Wednesday, January 13, 2010

My eyes are opened!

First I will add the two videos that I uploaded last night to the computer.
Yesterday Gabe got into the pantry ... you'll see the rest!!



Gabe thinks he can't be seen if he can't see us! I love when he does this with the shower curtain or a blanket... not so much with the curtains... I think they are ruined! But, he does love it!



I love that boy! He makes life so much fun... gives meaning to it and fills my days!


Now, I would like to blog about my bible study. I LOVE going on Tuesday mornings. I wake up and I'm so excited to get going! Gabe even really likes the nursery too, so it is a plus for both of us! The ladies are great, with the exception of the older ones who stares us younger ones down because we are laughing and having a great time! LOL!
Today I was doing my "homework" for the day and came across a verse that struck me as AMAZING! "The Lord will fight for you; all you have to do is be still" Exodus 14:14. I haven't had a verse that jumped off the page at me like that and mean so much! Beth Moore (the author of the study) is amazing at going in depth on the verses so I took her "advice" and started reading the notes my bible offered on this verse and the verses that it tied to. Not only is this verse saying "Dude, shut up, be still I got this!" He is also saying to us "Watch Me, I AM God. I will not let anything EVER happen to you" He has promised us that- He will never leave us! I am not going through any "rough" time in my life that this verse brought me to tears over, but just the reminder that when I am He will be there is enough. For some reason I needed that assurance today and God knew that. I have been questioning God...not on my faith or His works, but "why do such bad things happen to good people" kinda questioning... Why do they have to suffer... The Lord is telling me to just 'shut up' and watch... listen and pray... He is working, FIGHTING for me and for those who love and need Him... I've just got to let Him do it. I am so thankful for the way He has opened my eyes today and couldn't help but share with you!
Hope you have an amazing Wednesday and a great rest of the week!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Oh Mornings... I hate thee!

Today I woke up in the worst mood! There is a reason behind this though- SETH MAGGARD!! He wakes up before us to go to work; that would be fine if he would actually GET UP when the alarm goes off! This morning, literally I'm not lying, for an HOUR I was awake because he has to hit snooze! Usually, this happens once or twice... it can get frustrating, but thats 20 min or so and I still get a decent amount of sleep until Gabe wakes up... this morning he hit the snooze SEVEN times!! Yes, seven!! Not only does he have the regular alarm, but also on his cell phone- that makes 2 alarms going off!!! Oh, I was livid at the 5th time! When he finally gets up and I say "Go on and kiss me now so you don't wake me up again" he wonders why I'm so ill this morning!! Really?!

Anyways, that gave me more motive to get out and hit the gym- power was today (nothing but weight lifting and squats!) and I hit it hard... so I'm going to be VERY sore tomorrow I have a feeling!! But, at least I did get there and had a great workout and that made me feel much better. Then I came home and saw the house and realized what all needed to be done today and got back in a "cruddy" mood... I need my "Jesus time" time to make me feel better, so I think I'm going to take that now!

Hope everyone has a GREAT day and rest of the week!

Friday, January 8, 2010

"Movin' on up"... in height and shoe size!

Well, before I begin I have to say a big "ROLL TIDE!!" Gabe has been saying it non-stop so we let him stay up last night, a little past his bedtime for the kick-off of the big game, but he was pooped and went to bed shortly after. This morning, however, when I went in his room to get him out of his crib he said "Tide...?" ; almost like a question! I told him that yes, we had won and he seemed to understand! lol (yeah, right!)

So, the other day I'm getting my big man ready for the gym and I have him dressed and I put on his shoes and realize that my child has grown inches over night! haha! The pants that he just wore LAST week were "floods"... I couldn't let my child walk around like that so we changed, but seriously over night!! Then yesterday he didn't want to put on his shoes and really pitched a good fit about it... and I remembered that he had little scabs on his toes and I thought, "Well, maybe its his shoes..." I had felt for his toes and they weren't stuffed in there by any means, but they were a little snug. A few months ago I bought him a pair of Nike's at a consignment sale (that were still in the box!) and they were a size 6 and were HUGE (literally fell off his feet when he tried to walk!), but I knew he'd need them someday and it was too good a deal to pass up... well he wears them now! He looks so darn cute in little tennis shoes! He really seems to like them too! I'll have to take a picture and post it; he's just adorable... and getting too big for me!
By the way, he is wonderful at the gym and in church nursery... he doesn't care at all that I leave him. It's wonderful, don't get me wrong, but really brought tears to my eyes the first time he just walked away from me and went to play... in a good way of course! He just really isn't my little baby anymore... and where did the time go?! I can't believe that this time last year he wasn't even CRAWLING and now he is leaving me to play with older kids and not thinking twice... Oh I'm going to be a basket case when I drop him off for his first day of Kindergarten ... and even worse when he's in Junior High and Lord help me on the day of his high school graduation... oh boy, its gonna be such a bittersweet ride!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

New Year- New Beginning

Today I went to a new bible study at the church that I mentioned in the previous post. I saw it in the bulletin on Sunday morning and I thought it would be perfect for me because they even have child care- and it was! It was exactly what I thought it would be and then again it was different. I knew that we were going to be doing a Beth Moore study (and I LOVE her studies... even though I had only done one other one years ago) and I can't wait to get into it and do my "homework" for this week! Watching the introduction to the study already got me fired up! Anyways, so I show up and of course I'm the youngest there... but there was a group of women who can't be much older than me and they have children closer to Gabe's age too, and they invited me to sit at the "Young table" as they called it because there really is a lot of 'older' women there. They warned me before it began that they talk alot and might get some stares from the old ladies (and they did!) but it wasn't too much to where it was distracting. (well not for me anyway!) To sum up (because I could just ramble on and it seems that I have a bit!) I had a great time getting to meet new ladies and the bible study, I believe, will be so enriching for me! I have been  needing something like this and I'm so glad that I have found it... it's like God has literally been pointing me this way and like Beth said today in the study "He is PURSUING ME!!!" That feels great!
Gabe did wonderful again in the "nursery"... he didn't cry when I dropped him off- granted he was in a room FULL of nothing but girls... he was in heaven! It makes me so happy to come back and see him playing and not worrying where I have gone to, but then it really makes me realize how much he is growing up... he's not my little "baby" anymore. Speaking of that, he has gone 3 nights in a row with no paci and just went down for the 4th nap without one! I sure hope that potty training him will be just as easy as getting him off the bottle and now paci... although I guess he could "relapse" but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Alright, I've got clothes in the wash and need to pick up around the house a bit while my own personal tornado is down for a nap and I can have a few hours of cleanliness before he awakes!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

New Church

I have found a new church here that I really think I'm going to enjoy (The Church of Severn Run). I went again this morning and had a great time in worship. I miss having a choir, but that's not what church is about.. they have a praise team that fills it ok. I really love the Children's center that they have. It seems very safe (they way they have an entrance and an exit to keep check on who comes in and no one can come in the exit- and so forth) Gabe must really like it too. I came back to get him and he was just a playing by himself (there was one other little girl in there- seems all the other kids are older) and the teacher said that he didn't cry not once! I was so excited!!! It makes me feel so good that I can worship and not worry about him!

Gabe has been doing so good lately. We're trying to get off the pacifier and last night he slept all night with out it again! (and he hasn't had it yet today!) He is such a little playful guy now! He still loves to read EVERY book, but he is starting to play with his trucks and little cars now too. I love to watch him play and him being so happy! We are truly blessed!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Looking back on 2009

2009... looking back it has really been a great year for me... but also a very trying time for those in my family. There have been times of pure happiness and then times of nothing but heart break for those that we hold dear, so it will be nice to say good-bye to this year and invite in the new one.

Seth and I decided to turn down plans to meet with friends and just stay home tonight and spend this night together. Last year we didn't get to be together because he was in Iraq (he came home on the 25th of Jan... hasn't even been home a year yet!) The year before that I was pregnant and all I remember from that night was being sick and Seth calling me back into the room where we laid on the air mattress and watched the ball drop... (Seth was about to leave for Iraq on the 4th and I was moving back to Alabama so we had all of our stuff in storage!) The first New Year's we celebrated together (end 2006) we had a party at our house and that has been the best one yet! Our kiss was great and the following year was great- we learned we were pregnant that year and who could ask for better! (2007). Needless to say, we are looking forward to tonight laying on the couch with eachother and enjoying a glass of champagne and toasting this coming year - and praying for the best!

So, I thought I would look back on this year and include little pictures (if I can) for each month! Its fun to look back-

January was the month I had been waiting on since January 2008. I was moving back to California to set up our house and Seth came home! That was one of the best months this year!Ok, that took me awhile because I had to watch all my videos and talk to Seth about it and Gabe watched... Oh, I just love that we caught it all on tape!February and March just flew by... Gabe getting bigger and we just lived every day life to the fullest! Here's some footage of Gabe around the end of Feb, I can't believe how much he has grown! He had started to feed himself with the bottle, tries so hard to say Da-Da and meets "Sunny the Shark" for the 1st time! (yes, he still loves that puppet to this day!)
In March, Gabe got in his pool for the 1st time... yeah don't think we'll be able to do that this year! Seth couldn't resist jumping in the pool with Gabe and everytime afterwards too!

April was the month we got visits from Gram and Uncle Kev for Easter and then Uncle Joe a week or so later! Surprisingly, I couldn't find any pictures of Gabe and Uncle Joe together! In April, Gabe also got to see Mickey Mouse for the 1st time IN PERSON! We went to Disney Land with friends from Camp Pendleton and had a great time!



In May Gabe and I went back to Alabama for a few weeks and we were lucky enough to stay long enough to see Uncle Kev graduate and Seth flew home to surprise Gram and Uncle Kev! It worked- they were both so surprised and we had a great time the rest of the weekend.



Through June and July we spent time at the house. We had great family time in the water - because Gabe LOVES water! We went out on a paddle boat, took him to the pool a lot, and to the beach only one time- this is only because he wouldn't keep the sand OUT of his mouth!! Then he didn't like the sand too much if he couldn't eat it... ended up being a short trip compared to what I thought we were going to spend there!

In August my little baby turned ONE! I couldn't believe that a year had passed! We had moved out of California and we were on the way to Maryland around his birthday, so we took a pit stop for a few weeks in Alabama to celebrate his birthday. We had a great party with family and friends and Gabe made a MESS of the cake, but was absolutely beautiful doing it!


September we just got used to our new home. Gabe finally got the idea of walking! October brought Gabe and I back to Alabama! We spent a week or two there catching up with family again! (we have really been blessed in being able to see everyone as much as we have)

We went to DISNEY WORLD for Thanksgiving and had such a great time with my parents and Uncle Joe and Uncle Kev. Gabe loved all the parades and lights. We made many memories that will be cherished!
December brought Gram and Uncle Kev back to US in Maryland. We weren't able to go back home for the holidays so they joined us here, in the snow! We had the record amount of snow for the season in just one storm right before they came, so we still had a little snow on Christmas. Gabe had such a good time opening his presents from "Ho, Ho, Ho" and from all the grandparents! With all of us opening our gifts, it took 2 hours to finish! That is a record for the books I'm sure!


I hope you all have a Happy New Year! I hope to keep up with the blog too... I love to do it, just hard to sit down and do it! See you all in 2010!