football mourning.

i have a pet peeve. it's when people hear that i am a new england patriots fan and they ask me why. seriously? i'm from maine. maine is IN new england. i could maybe understand if they were the "boston patriots" (which even then if you have ever been to maine you would know that we consider ourselves an extension of boston when it comes to the celtics and red sox). but the new england patriots? that's like asking someone who lives in dallas why they're a cowboys fan.

it's simple geography, friends.

anyway. today i'm in football mourning. i'm not kidding. i wish i was. my dad passed his love and passion for sports down to me. from a very young age i loved them. we went to games together (i had a debut on a local television station when i was three or four; as i recall my dad had taken me to a high school basketball tournament game... a big deal here in maine... and the camera zoomed in on me, sitting next to my dad, asleep on his shoulder). we watched games together. we talked about games together.

it was our thing.

from march madness, to fantasy football (i beat him more times than he would probably ever admit), to growing up shooting hoops in the driveway, we shared it all.

yesterday, i missed him.

our team, the new england patriots, were in another superbowl. dad and i had been so excited to watch sports together once nick&i moved to maine this summer. nick couldn't wait either. but unfortunately, we were only able to watch a few games together before dad was gone. i did, however, get to watch the game last night in one of my dad's patriots tshirts. an avid fan, he had made it to gillette stadium for his first patriots game just a few weeks before he was admitted to the hospital in boston. he had been SO excited. even with my emmy-belly, dad's shirt was absolutely ginormous but i loved wearing it while i watched "our team".

dad would've been disgusted by the loss. when the giants beat the patriots four years ago in the superbowl, corrupting their perfect season, i called my dad after the game. "i'm depressed" he said. and wasn't kidding. sure, it only lasted about a day until he was back to his jovial self, but we take our sports very seriously.

so today, i've been doing laundry, baking bread, experimenting with homemade coffee syrup... anything to keep my mind off of the fact that we lost last night. but i realize even more so, i'm trying to distract myself from realizing that i don't have my dad to call and talk to about the big game.

nick&i always say loving sports is a fun thing when your teams win and a hard thing when they lose. nick often quotes a line from the movie fever pitch where an uncle is warning his nephew about becoming a red sox fan "careful, kid... they'll break your haaht." (translated: heart. no, that's not a typo. it's how people talk around here)

it's that way with sports. you win some, you lose some. but the wins are a whole lot more fun.

dad, i know you could probably care less about football now that you're with jesus. just wanted you to know that nick&i will keep your sports-loving-legacy alive. bella woke up last night when i checked on her before i went to bed. and as she sleepily lifted her head from her crib, with squinted eyes, she whispered "football?"

i knew you'd be proud.

multitude monday.

68. snow&ice in dallas; and how it caused life to slow down for a whole week.
69. going to sleep under a mound of blankets, watching fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky.
70. waking up at 3 am to the sound of sleet hitting the window and knowing that nick will have a snow day.
71. coffee on cold days.
72. bella's rosy cheeks and red button nose.
73. endless games with friends.
74. the superbowl. most specifically watching the steelers lose the superbowl.
75. the way bella sleeps with her little bottom sticking up in the air. so. cute.
76. movie nights on the couch with the husband. perfect.
77. salt&pepper kettle cooked chips.
78. looking around my home and seeing it filled with people i love. having fun, eating together, laughing and playing with my daughter. blessed.

a year of blessings.

as i reflect on the past year and prepare to welcome the new one, i can think of one word to describe it well: blessed.

in many ways, it was a year of the little things... learning to cultivate a heart of gratitude for the simple blessings that surround us. and in other ways, it was a year of BIG things... many joys, many changes, many moments that i want to hold onto forever.

here are just a few.

january

* starting off the new year in maine, snowed in with my family. my sister, gretchen and i were both with child which made for some really fun photos. despite the new england blizzard, we were able to make it out of boston to fly back to dallas without any major mishaps. amazing.

* we found out at my 20 week ob appt that we were--as EVERYONE suspected--in fact, having a GIRL. bella grace cornwell... we could now call her by name. our home was suddenly flooded by everything pink.

* hot date with the hubs to celebrate my last birthday in my twenties at my fav: maggianos. which is even better, i discovered, when you're eating for two. YUM.

* january 15 my little sis gave birth to my sweet nephew,
jude farrington keezer. i began counting the days until i could hold him!!

february

* snow in dallas. yes, it's true. and it actually didn't melt the second it hit the ground this time! nick&i both got out of work early one afternoon due to the storm, and were snowed in the next day... along with a bunch of our friends who all live in the same apartment complex with us. it felt like we were little kids again. so fun.

march

* flew to maine to spend the weekend with my family, meet jude for the first time, and for bella's first shower! it was a very special visit... i got up early every morning just to soak in getting to hold jude every second i could. bella was showered with so many sweet gifts from close friends and family and we were beginning to collect tiny onesies, dresses, shoes and headbands for this sweet little person that was about to change our lives!

april

* with the help of our amazing friends, we finally got bella's nursery set up. nick worked so hard refinishing furniture and painting and i spent my time organizing clothes, diapers, and all things baby. we were so pleased with our hard work, and we were getting more and more ready for our sweet bella!

* three more baby showers this month... god was so sweet to us. we are truly blessed with some of the most amazing family&friends!! great memories.

may

* i felt like a ticking time bomb. i was in "early labor" for about 2 weeks and we had our hospital bags packed and ready. we spent a couple of weeks soaking in date nights and impromptu trips to get chips&salsa at chilis at 11 pm.

* may 19, 2010 at 1:57 bella grace cornwell entered the world at baylor hospital grapevine, weighing in at 7 lbs, 12 oz and 20.5 inches long. we were instantly in love... and fell in love with each other all over again that day. bella was immediately surrounded by our friends and family and i will never forget how precious those moments were... our new sweet lil family of three feeling so surrounded and loved by people precious to us. some in that hospital room, and others calling, texting and letting us know they were rejoicing with us. god is GOOD.

* my parents flew out to meet bella grace when she was a week old. it was such a special time, and one i was soooo excited for since my family wasn't there for her arrival. so fun to watch my parents as "grammie and grampy"!

* nick&i celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary a week after bella was born. grammie and grampy babysat as we got away and celebrated over a dinner at maggianos. i think that's the second time i've mentioned that restaurant in this blog. nice. SO blessed by this man!!!! excited for another 50+ years of our life together!

june

* adjusting to life with baby... we loved it!! my mom and aunt came down for a visit at the end of the month and we had so much fun. bella got introduced to shopping right away. and good food. and lots of laughing. i love my family!

july

* bella's first trip to maine! the best trip home ever. bella met her aunt gretchen for the first time and the rest of the family and lots and lots of friends. nick&i got to go to the coast, have a wine and cheese tasting at a quaint little vineyard and nick got to hike mt. katahdin with brian, where the appalachian trail ends. it was such a fun trip... we love our summer vacations to maine!

august

* god, in his perfect sovereignty, allowed all of our post-baby plans to crumble and instead granted me a huge desire of my heart: to get to stay home with sweet bel. i finished up at the counseling practice i was working at... saying goodbye to my clients was very bittersweet, but i was so excited to be a stay at home mommy. it was a huuuuge season of faith and trust for nick&i and our finances, but god provided a couple of amazing babysitting jobs for me with two really sweet families in the month of august. it was so neat to watch god bring everything together and provide for us in ways only he can do.

september

* friday nights at football stadiums began for our family this month! nick was hired as the offensive line coach for the first baptist academy saints football team... and we had a lot of fun! bella and i were able to go to all of his games (i think we missed one) and almost every week we had friends come along to cheer on our favorite coach. bella loved being outside, loved the lights, the band, the cheerleaders and she is a *huge* football fan. or maybe just a *huge* daddy fan :)

* bella and i were blessed with a trip to chicago for a reunion weekend with some of my best girlfriends from college. it was a wonderful time of reconnecting, memories, chatting and laughing. love. those. girls.

october

* took a family trip to a local pumpkin patch and had a great time taking pictures of our little pumpkin. her first halloween; she looked so sweet in her lil flower costume!

november

* as much as we loved the football season, we were also thankful for it to come to an end so we could have our weekends back as a family! thankful for our saturday morning breakfasts, time in pj's, and lazy sunday afternoons with my two favorites.

*bella's first thanksgiving! homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, macy's thanksgiving day parade, and lots and lots of family time. we spent it at nick's sister, jessica's and bella was uncharacteristically FUSSY (except for when playing with her cousin, wyatt). it was a bit of a stressful day, but special nonetheless. we spent the next day at nick's aunt ann's out in the country and we had a blast! bella was in a much better mood and we played games and ate all day. perfect.

december

* i. love. this. month. shopping for bella's first christmas gifts. putting up our tree. starbucks holiday drinks. making bella's first christmas ornament. family trip to see the lights and christmas displays on main street in grapevine. games and food with nick's extended family. christmas movies.

* christmas in maine with my family. after some minor travel mishaps, we finally made it there. bella and jude's first christmas! we took them to see santa claus at the mall and took plenty of pictures in their plaid christmas outfits and christmas eve pajamas. it was a great visit... looking at christmas lights, family, making seafood chowder, presents, and lots and lots of memories.

* blizzard! we spent the last few days of two thousand ten the same way we started it... being snowed in at my parent's house in our pj's. perfect.

thank you, jesus for a wonderful year. we are so blessed. we have learned more and more how to trust you. we have been reminded more and more of your faithfulness and your goodness. we have experienced you and your love in more tangible ways over this past year than ever before. and for that, we are so grateful.

"the LORD has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY." (ps. 126:3)

thursday three.

is it just me or does it seem like the weeks have been flying by these days? probably because it's my favorite time of the year. september 1st to december 25th seems to just be a blur. anyhow, here were the top moments of our week.

nick
again, i don't have to ask him on this one. i already know (i think i do anyways!). nick's high school football season ended last week, which meant nick officially has his weekends back! it was very exciting. he--once again--got to make us breakfast on saturday morning; every saturday morning since we first got married has started off with nick making scrambled eggs (half whole, half whites), turkey bacon and coffee. any time i've tried to mix it up with waffles or muffins or cinnamon rolls, nick still has to include the s.e. & t.b. combo. he's truly a man's man. i had really missed his saturday morning breakfasts. he got to lay around and watch college football and play with bella aaaaand saturday night included a date with his oh-so-fab wife (okay, okay... i added that last part, but i know he'd say that too; just probably in different words) :) AND to top everything off, his beloved cowboys finallllllly won a game sunday afternoon against the hated giants (and maybe even more hated, eli manning). the only thing that could've made this weekend better for my husband would've been if jerry jones had announced his resignation... which, let's face it. he will probably still be controlling and overmanaging the 'boys from his grave. we had SUCH a great weekend together that monday morning when i brought bella in bed with me when she woke up, she kept looking at nick's side of the bed, wondering where he was. so cute. i felt the same way. life is just so much better with him around.

meg
it's hard for me to pick just one highlight every week, but especially this week. date night would definitely be on the top of my list. it included four of my favorite things: nick (obviously), sushi, a little bit of christmas shopping for bella, and white peppermint mochas from starbucks... which we drank out of their red christmas cups. *perfection*. it think it was when we were wandering around the christmas decorations at kohls laughing at the ridiculously tacky "texan" ornaments that i wondered who else i could have this much fun with walking around a department store at ten oclock at night. my other highlight would have to be the other day when i stepped on a scale for the first time in about a month or so. because of my recent trouble with arthritis, i have not been able to exercise {sad face} thus i have been avoiding the ole scale. however, this week i was elated to discover that not only am i back to my pre-preg weight, i am a few pounds lighter. i gained exactly 48 lbs when i was pregnant and i'm still not exactly sure how that happened. i ate frozen yogurt and sherbet when i wanted ice cream and the biggest craving of my whole pregnancy was grapefruit juice. go figure. so shedding all of that weight with being in too much pain to exercise was quite an accomplishment. a nice lil pick-me-up. i still have a ton of toning to do once i get feeling better, but bye, bye 48+ lbs. i'll gladly bid you adieu.

bella
this week has been a tough one for little bel. between teething and a never-ending runny nose, life has not been so fun. but... it always looks better with a trip to target! we walk up and down the aisles and there is just so much to check out; especially now with all of the christmas decorations. annnnnd grammie and grampy had given her a gift card for a halloween present. bonus. so baby girl now has her very first cell phone (thanks, fisher price). although i'm not sure she's that into it yet. i mean, she's just as fascinated with her hands these days. but, still. every girl needs a pink cell phone. especially one that has a button on it that says "i love you" when you push it. niiiiice.

and there you have it. our thursday three.

fall, sweet fall.

as i sit here this chilly morning drinking my cup of pumpkin spice coffee, my heart is very thankful. the month of october has been a very welcomed one for us. we love the fall. the cooler weather has been such a relief for us after a sweltering summer. we spend every sunday after church in our pjs watching football and spending time as a family. i light candles that smell like pumpkin spice and vanilla cookies. nick's football season is *almost* over... it has been so much fun, and at the same time we are excited for much more family time! bella's first halloween, which meant an oh-so-cute costume and plennnnntyyy of pictures. and i've been busy making plenty of chili, soup & comfort food along with apple crisp and pumpkin bread.

some highlights from our month:

the littlest cornwell
bella is growing faster than ever. it seems as if she is changing by the day! she is five and a half months and is just so fun. we began giving her rice cereal about a month ago and it started out pretty rough. our sometimes-high-maintentence-little-girl haaaated it the first few tries. but we stuck with it, and like a champ she has turned a big corner. she gets VERY excited now to eat her cereal, which includes lots of kicking and squealing. one of my favorite parts of the day. she has been sleeping on her belly now for about the past month, which was scary at first, but now it's routine. i'm very happy to say that the four month sleep regression is (knock on wood) behind us, and lil girl is sleeping consistently through the night once again. she's enjoying her doorway jumper and (still) thinks her daddy is the coolest guy to ever walk on this planet (and she is right). here are two videos... one of the first time she ate rice cereal... and then one nick took last night. ahhhh... progress.

family time

football season is coming to an end, which is bittersweet for us. nick has really enjoyed coaching and bella and i have had tons of fun going to his games along with a small posse that usually accompanies us (nick has a lot of fans). we attempted to get some family pics on the field after the game one night. as you can see, not so successful. we were really thankful to have a day off together this past friday, which included a trip to a local pumpkin patch. we managed to get plenty of pictures... and some family ones actually turned out this time. bonus. currently, sunday is our family day and we really enjoy our time together. which usually includes laying around and watching football. and yes... bella loves the nfl.

costumes&candy

ok, so for our munchkin this year, halloween was really just about the costume. not so much the candy. but i found this a-dorable flower costume this year at old navy on sale and had to snag it. mom confession: i actually found it at the galleria old navy in dallas but they didn't have the size i needed... so i asked them to help me find one in bella's size. apparently the flower costume was a popular choice this year for 3-6 month olds because the only one available in the whole metroplex was at an old navy in plano, about 20 minutes away. as i made the trek to track down the super-cute costume for my daughter who doesn't even know the difference, i called my mother on the way to tell her that i've officially crossed over to the crazy side. oh well. it made for cute pictures, right? *sigh* we got to hang out with family halloween night, which made for some more cute pictures with bella's cousin, wyatt (aka mario) so cute!

me&the mr.

we've decided that we need to take more pictures of just the two of us. now that we have a munchkin, she tends to take up most of what's on our camera. but as we continually tell bella even though she has no clue what we are saying, we love god first, each other second, and her third. just to set the record straight from the very beginning. i once heard a professor say in college that the best gift parents can give their children is a love for one another. oh, how we agree. so here's to the start of an effort to take more husband&wife pics. love. this. man.

can't believe november is upon us. as they say, it's the *most* wonderful time of the year.

wake me up when september ends.

it's not that september was boring, or that it was incredibly difficult... i just thought of this green day song as i was thinking about what to name this post. it's more that i woke up and the month was over. how does that happen?

september came and went. i'm not quite sure why it was such a blur although it was very busy. but still... october already?

so. crazy.

some september highlights...

god=faithful

{big surprise} god has been reminding us these days how incredibly faithful he is. it's like a new revelation every time... as if i forgot about the last time that he provided for us. there have been many moments this month that have brought us close to tears. surprise gifts from others. insurance payments on medical bills that we weren't counting on. little financial breaks along the way... along with me getting another babysitting gig that i had been praying for. i pick up two little girls every day after school and take them to their activities. i'm basically a soccer mom... how does that happen when my baby is only four months old?! i love it. the girls are so sweet. the family is wonderful. and bella has two new buddies. they all are equally obsessed with each other. she also has a new boyfriend; luke, the baby i have been babysitting on thursdays for a couple of months now. he is so sweet and i love watching them together! so. stinking. cute.

friday night lights

bella loves football. nick has been coaching offensive line for the first baptist academy saints this season (where he teaches) and bella and i loooove going to his games! we have late friday nights, but it's totally worth it. the weather has been beautiful. nick has quite a little fan group, as our friends have come out to many of his games... and bella loves all the action. hey, we even met jerry jones at one of the games and have a picture to prove it. it's been a busy schedule for nick and we are ready to have more time with him but it's been really fun, too!

f.r.i.e.n.d.s

the last weekend in september, bella and i were blessed with a trip to chicago to have a lil reunion with some of my best girlfriends from college. so. fun. these are the girls i lived with. stayed up until 3 am eating graham crackers and frosting out of the can. laughed with until we cried. pulled random pranks on people...what else do you do when you go to a christian college in the middle of the cornfields of ohio?? some of the best times of my life! to see all of us now as grown ups... wives, employees, mothers, WOMEN... was such a blessing. last weekend, i also got to spend the afternoon with a friend i've been close to since we were both sixteen years old. before i start singing michael w. smith "friends are friends forever" i will attempt to skip out on all cheesiness by just saying how thankful i am for these women, and how the lord has blessed me by such wonderful friends from all phases of my life; growing up in maine, college, seminary, and life in dallas. *love* these girls.

cold*front

yes, its true... the weather in dallas has actually turned a bit cooler these days and i, for one, am ever-so-thankful. the drop in temperatures has prompted me to buy a fall-scented candle, bake pumpkin bread and plan for chili in the crockpot this weekend as we watch (the cornwell-sundays-in-the-fall-staple) footballllll. along with the chill in the air we've all experienced being sick recently... bella has had her first cold. we've discovered that she looooves having her nose suctioned; but not as much as she enjoys nasal saline spray (note: sarcasm). but poor little sweetie is feeling much better now... thankfully.

speaking of bella...

she is almost five months old which makes me a bit teary-eyed to think about (partly sentiment; also partly my hormones i'm sure...) she is now wearing 3-6 months clothes, rolling over like a champ and sitting like a big girl in her oh-so-cute bumbo seat. the past week or so she's been gnawing on anything and everything and drooling like crazy. pretty sure she's teething. this may also help explain why our baby (who has been sleeping through the night since she was seven weeks old) has all of a sudden thought it would be much more fun to hang out with mama at three oclock in the morning. love this little girl more and more every day... i mean; just look at this face!

so for now on i guess i should say wake me up when the four month sleep regression ends...

thank you.

october, we welcome you. you and your cooler weather, pumpkins, football, apple crisp and pumpkin spice, sweaters and candles. my favorite time of the year is upon us. come on, christmas!!