Josh's 1st Birthday Party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOSH!!!

One year ago today, I welcomed my beautiful little boy into the world. I cannot believe how fast the past year has gone or how wonderful it has been. I am just so in love. If I love my boy this much, just imagine how much Jesus must love us! We had a nice pre-birthday party on Sunday to celebrate Joshua's first birthday. Both sets of Grandparents came and all the aunt's and uncles, with the exception of Jim who lives in Minnesota. I had made two pumpkin pies and we had just enough pieces for everyone, including Jim. When I was cutting the pie, it somehow slipped my mind that Jim was not in attendance, so we had one left over. Josh loved his pie and he also loved eating it all by himself. I typically feed him, so as not to make a mess, but made an exception this time. :) Then we opened gifts. We had a friend who was home from the Navy stop by and he was disappointed that he didn't have a gift for Josh, so he left his hat for Josh to wear. My Mom has the cutest photos of him trying it on. Maybe she'll have to send me one or two so I can share them with you. In the mean time, enjoy these.

Another Year Older

I have been feeling a bit of animosity, or perhaps resentment, at the fact that today is my birthday. I don't want to be 23. I want to stay 22. I will only get older from here on out. Twenty-two was a wonderful year. So many great things happened in it. For instance, the love of my life was born. And he holds my hand and runs into my arms. It is "practically perfect in every way." I guess the excitement of birthdays has just worn off... Just another day that is supposed to be exciting. Ugh, what is wrong with me? I am much too sentimental, I think. And for some reason that makes me regret that I am no longer a young wisp of a willow. Tell me, how beauty becomes you more as you age. Like good cheese or wine...

On a cheerier note: Adam called me on his way home Monday evening. He said that he had bought me something for my birthday and wondered if he could give it to me when he got home. It was a whole three days before my birthday, but he couldn't wait. It did make me curious!! Upon his arrival, he brought in this large box, inside of which was... A brand spankin' new vacuum!!!!!!! I was pretty excited. I had been fighting with our vacuum cleaner all summer. The hose had busted, it tried to eat me, etc, etc. It was a very inexpensive vacuum, which makes it hardly worth replacing parts on, but it did the job. But Adam is such a good man, he wants me to have a easy life. The new vaccum has a pet hair brush and great filters and it comes with 0 bags, just a neat emptying thingy that you just empty into the trash when its full. Pretty cool. Now I can clean the car, which, oddly enough, I am actually looking forward to... What a great guy. Maybe my birthday isn't that bad after all. *smile*

IT'S IMAGINARY PEOPLE!!!

I have a facebook account and I created an imaginary event (a birthday party for myself) and people actually had the gall to say they weren't coming! People who are my "friends" could not come to my IMAGINARY birthday party!! Inconceivable! I am appalled. Who cannot imagine themselves at something as imaginary as an imaginary birthday party? Or at least pretend they are imagining going? Aren't they silly?

A Mover In

My brother Joe moved in yesterday. He used to live with my big brother and his wife. But they are very happily expecting a baby boy sometime in late Dec (Christmas Eve) and have kicked him out. Okay, they did not really kick him out. But Joe has also started going to college this year and we are a bit closer to his classes, and it was just easier on him to stay here for a while. Joe has brought his cat and we have cleaned out a room for him to stay in. It'll be fun, I think, getting to know him more while he is here. We hope that it'll be an easier transition for him to be able to save up some $$ while going to school, so he can eventually have his own little apartment. There is no rush for that, but I hope we can be an encouragement to the kid (aw you cute wittle Josiah, you) and be around if he needs to be pushed in a direction or two. Isn't this exciting?

Random Meme

My blog friend Jessica tagged me for this one. I love making random lists about me, so I don't mind being tagged more than once to do this meme. Hope you don't mind hearing my list of random, and possibly embarrassing, things about myself.

Six random facts about me

1) I collect receipts for unknowns reasons. I used to record what was spent on what. I don't record expenses anymore, but I still keep ALL my receipts. Embarrassingly enough, I have nearly three years worth of them in my filing cabinet.
2) I am often paranoid about contracting some strange ailment such as pink eye, ringworm, sinus infections, or strange growths in my abdomen.
3) I will be 23 on the 23rd this month.
4) I am in charge of my sister-in-law's baby shower. I will probably never so willingly volunteer for a similar position again. Everyone has different opinions and I can't stand being caught in the middle.
5) I start projects and never finish them. Bits and pieces of them lie around my house, begging for attention. But I am too distracted to apply myself for great lengths of time.
6) I have a strange inclination to try out for community theatre.

I will tag Stephanie and G.I. Joe.

A Sunny Saturday at the Playground

On Saturday, Adam and I took Josh to a playground. He just loved walking through the stones and collecting sticks and pine cones. He was such a pleasure to watch! Enjoy these photos from our first trip to a playground.

Josh admires all the neat things to play on.
Josh tries his very best to collect all the sticks at the playground.

"I wonder if I can find anymore sticks?"
He's going to try climbing up the climber.
Josh makes sure Daddy is paying attention.
I try to get a shot of my hubby and I.
"Mommy, look what I found!"
Daddy thought Josh should try out the big slide.
He had such a blast going down!
Look how much he loves hanging out with Daddy!

Too Good to Wait

On Saturday night, Adam and I decided we needed to try out a new restaurant in the area. One of my Mom's blog friends, Gudl and her husband recently opened an authentic German restaurant. My man is a fan of German cuisine and I love to try new places, so we took our boy and drove down to see what it was like. Gudl was very pleased to have us visit and we were greeted with a smile and a hug (kinda like meeting a friend). It was fun to meet someone who was somewhat familiar, even though I don't frequent her blog very often. But she knew our names (after I told her I was Martha's daughter) and loved meeting Joshua face to face. Dinner was very tasty and Adam even shared his suarkruat with Josh, who would take a bite and then give a horrendous shudder. It was hilarious! Josh eventually wised up and refused to take any more food off of our forks. When we had finished our supper, we were delighted to find that Gudl had treated us to her homemade dessert. And, oh my, it was delicious! I obviously couldn't resist taking a bite before I got out my camera to capture the moment. Thank you Gudl for a wonderful dinner and you can treat us to some of your dessert anytime!

I Think a Kid Lives Here

You'd think a kid lives at my house or something.

Good thing his Mom lives here too, don't cha think?

Oh, and on a side note, our coffee "table" was $5 at a garage sale. I love cool, old, bargains.

My Big Boy

My Joshua is getting big. Last week he cut two molars and his incisors are cutting through too. His hair is long enough to play with and he walks all the time. He is wearing size 18 month clothes and his favorite word is "ball" and "Da". Joshua also weighs almost, if not, 27+ lbs. He is quite thick, meaning stocky, not fat. He takes after his Daddy in that sense. I find it quite funny when Josh finds a sock and tries to put it on himself. And I am enjoying watching him learn, especially learning to be obedient. It's quite great actually. Like the other day, I taught him not to throw his cup. He does need daily reminding, but has improved substantially. He has also caught on to the phrase I use when I don't want him to touch or do something. He'll stop and just stare at it like, "Oh, I so want to, but Mom said no..." Josh is going through the seperation anxiety stage too. He started crying at the daycare I work at, when ever I leave the room or walk away from him. He does this at church now too. I just sit him down and say, "Bye Josh, be good." And then I leave, hoping that he isn't terrible for the girls during the whole service. I pray for my boy every day and sing him "Jesus Loves Me" every time he goes to bed. That was my favorite song when I was little and maybe it'll be Joshua's too. I've uploaded a video so you can admire him walking. Ain't he the cutest little guy you've ever seen??

Charting

Okay guys, be warned. The following is a girly type subject, though I'll try to be discreet about it.

This week I have been learning some new things. About a month ago I had decided to start tracking my basal body temperature. I had/have a friend or two who were doing so and I thought it would be helpful for me to learn more about my own self. Seeing as it has been two and a half months since I stopped nursing and my cycle has not yet resumed (not pregnant!), I'd at least like to be somewhat prepared for when it does. I happened upon this amazingly helpful site called "www.fertilityfriend.com./" where you can enter in your basal temperature and other body signs and it basically predicts your ovulation for you. You are supposed to take your temperature at the same time every morning (before getting out of bed). Generally speaking, you will be able to observe a dip and sudden rise in your temperature when ovulation has occurred and after a couple weeks, well, we all know what happens after that. My temperatures though, have been very "flighty" and inconsistent and I had been unable to see any sign of anything that was remotely typical. But, when I came upon this site and entered my temps on to their charts, they took an educated guess for me. So, we'll see how reliable this site is, right? Anyway, I've been having fun charting and reading up on this whole basal body temp. thing and suggest that anyone trying to have a baby check it out too, because it is a site mainly devoted to those trying to conceive. Cool stuff.

"Rise and Pray"

Luke 22:46 And He said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation."

I read this verse yesterday during my daily reading. Jesus says this to His disciples in the garden right before His betrayal and usually I read it in that context. But this time the Lord showed me that He was not only speaking to His disciples here, but also to us. How many times have I lain in bed in the morning wanting a few more moments of sleep, when the Lord is calling me to rise and seek Him? So often... I could feel the prick in my heart when I read it. Oh Lord, do you mean me too? You want me to wake out of sleep, rise early and pray? How He desires that fellowship with me! He longs for me to greet Him while the day is still young! During the wee hours of this morning, I tossed and turned, sleep avoiding me at great lengths. This verse ran over and over in my mind... "Rise and pray", Rise and pray"... It was only 5:15, but I was wide awake. I climbed out of bed and answered the Lord's calling. His Words are always sweet and I should've lingered longer... How He wants us to seek His face. So, I encourage you, and please encourage me too (as I hate getting out of bed sooner than I need to), to "Rise and pray, lest we enter into temptation".

Ask me how it goes tomorrow.

Photos from the Big Game

I didn't realize my photos from the weekend were so piteously boring. But I said I'd upload pictures, so here are my boring Sabres game photos. Not that you'll find them especially fascinating.

Many, many anxiously waiting Sabres fans.
The guys in the blue and red forgot it was a Sabres hockey game.

We waited for something exciting to happen.

Some famous hockey player. He looked like a normal guy to me,
just wearing a REALLY expensive suit.

The opposing Toronto Maple Leafs. It was actually more exciting to be playing against a team that was from so near. Made the fans more varied and interesting.

This is the part of the game where everyong gets nervous because the Sabres are down by one. But no need to fear. They tied the game with five seconds to spare and ended up winning in overtime. That was pretty exciting. And loud.