Countdown: 2 Days

The ladies from Bible study and I had a good time last night.  I started it off by having them write down 2 truths and 1 lie about themselves.  Then we all had to figure out the lie.  We definitely got to know each other a little better that's for sure.  They also got to see me one last time with long hair.  I know I'm making a big deal out of this but if you know me then it's gonna be a big deal!  :)  Yes, I have had short hair before but it's been a long time.

I was cruising through Target this past Sunday and I came across the clearance section.  I found this notepad/journal/spiral notebook.  I looked through it and it was exactly what I want!  I didn't need a monthly planner.  I didn't need an address book.  I didn't need a diary.  I'm a lists person and I needed to make lists!!!  This organizer allows me to do exactly that!  The title is even called "Organizher."  Now, I never leave home without it.  These pictures are from my cell phone.

Countdown: 3 Days

This morning, I realized that I'm ready to get rid of my long, plain mane and ready to add style.  Still not sure what it's going to look like or how manageable my hair will be but I'm ready for the challenge. 

One thing you'll learn about me is that I constantly need change.  When I was single, I changed occupations, cars, boyfriends, place of residence, etc.  Then I realized that as I got older the less I was changing because I was discovering myself and who I really was.  I've been at the same job for 8 years, I've had my car for 7 years, I'm married to my best friend of 4 1/2 years and we're currently looking for a place to call our own.  Now the only things I change are my hair, my baby's diapers and especially my attitude!

Tonight is Bible study and we're going to talk about how God created each of us differently.  It's amazing to think that no two people are exactly alike; not even identical twins!  Should be up for a good conversation. 

Pictures:  I know I need to take more pictures.  I'm so sorry I haven't made the effort in pulling out my camera and clicking the button!  This week, I'm hoping to take good pictures of Gavin and maybe even some of us.

P.S.  I hate my phone!       

Countdown: 4 Days

I'm getting a mixed bag of comments regarding my upcoming haircut.  This whole idea reminds me of a scene from Little Women when Jo returned home with her short hair because she sold it for money.  Her youngest sister made a comment, "Jo, how could you?!  Your one beauty!"  That still makes me laugh.

It feels like it's going to be a busy week but we won't know till it happens.  Tomorrow night is Bible study with the girls.  Wednesday night, Eric has school so I'll probably do laundry.  Thursday night, there's softball hitting practice at the batting cages.  Considering I haven't swung a bat in over a year, I need the practice!  I also need cleats!  Oh well....I'm the Captain, I can do whatever I want, right?  Friday is "THE DAY" as well as Good Friday.  Wow....the weekend already?!  I wish!

As a new mom, I've noticed that there are old movies that I look at differently.  For instance, Home Alone 2 was a cute, funny movie about a kid getting separated from his family and being lost in New York City.  It was on ABC Family last night.  I didn't watch the whole thing but I caught the last 15 minutes of it.  His family finally gets to NYC and his mother is frantically looking for him throughout the streets and ultimately finds him at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.  I was crying at their reunion!  Moms, I hope you understand!

Well, we have a breakthrough!  One of Gavin's eye teeth are finally surfacing.  I'm SO glad because I'll tell ya what, he was cuh-rayn-kee yesterday!  It also didn't help matters much that Eric was working and that it was raining all day.  But we got through it and today is a new day.  Praise the Lord!

Countdown: 7 Days

Nervousness and excitement are flowing through me right now as I'm imagining the bittersweet goodbye of my long hair.  I will be donating my 10-12 inches of hair to Locks of Love.  Actually, I was looking at pictures about 2 years ago and my hair was at shoulder length!  And now it's down almost touching my waist line.  Needless to say, my hair grows out fast.  I've been looking online for cute short hair styles.  It's really weird because what I think is short is really "medium" length online.  Their "short" hairstyles are like boy hair cuts.  I will definitely post before and after pictures.  That's a must!

Gavin did not want to sleep last night.  He's been doing pretty well but then he has his off nights for some reason.  I keep blaming it on teething but still NO teeth are breaking through!  He hasn't really learned anymore new tricks, except that he's finally putting things in his mouth!  I guess I shouldn't be too excited but I am!  Also, everytime he stands on his own, you can tell he wants to take a step but instead falls to the floor on all fours (say that 10 times fast).  I still think he's advanced for his age.  Our cat, Ava, has really warmed up to him.  She still runs away but not as fast anymore.  She'll let Gavin come up to her and whack her on the back then that's her que to lay elsewhere.  Gavin is definitely turning into a Mama's Boy.  He's constantly under my feet or cries to be closer to me.  There's a part of me that loves the connection but then there's a part that says 'GO GET YOUR DADDY!'

Well, hope you have a great weekend.  Until then....    

Recap

Wow....it has definitely been a crazy week to say the least.  Where in the world do I begin?  I guess I could start with last weekend.

Friday night - I don't remember.

Saturday morning to evening - I babysat a friend's 13 month old, Hunter, from 11:15 to 7:30ish!  Eric was doing schoolwork at his work office and didn't come home till 3:00.  Thankfully Cindy was around and helped with Gavin.  For the most part, the two boys played well together.  When Eric came home, we went for a walk then for a drive just to get out of the house.  I'll tell you what....I'm so thankful that we didn't have twins on our first pregnancy!

Saturday late night - I went out with the girls (and Chris) for my monthly get togethers.  We went to the RoundUp which is a country line dancing bar.  We had a blast!  It's been awhile since I came home at 2:00 a.m.  :)

Sunday - We went to church. Then later that night, Heather and Dylan came over for Sunday dinner.

Monday - Laundry, laundry, laundry.

Tuesday - Led the Bible study with a few women at Bay Coast Coffee Market (which is a great place to just chill with coffee...definitely a better environment than Starbucks!)

Wednesday - Eric had school so it was just me and the little guy.  We played and played till he starting getting really tired.  He didn't even put up a fight like he normally does when I put him in his crib.  Then I watched Modern Family which is becoming one of my favorite shows.  Others are Chuck, Parenthood, Glee, Community and The Office. 

Side note:  there are only 8 more days of long hair left!  And wouldn't you know it, my hair is just now behaving itself.  It always knows when scissors are approaching. :)  Who knows, I may even lose a couple pounds by chopping it off!  Speaking of, I have lost 8 pounds in 3 weeks!  It's weird because I'm not really exercising (just taking long walks) and it really is all about what and how much you eat.  I've limited my portions and I'm coming to terms that it's ok to have leftovers.  So, to reach my goal weight, I have 7 more pounds to go! 

Not sure if I mentioned this before (I guess I should re-read my postings) but starting April 5th, I will be playing co-ed softball again. The biggest piece of news was that I was elected Team Captain of our team That's What She Said.  According to Chris and Damon, the title means nothing because I won't have any authority.  I don't think they realize who they're messin' with! :)  But it will be great to play again.

We are still waiting to hear about our short sale house.  Eric and I have talked a lot about this topic and we are not worried whatsoever.  We have a backup plan just in case this falls through.  However, you know us and our "plans"!  Honestly though, we're trusting God and following His path for our lives.  We have peace because of the Lord!

  

10 Months

Today Gavin turned 10 Months Old!

Someone's ready for Easter!

 

Last week, we met up with some friends and their 14 month old, Devon.  Here's Gavin and his new long-distant friend.  :)

Sharing is rough....

And this is why we think Gavin is going to be a hyper little boy....

Patiently waiting....

Let me just cut to the chase.  The sellers accepted our offer!  However, since it is a short sale, the bank has the final say and that's who we're waiting on now.  In the meantime, I need to collect all the information that our mortgage broker needs so if/when the bank does approve then we can move the process right along.  It's all very excited to say the least and like I said in the last entry, we're trying not to get too excited until we hear the official word.  So, if you don't hear or see the excitement from us, we're internalizing it until that house is ours! :)

We had a pretty busy weekend.  I took off work Friday and spent the day with Gavin.  We met up with Eric after he got off work.  It was nice to run errands as a family even though the weather was not desirable.  It rained and rained and rained that day.  Friday night, I attended a little birthday party for my friend, Crystal.  I must've stayed out late because everyone was in bed by the time I got home.  Saturday morning, Gavin and I attended Dylan's football game.  Didn't realize that it was going to be windy and chilly considering the sun was out!  After the game, we went to one of Eric's shows.  It was one of the educational water-conservation shows.  But I'll tell you what, Gavin was SO good during the whole performance!!!  We sat in the back just in case he started to act up.  He sat on my lap and held onto the chair in front of him.  He didn't make a peep.  He couldn't take his eyes of his daddy!  Eric does such a good job performing that I've really missed watching him.  After the performance, one of the audience moms commented on how well-behaved Gavin was for being 10 months old.  She was amazed that he just stared intently during the whole show.  Then I told her that he couldn't take his eyes off his daddy!  After the show, we ran some more errands as a family.  Then Eric got to go out with Damon and I stayed home watching "Glee" on dvd!  Yes, I'm addicted.  Yesterday morning, we had to get up for church which it didn't even feel like we lost an hour of sleep.  After church, we went home to relax.  Gavin took a nap while I watched more "Glee" and Eric worked on homework.  Then we went grocery shopping as a family.  As you can tell, I love saying the phrase "as a family."  Last night, Heather and Dylan came over for dinner and we had a nice family dinner; hot dogs and mac & cheese.  Gavin got to stay up a little bit because of the time change and all but that wasn't a big deal for us.   

Having fun with Cousin Dylan

Fun with Daddy at Costco

We found the perfect chair for Gavin at Target

Enjoying the beautiful day on Sunday

Things to do....

Praise the Lord!  Gavin has been sleeping through the night for the past three nights!!!  He goes to sleep around 7:30 and he wakes up around 6:00-6:30 in the morning.  This has helped a lot considering earlier this week, I thought I was getting sick.  But sleep really helped, along with gargling mouthwash and taking a ton of Vitamin C.  :)  No joke, that really works! 

Tuesday after work we went house hunting again.  The first house was located in Pinellas Park and it was a HUGE house!  It was around 1800 sq ft with a HUGE 2-car garage.  I couldn't believe how big it was.  However, I did not like the location.  It was a corner lot on a busy street with an apartment complex across the way.  I didn't feel safe there.  The second house we visited was in an area full of rentals!  We didn't even want to go inside because of the surrounding neighbors.  It was a cute house yet again it's all about the location.  So we drove to the next house.  LOVED the neighborhood.  LOVED the house.  LOVED the citrus tree in the backyard (mainly for Eric).  LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!  So, we made an offer this morning.  It's in the process of being accepted or not and we'll go from there.  It's all very exciting and nerve-racking as this is our first time (yes, we're house virgins).  The location is between Seminole Blvd and 113th Street; the neighborhood behind the Seminole Post Office and Library.  I felt completely safe there and I could really see our family living there.  As exciting as this is, we're trying not to get our hopes up.  We realize that they might not even accept our offer.  We realize that we have inspections and a lot of other procedures to go through.  We realize all of this and we keep praying for patience.  So pray with us please. :)

There are a lot of things happening in the next 2 months!  First of all, I'm SO excited that Daylight Savings is this weekend!  I've missed the longer nights and I'm hoping Gavin will have a smooth transition with the time change.  Next Tuesday, I'm starting a Young Women's Bible Study and we're going through a book from the Women of Faith Series called Being Yourself.  So far there are about 5 of us.  Next Thursday, Gavin will be 10 months old!  April 2nd, I'm donating my hair to Locks of Love.  I'm nervous so I've been looking at short hair styles just to get an idea.  April 4th is Easter; not sure if we're going to color eggs just yet.  That might end up being a catastrophe!  April 17th, I'm throwing another 2-for-1 shower at my church but this time it's a bridal shower.  April 18th, Gavin will be 11 months old.  (I hope you're writing all of this down.)  April 22nd, my brother and his fiancee, Renee, are flying to Hawaii to get married!  And how convenient that while they're out there, they'll be celebrating my brother's birthday on the 26th.  :)  Then comes MAY!!!  We have A LOT to celebrate in that month.  May 9th is Mother's Day.  May 15th is Cindy's birthday along with my friend, Andrea's birthday.  May 16th, we're having Gavin's First Birthday Party.  May 18th, Gavin wil be exactly 1 year old!!!  May 19th is Gavin's 1 year check up.  May 22nd is my friend, Kelly's, birthday.  Then May 31st is Memorial Day which means we all have off!

WHEW!!!! 

I don't have any new pictures but you know I'll post them once I take them!  Love you all!  

New trick

Gavin is free standing!!!  He's been doing this for the past two weeks now but I think he started mastering it this past weekend.  We had an ok weekend.  Eric was busy with a paper due Sunday night.  So Gavin was stuck with me most of the time.  I started pulling out the 12 month clothes and packing up the 9 month stuff.  I went through his closet and starting making piles of "storage" items and "give-away" items.  After making a mess, I thought I would never be able to clean it all up!  Then that's when my hero of a husband comes through!  He took Gavin for a ride on a "business transaction" aka fish stuff and I was able to have free time to clean.  I loaded my car with the "storage" items, hung up all of his shirts and folded his pants, I changed his sheets, I rearranged furniture and I was organized!  It was great.  I even had time to straighten up our room just a bit.  That was the highlight of MY weekend!

I'm planning Gavin's First Birthday Party for Sunday, May 16th.  Let me know if you'd like to come and I'll include you on the invite list.

Here are some pics and vids:

I think this will always be Gavin's look....

New toys to discover

Free Standing!!!

Gavin Pics and Vids

Gavin LOVES his puppy!

Mommy and Gavin time

Spiritualized Acne

In my ordinary life, I tend to spiritualize almost everything.  For instance, real estate signs as metaphors for our social status; driving in traffic as a metaphor of a journey through life; and for today's lesson, acne as a metaphor for sin.  For the past two weeks, I've been dealing with an adolescent issue of acne. 

Normally, when some people have acne, they try to cover it up with makeup.  There's concealer, foundation, powder, etc.  When I try to cover up my zits, it actually looks worse than what it is and tends to draw more attention to the problem areas.  However, if I expose my acne with embarrassment and let my skin breathe then maybe it might heal quicker.  Also, if I take care of my skin and wash it every day with the right products, then maybe, just maybe I wouldn't have as many blemishes as I do now.  However, let me add one thing that I will not spiritualize, women sometimes breakout on a monthly basis if you know what I mean. :) 

Ok...so we have the acne (sin).  We tend to want to hide it with makeup (lies, secrets).  However, if we expose it (confess our sins) then our skin will be on the path to healing (forgiveness).  Deep, huh?  Then, washing your skin daily with the right products (reading your Bible, praying to God), you probably wouldn't experience as much acne (sin, temptation).  And I'll admit, I feel like a freak with these craters on my face, but my husband, my son, my family and close friends look past all of that.  They still love me acne and all. 

All of that to say that I'm getting ProActiv Solution again.  I've missed that stuff and haven't used it since before I got married!

Weekend fun...and fussiness

Although Eric and I had a fabulous date night Saturday evening and then went bowling with our friends that same night, we had to deal with one cranky baby all weekend long!  We are hoping and praying that it's because Gavin's top teeth are coming in.  We don't know for sure until they break through...hopefully soon!

Saturday morning, Eric wanted to look for garage sales.  Even after telling him that it was raining, he persisted that we go just to get out of the house.  After 20 minutes of driving and stopping at two garage sales, we went home without any purchases.  Men....  Soon after, Grandmama and Granny came to visit Gavin.  He then went down for a nap and so did we!  Then we got up and got ready to go out.  Eric and I went to Bonefish for Valentine's Day.  We had saved up about $57 with gift cards and it paid off!  Then we met a few friends for our monthly get togethers.  It was quite fun!  On our second game, we had a competition going and the losers had to pay for breakfast next time.  It was Chris and me against Eric and Damon.  Going off the stats of the first game, the teams were even.  But the second game, Eric and I were neck and neck and I lost by 1 point.  Chris and Damon were somewhat neck and neck until Chris got ahead by at least 10 points.  I'll admit, I should've paired up with my husband.  No excuses.

Sunday, we went to church and good thing we didn't sit in the front row!  Pastor Joe was talking about sex and the immature Koroknays were giggling throughout the service!  When it comes to sex, I'm not sure if we'll ever grow up.  HAHA!!!  Sunday afternoon, Gavin napped, I watched a movie and Eric went out to sell coral.  Sunday night was the worst.  At one o'clock in the morning, Gavin woke up and was just screaming!  He would throw himself back while arching.  His mouth was wide open as if in pain.  Scared me to death!  I tried to calm him down but he would only scream louder.  I changed his diaper which he didn't like.  I rocked him which he didn't like  So, I drugged him!  I gave him some Baby Tylenol and about 45 minutes later he started to calm down.  We watched a little tv and I could see that his eyes were getting heavy again.  So I put him back in his crib and it took about 10-15 minutes until he was asleep again.  Phew!  So, I got about 4 hours of sleep last night.

Not sure if I mentioned this yet but I will be donating my hair to Locks of Love the beginning of April.  I'm giving myself a month to prepare.  April 2nd is when I'd like to chop it all off.  So be on the lookout of a new do!

Chelsea and Crystal

Beth and Chris

Eric, Chris and Damon

First Round:  1. Damon  2. Eric  3. Brooke  4. Beth  5. Chris

Wanting to help Daddy with the fishtank

So cute....