this weekend

The weekend was jammed packed and a lot of fun, we took tons of pictures!

Friday:
Lance and I played outside and I had to document the fact that a few things I had planted actually survived, bloomed, and looked nice. Here is my purple rose bush I planted last spring:
This is Lance smelling a red rose bush that I almost killed, but it came back after the deer ate it to bits two summers ago.
Here is Lance trying to grab the rose bush to smell it:
Lance is trying to get me to smell the flower:
Lance's new thing is riding is tricycle through the flower beds, not my favorite thing, but he had a bad cold last week and felt so bad so I was pretty slack on discipline.

Saturday:
Lance, Grandma, and I went on an adventure.

We picked strawberries.

They tasted as good as they looked, I wish I never had to buy store bought strawberries again and I could always get them fresh and local.


"Aunt Christy" came for a visit and Lance and we had some fun with sunglasses.

I love this picture:
Lance loves his "Aunt Christy"




Lance being Lance had to have the camera and took a bunch of pictures. Here is Lance's picture of the baby at 29 weeks:
Christy told him to take a picture of his shoes:

I am quite impressed with his photography skills at such a young age!

Today:
Despite money being nonexistent for us we spent money Jeff made from his event to go to the Safari Park since Jeff had the day off and we wanted to get away. We had such a nice time and it was so much fun to get away and forget about all the junk life has been throwing at us lately.

Lance loved looking at all the animals and oohed at everything. Here he is climbing on a tortoise statue:


The Safari Park has a drive through section where you can feed the animals, well mainly the lamas because nothing else can get past them, they are quite persistent. They walk right up to your car and stick their heads in the window to get at your food, it is a little creepy at first.
You can really get up close and personal with some big herbivores, you aren't suppose to feed these guys as well as the bison, yet people do so they end up sticking their huge heads in your car looking for food and they barely move out of the way when you are trying to drive past.


Lance really liked being able to "drive" with daddy and sit up front with us during the safari drive-thru.
We had a really great time and a lot of fun. This weekend was a lot of fun and it was nice to have some fun and forget about all the stress we have been dealing with.

finally, a Sabbath

Jeff has finally considered what I have been asking him to do for awhile now and I am so happy that he is going to try out my idea. Starting this weekend he is going to have the shop open on Sundays and closed on Mondays, so he will finally have a Sabbath. We will actually have a whole day to share together and he will for the first time in almost 7 years have a whole day off. He technically has Sundays off now, but at least once a month he has had an event and then with him running sound at church and small group in the evenings we really haven't had much time to spend together, about 4 hours, and that hardly equates to a whole day off. This will also give us the opportunity (if gas prices ever come down and the shop does more business) to be able to get away for a day or two because hiring someone to work 4 hours on Sunday is cheaper and easier then finding someone for 8 hours on a Monday. Also, because a lot of people don't work on Sundays we hopefully will have more business in 4 hours then we would on a Monday and with the other business being closed we can have events and not have to worry about upsetting the other business in our shopping center. I am really happy for Jeff that he will actually have a whole day off that he can do some things that he likes to do and we can do some things together as a family. I have a women's small group that I go to on Monday mornings and I can take Lance with me and then Jeff can actually have the morning to himself or the two of them can hang out together and do stuff. When the baby comes having him home one whole day will be a big help too. Maybe some of those home improvement projects can get done around the house, but that could be aiming a little too high! Anyways, I am excited that Jeff will finally have a day off.

stuck in the moment

Lance has a cold, my poor buddy, he is not a happy camper and I feel so bad for him. He keeps gagging on all that congestion and tries so hard to breathe out of his nose which is so stuffed which causes the gagging and he hates to have his nose wiped which makes him cry which makes even more snot. Yesterday, I gagged while trying to wipe off his nose, it was that gross, which reminds me of my sensitive stomach and extremely easy gag reflex and I get stuck in the moment thinking that my annoying symptoms will never go away. I find myself thinking that this cold will never go away when time seems to tick by so slowly especially when I am up quite a few times at night and awoken to coughing and heaving by the poor guy. Not only am I stuck in the moment when it comes to illness and pregnancy, but when it comes to life. I am trying to stay focused on the future and positives, but lately with gas prices, poor business, and everything else crazy going on it isn't easy. I know that there is no guarantee to have an easy life, but I would sure like a breather for a bit. wait, haven't I said that before?

bored

I am the store wishing for some customers because staying busy makes the day go by faster. Jeff is putting on an event and unfortunately it seems that things are slow where he is as well as here at the store. Where are all the people? Saturdays are suppose to be busy in the retail world. Lance is taking a nap on a blanket on the floor behind the display case and I am running out of things to look at online and I am bored. An hour and half left, that is a long time when you are sitting here doing nothing. I am tempted to do some rearranging, but the store is kind of empty right now so there isn't much to change unfortunately. This past week was quite hectic especially since Jeff's car died and we were down to one car. I think I drove every day this past week (there goes my goal of not driving at least two days every week), but there wasn't a day that I didn't have something going on. Monday was small group. Tuesday I got a haircut. Wednesday was . . . Oh, my first customer yeah, bummer they were just paying for something they already had so it only took a few minutes. Wednesday I worked at Magnolia and I drove there, but I know we did something that morning but I have no clue what we did. Thursday morning we went to Target and got diapers and lunch for Jeff. Friday we had to be at the shop so Jeff could go to the DMV to switch things for his car and I went to the grocery store, but Wednesday, we drove somewhere, but where? Fortunately next week won't be so busy (maybe I can make up for my tons of driving this week) and now that Jeff has a car it makes life a lot easier. Jeff is now driving around in what he calls an old person car- a 2006 Ford Focus wagon in a light sea foam green, it wasn't his first choice, but we were given a deal we couldn't pass up and the whole one car thing was not working. Also, I am done with my month of working at Magnolia, thank goodness, I feel like such a wimp, even though it was only 4 hours, it was very tough on me. I feel like such a goob because I did so much when I was pregnant with Lance and now I can barely handle a day at home and working 4 hours, am I going to be able to handle two kids?

a non-event

As I jump around the Internet I see and read of all of the wonderful things that husbands and children did for moms on mother's day. I wish I could tell of some unexpected gift or a really sweet card made by Jeff and Lance, but I can't, because someone forgot. How I am not so sure, we made Mother's Day cards for the grandmas and great-grandma's on Friday, but I was somehow overlooked. My mom did take Lance to the garden store on Saturday and he picked out some flowers for me to plant, which is very nice, so I did get some flowers from Lance. Since Jeff was running sound at church and had to leave early Sunday morning Lance and I went to breakfast. We shared some french toast and a hot chocolate, but I only got a sip or two of hot chocolate before Lance took over and won't share it with me, he really likes hot chocolate. After church Jeff did get some highly addictive french fries from the Cavalier store down the street that we shared while we watched a movie we had rented the night before. Since it was cold and rainy out we just sat on the couch until it was time to head over to my mom's house for dinner. My mom, grandma, sister, sister's husband, and the three and half of us had a great meal despite my stomach being a little upset after accidentally eating some sesame pretzels (sesame is my MAJOR food aversion and just talking about it makes me feel kind of yucky). Anyways, Mother's Day was a non-event, but it wasn't a bad day and though I get a little bummed that no efforts were made towards me, but isn't that what motherhood is all about. Even though I am probably off the hook for Father's Day, I have some really neat ideas on what to do for Jeff so maybe he will do something nice for me some random day this summer which is honestly what I would prefer, him doing something nice when it isn't expected or he feels like he has too.

baby names

We haven't settled on a baby name yet, actually we haven't really talked about names since before the ultrasound. Before we knew the sex of the baby we were working on boy names because it seemed so much harder than girl names and I assumed we would have another boy, anyways, we don't have a name, but we have time. Turns out the boy name was easier to decide on, we liked Wesley, Wesley George actually, but it doesn't matter now. We each have a name that we like and at first I didn't like the name Jeff picked but it is starting to grow on me and I am starting to obsess over finding the perfect name because Lance's is so perfect for him and has meaning. The one girl name of signficance that I liked is Hannah which Jeff vetoed immediately (it is my maiden name), he also vetoed Emma and Anna (my great grandmother's names). Yesterday at Target I even consulted the Baby Name Wizard, but I didn't like any girl names that they had connected with Lance, that is a neat idea to over siblings names. Back in December I would call the baby Lily, and I really like Lily, it sounds so nice with Lance, but I think it is really popular right now and since having a really popular name myself I want to kind of stay away from a super popular name. Jeff really likes Olivia, and at first I didn't, but I am starting to like it more, it too is very popular. Today I found a middle name I liked- Olivia Joy and I can't decide on a middle name to go with Lily. I like the sound of Olivia Joy, but it seems so unoriginal, not that I want to name her anything super original, never been done before, no one can pronounce or spell original, but something special. I had picked out with the help of a friend awhile ago Adelyn Joi, but it is to close to Adeline (which I don't love), my mom hated it (whose opinion I value) and I didn't really like the middle name nor was I able to find a middle name that I liked with Adelyn. I am worried that I haven't looked around enough at names in general to find the perfect one, this naming thing is hard, or it is a lot harder than it was with Lance (which we had picked out years beforehand). So yesterday she was Lily and today Olivia Joy, I wonder what I will call her tomorrow, any suggestions?

so little time

Life seems pretty blah right now, nothing exciting, most everything is difficult. The business is struggling which in turn makes us struggle financially. I am tired of fighting the drama of life: business, family, money, and I just want a break. Life is mountaintops and valleys and I am ready to get out of the valley for a little while, I don't need a mountaintop, but a plateau would sure be nice. My wise friend said there is water in the valley, I just need to find some refreshment and an opportunity to get away, get my head cleared, this was suppose to happen next weekend, but due to lack of funds we aren't able to get away for the weekend. Life is very busy and thank goodness I am done with work next week, though the money is helpful, it throws off my week and I don't get the down time I need. I just need a break with my family, I am tired of waiting for things to get better and slower, I need to stop now, the only problem is, if I stop I will probably just fall asleep and not enjoy the break enough.

halfway there

I am halfway through with my back to work month at Magnolia and it is harder then I thought, but it is nice to get out and be social, I just wish it wasn't so physically demanding. I guess I have gotten to be quite the wimp these days and standing up for hours is a lot harder then it use to be (then again, when I worked there I wasn't pregnant, I stopped working there occasionally when I was five months pregnant with Lance and here I am in my sixth month). The Wednesday and Thursday nights aren't bad (3.5 to 4 hours and I am in the kitchen), but the Saturdays are brutal (8.5 hours). I really miss Lance on Saturdays because I don't get much of a chance to hang out in the morning before I leave at 8:45 then when I get home between 5:30 and 6 I am so tired I can barely move and then in two hours it is time for bed so I don't feel like I get much time with him. I don't know how women who work do it, even though I am hardly working full time I can't keep up with the housework and errands and my body hurts. I am very thankful that I am able to stay at home with Lance and don't have to sweep, mop, bend over a sink washing dishes, taking out the trash, helping customers, and standing up for hours everyday, even though if I did go back to work I probably would not be in a restaurant. I have enjoyed getting away from Lance and having adult conversations, I just wish it didn't involve manual labor. I like the evening shifts better because I am mainly in the kitchen making sandwiches, cleaning up, and prepping food for the next day's deliveries which is a lot easier then racing around helping customers and I can usually get the kitchen closed up faster then I can the front counter because less tasks have changed since I was last a regular employee two years ago so I can just do and not ask someone else how to do it. I am dreading tomorrow, another all day Saturday, but I keep telling myself, only two more, I am halfway through also the baker said yesterday that I was going with him on a delivery of a wedding cake that is a good distance away about lunchtime so that would be awesome if that really happens, an hour of sitting down and hanging out with Willie instead of racing around during the lunch rush, sounds good to my sore legs and tired feet. It sounds too good to be true so I am not going to believe it until I am in the car heading out of town. Two Saturdays down, two more to go, and a paycheck waiting for me, I can do this.