Smoothie Attempt #1

Today's smoothie is
1 cup blueberry
2 frozen bananas
1 cup mango
1 cup spinach
Water ( to preferred consistency)

I'm always skeptical when something green is involved, but this is great!

Growing Girl

She's trying so hard to reach for everything in sight.

Church Time

New Car Seat

Anne Elise loves her new car seat! With our upcoming move to Waynesboro & potentially building a home, we have a lot of 3 hour trips up & down Hwy 45. They were starting to get to our little angel, so we upgraded to the "big girl" car seat, & we got her a TV screen that she can see. The one built in the car is behind her, so she was watching it through a mirror. She loves having one right in front of her now so she can indulge in Baby Genius shows. I think I can sing every song on those DVDs backwards & forwards!

Noisy Neighbors

Good morning! It's 5:06 am, and I have been up since 2 am! Yay! I love not being able to sleep. This fun "party in my bed" night started when my awesome single bachelor neighbor decided to start his "I'm still single at the age of 40" party at 2 a.m. When one of his "shy" guest decided to carry on loud conversations (the only words I could make out were "load 'em up" at the end of her rant) in the street at 2 am, my dog decided to jump in my bed and bark towards the door.

So after trying to go to sleep for an hour, I got up and decided to read. I even googled "handling noisy neighbors." It wasn't much help. The number one resolution was bang on the wall or ceiling with a broom. I guess that won't work since he's about 150 yards across the street. Then I read a few funny mom blogs. I read about toddler years, potty training, sleeping habits, and some other random blogs. I even started swimsuit shopping for our summer vacations (bring on the saggy mommy 1 piece). 3 hours late, I'm still wide awake. Yay!

This post isn't/couldn't be good, but I thought, I might as well write while I'm awake. I'll probably read this tomorrow and think "what?". I'm sure Anne Elise will awake around 8 am, I'll drag myself to the kitchen to warm her bottle, change her diaper, feed her, then somehow muster up the energy to play with her for an hour like I've had 8 hours of blissful sleep, then go back to bed as she naps.

Two goals for tomorrow:

1. NAP!

2. Make sure to give the neighbor the evil look.

Ok, number 2 isn't very nice, and probably won't accomplish anything, but picturing myself getting this "revenge" (like it bothers him.... HA!) is a little satisfying. Wow! I probably should have read my devotion or Bible instead of the sarcastically funny mom blogs.

Any suggestions on how to calm this noisy neighbor? I'm open to any ideas. As bad as my bark sounds now, I prefer to keep the peace and not have him hate me at the end of the day. Besides, my sleep rest at his mercy these days. Yes, I've tried calling the cops. He's had them over at least 3 times by different neighbors, and that doesn't seem to bother him in the least.

Season of Blessings

This holiday season was beyond anything we deserve. I have to say, Anne Elise made it all very special to us and our families. This girl got spoiled by so many, and was quite a trooper as we spent a lot of time on the road.

Forgiveness has been something heavy on my heart the last few weeks as I have been reading the book "Amish Grace." Long story short, it is about the Amish school in Nickel Mines where 5 young girls were killed, and the Amish families extended grace and forgiveness. The book goes on to tell of many other horrors among their community, and how they so graciously extended a caring and forgiving heart to those who wronged them. During the holiday season, we must remember why we are able to forgive. It was a Savior who was born, to come to live among us, and offer us forgiveness. The Amish believe that if we do not offer forgiveness, we can't expect for it to be offered to us by our Savior. I'm not going to go into theology here, but I do believe because we are offered such a beautiful sacrifice of forgiveness, we to must forgive even when it is hard. I can think of many grudges I hold deep that I am striving to let go of and receive peace. I pray we all will find forgiveness in our heart.

The Wood family is always on the move and change is coming our way. We have started a house hunt in our future town of Waynesboro, and I am slowly trying to clean out and organize our home to be put on the market. Pulling out old memories has been so hard for me. I do not want to leave Tupelo or the many memories we have made in this home. This is our first house to purchase, the first place we lived as Mr. & Mrs. Wood, and the home where our first born was welcomed. It's going to be so hard to pack it all away. I feel a large lump in my throat and my eyes are getting cloudy just typing this all out. At the same time, I'm excited to see the many doors that the Lord has to open for us ahead.

Anne Elise is just rolling through the milestones. We are teething now; however, we haven't yet had that first tooth pop out. I know it will be soon, because the drool is pouring out by the gallons and she is gnawing on everything in sight. Whew! Never knew cutting a tooth would require so much energy from mommy as I am constantly rubbing gums, researching relief, and trying to take her mind off of it all. She also is rolling over in her crib nonstop. It's hard for me, because I have to get up and put her back to sleep now. There isn't much online research about tummy sleepers (yes, we broke a rule) who roll to their back. I don't know what I'm going to do with this little munchkin. She is growing too quickly for me. It may seem hard at times, but I'm counting my blessings each day. I am so blessed to have such a healthy beautiful child, and those who lost love ones and are watching family members as they try to recover are heavy on my heart. Please pray for the Wilson family as they are starting a long path to recovery after Laken's skiing accident recently. This is the link to her CaringBridge site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lakenwilson Also, please keep the Staten family in your prayers as they deal with the loss of their sweet Sophie Grace. Many prayers are being offered for both of these families during this hard time.

I hope everyone had a great and joyous holiday. I hope you had many blessing, and I hope your family has a beautiful 2012.

Updated Pictures

I know I'm so behind on pictures. She is growing SO FAST! I just can't keep up. This morning I found her rolled over in her bed. What? She isn't supposed to be doing that yet. She's still a newborn. This is her 1 month picture. In a few weeks, she will be 3 months. Where has the time gone?

This is Anne Elise meeting my Mississippi College roomates, Dru and Kenzie. I am so thankful for them both. We had a great time at MC. Dru has such a sweet spirit. You will never meet someone more kind than her. Dru is such an awesome example to me. I need a little more of her soft spirit in me.Kenzie is such a fun friend. She also has taught me so much. Kenzie is so carefree and has taught me not to stress and just be myself. I can't tell you how many times this girl just laughs something off and says "really?". She has taught me not to sweat the small stuff.

Anne Elise is definitely a Paw-Paw's girl. He spoils her rotten, and I have a feeling that he isn't going to stop any time soon.

And this is our sweet dog Terra who is doing a great job watching out for her new "sister." Terra has done a great job transitioning to the new baby. She doesn't bother her, and only occasionally does she get this close. She checks on her here and there, and then just minds her own business.

Anne Elise and BabyWise

We were so excited that Mrs. Brandy Jaggers came to do Anne Elise's newborn pictures. I've had so many people ask me if I've taken a million pictures of her, and to be honest, other than with our iPhones, neither one of us really have. It's sad, but when I come home from sessions, all my equipment goes back into the safe and I really don't like pulling it all out just to snap 1 or 2 pictures. I've pulled out my old Canon Rebel, dusted it off, and started doing a few snaps here and there, and I've tried to be intentional about taking more pictures of her. I don't want her to have to scroll through our old iPhones to see pictures of her growing up.

We are so thrilled that Anne Elise started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks! Yes, that's right! 7 weeks! What a blessing from God. I think he knew mommy was ready for some sleep. I read the BabyWise book and after trying it out for 2 weeks, I was so upset.She just would not fit into the descriptions of the book. So I was a little upset, and told all my pregnant friends how terrible the book was. After a few weeks, I pulled the book back out, and tried the routine again. It worked! She started sleeping better, and she was much happier when she was awake (sorry to all my neighbors who had to listen to her scream as we strolled). The poor girl was never happy until she got into her "babywise" routine. I think the Lord was teaching me patience.

All the trials of a baby can be so trying at times. I must say we are both SO thankful for our church, MOPS (moms of preschoolers FBC Tupelo), and my mom's small group at Lawndale Pres. Everyone has been such a blessing with their help, words of wisdom, meals, prayers, and so much more. My mom's small group has taught me so much about lifting each other up in prayer, and sharing what is on your heart.I am so thankful for each of the girls in that group. They all have been a blessing to me. It's amazing when we get together. I strongly believe their is a direct line to God in the room. It's unreal to see how he works in each of our lives. He has taught me so much about the power of prayer. Thanks be to God!