Gratitude and Goals

Is it any wonder that she tops
my gratitude list?

I've decided to spends Sundays focusing on all my blessings (not that I don't think about them everyday, but I think it's good to set time aside for just that) and thinking about what I want to accomplish during the week to come. Sometimes I spend so much time focusing on what I haven't gotten done, that I don't think about what I want to do.





This week, I'm grateful for:

• Zoe's smiles - What can I say? I'm head over heels in love with her and everytime she smiles my heart melts and I feel invincible.
• Michele - I'm grateful for everything about Michele, but lately I am just so in love with her as an amazing mom to Zoe. She's so good at loving our little girl.
• Lisa Gonzalez - Her blog, Happy Mama's Journal, inspires me everytime I read it. She is so full of goodness and light that I feel blessed for having known her.
• Wegmans Food Mart - I'm grateful for Wegmans not just because they employ Michele and provide us with an income and health insurance, but because our Wegmans is full of wonderful people who know our names and always have a smile for us and a kind question about Zoe. Plus, I love the convenience of having access to good, healthy food just up the street.
• Nancy Topolski and her knitting needles - I just got a pair of Nancy's fingerless gloves and for the first time in forever my hands aren't cold as I'm typing this.
• Amazing crafters vending in the cold - I'm so grateful that my friends Kira, Karen, and Sabra went out in the cold today so that I could enjoy hanging out at a craft show.
• Good friends and a wonderful family - we worked on Zoe's baby book today, on the section about who her family is, and I count us so lucky to have so many wonderful people written down on those pages. We are very well supported in life.

And my goals for this coming week are:

• To spend more time in prayer - I don't talk to God nearly enough and I have so much to say "thank you" for.
• To reach out to a friend with an email or phone call.
• To keep up with my chores - I'm finally getting caught up and don't want to get behind again.
• To work on Zoe's flannel quilt - I'd like to finish cutting the fabric.
• To call my parents - since becoming a parent, I don't talk to them as much as I'd like to. I need to fix that.

With honest intentions, I'll strive to do my best this week and have the best attitude while doing so.

What are you grateful for this week? What would you like to accomplish?

Cousins/Friends

In addition to the visits from the grandparents and the road trip to meet Uncle Joel, we enjoyed a visit from my sister, Kym, and niece and nephew, Isabelle and Alexander. Cousins are so special. We never lived close enough to really grow up with ours and Kym live in Pennsylvania, about 5 hours from us. Not far, but not around the corner either. Since having Zoe, the distance from family feels even greater. Especially from Kym, as it would be fun to be moms together and have our little ones grow up together. No matter, we may be apart, but visits like this summer's make all the difference!

Sharing is important, but when it comes to drool. . .

 

 

Summer Fun

It's been a fun, but busy summer. Here's a pictorial review of what we've been up to over the past few months:

Enjoyed a visit from Nana - May

And from Grampa and GG - June

Went to the beach - June

Went to the Butterfly Conservatory - July

Planted a garden and built a fence around it - May



Feasted on cucumbers from that well-protected garden - July

And undoubtedly the best of all was our August road trip to meet Uncle Joel:

 

Arising from the Deep

Ahh, it feels like I'm finally coming up for air. It's so amazing being a mom! I truly love it! And I feel like I'm finally getting some semblance of balance among all the different hats I wear. Right now, I'm focusing on simplicity in most things so that I can spend as much time as possible on the things and people I love. It feels really good.

And blogging is something that I really want to get back to. It really feeds something to write and share my life with you all, so I'm definitely going to keep this in my priorities. It's been so long that I feel like a newbie at it again, though!

So, what's happening in my life now?

Zoe is nearly 10 months old - so crazy fast!! I feel like I was just pregnant yesterday!!

I've mourned and let go of Element K, the company that I used to work for that was purchased and closed during my 3rd trimester. I now work as Zoe's mom, run my shop, and do some contract work as an Instructional Designer.

I'm enjoying whipping my shop back into shape. I couldn't do much while on bedrest and didn't want to do much during Zoe's first months, so it needs quite a bit of work. It's been really fun though thinking about what direction I want to take my quilting work.

I spend as much time as possible loving Zoe and Michele and having fun together as a family. It's sheer bliss!! I love every minute of it!

I'm looking forward to reintroducing myself to whoever is out there reading and getting to know you all, too!