Friday the 29th: Mom and Phyllis. We had a lovely park picnic with our sweet friend Phyllis.
Saturday the 30th: Clouds. Love the clouds, rain, weather.
Sunday the 31st: Poppy. Got to meet a sweet baby.
Monday the 1st: Holidays.
Tuesday the 2nd: Thanksgiving. When Katrina suggested that she would roast a turkey and we would be sides, I was all in. And it was delicious.
Wednesday the 3rd: Walks. I love this early fall/ late summer weather. It is so much more pleasant to walk when there is a nice breeze and it’s under 90 degrees.
Thursday the 4th: School. Parent orientation for Alma’s school. Whoa.
Friday the 16th: Culture. In the morning, I took the girls and my mom to story time at the library. Then we tried to go to the art museum. We ran out of time, but we got to eat at the cafe, and see some of the outdoor sculptures. Then, we went to hear my step-dad’s band play at a benefit. Lots of fun culture!
Saturday the 17th:Pedicure.I don’t really need to explain why I’d be grateful for a pedicure do I?
Sunday the 18th: Plans. We had some friends over for lunch, and planned a really fun vacation with them this summer! Now all we need to do is wait! Oh man!
Monday the 19th: Subbing. Seriously. Subbing is the best. No grading, no planning. Monday was a half-day job, too, so no pressure. I get to hang out with kids, see what they’re working on, teach a couple lessons (sometimes), and take off.
Tuesday the 20th: Growing.
Wednesday the 21st: Art.This time mom and I actually made it into the museum with the girls. And boy was it cool! There are some great exhibits at the U of O Art Museum these days. “Medusa Smack” was Alma’s favorite.
Thursday the 22nd: Pool.Alma loved playing in her pool for the first time this summer. I can’t wait for more swimming time with my little fish.
Harriet was Baptized today at our wonderful church. We are so blessed to have a lovely church to attend. We couldn’t ask for a better priest than Bingham, and are so glad that he was able to baptize both Alma and Harriet. Harriet did really well. You can see in the photo above that Alma was a little concerned about what Father Bingham was putting on her forehead. It was oil, and part of my favorite part of the baptism ceremony. The priest puts oil on her forehead, eyes, ears, mouth, hands, and feet and says:
I bless your eyes that you may see God’s image in everyone.
I bless your ears that you may hear the cry of the poor.
I bless your lips that you speak nothing but the gospel of Jesus.
I bless your hands that everything you receive and everything you give may be a sacrament.
I bless your feet that you may run to those who need you.
Our dear friends Stu and Jacque are Harriet’s Godparents, and we are so lucky to have them. Their son Edison is just 9 days older than Harriet, so it is extra special to have them be such an important part of her life.
Not only do we love Father Bingham, but we also were blessed to have a retired priest be the Celebrant at the service. Father Ted was my priest all growing up, and even married us. It was really special to have him be a part of the service for Harriet.
Photo by Katrina Henry!
I realized that we never got a photo of Father Bingham, Alma, and her Godparents, so we took this as an opportunity to correct this oversight. Just a couple years after the baptism. We love Kenton and Katrina and are so blessed to have them in our lives. They are beautiful Godparents to Alma.
After the service, we had lots of friends and family over to celebrate. I love when our house is filled with so many loved ones. Alma and Harriet are so lucky to have so many great friends who love them so much.
These are Alma’s best friends, above. Rach was her nanny last year, and is her best friend now. Rory is her best similarly-aged friend, who also had the pleasure of having Rach as his nanny. This threesome is pretty great. They are so bonded in such a fun, lovely way. Rach’s mom came up and was able to help Rach baby sit Alma, Harriet, and their cousins on Saturday night so we could go to a concert. They came to the baptism, also.
Rach is a pretty talented fort builder. All the kids loved playing in it, and Alma’s cousins even got to sleep in it on Saturday night.
Of course, video games are always a big draw. These guys deserved it since they had just done a wonderful job at church during the baptism.
Congratulations, Sweet Harriet. Your enthusiasm and joy is so wonderful. You are so, so loved.
* All photos (unless otherwise indicated) were taken by my mother-in-law, and edited by me. Thanks for being our photographer!
Friday the 7th – Health. After dealing with two days of throwing up, I was so happy to have a healthy Alma again.
Saturday the 8th – Power. Much of our town was without electricity for quite a while. I was so grateful that our power stayed on. I didn’t know what I would do with my two little ones if it got super cold in our house.
Sunday the 9th – Club. I got to get out of the house to go to a baby shower for a sweet friend who’s in a sort of club of moms with me. I also got out again to go to book club. I love all my lady-friends!
Monday the 10th – Grandparents.
Tuesday the 11th – Phone-calls. I got some good ones today.
Wednesday the 12th – Alone. I got some amazing alone time getting coffee and an allergy shot. Hey! I take what I can get!
Thursday the 13th – Date. Drinks and appetizers with my Valentine.
This has been a long week that flew by. In the moment, I couldn’t believe it was taking so long, but last night I realized, ‘hey! It’s Thursday!’ I love that.
10. Books – Alma has gotten so good at sitting through a book, even books with lots of words. I love it.
11. Muscles – First training day for Couch to 5K. My muscles were soooore, but it was a good kind of sore. Grateful to have strong legs and a body that can put up with what I give it.
12. Pancakes
13. Wine
14. Nanapapa – Dinner with my dad and step-mom. I love how Alma says their name as one. “Nanapapa, nanapapa!”
15. Rach – we had an amazing nanny last year while I was teaching. She and Alma have formed the most incredible bond. Alma freaks out and lights up when she sees Rach, and I think Rach feels the same way. We still see her a couple times a month and it is lovely.
16. 2110 – while on my training run (ha), I finally met the woman who lives in my old house. We live about a half mile from the house I grew up in, and we walk by it all the time. I have wanted to meet the owners for a long time, but never saw them outside. On the 16th, the woman was getting the mail, so I introduced myself. So fun to hear that they have a daughter who sleeps in my old room.
There you have it, folks! So much for which to be grateful! Here’s to my next week of gratitudes! What have you been grateful for the past week?
I have done Ali Edward’s One Little Word project in the past, but I’ve never really done much with it. In 2009 my word was FOCUS because I was in grad school and knew that I needed to focus on my schoolwork, my marriage, my friends, whatever I was doing. It worked for me that year. Since 2009, I can’t remember if I ever picked a word. Obviously it didn’t leave in impact if I did.
Every November, I like to do the 30 days of Thanksgiving, or 30 Days of Gratitude on Instagram. It is fun to intentionally think of something everyday that I was thankful for. It was often little things, but those things are important, too. It feels so good to pay attention to, and acknowledge the things for which I am grateful. I want to feel that way the whole year.
For 2014, I want to really focus (there’s that word again) on being grateful.
Here’s a confession: Being home all the time with Alma and Harriet is really hard. I spend a lot of time calculating how much time until Jesse comes home, we have a play date, my parents are coming over, nap-time… I don’t know that I am the kind of person who thrives being a stay-at-home full time parent.
That isn’t saying I don’t enjoy my kids, or my time at home with them. I really love them, and get a lot out of being with them. While it is hard being home, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to leave them (especially Harriet right now) somewhere else, or with someone else. Whenever I do get a break from them, I find myself rushing back home to be with them again. And boy do I miss them when they’re sleeping. It’s a confusing feeling… when they’re awake I can’t wait to get them down, but when they’re down, I just want to hang out with them.
Anyway… I want to be grateful for this time. I want to be more grateful during the time I have with my daughters. I will never have kids this age again. Alma is so funny, and I love watching her learn new things. Harriet is just waking up to our amazing world. I also want to be actively grateful for other things in my life. I really am very lucky to have such a full life, I want to give thanks for it.
Gratitude. 2014, bring on the things for which to be thankful!
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Friday the 29th: Mom and Phyllis. We had a lovely park picnic with our sweet friend Phyllis.
