It's Christmastime in Richmond...

Well I have been sick since Thanksgiving. Gross. I actually got better for about a week but then have gradually gotten worse again. I can't breathe through my nose, so at night my throat dries out viciously and burns like fire. I have a cough that sounds like a seal and I'm just flat out one big whale. But oh how excited I am about this Christmas season. I really can't handle the fact that this past weekend we got about eight inches of snow. Its gorgeous outside. I'm so surprised at how much that adds to the glory of Christmas. It reminds me that because of the birth of Jesus, and His dying on the Cross, that I am washed as white as snow. That the blanket of white that is covering nearly every inch outside is kind of like His forgiveness of my sins. Though, I know that His "blanket" doesn't cover, it takes away. My sins are gone.

Now, on from my sermon. :) I am so over ready to have this baby. One midwife told me last week that it looked like it would be any second. The one I saw today told me that she thinks my body is trying to get better before it lets me go into labor. Which means that it could be a few more days to a week. Oh how I wish to be able to bend over and pick something up without feeling like I'm going to topple over! Or how about put on shoes normally. Or what about even standing up in the shower without feeling like I'm going to fall over. Soon enough. Thats what I keep telling myself.

I guess what I'm mostly nervous about is having her on Christmas day. One, because I really want to be here with Trey, but two being that I really just don't want to be in the hospital on Christmas and all of our friends are going out of town except one family. Well, that family just had a baby a week ago and they have family in town. So, I hate to send him there, but we might just have to! :)

I'm going to end this with some cute pictures of Trey in the snow. Enjoy!

thankful

This years Thanksgiving was wonderful! My family came and we had tons of fun watching Trey be silly and doing yard work (well the boys did) eating tons, and showing them around Richmond. The bummer of it is that I started to get the flu on Saturday and am still recovering. My family left Sunday morning, which I'm thankful for, because I would have hated for them to have gotten sick especially with an eight hour drive home!! I ended up calling my midwife on Sunday though just since I am 36 weeks pregnant, I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right. She called me in something that will lessen the symptoms and duration of the flu but it will still allow it to run its course. We both agreed it would be absolutely terrible to go into labor at the time being this sick. She also told me what I needed to look out for and do and not do, and most of all she said I need to stay in bed and do nothing. Which sounds nice at first, and actually has its shining moments, but when your precious little boy comes in the room excited to see you and says "mommy, mommy, mommy, hug?" but you can't because you don't want him to catch this terrible virus, its enough to break your heart and make you beg to be well again!
Luckily I have this incredibly amazing husband that has completely taken over as a mommy to trey and doctor and humble servant to me! :O) He has been cooking, cleaning up after every meal, sweeping, doing laundry, dishes, scrubbing the bathtub...which is so much more special when I'm sick. It's so nice to feel taken care of and makes me fall in love with him even more...imagine that?! I know I take it for granted sometimes, but this is reminding me how I should pay more attention.

Now, I'm sure most of you are wondering why there is a picture of Friends on here?! What does that have to do with being sick? Well, I'm sure most of you have seen the show and understand when I say how they live in community with each other. Here is a group of friends who do just about every aspect of life with each other. They are always there when needed, and constantly look out for one another. Thats the second part of my sick story.
Since we moved to Richmond to start this church we have met some amazing people. Those are some of the people who we do life with together. Who we are "Friends" with ourselves. We have meals together, play games together, read the Bible together, pray together, work together and are just plain there for each other. Well, last night when Robby was in small group and told them what was going on with me, they all immediately stepped up. Chris and Ann sent him home with gatorades and waters for me, Luke and Whitney said they were bringing dinner over tonight, April went out and got me more gatorades and soup today, and some offered to watch Trey if needed. Out of the eight people that were there last night, I'd say thats a pretty darn good group of friends to have. I am so thankful to be a part of this and pray that people will be drawn by this story and want to be a part of it also! So, thanks to my Friends!

Picture Post

I know I haven't posted too many pictures lately, so this is for all the family that has been wanting to see pictures of that little rascal!

Muffins make everything better!



Check out this great outfit my dad bought him last year! It hasn't fit him until now, since he's so tiny, but it finally does (except you can see the vest is still a little big) and we love it on him!




Trey is showing off his first tattoo. He was so proud!



Trey is learning to be a helper! He loves watering the plants.

The Craziness Begins...

Actually, it continues...

We had a great little visit from Micheal this week. He and his friend Caleb came through on their way home from New York. Trey really liked Micheal's bright orange knit hat. I think it fit him quite nicely and might just have to get him one!
The weekends are beginning to fill up very quickly. I would give almost anything to have a weekend to go home, but I'm knowing that probably won't happen. I guess I have to accept that. Maybe we can make it home at the end of February for Trey's birthday. Robby and I were looking at our calendars the other day and I told him to look really closely at December. I said, "See how the weekends aren't full now...let's keep it that way!" Our weekends until December are jammed full. All of them. Since there is another little Christmas on the way, I told him we needed a little family time before life changes all over again. He completely agreed. Let's see if we can make that happen....

So this pictures of Trey that you see...well, here's the story. The other night it was really cold and Robby and I wanted to just get under blankets and watch a movie. Trey had gone to bed at 8. By 9, we put in the movie and got situated. About five minutes later, Trey started crying. He doesn't normally cry when he wakes up. So I went in to check on him and he would not go back to sleep. Robby got him and brought him out to watch a little of the movie with us. Apparently Trey loves The Karate Kid. Robby paused it to let me get up and get something and as soon as he did, Trey started to cry. PITIFUL. So, Trey watched the movie with us. We couldn't help it. He stayed lounged back like that in Robby's arms almost the entire movie. Precious little stinkin' booger.

We finally found a Chiropractor here that is really great. Even though I've only been adjusted twice, I already feel a tiny difference. He said he wants to see me no less than twice a week. The Lord is wonderful with his provisions for us. The chiropractor said that a pregnant woman who gets adjusted a good bit before delivery usually has a shorter labor! I'll take that any day!!!

I know I've been slacking on my posts. Sorry. I'll try to work on it :)

Baby Love

Robby and I went to a "Mops and Pops" dinner tonight. Yea, kind of a dorky name, but thats ok. We're dorky people. I joined a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group when I got to Richmond and I am really thankful that I did. Its at a really great church here in the city with about 40 women all with little kids. Tonight we got to spend some uninterruped time with our friends Matthew and Lindsey. It was so nice. Another added bonus was getting to hold a little seven week old little boy. It brought back so many memories of Trey and got me all worked up/freaked out/excited/nervous about having this little girl. Robby was so precious with the baby. He's the one who suggested that we hold him and give the mom a break. I love my thoughtful and sweet husband.
Get ready Robby, you're about to get your share of some baby love.

Today

It's late, and I should be in bed, but I can't sleep. Thats funny, considering how tired I am, but I just can't settle down. (I'm sure that doesn't have anything to do with my back hurting like it has been with this pregnancy...) I was just looking at some pictures of that little cute boy I have and just couldn't believe his sweet little face.
As you've probably read in older posts, Trey has allergies. Not severe (except for peanut butter) but he's definitely got them. About three weeks ago, he woke up two nights in a row coughing really bad about four times each night. He wasn't coughing during the day, just at night. I know he's allergic to dust mites, so I stripped his crib and washed everything in hot water, and that night he slept perfectly. Hmmm...? So then two nights ago it started again. I stripped his bed, but accidentally forgot to get the dust ruffle. Well, last night, he was still coughing like crazy and woke up crying because he was coughing so hard. It was too late to wash everything, so I just laid in the recliner with him for a while and tried to make a pallet on our floor. Well, the pallet didn't work out because after a while, he started coughing again. I put him in bed with us (which is definitely a last resort, because even though its adorable, he is SUCH a squirmer!) and he didn't cough anymore...so, whats going on? How do dust mites work? Would they have crawled from his unwashed dust ruffle to his crib mattress that quickly? I'm lost...

So the whole point of my blog, other than that really long story of Trey's current sleeping habits, was to rest in how much I love my son. It is frustrating enough to be sleeping absolutely terribly as it is with this pregnancy, but to have to be up about 8 times last night and then stuck with about 5 inches on my bed when I put him down with us...but what a little bundle that loves his mama. I am so blessed to have such a tender hearted son. Tonight we had our first worship service with the church. It went really well. I knew Trey had had a really rough day since he didn't sleep well last night and since he is teething, but the people that watched all the kids said he was a breeze. What a precious blessing. I want to squeeze him.

Because I was such a sap and was so blessed by his sweet heart tonight, when we got home from church I told him he could watch some of the movie Toy Story when we got home. (It was already about 8:45, and he normally goes to bed at 8) As soon as I said it, he got this precious look on his face and said "Woody"...Melt my heart. He loves that movie.

We are switching him to a toddler bed soon. I'm a little nervous about it, but I think he'll like it. He LOVES to ride in the car carts at Kroger (even though I'm sure they are infested with germs) and I found this little yellow beetle bug toddler bed on Craigslist that we're going to look at tomorrow. Even though his room is light blue and tan, I just had to get this to see if he would like it. If he doesn't, we could just resell it on Craigslist. It will at least hold us over for a little while until we find something else that is a little nicer. I'm really hoping it works though. I can imagine he's going to love it. I'll post some pictures once we pick it up.

Happy Week Everyone.

A Classy Way to Cheer

Alright, this is for all of you football fanatics! These hand stamped, sterling silver necklaces are a great way to support your favorite team! They go great if you are dressed up, or great with jeans and a t-shirt! This was a gift for a Georgia fan, obviously. :) I can do some other teams as well. Just check with me if you are interested. I can also do your child's school sports team colored beads and your child's name and jersey number on the disk. These necklaces make great gifts!! Send me an email if you are interested or check out my website!

www.gajewels.etsy.com or georgiajewels@gmail.com