My "Thankful List"

Today is my favorite Thursday of the entire year. Today is Thanksgiving Day. I was recently reminded how so many people (often myself included) are only consciously thankful for who and what they have in their lives on this one day. I look around me, and it just blows my mind how much I have to be thankful for. From now on, I am going to try to live every day in a constant state of "thanks" for everything I have been blessed with.
Usually around this time, I start making my Christmas "wish list" of things I'd like for Christmas - something I've been doing for as long as I can remember (I mean, who hasn't made a Christmas "wish list"?). Instead of doing that this year, I decided to make a list of who/what I'm thankful for. After all, why do I need to make a Christmas "wish list" when I've already been blessed with far more than I need or deserve? I wanted to post my list below so I can look back on this blog and read it from time to time if I ever need a reminder of all I have to be thankful for. I know it won't include everything I'm thankful for (that would be a VERY long list if I took the time to think of everything), but I will at least try to mention the most "important" things. At the end, I also wanted to post a few pictures from today.


My "Thankful List"


1. I am first and foremost thankful for my Heavenly Father for creating me, and for sending His Son to die for my sins. I am thankful for His unfailing love. I am thankful that He is always there to hear my prayers, even though I'm so often not willing to listen to Him. I am thankful for every blessing He ever has and ever will give me. I have Him to thank for everything else on this list.
2. I am thankful for my wonderful husband, Jordan. I am thankful for his love and friendship. I am thankful for the hard work and selflessness he displays every day working two jobs to provide for our family. I am thankful God called me to be his wife.
3. I am thankful for my precious, healthy baby girl, Rylee. She is one of the most incredible blessings God has ever given me - one I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to have after being diagnosed with PCOS. She is a constant reminder from God that with Him, ALL things are possible. He is the Almighty Creator of life. I am so thankful for the blessing of motherhood.
4. I am thankful for my mom and dad, my daddy, my brother, my sister, and all my extended family (including my in-laws). I was blessed to be raised in a loving, Christian home by wonderful parents whose main concern was teaching me about Christ. I am thankful to have so many people who love and support me.
5. I'm thankful for my home and everything within it (my bed, my clothes, food, etc.). I am so blessed to have a roof over my head to shelter me from the ever-changing weather.
6. I'm thankful to have not one, but two reliable vehicles for transportation.
7. I'm thankful to live in the United States of America, and I'm thankful for all of the men and women who serve in our armed forces to protect my freedom.
8. I'm thankful for all of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am very blessed to have friends who love the Lord and are there to encourage me and hold me accountable in my walk with Him.
9. I'm thankful for my health, and for all of my doctors who have treated me whenever I've needed medical attention for any reason.
10. I'm thankful for music - especially contemporary worship music. I love praising God through song.

Rylee wearing her "baby's 1st thanksgiving" outfit

me and my sweet husband, Jordan

my sweet girl and me

Rylee and me in front of our Christmas tree

Rylee and me

me and Jordan with our precious baby girl

Rylee's First Vegetables and Halloween

Well, this past weekend held more milestones for my sweet baby girl. She's been eating rice cereal once a day for two weeks now, and on Saturday we were allowed to start feeding her vegetables. The doctor said to give her orange and yellow vegetables first, and to introduce a new one every five days. I decided to start her with sweet potatoes and see how she liked them. In a way, I felt a little guilty giving her sweet potatoes. I was sitting there saying, "Yummy sweet potatoes, Rylee! Yummy, yummy!" And I hate sweet potatoes. Ha! I was very proud of Rylee, though. Although she made a few silly and confused faces, she never actually gagged, and she ate the entire jar like a big girl! We fed her sweet potatoes last night and tonight as well (like I said, we need to wait five days before we introduce her to another vegetable), and she finished both of those jars too. I just can't believe my little girl is already eating baby food. Time is going by so fast, and I'm just trying to keep up and treasure every second I get with her.
Yesterday was also Rylee's first Halloween. We didn't make a big deal of it, though. I just couldn't see spending money on a costume that she would wear one time, and then taking her trick-or-treating for candy that she can't even eat. Lord knows Jordan and I don't need any candy, so we just had a nice relaxing evening here at home. Thanks to Nana (my mom), though, Rylee did at least have a Halloween outfit to wear yesterday, so I took a few pictures of her in it with a big smile on her face.
I wanted to share a video of Rylee's first few bites of sweet potatoes, and then a few new pictures as well. Enjoy!

she's not too sure what she thinks about the sweet potatoes

she likes them! all gone!

Rylee modeling her "Baby's First Trick-or-Treat" outfit for Halloween

Our First Post-Parenthood Date

Last night, Jordan and I went out on a date for the first time since I had Rylee. Our last date was on our one-year wedding anniversary, two days before she was born. She is now four and a half months old, so it was a long-awaited and much-needed time out together. My mom came over to watch Rylee for us (thanks, Mom!).
We had dinner at a new Italian restaurant in Millbrook/Prattville called Antipastos. We were served fresh bread with an herb butter and Italian house salads while we waited on our main courses. Jordan tried their Chicken Parmesan, and I ordered the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. The food was plentiful and delicious, and we were both stuffed when we left.
After dinner, we headed to Build-A-Bear Workshop in Eastdale Mall in Montgomery to "build" a stuffed animal. We decided on a cute monkey, and after it was stuffed and sewed up, we picked out a pretty little outfit to dress it in. We agreed that the monkey was a girl, and we named her Maggie. We intend for her to be a Christmas present for Rylee.
When we finished in Build-A-Bear, we walked around the mall for a little while, holding hands and peeking in different shops. It was nice to spend time together without a car seat and baby and diaper bag in toe. Of course we still missed Rylee, but I knew she was in good hands with my mom. We had a nice evening out, and hopefully we can have another date night soon.

Maggie the Monkey

A Long-Overdue Update

Well, I certainly didn't intend for this much time to pass before I finally got on here to post another blog. I guess the only excuse I really have (and it's a darn good one if I may say so myself) is that I have a very active, very clingy four-month-old who demands my attention from sun up to sun down. Pretty much the only true free time I have anymore is when I finally get her to bed for the night. And since that's usually not until around 10 o'clock in the evening, I'm ready to go to sleep myself. As a result, I'm way behind on all of the updates I've been meaning to post, and now I'm sitting here with my calendar in my lap trying to remind myself of everything that has happened since my last blog.
First of all, I will go ahead and let you know that I still don't have pictures of our new home to share yet. I know I promised I would post some soon - and I will - but as of right now, I still just haven't gotten around to actually taking any pictures around the house. Shame on me, I know, but I will do my best to take some soon for those of you who have been anxiously waiting to see our new home.
In my last blog, I believe I mentioned that my great-granny Flowers passed away on Sunday, October 3. Her funeral was Wednesday the 6th, and Rylee and I drove down to Brundidge to attend the funeral. It was nice to see the little country church that she served in for so many years full of family and friends who gathered to celebrate her life here on this earth. We miss her now that she's no longer here with us, but we can also celebrate in the fact that she's now with her Heavenly Father. This year has been tough on my family related to deaths. I lost my great-aunt Norma in May, my grandma Parker in August (as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts), Granny Flowers, and one or two other extended family members. Hopefully our family has reached its "quota" for now, and we won't have anymore funerals to attend for a while...
Earlier this month, Jordan had a week of vacation from UPS, so we headed down to central Florida for a few days to spend some time with my family down there. I enjoyed not only visiting with my daddy and my aunts and uncle, but also with Jordan himself. He works a lot, so I'm not used to getting to spend that much time with him. Needless to say, it was hard to come back home to the reality of only seeing him for a couple of hours a day (if I'm lucky).
We had to cut our Florida trip a couple days short so I could get back home for a doctor appointment with my OB/GYN on the 13th. At a previous recent appointment for my yearly pap smear, the "swabs" the doctor got from my cervix indicated the possible presence of mild pre-cancerous cells. Getting that phone call from the nurse really shook up my world. She made sure to explain that having pre-cancerous cells did NOT mean that I had cancer, but nevertheless, hearing that "c" word pretty much knocked me off my feet. There is a pretty extensive background of cancer on both sides of my family, so for me, it's always been more of a question of not "if" I ever get cancer, but "when". Anyway, my appointment on the 13th was basically another pap smear, but a little more "involved". This time, my doctor used a microscope so he could get a better look at my cervix. Based on what he saw that day, it did look like I had mild pre-cancerous cells, but they sent the new sample "swabs" from my cervix to the lab for confirmation testing. He told me that based on what he saw, he was about 90% sure that the results would come back as mild pre-cancerous, but that there was always a slight possibility that it could be moderate pre-cancerous (slightly worse). A few days ago, I got a call from the nurse with my results. It turns out it was only inflammation on my cervix; there were no signs of any pre-cancerous cells. All I can say about that is that GOD IS GOOD! I am so thankful to be His child resting in the palm of His healing hand. I am so undeserving of His unfailing love, but I'm forever grateful that He showers me with it anyway!
In other news, Rylee is now four months old and thriving! She can roll over from both her back to her stomach and from her stomach to her back. She has mastered grabbing at rattles and whatever else might be in front of her face (unfortunately I think her favorite thing to grab is my hair). She is drooling a lot now (I think she has started teething), and she loves to give big, sloppy, wet kisses. Every day is a new adventure with her. We started giving her rice cereal on the 15th when she turned four months old, and she's doing really well with it now. At first she didn't seem to care for it too much, but now she dives at the spoon if we don't get it in her mouth fast enough. This Friday we will start her on vegetables, so that should be interesting. Today we took her to the doctor for her four-month check-up. She weighed 14 pounds, 13 ounces, and she was 25 inches long. I was actually a little surprised at her weight, because she was 15 pounds, 4 ounces at the Health Department just a few days ago. I mentioned it to the doctor, but he wasn't concerned about it. He said she looks fantastic and is advanced for her age. He is extremely pleased with her progress, as he has been from day one. Rylee had to get three immunization shots today, which was probably just as hard for me as it was for her. Thankfully Jordan was able to go to this appointment with us, so he was able to console her, and I was able to hold myself together enough to refrain from shedding any tears. Rylee still screamed for a minute, but overall I think she did a little better today than she did at her last appointment.
For now, that's all of the updates I can think of. I'm sure I'm probably forgetting to mention something, but it's getting late, and my brain is going to sleep. As I mentioned earlier, I will post some pictures of our new home very soon. Until then, I'll leave you with a few recent pictures of Rylee.

in the truck on the way to Florida (Oct. 8, 2010)

her first time playing on her floor gym (Oct.12, 2010)

her first time eating rice cereal (Oct. 15, 2010)

after she rolled completely over from her back to her belly for the first time (Oct. 16, 2010)

Just Checking In

Hello, dear blog. Yes, I'm still alive, and no, I haven't forgotten about you. I've simply been a little busy lately, since WE MOVED!!! Yes, it's true. It's real. Sound the hallelujah chorus! Our first night in our new home was this past Friday, October 1. The next morning, I had that classic, waking-up-in-a-new-home-for-the-first-time moment where, for a split second, I wasn't sure where I was. But then of course, just as quickly as that confusion overcame me, everything rushed back, and I got excited all over again.
We love it here so far. We have SO much more space here compared to our last home; we don't know what to do with ourselves. I don't know if we'll ever get completely unpacked, because we can't make up our minds on where we want to put everything. We just have so many options here, where as at the other house, we didn't really have any options at all.
I do miss the other house in some ways, though. As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, that house will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the first home Jordan and I shared as husband and wife, and it was the home we welcomed our daughter into after she was born. We created so many wonderful memories in that home, and I will always cherish that chapter of our lives.
In the same way, though, I am also very grateful that we have a new home to make new memories in. This is an exciting new chapter in our lives, and I can't wait to finish unpacking everything and really get settled in. I can't wait to have friends and family over, because we actually have the space to entertain guests. We now have plenty of floor space for when Rylee starts crawling. (Having said that, I am by no means rushing her to start crawling; my baby is already growing fast enough as it is! I fully realize that once she starts crawling, there's no turning back - she's going to be all over the place!) There's just a lot of exciting new stuff to look forward to in this home.
For now, though, we still have a lot of unpacking to do, while at the same time packing for our trip to Florida this Friday. We'll be headed down for a few days to visit my daddy and family.
Even before that, though, Rylee and I will be headed down to Brundidge on Wednesday for my great-granny Flowers's funeral. She passed away yesterday. Her health had been declining for quite some time now, and we knew she wouldn't be with us much longer. We will certainly miss her, but at the same time, we know that she is now resting with the Lord, and that brings a great comfort that we're very thankful for. I'll see her again some day.
Well, I think that's all the updates I have for now. I promise to try to blog again soon with some pictures of our new home (I'd like to get settled in a little more first so I'm not just taking pictures of rooms full of yet-to-be unpacked boxes.) Until then, here are a couple of recent pictures of Rylee that I took here in our new home.

napping in her crib for the very first time. 'bout time! (Sept. 30, 2010)

playing with her puppy from Papa (Oct. 4, 2010)

We Have the Keys!

It's official! Finally! The closing of our new home was a success this afternoon, and we now have the keys! Unfortunately, we won't be able to move in right away (we still have to have a new air conditioner unit/heat pump and a new water heater installed), but we are so anxious to at least start moving our stuff in. Hopefully we will be able to actually start living there sometime next week. We are just so relieved that everything is finally settled, and we're very excited to start this new chapter in our lives. I'm already looking forward to our first Christmas there (which is just a few months away now - can you believe that?!). We'll have a fireplace that we can hang our stockings from. It's the little things that get me the most excited about this move. This is going to be our home. We are so thankful for this opportunity, for all of my parents' help in getting us this far, and for God's continuous blessings on our family. We are so humbled by His love!

the keys to our new home!

One Step Closer to Reality

Well, twelve days after the original closing date of our new home, we got some good news today: the closing date has finally been rescheduled for this Friday afternoon. The attorneys now have all of the paperwork and titles and everything they need, so hopefully it will actually happen this time. It's funny, but in a weird way, I don't actually feel as excited as I originally did. Of course I'm still very excited, but I guess after the first closing date fell through, it just seems sort of surreal now that it's actually going to happen. I think once Friday is here, and everything is for sure finalized, it'll hit me, and then the excitement will set in once again. Until then, we've got to get busy packing! Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update. Until next time...