Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Christmas Bounty


After a long day of opening presents, she takes a few minutes to take a drink and look over her newly acquired wealth.
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Everything but the dog...


You see all that stuff in the background? It all sits in every free space we could find all over our house. See the unwrapped gifts? Yeah, those too. We left the dog, but she would have liked to bring him home as well.
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Friday, December 22, 2006

The sweetest part of my day...

is first thing in the morning when she says "Thank You!" to me for taking her out of her crib.

Accept that it sounds more like, "Tay too!"

Thursday, December 21, 2006

On the go go go, I love you so!

After Sunday's dance performance for the family, Aimee has rediscovered her love for her Baby Sesame Street video. The difference is that this time, she can ask me to play it for her. We are probably on the 30th time we've watched it since Sunday. (I'm not even exaggerating). She grabs my hand and walks me to the living room and hands me the DVD remote. If I don't put it on, she stands in front of the tv and whines.

Ahh..the joys of toddlerhood.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Tagged by Uncle Ray (Lunatic Biker)

Five things you don't know about me....

1. I was once handcuffed, put in a squad car, and arrested for reckless driving on the Skyway. I was trying to get to Purdue Cal. from work to take an economics test. I was released after a while. I sped away to take my test and I got a B.

2. I once went on a date with a prince of a small arab country. He never talked to me again after he found out that 2 of my closest friends lived down the hall from him. Those guys were real baffoons. Looking back, I understand why he didn't want anything to do with me after learning that bit of information.

3. I was all set to move here shortly after I met Brian. I had already given notice at my job and was collecting empty boxes for my move. I decided to wait and rethink it after I started to date him and I decided to not move there after all.

4. I once dragged Stephanie along for a 36 hour bus ride to Mexico, just because I wanted to have the experience.

5. At age 16, I went to Washington, D.C. and lobbied Congress people and Senators for money for a summer program I was a part of. One girl told a congressmen that the program kept her from fornicating. He almost spit out his coffee and I had a giggling fit.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Santa Claus 2006

Aimee had an upset stomach for a few days this week. After spending lots of time and cleaning products trying to clean the van, we are learning that vomit is not an easy odor to get rid of.

She was feeling better today so her Grandma Carol and I got her all dressed up for her pictures with Santa. I combed her hair in ponytails that even my mother would be proud of, and we ventured to the mall to meet up with Brian and see the Old Man in Red.

Last year, the photo was taken right before she blessed Santa with her little baby vomit, so this year, I wasn't taking any chances. Last night, I called on my friend Melody, doctor extraordinare, to guide me as to how I could avoid a repeat. I followed all of her feeding instructions for 36 hours.

When we got to the mall, I gave Aimee a pep talk about not crying. I told her that I was going to sit her on his lap, and walk away for a minute while Mrs. Santa took the picture, but I wouldn't leave her. That Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma would be there the whole time and we wouldn't walk away. I told her that one day she would be excited to see him. Finally, I told her that if she wasn't going to smile, to go ahead and cry. But not a wimpy cry. To really give it her all and go all drama queen on him.

The result was priceless.


Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Growing Up...

This weekend turned out to be really great. I had friends over both Saturday and Sunday. They are both friends that until recently, we had gone years without talking to. After lots of preparation that included: thinking, praying, and blogging; I had the opportunity to really share my heart with my competitive friend. It felt wonderful to speak in truth and feel understood. I am learning that an important step in order to grow up is to have courage to lovingly and with a tender heart be able to confront someone that you care about.

Another vital step in growing up is to accept responsibility and to be able to ask for forgiveness. Brian and I did that with some friends we were estranged from for several years. After asking for forgiveness, the friendships have picked up right where they left off.

I want to grow up because if I don't, Aimee won't have the mother I want for her. It is good that now, I will be able to tell her a little more about what it takes to be a true friend.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Mom! Mom!

Now she calls me when she's about to do something she knows she's not supposed to do.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Revelation

So after about a week of struggling with this, I realize that the struggle isn't really mine. I get the feeling that one of my friends really looks down on me because of my decision to stay home. She hasn't said anything about it specifically, but her comments and attitude have expressed to me how she really feels. I've been feeling really disturbed by some of her off hand comments.

Before I get into this, let me just say that I KNOW how tacky it is that I'm going to blog about this, but it's really been bothering me, so I'm going to just throw etiquette to the wind and I'm going to blog about it to my heart's content.

I guess one of the things that bothers me most is that she is trying to size up how Brian and I are doing financially, and I get the feeling that she desperately wants us to be doing worse than she and her husband. I don't want to go into details about what she said to bring me to this conclusion, but let's just say that I've had a lot of time to think about what she said, I really do think that I am right about this.

I'm not quite sure about how to handle it. I confess. I've had to really fight with the competitive side of me who wants to win for the sake of winning. I've had to stop myself from asking Brian to move up some home improvements we plan on doing in the next few months for the sake of impressing this girl. I've had to remind myself that the sacrifices we are all making as a family are worth the moments that I get to spend with my beautiful Aimee. And that continuing to work would have been a strain on our family. I firmly believe that the work I am doing now, creating a peaceful and loving home, working on my relationships, developing my inner self, is a greater calling than working for a lifestyle that we don't need. Most importantly, I've had to ask God to soften my heart and to give me feelings of compassion and mercy toward her, rather than feelings of vanity and conceit.

When I had that important job those first few years of my marriage, work was a little bit like a drug to me. I sacrificed a lot in my personal relationships and I began to believe that my value was in how far I could get, how many important people I could meet, and how many committtees and boards I could be on. It was a lonely life and Brian and I don't have much to show for those years. God has changed both my and Brian's heart radically. We recognize that whatever we have comes from God, and we know we are living a life of abundance. Our life overflows with friends and family that truly love us, hope for the future, and a deep love for each other.

I realize now that her insecurity is not my problem. I am not going to play this silly game of who has more. I am officially taking myself out of this competition.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

The Struggle

I've been struggling with a lot of stuff lately. I made up my mind that tonight, I would process everything and work it out here, on this blog. Writing usually makes me feel better. It helps me organize my thoughts and as I read back to myself what I've written, I can see with my own eyes the wisdom or foolishness of my conclusions.

However, tonight, I won't have the satisfaction of decluttering my thoughts. Instead, I'll go to sleep with unfinished sentences floating around in my head, waiting for me to capture them and prioritize them neatly on the page.

I will share this with you, I feel like I've finished the first leg of a long journey. I'm happily progressing and feeling sure of my steps. Growing up is so difficult, but it's so good.

On another note: Church was absolutely beautiful today.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Feeling a little looser-ish

*P.S...I guess a little explaination might be needed for those of you unfamiliar with MySpace.

1. "Tom" is always the first friend on any new Myspace account created. I think he's the creator of Myspace and is basically the face of MySpace customer service. I needed to explain that to Brian very quickly as I saw the look of anger and confusion taking over his face, because his wife's #1 friend was some random dude.

2. To find my page, go to http://www.myspace.com/brianandlizzie.

That's all for now!

********************************************************************************

I just created a Myspace page so that I can keep in touch with a friend that I just re-connected with and I'm feeling a little bit like a loser because "Tom" is the only person in my top 8.

So if any of you reading this want to be the first real person on my Top 8, email me or send me an invite or whatever it is that your supposed to do on Myspace to get in the highly coveted position of Lizzie M's Top 8.

It's the cuteness!

Cute things Aimee is doing as a toddler:

  • Quietly and gently lays herself down on the floor, makes sure she's not going to hit anything, and then has a kicking and screaming tantrum. How can I not laugh at that?
  • Talks in her sleep
  • She's learning to put on and take off her clothes.
  • Is growing more attached to her baby and her blankie. She wouldn't go into Target without them.
  • Sits still long enough for me to "Chiquea" her. (That mean's to "cuddle" her in Stephie language).
  • Has her own dance moves.