Some-bunny had a birthday yesterday!

Yesterday was my honey bunny's birthday. We are now the same age!!! OK...I am 6-months older than him but still :-).

For his birthday, he got a couple of cupcakes from a local bakery called Crumbs. One from me and one from our little princess JOE. Then we went out to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants (Bertucci's). We even got a complimentary dessert there for his birthday.

We had a good time and JOE was extra happy yesterday. No doubt that was on occasion of his birthday.

Wishing him MANY MANY MANY more happy birthdays. He always says "I'd rather be celebrating a birthday than the alternative." I for one am VERY glad he is  celebrating a birthday.

Love him LOADS!

This pic is so funny because in the first picture I took, JOE had her pacifier in her mouth. When she noticed I was taking pictures, she quickly spit it out. She is getting more accustomed to the camera :-). She smiled but I couldn't catch it in time. Oh well...at least the celebrant is smiling.

A cake from me (his favorite...peanut butter) and one from JOE (raspberry lemon)

He made a wish and is blowing out his candle!

#ProjectMilf - Week 8 Review

This week's challenge is to do an honest review of where we've come since week 1.

#1 - Work on my relationship with J. My relationship with J is a work in progress. We are finally starting to hit our strides as far as being a family of 3. We try every day to ensure that we are both OK and we always pray for God's guidance in our marriage. Our 2-year anniversary is April 16th and we plan on going out as a family to enjoy time together.

#2 - Work on my body so I can get healthier. I am grossly failing in this area. I did manage to get in 2-workouts on Sunday and Monday but eating-wise, it has been difficult. I am constantly hungry. I think that's a side effect from pumping. I still need to work on that.

#3 - Work on my spiritual life. I am doing OK in this area. I continue to work in the Children's ministry at my church. J & I also pray together each night and we hope to get back to the couple's ministry when things settle down a bit for us.

Overall, on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 meaning I am doing AWESOME, I'd say I am a solid 6. There's still room for improvement and I plan on working on that in the coming weeks.

And so it begins...making our house a home

This is the part I have been REALLY REALLY excited about! Our blinds were finally delivered last week and installed yesterday. We have had bed sheets covering all the windows since we moved in. Now that we have actual window coverings, I can take pictures around the house and begin the process of making our new home look more homey.

So here are the projects I plan on undertaking this Spring.

I'll be doing before and after pics to document what I have done.

Do feel free to offer up ideas. I'll consider good ones :-).

Project #1: Set up JOE's nursery. Theme colors are pink, green and chocolate brown. Since I am not brave enough to venture into the world of painting, I will be using wall decals in her room. I figured its a good way to ensure the room grows with her instead of painting again when she gets older.
I have been collecting ideas. I'll be using pink, brown and green polka dots cascading from one wall of her room around her room. Then putting up a window valence and also alphabet decals for her learning experience. I also plan on painting letters (her name) and using ribbons to secure them for her room door.
I'd like to do 3-D pics with some of the cards she received at her shower and also a couple since she's been born. I am still browsing around for ideas on that one.
Here are pics of some ideas.

Project #2: Set up morning room. We currently have a dining room buffet that we inherited from J's grandmother. I plan on putting it to good use. I will use the cabinets to store liquor. I will frame a mirror I currently have to use above the buffet and put some candles/candle holders on top as accents. Similar to this.

Project #3: Family room decor. Right now, its pretty bare so I'd like to tackle that room after the morning room and JOE's nursery. I am still browsing around for ideas.

Project #4: Begin work/collection process for the rain barrel. In an effort to save on our water bill, J & I are planning on doing this. We are going to order it sometime later in the spring. Now that we have a yard, it'll need to be watered and we plan on using the water collected to keep it up.

Mommy duties versus wife duties

I find myself torn between the two. Before we got married, J and I took 20-weeks of pre-marital classes. Our church requires two 10-week courses. Even though we weren't getting married at our home church, we thought it important to take the classes as a way to help us build our marriage and deal with the challenges of everyday life.

In the first year of our marriage, we weathered some challenging things but we came through just OK. Most of these challenging  stemmed from growing up in different backgrounds. The positive thing was always that even through it all, we never once doubted our love for each other or questioned why we got married. 

J was THE MOST supportive husband while I was pregnant! He would rub my back (not as long as I would like but still...) AND rub my feet. He carried the heavy stuff, did a lot more around the house and during our trip to Italy, he was ever more caring. Always making sure I was OK. 

During JOE's delivery, I was again impressed by how supportive J was. It truly melts my heart to recall the events of that day. He encouraged me, played my favorite christian music which he loaded on his iPOD for me. Got my ice and was there to clean up after a not so lady-like throw up session. Ick...I know :-).

Then along came JOE...

JOE is most definitely the apple of our eyes. We love her more than anything and with each passing day, we fall more in love with her. I didn't even know that was possible. 

But as anyone would tell you, being a mom is hard work and being a new mom can feel like twice the work! We are ALWAYS busy now and downtime often involves one of us taking care of the baby while the other rests. Exercising which used to be my favorite pastime now takes a backseat to sleep. 

Everyone says "it'll pass soon and you'll miss it". I really LOVE LOVE LOVE my little girl but sometimes, I wonder how the heck my parents did it with 6-kids and I wonder if I am nuts to want to have 3-kids.

I miss my one on one time with hubby but I also don't want anyone else watching JOE outside of her nanny until she is 12+ months. I know J misses our "us" time too and granted, its not just the 2 of us anymore. We're now a family of 3 so things are bound to be different.

For the moms out there, how did you cope with the transition? Has your relationship with your significant other changed or did it go back to being what it was after baby got a little older?

On another note, here's JOE with my parents during our visit to MA a couple of weekends ago. They just LOVE her and yes, JOE favors my mom :-).

The town that cried snow...

I live in the DC/MD/VA area and they don't handle snow very well. Having grown up in MA, I feel like the folks here are P-A-R-A-N-O-I-D about snow!

A few weeks ago, the weather folks forecasted a snow storm. The government including schools and several businesses were shut down in anticipation of the snow. We got NO snow. It rained and rained and not even icy rain, just regular rain!

Yesterday, we were told of another impending snowy forecast. But this time, no doubt due to the criticism from last time, we were told it would be 1...MAYBE 2 inches of snow in the area I live in. As a result the government remained open and most schools remained open. Some instituted a 1-hour delay.

Well, lo and behold, we have 3-inches so far and its still snowing! This is our only significant amount of snow this season and while it looks pretty, I wish they got it right this time so I could have  slept in a bit longer this morning. Oh well...here's hoping its a much warmer week.

In other news, here is our little JOE and my very handsome hubby...all ready for Church yesterday. Yes...I am trying different things with her hair. I put in colorful hair clips. It was off before we even made it to the car but at least I tried :-).

Have a fabulous week!

#Projectmilf - week 7 - Motivate Someone

For information about Project MILF, please click here:

I haven't been very good about keeping up with this challenge because we were in the midst of moving and then adjusting to our new home.

This week's challenge is motivating someone. Hmmm...this is a toughy because by nature, I try to avoid situations where that is required. It is something I have been struggling with for some time now but I believe the first step to motivating others is to motivate myself.

I typically motivate myself by reminding myself that no matter how bad the situation might be, it will get better. I tell myself "the darkest hour of the night is an hour to morning." It is a song I used to sing as a child. I also try to count my blessings because when I focus on my blessings, its hard for me to think about the negatives in life.

When it comes to motivating others, I am GROSSLY lacking in that area. I will try to encourage and motivate by giving encouraging and positive words but at the same time, I typically avoid negative people.

I am eager to read more about how others motivate people because I can possibly learn something new.

I'll leave you with a picture of my princess. She is my motivation to get through a stressful work day.

Making the move...

I too am making the move...Link

Settling in

We are finally starting to settle into our new home. Jordan loves all the space. I was concerned that she would be fussy due to the unfamiliar environment but she is doing great and thriving.
J & I managed to install 5 fans in the house. J did most of the work and I was just his helper. It was a little challenging dealing with a baby, taking pump breaks and also doing the fans but we managed to get it all finished by Tuesday.

Yesterday, JOE and I headed to MA to visit with my folks. It is my first flight alone with JOE and her 3rd flight. She did great until we got on the flight. Then my daughter decided to showcase her developing vocal cords. It was a bit of a challenge and now I know how parents feel when their kids cry the entirety of a flight. I used to always think "make them stop...do something". Well, nothing I did helped JOE. She cried when we got on the plane for a good 10 minutes and then when we landed and were taxiing to the gate. The flight was only 50 minutes. Needless to say, I was glad when we got off the plane.

It was nice to see my family, meet my newest niece and see my brother who is home from deployment.
I feel truly blessed to have such a loving family.

Here are a couple of pics of JOE watching a movie with her aunty.

I hope to start blogging more this week since things are starting to settle down a bit at work. I am so behind on the project MILF challenge :-(

Have a fabulous weekend!

4 months and a newborn...counting my blessings!

I have been MIA. Life has been so busy and I haven't had a chance to post.
We moved last week and are still putting things away. I will have to do a separate blog about our new place just as soon as I can take some semi-decent pictures.

Our little JOE turned 4-months yesterday. She had her wellness check on Monday and is doing great.

Stats:
Height: 24.2inches
Weight: 13.01lbs
Head width: 16 inches

She is rolling over from back to stomach consistently now and can sometimes roll from stomach to back. She just discovered her legs and loves to splash when I am giving her a bath. She also loves to kick!
She's a happy baby and loves to laugh. With each passing day, I love her more than I did the day before.

In other exciting news, my brother and his wife welcomed a baby girl early this morning. COB is just so cute and arrived slightly earlier than planned cause no doubt, she was eager to meet her cousin JOE who will be visiting with her next week. She is healthy and beautiful and didn't even have to spend any time in the NICU. She shares a birthday with her aunty (my younger sister) who was present at her delivery due to a series of events.

Thanking God for the blessings of life and family!

Have an awesome weekend everyone!