Wednesday, December 12, 2012

15 Months Old

Dear Eva Kate,
You are 15 months old! I've been looking forward to doing an update for you because you have been growing and changing so much over the past 3 months! About a week after your first birthday you took off walking. Now you are a fast little munchkin and sometimes it's hard to keep up with you! You have also learned the fun of really playing and interacting with your toys. You make me laugh sometimes when you just wander off into your playroom and I hear you playing with your toys or look over and see you "reading" a book to yourself.

You can say probably 10-15 words. The ones I can think of right now are Dada, Mama, Nana, Papa, Night-Night, Bye-Bye, Hi, Hey, Boo, Ball (Baaww), Duck (Dud),  Dog (Daaww), Oh, & Hohoho (for Santa) and lately you've been putting other words together with Dada, like saying Bye-Bye Dada when Daddy goes to work in the morning. What a smart little girl you are! You are also good at using a few signs to help tell us what you are wanting (more, all done, milk, it hurts, please, eat/hungry, cup and sometimes diaper). Most of the time you run around the house saying,  "AH-AH-AH" which can mean "Look at that!" , "What's that?", or usually "I want that!" . You are also understanding so much of what we say. We can say, "Where is your ___?" and you will go and find it (if you can). You know the phrases that are part of our everyday routine, like, "Let's go for a walk." You are also learning your body parts and can point to your tummy, toes, ears, head, mouth and sometimes nose (mostly you point to my nose). 

As your personality grows and emerges we would definitely say that you can be dramatic. When you're happy, you're so very happy! But when you're upset...let's just say that occasionally you have laid out on the floor with big fat tears rolling down your face.  You still love being around people and get super excited whenever you see other kids. We have to remind you to love gently because even though you're little, you like to love your friends in a big way!

Speaking of being little, we had your 15 month checkup this week. You only weigh 19 pounds, 2 ounces and are 29 1/2 inches tall... that puts you in the 3rd percentile for weight and 18th percent for height....so tiny! But your doctor said you are a healthy, happy girl so we'll take that. You wear mostly 6-12 month or 12-18 month size clothes, a size 3 diaper, and a size 3 or 4 shoe.

After a hard month of being sick and teething - you have 16 teeth now! - you are finally back to a good sleep schedule. You usually sleep 8 PM - 8 AM, and take a morning and afternoon nap that are each 1-1 1/2 hours. You still wake up once in the night to nurse but we are working on improving that. You were doing well before you got sick so I know that you are so close to sleeping through the night again.

You are so sweet and loving. You love to give Daddy and me hugs and kisses. You recognize lots of friends and family. You have a baby doll that you like to carry around, patting her on the back and rocking her...and occasionally dragging her along the ground. You enjoy playing outside and I try to spend time outside with you every day. You love seeing dogs and ducks and birds when we're outside. You are constantly my helper in the kitchen and can quickly empty out the kitchen cabinets as you explore. You aren't a picky eater and will usually at least try a few bites of anything I feed you. You have a big beach ball that you have learned to throw and kick around - so much fun! You are a silly dancer and you like to spin in circles and stomp your feet to the music.

I love seeing who you are becoming, seeing which parts of you are like me, which parts are like Daddy, and which parts are just uniquely you. You were absolutely wonderfully and fearfully made by God. We love you so much and I enjoy each day with you!

love, Mama

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Getting to Know You (or me...)

Alright, since I'm am still in photo posting limbo, I thought I'd take some time to share some fun facts about me! My friend Tasha over at The Busy Booths tagged me in her list so I thought I'd play along. It's always fun to learn more about somebody, right? I wrote my 11 Randoms way back in January so if you missed it (or forgot) you can read about them here. On to Tasha's questions....

1.  What's your favorite holiday memory?
One year on Christmas Eve we got home late after the midnight service from church. Much to my surprise, our stockings were already full and Santa had already been there! How did that happen??? I'm pretty sure I still had to wait until morning to open them but that convinced me to keep on believing. Still not sure how Santa made that one happen.

2.  What's your favorite food you've ever eaten?  I'm not talking "I like pizza."  I mean what is the BEST food you've ever put into your mouth? 

Filet Mignon at Capital Grille in Dallas. I'll be honest - the first time I ever ate steak was on my one year wedding anniversary. Ryan ordered the filet there and I had a bite. Best steak ever.

3.  If you had a day to do anything you wanted, what would you do?

Does saying take a nap make me boring? A perfect day for me would included going to a spa, taking a nap, shopping with my mom, eating tons of food with Ryan, laying out by the pool with my best friends, going dancing with Ryan, and laughing and snuggling with Eva.

4.  Who on your Christmas list is the hardest person to buy for?
My dad, my father in-law and 2 brother in-laws. I have no idea what to get men. I have Ryan help me decide what we are getting them.

5.  What's different about your life now than you expected it to be 5 years ago?
I think I would have hoped that we'd be living closer to our families but now I'm so happy living where we do. We're still close enough to see our families often, and I LOVE our community.

6.  What's your favorite article of clothing in your wardrobe?
My black leggings. Confession - they are my maternity leggings. I don't care. They are comfortable and the little tummy part is a nice smoothing layer under tops.

7.  If you could choose any time period in history to have been born, which would it be?
Pioneer days. Put me in a covered wagon and send me down the Oregon Trail.

8.  What's your favorite thing to do on a date with your spouse?
Laugh! I don't care what we're doing if we're laughing. And kissing :)

9.  If you could only watch ONE movie for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
Ahh! I can't narrow it down. My top 3 would be Anne of Green Gables, The Notebook, and Elf. I'm watching Elf right now as I type this.

10. Do you like to dress up?
Yes. Absolutely. If anything there are times when I feel like I should dress down more but don't want to. I'm probably one of those people that overdresses at times but I don't care. If you want to wear sweat pants and a tshirt, good for you. Wear what makes you feel good about yourself. I feel better when I'm dazzling :)

11. What's your favorite restaurant?
Saltgrass. More steak! I'm also a huge fan of Fuzzy's tacos and Chipotle.

Now you know me a little bit better! I'm not tagging anybody but if you want to answer these questions (or any questions) on your blog let me know so I can be sure to read them! Or just respond with an answer to your favorite question. 

Monday, December 3, 2012

I just want to blog.

Hello. I'm still here. My last blog post was 2 weeks ago and I haven't been able to blog since then because my crazy annoying uploading tool won't let me upload any more photos and I can't figure out why. I have tons of fun stuff to write about - my birthday, Thanksgiving, the Christmas season, crafts - but I can't! (I could write without photos but sharing photos is half the fun!)

A while ago I got a message saying my free 1G of photo storage was used up so I updated to a free Google + account. This is supposed to give me tons of free storage and based on what I've read it's also supposed to automatically resize the photos you upload so that they don't even count towards your free 1G. So, I'm not sure what happened. Or what to do. I just want to be able to post everything and document our Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Any suggestions? Am I somehow not signed in or connected to my google + account? I figured it just updated my regular log in otherwise I wouldn't have been able to continue months ago. If you've experienced this please tell me what to do.

Signed,
A 29 year old who desperately wants to blog and write and share photos of her cute baby and crazy life

Monday, November 19, 2012

November the Nineteenth

 November 19th. A day that will live infamy. Some pretty awesome things happened on this date in history. Let's take a stroll down memory lane.

1493 - Christopher Columbus discovers Puerto Rico, on his 2nd voyage (AKA The first cruise to Puerto Rico, a tradition that stood the test of time)
1620 - Mayflower reaches Cape Cod & explores the coast (The first Thanksgiving was a year later)
1863 - Lincoln delivers his address in Gettysburg; "4 score & 7 years..." (This is the only one that I knew before googling this date.)
1895 - Frederick E Blaisdell patents the pencil. (Thank you, Mr. Blaisdell. I apologize for the way that the widespread use of computers is causing a decrease in pencil sales these days.)
1953 - US Supreme Court rules (7-2) baseball is a sport not a business. (Would my husband agree? He takes this business sport pretty seriously).
1965 - Kellogg's Pop Tarts pastries created. (Yum. I hope the first one ever made was cherry with frosting and sprinkles on top).
1969 - Apollo 12's Conrad & Bean become 3rd & 4th humans on Moon. (Can you hear me now? Good.)

Flash forward a few years....
1983 - I was born. Enough said.

That's right. Today is my 29th birthday. Let the celebration begin.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Thankful for....

As we get closer to Thanksgiving many people are creating lists of everything they are thankful for. I personally love this idea because I believe that God is glorified when we give Him thanksgiving for all the blessings that He has poured out on us. Today I am most thankful for KINDNESS, LOVE, & MERCY.

Philemon 3:3-5
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

I read this during my quiet time this morning and was filled with a thankful heart. As a believer and follower of Christ, I fully admit that before my heart was changed (and even now sometimes) my life was marked by sin. It is only the kindness, love, and mercy of Christ that has changed me. I feel like this is the message that Christians need to boldly share...that we aren't saved because we "became good enough" but we are redeemed because God loved us so much that He send Jesus to take on our sins. Especially in our country right now with all of the emotions involved in the political climate, I think it's really important to embrace these verses. Speak out against sin, but do so in a way that shows a love for all people and a humility in regards to our own sin. I hope that my thankfulness in what God has done for my life changes the way that I love others.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Twas the week before Thanksgiving

Who's in the mood for some Thanksgiving? I know I am. Eva has been sick with roseola all week long so most of our week was spent indoors cuddling. I'm glad that the weather was cooler this week because it made it easier to want to snuggle up with the cute little kitty you see above (of course I always want to cuddle with her!).  What else made it fun to be inside? Thanksgiving decoration and crafts!
 
Craft 1: Wall of Thankfulness. My mother in-law was getting rid of these three 8X10 frames so I snatched them up. I printed off the background pages on cream colored card stock and we write on the with dry erase markers. I like having these up because it reminds me to be intentional about writing down what I'm thankful for.

Craft 2: Super Turkey Finger Puppet. I picked up the kit for this at Michael's and assembled it for Eva. You could probably make this on your own without a kit if you have the supplies at home already. She thinks its quite hilarious when I make him dance and talk. 

 
Craft 3: Sticker Cornucopia. This is also from Michael's. I did the good mom thing and let Eva completely decide where each sticker went. I did not try to tell her what would look the cutest. I encouraged her to be creative and let it look how she wanted it to look. Then I used a ziplock bag and some classy packing tape to stick it up on the fireplace wall next to her toys. 

It's time for s'more Thanksgiving! I did not make these bu they sure are cute. We have s'more people decked out for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It's fun to change them out with each holiday.

Thanksgiving read alongs! We've been reading up on some silly turkeys to get ready for the big day.

And tonight I found this awesome Turkey Time song/video. Thanksgiving week dance party? Sounds fun to me.

Thankfully my girl is finally better and looking forward to delicious food and time with family this week. Gobble gobble!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Guest Post: Why Is Making Adult Friends so hard? {Thankful for Community}

Thank you to Angela from Living Pretty for this guest post. Angela teaches 4th grade at the same elementary school that I used to work at. I follow her blog and when I read this post I knew that it was something that so many women can identify with. Most women want friends. Real friends that they can laugh with and cry with. Friends that you can call to chat about real stuff, or sometimes to chat about nothing at all. We have this innate desire because God created us for authentic relationships. Not relationships based on pride or vanity. Relationships based on love and true acceptance. Know this about me, that if I take an interest in you and act like I want to be your friend, it is because I actually want to be your friend.

Today I am thankful that we were created for community...for the friends I have and love...for the opportunity to reach out and connect with other women.


Why is making adult friends so hard?  

Friends.  That's what we are going to talk about today.  I feel like I have been searching for friends for forever.

Little background:
I went to a small private school my entire life.  I was friends with who I was friends with because they were in my class for years on end.  Thankfully, those friendships have developed into much more than "I am your friend because I have known you for 12 years."

I also went to the same church for a really long time.  My other group of friends are from church.  and I love them dearly.  However, not a single one of them lives nearby.

Speed up to present time:
I have lots of good friends at work.  They are funny, and sometimes we hang out outside of work.  It is always a blast.

I have several friends at church.  Those are in different stages of relationships.

Those friendships I developed when I was younger are pretty strong because most of them I talk to on a regular basis or if we don't don't talk on a regular basis, we are able to pick up right where we left off.

Here's the problem I am struggling with:  I want refrigerator friends.  (Meaning-I am comfortable to come over to your house and eat whatever from your fridge without asking and you are able to do likewise.)  ***Let me state, that I do have one of these nearby, and I don't want that person to think I don't consider them in this category, I do!

I want to be vulnerable with this person. I want to talk about all those things that I call my faraway friends and talk about. I want to come over when my husband is monopolizing the tv.  I want you to stop by whenever. I want you to invite yourself over for dinner.  I want you to sit on my couch and eat junk food and watch Real Housewives.

I have been looking for friends like this for years, since college.  Why is it so hard?  I feel like I put forth effort.  I am always looking for people to invite over for dinner.  Maybe they will be my fridge friend.  But then I find out that they already have enough fridge friends or they are in a different stage of life than me and that doesn't work for them.  (Regarding the stage of life thing, I think it is a load of crap.  My best friend lives hundreds of miles away and has a baby, and we make it work.  I think if we live in the same town, we would be able to make it work.)

I don't understand what else I have to do.  Do these friends exist?  Am I wishing for something that is intangible?