Four Years Later I have YOU!

On this day, four years ago, my little man was born.  He was perfect in every way and saved me in more ways than he could have imagined.  My family of three desperately wanted him and the day we got him did not disappoint. 

Full of energy.  Tough as nails.  Can and will overcome any obstacle.  Perfect in every way.  Has no fear of his mama but walks a straight line around his daddy.  Loves to aggravate his sister.  Constantly jumps on the furniture.

 Can make a mess just by walking in a room. Loving. Precious. Spoiled rotten. Can throw a fit that will make a grown man blush and make his mama just give him what he wants. Loud...very loud.

Sneaky. Secretive. Hesitant yet adjust quickly these days. Loves school but doesn't let that stop him from begging me to just let him stay with me (and oh how I want to).

A character!  Can live off of liquids alone and doesn't really like food at all.  Can make you laugh even when doing something totally wrong.  LOVES his sister so very much.  Spoiled rotten by the sister whom adores him and mothers him daily.  Is his mama's baby and his daddy's boy.  Is quick to tell anyone who ask that his mama is the boss and so is he but not his daddy.

Loves "Banilla" ice cream and "Pantycakes".  Calls his underwear, unders and his pajamas, goodnights.  Gets up and dresses himself for school every morning.  Wild as can be with an attitude to match.  Sometimes shy.  Fast and has arms like an octopus.  Still sleeps with his little blue blankie every night and claims he can't live without it.  A great sleeper if he ever gets still long enough. 

  A blessing.  My saving grace.  Tugs at my heart strings daily.  Knows that we need him just as much as he needs us.  Awesomely carries the burden of being born right behind his angel brother.  Precious.  Sweet.  Perfect in every way. 

Happy 4th Birthday to my little Tegan!!!  We love you more than words can ever say!!!

This Week

This week has been a week filled with many changes.  Some good and some bad.  Some I hope to last a while and some I hope to never experience again.  Sadness and happiness all in the same week. 

I finally started my new job this week.  So far it is the best job I have ever had.  I love it!  I am working at a hospital in my area doing hearing screenings on all the newborn babies.  It is a perfect job for me where I get to do some patient care but without having to worry about any more school right now.  It is very flexible and PERFECT for a mother!!!  My start time is flexible and the time I leave everyday is flexible.  I don't have to depend on anyone else to get my kids to school or pick them up....I can do it!  I am working with this great lady who through what has been a very rough week for me, has found a way to make me laugh.  At first I wasn't to excited about my job hunt.  With both kids being in school all day long, it was just time.  I am ready to move forward and help contribute again but I still wanted to be able to do what I had to do for my kids.  This job literally landed in my lap.  I waited to start it once I had the kids settled in school.

This is my new adventure that I have been anticipating.  I am still able to continue my work on Paper Pretty and do this also.  I love both jobs very much and feel good about where I am right now!  I am excited about what all the future holds!!!  But I am back to a life that no matter how much I love my job, I look forward to Friday!!! 

Today

I look back at this verse and pray hard for a friend...

"For you created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  Psalm 139:13-16

It only takes a second...

Just the other day I had this strange feeling come over me.  I was driving down the road and couldn't help but think about how great life can be one second and then the next your whole world could change.  My family is happy, healthy and safe right now but it only takes a second for all that to change.  I often wonder how many near misses I have to tragedy that I will never know about.  That delay getting out the door in the mornings can be so frustrating but is it preventing me from something horrible happening?

I always take a lot of caution with Tegan around water.  He can't swim and until recently he had a fear of water.  He likes to play on the steps of a pool but unlike other kids, Tegan's depth perception isn't good around water due to his Nystagmus which makes the steps very dangerous b/c he thinks they are closer than they really are.

Tonight we went to a pool party for my niece's birthday.  The pool was well over Tegan's head but it had this little ledge just under the water that ran along the length of the pool.  Tegan had been walking from one end to the other on the ledge.  My husband and I both had our backs turned at one point and were a good distance away from the pool.  I had just turned around and saw Tegan and made the comment to my husband "do you know where your son is since both of us have our backs turned".  He laughs and says "yes he is right there".  But since he knows I am looking at Tegan, he makes that comment without even turning around to check on him.  It was that instance...literally the very next second...Tegan steps off the ledge and down he goes.  He sinks like a rock but starts kicking and fighting to get back up.  We both take off running to the pool.  We both are fully clothed with shoes and everything.  I get to the pool first but the more I reached for him the further he got from me.  Once he went in to the water he was never able to come up for air.  Within seconds this fully clothed Mama is in the water scooping her precious child up.  He is fine.  He is just as perfect in that second as he has always been.  He doesn't even gag or cough but starts to cry.  All I could do was hold him as tight to me as possible.

It all happened so fast.  Almost so fast that most people around the pool didn't even notice what was happening.  Those 30 or 40 seconds maybe weren't a big deal to some but they were to me.  Those seconds could have changed my life forever.  He couldn't scream for help and if I hadn't of turned around when I did no one may have noticed until it was to late.  The faithful person in me uses moments like these as a reminder of how precious life is.  I also use it as a reminder that God was right there, ever so slightly turning my cheek toward the pool so that the moment didn't end in tragedy. It terrified Rylee also as she was watching it in slow motion from the other end of the pool but couldn't swim fast enough to get to him.  She was so precious and so concerned about him.  She jumps out of the pool and comes to check on him. 

It only takes a second for your life to change and nothing will ever be the same!  Tonight I am praising God that my life is still the same and that my family remains happy, healthy and safe!!!  

FAITHFUL FRIDAY!

Happy Friday to all three of my faithful readers:)  I wanted to share a video and blog with you that I have been keeping up with for a while.  When trying to decide what to title this post, I decided to create FAITHFUL FRIDAY! 
It is no secret that I a christian.  Although I love to think that I am faithful, even I have been beaten down by life.  Horrible things have happened in my short 31 years and most of those were in the past 5 years of my life.  But so many awesome things have also happened.  Things that pick me back up and carry me through.  The same God that allows me to experience grief, fear and turmoil in my life also picks me up and blesses me with the good and the bad.  We pull ourselves up in sadness and tragedy.  We fight for what we want!
I have been keeping up with a blog for a while now called Ty Louis Campbell....Our Little Fighter.  It first attracted me b/c Ty is very close to Tegan's age.  It pulled at my heart strings for sure.  I have prayed for this little boy that I don't know and I have most definitely prayed for his parents.  His mom is ever faithful.  Though I know she gets brokenhearted, she doesn't stop.  She believes in her son but she also believes in God's will.  She fights for his little life daily and it seems that she has a calling to do this for her son. She posted a video today on You Tube called "365 Days Of Cancer".  I cried as I watched it and wanted to share it. 

I hope his mom remains forever faithful no matter what the outcome is.  I pray that her testimony is her keeping the faith and how God pulled her son through this! 

Hug your kids this weekend and enjoy time with them!!!!

A Brand New Mommy...

When Tegan came along and my husband started working 2nd shift, I pretty much shifted to survival mode. Every afternoon, Monday through Friday, I was on my own with the kids, supper, bath time, bedtime, house, everything. While I am a stay at home mom, I had to look for ways to simplify and that meant letting my independent little girl take on more responsibility. My husband switched to a 1st shift job over a year ago but for whatever reason I have never shut off that survival mode.

Since Ry started kindergarten (she is now a 3rd grader) I have never taken her to school in the mornings. Her daddy has just always done that for me so that I didn't have to wake Tegan up and drag him out of bed. I picked her up from school her whole first year but then at her request and to make my life a lot easier, I started letting her ride the bus. Unfortunately it didn't take her long to start hating the bus but at this point it was just easier to make her ride it. When it came to extracurricular activities I would let Rylee do them but I wouldn't say I was exactly happy about all the running around it involved which in turn I think would discourage her from wanting to continue on. Although I have worked a brief job and found amazing ways to make money from home, I have been here every single day for the kids...ALL DAY LONG.

Well these darn kids have had the nerve to grow up and are now both in school all day long. So here I am, in this awesomely yet eerie quiet house all by myself. While I have dreaded my baby boy joining my baby girl in the school world I do feel like I am somewhat of a brand new mommy. We now all four get up at the same time every morning which is very helpful when your daughter wants to dress crazy and your husband doesn't care what she wears b/c it is my fault that I am sleeping late:) I am taking both kids to school every morning and now going to pick them up every afternoon. I just couldn't put my pre-k (still 3 year old child) on the school bus and Rylee couldn't have been happier about that b/c she was begging to get out of riding the bus. I put Ry in gymnastics once a week and am doing it with a more positive feel to it. No complaints, no worries, just focusing on her and hoping that she loves it and sticks with it. I have recently started my new little business that I enjoy and love doing! Then I decided to make a big leap of faith and start another new adventure that I am so super excited about. To say that the most amazing opportunity has fallen in my lap would be an understatement.

My point is that I have felt somewhat disconnected the past 4 years...not from my kids and husband but from other outside world things and just from moving forward in life. I have lost focus and wasted lots of time but I feel like I am coming out of that. I am moving forward and loving my new "more involved" (not that I wasn't involved before) mommy role that I have taken on and very excited about all the other changes happening. I am happy to welcome what seems to be a nice new season in to my life and hopeful that it will take me to great places!!!

Hanging and Tagging

Tagging and hanging!  I am getting the kids clothes ready for a big fall consignment sell.  This part is not fun but the check will be worth it....I hope!  I have to get it done tomorrow b/c I am not sure if I will have time after that.  I still have ALL of Tegan's clothes to do!!! 

While Tegan did great yesterday morning for pre-k, the same can't be said for today.  He was fine and seemed excited.  He practically ran down the hall to get to his class.  But once we got there and several kids were standing there crying, he wasn't very happy.  Then it got worse when one little boy was crying so hard he threw up....apparently he had Mountain Dew with his breakfast.  Being the son of a germaphobe, Tegan begged me to bring him home.  I had to leave him there a little upset and I was very very sad about it.  It was much harder on me today than yesterday.  I am just praying that he will do OK next week or else his daddy will have to take him b/c I can't leave him when he is upset.  There is one thing for sure, that boy is tired after a full day of school!  They still lay down and rest or nap in pre-k but he says he sleeps with his eyes open.  In other words, he doesn't go to sleep at all.  So at about 7:00 PM he starts to fall apart.  He will cry at the drop of a hat and will stand there saying that he doesn't "feel berry good" over and over again.  Poor guy!  On the bright side he knocks right out at bedtime!!!  Now if I can just force myself to bed earlier so that I am not so tired all day.  For some reason I still can't make it to bed until 12:00 AM and that is early for me!

Ok...back to hanging and tagging:(  Happy weekend everyone!

First Day Jitters

Apparently I was the only one with first day of school jitters.  Ry has been ready to start back to school since about a week after last school year ended.  She started back last week and was so excited that she got up all by herself and ready by 6:30 AM.  I think she did a great job dressing herself.....

 My baby boy started pre-k today.  He was so excited to be going to the same school as his big sister for the first time.  I was worried to death about him but no worries, he walked in and was good to go!  I took a picture of them together this morning even though Ry was in her P.E. clothes.

 Seriously Mom....that's enough!

 He was very proud of his new backpack and metal spider man lunchbox.

 He has only been to his classroom one time, at open house but he was already able to lead us straight to his class this morning.  This is a huge anxiety of mine b/c we aren't sure if they will let big sister walk him to class or not and the pre-k class is at the furtherest (is that a word?) point from the front door as you can get at that school.  He has to make three turns!  It is a really long walk for a little boy who is still three until the end of the month.

 He walked in, gave his Daddy and I a hug, sat down and said bye.  It made it so much easier on me to have him be so OK with it.  He never really adjusted to half day preschool last year at a much smaller preschool so I fully expected tears today....from him and me!

Luckily I didn't cry although I did think about just sitting in the car in the parking lot all day.  I was really early in the car rider line today too!  There was one mama that was having a horrible time.  She was sobbing and her husband was literally holding her up all while their son looked at her like she was a nut.  As we say in the south....Bless Her Heart!

And here is one more picture of my sweet girl on her first day.  She has to be the most awesome kid ever! 

Now I am just praying that tomorrow will be another great day!!

In less than 10 hours...

In less than 10 hours

we will drop this very excited little boy

off at pre-k!

Like real pre-k! In a big school!

Hopefully his shorts will be on straight in the morning:)

He is so excited. His mommy....not so much. He is my baby and I want him to stay home with me forever!!! But unfortunately time keeps passing so here we go....a whole new world begins!

Pinterest

I've heard about it but never went to the website but once I did, I was hooked!!!! This has to be the best idea ever! If you haven't went to Pinterest you must go check it out. The idea behind it is that when you are looking on the Internet and see an idea or recipe or anything that you want to keep in mind, you can "pin" it on your boards in a very organized way and never lose it! When you click on the picture it takes you back to the very website that you got the idea from. It is so totally different than just saving it in your favorites and makes you feel a little creative too!
I got a little recipe happy earlier today b/c I have been trying to save ink for my printer, I have been hand writing all the recipes I would find. Not anymore! I am over the top obsessed! You can look on the right side of my blog and right above my blog archives is a link to follow me on pinterest(I know...follow me overload). If you set up an account (or already have one b/c I am the last to find this site) follow me so that I can do the same for you. It is really quick to create an account. I love to see what other ideas people are in to these days.

Here are just a few pictures of the recipes I "pinned" today:) They have a cool way where you can embed this stuff on your blog. I think that if you click on the picture it will take you to the actual recipes for what is in the picture. I haven't tried that so I'm not sure that it will take you there or not.

Source: kraftrecipes.com via Tabatha on Pinterest

Source: kraftrecipes.com via Tabatha on Pinterest

Source: kraftrecipes.com via Tabatha on Pinterest

Business As Usual

I have joined up and added my name to a vendors list on a cool website called Catch My Party! So many great ideas! Check them out!

I have been working a little today on a few new designs and trying to create some complete party packages to offer. I don't have those totally ready but I did make this two new invitations that I love and wanted to show off. They are pretty simple and clean looking but yet oh so sweet!



I helped a friend of mine put on a baby shower for a friend of ours over this past weekend. It was a big success and let me just tell you, Chrissy can make some awesome cupcakes! These aren't your average out of a box cupcakes like I would make but yet oh so detailed. We added some of my cupcake toppers to them and they were super cute! You can check out her facebook page, Buttercups Bakery!


I had a recent order for a set of already made zebra print cupcake toppers....as opposed to the printable ones. They turned out great and made me think that I should think about offering a lot of my items already made by me and give the printable option for those who want to do it themselves. I am having so much fun putting all this together but I won't lie, it is a lot of work.

I have created a facebook page so if you are a facebook junky (or not), please stop over at Paper Pretty's facebook page and "like" it! It will let you stay up to speed on all the new stuff and also see the success of my business (power of positive thinking going on over here).

Happy Monday to all!!!

LET IT GO!!!!

Lots of changes seem to be coming my way these days but one of the biggest is what I have been praying for within myself. Learning to LET GO of things and not always voice my opinion is like trying to teach an old dog new tricks...it's rough. My husband is wonderful at being able to just shut up and walk away from situations when he knows that no matter what he says the other person will not hear him. Me on the other hand...not so blessed with that quality.
I hate for people to always compare their life situations to mine. Sometimes I want to scream and say I listened to you now shut up and listen to me. All the time this happens. Lots of people in this world make me feel this way....LOTS! I try to be nice and have conversations with people or answer their questions and all that ends up happening is me getting frustrated. I keep thinking to myself that I can't do better and change if the devil keeps doing this to me but then I realize that the only way I will know that I have changed or am doing better is if GOD keeps doing this to me. This is a test! Have I mentioned it is rough! My night time prayers lately include asking God to just cover my mouth with his hand when he can see that I am about to react.
I've been pretty short on the blog lately. I haven't went in to great detail about what all is going on in our lives because my husband has made a great point to me. We need to stop worrying about everyone else and their lives b/c they don't seem worried about ours. We need to focus on the ones that live in our household and let the rest have their own lives. Out of respect for my husband, I am trying really really hard b/c I know he is totally right but the downside to doing this is that it seems to alienate us from family and friends. But right now what is best for us and what my husband ask me to do is best for everyone. Maybe living my life with my head in the sand would be a much more pleasant way to live.
There is an awesome and hysterically funny lady on facebook that post things on a daily basis! She makes more sense to me than she will ever know and while she is a for real comedian, she just might be changing my point of view about life! This was in her status update today:
At times you may feel the need to explain yourself.
Won't do any good for someone not willing to listen.
Allow them to be a turd and you ... LET IT GO.