Birthdays, Real Estate & More...

My precious baby Tierney turned ONE last Thursday, October 8. I can totally remember when she was born, and although the calendar says it was one year ago, I remember it like it was yesterday. But, I guess that's a common memory for moms, huh?! In fact, the night before her birthday, we were running errands and we drove by the hospital she was born at and I remembered checking into the hospital at about the same time we drove by to start the induction process. A wave of emotions flooded me as we past the hospital and I felt those same nervous, anxious and excited emotions all over again. I even remember the pain I was in. I had an epidural, but it really didn't take that well, so I felt most everything. That and the doctor's had to increase the strength of my contractions and up my dosage of pitocin. Suffice it to say, I was in more pain than I had ever been in and could ever imagine. And, how I could barely keep my eyes open during those last few hours of hard labor because every contraction I squinted my eyes so hard, giving myself a headache and making it hard to see out of blurry contacts. But, the minute (3:54 p.m.) she was born, all the pain, the blurry eyes and headache completely disappeared. When the doctor laid my second born daughter on my chest, my world got flipped upside down and I immediately fell in love with this precious child God gave me. My little girl, named Tierney. Over the past year, my heart has only expanded that much more with love for this precious girl. She's very loving, very sweet, has a bubbly personality and a fiery way about her and she's as stubborn as it gets. But, I wouldn't change anything about her or one second of my life with her for anything. This time around, I got to witness first-hand every little milestone, every smile, every cry, every cuddle, every look, everything, because I have the wonderful opportunity of staying home with my girls and I LOVE it so much! This year she's walking all around the house and trying really hard to put those words together she's been learning, and I know that this year will fly by and by next year, I'll be wondering where the year went. I wish time could just stand still. But, it can't. So, here's to another amazing year for my Tierney. Happy Birthday sweet baby girl! Mommy loves you more than you can ever imagine!

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My husband turns the big 3-0 this Thursday, October 15. That's right, this is his birthday week. He has only 3 more days of being a 20-something. He's not too big on birthdays, especially his own, and it's not because he is nervous, anxious, etc. about getting older. But, this year, he's getting more in the birthday spirit I think. We're going to spend his birthday night at a hotel thanks to an interview he did on a brand new hotel in the town where he works and the manager offered a free night's stay at the hotel in one of their suites! You don't have to twist our arm that hard. We're there. The girls are excited about staying in a hotel and going swimming in the pool. And, really Kevin loves, loves, loves staying in hotels, so this is a great birthday gift for him! And, even better, he has the next day off too. Wahoo! It's like a birthday present for me too because what's better than spending time with your best friend. I can honestly say that he is quite possibly the one person that very rarely I get frustrated with. As much as I love my girls, there are days when being a parent is very hard and trying, but being a wife, better yet, being Kevin's wife, I never feel that way. He's such an amazing man and I thank the good Lord everyday for bringing us together. I have known Kevin for nearly 20 years, and my life is truly better because he's in it and because I know him, love him and he loves me. I simply can't imagine my life without him, and I'm so excited to be celebrating his 30 years of life with him. Happy Birthday to my dear sweet husband! You're my everything and I will love you always!

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I have begun a new adventure and I'm really excited. Getting more and more excited by the day really! It's official, I'm a real estate broker! Real estate has always been something that I've kept in the back of mind as something that I would love to pursue if the opportunity arose. Well, this July, that opportunity arose. A real estate class was being offered by a Realtor that I knew from my newspaper advertising days and Kevin knew from interviewing him on occasion for different stories for his newspaper. So, at the beginning of July I went back to school for real estate. Six weeks later, the class was complete, I got my certificate saying I passed the class and had to sign up to take the PSI (real estate) exam. The exam has two portions, the national and the state. I registered for the exam, arranged a babysitter and studied my heart out and went and took the test. About three hours later, I clicked submit on the computer submitting my test to be instantly graded. I looked at the computer screen in the testing room and saw the words "failed" twice. Ahh. My heart sank. I cried a bit walking out to my car and called everyone that I had told about my test and received all words of encouragement, but still I felt terrible. I took the weekend "off" from studying and went at it again. I scheduled a retest and after a lot more extensive studying, I took the test on a Saturday while Kevin watched the girls. Again, I clicked submit, and again that terrible word "failed" appeared again, twice. Ahh..not again. How big of a failure am I to fail both portions of the test not once but twice. Come on! This time, my first call was to my instructor to see what words of wisdom, if any, he had for me. We arranged to meet and go over the material on the state portion again which was very helpful. Again, I studied like crazy for both portions of the test. Again, I registered for the retest. This time I drove about an hour as compared to 30 minutes to get to the testing center. And, again I clicked submit on the test and again I saw the word "failed" but this time only once. Hallejuah! I had passed the state test and missed passing the national test by one, ONE, stinkin' point. Oh well! At least the state portion was behind me. I celebrated my success by redoing my girls' bathroom which now has bright pink walls! I was determined not to let the national test get the best of me, and so I registered yet again for another retest. This time, I looked over the materials very briefly. I have sort of a photographic memory and so lots of the questions came back to me and I looked up the answers I wasn't sure of and that's about it for my studying. So, on the day of the test, I dropped my girls off at my mother-in-law's house for her to watch them and traveled the opposite direction of my previous tests and took the national test. After clicking submit on the test, I prayed to God to please let this be the final time, just let me pass. When the results appeared on the screen, I saw the word I so wanted to see "PASS!" Hallejuah! The proctor congratulated me and I flung my arms out and gave her a hug because I was beyond thrilled and needed to hug someone. Finally, I had done it! I called Kevin and his response was "Yes!" So, finally, finally, I am a real estate broker working with Coldwell Banker. I'm working on getting my first client and I am so excited to begin this new adventure. And, still the best perk of all is getting to still stay home with my precious girlies!

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That about wraps this LONG post up. But, there is one person that I haven't mention and who my life wouldn't be complete without and that is Miss Brooklyn Marie. Brooklyn is such a spark, always trying to learn more and more, has the world's best memory, is a great dancer, a wonderful singer, funnier than ever, a wonderful, truly wonderful big sister and just an all around amazing little girl who I'm sad to say will be turning FOUR (ahh .. makes my heart ache) in December. When did this little girl grow up? When we drive by the hospital where she was born, she waves to it and blows it kisses. So sweet! She can't WAIT to start school next year, preschool that is. I've been doing some things with her at home and she's learned her how to recognize all her numbers and letters and has even learned to write a little bit and really wants to learn how to read. She's fascinated at how everything works. I want to just sit on her so she can't grow up anymore! Is that possible? She just amazes me everyday. I am so very thankful that I'm her mommy. I love her to the moon and back and then some.

It's been six years!

It's been six years since I walked down the aisle with my arm interlocked with my dad's on my way to the beginning of a new exciting and challenging journey. I had never been so nervous, but a good nervous, in my entire life. I swear my dad had to hold me up and help me walk the entire way. I kept my eyes locked to the front of the church where my prince charming stood waiting for me. I distinctly remember he had his hand on the front of the pew right in front of his parents and had this incredible smile on his face and our eyes locked the minute we saw each other. After my dad raised my veil and kissed me on the cheek, my prince and I held hands and continued on with our wedding ceremony where we promised to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. We exchanged our rings and the pastor announced us husband and wife. Ahhh .. at last!

Kevin and I met in the fifth grade. I'd say it was love at first fight - we were brutal back then. We spent our entire fifth grade year in an on again, off again type of relationship. We were both too young to actually date, or really even to talk on the phone, but during recess, we were pretty much married every other day. Kevin was quite the lady's man at age 11. After elementary school, we parted ways and went our own directions. I went east and he went north - meaning to different middle schools. We kind of lost touch for about four years. There was the occasional sighting of each other, which isn't too surprising considering we lived two blocks away from one another. But, it wasn't until the second semester of our sophomore year when my dad and I went to the high school play where we spotted Kevin in the chorus that we really noticed each other's existence. My reaction was "Oh look, there's Kevin, he's gotten ugly!" And Kevin's reaction was "Oh look, there's Malisa, what's she doing here?" Nice, huh?! The end of sophomore year, I asked a mutual Carissa (I would say friend, but we neither one thought of her that way, she was just a girl we both knew) to have Kevin sign my yearbook. Odd, I know, after never having spoken to him the entire half year. But, whatever, I needed signatures in my yearbook to make me feel special. Kevin wrote: Have a good summer. Nothing about let's keep in touch, which seemed to be the main thing kids wrote in each other's yearbooks.

Fast forward to February 1997, our junior year, and Kevin is sitting in our newspaper class expressing frustrations over the lack of knowledge about how to ask this horrid girl he works with to a movie. Moves were really a big deal to him back then, and he wasn't sure what to do, when to do and if he even should do it. I volunteered to be the guinea pig. Little did I know that one smooth move of putting his arm around me would send me into such a whirlwind. I had a boyfriend at the time, but that really didn't seem to phase me. A mutual friend of ours invited us to join her and her boyfriend to a boy's basketball game in Evergreen. I, trying to be a good girlfriend, invited my boyfriend and he declined because he didn't believe in supporting a team that didn't support his half-nelsons, so I went with Kevin. I won't deny it, there was some major flirting that took place, ending in a ride home on the bus where I fell asleep laying my head on Kevin's shoulder while he kissed my forehead. That night changed my life forever. It wasn't long after that the boyfriend was gone and Kevin and I started the relationship we were both destined to be a part of.

We graduated high school and college together; went on a memorable trip to Puerto Vallarta as our high school graduation trip; took many a trips back and forth from Gunnison and even spun out and ended in a snow bank on Monarch Pass; worked until wee hours each week working on the college newspaper; enjoyed a nice, long walk in the middle of a Gunnison blizzard to see the movie Stepmom; were competitive in college courses we took together, all the while becoming closer and closer and interwining our lives even more.

On August 3, 2000, we went to the Dixie Chicks concert. We spent the whole day downtown eating lunch, walking the 16th Street Mall, taking the whole experience in. The concert was amazing. The Dixie Chicks are by far my favorite group and I would see them in concert any day. After the concert, we headed to Kevin's parent's house to hang out for a bit before I went home. Kevin had the brillant idea to head out on the front porch, sit in the swing and watch the stars. He went inside and then a few minutes later, he came out and flipped the bright porch light on. I immediately was getting a bit annoyed and wondered why the light was on, after all it was pretty late and I thought the plan was to watch the stars. Instead of coming to sit beside me on the swing and take in the late night, Kevin kneeled in front of me with a green velvet box in his hand. He told me that he loved me, that he'd always loved me and always would, and wanted to know if I would be his wife and marry him. My eyes starting welling up with tears, as I said "Yes!!"

On our honeymoon, we went to Estes Park. We found this amazing cabin by the river to stay at and we spent our week in the hot tub, walking around town, walking around Estes Lake, visiting the Stanley Hotel, eating, drinking, playing pool and just spending one-on-one time as husband and wife. It was such a treasured time. Estes Park will always hold a special place in our hearts and anytime we get the chance to return, we do.

And, then in December 2005 and October 2008, our love really blossomed even more when our two precious baby girls were born completing us and completing our desires for a family.

It's been quite a journey. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us, but I will say, I definitely want to grow old with my prince charming. He's the most amazing man I've ever met and I consider myself such a lucky girl every single day. Not everyone gets the chance at love, and I promise that it's nothing I will ever take for granted. Part of me can't believe we've been married six years and another part of me can't believe it's only been six years.

Happy Anniversary, My Love! I will love you always.

Happy Birthday Daddy & Tierney!

Today is a special day in our household. It's Kevin's 29th birthday and Tierney's 1 week old birthday ... both October babies! We've had a great day. Kevin got to indulge in some of his favorite foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and well Tierney, she's a breastfeeding champion. Not only do Daddy and Tierney share October as their birth month, they also share the same hairline and the same fingers and toes. It's always fun to see who your children look like, or better yet, which features they have of each parent or in our case of our other child. She definitely has Brooklyn's little nose! We're ending the night with some great family time, and we're really enjoying being a family of four - it's just the best!! And, as per my sister-in-law's request, here are some more photos of Tierney enjoying her first week of life.

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Tierney - 6 days old

Sisters & Best Friends

Mommy & her girls
Flying baby
Our dancing baby

Simply in awe..

I feel blessed beyond belief, overwhelmed with love, respect and admiration for my wonderful husband. My husband, without one selfish thought, took on an undesirable task, something that he really didn't want to do, but did it nevertheless. He did because it needed done. It wasn't glamorous, fun, or anything to boast about. Now that he's nearing the completion of it, I look back at the effort and responsibility he took upon himself, and I find myself in awe. In awe of this amazing man that I married. In awe because he never requested a thank you, he never played the martyr and he never expected anything from me in return. I'm proud to be his wife and I'm proud that he's the father of my children. He's just simply amazing, and I don't know if I say it enough.

Response to MomSense

All you moms out there, you have to watch this. It's really good! You will enjoy it. I promise it!!

Pumpkin Fun

Taking a break from a horrible day (was in a car accident last night on my way home from work and have been working with the adjuster to get my car fixed - not my fault, I got rear-ended!) to post pictures of our pumpkins we carved. We had so much fun doing it, but Brooklyn wasn't too sure about the insides of a pumpkin! Yucky! she declared. But, she sure enjoyed the after effect!

"Jagged Smile" by Daddy

"Three Blind Mice" by Mommy

"The Penguin" by Mommy

"Home Sweet Home" by Daddy

Brooklyn declaring "Oh, cute!"

"Brooklyn Day"

Thank goodness Friday is finally here!! Every since Wednesday, this week's speed hit the brakes very hard. Maybe it's because Wednesday means returning to work after 4 glorious days off with my princess, or maybe it's that I would rather be outside enjoying the fall weather with my princess. Okay, so I'll admit, the week has gone so slowly by because I want to be with my princess. And, to make matters even harder, she came to work with me this morning for a few hours while Daddy conducted an interview for work. When he came to pick her up, I was very sad to see her go. She was such a good girl while she was here, and she made my morning that much brighter. As she sat on my desk watching her DVD player with Dora seeking out "rainy mountain," I caught myself just gazing at her and smiling. My heart felt very full!

Brooklyn turned 22 months old today, a mere 2 months away from turning 2. I love this stage in her life because she's talking so much, is becoming so creative and imaginative, is so much fun to hang out with, is still very cuddly and sweet and simply is such a beautiful little girl inside and out. Don't get me wrong, I loved her baby stages. The times where she would just fall sound asleep on my chest, or the days when she was learning to pick up her head, or crawl, or learning to walk, but too see where she is at now, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Our days normally start out with her joining Kevin and I in bed for at least another hour of cuddling and sleep. When she wakes up, she'll rub either Kevin's back or my back or arms. When you open your eyes, you know that she will be watching and waiting with a smile and a "good morning." If your name is Mommy, you'll get a couple kisses and if your name is Daddy, you get a hug. It makes getting up so worth it. And, once she's up, she's up and so very, very busy. She'll include you in all her activities, and let you know if she just needs time to spend looking at books quietly in her room though.

Kevin and I just absolutely love spending as much time with her as we can. In fact, sometimes, I have to go to her room in the middle of the night just to give her a hug, kiss, or to listen to her soft breathing as she sleeps. There's nothing better in this whole world than being a parent, and I can testify to the fact that it leaves your heart very, very full and your world complete. My life wouldn't be the same without my little busy bee running all around my house, stopping for a second to smile or give me a "big hug." Brooklyn is the light of my world, and Kevin's too, which is why we have declared this Saturday "Brooklyn Day." We're going to spend ALL day playing with her, putting aside any household chores that we have to do, and just giving her 100% attention from lights on in the morning to lights out at night. It's her day to do what she wants, and it's an extra bonus that tomorrow's forecast is going to be so beautiful because that means we can play outside, something she just loves! And, the best part, Kevin and I are so excited about it...it's even marked on our calendar!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!! =)

10 Years? Already!?!

“Hinkley High School, how does it feel to be state champions?” Marcia Neville from CBS 4 said those words 10 years ago during our high school’s pep rally the Monday after our football team won the state championship! Those words resound through my body every time I think of high school. What an exciting year our senior year really was!! Not only did we win state in football, but the boy’s basketball team swept the playoffs and won state as well.

Tonight at 6 p.m., Kevin and I (we went to high school together) will enter the APS stadium to reunite and celebrate with the football team, as the entire team will be honored during halftime for their incredible accomplishment 10 years ago. My dear friend, Jessica was the place kicker and won a couple playoff games for Hinkley. Jessica was the first female place kicker at our high school, and that same year, the first male joined the cheerleading squad.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about tonight. I haven’t seen many of these guys since high school. I’ve heard such stories from my parents about how much people change over the years, but not typically too much at the 10-year reunion. As Kevin and I talked about it last night, we agreed that there’s some logic to why it seems people remain the same 10 years later, or at least appear to. It’s because they have to impress their fellow classmates with their life, appearance and success stories, ignoring the fact that we all are 10 years older, some have kids, are married, possibly divorced, etc all meaning that we have all really changed. For good, or bad, after 10 years, it’s reality, things aren’t going to be exactly the same.

As Jessica and I were talking about tonight’s festivities, she expressed her nervousness of worrying about what people will think of her 10 years later, especially if the clichés are still formed. I have always thought clichés are pointless, and if they are still formed after 10 years, the only thing you can do is feel really sad for the people in them. As we talked, I reassured her that she’s become more beautiful inside and out since high school. We both agreed that we are different people than we were in high school, and we’re both really okay with that.

Our official high school reunion won’t be until next summer, but tonight, we will get a taste of what others have been up to, where they are in their life and how life has been since high school. Maybe we can even reconnect with those high school friends that we lost touch with. It should be a good night. And, to make it even better, it’s a rivalry game against the Aurora Central Trojans and it’s Hinkley’s homecoming game. Just one more thing...GO T-BIRDS! YOU KNOW!

(Note: I know I said I would post on our vacation this week, but I wanted my photos to accompany the post, and I have yet to get them on the computer or on a CD. So next Wednesday, I promise, I will get a post up!!)

Fall Lineup...right around the corner

Our household doesn't watch an exorbitant amount of television. However, I'll admit there are those shows that we have become addicted to. Ones that we have on a pedestal, where we know each character intimately as if they were our real life best friend. Some of these shows came with being married, others we discovered as a couple, or introduced to one another. For the most part, it's one to two shows a night Monday through Thursday that we just have to see. And, over time, our shows have changed as several have been either canceled or have run their course, and are no longer apart of our weekly lineup, and their time slots have been replaced by a new show.

Mondays
Past: 7th Heaven (ran its course), WB/CW; Everwood (canceled)WB
Now: Prison Break (ready to start its 3rd season - this show is one of my favorites), Fox

Tuesdays
Past: Gilmore Girls (sadly, very sadly the show was canceled), WB/CW
Now: ?? - No clue

Wednesdays
Past: Dawson's Creek (canceled), WB; Smallville (moved to Thursdays, lost our interest) WB/CW; The Apprentice Martha Stewart (ran one season in 2005...I only watched this!), NBC

Now: One Tree Hill (will premiere their 5th season in January 2008, used to be on Tuesday nights - one of my favorites!), WB/CW

Thursdays
Past: Friends (ended after 10 amazing seasons), NBC; The Apprentice (would watch if it were on...I personally love Donald Trump!), NBC; Joey (canceled, but hey, we were BIG Friends' fans!!), NBC
Now: The Office (4th season starts September 27 - Kevin's absolute favorite), NBC


We tune into other shows that are on from time to time such as: CSI (the original); Buffy the Vampire Slayer (reruns), ER (it's just changed to much for us to watch all the time); Beauty and the Geek (1st season only -- with the annoying Richard!); The Girls Next Door (I think this show is pretty silly!), and on and on. Who hasn't tried watching a different show now and then again though, right!?! However, none of these shows held that "special" place with us to commit us to tuning in week after week to see what the characters were up to.

So, what's the point of this post? We're excited about the new fall TV season and all the season premieres...

Are we sad?

Three Peas in a Pod

The saying "three peas in a pod" describes our weekend. I couldn't fight off my impending illnesses with mind tricks, Kevin caught the ugly bug and poor lil' Miss Brooklyn, she was so hoarse on Saturday, she couldn't even cry or laugh.

We went through a couple boxes of tissues, watched several movies, sat in about a dozen steamy showers, took warm baths, read a lot of books, napped and cuddled.

Finally today, we are all seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Brooklyn's voice has returned along with her cries, her laughs are on the way soon. She is no longer filled with chest congestion, and is breathing much, much easier, and is really a ball of energy. Kevin and I finally shook our sinus headaches and sore throats, and are now just stuck with tissue in hand.

Some might say that being sick all weekend must have sucked, well, it did, kinda. But, to be honest, it was really nice to have a really low-key, at-home weekend with my husband and my daughter. Just the three of us, like three peas in a pod.

Updates all around...

First off, Kevin and I had a wonderful anniversary. He surprised me with tickets to the musical The Light in the Piazza which played at the Buell Theatre. We both really loved the musical, and apparently, it was one of those things that people either really love or really hate it. We knew a few other people that went to see it, and there were definitely mixed emotions on it. Granted we do are not regular theatre-goers, so we weren¹t sure if our opinion was because we didn¹t have all the knowledge that someone who frequents the theatre does. Like, was the setting changes too slow, the lighting not right, etc. However, our good friend who has annual passes to the Buell to see a wide range of productions said that he too liked the Piazza. So, we weren¹t completely off our rockers because we really loved it!

Some Brooklyn news to share -- When I took her to the doctor for her 15-month check-up last month, her doctor informed me that she is developing at the level of a 2-year-old. I knew that my lil¹ girl was very smart, and I felt like she was advanced as far as what she is capable of doing, but to hear her doctor say that, really meant a lot to me. I am so proud of her and how interested and determined she is to learn new things.

Kevin and I have realized that she is watching everything that we do -- she tries to put on her shoes like she sees us doing, she tells her doggy to get down when he jumps up on her highchair after dinner to see if there are any scraps left over, she walks around the house on her cell phone (one of our old ones) talking and walking all around. It has definitely put a question in our mind when we do things like drink directly out of the milk carton ­ do we really want her doing that? ­ probably not, so we better not.

She did surprise us one night though -- I was making dinner and Kevin was doing something in the one of the cabinets. Needless to say, we both had our backs to her for a moment. I heard a trickle of liquid, but I wasn¹t sure where it was coming from. I turned around and saw her holding a pitcher full of Kool-Aid. She had grabbed the pitcher ­ plastic, thank goodness! ­ off the kitchen table and was trying her very best to maneuver it over to us. By this time, Kevin whipped around to see what she was doing. The pitcher proved to be more than she could handle, so down went the pitcher completely full of Kool-Aid. She had this shocked look on her face, I started laughing and Kevin looked at her and shrugged. She shrugged back at him, completely in disbelief, as I ran up the stairs to get some towels. Both of them were still in the same transfixed positions when I returned. She literally just stood in one spot, barely moving as I cleaned it up. When I was done, she came over to me and gave me a hug as to say she was sorry. I told her that accidents happen and that it was okay. Needless to say, Kevin and I learned a big lesson -- Keep things in the middle of the table because our daughter is TALL!

One more thing to share -- We have started teaching Brooklyn to fall asleep on her own. Up until now, we have either cuddled with her, rocked her or walked around with her to get her to go to sleep for both naps and bedtime. She has taken many of naps with us laying in our bed, or laying across us in the rocking chair. I must admit that we have really enjoyed holding her, breathing in her sweet scent, getting to gaze down at her beautiful face, watching as her chest moves up and down, watching as her hair turns from straight to curly as she is a bit of a sweaty sleeper, listening to her little snore, watching as she drifts off to a heavier sleep as her pappy (pacifier) falls out of her mouth and watching in amazement at how still she is after all she is usually so busy running around playing. While those times will be missed so much, Kevin and I both feel that it¹s time for her to learn how to fall asleep on her own. Please say a prayer for all of us that it¹s a smooth transition, as this family does not believe in the cry-it-out method, but instead helping her learn through encouragement, human touch in the form of back rubs and support.  

So blessed…

Tomorrow, Kevin and I celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary, and Saturday marks our 10th year of being a couple. We have been a part of each other’s lives now for 17 years as we started out just being elementary school classmates. We have come a long way from those days on the playground chasing each other and flirting innocently. We survived the trying high school years together, and found out more about each other during the college years. As with every relationship, we have had our ups and downs, but I can honestly say that there is no one in the world I would want to experience life with than him. He is my best friend, my partner in life, the father of my daughter and my husband.

There are so many reasons why I love and am in love with this man, but here are just a few…

-- The smile and look of awe that spread across his face the moment our daughter was born.
-- Cuddling with him in bed, sharing anecdotes about the day’s events.
-- Hearing the excitement in his voice that his sprinkler system is finally fixed after he’s been battling with it for two years.
-- The text messages he sends me while waiting on a court proceeding to take place that he’s covering for his newspaper.
-- Watching him come home after a long day at work and sit down to play with Brooklyn before he changes his clothes or does anything else.
-- His great work ethic and his steadfast desire to make his daughter proud of him.
-- The way he’ll call me and tell me how great I am, how much he loves me, what a great mom I am and then asks me if it’s alright if he goes to the Mammoth game.
-- How he crams a 5-day work-week into a 4-day work-week so he’ll have Fridays off to spend with his daughter.
-- His love of warmer weather so he can get outside and mow his lawn.
-- His willingness to help out with anything around the house from laundry to cooking to taking out the trash.
-- How he fills up the gas in my car for me after his early morning bible study.
-- Hugging him and smelling his cologne that he puts on just for me.
-- Listening to the one-sided conversation he has with his dad when they are talking about sports and the excitement in his voice.
-- How he sneaks downstairs to play football on his PlayStation if Brooklyn and I lay down for a nap together.

I am so grateful that I get to share my life with such an amazing man. I can’t believe it’s only been four years… it feels like a whole lifetime!

Such an honor...

Kevin and I have been asked to be godparents for our friends' 6-month old baby. Our soon-to-be goddaughter, Brooke, will be baptized on Christmas Eve. After getting off the phone with my best friend today, I was so honored that we were asked and chosen to serve in this very special role. It's a role that Kevin and I take very seriously as we are making a life-time commitment to Brooke that we will be there to help her grow her faith in the Lord.
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"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."
—John 8:31-32

Christmastime, shopping and the making of Dummy Shoes

December is by far the best month of the year. Christmastime has always been my favorite time of the year. I love going shopping and working hard to pick out just the perfect gift for everyone on my list. I love anticipating their faces as they unwrap their present to see what they got this year. I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning, as I wake up around 5 a.m. wanting to get everyone up and together to start our day. It used to be about finding out what Santa got me, or what that special present under the tree that had my name on it was, but now it has turned into an excitement for the family time and getting to see those faces behind the wrapping paper that excites me the most.

This past weekend, I got a good portion of our shopping done and got some presents wrapped and under the tree. I love the way the lights on a Christmas tree twinkle at night, and how the bows from the presents glow under the tree. It's such a pretty sight. And, so far, Brooklyn is doing great at not bothering the presents, even though I know she has her eye of a couple!

We started out our shopping extravaganza on Saturday with taking Brooklyn to see Santa Claus. We got into the monster line that wound around Santa's Village in the mall. Brooklyn, who is learning to walk (she can walk about 6 feet and then she falls down), was really interested in the decorations that were along the path (reindeers, trees, lights and fake snow). I finally picked her up, to her dismay, and pointed through the trees to the man sitting in the sleigh all dressed up in a red suit. She pointed at him and said "Ohhh.." By the time it was her turn, and she got a better up-close view of the man she had been watching for the past 20 minutes, she was intrigued. But, the minute that Mommy sat her down on his lap and moved away, her intrigue turned to a scream followed by tears and a runny nose. She was completely terrified. She didn't not want this stranger holding her. She didn't understand what was going on, and even though she is pretty good with other people holding her, she didn't want to have any part of this at all. I immediately grabbed her and she grabbed ahold of me, and the photographer told Kevin and I to sit down next to Santa, and he would take our picture. Brooklyn was still very scared though as she didn't want to wave bye to Santa or even glance in his direction.

As I got in line to pay for the CD we had made with the photos, the man in front of me looked at her and how her face was tear-stained and her nose was red, and he said, "It's okay honey, in the next couple of years, you will like it so much better once you realize what Santa Claus does." But, I don't know. I was never too fond of sitting on Santa's lap and Kevin called Santa "Dummy Shoes." The day after Thanksgiving as my mother-in-law and I were shopping, she explained the meaning of Dummy Shoes. Kevin called anyone who wore a mask of any sort a Dummy. And, after reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and how the illustrations showed Santa standing in the fireplace, the phrase Dummy Shoes came about. So, if liking or not liking to sit on Santa's lap is in the genes, I will say that Brooklyn won't be too fond of him, even as she gets older. Only time will tell.

We got one really cute photo before she got really scared and started crying. We'll end up taking her back next year, I am sure... maybe she'll learn to like the guy.

Date night

Monday night, Kevin and I went on a date! This was quite an event for us as we haven’t been on a date since our anniversary in April. We enjoy spending as much time as we can with our little princess, and we usually do everything with her, but Monday night was our night to reconnect and spend a little alone time. Alone time that is with thousands of other people! We went to the Dixie Chicks concert at the Pepsi Center. The Dixie Chicks are one of my (our) favorite bands, and they will always hold a special place in my heart as the first time we saw them in concert (August 3, 2000) Kevin proposed to me on his front porch after the show.

I had Monday off, as I am only working part time right now, and I took my time (while Brooklyn was napping that is) getting ready for my hot date with my dear husband. After he got home, we drove to my parent’s house to drop off the little one. It made us feel okay about leaving her when we saw how excited my mom was to be able to watch her. She hadn’t had that honor since February….as I said, we don’t like leaving her!

When we got to the Pepsi Center, we made our way inside and found our seats, but not before I bought a really cute shirt with the Chicks on the front. Pretty soon, Pete Yorn, the opening act, began strumming his guitar and singing. As we sat there listening and at times singing along to the music, it was very apparent to me that I had my husband for the whole night just to myself. It was a really good feeling.

When the Dixie Chicks came out to the Hail to the Chief song, we were both on our feet clapping and screaming in excitement. The sound really good live! They played a good variety from their new album as well as from their older ones. When the song “Cowboy Take Me Away” began playing, Kevin grabbed me and held me tight and danced with me. It was so romantic. After he proposed to me in 2000, he told me that he made that choice to have that night be the night that he popped the question because he held me during the same song, and it just felt so right.

Monday night was more than a concert, it was a chance to spend some much needed time alone with my husband. I am so grateful that we had that chance.

Our little princess is going to be a 1 year-old in less than a month. As I said in my very first post when Brooklyn was turning 5 months old...where does the time go? This year has been the fastest year of my life and by far, the year where I learned the most. My sweet, precious daughter has taught me so much: patience is a must; how to get up and have the entire house cleaned by 9 a.m. (after all we were up, so why not!?!); mid-afternoon baths are so much fun; pulling things out of the dishwasher (dirty or not) is a much better game than her new ball popper; nothing is better in life than a wet kiss and little arms stretched around your neck in a hug; how DVDs, video games and books all look much better tossed on the floor as opposed to on the shelf; baby gates are really made for tossing toys and pacifiers over for Mommy and Daddy to chase rather than keep some little person safe; sippy cups are to be tossed on the ground after you are done taking a drink; mirrors are meant to play peek-a-boo with ourselves and see just how cute we really are.

I remember when we first brought her home from the hospital and she slept all day long and at night Daddy would swing her back and forth in her carseat to help her fall into a slumber. I remember when she first learned to hold her own head up and now she has learned and enjoys shaking her head "no" and nodding her head and her whole body "yes." I remember when she first learned to crawl and how she didn't know she could go anywhere she wants and now she leaves the family room and heads up to the living room all by herself. The time really does go by fast. And, seriously, where did our daughter go that just laid there and slept all day!?! She's turning into a toddler - that's where she went - and she's taking Mommy and Daddy along for the ride, and boy, are we glad she is!!