Today is Halloween.

Today is also Lorelai's 10 month "birthday!" I've not really had too much time to reflect on that today, but each time it's crossed my mind, all I can do is grin and shake my head. It's just so unbelievable!

I still remember New Year's Eve 10 months ago. I know I always will. Tonight I've had a little time to think about that night (while watching the Rangers:) ), as well as how much has changed since then. Lorelai weighed 7 lbs., 1.5 oz when she was born. Friday night, she weighed 21 lbs. On December 31, 2009, Lorelai Roxane was 19 inches long. At her 9 month checkup on October 8, she was 27.5 inches long. She didn't have much to say those first few days. Now there is never a quiet moment at my house. (Which I love, by the way)

Lorelai Roxane - December 31, 2010

Lorelai Roxane - October 30, 2010

Lorelai has changed so much just in the last few weeks! She is a pro at pulling up. She's absolutely fearless. A laundry basket, a couch, a toy, a drawer, a pair of legs. They're all fair game when she decides it's time to stand up. And she's always so proud of herself! She has to turn and make sure somebody is watching all the time. The girl can cover ground like nobody's business! As soon as she sees something she wants, she's off! Just this week, Lorelai's first tooth broke through! I am one proud Mommy. We're already working on number two! And Lorelai loves her Daddy! Just in the last few days, she really seems to have figured out what to call him. I'm always slow to credit her for a milestone, and I know that babys often say dadada and mamama without actually knowing what they're saying. But I feel like she's figured it out lately! It's so funny to see her face when Jeremy walks in to the room. She adores him!

Lorelai is my little soprano. After her bath this morning, she just sang and sang! Her face was incredibly animated as we walked through the house for a diaper. Eyes wide, mouth dropped open, loving the sound of her own voice. And who can blame her?! It's only the most beautiful voice on the planet!

I'm having the time of my life with my sweet baby girl. She's an absolute joy. I can honestly say that she is fun every single day of the week. I like to tell her that "Even on your bad days, you're still really good!" And it's completely true. I love her so very much! And it's amazing to me that every day I wake up with just a little more love in my heart for my precious baby girl.

History Has Been Made

We are HUGE Texas Ranger fans at our house! This has been made quite clear in several previous posts. Tonight, the Rangers made history. They won their first Post Season series in the history of the franchise!

My dad was raised a Ranger fan, and therefore Tyler and I were raised that way as well. We've been watching the Rangers since before I can remember. And while it's been fun, it's usually proved disappointing. Not tonight! Tonight, a little after 10:00, Cliff Lee threw his last pitch to BJ Upton of the Tampa Bay Rays; a pop out to shortstop, Elvis Andrus. The series ended after 5 games. Games 1 and 2 were played in Tampa Bay, and the Rangers dominated. Games 3 and 4 were played in Arlington, where Tampa came back and tied the series. It all came down to tonight. I've gotta be honest...I didn't have much faith. I WANTED them to win, but I just wasn't sure if they could. Shame on me! With a 5-1 final, the Rangers are headed back to Arlington!

A few weeks ago, I decided it might be neat to go to the ALCS, if the Rangers were to make it. Jeremy, Tyler, Abbie and I were fortunate enough to have tickets to Game 3 of the ALDS. My Grandma Eva bought us tickets for Christmas, and it was a blast! But I knew that my dad would love to have the opportunity to see the Rangers in the Post Season. So when I got an email from the Rangers giving me the opportunity to purchase ALCS tickets, I just couldn't resist! We kept it a secret, and tonight I got to make a really fun phone call. There have been very few times that I've been able to successfully surprise my daddy, and I'm really glad this one worked out!

So Friday night, we'll be there! Hopefully to witness a little more history. The Texas Rangers have never won a Post Season game at home...ever. I'm really hoping they change that one Friday night! BRING ON THE YANKEES!

Have You Heard?

It's not really a secret at this point. But it was to me! Up until a week ago Sunday, I had no idea anything was going on in my body. But...surprise!

I woke up last Saturday, and I didn't feel too well. I got a little sick before Lorelai and I left the house to run some errands, but I didn't think much of it. Once I got some breakfast in my tummy, I was fine! Sunday morning was a little of the same. While I had my head in the toilet, Jeremy happened to walk by and voice his concern. "Could you be pregnant?" HA! Yeah right! No way! I quickly shot him down, and explained that Misty, the girl that I work with, was dealing the the stomach bug at her house, and I must have caught a bit of it the previous week at school. But Jeremy persisted. For the rest of the morning. And most of the afternoon. So finally, at about 3:00, I headed to Walgreens for a covert shopping trip. There was no point in going to Walmart...everybody and their dog would have seen me on that aisle, and the rumor would have been around town before I even got to pee on the stick!

I didn't really get anxious or nervous until I actually opened the box at home. There was no real reason for me to believe I was pregnant. Sure, I was a few weeks late, but surely it's normal to be irregular after a baby. Nothing about my body felt at all like it did with Lorelai. I had been pretty tired, but I have a pretty taxing job, so I blamed the fatigue on the 4 and 5 year olds that I corral all day. At 5:00 on Sunday afternoon, I finally bit the bullet and took the test. My heart was pounding! But I just knew it shouldn't be, right?! WRONG!

It took less than a minute for that beautiful little word to appear digitally on the screen. (Jeremy wanted me to buy the high dollar ones just to be sure). WHAT?! I fell...literally fell...on the floor of the bathroom. I was in shock. I looked at it again and again. I'm pregnant?! Really?! Excitement, panic, anxiety, joy, and every other emotion you could possibly imagine went pulsing through my veins in the exact same instant. When I gathered myself just a little and finally picked myself up off the floor, I stalked into the living room to find my baby girl. As soon as I saw her, my heart melted and I burst into tears. How could any baby be as good as this baby? How could I ever in my existance find enough love to share with another baby? I'm still working on that one, but I know that as soon as I hear this precious heartbeat and see that first picture, I will be head over heels for Baby #2, just like I am for Lorelai.

I scooped my girl up and headed back to the bedroom to tell Daddy that he better start truck shopping. He was elated! Jeremy has been my strength this week. He loves being a daddy, and he can't wait to get to love another baby! When I start stressing, he just smiles and tells me that God is sovereign and that "we got this!" Lorelai has a good daddy. And so does Baby #2:)

So here we go again! I'm heading to the doctor for the first time in the morning. According the the calendar, I'm already 8 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Baby #2 will be here sometime in mid-May! Lorelai will be a little more than 16 months old. Crazy, I know! But my God is in control. He has a plan for the child's life, and I get to be a part of that! I will never ever ever tell you that this child was an accident or mistake. Unexpected? Yes. A surprise? Yes. An accident? No way. My Father doesn't make mistakes...ever! I'm so thankful, and I'm praying for a healthy baby! And I might throw in a prayer or two for another well-behaved baby, too. :)

I'm Thankful for the Little Things

Like:

My dishwasher

A washer and dryer that are inside my house

An air conditioner that works

Wireless internet!

Bottle scrubbers

Cold Dr. Pepper

Skype

Lorelai Laughs

Clean sheets

Gummy grins

Channel 750 coming in clear so I can watch the Rangers in HD

Memories in pictures

Tiny baby shoes on my automan

My job

My husband's job

I wish I didn't take so much for granted. I just thought it'd be nice to reflect on some things that I rarely even think about. I really have no reason to complain!

She just keeps growing!

Lorelai is getting so big! Every single day I'm blown away with how much she changes. I went in her room this morning to check her, and I couldn't help but marvel at how much she's grown. She's so tall! I measured her tonight, and she's 25 inches! We took her to the doctor a few weeks ago, and she was 18 pounds! When did this happen?! I feel like I went to sleep one night, and the next morning she was this tall, chunky, singing, crawling, dancing baby girl.

Of course, I'm absolutely thrilled that she's growing so well! And every single day with her is more fun than the last. She loves to laugh at the silliest things, and she has the most beautiful smile on the planet. And no, I'm not at all biased:) Check out these super cute pictures of her scrunchy grin!

This is a child with a 102 - 103 fever!

She's definitely a poser for the camera! She thinks they were all created for her:)

She is the most amazing human being on the planet, hands down. I give my Heavenly Father all of the glory and praise for giving us such an incredible baby girl to share our lives with. She's so happy all the time. She's pleasant. She's low-maintenance. She's a joy!

Lorelai just keeps growing! And we wouldn't have it any other way!

Lorelai's First Game!

We are HUGE Ranger fans at our house! This is obvious from a couple of previous posts. I've been counting down the days til we took Lo to her first game. We finally got the chance last Saturday, the 28th! To say I was excited would be an understatement. I was PUMPED! Not only was it her first game, but it was my first game since last season!

Tyler met us in Fairview on Saturday, where we stayed with Jeremy's aunt and uncle. Saturday night, we loaded up and headed to the game! We had great seats. We were behind the left field foul poll. Jeremy picked these seats so that we would be in left field with Hamilton:) Lo stayed awake through the whole game, and never once fussed or cried! We seriously must have the most chill baby on the planet! Hope you enjoy the few pictures that we took!

She was a happy camper, even after being toted around for an hour

Mommy and her super excited little fan!

Lo hangin out with Uncle Tyler during the game

We had such a great weekend! We enjoyed spending time with Jan, Jeff, Joah, Jess, and Judson. And of course the game was a blast! Sure, they lost, but they're still our team!:) See you in the playoffs, Rangers!

In With the New

Life is funny. It's an adventure. It's never what you expect it to be. Sometimes God opens doors for us that we didn't even know where there.

Life is different for me now. I had no idea 2 months ago that I would even have the opportunity that I have now. A few weeks ago, it was mentioned to me in passing that there was a teaching position open at Columbia Christian Childcare in town. We talked about it for a little while. My friends have always known that I've had an interest in teaching, but that I've never pursued it. I guess they decided that they would pursue it for me! The next day, I had 2 of those friends contact me about the same position. One had even taken the time to call and speak with the director of the center.

Every piece of the puzzle kept falling into place. This couldn't just be by chance. If I am going to claim to have the faith that I claim to have, then I've got to live it. And so I did! Me and Jesus talked about it...a LOT. I agonized over this decision. There were nights that I couldn't sleep and days that I couldn't focus. I loved my job. I was happy. I was making good money. I had a great boss and coworkers that were so much fun! I would be absolutely crazy to leave! But sometimes God does things that we think are crazy.

Every single door opened for me within 2 weeks. And so...drumroll please...I've taken the job as a Pre-K4 teacher at CCS! Holy moly! It has absolutely rocked my world and turned me on my head. But I love it! My class is so much fun. We're all still getting to know eachother, but I really do have a good bunch of kiddos. They're not perfect by any means, but who is? Certainly not me! I love it, and I know that this is where God wants me. That's the most important thing to me.

My plans are to work through the Non Traditional Licensure Program for the next 2 years. I want to get my license in secondary English so that I can teach high school-level English courses. I know, it sounds gross to most people, but it's where my heart it. I actually wanted to major in English in college so that I could teach, but I changed my mind for one reason or another. But I'm doing it now. I'm jumping in! My next step is to take Praxis 1 and 2. They have to be completed before I can apply for the summer-intensive program. So here we go! This should be a wonderful adventure. I'm so excited to see what God has in store for our family through this journey! Stay tuned... :)