one of my favorite blog posts

I have to share this blog post. It reminded me of something we spoke about in our small group tonight. I just emailed it out to them but decided to share it with all. Get ready for the waterworks. From Inspired by Jenna:

i am thankful for love

tonight i saw a picture of what real love looks like:

we went out to dinner at a local mexican restaurant and sat down next to two older couples. one couple was probably in their 80's and the other in their late 60's. as elliana, tucker and i got situated, the couple in their 80's walked back to the bathroom. the lady in her late 60's (i have to say 'late' because my dad is 60 and my mom is almost 60 and they seem so young). but she was talking to us about our kids and how old they were and how fast it all goes by. about half way through our meal the oldest couple had returned from the bathroom and the woman was wearing a bib. as her husband was gently escorting her to her seat, she stopped and noticed tucker and smiled and said hi to him. then they sat down and finished their meal. they commented about how "she just loves babies and children. she always stops and says hi and is just drawn to them." tucker had turned around and was staring at her as she was smiling and talking to him. "they pretty much understand the same amount, she has alzheimers." the woman informed. i realized that he obviously was helping her go to the bathroom as well. her husband was feeding her the rest of her dinner and was telling her to open wide. "i bet you can relate," he said to us. "we come here every tuesday but its always new to her. we go to ice cream every time afterwards also, and she always orders double chocolate. she doesn't know any different, but she loves it. she loves babies too." tucker just kept staring at her and she was staring at him. i felt tears welling up and it was everything i could do to hold them back. i knew this table was going to keep conversing with us and if i started crying i would've just felt awful. justin was looking at me and saying, "what? why are you?" i cut him off, "don't. i'll tell you in the car." so we finished our meal and they finished theirs. the husband fed her tender spoonfuls of her meal, wiped her mouth, wiped her nose, and tenderly helped her out of her chair and out of the restaurant.

i can only imagine how unrewarding that husbands life must be. a lot of work for not a lot of payoff. she is like an infant, as he said. but instead of learning new milestones each day as tucker does, she loses them and slowly is fading away. she is not the woman he married. but she is the love of his life. i can't imagine ever having to feed justin, or him feeding me. as i watched him leaning in towards her, so concerned with her every move, making sure she ate enough, drank her water, wiped her mouth, i saw true love. he loved her because of who she was, not what she did. he was so unselfish and tender and genuine. and i saw all that in the whole 20 minutes we sat in that corner with them. and for some reason it struck me.
maybe it was because today tucker said "mama" for the first time and i was so proud of him. he says it with these chubby cheeks and it almost sounds like mbamba. but that husband related to me, and i related to him. but i saw love from his end. i bet when he gets up with her in the middle of the night he's thankful that he has one more night with her. rather than just wishing she would sleep through the night. (like i do.)
and then after dinner we went to ice cream and saw the older couples there too. tucker had fallen asleep on the ride over so i stayed in the car with him while elliana and justin went inside. and honestly i couldn't watch them again. it just broke my heart. i'm crying as i'm writing this as it just spoke volumes to me.
so easily we lose sight of what's important. SO easily. all the things that we fill our day with and busy our lives with. and at the end of the day, all you really need is love.

wordless wednesday

ada likes sushi?

She does, as long as it is at Sushi Nabi with the sushi aficionados, Corey and Tobi Jo! Thanks for great times and introducing us to some great new rolls. You are gorgeous, my friend!

Yeah, we're Fatty Munchers. Immediately after all rolls had been devoured we started talking food. Local eateries. Chicken Picatta from Foodworks. Beignets from Blue Orleans. Pancakes from Aretha Frankenstien's. Supposedly Corey can make some blueberry pancakes that will make you slap your mama faster than the bb pancakes from Aretha's. It was spoken that Corey can just flat out cook. Evidently it runs in his family because both Corey and Tobi were talking about what an incredible cook Corey's mom is. Prior to this weekend's mountain bike race Corey requested his mom make the most dense, but delicious cookie she was capable of. Corey just happened to have a stash of the dense but delicious Wyoming Whoppers left in his car. Post dinner Corey came back from the parking lot with two giganto cookies that were absolutely incredible. I was thinking I could do a century if I had that kind of grub enticing me along. Of course, no comparison to chocolate gels, chicken broth or sport beans. Ha! Later that night midst a bloggin break I go check on Jimmy. "What are you eating?" I ask. Jimmy assures me, nothing. "What is in your mouth?... Wait a second, what is on your face?" This is what I find and nope that is not a fever blister......he ate the rest of the cookies. Fatty Muncher. BTW, I don't think Corey was hiding them in the car from Tobi, but the thought reminded me of Jimmy and Grandma's sugar cookies. In college Jimmy's Grandma would mail him her homemade sugar cookies. Jimmy would describe them with a drug metaphor, "They're just like cocaine to a cocaine addict". Anyway, he was always scared that I would eat them while he was gone to class so he would take them with him, large tupperware container and all....like I was going to break into his college dorm room to eat cookies, that truthfully I am not very fond of. So the question still stands: Does Corey also have a cookie addiction and was he hiding the cookies from Tobi Jo?

Two random pics of Ada-luv from same day.Lastly, a new Ivey Handcrafted creation. I love it! Tobi, you never cease to amaze me. Pictures with the onesie model, to follow.

two months old & more kids (both varieties)

Today Ada is two months old. I have been trying to catch a yawn since birth. So cute! To designate Ada's two month mark I used a portion of my race number from our first 5k.
Monday was Ada's 2 month Pediatrician appointment. The Stats are in and I now have a Sam. {sidenote: Megan's son Sam was born Memorial Day 2007 and was 10 pounds 5 ounces at birth!} Ada weighs 10 pds 8 ozs (50th percentile). She remained at 21.5 inches in height (25th percentile). I found the measurements a bit odd but the doctor reassured me that many times babies will plump out at first instead of up. Which is completely fine with me. I am loving her little chubby cheeks. So after the doctor and nurse wined and dined us they then did the unspeakable. Not one but three shots in the thigh. Talk about fighting back the tears, myself that is. There was no holding back for Miss Ada. She did the open mouth-nothing coming out-I look like a cherry tomato head-cry. I had never seen her cry so hard in her 2 months of life. Okay, maybe the moment she was born. Anyway, I did not speak nor breath during the administration of the small swords. I wanted to do as much as I could to not be associated with such a terrible deed. It should be illegal to inflict that kind of pain on someone so small. I immediately transformed into a milking stall to quickly sooth the convalescent child. (Too bad we are not equipt with the ability to make chocolate because that always makes everything better:)

After the doctor's visit we did a quick trip to my sister's house to get both mine and Ada's mind off the morning ouch session. Here is Gabriel feeding Victor, like a pro. How cute is Adalie! I love her laid back stance in feeding Lilly! Jenna loved the baby goats but decided that she preferred just to watch. Watch out Jenna! I think Lilly is about to nibble on your cute little face. Bye, baby goats! We will see you soon. We have many more little friends that want to come to meet you soon.

our first 5k

Ada and I did our first 5k this past Sunday, April 6th. Jimmy got a little over exited about the whole event thinking that one race would have me hook line and sinker. My goal was simply not to get trampled and attempt anything but last place. While Jimmy's goal for us deteriorated before the race even began I feel my goal was exceeded. Ada and I finished (in one piece) at a leisurely pace of 5 minutes shy of an hour and we were fifth from last. Ha!

Here we are pre-race. I love how Jimmy made sure the race t-shirt made it into the shot by placing it on a random vehicle. Ada looks pumped, doesn't she? Here we are with Jon, Robin & Jenna Moss who are great friends from church. All but Jimmy did the race. He instead was the back up timer for the back up timer. You can see his account of the day here where he names himself "The Critical Volunteer". {sidenote: Ada looks like she is sun bathing!}Jenna with her to die for eyelashes. I ask her all the time if I can borrow them. So far she has been reluctant.
I think Jenna has more hair in her eyelashes than Ada has on her entire head. Who am I kidding with I think? I know. Bald and beautiful. I love it!
Robin, Jennifer and I post race. Jennifer and her husband Chris also go to church with us. The 5k was to benefit Jennifer's place of employment, The Speech and Hearing Center. In the pic I am saying rub the belly. Jennifer is due later this month with little Tucker. We are so excited! Thanks, Jen, for the invite to the race. This is Molly. Jennifer's friend Shawndra's daughter. Love her shades. Ada and I walked with Molly and her mom for most of the race.

wordless wednesday

when bibby came to town

Ada-luv met her Bibby, Jimmy's mom, for the first time on Saturday. They matched perfectly as if we had premeditated their color coordinated outfits.

i say good-bye & you say hello

Our best friends of eight years are moving away. Thankfully to a land not so far away, Nashville, TN and a city within the state that Jimmy and I both enjoy. For if Brent and Becca were moving to Memphis, the armpit of the south, we would probably have to cut our ties with our long time friends (I can't get away with that comment bc Jimmy is from there). We will miss our spontaneous weekday dinners at all things Mexican but I am assured that we will still see each other frequently!

Becca is one of those girls I have known "of" for years and years but it was not until we had Marketing classes together at UTC that we really bonded. However our friendship as a couple almost did not make it past a first round of monopoly. The boys were able to move past their competitive nature and we moved on to new games. Remember Scategories at your parents house? Bush as in George and then came Becca as in Boo. My Boo. We have gone on oh so many fabulous cruises together....Eastern Caribbean, Hawaii, Southern Caribbean, Mexican Riveria which formulated too many memories to fathom and even attempt to compile in a single blog post.

Several trips to the Ocoee (The Slowski's, a hematoma, and the campsite that made us want to get a tetanus oh and to forget guys with large sticks, our favorite campsite neighbor and night vision video effects around the fire). Not to mention times in Tunica and a surprise trip to Big South Fork that was thought to be a UT football game.

We have always had good-byes that drifted into hour and a half conversations in parking lots, apartment stairs and too many driveways! The girls have had scrapbooking and the guys business talk that last until the wee hours of the morning. Too many movies rented and never watched because the conversation always flowed without cessation. Such a strange tradition, spending Valentine's Day, the holiday of love with another couple but always so fun. Were the guys going to cook and surprise us with a game or how about chocolaty treats from the girls but either way pajama pants and t-shirts were always a must.

We love you Brent and Becca Boo. There will always be the Montikers and their will always be phenomenal vacations and don't forget Valentine's Day(Ha)! This is just a small tribute to our wonderful friends. I could devote a complete blog to our incredible friendship but since they could possibly be only four subscribers, I won't :)

A snapshot or two of fun times with fabulous friends....There are also so many memories together with the UTC crowd ...Speaking of those crazy cats last Friday night we had a little party for B&B. It was more of a bon voyage than a going away party because we know they will be back. Someday.I love how the rubber glove made it into the picture! Oh what a night! {Ada, surprisingly, slept through the entire event minus a fifteen minute appearance in which she woke, smiled, share some dance moves, winked and went back to sleep}We missed you Jess & Antonio! Speaking of Jess. I thought your name had to be Jessica to live in Nashville. I literally know four who live in that city. Based on that theory, Becca you have to stay!

P.S. Hey Marketing Girls! Leave a comment featuring your fondest memory! (yes, I used the word fondest...my sister always makes fun of that)

a ditty from halabaji & a trail run too

Last weekend we went to the Outdoor Expo with Ada's paternal Grandparents, Halabaji and Halmoni. {sidenote: Jimmy's stepmom, Inn, is Korean so she and Jimmy's dad are using the Korean counterpart for their titles as Grandparents. This is until, of course, Ada finds her own rendition of the words} While the expo was nothing to get too excited about we did go to Stone Cup afterward for a fine cup of coffee. Decaf for me. Even absent of Ada I can rarely handle Stone Cup's caffeinated. It keeps me up for days. Certainly, not for the faint of heart. While Inn, Jimmy and I spoke of current events Ada received a little ditty from her grandfather. We never could figure out what he was singing, but Ada sure did enjoy it, whatever it was. We would look over and chuckle at a sweet relationship beginning to blossom.On another note, Jimmy did his first trail run last week. Not that I could manage a 10-miler anyway, but certainly not in last weekend's conditions. It rained several days preceding the race and the trail was a complete mud pit the day of. I am so proud of Jimmy. He did a great job and managed a battle wound only the size of a half dollar. No biggie! I am glad he brought home such a "sweet" souvenir from the event since the women in his life decided to stay inside and not brave the excessive weather.

wordless wednesday