Confession

Ok, I have something to admit:


My Christmas decorations are still up.


There it is. Go ahead, say what you will. It's not that I'm hopelessly clinging to the holiday season... I just really haven't had the time or energy to put everything away! Plus, the Christmas tree (that's right, our sad little fake tree is still up, too) makes a wonderful night light in the living room when I'm feeding Abby and rocking her to sleep. I suppose we could just invest in an actual night light, but this one is so... festive. :) I am very aware that it is mid January, and I really need to get on the ball. Maybe this weekend?? Oh, well. Perhaps we'll just celebrate Christmas year round this year.

In other news, I have started my new job in the nursery at Health Corp (local gym/spa), and I love it! There isn't anything overly exciting about it, but I am glad to be working with kids again. Here are the perks:
1) The shifts are only 4 or 5 hours long, depending on the day.
2) I make more than minimum wage.
3) When Abby turns 6 months old in a few weeks, she can go with me every time I go to work.
4) I get free gym membership.
5) I am actually using the free gym membership!
6) I spend my work day coloring, building with blocks, reading books, and tossing balls and bean bags.
7) I get to wear workout clothes and tennis shoes to work.
8) The parents are only allowed to leave their kids for 2 hours max at a time, so there's a constant rotation of children.
I think that about covers it. Right now I'm only subbing for people on the weekends or evenings since I can't take Abby yet. The good news: one of the regular girls put in her 2 week notice today, so I'm going to fill her spot starting in February--more hours! It was looking questionable for a while whether or not I would have many hours to work, but this helps a lot. She said she would try to finish out the month, and then they're mine!

In true fashion, I will now leave you with a couple of recent Abby pictures. Here's my big 5-month-old girl:

Would you like to eat this block?? Trust me, it tastes great!

Can I play with the camera, too, Mommy?

Where to start...

Good grief, I don't even know where to begin. I feel like so much has happened since I posted last, and I just can't get it all in to get caught up.

I guess the most important thing to mention is the passing of my amazing Papaw. He struggled for so long, but he was finally able to rest on Christmas day. He was such a wonderful person, and the best representation of a Christian man/husband/father/grandfather I have ever known. I am so glad he is not in pain anymore. I really am happy for him, but that doesn't make me miss him any less. I am also so grateful he got to meet Abby. He was there the day she was born!

All 12 of the cousins were able to come for the funeral, and it was so good to see everyone. Word on the street is we hadn't all been together since 1995! We somehow all managed to make it through singing a song at Papaw's funeral, and I'm so glad we could do that. Here we are... all grown up. :)
Casey, Abby, and I started our Christmas break in Ohio with Casey's family. We had "fake Christmas Eve" with Casey's Aunt Lana, Jeff, and Grandma Jean. That night after everyone went home, Abby decided she was ready to sit up by herself! It was so cute, and I actually got it on video! She's been sitting and playing nonstop ever since she realized it was a possibility. Then the next day was our big Christmas lunch, and Abby got to try her first vegetable: sweet potatoes! She loved them. We've eaten some here at home since then, and this is how Abby usually looks after a few bites:
She's not quite as messy now that she's had a little more practice, but she usually manages to get quite a bit on her face. Now that she knows she likes food, she lunges for the spoon when it gets near her mouth. We've had quite a bit of squash end up in her nose. Lovely. :)

There are many more pictures I could share from the holidays, but I'll leave you with my 3 favorites:

It's just so stinkin' funny--look at that face! haha

Abby in her Ohio State cheerleader outfit, playing with Daddy and a new toy

She's sitting up and so proud of herself!

That was really long, but I had a lot to make up for. I hope you had a good holiday break!

Another Tag

Once again, I've been tagged. So.... Tiffany made me do it. :)

*i am ready for Christmas break to get here.
*i want to have a little more money to buy some clothes.
*i have a very sick baby. :-(
*i miss my Melissa Jean.
*i fear being alone and failing as a mother.
*i hear Abby's swing.
*i search for ways to live as I should.
*i wonder if it will ever get easier.
*i regret eating that extra cookie.
*i love my family more than words can express.
*i forgive less often than I should, but I'm working on that.
*i ache all over.
*i always eat the edges of my sandwich before eating the middle.
*i try to be a good wife and mother.
*i seem more outgoing than I really feel sometimes.
*i know that my Redeemer lives. :)
*i feel silly that I am filling this out.
*i dance when I'm at home.
*i dream about weird stuff.
*i give when I see a need.
*i listen to Disney music. A lot.
*i sing constantly.
*i laugh when Abby does something new or weird.
*i can't believe Abby is already 4 months old.
*i cry when it seems too hard sometimes.
*i sleep less than I should.
*i am hungry.
*i see my parents' Christmas tree.
*i need to get some thicker socks on my feet--it's cold!
*i should do some laundry since Abby's illness is making everything gross.

Wasn't that fun?? I tag Casey (because he hates these things but can't keep from doing them), Becka, Christy, Joy, Nicole, Sara, Stacey, and Trisha.

My Little Roller Over-er

Abby is such a big girl now--4 months old! She rolled over from back to front the other day... while Aunt Tara was babysitting. What a goober! But I did manage to catch her in action today, and I even had the camera ready! Here's our little roller over-er:


I love that last picture: "Hey, did you see that??" :) We are getting ready for Christmas, and Abby is so excited! Well, not really, but she does like our Christmas tree with the lights on it. It's a sad little tree, but it works for us. Here it is in all of its glory:

Merry (almost) Christmas! :)

Thanksgiving

Happy 4 days after Thanksgiving! :) We spent the day with Mom's family in Heber Springs again this year. Here are just a few pictures to document the occasion. I think Abby enjoyed her first Turkey Day. I hope yours was good, too!

I know I'm way behind on blogging--sorry! I'm up late for no good reason at all, can't sleep, and so here we are. I do need to get to bed soon, so this will be a quick update with a few Abby photos.

Item #1: My coaster business is really taking off! I now have the online shop (with one order filled), there is a gift shop in Searcy selling them (Corner Gift and Florist), and now I have an order for Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis. Yay! I plan on spending all of tomorrow and most of Sunday trying to get all of the coasters made for DK so I can take them over there this week. I have a couple of days off at Payless this week, so I can manage a quick trip to Memphis. Plus, I don't think Nana would mind having Abby there for a couple of days. :) Between these stores and the individual orders I've gotten from family and friends, I've got a lot to do!

Item #2: We had a great weekend "camping" in cabins with our family and a few other families from our church in Memphis last weekend. It was so good to get away for a while, see friends, and enjoy nature... a little... when we weren't in the cabins. :) I would like to post pictures from that eventually, but they're all on Tara's camera and I haven't gotten them from her yet. Hopefully, more to come on that later.

Item #3: I finally got my hair cut after a year of growing it out! I wasn't trying to grow it out, but I never made the time to get it cut. Six or seven inches later, here we are:


Item #4: I have decided that having a baby makes the holiday season much more fun and exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing how Abby will respond to everything this year, and I can't wait to put her in all of the cute Christmas clothes we have! I know she is going to be spoiled rotten since it's her first Christmas and she's the only grandchild on both sides of our family. Speaking of my cutie, I'll leave you with these pictures from today. 3+ months old--can you believe it??

Tummy time!

Does that smile look like trouble, or what?? :)

I know she looks pitiful with the lip sticking out, but she really wanted to try sitting up and was actually really happy!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a happy (and relaxing) Halloween. :)