More or Less...

As I reflect on the past year and have hopes for the upcoming one, I'm thinking of many things I want to do differently.  I'm not one to make resolutions because I believe any day is the perfect day to make changes.  So instead of resolutions, how about a list of things I want to do differently...

-I will clean house less and play more.
-I will say, 'Yes' more often when my girls ask me to do something while I'm busy.
-I will include the girls in simple tasks like cooking and household chores.  They love it.  It makes them feel important and teaches responsibility.
-I will spend more time with my Bible and less with other books
-I will spend more time praying and studying and less on the computer and internet
-I will praise more and correct less
-I will look for positives more and less time seeing the negatives
-I will encourage others more
-I will talk less and listen more
-I will worry less and pray much more
-I will think less about the future and live more in each moment
-I will focus on my strengths and think less about my faults
-I will give my children less 'stuff' and allow them to realize 'more' stuff doesn't bring happiness
-I will exercise more
-I will drink less soda and tea
-I don't think I can drink more water :)
-I will think more before reacting when disciplining
-I will give more grace
-I will be thankful more and ask for less
-I will give more and take less
-I will teach my girls to think of others more and less of their own desires



I am excited about all the possibilities and opportunities that a new year brings.  Welcome 2014! 

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things....

-Josh walks to my side of the bed every night for a kiss
-Josh makes my water cup every morning when he wakes up
-Sarah says, "I boo tay" for I love you.  This was one of her first phrases she said as a baby.  She would respond to us when we told her we loved her, with, "I boo tay".  Now she does it just to make us laugh.
-Hannah says, "mmmma-mmmmma' anytime she is hungry, sleepy or mad
-Rachel says, "I love you toooo much!"
-Our mornings always begin with everyone cuddling in our bed when we first wake up
-My sister in law's apple pie
-I love onions
-I love to teach.
-I love to see a child realize they can do something they didn't know how to do.  
-Sarah sucks her thumb and picks her nose when she's tired
-Rachel loves to be tickled while she falls asleep
-Elle sleeps under my covers, under my legs every night
-Bo must sleep so that he can touch Josh and I both
-Josh pays all the bills; I haven't seen one in a long time
-Josh  and my girls love my homemade biscuits (they are pretty good)
-My girls love to stay with my parents and my parents love to have them
-Hannah sucks her toes
-My girls love to laugh togethe
-Rachel runs circles around the house each night because she 'loves to run' like her mommy
-Sarah carries a baby doll, bottle and any other baby accessories she can, around with her at all times
-Sarah loves to cuddle and be held.  She will follow me around and say, 'hold you Mommy'
-Rachel can strike up a conversation with anyone at anytime and always make someone smile.  She likes to be the center of attention, while Sarah is reserved and observant.  She likes to study and listen.
-Hannah loves to bury her head in my chest and rub her nose on my shoulder when she's sleepy
-Sarah's laugh, eyes and snuggles
-Rachel's curls, nose and conversations
-Hannah's cheeks, feet and smiles
-My dogs greet me at the door anytime I walk in, whether it be I left for a minute or a week.
-I still sleep in tshirts I've had since middle school (this drives Josh crazy because he is the opposite of a hoarder)
-When I see a student of mine in public, I feel like a celebrity
- Mexican food
-Being pregnant and feeling those baby movements
-the smell of a newborn baby
-holding a sleeping baby
-Gospel music, contemporary christian music and country music
-GOING TO THE BEACH
-visiting the mountains in the fall
-swimming
-Reading my Bible and nonfiction books
-to listen to Josh read bedtime stories and say prayers with the girls before bed
-driving.  I love to drive and ride.  IF there is not a crying baby in the back
-Rachel lives to make Hannah laugh and smile
-Sarah adores Rachel and everything she does

TO BE CONTINUED.....

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Well, Christmas has come and gone.  We now await the New Year.  2014, really??  Has it REALLY been 14 years since Y2K?  Goodness, I feel like I'm getting old.  With age comes wisdom, right?  I am learning so much these days....

We are a busy family at Christmas time, with so many places to go and people to see.  The busyness and craziness really can get to me and my type A, very structured, very schedule oriented personality.  My children need to be in bed at bedtime and they need a nap EVERY single day (I prefer naps not be in the car).  They need to eat fruits, veggies and have protein at every meal (not cookies, cakes, pies and candy).  This criteria is hard to adhere to when you have 2 Christmas parties to attend in one day, one scheduled in the middle of nap and the other at bed time!!  What I learned was that I am blessed with my health and the health of my children and family this year.  We were ALL able to attend EVERY get together and no one had to miss due to illness.  My family has seen its dark and scary days of cancer.  My mom is a breast cancer survivor; my grandmother a colon cancer survivor; my aunt has fought cancer as well.  They are all here and healthy!  That is something to celebrate!  Josh and I have 3 healthy, beautiful and smart little girls and that is something to celebrate!  But above all, I have a savior who is alive and well.  HE has blessed me beyond measure.  God sent his ONLY son to be born of a virgin to later be crucified on the cross for ME, little 'ole me.  Now that is something to celebrate!  It is so easy to get caught up in this crazy thing we call life and forget about the whole purpose of why we are here.  Thank you Lord for your son and my salvation.  Thank you Lord that we do have so many places to go and people to see during the holidays because that means we have lots of family and friends who love us and are healthy enough to celebrate YOU.

Our Family Traditions:
-Christmas morning is spent with my parents, Josh's mom, brothers and sister in law.  Everyone comes to see what Santa brought.  Then we go to Mammaw Blalock's (Josh's grandmother; the girls' great-grandmother) to have breakfast (Mrs. Cricket's homemade biscuits, gravy, ham and sausage) and visit with cousins.
-Christmas afternoon/evening is spent at my parents' house.  We open presents and eat yummy prime rib, baked potatoes and salad!
-Christmas Eve day is spent with Gran T (Josh's mom), Uncle James, Aunt Shenna, Uncle Justin and soon to be cousin :)
-Christmas Eve evening we go to Momo's (my grandmother; the girls' great grandmother) and exchange gifts with many cousins, aunts and uncles.
-December 23rd we have the Ingram family reunion Christmas at Dewberry Church.  There are too many of us for a house.
-The Sunday before Christmas is our Wade Christmas get together with my grandmother and all my aunts, uncles, cousins and their children.  It is a FULL house!
-The Saturday after Christmas we go to Toccoa for the Mooney Christmas.  This is Josh's grandparents, his aunts, uncles, cousins and their children.
-One Saturday in December we always have a friend White Elephant Christmas party at Nick and Courtney Walls's house with the Strayhorns, Boltons, Ladewigs, Duncan's and Benjy.

We partied too much, ate lots of sweets, opened lots of gifts, lost lots of sleep, gave lots of hugs, spent lots of time with the ones we love and celebrated the birth of THE MOST GREATEST GIFT of ALL!

All because 2 people fell in love.....

How do I count the ways I love thee? I love that you are strong in every sense of the word.  I love that you are dependable, stable and always the same.  I love that you are tough but so tender-hearted all at once.  I love that you are a protector and provider for our family.  I love that you are the spiritual leader.  But I love most of all that we have a shared mission in life, our children.  You know I am crazy about you, but the love I have only multiplies after the births of each of our girls. I will never forget one of our first conversations when we were dating.  You told me that your 2 goals in life were to be a good husband and good father.  Those words won me over and boy have you lived up to the challenge.  We are a team.  We work together so well at this crazy thing we call life and parenthood.  When I cook; you wash the dishes.  When I wash the clothes; you fold them.  When I give the girls a bath; you get them dressed.  It just comes so naturally for us.  We both find satisfaction at the end of the day in the fact that we have worked together to love, care for and raise our children, together.  We can devote our time to our children because we are satisfied and content in the love we share with one another.  I never doubt your love for me and I know you feel the same.  We have trust.  We have faith.  We have commitment.  Commitment to one another and commitment to our savior.  This is what makes the difference.  This is why we survive the hard days and the long nights of parenthood without crumbling under the stress and chaos.  We don't argue.  We don't fight.  We disagree with grace (most of the time) and that is such a wonderful thing.  

 This says it all.  Hannah in Mommy's belly.  May 2013

Daddy and Hannah in the hospital.  July 2013

 Daddy and Rachel in her new big girl bed.  June 2011

Daddy and Sarah napping.  November 2011

I prayed for you for many years and I'm thankful for answered prayers.  I can't imagine this life without you.  God knew exactly what he was doing when our paths crossed 11 years ago.  I'm thankful for the good times and tough times we've had as husband and wife for each of the experiences have shaped us into the people we are today.  Thank you for being you.  Thank you for loving me.  Thank you for loving us.

The Umbrella

The umbrella is new to our family.  It is THE gift Rachel begged for an entire year prior to her 4th birthday.  Honestly, I didn't see any point in her having her very own umbrella.  We have enough stuff in our car which is packed with babies, the last thing we need is something else that needs to stay in the car.  Despite my thoughts on the matter, she was persistent in her wants.  Every time she saw an umbrella she reminded me of her wish to have her own.  Every time we went to a festival where she would see the cute little embroidered or painted, personalized umbrellas, she would once again remind me of her extreme need for her own umbrella.  So for her 4th birthday, Sarah and Hannah gave her an umbrella....with her name embroidered on it.  It was definitely her favorite gift.  She did not put it down for 5 days.  It laid beside her in the bed at night.  It sat beside her while she played.  It went to church with us, just in case it started raining.  It sat beside her when she ate, when she pottied, when she bathed....The umbrella was even more of an annoyance to me than I imagined it being!!  Not only did she carry it with her but she insisted on opening it often.  In the car was her favorite spot to hold her umbrella over her head. 
Thanksgiving break came allowing us to have a whole week of 'home days'.  My girls love 'home days'.  We stay in pjs and don't leave the house.  Yes, it is their most favorite kind of day.  So when reality returned the following school week.  Rachel was extremely upset to learn she had to go back to school.  We had a very hard time at the beginning of the school year with her not wanting to go and crying every night before a school day and every morning when we dropped her off.  We were over this hard time, until a week of not going to school.  This school morning was not good.  She woke up very upset and crying because she didn't want to go to school.  After much talking, encouraging, hugging and then just being the tough mommy and saying, 'you got to go', she realized it was raining outside.  'It's raining', she says.  'Yes, it's raining, you probably won't be playing outside today,' I said thinking this crying episode is about to get worse because her favorite thing about school is definitely playing outside.  'It's raining, I get to take my umbrella to school!'  Crying ceased, smile from ear to ear appeared and she was dressed and ready in no time.  An umbrella was the answer.  She got to carry her very own umbrella to school....one with her name on it.  And that is what makes a little girl happy.  It's the little things.  It's the details.  I like The Umbrella.

Back to the not wanting to go to school.  It's not that she doesn't like going to school.  She actually LOVES it once she's there.  She is always smiling and talking my ear off when I pick her up.  It's just that her favorite spot on earth is at home in her jammies, with her toys and freedom.  She is a free spirit.  She loves free play.  The girl has got an imagination, as does her sister Sarah.  But that's another blog, for another day...

3rd Time's a Charm...

As I sit here on the floor beside you, watching you play with blocks and toys, I'm in awe of how much love my heart can contain and how fast time flies when you are having fun!  You are our 3rd precious baby girl.  You are one of a kind; a special gift from God.  I am so thankful that God chose ME to be your mother.  You have taught me so much in your short 4.5 months on this earth.  Patience is what you are teaching me the most.  For you are not the so-called, typical, 'easy-going', 'go with the flow' third baby everyone was telling me about when I was pregnant.  You are interested in everything going on around you, which is quite a lot considering you have a 4 and 2 year old sister.  You do not love to sleep.  Why would you?  There's way too much to learn and explore.  Who has time for that!?  And you want to be noticed.  You are not okay to just hang out in the background while everyone else is having fun.  You demand to be in the middle of the excitement!  Therefore your naps are short and your nights are wakeful.  I'm totally okay with that though.  I now know how quickly these days will be over and you WILL eventually sleep through the night.  But for now, I am enjoying spending time during late night and early morning nursings because before long I will miss these days. 

It was just 4 months ago when you entered our lives, yet I can't imagine life without you.  The moment I heard your cry was an answered prayer.  Dr. Cox decided to induce labor with you which is something I never imagined doing because I wanted you to come when you were ready but you seemed to not be showing signs of preparing for labor at all.  So, once you were a week late, they induced.  Monday July 15, 2013 was the day of your birth.  I progressed beautifully and you were ready by 11:00am but once once I started pushing you gave us a scare.  The doctors lost your heartbeat on the doppler and then noticed you were 'sunny-side up'.  I was pushing as hard as I could yet little progress was being made and I was so worried.  I can remember yelling prayers for God to protect you and keep you safe during the delivery.  It seemed like hours went by without me being able to hear your tiny, fast heartbeat, but it was only a few minutes.  The sound of your cry was the best sound I had ever heard.  Now that I know you, this delivery was just a taste of what life is like with Hannah Kathryn Blalock.  You are stubborn.  You want things your way.  And you love to be with your Mommy.  You weren't ready yet and the induction forced you to be.  You wanted to be inside for just a little longer.  There's no place closer to mom than in the womb.  I'm learning to be patient.  I'm learning that I'm not in control.  I'm learning that each one of my children have a mind of their own and sometimes the more I push, the more resistant you girls become.  Thank you for teaching me this lesson... and many more I'm sure.  Thank you for being YOU!

Sweet Second Sister Sarah...

Christmas Day 2010 was a super special Christmas day!  This day is special for the most obvious of reasons, it's the day my savior, Jesus Christ, was born but this Christmas of 2010 was the day we found out we were expecting ANOTHER sweet baby.  I remember testing in the wee hours of the morning while everyone was still snoozing.  So I knew about you for quite a while before I shared my joy.  Your daddy woke up sick at his stomach, just as he was during the first week I found out I was pregnant with Rachel.  He gets morning sickness before I do!  I decided I wanted to involve your sister in the announcement, so I decided to write, "Big Sis 9-11" on her little whiteboard and have her show Daddy.  It was such a special moment.  For just as much as I always wanted to be a Mommy, I also knew I wanted as many children as God should choose to bless me with.  I was so excited that you would be coming into our lives in just a few short months.  We celebrated 2 births this day.  The birth of Jesus and the upcoming birth of YOU. 

Sarah Grace Blalock, the moment I laid eyes on you the first time was such a joyful, make your heart skip a beat, moment.  Your daddy and I fell in love with you instantly.  Our hearts doubled.  You gave us so much joy and happiness.  Your delivery was absolutely perfect!  I started having contractions about 8:00 Wednesday night.  By the time I got to the doctor the next morning, I was 5cm dilated.  I went straight to the hospital and continued to progress beautifully.  This was just the beginning of the ease and peacefulness of being your mother.  You are and have always been such a calm, happy, content and loving little girl.  You make being a mommy so easy and enjoyable.  Sweet Sarah, oh how I love thee....

 

Dreams Do Come True...

These days go by too fast.  I'm not a writer.  I'm not good with words.  But I have so many words I want say to my babies.  I have so many thoughts I want them to hear.  I have so many memories I don't want forgotten.  I'm already sad for the days that have passed for which no words have been recorded.  No better time to begin than now.  So here it goes; I will blog for them.  For my children.  Just as I do everything else in life.  It is all for the little ones who call me Mommy.  I have many 'hats' and all of them I take seriously, Mother, Wife, Daughter, Teacher, Friend....  But, my most prized hat of all is the one I wear day in and day out.  It's never taken off for a break of sat to the side for a moment.  It all began on a very rainy night.  November 9th, 2009, was the day I had been waiting for my whole life.  You see, I had been dreaming of this day for as long as I've been dreaming.  There was nothing I wanted more than to be a mother.  As early as I can remember, I lived life with a baby doll in my arms.  She slept with me; she sat at the table with me; she rode in the car seat beside me.  I was her mommy.  I had been practicing for this day for so long.  So, meeting Rachel Ann Blalock, for the very first time was a dream come true.  Rachel, you took my breath away.  Your beauty was unlike any other baby I had ever seen.  Your daddy and I were the happiest we had ever been.  You made our dreams come true.  We were blessed beyond measure because of YOU!   For every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights.  James 1:17