New Design and Keeping Happy

I've livened up my blog page a little bit. It's happier and not so baby poop yellow - I see enough of that as it is! :) I hope you enjoy all the extra "stuff." It's the second overcast day in a row after 5 days off of work and I must confess it's testing my mood and motivation. Things that are I am focusing on that make me happy...looking forward to the next several weeks of holiday activities - Christmas parties, Gingerbread house making, seeing Christmas lights, coordinating a Toys for Tots donation at work, enjoying the lights on the outside of my house and loving the decorations on the inside, a fire in the fire place, Mia's personalized stocking that I was so excited to order last year, Christmas music and the lights on our mini tree. I opted out of setting up our big tree this year with Ms. Curious running around. Even more exciting about having another tree is that she can put that tree in her room during the holidays. I know I would have loved that as a little kid! Other things that make me happy include buying a new camera...pause and side note, I sat on mine Saturday during Mia's Christmas card photo shoot in her playroom and broke it...it was not intentional, although I will admit I am SUPER excited about having a new fancy camera that will take pictures when I press the button instead of seconds after. As any parent of a young child would know that makes picture taking a bit of an issue...continue...my daughter, my husband, my parents and sisters, my nieces, my brother-in-laws, my cousins, my aunts and uncles and in-laws (most of them anyway), wine and chocolate...I could go on forever and that is A REALLY GOOD THING. I can't complain. I have a wonderful life and I think the classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie is on tonight! Yippee!!Happy Tuesday Everyone and Happy December tomorrow!

Well....it's been a while! Jumbley Joo...

I fully admit that it has been almost six months since my last post, but I've been busy and that's my excuse. Therefore this is my Jumbley Joo of a post. So much has happened since May (really...May), including Mia turning 1 and having quite a celebration at her 1st Birthday Party!

This week marks Thanksgiving and I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone by. I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately as I've watched Mia grow and grow and grow more and more and more every single day. She even has a few words in her vocabulary already and is walking like a champ! This time last year I was a brand new Mommy and no idea what I had gotten myself into. I was like a lost little puppy. Last night I even popped in the delivery DVD for the first time. It was interesting to watch and place myself back in that moment in time. I am so thankful that we captured it. Here I am one year later and I feel like we are headed in the right direction. We have a great routine and a wonderful family that has been helping us out by watching Mia, so she doesn't have to go into daycare. I've tackled (most days) what it takes to work full time and be a mom. It's difficult and there are days where I wish I could stay home with Mia, but at the end of the day I am thankful that I am able to find the balance to provide for our family as well.

Our Thanksgiving is a little different this year as there will be some missing pieces to our puzzle. My sister and her husband will be in Key West and Mark's mom, dad, sister, BIL and nieces will all be elsewhere. It's unfortunate, but life is busy and we just can't accomodate everyone's schedule. Mark and I have really been struggling with our relationship with his mom lately and it's really taken a hit and effected our entire family. I will save the details, but hope that things get better and that we can create a healthy relationship that will be a benefit to Mia in the future. I'm trying to keep focus on what is best for our family and most importantly Mia. This is the time of year to reflect on what we are thankful for and my family is definitely a large part of that list. I've developed a strong relationship with Mark's cousin (my cousin now too) and I really appreciate that extra support in my life. I've taken for granted what wonderful and open relationship I have with both of my parents and how supportive, understanding (and often opinionated) my sisters are. I could not imagine not having that as a part of my life. I would not be the same person I am today.

Above all, I am finally getting some consecutive days off of work that I have not had since Memorial Day and it is much, much, much needed. I need some rest, down time and no alarms. Getting to work everyday at 7:30 takes it's toll. I am thrilled that I get in early and have time to myself before the days chaos ensues and that I can leave at 4:00 and feel like I have some time with Mia in the evenings during the work week, but this time of year is tough. The chill in the air and the sun going down earlier is rough on the soul.

This weekend will include a few projects that hubby and I have been putting off for some time, but will also be including holiday decorations. Yay! I am in full holiday mode, especially now that 102.5 is playing Christmas music 24-7!

As I close this tangent of a post, I will leave you with a little something, but before I do, be sure you take a moment to reflect on what you are thankful for. After all, this is what this time of year is for. Happy Thanksgiving!