Happy Birthday, Ganny

Hope your day is super. Love and hugs to you.

Alex's First Snowfall

Early Afternoon Snowfall

We're at 7.5" and it's still falling.

Early Morning Snowfall

Alex woke up this morning around 3:45, and when I went to go check on him, it was so bright in our house that I had to look out the window to see what was going on. Snow! This picture was taken around 4 a.m. with no flash! Can you believe that?

Mission: THRIVE (Check-in)

The last Thursday of the month is my day to report in on Mission: THRIVE. Here are the goals I set for myself last month.

Deepen my faith by

• attending church every weekend I'm in town.
• starting a bible study

Deepen my marriage by

• reading His Needs, Her Needs
• having a date night at least once a month

Demonstrating self-care by

• moving at least four times a week
• eating at least two fruits/veggies per day

All-in-all, I'd say I'm faring pretty well. Jerry and I attended church when we were in town this month (which unfortunately was only two weekends because of some unexpected travel plans), and I've signed up for a bible study with a group of women from my church which I've attended the last two weeks.

Still working on reading His Needs, Her Needs - need to move this up in the list of priorities for next month. And Jerry and I did manage to have a date night last weekend when we were in Dallas. Noni and Pop Pop watched Little Man while Jerry and I were gluttons at Babe's. Man, that fried chicken is the best!

But it's the self-care that really takes the cake for me this month. For the most part, I did manage to eat two fruits/veggies per day, although, sadly, I didn't make any progress on the "move four times a week" goal. However - and this is a BIG however - I did do some other things in the self-care department that I'm really excited about. 1.) I quit my job. 2.) I signed up for a photography class. I've been having so much fun making plans for how I'm going to spend my time with Alex during the day and making family more of a priority in 2010. And the photography class is something I've wanted to do for a long time now. I have lots to learn. And I can tell I'm going to be a slow learner. Once I become a bit more proficient at the basics I've been learning, maybe I'll sign up for another course. Who knows!

For February, I've been thinking about these things.

• Complete His Needs, Her Needs
• Practice the skills I've learned in my photography class
• Develop a weekly meal plan
• Cook meals at home at least three nights a week
• Begin organizing the house - complete the guest bedroom and organize the bed linens
• Have a quiet time every morning

I'll report in next month on progress...

Joy.

Farewell, Tough Tony

I am not a fan of good-byes. Especially of the permanent variety. I struggle to rejoice in celebrating "heavenly homecomings" when my heart aches. And today my heart does ache for the loss of a dear, dear friend.

Last night our friend Tony (who was recently donned "Tough Tony" because of his perseverance in battling an ongoing illness) passed away. He was one of the greatest gifts our family ever received. We'll miss you, Tony, but we thank you for the legacy you left behind. XOXO

Oh. My. Goodness.

Need I say more?

Sammy and Alex - Six Months

In the last month, Alex has gone through so much change! Have I ever mentioned how much fun he is? Well, it just keeps getting better.

Let's start with the traditional Sammy and Alex photos.

6 months (Please excuse the lounge-wear. Little Man is feeling a little under the weather - but isn't his smile as sweet as sunshine?)

6 months (I couldn't help myself. I just had to get another picture.)

5 months

4 months

3 months

2 months

1 month

11 days

Here are a few recent milestones.

In the last month, Alex has gotten two teeth. The first one broke through the week before Christmas, and the second one broke through right after New Year's. If you click on this photo, you can barely see them.

He's also sitting up. He still leans forward and wobbles a bit, but he's getting the hang of it. He started sitting last week.

For Christmas he got lots of toys, and he's enjoying chewing on them. And playing, too, of course. =) In the meantime, Mommy and Daddy are trying to figure out what to do about toy storage in the living room so that we don't trip over everything!

Alex is doing really great with his solids. Like most babies, he wasn't too sure about the whole thing in the beginning and wrinkled his nose to give us the "ugly face." Right after he turned 5 months, we started out with rice cereal which he hated. I've since tossed that right in the trash can and moved on to oatmeal. He eats the oatmeal pretty well - especially if it's mixed with bananas. That combo's one of his favorites. We don't even get the "ugly face" anymore. In fact, now he opens his mouth and waits for the food. He's also tried green beans, peas, squash, applesauce, and sweet potatoes. There are some that he likes more than others, but none that he just won't eat. I hope this stays true.

Alex's hair is getting longer and thicker. And he likes to scratch his head and feel his hair while he's nursing or drinking his bottle. It is so funny to watch.

He makes new sounds all the time. He started with the "goo." And then he vibrated his lips together. And now he makes gurgles and babbles.

He likes his exersaucer more and more. He also really likes his new Jump-Jump that Santa brought him.
It's just so hard to believe that six months has gone by. I am so excited that in two weeks I'll get to be at home with my Little Man every single day and watch him grow and help him blossom. Oh, it just delights my heart!

I Wanna Play

My friend Solar posted a survey on her blog to reflect back on 2009. I've already given some of my reflections, but this seemed too fun to pass up.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you had never done before? Had a baby. Worked in my client's offices. Major home remodel projects on Mirabelle. Own an SUV as my personal vehicle - I've always owned cars.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for next year? I've never really believed in the whole New Year's Resolutions thing, so I didn't make any in 2009. But I've got a long list I'm working on for 2010. And I'm actually making pretty decent progress. Except for the exercise part. But don't give up on me yet. I've got a plan for that one, too.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes!! My dear friend Lauri gave birth to sweet little Kaitlynn about 3 1/2 weeks before Alex, and my dear friend Lauren gave birth to sweet little Griffin about 2 weeks before Alex was born. Sharing my experiences with these girls was really a lifesaver for me.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No one close to me. But my heart did break as I followed the blog for little Samuel Apinis who went to the arms of Jesus when he was a month old.

5. What places did you visit? Blackberry Farm was my only real vacation in 2009, but I also made several trips to Dallas for work, which meant I got to visit friends and family. I also made trips to Greensboro, NC and Centreville, VA to visit friends.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Feeling good about life again.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched in your memory and why? Nothing even comes remotely close to July 8. Every bit of anxiety about whether or not I would enjoy parenthood was washed away.

8. What was your biggest achievement this year? Alex was the biggest. But I'm pretty darn proud of all the progress we made on Mirabelle before he got here. We were non-stop pretty much right up until he arrived.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury? Just a painful recovery from giving birth. Six FULL weeks to recover from having him. And, no, I will never, ever, ever forget how it felt. No mommy amnesia on that one, I don't care what people say. Mom, back me up here.

10. What was the best thing you bought? That's tough. We splurged a little on the shower head we used in the master bath, and I love that thing. It's either that or the two diaper champs, which are coming in particularly helpful as Alex has started eating solids. LOL!

11. Where did most of your money go? Hands down - Mirabelle projects. Wow!

12. What song will always remind you of 2009? "At the Foot of the Cross" by Kathryn Scott. I listened to this over and over on one of my lowest days. It almost pains me to listen to it now because it takes me back to that day, but it is a sweet, sweet song.

13. What do you wish you would have done more of? It's always easy to say I wish I had done more of this, that or the other. But here's the truth, I was doing good to make it from one day to the next most of the time. I don't mean to make that sound as dramatic as it does, but I just didn't have the energy or the desire to do much of anything. If I did have to pick one thing, though, it would have been to spend more quality time with Jerry.

14. What do you wish you would have done less of? Stress.

15. What was your favorite TV program? Designed to Sell. I still love that show. And, HGTV, can you tell me why all you ever seem to show these days are episodes of House Hunters or House Hunters International? A little variety, please!

16. What was the best book you read this year? The Twilight Series. I was hooked!

17. What was your favorite film of the year? Grand Torino. And one of the few we saw in theaters.

18. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? That morning Jerry, Alex and I went with our dear friends Katherine, Jim and their boys, Jacob and Luke, to the Roanoke Star to lookout over the city before they had to leave to fly back to Dallas. And then Jerry made steaks for dinner that night while our friends Kirsten and Josh came over with baby Hailey. I turned 33.

19. What political issue stirred you the most? Yeah, I didn't pay too much attention to the news last year. In fact, I can't even recall the top headlines.

20. Who was the best new person you met? Have I ever mentioned how much I love Blogsville?! I love seeing the wit, the creativity, the inspiration. And I loved getting to meet - both on the blog and in real life - Nanny and Solar. I trust we'll make another real-life meeting again one of these days. =)

Domino's Delivers

Have you seen the new Domino's Pizza campaign? If not, you should check it out HERE.

Jerry and I saw the TV spot last week about their reinvented pizza. I loved that it showed how they faced the brutal truth from their consumers - and then actually did something about it. I've never liked Domino's, but with advertising that honest, I felt they deserved a re-try. (Plus that buttery garlic crust had me hooked.) I was curious to see whether or not they were going to deliver. And in the words of their new campaign, OH YES THEY DID! As far as chains go, I may have a new favorite!

Has anyone else tried it? What did you think?

Sick and tired of being sick and tired

Sometimes it takes a lot to motivate me to tackle change - especially change that is difficult for one reason or another. And when I do make it, it is usually because I've been hit by the one-two punch.

Punch one: a realization that something is not working. I usually know when I've been hit by punch one right away. But, for whatever reason, punch one is seldom enough for me. Don't ask me why, it's just not. I can go on for a LONG time realizing that something isn't working and still not do anything about it. Sad, isn't it?

Punch two: after I've realized that something isn't working, I eventually come to the place where I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. When I reach that point, I can kick it into high gear.

So what does all of this have to do with anything? Well, I've been living with a constant barrage of punch ones for months when it has come to my job. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love my company. I love what I do for my company. But there were other circumstances that...well, they just weren't working. And this week, punch two hit me square in the face. And I knew it was time to take action.

Today I made one of the toughest and biggest decisions of my life. Today I quit my job. And I absolutely couldn't be happier about this decision. I will miss all the things I love about it, but I feel a resurgence of life again - it's time for the next season. And, boy, am I ready!

A Few Photos

Snow in Roanoke

I'm behind on my blog posts! Thought I'd share a picture of Mirabelle blanketed in 15 inches of snow before Christmas. We STILL have snow in our front yard. And with the temperatures in the teens and 20s this week, it probably won't be going away any time soon!

In Texas, we bordered our yard with Christmas lights. We thought we'd do the same in Roanoke. Rookie mistake. You can see for yourself why people here don't do that.

What am I missing?

This weekend we saw the movie Julie & Julia. All I've heard is how great it is. Did we see the same movie? I mean, it was ok, but great? Really? What am I missing?