Holidays Are Here Again!

I'm so excited that the holiday season has kicked off and is in full force. I really needed something to perk me up from all the stresses in life, and there's nothing quite like Christmas music and planning to do just that. I'm of course following the Countdown to Christmas planner at http://www.organizedchristmas.com/ as I do every year.
I returned to the life of a working mom yesterday and it's been very bittersweeet. I miss my boys beyond belief and while I'm at work all I think about are ways I could be able to stay at home with them. The past nine weeks were very hard, and the stay at home mom had its days...but overall spending time with my kids was beyond blissful. It's not in the cards for me to be able to afford to stay home, but I'm praying that someday it will be.
Having Lucas really forced me to examine myself and do somewhat of a "State of the Union" examination. I knew that having two boys under two would be taxing and it would be easy to fall into a rut just trying to get through each day. So I've made a conservative effort to piece myself back together and I'm feeling great!
For starters I'm back to calorie counting and last time I weighed I had lost 36 pounds and was 5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Yay me!
Also I've started playing piano again and started a novel I got the idea for from a dream and have wanted to start for over a year. I have the excuse that I'm beyond busy and there's no time for hobbies, but I need this. I need it for myself and my sanity!
Then last weekend I took a giant leap of faith and attended church again. After a four year hiatus I'm going back to church. I've never lost my faith, but I did bury it to pursue the more selfish things life has to offer that didn't quite fit into the "spiritual" lifestyle. Last Sunday I felt like the sermon was written for me and I could hear God calling me back to Him as clearly as if He were right next to me. Needless to say I'm so glad that part of me has been awakened.

So it's been another four months....

So it has been another four months since my last post. I think more has happened in those four months than the last year combined!
For starters I'm a new mom again! Lucas Jackson or "Lj" was born September 17, 2010 at 10:25 am. He weighed 8lbs, 5.5 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.
It took a couple of weeks for things to "sync" in at home, especially with Ethan getting used to not having 100% attention. I never anticipated how much time I would need to devote to Lucas, and what that meant in the reduced amount of time I would get to spend with Ethan. My mom and mother-in-law took care of Ethan until I could get on my feet again and feel comfortable with both of them alone. Now I'm starting to feel like a seasoned pro with two under two except for those few moments when Ethan tests me. Such as this morning when as I turned around to pick up the pants he threw on the floor he chucked his dirty diaper at his little brother who was sleeping soundly in his crib next to the changing table. Yep, mother of the year here! Needless to say Lucas started squalling and my oldest looked quite pleased with himself. I can foresee that in a year I'll most likely be pulling them off each other. So much for that sweet, affectionate brotherly relationship, but did I really think two boys of mine would be the best behaved? I'm more realistic than that.
Well there's Lj now beckoning the boob (aka feeding time!). I really do feel like a Jersey milk cow. Or maybe one of those happy Californian ones...just sayin. That's all for now!

Long Awaited Update!

So it's been FOUR months since I last posted a blog entry. I'm so flaky when it comes to updating any journals I have. I've set so many goals to maintain at least a little consistency, but alas blogging/journaling is just one area of my life that's a little weak in the commitment department.
So onto the updates! I feel like I need to number these as there are so many! Here goes:
1) (and this is a big ONE) I'm PREGNANT! Yes, shortly after my last blog entry I found out that I'm expecting! Again! And I'm due September 23rd!
2) It's another boy! My boys will be 16 months apart! Hooooly crap.
3) We're naming him Lucas Jackson. Hubby and I sat down one weekend because I was having a very hard time really connecting to this baby. It sounds awful, but the second time around is just so different. Plus it being completely unplanned and so soon after my first son I think it just took me some time to come to terms with having two under two! So I thought if I just had a name to call him by it would make things better. And it has. We both stared at his ultrasound picture, and Lucas just jumped out from our favored names list. Jackson was choice #2 (as it was with Ethan) so we put that in the middle. I can't wait to have a Luke!
4) Ethan turned one! One whole year old! We had a much too big party that was monkey themed and he got more toys than he'll ever use. I still can't believe he's a toddler!
5) I'm at the point in this pregnancy now when things went downhill with my first pregnancy (27 weeks). So far everything looks well! The doctors are keeping eagle eyes on me so hopefully they'll catch anything before it happens! They did order me to dayshift until the baby comes so I can get adequate rest. The hours have been dreamy, but I know they'll most likely be short lived.
6) Adam got a job!!! At the beginning of May Adam started at Tucker Door. The pay isn't superb, but he's able to get a decent amount of overtime. He's so much happier and absolutely loves the job. Plus it's in his original industry so he really didn't require much training which his bosses loooved. Ethan had to start daycare part time, but is adjusting well. The center is top notch and even has webcams I can view while I'm at work which help eleviate some of the guilt that goes with putting your baby in daycare. Maybe one day far down the road we'll be able to afford for me to stay home. That would be an absolute dream!

So I think those are the main updates. The good ones anyway, :-). Hopefully it won't be another four months before I think to post again!

Valentine's Day Prep!

Well, it's February 1st so that means Valentine's Day is just around the corner! This year I wanted to make it extra special for hubby and I because it will be our first with baby Ethan. Also I feel like sometimes I don't adequately show him how much I appreciate him and all that he does for our family. Currently he's unemployed and is a stay-at-home dad. I say this with tongue in cheek, but he does a better job at it than I ever could. He's the best dad, and does every stitch of housework. So needless to say, I need to show him some appreciation!
I stumbled across this blog Love Actually and have stolen several of the ingenious ideas! This blog is a must-see if you're in any kind of relationship!

Although mine is not as pretty as the one on her blog, here is my Valentine's Day advent countdown wall calendar! Be forewarned my crafting skills are all I can afford "budget friendly" seeing as how I'm on one income!

So today's task was this:

(Yes, that's a rock...that I thought kind of resembled a heart)

(Sufficiently cheezy,no?)

And this is what I made!

Another thing I made hubby is also from the Love Actually blog. He won't get this until the big day, but I thought I would share!

I'll give it to him at our dinner at home tablescape with a tag attached that reads "I'm so Fortunate to Have You!" In each "fortune cookie" is a little typed reason why I love my hubby.

So I'm hoping that with everything I have in store for Valentine's Day this year will make my hubby feel adequately loved and sooo very much appreciated.

And just because I can, here's a pic of my baby bear taken today. :-)

And done!

So the baby shower came and went, and it was a success! Planning and executing the shower was so much fun and makes me wish that I did this for a living. One can dream, right?
As promised, here are some pics!
Please forgive my lack photography skills! This picture is the drink station with sparkling punch and water in a baby bathtub mama keeps afterward!

This is the dessert table with chocolate fountain, fruit, and cake!

Close up of the adorable cake done by a co-worker!

Food buffet with baby shape cut-out sandwiches, and plenty of other food!

Presents!

Favor and sign-in table! Displayed are the couple's baby pics, wedding pics, Katubah from their wedding, and wish/advice cards from guests!

Favors! "About to Pop"!

MLK Day

Living on the outskirts of Atlanta means that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a BIG DEAL where I live. One of these days I'm going to venture into the city to experience one of the many celebrations that occur, but today I spent it with my family enjoying the day off.
Tonight I realized that Ethan is becoming more and more human. I know that sounds weird, but when they're infants it takes awhile for their quirks to come through. Tonight at "Eat at Joe's", a local grill in Grayson,Ga, Ethan discovered that he absolutely.loves.pickles. I don't mean he tasted one with the tip of his tongue and smiled, I mean the boy devoured the soft bits until there was nothing left but the rhine! We only had a minor almost choking mishap, but thanks to a strong gag reflex he overcame. Unfit mothering aside, I love the fact that Ethan loves pickles like his mama has developed his own tastes. As much as I've enjoyed the past eight months, I can tell it's only going to get better.

Makeover!

Thanks to "I love my blog makeover" (see link to the bottom right) I've managed to make my page a little bit more "me." I've added some pictures and done some editing so hopefully this looks a little bit more presentable!
This past weekend has been quite a whirlwind.
I first want to address my heartfelt anguish for the people of and the people that love Haiti. My prayers go out to everybody affected by this disaster. Some of us live in a very comfortable bubble and will never know what the people of Haiti are going through. We can only reach out to those that are hurting and try and make a very horrible situation somewhat better.

Right now I'm planning my big sister's baby shower, and am having an absolute ball. I haven't really had a creative outlet in awhile so I'm enjoying being able to completely obsess over this event. This past weekend I managed to get all the shopping done for the big day, favors made, games organized and made, and the guest sign-in cards made. I'll post pictures as soon as I take some!
Being that I'm on a super tight budget I've really had to stretch my imagination to accomplish everything I  my sister wants done for the shower. I was on bedrest during my own baby shower, so this has definitely been make-up time!
The favors are my proudest product. I had seen  these cute popcorn favors but wanted to create something the guests could reuse. I purchased some plastic popcorn containers and filled each with tissue paper, a sealed bag of microwave popcorn, a box of Sugar Babies, and a tag that read "Ellen's About to Pop!" with a generic baby shower thank you poem. I promise to take a picture of said item and post it!
So the shower is this Saturday and the countdown in my brain has begun. I'm preparing everything from the food and drink to the decorations so I'll be a busy girl! I'm in absolute heaven though!

...And then it was 2010!

It seems like the holiday season literally flew by with the remainder of 2009. After I graduated high school I thought time was starting to go by very fast. I had no idea what I was talking about until I had Ethan. I literally can blink and feel like it was yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital! I mean look how much he's changed!

Ethan - One Week Old!

Ethan 8 Months Old!                                                                                        

We're on the home stretch sliding into the first birthday here in five months. I'm absolutely loving the stage Ethan is at right now. I try my hardest to freeze frame every memory and hold onto it because I know he'll change so much more in a few months. I've decided that the absolute hardest thing about being a mom is letting go of the baby stages that seemed like perfection and embracing the new stages that come along that are a little bit scary and unfamiliar. This is parenthood with your first child, and maybe with the second/third child you come a little bit more prepared!!