Growing Up is Hard to Do!

Well, somehow Sara picked up on the hint that I wanted more pictures of Elli. So, she sent me some from her first bath. As you can tell, she is less than thrilled!

Then, here she is just sleeping like an angel that never cries. She's such a cutie. I miss her so much!

Here's the thing I don't understand about growing up. When you are born, God strategically places you into the group of people you would come to know and love and eventually call family. Then, you spend the next 20 years of your life getting to know them, creating bonds with them and learning to love them unconditionally. Eventually your siblings become more than just someone to fight with...they become your best friends. And you stop viewing your parents as people who are just trying to make your life miserable, but you come to understand that they are there to love you, guide you and encourage you to become the Godly young man or woman that they know you can be.

It's at this point, it seems, that it's time to say goodbye. It's time to "leave and cleave" as I've been told so many times in the last two years. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my husband dearly and I am so happy to spend the rest of my life with him. But it doesn't make sense to me that in gaining that love you also, on some levels, lose something. You lose the safety and comfort that are only brought to you in your family.

Of course, when we got married initially, I didn't feel this way. But now that I am 3 1/2 hours away from my parents and am soon to be 4 1/2 hours away from my sister--my best friend--and her sweet baby girl...it just seems so cruel. I know Jared and I are where we're supposed to be. But sometimes following God can be a lonely place...a place full of wonderful people, none of which you really, truly know. This place has a lot of potential to be called "home" someday, if only the void called "family" could ever be filled.

I will say, that I have the most wonderful husband who is so patient with me when I am feeling this way. He is never so selfish to make me feel bad for missing my family and friends back in TN.

Alright...I'm done being sad and sappy! I just look at the pictures of my neice and it makes me miss my family so much. I just needed a moment to get that off my chest! Thanks for listening!

Is it Just me?

This past week has been absolutely frigid in Kentucky! Our nights have been in the '20s, our highs have been in the '40s and we have seen snow flurries on several occassions. It's only NOVEMBER for crying out loud! What happened to the pretty fall weather? Is it just like this in Kentucky or have you guys down in Tennessee been having cold weather, too?

All I know is that we better have some warm days soon or Asher is going to go stir crazy. As you saw in a previous post, Asher is not too crazy about his sweater, but he's also not too crazy about the cold. Plus, his owners are not at all too crazy about walking him in 30 degree weather, either!

Much thanks to the Brockways who let Asher come and run around in their fenced in backyard for a while the other night :)

I'd post more pics of Ellianna, but it seems my sister has forgotten to send them to me on a continuous basis. Tisk, tisk!

Christmas Shopping Chaos

Every year it seems like Jared and I have more and more Christmas gifts to buy. Though I LOVE buying gifts for others, it seems like the entire Christmas season is marred by that nagging thought of "I still need to do some Christmas shopping." It's something that I dread doing every year. So, last year we decided our goal would be to complete all Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving. That way, the entire Christmas season can be devoted to enjoying time together and with our families. Last year we were successful and I am glad to say that as of last night, we are 3 gifts away from being DONE! I must say, it makes the Christmas shopping a lot more fun when you have a goal set and are successful at achieving it.

One final note on the Christmas shopping...The past two weekends my mom and I have gone to do some Christmas shopping, once in Nashville and once in Louisville. If our nation is in a recession, no one has noticed yet! Because, let me tell you, every mall parking lot was packed and there were lines out the door in almost every place we shopped. The restaurants were packed and it didn't look like anyone was worried about spending their money. So either the whole recession thing is a myth or people are just running up their credit card bills without a care. I'm sure it's probably a little of both.

On a more exiting note...Elli went to the doctor this week and she has gained a whole pound since birth. She is now a whopping 5 pounds and 15 ounces (I think I got it right this time!). And everything checked out well. Here is a picture of her all decked out in pink.

Crazy Hair Night!

Well, one of the fun things about AWANA is that we have theme nights about once a month. Last night was Crazy Hair Night. Jared has been begging me to shave his hair into a Mohawk for probably a year. So, when crazy hair night came up on the calendar, I agreed to do it. But, on Sunday afternoon, Jared wisened up and we decided it might not be the best idea, considering the fact that he is an Ambassador for the Seminary. So, we both decided to go with a "Big Hair" theme. It took me all of 2 minutes to spike Jared's hair out in a thousand different directions with lots of hair gel and hair spray. It took me about 20 minutes to get my hair teased this big. Of course, when we got to church, Jared's hair was all the rage...the kids loved it! I, however, was immediately asked if I had just woken up and was asked why I didn't do anything for crazy hair night. I'm not quite sure what that says about my hair on a normal day!

A Big City Girl...

...Living in a Small Town World! As most of you know, I wasn't 100% sold on living in a town smaller than the population of my high school. But, it really hasn't been too bad. I mean, I do have to drive over to the next town if I want to grocery shop and we only have 2 restaurants in our sleepy little town. But, it definitely has its perks and today was proof! When I went to the community center to vote, I was prepared to wait in line as usual. But, would you believe I was in and out of there in 10 minutes?! Maybe this small town stuff isn't so bad after all!

So to all of you back home who waited in line for 2 hours to vote today, I send my deepest sympathies!

Wining and Dining

For those of you who don't know, my dad works as a consultant for a private engineering firm (at least, that's the best I understand about my dad's job). As a part of his job, he and my mom get to attend lots of fancy smancy fundraisers, dinners, etc. This past weekend they got to attend the grand opening of a VERY nice hotel in town. This picture was taken of them at the black tie affair. Aren't they cute?

L'il Punkin

Jared and I had the privilege of hanging out with our neice all weekend. As you can tell she had quite an exciting halloween...she pretty much slept the whole night. We thought this pic was cute because the pumpkin is probably at least half her size and close to her weight.

I finally got to see her from head to toe this weekend. She is so tiny! She loves to stretch out those long skinny legs. She seems so frail but she is a resilliant little tyke. She is gaining weight at a good rate. At her last dr.'s appt she had reached 5 pounds and everything checked out great.