It's getting REALLY good now!

No pictures with this one but just a note about Amelia's latest milestone.

I thought it was a bit of a fluke but last night AND tonight Amelia said, "Love you!" to me at bedtime when we did our bedtime routine.

This is the kind of stuff that makes being a mama the most unbelievable thing in the world!

How many is not enough?

Tonight when Miss A was getting ready for bed she spotted the barrettes and was "feeling" them so much that she had to try every single one.


Were you able to count how many she's wearing all at once? It's a total of six!!!

I guess if you ask Miss A, she will tell you, "More is MORE."



But hey... you can never have too many barrettes when you're doing something as important as playing big legos, right?

Don't try this at home

Hmmm... well... sometimes our best laid plans... uhm... I've got a LOT of explaining to do!


OK. So, Miss A's hair is getting so funky so fast. I don't know if it's a growth spurt or what because she's also just recently become too big for her footie pajamas as well! (Especially her pink pig pajamas - Don't even get me started!!!) Anyway, her hair is growing in a really odd and uneven way to the point where she's got this huge comb-over type thing going on that even barrettes can't control. AND! She won't even really wear the barrettes the way she needs to to control it in the first place.

This morning we were brushing our teeth and she was sitting on the bathroom counter so nicely while I was getting ready. She looked up at me and smiled her funny jack o'lantern grin and the comb-over got completely in her faith and I just got fed up. There just happened to be a teeny pair of scissors right there in the drawer of the counter and one thing led to another and... well... as you can see, she now looks like a little Miss Lloyd Christmas from "Dumb and Dumber."

*Shrug* For the record? I feel really REALLY bad about it! And even though I know Miss A doesn't exactly care about it and probably doesn't even know the difference and she STILL looks completely adorable somehow. Just the same, I feel bad about it, I know it looks ridiculous, and I feel bad about it! Did I mention that I feel bad about it?

*sigh*

Well? At least it will grow back, right? And with her growing like a weed the way she does, I'm sure that we won't have to wait that long for it to look a little better.

A first for everything

Grammy and Grandpap joined us for the first of the year for a belated Christmas celebration. Miss A got the biggest little kitchen known to man and we took in a trip to the local aquarium. It was a real treat for all of us and Miss A did beautifully even despite a day without real naps. Here are some highlights from our day with the "fishies."

"Picnik Show"

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We all head back to work and school and daycare tomorrow but we've had such an amazing vacation that we can hardly complain that it wasn't well spent.

And in honor of this, our last evening to end our vacation, Miss A shot her first pilot episode for what we're certain will become a full-fledged cooking show! Move over Rachel Ray and Julia Child!

It's that time again!

New Year's round-ups are a HUGE thing to do in the blogosphere. I've done it just about every year I've had a blog and this year shall be no different. Here's my year in review...

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Celebrated my first wedding anniversary, turned 30 (YAY!), Quit my job and started my new (dream of my whole life) job as an Art teacher in Christian education, celebrated my daughter's first birthday, bought a house, began reading my Bible EVERYDAY

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?



I don't even remember what my last year's resolutions were even if I did make any.

My resolutions for 2010:

• Completely read my Bible with daily readings
• Become a better cook
• Write my curriculum completely so I can finally stop spending all of my free time lesson planning and actually come home on time
• Work a summer job and sock all of the money away into a savings account
• Invest more into retirement savings
• Complete at least three paintings
• Successfully potty-train my daughter
• Go on a real date with my husband no less than once a month

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?



Yes! My sister-in-law had a sweet little baby boy in April.

4. Did anyone close to you die?



Sadly, yes. My Meemie died in the Spring time.

5. What countries did you visit?



None. What we were hoping to be our annual trip to our Northern neighbors was nixed again since D started grad school officially and we also were committed to finally buying our first house.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

I would love to be more charitable both financially and with my time efforts. My life is so full with blessings that I want to pay them all forward more than I have. I would also like to invest more into creating my own artwork versus just facilitating art and creativity through everyone else around me.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

There were so many! My daughter's first birthday was a huge one because it really hit me that I'm so many things that I always swore I would never be - a wife and mother, specifically. Settlement day for our first house was also amazing since it was the culmination of nearly two full years of house hunting and praying. Getting "the call" that I was officially hired at my new school was also huge since it almost didn't happen because of budget cuts and other things completely out of my control.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?



I honestly feel like starting my new job wasn't THE achievement of the year but also of maybe even my whole lifetime! Getting to such a thing was something that I dreamed of almost five years ago but truly doubted that it could ever happen because it meant that certain things would need to happen that seemed downright impossible. I put everything I had into believing that God would guide me through the process and He definitely did. I truly feel like I'm living a life and have a story that would truly turn an unbeliever of Christ into a believer because it's so crazy that it has gone even beyond fairy tales.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Wearing sweat pants and pajamas more often than I should have and being a workaholic.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I've had a couple of bad sinus issues and a couple of nasty colds but all have been relatively short lived.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Technically I didn't buy it (my brother and sis-in-law did for me for Christmas) but I think getting my haircut recently was the thing for this year. It has re-energized me more than anything else has in probably three years. I feel like it's literally the final thing that has helped define me and who I am and I should have done it a long time ago.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Hands down this goes to my husband! We work so hard on having a really good marriage and he has upheld every vow that we took to each other when we married each other. If more husbands were like him, I'm sure that more wives would be a lot happier.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?



Two of my old colleagues turned out of to be amazingly two-faced, appallingly unprofessional, and just plain ol' crazy. It never ceases to amaze me the people who are put in charge of being educators to our wonderful youth and it's no wonder that so many of our children are lost within the "system."

14. Where did most of your money go?



The mortgage and daycare.

15. What did you get really excited about?

Do I need to mention my new job again? Well my new boss and colleagues are equally as spectacular. Seriously - going to work where I do is just a place where I want to be and I honestly love being there.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

Whenever I hear Viva La Vida by Coldplay I will ALWAYS think of this past year. ALWAYS. And that's not a bad thing at all.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:


– happier or sadder? Happier
– thinner or fatter? I'm actually the same size but I think somehow I'm softer/fatter. Honestly though? I really don't care and it doesn't bother me.
– richer or poorer? Financially richer. D and I have become so disciplined with our budget and though it's been hard to say "no" to things and people sometimes, we are really almost to the point of "financial freedom."

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?



I always wish I could slow down more and rest a whole lot more. I know that I would get a lot more accomplished and generally be more even keeled if I didn't try to live life in hyperspeed all the time.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?



I wish I worked less. I love my job (as noted) but I get very easily wrapped up in it when I'm not careful.

20. How did you spend Christmas?



It was our first Christmas at home in our new house! We went to church on Christmas Eve and then woke up the next morning and watching my daughter open her presents. Later on my mom, dad, sister, and uncle joined us for a traditional holiday meal. It was wonderful!

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

I did, in fact, and it happened over and over again - with my husband and my daughter. It was a good year for love.

22. What was your favorite TV program?



I'm such a sucker for reality programming and docu-dramas. Pretty much anything on the Bravo channel was my favorite.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?



I hate very few people in the world and added no one to that list this year.

24. What was the best book you read?



This is so cliched but it was the Bible. People always scoff at the Bible but it's really just gotten a very bad reputation because of people who've put it in a bad light or used it's words inappropriately - kind of like how so many people have ruined being Christian. Anyway, before this year, I never devoted myself to reading it daily to understand it and follow it and it truly has given me a new way to look at life and live life. I honestly feel like it's made me a better person, wife, mother, and friend. It's made me more compassionate, passionate, empathetic, caring, giving, forgiving, and loving and I think all of those things are things that every person could afford to have more of in their life.

I also finally read the book White Oleander and it was magnificent and way better than the movie.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?


People will scoff at me but I just love Taylor Swift! Honestly! She's such a refreshing and beautiful young lady and her music is so catchy. One of my students gave me an iTunes card (I've never used iTunes before) and the first songs I downloaded were Taylor Swift songs.

26. What did you want and get?

I got a life that I always felt like I might never get to have.

27. What did you want and not get?

I wanted to keep the house more organized and clean. I also wanted to be a little more financially able to do things/have things.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was so amazing no matter what anyone has tried to say of it. It reminded me a little of Meet Joe Black with it's metaphors for life and I love that kind of stuff.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

My husband and my parents took me to the Kennedy Center to see a really amazing show and I actually fell asleep in the middle of it at one point. *What! Don't look at me like that! The seats were really comfortable and it was dark. Sue me!* I turned 30 - a birthday that I've actually looked forward to with a lot of excitement for a a long time.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Less issues with daycare. *Blech*

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

Business casual-themed ensembles with pants. And, despite my best efforts, paint markings on every piece of "nice" clothing I own.

32. What kept you sane?



Time with my daughter, a job that lets me create Art and think about Art AND get paid for it, freestyle crocheting, and naps

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I don't know.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?



The healthcare thing that passed recently.

35. Who did you miss?



I really missed my Meemie with this past Christmas happening. I have never been able to spend so much time with her but I really did love her a lot.

36. Who was the best new person you met?



My new boss and my sort of supervisor are amazing people. I'm very blessed to have them leading me at my job.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.



It's never too late to have the life that you were always supposed to have in the first place. It's never too late to do what you've always wanted to do.

38. Quote something that sums up your year.



"The grass isn't greener on the other side, it's greenest where you water it." One of my sisters told me this and it's been one of the most inspiring and thought provoking things I've ever heard in my life. I've repeated it and offered it up to multiple people I've talked to and it's always done remarkable things for them in their lives.