Life As I Know It

So today was my son, Caleb’s first birthday party. All throughout the day I kept thinking, “Are we really here?”, “Is my baby seriously a year old already?!” It seems like this year has passed by so quickly. I remember when he was born thinking about what he would be like at his first birthday party, and now it has come and gone. I say that the time has gone by fast, and it has, but also it has seemed to not go by so fast. The year has seemed like a year because of how much we have gone through in a year. Having a child is so much harder that I ever imagined. It’s challenging, tiring and frustrating but at the same time rewarding, joyous and amazing. I never thought I could ever love a child like I do Caleb. He is the greatest gift God could have ever given us and we are so blessed to have him. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and struggling through the sleep deprived months. But everyone I talked to was right, you make it through, and then you look back on those days and wonder how you did it. I know one thing is for sure, I would not have made if I didn’t have an amazing husband who is always so patient with me and Caleb. When I freak out and go over the edge, he is always there to calm me down and bring me back.

Caleb has changed so much in a year. Just take a look at these pictures! He has grown and developed his personality so much. He is such a happy baby and filled with sunshine! We love him so much!

We love you Caleb and are looking forward to a lifetime full of sweet memories!

So I know I haven’t updated in quite a while, but I will be soon! Lots of things have been happening and are going to be happening soon! We just got back from vacation in florida (which was AMAZING) and we are trying to get ready for Caleb’s bday party this weekend. I will update as soon as I can. Stay tuned…

About a month ago we were given a week at someone’s time share.  We have the option to go whenever we want and just about wherever we wanted to go. This was SO awesome! Sean and I haven’t been on vacation since our honeymoon 2 years ago, so for us to be able to go out of town for a week is amazing. We are going to Orlando, FL October 24-31. I am SUPER excited. We are driving instead of flying since it will be cheaper, and that will allow us to do more activities while we are there. We plan on doing a lot of this:

And, we are taking Caleb here for the first time:

 This will be me and Sean’s first trip to disney world as well and we are beyond thrilled! The only hard part of the trip will be the 9-10 hour drive there and back home. We are praying that Caleb will do great being in the car that long. We are planning on leaving at night and driving through the night, so that way Caleb will sleep through most of it.

I will update with pictures after our trip!

I remember the first time I went to New York City. I was 15 years old and I went with my best friend at the time. We had an amazing time! One of my best memories I had of that trip was when we went to the World Trade Center and saw the 2 towers. We didn’t even go inside the buildings, we just stood outside and looked at them. I remember standing in between the two buildings and just looking up. It was an unbelievable view. It almost felt like you were inside a building because the 2 towers were so tall. It’s crazy to look back on that and think about how that changed only 3 years later. I am so thankful that God gave me the opportunity to see them in person.

I went back to NYC for my senior trip, only 8 months after the attacks. We were able to go to ground zero and see what was left of the tragedy. It was unbelievable. We passed by a wall that had tons of pictures, cards, notes and other memorabilia dedicated to those that lost their lives in the disaster. It was beyond sad. You couldn’t help but stop and pray for the families and friends of the ones that were killed. I remember in the distance, where the buildings were supposed to be, there were 2 beams that were left. When one of the buildings was destroyed these two beams fell into the position of a cross. Coincidence? I definitely don’t think so. I think God was saying, even though this tragedy happened I have used it for MY glory. I know because of this tragedy numerous people came to Christ and had their lives changed. Others, had their lives transformed and turned back to God. That is something that truly amazes me. Even through tragedies and disasters, God still gets glorified and more people come into the kingdom. Our God is awesome.

September 11, 2001 is a day that will stand out in history forever. Where were you when it happened? How was your life changed?

This weekend ended up being so much different than what I had anticipated. I was hoping on getting some R&R this weekend since I had to work 6 days in a row. The beginning of the week started off with the Pontiac breaking down yet again. This time it was going to be $1300 to fix. So i called up my dad and asked his opinion about fixing it and he said it was not worth it. So my dad paid for us to get a rental car and told us to come up on Saturday night and we would go look for a car on Sunday and Monday. He also mentioned that he would be PAYING!! That was awesome news. So on Sunday we started looking. We went to 2 dealerships (one of which was closed) and found the car we ended up getting at the Toyota dealership. We got a 98 Toyota Carolla and the best part is that the AC works! Our pontiac did not have AC so we were stoked to get a car that did. Plus it is going to be amazing on gas! I am so thankful my dad was able to help us out!

The not fun part was Caleb being sick on this trip. He started coughing Sunday and it just continually got worse. Caleb didn’t sleep very well since we were in a strange place. He got up at 6am both mornings! And when we are all sharing a room it is not a good thing. When Caleb started coughing real bad Sunday afternoon we called the Pediatrician and they said to take him to an urgent care. Well after lunch we were going to do that but then we noticed he was getting better and hardly coughing at all. So we went on with our day and put Caleb to bed at 8pm like usually. Well we went to bed at about 10:30 and about 11pm (just as we were drifting off to sleep) Caleb started coughing super bad and woke himself up. He was coughing and crying constantly I told my husband we needed to take him to the ER. I would rather be safe then sorry. So we took him there and they checked him out. They said it was probably just a virus and said his lungs sounded clear. They did tell us he was having some bronchial spasms due to the virus so they gave him a steroid orally and put him on the nebulizer to help relieve his coughing. This worked tremendously for him and he was able to get some sleep. We didnt get to bed until 1am (including caleb) and I thought he would sleep later, but no, he was up at 6am like the previous day.

This made for a super tiring weekend but Caleb is doing much better. Through this whole ordeal it made me realize how thankful I am for my husband. He has a ton more patience than I do and he is ALWAYS willing to sacrifice sleep so i can get some. He is truly me hero

With all the amazing things going on right now, I decided I needed to dedicate a post on how amazing my God is! For starters, God is continually opening tons of opportunities for our family to increase financially. As if providing me with a receptionist position that meets my schedule requirements and giving us health insurance, and allowing me the opportunity to do the deliveries for Panera a couple hours a day (most days), wasn’t enough…he continues to pour out his blessing on us. For example, last week we got a check for $50 from a unanimous person that put it in the offering bucket at church for us.  I sincerely hope that person is reading this blog because YOU are a blessing! That check touched more than our bank account, it really touched our hearts and made us feel loved…so thank you! Aside from the check last week I applied for an L&E research study (which I never get chosen for even though I apply all the time) and got a phone call today saying I qualify! So that will be an extra $125 in our pocket for only 2 hours of my time. God is Good! I am really starting to see that scripture come to life that says “Give and it will be given back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will MEN give to you”. Through all of these circumstances and blessings God is reminding me how much He loves me and all the great plans He has in store for our lives.

On top of all that, this week has started out super frustrating because the 98 Pontiac Grand Am has broken down yet again. For those of you that don’t know the situation, my dad bought us that car from a “friend” of his and it has given us problems ever since. It goes in the shop literally every 2 months. This time it was going to cost $1300 to fix everything. I called my dad to ask what we should do and he told me that we need to just sell the Pontiac and that he was going to buy us a different car that doesn’t break down all the time. PLUS he is paying for us to use a rental car until he finds a car. How awesome is that?! He is going with a higher budget for the next car and I know it’s going to be awesome. Yet again, my God is faithful and meeting ALL of our needs.

I just wanted to share the awesome praise reports in my life. He’s doing them for me and I know He will do them for you.

So it has been quite a while since my last post.  I have a tendancy to forget that I even have a blog because of all the things that have been going on lately. First off, we moved about 2 weeks ago. This was the hardest move we have ever done because we moved to a THIRD floor apartment! Never will I do that again. The apartment is nice though, now that everything is inside of it. A huge THANKYOU to everyone who came out and helped us! We are still unpacking boxes and sometimes I wonder if we will ever get settled,  but I know it takes time. 

In other news, Caleb is 9 months old and all over the place. He is such a fast crawler! If I take my eyes off of him for a few seconds he is already in the other room. His personality is really coming out now too…I absolutely love it! He is the happiest baby I have ever seen, and it makes my heart melt to see him so happy. He has a total of 6 teeth now! He only had 2 for like 6 months straight and now within the past month, 4 more have come in! I have started him on stage 3 foods and also some solid foods. He LOVES eating! He is pulling up on everything and standing, I’m sure it won’t be long before he starts walking. The downfall with him crawling now is the fact that he hurts himself a lot more. Because he hasn’t been standing long, he ofter falls down and hurts himself, which makes me feel bad. But I know its a learning experience for him.

God has opened up another opportunity for us to make some extra income, on top of the receptionist job I have now. Sean’s manager asked if I wanted to be the delivery driver for Panera during the day. I would only spend 1-2 hours a day doing the deliveries and I could take Caleb with me! Sean and I  had been talking about the possibility of me doing that for a while but we never thought that his manager would let me since we were married and since I had Caleb. But we have FAVOR and Sean’s managaer is the one that recommended it. I have been doing it for 3 weeks now and get paid every 2 weeks. I only get paid for each delivery I do and my first paycheck was $255!! It has been such a blessing and it is really working out. Now we will be able to get out of debt even faster! Praise God! Since I have taken this job it has made me realize even more how awesome God is. God gave us the perfect and most well behaved baby. Most baby’s wouldn’t do well sitting in a car for more than an hour, but Caleb does amazingly! Most the time it is during his naptime so he just sleeps. Caleb is such an easy going baby and I am so thankful for that!

I also started a new gym routine this week. Since we moved into our apartment complex, we have a gym that is open from 5am-12am. I knew I wanted to take advantage of it because I have been wanting to get in shape and lose some weight so I can get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I was looking at my schedule and the only time I would have to go to the gym during the week is after I get off work at like 11:15pm. So i started that last night and so far it is going really well. I am going to stick it out and see if I can make this a routine.

We also just got finished with Dominion By The Word at my church. Can I just say this was THE best year so far! All the speakers had a word that was perfect for me and I know perfect for my church. I know my life was changed forever because of this conference. A lot of hard work was put into it, especially by my husband. He ministry assisted 2 different speakers and did many other things for all the speakers. I know he was worn out after the conference, but I know he helped to touch the lives of many individuals. It is amazing to me how Sean can just keep going and going, all for the sake of ministry and the kingdom. He is going to be an AMAZING pastor someday soon and I am so thankful to call him my husband.

So that is the update. As you can see, our life has been quite a whirlwind the past month or so, but we have been enjoying it.

This month has been pretty busy so far. We have been trying to get ready to move on top of Sean teaching at church on the weekends and other events going on.  We have about three weeks until we move and I haven’t packed the first thing! Thankfully, I am home during the day so I can start getting a ton of packing done.  Any takers who would be willing to help us move?!

In other news, Caleb is growing so much! He is super close to crawling. He gets up on all fours but doesn’t really know where to go from there. He pretty much just scoots across the room, it’s pretty funny. He can also sit up when he is in the laying down position. Every morning when I come into his room to get him he is sitting up smiling at me…I love it!! He is definitly becoming a daddy’s boy though. Everyday when Sean gets home he has the biggest grin and is so happy to see him. He kicks his legs as soon as he sees him, he is so excited. No one can make him laugh like his daddy…I love it! I won’t be suprised if that is his first word…dada. He LOVES bathtime and gets so excited when he knows its coming. I honestly could not have asked for a better child. He is so good and only cries when he is hungry, tired or has a dirty diaper. I get tons of compliments everywhere I go on how happy and sweet he is. I am blessed!

Our time living in Knightdale is quickly coming to an end. We went apartment hunting this past weekend and found a place for a great deal. We were looking to move back to Wake Forest and went to a few apartment complexes. We decided that we are moving to The Woodlands.  They had the best rate for rent and an amazing move in special! We are going to be renting a 2 bdrm on the third floor. I’m pretty excited about the change and even more excited about being back in Wake Forest. Sean and I have really missed it. Since we are moving to a 2 bedroom we are going to be downsizing some. I am believing that we will be able to make a bunch of money from Craig’s List and the yard sale we are going to have at the end of the month. We are looking to be in the apartment for a little over a year. That will give us enough time to pay off most of our debts and start saving for a house. The only thing that doesn’t excite me is moving. I really hate moving cause it is such hard work. Especially in the middle of the summer and especially to a third floor apartment. We are scheduled to move in the first weekend in August. Now we are just waiting on the final approval from the apartment complex, which should be any day now.

I just realized that I haven’t blogged since I started my new job. The job is going really great! It is such an easy position. I am the evening receptionist at a call center in Raleigh. I don’t really do a whole lot but mainly sit there and guard the door. I create a seating chart each night for the following night, answer the phone (which isn’t that much in the evening) , and make sure people that leave early fill out the sign out sheet. I do a few other misc. things as well, but that is about it. I have a ton of free time which can be used however I see fit, as long as I am sitting at the desk. I can go on the internet, read a book, etc. This job is perfect for me and I am so thankful that God blessed me with it.

Even though the job is really easy it has left me super tired these past 2 weeks. Aside from working at nights I still have a 7 month old to take care of during the day. I usually go to bed around midnight and wake up about 7 or so whenever Caleb decides to wake up. You’d think that 7 hours would be enough sleep but I don’t really get 7 hours of sleep because Sean wakes up at 4:30 or 5:00 am to get ready for work and I am such a super light sleeper that I am awake as well. No complaints though because this job is a complete answer to prayer and we will be able to get in a much better financial situation very soon. At least during the day I am able to take a nap when the baby is.

On another note, Father’s Day is coming up and I am super excited about it! Caleb has a few surprises in store for his dad and I know Sean will love it.

This weekend we are going Apartment searching. I am trying to have us move at the end of July, that way by the time DBTW happens we will be much closer to church. Hopefully we will find a great apartment this weekend that is in our price range and a great deal!

Well that is all for now…hope all you father’s out there have an awesome Father’s Day!