Where have I been??

It's been a long time since I've updated this blog.   A lot has happened since March (my last post).  For one, I have a ONE YEAR old (almost 13 month old now).  Ava's growing so fast!  She's walking more and more every few days.  She took her first steps at 11 months, but still isn't exclusively walking- she prefers to hold on to a finger or two.  Today she walked from the kitchen to her room and even though we have a fairly small house, that's a huge feat for her!  She loves her baby dolls, snoopy, books, our 2 backyard chickens, eating, drinking from her sippy cup and bottle (haven't had the heart to wean yet), playing patty cake, hanging upside down from my arms, and countless other things.  Her 7th tooth is finally poking through and her hair is finally starting to get long (still not long enough for a bow, though). 

Jason will be starting the new school year in August teaching 6th math at a new school.  He's excited for the new experience and I'm thrilled for him! 

I'm one size away from my goal weight/size (and Jason's lost 40+ pds)!!  I've been slacking a bit lately, and haven't set a date for my goal, but I'm confident I'll get there.  My last blog post was about starting the couch to 5k running program and it definitely works.  I STRONGLY recommend it to ANYONE.  I started off not being able to run for more than a minute (or not wanting to run for any longer, maybe I could have, maybe not), and my longest run with no walking has been 2 1/2 miles.  I did my first 5k the beginning of June, but didn't do as I had planned.  I was sick the week of and was off my running schedule before that (excuses, excuses), but I was happy to finish!  I've also started teaching a Zumba fitness class at my church (started May 16).  Such a great time that I look forward to each week. 

That about covers a Barthalow family update :) 

I think I can, I think I can

I started the Couch to 5K running plan today.  I'm not exactly starting from the couch, but it felt like it!  This week will be running 60 sec. and walking 90 for a total of 20 min (not including warm-up and cool-down).  Those 60 seconds, however many times I did it (8 or 9), is probably the most I've ever ran.  And today was not a desirable running day (46 degrees and cloudy outside) but I bundled Ava up and off we went.

She has turned into the best walking buddy!  Several months ago when I'd go walking at Shelby Farms I would end up carrying her because she hated being in the stroller so much.  It definitely didn't provide incentive for me to go walking (and the weather wasn't exactly consistently walker friendly either), but now she can go 30 minutes without a peep!   I've always loved walking and I'm so glad I can finally share that with Ava.

Gratitude

Yesterday's sermon at church was about Gratitude.  I love sermon's that are simple enough to stick with you through the week and that get you thinking.  Thanking God for all that I have is definitely not a foreign concept.  I try my best to do that all through the year (not just Thanksgiving!) because I really do have SO many blessings all because of Him.  It's hard not to want more things (a bigger house, newer car, expensive clothes), so I love the times that bring me back to reality and show me all the amazing things in my life.  I have an incredible husband who supports me and loves me like crazy.  He was a God send.  I have the most incredible 10 month baby girl who has been a blessing to both of us (we're afraid to have another one because what are the chances of having TWO perfect babies?! lol).  Those are the two biggest ones... I have so many more though.  "Every blessing You pour out, I'll turn back to praise," (lyrics from Blessed be Your Name) is what I try to do with every blessing.  Realizing that it's nothing we have done or could ever do, but simply because He loves us, is all that matters. 


The most recent blessing I'm thrilled about happened yesterday.  I've been dreaming about having a personal trainer for a while.  Dream is the operative word here because I knew that it wasn't gonna happen ($$$)!.  Yesterday, I attended a Zumbathon (Zumba is another blessing) benefitting the American Heart Association.  $10 to Zumba with 7 instructors for 1 1/2 hours.  Everyone received a ticket (two tickets if you wore red, and I didn't have ONE read shirt appropriate for Zumba in my closet, so no red for me) for several give aways.  I told the girl sitting next to me that I probably wouldn't win anything since I only had one ticket and 98% of the rest of the women had 2.  One of the prizes was 4 30-minute personal training sessions with a trainer from Well Worx.  My number didn't get called and of course I was bummed.  A few drawings later, the instructor prefaced the prize with something like "this is the best one,"... 30 day free membership to Well Worx, 6 1-hour personal training sessions, and 2 1-hour massages.  WOW!  And I won!!  Such a HUGE blessing that I'm extremely grateful for.  I can't wait to started.

I don't expect to receive everything I dream of, but isn't it amazing how God hears our desires (even the non-spiritual ones) and blesses us.  How incredible!  

Baby Steps

Today needs to be documented with a blog post- Ava stood on her own and took ONE step!  I'm not necessarily rejoicing because she's about to be walking... I'm not ready for this!  But it was a very exciting moment!  Her cousin came over briefly and was on the floor holding her up.  I guess Abagael decided to let go and apparently Ava was READY!  Later tonight she was standing in front of her toy box, shaking a little musical toy, standing all by herself.  She's growing so fast but I love every minute of it.  Her little personality is so sweet... I love seeing more and more of it come out everyday.  Tomorrow will be spent trying to capture a standing moment on camera and video.  :)

Spring time is here

Spring is here!  As much as I love layering up during the colder weather, I think I love riding with the windows down even more.  We've had some back and forth weather here in Memphis, but I'm hoping that since we've made it to the end of March, the cold days are behind us. 

We celebrated the first day of Spring (yesterday) by starting seedlings for our garden!  Last week Jason, my father-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew brought in soil and laid out a 12 X 16 space for the garden.  We knew we would have to wait a while to plant (with the back and forth March weather), so seedlings were the way to go.  We started herbs (basil, dill, cilantro, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and chamomile) and vegetables (sweet corn, cucumbers, broccoli, 2 types of lettuce, green beans, zucchini, and carrots) yesterday and will buy some tomato plants when it's time to plant.   We also bought seed potatoes to plant.  I can't wait to see the seedlings sprout in the next several days.  Then this summer, hopefully we'll have some successful and delicious veggies.  Tomato, basil and mozzarella salad, roasted rosemary red potatoes, grilled zucchini... mmmmm.  Let's hope I have a green thumb! 

My sweet nephew working hard

Covering the dirt. 

My seedlings! 

Baby talk and birthdays!

I love the fact that Ava has started really communicating.  Her first "words" were ba ba (not sure if she was actually referring to her bottle or not) and ma ma.  It became clear that she was in fact saying mama when, on more than one occassion, someone other than me was holding her, she leaned forward and said, "mama," desperately trying to get back to me:)  Her new favorite word is da da.  She says it ALL day (usually with one hand in the air waving), with or without daddy actually being here.  Sometimes she'll even whisper it, for no apparent reason.  Today, I realized that no matter what I said or asked her, her reply/answer is daddy.  There is ONE exception to that, though:  nigh-nigh.  When she's tired and I'm taking her for a nap or bedtime, I'll ask her if she's ready for night-night, and her reply is always nigh-nigh.  So sweet!  She loves her daddy and night night.

In other Ava related news (what other kind is there? ;) ):

I've tried holding off planning her first birthday as long as I can.  I told myself early on that I didn't want to plan it too early because I truly want to savor this first year and not rush it.  Well, now she's 9 months and I think it's time!  I've just now really started thinking about it and am getting a lot of inspiration from Birthday Girl Blog and The Sweetest Occasion.  They are both incredible (and draw from each other).  I even made my first inspiration board.  I don't want to break any copy right rules so I won't display it here, but it was fun to make.  I'm bad about trying to keep up with ideas in my head, and don't want to leave anything out for her birthday.  I'll be making my first birthday related purchase tomorrow (2 white scalloped cake stands).  This is definitely needed for her birthday AND my kitchen- can't wait to display her birthday cake and future cakes on them. 

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my growing girl....

Moments before nigh-nigh time, Daddy reading her our favorite night time book. 

The next morning, trying to get on the couch with mama. 

I wonder if this is her version of a fake smile?? :) 

Short and sweet

It's Wednesday night, Ava's asleep, Jason's at worship practice, and I'm sitting on the couch listening to the rain (and a movie on Oxygen).  I've been opening the kitchen windows a lot because of this beautiful weather... such a comforting sound.  And now comes the thunder.... ahhhh.  Ava has a musical lullaby CD I play for her every night and in addition to the lullabies you can hear nature sounds here and there.  I remember one of the first times I played it... sitting in her dark room rocking her and I heard the gentle rain and thunder on the CD.  I was in HEAVEN.  I could have sat there all night rocking her.  I was just thinking tonight, as I was rocking her at bedtime while she took her last bottle, "How much longer am I going to be able to rock her at night?"  My girl is growing too fast!