Home Sweet Home

Joe and I are official home owners! YAY! We could not be more excited!! We are so proud of our home! We had our closing appointment at 4pm yesterday. Sorry that I do not have pictures. Joe would not let me ask them to take a picture of us signing our papers. I did want to capture the moment, but apparently that was too much. Side note…do you ever have moments when you are like, “Oh my word, I AM turning into my mother”? I had one of those yesterdays. Both my parents are fanatics about taking pictures, but my mom is the one that is always taking them at what I thought at the moment was an embarrassing time. However, now I realize that she just wanted to remember that moment. What we looked like, what we were wearing, etc. I realized then that I would be doing the same thing to my children that my mother did to us and I will love every second of it. Luckily, I do not mind that I am like my mother, and I see more and more every day just how much I am! Back to my story…We were finished by 5:15 and headed to Plant City. Of course all of our family came with us to the house. I did break out my camera for when we walked in to our house for the first time as the owners. As you can see in the picture above Joe put the key in the lock, we stopped and took a picture, went to turn the key and it did not work. They had given us the wrong key. Talk about anti-climatic! My brother-in-law shouted out, “Welcome to being a homeowner”. Luckily, the back sliding glass door was open so we still were able to get in. I can not wait to have a house that is back in order. We have been living out of boxes for the past week and a half since they had to push back our closing date.

My mother-in-law had told me that becoming one with your husband is not something that happens at the wedding. It is something that takes time, effort, and life to do. This made sense to me then, but even more now. For me marriage is such a huge concept that even at the beginning of ours I was still looking at him and thinking, “We are married. That is my husband. Wow.” It was so much to absorb. For me it has been certain events, fights that we worked through, and actions that we communicated to each other that made the fact that Joe and I more concrete. Buying a home with Joe has really made me feel more one with him. I mean I can not up and leave now. For the record, I was not planning on it. Our lives are becoming more weaved together. For so long it was his stuff and my stuff that we brought together. Now we are starting to have our stuff. Since I lived in our apartment for so many months by myself when he moved in it felt more like he was moving into my place. So this is our first home that we will be moving in together. I would love to hear what my married friends think about this; if they went through these feelings/realizations as well or if it was more all at once for them.

Our Weekend

Joe and I went to Daytona Beach for the weekend! It was such a relaxing trip! It started off a bit rocky, but ended up being exactly what we needed! We laid on the beach, read, and spent time just being out together. It was perfect! My aunt and cousin ended up being there as well. We did not see too much of them, but we did go out to dinner one night and dessert the next. They are so much fun to be around. I do not think Joe even cared that it was all girls. I guess he should get use to it J. On our way home we went to the most fabulous outlet mall. It had all of my favorite stores! I can not wait to go there with my mom and sister! I even found size 4 high heels. I was in love. Too bad they were originally $400. They were 50% off making them a grand total of $200. Had then been any cheaper, or if I was still single sadly to say, I would have bought them simply because they were a size 4. That is how desperate having such a small foot, and a shoe full of toilet paper, makes a person! Maybe one day.

Sophie is getting so much stronger! Not to mention so much bigger. I read in one of my books that she is going to double her weight in the next four weeks. Geesh…I know that I have such a long way to go, but I am already feeling the strains of her. I would not trade it for the world though! Everyone time I start to feel a little cranky/uncomfortable I remind myself just how incredible lucky I am to be carrying a life! Not just any life, but my daughter’s! I could never express the gratitude and appreciation I feel! I can not wait for my friends to have this experience as well! There is nothing that beats it in the world!

Random thoughts for the day

*Disclaimer…this is going to be an extremely random blog. Instead of doing several different blogs today I am going to put them all into one. I will title them so that it may not be too confusing.

Anti-War protestors protest by vandalism…WHAT?!?!?!

Last night I was watching the news. Of course they were covering the Republican National Convention and they were doing a story on protestors in St. Paul that were protesting the war. How else were they protesting for peace but by violence? You know, because this makes perfect sense. I sat there OUTRAGED because they were breaking in windows of innocent businesses, pushing over trash cans, and violating the boundaries in which the police had allowed them to protest. Please do not get me wrong I am not upset because they were protesting because thankfully in America we still have the right to a voice. I am exasperated because these protestors are inflicting violence for peace. Where in the world is the sense and RESPECT in this? I sat there watching thinking, “I’m so glad that I personally have people that are very dear to me over in Iraq FIGHTING and RISKING their lives every second so this little punk can have the freedom to bust in a window of an innocent person.” I still can not seem to wrap my mind around how these kids justified their actions. I’m honestly in complete shock at the illogic of it! Maybe they are against the war for different reason than peace. I still do not think violence is the correct way to receive validity for their concerns about the war.

Onto a more trivial matter compared to the one above…

Maternity Clothes

I can not seem to find cute maternity clothes any where. It’s either they are moderately priced yet horrific or they are incredible expensive and some what cute. Most of the articles of clothing that I have found are patterns and materials that I would never wear if I was not pregnant. I think that if anything maternity clothes should be amazingly fabulous because you have enough to deal with body image wise while you are pregnant. They do have a lot more cute casual clothes than dressy. The work clothes leave A LOT to be desired. Even Ann Taylor (Which I was ecstatic to find out had maternity clothing because it is one of my favorite stores) does not have a very wide selection of fashionable items. Even A Pea in the Pod, as EXPENSIVE as it is, does not have too many desirable items. So if there are any other women who have experience this crisis as well I would greatly appreciate your feedback and if you found any places that had cute, reasonably priced maternity clothing.

Since my belly is changing so rapidly I thought that I would post more pictures of the Sophie bump. She is moving all the time now. It’s the sweetest thing in the world when you feel those little bumps and spins. She is getting stronger too. The other night I had my arm by my side and she gave me the biggest kick that it bumped my arm up a little bit. Apparently she is advanced in this area because Joe had felt her kick at 17 weeks which from what my mom says is very early. What does that mean I’m in for :-)? Sorry for the random position of the pictures. I'm still figuring this whole blogging thing out!

It continues to amaze me how much more productive I am when I make a list. If I don’t make lists then I’m completely disorganized and will end up confusing up from down. So last night I sat down and organized a list of what needs to be packed each night since our big move is Saturday (if everything goes accordingly). This seemed a little dorky to my husband, but I assured him that he wouldn’t want to see our house with out that list! Not to mention all that would go missing from our house. My family is convinced that there is an abyss where all my missing items are because I lose things quickly if I am not organized, but that is another topic all together! I wonder what it is about that list that makes me work so much more effectively and productively. I think it has something to do with having a goal. A goal helps me know what I need to accomplish, organize a plan of how to achieve this goal, and how much time I have to complete the task. It is the best feeling when you reach this goal. Every night it’s like a little victory! I feel amazing when I go to bed and I sleep so much better! All because of a simple list!

Now about packing…I HATE it!! I have packed my house ELEVEN TIMES in FIVE AND HALF YEARS! Granted those moves weren’t very big moves since I was in college and had roommates and mostly consisted of me moving my stuff a couple miles down the street, but none the less it is RIDICULOUS! I’ve always been a very “settled” person. I can’t live in a house where everything is not in its exact place (I have slacked on this since I’ve been pregnant! Some how sleep was more important). So it is killing me that our house in completely torn apart and it’s only been 2 days! This is why I waited so long in the first place to start packing…because I would rather bust my tail to do it in one week and not have to look at an undone house for any longer! I can not wait until this weekend when I start having an organized house again! Not to mention that I am so proud of the little house that will be ours!! I am so completely amazed once again at how much God has blessed us! I know now that building would have been disastrous! I do not know of specific incidences that would have happened I just have that peace when you know that God just saved you from something.

Oh my word...I'm an adult?!

I woke up the other morning wondering when it was that I became an adult? It seemed to happen over night. I mean sure I've graduated college, begun a full time job, gotten married, paid my own bills for over a year now, but none of these things made me feel like an "adult". Some how buying a house and the pending arrival of a person who will be completely and totally dependant on me really made the whole adult thing definite. There is no way of returning, no vacation, just raw reality. The reality of a burden of providing a good and secure life for a tiny person. Being a parent is such a HUGE responsibility! One that I do not know how people face with out the peace and safety of Christ! It is not something you can do with out Him! Maybe parents never feel prepared for this task. Maybe that is how it is suppose to be..."His strength is made perfect in our weakness". Maybe we are suppose to feel inadequate so that we rely totally on Christ for the answers. This is where I find my comfort; to know that Joe and I do not have to do it on our own. Well, sorry for the venting session.

It's a GIRL!!

Obviously, my hunch was wrong. It's a girl, not a boy. I could not be more excited though! I mean how can you not get excited about shoes, bows, ribbon, dresses, and well basically, anything girl?! We have chosen to name her Sophia Grace. I think that this is such an elegant, classy, and timeless name. Plus, it has a touch of sassy in there. She is going to have her daddy wrapped around her finger! Which in my opinion is a good thing because I know she will be the sparkle in his eye, but he will love her enough to still put boundaries(punishment when needed) on her. It has been my pray that my daughter would idolize her father/my husband. It is so important for girls to have the support, security, and adoration of her father. So many woman have not had this and it is my opinion that we as a society are seeing the effects. Fortunately, I know that she will have this in Joe, and I am extremely thankful! I have attached a picture of the Sophie (what we will call her for short). She's precious!

On to more topics...our house. We have decided not to build. We did not have a peace about the situation so after much thought and prayer we called the company to let them know we would not be needing their services. I felt such a relief when we did this! We have found a BEAUTIFUL townhouse that we have put a contract on. I LOVE IT! I truly feel that God brought us to this place! I won't bore you with all the details, but it has worked out so much better than building would have! Plus, we can be in by the end of August...YAY! We have been pre-approved for the loan and they have called us to schedule a closing. Joe said there is always a slim chance that something could happen before the closing, but the chances are not great. It's still a little nerve-wracking though! I will keep you posted!