Yeah, I don't see it either. In fact, I'm not even sure that can be called snow.
But don't worry, all the schools in the metro area are shut down for the day and the local news channels are having Winter 2010 Watch on 24/7.
This is one thing that bothers me about the South.
Don't get me wrong, if I was still working for the school system, I would also be wanting schools to be closed. Who doesn't want a day off?
But I do have a question...why are we using all of our snow days in January for days like this?
What are we going to do when it actually snows more than a 1/2 inch in March and you've already used all our snow days?
Looks like the kids will have to continue going to school longer into the summer now and then people will be complaining. Yes, we so easily forget about those snow days when the kids are still in school in June.
Now, I'm sure someone who happens to live here will read this and the first thing they'll say is "it's not the snow, it's the ice."
I haven't had much time to read lately. This past month, I have started trying to read a little each night before I go to bed. When Nicole brought up the book club idea back in November, I thought it would be great motivation for me to make time to read right now. I might not get to read as much as I use to pre-baby days, but 12 books a year isn't to shabby.
Last night we had our first book-club meeting. Several people flaked out on us and we only had four people, but it ended up being kinda cool because it ended up being a Mother-in-law/Daughter-in-law book club meeting with just Vicki & I and Nicole & Darlene. (Side note: One thing Nicole and I have in common is that both of our Mom's live out of town, but we both live down the street from our Mother-in-laws. We are both very fortunate to have a close relationship with our Mother-in-laws and we're always saying how thankful we are for our mother-in-law's after hearing others stories). But, we're hoping to have a bigger crowd next go round. Nicole made a yummy dinner and even though we were kinda fumbling around at first, once we got into it, it was interesting to hear every one's thoughts on it. We're always sharing and recommending books, but we never talk much that in depth about any of them.
Our first pick was The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.
It's a story about the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, but from the German perspective. It can be compared to Ann Frank, but instead of the Jewish view, it's the story of a German girl. It's an hard book to explain, especially in the way the story is told. The story is told by death's voice (I'm sure that makes no since, but if you read it you'll understand). It's one of those that when I first finished it, I liked it, but the more we talked about it last night, the more I liked the book. I know this is probably the worst book review, but it's hard to explain. Just read the book. It's good and you'll enjoy it. It's an easy read and can be found in the young adult section.
Over the holiday's, I also finally got around to reading another book Nicole lent to me. Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.
I've seen a lot of talk about this book in the blog world and I can say that it was all true. I LOVED this book. This is hands down one of my absolute favorite books now. It's the true story of a homeless man, a wealthy art dealer, and the woman who brought them together. It's one of those books that I think everyone should have to read at some point in time in their lives. It is a life changing book and makes you stop to re-examine yourself and how you treat others. It's short (I finished it in less than two days) and an easy read. If you only have the chance to read one book this year, let this be it.
Have you ever had one of those perfect moments in life?
A moment that regardless of how much time passes, you'll never, ever forget?
A moment that is so right, when looking back, you almost cannot believe it really happened?
A moment that is so perfect, you couldn't have made it up?
On that last night of Olivia not sleeping well, when she woke up crying at 2am, I decided to give her a bottle. When I finished feeding her, like all moms, I sat there a few extra minutes rocking her even though she had already falling back to sleep. Like so many times before, I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and whispered to her "I love you." At that exact moment, she half opened her eyes and the biggest smile came across her face. Not her usual dreaming baby grin, but her big ol' kool-aid smile. She then closed her eyes and went right back to sleep.
It was a perfect moment in my life.
When she's 70 with grandchildren of her own and I'm 97, I will still remember that moment. It's one that makes it all worth it.
First off, it's FREEZING here. I don't do the cold. The day after Christmas, I'm ready for summer. Yes, a constant stream of 75 degree days would be ideal in Georgia, but I would seriously take a 95 degree day + the humidity, any day over a 20 degree day. I know you people from up North are probably laughing at me right now, but I don't care. There is a reason I was born in the South and remain here. I don't do the cold.
We had a bad night last night. Olivia went down at her usual 7:30pm. She awoke at 12:00am. I went in and changed her and put her back down. She laid there for almost an hour talking to herself which of course I had to listen to on the monitor. An hour later, she was back up at 2:00am. I got up, feed her, and put her back down. Two hours later, she was up again. I let her cry/talk it out over the next hour and then at 6:30am, she was back up. I swear this child is never going to sleep through the night. She will be five and still waking up in the middle of the night. I will not get a full night's rest again till she's moved out to go to college, but by then I'll probably be heading towards the "change" and waking up with hot flashes throughout the night. I'm convinced I will never sleep a full eight hours again till I'm dead.
I went to Wal-mart this morning to buy a cd player for Olivia's room (her other one broke already) and a snuggie (I wasn't kidding when I said it was freezing). I had to have a five minute conversation with a lady who was older than my parents about how cute this polyester little black dress was and how it was a great deal at only $13. I hate those conversations with strangers because the dress wasn't cute at all and that lady really shouldn't be wearing it. I didn't have the heart to tell her and she walked off with it in her cart. I felt bad.
Then to top it off, I paid for coffee creamer and three jars of baby food and walked off without them. I didn't realize it till I got home and I already had Olivia out of the car and in the house. I figured I would have to take the $5 loss. I wasn't about to drag Olivia back up there in this -30 degree weather. I'm still bummed about it.
On the bright side...
We are having our first book club meeting tonight and I'm really excited about it. I've been wanting to join a book club for a long time now. We read The Book Thief and I'm planning on posting a review, but haven't found the time yet. Nicole and I are also thinking about joining the book club at our local library, but we're kinda late for this month, so we will have to wait for next months.
I haven't mentioned much about the house lately, but as of early this week, we are good to go. We're set to close on the 15th (next week...eeeekkk!). We finally got everything (but the tile for the kitchen) picked out for the renovations. The appraisal came back on Monday and everything (including our renovations) passed. We've told the contractor we have to be out of our rental by the 1st of February and he's already got things ready to start the same day we close. He says everything but the kitchen counter tops will be done in a week. We're keeping our fingers crossed everything stays as smooth as it has so far. I'll post pictures of the inside when we close.
While we were out of town, someone celebrated her 3 month birthday! We didn't have our usual big brown chair to snap our picture in, but Aunt Janie's big tan chair worked just as good. I debated on waiting till we got home to take her picture, but I wanted to have a picture of what she looked liked on the actual day. Which was a good idea since I swear the next day she looked bigger.
I must say that there is something about that 12 week mark. In any baby book you read, it seems like everything changes at the 12 week mark and I was honestly not too sure how much a difference there would be in her, but I have been surprised. When she hit that 12 weeks the week of Christmas, she turned into a completely different baby. I honestly don't know how to explain it, but she just seems more content now. Don't get me wrong, she still has her days, but overall she's turning into a pretty good baby.
What she's been up to...
*She accomplished rolling over! At 11 weeks and 6 days, she rolled over for the first time. I caught it on camera and posted it here. She's finally figured out what to do with her arms and she will stay content for about 7 minutes on her tummy before she starts fussing. She moves her legs like she's crawling, but she hasn't quite figured out yet to coordinate the arms and legs together. Hopefully this will come soon. She is one of those that is going to be a happier baby when she's on the move.
*She's still in 3-6 month clothes. Not sure on the weight, but I'm sure she's over the 13lb mark. She's getting heavier everyday.
*She is still only eating a 4oz. every three hours. Sometimes she will eat a 5oz. bottle, but most of the time she won't, which has resulted in a lot of thrown away formula. It's amazing she's still growing.
*She is starting to "play." She loves her new little cell phone her Aunt Janie got her for Christmas. She is at a point now where she'll stay for an hour or sometimes longer playing with her toys and she's starting to grab for the stuff she wants. I love getting on the floor and playing with her. She got a ton of new toys for Christmas that I cannot wait for her to start playing with within the next few months.
*She is still a daddy's girl, but she's starting to prefer me now (I'm not complaining). I know it's because I'm with her 24/7, but she usually wants me now if she's upset or tired. When I walk into the room, she always smiles, which makes my heart smile.
*She is drooling like crazy already and I'm pretty sure she is going to cut teeth within the next month or two. You can already feel them when you run your finger over her gums. She's gnawing on everything she can get her hands on, including her hands. Her hands are red from the constant gnawing.
*She's already trying to sit up. When in her car seat or bouncy seat, she'll lift herself up like she's sitting up. It's funny because it's usually accompanied with grunting noises.
The Christmas decorations are finally put away, the house is somewhat clean, laundry has been caught-up, and we've been on baby detox the past two days. A certain little Miss. got a little too spoiled over the past two weeks with always having someone around to hold her. Yesterday, we got back to reality with just her and mommy at home...let's just say it was a long day. Today so far has been much better.
Why is it so hard to get back into a routine after the holidays? Last night was the first night since before Christmas that we had time at home alone just the three of us. We both looked at each other and said we felt like we should call someone to do something. We were good and spent time at home with just the three of us. I'm hoping with the actual work week starting next week, things will fall back into a routine. Oh and we did absolutely nothing on New Year's Eve. David had to work and I sat at home. I've decided that I will do something next year. I'm tired of sitting at home doing absolutely nothing on New Years Eve. To my friends, be prepared....we're partying at my house next year!
Like most others I've been hearing from, I'm happy to see 2009 go. It was not a stellar year to say the least. Of course the best part of the year was the birth of Olivia. I won't go over the downs of the year. I'm not going to dwell on the past. But I am excited about the new year. 2010 is already promising many exciting things to come our way. These past few days, I've been thinking about the goals I wanna work on in the new year. I don't like to call them resolutions. It always seems like resolutions never get accomplished, so I refer to them as goals for the new year. I've decided to keep it limited to three. That way I'm more likely to achieve them.
My goals for 2010:
1. Lose the baby weight-I gained 54lbs. with Olivia. WHOA!!! Way too much. I've already lost a good chunk of that and right now I'm sitting at 18lbs above my start weight. I wanna lose over what I started, so I've decided that I want to set 30lbs. as my goal. I know I can do it because that is what I weighed in 2008 and I already have the skinny clothes that fit me at that weight. So that is another reason for wanting the extra ten pounds off.
2. Work towards a better marriage-I won't go into all the nitty gritty, but in 2009, we took the focus off of our marriage, especially after Olivia arrived. We've both talked over it and we both are working on it. I'm not talking on the verge of divorce or anything, we have just forgotten to put each other first and take time out for just the two of us. I think an established date night (with just the two of us) is about to be put in place.
3. Get organized-This year I'm getting organized. I'm going to dump all the stuff that we don't need and never use. I'm going to get all our paperwork in order, so every time we need something, we know exactly were to find it. I want to organize our closets and keep them that way. This goal should be the easiest since most of this will be accomplished when we move into the new house. The storage space alone in this house sold me, so it's not going to be too hard to get organized. The hardest part will be keeping it organized.
So, that's what I'm working on throughout this new year. I'll do update post every so often to keep myself on track with how I'm doing. My google reader climbed up to over 200 while I was out of town, so if you've posted anything these past two weeks, I haven't read it. I'm hoping to get back to reading soon. Hope everyone had a great New Years!!!
I just want to say a big whopping THANK YOU to you!!! I had some serious reservations about taking you on a five day trip two states away. I had pretty much made up my mind that we would not be taking the traditional after Christmas Richmond trip. I mean what kind of mommy would be crazy enough to take a twelve week old on a 9+ hour car trip? Even after the family convinced me that I should go only two days before, I was seriously dreading the week still. What good could come out of this?
You my dearest daughter though deserve some big props! You were FANTASTIC the entire week! You were a champ during both LONG car rides. You did get a little fussy around hour five on both the way there and back, but a little bottle to put you to sleep helped out and you were in a good mood the rest of the way. Even though you spent the entire week in a different house and sleeping in the pack n' play, you hardly cried the entire time. Plus, I heard no complaints of you waking up anyone in the middle of the night. I'm sure the fact that you had plenty of people to hold you and entertain you helped, but you still surprised me. In fact, the only complaint I have is that you have now made me look crazy since I have been telling people your a handful and never sleep. Oh well, it was nice to hear a thousand times all week that you were "such a good baby." I'm hoping this is a new start for you and I and that you'll continue this trend now that we're home.
Once again, thanks for being awesome this week!
Love you with my whole heart,
Your mommy
P.S. Thank you to my family with all y'alls help this past week with Olivia. Everyone of you made it a much easier week on both of us. I love you all!
I'm Amber...I'm a twenty-something wife, professional student, and soon to be mom. I've been with my hubby, David, for the past ten years. We are the proud parents of two dogs, Buddy and Biscuit, who we spoil like children. We spend most of our time with our family, our small group of friends, and at the Waffle House. I love shopping, purses, books, small/old houses, and decorating.
