A Memorable Thanksgiving

Memorable for two reasons. My sweet Aunt Lynne passed away sometime monday evening before Thanksgiving. My sister called me Tuesday morning to give me the news that she had died. I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. She was a very sweet and kind woman and will be greatly missed. She was just 42 years old. Another reason this will be a memorable holiday is because I got to introduce Jareth to my great aunt and my great, great aunt. Other than my grandfather, my great aunt Jan is the closest thing I have to my grandmother who passed away and will never meet her great-grandson. It was an emotional reunion. It was so nice to spend Thanksgiving day with her.
The holidays can be a happy time and also rough time for families. We mourn the loss of loved ones and wish they could be with us. But this too brings us a chance to remember the good times we shared with them. This honors them more than anything. This Thanksgiving I am most thankful for the memories I have of holidays with my family and also the memories yet to be made.

Enjoy each moment.

Remember how time used to drag on in grade school? It always seemed like summer would never get here. A year seemed so long, too long. Now, it's much too short. Jareth is already one and I'm about to start pulling out Christmas decorations. Two years ago I was waiting to get pregnant. Then I was waiting for the baby to come. Then it was Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas, birthdays, and vacation. I think of Dr. Suess' "Oh, The Places You'll Go." It seems that life revolves around events and has become a waiting game. A year seems to be summed up in birthdays, holidays, and summer vacations. As soon as one event passes we count down the days 'til the next. It's easy to forget how precious the days in between are. Everyday there are precious moments to be seen. Like right now, Jareth is asleep on the living room floor. He laid down on a blanket we keep on a chair in the corner and fell asleep watching the electric fireplace. I watched as his little body went from restless to still and his breath went from sporadic to regular. Such a sweet moment that could have easily been overlooked. Time won't wait for you to catch up. We have to learn to enjoy every moment, not just the big events in life.

Jareth's Big First Down!

Jareth's 1st birthday party was awesome! It was so much fun getting to celebrate with our friends and family. The party was held in the backyard and was UT football themed. We put up posters that read things like "Go Jareth!" all over the yard and we even created a small football field with yard paint. There were orange and white pom poms all around the cakes were of course UT themed. One was an orange teddy bear wearing a white jersey with a 1 on it and the other looked like a field with a power T in the middle and checkerboard icing on the sides. Jareth got a ton of great gifts including all kinds of toys, books, a power wheels Lightning McQueen car, an upholstered chair, and a slide and climb castle. We ate hotdogs and chili, chips, pasta salad, and cookies. Jareth really enjoyed his cake! He had to have a wardrobe change after he ate. After the party we built a fire and watched the football game outside. We had boiled peanuts, smore's, and hot apple cider. YUM. It was a great day!

Jareth's Birthday

At 3:15 on Tuesday, Jareth officially turned 1 year old. He was napping at the time so I sat by his crib and when the clock struck 3:15 I started singing "Happy Birthday" to him. He woke up happy and I scooped him up and showed him his newborn pictures. A few minutes later Jon came home early from work. We took Jareth to a pumpkin patch where we found a great pumpkin that we are going to carve a 1 on. We also bought fried pies and petted some goats. Afterward we went to a duck pond and a playground. Jareth loved it. That night we gave him cheese pizza for the first time and put a candle in a donut. It was a perfect day. His party is Saturday and I'm sure there will be plenty to write about it! Right now he is sitting beside me as I type just watching me with his hand on mine. LOVE

We Made It!

Tomorrow Jareth Grae will be a year old. I sit here, watching him play and I go back to the instant I found out he was coming. Sitting with Jon in the little green room of my doctor's office anxiously waiting to talk with Dr. Walker about fertility treatments. I was scared that I would never carry a child, that I would never experience motherhood. Then, the impossible happened. When we were called back we were told that my urine test came back positive for pregnancy. Shock and awe, we were in disbelief. An ultrasound confirmed we were 5weeks and 5days pregnant.

The next two months were torture. But soon the first trimester passed and each day I felt a little less anxiety. And then the day came when I looked into the mirror and really noticed the new shape my stomach was taking. There was a soft curve to my abdomen and I was overjoyed. I was given a new hat to wear that day, mother.

Fast Forward to October 19th, 2009 at 5:00am. We called the hospital to make sure we could come in for my induction. The nurse says, "yes" and we realize that today we will become a family of three. My family is there and Jon's is too. We wait patiently until the nurse says it's time. Everyone is rushed out and into the waiting room and I begin to push.

I remember growing up wondering what my children would look like.Would they take on my dad's side of the family and have sandy blonde hair with blue eyes? Would they be tall like my mother's side with brown eyes? Would they look like my husband or would they look like me? I have to admit I always fantasized about blonde hair, freckles, and big blue eyes for my kids.

At 3:15pm, Jareth emerged and those daydreams became reality. My child has wispy hair like my grandfathers. It's blonde like mine and my husband's but with a little bit of strawberry in the sunshine. That comes from his great-grandmother. His eyes remind me of his father's and so do his lips. When he yawns it reminds us of Jon's mother. He has my chin, which came from my grandmother and a soft face like mine, my cheeks for now. And yet he is all his own. We can't decide where he got his nose and most of his expressions belong to him. He is perfection. From his fat big toe to his long lashes, he is the most beautiful child I have ever seen.

Just a blink or two later, it's been a year since I have held him in my arms for the first time. I have nursed him, fed him, and played with him. I've rocked him to sleep, washed his hair and between his toes. I've taught him where to find his nose and that dog ears aren't for pulling. I have sang to him and danced with him all over this house. I've picked him up when he's fallen and ran to his rescue during the night. I've told him, "No" a thousand times and a thousand more said, "I love you."

When you are pregnant with your first child it's hard to fathom that one day you will be reminiscing about the first time you got to bathe them or the first time they ate solid food. Maybe most of all, the first time they utter, "momma" and you know they mean you. But here I am all nostalgic so soon over his newborn photos and the little outfits he has outgrown. Tears fill my eyes when I think that I will never get that back, not with him. It's a beautiful and bittersweet part of motherhood. Oh, how amazing life is.

So finally, it's been a year. We made it! And little boy, you are the best gift I've ever had. A child's birthday is an anniversary shared between him and his mother. Happy Anniversary Jareth Grae! Here's to many more.

1st year pictures

Last friday we had Jareth's one year photo shoot with Cayci Hawn in Athens. She is just lovely. Only a few hours after the session she already had pictures up on facebook for us to view. The pictures turned out adorable! We are very happy with them. I just can't believe our little man is about to be 1! This time last year I was a hippo, praying he would come on time. Just look at him now!

Smash!

Cake. Jareth has his 1 year pictures on Friday *faint* and we are going to do a smash session. Basically at the end of the photo shoot we are going to strip him down to his diaper, hand him a cake, and let him go nuts. I can't wait to see how this goes. I think it will be fantastic. This is the first time I've tried to decorate a cake. Usually I just slather on some icing and throw on some sprinkles. I'm proud of it. : ) I'm planning to make him a UT jersey cake for his birthday party.

Wish me luck on that one!

Teeth! and more

Over the past couple of weeks Jareth has been cutting a bottom tooth. He has had a little pain with it but he hasn't been too miserable. It seems to bother him more at night than during the day. But we have been so preoccupied with his little bottom tooth that we have neglected to notice the FOUR top teeth that are coming in! He has two that have broken through and two more on their way fast. He was kind of a late bloomer with cutting his teeth but as soon as one started to come in, several more followed quickly. His gummy grin is soon to change.
Jareth is also starting to talk a little more. He now says "Stop" which is more like "Dop" and he is trying to say "Hello" which sounds like "Yeh-yo." He will pick up a cell phone, put it up to his ear, and say "Yeh-yo!" Its pretty darn cute.
In other news the house has been on the market for about a month now and we have had a grand total of one viewing. We aren't in a hurry but would like to see more people come through. We are very excited about moving back to Athens.

It's All About the Baby!

Jareth is over 10 months old now! I know! I can't believe it either. But it's true. He is a 22 lb butter ball full of energy. He is getting so big and does more each day. Right now he is really into mocking us. If we cough, he coughs. If we snarl our nose, he snarls his nose. If we are eating, he has to eat too. He is hilarious, a ham really. He definitely knows how to get attention. Oh, and his newest thing is doing somersaults. He loves for me to roll him, head over feet. He will bend over and wait until I roll him. Gosh I love him so much. What was life like before him? Pretty boring I think!

What is a Temper Tantrum?

If it consists of kicking, screaming, and throwing one's arms and head onto the floor, then Jareth had his first temper tantrum last night. I was already having a hard time going to sleep last night and found myself watching Romeo and Julet on TCM at 11:30 in the living room while Jon and Jareth laid fast asleep (or so I thought) in their beds. Then I heard my little man flopping around restlessly followed by a faint cry. I went back to see what I could do. (Perhaps a missing paci was the cause or a wet diaper.) As soon as Jareth saw me his little cry erupted into a scream. I found the paci and changed his diaper and covered him up and rubbed his head. The screaming didn't stop. Then he proceeded to arch his back and hit his bed with his tiny little fists, spitting out his paci. I picked him up, still crying, and sat in the glider. I tried rocking, singing, and even reading a book. He wouldn't stop. And it wasn't just crying I mean he was SCREAMING! I thought maybe his tummy hurt so I rubbed it and gave him some mylicon....He started kicking me and arching his back as if he didn't want to be held so I put him in the floor. While on his back he started kicking the floor and then he sat up and threw his head onto the carpet and banged on the floor! WHAT IN THE WORLD??? This is not my sweet child!! This is some other kid!!! I picked him back up. At this point Jon got up and came in the room. He took Jareth from me and in an effort to calm him started walking him up and down the hall. Nope. It didn't help. More screaming. So Jon brought him back to me and went back to bed. I gave up and put Jareth in his crib, still kicking and screaming, and kissed him goodnight. Then I went to the guest room. I laid on the bed for a while hoping he would "cry it out." That lasted about 2o minutes. Finally I decided it was time to get up. I went and got Jareth, turned on the lights, sat him in the living room floor (still crying and trying to catch his breath), and dumped out a tote of toys. He stopped crying and stared at the toys. Sweet relief for my ears! His Lambchop puppet "read" him a book and we rolled the soccer ball back and forth. Then I laid in the floor and he crawled back and forth over me. He was happy as could be. After about an hour he started rubbing his eyes and crawled into my lap. I got up and took him to bed. He began to whimper... I told Jon that I was NOT getting up again! The last time I remember looking at the clock it was about 3:30am. I'm really hoping this was a one time thing. But I doubt it. Next time I may go straight to playing.