Babysnazz give away

Hi ladies,

This morning when Ella Rose and I checked my email we discovered that Babysnazz is having a contest! Wooo HOO!! The contest is for 20 free pairs of babylegs. Please check it out. Even if your little one doesn't want or isn't interested in babylegs, they make great baby presents. :) Ella has about 12 pairs now and loves them. She's looking forward to wearing them all winter (or at least regularly). Also we have several friends who are expecting and I just know they are looking forward to using them too...wink, wink. Anyway...you can get one free entry (no purchase required) for signing up. Bonus entries occur for posting the link on facebook or on your blog. The contest ends November 30th. Go check it out!

http://www.babysnazz.com/contest/


Betty

Carving pumpkins

Josh, Ella and I carved pumpkins tonight and roasted pumpkin seeds! Yum! Ella had the best time playing with the pumpkins and pulling out strings from them. Amazingly she didn't put any in her mouth. Assuming I don't fall asleep at 8 pm tomorrow like I did last night, I'll post pictures then.



Good night!



Betty

Busy work week

Hi all-

Honestly, I don't feel like I've done a good job at all with NaBloWriMo (in other words posting every day in October) but this month has been nuts.

However, with that said, let me update you all on the Georgia National Fair. Josh, Ella and I had a blast! Ella got to see the cows and horses. She got to go to a petting zoo and best of all she got to hang out with her friend Sophia.

Although I swear she probably would say the best part of the trip was playing in the fountain. :) We had so much fun. Josh got candy apples, and cotton candy. We got to walk through a tree that was a house. Josh was really impressed by this!! He's a do it with your hands type of guy! And, I got to have fun with my friends and family at the 20th anniversary of the Georgia National Fair. It was great!

We'd planned to go to a Halloween party the following night, but Ella was totally worn out, and so was I. So we put off the Halloween party for this year. One night led into another and before we knew it I was falling asleep at 8:30 in the evening. I have no idea how I got so exhausted. The house became dirty and work and manage the basic chores were all I could do last week, but things are better now. I'm even going to try to get a post up on Ella's blog and on my pet's blog this evening.

This past weekend was a snuggle and nap weekend. I fixed more food for Ella Rose. She now has cranberry applesauce, blackbeans, cranberries, summer squash, turnips, more spinach, more split pea soup, and cantelope. She's all set. :) She didn't care for the autumn harvest soup I made, but that's okay...we have plenty of new things to try.

Josh helped me straighten up the house a lot this weekend. Then this afternoon, the rush began. Ella had a Dr's appt. She's got a cold...poor thing. So off to the doctor we went. We are going to pick up her cough medicine shortly.

Okay...so rambly old post...without pictures, but those will come soon...in the meantime it's back to the races for Ella and me. We've got to pick up her medicine and drop off Josh's casts off to the local version of Good Will. I'll try to post again soon!

Take care,
Betty

I'll post tomorrow, I promise. Just as soon as I shake this stomach bug. :)

I hope this counts...

It's late...still no update today on the fair, but it's almost 11 and I'm up at 5:30 so...it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Good night...

Long day....

Cell phone in the washer? Check. Washer turned on... check. Coffee all over the diningroom table and high chair? Check. Late getting out the door to go to work and the sitters? Check. Mix up the lunches so that I have the 8 month old's and she has mine? Check. Yep...that was the morning. Tonight has been much better though...and tomorrow, I really promise an update on the fair adventures. Good night!

Day at the Fair and other such

It's late, and we got back from the Georgia National Fair about an hour ago. It was much later than I thought we'd be home, but supper took FOREVER. That's okay though...in the meantime getting ready for bed and preparing for tomorrow, I've managed to throw my cell phone into the wash so my wonderful husband has gone to go get me a replacement at Walmart. I use the cheap track phones that I can switch my sim card to even though we have a permanent plan b/c I wash, drop, destroy phones at least once a year. So Josh is at Walmart...Ella and I are packed for our busy Mondays tomorrow and I'm off to bed. But I'll share all about our fair adventures tomorrow. Good night....

Baking for Ella

This weekend my husband is out of town for a theater competition and so Ella Rose and I have had our run of the house. It's been nice. The weather here has cooled down tremendously and so I've turned on the heat (in the evenings) and we've been able to stay nice and toasty. Josh is really, really hot natured and we're not so it's nice to bask in the warmth for a while.

But the other thing that I got around to doing last night was updating Ella Rose's "pantry" so to speak. She will be eight months old on Tuesday, which is hard to believe, but true. And since she started eating solids occasionally, (at 5 months old) I've been preparing all of her babyfood here at home for her. However, as I fixed supper for her last night I noticed that she was running short on *many* foods and I made a mental note that I needed to remedy that situation for her.

I'd been playing with the idea of baking last night. I have a recipe from a friend for a pumpkin bread filled with cream cheese that I've been dying to try, but I didn't have the ingredients to make that here at home. Plus, Josh, Ella, and I have an apple pie hanging out in the frig right now that I made last week. We just aren't huge dessert eaters. So....I changed plans up a little bit.

I decide that rather than make another dessert type item that I'd conquer Ella's food shortage and disorder. First, I organized all of her frozen food squares in the freezer. Let me explain. In order to make Ella's frozen "pantry" I puree or chop/blend etc...various fruits and vegetables, beans etc...and then place them into ice cube trays and freeze them. Once they are frozen into ice cubes, I remove the cubes and put them into a ziplock bag and label it. Then I put all of these babyfood cube baggies into one section of the freezer so that I can find all of Ella's options for her meals. Yes, I even make her baby food cereals this way.

Anyway....I had so much fun making foods for her and still have three or four more to make. I prepared an Autumn Harvest Soup that actually is really good for grown up people too. I'd just changed a couple of things and added milk to it and cayenne pepper to the adult version. Here's the child version though.

Autumn Harvest Soup

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion diced and sauted in the veg oil

1 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup applesauce

Heat and Serve

In the adult version, add 1 cup milk and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I added these ingredients before setting some aside for Josh and me. What I've had of it so far was delicious.

Other things that I prepared for my dear child last night are: Broccoli Pumpkin, Spinach with sauted onions for flavor, Aparagus, Blackbeans, Broccoli, Carrots, and Split pea soup.

I also have the following to update her pantry this weekend, or this week: Yellow Squash, Cranberries, Sweet potatoes, Greenbeans, Plantains, Cantelope, and Turnips

She was running low on some of those things that I'm cooking and others are new for her. But I always find myself thinking about how different her meals are from children's whose parents just go to the store and by the babyfood jars full of food. None of them would get to experience the flavors and textures she does at this age.

And to be honest, I love fixing food for Ella. Why? Well, I like making my own baby food for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I know exactly what my Ella is eating. I can choose organic produce and I can be confident there aren’t any additives, fillers, artificial colors, or other chemicals in his food. It’s also significantly cheaper to make baby food than it is to buy it in jars. And finally, there's absolutely a special bond and satisfaction in knowing that everything that goes into her little body either comes directly from my body or is made by me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's love in each ounce that goes into her because it's that special to me, and that important that I make it myself.

People may think it's hard, but honestly it isn't. And in truth as I cooked for her, I was cooking for us too. I kept 1/2 of the spinach, 1/2 of the asparagus, 1/2 of the Harvest Soup.

So you could say I've been on a bit of a cooking kick, but I'm loving it and I think Ella Rose is too.

Family Traditions

Sorry y'all...I didn't make a post on here last night. I was just worn out. I'd started off having such a good week. The house was clean, things were in order, but by last night all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with Ella Rose and not move. :) Obviously, I couldn't do that completely, but I certainly would have liked to have done so. So...I'm still working on getting that pumpkin spice roll baked. I did manage to make another batch of apple sauce, searched for the children's story "The First Apple Dumpling" to no avail, and fix supper, do a load of laundry, get things ready for today...etc...etc...etc...

But in the midst of this, I got a phone call from one of my parents. Momma called to give me the telephone number for the Bed and Breakfast Inn that we stay in for Thanksgiving. Growing up y'all, Easter and Thanksgiving were my all time favorite holidays. I found myself literally bouncing inside myself waiting for them. We had such cool traditions. The family all came together, and worked toward a similar goal. The focus throughout these holidays was and is about so much more than the commercialization that occurs more frequently for other holidays.

However, I find that I am at a crossroads in my life and it's strange to be here in my 30s. After all, I've been an adult for many years now, but I've still thoroughly enjoyed these holidays as much if more than I did as a child. But, now I find that it's all changing. I'm not sure why my family has begun to change these traditions right around the time that I had my first child. It can't be that they decided to change them because my sister and I are grown and have children because my baby-sister has had children for 10+ years now.

I don't think it's because I live in a different town than my childhood family, because I've done that for almost fifteen years. So I have no idea what the impetus for these changes is, but nonetheless there must be one, because two years ago my parents announced they'd no longer host their annual Easter egg hunt and brunch. I was heartbroken. I conjoled, I begged, I cried, I pleaded, I bargained and tried everything that I could to convince them to continue the tradition. I wanted my daughter to have the same joy for this holiday that I did, and see how such hard work and family togetherness working toward a common goal (not just immediate family either) could provide as much for those working as those receiving the rewards of the work. But alas, none of my efforts produced the desired result. My parents cancelled their annual tradition, but offered to come to my house instead. And they did. Of course, the end of this visit was met with comments that they'd probably just take a cruise the following Easter and that my husband and I could continue the "family" tradition in my current town if we so desired.
All of this is coming to a head for me though, because just last night my Momma began to let go another family tradition. She informed me that they'd be arriving at the Bed and Breakfast the day of Thanksgiving instead of the night before. Now our annual tradition for Thanksgiving is to travel across the country to my Great-Aunt's house for the Thanksgiving meal. When I was younger, almost all of my maternal relatives would gather and we'd celebrate this meal together. even though people had to travel from all over the country to do so.

But as my cousins have grown up, fewer and fewer people are valuing the family tradition and instead doing their "own thing" meaning that the gathering has shrunk substancially. However, my family has continued the annual pilgrimage. :) Another part of the tradition for my family was to awaken Thanksgiving morning, eat breakfast together at the B&B and then gather in a room and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, together. Obviously, that won't be occuring this year.

And so I find myself at a crossroads of sorts. I have no interest, and no intention of ceasing the pilgrimage to my great-Aunts. My husband, daughter and I are going to still arrive the day before Thanksgiving. We are going to try our best to help our daughter experience the best of the holiday traditions. I'm going to help my Great-Aunt finish preparing the food. Josh, Ella, and I will watch the parade together. We'll have breakfast and we'll carry on. But I can't help, but feel like even doing so I have a heavy heart.

And I can't help but wonder, what's wrong with our world, with our society when we allow day to day appointments and the chaos of the world to overcome our desires to invade our family time and traditions. I find myself pondering how to reverse this trend. Families are supposed to matter. Our older generations have so much to give and share with the younger ones. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of family togetherness and well, thankfullness.

And I'll try to be thankful. I'm going to do my best to teach my daughter the values that I hold dear. I want her to know that family matters most and that we need to be there for them no matter what. I'm going to try to give her traditions that will mean as much to her and mine did/do to me.

So with that said, what holiday traditions does your family share that mean a lot to you?

Today was a good day...it felt like a Monday, but it was good nonetheless. Ella did really well going back to the sitters. The children at school were talkative, but fairly good. I've gotten a ton done this evening and I have designated tomorrow baking night. I can hardly wait to try out a pumpkin roll that my friend Shelli posted on her website. If it turns out good for me, I may ask her if I can link it here. :)

I've gotten here at home this evening. The floors are clean (mopped and swept). Our bathroom is shining it's so clean. Lunches are packed for tomorrow. Ella's diaper bag is too. Clothes are laid out. Ella Rose is sleeping soundly. Josh is working a concert. I've come up with a good strong new budget.

So it's a nice evening. The other big change for the evening is that Ella Rose has gone to bed in cloth diapers. I'd been doing cloth diligently during the day, but I was wary of trying it at night. However, a good friend has recently gone to cloth full time...and was telling me how spectacularly it works.

I know this is a rambly post, but honestly...I'm tired and still need to tackle the Wife of Bath's Tale from Canterbury Tales for my AP Literature class. So I'll try to post more coherently and finally get around to telling you more about Ella's and my adventures tomorrow.

See you then,
Betty

The end of fall break

As I've gone around the house this evening preparing for tomorrow (the return to teaching for me and daycare for Ella) I've found myself filled with a longing to be a stay at home mom. I could SO go for that. Maybe one day...but in the meantime. Clothes are picked out for tomorrow, lunches are packed. The kitchen is clean, the dishes done. Coffee is ready to be made with the switch of a button, amd the little one has been settled for the evening.

I have absolutely loved these last ten days. Ella and I have had so much fun, being on the go, and not being on the go. We've loved staying at home. Cuddling, doing normal day to day things. Today she helped me make an apple pie, lasagna and dinner rolls.

I couldn't have asked for a better life, or a better child than the one I have. And I look forward to sharing more about the adventures that we've had since we got back to South GA, tomorrow.

The power in this day

As I sit here writing this my husband is watching a show that is about the battle of good vs evil in people's lives. It's a tv series that I frequently enjoy myself. Yet, often I find deeper meaning in the series when I stop to give it a little thought.

I guess the reason that I enjoy the series so much is because good always triumphs (just like it does in children's stories). Yet in real life, I know good doesn't always win; however, today I think it just might.

Early this morning I received a phone call from my Momma. She didn't call with bad news, no quite the opposite. She called to tell me that Father Damien a priest who worked with lepers while he lived, is being canonized today. My great Aunt had called to share this news with Momma and to tell her that today is a day that miracles occur. Some might say miracles happen every day, but I'd like to think the more difficult ones happen today. See my great-aunt shared a story with my momma about an event in our family's history that occured on the day of the canonization of a saint. The background to the story, I'd never heard before (even though it's true) and the outcome was even more startling. Because it resulted in a reality-that is the only reality I've ever known.

So today, I prayed for miracles. If it's God's will, I hope and pray they will occur. Today I thought about the evil in this life, and how I understand so much more about the simple prayer that I learned as a child. The one that asks God to protect me from evil spirits, beings and all evil in whatever form it takes both day and night, but particularly the night. That prayer has kept me safe for many years. I hope and pray that as my daughter grows it will do the same for her. I know I'll be praying it for her and plan to teach it to her so she can memorize it and use it as she needs during her life.

But today is about more than just being safe. It's a day of miracles. Father Damien is to become a saint. And all day long, I've felt the power of goodness in this day. Yes, I do believe miracles occur and perhaps today another one or more will.

Lazy Saturday

Ella is snoozing so this is an excellent time for me to get my post in for today. Things are going well around here and I do believe I could handle being a stay at home Momma all of the time. :) Ella and I have had so much fun this week. Once we got home from all of our north and middle GA adventures, we took it easy for a day or two. Ella got shots Tuesday, and finally was feeling back up to par yesterday so we celebrated by spending more time outside. Ella gummed on pinestraw while I renovated our flower beds. I still need to tackle my garden from this summer which is just a weed bed, now.

Plans for today are to hang out with my husband. Cook some APPLES, surprise, surprise. Play with my brillant little 7 month old who has been saying, "Ella, bye-bye, hi, Mum-ma, & la la." She blows my mind y'all. :) I've never heard of a 7 month old talking like this, but Ella is.

Perhaps we'll hit up the Belks sale. I'd love to go to the Georgia National Fair, but I doubt that we'll make it up there this year. Daisy, Rachel, Ella, and I will go for a walk. Maybe I can convince my husband to play a game of Life with me and we can watch a movie or something fun like that.

Those are my plans for this lazy Saturday. What do you have planned?

-Betty

Didn't forget

Hi all-

Although it looks like I forgot to post anything yesterday, my dear dog Daisy took care of it for me yesterday. I'll have something more up for you today. Anyway, in the meantime check out Daisy's post at www.fourleggedbrigade.blogspot.com

Apples, apples everywhere

As I've mentioned and posted pictures about Ella and I went apple picking this last weekend. We had a blast! I bought applesauce bread and various other apple-y treats. So far I've been eating at least an apple a day. Ella has been enjoying an occasional sip or two or apple cider and we've made apple sauce. We've given away a nice basket of apples to our neighbors. I plan to give a basket to my in-laws, make an apple pie, encourage my husband to help with eating of the apples...and make some more apple sauce. But I'm confident we'll still have apples left over and I do not want to let them to bad. So I'm asking. No, I'm begging...please give me apple recipe ideas. Thank so much!

Betty

Baby legs

As my little Ella Rose grows, I discover more and more about the wonderful and not so wonderful childhood gadgets and accessories. Since I'm a cloth diapering semi-crunchy mother, I also have done a tremendous amount research about various baby products. However, my current infatuation is with Babylegs.

Baby legs are leg warmers for babies and look like pants without the crotch. They are particularly useful (in my limited opinion) for babies who live in homes with predominately hard, wood laminate, or tile floors, but are also useful to put on little babies during the winter months when it gets chilly.

I found myself wishing we'd taken Ella Rose's with us when we were up in Calhoun earlier this week. I'd actually meant to, but then forgot them on the kitchen table.

They come in all different colors, patterns, and even can be coordinated to fit seasonal events. (As you can see in the attached pictures).

Plus, one of the best parts (in my opinion) is that they don't out grow them in a season or even a year or two. Baby legs will fit, albeit differently every year, a baby or child from newborn age on until they are ten years old. Yes, you read correctly.

So if any of you have not discovered baby legs (and haver a baby or pre-teen child running around) I highly reccomend checking them out.

Here's their website: http://www.babylegs.com And the other place I've gotten REALLY good deals on babylegs is at http://www.babysteals.com You have to watch the babysteals website for the deal, but every so often it pops up...and in the meantime there are many other good deals on there to enjoy. Just be careful...it's addictive.

Betty

Good news on Tuesday

Today has been a nice, but much more relaxed day than yesterday. Ella and I had so much fun yesterday, but the day was packed and I fell asleep before managing to post on here. Oops again. Let me give you a brief rundown from yesterday. I got up about six am with my parents, nieces and nephews. We all had breakfast and the day began. They all headed off to their respective schools while Ella Rose was still asleep...but not for long. By 9 am Ella Rose and I were out the door and heading into a fun, but completely packed Monday.

Our first stop was the First Methodist Preschool, where we picked up my youngest nephew and transported him to the Pumpkin Patch farm for his school field trip. It was SO much fun! And I got about 120 or so wonderful pictures of Danny, Ellen, and Ella. We had a blast y'all. They had games for the children, a petting zoo, a hayride, and pumpkins galore! It was amazing.

After we finished there, we hurriedly returned Danny to daycare, and headed off for our next adventure: lunch with Annie. Momma met me in the parking lot of the daycare/preschool (they are on bothsides of the same parking lot) and we rushed off to the Elementary school. Lunch was nice. Momma and I split a fruit salad and a regular salad and Ella munched on raisin bits (that I tore up for her). After a nice leisurely lunch, where I chatted with some of the schools administrators (all of whom I amazingly knew)...the rushing continued.

I made a quick phone call to Ella's godmother to let her know we were running behind and we hurried home, to visit. We had a nice leisurely visit with Jenni and Owen. Owen even brought Ella a Jesus loves me book that plays music! Wow!! So after we'd visited for a while Jenni told me that she'd watch Ella while I packed the car to head home. How nice!!!!!

It took about half the time that it normally would to get everything loaded! Wow! And Ella, Owen and Jenni had time to bond. Owen is exactly 3 years older than Ella (to the day). Cool, huh? Anyway....once we got loaded up, we headed for home, but the adventures were not over.

Ella Rose snoozed while I drove briskly toward Perry. When we finally got there (and that seemed to take forever)...Ella Rose got to meet Sophia Bella Maddux. I just know the girls are going to be fast friends. Sophia's Momma is pushing me to do debate again and has offered to help me. I'm seriously considering it.

We had a full filled play date and then it was time to head home. Ella traveled very well, and complained only when she was hungry. When we got home, Josh had pizza waiting for us. And so I ate pizza and Ella drank mommy's milk...and then we crashed on the couch.

So needless to say today has been a bit less exciting in the number of events occuring, but not less exciting in the news. Ella had a Doctor's appt today for shots. We are following an alternate schedule for those and we found out today that she won't have to go back for shots again until she's 9 months old! WOOOO HOOO!!! Ella and I both were quite excited about that...and then not until 12 months. We are on the downhill slide of the alternative vaccine schedule, and I'm so glad that we decided to follow it.

But the news gets even better. My OB's office is just around the corner from Ella's pediatrician's so as we were returning from her Dr's office I noticed there was a sign out from of my OB's office. He was in a tragic accident this summer and has suffered some brain injuries from it. Josh and I have had many conversations about what we are going to do, b/c I've been scared to have more children if my OB isn't able to deliver them. I had a really hard and scary delivery with Ella Rose and wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for my OB. So I stopped in today to ask about him. Not only did he turn 50 today, but I got the good news that his recovery is going well and they are anticipating that he'll resume his practice in January! YES!!! Now we can plan on more babies y'all...not that we were going to completely give up the idea if he didn't recover, but sometimes I felt like I'd like to. So now I know....another little Briones is in our future. When? I don't know...but definitely will be arriving one day. So today has been calmer, but definitely just as exciting as yesterday. And I'm glad. Fall Break is awesome and Happy Birthday Dr. A.

Betty

Apple picking and family fun

What a wonderful day today was! We had family fun time all day long...but by in large the best part of the day was the apple picking trip.

Apple picking has got to be one of my all time favorite activities. Every fall I look forward to it and try to find a weekend that my family can make the journey to Elijay to go pick apples. This year was no exception. Although Josh and I had originally planned for the annual apple picking to occur next weekend, this weekend ended up being the right time for it!

So after church today, my parents, niece, nephews, daughter and I loaded ourselves into the van and headed over to Elijay. The trip over was delightful. Ella was a great traveler as were the rest of the children. And yes, the fun was just beginning. When we got to the orchard, Annie, Danny and Gabe had their pictures taken on a tractor. Ella had fallen asleep just as we were arriving at the orchard so I took her inside to change her.

Then we all sat down and celebrated arriving at our destination by eating: fried apple pies, sample apple slices, and popcorn. Of course, we had apple cider slushie to drink. Ella was in heaven! She got to taste little bites of apple. I let her try to the apple cider slushie and even the apple pie. She was making mmmmm sounds and popping her lips for more. It was obvious how much fun she was having.

But the best was yet to come! Apple picking!!! So we all walked out to the orchard and purchased bags to pick apples. There's just nothing like picking your own apples, y'all. We took pictures as we picked and had a blast. The children even found a dog that lived in the orchard and played with him.

Once the picking was over, we headed back to the store. Ella had her picture taken on the pumpkins out front and Annie helped her "drive" the tractor. Then we loaded up and headed on to another apple store.

At this one Ella and Danny rode in a wagon that I was pulling around the store. Danny was being the "big cousin" and helping Ella, so that she wouldn't fall over in the wagon. They had samples of apple cider to drink....Ella spilled Danny's on his socks. Oops! But all was still okay. Annie wandered through the candy store....Momma and I picked up apple breads and cider to take home. And I even found a belated b-day present for Momma. Then we loaded up with some more apples (store bought, but a sampling of each kind available) and headed home.

The trip home was filled with laughter and talk about the many good times we've had over the years and with peppermint sticks. Momma bought soft peppermint sticks at Annie's request. Annie distributed them to everyone, including Ella (after they asked my permission). Ella LOVED her peppermint stick. It was the first one she's had...and she got peppermint everywhere. But her expressions and bouncing made it all worth it! I think we all are looking forward to repeating this tradition again next year. I certainly know that Ella and I are!

What family traditions do you look forward to the most each year?

Betty

Long Journey and nice people along the way

I hate it that I didn't manage to post last night, but it simply wasn't possible. Ella and I made the long journey to my parent's house for the weekend. After school we packed up our belongings (with my husband's help both packing and entertaining Ella) and we headed on our way. Ella was wonderful! She slept and played in her carseat and didn't really have any meltdowns. I really can't complain!

We've come up to visit with everyone for a variety of reasons. One of my childhood friend's Mom passed away. So we needed to go to the funeral. Yes, Ella went with me to the funeral and did just fine! She's such a good girl! And we want to go apple picking! Also we like visiting with family (and fall break is a great time to do that). Finally, my b-day is this week and even though it's not something that has been taking up much of my time thinking about it. I knew that my niece and nephew would enjoy celebrating it with them present. SO!!!! Here we are.

We got into Calhoun about 11:20ish....and visited before heading off to bed. But on the way up here (and the main reason we arrived so late) we discovered that FOUR lanes of the interstate were closed. Ella was snoozing away until the traffic stopped. Then she began to make little cries of consternation. So, as soon as we were able to we found a safe exit and took refuge in a Publix parking lot.

I'm not sure how we managed to find this Publix. I wasn't looking for it, didn't know it was there. But Publix is my all-time-favorite grocery store. And since Ella was getting a bit hungry. My milkers were getting a bit heavy (and full)... I'd forgotten my power cord for the pump...and several other things had been left at home. I decided it was time for a pit stop.

What a sight I'm sure we were. I was exhausted since I'd been up extra late

the night before, and now had been driving for hours without stopping for supper. I didn't want to stop and wake up my child. So we'd continued. Ella had just finished nursing in the parking lot and I had some how convinced myself that this store was about to close (even though I later discovered it wasn't) so we were rapidly rushing through Publix.

And when we got to the check out line, we were the only people checking out. Go figure! Not too many people grocery shop after 10pm on a Friday. And one of the ladies (a manager I think) began to play peek-a-boo with Ella Rose. The cashier and manager begin inquiring what we are doing and why Ella is out so late. I explained about our trip...and the checking out continues. But the really interesting and cool part of the story happens when she handed me the receipt. She said to me..."See this number at the top of the receipt?"

I told her that I did. Then she asked me to call and let her know that Ella and I had gotten where were going safely when we got to Calhoun. But she went on to tell me that she'd not be able to sleep if I didn't call. Wow! Who would have thought that in Atlanta, GA you'd meet someone who cares about people that much!

Obviously I called her when we got here, and yes, she was thrilled that we were safe and she could sleep that night. So it just goes to show, all of us, nice people can be found anywhere and any time, yes sometimes even in the most unlikely places such as a grocery store, late at night.

Betty

Private Viewing and Synchronicity

Tonight Ella Rose and I went to a private viewing of Lion in Winter at the Arts Center. My husband is playing Jeffrey in the upcoming show, and since Ella and I are going to be out of town for the actual production, my husband got permission for us to attend the dress rehearsal. The show is amazing and I highly recommend it to everyone!

Talk about cool! Not only could Ella nurse while we watched, but I felt like some sort of celebrity since everyone was performing for just us! Or so it was fun to pretend.

Anyway, as I was watching the performance I had the strangest sense of sychronicity. Just this week I've begun teaching the Canterbury Tales to my AP Literature class and one of my AP Lit students has been asking questions about the 100 years war as well as about who killed St. Thomas A Becket. Therefore, when I realized tonight that Lion in Winter is set during the 1100s (the same time period that Thomas A Becket is killed) I was shocked. And in addition to that, one of the main characters King Henry II is the King that made a comment that ended up causing the death of Thomas A Becket.

Needless to say, I'm fully convinced that sychronicity is well and working in my life right now. I look forward to sharing much more about the production and my Canterbury Tales adventures tomorrow, but for now. Let me say goodnight. It's late! And honestly, I'd probably have postponed this post if it weren't for NaWriBloMo. :)

But I couldn't bring myself abandon posting on the first day of the "Post every day in October" event. So here I am. Talk to you all tomorrow! My nightowl daughter has just re-awakened so I'm off to try to get her back to sleep. Good night all!

Betty

Hi all-

The autumn air has inspired me to start blogging again. Okay, so that's not entirely true. Actually reading a good friend's pet's blog inspired me to start one for my dear furry children as well as one for Ella Rose. And so while I began working on those, I decided it was waaaaaaaaaayyy past time for me to be updating this one!

So here I sit, typing on my long neglected blog.

As I type, I'm listening to the cheerful-ahhhhhhhhh sounds coming from my constantly growing and changing 7 month old who is clicking and popping (with her mouth) as she creates her own form of music complete with occasional burst of her own name. Yes, my child's first word is her own name. :) El-la she screams! There's no better sound to this proud Momma's ears.

Jumping back to inspiration ideas for a minute though, what the cool air has really inspired is my desire to work in our yard. So just as soon as Ella Rose and I return from our North Georgia adventures, I am looking forward to weeding our garden, cleaning up the stoop outside, and planting some fall flowers. I love the fall despite the fact that my allergies go haywire and get worse every year. And as I age, I find that I love being outside more and more. SO...hopefully, our youngest family member won't pull up my autumn plants the way that she did the flowers my mother-in-law planted as a mother's day gift for me. No, I'm not talking about my dear Ella Rose, but even a younger member of the family, our newest puppy Daisy.

Daisy is about 7 months old too (so pretty close to Ella's age) and full of all the puppy energy that goes with her youth!!! However, I'm convinced that I can encourage Daisy not to destroy all the pretties in the yard again. I hope!!!

Regardless, of what the autumn weather brings, I can hardly wait for fall break y'all. Don't get me wrong. I'm loving teaching, but I've got my hands full with it. I'm teaching seven, yes you read correctly, seven periods a day (out of a seven period day) running a homeroom, and doing three separate preps. On top of that, I'm still pumping milk for my little Ella Rose in ALL my spare time at school. ha! Would you believe I'm loving it? And I look forward to sharing much, more more about the happenings around here really soon.

However, my Ella Rose is now calling Mum-Ma and ready for supper....so more news will follow tomorrow. After all. I'm participating in Blog every day in October (as suggested by a good friend who referred me to NaBloWriMo and I can hardly wait!

See you soon!!

Betty

Summer Dreams

Hi all-

Obviously it's been a while since I've taken the time to babble to you all. Ella Rose has joined us and is almost two months old. In fact, she's 8 weeks old today. Wow! I can't believe so much time has already passed nor can I believe that I have to head back to school in a little over a week.

Thankfully, though, school will be out for the summer by the time May is over. :) I can hardly wait for it to end so that I can be home with Ella full time again. It's just 3 or 4 weeks though that I'll have to go back to work. That's not too long, right? Or so I tell myself. But enough about work.

So in the meantime, I'm enjoying every moment with our little Ella Rose. And watching her enjoy each moment for the first time has been so amazing. So far we've taken her to her first Art Show, her first play, and experienced many other firsts with her. Such as her first trip to Walmart, her first Easter, her first meal outside of the home, etc...

In fact, just yesterday Ella began helping me in the yard!! Wooo hooo!! And while I was planting flowers she decided to roll almost off of her blanket. We also went to look at some professional pictures that we had taken of her. They were amazing!!!! I wish I could have brought all of them home, but alas we had to narrow our choices down. Needless to say I've been plotting ever since how to manage to buy all of the pictures that the photographer took of her.

Speaking of plotting though, all of my hard work and plotting to cloth diaper Ella paid off. And let me be one of the ones to tell you...it's NOT that hard. Everyone told me that it would be so difficult and so much more of a hassle to use cloth diapers and wipes...and perhaps there are methods that make it hard, but we aren't using one of those. And I *love* Ella's kissaluvs. Personally, I think she does too. After all, it has to be better to cloth across that little bottom than to have some paperlike chemical filled product. And I love it that we've not had to go to the store even once for diapers. YES!!!!

So I've begun to plot and plan for my next big project with Ella: Making her baby food. I can hardly wait. But there is plenty to do before we begin working on making baby food for Ella. In fact, Ella's first big road trip is coming up in about 3 weeks. Wow!! She'll be going to Mississippi with her cousins, Gran, Paw, and Me. Our cousin is getting married and Ella is going to get to meet her 3rd cousin Isabella who is a couple of months older than her.

Believe it or not Ella and I also have quite a few other plans for the summer. Obviously we are going to continue our flower and vegetable work in the yard, but we also want to start working on a scrapbook for her. I made one for Josh during our first year of our relationship and I want Ella to have one of the first year of her life with us too.

I am SO looking forward to taking Ella several places this summer. I can hardly wait to introduce her to friends up in North Ga. And we are both looking forward to spending some time with my Great Aunt and Ella's great-great Aunt our Nanny.

Finally, we are hopeful that we can go to the beach for the first time this summer. I suppose time will tell whether or not we get to do that...but it's possible. And thinking of the beach trip (oddly enough) makes me begin to think of autumn adventures. I can hardly wait to take Ella apple picking for the first time and so many other things.

I know it sounds cliche, but I can hardly remember what life was like before Ella arrived. The highlight of my day is often seeing her smile or listening to her babble. There's no better sound than the ones that come from my little sunshine. I do know that the house isn't as clean and that it takes a lot longer to accomplish chores and projects, but it's SO worth it. And I love motherhood more than I ever thought I would.

Josh and I love our little miracle so much and so do Abby and Rachel. We are so blessed. I look forward to babbling more in the near future. Hopefully, there won't be such a long break this time.

Ella preparations and other 2009 changes

Life has been particularly busy these last couple of weeks, but I'm certainly not complaining. I think I prefer to be busy over lacking enough to fill my time. However, I've still not managed to fully follow through any particular week doing the Fly lady zones, but we are making progress.
So each small step in that direction is a positive one. And yet again this week, I find myself more determined than ever to make it through the week cleaning more deeply and becoming more organized. Of course, I've also got to fight off the cold that has tackled my immune system, but that more than possible! After all, we can do anything for fifteen minutes.

Speaking of small steps, it's particularly hard to believe that we have only thirty (or so) small days left until Ella Rose is schedule to join us. Wow! It seems like yesterday that I was busting with the excitement of discovering Ella was beginning to form inside me and now within a few short weeks she'll be outside of me and with us for many years to come. Josh and I have been doing a lot of work on her nursery and we are much closer to ready for her arrival than we were two weeks ago. Ella's crib is in its place and all the extraneous furniture has been moved into storage. That's right! I no longer have an office here in our home, but instead we have Ella's room and I can hardly wait to have Ella inside that room too.

Speaking of hardly waiting, honestly, I am secretly wondering if Ella will wait until her scheduled due date to grace us with her presence. I've begun to have some fairly strong Braxton Hicks contractions. So I guess we'll see how patient this little one is. After all, as people continue to remind me it's all in her time now.

Thankfully, preparations for her arrival at church are moving right along too though. The nursery actually has a crib, pack-n-play and a bassinet for Ella, Avis, and Naomi now. All of these were moved into the church's annex nursery today along with a changing table and several other items. Now we've just got to continue adding to this little area and schedule nursery workers so that preparations will be finalized for when the girls are ready to use the space. Toys are essentials too of course.

But as I sit here and think about the preparations that we have yet to do before Ella arrives, such as putting a door on her closet, a mattress in her crib and a border on her walls, I can't help but think about how much has changed in the last year.

Just this weekend I attended my first Moultrie Junior Women's Club meeting as a New Member. Likewise, just this weekend I gave my first annual report as Senior Warden of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church. And finally just this last week three baby showers for Ella have been scheduled, one at school, one at church and one in my hometown.

However, as much as things have changed...some have remained the same. For instance, just like last year and the year before that this is a busy season for Josh. The high school musical is rapidly approaching and he's working hard to finalize set preparations as well as lighting for the musical. And as if that wasn't enough to keep him busy, he's begun preparations for the Dessert Theater taking place on Valentine's Day. Josh will be playing one of the lead roles as Adam and reading his love letters to Eve. I can hardly wait to hear those!

And so as 2009 rapidly rolls forward, I can't help but wonder what will continue to change throughout this year and what will change. How has your life changed in the last year? And what changes do you see coming in this one?