In Christ Alone

Easter is such a special and celebrated time for me as a Christian.  This year we went to Huntsville to spend time with family for the holiday.  I enjoyed being back at our old church and hearing our pastor preach a sermon of peace and promise. 

And from one of our favorite songs, "In Christ Alone" -

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

He has risen, He has risen indeed!

DC Rewind

Time flies when you are having fun!  It feels like yesterday that we were up in DC enjoying our time with Nanny and PaPaw.

While we were up there we got to do lots of fun things.  The most fun was probably relaxing and getting to spend time together!  We all had the best time playing with Paige - I really don't know who enjoyed it the most.

One of the first things Paige showed Nanny and PaPaw were her dancing skills.  The girl LOVES to dance!

Dancing to the singing Easter bunny.

Sunday we went to the National Zoo.  It was neat seeing all of animals.

Taking a break from riding in the stoller

After the zoo we went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory - YUM!  I think this may be our new tradition - go into DC, then stop for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and while we wait venture to the ever-so crowded indoor playground at the mall.  Let me just tell you this playground is crazy, kids everywhere.  You would assume they were unsupervised by the way they were acting, but don't worry, there were parents all around (letting their kids go CRAZY!!).  My momma bear instincts had to kick in when one little girl tried to push my baby out of the way - I don't think so! 

Showing off her new trick, "Cheese!!!"  It really is too cute because she walks up like right next to the camera to say cheese.  Brad taught her this while I was out of town for work.  I love coming home to new tricks!

Nanny had these awesome purse books for Paige to play with.  They were perfect for her because she loves to carry stuff around and she loves books.

Being silly and having fun were at the top of the agenda.

"Please get my hand, please get my hand!"

Finally, we got to dye Easter eggs.  I don't think Paige really knew what to think about it.

Thank you, Nanny and PaPaw for letting us come visit!  We can't wait to do it again!

A Tale of Two Plane Rides

For the past few days Paige and I ventured up to DC to visit Nanny and PaPaw.  It was just us girls and I knew the plane rides would be somewhat of a challenge compared to our last trip (crawling vs. walking, 2 adults vs. 1 adult).  Of course Paige was an angel, but boy does a 2 1/2 hour direct flight wear you out!  I am so grateful we didn't have a layover and that the flight was any longer.

Before our flight began we made our way through security.  I was blessed with many nice people along the way helping me get all of our stuff (stroller, backpack, purse, and shoes) all ready.  Even after the flight ended someone got the stroller for me and made sure I was taken care of - so nice!

Now for flight 1 - on our way up United decided it would be a good idea to switch our seat without telling us until we got on the plane (totally NOT COOL in my book - Brad has a fear of crashing, I have a fear of someone being in my seat).  With this move we were able to sit by an interesting woman.  This was an elderly overweight, handicapped, entitled diabetic woman who forgot snacks for herself, but brought her dog.  She couldn't find the seat belt, then it wouldn't buckle, then she expected the stewardess to provide her a snack because "she was diabetic and might get light headed".  Hmm, let me think about this one...I was responsible for a child and I knew we would need water for the flight.  So, I checked with the gate attendant to ensure that drinks would be served on the flight.  If they hadn't, we would have stopped by the gift shop to make sure we had water.  Not this lady - she had the stewardess give up her apple and the lady sitting in front of us gave her a granola bar.  Side note - I normally can handle all of the above qualities when they are dosed out individually and maybe I could handle them all together had United not switched my seat, but for some reason just this hit me wrong. 

We survived the flight without any problems.  Paige sat amazingly in my lap (I was concerned about her wanting to get up and move) the entire time and even took a nap the last half of the flight.

Happy to be off of the airplane!

Totally different story on the way back!

Did anyone lift a finger as I went through security with a baby on my hip, a purse that weighed as much as the baby, an overstuff backpack, and a stroller that needed to be collasped so it could go through the x-ray?  NO!  Am I really surprised?  No, it is DC, they are not from the South and don't really understand helping others out.  But, I did get a compliment from a lady behind me.  She was impressed that I could do it all with one hand.  We do have a really good stroller that does allow for it to be collasped with one hand, but boy would it have been nice to have an extra set to help with all of it.

Seat 10D did not show up for the flight.  I still can't decide if this is a good thing or not.  Paige had a fantastic time moving all around during the flight.  I normally am a rule follower and when the pilot has the "fasten seatbelt" sign on, I have it on.  Not this time!  I totally ignored what the pilot had to say and only help Paige when the stewardess said it was needed.  Otherwise, Paige spent her time climbing up and down in the seat next to me.  She also made all sorts of new friends visiting with everyone around us.  The girl doesn't meet a stranger and one friend would just not do.  Needless to say I was worn out silly by the end of this flight and was so grateful to see Brad on the other side of the gate.

Paige perched herself on this little ledge and made it her seat.

So, my thoughts on traveling with an infant...

1) Don't do it alone unless you have someone on the other side of the gate to greet you.

2) Consider purchasing a ticket for the infant.  Having the extra seat was wonderful on the way home.  We survived the flight up there but were saved with a nap.

3) I don't know if it is better to bring lots to do with you or not.  Paige was more interested in the Sky Magazine than the toys that brought.  Also, I couldn't really reach the backpack where all the toys were when there was someone sitting next to me.  Maybe if you are traveling with the person next to you, bring lots of stuff.

4) I am still not sure about taking a DVD player.  I think P is a little young right now to actually watch it and I don't know how I would have gotten it out for her to actually watch.  I also don't know where we would have watched it.  All of this goes back to the traveling with 1 adult thing...it may work with 2 adults.

5) There is a huge difference when traveling with a crawler vs. a walker.  The older they get, the more they want to move around.  I am not quite sure what age it is where the child actually sits still through a flight.

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More to come on the rest of the trip!

Lucky Ducky Derby

Last Saturday we ventured over to Mobile for the Lucky Ducky Derby fundraiser for Ozanam Pharmacy.  Ozanam is a chartiable pharmacy in Mobile and Brad sends many of his patients there to use their services as his patients cannot afford their prescribed medicines.

The derby itself was so cute.  You could purchase an individual duck to enter the race or you could purchase a "quack pack" (5 ducks).  They then dumped the rubber ducks into pond at Providence Hospital and let the ducks "race".  Racing included pushing the ducks with big water hoses from a firetruck and then referees picking them up in their canoes.  They had 77 awesome prizes - the prizes ranged from handmade jewelry, year long gym memberships to include a personal trainer, and restaurant gift cards.  They sold over 2000 ducks so we weren't sure how we would fair on the prize horizon, but to our surprise we were a lucky recipients of a Panera gift card - how awesome is that!?!

We all had a wonderful time supporting a wonderful cause!

Doing what she loves - dancing!

Egg Hunt

I have been out of town with work for the past couple of days - my first time to leave Paige with Brad.  And to no surprise, everyone survived.

While I was gone, Paige had her first Easter egg hunt at school.  She came home with a big ol' basket of eggs and I think she had a good time picking them up.

So, here's the deal - each child was supposed to bring a dozen filled eggs and the filling could not be candy.  I racked my brain and decided I would do goldfish but I put them in a baggy because I didn't like the idea of food touching the egg.  Am I crazy???  We get the eggs out tonight and most are filled with unwrapped fruit loops and cheerios.  There were a few candies (despite the "no candy" rule) and a few other balls and blow up towels (something like that, I am not really sure what they are).  Am I totally strange for wrapping up the goldfish?  Brad told me I was "that mom" but the thought of Paige eating food out of an egg is just yucky to me.

New Finds

I feel like I am constantly looking for good deals on clothes for Paige on the internet.  There are just so many options and new ways to shop for kids these days. 

Well, I found 2 new neat places to shop. 

1) http://www.diapers.com/

Yes, that is right, diapers.com has clothes.  Before we had Paige a friend of mine told me about the Gifts to Grow program by Pampers (it is a reward program for buying pampers diapers) and I have been collecting points since Paige's birth.  I finally decided I needed to use some of the points - this is after I let a Starbucks and Sam's giftcard get by me.  The reward I chose was a gift card to diapers.com and I used it to buy Paige a pair of sandals.

2) Zulily

Zulily is an online shop where they list daily discounted deals on children's clothes, shoes and accessories.  They also have a few things for ladies and few things for around the house.  I signed up for these emails with the hopes of finding good deals on smocked dresses.  There definitely has been some good deals, but I hate paying shipping so I haven't pulled the trigger on the dresses yet.  Instead, I found 3 cute other outfits that I couldn't resist and made my first Zulily purchase.  And to make it even better, Zulily is so addicting!  I can't wait to see what is going to be on sale each day.

We are ready for the 4th of July!

Won't she look so cute in these?!?

New Game

Paige has a new favorite game.

She loves to take the magnets off of the refrigerator and take them one by one over the the rug in front of the sink.  It is too cute!!  Brad and I both just love watching her go back and forth.

And when one magnet comes off the rug, she says a big, "Uh oh!"

Love her!!!

Craziness

I am sure most people reading follow the news and know about the impending government shutdown.  I on the other hand live in LeeAnn-world and don't pay attention to the news and if it weren't for my mom and stepdad, I would have no clue that I wasn't supposed to go to work Monday if the budget hasn't passed by tomorrow night.

Yes, that is right, no work and no pay come Monday until a budget is passed.

My question to all the Senators and Congressmen - what have you been doing the past 6 months?!?  The new year started on 01 October, meaning we needed a budget in place then to work.  If we are already 6 months plus behind for this year's budget then one can only imagine what the FY2012 budget will be like.

A co-worker of mine and I were talking about it and she had a great idea.  Start docking Congress' pay for ever day after 30 September that the budget is not in place.  They do this all the time in housing industry.  Let's say you are building a house and it is due on a certain date and you don't finish on time, you start getting money docked.  Same goes with daycare.  Just recently in Paige's newsletter they had a note for the half-day kids that for every minute past 3 p.m. they were going to charge $5 or something crazy like that.  Apparently they were having a problem and I bet they have solved it now (either the kids are picked up or they are making some money!).

I just don't get it!!

On a happy note, if I get to stay home I am going to find all sorts of things to do.  Maybe I will clean out the house again and look for things to sell (so we can pay our bills - ha!).  Or maybe I can take up a new hobby.  One of Paige's teachers offered to teach me how to smock, maybe now is the time to learn.

Here's to hoping the budget gets passed very, very soon!

Epic

We just finished a series at church title "Epic: Piecing Together God's Great Story".  Our pastor took us through the Bible in 6 sermons, explaining in laymen's terms in a chronological order.  I hate to admit it, I found one sermon somewhat boring because it was so history heavy.  Brad on the other hand was very intrigued and couldn't wait to hear more.

This week it was my turn to get excited.  We get weekly emails from the church with different updates and when I got this week's and saw that the sermon would be on the book of Revelation I knew I wanted to be there.  I didn't think there was anyway to truly understand all that is in the book in one sermon (shoot, is there any way to truly understand it in a lifetime?) but I was looking forward to hearing the pastor's take on the book and learning more.

Pastor Mark did not disappoint!  Really, I should be saying God did not disappoint.  Pastor Mark walked through the book, explaining the different ways people look at the end days. (Will the church be on Earth for the tribulation or will they be in Heaven?)  It was so neat!  If you are interested in scratching the surface on this deep book of the Bible, I encourage you to listen to the sermon - http://www.icotes.org/. 
Another thing I found interesting was that the title of the first sermon was "Paradise Lost".  It came from the book of Genesis and he talked about the fall of man.  This last sermon was titled "Paradise Restored" - stemming from Revelation 21-22.  I know this was planned, but it really puts things into perspective.

Paige dancing while on our way to church listening to The Cathedrals, a Southern gospel group.  We've got to start her out right!

We Work Hard for the Money

Today we participated in our first yard sale!  It was a lot of fun and we made a little bit of money.  Like many neighborhoods, our's organizes a community yard sale day.  We had seen it done before but never really thought we had enough stuff to participate.  Well, this year we had 2 big items we wanted to attempt to sell.  This inspired us to look around the house for stuff we could part with.  We didn't have much, but like I said, we had enough to make a little money and enough to take to the thrift store down the road.

We really didn't have that much stuff, but amazingly made some money.

Paige enjoyed the time outside!  We had to put the little hat on her to keep her head from sunburning.  She was not fan!  Luckily, it velcro's on.

While we were busy with the yard sale, Ellie and Madi were at the groomer.  They came home styling in their pink leopard bandanas!