Not a Single One…

I am so grateful for this man…

…a man who has been by my side through everything.

Katie recently had her 3-year check up and Craig was there.

He has always been there…

He didn’t miss a single prenatal appointment with any of our three pregnancies.

He never missed a single of the 837 classes we took while pregnant…he even attended the breastfeeding class, as he recognized that his support would likely be what got me through those early days of nursing.

He has been at each and every one of the kids’ appointments with the pediatrician.

His committment to our family and his desire to be there for all of the moments, big and the small, fill me with love and gratitude.

Thank you, Craig. I truly love you.

This post is linked to the Thank You Journal at Alli ‘n Son.

Fumbles Aplenty!

Although I like to think myself a considerate wife, mother, and friend, I have fumbled the ball on numerous occasions lately. 

Our life has been turned upside down over the past couple of months and we are just now starting to feel like we’re getting back to normal.  I’m typically organized, thoughtful, and structured.  Lately, I’ve been forgetful, disorganized, and scattered.  Really, I’ve just dropped the ball.

Here’s a list of my six biggest recent fumbles:

1. Wife Fumble! 

I thoroughly fumbled Father’s Day.  This is completely out of character for me.  Since we had Katie, I’ve put together an annual Father’s Day photo book for Craig.  This year was to be no exception, but on the day when I planned to order it, we learned that my mother-in-law’s condition had worsened and we immediately left home for eight days.  When Father’s Day rolled around, just a few days after her death, I had a stack of blank cards in hand and nothing else.  Since none of us were in a celebratory frame of mind, we moved Father’s Day to the following Sunday.  I fumbled that too, and I’m still holding blank cards and haven’t ordered Craig’s book yet.  He deserves much better than this. 

2.  Daughter Fumble! 

This past Thursday, a huge box arrived in the mail from my mother.  Inside was a stack of books for me and toys for the kids.  I have yet to thank my mom for her thoughtfulness and generosity.  I need to have five minutes of quiet in a row to call her and thank her.  (Thank you, Mom…I’m calling you soon!)

3.  Mommy Fumble! 

Craig and I decided to put Katie in swim lessons this summer.  Making the call to get her signed up has been on my to do list for two weeks.  Why do I only remember this when I’m trying to fall asleep at night? 

4.  Friend Fumble! 

We had Katie’s birthday party just a few days before we left to care for my mother-in-law.  Though we have managed to actually write her thank you notes, I still haven’t had a chance to mail them to our wonderful friends who came to help us celebrate Katie’s special day.

5.  Parent Fumble! 

Katie turned three nearly two months ago and I still haven’t scheduled her three-year check up.  I have absolutely no excuse for this, we’ve known for a year that we had to make this appointment.  Again, I seem to only remember this stuff when I’m in bed at night. 

6.  Blogger Fumble! 

A few weeks ago, Move Over Mary Poppins generously awarded me the Sugar Doll Award (this award makes me feel like a Southerner and I can’t say it without a drawl!). 

We had so much going on that acknowledging and thanking her slipped through the cracks.  I am, however, honored and can’t thank her enough for thinking of me! 

Although I am finally thanking her, I’m also supposed to list ten things about myself and pass the award on to ten other deserving bloggers.  But, I’m only sharing six things and I’m passing the award on to just a few bloggers, who currently live in the south, as I think they might be able to give the award the proper southern drawl that it deserves!  Here they are:

Guilty Squid

The Adventures of Christopher and Tia

Everything You NEVER Wanted to Know (Let’s get her blogging again!)

The last thing that I’m supposed to do is notify those I’ve given the award to … let’s hope this isn’t my 7th fumble!  Off I go.

Feeling Nostalgic . . . Remembering our Dream Wedding and Honeymoon

Because I was inspired by so many other beautiful wedding photos over the past week, I thought I’d share some of ours on this Wordless Wednesday…

Bloggy Boot Camp…With a Nudge and a Push

One of the things that I love the most about my husband, Craig, is that he is so incredibly supportive of my interests.  He’s my biggest cheerleader and knows me well enough to recognize that sometimes I get stuck when faced with a challenge.

I have a fear of doing new things and a long history to prove it.

I also take things way too seriously.

The combination of these two traits is often problematic.

Fresh out of college, I was so excited to start my first real job in financial marketing.  I didn’t sleep at all the night before my first day and I showed up that morning in my black suit and carrying my Coach briefcase.  (I wish I was kidding.)  I was way overdressed and stuck holding that ridiculous briefcase, which was not unlike that first purse that you carry around as a little girl, crammed full of things that you think you NEED to carry with you.   You remember the one, with cherry ChapStick, paper, pens, and tissues. By the end of the day, I had shed my jacket, ditched the briefcase, and was just fine.

Years later, I was invited to present a paper at a conference on cultural studies.  With my paper–“In Defense of Gertrude: A New Historicist Approach to D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers”–in hand (oh, how I wish I was kidding), I arrived at the conference in a nice skirt and blouse.  My peers?  Jeans and t-shirts.  I wanted to just die.  I sucked it up, presented my paper, and ultimately I was better for the experience.

Fast forward to now.

I had heard great things about Bloggy Boot Camp, a one-day conference for bloggers, but since I’m still so new to blogging, I kind of shrugged it off.  Craig brought it up a several times, encouraging me to give it some real consideration.  Then, Sunday evening, we talked about it again and with his encouragement, I mustered up enough courage to register.

Now I’m having regular panic attacks about attending.  I feel like I’m back in high school and I want to call all of the other girls to find out what they’re wearing.

Yet again, I wish I was kidding.

I know that I will be just fine once I’m there.  I make friends pretty easily, but there’s something about walking into a room where I will know absolutely no one that makes me feel unsure of myself.

Whether or not it goes as well as I’m hoping, I am grateful for Craig, who recognizes that while I genuinely want to try new things and explore my world, I often need a nudge and a push.

A Girl and Her Daddy

Beginnings…

Craig and Nichole, 2005

Katie Grace, 2007

Matthew James, 2009