Happy Birthday, Rypie!

Today I am thankful for my sister and the relationship that we have.  I am thankful that she is healthy and happy and here for my little lovelies.

Ryan, You have come a long way in the last three years, and we couldn't be happier to celebrate your birthday with you tomorrow.  We hope you had a great day!  We love you lots:)

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 6

Today we had a group birthday luncheon at work, and I had a fabulous chocolate mousse cake that was to die for.  Definitely thankful for that:)  But in all seriousness...

I'm thankful for my job.  I know I complain a lot about having to adjust to my back-to-work schedule, but I'm thankful I have a job, a job where I get to work with teachers and their students that are learning to read and write.  I love working in schools, and I'm lucky that I get to go into so many classrooms and learn from so many people every day.

And speaking of work...I'm also thankful for the Kimmee-time I get to have on a much more frequent basis.  Kimmee and I have known each other now for eight years and in that time, we've each gotten married and had babies and our friendship has grown stronger every year.  We taught together for five years, with only our students' bathroom between her classroom and mine, and in that time, she helped me to become a better teacher.  One of the things I missed the most about my current job was that I no longer got to work with Kimmee, but at the end of last school year, she was hired as one of our new team members.  Then I was on maternity leave and didn't get the chance to actually work with her again until a few weeks ago.  In the time that I've been back to work, she's helped me to do my job more efficiently and effectively because that's what Kimmee does.  She comes in and she sees my sheer craziness and my organizational systems, and she makes it all make more sense.  It's funny to me that she's the new one on the team, and yet she's teaching me better ways to accomplish a job I've been doing for three years.  I'm not sure what that says about me, but I know that it says she's amazing.  And not just at work.  Kimmee's an amazing listener, and she'd do anything for you.   I'd be lost without her, and I'm so thankful for her friendship.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 5

Today I'm thankful for Mommy blogs - mine and the mommies' blogs that I read.  I've learned a lot from other moms around the country...people I don't even know.  They've taught me how to take better pictures and that when you suction out a baby's nose, you actually have to close baby's other nostril for it to work.  They've taught me about discipline - how to teach children it's not okay to lie and what the options *could be* if someone decides they don't want to eat what I've made for dinner (peanut butter and jelly).  I say 'could be' because I haven't yet taken this step.  Jack doesn't really love peanut butter and jelly either, so I haven't decided if that's a good thing or just mean.

Mommy blogs taught me all about Etsy.  And, oh how I love Etsy!  You just wait until you see the outfits my sweet babies will be wearing on Thanksgiving:)

They taught me what color baby's dirty diapers should be if she's breastfeeding well.  I had no idea that was even a thing.

They've given me ideas of schedules for families with two little ones - although, I have to admit, I still haven't found one I can stick to.

They've given me loads of inspiration for throwing kids' parties.  And while I haven't taken on their decorating skills to the fullest extent, I'd say it's gotten better.  They really know how to throw a first birthday party in the south, that's for sure.

They've taught me to cherish every small moment.  To love the chaos.  To soak up the tantrums and the whining.  Because you never know what could happen and what if there weren't someone to whine about wanting more juice?

Mostly they've taught me that our daily life with two small children (and all the little surprises that come with it) is completely normal.  And sometimes all you need is a little validation:)


The reason I'm thankful for my own mommy blog is that I feel like it will be an amazing thing for Brad and I to look back at these yearly accounts of our life at this time.  It will be a wonderful thing to be able to show Jack and Hannah how much they were adored and how much fun we had during a time they most likely won't remember.  I love having this outlet to write and I love that I have lots of people who read it - even if they don't comment very often;)  And even if nobody else read it but us, I'd still do it.  I love it that much, and I hope that one day my babies will too.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 4

Today I am thankful for quiet moments at home with my family.  I love Sundays.  They are usually lazy days for our family.  We go to church and to the grocery store, but then we come home and we play and eat and nap.  Then we play and eat some more, and I just love it.  

I'm also thankful that Jack and Hannah have one another.  Jack was so sweet to Hannah all day today, and it was just the cutest thing.  He wanted to snuggle and give her kisses first thing this morning, and all day he was just looking out for her.  At dinner, while trying to get him to eat a tiny piece of broccoli, I made up a song from Hannah for Jack, sung to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  It goes like this:

     I want to play with Big Brother Jack

     Big Brother Jack, Big Brother Jack

     I want to play with Big Brother Jack

     So he can make me smile

and her face just lit up in this huge grin, and he was laughing.  Adorable.  Then tonight before bed, Jack wanted to watch an animal show, but not just with Daddy.  He insisted that he "needed his Hannah Bear," and this his "sister had to watch the animal show for five minutes, Mama."  Who can argue with that?  Certainly not me.

I'm thankful for all those little moments that just go by way too fast.  And that I have a camera to capture them forever.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 3

Today I'm thankful for good friends, clean bedrooms, online shopping, and videos on demand.

To celebrate my birthday a little early, Hannah and I had lunch with my friend Julie and her sweet baby, Kate.  Kate is exactly three weeks younger than Hannah, and Julie and I can't wait until our girls can play together.  Today they just kind of looked on at one another and listened to one another squeal and cry during lunch.  We enjoyed great salads and cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, and Julie got me the most beautiful infinity scarf from The Loft (and I'd be lying if I didn't say I was thankful for ALL of those things!).

When I got home, we cleaned the kids' bedrooms and changed their bedding and because I'm a dork, I absolutely love the feeling of clean bedrooms and new sheets.

Thanks to online shopping, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, and I feel like I just started.

And as to video on demand...let's just say that someone is very excited to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1.  That person shall remain nameless.  In order to do so, said person must first catch up by watching The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.  Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, video on demand.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 2

Tonight I'm thankful for my husband, who for the last two nights, has allowed me to fall asleep with our little man before 9:30.  I'm still suffering from sheer exhaustion and from having to go back to work, and when I tucked Baby Jack into bed, not only did he fall asleep, but so did I.  Dead asleep.  Like, Brad's had to wake me up and make me switch beds asleep.

And not only that, but Brad's also cleaned up the entire house while I've slept the early evening away.  I wake up with our baby girl at about 4:30 every morning, and the past two mornings I've found the toys put away, the dishes washed, laundry in the machine, and lights out.

Simply amazing.

A Week of Thanks

In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I've decided to post a week's worth of thanks.  Hope you enjoy:)

Tonight, I'm thankful that one year ago today, I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive.

Our Peanut was on her way, and at that moment, I was the only one who knew it.  Now I can't believe that she's about to be four months old.  Amazing how the time flies...

I'm oh-so-thankful for our baby girl and her big brother, that precious boy who makes me smile every day.