Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

This evening, Caleb and I took Cillian to his first ever baseball game - the Indians vs. Columbus at Victory Field. We had the classic experience complemented with crackerjacks and hot dogs and Cillian in his little baseball uniform. It was a wonderful evening. It happened to be my first baseball game with Caleb too, which was very nice. The weather was warm and cooled up soon after we got there.

I got some good pictures on Caleb's iPhone, so hopefully I'll be able to load those on facebook soon so you can see evidence of our fun evening. Cillian napped for the first 15 minutes or so, but then he was awake for the rest of it and really enjoyed it. I think he liked the feeling of the warm breeze on his bare toes.

I have the best husband in the world. I didn't get around to grocery shopping today since I favored getting a good nap in over getting Cillian all ready and figuring out a menu for the week.... so Caleb offered to shop on his way home, and I accepted. I was planning to just do it tomorrow, and hadn't even expected him to rise to the occasion, but he did. And that is something about him that I adore.

So it was a nice, lazy day and I definitely caught up on sleep, which was refreshing. Tomorrow's main activity shall be laundry, which desperately needs to be done. I also need to work on general organization around the house.

Cillian has started to laugh - genuinely, adorably laugh. He loves to stand up, so if we hold him up, his tiny legs do the rest of the work. And I discovered that if you make him jump, he starts smiling and smiling, and then his baby chuckle, and then chuckling over and over until it becomes a laugh. I love this sound. So, naturally, I repeat whatever it is that makes him exude this perfect, musical sound until he's worn out. He's also very close to rolling over, which is exciting. I love how happy he is all the time, and tonight was no different. He was such a good sport.

We rushed home because we were dying of thirst and ran in the door to put some water in the filter.... it took forever to purify, but man! Water never tasted so good to me. So now, I'm going to sit back and enjoy my glass of ice water with my husband and my son and maybe have a bit of ice cream to go with it... (yes, ice cream goes with ice water.)

Cheers, all!

Quote of the Day:

"Vice is so attractive and ready at hand, and nothing is so easy as to become evil - even without anyone to lead us on to it; while the attainment of virtue is rare and difficult, even where there is much to attract and encourage us."

~ St. Gregory the Theologian

Favorite Things

Here is a list of things, simple or not, in no particular order, that make me happy. I thought I'd share them... hope you enjoy!

1 - A clean kitchen

2 - A freshly laundered pile of burp cloths

3 - My Mom's homecooked dinners

4 - A full tank of gas

5 - Beautiful, shiny Steinway grands... :)

6 - A clean husband (nothing like that freshly-showered scent)

7 - Reading outloud

8 - Spending time with family

9 - Ice cream! (anyone who knows me remotely well would know that's one of my VERY favorite things...)

10 - Hugging

11 - Finishing a book (because this usually never happens for me, it's one of those things that makes me supremely happy at having accomplished)

12 - Writing by hand

13 - Being in church

14 - Date nights

15 - Dressing up

16 - A good cry

and the best for last....

17 - Making my husband laugh - not just a chuckle or outright grin, but that knee-slapping, head-rolling, totally-caught-me-off-guard laugh which lasts a minute or two

What are some of your favorites?



Quote of the Day:

"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts."

~ Unknown

A Wedding Weekend of Wey

Apologies for not having written anything the last four days - I have quite a valid excuse! This past weekend instituted one of the happiest and joyous of weddings I have ever been a part of. One of my oldest, dearest and best of friends got married to one of my husband's childhood friends. (I was privileged to be the matron of honor, and my husband was a groomsman.) I don't remember ever emulating such intense JOY as I did yesterday at their exquisite wedding. Not only was it one of the most beautiful I have ever attended, but the happenstance that it was the two of THEM finally getting married made the jubilation that much more transcendent.

Yesterday (Monday), was grocery shopping day, which I successfully accomplished a second time, and this time, faster. Using up the rotisserie chicken from last week, I made chicken nachos, which were simply scrumptious. I put the chips and then the chicken (in broken up pieces, spread all over the chips), topped with cheese in the oven to warm/melt. Then I took them out and covered them with refried beans, fresh tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and more shredded cheddar..... mmmmmm.

So, the cooking is going pretty well. :)

Today I'm working on laundry a bit - recovery from a big weekend always entails a heavy workload of laundry, especially Cillian's. His loads mainly consist of burp cloths nowadays.

I was just checking up on facebook and realizing that the school season has, once again, begun for many. I can't believe the summer is coming to a close. It really has flown by, but it has been wonderful in all aspects, aside from the unfortunate fact that I have not gone swimming ONCE this entire summer. (Hopefully soon to be remedied.) I sure miss swimming. I know this may sound weird, but I've been craving the opportunity to just jump in a pool and do a bunch of laps. I hope to get my chance before pools start closing for the season.

I'm really excited for fall. I'm usually ready for each coming change of season, and fall is my very favorite, so I'm extra ready for it to come. I love the crispness and spice in the scent of autumn. And also, my birthday is coming up, so that's something to really look forward to, especially since it will be my 21st, FINALLY!! Being the baby amongst one's friends is pretty trying on your patience when it comes to the year of 21. But my time is near, and I sure am ready for it!

So this is a bit of a random post - but mainly, a compilation of the weekend and what I'm looking forward to. I think I'll close with the Quote of the Day, and tend to Cillian, who has been very patient.

Another one of my favorites...I love the imagery painted for the mind's eye in this one.

"What a great variety of thoughts assail us all the time! Every passion attacks with its own thoughts. If the soul sees clearly, it cuts off the thoughts from afar. Even from their "smell" it realizes which passion is about to rise up and immediately prepares itself, posts sentries, sets up trenches, and gets ready to face the attack of that passion. So we need intense and constant attentiveness, as we have said - intense vigilance. There should be a guard and sentry within us, which observes the thoughts coming and going and check their identities, so that spies do not enter and cause a civil war within the soul. The eye of the soul needs to be very clear and strong in order to see the enemy from afar and take suitable measures."

~ Elder Ephraim of the Holy Mountain

Everybody Loves a Good Deal

This post is one in the nature of victory, because I, procrastinator that I am, have left a task to nearly the end of a deadline and miraculously crossed the finish line with flying colors. Huzzah!

I am honored to be in a wedding of two very dear friends this weekend (as is my husband) and needed to find white shoes for the occasion. I have left this to almost the last minute. But today I got out the door with Cillian and within an hour and a half, found the perfect pair for $7 at Payless, not to mention a strapless unmentionable at Kohl's for $8. I was a happy gal.

Today was a good day. I'm excited for Caleb to get home because we're making one of our favorite dinners - BLTs. And I've definitely missed him today. It'll be a nice evening. Maybe we'll go for a walk tonight.

I've got something random to add to this post - I'm going to start putting up a quote of the day. I absolutely love quotes. So I'm going to put one up for you each day: it might be something from a book, a quote from the saints or church fathers, from Scripture, something funny or even something from real life that someone has said. I hope they inspire you, or make you stop and think, or laugh, or all three!

And so, I will conclude this post with the very first Quote of the Day by one of my favorite Orthodox saints.

"The purer the heart is, the larger it is, and the more able it is to find room within it for a greater number of beloved ones; while the more sinful it is, the more contracted it becomes, and the less number of beloved can it find room for, because it is limited by self-love, and that love is a false one."

~ St. John of Kronstadt

Ten Weeks

Today Cillian is ten weeks old, and I can scarcely believe that much time has past already. His little personality is manifesting itself day by day with each new babble and smile and expression. I love this tiny creature so dearly. I love it when he's sleeping, but I love it so much more when he's awake with his sparkling little blue eyes open big and wide.

Ok, pause. In the midst of writing all that sweet stuff about said wee one, he commenced to fire off the most explosive of diapers I have EVER beheld. The newly christened "level ten" (usually it only goes up to level five) was out the diaper, up the back, and in the hair, warranting a full-blown, hose-down bath. Wow. I hope that doesn't become a regular thing.

Back to the sweet stuff. He really is the happiest little guy ever - he giggles and coos and talks all the time. I love seeing in his face that he recognizes me. Surely one of the most rewarding expressions in a baby's face is that of recognition. His round face lights up and he smiles this heart-melting, perfect smile. But he doesn't smile just once, he smiles over and over and over again or with one really long smile. I don't want to ever forget this. And I was just thinking as I was nursing him that I truly do feel the urgency to remember EVERYTHING. I can already feel the moments slipping by. The moments are so frequent that they become a way of life, but that should never jeopardize my taking the time to slow them down and memorize them, second by second. That's why, even though he's hardly three months old, I watch him every minute I can spare. He is my son, and I want to know him for as much of his life as I can.

All By Myself

Since the beginning of our marriage, Caleb has been the head chef in our household, mainly because he loves cooking and is great at it and I have hardly any experience with it. However, all of this is about to change because I have felt (since we got married last year) that I was neglecting my wifely duty in cooking for my husband. The wonderful problem we have had is that Caleb, being the fantastic provider that he is, usually insists that it is completely fine with him that I sit back and let him cook for me. Now, don't get me wrong... I LOVE that he cooks and I couldn't be more grateful that it is a skill and avid interest of his.

But... I can't help but feel guilty and like a poor wife who doesn't cook. So, out of desperation to feel better about this predicament, I decided that in order for me to really learn how to cook, Caleb needed to step down and refuse to help me. So far, so good. I'm not banning Caleb entirely from the kitchen, but I wanted to cook at least a few meals a week for a start. I am going to need to learn good cooking skills, both out of necessity and the desire to stand on my own two feet (in the kitchen), especially as the years go on and we have a bigger family. Plus, Caleb's work hours are later now, which gets him home closer to 6 PM every evening instead of 4 or 5, and it just makes more sense for me not only to have dinner ready by the time he comes home, but to do the grocery shopping in my own time as well.

The grocery shopping happened yesterday at Meijer, and it went splendidly. Cillian was a pretty good sport, only fussing a bit until I fed him some of a bottle, propped up on a blanket while I steered the cart with one hand, grocery list and pen (for pricing) in the other. What was so grand about the experience was that I got to make ALL of the decisions. I had mapped out the menu for the week (also something new), and it was up to me to find the best deals on everything I could find. I got all the necessities and when I had finished, I was $7 under budget... I had realized toward the beginning of my shopping that some of my favorite smoothie fruit juice was 70 cents cheaper (this never happens - I check every time in the hopes that it's on sale, since, it being pretty expensive for juice, we never EVER have bought it in our entire married life together.) However, that was about to change. Caleb happened to call me at the perfect time - I was finding some non-food items right before checking out - and I told him how things were going so far and he gave me the go-ahead to purchase the juice since he knew I wanted it (and he enjoys it too). Huzzah!!! That certainly contributed to making my good day great.

So, with a sleeping babe and a full cart (well, half-full... we only shop a week's worth of groceries at a time), I drove home happier than ever. I am a REAL woman. I'm a REAL wife. I can grocery shop with a 2-month-old baby in tow and come out feeling competent!! It was an extraordinary feeling, let me tell you.

Caleb beat me home and came out as soon as I pulled in to help with everything. Then I started dinner and he fed Cillian the rest of his bottle. This also usually doesn't happen - most of the time, it's quite the opposite situation. Caleb puts away the groceries and starts dinner while I feed Cillian. But not this time. Thanks to the godsend of a breast pump (hence the bottles, hence my freedom, hence my making dinner,) I was able to be a real wife and COOK a decent dinner all by my little self. And it wasn't microwavable. Nor did I use the oven. I made some mashed potatoes with shredded sharp cheddar, salt, pepper, butter, and some milk, and flash fried some fresh green beans in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and a dash of parmesan cheese (soooo good), served with the rotisserie chicken I picked up. It was VERY tasty.

I know it may seem like I'm making a huge deal out of this - but it is a big deal. I definitely should have started doing the grocery shopping and meal planning and cooking from the very beginning, but Caleb had the head start on me, having lived on his own for several years before we were married, and I had hardly a year away from home to practice those skills. I count myself fortunate to have married such a good cook, and especially a guy who really, genuinely loves it. I figured it would be easy to catch on with Caleb's good example, but, funnily enough, he loves cooking so much that usually he ends up (quite unintentionally) taking over the kitchen when he cooks. So, the most I do when we cook together is rinse lettuce or chop veggies. These are all part of learning to cook, true enough, but I want to learn how to make real meals by myself. And yes, there is an unrealistic part of me that instantly wants to be as good of a cook as my mom, who has learned the tricks to good cooking over the past 30 years, so how can I have such an expectation of myself in 30 DAYS, let alone one year? Silly, I know. But I do want to learn because I know I can be good at it. I just have to learn to follow (and actually read) the directions, for starters. Should be pretty simple from there, right? Right.

And after last night's dinner brought to you by yours truly, I have high hopes for the rest of the week's dinners. On tonight's menu we have fettuccine chicken alfredo with mixed vegetables and thick, crusty Italian bread.

I'd better get crackin'. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers.

The Purpose

I've decided that having just one blog simply is not enough. I began Question for Character (my other blog) nearly two years ago and I have succeeded in being very irregular about posting on it - irregularity being an unfortunate tendency of mine. The main goal I wish to accomplish with this new blog is to write regularly - just something, anything, every day (or as often as I can manage) - and to keep things current. The purpose of this blog is for me to have a consistent outlet. Writing has always been my favorite way of expressing myself and "thinking outloud;" it was always among my favorite subjects in school, and certainly not a skill I wish to lose. So having this new blog also shares the purpose of keeping up the practice of writing.

As for the name... I decided on Acclimation Central since that is, in a nutshell, what my life is right now - a constant adjustment. As a new wife (tehnically, I really am still a little newlywed) and more recently, a new mother, life has been more topsy-turvy than I would like to admit, and for the sake of my husband and his highly tolerant sanity, I think having an additional outlet (hence this blog) for all my mental goings-on would be beneficial to figuring things out day by day without crashing from overload.

I also want to keep this blog as a document of what I do each day in the hopes of becoming more organized in life, more motivated and hard-working. I want to write about my sweet little son and what it means to be his mother. I want to write about my goals, and basically, my journey to becoming "back-to-normal" which essentially means physically and emotionally back in balance. Somehow, since I got married, I think I've gone through so many big changes that my mind hasn't had a chance to catch up. And it's leaving me a bit emotional and imbalanced (which is difficult to confess, as I've always thought one of my better qualities was being well-balanced.) So, to put it plainly, the fundamental purpose for this blog is for me to write about my life every day, my thoughts, and what I'm doing about them.

Welcome to my world. I am Natalie Christine Wilson. I am twenty years old, a wife, and a mother, the oldest of three married to the second-oldest of six. I have a fantastic husband, a wonderful family, and an excellent family-in-law.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog and that you will leave me any advice, comments, or questions you may have for me as you read. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Natalie