Two: A Testimony of Faith

God is good. We now have two job offers. Within hours of each other yesterday. Neither of which will require a drastic change in lifestyle. They're both pretty close to what Ryan is making right now, it's just divided up differently with benefits and such.

Now it's just a matter of deciding what is a better fit, and checking with God to see if He has a preference :)

Faith. I have several tangible reminders of God's faithfulness to me. Ava's very existence is one. This will be another. Friends, do not ever hesitate to step out on faith with God. He will catch you. Every. Time.

Stepping out on faith

If there has been a theme to my life over the past couple of years, it has been faith. And I wouldn't say that I have a hard time putting my faith and trust in God, so it seems reasonable to me that this journey isn't just for me. I'm supposed to share it. So here's the latest installment...

Two months ago, Ryan turned in a letter at his job lining out a list of things that are a part of their business practices that he feels are unethical. He did this after we had had many, many discussions about it over the previous few months, and MUCH prayer. It was basically, fix this, or I'm out. To their credit, they fixed much of what he felt was wrong. But not all. So a little over 6 weeks ago, he turned in his resignation. They worked out the details of this, and we are now down to his final 2 weeks. As in, today is Monday. One week from this Friday will be his last day. He doesn't have a job lined up.

Now let me back up for a second. I am a stay-at-home mom. I have NO income. Ryan's salary is the ONLY income we have. When we made the decision for him to resign (which, for the record, was ONLY because we felt that was what God wanted us to do), he had been talking to a company off and on for a couple of months about a position they were creating that they really wanted him for. But it was going nowhere fast. In fact, it's now been weeks since we heard ANYTHING from them. But that was it. We didn't have any leads on anything. We were just praying. And stepping out on faith.

Needless to say, this has been a little terrifying. We have some savings, but it's certainly not going to last very long. But we have continued to tithe and honor all the commitments we had made. In the meantime, as a family, we have been to the doctor more times in the past several weeks than we have ever before. And we're on insurance that is pretty terrible because his company just switched insurance and we had to switch doctors (that's a whole 'nother story that I am still pretty bitter about). So that's been fun, too.

So here we are. After Ryan let several of his contacts know that he was actively looking for a job, he's had several interviews. It's been pretty amazing to see God working in all of this. Please pray for us, especially this week. We expect to hear back about two jobs this week.

Stay tuned for an update!

Cloth Diaper Giveaway

So, I've been slightly addicted to entering giveaways for the past year or so. I haven't been able to do it as often as I would like since I've been juggling two little darlins, BUT I've managed to win four giveaways in the past 2 weeks! Just wanted to share about a giveaway event that is coming up that includes lots of cloth diapers! :)
Check out Life With My Littles and One More Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starting next week for their Newborns and Cloth Event!

Peepee on the potty

That's the phrase we use. Everyone has a different one. And I'm not really sure how that one became ours. I'm pretty sure Ryan said it first. "Cade, do you want to go peepee on the potty?" And now it's stuck. Not my favorite, but it gets the job done!

Speaking of which...

Yesterday, Cade went peepee on the potty 12 times. Yes, that's TWELVE times. And in between, there were only 2 slightly wet diapers. But the diaper during naptime didn't get wet! There were only 2 of the times that he went peepee on the potty (see? I can't not say it!) that I suggested it. All of the rest of them were his idea. And he peed every time he sat on the potty.

The child is a pee-making machine. Several of those times were less than 20 minutes apart. And he peed. Every. Single. Time. He gets frogs (nerds) every time he pees. But since he was doing so well yesterday, and I wanted to encourage that, I upped the ante to keep him wanting to go. Sometimes that was a phone call to Daddy or Nana or Papa or Aunt Cora. Sometimes it was watching TV. One time, it was getting to ride in Daddy's car when he got home from work. But let me tell you, that kid is not only a pee-making maching, he is SMART. After we had watched TV twice in a row, I told him that he had to go two more times before he could watch Diego again. And dadgum if that kid didn't go pee, then wait about 5 minutes, and ask to go again. And did! Turkey.

We still had a poopy diaper yesterday. But we made some serious progress. And it has, so far, (knock on wood) continued today. He's already gone 8 times today. There's only been once that his diaper was even slightly wet, and that was after a bout of fit-throwing and spankings, so I'm pretty sure he accidentally peed a little when he was crying hysterically. I mean, we all do that, right? No? Hmm. OK. :)

The only problem now is that I'm having a hard time getting excited every single time he goes peepee. Because now I know he can. On command, apparently. And I had no idea how tiring it is to strip him down and get him dressed 9,000 times a day. (He just had on a diaper today until after lunch, which helped) And to have to listen to Ava crying while I can't tend to her because I'm in the bathroom with Cade. But we will conquer this. And it might not be right now. I'm trying to prepare myself for the fact that we may do this 4 days in a row, and then relapse when we go to church on Sunday. But it's PROGRESS. Yay!!

Poop rewards

We're working on potty-training. Not hard-core potty-training, but slightly more serious than before. We're trying to put him on the potty when he first gets up in the morning and before bed, and any time in between when he mentions that he might be interested. And also if I think he's about to poop :)

So far, we've had probably 10-15 times that he's gone peepee on the potty. (Yay!) We've actually had one time that he went poopoo on the potty (side note: you probably don't want to continue reading this if you're not a mom :). It was after he had been constipated for a few days and I'd started feeding him fiber like crazy, so it was kind of a one-time deal that none of us really care to repeat.

Here are a few conversations we've had lately:

Cade: 'Anna go to Tar-get.
Mommy: OK, go poopoo on the potty and we can go to Target.
Cade: No. 'Anna go to Tar-get.
Mommy: You have to go poopoo on the potty first.
Cade: No. 'Anna go to Tar-get.
...And nothing.

Cade: I 'ant ice screen.
Mommy: OK, go poopoo on the potty and you can have ice cream.
Cade: I 'ant ice screen, cu-cake, choc-wat.
Mommy: OK, you can have ice cream, a cupcake, and chocolate if you go poopoo on the potty.
Cade: I 'ant ice screen, cu-cake, choc-wat, frogs [this is what he calls Nerds...they look like frogs jumping on the package...go look! :)].
Mommy: OK, you can have ice cream, a cupcake, chocolate, and frogs if you go poopoo on the potty.
....And nothing.

It's hysterical. All day long, this is what we do...he mentions something that he wants and I tell him he can have it if he'll go poopoo on the potty. Some other things that have been promised (but none have happened yet!) include: going to the zoo, riding in Daddy's car, going to eat lunch with Daddy, riding in the van, and once I may have told him he could have a million dollars. Good thing he doesn't know what that is. But we're probably going to be in trouble when he randomly decides to actually do it :)

First day of preschool

Cade started preschool today. It's only 5 hours. And right now, it's only once a week. But still...I was a mess last night.

I cried while I was getting all of his stuff together last night. I cried while Ryan and I were praying before we went to sleep. And then this morning...I was ok. I prayed with Cade before we got Ava up, and I got a little teary while I was praying, but it made me feel better. I know that no matter what, God is in control and is watching over my sweet boy when I'm not with him. For that matter, He's in control and watches over Cade when I AM with him :)

It's been really rough around here lately. And that's one of the reasons that we needed to do this. It'll be good for Cade socially, and I know that he'll learn some things earlier than he probably would being here with me and Ava, just because Ava needs so much attention right now. It'll be good for me to have a break from him every now and then (can I just say that it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G to eat lunch by myself??? [Ava was napping]). It'll be good for Ava to have some peace and quiet and undivided attention from Mommy. I know this is the right thing for our family right now.

But. That little boy has been with me all day every day since he was born. Two years, 4 months, and 13 days ago. The times he's been away from me have been with family. It's hard for me to know that he's having experiences that I'm not a part of. It's hard for me to let go and trust that someone else is capable of taking care of him. It's hard for me to let someone else teach him new things. But I am. With God's help. And a few tears. :)

The fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.


Yesterday at church, our pastor mentioned these verses during his sermon. I've heard them many, many times in my life. I know that because I am a Christian, the Spirit lives in me and therefore, the fruit of the Spirit should be evident in my life. The sad truth is that most of the time, they are not. On a good day, several of these might be displayed in certain areas. On a bad day, though, very few, if any, are shown.

My pastor said something that I hadn't really thought about before. He talked about how if you are a Christian, these should be evident. Whether it is in your personality to be gentle, or patient, or peaceful, doesn't matter. The Spirit is all of those things and since the Spirit lives in you, you have no excuse to not display these attributes. If you are incapable of it, you probably should re-think whether you are actually a Christian.

Wow. It's so easy to try to get by with not being patient by just chalking it up to not being a patient person. But in Matthew 7, Jesus reminds us that good trees bear good fruit, and that we will be recognized by our fruit.

I guess I just needed this reminder that I should be producing "good fruit." All of the fruit of the Spirit are things I want my children to see and emulate, but it's difficult for them to do that if they don't see it in my life every day.

No pressure. :)

Rescue Pack! Comin' to the rescue!

Is it in your head now? Because I can't get it out of mine!!! Seriously, I've watched Go, Diego, Go probably 4 times total IN MY LIFE now, and that song is stuck in my head constantly!!!

Let me back up...

Cade is 2 years and 4 months old now. We have been adamant from the beginning with him that we were not going to sit him in front of the TV for the purpose of entertainment and/or a babysitter. And we haven't. For about the last year, he's gotten to watch about 5 minutes of whatever we put on (usually something we've DVR'ed for us to watch :) while he drinks his milk before bed. But that's pretty much the extent of his TV-watching. Well...except for college football season. But he wasn't really old enough last year to notice much about it, so I don't really count that. It was on, but he definitely wasn't paying attention. And that's one of the reasons we've held on as long as we did to the no-TV-watching rule. He just wasn't really interested.

I don't know whether I believe all the stuff about kids who watch TV before they're 2 being more likely to have ADD/ADHD, but I do believe that there's really not a good reason to plop them in front of a TV when they're a baby. I'm a stay-at-home mom. My job is to be a mom and interact with my children, not keep them entertained with something else so I can do what I want. .....And stepping off my soapbox now.... :)

(Disclaimer: if you are pregnant and/or sick, you have a free license to keep your child/ren occupied any way possible...if Cade had been willing to watch TV for hours while I was so sick with Ava, this might be a whole different blog post ;)

Anyway, so FOR US, that was the choice we made. No TV for our kids for as long as possible.

Last week, Ryan took off work for 3 days, giving the 4 of us 5 whole days to spend together. No plans except for a few things around the house. It was glorious.

However. We started noticing that Cade was getting crankier and needing more attention the more Daddy was around. Crap. I guess he had gotten used to Mommy not giving him her undivided attention anymore, but when he had all that time when one of us COULD give him undivided attention, he got spoiled. OK, not really spoiled, but came to expect more attention again. I started panicking. He was throwing fits every time I nursed Ava. What was it going to be like when Daddy went back to work and I had to deal with the monster by myself???

Seems like everyone I know advised us to let Cade have something special that he could only do while I was nursing so he wouldn't resent that time. We hadn't really done that because there hadn't been a need to. Sure, he had thrown a few fits here and there, but for the most part, it was manageable. But I didn't see that working much more. So we made the decision to try the TV. As a "only-while-Mommy-is-nursing-Ava" distraction. I honestly didn't know if it would even work. Oh, but it has. We've watched some Diego, some Dora, some Sesame Street, even some Ice Age and Madagascar.

Here are my thoughts: I like Diego better than Dora. Ryan hates them both :) Sesame Street is NOT the same as it was when I was a kid and I don't like it. It's fun to watch the kid movies with Cade (even if it's only in 10 minute increments...kinda hard to follow a storyline, but oh, well :), BUT I noticed that he was SO focused on them that he ignored me. With Dora and Diego, when they ask a question, I repeat it to Cade to see if he'll answer. A lot of times, it's still too hard for him, but most of the time, he at least acknowledges that I'm talking to him.

So for now, we're sticking to things like Diego that have at least a small amount of educational value to them. And I'm stuck with random songs in my head. Small price to pay for some peace while nursing ;)

Bathroom makeover

This post is for an entry to a giveaway, so don't feel obligated to read it, unless you just want to :) If you want to enter, too, head over to A Year With Mom and Dad. But you need to hurry. It ends soon! (It's for a $250 gift card to WalMart so you can makeover a room in your house!!! How cool is that?)

Here's a picture of our bathroom:



Please ignore the hanging laundry. And the stuff all over the counter :)
Our bathroom is the only room in our house that has not been redone since we moved in. It has wallpaper. We have already removed lots of wallpaper from this house (can you say built in the 90s??). I personally don't really want to touch this room. I think it looks fine. Well, fine, as in, not worth it to me to do anything about it :) It drives Ryan crazy. He despises the wallpaper. He wants it gone. The other reason I don't want to do anything about it is that it costs money :) So if we were to win, I would be much more agreeable to actually taking down the wallpaper and painting. Oh, and something else that would be nice...notice the shower. In front of it is a towel. Yep, we don't have rugs in our bathroom. The rugs that we got for our wedding are in the guest (kids) bathroom, leaving us with none. So I'd definitely buy some rugs, too :)

Playgroup

I love playgroup. It's a sometimes-super-chaotic time to let your child run around with other children and not worry (too much) about what they're getting into. And it sometimes is the only reason that said child is not locked in his room. For his own safety. :)

The group of SAHMs I spend most of my time with (when I'm not actually staying-at-home :) has been having playgroup twice a month for about a year now. We rotate who hosts it every month, and it's always unpredictable who will actually show up. We had one earlier this year with 3 moms. We had one earlier this month with about 12 moms. Which means about a million children. But we have a great time talking (read: yelling to be heard over the children) with other adults, and our kiddos just run around playing. It's great! Saves my sanity on a fairly regular basis.

Terrible Twos

Well, it's been a while. Life with 2 little darlings is a whole new world. We're adjusting, though. Baby girl is almost 3 months old...I'm not really sure how that happened, but I'm actually okay with it. She's sleeping much better. Still has some off nights (like last night when she didn't go to sleep until a little after 10:30, then woke up at 4:30 and 7:30 wanting to eat), but overall, definitely better. I don't really understand people who just LOVE newborns. They don't sleep. At least, not when you want them to. Give me a baby who's a little bit older and sleeps through the night, and I'd be more than happy to have several more. :) She also eats. A lot. And it shows. She's got the chunkiest thighs ever. And more chins and neck rolls than you can count :)

Mr. Cade, on the other hand, is having a rough time. We changed his bed from a crib to a toddler bed one week ago. It hasn't been nearly as hard as I had prepared myself for, but I wouldn't say it's been super-easy, either. He's had several days where he's refused to take a nap at all (and it is only by the grace of God that he and I both survive those days...it's looking like today is going to be another one). Adding his lack of sleep to his already two-year-old-temper-tantrum-throwing-self, and you've got the potential for disaster. These days, it takes the simplest things to set him off into a full-blown hysterical crying fit. And I am simply not the most compassionate person (shocking, I know). Pretty sure that yesterday, he got as many spankings as I am old. If not more.

But I wouldn't trade any of it. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with them and see all of the new things they learn as they learn them. I just have to remind myself of that when there's a screaming 2 year old in the middle of my living room floor. :)

Baby girl

She's here! OK, she's been here for 5 weeks as of about 3 and a half hours ago. Life has been pretty busy since then, and I think this is the 3rd time I've been able to get on the computer at all since she was born.

Here's what happened...

Early in the morning on May 1st, about 3 am, I woke up to go pee (shocking, I know). I realized I was having what I thought were contractions, but since I didn't actually go into labor with Cade, I wasn't completely sure. After 3 more contractions that were about 4 minutes apart, I woke Ryan up. We stood around for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. It was so weird...I didn't think I could really be going into labor (Cade was a day late, and we were only at 37 weeks, 5 days with this one!) and the contractions were already so close together. We called my mom for her to come stay with Cade so we could head to the hospital to have everything checked out. By the time we got there and got to a room, it was about 4:15. I was praying the whole way there that I wouldn't have the baby in the car because the contractions were getting closer together and definitely stronger.

They got me hooked up to an IV (yuck) and checked me (which was equally as painful as those contractions!!!), and I was just at a 3. At that point, the plan was that I would be admitted for a 23 hour observation, and see what happened.

The contractions kept coming. They weren't super consistent, but they were definitely painful. The nurse kept asking if I wanted anything for the pain, but I toughed it out. The dr on call for the group I see made it in to check on me around 11. I think. He also checked me (seriously, that was one of the worst parts of my labor experience!), and said that I was almost a 4, but he could feel the bag of waters (what a weird name for something) bulging and he felt sure that it would break soon, so we needed to go ahead and have this baby.

I met the anesthesiologist, who explained everything (which was nice since we didn't get that last time), and off we headed to surgery. Pretty sure it was the same room I had Cade in. They did my spinal (during that whole process I decided that it was not worth it to have any more children) and got me laid down on the table with oxygen on and the drape up. Ryan finally got to come in, and they started.

At 12:22, Ava made her debut into the world. They brought her over for me to see her (she looked like a squishy-faced little bitty Cade, and I decided maybe I could do this again. If I had to :) and then got her a little cleaned up. Ryan took her up to the nursery while they closed me up (it is absolutely AMAZING what drugs can do...seriously...I was CUT OPEN and didn't feel a thing! Until later :)

Ryan was waiting for me in the recovery room, and after we had been there a little bit, they brought Ava to me to try to nurse. We didn't get to do that with Cade. Have you ever tried sitting up while you can't feel anything below the top of your ribcage? No? Well, it feels like you're going to slide right off the end of the bed because you can't do anything to brace yourself! Ava latched right on...much easier than Cade. We hung out there for a while, and then got to go up to my new home for the next 4 days.

The end.

Well, not really. :) Here we are, 5 weeks later. We're finally feeling slightly less sleep-deprived because Ava is sleeping for a little bit longer at a time. But only SLIGHTLY less sleep-deprived. Pretty sure that I could sleep for about 24 hours straight if given the chance. And if my boobs wouldn't have busted open by the end of that :)

She is absolutely precious. She looked JUST LIKE CADE for a while. She's now starting to be her own person, but there is definitely still a resemblance. We love her very much. And her big brother cannot stop giving her kisses. And telling us, "A-va cwying." :)

Uncomfortable, but thankful

I am 37 weeks and 1 day pregnant right now. In spite of the fact that I managed (due in great part to a LOT of nausea and throwing up at the beginning of this pregnancy) to only gain about 4 pounds in the first half, I have made up for lost time recently, and am currently sitting at about 40ish pounds gained. Yikes. Of course, I gained over 50 with Cade, so I guess this is just par for the course. Hopefully it comes off as easily this time as it did last time. No comments from the peanut gallery on that, please. :)

I am most definitely uncomfortable. Nothing fits right. I don't really have a lap to share with Cade. I have heartburn constantly when I'm laying down. I can't sleep longer than about 2 hours at a time. My side hurts when I lay down. My back hurts when I lay down. Baby girl likes to push really hard on my bladder. I'm tired all the time.

But.

Next week, I will have a baby girl in my arms. A baby girl who is an absolute miracle. And because of that, you haven't heard me complaining about any of the things above. Sure, if you ask me how I'm feeling, I'll be glad to tell you. But I am so incredibly thankful for this pregnancy that it's easy to put up with all of those temporary annoyances. I have several friends who would do anything to be able go through those things, and in spite of what we went through not even a year ago, I get to experience the joy of having my own baby for the second time.

So if you whine about being uncomfortable while pregnant, or hating being pregnant, or any of those annoying things, please don't expect me to sympathize. Remember what a miracle being pregnant is.

(Please note: this is not actually directed at someone...these are just my general thoughts...which have even less of a filter than usual :)

Counting down

Between now and when baby girl is scheduled to arrive via c-section, there is/are only:

3 Wednesdays

2 Dr visits

1 2nd birthday

1 Mom to Mom

Um, yikes!

Minivan mom

That's me. Officially. I guess that makes me old. Not to mention that my 30th birthday is this year.

I've been an SUV mom for almost 2 years now. I loved my SUV. Loved. Loved. Loved. (I may have mentioned that in my previous post :) But for practical reasons, it was time to upgrade. I wasn't planning to be a minivan mom. I wasn't completely against it, but I just didn't see any reason to get one. Oh, but there are many reasons. And I think of more every time I get into it.

Minivan makers had moms of infants in mind when they created the sliding door. I remember when Cade was little bitty, there were several times that I had to go around to the other side of the car and pull him and his carseat out (or put him and his carseat in) through that door because of someone parking too close to get the door open wide enough. That happened sometimes even in our garage. So adding an infant carseat back into the mix while juggling a toddler just makes it more logical to not have to worry about things like that.

The space. Oh, the space. There is so much room!! I feel like we can have a party in our van! Cade also really likes sitting up a little higher because he can see out better and see everything going on (not to mention there are buttons everywhere! He can't reach most of them yet, but they sure are fun to look at and talk about! :).

I was afraid I would feel like I was driving a tank, but it's been great. Granted, I haven't had to park it in the Walmart parking lot yet, but so far, it doesn't feel like this huge, unwieldy beast. I feel pretty comfortable driving it.

I believe firmly that this minivan was another God thing. It's an awesome van, and we have a full year of bumper-to-bumper warranty on it. It had sat on the car lot for 60 days, so they had lowered the price on it a couple of times, and it was actually getting ready to go to auction because they don't like vehicles to sit there for that long. We were able to get it for about $7,000 under retail value. I mean, utterly ridiculous. Especially since it's in almost perfect condition (there have definitely NOT been any kids in this van before :), and has been well taken care of. There's just no reason that it hadn't sold (did I mention that it's a Toyota Sienna?). The only reason possible is that God had it there waiting for us. I just love how He takes care of us like that.

Look both ways: a cautionary tale

On Saturday evening, Ryan, Cade, and I were headed to eat dinner and go to the grocery store. Ryan was driving *my* car. I was talking on the phone to my MIL. Ryan stopped at a 4-way stop (one that we drive through frequently), then proceeded through the intersection. I glanced over towards him and noticed that there was a car coming straight at us that did not look like it was going to stop as it should have. I screamed, the car hit us, the phone flew out of my hand, and then there was smoke coming out of the front of our car.

As I was trying to find my phone (why this was such a priority, I have no idea...other than I could hear my MIL yelling things like "What is going on? What happened? Hello?"), Ryan asks me if I'm ok, then starts pushing me out of the car, climbing over to the passenger side to get out after I did. He got Cade out of the backseat, and we stood there in shock for a minute. The lady who hit us got out of her car (on her phone) and asked if we were ok. I have no idea what I said to her (but I'm pretty sure I was glaring), but I know I asked if she was on the phone with 911. Her response almost made me punch her (as if I didn't want to already)..."No, I'm on the phone with my friend. I was trying to figure out how to get to his house and didn't even see that stop sign." So I called 911. After being transferred at least once, maybe twice, I finally got someone and told them what happened. The girl asked me if we needed medical or just police, and I told her that I'm pregnant, so yes, we needed medical.

I then called my brother, who headed over, and my mom, who was just a few minutes behind him. The ambulance got there, and I climbed in to be evaluated. They thought everything was fine, and let me go. After giving some information to one of the 10 police officers who were there (seriously...there actually might have been more than that), I went with my mom and Cade to sit in her car. A few minutes later, Ryan sent us on back to our house (at some point, he had moved the car seat to mom's car), and then he and my brother came after my car was towed away, and picked up dinner on their way, and witnessed another accident, way worse than ours...same street, one mile north.

While we were eating, it was decided that I should probably call my OB and let her know what happened. When one of the doctors in her practice called me back (I was still not done eating), she informed me that they recommend after any kind of vehicle accident while pregnant, you go to the hospital to be monitored for 4 hours. Lovely. It was already 7:30 pm. Ryan packed some stuff for Cade, and he went to spend the night with Ma-ga (grandma), and we headed to our friendly neighborhood hospital (not the same one that I had the terrible experience with last year...we went to the one that is, ironically, about half a mile away from where the wreck happened).

They sent me to the labor and delivery floor, where they monitored baby girl's heartrate for about 2 hours. Everything checked out fine, and we went back to the ER to have my knee and neck checked out, because they had started hurting. Everything was fine there, and the ER doc wanted to do an ultrasound just to be sure (I think he just wanted to play with the machine :), so we got to see baby girl, too!

(Amusing side note: apparently our wreck made several of the nurses late for their shifts at the hospital...so everyone we talked to had heard about the wreck before we got there)

Fast forward: we're all fine, Ryan and I were a little sore on Sunday, but pretty much back to normal by Monday. They have unofficially totaled my car. :( That car was my first real grown-up purchase. I researched what I wanted after I graduated from college, I went looking by myself, and I bought it all by myself. (OK, so I got opinions from some other people, and my mom went with me to co-sign, but I made the decision and paid for it all by myself!!) Ryan and I paid it off not too long after we got married, and I was not ever in any kind of accident in my car (well, obviously, until this one) (which was a miracle, because prior to me getting that car, I had been in 4 wrecks in 4 years, all of which were my fault). I LOVED that car. I had it for 7 years and 3 and half months. Ryan has been wanting me to get a new car for about a year now, and I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of my Escape. But now she's gone. She was a good car. I miss her already. I have this shiny, new Toyota Sienna that is super-fancy sitting in my garage right now (just a rental), and I would rather have my 10 year old Escape.

And can I just say that car shopping SUCKS??? Especially when you're on a timeframe...can't just sit around and wait on a good deal...I need to find a car. Ugh.

So in conclusion: remember how in driver's ed they told you to stop at the 4-way stop, look both ways, then proceed through the intersection? Yeah. It's a good idea. You never know when a blonde 44 year old bimbo on her phone is going to be coming through the same intersection you are.

Snow, snow, and, you guessed it, more snow!

Wow! What an amazing week and a half it's been! I have never seen so much snow in my life! I don't know the exact amount, but since last Tuesday, we've gotten AT LEAST 30 inches of snow! Um, that's a lot. And it's not going away very fast, either.

It's been pretty entertaining around our house, though. Last week, Ryan stayed home with us 3 days, which Cade and I always enjoy. So while Daddy was home, Cade got to go out and play in the snow a little bit (Mommy even went out one day). He loves it! He walked right up to the giant snow drift on our front porch and kept going! It was pretty funny when he sunk down into it and looked back at us like, um, help? :) When he's playing in the snow, he says "touch" a lot, and when we're inside, he looks out at it and says "snow" about a million times a day. Except for his "snow" sounds more like "no" but cuter than when he's actually saying "no." I'm pretty sure he would stay outside and play in it for hours if we'd let him, but it's just been way too cold for that.

Normally, I like to be able to get out and go do stuff during the day, but I've kind of enjoyed this time at home. Cade is at such a fun age right now, and sometimes I feel like I miss out on stuff because we're hanging out with friends or just out running errands. Now don't get me wrong, it's nice to get out of the house, but he's been in (mostly) a good mood during this time and he's just hilarious! He also knows how to play by himself, so I'm not his sole source of entertainment when it's just the two of us.

We're working on transitioning his room into a completely toddler-proof area that he can be in by himself to play. It's mostly done right now...just a few things to take care of...all things that he can damage more so than they can damage him :) And he seems to enjoy playing in there, so that's good. Now when we add a baby into the mix and Mommy can't play with him because she's busy with her...that might be another story. But we'll get there soon enough.

Oh! And in other news, we may have a name! (Which is probably mean to announce because you already know we're not sharing it until she's born, but tough :) We had semi-agreed on a name a while back, but then I started having second thoughts about it. I have had another name that I like a lot that Ryan has not been sold on, but he's coming around (this is what happened last time, too :)

I'm 26 weeks and 2 days today, which means that she will be here in less than 13 weeks! At my next appointment, we will possibly schedule my c-section, and then we'll have a date for sure!! It's getting a little bit more real...

Ode to my hubby

Ryan has definitely earned a husband of the year award already this year. And good grief, we're not even a month in!

Here are some highlights (not in any particular order):

-He stayed home from work yesterday to take care of Cade and me after I spent the evening Sunday throwing up. Multiple times.

-During aforementioned sickness event, he brought me water and washrags. And rubbed my back.

-He decided we needed a date night this past weekend, so we went out to dinner. The place we had intended to go (which both of us LOVE) had a horrendous wait, so we went to a place that I LOVE and he likes. MMMMM...love me some hibachi grill shrimp, veggies, and chicken!!!!

-During aforementioned date night, we went to Target. Not that exciting, unless you normally go to Target with a small child. Then it's terribly exciting to go without one :) But the really exciting part is this...we bought a stand mixer!!! My hand mixer went out around Christmas and I've never had a stand mixer, but now I do!

-He got a new job!!! This is really the most exciting of all! We had been considering moving to New Mexico (see previous posts), and had even visited there, looking at houses. The thought of moving just made me sick...moving away from my family and all my friends...to the desert. But if that's what God wanted for us, then we were going to do it. But (I think) because of our faithfulness, Ryan was offered a job at another company that's actually just down the street from where he works now. It's a raise, a step up, and a chance to stay here!

Really, this has all happened in the past week or so. I'd say 2011 is off to a fantastic start!

Wouldn't call it "enchanting"...

I have lived in the same state my whole life. And in that state, we have these wonderful things called TREES and GRASS. They are both GREEN. I didn't realize until we went to New Mexico that I actually am quite fond of green.

You see, in NM, there's one color. It's BROWN. They do have it in many different shades, but that's it, folks. One color. Which doesn't happen to be one of my favorite colors to begin with.

Not only is the ground brown, but they have to use it in their housing, too. Here are your choices for color on the outside of your house (and only available in stucco, I might add): tan, khaki, beige, camel, chocolate, sepia, mahogany, brown. (I just googled shades of brown to come up with that list ;) I mean, really. Can somebody use some imagination??

Anyway, it's a nice place, I'm sure. I'm just not completely sold on it. :)

The Land of Enchantment

Very soon, Ryan and I are heading to the alleged "Land of Enchantment." I'm a little skeptical, to say the least. Ryan has a job offer that would involve us moving to a new state, a prospect I am none too thrilled about. But they're paying for both of us to come out there and check things out for a few days, so by golly, we're gonna. I don't generally say no to free things. Especially ones that involve a plane trip. And a nice hotel. And being child-free (with the exception of the one that is currently attached to me).

I'll let you know how enchanting it is. And in the meantime, you can pray that there's another job offer than would NOT involve us moving to another state :)