Hello & Good-Bye...will be back soon!

Hello to my fellow blog readers. Work has me a bit bogged down these days so only stopping in to say "Hello" and I likely will be out of pocket for another week or so.

Lo's birthday party was great and we had a great turnout... friends and family came in from all over despite the bad weather around the state. Luckily, it was BEAUTIFUL in Austin for the big day! Will post pics soon....although I did not capture too many moments due to non-stop running around.

Life is still cranking along here in the Odom house. Despite all the drama we've had over the past month, I think we're happier than ever and feel really good about life right now! My work is insane right now...3 big deadlines before the end of the month (which unfortunately is a short month). Even with the long hours, I'm loving my job! Luckily the hard work is paying off as I received word of a nice pay raise and great bonus...good to know I'm not working for nothing and perfect timing as I am "officially" the bread-winner around here you know:)

Clay is working hard to start up his own work gig...YES, giving it a shot...why not!?!?!? He's still playing with his new band and also wants to start a side band to his side band...oh my! I'm hoping to help them and start getting out to do some PR for side band #1.

Clay and I had a great valentines and celebrated by going to see the opening show at ACL featuring Willie Nelson. The venue was great and the show was amazing!

I've been running again which has helped pull off some additional baby weight...YEA! I'm trying to train for the upcoming Cap10K race in March. I'm up to 4 miles so still have a ways to go. I'm suppose to run 5 miles this weekend but my BFF, Ashley, is coming in town from San Antonio (thank goodness as I'm looking forward to some much needed downtime with a girlfriend) so not sure I'll be popping up at 7:00 a.m. Saturday to make this run.

Gaines is doing great and is so adorable...and big! He's still not sleeping so well (we're getting through two bouts of ear infections and two teeth coming through) but he's rolling around everywhere. Although he can't sit up on his own yet, he's already starting to attempt crawling...well pulling. And, he constantly has a smile on his face which I LOVE! He has HUGE brown eyes and his hair seems to be getting more red by the day.

Lola is still my precious Lola! We're going through a tough phase right now...pouting, whining, a little shyness which is causing her not to address people appropriately and then she's also regressed a bit and has now started baby talk, wants us to feed her, etc. I'm assuming this is all natural with Gainesy getting more attention now that he's getting older. But, as usual, we'll work through the phase. She's involved in so much right now...soccer, dance and gymnastics and loves it all. So much fun!

For now, here's a pic of my precious babies that I took with my new phone last week...not a very good one but all I have since I haven't had time to upload pics from the camera. Hey, I'm lucky to be getting anything up and posted at this point. Hope to be back soon!

Long lost blogger...

I've been out of the blogosphere world over the past couple weeks. Work has had me bogged down to the point of almost no return but I thought I would quickly return to drop a few words and post some pics just to let yall know we're still here and kicking...I think...

It's been a challenging couple weeks. I've been in three cities in less than seven days....in a snow storm, stuck in airports, to warm weather, then to colder weather (9 degrees to be exact), then back to warmer weather, then cold again...meeting after meeting, audit after audit, client dinner after client dinner...12-15 hour days...I've been in hotel beds more than my own. Even in another bed, 1600 miles away from the kids and Gaines waking up every 2 hours, I've still managed to get no sleep. As I stumble through the days, I often wonder if I'm a walking zombie or if I'm alive and kicking. Clay has been a real trooper and he's started calling himself Mr. Mom....and he is Mr. Mom at this point. Thank goodness he is able to step in and keep it all together while my work is demanding so much time and energy from me.

During all this, Clay has lost his job. This will probably be our biggest challenge we've faced as a family yet. As of now, we're optimistic and hope this is a blessing in disguise as he was miserable and working nonstop. There have only been a few moments of tears (One bout came yesterday at a client meeting but that's ok). We have support from all parts of our lives...family, friends, acquaintances, work colleagues...We've received more "We love you" and "We're there for you" and "We're thinking of you" comments than ever before. It's nice to have the support to help get us through. This is also a time when we (Clay and I) can look at each other and our beautiful children and say with confidence "This is what it is all about"...it's not about money or how much or how little we have...it's all about our family and the love we have for each other. This is what gets us through and what will get us through these tough times and I believe we'll all be stronger for that.

This leads me to my New Year's resolutions. I've been meaning to post them but just haven't had a chance, but I think it fits perfect with the hard times, hard work and all the obstacles we have right now...the resolutions seem more fitting than ever. So, here they are...

Read more....

Run more...

Love more...

Want less....

Pretty simple...not much to it...self-explanatory but still very powerful. When I got home last week from one of my trips, Clay had written these resolutions on a piece of paper and put them on the fridge....I think he's also made them his own resolutions (minus the running I would assume). We now wake up and see these four resolutions...go to bed and see them and try to follow them on a daily basis.

Love these series of pics of the kids and Belly Bear...she is so good to them...licks and all...

Some pics of Lo and Boo Bear at the farm hanging on the porch. Lola loves this dog more than anything!

Regardless of everything going on right now, I can't help but look at these pictures, smile and feel full of happiness! I'm so thankful for what I have!

I leave you with this last statement that I heard this week and loved...."Life is about making mistakes…that’s how you learn who you are and who you want to be..." I truly believe this!