This has been our most amazing, most challenging and most rewarding year yet. We have grown in ways we could not have imagined before this year. We have learned so much about the selflessness involved in being parents. We are learning together what it takes to keep our marriage strong and centered admist all of the stresses of balancing two jobs and a baby. We have seen the most exhausted and most vulnerable versions of each other. We have laughed together daily. We have spent many precious moments together watching our baby grow. We have said many prayers of gratitude for the gift we have been given in each other. We have been greatly blessed in year five.
12.31.2009
12.29.2009
Holiday fun...
Our holiday started several days early with a little celebration at home just the three of us. Next, we went to Georgia to spend Christmas with my family plus my aunt, uncle and cousins. We had such a wonderful time enjoying each other and loving on Annabelle...it was just what Christmas should be.


Annabelle with her new "Lolly Dolly" and frog towel.
Annabelle had been pulling ribbon off packages all week!
A new pair of shoes from mama and daddy for the rapidly growing feet!
12.28.2009
Eight Months...
Annabelle,


You are 8 months old today!
- You have changed so much in the last month. You have started to develop such a delightful personality...opinionated, funny, easy to make laugh, adaptable, curious, adventurous, and so sweet. Lately, we have been seeing parts of your disposition that make us think we might be seeing a little bit of who you might be in the years to come. We think you will be very determined, extremely joyful and up for anything. We hope we do all we can to parent you in a way that allows you to keep these beautiful characteristics.
- You are the happiest when you are on the go...crawling, pulling up on things, trying to climb up and over, cruising around things, and trying to stand on your own. When you are being held and want to be down, you just arch your back until you slide onto the floor.
- You are eager to try new foods...so far (besides your baby food) you have had tried waffles, grits, mashed potatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes, bananas, toast, cheese, cheerios, yogurt, scrambled eggs, biscuits, and acorn squash.
- You absolutely adore your Nana. You just laugh and smile anytime you see her, even if it has only been 5 minutes since you were last with her. Over Christmas, you turned down your mama in favor of your Nana. She feels the same about you. We all do, actually. 
- You wear 12 month clothes and size 3 shoes. At your doctor's appt. last week, you weighed 20 pounds and 8 ounces.
- You have been sick almost all of this month, but you are still a happy girl. We have felt terrible that we can't seem to get you well. The last few weeks have been our hardest by far. You have had such a hard time sleeping laying down - so your dad and I have spent a lot of nights letting you sleep on our chests so that you could breathe.
- You had the most wonderful first Christmas (more on that later), and you were just delighted by everything from the decorations to the tissue paper in gifts. We have a snowman that plays music and lights up - it has made you laugh and laugh all month!
- You started to indiscriminately say mama and dada. We can't wait until you say them just to us!
- You favorite friends are our dogs. You have started following them around in your walker. You hold your arms out, squeal with glee, and run after them as fast as you can. They do not like that so much...they do, however, like the food that falls off of your highchair. 
Happy 8 months, baby girl ~ We love you!
12.25.2009
12.20.2009
Happy Birthday, Lacey!!
I have heard for some time that a gentleman never asks a woman her age. In that spirit, I won't divulge Lacey's age in this space. If you are lucky enough to know her well, you already know. I'll just use this opportunity to let y'all in on a few things that I love about this girl.
There are things that I am challenged with that come very easy to Lacey. She is simply a whiz at simple math, house chores, and knowing what to say. "House chores" seems like a chauvinistic thing to say, but I do not mean it that way at all. I'll explain. When Lacey was home with Annabelle, I would regularly come home to a spotless house, piles of neatly folded clothes, and a hot dinner. To contrast, I was recently home with Annabelle, and all I could accomplish was vacuuming the rug in one room. Lacey has the gift of accomplishing many tasks at the same time and getting them done with extreme efficiency. I am constantly in awe of how much she is able to finish in any given time. To boot, everything she does, she does well. She has talent beyond compare.
Her main strengths are her capacity to listen to situations, process all of the possibilities, and then come to reasonable conclusions. Our marriage has benefited from this a number of times. I take advantage of this strength whenever I can. I have this funny feeling that her family and close friends know this is a strength of hers, too.
Infectious is the word that I would use to describe Lacey's laugh. We love to laugh in our house. I try to make her laugh at least once a day. I know that I have succeeded when she throws her head back or starts wiping tears from her eyes. Lacey's sense of humor has evolved past that of a twelve year old boy's, and that adds a degree of difficulty.
Reading is another of those things that Lacey is much better at than I am. She reads voraciously. Reading is such a part of Lacey's life that it bounds on addiction. She is an avid reader with a wide variety of tastes. Lately, she has taken an interest in historical fiction. That was a complete surprise to me. That's a fun thing about thinking you know someone so well. Whenever there are surprises, they are much larger than they would have been otherwise. If we play our cards right, our little ones will take after their mother and develop a love of reading much earlier in their lives than I did.
There's no denying that I am not comfortable with words. Heck, this post probably took about three hours to write. Lacey never has trouble expressing herself to people. Words just come natural to her. Her specialty is words of affirmation, and she shares them without prejudice strengthening all of those around her.
You could not find a lovelier wife for me or mother for Annabelle. Lacey was put here on Earth for us. There is not a day that goes by without me giving thanks to God for bringing her to me.
There are things that I am challenged with that come very easy to Lacey. She is simply a whiz at simple math, house chores, and knowing what to say. "House chores" seems like a chauvinistic thing to say, but I do not mean it that way at all. I'll explain. When Lacey was home with Annabelle, I would regularly come home to a spotless house, piles of neatly folded clothes, and a hot dinner. To contrast, I was recently home with Annabelle, and all I could accomplish was vacuuming the rug in one room. Lacey has the gift of accomplishing many tasks at the same time and getting them done with extreme efficiency. I am constantly in awe of how much she is able to finish in any given time. To boot, everything she does, she does well. She has talent beyond compare.
Her main strengths are her capacity to listen to situations, process all of the possibilities, and then come to reasonable conclusions. Our marriage has benefited from this a number of times. I take advantage of this strength whenever I can. I have this funny feeling that her family and close friends know this is a strength of hers, too.
Infectious is the word that I would use to describe Lacey's laugh. We love to laugh in our house. I try to make her laugh at least once a day. I know that I have succeeded when she throws her head back or starts wiping tears from her eyes. Lacey's sense of humor has evolved past that of a twelve year old boy's, and that adds a degree of difficulty.
Reading is another of those things that Lacey is much better at than I am. She reads voraciously. Reading is such a part of Lacey's life that it bounds on addiction. She is an avid reader with a wide variety of tastes. Lately, she has taken an interest in historical fiction. That was a complete surprise to me. That's a fun thing about thinking you know someone so well. Whenever there are surprises, they are much larger than they would have been otherwise. If we play our cards right, our little ones will take after their mother and develop a love of reading much earlier in their lives than I did.
There's no denying that I am not comfortable with words. Heck, this post probably took about three hours to write. Lacey never has trouble expressing herself to people. Words just come natural to her. Her specialty is words of affirmation, and she shares them without prejudice strengthening all of those around her.
You could not find a lovelier wife for me or mother for Annabelle. Lacey was put here on Earth for us. There is not a day that goes by without me giving thanks to God for bringing her to me.
12.18.2009
Sugar and Spice...
It was this week last year that we found out that our precious baby was a baby girl. I vividly remember laying in the ultrasound room with tears streaming down my face while Jesse squeezed my hand over and over. We were going to have a daughter - we were thrilled. I immediately began thinking about names and nursery decorations, while Jesse started worrying about how we were going to keep the boys away from her.
A daughter...we are still in disbelief that we have been so blessed.
12.14.2009
Baby's bag of tricks...
Well, this weekend, Jesse and I met our first "what in the world do we do about this?" parenting moment.
Annabelle is pulling up now and she means business. If it can support her weight, she will shimmy herself up to standing. The first day or two we oohed and aahed with "new" parent fascination and awe! Pictures were taken and videos were made (which will be shared this week for sure!) Our baby girl is mobile and standing - we couldn't believe it! Then naptime and nighttime came...but who needs sleep when you can STAND UP?!? All day (and night) long - STANDING UP. Here is the new routine - standing, then crying for help, then falling, then crying, then soothed by mama, then standing...again and again. We rocked her to sleep; we tried patting her back in her crib; we used a sleep sack. The minute we lay her back down, she is right back up. It is precious and all, but holy goodness we need some sleep - all of us do! The words "duct tape" were even uttered sometime in the night by my sweet husband. He kids. I think.
Annabelle is pulling up now and she means business. If it can support her weight, she will shimmy herself up to standing. The first day or two we oohed and aahed with "new" parent fascination and awe! Pictures were taken and videos were made (which will be shared this week for sure!) Our baby girl is mobile and standing - we couldn't believe it! Then naptime and nighttime came...but who needs sleep when you can STAND UP?!? All day (and night) long - STANDING UP. Here is the new routine - standing, then crying for help, then falling, then crying, then soothed by mama, then standing...again and again. We rocked her to sleep; we tried patting her back in her crib; we used a sleep sack. The minute we lay her back down, she is right back up. It is precious and all, but holy goodness we need some sleep - all of us do! The words "duct tape" were even uttered sometime in the night by my sweet husband. He kids. I think.
What do we do? Does this just last for a while and then stop?
12.08.2009
12.05.2009
Crawling...
Our girl is crawling all over the place these days!
Glittery Ornaments = Delicious!
12.03.2009
A Few Haiku for You
Born wrinkly and wet
Daddy gave me my first bath
He can’t stop smiling
Asleep all the time
Can’t control my tiny limbs
Mom and Dad love me
Beginning to smile
Folks keep trying to make me
Laugh for them. Dance clown!!
Mom loves me so much
It hurts her heart to leave me
I won’t remember
I flirt with mirrors
I flirt with shiny objects
It cracks people up
Loud sounds startle me
My quivering bottom lip
Says I’m going to cry
I’ve started crawling
I’ll be mobile any day
Ooh, what’s over there?
G-T-U-G-A
Can’t believe the mutts beat us
Twenty-Four - Thirty
Caring for us all
It’s tough being a wife and mom
We love her for it
Daddy gave me my first bath
He can’t stop smiling
Asleep all the time
Can’t control my tiny limbs
Mom and Dad love me
Beginning to smile
Folks keep trying to make me
Laugh for them. Dance clown!!
Mom loves me so much
It hurts her heart to leave me
I won’t remember
I flirt with mirrors
I flirt with shiny objects
It cracks people up
Loud sounds startle me
My quivering bottom lip
Says I’m going to cry
I’ve started crawling
I’ll be mobile any day
Ooh, what’s over there?
G-T-U-G-A
Can’t believe the mutts beat us
Twenty-Four - Thirty
Caring for us all
It’s tough being a wife and mom
We love her for it
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