Where've we been?

Savoring life, just like I set out to do in the last post nearly 75 days ago. :)  I have lots to fill this blog in on, and will do most through images of the love and laughter we've shared.  I meant what I said in my last post and have been working really hard towards creating that life.
Today at work we have a session for women in my company called "Living in Your Sweet Spot."  It is a two day conference I helped to plan and while it was extremely stressful and time consuming, I feel a sense of pride and joy seeing it come together.  Tonight we shared wine and delicious foods that are anti-cancer, all based on SAVORING life.  Do you think God is in on my plan or is it me in on His?

Life Juice Resolutions

Over the course of the past year I have made many changes and accomplished so many goals.  I became a working mother, blood donor, triathlete, half marathoner, and my biggest athletic accomplishment IRONMAN70.3!!!
Some of these goals I've had most of my life, and others (i.e. Ironman) were evolutions of other dreams.  But no matter what the goal I honestly don't think I could have done any of them without accomplishing the first dream of becoming a mommy. Abney's mommy.
Since she has come into our life I feel I have started to become the best version of me.  I'm still full of faults: short tempered, obsessive compulsive, over-analytical, the list goes on...but I really believe that since Abney entered our world I've become somewhat less focused on the trivial matters and more focused on thriving the way I so desire.
She inspires me.
Motivates me.
Captivates me.
I know it sounds corny, but she completes us.  I've been (as usual) slightly obsessed with reading other blogs with stories that include losses I cannot begin to comprehend.  Challenges that make what I've endured seem more like comparing a half marathon to the full marathon.  It has made me look around at my family both in my home and far away, my beloved friends who are always there for me, and take a deep breath to breathe in the life I've been blessed to live.
I'm still not great at avoiding getting caught up in trivial moments.  The disaster that is a messy house can send me over the edge, and the list of "to do's" can overwhelm me to the point of not sleeping.  But at the end of the day, I'm so very happy for my life and my loved ones. All of you.
So here I am, well into 2011 and continuing the path we've already been on.  I have another half marathon March 20th, Olympic Distance Triathlon May 1st, and another 70.3 on May 15th.  All while raising over $5938 so far with my wonderful husband for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of our friend Sarah and our journey we are calling SARAH STRONG.
Some people think we're crazy, some people think it makes us heroes, but other people know it's just "life juice." The thrill of knowing that blood is coursing through our veins and we've been given the chance to wake up and take another deep breath.
To turn to each other and soak in our love.  To look at our beautiful daughter and dream about our future as a family; our dreams for more children and who they will be and what they will do.  The ability to begin each day as it it were on purpose, and to do everything we can to thrive in it.
That's why last Friday after Ben and I exceeded our respective fundraising goals, I went to the Red Cross to make my second donation.  I did even better than I did my first time (my 2010 New Year's Resolution), and feel confident that I can continue to give to others and to the world in this way.
As the wonderful nurse said to me when I finally had the courage to look at what I called the "gross blood" in my bag;  "That's not gross, that's life juice."  My life juice is somewhere out there coursing through 2-6 other people's veins.  People I may never meet but have somehow helped.  I like to dream that they may be a young baby, a new mom, a cancer patient on their way to recovery.  I dream that they take my blood and pay it forward by thriving in their opportunity to breath in again.
And that is my 2011 New Year's Resolution.  To take my life juice and take time to breathe.  To stop over-committing myself and focus on enjoying the moments today.
Slightly more difficult to check off a list and certainly more challenging than donating blood, but a resolution and a challenge I think I can do.  I'm taking a look at my days, my weeks, and cutting out the clutter where I can and focusing in on enjoying the moments.
So there you have it.
Now help hold me accountable.
I'd like to go from, "Hello my name is Julia and I'm a stressball." to,
"Hello my name is Julia."
Plain. Simple. FABULOUS!

Big Girl, Little Moments

This morning marked a big milestone for you little one.  You held your spoon and fed yourself the ENTIRE yogurt!!!  All you needed me to do was help get the yogurt on the spoon and you took full responsibility to get it in your mouth and fill your tummy.  I am so proud of you and cannot believe how much you've grown up in the past few months!  Just this time last year Mommy was preparing/scared-to-death to return to work and leave my infant.  Now, I have practically a grown woman who can feed herself.  Where has the time gone!?  It's these little moments that I treasure most; the smile of a confident accomplished lady.  I love you sweet girl.

What is Sarah Strong?

Today was a wonderful day.
I woke up after a night of girl talk with two friends to the sound of my sweet baby girl calling for me.  I got to change her diaper and smooth back her wild morning hair and make her breakfast.  I got to help her put yogurt on her spoon and watch her learning to become even more independent.
I got to run around our house giggling as we got ready to exercise together at KangaZoom.  I got to take her to Precious Cargo and watch her rock in the big girl chairs and test out the different tables and toys.  I got to take her to lunch and see her taste bacon for the first time...and throw a bit of a tantrum since our service was slow.
I got to rock her to sleep for her nap, and take a lazy snooze of my own while she rested peacefully.  I got to take her to a first birthday party for a "Rockin' Good Time" and watch her experience her first puppet show, her first balloon art, and her first taste of cake made to look like a pink glittering guitar (note to self: Brittni knows how to throw WAY cooler birthday parties than I do. LOL)
I got to make dinner at home for just us two and to play in her playroom and chase her around the house giggling.  I got to draw her a bath in a preheated bathroom and laugh even harder as she ran around excitedly afterward (still naked) because the warm water had raised her endorphins.  Then I got to read her a story, sing her a lullaby, say her prayers, and tuck her peacefully into bed.
Today I got to be a mother to a 14 1/2 month old angel.
Yet, I sat down tonight after all of this and started to stress.  To worry about the things I didn't do, like organize my closet, get a "real" workout in, and start worrying myself once again about whether or not I can do all of the endurance challenges I've thrown out in front of myself.
Then I sat down to write a thank you note to a dear family for a generous donation to Ben and my fundraising campaigns.  Writing it on the pink note cards I got specially designed with Sarah in mind.  Cards that thank them for helping us to being SARAH STRONG.  It reminded me to drop the stress and remember what is really important in my life, and to remember what I DID do today.

I have to wonder if people will ever understand just what being SARAH STRONG means to me?  People that didn't know her and didn't get to understand her inner beauty and compelling faith.  Her ability to let things slide off her back, but her humorous southern passion if you "fired her up!"  The kind way she treated every single person she met.  The fight she had in her on behalf of her husband, her daughter, and her life.
I just don't know that I can ever put it into words; that I'll never be able to truly express the way she inspires me and reminds me every day to try harder.  Not to make excuses for skipping workouts or scheduling my life so that I have time for me, my husband, and my baby.  LIFE comes first.  Every single time.
I had a wonderful day today.  I have my health, I have my hopes, and I have my dreams.  But today I'm reminded that any day that can all be taken away from us and that we should actively seek to LIVE each day.  To thank God for the day and to thrive in it.

Sarah did.

Sarah's Wedding Day

Snowpocalypse 2011

Cobb County Schools have been closed for FIVE DAYS!!!  Can you believe that?  We've been under house arrest for almost a full week at this point and just today is when most people started to venture out into the ATL.  In theory we did not get a ton of snow, a few inches and some ice.  But for Atlanta this has caused a huge issue!!  We are not equipped to handle any significant snow and top it off with ice, well, we are stuck.  Leave it to Ben Buerger to find a way to make this Georgia Disaster the best time a little girl will ever have.

First Born Child Survey

1. WAS YOUR FIRST BORN'S PREGNANCY PLANNED? For the most part.  We were able to conceive much easier than we anticipated, so we were a little "surprised" but were planning to have our angel as soon as we could.
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes, almost two years.
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? A little bit of shock but a lot of excitement.
4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 27
5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? My friend said if I was that late I needed to take a test.  I recall telling Ben I was wasting money using a test but that I would take one the following morning.  I was SHOCKED that I saw that little line turn to a + sign!
6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? I started to text my girlfriend Erin, then thought better and went in the bedroom to tell Ben. :)
7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes
8. DUE DATE? 11/03/2009
9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? YESSSSSSSSSS!  My first trimester was quite miserable.
10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Dairy Queen Blizzards and Mexican food.
11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? No one I loved more or could irritate me more than my darling husband.
12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Girl
13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No, I desperately wanted to have a baby girl first.  Thank heaven for little girls!
14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? Let's not talk about that.  Let's just note that I lost them all and hope to never see them again
15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, I'm so blessed to have wonderful friends, family, and co-workers.  We ended up having 5 showers for this little lady, including a co-shower with my sister-in-law Jamie.
16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? Most of them I knew ahead of time except for a surprise breakfast at work and the surprise family shower for me and my sister-in-law.  The funny story there is I knew Jamie was having a surprise shower and brought her a gift, but didn't realize we were getting showered with love as well!
17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? We had a scare early on with a false positive nuchal test.  We had an increase risk for chromosomal disorder and chose to get an amniocentesis to check on everything.
18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia; the same place I was born!
19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Sunday afternoon/evening until Wednesday at 3:53 a.m.
20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Ben the first time, Ben and my mom the last time.  We also learned of just how many potholes are between my house and Piedmont Hospital.
21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Ben
22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural
23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Heck yes!  Like switching on a light bulb.  Easy breezy from there.
24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs, 2.8 oz.
25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? October 28, 2009 at 3:53 a.m.
26. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Abney Rae; Abney for her maternal grandmother (Melinda Abney Whitton) and Rae for her paternal grandmother (Marsha Rae Buerger)
27. HOW DID YOU FEEL AFTER DELIVERY? Love.
28. WHO CAME TO THE HOSPITAL TO VISIT? We were blessed to have LOTS of wonderful visitors including: Nana, Sallie, Anne McNeil, G-Diddy and Sarah, Aunt Jo, Shyann, Scott, Chad & Meredith, Janki, Alyssa, Stacy, Kelly, and I think that is all at the hospital. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone because we were so thankful and so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family come to visit us.  It made us feel so very special.
29. HOW LONG WAS YOUR HOSPITAL STAY? We checked in Tuesday evening around 9:05 p.m. and got to check out on Friday.  The Tuesday night didn't "count" since we delivered Wednesday and they had us stay two nights postpartum.
30. WHO WAS AT HOME? My mom was there and Ben's parents arrived on Friday for the weekend with us.
31. DID YOU HAVE ANY HELP THE FIRST WEEK? We rotated between my mom and Ben's dad for the first few months. :)
32. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, & 1 day

Dr. Wrong?

Okay, I'll admit it, I was wrong.  At least I think I was wrong...about the tofu as the culprit.  The very next day when Ben returned home (FINALLY!!!)  the three of us did a KangaZoom afternoon and dinner at McCray's.  It was so much fun and less crowded so we were able to really bounce and explore the entire gym.  I still cannot get over how cute it is to watch her be so adventurous and excited about exercise.  She certainly has a zeal for exploring and for running.
That evening, after we put the angel to bed and snuggled up on the couch to enjoy Ben's new AppleTV, my stomach started to churn.  I kept thinking maybe I had just eaten too much and tried to ignore it.  Nope.

At this point we are pretty sure I had some form of stomach flu and not food poisoning.  But I must admit that at some point Thursday evening after hours of being sick, I couldn't help but wonder if it was that one rogue piece of tofu I had tried...LOL

After four nights, lots of fluids, and lots of rest, I'm finally feeling back to myself and able to move around. Exceptionally thankful our company is observing today as a holiday and that I have one last day to get the house straightened, take down the Christmas tree, and prepare for going back.

Too bad now Ben is upstairs with a sick stomach.  Dun, dun, dun.