So it begins.

I think I'm getting the hang of this. (or am I?)

Life is really starting to settle down. By settle down, I mean a majority of the house is unpacked and put in its right place. We finally have a dining table, so for about 4 days, we have been sitting at the table for our meals. Layla thought it was pretty cool to be able to eat at the same height as her momma and daddy.

My happy little girl.

So, after Z and I busted our rear ends into gear and worked all day Friday on the house before his parents came into town, we can relax without feeling guilty about it. Granted, very seldom is everything actually done, and I can sit without thinking of what I need to attack next. We have tile floor. We have a baby who is crawling everywhere. Therefore, my floors need to be swept and mopped all the stinkin' time! It's okay though. This is what I've always wanted to do (be a stay-at-home mom); I just have to figure out a schedule and get my life organized. 

I'm also trying to figure out a schedule and learning activities to do with Layla. I'm a firm believer in teaching children from a very young age. I think if you teach a child from the beginning how to do things and that you trust them, then they'll be capable of far greater things than the typical child. I'm so blessed to have my education, and, yes, sometimes I feel as though I'm wasting my degree by not teaching. While teaching my daughter will not reward me with a monthly paycheck, I do believe I will get a far greater reward that could not be matched when any amount of money. I also think Layla and our future kids will benefit from my having a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. :-) 

This week the house work is being put on the back burner  we started doing some educational activities. We are working on some sensory activities. I've known so many kids who are not fond of certain textures, so I really want to expose Layla to all sorts of textures. We played with ice today, and she loved it! 

She enjoyed shaking the ice and making a lot of noise with it. 

We also tasted the ice.

There is currently an ice tray in the freezer full of colored ice that we will be playing with in the bathtub tomorrow. We also played with some leaves and twigs that we found on our walk Sunday evening.

Playing with nature

I'm pretty sure Layla enjoyed everything we did today. She squealed, tasted, touched, hit, scooted, shook, crawled, walked, talked, and played hard. I'm going to tackle finger painting here pretty soon. (wish me luck)

Tonight I am working on some keychains that my MIL will be selling at a Mother's Day Out Craft Fair. I am trying to have 50 (30 more to go!)done by tomorrow evening so my sister-in-law can take them with her to Lamesa so we won't have to mail them. Here are just a few that are already done. 

I've got some zebra print and other popular patterns drying as we speak. We'll see how they do at the fair! 

Speaking of key chains, it is time to get back to work! 

November

First, I cannot believe November is already here. This year has gone by incredibly fast, and it has, by far, been the most wonderful year I have ever had.

Second, I have seen a lot of people discussing and listing the things they are thankful for. I want to do it to because I have so much to be thankful for this season.

November 1: I am so thankful that I serve a loving and forgiving God. I am constantly amazed (especially lately) at how unconditional and overwhelming His love is for me.

November 2: I am thankful for my wonderful husband. I could not have asked for a better partner to go through this life with me. He is always there for me and can always put a smile on my face. I know I don't tell him enough, but he is perfect for me. :-)

November 3: I am thankful for my daughter (words I didn't think I'd be able to say for a while!). She has blessed my life in such a wonderful way! I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with her and to be able to be her mother.

November 4: I am so incredibly thankful for my parents and the way they raised me. They taught me to care about others. They taught me how to work hard for something. I'm so blessed to have them as parents and for everything they have ever done for me. I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for them.

November 5: I am thankful for my sisters. I cannot imagine going through life without a sister..much less the sisters I have. They are both intelligent, beautiful, wise YOUNG women, and I am so blessed that they are my sisters.

November 6: I am thankful for my brother. He has grown into such a wonderful man and father. I love watching him play with his adorable kids and especially enjoy the way his kids look up to him. :-) I am so very blessed to have him as a brother.

November 7: I am so blessed to have Cimarron as a "sister". I could not ask for a better sister-in-law, and I am extremely thankful that God blessed us with her. She has made such a great impact on my life (probably in ways she doesn't know), and I will always be grateful for that.

November 8: I am thankful and so extremely blessed to get to stay home with Layla every day. I'm thankful for the sacrifices that Z makes to make it possible. I so enjoy getting to be there to see everything she experiences on a daily basis and being the one who helps and encourages her to experience those things.

November 9: Ah, today I am thankful for the Holiday season. I absolutely adore this time of the year, and I am so happy and excited about having my own little family to spend it with this year.

November 10: I am so thankful for my niece and nephews. Those kids seriously bring such a joy to my life. Emma is such an intelligent little girl with such a big heart. Noah is the craziest little boy ever and can always make me laugh. Eli is one of the sweetest little boys ever. He is such a lovable little boy.

November 11: I am thankful for my *few* friends. I'm extremely thankful for Breanne Bellows who has been such a blessing over the past couple of years. Our paths crossed again at just the right time, and she was such an encouragement at the most difficult and blessed time of my life. She is truly a gift from God. Good, true, sincere, and honest friends are very hard to come by, but she has each of those qualities.

November 12: I am thankful for my grandparents. I am so blessed to have both sets of grandparents. They are both such a big blessing on my life, and I am so grateful that they both raised my parents to be good, Christian adults. Zach and I were just talking about how blessed we were to grow up the way we did.

November 13: I am thankful for my freedom. I am thankful that I can wake up daily and choose to worship the God I worship. I'm thankful that we have such a loving and merciful God to worship.

November 14: Today, I am thankful for sleep. It sounds ridiculous, but I am. I had a bout of insomnia last night, and I could not fall asleep until 2 am rolled around. Layla woke up at 4, and then at 7:30. I am, however, grateful that my husband comes home from PT and chose to let me sleep a little more while he played with Layla. :-)

November 15: I am thankful for my education. Today I applied for my certifications (yeah, it took me a while to get that done). Regardless of the fact that we are choosing for me to stay at home with Layla and not exactly getting paid for using my degree, I still benefit from it on a daily basis when working with Layla. Having my degree has "qualified" me to teach Layla at home from an early age, and I do enjoy every minute of it.

November 16: I am thankful for the seasons. I love how God knows exactly what He was doing when He created the seasons. It amazes me how I love every single season and by the end of one season, I am anxiously awaiting the start of the next. Fall is absolutely one of my favorite seasons.

November 17: I am thankful for my health. I woke up this morning full of energy (that's after getting up at 3 and 5 with a fussy little girl) and made a lot of progress on my *messy* house. I am thankful that God allows me to be healthy (I haven't been sick in a year!), and I am grateful to be able to play with my little girl and husband.

November 18: I am thankful for days at home with my  husband. It seems like we are so blessed with several of these days, and sometimes I think I take them for granted.

November 19: I am thankful for date day with my husband!!

November 20: I am thankful that my baby is very seldom fussy. She is seriously one of the happiest babies I have ever been around, and I'm so blessed that she's ours.

November 21: I am thankful that in 2 days I will be with my family!

November 22: I am thankful for libraries and free books. :-)

November 23: I am thankful for an oven and a kitchen where I can do a lot of baking and cooking.

November 24: I am SO thankful for a healthy family.

November 25: I am thankful that Layla and I were blessed enough to breastfeed for 8 months (and still going!) So many people have problems and are unable to breastfeed at all...much less for 8 months, so we are very blessed!

November 26: I am thankful for rain.

November 27: I am thankful for a vehicle that works and that we have gas to go in that vehicle.

November 28: I am thankful for our home. It seems like we far too often take for granted the simple things, so I am definitely going to remember how blessed we are to have a roof over our head.

November 29: I am thankful for Vitamin C. :-)

November 30: I am thankful for random acts of kindness.

November is over now. December is about to begin. November went by so incredibly fast, and it seems like I really didn't get that much accomplished. ha. I think I always feel like that. I'm going to leave you with this quote I read about a week ago that really made me think.

"What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?