All You Need is Love- Part 3

Today I am thankful for my baby boy.  I am thankful for him every second of every minute of every day.  I love him more and more each day even though it seems like my heart couldn't hold any more.  He brings me more joy than I have ever known. 

Some reasons why I love my Brian:

• The way he says his name is "Brinan" because he can't say Brian that well yet.
• The way he panics if he can't find his stuffed Mickey Mouse.
• His beautiful blue eyes.
• His laugh when you are tickling him and he just can't stand it anymore.
• How even though he has 25 million Lightning McQueens and Thomases, he always wants another one and turns down any other toy you might offer him at the store.
• How much he LOVES Italian food.
• That people say he looks just like me :)
• The way he says "Love you, Mom!"
• How he doesn't like his hands to be dirty at all.
• His beautiful, kind, sweet heart towards others.
• How he worries about someone if he sees they are upset.
• The way he calls my mom "Ninny"
• How he loses either Woody or Buzz on a daily basis and we have to put out an APB and search the house for them.
• How he doesn't like to wear stickers, but likes to put them all over me.
• How he gets upset when you offer him crayons to color, because he "don't want craynons, Mom!  I want markers!"
• How he loves to hold hands with his mommy.
• That he is protective over me, even at 3 years old.
• The way he looks at night when he is sleeping.
• That he yells "help, Mama, help!" over everything.  Even if it is just needing a juice refill.
• How every single time we pass a WalMart, no matter where we are, he always excitedly says "toys!"
• The way he calls Goofy on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Goopy"
• The way he sings "Jesus Loves Me" nearly every night after we say "amen".
• How he makes kissing noises and says "awwwww" when he knows he is about to get in trouble.
• The way he looked up at me after he was born and they put him in my arms.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Love is All You Need - Part 2

Today and everyday I am thankful for my new fiance.  The wonderful man that God brought to me and my son just a little over 9 months ago.

Some reasons why I love Wes:

• He loves me exactly the way I am.
• He makes me feel beautiful even when most of the time I feel far from it.
• He loves my son in a way that amazes me daily.
• He loves and respects his parents more than any man I've ever met.
• He tries to make me feel special every single day in some way.
• He can make me laugh until I can't breathe.
• He is a goober.
• He can make every show on the Food Network hilarious.
• He loves the word "awesome" and uses it 500 times a day.
• He gets so excited about food.
• He loves the Lord with all his heart.
• He prays for me and my son and our future family.
• He is supportive of me and Brian in every way.
• He is a Dave Ramsey man.
• He puts up with my sometimes over-sensitive heart :)
• He dislikes Bobby Flay as much as I do.
• He encourages me to do things that are important to me.
• He never allows me to be negative about myself.
• He communicates with me about everything.
• He only makes fun of me minimally because I have never seen Top Gun or the Princess Bride.
• He shares my love of Phil Collins.
• He taught my son how to "raise the roof".
• He always seems so proud to be with me.

Love is All You Need- Part 1

I have noticed that a lot of the blogs I read and a lot of the people I am friends with on Facebook have been writing about what they are thankful for in honor of Thanksgiving this month.  I decided to be a follower and do the same.  But just about the loves in my life.  So I am thankful for my mom and dad today every single day.


Some reasons why I love my mom so much:

• I used to never be able to fall asleep when I was little without holding her hand.  
• She has the most sensitive heart of anyone I know.
• She is one of the funniest people in the world.  
• We always have the best time together.
• I can talk to her about ANYTHING.  
• She has never judged me -or anyone else- about the things I have done.  She has always supported me on everything.
• She has always made me feel like the most beautiful person ever since I was a little girl.
• She has taught me how to be a good mother to my son.
• Everyday she sacrifices all her time to take care of my boy while I am at work.  And to me, that means never having to worry one bit.
• She has always gone above and beyond to help me out.  Especially the past 3 years.
• She always tells me she's proud of me.  But she will never know just how proud I am of her, too.
• I have always felt so special because of her. 
• She used to surprise me every Valentine's day morning by putting a box of my favorite candy, a card, and usually something cute to wear in my bathroom so I could see it when I went to get ready the next morning.  And she did this all the way up to my last Valentine's day at home.  And now she still does it at my house :)
• She is THE most SELFLESS person I have ever known.  She will give anything she can and do anything she can do to help another person out.
• She is beautiful inside and out.
• She makes the best broccoli and cheese casserole in the world.  And lots of other things that make me gain weight.
• She encourages me EVERY SINGLE DAY. 
• She is the strongest woman I know.  She is a fighter; especially for the people she loves.

I could keep going and going....there would never be enough blog space for how much I love that woman.


But I can't forget the reasons why I love my dad so much:

• As a child, he convinced me that he was one of the original Solid Gold Dancers.  If you were around in the 80's, then you totally know who they were.  And he did such a good job of convincing me that I went to school and bragged to everyone about my "famous" dad.  Needless to say, I got made fun of and realized I had been deceived.
• He used to make me face my fears unintentionally.  Like when he would push me down the grocery store aisles backwards in the cart and I didn't know where I was going to end up.  Or when we would be swimming at the beach and he would go under with a wave and stay there for what seemed to be like 30 minutes to me while I floated helplessly in an intertube.  Then pop up laughing only after I had nearly reached the point of tears.
• He is a man that has never been ashamed to show his love for his daughter.
• How he sings along to almost every song on the radio even though I have NEVER heard him sing any correct lyrics EVER.  He makes up his own, but usually knows the last word of every line if they rhyme.
• He is the hardest worker I know.
• He always provided for his family, no matter what the cost.
• He taught me how to love "The Sound of Music" and he sings a mean "Edelweiss"
• He has the most contagious laugh and is so funny.
• He is always upbeat and in a positive mood.
• He rarely thinks about himself.
• The best head-rubber-while-you-are-falling-asleep on the planet.

I could not have been blessed more than I have with the two best parents God has ever made. 

One at a time

I wanted to share something funny that Brian said last night.  We were playing the Toy Story Memory Game in his room after he got back from his dad's house.  I dumped all the pieces out on the rug and explained to him that we were going to find matches.  Since he is a beginner at the Memory game, I left all the pieces facing up instead of down so it would be easier for him to see.  It didn't take long for him to get the hang of it.  He was actually better than I was at finding the matches!  After he had about several matches, I picked up a card and said "Brian, can you help me find this match?"  Well, apparently he was already looking for one because he sternly pushed the card back towards me and said, "One at a time, Mom."

I laughed so hard.  Maybe it was the tone in which he said it.  Maybe it was "the look" he gave me when he said it.  Or maybe it was just because I am the mommy and he was being bossy.

Whatever it was, it was just too cute.

He works all things out for my good

Wow, what a weekend I had.  I celebrated the 9 month anniversary of our first date with my sweet boyfriend and he surprised me by becoming my sweet fiance!  That's right- I AM ENGAGED!  After the sweetest proposal ever, the man who God so graciously brought into my life 9 months ago to the day asked me to be his wife.  And I have never been more excited!  And I noticed something that maybe he doesn't even remember (he was pretty nervous and shaky).  But when he was sharing his heart with me, he constantly kept telling me that he loved someone else too- my son.  He will never know how much that meant to me.  Brian was with his daddy this weekend, so he wasn't a physical part of our engagement but he was definiately part of it at heart!  We went to Redrock Canyon Grill and had a wonderful dinner to end the perfect anniversary!  And did I mention my ring is BEA-UTIFUL!!?!?

On a serious note, let me say that I give 100% of my happiness to God.  I can remember 2 years ago, my life was dramatically different than it is today.  I had a beautiful one year old who I adored but I was walking in one of the darkest times of my life.  I was facing my first holiday season on my own which was heartbreaking and scary for me.  Sure, I had the most amazing family that anyone could ever be blessed with (especially my beautiful mama who was my rock) but I am very family-oriented and facing the holidays alone was tough.  I wanted to play Christmas music and decorate the tree and eat Thanksgiving dinner with my son and husband.  But I didn't have one anymore.  All this babbling gets me to my point- GOD WORKED EVERYTHING OUT FOR MY GOOD.  I probably grew more as a person during that time than I ever had before.  I became less shy and more self-sufficient.  I realized that I could do a lot on my own- work 2 jobs, raise a beautiful boy, make a home.  Now all this wasn't without help. I COULD NOT have done it without my family and God helping me everyday.  But I can remember leaving my job teaching 4 year olds from 9-3 and going immediately to the office to work until 10 at night and being so tired and so discouraged at times.  I was tired, didn't feel like I got to spend enough time with my son, stressed financially, stressed from the worst divorce ever.  There were times when I would be driving home and I would wonder if there was someone out there for me who would not only love the Lord, but love me and my son as well. 

Life got easier.  God worked it out for me to be home with Brian more and not be stretching myself so thin.  And I started to get stronger and happier.  I knew that my life was better.  And so was Brian's.  And God worked every negative thing out for my God.  I just had to let him instead of trying to control it myself and be mean, bitter, and angry. 

And now, 2 years later, God gave me an amazing man that I get to share my life with.  I could never say enough about my future husband.  He is wonderful.  The best of the best.  I will forever be thankful for him and for God changing my life over the last nearly 3 years of this life changing journey.

Thankful

Have you ever had a moment in the day where you just have to stop and thank God for everything in your life?  That usually happens to me at the most random times.  Today, it was as I was driving back to work from my lunch break.  I was at a stoplight and just felt the overwhelming need to thank God for all that he has (undeservingly) blessed me with.  And I want to share some of them.


1)  God's unconditional love for me.  Never ceases to amaze me.  Thank you, Lord, for sending your son for me.
2)  My precious son.  I know I say it a million times, but I have never experienced a love like that in my life until the day the doctor laid Brian Joshua in my arms.
3)  My beautiful family.  He gave me the best.  A mother who is the perfect reflection of God's unconditional love and a dad who has always shown me love and support.  So many extended family members (and friends who I consider family) that are always there for me.  And 9 months ago Saturday, God sent me a man who I never imagined I would find who loves me and my son with all his heart.

I could list about a billion things, but have to say that there is nothing as important as these.  I hope everyone takes the time every once in a while to thank God for the blessings in their life and never take those beautiful blessings for granted.

Not-So-Creative November

I really wish I had something creative to blog about, but I just can't seem to find it in me so far this month.  Nothing bad has happened,  just been feeling so run down lately.  I officially lost 19 pounds on my diet!  I wanted to lose 25 but I think my body was telling me otherwise because I just kept hanging onto those last 6 pounds and started feeling AND looking bad.  Not a great feeling when people start telling you, "hey, you look so skinny!  But you look bad, too!" :)   Pale & exhausted just weren't worth it anymore.   So I am moving into the stabilization part (phase 3) which means no more HCG drops, and increasing my calorie intake to around 1500-1800 a day.  I also get to have dairy and good fats back which I cannot express how happy that makes me.  Cheese please!!!!!!!  Oh, and NUTS!!! :)  The exciting part is that because you are still eating so healthy and low cal, that people often continue to lose a little more weight and inches.  Plus I am ready to start working out again.  I've missed it and my body has really missed it.

I would have to count this diet as being very successful.  It was tough and took a lot of self-discipline and contrrol but I was able to accomplish the 2 things I wanted:  losing some weight and reducing my blood pressure medicine (down to a half of a pill now!) and just feeling better in general.

It is Friday afternoon at work and it is so incredibly boring that I have been doing absolutely nothing productive.  In fact, after finishing today's blog, I may just take a little nap :)

Have a great weekend!!