Finally Adjusting

As of May 9, we have had 2 working parents again. I'm not quite sure how it happened but over the course of the 6 months that hubby was out of work I became quite accustomed to have a clean home and not lifting a finger. Oh geeze, way to set me up for failure, honey! 

Since he has been working, our house has been an absolute train wreck. I'm talking laundry spilling out of the clothes hamper, dishes in the sink, food caked on the table from last night's dinner, books and toys strewn about - it's been brutal. By the time Hubby gets home from work he is exhausted and I'm used to him doing all the work so I've gotten lazy worn out too so everything just keeps piling. 

Well - I think I've gotten my mojo back - YAY!! For the second time this week, my clothes hamper is empty!! And my dishes are all washed!!! And my floor is crumb free!!! And most everything is in it's proper place!!! And all of this on the same night even!  I would show you with pictures but let's face it, I've expended all of my energy cleaning. Ha!

I'm going to do the happy dance in my dreams now.. hope everyone has had a wonderful, productive day!

Bye Bye

My sweet angel loves her pacis. Here recently she has gotten way too attached to them.

But now they are GONE!!!

We officially have a paci-free baby - for over a week now! YAY!!!

Balloon Landing

Jon and I walked outside the door Saturday evening and found this guy floating just above our bushes

I've seen so many people release balloons but have never thought twice about where they landed. I must say, this smiley guy made me chuckle. Such sweetness.

Things I'm Happy About

One of my sweet aunts gave me a copy of 14000 Things to be Happy About for my birthday one year when I was younger. I used to keep it on my bookshelf directly next to my bed and just browse through when I need some encouragement (I was a very dramatic teenager).If you have never flipped through the pages of this book I highly suggest it. This list is obviously not complied by someone living in my section of the world or of my age classification.. some of the items listed are completely foreign to me and most are absurd.

I have always had it on my bucket list to create a unique list for me. Perhaps my list will not make it to 14000 bulleted items (I tend to run quickly from monotony and listing each smell or certain flower that makes me smile would be ridiculous) but I would love to have a list to flip back through or pass down to Adi one day so she can see a little insight into this momma’s soul.

So I begin:

-         How soft my leather purse straps feel after sitting in a hot car for a few hours

-         Chic-Fil-A drive through speed & customer service

-         The way Adi growls when she gives bear hugs

-         Sweet tea – my husband’s sweet tea to be exact

-         Thick, velvety foam from a Coca-Cola being poured over ice

-         Grass that feels like carpet

-         Every time Adi sees a flower (or weed) she tells me, “I go pick fwower.”

-         Stark contrasts in clothing (esp. white pants with black shirt and shoes)

-         Shoes (in particular: cowboy boots, heels, and anything red)

-         Pictures with the background out of focus

-         The tool race at Braves games

-         Smells that conjure up sweet memories

-         How yellow highlighter marks will not show up on copies

-         The heat of a pool after a summer thunderstorm

-         Bath and Body Works Coconut Mango scent - tropical vacation in lotion form

And just for my memories- here are some fun moments from the past week or so.

I surprised Jon with Braves tickets last week for fathers day. As an added bonus I had 2 extra tickets so I got to invite my sweet bestie and her hubby. I miss this girl!

Hubby was ecstatic about his surprise. We had a great evening.

Adi renewed her obsession with water (she had been in a month long phase of hating it or being scared - I'm glad it had passed). Our church has a fountain on during the summer months after church. She has always loved to splash around in it for a bit and it makes her take a wonderfully long nap on Sundays so it makes momma happy too. :)

Why I've been avoiding you...

I've been ducking and dodging my blog for about a month now. Oops... I come to you now with my tail tucked between my legs because, oh the horror, I have somehow forgotten to spend a few minutes introducing our camera to our computer... still. Oh darn... Please forgive me wonderful blog, I'm begging. Maybe next time?! ;)
Hubby started his new job last Monday. Not the position he had hoped for but it's a foot in the door to better things - YAY! Yesterday he called me and excitedly hollered (that means yell for anyone not from GA), "I'm driving a dump truck!" I must admit, his excitement made me giggle on and off for the remainder of the day. I love to see his energy, enthusiasm and confidence back up. (Not that his confidence has ever been low but I've seen it genuinely rise.)
With the new job came putting my sweet munchkin back in school. She loved it and was so excited to go the first two days. By Wednesday of last week, however; the newness had worn off and she cried after me. It has progressed now to the point of crying and telling me to hold her when I merely turn on the road for the school. I have been assured by all of the staff that as soon as I walk out the door she quickly segues play time and eating breakfast. But does that do anything to mend this momma's heart? Definitely not. I long to hold her and rock her and comfort her myself. I know she is such a sponge now and I wish I were the one to be filling that sponge with knowledge and God's promises and love.
I know that is not my reality right now and I should not dwell on it. I know that God has wonderful plans for my family and for Munchkin.. I'm just struggling with handing this over to Him and asking for His Will on this subject instead of begging Him making provisions for me to be able to have the longing of my heart.
On a happier note.. I get to meet up with girls from high school this weekend. We all live relatively close to each other but all of our lives have taken such different routes it has been difficult to get together for the last few years. Needless to say, I miss them and can't wait to see them and their families.
Niki

Pictures

And I promise that I will figure out very soon how to upload pics to my laptop so y'all can enjoy some of the pictures from both her party (including the awesome ark) and Easter. :)

Random Thoughts

- There are some terrible storms going through the southeast tonite... My sweet husband has already told me he is going to stay up until it has all passed thru to make sure his "babies" are alright. Precious.

- I have seriously been neglecting my blog. I'm pretty sure it's because I don't want to face what is going on in my life in a few fronts. Some are personal but the biggest is that my sweet little girl turned TWO weekend before last. The speed that the past two years have flown by at is absolutely unreal. I feel like we just brought her home from the hospital and here she is running and talking and telling me to do stuff "NOW." Such a mess.

- Our 2 year old's birthday party was Noah's ark and we had an actual ARK at her party!! A man from our church makes props for the 'Sunday Cool' classes and he had made the ark so we got to use it. Seeing all the kids go into the ark was so sweet.

- Our Easter was wonderful. I spent Saturday morning with Punkin and all of her cousins at our church easter picnic and egg hunt. We are incredibly blessed to be members of such a wonderful church that focuses so much attention on our children. So many churches neglect the fact that these children are the future leaders of the church, community and country. I am overjoyed that we are able to attend a church that places importance in our sweet kids.

- I'm certain that the Braves' first baseman, Freddie Freeman, is actually Buzz McCallister. Seriously... look! It's crazy!

- This is really weird but I can't wait for hunting season... I know... terrible. The hubs got me so addicted last year - it's so relaxing for me. I guess because hunting for me equals sitting in the woods silent, have 'me' time. Love it!!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful, blessed Wednesday and stays safe tonite!

Work on Saturday?

Yard work.... enough said, really. My arms are aching, my legs are shaky, there is a huge pile of leaves in my front yard and very sleepy toddler in my bed. I wish I had a picture to share but for some reason my camera doesn't communicate well with my computer right now. Oh well. Suffice it to say I'm exhausted. I hope everyone has had as wonderful a day as I have shared with my family.

Rock-a-bye Baby

I think I was spoiled as a new mother.

I've been spoiled my entire life, really. As the baby of 3 kids I was always babied a little more than the others and over the years I'm certain it became full-fledged spoil-age.

Then into marriage... my sweet hubby has spoiled me since day one. This was a dangerous habit he started. I find myself having to be reminded that I, in fact, do not have to have flowers once a week in order to be loved... In all actuality he is sticking to our budget now so that is much more loving than bringing home cut flowers which will wilt in a few days. Yeah... definitely spoiled.

After 6 weeks of waking up every 4-5 hours to nurse our newborn, we put our sleepy baby in her crib an entire room away. Much to our surprise and delight she loved it. I would lay her down at 7pm and she wouldn't wake up until a well rested mommy and daddy emerged from their room at 6am. Now, I had thought many times (like most mommas do) 'I have the best baby in the world.' But now I was certain... they would write this child down in history.

I'm now the momma to a 2 year old - no longer a sweet, snuggly, sleepy baby. About a month ago I decided our big girl needed her very own big girl bed. She even picked out her own comforter for her big girl bed. My life has not been the same since. The first night she laid down and slept until 7am when she fell out (oops!). Now, it takes me about 30 minutes to lay her down and then she cries for us at least once a night for us to come lay down with her.

I know most parents are thinking I'm crazy at this point and if she only wakes up once then that is amazing. But I'm tired! I'm used to laying down at 9:30 and sleeping all night without interruption. My body is so unwilling to adjust to having to wake up and comfort a toddler. I told y'all I'm spoiled! So sleepy!

And the hubby and I have been so bad! Most nights we are so tired that we either let her come sleep with us or we go crawl into her tiny twin bed and snuggle with her until we fall back asleep ourselves. We keep saying we need to stop but it's so hard.

Oh, sleepy baby of mine, please remember how you used to love sleep as much as your mommy.

Sincerely,
A very tired, spoiled momma

Random Friday Survey

A. Age: 23

B. Bed size: Glorious king size!

C. Chore you dislike: Dishes

D. Dogs: None

E. Essential start to your day: Have to brush my teeth first thing every morning

F. Favorite color: Red and brown

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5'8"

I. Instruments you play(ed): I can play Mary had a Little Lamb on the french horn... well, I could 7 years ago.

J. Job title: Receptionist

K. Kids: Adi

L. Live: GA

M. Mom’s name: Eva

N. Nicknames: Don't really have one

O. Overnight hospital stays: Only after giving birth

P. Pet peeves: Too many to name

Q. Quote from a movie: Drawing a huge blank with this one right now... hmmm...

R. Righty or lefty: Lefty

S. Siblings: One brother and one sister - both older

T. Time you wake up: 6-6:30am

U. Underwear: Kind of personal :)

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Greens

W.What makes you run late: Sleeping in an extra few minutes

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, stomach, hand

Y. Yummy food you make: Sweets - I love to bake.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Big cuddly looking bears.

I love this man...

Week Recap

What a crazy week.... my normal low work volume has been astronomically increased this week and I've been sleeping less and less so I'm just not at the top of my game.

We've had some fun moments this week though so I figured I would share a few. I went shopping on Saturday afternoon and found the cutest little sundresses and some jeans for myself. Adi was with me so she picked herself out a few things. Y'all, I am not even kidding... this kid is such a girly girl. I honestly don't know where she gets it from because I have never been this bad. haha! Anyway, she picked out a sweet little sundress and these adorable flipflops.

I love, love, love flip flops so I was so excited that she is big enough to wear them now. She went to spend the evening with my mother Saturday night because the hubby and I had my brother's surprise *30th* birthday party at our house that evening. We had a blast. I think it's amazing how my siblings and I get along so well now that we are older - we were definitely not the Cleaver's growing up.

The hubby has spent the majority of his days this week at his grandparent's home packing up their house so he can move them to Virginia. I'm so sad to see them leave. We've all been very spoiled to having their sweet-selves around so much - I'm sure it will be very hard on the hubby once it all sinks in.

One of my wonderful friends is coming to spend the weekend with me starting Friday - so excited!! I've already bought flowers and seeds along with flower pots because we are going to let Adi plant some flowers since it's been so nice out. Then we are going for a bridal gown fitting after church. I love trying on dresses and seeing other people dressed up so pretty. Makes me a little sad that I didn't have a big fancy, formal wedding. Our wedding was amazing though and it really fit the hubby and I so as much as it makes me a little sad, I wouldn't change it for anything.

Ok, apparently I'm in a rambling mood so I'll get my thoughts in order and get a legit post next time :)

I love Wednesdays

I love them for so many reasons....
- It's "hump" day *happy dance for being halfway to the weekend*
- I get to spend several hours at church tonite spending time with my mother, sister, daughter along with several other wonderful women
- While spending time at church I get to prepare buckets for k/1 small group during Sunday Cool
- I also get to spend 30 minuteswith 25-40 sweet k/1 kids during music time. I adore this kids.
- When I get home my amazing husband usually has dinner ready and we have our weekly 'sit-and-veg-out-watching-sitcoms-fest.' (And by the way, the absolute best shows come on ABC on Wednesday nights.)

Today is going to be especially wonderful though. Today just happens to be...
- The day after I got a crazy awesome hair cut by my sister (so I'm feeling extra cool - haha)
- French dips for dinner night *delicious*
- The half way mark to a wonderful weekend that is planned

Yeah, I'm pretty excited. :)

Updates..

This is what arrived home from work to yesterday. Isn't she just precious? This was my apron from my days at Philly Connection - my after school job during high school. I wish I had a picture to share with you of me wearing the apron yesterday... well... my foot wearing the apron. Adi took it off shortly after I took this picture and promptly threw it down in the entry to the hallway. I, being the bad mommy that I am, didn't pick it up or ask her to pick it up but instead just stepped over it... the first time I walked past it at least. The second time I was not so lucky. The second time I was holding Adi and mis-stepped and landed about 2cm from perfect split position. Y'all... I don't move that way. I really doubt I have ever moved that way. I sat Adi down and she was crying, pleading with me to stand up. Jon was doing his best not to laugh at my pitiful-ness as I just laid there unable to move my hips at all. It was beyond hysterical and really a slap in the face about my age. I am STILL hurting. It has been 15 hours and it has eased up some but I honestly hurt from mid back down to mid thigh. Ouch!

Aside from falling, yesterday was a good day. We had to take Adi to the doctor for some tummy troubles. While waiting she experienced her first Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit and watched the monster trucks on Daddy's phone.

My sweet girl has started sleeping in her big girl bed. Daddy built her a platform for her mattress on Saturday and she has absolutely fallen in love. She's started getting up a time or two a night and asking one of us to come lay down with her but we both figure that is just part of the adjustment. She is doing great with it though.

Jon and I are doing well. I have started working some more in the church and Jon has been helping with that some. I'm telling you... the men and women in our children's department are absolute God-sends. I love each and everyone of them so much. It is amazing to stand back and watch God work thru them as they love on all of the kiddos and share Jesus's love with them.

Jon has an interview tomorrow - Praise God! I'm so exicted about this entire situation and how doors were opened completely unexpectedly. I can't wait to see what God is up to with this one. I'll let y'all know how the interview goes - think happy thoughts and say some prayers for us!

I better go get some things done - busy, busy right now.

Trusting -

Niki