My fun little hobby is getting time consuming and taking me from my chores this afternoon but that's okay.  Another former coworker of mine from a different NICU asked if I would help her take a few first birthday pictures of her sweet little man.  Let me just state the obvious, newborns are much easier to work with than toddlers!  We didn't go anywhere special, just a patch of grass off of their street and he didn't like the grass at all.  For the inside shots it was right at nap time and I was skeptical we got any good shots but was hoping at least a couple turned out.  He did great and Loren and I had a lot of fun.  We get our kids together a couple of times a month and it's always a good time. 

You know I had to snap one of my own munchkin.  This is her new thing, she waves and says "Hi's!" to everyone and everything and she gets so sad when someone (eating dinner at a restaurant, pushing their grocery cart quickly down an aisle, riding a bike on the sidewalk while she is in the car) doesn't say hi back.  My heart sinks just a little bit for her when she doesn't get noticed because she puts EVERYTHING into those "hi's" (Hi-ce), waits patiently, and then sort of looks down as she realizes what has happened.  The thing I love about kids though, she jumps right at the next chance to say hi to someone even if it's seconds later.  She doesn't linger in self-pity or get all "whoa is me", she tries again and with just as much passion, hope, and excitement as if it was the first time she has ever waved.  That's such a good lesson for me.  It continues to amaze me how much I learn from my daughter when I think I'm doing all the teaching. 

Deck the Halls

While Elyse was napping yesterday Matt got down the Christmas decoration boxes and we put up the tree and decorated the house while she was napping.  She woke up and was carried from her room to all of the magical goodness.  Well, if you were to see my house it is decorated rather modestly with mostly hand-me-down decorations or things purchased 75% off.  It doesn't blend well together in my opinion and I wish it looked better but it serves it's purpose and to Elyse, it was magic. 

She immediately ran to a dining chair cover of a snowman that Matt has had since he was little.  She eventually made her way to the tree and because of all the lights she thought is was "hot" and didn't want to touch it (probably a good thing really).  She warmed up to the scene of it all and went around the house point out "mowmen", even though some of them were actually santa clauses. 

Christmas feels extra special this year already.

 She went right toward this little fellow.

 Hmmmm.........

 Here she is pointing out the "mowman" chair cover.  Her smile is mixed perfectly with excitement and caution, I love that.

She went around collecting the "snow" from around my mini trees.  The strings of beads are something Matt had, also from when he was younger, and they are varying lengths.  She kept saying "neck" and trying to wear them as necklaces but didn't quite understand why they weren't connected.  It was cute.

Elyse has been sleeping in lately, today she got well after 8am, so needless to say Matt and I have been enjoying the extra sleep as well.  For whatever reason, I decided to nap while she napped today too.  Now it is after 11pm and I'm not tired....hmmmm....I wonder why.  Ugh. 

We've had 2 FULL days as a family and our long weekend together is only HALF over.  I'm loving that thought right now and most of you know how much it means and how grateful I am for it.  I'm also thankful for a husband who goes along with my crazy ideas.  Elyse LOVES snowmen.  She will point them out in even the tiniest photo in a catalog of a snow globe that happens to contain a snowman.  She has some pj's with snowmen and if she sees them she wants to wear them.  Her love for snowmen brought about the idea of a beach snowman Christmas card picture for this year.  Matt had his questions and concerns, but when it came down to it he helped pack the diaper bag and got us on the road to my mission without any hesitation.  I think it's in those moments that I appreciate the differences in our personalities the most. 

He was right.  Trying to capture a toddler that never sits still in the sand with a "snowman" left much to be desired.  Not to mention I had grandiose ideas of a 6 foot snowman posing as a member of our little family.  Here is basically what I got..............

Matt calls him my "snowman terd".  It was hard to build up the sand.  There were a lot of people around and let's face it, I haven't built anything with sand in decades so I had no idea what i was doing.  The sand kept cracking and falling so in a matter of moments I was perfectly content with this little guy.

Then he met Elyse.  She ripped off his nose, threw away his hat, and she didn't like being outside of the house without shoes which she kept mentioning....."choos, choos".

So then we tried the hat on her thinking that might look cute or at least distract her.  Not so much.  Notice he still doesn't have a nose.

I left the scene rather discouraged and wondering what I was going to do for a Christmas card but we did at least manage to get an "okay" family picture.  It won't be on our Christmas card but I do still like it. 

Afterwards we walked around the beach and took a stroll down to the pier.  The weather was perfect and we were able to see a beautiful sunset.  We left from there and went to The Columbia for dinner.  It really was a good evening. 

I sure hope I get tired soon.  It will be tomorrow before I know it. 

Let us give thanks

I read this in a study this morning and it fit so perfectly with Thanksgiving being tomorrow. 

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” – Psalm 136:1


Let us bless God for the eyes with which we behold the sun, for the health and strength to walk abroad in the sunlight; let us praise Him for the mercies which are new every morning, for the bread we eat, for the clothes we wear, for houses which give us shelter.

Let us bless Him that we are not deprived of our reason, or stretched upon the bed of suffering; let us praise Him that we are not cast out among the hopeless, or confined among the guilty; let us thank Him for liberty, for friends, for family and comforts; let us praise Him for everything which we receive from His hand, for we deserve little, and yet are most blessed.

“His mercy endures forever.” Every morning’s light proclaims it, the beams of every moon declare it; every breath of air, every heaving of the lungs, every beating of the pulse, are fresh witnesses that “his mercy endures forever.”

We has such a busy weekend with family and friends that there is so much I could write about but  not really anything to say if that makes sense.  It was just busy fun and lots of it. 

I did have the opportunity to take some newborn pictures for a wonderful friend and old co-worker of mine.  I just have to share a couple of my favorites because this was my first time doing anything like this and we just had so much fun!  Elyse napped during the entire session and Jackson behaved like a perfect gentleman.  The preciousness and sweetness of a newborn is incredible to me.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to post again before the Thanksgiving, but if not, I hope you all of a very happy Thanksgiving!!!

Crick in my neck

I woke up this morning with a horrible crick in my neck.  It has affected just about anything and everything I do today.  I can't turn my head very quickly or it literally feels like knives are stabbing my upper right shoulder and back and the intense pain actually radiates down my arm and to my hand.  I don't recall the last time I had a stiff neck this bad but maybe it's because I haven't had one this bad while taking care of, entertaining, and running after a 17 month old.  It hurts to pick her up or play with  her and I couldn't even bend enough to help her get the toy that rolled under the entertainment center, poor kid.  I try to make the best of things most of the time but I just don't see the ability to do that with this.  It has, however, made me grateful that I'm healthy and feel good almost every day, and can do the things I need to without any discomforts to speak of. 

Last Thursday my neighborhood responded to a crick in it's neck and made it fun. 

There was a car accident a mile or two away where a car ran into a power generator.  The power was out around it for miles and miles, homes, restaurants, and stores were affected.  It only last 3 or 4 hours but I love the way our neighborhood responded.  We all scooped up our kids, dogs, etc, and set up "camp" in a neighbors driveway.  Some of us knew each other well, others it was a first meeting.  We shared laughs and swapped stories.  As the sun went down, the citronella candles and tiki torches came out as the rest of the neighborhood remained pitch black.  A little while later we heard the buzzing as lights flickered back on, yet people stayed just as they were.  No one rushed home to the comforts of electricity, they stayed around the warmth of neighbors.  Eventually the party broke up, but the next day an older neighbor of ours waved to me from across the street and said, "I hope the power goes out again soon."  I smiled and nodded.  I do too. 

Let me preface this story by mentioning that Matt and I are constantly saying we would like to eat better, healthier meals, exercise more, etc. 

Yesterday Matt made us egg and cheese bagels for breakfast and we took Elyse to the park before her nap.  After the park we decided to go to Chik-Fil-A for lunch.  We each got a chicken sandwich, split some fries and shared a milkshake.  That evening we went to the mall to fill our time until we needed to pick up my dad and Susan from the airport, who were flying back in from Europe.  We decided to eat dinner at the mall and enjoyed a wonderful meal at Maggiano's (quite possibly my favorite restaurant).  We sat outside and were concerned it may get too cold but it turned out to be perfect out.  Soft Italian music was playing and there wasn't much light besides the glow that table candles provided.  I thought of it as a date night with Elyse along for the ride.  We watched shoppers passing by and cars scurrying around.  It was nice. (By the way, using a savings pass and shopping on the clearance rack I got some amazing bargains on clothes for Elyse at Macy's......5 complete outfits for about $10 total.)  

On our way home we both felt grossly full.  Once we got back I googled the nutrition facts from our meals out and calculated our breakfast at home. We ended up consuming around 3,500 calories yesterday.  Once we figured out the number we almost simultaneously said, "That's insane".  Fortunately we don't do things like that very often, but at the same time, we do it often enough, if that makes any sense at all.  It's funny because I don't realize how bad the nutrition of the food is because if I were to make it at home I would never use that much butter, cream, salt, or whatever restaurants tend to pile onto their food that makes it taste so yummy.  At the end of the day though, it was worth it.  I enjoy eating out so much I would gladly make it a hobby.  Some people like to cook, I like to eat what other people cook.  Not that I mind cooking, I just don't love it like I love eating out.   

Today......I should be doing something, anything, productive but I'm not.  Matt's at the Bucs game enjoying some "boy time" with the family.  Elyse is napping and my house is in need of several things but it's so nice out and this hummus I'm eating is so good. 

I've been learning about different Psalms at church over the last few Sundays and this mornings message has left me unwilling to fluster today.  Psalm 37 mentions fret and Pastor Kurt pointed out that only 8% of what we fret about ever comes true, which leaves 92% for nothing.  I fret.  Not in excess in my opinion, but I do, so today I'm taking the day off from fret and I'm going to try to be still in that regard.

Uh oh.  I think I'm getting hummus on the keyboard.  Better go.

I should probably put the hummus away and try to burn off a few of those 3,500 calories.

I'm tired.  I spent the last few nights staying up late to finish 3 photo books.  I create them through Snapfish.com when they run specials and this one was the best I'd seen in awhile.  It was buy one photo book get 2 free but it only gave you a few days to get them done.  Hundreds of photos later they should be being processed as we speak.  I love digital photography and that I can take and store thousands of photos but I like these books because I still enjoy having something tangible to look at, touch, and share with people.  Needless to say I don't have anything much to post about and I'm going to try to get to bed early tonight......why do I feel like I'm constantly saying that and never actually doing it? 

Winter fall festival

A few of our neighborhood stores put on a winter wonderland fall festival.  We went with some friends and enjoyed free pancakes, milk, and coffee and enjoyed samples of chili, chowder, gyros, chicken, teas, and cookies from local vendors.  The weather was a gorgeous 59 degrees.  Elyse met Santa, Elmo, and timidly approached the petting zoo.  She really enjoyed the "snow" today and the parents enjoyed great conversation together.  It was a great morning, the best we've had in awhile.  It made my heart smile. 

The coupon seminar I went to on Friday was great! I didn't realize there was such a science behind all of this and I'm ecstatic over some of the deals I've gotten already. Not clipping coupons until I need them has already proven to help my organization and has helped keep me from buying things just because I had a coupon instead of waiting for a better deal. My favorites so far this week.......laundry detergent for $1 and dish soap and pasta I got paid to take. It's a bit overwhelming and time consuming but I think I'll get the hang of it if I stay with it.

Saturday we took Elyse to a local fall festival. It was okay. I'm glad we went but I don't think we will be going back to this particular one next year. I attempted to sit in the driveway and pass out candy on Sunday (that has always been a little dream of mine but hadn't been able to do it in years past because of work) but the bugs came out before the kids did so I went back inside. We took Elyse around in her "car" and said hello to a few of the neighbors but she didn't do any trick or treating herself. Maybe next year. I'll post a few pictures below.

Matt calls Elyse his "pumpkin pants" so he insisted she be a pumpkin for Halloween. I found this costume at a consignment shop for $3 so I happily went with it. She wasn't very fond of it but she kept it on long enough for me to get a couple of pictures. It was just too hot here still and she got so sweaty in it.

I do realize most pumpkins don't wear hair bows but the flower clip helped keep the hood from sliding over her face.

Our lovely, last minute, poorly planned costumes for a neighbors Halloween party.

Her first time on a pony at the fall festival.
The "train" ride. Elyse and I are in the 4th car from the tractor, that was one bumpy and dusty ride for sure.
Now that is an underbite!

Goats at the petting zoo there, she seemed to like them.