the birds

The past couple of days have been kind of "bleh" around the Uebel house. I'm not going to list all the reasons why because complaining never got anybody anywhere so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Anyways, around 1 o'clock today I was in a foul mood and typically what that means is the rest of my day is destined for ruin as well. I decided to take Sadie to Chick-Fil-A for lunch because 1) I didn't feel like heating anything up and 2) let's be honest, who doesn't feel a teensy bit happier after eating a box full of chicken nuggets. As we sit down, I start shredding Sadie's chicken into bite sized pieces and Sadie starts making friends with the couple beside us. Now normally I would encourage such behavior in my child but today was one of those days where I just wanted to sulk in my own misery and not care about anyone else (I'm a great example for my kid, I know, I know). Well, you probably already know who won that battle. I was forced into having a conversation with the couple, through gritted teeth mind you, and Sadie gained a couple new fans.

A few minutes after they left, Sadie proceeded to stare out the window, for what seemed like 20 minutes. Of course in my head I'm saying, "Geesh kid, can't you just hurry up and eat?" but I finally give in and turn to see what all the fuss is about. To my surprise, I see two seagulls circling the parking lot, looking for food I assume, and almost immediately I am repentant.

Here I am feeling terribly sorry for me, myself, and I and there's a whole world just beyond my fingertips longing for redemption. There are millions of people around the world hurting, suffering from things far worse than my little problems, and all I can think about is me. I let a few bad things steal my joy and I'd forgotten about the simple things in life that bring my one year old such joy. For her, those seagulls are incredible, almost mystical creatures that soar through a big blue sky of even more beauty.

She couldn't take her eyes off those birds after that. And believe it or not I was ok with that. I'm sure I'll sulk again one day, shoot maybe it'll even be tomorrow, but whenever the pity party strikes I pray it will be a little bit shorter than today's and I'll look up a little bit quicker.

P.S. I'm sorry random couple in Chick-Fil-A for being short with you. I'm glad my baby forces me to see Jesus when I need him and I hope she pointed you to him too.

A few fun Sadie pics and videos

I have a few posts brewing in my head but for now I thought I'd post what the masses really want anyway, you're welcome Mom.

Everybody loves a little Chipotle every now and then.

Earlier this week we had some pretty mild weather so we took advantage of it and went for a walk. This picture is taken with Instagram, did I mention that I love Instagram?

We're trying out a new hairstyle. Nic says it makes her hair look longer, I say it makes her look more like a toddler (*sniffle*).

And finally a video of Sadie taking her first bite of ice cream. We took her to ChickFilA for lunch and well, this speaks for itself (see right around 7 secs).

Happy First Birthday!

Dear Sadie Elizabeth,

As of 1:17 this afternoon you are officially a one year old! It's crazy to think that a whole year has passed since you graced us with your presence. Sometimes I honestly have a hard time remembering life before you.

You're not walking yet but if we coax you you've been known to take a few steps from the coffee table to mom or dad's arms. You push your cart around with confidence, you just have to work on the whole balance thing. You are quite a fearless, thrill seeking baby too (which I find quite humorous since your momma is so NOT adventurous). Your favorite activity is to crawl on top of/into any box, laundry basket, or toy bin you see.

Lately we've been letting you climb the stairs (with our assistance of course) and you would think someone told you that you won the baby lottery. You get this mischievous smile on your face like "Really, I can really do this?" and you move like lightning. You get that same mischievous smile by the way whenever you stick your hand in Mabel's water dish or take things out of the kitchen drawers but that's beside the point :).

There are times during the day when you babble like crazy. Your friend Kristal taught you how to talk on the phone. You'll talk into anything now, elephant, spoon, Tigger, you're not picky. You're also learning to imitate us really well. You're the one initiating peek a boo now and you turn the pages of a book with ease.

As far as food goes you're starting to get a bit pickier. You're wising up to the fact that vegetables don't always taste as "good" as other foods. You do love you some bread though. And cheese. You're crazy about a grilled cheese or a cheese quesadilla. You've taken after your dad with a love for all things Mexican too!

You're still a super social baby and love interactions with other people. Sometimes at restaurants you get so distracted by people that you won't even eat! You got lots of toys for Christmas and you're starting to really play with them. Your new favorite word is "uh-oh" and I have to admit sometimes I push things off the coffee table just to hear you say it!

I'll miss writing these posts. It's been a great way to capture your first year (i.e this is your version of a baby book) but I probably won't write another post like this till you're two (or at least 18 months). We love you so much little girl and I am in awe of how much you've grown and changed this year. Here's to looking forward to the many more birthdays to come, lord willing!

Photo Dump

Did I mention I got an Iphone for my birthday last month? I'm in love. I don't think I'd say I'm obsessed but I certainly enjoy it a lot! I just imported a TON of photos from the past month onto my computer so I figured I'd share a few of my favorites.

p.s. Today is Sadie's first birthday, expect a birthday post soon!

My parents got Sadie this wagon/scooter for Christmas. She was all smiles pushing the buttons and riding around Christmas morning.

Speaking of Christmas morning, my parents also got Sadie a sled (perhaps one day soon we'll see snow). She was quite content to let my dad push her around the house in that thing. I think she would've ridden in it from here till kingdom come if I hadn't made her give Papa a break!

My mom & I took Sadie to a park one day while we were in Lynchburg. Sadie enjoyed the see saw immensely. I think we've got a little thrill seeker on our hands.

I don't even remember but it's a cute baby face :).

On the eve of her birthday we took Sadie out for Japanese. Last year on the eve of her birth I had Chinese food (not a good choice in retrospect) so we decided it might be a fun new tradition to have some kind of Asian themed cuisine to celebrate her birthday eve each year!

Meet Lydia. She belongs to my friends Emily & Seth and she is the sweetest little thing! Notice where Sadie is in this picture, hopefully she didn't teach Lydia too many bad habits :).

Speaking of bad habits, this is what we find Sadie doing AT LEAST once a day. She can get in by herself but she hasn't quite figured out how to get out :).

Who doesn't love a baby reindeer? I think we were headed to the BCM Christmas Banquet??

There's this mini trail behind our house that leads to a big clearing. We love to go up there and let Mabel run around, I think Sadie loves the view.

For the past two years we've made The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls for Christmas. I think we can now call it an annual tradition. This year our friends Robbie & Kristal helped us make them and it made the whole process that much more fun! On a side note, please excuse me looking a bit rough, it was late and let's be honest I haven't worn a lot of makeup this winter break :).

Good Reads

I just finished a great book today and it seems like anytime I do that I immediately start thinking about what to read next. Hence why my Amazon wishlist grew from two to ten items tonight. The book I finished was Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence and I can not recommend it enough! It's a short, fast read (i was done in a couple of days) and it's packed full of good advice that I can, need, and WILL apply to my life right now.

As for my wish list here are a few of my top choices:

1. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I actually bought this as a Christmas present for someone without having read it first (which is highly unusual for me) but I've heard such good things about it that I was confident in my purchase!

2. Out of the Spin Cycle by Jen Hatmaker. I read one of her other books a while back and really liked it. This one is a 40 day devotional so I think I'm actually going to do this for the Lenten season, it's a perfect fit!

3. House of Prayer No. 2 by Mark Richard. I'm a sucker for memoirs and apparently this is one of the top selling memoirs of 2011 (have I been living under a rock you ask? no I had a baby). It's about a boy who grows up in the 1960's in the South (tobacco country VA, Franklin to be exact). According to one critic it's a "heady Gothic mix of racial tension and religious fervor."

For now I'm off to read!

Happy Eleven Months!

Dear Sadie,

Next time I write this you'll be a year old. I can't help but think back to last year at this time and celebrate how grateful I am that you're here with us now! Christmasy stuff is so much more fun with you!

You crawl at warp speed now. You're also officially cruising around the coffee table and moving from one piece of furniture to another. I get the feeling we may have a walker on our hands sometime in the next month or so. You love to crawl in and through things (i.e. the dining room chairs); give you an obstacle course and you're there. You've also been known to take a few baths in Mabel's water bowl.

You love to be outside. For some reason you've been enamored by leaves. That's the first thing you crawl to when you're outside and you'll crunch them for hours if we'd let you. Your best friend is still Mabel (though I doubt she'd say the same). You have absolutely no fear of dogs. Over Thanksgiving (which we went to Cincinnati for by the way) there were 3 dogs at Gram's house and you would crawl right into the middle of the pack.

You're trying a little of everything these days when it comes to food. Lately you've been eating whatever mom & dad have for dinner. You're starting to develop a few food preferences too, you absolutely love bread and oranges (which I find funny since I craved all things orange during my pregnancy) but you could go without any green veggies.

You love to go shopping with mom. You sit in the shopping cart and smile at every person you see. It's almost like a game for you, if someone notices you, it's one point, if they smile, it's worth two! You change your tune pretty quickly when they come near though, you like to admire them at a distance!

We love you little girl & we're excited to celebrate your big day this time next month!

Why Thanksgiving?

I read this quote on this blog and it literally made me laugh out loud.

"also: i was trying to explain halloween to some of my esl students (they were super, super confused by it) and we actually had some great discussions about cultural vs. religious holidays and i shared my own dislike of the creepiness of it all and i emphasized that it was NOT christian or religious at all but we still went over what it was all about so they would know. and i just could not convey what “trick or treating” was–all the students just stared uncomprehendingly. and then one guy, a ukrainian fellow, said “oh, yes yes we have this in my country. except in my country we say ‘give me all your money or i kill you’”. and then everyone in the class said: “ooooooooooh, yes yes, now we understand”. and as frantically as i tried to convey otherwise, i think they left the class all pretty freaked out by the little kids in their costumes, just waiting to mug them. oh, america."

It made me laugh because it's so true. I'm not knocking on Halloween, I had a lot of fun taking Sadie trick or treating. I'm laughing because sometimes I think we take things for granted because well "that's just what we've always done."

Last week my language partner asked me why we celebrate Thanksgiving. I seriously had to rack my brain to think of the answer. All I could think were indians, pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, Mayflower or wait is it the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria? I could not put any of those words together to make a cohesive answer. Needless to say I left that conversation thinking I need to do a little research. But seriously, we don't talk about that stuff after like fourth grade and that saying is true, if you don't use it you lose it. Looks like I don't need to be auditioning for Are you smarter than a 5th grader any time soon! For now you'll find me scanning Wikipedia for the real reason behind Thanksgiving.