Thankful

I'm feeling very thankful today...thankful for so many things but primarily clarity and health. For those of you that don't know already, I'm expecting baby #2.  We are very excited to have a little one again and John will be super happy to have a sibiling. He constantly asks for a brother AND a sister. Yep..he wants both...he's just getting one though!

Today I had a dr's appt and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I'm 13 weeks and just past the critical point. All is well with me and the baby...whew! You see, this time last year I was recovering from a miscarriage that happened at this same time frame...well actually 12 weeks 4 days to be exact. It was the scariest, most eye opening experience of my life. 

Needless to say this whole pregnancy has been spent playing, "what if". What if I miscarry again or what if something ends up being wrong with the baby...thoughts that never crossed my mind when I was pregnant with John. I let fear completely take over which makes me sad...sad because I didn't put my full trust in God. I know better. I know that He is almighty and glorious and deserves my trust.

So today I'm giving it all up to God. My fear, anxiety, nerves, questions..all of it. He already knows what will happen and I have to trust in that...no matter what the outcome.

It's amazing how much better I feel just by typing those words. God is truly great!

New Year and New Goals

2010 is upon us and I'm pondering my New Year's resolutions! I have the ususals, eat healthier, exercise more and be more patient but I have been really wanting to accomplish one major goal of mine since John was born and that's documenting our family's adventures, milestones, etc.

Do you know that I haven't finished filling out John's baby book? How embarrassing is that? You should see the box of pictures I have of the first 2 years of his life. The 3rd year is still on my camera...again how embarrasing!!! I have tried to do the scrapbook thing but honestly, I just don't have the patience nor the time. I've even tried to pay a friend to scrapbook for me...I know I'm pathetic! Another friend suggested I try digital scrapbooking, which sounded like a good idea b/c I work much better on the computer until I attempted it...there are too many darn options! Give me 3 choices not 300!

It's very overwhelming and frustrating...but TODAY, I found another option. A friend of mine from HS has a blog and she recently had her blog made into a book. It sounds kinda weird but after seeing the final product, I think it's an awesome idea. Check it out..http://buntfamily.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-blog-books.html.

So that's my goal for the year. Try and document 3 1/2 years of John's life on my blog....wish me luck!!

Happy Birthday to ....

ME!!!

(yes, I took a picture of myself on my phone but it was a joke...long story..don't judge!)

That's right, yesterday was my birthday...32! All in all it was a pretty good birthday. I had to work which was a bummer...I got lots of goodies at work, had lunch with a great friend, Susan and recieved a lot of Happy Birthday calls and texts. Tim and I teetered back and forth about dinner plans and in the end decided that chinese food on the couch in my jammies sounded like a great birthday dinner! So that's what we did and it was awesome! I know I'm such a party animal...

I'm usually all about my birthday but this year I've just felt indifferent about it and I don't know why. Maybe b/c it fell on a Monday... not such a fun day...or maybe it's just because I'm getting older...there I said it...and I'm actually okay with it. It's weird to think about my actual age b/c I don't feel like what I thought a 32 year old would feel like. Of course I have no idea what that feeling would be but you get the point!

Anyway, another year has past and I'm looking forward to what 2010 has in store for us!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
  

The best Puppet ever!!!

Last night was John's Christmas program at school...he did GREAT!! He sang loud, did all the hand movements and didn't cry on stage! I'm so proud of my "puppet"! Actually, all the kids did really well!

Seeing all those kiddos up there brought back memories of my Christmas play in 2nd grade at Andy Woods Elementary. The play was about Santa Claus losing weight.... I played Mrs. Claus...I secretly wanted the role of "Workout instructor" b/c you got to wear a leotard, tights and leg warmers but Kim Echols beat me. Sorry....back to John's play...

I took video while Tim did pictures and that's hard! I really just wanted to watch and enjoy but I knew I would feel eternally guilty if I didn't get it on tape.

His school has two Pre-k classes, early Pre-K ...3 1/2 to 4 yrs and Pre-k...4 1/2 to 5 yrs and these are the only classes who particpate in the Christmas program. The director assigns the older kids the lead parts in the play which now that I've seen the play, makes total sense. John has already decided that next year he wants to play "Santa" or "Rudolph".

That's my boy...I can't wait!!!

Naughty or Nice??

The verdict is still out...but he is pretty darn cute so he might just end up on the "nice" list by default! heehee!

John is definitely into the Christmas spirit. He's made his list for Santa which consists of a watch, a "board"(clipboard like what his teacher uses at school) and a phone..he of course won't be getting a real phone, just something he can type on.  He's pretty easy, don't ya think! We haven't visited Santa yet but he said he's not going to sit in Santa's lap just stand by him...whatever...as long as I get a picture!
In other news, John has a Christmas program at school tomorrow and I'm SOOO excited to watch him. He's a "puppet"...I'm not sure what this entails but I'm sure it will be cute! He knows all the Christmas carols and sings them constantly...mostly at decible level 10!

I'm thinking this Christmas will be the best yet...I can't wait to see his face on Christmas morning!!

Word for the day = challenging

I have to say that yesterday was one of the most challenging days...I'm using that term loosely...I've had as a mother EVER!!!!

I think I might have picked up the wrong kid from school...the night was a disaster!!!

While sorting through all his school papers, I find a note from the teacher (never a good sign). The note informs me that John attempted to cut a little girl's hair in class today and to please talk to him! Oh great! So Tim and I explain that scissors are only for cutting paper and we should never cut our friends hair. He understood and said he wouldn't do it again...awesome!!!

moving on...

Later, he's throwing the dog toy to the dogs while I'm vacumming. After I'm finished, I noticed how eerily quiet it has become so I start calling for him....nothing...."JOHN HENRY"...nothing again...so Tim and I start out on the search. Turns out he's in Tim's office with all the lights out. Tim walks in and asks what he's doing...."nofing"...
We know he's up to something b/c he starts walking backwards towards the ice machine. Tim asks him again, "what are you doing in here?" John doesn't reply but he's now standing directly in front of the ice machine. At this point it's obvious he's put something in the ice machine....Tim opens the ice machine door and out jumps Miss Kitty!!! OH MY GOODNESS! REALLY!!! My poor cat could have been killed! The next 10 minutes was spent explaining how we don't put our cats in the ice machine..which is not a conversation I ever expected to have!

The rest of night was a fight. He didn't want to eat dinner, he didn't want to go to bed, he didn't want to do anything. At one point, I had to make a call to Santa Claus...not such a great idea...he lost his mind..we're talking full tantrum mode!

sigh.....I know he was overly tired which explains some of the behavior but WOW! All I know is that if we have another episode like last night, I'm committing myself!!!

We have a contract!

You heard me right....Tim recieved a call this morning from a gentleman that has been looking at the latest house Tim built for a while now. He and his family have looked at the house at least 4 times and this past weekend came out to measure...I'm thinking they want the house, right?  Tim met with him and kinda sorta told a fib that he might have a contract on it already. I know, I know it's not nice to lie but it did the job!!

A pre-approvement letter was sent over from the bank this morning. And Tim is drawing up the contract today. The best news is that they want to close by the end of the year! Praise the Lord!! This couldn't have happened at a better time. As I mentioned before, this year has been especially hard financially, as it has with many families. We've prayed that God would watch over us and guide us to make smart decisions and He has.  

We are so grateful for all that has been given to us! 

Bring on the Christmas spirit and bring on the snow!

I cannot believe there are only technically 3 weeks left until Christmas. I have to admit that I usually get pretty stressed at Christmas, trying to buy the perfect gift for everyone but not this year. That's b/c I'm...I mean Santa is only buying a couple of gifts for John, a couple for Tim and one for each of our parents... That's it! I usually buy for all our neices but since finances are tight, we just can't do it this year.

Honestly, noone in our family needs anything. We all have so much! It seems silly to buy gifts just to buy. I've already decided to adopt an angel from the Angel Tree in the mall. I've done it before and there is nothing like the feeling of knowing you're helping someone else who might not have had a Christmas at all...especially when you know it's a child! I'm also researching some other ways to help others in need...if you have any ideas, please forward them on.

In other news...it's supposed to snow tomorrow! This is exciting news for us down here in  the airmpit of Texas. But even if it does acutally snow, I seriously doubt it's going to stick. It's been cold here the past couple of days but not cold enough to hold snow. I would love for it to stick for numerous reasons, #1 being I won't have to come to work..I'm selfish I know...and #2 John would love it!!! Of course, the weather people are making it seem like we're about to have the great blizzard of 2009 but that's what they do, isn't it!!! So we will see!