Taking a Break

I am so sorry that I have not written in a while on here. I am so disorganized at home which causes me to have panic attacks and have a constant feeling of guilt. It has effected my marriage, my relationship with my children and my opinion of myself. So that is why I am taking a blogging break. I am planning on being back in full swing come February 1st and I will update you on all of the crazy and wonderful things that have been happening. I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and I hope you have a rocking new year.

The Nutcracker

Since Emma is only two we didn't know if she would be ready for the ballet. We decided to chance it and try it. She loved it! She was very still until almost the end when she decided that she was a ballerina too! I could tell she was getting restless so I asked her if she wanted to go. No she said. But when I said do you want to go get ice cream she jumped up and yelled "Bye Daddy!" Apparently she thought Nick was going to stay for the ballet's finale while we wined and dined on icecream! All together it was a wonderful day and I could ourselves blessed that we can take her to things like this...I know this is just one thing that is lending itself towards cultivating our little girl into a cultured, polite little lady.

Here we are at the ballet

Here we are at the icecream shop...they have a playground!

My Hero!

This is the man who saved our lives...by our lives I mean all of the pictures of our lives up to this point. He was able to recover all of our pictures off of our old computer. And he offered to do it out of the kindness of his heart...for free. It brings tears to my heart to know how close we were to not having our baby's first pictures. Thanks again Dave, you'll never know how much this means to me.

Its Cold in here...

Please be praying...our furnace was not working when we woke up this morning...yikes. Fortunately we had our furnace serviced this Fall and the guy had showed Nick a part that was getting ready to go. We decided not to replace it at the time so the furnace man showed Nick how to replace it. Nick thinks that is the part not working so we are praying he can fix it and not have to call in for an emergency fix. I'll keep you updated.

Haven-making is a Serious Job

Here...read this, its wonderful! I can wait until you finish reading. I'll just sit quietly here....and hum to myself. are you done yet? Nope? okay. How about now? Nope? Still not done? How about....NOW? Well geesh silly, its about time! So do you agree that we should treat our jobs at home like actual jobs? I know I do. When I am at home I think it helps immensely to wake up early, get dressed and get things around that I need to have a productive day. For example I often times will get the kids breakfast made in advance as much as I can: oatmeal in the bowl ready for water, vitamins on the table, babyfood and spoon ready for the opening. Taking care of our homes really is the most important job. We need to take it seriously to make sure we are having serious fun. We need to make our home a haven for our loved ones. They should WANT to be at home. The other day Emma and I were away from home for a long time and by the time we were almost home she was saying that she wanted her bed and Calvin and Daddy. She was yearning for home and I loved that. Does your family yearn for your home? If not what can you do to make it more haven-ish?

Just so you know...

In our house this is where you end up if you decide to throw eggs on the floor. Just an FYI.

Farewell weekend

Photo by Amelia P S
















This weekend has been one of the most odd ones in my life. It was strangely chaotic and peaceful all at the same time. I felt and still feel like crap but am somehow rejuvenated. Let me explain. Friday Emma was sick and suddenly Friday evening I was hit like a ton of bricks and within half an hour was down for the count with whatever flu/cold is going around. I felt miserable. However Friday night was the first night I got a full night's sleep...Calvin slept in his bed! So that was heavenly to wake up to Saturday but still felt like crap. Saturday morning we braved the cold and snow as Nick went to get tires, I had to unexpectedly pick Nick up with the kids, take him home, go to a meeting, go to Toys R Us, then Walmart, then home, all the while still feeling like crap, but humming Christmas tunes. We deemed I was too sick to go to the family dinner at Nick's moms so he made the dish to take and I helped with the kids. We had a matress delivered which resulted in an hour long ordeal of doors being slammed, delivery men mad and my husband being more upset then I've ever seen. Matress in place, children's coats on my family sans mommy faced the cold winter to go to the family event. And suddenly I was alone...and free...albeit the running to the bathroom and the constant drip coming out of my nose. I got all of the Christmas decorating done, I got things organized, and vacuumed, and mopped! I got bathroom's cleaned and laundry done...and folded! I felt accomplished, I felt like myself again! Today Calvin was sick and so church was out as Emma is still sick too. A family of four sick behind one door. During naptime I took to the mall where although it was busy and my throat was killing me, I managed to enjoy myself. When I got home we went out to eat and had a wonderful family time. Now that the house is under control I think I can handle another week. Bring it on.

Turkey Day

Emma and I watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade

This is my youngest sis basting the bird


So Thanksgiving went really well, how was yours? My cousin Jaime and I were in charge of cooking the meal and I think we did a pretty darn good job of it. We went in thinking that we just didn't really care and did a nice job. I bought a plug in roaster and did the turkey in that and it turned out FABULOUS. We spent the night at our Gram's the night before with Emma and had a great time. My sister's joined us and had a great time too...they set up the table and did dishes afterwards which worked splendidly and they did a fab job! One of my favorite memories of the day was getting to watch the Macy's Day parade with Em (seen above). She was super excited and really seemed to enjoy it. I remember how much I loved it as a little girl too.

Jaime making a super cute face, right?

My captions are being stupid...above is my sister Lacey with Calvin and this last pic is us at the Thanksgiving table.

Welcome Back Snow!

"Welcome back snow!" is what Emma yelled as she stood outside and watched the first snow of the season fall. Of to be so childlike...she didn't even care if she had a coat, she simply HAD to go outside! I love how much she loves snow because I love snow too!

I'm Baaack...

And still sad. Still no pictures. We have one more IT guy to schmooze to hopefully try to get our pictures and then it looks like data recovery is our last hope...which the minimum that will cost is $500.00, I guess my question for you guys is, is there amount that is too much to get your pictures of your babies? Opinions please. Anyway, hopefully when the kiddos are napping tomorrow I will be able to get you caught up on Thanksgiving...of that I have pictures!

I can explain...

So our computer has died. Crashed and burned. I know this sounds silly but please be praying for it. All of our pictures are on that stupid computer and I just want them back. I think my little heart will be crushed forever if we can't retreive our pictures. Not to mention the financial strain this time of year with "SURPRISE!" you have to buy a new computer. Nick went to turn it on the night before Thanksgiving and it was just a blue screen...nothing else. So I will write as soon as I can more about Thanksgiving and everything but until then please just be praying that we can get our pictures...I know I should have been backing them up but I was always just too busy. Right now I would just give anything for my pictures.

And....Break!

photo by sugaree_gd

Sorry if you've all been wondering where on earth I am...I've been on a bit of a blogging holiday. I will write after Turkey Day...promise. Love to you and yours

Deal of the Century

I thought I would show you all my wonderful deal. I went shopping at the outlet malls on Veteran's Day and got some huge deals! I may blog about all of them a little later but I couldn't wait to share about this one. Above is my new light weight jacket from Brooks Brothers. It was originally $199.50 and I got it for $11.99 plus tax! That's over 90% off. Truth be told I actually got it for Nick and since it is only a medium I thought the sleeves might be a little too short for him. When he tried it on though it became very clear that it is a ladies jacket...and what a surprise...it fits me perfectly! So I thought I would share my terrific deal. Did anyone else brave the cold winds on Veteran's Day...any good deals?

Well The Weather Outside if Frightful

But our fire is sure delightful. Oh I love my three snowbunnies! Today it actually snowed here for the first time this year...winter is definitely on its way. Thank the Lord we are prepared...our savings account is somewhat ready for the bills, we have hats, gloves, and coats, and our cars are equipped with proper tires and batteries...God is good all of the time. Bring on the snow!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Well here Emma and I are together...doesn't she look like me? Nowadays this family of four gets told how much Emma looks like me and how much Calvin looks like Nick...it is kind of uncanny. I love my little mini-me taggina along everywhere...I am wearing my pearl earrings by the way...if you want to say how nice they look.

Can You See It?

There's a tooth there if you look close enough...I am so excited! He hasn't tried to bite me while nursing yet...we'll see how long until he tries that! He even has another tooth next to that one but it keeps peeking in and out...I cannot believe how fast he is growing up!

Halloween was Fun!

Halloween was so much fun this year! Emma was a kitty cat because on a Dora the Explorer program, Dora dressed up as a kitty cat too. So that’s what hooked Emma. Calvin was a chick which was absolutely adorable but had no significance other than when I was pregnant I bought the costume at Children’s Place for .99. Yes I am a bargain hunter, thank you. We picked my mom up and then went to my Grandma’s church for Trunk or Treat. My cousin and Gram were there passing out candy and I think that Emma had a lot of fun with them and my mom. After that we went to the mall and caught the tail end of the halloweening there which was okay because Lord knows we don’t need a lot of candy hanging around our house. It was also wonderful to go to the mall because I had some shopping to do and it helped that my mom was there to assist in baby wrangling. Of course now I am on the lookout for clearance Halloween items for next year and am excited to start planning for Thanksgiving!

Yep, Its my Birthday

Today is my Birthday! Yeah for me! Over the past couple of years I have had a tendency to be somewhat shy about my birthday. Either I thought that no one cared or I was trying to avoid it, I don’t know. But I am excited about my birthday this year. I have decided to embrace my day rather then be upset about the looming fact that I am getting older. And I have decided that everyone can help me celebrate my birthday…if you don’t like it then too bad! Ha! (okay sorry if I hurt your feelings!, sheepish grin). I think this birthday is going to be spectacular. I was already surprised by pearl earrings from Nick. Which he couldn’t have given me at a worse time by the way. Last night (birthday eve we’ll say) I was yelling at him…I mean yelling. He had left me out of the loop on plans being cancelled which subsequently meant that had I known I could have made it to a party I had been wanting to go to, and I don’t know, I guess I just snapped. After my rant he came up to me with a jewelry box. Boy did I feel bad. Oops. There’s a secret about the pearl earrings that I am not sharing with anyone, except that I love them and they make me feel even more June Cleaver-ish…so thank you Nick. Everyone knows how much I would love to have the ideallic 1950’s household and the pearls just brought me one step closer.

When I had got home from work Nick's mom and him had put together a birthday surprise. Nick's mom had the kids decorate a card for me and bought me flowers from them which I thought was just the sweetest thing. There was also a card from my in-laws and from my terrific sis-in-law which I thought was just so sweet. Nick's mom got me a gift certificate to our fave spa so I will definitely be taking advantage of that soon! Nick bought me my favorite lunch of sushi which was just so sweet.

Tonight my parents are coming over with pizza, cake, and my Grandma so cue up the birthday music. I am sure presents will fall from the sky and giant announcements will be made on the news that today is in fact, my birthday. Tomorrow night Nick and I are going out to eat to a Japanese restaurant we haven’t visited since I think when I was pregnant with Emma…seems like a lifetime ago. Then Saturday we are going to my in-laws for another birthday celebration. So I am super excited about the entire day and my birthday week…yeah!

Sunday's Symphony

Sunday our local Symphony had a children's event so we decided to take the children. I must admit I was fairly apprehensive about taking them but it proved to be a wonderful afteroon. Before the symphony they had a "petting zoo" with the instruments so Emma got to play all of them. She seemed to really enjoy herself. I was so proud because after watching Baby Einstein's Meet the Orchestra she knew all of the instruments and even what section they belonged in. I could tell the performers helping her were impressed as well. After the petting zoo the symphony performed and Emma had a wonderful time. She enjoyed all of the songs, "read me" the program, and clapped politely at the end of each piece. She also showed me how to bow like the maestro did. She is so cute. Poor Cal was just along for the ride on this one but he seemed to be interested looking at everything and was very well behaved. Playing the drum

Emma with a small violin...the funny thing about this was that she slung the violin under her chin like she's been doing this for years.

Awesome Website

I would like to draw your attention to this new website I found, 6pm.com It is amazing! There are a ton of awesome deals! I have not bought anything from there so I don't know how their return policy is but they have a ton of really detailed pictures, which I love. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Too Surreal To Talk About

I have not mentioned the new events in our life on here because I simply have not wanted to talk about them: it just doesn't seem real. I keep waiting for someone to pull the rug out from underneath us and for the walls of the World to crumble before us. But alas, this still hasn't happened. Nick got a new job: a REALLY good new job. Excellent benefit package and he will be making more plus he will actually be doing what he wants to do. They will send him back to school if he wants to...which may mean we would move to Rome for 6 months. In taking the new job we are needing to turn in the company car, so we bought a new SUV. All of this is amazing to me and what we have been praying for for months. Seriously, his interview process with this company started when I was in the hospital having Calvin and he is now 9 months old. I know this is God answering prayer and working in our lives but I can't help but feel that it is just too good to be true. How do you get past this? I have even been carrying somewhat of a chip on my shoulder and being kind of angry about it. Nick told me to knock it off because it isn't too good to be true. I am working on rejoicing: Really, I am. I know that God is amazing, I guess sometimes it is a hard bite to swallow to realize he is this amazing, you know?

Our First Date

I would like to tell you about our first date. It wasn’t a date with just Nick and I, so it wasn’t our first official date, but it was a double date, or a group date you may even say. We went bowling together, along with my roommate Jess and Nick’s friend Brady. I was so flipping excited…this boy actually likes me! So we went and what do you think Nick did? He flirted with my roommate the entire time! What a little weasel! He defends this by saying that he didn’t know me that well and that it wasn’t actually a date. Creep. After bowling we went back to the dorm to watch a movie and while we were watching a movie he refused to hold my hand. Now if you didn’t know a girl why would you try to hold a girl’s hand? I just don’t think that his story is adding up. Anywho, he later told me that my hand was sweaty so he didn’t want to hold it. Thanks a lot mister. So that is what happened on our first date…just wanted to set the story straight. If it sounds like we were on a double date to you, please let me know.

Christmas Shopping

In other news, we are done with our Christmas shopping for the kids. We are also almost done with shopping for all but three people…I am so excited to be this close to being finished. Actually now that I think about it I haven’t gotten anything for Nick either but I will... I promise. How do you do Christmas Shopping? Last year I made everyone Christmas gifts which I loved doing but I couldn't think of any good ideas for what to make so I decided to buy everyone something. Next year I am going to be making things though as I have thought of a good idea that is going to take a ton of time so I will need the entire year to finish. I say this now but have a sneaky suspicion that I won't be able to finish...wishful thinking, wishful thinking...that's what I need. I just think it is really important to teach kids that Christmas isn't all about getting stuff that people buy you...its about showing your love because God showed His love for us. I had a problem with this lesson while shopping for the kids. Nick wanted to get the kids a big gift (not an elephant or something, but something that would be around for a while) while I wanted to get them a bunch of little presents to fill out the tree. I finally saw things from Nick's perspective...if the kids don't have tons of presents under the tree now then they won't come to expect tons of presents under the tree. We got them a train table with a train and then a few small gifts. So when you get a chance, tell me about your Christmas shopping. Do you make homemade gifts? Do you buy your kids lots of stuff? What is your take on Christmas shopping?

I Heart DSW

I would like to tell you again how much I love DSW! I got a pair of Kenneth Cole Reaction shoes there and spent under $20.00. And since I shop there so much they had sent me $20.00 in reward certificates to use so I had to get something else to even get to $20.00…pretty neat huh?

Pumpkin Picking

Yesterday afternoon we piled into the car to go pumpkin picking. It was such a fun time! We went out to the actual patch to pick our carving pumpkin and then we came back in to the little kid area to pick some other pumpkins. They also had a petting zoo and all kinds of activities. Afterwards we lunched with Nick's parents which was really fun.

Proud to be cancer-free

Just in case you were wondering…I don’t have cancer. A few weeks ago I started having some problems. The same type of problems that my mom had when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. So I went to the doctor and when I told him that my mom was 32 when she had been diagnosed he asked me why I had never had a colonoscopy. Um, because I didn’t know I needed to? That is my truthful answer after all; I had no idea. So in for blood work and a colonoscopy. I know all of those things are pretty standard run of the mill things except for after learning that my father had had gallbladder and stomach cancer the doctor informed me that “there is a very strong possibility that we are looking at cancer here.” Yikes. A million things ran through my head: would I be alive to help Emma through her first heart ache? Would I be around to see the kids off to Kindergarten even? Would Nick remarry? A million thoughts ran through my head as I cried in Nick’s arms. “We’ll fix this, you are going to be fine.” He promised. So this past week everything was done. I was happy to find out that my blood work showed everything to be normal: calcium, normal; electrolytes, normal; blood count, normal; iron, normal. And I was thrilled when the doctor met with us after the colonoscopy to tell us that they found nothing…my colon is squeaky clean. Yeah! Praise God! I know God has a plan but I was having a really hard time understanding how me not being with my babies was part of it. And fortunately it isn’t in the plan…at least not now. But one of the things this did teach me was that you really never know. I mean, I may be scared of getting cancer but I may get hit by a drunk driver on the way to work and never have seen that coming. We never know when our final hour is my friends. So we need to live every day with everything we have, and to represent The One who gave us everything we have.

October at the Beach

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to take one last visit to the beach. We had such an amazing time. We didn't go swimming but we had a great time exploring and dipping our feet in. This was the first time for Calvin to stick his feet in the water and he was not a very big fan of it. Emma enjoyed showing Calvin feathers and shells and what everything looks like while Calvin just enjoyed trying to eat the sand. I won't tell you that we may have been there for a photo shoot for a certain photo for a certain reason. I am so blessed with our family and I am so happy we were able to make it to the beach during the Autumn months!

God is Bigger than The Economy

Let’s face it everyone, times are tough right now. Sunday we came home from a family event and Nick and I basically had a giant meltdown together. Nick and his brother fixed our car last week and now it is making a different funny noise: more money for that. We got home and saw things in our house that need done as well as things in our house that we would love to have done but there is just no extra money right now. I am having some medical tests done and silly old money is what I am worrying about with them: I hope we can afford this. But God is good and His love endures forever. I must remember that. I must. I know that God will provide for us. I know people who are going out and getting second and third jobs to survive this and yet I only work part-time. As hard as it seems in day to day life we really are blessed. Nick was blessed enough to survive the budget cuts of the city: apparently they think they really do need him! He has a job and I have a part-time job and we are able to pay our bills, put food on the table, diapers on our baby boy’s behind and heat our home. We aren’t short in our bills and we do have at least a tiny bit extra to call our own. On top of all of that if we ever do struggle we are blessed with a fantastic support system of people we can turn to for help. Plus we both have our health that if Nick and I needed to go and mow lawns somewhere, we could go and do that. I know that times are tough but we need to try our best to look at the silver lining to our economy cloud. God is bigger than our economy! He’s bigger than that big bill you may not be able to pay this month or the groceries you may be dreading to have to purchase. Lets not rely on good luck or budgets or anything else…lets solely rely on Him to work everything out for us.

Baby Items

When you are pregnant nowadays you go to the huge store and register. There is so much crap that you feel a little overwhelmed. When I was pregnant with Emma there were girls I knew who were pregnant at the same time as me; as I poured over their registries I felt so inadequate because I was missing so much stuff off of my registry. However I got the last laugh because so much stuff you just DON'T NEED! People please let me in on a secret...the baby business is a business just like everything else...Christmas time, old people scams, back to school. Here is a short list of things I think you should leave off of your list:

Wipes Warmer: nice except that several have been recalled for setting people's houses on fire. Do you want the fire started in the nursery? Probably not. Also it just makes the baby scream even louder when you are changing your baby in a public bathroom with cold wipes

Bumbo chair: Trust me, they will learn to sit up when they are good and ready. Otherwise you can buy them some type of custom-made pillow to support them while in their college classes

Robes/towels/washcloths in gender specific colors: okay this one I learned the hard way or should I say Calvin has learned the hard way by having pink towels...sorry buddy. Somethings can just be white or yellow

Outfits in 0-3 month size: at this size all they can really wear are p.j's and you'll be so tired that you won't want to be a wardrobe coordinator anyway

Things Called Burpcloths: grab a blanket or get some cloth diapers because the burpcloths aren't absorbant and are small. Socks, dishcloths, anything begins to look appealing to catch spit up when you are covered in it

Travel Systems: Again I bought into this one because of the convenience of the putting the carseat in the stroller. But both of my kids were too big for the carseat by the time they were 6 months old and lets face it, those strollers are freaking enormous!!! Ours is nicely stored in the attic while our umbrella stroller is used on a daily basis.

A Bassinett: both of my kids hated ours...which is a shame because its so cute!

Please note that if you have these I am very happy for you. I am sure they are fine items; I am just sharing my opinions and what has worked for us. I hope this has given you some direction if you were in need of any.

Orchard Fun

Saturday we went to pick apples at a nearby orchard which was so much fun for Emma. In Puggles she had been learning that God made the trees. To tie into that we thought we would teach her about apples since they come from trees and now is a perfect time with us smack dab in the middle of Fall. We colored apples we talked about apples, we love apples. I had one day I planned on teaching Emma where apples come from. She'd say they come from the store and I would explain that they come from trees and God made the trees so God makes apples! But when I asked her where apples come from she said "God!" So that lesson plan was tossed out the window as she had jumped ahead of me. Another day I tried to tell her there is a surprise in the center of an apple. Before I could even cut an apple open she was telling me that there is a star in the middle of apples as if this is just soooo yesterday. Luckily though picking apples wasn't old to her so I got her with that one!

My happy campers ready to go apple picking!

The first apple...she was so proud of herself! Amid the pumpkins

Someone loves apples...and someone's Mommy loves this hat!

Uncle Monkey's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Uncle Monkey! We are so glad to have him back home. Emma thinks that he is cureall for everything. When Calvin is crying he must want him, when Emma is grumpy she wants him to read to her. We love him being home and are so excited we get to celebrate his Birthday with him! Happy day to the Birthday Boy!

Vacation

Vacation was amazing! We went to the Cabin that we go to every two years and had such an amazing time. Emma was old enough this time to know what was going on and had an opinion about things. It was so fun to be with friends and family and just relax. We took Emma on a pony ride and she had a really fun time; to my surprise she wasn’t scared at all! We ate at our favorite pizza place down there and had a wonderful meal. Afterwards this photo was taken of Emma and her Daddy, isn’t it precious?

A perfect fall day. Afterwards we decided to go to the Lodge and play some checkers and look who fell asleep…adorable!

Saturday my parents and sisters watched the kids so Nick and I could sneak away. We had a fantastic meal at one of our favorite restaurants, and we got to make a memory by getting completely lost on the way!

There was a new waterpark inside of the Lodge which was just so much fun for us and the kids. Each night when the kids were tucked in bed we left them with their grandparents so Nick and I could bond in the hot tub. Ah, just heavenly.

All in all we had a fantastic time. Nick’s mom let us drive her car so we’d have more room and because there was a part of our car needing to be fixed that we didn’t have time to repair before leaving. It was an amazing time and I will always cherish the time we had of getting to spend time together.