Christmas 2011

Our very first Christmas as a family of three.  This was by far top 5 of best Christmas'.  This year David and I got our present a little early.  Judah is more that I could have ever asked for.  Judah is now 7 months old just a few days shy of 8 months old.  So much has changed in the few weeks that have gone by.

There are no pictures of Christmas to post because with all the chaos of cooking and cleaning and taking care of Judah, pictures just slipped my mind. 

This year we spent Christmas here with the family.  My brother and his family came and my sister and her husband and their little bun in the oven Noah came too. My mom, sister and brother-in-law spent the morning making tamales.  Ok so this was the first time that I had ever helped make them.  This was all morning who knew that it was such a time consuming project.  Well the morning was over and then we proceeded to make some posole and by that time people started arriving.  The rest of the nigh was spent playing Rock Band and acting silly with the Wii.  There were a few people missing but overall we had a great time.  The next morning (Christmas morning) David, Judah and I came down stairs in our pj's to open gifts.  It was sweet just to lay around on the couch and enjoy the day. 

Six Months

November 2nd you turned six months old. You slept so good after your doctor visit today.  25 1/4 inches long and 15lbs 12 oz- you are getting so big. You got your six month shots today which you were NOT happy about, but you fussed only for a little while.    

Your are such a personality too.

So cute and I know it

Mmmm so good

Judah eating a full meal for the first time. :)

Mommy please

Jesus change me

My life, as of lately, has been a little hectic.  Judah is awake more so I find my self doing one thing after another to keep him entertained.  This along with the bottles, burps, diapers and spit up.  I can admit that sometimes it gets a little crazy.  

For that reason I have decided that my life in general needs an overhaul.  

1)I have been saying for months years that I need to lose some weight and get healthy.  I have tried SO many things...but I have succeeded at none. Not because the methods did not work but because I have so quickly given up.  2) I want to be the best wife that I can be.  I want to learn not to focus on the little things.  I want God to be the center and I want Him to mold me to be the wife that David needs. 3) I want to be a great mom.  I desire for God to shape me and prepare me raise Godly men and women. 4) I want to have a loving relationship with my savior and have that love radiate from my life and all that I do. 5) I want my words, thoughts, actions... to be a worship to my king.  

The desire is there but I some how fall short when I need to get to movin'.

After some introspection, I think I've found the root of my problem.  And that is my spiritual life. Or lack thereof.  Don't get me wrong.  I pray and talk to God ALL the time.  What I am talking about is a deeper relationship with my Lord Jesus.  To allow Him to have control over all aspects of my life.  

There are times that I sit and think of all the things that could happen.  Sometimes I find that I have a "what if" mentality all the while I can feel my healer telling me - just let me take care of it.  I have to admit that relinquishing all control has been a BIG challenge in my life.  I find that I like to think that I have control of the things that go on around me.  This is something that God has been dealing with me for quite some time now and I think its time for a change.  

I am tired of letting the devil get the best of me.  I have given him too much of my time and my thoughts. Often times it's in the form of worry, mainly about my family, whether they are okay, safe... frankly silly thoughts.  Silly because I can change nothing.  I am learning that the best and only thing that I can do is to allow God just to have it all.  ALL of it.  Jesus help me.  

But that is my goal.  To start from the root and all other things will follow.

Oil Cleansing....day 1

The plan was to get started with this next week.  BUT.  I broke out.  I went out and bought the oils.

Verdict:  Face is actually dry.  I thought that I would have a oily face but that was not the case.  Face feels good.  :)

Oil Cleansing Method....Lets give it a try

photo source

Let's go natural baby!! Ever since I was a teenager I have had oily skin and acne.  I have tried  several things from scrubs to washes and oil absorbing pads but nothing has ever worked for me long term.  

SO... yesterday I was googling  natural ways to help oil and acne and I found this cleansing method called The Oil Cleansing Method.  If you want all the details click here.  The gist of this method is that you basiclly clean your face with an oil mix.  

According to the website I will need castor oil- which surprisingly enough can dry your skin out- and an essential oil like sunflower oil or jojoba oil.  Mix both 70% essential oil and 30% castor oil.

I'm planning to start this next week.  Wish me luck.

DO NOT TOUCH!!!

Okay I have to start this post out by saying that I don't mind people looking and asking about Judah.  Having said that **IT IS NOT OKAY TO TOUCH MY BABY'S FACE OR HANDS**

Really it's just gross.  The other day I went to my local Kroger to pick up a few things for dinner and Judah and I were just strolling along.  Out of no where I hear " Hi! How are you?" I turned around to see this woman and man approaching me.

I totally fell for it.  She was from the bank located inside the store.  DUN DUN DUN!  I HATE to be rude but I kindly tried to shake her off but she continued on this long rant about how ALL BIG BANKS are the devil.  Well, not the devil but you get my drift.  I told her that I wansn't really interested and that is when she she started talking to my baby.

Then the unthinkable!!! She reached out and grabbed his hand!  I don't understand why people do this.  Who does that??!!? 

First of all lady you work in a bank.  You handle money all day and probably don't wash your hands after each time.  The money that you touch has more than likely been in some stripper's underwear, in a drug dealers hand, or in some nasty sweaty disgusting place.  THEN you touch my sons hands of all things.

Hey smarty pants, guess where he puts his hands.... IN HIS MOUTH!!!  I was so annoyed.  I quickly took a wipe out and cleaned his hands as quickly as I could.  Gross.

Okay, rant over.  If this is you... and you just have to touch!  Touch his knee, please. 

Things that I have learned

It's official.  In just a few days my baby will be six months old.  I know that I say this all the time but where has the time gone.  Seriously.  Days seem to somehow blend together.

Well, I have learned so much in the past six months.

I have learned that: 

* there is nothing like the feeling of love that you get when your child looks up at you and gives you the sweetest toothless smile.  It really is amazing

* that no matter how deep of a sleep I am in.  I can hear even the slightest of  whimper from Judah

* I can make a bottle and change a diaper and burp a baby in a zombie like state

* there is nothing that I wouldn't do for little one

* sometimes it isn't that glamorous but I do it all for this little guy

* that nap times are "get-everything-else-done" time

* Judah has the best daddy in the world

* Silence is Golden! :)

My sleeping prince

This is my pumpkin. Sleeping so good.

Me and the Mr.

This Austin trip was SO nice.  Not that I was anything fancy but just that we got to get away and enjoy each others company.  It was some much needed time away.

 Here we are in our hotel room.. We had just arrived and David was already acting silly.

More pictures Mom??? Why not....

I AM loving this blanket!!

Brrr.... it's cold outside

It was a wee bit chilly outside.  Finally got to break out the winter clothes. :)

Refurbished Window $3

I am finally getting around to posting this.  This is a window that I bought at a flea market a couple of months ago.  I wish that I could remember to take before and after pictures but anyway.  This window was DIRTY.  It was caked in old dirt and dust and I wasn't really sure how it would come out.

So I paid $3 for the window and carted it home not really sure what I was going to do with it.  Got home, washed it and scrubbed the windows.

Then I found this poem online and decided that it would be perfect so I took a permenent marker and wrote it out on the glass... don't worry if you decide to do something similar perm. marker comes off with a little alcohol.

Mommy's Little Man

It's been a long while since I have posted any pictures of my sugar.  Well, here are a few to start with.  :)  This was us just relaxing in bed...thinking about breakfast.  

Let's see.  We are now way more vocal than before and Judah is learning what will get mommy and daddy's attention.  Like yelling or doing this dramatic no tears cry WITH the puckered lip.... and mommy is a SUCKER for that puckered lip let me tell you.

Only a couple more days till this little guy is 6 months old.

Where did the time go?

Frank- Austin TX

I am finally getting around to posting the pictures of the trip to Austin.  Let me start by saying that hubby and I had a great time.  It was nice to get away and enjoy each others company.  A part of our trip was trying out these places that we found online.  We don't know anyone in Austin so we were trying these places with blinders on.  

Okay let me tell you, if you are ever in Austin, you HAVE to try this hotdog place called Frank.  OMG it was good.  The inside of the restaurant was unique as you can tell by the ceiling fan... the atmosphere in this place was so cool and laid back.  

This is me drinking my water out of  a mason jar... cute I know.  This was on the day that we arrived.  Lunch. Yummy.

Speaking of yummy.  This is my hubby David.   And that's me in the reflection of his glasses.  :)

This yummy dish was the appetizer.  Making my mouth drool just looking at the picture.  This was the house special: waffle fries topped with cheese, avocado pico de gallo, and smoked pork!!! Oh it was good.

This was dessert.  A homemade chocolate chip cookie topped with sugar crusted bacon. Need I say more!

For David: a Chicago dog. Hot dog, pickle,onion, tomatoes, relish and peppers and celery salt.   I tasted it... yep it was goooooood.

For me: the nacho dog.  Get ready for this.  Hot dog, beans, cheese, pico de gallo, jalapenos, and sour
cream.  This by far was the best hot dog that I have ever had.

This place was well worth the trip.  Food was great and the prices were reasonable.

Superman blanket

The other day I ran across this article on how to create a chenille blanket so I headed out to Hancock Fabrics and bought the materials that I needed.  I bought a yard and a quarter of each of the following materials.

1.25 yards of :

Superman flannel fabric

yellow cotton fabric

black cotton fabric 

blue striped fabric

red striped fabric

2 pkgs of finishing tape- I know that's not what it's called but its the black edging

In order to get the desired effect, there are a few things that you have to do...I really wish I would have taken pictures, but anyway...Start by laying all of your materials down in the order that you  want them.  I used the floor since I don't have that big of a work space.  After all of the material is layered the way that you want it it's time to pin it down.  I used a big safety pin in the middle and then safety pins on each corner.  

Once that is done draw a diagnal line from one corner to the other.  This will help you with your first line.  Now the fun part, sew the diagnal line down.  

I learned that there is not an exact way to measure so I eyeballed the next line.  I sewed the next line about half an inch from the first one... and then keep going until you reach the end of one side and then sew your lines on the other side.  

Once that is done you are going to want to cut down the edges using a rotatory cutter to make all the sides even.  Now the cutting,  CAREFULLY sip your scissors through the ends leaving only the back in tact.  Cut in between each sew.  Next pin the edging on an sew on.  I sewed two lines just to reinforce the stitch.  The wash.  The cut side will fray a little and get even softer and more frayed with each time washed.  

Pictures

I am officially annoyed.  As you may have noticed all -except for the ones I have fixed-my pictures are now empty black boxed.  I don't really know what happened but all of the pictures that I uploaded have now disappeared.

I will try to get these back but I have no idea know which ones I used so... sorry.  Hopefully what ever is wrong will magically fix itself.  

Mom

I was online this afternoon and I ran across a post from a mom talking about her ;frustrations as a mother. Her post title said something like -please don't judge me. She went on to describe how on her way out of the house her 4 month old daughter was screaming her head off and could not get her to calm down. She put her in the car and thought that the car ride might soothe her.  Well, it didn't work and her daughter kept screaming. She turned around and went back home where she said that she was so frustrated and started screaming at her daughter.  I'm in no way saying that I condone what she did but I can understand where she is coming from.

Unfortunately, when my son was born his manual stayed in my womb. Who knew that I knew so little about parenting.  Being a first time mom is something amazing, loving and exhausting all at the same time.  I would never have thought that I would have to visit my son in the hospital for the first two months of his life.  When he got home there was no sleeping for me. I stayed awake in the middle of the night just watching my son's chest rise and fall.   There were nights when I cried right along with Judah.

Now five months later it has gotten easier but there are days.  There are days that I am half asleep fumbling around for a diaper or his bottle.  There are days that I want to reach over and shove daddy off of the bed for sleeping so well while I'm up.  There are days that I am do tired that I look forward to a hot shower like its a day at the spa.  But at the end of the day I am in love..I am in love with this little man that grins and smiles at me the moment that he sees me in the morning...with the way that he holds my finger when I feed him...and with this I am reminded that it its all worth it.

Friday Night Date

Well this Friday night date night was a little different than the ones before. To start Friday was just hectic I mean it was just a crazy busy day. Judah caught his first cold so he was feeling miserable and I did't blame him. He was so stuffy and was running a fever. Well the night consisted of inhaling a pizza while simatamiously rocking my baby. Then a warm bath for Judah, rub down with vicks for baby, bottle then off to sleep in mommys room where the humidifier was going full blast. And no he did not get the memo that it was time to sleep. He cried for a few minutes then fell asleep in my arms (which is the best by the way) then I laid down too. Now the plan was to put him down and then spend time with David but I was SO tired! He pretty much slept through the night except for a few times that I had to get up and suction his nose- no fun for either of us.

This is how the whole weekend went. Trying to keep him comfortable while trying to do what I needed to. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

So our trip is coming up and I can't wait. I'm looking foward to spending time with the hubby.

All About Me...

I'm not one to do these surveys and stuff but this one looks interesting.  To give credit where due I got this as a Facebook message that was a forward of a forward...well you get the message.  All answers are mine :) 

A. Age: 29 OMG just one year from 30!!!

B. Bed size: A king baby!!! Thanks to my mother-in-law and father-in law!! THANK YOU- the best sleep ever!

C. Chore you dislike: That would have to be doing the dishes!  I HATE doing them, I wish that I could pay someone to come and do them for me.

D. Dogs: Yes. Two of them, a german shephard/husky mix named Nora and a boxer named Wednesday. 

E. Essential start to your day:  A kiss from my amazing husband!!  Romantic I know.   

F. Favorite color:  Teal.  I painted an entire room this color. 

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5’5

I. Instruments you play(ED): A recorder..lol... totally lame I know 

J. Job title:  Mommy, wife, driver, cook, cleaning lady, decorator... do I need to continue  

K. Kids: One beautiful baby boy

L. Live: Yes I love to live??? :D- don't really know what this question means 

M. Mom’s name: Mom- never use moms government name 

N. Nicknames: Angie  

O. Overnight hospital stays: Only one.  Birth of my son. 

P. Pet peeves: Seeing kids unbuckled in a moving car (of course parents are strapped in) 

Q. Quote from a movie: Don't have a favorite quote but I do always say "correction I know your father" from the Lion King.. really you don't want to know

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: 2 brothers and 2 sisters 

T. Time you wake up: Most mornings about 645 am

U. Underwear: Always clean- just in case you get in a wreck 

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Olives.  I can't stand them bleeeekk

W. What makes you run late: People who don't know what "fast lane" means

X. X-rays you’ve had: Arm fracture once. 

Y. Yummy food you make: Like I tell my husband all the time- I HATE to toot my own horn BUT- pretty much everything that I make is the bomb!!  

Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: Probably the wild cats: tigers, lions.....

Well there you have it folk.  Me in a nutshell.  

Friday Night Date Night

For the past month David and I have been faithfully going out on our Friday night dates every week come rain or shine.  Last month we started a class at our church called Marriage on the Rock.  Married couples meet once a month and watch a video by Jimmy and Karen Evans.

Our first meeting was the end of last week and one of the things that they suggested was that couples have one uninterrupted date night, so we chose Friday.

Let me tell you that is has been nice.  Especially with our schedules just to get out of the house and spend one on one time.

We have some big plans for the trip coming up..... I can't wait.

A bunch of randomness....

Okay so for a couple of days I've had so much that I wanted to say.

Well to start off last night we tried to sleep in the crib for the first time.  We'll not we but little Judah and as my husband would say it was an EPIC FAIL.  This is how the night went.  9pm Judah ate his regular bottle then went to sleep.  Lights out at 11pm.  Well at 11:05pm Judah decided that he was hungry again so I fed him his "night bottle" :)  that's a bottle with cereal.  Yes my son is on cereal.  My baby sitter aka my mom started him on cereal about a month ago.. anyway.  I gave him his bottle and he was not happy.  I lied him back down and he fussed and cried a little.  Well,  I got back up and fed him an ounce more then laid him in his crib while I lied on the floor.  You didn't think that I would let him sleep in there all alone now did you.

The crib apparently is not as cozy as the side sleeper or mommy's bed.  So that was a big NO.  After about 10 minutes of crying we trailed it back to my room and my loving son fell right to sleep, in his sleeper, next to mommy...  maybe next time.

In other news, my son is growing too fast.  It seems like each time that I do laundry I have more and more clothes to put away because they don't fit.  Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that my little man is growing it's just that it seems that the time is going by really fast....by the time I know it he will be walking... talking and then off to college.  I want to savor every moment.

**** It's VACATION time ***

Oh I can't wait.  Me and the hubby will be going on a mini vacation/getting away from the house together to Austin in a couple of weeks!!! So looking forward to spending quality time with the husband :D

To snip or not to snip...

Well we decided on the big snip.  On Thursday September 15, Judah was circumcised. Sorry son, I know that one day you will cringe at the thought of me telling the story of this day.  We decided long before my little boy was born that we would defiantly be getting our son circumcised if we were indeed pregnant with a boy.

I know that there are some people out there that would look down on me for my decision but honestly I did what I believed was best for my son.  I can tell you that it has not been easy to watch him wince and wiggle from being uncomfortable BUT this is only short term.

I just can't picture myself having to take him to have this done later on in life.  I know that the pain that he is in now will go away and he will forget that he ever had this pain in the first place.

Some argue that he will remember what happened to him.  Well if that were the case, then he is going to remember the poking and prodding that he endured in the NICU.  He will remember the optometrist appointment were they preyed his eyes open and examined him to make sure that there was not damage done to his eyes from having been born 13 weeks early.  Come on ya'll.  I just don't by it.  I can't remember what happened last year let alone what happened to me when I was only months old.

Three days later, he is doing good.  My son is such a trooper.  NO REALLY. He is.  He has never been much of a cry baby but come on now I would so give him a pass if he wanted one right now.  He only cried the first day he's such a tough little guy.  And I love him more than I could ever describe to you.

He is a blessing and a miracle.  He's now at the stage where he is beginning to 'coo'.  I will talk to him and he will stare up at me and make these unbelievably adorable little sounds as if he is trying to talk right back to me.  :)  I hope to post a video of it soon.

I love him... duh :)

Today is just an ordinary day.  Just a typical Wednesday night and I feel absolutely blessed.  Judah is here at my feet sleeping in his play mat and just a year ago we made the decesion to start this IVF process.  We had been trying to get pregnant for over two years and it was the perfect time to start.  This time last year I was going through some pretty intrusive testing and each night I would talk to God and tell him just how much I wanted a baby no matter how He got him or her to me.

Looking at him now I can say that each tear, each shot, each test, each poke and prod was more than worth it.  Right now Judah is still sleeping in mommy and daddy's room.  My sister was telling me that I am really going to regret letting him sleep in my room so long and that there will be a time that I will want him in his own room in his own bed..... but my baby...I want to hear him breathing next to me.  Pathetic???  Nah... I know the time will come.  So I'm going to enjoy it!

He does it once again

There was a time that I would stare at my son and I think there is no way that I can be any happier but I was so wrong.  Just yesterday Judah smiled at us.  I love it!  He has smiled before but not intentionally.  But yesterday and today he is grinning at me when I talk to him.  He is starting to coo a little too.

I look at him now and I'm amazed at just how much he has grown.  He has these long little feet and little monster hands.  I'm thinking that he's going to be tall like his daddy or like his uncle.

So far Judah is:

smiling at mommy and daddy
following mommy and daddy with his eyes
focusing on us when we talk to him
sleeping about 5 hours at night without waking up
lifting his head when we do belly time
focusing on his mobile
recognizing familiar voices

Four months old

Judah is four months old as of yesterday. Time has escaped me.  I can't believe how much he has grown in the past weeks.  We are now out growing all 0-3 month old clothing.  Well I started using this new picture editing software and here are the final pictures.  I LOVE the way they came out.

And this little guy is his cousin Isaiah.  He just happened to be at my house the day that I decided to play photographer :)

Books Books Books

This past Saturday David and I went to one of my favorite book stores. Jay's Bookstore.  I love it.  It's this little cozy book store where all the books are 75% off the original price.  The great thing about this store is that there is a little cafe were we three had lunch.  We browsed through the thousands of books, all just begging to be apart of Judah's life; to sit on his bookshelf and inspire him or to make him giggle.  So of course every book shelf NEEDS to have a couple of books by Dr. Seuss.

Design on a Dime

I think that I'm going to start playing the lottery, not to get rich but so I can have crafting money.  I've been wanting to find a head board for my king size bed and I have an idea of what I want just no money : /.

This weekend I am heading out to Habitat for Humanity store to go and see if I can be inspired!

I like this.  I want my room to be less... blah!  This Christmas I really want a sander, a small saw a work horse.  Come on Santa and fill up my stocking.

First Shots

My little Judah got his first shots today-aug 10.  I almost cried but he didn't cry to much himself.  From the NICU I think he is used to being a pin cushion :(  3 months and 1 week and just as handsome as can be.