Nora Dawn

I'm posting today to show off the newest member of my family! Nora was born Monday, February 11, 2013 to Monica and Jesse, cousins of ours on Sean's side of the family. We've decided as a group that it's most appropriate for us to go by Aunt Lauren and Uncle Sean, so that makes Nora my very first niece! Isn't she a doll?

We went to visit Monica, Jesse and Nora at the hospital on Tuesday night. I, of course, managed to make her cry for a few seconds while I was holding her... as I seem to be good at doing with tiny babies:

But she got over it pretty quickly. In fact she was pretty content with sleeping the majority of the time we were there, as any baby that's less than a day old should be!

It's quite obvious that this little baby has a lot of people that love her. Her Mom and Dad were glowing with pride when we visited, and I'm sure that's a glow that won't wear off any time soon.

Monica and Jesse, we couldn't be happier for you and little Nora!

I write today with love and joy for the new little person in our lives, as there is a lot to be thankful for. Today is also a day of remembrance of Nora's big brothers, Anthony and Wesley, born one year ago today. Monica and Jesse's twins are always in our hearts, and especially so as their memory has given them the strength to bring another beautiful life into this world. I know I can't even begin to describe the emotions that our cousins have experienced over the past year, but it brings me comfort to know that Anthony and Wesley are now watching over Nora, Monica, and Jesse. We will never forget them.

Hospital photos: Sean and me, Family/maternity photo: Krista B. Photography

Status Update

I used to do a column called "What I Learned" where I talked about things I'd been doing that week. I've been thinking back about how it was a really great way to share what's going on in my life in a quick and simple manner. But I want to switch it up a bit.

If you follow me on Twitter you might notice that I'm pretty bad about tweeting. It's the one social media platform that I have a hard time keeping up with! But I do enjoy the idea of condensing ones thoughts to 140 characters or less. That, and I love the fact that my husband does not get the concept of hashtags, which makes me want to over-emphasize the trend to tease him. #oldmantrappedina30somethingsbody

Now, blogger doesn't have an easy word count feature that I know of so I'm not going to take the time to count each character, but each week I plan to post my "status updates" in a quick and dirty format on my blog. That way you don't have to hit up every last social media platform to find me either, it's all in one place! So here we go... this has been the final week of January for me:

Always be sure to agree to terms ahead of time, no matter what you're working on. Otherwise you might end up with an unexpected $200 bill. #mycheckbookiscryingtoo

Discovered that our weather radio has an "iceberg warning" option this week. #nowIwannawatchTitanic

 Pinterest is not a source. It's a search engine. Pinterest did not create the projects you see there; real, hardworking people did.  Pleeeaaaase be sure to link back to the original sources! #linkwithlove

Have we really gotten to the point where I'm getting dirty looks at stores for wanting a paper copy of my receipt? #dontmesswithmybookkeeping

I have single handedly consumed more than a dozen eggs in less than a week. Hard boiled for breakfast, quiche and fritatta for dinner, and leftovers.... mmmmm mmm. #frommyheaddowntomylegs

*I just noticed that the sell by date on this carton says December 8. No worries if you noticed too... we get fresh eggs from one of Sean's coworkers that has chickens, and she just reuses old cartons to deliver them to us.

Today I heard a news anchor say something about getting schwag if you attend the local event she was promoting... More commonly known as SWAG. Stuff We All Get. Schwag is something completely different... #Iguessitslegalinsomestates

Finding little nibble marks in office supplies that once sat in our old basement for months makes me both sigh and smile at the same time. #sincewhendocatschew

Have a wonderful weekend!