Our Thanksgiving!

Last week was not only Thanksgiving, but also Damon's birthday!!!  He got to celebrate his bday on turkey day this year (it happens on occassion!)..I'd say he's pretty lucky but I think he'd digress!  I think most people don't like having their birthdays near a holiday...especially a major one like Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Being born in the middle of December myself, I can relate.  I always said if I ever had a child, I'd try my best to plan my pregnancy to not fall in December especially!!!  But anyways..thats a whole other post....

(He couldn't wait to blow out his candles..blew them out at midnight when he got in from work!)

(Loved his cake..I didn't make it..we always order his from the same bakery we got our wedding cake at!)

(My birthday boy!)

For Thanksgiving, I made an apple crumb pie (my usual) and brought mashed potatoes.  We always have Thanksgiving at my parent's house.  I'd love to do it at our place sometime..but my mom insists on tradition and having it at their place..so I don't argue!  We had a good time and enjoyed good food as usual!

(Not the greatest picture, but my apple crumb pie right out of the oven the night before!)

(Watching the Macy's Parade!)

(The Macy's Parade..last year!)

(My Parents!)

(Our little family!)

We had a great time celebrating this year..hope you enjoyed the pictures!  So hard to believe how much Makayla has grown since this time last year!



18 Months!

Its so hard to believe my little girl is a year and a half old now!  Time truely does fly...but I'm loving the age she's at now.  Just watching her is funny.  Like how she likes to go and bring us potatoes from my potato bin.  One by one.  She thinks she's doing a big job too, which makes it even funnier! 

She has a doctor appointment for this friday..so I'll know her stats then.  My guess is she's gained alot of weight since her last visit because she feels soooo heavy when I go to pick her up!  Her eating is good..some days are better than others especially when you consider she's cutting teeth left and right.  She's now got 10 teeth (I think) and trying to cut molars on one side now.  She has a top and bottom molar on the right side I believe it is.  She loves pinto beans and kiwi.  What a combo, right?!  She also just discovered banana cheerios (mommy's favorite!) and likes those!  She likes alot of other foods..but those are the 'go-to' ones at the moment!

Not sure if I shared this before or not..but at 16 months (Oct. 1st) she started walking AND she weaned herself from breastfeeing all in the same day!  I didn't quite know what to think of that one!  Anyone ever heard..are the two related?  I guess you could say that was her 'I'm growing up' day!  She runs all over the house now and gets into everything she possibly can.  She talks alot and says alot of things I still can't make out (don't know if I'm just not tuned into 'kid talk' yet or if its still jibberish)..but its a constant thing to hear her jabbering away to herself or "Ra-Ra" aka..Ravey.  She LOVES kitties and is real good about petting them right (about 90% of the time anyway).  I taught her early on when she first started to want to pet Ravey how to pet her the right way..and it seems to have worked because she's real good with her and Ravey likes it when she pets her! 

She loves talking on the phone or anything that can be used as a phone.  Her way of actually talking to someone is listening to them..then grabbing the phone..pressing a bunch of buttons..then hollering!  Its hilarious!!  Her "Aunt We"..my best friend Wendy..found this out a couple weeks ago when Makayla had a blast having her very own phone conversation with her one afternoon! 

Naptime is always..and I mean ALWAYS at 2pm.  She will even fall asleep in the car at 2pm if we are out that day..so I guess you could say her internal clock is set!  She usually naps for 3 hours (2pm-5pm) but it just depends on the day and if we are home or out and about..then its alot different.  That has been her naptime for quite a while now.  She goes to sleep at night around 10pm and sleeps until around 9am.  Yes..she is a night owl and NOT an early bird!  Just like momma, you might say!

There are alot of other things I'm sure I haven't mentioned that she's doing or does all the time..but of course I don't want to make this post 10 miles long so I should probably stop at that!  I could talk all the live long day about this girl..she's my world and I can't imagine how we ever got along before she came along.  God truely blessed us with a wonderful, beautiful, sweet baby girl.  I wouldn't trade my pre-mommy life for my life with her in it now..she's definately made me feel complete and made us complete as a family.  :-)



A Very Long Week

I had hoped to get alot accomplished last week (hence my "mini" blog vacation) but things didn't turn out quite how I had expected.  I did manage to make this really cute turkey wreath for my mom.  Idea from pinterest, of course!  I just love all the things you can do with tulle!

But anyways, thursday came around and things sort of fell apart.  Before Makayla woke from her nap, I took mom's turkey wreath and put it out in my car.  We were going to head up for a visit after she woke up.  Our cat Thomas hadn't been around much earlier that day and when I came out of the garage I saw him.  He had passed away.

He was laying by one of our buildings, laying in the sun like he often does.  Damon had seen him earlier lying there but he looked up and meowed at him like he always does.  Nothing seemed amiss.  We are guessing that just with the things he's endured over his life (getting shot and losing an eye, and losing his tail because of the lawn mower accident a couple months ago) plus the fact he was more than likely alot older than what we thought he was, his heart just gave out.  I'm glad he went peacefully.  But I was pretty unconsolable for a couple of days.  I had never 'found' one of our pets in that state and never had to deal with it by myself (Damon was at work).  My parents came down that evening and my dad buried him though.  But the events of that day made last week seem like one of the longest I've ever endured.

I was happy to come across some pictures over the weekend however, of me and my beloved 'tom-tom'.  I honestly didn't think we had any of me and him together because I'm the one taking the pictures 98% of the time.  We had lots and lots of him with Damon and him by himself, of course.  But this made me so happy..it helped my heart to begin to heal....

Gosh I miss that boy.

Despite all of that, we have gotten into the swing of things around here with Damon working again.  I can't tell you all what a relief it is.  More than I could ever put into words.  He's working day shift this week due to the holiday week and will be off for Thanksgiving which also happens to be his birthday!  Yay!  Yup..my man was a turkey baby..lol!  We have lots to do this week.  Makayla and I are going grocery shopping for last minute grocery stuff monday.  I have a few phone calls I need to make (one regarding Damons bday present).  An apple pie to bake.  Party to have.  Black friday shopping to be planned. 

Yeah..its the holidays all right!

I'm looking forward to getting my tree up so I can attempt to get some good shots of Makayla in front of it for our Christmas cards I plan on doing online.  I'm hoping that goes well..she tends to not want to stay still for the camera very long these days.  She's had on some of the cutest dresses the past couple of sundays for church.  I managed to get a couple good shots..and by that I mean not a total blur!!

In love w/this black and white dress!

She loves carrying around my heels!

Daddy's favorite dress..a purple velvet number!

Hard to say just yet if there will be anymore posts coming this week or not...I'm leaning on not since its looking to be a packed week (as I know it is for the rest of you all!) around here.  So if you don't hear anymore from me for the rest of the week..have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Curtains and other stuff

Linking up here and here today!

I finally got around to finishing Makayla's curtains for her bedroom last week!  I feel like I have so much more time to get things done around the house since Damon has returned to work!  Its a double blessing, you might say!  Sure..we miss him while he's gone..but a man has to work....

Ok..so I'm pretty ashamed to show these 'before' pictures..but I had to let you guys see how it looked in her room before I got the curtains all made up!!  The first picture is her makeshift nightstand.  Its an old tv stand we used to use before we had her in our spare bedroom.  Works fine..but the bottom where all her toys and everything was just open for all eyes to see..just spelled clutter to me everytime I walked into her room.  So I devised a 'curtain' for it!

Much better, right?!  I used a spring action (I think thats what it was called) curtain rod..kinda like a shower curtain rod only made for windows.  It worked GREAT and made it look less 'cluttery'.  Of course her stuff on top of the nightstand is still a little busy..but one thing at a time!!

Now for her actual curtains for her window.  I've yet to make tiebacks (note...project for this week!) but again..was thrilled that I don't have blankets hanging all over her windows to keep the room dark enough for when she sleeps?
       SIDE NOTE~ Any other moms out there have that problem?  The kiddos have to have a VERY dark room to sleep well in?  Makayla has always been this way..hence the whole blankets-on-windows deal.

How is that for change!!  I honestly don't know why I didn't do this sooner.  Maybe because I had so many other projects I'd been working on throughout the summer!  Oh and I actually made her a RUG out of the same material a while back.  And yes..I forgot to take a picture!  But I got the idea on..you guessed it..pinterest!  I'll take a pic sometime soon and post details on how I went about doing it.  Its not perfect by any means..but something different than a regular old store-bought rug! 

(a closeup of the print)

So onto some other things happening around here.  We're still trying to get into the 'swing' of things with him being back at work.  Those words are still surreal to me!  It never gets old saying 'he's at work' though I must admit!!  I'm LOVING having time for myself..time with just me and my little girl..and time as a family too of course.  Its such a wonderful blessing I'll NEVER take for granted!

I had choir practice last night at our church.  A very blessed and unexpected suprise was thrown in my direction though!  Our 'choir director' mentioned she thought it would be great if I'd sing a SOLO at our candlelight service when the choir will be performing for Christmas!  Whaaaaaaa..was the first thing of out my mouth of course..namely because I never thought I was a very good singer.  I LOVE to sing..but I know I don't sound that good.  It was a HUGE compliment to myself and made me smile all evening long!  I did tell her however I thought it might be better if someone sang with me (aka..a duet) because I didn't feel I could carry a song all by myself.  So me and my church BFF Lucy are going to be singing "Child in the Manger".  I'm anxious to actually learn this song as it is one I'm not at all familiar with! 

On a sad note..after choir practice last night and some phone calls Damon made and received from various people, my good friend and next door neighbor called me.  I knew something wasn't right..and come to find out that her brother had just passed away.  She is a very dear friend of mine and I hated to hear about her brothers passing.  She just lost another brother a couple years back..both fairly young (in their 50's).  Bonnie (my neighbor) and my mom went to school together..so she's sorta an "aunt" figure to me as well.  When you pray..lift Bonnie and her family up in your prayers.

Ok I think thats probably enough randoms to get you caught up on our life here since the weekend without boring you to death!  Just so ya know..I may or may not do anymore posts for the rest of the week..just depends on how things go..what all I want/need to get into around the house, etc.  I've had projects upon projects stacked up for the past few months and now that the hubs is back to work..I'm going to use my free time wisely and try to play catch up!

Hope everyone has an awesome week!!

It's 'Shutterfly' time!

If you have never ordered Christmas cards (or photo books, labels, magnets, etc) with Shutterfly before, this is the year to do it!!!!

I'm crazy over what all this company has to offer.  For the past several years, I've ordered my Christmas cards through Shutterfly and never once have I been disappointed.  If anything, their products just keep getting better!  They really need to stop outdoing theirselves (kidding, of course)!! 

I've browsed through their cards again for the upcoming holidays and see they've added a few more selections to the list as well as a color changer for some of the cards.  If you don't like it in a certain color (say, black) you can change it if it has a color box below the card!  Neat!!!!  I love this option and personally hope in the future they add this feature to all cards.  They really make it to where you can get your card as personalized as well, you are!

So here are a few of my favs thus far.....



(This particular card has been on my 'favs' list every year but I've never used it.  Maybe this will be the year?!  And it also comes in black!)

(Another great card, and it comes in a variety of background colors!)

(I love anything with "Oh Holy Night"..my favorite Christmas song!)

(You can choose how many pictures you want to use..so it doesn't 'have' to look as busy as this one does (to me anyways!))

(Love this as well..simple yet elegant)

So this is just a sampling of the hundreds of Christmas cards that Shutterfly has!  Go over now and check it out..who knows..maybe you'll find the perfect card for your family this season!!

The Story

This is the story I've been waiting to share.  Praying about.  Wondering if it would ever come to fruition.  Well my friends, it has.  The day is finally here!  The day I've been waiting to share with you all...

Those are Damon's new mining boots.  Yes..he is going to work in the morning!!  It is official!  And boy..has it been a long and stressful road!!

Let me share the past weeks events with you.  Your in for a good read of what God can do!

As most of you know by now and are probably tired of hearing me repeat myself at this point, Damon (aka hubby) has been laid off from his coal mining job since March of this year.  It has been a long road.  We've been getting by..but thats about it.  Thats about all you can do when your unemployed..is 'get by'. 

Month after month had passed.  At first, it was okay.  We were just happy having him home and not worn out from work.  But of course like all things, reality set in after things in our area seemed to go from bad to worse, job wise.  Nothing looked good.  Nobody was hiring.  Summer came and went with no traces of a job to be found.

Fall came and depression seemed to set in.  We wondered if we'd have to move.  We even looked into jobs in other countries (no I'm not exaggerating) for him.  West Virginia is our home though and the last thing we wanted to do was leave..but we also knew time was running out.  And fast.

Prayers went from asking, to what felt like begging God, to open a door.  ANY door.  But then it hit me.  God doesn't want us to settle.  In anything in our lives.  It made me think back to before I met Damon and how hard and long I prayed for a husband.  God didn't want me to settle for less when looking for my future mate..nor did He now want Damon to settle for less than what he deserved in a job. 

Our prayers became more fervent.  I honestly felt like things were getting close.  Jobs were starting to appear in the paper for the first time in a long time.  Could God be about to open a door?  I would get so excited at just the thought. 

Then things started happening.  He had one job offer.  But it was really far away and it just couldn't work.  Then he got another offer.  This one was last week that I first mentioned in this post.  But it didn't pay great.  We were happy..but I still felt like maybe it wasn't "it".  The next day..he got another call for yet another job.  And it payed almost double what the first one offered us!  It was incredible!  The only downfall..no insurance.  I thought..well..we can make it work.

Little did I know..that yet one day after this..he got THE CALL.  It was a job doing something he'd done before.  In the mines, no less.  At a mine he'd worked for before too.  The pay?  Pretty much what he was making at the time he was laid off this past March.  Oh yeah..and there is insurance.  Good insurance. 

You see how God had the perfect job lined up for him at the perfect timing?  And how it was the right job not only for him..but for us as a family?  God wanted the best for us..like He does for all of us. 

I learned something in the past 10 months.  I learned that trusting God is something that you learn once, but it doesn't stop there.  Whether a situation is big or small, we have to trust that God will see us past difficult things.  Sometimes in life we get tested.  And in turn, our faith can be tested.  Its up to us, as Christians, to be ready when disaster may strike.  Nothing that happened to us in the past week was 'coincidental'. 

It was all God.  :-)

Fall Decor (finally!)

I'm just now getting around to posting a few pictures of the fall decor I have in my house!  I guess you could say its been hectic around here in the past month (or more)..all with the power outtages, church dinners, Halloween, running around after a 17 months old, and everything else in between that has gone on in our neck of the woods!  Anyways..hope you enjoy the tour! 

(probably my all time favorite picture..just love that wagon w/pumpkins!)

(the living room)

(living room as well)

(another beloved sign..I have an amish themed kitchen for fall/winter and LOVE it!)

(a dollar tree find, believe it or not!)

(pumpkins on my front porch..one was painted to look like a cat for halloween..the other is our house #)

(front door sign)

(front door wreath..should have taken a picture with the storm door pulled back)



Halloween, Power, and Pizza Rolls

Linking up here and here!

• We finally got our power restored last week after Hurricane Sandy blew through.  Still praying for the families affected in NY and NJ..its still so hard to imagine what happened and the magnitude of this storm.  To even think it hit West Virginia the way it did is hard to imagine!!!  Thankfully we don't live where the snows piled up in the feet..not inches..but it was still pretty incredible for the end of October. 



(Taken right before the 'hurricane' hit)

(And after..we had several inches of snow!)

•  Due to the storm, we had our trick or treat delayed until saturday. This year I wasn't sure what to dress Makayla up as..I was torn between an owl and a kitty cat. I saw how to make some homemade costumes for each on, where else, but good old Pinterest! So since she's sooooo into kitty cats and loves all of ours so much..I figured we'd go with that this year! I have to admit..she made for one cute kitty and she enjoyed getting some candy at the few houses we did visit!!  The problem I had this year was it was so hard to get a good picture of her in costume..the girl can run FAST!

(Its hard to see in any of the pictures..but she does have a tail attached to the tutu I made!)

(You can just imagine her thinking..'CANDY'!!!)

 

(I decided to be 'mommy kitty'!)

(What a sweetie!  Love her smile!!)

• Before all the craziness of last week hit, I made some awesome homemade pizza rolls!  And they turned out SO GOOD and were so simple to make!  Just take some canned biscuits (like Grands!..not the dinky small type)..flatten them out with your hand..and add sliced cheese and pepperoni and roll into balls..then brush w/melted butter and herbs and bake!  Yum!

• And we're still praising God for the miracles He's done around here in the past week!!  I touched on it in my post "Walking by Faith"..but even more has happened since that post.  I'll give y'all more details once Damon officially starts his new job (we're hoping this week)!!  :-D