Thank you for taking a moment to stop by and share in my journey. This journey started in February of 2009 and I am hoping to stay strong. Every time you leave a comment it truly encourages me to stay healthy. Thank you to everyone who has ever left a comment and to everyone who will leave a comment in the future. You would be surprised how easily you can encourage someone with just a few words. If you would like to see a little bit of where I was, please check out my first post on Day 1. I have been encouraged by so many other healthy bloggers out there as well. This journey will last me a life time because it truly has to be a lifestyle commitment. I also hope that you can be encouraged by my small triumphs. Thank you all for your support!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Weekend Wrap Up

I know that Friday really was not that long ago but it seems like it was so far away that I really have to think about what happened. So, as I sit here I remember that I did not work at all on Friday. It was kind of nice to not work but at the same time we certainly need the money. I pretty much spent the day at my son's school. There was an Awards Assembly. It took like 2 hours!! The sad part is that the folders that were supposed to hold the certificates for the kids in my son's class somehow got misplaced so they actually did not get the awards until just before lunch. So, we sat there for two hours for nothing!!! But then after the awards assembly, Tyler got to run in his first official race. Every year his school holds an annual Turkey Trot, which basically is about a quarter of a mile. Tyler actually got 8th place out of all the 4th grade boys!! He was so excited! I unfortunately have no picture cause I lost my camera (or it got stolen - a whole other story). But his teacher took a pic of him racing but he hasn't emailed it to me yet. :-( But I will sure to post it as soon as I get it. As far as Friday night is concerned, I honestly can not remember what we did on Friday night. Hmmm.... I must be getting old.

Saturday was a relax day. We slept in and wore our PJs for the first half of the day. Tyler and I watched an old movie, Ernest Saves Christmas, while eating our breakfast. If you have never seen it, it is one of those movies that are so stupid that it makes you actually laugh. It's very cheesy. Taylor, unfortunately, had to work all day on Saturday so we didn't get to hang out with him too much until the evening. Tyler and I pretty much just lounged around all day. He had some chores to do that hadn't been done earlier in the week and then it was just hang out time. We did some cuddling up (which loves to do - but won't admit in front of friends, of course), drawing, and he played with his LEGOS. When Taylor got home, the three of us all had dinner together. And again, I have to say that I don't remember what we had for dinner. It must not have been very exciting. Then after dinner we played some Scrabble while having hot chocolate. It was some good family time. Then after that we were all pretty tired so it was time for bed. :-)


Sunday morning, I got up and decided that I wanted some pancakes. I just used the Bisquick boxed stuff where you just add water. But then I added some cut up bananas and pecans. It was sooo good. We even sprinkled some extra pecans on top. On the side we had scrambled eggs and some good, crisp grapes. Mmm.... Pardon the not so great pics as I am still using a cell phone since my camera is MIA. :-(

For lunch I made some PB & J sandwiches. I made Tyler's look like a face. I joked that it was his face because I made the Cheez-Its look like his teeth. We always joke that Tyler really big teeth. Does that make us bad parents???


Let's compare pictures.... Don't you think the sandwich looks like my son??? :-) j/k. We joke about this all the time. It's a good thing that he thinks it's funny, too!
Much of the rest of the day was pretty drained because Tyler started having attitude problems so that kind of cut his day short. Blah!!!

And then there is today - Monday. It was pretty uneventful. I went to work for only about 2 hours, which was not that exciting. And I came home to Tyler have an attitude with Taylor. More blah!! And then in the afternoon, I had to coach our basketball team. I am only the assistant coach (which is nice, since I'm pregnant) but the head coach is out of town for Thanksgiving. :-) It has been interesting getting to know the girls. I never really thought that I would want to teach or coach high school students but this actually could be a lot of fun - if we get a full team soon. It's a very small school and so far we only have four girls. We shall see...

For now, I am tired. It's only 10pm and I feel like it's midnight. I guess that's what pregnancy does to you. :-)

Oh! I almost forgot to post the picture of me wearing the maternity outfit that my awesome friend, Beth, got me. It's interesting how just simply wearing a maternity outfit suddenly just makes you look more pregnant. :-)


Happy Monday!!!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Blessed!!

This morning I was extremely blessed by one of my beautiful friends. Her name is Beth. She knows that recently I have been struggling with what clothes to wear due to the pregnancy and that I don't have a lot of money to be buying clothes. So, she showed up this morning with a wonderful gift for me. :-) She went out and bought me my first maternity outfit. I like it so much. I don't think the picture does it justice (since it was on a cell phone) but the outfit is right up my alley. She knows me so well!! I will be sure to take another pic when I wear it for the first time this weekend!!

Some darker blue jeans (with a stretchy belly) and a maroonish-red shirt - perfect colors for me :-)


What a wondeful treat to start my day with! She is so thoughtful.

Have a great Thursday everybody!!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

'Tis Tuesday

** Just so you all know I wrote this email on Tuesday but for some reason I did not post it... hence the title, "Tis Tuesday"**

I am amazed that it is already Tuesday... but at the same time, I also think "Is it only Tuesday??". I can't believe that I am actually going to be able to write another blog so soon. I hope this means that I will be getting back in the habit. I was going to write this post last night but I just was exhausted once the child was in bed. Blah! No excuse, right?!?!? :-)

I did want to share what he had for dinner last night. I thought it was quite good. Something simple that I have never tried before. And it was especially good, cause my son decided he wanted to help. He really likes helping me cook. Maybe in a few years, he will be doing all the cooking for us. :-) Anyhow, here's what he had:

- Chicken wings baked with poultry seasoning and A1 Sauce.
- Green beans
- Steamed rice
- Strawberries (which by the way were a great deal at the 99 cent store.)

I was going to add some pictures right here of the meal but for some reason I can not find the cord that connects the camera to the computer. I actually took pictures of our meal and now I can't show them.... I am so lame. Totally slacking. I guess that's what happens when you take an unintentional hiatus. :-)

And as for dinner tonight, I made turkey burgers, homemade french fries, and we had some more of those delish strawberries. We had to make sure to eat in a somewhat speedy way as I had to be at an athletics meeting at 6pm. We did pretty good. We started eating at 5:20 and still made it on time. :-)p

So this week, on Thursday, we will be having our first actual practice. It should be quite interesting as only 4 girls showed up to the meeting. We will actually mostly be doing conditioning which kinda bums me out that I'm pregnant cause I would much rather be doing the running with them. :-) Just what I need to get my weight down to my goal but now I can't think about that because I am actually supposed to be gaining wait now. Grrr...

Anyhow, I hope everyone has had a great Tuesday.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Some pics of our boy

This is just going to be some pics of our boy and us. I don't really have much to report for the weekend. It was pretty much just spent enforcing consequences on our lovely child. He has a bit of a problem with the five-finger discount and we are trying to nip that in the bud early. It's really hard, though, cause he has been doing it for so long with his birth family. Anyhow, enough of that negativeness. Here are a few pics of us:

Our first family photo ever. July 2008


This is Tyler's first trip to a beach (and his first trip to San Diego). November 2008.



Tyler's first time up to Idyllwild for some hiking. March 2009

That will be all for now. I hope that everyone had a great weekend. As for me, it went by way too fast!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Opportunities Galore!!

So, here I am... writing another post almost a month after the last one. What is up with that??? I really want to write more often but it just doesn't happen as it should. One thing that should make it easier is that I finally have my computer set up.... Woo Hoo!!! So, in my last post, I actually stated that I don't want to work at my job anymore. Well, recently, I have been directed towards two GREAT opportunities that are definitely more up my alley. They are:

1) I've been volunteering in my son's classroom a lot recently. It is a Special Day Class for ED kids. Well, the teacher's assistants (or paraprofessionals, as they like to call them) are being forced to take all their vacation time during school days this year, due to budget cuts, instead of cashing out on them at the end of the year. So, my son's teacher, asked me if I would just apply to be a substitute assistant because he knows that I have plenty of experience with behavior challenges. He basically said that I help out so much in the class already that I might as well get paid for it. I thought that was a great idea! And it will work perfect with when Tyler is in school.

2) My wonderful friend, Bobbi (who you may all know from N Her Shoes), told me about a great opportunity where she works. She told me that her hubby is going to be coaching the girls' basketball team and would need an assistant, and they both thought of me to do it. I wouldn't get paid much but I would get paid a little to do something that I really enjoy! There is a coach's meeting this week and I'm already excited and nervous!!

Both of these opportunities were presented to me this week and I couldn't believe it. God just works in amazing ways. I am definitely more inclined to work with the youth than to do a mindless job day in and day out. Now, don't get me wrong, the people that I work with and work for have been amazing but the actual job that I have to do everyday is not fulfilling in any way. So, those are my wonderful opportunities.

UPDATES:
My last post stated that two important dates were coming up for our family. The first one was the day I was supposed to find out if I was having a boy or a girl. Well, unfortunately, the technician said that the baby was not in a position where they could tell. I personally took that to mean that we are having girl but that is certainly UNOFFICIAL. So, as of this time, I still don't know. :-(

The second important date was for our court hearing with our son. We are very happy to report that the judge FINALLY terminated parental rights... it only took them 4 years after Tyler was pulled from their home... i just don't understand that. Anyhow, the birth mother was at the court hearing and she appealed - just as we expected. This is actually a good thing because now we can move towards just getting the appeal over with. The judge set another court date for Dec. 14th for the birth mother to present any evidence she may have as to why the courts should not terminate her rights. I can't believe that she still expects to get her son back after all this time of her not getting it together - and still not getting it together!! Anyhow, we are moving a step in the right direction. Now all we can do is wait right now. But if any of you remember on December 14th, we can certainly use your prayers.

I wanted to close this post with some pics of us with Tyler but they were taking FOREVER to download so hopefully I will be able to post those tomorrow. I do apologize for the lack of photos. However, if you are interested, you can see the short video from the day that we told Tyler that we were going to be his parents. Click here if you are interested.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!! :-)

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Kreativ Blogger

Just today I was ready my beautiful friend, Bobbi's, blog over at N Her Shoes. She was given the Kreativ Blogger Award and then Bobbi so graciously awarded it to me. So, with that award comes the responsibility of sharing 7 things about myself that almost nobody else knows about. And then I award this to someone else who will share 7 things about themselves. I am honored that Bobbi would think of me but I certainly don't think that I am a creative blogger by any means, but I kind of think she was graciously trying to give me more exposure as I try to re-enter the wonderful blog world. So, here we go....

7 Things That Nobody Knows About Me:

1. If I could, I would adopt many, many children.

2. Babies seriously scare me. I hate not knowing what they need when they cry.

3. I often wish that I could be an actress on a family-friendly television show.

4. I prefer not to have cheese on anything but LOVE it on pizza! (But will still eat food with cheese when I am guest in someone's home).

5. I was in choir in high school but I really can't sing.

6. I want to learn how to ballroom dance.

7. I don't want to work at my job anymore. People are really nice but job is not rewarding or fulfilling in any way.

Now, 3 Bloggers to give the award to:

1. Kamran at The Sophisticated Gourmet

2. Lacey at Common Objects and Everyday Events

3. ALL OF YOU!! (Totally taking Bobbi's idea cause you are ALL creative and I would love to see all of your answers)

So, that was the Kreativ Blogger Award. Again, I will say that I am honored that Bobbi would choose me. I gotta get back in the habit of writing. At least this time it only took me a little over a week (thanks Bobbi!!). We still haven't hooked up my computer but that will change things a lot when that happens. But if I don't write this weekend, I will definitely be posting next week for sure. We have two big events coming up next week:

1. October 27th - I will have my sonogram where I find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I can't wait to find out!!

2. October 28th - This is our next court date in the adoption process with our son, Tyler. This court date should terminate the birth families parental rights for good. Once that happens, the birth parents have the right to appeal, which they probably will. We have to wait 60 days just to see if they appeal. So, we are ready for the next phase but after that it is just a waiting game for us. So, if you remember, please do keep us in your prayers.

Anyone have any big plans for this weekend??

Have a Great Night Everyone!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Finally...

I am writing another post. It took me about another month and a half but I am here at last. It has been really hard for me to blog because since we moved, we haven't set up my computer so I have had to use my husband's computer. I haven't realized how inconvenient that is - especially when he is home. But this week we are setting up my computer so hopefully I will be able to get more posts in on a regular basis - instead of once every one to two months. So, let me see if I can catch you up on what's been going on. Really, right now, there are two big things that I want to share with you all.

First, I will start with MY NEW (USED ) CAR!!! Just about a month ago, we finally got a car to replace our van that was out of commission. I love my new car. It is a 2000 Toyota Camry. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet but I will try to post some tomorrow (for real this time). I don't know if any of you read my other blog, The Three T's but a little over a year ago I posted a picture of my old Camry completely crushed under a tree branch that fell on top of it. If you would like to see it, feel free to check it out. The post with this picture is kind of a long post because I recapped my whole month of August of last year. That was a busy month for us. But feel free to check it all as it gives a little glimpse of me and my family.

So, now on to the BIG NEWS.... As of this coming Thursday, I will be EIGHTEEN WEEKS PREGNANT!! For the last couple of posts, I was constantly posting about how tired I was all the time... Well, this is why! :-) My due date has changed from March 27th to March 18th to March 22nd. So, I'm guessing some time in March :-). I got some sonograms at a Free Clinic in San Bernardino that I am happy to post. I apologize if they are hard to see. Sometimes sonogram pics are hard to see the baby anyways but these pictures were in and out of my pocket for a couple of days before I scanned them. These pictures were taken at about 13 weeks.

I like this one the best because looks like he/she is sitting ready for the world. :-)

In this one the baby appears to be laying down. I think it's harder to see the baby in this picture.

Well, finally after a month and a half I have finally told you all the big news that I wanted to tell you (if there is anyone left still reading).

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and feeling blessed!!