Baby D

Ally Grace's baby dedication was this past Saturday at our church....Picture a roomful of parents armed with toys, diapers, and wipes, babies who were missing their morning naps, and lots of cupcakes. Yes, cupcakes.

It. was. awesome.

I LOVE the way our church does this event.  Before the dedication, each parent listens to 3 messages.  One of the "homework" assignments after hearing the messages is to come up with 5 core values you want to instill in your child, and 2 habits that will help get you there.  During the dedication, each family has time to share these with the family and friends who are there to support you. 

These are the values we came up with:

Sara made this cute card to hand out, asking everyone to pray with us for these values to take root in AG's heart.

I have to say, as a woman, I love that first value:  Confidence--To find her confidence in the Lord, possessing a heart that is deeply secure in knowing who she is in Him.  And holy cow, I'm beyond challenged to realize that I'm actually supposed to model this for her! 

Maybe I'm the one who needs the prayers. 

Um, clearly.

Anyway, it was an awesome day!  AG wants you to know that she finally has enough hair to clip on a bow.

(She also wants you to know that she can sit up on her own....and no, it's not the large amounts of tulle holding her up, I promise.)

We loved having our family there......

And our sweet friends, who came to support us & show their love for AG too.....

One of AG's future boyfriends, Reid, also got dedicated.  Is it just me, or do both of them seem a little over it at this point?

If AG could talk, I just know she'd be saying, MOM! No. More. Pictures!!

(Let's be honest, you may or may not be saying the same thing at this point.)

This Week.....

This week, I've been crazy busy, trying to get well, a lazy blogger, and now just plain tired.  We've had some fun things going on--AG's baby dedication topping the list.

Look at our little puffball.  Are you as obsessed as I am?

More to come, I promise.  I have to go laugh hysterically at watch the funny faces AG makes when she eats prunes.

Belated Mother's Day (Why Are We Surprised?)

I'm (mostly) back from the land of the sore throat/yucky gross drainage.  So attractive.  Or not.

And even though I sound like an 80 year-old smoker, I feel much, much better. 

Which is good, because I've learned that I am slightly cranky/irritable when I am sick.  And by learned, I mean, John has been nice enough to point it out.

(But really, he's been getting up with AG first thing in the morning for the past 4 days, so we will overlook this.) 

Mother's Day was great, even though I was really sad to be sick.  I came downstairs to find this:

Which quickly turned into this......

(Mmmmm, paper.  SO tasty.)

John said that AG convinced him an Anthropologie gift card would be just the thing to celebrate with.  Um, clearly.  She knows me well.  

So, many of you who read this know that I'm adopted.  And even though she didn't give birth to me, my adopted mother is, without a doubt, my "real" mom.  Twenty-eight years ago, she opened her heart to a little girl who wasn't biologically hers, and never stopped loving me.  No matter what.  I am so thankful for her, and I know that I would not be who I am today without her. 

I also know it's pretty likely that she's crying right now as she reads this. I love you so much!

I also have a fantastic mother-in-law....I am so thankful for her commitment to raising sons who love Jesus, and love others.  John would not be who he is today without his mother.  And who he is just happens to be  pretty great.

(Can you tell I just found a whole bunch of wedding pictures?  Apparently six years ago, I used to have a tan.)

Obviously, I need to mention my little bug, monster, presh, who has made me a mother today too.

I am humbled, in awe, and frankly, still scared to death by the privilege of being your mom!  Please forgive me for the mistakes I am quite positive I will make.  And know that I will love you completely and without reservation for the entire rest of my life. 

(I think my cold medicine is making me mushy.  My apologies.)

Happy belated Mother's Day!

Mother's Day

I am sick.  On Mother's Day.  And I don't even have my mom here to baby me.  Although John is doing a pretty nice job at the moment.  

I had all these plans to write a really beautiful mother's day post.  Well, I was at least going to WRITE a mother's day post.  But I just can't do it. The funk is overtaking me.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mom's out there though--enjoy your families and your sickness-free day!

Target List

I'm about to run out to Target, so I made myself the following list--you know, just so I don't get sidetracked.

Bread
Formula
Hangers
Treats

Can anyone else relate? Is Target your money-sucking, black hole, the way it is mine?

Do you sometimes just need "treats?" 

You know you do.

Green Beans and Such

I recently learned that I made a bit of a mistake in starting baby foods with AG.  Apparently, the best thing to do is give a baby the green veggies first, so that they won't know that they're missing the sweet, delicious fruits. 

Which makes sense.  If you take the logical approach to motherhood, instead of the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach that I occasionally like to employ.

Case in point, the Sherri-way of introducing solid foods was to trick AG into liking them by bribing her with sweet potatoes, peaches, pears, and more.  I mean, I might as well have given her some sweet tea and chocolate cake. 

When I took her to daycare last week, the sweet ladies in the infant room gently told me that usually moms start off with the green veggies, so as not to create a baby sugar monster.  To which I gently replied, why the heck didn't y'all tell me that 3 weeks ago!

This new information sent me into a downward spiral of guilt, over how I have COMPLETELY RUINED AG's eating habits, as she will now be a sugar diva, undoubtedly ending up in a state of childhood obesity. 

Clearly, I have a tendency toward the dramatic.  (What's that?  You hadn't noticed?  You're so sweet.)

So, with a heavy heart, I set about trying to remedy the situation.  And I forewarned John that we would have our work cut out for us, as we would probably have to be very, very persistent to retrain Ally Grace to have healthy eating habits.

And you know what?

She gobbled up every last bit of green beans on her FIRST try......turns out, she's just a little food monster in general.  And I'm a bit of a dramatic pessimist. 

Here's a picture of her wearing enjoying the "good stuff."

My attempt at food bribery using sweet potatoes.

I also have to post this, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with anything. Which may or may not be the theme of my blog, now that I think about it.

She's all, I'm just chillin' like a baby over here....

My friend Kerie took some 6 month photos of AG, so I'll be posting a few of those in the next couple of days.....the entire photo shoot involved me jumping around like a freak in our front yard, making weird noises, and even weirder faces.

So yeah.  Just another day around here. 

The Half

I realized that I never gave an update on the insanity that was the Country Music Half-Marathon.  And I know how much y'all have probably been waiting on the edge of your seats.

Or not.

But really, this needs to be documented, just in case I ever get a wild hair to do another one.  (Is that even the right phrase?  Or should it be "a wild hare?"  And you care because?)

(Oh yeah.  You don't.)

So, we arrived at the starting line, mentally cursing the early hour refreshed and ready to go.  John had decided to run, after, oh yeah, that's right, NOT TRAINING. 

He was all:  "So, babe, did you want me to run with you?

(Which really meant, "Exactly how upset will you be if I take off like a Kenyan runner?")

And I was all:  "No, sweetie, you just go ahead and have fun!"

(Which really meant, "I may or may not be harboring bitterness in my heart at you for your ability to run a 7 minute mile pace. FOR THIRTEEN MILES.)

Here's a play-by-play of what I was thinking at each mile marker.....I'm fairly positive this is an accurate account.

Mile 1:  Wow, this is so easy!  Look, I just ran an 8 minute mile!  And I'm barely out of breath.  This is going to be a total breeze.  Does anyone other than 65 year olds say "a total breeze?"  Maybe I'll go ahead and sign up for another half-marathon next month.


Mile 2:  Hmmm, this uphill kinda stinks.  But, that's okay, I'm feeling good.  Ooh, I hope that race photographer just got a photo while my hair isn't yet plastered to my head w/ sweat. 


Mile 3:  Why are we still going uphill?  What's that about?  Maybe I should've used that porta-potty right before the race, 'cause I kinda have to pee.  Just stop thinking about it, and the urge will leave you, Sherri. 


Mile 4:  Really?  STILL going uphill?  Let's grab some of that gatorade over there.  YUCK, what is this crap?  It tastes like chalk.  Okay, let's think about something else.  I wonder what happened on Grey's Anatomy?  I believe I shall reward myself with some tv time when I finish this darn race.


Mile 5:  Are you KIDDING me?  The people that were at the front of the race are already passing me??  And they're now on MILE ELEVEN?!?!?!  Show-offs.


Mile 6:  Gotta pee, gotta pee, gotta pee..........don't some runners wet their pants during a race, just to save time?  Hmmm, not THAT concerned with my time though, so does anybody SEE A DANG PORTA POTTY??


Mile 7:  Ahhhhh, sweet relief.  There's one.  And there are only 15 people in front of me.  I'm sure that extra 10 minutes won't add too much to my time.


Mile 8:  Did that jerk really just tell me only FIVE miles to go?  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  That's INCREDIBLY motivating.


Mile 9:  Starting to realize my sub-2 hour delusion goal was hugely a teeny tiny bit unrealistic.


Mile 10:  Are those people handing out cake frosting on a stick?  I could really use some sugar right now.  Wait, what?  That's vaseline? 

Mile 11:  WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??????????????????

Mile 12:  I am going to eat EVERYTHING IN SIGHT when I'm done.  Also, please let that tornado brewing in those dark clouds wait until I am safely done with this horrifying ordeal.

Mile 13:  Almost done, almost done, almost done......Pick it up, girl, that old man SO isn't finishing in front of you! 

And that about sums it up.  I pretty much couldn't walk down stairs for about a day and a half.  For the record, neither could John, even though he was a show-off, and finished in an hour and 53 minutes!  Without training. 

Sickening.