Gratitude

When I was teaching, I used to have my students make a list of five things for which they were grateful on the day before Thanksgiving break. After they had made their lists, they would choose three from their list to share with the rest of the class. It was always a nice little exercise in remembering just how blessed we all are.

I decided to go ahead and make a list this year for the blog and to have Larry make one, too. Here they are:

Larry is grateful for...

1. Wife and Kid

2. Still having a job

3. Health (even people my age are suffering from joint issues, back problems, knee problems. I’m glad I don’t have any of that.)

4. Friends and Family

5. Caffeine

I am grateful for...

1. My happy marriage to a wonderful husband and father

2. My friends and family

3. God

4. Food, shelter, and the relative abundance with which we live compared to much of the rest of the world--and the ability to stay home with our daughter.

5. Of course, our sweet Sara Jo

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I don't think I'm ready for this...

Is major melancholy a normal reaction to seeing this?



She's definitely not ready to walk on her own or anything, but it's just another reminder that babyhood is quickly falling away. Intellectually and spiritually I completely understand that the whole point is for her to grow up, but that doesn't mean I can't be a little sad about it--and immensely proud.

Sick baby

Sara has a cold. :( Her ears and lungs are clear, thank goodness, but the poor girl is a snotty, coughing mess. I'm not feeling great, either, but she has it worse than I do. It breaks my heart when she coughs and then cries. :(

Tagged!

I was tagged by my friend Jenny. I'm supposed to post the fourth picture from the fourth folder in my photos and tell about it. I actually have photos in a couple of different spots, but I'm going to pick one of the spots and go by fours (fourth folder, fourth subfolder, fourth photo).

Ha! Well, I might try a different location, 'cause this one is pretty lame.


This is a cheapie digital camera that I sold on ebay a few years ago. As you can see from the picture, it offers a whopping 1.3 megapixels. I also seem to recall that it had no LCD screen. Awesome.

And a different location:



Aww... This was a couple of days after Christmas last year at my parents' house. Sara was just a few days shy of two months old, and Ryan was just shy of two years old. I like how he still looks like a baby here. Tanja was in heaven with her arms full of babies. :)

I'm supposed to tag four people, so I'm tagging Elizabeth, Anna, Dawn, and Lisa.

America's Next Top Model?

On Tuesday Larry and I took Sara to get some one year portraits taken. Baby Girl was NOT having it at all, to the point where I aborted the mission and made an appointment to come back the next day.

On Wednesday Sara was much more cooperative, and we got these shots:


The photographer was so impressed with her that she invited Sara to come back and do a photo shoot to come up with a sample portrait she needed. Yep, she's our little model. ;)

First birthday party

On Saturday we had Sara's first birthday party at Neff Park in La Mirada. Our theme was "our little pumpkin." In the interest of keeping the party size manageable, we limited our guest list to family and friends with small children. Despite those limits, though, we still ended up with over 30 adults and over 20 kids.

The weather gods did not initially cooperate, and it POURED rain about fifteen minutes before her party was scheduled to start. Thankfully, the rain cleared up and the weather more or less held for the duration of the party. Special thanks to Grandpa (Larry Sr.) for helping me clean up after the rain, to Brian for taking most of these great pictures, and to Anna and Kim for talking me down from my agitated post-rainstorm state. :)

Well baby visit, books, and a recipe

Sara had her one year well-baby visit today, and the doctor said she looks good! Her head circumference is now "only" in the 90th percentile, her length (29.5 inches) is in about the 60th or 65th percentile, and her weight (22 pounds, 10 oz) is in the 75th percentile. Dr. G asked me a few times about her belly and whether I feed her healthy foods. I promise I do!

In other news, I haven't written about my readings in quite some time. Right now I'm reading my way through the Little House series, which I'm really enjoying. After that, I'll be moving on to a couple of parenting books I've purchased of late to prepare me for the toddler years. After that, maybe I'll finally get around to Atonement but I can feel more Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum titles calling my name...

I haven't posted any recipes in ages, which doesn't mean I haven't made anything new. My most recent new favorite has been pumpkin risotto with prosciutto. Yum!