Just a quick note...

Well, I think the stomach flu has finally made it's rounds and we're all recooperating, Josh included. Luckily it seemed to be only about a 12 hour bug, although Mommy seemed to have gotten the worst of it! (Oh well!) We're still dealing with bouts of naseau and of course, weakness and soreness..but we'll get back to normal eventually!

Josh and Reagan are taking naps while I attempt to do the massive mound of laundry..I swear almost every towel in the house was dirty along with most of the blankets, sheets and a good pile of clothing! And I think we've gone through every glass too!

My mother in law and father in law were sweet enough to go pick up some groceries for us to help get us through the next few days...let's hear it for Ginger Ale and Saltines! WOOHOO!

I hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!

Families, marriage, respect...

I'm reading an incredible book, which, by the way, is not on my book list for this spring..oops! The book is My Heart's At Home by Jill Savage. I'm only a little way into the book and I have to say it is so empowering.

Jill says that the book is geared toward helping women become 'intentional moms'. The life lessons she provides are real, honest, down to earth and can be translated into our daily lives easily. She offers practical advice about making our homes a safe haven in today's world and by doing so, we are making over ourselves into those 'intentional moms' she speaks about!

Last night I was able to put one of her lessons into practice and much to my amazement, it worked incredibly well! Jill emphasizes the fact that homes need to be places where we feel respect, but it's usually the one place where we let our guards down enough that respect slowly oozes away from us. That has definitely been true in our house.

At bedtime I went in to tell Josh that we had forgotten Pritsha's (our cat) birthday. He glared at me in fustration and muttered some ill-mannered phrase. It hurt, because while it wasn't important to him, it was important to me and he could have chosen a better way to respond to me. Instead of lashing out in anger as I normally would have which would have resulted in a huge argument and dissolved into us acting like children, I simply said 'Josh, I really feel disrespected when you act like that towards me.' He was quiet for a moment and said 'I'm sorry.' He didn't ask for my forgiveness like Jill suggests, but this was a huge step forward for us--I didn't react in anger, and he apologized! Amazing! I can tell it made such a huge difference to me! I went to bed very happy instead of seething and carrying it over to poison the next day.

Then something else happened! I asked him if we needed to do something (turn on the heater for our daughter--I'm always cold..he's a much better judge of temp!) and he said 'No. I don't think so.' Then he said, 'Good idea, though!' WE WERE BEING POLITE! Normally, being polite is the furthest thing from the conversations that occur in our home! I was so ecstatic!

It just takes a simple step forward and you can make such a huge difference in your home life. I'm eagerly looking forward to more of Jill's insights into building a firm foundation for our family!

Happy Birthday to my sweetie!

Today is my husband's birthday! This morning I was telling Reagan that today is Daddy's birthday and he's oooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllld....then he kindly reminded me that he is now the same age I am, and if he's old, then I'm ancient. Nice. Very Nice.

At any rate, I just want to say Happy Birthday to him and let him know how much Reagan, Pritsha, Porthos and I love him!

We're not really doing much in the way of birthday celebrating tonight because next weekend we're taking Friday and Saturday and heading to the Purdue Spring Game and doing some fun stuff together. Josh has been looking forward to taking Reagan to a football game since she was in my tummy and the size of a tiny bean! And since we all share a passion for football, this should be an incredible family time together!!

**On a side note: Yes, I did miss Toddler Thursday this Thursday and I am so sorry to those of you who were looking for it. Next Thursday will be great, I promise!

Well, I'm off to air out the house, take out the garbage, make the bed...you know, all the usual mommy stuff :) while Reagan is taking a nap! Enjoy the day..it's perfect here!

Men!

More specifically my husband, Josh. What a loon...a loon, but a sweet loon! This morning I called to tell him he had left his laptop at home and he said "Oh, I know. That's my spare. I left it there just so I could have you call me this morning." Ok, I know that's not REALLY why he did it, but it was sweet anyway and made my heart melt. (Can you tell I'm the girl that fell for corny pick up lines?!)

And last night while we were climbing into our makeshift beds (Carpet cleaning and repainting bedrooms!), I heard him cuddle up with our, excuse me, HIS cat, Pritsha and the following ensued in a syrup-y, sweet voice complete with little kissy sounds!

"Ohhh, you're daddy's little sweetie aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are. Daddy loves you. Here, cuddle up and stay warm." And then he proceeded to cover her up and fuss over her lack of hair growth from her surgery.

I was cracking up...all this from my sports loving, grass-mowing, ultra-practical husband! I know he'd die if he knew I was sharing this. But I had to! What a sweet guy!

Happy 5th Anniversary to us! (Josh and Leah)

It's our fifth anniversary!

Josh and I "met" in August of 2000. Actually, we became online chat friends! Yes, that's right, we met online. We were both in a 20s something chat room and both of us and another guy were quickly cracking everyone up. Gradually the three of us moved into our own room to chat and Josh and I started meeting online, calling each other and emailing. Soon after, we were sending cards and letters and pictures. We were JUST FRIENDS however, since we had never even met, and in August 2001, Josh decided to fly out to NC for his fall break to hang out.

I was dating another guy at the time, but that quickly ended as I fell in love with Josh! In March 2002, we became engaged and in March 2003 we were married! 5 years, 1 baby, 2 cats, a couple of moves and a few jobs later....here we are!

Here are a few photos of us through the years:


Our engagement photo!


Us dancing at our wedding!


Us with the furbabies!


Reagan's first fall fest with mommy and daddy!


This past Christmas with Reagan!

Show & Tell Friday and tons of other fun stuff!

[If you want to skip all of this and just get to the show and tell, it's below I promise, but for those of you who are interested....] Somehow I managed not to post every day this week as I had initially intended. In my defense however, it has been a really long and hectic week. Reagan is sick again. We're not sure if she has yet another ear infection or if she has some massive teeth coming in. We keep asking her if she's 'owee' in her ear or her mouth and she points to her mouth, but I'm not positive she understands what 'owee' means just yet. So, today will probably yield yet another doctor's office visit. I swear, that man could retire in the south of France just off what he makes from our family.

On other news, Josh and I have decided NOT to move. Yes, after all the packing and craziness that has ensued in this house for the past month, we are NOT moving. This decision was based on the fact that the market has been so s--l---o-----o-----o---w and Josh's company is really affected by that since they cater to the new home market and also, to the home improvement market. Additionally, Josh is desparately trying to finish up his MBA and we do want to adopt soon--all of which costs a ton of money. So, we're doing some home improvement projects to the house, unpacking what was packed, cleaning, sprucing up and making better use of space so that we can be here for another 3 years.

Reagan will also be getting a new 'big girl's room'! I'm really excited about this--we're moving her to the now junk, um, er I mean, guest room and we'll set up her current nursery as a nursery for a potential little brother. I think her new room is going to be green and pink, which is similiar but a little more grown up, than her current nursery of green and raspberry. Our son's room will be cowboy themed, based around Josh's cowboy blanket from his little boy days! Promise to post pics when it's all done---who knows when that will be!?

And finally, I'd like to announce that my best friend, Stacy, has moved her blog to Blogger! Visit her by clicking here at Insanity Happens! Great name, isn't it? She is the mom of 4, yes, I said 4, God bless her soul, kids, and wife to a wonderful guy named Stephen who, I'm proud to say, serves us and his country as a soldier in the US Army. They are about to move to Italy for the next several years, which means that, at some point, I too, will be visiting! Stace has been my best friend for let's see....17 years now?? Was that how long ago 6th grade was? Hold on, let me pick myself up off the floor. Gosh, I really am getting old.
Anyway, please visit her blog. You'll read all sorts of wonderful stuff about her life and dealing with her crazy, but beautiful and smart, kids! She also has some great insight into being a good Christian woman and the life that God intends us to lead. One day I'll tell you guys all about Stace and what an incredible best friend she is...she's actually more sister than best friend and she knows everything about me and still loves me! She usually backs me up on hare-brained schemes and holds my hand when life gets too tough. Stay tuned for that..I promise you'll get some great laughs!

I'm also hoping to talk her into co-hosting a Thursday meme with me! Stay tuned for that..more to come NEXT THURSDAY!!!

And now.....(drumroll please..........) Show and Tell Friday!

*Show & Tell Friday is hosted by Kelli. Visit her site to see more great show and tell items!

Below is my wire rooster--I actually collect roosters. It's a small collection but I have four and I love each one of them. The one below was a gift from my mother in law for Christmas one year (as Josh says, when we got gifts, because now they all go to Reagan! LOL! He's not serious..we still get presents!). I had actually spent the entire year looking for a wire pig because I had seen one in a decorating magazine filled with green apples and I just *had* to have one. I never found that stupid wire pig (until later I did find one at JoAnns but I was completely disenchanted at that point). However, my mother in law found my rooster at an antique's store and picked it up for me! I love the way he's rusty and made with chicken wire and he appeals to me in such a wonderful, southern way! Thanks so much for looking! (And Hootin Annie if you're out there, I do visit your blog..I can just never figure out how to post a dang comment!)

It's Valentine's Day

...and I feel obliged to write a post regarding said day! So far, today has been...well pretty much a normal day. Reagan and I woke up, ate breakfast, had our shower/bath, got dressed, went grocery shopping, looked at some more houses (this is the norm lately!), came home, unloaded groceries, had lunch, fought for several hours to get her to take a nap and I cleaned the kitchen and am doing some laundry.

So, all in all, pretty normal. The one exception was surprising Reagan with a highchair surrounded by balloons this morning! She went nuts over her froggy balloon (she saw it in Wal-Mart the other day and I think it reminded her of another froggy balloon I bought for her birthday!) and she had much fun playing with, i mean, chewing on, the blocks I bought her.

We were going to make cupcakes this afternoon after her nap, but it's getting pretty late and we definitely don't need MORE sweets around here! However, we are having some yummy dinner tonight, along with some heart cookies I already purchased and we're all opening up our Valentine's cards (that is, Josh and Reagan will....who knows if I'll get a card!??). Reagan gets one more surprise--a stuffed moo cow, and then we'll probably all fall into bed, exhausted!

I did actually ask Josh not to spend a bunch of money on me. In other words, I would rather we save the cash than have him spend $30-$40 on a bunch of overpriced roses that are going to die in a few days! I don't need chocolate..I got a ton of that from my office and I've never been a big jewelry person--although I do have my eye on a gorgeous blue topaz pendant (Reagan's birthstone), but that can be for another holiday that actually means something! (um, er Mother's Day, anyone??) Right now I'm just hoping for a heartfelt card and maybe a bunch of daisies or even a potted plant..maybe an iris or crocus or something very spring-y. You know, to remind me that it won't be freezing cold forever!

Well, I think that does it for my Valentine's post! Here are some pictures to enjoy!

*Oh: please ignore the piled boxes and bags in the background..boxes are for moving, bags go to Goodwill!*