Baby Ty

Congratulations to my friends Chris & Melissa Hogan on the birth of their b-e-a-utiful little boy, Tyson Andrew.

Congratulations to my friend Melissa & her husband Chris! Proud first-time parents to Tyson Andrew!

Edited to add photo!

First Post

Just making sure I have this up and running.... :-)

I feel like making a post, but don't really have anything earth-shattering to write about. This weekend we are doing spring cleaning. Ugh. I'm soooo not looking forward to it. I mean, I like to clean, and I like for things to be clean. The problem is I'm a saver. I like to hang on to stuff. I admit it. My husband is not. He loves to get rid of stuff. The more empty/clean/spacious it looks around here, the more he likes it.

You can imagine the rest.

I admit his way is better - I just need to be better about getting rid of stuff. But I am so torn. For example, I have all these clothes that I still can't fit into since Noelle arrived, but I don't want to get rid of them, because I want to get back down to that size again someday. However, in the meantime, I rotate between the same two pairs of jeans, two shirts, and an assortment of OLD t-shirts that are unavailable to wear publicly because of miscillaneous stains, spots and holes. My question - do I really need to store 4 Old Navy 4th of July t-shirts from 2001 hoping that I will fit back into them someday?

You see my dilimma.

In other news, I have seen on several sites where folks have started "100 things about themselves" lists. I think I may try doing that - it could eventually turn into a cool scrapbook page . . . and I've actually been getting some work done on my scrapbooks - yeah!

What Color is Your Brain?
brought to you by Quizilla

At work or in school: I like set routines and organized ways of doing thingsl rules and directions are a great help to me. I prefer to stay on one topic at a time. I need to know what is expected of me, and I always want to know if I am on the right track. I like subjects that are useful and traditional, such as business, accounting, history and government.
With friends: I prefer people who are careful with their money and who make plans ahead of time. I like my friends to be loyal, dependable and on time. I am serious about love and show it in many practical ways.
With family: I like stability and security and enjoy traditions and frequent celebrations. I like to spend holidays with family members, and I plan ahead for such gatherings.

Thank goodness American Idol is finally over. For someone that doesn't watch tv at home, I seem to have wasted a lot of time being caught up in it. And, yes, now I admit the time is wasted. Hmm, I wonder if that is because my personal favorite did not win.

Yesterday I heard that my women's Bible study (we are currently off for the summer), is going to have 4 get-together's over the next three months to study the 4 chapters of the book of Ruth. I'm very excited. Ruth is one of my favorite Old Testament books, one of the few that I have read several times. In the recent study of Judges that we just completed, one thing I learned is that the events of the book of Ruth took place at the same time as the events of the book of Judges. If you've read Judges, you know parts of it are icky. People are into all sorts of sin and continually turning their back on the Lord. However, God, in His graciousness, takes the time to have someone write out for us this short, sweet, little love story found in the book of Ruth. And, knowing God, he probably has something more for me to get out of this study that just the girl gets the boy and lives happily ever after.

Gotta go . . . we're going to the zoo today!

Question: Does anyone have any good recipes for meals to make in the summer?

I've never had a very good collection of summer time recipes besides chicken salad and green salads, and it's already too hot to have much of a warm meal at night. I LOVE cooking with my crockpot, but it just doesn't sound appetizing to have a yummy mexican soup when it's 85 degrees outside. (My husband really doesn't think so when that's what I serve him after he's been out mowing the yard and stuff!)

If you have anything you would pass on to me for testing and trying, I would appreciate it!

Yesterday Noelle went swimming for the first time. She seemed to do fine with it, although we didn't test out what she might think of going under water completely. You will notice that our family is about as white as can be, so we slathered her with SPF 50 and only stayed out about 20 minutes so that none of us ended up baked.

Another happening of the weekend . . . one of my dearest and bestest friends had her last Sunday at church as she and her family are moving to Jackson, Mississippi. I'm excited for her in that her husband is working his dream job, and they have been living apart for about 9 months waiting on a house to sell. They finally get to be back together as a family again. She was a big part of my life - we emailed almost every day about big stuff and little stuff, were on staff together with our church, and I sang on the music team at church with her husband for 4-5 years. It's been a while since I've had a close friend move away (thankfully!), and I've been reminded about how precious Godly friendship are and blessed I am to have had this one. Lord, help me not take those friendships you have blessed me with for granted.

Random thoughts . . .

*Girl puppy brought in a dead mouse yesterday. Sooooo disgusting. My sister was over and we (meaning me) pulled the dogs out of the kitchen and barricaded the dead mouse in there and we stood outside the doggie gates/baby gates and called our husbands to see who was going to be arriving first to take care of it for us.

*One of my new favorite sites is lbtran's. Consistently makes me laugh . . . and thankful that I am no longer doing juries in college.

*Noelle has now learned how to throw things out of the pack-n-play. I put her in there this morning as I lay on the couch for a few minutes. (She woke up at 5:39 a.m. - very unusual). I fed her and put her in to play. Fussing soon ensued and I looked up to see her favorite stuffed animal on the floor and Noelle, faced pressed against the mesh sides, longingly looking at Baa, the lamb. It was cute.

*Baa is a member of the family. Goes everywhere with us, she has to have it to go down for naps and bedtime, etc. When she is sleepy she chews on its ears and tail and sucks her thumb at the same time. Adorable. I'm thinking of writing a children's book some day based on this - "Baa Needs a Bath." I think it could work.

*Lastly, I've been keeping my 6 year old neice Jordan this week. Actual transcript of conversation with photo documentation . . ."Noelle, stop that. No, no, NO. Quit. Auntie Nef - she's taking everything! Come back with my paper!!! I think you should just hold her."

I thought these questions were fun:

1. Is your hair its natural color right now and do you wear your hair
long or short?
My hair is its natural color - dark brown and I wear it medium long (it's below my shoulders).
2. Shirts: long sleeves or short?
Prefer long, but it's starting to get hot here in Tennessee and so short sleeves are necessary; however, I never wear "cap sleeves," they have to be regular, short sleeves.
3. Do you wear a belt?
No, eww. Soooo uncomfortable.
4. Tell me about your favorite bottom wear (pants/jeans/shorts/skirts).
Currently a three way tie between these comfy jogging pants my sister can't wear right now (she's pregnant), my blue jeans that Travis bought me for my birthday, and my overalls that I have had forever.
5. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
Maybe 10 - and most are not ones that I wear regularly (i.e., hiking boots, fancy dress shoes, etc.) I rotate between about 3 pairs.

I think this is unusual...

A thrilled GWYNETH PALTROW got a visit from the stork Friday -- she and husband CHRIS MARTIN welcomed a healthy, bouncing baby girl they named APPLE into their world! Born in London, APPLE BLYTHE ALISON MARTIN, named after Gwyneth's mom, actress BLYTHE DANNER, weighed in at 9 pounds, 11 ounces. It's the first child for both Gywneth and Chris.

Really, what kind of name is "Apple"? Is this going to start a trend to name your baby after fruit? Our future generation could be made up of Mrs. Apple So-and-So, Ms. Kiwi Whatever, and Mr. Orange Something. (Because Orange is so much more masculine.) I just thought it was humorous, and hope that she goes by one of her middle names!

Our first Mother's Day pic . . . taken outside in the back yard.

We leave town on Thursday to go visit Travis' parents in Ohio. They haven't seen Noelle since she was about 8 weeks old around Thanksgiving. I try to keep them updated on how big she is getting by emailing pictures frequently, but you can't really tell how busy she is from a picture.

Breaking news...

Friday, May 7 - Noelle cuts first tooth!
Saturday, May 8 - stands unsupported for approximately 10 seconds. The crowds went wild! Also, climbs two stair steps by herself.

It's been a big weekend and it's not even over yet!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there. More later...

It's time for a few new pictures:




The one on the left is Noelle's picture from Monday - 7 months old. Sigh. Our baby is getting so big. The one on the right is my brother-in-law holding her - "Uncle Boo." How cute is that. We had two major baby things today - first, she took a bottle of formula without me having to put a little juice in it to sweeten it. (Yeah!) The 2nd - we had first blood . . . she was at the coffee table practicing her standing and laughing at me playing peek-a-boo with her and she went down and caught her lip on the corner of the table. Thankfully it didn't bleed badly at all, but what a scare to look down and see blood on my shirt where she had buried her head while she was screaming. Mildly traumatic for this first time Mom.

In other news . . . every where I look it seems the buzz is about the Friends finale tomorrow night. I used to watch Friends every week, up until about the 7th season. Then, that year, I got engaged, and was really convicted about watching a show where everyone was sleeping around with everyone else, and what images and thoughts that it was putting in my head.

Now, we don't even get any channels, not even PBS, and there are times that I REALLY miss television. But, for the most part, I am thankful that I don't have that temptation in the house. It would be so easy for me to turn on the TV during the day and get caught up in the talk shows, daytime drama, and sitcom reruns, when I should be playing with Noelle, doing my Bible study, laundry and picking up the house! I have such an addictive nature about that kind of stuff - if I'm following a show I do it religiously . . . sadly, I am all to often more "religiously addicted" to shows and other things than my relationship with Jesus. Why is it that I can so desperately want to know what is coming up on the last episode of Friends ... "Will Ross & Rachel end up together?," than I am in what happens in chapter 20 of Judges .... "Will Israel turn back to the Lord or do they continue to do evil in His sight?" I think my priorities are a little out of whack.

My Wednesday thoughts...

I just finished reading the third volume in the Princess Diaries Series. They are cute books for a quick read when I'm wanting to totally veg out. I am borrowing some of this list from the book because I thought it was funny:

Things You Learn From Watching Baywatch

1. If you are paralyzed from the waist down, you just need to see a kid being attacked by a murderer, and you will be able to get up and save him.
2. It is always easy to get a parking place near the beach.
3. Male lifeguards always put a shirt on when they leave the beach. Female lifeguards don't need to bother.
4. If you meet a beautiful, but troubled girl, she is probably either a diamond smuggler or suffering from split personality disorder: Do not accept her invitation to dinner.
5. If people are mysteriously dying in the water, it is probably because a giant electric eel has escaped from a nearby aquarium.
6. It is very easy to outswim a shark.
7. Wild seals make adorable and easily trained pets.