First and foremost, I want to wish my amazing DAD a very Happy Birthday! Not that he doesn't know already, as we chatted during my entire drive to work this morning. :) My Dad, he's more "friend", "encourager" and "prayer warrior" these days, though he'll never stop being a Dad. He's also a pretty awesome Granddad to my little girl. He's hilarious, playful, loving, and protective--and she's got him wrapped around her finger. I'm glad for her, that she'll have him in her life. She doesn't know how lucky she is! I know I sure have been. Happy Birthday, Dad!
Yesterday was a pretty big day! For one, Tiffany gave birth to her little boy, Elijah "Eli" Stone. There are pictures on her site, thanks to Megan. :) Born at 10:28 AM, weighing in at 7 lbs 14oz, and measuring 20.5". I won't even get into the fact that she only labored for about 8 hours... yeah, as I told her, she was blessed! :) He's perfect and precious, and I couldn't be happier for you, hun!
I did go to the doctor on Wednesday... official diagnosis? Strep. Good thing I went in right away. I felt so horrible. I've been on antibiotics since then, had the day off yesterday, have been getting LOTS and lots of rest, tried my hardest to keep the house as germ free as possible, and am feeling lots better. Thankfully neither Brooke nor Ryan seem to be coming down with it! :) I'm not contagious anymore, so hopefully the worst is behind us.
Brooke is 13 months old, as of yesterday. This was a pretty major month for her, developmentally! It's crazy to think that only a month ago she was only taking two or three steps at a time, yet now she doesn't even crawl anymore! She's walking everywhere, all the time. Funny how much can change in just one month. :)
She just started doing the cutest thing ever. Just this week, when we pray before dinner, we've started to also clasp our hands together. It's not something we would typically do, but we know that eventually she will be mimicking the things we do. Well, on Wednesday night, we opened our eyes to find that she had clasped her little hands together while we were praying. It has to be the most precious, innocent, beautiful thing I've ever seen her do. It's hard to believe that someday she'll be saying little prayers at the table!
I haven't been sick in a long time, so I can't really complain, but it's still unpleasant nonetheless. Sore throat, achy ear, low grade fever. It kind of came out of left field--only abnormal thing was a headache the size of Texas yesterday, (I don't get headaches) and then BOOM, sick this morning. I'm at work anyway, but I'll be seeing the Dr. this afternoon just to make sure it's not the beginnings of strep or a sinus infection. The last Dr. I saw was my OBGYN. :) Yeah, it's been a while.
I just hope Brooke doesn't get whatever this is. Hello, Lysol and borderline obsessive handwashing. And I do want to be feeling good by this weekend--we have a fun weekend planned.
Aside from the rough start to my morning, I've also been in prayer and in tears for Misty LeBlanc, wife to Darren, and mother to 21 month-old Olivia. I've been praying for her, and her family, for a little while now. She lost her battle with brain cancer last night, but is now fully healed and resting in the arms of her Savior. It's amazing how emotionally involved you can get in someone's life, just by reading about them. I guess that's what we do--we care, and we connect. I know I personally have many wonderful friendships that began through our journals. I guess what touched me most about Misty and Darren, aside from our shared faith, is the fact that they have a beautiful, precious little girl, only 9 months older than Brooke. I think about 'what if that were me?' and 'what if that was Brooke?' It breaks my heart. I can't comprehend it as my own reality. All I can say is that their faith is overwhelming, and inspiring. Their lives, their love, and their struggle has touched so many people.
So, I'm counting my blessings today. Just when I dwell too much on my own struggles, I'm reminded so forcefully of the things that others are dealing with, which are so much more difficult than my own. I'm married to my best friend. I have a beautiful, amazing little girl. She is my perfect blessing. I have a great, supportive family. We have a roof over our head. We have food on the table. We may not have a lot of money, but we are rich in so many regards. We laugh every day. We have love to spare. We have a God who provides what we need, and takes care of us.
In the spirit of becoming a regular around here again, I give you my good mood list of the day:
- Walking to the gym at 5:25 this morning in the amazingly refreshing low 50's. Not feeling tired when the alarm woke me was an added, welcomed bonus.
- My girl's morning drop-off routine. We get to Grandmom's and I spend 10 or so minutes there with her before I go. She holds on to me until we head to the door, and walk out on the front steps. Then she reaches for Grandmom, and has little to no interest in me anymore. :) It's actually really funny to watch. She's more interested in Grandmom, and feeding the birds, or watching the trash truck go by. She and her Grandmom wave bye-bye as I head down the driveway. She has never once cried over my leaving. Need I even say how wonderful that is?
- This season's Dancing with the Stars. I've never once been excited to see the first show until this season. I only saw half of it, but enjoyed it nonetheless. This also served as good motivation to get up for bullet point #1. (see above)
I was reading back through my old entries, which was spurred by the fact that someone read like 16 pages the other day. (for the record, I don't mind when people visit and look at a lot of my old entries.. I know some people get creeped out by that for whatever reason, but hey, I don't mind. I do wonder sometimes when I see that someone very far away visited or even when someone really close by in VA or MD visits, because it makes me wonder if I know them, or how they know me, but it doesn't bother me. I'm just curious.) Oh, I digress.
I went back to the oldest entry they visited, and was struck by the fact that...
... I used to be funny. What happened? Do I just not have the time to be funny anymore, or has it just been sucked out of me by the daily grind? At the time, I used to write daily, (mostly) and I really got a kick out of reading some of the things I wrote then. Now, I usually hit a roadblock if I don't have pictures to share. I'd like to think that the energy that I used to put into entries has all gone into my daughter and my home life, but I hope that there's still a little to spare. You know, I used to be really artsy. I used to be creative. I used to make things. I used to write poems and songs. I realized recently that I haven't really given myself an outlet for these things, so I did what anyone would've done: I headed off to Michael's (craft store) to remedy that.
As I gathered supplies I'd need to for a couple of fun projects, I started totaling how much these things would cost. And then I did what any woman with a child and a husband, and a limited budget would do: I put them all back.
But before you argue that I should still do SOMETHING, you can rest assured that I did. :) We were recently given a solid wood coffee table on Freecycle, but it's in an oak finish, while all of our furniture is cherry. So, once I put all of my lovely items back on the shelves, I set off to get some sandpaper and wood stain. (And, I had a 40% off coupon) I'm currently working on refinishing the coffee table.
So, the 25 year-old version of me has to be a bit more.. practical.. than I used to be, but it's certainly not the end of the world.
It's here! Happy first day of fall! Just a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't quite ready to let go of the flip-flop, tank top, easy days of summer, but I'm finally ready for fall. I love this time of year. It's funny, with every season I want to say, "it's my favorite season!" but really, I love them all almost equally. But fall... oh, wonderful fall. I love when the air turns crisp, football is back, and it's time to break out the cozy sweaters. I love the smell of wood burning fireplaces, and the pretty colors of the changing leaves. There's just so much beauty to soak up during this season.
I am also loving baby girl fall clothes. She's got some cute stuff! She will need a coat for this winter, and, as far as shoes go, she only has sneakers that fit her right now, but other than that I think she's pretty much good to go. It's a little sad when your daughter already has more clothes in her closet than you do. ;-) I guess I had better get used to that!
Brooke added a new word to her vocabulary, but it needs a little explanation. Occasionally, my Dad works from home, so he is sometimes at home when Brooke is there during the day. They have their own little things they do together, like making cakes on his computer. (a cute program he downloaded, which she has loved to watch since she was teeny tiny!) Another "Granddad thing" is listening for airplanes that fly over their house throughout the day. (my parents are pretty close to an airport) Whenever an airplane goes overhead, he'll say "do you hear the airplane?" Occasionally, she has said, "puh" for plane. On Saturday night, she said "air-pane," clear as day! Not once, not twice, but three times. I doubt I would've believed it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears. :) Air-pane. Ahhhh, so precious.
My Mom recently found an old VHS tape of my brother and I, when I was 2 and he was 3. (if you remember, last Christmas my parents transferred all of our old home movies onto DVD as a Christmas gift, which I seriously treasure!) Anyway, this tape had been lost for quite a while. As I watched it, I couldn't help but think, "that's Brooke," while I watched little two year-old me. Her eyes are all me. The shape of her little face. Even her nose, which I've always thought is shaped more like Ryan's, looks a lot like mine used to. There are times when she makes different expressions that look exactly like her Daddy, but mostly, she's all me. I do hope we eventually have a little boy someday, because Ryan was ADORABLE as well. I'd really love to see a little Ryan Jr. :)
Well, since I've been lacking in the picture department lately, I hope the following pictures will make up for it. :) Clearly, a certain someone is ready for fall!
Where's Brooke??
There she is!
She LOVES this pumpkin at Grandmom's house!
This is a common sight.. Brooke toddling off SOMEWHERE
My little beauty~
She is an EXACT mini version of me..
Brooke sitting still? A very rare sight indeed
I just love this. It was at this very window where she said "air-pane"
On the move!
I just wanted to add that I really appreciate everyone that is praying for us right now! We appreciate it so much. We're doing well--we're busy as always, but listening for guidance, and looking for open doors! We're trying not to stress, but just take each day as it comes. Hope you all have a wonderful Monday! :)
I'd been trying to wait until it was officially fall to break out my new layout, but especially with the nice weather today, I just couldn't help myself. :) Hope you like the new colors.
We've all been doing well over here. We're pretty much in a state of transition, but unfortunately, I'm just not able to share about it just yet. If you would, please be in prayer for us while we're in the midst of it. We're just trying to follow God's guidance, but that is sometimes difficult to discern. Somehow He always manages to steer us where He wants us, and gives us a peace about it. There's a song that Switchfoot does, "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine," that I absolutely adore, and it's not your typical happy song. It talks about the times in our lives that we don't understand. No matter how many times I'm shown His love, I still panic when things are out of my control. This year especially, I think we've both really learned in every way how dependent we are, and while a difficult one to learn, it has caused me to grow a lot. It's beautiful, this journey that we're on, and His promises to watch us and keep us, and the song just brought it to mind.
Brooke is amazing. She's walking everywhere, and getting in to lots of things she never seemed to notice before. :) She's really loving the kitchen right now, namely the cabinets, so now I need to pick up some cabinet locks. There's a cabinet full of tupperware that she's free to explore, but all of the other cabinets are off limits. Can't take your eye off that girl for one second. :)
She is LOVING books right now. We've finally been able to add reading into her bedtime routine. (Before, she never seemed interested--she mainly just wanted to rip the pages off) She also ADORES her stuffed animals. She carries them around, gives them kisses, and goes down for naptime and bedtime with them. I was the exact same way with my stuffed friends, so it makes my heart happy to see her like that.
She's been a little clingy recently while she's going through a teething phase again. I wouldn't believe it myself if I couldn't see them with my own eyes, but the girl's got ELEVEN teeth! All 8 front teeth, and 3 incisors! I don't think she's finished yet, either, because her gums are still looking swollen. Not to mention, she has clearly been growing! She's so tall. :) So, she's eating a lot more, and seems tired more often than usual. Ah, you know, it's tough being a toddler.
I'm really looking forward to experiencing this fall and winter with her. Pumpkin-picking, trick-or-treating, hay rides, Thanksgiving, tree-hunting, Christmas. It seems like all of our experiences are so much more fun with her in them.
In other news, Em and I went to the Music Builds Tour concert at Nissan on Sunday! Em had found 4th row, center tickets! They had Jars of Clay, (I've loved them for years) the Robert Randolph Family Band, (had never heard of them before) Switchfoot, and Third Day. (who we've both been wanting to see for a while now) It was an awesome show, despite the 96 degreeheat, and I'm so glad that she invited me. :) Not only were they all fantastic, but our super-close seats were just amazing. We were also able to meet Jars of Clay!
With my camera out of comission, Em took all of the pictures!
Em & I - It took an INSANELY long time to get a decent pic of us.. Did I mention it was 96 degrees and sticky hot?
Dan of Jars of Clay ~
Jars of Clay ~
Dan ~
Jon of Switchfoot ~
Tim of Switchfoot ~
Third Day~
Third Day, Jars of Clay, and Switchfoot ~
Third Day, Jars of Clay, and Switchfoot ~
EVERYONE! Third Day, RRFB, Switchfoot, and Jars of Clay ~
Dan of Jars of Clay, and me ~ So cute!
I really do want to update more--it just wasn't happening last week. :) Stay tuned! I do have more recent Brooke pics that I just haven't edited yet. Hope you all are having a great day. :)
Oh, I can't even tell you how much I miss my beloved camera. We've looked into having it repaired, but it's looking like it will be roughly $150 no matter where we have it fixed, and that's just too much for us to spend right now. Thankfully, my Dad kept his old digital camera, which still works great, (my last camera was the exact same kind) so we won't miss the monumental moments in the meantime!
It's pretty crucial for us to have a working camera right now... especially considering the fact that Brooke is WALKING. She really began taking steps while we were in Ocean City a couple weeks ago, but she is doing it a lot more frequently now, and walking further. On Thursday evening, I watched in astonishment as she took 4 steps in a row, then 8 steps, then took TWELVE steps! In a row! The best part is that Ryan was able to see her walking once he got home about an hour later. I grabbed the camcorder, and caught her walking to her Daddy! She gets a huge, adorable grin on her face, and is just so proud of herself! We clap for her, and praise her, and just generally make it a huge deal. These days I liken her cruising to training wheels.. she doesn't really need to hold on, but it's the security of knowing that something is there.
It's amazing to me. Who is this toddler, and what did she do with my baby?
Brooke had her 12 month check-up last Wednesday, which really was miserable, (major stranger anxiety) but it's over. She's 30" tall, (75%) but only 19 lbs 5 oz. (25%) The doctor's not concerned with her weight; she just seems to be long and lean. Trust me, though, the girl eats A LOT! She's practically eating the entire time she's awake. She wants nothing to do with baby food anymore, and only wants what we're having. That makes life easier. :) She's able to drink whole milk now, which she likes, and is getting close to being weaned. It's more for comfort than actual nurtrition anymore. She's too distracted and impatient for it unless she's tired.
I'm starting to feel ready myself for her to be weaned, but I will definitely miss the closeness. I adore having my girl cuddled up with me. Thankfully, she's an affectionate little thing, and is frequently climbing into my lap to cuddle, or give me kisses. I'm THRILLED that she's finally giving me kisses! Up until now, she's only really given them to her Daddy and her Grandmom. No kisses for me. In the past, whenever I've asked for kisses, she'd shake her head "no"! I knew she loved me more than anyone else, (she is absolutely her momma's girl) but she just wouldn't give me kisses. Suddenly she does, and let me tell you, I do not take them for granted. ;-) Sweet, little kisses.
Also forgot to mention that her 8th tooth came through two days before her birthday. Everything is even now. :) She had 7 for the longest time. Her baby book asks how many teeth she had by her first birthday, and she made it just in the nick of time. ;-)
With Brooke growing up so quickly, it does make me long for the baby days. I realize that my Mommy memory has caused me to forget a lot of the difficult things about having a newborn, but I also realize how fleeting they were. I have to fight the feeling of wanting another one, because I know we just can't afford another one yet. So, rather than dwelling on that, I choose to focus on the fact that I get to enjoy my daughter wholly and completely. :) I absolutely LOVE this age--she's such a fascinating little person. She's constantly on the move, always playing, always learning and figuring things out, has become more affectionate, and let me tell you, the girl is HILARIOUS! She's perfect. And she's mine.
Well, that's all for me today. I really want to get better about updating more frequently, like I used to. We'll see how that goes. :) Hope you all have a great day!
In a word, our vacation was perfect. Considering the fact that, with only a couple weeks to go, we found out Ryan wouldn't be paid for his week off, (something he was not told beforehand, but apparently "is in the manual") we weren't even sure we'd be able to go. It was such a major blessing that it worked out, because we all needed a vacation so badly! We're back now, and feeling completely refreshed. :)
My parents rented a beach house in Ocean City, NJ--a beach they had never visited, but decided to look into after Ryan and I raved about it from our trip with Em's family three years ago. We mainly went to VA beach growing up, since it was the closest. Needless to say, I felt a little bit of pressure over whether they'd enjoy it, seeing as they were mainly going off of my review of the beach. :) Really, though, it's a beautiful beach, very well kept, and what makes it so great is that it's geared towards families. It's a "dry" city, so it deters partiers, and there are only a handful of small hotels, so most people either own or rent a beach house. The beach also is private--you have to have beach tags (which most houses have available for you) to be allowed on the beach.
I've got 50+ pictures to share, so I'll do a little play-by-play commentary as we go. :)
Here we are! Our beach house! We had the first level~
The people above us were all the way from California!
The living room. You can't see it, but there was also a fireplace and flatscreen TV
Pretty green dining room.
The kitchen--got a little crowded with more than one cook, but it was very pretty!
Ryan's and my room--very modern
We moved the bed over, and put Brooke's pack-n-play by the windows
~ Monday ~
Monday was Brooke's birthday, so of course we wanted it to be special! We took her for her first-ever trip to an aquarium, the Atlantic City National Aquarium, when she woke up after her morning nap. After her afternoon nap, we strolled the boardwalk. Ryan and I wanted to wait until her actual birthday to buy her a present, so it would be a bit more special with being at the beach. We ended up getting her a pink, Ocean City hoodie, and a Ty giraffe we named Geoffrey after the Toys'R'Us giraffe! For dinner, Mom made chicken marsala, which was AMAZING. We topped it off with birthday cake--the very birthday cake we had at her party. Mom S. had made an extra sheet cake, which we didn't need at the time, so I froze it and took it with us! It was just as moist and yummy as it was the day of her party! :)
Here's the birthday girl first thing in the morning in her jammies!
All dressed and ready to go to the aquarium~
Happy girl!
Posing :) She loved the big fish
My brother, Daniel, and I at the horseshoe crab exhibit
Brooke LOVED the fish!
The giant sea turtle was her absolute favorite. He swam around happily as I videotaped, but as soon as I brought out my camera? Boom. Suddenly shy.
I was convinced the eel wanted to eat my daughter
Moon jellyfish. I'd never seen these glow-in-the-dark little guys before--aren't they neat?
Did I mention she loved the fish?
Checking out the exotic animals
Not afraid to get silly
We didn't quite match our bodies :)
Arrrrrrr!
Beautiful view from the third story observation deck
You never have to wonder who he roots for
Awwwwwwwwwww ~
Singing Happy Birthday to Brooke! (That's Geoffrey the giraffe--a birthday gift from us)
~ Tuesday ~
We were right across the street from the beach/boardwalk!
She loves magazines.. tearing apart magazines, that is
Who, me?
Looking adorable with her beloved new buddy, Geoffrey
People watching
~ Wednesday ~
Ryan catching up on the news
Brooke helping Grandmom with dishes!
Eating some of Daddy's breakfast ;-)
My little beauty :)
Ryan and I ready to head out for our 2-hour kayak nature tour!
Bay Cats--awesome place! Way less commercial than other places
Let me just say that I have been wanting to learn how to kayak for a LONG time. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. :) Our tour guide took us on a 2 hour nature tour through the salt marshes, showed us all of the different varieties of heron, and other water birds, told us all about them, and talked about the area. We also stopped at a beach along the way. We were the only ones with solo kayaks, and he only let us have them because we have a lot of canoe experience. The guide gave me his favorite kayak, which he called "great white." It was really long and slender, which made it a little challenging, but I LOVED it once I figured it out. I definitely would love to have a kayak. :)
Here's a shot of the bay, but it's not the greatest.
After we got back from kayaking, we all headed out to the beach!
Brooke and her Grandmom
She LOVED the beach... almost a little too much. And yes, she ate some sand :-P
What a face!
It was a little chilly with the breeze, so I covered her up a bit
Little sweetie :)
Ryan starting what would later become our AWESOME SANDCASTLE!
Brooke started to shiver, so here she is in Uncle Daniel's shirt :)
Me and my baby on the beach
She LOVED the water, and was constantly waving at the waves!
Here is where my day went sour. We had just finished our sandcastle, and I grabbed my camera to take a picture.. and MY CAMERA DIED! I had kept it in a case, and only took it out to take pictures, but either sand must've blown in the lenses, or it had moisture damage, because once the lens opened, it wouldn't close. It wouldn't take pictures, nor would the lens close. :( Now that we're home, the lens will close, but it makes a terrible sound AND the picture is extremely blurry. So, now we have to get it repaired, because having a one year old and no camera is not an option. We'd miss too much!
~ Thursday ~
On Thursday, we started out our day by strolling the boardwalk!
Artistic shot
Of course we had to stop at SHRIVER'S candy store! Brooke loved this little animatronic girl :)
The four of us in Shriver's!
Mom is holding a stuffed dog which she bought there for Brooke--we call him Rusty, and Brooke ADORES him! She is really loving stuffed animals now, and she is constantly loving on them or carrying them around.
~ Friday ~
We tried to cram a lot of activities into our last full day! Once Brooke was awake, we went out to the beach. The beach was closed from about 20 yards out, all the way to the water, because of medical supplies washing up on shore. (like they did the week before in Avalon, which is close by) So, we only stayed for about an hour, but the weather was beautiful! After they did a beach-wide sweep with police and helicopters, the beach was reopened (it stayed closed from 34th street on up, because that's apparently where they actually found something) we went back out and walked the beach.
After dinner, we walked all the way to the end of the boardwalk to visit Gillian's Wonderland! Once there, we immediately took Brooke on the carousel! (her first time on a carousel) She wasn't so sure about it at first, but LOVED the horses, and loved it once it started to go around. After that, Ryan and I went on the Giant Ferris Wheel, which is amazing and terrifying. I'm not afraid of heights, but I feel completely off balance being that high up. :) By then, Brooke was starting to wind down, so we took her on one more ride that she was allowed on--a choo choo train that was suspended high above the ride which wound all the way around the park--and she sat on my lap. She LOVED that. Finally, we used up our last 6 tickets at the bumper cars.
On our way to Gillian's Wonderland! (amusement park)
Grandmom and Brooke (in her birthday hoodie from Mommy and Daddy)
waiting while we did bumper cars :)
We have similar pictures from three years ago!
Our whole group, minus Dad, the photographer
~ Saturday ~
One last shot of Brooke and I in our house...
I didn't feel ready to leave until that morning!
Ready to head home!
Hope you enjoyed all of our pictures. :) We had a wonderful vacation!
We were so glad that we not only got back on Saturday, but it was also Labor Day weekend, which meant Monday off! Sunday was mainly spent getting back into the swing of things, but Monday was all play. We headed to the pool, of course the last open day, and stayed for about 2 hours. PERFECT pool day!
Now it's back to the grind, but we feel energized and ready for it. Hope you all had a great weekend!
****** ATTENTION - If you're not Trisha "Trishie" Rains, you can ignore this message. If you ARE Trisha Rains, please please please e-mail me, girlie! I've tried all of the e-mail addresses I have for you, but I don't think they're going through. Your baby girl is so beautiful, and I really want to see how you're doing! :) sweetestdream at gmail dot com. E-mail me! :-D That's all ******
