Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It has been a year of growth, a year of change, a year of patience, a year of learning, and most importantly, a year of love.  We hope that you and your family have been just as blessed!

Love,

Chris, Jen, and Graham

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so abundantly blessed, and we give thanks for a year of happiness, smiles, tears, grins, giggles, bumps, songs, teeth, steps, falls, hugs, kisses, love....

and tryptophan!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Let All Things Now Living

Let all things now living a song of Thanksgiving,
To God our creator, Triumphantly raise!

I am so thankful each and every day. I should probably say it more often and tell people more frequently, but I know that I am fortunate and blessed beyond measure. I am thankful to be a wife, mommy, and friend. I am grateful for the gifts that have been given to me, and those which I am able to share with others.

We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing
With glad adoration, a Song let us raise!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Who am I?

Those of you who know me well understand that to date, my motto in life has been "I only run if something is chasing me!" So, what I was thinking when I agreed to do the Couch to 5K Running Plan with Chris, with the end goal of running (that's right, I said running) in the Turkey Trot, is beyond me. For the past nine weeks though, we have been doing the weekly work-outs and have steadily made noticeable progress to the point that...I actually ran the Turkey Trot today!!! As in ran, all 3.1 miles...no stopping...in 34:08! I realize that is incredibly slow and not really something that I should probably feel proud in announcing to the blogosphere, but as Chris said, it is a PR! Look at me, using all this runner's speak! =)

Now, before any of my runner friends go and get really excited, let me just say that while I am extremely proud of myself, surprisingly, was not completely miserable, and did have a good time with Chris and Graham and the other 5,500+ people on the course, I currently have no intention of ever running a step over 3.1 miles at a time again. I would definitely do another 5K. We are already planning the Jingle Bell Run (3K) next weekend, but there will be no 10K, 15K, 1/2 marathons, or the like in my future! Through this process, I did learn that I am capable of running short distances, and I learned that I truly admire people who are able to run long distances. I think the only way that would happen for me is if something chased me more often!

A Thousand Words?

Or maybe just 3.....

I'm in trouble!!!!!

Food Truck Thursday

is the coolest thing that happens 5 blocks from our house.  Or at least that's what Chris says.  We have enjoyed taking advantage of the warm evenings this fall and have ventured out to food truck Thursday on several different occasions.

So, what exactly is Food Truck Thursday you ask?  Several of the Tallahassee food trucks all meet and take over a lot near our house on Thursday nights.  There are bands, broadcasts of football games on the big screen, lots of people, and most importantly, lots of food.

We have thoroughly enjoyed sampling dishes from each of the trucks and introducing Graham to a whole new way of eating!  He even got to enjoy his first sno-cone one Thursday night, as we celebrated my birthday with some friends!

Spinach, Artichoke, and Mushroom pizza...the best ever!

So, maybe a blue sno-cone wasn't the brightest idea!

We are definitely looking forward to spring and a chance to enjoy the food, folks, and fun again soon!



If you want more specific info, check out:  http://www.visittallahassee.com/blog/2011/sep/22/food-trucks-take-over-tallahassee-thursdays/.

12 Month Pictures

Proudly presenting....

Graham's 12 month pictures, brought to you by our amazingly talented friend, Claire!

I can't believe that it has been a whole year!  I am so excited that Claire has been a part of our journey and helped document our ever-changing, ever-moving, ever-smiling little boy!

Thanks again, Claire!

My Best Birthday Present!

My Dearest Graham,

It is so amazing to me that a year could have already passed by. It seems as though just yesterday we were taking our "first" birthday together picture, and now here we are again. You are 1 and such a big boy. In one short year, you have taught me the true meaning of unconditional and unending love. My love for you grows each and every day and I am so lucky to be your mommy. You are my best birthday present ever!!

I love you!!

Mommy

Happy Halloween!

Let me first confess that, while I was excited to have a fall baby, one of my biggest concerns having a baby born around Halloween was that I wanted his birthday to be completely separate from Halloween. I think this comes from me growing up and wanting my November 2nd birthday to be completely separate from Halloween too. Just ask my mom...she spent many a November 1st taking down Halloween decorations and putting up birthday themed swag! I think we did a good job separating Graham's first birthday from Halloween, as the costume/Halloween fun didn't really begin in earnest until after October 26th.

Although this really wasn't Graham's "first" Halloween, let's be honest, it was the first Halloween for which he was really awake and/or the slightest bit interested in. So, we did up Halloween as best you can with a 1 year old! We had a Halloween themed Musikgarten class on Thursday. It was so fun to see all the little ones in their costumes, and Graham was way into his Mickey ears!!
We were also invited to a party for all the "2010 littles" on Sunday afternoon. Graham had a blast playing in the rice sensory box, finding plastic spiders, jelly bugs, and all kinds of fun things!
He also really enjoyed the craft my friend Courtney created. He loved his Jack-o-Lantern so much that he carried it around for the rest of Sunday and most of Monday!
Although his costume was cute and we had gotten several compliments, we decided to forgo the traditional trick-or-treating and instead went to the trick-or-treat party at the local Publix Grocery Store. Graham wore his pumpkin shirt and a great big smile, and had all kinds of fun!

Congratulations!!

Congratulations to "Uncle" Fred and the Montford Mustangs! They won the city football championship, and we are so glad we could be there to help cheer them on! Hooray!!

Happy Birthday!

I know everyone says it, but I literally can't believe that one year has gone by so fast!  It seems like just yesterday that we were waiting and wondering when our precious bundle would make its arrival.  And now, in the blink of an eye, we have a walking, talking, little boy who fills each day with more love than we ever thought possible.

So, how does one celebrate such a big occasion?  By playing hooky of course!!  I was not about to go to work on this all important day!  Graham and I had a blast!

We slept in, went to storytime at the library where everyone sang Happy Birthday to Graham (which he did like, contrary to his actions on the video!), had Chik-fil-a with Chris at lunchtime, took a snuggly nap, and went to the pumpkin patch and to the park!

 
                                                           

 

After Chris got home, we went to see Uncle Fred's Montford Mustangs in the city middle school championship football game!  They won, and we were so excited!!!

 

And if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, we decided to have a birthday party and cupcake after dinner.  We even invited both sets of grandparents and Uncle Brian to join in the fun via the webcams on both computers!

All in all, I would say we had a successful 1st birthday!  Here's to many, many, many more!