Because I am Obsessed....

and you know you are too!

I just can't help myself!

This face just begs to have its picture taken!

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

You are the Love of My Life

My Best Friend!
I love that you loved me from the Start!
I love that you will try new things and travel to new places with me. Through all our ups and downs so far, you have always been right by my side.

I love how much you love our Zoe Jane

and that you are an amazing Daddy!

I love you and will love you always! Happy 25th Birthday, Zach!

Spring is almost here!

I think I am the only person who has not posted about the glorious weekend we had down South! Well, here I go!

The weather this weekend gave us a little glimpse into what we can expect in the weeks to come....SPRING! I love spring! Spring weather is one reason why I couldn't wait to have a child of my own. I nannied for a couple years and loved going outside with the kids! I love parks, pools, long walks, anything outdoors....and especially when the weather was like it was this past weekend. And Zoe Jane ate it up! We took her to Alexander Park and let her swing. She LOVED it!

We are SO ready for spring....aren't her glasses so cute! And here is the new do. Bye Bye to the dyed hair.

And we had a 4 mile run to finish on Saturday....and it was so enjoyable in the gorgeous weather. Zoe Jane did great. And we love our "new" jogging stroller. We bought it off Craig's List a couple weeks ago. I don't know if I will ever be able to justify buying big items for retail prices again. The jogging stroller needed one minor repair and a good cleaning and we are good to go. $40! You can't beat that!

Running has been going great! It has been hard getting back into a rhythm, especially since I am carrying weight still from the pregnancy, but it feels so good when I get done with a run. And I can already see changes in my body after a week. So encouraging. Zach has been doing amazing also. He is such a great runner. I must admit...I was worried that him wanting to run would only last a week...but he is really enjoying it. He even made a comment to me that he wanted to run on our off day this past weekend because the weather was so great! It makes me so happy that he is wanting to exercise. It is very important to me that we raise Zoe to be active, to enjoy playing outside, riding bikes, swimming, running....I don't want her to beg to watch television or to be upset when I say we are going to the park. I want her to love these activities and I think the best way to teach her this is by starting young and showing her through my actions!

Only 9 more weeks to the race!

Our Snow Angel

Mommy Group

Look at Lily's eyes....aren't they gorgeous!

Okay....everyone look at the camera and say cheese!

The beautiful Allison!

Lauren and Nick....Nick turned one last week! Yay, Nick!

Alyshia and Greg....Greg is my sister's God son and lets just be honest....We are all pretty much family....right Alyshia?!?! Love them!

Joshua David, Lily, and Zoe Jane....Too cute, right?!?

I love my little mommy group! The women are so great and the babies are....as you can see....precious! And this isn't even all of them....we were missing one other little girl, Elizabeth and her mommy Laura. It is so fun being a mommy.....wouldn't change my life for anything!

Check this Out!

Last weekend, Zoe Jane and I went to her first Birthday party. We celebrated Nick's 1st Birthday and his mom, Lauren, did such a great job putting together a "Bee" themed party. They are huge Georgia Tech fans. Everything was so cute!

And Lauren had Nick's birthday shirt made. Isn't it too cute!

Coincidence...I think NOT!

Okay so.....EVERY time I am in the car.....EVERY TIME.....I hear the Casting Crowns song....Until the Whole World Hears. If you have never heard it....it is a great one. Here it is:

I told my sister, Kaitlin, about this coincidence (ha) a couple weeks ago and I have been informing her everyday when the song comes on. I mean....I was even talking to my other sister, Chrysti, on the phone and she was in the car and the song was on....I started cracking up. Kaitlin suggested that I pray about it and see what I might get from it. Today, after I texted her to let her know the song was, yet again, playing. I really listened to the song, to the words.

Lord I want to feel your heart
and see the world through your eyes
I want to be your hands and feet
I want to live a life that leads

Ready yourselves
Ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
Ready yourselves
Ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise
Until the whole world hears Lord we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we're crying out
as the day draws near
we'll sing until the whole world hears

Lord let your sleeping giant arise
Catch the demons by surprise
Holy nation sanctified
Let this be our battle cry

Chorus

We'll sing until the whole world hears
We'll sing until the whole world hears

Want to be your hands and feet
Want to be a life that leads
To see you set the captive free
Until the whole world hears
and I pray that they will see more of you and less of me
Lord I want my life to be the song You sing
Until the whole world hears Lord we are calling out
Lifting your name up for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we're crying out
as the day draws near
we'll sing until the whole world hears

And for some reason one line really jumped out at me....brought me to tears immediately.

"Lord I want my life to be the song You sing"

I want my life to be one that praises Him, that He would be proud of. I want my marriage to include God, to be at its center, I want Him to be my center, my strength. I want Him to plan my life, not me. I want my daughter to be blessed by His blessings. I want my Husband's heart to be full of Him! I want, I want, I want.....I want Him! And so I cried tears of joy. Cried because it makes complete sense. Cried because it is truly a beautiful thing to love Him and praise Him. God is GOOD!

What are you giving up for Lent?

I know, I know.....a lot of you aren't Catholic....but giving something up for Lent is a tradition Catholics do as a sacrifice during the 40 days and 40 night Jesus was in the desert before his Resurrection. Maybe this year....give something up. It is way harder than you think!


I am sure many of you have heard the typical....I am giving up sweets or soda or junk food....as an attempt to help that person loose some weight or something during this time....a kind of hit two birds with one stone if you will. Still a sacrifice, but this year I wanted to do something more....a Real Sacrifice for myself!

Many people give something up or some do something more during these 40 days, the Lenten Season, leading up to Easter. I decided to do some of both. In looking at my life, I have found that one thing is a real treat for me and something I totally do too much of (a bad habit), something that is not health, physically and financially. I eat out way too much! I love going out to dinner....I love watching a game and eating wings and drinking a beer (Taco Mac to be exact)....I love a good glass of wine with amazing Italian Food (Dominick's to be exact)...I love Chick-fil-a for everything (To be Exact)....I love it! And I shouldn't! I am not saying that you shouldn't enjoy a night out or really good food.....but I do it when financially I shouldn't. Guilty! So for these next 40 days, I will not be eating out! Not for any reason. So if you invite me....don't be offended when I say a big fat No....with a frown! But, I really do think this will be good for me in the end.

And as something to do in addition. As a Catholic, I am given a million wonderful tools to bring myself closer to God....ways to love Him more, to learn more about Him, to follow Him better....and I take advantage of none them. Shame on me. There is the Rosary, Adoration, Apologetics, the Catechism, and the list could go on forever. And I do none on a regular basis. So for this season, I will going to Confession once a week. Confession is such a wonderful gift that God has given to me, to all of us, and I don't even take advantage of it....but I am going to. There is no feeling like the one when you leave confession.....Like the elephant in the room has run far, far away. It is amazing!


So, what are you giving up as a sacrifice to honor the Ultimate Sacrifice?

Fat Tuesday....not this year!

We have come back to this time of year again! Mardi Gras and the wonderful Fat Tuesday celebrations! The day where you are supposed to eat a ton and all the bad things....sadly I do this way more often then just today! But.....this Fat Tuesday I will not be! BECAUSE Training has begun, People!

We are 10 weeks away from our big race in Nashville. I am so excited....and sore! Yesterday, was Zach and my first day training with our training schedule. We tracked out a course in our neighborhood and I am not sure I will ever run it again. It was all hills!!!! I am beyond sore today. But well worth it. I love feeling sore because it means my body worked hard.

So here is our training schedule:

Week 1 M-3, T-3, Th-3, Sat-4 Total: 13
Week 2 M-3, T-4, Th-3, Sat-5 Total: 15
Week 3 M-3, T-4, Th-3, Sat-6 Total: 16
Week 4 M-3, T-5, Th-3, Sat-8 Total:19
Week 5 M-3, T-5, Th-3, Sat-10 Total: 21
Week 6 M-4, T-5, Th-4, Sat-11 Total: 24
Week 7 M-4, T-6, Th-4, Sat-12 (Might as well just run a Half Marathon. Not to mention we will be in the mountains this week! Yikes!) Total: 26
Week 8 M-4, T-5, Th-4, Sat-9 Total: 22
Week 9 M-3, T-4, Th-3, Sat-8 Total:18
Week 10 (RACE WEEK) M-3, T-rest, W- 3, Thur- walk 2, F-rest and Sat the race! Total: 21

Should be interesting! And if I run all these days then I will be at 201 miles for my goal of 800 this year!

Wish me luck!

I am really looking forward to race weekend! My 2 sisters, Zach and I are all running. Plus, we are staying in the city, so we will get to sight see...I have only been to Nashville once for a school seminar in college and didn't get to see much.....so I can't wait! Plus, there is a free concert after the race....and I don't know who us performing yet....but it should be fun.

Have any of you been to Nashville or do you live there? Where are fun places to eat and visit?

Here is our running partner before our run yesterday.....she slept the whole time!

HAPPY

VALENTINE'S

DAY!
LOVE,
ZOE JANE

3 Months

So what has happened this past month...

• Zoe is wearing 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers and lots of hairbows.
• Zoe eats every 3-4 hours.
• Zoe has said goodbye to her swaddle and said hello to the sleep sac!
• Zoe loves her hands, especially gnawing on them like crazy. And her thumb and pointing finger are constantly shaped like a play gun.
• Zoe has great control of her head.
• Zoe's facial expressions are priceless....we are really seeing her personality.
• Zoe can sit in the Bumbo.
• Zoe is doing great with tummy time, but no rolling yet.
• Zoe loves her floor gym. She looks at herself in the mirror the whole time. She is also grabbing for the hanging toys now.
• Zoe loves her bath time and lotion massage afterwards.
• Zoe is very entertained by light still, especially from the television.
• Zoe is getting closer and closer to setting a sleeping schedule...every night and day are a little bit different. But she typically wakes up between 7-8am, takes a nap an hour later and from then on out....who knows! We try to lay her down around 8pm for bedtime but she typically doesn't fall asleep for good until 10. She still wakes once during the night to feed, but I am trying to ween her from this by 4 months. I am finding that consistency is key and we just need to be patient until about 4 months to get on a schedule.
• Zoe is laughing and you just can't help but laugh with her....it is so adorable.
• Zoe loves to smile and she smiles a ton!
• Zoe likes to be soothed at night by hold my finger.
• Zoe still loves her pacifier, pacie as we call it.
• Zoe still has her bright blue eyes and definitely has my coloring.
• Zoe has discovered her voice and is enjoying using it during the night.
• Zoe is a cuddle bug.
• Zoe has a ton of hair and it just keeps on coming.
• Zoe's lower lip is huge and I love it!
• Zoe turns her head looking at things all the time. She is very aware.
• Zoe is such a calm baby.

Things that have helped me survive this month:

• Finding my happy place....sanity is really important when mothering.
• You know when everyone says "Sleep when the baby sleeps." Well, I finally listened. Not having a good nights sleep for 3 months has really taken a toll on me. Zoe's morning nap is regular. So most of the time, I lay down when she lays down for this nap. It helps.
• My husband, once again, has helped me survive. He is such a great Daddy to Zoe Jane and such a great help around the house. If I ask him to do anything to help me out....consider it done!
• One thing that I am going to work on in this 4th month is getting a schedule for me! I am quite a "schedule" person, if you haven't noticed. I need to keep myself organized, just as much as I need to keep Zoe Jane organized. I am going to designate certain things to certain days, like laundry on Mondays, Grocery on Tuesdays, Mommy Group Wednesdays, and so on