The Story of Us (and this is LONG) =)

I am 100% convinced I have the greatest husband in the world. He is so incredible. When he proposed to me, he promised to spend his life trying to make me feel like a queen. Anyway, I've never really shared our story, so I want to. To some, it's no big deal. To me, it's OURS. It's part of what makes us "US."

Nick and I met in August of 2003. Looking back, it's strange that we never met sooner. We went to the same college. One of my closest friends was one of his roommates. I was in their apartment for open doors once, but Nick was not there. Nick sort of dated a girl who lived on my floor, yet I don't remember seeing him when I did rounds during open dorms.

After I graduated from Olivet in May 2003, I began working at our church as the music secretary. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that would lead to meeting my husband. I remember Nick's mom being in choir and asking for prayer for her son (who normally was in choir as well) who had gone to Europe with the International Business Institute. The first time he was back for rehearsal, I saw him pass my office, so I asked how Europe was. He gave me a funny look, but answered me. I honestly don't remember his answer. I didn't ask him with the thought we might be married some day. I simply asked because I was being nice and doing my job.

It didn't really take long for us to become friends. My roommate at the time, Tracy, and I had friends over after church every Sunday night. Sometimes it was several people, but more often than not, it was Tracy, Heather, Nathan, Mikey, Kara, Nick and me. We usually just hung out and watched a movie. Then Heather, Nathan, Mikey, Kara, Nick and I got together on days we didn't have sunday school and had our own Sunday school and lunch.

Nick and I became fast friends and I will admit, after we were spending nearly everyday (after work for me, and after classes for him) together, I was falling fast and hard. I tried setting my feelings aside. I just started praying all the time. One night, I remember writing in my prayer journal-a journal I probably still have packed away somewhere-that God would show me where everything was going to go with Nick. At some point, I truly felt that God said, "Relax, this is who you're going to marry. Just let it happen when it happens." As hard as it is to trust sometimes, I had to do just that. I think that all happened late fall/early winter 2003. Months went by before anything happened. We were together all the time though. I can't tell you how many times I was asked if we were dating. We may as well have just said yes because we basically were without acknowledging it (and there were no "benefits" with being friends, just for the record).

I invited him to go to my cousin's wedding in May. It was the first time he met anyone in my family. My mom was in town for my sister's (and incidentally, Nick's) graduation from Olivet, and then my mom's side of the family was at the wedding. He fit right into my family, and surprisingly, no one embarrassed him. If you know my uncles and my grandpa, you know that is quite surprising. I got a little scared when Randi (a family friend) kept pushing me to go do the dollar dance with my cousin. I told her I didn't have a dollar on me, so she handed me one, and sent me on my way. She walked right to Nick and started talking. I was nervous. You just never know what Randi will say! Turns out, she didn't get to say much! Nick out-talked Randi Hedrick. If you know Randi, you know that is no small feat! I was even more sure that he was "the one" after that wedding.

We still did not start dating for another two weeks. Most people would probably frown on this, but I'm going to share it because it is part of our story. That fateful weekend began on Friday afternoon when his mom informed him he had to find somewhere else to stay because she was having impact kids stay at their house, and needed his room. With such short notice, he didn't have anywhere to go, so Tracy and I offered him our couch. Nick and I ended up staying up late watching movies. I think we must've gone to Steak-n-Shake first (we often did that on Friday nights to visit Heather). We watched Twister, and I, of course, fell asleep. When I woke up it was around 2:30 in the morning (officially making it Saturday) and that is when Nick asked me if I "wanted to make things official." That was May 22, 2004.

My prayers were being answered and my dreams slowly came true. Slowly to that point anyway. After that it was a whirlwind. We both must've known. Three weeks later, he told me he loved me. I could have told him that sooner, but I'm pretty traditional and like a guy to move first. By the beginning of July, we were already planning our wedding. We weren't engaged yet, but because of an event in my family, we knew we wanted to plan around that so my parents and sisters only had to travel once.

Then it happened. Our engagement. For anyone that really knows me, you know that I absolutely LOVE Chicago. I would go every weekend if I could. I'm going to copy and paste the story from our wedding website (I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors. I wasn't thinking of that at the time):

At the train station right after we got engaged.

Our Engagement photo

We went up to Chicago because I had mentioned that I wanted to. We went to Shedd Aquarium and walked through the Oceanarium, watched the dolphin show, and saw several different exhibits. Afterwards we began the long walk to Bennigan’s on Michigan Avenue where I suddenly began to feel sick (great timing, I know). Nick had mentioned a few times throughout the evening going to Buckingham Fountain. Since I wasn’t feeling good, I said I just wanted to get on the train and go home. He asked what time it was. I checked my phone and it said 7:22. We had just missed the train. He asked if I thought I could make it to Buckingham Fountain, and I really didn’t think I could make it another four blocks. So we crossed the street and sat in the park. I laid my head on his shoulder and he told me he loved me and promised to take care of me forever (still had no clue at this point). He stood up and then started to kneel (and I began to cry). Kneeling, he said, “If you’ll have me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel like a queen.” Then I can’t remember if he asked me to marry him or asked me to be his wife, but I hugged him, and through tears, told him I loved him, to which he responded, “so will you?” Of course I said yes. We danced in the park for a little while before going to catch the next train. We finally got home after an hour train ride and a 30 minute car ride. We went to visit Nick's mom because she asked us to. When we got to her house, not a single light was on. She had candles lit in the kitchen and living room. In the living room she had set up a little table with sparkling grape juice and oreos. She came down the stairs, gave me a hug and said welcome to the family. Almost immediately I felt like I was going to be sick. I backed away, said I was going to be sick and ran for the bathroom. Not your typical engagement story, but it makes for a funny story! Something to tell the grandkids! haha! But it was a night to remember forever.

We spent the next 10 1/2 months planning our wedding. There were some ups and downs. We knew what we wanted, others tried to convince us otherwise. Someone threw a shower for me that I specifically said no to-several times, therefore creating the number 1 thing on my list of humiliations.

September 10, 2005 came and it was a gloriously hot, humid day. It was about 95 degrees before adding the humidity. But it was sunny, blue skies and absolutely gorgeous! I watch my wedding DVD several times a year to remember that day-the day I chose to marry my best friend. Gregg Chenoweth did a great job officiating, and made our wedding so unique and ours.

We spent our honeymoon in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was all fabulous. Life has just sort of taken it's course in the past 3 1/2 years of marriage. We had our first child, Kylee Nichol, on September 20, 2006, four weeks and one day before her due date. Our second child (our surprise child), Elijah Roman, came October 13, 2007, 13 days before his due date. We have had some ups and downs-lost jobs, a bad move, depression, unknown, and it seems to keep coming. But in the midst of it all, we have only grown closer. In the first two years of our marriage we were told we had endured more than many people endure in 10 years.

I just got a phone call from a very dear friend. She reminded me of James 1:2-3 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." She reminded me that Satan will be attacking us. We want to serve God. We want our marriage to stand the tests of time. Satan is going to beat us up all that he can to see us fail in both.

Today I am claiming the above verse and the following-

James 4:7-8 & 10 "7Sumbit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."

That devil does not know what he got himself into messing with us. I have a husband who is incredible and will not stand to see our family fall apart. I am determined to do the same. I truly believe that God created us specifically for one another, and God intends for marriage to be a lifelong commitment, a covenant between Him, my husband, and myself.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Matthew 19:4-6: "Haven't you read, he replied, that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate."

Sometimes I just want to pout

Sometiems it seems like we'll never catch a break in life. It seems things have been rather difficult for us since about the middle of our first year of marriage. Nick lost his job, he found another one after a few months, then I quit mine after returning from maternity leave to find a policy set in place that affected me and only me (a completely unfair policy at that), we made a move to Arizona that resulted in me being severely depressed, we found out we were pregnant with Elijah when we had very little money and were unsure of our future (turned out to be a great thing, obviously), we moved back, our housing fell through, Nick found a job, but Cigna pretty much sucks-but at least it was work. We found new housing after 3 months.

Things finally started to look up for us. Then we received our first water bill after EIGHT months of living here. If you live in this area, you may have figured out how ridiculous Aqua Illinois is. They came to shut our water off when we had only received a bill a week or so before. Of course, they refused to accept less than the entire bill in full, even though they admitted that it was their fault. It seems that everytime we start to even think we can get ahead, something else happens. They happen pretty regularly at our house. It's like Murphy has taken up permanent residence with our family. Too bad we can't claim him on our taxes.

If it's not one thing, it's another. Nick got into a car accident, fore-going our dream of having two cars (since one would be completely paid for). These are all only a short list of all the stuff that keeps happening.

Last night Nick opened the hood of our van and found that a tube was cut in half. This was not just something that happened over time. It was a slice, like someone took a knife to it. Luckily it was not a huge deal, and the guys at autozone gave us something to replace it till we can order the real part (shouldn't be an expensive fix), but while they were fitting that hose, they found something that can be VERY expensive. The strut towers are all rusted, and eventually, if we hit a bump just right, they said the whole front end can drop! What?!?!?! This sucks. This is supposed to be my reliable vehicle!

I will admit, I was mad at Nick first. He should have checked for that when we bought it. Then I thought about it and realized he probably didn't think to check that. Then I was mad and pouted most of the evening because we were supposed to go to IHOP for free pancakes, but changed our minds because now we have a new thing to pay for. Sure the pancakes would have been free, but what about tip, and the donation they were asking for? Not so much. So we came home and i made pancakes.

Nick kept sending Kylee over to give me hugs. That was cute. I'd much rather he learn to poop out money like Christine's husband! =) After dinner, rather than working out like I wanted to, I sat on the couch with my Bible for a while. I read, I prayed. I hope the number our landlord gave us will give us some hope for a lesser price to fix this problem. I am being hopeful, although past experience tells me that something else will happen. I'm trying to remain positive today. Do you even notice how hard it is to be positive when you are exhausted? I didn't get a restful sleep last night, lots of dreaming that I don't remember, so that left me feeling exhausted and barely able to wake up today.

I offered to give Nick the money I've been setting aside for my girls day in Chicago. Secretly, I'm hoping he tells me to keep it and still go. I want to contribute, but I also need a day out with the girls. Does this make me a bad wife? I hope not. It's not like I have a lot of money set aside, but I'm a mom. How often do I get to do something that is just for me? But if we need it, then I will give it.

On the up-side-it's Lent. No more sweets for me! Not only am I hoping this time helps improve my relationship with God, but also my waistline!

Not Me Monday

It's Monday. And I haven't done this in a while.



Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


Let's start with my kids....I did not feed them cupcakes for breakfast twice last week. That would be not be a very nutritious breakfast at all. I also did not join them in their breakfast, and I certainly did not add an extra layer of icing to my cupcakes. I would certainly never do that, especially when I'm trying to lose a few extra pounds.

I did not almost call the parents of the 8 month old I watch and tell them to come home and I was done last week. That baby does not cry all day when he is here. I do not get annoyed when his constant crying for hours starts to make my own son whiny.

I did not put off most of my housework last week. I did not choose to take naps instead of doing laundry. My husband did not have to ask me to wash the white clothes so he'd have some socks and underwear. That was not me. I would never let him get down to the last pair of undies, or even make him ask for laundry...nope, not me.

I did not send my husband to work with pink and red heart covered lunchbags all last week. I did not send a special treat with him every single day. My feelings were not the least bit hurt when Valentine's day came and the only thing I got was a 99 cent plastic rose from the Shell station. I did not think I would at least get a giftcard to Starbucks or something. I have not gone to Starbucks twice and Auntie Anne's once since then simply because I thought I deserved it.

I did not totally freak out when we went to the mall and Kylee fell and I saw blood on her tongue. I did not almost call 911 for a little bite on her tongue. I did not run to Sbarro, the closest thing in the food court and ask for ice water and force her to drink some. I was not so concerned with the blood that I forgot to check for other injuries. This mom did not freak out, yet again, when she showed me her swollen, red finger. I did not almost drive her straight to the ER. I did not settle for calling the doctors office, and I was content with their "ice it and give her motrin" response.

I have not allowed Elijah to eat Easy Mac and applesauce for every single meal that we do not have pizza (pizza is not just once or twice a week) just so he will eat. I am not hoping this is a short-lived phase of only pizza, easy mac and applesauce. I will not try blending up veggies to add if this phase lasts too much longer! I am not at all concerned about the amount of sodium he is consuming with this phase. I do not wonder why kids can't go through phases where they will only eat broccoli or green beans instead.

I was not ecstatic when I found I could button my winter white coat all the way. This is not a huge deal.

I also did not run my first under-ten-minutes mile last week. I did not run that fast because I am scared of being outside in the dark myself. I did not feel like I was going to puke when I was done!

Finally, I did not get my first minivan this weekend. I did not suddenly feel like a real mom!

This is where we are

We have found two vans that we really like (well, online). There is a 2000 Chrysler Town & Country in Indiana that I really want to test drive. I'm partial to Chrysler. I don't know why. The only thing it does not have is the Latch system for carseats. I can deal with that and use the seatbelts. We have before. It has dual sliding doors, middle row bucket seats, keyless entry, a CD player, and pretty much everything we want.

We also found a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan that also has everything we want. It's less money (I got them down just over the internet!), less miles, but 2 years older than the other. It's also dark blue which was our first choice in color, but I've not been being really picky about color except for the hunter green color. I don't like it on vans. This does not have the latch system either.

The T&C is at a closer dealership. I want that one if it drives well. Nick likes the caravan. I think I should get to pick if it's primarily going to be my vehicle. We'll see how it goes with the other dealership. If the can't come down close to the caravan, we probably will go with the caravan. I'll update again when I know more!

Thanks Christine for all your input!

I'm going to be a minivan mom

Edited to add: I don't think we're getting this van. All day I've been feeling uneasy about it. I think Nick is going to call and back out of the deal. The van is great, and if we were getting about $1000 more back on our taxes, we'd get it no problem. It was just more than we said we could spend and I want to be sure we have all our other bills paid too. End Edit.

When I was growing up and being the kid who had to ride in a minivan, I swore I'd never drive a minivan. I was going to get an SUV. Fast forward 10+ years and no way do I want a gas guzzling SUV. A mini van is a little more practical, and with two sliding doors on the sides, it'll be much easier. We realized last summer if we wanted more kids (and we do) we couldn't fit them all in our car. With all the new carseat laws, there is no way we could comfortable fit 3 carseats in our backseat. We began discussing the possibilities of a minivan. The more we traveled to Flint (a four or five our trip depending on weather) the more we realized it's becoming a necessity. Packing four people (two toddlers) three times from September to December, and adding the dog one of those times was not a fun thing. Trying to pack Christmas presents in the car with the clothes we needed for five days was a joke. We ended up sending the Christmas presents with my sister.

A couple weeks ago, Nick got into a minor car accident. The front of our car is smashed up, and it was drivable, but now it starts sporadically. The quest to find a vehicle became more intense knowing our tax refund will be here on Friday and we have been without a vehicle for a couple of weeks (thankfully Nick knows people here who work with him and his mom and grandma have let us use their cars as well). We looked online, drove to dealerships. One dealership never sent anyone out to us. Their loss. Another had a lot of minivans on the lot, but they did not take car of them. Almost all of them had tires slashed, big rust spots, things falling off of it, etc. We knew we were looking for a miracle because a decent van just does not sell for what we wanted to pay. We knew we wanted to pay cash (thanks Dave Ramsey!). We currently have a car payment on a car we can't even use right now.

We called a guy from church and he told us he might have something. We visited him at the dealership where he works. We drove the van and loved it. It overheated. Great. Not fun. We also found out another family from St. Louis was driving four hours to get that van, but hadn't put a deposit on it. We decided to pray about it. We continued looking, but wanted to pray hard.

Sunday we found out the other family never showed up. Monday we found out the overheating wasn't a huge thing, and they were fixing it. Great! We are waiting for Friday when our tax return is supposed to be deposited. The only thing keeping us from bringing it home is if the government is behind. If it's not deposited on Friday, I will take that as a sign the door is closing and to look elsewhere. If it's there, we pay cash and bring it home Friday.

What is your "Isaac?"

I'm trying to read the Bible through in a year. I found a site that gives you what to read in chronological order rather than reading straight through, which I like. Anyway, I'm a little behind (ok, a lot), but last night I was reading in Genesis about Abraham and Isaac. It's not a new story to me. It's one that I've grown up with my entire life. Every single time I'm touched by Abraham's incredible faith to put his son, the one he waited so long for, on that altar. I started thinking about it.

What is God asking me to put on that altar?

I thought about all day, you know, in between potty breaks, messes, wiping noses, etc. I know what it is. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I am not going to say it because it's between me and God. And it is something so very near to my heart. I already have a very difficult time just putting things into God's hands. To take something so incredibly important to me and let it out of my control and into someone else's is a extremely hard for me. I feel like this is a huge test of my faith, and I don't want another test. I feel like we've been in constant testing the past 3 years. But this time it feels more like a time for my faith to grow as an individual rather than as a couple. In the end it will help us grow as a couple and as a family as well, but initially this is mine.

After spending the better part of the afternoon and evening arguing with God, I finally just gave it over to him. Am I scared that he could take it this particular thing away? Yes, I will admit that. But I'm giving him my "Isaac" and fervently seeking God to try to learn his will.

So my question to you is what is your "Isaac" and have you given it to God?

25...er, 50 Random things

I was tagged so many times on facebook, I decided to do it twice.

Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

1. I hate new years resolutions. I make goals. It's easier to keep them if I think of them as goals.

2. I miss being pregnant. Who thought I'd ever say that since I felt miserable?!?!

3. I want at least two more kids...maybe three

4. I love the snow! I just wish it didn't always have to get quite so cold.

5. I am a perfectionist, though you'd never know it by looking at my house with two kids, a dog and a husband to clean up after.

6. I hate to be late. It stresses me out. And we are ALWAYS late so needless to say, I'm stressed frequently.

7. I am a FIRM believer in breastfeeding, even publicly (take that facebook!), but I will never push it on anyone, and I will always be supportive of a woman's choice on how she feeds her baby

8. I think abortion is murder. Give your baby to someone who will love him/her if you don't care.

9. I love the internet. I have made some wonderful friends via xanga and facebook like Melissa, Laurie, Brie,Becki, Mandy, Melissa from Canada, Lindsay-just to name a few. =)

10. I hate when people touch me when I'm stressed or having a bad day. Don't hug me, don't pat my back or my arm, etc. It makes it worse, not better.

11. I hate when people tell me things aren't a big deal when I am stressed. Seriously, if you know me AT ALL, you know it's better to let me deal with it, and to keep your mouth shut. Again, just makes things worse.

12. I HATE HATE HATE people touching my belly when pregnant. You are not touching the baby, you are touching my belly, even if you can feel baby. It makes me uncomfortable. I especially hate when people try to touch my belly when I'm only a few weeks along and not showing. I can't even feel the baby at that stage, what makes you think you can? It's not good luck, it's just annoying.

13. I hate that people assume that because we have two kids and/or are boy and a girl, we have the perfect family and we should be done. Our family will be complete when we're finished building it.

14. (this should be numer 1) I think I have the most amazing husband in the world. He loves me and our children, he supports us financially, we agree on how we want our family raised (and it's often against the norm), he loves to snuggle, and he loves God. What is better than that?

15. While I don't think my parents are perfect, I think they were great parents and raised us well.

16. I love being a mommy. Some days it is so hard I want to run up and down the street screaming, but more days than not, they are better and I have two precious, intelligent, beautiful beings that God created out of love.

17. I love starbucks. If I had the money, I'd go there every single day. It always takes me a while to figure out what I want unless I'm craving something because I like so many different drinks.

18. I look forward to naptime every single day. I relish in the quietness of our home during that time. I try to read or facebook or workout. The only sound is the dog snoring (or Bob or Jillian yelling at me if I'm working out).

19. I love my family! It's ginormous! It's been said (and made me angry) that my family must not be very close, but quite the contrary! If the economy wasn't so horrible in Michigan, I'd actually consider living there again. They are the most fun, loving, supportive people I know.

20. I am extremely picky about how our clothes are hung in closets. It has to go in a specific order, so I think I scared my husband into not wanting to hang clean clothes up. He'll put away folded things, but I usually do the hang-ups.

21. I have had the same best friend since fourth grade. We can go days without talking, but when we do, it's like we never missed a beat (and for the record, we usually talk 2-4 times a week).

22. I love my moms group at church. I didn't know most of the ladies very well before, and now I feel a little lost without my two hours on Mondays with them. Hurry up Jan. 19!

23. I will never keep a secret from my husband. If you don't want me to tell him something, don't tell me. There are times when I forget later, or it just never comes up, but don't ask me to not tell him anything. I'd rather you just not tell me. I also don't tell people things if I don't want their spouse to find out. I will never ask someone to keep anything from their spouse. The exception would be surprises! And you never have to worry, my husband is the best secret keeper ever...pretty much because he has a horrible memory and rarely remembers me telling him!

24. I like frosting straight out of the can. YUM!

25. I am very untrusting. I've been hurt way too many times and it takes a while to earn my trust now. It takes even longer if you have broken it. I can forgive, but I never forget. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. I won't let it happen again.

25 MORE!

1. I hate when people take advantage of me, my husband or others I love.

2. We almost left our church after things ONE person said about us started getting back to us and people started treating us differently. Now most know both sides and realize theother person either exaggerated a LOT or didn't ever tell our side of things. We never left because we never felt like God wanted us to. Two people still glare at me anytime they see me. I just smile and keep walking. Kill 'em with kindness, my mom always said.

3. We LOVE our sunday school class. Kathy Heck is an awesome teacher, and the people in our class are great.

4. I am a FIRM believer that you can make any marriage work (outside of abuse) if you really want to. But WANT is the key word.

5. I like my kids a whole lot and hope to have at least two more. Maybe three. I think that freaks my mother in law out. =)

6. I hope to adopt from China someday. I already have her name picked out.

7. We also have our next two children's names picked out if God chooses to bless us with more. You, however, will not know till they are born.

8. We try to incorporate someone's name from our family in eachof our childrens' names: Kylee's middle name is Nichol, we just removed the AS from Nicholas. Elijah's middle name is Roman, Roman is my dad's name.

9. I come from a gigantic family and I love it. I love that I have lots of aunts and uncles and even more cousins. Nick's ENTIRE family-all of his cousins, aunts, uncles on both sides-is smaller than just my mom's side. My dad's is even bigger.

10. I hope my sisters have lots of babies too. I want my kids to have the huge family I experienced growing up.

11. I hate the color pink. I wear it a lot because, according to my color analysis, it's a good color for me. I still don't like it though.

12. I met some of my closest friends online. Xanga has been a great way to find new friends and nurture those relationships. I've actually met a few of them in person.

13. I think being a mom is the hardest job there is. The worry about doing it right, dealing with tantrums, potty-training, fighting over toys, knowing that at some point they are going to do something that will break your heart, worrying about their safety and health, their education, etc. But the hugs and kisses and "i yub you mommy's" make it all so very worth it!

14. One of my biggest pet peeves is inproper carseat use. The chest strap is supposed to be at the armpits and only two fingers should fit between the chest and the strap. Read instructions people, this is the safety of your child.

15. Another biggest pet peeve is people who incorrectly write a lot. It is not alot or allot or allott. It is A space LOT. This is grade school grammar. Thanks to Mr. Busick, I will never get past this annoyance. =)

16. I have had the same best friend most of my life (after my husband, of course). We met in fourth grade, but hated each other in middle school. We reunited in 9th grade and have been best friends ever since!

17. I think I have the cutest kids in the world. =)

18. I want to be an event coordinator some day. I don't want to plan parties, but big events like benefit concert, charity balls, things that have some purpose and meaning behind them and will also help others. I planned my first benefit concert in college and loved every minute of it.

19. If I don't ever do event planning, I'd like to go back to school and get my teaching degree.

20. I always said I'd never buy baby legs because I thought they were silly. I bought three pair last night at Target for 2.98 apiece. It was the last three they had left. I realized how useful they could actually be. (baby legs=leg warmers for baby-very useful for potty-training, babies who learn to crawl in the summer and usually only wear onesies, just to help keep warm, etc)

21. I never thought I'd be a breastfeeding, co-sleeping, babywearing mama. I do/did all three proudly. My next venture is to try cloth diapering! I'm really excited.

22. I love the delivery aspect of having a baby. I could deal with out the labor part but I LOVE the delivery side of it. I feel like I accomplished something great and have a great reward. I'd love to video-tape my next delivery.

23. I love to run. I never thought I'd be a distance runner, but I love it. I'm running my second 5K in April.

24. My favorite movie is White Christmas. I think it is the best movie ever. AFter that, I like just about every girlie movie out there!

25. I am THOROUGHLY enjoying the fact that it's after 8 am and Elijah is still sleeping! Especially since I feel like I got hit by a train today. If only he'd sleep ALL night instead of waking up once.