Farewell 2010, a fabulous year and extraordinary decade!

As I sit here on the couch with the sunlight streaming in, all bundled up in a cozy blanket, I can't help but smile and feel grateful for the many blessings in my life. The graham cracker crumbs on the ottoman, barn animals tossed carelessly on the floor, pink race cars left on the entertainment system, and stuffed bears and dolls in every nook and cranny of the family room are an obvious reminder of the greatest blessing of all. But, this past decade has been extremely eventful for me, and I am glad to have a moment to appreciate all that has happened in the last 10 years.

I am lucky to have gotten sober, finished college, met the man I would eventually marry, and started my teaching career all within the first half of the decade. I then did get married on a cold and icy yet beautiful sunny day much like today, started and completed my master's degree, and had my first baby in the second half (thus beginning my current career of being a stay-at-home mommy). Wow! And along the way I have met many beautiful people who have become wonderful friends and positive assets in my life. I have also been able to strengthen and grow (and in many cases repair) existing relationships that were damaged or simply not strong enough for me, and am so fortunate to have grown so close to many family members that I either didn't know or didn't have close bonds with. True, there have been some emotional and devastating occurrences, but in the big scheme of things, I believe they were necessary and good for the long run. True happiness lies in the friendships and relationships I have with the many real and good people in my life. I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who makes me laugh even when I'm irritated with him (who is also the best daddy ever) and is the most patient and understanding person I know, an outstanding woman whom I call Mom who has taught me the wonderful ways of motherhood and friendship and who is an incredible grandma, two amazing brothers (who double as amazing uncles) who are there for me through thick and thin (and vice versa), a mother in law who I enjoy spending time with and who is a wonderful grandma, and of course a little girl who brings me the greatest joy and love I never knew was possible. And my friends and extended family....each and every one of them brings something different and unique to my life, and I do not ever take that for granted. I cherish the relationships I am fortunate to have and love the time I get to spend with such incredible people.

How can life get any better?! Well, of course, 2011 will bring another little girl, which I am very excited about. As to the rest, well we shall just have to wait and see. There may be trials, there may be heartbreak, but there will undoubtedly be joy and love. Here's to a fabulous new year and decade ahead! Cheers!!

Post-Christmas Relaxing

Christmas this year was wonderful! We started off the morning with some presents, a break for breakfast, more presents, presents, and presents. Great Grandma June and Great Grandma Moe were here along with Grandma Carol and Uncle Brian. Grace was super excited about opening gifts, and it seemed her favorites were her new art table and cookie monster. After napping and lounging around the house for awhile, we headed over to Grandma Carol's where everyone from the morning was there and Uncle Danny, Mel, and more family and friends. It was a blast opening more presents and filling our bellies with more delicious food. Grace was of course anxious for more cookies! We played games, chatted, and then headed home to relax and go to bed. The next day we spent the whole day in our jammies playing with new toys, cleaning up the previous day's messes, and relaxing. It was a fabulous Christmas weekend. I feel so fortunate for the incredible family that we have, and am so thankful for the time we get to spend together making wonderful memories. I am also thankful that Kevin is off work til after the new year, so I get to have some down time and relax for the next week! Here's to a fabulous holiday season and many blessings to all in 2011!

Happy Christmas Eve Eve! Our house has been filled with holiday spirit, and I must say Christmas with a little one is way more exciting than it ever has been before. Grace is very excited about presents, Santa (though she is still not interested in getting too close to him), lights, and cookies! We have been decorating and baking, and Grace is definitely having fun. It will be so exciting to see her when we come down the stairs on Christmas morning and Santa has been here. Some of Grace's favorite words are perfect for the season - Santa, cookies, lights, and then others include juice, cup, jump, banana, mama, daddy, yeah, and most recently, no. Not a fan of that one! She had her 18 month checkup today and is in good health. She remains on the teeny tiny side as far as weight goes, but I suppose it's better than the opposite!

We are looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with family, going to church, and of course opening the ever exciting present before bedtime (any guesses as to what it will be?!). Christmas morning breakfast will be at our house with presents galore, and then over to my mom's (aka "nana") for dinner with more family. I hope the season is filled with joy, hope, and most of all love for all of my friends and family. And I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Oh dear, I'm getting behind!

The last couple of weeks seem to have flown by so quickly. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Grandma Carol's (aka Mom's!) with a ton of delicious food as usual, and lots of family and friends. Grace enjoyed watching the Macy's parade, helping Daddy find the best deals in the newspaper ads, and even assisting me with baking (that was fun!). Over the past weekend we had breakfast with Santa and got our Christmas tree. Grace loves our Santa decorations at home, and enjoys whispering "Santa." She did not, however, seem too fond of him in person, as expected at this age. So, no picture with Santa, though we had a lovely breakfast and enjoyed lots of good cheer. Then we headed off to cut down our Christmas tree. Grace loved running through the trees, checking out the chickens, and finding stumps to sit on. I wonder what Christmas tree hunting will be like next year with two little ones. An adventure, I'm sure! I am enjoying listening to all of the new words Grace is saying, her favorite of which seems to be "cookie." She even loves Cookie Monster! She is so polite with her "pleases" and "anks" and I am so glad she nods and shakes her head when we ask her questions as well as continues to use the signs that she knows, makes it so much easier to figure out what she wants. I am not enjoying the little fits that have started int eh last couple of weeks when she doesn't get her way, but luckily they are short-lived and easily cured with a little distraction. I know it's all a part of the age!

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Winter Wonderland

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Everyone knows I am a stickler about absolutely NO Christmas until after Thanksgiving. With the snow that we have right now, I am itching to turn on the Christmas tunes. I am refraining, though! Well, it's Grace's first snow, and she loves it. Kevin taught her that eating it is fun, so last night we made periodic trips to the front porch to check on the accumulation and for Grace to grab a couple scoops to eat. How fun! This morning we trekked to the Little Gym and back (that was an adventure!), then played outside for a while before lunch and a nap. Grace did not want to come in, and kept tugging n my jacket, pointing at the snow saying, "please, please, please." Broke my heart, but I was freezing and she needed a nap. It's still coming down out there, so maybe we will get out this afternoon and again tomorrow. I can't wait til she is big enough to understand making snow angels and snowmen! And of course, the excitement and suspense behind going to bed praying for school to be canceled in the morning!

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving this Thursday. So sad to be missing some important people, though (Uncle Danny and Mel!). Kevin and I have started brainstorming our list for Grace, and I am excited about Christmas this year - I think it will be way more interesting than last year for Grace! But, I am getting ahead of myself...the Christmas season starts Friday, silly me!

After a crazy night filled with high winds and flickering lights, Grace and I spent a cozy morning inside today! I am hosting a MOPS brunch tomorrow at my house, so I spent some time cleaning up getting ready for that - Grace enjoyed helping. I am so excited for Thanksgiving, and of course the start of the REAL Christmas season. And I just turned on the news to hear them talking about snow for this weekend - cool!

Last week Grace and I had a cook-a-thon. One day we made homemade chicken noodle soup, then baked zucchini bread, and then a couple days later we made persimmon bread. We added some chocolate chips to one loaf, and Grace LOVES that! Because of her peanut allergy, we are pretty limited in chocolate choices due to cross-contamination in the machinery/facilities, but we have found one local brand of chocolate chips that she can definitely have - and that definitely makes her happy! It is so funny to watch her eat the persimmon chocolate chip bread, more like a treasure hunt than eating. She strategically removes each and every one of the chocolate chips, eats them, then if the mood suits her, she may finish off the bread. So funny!

One of Grace's new favorite things to do is draw/color. She knows to do it on paper which may include important adult papers, bills, flashcards, books, and a pad of paper. At least she knows..... She and Grandma Carol had fun tracing hands and feet and using markers while Kevin and I went to the Symphony on Sunday. This gives us some great Christmas ideas, as I am looking forward to fostering this interest of hers!

Tomorrow we have an appointment for Baby #2 and both Grace and Kevin will be going. Looking forward to what the doc has to say!

Let's Give This a Shot

I have thought about doing a blog for a couple years, but I kept coming back to the ideas that 1) My life just isn't all that interesting; and 2) It would seem awfully presumptuous to assume people would want to read about it even if it were. The turning point came while in the dentist chair Tuesday afternoon. During our standard 20 minute pre-exam convo, Dr. Taggart and I were catching up on family stuff and all the great new things going on with Grace. He strongly urged me to write these cool things down so that one day she would get to read about them. I had always thought I would remember each and every milestone, but 16 months into this thing called parenthood, I realize I don't. I assume it will only get more jumbled as we add a little sister into the mix, so I decided to give this blogging thing a shot. The only problem is where do I start?

I guess I will start by saying what a long and exhausting day this has been. Since Grace is working on the last of her molars, she has been very cranky and irritable, not sleeping well, and clingy to "mama" at all times (unless of course "daddy" is home, then he is always 1st choice!). To kill some time and expend some energy, I took her to the Supermall's play area, which Grace loves so much. It being a rainy Veteran's Day, there were a ton of rowdy school-aged kids running around, but Grace ran right along with them, climbing up on the toys, going down the slide on her own, and crawling through tunnels. We shared a pretzel and walked around the mall hand in hand (Grace loves to hold hands and it melts my heart every time she reaches up for mine). I couldn't believe the Christmas tree and Santa were already camped out in the corridor, but Grace was enchanted by the huge tree with shimmering lights and even waved to Santa. After heading home and sharing grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, it was finally bath time. I am so glad that after barely napping today, Grace went to bed almost an hour early without so much as a whimper, and I finally got to take a shower and sit down to relax.

I hope to update this at least weekly so that Grace, and anyone else that cares to follow along, will have a good idea of what is/was happening in her life and how exciting her growth and milestones have been, are, and will continue to be.