More will be up soon!!

Family Vacation to Florida

OK so we are back from Florida. For those of you who haven't heard Jeff, Kelli, Lexi, Breann and I went to Florida to see the space shuttle launch and check out Walt Disney World. We had an incredible time and it was a much need vacation for both families. I have a lot of pictures that I would like to post and will do so once I have time. I had to go to work as soon as I got back from vacation. Anyways the cool stuff. . . we went to all fours parks and stayed in one of the local Disney resort hotels. We saw a lot of cool Disney resort stuff but couldn't help ourselves to compare it to Disneyland. We skipped some of the stuff that we knew we could do here at Disneyland and wished that they would bring some of the rides from Disney World to the land. Our favorite rides were Mt. Everest and Rockin' Roller Coaster. Tower of terror is much better at Disney World. We all agreed that Disney World could do so much more with what they had and they are not taking advantage of the potential that is there. Also the World needs to be more aware of the safety aspect at their parks. I know I won't be hit by a tram at Disneyland unless I was really, really not paying attention. But I loved how each park was decorated for the holidays.

Jeff and I participated in a few shows and if I can get the video from my sister I will post it. Our favorite moment was watching the space shuttle Atlantis launch from the space center. Jeff and I had tears in our eyes and shivers in our bones. Breann was asleep the whole time and that is OK because she needed to sleep since we all woke up at 4am that morning to drive there. I was surprised on all the activities they had available for us to do while we waited for the space shuttle to launch. The center had a lot of history for us to read up on and I learned more there then the history channel has ever given on the subject. The center went more in depth in each mission and I hope that my niece learned a great deal about space. I wished we were able to do more stuff outside of the resort and the shuttle launch but there really wasn't enough time and not to mention I lost the directions to the places I wanted to look at. Oh well, I was still able to go to another state and do stuff that was on my bucket list.

Painful Week

Well in the words of a friend of mine, "this is a painful week". This past week was a painful week because it seemed like massive lay-offs everywhere. In the beginning of the week my church had to let go 6 of their staff members. If that wasn't hard to hear on Friday Jeff was let go from his job. Everyone has been very supportive and many have asked me how I am doing. I have to say I started out numb, I really didn't know how to feel. The emotion didn't hit me until I saw Jeff walking up the stairs carrying his box of stuff. I got a little emotional and we both had a family moment. After ten minutes Jeff and I took a deep breath and I have to say I was thinking that I would need to encourage him to start looking for a job right away. Well I under estimated him because the first words out of his mouth were, "I need to make a few phone calls to people I know who can help me find a job." That brought relief knowing that he was already a step ahead of me. I have to say what I felt after that was kind of surreal. I didn't have any anxiety, not really stressing out either, I kind of had a sense of calm and comfort and I still have it. Now I am sure once we have to pay bills and money is tight I will feel reality sink in but in the mean time I am going to take this comfort God gave me and try to benefit from it.

Now I am going to try and pick-up extra hours at work and support Jeff in what needs to be done but I am kind of excited on wondering what is next in our life. Jeff did ask if I would mind moving, I thought about it for a moment and told him no, I wouldn't mind because we talked about it a week before that we felt a little trapped in our situation and that if the opportunity came along we wouldn't mind having a change. We thought it would be later than sooner.

Also, some people have been asking if we are still going on our family vacation to Florida and as of this moment yes. The flight and hotel is paid for and we were already saving for food and a rental car when we get out there. That might change in the next few weeks so I will keep everyone up dated on what we finally decide. Thank you again for all of your support.

i wuv oh

Breann has all of a sudden decided to talk to us . . . well she has decided to talk to us in her own language and Jeff and I look at her with a face of confusion. She doesn't care she keeps jabbering on, pointing at things and it seems like everything is mi-mi when she wants it. When you ask her to say something of course the words have her little baby accent and some words we realize that maybe we should wait until she is a little older to say so she can pronounce them better. In the mean time the i wuv oh's and the mommy's are melting our hearts and we can't help but laugh at her when she tries something new or gives us a pouty look. Jeff and I need to work on our poker faces. My favorite thing right now is when I am sitting on the couch and she climbs up and sits next to me. She will also read a book if I am reading. Makes me think I need to make sure that I don't do anything stupid in front of her.

HA! HA! Memories

Ok this is just funny. I saw this a long time ago and had to laugh.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTYr3JuueF4

Jr High Camp

So I was asked this Sunday if I would like to go to the Jr high Camp and be a counselor. The first thing that came to mind was could I get the time off work. Jeff is all for me going and would mind taking care of Breann for the week. I know this would be a great opportunity for me the only thing holding me back is funding. Unfortunately I have planned all my vacation time that I get for the year and Jeff and I really need the hours I work to pay bills. I guess I am writing this to get advice from people on how they would handle the situation. The trip is in 2 weeks and I am trying to rearrange my schedule so I can go. Please write to me and let me know what you think.

Anxiety

So we had a great day this past Sunday. Breann was dedicated at the church, we had a nice brunch at East Side Mario's and Jeff and I had a great softball game. I only had one problem through out the day. Now ever since I went back to work I have been dealing with anxiety issues. It wasn't until very recently I had my anxiety under control. In fact I had to stress myself to the point of having a migraine in order to relax and finally feel relieved from the anxiety that was lingering. Anyways . . . on Sunday while at East Side Mario's I was distracted trying to move a sharp knife out of Breann's reach when her foot skipped off the chair I had her standing on. Now she did tumble to the ground and luckily landed on her bottom yet she started crying. All of a sudden I felt like I was in a dream where I was trying to get to her but no matter what I did I couldn't reach her. I wasn't going to loose focus on her that was for sure but I couldn't get to her. Then I had the room close in on me, the people in that room were getting louder and I really couldn't breath. The anxiety attack was going to hit me at full force. By the time I got Breann my sister already picked her up. She was still crying and and the room wasn't calming down for me. So I basically ran out of the room, I think I knocked into about two people on my way out of the restaurant. Once outside I was much better and I know it only took me a few seconds to regain composure. Breann was still upset but at least I could truly focus on her and not be tunnel vision. I know we all try to get through the tough times in our lives and I know I have been through tougher moments then that but I think when those moments catch you off guard that is when it is the most difficult to deal with. If you are wondering why I am mentioning this to you, I really don't know. There is no reason behind this other then to let you all in on not so graceful moment in my life.

She is walking

OK . . . so Breann has been walking for about 2 weeks now. She still prefers support and if you give her a chance she will crawl. She sit in a forward facing car seat and I love her expressions as she looks around and sees the world from a different angle. We have a set bed time for her and she goes to bed pretty easily. She loves to listen to songs and claps with Twinkle Little Star, and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Her baby dedication will be this Sunday, June 7Th at Parkcrest during the 10am service in Live.

GRRR!!

So I have been trying to put up pictures of Breann from Easter and her birthday with no luck. Hopefully soon though. In the mean an up-date to my fans. Breann turned one and it seems that she advanced her communication skills and almost walking skills. I know that it is normal for a little one to grow like that but I guess I thought it would happen a little slower. Anyways . . .she is still teething away and tring to read to me.

Jeff is done with school for the summer and is truly enjoying the moments with Wii games. We are getting ready for our good friends wedding by throwing parties and making sure all our stuff for their big day is ready. I am trying to get things in order to go back to school in September, I think the biggest thing right now is getting my schedule in order so I can do school work, go to work and give the attention to my family that they deserve. For those of you who haven't heard I am going back to school and getting my degree in Christian Ministry. I am meeting up with the student ministries pastor at Canyon Hills Friends Church on Friday which should be very interesting.

So hopefully my computer won't be a pain anymore and I will get all the photos I want up on the website. Until then, Smile!!

First Year Reflections

OK . . . Yes Breann is turning a year old in a few weeks and I have been thinking back to this past year that went by way to fast. This time last year I was having sleepless nights due to a little one wanting to play kick ball in mommy's tummy. Then came the special day with more sleepless nights of me making sure she is fed and that she is breathing. Followed by milestone moments of her turning over, sitting up, crawling, smiling, saying mama and dada blowing kisses and much more. Remembering when her little infant cry turned into a baby cry. Then going from breast milk to baby food and now finger foods. Of course having to go to work and leave her at home with daddy is hard for any parent. Also the worries of what is in store for her in the later years. Jeff says not to worry about it she is not a teenager yet. Taking her for her walks and having her take naps with me. So much and yet the year went by way to fast.

Alumni Concert

Last night was the Mariners and Show Time (Show Choir) alumni concert. It was awesome to see so may old friends sing there hearts out, or even play the instruments like no one was watching. It brought back so many fun memories. I had the pleasure of hosting the show with Amy and singing with my best friend Sara and sister Kelli. I have to say the part that brought me back was when the alumni Jazz Band took stage, Ms. Ryder lead them in a series of favorites and finished with In The Mood. But I couldn't help but flash back to my freshman year (the last year the Jazz Band did the song) and remembering why they always received the standing ovation. All the alumni for all three groups proved that the music department at Mayfair is a powerful and life impacting experience. Hopefully I will have a clip of This Little Light of Mine up shortly.

I have been doing some searching about myself and talking with people about certain things. Now I haven't answered all my questions I needed to yet and I am really trying to be patient with everything. One thing I have done was take a strength finders test and was surprise to see what it said about my strengths. Yet once I read about the strengths I couldn't help but think, Oh my that is totally true. now I will reveal more when the time comes and I thank those who have been generous to listen and give me advice that I really needed.

In the mean time Jeff and i are trying to prepare for Breann's first birthday. We are trying really hard not to get crazy with it and many times we have found ourselves having to step back and think is this for us or for Bree. I still can't believe she is going to be one year. I still can't believe that I am a mom sometimes.

10 months

OK . . .so I haven't been in the mood to type all that much lately. In fact I have been trying to stay away from electronics other then my cell phone. I have reduce my television consumption to about 2 to 3 hours a day and try to only go on the computer once a day. The last three months I have been trying to read more and entertain my daughter every chance I get. Breann is ten months now and she can almost stand on her own. She babbles all the time, in fact Jeff and I find it funny that she wants to mimic what we say accept Mama and Dada. She smiles at us when we try to get her to say those words. I can't believe how big she has gotten and looking back at the video of when we brought her home it makes me want to freeze time and keep her this little.

Why do baby's get sick

OK . . . now I know why baby's get sick but it is a lot of stress not just for the baby but for the parents too. Bree came down with the cold last weekend after I finished putting up the new crib in her room. We had to take her into the emergency room at one point because her temperature would not go down. She was fine and it was probably more of her parents over reacting then her actually being in danger but we are new at this and I feel we have that right to do that still. Anyways . . . she has a serious cough but other then that she has been acting her normal self. I am glad because it is not easy being a cool and collective mom when your child is sick.

Breann Crawling

Just a little video of Bree crawling. She is getting so big!!

Mattress vs Mustang

So today Jeff and I decided to go to Babies-R-Us and purchase a baby gate that would actually attach to the wall and a mattress for her crib. Now when we left to go to the store we were just planning to get the gate, so we took the mustang. (Grandma Leslie was watching Bree). . . Anyways . . . we bought the items and once we reached the car we realized we should have brought the focus. The gate fit perfectly in the trunk but the mattress on the other hand barely fit in the back seat of the mustang. So imagine Jeff and I squeezing into the mustang with a toddler mattress in the back seat. I just laughed all the way home.

I wonder how many people looked at us and thought well their going to trade in that car for an SUV. Yea right . . . we will trade in the focus before trading in the mustang.

2009

It is 2009, Jeff and I rang in the New Year with my family and friends. Jeff was really nice and let me sleep in that morning while Breann and him played in the other room. Later that morning I cleaned the house a little, rearranged Breann's room to fit all her new clothes and toys from the holidays and moved some stuff to storage. Talked with my family on the phone because my aunt, uncle and grandparents are heading home tomorrow and I wanted to wish them luck. I got some good news from work that my schedule will change and I will have off Saturdays now. That means I will get three days off in a row and I won't be so tired when I go to church on Sunday mornings.

Breann is starting to crawl a little, which means I am going to have to cash in on my parents promise to refurbish our patio to make it child safe. So many things to start out the new year. I am also trying to get back in the reading habit by reading a book called,"The Lies My Teacher Told Me." should be interesting. Anyways Happy New Year to you all and I will talk to you soon.