Until Recently

The weather in Texas is one of the things that I'm pretty sure I can get used too.  Being able to walk to the park any time we want is vastly different than the rainy and snowy weather we left behind in Ohio.  Thus walking to the park (the far one because the close ones don't have young child swings or swirly slides) is a pretty routine part of our day.  Well, routine on the days he wants to go because some days, Gabe doesn't want to go to the park.  I'm not sure why, but who am I to make him go have fun if he doesn't want to [smile].

Until recently Gabe's favorite park activity was the swing.  Sitting in the bucket swing or sitting under the bucket swing while I pushed it, were sure to illicit smiles and laughter alike.  We could literally spend hours playing with the swing in the park or in our back yard. 

But now, everything has changed! Gabe is all about the slide. Usually I will place Gabe on the slide and then sit down behind and we go down together.  That didn't work as planned when the little bugger started scooting down the slide before I had a chance to sit down.  Thus I shot down the adjacent slide (seriously, I haven't gone down a slide that fast since grade school) and made it to the bottom of his slide just as his little feet poked through. 

My first thought was I made it in time to catch him (which wasn't needed).  And my second thought was... he did it!  Gabe went down the super tall, swirly slide ALL BY HIMSELF.  I was so proud of him.  And I'm pretty sure he was proud of himself as well.  The fact that he could control his speed, use his feet to maneuver himself and that he was brave enough to do it all by himself just tickled me pink. 

What else tickled me pink?  His hearty and deep belly laughs that started the second he pushed off at the top of the slide and didn't stop until a few minutes after he reached the bottom.  And that laughter, made the next 25 or so times we climbed back up the stairs and then I flew down the adjacent slide to meet him at the bottom of his slide oh so worth it!

Here's the picture proof that Gabriel is now the master of the swirly slide!

Ohio

Can you believe that we were in Ohio for 13 days and besides a light (very light) dusting of snow on December 29th there was not enough snow to actually play in until hours before we left?  I was desperate for snow and the opportunity for Gabriel to play in the snow for the first time.  Alas, we'll have to wait until next year unless there is a wildly insane weather shift and we end up with inches of snow here in Houston.  Not likely. 

While part of me was glad to be able to leave the snow in Ohio, I was not happy about the other things we had to leave behind. Things like...

story time with Nonny,

wearing matching pajama's and being silly during a sleepover with cousins

trips to Dave & Busters with 4 of our favorite boys,

playing dime and penny games of poker with family and friends,

spur of the moment visits with Auntie Sondra (this is Gabe's 'smug' look)...

afternoon naps on Papo's lap,

and playing Wheel of Fortune on the Gabe's Doodle pad with Ethan and Sam.

While Texas is now where we call home, there are some things that we left behind in Ohio that no matter how good Houston becomes, Ohio will always win with.  Family, friends and the priceless moments spent with the ones we love will always win out.  Always.

2012

For the most part, I don't like New Years resolutions.  For me they have always been an opportunity to succeed in the short-term but fail in the long-term.  Creating a list of goals generally has the same results for me as well - abject failure! 

I, like most people I imagine, hate failing.  So no resolutions or goals for me.  Sure, I have goals.  I'm not sure I would get anything accomplished if I didn't keep a running to-do list handy or had long term goals.  But I have no grandiose pronouncement of a goal for the new year. 
I do however have a 'phrase' for 2012.  And it may seem like a resolution to you but if I pair my phrase mentally with the word resolution it would be sure to derail any potential success.
Do you remember PeeWee's Play House?  I don't every remember actually watching it but I do remember friends telling me the word of the day when I got to school.  This year will be a little bit like that for me except it will be one phrase for the year not a new word for each day and no one will scream when I say it!  At least I hope not [smile].
My phrase of the year is to "be intentional."  The word intentional actually came to me in early December when I was doing a little mental year-end review.  While ruminating all that 2011 brought to us, it became quite apparent that I had very little intentionality in my life (especially after we moved) and just tried to get from one day to the next. 

I imagine that this year will be a lot of the same as last year; waiting for our referral and monthly numbers update, anticipating visits home, being anxious for weekends and enjoying the daily love and fun I have with Gabe.  The only difference is I'm going to be intentional about all of it. 

I'm going to be intentional about the wait; learn as much about Ethiopia and the culture of our future little ones as possible while preparing my heart to be the mother of one of God's greatest blessings.  I'm going to be intentional with our money; save more and spend less, spend more at small businesses and less at huge conglomerates of businesses.  I'm going to be intentional with my time; the time I spend at home with Gabe, the evenings I spend with Matt, the days we spend in Ohio and the moments I have alone.  I'm going to be intentional with my time with God; delving deeper into the word of God and learning more and more about his desires for my life. And I'm going to be intentional with my passions.  God gave me a heart for orphans and the fatherless not so that I sit at home and look at statistics but so that I make a difference in the lives of others.  God also gave me the sweetest little boy on the planet to mother, love and teach and although I have loved every minute I am going to be much more intentional about shepherding his sweet little heart into a heart that loves the Lord. 

And that's it.  In 2012 I am going to be intentional, on purpose!  What about you?  Any goals, resolutions or even phrases that have you moving forward this new year?

New Years Eve

For the first time in years, Matt and I went out on New Years Eve.  We are quite the party animals (not hardly)so even during our New Years Eve's before we were parents were usually spent with us sitting at home and sleeping soundly shortly after (or sometimes before) Dick Clark counted down the ball drop!

But New Years Eve 2011 we went out.  We had the opportunity to get dressed up, dance to a live band and stay out all night.  We also had the privileged of watching Matt's cousin Mac get married.  The wedding was phenomenal... watching two people who are so obviously love be united in marriage in front of family, friends and God is just pure joy!  Being able to celebrate their love with the one I love makes it just a tad bit sweeter.  And the wedding itself was spectacular... every aspect was beautiful, every little detail thought out perfectly.  It was such a lovely event and we had such a wonderful time.  

But I'll be completely honest when I say I may have been slightly neurotic about checking on Gabe back at home with my parents but other than that we were footloose and fancy free!  

To top off a night of good food, dancing and spending time with family (plus my elementary music teacher who happened to be sitting at our table - weird, I know), I had the most uninterrupted sleep in years.  It's no secret that Gabe is not a good sleeper (not his fault, that schizencephaly strikes again) albeit one moment of waking up in panic because I couldn't hear Gabe's monitor, I slept like the proverbial rock.

Because we rarely have the opportunity to take pictures together or be dressed up, I set the camera on the television, turned on the timer and voila!  Pictures of our night out!

Going out two times in a little over a week, helped us lose a
little bit of the awkwardness in the Christmas Carol picture.    

 We had so much fun that I'm thinking Matt and I need to do this going-out-alone thing more often!