned summery, she's wearing all capris and shorts and skirts, so you can't even tell if stuff is a bit too long.

Climbing up the playground steps all by herself at 14 months old
Eating anything and everything.  Her favorite food, hands down, is "a-puhl-saw" (applesauce)- specifically the kind in the squeeze pouches that she can eat by herself with no mess.  She doesn't care what brand or what flavor- it's her favorite snack that she asks for when she wakes up, when she gets home from school, when she's bored of being in the car... She also requests "yogee" (yogurt) immediately after finishing the applesauce, so the two items together tend to be her before-school breakfast (she also eats breakfast at school).  We like the yogurt that comes in the tube, especially since YoKids comes in this packaging, but we recently discovered that Target carries lowfat in the same squeeze pouches that applesauce comes in, meaning no mess!  She hasn't shown any food allergies, though she was showing the tell-tale strawberry reaction a few months ago (although we haven't seen it in a while, and strawberries gave her no other problems) and too much cheese will make her constipated (which is unfortunate, as she loves it and will request it on almost any dish).  She will sometimes try to assert her independence by refusing to eat what is served to her, but we will not allow her to refuse the meal entirely- she will not be allowed to live on a diet of applesauce and yogurt alone.  The other night, for example, I made a dish with potato and cheese pierogi, ham, caramelized shallots, and green peas.  She has eaten and enjoyed each of those items individually (pasta, potato, cheese, ham, peas), but when served together, there was only one thing on the plate that she would eat- the peas!  This was rather shocking, as what kid refuses cheese and meat for green vegetables, and the week prior she'd refused anything even remotely green in color, but we decided it was a battle we didn't want to fight- she ate all the peas off her plate and both of ours, and I think she ended up eating every single pea left in that dish before she was full so the leftovers had no green in them.  These types of fights are getting ever more rare, but that doesn't mean we don't see our fair share of tears at the dinner table.  Now she's decided to assert her independence by wanting to feed herself with her utensils, and we have to gently suggest that, if she'd like to get any of it in her mouth, perhaps she should let Mommy or Daddy help a little bit?  Eventually she gets so frustrated that she's so hungry and not actually getting anything to eat that she will let one of us guide her little hand as it shovels up food, or she'll throw down the fork and go in with both hands, or she'll open her mouth and let us feed her (we're trying to discourage the latter).  At restaurants, we try to order food that is easily eaten without utensils (so nothing with a sauce, if possible, unless she can dip her food into it- her new favorite way of eating) because she's still much too little to use regular silverware and we don't want to cause arguments by removing her independence, and so long as she's not overly hungry or tired, we avoid public tantrums.  She has a rather adventurous palate, eagerly "deep"ing her "cheeps" into the salsa at our favorite Mexican restaurant over and over again, although she makes a face because it is "'picy".

Bundling up to play in the snow at 15 months old
Talking in complete phrases, though not yet complete sentences.  And she can carry on a conversation with you about any number of topics she finds interesting- like "airmanes" and puppies and cars and food and the "meegow" (playground).  Although it is tempting to use her pronunciation for the words she says because it is so adorable, we've seen how very effective it is to continue pronouncing words correctly.  For example, even up until a couple of weeks ago, she would to call yogurt "gogee"; when she wasn't around, we'd refer to it between ourselves that way ("I think I'll have some gogee for breakfast tomorrow,") but if we were talking to her, we'd pronounce it properly ("Would you like yogurt or applesauce for a snack?").  Recently, she has started to correct her pronunciation, after hearing the proper pronunciation for so long- she's still not calling it yogurt, but she's replaced the g with a y, so it's starting to sound more like it should ("yogee").  Same goes with applesauce- at first, it was "ah-pee-saw", but now she deliberately pronounces the "a-puhl" at the beginning of the word, though she hasn't yet added the s sound to the end.  If she gets excited and starts saying the word over and over again really fast (so as to speed up our acquiring of said applesauce) she'll slip back into her old pronunciation, but when she does, she slows herself down and very deliberately says the word- knowing that she needs to speak clearly to be understood.  It's really fascinating to watch her learn not just a language, but how to express herself clearly so that we can understand.  They say that children that learn to speak earlier have fewer tantrums, but that's not necessarily true in our case- she is able to better communicate what she wants, but she still gets upset if we deny her what she's asking for.  In general, though, her loudest fit-pitching is caused by her either being tired or hungry (or both), which is relatively easily to fix.  (And for the record, our current tantrum strategy is to ignore it until it stops, assuming we're not in a place where she can immediately eat or take a nap.  It works more often than not.)

Walking through the neighborhood at 16 months old
Making facial expressions that look just like her Daddy, as I've said many times before.  Although her smile is undeniably inherited from me- if her hair weren't red, it would be easy to mistake her photos for mine- the way she raises her eyebrows when she thinks you're pulling a fast one on her, or the way she studies something when she's trying to figure it out...those expressions are 100% Mr. Geek.  It's pretty incredible, really.

Enjoying the beach at 17 months old
Listening to lots of different types of music, and singing along!  She is very polite and will clap and say, "Yay!" when someone finishes singing a song- including the choir at church.  Her two favorite songs are the ABCs and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", though it's sometimes difficult to tell which song she's requesting, as "aybeesees" and "issy bissy" sound pretty similar- though generally, if she's requesting "issy bissy", she does the little hand motions, touching the tips of her fingers together.  No matter what song she's singing along with, they all have the same lyrics- "Aybeesee aybeesee aybeesee."  That is, except for "Ring Around the Rosie," which is comprised of the words "ashes ashes down!" that she sings while turning in circles and then plopping down on her bottom.  She loves making music, and has acquired quite the one-man-band set-up with a piano, keyboard, snare drum, maracas, castanets, recorder, and (real) acoustic guitar.  She has a real affinity for music class at school, too, and if the cart of instruments is parked outside the classroom door when we're leaving in the afternoon, it's hard to drag her away from it when she'd much rather pull things out and make some noise.  Music skills help with math skills, so here's hoping she wants to take up an instrument when she's older!

Telling me all about the airplanes the day before she turned 18 months old
Sleeping in the weirdest positions, but all night long.  We don't have a set bedtime, but we do have a set bedtime routine- eat dinner, sit on the potty and read a book (we are not officially potty training yet though, just introducing the concept), put on our jammies, nurse, sit in Mommy and Daddy's bed and watch 101 Dalmatians (still her favorite movie ever) until she's sufficiently sleepy, then go to bed.  About once a week, bathtime comes between potty and jammies (unless she's legitimately dirty) and the length of time we watch the movie depends on what time it is.  On school nights, 8pm is our hard-and-fast bedtime cut off, but we're willing to stay up later on weekends (though no later than 8:30 if it can absolutely be avoided- and the only time it can't be is if we're not at home).  She's normally willing to go down around 7:30, so long as she's had all the other bits of the bedtime routine.  She nurses in the morning as well, and though I know she's getting a little bit of milk, it's no longer for nutrition- it's strictly routine and comfort.  We have another plane ride coming up on Memorial Day, and it's imperative that she nurse for takeoff and landing on both flights, so I don't want her to wean before then.  Once we get home, though, I'm going to stop offering "boops" and only nurse when she explicitly asks for it (which I imagine she will continue to do at bedtime for quite some time, though the morning session will be much easier to cut).  Most nights, she's asking to nurse as we get her jammies on, but some nights, if I don't say anything about it, she's content to just sit with me- but I do say something, and she does want to, and I'm glad, because we're not done yet.  I'm hoping that between June and November, if I stop mentioning it, she'll forget about it- though I won't refuse her if she asks during that time.  It is my goal to have her weaned shortly after her second birthday, but I'm not looking forward to being the one that brings about the end of that relationship, so I really do want her to wean herself.

Practicing her awkward fashion blogger poses at 18 months old
Loving puppies of any size; airplanes in the "kies" (sky); music; applesauce; yogurt; pretty much any fruit; playgrounds; swings; talking on the phone (well, holding things up to her ear that may or may not actually be a phone and saying "Allo?" like a little French girl or something); picking out shoes for me to wear; walking around by herself; running away and being chased; reading books on the potty (which at this point she believes to be a special chair where you read your favorite books, naked); "boids" (birds); pretending to feed her stuffed animals with real food; tickling Mommy and Daddy; hugs; playing in the "dort" (dirt); identifying the parts of other people's faces (pointing out their eyes, nose, mouth, etc); feeding herself with a fork or spoon.

Hating having playtime interrupted by a diaper change; not being allowed to play with real cellphones whenever she wants; being limited to just two servings of applesauce per day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon); riding in the car; getting out of bed in the morning; getting her hands dirty while playing in the dirt; having to hold someone's hand when walking around in public; sitting still; not being allowed to stand on chairs and tables; the suggestion that perhaps something exists which is not "MINE."

And that was months 13-18!  Can you believe how much she's grown??  I think maybe from now on I'll only do these updates on birthdays, but I figure if 18 months is and important enough milestone to warrant a check up at the doctor, it warrants a check up on the blog :)

What is your toddler currently in to?

Much love,
The Geeks

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Throwback Thursday: Last May

She had so much less hair a year ago... // *personal photo*
My baby girl will be 18 months old on Sunday.  This was from her 6 month photo shoot.  I loved that little pink dress!

How much has your little one changed in a year?

Much love,
The Geeks

Monday, May 4, 2015

Twenty Random Things About Mrs Geek


1. In high school, I thought I was being called to the religious life.  I felt a yearning to do something that made the world a better place, a call to be a teacher, and a desire to travel the world.  This led me to the conclusion that I should become a nun and live in Africa and teach at a school for girls.  (It didn't hurt that the daughter of my parents' friends did that exact thing and then came and talked to our parish about it.)  I also assumed I would be a terrible mother and felt no real call towards motherhood, leading me to believe that I shouldn't get married.  Basically my logic worked like this- women who were good mom material became wives and mothers, and women who were not became nuns.  Ergo, I was destined for the habit.  I don't think my parents ever wanted that for me, though, because they continuously pointed out that I was a little boy-crazy and constantly in need of a boyfriend, which I couldn't have if I was cloistered away somewhere (or, you know, in Africa, but I think they were in denial about that bit).  But then a nun pointed out to my mom that being a nun doesn't mean you can't like boys, so that line of reasoning dried up after a while.  It doesn't mean I didn't really struggle with my discernment to a vocation, especially as my senior year boyfriend and I got ever more serious and I realized the benefits of a potential marriage and a lifelong partner.  Sometime in my freshman year of college, even as I was realizing that this boyfriend was not the right match for me, I all of a sudden felt an overwhelming call to motherhood- I needed to (one day) give birth to my own children, no question.  I still thought I'd be pretty bad at it and struggled with the idea that my potential future children would hate me, but I inexplicably knew that it was what I was supposed to do.

2. I've always wanted to be a redhead.  In middle school and high school, I pestered my mom to let me dye my hair or at least get highlights, but she never let me- she always said it wasn't a good idea to damage my hair when I was still so young, and I think secretly she was afraid the color would turn out awful and I didn't exactly need any help in the awkward department.  First I wanted a dark chestnut brown, then goth black, then strawberry blonde, then cobalt blue, then real ginger red...basically anything but my mousy, dirty blonde.  By the time I got to college, I still had an itch for red hair, and the ability to do something about it, but I never pulled the trigger.  After we got married, I did the whole post-wedding chop thing, and I promised myself that when it grew back out, the next extreme hair-makeover I did would be to finally dye it.  Buuuut then I got pregnant.  And then, you know, the baby was born.  And now I just don't have time to get my hair done (though if I did, I'd want more of a maroonish red with dark undertones).  But I feel like if I dye my hair red now people will just think I'm copying my (beautiful) daughter...

3. My drink of choice is a whiskey and Sprite.  Maker's Mark, to be specific.

4. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are my favorite candy ever.

5. If I had to pick one city to live in for the rest of my life, I'd choose Blacksburg, VA.  It's a beautiful town and is consistently rated one of the best places to raise a family- it's not your typical college town.

6. I've performed with the Moscow Ballet.  It's really not as impressive as it sounds- when I was in middle school, they were touring their Nutcracker and auditioning for the children's parts in each town.  I auditioned and landed a role as a mouse for both the matinee and evening performance.  I know, I know, it's silly, but it was one of the only children's roles that had a part in both acts of the show, so I had considerable stage time compared to some of the other kids.  I brought my old pointe shoes and had some of the professional ballerinas sign them.

7. I secretly love Taylor Swift's music, even though I can't stand her as a person.

8. Hallowe'en is my favorite holiday because costumes!  Also candy!

9. If you're wondering what to get me for a gift-giving occasion, kitchen supplies are a safe bet.  Mr. Geek and I have a shared Google Document with a list of things I'd like for the kitchen in case he's ever stumped on what to get me.

10. Saint Augustine is my favorite saint.  Seven-year-old me had always seen saints as perfect, untouchable beings who I could never hope to live up to, but Saint Augustine was just a normal boy who became a very bad boy who completely turned his life around and made it to Heaven after all.  Of course, the more I studied the saints, the more I found stories of extreme conversion (which is kind of the point of saints), but Saint Augustine was the first to give me hope that holiness is truly achievable for all of us.

11. I hate snow.

12. Belle is my favorite Disney princess but Leia is a very close second.

13. Disney Imagineering has always been my dream job.  I'm still holding out hope that I'll get there one day.

14. Mr Geek and I recently discovered Archer and we LOVE it.

15. While I loved the Song of Ice and Fire book series, I'm not a huge fan of the TV show.  I only watched maaaaaybe half of season 1 of Game of Thrones and was just not impressed.  Part of what I like about the books is the pace- which, yes, is slow, because there is so much detail.  And not like Jules Verne details- it's not hundreds of pages describing the colors of the fish swimming by- but character-building details, so that when people do things that seem completely out of left field, it's at least not out of character.  The TV show, by nature of the medium, just feels so rushed by contrast.  Also I keep hearing about all the plot changes and I just have no desire to watch that, so.  Here's hoping he finishes the books...

16. I love the Disney show Gravity Falls.  Mr. Geek always asks me how old I am when he catches me watching it, and I tell him to shut up because it's super clever and funny.

17. I have a serious baby clothing habit.  I just can't help it.  Little Miss Chief has a completely full closet and I can't. stop. buying. it.

18. Iron Man is my favorite super hero because his super power is his BRAIN.  He's an engineer!  I mean seriously.

19. I'm not a beer drinker.  I'm not intentionally trying to be annoying or anything, I just prefer cider.

20. I'm very particular about the way I sort laundry.  I sort by color- like, individual colors- and then group like colors together so that in the end I do a load of whites, a load of darks, and a load of brights.  I could just sort them that way to begin with, but I have to have my process.

All right, there we go- 20 things!  What are some random things about you?

Much love,
The Geeks