http://www.mediafire.com/?8l83t7wmspp8xzl

This is a slide show of Lexie’s one year birthday pictures we had done.  You have to click on the link and download the file.  If you computer says something like “are you sure you want to open this file?  It can cause harm to your computer blah blah blah” it’s ok.  The file is safe and virus free.

Make sure you have your sound on.  =)

I cant get the actual pictures because the disc is written in such a way that I cant extract the images… grr

Anyways, here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Well, the Spa 10/5Ks are coming up in November and I am no where near ready.  I was going to push myself to run the 10K, but at this point I think I have waited too long.  A few weeks ago I was back running in the mornings, but I didn’t do a thing this week for exercise.  Pace for the Race begins mid September so I am def going to try to make that.  J.Tom is going to put Lexie down for bed on those nights so I can go run with the group.  I know I will be starting basically, all over again.  *sigh* it’s so frustrating.


There is a run here in town for the 9/11 memorial: http://tunneltotowers.org/national_run.aspx  I think I am going to run it.  It’s for a great cause and also, it’s down hill, mountain.  It will be a great run with great people and it has a beautiful view.


We ran errands this morning before church, came home, fed Lexie and put her down for a nap.  Then we were going to a friends baby shower at 2:00.  But because it’s Sunday, not only will Lexie still be asleep, (which would be fine because we could just be a little late) but the shower is about an hour away.  Which, again wouldn’t be a problem but we wouldn’t get there until it is nearly over!  So, we will just have to go see her some other time with the goodies.  They aren’t finding out the sex of the baby.  Which is really cool.  J.Tom says if I want 3, this is his compromise because he won’t let me have 4, then I have to be surprised on the gender of the second one.  Do you know how hard that would be for me?!  But I will do it if it means getting 3 (maybe 4 =P  ) babies out of him.  haha  Anyhow, so congrats to their family and we are all very excited to see if we will be buying hair bows or hats!


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This afternoon, after Lexie was climbing on her chair, J.Tom silently stood up, went to her room and proceeded to take off her bedding.  When Lexie and I made it in, he was lowering the mattress to the lowest setting  =)
She is a busy girl!  Speaking of busy, with all her new found freedoms she is under my feet all day and because she loves to play around other people, want me in the living room playing with her.  Of course we play all the time, and I love it!  But there are several times throughout the day when I need to go make J.Tom’s lunch, fold clothes, start dinner, go the the BATHROOM, etc that having her throw herself down and cry because I cannot tote her with me really isn’t helpful.  She will start to follow, but then gets frustrated and upset.  So … here it comes … I broke down and bought her some Baby Einstein.  Now, she is a year old.  I believe she isn’t supposed to actually watch TV until she is at least 2 because of the brain development.  But Baby Einstein is pretty slow moving, not too flashy or over stimulating, and educational.  Here’s the problem: she doesn’t really care about it!  I actually had to show her how to sit and watch tv today.  She rarely sees J.Tom or me sit down to watch it and of course I’ve never turned it on for her to watch until this point…
Hopefully she will catch on and we can watch it a bit on maybe Mondays and Wednesdays- laundry and floor days.  =)  We will see. In the meantime we are revving up for her party… well, not really.  I haven’t done anything but ordered the cake!  That’s bad.. I have not planned the food or anything.  So, guess what I will be doing during nap times this week?!  =)  

So I think I do a lot of thinking. And with those thoughts, I usually involve Facebook and google, because I google a lot. Pre Facebook, I involved my journal with all those thoughts and sentiments. Then, in a short amount of time I was using Facebook as an outlet. I don’t like that, or maybe I do like that? The point is, I miss my journaling; I loved writing and the passion and literally tears I could put on a page. I would say Facebook took that from me, but the truth is, I did it. I let it happen, so i sacrificed an entire year of journaling for posts on Facebook. Can I print them all? Yes. But it will not be easy. And everything I can put there, I’d rather have here or in my nightstand burried in a journal. Because in those places I can really express my thoughts without limitations or fears.

I write and talk a lot about setting examples for my child, and for others. I write that we all need to do it. So here I go, about to try and do this, and maybe it will be good for someone else. that’s silly, but who knows. Sadly, or rather, pathetically, I think it will be hard. Losing that social outlet won’t be easy for a few days. I still have my brothers page, because it seems like a piece of him, my running friends because they update me in races and training clinics, my teacher friends (of course) and my business. Everyone else has my email, my blog, phone number, address, or I have theirs. Sorry family.

I have uploaded all my pictures to my walgreens acct and plan on backing them up again to my shutter fly. I used Facebook for that, but I won’t anymore. I will still post a pic or two, but that’s it.

I’ve been considering this for a while, but now I have a real reason for it. You ever do something just to see if you can do it? That is part of this, I think. I LOVE keeping in touch with my friends and right this minute having people tell me no, I can’t get rid of my facebook makes me sad… Is that pathetic? But honestly, it’s so much to keep up with, which sounds RIDICULOUS, I know. But id rather be writing quality stuff here or in my journal than trying to put a little something everywhere.

And I owe my family more. I owe myself more. STUPID, I know. Crap, it’s just Facebook. But it is also time. And time does ad up; I’d rather use it in other ways. And not just writing, I mean obviously, but the goal is to fetch from the computer all together, as a whole.

I’m going to start a list in our family planner and my journal of my topics of interest or things that make me want to write, and I am going to go from there. Not professionally or anything. I’d rather put that energy and time, if I’m going to use it to communicate to others, in a meaningful place where I have room to really express what I’m thinking. Meaningful to me. Another reason is because here, it’s not popping up on other people’s screens or emails forcing them to read it. Here, you have to consciously come to the blog and read it, see my story behind the “status” and so forth. Everyone can still post comments, it is just less connected, so the people who really don’t care, aren’t getting a piece of my life like it is just another part of their day! Here is even more personal than Facebook, which is too personal for me to use as a journal because it is so casual; making sense? Stupid I know… Jtom would probably say he is glad I got rid of most of Facebook, but thinks my reasoning is dumb. Ha. But he doesn’t know yet.

But anyways. This week I have a hundred things I wanted to blog about come into my head. Rather than jot them down with a note in my journal so I could put it on paper (or screen) later, I’m sure I just ignored them or threw it on a status and forgot about it.

I used to journal every single night. Thats what I did in bed before I went to sleep. It’s how I unwound from my day and got things off my chest. But instead, for the last year or two, I’ve used Facebook for that. However, rather than write it all down, feel better and move on I read comments and look at who has liked it and then reply to comments and tag people and it just goes on and on and on. I think it’s great for some people who can use it occasionally and not need an outlet. I need an outlet and as long as I have the Facebook up I’m afraid it will be my sounding board, and I dont want it to be.

Now, I have written a RIDICULOSLY Long blog about how I’m incapable of using Facebook properly. SEE WHAT I MEAN?!?! Lol. One thing leads to another… I will miss my weekly fantasy vacation dates with a dear friend, talking with acquaintances from high school about meaningless gibberish jabber, and sharing the joy of pregnancy photos of friends from far away. But it will be fine, because chances are if we communicated so much in fb, we communicate in other ways already! 🙂

Now, let’s see how long this will last.

(on ipad,please excuse typos until i canget them corrected in my computer).
This year is More than half way over, which is crazy to think about. Lexie will be 12 months old in 23 days, I’m officially a college graduate with two degrees, our house is for sale, and I am a (part time) stay at home mom. Life really is amazing, and we are so blessed. You really don’t know the meaning of life and love until you have children; part of me wishes Jeremy had seen that before he died. Maybe then he could have been really happy. Jtom is on his way home from Georgia, he should be here in a few minutes. Because he is fabulous, he is designing and building plants that turn trees into oil. Of course,his company didn’t come upmwith this technology, they are simply the engineering firmmon the jobs. But how cool is that? Big oil has tried to buy out the company who developed this technology, but they refused their millions of dollars. Can you imagine, if big oil had it, they would lock it up and throw away the key, because there goes part of their profits! Regardless, it will be fascinating to see how this all plays out in the nextten years or go, I mean if the Great ole US of A is still standing.

AAH, I hear his keys. Gotta go! 🙂

forgot one

Never.  I refuse to wear “mom jeans.”  As a matter of fact a few more pounds and my old jeans will fit.  They will not fit like they did when I was really muscular and had less than 27% body fat.  But they will go up, button and zip comfortably.  They go up and zip right now..


So I could not sleep this morning.  We had a terribly rough night with Lexie, thanks to her not getting a nap due to her schedule interfering with the time church begins.  People think I am so crazy about her sleep, but maybe when they have sleepless nights and a rough two days afterward they would understand.  It isn’t fun seeing your sweet, happy baby cranky and miserable because they are overtired.  OK, anyways…


So I could not sleep this morning after a rough night and morning with Lou so I decided to go for a run.  I say run but really I jog.  When I was running 3xs+ a week 2 years ago (pre Lexie) and I was down to a 10.5 min mile, that I would call running.  What I do now is a mere 12.5 min mile and is pretty pathetic.  ALthough, it is VERY hilly and the last stretch back home is practically our neighborhood’s own little West Mountain (and that came from an avid runner, not me).  That’s a mountain here in HS, btw.  Anyway, I ran it.  At 5:20 AM I strapped on my shoes and got my water bottle and went.  It was fabulous!  Peaceful, dark and I got to watch the sun come up.  It was very humid (the shady trees in our neighborhood don’t help that) but it was definitely cooler than it is at night.  I want to commit myself to running in the mornings, 3xs a week and walking with my friend Katelyn 2xs a week.  If I could would do that, I’d be a happy camper.  


I am a firm believer in exercise.  I know when I moved here from Memphis I had a very hard time going from that city to a small town atmosphere surrounded by people A) older and further along in life (career/school wise) and B) that I did not know.  After I joined the Y I met ladies who I recognize and speak to in Walmart, to this day.  Exercise made me feel good, socialize, and got my legs rock hard.  Then I got pregnant.  And I guess you could say I got lazy after the 4 month mark and stopped running.  I walked.  A LOT.  But I also ate… a LOT  haha


So here I am.  i want another baby, but I want this weight off first.  I want a clean slate to start from.  I also want my hair chopped off.  I’ve lost about 12 lbs since I came home from the hospital 10 months ago.  That isn’t very much considering the time I have had to do it.  But if I want a baby and short hair, it will take an additional 15 lbs.  =)


15 lbs is NOT that much.  But it is the muscle I have lost that makes me the most sad.  I don’t mind extra tummy and hips.  But I do miss my toned legs and butt, even if they weren’t a size 4.  My real point to this blog was to say that when I look in the mirror I don’t always see 15 extra pounds.  Actually, I rarely see it (and maybe that is why it’s so hard to get it off?).  I usually see a Mom.  I see stretch marks on my hips that I got the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy with my 9 pound daughter.  I see skin that was stretch to the max because in there held a precious baby girl who kept her butt in my ribs for 6 months.  And when I see that, I just don’t have it in me to hate the 15 pounds.


Then I go for a run a realize I am just getting out of shape.  That is it.  I know if I start back exercising, and make time for myself, that is healthy time, it will be even easier to accept that 15 lbs. and probably get rid of it.


But I will never wear “Mom Jeans.”
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This time last year, I looked like this:

So I think there has been drastic improvement since then  =)

So I just have this weighing on my mind today.  My daughter is 6 months old and has boundaries; she sleeps when she is tired and it is time to rest, she eats when she is hungry and it is time to eat, and she gets independent time without mommy in the room.  I already tell her “no”, although she doesn’t exactly know what it means she can tell from my tone that I mean business.  Eventually that word and tone will be an essential part of her raising.


As a parent and future teacher I am frustrated.  Parents are allowing their children to dictate the way they live.  I guess they do this in order to “keep the peace” and avoid screaming and fit throwing when kids are younger, but if you are not consistent at home and out in the world, how can you expect the child to know their boundaries?  I don’t care if I have to leave a restaurant or a store, my kids will not get to just run around and act however they want to just because it is easier than discipling them-that is called laziness.  I have been told indirectly that my baby rules my life because she is on a schedule… My response to that is I am preparing my child for her life and mine in the long run.  Do I realize the next one may not be quite so easy?  ABSOLUTELY.  And by no means do I expect all my kids to follow a cookie-cutter outline.  However, I will attempt to give them the security and consistency that a routine provides.


I believe the same goes with discipline; when you are consistent with warnings, time out, and consequences children learn their boundaries.  I realize I don’t have a child in their terrible twos or a teenager yet, but I will do my very best to provide an environment with structure and boundaries.  I believe there are adult things, children things, and systems that are already in place for a reason: to protect children.  Why not go ahead and utilize those systems?

Dear Lexie Raye,


Your teacher sent me this picture today:

Not only does it make me smile, it makes me sad.  You are growing up way too fast.  I know these milestones are so exciting for you and those of us that love you, but they are also happening too quickly!  I cannot believe you are already 5 months old.  You are laughing, reaching, bouncing, almost sitting up on your own, and eating like such a big girl!  Your daddy and I love to see you smile at us; you love your daddy more than any baby could possibly love anyone.  Whenever he walks in the room, you light up, you are constantly trying to get his attention and you will even stop eating to find him in the room when you hear his voice.  Stitch has become your new favorite object of desire and anytime he is around you follow him with your eyes, or reach for his hair (poor Stitch!).  Everyone who meets you thinks you are most precious baby ever!  You went to your very first wedding shower yesterday for your Aunt Kirby and had such a wonderful time.  You were such a good girl.


I want you to know that as you grow up it is so important to stay a good girl; keep a kind heart and show your love for Christ in all that you do.  I sometimes wonder what you will be when you grow up, think about how proud you will make us.  But I want you to also make yourself proud.  If you cannot say you are proud of what you have done you may never be happy.  Don’t settle for second best and never let someone say you cannot achieve your goals.  You can do anything when you put forth the effort, and your hard work will always pay off.


Love you more than words,
Mom