Will You Be Mine?

You may notice a few pictures of cookies in this post. Maybe in every picture. I apologize for that. But it's because this is the Valentine's Day 2011 post!!


I love Valentine's. It is one of my favorite holidays. I love all things pink and red, chocolate, roses, cupids, jewelry, you name it! So I say "Boo!!" to all the haters! Love it up! :)


I made dinner and some homemade sugar cookies. I really made the cookies because I wanted Noah to help decorate them. Well...he tried but just isn't there yet. Here is the finished product and they are mighty tasty.





Here is Noah decorating...the table. The closest he got to sprinkling on the cookie was to plant the jar of sprinkles in the frosting. Oh well. He seemed to really enjoy shaking sprinkles out all over the table. I will continue to look forward to the days of craftiness together in the future.




Some of you may have seen the Smilebox I sent out this year because I never got it together and made Valentine cards. Kind of like my intention to make some "Happy New Year/Thanks for the Christmas Gift/We Moved!" cards and send those out. Anyway, these pics are from Noah eating a red velvet cake cookie on our front porch last weekend. I tried to leave out the ones with obvious crusty nose issues. :)

And the Mama scored big! Jeremy gave me this beautiful amethyst ring from James Avery and a pair of amethyst studs AND some white roses!

Finally, enjoy some smooth moves brought to you by our own Dancing Diapered Dude. (Sorry about the blurry lens, but the content was too cute to pass up.) Happy Heart Day!

Happy Hour!

We had such a great weekend! Jeremy's parents decided to drive over on Thursday and stayed until this morning. We had fun and got enormous amounts of stuff done around here! Except for a few things left to hang on the walls, the house is ready to go and open for business! I was also able to get a ton of errands taken care of too. Noah was a Papaw groupie all weekend but finally said "Mamaw" this morning before they left.

The only downside was Noah developing a yucky cough and cold over the weekend. We had to take a hiatus from the church search. I had an interview for a part-time counselor position with a local community college today and even found a lady who does child care out of her home that I really like who agreed to watch him while I was gone. Luckily, Jeremy was able to leave work and keep him.

So what do you do when you are sick, snotty, coughing, can't sleep more than 45 minutes at naptime, and generally grouchy, tired, and cabin-feverish? Head out for your first Sonic drink, of course!

Cranberry slushes are pretty darn good! And I guessed maybe the least of all the Sonic evils. :)

Mmmm!

Until you drop your cup and it busts everywhere. Hanging out on the front porch was a smart idea.

Sticky feet to follow.

Now we are snuggling in bed watching videos... lots of Elmo and Baby Einstein around here lately! I hope you have a great Monday and stay well!

Fiddle-Dee-Dee

More of what we've been up to lately!

Naps are better! I took the above photo to document my having to wake him up yesterday from a long one. :)

Noah's Kindermusik course is called "fiddle-dee-dee" for this session and it's pretty cute. I think he's really going to love it, as much as he enjoys music and dancing. And I think he's going to get the hang of this "social interaction" thing too. :) It might be a little pricey, but I think it will be worth it the end. Check it out if you've got a little one and are interested in some fun time, just the two of you, learning and interacting with other little guys.

I found a group on Meetup.com for moms and kids born in 2009. So far we went to one playdate at the park and plan to go visit someone's home tomorrow for another. There are usually 3 or 4 different meetups scheduled each week to choose from, and I'm hopeful we'll have a lot of fun with this.

Up until today, when the Great Arctic Blast of 2011 hit Austin, we have been living up the outdoors as much as we can. Noah has always loved to swing and has been unabashedly finding joy in the baby swing at the park. Even after 20 minutes of swinging, he still puts his head down and cries, or throws a fit, when time is up. He enjoys the slides and running around, but once he knows there's a swing there, forget about it.

Waving bye-bye to an airplane passing over. Have I mentioned this boy loves airplanes too? He hears every single one when we are outside and searches the skies for them.

There it goes!

Listening.

Where is the airplane, Noah? *He points.*

Finally, Mommy let him get in the swing.

I still almost can't believe God has blessed us so much and brought us back home so quickly! I still wonder what my purpose was in WV because when we went, I thought there must be a big something I was supposed to do out there. But I guess not. Maybe none of it was about me. I hope to find one here, aside from any personal happiness about being here.

Oh! Please continue praying for our house in WV! A couple looked at it Sunday and are trying to decide between making an offer on our house or one other they looked at.

Stay warm this week, Texans...and the rest of the country too, I guess!

What's the Word, Thunderbird?

I love Google. I wanted to use something to title my post about the latest everyday happenings of the Barclays that was a little more original than my "Morning Glory" title. So I googled "What's the word..." and came up with the rest of that saying (I guess) that I could not recall. Smile.

So we survived the move and I'm back with an update to entertain the masses, since I have been reminded that people need something to do to fend off boredom. Not naming any names but...ahem, Terry.

We got out of the hotel and into a rental home just north of Cedar Park, in Leander. If you are thinking of DFW, and Austin is like Dallas, then Cedar Park is like Plano or Frisco, and Leander is like umm...Wylie. There is a Kohl's, Lowe's, and humongous HEB Plus. There are a few fast food places, but mostly we end up driving the 10 minutes into Cedar Park everyday so far. We think the house is great. We're happy to be back in a one-story (no more two-stories, I'm over it!) and we were relieved to find a place that was clean, freshly painted (not white), with brand new carpet, and new appliances, all within the price range we were shooting at. And it's got 4 bedrooms. None of the other places we viewed shared these qualities. Anyway, who knows when I will get pictures posted.

We are pretty well settled in except for finishing up the decor. I still have pictures to hang and we are waiting on reinforcements to hang the curtains, since neither Jeremy or I can stand that. It is challenging with a toddler who gets bored easily to get everything done quickly. I really miss his baby-sitter mornings! We have visited a Mother's Day Out program and I made contact with another lady who does child care out of her home but I am holding off since Noah seems to be adjusting a bit slowly here.

You know how toddlers are. Or maybe you don't. Let's just say that a new sippy cup (he chewed through the spout in his beloved silicone Munchkin cups) or a new brand of oatmeal (can't find his Earth's Best Maple & Brown Sugar with Elmo on the box anywhere--if you see some, drop me a line) are both reasons to have a meltdown in the morning. The kind where you intentionally hit your head on the tile or wall, throw yourself backwards, etc. Life is frustrating when you are 21 months old. So, I should have expected this transition might be harder than past ones. But even in September he bounced back well from our week of travel to Texas. He is doing better now but I still haven't seen him go to bed at 8:30pm and sleep until 7:30am AND take 3 hour naps. Most of those naps have been an hour and a half lately with him waking up in the morning at 6:30am or so. Which used to cause him to sleep later the next morning when his nap was short, but no more. I am holding out hope that everything will return to its former glory one of these days. All I can figure is that it's noisier here with street noise, so I am trying out a fan today in addition to the sound machine. :p

I have been hitting the gym as much as I can to get ready for our big cruise coming up in March with our friends, the Nutts. Although Noah hates the day care and it seems to be traumatic for him, we saw a little improvement during our last visit. We also started Kindermusik last week and he loves it, once he realizes that I am not going to leave him. That is our Wednesday morning activity. I went to meetup.com and found a local playgroup for 2009 kiddos that meets for various activities during the week and we tried that on Friday. We went to a park and had fun meeting some new folks. That's a great thing around here, parks everywhere! Noah is really enjoying that aspect.

We are LOVING the mild weather and get outside everyday that we can. This morning, the three of us went to check out Brushy Creek Park. We did some running on the trails around the lake and let Noah swing for a while. We are already scoping out Craigslist for a BOB jogging stroller and bike trailer. Going to live it up in Austin! (Until the 100+ degree temps arrive, then I'm out for a while.) We also drove out to see the "entrance" to the Hill Country. Not so unlike WV, just a little smaller mountains. And we are visiting a new church every week now until we find The One. Hopefully that will happen soon. I am excited to get involved. We are really happy to be home. Jeremy tells me every other day how much he loves it here. We are going to try to stay longer than the average 18 months to 3 years that a COO typically spends at a hospital. We are in no hurry to go anywhere this time!

Whew! Sorry, I haven't taken too many pics lately and I'm all out of steam now. Enjoy this wonderful weekend!

Hello, Texas!

And welcome back! We are SO glad to be here. Jeremy loves his new hospital and co-workers. He keeps saying how much he loves it here. Especially following dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.

I also am going to love it here. I know it. I have spent most of the week hating moving, however. I HATE moving!!! Whew. Glad to get that out. Unfortunately, moving is going to be my life. It has been a little challenging living in a hotel suite, since Noah gets "hotel fever" pretty bad. And when you don't have an end in sight....well, I got a little antsy during the first part of the week. How many times can you say "No!" in one day? Really?

But, GREAT news! After struggling to find the right rental home, and losing out on one we really liked, the perfect place came up and we jumped on it! Tomorrow we are moving in. This has been a relatively speedy transition and I am super grateful. God has it all laid out for us.

Noah and I occupied ourselves by attending our first Kindermusik class this week and plenty of shopping at Target. (Can't tell you how thrilling it is to be surrounded by so many options again!) I have signed us up for 12 weekly Kindermusik classes at $245. Yikes! But it was painfully obvious while we there that Noah has never been in a structured environment before and I decided that it will be really good for him. (i.e. he was pushing the other kids and pulling their hair. But smiling and being friendly at the same time. So embarrassing.) It was apparent that the other kids were either really good, or used to the gig since it was their last class. So we'll see how it goes.

Jeremy's parents are arriving tomorrow to help us with Noah while we get settled into the new place. So excited!

Saying Good-bye Part II

Here are just a few of the jewels I will miss from the great city of Lewisburg, WV!

The Wild Bean.

Everything is vegetarian, organic, local stuff. They have the best. coffee. ever. I brought 2 little bags of it to Texas with me and will miss it when it's gone, though I probably could order more. I especially love their Peppermint Hot Chocolate. They make the best "Fakin' Bacon" burritos around. Walk inside, and you come out wearing a semi-permanent cologne of coffee and grease. ;)

The Irish Pub.

I only went in here once maybe, but its still a cool place.

Honnahlee.

The toy store. I have purchsed several gifts here, along with things for Noah. They carry some unique toys, and a nice selection of Melissa & Doug.

The Hardware Gallery.

One of my favorite shops. My Blenko pitcher and Fiestaware spoonrest and butter dish came from here. (Did you know that Blenko glassware and Fiestaware are both made in WV?) I also have a "Cinda B" purse and messenger bag from here. The messenger bag makes for an awesome purse/diaper bag.

The Sweet Shoppe. :)

Site of much mountain jigging on my 30th birthday.

The Bakery.

My special place. It was hard working right next door. Best pizza and bagels in the world. I liked to buy fresh eggs from the farm from here too. Somehow, eggs are a million times better to me when I know they were laid by some local hens. I like them in various colors and sizes, not all white and equal in size. (How can those sorts of eggs be real?) I digress...

Studio 40.

Owned by Mary Chappell. She opened this store 2 years ago and opened the other store in the Art Colony at the Greenbrier 30 years ago. She is kind, generous, and has more energy and determination than most people I know. It was a delight to be a part of the store for even just a little while. And I was able to puchase some really neat American made items at great prices!

A map of Greenbrier County hanging in the beautiful new Visitors Center.

I never bought any shoes here, but here is the Yarid's Outlet. The "real" Yarid's is in the Greenbrier and I cannot afford it. I believe Jeremy bought my "something leather" here for our 3rd anniversary. It was a Brighton bracelet with charms.

Harmony Ridge Gallery.

Probably my favorite shop of all. Such cool and funky things! Jeremy bought me a beautiful pottery veggie steamer here and I bought plenty of gifts here as well.

This concludes our tour of downtown Lewisburg. I also have taken plenty of pictures of the Greenbrier, Carnegie Hall, the River Trail, Beartown State Park, and the Farmers Market along the way.

Noah had to say good-bye to Freda, the baby-sitter that has taken care of him since he was 7 months old. I think she was a little sad. Noah is a particular kid and not one to follow the crowd nexessarily, so they had their moments but ended up with a sweet relationship. I am most feeling guilty about taking Noah away from her. She is the only baby-sitter he does not mind being left with. :(

The morning before we flew out, Jeremy and I took Noah to the John Deere store, just for fun. He totally would have gotten this tricycle for his birthday! He cried when we took him off.

Lewisburg, you will always hold a special place in my heart!

Sandstone Falls

I realized that I neglected to post some pictures we took on our trip to Sandstone Falls on November 14. I believe this is the New River.