Thanksgiving

I've never been one to tell the world daily on Facebook what I'm thankful for in November but I will write a blog about it...
I am beyond thankful for 2012 but I'm also thankful that it's almost over.  This year has been full of surprises, transition, unknown, pain and inconvenience.  However, it's also been incredibly full of life, giving and an abundance amount of love.

First, I am thankful for my relationship with my Jesus.  Without that, my life would have felt much harder this past year.  He has kept me calm and given me strength, knowing it's all worth it in the end.

I am thankful for...
Jarrod - There really isn't words to express what this man has done for our family this year.  He works harder than anyone I know.  I am thankful for his job and all that he has accomplished in the work place but my thankfulness goes far beyond that.  This year he has worked his tail off selling our old house himself, being a landlord, writing the contracts, watching every detail on our new house, writing all the checks to the contractors, controlling our personal finances, helping lead our small group, making phone calls for me ;), helping with the kids, getting up at night with E or Z, being Social Graces accountant, and even cooking dinner some nights.  Bestest husband ever.  Love love my bearded man.

Zeda - She is my source of laughter and also anxiety.  That girl has stretched me this year, however, she also brings me more joy than I can express.  She's too smart for her own good and her independence and strong will will make her an amazing woman one of these days.  I am beyond thankful for the time I spend with her and the daughter she is.  I love Zeda to the moon and back.

Ezra - Our little surprise.  I never imagined I would have a boy or a boy 3 weeks early.  However, he is the sweetest, most cuddliest things in this world.  I hold him and kiss him all day long.  I have a little guilt that his life has yet to be normal so truly, I never put him down.  He is a mama's boy and I love it.  Did I mention how cute he is? Seriously. Adorable.  I have a crazy love for my E man.

Our parents - The giving is never ending with these two couples for that we are very thankful.  The help, the love, and the support is more than we could ever ask for.

The Murrays - My sister's family has for sure made our 2012 much much easier.  They've given their home, their spaces, their time, their patience,  and so on and so on.
My sister was there to take me to the hospital and helped me labor with Ezra.  They helped us move (into their basement) in 100 degree weather.  They have let us live in their basement since July 5.  They let us use their extra garage as storage space.  They've helped handle all the fighting between our kids and Matt has tolerated me in general. Ha.  The thankfulness is overflowing with the countless amount of meals, love, support, labor, and patience they have given us this year.

My business partner Megan and Social Graces - I am thankful for the opportunity to have a job and to be able to quit working at the church.  I am thankful that I have a partner to be there when life's surprises happen.  Ie: Ezra coming the morning of an event and breaking my hand during a wedding.  I'm am so thankful that she picked up the slack this year with events and the blog while my life has been in constant change and instability.  I am thankful for her friendship and that God continues to heal her from her pain in 2012 and at the end of 2011.  I think we both are thankful this year is closing and have high hopes for 2013 from both a personal and professional stands.  Love you Meg, you truly are my best friend.  2013 is ours, let's own it!

Our new home - I've waited a long time for this.  This November marks 3 years since we've bought the lot.  We've been planning and planning this home and now we are just a few weeks away from completion.  I can't describe the feeling but I can tell you it's a good one.  I'm also thankful for our builder who has made the process a smooth one.  We've enjoy it and cannot wait to make it our home.  It's time.

Our friends and family - Thank you for the countless lunch dates, encouraging messages, babysitting, support, trips, fellowship, drinks, baby clothes.  Really, we have the best friends and family out there.

Finally, I am thankful for the endless amounts of answered prayer this year.  I don't understand sometimes why things happen the way they do or why the trials have to be so daunting but when you know that God is listening the feeling is amazing.  Two prayers that I'm especially thankful for is 1) my friend Danielle who I've been praying for years to become pregnant is finally 14 weeks along.  Huge, huge blessing and we continue to pray for her little one.  2) Brandon.  It's been awhile since I've posted an update but he is doing fantastic.  He still has a long road ahead but he's gaining weight, getting out and even driving.  His life is a true miracle and we continue to pray for him as well.

Alright, enough with the sappy stuff.  I love you all and I'm excited to eat turkey and go shopping today.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Easter 2012

Easter 2012 was completely different than I imagined it would be.  It really never crossed my mind that little Ezra would be celebrating with us.  I wanted to HAVE him on Easter, just not before.  Oh well, he was 10 days old and we made it through. :)  Even though we were trying to get adjusted to the new one, we still wanted to color eggs with Miss Zeda.  Here are our creations.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's day consisted of morning doughnuts and dinner with Nik and Mae Mae. Our morning doughnuts were of course a pinterest find. Delicious and super easy to make. Almost too easy. It took Jarrod some convincing to make them, since he's doing P90X.  However, he'd go for sweets any day so it wasn't too hard.

Yes, her hair is still crazy as it will probably always be.

Valentine's Day 2012

A little recap of Valentine's Day...
Monday night we went out for sushi with our small group friends and had a great time, so Tuesday we stayed in with our little sweetheart herself.  She's felt awful since Saturday so we wanted things to be easy on her.  Tomorrow, Thursday, we are headed to the dr's office.  We just can't break her fever or control her asthma.  Jarrod and I are really ready for some sleep as I'm sure she is too.
However, we made the best of it Tuesday night.  I was telling Z baby that we were having a party with daddy that night and she was thrilled.  SHE wanted to get in a pretty dress for the party.  When Jarrod got home from work he turned some music on and she danced (which did NOT help the coughing).  I finished up dinner, we ate lettuce wraps, fondue and chocolate covered strawberries.  Zeda had some pink milk and that's about it.  Poor baby.  After we ate, she had a quick bath and then we watched Thumbelina as a family.  Once we put her to bed, Jarrod and I watched an episode of the Wire together.  We are so romantic :)  To be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.
I'm just so in love with my little family.

Zeda and all her sasssss

I usually just post pictures of my precious little girl smiling or doing something sweet. However, I do want you all to know, it's not always roses in our house. She hit the twos and she hit them hard. Granted, she's still a pretty good, easy going child but sometimes if you say the wrong word or look at her the wrong way...you're going to get it.
I wanted to take a few pictures of this pretty little outfit she got for Christmas so I promised her once she took a few "good" pictures she could go play at the park. As SOON as we stepped out of the car she started yelling at the wind and crying. She doesn't like the wind, what girl does but she wasn't even trying. I put her back in the car, said we were going home because she wasn't calming down and that she could not play. Tears turned off immediately, she said, "I will smile, mommy" and off we went. Now, the wind really was ridiculous that day but we were still able to get a few pictures.

Look at that sad face, it's so rough to be Zeda. 

 Here is the start to the smiles.  The comment, "The longer you don't smile, the longer we are out here" really seems to work.

 And now we are playing peek a boo...oh the little things

Visiting Santa

The last two years we haven't taken Z to see Santa. It hasn't been a high priority during the busy time and really, we didn't think she would be down with it. However, she keeps telling everyone that Santa is bringing her a "wadder" bed and is actually really excited about him. I thought since she is getting the idea of Santa, we should take her. After going over our schedule, Monday was the only chance we had. Jarrod has been working night and day on her "wadder" bed while I've been a single parent. The last couple of weeks have been stressful but we are still super excited about the Holidays.

So, alas, we went to see Santa. We started out at Bass Pro since everything was free and they had lots of things for the kids to do. We got there at 5:10 and the next ticket to see Santa was at 9. Awesome. We could let her play, go eat somewhere and then come back or we could try the mall. We let Z ride one ride and then off to the mall we went since it was still early. Once we got to the mall there was no line for Santa. My guess is because you have to pay for the picture. However, they let me take my own which worked out perfectly. She was pretty serious but so stinkin cute. She asked him for her ladder bed and toys. Then he asked for a huge and she said no. Ha. After Santa, we went to the play area, ate dinner and was home by 7:30. Therefore, Jarrod was able to work for a couple of hours. Perfect.

Weekend Run Down: November 18-20

This weekend was a productive weekend, not a super social one but a much needed work weekend.
November 18-20
Friday: Zeda and I went to story time at the library and got our usually 4 books for the week.  After, over an hour there we headed to Target for a major shopping trip.  I had Christmas shopping on my mind and a very large coupon in hand.  I was able to get a lot of items for Z's new room (her Christmas present) including her sheets.  Sheets were the main goal of the trip so we could pick out paint.  Once we got home and I put her down for a nap.  I was HIGHLY motivated, which is extremely rare these days.  So, I finished moving the whole office to our closet (Yes, I have to get pretty creative with my space, or lack thereof).  However, I'm happy to say, I have a new shelf for my event/craft stuff that is still a work in progress.  

Once Jarrod got home, I sent him to the attic to take a few boxes up as well as bring all my Christmas decorations down.  I'm pretty against putting up Christmas before Thanksgiving but we will be gone next weekend and really, I needed to take advantage of my energy while I could.  Later we had Nik and Meg come over to pick up the Christmas tree they are borrowing, plus, I needed her help picking out a color for Z's new room.  After they left, I finished the tree and Jarrod took the crazy mirror doors off the closet in the office before we headed to bed.

 Saturday morning:  Jarrod made some killer french toast, after I judged him on the amount of cinnamon he put in.  He was right, I was wrong. :)  Then we headed out the door to drop his car off for a tire rotation, visit multiple carpet stores to get samples and pick up the paint we chose the night before, then we headed home for some lunch.  Once we put Z down for her nap, Jarrod left to get the lumber for her bed and to, of course, tame our ever accumulating leaves.  I was hitting my max and had to lay down for a bit.  Once I woke up, I showered and headed out the door to see a friend from high school's sweet little newborn at her Sip and See.  It was so good to see Amanda and her new little man.  He is adorable and she is such a good mommy.  I was able to visit with some other friends I hadn't seen in awhile, we laughed, ate and snuggled babies before we parted ways.
  Once I got home, I made some dinner and chased Z around while Jarrod cut part of her bed in the garage.  The rest of our fun filled Saturday night was laundry, Christmas decorations and an episode of Dexter.  Sounds like we're old, but it was glorious.

 Sunday morning was more french toast and laundry before heading out the door for church.

Once Z was down for her nap (do you see a reoccurring thing here?  We only get work done when she is asleep, praise the Lord she sleeps a lot) we got to work on painting the office.  I did trim and he did the roller.  Yes, I wore a mask and took breaks so I wouldn't get the little baba high in my belly.  Jarrod was in the mood for some hot chocolate and I didn't have any on hand so I made some from coca for the first time on the stove and I'm pretty sure I'll never use a packet again.  I just used a basic recipe on line and it was AMAZING.  Plus, I got to break in my Christmas mugs for the season.
Also, during painting breaks, I worked on my birthday/gender reveal party that's coming up in a couple of weeks! Yay! 

We were able to get the whole room painted (one coat paint is FOR SURE the way to go) before we headed to his parents house for our usual Sunday dinner.

I feel pretty good about our weekend.  My back on the other hand is KILLING me.  Hopefully I wont be on my feet as much tomorrow.  However, it doesn't really seem to matter.  The back pain this time has been unreal. There are seriously times when I limping because it hurts so bad.  This baby is rough on it's mama. :)

Tomorrow is a new day, birthday lunch with my friend Ashleigh and the ultrasound in the afternoon.  Can't wait to see baby tomorrow!

Preschool 11.1.11

Today was Z's first day of preschool.  She looks so big especially with her back pack on.  She had a great first day and is ready to go back on Thursday!  I'm so thankfully we found a preschool that works with our schedule and that she loves.  My sweet sweet Zeda girl, you make mama smile.

Our growing little family

It's true, come April our little princess will have to share her mommy and daddy with a little one.