When we were in Alabama about three weeks ago, James met Joseph Hails, son of Ginger and Matt. We have known Matt for a long time and his wife is just the sweetest. We were excited to finally meet the new addition to their family. Baby Joseph is so cute! It was fun watching James and Joseph playing together. We got a kick out of all their funny expressions. Thanks for an awesome time, Hails Family! Can't wait to see the three of you again and meet Hails Baby #2.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
A New Buddy
Thursday, August 28, 2008
A Message From God
Yesterday I had a VERY hard time at work because I was missing James a lot. I was not feeling so great, and I was feeling overwhelmed with everything I am learning at my new job. Suddenly, I just really wanted to be home with James. The closest thing I can relate it to is severe and sudden homesickness. It was swallowing me up! I just wanted to be where he was. Well, I have to work, so I prayed and prayed and tried to keep in mind how fortunate we are as a family. It didn't matter what positive things I thought of. I was in a sad mood and determined to stay that way all day.
When I woke up this morning, a sense of dread filled me because I knew it would be another long day without James. How I was missing those long and lazy summer days with my boy! At school, I attended a prayer group and told them about my dilemma and asked for prayers. After hearing other's personal concerns, it put things in perspective. During the prayer, I was lifted up! My day at work was AWESOME!
This evening, a funny thing happened. No, funny isn't the word but it was an interesting lesson. I came home from work with James in tow, after running errands and stopping by the library, to discover I had a sick cat - what seemed to be a very, very sick cat. We got him to the emergency vet and spent some time there. The cat, who looked like he was on his death bed earlier, was fine. 100% fine! Yes, I am serious! After loading the not sick cat and my very tired baby into the car, I knew that James would fall asleep on the way home. I realized I had not had any meaningful time to really to hang out with him today. Instead of being sad, I realized getting into the car that this was a clear message from God to remind me how lucky I am to spend the amount of quality time I normally do with my baby everyday. We really do make the most of every moment together! It was literally a light bulb moment in my life! One of those I know I will remember always, the way the wind was blowing my hair when the idea hit me, and the way the sun was making a beautiful sunset at the same time, the sweet smell of James as I buckled him into his car seat. Some women only get to spend the amount of time with their babies that I spent with James today, every day. How blessed I am, and how grateful I must be for it.
It is time to quit my negative thinking, and get back to counting my blessings. The biggest one I have ever received is becoming James' mother. So, the moral of the story is this....God has a way of getting your attention, and He answers your prayers. So prayer works, even if you have to have a "sick" cat, a $97 vet bill, and a vet who turns out to be a member of your church (seriously!!!) to help you realize how wonderful things already are!
Priceless Parenthood Moment #404 (Trying spaghetti....)
After a little apprehension, James discovered he is a pasta fan!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Changes!
Monday I will be starting at a new school in a new district! YAY! I am so excited and I have been working hard to get everything ready for the 5th graders I will be teaching. The new school is much closer and is just a better fit for me. I will miss wokring with some wonderful friends I made at Elder and of course the students, but I am looking forward to this new challenge. I will admit I am a little (ok, majorly!) overwhelmed. So much to do! So many new regulations, schedules, etc. to learn. But I have to take a deep breath and know it will be ok. One of the best things about the job is that I will be home earlier and have more time to hang out with James. He will also be able to come to school there for K-5 when the time comes. It would be nice having him so close. Wish me luck Monday!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Sweet Home Alabama
We recently visited Birmingham and had an AWESOME time! Daniel lived in Homewood, which is essentially a suburb of B'Ham, from second grade until he left for college. It is a very nice area and we love going there. You see some beautiful scenery and everyone is just so nice! The 20 people James met included family members (grandparents, uncles and great-grandparents) and longtime friends. It was James' first time on an airplane and he was wonderful on the way there, and let's just say the way back was a really looooooooooooooooong flight.
We spent a lot of time hanging out with Daniel's family and visited Build-A-Bear (where James got a bear and a monkey), the Birmingham Zoo, a Japanese steakhouse (where James was slightly traumatized by a chef who thought a spatula near a baby's head is funny) and also made a trip to Montgomery with Daniel's parents and brothers (and Marian, Andrew's amazing girlfriend) so James could meet his great-grandparents. On our trip we also spent time with our friends Ginger and Matt and their adorable baby boy Joseph, as well as the Dude (Daniel's college room-mate), Jessica, Kelli, Vincent, Matt, Stacy, Jeremy and Paul. It brought back some great college memories. We had not laughed so much in a long time! On one day we attended Daniel's 10 Year High School Reunion Family Picnic. Although I did not know many of the people, it was nice to meet them and we had a good time. James wore a complete Auburn outfit including an Auburn cap and pacifier clip. It was nice to be in SEC country!
We are already planning our next trip back to Alabama and hope to make it to Auburn. For those of you not familiar, Auburn is home to the GREATEST university in the world and also where Daniel and I got married back in 2000. Thanks to everyone we got together with in B'Ham....it was so much fun seeing you all and introducing James to you. Can't wait to see you again! :-)
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