Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder...

I am in California on a whirlwind overnight trip. I left Jack at home--missing him terribly but have to say I had forgotten how easy a plane ride is sans baby. :-) Since I had some mental time to myself, I was thinking about the things I miss since moving away. Here is my list (in no particular order)...

1. Golden Spoon (especially trips with my friend Michelle)
2. California Pizza Kitchen
3. Henry's Market
4. Soup Plantation (I know this isn't just in California but we don't have one where we live!)
5. Baby Gap
6. Babies R Us (and Kiddie Kandids)
7. Crate and Barrel
8. Pottery Barn Kids
9. My family
10. My friends

The bright spot is that I get to come back and visit these places/people once a month!

Ash Wednesday

Today marks the beginning of Lent. I'm not giving anything up this year--instead, I'm going to work on my biggest spiritual struggle--contentment. Contentment in good times and in bad times. Additionally, I (well, Jared and I) plan to spend the next 40 days studying the book, Sacred Marriage. The book is not a marriage self-help book but takes the approach that the goal of marriage is holiness, not happiness. Before we got married, Jared and I attended an Engaged Encounter weekend, which was one of the most humbling and life/relationship changing experiences of our lives. Engaged Encounter also operated on the premise that the goal of marriage is not happiness, but unity. (This is not to say that the goal of marriage should be to be unhappy--but that, if one expects marriage to be the answer to happiness, they will be sorely disappointed. It's an unrealistic goal.) Jared and I embrace this concept for our own marriage but we've found, in the day-to-day stresses of life, it's so easy to forget that marriage takes work. Hard work. I want to take the next 40 days to refocus my relationship with God...seek contentment in my life as it is, without needing anything more and, through this, to reaffirm my marriage.

I'll end this with these great words that I intend to try to make a daily devotion over the next 40 days...

If God brings you to it,

He will bring you through it.

Happy moments, praise God,

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

Every moment, thank God.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a wonderful V-Day! It was one of the first Valentine's Days that has not been de-railed in some way or another. Last year, as we were literally walking out the door to go to dinner, my water broke unexpectedly and that Valentine's Day began a week-long hospital stay as we tried to keep Jack in as long as possible! Another year, we had little nieces staying over as my older sister went into labor and my nephew spent the night in the hospital after breaking his arm! Those are two of the more memorable V-Day hiccups but every year, there is something.

I digress...on Thursday night, we flew out to Arizona for a long-overdue trip to visit Jared's brother, sister-in-law and adorable 3 nieces. We had such a wonderful trip--a yummy, yummy decadent dinner on Friday at a Tuscan restaurant, softball games on Saturday morning/afternoon (you should see these petite little girls tearing up the field!), a early birthday celebration for Jack on Saturday evening...lots of catching up and relaxing. It was a great weekend. On Sunday, Jared flew home and on Monday, Jack and I made our way to San Diego for our week in town with my family. We had anothere birthday party for him last night--I will post pictures later. It was a wonderful evening. Exactly what I would have wanted for his first birthday party.

Meanwhile, I'm basking in a most perfect Valentine's Day--I'm so blessed by the two best sweethearts in the world.

Thanks, Hyland!

Jack is cutting 5 teeth right now--and this is, by far, what I would consider one of the more difficult parenting times of the past year. My happy, giggly, low-maintenance, super-sleeper baby has been replaced by a whiny, clingy, awake-every-hour, emotionally unstable nightmare. Even when I am holding him, he is constantly emitting a low-frequency whine, which is worse than fingernails on chalkboard. We can't set him down or walk away (even within his visual field) without him being reduced to a puddle of tears. He can seriously go from happy and engaged in an activity to a complete mess in a matter of seconds lest we even appear to be paying attention to anything but him. We have tried everything--Tylenol, infant Motrin, Orajel, teethers, teething cookies, fingers (ouch--I've been bitten HARD a couple of times!), etc., etc. Yesterday afternoon, on my whit's end, Jack and I took a trip to Albertson's and picked up some Hyland's Teething Tablets. I wasn't convinced these would do anything--they don't have any numbing agents and it isn't entirely clear how they work. But, they do. Within about 15 minutes of taking the tablets, our boy was back again. We got the first several hour stretches of sleep we've had in a while. So, thanks, Hyland's. You've made this mama happy.