Just Some Thoughts...

Wow! I can't believe that January is almost over! I haven't blogged nearly as much as I planned but it's a good start. In my last post, I told you all about the "monster" in Abigail's room. The problem has not been completely resolved but it's getting better. The only way to get her to stay in her room at night was to put a lamp in there so that the whole room was pretty much illuminated. Some nights are harder than others to get her to stay in bed and go to sleep but the lamp has been the best solution so far. I've talked to her a number of times about talking to Jesus when she's scared or afraid. Even though we pray together every night before she goes to bed, I'm not sure she understands that concept. I have also told her that we don't allow "monsters" in our house. She will still often wake in the middle of the night and come crying that there is "something in her room," but I think it has more to do with making excuses for wanting to sleep with me. If any of you moms out there have any other solutions, please feel free to leave a comment.

Every day I am amazed at how much she has changed. She is such a little lady now. She talks non-stop and has a pretty big vocabulary. She loves to laugh and has a pretty big one like her mama. :) She still loves to dance and sing. She knows all the words to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and most of the words to other songs like, "Jesus Loves Me," "Deep and Wide," "I'm A Little Teapot," "London Bridge is Falling Down," "Jingle Bells," and "Happy Birthday." She can count to eight in english and ten in spanish. She can sing majority of her ABC's. She loves to point out things and say what they are. The most recent being the names of all the characters on the tv shows that she watches. I am so amazed at how smart she is. She soaks everything up! I think I have a little genius on my hands! Mama is so proud!

We are getting read to head to Graceville on Friday to visit Nana, Papa, Uncle Justin, Aunt Hannah, and Marlee. Abigail and I are so excited. It was about this time last year that I started blogging. Abigial and I were in Graceville for three weeks waiting on the arrival of our niece and cousin Marlee Brooke. I can't believe she's about to turn one! Time flew by so fast. I hate that we live so far apart. I got to see her a bunch this year but it doesn't change the fact that I missed so much. Abigail has been going around saying, "Marlee's birthday is in two weeks." Ever since her birthday she has become obssessed. She is so ready to sing Happy Birthday and give Marlee her birthday present and so am I! I just loved what we picked out and I think Marlee will too. We love you Marlee.

Well this week will be busy with cleaning, laundry, and packing. Abigail has been running a fever since Sunday. It got up to 103 yesterday so I took her to the doctor. She only has a virus and hopefully will be better by tomorrow. I am praying that Ryan and I don't get it. Here are a few pictures of Abigail over the last few weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Tantrums From a Two Year Old

Wow! Is it only Tuesday? It's amazing how the actions of others, albeit big or small, seem to make your week drag on. I believe that we have finally hit the "terrible two's". Abigail has only been two for a little over a month and we've been making "terrible two's" jokes for a while. Any time she would act up we'd say, "here comes the terrible two's." But this is the real deal.

It all started Monday night when I told her to pick up her puzzle pieces when we got home from the church. She had made a huge mess of them on the floor before we left to go to a meeting and because we were running late, we just left it. So, when we got home, she was supposed to start picking up her pieces and putting them in the little bag they had come out of. For some reason, she decided that she didn't want to and immediately laid down on the ground and started whining. Her other new thing is saying, "Ow, I've got a boo-boo," and start crying. This is totally fake. It's just her way of trying to get out of whatever she doesn't want to do. They sure do learn fast! To make a long story short she was sent to bed early. This however, backfired. She wouldn't stay in her bed. We tried everything. She finally told me, "there's something in my room." To which I replied, "What is in your room?" I was completely shocked when she said, "A MONSTER!" How does she know about monsters? I haven't told her about them! So I asked her to show me where and apparently it resides in the tiny bit of wall space between her window and ceiling. I had to hold her hand until she fell asleep.

This brings us to today. After dragging her toys all over the place this morning, she was getting hungry for lunch. So I asked her to start picking up her toys while I fixed her lunch. Now, I am aware that she is only two, for those of you out there saying that. But this child is smart and I know that she knows how to pick up her toys because she usually does it all the time. She's just being stubborn and testing her boundaries. I'm thinking that today will be different because of what happened last night. NOT! She did the same exact thing as the night before. Crying, boo-boo's and other hysterics. She finally went down for a nap and I DID NOT pick up her toys. I left them there until she got up. This time she helped me pick them up. PTL!

Later tonight, when it was time to start settling down, we came to the toy battle again. This time, she picked most of them up without me having to threaten or discipline, until we came to the last three toys. I don't know what it was about those last three but she started to pull out the same stunts from earlier. However, she decided to pick them up and go about her business.

Lastly, I took her to her room to change her diaper after she had finished picking up the toys, to which the protest began. She kept trying to get up off the bed while I'm changing her diaper and was staring at the spot on the wall. I have no idea where the idea of monsters came from or why it's on that part of the wall but she was already freaking out. I was too tired to deal tonight so she's asleep on the love seat, safe and sound, away from the "scary monster" as she called it tonight.

The Skinny Within

Hey friends!

I just wanted to let you all know that I have a second blog. As most of you know, I've struggled with my weight for a while now. It's been an ongoing battle, a lot of starts and stops. Well, I'm starting again and trying to blog again about the journey. Check it out for updates on my progress. Hope you enjoy! http://theskinnywithin.blogspot.com/

Staring at the Blank Page Before Me...

Happy 2010!!!

To me, a new year represents a new start, a blank page to write on. Every new year countless numbers of people make resolutions, including myself. These resolutions are usually things we want to do or change about ourselves that we rarely ever accomplish. For the last several years, losing weight has been on the top of mine. And every year, I start and stop a new diet. Several times within the year, in fact. I may lose some weight but no lifestyle change really takes place. Somewhere along the way, I lose the will power and resolve. Another resolution from a few years back was to learn to drive a stick. And if you know me, you know that I still can't!

So this year, I didn't openly declare any resolutions. But there are a few things that I have yet to accomplish and I'm hoping 2010 is the year. Still number one on my list is to lose the weight I have gained over the past 7 years. Sometimes I look in the mirror and barely recognize myself. Other days, I really don't care. But I need to work on myself. For the sake of me and my family. I am hoping to start the Couch to 5K training tomorrow. It's a training program for beginner runners to get up off the couch and be able to run a 5k at the end of three months. I just hope my sciatic nerve will let me. It's been bothering me for days now. But not just running, I hope to train my body to want healthy foods not the fatty stuff I'm used to eating. I'm looking forward to not just losing weight but feeling better too.

There are a few other things on my list but I don't want to bore you! So as I embark on a new year, I also like to reflect back on the year past. To look back at the good, evaluate the bad, and learn from the mistakes along the way. Here a few highlights from 2009:

*Became a SAHM (stay-at-home mom) in January. I lost my job end of December 08 and couldn't find another due to the terrible economy.

*Was in Graceville for three weeks waiting on the arrival of my niece.

*Marlee Brooke Strickland was FINALLY born on February 2, 2009! :)

*In February my husband was voted in as Music Minister/Assoc. Pastor of Five Points Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach, thus solidifying my SAHM status!

*March and April were pretty run of the mill. My parents visited the end of March/first of April.

*In May, Abigail was dedicated to the Lord on Mother's day.

*In June, Ryan went to a music conference in Tennessee and Abigail and I visited with my parents in Graceville again for about a week.

*Around the end of June, I began working as the interim youth minister for Five Points.

*We had our annual 4th of July cookout but it was the first year in several that we didn't host extended family and friends for the week.

*The end of July through the first of August my cousin Courtney came and stayed. She ended up staying almost a month. My grandmother came too for the first two weeks.

*In September, Ryan took his vacation and we dropped Abigail off with my parents and drove to Greensboro, GA and stayed at The Ritz Carlton Lodge for a few days.

*Ryan's brother Jonathan got married on September 25th to Mellissa Christian. Abigail was a flower girl and Ryan was a groomsman. It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to. Beautiful beach wedding.

*Abigail dressed up like Dora from the episode Dora saves the Mermaid Princess for Halloween and we took her to the Bethlehem Marketplace at Springhill Baptist Church.

*In November our church had our Family Fest where I won third place in the chili cook off, beating out Ryan! :)

*Abigail celebrated her 2nd birthday on November 21, 2009. She had a Dora and Friends birthday party.

*We celebrated Thanksgiving in Claxton with family and friends.

*December was super busy due to Christmas. Our family ended up with a nasty stomach bug the first week in December thus causing us to cancel the youth Christmas party. The second weekend was the church party. The third weekend we had a scrimmage softball game.

*Ryan and I hosted a Christmas Eve get together for the second year. Mostly his family came for finger foods and fellowship.

*Ryan had to work Christmas Eve night and Christmas night so Christmas day was spent in a haze of sleepiness with naps in between presents and lunch. We read the Christmas story and opened presents with Abigail first thing. Then we went to his parents house for a pancake breakfast and more presents. My parents got into town after this. We went to his Mimi and Granddaddy's house for lunch. He napped for a while then exchanged presents with my parents. We had an awesome Christmas!

*My parents stayed until the following Wednesday. Abigail had lots of fun with her Nana and Papa and was really upset when they left.

*New Years Eve was spent with the youth at church playing all sorts of games followed by some praise and worship and a challenge for the new year.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Today has been a BUSY day! This is the second year that Ryan and I have hosted a Christmas Eve party at our house. Last year we did a cookie exchange where everyone brought Christmas cookies or another dessert and we sat around stuffing our faces, drinking coffee or Ryan's apple cider. This year we decided to do finger foods instead of just sweets.

I spent most of the day yesterday trying to get my house clean. Not only for the party but because my parents are coming in Christmas day and my house has to pass my mother's inspection! Not really but I make sure it's extra clean for her! :) Abigail tends to create more messes for me to clean up so the work doubles as the day goes! Today I spent most of the day baking, cooking, decorating, and cleaning. I made fudge for the first time today and it turned out so yummy! I was pretty proud of myself. I also made Oatmeal Jumbo cookies. They are a family favorite. I came across a recipe for them last year and gave them a try. They quickly became my favorite cookie! I also made hamburger dip. Ryan's mom and Mimi and sister-in-law Mellissa also brought some goodies. We had a great time eating all the goodies and engaging in conversation. Ryan's cousins Josh and his wife Leah and baby Jansen came. As well as his Aunt Susie and cousin Trey. Aunt Selma, Amanda, and her girls, Samantha and Sabrina stopped by too. (Pictures to come. My computer is being slow about uploading them tonight.)

Mellissa and Jon stayed for a bit after everyone had left and Mellissa helped me clean up! I am so blessed to have two great sisters-in-law. After they left, I put Abigail to bed, read her a Bible story and a Christmas story. It was late so she went right to sleep. It's nice to be able to put my feet up after a long day. I need to put out her presents from Santa before I go to sleep. She doesn't really understand the concept of Santa yet but she definitely knows what presents are! She's been asking me every day this week when we were going to open presents!

My Facebook/Twitter status from earlier in the day was a passage of Scripture from the book of Isaiah. I often think of this passage of Scripture during Christmastime because part of it was used in a song that the choir at my home church in Georgia sang when I was in high school. The lyrics go something like this, "we who were walking in darkness have seen a great light, a great light, a great light." Isaiah 9:2 states: " The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of darkness, a light has dawned." If Jesus had not left the splendor and glory of heaven and come to earth as a baby born in a cattle stall and placed in a lowly manger, we would still be walking in darkness! Thank you Jesus for being the Light of the world! Thank you for being born in the shadow of the cross! Thank you that we have more to celebrate at Christmas than Santa or Rudolph, or Frosty, or other commercial fixtures of Christmas. But we can celebrate the LIGHT!

Not Me Monday

I am NOT the worst blogger on the planet! :) I just can't seem to keep up. I'll try and do better next year!

I did NOT slide down in the muddy infield during softball practice within the first five minutes of being there! My pastor did NOT take a picture of my muddy self and threaten to post it on Facebook. I did NOT get ragged the rest of practice. I was NOT surprised to find that even my underwear were muddy because it has soaked through my shorts! Nothing like that ever happens to me. NEVER!

I did NOT sleep on the couch with Abigail when she woke up in the middle of the night because she was sick and had been running a fever. I did NOT wake up after NOT hearing her throwing up. I did NOT realize that she had puked all over me. I did NOT take her to the bathroom to clean her up and she did NOT puke all over the floor. I did NOT clean her up and I did NOT change her pj's. I did NOT have to change my shirt. I did NOT have to get a new pillow. We did NOT fall back asleep only to NOT wake up to Abigail NOT throwing up again! I did NOT put a puke bowl under her mouth and I did NOT congratulate myself for catching all the puke. I did NOT get up to clean out the puke bowl and I absolutely did NOT stick my hand in a puddle of puke on my blanket. She had NOT been throwing up before I woke up and realized it! I did NOT just throw the blanket in the hallway and grab another and go back to sleep!

Ryan and I did NOT decide to bake and ice cookies with Abigail. I did NOT tell him that he didn't need to buy blue food coloring because red and green make blue! He did NOT laugh at me because he would NEVER do that to me. He did NOT threaten to make that a quote or status on Facebook (why is Facebook such a good place for blackmail or embarrassing people?). I did NOT argue with him that I was NOT right. I do NOT tend to think that I'm am NOT always right! Abigail did NOT play in the flour and get it everywhere. I did NOT take a lot of pictures to capture the memory because I do NOT like taking pictures! Here are a few pictures that I did NOT take:

Update

I was doing so well with keeping up this blog but here we are and it's almost the middle of December and I haven't posted in a month. Here's a look at what we've been up to:

Abigail celebrated her 2nd birthday on November 21. She had a Dora and friends party. We had a great turn out and she got some great gifts. Now she is obssessed with presents. I have a hard time keeping her away from the presents under the Christmas tree. She thinks they are all hers and can be opened whenever she wants! :)

A few days later we traveled to Georgia to be with family there for Thanksgiving. It was an unusual Thanksgiving due to the fact that my aunt and uncle and their family were gone to Ohio to be with relatives up there. And my cousin Kyle was getting married the day after Thanksgiving so several members of the family didn't make it due to traveling Thanksgiving day or the next for the wedding. I was sad that I wasn't able to go but I heard it was a beautiful wedding and I wish them all the best.

The following week after we got back our family passed around the stomach bug. Apparently Abigail got it from a kid in the nursery and passed it on to me. Ryan got it a little later. It was not a fun week in our house. We had to cancel the youth Christmas party/progressive dinner. But to make the day better, the Gators lost to Alabama. Woohoo! :) I'm a Georgia girl but I cheer for whatever team Florida is playing against!

This week has started out slow. We've been getting over being sick last week. The house work has piled up but I've had no energy to do it. I was able to to buy a few more Christmas presents on Monday and yesterday Ryan and I watched Christmas movies while I wrapped presents while Abigail took a nap. December is really flying by and I don't want to rush Christmas. I absolutely LOVE this time of year but I'm a giver and once the presents are bought and wrapped I get ansy. I am so ready to give everyone the gifts I picked out for them and see their reactions. The only downfall is that we wont be seeing my brother and his family this year for Christmas. The invention of web cams and Skype makes it easier to be away from the ones you love. We'll open our gifts from each other via web cam so that we can see each other and their reactions!

The holiday's are so busy. We have the church Christmas party on Saturday. On Monday we are going to Ryan's work Christmas party at the Ritz Carlton. The invitation says "cocktail attire"! I have no clue what I'm going to wear. I don't own any "cocktail attire" at least not that still fits! :) Later on over the next couple of weeks we have the choir Christmas cantata and various other holiday obligations. I am looking forward to them. I just want to make sure that we don't lose our focus. It's not about presents or parties but about JESUS CHRIST! He left all the splendor and glory of heaven to be born as a lowly infant in a stinky manger all because He LOVED us! I am always reminded that Jesus was born in the shadow of the cross. He paid a debt He didn't owe for a crime He didn't commit! The greatest gift of all is His death on the cross for our sins!!! So this Christmas let's remember to celebrate His birth because without His birth there wouldn't have been a death! JESUS is the REASON for the season! Merry Christmas everybody!