Will's Laugh

Oh this makes me so, SO happy!

Growing Teachers

The snow days made me think about how so much of my life as a mom and educator is focused on helping and watching people grow. It has also been focused on a rumor circulating my school that for the fourth year in a row, the faculty will not be receiving raises. I don't know why this rumor bothers me so much, but I know it isn't about the money. As I have said before, I didn't get into education to get rich.


For awhile I thought it might be tied to the feeling of being "unvalued." I am certain that if faculty feel unappreciated at a school, the school is in trouble. You must protect the sense of purpose and service teachers bring to their jobs. But the truth is that I do feel like my work matters, and to be doubly honest, I just don't care as much. Ever since Will, my life has shifted. I now work to live, not live to work.


I think it was a comment my friend Kat made at dinner on Saturday night that hit the nail on the head. She said that it is human nature to want to keep growing, to feel as if you are always learning and developing and advancing. I couldn't agree more. I think my frustration lies in the fact that I am in a profession dedicated to helping people advance and grow--and yet my colleagues and I are starting to feel stuck. As someone said the other day in our meeting, we love our school but we don't like everything about it.


My heart and head agree that right now is probably not the ideal time for to me to think about professional advancement. I am spending less time than ever on my lessons; why should I be given even more responsibility--and would I even want it if the opportunities were there? I am more than okay with where I am professionally right now, but that doesn't mean I don't want to keep growing. A good teacher must be a lifelong student.


All this said, I feel like I find inspiration every time I turn around. Reading blogs, watching videos on TedTV, reading books for fun (which I am finally doing again! Hallelujah! I am reading Jonathan Franzen's Freedom right now), going to church, listening to podcasts, and paying attention to the cool things my family and friends are doing nurtures this little soul of mine. I love living life looking for inspiration.

Will's Baptism

On January 9, 2011, William Bradley Gahan was baptized at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, TN. How blessed we were that his wonderful Granddaddy baptized him, that all four grandparents made the trip to be with us for such a special event, and that Will has four amazing godparents!

He is not so sure about what is going to happen...

Now he is sure: nope, definitely didn't appreciate that water on his head.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for coming down for the weekend and for being such a huge help!

"I see you"

Thank you, Grandaddy and Gramma, for flying in for such a short but significant visit--and for enduring 24 hours in the Birmingham airport before finally getting home!

Sweet.

Will's wonderful godparents: Tony and Carol, Kat and Nate

Will loves these dear, dear friends!

Celebration

We gave the godparents and grandparents little notes of gratitude :-).

I just love this picture of Kat and Nate. What a good pair.

Mom took this series while Will was in his car seat.

What a happy, happy boy. We are so lucky.

I have decided: this hat is my favorite item in Will's wardrobe right now.

Love Love Love

Peace.

The two loves of my life.

So I am sitting here on the couch watching Eat Pray Love with Camden curled up next to me. I am arrested by the movie, both loving and disliking what it says about the joys and purpose in life, when I hear Will crying. It is 11:51: Will has been asleep for 4 hours, but as has become habit lately, there is a moment during the night when Will suddenly cries out and I find myself rushing to his side and placing my palms on his warm cheeks. Usually he is immediately soothed by his pacifier and turns his head to the side, but tonight he refused his binky and instead looked at me with his big, searching eyes and smiled. He reached out for my hand, slipped his soft fingers around mine, and held on tight. Maybe it was me who held on tight. And before I knew it, he was breathing steadily. He had fallen asleep. I stayed there for a moment longer, watching his chest rise and fall, and then I slipped back out of the nursery.

I find myself in these moments all the time lately. Moments when I want to pause life for a second, let the magnificence of the experience totally sink in, and then press play again only to be a little wiser and more full of wonder than I was before. Usually life sweeps me up before I can write about these moments, but I hope this year I can be more diligent about writing some of it down.

Snow Days!

It's been crazy around here. Crazy wonderful and lazy and cozy. Old Man Winter dumped 6-8 inches of snow on Chattanooga, causing the entire town to shut down. The only things on the roads on Monday were sleds. It was glorious. Tuesday was almost as quiet, but the roads starting freezing over on Tuesday night, leading to FOUR whole days off of school and home with Will! We don't have to make these days up, so we enjoyed them to the fullest. We saw a lot of our sweet neighbors, had long workouts, read...but mostly we played with Will. Did I have moments of anxiety because I felt like I should have been more "productive"? Yup. But I am getting better at pushing those feelings aside and being fully in the moment when I am with Will. It's funny. I used to be the type of person who wanted to go, go, go all the time, and in many ways I still am. But being with Will makes me feel so content and complete that other things quickly disappear. Go to Target? Sure, but I don't have to. Make an elaborate dinner? Sounds good, but I am just as happy throwing together a fresh salad. Sit in Barnes and Noble and peruse books for an hour? Awesome--but if Will would rather walk around the mall instead, that sounds great too. He is 7 months old now, and I still find myself sneaking into his room at night to watch him sleep, as if he were a dream. I can't get enough.

Clay and Will in front of our house

The hill in front of our house was perfect for sledding

Winter Wonderland!

Our sweet friend (and pediatrician) Dodd invited Will and me over on Tuesday for a baby dinner party, hoping it might inspire Will to eat a few more solid foods. Will is not into food at all. He loves milk and formula, but wants nothing to do with a spoon and pureed veggies or fruits. Wylie, on the other hand, was loving his sweet potatoes. Will decided to wear most of his.

Ho Ho Home for the Holidays 2010: Will's First Christmas!

Warning: TONS of pictures in this post. Christmas was too much fun!

I will let the pictures tell most of the story...

A picture from the front seat of the car. Camden's ready for a road trip.

Yay! We're home in Louisville!

Christmas Eve service was beautiful...and Will didn't see much of it.

There was so much stimulation that Will simply shut off and enjoyed being held by Brittany.

There's a smile :-)

Doesn't he look like he knows Christmas is going to be fun holiday in his life?

Our attempt at a family picture.

Sweet Nonna. She sure doesn't look like she could have three great-grandchildren, does she?

Mom found our childhood copy of A Night Before Christmas, which Clay read to all of us before Will's bedtime. Tradition begun? You better believe it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Will loves the ornament Mimi made him.

What a thoughtful guy: Will went shopping!

Check out Will's beautiful new stocking hanging on the mantle.

Mom worked all year on it. What a gift.

Our first view of the mantle and the tree. And it was a White Christmas outside. Perfection.

Nonna gave Will an elf. He loved it. How do we know? Into the mouth it went.

He also loves his new keyboard.

Isn't this picture cool? Brittany took it with an app on her phone that lets you manipulate how pictures turn out. We had some fun with it.

I'm happy...

..and I'm out. Peace.

When Will discovered that Gege's necklace made sounds, he didn't let her out of his sight.

In Will's opinion, the best way to end a day is with a bath.

...but when we're done, we're DONE.

Will is already a big-time flirt. He loved Melanie and Mackenzie.

And he loves reading time with Mimi.

Here we are trying to take a picture for a photo birthday card for my dad. This was the last--and the best--in series of about 30 pictures. Oh well :-).

He is definitely in the midst of a cuddling stage. I am eating it up.

This is right before we left to come back to Chattaboogie on the 29th. He is looking at me like, "Mom, can't you tell I love it here? Don't take me away!"

Ah, the hat. I couldn't find this hat ANYWHERE right before we left for Kentucky, and I had turned the house upside down while we were packing, so I thought for sure it was gone for good. I LOVE this hat, so I found out who makes it (B*GOOD in Atlanta) and emailed her and begged for another one...only to come back to Chattanooga and discover the hat under a pile of laundry. I know I run the risk of sounding like a major dork, but it felt like a major reunion.

I was SO happy. I LOVE this hat.

We now love the Johnny Jump-Up!

Will doesn't love reading books yet...but he sure does love to eat them.

What is he eating? The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. I definitely recommend it.

We were spoiled beyond belief in Louisville. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures with Ali, or Michelle and Craig, or Sally and Bill and Allison, but I was so glad Will got to meet them all. I feel so lucky to have been blessed with an amazing family.

Will made this Christmas magical.