Time for a tight squeeze

I am at a very blessed place right now. I have two little ones who are both in cuddle phases.

I sat with Zoodle a little while ago in the rocking chair in his room. The light was off. He was full and sleepy, dressed in soft, footed PJs. I held him close, and he snuggled in, resting his head contentedly on my shoulder.

Getting Chickie to bed had been stressful; she was hyped, and I was impatient. As I held my little boy and slowly rocked, I could feel the tension immediately diminish. I reflected on how incredible physical touch can be, and how much the hugs of my children heal me.

And yet it can sometimes be so hard for me to stop the cooking or reading or typing I'm doing, to respond positively to my daughter's plea, "I need some love, Mommy!" I need the healing touch of the people I love; I just have to take the time to receive such a precious gift.

Tweet, tweet

Are you on Twitter? I'm guessing your response is one of the following:

a. Yeah, I LOVE Twitter!

b. Yes, I'm signed up for it but don't really see what the big deal is.

c. No. I know what it is, and it sounds really stupid.

d. What's Twitter?

I'm definitely in the "a" category. But for those of you in the "d" category, here's a brief description: On Twitter, you can update your "Followers" (not cultish, I promise) on what's going on in your life. The trick is, you only have 140 characters for each "tweet" (update)--and spaces count. On your Twitter homepage, you'll see, in a simple, easy-to-read format, all the updates that have been left by those you choose to follow. You can even use Twitter on your phone if you're into text messaging. (I'm not.)

My tweets in the last few days have included the following:

Chickie just poopied in the potty, on her own, without me even asking her to. I got tears in my eyes. (From the happiness, not the stink.) (138 characters)

The Onion drinkware--very funny http://tinyurl.com/dlycok (5 characters)

Jaw dropping here--WOW, Melissa Rivers just made QUITE A SCENE on The Celebrity Apprentice. Joan wasn't exactly mature either. Yikes! (133 characters)

You can also carry on conversations with others on Twitter...and a tweet is so much faster than an e-mail, which helps me to keep up with people in an efficient way.

Twitter is fantastic. If I check it frequently, it usually takes me less than a minute to scan through all the updates that have been left by those I follow. It includes absolutely zero of the ultra-annoying applications, quizzes, etc. you'll find on Facebook. (To put it simply, I put up with Facebook. I love Twitter.)

Like all forms of online social networking--like Internet message boards, MySpace, and blogging--Twitter helps me feel connected with people. Let me clarify--it helps me feel connected with adults. That can be very refreshing for someone who spends most of her waking hours with a one-year-old and a three-year-old.

Try Twitter. You may love it; it may seem pointless to you. But just try it.

And of course, once you sign up, make sure you follow me. In a totally non-cultish sort of way.

Zoodle's nursery--the cool iron thing!

I still don't know what to call this...

...but you guys gave me so many amazing suggestions on how to use it for Zoodle's work-in-progress nursery. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I plan to continue doing some home decoration after the nursery is done, and I also plan to keep coming back here for suggestions.

I based my decision not on what the best suggestion was (how would I have chosen?!), but on what I thought would look cute and already had on hand...making this essentially a free project! I used a combination of suggestions from various awesome blog readers, including a brilliant comment from my mom, who said, "It would be so cute if you had some chaps!" (They were very easy to make.)

And here it is. (The Engineer will have to be the one to hang it up. Not my area of expertise.)

Yee haw, isn't that just so cute? The room is coming together nicely, and soon I hope to have photos of the finished project. However,"finished" is a relative term.... I plan to keep my eyes open for more great Western-themed items to add to the decor.