So Thankful

Thanksgiving is a time when we seem to reflect back on what is most important to us and what we are most thankful for. It is easy to make a list of the things near and dear to us that we wouldn't and couldn't live without. I challenge you to find something about every day that you are thankful for...even if it is as simple as waking up that morning. It makes the day so much more pleasant. I promise.

I have begun making it a point to be more thankful overall. Whether it is telling Jeremy "I love you" more than I normally would in a day, or if it is hugging Camden a little tighter each night, or even if it is just thanking God for the beautiful weather we are having. Whatever it may be, there really is so much to be thankful for. I truly feel blessed everyday.

Today I am extra thankful that we get to share this day with our wonderful family who has traveled many hours just to spend the holiday with us. I am thankful for the friends that have helped me to become the person I am today. I am thankful for my dog, who may be fat and smelly, but absolutely adorable. I am thankful for my amazing husband, who loves me no matter what. I am thankful for my healthy and happy son who, at this moment, loves his vegetables. I am very thankful for my relationship with God because I believe without him, none of the above would be possible.

Thank you.

When I grow up

I found a piece of paper in my baby book that said..."When I grow up I want to be a teacher, or a doctor" and when I was 3ish I told my parents I want to be a pig. Oink Oink. Good news is that I didn't grow up to be a pig and I know I will never be smart enough to be a doctor. I mean, could you image this face walking into your hospital room to talk to you about your ailments?

What I have become is a teacher, although probably not the type I imagined I would be as a little kid. While I am currently teaching gymnastics to little kids, being a teacher to my son is the job I take the most pride in. 

I think that some people know from a young age what they want to be when they grow up. They go to school with a plan and put their careers first. I, on the other hand, didn't have that plan. I had ideas of things that would be cool to do, things I enjoyed doing, but what I really enjoyed the most was family. 

It wasn't until I started dating Jeremy that I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a wife and a mother. Education was important to me, but a job wasn't. I knew I would always be able to find some sort of job...even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do...because having a happy family was my priority.

I am extremely blessed. I am working part-time teaching gymnastics. I work about 6 miles from our house. I get to spend M-W at home with my son. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend a few days a week hanging out with this handsome fellow!

I always thought I would be the type of mom who went back to work a 9-5 Monday - Friday job. I thought this because I loved working. I got so much joy out of working as part of a team and being able to significantly contribute to our family financially. Boy how things have changed. I have the luxury of only working 2.5 days a week but if we could afford it, I wouldn't work outside of this house a single day. If you were to ask me 5 months ago if I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom...the answer would have been, "No way!" Now, I honestly would give anything now to stay-at-home everyday with Camden, not because I don't like my job, but because I just totally love my son.

On Sunday we had Camden's Dedication at our Church. It was a wonderful ceremony with our family. I know Camden doesn't understand yet how blessed he is, but one day he will.

Last but not least, today Camden is 5 months old. Happy Birthday Big Boy Camden! <3 I look forward to teaching you everything I know...like how to Oink like a pig and not be a doctor. 

Hairy, Scary....Monster!!

For Camden's first Halloween he was a scary monster....or quite possibly the cutest monster ever.

We went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with our friends and their son. The weather ended up being really nice and everyone seemed to have a good time...runny nose and all.

Jeremy was in charge of Camden's candy bag and I'm saddened to report he did an awful job. Good thing we had left-over candy or mommy wouldn't have had anything to eat these past few days!

Earlier in the day we went over to play with Grammy and we wore our Halloween outfit. Even though he was a little under the weather with a runny nose (he can thank mommy for that...) he seemed to have a great day. Happy Halloween! (I even dyed his hair red so he could have a pumpkin head to match his bib and butt)

Last week when Mimi and Poppy were in town they bought Camden a chicken costume in case we weren't prepared for Halloween. After a little hesitation on the part of Jeremy, we got Camden in the costume so of course we had to take some pictures :) I personally think the outfit shows off his huge muscles very nicely. Some would call that baby fat, but mommy likes to refer to it as muscle.

I mentioned earlier that Camden has a runny nose. I know he unfortunately got that from me. Mommy has been working with a cold for the past week now. Although I ended up feeling excellent on Sunday, I missed the 5k that I had signed up for to be on the safe side, which was probably a good idea because it was super cold in the morning. I was convinced that my home remedy of gargling, throat drops, and hot tea with honey was the way to go.

By Monday afternoon I was in serious pain. I don't remember the last time that my throat had hurt that bad. It hurt to touch, it hurt to swallow and it almost heart to breathe. Nothing that had worked previously was working this time. I went to the doctor's on Tuesday and was cleared of strep...thank goodness. I like to think I have a very high pain tolerance and I lasted a long time trying to fix this cold on my own. Tuesday afternoon I gave into the ibuprofen.

Cold and flu season - 1...Jackie - 0

So mad that I've been sick this past week because I haven't been able to run and try out my new kicks :)



I better be up and running (literally and figuratively) soon. We have a lot going on this weekend and family coming into town! Camden is so excited to finally meet his Aunt Randee and Uncle Brandon!!!