Josh's Birthday

Today my brother-in-law Josh would have turned 16 if his life hadn't been cut short in an accident on September 2nd. Today I'm especially sad because his birthday makes me think about the experiences he'll never get to have - driving, dating, having freedom and fun without the responsibility of adulthood, going to college, getting married, having kids. It's just such a terrible thing that he didn't get to do all of this and more. I know today will be especially difficult for my in-laws so I'm praying for their strength. I wish he was here to blow out his birthday candles.

Dear John

Is anyone else excited for the movie "Dear John" as I am? I am counting the minutes until February 5th. A) Channing Tatum is VERY cute, B) it's from the same group that made "The Notebook" one of my all-time favorite movies C) It's a chick flick that DJ has agreed to go see because "it has army stuff in it".

Can't wait!!

Found: Stay at Home Mom to Take Care of Jackson

So I thought I'd update my blog readers ... I was going back and watching videos of Jackson from his early, early days (so cute) and I read my post about looking for someone to watch Jackson. After several plans for childcare fell through...I found her -the perfect person to watch Jackson (I really believe that). Her name is Kelly and she is a stay at home mom with her 10 month old daughter, Vienne. Kelly is nothing short of amazing. I thank God every day that she came into my life. Kelly is patient, kind, caring, thoughtful, creative, organized, and then some. She takes SUCH great care of my little guy - something that makes working so much easier. I have total confidence and trust in Kelly. She treats Jackson as if he were her own, hugging and kissing him, teaching him new things, and playing with him. She doesn't even read my blog, but I have to publicly thank her for all she does. Thank you!!!! Thank you for doing puppet shows with lights and scarves to stimulte our babies' brains, thank you for making drums out of emtpy formula containers so that our kids will be interested in playin instruments, thank you for working with jack to sit up and now pull himself up without any assistance, thank you for washing the clothes and bibs that he's spit up on every day, thank you for writing in his journal every day to tell me about what you did during the hours I'm at work. I could go on and on. I'm so lucky! Does anyone know how to bribe people into watching kids forever?

Jack

My baby is 7 MONTHS OLD!!!

5K - Here I come!

So I started my "training" last night. I Googled "Couch to 5K" and found an 8-week program to help me get ready for a 5K this spring. The first week's plan consists of three workouts. Each workout goes like this:
Brisk 5 minute walk.
Jog 60 seconds, walk briskly 90 seconds for a total of 20 minutes.

When I was done with my first run/walk, I came upstairs and DJ said... "Are you done already?" ... Sheesh. :)

It was a perfect first workout considering I haven't done any working out since Jack was born on June 11. A little tough - but not unmanageable.

Happy training to my friends who are joining me. So far, Jessica, Heidi, Carisse and Dawn have said they'd like to run together in a 5k. Thanks for your support ladies! I'm blogging about this so that my intent is "public" - I'm hoping that this, along with my "buddy system" will help me stick to my goal.

Pictures from Florida

Jackson and I had a wonderful time in Florida. We celebrated Christmas with Papa Ocean and Gamma. We also got to hang out with my Uncle David, Aunt Sandy, and cousins Ethan & Theo. We had a cookout on the beach with a hibachi grill and tiki torches on New Year's Eve. It was a full moon and the ocean was beautiful. We tried to take pictures, but unfortunately it was too dark. Here are some pictures we did capture.

Happy New Year!

Jackson and I are ringing in the New Year in Fort Lauderdale! This is a picture of Jack and my dad - his first time on the beach and dipping his toes into the ocean. I was FREAKING OUT about his first plane ride, but he did really well. Fortunately he slept most of the time AND we had a super nice guy next to us who kep picking up toys and bottles as we dropped them on the floor. Hopefully the trip home (on Sunday) goes just as well.
Happy New Year everyone! My new year's resolutions are to successfully finish a 5k in the spring ( I know it's not that far, but I've NEVER been a runner), to be a good mom, and to find happiness in my work. Here's to a happy, healthy 2010!!!