Welcoming P.J.

This weekend I threw a Baby Shower for my friend Kim. It was soo fun...and if I do say so myself, the best baby shower I have ever been too. We did the colors in Baby Blue and Chocolate brown and so many wonderful friends showed up. Kim attends Conrad & I's old church and it was GREAT to see everyone and catch up with all the ladies that showed up to help welcome P.J. (Phil Jr as we lovingly call the baby now

We asked the ladies to write down a piece of advice for child rearing and a funny story about kids and we read these in between Kim opening her presents. One of the best was, "Teach your sons to cook and clean. Your future daughter-in-law's will thank you for this." My favorite story came from Kim's mom, who came from Coschocton, OH for the party. She said that when Kim was about in Kindergarten she used to stand in front of the mirror, and flip her long blonde hair over her shoulder, twirl in a circle with her new dress and say, "I bet the boys will think I'm pretty!" Now that's good self esteem, people.



).

Last Weekend In Review

I have been traveling a lot for work this week and by the time I get home I just don't want to get on the PC...so I have slacked in blogging. Sorry about that. Well, last weekend we had a great time at the Stenners. It was great to celebrate Ruth's 60th birthday with her. Elizabeth and Jayden came from North Carolina to visit Grandma for her birthday and it was so great to see them and to see how much Jayden had grown! He is hilarious. He watches veggie tales and dances and sings without any reservations...total freedom. Such a sweet little boy and so changed from the quiet little baby he was when Eli brought him home. Below are some pictures from the weekend.

Other than that, I am hosting a baby shower for one of my best friends, Kim, this weekend and I am so excited about it because I will get to see friends from my old church that I haven't gotten to see in so long! AND Conrad and I are packing and getting ready to go to Cancun next weekend. *sigh* It's bittersweet as we are dreading leaving the baby for four days,even tho she will be in great hands with my mom and dad (thanks by the way, Rents!) And, of course, we are looking forward to four days of sunshine and (thank you Jesus) SLEEP!

Points are now my life

In a desperate attempt to get back (keep in mind I use the word "back" very loosely) into shape, I have joined Weight Watchers. Not as tretcherous as I remember it, since I have tried every diet around. Amoung my favorites, is Body for Life...but I can no longer work out 6 days a week...oh well.

But I am now used to keeping track of everything I eat using the point system. And have discovered many sweet things I can eat and still stay within my point range. I happily report that it's working...and that I find I don't feel like I"m on a diet as long as I can have my lil somthin' sweet everyday. Love that fat free sugar free pudding!

This weekend we saw the Stenner Clan and got tons of great pictures. I will post these when I get home. Right now I'm sitting in the lobby of a Raddison, supposed to be in a seminar, helping running a seminar actually. Slacker.

Sitting Up

Isabelle hasn't been feeling great this week...it seems like perhaps she's getting something else from daycare..poor kid. We are heading to the Stenner's this weekend to visit our good friends Eli, Jayden, Gary, and Ruthie (who's 60th birthday is this weekend!!!) Happy day Ruthie--the queen of puns! Hopefully we will have more pictures to come.

Accessories

"The only thing that seperates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize." -Olympia Dukakis in "Steel Magnolias"

This is part of my little diva's new accessory collection. Of course what you don't know about this picture is that she's taking the glasses off mid shot. Shoes, barretts, bows, sox, sunglasses, hats, they all come off within a minute or so. Apparently, she's not feelin' the diva....


By the way, Isabelle slept through the night last night! Whoo hoo! *happy dance* Went to sleep at 8:30 last night and slept till about 6:45 this morning. Of course, it was only one night, but let's pray this is the beginning of something beautiful. I sure have been praying about this! So thank you Lord!!!!

Scrapbooking: Check

Okay, I'm quite proud of myself for completing six pages of Isabelle's scrapbook this weekend. When I get all of that stuff out, I just can't put it away and stop. I really like it...it's a great outlet for creativity (although I mocked my friends for scrapbooking in the past. I now sincerely apologize.) Conrad calls it Crapbooking. So I thought I'd share some of my accomplishments from the weekend

Turn Turn Turn

Isabelle changes so much each day I have a hard time keeping up with it! I look around and wonder how to record her changes!? I guess I have the ever looming scrapbook guilt hanging over my head..but what can be done? I've only done up to maybe last october. I still have our trip to India, Christmas, first this and first that. Eeesh.


For now, I'll tell you about a couple of new things. First of all, her hair seems to be getting curly. Not surprising given her parents. It's even getting long enough to put little things in, like barretts.


She is also getting steller at sitting up. Of course, she still tips over every 3 or 4 minutes, but still, quite an accomplishment, wouldn't you say?

Have a great weekend, my blooging friends.

Had a Nice "Trip"

I have been putting off posting because I have not downloaded pictures from my camera in a few days, and let's face it, my family and friends far and wide mostly read my blog to see pictures of Isabelle!

We had a nice relaxing weekend this last weekend. For us, it was three days long! Thank you American Presidents! We have decided to invest in Blockbuster's All Access pass, and since it's cold and blustery here in Ohio, have really made use of the thing. On Saturday I got my hair cut and colored, went shopping(at a consignment store, no less) I have been putting off and putting off buying clothes. I keep thinking I'll get back into my old clothes soon. Well, soon hasn't come soon enough, so I compromised by buying used clothes. It had to be done, but I feel better about not spending so much on it. Let me tell you tho, I highly recommend a good consignment store. GREAT prices, name brands...what's not to love?

And Sunday night we went to a birthday party for the son of one of Conrad's co-workers. It was an Indian b-day party and about 100 people were there for his son's first birtday...that's a lot to live up to for Isabelle's first birthday!

On the way out of the building that night, there was a group of about 10 men out smoking. We were walking out and I knew it was icy. As soon as I saw all of those people out there I thought to myself, "I'm going to fall." And as if in self-fulfilling prophesying , I slipped and fell! Flat on my back! No worries, I'm an expert at falling, so no long term injuries befell me! Ha!

On Monday, my mom, dad, Aunt Brenda, Papaw Clynis, and cousin Brittany came down to spend the day visiting "us" (i.e. see the baby). It was nice to spend the day with everyone and we ending with a nice trip to the mall, where Isabelle (of course) got another cool outfit complete with Sunglasses, hat, and silver shoes (pictures to come).

All and all a very nice weekend, despite my Sunday night "trip."

Going Postal

I never understood what that term meant until I started working for the government. I now fully understand why Postal workers go crazy. It's like a minefield of buearacractic obstacles. Meaningless, pointless, expensive, wastful obstacles. I call it the "beast." At some point in my career I had to decide to chill out or die of a heart attack asking "WHY??" Why do we do this or why do we do that and getting answers like, "That's just the RULES."

I'll tell you a story about my first staff meeting. About ten of us sat around a table as my manager (who is no longer here) said we are going to "redo" Thus And Such Manual. Okay. I can do that. Then she pulled out ten copies of the manual and said "Turn to page one, paragraph one, sentance one." Seriously we spent the next three hours "redo"ing a 90 page manual, and never got past the first paragraph. That was four years ago and we have NEVER finished reworking that particular piece. I remember looking around the table and calcuating how much money per hour the ten of us just cost the good citizens of Ohio. That meeting prompted me to ask my manager if I could present a summary of a book I had just read on Time Management....I still remember the blank stare she gave me. I could almost here that cartoonish *blink blink* sound when she blinked her eyes during the silence.

Alas my plight here has ceased to become a plight and I have officially become a slacker. I'm not complaining. I get paid well to be a slacker. As long as you don't rock the boat, things seem to drift along seamlessly toward that nirvana called retirement. At least I think that's the goal everyone is shooting for??

Geeze, I hope no one from the office reads this one...

Building A Cake

Happy Valentines Day! We are snowed in here in Columbus, Ohio and celebrating the fact that we will not be able to get out of our driveway tommorrow morning. Tonight I built Conrad a cake for Valentines day(yes it's a subtle Napoleon Dynamite reference). The cake is sad...very sad. I thought I would try to "frost" a cake with whipped cream. Oh well, you win some you lose some.


Just a tribute to Valentines gone past...many a V-day my best friend Rachel and I would celebrate with a review of our favorite chic flick, The Princess Bride. Rach, who would have thought what Valentines Day 2007 would have brought us! Two wonderful husbands, beautiful little Isabelle, and so many other blessings:)Congratulations!

The Check Up

This morning we had Isabelle’s 6 month check-up/immunization visit. We are getting used to getting shots. She seemed to be less traumatized by the shots, yet still very traumatized by the doctor, himself. The moment he puts the stethoscope to her chest she starts shaking and crying!

Our morning started off well, as we were in the waiting area, sitting calmly, playing. The 4 year old boy sitting next to us was being instructed by his (somewhat overzealous) mother that they were going to see the “tickle doctor.” What doctor is that? Not our doctor. See, I’m just not a big fan of lying to the kids. When they get in there and there are not tickles, just pokes, it would confirm that you, mother, are not trustworthy. Just a big fat liar!

So, we went into the ped’s office and began the normal procedure. Today took so much longer than usual. And, something new, a LPN came in and “triaged” us. She told me all of the things I’m supposed to be doing. Most of which I tuned out as I smiled and nodded. I read too much to take some of her lame advice. I know I sound like a know-it-all. But what do they say? “I’m the mom.”

THEN the doctor came in. I have to tell you about Dr. D (I’ll call him this to protect the innocent). When Conrad and I went to the first few appointments together, we had to make a conscience effort not to look at each other when Dr. D. would talk. Because he repeats himself three or four times. “What I think……What I think……What. I. Think…….is that we need to up her feedings to every two hours.” “She needs….she needs…..She….Needs….to be sleeping 14 hours every day.” All very comical.

So the outcome was, Isabelle is 14 pounds, 3 and ½ ounces and 25 inches long (25 percentile). Right on schedule and hitting all of the appropriate milestones. Plus, Dr D. said, “She has a beautifully shaped head.” Then thought he’d add, “I guess that’s like telling someone they have a nice a**, but it’s always nice to hear.”

Six Months Today

Today Isabelle is six full months old! Where did the time go? I think everyday she get's more and more beautiful. She is feeling much better these days and more interactive than ever. Last night she slept in her crib all night long and woke up happy as a clam. But she has been getting up more in the middle of the night than usually. I think she got used to waking up while she was sick. We are starting baby sign language this month. I have learned several words but she just looks at me like I'm from another planet when I sign them to her. Oh well, we'll keep working on it. But I HEAR that your kid have up to a 12 point higher IQ if you use baby sign language...who knows!!?? :) It just sounded like a good way for a pre-speaker to communicate to me.

She's really starting to get into food and show a lot of interest. This you can see from her intense concentration in the pictures in this post. She is so fun!

Fashion Diva

I don't know about where you are at, but here it is COLD. Too cold to snow. Too cold to go outside. Too cold to do just about anything but sit at home by the fireplace! Burrr...My computer is reading 9 degree's farenheit. That's 8 degrees warmer than this morning. My computer read 1 degree at 9am (FYI, that's about 17 degrees below zero celcius!) Anyway, I have been buying Isabelle sweaters galore. I just thought they were so cute and she's finally getting big enough for some of the cuter things. By the way, she has successfully passed 14 pounds! And she will be six months old this week! She is actually just about in the 25 percentile. Last week we were at a resturant and a family walked in with a little boy in a car seat. We started talking and it turned out thier little Owen was about two weeks younger than Isabelle. And Owen was over 21 pounds! His daddy was hoping they had a football player on thier hands:)

Catching up

Alrighty, I am trying to post some video's of Isabelle. Our new video camera burns directly onto a minidvd and i haven't quite figured out how to get it from the disk to my pc...*sigh* But hopefully this works!


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Let it Snow

Last week we had our first real snow of the year. Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas must have gotten ours this winter. Hence, it was Isabelle's first snow of the year. Conrad always looks at Isabelle and says to her (in the thickest Indian accent he can muster)"You and me, baby, we are from hot country. We don't like this cold (fill in the blank with snow/ice/rain)." So my suggestion to go take her out to touch the snow was summarily rejected. Before you (who might also be from a hot climate) dismiss me as an irresponsible parent, I am coming from a family where my first snowmobile ride occured when I was about 3 months old. I think the legend goes that my dad was watching me and I dirtied my diaper. Since my mom had the car and the weather was ripe AND he didn't want to change my diaper, he promptly put me on the snowmobile, and drove me to my Grandma's house. And she was only too happy to remove me from my refuse.


Boy, I just made a short story pretty long.

A Post for Natalie

My friend Natalie LOVES to see pictures of kids with food on thier faces, so I thought I would oblige her and post a few from Isabelles first few experiences with babyfood. She loves those peas!!

Good Night Sweetheart

Let me set the stage for you:
Isabelle has been sick from daycare continuously for the past month and a half. Everything that she has gotten, she has given to Conrad and I. I understand this is par for the course. Just what happens when your children are in group settings. Okay. Got it.

But this weekend she seemed to be feeling better. But I was feeling worse! Enter Stage Right Hero: Nyquil (the sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine…need I say more?). So Sunday night I take a nice dose of Nyquil about 10:30 and sleep the sleep of the drugged for two solid hours. I dream about Olympic swimming competitions and mansions that resemble Charlie and the Chocolate factory scenes. Old friends I haven’t seen or thought of in years visit me and bring nice presents…don’t you love drug induced dreams?

Here we go:
A cold and snowy Sunday Night

1:45a.m. Baby (who is sleeping upstairs in crib, instead of in pack and play) starts crying. Daddy goes and gets her and feeds her. She keeps thrashing around, falling asleep and waking up. I think she can’t breathe…stuffy nose. Or her tummy is upset…maybe it’s the rice cereal we have just started feeding her? Maybe she has a fever? She feels kinda hot. So we dose her up. Baby Tylonel, Baby Gas medicine, Baby Cough Syrup, don’t forget the antibiotic that she is still on.

2:45a.m. Baby still up. Daddy (who took a 3 hour nap that afternoon) is graciously up with Baby…trying to put her to sleep…no success.

2:50a.m. Mommy gets up. Rocks baby to sleep (sings a little, with a voice only a baby could appreciate) *sigh* sweet relief

3:25 Stumbles back in bed in her drug induced stupor.

3:32 Baby up again crying. Mom and Dad up, because, really who can sleep while baby is crying??

3:33 Tries rocking, singing, swinging, bouncing, walking, talking, watching TV, watching fireplace, bottle, sippy cup, cuddling, hugging, crying, pleading. Mother still in drug induced stupor. Some works a little, falls asleep, wakes back up.

4:15 Daddy goes to bed and shuts door. Really, who can blame him?

5:55 Mommy and baby fall into light sleep

6:15 Baby wakes back up, crying. Mommy cries a little too knowing in a little while she has to get up and drive two hours to a clinic.

7:30 Daddy gets up and calls doctor out of desperation. Makes appointment for 11. Takes baby. Mommy goes to sleep and closes door.

8:30 Gets up, puts baby in bath, where she stops crying and laughs and smiles in warm tub…

9:00 Mommy drinks two cups of coffee and drives through the snow to clinic for work. Daddy stays home with baby.

This makes for a great start for the week, huh? By the way, the doctor said she’s over the flu, over the bronchitis, this was just another virus. Keep her fluids up, use the humidifier, and the snot bulb thingy. But she seems to be fine now. We were wondering why she couldn’t be sick on a Friday night? Sometimes at 2 in the morning I have thoughts like she is doing this on purpose?!? I know, how bad of a mother am I??

Balinesian Celebration

For Conrad's birthday, we celebrated by having Indonesian food. We found this great little resturant called "A Taste of Bali." I had Ayam Goreng Rica rica...chicken in some chili lime sauce...and can I say hot?? Soooo hot I could only eat a couple of bites. It was reministant of Rachel and I's trip to Bali, tho!


On another note, I highly recommend www.restaurant.com Here you type in your zip code and you can buy gift certficates from local restuarants. The kick is that for $3 you get a $10 gift certificate or a $25 certificate for only $10. Not a bad little deal. Okay, now that I shared my little moeny saving secret with you, have any to share with me???

Happy Birthday Baby....

Today is Conrad's Birthday. I surprised him by making a couple of cakes and putting up a BIG sign outside his office saying that it was his birthday, eat some cake and wish him a good one. I think he was surprised when he got in from his meeting this morning, and of course, his co-workers were ecstatic with a morning cake break. We ride to work together and I took a big heavy gym bag with me today stuffed with tupperwear, napkins, and all the fixins. He asked me if I was running away from home on our way out the door. Geezzz, I wish I took my camera to work today!

The next logical question you might ask is how old is Conrad? Great question. One I will try to answer. You see, one day, thirty or so years ago, Raymond, Conrad's older brother fell behind in school. Something about going to stay with his grandparents for an extended amount of time and missing too much school. As a result, his older brother got put in Conrads class. For reasons only his father will understand, his dad decided that he was going to change Conrad and Raymonds Birthday's by a year....making them both a year younger. I think age is a relative concept in India... I'm not sure I got all of the details of that story right, but it's interesting trivia about my husband!

Anyway, happy 34/35 birthday, honey. I Love you!

The verdict

Conrad took Isabelle to the doctor this morning and we found out that she has bronchitis...I hate to say that we are relieved...but we are. At least it's not pnemonia. So the doctor gave her some medicine and she already seems to feel a ton better! I thought I would also post some more pictures of Christmas and Isabelle for our family in India.
I wish I had more things to write about but life has been pretty busy and crazy lately, and it seems that mommyhood has sucked some of my brains out...particularly the part that allows me to think about anything else but parenting..I wonder if there is a name for that syndrome?

Icky Coughs and Job interviews

Isabelle has developed a really bad cough. I guess we should expect this with all of the stuff that goes around in daycares, but man, this child has been sick for weeks and weeks!
I think we are going to take her to the doctor again this week just to make sure it's only a cold and not something worse like pnemonia or whooping cough. Did you know that's going around again? Who knew??

Anyway, on other fronts, I have a job interview today. It's a management position, which would mean a little more money, and more responsibility...but mostly it means I won't be traveling as much as I do now! This is a good thing for Isabelle. It's in the Ohio Lead Prevention Program. I know, I get into the most random jobs! Who would have figured when I graduated from college that I would have been into eyes or lead!

I haven't had much to write lately. We have been blotting along, trying to get over sickness. We went to visit my family this weekend and particularly my grandpa who is in a nursing home recovering from surgery. We also hung up some pic's for my grandma in her house. But it was just a good weekend of relaxing and recovering!

I AM excited about a new development. Apparently, Spirit Airlines has these periodic sales....flights that cost one cent her leg! Yeah, seriously! And we got tickets to Cancun, Mexico! Whoo hoo! So we are going to have to celebrate our 2 year anniversery in Mexico this year!

Sick Day

Today Isabelle is home sick. She's sitting in her bouncer as I speak watching Sesame Street...I remember many a sick days doing the same! Oh how the world turns. She has been throwing up all weekend and after a messy episode on our way out the door to daycare we decided a trip to the ped was warranted. Only to find out what we already know...the flu. But she seems to be weathering it well. So pray for Isabelle if you think about it!

The Life and Times of Dilbert

I am a professional. I have an MBA. I work in a cube. My walls are soft and institutional mauve. I know so much about my co-workers lives I could write their obituaries. There are days when my life feels like that movie, “The Office.” Today was one of those days. As, I mentioned before, there is little privacy in Cubeville. I understand that, but do others? I think not.

Today (and most everyday I am in my office) I listen to the ever unfolding soap opera of a co-worker who’s office backs up to mine. I know, for example, that her car (or her daughters car, I’m not sure) is in the process of being reposed. I hear her yell at her daughter about a baby daddy who is neglecting his offspring (her grandchild) and tell her that she needs to take control of the situation (WHEN did the situation get out of control? I feel like I missed an episode or two over the holidays!). Although the details can get a little blurry, since I only hear one sided conversations, I am ashamed to say that the sheer volume has made it impossible NOT to easedrop! Oh the life of Dilbert.

Ringing in the New Year!

Our weekend wasn't too exciting. Conrad had to work late Friday night and then again New Years Day so we kept it low key. We did have friends over on Friday night and the Chase Family from Tyler Texas, who visited us on Saturday. That was fun!

Conrad's mom says that whatever you do on New Years Day is what you will be doing for the rest of the year. All I have to say is Yikes! Monday started off with me waking up in great pain. I wasn't sure what is was. By Monday night I had narrowed it to two possible problems: downfood poisening or an ulcer (after I googled my symptoms, of course...you gotta love the armchair doctor). After a rough night were, to add insult to injury, Isabelle just wouldn't sleep! The symptoms got worse and I called my family doctor on Tuesday morning. I quickly recapped my symptoms and asked for an appointment today. She told me that it sounded like Gall stones and to go to the emergency room.

Well, fast forward four loooongggg boring hours and indeed, I have gallstones. It does not appear to be infected, so I was invited to "manage" the pain with heavy narcotics, compliments of the MD on call. Well, I have a meeting with a surgeon on Thursday to discuss the removal of my gall bladder.


Another interesting tidbit is that my 9 mo of "morning sickness" during pregnancy was most likely...gall stones! Ick! I even asked my OB who said, "nah, nope. Not gall stones." I asked because my mom had these (and the morning sickness) and had them removed after her second pregnancy, and had a much much better 3rd pregnancy. Listen to your patients, people!

2006 Thankfulness Cont.

I’m thankful for my family in India. They love us and would do anything in the world for us. They love Isabelle and their love and presence in her life is priceless. I’m thankful that we had a chance to visit them and introduce our baby girl to them while she was small. I love being a part of an Indian family. I am so glad that my family will be a woven cord of two different cultures. My family has great food, beautiful clothes, fierce loyalty, a cool sense of friendship with my brothers and sisters-in-law, a mother and father in law who love us and add immeasurably to our lives with their wisdom and grace. And I LOVE my husband’s cousins, aunts, uncles, cousin-brothers, cousin-sisters (did I get that right??), nephews, nieces, brothers, and sisters-in-law. You are truly MY family!

I am thankful for my family. As I have become a parent, I am reflecting back on the vital role my extended family played in raising me. And I am realizing how important they are in the lives of my children.
No one loves or cares for your children, other than you, like their grandparents. And they play a different role entirely, than parents. It’s a priceless role. And as my grandparents age, I realize how blessed I am that I have known all four of them throughout most of my life…how unique and special is that? Every day I have with the remaining three grandparents is a gift that I don’t take for granted.

2006 Thankfulness Cont.

To continue my list of things I'm thankful for in 2006 is:
Number Two
I’m thankful for my baby girl, Isabelle Agnes. She has taken our lives to a whole other level. I love holding her and starring into her beautiful dark eyes looking, fully trusting and innocent, back at me.
I love to watch her as she grows and changes. I love the fact that she loves to be read to….at 4 months! I even love reading “Moo Baa La La La” over and over again and getting up in the middle of the night to feed her. I am amazed that I have the privilege of shaping this little life. I pray we can give 100% and more than anything else, I want her to grow up to have a heart like David. That’s all that really matters in the end. I am thankful that her presence in my life has reminded me of the plight of the lost children in the world. When I’m starring into her eyes I keep thinking, “somewhere in the world right now, a mother is looking into the beautiful eyes of her baby daughter and making the heartbreaking decision to abandon her or worse…”

2006 Thankfulness

I decided I would take a few days and highlight some things I am thankful for in 2006. As you can guess from my blog, 2006 has been a year of real blessing and I can't stop thanking the Father for the good things in my life lately. So let me start with this:

Number One
I am thankful for Conrad, my husband. Having been a single adult for a decade has given me a great appreciation for marriage. I love being married. I love belonging to someone and having someone belong to me. I love Conrad for his faithfulness and gentleness. I love him because he’s easygoing and usually up for almost anything (excluding extreme sports!). I love him because he’s giving and full of compassion, and anyone in need is likely to be on the receiving end of his giving. I love him because he loves my family like his own. And when my Grandpa was sick, Conrad was there, with my dad, helping out, like it was his own grandfather. I love him because he’s the best daddy. He loves our little girl better than anything and his eyes light up when he sees her. And he works hard at caring for us and providing for us (oh ya, and he’s pretty good looking too!) I love you, honey!

...More to Come Tommorrow...

Christmas In Review

Isabelle's first Christmas was great! We had a really good time with friends and family and Isabelle got lot's of thoughtful gifts! Unfortunatley she slept through almost every present opening and seemed mostly overstimulated the entire weekend...but I can't blame her, as, let's face it, who isn't after three or four days of Christmas Celebration!! Her favorite gift, I think, was the Baby Einstein play station that my parents got her. Of course, this also lended itself to overstimulization and she about freaked out after 5 or 6 minutes in it.:) Over all tho, I think she had a great time!

Big Brown Eyes

Right Now Isabelle is totally a momma's girl. She's happy when I pick her up and hold her, or when I read to her, or put her to sleep. Not even Conrad can put her to bed these days, only Momma can. I figure I'd better enjoy it now, because more sooner than later she will be utterly a Daddy's girl. It always happens! But when I'm feeding her or talking to her and she looks at me with those big brown eyes, my heart melts and I think I'd give her anything, up to half my kingdom! Can you blame me?

A Life of Grace

Today I was reading back through some old emails that I had labeled “keepers” and found one from a dear friend. She and I were interns at Teen Mania together and became fast friends because we were both from Ohio. We remained friends and visited one another throughout our college years. I even had the privilege of being in her wedding way back in 1997. A couple of years ago, her husband was taken from her and their two small children in a freak bicycle accident.

I remember seeing my friend at the funeral and being absolutely in awe of her strength and reliance on the Lord. And as I got deeper into my marriage, and reflected back on what it would mean to loose my husband and the father of my children, my admiration for her only grew. The email I found was called “reflections.” It was her thoughts and feelings on the one year anniversary of her. She wrote about what she missed most about her Love, what he meant to her life, how she felt when he died, and what she was thankful for. She also wrote the following:

This is what I have learned since my husbands death…
• Life can be short so don’t waste the moments I have right now. God, people and relationships are what matter most, so I need to spend my energy in the right way. Let people know how important they are to me. Share your feelings now.
• This world is not a fair world, so instead of asking why, ask why not me? I have received many blessing that I did not earn so why not accept the tragedies as well. It is not fair to say that I only accept the good in life and not the bad as well. If everything was fair I would never get what I don’t deserve and always get what I do deserve. I would rather live in a world filled with God’s grace than a completely fair world.
• I am not in control of my life. There is a randomness to life that is beyond my control.
• God gives us what we need to get through difficult times. He carries us when we can’t go on.
• I have realized that withdrawing from others means death to my soul. Choosing to live, love and give again means my heart will grow and that I will experience sorrow again. If you love much, you have much to loose. I can make a choice - life or death, it is up to me and no one else.
• Take life one day, one hour, one minute at a time. Set small goals that you can accomplish and eventually you have accomplished a lot.
• The best way to get through grief is to share your feeling with others. Talk about it. Journal about it. Schedule time to do it.
• When someone is sharing with me I can be a better listener by not trying to fix their pain, but by being interested in how they are feeling. Accepting their feelings and not trying to change them.
• Don’t waste the pain, be a better person because of it.
• Everybody grieves differently; there is no right or wrong way. Don’t compare myself with others.

And if my friend is reading this today, I wanted to let her know that her life has been an example. One day, when the rains fall on my life, I pray I can respond as Christ-like as you.

Baby's First Christmas

I can't believe that it is almost Christmas. We are ready on this end, and as far as I'm concerned it can't come soon enough! I know Isabelle is only four months old, so I'm sure we will have more fun opening her presents that she will! Christmas also came early for us, as Conrad got his Perminant Resident Card in the mail tonight! And it only took the government about a year and a half to process it! Whoo hoo!

All I want for Christmas...

All I want for Christmas...I already have. I am very thankful for all of the blessings in my life. Especially my amazing husband who is more than I ever asked God for. And for my beautiful daughter, who is perfect and sweet. These two are better gifts than I ever deserved. And I'm thankful that the Lord doesn't give us what we deserve!

Why I’m A Blogging Slacker

I know I have been slacking on blogging lately. But don’t worry, I’m not a person prone to much guilt, so I haven’t been suffering from Blogging Guilt! I have however been getting calls and emails asking why I haven’t been posting. So I decided to tell you why:

1. It’s Christmas, and I have been baking cookies and wrapping presents. I like doing these things. ESPECIALLY when they are done in moderation. I hate doing things last minute and I don’t get WHY you have to have 17 different kinds of cookies every Christmas…WHY?
2. I have been shopping. I like to shop…but I don’t love to shop. And I despise malls at Christmas time. I will go to great lengths to avoid that crowded “dashing through the snow!” That’s why I love the internet. My favorite sites lately are www.photoworks.com (so cool!) and of course, gift cards are a beautiful thing. And this site might brighten your day:
http://www.simonsezsanta.com/
On that same note, I will say that I have been hearing horror stories of being scammed. So I’ll tell you a lil’ story. We have been shopping for a digital camcorder. To make a long story short, we found a site that listed several hundred dollars lower on the camera we wanted. WITHOUT reading reviews (WHY we did this I’ll never know) we ordered. Found out that the camera didn’t come with cables, cords, or a battery….THAT would cost us hundreds more. At that point, I canceled our order, got hung up on the “customer service” guy, and THEN read reviews on this company. Scary scary reviews of credit cards being charged thousands of dollars from companies in Italy and Nigeria…what?? Needless to say, my internet shopping has been cut short while I canceled my credit card. So I feel obligated to say Buyers Beware: www.bestpricecameras.com
3. I had a bad morning today. I usually leave early for work and leave Conrad and the baby sleeping soundly in the morning. This morning I went into the office with Conrad and we dropped Isabelle off at daycare. It was really hard to leave her there this morning. Maybe it was because I usually pick up, not drop off. Or maybe it was because her usual caregivers weren’t there. Or maybe it was because I laid her down in her crib and had to leave her giggling there alone. I don’t know why, it just made for a really bad morning. My husband is now ready to go to heroic lengths to make sure I am not the one taking her to daycare  I don’t think he can make it through another morning like today. And I am still praying for a job miracle. This one is okay, but eventually something will have to change. What? I don’t know.