We took Justus to the doctor yesterday for his two year checkup. He's doing great! In the 97% for his height & 90% for his wight. The doctor said he should be tall & lean. Sam and I laughed a little at that but hey, it sounds good right?? The good thing is he does like veggies & fruits better than sam or I so maybe the doc knows her stuff.

I having been feeling baby flutters for the past few weeks but last night I felt three kicks! Long enough to know what they were but Sam didnt get there in time to join in the fun. So cool!!!!

Bye, bye baby

Let me start with the fact that Sam & I are overprotective parents. That being said, Justus spent the night away from us for only the 2nd time ever!!! The first was for one night during our youth ski trip. That was when he was almost a year old. He stayed here with my parents & kept them up all night. There aren't tons of people around here that I will just drop off my kid to. And since we live with my parents it's not exactly a treat for anyone & I am very careful about taking advantage of them being 12 steps away.

Anyways my sister was here doing hair cuts a week or so ago & Justus cried when she left. And asked to go with her. Well I guess he caught her by the heart & she's been talking about it ever since. A year ago I would have NEVER sent my child home with her but , she had gotten her act together so.....bye, bye baby.

Justus screamed when she got here to pick him up & was ready to run out the door bare foot and all. I made him stay long enough for twenty thousand kisses & a couple of hugs....shoes & jacket. Then he was out the door without a glance back. I almost cried. I had two hours before sam got home so I cleaned the kitchen & watch American Idol & Olympics.

All in all it was a good night but I was up until 3am. Couldn't sleep. The upside was that Justus wasn't here to wake me up so I slept extra late. He should be home in the next hour or so...I can't wait!!! I know that I am a silly momma. Oh well.

ps Staci, dont do this to yourself. Find a few people that you can trust!!! ( I know I've probably already told you this, please ignore me if this is unwanted advice!!).

One down, one to go. (I think)

So here is my confession about not being the world's best mom. There are two things that Justus should have outgrown by now but I still let him have; a bottle & a passy. Part of me wants him to "get over it" and grow up. And of course then I want him to be my baby for as long as possible.

Personally I would rather Justus suck on a passy than his fingers/thumbs. That's probably because I sucked my thumb for forever, I think I was 10-12 before I stopped!!!! I definetly don't want my boy doing that!!!

Last night he was looking for his passy before bed. We couldn't find one anywhere! Then he found one- he is teething again and had bit a hole in it so it had no sucking power. He asked for a different one. Which we did not have. Keep looking. He found another with the same problem. Blah, blah.

Anyways I told him if he didn't want those nasty passies to throw them away. And he did!!!! He went to bed without it, to MOPS without it, all day without it! Each time he asks I remind him that he threw it awy. He repeats me & goes on to something else!!!! I have tried this approach before, finally with results!! So we will see how it goes & how long it lasts!!!!

Now if only I can figure out how to get rid of the bottle!!!! He hates sippy cups & only wants a regular cup which ain't gonna happen any time soon!!!!

Sam only took a couple of pics on our camera since we had a student leader take them on her camera. It looked very nice once all the candles were lit & lights were down low.

Some of our student leaders helping set up for Valentasia


Our pretty tables






One bit of info. I forgot to share was that a centerpiece caught on fire 15 minutes before start time. People were already starting to arrive. Fortunetly we had everything pretty much together. Anyways Sam pulled a "wheeze" and picked up the flaming mass to take it outside. For the most part he was OK but there were a few burn spots on his hand. Good thing we had some cream for 2nd degree burns. The only other mishap was when I realized one tray of chicken cordon bleu didn't make it into the oven. YIKES. Three people were kind enough to wait an extra 10 minutes for their entrees. Luckily we had defrosted the chicken so we kicked the oven up a knotch & whala...presto, chango- it was ready.

Happy Birthday Justus...again

Today we Justus birthday party. It was a family affair. And lots of entertainment from the kids. They crack me up!!! Here are a few pics from tonight.


Noise maker #1. Thanks Aunt Beth!


SMILE!!!!!!!!!!!


Jaiden. 9 months old. He is starting to stick out his tongue like a giraffe, funny funny! He is also in cruise mode.


Noise maker #2. This was mommy & daddy's idea. What were we thinking???


Justus favorite toy of the night. He loves this one b/c he can carry it around all by himself. Thanks Chris & Staci...you got a great gift!!!


The "spill proof" bubble tumbler. We'll see!

Wants vs. Needs

I'm having some major "moments". The main thing is I WANT A HOUSE...but I know I also need to be content in what is being provided! LORD HELP ME!!!!!! The scripture that talks about being content in all things is my motto for keeping a good attitude. Then the scripture about God giving you the desires of your heart, well that comes up too. ARGGGGH.

Item(s) of the week...

This week the item of choice has been peanut butter. I have ate pb every day twice a day for 6 days in a row now. I'm not really a fan of pb unless it's combined with chocolate. But I've had a pb & j, pb crackers, pb on pancakes, pb toast. I'm sure you get the idea.

The other thing I've really wanted to eat this week is cucumbers. How wierd is that??? Sam was supposed to bring some home last night but forgot. That meany!!!

I didn't reallt crave much with Justus but this time it's seems like a different craving every couple of weeks. One week was KRAFT mix up, cheap maccaroni. Then all I wanted was salad. This week is pb. And cucumbers. What will it be next??

Happy Birthday Justus...my 2 year old baby.

Sam's grandma holding Justus, he was two weeks old here. He looks like a baby doll!








This is one week before Justus was born. One of the few pregnancy pics I have.

Thank you for, 5, 6....

Tonight as we were saying prayers Justus made me laugh so hard. He's done this before but I forgot to tell you. Every night we say our prayers. We pray for family, friends & if we are lucky a few special prayer requests, like for someone going through a rough time. Then we say thank you for....tonight Justus repeated what I said until the thank you for our blessings. His version was thank you for 5, 6, 7,.......a good laugh right before bed.

He says lots of funny stuff. I'll try to keep you posted on the latest.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hello all. I've been reading everyone's proposal stories. FUN, AWE & all that. I guess I'll share my story too. It's not all that amazing. Dana, I understand your pain. And want for storybook romances. But Sam just isn't that way either. He's a last minute, fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy. I'm just now starting to except that. Haven't got to the point where I appreciate it yet. So here is our short story.

We spend Thanksgivings at with his family & Christmas at mine. But for some reason we had to do it backwords our second year of MC. So we were here in NC for thanksgiving and I got sick as a dog. Some flu like stuff. And that's when he proposed. Saying something like he wanted to do something to make me feel better & then he asked me to marry him. Sweet yes. Romantic, NO!!! I was excited & disappointed at the same time. I couldn't even give him a kiss. But it did make me feel better for a few minutes.

I got my ring when we were at his mom's for christmas. And that's our story. YIPPEE.

No more tears

Let' catch up. Well on Thursday I was pretty busy most of the day with Justus & then at 2 o'clock I left with Katrina (pastor's wife) & Mrs. Barbara( another p.'s wife) to go to where the pastors & council were having retreat this weekend. UHHHH..we packed a lot into one weekend. Anyways we made dinner for everyone and that was a few fun hours.

We made blackened chicken, with alfredo sauce. Pasta, rolls, & steamed veggies. Strawberry shortcake for dessert! Then we talked about upcoming events. Had devotions & that kind of thing. IT was nice to do something "adult" uninterupted. Of course, I was more than ready to get back to my little fella.

Sam & the other pastors stayed there until Saturday afternoon. Friday night some convict came running threw our yard while Jacob was outside playing basketball with a friend. He told them not to tell anyone that they saw him. UM, yeah right!. We called the sherriff & they were looking for the guy. Within minutes 4 sherriffs cars were in our front yard. They even brought out the the dogs to catch his trail. I didnt sleep to well without sam being here.

On saturday I stayed in bed for a while & then got up to work on stuff for valentasia. That took forever & at 3 o'clock we went to the church to do some prep work . And today was valentasia.

My first banquet "on my own" with out my mom being there to direct everyone. It went pretty well & we got lots of compliments, which is always nice. Here was our menu:

Appetizer: It was a cream cheese based spread served with trisciut crackers
Salad: Hearts of Romaine with pecans, moz/parm cheese, a few peppers & some kind of vinegarette dressing
Yeast Rolls
Entree: Chicken Cordon Bleu, glazed carrots, green bean almondine & mashed potatoes
Dessert: Chocomint Dream Cake....very tasty!

IT went very well & i'm so thankful for all the help I had. There were about 20 workers. Teens & a sprinkle of adults.

Two incidents happened. The first one was a flower arrangement caught on fire. And Sam pulled a McCrary(sp) & picked it up with his bare hands. He has a few spots of second degrees burns. Pray for quick recovery. And less pain!

The second was that a tray of the chicken got left out of the oven . SO a few people had to wait for their food. That made me SO mad but it's just one of those things that happens! All in all it was a sucess.

Tommorrow I have a doc. appointment. I don't want to go b/c I'm too tired to shave my legs...just in case. I guess I should go huh??? After that we have to take sam to get meds for his hands. And then I have a valentine's party to take Justus to.

Tuesday is Valentine's Day & then wednesday is Justus' 2nd birthday. Then thursaday-survivor, CSI, maybe without a trace. Friday we hope to get our taxes done. And Saturday is J's birthday party. So if you dont here from me for a few days, you will know Im just playing catch up.

ps Sorry for your scare Nicole. But at least now the boys aren't breech. Good for you to Staci!!! All things in God timing. Love you all & hope to talk to you soon!!!

Pardon me while I cry...

The past few weeks tears have come & gone so easily. With little or no provocation. Happy tears. Sad tears. Tears of frustration. And tears of joy. Shall I call these pregnancy moments?? Or is that just me in there finally opening up again??

Huh? Just one of the things on my mind lately. Love you!

Momma update

Several weeks ago I asked for prayer for my mothers back. It's been giving her all kind of trouble since October. Since then she has had an MRI & 2 sets of x-rays. They found out she has a bulging disc. YIKES..lots of pain. The is a repeat injury that she has had for twenty years now but only acts up occasionally & usually heals itself. Not this time. Her first doctor gave her pain meds & she was also using a walker or cane for support.

Well yesterday she went to a specialist. He said stop the meds..they're addicting. Stop the cane/walker...they will weaken her mucles. Good Lord, what's she supposed to do to deal with the pain??? He says, physical therapy(expensive) & ALEVE which so far might as well be sugar water cause it just doesn't cut it! The only other thing he suggests at this stage is an epidural so she can build the muscles back up with less pain. Yeah right, with no insurance is anywhere from $1,500 upwards!

So more prayer is needed. I'm hoping she will figure out a way to do the therapy. It has helped before!

God.com

I thought this really relays how I feel about you gals, no matter how cheesy it may be.


God.com


Dear Lord,
Every single evening
As I'm lying here in bed,
This tiny little Prayer
Keeps running through my head:
God bless all my family
Wherever they may be,
Keep them warm and safe from harm
For they're so close to me.
And God, there is one more thing
I wish that you could do;
Hope you don't mind me asking,
Please bless my computer too.
Now I know that it's unusual
To Bless a motherboard,
But listen just a second
While I explain it to you, Lord.
You see, that little metal box
Holds more than odds and ends;
Inside those small compartments
Rest so many of my friends.
I know so much about them
By the kindness that they give,
And this little scrap of metal
Takes me in to where they live.


By faith is how I know them
Much the same as you
We share in what life brings us
And from that our friendships grew.
Please take an extra minute
From your duties up above,
To bless those in my address book
That's filled with so much love.
Wherever else this prayer may reach
To each and every friend,
Bless each e-mail inbox
And each person who hits "send".
When you update your Heavenly list
On your own Great CD-ROM,
Bless everyone who says this prayer
Sent up to GOD.com

Amen

Praise Report

Justus was able to get some eye drops last night so we wouldn't have to go sit in a clinic this morning. Sam didn't have to miss work/church and Justus had some medicine already at work!!! I was talking to a mom from MOPS, she had some from the last time her kids had it. Thank you Jesus for watching out for us!

Buzznet is driving me crazy. If I try to do a large(regular) size pic it puts up a thumbnail. So I tried the extra large size & it took almost the entire page. URGH! At least it's kind of working. I seriously need to take a computer class so I can do better. Sam is a whiz at this kind of thing..not me. Hope you each have a blessed weekend!

Tigger

I know I talked about painting Justus' room & tigger. Here are a few pics. We still haven't put up the molding we bought 3 months ago. As usual progress is slow around here but that's OK. Justus loves his tiggers.







As you can see they aren't perfect but we had fun painting them. The bottom half of the room is gray. It sounds odd but I think it will look nice once we put up the white molding to go along with the white toddler bed & dresser that we already have. Once we finish I will show you the finished look.

Not much to update on. My cough is almost gone & only bothers me when I try to sleep or when I first get up. Thats an improvement....and my back & stomach aren't sore anymore. I still have sinus problems & the headaches are getting worse! Tylenol sucks!!!! Other than that just living life. Justus is 100% which is good & bad. Mainly good. I'm glad he is feeling better.

Every sickness you can think of is going around. Our pastor has viral tonsilitis. Of course this viral cough, the stomach bug, flu, blah, blah, blah. I'm just thankful that I can stay home & recover. Some people don't have that luxury.







It took 10 minutes to tear it all down & 30 minutes to put it back together. Justus brought me the clothes & hangers. I put them on the hangers and Justus hung them up.