I feel like I'm a little behind on my postings. I started writing this blog entry on Feb. 13. Needless to say, some of this goes way back. I didn't even put all the Christmas pictures on yet. Some of the stuff is outdated. However, I've put too much into it to just start over. I'm going to try to update and add to it...so if it seems a little choppy...you know why.
Let's start with Christmas...lol. We had a wonderful Christmas. We were very fortunate that I had started my substitute job at the beginning of December, and was able to work several days before Christmas break. We used that money to buy Christmas presents. The kids got lots of toys and gifts. Aleigha was soo excited with everything. She was even awake when Santa came. He gave her a couple of gifts and told her she needed to go to bed, and then he would come back and leave the rest. She diligently obeyed. Brenton also loved unwrapping the toys and playing with them...especially the wrapping paper. Next year though, Santa is going to be making some cut backs. I think they are young enough they will never know any different.
New Year's Eve: As most everyone knows, Dec. 31 is our anniversary. We always debate whether or not we should do something with family/friends or if we should do something alone. In the previous years, we have gone out to eat just the 2 of us, and then we would spend the night with family/friends. This year we decided we needed a treat. One the 31st, we went and stayed in Elkins, WV. We went out to eat at a little bar and grill. We watched live music and brought in the New Year by playing pool. Just after the stike of mid-night. We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express. The next morning, we went to Timberline Ski Resort for a fun day of skiing. This was the first time (and only time at this point) I left Brenton alone overnight. Well, obviously not alone. He was def. in good hands with my mom and several of my sisters.
During this holiday season, we had the opportunity to spend lots of time with family and friends. We were very fortunate that so many of my family members came in during the holidays. We always enjoy spending time with everyone. We definitly missed those who couldn't make it in though.
Valentine's Day: This is holiday that so many people celebrate, so it's not the easiest to find a babysitter for more than a couple of hours. We decided to stay home and Chris made me a wonderful steak dinner. We let the kids eat and play in the living room while we had a dinner alone in the dinning room...we almost made it through the whole dinner alone. We decided not to do presents this year since we are trying to save to buy a new house. Of course though, we had a little candy and I bought each of the kids a book about love. It was a very nice evening at home with our little family.
Chris' Bday: Chris' birthday falls one week after Valentine's day. We went out to eat a couple of times with family to celebrate his birthday. We also hung out with some friends of ours the night before his bday. Then on his real birthday, we spent the day celebrateing his little cousins Sequoiah's 3rd bday.
Jeremy's Birthday: Every year, my family gets together on or near Jeremy's birthday. We get balloons and then write letters to Jeremy. After reading the letters, we attach them to the balloons, and all together, let them fly off to heaven. It's a wonderful tradition. I love the fact that we still celebrate my brother and the life he lived. He will never be forgotten. Because of this tradition, I feel that even Aleigha is getting to know her Uncle Jeremy that left this Earth before she entered it.
Easter: We had a wonderful Easter. We stayed the night before at my parents house. Aleigha had a fun time dying the eggs that the Easter Bunny was going to hide. Even Brenton gave it a nack...after breaking a couple...we decided that maybe finding them would be more his thing. The next morning we awoke to see the wonderful treats the Easter Bunny left for us all. We each got a basket full of candy and Aleigha and Brenton each got an Easter book. Then the kids started with an egg hunt in the living room and found several plastic eggs with more candy! Then we made our way outside and found all the eggs for our breakfast. Brenton was much better at the finding and playing with the eggs than the dying of them. Aleigha however, found more than 50 eggs all by herself!! We then enjoyed a delicious breakfast. After we watched converence and then ate an awesome Easter lunch, we went to Crystal Lake for another Easter Egg Hunt. Aleigha and Brenton got a special treat...they were able to see the Easter Bunny!!! They were both scared at first. Aleigha finally gave him a hug...but would never sit on his lap or let him hold her. Brenton turned away from letting him hold him at first, but finally gave in. After the bunny left, Aleigha said, "I'm ready to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap now." Unfortunatly it was a little late. All-in-all, we had a wonderful Easter.
Work: In the middle of Feb. I started working a long term substitute position. I taught 6th grade reading and English, and an 8th grade literature class for about 5 or 6 weeks. I enjoyed my time working there. I really enjoyed the people I worked with; however, I was def. ready for a break to be with Aleigha and Brenton again. I hated leaving them every morning. Now that I am done that position, I am still working 2-4 days a week. It is rough leaving the kids in the morning...especially if they wake up before I leave (which seems to be happening a lot more lately). The opportunity to work so much has come at a great time though with trying to save money for our 1st home.
Home: As I already mentioned, we have been trying to save money to buy a new home. This has been a nightmare in itself. We have looked at 30+ houses in 4 different areas. We have toyed around with numerous ideas. We had to deal with real estate agents, private owners, banks, construction works, and a number of other people or organizations. After much thought and prayer, we have decided we want to build on my parents land sooner than later. My parents bought the land they did with the idea that they would deed off several acres to each child, in hopes that we would each build on the land. At first we were going to buy a log cabin kit, similar to Julie and Scott. After researching all the ins and outs of this idea, we decided we weren't quite ready for that. That route is going to cost a little more than we are wanting to spend right now. Also, there is a lot of work Chris would have to do himself, that would be too hard when he works full time and we don't live that close to the property. Who knows how long it would take to be move in ready. So our final (hopefully) decision: buy a nice little trailer, put in next to where we want to build our house, save money, and then build in 3-5 years. Going this route, makes it that we will have already paid for all the utilities to be put in this spot (road, septic, well, electric, etc.). Many of the major costs will already be paid for. Our payments will be less than what we pay now, so we will be able to save a good bit. We will be able to walk out the front door and start working (instead of driving almost an hour each day to work on building). We will have the option to sell the trailer when we are completely done with the house, or we can keep it as a guest house (and it won't hurt our pockets). And best of all, we are close to family...we will be in walking distance of more than one babysitter, and yet still live in the country (lol) :). It is a great place for the kids and Thor. In fact, Chris wants to possibly start a small dog breeding business to be able to make and save even more money...and this spot is ideal for that. So there you have it. Of course, if you ask any of our family that live close by, we change our minds more than we do our underwear. However, I'm hoping this one will stick :). Of course, we'll keep everyone updated once everything is set in stone.
Our latest update on a new home: We've decided to stay put for about another year to save some money. This way Chris will have had his job for 2 years and we will not have to get PMI insurance. This way we only have to put 10% down rather than 20%. Also, it makes it so that we will qualify for a higher loan. We do still want to live out on the land. Whether we live in a trailer first or go straight for a house...we'll see.
Aleigha: Oh my, I don't even know what to say about this girl. She is her own little person, that is for sure. She has so much charcter all of her own. I seriously feel like I am talking to my best friend when I talk with her rather than a 2 year old. She seems well beyond her years. Of course, she has her 2 year old melt downs quite often. She is in a stage were she doesn't get a nap every day (esp. if I'm at work)...so when this happens, beware, the melt downs are sure to come. Other than her melt downs, Aleigha is a very happy, pleasant child. She is so full of life. She doesn't know a stranger (which scares me sometimes). She says some of the most off the wall, yet amazing things sometiems. One of the biggest things in her life right now are drama plays. She went and saw her cousins, Aric and Sarah, in the play The Fiddler on the Roof. She loved it so much, we took her a second night to see it. Before that play, they performed a smaller play...Rikki Tikki Tavi, she loved that one just as much. It's been almost 2 months since the play, and she still talks about it. Chris, being the great dad that he is, put the whole sound track of the the play on her MP3 player and his IPod...so she can listen to it any where she goes. Also, we have a couple of copies of the actual play they were in...and she watches it several times a week. She has so much of the songs and even some of the scenes memorized. She has performed her versions for just about everyone we have met....including all those private owner house sellers I was talking about, and cashiers at the grocery store, and our servers at resturants. We have been saying since she was just a couple of months old that Aleigha would be a performer one day...I still hold on to that believe.
Aleigha received a burn on her bottom a couple of weeks ago. We were at my parents house and she had just eaten breakfast. She spilt a little milk on her clothes, so she took them off. She moved into the living room and was standing in front of the fireplace. It was not on, but had been just 15 mins before, so it was still hot. Brenton saw his sister and decided she would make a good climing post. Brenton weighs almost as much as Aleigha, so his weight knocked Aleigha backwards into the fireplace. She received 1st and 2nd degree burns on her bottom. It was about a 5-6 inch circle on her bottom. We had to take her to the Emergency Room, and 2 additional check-up visits. We had to clean it twice a day. Other than the initial burn, she handled everything very well, except the cleanings. It broke our hearts to see the pain she was in when we had to clean it. All-in-all though, she is a trooper and a very tough cookie.
Brenton: This little guy is growing too quickly. Of course, he is still average or maybe even a little below average size..but he is so much bigger than Aleigha was at this age. He is on the 25th percentile for his height and 50% for his weight. So he is going to be like his dad, a little short and a little stalky. He is about 10 1/2 months right now. He doesn't have any teeth...but I'm not complaining. However, I think they are bothering him...you can see that it's much whiter under his gums and it seems to be a little swollen. I know it's just a matter of days before one pops up (of course, I've been saying that for over a month now). He has been crawling for a couple of months now. He pulls himself up onto anything or anyone. He has taken steps along our entertainment center. He has stood up on his own with absolutely no support for about 3-4 seconds. He is trying to stand up from a crawl position...yet he hasn't quite mastered it (although it is very cute to see his little butt stick up in the air). He signs: more and milk and love. One day I went to get him out of bed, and the sun was shinning right on him. He was talking away in his crib. When he saw me, he got a big grin on his face and signed "I love you." My heart melted. He has only signed it a couple of times since, but it is a memory that will never be forgotten. He gives hugs...and very sloppy open kisses. He has also mastered the art of clapping. He is going through separation anxiety though. I think working doesn't help. As soon as I get home from work, he cries until I pick him up. He won't let me put him down...not even to feed him or change his diaper. Anytime I try, he puts a death grip around my neck, straightens out his legs, turns his body into mine, and cries...it's heart breaking. That is the worse thing about working. Other than these moments, Brenton is one of the happiest babies I know. He is just content about life and all it has to offer. I think this is Chris' laid back perspective of things coming out in him.
Now Brenton is 11 1/2 months. I thought I would delete everything else, but since I haven't written it any where else, I decided I would keep it. Brenton's first 2 teeth came in on April 23rd.
He is crusing along everything now. He took 1 complete step (each foot) on May 13th. He has not attempted any more steps though. He had said "gamma (grandma)" and his favorite word to say is "GO"...he says this every time Thor enters the room or gets too close to him. He even points his finger at him while saying this. It cracks me up...I suppose he has seen me do this one too many times.
Life happens so quickly. I am glad I can spend it with my best friend Chris, and my two wonderful children Aleigha and Brenton. My family means the world to me. I am blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.
Need I say....life has been busy. Hopefully this blog wasn't too long and you were able to finish it...lol. I hope you enjoy the few pictures. I promise, in the next couple of weeks life should slow down...school ends, so I won't be working. And maybe, I will have time to post more recent pictures. I figured if I don't get this sent now, it might be another month...plus this is long enough as it it.
Aleigha trying out her new rocking horse that Santa left under the tree
After Santa's delivery
Rockin' out on the keyboard that Santa brought....thank you Aubrey for the beautiful singing
We spent Christmas Eve with Chris' family...we had a great time and we got some awesome gifts from Gramma and Papa Richie...Brenton posing in front of the tree
