MoPS Craft Night!

Last night I left Mr.Wonder and WonderKid at home and went to a craft night with my MoPS group. There weren't many of us there and I only got two pages done, but just having some time out with some ladies really brightened my day. We had a lot of fun talking and joking around. I thought I'd share the two pages that I completed. One I absolutely love and the other I just feel so-so about. They're titled she bangs! and Our BIG girl!, respectively.

In other big news, I got my new dishes set from Target today. I love love love it. I'm really happy with my choice and I think I'll be happy with it for a long time. They will go great with my new pink mixer and all the other choices I've made for our future kitchen. I'm totally loving the color scheme for our kitchen/dining room. Maybe our home will end up looking like more than a college apartment someday.
And last but not least....only 5 MORE DAYS until I go home. I am so excited and so is Ryelie. I just know this is going to be a great trip.

Creativity Page

So, I really felt inspired to do this page. WonderKid has such a creative side to her personality, actually it pretty much touches every aspect of her personality, that when I got this pic of her creating with her Play-Doh...I just had to scrap it.

Today

So, I had my paper work appointment today. It was an intersting class. I got my official due date, it's November 2nd, 2007. After I went through the class I had to go give a pee sample and get like 6 tubes of blood taken, "yeah..." (that was sarcasm!) I have my first doctors appointment on the 3rd of April. The nurse told me I was lucky to get one so quickly and she told me that the lady my appointment is with is great, that everyone loves her. So I'm very excited to be going through the first half of my pregnany with a great care giver. We'll get to do a small ultrasound on that appointment. I don't know if I'll get any pictures though, they say it's mostly for measurements. Maybe if this Doc is so great she'll give me a pic anyway. I'll do my best. I also found out that we'll be doing the anatomy ultrasound between 16-20 weeks. I'm really happy about this because:
1) It's really not that far away, just 2 months...and
2) It means it'll be between mid-May and mid-June. So we'll hopefully find out the sex of the baby before we leave here. Not that it will really make any difference. I'm just really excited.
So that about sums up today...so far! I am going to a Women's Conference tonight and tomorrow. I'm very excited and just a little nervous since I won't know anyone there and this is my first time going to one of these things. I saw a pamphlet at our YMCA for this conference and for some reason I just really wanted to go. The speaker is named Angela Thomas and it's titled: When Wallfowers Dance, Becoming a Righteous Woman of Confidence. One of my biggest set backs with my faith is always thinking of what other people think of me. Always worrying if someone thinks I'm weird because of my walk with God. I'm really hoping I can learn somthing at this conference, that I can take something away that will not only strengthen my walk with God but strengthen my confidence so I'm not letting what others think of me dictate how I'm acting.

Kids can say the sweetest things...

The following is a conversation between WonderKid and myself that happened yesterday on the way home from the bus stop. We were walking back and I picked her up to give her a kiss. So I'm holding her and we start talking:

Me: I missed you today.

WK: I missed you too. *I give her a little peck on the cheek*

Me: You did? Did you really miss me?

WK: Uh-huh. *She gives me a little peck on the cheek*

Thoughtful silence...

WK: Did the baby miss me too?

Me: Of course the baby missed you. *She gives me a hug*

Talk about melt your heart. I have the sweetest daughter alive. Needless to say, I think my BIG GIRL is ready to be a BIG SISTER!

A little praise...

First, I'm finally feeling better. Woot!
This is mostly about this weekend. It was such an eye opener. I felt really crappy, but it's still a praise worthy weekend. We were all sick this weekend. But God did spare me in some aspects. Both Mr.W and WonderKid got a pretty high fever and they of course were exhausted because of it. I didn't get the fever, so I had a little more evergy than they had and I was able to care for and comfort them. At first I was a little miffed. Here I was with a throbbing headache that wouldn't go away, I couldn't breathe through my nose and I was hacking away like a veteran smoker....but I was having to take care of my family. Then it struck me. Whenever we've all gotten sick (you know how it is, passing it through the family) I've never been as bad off as the other two. God has given me these chances to serve my family and ultimately Him. I immediately stopped being miffed. To be honest, I was a little excited. I wanted to care for and take care of my family even thought I wasn't feeling 100%. I'm so thankful that God has given me these opportunities and that he's let me see my chance for growth through them.
And that's not all. God is a provider...he takes care of us. This past paycheck I put a chunk of money into our savings...trying to build it back up. Sunday night on the way home from a friend's house our front tire went flat on the highway. We didn't know what it was at first. I got out and checked the tire on my side since the car was veering my way. But it was fine. We started driving again and it was just getting worse so Mr.W pulled off into a 7-11. The tire on his side was flat. So he changed the tire and we realized that both our front tires were completely bald. We haven't had these tires that long. We weren't really sure why they had gotten so bad so fast. I took the car into our tire place to get the front two tires replaced and the alignment checked (per Mr.W's request). We've had the alignment checked before and were always told it was fine even though the car always pulled a little to the right. Turns out our alignment was WAY OFF! The guy said it was the reason our tires had gotten so bad. So we got it all taken care of and we were able to use the money I had just set aside instead of charging it and increasing the debt we're trying to pay off. The car is driving great! I was so thankful that the money was there. Thank you God!

Scrapjacked 3

So apparently I'm not able to resist a scrapjacked challenge. This one is a jack of Adrienne Looman. It was a little tough and I'm not sure how well I executed it...but it was fun planning it out in my head since the 15th. Give me your thoughts...

Please pray for us...

Mr.W has been sick the past two days and I started feeling crappy last night. We all have fevers, coughing, some chills. I haven't had it as bad as Mr.W...but he went to work today. His fever went back up so he went to see the corpsman. He told him that he has pneumonia. I'm really at a loss. I rarely get sick but I got sick this time. I think with being pregnant and have my needle biopsy this week my body was just fighting to make sure I didn't get an infection from that. So I got this instead. I don't want anything to hurt the baby. I called and left a message for an OB nurse, so hopefully she'll get back to me and give me some advice. I'm really hoping I just have a cold. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!
So please say a prayer for us and the baby. Let this pass quickly with no harm. Thanks a bunch.

Last Layout...

This is a layout of our god-daughter. She's so cute it's not even funny. I love love love this picture of her so I had to do a layout. I love the picture still, I'm not sure if I love the layout or not though. Time will tell....

This will be my last layout until I head up to Washington. I can't wait to scrap with my sisters again. They give me so much inspiration.

WonderBun

Well, I thought I'd write a little about what's going on in our family and how I'm feeling. Maybe I'll do little updates through out the pregnancy.
I've been feeling pretty good. No morning sickness so far. I've had a few nights of heart burn, but that doesn't seem to be a regular thing (knock on wood). I think my biggest challenge will be not to over eat. To eat until I'm satisfied and then stop. When I go till I'm stuffed is when I seem to get the heartburn feeling in the the evening. The main physical things I've been feeling are cramps and exhaustion. To give you a clue as to how tired I am...I had a Mountain Dew two days ago and I've slept both nights since. This is a rare occurance. Though during the day I'm really tired, it's not enough to take a nep, just enough that I'm yawning constantly.
We told WonderKid and she is super excited. The morning after she was telling all the moms at the bus stop that I was pregnant and she was going to be a big sister. I am so happy to see her excitement about this. A few weeks before we found out we were at Target and she was seeing all these moms with 2 children and she kept commenting on it. "Oh look, she has two kids." "It's good to have two kids." "They look happy with two kids." It was very sweet and I'm glad that things have worked out the way they have. I'm not sure that if I had ended up pregnant earlier that she would have been as okay with it.
Both Mr.Wonder and WonderKid have talked about what sex they want. Mr.W wants another girl. WK now says she wants a little boy (though last week she said she wanted a girl). I'll be okay with either one. I've actually been throwing out names to Mr.W because I know that with WK we had a lot of trouble agreeing on a name. What amuses me is the Mr.W won't even entertain boy names. He says we're not having one, so there's no point in discussing them. I guess we'll have to deal with that if and when we're able to find out the sex.
I can't wait to meet this baby. To complete our family. It's going to be a long 35 weeks I have left.

Scrapjacked 2

New scrapjacked challenge. This time we jacked a Kelli Crowe layout. I know mine isn't as inventive or creative as Kelli's but I wanted keep it simple. Check out scrapjacked to see the original layout and the scrapjackers takes on it. Here is mine...

Not sure if you can see it, it's just titled Family Pictures.....February 2007. I might need to darken that up a bit.

Our family...

is growing by two little feet! I took a test this morning and we got a big fat positive. We are so excited. This is technically the first picture of the 4 of us. Hee Hee! I wasn't going to say anything until I was farther along, but I realized that I'm going to need all of your help. Over 2 years ago, I miscarried. I need you all to pray for us and the baby. That things will work out this time. That I'll carry the baby to term and have a healthy little bundle to add to our family. We are so excited about this and I don't want to lose that excitement again. So please, keep us in your prayers. It would mean the world to us.

Even More...

Mas Layouts...

Thanksgiving Layout

Just finished another layout. I'm a little behind if you hadn't noticed from the title. I just did the layout from our trip to Quantico for Thanksgiving. We had a fun time up there and I hope I was able to show that in the layout. I haven't decided how much I like it yet. I have to wait and see when I look back at it a few days from now. So, enough rambling, here it is.

I don't know if you noticed but I'm really starting ot get into that whole doodling thing. I do it enough regularly, might as well bring a little of it into my scrapbook pages.

ScrapJacked Challenge

So one of my sister's turned me onto this great blog called ScrapJacked. It's a great blog, you should all check it out. Anyway, their most recent challenge was a layout jacked from Amber Skolnick, this is it: And this here would be my take on the challenge. I had a lot of fun doodling on it and I like how it turned out. I might add a few little things to it, if I do I'll make sure I update the picture. (picture updated) The title says, he is so cute, especially when he's ERIC-TATED! Well, now that I finished it I should really get my laundry folded and get off to bed...seeing as it is now 140 in the morning. Loves to you all!

My Word for 2007

There was an article in AEzine which I found out about from my sister, through here. It talks about choosing one word to focus on for the year. Instead of making tons of resolutions that you end up not meeting and that makes you feel like a failure. Well, maybe not a total failure but it at least bums you out a little bit. This idea really struck a chord with me. I think I hit one of my 6 resolutions in 2006, and it didn't make me feel great. Some ladies that have read the link I shared made journals, scrapbook pages and much more to help them remember the word they chose and try and use it through out the year (you can look through the comments and find some links). I want to share a quote from Ali Edwards about the impact of a single word:
"A single Word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow...one little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities."
So, that being said, I've chosen the word COMMIT as my word for 2007. I've chosen the word for two main reasons. Not only do I falter in the things I've set out to be better at or about (being a happy housewife, watching my temper, paying on bills, reading my Bible) but also in my decision making. There are so many things that I am wish washy about (more kids, working) and I've let myself be wishy washy for far too long. I want to figure out these things with Mr.W and then stick to our decisions. I want to COMMIT to them. So, that is my word...I will make something to help me remember this word and hopefully stick to it through out the year. I will COMMIT to the word COMMIT. Hee Hee! What word would you choose for this upcoming year?

Aloha

HAWAII, HERE WE COME!!

We got our web orders today! The next stop on our life that is the Marine Corps will be Hawaii. We're so very excited about this. We have some very close friends that are there and we can't wait to see them again. Our check in date there is for no later than the 31st of July. That means we'll be checking out of Virginia around the 1st of July. It seems so far away but when you think about it, it's not that far at all. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. I'm not sure what all I'm supposed to do to get ready for a move over there. I really am looking forward to the time we'll be there, whether short or long. These last few years here have flown by, though while I was living them the seemed to go on and on and on. Life is funny that way. It'll be a rough transition, what with Mr.W being back in a deploying cycle. But I'm glad that it's happening there where we have friends we can lean on. Say a prayer for us as we get ready to go into all that comes with moving in the military. Oh, and so all the friends and family that read this, know that you'll always have a place to stay.

Jealous much!

I am so jealous of my husband and my daughter. When these two hit the sack, they conk out fairly quickly and usually sleep the whole night through. I'm happy for them and all, but....IT SUCKS FOR ME! I've been staying away from caffeine and any kind of chocolate candy. I've been trying to limit my soda and juice intake and drinking more water. But I still don't sleep through the night. I do sleep but at around 3 am I wake up to pee and I don't sleep well or at all after that. It's constant tossing and turning. I am at my wits end! If I didn't have the behavioral side effects of the caffeine (anger anger anger) I would drink it, since I'm not sleeping anyway.
Maybe I should start going to the YMCA again. I think I slept when I was going there every day or every other day, I don't remember. It's been so nice out that I've been taking long walks (seriously long, like 3 or 4 miles) but I guess it's not getting my heart rate up enough to tire me out. Mr.W asked me if I'd exercised at all yesterday when I made a comment about not sleeping. So maybe this has something to it. I guess I'll go back to my old routine, walks on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. The Y on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Sundays off (it is a day of rest, after all.) So, today I shall walk and this evening we'll be going to the family fun and fitness night at WonderKid's school. That should be interesting.
I just want to sleep!

Creepy...

Sometimes Mr.Wonder and I think alike so much that it weirds me out. Not in a bad way. I think it's hilarious. Like the other night we watched Talledega Nights, both of us were laughing the whole way through. It's totally our type of humor and now we're quoting it to each other non-stop. Some of you may know that we've been waiting to get a dog for a while. Hopefully where ever we go next this will be a possibility. We were planning on just one, but the other night after watching the movie...Mr.W said that we'll have to get two dogs. I don't know if you guys have seen the previews, but try to recall the names of Ricky Bobby's sons. Yes, we're going to get two dogs and name them Walker and Texas Ranger. First I was like, "Yeah right! Two dogs." But the more I think about it. I LOVE IT! It's totally us and everytime I talk about them I'll think of that movie and smile. Then I'll think of how great it is to share a sense of humor with your husband.
I really am so lucky to be married to such a great guy. He's always telling me how lucky he is and how his friends tell him how lucky he is and how I treat him so well...but truth be told, I'm the lucky one. Even though we have our differences, God blessed me with him. To have a man love me so much, in spite of all my faults (and trust me, there are many to get past)....honestly, it leaves me without words. Which as many of you know, when I'm all jacked up on the Dew (like I am right now,) is hard to do.

How do I forget so easily??

This is a post with two meanings. First, the mundane everyday side. How do I forget so easily how EVIL caffeine is? How do I forget how crabby and nasty I get to my sweet little girl when I'm getting that toxin out of my veins? I can vividly recall my last night after the ball, the one that made me swear never to drink again. Why is it so much harder with caffeine? I feel so much better with out it. I really need to remember my crabby behavior to WonderKid last night. And the moment this morning when I realized that my actions are showing my little girl the wrong picture of being a Mommy, expecially a Mommy that loves God. In fact, I was showing her the wrong picture of God last night. Please Lord, help me to remember that realization and the sickness it brought to my stomach.
Which brings me to the second meaning of my title. How do I so easily forget how good it feels when I read my Bible and pray? In a time when I'm usually depressed (when Mr.W is out of town) I feel peace. I feel happy. How good it feels when I tell God that I no longer want to try and have control over my life. That I want Him to take care of it all. I don't want to worry about it anymore. He can take care of where we're heading next, whether he have another child or not, when we'll get our bills paid off. Not that I expect to sit back and do nothing. But there are just somethings it doesn't do to worry over. And I've been spending too much time on them. I don't want to hold on to the things of the past. My hurts, disappointments, feelings of failure. How can that help me in any way? I don't want to focus too much on the future. Where I spend so much time planning out what will happen with us, to have none of it come to pass just as I wanted it too...and then be disappointed all over again. No thank you! I want to focus on the now. My time with my friends and family. The joy I get watching my daughter grow up and learn. The love I feel when I see my husband playing with my daughter, building a bond..and memories. A bond that will help us stay strong as a family when he's deployed for long stretches.
I just want to feel lighter. Not hang on to all the pressure I was letting in my life. Pressure over nothing. And I feel that today. I feel lighter and it feels good.