Decorating

I need a few pieces for the bathroom. We were going to put up a cabinet above the toilet, like, YEARS ago and then we changed our mind last summer. So, I need a couple pictures or flea markety type items to put over the holes. Where do you recommend flea market shopping in NWA? I have a few favorites but I'd like more suggestions!


Something like this....



Or this...

I just need to get out and do some hunting. I'm ready for spring and then maybe you'll find this on our front lawn :)

He's so handsome...

Here he is in his little suspenders and tie getting ready for the baby dedication at church. What a cutie!
Uncle Justin got him this outfit.

Goals

Here are my goals that I'm sure I can complete this year:

• Cook healthier and more diverse foods. I've been doing this the past few weeks and it's been fun!

I really want to work on eating less sweets. Dessert is our downfall. We eat healthy all day and then at the end of the day we throw in dessert and rack up the calories. I've been making fruit salads (I say this as I'm thinking about the chocolate cake in the fridge! muuuhahaha)
My friend Vickie is always making delicious, healthy foods and I've gotten several recipes and lots of tips from her. She knows all about nutrition so I know that this will be an easy goal for me.

• Lose weight by eating healthier.

This should happen if I keep it up :)

• Maximize time management.

Lanier got me a Day Timer organizer for Christmas. I've been using it every day and it has really helped me stay much more organized as far as my time goes. I had a planner before but it wasn't really effective for me.

• One half marathon.

Started training already.

• One full marathon.

This is pretty ambitious but I really want to do it.

• Read more about nutrition and holistic living.

Last year I read a couple books on power foods and which foods are best for you on a cellular level. It was really interesting and I want to continue that study.

• Learn how to knit. For real.

I got stuck on the first stitch after messing up a big patch. It's like I had a knit stitch mind block!

• Finish the house!!!!
  

Hopefully, we will start painting the upstairs this month and then move on to the kitchen. We are going to put our house up for sale soon so we need to finish it.

Those are my realistic goals. I won't even put the "unrealistic" ones up. They aren't that unrealistic but I don't think there's enough time in the day for me to get it all done.

The last two weeks have been busy. We've been visiting lots of family and staying on the go. This week I'm keeping Gavin at home. I think we both need a break. :)

Gavin's 2 month appointment

We actually didn't make it to his 2 month appointment until he was 10 weeks. Picayune and the icy weather delayed it for us, which was fine with me because I didn't want to see him get his shots. Turns out it wasn't that bad! He cried a lot before the shots because he was so tired and hungry (we had to wait 1.5 hours before we saw the doctor). I nursed him while they gave him the shot and he didn't even care. I thought this cartoon was funny because by the time we left the office I was completely covered in drool and spit up!

He weighs 15.4 pounds and is 25 inches long. We talked about his little dry skin. He has some eczema so she told me to put some Eucerin on it (which I got for Christmas from hubby for myself), and to put some Head and Shoulders shampoo on his cradle cap and to leave it on for 5 minutes and that should help.

We are doing a delayed vax schedule so we'll go in every month and get shots instead of doing the schedule where you go in every few months and get a lot of shots. It's more expensive but we just don't like the idea of him getting 5 vaccinations at once.

Tomorrow Gavin is going to visit his BFF, Luke, and we'll stay with them for a couple nights. Mini-road trip! It will be fun. We always have a good time with Susie, Rachel and Brittany :) Blake will get to sleep through the entire night without interruption, yay for him! I told him I'm saving up all these brownie points because pretty soon I'll be going away for a couple nights so I can sleep through the night!!

What does this year look like?

I started a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish this year. After talking to Blake about them he thinks that I have unrealistic expectations of myself. So, I'm going to re-work my list and then post it. I usually do this. I have a ton of things I want to do and then when I don't get them all done I'm disappointed. What I'll do is try to think more realistically about what I can get done with the time I have since most of my time this year will be dedicated to a baby :)

Tonight we went bowling and had an elegant dinner at Emelia's. Thank you Grace and Megan for babysitting!! It was so much fun to get out! We have set a rule that we won't talk about baby things while we are out. It's always nice to get home though to see our little boo.

Alrighty, I'm gonna work on my list. Be back soon :)

What a year!!!

Here's a recap of our year in pictures and memories...

January 1, 2009: Our half-marathon in Kingwood, TX. We really needed a fresh start to the year since the previous year had been pretty terrible. We thought that this would be the perfect way to start the year and it really was an amazing experience! Finishing the half-marathon, which took us a little over 3.5 hours, was one of the most satisfying and confidence building events of my life so far. We trained very diligently for it and I can't wait to do another one! As I crossed the finish line I listened to Joshua Radin sing the lyrics to Brand New Day:

It’s a brand new day
The sun is shining
It’s a brand new day
For the first time
In such a long long time
I know
I’ll be ok

I cried a little as I crossed the finish line hand in hand with my hubby. I felt as if I could do this I could overcome anything including all the obstacles of the previous year. A burden had been lifted off my shoulders.


The ice storm!! Thankfully we were only out of power for a day or so..lots of clean up though. This was the worst ice storm on record. I hope we never have to go through that again, it was a mess!


Trip to the Spa Tuscano. Ahhh it was so nice. Heated tile floors, whirlpool tub with waterfall, lounge area, the "float', massages, facials..what more could spa addicts ask for??!! We had consumed way to much sugar when this photo was taken.


February 2009: We're having a baby!!!!! Excitement and shock ensue for the next few days. Happy Valentine's Day to us!


The hospital changes owners February 2009 and this is the start for a lot more work for Blake. Over the past year he has had to sacrifice a lot of time and effort for his job. Thankfully, his work did not go unnoticed. I'm so proud of him!! 2009 marked the year that cardiac rehab saw over 1,000 patient visits. They broke the record which was set a couple years ago.



March 2009: Rained out camp trip, got a free stay though because I told them I was pregnant :)


April 2009: The red cabbage gender test. It predicted a girl. Oh well, it was fun to do!


June 2009: We're having a boy!! What a great anniversary present :) I love this U/S picture of him because he still crosses his legs when he nurses. I think the picture kind of looks like him too.


My nasty spider bite--I still have a scar! I'm convinced it was a baby recluse...the doctor said only the poisonous spiders leave this type of mark. YUCK. Maybe Gavin will be a spidey-baby?


Dad and Lanier come visit. We had a fun cookout! The weather was puurrrfect for their visit.


July 4th 2009: Trip to the island house! This is my 2nd home (or 3rd, 4th, 5th, haha!) and we had a beautiful baby shower on the deck.




The bedroom remodel starts! 13 weeks before baby arrives :)


July 13, 2009: The car fire! Fortunately, I don't have any pictures of this. The picture in my mind is all I need to remember that!

July is also the month that my mom goes to jail/rehab. I was very angry that week. Life isn't fair, but what I learned during that time is that I can either choose to be happy or choose to be angry. At that time, I chose happiness for the baby. I was convinced that if I was depressed about the situation it would negatively affect Gavin. Eventually, I chose happiness for myself.

August 2009: The Siloam baby shower!! What a wonderful day. I have the best friends in the world. Cindy & Crystal did an amazing job with my shower. I felt so special and loved. The friends that came to the shower are a core group of people that are very special to me. I don't have a lot of friends because I like to have deep relationships with a small group of people. Thanks also to Sarah and Shivaun who provided their monetary contribution :)


August is also the month where my nesting goes crazy. I start cleaning windows, every nook and cranny in this house, and buying the bigger baby things. As I look back it really is funny how I felt during that time. Lots of restless anxiety and my borderline OCD (no, I haven't actually been diagnosed if that's what you're thinking) went into full swing OCD for a few months. Now, I'm like, who cares if the baseboards don't get dusted--I don't have time!


September 2009: Happy Birthday Blake! 33 years old....wow, that's old. Just kidding. heeehee ;) Blake spent his birthday digging a ditch and fixing our sewer line....again. Poor guy has probably spent 100 hours of his life working on this thing. This is the one thing with our house that we absolutely hate. Hopefully, it's fixed now!!


Still working on the bedroom. I'm starting to get nervous at this point that the room will not be done. We (I say "we" but "we" all know that Blake is the one that did all the work!) are running into way more problems than we expected. Why does always happen with this house? For some reason I go into projects thinking they will be a breeze. I love having unrealistic expectations!!! (sarcasm, mmkay!)
Living in chaos...........................

September was also the Thorne Family Luau/Baby Shower. It was so much fun. As crazy as a big family can be we also have so much fun together. Aunt Carol, Aunt Susie, Sarah, Rachel, Brittany, and Jeremy hosted and cooked. I loved it!!!! It'll be something I remember forever.


October 2009: I spent most of October waiting, cleaning, and cooking for the church. The bedroom is finished and Gavin Phares Raybon arrives on Halloween!
What a relief to have our room back. Blake finished it 3 weeks before Gavin arrived. The first night we slept in there was so relaxing. No more street light in our eye or hearing the neighbor's dog bark incessantly!

Our sweet baby made his smooth entry into the world at 1:33 pm. He is our joy.


Lanier comes to visit for a week after Gavin is born. She cooked, cleaned, ran errands and took care of us while we took care of the baby. We'll always be thankful for her time with us!


November & December 2009: We spent November learning how to be parents. We're still learning but at least now we feel like we are getting the hang of it. The holidays are here this month and we aren't really in the mood. Too little sleep and not any time to bake or decorate.

White Christmas!! All we really wanted for Christmas was a baby and that's what we got :) We spent Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa Raybon's. She cooked a delicious meal. Getting there was a little treacherous since the road was ice and snow.


December 2009: Gavin's first road trip to Mississippi. It went pretty well for the most part. It just took us an extra 3 hours to get there! At one point Blake and I decided that next time we were flying. No more driving in the car with the baby for that long. Of course, that's not going to happen because we already have our next road trip in the works. It would help if we had a little more room though so maybe we will rent a mini-van???

Gavin got to meet his PawPaw and his great-g-ma. Our visits there are always too short and Gavin's uncle Conrad always cracks us up.
Dad gave him this hat, gloves and the machete for Christmas.




So that's it for 2009! This year was a breath of fresh air. Blake and I are so grateful for a happy, healthy, prosperous, joyful and amazing year. God blessed us in so many ways. I wish I could record every memory. It truly was one of the best years of our lives. Isn't there a saying that you have to experience the darkness before you can truly appreciate the light? That's how we feel about 2009 and our hope for 2010. Our prayer is that we will continue to appreciate the simple things in life and be thankful for every day that the sun rises. I know that it sounds like I haven't included anything negative that happened this year--there was plenty of it--but compared to the past couple of years, 2009 was a very happy time for us.

Last, but not least, what would this blog be if I didn't include pictures of the devil children? As everyone knows, our cats are unusual but very entertaining. This past summer Dash almost ate Senor Pez. Yoda was whiney as usual, but lovey towards Blake and Gavin. They add excitement to our household and although everyone tells us we need to get rid of these rascals, we don't think we ever could.

Dash Raybon


Yoda Raybon, the princess.

Merry Christmas Eve!

But, of course, it's the cuteness that keeps you going.... :) If I got more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep at a time I could do anything! hah! I thought we were on a good streak of 5 or 6 hours but that seems to have changed.
I don't even care about being tired because I know that pretty soon he's going to be a big boy and I'm going to miss him being a baby...I really feel like we are cherishing every moment. Even the sleepy ones.....

It's Christmas Eve and it's raining...a very heavy rain that will soon turn into snow! I hope that Gavin's first Christmas is a white Christmas! Tonight Blake and I will exchange ornaments. We have had this Christmas Eve tradition for the past 4 years. I found an ornament that we can decorate together so this year that's what we'll do.

Tomorrow we'll go to Grandma & Grandpa Raybon's for Christmas dinner and gifts. We'll stop by my mom's too. Saturday we're leaving for Gavin's first road trip! We'll be going to Mississippi to visit his great-g-ma, PawPaw & Nana. There will be lots of family there for him to meet. We might try to go to New Orleans on our way home, but we'll just have to see how the drive down there goes. I would love to go because the weather is so nice there right now.

We have so much to be thankful for at Christmas. We have a baby this year that is the most wonderful gift! Along with Jesus' birth, I can't think of anything more perfect.