Ingenue Mom

2010 was a huge year for my family! The whole year was truly about Isis. I woke up 9am New Years Day with my first real contraction, so she was the first thing I thought about in 2010 and I'm sure she will also be the last thing I think about this year. It's also the year I graduated college. It's the year Lewis and I both were stretched to the limits of our love, patience, understanding, humility and perseverance. I can say with all honesty that this was one of the best years of my life. I never knew I would hurt so bad, be so scared, cry so much, but ultimately love so deeply. The struggles have been incredibly challenging, but they have also been what have produced in me an honesty and sincerity about who I am and who I want to be. I am confident in my role as a mom and I'm proud of myself and my family for how far we have come! What wonderful memories I will carry with me now from 2010! It was also the first year that I really took blogging seriously and made some

Oh, what a cheesy post title! But this Christmas was the best Christmas I've had in a long time! It was so relaxing and fun and everything was absolutely just a thousand times better having Isis there to enjoy it all! She is such a ham! She was just cheesing at everybody and then she'd giggle and laugh and wave and if people laughed at her, she just kicked it up a notch! I don't think we're going to have any trouble with being shy! Anywhere she goes, she's laughing and waving at everyone just like she did with family around the dinner table! I got a Nook for Christmas from Lewis! I've been reading so much over the break. It was the perfect gift!! I also got Glee Season 1 and I've been watching it non-stop ever since then. Isis got some cute clothes, some bath toys and one of those tables she can stand and play with. It was a really great Christmas! Her favorite thing was ripping the bows off all the gifts. She also prefers the gifts that are in bags so she

 Our first Christmas is just a good night's sleep away! I have loved this season so much! There's just something about watching your (almost) 1-year old play around on the floor next to a Christmas tree! It just really gets you in the Christmas spirit! Isis is at such a fun stage right now! I am loving that! She isn't quite walking yet. She just doesn't seem interested in trying it on her own. She'll get there. But she's so cute! All our gifts are purchased & wrapped & under the tree! We bought a new Christmas tree this year because our Charlie Brown one from last year just wasn't going to cut it. You definitely don't want a tree that looks on the verge of toppling over with a baby in the room! I'm excited about the next couple of days!! I look forward to sharing some Christmas pics! I hope your holiday season is just wonderful & that you get to spend plenty of time with family & friends! Merry Christmas!!

I am officially finished with student teaching. I am so excited, it is unbelievable! I had the most incredible experience. While I don't think it would be appropriate to say too much on a blog about my specific experiences, I can tell you that I had the most wonderful group of 23 kids to join me in my journey this past semester. I was in a 4th grade classroom and I was nervous about it at first, but I ended up just loving it! I'm not sure now whether I love Kindergarten or 4th grade better! I have also been given the opportunity to do a long term substitute position in a 5th grade classroom at my school. A teacher is going on maternity leave for 12 weeks and I will get to sub in her class for the duration of her leave. I am really excited about this as well! Not only will it be a great experience for me before I start my first year of actually teaching in my own classroom, but it will be so fun to get to know another group of students! Not to mention, the paycheck will be a wo

Where has the time gone??? Seriously Isis is 11 months old today!! I can't believe it!! I'm so excited, but at the same time, I was over at Dear Baby today (as I am everyday) and Melissa totally reminded me that Isis' birthday is in 1 month and I have completely dropped the ball on planning her party!! I know when it is and where it is and who I'm going to invite, but I have yet to purchase invitations or decide on what we're going to do! It'll definitely be pretty low-key because it's really more for us than for her. I don't want her to get too over-stimulated, but I'm also just excited to spend some time with friends and family celebrating our sweet girl!! I love Melissa's idea of using Good Frau for invitations. I love that you can customize them exactly how you want so that your invitations look just like what you want and don't look like anyone else's. I think that's great! (Seriously, she's the master at finding great E