Check out my new blog! Entitled The Nurturing Mama, I'll be talking about family, faith, food, and more. Of course, there will be plenty of Maddie updates. Please update your links and RSS feeds and head on over there!

This will be the last post on Onward and Upward, although I may go through and add more links from here to there. It's been fun, and thanks for reading!

I've been daydreaming for weeks about where to go and what to do with this blog. It was originally begun by my friend Ashley and I as a way to encourage other working wives who had yet to pass through the gates of motherhood. Eventually, Ashley bowed out because of other commitments, which left me with the reigns. I decided to keep posting here, mainly because of a lack of desire to create a new blog. The focus eventually shifted to being a blog with nothing more than updates.

Now the time has come. I'm so excited about shifting gears and finding another voice. My new blog is now in the works, and I'm hoping to launch it within the coming weeks. Instead of the original, other-focused purpose of Onward and Upward, it will be personal; a reflection on motherhood and my personal journey in that realm. I plan on discussing what I'm passionate about: faith, family, good food, and playing in the dirt. And how they all connect.

Stay tuned and check back for the new site soon!

There's not even a nip in the air yet, but I'm all ready for the upcoming cold now that we're no longer in Houston. I went to the most amazing consignment sale the other day to pick up a bunch of basics for the baby in preparation of the upcoming chill. Here's Maddie all geared up and ready to go:

For those of you who haven't seen our Flickr account, here are some more recent pictures of Maddie. These were snapped at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, a great, free place in which to take pictures. Maddie is definitely small for her ages, but she's developmentally right on target.

She crawls like an old pro now. She pulls up on furniture all the time, but is not yet brave enough to try standing on her own.


She loves to point. She's starting to wave bye-bye more frequently, and she's good at giving high fives. We're working on "Touchdown" for football season. :-)


She has even started saying Da! when Stu gets home from work. It's the most adorable thing ever. Her first tooth came in a few days ago, and I can't wait to see what it looks like once it's done sprouting!

One last shot, just because I love the lighting:

I normally reserve my computer time to blog reading or shopping, but it's been a particularly slow Saturday today. There is still nothing in my Google reader. Argh. Stu is at work right now for his first call as a medical resident. Maddie and I are just relaxing at home after spending the morning grocery shopping.

We first went to the Valleydale Farmers Market, which is only slightly farther than the main Pepper Place Market. It was fun to try a different one this time. The market up at Pepper Place is close to downtown, so it's big and crowded and parking is hard to come by. Valleydale is smaller, with only 10 vendors or so, but it was worth the drive if only to satisfy my curiosity.

Our next stop was a flea market run by one of the big churches here in town. I was originally going for baby stuff, but that sort of thing is always the first to go, and I was pretty late in getting there. I did find these really pretty framed botanical prints for only $10; I think they will look good in our master bath. I've been looking for something like this for awhile--there was a really cute shop in Michigan that sold nothing but botanical prints (many of them hand-painted originals from the 1850s), but they were well out of my price range (and unframed). I had to buy them on a whim, so Stu hasn't seen them yet. I hope he likes them!

Oh! Garden update! I've got an impressive patch of weeds growing in my new raised bed. Stu and I put it in about a week and a half ago, and I promptly planted some lettuce. They have yet to spring up. Weeds, however, are quickly taking over. Once this string of thundershowers finishes up, I'm going to try again. I did order some seeds for the coming year, and I hope to get them soon so I can begin my broccoli, Chinese cabbage, and rutabagas.

Maddie and I just returned from a week and a half in Indiana and Northern Michigan. It was a beautiful trip, and it was so much fun to get away. The weather was in the mid-60s to lower-70s most of the week, so we actually needed to get Maddie and sweatshirt and pants for the time. One day during the week we went to a strawberry patch to pick some sweet berries for pie. I just carried Maddie with me, since she wasn't to enthused about the stroller. I set her down in the middle of the row of berries, and she snatched a huge one from the box I was filling. It was at least the size of her little fist. She began sucking on the thing (she can't yet chew) and dribbling strawberry juice down her new light pink onesie and white pants. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen, so I just let her continue even though she was a mess. I really wish now that we got a picture, but at least both my parents got to see the cuteness.

Maddie is having one of those days where she is getting into everything, and I'm having one of those days where I need her not to be. Her favorite place is the cat food, which we keep on the floor by the back door. At first she would simply tip over the water and food and let them spill all over the floor, but now she finds it fascinating to pick out individual pieces and try to put them in her mouth. At least it's less messy that way. She makes a bee-line for the bowls whenever I set her down. If she's not by the cat food, she's in the fireplace or in the cat box. Her real toys are just not that enthralling, I guess.

I never realized how messy she can be as well. She loves to crawl with her toys in her hand, so her toy animals from the living room will end up in the kitchen, spoons will end up in the living room, and my shoes somehow end up on a low bedroom table. Today she decided to knock over my full glass and watch it shatter all over the floor. At least we were outside on the back patio, so I didn't have to worry about cleaning all the liquid. Right now she's eating the springy door stop that she pulled off of the wall.

I've been working on my garden plan for next season the past few days. Although it feels weird to be thinking of starting now instead of next spring, when one usually begins. I figured I would ease into the process by planning one raised bed of fall veggies. I'm thinking of starting some lettuce, swiss chard, and maybe some rutabagas. This summer and fall I plan on doing a lot of work in the back to get the beds all ready to plant in the spring. I have a whole host of things I'm hoping to try then--hopefully I don't get to overwhelmed!

I'm also hoping to go peach and blueberry picking sometime in the next few weeks. I really miss my picking buddy (Hi Leslie!), so I'll either go by myself or ask one of my new friends here. I'm hoping to freeze a lot of the peaches and make freezer jam, and with the blueberries I'm not really sure yet what I'd like to do. Maybe I'll just freeze them all for smoothies and such. We had a blast picking strawberries over vacation, and I really wanted to bring some back with me. The only way I could think to do that was to get some dry ice to keep them frozen, but that wasn't going to happen. Next spring I'll have to find a place here in Alabama that grows them. There are U-pick cherry farms in Michigan, and I think next year we'll pick a whole bunch and I can take them home in a cooler, then make some jam or something at home. Hmmm, sounds like that might be a plan.

I've also been experimenting with pizza crust lately. I've never been able to find a recipe that I really love. The ones I've tried have been to think and doughy with not enough crisp to the bottom. I'm trying another recipe I found and have already prepped the dough, so I'm hoping to make the pizzas later this week. We'll see how that goes.

And that is all for now.

I've got iced tea brewing on the stove, and a tall glass of iced coffee next to me while I type on our kitchen table, which is an old desk converted for the purpose. It is simply wonderful to have a kitchen table again! The baby is sitting next to me, relatively content in her brand new high chair.

We're still getting settled, but this place is beginning to feel more and more like home. We've had to purchase an amazing amount of stuff we never thought of (Shower curtain rings! Lawn mower! Shelves to create more closet space!), but we were sort of expecting it. We've been running from one thing to the next, trying to get everything up and running. We've only just gotten the internet an hour ago.

The cats are settling in surprisingly well. We're were afraid they would miss the back balcony, but they absolutely love the big space and bird watching out the back door. We went ahead and purchased a bird feeder for them, and I can see two birds checking it out right now. Lily especially loves watching the birds outside.

Stu is going to set up a folder in our Flickr account so that I can post tons of pictures of my gardening progress. I took a whole bunch of the weeds overtaking our yard, and they should be up soon. I'll also post some shots here once I find the time.

I'm loving the SAHM thing and can't wait to blog more. Baby is getting fussy, so that's it for now.

I had my last day of work this past Friday, which means that I've now begun my dream job. I'm a stay-at-home mommy! It still hasn't sunk in just yet. When I awoke this morning, it was surprisingly hard to convince myself that I really wasn't going back to work. Not ever. It almost feels like summer vacation has begun.

So anyway, we're moving to B'ham in a matter of days. Ever since my last day of work we've been busy packing, cleaning, and keeping the cats and baby in line. It's amazing how moving everything around can make you realize what a poor housekeeper you are. I have a baby and worked full time, but still. How did we live like this?

Updates will still be scarce until we get our internet up and running after the move. I can't wait to begin blogging more regularly!

One month. That's how much longer until I get to start my dream job, and begin a brand new chapter. I can't believe just how quickly the years here in Houston have flown. We left Chattanooga as newlyweds and fresh college grads to really begin our lives in a brand new city. Stu continued in school, while I launched my career. We found a great church and wonderful friends.

We're leaving 4 years older, hopefully a little wiser, with 2 cats and a baby. We're going to start afresh, with new friends and a new church. We'll have to establish a new routine. I cannot wait to stay at home with Maddie and run our household full-time.

One week. That's how much longer until Maddie is no longer in daycare. We love the people there, but we are ready to have her be taken care of by one of us. (We also can't wait to not have this as an expense!) Stu has the month of May off, so while I'll still be working, he'll get to play stay at home daddy.

It's hard to believe just how close we are to such big changes! It's almost like we have senioritis in high school--we can't wait to be done!

I have to take off of work today, since our daycare was closed for the holiday. I thought I'd take a moment and update with all news from around here.

--We're going to Birmingham! Stu was accepted into the residency program at the University of Alabama. We are so excited about this, since we'll be only 2 1/2 hours from friends and family in Atlanta! Match Day itself was quite an exciting day--lots of good food and a wonderful time with friends.

--Speaking of Match Day, they have a "jackpot" tradition at the school. Everyone that matched is called up one at a time to receive an envelope with their residency location recorded inside. As they come up to the stage, they drop a dollar in a basket. At the end, the very last name called gets to keep all of the money in the basket. Guess who won? I think Stu was so flustered by the end that he wasn't as excited as I was, but we won $180! He stays he felt panicked that there had been a mistake and he hadn't matched at all. Poor guy!

--Two weekends ago we flew to Alabama to find a house! We felt that with the market the way it is now, and the fact that we need more space, it was time to buy. House-hunting was so much fun! We spent 2 days searching. I wish I could say we found the perfect house, but it didn't quite work out that way. Hubby found one he loved (a new house that needed no work), and I got my heart set on another (an older home where the laundry was separate from the house, meaning a walk in the rain to wash clothes) We had to compromise on this one, and went with the new house. I guess that's part of being married! The house will be cute with some work, though, and the garden is a complete blank slate. All that's out there is sod! I'm going to have so much fun back there.


--Maddie is starting solids now. She seemed eager to eat our foods, plus she's been Miss Fussypants and I think it's because she's teething. I fed her some rice cereal, and she loved it! She kept opening her mouth for more. My little girl is growing up so fast!



--Work has been terribly frustrating the past month or so. I don't want to get into details, but I just really needed to vent a bit. I'll post more details after my last day (May 22nd!), but if you're curious you can e-mail me.

--I probably won't post much, if at all, until after we move. We'll be so busy wrapping things up, packing, etc, that I just don't think I'll have much time for blogging. Hopefully, once I'm staying home with Maddie, I'll find the time to post more regularly.

Tomorrow is the day.

We will find out where we will spend the next 3 years of our lives. I'm excited, but a bit nervous, too. The time has moved so slowly, but it's finally almost over!

I've got another headache (bleh!), so this will be short. I'll let you guys know where we're going tomorrow!

Oh. My. Goodness.

I had completely forgotten just how wonderful it is to possess a remote control. We've been flipping stations manually for about a year now. The TV we have is one Hubby's dad no longer used, and he had lost the remote long before. (And I know about universal remotes, but this TV brand is so special that it doesn't work with them.)

At least we don't have cable, so we only flipped between 2 stations.

We got the coupon for our converter box in the mail the other day, and we were so excited that Stu went out today and bought one. Being the handy-dandy man that he is, he hooked it up no problem and got the digital TV working. And it is awesome--the stations come in clearly, and we even have more than we started with! All for the $20 after using the coupon.

When Stu opened the box to the converter, both of us did a giddy dance to celebrate the new remote that was an unexpected surprise. Now I can nurse the baby and change the channel all at the same time!

Oh, and for those who want to see what the baby looks like now, here's a random picture:

I mentioned awhile back that we were deliberating over our residency program choices, and last weekend we finally hashed it all out and submitted our ranking!

So here it goes:

Nashville
Columbia, SC
Birmingham
Chattanooga
St. Louis
Charlottesville, VA
Augusta, GA
Dallas
Houston

You'll notice that this list is way different from the one before. The Chattanooga and Augusta programs were just not really good enough, so they went lower on the rankings. St. Louis and Charlottesville were much better programs than I gave them credit for, so up higher they went.

Stu feels that the Nashville program (at Vanderbilt) is very competitive and so he probably won't get in there, but we went ahead and ranked it first anyway. So, we may end up with our 2nd or 3rd choice, and we feel that both would be awesome.

Match Day is a little later than I realized--it's on March 19th this year. So it's still one month away before we find out where we'll be! Be praying that it all works out for the best! :-)

Stu is on his final interview in Chattanooga. Yay! He's been gone most of this month criss-crossing the country with interviews for his residency program. It's so hard to believe we're this close to a new phase in his career! He had 9 interviews total, and once he finishes all of them he will rank the programs and then, we wait. March 1st (maybe 2nd this year, since March 1st is a Sunday; we're not sure) is Match Day, where every med student is (ideally) placed in a residency program based on their preferences and the programs' desire to accept them. (It's some really complicated computer-type matching system that I'm completely ignorant about.)

Anyway, here's my list of programs, based mainly on location, size, and proximity to Atlanta. Stu's ranking may be slightly different. Unforunately, Atlanta did not ask Stu for an interview :-(, but as you can see we have other great options:

Chattanooga: This would be the MOST IDEAL PLACE EVER. Stu and I both love the city, after having lived there for 4 years during college. It has a small-town feel, but enough stuff to do that you won't get bored. Plus, it's only 2 hours from Atlanta. Stu hasn't finished his interview yet, so I don't have much to say about the program. UPDATED TO ADD: Well, Stu just finished the interview, and said that the program in Chattanooga is a bit sketchy, since it's brand new. That means that it may be lower on the list. Don't know yet.

Nashville: While Nashville is 4 hours from Atlanta, it has one of Stu's favorite programs, and it's also only 4 hours from my grandparents in Indy. I would love to live here with its cold(er) winters and changing of seasons. Of course, any location we've looked at has a winter that is colder than Houston's!

Columbia, SC: Another city where Stu loved the program, so it's very close in rank to Nashville. It's also 4 hours from Atlanta, but I rank it lower than Nashville since it's further south and farther from my grandparents. It seems like a beautiful city, though, and a great place to live.

Augusta, GA: Only 2 1/2 hours from Atlanta, but the program isn't quite as good as the ones listed above. It's almost in a dead tie with Birmingham, in my opinion.

Birmingham: Pretty much the same as Augusta. See above.

Dallas: Stu felt the program was solid, and it would be great to be close to his family. So this is a great fall-back city. I think it's a bit too big of a city for me, though, and we both would prefer to be in the Southeast.

Houston: I only rank it above the others below because we're familiar with this place. The program is only so-so, and the salary is one of the lowest out there.

St. Louis: Stu interviewed here only because his best friend currently lives here. While we'd be happy where ever we go, this is a bit too far from all family and friends.

Charlottesville, VA: Stu only interviewed here because they asked and we thought Virginia, it's in the South, right? It can't be that far from Atlanta. Well, we were wrong. It's at least 12 hours from anyone we know. But the program is great and the city is beautiful, so if we end up here it's not the end of the world.

Once Stu finishes all the interviews, we'll talk and pray about our final ranking decisions.

*Update* As far as we know, the power is still out all over the city. We headed up to Dallas instead of holding out. Hubby Dear posted several pictures we took while heading out--check out his blog (The Scut Report, on my sidebar) to see those.

We're still here in Houston anticipating the coming storm. We're far enough from the coast not to have to worry about storm surge, and being on the 3rd floor of our apartment complex, we don't have much to worry about in the way of flooding. Wind damage may be the only issue.

We're just chilling here with the cats right now, and I'm hoping to get some projects done before the power goes out. All of our prep work is done--we've got water, snacks, and brought in our all our balcony stuff. We're expecting to get the worst around 1 a.m. tomorrow, so be praying for us! I'll post again once the power returns.

Lily longing to be outside:


Not much longer and I don't think she'll want to be out there anymore!