:Beware: An Entire Food Post

In no specific order here are a few of my favorite things this pregnancy. I wish I could say the cravings were of the healthier nature, but I ate very similar to this while growing Porter and he came out a healthy, whopping 9 pound baby, so I am sure Maggie is doing alright. And besides, we are only having two kids, so this is my last time to live this up, so I have embraced it! For all those out there who knew me at the end of my last pregnancy and have heard how much weight I gained during those 9 crazy month, this may explain a lot. Gotta love nursing though, lost all but 10 pounds last time. Let's hope this happens the next time as I am headed to that same end number again. Yikes!

Caramel Apples-need I say more.

$5 Footlong Subway Spicy Italian Sub-no tomatoes, please.

Archer Farm Kettle Chips sold at Target in the best flavor ever, Buffalo Wings!!!

So spicy my nose and eyes water.

Beef Stroganoff- I love making this for dinner and am getting a pretty mean recipe perfected. Yummy!

Who wouldn't love Butterscotch but with Caramel too?
Oh man, I just can't resist this on vanilla ice cream.

Our House circa 1940 and then I digress...

We live in a very cute Cape Cod (from what I am told) house that was built in 1940. It has a ton of potential and we just don't have a ton of time to do all we want to do to it. We had found that if you decide to start one project, you end up with 4-5 other projects you had now created in the process. Thus, leaving you with 6 unfinished projects.

For example, when we moved in to the house, we decided to rewire the whole house's electricity and now we have an open socket in our dining room with 'live' wires and it is covered in duct tape. Lovely. Our bathroom has an open socket above the vanity light that needs to be covered as well. And all this came about because when the wiring was originally installed, nothing was grounded. And there were no sockets in the bathroom or kitchen that break if and when water is present to help avoid the person getting shocked. All good things to update but leaves an unfinished project.

So then it digressed to once the kitchen was torn up for the electrical work, why not replace the counter tops and the floors? But if we do all that, why not rip out some cabinets and the sink and properly rewire the dishwasher and garbage disposal so it functions that much better? So then you have lovely new cabinets, a dishwasher and garbage disposal that all work so much better and a switch for the garbage disposal in an appropriate spot versus on the outside of the cabinet below the sink. All for better function and ease and appearance. It looks amazing. But then we haven't finished framing in the cabinets and putting in the floor molding. So it looks good but not finished.

And so on and so forth. I am not complaining, just explaining. One thing leads to 25 more things. Thus the joy of an old house and doing most of the remodeling yourself.

I am thankful for many things for sure. We have a DISHWASHER! AJ and I lived in an apartment for the first 2 years of our marriage and it had a dishwasher and it was wonderful. Then we moved in to a house in Cottage Grove for two years and we didn't have kids at the time but there was no dishwasher and it was such a bummer as the rest of the house was so nice. It wasn't enough of a bummer not to buy it. But man oh man, we had the constant pile of dishes. Now that we have a 1 year old, I often think how thankful I am for the dishwasher. That is one convenience in my life I wouldn't want to have to be without. Most older homes weren't built to include these so whoever did that remodel on this home to build one in is my hero!

Also, our old house has a fairly new forced air heat system and fairly new windows. We don't have AC but summer is so short here, I rejoice for the constant heat the other 9 months of the year. Our house stays warm and cozy and all the windows open (good for the summer breeze and fire safety!) and keep the heat in that much better during the winter. Both things we did not have to do on the home. The sellers had recently done those updates before we bought the home, so it was another selling point for us.

And finally, another thing I am thankful for is a space to call our own. 3 years after AJ and I had been married, we found ourselves at a crossroad in our journey of life. I had recently graduated beauty school and AJ was unsure what he wanted to do with himself in life. He had completed his undergraduate degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management, but after a year doing that, did not feel it was his true calling. So his parents graciously offered for us to move in with them in a "transitional" period till we could see where the chips fell. We were both jobless, our house in Cottage Grove sold in a month and we knew we most likely wanted to be back in Salem. We were trying for a baby and were starting on that journey as well.

Well, long story short, we lived with AJ's parents for 3 years. We paid off our car, some student loans and some consumer debt. AJ discovered his calling in life and went to graduate school at OSU for his Master's in Counseling and I worked two part-time jobs which turned in to one full time job. God lead us through many challenges, triumphs and learning situations. We came to terms with the fact that we were having difficulties getting pregnant and then learning to let that go and let God take control. The hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Harder than being a mom. I was broken.

On goes the story to this quick snapshot. Spring 2008 AJ is finishing up his spring term and heading in to his final summer session. I am working full time and he has begun to apply for jobs for the fall. He does not officially graduate till December 2008 but he has to get a job in the fall to get the hours he needs to complete his degree. July 2008 we find out we are pregnant. No insurance, AJ does not have a job, I know at some point after the baby is born I am going to go part time. "Okay, God, what are you thinking?" I had finally come to a place of being okay with all this but we still lived with AJ's parents.

We talked with them and asked if we could stay at least till after the baby was born. They said yes and so we stayed with them till December of 2009. AJ got a job as a full time counselor and we did our budget and were able to work in a house payment and in June of 2009 started looking for a house. So after 6 years of marriage, 3 of them we had lived with AJ's parent's, December of 2009 we moved out of their house with our 9 month old and spent the first night in our new house. It was a little bit scary but exciting!

Soooooo, I love my in-laws, am so thankful for their hospitality and generosity and truly not sure how I am going to have a newborn and 20 month old without their help after her birth, but I am grateful for our own space. We had a great time with them and had fun eating dinner with them most every night, watching our favorite TV shows together and just hanging out. Porter got some good good grandparent loving from birth to 9 months that Maggie will never know and as much as Al and Lori love us, they were not sad at all to see our dogs move out! It was an adventure and many memories were made. But I am thankful for our space.

I love our little house, all 1,080 square feet of it!

Happy Halloween 2010

This was Porter's second Halloween and he enjoyed all the costumes other people were wearing more than he cared about his. We trick or treated at Corban and Lauren's house, Grandpa and Grammie's house and then Great Grandpa and Gigi's house. We went with Jana, JJ and little Finn who was a lobster. We discovered that starting at 5 was a bit too late as by the time we were driving out to south Salem both boys had fallen asleep. We had fun but note to remember next year, start a little earlier!

Last year Porter was a monkey and this year we saw this little garden gnome outfit at Target and fell in love with it. He was pretty stinkin' cute!

"Trick or Treat, Grandpa and Grammie!"

25 Weeks!

Well, here we are over halfway to meeting our little Miss Maggie. My good friend Christi took some fun pictures of me while we were all at the beach for the weekend.

Summer 2010

Yes, we are still all alive and doing well. No, I didn't forget my password to log on to my blog and update it. It is just that I can't believe how fast the summer went and trying to find time to upload pictures and post posts just never seemed to happen. So here I am sitting on my couch with my computer, while Porter is napping on my sick day updating the blog. But I can't find the pictures so no pictures this time. I will ask AJ where he downloaded them to and then I will put up some of our wonderful vacation and then some of the fair and then some of the baby reveal party we had!

Yes, we are having another baby. We found out Mother's Day I was expecting and it wasn't the Mother's Day present I was necessarily hoping for but we were excited. It only took us one try this time as opposed to 3 years trying for Porter, so imagine that we were a little surprised! I started seeing my midwives and they projected my due date as being January 12th. So on August 19th at 1pm we had our 19 week ultrasound to check the health and wellness of our baby and also to find out what we were having. Only we didn't find out right then, we waited till the party that night. I don't want to spoil the future post, but let's just say it was a fun night for all and we found out we are having a girl!

AJ ended the last school year finding out he was going to have his hours cut at his full time counseling position in Amity about 2 days after we found out I was pregnant. Oh, Lord, what are you doing to us? I cried and was frustrated and just wanted our lives to be peaceful. AJ was steady and strong and gently reminded me that our God is not weak, our faith is weak. So I prayed, I cried out and I trusted God that He alone must know what He was doing because I sure didn't. The last time we found out we were pregnant with Porter AJ didn't have a job and we had no medical insurance. So imagine me thinking the worst and imagining the baby was going to come in to the world of no insurance. I am a fatalist, what can I say.

Well, AJ got right on it and started applying for jobs. We bought him a new beautiful interview outfit and he looked amazing! He had one interview at an elementary school and then we waited and waited and waited and heard nothing. All the while AJ kept checking the job site for new postings and I kept running different scenarios through my head of how we would live on 30% less of AJ current paycheck. How would we make this work?

Then AJ saw a job posting for a full time position with Salem-Keizer at their Early College High School program and it sounded like a great fit for him. He applied and then never heard, never heard and never heard. We had planned to go on a family vacation this summer as we needed some time away and valued vacation even though we did not know what the fall held for us. The Monday before vacation AJ got a call for an interview on Tuesday! Wow! He felt very good about the interview and just felt like if there was a job for him, this was it. He would be a counselor for about 200 high school kids and be working with about 15 teachers. It was just so similar to what he was doing at Amity but he would be doing it for a much bigger district and have a lot more resources available. We all prayed and prayed and prayed. That same week, his sister found out she had gotten the job she had interviewed for and we were excited for her. Now, if AJ would just get that same call!

So Thursday, AJ, Porter and I were going to go run errands and right before we left, he got the call from HR. They offered him the job and he took it. What a week and vacation was never sweeter. God is amazing and His answers to prayer come in bigger boxes and ways than we can ever expect or imagine. So after the shock of losing hours and benefits, we are now on our way to having even more benefits and being able to get our teeth cleaned again. (We didn't have dental benefits with Amity and it was just too much.)

AJ started training this week and then will be in his office on Wednesday and Thursday. He will probably see some kids before class starts as he has to work up their schedules. Next week he is in the office and getting settled in and figuring out life as a high school counselor. One really cool thing is his 45 minute commute has now changed to a 4 minute commute. Way less money for gas now! He made some good friends at Amity and will miss playing cards with the guys at lunch and between parent teacher conferences but we are all excited for a new future with Salem-Keizer school district.

Well, that's enough writing for one post. I will do pictures in my next few posts and hope you all had a wonderful summer.

:)

Picture Update

This is Maryanne's sister in law, Jana. I was giving her a hard time yesterday for not updating her blog in so long and offered to upload some pictures I've taken of Porter over the last month. Enjoy!

Zoo Trip

Playing at the Park

Shopping at Life Source

I'm sure MA and AJ have way cuter pictures than these to share, but at least you can see how Porter is growing and what a cute little walking boy he is becoming.

Happy Birthday, Porter!

There was 8 of us singing Porter "Happy Birthday!" He was so perplexed by the 8 of us all looking at him and singing.

It was a whirlwind of a day with Easter brunch and then getting the house finished and decorated and set up for the BBQ before everyone came over for another celebration of Porter and his first year. This kid lucked out with two celebrations and lots of people who love him and joined in on the celebration.

Because Porter had been sick and snotty, my brother decided not to bring the whole family over and risk getting their family sick again. So he dropped by with cousin Gracie and Benjamin and hung out with Porter for a little and brought him his first Legos! Uncle Andy showed him how to destroy whatever he made and throw the Legos around. Throwing Legos is the best!

Then Al and Lori came over a bit early to help finish getting our house ready and helped us realize all the things we forgot for the party. Al and AJ made a last minute trip to the store for all the things we forgot. Oops! Lori did a great job getting everything set out in a beautiful fashion and iced all the cupcakes.

AJ BBQ'ed burgers and we all sat down around our dinner table and had dinner. Lauren, Corban, Jana, JJ, baby Finn, Al, Lori, AJ, Porter and myself around our table! It was fun.

Then Porter got his first sugar-free banana cupcake. It was more like a muffin as there was no frosting and he wasn't all that in to it. But it was still fun to sing to him again and help him blow out his candle. Poor little guy still felt snotty and sick but he is a trooper!

Happy First Birthday, sweet baby Porter!

What a year it has been!

Don't grow up too fast. Sniff. Sniff. Tear.