I'm a Nanny :)

Yesterday I officially became a part time nanny (9 hours a week) to a cute little 6 month old named Gavin. I've been searching for a part time nanny position for months now and I finally found a really good situation for all of us involved. Brooke and Gavin have to get used to each other (no hitting, scratching, or screaming at each other! :) but I think when they do they will be good friends. It's like having twins for a few hours a day and it's stressful sometimes but most of the time it was fun. We are going to get a double stroller so I can take them on walks when they get a little fussy. Anyway, I just wanted to post a picture of the two of them playing together and write a little about it. I'm really happy that this is going to work out after searching for so long!

9 months old and all grown up!

It wasn't until late in the evening on the 25th that I realized that Brooklynne had turned 9 months old on that day and it actually made me kind of sad. Nine months seems so old to me--so much closer to the big age of One! She still isn't crawling :) which I'm OK with cause it's more time that I have to leave my house as it is and not have to chase her everywhere telling her no! She likes to pull herself up on me from a sitting position and stands really good in her exersaucer.

She waves "hi" and "bye" to everyone if they say it to her, she laughs so much more now. She does "yeah" and claps her hands. She thinks it's funny if I scream. So I'm finding myself screaming in hushed tones a lot just to hear her giggle. She dances. She won't eat most vegetables (although she loves fruit) so I have to mix them with something to disguise it. And she is only nursing about 3 times a day--nice break for Mom!

She has brought so much joy and happiness to our lives. I think that just when you think you couldn't be in any more love than you are and possibly couldn't be and ounce happier, God sends you a baby and you love so much more! She's such a little miracle and I'm so thankful that she is a healthy little girl and so happy!

She is Mommy's big laundry-folder-helper and here's a picture of her helping me today. Eating socks is her favorite chore. :) Today she was fussing and grunting and looking at one of my bras in the pile on the bed and was so excited when I handed it to her. I think she thought there was a meal contained inside! :)

I will spare you the picture of her with it on, but I have to admit that it's pretty funny. Hey, I did say that I thought she was so old, right?

Anyway, that is a little update on the miniature love and joy of my life. I have 2 you know, so I have to specify! Pretty soon it will be the big one-year-old party with the cake in the face and...ooh, don't want to think about that right now. I'll b the most emotional Mom ever on that day!

Surprise!!!

Sometimes you just need to get away, or spend a little time alone with your family. The past couple weeks have been really crazy and Nate came home after a long day and said, "guess what"?
"I got us a one night stay downtown in a really nice hotel!"
Nate had been blessed recently with a pretty big bonus and told me he wanted to spoil me a little because i deserved it. I don't know about all that, but I'm glad that he thought so! ;)
I couldn't stop smiling the whole night. I was so excited and thrilled! Here are some pictures of our short little time away as a family. Nate got a suite so Brookie had her own room. which was nice and we had a sleep number bed with our own controls! It was so nice and we slept great on it! I want one! :)
Can you tell I was sooo happy??!!! :)
Just relaxing in bed and playing with Brookie. She was so happy and good!
This is in the lobby of the hotel. We had a hard time taking this cause Brooke wanted to look at the fish!
There was also a beautiful fireplace in the one of the lounge area's.
We ate at TGI Fridays for lunch. I love it there. Here Brookie was waving to the birds outside! :)
Ok this is and inside joke, but we saw this couple taking a picture at the drinking fountain and we thought it was a little strange, so we had to do it too! :) I mean, it is pretty, but....hmmm.....

All of the woodwork in the capitol building was done by hand. It is pretty amazing throughout the whole building.
It was gorgeous outside! 80 and sunny and not a cloud in the sky! Not bad for February!

This one is grainy but I wanted to put it up anyway. It's in one of the hallways and I really like my outfit that I just got for dirt cheap. :)

What is Success?

Success is when you lay your head on your pillow at night and know that something that you did today made the Lord smile.
That is your purpose: to make your Saviour smile each day and to know that something you did made him happy.

That is success.

I really shouldn't

But I will.

I should not be posting right now. I have a huge pile of laundry to fold. I'm not kidding, even though I am sure you are not surprised. I need to straigten up my room before I go to bed. And I have to finish up my kitchen, too. Tonight we ate and ran out the door so my kitchen was not cleaned before we left and my room got a little crazy in our rush to get ready for church. We have special meetings this week with Sam Gipp.

Anyway, I love to write to this will probably be a really random post--again, no surprise--so hang on. :)

After Nate left for work this morning I was cleaning up from the party last night and talking to my Mom on the phone when about 45 minutes later he walked in the door and announced that he did not have to work today! YEAH!!! We knew it was preseident's day, but he didn't think that he would have off. It was so nice that he did!

We both went to the gym together and worked out. I did a new cycle class today that I really liked. I think I'll go to that one twice a week. After that we came home and cleaned up then I had to teach a lesson. We went out and did some errands because Nate was looking for a new phone. The main conclusion that he came to was that he is going to wait because they were too expensive.
I got new shoes! They are so cute. They are black casual shoes, like a sketchers tpye only they are mudd brand and they are soo comfy. Nate bought them for me! :)
After we came home I had another lesson to teach for an hour and then I made dinner. It was a pretty good day. Tonight when I came home I ironed my hubby's work shirts and hung them up. I was proud of myself cause he has needed them ironed for several days now. :( Bad wife!

Well, I am so tired and I am gonna head to bed. I have to watch 2 toddlers, a 3 year old and my own baby in the morning for 3 hours so I need to get some sleep. I'm not used to that kind of chaos. :)

Goodnight.

Oh so Romantical!

Our Valentines night dinner turned out perfect! Nate was so surpised and said that it was the best idea he ever heard of! The food turned out great and the whole night was really emotional for both of us. I'm not sure why! :) I cried when I read his card, and he cried when he read mine. I guess I just feel like we know each other so much better now that even last year and we have gotten so much closer. Of course I love him so much more, too!

The table...I used the flash because everything was really dim. I set candles throughout our whole house and it was really pretty! This was right before we ate our appitizers: Poppers!
This was what I used for a centerpiece: my wedding bouquet. Now I'm so glad that I used fake flowers! To this day this sits in a vase on my dresser!
My roses from my lover! They were a dark pink and SOO beautiful!

Nate also bought me these chocolate covered strawberries! They were huge and so yummy. So, he ate the ones' that I made and I ate the ones that he bought. :) Sorry that there are no pictures of us...but you know what we look like!

Happy Valentines Day!

Nate, Brooke and I would like to wish you all a very romantical Valentines Day! Even if you don't have a true valentine, I hope that you take this day to show some love to your parents, siblings and friends! It's a great day just to step back and look at the big picture and realize how much we have to be thankful for and a great time to show that appreciation to our loved ones.
I am a busy bee today preparing a special candelight dinner for my man and me. He thinks he's gonna be spending a small fortune taking me out tonight, and instead I am surpsising him with a romantic dinner at home!
You should have seen me huffing and puffing while balancing on one foot trying to get my huge box of china down from the closet. I haven't used it yet, so tonight is a first. I took a leaf out of the table so that it is set for only two and I'm decorating with pictures of us, candle's and my wedding bouquet in a pretty vase! (My flowers were fake)
I'll make sure that I take pictures so that you can see what a great job I did. :) Hee hee. I'm actually very proud of myself for planning this all out. I also bought a very *pretty* dress to wear...something I couldn't wear out of the house (or I wouldn't). I'm so excited! I love Nate so much and I hope that this will help express my love for him!

P.S. Did I mention I made chocolate covered strawberries for dessert?

Thinking

Today I have been thinking a lot. When we were in Florida my dad asked me if I was a deep thinker--if I thought a lot. At the time I really didn't think I did but now that I notice, I do. I'm home alone all day with a baby who can't talk-yes, I think a lot!
Yesterday at church we heard two very good sermons. One on feeding, or not feeding, the flesh and another one on prayer. So I've been thinking about them a lot today. As I cleaned out my refrigerator which is yet another job that I hate. I put it off for way too long. And when you put something off that has to do with leftover food, you pay the consequenses. I threw out a lot of smelly moldy stuff that I had no clue what it started out as. I'm sure it was good in it's day but today I had to breath threw my mouth just to make sure I didn't smell it. Yes, I know that is discusting. I'm still working out a few things in my housewife life. Hee hee.
So after that long bunny trail...

We always hear, "don't feed the flesh." But I feel as if I really grasped onto this concept when I heard this illustration yesterday.

It was a riddle and it goes like this: If there are two dogs who are fighting dogs. They are both the same size and weight and they both have the same willpower. They both have the same endurance and strength. Which one will win the fight?

The answer is, the one that you feed more. Obviously the one that gets fed more has more energy to make him last longest and out fight the other dog.

That was when it really made sense to me. My spirit is not weak. Why do I always think that my flesh is so strong? Because I feed it more; of course it will be stronger and get the victory in so many area's of my life! My Spirit has the same strength, the same wilpower and the same endurance as my flesh. I just have to feed it to make it out smart and out win my stinking flesh.

So that is what I have been thinking about today. I have been thinking and wishing that I could get more victory over my flesh and so I just pray,
"LORD, help me to give the spirit the fuel and energy that it needs each day to win over my flesh!"

For the love of Chocolate

When we went to Downtown Disney when we were in Florida, there was a Ghiardelli chocolate store.

Oh my word.

First of all, you step in and someone is there with a basketful of choclate samples that they cheerfully hand you to eat right there and enjoy without spending a penny. Of course they know that once you taste it, you will spend much more than a penny! The sample that day was a ooey gooey carmel inside covered in smooth, creamy milk cholate. The square was about 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches. I cherished each bite. (all one of them) :)

There was choclate everywhere. It was like a little chocolate heaven that I had stumbled upon. Only I think a real chocolate heaven would offer everything for free. Of course, Ghiardelli chocolate is pretty expensive but I think it is money well spent. Especially when it is not my money! :) My amazing, wonderful and gracious husband bought me not one but two large bars of my choice. I picked the carmel one that we had sampled, only with dark chocolate, and a dark chocolate with rasberry. The bars have 6 squares each. So far I have eaten 5-6 squares total, meaning there are 5-6 squares left until we must make a trip to Florida to get more. Just kidding!

Now I have not even told you the best part. The whole other side of the store was an ice cream/coffie shop. Of course they had huge posters up of their famous sundae which looked heavenly. Fortunately for my hubby (but unfortunately for me) we had just eaten and I was not very hungry. So he bought me something that was like a Frappachino, only it had a different name that I don't remember.

And I will tell you it was way, way, way better than Starbucks. It was so rich and choclatey and just......mmm. I had about 1/4 of it and Nate and Pat finished the rest. It was wonderful. I was in a good mood for the rest of the night after those 2 samples (yes, we went in there twice) and that drink! WOW! Talk about makin' mama happy! :)

So, for all of you chocolate lovers--aka women, take some time out of your day today to enjoy a little piece of chocolate. I suggest dark chocolate as it is actually good for you and full of potent antioxidents and can help lower high blood pressure and keep your blood flowing and your heart healthy.

If anything, it's a great excuse to have a little indulgence! :)

Great Day

I know that I already posted today, but Nate isn't home tonight so I'm pretty bored. I am sitting here thinking about what a wonderful profitable day I had. You know when you have those days--for me they are few and far between, but today was one of them.

My kitchen is spick and span, the dishwasher is running, Brookie is fed and in her crib. She's quiet so I assume she is alseep. I got in a great workout at the gym tonight and tracked all of my calories eaten today. I'm fianally all unpacked and back to normal. So, it took 4 days but hey, at least I did it within a week of getting home!

I have never done a structured devotional type book, but I have been going through "Holy Women" by James W. Knox. I'm on lesson 3 and so far I have written down so much and had a lot to think about. I actually started it when I got home because I got it at his church when I was there. I would highly recomend it to a woman of any age. A lot of it is foundational--stuff that we tend to be so familiar with we forget how important it is in our lives.

I'm going to take a shower and head to bed. Oh, something else I have done since I've been home is go to bed earlier and get up a little earlier. (Not early--just earlier!) I've really liked it and I hope that I can stick with this schedule.

So, until tommorow when I'll probably be so discouraged that I haven't gotten anything done,
Goodnight.

New Title

I have been trying to think of a good title for my blog for some time now. Since I couldn't think of anything, I kept it as our names until I could think of something better.

Then today, it hit me.

As I stared at Mt. Everest (AKA pile of clean laundry) that was heaped upon my bed I tried to think of something good that could come out of this chore, but nothing came to mind. As I folded my little girls skirts and onesies and pants and dresses, my hubbie's t-shirts, jeans, underwear and socks, something else hit me: there is something absoluteley boring and monotnous about folding laundry.
I detest doing laundry. If there was one chore in the world I could pick that I didn't have to do, it would be that. Many chores would follow on that list, don't get me wrong, but that would be at the top! I'm fine to throw it in the washing machine, but the process after that is long and drawn out as I forget about it, have to wash it again, finally put it in the dryer only to leave it there for...well...a long time...when it reaches it's destination of the clothes basket, it then sit's and waits to be folded for another....long time....
You get the point.

A few weeks ago I was folding laundry while Brooke was awake, so she was sitting on my bed and I gave her a little pile to "fold". OK, it sounds crazy but I thought it would be something that would be good for training--something that the Pearls would do. I thought it might make a good article for their magazine. Just kidding. :)
My whole outlook on laundry changed at that moment as she started to play with it, smile at me, eat it, giggle and have a great time. I had so much fun folding laundry that day!

Today, as I thought about that, I realized that someone else would have gotten that opportunity to share that special moment with her if I were out in the world working that day.
I would have missed many special moments if I wasn't a keeper at home.

Something I am passonate about it women being keepers at home in the position God intended for them. Just like the Proverbs 31 women that we all strive to be, women need to be creative and hard working to make a little extra money for the household income, if it is needed. Even if it isn't needed, it is awesome to be able to use our talents or creativity to help out in any way we can, without answering to another man (or worse--a woman!) in the world.

Hence, my new blog title. For the mom's who read this, whenever you fold laundry you can think of the moments you have had with your kids and thank God you were able to share it with them! For the singles, start being creative now so that you can use it later in life!

I need to close this post. I have a lot to do, and it will come as no surprise to you that I still have laundry to do!

First of several....

vacation posts! We have had a wonderful time these past 2 weeks in Florida. The first week, my dad preached at Bro. Lnox's Bible conference along with several other preachers. The theme was "The attributes of God" and each preacher spoke about a different attribute. We had a street meeting one day, went to the ocean and went roller skating (I went around about half a time. I knew I was gonna fall on my behind and ruin my vacation, so I stopped. They didn't have any roller blades left and skating is hard!)
All of us got the stomach flu, which was really interesting. I'll tell you though, we got it when we moved into the vacation house that we rented and no better place to get it than there with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms! We had plenty of room to be sick, that's for sure.
Our house was incredible. I'll be posting pictures of it soon, but to give you an idea, it is an 350,000 house. It was a model so it was perfectly and expensivly decorated, too.
My grandma got free tickets to Disney (she works there) for almost all of us and we had a blast there one day at 3 of the parks.
Probably one of the highlights was when we got to perform for the people in the park where my grandparetns live. There were almost 200 people there and we sang for 45 minutes. My dad got to give the gospel and I just prayed that we were able to minister to people through our songs and testimony.
My grandparents on my dad's side came up for 2 days to spend time with us which was really special. We went out to eat with him and went to "Old Town" and rode some rides and went shopping. What's a day without shopping--even if you don't buy anything?
I feel like this post is really boring and monotinous, but my excuse is that I am really, really tired and I just wanted to give an overview so that I could post pictures later and you would get and idea of what was going on. My brain is fried right now...it's horrible how vacation does that to ya, but when you are having so much fun, you don't really care!
Being with my family for a few weeks only makes me realize how much I miss them. It was so hard saying goodbye at the airport today :( but thankfully I didn't cry so much that I made a scene.
This is going no where so I think that I will get a good nights sleep and post within the next couple days.
Love you all!
Jen