Laredo or BUST!

We found out today that we are going to LAREDO TEXAS! Brian will be working with the Diamond Interchange project. I am completely stunned, overwhelmed, nervous, anxious, excited, and fearful. There are so many more emotions that I am feeling right now. I knew from the begining there would be a chance of going to Laredo since Brian speaks Spanish and all, but deep down I was really hoping for Lubbock. Brian's brother Chauncy was there for a year working for the same company and he and his family enjoyed it. Yesterday the highest temp in the state was in Laredo at 86 and its the end of November. I guess there is no need to stock up on winter clothes for little miss avery. I am excited for Brian to have a job period, but for the opportunity that this will allow. I know that he has been working so hard to get us to this point so I don't want to be ungrateful, but at the same time I am a bit hesitant. Am I allowed that feeling? You hear of all the murders in Nuevo Laredo which is just a step away from Laredo, you look out your window and you see the Mexican flag! Texas A&M International is there, so I can get started on my RN and Brian can work on his masters at night after we get settled.
I grew up in a town that had few LDS people in it, there was a ward. Laredo is still just a district with an English speaking branch and a Spanish speaking branch. I know the church needs good members down in that area and that the church can grow and flourish with the right members. I know that Lord has His hand in our relocation and I know that we can learn to love Laredo and the people of Laredo if I have the right heart about it. I am determined to move there with a positive attitude and make the best out of this. Some positives that I have thought of or people have mentioned when telling them of being moved to Laredo are: you can learn spanish, Avery's first words will probably be HOLA, I love Mexican food, we are 2 hours away from Corpus Christi, we are still close to where my parents live, there is a temple 3 hours a way and we dont have to travel for days to get there on a bus, we can go across the border to get cheap things, mom mentioned cheap drugs, being able to stay at home with Avery, not having to live paycheck to paycheck anymore, being able to swim in the pool year round;), staying in the state of Texas, having at least a branch with members. I am sure there are more but my brain is mush right now thinking about all that needs to be done before we move in a couple weeks. I am excited for this new chapter and new things headed our way. I am blessed to have my little family and to be "encircled in the arms of His love".

SWEET PEAS!

Before the sweet peas.....


after the sweet peas~! too cute! she actually was gagging on them and spitting them out! guess we don't like the peas!

My husband, the pack rat!

Last week we went to Central Park to feed the ducks! They swimmed right up to us, came charging out of the water and ate crackers out of our hands! I was a bit terrified bc I had on flip flops and I have some LONG WHITE toes and they were eating crackers off the ground I was afraid they would mistake one of my toes for a cracker! I made it out of the park with all of my toes! Brian went a little crazy with the camera taking pics of the ducks..I think he took a pic of EVERY single one of them! He is too cute!

She is not too impressed with the bubbles!


Avery has found her fingers! She can get four fingers into that mouth now! She is chomping on everything, her hands, blankets, burp clothes. Those gums hurt when she gets ahold of our fingers. Maybe we are getting some toothies. Our pediatrician says that teething is just an answer for "crankiness, fussy times". He said that "oh she is teething" will be said to us for nine months! He said that if that is the case he knows a lot of 40year olds that our "teething".


I hate moving. I mean HATE! I would love to pay someone to come in and pack us up and move us in. I have been trying to go through all of our "stuff" and decide what to move and what goes in the dumpster. I have to say my husband is a pack rat, hoards everything. I swear he has every magazine from Cabellas, anything tire or car related, all the sports illustrated editions ever made. He has all the Liahona magazines, which he never reads. He said when he ordered them that it would help keep him up to date on his spanish, they are just collecting dust on the book shelves. How can I throw away church literature, so into a box they go to move into our new place to collect dust once again. He has four shoe boxes FULL of pens, markers, pencils, highliters, etc, he has two label makers! What straight man has not one but TWO label makers! He had a bag of water bottles in the guest room closet, I asked him if I could throw them away. You would of thought I was throwing away a gold bar from the response I got from him. In the two years we have lived here, they have been in that closet. I once again refuse to move with JUNK that is going to sit in a closet for another two years because "one day I might need it"! He makes me laugh, can not help but love him!

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

Here are some recent pics of our little miss. She is 20 weeks old, she is getting so big and is such a happy baby! Over the past couple of days she has really found her voice. She has been waking us up around midnight- one oclock loudly talking to herself in her crib. She probably is talking to her mobile or her other "friends" (stuffed animals) at the end of her crib. When we were at mom and dads she woke us up on Thanksgiving day just loudly talking to herself in her pac n play! Mom and dad could hear her in their room! We get a kick out of her and her fun personality. On the drive home yesterday we had music on and she would sing along with the radio but if we turned it down so we could listen to her, she would stop! I have really enjoyed being able to stay at home with her and watch all the new things she is learning. She is such a blessing!
When my mother would hold her, she would tell Avery, "you are everything", that really hit me hard. She really is EVERYTHING! She is everything Brian and I are, she is everything to us, everything to her grandparents, everything to the Lord, she is everything good in this world. My hope for her is that we as parents will raise her to KNOW that she is everything! That she doesn't need anything else to make her (whole)= everything. I think that there are alot of people, me included, that continue to look and seek out things that aren't necessarily good for us, to make us feel that we are everything, to help us feel that we mean everything to someone.

Two weeks notice and 4 month shots!

Today was an emotionally exhausting day. I put in my two weeks notice at the hospital. I have worked at the hospital for five years. I started out as a ward clerk, went through nursing school and have been there as a nurse for over three years now. Alot of the nurses have been there for all of those events, through dating disasters, engagement, wedding , pregnancy and now as a mother. Many were "family" to me, I didn't have family living here until I married Brian, so alot of them were "family" to me. We each know one another's families, children, and pets. When you work with someone for 13 hours a day, you develop a special bond. I met my best friend in nursing school and went to work on the same floor and have been there together, our pregnancy was four days apart and our daughters were born 7 days apart! I had a hard time sitting down and typing a resignation letter. Brian kept teasing me that resignation letters aren't supposed to be sappy! My boss and I cried together, it was a hard day to get through. I worked with some of the best nurses, the best mentors and with some of the kindest doctors. I will remember them all and remember all the fond memories we had working together, lots of laughs! I am the nurse I am today because of some of them! It is exciting to move and start a new chapter in our lives but at the same time bittersweet.
Avery got her 4 month shots today! That is never fun for mommy, it breaks my heart. Her cry is different after her shots, it really is a "hurt" cry. That is what breaks my heart, is the cry. When she is drinking a bottle and takes a break to let out a little cry then continues drinking the bottle! Daddy had to give her some extra loving when she got home, it is such a tender moment to witness. I gave her some tylenol and she is asleep now in her crib. Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow.
The picture is of her new "trick"! She loves to hold her bottle with her hands and feet! Talk about getting into her food. She is sooo long...she is 26 1/2 inches long. A friends one year old isn't even that long! We gotta long baby!

First time eating sweet potatoes

Smile of the day.

WARNING: Venting ahead!

Today Av is four months old. I am so thankful for her sweet spirit and the joy she has brought into Beav and I's life. I can't remember what it was like before (well, thats not all true, 3 in the morning I can!) I would do pregnancy all over again and hopefully will be again sometime-- much later in time! BUT--I hate what it has done to my body. Disclaimer: I never have or will ever claim to have a good body.
I have a lot of pregnancy after thoughts that the have left their mark...I have been back down to my pre preg weight for a while now, so tell me this.....WHY CAN I NOT FIT INTO MY PRE PREG CLOTHES!!! The shape of my body is distorted now. I can no longer suck in my gunt for the life of me, I now have these two beautiful deflated slightly droopy breasteses! NICE, I tell ya.. I am sure Ugly Betty is looking good to my husband. I have stretch marks that cover my belly and my once beautiful thick shinny hair is now falling out one by one...You would think we had a dog with the amount of long black hairs every where...but no they are ALL mine and I want them ALL back on my head! My once clear complexion is now a bumpy road map. The joys of pregnancy. I understand now why Kirstie Alley wore support hose underneath her bikini on Oprah...nothing is ever the same after pregnancy! I truly am jealous of all those ladies that after many kids have the body of a teenager! I know there are those that work really hard to get back to that,...its those that didn't have to work at all that I direct all my frustrations to! My sister in law is that way, skinnier now after her three kids! UGHH! I see all these women walking around wearing pants that appear to fit them..SO why I ask can I not find pants to fit me. They have to buy pants somewhere, is there a secret store that I don't know about. Elastic has become my best friend. I didn't have to wear maternity pants until I was almost 6 and 1/2 months pregannt. I loved those maternity jeans, so much room and oh so comfortable! I teased that they would become my Thanksgiving and Christmas pants. Listen MISTER...I was teasing..I didn't think I would HAVE to wear them to Thanksgiving and Christmas because nothing else fits and I am surely not going to have a muffin top...That is just Wrong I tell ya! I will not let others loose their appetites. I guess I will be wearing my yoga pants to Thanksgiving! Do you think heels go?

New Orleans??

Yesterday Brian talked to the HR person from Kiewet about the plans for December. Brian graduates in Dec but we didn't know when he would be starting his new job or where we would be relocated. We could go to anywhere in Texas to Florida. The last couple of weeks I have been thinking of places that I would be "ok" with going. Lubbock would be OK, Dallas would be OK, I was iffy on El Paso, Laredo and Miami. I was definetly NO on New Orleans. When Brian got off the phone with Kiewet he said that he will be starting Dec 18 and will probably be not going to Dallas FW for two months for training and would just go to the jobsite and be thrown in with the sharks! I asked him if she had mentioned where we would be going and Brian said that she mentioned that they are waiting on a big bid that they have in New Orleans working on I-10! I immediately told Brian, we are NOT living in New Orleans! I have been to NOLA and I feel that it is a great place to visit, but not necessarily a great place to live. I talked to my mother about it and she made me feel better IF we do end up in NOLA, she said that they need good members of the church there and that it doesn't matter where you go bc the church will always be there wherever you go. That is so true, I had immediately looked up on lds.org about ward locations. They told Brian that they would let him know next week what the plans are and where we would be going. I am both excited and nervous. I am ready for change but nervous just about change in general. I need to go, Avery is blowing bubbles out of her nose, poor things is still battling her cold!

But today I am grateful for:

• Brian graduating in Dec. and having a job to go to. It has been a long and exhausting and draining process, but we are finally seeing the light. I am so proud of him and all the hard work he has put forth.
• The gospel. It is reasssuring to know that wherever we do end up, there will be a church nearby and hopefully a temple nearby with faithful members who would be excited for new members in the ward.
• President Hinkley. I read yesterday that he is now the oldest living prophet we have had. We are so blessed to have such a wise prophet, he has such a sense of humour too. I have such a strong testimony/love for President Hinkley. He is really the only prophet I know, or remember. When you talk about developing a testimony for the prophets, my testimony is of him. He is such a loving man, I remember during a general conference talk when he talked about his late wife and how he could not wait to be with her and that he missed her dearly. I know that when Brian and I have been married for over 70 or so years that I will miss him dearly and want to join him again. A sorrow that I can not imagine, I miss him after being away for him for a couple of days and we haven't been married that long. I can not imagine the heartache he feels for his wife but at the same time aware of his mission on earth and knows that when it is time he will again be with her.

Rolling Over

Today was a day to mark down in the history books, well at least in Avery's baby book:) We were doing tummy time this afternoon, which I try to do with her everyday (much to her protests) when she rolled over from her tummy to her back! I squealed so loud I scared her. I had to turn her back over on her tummy to see if she would roll over again or if it was my eyes playing tricks on me! Sure enough after a few minutes of talking to herself and chewing on her hands, she rolled over! I clapped and cheered with her, she got a kick out of mommy. I had to call Brian,who was pulling into the driveway, to tell daddy about Avery's accomplishment. He quickly came upstairs to watch Avery show off her skills once again! You would of thought we had just won the lottery, we were so excited for her. We are such proud parents, we have such an intelligent baby:)

I have been listening to Josh Groban's new CD, AWAKE. There is a song on it, You are Loved, it is such a powerful song. I have just been sitting here listening to it over and over again. So on that note..

Today I am grateful for:

• Music. I love music. I have always loved music, all kinds mostly. I am the type of person that is affected by good music. At church or wherever it may be, I sometimes am able to feel the Spirit more strongly through good songs/hymns. Sometimes I will be sitting watching a commercial, they could be showing a commercial about dog food or deodorant but the music is so touching, I can tear up! I am such a dork sometimes.
• Bath time. I look forward to bath time each night with Avery. She loves bath time, she is my little fishy. She kicks and splashes around. I get a kick out of watching her loving the water. We will definitetly have to get her into swim lessons.
• Good soup! Can I just say, I love SOUP. All kinds of soup! My friend Kelli says I am addicted to soup. At work during lunch time I always make a B line to the soups to see what they have and I coordinate my meal around the soup! Tonight I made a Cheddar Potato Soup, it was soo yummy. It is so warming and filling. I could eat soup every night.

Sapo!

Isn't she the cutest frog you have ever seen! I know dressing her up for Halloween was more for us then it was for her! What torture little kids go through!

Today I am grateful for:

• Crock pots! I am cooking a roast and the whole house smells so good! I can't wait to eat. A Crock pots is a new moms necessity. It is so easy to put all the ingredients in while the baby is sleeping then turn it on and forget about it. The meals turn out good too.
• Digital cameras! It is exciting to be able to take pictures and send them to family via computer and be able to delete the bad ones. I am thankful to be able to capture Avery's milestones and Firsts.
• Two TVs on Football Sundays. I am getting SOO sick of football! I can't wait til the season is over. I admit I like to watch SOME football, but not the whole dang thing, commercials, commentary and post game wrap ups!
• Laughter! Laughing makes everything better, I love it when Brian does silly things to make me laugh/smile. I applaud him for his efforts. I need to remember to laugh/smile more often, it really does feel good.

FALL

Today I am grateful for:

* Fall. I love the cooler weather we are recieving! I hate the heat, it is so nice to be able to wear makeup without it sliding off your face and your hair down without it going bizerk on you. I can't wait til it is cold enough to drink hot chocolate!
* Burp cloths! I cannot tell you how many times I get spit-uped on. I guess this is just one of those bonuses of being a mommy. I am getting use to the scent of formula on me, I am sure its not too much of a turn on for anyone else! But I am a proud spit up wearing momma.
* Dishwashers, I am so thankful for having a dishwasher. When I grew up we did not have a dishwasher. My father always said, "Why do we need a dishwasher when we have ten of them!" Meaning five kids with two hands! But now with ALL the bottles I wash in a day, I am so thankful for my dishwasher. I am even more thankful for the fact that we do not pay water in our townhome! Yeeha!
* COPS! Bad boys, bad boys..whatcha gonna do! I love that show. I get such a laugh at all the stupid white trashy things people do and say to cops! Aren't I pathetic!

Attitude of Gratitude

I can not believe it is already November. Golly, time goes by so fast. There seems to be a recurring theme playing in my mind the last couple of days: to have an Attitude of Gratitude.

grat i·tude (grt-td, -tyd) n.

The state of being grateful; thankfulness.


At church Sunday we sang one of my favorite hymns "Count Your Blessings"

"When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. So amid the conflict, whether great or small,Do not be discouraged; God is over all.Count your many blessings; angels will attend,Help and comfort give you to your journeys end"

I love that hymn. It really makes me stop and think about what all I have to be thankful for. The last couple of months have been a trial on my faith. I know I have sooo much to be thankful for, but at the same time there are those stumbling blocks. I find myself concentrating and spending most of my energy concentrating on the negative, what we don't have and what I think would make us happier if we did have. I am starting to realize that an EXPRESSION of FAITH is GRATITUDE. I have realized that I need to eliminate the negative, eliminate the comments that I make and let run around and take over my thoughts. I should try to be more positive and use the faith that I know is deep down inside me and have an attitude of gratitude! So please help me to have a more positive attitude and to be grateful for my many blessings.


Today I am grateful for:

* My family. It warms my heart when I say the word family, I know that Brian and I were a "family" but now with the addition of Avery, I feel like a "family"
* The Lord, my testimony, my membership in the church, the scriptures which I gain so much comfort and wisdom from, free agency, eternal families.
* Extended family---for all the love and support they show me and my family, stated before eternal families.
* Cool Vicks Humidifiers that help my baby sleep at night, she has a rotten cold and a runny nose, everyone feels better when Avery gets a full nights sleep:)
* My health, mentally, physically and spiritually, not saying that everything is doesn't a lot alot of fine tuning.
* My husband (remember this is in no particular order) for being so loving and patient with me. For helping me be a better person and reminding me that I am not perfect:) hehe..
* Hot bubble baths- ohhohEnoughnough said.
* Corn nuggets! Chicken Express has the best corn nuggets, reminds me of my favorite cafeteria meal when I was in elementary school, pizza and corn nuggets Boy O boy has time changed!


I am going to make a daily effort to post at least a few things that I am thankful for, serious or silly as they may be, but hopefully I will remind myself to constantly have an attitude of gratitude and have a grateful heart!