The Alvey Family

The Vow (What Do You Do?)

2012-02-20T21:26:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was probably one of the best days I have had in a long time! It’s the little things that make my day, for instance after church we took Jaelyn to lunch and well, she was an angel , she obeyed and she ate her whole lunch and it was just a very very good time.

Guess where we went! I can’t see a movie without popcorn and Tommy, well he’s a Jr. Mints kinda guy. This has always been “our thing”!

We went to see the movie The Vow. It was a very good movie! I remember when Tommy wouldn’t step foot in a theater to see ANYTHING I wanted to see, I used to just wish Tommy (hard, inconsiderate, selfish Tommy) would love me like Leo loved Page.

A little over a year ago the New Tommy (selfless, loving, caring, passionate and above all a Jesus Follower!) showed me that love and I get to enjoy it every day of my life! The hard core kind of love!

It was funny to watch the movie knowing it was based on actual events. The part they left out is how the REAL couple gives all the glory to God for making it through (guess Hollywood didn’t think that would sell tickets!) HELLO PEOPLE!!! YOU CAN’T LOVE SOMEONE LIKE THAT WITHOUT KNOWING GODS LOVE!

Anyway another cool part of the movie (true I think) is the “traditions” and special things the couple did.

Tommy and I have had a “sick bag” (they had a sick box) ever since we started dating! I remember the first time I took him a “sick bag” it was snowing, and he was working the boat show downtown and my parents were SO MAD that I drove all the way down town in the SNOW to give him something he :could: have got for himself! If you haven’t seen the movie a “sick bag” is things for when you are sick, Vicks, tissues, meds and of course a surprise like chocolate or something that he or I like depending on the sick person!

I can admit that I didn’t take my Vows to Tommy seriously the first time I said them, I bawled because I didn’t know what I was doing and I messed up starting at day one. But I can say this, I learned to love God more than I love Tommy before I said my Vows for the second time, I bawled because I knew at that very moment I was making a Vow to God and I was going to keep my Vow to God and Tommy day in day out for the rest of my life! I can only wish that I would have felt that way from day one but I am just happy God got ahold of me when he did and saved my marriage.

If God brings you to it, God will get you through it!

Tommy and I were talking about our weekend and how much fun we had with each other (last night we also rented a movie to make our date last longer after Jaelyn went to bed!)

We were talking about how more than not we feel like we are routine. We don’t rent movies anymore because we would rather sleep, we don’t go out a whole lot alone because we would rather spend time with Jaelyn also and when we are alone we are on the verge of an argument because we are so tired or we are so exhausted that we hardly talk.

We were coming up with ways to get away from feeling this way, things we can do to spark up our relationship, going on dates, going out for coffee(for me a tea) and just talking, alone without a child, or going to the gym together like we used to…. It is the MOST important thing to keep your marriage #1 right under your relationship with God and to love your Husband when he’s not very loveable , ha!

What do you do to spend time with your spouse? What are your special traditions? What do you do to not feel routine?

Sick Day 23947324

2012-02-16T19:58:00.002-05:00

So the princess is feeling better, still showing signs of not feeling good but def better!

Momma on the other hand, well Ive been better... feeling yucky!

wanted to share a few pics from the last couple days

Jaelyn put on all this stuff and started singing Jingle Bells at the top of her lungs :) SO adorable!

eating Harry and David pears from Uncle Paul :)

she looks like a BABY here!

and last but not least, Jaelyn cracking herself up because she ate the head off her lunch (you know the cookie cutter art her mama makes haha!)

she is our sweet girl !

AWESOME GIVEAWAY

2012-02-16T19:02:00.000-05:00

check out the giveaway HERE on my friends blog! you better get in on this :) ALL 111 of you!!

Happy Lovey Day :)

2012-02-15T10:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day! I sat down to blog last night and just didn’t feel up to it so I saved it for this morning. Jaelyn and I are having another sick day, just taking it easy watching lots of Spout.

I LOVE YOU!

Tommy brought home dinner last night, we were going to get Sake Blue but we decided at the last second to change our minds and get some BBQ Chicken!! :) (and muffins that taste like cupcakes!)

Jaelyn and her fierce smile … ha!

Jaelyn and her SHY smile! (she is a NUT!) I love her so much!

Gods Little Reminders

2012-02-14T14:37:00.001-05:00

This is long and drawn out but I promise there is a POINT at the end! Haha!

Most moms have that gut feeling when they know something is going to happen to their baby or the baby is getting sick or not acting as she/he usually does….

I have also heard more than a handful of mom’s state that they “like” when their “non infant” baby is sick because of the small reason that …. THEY LOVE TO CUDDLE! Who doesn’t miss a cuddly baby when their baby is 2 years old and over the everyday all day cuddles… Well I certainly love a cuddly baby but like all the moms that say that … I don’t like when my baby is sick.

Saturday Tommy left for work while Jaelyn was napping and I started getting ready for my Cooking Show. Jaelyn woke up and was just very lethargic. She asked me if she could lay in my bed and read books (this happens every day….) but when I put her up in bed she didn’t want the books and she just laid there. At the SAME time I am questioning Jaelyns behavior my host for the night calls and we discuss canceling her show due to something that happened with her guests. We decided to reschedule and I took my make up off got in my sweats and got in bed with Jaelyn…… JAELYN WAS ON FIRE! At the SAME time that I am thinking Jaelyn has a fever my mom is calling asking where Jaelyn is (she was watching Jaelyn that night and I forgot to call her and tell her my show cancelled) So she gives me a heads up to pump the vitamin C and the water. Jaelyn did not want to drink a thing, I just kept offering it to her and I gave her some vitamin C that she reluctantly took from me. It took me 20 mins to get the courage to get the thermometer out (b/c it’s a butt one and I knew she was sick and uncomfortable and I didn’t wanna make it worse)….….. 101.7! So Jaelyn usually doesn’t get a fever, she usually just feels hot and gets a stuffy nose and that is usually that. We stayed in bed the rest of the night and her temp got up to 102 and then she fell asleep with me - I ended up moving her to her room for a few hours and I tried wait up for Tommy to get home but gave up around midnight. She was in her bed, I was in my bed and Tommy rolls in the door at 3am from work when he hears Jaelyn moaning and whimpering like she is hurting so he goes in gets her up…. She is really worried about Cinderella’s slipper, she is talking out of her mind and she was breathing REALLY heavy and Tommy was worried so he slept in her bed and she slept with me but her and I didn’t sleep, we sat up watching movies all morning and I got NO sleep. Needless to say we cuddled for HOURS!

I was JUST telling Elyse this week that I MISS waking up and breast feeding in the middle of the night and I miss that one on one time with Jaelyn, that ONE most important thing that only I could do. I feel like this was Gods way of reminding me that even though I have an almost 3 year old that there are still jobs that only I can do and that all of those jobs are important! I also will say I can’t remember the last night I was that tired, I was worthless yesterday and mostly worthless today! I feel so blessed that being a mom is my only job and I have God and my husband to thank for that! It’s not every day you find a man that works a full time job during the day and 3 nights a week goes to a second job and RUNS and stands the whole time until 1 and 2am! We are 2 blessed AND spoiled girls! Jaelyn always tells Daddy Thank you for Mommy staying home with me… its totally cute!

She is not really sick sick but she is still getting a lot of sleep and rest time. She is really congested but taking some homey home homeopathic medicine !! YAY!

Date with my Daughter and Date with my Hubby

2012-02-10T15:13:00.003-05:00

Thursdays are usually very busy for us, most days of the week are pretty busy but when we have things planned in the evening, adding in gym time and dinner all seem to make those days hectic….. UNTIL Daddy has a birthday and asks Mommy on a DATE DAY before bible study!!!

I took Jaelyn to the mall to run a quick errand in the morning and then Daddy came home to pick me up while Jaelyn went to have a visit with Grandma Brenda.

We went to Dicks Sporting Goods, Target, and then to eat dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (minus the cheese cake and my Salmon meal was only 700 calories WHOOP WHOOP). Tommy was looking for new work shoes at Dicks but we had no luck, at Target I browsed the baby isle as if I would ever have more babies (not looking good HA!) and Tommy got some new tshirts!

After dinner Tommy and I found him a new pair of “everyday” shoes (and when I say every day I mean EVERYDAY!) and then headed off to bible study. It was a great date even though Tommy is the WORST person to shop with … like… ever (Jaelyn better not get shopping skills from Daddy or IM IN FOR IT)…. ) by worst shopper I mean that he knows what he wants and never verbalizes it to me so I basically just walk around the whole time showing him things that he doesn’t like, HA!

This morning Jaelyn asked to have breakfast with Gma Brenda and Aunt Chelsea so of course what the princess wants the princess gets (some of the time). Chelsea fixed Jaelyn a “smooootthhiiee” (Jaelyn does this little thing where she moves her hips in a circle and says it haha!) and she LOVED IT!

Wacky Wednesday

2012-02-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

I am losing my mind, not the “I have too much going on“ losing my mind but the “I am old like 90 in the brain” losing my mind. HA! Mom is telling me ALL the time that she is literally losing her mind and I think she is wearing off on me… To top off feeling old in my brain,during my ( SHORT) run today my knee started to hurt and at church tonight I could hardly bend down to get Jaelyn after class, Oh the joys of 2 knee surgeries before I turned 16, gaining 80+ lbs with baby Jaelyn and losing dramatic weight due to stress! My body HATES me … I am stuck at a weight that won’t budge so this time (3 weeks ago when I started back to the gym) I decided I was going to do something instead of nothing… and that THAT would be my only goal. Just to BE Healthier!

Well we showed our house yesterday… It is in God’s hands so I am not really worried about it but I will say this … I cleaned with a toothpick and stuffed all our dirty clothes in my trunk before I left! HA!

Today we had a play date with Alexander! WE LOVE HIM! He is absolutely adorable! ASH, if you all lived here Boston and Alex would be true choo choo BFFS!

They are so cute :)

I will say this, Jaelyn dressed herself today and matched her bow and then told me she needed to get matching shoes, and came out with the whole outfit MATCHING! GO JMA!

Also today during my run I got to hang out (run next to) with the hottest runner in Mount Washington! She is my inspiration on running but NOW… I guess I’ll stick to the elliptical.. IM SO SAD , but I knew it would happen… the Dr told me when I was 16 that I would never be a runner and that I needed to quit dance or I would end up with a knee replacement by the time I was 21! HA! Savannah has always ran track and such but she is a serious runner now, she is training for a marathon! I will root her on but will never be able to run a marathon! GO SAVANNAH! She Rocks!

Ive missed the last 2 months of girls night with my friends due to a schedule change (on my part) and I am sad … I got to catch up with Elyse, text with Steph and run next to Savannah ALL TODAY, I read Megans blog to keep up with her life but I have really missed a whole 3 hours with them just chatting the night away! We have an IKEA girl’s trip planned for March and I am PUMPED!!! It’s so weird how we all are in different parts of our lives and haven’t kept in serious contact since high school but can come together just like it was the 7th grade! LOVE THEM!

Jaelyn scared me to death today; I thought she broke her arm! I heard a pop and she was screaming in pain… about 10 mins later Tommy finally called me (we have a WERID way to contact him during the school day!) and he heard her screaming and told me I needed to go to the ER….. THEN she rotated her wrist, it pooped again, and though the tears she said “ OH … That’s Better!” I told Tommy I think she might have just “hurt” it you know that feeling that you need to pop something but can’t, like a pressure… I don’t know the real terms but you know what I mean?! Anyway it was a little swollen so we are still watching it, she is acting fine but yet so did Tommys sister Whitney when she was little and broke her arm and didn’t end up in the ER until a day or so later…. KIDS! Gods little mystery! Haha!

I need to iron Tommys dress shirts, I have needed to do this for 3 days now and I just keep putting it off…… I loathe ironing… but I do it for him because I love him and frankly because I do a better job, ha! I wish I owned a steamer where you just hang up the shirt and POOF its wrinkle free. Do you have a steamer? Does it really work? Maybe I’m making it up ??

Super Bowl and Daddys Bday!

2012-02-06T21:35:00.002-05:00

Last night we spent some time with good friends ... Jaelyn and Baby Hannah are tooooo cute together, Jaelyn was telling me she wanted a baby sister and that she wanted to be a baby, LOL!

she LOVES babies!

:) <3 all the pinky pink!

Today we spent the day with Gma Brenda... Trader Joes and Jasons Deli!!

you KNOW we had to get ice cream :)

and tonight we celebrated this awesome man!! DADDY!

Tommys parents brought dinner and we hung out at home and they got to play with Jaelyn!! She loves them! She was cracking up at her Papaw!!

Happy 31st Daddy!!

Gospel Powered Parenting

2012-02-03T19:44:00.000-05:00

Tommy and I have been attending (and loving) our Gospel Powered Parenting class on Wednesday nights! We have learned a LOT but I wanted to point out the NUMBER one thing I have learned so far (from the book and the other parents in the class) and that is that your child IS PAYING ATTENTION! I gave the cop out SO many times that Jaelyn is not paying attention, or that she is not old enough to understand Gods love for her, a friend just kept telling me she will get it and that she is listening! Well this week we had an amazing BREAKTHROUGH! I have been planting the seed for the last 2 years of her life and on Thursday Jaelyn was acting up, she was being cranky and it all ended in her telling me “NO!”…. I asked her if she knew why God made her and we went over that God made her for his Glory and after that I asked her if telling her Mommy NO was Glorifying to God and she looked at me with a serious sad face and hung her head in shame and said “No Mommy, I Sorry”….. Not a laughing sorry not a “HAPPY FACE MOMMY”... A real sorry! SHE FINALLY understood that she was sinning against God when she acted this way. I am not saying that she will get it every time she disobeys and I am not PROUD that she felt shame but I did smile and a little prayer to Thank God for giving me that “keep doing what you’re doing , you’re doing the right thing shrug”!! Sometimes I need that!

We learned last week that we have 2 jobs in parenting and those are to prepare our children for a day of judgment and to transfer our world view to them. It also talks about “moralistic” parenting (which in my opinion is how the world wants us to parent) I am SO guilty of being a moralistic parent 99% of the time …. BUT this book is helping Tommy and I BOTH … it’s SO easy to fall in the moralistic trap but I am excited to learn the RIGHT way …. Gods WAY! This book is continually pointing us back to scripture. It’s not a “self-help” book or a “have a better kid by tomorrow” kind of book is a REAL book and I would suggest it to any parent out there looking for the Godly answers to parent!

Haircuts and Playdates

2012-02-03T19:19:00.000-05:00

This week Jaelyn was scheduled for her 3rd hair cut of her life. This one my friends was LONG over due!

but she did amazing, she sat still, smiled, and was the bestest little girl ever!

got some length cut off, she is WAY happier that now we can bursh her hair with out MELT DOWN CITY! :) (so is Mommy!)

Today we had a play date with sweet baby Hannah! Jaelyn just loved her she was all happy and giddy that a baby girl was in the house! She LOVES babies and kids! Such a loving little baby bee!

Hannah is born 1 day after Jaelyn (2 years later) so these girls will enjoy some summer birthdays this year! YAY!

Yea, THAT Post!!!

2012-01-31T21:18:00.000-05:00

This is that catch up post, that post where I write everything that I have wanted to write for the past week but haven’t had time. SOOO Here is goes!

Friday I left town for the night for a Pampered Chef Spring Launch and Tommy worked and Jaelyn stayed with her Grandma Brenda.

Saturday Jaelyn started with a stuffy nose and she stayed home from church Sunday (with Gma so Tommy and I could go). Sunday night she got a bite (I am guessing) that was so bad the Doctor told me that if she ran a fever she needed to go to the ER! Well she was already starting to get sick so IF she ran a fever at all that day I ignored it knowing that she was “trying” to get sick, anyway no fever and we went in to the Doctor on Monday morning to get the bite checked out (we are still just “watching” it) and also I wanted to get her looked at (ears and throat) because she had been so snotty. After a finger prick and a blood count it came back as allergies and some weather snot , ha!

Tommy and I have hit the gym hard core again; wish I could say the same about watching the calories, but ….. baby steps are working well, and my running should just be enough, LOL!

Jaelyns speech has sky rocketed this last week or so, she is speaking in full sentences and now 70% of the sentence is understandable!! It’s AMAZING! Truly a Blessing from God! A few things that Tommy and I want for keeping I am going to write out so you can skip this part if you just like the pics !!

Mommy : “She is SO cute” Jaelyn : “I am SOOOOO cute!”

Mommy: “ Jaelyn we gotta run errands and then you will get a treat if you are really helpful” Jaelyn: (as we dropped off a PC order) “Mommy is this a errand?”

Jaelyn: “I want something (SUMPIN) to eat”

Everything is “PLEASE” please this please that and if she thinks you didn’t hear her she will yell please even louder over and over … kinda like I said please why is it not happening!

Jaelyn: (on the way to Gmas house) “THIS IS PAWPAWS HOUSE!”

She is starting to say Chelsea better and better.

She can ask for, cheese, milk, something to eat, chicken nuggets, carrots, water and apples (all by name)

When I asked her what she wanted me to buy at the store she said “Macaroni Pizza Cheese” (all as one word)

She has been a good little eater and a great little sleeper

Jaelyn: “Mommy, I need a nap”

Jaelyn: “Mommy let’s play Barbie’s”

Jaelyn: (b/c this is a DADDY job and this is “their” special thing) “Daddy I need a Bible Story” (after he read her 5 in a row, HA!)

She sings the books of Moses, Deep and Wide, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children and Praise Him, EVERYDAY in the car WORD FOR WORD (only with the kids as they sing along on the CD)

Ok SOOOOO now that I got all that down! She is just growing so much I caught myself getting caught up with “write that down” “make a movie of that” that I knew I needed to get it all out!

Tonight we ate dinner with friends, we are so blessed to have these people in our lives, and they are a true blessing.

Of course a few pics for those of you who only come for the pics :) (MOM!) :)

This week some friends had a fundraiser for their adoption and at the fundraiser they had a bake sale , I was out of town and couldnt attend but I sent a couple dozen cupcakes for the bake sale. I wanted to post the pic because I got this idea off pinterest and it was AWESOME, you put the cupcake in a clear punch cup and then wrap in a treat bag, it worked great, they stayed nice and pretty, no frosting all over the place!! Totally great for transporting as well!!

Jaelyn is my little love muffin this week, she is all about some V-day stickers!

and this is just to remember Jaelyns creative imagination!

She was feeding all her babies!

Jaelyn LOVES Her Veggies!

2012-01-29T16:13:00.000-05:00

Today we found out that Jaelyn's FAV Veggies are coming to town!!!

Louisville, KY

Evangel World Prayer Conference Center

SHE IS SOOOOO EXCITED!!

Printing Your Blog

2012-01-23T12:58:00.002-05:00

I have NEVER been much on scrapbooking, it’s so expensive and it takes so long and before I knew it I was 2 years behind! I started blogging when Jaelyn was around 6 months old so basically I have a day by day scrapbook here on my blog. I started to have to pay for my blog to be on Google and Blogspot because my content was so large. I figured it would be best to just get my blog printed and start deleting old posts once they were printed! Since I have mentioned it on my posts before and got tons of comments on where I go and what I use to print I decided to share.

I looked at a few different companies that could “print” your blog but I couldn’t make up my mind. For our anniversary Tommy enlisted the help of my friend Savannah on where to get me a gift card for so I could start printing my blog out. This made my decision for me (which was a life saver ha!) and she told him to check out Shutterfly. When he checked it out he was sold on the classy styles that I could choose from. As soon as I got this gift card I started printing. I soon learned after ordering my first 3 books that if I waited for sales and coupon codes I could do it a lot cheaper. I have 3 books in my hand and 2 started on shutterfly. I LOVE the books they are SO NICE and I got to basically design the whole lay out anyway I wanted! Here are a few pics! I would definitely recommend this site for printing your blog!

You can make them any way you want to, I chose to do them monthly since the posts are so long and I have so many pictures!

I am IN LOVE with them and could read them everyday! I hope she LOVES them when she grows up !!

Potty Perfect

2012-01-23T09:16:00.002-05:00

I am SO proud of Jaelyn (every day) but I am proud of her especially today because I can say that Jaelyn is Potty Training HARD CORE. I would like to say she is fully potty trained but that will come when her crazy mom allows her to actually wear panties in public, haha I am still scared so we are wearing pull ups, but the pull ups are dry dry dry every day and when I picked her up from Awanas and Church she was dry and then went potty for me. So she finally GETS it. I am SO PROUD OF HER! I started a rewards system and that kinda kicked it in to full gear. We don’t do the run around naked thing and we don’t put the potty in the living room, we just get a treat after we pee pee in the potty (and ONLY WHEN WE USE THE POTTY, not when we “fake it” for a treat) AND on top of “everytime” treats I told her if she made it for 4 straight days with NO accidents we would take her to Chuck E Cheese… THAT TOTALLY WORKED! Every kid is different but this is what worked for us! She knew she was earning something big. Her chart was for 2 weeks but I allowed mess ups before we got really hard core (mess ups meaning peeing in the pull up without telling me!) Poop training is a different story; I am just letting myself be happy and proud of her for this HUGE step she took!!!

her chart! so happy!!

she was telling me where Daddy needed to turn LOL!

screaming HI CHUCK E CHEESE

Whats at Chuck E Cheese Jaelyn? "Ummmm pizza, slide, tickets and TOKENS!"

Phonological Process Delay

2012-01-23T09:01:00.002-05:00

Last Week Jaelyn has her meeting with First Steps to see if she needed to further her Speech Therapy. I was praying and praying she would graduate by Jan 2012 and not have to continue on … BUT… God had something else in store. After her (and my) evaluation they reached the conclusion that she needed to be in speech for another 5 months (actually 6 months but when you turn 3 you’re “kicked out” ha!) Today we have a PreSchool assessment …. I have my own feelings about this BUT I am learning faster and faster that my “feelings” don’t really matter! (Per God! Ha!)

She is almost age appropriate with her language and speech and IS age appropriate in play and language comprehension and expression. The patterns of error in her speech are due to delayed perception of sounds, delayed meaning that she is not hearing ending sounds therefore she is not learning them. Really right now we are just trying to RE-define her sound system.

She is doing so well and I am able to carry on a conversation with her, with her new found communication comes her 10lbs of attitude in a 5lb bag BUT it’s totally worth it since she can actually get her feelings and thoughts out of her mouth she doesn’t have to resort to wallowing around on the floor anymore!!! MAKES US BOTH SO HAPPY! HA!

Jaelyn you are doing SO good in speech and I am so proud of you!! Soon you will be able to talk to anyone and everyone that you want to and they will be able to understand you like I do!! Love you so much sweet girl and I am so glad God picked me to be your Mommy!

Jaelyn getting ready for Mrs. Laura and Mrs. Bobbi Jo to come over for Speech.

Simplify

2012-01-19T11:10:00.001-05:00

If efforts to simplify my life and become more focused in the past I have just “got rid of things”. I am the type of person/mother/wife that if it is out of sight it is out of mind… and for me (not everyone!) it works…

In the past I have deleted my twitter, facebook page, contemplated making my blog private, decreased my “online” time and so on….

I get convicted EVERY TIME my life is not simplified. I am reminded of the reason I would get rid of these things in the first place and then with the conviction comes questions, and misery (for myself!)

Yesterday I didn’t do my “James” bible study homework… I just got SO BUSY (Tommys jaw hit the floor as he saw me running around like a crazy woman for the first time in a LONG time b/c when I am "bad" busy I am a monster :( ) and I told myself that since I was doing 3 bible studies that as long as I did at least 1 of them a day I would be fine and since my Gospel Powered Parenting study started last night I bargained with ~~Satan~~ myself that it would suffice…….

AND THEN it was time for bed…. And I could not sleep…. So I twitter stalked and facebook stalked until I made myself physically sick to my stomach. I could have been up doing my bible study but instead I was WASTING MY LIFE on twitter and facebook. Now I am not saying that twitter and facebook are a “waste of life” but what I am saying is when I am essentially putting them BEFORE GOD , well that my friends...... is a waste of life!

I stared to beg for forgiveness and beg God to take that “sick” feeling away from me. Usually when God isn’t doing it fast enough I can be honest with Tommy about how I feel and he will point me to the Word or pray with me or make me feel better BUT since he had been asleep for at least an hour I didn’t wake him and I feel asleep in my “self pitty” of how mad I was at myself.

SO this morning instead of throwing a pitty party, I decided to simplify!

Twitter…. Gone (pointless)

Facebook… limited to blog updating (to share our life, Christian walk, and love for Jesus Christ) and Pampered Chef stuff (helps support my family) I have a MASS private page so this will keep “Satan” away… whoops did I just say that?!? Ha!

Pinterest…. GONE (I KNOW RIGHT?! This just makes me have “the wants” … and the wants… in this case… is a SIN!)

Blog reading and commenting … I fell in to the hole that ALL bloggers fall into and that is the “popular hole” I wanted hits and followers so that I could make money blogging… I joined a million sites that I will never read again (and some that I LOVE!) took a chunk out of my day to comment so that I would get comments back (don’t lie to yourself you do it too!) BUT I have now deleted ALL blogs on my readers list unless I know you in real life… SAD I KNOW but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do… There is more to life than social media (for me at least) maybe if I blogged before baby I would feel differently but who knows?!

Layout of my blog- SIMPLE, doesn’t show my followers (b/c honestly it doesn’t matter), doesn’t advertise( because most companies don’t stand on the same values system I do) and doesn’t look messy (no one likes a mess… or a blog that looks desperate!)

These are just a few things I am doing in my social media life.

Other things that I am “busy” with but as I told you before don’t stress me out because they are Gods Will for my life is… hard core potty training, keeping the house show ready in case a realtor calls, I am the captain of the Design Team for putting on an Adoption Awareness 5K, 3 bibles studies, The Mission Team and another committee Tommy and I are on at church that plans the meals (they just changed names and frankly I have no clue what its call just know that I am on it and what I have to do at the next meal! HA! How do you like that for simple?)

Either way I am feeling a lot better this morning … I did my last day of the James homework and WOW was it a great week! Also during nap I will start in on the first chapter of Gospel Powered Parenting! Jaelyn has been dry for 2 days now and when she makes it to day 3 she earns a trip to ChuckECheese! Right now she is eating lunch while I blog…. It’s a great combo and its fun to “watch” her be SO BIG!

I will leave you with a pic from yesterday since I didn’t really make a post last night!

Happening RIGHT NOW

2012-01-18T18:28:00.001-05:00

"Little Girl Fever"

2012-01-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

If I am being completely honest I had always wanted a little boy ever since I can remember. I dreamed of taking him to baseball games, playing soft toss in the yard, and teaching him all kinds of manly things just like my dad taught me. However, my little girl has changed my world! I am always saying to Cristal that I can’t even imagine what it would be like if we had a boy. She’s got me wrapped around her finger so much that sometimes when she does something sweet it brings tears to my eyes because I am so happy God has blessed me with such a beautiful, affectionate, blue eyed little princess…Okay so that was an intro into my Top Ten Reasons I Love Being a Daddy to a Little Girl

10) Awakening to a soft, sweet voice saying “dada”

9) You can still dress her in Boston Red Sox gear but she looks cuter than a little boy in it

8) Hearing the tapping of dress up heels across our wood floor

7) Every Sunday morning being approached by her for me to tell her how pretty she looks for church (it’s the only morning I am home to see her outfit for the day)

6) 24/7 cuddles and smooches

5) Being overprotective, with a boy I just don’t think I would be this way

4) Girl’s Golf Scholarships are abundant so I’ve heard

3) Learning how to put hair up in a ponytail

2) Pink Dryer Lint

1) That I can trust she’s gonna pick the right husband. When I asked her last night who she was gonna marry she said…”Jesus”

Jaelyn the Beauty.... The Movie Edition

2012-01-16T21:33:00.001-05:00

This weekend has pretty busy but because Tommy was off today we made sure not to make any plans. We made a plan about a month ago to take Jaelyn to the movies today. It started to look like that might not be a good idea after she has been battling a snotty nose for over a week now BUT lots of cuties and TLC later she was fine today and we decided to see a 1:00 showing of Beauty and The Beast!

I am completely aware that the camera was zoomed from the previous shot BUT Jaelyn was SO excited she didn’t know what to think and this was the only shot I got of all three of us! HA! So thankful to live 1 min away from the theater!

Of course we couldn’t forget the POPCORN!

And we couldn’t leave home without “Belle!”

She didn't know what to think of the glasses!

or how close the whole movie was!

(yes I am also aware that I made people mad while capturing the moment :) )

It was SO fun and she loved it!! Thank You Daddy for working so hard so we can have fun dates with our daughter! LOVE YOU!

No post :-)

2012-01-14T20:58:00.001-05:00

Having movie night with my husband .... Right ...... NOW :-)

our fake "snow day"

2012-01-13T18:44:00.002-05:00

Today we just acted like we had a snow day , we stayed in our comfy clothes all day and played a ton of different thing! AND we took a nap so that was great because I got some mission work done, a little pampered chef and my weekly homeword for my bible studies! Gotta love nap time!

We played all kinds of games, but we played them Jaelyns way ... you know ! :)

had a photo shoot with Aunt Chel while Mommy took an important PreSchool phone call!

ate a yummy lunch and played some more!

oh and we wore big girl panties!!

sang some songs...

paid some bills (atleast thats what she said she was doing!)

SUCH a creative baby!!

Tonight after nap (yes tonight, she slept for almost 3 hours!) we ate dinner in bed because we were "having a party" (we like to make stuff up like we run the hosue when Daddy is at work! haha!) and watched this show! DO YOU REMEMBER Brother Bear and Sister Bear!!! I remember loving this show and books!

Tonight I asked Jaelyn if I could blog while she watched Sprout and she said "Yes" but then asked me to take her picture and show it to her!!

Thomas came on and she started jumping like crazy telling me she was "so excited!"

Funny thing is , she knows that he is Thomas but she doesnt like the show? Crazy girl!

Just like her mom gets excited about just about anything :)

HI MOM!

I know for a fact there are atleast 10 people that read this blog for the photos and since I havent done a good job lately I made sure to make up for it today!

She hasnt changed ... just the same litlle BALL OF FIRE like her Mommy!

Oh just Thursday the 12th

2012-01-13T18:25:00.001-05:00

Today we went to MaMaw Sherrys house (she watches my niece and nephew on Thursdays) to play!! Jaelyn LOVES Landon but he is 5 and sometimes not at fond of her as she is him! She wants to be in his face and tickling him and just all over him when he is trying to watch a movie , haha! Kids are so funny!

MaMaw also sent us home with some Veg Soup for lunch!! It was yummy, Jaelyn is on a soup kick this week, she has been asking for it left and right , soup and cuties, ha!

Have you heard of the BIG box from Pizza Hut? Well if you havent your missing out! 3 of our favs in one box for a CHEAP price!! plus Pizza Hut is my FAV FAV FAV FAV FAV!!!

Tommy brought this home for our quick dinner before bible study!

and ... it snowed!! By Jan 12th in 2010 and 2011 we had already had snow days!! I hate to admit but I hope tomorrow is a snow day AND I already know it wont be! ha!

Life of a teachers wife :)

Always Changing...

2012-01-12T08:33:00.002-05:00

It’s no mystery that life is always changing, and with a toddler I feel like it changes more rapidly. A lot of things on my blog are changing as well. Tommy and I were talking about the blog last night and how the name is starting not to fit. We were originally called “the 8 o’clock hour” then I when on a blogging hiatus and came back ready to start “Building A New Hive” …. This week I had to explain to 3 different people why we were called “Building A New Hive” and while I explained it I came to realize that NEW readers are not going back and reading the “past” and how this name didn’t make a whole lot of sense anymore. Most all of you know it was “Building A New Hive” because Tommy and I got back together and were basically starting over, but also the “hive” part came in because since before Jaelyn was born she was “Our Baby Bee” … She is no longer a baby, and even though everyday of our life we are “building” we felt like we needed more of a “forever” name. On top of that we decided to become a .com or in our case our “TheAlveyFamily” was taken so we became a .org! This also makes it easier for my family (Grandma Joni) to remember and type in … haha!

You can still find us from typing in BuildingANewHive.blogspot.com and it will redirect you to TheAlveyFamily.org.

The other big change is in the design. I am a FAN of this new design, I feel like it’s easy to read, clean and crisp. It you don’t like it…. Look up in your left hand corner of the screen and there is the word “Classic” with a drop down box. You can choose which way you want to view our blog. One option actually gives you the dates so if you find yourself wanting to go back in the past and look at a blog, that would be the easiest way. The way it is set up right now is best for everyday readers or readers that only miss a day once in a while.

If you have any questions let me know! I hope you have a FAB Thursday!! I plan to post again today, just needed to post about the name change and design change separate from the post about how I will go on and on and on hoping for a SNOW DAY! LOL!

Investments!

2012-01-11T15:47:00.001-05:00

Tommy and I have talking about THIS subject for… since before Jaelyn was born. It didn’t become apparent that the decision needed to be made like… now … until her phonological delay came about and until we decided this is something that needs to be budgeted for months ahead of time (aaanndd found out when you pay upfront you get a discount SO it pays to think ahead and PLAN) We go next week to check out the school in person but if the visit sweeps us off our feet like the paperwork did (not to mention friends who LOVE it there) …. Maybe just maybe we will have made the final final final decision! This is an investment, not something we are taking lightly! Hence the plan (my middle name, didn’t you know?)

Speaking of Investment … Tommy and I are also making the investment into the book of James. On Thursday night we both start a study on James. I will be doing Mercy Triumphs with the ladies and Tommy will be studying the book of James with the men! I pretty pumped that we can study separate from each other, him in the morning and me during nap time and come home every night and study Gods Word together as God intended it to be studied!!

Motherhood Is A Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

2012-01-10T13:47:00.000-05:00

My Aunt Tina posted a link on her Facebook page and I had been meaning to read it but I never got around to it. The other night I was talking to my cousin Ashley (Tinas Daughter) over text and she mentioned that she read it and thought I might like it and added that it was very “blog worthy”. Today while Jaelyn was napping I got to read it.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank

After Tommy blogged last night I feel led to actually POST the post I have been writing for a week now…..

This is a subject that a lot of people don’t like to talk about, I blogged about it last year after reading the book “In Praise Of Stay At Home Moms” and the discussion didn’t go over very well, or maybe it did and I just “FELT” (there I go feeling again) like I stepped on some toes (which was NOT my intention!)

I feel like our culture puts a very BIG emphasis on making money, making your life good by doing what you want, traveling the world and so on. I also have heard (with my OWN ears) ladies say things like “I don’t want to have kids because…” followed by a long list of reasons that pretty much can be summed up with “I can no longer be first”….

I am fully aware that NOT ALL LADIES NEED TO BE MOMS (or want to be).

My point is just as this article said… It’s a calling.

This blog post can be taken many ways but since CRISTAL ALVEY is the one writing it, Cristal Alvey is going to explain in what context it is being written!!

I feel more times than not someone is asking me why I don’t get a job and help out or telling me my child would be better off in daycare and wouldn’t have a speech (GOD GIVEN!) problem if she would have been around more kids at a younger age. I FEEL like the “world” is telling me I am lazy, I am selfish (to want to stay home). The problem I see here is that God is calling me to do this, convicting me to be UN-selfish and give up my Victoria Secret Shampoo but yet I am having to constantly defend myself and my JOB title (SAHW AND SAHM). I just try and pray through it all but I have a feeling there are other Moms out there that feel the SAME way. I hope this article makes you feel better and I hope this blog post makes you feel like you’re NOT alone!

Next time you as a mom are faced with this…. Just think to yourself, “Motherhood is a calling” …. You were called to do it, God called you! (Proverbs 31) Be the best Mother you can!

From The Point Of View Of The Husband

2012-01-09T18:47:00.000-05:00

First and foremost glory be to God that I am writing this post. It wasn’t long ago that I allowed God to have more of me and change my ideas on life and my overall perspective on parenting… Before I share my thoughts, experiences, and feelings on being married to a SAHW and SAHM please allow me to share briefly about my childhood. I was raised in a household in which both parents worked diligently to provide a wonderful life for both my brother and I and, many years later, a much younger sister. My mother eventually reduced her workload to four days a week but my father continues his many ventures in farming and real estate on top of working a full time job. Because my parents worked so much, during much of our adolescence my grandparents played a huge role in parenting both my brother and I. We are so blessed to have Godly grandparents that volunteered to step in and assist with the parenting duties but as I reflect on my childhood, I have vivid memories of never knowing who would show up to pick us up from baseball, football, or basketball practice. My brother and I would always have this discussion right after practice and wait in anticipation to see what type of vehicle would roll in the parking lot. Because both my parents worked and my brother and I were involved with so many activities my parents had to do a great deal of coordinating to make sure we had transportation. Although it didn’t inhibit their dedication as parents nor infringe on their abilities to participate in our activities my parents did seem exhausted all the time… Having shared all that I think my parents decided the best thing they should do was allow my grandparents to “share” in the raising of myself, my brother, and my sister. Moving on…I have to confess that when I found out Cristal was pregnant I was ecstatic but unprepared. Unprepared in the since that I had not established a biblical foundation of how I was going to parent and ultimately lead my wife in parenting. Although I fall way short of our Example, God has taught me many things about the blessing of parenthood and convicted me of providing for my family in a way that allows my wife to fulfill her God given role of motherhood. Her God given role of nurturing and being present in our daughter’s life was always her conviction but never mine. In the beginning we agreed to meet in the middle; she would work part time and I would work full time as a teacher and a second job in the summer. After many mistakes, separation from each other, and the whole time separation from God’s plan for our lives, together we made the best decision ever for our daughter, for Cristal to stay home with her. At first it was scary. I remember having like $20 in our checking account at one time, lol (which is very uncharacteristic of me who teaches financial literacy and loves to manage money and finances). I remember praying and asking God to provide for us, somehow, some way…and he did…in so many ways. He provided a good paying part time job for me, family who steps in when we have a need, and recently a venture for Cristal that enables us to have some extra. Through all this God taught us faith, that when we need something he will provide, provided we are following his will and plan for our lives. Our main lesson as a family was to have faith and follow God’s will. By providing for my wife to stay home I am doing that and I am SO blessed in return. My daughter’s primary teacher is her mommy, not a stranger trying to provide for their family. Her teacher understands her, knows both her abilities and inabilities, and can genuinely share in her accomplishments because she came from her. My wife’s primary role is now a mother underneath her role as a disciple and she is amazing at both. Because she is at home she has more time to devote to missions and motherhood. And…I get to share in the wealth too. I’m kinda embarrassed but I can’t remember the last time I did a load of laundry, lol. And boy do I enjoy homemade meals from a woman that can cook. But most of all we are fulfilling what we believe God’s plan for our family structure is…and boy are we blessed in return

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Luke 12:7

sick?

2012-01-08T20:25:00.000-05:00

I am not sick sick just allergies and such... my nose isnt working :)

but I am taking a bloggy break tonight....

going to relax with TLA!

lymic!

A Day With My I-Fin

2012-01-07T21:07:00.002-05:00

Tommy likes to call my Iphone an Ifin, HA! He got off work early and is here with me as I blog (usually this doesnt happen on the weekend) and I asked him to come up with a title for my blog....so Ladies and Gents... he did :) I love that he "gets into" my blog, I have been debating asking him to write a post for me, kinda like a post from the Husbands side, Well TONIGHT I asked and he said .... "well sure I would"!!

Wouldnt you love to read THAT post!!??

I promise you it would be alot easier to read than my posts because he would use correct grammar and punctuation and well, hes intelligent!!

Today I didn't have my camera with me so I took pics with my Iphone that I wanted to share

My parents got Jaelyn a NEW BIG GIRL BED and its AMAZING!! Its Memory Foam and WAY better than what I am sleeping on! ha!

they also got her these SUPER cute ruffle COMFY sheets and a zebra blanket to use as a comforter ...

Mom and I debated ALOT on buying bedding and I even blogged ones that I liked but after much deliberation we decided we needed something that could be thrown in the washing machine at anytime or even all the time! either way I LOVE IT! (of course!)

This morning Jaelyn picked out her clothes and dressed herself...

She doesnt like to match but she loves to be comfy and she loves to be independent (do you know what that means?!) Often we struggle with get ready time in the morning (or afternoon) but today because she was wearing what SHE wanted to wear she was happy to put it on...

which is why we ALSO left the house looking like THIS last week....

Why yes that is a Little Mermaid costume, a tiara and boots BUT what you dont see is the bracelets, the earrings (she had just took off) and the PJ's from LAST winter that DIDNT match nor fit :) but above all she is gorgeous and she is GOD'S!

Today my sister and I went to grab lunch (Chickfila of course) and make a Hobby Lobby run while Jaelyn napped and played at Gmas (which is now coming out NANA because she is trying to say GRANDma instead of MawMaw... for the record!)

Chickfila has a NEW soup and it is AMAZING!!

Hobby Lobby ROCKS!

and ofcourse I got MUCH inspired for my NEW NEW house!

master bath!

ohh lala-- always wanted one of these... perfect for the wall between the hall and the kitchen!

Jaelyns Room

half bath with pedestal sink!

upstairs "landing" wall

they were out of the Y but I thought this was SO cute!

and incase you wanna know what time it is.... just ask :) Thanks Chel for the watch!! (just like the one Sandra Bullock wore in The Blind Side and ITS AWESOME!)

and to top it all off ... GOT THIS IN THE MAIL!!

YAY!

Came home packed MORE boxes and had a relaxing night with Jaelyn and Tommy.

SO glad he is off work tomorrow and we get to go to church as a family, Jaelyn and I have been going all alone and we are STOAKED to have Daddy with us this week PTL his boss got the POINT of Tommy saying " I wont work Sundays"

We <3 our Daddy!!

Lesson Learned...

2012-01-06T22:04:00.001-05:00

I have a blog post in the works, but today I felt led by God to post about something else, so that will other post will have to wait!

I feel like last year God wanted me to learn a lot of stuff, but if I had to sum it up in one word, I would say “FAITH”. I didn’t have faith that God could love me after all I did, I didn’t believe that I was saved (this was the WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD!!) Above everything I didn’t believe that God could work miracles! What also goes hand in hand with faith for me is “forgiveness”…… Last year I learned to forgive and I learned I was forgiven…. I learned that God was all I will ever need and that faith is tested by what we do with fear, not if we have it or not!!

This year I feel like God wants me to learn “to be still” and “obedience” and “patience” …. That is not really one word but I’m no scholar (I’m sure you can tell by reading my blog!) so if there is a word that sums all that up…… I don’t know it? Anyway I couldn’t have told you that this is what God was telling me to learn this year on Jan 1st but after MUCH prayer and things that have gone on in my daily life (out of the ordinary) I am sure that these are things I am going to learn A LOT about this year.

Reason I fell like this? Example #1 -- My life is CRAZY right now as I mentioned last night but yet I don’t feel chaotic (and I am such a SPAZ that it’s really crazy for me not to feel stressed haha!) Example #2? I haven’t got on my husband’s nerves for a week!!! (Don’t worry I asked him to make sure, I made sure to tell him it was research for my blog post haha!) Usually my SPAZ on edge personality is on his last nerve at least once a day. When I get stressed I snap his head off or I am mean and when I am overwhelmed I pick and blame things on him that aren’t his fault. So this coincides with example #1, because I am not feeling stressed (due to being in Gods Will , praying all the time, studying his Word and being right where God wants me) I am a MUCH nicer, happier wife and mommy. Example #3 I feel like God is right next to me, it’s a strong overwhelmingly awesome feeling, I called Tommy out of the blue yesterday and I told him I feel like God is right here with me, mostly because he has one hand on my should and the other over my mouth!! Ha! (got that off pinterest but it’s totally TRUE!)

So the year 2012 may bring other lessons along with the ones I already feel like God wants to teach me but either way as long as I am learning more and loving more I am happy!

Deep And Wide

2012-01-05T23:10:00.002-05:00

Today is Thursday and by far the busiest day we have had in a while. Busy most often = chaotic, stressful, and hectic. Today I beg to differ. I was reading in my bible study that when life is chaotic its most often stressful, but when you are living in the will of God, walking with him in obedience that there is a PEACE over most things that are often (when not in the will of God ) STRESSFUL and CHAOTIC!

Today I felt … a peace. I have a TON of things on my plate and I am HAPPY about every single one of them…I feel so blessed that I am able to serve doing what God wants me to do.

Today we also had a play date with Landon and had lunch with Mom!

Looking forward to family day with Tommy on Sunday!

take 1

take 2

aannndd take 3 HA!

Landon and Jaelyn had a "Deep And Wide" Rock n Roll show HAHA! That is the only song Jaelyn knows by heart with no help HA!

Playdate With Alex

2012-01-04T21:45:00.003-05:00

THESE KIDS??

ARE AWESOME!!

and Jaelyn finally found a little friend that likes her kisses and hugs :) most kids push her away, HA!

is it not hillarious that her eyes are closed!! HA!

We had a much needed mommy/kid playdate with Elyse and Alex today!!

Tonight we went to dinner and church, Jaelyn was happy to be back in the swing of things at Puggles!! :)

Oh how I love AWANAS!

After we left church she was asking for a "LAURA BAR" aka Lara Bar, so Miss Princess got what she wanted and we stopped on the way home, I can't object when she is asking for food, she didn't eat anything until dinner today so I knew she really wanted it or else she wouldnt have asked!

I just love her so much!

answered prayers....

2012-01-03T20:45:00.001-05:00

Today we had someone come to us and offer to list our house on MLS ....

wait for it... wait for it....

FOR FREE! (most realtors charge 6% to list) we ofcourse will pay buyers agent

She is selling us the house we are building and she is AMAZING enough to list ours for us!!!

This was a deal we could NOT. PASS. UP.

again... I know I know it might not sell BUT.... still an answered prayer.

SERIOUSLY, I prayed for the last 2 week about being obedient and having patience and praying for His Will and PRAYING that we wouldn’t do something stupid and jump the gun and miss an opportunity…. SO glad the Lord is teaching me!

SOOOO GLAD! (Because we all know I’m a right now right away all the way all the time kinda gal ;) so THIS … is HUGE! )

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!

Swing Batter Batter Swing….

2012-01-02T17:17:00.001-05:00

Getting back into the swing of things is HARD. Tommy has been off for 2 weeks and with him going back to work today life was a little difficult for our Princess! I had a Missions meeting today and little miss got to come with! She was really good but I was reminded why she doesn’t ever get to come…. HaHa It just makes it difficult for me to concentrate (mainly because I’m worried I will be thought of as a bad mom if I let her get away with something or a mom that control her kid when in all reality I am a mom to a 2 year old…. Enough said! Silly feelings on my shirt sleeve!)

After my meeting we came home for lunch and some Tinkerbell (like 5 mins because Jaelyn was :::crying::: for a nap) I put Jaelyn down for the 4th day in a row and when she hit the “Ive been in my room talking to myself for 2 hours” mark, better known as a semi quiet period…. She…. For the 4th day in a row was NOT asleep!! For those 2 hours I did my bible study and daily reading, worked on Pampered Chef stuff and did 4 loads of laundry….. I was ready to go get her up BUT she was acting like just any minute she would fall asleep. We do this EVERYDAY! Some days there is no way she is going to nap and others I feel like she is close… Today she finally ended up falling asleep but then I was left without my playmate.

Tommy still is not home and I was bored SO I am blogging, no fun pictures or anything like that just some info for our life on the 2nd of January in the year of 2012… weird right!!?

Happy MONDAY!

The First Day Of The New Year

2012-01-01T21:35:00.000-05:00

I LOVE my blog.... for 1 MILLION reasons.... HERE is one, Today I asked Tommy if he remembered what we did 1 year ago today and he had NO clue, the only reason I remember is because I look at old blog posts…. Like …. ALL. THE .TIME. So a year from today in the year 2013 I will be able to tell you what we did…. one year ago. HA! That is only 1 of the many reason I love blogging!

Last Year I didn’t start off very hot on blogging, I was really “consumed” by so many things … Last year we had a party on NYE and it was a blast, we planned to do it every year but with Tommy working a 2^nd job we didn’t have time to plan it nor was he even off last night. He went into work at 11am so Jaelyn and I spent the day with Grandma Brenda, we came home I cooked her dinner and she went to bed early because she didn’t have a nap. I waited for Tommy to get off work, we enjoyed Aspen Creek take out and picking out paint colors and planning for our “in Gods time” new house. Ha! We didn’t stay up until midnight and this morning Tommy was gone for work before his girls even woke up.

Jaelyn and I took off to church this morning, came home for lunch and a nap and when Tommy got off work we went out to Celebrate Chelsea! Her Birthday was on the 21st but with Christmas and her working 14 days straight at UPS needless to say we didn’t get to celebrate! Chelsea and her boyfriend Brad LOVE the local Mexican restaurant sooooo that is where we went….

Followed by the LOVELY Homemade Pie and Ice Cream Kitchen!! Compliments of PawPaw!

Happy Birthday Chelsea!

It is NO secret that Tommy and I have COMPLETELY different tastes of home décor. He is 100% HGTV knows what he likes and what he likes NEVER changes even if it’s not “in” if he likes it he likes it ( have you ever seen his shoes? **his words not mine LOL**)…. and I am “whatever I see and like at that very moment I want”. He talks me into what he wants most all the time hence our bachelor pad style house that we live in right now. He made a promise to me after much discussion and understanding on his part that THIS IS MY WORKPLACE AND I WANNA LOVE IT (ha!). He promised that the “next house” would be more “us” and less “him” haha!

We have decided that if and when we sell our house we are going to build. We found a lot and a house plan and we are “going with it”. I am no interior decorator but I know what I like and Tommy has talked me into a few things that I was on the fence about. Mainly my wants are his wants when it comes down to the “plan” of a house. I want to share a few pics not only for my family and my readers but also for my benefit to look back on when I forget what I picked out, haha! Friday we picked out the main things like brick color, shutter color, counter tops, floor plan, you know the big stuff. The little stuff will come later and the last decisions will be made when our home sells. I am completely aware that if God has other plans for us and doesn’t want this house to be built then… well….. It won’t BUT I am also a planner extraordinaire so THIS is why it’s getting talked about now. I am not about to have to make life altering decisions at the last minute.

Things we like and things we want to remember....

bedding

Sherwin-Williams's, Requisite Gray

kitchen

master bath

for wall between kitchen and hall

( I CANT WAIT TO HAVE THIS!!)

for living room couch?

this for the couch?

L couch in bonus room , comfy cozy and VERY excited we have a big bonus room for movie night

I am sure Jaelyn will appreciate this design for the age of sleepovers!

Our Year The 2011 Edition

2011-12-31T13:14:00.000-05:00

Visit Our Year The 2010 Edition HERE

January 2011 started out with LOTS of snow days with Daddy!

February 2011 was a big time for you Jaelyn, you got allergy tested and it changed our whole world! You were no longer sick all the time and you made weekly visits to Dr Todd, we also made plans to put in wood floors! We also took a road trip to MO to visit Boston and celebrate Heather Mae!

March 2011 Grandma and Grandpa took you to the KidsFest and you had a blast!

April 2011 was all about trying new foods, your new fav..... corn on the cob!

May 2011 was a HUGE month, we went to the beach, attended Heathers wedding, you turned 2, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa came to visit, and we took a road trip to MO for Heathers reception!!

June 2011 we had a visit with your FAV FAV FAV veggies!

July 2011 we spend ALOT of time with Daddy at the waterparks around town. YOU LOVE THE WATER! (and so does daddy!!)

August 2011 you became a PUGGLE! You started AWANAS and you LOVE IT!

September 2011 we spent alot of time at the park

October 2011 you spent the weekend with your Grandma and Grandpa and you had a BLAST!!!!!

November 2011 we cooked our first every Thanksgiving and you gave my cooking a THUMBS UP! Great Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and you HAD A BLAST!

December 2011 you were in your VERY FIRST Christmas program

and everyone came to see you !!!

God has blessed us so much in 2011 and I can't wait to see what He has in store for us for 2012!

Friday wih my Hubby

2011-12-30T12:45:00.000-05:00

Today we dropped Jaelyn off to spend the morning with her Grandma Brenda. Tommy and I spent most of the morning working on “project house”. After that it was lunch time, we ran some errands and had a wonderful, delicious lunch at Sake Blue! It was a fun morning and I am so thankful that Tommy was off work to spend some time with us. Tomorrow he has to go back to work (his 2^nd job) and Monday he will be back to the daily grind at school. Jaelyn has enjoyed having Daddy to wake up to every morning and I know she will miss that! She always asks “Wheres DADA” when she wakes up …. We love our DADDY!

Jaelyn on her Fav DAY EVER!

2011-12-29T12:38:00.000-05:00

Jaelyn LOVES her FAV grilled cheese at McAlisters

my top 3 of the day!!!

Next we headed to Jaelyns FAV place to play!!

and last but not least her fav TREAT!

"mmm dats dlishhhisss"

Thursday was such a fun day we had a nice little family day out while Daddy was off work!

YAY for Christmas Break !

am I living for God or myself!!?

2011-12-28T20:56:00.002-05:00

For most of my “Christian” life I have more times than not acted less like a Christian and more like a lost person.

I’m almost sure that if a lost person was asked if Cristal Nester/Alvey was a Christian that their answer would NOT be a shout out loud YES! …

That my friend is SAD!

What is even more SAD is that a year ago I can guarantee that there were people that had no idea I was a Christian…. And if they thought I was a Christian and they knew my lifestyle, it probably would have turned them away from the Lord or even hindered the hope of them getting saved and living for God….

Don’t you know that I am seen by 100’s of LOST PEOPLE a day!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING!

Sure I went to church on Sunday morning, and I prayed with my daughter, I made my FB status look like I was a “Good” Christian, I wrote blog posts and occasionally mentioned Christ and being blessed, people who grew up with me knew I was raised in church….. But what did I look like to a person who doesn’t know Christ?

The reason I am even bringing this up is because in my wicked wicked wicked time of life…. He loved me anyway… He loved me when I was at rock bottom and He stayed with me knowing that I one day would live life for Him! I am no where near a “good” Christian but I am a lover of Jesus Christ and I strive every day to glorify Him in my daily life and above all I am forgiven.

Here is where the brutal honesty comes in…. I find myself getting so mad and judgmental and upset when I see someone living the outward “Christian” on facebook or in blogs or on Christmas or when they need something and then living the “self” life on more of a day to day basis.

I think I feel this way because I HAVE BEEN THERE! I KNOW without a doubt what if feels like to have “Joy Joy Joy Joy down in my HEART” and not just my facebook status or blog post.

I have been SO convicted of this for the last year that I wish others would feel the same so the end result would be, “Christians” saving more people and living for God instead of themselves.

Speaking of convictions…. Let me just tell you about the one I got this week…

The conviction that People won’t get on my nerves if they were on my heart!!! I should be praying for these people not judging them I am publicly claiming victory over the devil AGAIN and I am going to start praying for these people instead of wasting Gods time complaining.

"God forbid I sin against the Lord by not praying for you" ~I Samuel 12:23

Oh you know ....

2011-12-28T15:55:00.001-05:00

Just another day with Princess Jaelyn

Mission Minded

2011-12-27T21:37:00.002-05:00

This morning I woke up EARLY…. And it was ALL my fault, when I was asked if I was an early riser I said yes…. But I forgot that was like 2 years ago! HA! But honestly I wouldn’t wanna spend an early morning doing anything else…. Bright and early I met up with 4 other ladies on the Mission Team and we started in on some good ole Kingdom work, nothing tastes better first thing in the morning than Gods Word and time with fellow Ladies of the Lord!!

I am so excited to do “More For Christ In 2012”. I am in the middle (the beginning of the middle) of planning (I know right, when did I grow up!!??) a mission trip for our church to take in the summer and also possibly another in the fall. As I have mentioned before I am was not mission minded before ~~Pastor Keith~~ God reached down and said…… “ you ask me 24/7 where I want you…. Well this is where you need to be, this is where YOUR GOD WANTS YOU” I am ~~50%~~ 100% sure I ignored him on that one because it wasn’t what “I” wanted to do….

I didn’t think I “would get anything out of it”

I didn’t think “ I was good enough”

or “ old enough”

I am ~~princess~~ QUEEN of excuses when I don’t want to do something and sometimes I even will over exaggerate the facts to make it look like that is really not where God wants me to be……. BBUUUUTTTTT

*** swallowing my pride and words ***

Now…… Missions is all I can think about, it’s all I wanna do, I find myself trying to think of ways to help and reach and teach and do and go …..

Then I am grounded with the fact that I am only one person and I don’t have ~~a ton~~ any money to just go and do as much as I want to!

There is one thing I am certain of and that is that God will make a way if that is what I need to be doing. I also am certain that I OVER DO things and OVER THINK AND OVER ANALYZE pretty much everything …. I ALSO get WAY toooooo excited WAY tooooooooo FAST!

So for now I will pray and pray and pray some more for where God wants us (myself, TLA and JMA).

There have been a few ministry prayers that have been answered but THAT? deserves a post of its own…. On another day ….

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

The Nester/Alvey Family Christmas :)

2011-12-26T22:47:00.002-05:00

Friday afternoon we headed over to Tommys parents for Christmas with them

she loves to "seek n find" in the GREAT BIG TREE!

Landon and Jaelyn playing with their new ornaments :)

Christmas morning we got up extra early and headed to breakfast at Tommys parents house for Tommys Grandparents Family Christmas ( the family out grew Gma Margies house :) lots of kids )

eating breakfast with Gma Margie and PaPa

Tommy and his PaPa

Pretty Pretty Princess all ready for church!!!

Sunday Morning Church with the Nesters :)

Jaelyn of course didnt look at the camera ;)

Grandpa Chris and Grandma Brenda

Brad and Chelsea (and newest addition to "them" was ..... some bling! (promise ring!)

shes my lovey!

a few of my favs-- Dad, Mom, Sister, Daughter, Me, Husband <3

Monday night we headed back over for a little Christmas with Gma Margie and PaPa. We were only there for about an hour Christmas morning because of church and Tommys work schedule so we went back over tonight to have a little one on one time :)

It has been a GREAT weekend!

Can I be honest?

2011-12-24T22:39:00.003-05:00

Tommy and I (and Jaelyn) feel blessed every day, all year long. We have God as our Savior, a roof over our head and a family that loves us. That is MORE than a lot of people can say. We have been seeking God more and more this last year and more importantly we are doing this together. We are making a plan, following Gods will; and enjoying our new found hunger for God’s Word.

As Christmas was approaching this year we had the discussion on many occasions about “Gifts”. We made the plan before Jaelyns first Christmas that she will only and always only get 3 gifts from us. This year we added a few more values we want to give her, we will always give more then we receive and we will saturate her in the Word (all year) so that during Christmas when she is “around” things like blow ups in the yard or friends or anything in the general public we will be (and she can be) certain in her Faith and her beliefs and the real meaning of Christmas.

Now it is one thing to say you are not *doing* Santa or that you are “teaching your child the true meaning of Christmas”. It is a completely different thing to actually LIVE IT OUT LOUD!

I want to be completely honest with you! IT IS HARD! IT IS SOOOOO HARD! Tommy and I were raised with Santa and we had a baby and started thinking about how fun the whole Santa (LIE) would be with Jaelyn and how fun laying out cookies will be and I remember thinking “ Age 2 will be so fun I can’t wait until she is that old!”

BUT….

Yes there is a BUT!

It is absolutely WORTH IT to be the minority on this one!! This year Tommy and I were “black listed”, we made people mad, we made HARD life altering decisions and we risked losing family and friends due to the choices we made this year
(I WILL ADD THIS WAS ALL IN THE NAME OF GOD!)

This year we didn’t buy gifts …. And we didn’t even buy our daughter the 3 gifts we always said we were going to buy her. This year we took all the money that we were going to spend on Christmas and we donated it to Jefferson Street Baptist Center. Did we feel nervous on how this was going to be taken by our family? YES! But when God says DO IT ….. YOU DO IT! (or at least we do)

Tommy and I felt convicted by this and please hear me out MY CONVICTIONS ARE NOT YOUR CONVICTIONS! I am NOT telling you to go out and do this I am just sharing my experience about a subject some won’t touch with a 10 ft. pole! I will say that I do wish more people could experience the TRUE JOY we felt this year in not giving gifts to family and friends. We LOVE our family and friends but we don't feel like spending money on them shows that .... at all! We prayed so hard about this and I KNOW somehow there will be a blessing to someone else and that makes it all worth it, (along with the SOLID foundation we are standing on!)

There is a movie out to rent and a quote in that movie just stops me in my tracks!

“Ive never had one before”-Boy

“What a room to yourself?- “Mom”

“No, A bed”-Boy

Tommy and I just sobbed when we watched that movie. This year God gave us a soft spot for the homeless and He made us hurt for what He hurts for! It makes living life so much different.

We are stepping up and making plans and decisions to help benefit the Kingdom of God instead of ourselves and THAT ? Gives “being a Christian” a WHOLE NEW MEANING! We want to be disciples and change lives one person at a time!

Merry Christmas

Jaelyn, tonight you made my whole life! Out of nowhere, you were not prompted by anyone to answer any certain way, but when you were asked “what is tomorrow” you answered “its Jesus Birthday!” …. I am such a spaz of course I tear up in those moments (ok ok so at least once a day!!). You are going to be an amazing woman of God and I am SOOOO proud to be your MOMMY! I love you so much (and Daddy does MUCH!) Merry Christmas Jaelyn <3 Mommy and Daddy

For unto us a child is born . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

–Isaiah 9:6

Chuck E Cheese

2011-12-21T22:14:00.002-05:00

Tonight Jaelyn got her long awaited promised trip to Chuck E Cheese with her PawPaw Chris and MawMaw Brenda!

She has been asking me for WEEKS and the last two days its been CONSTANT!

She woke up this morning telling me about the slide...

BUT she didnt have a nap today ..... hence the look on her face :) she was SUPER excited and SCREAMING when I pulled in the parking lot, I guess it wore her out because I think she looked tired.... but she is also smart and wasnt about to act like she needed a nap or tell me she was tired...

she LOVES to win tickets and get a prize at the end!

BUT she loves the RIDES SO MUCH BETTER!

we saved the tokens we didnt use because Tommy LOVES to go and Mom and Dad said to save them so Jaelyn could play with her HARDWORKING Daddy! :)

Im sure we will be going again this week or next ! ha!

100 FOLLOWERS!!!

2011-12-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

YAY!!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!

I am flattered to have reached 100 followers!!

Thank you to all of you who read :) we love you and love that we can share our life with you!

In The News Last Week (back blogging I KNOW!)

2011-12-20T16:07:00.002-05:00

Tommy’s Mom has a HUGE Christmas Tree and Jaelyn didn’t see it last year so last Sunday I took her over to visit her MaMaw and PaPaw and she got to play hide and seek in the tree with PaPaw.

Wednesday night was her “Awana Party” , they got pizza ( this was the first night she EVER said PIZZA the right way, I WAS SO PROUD!!!) and got to “spend their money” that they earn by coming to Awanas.

Thursday we spend the day in the kitchen making treats for Daddies school.

Julie, Annie, Ryan, Brayden

Friday we hosted our Sunday School Christmas Party, it was a BLAST!

Laura, Jason

Jeremy, Ginger

Chris, James, Elijah, Jenny, Erin, Penny

Samantha, Colby, Tommy, Adam

I dont like being a back blogger so I will try to stay more up to date with our daily lives for the rest of the year, HA!

Just Like Me???

2011-12-20T15:32:00.001-05:00

I think sometimes that if you have a little girl you want her to be like you, or if you have a little boy you want him to be just like the love of your life (his daddy!)
In my case, I am not sold on the “Just Like Me” philosophy ….. It is NO secret that I am completely crazy and “out there” when it comes to a lot of things I get excited about silly little things and when I say excited I don’t mean containing it in myself, I mean LOUD and jumping up and down and ~~maybe~~ most definitely my voice is 100X louder in that moment. I am outgoing and to some annoying, but I have come to the conclusion I am me and there isn’t much I can do about it (which is good for the people who LOVE my loud personality).
I guess I just have so much personality overflowing to the top that even when I try it’s like tone vomit and my whisper turns in to this loud EXCITED voice. I try so hard to be quiet and more reserved around the people that I KNOW have “issues” with my BALL OF FIRE self or even if they are just uncomfortable around it, I try…. I really do, which brings me to my point (landing the plane!) I have insecurities about my personality, I KNOW without a doubt God would NOT want me to feel like this, which is why when I am with the people that I feel the need to be more reserved around, I am in constant prayer!

FACTS : God loves me. God made me. God wants me to use my personality for his Kingdom work. I am still working on finding out exactly what is it and where he wants me. So with that said it comes to my attention that I (with help from Tommy and God) have made a little girl who is THE SAME WAY minus the insecurity about being on someone “nerves”……

She is loud and proud and FUN and energetic and is her own little person. It is amazing to watch a little girl with no worries, who is not hurt by the world or family or friends, a little girl who doesn’t feel like an annoyance or feel too loud or get told that her personality is “too much” for someone… and THAT? Is one of the best things about being a parent!!! We get to teach her and guide her and pray for her (and her future husband) and just be there every step of her life. I am just sure that her first bout of hurt feelings will hit me hard (because mine live on my shirt sleeve) but I pray that because she is going to be the next Beth Moore, she will be stronger, and she WON’T be like her mom, that her feelings will not live on her sleeve and she will NOT feel like an annoyance to ANYONE. That she will feel empowered and precious and amazing…. And I hope that when she reads this at age 13 she will come to me and tell me there was no need to even write this post because she didn’t need advice on it and that she knows God loves her and she is using her BIG personality to share Christ’s LOVE and that she is using her loud voice like Joyce Meyer and SAVE PEOPLE from the depths of HELL!

Can I GET AN AMEN!!!

These are things I wish for myself as well…. I think I could be a good Joyce Meyer especially since all her sermons start with “Dear Cristal Ive been in your shoes” I guess Ill just take over for her when she is retired!
:-)

God So Loved The World

2011-12-20T12:05:00.000-05:00

<3 Jaelyn

http://youtu.be/mEARV1iGzQk

oh yes we did!! :)

2011-12-19T22:01:00.003-05:00

we have been so busy getting our house ready and putting up THIS sign! I promise I will catch up blogging tomorrow im very sleepy tonight... :)

In or Out- But You Can't Be Both - Guest Post

2011-12-16T07:47:00.002-05:00

This morning I want to introduce Keisha. She is semi-new to the blog world; meaning she used to blog a ton but was always private. Now? She is PUBLIC and you can follow her HERE. Keisha asked if she could guest post on my blog and of course I said “YES!!” I got the pleasure of being in a bible study led by Keisha, and to say she is a woman of God is an understatement. I am so happy she posted today and I hope you enjoy her as much as I do!

Yesterday I was talking to my dear friend Cristal about living the Christian life and how hard it can be in the society and culture that we live in today. As Christians we are faced with daily obstacles that can paralyze us with doubt and leave us questioning ourselves and our beliefs. When we proclaim our faith in Jesus people automatically categorize you. It's not always a bad thing, but sometimes it feels like this pressure that weighs on every word you speak or action you chose. If I participate in this tradition or voice my opinion about this subject will they judge me? Will it hurt my witness? As a woman, I believe it's even harder sometimes because we (me) tend to over-analyze situations without the added worry of protecting your witness.

It seems the biggest debate this time of year as Christians is how we celebrate the holidays. Do you participate in Halloween, what about Santa? I don't even have children yet and I still struggle with these questions as I am already bombarded with thoughts and questions about them. It goes full circle to being associated with Jesus, it's like once you make that proclamation people see you as an "authority" on religion and feel compelled to ask your opinion. To be honest, I want to shut down when asked about what I believe about both because *trust me* I am NO AUTHORITY on religion. I am not a new Christian, but sometimes I feel like I am because I struggle with what my beliefs are on these celebrations of holidays. While I am thrilled that people know that I am a follower of Jesus, I am overwhelmed at times with the responsibility that comes with that. What if I say something wrong and they take their anger out on Jesus and not on me? This is when praying for the Holy Spirit to speak through me is so vital if feels like the only shot of hope that I have at showing people who Jesus really is.

But I said all of that to say this.... in the great debate of so many things of our culture was that you have to make a choice: you can either be IN the world, or you can be OF the world. It's a daily choice. A battle. A daily spiritual war. Are you living in this world but serving Jesus or are you living of this world and just saying you follow but practicing all of the rituals of the sinful culture? How can we still live of the world knowing that Christ came to save us from it? Galatians 4:3 (NLT) says "And that's the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world." The only thing I want to be a slave to is my love for Jesus.

So I needed an analogy for this, so I called King Analogy (my Dad) and had him thinking about it and this is what he called me back with and I LOVE it! Living in the world and of the world is like being in the water versus under the water. When you live in the world, you're in the water. It's unavoidable, you will be subjected to things of the culture that you cannot control and you can't hide out in a little Christian bubble (whole other blog post!) But living of this world is like being under the water, you are drowning. You claim one thing yet do another. You say Jesus is your one true love, your Savior, yet your life looks no different than a non-believer. As followers of Jesus, sometimes we go under the water, we play and dabble in the things of this world, and if we are wise we get our heads above water and keep treading. The water is murky and Satan is like a rip tide, waiting to pull you under so you can drown in misery with him. If you are under the water too long you'll die. Your spiritual life will die. Your witness will die. No matter if your lips still proclaim Jesus but your life is drowning in sin, you will die a spiritual death and Satan will call victory because in my opinion, a believer of Jesus who blatantly living of this world is Satan's favorite kind of sinner.

Revelation 3:15-16 (NLT) says "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! " My favorite part of this chapter though is later in verse 19 where Jesus says "I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference." Jesus is telling you to get out of this world! He loves you and is parenting you! He knows you have to live in it, but this isn't your home so don't make yourself comfortable here. We are here to do work and show unbelievers the love of Jesus.

I was listening to a sermon the other morning on the way to work and it mentioned that Christians are becoming so desensitized. We blow off the things that were once so unmentionable when they come up in everyday conversations, television, and radio. We are simply going along with things because we're scared to hurt feelings and make people uncomfortable. Personally, I am bored with censoring myself as to not make someone else uncomfortable. It is time for Christians to live boldly and claim their faith not just by their words but by their actions. So I think it's time to ask yourself, am I treading the water or am I drowning?

Leave Keisha some comment love here!! :)

Follow Keisha at http://houseofhallway.blogspot.com/

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T09:16:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

I hurt to look at this....

Homemade ChexMix

2011-12-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Today I spent the entire day at the stove; I made 5 batched of Chex Mix :) I LOVE this stuff and last year so many people asked about how to make it so I thought I would share! This is my favorite Christmas recipe to make!

IT’S SO EASY!

First you need a big pan, this photo was taken last year, I used one of those “throw away” pans, this year I used my “turkey pan” and it made things SO MUCH EASIER because I was able to do a double “sauce” batch.

Each “batch” needs 9 cups of cereal, you can use all rice, all corn, or gluten free, even wheat (not my fav but it’s what the recipe calls for). You can add anything you want, I have added pretzels, cheese itz, nuts, garlic bread (hard yummy brown things) and of course M&M’s.

I put everything on the pan EXCEPT M&M’s *they are added VERY VERY last!*

The sauce is one stick of butter, 1 ½ teaspoons of season salt , a ¼ teaspoon of onion powder and a ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder ( I love flavor so I may or may not let the spoon spill over on the spices HA!) Melt the butter and mix in the spices and then pour over the dry mix, stir at the same time. I stir and stir so all of the dry mix is coated in the “sauce”.

Pop in the oven on 250 for 1 hour, stirring every 15mins.

After 1 hour lay out some paper towels and pour the chex mix over the paper towels, this helps the grease drain to the towels and makes for a NON-stale taste . After it cools add the M&M's wrap up and take to a party! You will be the favorite! :)

Happy ChexMix making!!

my little baby Jesus lover

2011-12-11T19:08:00.001-05:00

Jaelyn treats her nativity like real people

she talks to them...

and she sets them up so that they can see all the lights...

and then she gives them a baba and took a phone call for them....

and last but not least she feeds them, a feast..... she told me this morning "Baby Jesus is hungry and he needs to eat!"

she is so sweet and I love that she knows the real reason for the season and is using all her hospitality skills to keep them comfy while they are in our home :)

5 truths

2011-12-10T15:55:00.001-05:00

1- I hurt when others hurt

2- I cry when I see my husband cry …. Every time…. No matter what

3- “I’m sorry for your loss” was all I could say… my feelings were stronger but what do you say?

4- Sweet visits, gestures and gifts (and food) are blessings on an 11 hour day of visitation

5- This week was the first time I drove in a line of cars called a “funeral procession”

Today we buried Tommy’s Grandfather whom he was named after. It of course was a very sad time but Tommy told me “I will miss him but I know he is in a better place and I know he went to Heaven”.

*bliss* in knowing that!

You would be amazed at the amount of respect we were shown in the funeral procession today by other cars. I was SHOCKED to see people pulling over, completely stopping and making sure everyone that was in line stayed inline. No one cut us off or tried to run us over as we all ran a red light.

Tommy has a huge family and the huge family has a ton of friends so we were well taken care of for the past few days. I wish I knew all of the people by name that took care of us, I want to write them all a Thank You note but I don’t know not one person’s name and there were so many people there I couldn’t even begin to describe what they looked like to even ask one of the family members who it was. So I will say this THANK YOU, and I will pray for blessings in their life.

Today after the funeral we went to pick up Jaelyn (she wasn’t with us yesterday or this morning). We ate lunch at the church and she got to play with her cousins. I did snap a few pictures to share.

Jaelyn, PawPaw Tommy, Layla (our niece)

"Cheese"

All the kids with Tommys Parents

(Jaelyn-2, Layla-8 months, Landon-5)

I was snapping pics so fast, with 3 little ones its hard to get them all to look and smile at the same time

It was nap time and bellys were full, we did good to get them all to stop and pose for me :)

Tommy has a brother and a sister his brother is married to Chrystal ( I KNOW crazy huh!) and they have Landon and Layla. Whitney (his little sister) is getting ready to graduate highschool and go off to college!

and another try...

CUTIES!

Ofcourse I wanted a family photo, and Jaelyn wanted Landons Buzz Lightyear toy (notice her eyes) she was saying cheese and thinking LET ME DOWN MOM!

Jaelyn and Grandma Norma

look at those eyes!! I AM ATE UP WITH HER!

Grandpa Alvey, we will miss you and we love you.

"love Jaelyn" gift ideas....

2011-12-08T22:11:00.001-05:00

On the famous Pinterest I have had a board called "love Jaelyn" gift ideas, for ... just that. With Christmas coming up we have some teachers and people who care for Jaelyn at church that I want to do a little something for. These are a few of my ideas....

What are your thoughts?

What is your fav?

OR I can make my homemade chex mix and put it in a Pampered Chef bowl like this....

for a fun gift??

help a mama out here :)

With God all things are possible

2011-12-08T14:03:00.001-05:00

...But God from Henderson's First Baptist Church on Vimeo.

BIG NEWS! :)

2011-12-06T21:12:00.001-05:00

This is a somewhat unfortunate story but might give you a little laugh (if you know me IRL) and a lot of truth. So here we go…

Once upon a time long long ago there lived a girl named Cristal, Cristal was an impatient girl but also the faithful type so with that said, Cristal was praying and waiting and praying ( along with her husband) about this BIG decision that needed to be made ….. The decision to sell their house, the same house they have lived since they got married, and brought a baby home to and put blood, sweat and tears in to re-doing the floors so their daughter could breathe…… With no emotional attachment (just memories) the couple decided that over the next few weeks they would prepare to sell their home (a few odds and ends that needed to be done) and plan to put it up for sale the first of January.

Meanwhile Cristal and Tommy were helping someone else look for a house so they had been looking and talking about all the houses for sale in their town for MONTHS it felt like. Nothing really out there struck their interest but they were letting God make all the plans and they were planning to follow (fly by the seat of their pants) that plan where ever it may lead. One night while looking on his favorite website Tommy stumbled upon a goldmine house near where they live now that was for sale, he was excited and showed the house to Cristal, well if you know Cristal it doesn’t take her long to get excited about something, so ate up excited that she drove by the house every day for 2 weeks until she got the OK from Tommy to call and make an appointment for a showing……

While Cristal and Tommy fell deeper in love with this “IDEA” of change a new start they continued to pray. Cristal on the other hand, well she is not much of a realist when it comes to her “dreams”. She got so far into this house and plans for this house that she was planning future parties and get togethers at their “new” house already. I am pretty sure that is the definition of “ate up”!

The night before the showing Cristal had a burning question that couldn’t wait so she made a quick call to the person showing the house to them that next day. When the person answered the phone and answered the question she followed up with the words of death a few words that made Cristals stomach hurt so bad she thought she was going to cry. You know that feeling you get when your knees could just hit the floor you’re so shocked. The person on the phone told Cristal “I am expecting an offer tonight”…

DUN DUN DUN

After Cristal got off the phone she sulked and thought and prayed and sulked and pouted….. While she was doing all of the above she was looking over the Lifeway mailer that came in the mail…. She was glancing over the “gifts for boys” then the “gifts for girls” and lastly she came across the page “gifts for men” well she didn’t need to look for a man a gift but the page stuck out, she looked over it a few times and this “tape measure” popped out, she noticed it had a scripture on it and thought to herself (obsessed with the house still in the forefront of her mind) this would be a cool give for a realtor. The words on the gift were a blur but as they came in to focus she read…

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

The End

WOW!!!! WOW!!!! I mean I can’t even say anymore! I felt better about not getting my “dream house” and after Tommy and I talked about it, he (unlike me ) has a plan b and c and d HA! I know Gods timing is always right and his plan is THE ONLY plan I want in my life. He is so amazing that I know he has something in store for us that will bring me to my knees in tears (the good ones this time!)

AMEN!! :-)

25 days of Christmas

2011-12-06T09:23:00.001-05:00

This year we started a new thing that we will 100% make an every year tradition. The best part of having a younger child is that WE GET to make the traditions, we get to start all things new (if we want) or keep things the same as when we were little. Just because Tommy and I “did Santa” when we were little doesn’t mean “we have to” do it now. We didn’t follow tradition with the amount of gifts we give Jaelyn either, she gets 3, just as Baby Jesus did. I could go all day on my thoughts on commercialized Christmas but in the words of Brother Keith Joseph “That’s another message” or in my case, a blog post! Ha!

This year we started a “tradition” that some like to call “25 days of Christmas” , It’s when you read a new story every night until Christmas. I am low in the book department when it comes to Christ-centered Christmas books so I went to the local library and checked out 11 books. I have a book myself called “Happy Birthday Jesus” and then our advent comes with a story each day so this will take us right up to Christmas Day. Here are some of the titles I got, The Donkey’s Christmas Song, Stable in Bethlehem, One Night in a Stable, Mortimer’s Christmas Manger, The Little Drummer Mouse, Angela and the Baby Jesus, Cat in the Manger, The Christmas Star, The Christmas Path, There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve, The Little Drummer Boy. I hope to one day own 25 whole books on a Christ-centered Christmas but as of right now we don’t have many. I am returning the books as we read them so I don’t have 11 books checked out for 2 weeks, gotta share the love!

There are many things we want to start doing with Jaelyn, her age is our only limitation right now, she doesn’t understand everything YET but I believe saturating her and growing her knowledge about Christ will be a good foundation to start with.

“Give Your children roots and wings and less loot and things.” ~ Dr. Denis Waitley (author and motivational speaker)

and just becuase....

SOMEONE was excited about a WIN!!!

(not a crazy chiefs fan but I DID grow up in KC!)

"Share" and Tell

2011-12-05T11:12:00.001-05:00

I have some fun news to share with you all but I am on lockdown for a while longer so because I am busting at the seams to share and CAN’T I will share this instead!

have you seen the latest on ...

I have a ~~small~~ list in the making of my "must haves" for 2012!!

she has the cutest planners, phone cases, cards, stuff for teachers and gift ideas.

Check her out!

follow up on the Piper household

2011-12-05T09:06:00.001-05:00

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

Doesn’t she know?

Yesterday, I wrote about how we think about Santa at our house. It boiled down to this primary goal: Helping our children understand God as much as they were able at whatever age they were.

I hadn’t realized what a hot topic this would be. I really meant it when I said I’m not on a crusade that has good guys and bad guys.I meant to be clear that I was simply telling you how we think about it at our house for our family.

Some of you raised questions that I expect to be thinking about in future posts. In the meantime, let me complete the thought I began yesterday.

Here are some encouraging effects we observed (at different times with different children) of not including Santa in our celebration. These aren’t really reasons to make a decision one way or the other, but more like side effects.

First, I think children are glad to realize that their parents, who live with them all year and know all the worst things about them, still show their love at Christmas. Isn’t that more significant than a funny old make-believe man who drops in just once a year?

Second, our children know our family’s usual giving patterns for birthday and other special events. They seem to have an instinct about our typical spending levels. Knowing that their Christmas gifts come from those same people they love, rather than from a bottomless sack, can help diminish the “I-want-this, give-me-that” syndrome.

And finally, when children know that God’s generosity is reflected by God’s people, it tends to encourage a sense of responsibility about helping make Christmas good for others.

Our oldest, for example, worked hard on one gift the year he was 3. On Christmas morning, my husband stepped around a large, loose-flapped cardboard box to get to his chair at the breakfast table. “Where’s Karsten?” he asked, expecting to see our excited boy raring to leap into the day.

Sitting down, I said, “He’ll be here in a minute.” I nudged the box with my toe. Karsten threw back the flaps and rose to his full three-foot stature. “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them . . .” He had memorized Luke 2:8-20 as a gift for his dad. Karsten knew Santa wasn’t the one to depend on.

In fact, a few days later, he and I were walking down the hall at church. One of the older ladies leaned down to squeeze his pink, round cheek and asked, “What did Santa bring you?” Karsten’s head jerked quickly toward me, and he whispered loudly, “Doesn’t she know?”

Taken from my book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions.

http://noelpiper.com/2011/12/04/doesnt-she-know

I also found this helpful; this is a follow up to her post on “santa”. I have received a few texts on the subject so I hope you enjoy this post by Noel Piper as well.

How the Piper household does things....

2011-12-04T19:17:00.001-05:00

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

Theology lesson: the attributes of . . . who?

I’m not on a campaign, but I thought some of you might be interested in the way we think about one of the very visible “symbols” of the season.

For several reasons, we chose not to include Santa Claus in our Christmas stories and decorations.

First, fairy tales are fun, but we didn’t ask our children to believe them. On the contrary, they’re a good way to learn the difference between real-life and make believe. Second, celebrating with Santa and manger will postpone a child’s clear understanding of what the real truth of God is.

It’s very difficult for a young child to pick through a marble cake of part-truth and part-imagination to find the crumbs of reality. We wanted our children to understand God as fully as they were able, at whatever age they were. So we tried to avoid things that would inhibit or distort that understanding.

Third, think how confusing it must be to a straight-thinking, uncritical preschooler. Santa is so much like what we’re trying all year to teach our children about God. Look at the “attributes” of Santa.

•He’s omniscient—he sees everything you do.

•He rewards you if you’re good.

•He’s omnipresent—at least, he can be everywhere in one night.

•He gives you good gifts.

•He’s the most famous “old man in the sky” figure.

But at the deeper level that young children haven’t reached yet, he is not like God at all.

For example, does Santa really care if we’re bad or good? Think of the most awful kid you can remember. Did he or she ever not get gifts from Santa? What about Santa’s spying and then rewarding you if you’re good enough?

That’s not the way God operates. He gave us his gift—his Son—even though we weren’t good at all. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He gave his gift to us to make us good, not because we had proved ourselves good enough.

Taken from my book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions.

Noel Piper

http://noelpiper.com/2011/12/03/theology-lesson-the-attributes-of-who/

#noelpiper, #awesomeread, #AMEN

I found this blog post very real to life and it comes from an amazing source. I wanted to share with you in case like us you were looking for more biblical help on decision making in your household this time of year. Being a parent is the hardest job we have ever had but as always, having an encouraging word or blog post in this case that we are on the right path and not just taking the "easy" approach makes us as parents feel adequate at this job we have been so blessed with. I hope you enjoy !!

Jaelyns Fanbase

2011-12-04T16:01:00.000-05:00

Last night Jaelyn had a table of people cheering her on to sing really good. MawMaw Brenda and PawPaw Chris, Great MawMaw Joni and Great PawPaw Roy, Aunt Chel and Brad, Daddy and Mommy, Mamaw Sherry and PaPaw Tommy and Grandma Margie. It was nice that Tommy’s family could make it out to see her. Both of his grandfathers are sick right now so neither could make it and his Grandma Norma was sick as well and couldn’t make it. His brother (who has 2 kids) and his sister (who has 2 jobs) were busy I am sure or else they would have been there to see sweet Jaelyn sing. These are moments that no one wants to miss in a child’s life, Thank you everyone who came!!

<3 some of my favorites!! <3

family photo :) doesn't TLA look good in his glasses :)

oooooooohhh lights!

shy?

NAH!

HI MAWMAW!

"joy joy joy to the world"

MAWMAW HHHIIIIIIIIII!!!

Grandma Margie, Tommy, Jaelyn, (Big) Tommy, Sherry

do you think she is loved? :)

she wanted to celebrate Jesus birthday with some Christian Chicken!!!

and a book with DaDa (last night we read about Jesus being born!)

Jaelyns Preschool Christmas Program at Church

2011-12-03T23:23:00.009-05:00

The best part of the show tonight was that it was completely unscripted, these are things we don’t “teach” her, this is Jaelyn so true to life that her mother (who spends almost every waking moment with her) was even shocked at how she just got up and sang like she wasn’t scared of a thing. This was the first time Jaelyn has been in front of a crowd of people that she didn’t know, she saw my Mom snapping pictures but just waved and decided to go on about her singing and dancing around. We are SO blessed with this little fire ball, she is SOOOOO her mother’s daughter!

She is not shy by any stretch of the imagination but at first I was worried, she walked on the stage very meek and quite, THEN ...... the Jaelyn we all know and LOVE came out..... I wish I had a video of ALL the kids, there were about 10 kids up there and Jaelyn was the only one (that didn’t listen) and decided to become the “lead” singer and dancer for the show, it was hilarious! Excuse my “yelling” at Jaelyn, she was not allowed to touch the microphone, bbuuuutt what do ya do!

THATS MY GIRL! :) IM A VERY PROUD MAMA!

Tommy said "tonight she made memories for me to last a lifetime!!"

I also took some pics but I will upload them tomorrow

sometimes you gotta listen to the silence and give yourself a little time to think....

2011-12-02T21:32:00.000-05:00

When you look at this next picture, please fast forward 15 years, ummmmmm yea!

Today was a “laid back” day, we I did house work while Jaelyn laid around and read books and ate breakfast; we got ready for the day. Had lunch with some friends and then headed to the Library for a few movies and a book (since I checked out a bunch yesterday we didn’t need many). We came back home for a nap and then went to my mom’s to hang out. It was a pretty low key day; I made a few deliveries for Pampered Chef and got to hang out with Tommy during nap (he was home in between jobs for about an hour).

Tomorrow is Jaelyns big stage debut, today she brought me the CD player and the cd and told me “practice” and she stood “in her spot” and sang me all her songs. I am amazed she knows all the words and motions and actually “sings” the words but I can almost guess she will not be singing tomorrow, she will probably be being ….. A 2 year old, HA!

TWINS!

look at that smirk!!! shes a hot mess!!!

Jaelyn is enjoying her daily Christmas Story, tonight it was about a mouse learning about baby Jesus, and it was a cute story. She is such a sponge, she has played the repeat game all day long, it’s kind of scary, I believe the time is here that even the tone of my voice is going to be imitated. It’s a good thing though, I think I could use the daily reminder to stay kind in my speaking and make sure my attitude in my tone is in check! If it doesn’t sound sweet out of my mouth then how can I expect it to be sweet from the mouth of my babe….. Something to sit with huh?

Jaelyn, JMA, JAM, Baby Bee

2011-12-02T09:16:00.001-05:00

I can't get the top to photos to turn for the life of me but you get the point... All items free, just pay shipping. I am asking $2.00 shipping on each bloomer and $4.00 shipping on the dresses with matching bloomers !!

I have a bunch other items with Jaelyn and JMA and JAM monogramed but I am not sure which storage bin they are all in so if your daughter is a Jaelyn or a JMA or a JAM please let me know , all my items will be free with a small shipping charge, I know I have a diaper bag (purple) and some more clothes. email me if you may be interested in ANY , JAELYN, JMA or JAM (or Baby Bee) for the future , I would love to handme down (for free) for the rest of her monogramed life :)
cristalalvey@yahoo.com

fits like a 2t-3t

first 2 fit like a 12months 3rd fits like a 2t-3t

All 24 months dress with monogramed bottoms.

3 special reasons December 1st is AWE-some!

2011-12-01T22:45:00.000-05:00

One…. (The oldest one)…. It’s my HALF birthday!!! If you know me you know we celebrate birthdays all month long, we ALSO celebrate HALF birthdays…. Ha! Not really but we do “remember” them! My mom is always the first to remind me!

Two…. One year ago today I got the best gift from my husband in the whole world, and he made the best investment of his LIFE ( so he says) …. One year ago today I became a stay at home wife and mommy….

(Tonight we had dinner with Tommys Grandparents, it was a good time, she loves seeing her family members that she doesnt see often, she always has alot of fun!)

Three…. “25 stories of Christmas” at the Alvey house. Jaelyn LOVES books, she loves them SO much that today her mommy went to the library (while she had a special nap date with Great MawMaw) and picked out 12 books about Jesus, his birth and the real reason we celebrate Christmas. We have an advent calendar that starts on the 13th and has a story that goes along with it each night. Tonight we started saturating Jaelyn in the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas. She was so still and listened to us read to her, before I said a word about the book being about Jesus she saw a picture of the manger and said “ **gasp** BABAAY JESUS!” She is so smart and so fun to make memories with. I am so lucky to be her mom! As I mentioned before we will not be “doing Santa” this year nor will we participate in the “elf on the shelf” ideas that parents use to make their kids obey. We believe and have prayed and talked a long time on this that this is not something we are making a big deal about in our home. She of course knows who Santa is just like she knows who Belle and The Little Mermaid are, but she also knows (and will know more and more the older she gets) about the story of Jesus. It’s really a fun time of year with her, she is 2 ½ and really “knows” what is going on this year and listens to everything you say and do …. All…. The…. Time…

Tonight we bought Jaelyn one of her Christmas gifts, she gets three each year (something we did since she was born) and so far we have got her 2! I am pretty excited. We get 3 very meaningful, thoughtful, small gifts. The reason we do this is because when Jesus was born he received 3 gifts and we want to raise Jaelyn to know that Christmas is to celebrate Jesus and his birthday. It is not about getting gifts, spending money you don’t have or stressing out about how many things you have to get for family members and friends.

Call me Scrooge if you wish, this is just the beliefs that Tommy and I are instilling in our child and living out ourselves. This year since she is old enough we are planning to have a “birthday party” for Jesus after church on Christmas. I am really excited that Christmas is on Sunday this year. I wish it was on Sunday every year like Thanksgiving is on a Thursday every year!! HA!

I am indeed behind on the Chrismas card deal, We got two in the mail this week and I havent even stared on mine (so not like me!!) I did order them tonight.... step 1....

The overwhelming JOY that Jaelyn brings to my day!

2011-11-30T21:51:00.000-05:00

This morning Jaelyn woke up SO happy, she crawled up in bed with me (her, her 4 blankets, her animals and all their “houses”) I just laid in bed watching her play, she doesn’t normally like anyone to interact with her while she’s playing but she was using my legs to separate the “pool” and the “house”, ha!

We watched Aunt Chel on TV this morning! Jaelyn was having a COW it was adorable, I was busy taking pictures that I didn’t shoot a video and wish I would have! She couldn’t understand why if “SHES RIGHT HERE!” she couldn’t touch her! Haha!

Later we ran a few errands and then spent the rest of the day with Great PawPaw and Great MawMaw and MawMaw. We did unfortunately skip nap today, not the best for her immune system BUT she acted like a princess so it didn’t affect her attitude which is a plus!

Tonight we had “rehearsal” for her Christmas program (Saturday!) for AWANAS! Jaelyn and I have been practicing ALL week and I am SOOOO excited she knows all the words (the ones she can pronounce) and all the motions! She is such a good obeying baby girl, I am SO proud to be her mom! (Now I am completely aware that she is also at the age of being a “follower” so she is bound to get “distracted” on Saturday night ha!)

Diagnosis …

2011-11-28T21:12:00.000-05:00

(nom nom!)

Today I took Jaelyn to see the Doctor, she made it through the night without a coughing attach but with her stage debut coming Saturday and rehearsal on Wednesday I wanted to make sure we was not contagious …. The Doctor said there was a virus going around that Jaelyn had (Wednesday and Thursday that turned to Bronchitis BUT she was NOT contagious, she had no fever and acted fine just a little cough. I got a “z pack” for toddlers and 24 hours from her taking it today she will be good to go. We practiced all her song and motions a few times tonight (along with every day for the last 1 ½ weeks) and she LOVES them! I can’t wait to see her on Saturday. Now we just need to pick out a dress for her to wear!

(weeeeeeeee, sliding at the Doctors office!)

Other than that we had a low key day, ran errands, did chores and got take out at Aspen Creek for dinner (yum!) although I couldn’t taste anything because I have sinus issues this week my belly was Thankful!

(lunch and a new book for being SO good at the Doctors office!)

sick day ...

2011-11-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

(my fav house on the way home!!)

is this your house!!!?!?!!! :)

Today I woke up "sick" aka allergies and stress took over and that means I get a snotty nose and a head full of snot, yea I know right! On top of that I had to call the Dr about Jaelyn today , still watching her "barking/raspy" cough ... she took a 3 hour nap today so maybe that will help her be well on her way to being well.

I forgot what day it was last night while typing my blog post I guess.. BOO! Tomorrow we will make the trip to see Dr Todd I think, not 100% sure, it all depends on how the night goes ... :)

deep in the fire when the flame gets hot :)

2011-11-26T21:34:00.000-05:00

lookie what I found....

Jaelyn hasn’t felt very good since Wednesday, she started to sound “raspy” when she talked on Wednesday, and on Thursday she was raspy with a small barky cough but only when she choked or laughed… Friday she was raspy but not when I touched her chest just when I was listening…… today she is raspy, coughing and I can feel the “rasp” in her chest… poor baby…. Needless to say she and I will not be attending church tomorrow, I DON’T think she is “sick” but I do feel like her allergies are flared up, I am not supposed to open windows because of her allergies but early in the week (Sunday, Monday) I opened the windows and I feel like that and the weather might be causing it BUT I don’t know so to be safe we will just keep her around family.

thanks for fixing everything Great Grandpa

oh Great Grandma I love playing with you

Today Tommy and Jaelyn had special morning time together and then after her nap Tommy went to work and she and I went to Moms for dinner and to play with everyone, she is not “acting” sick so that is good also!

lets sweep PawPaw

Watching Beauty and the Beast with Aunt Chel

Tonight Jaelyn and I watched Home Alone 2 on TV and then she started tossing and turning…. I am thinking a trip to Dr.Todd tomorrow is a MUST!

MawMaw makes the BEST eggs for me!

and I helped!

now walk it off, walk it off

2011-11-25T21:16:00.001-05:00

Friday we headed up to the CLC to walk our Thanksgiving meal off, haha!

After our walk we had lunch with everyone at Moms and Jaelyn looked for a new bed in all the catalogs :)

then she decided that she wanted to be the pretty pretty princess and have her hair brushed!

YAY for Friday!

Hi Jes K, I know your reading and I just wanted to say hi!!

<3 CJA

Thanksgiving Game Night

2011-11-24T22:59:00.002-05:00

Tonight everyone came back over when Jaelyn got up and going after her nap and we ate more and played games. We played Apples to Apples and “The game on Four Christmases” it was a lot of fun, I hate that Tommy missed out but there is always tomorrow … more food more games , haha!

(yea I know an outfit change / it was PJ time!)

Jaelyn was Obsessed with the “buzzer” from Taboo and pretty much made Grandpa hide it because it was either let her wear the batteries down or take it away, HA! She was “playing songs” with the buzz, I just adore her ~~little~~ BIG personality.

"can I have that Jaelyn"

big girl, WHAT?!

Tonight for dinner she wanted turkey and a roll... she is her DADDIES DAUGHTER!!

Oh just breaking it down with Aunt Chel...

2011-11-24T22:50:00.002-05:00

That annoying laugh you hear in the back ground... is still going on and I've watched this 30 times and saw it in person....

Jaelyn is a HOOT!

TOTALLY HER MOTHERS DAUGHTER!

MY FIRST THANKSGIVING!

2011-11-24T15:26:00.002-05:00

Well, technically not my “first” seeing how I am 25 years old BUT It was my first Thanksgiving that I COOKED and HOSTED!!! When we lived in MO (when I was little) we ALWAYS did the Gma hop… then when we moved there wasn’t a lot of sense in cooking for 4 people when 2 of the 4 were under the age of 11… so we started a tradition of eating out on Thanksgiving. At the time O’Charleys was open for Thanksgiving and they served “Thanksgiving” type food so that was a good fix… then we started trying out different restaurants through the years… our family has grown to say the least in the last few years and this year Gma and Gpa were coming so I told Mom we should cook … I am pretty sure she has never done Thanksgiving either so the thought of this didn’t get a “ YES! “ like I thought it would BUT I talked her into it, She talked Dad into it and the plans for dinner at home started rolling… THEN I decided I wanted to do it at my house and I wanted to cook the turkey (ummmm yea I know!!) This time last year I was not even thinking about cooking a turkey!

Jaelyn trying SO hard to do "thumbs up" for Great Grandmas Stuffing!

Fluff and Pea Salad

Sweet Potato Dumplings

Red Mashed Potatoes

"Brab" as Jaelyn calls him....

Monday night I grocery shopped for Thanksgiving food which was maybe the 3rd hardest thing I’ve done in my life because I have NEVER cooked any of the things I was cooking and the ingredients were in my email inbox, text and on my list BUT I am happy to say I made it with only 12 calls to my mom……and you know how people exaggerate (me especially) when they are telling a story?? … Well 12 is no exaggeration … I looked it up because it felt like 30 HA!

Green Bean Casserole and Cornbread STUFFING! (THE BEST THING EVER MADE!)

and you know Jaelyn eats naked so there you have it my naked kid (cant take these pics much longer!)

her FAV was the cornbread stuffing and the mashed taters and of course.... sweet pots!

Dad, Mom, Tommy and Gma

Tuesday we started on the turkey, and honestly I don’t know what I was thinking, I mean I have heard things about cooking a turkey but I was pretty much oblivious to the “HOW TO” so Gma and Gpa came to the rescue and taught me step by step ( I could SOOO do it again next year). My first turkey turned out beautiful and got a couple thumbs up today … ( all the credit should go to Gpa because I couldn’t bring myself to touch it I was way to grossed out (immature I know!) BUT I think since I watched and LEARNED what everything was and how to clean it out that I could and would do it next year or for Christmas!)

Chelly and Brad

Gpa and Gma (BEST GRANDPARENTS EVER!)

quick "family photo" Tommy wanted to eat Jaelyn WAS eating and I needed a plate! HA!

The ::cheese:: face :)

Wednesday we started preparing the sides and actually cooking the turkey, I bought a “young” turkey because we were only feeding 9 people and 1 of the 9 is more like a 1/2 so it cooked fast. (3ish hours and two more today after it was cut up)

Today I woke up popped everything in the oven, we ate and we cleaned up. It was a GREAT first Thanksgiving.

Jaelyn is napping and Tommy is working now so I am … you guessed it blogging.

I decided not to jump the “thankful (only this month)” bandwagon (seriously being thankful for family (which is huge) seems SO small when I think about how thankful I am for my salvation which I feel is the BIGGEST THING EVER (yes even bigger than Tommy and Jaelyn!!!) but I will say this I believe I am more thankful this year than any other year of this life! Can I get an AMEN??

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Jefferson Street Baptist Center (Thanksgiving Dinner)

2011-11-23T21:53:00.004-05:00

Tonight Tommy and I volunteered at Jefferson Street Baptist Center (for the homeless and hurting) we signed up to be on the "Relationship Building Team" which is different than what we did HERE on Christmas Eve last year but it was still a GREAT time. Its SUCH a humbling experience. This year we met two new guys, I told Tommy it would be fun to see them again at Christmas time when we go back. They both sat and talked to us and told us their story, they live in the housing that Jefferson Street provides and could NOT say enough good things about the center. I left feeling encouraged that we did the right thing tonight (because last year a guy was sorta mean to me and I had a million bad feelings about going again but I am SO glad we did).

Jefferson Street relies solely on donations and does not recieve Goverment assistance because they stand firm on making Jesus Christ the CENTER of the healing process. There are so many positive things that come from that center, one of the guys told me that he had been to 2 other places in Louisville and Jefferson Street was THE ONLY place that was encouraging to him and didnt "expect" him to fail.

Earlier this year (in the summer) Tommy and I got a ton of stuff and donated it to the "yard sale" that Jefferson Street had to fundraise for their Hope Team.

If you dont already donate your time or things to a center please think about checking out Jefferson Street Baptist Center. I can assure you your donations would be much appreciated.

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

Luke 14:13-14

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

2011-11-22T16:15:00.002-05:00

We are so excited Gma and Gpa are here for a vist from TX! Jaelyn missed them and remembered them and loved on them like she saw them last weekend or something! She LOVES THEM!

Remember my comments about Jaelyn not napping so much lately, lets just say Great Grandma got her to sleep every day for nap since they got here on Thursday! ITS AMAZING! Today was the first day I was "on my own" for nap time and Great Grandmas advice worked like a charm! She is JUST like her mother, she feels like if she naps she will miss something , you just have to lay down for about 15 mins with her and act like your sleeping and she will just roll over and fall asleep. She has never liked sleeping beside me or in our bed or anywhere near anything or anyone else EVER in her life so I never thought to try this ... well... it works!! Today it took about 1 second! I didnt lay down with her today because frankly I cant fit in her bed with out it cracking and sounding like its gonna cave but as soon as she gets her new bed I will be able to do so if needed.... and who knows I might fall asleep for a nap myself ( like GGma did!)

She loves reading to them and playing "tea party" (its her newest thing!)

Grandpa is teaching me to cook a turkey this week ( I am doing Thanksgiving at my house this year and I AM SO EXCITED!)

best little girl in the world!

YAY! GO CHIEFS!

Sunday after church we went to lunch as a family and it was alot of fun.

Jaelyn is in hard core potty training mode ( I have to get to the point when she will TELL me and then I believe she is set, she will go both 1 and 2 on the potty now when we "offer" the time to go) I think her telling us is right around the corner.

AWANA

2011-11-16T21:53:00.002-05:00

Tonight I got to help in Puggles class. Its so fun we are getting them ready for the Christmas Program in a few weeks. Jaelyn LOVES to sing and dance and be the center of attention (NO!!GASP) I think it will be fun. They also have a lesson and a snack and play time ... it was a super fun night seeing her in "her world".

Girls Night IN!

2011-11-14T15:43:00.007-05:00

Monthly Girls Night came sooner than later due to Thanksgiving and I was really glad about that!

I love all these girls!

Stephs a MOM! (a great one at that!)

Celeste and Baby Alex! (what in the world am I going to call him in a few months when this big boy is 2!!)

This month we got out OLD OLD OLD pictures from grade school - high school!

THIS WAS SO FUN!

and FUNNY!

Such an ackward stage..haha!

Decor

2011-11-13T21:02:00.002-05:00

Tonight we put up all the Christmas decor :) Jaelyn was so excited, she had a blast !! She is SO fun !!

"CHEESE"

2011-11-13T15:59:00.001-05:00

Jaelyn is now saying "cheese" when I have the camera out..

the things we are lacking now are eye contact and attention ..haha! we are getting there!

just as I thought...

2011-11-11T19:05:00.000-05:00

its a virus....

gotta let it run its course....

of course....

we did get some perscription magic butt cream which is JUST what I wanted.... no seriously that is WHY I made the appointment :)

small fever, lots of messes, not eating ( I can see her ribs now .... where is my chubby baby!) and being lazy.... this is not like my normal Jaelyn sooooo like I said, a momma gets that *feeling* ( and a Gma in this case :) )

things that are still normal.... my child is just JUST just like her Momma and EVERYTHING is exciting to her..... soooo to make her feel better (because it makes me feel better)

TAAA DAAAAAA!!!!!!

we put up her tree....

I was planning to put the big tree up as well BUT when I saw HOW EXCITED doing all the decorations made her... I couldnt spoil it for daddy .... I have a feeling eveything will be taken down and put back up about 32774924 times this year due to the simple fact that I have a " I DO DIS" two year old :)

*BLISS!!!*

SICKIES!

2011-11-10T21:08:00.000-05:00

We have the sickies at our house :( I have had this **feeling** Jaelyn was getting sick for the past two weeks so I have been VERY proactive thinking it would skim over us....... no.such.luck

Tomorrow we will head to the doctor so that our weekend isn't the taste of an everlasting gobstober if you know what I'm saying..... gotta know whats going on with Jaelyn, althought I *think* I know.... I may have no idea!

Poor girl, I hate when she is sick, I prayed to God today that he would make me feel what she feels so that I would know how to fix it.... if only right?

I guess we will see what tomorrow holds, I changed doctors right before her 2 year check up and then I changed again since then but she hasnt needed to go so offically "this" doctor hasn't seen her. I hate that I "had" to change twice but its for the best so the appointment making might be a little bumpy but I know the doctor we see will be whats best for Jaelyn.

Happy Thursday!

The reason I did not blog last week....

2011-11-09T16:50:00.001-05:00

... was becuase Jaelyn and I were running the house ...

... while Tommy was in Philly ...

we had girls day EVERY DAY!

and played dress up ...

danced around....

went to lunch after Church....

went shopping with MawMaw ...

fed our puppy...

and when daddy got home we played MORE dress up....

because its her FAV thing to play!

She even told me " NO MOMMY! I CINDERELLA" when I addressed her as Jaelyn!!

hmmm...prissy :)

I also moved some of my blog posts to a BOOK!! I AM SOOO excited! ~~BAD~~ Crazy part is her future husband will kill me one day I am sure because each month of her life I have blogged so much information that almost all the books have to stop at 30 days becuase they are so long and have so many pictures... so if I dont stop until she is through college I will have approximately 80 books and that is if I stop the monthly books when she is 5 and do yearly books! WOW THAT IS ALOT! I told Tommy her husband is gonna make me store them until I die ..haha!

They are amazing, I haven't got all the way caught up (SO $$!) but with the gift card Tommy got me for our anniversary I was able to cover 5 months plus a first 6 months of her life recap book!

Jaelyn you better love these books! HAHA Im kidding, Im making them for you but they are for me as well... I want to remember every day I have with you!

It is SO fun to go back and read things that I forgot we did or funny things she did or said!

**blessings**

Happy Reformation Day

2011-10-31T12:29:00.001-04:00

Jaelyn decided she wanted to go to CHUCK CHEESE today .... and she wanted PawPaw and MawMaw and Mommy and Daddy to all go ( and Aunt Chelsea but she had to work :( )

telling daddy its "right heeyyaa"

No kidding we were the ONLY people in there for a good hour, two more families showed up with their kids as well... it was SO fun to let her just run around "like she owned the place"

She had a BLAST!

Chuck E Cheese and Jaelyn then had a HUGE dance party and he passed out free tickets to all the kids that were there.

She just LOVED him! I think last year she did good with him but was still a little "hold me mommy" but this year she was like "HES MY BEST FRIEND MOM!" haha!

After we played at ChuckECheese we went to Choices .... MMMMMM.... I like it better then 32* but it might be because its closer to home for us :)

IT WAS SUCH A FUN NIGHT!

Visit from MaMaw Sherry and GreatGrandma Margie

2011-10-29T21:32:00.000-04:00

Today Tommys Mother and Grandmother came over to visit and play with Jaelyn for a bit.

She really enjoyed playing with them, she hasnt seen them in so long. Sherry and Margie stay very busy and dont have alot of time to come out to Mount Washington, but we are so thankful they came today.

Jaelyn got a new book and she loved reading it with them.

and they brought us lunch :) Homemade Chicken Salad and Vegtable Soup

Jaelyn LOVED it

and "ate up" being fed like a baby ! She is soo funny!