The Year in Review

There are two ways that stand out in my mind today that God has chosen to show his love and blessing on my life in a real tangible way... a way that I can really touch and feel and sense and know. These two ways always make me think of a favorite verse of mine.

“And Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

I remember the first time I felt I really related to what Mary was feeling at the moment Scripture spoke of her in such a way. It was May 22, 2004. Someone had told me not to get so caught up in the busy-ness of my wedding day that I didn’t remember any of it, and so I made it a point to drink in every moment that I could. I’ll never forget it. God gave me the gift of Reagan. A gift I can hold and feel that blesses my life on a daily basis.

The next time I really remember truly treasuring a moment, came just over 3 years later, and exactly one year ago today.

A lifelong dream came true on August 30,2007 as God brought Anna Reese safely into the world and gave us the gift of a precious daughter. Again I say, I've treasured every minute and look back through the past year thinking I've never felt so fulfilled and never loved a child the way that I've fallen in love with her. Today was a little bittersweet as the uncontrollable was reminded to me that yes, she indeed must grow up. Didn't make me as sad as I thought it would though. A little yes, don't get me wrong, but more than that it filled me with joy just to watch her and to think of all of the little things she's accomplished over the past 12 months. I took some time tonight to look back through a year's worth of shots... amazingly enough I compressed it all into under 5 minutes. (Yes, that was a warning that this is indeed 5 minutes long.)



Reese- you are a joy and a blessing to raise, to teach, to love, to rock, to bathe, to change, to read to, to giggle and play with, to watch grow and learn. I love pouring my life into you and having your in our home and as part of our family. You have enriched my life more in this past year that I ever would’ve imagined.

Mama loves you, baby. Happy 1st Birthday.

I Got My Baby Back, Baby Back, Baby Back...

Pulled into the driveway tonight at mom and dad's and out walks dad with my sweet baby in his arms. Granted she'd just woken up, so she looked at us a little strange for a while... but once I got her in my arms, she spent the next five minutes like this and did not move.

See y'all... I'm gonna go cuddle with my girl. :)

Feeling a little lost...

On Monday I did something unbelieveable... a little test run for a trip I'm taking in October. I left my baby girl in Ohio with her Mia and Papaw and I won't get her back 'til Friday. Let me tell you I'm feeling a little lost without my shadow by my side. I miss her so badly I can hardly stand it right now, and it'll still be two whole days 'til I get her back.

The good news is she doesn't even know I'm gone. :) Good news because I know she'll handle it fine now when I skip the country come October. Mia (my mom) bought a crib last month for all her grandbabies, which my 20 year old brother graciously houses in his bedroom. (How sweet is that? Mom said he's never once complained about the baby bed in his room.) The crib however is right next to the lightswitch... which she discovered this morning I'm told. :) My brother awoke early to on-off-on-off...giggle...on-off-on-off-etc. I think you've got the picture. I'm told he unscrewed the lightbult, but the sound of the switch was enough to amuse her. I guess it went on for a while. What a smart girl. :)


Speaking of smart girl... if you know me you know that Reese has heard a piano playing since her little ears popped out of her head in my tummy. My dad tells me that a girl was playing the piano on tv the other day, and she left her pile of toys to go and watch her on television. When the playing stopped, she returned back to her toys and proceeded to play again. How cute is that?


That's Mama's girl!


This is Mama's girl too... sitting in the 3rd generation rocking chair that her Mia, Mama, Aunts, and Uncle used to play on, smiling sweetly for her 1 year picture, going up on my wall very soon.


Ooh, I love these. (Photo taken by my mom and edited by yours truly.) I'm seriously thinking of taking up photography in the very near future. I mean... how sweet is this?

So what's a Mama doing with all her free time while her baby's away at Mia's?

Turning my kitchen red for one thing. And tomorrow is gonna be all about some cupcakes and a homemade smash cake for my girl's 1st birthday party in Ohio this weekend. We'll see if it's blogworthy or not.

Look out Martha Stewart... Wags is getting out her cake pan.

Tagged... I'm It!

These are in no particular order, by the way...

7 things I want to do before I die:

1. Visit Europe for as along as it takes to see everything I wanna see
   
2. Have a few more kids and raise them all
   
3. Own a Mini Cooper
   
4. Take a cruise
   
5. Get my mom to fly with me on an airplane
   
6. Take missions trips with my family after all my kids are born and a little grown
   
7. Take a hot air balloon ride
   

7 things I can do:

1. Play and teach the piano
   
2. Take a good picture
   
3. Give a great massage
   
4. Find things that I want for cheap cheap
   
5. Cook about anything
   
6. Sing
   
7. Quilt
   

7 things I cannot do:

1. Go more than a few weeks to a month without visiting my family in Ohio
   
2. Speak a foreign language fluently
   
3. Watch Steel Magnolias without bawling
   
4. Imagine my life without Reagan and Reese (stole that from Erin... but its true!) :)
   
5. Go a day without phoning my mom
   
6. Enjoy a cup of coffee
   
7. Eat at Red Lobster
   

7 things that attract me to Reagan:

1. His ability to communicate and read me
   
2. His shoulders and arms
3. His tender heart
4. His love for Christ
5. His love for me and Reese
   
6. His voice and musical abilities
   
7. His leadership capabilities
   

7 things I say most often:

1. Read notes, not finger numbers
   
2. "Jesus loves the little reese's, all the reese's in the world"
   
3. No-No Reese
   
4. Hey lover
   
5. No ma'am, Reese, how do we ask for more? (and yes- she responds) :)
   
6. How much have you practiced this week?
   
7. That was 'puh-recious'
   

7 celebrity crushes from childhood:

1. Mac Powell
   
2. Mac Powell
   
3. Mac Powell
   
4. Mac Powell
   
5. Mac Powell
   
6. Mac Powell
   
7. Philip Larue

7 people to tag: (sorry- I haven't checked to see if you've been tagged yet or not.)

1. BigNanny
   
2. Alicia O.
   
3. Mom
   
4. Sumer
   
5. Leighann
   
6. Melissa
   
7. BigT
   

New Tricks

The video says it all...

Joke of the Day

Just had my biggest laugh all week, courtesy of Mr. Matthew Jordan.

Matthew: Knock-Knock
Me: Who's there?
Matthew: Dwayne
Me: Dwayne who?
Matthew: (while laughing hysterically) Dwayne the bathtub, I'm dwowning!

Love that kid! :) I don't know how Alicia gets anything done with him around... I'd spend my days rolling on the floor! :)

Welcome to the World

I am pleased to introduce you to the newest member of our family, (extended family that is) Mr. Daniel Philip Thoma. Named for his grandpa's Danny and Phil, and weighing in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches long, Daniel made his grand entrance somewhere around 5:30 this morning.

Boys in this family are a great commodity... my brother is the only grandson on my dad's side out of 7, and one of two grandsons out of 7 on my mom's side. (We joke around that we have to get married to get boys in the family.)

Congrats to my sister Danielle, her husband Jeff, and my niece EdenGrace on being a BIG SISTER! You're gonna be a great one, girl! Get ready for lots of kisses and cuddles from Aunt Hedder and your big cousin Reese on Thursday little guy! We can't wait to meet you!

And the winner is...

Me. :)

Read here. :)

A Jungle No More

Move over Lawnmower Man... Pastor Reagan's out to steal your job. Took me (well... us I guess) two days to get all this done. If you've been to my house for piano don't tell me you haven't thought "good night people, PLEASE clean up your yard." Yes the weeds and gardening have been a little neglected this year, but not anymore. And it's hard to say this without sounding critical of R, so please don't think I'm hubby-bashing or anything, but let's just say I'm the one who gets things like tools for Christmas. Just not his niche... or so I thought. Guess an old dog can learn a new trick or two after all.

I worked all day yesterday pulling weeds and actually defining a line between the yard and the flowerbed in the front yard. Today was the day to do the same in the back yard, mow, trim, and spread mulch. (Let me just tell you that crab grass must find it's roots in hades. I swear that stuff comes straight from the devil.) Reese is napping and we're all geared up and ready to go when out of the blue the mower won't start. Well great. Surprises lurk around every corner. I had exhausted all of my Mrs.-Fix-It ideas AND called my Daddy (who can fix anything) and still no mower. Guess who came to the rescue?!? He just took over, disappeared twice to Lowe's, and left me pulling weeds in the back. All of the sudden I heard the familiar hum of the mower and voila! Shock, Amazement, Awe... these were only a few of the words I could've used to describe my thoughts at that very moment. Reagan fixed the mower and I didn't have to do a thing with it.

So... if you're driving by the Wagoner's house or dropping your kid off to piano... feel free now to leave your machete behind. It will no longer be a necessary tool to make it to my front door.

Dinner Anyone?

So a little before 8 this morning after I jumped out of bed to try to catch the trash man (which I failed at) Reagan's phone rings... it's this guy.

Meet Charley. Charley goes to TSC... plays sometimes in the band for the student ministry. Charley is now one of my new favorite people. This is where Charley works...

Today was the grand opening for Moe's in Spring Hill. Charley called to give us a heads up that of the first 100 people to be in line, nearly the first 50 were already there.

OK- boil some water, make some oatmeal, grab some toys, clothes, and diapers... brush your teeth and oh yeah... don't forget your sleeping child, and we're off. Where's Reagan? Talking smack from THE SHOWER about how he's gonna beat me there? Whatever... I'm out the door. See you when you get there, babe.

Time of arrival- 8:45ish and I get one of these.

Lookin' good, huh? My first thought was... OK, couldn't I have run to Target and bought some sticky notes and done this myself? Oh well...

Anyway, thus began our 2 hour and 15 minute wait for the opening. Reagan, the Holtz family, my Aunt Kathy, Kerah, and Emmah arrive shortly thereafter. Reese was a trooper, sitting in her stroller eating her oatmeal and yogurt while still in her jammies and watching Nemo on her DVD player. Eventually she got dressed and had fun screaming at all the people in line behind her.

Which included her Daddy... 10 people behind us. :) How did it feel to be #59, lover? (Just as yummy as it did to be #49, I'm sure.)

Back up though... why is it important to be one of the first 100 in line you ask? Because the first 100 people got one of these...

And yes... you saw tents. Much more burrito-dedicated people than myself actually camped outside the door to be the first to get their free burrito. Including someone you may know as Drew Winter with his wife Lori. (Side note- I am an idiot and tried to yell at Drew to get his attention to say hello. If you know him, you know why I am an idiot. Gave the Holtz's a good laugh...)

So if you're ever interested in having dinner with the Wagoner's on say maybe a Tuesday night after 7:00... you'll know where to find us. Come join us. We'll be happy to save you a seat. We might even save you some queso.

Just in case you were wondering...

...nursing a wiggly 11 month old with razor sharp fingernails is not a fun experience when you are sunburned.

Add that to my list of experiences.

The View from Where I'm Sitting

Nice isn't it? The view from Sterling Shores. Within walking distance to The Back Porch and Grazie... my two favorite Destin restaraunts. Always a bittersweet time when this is the view from where I'm sitting, 'cause it means another summer is over. Not quite as bittersweet as usual however, because somehow even though this summer was just as crammed full of things as our summers always are, it really didn't seem to fly by as quickly for me this year. I've savored every minute of my first summer as a Mama. It's been completely wonderful.

The only thing that could make this year's Destin trip any better would be the addition of four others who are far far away right now... you know who you are. :) As much fun as Reese is having playing in the sand with Mama and Nana, I'm sure Hannah and Hudson could teach her a thing or two about sandcastles. We miss you guys.

Kudos to my hubby... He did his research and found a place to take me dancing last night. Or so we thought. Didn't quite turn out to be the place we thought (though we had a blast watching the 40 and over crowd make complete fools of themselves... ha ha) That didn't stop Reagan though. We found a boat a few docks down playing live music, and a couple docks down from there we made our own dance floor, watching a couple cranes chill out on a neighboring yacht. What a sweet evening. I love him... :)