Thank you for visiting my blog! If you are visiting because you have experienced a pregnancy or infant loss, let me say that I am so very sorry. I started this blog shortly after our Baby Grady was stillborn on November 12, 2008. Please visit the sidebar below called "Labels" to find the topic in which you are interested, or just read as your heart desires.

Monday, January 25, 2010

A Quick Hello

I can't believe it has been almost two weeks since I last posted!

Here are just a few tidbits of our lives lately...

*The girls pooled some of their old gift cards together and bought Band Hero for the Wii. I'm not sure who has had more fun, Jessica the guitarist or Gib the drummer!

*My vacuum blew up a week or so before Christmas. Literally blew up, complete with smoke, terrible smell and a black pile of who knows what on the carpet. After much research, we took the plunge and bought an Oreck. It is my Valentine's, Mother's Day, birthday, and maybe even my Christmas present this year. But I love it, and I've really enjoyed vacuuming my house, which is something I NEVER thought I would say! Even Gib enjoys it, which is a definite perk!

*I've been busy trying to clean out closets and get a little more organized. I've tackled the closets in our room, Emma Grace's room and Jessica's room. Grady's closet is going to have to wait. His cards and such need to be packed away as they are on his changer, but I'm not so sure about the clothes, diapers and that Baby Einstein entertainment center that Gib put together and threw away the box that it came in (remember this post?). Maybe they will get used one day...

*Our small group added four more couples last night. That makes eight couples and about 14 children. Gone are the days of bringing our children with us. An every Sunday evening babysitter is in order for us!

*Jessica and I went to see "The Tooth Fairy" Saturday with one of her friends from school and her mom. It was a really cute movie, and it was nice to spend some one-on-one time with my sweet Jessi Bear.

*I really am struggling with how to organize my pictures. I can't keep all these pictures on my memory card (I keep buying new memory cards when they get full). I literally have over 1,000 pictures to develop from last year. Uggh. I've thought about using Snapfish or Shutterfly, and I don't want to take up so much space by having all of them on my computer. Any suggestions as to how you do it? It's really stressing me out!

*I'm SUPER EXCITED about tomorrow! Lord willing, my blog friend (now IRL friend), Sara, is coming for the night with her five children on her way back to Oklahoma . My other blog-friend-turned-real-life-friend, Ebe, is coming over, too. Whoopee! Should be LOTS of fun!

*I enjoyed a great visit with my Aunt Helen and Uncle Thomas last week. We had been trying to get together since Christmas, and it finally happened. Aunt Helen brought some stuff to show me how to crochet. I really want to learn to crochet baby blankets to donate to the hospital for angel babies like Grady. I treasure my blanket that Grady was photographed with and swaddled in. I would love to pay it forward. It will take some time, though. It seems a little harder than I thought! We love to hear Uncle Thomas play our piano, but it seems we have a dead note. The piano was silent this visit.

*It has become a huge challenge to bathe Buddy now that the weather is cold. We don't have a hand-held sprayer in either of our showers, so we plop him in the bathtub. It's really hard to get him good and clean, not to mention keep him in the tub. He's over 60 lbs, so Gib's help is a must! A bath is on the agenda for tonight, and I'm not so much looking forward to it.

*Yesterday, one year ago, was the day we had Grady's service. I want to post about the details that I have yet to blog about (there is a label on my left side-bar called "Grady's Service" if you are interested in reading what I've written so far). I'm not so sure they will be very interesting to you, but I want them documented for my family to remember.

That's all I have time for this morning. Hope all of you are doing well!

Love,
Tonya

7 comments:

  1. I am so glad you like your vacuum!!! I am glad to hear from you : )

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  2. Snapfish is the easiest photo archiving site I've worked with. The uploading process is much faster than Kodak Gallery. You just have to remember to purchase one of their products each year. I'd also suggest investing in an external storage device like a flash drive or second hard drive. Backing up your back-up is wise!!

    Your Sunday night babysitting worries are over -- send the girls over each week! We love having them, especially Sidney (*wink*)

    Love you,
    Nicole

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  3. Ah!!!! I'm so excited too! And this time I'm not going to forget my camera!

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  4. I'm not at all the computer person in our house, but I find my way with my hubby's help. We use Picasa by Google, which is free. You can do all your editing, etc that way & then sync to Picasa Web to archive & share your photos.

    As I take pictures, I upload them & automatically delete them from my memory card so that I basically have a fresh start each time I'm taking pictures. I get overwhelmed when I'm faced with a ton of pictures, so I do it as I go.

    I no longer print my pictures since I don't have room in my house for a million photo albums (and I figure that's the beauty of technology). But I do print my favorite pics to frame or make photo books on Shutterfly which is my favorite site. I made calendars for Christmas presents & they turned out awesome. Give it a try!

    P.S - Sorry this comment is SO long-winded!!

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  5. Ooh, Tonya - did you get the Oreck with the pivoting head thingee? I just saw a commercial for it while I was in the hospital.

    As for the photo thing, I'm no help!

    Hope you, Sara, and Ebe had fun together!

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  6. Oh, it was such a treat for me to be with you, Ebe, and your precious family. I am a little sad sitting here at my computer, thinking last night I was in your family room. Ahhhh, it was such a blessing for me:) We have to do it again sometime... for longer though:)
    Missing you:)
    Sara

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  7. We have an Oreck and love it! The bags are a bit expensive, but I think it's worth it.

    I have my pictures backed up on a flash drive and CDs, but I want to get an external hard drive. You can watch for them on slickdeals.net, but they are still kinda expensive (though they hold way more than a flash drive). Bri has one and backs up his Mac on it at work.

    I'm glad you got to hang out with Sarah and Ebe, I know how wonderful it is to be with others who 'get it'.

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