Every burden is a blessing

So I went to lunch with my dear friend Sister Kathy thispast Monday at Empire Palace, a great new chinese place by TGI Fridays. We open our fortune cookies and mine says "Every burden is a blessing." Okay God I get the idea. After suddenly losing my job at the beginning of the month, that fortune cannot be anymore appropriate. Everything happens for a reason, I truly believe that and I know God has a plan for me. He never closes a door without opening another.

I haven't found a full time job yet, it is kinda hard being 6 months pregnant to be job hunting. I have a second interview for a youth ministry job last week but didn't get it. I am going to keep my eyes open for jobs, but maybe I need to take this time to prepare for the new baby. I filed for unemployment so that should be kicking in soon. And since you are allow to collect a little extra on top of that, I decided to start a business.

I am signed up to be a Premier Designs Jewelry consultant. I've been to many home parties in the past, but the Premier Designs Jewelry party was the most fun and I could see myself as a consultant. So I feel this is a great time to get it a go. I love jewelry and I have the gift of gab, so I really feel a can be successful with this and make good money. So you'll probably be hearing me talk about this business in the future, since I am super excited about it. The jewelry is awesome and super affordable. Wish me luck, a let me know if you would like to host a party (the hostess benefits are awesome!) or see a catalog!

Melanie is growing up waaaay too fast. We took her to Idlewild Park last week. Here's a video of her riding a kiddie ride all by herself.

Here's her on the car ride. These were the only two kiddie rides she rode. It was nap time, so she slept for 40 minutes in the stroller, but still didn't want to go on any more rides.

She did like the huge ball pit though.

We also went to see the Dinosaurs at the Museum a few weeks ago. Melanie loved it! She ran around to all the exhibits and kept saying "Look Momma!"

Melanie went digging for fossils at the museum too! I can't believe she kept the googles on.

Melanie got her first haircut yesterday! She did so good and now she's not a shaggy dog!

Here's after her haircut! My little rock star! Ahh I love her so!

It's a Boy!!!!

He wasn't too modest at his ultrasound today! The tech knew within the first 5 minutes that he was a boy! And he looks perfectly healthy! yaya :) Melanie did really well for being stuck in a small room for almost an hour. She really didn't know what was going on but she says Hi Baby and kisses my belly all the time so I'm sure she will be a great big sister! I knew from the start that it was going to be a boy. The tech asked if I knew any lotto number she should play. haha. Here's some pictures of our little boy.

Here's a cool 3D picture where he is sucking his thumb! Too cute!

Isn't he beautiful?!

Wow, I'm a Slacker!

Woah, my last post was in March. That's pretty bad. Well a lot has changed since then that is for sure. Melanie is now 20 months old and a wild and crazy toddler! She is so much fun now! She loves to play, play, play and doesn't stop until it is time to go to bed! One of my favorite things that she does now is when we pull into our driveway and always says "We're home!" It's too cute! She also loves playing with our neighbors' granddaughter, Logan, who is 8. When she goes out on our deck, she always looks over to their house and yells "Logan!" hehe She's too cute. Melanie talks up a storm. Sometimes I know what she is saying, other times she just babbles. She seems to be picking up more and more words each day. She is also getting really good and putting away her toys when she is done playing. Grant it, I have to ask her but she does it. The other day, she even put her play food back in the fridge, and the dolls and furniture back in her dollhouse. I was amazing she actually but stuff back where it belongs, not just in the toybox.

On to other news, I'm 19 weeks pregnant and today we have our ultrasound at 3:50pm! I am convinced it is a boy, but all that matters is that the baby is healthy. But hopefully he or she cooperates and spreads those little legs so we can find out! We are taking Melanie. We tell her about the baby all the time and she points to my belly when you ask her where the baby is. She likes to kiss my belly as well. I'm hoping seeing the baby will help her understand it more.

Well it's time for me to get Melanie up. We have some running we need to do this morning. Have a great day!

It feels like Spring!

Melanie and I took a walk today since it was so gorgeous out! She loves crusing in her wagon. It was very sunny out so I put her sunglasses on and I can't believe she left them on. Doesn't she look stylish? She really does have the life though. She can sit back and ride in her wagon with her sippy cup and some snacks, while Mommy just pulls her around. We went on a mile and a half walk around our plan and with the few hills I certainly got a good work out. :) We went for another short walk once Brian got home from work. We stopped at the neighbors since all the kids were out drawing on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. Melanie really liked drawing with the chalk. She would bend over, draw a few lines and then stand up say "Yaya" and clap. She was so proud of herself. She is too cute. I guess we better buy some sidewalk chalk.

This weather is awesome. It stinks there is rain coming in tonight and will last through Saturday. Boo! Oh well, as least the temperatures are suppose to stay in the 60s through the weekend. I am so ready for spring!

My cold is almost completely gone and so is Melanie's. We both just have the sniffles a little. I am so tired of blowing my nose and trying to wipe Melanie's nose. No fun. Melanie came down with the cold about a week ago and then a few days later I caught it. I felt really crappy on Sunday and Monday; all I wanted to do was lay on the couch. But being sick never slowed Melanie down. Kids are really amazing. I need to get caught up on cleaning the house. I usually do that on Mondays, but since I wasn't feeling good, I didn't this week. And the rest of the week has just flown by. I really wish I had a maid. :)

Ohh the Mommy Guilt!

So Melanie is getting pretty good at walking, but yesterday she had a little accident. We went to Target and I got her out of the car and she was standing right beside me while I was getting something out of the car. She tried to take one little step and slipped and fell. :( She scraped up her nose. You can see in the picture that her nose is a little red. She cried for maybe 5 minutes and then she was fine. She is one tough cookie. I feel awful though. I shouldn't of put her down. I should have held her hand.. but there's no use in beating myself up. It's won't be the last time she gets hurt. Oh the Mommy guilt! I ended up buying her two balls at Target because of the Mommy guilt. But the $4 I spend was a great investment, because she played with them for almost an hour straight when we got home yesterday.

On Saturday we are going to my niece's Alli's 2nd Birthday party. The theme is Dora, so I know Melanie will love it. It will be fun I'm sure. I can't believe Allison is already 2 and Melanie is 17 months. Time goes by waaay too fast! Then Saturday night, Melanie is sleeping at Nanny and Papa's (my parents) because Brian and I have a wedding to go to. My friend from High School, Jessica is getting married. The wedding is at Heinz Chapel (Jessica and Pat met at Pitt) and the reception is at the Heinz History Center - That should be cool, never been to a reception there before.

So we have a busy weekend, but it should be a lot of fun. Ohh the sun is shining today and it's suppose to be 50 by Sunday! So maybe spring is on it's way. I sure hope so!!

I wish fireflies would teach me how to dance...

Check out this video! This guy, Sam Tsui, recorded/filmed himself singing all the different parts of the song "Fireflies" by Owl City and then morphed all the parts together into this video. It's amazing and I agree with Jessie that it is better than the original. (Jessie - Thanks for the post title and the html code for the video. I didn't know how to embed it so I copied the code from your blog. :)



Love it! He has a album out on iTunes singing a bunch of different covers. I think he has an amazing voice.

Melanie is walking more and more each day. It's so awesome. :) I'm sure when Brian gets home tomorrow he'll be amazed how well she is doing. Man, I give single mothers a lot of credit. I don't know how they do it. I can't wait for Brian to get home tomorrow. I love Melanie, but I don't get a break from her until she goes down for a nap or when she goes to bed at night, which is 8:00pm, so it's not too bad. But it will be nice to have him home tomorrow.

Well a lot has happened the past few days. Melanie and I said bye bye to Daddy Saturday morning. He is in Hershey for a Technology Conference for school. He'll be back Wednesday night. Melanie has asked from him several times, so she is certainly missing her Daddy.

On Saturday, Melanie and I went to visit my friends, Chad and Mary Ann and went Baby Andrew, who turned a month old on Saturday! Melanie is in this stage where she is super shy around people she doesn't know. This was the first time she met Chad and Mary Ann so she clung to my leg for like 15 minutes. But after that she was fine and she really liked giving Andrew kisses. It was too cute! Mary Ann took some pictures, so I'll be those posted when I get those from her. It is so hard to remember when Melanie was only a month old and so tiny. Time certainly does go by so fast!

On Sunday, I had to work so Melanie went to Nanny and Papa's and then they brought her home and got her to bed for me since I didn't get home from work until 9:30pm. We have a surprise Bridal Shower for Jessica, a core team member, who is getting married on March 6. She was totally surprised and had no idea, so that was awesome! :) I must say the cake from Costco was AMAZING! It was white cake, filled with strawberry with buttercream icing. It was a half a sheet that feeds 48 people for only $16.99! You can't beat that! The only bad thing is that is the only size their cakes come in. So it doesn't work for a smaller party, unless you send cake with all the guests. And for $16.99 that isn't a bad idea!

This morning, Melanie and I went to the Carnegie Science Center with Aunt Heather and Alli. We have a membership to the Carnegie Museums and Science Center so we want to get our money's worth! The girls had a lot of fun playing in the Exploration Station Junior. We got there right at 10am when it open, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. So that was awesome. The girls loved playing in the water area and of course Melanie got all wet, even though she was wearing smock. Oh well, I bought a change of clothes, and Aunt Heather had another pair of socks, so we were set. :) Heather and I both forgot our digital camera, so no pictures from the Science Center unfortunately.

So how about that Hockey Game last night??!?!?! It was so awesome that USA beat Canada! It was weird rooting against Sidney Crosby though. The USA is still on top of the Medal count with 24 medals. There has been some pretty spectacular performances that's for sure! Shaun White was amazing on the Snowboard Half Pipe. He blew the competition out of the water. Lindsay Vonn has two medals, while still recovering from her injury. The US Men and Women's Curling Teams have been rather disappointing though. But than again, it's not like curling is very popular in our country. I love the Olympics.

Photos of the Day

What is the ball of fire in the sky?!?!
It was so nice to see blue skies and the sun. It was actually a nice day to shovel the driveway. I only had a sweatshirt and lined jogging pants on. No gloves!
Ahhh blue skies, can you stay for a few days?

A cute video of Melanie playing with her mega blocks. She says bye at the end. Too cute! :)

Lent

Wow, I can't believe it is Lent already! Seems like we just celebrated Christmas. Man, time is sure flying by. Can life please slow down?! So this year for Lent I am giving up all sweets. I eat waaaay too much junk food. I have such a sweet tooth, but I really want to start eating better, so hoping this will help. Now if only i could get into an exercise routine.. That's for another post. :) This Lent I am also going to really try to put others first and be a better wife and mother.

Brian had a 2 hour delay again this morning. That 4 for 4 this week, will tomorrow make it 5 for 5? Is it Spring yet? I generally love winter and snow, but this is just overkill. And I didn't get to go skiing with my teens because the blizzard came that day and we couldn't get out of our houses let alone up to Hidden Valley. Boo! There goes my one time a year I get to ski. I would love to take Brian to Boyce Park to teach him to ski, since it's close and cheap. Maybe we will have to try and do that... We'll see.

Well Melanie is awake, so I need to cut this post short. No photo of the day for yesterday, but I will try and take some today. :)

Photos of the Day

My friend Lindsay has starting taking a picture each day to show snapshots of her day. She calls it 'A Photo a Day, Snapshots of My Life'. I really like the idea, so I decided to steal the idea and give her credit! I am going to try and post a picture everyday, but it may end up just being a few times a week. We'll see... I couldn't just take one picture today, Melanie is just too dang cute. So here are my photos of the day.

Will the snow ever end? I did shovel the driveway today... oh well!

Melanie watching the snow fall.

Melanie has tons of toys but she would rather play with an empty juice container.

Melanie can make a mess of a room in minutes!

The Start of My Blog & My Hatred for Snow

Well I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start a blog. I really enjoy reading other people's blogs and who knows maybe someone will enjoy reading mine. :) I've entitled it "It's All Good" because that is one of my favorite sayings and describes my positive outlook of life.

So I really really really hate snow right now. Normally I love winter and snow. But normally we don't have 3 feet of snow and counting at one time! I shoveled 4 inches of snow off the driveway today and that was not fun. The piles of snow on the side of the driveway are 4-5 feet tall, so you have to throw the snow up over that or it just rolls back on to the driveway. Enough is enough already. I am definately giving up snow for Lent! Now if only Mother Nature will cooperate that would be great. :) On a positive note, all the snow shoveling I've been doing is good exercise. I have been slacking on the exercise department lately, so that makes up for it a little.

Okay enough complaining for one day, no one is listening anyways! As I sit here and type this, Melanie decided to take out all the contains of her diaper bag (that I foolishly left on the floor) and spread them all over the living room. Oh well, she's having fun and is happy, so that's what matters. It is amazing how one little girl can make such a mess of a room in a matter of minutes. Now if only she would start picking up after herself... I'll have to starting working on that. :) Melanie is walking more, but she still does the knee walk. She still finds that easier than walking I think.

Brian is leaving for Hershey on Saturday to go to a technology conference with another teacher from school. (I'm glad he won't be driving out ther by himself.) He'll be gone until next Wednesday night. So Melanie and I will be on our own. Lots of Mommy and Melanie time.

Well I've rambled enough for one day. Snow, snow go away and don't come again another day! :)