Thursday, July 31, 2008
JSO Update
Troy received a conditional offer of employment yesterday for the JSO!!! If all goes well with the remaining 3 reviews (psychological, medical and oral board) next week he will begin the academy Monday, August 25.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Lottery
If anyone has any helpful hints on how to increase the odds in winning the lottery I'd appreciate the advise. You all know I'm terrible at math, so I'd really benefit from some you statisticians out there. If I won the lottery I could be a part-time stay-at-home mommy. I think I'd have a job as a Jazzercise instructor to stay in shape and feel like I'm making a useful contribution...so basically my schedule would be like this most days:
7 am - wake up, make breakfast for Troy and Em; eat
7:30 am - play with Em
8 am - leave the house to take Em to a play group and head to Jazzercise
9 am - Jazzercise
10:30 am - grocery store for fresh produce; dinner items
11:15 am - home to shower
12:00 pm - meet with other stay at home mommies for lunch
1:30 pm - pick Em up from play group
1:45 pm - shop at cute baby boutiques, home decor stores, and ridiculously expensive clothing stores for me and Troy....and purchase things here and there for any of you lucky friends and family
3:00 pm - head home for Em's nap and Mommy time (you know to blog, scrapbook or snoop around myspace)
4:30 pm - prepare dinner, which of course includes dinner parties most evenings
6:00 pm - eat dinner
6:45 pm - dessert
7:00 pm - family play time (swimming, swinging in the backyard, softball, kickball or anything else one can do in the backyard....Troy, we can even play tennis if you want)
8:00 pm - Em's bath (in a huge garden tub with bubbles of course)
8:30 pm - story time / bed time for Em; mommy and daddy time
Bed, and then start the day all over again....
k, back to reality...I have an interview to do in 14 minutes....
7 am - wake up, make breakfast for Troy and Em; eat
7:30 am - play with Em
8 am - leave the house to take Em to a play group and head to Jazzercise
9 am - Jazzercise
10:30 am - grocery store for fresh produce; dinner items
11:15 am - home to shower
12:00 pm - meet with other stay at home mommies for lunch
1:30 pm - pick Em up from play group
1:45 pm - shop at cute baby boutiques, home decor stores, and ridiculously expensive clothing stores for me and Troy....and purchase things here and there for any of you lucky friends and family
3:00 pm - head home for Em's nap and Mommy time (you know to blog, scrapbook or snoop around myspace)
4:30 pm - prepare dinner, which of course includes dinner parties most evenings
6:00 pm - eat dinner
6:45 pm - dessert
7:00 pm - family play time (swimming, swinging in the backyard, softball, kickball or anything else one can do in the backyard....Troy, we can even play tennis if you want)
8:00 pm - Em's bath (in a huge garden tub with bubbles of course)
8:30 pm - story time / bed time for Em; mommy and daddy time
Bed, and then start the day all over again....
k, back to reality...I have an interview to do in 14 minutes....
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Funny Car Moment
Realized I didn't write about the funny moment Em and I had in the car on our way home from Fayetteville....
I decided to stop at the Darrien Outlets, you know, to give Em a break from being in the car - what was more suitable than taking a look at the Gap, Polo, Coach and KB Toy steals and deals; you know Emma just loves her coach bags. Anyway, now that I've had a few days to think about this, it's probably one of those "you had to be there" funny moments, so if you're taking the time to read this and you're disappointed, this serves as my disclaimer....here we go: after browsing the deals in the stores I wanted to change Em's diaper before getting back on the road. As I thought about this, I looked up to see a big sign "restrooms" - perfect! After about I don't know 200 feet or so (Troy, this is one of my off the wall measurements here) I had passed 2 additional "restroom" signs. Being alone with a baby, my shopping bags and fabulousness, I decided this was a lure - a dangerous lure, some kind of backwoods Georgia lure. So, I decided to just change Emma in the car. Taking the advice from my oh so street smart husband I hurriedly jammed all the bags into the car; held Emma (whose diaper was, what do we say, yes, getting it's money worth) in one arm, folded the stroller and power slung it into the back of the truck and then ran to the driver's side, hopped in and locked the doors. For those of you who don't live in the South, let me reminder you here how HOT it gets here. We were both a little wet with sweat and you know my armpits were spicy. I'm not sure what Emma was thinking at this point, but she just busted out laughing. It crossed my mind that her daddy told her about his instructions to get into the car fast anytime we stopped and she was simply amused at how I man handled her stroller less than 2.5. Who knows. Of course her laughter inspired me to do the same. I'd like to think the challenges of changing an 8 month old's diaper in the front seat of an SUV with only a small give between me and the steering wheel contributed to how long it took to accomplish the task, but seriously, me and Em just kept laughing. It was like being with a girlfriend with a good case of the giggles. She's become my littliest best friend. Anyway, I apologize for the delay with the post - dangerous lures and laughter aside, mission accomplished. No restroom, no problem; this mom improvises.
I decided to stop at the Darrien Outlets, you know, to give Em a break from being in the car - what was more suitable than taking a look at the Gap, Polo, Coach and KB Toy steals and deals; you know Emma just loves her coach bags. Anyway, now that I've had a few days to think about this, it's probably one of those "you had to be there" funny moments, so if you're taking the time to read this and you're disappointed, this serves as my disclaimer....here we go: after browsing the deals in the stores I wanted to change Em's diaper before getting back on the road. As I thought about this, I looked up to see a big sign "restrooms" - perfect! After about I don't know 200 feet or so (Troy, this is one of my off the wall measurements here) I had passed 2 additional "restroom" signs. Being alone with a baby, my shopping bags and fabulousness, I decided this was a lure - a dangerous lure, some kind of backwoods Georgia lure. So, I decided to just change Emma in the car. Taking the advice from my oh so street smart husband I hurriedly jammed all the bags into the car; held Emma (whose diaper was, what do we say, yes, getting it's money worth) in one arm, folded the stroller and power slung it into the back of the truck and then ran to the driver's side, hopped in and locked the doors. For those of you who don't live in the South, let me reminder you here how HOT it gets here. We were both a little wet with sweat and you know my armpits were spicy. I'm not sure what Emma was thinking at this point, but she just busted out laughing. It crossed my mind that her daddy told her about his instructions to get into the car fast anytime we stopped and she was simply amused at how I man handled her stroller less than 2.5. Who knows. Of course her laughter inspired me to do the same. I'd like to think the challenges of changing an 8 month old's diaper in the front seat of an SUV with only a small give between me and the steering wheel contributed to how long it took to accomplish the task, but seriously, me and Em just kept laughing. It was like being with a girlfriend with a good case of the giggles. She's become my littliest best friend. Anyway, I apologize for the delay with the post - dangerous lures and laughter aside, mission accomplished. No restroom, no problem; this mom improvises.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Home
We made it home. I'm too tired to write all the funny details of our adventure, but I'll make a note to remind myself to tell you all about our funny car moment of the day :)
Thursday, July 17, 2008
We made it to NC
Mapquest projected time for travel - 6 hours 29 minutes; Sabrina and Emma actual time for travel - 7 hours 34 minutes and a few seconds. I didn't think that was too far off. We stoped twice to give Em a break from the car. She watched her first Disney Class - The Little Mermaid (proud mommy moment). I wasn't sure if she was confused or amused that I knew most of the lines and could sing the songs. After we had lunch she slept for 2 and a half hours (boring for mommy). She was a champ, hung in there for the long haul, until about the last 30 minutes. She never cried (thank goodness), but she was sure ready to get out of the car.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Emma and the TV
About a week ago I had the bright idea to occupy Emma's bumper-to-bumper commute time with her Baby Einstein DVDs in the car. Three days into the endeavor I didn't turn the TV on. After I buckled her, sat in the driver seat, buckled my own belt and started to put the car in gear I heard three grunts....mommy pay attention to me grunts, mommy I want something I can't reach grunts. I turned around to see my daughter, eight month old daughter mind you, looking up at the space where the TV screen would be had I dropped it down from it's resting place and turned it on for her viewing pleasure. Man, two ah-ha moments for me here: 1 - I experienced my first parent / child manipulation stunt...and I gave in without even talking it over with myself and 2 - oh my word, Emma isn't even one yet and I've turned her into a television watching fool. Good thing it's educational videos.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Worship
I was challenged some time ago to begin thinking about worshiping Jesus in different ways...
Sounds logical and easy enough, but truth for me is that I tend to worship through music, and it had never been pointed out to me directly that worship could (and should) take place in other ways. For some, it's through the actual message or sermon, for others it's through writing, and still for others, it's in the quiet moments they spend away from the hussle and bussle of life and get real with God.
I've noticed lately that church sermons gradually make sense in my life. I find that as things occur from day to day I have a way of tying them back to something I've heard recently. The first time I had the experience of worshiping God without a band and singing was on our honey moon. The last night we were there the resort had a bomb fire on the beach. As I sat in my beach chair and watched the fire burn and listened to the waves crash against the shore I couldn't help but feel the awe and wonder of it all. After a few minutes I realized I was talking to God and thanking him for the amazing husband he gave me and life we would be going back to - our home, our daughter, our extended families, work, friends, church family. God is good.
The next time I had this similar experience was when I rocked Emma to sleep one afternoon for a nap. As she lay still and peaceful in my arms against my chest my mind drifted to a time when I never imagined being able to hold a baby of my own...it wasn't the first time I had the thought, but it was the first time that I felt so overwhelmed and compelled to praise God for all he has blessed me with. Right there in the rocking chair, holding my sleeping baby, I began to praise Him, and it felt good.
I've been thinking about these two experiences a lot lately - maybe that's why I decided to write about them...I've been feeling the urge to write publicly for a while now, but I'm usually into spilling my feelings in cyber space. Maybe this is just another way of worshiping Him - to share what he has blessed me with for all of you to read....we'll see where it goes, but for now, I'm looking forward to more of these moments.
Sounds logical and easy enough, but truth for me is that I tend to worship through music, and it had never been pointed out to me directly that worship could (and should) take place in other ways. For some, it's through the actual message or sermon, for others it's through writing, and still for others, it's in the quiet moments they spend away from the hussle and bussle of life and get real with God.
I've noticed lately that church sermons gradually make sense in my life. I find that as things occur from day to day I have a way of tying them back to something I've heard recently. The first time I had the experience of worshiping God without a band and singing was on our honey moon. The last night we were there the resort had a bomb fire on the beach. As I sat in my beach chair and watched the fire burn and listened to the waves crash against the shore I couldn't help but feel the awe and wonder of it all. After a few minutes I realized I was talking to God and thanking him for the amazing husband he gave me and life we would be going back to - our home, our daughter, our extended families, work, friends, church family. God is good.
The next time I had this similar experience was when I rocked Emma to sleep one afternoon for a nap. As she lay still and peaceful in my arms against my chest my mind drifted to a time when I never imagined being able to hold a baby of my own...it wasn't the first time I had the thought, but it was the first time that I felt so overwhelmed and compelled to praise God for all he has blessed me with. Right there in the rocking chair, holding my sleeping baby, I began to praise Him, and it felt good.
I've been thinking about these two experiences a lot lately - maybe that's why I decided to write about them...I've been feeling the urge to write publicly for a while now, but I'm usually into spilling my feelings in cyber space. Maybe this is just another way of worshiping Him - to share what he has blessed me with for all of you to read....we'll see where it goes, but for now, I'm looking forward to more of these moments.
me - a mommy?
Emma will be six months on Thursday and I find myself still wondering when it's going to really hit me that I'm someone's mommy. I mean, sure, there have been moments when I felt "whoa" I have a daughter...holding her at the hospital for the first time, nursing her, dropping her off at day care the first day, missing her when she has been away over night, seeing her smile at me for the first time, hearing her laugh the first time, worrying about her when she hasn't felt well, getting my first "Emma" craft....each time I experience one of these moments I think I've finally felt what it's like to be a parent, but then a new experience occurs and I find myself in amazement all over again.
Emma's day care / school had their annual Mother's Day fashion show today. I really didn't know what to expect, but it was a very well produced event. There was an actual set, with a runway and ropes lining it, with lights and a red carpet, and music. The theme was "Hollywood" and each class dressed in a different theme. The girls in Emma's class were Starletts and the boys dressed as Cowboys. As I sat in my seat waiting for the show to begin I found myself looking around at all of the other parents and thinking back to a time when I would have never imagined myself blocking an hour on my calendar to walk over to the day care to watch my daughter in a fashion show. I haven't been able to stop thinking about the difference in my life.
The old Sabrina seems like a lifetime ago, but I know that isn't so. As I sat in my chair thinking about life before Emma I realized that life without her was pretty empty, and I didn't even know it! I have fallen so hard for this precious little girl, and I never saw it coming. I never understood why parents lived their lives around their children, often sacrificing their existence (okay so that's a little extreme). I am just so amazed at how naturally the change has occurred for me, and I feel like I keep smiling up at Jesus thanking him for making this happen for me.
6 months...gees time sure does fly. I think I'll make a point to block an hour on my calendar more often, just to walk over and watch Emma be Emma, no runway, no lights, no music, no audience...my daughter
Emma's day care / school had their annual Mother's Day fashion show today. I really didn't know what to expect, but it was a very well produced event. There was an actual set, with a runway and ropes lining it, with lights and a red carpet, and music. The theme was "Hollywood" and each class dressed in a different theme. The girls in Emma's class were Starletts and the boys dressed as Cowboys. As I sat in my seat waiting for the show to begin I found myself looking around at all of the other parents and thinking back to a time when I would have never imagined myself blocking an hour on my calendar to walk over to the day care to watch my daughter in a fashion show. I haven't been able to stop thinking about the difference in my life.
The old Sabrina seems like a lifetime ago, but I know that isn't so. As I sat in my chair thinking about life before Emma I realized that life without her was pretty empty, and I didn't even know it! I have fallen so hard for this precious little girl, and I never saw it coming. I never understood why parents lived their lives around their children, often sacrificing their existence (okay so that's a little extreme). I am just so amazed at how naturally the change has occurred for me, and I feel like I keep smiling up at Jesus thanking him for making this happen for me.
6 months...gees time sure does fly. I think I'll make a point to block an hour on my calendar more often, just to walk over and watch Emma be Emma, no runway, no lights, no music, no audience...my daughter
Honey, we've landed in blog land
Here we are, 2008, and the most convenient way to keep our family and friends in the know seems to be by blogging. I've debated on blogging for a while, but needed to make sure I wasn't caving just because "everyone else is doing it." After contemplating blogging for some time I finally decided to cave - I think caving just because everyone else is doing it almost seems like a better reason than conceding that blogging in cyber space unfortunately seems to be the easiest way to keep our family and friends in tune to our journey, as husband and wife and parents. I'll ramble some random thoughts too along the way just for giggles...who knows, maybe even Mr. Henderson will blog too. I have a few I wrote on Myspace recently I will copy here to get started. I hope you all enjoy the view!
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