Nick and Rachel

Growing Girl

// July 1st, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Mariah, Motherhood, Rachel

i hate when i write an entire post and then lose it! grrr….attempt #2 for this post:

i thought being at home for the summer would lead to more frequent posting. quite the opposite. even though mariah now takes one nap that gives me 2-3 hours to myself, i spend it doing other things. my photography business items take over, as does cleaning, reading a good book or other’s blogs, or taking a much needed nap myself. not to mention our site was hacked twice now and inserting pictures is a big headache now for some reason.

i’m so enjoying being home with mariah. we have a nice little routine of getting out of the house every morning for a walk/run, playground, errands, zoo….etc. followed by lunch, nap and playtime. having the little pond right behind our house is great for those crabby moments. one lap around and she’s just fine.

i don’t know how i’m going to go back to work in august! leaving a four month old last year wasn’t hard at all. she mostly ate and slept and made cute faces and noises. now everything has changed. she’s soaking up information like a sponge and it already breaks my heart to leave her with someone else. i want to be the one who teaches her new words and colors and shapes and morals and obedience. maybe i’m just being selfish and my need for control is coming through, but maybe in this case that’s ok.

mariah had her 15 month check up today (a little late b/c i kept forgetting to schedule). we had to see a different doctor b/c i’m a slacker, but he was so impressed with her. he asked if she had 1-2 words other than mama and dada that we understood. we counted a few weeks ago and she had 30!!! she’s been rapidly adding to that every day.

he also said she’s doing very well socially and was impressed she didn’t cry or squirm during her exam. then she wow’ed me by not crying at the first shot, wimpering just a bit for the second, and then just a few tears on the last one. she’s never done that before!

she’s getting so grown up i can hardly stand it, but i sure do love it!

and for those of you interested in stats: 30 inches (30th percentile) & 24lbs. (65th percentile)

take that hackers!

// June 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // The Grays

my husband is a genius! and a hero! he saved the blog. whew!

blog baby blog

// June 8th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Nick, The Grays

so you may have noticed that nick doesn’t do a lot of blogging here on our site. (and really who am i to talk? i’m terrible at keeping up. but at least i write every so often.) he hasn’t written since last year.

he may not blog here, but blogging is his second job. when big news hits, he spends some quality time like this:

nick created {htcsource.com} 3 years ago and it’s really starting to take off. he writes all about htc phones, operating systems and applications. for awhile he was writing for three other cell phone blogs and getting paid as long as he averaged 6 per week. sadly, that company was new and didn’t realize how long it takes a blog to get going and gain readers. just this month those jobs ended, but he’s picked up with another android blog where he writes less and makes about the same amount.

not only does he get paid to write and generate revenue from ads on his site, he gets to travel as well! this year he’s taken quite a few trips in order to get the inside scoop on phones and network: he was in vegas for CES (consumer electronics show) in january where he got to see WAY more than phones. a launch event in new york for sprint. and most recently google invited him to their big technology event and gave him a free phone!

speaking of free phones, nick has those quite often now. companies ship him phones to play with for two weeks. he then writes a nice long review of them and ships them back. last week he had five phones in his possession!

i love the extra money blogging brings in to our home, but more importantly i love that nick gets to do something he loves. he’s always been a technology geek and this is the perfect outlet for him. he gets to incorporate his web and graphic design into the job as well which is something he’s always enjoyed.

what’s a little strange to me is how he’s developed these online friendships with other cell phone bloggers. they have a weekly podcast to talk phone technology and chat during the week on google chat.  they even had meet ups at some of their events. meeting face to face for the first time after already forming friendships. funny how our world lets us meet that way today.

and what do i get out of all this? over the years i’ve learned more about phones than i could ever imagine. i’m now the go-to gal for cell phone advice in the office. nick has helped me become quite savvy when it comes to phones (and computers).

celebrating 5 years

// June 6th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // The Grays

let’s pretend i wrote this last weekend. when it was actually our anniversary…

five years ago i married the man of my dreams. five years. the first little milestone. ok, maybe the second. year one is the first i suppose.

five years ago…

i was tan!  look at that picture. wow. my years of tanning beds are long gone. i should really see a dermatologist.

i had only left the country once before. nick took me to italy when we were engaged. now my travels include barbados, argentina, france, switzerland…

i was still a student who swore she’d never be one of “those people” who worked at north central right after graduation. God has a sense of humor. and i love my job!

the prices of homes were still incredibly high and we couldn’t predict the drop. we were celebrating our first anniversary as homeowners. now we’re here for the long haul.

we thought we’d just now be trying to have children. i never expected to get baby fever so soon. so glad we didn’t wait!

the plan was to take a 5 year cruise to celebrate. i couldn’t bring myself to leave mariah for that long considering i’d never even left her overnight.

instead we did dinner downtown and stayed in the W hotel. it was a wonderful night. just us. thinking back on the last few years and dreaming about what the next 5 might bring.

restoration

// April 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // Motherhood, Rachel

on sunday, darren talked a little about restoration. i’ll be honest, i had a million other thoughts going through my head that i only caught little parts, but restoration was one of the last points and it hit home. i need some.

to restore:

• return to its original or usable and functioning condition
• regenerate: return to life; get or give new life or energy
• give or bring back
• repair: restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken
• bring back into original existence, use, function, or position

i need all of those.

why?

maybe it’s being a mom. lots of people say being a mom changes how you take care of yourself. i focus on my daughter and her needs before mine. my world usually revolves around her.

maybe it’s nick working so many hours combined with motherhood. it left me drained. maybe it’s that when i have free time i spend it working on my photography business. website, blog, design, contracts, networking….. maybe it’s lack of sleep. or not taking vitamins. or the fact that my class is finished and work is slow.

it’s all of those combined i’m sure. i haven’t given myself time for myself. i think about it. i know i need it. but i don’t give myself any time. i need a pedicure, massage, bubble bath.  something to relax and bring restoration.

but honestly, those things might help momentarily at best. i’m finding that i rely my own strength too much. WAY too much. and no amount of quiet time, massage or bath time is really going to bring me back. i need to rely on God. i can’t tell you the last time i read my bible. i mean really read it. i get a daily verse on my phone every morning, but i just read it. i just see the words. i need restoration in Him in addition to all those nice girly things.

hopefully i don’t keep putting it off.