Testing Pictures

OK, my other attempt to post pictures didn't work how I wanted it to. Ideally, you would be able to click the picture to see a larger one. Let me see if I can get this right now.

Yay! I think I figured it out. Now to go back and fix the pictures from the train show...

BTW, in case you were wondering, that's a picture of Mara at my company's picnic last June.

ETA: I got the train show pictures updated, but they're still not linked correctly. Guess I'll have to wait until I'm home to get those fixed because I don't have those pictures up here at work yet.

Baby Fever

It seems like we know a lot of people who are having babies this year.

Our friends had their new little boy last Thursday. Another couple found out they're having a little girl in June. Someone I used to work with is due in August. And we were told Friday that another one of my friends from college is pregnant with twins, and her due date is in August.

I am so excited for all of these people, and I can't wait to meet their little ones. Hopefully we can go through the same experience as them, but we'll have to wait a couple of weeks to find out if it's our time yet. In the meantime, I'll just celebrate with them.

In Rememberance

This week marks one of the worst weeks in our lives. It's been seven years now since we lost many people we knew and loved. I just wanted to take a moment to remember them. They left a lasting legacy not just through us but through everyone whose life they touched.

For those who would like to read more about what happened this week in 2001, go back and read my post from about this time last year.

Going to Church

I hate to admit it, but we've only been to church once in the past two years, and that wasn't even to our own church. The Sunday after my mom died, we attended FUMCR with the rest of my family, but the last time we went to a service at our church was for Mara's baptism in December 2005. We have been to Sunday school many times since then but even that tapered off. The last time we even attended a class was back in July the Sunday before my mom died. Don't get me wrong, though. I really like our church and the people there, but for some reason recently, I haven't felt the desire to go to church and I don't really know why.

One of the reasons we got out of the habit of going to church and Sunday school is because John usually works most weekends. And with his schedule, he is usually leaving for work or taking his lunch around the time we would be going to or at church and Sunday school. So instead, I chose to spend Sunday mornings with my family. The thing is, though, John has had a lot of weekend days off this month, and we still haven't managed to make it. I always come up with some sort of excuse – Mara got to bed late, I'm stressed out at work, I have too much to do, we have plans for Sunday afternoon, etc.

I know that by not attending I'm not getting the whole worship and Christian fellowship experience, but honestly, I don't know how much of that I was getting before. I don't think it's a matter of the church itself – it's us. But not "us" as in we're questioning God or anything. We still pray and know that God will take care of us, but it seems like we were just going through the motions with church.

Maybe it is good that we take this break. I know it's not the first time I've done it, and one of these days we'll be ready to get actively involved in our church again.

Another anniversary

Today is the 11th anniversary of our first date. We're not doing anything special because of it. In fact, John closes tonight at work, and I'm not going to see him until he comes home sometime after 10. Sometimes it's hard to believe that we've been together for 11 years now (more than 1/3 of our lives), but most of the time it's hard to remember life before we were together. I look forward to many more years with my wonderful husband.

Blogging

I'm doing pretty good about blogging more so far. Of course, it helps that we have a lot going on and there's also a lot on my mind and I need to express it in some way. I also finally have some free time to actually do this. Things have been so crazy both at work and at home the past few months, but I think they're finally starting to settle back down. Let's hope that it stays that way – at least for a while.

As for today, I'm spending the day at home with my daughter. I was getting ready this morning when she walked in with her hair looking all wet. Upon closer inspection, I realized she had actually thrown up. So, she immediately went into the bath while I called everyone to tell them I wouldn't be at work today and she wouldn't be at school. She seems fine now, so we think it's something she ate. However, I think it's better that she stayed home in case it was something else. Besides, it has given me time to wash all of her bedding. Hopefully she'll be able to go back to school tomorrow.

Train Show

Yesterday, we took my dad to the Dallas Area Train Show. He has always been interested in model trains, and I remember him and my brothers playing with them when I was little. Ever since my mom got sick last year, Diane and I have been trying to get him to get back into them as a hobby.

Well, the train show was a big hit. My dad loved walking around looking at all the vendor booths and talking to the people there. He got a lot of information about the various clubs and organizations around here, so hopefully that will give him something to do. Diane and I were also able to find out a little more about the time he actually worked for the Kansas City Southern Railway (back when he and my mom first got married). We also got a lot of ideas for what to get him for his birthday, Father's Day, etc. :)

Mara also like going around and looking at the exhibits. Ever since we called and invited my dad to the show, she kept talking about going to see Thomas and insisted on wearing her Thomas shirt.

And now for something different, I'm going to try to actually post some pictures on this blog.

These are untouched pictures, but I figured this would be a quicker way to get them posted so you guys can see. I'm sure I'll upload more to the website when I've updated them.

Another Birthday or Two

Today would have been my mom's 70th birthday. It is also the 6-month mark since she left us. I miss my mom so much - sometimes more than others and especially this week. I wish she could have been around to celebrate this milestone as well as her and Daddy's 50th anniversary back in September. At least I know that she is in a much better place and completely healed after suffering from various ailments for so long, and one day we'll all get to see her again.

Also, tomorrow is my sister-in-law Myra's birthday, so I want to wish her a happy birthday as well.

This day also marks an anniversary for John and I. It's not one that we really celebrate, but it's hard to forget when it happened since it was my mom's birthday. Eleven years ago today, John asked me out on our first date. Sure, it took some persuasion from the rest of the staff at the O'Colly (OSU's newspaper), but John and I were on track to start dating anyway – they just gave him the needed push. And I'm very thankful for that. Who knew on that day that we would end up a happily married couple who is getting ready to celebrate 10 years together this June.

TTC Sucks

TTC = Trying To Conceive

For those of you who don't know (and not many do), we've been trying to conceive our second child since our trip to San Antonio back in October, and unfortunately it hasn't worked so far.

I am such a planner. I like to know exactly when things will happen, so this is really throwing me for a loop. When we decided we were ready to start having children, I knew I wanted to have a baby in March so I would be pregnant during the winter for the most part. I got pregnant the very first time we tried, and Mara was born almost 9 months later on March 24.

I know people have said that it's not as easy to conceive the second time, but I didn't want to believe them. I had a plan, and it was going to work. I wanted to have our next child in July because that would evenly spread out our birthdays and make them all two months apart (March, May, July, September). Because of my cycle, we even had two chances of having a baby in July.

However, God had other plans.

So, here were are, getting ready to start our fifth cycle of trying to conceive with no baby in sight yet. Maybe this will be our time, maybe it won't. Both of us know that we will have our second child when we're ready, and apparently God doesn't think the timing is right yet. We just have to keep trusting in Him, and it will happen when it's supposed to. It's hard, though. Especially when I keep finding out people are getting pregnant all around me, including three of my friends who are all due at various times in 2008. This last time was even more of a disappointment than the others. Mostly because I should have been testing this weekend, and then I could go ahead and tell my family on what would have been my mom's 70th birthday - kind of bring a bright spot to a more somber occasion.

But there's nothing we can do to interfere with God's plans, so we'll just be ready and waiting for when God decides to bless us with a second child. In the meantime, we'll definitely keep trying. :)

Happy Birthday!

We just wanted to wish John's mom a very happy birthday! Hope you have a great day.

Also, I just realized that my blog celebrated it's birthday a couple of weeks ago. Wow. Where did the time go? Here's to another year of blogging with hopefully a lot more posts. :)

Potty Training Woes

Potty training a 2-year-old can be very frustrating. Right now, we're trying to get Mara to take the lead, but it just isn't happening. She knows she'll earn lots of toys just by staying dry while at school, pooping in the potty, or moving to big girl panties, but those things just don't seem to motivate her.

Back in November or so, her school said that she kept asking for Pull-Ups. We weren't going to go that route since Pull-Ups are basically diapers but more expensive, but we decided to try it out since she was asking for them and saw her friends using them. Well, two months later, she's still in Pull-Ups. The funny thing is that she was going to the potty better before when she was in diapers, and she has regressed now that she is wearing Pull-Ups.

I know my daughter, and she'll do things when she's good and ready (just look at crawling, walking, jumping, etc.). I just hope she'll be ready soon because I'm already getting tired of this potty training fight, and we aren't even doing it 100% of the time.

Maybe one of these days...

Regular blogging?

While both of our names on this blog, it's really been just me, Cindy, posting information on it, and I've kind of made it one of my resolutions to start posting more regularly on this blog even if no one actually reads it. It makes sense since I'm a writer. In fact, it's my job, but I think that is why I haven't been very good at keeping this updated.

I do think that blogging more regularly would be a good way for me to get my thought and feelings out. There's been so much going on lately that John and I barely have time to talk about it much less remember to tell the rest of our families. If you read our Christmas newsletter, we gave you a quick synopsis of 2007, but hopefully this blog will help keep you guys more informed. Besides, readers might even find out about things before we get a chance to even tell our families in person. Also, it will help me with journaling when I find the time to update Mara's scrapbook again.

I did want to leave a few comments before I signed off. I don't want to get too personal because I feel that these are other people's stories to share.

• For those who are going through a hard time right now or their world has been turned upside down, please know that we are praying for you.
  
• For those who are expecting a baby in 2008 or have already had one, know that we are excited for you and hope that we can soon share the same experience.
  
• For those who have lost someone recently or are caring for someone who is very sick, know that we understand what you are going through and we want to help you in any way we can.
  
• For those who are starting or getting ready to start down a new road in life, you'll do great. You have the love and support of all of those around you, and you can count on them for almost anything.
  
• For those who I never call or write to, know that I do think about you often - just usually when I can't call or email you. Thank you for usually being the one to contact me.

Now I really need to get back to work, but look forward to more posts from me (and maybe even John) in the future!