Welcome Home, Cruz

It's been a long time coming, but we've finally purchased a second car!!!  It's been something that we've desired for a long time but we 1.) wanted to save up a substantial down payment and 2.) wanted to wait until B was earning more money at work.  We don't like to spread ourselves too thin and with his work schedule previously being 8am-4pm and then 6am-2pm we were able to make it work with only one vehicle.

When he received his promotion and his hours changed from 8am-5pm things became a lot more difficult.  We began having to cram all of our errands into Saturday and it really was becoming quite frustrating.  All the while B had been keeping his eyes out, via the internet, for the "right" car.  Well, on Friday, July 21st he found it!  By the time we decided to go look at it on Saturday afternoon, it had been sold.  They had several other similar models in stock but none of them had the second row bench seat that B really wanted, they were all captain's chairs.  I wasn't really sure what my preference was between the two so I happened to ask the salesman if they had anything on the lot with a bench seat so I could compare it.  He said we could drive around and check so all of us hopped on the golf cart and went looking around at the different Ford Flexes they had on the lot. 

Turns out the only one they had with the bench hadn't been cleaned, detailed, priced, etc.  We knew we liked it but didn't know what price it would be so we asked if we could take it for a test drive even though it still wasn't officially in their inventory yet.  The salesman agreed and while we were out he found out what the price would be, got us a copy of the carfax report, etc.  After we drove it we were pretty much sold but the price was a bit higher than we wanted to pay.  After a little negotiating we were able to talk the price down a bit, not exactly where we wanted but they agreed to put on new brakes and  new tires so we made a deal!

We finally brought it home the following Thursday and I named him Cruz.  Cruz because if we are ever blessed with a little boy, I'd love to name him Cruz but B (so far) will not agree to it.  So I told him if I couldn't name our future son Cruz then I'd name my car Cruz!  As far as details about him, he's a 2010 Ford Flex with just over 29,000 miles on him. He truly is in perfect condition and by reading the carfax we know that his previous owner took care of him in the same manner that we take care of our car(s).  He always had an oil change on time, took him in for all scheduled maintenance and never had an accident!

Oh, and can I say just how liberating it is to be able to jump in the car at any time and take the girls out if I need/want to?!?  I'm loving it!

The Best 2 Years

I have just completed the best 2 years of my life thus far.  I say thus far because I am sure that I will say this many more times in my lifetime.

Y is now a 2 year old, it is so very hard to imagine that my precious baby is now a toddler.  She has added so much to my life and has given us the greatest joy.  I can never think of her birth day without getting teary eyed and it's not because of all the grueling hours of labor, or the frustration of having a C-Section, or any of those things.  It makes me so emotional because I can look back and see how much our lives have changed since her birth, how much our lives have improved just because she makes our day brighter.  I never knew that a heart could hold so much love and adoration for one person and each day it expands and grows as we watch her grow and realize that she is being raised by two parents who not only adore her but also adore each other.  I truly believe that the greatest gift we give our children is a happy, healthy family environment where they know without a shadow of a doubt that they are loved beyond compare.

We've had our trials throughout the last 2 years.  Being a new mom, or just a mom in general, has been the hardest experience of my life but it is also my most rewarding experience.  Motherhood gave me a whole new perspective on life and a new set of priorities.  Not a single decision is made without first considering how it would affect her, I have learned a whole new definition for selflessness.  It is amazing how one little person can motivate you to do things that you should have been doing all along.  Things that will only benefit you in the long run but that you never really felt you had the time to do before, nor did you want to make the effort to make the time to do them.  And why do you do them now?  because you know that by making the sacrifice to do those things you are being a better example to her and guiding her down a better path in life.

In short, I love being Y's mommy and all the joy it brings me.  My heart and life are so full and so enriched.

As for Y she still loves to go to the pool and play in any amount of water no matter how big or small, she loves all things Elmo.  Recently she has discovered Nemo and Dora the Explorer but Elmo is still numero uno!  She loves to give hugs and kisses, mostly to mommy and daddy but with a little coercion she'll give them to others as well.  Her favorite animal right now is a monkey, she would wear her monkey pajamas all day, every day if I allowed her to.  She loves the color green; anytime she sees it she will grab my hand and want to go see it.  Her vocabulary is amazing and for the most part she speaks extremely clear (for a 2 year old).  Her memory, well it's nothing short of amazing as well.  She remembers the smallest details with ease and I am often left wondering, "how on earth did she remember that?"  She is very polite and can always be heard saying, "excuse me" when she needs to get by or "you're welcome" after you thank her for doing something.  She calls everyone Sweetie and I still find it hilarious how she says, "hi, sweetie" whenever someone enters a room.  She loves to sing and walks around the house all day asking for either songs or susic (music).  She is a HUGE daddy's girl and I absolutely LOVE to watch her face light up as she realizes he is walking through the door.  She thinks that any man with full facial hair is Jesus (we're working on that one).  And she loves to sit at the computer all day and look at pictures and videos of herself, many of the videos she can quote word for word.  She would rather sit and watch herself than watch cartoons or anything else that may be on TV.  She is TONS of FUN!!!

The Story of Our Lives...

"I too believe that God will always make a way where there is no way. I believe that if we will walk in obedience to the commandments of God, if we will follow the counsel of the priesthood, he will open a way even where there appears to be no way."

--Gordon B. Hinckley, "If Ye Be Willing and Obedient", Ensign, Jul 1995, 2

Love this quote!  Loved this man!  I have witnessed this so many times in our lives.  Sometimes I have my "why my" days, weeks, or even months when I feel as if nothing I want or feel I need is working out right.  And it can be so frustrating especially when things seem to come so easy for others around you.  Or those times when you KNOW you're on the correct path and going in the direction Heavenly Father wants you to go but it still seems like you're hitting one road block after another, after another and just when you're ready to give up because you have tried every possible way around or over that road block to no avail...the pathway just opens up and you are able to continue on your journey.

Heavenly Father loves all of his children and He will always provide a way for us, even when we don't think it's possible.  It may not be when we feel we need it or in our time frame but "He's always on time."

We're Almost There

Today is the day!!!  Today at 1:30pm we're going to do the final walk-through and at 2pm we are scheduled to sign all the papers.  I'm feeling quite a few emotions right now.  I'm nervous and excited and even a little sad but all-in-all we are so very ready to take this next step.

I am nervous because I fully realize that until those papers are signed, this isn't a done deal.  I'm excited because this is a huge step for us and is something we've been praying about for a very long time.  Heavenly Father has blessed us in so many ways and opened doors for us when there didn't even seem to be a door.  We know that this is what is right for us at this moment and we are so very grateful.  In all the excitement there is also a little big of sadness, a small amount because of the amount of money we're about to spend but more because I am extremely nostalgic.  Our current apartment isn't my first place (that was actually in college at VT), nor is it my first apartment as a married person, but it is the place that we brought our beautiful baby girl home to after she was born.  She crawled here, walked here, said her first words here, etc.  And honestly we have loved every minute of it but it is time to move on.  Life is about progression and constantly evolving who you are and that's just what we're doing.  We're taking steps we believe are necessary for us and our family, not to mention the strong desire to expand our family once again.  So we'll move on and yes, I can guarantee you there will be a bit of sadness in my heart for the next few months as I think of our times here or as I drive past the complex but I know that we will be having many more firsts in the hours, days, months and years to come...and I can't wait!!!

We're Still Here

I guess I should start this post with an apology, it has been a very long time since my last post. I didn't post much, if anything, while my mom was visiting and by the time she left I guess I had just gotten out of the habit. Luckily though, there hasn't been a whole lot going on with us so this probably won't take too long.

Last month we received what is quite possibly the best gift we've ever been given (it's definitely in the top 2)! Someone very close to us, paid off our car loan! We were both surprised as well as being very excited and it could not have come at a better time. It was an answer to a prayer and definitely a message from Heavenly Father letting me know that we're on the right track. The extra money each month has allowed us to save more money each month which will hopefully enable us to buy a house sooner, assuming we find something affordable in the location that we want.

We had a pregnancy scare this month. Or at least I had a scare, B didn't seem to be worried either way. I guess scare may be a little too severe a word but let me just say I'm not quite ready for #2 yet. Had it turned out that we were pregnant I would have come to accept it and even be excited about it, but I am really relieved that we're not. I have a tendency to plan things out, and sometimes, when things don't go as I plan I can get pretty emotional and even a little upset. Right now I just wanna take some time and enjoy being with Y. That combined with the fact that I'm really not ready for the multiple night feedings, being sleep deprived, and just becoming anyone's personal milking machine quite yet. When the time comes that we're ready for #2 (or even if we're not ready but it's on its way anyway) rest assure I will let all of you know, but as for right now...I'm just relieved!

Y is now 14 months old! She is still not walking and that's probably due to the fact that I want her to walk so badly. I have heard from some moms who have said that their son or daughter didn't walk until 18 months and some even a little bit later. I REALLY don't wanna wait that long. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will walk by Christmas. I should not, however, be surprised that she is taking her time learning to walk. She is such a laid back little girl and doesn't really seem to be in a rush to do things, take crawling for example. She has 4 teeth all coming in at once and she has been surprisingly tolerable through it all. We recently bought her a toothbrush to brush her teeth, previously we had been using one of those rubber fingertip brushes that you slide onto your finger. I was certain that she would just take the toothbrush out of my hand and start chewing on it but she doesn't. She LOVES getting her teeth brushed so she makes no effort to take the brush from me. When she sees me grab the toothbrush and her toothbrush she gets all excited and happy; maybe we have a future dentist on our hands. She still refuses to touch her own food although I did get her to pick up some french fries on one occasion, but other than that she moves her hand away whenever I try to make her take food. She has started trying to help me feed her when using a spoon, she will grab the spoon and pull it to her mouth. She still brings us so much joy and I love to do anything that will make her laugh because it is the cutest, most heartwarming sound I've ever heard. I really do love being a mom, but then again, she makes it easy!

Another Month Has Passed...

My precious baby is now 7 months old!! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone as I look back over it. I am enjoying so much being a mommy and I'm really saddened by how fast it has all gone by. She is such a joy to be around and just seems to be happy a lot of the time. I am told that even when I think she is being cranky that she's still pretty mellow, I guess Heavenly Father blessed me with an angel for my first born so that I would definitely have more. I sometimes think back to when she was first born and I would often get a little sad as I considered how B and I wouldn't have as much time to spend together because we would be so focused on taking care of Y. Well I won't tell you that I don't miss being able to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted but I will tell you that my somber views were slightly misguided because now I can't picture my life without Y in it. I love my little girl so much, words simply cannot express it. Anyway, enough about me...this is all about Y!

I know I'm a couple of days late but on Saturday Y turned 7 months old and I snapped a few pictures of her for your viewing pleasure. I tried to get a video but every time I begin filming she stops whatever she is doing and just stares blankly at the camera, and that's really not much fun so I won't post the video. She can roll over but only does it when she wants to do it. She can also sit up, but again, only when she wants to. She loves to laugh, touch and pull mommy's hair, smile, make noises that sound like a chirping cricket. She sleeps through the night again but isn't the greatest napper. She absolutely LOVES her bath, actually I just think she likes to make sure that mommy and daddy get just as wet as she does. I told B that with the way she kicks those legs and treads water she should be a swimmer. She doesn't even care that she splashes water in her face and eyes! Oh yeah, and she still has no teeth and from what I can tell it doesn't look like they're coming anytime soon. Her cousin, G, is 8½ months old and still has no teeth either so I guess we're just late bloomers. She is truly a fun baby and a joy to be around! I always snap pictures on her month-day (and lots of other days), so here they are:

Blessings

I really just felt the need to post and tell all of you how extremely blessed I feel to have you as part of our lives.

To my own family: I am so grateful, without you I wouldn't be me. Growing up I remember sometimes wishing I were a part of a different family but now there is no way I would change anything about you. You are a huge support to me and I know I can count on y'all through anything.

As for my in-laws: I was watching Desperate Housewives tonight (I know) and they were saying something about meeting the in-laws for the first time and how everyone dreads it. Well, I have to disagree! I totally lucked out in the in-law category. I have never had any issues with any of you and honestly feel that you guys are some of the most wonderful people on earth and I know that I am so blessed to have you as my family. Some of your family you're born into and others you choose (even if indirectly) but I am equally blessed in both.

My friends: I always have a tendency to wonder why things end up the way they do, why I went here, why I did this or that, why did I move here. And I think it all boils down to people and the influence that they will have on your life. That said, everything I have done or said or place I have gone has been a blessing to me because I have me some of the greatest people ever. Some of you are from back home, some of you are from VT, some of you are here in Michigan, and others of you are far off in distant lands but nonetheless I am so very grateful for you and to have you as part of my life. It's kinda weird but as it turns out I have made the greatest friends in places that I really wasn't sure why I was there. Rocky Mount, NC is no heaven on earth but it's home and I love it there and I have great friends there. My decision to attend Virginia Tech was kind of a last minute decision (I think I decided a week before having to return my letter stating I was planning to attend) but once I was there and I started meeting people I knew immediately that it was where I was supposed to be. And then there is Michigan, it took me a while to accept the fact that I was supposed to be here (and I'm still kinda wondering when or if that will change) but again, I have met and continue to meet the most amazing people and forming, what I hope to be, forever friendships.

So long story short, thank you all for your love, your support and your example. You guys are amazing and I'm blessed to have you.

100

This is post number 100, woohoo!!! Hard to believe that I've posted that many times in less than a year. I guess with the pregnancy I had quite a lot to say, not to mention I actually had time to say it all. Sometimes I miss having all that free time, or at least being able to dictate my own schedule. One day that will happen again, it'll probably just be many years down the road when we've had all of our kids and they've all started school. Anyway, now that that's out of the way, lets get down to the nitty gritty.

Y had therapy today and she is doing exceptionally well!!! Her therapist is pretty amazed at the progress she has made and kept talking to Y telling her that it is all due to mommy's hard work. As I thought about that tonight, I thought about how wrong that therapist really was. I mean, sure B and I do her stretches and exercises with her but we honestly can't take credit for her quick progression. There has been a higher power at work in all this. Before she started her physical therapy she was given a priesthood blessing by her dad, granddad and uncle. Many prays have been offered up, diligently, on her behalf. So as much as I would like to, I know that I can't really take the credit for this. Even in a minor case of torticollis it would take a minimum of 3 months to correct and we're looking at just one month of therapy when all is said and done. We've been at this for a couple weeks now and her therapist said today that she can't see Y showing any preference any more. She is able to move and support her neck on both sides pretty evenly. We're extremely grateful for this blessing.

As for other news...Y LOVES television, much to my dismay. I dunno, maybe I'm just weird, but I really don't want her to watch TV. I hadn't really noticed her watching it really until sometime late last week. I had her sitting on my lap facing forward and I picked her up to turn her around so that I could play with her and she kept her head turned toward the television. Whenever I would turn her so far around that she couldn't see it, she would get very upset. This gave us a good laugh for a little while I must admit. But we've noticed her watching it a lot since then. She also likes to look at this chime that I have hanging in the house, she also likes it when we make it move so she can hear the noise. She is talking and smiling all the time now and brings more joy to our lives than I ever thought possible. She's up to 6 pairs of shoes now (like mother like daughter). She has officially worn every piece of 0-3 month clothing that she owns, which for those of you who haven't seen her closet, is no small feat. I take her home to NC for the first time in 2½ weeks, and I am extremely nervous about traveling with her. I have a 1 hour 15 minute flight (30 minutes in the air) from Detroit to Chicago, then a 1 hour layover, a 1 hour 45 minute flight from Chicago to Raleigh and then a 1 to 1½ hour drive home from the airport. Hopefully she's a good traveler because I don't wanna deal with a screaming 3 month old. I am really looking forward to her meeting her PopPop as well as her uncle, aunt and cousins. In talking to my mom, I mentioned how different it would be for Y. She's really not accustomed to being surrounded by so many people, typically it's just me, her and B. Another huge difference will be the noise level. With only 3 people in our house, you can imagine that it's pretty quiet...well back home it's is completely the opposite. Always loud and something is always going on. Babies are resilient so I am sure she will adjust fairly quickly but it will still be very interesting nonetheless.

Well it's my bedtime so I will say goodnight and leave you with only one picture for now! Goodnight!

This is what they mean by, "Sleeping like a baby."

*Sigh*

It's a miracle; I actually have some free time to post to the blog. It really is amazing! So I guess now that I have time to write that I should come up with something to write. This week started off on the rough side, I can definitely say that the pregnancy emotions are starting to kick in. But thanks to great friends and great family members I was able to get over the hump. I'm still rather impatient with this whole pregnancy process but being so busy has helped me put my mind on other things. It's kinda weird the things that pregnancy changes, it's not just about the changes to your body but I am also having mental and spiritual changes. I find myself always wanting to improve, always wanting to be better and honestly it has very little to do with me and more to do with the unborn child that I already love so much. I want to live better so that I can be a better example. I want to learn more so that I can teach more. It is absolutely amazing the things that you think about when you're pregnant! Sometimes I feel unworthy, unworthy of the unconditional love that my child will have for me, unworthy of raising one of God's most amazing creations and unworthy of this beautiful blessing that's growing inside me right this very minute. But even with all those feelings and emotions, I wouldn't change my life right now for all the money in the world. My life's not perfect but I couldn't ask for a more supportive husband, family or friends because I am so truly blessed by them all and I can't wait for my baby to be a part of it. I'm under no delusions that this whole process of having a baby and raising a child will be easy but I know that I have such a strong support group of people that are willing and anxious to help that I can't help but be excited about the whole thing. I must be one of the, if the THE, luckiest girl in the world! 143