Much To Be Thankful For

Hi everyone,

It has been like forever and a day since I updated this blog. Last August, to be exact I think. I have lots to talk about, so please forgive the loooong post.

The first thing that comes to mind is to express how very grateful I am to my wonderful family and friends who have supported me through the loss of my sweet, sweet mama. I want to give a huge shout out to everyone for being such a great help. We felt your prayers in ways I cannot explain. The power of prayer will never cease to amaze me. I know that there are many people out there who, even after a month, are still praying for us. I can feel the strength every day. I am so grateful.

A new house is in our future. We are hoping to move in to the new place in April. For anyone who does not know, we are not buying a house, but are moving into a brand new, still under construction rental house that sits about 100 yards from where we are now. A brief summery- My good friend from work's daddy owns several rental trailers here in Wyandotte. The one we are in was and still is in rough condition. The previous renter just didn't take care of it at all. Nick and I have cleaned it up and done our best to get it into livable conditions. It's still not perfect, but we are happy while we wait for the new house to be done. It was cheaper rent, closer to work, and not in Missouri, where we were. We have been able to watch the new house rise from nothing to something. It is a 3 bedroom house. We are totally ecstatic. It was promised to us when we moved into this trailer, thanks to my good friend, Shelby. We have even been involved in some of the decision making. We got to pick the paint color, the cabinet stain color, and give our two cents on whether or not Larry would put down tile or carpet as the flooring. (We picked tile!) The house is completely built, painted, and has water and electric hooked up. We are just waiting for the flooring to be laid and the rest of the cabinets to be built. Appliances still need put in and hooked up. Other than that, it's so close to being done. Larry predicts to be done with it in April. That's like... Next month!!!

In addition to the new house, we have been blessed to find some amazing new furniture. I just have to tell you all about them. We had a crummy old recliner that had been previously owned by smokers, so it reeked. I hated it but it was something to sit on and rock Jayden in. We also had an old white couch we got when we got married. It was in great shape when we first got it, but having moved so often and having to store it a couple times, it's not so great now. Our storage unit had a water leak so the pretty whiteness is pretty much gray now. I always kept sheets over the couch to cover it up, but those weren't any better. We did a lot of shopping around and finally found a great deal on 3 different pieces, all for under $1000. Talk about a steal. They were delivered yesterday and we are in love. They aren't real leather, but a leather look-a-like. They smell good and have warranties. Did I say I loved them yet??

Jayden is a blessing, too. He is growing so fast and learning new words all the time. He knows more than he speaks, though. He follows directions so well, even if he can't tell me what he is doing or asking. But today, for example, he said 2 new words. Cheek and head. He knows almost all his body parts by pointing to them and now he is starting to name them. I'm so proud of him! He also is praying. He has never acknowledged prayer, but all of a sudden he finally folds his arms and kneels for prayer. I am pretty sure I have caught him praying to himself, too. He randomly folds his arms and starts babbling random words I can't understand. So proud!!! He has made some new friends at his new daycare. I take him to a very wonderful girl named Tara. She has a son close to Jayden's age who Jayden adores. He never cared for daycare and would always cry when we dropped him off. But now that he has gotten used to her and realizes how much fun she is, he loves going. He gets excited and runs into her house all by himself without looking back. I'm so glad he has fun there. We have not really started with potty training yet. I feel like I am slacking in that department because I have heard of kids being potty trained by 18-24 months. But I just honestly feel Jayden is not ready yet. He has been telling us when he has a dirty diaper for some time now, but that's the only sign of being ready he has shown. He has never actually gone potty in the potty, he never allows himself to sit long enough on it. He will sit for 5 seconds before he is ready to get off of it. He screams and throws a fit if I make him sit back down. I don't want to make the experience not fun, so I'm just not even bothering with it yet. I think when he is 2 and a half we will start thinking about trying to train for real. Until then, I'm not worried about it.

I told you I had a lot to talk about. I know I have more to say, but I better stop now. I say this all the time, but I will try to keep up with this blog more often as things happen. Thanks for reading all this if you made it this far! Life is good.