.Moments of Thanks.

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.

.Jane Austen.

* Thanksgiving last year (when we secretly told G's parents we were expecting!), and the year before.  Want to see their reaction from the news?  Look here.

.Have A Good Weekend.

We're spending this weekend soaking up all the time we can with G's out of town family, decorating the house for Christmas, finishing up assignments for the end of the semester, breaking out the holiday music, and making Christmas gift lists.  Also, guess who cut their first tooth today??  Mama couldn't be more proud, and more sad at the same time. 

Now off we go for some antique shopping... hoping you have a sweet, long weekend.

.This Thanksgiving.

Thank you Lord,

for him and her,

the best things I've ever done.

.Just the Girls.

Stares from patrons aside, this new kind of girls night… with baby dates included… is a whole new level of fun.   Speaking of fun, I'm talking about things I have to be thankful for over at Pretty and Fun today.  Come on over! 

* Pictures borrowed from Lori- {thank you!}

.Dylan Loves Brunch, and Small Restaurants, and Crowded Cafes.

... because it means that much more lovin' on she'll get to start off her day, especially in a confined space where she can maximize on the attention from others.  She doesn't discriminate... waitresses and strangers included.  My girl just loves love.

Thanksgiving week is here.  Let the holiday celebrations, short work weeks, and breaks from school commence!  Also, today I'm talking about the power of writing on Sarah's blog.  Stop by, won't you?

.The Day Dylan Had to Learn How to Share.

This weekend adorable Willow and her mama were nice enough to let Dylan play with her jumperoo for the first time.  I've never seen my child so giddy.  When it came time to switch turns, Dylan tried to up the cute factor to return to her happy place.  That sweet little face was so precious, I couldn't help but go buy her one of her own when we returned home.  I'm fully aware that I was played like a fiddle by an infant, but nothing brings me more joy than seeing my girl light up in delight.

The weekend before Thanksgiving is here! My favorite time of year has officially begun.

.Roswell.

This weekend we went to visit my old college friend, Alexandria, and her family .  Sadly due to distance, I hadn't seen her since I was in her wedding over two years ago.  Happily though, her and her husband recently moved much closer to us and we were able to start where we left off.  Since then we've both had little girls, so it was doubly fun as they got to meet. 

Alexandria took us to the ever-so adorable historic Roswell district, where we had lunch at the Salt Factory and walked around in the fall air to explore the little shops.  If you were to ask my thoughts about the restaurant this weekend, I would have said that the service and setting was wonderful.  Three bouts of food poisoning later, I would not.  The last few days have been miserable.  Never again.

Recent sickness aside, Willow and Dylan couldn't have been any better and had several admirers everywhere we went.  Finishing the day off with homemade dinner and baby play all evening was just icing on the decadent cake.  We can't wait for another visit very soon.

.Gender Reveal.

On Friday, we went to our dear friends' gender reveal party.  It was remarkable to see Raz and Ashley's expressions when they cut into their cake and saw the pink filling that told us all that Dylan will be having a new best friend come May.  G and I were grateful to be able to witness that lifechanging moment for two people so special to us.  Much congratulations you two, on the baby girl who will soon consume your hearts.

Ours sure has.

.Too Too Fast.

The past two nights Dylan has been asleep by the time I got home from class.  This is new.  She has always stayed up waiting for me.  I'm going to blame it on her still trying to adjust to the time change, and not that she no longer needs me to fall asleep anymore.  Please stop growing so fast baby girl.  I am so not ready.

.Why I Blog.

My brother and I are two very different people.  We're wired differently, we have different strengths, we conceptualize things in a completely different manner.  We've had discussions several times before on social networking and the impact it has had on socialization as a whole.  Alex is very private, I tend to be more open.  Is one method of interaction better than the other?  Not necessarily.  It is who we are, and based on the circumstance, we may change in our style of connecting with others.  

 I blog because I try to move life along too quickly. I'm always moving from one to-do list item to another. I can't sit still doing one thing at a time.  I blog because sometimes I'm so busy planning what's to come, that I don't enjoy what's already here.  I blog because I have a terrible memory and sometimes have to get G to confirm whether a story is reality, or in fact created completely in my imagination.  I blog to keep my far away family and friends in touch with our lives.  I blog in order to reflect on daily happenings.  I blog to process situations.  I blog to document learning... progress... and hopefully, growth.  I blog to normalize emotions and experiences.  I blog because this is an important time in our lives; scrap booking is too expensive and time consuming for me.  I blog because I feel that I have something to say, something to contribute, something to share.  I blog to hold myself accountable to slow down, and appreciate the small things because many times they are as, if not more, beautiful than the big.  The small things are hidden and precious.

So while social networking is used for many intentions, I use this one as my platform to share part of ourselves, the part that experiences life and love (hence the blog name).  There are several reasons I chose to begin this blog, but the greatest reason was to use it as a tool of joining.  To join with my family, to join with my friends, to join with others who face similar circumstances, to join with people who are just genuinely curious.

Because joining is what it's really all about.  An isolated existence doesn't seem much worth it to me.

.Dear Dylan (3).

Dear Dylan,

You're growing so fast right in front of our eyes.  Our days are filling with the stories you babble, your hair that stays messy no matter how many times I brush it, your ability to make anyone melt with your smile, watching you try to put everything and anything in your mouth, your baby singing in the car, your laugh when we tickle you and every time we sing to you, your heartwarmingly huge smile every morning when I grab you from your bed, watching you roll over, seeing you learn and find how things work, cracking up as you try to figure out what the dogs exactly are, smiling as you make friends at church and try to talk back to the pastor, and holding you tight as you fall asleep on our chests and snuggle in the nook of our necks.  We don't care if you're supposed to learn how to sleep independently, because there will be a day when you no longer want us to rock you to sleep.  I think I take at least one picture of you every single day because I'm so afraid that I'll miss something or you'll change too fast.  You only know how to give open-mouth kisses, which are extra slobbery but just as beautiful.  You love to read your little books, but you do try to eat them too.  You want to see everything, and still love being in your front carrier... I think you've been in your stroller maybe five times ever.  Your eyes have changed from dark blue to a more hazelish gray.  Any time your dad enters the room, you twist and turn anyway you can to see him and smile.  You and your dad are my favorite things ever.  I thank God for you both daily and I can't wait to celebrate our first holiday season as a lovely little family.

Love you always,

Your Mama

* Letters one and two

.G and D.

Every other Thursday G is off, so he spends the day with Dylan.  I think it's important that the two of them get some time every so often just to themselves without me getting in the way.  Granted, when I got home at the end of the day yesterday, baby girl's hair was unbrushed and she was wearing the exact same outfit from the day before and when I asked G what happened, he very matter-of-factly replied, "you didn't leave an outfit out for her."

So cute.  So grateful that this is what my days are full of.

The weekend is here at last. We plan to lay low after last weekend, but I was right on my theory... so we should be in for a whole new phase of fun.

First Halloween.

We took Dylan, our little Amelia Earhart, to the church fall festival.  While she was obviously too young to enjoy the sweet treats, we all had fun people watching and eating chili dogs.  Baby's first Halloween was a hit, and it made G and I really feel like adults and look forward even more to her first holiday season.