The one I lived with

Ahhhh I was blessed to be able to go to MO to visit my college roommate. I went down Thursday thru Sunday. The trip went by way too fast. I kept thinking the whole time that this might be the last time in a long time that we will be able to see one another. Kimberly is expecting her first children in just two months. Yepo, she has been blessed with twins! It's been a tough road, but God has chosen to bless her and Kyle with two babies. When I first pulled up to her house this weekend, I couldn't help but tear up. I prayed for her and those babies and to see God's faithfulness stand right before me was amazing. Her little round belly filled with two lives was so beautiful. We had such a wonderful time together. We didn't go shopping much, or we weren't out and about much, but we relaxed together at her house. We watched foodnetwork, real housewives, ellen, and just talked and talked and talked. She was an amazing hostess. She had my favorite candies, magazines, and snacks on the bed for me when I walked into the room I was staying in. Her home was so cozy and warm. I felt so relaxed when I was there. I couldn't help thinking while I was there that our tradition of seeing one another once a year will probably be broken next year. I do know though without a doubt that we will continue to talk almost everyday. I am blessed to have her as a friend, and even more blessed to be able to spend so much time with her this past weekend and to be able to go to the ultrasound and have seen the babies. I am so glad that God chose to bring her into my life, and will be forever grateful for that.


I hope to post some pictures when I get them from her, she is a bit busy resting being pregnant with two little ones!

One Year

My little Blake turns a year old tomorrow.

Oh dear, as I got ready to go into the operating room, I had a mix of emotions. I was so relieved when Jason was by my side as the procedure began. About 10min into the procedure, we heard..."It's a boy!" Ahhhh the joy and excitement I had. The anxiousness for me to meet eyes with my child for the first time! I can't even begin to explain the firs time I saw Blake. I just kept thinking, wow this was in me 10min ago so safe in my belly, and now it's out in this world, I have such a big job to raise and protect this child. He was beautiful. Boys can't be beautiful, but he really was! His eyes, head, fingers, toes, little belly, all was just beautiful.

Off to the recovery room as Jason and I were able to be alone with Blake. I was out of it, but did know that Blake was by my side. I nursed and held him and kissed the little boy. The tiny features and little lips were so precious.

Soon we were in the room and had visitors pounding on the door to see their nephew/grandson. The love that Blake received in his first few months of life was so heart touching. Friends and family loved on him in a way that was so overwhelming.

The hospital stay was so fun! Amongst all the setbacks with my recovery, Blake had so many visitors, so many friends and family to keep mommy company too. Bethany stayed one night to help out. We watched hairspray and stayed up and talked for several hours. At 2am I heard a baby screaming and told Bethany, ummm I think that one is mine. She replied...yeah right, all babies sound the same. Sure enough, in wheels Blake...hungry little guy he was!

My parents came by one time while in the hospital and said, "Hi we're are here to babysit Blake, you and Jason go on a date." That we did, we ordered room service and went across the hall to a little place with table and chairs and had our first date as new parents and left Blake with his first babysitter.

As far as the first year of his life, it has had it's challenges. With my embolisms, and frequents visits to the doctor and ER, and then Blake with his helmet, tongue being clipped, the issue with his lip, and ultra sound of kidneys it was hard...it was tiring, and it was scarey.

Along with the challenges, came many joys. The first time he opened his eyes, the first time he cried, the first time he cooed, the first time he laughed, smiled, crawled, walked, talked, were inexpressible. I remember so well the first time we heard Blake talk when he was around 6 months old. He said bbbbbbbbobbobobobob and his little cheeks moved up and down and we just got a kick out of it. OH man the first time he pulled down the toy that hung from the car seat handle was on the way to church. We thought it was such a big milestone for Blake. Ahhh the first time I fed him food was so funny! He smacked his little lips. I can't forget the first time he clapped his hands in church because everyone else around him was clapping. He has become a person, someone who loves his sweets: french toast, nutrigrain bars, and his snacks: goldfish, crackers, cheese, cheerios. Last week his big thing was eating mommy and daddy's pudding. I am so glad that Blake was given to us by the Lord. I love this little boy and am pround to call him my son. I pray that I can be the mom that he needs and am never too tired to teach and play with him.

We went to the dr. today and got his stats...he is 45th percentile for weight, 35th for height, and 70th for head. He was 29 1/4 inches, and 21.9 pounds. Ahhh the little one is so big now! The doctor said that by the time he is 15 months old he should be saying 5 words at least....I am so glad we are just about there, we need one more word. I do believe that children learn tons through playing, but I also believe that learning has to be intentional as well. We were told today that at 15months to start with doing eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and animal sounds. Also at 15 months that Blake can start to use a spoon and fork much more easily

The first year of his life is over, I hope Blake had fun and has felt his love from his mommy and daddy.

A year ago

A year ago tomorrow I ended teaching and became a full time stay at home mom. It has had its challenges and many rewards. I am grateful to no end that my husband works his tail off to allow me to stay at home and be Blake's teacher, mom, and friend. I can't imagine having to leave my precious boy for 8 hours a day and then coming home and spending time with him. I miss teaching a ton! I love being a mom a ton! I am so glad that I am able to get together with teacher friends almost once a week. I have started to help out with Junior high at church so I can get my kid fix in and see some former students. This is a wonderful time in my life to be able to invest in my child as my fulltime job. Teaching will come back some day, but until then this other full time job is a joy!

Simple Confession

I have a simple confession to make. I making it to clear my mind and from this point on to do something about it.

Lately, I have not been into the worship music at church. I feel as though it's not my style of music and have been totally checked out. I realize that is my issue. I also feel like I am too tired to worship and that I have not become a participant anymore.

I have prayed about it, and realize that maybe I am ashamed to worship God. But why would I be? I have realized that maybe I need to get my heart right and ready before I enter worship service so I am prepared to enter into a time of praise to the Lord. In saying that, I am grateful God has gently taught me to worship whether or not the music is my style and to remember to get ready to enter worship before I step foot into church. If I can worship freely in my home, then I should be able to worship freely with a body of believers.

And he's....

Crawling. Yep, I didn't think Blake would crawl ever. Sure I thought when he was a bit older, but he started to crawl a bit yesterday. 3 weeks shy of 1 years old and he is crawling. I am so excited! Yes..it's much harder to keep track of him and I am ALWAYS on my toes telling him he can't bite wires, can't put his fingers in the socket, can't touch the lamp, but as Jason says, " I would much rather have an active child than one who doesn't do much." It has become much harder to clean, cook, and do laundry. I have to watch him at all times, but I am sure this is just a phase. He is getting more and more of a personality. He knows when he isn't suppose to touch something, he will look at me and touch it. Ugh..it's quite fun here...never a dull moment. When I tickle his feet, legs, or hands, and stop, he raises his other hand or foot to be tickled. It is really cute. He has tried to feed himself with a spoon..WHAT a MESS! I have to be more at ease about how messy he is when he eats. I give up on trying to ALWAYS have a clean floor by his eating space. He isn't napping much either. A total of an hour and half a day. I am trying all sorts of things out to see how he will transition to one nap. He takes a morning nap no prob...it's the afternoon ones he won't nap for. But I feel like he needs that morning nap. I have tried putting him down at 1:00 and he naps an hour that's it. Bedtime is still 8:00 pm. I am thinking about putting him down at 7:45 instead. I don't know. Any idea of naps and transitioning at all?