Still here!

I know, I know… I’ve taken quite the hiatus lately!  However, does it really count as a hiatus if you’ve only written four times?  Well, since I’m the one writing, yes, it does.  

There has been lots happening with our fam lately!  As I flippantly mention more about Danville on Facebook and read the responses and questions, I’m reminded that I’m far overdue for this update.

First off, we sold our home!  We moved to Danville (get to that in a bit) on a Friday, closed on the house Monday, and left for Mexico Wednesday.  It felt like somewhat of a whirlwind, but we were both so glad that we decided to get it all done before vacation.  So back to Danville… we had not found a home to buy by the time we closed, so thankfully, we had an option in Danville.  We are living in Todd’s Grandmother’s home.  Since she only has her bedroom suite in the assisted living facility she currently lives in, we, or Todd had to do some finagling with her fully furnished house (and closets), but we are in and comfortable!

I’ve learned that Nanny and I definitely have one thing in common… our unwillingness to relinquish clothing.  I’ve always had a hard time getting rid of clothes on account that I MAY wear that Mickey Mouse t-shirt from 1991 again sometime.  You know, to paint or garden in, because I do both so often.  Nanny has got the clothes!  In addition to the wardrobe she keeps at her new place, she also had all three closets in her house full, as well!  When you lived through the Depression, you at least have an excuse… I, however, do not.  My husband, Mr. Handy remedied this situation with plain, old PVC pipe.  In about ten minutes, we had a freestanding, double-decker closet in the most appropriate place… the formal living room, of course.  He is so clever and it works out great, except for the fact that the other half of the room is completely full of our things, and you can’t get to the light switch.  So, until my sweet co-worker let me borrow some motion lights, you were out of luck picking out clothes at night or in the morning.

It’s close quarters and once Elaine is sleeping, it’s pretty much ‘silence on the set’ at our house, but I am enjoying the small town feel and convenience of everything.  Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Burke’s Bakery are less than five minutes away!  I even run into people I know while I’m out, which is new for me.  Have I mentioned Burke’s???  We just feel so fortunate to be in this situation and excited about what God has next!  We haven’t had much luck with the house hunt, but in the meantime we’ll just continue enjoying our kind neighbors, having one set of Elaine’s grandparents in the same town, and our cozy, borrowed home.

Just for a little update on sweet, Elaine.  She is Miss friendly these days and will go to almost anyone.  When I say “go to”, I mean arms up and reaching.  This includes her Gram, which unfortunately was associated with us leaving her until not long ago.  We have really come a long way, there.  Just this weekend at Church, one of the greeters (who we’ve never met) was holding her while passing out bulletins.  She has found a toy bin that Nanny had for when her great-grandchildren came over, and has become quite attached to a plastic cow.  He is taken everywhere including the bathtub at night.  When you ask her about the cow, her response is always “mmmmmm”.  We’re working on adding the “oooooo” to that!  She will also tell you what the pig says, but it’s not “oink”… she really snorts, a trait she has been perfecting since birth.  Nicole, her fellow snorting buddy would be so proud!  She loves being chased up and down the hall and hiding under a quilt that Nanny has hanging on the wall.  She started using the sign for “more” at the dinner table and since we always oblige when she asks for more food, she now uses it for everything.  If she wants that out-of-reach whatever, she’ll sign and say “more more”, which really sounds like “muu muu”.  She is just full of cuteness and we are really enjoying this fun age.  Another big milestone we’ve hit is graduating from the “Wobbler room” at daycare.  This Monday she will be in the “Red Room”.  In the red room they nap on cots and sit in tiny chairs at tiny tables to eat.  She has been visiting for a couple of weeks and seems to love being there.  One of her teachers asked Todd if she was always so happy… gotta love hearing that from the people you trust your child with for a good portion of the day!  Our baby girl is getting so big and time is flying by, but we are just soaking up each and every moment we have with her and enjoying the crazy ride that is parenthood.

Daily Awesomeness

A friend at work was given the challenge to make a list of 100 things she likes.  Anything.  As she was talking about how difficult it was for her, I began rambling off all of the things that even I knew of, which fit on her list.  If I can do this someone I’ve known less than a year, surely making MY list would be a piece of cake (which sounds dee-lish right now, by the way). I gave myself one rule- no people allowed on the list.

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit this, but I wrote two things before I had to stop and think.  Diet Coke and turtlenecks… pathetic, huh?  Of course, after a short pause and a commercial that reminded me of funnel cakes, I went to town.  Now my list includes 22 food/candy items, Diet Coke, and turtlenecks.  It was time for bed and we sleep when we can now that Little Bit is teething and nights are unpredictable, so that’s my list for now.  I might finish it, but probably not.  

After reading a blog of one of my super-fun co-workers, I was inspired to change it up a bit.  Instead of 100 random things I like, I’ve made a list of 12 things I get to daily experience the awesomeness of.  Thanks, C. Hahn (www.coffeeandmeetings.blogspot.com), squeeze jelly might be Todd’s number one.  Anyway, my list (in no particular order)…

1. A ginormous, comfy bed
2. XM Radio, specifically channel 17- Prime Country (that’s 90’s country… and don’t judge)
3. Big ol’ baby grins and belly laughs
4. DVR
5. A God who loves ME just as I am
6. Having a dog watching at the window and waiting for me each day I pull into the driveway
7. Chocolate- in any form, and yes… everyday.
8. Disposable diapers
9. A phone- being able to press a few buttons and talk to anyone, anywhere in the world is still amazing to me
10. Getting to live with Todd Kelly
11. Hair products- anything that will lessen the “finger in light socket” look
12. A car- not having to walk everywhere I want to go is just awesome!

Just a few things I enjoy each day among many, many others.  What about you?

 

Reflections

“What a difference a year makes” has never been more true in my life until 2010!  This sweet, little girl has turned our world upside down.  Never would I have thought that waking up at 8:00am was really sleeping in, that we would participate in early bird specials before 60, mapping out naptime options would be critical before setting out for anything, having drool spots is to be expected on any colored shirt, or that a certain baby’s laugh alone could fill my heart with such joy. 

It’s been a year schedules, routines, and major adjustments in this household.  Some expected, some not so much.  Everyone knows that with a baby comes endless diaper changes, singing silly songs, sleepless nights, and lots of oohing and aaahing, clapping for every little victory, and lots of sweet, sloppy kisses. 

What I wasn’t prepared for was how much of a tag team event our days are… you play with her and I’ll get dinner ready, you get her ready to go and I’ll take a shower- I could go on and on!  Also wasn’t prepared for how much stress an unhappy baby can create.  Ever tried driving in the car with a screaming baby???  I think that situation alone would test the healthiest of marriages.  Nobody warned me that having a baby throws your emotions into crazy overdrive either…. Whoa mama, was NOT prepared for that.  These days I’m lucky to hold it together through Hallmark commercials (I know you are proud, Nicole).  Also, the enormity of knowing that God has entrusted US be her parents and raise her (I’m starting to panic now, just typing it!).

Todd and I have grown so much as a team, we have loved in a way that we never knew our hearts had the capacity to, and we given lots of thanks to a God who has blessed us abundantly this year.  While it might now have been what we expected, it was definitely our best year yet! 

Instead of a New Years resolution for 2011, I have made some goals for the year and have chosen a word to live by- Intentional.  You’ll hear more about this later.  I have been feeling that unrelenting pressure to update that I mentioned in my first blog, so I can rest easy tonight!  Until next time…  

Oh Christmas Cards...

One of my favorite things (among many others) about this time of year is opening the mailbox each day and finding REAL mail. Hark... it's Christmas card season! I can't get them out of Todd's hands fast enough to read, and even more so if there is a "here's what we've been doing all year" letter included! I even check and re-check our pile each night, just to make sure I didn't overlook one.

All that excitement, yet every year when it comes time to make our card to send... I go through the pouty "it'll just be thrown away" phase and act like we just won't do them. This year I piddled around much longer than usual, and then pannicked Tuesday night and ordered them. Shheww, I was relieved that we wouldn't be the only family who didn't send Christmas cards this year. I had no list before ordering them and addressed them as the names came to me... total disorganization (why some of you might not have received one). I'm sorry! I know, I know Mom- next year a list (and more organization) will be in order.

Today, I got a message from one of my friends' grandmothers. You'd have to know this family to understand (a long line of major talkers), but it was three minutes worth of thanking us for the card and how it just made her day. She even ended the message with "thank you from the bottom of my heart"... wow. It wasn't anything super special, not even one of the cool letters went out with ours, but it brought her joy. Totally worth it. I love Christmas cards!

Where to start???

So, here it is… finally... my own blog. I have been reading a few for a while now and love the idea of having pages of thoughts, ideas, and memories to look back on, but I've never really felt like I have much to write about, and I get a little sweaty just thinking about the pressure to update! I have decided that I want to record the special memories our family makes and share them with whoever might like to know what we are up to... so that is what this is all about. I will warn you: I am NOT a super awesome writer, I WILL make grammatical errors, and unless you can handle major gushing over our precious baby girl, read no further. Welcome to a snapshot of our life as "The Kelly 4".

My daughter is one. I have already noticed that we share some similarities in our personality. We like the action, lots of people and stuff going on, we don't want to miss a thing, but we also don't always like to be at the center of it. We are a-ok to be amidst the madness, just don't MAKE us participate. Put a child in daycare and this is the recipe for no sleep. On an average day, she naps 15 minutes. If you don't have children, this is craziness. Most kids are getting 2 or 3 hours of naptime in... not our little people watcher! The upside is that she sleeps like a champ at night... most of the time.

This week we had a couple off nights (teething maybe, I don't know). Call me crazy, but sometimes I look forward to nights that she wakes up (there are also times I'd like to throw the baby monitor through the window). I love the extra time I get to spend snuggling my sweet girl, studying her little round face, and praying over her. I know that all-to-soon the days of rocking her to sleep will be gone, so I cherish every chance I get. I went upstairs to find her standing in her crib reaching for me. As I got closer it turned into all out arm flapping/grunting excitement. I picked her up and she quickly found a spot to cuddle into and was out cold. Yep, she went from practically jumping up and down to sound asleep in a matter of seconds! Why can't I do that?! My girl just wanted her mama to hold her and be there. : )

As I rocked "baby E", I was reminded that sometimes that's all our Heavenly Father wants, too- just time with us. No special books, eloquent words, etc. required... just me, as I am. So thankful for the little reminders He sends through a mid-night wake up call. That's it... big story, not much of a point... it might be a trend in this blog.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."