okay, peanut.

2010: promises

12/30/2009 · Leave a Comment

Oh dear, I’m lost. Instead of continuing to wander aimlessly, I’ve made a decision. A big decision. Ready? 2010 is going to be a year about me. I don’t mean that in a selfish way, but more of an, “I’m going to find my balance” kind of way. You’ll see – I’m going to get rid of that which does not belong and embrace what does. I will focus on enhancing relationships of all types and improving communication. I vow to blog more and gripe less. I’ll be positive and hope to again find my bubbly old self by the end of the year. And I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Aren’t you excited!? Ha!

This was a really strange year – full of great highs and some serious lows. Some of those lows are going to carry over into the beginning of 2010, but I’ve been working and will continue to work ridiculously hard to rid myself of them as soon as I can. One of them most certainly has affected every aspect of my life, and it’s time to see it go. Hopefully that will all be wrapped up very, very soon.

The biggest up of 2009, the arrival of our daughter, will no doubt be another highlight in the coming year. What an awesome job parenting is. I never imagined it being quite like this, and honestly, I couldn’t have. Being a parent is what life is all about. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and also the most rewarding. Our little miracle is truly a blessing.

I’m lucky, and I DO realize that. I’m blessed with a great husband, a healthy daughter, and a supportive bunch of family and friends. This coming year is about making all of those relationships even better – stronger and more fantastic than ever before! It’s about improving me so I can be a better mother, daughter, wife, sister and friend.

Big changes are coming, my friends. Stay tuned as I keep you posted. 2010 is going to be my year, and it’s going to be fantastic!

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december highlights …

12/30/2009 · Leave a Comment

As I’ve said before, we had a whirlwind of a December. While I didn’t take quite as many pictures as is normal (I know, I typically go overboard.), we did have a few chances to capture what we were up to. Here are some highlights …

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a thought …

12/30/2009 · Leave a Comment

I thought of this one morning on my way to work. Though it originally referred to a slow-moving school bus I was following onto a 65 mph highway (We were moving at a snail’s pace and it really did feel dangerous.), the more I thought about it, I realized how well it applies to so many things in life. I don’t want to forget it, so here it is …

Perhaps the greatest danger is not in that which moves too quickly, but in that which takes it slow.

Have a beautiful day, and try not to take it too slow!

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forever?

12/29/2009 · Leave a Comment

Yeah, I know. It’s been forever. I guess I never figured that Christmas + working mom + sick baby + sick me would take SO. MUCH. TIME. I’m completely exhausted and am glad Christmas has come and gone. I know; where’s my spirit? This year, I didn’t get all cheerful and excited. In fact, it felt more like going through the motions. I was happy because I had to be, and I guess it worked out. As it so happens, I’ve made some promises with myself for 2010 – some of which I’ll share, some of which I’ll keep to myself. That’s not for now, though.

Nope, I wanted to update on some recent happenings. Peanut is growing like a weed and getting more of a personality every day! She’s sitting up wonderfully now, a skill she mastered over the past two weeks. I swear she’s going to crawl any day now, too. Until then, she gets around by army crawling (using only her arms) and rotating herself around in a circle to see what she needs to see. It’s hilarious.

She must have asked Santa for her two front (bottom) teeth for Christmas, because we discovered them Christmas day. Oh, is she ever miserable with them. I feel SO incredibly bad and wish I could take the pain for her. At any rate, they’re on their way.

There are also new sounds in her vocabulary – those of a “B” variety.

Christmas was fun with her – she helped unwrap gifts, but not for the gifts themselves. Nope, she was all about the paper – and where did it go? In her mouth! Not for long, of course.

How was your holiday?

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sleep!

11/03/2009 · Leave a Comment

I don’t want to jinx us, but the past few nights have been GREAT when it comes to sleep – as long as we stay on our schedule. Last night, our Peanut fell asleep at 8:45, woke up at 11:45, and we had to wake her up at 6 this morning to get her ready! Excuse us, right!? ;0) I’m convinced it’s the baby food + rice cereal combo. She ate half a jar last night, and was QUICK about it, too!

I love this girl, and just as much, I love being a mom.

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trick or treat!

11/02/2009 · 1 Comment

Well, we enjoyed a quiet Halloween night – guess we should enjoy them because we probably won’t have many more for quite some time! Our Peanut had three costumes to wear and no where to go, so we made our own fun – making sure she ended up in each costume!

We had a pumpkin …

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… a cow …

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… and a giraffe!

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is she yelling at me???

11/02/2009 · Leave a Comment

This is another funny one … this girl makes some great faces!

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my now giant heart …

11/02/2009 · Leave a Comment

Oh, what a night we had last night! First, Lily and I spent the day at my parent’s house. It was so nice to get a chance to spend time with everyone without an agenda; we had a GREAT day! Lily practiced sitting up and can now successfully sit with her hands in front of her before toppling over! I love it.

So, last night rocked. I put Lily in her crib for some alone time (She really does want her alone time each day!) and decided to hang out for a few minutes and watch. Boy, am I ever glad I did! She’s been into putting her bib over her face to block the light – while the lights were off in her room at the time, there was light coming in from the television in the next room and from her aquarium on her crib (Yes, that little bit is enough to cause her to cover her face.). I didn’t think much of it when she covered her face, and I said the typical “Peekaboo!” when she uncovered her face. “Peekaboo!” will normally get a giggle out of her the first few times, but that’s been the extent of it. Well, last night changed that! When she uncovered her face that first time, and every time over the next 20 minutes, “Peekaboo!” brought huge laughs from her! She completely controlled the game; she covered her face, then uncovered her face to see us, laughing hysterically every single time! It was AWESOME!

I’m certain my heart grew at least 100 times larger last night. Every day with this girl is a blessing, and I only wish I could spend every waking moment with her.

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long lost me …

10/30/2009 · Leave a Comment

I’m still here, people. And this will be a quick update! Seems things have gone crazy lately. Really. Busy is a fair understatement. IMG_2641e1 If you’re awaiting an e-mail, phone call, or other, forgive me! I’m still the same ol’ “off” self I’ve been for the past few years, and it seems this funk is going to last forever. Oh well, many things have changed, most of which have not been good and driven me further down, but it is what it is. Anyway, onward …

First and foremost, our girl. Lily is growing like crazy. While she hasn’t done anything totally new lately, her skills are getting better by the minute! She’s rolling from one side of the room to the other, passing things from one hand to the other with little effort, responding to her name, and starting to inchworm with the best of ‘em.

She’s started real food every day! She’d had some here and there, but I had a hard time figuring the best time to feed it to her each night. Until she’s eating multiple times a day, it’s something I’m not willing to let our daycare provider do; I may be a working mom, but I’m still a MOM, and that’s my #1 job – thank you very much. Anyway, I was determined to make it work. When she was seriously hungry wasn’t good, but it didn’t seem to be working out when we first got home, either. We’ve got it, though, and she’s successfully enjoyed over a week of sweet potatoes, carrots, and just last night, tried and liked squash!

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I also started her in her high chair last night, and thankfully, she loved it! She’s sitting up with help, and I’m hoping this helps her along in that area, as well. Yep, she’s sitting up with help! She’ll go a few seconds by herself, and makes some serious effort to remain upright, but just doesn’t have the strength yet.

Otherwise, things are the same. We’re looking forward to Halloween – three costumes should make for an interesting few days, huh? I’ll check back in soon!

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alphabitty moments – G

10/15/2009 · 1 Comment

These Alphabitty Moments layouts are so much fun! MamaBear at 4 the Love of Family kicked off the fun to keep record of the little things our children do. She, along with the other weekly participants, have some amazing ideas and cute memories … you really should check it out!

I really struggled with something for the letter G. Because Peanut is only 5 months old, there’s often little she’s learned or done thus far. Watching her last night, it came to me, and it’s just perfect! So … this week, the letter G is for grip! That little girl has been grabbing, gripping and holding on to everything lately! I love watching her hands work as she learns to pick up, hold and pass things. This is such an awesome time – one that I don’t want to forget!

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Psst …
Want to see all of the Alphabitty posts together? They can be found here …
Want more information on these Alphabitty Moments? Yep, it’s awesome! That information is here …

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