Its been a beautiful fall so far!  Its so beautiful and sunny today, and i cannot complain…its in the 50’s and that means i go walking!  Actually i probably will try to walk outside until its in the 30’s. (I will just have to bundle me and Vaeya up!)  I am sitting here on the couch listening to Nevaeya talk and complain in her bedroom. I am hoping she will decide to take a snooze….. 

I am on this mission to  try and be bikini ready by summer, so i am working out a tun and trying to eat better, which is my weakness!  I am a junk food junkie!  I love my eliptical machine when i can’t go outside…although for those of you who have a woodstove, you know its SUPER hot in the basement!  I have to tell ya, i wish it was winter going into spring, because i am loving being outside lately. Taking Nevaeya out to get her energy out and at the same time taking in some sun rays!  I guess i will just start praying for a mild winter.   

I am getting super excited about the new Twilight movie coming out this month!  I absolutely love the first one!  I also am anxious for Dec. when then Harry Potter and the Half  Blood Prince comes to dvd, cause i didnt get a chance to see it.  I have been in a crazy movie mood if you cant tell?!  Moving right on…John is going to be starting to work Saturdays again in a week or so. So that means he’ll work like 1-2 times a month on Sat. So not too bad, but i will miss having him home Sat mornings! 

 I have been in a Christmasy (haha is that a word?) mood too, thinking of Christmas music, and comfort foods. (lol maybe i am just feeling deprived from eating less junk)  I am thinking about maybe doing something at our house for Thanksgiving this year, whether it be 8 people or more like 20, i dunno.  It might be pushing it a little, since John’s mom and step-dad will be here that week. We’ll see, but either way i am thrilled that John’s family will be here, and i look forward to decorating for Christmas while they are here!  We’ll mix Thanksgiving and Christmas into one trip!  I feel really blessed to have such amazing in-laws!   

I cannot believe that Vaeya is 22 months old now!  Yikes, she is going to be 2 before i know it!!!  She certainly isnt a “baby” anymore.  I often think of….can i go through all of this again with another baby?  I dunno yet.  One thing i do know, is we are incredibly blessed with our little girl and she has been such a joy in our lives. I can tell you one thing, my body was not made to have kids!  So props to all you moms that have the body to have many children!    I think our maximum would be one more if we decided to do so. I know thats the last surgery i plan on having…it does a toll on me, but i know i want to be painfree, and right now, thats not always the case. But i love having a little toddler who comes out with the funniest things and who comes up and just randomly kisses my leg or gives me hugs!  What a joy it is to have a little princess!

What are your plans for Thanksgiving time?  Do you have any special traditions or foods you like?

Its been a great month.  We had our house warming party last Sunday (october 18th).  We had such a great time with family and friends!  Mom made all these wonderful treats to go along with cider and coffee. I love everything about Fall. The smells, the tastes and the fresh cool air.     This thursday was awesome….it was 70 degrees and  i walked as much as i could, 5 miles total. Its always good to get Nevaeya outside, helps her sleep and its awesome to have a little vitamin D!   I dont think we will have many more “warm” days left in Oct, but i will take as many as the Lord gives!  I am hoping for a mild winter, last year was such snowy, cold one.

Yesterday we took Nevaeya to the Berkshire Mall for ‘Malloween’.  We had such a great time getting her all dressed up!  She dressed as a bumblebee and she was the cuttest one i have ever seen!  Her costume was black and yellow that had a hood with antennae attached to it, along with a cute little stinger on her bottom.  She walked through the whole mall while proudly holding her little basket!  Thank you Trish for lending it to us!   We are doing an awesome series at church called Relational Rehab and yesterday go to watch a few couples renew their wedding vows. What a cool thing to do!  We hope to do it someday, maybe for our 10th year. I cannot believe in like 2 weeks we will be married 4 yrs!

Well Nevaeya wants some more water and i think i am going to take advantage of this semi warm, sunny weather and take her outside!  Have a great week….oh remember Sunday change your clocks!

I cannot believe its Fall already. I love the smell of the leaves, grass being cut, and the crisp air,the smell of apples, pies, and wood smoke!  I never liked Fall as a kid, because of course that meant, school was in session and i hated school. But now i have learned to appreciate the Fall months very much!  I especially love the cider doughnuts and crisp air walks in the early evening….  What are some of your favorites about Fall??  Lately i just cannot get over how the years are just flying by!  I havent done a blog in ages. I find that Facebook or Twitter are much quicker and easier when you have a toddler!  She is always wanting attention or help or something haha.  So i can hop on real quick and then have to tend to her. She is such a dear, but let me tell you this….she may surprise you if you were around her for a day or so….she isnt the shy and innocent little girl who you see at church or at a family gathering!! She is a little loud, active,spit fire! (Just like her parents!)  Gotta love her haha. The other day i was talking on the phone to mom and i opened the fridge and was getting a drink, when i look over (i mean it was like a literal minute i wasnt looking at her) and Vae was on the kitchen table trying to reach something she wanted!! Yup, takes after her momma. I was the two year old who climbed on top of the refrigerator.  Nevaeya has also mastered un-doing her carseat straps (like un-latching!). Oh and she wakes up from many naps, and decides to undress herself completely! haha  What else, ohhh she can drink out of a straw now, and thinks she is ‘hot stuff’, which we find so cute!  It’s amazing how much she talks and wants to learn…she watches ‘my friends tigger and pooh’ daily and also loves ‘mickey mouse clubhouse’ and ‘Handy Manny’.

I am so happy to finally be moved into our house. I cannot tell you how long we have been dreaming about our own house and how long we prayed and planned.  We couldnt be happier to have our own bedroom!  Seems like such a simple luxury, but for us to have had Nevaeya in our bedroom till she was 18 months, it was heaven on earth!!  For those of you who have no children or have your own bedroom, its tough having a child in your room after 6months old! haha they dont sleep well, they wake up and they are noisy! lol  So thank you Jesus for our home! 

Have you checked out Northway Church lately???  They are coming to Pittsfield soon. No date yet, but so siked!  God is working in awesome ways in Colonie where we attend now. John is going to be playing drums again soon. (in colonie) So i am very excited about that. Pray for him, its been a while and it can be hard to ‘jump back into it’.  I love our band at church and its awesome to see God working through each of them!  If you have no idea what Northway is check it out. www.northwaychurch.tv

Well, have a great week, i dont know when i will blog again, but have a great fall, in case i dont blog for a while! haha

I cannot believe we have waited as long as we have and finally our house arrives tomorrow!! I cannot believe wednesday it will be on our foundation and hopefully will be moved in within like 5 weeks ish!  I have so much excitment and joy right now, how am I ever going to sleep??!  We’ve been working on this house for about  a year and finally its starting to really come together!  The Lord sure is blessing us.  We started packing about 2 weeks ago and will continue to as we dont “need” things.

Nevaeya is growing like a weed and is running all over the place!  She is our little handful. She looks shy and quiet, but she would surprise you with how much she can say and how quick she can be!  She is like a little bumble bee haha.  Well she gets it all from her momma! ha!  Mom said I climbed on top of our refrigerator at age 2.  Nevaeya is a climber, so i have to keep a close eye! lol

Me, i am trying to get my body back.  Its not easy, and i hate eating “healthy”, but hey i am trying.   But i try to walk whenever i get a chance, and goodness knows i am chasing Vae all over the place!  haha

I have so enjoyed living in our tiny little 1 bed, 1 bath apartment.  Its charm, beauty and beautiful yard have been so nice as we’re waiting for our permanent residence.  We love the cows and visit them a few times a week. Nevaeya loves them!!! She gets real close, close enough for them to lick her!    God has been so good to bless us with this place, being less than half a mile from my parents, my best friend/cousin’s house, and our land.  I love being able to walk down whenever i want and visit. 

Well i hope getting some of these thoughts out will help me get some rest……looking forward to moving day!!!

Wow, its been a while since i have blogged.  Well our house stuff is finally coming along. We finally heard from the bank, and we got the loan and all, so now we’re waiting on the closing. Our driveway is going to be dug today and next week the hole for the house will be dug.   We’re so excited and SOOOOO anxious!!!  Here are a few pictures of the land and some of Nevaeya yesterday playing in the grass. (She loves being outside!)

Well i cannot believe today is May Day! Where is time going?  Its kinda a yucky May Day, but oh well.   For those of you who are like “what? what is may day?”  It is the first day of may…..tradition in my family, we go to my grammie’s house and bring her flowers. We drop them at her door step, ring the bell and run, then she has to come find us. Well i guess more than just grandparents/grandkids do this tradition, but i always had such a great time doing it!  As my grammie got older, i ran slower and didnt hide far away anymore haha. (usually just around the corner!) It brings back so many memories for me. Although i cannot think of one May Day that was rainy and yucky like it is today! haha So there is a tradition you can start with your kids….bring flowers to people and ring the door bell and run. It really makes peoples’ day! I think when Nevaeya gets a little older I will teach her to do that to my mom, it really gives both the kid and the grandma something to look forward to each year!   Well i am off to take Nevaeya to her Dr’s appointment here in a little bit, so i will go, but Happy May Day all!

 

These are some new pictures from about an hour ago….she loves being outside!

Its been an awesome week, the weather has been unbelievable!  I can’t get enough of this hot weather!  I was out so much yesterday i got burnt. I never used to burn, i guess after you have a baby your body stays changed! haha Oh well, i used to put on like spf 4 now i need more like 15 or 30 haha.  John somehow managed to not burn and he is like fair skinned. How did he escape it? I dont know lol.  I bought Vae some summer clothes months ago thinking she would definitely be in 24 months now, and she is in 12-18 month clothes, so i dunno what to do! (dont ever ‘buy ahead’!)  She was always a size ahead of her age, and now she stopped growing haha. So lesson learned there!  We have a new house update, we are hoping to have our closing with bank the week of may 10th, so thats exciting!  After the closing we can break ground and order our house yea!  So as of now, we hope to be moved in by Aug or Sep!  We cant wait for Nevaeya to have her own room! Well we’re excited about the whole house, but extra excited about that! We signed up Vae for baby dedication at church for mothers day!  We would love to have you all come!  (9:30 in colonie, may 10th) Well, thats it for now…..gunna go spend time with John!  Here are some new pics of Nevaeya walking and hanging out at Grandma and Pop-Pops house (mom and dad’s).

and this last one is her in the backseat on the way to drop John off to work early in the morning a couple of days ago…i know its poor quality, but it was so cute, her eating her waffle!

I have been so busy with so much i havent found time to blog.  The house plans are still underway…we’re waiting on the bank now. Hopefully a few more weeks and we’ll have our closing–which means breaking ground around that same time! So much has happened since my last post.  Northway had an amazing Good Friday service at the Colonial Theatre!  What an incredible night that was, and we are so thankful for all who came out to help or just to experiance it!  We love you guys!   Nevaeya is now nearly 16 months old and getting so big.  She is crawling all over and walks with help. (she just needs the confidence, cause she can walk just fine! haha)  I am on this mission to start working out a lot more….well i have to admit, i didnt ever enjoy it and didnt exercise pretty much at all after John and I were married. The eating better part is a work in progress, but hey that takes time after all the bad eating habits i got myself into while pregnant!  I am enjoying this finally decent weather after such a long, hard winter!  I enjoy taking Nevaeya out to see the cows (our landlords have). Some of the cows recently had babies, and they are just so adorable! I love living in the country!  (i have lived in this town, hancock, for my entire life….i was only in one other city for 1 yr, the first year we were married)  <just a tid bit of weird info! haha I am a country girl through and through!  I love the freshly cut grass and the cows, and all the silence!  I love taking long walks around the “compound” .( my family all lives right close to eachother, my aunt, my cousin, my grandparents, my parents, and now Luke—we’ll be there also, in the near future i hope!)  Its great being near family. Right now we live a few thousand feet down the road from the “compound”, so it works out great for a nice walk down the street to visit family! Well thats enough for now i guess…..more later. Here are some new pictures…..

Hey our house plans are underway. We are getting our land perked (to make sure its buildable and to have the septic designed), and we ordered our house plans (blueprints), and so once we get those back and have our land perked, we can get our loan and really start moving!  We think as of now, we should be moved in by July. For those of you who dont know….we are getting a modular house, and we have almost 2 achres of land. Everything is just so exciting. And already our house itself is going to be under the budget we had planned on, so praise the Lord!  We have been so incredibly blessed lately. It will be so nice to have a three bedroom (instead of one!) and the fact that i will be able to do laundry at my house (not at mom’s down the st) will be awesome. And the fact that we’ll be paying toward our house instead of renting!  God is so good.  Everything is just falling into place, and thats when we are certain that its God’s way and timing. Thats certainly how it was with Nevaeya. We had planned and planned, and tried for almost a year, but the Lord knows the perfect timing, and it was, it was PERFECT. We’d been married a couple of years and had time to work stuff out as a couple and we had insurance, and a decent, quiet place to live. (we had lived in a rotten neighborhood, with bad neighbors and rowdy bikers across the street from us. (not a good family street!) And now we live in a small, quiet apartment, with cows and its a super small town.  I look forward to the next several month of planning and action. I tell ya, after sunday’s message at NC, we have no worries!    Thank the Lord for all.  Enjoy this gorgeous, sunny day. You know its been a cold, snowy winter, but a very, very sunny one for New England!!  We are truly blessed!

What a beautiful day…..thats all i can say. I was so surprised at how warm its gotten. I am feeling a little more rested today. I picked up an old client recently and will be cleaning every monday, thursday and friday now. So thats exciting, especially money wise. Nevaeya is taking a nice long nap, thank the Lord. She used to take about three 1/2 hour naps a day and now she takes 2-3 one hour naps. So that gives me more time to get things done around here or relax.

How did John and I meet– this is a story not too many people know.  Well we actually met online. In October 2002 we were both downloading songs off of Kazaa, which then was free. So anyways, i was downloading a song or two from John, so he decided to look at what songs i liked and had downloaded and noticed they were all Christian songs. So he IMed me and said “hi, are you a Christian?” And i replied, “yes, are you?” From there on out, we chatted all night and then exchanged AOL screen names. We started to talk a lot and e-mail each other. (We were both 15) We eventually sent each other mail and gifts through the mail.  We became really good friends and could talk to  each other about anything, including “other girls and guys”. haha which after a while didn’t work out and eventually, we started thinking of each other in a romantic way. After 2 years of “dating”, if you can call it that. (flying back and forth to see each other and waiting for the next visit being dragged down by loneliness and sadness) Eventually we had had enough of the long distance thing and wanted to be able to be with each other forever, so we got engaged in July of 2005. We were married four months later November 12th, 2005. And for those of you wondering, how old were we?? 18! Yeah, we were!  It seems so young now, but we were a mature 18. haha

Hey well its a typical Sunday, we went to church, and what a great service. After the service we headed to Wendy’s for a quick bite to eat before heading home. Nevaeya likes the nursery, which is good, because she sometimes gets nervous around people. (i used to be that way as a kid) It was just her and baby Avery. We know she had a good time, cause she slept the whole way home.  We fed Vaeya and then headed to the mall to try and find me some new shirts. I found one……yeah, one!  I hate shopping now! The shirts are either too tight, too low cut, too small, ehhh. (Life after baby!) After many stores i gave up and we did some shopping at Target. We got some groceries, and then had to get Nevaeya a high chair. I found this cute little Christmas outfit for her and some tights and shoes. I can’t wait to get a picture of her in it. (we’re using it for our annual Christmas newsletter picture. We usually do a picture of the two of us, but this year we decided to just have her picture. Well, thats all i guess….

Here is a new picture of John and me today.

Me at 36 weeks!  I was a boat. This is right after Thanksgiving as you can see on the date. So from that to now, its amazing.  I cannot believe i was that huge!  And at the end of December, i was sooo big.

Check it out……I had Nevaeya a week after this was taken, so think about 1 lb more of baby by then!

And here is my little girl….Jan 1st

It seems like every weekday is the same. I get up, get Nevaeya ready and feed her,  i get semi organized and then we just go about our day and then we go through our daily evening routines.  Then it starts again the next morning.

My weekend, consisted of absolutely nothing on Saturday. I was attached to my couch all day. haha  I took a nap on the couch, which i realllly needed. I am still having problems sleeping.  Then on Sunday, we went to church for the first service (at 10am at colonie). What a great service. The music was awesome and the message was so encouraging and challenging.  Then in the evening after Vae went to bed of course, i made some Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies. I made them mainly because we are going to Matt and Trish’s house for dinner and Trish requested my “famous” cookies. (trish for those of you who don’t know her, is my darling cousin that lives right down the street, and we are best friends and “baby buddies”) baby buddies, means we have gone through all the stages together and have someone to share our horror stories of teething and lack of sleep with. haha If you don’t have someone to do that with, you should find someone! haha its wonderful! Oh let me post a picture of my cookies…John wanted to take a picture…  Oh and while i am at it…here is a new, not so beautiful picture of John and me.                                                       

 Isn’t my husband handsome?! hehe

Well, Nevaeya woke up from her nap, i guess i better go get her….she wants to play.  Turn up the heat, i have a feeling its going to be a cold night tonight. 

As a busy wife and Mom, i have been finding myself so tired lately. I haven’t had a good nights sleep in 2 weeks. I have had insomnia for about a week. I have tried a sleeping pill one night, no caffeine another, and when i wasn’t feeling well with my cold i took NyQuil, still i was up until 12 or later. One night i was up until 2:30am. John was just out and i laid there with all my many thoughts and my Ipod. (I like to play Solitaire on it!) Having my in-laws here and doing a lot of house cleaning( i clean for two clients and my grandparents + my house) this week, sure whipped me. But i know if i nap during the day, i  won’t sleep tonight. Speaking of sleep this is how i found Nevaeya sleeping yesterday morning. Is she not the funniest?!  Well, John’s Mom and Ron left about an hour ago and now it seems so quiet. I always hate when they leave, but they have to leave sooner or later. I wish they could move here, but they take care of John’s Grandparents back in MI. Well, i am going to go play with Vae, she is looking a little lonely.   How about all that snow ey?

We had Nevaeya’s baby monitor hanging on the wall. She managed to reach it and knocked it off, so recently, we’ve had it on a chair near her crib. So this morning, i woke up to a banging noise, she had reached under her bumper pad and reached out- blidely i must add,( we put a blanket on the side of her crib, so she cannot see us in the room) and was playing with the monitor on the chair. So all i could see was her little hand and fingers reaching as far as they could reach. Oh so cute. I laughed to myself and tried to leave the room to get the camera, but by the time i came back, she had stopped. Its so precious to see my daughter doing such cute, hilarious things. I just don’t know where she gets all these brilliant ideas! haha It just reminded me of how little she used to be and how quickly she is growing. I wish she was little still…her hands are still small, but not “baby” small. Like in this picture. What a little pumpkin! There she was like a month old and tiny. Now she is 10 months and like 22-23 lbs. haha Try to cherish those moments with your little one, or with the ones you love….time flies by way too fast.

 Guess who is teething?  Yeah, finally she is starting to get a tooth on the bottom. She has been trying to get teeth for like 6 months. Haha look at the wide eyes!  She was really tired when i took that picture yesterday.

   Today is an absolutely gorgeous day. Its so sunny and definitely unseasonally warm. I am planning to go for a walk with my dear friend later on. When John gets home, we’re going to VOTE.  Are you going to vote today?  I am going to vote and leaving it in God’s hands. Either way, God is allowing whatever happens, to happen.

Well, enjoy the rest of the day……..

What a rainy day it is today. And with the threat of snow, i just cannot believe it. My Step Father in-law is out fishing of all things and my Mother in-law watched the baby today while I cleaned my grandparents house.  Tonight i am hoping to go and get my wedding rings sized. I had them sized in February and now they do not fit. I think that my knuckles are somehow bigger and i don’t know why. I haven’t gained any weight, at least not more than like 5lbs. Which shouldn’t cause them not to fit. So i need to size them up, and i am a little bummed, but i reallly want to wear them again.   Nevaeya is happily napping and John got home at 12:30 today. He has a couple of half days this week so he can visit his mom.  Which is wonderful, i sure love having him home. What a joy it is having my Mother In-Law here. Seeing her with Nevaeya is so cute. She hadn’t seen her since July and what a difference that it. Going from 6 months old to almost 10 months old.  Well, thats all for now.  I am up for suggestions for fall activities?  Leave some feedback…..

Well, we have our new president, may the Lord help him lead our country. I think no matter what, we should pray for our president and leaders, and all the new plans and decisions they will be making. Well, i think its late enough, i should try and get some sleep.  Even though my thoughts will probably keep me up pretty late. Goodnight.     (this video is soooo funny and so cool, check it out…if you love drums, you’ll love this! It brings back memories of me playing!)

Today was my laundry day, well one of many. I had to take advantage of the gorgeous day, that way i could hang them outside. I also took a 3 mile walk with Trish.  We always have such a great time walking and talking. Time goes by much quicker when you are walking with someone else.  I had my wedding rings sized a little over a week ago and i finally got them today. Boy its great being able to wear them again! Thats all that is going on for today……

Well today was a normal thursday, i cleaned my grandparents house, and then i went and got a new hair cut. Which I desperately needed. (my grandparents watched Nevaeya) < what a treat.  What do you think of my new hair cut?  It was down to the middle of my back and had no layers.

 Well?  Is it a keeper? Its not perfectly straight, but you get the idea. Tonight is Taco night and i am so excited.  Do you have a favorite meal night??  Well, i don’t have anything interesting going on today, so talk to you soon!

Well, its friday already. Friday is always my busiest day, get up, drop Nevaeya off at Mom’s and head off to work. I cleaned a house in Williamstown today.  Then i go to Mom’s and eat, sometimes do laundry, and then in the late afternoon, i go to John’s work, and we clean it together after he gets out. Then usually we go grocery shopping. Sometimes we grab food and sometimes we just go home and find something for dinner. So that’s my usual friday. I think i like sprained my knee or something. Its swollen and really sore. I don’t know how i managed to injure it, but then again i never know how i injure myself. haha I usually forget by the time the bruise or scrape shows up. Do you ever do that?  I hear the weather is supposed to take a turn and become much cooler here soon. I have to admit, i am not looking forward to cold weather at all. I have lived in this area for almost 22 years and i don’t think i will ever “get used to it”.  I love the heat, even when its hot, as long as there is a break in a pool or AC once and a while, its all good.  I guess thats why i love Florida so much. I could almost live there….well, if there weren’t bugs and snakes and stuff. Where is your favorite place to be?  Do you prefer it hot or cold?

Well today Nevaeya woke up with a cold. She was all stuffy and could hardly drink her morning bottle. Poor little thing.  So my day consisted of wiping her poor drippy nose and carrying her around. She is also teething, and when she is teething she is ”needy” and also when she has a cold. She wants to be carried around and when i put her down she cries. Its as if I am leaving her forever. So its been a long day, and i am glad she finally went to sleep, i feel so bad for her. One thing that cracked John and i up about today, was John was using the bugar sucker upper and every time he did, Nevaeya laughed and thought it was hilarious. So we just laughed with her…..the things kids do….it just cracks me up.  Something new everyday. Well, i am watching Friends, we have all 10 seasons and i think i have watched every episode at least 10 times. haha I am a huge Friends fan!  Ok, I gotta go get cleaned up and in my cozy bed clothes. Have a good night!

Well, its a typical is a typical Monday accept i am not cleaning today, i am tomorrow. Nevaeya is sitting on the floor watching “Imagination Movers” on Disney. She loves watching this show, and also loves “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and “My Friends Tigger and Pooh”.  It looks like its going to be a nice sunny day, and i am so glad the rain has stopped.  We did very little yesterday, just hung out, and cleaned the house. We went and looked at Luke’s house. (he is working on his new house that was delivered a week ago. )  We’re going to be getting our house from the same company. This our house plan below. Its going to be bigger and a little different than this, but pretty close. Its going to be a 26×42′.  So bedroom 2 and 3 will be bigger and the kitchen bigger. Perfect for our family!  What do you think?

Thats it for now……have a good day all.

Today is John and my third year anniversary!  I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful, loving husband.  I cannot believe how fast 3 years went by.  Well within that time, John and I moved and John changed jobs. Also we had a baby, so i guess thats where time went. Its amazing to think that we were only 18 when we were married, and here i am almost 22.  Nevaeya is almost a year old. Where does time go? Anyways, back to my amazing husband. He bought me a dozen red roses tonight, and surprised me with them!  Which he has never done before, so it was a very nice surprise. ( never bought me 12 red roses, he has bought flowers before.) hahaWe aren’t doing anything special tonight, but Sunday night we are going out to dinner at Bennigan’s, which is one of our favorite restaurants. Its going to be so nice to out to dinner ALONE.  I can’t wait!  What are some of your great anniversary memories?  (nothing too graphic haha)

I have decided to set my bar high. I want to lose at least 40 lbs by this time next year. (4 lbs a month ish) I need to a total of 65 lbs to be where i want to be, like how i was when we were married.  I tell ya, getting married and having a baby changes everything. I got lazy and didn’t work out after we were married and ate poorly, now i am paying for it. I know it sounds crazy, thats a lot of weight, but i gained like 50lbs when i was pregnant. Again, lack of excersise and eating anything and everything. haha Then adding a C-Section, i definitely was unable to get into the swing of things until like 10 weeks after giving birth. I met with a personal trainer, who is also a dear friend and i hope i can get moving!  If we decide to have another baby, i want to try and have lost at least 40 lbs.

On a different note. Poor Nevaeya is suffering with her cold. She has a runny nose and a bad caugh now. Thankfully, she is going to the Dr. on Monday for her (late) 9 month check up. So maybe the Dr. will have suggestions. I might call Mom later and see is she has any home remedies. Do you have any suggestions? I hate seeing her under the weather. Its been almost a week and the poor little pumpkin wakes up caughing.

Well, i go clean my Grandparents house today, so that will get me moving, and hopefully later i can jump on our Eliptical.  I have been sore and wanna wait to heal a little.  Well gotta run…..

Today i found snot in Nevaeya’s hair and had to comb it out. (she still has her cold, its been a week now) She also had it on her eye brow, cheek and smeared on her clothes!  Oh well, she can’t help it and i hope soon she feels better. I am debating on bringing her to church Sunday because i already kept her home last week so we wouldn’t get other kids sick. She has had it a week now and i don’t think she is contageous, but i don’t know what to do. What do you think?                                                                                             Another problem i am having and i don’t know if anyone knows what i should do, but i am having problems wih my knee lately. Its stiff as a board. I know i like twisted it about a week ago, but then it seemed fine for a while. Then finally feeling better i tried using our Eliptical machine yesterday. I seemed to react fine to the excerise until last night/early morning. Its so stiff i can’t bend it all the way. Oh and its a little swollen too. Should i ice it, heat it?                                                                                                                                      Well today i cleaned as i always do on Fridays, and then i picked up Vae at my Mom’s.  I am headed to the bank in a little bit, then the chiropractor and then cleaning John’s work. I am also hoping to stop by the mall quick, my friend said there are some great sales at Children’s Place. I love their clothes, but the prices aren’t always in my budet. But hey, when there is cleanence, i gotta check it out.

Well, Vaeya will be up soon from her nap, so i gotta run.  Her favorite show to watch. (the picture is old, she doesn’t even fit in the exersaucer anymore.)

^ This is Nevaeya’s new “safety mat” so when she falls or anything she won’t hit our concrete floors. Also a new hat, which I had to have her model! You can’t see them, but there are pom pom’s on the top of the hat!

The ones that are a little more blurry are taken on John’s cell phone, but i thought they were such cute pictures!  So what do you think?  Is she getting big or what???

Today John and I went out for a late anniversary lunch. We had such a nice time and it was interesting going shopping afterward without Vaeya. We love her to death, but wow, so nice not having to clean the shopping cart and carting all her stuff. haha Life before baby!   Can you believe how cold it is??? BURRR!

Here is Nevaeya this morning with her new purple shirt. Isn’t it so cute?? I have found some of the best clothes i find at Target!                                                                               

This is Vaeya yesterday…..

Well, today I work. Then later on after John gets out of work we need to grocery shopping. I need to get a few extra things for Thanksgiving, which i cannot believe is less than a week away.  I am so excited about seeing my family. Some are coming up from Winston-Salem, NC, and some from Westfield, Mass. Most of my family already lives in the area. Some of my cousin’s haven’t seen Nevaeya yet either. I am so cold, i am not prepared for winter yet. I am more of a Spring/Summer girl. The hotter the better sometimes. Well, thats all i have to say for now.  What are some of your favorite thanksgiving traditions or dishes?

Well i cleaned my grandparents today and then i brought Nevaeya to her Dr.’s checkup. She had to have a lead test (finger prick) and also a flu shot. Poor little thing.  She is 21 and a half pounds and 29 and a half inches long. I didn’t ask what percentile that was, but i know she was always a long girl. She feels heavier than 21 lbs to me. My guess what like 23-24. She did well though. I hate when she has to get shots. Thankfully she won’t need to many shots from now on.

A couple of nights ago Nevaeya was sniffing John’s feet and scrunching her nose. haha here is a picture of it.

1. I am trying to get into the Christmas season.  I have not felt the Christmas spirit in a couple of years. Last year during this time i was pregnant and ready to pop any time. I didn’t have a chnace to really enjoy Christmas because i didn’t know if i would go into labor, or if i should try to plan and go to some family gatherings. I by this point also was so uncomfortable and didn’t want to do anything. I went into false labor on Christmas Eve/early Christmas day. So i thought that was it and i was going to have a Christmas baby. But my contractions weren’t quite strong enough to keep me. A week later, baby Nevaeya was born, Jan 1st. This year Nevaeya is almost a year old and i don’t think we can put in a big tree, but i think we’ll do a tabletop tree like last year. John and i discussed what we wanted to do this year as far as decorating and we decided we’ll probably decorate the day after Thanksgiving. I gotta pull out all my Christmas cd’s and start getting in the mood. I just have had a hard time getting into it lately. It doesn’t seem like mid November, it seems like May(not the weather, just my time is messed up due to having a little one). I have to also start planning Nevaeya’s 1st Birthday party. I’ll probably have it at Mom and Dad’s since our apartment is so tiny. Any ideas on that or my Christmas decorating, let me know!

I turned on my tv and checked our DVR to see what I had taped and waiting for me. I started watching Jon and Kate Plus 8, and its where they are renewing their vows in Hawaii. I just don’t know how they manage 8 kids and 6 that are they same age and twins!  Yikes, that what you call having your hands full. I cannot imagine being in their shoes. I love watching the show, its so fascinating how they go on these wild family outings.  Are you a fan of the show?  I was always amazed at the Goslings before i had Nevaeya, but now that i have her, i am even more amazed and shocked at how they do what they do. They truly inspire me, and i know that i am not the only looney tune out there on those tough days. And we all have them, we are at the breaking point, where we wanna scream. But then again, thats when our child looks at us and does something adorable or says “momma” and makes it somehow all better. Or better yet, the best time of the day is when “dadda” comes home!  This is a total random thought not related to dadda coming home, but is it me or when you change your childsdiaper, they immediately decide its time to poop in the freshly changed diaper? Or when you change their outfit and they decide to spill all over it or mush their fishy crackers all over it? The last 2 days Nevaeya has decided to do just that. I just gotta laugh. Well, duty calls, Nevaeya is crabby, so i think she is ready for her dinner.

Have you thought of how precious life really is?  I thought about it the other day and how fragile it really can be.  Have you taken time to appreciate your parents, husband/wife, kids?  I try and make time each day to at least tell John how much i appreciate him, what he does for our family, and tell him how much i love him. Its amazing how love can just grow and grow over the years.  It think its so important, especially when tough times come and you feel the stress of being a hard working husband or stay at home mom that feels like all she does is take care of everything and everyone!  The working husband feels like all the burden is on him and that he is responsible for everything to keep the family together. Tell your spouse how much you love them today!  A hug and an “i love you”, goes a long way!  I often write notes to John, so when he gets up to get ready for work, he’ll have a little note. He will also leave me notes to cheer my day. I was told once by a wise married women, that its so important to do the things you do while you are dating, after you are married. (like the notes, the little things in life) As Buddy says, what you did to win your mate, dating your mate.  When i see my Great-Grandparents, in their mid 90’s, i see true love. They’ve been married 60+ years, and they still are so in love, and still hold hands.  Just make each moment count your life could be 10 days, or 100 years.

Its sooo cold lately and all i have been wanting to do is reach for a cup of hot cocoa!  Its been so unseasonably cold lately. I think we are all in for a brutal winter.  We have already had snow about a month ago, 4 inches. I hope we don’t have it too cold, it makes me wanna go to Florida!  Or hey, if we had a hot tub or something! haha  Well, Nevaeya is taking a nap and John is at work.  This is my typical Saturday morning, sitting on the couch watching tv or listening to music. My weight loss plan isn’t going so well. I cannot use my Elliptical machine because i am having this awful knee problem i need to see the Doctor about. I think it might be “water on the knee”, i talked to my cousin about his problem with that and boy did it sound . So if anyone else has had it, let me know what your symptoms. My body hasn’t been the same after having a baby! All you Mom’s out there know exactly what i mean. With the hemorrhoids, back pain, weight gain, the not so perky boobs, etc. Its all about being a mom.  So for all of you out there that do not have children yet, be warned! haha  I gotta shave John’s head tonight, what do you think, do you like it this way, or better wih hair?? haha                                       haha, Vae’s eyes are all bug eye! I think she was tired there. ^ Well, not much else going on. Ttyl!

I have recently rekindled a friendship that was missing for three-three and a half years. I was really close to this girl and then things stopped when she moved, and now we are trying to catch up and learn what has happended between the lost time. I am so glad that the Lord is bringing us together again and knowing that we’re friends again has made me so happy the last couple of days.  Today i have an eye doctor appointment, which is good, cause i am totally out of contact lenses! I am not sure if i should look forward to bringing Nevaeya with me or not! haha I gotta do some laundry at my parents house today also, so its going to be a busy kind of day i think.  Better get going….

Well its another chilly day!  I hate these cold, rainy days. It makes my joints ache.  Well today i cleaned for my grandparents and thats all i have done. I am so tired, here lately i haven’t been able to fall asleep until late!  What are you all doing for Thanksgiving? I am going to my Grandparents house down the street. There will be all my cousins, aunts and uncles, which will total to about 35 people! I cannot wait to see everyone and to eat all the delicious food. I am bringing “the green stuff” as we all call it, but its pistachio pudding, cool whip, pineapple, & mini marshmallows. And i am also going to attempt to make a recipe i saw on Rachael Ray, its spiced Cinnamon apple crisp.  I have never attempted it before, so i hope it comes out ok. I am not much of a cookor baker!  What foods do you look forward to?  Its Nevaeya’s first Thanksgiving, and i can’t wait to feed her the yummy food and see what she thinks.

Well thanksgiving is tomorrow…..what are your favorite foods???

Turkey, Potatoes, Veggies, Jello, Stuffing, Sweet Potatoes, Pie, Carrot Cake, etc…

What are you doing for Thanksgiving??  I am so excited. I am making a couple of things, but i am excited to say i made a “Spiced Apple Cobbler”.  I have never made one, and i hope it came out ok, it smells devine!  Ok, well, i might blog in the morning, but if i don’t  Happy Thanksgiving you guys!!!

 

I am thankful for:

Jesus and Him dying for me and all my junk

My parents and how they took such great care of me and still do

John, the most amazing husband in the world, he is so giving, loving and meant for me

Nevaeya, God has blessed us with such an amazing daughter, i love her to death

Lucas, for being such a great brother

For my loving, sweet in-laws

For my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents

Buddy and Debbie Cremeans & Northway Church

Kimberly, Trish and all my friends

For our apartment and car, and all God has blessed us with

And lastly, thank you to whoever reads this blog.

Today Nevaeya went out on a girls day out with my family. I went with my aunt, grown cousins, my mom and all it was a blast. We went out to Albany and went to the Christmas Tree Shop! It was my first experiance there and i love it!  Then we went to Cracker Barrel for brunch! What a great time we had and i loved all the lady fellowship time and of course love shopping, especially when its a good deal.  Nevaeya did great! No fussing, crying, or anything. She sat patiently and was content to watch all the crazed shoppers as i pushed her through the store. She is always such a good girl anyway, but i was wondering if she would get crabby getting close to nap time and all. She was awesome, what a little trooper.    My thanksgiving was fanominal. I enjoyed it so much!  I saw cousin’s I hadn’t seen in years and their kids and it was such a great time. And the food was awesome! We even shared some goodness with Nevaeya. She liked the sweet potato cassarole, potato and turkey! yummm. I think she is cutting a new tooth, but its so hard to know for sure. We’ll have to wait and see!

John and I went to Matt and Trish’s little girl Abby’s dedication at their church this morning. We went there to support them, but we missed Northway sooo much. We can’t wait to go to church next Sunday. Then after church we decorated for Christmas. I was feeling in the mood and we turned on the Christmas tunes and just went to town on our apartment. We put up wreaths, garland w/ lights, and a table top tree. Its called baby proof! haha I lit a favorite Christmas Yankee Candle, and it smells awesome in here. I can’t remember the name, but i think its something like “home for the holidays”. Its the perfect blend of everything Christmas like. Maybe sometime i’ll take a picture of our cute little apartment.   Thats it for now…..ttyl

Yesterday Nevaeya and I went to my doctors appointment. I have had pain and swelling in my knee for a week or two, so i thought it was time to set up an appointment. Anyways, i went and he said it was bursitis. So basically its from the extra weight i have now and being on my legs often or doing things. So the pain won’t go away or get better till i lose some weight. So until then, he gave me an anti-inflamitory, so i can work out in less pain.  After the doctor visit, we went and had our car inspected, which went much quicker than usual! I usually wait for like at least a half hour-1 hour. I waited 15 minutes if that! It was wonderful!  Then we headed to Target to drop off my perscription and get a few things for Nevaeya’s birthday party. I want to buy some stuff now to save on having to buy them later!  I want to do a Lady Bug theme, so i bought red plates, and napkins. My sister in-law has a lady bug shaped cake mold. So i hope everything falls in place. I have about a month until her b-day party.

These past several days have been crazy for me. Yesterday i went to my great grandma’s funeral. She was 93 years old and had been married for 60+ years. (thats so inspiring to me! wow)  Anyways, i was sad she was not here with us anymore, but she knows Jesus as her savior and so i felt very at peace and happy inside to think she isn’t suffering anymore and she is in heaven with Jesus waiting for us. So Nevaeya and I rode in with my parents (John had to work) and we spent the whole day out! Nevaeya had only a half hour nap ALL day. Can you imagine mom’s out there??? She did good too. I was shocked. But i went to my grandma’s, who lives close by and gave her a nap in between the service and the reception following it. But with all the craziness going on and all the people, she seemed to do ok with the lack of napping. She usually naps, twice a day and for an hour each time!  Bravo Nevaeya. Then today i went and cleaned my grandparents house as usual and i am sooo exhausted.  We’re working on trying to figure out a tight budget for groceries and i am having the hardest time with it. Its hard to cut back on some stuff, like shampoo, contact solution, etc. Any advice, please, i am open to suggestions.   I am going to watch Grey’s Anatomy now, i DVR ed  it haha i don’t think thats a word, but i am using it!   Gunna watch my show, then head off to bed, long, long day tomorrow! Night, pray for me!

Its a nasty storm outside.  I caught a cold from Nevaeya, and so i am very under the weather.  I have some kind of head cold, and I am all achey.  Nevaeya had a low fever for a couple of days, but she seems better.  She hasn’t wanted a lot of fluids, which isn’t too good, but we’re working on her.  I can’t believe how hard its snowing outside. Its like a blizzard and I can hardly see the neighbors house!  I am so tired out, its been such a long week and i was really looking forward to going to church this weekend, but Nevaeya caught a cold on Friday and I didn’t wanna get any other kids sick, and then I caught my cold on Saturday. Well, i don’t have much to say for now….ttyl!

These were some picture we took the other day. I am trying to decide which picture we are going to send out with our annual Christmas newsletter. We took about 25 pictures of her in her Christmas dress, and here are just a couple. Its so hard to get a “great” picture of her sometimes. She’ll smile and then by the time our camera takes the picture she is all grumpy looking. haha  Well, thats it for now, i feel yucky, this cold is hanging on.

I have had such a great time catching up with my friend Kimberly. I haven’t seen her in years and we have been catching up and talking on the phone for hours.  Its great rekindling a friendship. Now that we are both married, we have so much to share.

Its been so cold lately, its been making me want to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa and a blanket on the couch.  I just watched The Santa Clause. I have been in the Christmas mood. I have decorated and have  been playing Christmas music all the time.  Its a special time of the year, with the snow, and the music and family you see. I am a big Christmas fan. We go to a polish christmas celebration on my Mom’s, dads’side of the family. Does that make any sense? haha And we also have a get together with my Mom’s, Moms’ side. On my Dad’s side, we do a New Years Day get together. So its going to be a busy season. Oh and now that Lucas and I are out of my parents house and are married with kids, we have a dinner or brunch with mom and dad. So a lot going on in the next few weeks. And this year will be different because Nevaeya was born on New Years Day last year. So we will be having her first birthday the weekend of the 3rd/4th. This year we will be having her birthday party at mom and dad’s since our apartment is miniature, and have don’t have a house yet.  Do you have Christmas traditions you have with your family? Do you have a place you always go every year or do you have a Christmas Eve dinner at home?

Nevaeya has been learning all kinds of new things, and her latest is…pulling up on things. She climbs up and stand near the tv stand and tries pushing the tv buttons, and pulls up on the couch. Its amazing how fast she is growing and how quickly time is flying by. I cannot believe she is nearly a year old. She is crawling all over and getting into everything in sight. With her getting into everything, that means she’s been into things that can hurt her too, and so we are waiting on our baby playyard gate to come in. Its a baby gate that all connects and makes a big play area and can be indoor or out. That way she can play with her toys, but not get hurt. Our apartment isn’t baby friendly at all! haha  Lately, i have had this wisdom tooth thats been trying to come in, and its soo painful. I don’t have any room for more teeth, so i am praying that they won’t come in. haha wishful hoping right?

Its amazing how much we take for granted these days. One huge one electricity!  I never realized how much i really had become accustomed to it until last night. The power went out in our apartment at 8pm. Our landlord has an outdoor wood boiler and it needs electricity to pump heat into our apartment. So it started getting cold, and so i thought i should try and get a hold of someone down the street (parents, or cousin) to see if they had power, or if we could stay there for night. They all have indoor wood stoves and those don’t require a power source. So i called my parents and they were in bed, so i tried my cousin (more like a sister than cousin) and she said come on down, they had power for most of the night. We stayed in their guest room and Nevaeya had a pack in play to sleep in. When we finally had settled in Nevaeya thought it was a good time for a concert. She sang and sang in her sweet little voice! haha John and I had to hold back the laughter and the tears! (it was very late and we were tired! haha) Finally we all fell asleep at around 12am.  By 12:30 the power went out(for a short period of time). I forgot to tell you the best part…when the power goes out in their house, all the fire alarms go off (they are wired in)!  So then we were so shook up, that it was hard to get back to sleep. John had to get up early because of the weather, and was out of bed at 5am. What a crazy night we had!  Any interesting stories to share??? Did you have power? Did you get flooded out?  Any trees or power lines down near you?  They shut down a major street around here, so that made for a fun morning commute.  I have got to try and sneak in a short nap later, i am supposed to watch my cousin’s baby, and i am SOOO tired. I don’t think Vaeya will let me nap, but you never know.  I have a better appreciation for electricity and for all the big things in life that seem so small. By the way, here in the country, you have no water or toilet use when the power is out, did you know that?? haha i bet if you live in the city, you are glad you have the use of those!!!  Take time to appreciate things if life, both the big and small!

Over the past several weeks I’ve been experiencing bad knee pain, which i found out is Bursitis. (inflammationand pain in the knee)  I went to a Dr. and have been trying everything up to wazoo. Nothing has seemed to help.  Being busy and stressed, i totally forget to mention my whole dilemma to the Lord.  Where has my faith been?  I have been so wrapped up in the weather and the Christmas season, i have lost my faith in God’s healing.  Last night, John and I sat down and prayed for a moment over us, our family and friends.  Its amazing being in the “giving season” how selfish we can be.  Instead of turning to the Lord first for my problems and pains, i have turned to Him last. It seems, somehow among the hustle and bustle, we can lose faith and end up more frustrated and stressed than if had just asked Him for help in the first place!  It seems the only time we turn to God anymore is when we are broken and have nothing left.  I feel so blessed to have such a loving and forgiving God.  He has certainly blessed me and my family.  

It must be so awesome to be a baby. You get to lay around and everyone caters to your every wim. Look at how relaxed and comfy Nevaeya looks in these pictures. How sweet it must be to be her!

"hi there!"

 

"your not going to show anyone this right??"

 

"You just watch me turn the water on!"

 John took these last night and we found them so funny and cute i just had to share them!  What do you think….did you turn the water on?   haha

Wow has it been a snowy couple of days and as i have heard it will be a snowy weekend.  I have been taking shifts with John shoveling and brushing off our car. We unfortunately aren’t blessed with a garage, so we have to de-ice our car. haha  John is out there shoveling now and boy is the snow coming down! Its so beautiful out.  I hope we can make it to church tomorrow, i have been looking forward to it for a long time!  Its like 14 degrees, burrr. Its way too cold!   Well John and i are going to watch a movie after Nevaeya goes to bed and spend some good quality time together!

Have I said lately how much I love and appreciate Northway Church??!  John and I feel so blessed to have such an awesome church to go to and feel like we’ve grown for the first time in a LONG time. Growing up in New England, its slim pickin’s for churches and i am feel so happy to have found NC.  God bless Buddy and Debbie Cremeans!  God surely has blessed us with them and its evident that they should be here. We had the opportunity to go to church today (which is a miracle since the weather was awful!) and we saw BJ Harris. He is an illusionist and saw some neat things as well as heard an awesome message.  We had such a great experience.  Also PROPS to the Northway band, holy cow, they rocked out this mornings Christmas intro!  I knew they were all good, but didn’t know they were all THIS good.   Great job guys!  (There was quite the standing ovation!) I just wish that they put the music on the message DVDs or online.  Do all of you that go to NC realize how blessed you are to have such a great church??? Trust me, in Mass, its realllllly tough to find a church, and there aren’t any like Northway.  They are the typical stuck in their ways kind and won’t make any changes to try and reach the lost.  I am not bashing them, but i do believe in Northway’s vision and think that it is our job as Christians to reach out to the lost.  I can never say it enough, thank you northway church!    John and i are going to the Christmas Eve service at Colonie and are so excited what they have planned, its always so awesome to experience NC in the Christmas season.  How is the snow where you are? We are snowed in. It was a white-out most of the day and now its snowing lighter, but still snowing. haha its so pretty though and we’ll definitely have plenty of snow for Christmas morning!  I think tomorrow i am going to just veg and talk to Kimberly on the phone.  Its great to just relax and do nothing.   Well, i do that a lot, but only when Nevaeya is sleeping.  But hey, its good, because otherwise i might lose my head if i never had a break from my little angel. Who is by the way cutting another tooth. This is her third one that she is working on and has many more that are close. Poor little thing has been having a hard time with it.   Well, i am going to watch House with John, and then he’s gotta get to bed. ttyl

I feel like i am stealing Libby’s idea, but hey it was a great one!  (thanks Libby!)

Here are some of my memories as a kid.

First we decorated for Christmas and started the non-stop Christmas music Thanksgiving day.  Jump to Christmas Eve, we would go to my great aunts for a Polish Christmas dinner, then head off to church for a candle lit service. I wasn’t a huge fan of that, many people had come way too close with their candles to me and almost dripped wax on me! haha From church we headed home to watch the classic claymation movies, “santa claus is coming to town”, “a year without a santa”, etc. Did you watch those? Those were the best movies, i still love watching them every year. Christmas morning we were always up early (luke and I that is….) mom and dad slept till at least 7am. haha We had to wait on them before we could dive toward our Christmas tree. We would sneak down and peak at the wrapped gifts and try and figure out what could be in the packages. We would eat a big breakfast, pancakes, bacon, all kinds of goodies, and it always was done fancy. Mom always wanted to make it extra special. Then we all went and one at a time opened our gifts. We never had our own video camera growing up, but sometimes we’d borrow my Aunts and tape our morning. As Lucas and I got older we would open our gifts on Christmas Eve at night. That way we all slept in and just vegged. I guess when you become a Teen you don’t wanna get up at the crack of dawn anymore, you need your beauty sleep.  haha  After opening our gifts we got ready and went to a get together on my mom’s side of the family. There we ate a late lunch and did a “steal the prize” grab bag.  What fun!  This year we won’t be able to go to that gathering, because its at 5pm and Nevaeya goes to bed between 5:30 and 6pm. She goes to bed early and gets up early, well not real early, just early for me haha! 

Tonight i am going shopping for some gifts for John and I am excited, yet dredding the crowds!  Oh well, it will still be fun!

Its been a crazy couple of weeks. Preparing for Christmas events and gatherings, and then next saturday is Nevaeya’s b-day party, so i have been running in all directions trying to get stuff and trying to make money, for the stuff. haha I am whipped. On a happy note, i had a very nice Christmas. Nevaeya slept over my parents house Christmas Eve, so John and i had a chance to reconnect and spend a lot of time together. We went to Mom and Dad’s Christmas morning and had lunch with my family. It was nice to have us all together and it was a lot more relaxed than i thought it was going to be. I have been so stressed lately. I am still having major problems with my knees, so i need to call the Doctor and get in to see him. Please pray about that, its been a few months here. : /   Anyway, not a lot new, just did a lot of running around today, and Nevaeya cried most of it. What a long day. Its tough being a parent on “these” days.

Let me tell you, this weekend was not at all what John and I pictured it would be. He had Saturday off, which is a very RARE occurrence, and he woke up yesterday sick, with the stomach flu. I also had to work yesterday, and felt terrible having to leave him home alone with Nevaeya when he had to be running to the bathroom all morning. But i had no choice and told him she’d be fine, just let her play and get some rest.  Today he seems better, but still has an achy stomach. I thankfully haven’t caught it yet, and hope not to.  Nevaeya has either been having “teething diarrhea” or just whatever John had, and has been pooping like 8-10 times a day, leaving her with a raw, swollen, red bottom.  Pray for them if you could. I am also worried that I and Nevaeya might get it, that is if she doesn’t already. Her birthday party is this Saturday and i don’t want to cancel.  Its a tough time of year for a birthday. Snow, sickness. I remember, i was born Jan 12th and there were always obsticles. I guess its just apart of life. I am looking for a new shampoo, after a while they don’t seem to work, its like my scalp gets immune. What do you use or what do you sugguest??? I have tired a lot of brands and few seem to work for me. I need all your help!  Maybe i should just restart my search for shampoo from like years ago. What did i use then and why did it work or not work. I don’t know, it seems so silly, but hey i want to have clean hair and head. Oh and something that works well with color treated hair. I have to dye mine already!  At the ripe age of 21 i am very white! haha, its genetic.    Well, what shampoo do you use and do you think salon stuff is the way to go, or the cheapo stuff??  Let me know, i want to see comments!

Aren’t these cute? I bet you can’t guess where Nevaeya gets her gorgeous eyes from?    These are just some pictures that were taken in the last week. Thought it might be nice to post some. Hope you enjoy!

Now when i think of New Years or New Years Eve, i think of my sweet little Nevaeya who was born at 4:48am on New Years day. Last year on this day, the weather was very similar….i was in labor at home and we were having our only car fixed and we were worried we wouldnt be able to get it back in time before i had to go to the hospital. We made it and everything worked out. If you wanna hear the rest of that story, you’ll have to ask.

Usually what i thnk about around New Years, is we always went to my Grandparents house and celebrated Christmas on that day with my dad’s side of the family. So we saw our cousins and aunts/uncles and all had a meal together and spent the whole day, nibbling on food and opening presents. I remember my two cousins would come over our house and play monopoly and watch movies until midnight new years eve. We’d watch the ball drop and then all go to bed.  Sooooo many great new years memories. To many to meantion, but it was always such a memorable couple of days. We’d all make snow forts and have snowball fights. Sometimes we went sledding down my grandparents hill and had hot cocca. What good times….

Happy New Years all!

Its been a whirlwind ever since Thanksgiving and i haven’t found a whole lot of time to write here lately. I have been busy with Nevaeya and life and quite frankly, I’ve been very stressed.  I haven’t slept so great, i haven’t had time for the little things in life that i enjoy like a nice shower, painting my nails, etc. Nevaeya has been mega teething and pooping around the clock. I feel so bad for her. She has also decided that going to bed early is great and even greater to get up when daddy gets up at 5:30am. I don’t think i can ever get used to that….i hope its a faze.   It might just be her teeth.  If you ever don’t know what to do for a realllllly bad case of diaper rash…..use corn starch. Totally works and it doesn’t hurt their little tooshy. Nothing else touches Nevaeya’s rash.  (Attention all mom’s that haven’t gone through teething yet….they can get diarrhea and poop like 10 times a day!) 

On a happy note, Nevaeya stood all alone (not holding onto anything) for the first time today…and the longest she stood was like 10 long seconds. We were amazed.  She is growing up so fast. She says a lot now and she shakes her head no, and says, light, momma, dadda, pop-pop, eyes, hi, buh bye, night night, baby, we we we (as in this little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home……..etc….and this little piggy went we we we all the way home). She is just amazing me more and more each day. She is smart and i dont know where she got it from haha.  :)  Well thats all going on…..here is such a cute picture. I took it yesterday!

Its been so chilly the past few weeks and months.  The last few days have been chilly enough to go through to my bones. Our headlight went out yesterday so John had to go out last night and change it. He had never changed one on this car, so it took him about an hour total to change it. It was only 8 degrees out…..burrr. I went to try and “help”, but i get in the way more than anything when it comes to cars. I tried to hold the flashlight for him, and that somewhat helped.  Yesterday was my 22nd birthday. I feel so old haha. Well sometimes i feel it. Its amazing how different your body is after you have children. haha   So here is my day yesterday, it was busy. I got up at 5:30am (my brother had trouble with his car leaking oil, so we had to take him and john to work, they work together), and got Nevaeya up and changed her and made a bottle for her. We picked up Luke and I brought both of them to work. (this is when the head light went out)  Then Nevaeya and I came home. I let her play, while i went back to bed for a little while. I got up and got ready and we headed to my dr. appointment (for my knee problems). From there i got lunch and visited John quick. I also went and renewed my drivers license.  Then Vaeya and I went home for a short eating time for her. She napped on our way to pick up the guys. etc ect Then Mom and Dad surprised me for an awesome roast beef dinner. They just showed up and brought everything, it was wonderful!  Nevaeya went to bed as soon as they arrived, so it was peace and quiet, nice dinner.   Today i am laying low, just relaxing.

Northway church put me up for a challenge today.The Daniel fast. Its apart of our new series Escape. The idea is for us to bring our trash and junk that is holding us back from the true blessings, and bring it all to God. To reconnect with Him and give Him our stomachs….we’re eating a bland and not so pleasant(for me) diet. Veggies, Fruits, Nuts, Brown Rice, Water and some natural juices. For me, a “junk food junky”, this is going to be a challenge of a lifetime.  John and I started after lunch today and it has been a tough time already and i know it will be probably for a week or so. But as i was sitting on the couch thinking of how much i wanted to eat all the food in sight (junk may i add), i thought to myself……wow, buddy is right, i am to that point of worshipping food. I can’t eat just to fill me, i want to have the junk and all the familier flavors. I was consumed by it, and it even made me a little angery knowing i couldn’t eat that anymore and drink my soda. I thought to myself, do i not have any sense of self control?  Can i not give up my junk for Jesus??  The answer is yes, i can give it up, i can let it go and He will fill me. I want Him to consume me and refresh me, not my “familiar foods”!  So i want to encourage you to take the challenge…… take that leap and seek God and all He can give you!  I am going to need mega encouragement during this fast and prayers. This is such a step for me, and believe me, ask anyone close to me, they will tell you….i am a picky eater and also a junk food junky.  I am hoping this will also help me to lose so much needed weight. I have high cholesterol and my knees need relief from the weight, so i am hoping this helps my heath as well as my spirituality!  Good luck if you have taken the challenge and if not, consider it, God can really work through these next 21 days!

Well so far it hasn’t been easy to eat this bland diet, but we are doing well with it. I also lost 5 lbs. Which is a major plus…..now only about 40 more to go!  But i think this truly has been not only good thing for me to do, but a great thing!  I do admit to cheating a little and had hog dogs, but i am trying real hard!  Are you on the fast??  How are you doing? Leave me comments and suggestions for meals. I am quickly running out of ideas.

Hey, not a lot going on. Its been cold, snowy and tiring. I have been hanging around the house most of the week, which has been fine since the weather has been so nasty out. I have had a big burden for Northway on my heart lately, i have been praying that God’s will be done at NC.  We have been so blessed there and can’t wait to see what he has in store.   Tomorrow is going to be a busy day….i clean my grandparents house, then take Nevaeya to her Dr. appointment. Then run home for hopefully a quick nap for her. Then drop her off at mom’s so i can go and clean John’s work.  I am tired just thinking about it! haha  Well honestly, thats it…..just nothing new to write.  Stay warm guys!

i have lost my umph. i have very little to write about and i don’t think anyone reads this thing anyways haha. nevaeya and i had a rough day together. dealing with her teething, crying and taking a very short nap today. she was just sooo uncomfortable, poor thing. anyways, its so hard to believe its already february!  where has time gone????  at least that means, before we know it, it will be spring!  which is awesome, cause then nevaeya and i can go out walking and go visit my family down the street. and OOO hang out my clothes at moms. ( i love the smell of fresh air sheets!)  i soo enjoy walking down to visit trish or my parents. its such an invigorating walk!  plus, Lord willing, this spring we will break ground for our house. we are meeting with the bank on thursday to try and get pre-approved.  we are soooo nervous/anxious about the whole situation. if we didn’t get pre-approved, that means we probably wont be getting a loan and that means we would have no clue what is next for us. we are completely outgrowing our tiny one bedroom apartment. with nevaeya already in our bedroom and invading our tiny living room with all her toys, we are desperately needed a new space…..a bigger one.  hopefully that will be our house, our permanent residence!  so for whoever reads this….please be praying for us. for us its more of a need for a house than a want.   may God bless you all.   BTW sooooo excited about what God has been doing for Northway Church!!!  Good Friday here in the berkshires! How cool is that????  Its insane!

Goodnight!

God has been so faithful to John and I and especially over the last week or so. God has been moving in our lives in so many ways, its CRAZY.   We are thrilled at whats going on at Northway Church and can’t wait to see what is in store for NC’s Good Friday service!  I am just praying that i will have oppertunities to invite the right people.  And today, MAJOR answer to prayer. We’re been praying for quite some time about building our own house……for about a year or so. And just praying for the right timing and all….we went to get pre-approved on thursday and found out today, we’ve been excepted!!!! PRAISE the LORD!  We had two other banks turn us away, for weird reasons and then our bank excepts us, no question. So know this is totally a “God thing”.  We are in such desperate need for more space. We are out of it haha.  Our tiny apartment was great for two, but three is a crowd.    We cannot wait for Nevaeya to have her own bedroom……outside of ours!  Its been so tough the last few months…she is a light sleeper and teething. (not a good combo, when you are trying to be quiet and wake her).  So anyhow, we have our house plans all picked out and hopefully will be starting very soon. We just need to perk our land and do a few small things and we’ll be underway. YEA!  Hopefully we’ll be moved in by July or August!  Isn’t that amazing???!  It is to me, since i feel like we’ve been waiting for this for so long. And we’ll finally be able to house our in-laws at our place when they come for visits!  Well, i am almost too excited to sleep……..   SIGHS….wow.   Ok, goodnight all!  Be praying everything moves smoothly and it isnt too stressful….cause i know it will be.