Shmorgishborg!!!

It has been a long time since I've blogged. I'm actually going to wait until the end to title it... I also just looked over all my labeled and selected all the ones I should topic this blog around because it seriously has been so long since I've produced any meat and potatoes for you all. So, here we go...

Zoey was the size of a 9 month old at her 6 month appointment... we were told she's so tall, she's off the percentile chart (which was meant for full-term babies, by the way)... so we're always like, "What preemie? Was that a dream?" Hmmm...

She has two teeth now. They came in during the same week, just a couple days apart, when she was 6.5 months old. She also started sitting up on her own around the same time. Teething has been... fun. Not really. Especially since her teething tablets were recalled. Losers. Get it right the first time, people... instead, we've had to resort to Infant Advil (which takes 20 minutes to kick in, which equals forever to an infant) paired with Orajel (she hates it). Some days are downright horrid and I feel awful for her... but lately, it's gotten a tad better. She's a wonderful baby, starting to get mobile in her 7th month, which terrifies me... is my home baby-proofed enough? What is she going to get into now?! And why is she so grabby?! She and I need to have a talk about what belongs to her and what doesn't... something tells me it won't go so well.
My new job... it rocks. I don't know what else to say about it yet except that I. LOVE. IT. I love the people, the work we do, the additional education they offer us for free (InDesign training!)... everything about it is everything I needed to move toward a happier life. We're not made to feel guilty for taking a lunch (yeah, I said it... stupid, eh?)... we're encouraged to play as hard as we work and to love our environment. All this love makes me happy :)

The holidays... oh, the holidays. Zoey is going to be a peach for Halloween. Well, kind of... I dropped the ball on getting her costume made because of everything with the job transition and vacation... so I got a little creative and made her costume. I found a fabulous tutorial online and made her a tutu myself... took about an hour total. I bought a long-sleeve onesie and dressed it up a bit with a couple buttons and ribbon. She already had a peach hat to wear. I also got her some peachy tights, but I'm thinking (thank you cold weather) she's going to end up in velvety brown pants instead, which is just fine, right?! Peaches have brown on them... they're fuzzy... see, it all works out. :) Of course I will post pics after. I'm too proud of my crafting not to.
Zoey is loving oatmeal now... we buy her the kind with fruit mixed in. Oatmeal and apples make her veeeery happy. She also loves yogurt. I think one thing I look forward to the most is Thanksgiving... she's going to get to try real sweet potatoes for the first time. :) I may even puree some turkey and gravy... we'll see. ;)

I am so stinking excited about Christmas, too! I've started looking on Etsy for her first ornaments and I found a birdie one I probably have to have because she has birdies everywhere... but I was also inspired to make them myself. Kristin and I are plotting a decoupage session in the near future...

I love crafting. I finally bought a glue gun today (I know, what the heck took so long?!) and I want to glue everything... this could get dangerous. My cats better not get in the way because I'm half tempted to glue ribbon and embellishments on their fur... but I digress.

Giving Thanks

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Even though it has been one of the most trying years of my life, it has been one full of many blessings. I've learned to always look at the light at the end of the tunnel, even if the light is as small as a laser pointer. There is always a light, and things could always be worse. These are some things I'm incredibly thankful for...

My husband.

I am thankful to have Glenn as a husband. He strives every day to be the man God has called him to be. He is most definitely the head of my household and I am so thankful to be blessed with a man like him. I respect him and it's easy to respect a man of God. I'm just so thankful he has chosen that path and works so hard to be the man he is meant to be.

My pets.

My pets have been my loving children and filled a void I had in my heart most of this year. We got Falkor in the spring when the PCOS diagnosis was getting worse and I didn't see much hope for me. Having a puppy helped put more joy in my heart than I could have asked for. My other pets have been wonderful, too. Yumi is the only problem child I have, but even she is one of the most loving cats I've ever seen. My pets humble me and love me unconditionally... I'm thankful to have them and to be taught the value of love through them. (Note: Falkor is now much bigger than the above photo... I'm talkin' 102 lbs at 9 months old, but he's my big baby!)

Our house.

Glenn and I worked very hard on the house all year... back in January, we didn't even have a floor! Since then we have renovated the entire upstairs and only have a few minor things left, plus the nursery. Eventually I'd like to redo the floors in the bedrooms, but that will come in time. I'm thankful that we got such an incredible deal on this house and that we can stay here for many years to come. There is room to expand and for our family to grow. We are very blessed with this house.

My Pregnancy.

It really is a miracle. I didn't exactly expect it to happen this year... the way things were looking, we were going to have to stop in October for the rest of the year, save some money, and pick up with more aggressive fertility treatment in January. Now I'm so thankful that I can say I will be 6 months pregnant in early January. Sometimes it still doesn't seem real, but now I am starting to feel a little more movement.

I'm thankful for a lot in my life, but this year these are the things that come to mind the most. I've been looking forward to being pregnant for Thanksgiving because I will get to devour more food than ever. What makes it even better is that baby will be size of a sweet potato the week of Thanksgiving. Is it morbid if I inhale 3x my body weight in sweet potatoes next week?