Sometimes all you need is a power outage

In this day to day life we all get so caught up in what seems like a million different things. With the current condition of my cousin who has cervical cancer my mind has been turning with so many heavy things. The loss of sleep from staring at the ceiling hasn't hit me yet, but i'm sure the tiredness will kick in any day now. When you're faced with something as heavy as dying, you cant help but analyze the cracks and crevices of your own life. I hate the pace i've been running this life lately, and it makes me sit back and think whose pace am i trying to keep up with? There's not a day that goes by that i don't think "There is just not enough hours in the day!"

Well last night God decided to take matters into his own hands. We had an amazing storm, and i say amazing because we don't have storms like that where i'm from in California. The wind was causing branches to fall all over the neighborhood, big ones, the rain was coming down so fast and strong it looked like a wall. And of course, our power went out. George instantly got nervous and started pacing. He was irritated and you could tell just nervous all together that the power MIGHT not be back on soon. I couldn't help but laugh. I found everything humorous. Noah was having the time of his life watching the storm outside and my first thought was "This is going to be SO fun!" No tv, no computer, no lights, maybe we need this. Just me, George, and Noah. Making memories in our new home. It wasn't minutes later that George and i both sat there on our phones getting online and texting our friends when the big picture suddenly became clear. We as adults get too consumed to enjoy the little things in life. Here was a perfect opportunity to have such a good time creating new memories and George and I were already bored!

I watched my son start to use his imagination while playing with his cars and i thought this is EXACTLY what i need during this difficult time in my family. As my cousin's days are numbered i know she would wish she had more electronic free time with her kids. Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why are we making our lives so busy that we cant even enjoy a few hours of silence with just our family. I know i'm guilty. I'm learning so many new lessons everyday from my cousin's story. Life lessons.

I was planning on letting Noah take a bath in mom and dads big ol tub that night because there was more light in our bathroom due to the window, but wouldn't you know, after 3 hours the electricity came back on right in time for bath time. I thought, well if we didn't get to have a candlelit slumber party i can still at least let Noah enjoy our big tub. So with some toys he splashed around and i'm glad we got to end the night enjoying the small things. Next time i hope it wont take a power outage for me and George to slow down and spend some quiet time as a family.

Extreme Nesting, new sport?

So if it's not bad enough to move into a brand newclean slate of a house, why did i have to get pregnant 4 mos later? Last night as i bombarded George with all my ideas for the nursery, and Noah's room and our room and the kitchen he finally said something that hit home. "You overwhelm me, and this nesting thing has got to stop." Well to be honest, i didn't sleep all night. When i did i dreamed of paint swatches and should we get Noah a tall dresser or a short dresser? Should we get one that matches his new bed or go against the matchy matchy rule. When did all this obsessing start??

I'm big on being frugal, we've had to live on nearly nothing for awhile and really stretch our means so now that we live comfortably my frugalness is even more extreme. I don't want to spend a dollar more than i should, so every morning its off to Craigslist for me. On top of that i want detail. That was the second eye opening statement from George last night. "Stop with all the details!" I love character. I love old things that have character and can almost tell you a story. Yes its nice to graze through a Pottery Barn catalogue, but when i comb through Craigslist and find oldvintage pieces with beautiful woodwork i see a diamond in the rough. So this weekend i have learned 3 things about myself:

1. I love detail. And that will never stop. I'm not going to cut myself short by spending too much on a brand new item that does not make me happy. As i dive into Noah and Belle's room i want to work hands on every piece that we plan on bringing in there.

2. I not only overwhelm George, I overwhelm myself.

And 3. It's called Extreme Nesting. Maybe i should talk to my doctor about this.

Next weekend we're taking an Atlanta trip where we plan on picking up a few more items for the nursery and Noah's room. I cant help but draw inspiration by pictures and blogs. Here are a few that have me drooling and the wheels in my head turning.

Alot of these were taken from Ikea, but there are a few that i saved from blogs. I don't remember which ones in particular, i know they are in my blog list so please if they are your pictures let me know so i can add the appropriate link to your blog.

Weekend lovins

This weekend was SO relaxing, and let's just say these were a few of mine and Belle's favorite things:

I think it's safe to say say Belle LOVES the sweets almost as much i do. But this week we will be loving:

At 23 weeks pregnant i have continued running and this pregnancy has been a CAKE WALK compared to my last. I just cut down to 3 miles 2x a week because i've also been taking an hour long yoga class on Monday's, and the whole family has been taking walks in the evening when it cools down. The running has kept me from having any back pain and overall i just don't feel pregnant. I will write more about my pregnancy running journey soon, but until then i hope everyone had a great, sweet, relaxing weekend!

Boy have things changed, or have they?

As is sit here and plan to enter the world of blogging after a much needed break i cant help but scroll down and see the old posts that show me what my life was like last summer. Noah has changed so much it hurts my heart, because in our day to day life i dont always see him growing before my eyes. Last summer we lived somewhere completely different, George was still in the service, and we were no where near adding to our family. Here i sit in a new home, George well adjusted in his new career, me finally starting the teaching program i started out trying to get into 3 years ago, and I'm about to enter my 6th month of pregnancy. Boy have things changed!

But then when i sit back and really take a long look at the picture, i see that some things havent changed. For starters i'm sitting here writing this. I've been writing, although not so good anymore, since i was 14. I'm listening to Coldplay, a favorite band of mine since i was 16, and i went on a run earlier today which we all know i fell in love with running 3 months after Noah was born. Our surroundings may change, we may learn new things, but i treasure the fact that my husband and i have remained the same. I try every year to better myself and i know some people dont appreciate the honesty that has come from me becoming a mother, but after i had Noah i realized there was no time for BS (excuse my french) anymore.

Kids grow like weeds! We hear it everyday. I laid in bed and cried the other night while George was telling me how he remembers rocking Noah to sleep every night and how he knew he was REALLY asleep once the paci started falling out of his mouth. I bawled. The tears wouldnt stop, and i couldnt help but think that that is a time we will never get back. I think that as George and i reflect and watch Noah grow it is going to make us better parents. We will treasure every moment Belle is little. I hear that with your first child you always push or rush them to the next stage, and like everyone else, that is what we did.

i will stop being so sappy, i just couldnt help it after seeing these old pictures of Noah at the rodeo last summer. This summer he shouldnt be so scared of the pony rides and next summer his sister will be able to enjoy the rodeo with him. I leave you with a recent and favorite picture of mine and George's. Noah has gotten so big he's now helping out with chores. Here he is helping Dad wash the car. He stopped and put his little hand out as if he was posing just long enough for me to get the pic. The sun was bright but doesnt he look so precious!

I'm back!

I've been telling George that i really need to get back on this whole blogging bandwagon again. For crying out loud our son is now 2 and we are expecting a little girl this winter!!! Boy have things changed. I will try to start posting more and of course adding more pictures of our ever growing son and the our ever growing family! First things first, re-decorate this blog. What in the world did i do to it last summer? It definitely needs a makeover.

Noah's first rodeo!

We move in exactly ONE WEEK!!!! We've been SO busy packing and cleaning out our old place. We are so excited and have had so much help from all our friends. We plan on having a HUGE garage sale the first weekend in our new place to get rid of alot of stuff and slowly start picking things out we want for our house together. In between packing, school, work, and our marriage classes at church we've managed to have some fun. 2 weeks ago we took Noah to the Rodeo and he had the time of his life. This weekend George and I were suppose to go on an all weekend marriage retreat but we have had so much on our plate with moving that we had to back out. Hopefully we will be going to another one though in a few months. We are excited about the holidays in our new house and having my family in town to share our excitement and holidays with. Noah got his flu shot yesterday and cried so hard it broke my heart. I took him out for pizza and we got him a new little firetruck. He LOVES trucks and is getting quite the collection. I pray he doesnt get sick this fall or winter as i am already starting to get sick. I didnt even have time to get the flu shot. Hopefully i'll be better before we move next week. here are some recent pics!

All ready with his cowboy boots Grammy got him!

Playing with his little wrench

C'mon dad lets go!

Givin Chloe hugs before he leaves

Dad and Noah

The cows

haha The lady was telling George to stay in front of the pony's back legs or he"ll kick him

Riding a pony is serious business

love love this pic

AND this one!

My lil man!!!

He gave Mama a lil smile

Me and my love

Had to get him the french fries. His fave

Cheers!

Dad and Noah eating and waiting for the rodeo. Noah's boots are to die for!

Watchin all the action

Sat down to put on his crocs because i thought his feet hurt and he started playing rough w Mama

Lets go bud!

Swimmin and a playin

Driving his favorite truck

His hair is SO curly!

Loves juice boxes. He gets one everyday with his lunch

Fun at the park

He LOVED the slide this day

SOOOO handsome!

He was picking up dirt lol

And then throwing it

He wears his slippers Grammy got him all the time!

One of our last swimming days of the summer

Daddy dunked him and he did so well!