Thinner Thursday

I lost a half a pound. That doesn't really count because I didn't do anything. I could gain that back today. Don't worry. I won't. I did go on another walk this week which felt great. Need to get down to business. I am a maid of honor in May in the wedding of the millennium. That should motivate me!!

Wife Wednesday

I love being married. I didn't really date in high school or college, so I had normal girl insecurities about whether or not I'd ever get married. I was Rob's first girlfriend and first kiss. This leads me to one of our strengths- we don't have any baggage from dating relationships. We don't have others to compare to, to wonder about, or get jealous over. I think that is rare and I don't take it for granted. This isn't to brag; it leads to another core value we have in our marriage- We don't taunt each other with the past. We don't bring it up or use it as ammo. When we forgive each other, we forgive. Bitterness has no place here. When one of us makes a mistake, that's all it is- a mistake. We don't remind each other of previous mistakes because it isn't worth it. The Bible says that Satan is here to lie, cheat, and steal. Rob and I work hard to make sure that the devil isn't getting away with that in our marriage. If you are single, guard your heart. It is so worth it. If you're married, guard your thoughts and words so that you are strengthening your marriage, not tearing it apart.

Are you able to let things go in relationships, or do you hold on tight and remind someone of their mistake the first chance you get?

Twin Tuesday

Most of our week in pictures!

Reese ate breakfast with the big boys at Stacy's house.

Man in control.

Reese was licking the frosting off the cookie. Smart girl.

Happy boy.

New haircuts!

Sweet girl!

Mrs. Stacy LOVES Valentine's Day!

Reese at Abram's 2nd birthday party!

Despite looking somber, Hayden had so much fun he slept on the ride home from the party!

Alicia made delicious cupcakes!!

Snuggling with my girl on a snow day! Her aunt Sarah gave her that bracelet for Christmas, and she loves it. She makes us put it on first thing every morning.

Most of Hayden's days are spent putting his figures in and out the doors. Ha.

Reading with daddy!

Haircuts with Stacy!

They've been doing some serious sleeping!

Playing at Grandpa Mark & Grandma Dodo's!

Hard core sleeping. In the morning he goes through each character's name, takes roll, and tells them he loves them. "Abby! Ove ou!!"

Silly girl playing with Grandpa Mark!

Static!

Hayden with his Great grandmother. He was confused because she kept trying to give him his cup like it was a bottle. Ha.

Moral of the story. We have so much fun everyday. There are so many people that love our kids. We truly experience community every week. From play dates with our aunt & cousins and friends from church, to parks & museums, and visits with all our grandparents- we are blessed. I am loving staying home every day with the kids. Some days aren't easy, but those days are still worth it! I am cherishing these memories and moments and trying to capture them for the kids in pictures. It's mind blowing to me that they won't remember these days! Rob has a crazy good memory. Me- not so much. One of my earliest memories is eating a popsicle on the front porch of my grandparent's house with my grandpa. I was maybe 4ish? Rob practically remembers coming home from the hospital. Here's to making good stories for my kids. 

What's your earliest memory?

Manic Monday

Much like robshep.com's Mind Dumps, Manic Monday is a snapshot of all the random excitement inside my head.

• Last week, my parents had to put down our family cat of 23 plus years because he was really sick. He had clearly lived a long, happy life. 
• I've never attached much to animals, and I've been out of the house since 1997 when I left for college, but it's still a bummer. 
• My kids, however, are seriously attached. They ask about the cat all the time. When they talk to my parents on the phone, they ask for the cat. My mom even fake meows for them to make them happy. When we get to my parents' house for visits, they immediately start looking for the cat. 
• Each day I tell them a couple of times that the cat is bye bye, but I'm not sure when they'll get it. I suggested they stuff him and place him here on the windowsill where they expect him. Ha. This was last summer.

• The cat, Moshi, also had a weird attraction to Rob, but let's be honest, most people do. The cat always lurked around Rob and peered over his shoulder. I always thought it was hilarious.

• Maybe Moshi just wanted to check his Facebook account. Rob is on his phone in 3 out of 4 photos. Maybe send an e-mail?
• Anyhow, Moshi was a good cat who had a long happy life. We'll miss you buddy!
• On Friday, I am heading to Baltimore for a spring Pampered Chef event called Launch. I'm so excited to connect with other women from our area and see all the new products. I'm $83 away from my January goal which will allow me to win oodles of new spring products for free! I won't beg my friends, but I'm not above buying it myself! Ha! 
• We leave Friday around noon and return Saturday evening. I can't wait! I've been selling Pampered Chef for about a month and I love it! It's an extra perk that I earned extra fun money, too. This month I'm getting a pedicure and buying a concert ticket with my "extra" money. I'm not working to add money into our monthly budget, but to have some wiggle room for fun and to build up our savings even faster. So far so good!
• I'm gearing up for a crazy February! Baltimore the first weekend, Farmville the following weekend with the family, and then me and Rob head to Los Angeles the 20th-24th. I'm tired just typing that sentence. 
• We also are going to our annual Super Bowl party at the Hornsby's, celebrating Valentine's together, have a girls' night out planned, and having dinner with a family from Next Level. Can you tell we like being busy?? Makes me so, so happy to be a stay at home mom this year to get so much time with them. 
• The two bullets above make me realize I need to stock up on caffeine. 
• Our Next Level Group starts tonight! I'm really excited. Rob is leading a group as we read the book Gospel together by JD Greear. I'm so excited to study together and build relationships. I've got snack tonight and I'm gonna bust out some of my new Pampered Chef recipes!

Any big plans for February? What team are you routing for in the Super Bowl?

Thinner Thursday

I don't have much to report. I did go on an hour long walk Sunday with Rob & the kids. That's the most exercise I've had in a while. Still weigh the same as last week- 220. No changes. I really don't want this kind of blog to be part of my story. I want this part of my story to be better. Rob preached Sunday and said, "You live the story and God gets the glory." I've got to work on my heart and this day's blog will come along with it to make a much better story.

Wife Wednesday

Do you support your spouse? Like, really support them?

I think me and Rob support each other. I think we do a really good job.

Rob wanted to move us from Farmville to Hampton for a job right before we got married; I said yes. It's not what I wanted at the time, but I did it with a happy heart. Rob felt led we should pick up and move to Texas after one year of marriage; I was excited. We moved to Texas without jobs and without ever seeing the place. Two years later we moved back to VA, but Rob's new job could only pay him a part-time salary. Why not? 100% more than he made in Texas! The next few years, Rob was pretty chill in the life changing decision categories.  Ha. Last year, Rob felt led to leave his job, start a church, sell our house, and hoped we'd get insurance. I was excited. Rob wrote a book this year, which took time and money. I supported him through all of this.

Flip to me. I had a really challenging year during my first year of teaching. I worked all the time and cried often. I wanted to get pregnant, so we had to start seeing doctors and specialists. In my first five years of teaching, I worked in three school districts, in two different states, and different grade levels (I blame him moving me all over the place- jk), which required a lot of change, adjustment, and patience. I got pregnant. I miscarried. I decided I wanted to pursue my Masters in administration to become a principal one day. That meant class at night after working all day, study groups, studying, writing papers, paying for books & courses (at William & Mary nonetheless), etc. We decided to do in-vitro. It was expensive and uncomfortable at times. My hormones and emotions were high. I was on bed rest a lot and we had a lot of scares. I also decided to teach Kindergarten that year- boy did that require some support! I started working part-time so I could be with the twins more. I resigned from teaching last year to be a stay-at-home mom. Just this month I decided to start selling Pampered Chef. Rob supported me through all of this.

Did we jump up and down while clapping during each of these events? Probably not. Did we prayerfully and respectfully support each other? Abso-frickin-lutely. Was it always easy? No. Can we look back and love all of these moments that make our story? Yes. We support each other. We support each other in such a way that we help each other's dreams come true. We don't nag each other or complain about each other's big choices. We don't allow bitterness to creep in when one of us compromises or gives something up to help the other's dream come true. We love living this life together and I think a huge part of it is because we support each other.

When was a time you truly supported your spouse?

Twin Tuesday

On Sunday afternoon, Reese and I were looking out her bedroom window for squirrels. It's one of her favorite things to do. She loves squirrels and gets so excited when we see one. While she was staring out the window smiling, I was staring at her. I had one of those "I can't believe it" moments. I can't believe I have two kids. I can't believe I have a boy and a girl. I can't believe they are both healthy. I can't believe how much I stinkin' love them. I can't believe there were moments in years past that I thought God might not answer those prayers with the answer I wanted. God is faithful. God still would have been faithful even if I didn't have Reese and Hayden. For whatever reason, God heaped blessing upon blessing with us with these two. For that I am thankful.

Manic Monday

Much like robshep.com's Mind Dumps, Manic Monday is a snapshot of all the random excitement inside my head.

• It was a really good week. I'm really thankful for everything that is going on, and I'm happy. I don't take that for granted.
• My kids stayed healthy all week, were super sweet, and had minimal visits to time-out & only one spanking.
• Plus, they've been sleeping like champs all night which makes for one happy mamma!
• I'm really excited all of my many tv shows are back on for the new year! I especially love that Downton Abbey is back for season three. I LOVE THAT SHOW!  
• This season I also became a Parenthood junkie, and I am very sad that the season finale is this week. That means less crying for me- that show gets me almost every single time!
• I also enjoy the Bachelor and American Idol, but I'm having a hard time caring as much this year. I find the concept of the Bachelor to be absurd and feel mostly bad for the girls on the show. Mindless entertainment though and it means I get to get together with my girlfriends to watch it. New judges on Idol = not as much interest yet. I'm excited for them to get past Hollywood week and pick a favorite!
• I hosted my very first cooking show this past Saturday. I'm very thankful for my 13 friends who came to support me, others who couldn't that offered encouraging words, and other friends that made purchases. For my first show, I thought it went well. I'm my own worst critic though, so I already made my list of things to improve for next time. 
• I had somewhat of a Super Bowl themed party because who doesn't want ideas for the next big event? I made a Touchdown Taco Dip and Game Day Sliders. Here are the sliders, but I added two garlic cloves and 1/4 a cup of finely diced onions.

• They were a big hit! I ate up the meat with just chips and no bun- yummy dip.
• Today is the last day to order by 6 pm if you are interested! Follow these steps-

1. Visit www.pamperedchef.biz/monicashepherd
2. Click on "Our Products" near the top right corner.
3. Click "How to Purchase" in the purple box on the left hand side.
4. Enter Monica Shepherd as the host.
5. Shop away!

• I got my first paycheck from Pampered Chef and was super excited! Not only have I already made back the investment I chose to make when I signed up three weeks ago, but I've made more than I imagined on top of that. I realize my first month will probably be bigger than following months thanks to faithful friends and excitement, so I'm trying to have realistic expectations for the following months. I'm going to do my best though!
• I'm not doing Pampered Chef because I have to, but because I want to. I wanted something to get out of the house once a week, meet other women, and earn extra money that wasn't tied up in our budget. So far, I love it!
• We're going to use this month's paycheck as our spending money in Los Angeles next month for our first vacation post children! I'm also getting a pedicure and putting some in our saving account to help us save for a van faster. Yippee!!
• I've committed to Pampered Chef for three months at a time- so far, so good!
• In other news, I've been thinking about single moms a lot lately. It's got to be the hardest job in the world. I get exhausted and I've got a phenomenal husband and support system. I simply can't imagine. I'm going to try and figure out a way to bless the socks off a single mom this month! Ideas?
•  Back to our California trip...not only are we going to see the Lakers play, but my bestest friend ever, Shima, got us tickets to see Ellen on Thursday. Are you kidding me?!? I can't wait. 
• I get to fly to California in exactly one month with my favorite people on Earth (Rob, Dan, Danielle, and Courtney), stay with Shima & Eddie (again, bestest friend since middle school), and enjoy a few days of vacation.
• We are leaving the kids behind, which I know some people judge, but I think it's healthy. I am a little nervous as we'll be so far away and we've never left them for more than two nights. Good thing so many people love their squishy little faces though!
• I found out someone spoke badly about me to someone else a few weeks back, and it's still sort of messing with me. I know all of the advice that comes with it, but it has given me some stuff to reflect on and grow with. It still stunk. It's also helped me be super sensitive about what I say about others & who I say it to. (Side note- I don't think "Who I say it to" is even a legal sentence.)

Favorite TV shows right now? Do you like Ellen? What would you want a virtual stranger/acquaintance to say about you to others?

Thinner Thursday

The good news is that this will be a short blog. The bad news is it's short because I am not thinner. I am bigger. My current weight this morning is back up to 220.3 pounds. I'm three pounds away from where I started. The sad news is I haven't really cared. Being impartial will kill you. In this case, literally because it's a health issue. Being impartial with friendships will kill the friendship. Being impartial in marriage will destroy your marriage. The holidays helped, but it's not the reason my weight is up. I am addicted to food and not motivated to work out. I believe it's a sin issue, and I'm working on it. While I appreciate all the advice and tips, I've heard it all. I would appreciate the prayers though. If I can find time to blog, sell Pampered Chef, etc, etc, I can find time to plan my meals more accordingly, track my calories, and exercise. Seriously, because my life depends on it.

How'd you do over the holidays?

Wife Wednesday

Over the last few weeks, I've been aware of one particular aspect of me and Rob's relationship. We've had a few chances over the last two months to be kid free here and there for whatever reason. I love that we are still ourselves as a married couple when we don't have our kids with us. Do we talk about the kids? Absolutely. Do we miss the kids? Absolutely. However, they don't define our married relationship. We still have so much to talk about. We still laugh together. We are still romantic. We believe that the first and most important relationship we should have is with God, then with each other, and then with our kids. Sitcoms and generalizations lead one to believe that once the kids leave the house, married couples don't have anything to talk about. I pray that is never true of us. I pray that every day we put God first, then each other, then our kids, and then our other relationships. I kind of feel like that's a core value for us. I'm good with that. 

What is a core value in your marriage?

Twin Tuesday

I had one of those moments the other day. Hayden did or said something, and I was like, "He's not a baby anymore." He's turning into a little boy. Reese is turning into a little girl. They are still cute as pie and bring us so much joy. Here are some of my highlights since I stopped blogging in October:

• They know all their colors. 
• They saw their first live show at Busch Gardens. It was a Sesame Street holiday show and they loved it!
• They both received their first spankings in December. Those spankings were not their last.
• They added loads of words to their repertoire that include but are not limited to: squirrel, bubbles, Ernie, Buzz, Co-Co, fork, spoon, yucky, moon, yellow, pink, orange, please, etc.
• We took them on their first mini-vacation with our friends Stephen and Brooke to Massanutten. It was so much fun!
• Reese became obsessed with squirrels and looks for them everywhere, still. It's awesome.
• Both kids love to stick their fingers in their noses and yell, "Yuck!" We all think it is funny; you may not.
• The kids took their first trip to the River House for Thanksgiving which is a big deal for us!
• We left the singular world of Sesame Street and had a brief obsession with Blues Clues. We entered the world of Finding Nemo and Toy Story. 
• Hayden gets shockingly emotional during various scenes of these movies. When Nemo is getting fish-napped, he panics. We keep telling him that Nemo has to "get taken" in order for the title to come into fruition. He still panics. Every. Single. Time. In Toy Story 2, Woody can't find his hat in the beginning, and it stresses Hayden out. He claps when they clap; he yells when they fall; he chants "Shark Bait Brew-ha-ha" to the best of his ability. It's awesome.
• Reese finally started getting little girl toys instead of gender neutral. She got a tea set and some bracelets for Christmas from family members, and she loves them! It's really cute. 

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from my blogging hiatus.

What has been your favorite age for you children?