Where were you?

So with all the history being made with the inauguration of our 44th President, I felt it important to take a picture of the moment for Maddie. This way she can see exactly where she was and what she was doing at that time in history.

I'm sure she'll look back and comment about how polka dots were the height of fashion.



This was as close as I could come to the "moment" because the flash is like a banana to a monkey for this girl. And if you look very carefully, you will also see where I am stamped at this time. I wish my toenails were in a different color.

There is a particular phrase that struck me in the ceremony. As it was beginning, Dianne Feinstein spoke of this "peaceful transition of power". I thought of all the countries where leaders take control of a country by force and casualties are taken at ages far too young. There is no ceremony with music, flags, joy, cheering, booing, or promises made. Just a heavy hand and people who live in fear. As I sat in my home with my daughter watching the festivities on the television, I thought how fortunate I was to witness not only this history being made, but to see the previous leader being hugged by the current leader. How amazing! I am very grateful to live in this democratic society.

President Obama was not the man I voted for, I was a McCain supporter in 2000 and in 2008; particularly because of his work to make adoption more affordable. But I am reminded of Proverbs 21:1, "Just as water is turned into irrigation ditches, so the Lord directs the king's thoughts. He turns them wherever he wants to."

Also, the performance of "Air and Simple Gifts" by Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman was awesome. It reminded me in part of "Appalachian Spring" by Aaron Copeland.

Woohoo! Snow day!

(Special thanks to our roving photojournalist, JB, for capturing these moments on film. His wife refused to get out from under the covers.)



So the grass is not completely covered, but it still is more white than we have seen in a long time.




This is where we started from yesterday afternoon.

I found out last night that Knox County schools were closed and instantly was transported back to my school age "yippees!". I had an activity planned for today, but it was understood that if Knox County was out, so were we. The best part was finding out the night before, knowing that you could sleep in. I guess for stay at home moms the thrill is somewhat lessened, obviously, but it still makes me want to just bake, and knit, and nest.

These pictures are also sweet to me because we are putting our house up for sale in the Spring. Jeff bought our house before we met, and he has lived here for 10 years, and me for eight. It is time. One common room in this house with a small child is about to make me nuts, but at the same time I am now intimately acquainted with each imperfection or improvement. The thought of recreating "home" in another house is daunting, particularly with a small one, but we are ready to move on.

I've been busy here, but not with anything earth shattering. Mom and I got together for an easy sewing project on Saturday. It was to be completed during munchkin's nap, but because this mom forgot a pacifier, it evolved into a drugstore road trip for a replacement, and two hours spent trying to calm a little girl who did not appreciate being laid down for a nap without one. At least Jeff had an afternoon to get some house projects done.

The Mommy and me Three Part Breath

In yoga, there is something called the three part breath. You breathe into your stomach, rib cage, and up into your chest. Well, my little monkey started something called the three part scream. You open your mouth, turn red, and then scream until the dog runs away. (There is usually a delay between turning red and screaming, but it's not long enough to get it on tape for posterity.) She absolutely refused to take a nap yesterday. I went with a friend to walk at the mall and she will usually fall asleep in the stroller, but no luck. I put her down for her morning nap when we got home, no luck , and thought I would just put her down a little earlier for her afternoon nap. After an hour of going in to quiet down cries, only to have them start back up again, I finally picked her up, nursed her, sat and read books for another 20 minutes, and put her back down again. This time she went into the crib happily. Notice I didn't say to sleep. She just chatted to herself for the next hour. So grand nap total was 0 for yesterday.

I went for a growth check and 2nd flu shot for Maddie today. Not much growth to speak of; only 3 ounces. It's pretty frustrating. The new doctor isn't overly concerned, but I'm pretty tired of the scale defeat. She said to just continue what I'm doing and we would look again at her year checkup- which is about 6 weeks away. Breathe into the belly, rib cage, and chest.