Happy Birthday, Tom!

Today is Tom's 45th birthday! As hard as it is for me to believe that, it's even harder for him. I asked him the other day how old he felt and he said 30. I believe my response was, "Awww, then we'd be the same age!" Hahaha! Tom's youthfulness is one thing I love about him. Here are 44 other things that make me fall in love with this wonderful man more each day:

1) I love his intelligence. Tom knows something about everything. Have you ever played Trivial Pursuit with him? Enough said.
2) I love his blue eyes. They were the very first thing I noticed about him.
3) I love his love of mustangs. He gets this sparkle in his eyes when he talks about his old Stangs.
4) I love his ability to think before he talks when he's worked up about something. Since this is not a virtue I possess, I envy him for it.
5) I love his love of all things history, but especially the Civil War. It's one of the deepest ties we have.
6) I love his sense of humor. He can make me laugh, especially when I need it the most.
7) I love his voice. He calls me every day on his free period at school and no matter what kind of day I am having, just hearing his voice makes me smile.
8) I love what an amazing father he is to Tennyson. They have such a special bond and watching them interact is heartwarming.
9) I love that he lets me put my music in iTunes and therefore in his iPod. Sorry, hon, you have Josh Groban and Celine Dion on there!
10) I love the way he smells. Honestly, it gives me butterflies every time.
11) I love that he is in no way sensitive about his height. (Nor should he be.)
12) I love the way he takes care of me. He's so thoughtful, always asking what he can get or do for me. Always making sure I am okay.
13) I love how he provides for his family. We always have food on the table and a warm place to sleep. What more do you really need?
14) I love his diverse taste in music.
15) I love his passion of living history. One of Tom's greatest joys is working at Harper's Ferry in the summer.
16) I love his laugh.
17) I love his facial hair. Oh, baby!
18) I love his hands. They are so strong and my hand fits so well in his.
19) I love his love of the Lord. It was clear from the moment I met him that Tom knew who his savior was.
20) I love how much he knows about theology. Though we don't do it often enough, I love getting into deep theological discussions with him.
21) I love how religious he is about his cups of tea. Can't go a day without a couple cups.
22) I love that he gets distracted doing the simplest things. It's what makes him Tom.
23) I love that if I want to go somewhere or do something badly enough he lets me. :-)
24) I love that he and I have never had a fight. No, we're not sweeping stuff under the rug. We talk about it before it becomes an issue. Period.
25) I love how he can hold a conversation with someone he has little in common with or has never met.
26) I love that he gets nervous talking to small groups but crowds of 300, no problem.
27) I love his hair and I love that he doesn't believe in dyeing it.
28) I love that he saved himself for me.
29) I love that he can hear God's voice speaking in to his life.
30) I love that he loves what he does. He is so gifted, and those kids adore him!
31) I love how humble Tom is about his abilities. Whether it's teaching, public speaking, or his knowledge he always gets uncomfortable when he's complimented. How cute is that?
32) I love the way he's always in the middle of several books at a time.
33) I love that Tom never gets on my case about anything.
34) I love how calm and laid back he is. That's so important when you have a wife that gets worked up from time to time.
35) I love his walk.
36) I love that he's not a handyman, but he sure tries.
37) I love to watch him play guitar. I just wish he had more time to do it.
38) I love what an amazing lover he is. (I won't elaborate to keep it "G" rated.)
39) I love how hard he worked to put himself through college and his masters once he put his mind to it.
40) I love how incredible he looked on our wedding day. I will never forget the look on his face as I walked down the aisle to him. Pure love.
41) I love that he stills look at me the same way.
42) I love that he has more patience than me when it comes to Tennyson.
43) I love his openness when we're alone.
44) I love Tom for who he is to me: a great husband, amazing father, gifted teacher, best friend, lover, and soul mate. And I thank God every day he chose him just for me!

Happy Birthday, my dearest love! I love you more with each passing day, and I can't wait to see what amazing things God has in store for you this year!

Footprints in the Snow

Healthy Eating

When I was pregnant with Tennyson I read a lot of parenting and pregnancy magazines. There is so much talk about whether or not to feed your baby organic foods, and after much thought I decided that for the first year of his life he would eat all, or mostly all, organic food. (Of course, only now do I realize that buying such things as organic bananas was a waste since they have a thick peel.) And with this baby I will definitely be mashing my own. In fact I am going to try and make most of my own baby food this time around. I know, I know a LOT of you have done that, but frankly I was SO overwhelmed with other things that I just didn't want to feel like I was spending all weekend, every weekend making baby food.

Now I am not one of those vegetarian, tree-hugging, organic hippies, but I do believe in feeding my child the best that I can. I think most mother's would say that their children eat healthier than they do. You know, really watching their sugar intake, making sure they get enough fruits and veggies. Tom and I have been making a conscience effort to eat more of those good foods and not feel bad about spending money on them with an already tight budget. Cuz you know it's cheaper in a can! But even though I don't buy a lot of organic food, I am a hardcore label-reader! And I still try to make sure what I am putting in our tummy's is good for us and doesn't have "weird" stuff in it. (Does it make anyone else crazy that there is high fructose corn syrup in everything?)

Aside from Annie's Organic Bernie O's (which Tennyson gets two meals out of per can) a favorite thing to buy is the giant bag of organic mixed veggies from Costco. And the best part of all......NO lima beans!!! They are about $6 and we always have a bag in our freezer. I use it for sides or put it in chicken pot pie or casserole. Good thing Tennyson would eat his veggies over fruit any day. I am hoping that lasts for a while.

New Photos & Update on Our Busy Boy

My camera hasn't gotten too dusty. I just haven't been diligent enough about posting new photos of the little guy. Tennyson will be a year-and-a-half old on Friday and my mind can hardly comprehend that he's been in our lives that long. But yet......it's hard to remember when he wasn't here. It seems every day is welcomed with new words, new sounds, and new expressions! When did he go from being a baby to a little boy? Some of these new things aren't so great, like his impatience or him thinking that "No" means "Do it again." But oh my, he's so cute and sweet and intelligent!

This is not a complete list, but here are some new words he says: cat, trash, truck, no, Mama (Finally he says my name!!!), socks, and lights. He imitates the sounds of a cat and a fire engine, which always brings hearty laughter from Tom and I! Tennyson gets so excited to see the school bus, garbage truck, or really any moving vehicle. He's ALL boy, this one!!!

Truthfully, I can hardly keep up with him (just wait til I am nearing the end of this pregnancy)! We finally stopped fighting with him about climbing on the coffee table, and decided to pick our battle with that one. Though we usually find him on the kitchen table at least once a day. Groan. He knows how to unlock and open doors. He can undo the safety latch under the kitchen sink. And best of all, he's discovered light switches! Let's just say our house looks like a disco whenever he's awake!! But despite the unkempt house and exhaustion by day's end, we wouldn't change a moment of it. Tennyson is so full of life, and there is never a dull moment with him around.

Looking at the birds flying outside

Playing with his trucks

His first taste of a popsicle. He wasn't too fond of it.

Playing with the Noah's Ark my parent bought him for Christmas.
He absolutely LOVES this toy!

He and Mickey in their pajamas

We still can't get over how much older he looks with his haircut.

Playing with his train, a Christmas gift from my sister

I'm not sure what he was looking at when I took this. But it's sweet nonetheless.

Oh, sweet boy. Mommy and Daddy sure do love you, our little man.

Tasty Tuesday ~ Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I know I have been slacking off posting recipes on here, mostly because I keep forgetting to take photos of the food before we eat it! When I am rushing around trying to get dinner done, I don't think "Hmmm, let me grab the camera."

I got this recipe from another favorite cookbook - Southern Living. This was my first attempt at these and despite overcooking them just a tad, they were great!

LEMON POPPY SEED MUFFINS

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups of flour (I always buy bread flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
1 cup sour cream (I never use anything but reduced fat)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 vanilla extract

How to Make It:
1) Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, and make a well in the center of mixture. Combine sour cream and next 3 ingredients; add to dry mixture, stirring just until moistened.
2) Spoon batter into greased muffins pans, filling two-thirds full.
3) Bake at 400 degrees for 17-18 minutes or lightly browned. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire on racks.
4) Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a small bowl, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over muffins and let glaze set.

Yield: 1 dozen

Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum

On Saturday, January 10th, we headed to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum in Chantilly, VA. Since Tennyson loves airplanes we thought he would enjoy seeing real ones and did he ever! My sister, Dawn, and her family went, too, so it was fun to spend some time with all six of them as well! I had been to the museum back in 2006, but Tom goes every May for the 8th grade field trip to DC. It's such a neat place, full of all sorts of fascinating aviation artifacts.

I don't remember the name of every plane we photographed. Next time, I'll have to write down the name, stats, and history behind each one we take a photo of. We had so much fun and hope to go back again soon and give our little boy an up-close view of the airplanes he loves so much!

I thought this pocket-sized plane was cute!

Isn't the artwork on this one amazing?

The cousins

This was taken in the observation tower overlooking the Dulles airport.

Tom's favorite, The Hurricane

Outer space has never been interesting to me,
but it was kind of cool to see a replica of the space shuttle.

Sad, but true. The big, silver plane is the one that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Tennyson's First Haircut

The day Tennyson turned 17-months old was the day of his very first haircut. I kept putting it off because it was just one more step from babyhood to him turning into a little boy.....and I didn't want it to come too soon. But alas, his beautiful blond hair was long and starting to curl, so I had to give in.

We went to the Hair Corral for a quick, cheap cut, and about 15 minutes later we were done. The lady who cut Tennyson's hair was so nice and showed him everything she was going to use before she used it. She also asked if he would be better off sitting on my lap and I agreed that he would be. And he was GREAT!! He actually sat still the whole time and didn't fuss. Tom and I were pleasantly surprised! The lady even bagged some of his beautiful hair and gave us a certificate to commemorate his first haircut! We also got a kick out of all the women that kept leaning around the corner to see our cute little man! (Yes, I am braggin' on him just a bit!) Here are some photos of the "big day!"

"Uh, who are you and what are you doing to my hair?"

The hairdresser gave Tennyson some little trucks to play with.

She was using the electric razor on the back of his head
Oh my, he really looks like a little boy now!
His first haircut certificate

Our Own Christmas Miracle

I am a firm believer that every life created by God is special, full of purpose, and nothing short of miraculous. Well, this Christmas Tom and I were blessed with our own miracle of life. I posted previously how Christmas has always been an extra special time of year for us and this year was no exception. Here's the story of how we came to find out another baby is on the way.....

We spent time in New Jersey with Tom's family from the 20th to the 26th and honestly I felt fine the whole week, indulging in daily naps. My clue that something was amiss was Christmas Day when I woke from one of those naps to the horrific smell of shrimp. Now shrimp was one thing I could not stand to be around when I was pregnant with Tennyson. I didn't immediately think, "Oh my gosh, I must be pregnant." Instead it was more like, "Hmm, that's strange." My next "clue" was the following morning when I awoke at 3:00AM with an urgent need to use the bathroom. The same thing happened again at 5:00AM and then a little while later, while snuggling with my sweet little boy, I began to feel nauseous. THAT was my first real thought that something was up. The last time I got nauseous (aside from the stomach flu last March) was when I was pregnant with Tennyson.

Anyway, we packed up our things and were headed back to Virginia by 10:00AM. We stopped in Harrisburg, PA at the Cracker Barrel for a long, leisurely lunch and about an hour into our trip I really, really started feeling sick. Tom asked if he needed to pull over, but I assured him I wasn't going to throw up in the car. A cracked window, allowing the cold air in, did the trick and I soon felt better. But I still felt a little off for the rest of the trip. Finally, we got back home around 6:00PM. It was SO nice! (I am such a homebody and don't usually enjoy traveling.) We got unpacked, got Tennyson to bed, and settled down to watch "Elf." Tom and I ate a little bit of food and I immediately felt sick again. I had to find out! I marched right upstairs and took a pregnancy test. Sure enough it was positive! Even though we've been trying I was still shocked! I went downstairs to tell Tom (who had no idea why I had left the living room so abruptly). Needless to say, we were ecstatic and sat there in disbelief. The only person we told that night was his mom, as kind of a belated Christmas present, because I wanted to tell my family the next day in person. (That's for whole 'nother post!)

Yes, every baby is miraculous, but there was something extra special God did for us......we got pregnant without the use of any fertility drugs!!! I had them in the cabinet, but was waiting for the appropriate time to take them. Knowing that everything happened naturally was such an unexpected blessing. It was a....relief in a way. God did above and beyond, exceedingly more than we had ever imagined! We believe there are no such things as coincidences. So of course Tom and I attributed it to God's sense of humor when I discovered the day I posted about trying to conceive, was most likely the very day we conceived this most precious gift.

The Best Christmas Present of All

Christmas: Part 2 - In Virginia

We got back from NJ on the 26th and celebrated Christmas with my family the following evening. Five of my six siblings met at Jalisco's for lunch on Saturday and then we went our separate ways for the afternoon and gathered at my sister, Dawn's, house for dinner and the gift exchange that evening. We had a lovely traditional dinner of ham, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. The post-meal present opening was fun, and of course, extremely chaotic. With 20 of my 22 family members there, and 7 of them being under the age of 10, it couldn't be anything but chaotic! My sister, Lynley, and her husband, Dan, spent Christmas in OR with his family for the first time 7 years. We really, really missed them!

Then Sunday evening we got together again at my parents' house for enchilada casserole. For some reason, this has been a sort of tradition for my parents to make around Christmas. It's a family favorite and we all ate til we had our fill! And my mother made another favorite, pecan pie! Thank you God that I was born in the south!!! I think they'll have pecan pie in Heaven for sure! Okay, enough about food......My brother and his family left Monday morning to go back to Atlanta, so we didn't get to spend much time with them, but what we did was good and full of laughter. I'm such a homebody and I love being surrounded by lots of family, especially during the holidays!

Cameron & Sara

Jordan opening the thermal wear we got for him.
Now he won't be cold working the gas station at Costco!
Tom with his awesome Civil War quilt that my mother made for him!

Kyrce & Maureen bought Tennyson these awesome Star Wars bath toys! I think my husband was more excited about them though!

I can't tell by Holden's face, but I think he likes the magnetic letters we gave him.

Tennyson unwrapping his train

Me and my boy playing on the piano

Tom and Tennyson on the deck after dinner

Stacking cups with his cousin, Nathan
Beckett is my brother's 7-month old....he weighs 2 lbs less than Tennyson! He's such a happy Chunky Monkey!

Kyrce eating Key Lime pie at my parents'

Christmas: Part 1 - In New Jersey

This year we spent Christmas with Tom's family in New Jersey, which we hadn't done since 2005 after his father passed away. So we packed up half our house and left on the 19th. We stayed overnight at my sister's in Hershey, PA because she was graduating from Penn State the following morning. What great timing!!! My whole family wasn't able to make it, but Dawn came with her 2 oldest, and Jordan, Hannah, and Courtney also made the trip. After grad we went to TJ Rockwell's for lunch. Yum-my! Here's a photo of their awesome cheese fries. (I think it's a little fuzzy because my sibs were making fun of me for taking the picture and I was laughing.)


After we said our farewells we headed the rest of the way to NJ. Tennyson was amazingly fantastic on the trip. Honestly, he was great!! There's really not a whole lot to report on the week we spent there other than it was good to catch up with friends and family. We spent a lot of time at home napping every day (a rare treat for me!) and we often ventured out to the mall, since we don't have a good mall near us. Hello, Garden State Plaza! It was nice to be out of town though and see some different scenery.

Tom and I were both amazed at how well Tennyson did in a new place and sleeping in a pack-n-play all night. He didn't wake up once in the middle of the night while we were at his brother's. And on the trip home, which normally takes 6 hours, took almost 8 with a long lunch break and traffic, Tennyson slept 2 1/2 hours of it and didn't get the slightest bit fussy until we were about 15 minutes from home! Praise God for a good little traveler! Here are a few photos from the trip. (I will be putting more on Facebook.) Hope you all had a blessed Christmas with your families!

Tennyson giving Maricel, Tom's sister-in-law, a kiss.

The neighbor's trees in the backyard

Getting ready to head out into the cold

Tennyson being a silly boy!

Tennyson and his Grandma (Tom's mom)

Helping Tennyson unwrap gifts. He actually knew what to do this year!

Blowing kisses to Mommy on the ride home