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December 23, 2010

Brain...Where are you??

Oh my, only two more days until Christmas! and they are calling for SNOW! (I will believe it when I see it) but how cool would it be for Noah's first Christmas to be his first WHITE Christmas! :)

So let me just tell you what my post-pregnancy brain did the other day. As most of you know (I guess you do, if not and you didn't want to know skip down a line or two) I really wanted to be able to nurse Noah, but my body would not cooperate and so after 6 weeks we had to make the change and now my little man is getting big on formula.  Anyways so I had just fed Noah that morning and was ready for my cup of coffee, so I went in the kitchen and then went brain dead. I poured my cup of coffee added just the right amount of sugar, went to the fridge added my oh so yummy vanilla creamer and stirred in mug but noticed something was a little different. And then it hit me, I just added Noah's formula to "cream" my coffee! I make his formula 32oz at the time and store it in the fridge until it is time to eat. I have grabbed his formula container before but never actually poured it in my coffee until the other day. No, I didn't drink it. I caught myself before then but how gross! I didn't even notice that I was holding a Rubbermaid container and not the creamer container. Seriously, I was out of it!
I don't know what had happened to my brain though seriously! It must be in the same place my coordination is, I guess but geez! I forget everything and just don't even realize what I am doing half of the time. I really hope some of you are like this too, if anything just say you are so I don't feel so bad :)

Tomorrow starts our Christmas Craziness! We go around 9 tomorrow for breakfast and presents and really don't stop until Christmas night!   So I hope you all have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and enjoy the wonderful time with your families and pray for snow ;)

December 12, 2010

12 Drummers Drumming

I can't believe it is only 13 days until Christmas! This year has gone by so fast I can hardly believe it is almost over! I am almost done Christmas shopping though! YAY! I only have to get Allen a few more stocking stuffers and then I will be done! Allen on the other hand...he hasnt even started. I guess it is a good thing he only shops for me these days! I take care of the rest of the family :)   His rule is he will not start to shop for Christmas presents until after his birthday. His birthday is Tuesday (the 14th) so lets see how quickly he gets on the ball after that. :)  I know Christmas is not about the presents it is about spending time with family and rejoicing in the birth of Jesus!
Can I just tell you about the first Christmas I spent with Allen and his large family? at the time there were 14 of them (we have morphed into 18 in the 6 1/2 years Allen and I have been together). They get together at his grandmother's house on Christmas eve morning and have a big breakfast and after that they all pile into one room and pass out presents and everyone opens them at the same time. (No offense but I have always found it awkward when families go one by one to open presents, I guess mainly because that is not what my family did and so it was odd to me. So when I found out they opened presents as a group, I knew I liked their style!) But seriously, that first year that I spent with them literally brought me to tears. My family is great, don't get me wrong but my parents are divorced and there are many members of my family that don't get along with each other so we are rarely in a large group setting with several members of my family together at the same time. Not at all the case with the Jones'! 14 (plus one) all sat together in the same room laughing, talking, and opening presents and having that Christmas that I always saw on TV and envied. There was wrapping paper flying all over the room and seriously I had tears welled up in my eyes. I fell in love with Christmas all over again and we weren't even married, in fact we had only been dating about 9 months. but seriously it renewed Christmas for me to be apart of their family tradition. I am excited for Noah to be apart of this tradition this year and I hope as he gets older he does not take this setting and his family for granted because there are so many that don't have it!

(I light of my blog title today, I thought I would share that Noah is getting a DRUM for Christmas from Mommy and Daddy! I will tell you what Santa is bringing him later! :)


December 5, 2010

Where's my chair??

Well for the second time in two months I found myself on the floor of an establishment that patrons are not generally on the floor of... Yep that's right Mrs. Graceful was back in full swing today!  This time however I was not doing anything physical, I, on the contrary, was about to stuff my face full of a Blue Coast Burrito (YUM!!) All I was trying to do was take the blanket off Noah, he is a hot natured little guy and his cheeks were as rosy as Santa's on Christmas Eve. So I reached across the table to grab his blanket (First mistake)but in order for me to reach him I had to remove my toosh from the seat (Second mistake). So I stood up I grabbed his blanket and like most people, assumed that my chair was still in the place it was when I left it (third and WORST mistake) I immediately sat back down. But instead of my toosh resting nicely back in the chair it had been in only moments before, it SLAMMED into the hard, concrete floor. It took me a moment to process what happened (and I am not going to lie, it hurt!! The pain shot all the way up my spine and my tailbone still hurts a little now) but I quickly realized I was on the floor. I was at a table with four of our friends and Allen , so many were a witness to this casualty AND lets not forget how friggin crowded it was in Blue Coast at lunch today, so even more strangers got to see me on the floor.
I am not sure what happened to me after I had Noah, but I am obviously not as coordinated as I once was. Lucky for me I am getting good at playing off falling on the floor so if you need any tips, feel free to ask!!



December 3, 2010

A new me

I did something yesterday I thought I would never do... I signed up to be a independent consultant! I am a shy person and just didn't think I would ever want to have to be in front of a large group of women (because let's face it, what man is going to go to ANY kind of sales party??) trying to promote a product! I am still unsure if I really WANT to be in front of people, but I am excited at the possibility of meeting new people and doing something very much out of my comfort zone. I am now officially an independent consultant for Scentsy. I am really very excited about it! I had never really heard of this Co. until right after Noah was born. I love the fact that there is no flame on the candles so it is way more safe for little ones! Also the wax does not get hotter than a paraffin wax so it is not going to produce any burns should any little fingers touch it!
This is such a cool opportunity for me and I am excited to get started. I should have my consultant kit next week and then I get to really start things with MY business. It is funny to think that this is my business but it is, I can work as little or as much as I want, and get commission checks! This will be awesome for our family since I am not in the work field anymore and lets face it, any extra money is good!
Feel free to check out my website aliciaj.scentsy.us. Have any questions, would like to purchase, or host a party? Just let me know!! Thanks for your support and as always... Thanks for reading my randomness! XXXOOO

 Daddy and Noah hanging out in his Jungle mat :)




November 28, 2010

I married a mini Clark Griswald

Thanksgiving is over and we only have 27 days until Christmas! I am truly amazed at how fast this year has gone by. Everyone always tells you that pregnancies go so fast and babies grow so fast, but honestly there is no describing where time goes. I look at my precious little man and I really makes me want to cry when I think he will be FOUR months on Thursday! Four Months!! I want to hold him all day and never put him down. He will never be this small again and I don't want to miss a second of it. It is sad, really. I am here all day with him and when we go out to see family or friends, they of course want to see him, and I too, want them to see him, but a small crazy part of me gets jealous when someone else is holding him. How crazy is that? I mean seriously, I am with him ALL day and I should be so excited that I am getting a break, and really most of me is, but a sad little part of me misses every second that I am not holding him. Sometimes at night when he is asleep I miss him too. He is in his room, and I can watch him sleep but I miss him because I can't hold him. I know I sound like a crazy weirdo mom, and I don't want to but I am just being honest. I love this little guy so much, more than words can describe and he is just growing so fast, it hurts!

I am so excited about his first Christmas! He will have absolutely no idea what is going on, but I am excited. It is bringing the essence of childhood Christmas back into our lives!! I LOVED thinking about Santa when I little. I would make a "days till Christmas" countdown calendar with notebook paper and couldn't wait until the morning to tear the next day off (Luckily for Noah my mother-in-law got this for us, so he won't have to do that)


















But Allen and I are both so excited about doing Santa with him! I married a mini Clark Griswald, so this is Allen's favorite time of the year, we have old school C-9 lights up outside, wreaths on all of the windows, candles (with awesome flickering light bulbs) in the windows, and about 1200 lights on the Christmas tree inside, and I Love all of it!! :)

I just truly feel very blessed this year and I am so very thankful for everyone and everything in my life!

Especially my husband and this precious little blessing!!



November 26, 2010

My, My how life has changed...

Exactly one year, 50 lbs gained, 30 lbs lost, 20 lbs to go, one small section of stretch marks, and a baby later, I am loving my life.
We found out a year ago today that we were expecting! It was such an exciting day, it was the first year that I got up early to go shopping for the infamous Black Friday deals. (I say getting up, when in Black Friday terms that would mean leaving at like 3 AM, I think I got up at like 7...amateur, I know, but we got all the things we were looking for AND I got to sleep in four extra hours AND didn't have to fight the crazies so HAH!) I got up before my alarm because I had planned to take the test that morning, test taken and waiting anxiously for the results I tried to get ready for the day... minutes pass and the test reads "YES" (I got the digital one, no screwing around with lines and plus signs for me!) I literally jump up and down in the bathroom. Allen is still asleep because he is not going with us this early, he will join us later in the morning. So I go shopping with Allen's parents, sister, and cousin for the majority of the day, we stop and get some lunch/breakfast (I really can't remember even what time it was at this point, and yes I know there is a term for lunch/breakfast but I am not a fan of using Brunch in my daily language... it sounds so "proper" and very much NOT me. Also for those of you that know me, I do not eat breakfast after about 11 or 11:30 in the morning so this term does not apply to me) Then we go home, this is the first time all day Allen and I have been alone. I am sooo excited to tell him our wonderful news. I had prepared for this day and had already bought him a book called I Love My Daddy to give to him. So I casually say, I bought something for you! And he is thinking that I bought something for him while we were out shopping earlier, I hand him the book and he stares at it...No reaction...No words....No nothing. (NOT what I was expecting) and he finally says..."Thank you..." He is so confused... Finally I have to tell him that I took a test that morning and it was positive. His face lights up and he gives me a hug, and then he realizes what the book was suppose to mean... He asked why I hadn't told him earlier in the day, and I told him because I wanted to give him the book to tell him. He was slightly confused but very excited and it was so cool that we had this precious little secret that no one else knew, just the two of us for a little while!
Moral of the story... The way you plan things in your head when trying to surprise a man, is generally NOT how it will play out in real life...

(I will post some pics later, we are off to eat some NON turkey dinner!) <3

November 15, 2010

Are You there God?

Saturday night I went to the Banquet of Tables at Cavalry Baptist Church. This is such an awesome annual event. I really look forward to it every year. The women of the church come together and decorate tables all in different themes, then there is a dinner and they always have an awesome speaker come. This year they had Tammy Trent, she is a speaker, artist, and song writer. She is so inspirational with her testimony, She tells how she lost her husband, the love of her life, unexpectedly on a mission trip out of the country the day before 9/11. She was stuck out of the country, alone, no one could fly to her, and just lost the most important person in her life. She talks about how God was there for her in the most unexpected way...a housekeeper at the hotel she was staying at.
It was just such an awesome reminder that God is in control of everything, EVERYTHING in our lives. No matter how small or how big, He is there and in control. I think, me personally, I get caught up in the whos and wheres of life and forget that this life is not the most important thing. No matter what happens here, there is something so much more awesome waiting for me.
It was also a reminder, as Tammy said it herself, that all the crazy things I have been through in life, that is my testimony. I experienced all of those things, even my "Are you there God?" moments, for a reason. Even though some of those things, I don't talk about and most people in my life don't even know about them, He does and even though I don't know what the reason is that I had to experience them, He does. It will be in His time that the reason will come out, and He will be glorified in the end. It is hard to trust in Him sometimes when you are experiencing those "Are you there God?" moments, but one thing I learned a long time ago was it is OK to be angry with God, as long as you know that He loves you, He is still in control, and you come back to him. He is very much like our "earthly" parents in that sense. You aren't always happy with them, but you always love them and know that they are only looking out for what is best for you. He is the same. It may be a long bumpy road, but at the end of that road, there are wonderful things to be seen. You just have to enjoy the ride getting there as much as possible and let Him do the driving.


November 11, 2010

My Doctor's visit

First I will take a moment to thank all the veterans for their services to this country.

So yesterday I had to go to my annual "Well Woman" exam. I don't think there is a single woman in the world that enjoys this visit but it must be done for your health. That is definitely a visit I don't think anyone should miss. I mean think about it, the insurance companies, who don't pay for anything and seem to find a reason to not cover about half of the things in the medical world, cover these visits 100%, this should be proof enough on how important these are.  OK I will step down from my soap box...
Anyways, after sitting in the waiting room for about half an hour I finally get called back (don't worry all, I am not going into details of my appt.) So I go back get weighed, (uugghh, I think dr's should give new moms a pass on getting weighed for at least 9 months, I mean come on!!) get my blood pressure taken and then the nurse starts going over the information sheet that she has to fill out for the Dr. So she asks the typical questions and then she gets to "Are you sexually active?" Now granted she did pretty much answer the question herself but she gave me a half glance I guess to make sure something hadn't changed in my life. But since she looked at me I had to answer her question. I'm thinking "OK, I have been married for 3 and half years, I just had a baby three months ago so OBVIOUSLY", but I didn't I just shook my head. Even as I was shaking my head though the 15 year old girl inside me was screaming (in your best valley girl/whiny voice you can think of) "OMG!!! NOOO-AAA!!!Who does she think I am?!? Some kind of trashy floozy!"
Again, I am about to be 26 years old and am a married woman and still the little girl inside me comes out when the words "sexually active" come into play! I wish there was a less invasive way to ask that question. I mean come on people, we are in 2010. I guess it is mainly because I am a very modest person and do not enjoy that topic of conversation with others but still, our feelings should be considered too!!
 But my visit is over, all is well and I got through my unwarranted embarrassing moment for the day.

November 6, 2010

Update on the roast...

For those of you wondering...You can mess up a roast in a crock pot! It was edible but very much on the dry side. It definitely needed some more gravy. When it came to keeping leftovers when I asked Allen if he wanted to keep them he scrunched up his nose and shook his head :(   Sad day.... 

November 5, 2010

Suzy Homemaker

As most of you know I am getting to live the dream of many and be a stay at home mom. Thank you Lord for providing for us and thank you Allen for being the man that you are and for wanting this for your family.

I feel like I am doing well on the "mom" part but since I am home all day I feel like I should be on top of the cleaning and cooking too. Well let me just say now that I am by no stretch of the imagination, a Betty Crocker or Julia Childs in the kitchen. In fact unless the food had directions and not too many ingredients I am not going to be cooking it. Now I can of course cook the easy stuff...tacos, spaghetti, rice...but I am a novice in most of the other things in the Kitchen. I just recently learned how to pan fry things and how to sear chicken. My mom actually loves to tell the story that the day I started my first job at a sandwich/pizza place I put a toaster strudel in the toaster and it caught on fire, literally. This wasn't my fault though because the filling seeped out of the sides and landed on one of the heating coils, so again NOT MY FAULT, but it is a true story.

So today, I am making my first pot roast! I browned it before putting in the crock pot and everything. Look at me go! It still has about 4 hours left and then I will tell you how it tastes, but seriously can you really screw up a pot roast in a crock pot? Well I will let you know!! But I get so proud when I home make edible meals for us to eat. My mom and grandmother are both pretty good cooks and have tried on numerous occasions to teach me but I passed on all of them. (Stupid teenage brain, I did the same thing when Grandma tried to teach me how to sew and now look at me, I am wishing I knew how to) So even though I have to steal recipes from online and other people I know, I have managed to feed us over the past few weeks. I have made Beef Stroganoff, (Ok so that may not be spelled right but all spell check will give me is 'strongman, stronghold, strongroom' You know you have really jacked up the spelling when even spell check can't figure out what you are trying to say) I found an awesome recipe for Chicken Fried Rice and there have been a few other attempts but I don't feel like they were very good but the point is I am trying and that counts for something right? I am attempting to do my part by cooking at home and all we have to pray for is that I don't give us food poising in the process...

(I let you know how the roast is!! :)

November 3, 2010

My Fears

I thought I would share with you a few of my fears in life... I can honestly say I don't know where this urge to divulge this information really came from but here it is...

OK, so I will be 26 years old in two months and I am still scared of the dark. I am also very frightened of being alone at night. Something about the sun being down and the possibility of all of those creepo boogy men out there...oh man it really creeps me out!!

I also am very afraid of being somewhere I am not familiar with and having to use the bathroom (Just number one...don't get gross on me here) and once I am ready to flush, the toilet be broken.

I currently, thanks to all of the daytime TV I now watch, am scared of getting bed bugs!

I am deathly afraid of any type of bug that stings! I can barely even kill them because I feel like they are going to send their fellow bug friends to come after me.

From going to a safety class when I used to work at the bank, I am scared of being out in town in broad daylight by myself.. Thanks M'boro Police Dept.

I worry about running out of gas, I really do get on the verge of having a panic attack once that yellow gas tank starts to flash at me.

I am scared of gaining an excess amount of weight. However when Allen and I were dating, he told me that he would love me even if I got as big as a house... I wonder if he remembers that statement....

The sad part of all of this is most of these fears come from the TV and stories I have heard...I guess the moral of this would be, Don't tell me your crazy stories that have a fearful ending and I should stop watching TV. But seeing as how I don't see that happening anytime soon, I guess I will have to live with these fears and hope all of my wonderful friends will support me in my madness.

So after my "tub" post, the next time I gave him a bath I had the camera ready! And I made sure no compromising photos were taken. He is just so stinking cute! Even when he is not smiling!

October 31, 2010

10 Things I have learned...

Tuesday Noah will be three months old! How crazy that three months ago today I was waiting in anticipation of this little life that we would finally get to meet in two more days!  In my mere three months of being a first time mom/stay at home mom I have learned a few things about these little babies...

1) If you put new/clean clothes on them, they will spit up, drool, poo, or pee on the new item of clothing,         especially if you are going somewhere and/or excited to show off their cute outfit. They sense that it is clean and will have nothing to do with it.

2) Just when you think they are asleep, and you think you can FINALLY get something done that you have been putting off, those little eyes shoot open like someone just screamed in their ear.

3) Anytime you say "they have been so good all day" or "he never _______" they will immediately do the opposite, just to prove you wrong.

4) Just because you are home all day, does not mean that your house is going to be immaculate. It is actually quite the opposite. Your house is now nastier than it had been before the difference is you just get to sit and look at it all day.


5) The dog, if you have one, will indeed be jealous of the baby. Even if you have the most well mannered dog in the world, it will still be jealous.

6) As soon as you hand the baby to someone else, they will begin pooting/pooping.  And the other person will crinkle their nose and try to find a cute way to tell you what your child is now doing in their lap and hand them back.

7) If your baby has been laughing and smiling all day, the second you pull out your camera, something in their life has just gone terribly wrong and they will begin to cry

8) Someone always has something to say about your baby. Be it good or bad, strangers always feel the need to express their opinion of your child.

9) You will suddenly begin to talk for your baby. Or should I say through your baby. When someone gives the baby something you say as you hold your baby "Say Thank you" or if someone asks you a question regarding the baby such as "how are they sleeping?"  you say  "Say we are sleeping pretty good". Why? I can't  explain it, but it happens.

10) Nothing will make you happier than to see that sweet baby smile at your silly songs and silly voices...well except listening to him talk to his elephant friend.

  This is obviously not Noah but I just love Murray's speckledy feet!  :)

October 29, 2010

My Ode to our Mailman

Do you remember how when we were little we used to LOVE getting mail? I wish that were true still today... Now I go to the mailbox begrudgingly (<~~Thank you Lord Jesus for spell Check...or rather thank you Lord Jesus for creating the man (or woman) that created spell check), open it with hesitation and pray that the number of bills inside the box don't make me pass out in the road. I also on a daily basis hope secretly that there will be a large check or even better cash awaiting for me in there! Very rarely this is the case but when its there, Oh boy!

I think my hatred of the mail has also come from our jerk of a mailman. For those of you in my neighborhood, you will concur. (<~~I am putting this spell check to WORK today!!)  He is probably the biggest jerk that I have never met in my life! I get it, you work for the post office but you deliver in the county so you aren't special enough to drive a "real" mail truck so you bust out your 1985 Oldsmobile for delivering our mail, but there is no need to be bitter about your job. I am not MAKING you stay there, so please sir deliver my mail with a smile! And if not with a smile then just freaking deliver my mail EVERYDAY!

Our mailman has a personal vendetta against our neighborhood, and the only reason I can come up with is because it has caused him a great deal of more mail to be delivered on a daily basis since we are a new neighborhood. So he picks and chooses when and to whom he will deliver to. If you have mail and he doesn't feel like coming down your road...well then you won't have any mail today. Which is fine because it would save me from my daily panic of opening the mailbox, but the thing is I still have to go check my mail because I don't know that our house was on the "Don't Deliver route" today, So all I am asking is if he insists on being so rude as to not DO HIS JOB and deliver my mail on a daily basis then please just figure out a way to warn me so I don't waste my time walking to the mailbox and getting all worked up for an empty box... Thank you.

Sorry no Noah photo today :(  Stupid desk top computer which hoards all my precious photos has the blue screen of death.

October 26, 2010

Chubby Girl... Down!

I have begun my attempt to loose this baby weight!! Yesterday for the first time in...well I wouldn't want to tell anyone but honestly I don't even know the time frame... Lets just say it has been a LONG period of time, I went to a Step and Sculpt class. It was fun, but I apparently don't have good form because the instructor spent a good deal of time watching me and trying to get me to correct all the things I did wrong. And to make the night even more eventful...I FELL!! I have never claimed to be the most coordinated person in the world but seriously I thought I could make it through a Step class without falling on my rear! Oh my goodness! The sad part was before I fell the instructor was saying "if your foot does not pivot well, do not do this move..." and here I was thinking, my foot is pivoting pretty well for a newbie to the class and WHAM! My thigh muscle locks up, I attempt to catch myself as I stumble backwards and then I was on the floor. It must has looked a lot worse than it felt because immediately the instructor has run over to me asking me if I was OK. Lord...seriously?! Did that JUST happen? I embarrass really easy and this needless to say was very embarrassing! In a class full of people the new, chubby kid goes sliding across the floor! I hope you have a good mental image... I am sure from an outsider's position (once they knew I was fine) it was a comical sight to be seen.

Today since my legs were a little on the tight side I opted to not go to class and instead went to my in-law's house and rode a bike and got on the treadmill. I did not feel the need to go to class and have my entire leg lock up and fall again. I am just hoping that since I did work out again today that I will not be in AS much pain as I would have been if I had stayed on the couch at home. I am really trying this time. I hope I can keep it up! From last week at this time I have lost 3 pounds and even just losing that small number it has been a good motivator that I can try even harder and lose more.

 Everyone needs a little frog in their lives!! :)

October 24, 2010

I give!

I had a bit of a rough day today and really for no other reason than I allowed myself to get upset. It sucks being a girl sometimes! I don't even really want to get into the details because they are that stupid but seriously I couldn't contain myself. I feel like everyone needs a good cry every once in a while and today was my day! But regardless of how my day is, when I got home this sweet little face was waiting for me

All anxieties and stresses are lost when you see such a precious face looking at you. Oh how I do wish I could be as carefree as the little ones are! His only concern is if we will remember to change his diaper and feed him. And if we are going to get down to the nitty griddy about it... he is full B-O-Y. He doesn't care if he is clean or not, just give him some food and he is good to go! He is at his absolute happiest when he has just eaten, and in between diapers on his changing pad...free as a jaybird!  Oh how I love his sweet innocence...

But it is only 3:30 and this day had gotten the best of me. I am all done with it and ready for tomorrow.

October 21, 2010

October is wonderful!

It was absolutely beautiful outside today! Noah, Murray, and I went on a 2 mile walk today around the neighborhood and it felt so good! This is hands down my favorite time of the year! The colors are beautiful, the temperature is unbeatable, and it means that the holidays are just around the corner :)
Our family loves the holidays and I can not wait for Noah to experience them with us this year! It is funny because even though he will still be so little and won't really have a clue as to what is going on, Allen and I are both so excited about his first round of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! We loved the holiday season before when we were by ourselves but it makes them so much more special now that we have this little guy in our lives.

(This one was from a week or two ago but it makes me smile)


October 20, 2010

Rub a Dub Dub. Noah in the Tub

I just gave Noah his first bath in his baby tub without the sling! What a big boy! He loved it!! He was so sweet, he just laid there a kicked his little feet, getting me VERY wet! I can only imagine what it is going to be like in a few months when he is bigger and playing with toys in there :) I wanted to take a picture of this monumental moment but a) it wasn't a safe thought considering I would have had to leave him in the tub to get the camera (or my other option I guess would have been to drag a wet 12 pound, kicking baby out of the tub...) and b) I am betting in about 13 years Noah will appreciate the lack of multiple tub pictures.

October 18, 2010

How I Impressed my husband

This event was actually probably a few weeks ago but it really does make Allen laugh when he thinks about it. Let me give a little back story on this... I am the youngest in my family and since there are only two of us...my brother and I, obviously I am the only girl. While I feel as though (Carie J. that is for you ha ha...good ole Guy W.) my brother probably did watch WWF Wrestling because I think I became his practice dummy for the moves he saw on a daily basis, I did not watch the show and did not become familiar with the "characters".  Well Allen on the other hand, along with a large group of our friends, was a HUGE fan of the show. I am talking shirts, action figures, paying for it on Pay Per View... the whole nine yards! So being the fine members of society that we are, over the summer when there is nothing on TV, instead of enjoying the weather and going on a bike ride or a nice stroll around the neighborhood we sat on the couch and watched Monday Night Raw. (Lord knows, I would probably be fighting less with this awful baby weight had we been walking but I digress.)

Since we were watching this terrible excuse for entertainment, one will start to learn the characters and themes of the show. Sadly there are a lot of people that are still on this show that were on it when Allen was watching. So he would try to catch me up on their back grounds.. Well John Cena is the big star right now and there is some group called Nexis. For dramatic effect, they had week after week of previews about John Cena having to join the Nexis group if he could not beat them. Apparently this is a big thing? So we missed the week of the big fight and I casually asked Allen "I wonder if John Cena is going to have to join the Nexis?" We had some friends over that night and I thought both boys were going to fall of the couch. They both started laughing at me and said "What did you just say?!?" So I proceeded to repeat myself. I never thought I would see so much pride come from Allen's face! It is the little things for the boys that make them proud... Learn a football term or two and then use it correctly in a sentence...Watch in amazement at their reaction!

October 16, 2010

Unemployed...Homemaker...Domestic Engineer

Yesterday was the day it was announced at work... I made the decision to stay at home with Noah and would not be returning. What a interesting feeling to have... for the first time since I was 16, I do not have a job. Excited? Of course I am excited, I get the joy of staying home and raising my son, but how can anyone say that staying at home with a newborn full time isn't a scary thought? It is very rewarding, what with all of the sweet smiles, but this little person is counting on you for everything! All of their needs and wants. What if I do it wrong? What if he doesn't turn out "right"? I just love him so much and to think that Allen and I (with lots of help from our family) are responsible for raising this little guy to be a acceptable member of society scares the living day lights out of me! I know that I can do it, I know that there are a lot of people out there ready and willing to help the second that I ask, so it is not that I feel alone in our journey of parenthood, it is just the knowledge our journey has started at all. I still look at this precious little man and can't believe that he is mine. I always wondered of what my children would be like and now that he is here...well he is WAY better than I could ever dream up!

You know now that I think about it, I take it back...I am currently still employed. No, I don't get a paycheck every two weeks direct deposited into my bank account. No, there is no great insurance plan that comes along with it. No, there is no 401K plan that I can enroll in, but the pay is GREAT! I get a wonderful child, this gift, that was given to Allen and me. He was picked out especially for us to raise by God and no one can take that away from us. Even on the days that are challenging because nothing seems to comfort him or make him happy, I still wouldn't trade this job and go back to work.