Sam is not winning - GO VOTE!

Chris, Sam and I have a picture in the Fresh Art Photography September Favorites contest and we ARE NOT WINNING! I think we have less than 10 votes out of the 197 comments. That is kind of embarrassing. So come on all you silent blog readers that I know are out there...Enlund family, friends, Kuhn family....PLEASE go over to Fresh Art and show Sam some last minute LOVE! The contest only goes for a couple more hours! PLEASE VOTE!

it should be about the mom

Today shouldn't be about me, it should be about my mom. In just a few hours I will officially be 28 years old and while I know your immediate reaction is to say "Happy Birthday Abbie" I have decided that I don't really think I deserve the acknowledgment. Let's be honest, 28 years ago today I didn't really do anything impressive. It was mom who went through the hellish torture of labor to give me life. She should be the one getting the phone calls and emails; it was really her "birth day" considering she was the one who gave birth!! Having been through labor and looking ahead to my second day of birth I know that it is a tough day for the mom and while it is probably actually difficult for the baby too, the baby doesn't remember it, THE MOM DOES!

So, Happy Birth-Day Mom!

crunch time

Do you ever have times in your life when it seems like everything is ending, happening or coming together all at once? It is that time for me right now. The only thing that is not stressing me out right now is the pregnancy and I think it is just because I simply don't have time to think about all the normal pregnancy worries.
I just don't think I have had more things to worry about all at one time in all my life and needless to say it is causing MANY sleepless nights. So, what am I worrying about you ask?
Job #1 - I have been replaced and have to train my replacement starting October 5th. On October 21st there will be close to 200 environmental educators gathering together for a conference that I have been putting together for well over a year. I won't "officially" be working for the organization at that time but I can't just hand over this conference that has been my baby for so long, so I will still be working the conference. Needless to say there is a lot of planning and preparing that goes into a successful four day professional development conference.
Job #2 - The research committee that I work for is doing three professional conference presentations this Fall. I am leading one of them and unfortunately cannot afford to attend the other two that are at the national conference in Portland. But I am still working on the poster and presentations for all of them. I have to have those completed and ready to go in a week and a half.
Apartment - Chris has been apartment shopping and we have both decided that the sooner we can get into one the better, no matter how bad the timing is with my work and his work. So sometime in the next couple of weeks we will be moving at least the bear minimum of our beds and clothes to an apartment in Madison.
Staging our House - How in the world do you stage a house that will have some furniture in it, but not all the essential furniture (LIKE BEDS!)?
Open House - Not this Saturday but October 3rd we are having yet another open house. Not really much for me to do for that until the day before...oh yeah, worry. Will anyone show up? Will I clean my whole house AGAIN and have no one really be interested?

Okay, so maybe that is not that big of a list, but I am feeling very overwhelmed lately. You know, that typical picture of someone juggling too many balls and eventually something has to drop. And this is what keeps me up at night.

Crunch time has hit the Enlund house this Fall.

Down with Spot!

Is it mean to want to kill a beloved story book character?
I don't care, I want to KILL Spot. You know that cute little dog that hides behind things or has things he has to find behind things. He has ruined my once favorite time of the day; reading time before bed. That time use to be so sweet. Sam and I would curl up in her rocking chair with her blankets and I would read two or three books. She kind of cared which books I read but not really. Then one day I read her the "Where is Spot?" book. This is a lift-the-flap book with lots of other animals hiding behind household objects. It is a cute book, the first couple of times. I would make the animal noises and act surprised when it wasn't Spot behind the flap.
I created a MONSTER. Every time we went into Sam's room, no matter what time of day, she would run to her rocking chair and yell "POT, POT, please.". How could I say no? We started having reading time all the time. After about a week of reading spot several times a day I made the HUGE mistake of thinking that having a second Spot book would make things better for me because I would have another book to read. Not better, worse. Now, we not only have to find spot but we have to walk with him around a farm while he tries to find the baby animals. And we do this several times a day. Cause how do you tell your daughter no you won't read to her when other than pure hatred for the book there is no good reason to NOT read to her the book she wants? And these books are not like other books that I can just hand her and she can "read" it herself without me because then there would no longer be any flaps in the books to be lifted. She tends to get excited and "accidentally" rip them off.
I have begun to try and break the habitat a little bit and get her to go back to sitting for any book. Last night I actually FORCED her to sit on my lap while I read a Dr. Seuss book, good old wonderful Dr. Seuss. She almost started crying but I finished the book.
If your household has not discovered the lovable, adorable Spot DON'T! Leave him at the library for some other family or pick out something else at the book store. Trust me, he may seem cute but reading time will never be the same again.

double blog day

It's like you all won the lottery or something today. Me...posting twice in one day!

I got a pretty cute video of Sam today and just had to share it.


I had the sprinkler set up for Sam to play in because it was actually pretty hot today but instead she decided a pile of leaves was way more fun! I just had to grab the camera.

The little bit that she actually spent in the sprinkler was mostly spent licking water off of the slide!

So this is a horrible picture of Sam but it is the first time she has ever come up to me and said "CHEESE", I just had to take her picture.

no more brownies and lemonade

This morning I woke up and promptly poured what remained of a pitcher of lemonade and a pan full of brownies down the drain. I know, crazy. But last night about an hour after I had over indulged in both lemonade and brownies I was in some serious pain. I don't know if it was the large amount of chocolate, the caffeine or the acid but something was not sitting well. I couldn't risk the temptation still being the house, I don't have much will power these days. So I HAD to throw them out.

Now, for some pictures from our weekend and a great trip to the park yesterday.

Sam is currently into trying to wear everything as shoes.

Flashcards with dad.

Our favorite park!

morning blues

This is how I feel this morning.

Like a little girl who has had her blanket pulled out of her hands and made disappear. I did not want Monday morning to come and I thought about it all weekend. It was the thought that was behind every other thought as we had fun this weekend, as we cleaned this weekend and as we just enjoyed time as a family. I knew it would come to an end. I don't know why but this particular Monday morning is hitting me really hard. It is 5:20 AM and normally I would have gone back to sleep after Chris left for work but this morning I just couldn't. I needed to talk to someone and blog world I knew you wouldn't mind the early morning call.


Back story on the pictures - I am not a horrible mom. I just needed to wash Sam's blankets and when I have tried to be sneaky about it before and throw them in the washer when she is not looking she has noticed them being gone later and then really freaked out that she couldn't find them. So this time I thought I would try to treat her like a big girl and let her "help" me put them in the washer so at least she could see where they were going. This failed as well.

Random Stuff

Last night I did everything right. I ate an early dinner of relatively bland foods, drank lots of water, propped up my head sufficiently and yet I still had the WORST heartburn. Can someone please tell me why heartburn is a necessary side effect of being pregnant? I mean I get WHY/HOW it happens but is it really necessary for me to have it bad again?


Sam came up to me and said "poopy". My first reaction was excitement (how sad is that?) because in my mind the idea of going to the bathroom might be finally starting to click with her...could potty training be around the corner? Oh no, she wasn't poopy she had thrown up on her shirt and shorts and needed to be changed. Not only does she not know what the word means but she is using it WRONG. My next realization...if the throw up was on her in two spots where else in the house was it? I did a twenty minute search for throw up...AWESOME.


I am almost jobless. My boss called me today and told me that the interviews they had yesterday went really well. He told me all about the woman that they love, who is perfect for the job and who he is very excited to hire. He has said before that he is sad to lose me but I am beginning to think that opinion has now changed!


Good mail can always make a bad day better. I got coupons from Enfamil and Target today for baby stuff. Nice. And a care package from my sister! She wrote a very sweet card, sent me an amazing piece of art that she made (JOD I LOVE IT!) and a dress. I immediately took my clothes off and put on the dress. It is so comfortable I may sleep in it tonight! Love good mail.


My daughter has decided that her favorite activity is chasing around our dog with her baby stroller. The dog tolerates it for the most part and has figured out that if she just goes up the stairs Sam can't easily follow her. Should I save the dog and stop Sam from chasing her? OR should I be incredibly happy that she enjoys something that not only wears her out but does not involve me? Oh gosh, was that a horrible question?


Open house number three will be taking place on Sunday from 1:30 - 2:30. Is it horrible that I am actually praying and asking God to just send people? I know it seems trivial compared to the other prayers that I am sure people have but right now I just NEED people to show up this time!

I need to SHARE my passion

So today I am feeling very jealous.
My husband spent yesterday and today golfing with old friends from college. His group of golfing buddies get together a couple times a year in different locations to do nothing but golf as much as they can. He loves these weekends because it is his chance to play the sport that he loves with other guys that are just as passionate about it, and just as good at it, as he is. He comes back home after these weekends in a great mood, rejuvenated and loving life.
My sister is spending her labor day weekend with a fellow photographer/friend in downtown Chicago. They are working, exploring the city and taking LOTS of pictures. She is thrilled to have a break from her crazy life filled with kids and very happy to be doing what she loves for three straight days.
I am not jealous of a weekend playing golf or a weekend in Chicago taking pictures. Today what I am jealous of is having someone that you can TRULY share your passion with. I don't just mean having someone to come home to and talk about what you love; I have that. I mean someone that is really as passionate about whatever it is as you are.
My passion is being outside; from spending just a few minutes in my yard to going on hiking, camping, kayaking trips. I just love the chance to hear birds, see trees and leaves and the possibility of seeing wildlife. I also love to learn about nature; the names of things, how things function, what is native and what is not, all of that kind of stuff just thrills me.
All throughout my life I have always had someone else that shared this passion with me. Growing up it was my mom and dad. We spent a TON of time outside and my dad was the first person that I ever went kayaking with and we went as often as we could (or mom would let us! HA!). In high school and especially college, I took a lot of classes where I learned about nature, got to discuss environmental issues and do a ton of debating. Anyway, the point of all of this rambling is I have discovered that right now I don't have anyone to share my passion with which makes me not enjoy the passion as much as I use to. Chris tells me all the time to go put my boat in the water and it certainly can't get much easier than having the water right in your backyard. But going out in my boat by myself is just not that appealing; I want to SHARE it with someone else. I spend most of my day by myself (even at work I am in a basement office by myself) and so I want to be with people every chance that I get.
I think it is really a truly special thing when you can find someone that you can share your passion with. And not just a spouse that will listen to you talk about things but someone that gets just as excited to see a fox or learn about a new plant as you do.
I am certainly lucky that I know what my passion is and know that I need my connection with the outdoors in order to feel whole. But, today I realized just how important it is to also have someone to share that passion with.

Anybody have a kayak and want to go for a paddle?

Prepare her that it's coming

THANK YOU JODIE!
I have been struggling lately with tantrums; not mine, Sam throwing tantrums when I needed her to do anything. There were getting dressed tantrums, eating meals tantrums, putting her shoes on tantrums, leaving the park tantrums...pretty much for everything. So I asked my sister what to do. Do I punish the tantrums, ignore them, what? She said that she prefers to prevent the situations that cause tantrums. What a brilliant concept! And she told me about giving her warnings, preparing her for the "transitions" in our day and that something was going to happen. The last two days I have been doing this ALL THE TIME. I give her warnings before each meal, changing her diaper, getting dressed, changing rooms that we are playing in, and anything else that I think might make her mad. IT IS WORKING! Yesterday we were almost tantrum free. But the big surprise was that we actually left the park without tears!! She was even saying goodbye to other kids as we were walking out. It was the most amazing thing!
I am so excited that simply changing the way I treat these "transitional" events and changes in her day can totally change her reaction. Amazing.
SO, THANK YOU AUNT JOJO!!

just an adorable bathtime picture