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This morning I made a yummy batch of granola and organized my basement work area. Jordan is learning how to put her hand in her mouth, and so she has been amusing herself and making sloppy wet sucking sounds as she slobbers on her hands. It amuses her and she seems satisfied wth her little accomplishment.

As this year comes to a close I have been reflecting on the past year and I feel really good about it. My wedding and the birth of our baby were highpoints as was moving from Cambridge down here to DC. I'm thankful for the many blessings that God has showered upon me and my family. My sincere desire for today and for the days to come is to live a life that is pleasing to God. I want to continue to grow spiritually and to be the best wife and mother and daughter and sister and sister-in-law and daughter-in-law (Lord help me!). I wish for all of my family and friends a safe, healthy and happy new year.

December 29, 2002 05:11:23 PM

This fall I couldn't understand why Daryll wouldn't let me wear my Dallas Cowboys snuggly fleece swaetshirt. Coming from the Boston area, I was not familiar with the long running rivalry between the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys. Well, today the Redskins had their revenge. They finally beat the cowboys here in Washington at FedEx Field. The score was 20 to 14, and now Darrell Green can retire in style. Now Daryll is walking around the house singing the Redskins fight song.

This morning instead of going to Reid Temple, we all went to Gethsemane Baptist Church in upper Northwest DC to hear Daryll's sister, Anita preach. I had only heardher sermons on tape, so I knew she was a great preacher, but it was wonderful to hear her in person. She is a powerful and engaging speaker and I was thrilled to be there. She spoke of how proud she was to have so many members of her family there to support her. It became clear to me how loyal this family is to one another. They really go out of their way to help and encourage each other and that is wonderful.

December 25, 2002 09:08:07 PM

Christmas was wonderful. Despite our tight budget, the girls were thrilled with their gifts, and everyone was happy. Daryll set up the video camera so that we could record our first Christmas as a married couple.

Leila received a baby doll, which thrilled her. While she was changing her baby's clothes, I asked her if her baby was hungry, and if it had come with a bottle. She said, "No, I'm going to feed my baby the way regular mommies feed their babies." She then proceeded to pull up her nightgown and put her baby doll to her breast.

Later on in the day we went over to Daryll's mother's house and had Christmas dinner and exchanged gifts with the rest of the family. Leila and Brianna got tons of gifts, and everyone seemed to really like the gifts that I had made. We had a wonderful time, but I was really feeling homesick. Daryll's mother had prepared ham and turkey and greens that were cooked in turkey, so there was nothing that I could eat for dinner. She asked Daryll, "What are you going to feed your wife?" He had to find some frozen pasta and vegetable thing in the freezer and heat that up for me. I was not incredibly pleased to be eating this while everyone else was eating a wonderful Christmas dinner, but what can you do? If I had been at home, my Grandma always prepeares something special for me because she knows that I don't eat meat.

December 26th is Daryll's birthday, and its been a bittersweet day for him since his twin died in an accident ten years ago. I wanted so much to make it a special day for him. "It's my birthday and I am not lifting a finger." He declared that morning, so I made him breakfast and then took off to the store to buy the ingredients for his birthday dinner. Mike, his best friend since childhood and his wife Mimi were in town for the holidays and they were going to come by along with all of Daryll's family. I made seafood fettucine Alfredo, garden salad, and steamed carrots. I also made some Italian herb bread. Daryll's sister Juanita brought over some of the leftovers from Christmas dinner and re-heated them. Everything came out fabulous. The bread was delicious and the Alfredo was perfect. The cake was so light and moist. Everyone raved about the food and it was a fun party. Jordan got passed from auntie to auntie. When Anita was changing her diaper, she peed all over Anita's lap when she opened up the diaper. I was mortified, but she was fine. She said not to worry, but I felt terrrible. Anita said, "I thought that only boys did that!" In the Daryll was happy and I was glad that he had a good time.

When the party was winding down, Daryll pulled Mike and Mimi aside and we asked them if they would be Jordan's godparents. They said yes and they were thrilled. I was glad that they accepted because I am really anxious about getting Jordan baptized.

I plan to take it easy today and recover from the excitement of the week. One of my gifts from my sweetie pie is a book called, Living in the Spirit, by Susan L. Taylor. I plan to read that book and write in my journal, and add some new pictures to Jordan's photoblog.

December 24, 2002 10:24:22 PM

I'm finally all finished! We did a little last minute shopping today and then came home and finished wrapping all of the gifts. Note to self: NEVER, EVER bring the kids to go Christmas shopping. Leila got really overwhelmed at the mall and began whining and wanted to poke around in the cart where we were trying to hide some of her gifts. A qucik trip to McDonald's on the way home quieted things down.
Now the girls are watching "How the Grinch stole Christmas" on DVD. Jim Carey is quite an actor, but I think that when I was four this movie would have been too scary for me.

I am looking forward to seeing how happy and surprised the girls will be when they open their gifts in the morning.

December 23, 2002 10:28:05 AM

The other day I was blog surfing and I came across a blog, and please forgive me but I can't remember which one, that had a gratitude page where the author kept a running list of things she's grateful for. This inspired me to do the same, and there's even a web ring for gratitude pages called participation positives.

In my life I have so much to be grateful for. Recording my blessings will help keep me mindful of God's abundance to me and my family.

participation positives Happy Monday!

I'm alive.
My family is healthy and happy.
My newborn daughter giggled at me.
Christmas is the day after tomorrow!
Daryll was able to get that bead out of Leila's nose.
Brianna has two weeks off from school.

Which Peanuts Character Are You Quiz

December 21, 2002 10:58:39 PM

I've been seeing these tagboards everywhere, so I'm trying one to see how it goes. Don't be shy! Leave a message on the tagboard.
I have finally finished all of the gifts that I was working on. Now I need to wrap them up and I'll be all set.

December 20, 2002 09:46:19 PM

I had my six week post-partum OB visit today and all is well. I'm all healed and I'm free to get back to my exercise regimen. I've lost 20 of the 35lbs that I gained when I was pregnant. Aside from sleep deprivation, I am feeling great. This has been an unseasonably cold winter here, so the mornings have been too cold for me to take the baby out to walk. We went out this afternoon for a walk and that was fun, but I was unable to walk fast because Leila can't keep up with me.

Jordan is fussy again this evening, so she has been getting passed back and forth betweeen daddy and me.

December 19, 2002 10:51:36 AM

As I type this with one free hand I am bouncing a fussy baby on my lap. We have found that Jordan either has days where she sleeps all day, or days when she sleeps almost all night. Alternately she has fussy days where she is wide awake and wants to be held, and nihts when she is wide awake in the middle of the night and ready to hang out while I am wishing that she would sleep. Today is a fussy day. She is growing so fast and smiling and she makes an effort to mimic our facial expressions. She also loves to gaze at the sparkly light fixtures. Last night Daryll set up the Christmas tree--actually trees because we have three--and she was transfixed by the tiny white lights.

I am making great progress on the gifts I am making and I am almost done. Last night I finished the floor cloths that I am painting and they came out beautifully.

I read this piece in a daily email Bible study, and it made a lot of sense:

Do you realize that once you got saved, you had a job to do? You were saved to serve. You were saved for a purpose. Not just to stand around, not just to sit around and watch TV, waiting for Jesus to come and take you to Heaven. No. You were saved to do something for him.

You are working on your resume right now. There is going to come a time when the Lord will look at you and me and say, "Well, you had one talent, what did you do with it?" And to another He will ask, "And you were given five talents, what did you do with them?" Remember the parable he told? (Matthew 25:14-29). You’ve been born again and now you are working on your resume. Have you ever thought, "Man, eternity is a long time!"

The way someone described eternity is this: Let’s say there is a solid granite rock one thousand miles high, one thousand miles wide, one thousand miles deep, and a little bitty robin flies once every one million years and sharpens it’s beak on the rock and flies away. When that rock is gone, one minute would have gone by in eternity.

Eternity never ends. Have you ever thought about what eternity will be like? I’ve heard Christians say, "Eternity sounds really boring, dude!" Now there’s an intellect. "What are we going to do for eternity?" Good question. You are writing your resume now. How’s your resume coming along? Is there anything on it or is it still blank? Take your walk with God seriously.

--Pastor Bob Davis.

December 14, 2002 08:54:03 PM

Why did I try to go shopping today? The stores were swamped and I hate crowds. We managed to get what we needed and get home.

We took the girls to the doctor the other day and everyone is healthy and growing. The Dr. thinks that Brianna's spine is not straight, so we need to go to an orthopedist for an exam. Leila was a trooper. She got three shots and didn't even whimper. Jordan is now ten pounds and 21." She is awake and alert for longer periods of time now, and she is so smiley and happy.

Most of my day now is consumed with breastfeeding and taking care of the baby. I am not accomplishing all that I had wanted to, but I can only do what I can do. I am just trying to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and not getting caught up in the commercialism. I watched the Cookie Swap on Food Network and I totally got inspired to have my own cookie swap next year. I love to bake and it would be so fun to get together with friends as swap cookies and recipes and have a good time. Sara Moulton featured cookie swaps from all over the country. One was hosted by a woman named Robin in Gaithersburg, MD. Check out her web site.

December 10, 2002 08:57:21 AM

It really makes me feel old when someone younger than me cmplains tha they are feeling old. . .

I can't believe that it's been a week since I've updated the site. And with all of the snow and ice I haven't been out of the house in a week. I've been making good progress on my Christmas gifts, but I need to make a trip to the fabric store so that I can finish these last two quilts. We are expecting an ice storm tonight, so I probably won't be going out tomorrow either. The shawl for my friend in Alaska is done, but I can't even start the floorcloths until I can get to Michael's. Overall, I'm pleased with my progress.

December 05, 2002 06:17:36 AM

It snowed! The weather guy said that they have not had more thn a dusting of snow here in the district since January of 2002. It's actually the most snow they've seen in 20 years. In the district we got about 6". I guess that's why people are making such a big deal about it. Back home we had snow all winter long. Leila went over to Janice's house and they made a snowman together. I've still got this cold, so I stayed in and made banana bread. Daryll stayed home from work and we got a decadently long nap to make up for Jordan's wakeful night last night.

Last week I took more pictures of the baby, and I just now got a minute to upload them. My girl is filling out and getting big. I had to smack my husband when he said that she might be losing some of her cuteness. I think he was having a temporary mental lapse.

December 04, 2002 10:49:02 AM

I've come down with a little cold, so we've been stuck in the house. It's been really cold outside, so I really didn'nt want to take the baby outside anyway.

We made the wonderful discovery that Jordan loves the Snugli baby carrier. I kept it from when Leila was a baby, and Jordan really loves to ride in it. It's great because I can hold her close to me and still have my hands free. The other day I was able to finish the quilt I am making for my secret Santa as she slept in the carrier.

I am just loving having a baby around. I love the way she smells and the strange sounds she makes. I am enjoying watching her grow and change each day. What a precious gift she is.

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