Welcome, 2014!

Happy New Year!! We had a good night, I was fighting a headache but it was nice. We went to Eric's parents for a little gathering. There was so much delicious food and it was nice to have a semi-quiet night. I did have to deal with Eric's brother and his horrid girlfriend. At one point I even asked Eric if we could leave and he ignored me which made me a little upset but I dealt. 

It is bittersweet for me to see 2013 end, it was such a big year for me and for Eric. We had only been dating a few months before finding out we were pregnant. I had grown so much in 2013 as a person and learned a lot. I had to deal with loss, standing up for myself, learning to trust someone, giving my heart away and never wanting it back, restoring my faith and trust in Him, gaining a wonderful church family who accepted me with no questions, a horrible pregnancy that I missed the moment our son was born, dealing with the baby blues and depression. I did get my New Years Eve kiss from both of my men. 

 I am so excited to see where 2014 will take us as a couple and a family. We have grown so much together and are so strong. I am enjoying so much watching Ben grow and seeing how much his personality changes day to day! Eric is in a good place at work and I will be looking for a part time job when we get home from vacation. I am a little nervous to go back to work; I haven't worked in almost 2 years. I am hoping to find something maybe second shift so Eric and I will still be able to see each other and he will be home with the baby while I work. We have a lot of weddings this year, too! We have 3 out of state and 1 in state! We will be headed to Florida twice this year and to Ohio.

We are leaving for our first wedding in Florida in 2 weeks! My best friend, Libby is getting married! We will be in St. Pete for 2 days then headed to Disney World for a week! I am so excited!!! I know Ben won't remember and it may be a bit overwhelming for us but we both love Disney and Eric's parents are coming with us so it will be great! I just wish my parents could be there for Ben's first time in Disney. We do plan on going back when he is maybe 4-5 years old. I just hope it is nice and warm when we are there because it has been in the negatives here and I am tired of being cold!!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!! What a wonderful, long, exhausting day! Christmas eve was busy! We had presents and brunch with Eric's family then I had to go to my parents to clean and wrap presents with the baby then back to Eric's parents to hang out for the rest of the night. 24 hours of A Christmas Story? Heck yeah! Unless a migraine hits and you are suffering alone in a dark, quiet room. Which is exactly how I spent Christmas Eve. It was terrible! 

I suffer from migraines a few times a month ever since I was about 3. It is horrible! It hit around 7:00 PM and I just couldn't function, I went upstairs and laid down and after about an hour or so I was able to fall asleep and thought it was gone when I woke up a couple hours later but by the time we got home it was back in full force. Luckily a hot shower and some ibuprofen helped knock it out and I was able to finish cleaning, wrapping, and putting out the presents. I was up until 4 and had to be back up at 8 but no big deal! 

This morning Eric and I woke up and opened our presents from one another before the baby woke up. I was so freaking surprised! I got the kitchen aid stand mixer I have been asking for since I was 14 and these beautiful Martha Stewart stainless steel, copper bottom pots and pans I cried over in Macy's! Seriously, I cried when I saw them. I did not expect Eric to get me them or my mixer! He is the absolute best! He was surprised by his gifts! I ended up getting him whiskey rocks, 2 Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, Grand Theft Auto 5, his Giants jersey and... the signed Eli Manning jersey! I didn't give him that one, though until his parents came over for breakfast.  Plus, tons of stocking stuffers. I love being able to surprise him like that! He seemed so happy and surprised. :) 

Breakfast was good. I made quiche and Eric took care of the meats. Once we ate breakfast we opened Ben's gifts. He did open them, he grabbed right a hold of the paper and tore and then tried to eat it, it was adorable. I am happy Mike and Lorrie were able to spend the morning with us. After breakfast we headed to my parents before my sisters to open gifts. My parents got Eric a Keurig! Awesome!!!  I got my Rachel Ray garbage bowl, mustache TOMS, and A Kindle Paperwhite!! I LOVE IT! I am such a reader and running out of room on our bookshelves. Plus, my brother and his wife bought me a Vera Bradley case for it. That was such a nice surprise that I cried. We don't exchange gifts between siblings in my family; there are too many of us, but it was just so nice of them. 

After that we went to my sisters for dinner. It was just a loud, busy event! Our family was there as well as her husbands family. Then, our final stop was Eric's Grandparents house. We exchanged more gifts there. We are such a blessed family full of love and faith and happiness and good fortune. I couldn't be happier or thank God any more than I do for all He does for us. 

Now, both of my boys are sleeping soundly and I am starring at the lights on our tree feeling full of love, happiness, and food. 

Hurry Up, Christmas!

We got our tree! We went with a fake one since we don't have a whole lot of room. I am a little bummed out since I have always had real trees and they didn't even have the fake one we wanted to begin with. But, it's still perfect and it only took about 20 minutes to set up, light, and decorate. haha I love it! I love starring at the tree when the room lights are off. 

 Ben met Santa, also! He was wearing a "Santa's Little Helper" shirt, it was so adorable! He smiled a little during the first set of pictures but the kid never loaded them on the card so we had to do a round 2. We got the cutest picture of Ben and "Santa" looking at each other! It was a candid shot and it was so cute! Then Ben played with his beard. Adorable. 

I just can't wait for Christmas!! I am so antsy and excited!! I have just been filling my days with cleaning and wrapping presents and a few date nights thrown in there. Eric and I do really well I think at making sure to make time for each other. We have seen a couple movies and had a weekend in Hershey to see Trans Siberian Orchestra. It is all wonderful!  

It feels like December is the longest month! I just want it to be Christmas! I want to spend the day with family and just enjoy another wonderful holiday with Eric and celebrate Ben's 1st Christmas!

I'm Tired!!

I am SO tired! I have been non-stop for a week straight! Which I understand this is a stupid statement, but as a stay at home mom to a 5 month old I am not crazy busy. I have plenty of time in a day to get stuff done. But, this week Ben and I have been out the door after his morning bottle and getting home in time for his "night time routine". He doesn't have a routine but he does NOT like to nap when he isn't at home so cleaning takes twice as long to do when you are trying to entertain a baby who is cranky from being tired. He has been sleeping ALL day today since we had no where to go. My poor baby! I feel terrible but I am earning some money and being able to buy my love something I know he will love makes me super excited! 

Vacation is coming up soon and I cannot wait! I am getting a little antsy about how Ben will do being away from home for 9 days but I am hoping since he will be with us plus Eric's parents he will adjust fairly well. My sister and a couple of our friends will also be in Orlando when we are! My friend, Brittany is getting married and they are going to Florida to dress shop with her mom so we are going to meet in Downtown Disney for a night. I am excited! 

Eric seems to be a little stressed out and I know he doesn't want to bother me too much but I can see it on his face and he just gets a little quieter. I try not to push and I know I don't help the situation with me not working but he is an excellent provider and we have more than we need. I am very thankful, though to be able to stay home with our sweet baby boy. I just wish I could show him how much I appreciate him. I tell him all the time but I just don't know if he knows I really mean it. I say this all the time but I think about it a lot. Well, rambling done.

Preparation for Christmas!

Since I am staying home with Ben I am not making any money which is a bummer when the Holidays roll around. So, to remedy that I am cleaning a couple houses so I can have a little money to be able to buy Eric a few presents. I know Christmas isn't about the presents and Eric and I decided to not buy each other gifts but Eric being Eric, he told me he bought me a couple gifts and I cannot have him have nothing to open. So, I am cleaning houses and I have to bring Ben with me since I do it during the week in the afternoon and everyone else is well, working!

I am so excited for Ben's first Christmas! I know he will not remember it and everything we do is more for us but still, it is his first Christmas! We will be taking him to meet Santa this week and he already has his Christmas outfit and we have all his gifts done! Christmas will be such a hectic day, though. I don't do good with hectic! I am hoping I will be able to enjoy it. We will be doing Christmas with Eric's family on Christmas eve morning then his parents will come to our house for Christmas morning to see Ben open his gifts and for Breakfast, then to my parents, then to my sisters! A busy day but I cannot wait!!! I am currently bidding on a signed Eli Manning jersey for Eric! I am highest bidder and the auction ends soon and I am hoping I get it! Eric will be so surprised! I plan on getting him another Giants jersey he can actually wear, also. Last year all his gifts were Giants things and I have a feeling that is how this year will be but it's tough to buy for him!

We have all had a cold go around our house, Eric was sick for about a week and still has a pretty bad cough, the baby had a stuffy nose for about 2 days and then I got it. Ughh. I always get sick a week or two after Eric gets better. Oh, well at least only one of us are down at a time. Other than that, things are good! Life is good. I am happy. 

A Little Update on Ben.

Well, my bubby is growing up too fast! Ugh! I wish time would slow down a bit! He is now a hip sitter, giggles ALL the time at everything, eats 6 oz. or more at a feeding, he is trying to roll over still but has a hard time getting his feet untangled, but he will get there, and now.... he sleeps through the night!!!

Ben's normal bedtime schedule was bath at 10, bottle after, cuddles, then in the crib by 11:30-midnight. Then one night, he started getting fussy around 8 PM so we gave him his bath and bottle and he was out by 8:30 and didn't wake up until a little after 10 the next morning! I woke up 10 times through the night to check on him because he would normally wake up at least once to eat around 4:30 AM. 

Eric and I both thought it was just a one time thing but now we are almost 3 weeks in and he is still going strong! Sometimes he wakes up around 8:15 AM and whines so we give him his paci and he goes back to bed until after 10. Hello, sleep!!! I have missed you!!!

He is such a sweet and wonderful blessing to us. I love our little family of three and can't wait for next fall when we try for number two!!

Thanksgiving

Goodbye November! We had a nice Thanksgiving. I made my first homemade batch of bread! It came out awesome and I am so proud! It was a honey oatmeal bread. Delicious! We went to Eric's grandparents for a dinner. Always delicious; ate too much. It was a nice afternoon with his family. Afterwards, we went to my parents, Eric couldn't stay for dinner since he had to pick up our friends from Canada that are staying with his parents for shopping.

My mom, brother, and I ate quickly then had to go to Wal-mart. Yup. We were those people who would rather spend Thanksgiving shopping than with family. Oh, well. We love it. Eric, Victor, and Natashia met us there. I had to wait in line to score Eric's Christmas present; a 60 in. Vizio led smart TV. We got it! haha He was so excited, they were running late so I had to make sure I was front and center! My mom got a lot of gifts off her list, which I was glad about. It was a fun night. The crowd wasn't bad and there were no fights at our wal-mart. 

After loading the TV, we headed to Dickson City to do more shopping. 10 minutes shopping in Old Navy and an hour waiting in line to check out. Ughh but we got 200$ worth of clothes for 88$ so I guess I can't complain. haha

Ben enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. We didn't let him try any food and it bothered the grandparents but they will get over it.

That was our day! We scored a lot of great gifts at great prices, enjoyed lots of time with family and friends we don't see enough, and just enjoyed each other.