.small.

     I saw my son holding onto his daddy's thumb the other day.  Suddenly I was three years ahead watching him grip his first crayons; then seven years ahead, watching his daddy show him how to grip the baseball for a game of catch; then I was 16 years ahead, watching his hands grip the steering wheel of the beater we allowed him to drive to school.  And then I was 18 years from now, watching him shake his daddy's hand as he went off into the vast bright future. 

     It takes so long, those nine months.  You wait and wait and wait for the first kicks, and the first rolls.  Then the day comes when you finally get to meet that little squirmer you've loved since the first moment the test was positive and time decides to fly.  The first coos turn into the first smiles turn into the first laughs.  There's just no better feeling than when that little hand grabs a hold of your finger and a smile cracks across that chubby-cheeked face. 

     I am as excited to watch my son grow as I am to enjoy him every day.  But I feel his changes everyday.  His body is a bit heavier, his footies are stretched just a little tighter, his coos are a little bit more recognizable, and his smiles grow brighter everyday. 

      Nothing beats this whole "mommy" thing.  It's an amazing privilege that I am so thankful I get to experience.  As these moments quickly become memories, I feel compelled to take an obscene number of pictures.  So that one day, when he holds his own baby's hand in his he can see the day when he held his daddy's thumb.



.wonderment.

     Please forgive the "three posts in one day" routine.  Shouldn't happen that often, but because I'm just starting this one up, I would like to at least play some catch up.  Specifically, I just want to reminisce about this Christmas. 

     This Christmas was a season of firsts for us... our first as a married couple, our first in our new home, and most excitingly, it was our first with our first child. 

     The season started off with a small gift from the previous residents of our new home.  After nearly three months in our house which we had been tearing apart and putting back together again, we had never ventured up into the attic located in our garage.  Now, back during the home inspection, the inspector had told us there were a "few things here and there... a kiddie snowboard and a couple of boxes," but it never really occurred to us to go up there with everything else going on.  (Heck, I wasn't even allowed on a ladder to paint to the top of our 8 foot ceilings because I was "too pregnant!")  Then, a couple of days after Thanksgiving Brian suggested we take a look.  After he spotted more than a "couple of boxes" I jumped at the chance to explore.  As I opened the boxes, I was giddy... LIGHTS!!  GARLAND!!  A GIANT INFLATABLE SNOWMAN!!  As sad as it was to think that the previous owners had forgotten their decorations, it was a total gift for us seeing as how we weren't going to be putting any money into anything other than diapers and formula for a little while. : )  If that wasn't enough, Brian's mom is a property manager in the city and one of her tenants gave us their prelit Christmas tree.  I was ecstatic.  Am I the biggest fan of colored lights??  No, but when it's all just falling into my lap when otherwise I would have had none of it they become a lot more appealing!  I went to work hanging lights, putting up the tree, and even finding time to make salt dough ornaments for our baren little Christmas tree.

It's funny how the lights seemed a little more "twinkly" this year. : )

We still have some painting to do...

2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water  Knead, Roll flat, cut out and bake at 325 for 1-2 hours and voila!

Jackson made his first visit to Santa and made sure to drop his wish list off in Santa's mailbox!

Christmas morning wore him out!  Santa was VERY good to him for his first Christmas!

My favorite gift.

        Christmas means something different for everyone.  For us it's about celebrating the gift of family and friends and spending time with those we love.  This past Christmas was one of the best in my memory, and I can only imagine it getting better as our little one grows!

    P.S.  We didn't get the inflatable snowman up this past Christmas, but I'm sure we will next time around!

.whirlwind.

     Whirlwind may be the best adjective for this past year.  Before I take y'all into 2011, I wanted to make a blog to mark the big accomplishments and milestones of this past year... in pictures. : )



One of our favorite moments... This is how I told Brian we were going to have a baby... at the "Bean" at Milennium Park in Downtown Chicago!

 ...and then came a wedding...



Yummy Southern-style pig roast!!

...and the transformation of house to home...



...and then came baby...

Stay tuned!! There's plenty more to come!

A Blogger at Heart

     So, this is actually the second blog I've created.  The first was centered more around just random thoughts and the comings and goings of my day-to-day.  I've recently been itching to get another started that will center around this wonderful life that has become my new day-to-day. 

     As a jumping-off point, I figure I need to bring everyone up to speed on where we are today.  2010 was one of the most eventful and wondrous of my 24 years here. 

I married Brian, my best friend, the man of my dreams...

...we bought a house and completely redid it to make it our own,



...and a short month after settling in, I gave birth to our beautiful baby boy - Jackson Scott Spears.

     So, as you can plainly see, we've been quite the busy bees for the past 12 months.  As hectic as it got at times, I can tell you this:  We are so excited to see what the coming year is going to lay before us.  Good and bad, I know my new little family will prosper.

      Here's a look into what the coming months will bring.  Brian got his upgrade to captain of the CRJ aircraft.  So, he'll be heading down to Dallas at the end of next month for training which will last about 2 1/2 months.  Since I haven't gone back to work as a flight attendant, Jackson and I will be traveling down quite often to see him since we don't like staying here without Daddy.  To make sure he has enough time to study, though, we'll be planning some forays over to South Carolina to see my family as often as we can.  This upgrade is something we had been hoping would come sooner rather than later and that it come SO soon was a great blessing.  This summer I am looking at going back to school to become a nurse.  It's not going to be the easiest thing I've ever done, but I'm excited and I can't wait to jump in!  Jackson will see even more firsts as the year progresses - his first warm weather, his first words, first steps (hoping he takes after mommy and goes for the 10-month mark!!), his first birthday and so much more... (with a first Sox game somewhere in there I'm sure, if his daddy has anything to do with it!!)  It's going to be an amazing year, and I'm so glad each of you, family and friends alike, are going to join us on the ride! : )