ANNE MICHELLE

The Eve of the First!

2010-08-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

Addisyn turns one tomorrow...wow!!

(I haven't posted on here in forever, but I figured this was blog worthy.)

I must admit i've been pretty emotional about her turning one. She isn't a baby anymore. I can't turn back time. People told me to cherish even the times I was up with her in the middle of the night because they wouldn't last forever... they were right. She's such a sweet little girl and I tear up at even the thought of how much she means to me and Eric. I would do, be, give, sacrifice anything for her. She's my precious little "Ad". She's doing so much and growing like a weed! Everyday I laugh at the new things she does and the words she has started to say.

Today when I went up to get her out of her crib after nap she threw her hands up in the air and said "YAY" when she saw me!!! It was like "It's about time, I've been waiting for you. I've got a lot of playing to do!" HAHA!

She keeps me busy, but it's so much fun!

Happy Birthday, Addisyn Faith! Your daddy and I love you more than you will ever know...

I Laughed So Hard at This!! ....had to post for others to enjoy;)

2010-05-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

So Long Insecurity...Part 1=)

2010-04-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

I've started reading Beth Moore's book "So Long Insecurity" and it is amazing! I'm only a couple chapters in, but Beth wastes no time in "telling it like it is." I have a feeling that this is going to be the first of many posts that develop from this book.

First of all, let me say that I am EXTREMELY PASSIONATE about seeing a generation of STRONG, SECURE women raised up!! Nothing gets me more "fired up" then to see a young woman so wrapped up in her insecurities that she is either 1) On the fast track to nowhere or 2) On the fast track to the wrong place.

Now I know that I have been very blessed in my life... I was raised by amazing Christian parents who constantly built security in me. They told me all the time that I was beautiful...that I was valuable...that I was worth something...and that I could do anything I put my mind to. The sky was the limit! I believed them.

The foundation was built from birth, thanks to my Mom and Dad, that allowed my security to be built upon the Rock. Yes, of course I had my moments in high school where I was covered in zits and wearing braces and that didn't feel too sure of myself... but we're talking foundations here.

I didn't chronically date, but I wasn't single long either;) I married my best friend shortly after my 21st birthday. We moved into a beautiful home and now we have a perfect daughter who is almost 9 months old. Some may say that I have had it easy and it's no wonder why I don't battle insecurity like some women do. And I agree...I have had it easy. But that's not the point! The point is Jesus has loved me and saved me and allowed me to lay everything at His feet so that I can build my everything on Him!

Back to Beth Moore... Here is an amazing quote from her book that expresses my feelings perfectly:

"How could I need anything else in this world beyond what I already have? Lord, have mercy. What more could a woman want? As a matter of fact, I'd like to tell you exactly what more this woman could want- and not just for herself. I want some soul-deep security drawn from a source that never runs dry and never disparages us for requiring it. We need a place we can go when as much as we loathe it, we are needy and hysterical. I don't know about you, but I need someone who will love me when I hate myself. And yes, someone who will love me again and again until I kiss terrestrial sod good-bye."

That's what I want too, Beth!

We can always go deeper... He always wants to take us higher...

HE NEVER LETS GO!

2010-04-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

"Stuff" happens when you are living life on this earth... this song has really been encouraging me today!

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back
I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Chorus:

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

Chorus: (2x’s)

-Matt Redman "You Never Let Go"

God and Grass

2010-04-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Since we moved into our new house in August of 2008, we (scratch that) Eric has been working very hard to get some "weedless grass" growing in our yard. There wasn't much yard at all when we moved in and so he has seeded multiple times with multiple types of seed and done other stuff (I don't know what). Overall, there has been little success... I must say too that this has been the issue of many arguments because he has spent A LOT of time and money on various grass projects.

I happen to really, really not care about the grass as long as it as cut and green!! I was overjoyed when some weeds started to grow in our yard, because I don't care if it is cut grass or cut weeds as long as it is cut and green in the summer! I have argued with Eric so many times about the waste of money that it is to try and have a golf course-like yard, but I continue to surrender the battles and just write it off as "a guy thing." (Seriously, grass has been my whole "submissive wife" test!)

The most recent development was that Eric hired a guy to come out and spray a "pre-emergent" (spelling?) on our yard which would basically kill everything that wasn't grass (a.k.a. everything). This way he could start from scratch (again) and re-seed once the weeds were dead. I was not happy!! First of all, this all sounds expensive....Second, we're going into Spring and all the lawns in our neighborhood are starting to green up again. I DON'T WANT TO BE THE ONLY BROWN YARD! I DON'T CARE IF IT IS JUST WEEDS!

I caved.... Because the Bible tells wives to submit to their husbands....

(This is going somewhere...)

Recently I have realized that while I didn't see the bigger picture at the time, Eric was right and I think this is going to work! Yes our yard is entirely brown, but there is fresh growth of real grass peeking through everywhere!!

(And this is where it goes somewhere...)

Over the past few days, God has used my yard as a picture of how He wants to work in our lives. Just like I have been willing to settle for weeds in my yard, so many times we are willing to settle in our lives. We settle for second best... settle for partial healing/deliverance... settle for kind of holy and almost righteous... Why? Because we still want to fit in...we don't want to seem weird...we don't want to be the one yard with brown grass when everyone else's is turning green.

God wants so much more for us if we will just die to ourselves 100%! He wants us to be extreme and be willing to kill off everything that is of us in order to allow Him to bring His growth. The best part? God is not going to leave us with dead yards...He makes all things new!

My prayer is for God to kill my yard even more! I don't want to settle for a green yard of weeds... I want real grass:)

And if my husband reads this.... you were right. I was wrong;)

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." Revelation 21:5

Contending for the title of "Superwoman"

2010-04-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend I am keeping my 5 month old niece, Julia, while my bro-in-law and sis-in-law are out of town. I picked up Julia (also know as Jules, Ju-Ju and Ju-wa) this morning (Fri) and I will be passing her off to her other Aunt on Monday. So far it's going really well! Julia and Addi are both happy babies, so I am hoping for the best! The little cousins are so cute together=) I will update later...

Biblical Confessions

2010-03-22T06:05:00.001-07:00

To those of you who think it's funny that I haven't blogged in a few weeks and then now I have blogged twice in 24 hours: yup, thats just how I roll sometimes.

This morning I was reading my Bible and searching the internet for some good verses and Biblical Confession sheets. I have been asked to share with the 5th and 6th grade girls at our church this upcoming week about "What I know now that I wish I knew at your age, or that I learned at your age." I have been thinking/praying about this for a few weeks now and feel like I want to talk to the girls about security and Spiritual identity. I believe that one of the most important things that girls need to grasp at an early age is the concept of who they are in Jesus: strong, beautiful, smart, secure, powerful, overcomers, worth something!!! Throughout their lives, they will be continually bombarded with people who try to tell them that they are less than who God says they are and they must know how to fight back! When I was young and then through college, I had a number of Biblical Confession sheets that I was supposed to look in the mirror and say! Things like: "I AM MORE THAN A CONQUERER IN CHRIST JESUS" or "JESUS SEES ME AS HOLY AND BEAUTIFUL!"

Well after "googling" confession sheets I found one that had been put up by Joyce Meyer and I love it! I think it's great to know that we are not alone in some of our trivial thoughts as women. I mean, one of Joyce Meyer's confession's is "I have a beautiful wedding ring." Anyways, hope you enjoy as much as I did...

List of Confessions by Joyce Meyer

I love all people, and I am loved by all people.
I prosper in everything I put my hand to. I have prosperity in all areas of my life – spiritually, financially, mentally, and socially.
All my children have lots of Christian friends, and God has set aside a Christian wife or husband for each of them.
All my household are blessed in their deeds: we’re blessed when we come in and when we go out.
I take good care of my body. I eat right, I look good, I feel good, and I weigh what God wants me to weigh.
I operate in all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are tongues and interpretation of tongues, the working of miracles, discerning of spirits, the word of faith, the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, healings, and prophecy.
I know God’s voice, and I always obey what He tells me.
The love of God has been shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost.
I do all my work excellently and with great prudence – making the most of all of my time.
I am creative because the Holy Spirit lives in me.
I love to pray. I love to praise and worship God.
I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. I will speak forth the righteousness of God all the day long.
I have humbled myself, and God has exalted me.
I am a giver. It is more blessed to give than to receive. I love to give! I have plenty of money to give away all the time.
I cast all my care on the Lord for He cares for me.
I don’t give the devil a foothold in my life. I resist the devil, and he has to flee from me.
I don’t have a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.
I am not afraid of the faces of man. I am not afraid of the anger of man.
I am a new creature in Christ: old things have passed away, behold, all things are new.
I have died and have been raised with Christ and am now seated in heavenly places.
I am dead to sin and alive unto righteousness.
I am a doer of the Word. I meditate on the Word all the day long.
I am not passive about anything, but I deal with all things in my life immediately.
I do not judge my sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus after the flesh. I am a spiritual man and am judged by no one.
I take every thought captive unto the obedience of Jesus Christ, casting down every imagination, and every high and lofty thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
I am a responsible person. I enjoy responsibility, and I rise to every responsibility in Jesus.
I have been set free. I am free to love, to worship, to trust with no fear of rejection or of being hurt.
I have compassion and understanding for all people.
I catch the devil in all of his deceitful lies. I cast them down and choose rather to believe the Word of God.
I am Anointed by God for ministry. Alleluia!
Work is good. I enjoy work. Glory!
I have a teachable spirit.
I do not think more highly of myself than I ought to in the flesh.
Pain cannot successfully come against my body because Jesus bore all my pain.
I am a teacher of the Word.
I lay hands on the sick, and they recover.
I do what I say I will do, and I get where I am going on time.
I don’t hurry and rush; I do one thing at a time.
God opens my mouth, and no man can shut it. God shuts my mouth, and no man can open it.
The law of kindness is in my tongue. Gentleness is in my touch. Mercy and compassion is in my hearing.
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he; therefore, all of my thoughts are positive.
I do not allow the devil to use my spirit as a garbage dump by meditating on negative things that he offers me.
I am a believer not a doubter.
No weapon that is formed against me shall prosper, but every tongue that rises against me in judgement, I shall show to be in the wrong.
I am slow to speak, quick to hear, and slow to anger.
I cast out devils and demons; nothing deadly can hurt me.
I never bind a sister or brother with the words of my mouth.
I am always a positive encouragement. I edify and build up; I never tear down or destroy.
I will cry to God most high Who performs on my behalf and rewards me.
My son (name) has a sweet personality, and he is not rebellious.
I don’t speak negative things.
My children love to pray and study the Word. They openly and boldly praise God.
My children make right choices according to the Word of God.
I am an obedient wife, and no rebellion operates in me.
My husband is wise. He is the king and priest of our home. He makes Godly decisions.
I use my time wisely. All of my prayer and study time is wisely spent.
I walk in the spirit all of the time.
My car is paid for.
I am rich – very rich.
I love to bless people and spread the Gospel.
I am an intercessor.
I receive speaking engagements in person, by phone, and/or by mail every day.
My daughter (name) operates in Godly wisdom and discipline, and she is full of energy.
I have a finished basement.
I have a beautiful wedding ring.
We have all the new furniture we need. We have a new car.
I never get tired or grow weary when I study the Word, pray, minister, or praise God; but I am alert and full of energy. And as I study, I become more alert and more energized.
I will to study the Word of God. I will to pray.
My husband can see perfectly. By the stripes of Jesus, he is healed.
I do not hate or walk in unforgiveness.
I do not fear. I am not guilty.

College Student Moments vs. Adult Moments

2010-03-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

So Eric and I like to make jokes about having "adult moments" and "college student moments"...

Since we got married and had a baby so young, there are definitely times that we feel like it is all just playing grown up as we walk through the day to day challenges of work, baby, bills, etc. At times though, we resort back to the college days.=)

Now to any college students who may read this, I do not at all intend to belittle anything you do or make it seem easy. Instead, I'm saying enjoy every minute!!

Nine times out of ten we play the adult role fairly well. Eric comes home from work and I have a crock pot meal waiting on the table. There is always a vegetable with every meal because, um hello, adults eat their veggies!! Addisyn sits in the high chair with us and I push my apron out of the way as I prance across the kitchen to refill Eric's glass. Eric usually leads us in a family devotion and then looks at me and says "Darling, How was your day?" ...and then of course he listens intently. After dinner, I do the dishes as he fills me in on things at work. Once Addisyn is bathed and in bed, we retire to our bedroom, put on our matching flannel pajamas and read for a few minutes before kissing each other good night and going to bed early. (This is slightly exaggerated...the only true part is that I do make dinner, we do eat as a family, and we usually have veggies)

Well, tonight, we are having an all out college student night!! Partly because I'm sick and not feeling up to much. We just ran out to blockbuster and came back with 2 movies, a pizza, coke, candy, and popcorn!! No joke! (There was some kinda "movie package" at blockbuster that had the drinks, candy, and popcorn.) Eric's putting Addisyn to bed and then we're going to skip eating at the table and instead chow down on the couch as we watch a movie!!

The point of all this? There really isn't one... Except to say, enjoy life...enjoy every moment...enjoy your spouse. Spend time together without expectations of what "adults" do. Eric and I love to have fun together! He's my best friend!

No Clever Title

2010-02-17T18:26:00.001-08:00

I really want to write a clever title and fill this blog with cute new pictures of Addi and maybe talk about mine and Eric's Valentines Date (which was wonderful)...but i'm not! I'm pooped...haven't been able to find time for blogging....didn't get home from work till 8:45 tonight...

Oh yeah and Addisyn got her shots yesterday and has two teeth coming in...a.k.a. fussy! That's all... stay tuned=)

HAPPY 6 MONTH BIRTHDAY, ADDISYN!

2010-02-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, February 10th, was Addisyn's 6 month Birthday!

Addi... Happy 1/2 year Bday, Baby! You are so precious to me and Daddy and we love you more than you will ever know!!

At 6 months you are:

Rolling over both ways, but not putting it together that once you flip yourself one way you can roll back over.

Sleeping through the night (11-12 hrs) most of the time;)

Not much of a napper...you are way to busy, but Mommy is convinced that we will have nap time!

Formula fed and starting on some baby food. So far you aren't a fan of bananas=)

Approx. 17lbs...haven't been to the 6 mo appt. yet

Sitting up and playing with toys...no longer content to lay on your back like a "little baby"!

Grabbing EVERYTHING AND PUTTING IT IN YOUR MOUTH!!!

Loving the exersaucer

Watching TV and paying attention to it more than most 3 year olds i've seen!!...you watch TV with your mouth hanging open like your Daddy;)

You love our dogs, Georgia and Jake, and you chew on them too if they will stand still long enough.

You are the joy of my life, Addisyn Faith!!! I love you!!

Snow Day!

2010-01-31T05:42:00.000-08:00

I was so happy to get to see some white stuff this winter! ...And extremely thankful that I was well enough to enjoy it. Eric and I were talking yesterday about last winter's snow. I was barely pregnant with Addisyn and soooo sick! Eric almost took me to the emergency room b/c Greenville OB was closed and I could barely even walk! Definitely thankful that's behind us...

This year, our sweet baby girl is here, and she was able to see her first snow!! She didn't quite know what to think about the snow, but she HATED getting bundled up!

We took her down some extreme hills on this skim board!

Don't ask about the ski glasses...i'm not sure...

Later that night when we were warm and dry inside...I told Eric it's him and his "mini me"...I think she looks just like him! :)

My man is "the man!"

2010-01-28T19:09:00.000-08:00

Today has been a looong day. Addisyn has been sick, therefore fussy... no need to elaborate further.

By the time Eric got home from work I was just barely holding it together so he didn't have to come home to a wife meltdown. But frankly, I had been caring for Addi's every need all day and I just wanted someone to take care of me! (Selfish and unrealistic, maybe...but thats just where I was at). There was no dinner on the table, because my child would shriek if I set her down and it would then escalate to the point of vomiting...yes, i'm serious.

Once Addi was in bed, I started to think about food and realized that I wanted french toast! For those who may be wondering...yes that is a weird craving, no i'm not pregnant. I just wanted some french toast, but I intended to starve before I dirtied up the kitchen at 8:30 pm after the day I'd had!! Eric was watching tv and I asked him in my most pitiful, sweet, sexy, irresistible voice "Baby, will you make me some french toast?"....his response? "No. I don't know how."

Rabbit trail from my story.... How is it that men "forget" how to do a lot of things after they get married? I'm just saying, there are a lot of things that my husband "can't" do now that i'm pretty sure I saw him do back when he was single! Anyways...

I stopped caring about what he was watching on tv and decided I was going to take a bubble bath and then go to bed. I loooove baths! It relaxes me so much and I am able to leave a ton of stress in my tub:) When I got out of the tub, I smelled something AMAZING and then went out and found before my very eyes, a table set for two with FRENCH TOAST!!! ...and a husband that was very proud of himself! I got teary eyed, I was sooo blessed!

I, of course, asked him how he knew how to make french toast all the sudden..."I looked in the recipe book" (mental note...the whole "I don't know how" thing really is an act sometimes). Anyways, we ate french toast for dinner at 10:00 at night and talked about how we were going to get fat if we kept doing this...but it was fun!

Eric also cleaned up! He is amazing and I love him so much!

Oh yeah...and he made a point of the fact that he unloaded the dishwasher too....my response "Thanks babe, but don't push it with the bragging thing!" LOL;)

Sick Week

2010-01-28T06:31:00.000-08:00

Addisyn has been pretty sick this week, so other than me going to work yesterday (and her going to Grandma's) we haven't really done much. It's been kinda nice!

I took her to the doctor on Monday and she has an ear infection in her left ear and she's got the most brutal cough!!! Fortunately, the dr. said it didn't sound like pneumonia...which apparently she had seen a lot of lately. (I'd be freaking out if it was!)

So I've been spoiling my sick girl this week=) We've been watching a lot of tv in Mommy's bed. I swear, this child LOVES some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny. She watches it constantly like she's 5 yrs old instead of 5 months! ...And most naps have either been in Mommy's arms or in the swing (mainly b/c she doesn't sleep well laid flat with the cough and ear infection).

I'm not gonna lie, it's not been easy b/c she's really fussy, but i'm making it!

Feel better soon Baby!

^This pic was mid-cough!

"On Love and Respect"...probably the first of many

2010-01-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

So Eric and I, along with some friends, are reading a book by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs called "Love and Respect". The book is about the woman's primary need to feel loved and men's primary need to feel respected. We have pretty much only read the intro so far, but I think it's going to be great!

The men like this book because it doesn't always assume that the men are wrong in most marriage situations...but to be honest, I like it for that reason too! Instead of reading a book that generally just focuses on my needs as a woman, and then spending my time thinking about how my husband doesn't meet those needs, its much better to know where I fall short so I can ask God to change me to be a better wife!

Anyways, that's the back story... so lately I've been praying a lot about my marriage! Asking God to show me the areas where I "take over" and don't properly honor my husband as the head of the household. I've also been asking God to teach me how to react in those times when I don't feel loved in the way that I would like.

During church last sunday we sang "The Desert Song" which I love!!!....great chorus, verses, everything! The part that stuck out for me, though, was when we sing "Break my heart for what breaks Yours, Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause, SHOW ME HOW TO LOVE LIKE YOU HAVE LOVED ME." I was thinking about those words and just began to ask God to show me how to love my husband as Jesus has loved me (and of course, following with the theme of the book to be able to show love to my husband through respect).

Well, since then, God has really made this statement real to me and basically shown me that If I really want to love like He loves me I have no ground for any fussing, complaining, pity parties at all when it comes to my husband! Jesus was nailed to a cross because of His love for me! He made the ultimate sacrifice and since then there are MANY MANY MANY times when I have treated Him wrongly!! How can I even begin to compare anything to that?!? So I began to ask Jesus to "conform me into His image" and show me how to love my husband (and others) on that kind of a level! A level that is willing to love with everything...not based on results, and even in fact, assuming results that you won't like! If I commit to love my husband as Jesus has loved me then I am to love even when all I receive in return is a bad attitude, etc. I mean, I can't even wrap my mind around the fact that Jesus was nailed to a cross for me and then many times a day I turn around and basically slap him in the face with thoughts, actions, and words that I have that are not glorifying to God. Jesus, continue to show me how to love like you have loved me!

P.S. ...my husband is an amazing guy and I love him sooo much! I don't want this to sound like "OMG my man has issues!" Love you E!

I have found the $1,000,000 secret!!

2010-01-23T05:49:00.000-08:00

Since I have become a mom (and also many times before) I have wondered to myself....how do people do it? By "it" I mean, care for a child, keep the house clean, and control the piles of dirty clothes/sheets/towels that over take the laundry room, etc? Oh yeah, and work part time...and other stuff...

I've spent a while now in this constant state of "overwhelmedness"... you like that word don't ya? Definition? "Overwhelmedness"- a state of feeling overwhelmed a lot! I love something that my sister-in-law said last week, "When you have a 3 year old, you don't have time to clean up after them...and when you have a baby you don't have time to clean up after yourself." So true! Many times I wondered how my house gets so messy when its usually just me here? Here's how: if Addisyn will relax for 5 minutes in the exersaucer then I have a second to make myself a bowl of soup and a sandwich for lunch.... BUT then she'll probably blow out a poop in her pants and "ta-da" the dishes are either left on the counter or thrown in the sink to take care of that... and it starts!

(Pause the writing of this post to put Addi down for a nap)

So anyways, this week I have found the key to keeping everything under control...

ARE YOU READY!?!?

Here goes...

Don't rest! ...EVER! Don't be deceived into thinking you get "me time." You don't. If I am not constantly doing some sort of cooking, cleaning, laundry, diaper changing, dog feeding task then I get behind. When is my time to rest? Most nights I am able to rest from 10:30pm-1:00am, 1:30am - 5am, 6am- 7am (Addi has had a cold so she hasnt been sleeping well). I know that this is all said sarcastically but I'm pretty much serious! That's how it seems! Every moment that I am in my house there is something that needs to be done!

So back to overwhelmedness... this week I was rocking Addisyn before bed and I just started crying. I cried out to God and my prayer was very simple... "God, i'm weary"... Now tired is a physical state, but weary is physical, spiritual, mental and emotional exhaustion. I immediately heard the still, small voice of my creator "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest!" Now as I mentioned before, the kind of rest where you put in a movie, take a bubble bath and then nap if you want to is not so practical anymore.

So the point of my ramblings is this... I am constantly in a state of "doing" as a wife and mom. But my prayer is that MY SPIRIT WOULD BE AT REST. God is revealing his love to me in such an awesome way right now and even though I may go to bed "tired" I am being refreshed everyday by an amazing God who always meets us where we're at!

Practically how does this work for me? Playing worship music! Meditating on "tidbits" from the word! Spending time praying during the day. I mean, you can be thanking God for His goodness while you're taking a shower or changing a diaper! Most importantly by not letting the devil discourage me! By changing my mentality to "be at rest" in the midst of my busyness I find that in the midst of the mundane I find joy!!!

I DON'T CARE!!!!

2010-01-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

Just a quick vent... my husband is obsessed with Skip Holtz leaving ECU to go to USF! I'm so sick of hearing about it!!! I don't want to discuss it any further or be forced to "read" anymore articles about it! I was sad for about a minute that his "era" has come to an end but now i'm over it! That's all...

P.S. Even as I write this Eric is looking over my shoulder telling me to put that "maybe Bobby Bowden's son will come coach for us" ....grrrr

Addisyn's First Christmas

2010-01-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

...PICTURES AS PROMISED=)

Such a little cutie pie! ...and so photogenic=)

Addi in her bumbo seat watching Pop Pop and cousin Livi!

"Santa" (aka Pop Pop and Grandma Nae) brought her a baby doll cradle and highchair

And, yes, she got a present that was bigger than she was ....it was an exersaucer and she loves it!

Addisyn and Great-Grandma Steinmetz on Christmas morning

Daddy bought her a Pirates jersey to wear for the bowl game...Arrrggghh!!

Addi got lots of teddy bears... and a little baby doll!

Aren't these Christmas jammies precious?!?

Me and my girl on the Sunday before Christmas. She is wearing my dress

that I wore my first Christmas!

Alright...here's for an update...

2010-01-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

So to all of you who think i'm falling off the face of the blog earth... you may be a little bit right! I love blogging but it's just kinda gotten pushed to the bottom of my priority list behind holiday preparation/recovery, working, being a wife and mommy, etc. I know that many of you do way more than me and still blog about it all....kudos to you;) Needless to say, my blog posts may or may not be more scarce, but that just means it will be so much more of a joy to read after you have to wait for one! LOL! (If you haven't noticed I like to act like more than 3 people read my blog)

I'm blogging today because i'm sick (UGH!) and in bed with nothing to do. My amazing husband packed up Addi and took her with him to the dealership so that I could rest, since I barely got 4 hours of sleep last night!

Anyways, our trip to Florida ended up being fun! It was a LOOONNNGGG drive, but an adventure nonetheless. We did Christmas with Eric's family and I got the cutest COACH boots! Eric, Addi and I got a day out to shop and we went to the HUGEST mall I have ever been to in Tampa. Lets be honest, most of the stores I didn't even step into because I knew I couldn't afford one sock from Louis Vuitton, Gucci or Burberry;) But, hey, I did stock up on new undies @ Victoria's Secret and browsed bags at Coach (my favorite place ever)!

All in all we had a great Christmas! Addisyn got enough stuff to fill up my whole house, but I guess thats the way it should be. I mean seriously though...she won't need to celebrate another birthday or Christmas until she's 3! I was really excited because she was much more involved than I thought she would be. She loved to watch everyone open their presents and she sampled each and every gift bag or piece of tissue paper to see which ones were the tastiest! I have about a million pictures of Addi's first Christmas but my camera is in the diaper bag which, as I previously mentioned is with my Super Husband at the dealership. =) Pics to come later...

I must say, I did have the lamest New Year's Eve, though. I went to bed! At like 10:30! But you know what?!? The ball dropping is really not that fascinating and it was still 2010 when I woke up the next morning and I felt rested!

Speaking of 2010...i'm believing that it's going to be a wonderful year! 2009 showed me a whole new side of God and His faithfulness! I walked through the sickest three months of my life when I was pregnant with Addisyn, but came out on the other side stronger and with the most precious gift of all! My baby girl has blessed mine and Eric's life more than I could've ever imagined! I'm thankful for my husband's health and that God sustained us (and is continuing to sustain us) through the battle with his pain. I'm thankful that my parents both celebrated their 50th birthdays and their 25th wedding anniversary! I'm thankful that God gave us favor in the car business this year and that we still have our doors opened at Feyer Ford and Mercury and Feyer Ford Lincoln Mercury! God's goodness has been so humbling in 2009...I can't even imagine what 2010 has to offer! My prayer for this year? ..."Just a closer walk with Thee..."

We have arrived

2009-12-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

So I would love to fill this post with lots of wit and pictures but to be honest, i'm too freaking tired! The drive was loooooonnng!! Addisyn did amazing! Thank you Jesus! But, thanks to traffic, we left at 9am and did not get here till after midnight! (We were supposed to be here by 9 ish) Plus the morning we left I had been up @ 6 with Addi and finishing packing! Then when we got here, Addisyn was so keyed up that she didn't go to bed till almost 2, woke up at 5, then woke up again at 8pm. Needless to say, im tired...hopefully today will be somewhat restful. (And I probably won't be making it till midnight to welcome the new year!

Anyways, Happy New Year everyone! Many blessings in 2010! The worst is over, the best is yet to come...

The Maiden Voyage of the Feyer Mobile (aka the Sequel to Meet the Fockers, R.V. and the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation)

2009-12-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

So tomorrow morning me, Eric, Addi, Eric's parents, his sister and her boyfriend Houston are loading up in his parents humongous motor home and making the trek to Tampa, Florida!!! It's going to take us approximately 12 hours and i'm so freaking nervous! I'm just going to go ahead and say that if Addisyn decides to scream the whole way I may be throwing back a few Miller Lite's with the rest of the clan;) We're going to meet Eric's grandparents and aunts/uncles/cousins down there to do Christmas and it should be a lot of fun!! But like I said before...I'll breath a sigh of relief when we arrive=)

Allison is constantly harassing me about being a blog slacker lately so i'm going to attempt to blog about our trip. Like I said... it should be interesting! More to come...stay tuned...

Highlights from last week!

2009-11-19T04:25:00.000-08:00

So I have to make this post quick b/c the day is starting and i've got places to go and people to see...

Two big events happened last week!

1) Addisyn was dedicated to Jesus last Sunday! It was an amazing time when Eric and I were able to commit her life to Jesus, realizing that she is His and not ours, and publicly ask God (and the church) for help in raising her to be a young woman after His heart. It was awesome! Also, we were very thankful to get to dedicate Addi along with the Dameron family and Lilyana. Allison and I had been wanting to dedicate the girls together from the very beginning of our pregnancies and so this was kinda one of those "Thank ya Jesus we made it" moments!

2) I had a new niece born! Julia Lane Feyer (born to Eric's brother Chad and his wife Amy) was born on 11/12/09 and she weighed 8lbs 7oz! I got to be there at the hospital for her birth, which was really special, since I was also there for Olivia's birth (my other niece). When Olivia was born Eric and I were only dating, so it was cool to be at Julia's birth now that Eric and I are married and have our own baby girl! Plus it's so fun that Addi and Julia are going to be so close in age! Isn't the picture of Eric, Chad and the girls cute?!!

What an amazing God we serve!

2009-11-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

So, Allison and I talk about blogging pretty often and one thing we agree on is that we would like our blogs to be practical and real, but also with a little spiritual revelation. Basically, some posts are just about nonsense, but every now and then we both like to throw in a lil nugget of truth.

Now, let me tell ya...the "nuggets of truth" do not come around as often as I may like. =) With being a stay at home mom and working two days a week, it is much easier to blog about poop blow outs, drama at work, or Addisyn's latest milestone than a "blog worthy" spiritual thought.

In my quiet time lately I have been eating up some Romans, though. Romans is one of those books that we LOOOOVVEE when we first get saved, but it's also great to revisit frequently because it is full of so much of the "meat" of salvation and our Christian life!

(**PAUSE**...give Addisyn the paci)

(**PAUSE AGAIN**...get Addi out of the swing and lay her on the floor in front of the TV...is it bad that my 3 month old watches TV?!)

Anyways... I came across this verse "What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all!..." Romans 3:3-4

I love this verse!!! I mean, I really really really try to live a lifestyle of faith. I CHOOSE to believe that God is bigger and is always in control in ALL situations. But sometimes, when the rubber meets the road, you do wonder if your faith is just all talk! When we sat in the doctors office and were told that Eric may have cancer, my mind ran wild! My mouth was saying "God knows the plans for our lives and He is in control" but, my mind was going "I can't do this...I'm too young for this...What if become a widow at 23?...What if Eric and I aren't guaranteed a lifetime together?...What if he isn't here to walk Addisyn down the aisle at her wedding or sit next to me at her highschool graduation?" I mean, I'm just being honest...those were my "dark moment" thoughts.

I remember calling Allison and saying "I talk about having faith, but now I don't know if I can really do it...this is hard!" But the beauty of it all is that God's faithfulness was not phased by my doubts and lack of faith!

And you know what? We made it! God was so faithful and we ended up with a good report for Eric!! I love the fact that God doesn't need me! God's faithfulness doesn't rely on my faith...His strength does not rely on my being strong! He is strong when I am weak!!! What an amazing God we serve!

" I know the plans that I have for You"

2009-11-05T05:23:00.000-08:00

So Tuesday at 11 was Eric's appointment... They told us to be there no later than 10:30am! Well, trying to get from our house to Duke by 10:30, with an infant, was not something I was looking forward to. Our day started at about 6:15. Avoiding the full story of the rushing, stress, etc....let's just say we made it.

First of all, I need to make mention of the fact that Duke Medical Center is insane! It's on a whole 'nother level as far as hospitals go. That place had like 14 parking decks, 40 million elevators, too many different floors and wings, but they had it so well laid out (with excellent signs and maps) that you never felt lost or disoriented. We were walking around with our mouths hanging open like tourists....it was impressive!

Eric was sent to the Morris Cancer Clinic to see Dr. Shalini Ramasunder. It was kinda discouraging to be sent to the Cancer ward, but we just tried to ignore it. Once we got in there though, it was a hard fact to ignore. The place was huge!! (Probably 75 people in the waiting room!) And everywhere you looked people looked downcast, many women were walking around with scarfs on there heads and sunken eyes from a recent chemo treatment. It was a very heavy atmosphere. I was glad that I had Addisyn because she kinda was a bright spot for everyone in there. I almost cried though when one woman came up to me and said "Tell me you aren't here for her...tell me she's healthy and doesn't have cancer." Intense stuff...

So after almost two hours of waiting (not easy with a 3 month old)...we got in to see the doctor. Now, Eric and I had developed a picture in our mind of what we thought Dr. Ramasunder would be like. Our opinion included her probably being a nerd and more than likely not speaking English. We were wrong. She spoke English probably better than I do and she was not a nerd at all! She was super down to earth and even kept us laughing. All I could think to myself was "she should be on Grey's Anatomy because she's super cute and funny, but I bet she is a beast of a surgeon" (I mean, you don't get to be an orthopaedic surgeon at Duke without being amazing).

Anyways, she felt Eric's foot and looked at the MRI and "deliberated" with her residents that she was training (again, very Grey's Anatomyish). When she came back into the room, she told us that she couldn't feel a distinct mass in his foot. Usually if it's a synovial sarcoma (cancer) she can feel the tumor. Also after looking at the MRI, she didn't think it looked like a sarcoma either. (I know that doesn't sound very convincing, but she gave a lot more reasons I just can't remember them.)

So the good news is that it doesn't look like Eric's tumor is cancer! Praise God! Instead, she says its a type of vascular tumor called a hemangioma, which is basically a clump of blood vessels in a place where they shouldn't be, surrounded by a layer of fat. This was her diagnosis, but she is also going to consult with the radiology team at Duke and let us know for sure in the next few days. The other good news is that she doesn't think she needs to operate (or more like she doesn't think she CAN operate...so much for her career on Grey's). She said that in order for her to be able to take out the mass, she would need to know what she was taking out. If she opened up his foot, she said that the hemangioma, because it is just blood vessels, would look very much like everything else in his foot. She doesn't want Eric to have to go through major foot surgery if she isn't sure that she can take out the mass (and if it's not malignant...she doesn't feel the urgency either).

I think that's great for right now because surgery on the bottom of your foot is a HUGE deal to recover from. Eric is pleased and relieved but also a little bummed because he's still in a lot of pain. Once were done with the cancer/surgery drama of it all...he will be seeing another doctor for options on how to manage the pain.

All in all...I am so thankful! God is so amazing. When you sit in a doctor's office at 23 years old and they tell you that it's a possibility that your husband may have cancer...it's not a fun feeling. I don't even need to write all the things that went through my mind...i'm sure anyone can guess. But I worked hard to fight the devil and take those thoughts captive! And to constantly stand on the fact that my God is big and His plans for my life are for welfare and not for calamity!! Thank you Jesus for seeing us through!

He is still on the throne!

2009-11-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I just finished my post about my sweets problem=)

But there is something else on my mind...

For as long as I can remember, Eric has had foot pain. He's not a complainer, so other than a mention of it here or there we didn't really pay much attention to it. We both wrote it off as him being out of shape, wearing the wrong shoes and maybe even an old sports injury. It had been "diagnosed" as plantar fasciitis...so we just assumed that was it.

Then in the past few months, he started having pain in his hip and lower back... And it got worse. A few times he would fall out of bed in the morning because his entire left leg would be numb! This was not cool.

He started out going to a chiropractor, since the back pain was the most annoying. The chiropractor took x-rays and told him that two of his vertebrae at the bottom of his spine were touching and pinching his sciatic nerve. Eric got many many adjustments there, but the pain didn't really go away.

I encouraged him to go to a basic family doctor for a physical, and so he could download about his pain and get a fresh perspective. He went to the doctor and Eric was told again that his foot problem sounded like basic fasciitis, but since he'd been having foot pain for so long (8ish years) the doctor wanted him to see a podiatrist ("foot doctor") for confirmation.

The podiatrist took some x-rays of his foot and immediately ruled out fasciitis since the longest case he's ever heard of lasted only about 15 months. The x-rays immediately showed some sort of weird "bone growth" type thing on his heel bone. Nothing to be concerned about...they can do a quick and easy surgery to fix it, no problem. But the doctor did think it was weird that it was causing him so much pain because these types of things rarely do.... so he ordered an MRI for a better look. And then Eric was called back for another MRI a few days later.

I went with Eric to the follow up appointment to get the results of the MRI. Why was I there? Because I wanted to make sure that we would be able to schedule this "simple" surgery at a good time that would work well around my petty schedule. The news we received was not quite what we planned.

The doctor said that the "irony" of it was that the thing they originally saw on the x-ray was nothing, but that there is a "soft tissue mass with blood flow to it" on the bottom of Eric's foot. He showed us the tumor on the MRI and I immediately began to hate that white blob. The doctor told us about 6 different possibilities of what it could be. In my limited medical understanding (which consists of what i've learned from Grey's Anatomy), I just heard "cancer or not cancer."

Blah Blah Blah...the doctor talked some more and the long and short of it is that Eric has now been referred to Duke to see an orthopedic oncologist. I was so thankful and appreciative for our doctors humility in telling us that Eric needed to see the "best" for this kind of tumor and he wasn't it.

So that's about all we know right now. Tuesday at 11 am is Eric's appointment at Duke. Surgery is in the near future we are told...and it doesn't sound like an easy surgery! And then of course there will be biopsies and so on and so forth.

So anyways...Yes, it stresses me out! Yes, I get scared! I'm not sure how i'm going to take care of my husband after major foot surgery. I don't know how we're going to handle trips back and forth to Duke with Addisyn. I don't know what will happen, if we do find out it's cancer...but I can't worry about that! I have to focus on God's promises to me that are yes and amen! He will never leave me...He works all things together for our good! He loves me, my husband and my child more than I will ever be able to comprehend!!!!

"When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul." Ps. 94:19

Step One is Admitting You Have a Problem

2009-11-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Okay, starting off, this is completely unrelated to my post but my husband is watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Cartoon Network as I type this...he's got weird taste in TV sometimes.

Moving on...

I have a problem. A major problem. A sugar problem!!!! I'm not talking about the occasional "oh I need chocolate because i'm a woman" problem... I'm talking about the CONSTANT craving of cookies, brownies, ice cream, candy, cookie dough, and a combination of all!!! (yum) Seriously, I took a spoon to some cookie dough this morning at 7am! Also, sometimes I decide to just skip lunch and help myself to a sundae from sonic instead...out of control! I blame it on nursing, but I think i've just gotten my taste buds addicted to sugar!

My problem recently is due to 2 factors I've decided:

1) I'm an adult now. I do the grocery shopping. I buy too many sweets if they look good to me. I eat ice cream for lunch instead of a balanced meal. Oh mother, how I wish you were here to grocery shop for "healthy snacks" like carrot sticks and dried apricots! Oh self control, please take the place of my mother when it comes to my diet!

2) This dang Halloween! I mean you have to buy "Treats" for the trick or treaters...enough said.

Anyways, i've got to do something to change. I mean the cravings are crazy and I don't feel good with all the sugar...

Which leads me to my second (although related) topic... I need to get in better shape and hopefully lose a few pounds. Now, I'm gonna go ahead and say it, If you are thinking "Oh my gosh Anne Michelle you're already so skinny, I hate you!" or "Your baby weight just dropped off, I hate you" or "You have it so easy, I hate you!" then just stop reading.

Those are comments that I get a lot and just to clear things up: 1) No, I do not think I am fat 2) No, i'm not anorexic 3) No, I'm not fishing for a compliment.

I just think that my sugar problem is a smaller component of an overall snacking problem...And every girl no matter if she's 100 lbs or 200 lbs has an "ideal" weight where she feels great...and I feel like i'm a few pounds heavier than that ideal weight.

My plan is quite simple now really...take time for a lil exercise and quit the snacking! I eat out of bordem and it's a terrible habit!

That's about it I guess... I wish I could leave you with some pictures, but i'm too lazy to go get my camera and upload them (so much for motivation to exercise)!

It's just life...

2009-10-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

Hi to all my millions of blog fans! First of all i'd like to apologize to all of you who have been sitting by your computer hitting refresh every 5 minutes waiting for me to post again... I know it's hard but I have found myself extremely busy lately. Also, if you've emailed me recently i'm like 3 months behind in responding to the 600+ emails in my inbox, but I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Basically, life is just moving fast. I work 2 days a week which is craziness. It takes a full 2 hours on the mornings that I work to get myself ready and get Addisyn ready, packed up, and out the door to Grandma's house. (It takes Eric two hours to get himself out of bed and take a shower!) The rest of the days i'm juggling between house work, grocery shopping, other random errands, laundry, naptimes (for Addi, not me) , Community Bible Study, church functions and hanging out with friends!

Recently on Facebook one of my "friends" (the quotes indicate that we are friends on facebook but not exactly in real life...she's more like a friend of a friend of my brother's)...anyways, her status said "so and so (name changed to protect the ignorant) wants to know why middle school kids keep posting statuses about how stressed out they are. what's there to be stressed about about...your study skills quiz or your boyfriend of 3 days breaking up with you?"

This status totally made me flip out! Homegirl is a freshman in college!!! I may only be 23 years old, but I know that she is not the one to talk about stress! Seriously!?! College life was a breeze!!! ...I mean, get married, have a baby, pay two mortgages, have debt (lots of debt), try to figure out how to get good health insurance and life insurance, start thinking about writing a will, work a 60-h0ur a week job for a while, change a poop blow out, yell at your dog, go to the grocery store, cook dinner, clean up dinner, keep the house looking like a picture out of a pottery barn catalog, do laundry, do baby laundry which requires an entire bottle of spray and wash, try to become more like Jesus in the midst of it all, and make sure you're looking gorgeous and ready to give the hubby a kiss and smile when he gets home...that's stress!

Now to all my many blog followers who are further along in life and are laughing at me for thinking I know stress...feel free to have a good laugh at my expense.

Week at a Glance=)

2009-10-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

So here's the update on my week...

Monday I went back to work for the first time since having Addisyn and had a great day! I brought her with me and she did really well. We were able to stay on schedule and she napped there better than she naps at home sometimes! It was kinda hard for my Type A personality to not be 100% focused on work, but Eric kept telling me "How many people get the opportunity to work and bring their babies?"...He's so right. I didn't actually get more than 1 1/2 hrs of uninterrupted work time and didn't feel as productive as I could've been, but I was at peace having my baby with me. :) I don't know when I'll actually start leaving Addisyn...I guess whenever it stops working out having her there.

Tuesday was date day with Allison and Lilyana, of course! We met for lunch at the mall, which was great b/c we were able to eat and do some shopping and only had to get the girls out of the car once!! It was pretty funny though b/c Addisyn and Lilyana were a tag team at screaming the whole day. One would start crying and when she stopped the other one would start! It came time for the girls to eat, but of course Ally and I were not done shopping so we did what anyone would do (joking)...we sat in the car together with our flashy hooter hiders and nursed! Following that was a trip to Once Upon A Child (where I got a Bumbo seat for $15...I'll have to post a pic of Addi in it), and of course we finished up the day with HUMONGOUS brownie sundaes from The Daily Grind. Fortunately the babies were sleeping by then so Allison and I enjoyed gaining back our baby weight in one dessert. :) Good times....good times...

Wednesday UGH!!! As soon as Addisyn woke up on Wednesday morning I knew it was not going to be good. The poor thing was stuffed up and basically she SCREAMED ALL DAY!!! I just had to walk around and bounce her, which was exhausting and kinda frusterating since I had a mental to-do list of stuff I wanted to get done around the house. Anyways...Wednesday was screaming day...let's move on....

Thursday Today I just decided that Addisyn and I were going to take it slow since she's got a little bit of a cold. I threw my to-do list out the window and was determined to just cuddle my pitiful baby all day! It actually turned out to be a great day! Addisyn just sat with me and she slept most of the day!!! At one point I laid her on the couch next to me and we both fell asleep. I think it was only my second nap since she's been born! I pretty much watched TLC all day long, thanking God during every Baby Story that Addisyn was in my arms and all that labor and delivery stuff was behind me!! It was so nice to rest (and have Addi resting) and just release myself from trying to do too much.

Today finished up wonderfully with my husband showing up with flowers, a card, and tons of chocolate for me!! Just because i'm a great wife and mom, ya know?!?! It was soooo sweet of him and it made me cry! He's an awesome husband, a great daddy, and my best friend! I'll keep him around. ;) I'm hoping he'll keep me around after I get fat b/c of all the candy he brought me!!! I love you E!!

Tomorrow we go back to work...me, my hubby and my baby! I'm very lucky!

Back on the Grind

2009-10-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow I start back work. It's really only 2 days a week so not too bad (but those two days are loooong hours). I was working as the Finance Manager @ ole' Feyer Ford before I got pregnant...6 days a week! I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot and got to interact with every customer!! Once I got pregnant though (after the 3 months I took off b/c of sickeness), I couldn't handle so many hours and my hormonal, emotional nerves could not handle having to deal with all the customers (lol...the thing I enjoyed before pregnancy was the thing I couldn't take during it)!! I mean, I love people, and I love meeting Feyer Ford customers but when I was preggers I just didn't have the energy to deal with explaining paperwork, answering a million questions and then dealing with the small percentage of customers that you just couldn't make happy no matter what you did. Now, I work back in the office doing title work and reporting all our sales to Ford Motor Co. At least that's the bulk of my job... I've given myself the title of "Problem Manager" b/c that's really what I do. Whenever there's some sort of vehicle ordering, sales reporting, contract funding, title, inventory, etc problem...then I handle it. =)

I'm soooo nervous about leaving Addisyn! Not because I don't think she'll be taken care of, I mean, she'll be staying with my mom one day a week and Eric's mom the other day...so the Grandma's will take good care of her for sure! I'm more nervous for me! I'm gonna miss her sooo much and i'm worried she'll miss me. :) She's gotten pretty attached to her Momma. I'll make it though. The first week or so i'm just going to bring her with me. I'm not sure how much work i'll get done, but it will make the transition easier.

All in all, i'm looking forward to going back to work a couple days. It'll give me something different to do and it's "intellectually stimulating"... all the details keep my brain sharp. Oh yeah, and the paycheck doesnt hurt either;) If anyone reads this, say a prayer for me as I leave my baby!! Here are some pics of Addi at Feyer Ford... (various ages...all out of order;) )

A slacker on so many levels

2009-10-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

So, yes, right now I am a slacker on so many levels! Eric is outside cutting the grass and I just told him I was going to come inside to pick up the house. Well, once I was inside I thought..."hmmm...I could just relax today and pick up around here tomorrow when Eric's back at work and I don't have anything going on"...then I remembered "IM GOING BACK TO WORK TOMORROW!!!" AHHH!!! After remembering that, I was convinced that I was going to clean up b/c I didn't want to leave and have to come home to a messy house tomorrow! All good in theory. As I was contemplating my newfound mission, I decided to help myself to the last piece of eric's birthday cake. Thank God ive finally finished that cake...it's been such a temptation! LOL!

Basically it all went downhill from there...now i'm blogging and putting new music on my iphone.
The house sits with baby stuff scattered from one end to the other...but you know what??? I've spent every spare minute of my whole week trying to keep baby stuff picked up and its just not worth it today. I've justified in my mind that if I am going to start back work tomorrow it's probably better that I just relax today anyways.=) Continuing with the slacker theme...I really wanted to write a blog about the things i've been doing lately and put up some new pics of Addisyn, or maybe some pics of the pumpkins and mums I bought to decorate for fall, but Nope...too lazy for that.

So here I sit...being lazy...bloggin about being lazy...downloading music...facebooking...and enjoying every minute:)

Mission Accomplished!

2009-09-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not gonna lie... It's always a bit of a relief every year once Eric's birthday is over. It's not that I don't want to celebrate his bday, it's just that I put so much pressure on myself to make it amazing (and the pressure is really unnecessary, he doesn't care that much). Anyways, yesterday after church we got lunch, just our little family. Generally, I'm quick to veto a restaurant suggestion if I really don't want it but considering it was Eric's bday I let him pick where we eat. In my mind I kept saying "not BW3's, not BW3's" b/c I just wasn't in the mood for wings, tv screens and noise at the time. Of course he picked BW3's and I went (with a good attitude I might add!). That afternoon after lunch we cleaned like crazy!!! I wanted the house to look nice for our friends that were coming over, but we mainly just used that as an excuse to get things really in orderr. The "party" started at 5! We had a bunch of couples in our church over and all their kids. It was a great night of fun chaos! = ) This year, I overcame my natural tendency to stress about making Eric's birthday "perfect" and just tried to keep things simple (which usually turns out better anyways b/c then im not a basket case). I just got pizza for everyone and we ate cake and chilled. All in all, I hope my husband had a wonderful 25th birthday...he deserves it! I love you E!

Happy Birthday E!!!

2009-09-27T04:02:00.001-07:00

So, yes, I'm writing this at 7:00am before the hubby, baby (and dog) are awake!

Today is Eric's 25th birthday! I was teasing him about getting old and how now he's gonna have to round his age up to 30;) But seriously, "Happy Birthday E!! I love you more than I can express and i'm so thankful to have you in my life!!! You are a great daddy and I look forward to many more adventures together". =) This afternoon we're gonna have a few friends over for pizza and just to hang out and celebrate! I'm gonna hopefully make a cake and some other sweets and get this house picked up....and hopefully Addisyn will take a good nap and be happy=) Hopefully, I will be able to post some pics here of our little bday extravaganza. (Wow...that's a lot of hopefullys in that paragraph...yikes!)

Yesterday, Ginny Corbett, a friend from church and an amazing photographer, took some pictures of me, Eric, and Addi now that we are a family! We went to two different locations outdoors and shot some really cool artsy pictures (the kind where you're not supposed to look at the camera, you just have to look natural and "interact"!). I had been soooo stressed out about the pictures all morning b/c I wanted them to be good, and it was borderline raining, and I didn't want Addisyn to freak out!!! She did so good for the first half of the outdoor pics, then it started to get closer to naptime and she got fussy. It worked out though...we just ended up with a few pictures with the paci in. ;) On the way back to Ginny's house, Addisyn fell asleep in the car and got a little power nap. After that, when it came time to lay her on the backdrop for her close up pics, she came alive!!! She was kicking her little feet and smiling and talking...Thank you Jesus! I can't wait to see them! Thanks Ginny!

My grandparents have been here since Thursday to see Addisyn! We've been having a fun time with them here and it's really cool that Addi gets to meet her first set of great-grands!

On another note, Friday I got out of the house, by myself, for myself for the first time since Addisyn has been born! I had left her a few other times but just really to run to the grocery store or something. Well by last Friday I was BURNT OUT!!! It had been a long week and I just needed to do something for myself. My mom kept Addisyn so Allison and I could have a little "Mommys Day Out"! (Allison was burnt out too! ;) ) We ate lunch at Panera, got pedicures and did the fastest trip ever through Target!!! I mean, when your breastfeeding you're on a tight schedule but we could not miss an chance to go to target so we just booked it! On the way back to Allison's house "don't worry, we didn't get in a wreck!" (lol)

That's about all I can think of right now! Sorry this post is a little scattered!

Oh...the other day we took pics of Addisyn and Lilyana in matching outfits! Addi is on the left...she's the big one=) And they totally linked arms all by themselves! Friends already;)

God is Bigger than the Boogie Man

2009-09-23T04:35:00.000-07:00

So, let me start out this post by saying that my child sleeps like a champ! Addisyn has been consistently sleeping from 10:30pm - 6:30am and then she'll still go back to sleep at 6:30!! It is wonderful! Now that we're only getting up at 6:30ish, I have found myself unable to go back to sleep so, I've started just getting up to have some time to myself in the peace and quiet....aka "the mom time"! I used to always think it was stupid when EVERY mom I knew would talk about waking up early before their kids so they could have some time to themselves...but now I get it. When I was in college, my thought was always "what better time could you have to yourself than to be sleeping?" but now I too actually enjoy getting up so I can have time to do the things that I won't really be able to do once Addisyn wakes up, Eric leaves for work, and the day gets started. It's fun to have the house to myself to actually eat breakfast, use the bathroon (let's be honest, if you have a screaming baby using the bathroom is not a top priority!), read my Bible...and just think!

So this morning my thought process went to irrational fears. This is because yesterday when I was hanging out with my bestest homie Ally D...our conversation drifted to irrational fears that we've been having lately. Technically, I guess you could say our fears aren't super irrational. I think of irrational as like the fear that you are going to drown in the shower or something...our fears are more just very unlikely.

Allison saw on the news something about some guy that broke into someone's house and beat people up with a baseball bat while they were sleeping...so now she's nervous about people breaking in. I'm scared of having a fire in our house, especially b/c our bedroom is downstairs and Addisyn's is upstairs. Allison and I have had conversations about fear and faith and trust a million times and neither of us are overall fearful people at all!...but thats why these fears are somewhat irrational. Because of it, Allison has become a dead bolt nazi and Addisyn will probably sleep in my room until she's 13! =)

Somehow, all of this made me think this morning of a veggie tales song that I used to sing with my sunday school class..."God is bigger than the booogie man, He's bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV, Yes, God is bigger than the boooogie man, and He's watching over you and me!" Obviously this song is meant for kids, but the practical truth is one that we can learn from even as adults. God is big!!! God is in control!! He is all powerful, sovereign and well able to protect us from harm!!! What about the people who actually have to deal with the tragedy's that are my irrational fears? God is able to give them a supernatural grace in those circumstances!!! This all reminded me of one of my favorite verses when dealing with fear..."Cast all your cares on Him because he cares for you." (1 Pet. 5:7) God cares about our irrational fears...He knows them already. But He doesn't want us to have to live in bondage to them. We can cast them upon Him, because He cares for us!!!

"We do it because we are responsible parents"

2009-09-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

"We do it because we are responsible parents" was my quote from yesterday after our looong difficult drs appointment...

Yesterday morning was Addisyn's one month well visit checkup (even though she's almost 6 weeks old). The experience was not a fun one!!! We were there a total of 2 hours for them to look at her for about 10 minutes and tell me that she's beautiful and she'll get her shots next visit. UGGGHHH! Couldn't I have just called in and told you "Hi my baby is beautiful and healthy. Thanks!" and that count for the visit?!?! Frusterating! Fortunately Eric took off work to come with me, or I wouldve lost my mind. He gave me someone to talk to and someone to help me hold Addisyn when she got fed up with being there. Oh, they did weigh her. That was fun! She weighed 10lbs 11oz now and she doesn't hide it!! J/k...she's absolutely the most beautiful baby in the world, but she is getting to be a big girl!

After the doctor, we met TD, Allison, Bella and Lilyana at Zaxby's for some grub. It was pretty much TD and Allisons first trip out as a family of four! Lunch was eventful with all 7 of us (I can't believe we are now 7 between our two families) crammed around one table!

Since Eric was home, I convinced him to go with me to Once Upon A Child to see if we could pick up a few things for Addisyn since, as I said before, she's getting to be a big girl now and doesn't fit in newborn clothes anymore!!! I totally had an emotional moment afterwards and said to Eric "my little girl is growing up!"...doing the man thing, he rolled his eyes and was like "you can't really say that until she goes to college" ...which is stupid. There are going to be stages throughout Addisyn's entire life when i'm going to think "my little girl is growing up" ...first words, first steps, first pee pee on the potty, first day of kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade, etc., ...all the way though college graduation and her wedding! I'm making a point to cherish every moment that she's a baby!

Also, I'm having so much fun now that Lilyana is born! She and Addisyn are going to be best friends! They are already bonding as you can see from the pics above! That's about it for now...

Hi! I'm the "new kid" on the blog scene!

2009-09-10T14:10:00.001-07:00

Alright, so i've been wanting to do a blog since I found out I was pregnant! I signed up with blogspot a while ago, but then got discouraged because I couldn't figure out how to get my page as cute as I wanted it... and we all know that a blog is pointless if your page is not cute! =)

Why do I want a blog? Mainly for myself...as an outlet to write down stupid stuff about my day, to talk about Addisyn!!, and to share what Jesus is doing in my life! If anyone cares to read it thats cool too.

So basically here's an intro post...

The most exciting thing in my life right now is my sweet baby girl, Addisyn Faith! She was born August 10th at 1:47 pm and she was 8lbs 1oz! She is my life at this point! Literally, because I spend my whole day feeding her, changing her diapers, bouncing her when she cries and rearranging my schedule to keep her on a schedule. But even more so than that, she is my "best little girlfriend in the whole world"...she makes me cry when she smiles and she's teaching me about love in a whole new way!!!

I've been married for a little over two years to my super stud, sexy husband, Eric! Jon Gosslin makes me want to vomit now when I use this word, but yes, Eric is my "soulmate" (if you saw Jon's interview on Primetime, you know what i'm talking about). He's my best friend and I know that He was the one God intended for me before I was born! He's an awesome Daddy, and yes, Addisyn has him wrapped around her finger already.

Other than that...I love my family and my family-in-law! They are awesome! ...I work part time with Eric and the Feyer fam at Feyer Ford and Mercury ("Your Friend in the Car Business") doing title work and an assortment of other administrative detaily stuff!

That's about it for the intro post... More to come soon! I'm a stay at home mom right now and so naptime allows many hours for relaxing on the couch with the computer=)