My God is Amazing

We get a little news bulletin in our email most days at work.  I usually glance over it and see if anything is interesting or pertinent to me then delete it.  Yesterday, one of the features was a Hubble Space Telescope revelation.  This is a picture of the glowing gas that they found.  That is the extra short version of the story.  You can read the whole story on the link below.

http://uanews.ua.edu/2011/01/hubble-study-led-by-ua-astronomer-zooms-in-on-a-space-oddity/

I love being dumbstruck by how amazing my God is.  How big He is.  How smart He is.  How wonderful He is.  I try to conceive of the massive size described by "light years", but it's mostly beyond my comprehension.  The sheer size, yet detailed intricacy of God's creation blows my mind.  As I was reading this article, I was reminded of a sermon by Louis Giglio that I watched on You Tube.  It is five parts and pretty long, but worth every second.  The pictures alone are worth watching it, but when he puts it into context of how amazing God is....WOW. This is the link to Part 1 of Louis Giglio's "How Great is our God".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKMw1ndl-EY

One of my favorite songs is and has been for a very long time "Our God is an Awesome God".  I love the expression of worship to our amazing God in the refrain of the song's lyrics.

"Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom pow'r and love
our God is an awesome God"

Crazy how our amazing God can use a little bulletin at work to remind you to praise Him daily!

My Big Girl

Ashlyn slept in her crib in her own room on Sunday night.  I was so proud of her!  I think she liked the extra room to stretch.  She is a whopping 26 inches and 16lbs 10oz, so needless to say...she is quickly outgrowing her mini crib in our room.  She is solidly holding her own bottle now too (unless she is overly tired or doesn't feel well).  She laughs and grins and giggles and my favorite - she looks up from underneath those very long, very thick, beautiful eyelashes and, I swear, she bats them.  She is sitting up very well now - not quite on her own yet, but she only needs a little help to balance.  She still refuses to roll over, but the doctor says she is on track developmentally so not to worry.  She is so content in her bed.  She has been waking up at 2 am for the last week and a half and she just makes her noises and plays with her hands and feet until around 5 am.  She takes an hour "nap" and she's back up at 6 am to eat.  She whines when her paci falls out of her mouth and that wakes me up, but other than that...she is perfectly happy.  Her preschool teacher saw her doing it today and commented on how hard she is studying those little hands.  She said it looks like she is trying to count her fingers.  I think we have a little investigator on our hands.  She pays such close attention to everything and I know she is just soaking it all in.  I'm excited to see who her little personality will take after.  David and I are pretty much complete opposites - I love to talk to new people and David is a listener when he is around new people.  We'll see - for now Ashlyn LOVES to "talk".  She loves to scream at the top of her lungs - you'd think she was crying, but she is smiling while she does it.  If she isn't doing that - she has this grunting sound - kind of sounds like a mix between trying to clear your throat and trying to poop.  She isn't doing either - I think she just likes the way it feels.  It is quite entertaining.

Happy Birthday to Me and the rest of Christmas

Today is my 29th birthday. The last year of my twenties. I can't believe it. I feel so young - I just don't really feel much older than I did my freshman year of college - but the fact is there - I'm getting old. This just reminds me that time is fleeting and to make the most of the time we are given. I have lots of big plans for myself and my family this year. Hopefully this year will be filled with excitement and challenge!

The following are some pictures of the rest of our holiday.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this face!  She is looking in a little mirror.

Granny gave Ashlyn her first Bible.

You can't tell, but it is snowing in the background.  We thought it was so special that it snowed on David's first Christmas and also on Ashlyn's first Christmas...in Alabama.

 We took a trip to Oklahoma in between Christmas and New Year's.  The trip went really well and we had so much fun!  Ashlyn got to meet her Great Granny and Great Grandad (and Monkey).  We had so much fun visiting!  We stayed with my Mom so I could squeeze every bit of visiting time out of the trip. :)

 We visited the Federal Murrah Building Bombing Memorial.  It is truly moving.  I think when this happened was when I started realizing how evil some people can be.

 They have a chair set out for each person lost in the bombing.  I choked back tears when I saw the smaller chairs for each of the children that were lost. (There was a daycare in the building.)  I think stuff like that hits me harder now that I'm a mother.

My Granddad took us to see these amazing Christmas lights.  They wrapped all the branches of the trees individually and there are several streets lined like this.  Beautiful!

 Ashlyn started holding her own bottle!  She is growing up so fast.

 My beautiful Mother holding her Grandbaby. :)  I LOVE IT!

Ready for her first New Year's!

And lastly - my little one's three month picture!

Christmas with the family

Last night, we went to Birmingham to visit that side of the family.  I've been blessed to be able to spend a lot of time with my sister and nieces and nephew as of late, so we just made a quick stop to drop presents off to them.  I couldn't wait to watch them open them!  I LOVE watching them open their gifts.  Their little faces light up and all the thought I put into each one suddenly seems SO worthwhile!  It thought it was funny how much they loved their socks! :)  I got Autumn Hannah Montana socks, Shelby got Princess socks and Hayden got Justice League socks.  I got them real presents too...I just threw the socks in there for fun, but they loved them!  Ha Ha!  They all got their Ashlyn hugs for Christmas...except Bonnie who wasn't feeling top notch.  I hate that we didn't get pictures.  We stopped by my Dad's house and watched Top Chef for a little while and visited with them.  My Dad's Dupeytren's Contracture is getting so bad.  It makes me sad to see the hands that were once so incredibly creative and inventive with this terrible disease.  He said he would talk to the doctor about the new medicine they have come out with that could help him avoid surgery.  I hope he does.  I tried to clean the house a little when I got home...our house is a disaster area right now!  I am SO looking forward to sleeping a little late tomorrow and cleaning the house.  I have GOT to get the laundry done and I haven't even pulled out the luggage to pack for our Oklahoma trip.  Happy Christmas Eve Eve to everyone!

Christmas Card

We are thoroughly enjoying Ashlyn's first Christmas season!  Honestly, I've been living off of 4-5 hours of sleep a night for the last week trying to get everything done, but it has been so worth it!  The tree is up and mostly decorated.  I think Bones truly believes we put a big huge toy in the living room solely for his enjoyment.  I woke up the other morning to an entire strand of Christmas lights strewn out that apparently he had been working on all night.  Christmas cards have been mailed.  We are almost done Christmas shopping - only two gifts left to buy and they are gift cards!  Gifts for co-workers and Ashlyn's teachers have been given and we have Christmas with my Dad's family tonight.  One more day of work after today and then it will be Christmas Break!  Can I just mention how lucky I am to work for the University...I don't have to teach and I still get at least a week off for Christmas and Spring Break each!  I LOVE it!  Too bad we don't get Summers off.  =)  I am SOOOO very blessed to have such a wonderful hubby too!  He has helped so much and been so involved this year!  There is no way I could have done even half as much if he hadn't helped me SO VERY much!  I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We kicked off our "Fun Old Fashioned Family Christmas" this past Saturday with fresh baked cookies, hot chocolate with marshmallows and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  We had a great time!  Ashlyn was asleep before the movie even started and David was asleep before it ended...I was pretty close behind him. 

Yesterday evening we ventured out to the mall for Ashlyn to meet Santa Clause.  She did SO WELL!!!  Not a tear in sight.  She looked at him a little funny at first...I think she was trying to figure out the beard.  I think she looks a tiny bit like an elf with her little santa hat on.  She is so cute!

Afterwards, we trooped through the mall to find our annual Family Christmas Ornament.  I found this year's at Things Remembered.  When David and I first started dating, we got our first ornament - It said "Our First Christmas".  When we got married, I couldn't help myself, I got another "Our First Christmas" ornament.  Last night, David saw this beautiful ornament and the front of it says, "Our First Christmas".  I thought it was fitting.  We had it engraved with "Welcome Ashlyn Marianne Ryan August 23, 2010" and we will put her first Christmas picture in the spot available.  

Speaking of Ashlyn's first Christmas picture, we did manage to get two usable pictures and I finally narrowed all the options down to one Christmas Card!  I am so excited!  They are ordered and will hopefully be arriving soon.  I can't wait to mail them out this year!!!  David agreed to lug the Christmas storage boxes out of the attic tonight.  We are running a little behind, but we'll eventually get decorated and festive looking around the house!  :o)  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Ryan Household!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

I have to say we had one of the most relaxing holidays in a very long time.  I had a very long list of things I wanted to try to get done, but I just put the list up and we had some quality family time.  I have so much to be Thankful for this year.  I have such a wonderful, loving, thoughtful, handsome husband.  I have the most amazing daughter I could have ever asked for.  David's businesses are running successfully.  I have a great job.  We have a roof over our heads, well-running cars and yummy food on the table (at least when David cooks it's yummy, Ha Ha!).  I thank God for all of these blessings since He is the one who provides them.  Here are some pictures of our weekend.

 Ashlyn spent the vast majority of her first Thanksgiving sleeping...

 and sleeping...

 and sleeping some more.

She finally woke up and did some playing...

and grinning and giggling and cooing.  She is so ADORABLE!!!

 Our gracious hosts...A.K.A - GrandMary and Papa Chuck.

 Gotta have a First Thanksgiving Family Picture :)  David looks so happy to be taking this picture...and I totally just woke up from the traditional Thanksgiving Day...someone else is watching your child...enjoy uninterupted sleep for a couple hours...nap.

 I embraced David's family rule of "No Christmas stuff until Thanksgiving is over" this year.  I even made a wreath for the door.

 That being said...the day after Thanksgiving, Ashlyn was in her very first Christmas outfit.

 I love the little reindeer feet!

 Ashlyn watched the Iron Bowl with her GrandMary and Papa Chuck.  It was very cold so we bundled up to head over to their house.

 David and I bundled up and headed out to Bryant Denny to watch Alabama beat Auburn...that's what we were hoping anyway...but that SO DIDN'T happen.

This was while we were ahead...by a lot...too bad it didn't last. Roll Tide anyway!!!

Saturday I went to Birmingham with Little Miss Ashlyn to see her Aunt Bonnie.  I didn't get any pictures, but we had a fun time!  I love spending time with Bonnie and her family.  My nieces and nephew are growing up so fast!!!  They are so special to me!  I am looking forward to Ashlyn being able to run around and play with her cousins.  I had so much fun playing with my cousins growing up!

Sunday, my friend Stephanie came over to get a quick picture of Ashlyn for our 2010 Christmas Card...so we thought...three hours and one very sleepy, fussy baby later we THINK we have one.  Ashlyn was SO not in the mood to do the modeling thing.  Hopefully the picture will turn out ok and I can get the Christmas cards ordered so I can get them mailed.  We'll see.

Now it's back to real life.  Gotta get caught up before the end of the year!