Highlights

I am extremely far behind on documenting my cute girl's life on this blog.  So sorry!  But here are some of the highlights from the past several months...

My baby and my baby daddy at Thanksgiving

Getting crafty with our fun friends at Christmas time

On my birthday!

Such a sweet girl - Christmas Eve with Meme and Papa

The girls on Christmas Day! My girl loves her Cay and Tedda!

The very first picture our girl ever colored... I'm sure there are MANY more of these to come!

Like Mommy, like baby girl!  She LOVES to read!

Another amazing day at the Aquarium with my honey and my baby!

She loved the penguins this time! They are really playful creatures!

Saying "CHEESE" for the camera with her face totally covered in guacamole!

Playing with "Cakes"!  Gotta love sweet girls at the park on a fantastic day!

Just highlights of our life for the past couple of months!  So many wonderful memories being made... so much to be thankful for... so much fun!

2012 Goals

Focus and Simplify.

Those are my goals for 2012.  My goals as a wife and as a mommy.  These are also my goals as a Christian woman. 
These are the two hardest things in the world for me to do.

Focus and Simplify.

I've been self-diagnosed with ADD and I have a severe case of "people pleasing syndrome" so for me to focus and simplify - definitely a difficult mountain for me to climb.

But as God so often does with me... I have heard these themes over and over and over again from many, many, many different people and places lately until FINALLY I can say that I'm beginning to understand.

So, I have made some decisions that, hopefully, will allow me to Focus and Simplify.

I am the only mommy my baby girl will ever have and nobody can ever do this job in my place.  I am also the only wife my husband has and nobody can do this job in my place.
Focus.
I will focus on being the best mommy to her that I can be.  I will focus on creating memories with her that will last her a lifetime.  I will focus on taking care of my health so that I can be a great mommy to her for a really, really long time.  I will focus on teaching her through a God-centered worldview instead of a Joy-centered worldview.  (there is enough for me to say on this topic for an entire post all on its own but for now - I'll spare you)  I will focus on my marriage.  God compares the love in a marriage to the love Jesus has for His church.  I will focus on giving my husband this kind of love that can only come from a godly marriage.  I will focus on him - his needs, interests and goals.  I will focus on giving him the respect that he deserves.

Life does NOT have to be a rat race.
Simplify.
I will simplify our family life.  I will put first things first - God, my sweet hubby, my fun daughter... THEN everything else.  This should always be the order of my life - not the other way around.  I will say NO so that when I say yes - I can mean it and do a great job at it.  Saying no does not come easy to this people pleaser but it is necessary so I can say yes.

While I feel that these goals are very lofty for me; I also feel that they are really simple.  It's all about setting priorities and sticking to them...

And these are my priorities...

My sweet family

My baby girl

My girl with her Daddy and the love of my life

Nehemiah 6:3 says, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down." 

This is my mantra for 2012.  This verse sums up my goals - Focus and Simplify.

I know that I am doing a GREAT work that God has prepared ME to do and that only I can do and because of that I CANNOT stop.  I cannot give up.  I cannot lose focus.  I cannot overcommit.  I cannot say yes to everyone at the expense of my relationship with God and my family.  I cannot come down.

Merry Christmas!

I know I have so much to blog about but we have been savoring the richness of the season (also known as being super Christmas-fun busy)!  I promise to (eventually) get caught up but I did want to post our girl's picture with Santa...

I really expected a total melt down but much to my surprise (and enjoyment) the melt down stayed at bay!  There were 2 families in front of us and I think it helped to see other kids walk up to this big guy and sit on his knee with no tears involved!  Our sweet (big) girl held her daddy's finger and walked up to Santa all by herself!  There were no tears (but no real smiles either) so I considered it a complete success!
So, just in case I don't get back to my blog before Christmas... Merry Christmas!  And may God bless you in 2012 with love, peace, and JOY!

F is for...

FISH! 

Last Friday, my sweet hubby took the day off of work so we could have a little family time!  We should have been in Savannah cheering him on as he ran his first marathon but an injury prevented him from running so we didn't go for our mini vacation in Savannah.  This "Family Fun Day" was a little bit of make up for missing out on our trip!

We took our girl to the Georgia Aquarium for the very first time!  To say that she LOVED it just doesn't even really begin to explain it!  She oohed and ahhed and flapped her arms in delight and squealed and pointed and grinned bigger than we've ever seen!  She really did LOVE all of the fish!  She kept saying "fff, fff, fff" (which translates to "fish" by this mommy!) and pointing at everything! 

 In the first room, there was a large aquarium wall.  I think she was a little overwhelmed at first.  She looked at all the fish and then she would look back at us... like we were supposed to explain how this could be!  It was really sweet!

 Then the pointing and oohing and ahhing began!  People around us would comment on how excited she was!  She loved checking out all of the fish!  It didn't matter the size or color or type... she just loved seeing all of the fish!

 This confused her a bit!  The divers were answering the crowd's questions while under the water... it was pretty neat!  Our girl waved frantically at the divers!  Not sure if she thought they were big fish or what!  :-)

 I love this picture!  Being able to see the sunlight streaming through the water and then lighting up the face of my baby... God is so creative and He made ALL things beautiful!

 Our very thoughtful, contemplative little girl!  I love that she is so curious!

 A daddy and his girl watching the fish.  I love my family!

 Trying to take it all in!  We've definitely got to take her back soon!

 In the children's area, the aquarium has really neat hands-on exhibits!  While our girl was very interested in the sting rays and it was okay for Daddy to touch them, she wanted no part of touching them!

 She liked feeling the water (after staring through glass at it for much of the day) but still did NOT want to touch those sting rays!  I don't really blame her!

 She was beginning to get more comfortable with the hands-on exhibits and this one was her favorite because she could have touched sea stars or sea urchins (which do not move toward her) but again, she chose to touch the water only!

 I thought she was getting really brave at this one!  There were shrimp in this tank but as soon as they started moving toward her little hand in the water, she yanked her hand away and looked at me with "HELP" in her eyes!

 She even got to steer the "ship"!

 More pointing, more oohing and ahhing!  It is a wonder she didn't have a headache or at least a neck ache the way she craned her head to see all the fish!

It was a WONDERFUL family day!  I love that our girl gets to experience such neat things with her mommy and daddy!  I love that it meant so much to my hubby that he was willing to take the day off of work to make memories with his girls!  I love that God created these amazing, majestic creatures that totally wowed my girl!  I love that God gave me this precious family and these perfect family memories!

Halloween 2011

I know this is a little late so sorry...
Our girl obviously did not understand Halloween this year but she did have a lot of fun!
She really liked helping her daddy carve the pumpkins!  It was a bit difficult keeping the seeds and goo out of her mouth (and hair and off her highchair and the floor and everywhere else)!

 a little unsure of all this mess at first

 but then she really got into it!

 this is very serious work!

the pumpkin's hat was interesting!

Once the pumpkins had been successfully carved and set on our front porch, our girl got dressed up to go trick-or-treating!

 Yes, my cute baby girl is a cute moo cow!

 trying to walk to our neighbors

 Eat Mor Candy!

 My normal jack-o-lantern on the left and my hubby's creative cow pumpkin on the right! Because of course our girl needs her pumpkin to reflect her costume and have her name on it!

After our cute moo cow visited our neighbors, she helped us give candy to all the trick-or-treaters!  She liked handing out candy, closing the door and saying "bye bye" more than anything else!  I'm glad she would rather give than receive so maybe we'll just do that next year and skip the trick-or-treating!



Thankful for mud?

Yesterday I was at our MOPS meeting and the sweet little MOPPETS made Thankful Turkeys (handprint turkeys).  On each of the feathers (fingers) of their turkey they wrote something they were thankful for.  This cute little guy was showing his mom his turkey and she stopped to ask him about one of the feathers. 

"You're thankful for mud?", the mom asked.

"Yes!", the little guy exclaimed, "mud makes my seed grow!"

The mom turned to me and began to explain that her precious boy loves all things outdoors and when the kids planted seeds a couple weeks ago in MOPPETS, he couldn't stop talking about the "mud" and the seed that would eventually spring forth.

As a former classroom teacher, I loved the little guy's enthusiasm for the project.  As a daughter of our Heavenly Father, his thankfulness for mud struck me.

Am I thankful for my mud?

I am thankful for my wonderful husband.

I am thankful for our perfect baby girl.

I am thankful for LOTS of really wonderful things that God has richly blessed my life with but am I thankful for the mud He has given me too?

One of the verses I have clung to in hard times is from Habakkuk (yes, it is a book in your Bible... the Old Testament) which says, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior." 

These words flooded my mind when I heard that little boy talk about his mud. 

I am thankful for my mud when things don't go my way.

I am thankful for my mud when the day is long and the night is not restful.

I am thankful for my mud when I feel at odds with myself because of constantly saying yes.

I am thankful for my mud when my girl is having a whiney day and nothing seems to soothe her.

I am thankful for my mud when I am tired and there are still way more things on my To Do List than will actually get accomplished.

I am thankful for my mud when all I see is mud because I know that in His time my seed will sprout and that my joy does not come from my mud but from my Maker.  I am also thankful for my mud because I understand that it is in the midst of this mud that God teaches me and refines me.  If it weren't for seasons in the mud, would I truly appreciate the beautiful, new sprout that eventually emerges?

Catching up... Pumpkins

Our girl has been a busy little bee lately!  We have been on the go and I have so many things to blog about, I'm a little overwhelmed and not sure where to begin!

We made a family trip to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago and our girl had a blast!  She wanted to throw the "balls" and was all over the place!  It was a beautiful day and a perfect family outing!  Now that I am home full time, these family outings on the weekends are so special.  My wonderful hubby and I try really hard to be intentional about our family time because we want to make memories we will all cherish!  God has given us with a perfect little girl and an abundant life so we feel blessed to be able to slow down and intentionally soak in His goodness!

Joy and I went back to the pumpkin patch with some dear friends.  It was really sweet to see our girls playing with the pumpkins and just having fun!  I tried to capture some of their fun but these just don't do it justice...

There really just isn't anything better than the laughter of a sweet baby enjoying time with friends and God's beautiful creation!

We are so thankful for amazing friends that we love like family.  I am thankful that our girl will have lifelong friends.  I am thankful that God has brought godly women into my life at just the right time for just the right reasons!  Sometimes these reasons are as simple as a cold diet coke and chocolate but more often than not, they offer words of encouragement when I need them most and insight when I cannot see the forest for the trees.  I am thankful for these friends and the lessons I learn from them.