Merry CHRISTmas

We flew in late last night from a week in Seattle - we had such a fun time with family up there. It was cold and snowed every day we were there. I will blog about that when I finish with working these 3 nights in a row.

Today was our first Christmas with just the 3 of us. We have always been with extended family for the holidays and we both love to be with family so much. But I think today was a very special Christmas because we just had us. It was a quiet day - all 3 of us haven't been feeling too good - but it was very meaningful. We were able to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. We are so thankful that we have each other and a sweet baby boy. It was a little different being so far away from friends and family that we love, but we both said at different times earlier today that there is no place either one of us would rather be than here with each other. We had originally wanted to volunteer to serve dinner at a homeless shelter, but that didn't work out for today - we hope to do that in the near future.

We made a birthday cake for Jesus and we sang to Him and blew out the candles. This was the most special part of our entire day. We want to always remember His coming to earth as a baby boy to be "GOD WITH US". We also want to teach Trey the true meaning of Christmas - that Jesus came to give us new life.

We are going to open our own gifts and do our stockings on Sunday, and I will post pictures when I have time.

Scary times with Santa

This was our sweet 1 1/2 month old last Christmas

This is him one year later... he didn't mind the Santa at first...

We took Trey to sit on Santa's lap at a local kids consignment shop yesterday. Last year, we took him to the mall and snapped our own pictures. We decided to do the same this year. Last year Trey was sound asleep in Santa's arms. This year, he looked at Santa then looked at me horrified and started to cry. I couldn't help but snap a couple pictures before David rescued him.

But that quickly changed...

Thanksmas in Tennessee

We were able to get home to Tennessee for 10 days from Nov 19 - 29. I was able to arrange my schedule so that I only had to take 2 vacation days while we were gone. We flew into Nashville, and Matt and Renee came to pick us up. We had fun spending the night at their place on Wednesday night, and then Tom and Barbara picked us up on Thursday morning to take us up to Knoxville. Trey had a lot of fun getting reaquainted with everyone.

While we were in Knoxville, we had a little family party to celebrate Trey's first birthday. There are so many people who have been a special part of his first year, and it meant a lot to have so many there that we love. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us. I was so excited that my brother Mark and my nephew Benjamin came on Saturday night and stayed overnight for the party on Sunday. It was their first trip to Knoxville. Unfortunately, his wife and other two kids had to stay back home in North Carolina, but it was fun to see Mark even for a short time. Benjamin kept Trey entertained while we got ready for the party. I made a cupcake bouquet for the party, and then we had some snacks to munch on.

We were able to catch up with some friends while we were there. We have missed our friends and especially our community group since we have moved. On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, David's brothers and their wives came to Knoxville for Thanksgiving - I absolutely love it when we are all together. We all pitched in and helped fix Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday - everything turned out so yummy. I ate more than I needed to, but how can you resist when it's Thanksgiving? I love to see David interact with his brothers - they are all so different yet have different little quirks that resemble one another. I also love to see Trey have fun with our extended family - he loves each one of them, and I know the feelings are mutual. The one thing that is hard about living in Arizona is knowing that we are missing out on more frequent interactions with family.

The big thing Trey learned is to climb the stairs. He learned to do it pretty well, but now he needs to learn how to climb back down. A couple times he attempted to come down head first which I wasn't too thrilled about, so we would turn him around to try to teach him to crawl back down the same way he crawled up.

We won't be in Tennessee or Pennsylvania for Christmas, so we were excited to celebrate Christmas with David's family the day after Thanksgiving. My family hardly ever is together on Christmas, so we take any opportunity to celebrate when we are all together. It was the same with David's family except we opened all the gifts from everyone and then everyone opened our gifts. David's brothers and his parents will celebrate Christmas together closer to the actual day, but we were glad to have a little glimpse of Christmas with them.

We had a fun time but were ready to come back to Arizona to get back into our own routine. We have some new friends who are staying at UIM for a few months - Dale and Shirley. They are a retired couple from Kansas who have come to help around the grounds, so that has been a big blessing to David. All the fruit trees need pruning, so Dale has been tackling that everyday. I loaded Trey up in his wagon, and I went out to help David the other day in the orchard. As much as we are sad to be away from family and friends, it is so exciting to know God has us here for a purpose.

Celebrating Mom Perry's 60th birthday / Cruise to Mexico

Trey and my Mom enjoying one another

Trey and Grandpa

My mom decided back in September that she would come visit us in November. I knew that her visit would fall on her birthday, so I wanted to do something special. My siblings, my dad, and my Grammy all decided to chip in to buy her a cruise for a combined birthday and early Christmas gift. We also decided to include my dad's early birthday and Christmas as well. My mom came out on November 5, but she had no idea about the cruise or my dad's surprise visit as well. We had fun while she was here. It was fun to be together, and she is always a help around the house. Trey loved having her around. She taught him how to wave "bye bye" when she was here. We spent Saturday November 8 at a craft boutique where I had a necklace made for myself - I told David that he could give me this for my Christmas gift. It is something I have always wanted.

The front

The back - our anniversary and Trey's birthday

On Sunday night (Nov. 9), David went to the airport to get my dad. One of the things David does here on occasion is pick up missionaries from the airport. He told us he was going to pick up a missionary, and I played along. Mom wanted to go to bed, but I talked her into staying up with me until David got home. I loved her reaction when my Dad walked in the door. She was surprised and thrilled that he was here. I know Dad was excited to be here too to be able to celebrate Mom's birthday with her. We told her that the next day we were going on a trip, but we didn't tell her where we were going. She thought we might be going to the Price is Right (something she has always wanted to do).

We left early Monday morning for Long Beach, CA, where our Carnival cruise ship awaited us. We had an incredibly yummy breakfast at Mimi's Cafe on the way out of Phoenix. All the way there, Mom still had no idea where we were going. As we were nearing the cruise ship terminal, I had her open a card explaining that we were giving her a 4 night Baja Mexico cruise for her birthday and Christmas, and she started to cry. She said she was so overwhelmed by this gift, and that is was too much for us to do.

Boarding the Carnival Paradise

My parents had never been on a cruise before. In fact, they have never done much travelling for themselves. All the travelling they ever do is to see family or to attend a church conference. It was such a blessing to honor them in this way and to give them something that they would probably never give themselves.

Formal dinner night

Guess where this picture was taken??? :-)

Our rooms on the Carnival Paradise were side by side. We did a lot of things together, but we also did our own thing as well. It was great to be able to put Trey to bed, and then leave the monitor with Mom or Dad while David and I went to do something else on the ship. We enjoyed our meals together - of course we all ate way TOO much. Trey did amazingly well on the cruise - he slept and ate well. He is a pretty versatile little guy, and we are thankful that he adapts well to new situations.
Dad looking at the boats in Catalina Island, CA
Asleep at dinner one night

Our head waiter, Viktor, adored Trey

Our cruise went to Catalina Island, California and Ensenada, Mexico. Our cruise ended on Friday the 14th and Mom and Dad left early on the 15th. It was so fun to make so many wonderful memories with them.Grandma and Trey looking at the other boats in Long Beach, CA

New plans

I realized that I didn't blog about changes we have going on in our family. First of all, we cancelled our contract on the house we were going to buy. We were all excited about it back in September, and we had a "Go" from the bank with an incredible interest rate. But a few weeks ago, I started feeling uneasy about buying right now. I wasn't sure where that was coming from, but I came home from work and told David how I was feeling. He told me he was feeling the same way. It was such a clear confirmation from God. So we decided that we would stay put where we are and continue to serve God at UIM until He directs us elsewhere. We are also able to save money every month because we have no cost of living expenses except our utilities. We have both had complete peace about this decision. We have also had this decision confirmed by our parents and also several close friends whom we respect. Our hearts are encouraged to know that God is intimately involved in our lives. I personally found such reassurrance that God directed both of our hearts separately and then brought us together to make the decision.

I also was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I have really been battling weight issues for a few years now (since 2005), and I was really troubled by the fact that I can't seem to take the weight off and I just don't feel good. I am now on some medication to get my thyroid functioning again, and I feel almost like my head is coming out of a fog. My doctor thinks that if I don't have hypothyroidism then I definitely have adrenal fatigue - she said that is probably started back in 2005 when I had some super stressful situations that occurred. Then in 2006, I got engaged, moved to TN, started a new job, had to try to make new friends, planned a wedding away from home and family, started attending a new church, and got married all within a 6 month period of time. She said that all that combined probably led to this. I am encouraged to have some answers because I felt like I was falling apart on the inside. I felt like it affected how I viewed David and even motherhood as well as everything else. I still don't feel 100% but I think I am on my way. I am so thankful for a loving, caring husband who has stood by me and loved me when I didn't deserve to be loved. I am also thankful for friends and family who have loved me - you know who you are and I am so grateful for you.

Happy 1st Birthday, Trey!

October 30, 2007

One year later ... October 30, 2008

Lord, help me remember,
when I feel it's a chore,
the time will come when I'll hold him no more
asleep on my chest (the crib refused,
the blanket, the pacifier, gone unused).
What better place is there to lay his head than
against my heart, my arms his bed?
For babies grow up and leave us behind
with only memories left to remind
us of midnight walking
and predawn rocking,
of soft, helpless babies unable to sleep.
So, Lord, make me patient and keep me awake
while I cradle this child, and don't let me take
for granted the moments I spend in the night
with this baby--Your gift, my joy, my delight.
by Jan Dunlap

We have had such a fun first year together. Trey is growing each day - he is full of curiosity and loves to learn and discover new things. He sits with us at meals, and even though he is not saying words, we are all communicating with each other through silly sounds and lots of laughs. He loves people, and he brings smiles to people's faces everywhere we go. He seems to have a very sweet spirit that we hope will always be a part of who he is. We pray every day that Trey will choose to follow Jesus and that we will be diligent as parents to guide him in that direction. We have been with him every day of his life - and we wouldn't change that for anything. We are excited to see the world through Trey's eyes this next year. He brings new wonder to everyday things. Walking by a bubbling fountain is no longer ordinary - it is all of a sudden fascinating. We feel blessed that God has given Trey to us to love and nurture. We look forward to all that is in store for this next year.

We love you, Trey!

Trey's First Haircut

Before his haircut

Trey's hair was long on top and was always sticking up like he had static cling. We decided he needed a little haircut, so tonight I cut his hair. It took about 2 minutes, and he sat perfectly still the entire time. I used scissors on top and clippers on the sides and back. It made me happy sad to give him his first haircut.

During his haircut - he was very serious

Our handsome boy after

Fun Happenings in October

We have had a fun couple weeks as we still try to settle into this new way that our family is functioning - with me working nights and David staying home to care for Trey and get ready to start resume classes in the Spring. We are enjoying our time here where we live, but we are anxious to get into our own place where we can unpack all our boxes and truly settle into our own home. The short sale process is a lengthy one - we have everything done on our end, and we are waiting on the seller's lender to approve the sale. We are going to Knoxville for Thanksgiving, and to be honest, I hope that we don't close on the house until we get back from Tennessee. I don't really want to close on the house and then be gone for 10 days. We will see what we find out this week.

We went to a family farm day last weekend. We had fun looking at the cows, goats, horses, and donkeys. There was a little traumatic event that happened while we were there. A stillborn calf was being born but it was stuck inside the mama cow - there were all these little kids standing around watching, so that was sad. It actually really grossed me out - the smell, the flies all around, the sight of the farmer manually removing the dead calf without any gloves. And to top it all off, David was hungry - they had a booth there selling food and he bought a hamburger to eat there. I hadn't eaten lunch either, but I COULD NOT eat - I had absolutely no appetite. I know I do labor and delivery, but I don't deliver cows. Overall, we had a good time that day. Trey loved the animals.

Trey discovered toilet paper the other night and found out how fun it is to unroll and unroll and unroll it. I love the look on his face when I walked in and found him. He is a very busy little boy, and he is learning the word "No". We are trying to teach him how to obey - it is amazing that even at 11 months how much he understands.



Trey is enjoying playing with toys more. He really likes this LeapFrog refrigerator magnet alphabet set that I found for him at a yard sale. It teaches the letters of the alphabet and the sounds each letter makes.


This is a typical position for Trey when he sleeps. He still sticks his bottom in the air which makes us laugh. He is a good little sleeper on most days (although David may disagree on nights when I work).

11 months old

Our little man turned 11 months on our 2 year wedding anniversary. It is amazing how one little person can add so much love and joy to our family. It is bittersweet to watch him grow - I love each new stage that he has but I sometimes wish we could freeze "this moment in time" and keep him how he is. He is such a funny little person. He makes us laugh like in these pictures where he was eating whole wheat spaghetti for dinner with us one night. He loved it and proceeded to decorate himself inside and outside with the noodles.

He is cruising around all the furniture, and I have found him standing on his own a couple times. He is a little man on the move! He is so curious and loves to see all that is going on his world around him. Sometimes that curiosity is not so welcome as he loves to put anything and everything in his mouth.

• Favorite foods: we are so thankful that he is a good eater - he loves any vegetable and fruit that we have given to him, yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, dried banana slices, oatmeal

• Favorite activities: riding in his Burley bike trailer behind me or David, reading books (only sits still for half a book at a time), watching Veggietales or BabyPraise DVD, following me and David all around the house, cruising along the furniture, brushing his teeth at night
  

• He has 8 teeth now (4 on bottom and 4 on top)

• At the doctor's last week, he weighted 18 lb. 12 oz. - he is currently battling eczema, so we have washed all his clothes in All Free and Clear hoping that will help. We are also having to put antibiotic cream and hydrocortisone cream on irritated areas.

• He has been doing so good at the nursery at church - we have been visiting several churches, and he has done well each time. He never cries when we leave him - he cries 20 minutes into the service and when he gets worked up, he is difficult to console
  

He loves to open and close cabinets

When Trey sleeps, he sleeps hard!

David came in after doing some yardwork and found Trey asleep in his exersaucer - he still likes to play in that

We went to Wickenburg one Saturday and visited my friend Cheryl. It was her first time to meet Trey, and we had fun visiting together. We went to where my old apartment was and Trey and I put our feet in the pool (Trey wanted to jump in). We went to my old favorite place in Wickenburg - the Cowboy Cafe - and had a Cowboy burger. Then we had coffee at the Pony Espresso.

Trey and Cheryl

Eating a lemon for the first time - he made funny faces but kept licking it so I guesseds he liked it