Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Gratitude

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I'm getting ready to pack up our Christmas decorations and get our house back to normal. Sniff! I'm especially going to miss this joy sign. Anyway...
This week is very exciting for us! After nearly 5 years at his company, my husband decided to move on and started a new job this week!

As the new job offer has unfolded, I've pondered how God has opened and closed doors along the way to get us to this point. While Jeremy was in grad school, he was diligently searching for a job and was specifically targeting his company because it was a great fit for him, mixing industry and his PhD work. We spent many months praying about the job and hoping God would open that door--and He did!

Jeremy was blessed with an amazing director and many opportunities at his company. I love seeing how hard he works and what a high work ethic and standards he has. Honestly, Jeremy's always been this way since his first job at a grocery store in high school. I used to literally jog to keep up with him when I'd pop in to flirt  eat lunch with him on his break. :)

Just as God opened the doors for Jeremy five years ago, He has made it clear that it was time to move on. An exciting job offer came in when Jeremy wasn't looking. It's a really interesting position that shifts focus from industry to policy and was too good to pass up. But... they wanted us to relocate. When push came to shove, neither of us wanted to move (at all!!!) and we didn't think we could afford to live in the new city. Just when we thought he would need to turn down the job, they offered to let him work remote. From our house. Every day. For Real! Cue angels singing and Jeremy and I break dancing in the living room!
Just had to insert a picture of my handsome hubby! Photo credit: Kristin Tucker :)

Ready to see more of God? When we were looking for our house three years ago, we looked at a bunch of homes. We actually got within two weeks of closing on our previous house before we found a new house to buy. From the second we pulled into the driveway, we loved this house. As soon as we opened the front door, I knew this was the one. We were completely sold on the house before we even went out back and saw the detached garage with a mother in law suite! It just so happens, that mother in law suite is the *perfect* home office! Jeremy wrote his entire dissertation up there shortly after we moved in. He has used it often for working from home and loves it because he is at home, but can't hear what is going on and doesn't get interrupted. Little did we know, he'd be working from home every single day and would need such a nice, quiet office space! Isn't it amazing that three years ago, God lead us to a home with a perfect office space for this new job?!

Looking forward to 2015 and the new opportunities Jeremy has at work, as well as generally just slowing down as a family. 2014 was a hard year and was entirely too busy with traveling, etc. We are exhausted and worn out and looking forward to slowing down the pace in the coming year. What are you looking forward to in 2015? Have a Happy New Year!

Friday, December 19, 2014

Top Gift Picks for Baby

I've been wrapping gifts and finishing my Christmas shopping today, so in the gifting spirit, I figured I'd stop in and share my favorite gifts for baby. If you are looking for a last minute idea for your little one, check out one of these!

1. B. LucKeys- Little Girl is very curious and goes for all the things in our house that are not toys. Seriously, she will crawl through a sea of toys to get to the one non-toy item in the room. After lots of searching, I found these keys that are very realistic, minus the sharp edges of real keys. She loves them. They are one of her favorite toys, even after owning them for a few months now! I thought $10.99 felt a bit high for toy keys, but the quality has turned out to be worth the extra pennies.
Comes in navy or red.

2. B. HiPhone- After our raving success with the keys, we purchased this phone for Little Girl for Christmas. The pictures don't do it justice. The entire "screen" lights up at once, just like a smart phone does. It makes realistic noises, "calls" the child, and you can even record messages for your child on it! Priced at $11.99, it doesn't break the bank. 
Comes in purple, blue, green, or red. 

3. VTech Learning Walker- I'll be honest, I really wanted a classic looking wooden walker, but it didn't end up fitting into our budget. So, I researched walkers and this one had great reviews. We decided to go with it because you can adjust the wheel tension so the walker doesn't fly out in front of the baby. Several similarly priced walkers do not have this feature and felt cheaply made. Another benefit is the great activity panel on the front. Little Girl loves it! We snagged it on Amazon for $25 last month which was a fabulous price! It looks like the price is $35 now, but it's still a good price and quality compared to the other walkers out there. And, who knows, the price may come back down. 
4. LeapFrog My Own Leaptop- We have the older version of this laptop that we bought for Little Man when we was around 1 or 2. Both kids have loved it! You can have it send "email" messages from you or other family members, it helps with their letters/sounds/numbers, teaches them to spell their name, has songs, teaches animal names/sounds, etc. Little Man used to play with this when we were out shopping and I always got a kick out it when he would "check his email" or "write a new blog post" while riding in his stroller. Multitasking, ha! It comes in at an affordable $14.99 and has held up great through the years. 
5. Infantino Go GaGa Deluxe Twist & Fold Gym- We had a great baby gym for Little Man, but part of it disappeared in our move a couple years ago. We were so sad and after much searching, had to give up and purchase a new gym. We picked this one and were very happy with it! Little Girl was around 4 weeks when we bought it and as soon as we laid her on the mat, she started cooing at it. It was so sweet! She loved it and I was very sad when she outgrew it. Baby gyms are all pretty pricey. This one comes in at the middle at $49.99, but we got it for $35 when it went on sale and had a Cartwheel coupon, so know that it does go on sale! :) 
Hope you all are enjoying this Christmas season so far! 

Image Credits: Target and Amazon
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...