Birthday Dates

Yesterday was the official big day for Will! My precious little guy turned 2! It seems like it was just a few days ago when he joined this world, but I can't imagine what my life was like without him. I love him so much!

Will had two birthday dates yesterday! What a lucky boy! First, we ate lunch with Daddy at CPK. Then, we ate dinner (and dessert!) at the DQ with Dovie, PopPop, Kelly, Buddy, Brooke, and AC.

Will and AC LOVED their ice cream cones!

Birthday Party ~ In Pictures

Will had a wonderful and fun 2nd birthday party last Saturday! It was HOT, but we still had a great time! Check out some of the fun...

Will's New Shirt

...and the reason I've been MIA for the past month.

Yes, we're expecting another little Harvey! No, I haven't felt the greatest, but I am praying that once school is out (11 days!), I'll be able to get more rest and have more energy. Will and I have big plans to hang out at the pool, take trips to the zoo, park, and McWane, and just take it easy!

Christ the Lord Has Risen!

What an amazing love God has for us. He made the ultimate sacrifice by allowing his only son, Jesus, to die on a cross. Imagine how much that hurt him to have to do that. Would you be able to make that kind of sacrifice? Just like Abraham did.

Thank you, my heavenly Father, for what you've done for me so that I am able to live in eternity with you. Thank you for loving me that much. I am not worthy of this kind of love, but your mercy and grace is made new each morning. I praise you!

Happy Easter!

I serve a RISEN Savior!

Disney Updates Will Have to Wait

Sorry guys, but no Disney Recap today.

Instead,

• we spent the afternoon at the park with AC and her mom.
• we visited Dovie, PopPop, David, and Trisha.
• Will refused to eat any dinner except french fries.
• Bill & I attended our church's Maundy Thursday service, which was very humbling. (Thank you David & Trisha for keeping Will!)

Tonight I am asking for your prayers. My dad (Will's PopPop) has been having a lot of shoulder pain. He had a nerve block done over 3 weeks ago, but the pain is already back. So, we just found out this afternoon that he'll have surgery in the morning. Please pray for my dad through the surgery and his recovery, the doctors, and my family. Please pray that he has relief from the pain with no side effects. Please pray that God receives the glory for this. Thank you.

Disney Recap

We loved going to Disney last year as a family, but this year was even better! It was so much fun! We stayed busy each day and had a wonderful time. Will loved the parks and all of the exciting things he encountered!

Now, for the recap:

Each day of our trip, we would have a morning activity, then we'd come back to our room for Will to nap, and we would end our day with another activity. Several nights Will was up MUCH LATER than he was used to, but he was great!

Saturday~We had a long and uneventful drive to Orlando. Thank goodness for Dovie's DVD player because Will watched movies the entire way. I felt guilty for him watching that much TV at once, but it kept him happy and that made Bill and I very happy! We stayed at The Boardwalk Inn, which was located close to Epcot. We'd see the resort before and I always thought it would be neat to stay there. I was SO pleased with our room, room location, and view.

Sunday~Magic Kingdom for our morning and evening adventures. It was a blast! Will LOVES rides, which is great because I do too! He also met Mickey and Minnie in Toontown. We stayed at the park super late and watched the Spectromagic Parade and saw the fireworks show. Will was mesmerized!

Monday (a.k.a. worst day of the trip!)~Animal Kingdom in the morning and Downtown Disney for dinner. I think the excitement (and length) of the previous day had gotten to Will and he wasn't a very happy camper. I'll just say that Bill & I learned our lesson. The rest of the week was SO much better than this day!!

Tuesday~Epcot for our morning and evening activities. So much fun! Will loved Epcot as much as Bill and I do. His favorites were the Nemo ride and Figment ride. Over the week, we rode those two rides countless times! We also ate at the Hibachi grill and really enjoyed it. It was a fun meal! Our great day at Epcot ended with the Reflections light and fireworks show. Will was in awe!

Wednesday~St. Patrick's Day! While I spent the morning and early afternoon at the outlets, Bill & Will had lots of fun at our resort. They played on the playground, walked on the Boardwalk, and rode the boat to Epcot. After Will's nap, we headed back to Epcot! What a great evening it was - Will even got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto! (Yes, he ended up meeting at least Mickey at every park!)

I'll save info about the rest of the week for tomorrow's post. For today, enjoy a short movie of pics from our first few days at Disney.

And, so that you're able to keep up with what's going on these days...

Will had his 2nd haircut today. He. Did. Not. Like. It. Plain and Simple. It was pure torture for him. At least he looks cute! :)

We're Alive!

WOW! What a slacker I've become! My one week of no blogging (when we were in Disney) has turned in to over 2 weeks! To be honest, I've been so overwhelmed with the pictures we took and how much I should share about our trip that I just haven't shared anything. I am committing to sharing in the next few days. Promise!

But, more importantly than our Disney trip, I am PRAISING OUR LORD today. My good friend, who some of you know about, had a victorious day! Her offender received the maximum number of additional years for his prison sentence (5 years!). Our God is so good. He gave her strength and courage to face this and not give up. Our God is an Awesome God! I cannot shout it loud enough!

More to come tomorrow about the other things going on in our life.

It's Time!

Spring Break '10 has finally arrived! Yea!!

While most of you are sleeping in tomorrow morning, our family will be beginning our trek to Orlando. You know, the most magical place on Earth. I CANNOT WAIT! So ready to get going!

Disney is wonderful and all, but they DO NOT include in-room internet access. Ridiculous, I know. So, we'll be sans-computer for our trip.

Please pray that we have a safe trip and that our family grows together while we're traveling. I feel so fortunate to have so many days with just my two favorite guys.

See you real soon!

Closed for Business

The sewing machine is officially closed for business until after our Disney trip. Yahoo! I can breathe a big sigh of relief, but not without feeling the stress headache that came upon me about an hour ago.

Yes, all of the shorts have been sewn. Still need to do the elastic in 2 pairs of them. (The reason why I have the stress headache.)

Yes, all machine-sewn shirts are complete.

I still have 2 shirts to hand sew and I am planning to do those on the way to Orlando.

Reason for the stress headache~I don't want to rehash all of the gory details, but I was sewing the elastic into the 3rd pair of shorts. Basically, the machine started spazzing out and I couldn't get it to work. Yes, perfect timing, right? Instead of freaking (like I typically would do), I knew I had to figure out the problem on my own. Bill wouldn't have been any help, even though I wanted to call to him so many times. (He knows less about sewing and machines than me.) After my investigation (i.e. taking things apart and cutting the elastic out of the machine), I figured out that my needle was bent and couldn't come up. I ended up having to break the needle with scissors. Of course, part of it fell into the bottom of the sewing machine. And I'll be honest, it's still there. Please tell me if that is a major no-no. After cutting the needle in two places, I was able to raise it so that I could remove the stubby end. Thankfully, my machine came with a few extra needles, so I was able to attach a new one. While holding my breath, I turned the machine back on and attempted to sew. It worked!!!!! Yea!!!

So, for the last two pairs of shorts, I am going to hand sew the elastic. And, you know, I will most likely hand sew the elastic for a long time.

I will post pictures of Will in the outfits from our trip. Don't think I'm going to have time to do it before then.

**We still have a busy week ahead. Tomorrow, I'm going to the big sale at Tricia's Baby Station and hoping to find some deals on summer outfits for Will. (Not that he needs anymore, considering he already has almost 10 jon-jons and a few 2 piece sets.) Then, I've got some God and girl time at Bible Study. Can't wait for that!

What We've Been Doing

1. Working~Yes, it's always there. Work. Need I say more.

2. Spending time together as a family~The best part of my days! I love spending time with my two boys.

3. Celebrating Grampy's birthday~This past weekend was filled with fun family time by celebrating Grampy's 90th birthday. We had a great time!

4. Getting ready for our trip~Making "to do" lists, sorting things at home, washing clothes, trying clothes on Will, revising "to do" lists

5. Sewing~I made so much progress yesterday afternoon! All of Will's shorts have been sewn and just need the elastic in the waist and have the legs hemmed. I am so proud of myself for getting them almost finished! All of the machine-sewed shirts are finished. There are 2 shirts that are going to be hand-sewn, but I'll save those for the drive to Orlando. Tonight, I also made a few sippy cup inserts. This was a first for me and SO EASY. I love easy projects!

6. Playing~Will is an outdoorsman. Plain and simple. On any decent day, he spends most of his afternoon (once home) outside. And I'll be honest, it's never a pretty sight when he has to come in. He just loves the outdoors. Today, we spent about an hour at a local park with AC and Brooke. Both kiddos were so well-behaved and actually left the park without a fight. PTL! We had to make sure to get in some nice outdoor time since it's supposed to be rainy the rest of the week.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I'm saving up my picture-taking energy for the upcoming vacation. :)

Happy Birthday Dovie!

We would like to wish my wonderful mother and Will's fabulous grandmother a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! She's so lucky because she shares her special day with Dr. Seuss! (Can't you tell that I'm a teacher because I obviously celebrate his birthday!)

Last night, we enjoyed a great dinner with family and friends to celebrate Mom's birthday. Thank you for a fun time!

And just for those who are still keeping track (Yes, I know I'm the only one, but this keeps me accountable)...Here is my sewing progress update:

~All shirts have the applique attached to them. Yea!

~1 shirt has been sewn. 2 more to machine sew. 2 to hand sew.

~1 pair of shorts has been sewn. Whew! That was more work than I remembered!! 3 more pairs of shorts to sew.

T minus 11 days until Disney. Seriously, I have a lot to do. But, it's going to be so much fun, so it's worth it!!

I'm Not a Slacker, Just Busy!

When I looked at the blog today, I realized that I hadn't posted an update since Tuesday. At first, I titled this blog post, "Slacker". But, I haven't been a slacker. I have just been busy, busy!

Wednesday night~I had bible study with a group of girls from church. I absolutely love this group. There have been so many things weighing on my heart over recent months and I've been in constant prayer about them. Each week, things that are discussed in our bible study group speak to me about what's been weighing on my heart. God is so good like that. I pray to Him to reveal His plan for my family. Little did I realize that he would always use my bible study group to do this. Thank you to the girls in this group for being you!

Thursday night~Another great night with friends while playing Bunco! It seems unbelievable that we're in our 6th year!

Friday & Saturday~Our family made a little getaway to Auburn to visit some friends. Our sweet friends always open their home to us and we love them!! Friday night, we ate at my fave place...Amsterdam Cafe. Yummo! Saturday morning, Ami, Brooke, and I had some fun craft time! Brooke definitely showed up on coming up with a cute craft for us!

Today~We had a great morning at church and Sunday School. Then, we enjoyed Panera with Dovie and came home to take some much needed naps. I'm embarrassed to say that I napped as long as Will (over 2 hours)! This afternoon, we went to school. While I worked in my classroom, Bill & Will played on the playground at school. Have I mentioned before that Will loves slides? Yes, I know I have.

So, it's already Sunday evening and I haven't made any progress on my sewing efforts. Yikes. I'm committing to myself to cut out two pairs of shorts and iron my last applique tonight. I can do it! T minus 13 days until Disney! So much to do between now and then!

No Progress, But Having Fun!

Sewing Update: No progress made today. I'm ok with it.

Instead of sewing, our family got to enjoy a fun night with new friends! Will's new church friend and his parents (in our SS class) came for dinner and the boys had a wonderful time playing. It was great getting to spend time with our new friends and get to know them more. I am so thankful for us getting involved in a Sunday School class at church. So many couples have little ones in our class and I love having an immediate connection with such a big group of people. Will and his new friend played and played. They pulled out almost every toy in our family room (and if you've been here, you know that's A LOT!). They got along so well, which made the visit even better! I can't wait for us to do it again!

Here are some pictures of Will and his new friend. Don't you just love the beautiful red hair!

Progress

Still feeling overwhelmed about what all I need to do before our Disney trip. However, BIG PROGRESS was made today because 4 shirts have the applique attached! Yea!! I still have to sew them, but at least the applique is finished and on the shirt.

So, for those keeping track of my "to do" list (ahem...I guess just me), I still have to:

~create one more applique for a shirt

~hand sew 2 of the 5 shirts

~sewing machine sew the other 3 shirts

~cut out 2 more pairs of shorts (already have cut out 2 pairs)

~sew all 4 pairs of shorts

I must say that this is the biggest sewing project I've taken on. And I would still be at Step 1 of deciding what to put on the shirts if it wasn't for a talented friend at work! Thank you Kip for your help!

The rest of this week is super busy, so I doubt I'll be sewing any. I'll feel good about everything as long as I can get the last applique on a shirt and cut out the other two pairs of shorts by the end of this week. Then, I'll have two more weeks to do the sewing. Yea!

**As a side note, I know that most people read the blog to see how Will is doing. Sorry, but right now the blog is an outlet for me and a way to document my "to do" list.

And if you really want to know how Will is, he's great (and already asleep)!

Feelin' the Stress

We leave for Disney in less than 3 weeks. How have I let it slip up on me? There is so much to do to get Will ready for the trip. So much to do and he doesn't even know it.

The biggest "to do" for the trip is get all of Will's clothing purchased or made. I like to sew whenever I feel the creative juices flowing, but when I'm under pressure to make a week's worth of outfits, I just feel completely overwhelmed.

On top of making outfits for Will, I've got to purchase a new swim suit for him. It's TOO early in the year to think about buying a swim suit and I'm just disappointed at what I've found so far. I am looking for a cute, reasonably priced, seersucker or gingham suit. If you know of a good place to find some, please let me know.

I love Disney. I really do. But the prep work for a week-long trip is stressing me out. I know it will be so much fun once we're there and that Will is going to look cute in all of his outfits, but right now, I'm just stressed. I suppose mine and Will's afternoons are going to be filled with swim suit shopping. I'm sure he'll be thrilled! Then my nights are going to be filled with sewing. I'm thrilled too.

I just might have a few less hairs on my head by the time we get to the most magical place on Earth.

Big Machines

Check out our pictures from Big Machines Day at McWane! Will had a great time, but you can't tell by the pictures (not many smiles). He was so mesmerized by everything that he just looked in awe. He was too focused on the big machines to pose for pictures! :(

Will was able to sit in several different kinds of machines and even in a fire truck!

Isn't Will's yellow construction hat too cute! They gave it to him and he didn't want to take it off. He's usually not a hat guy, but he was all about the construction hat.

What a fun day!

I Like To Eat Apples & Bananas, Part 1

Will loves him some apples and bananas. He even loves to ate them, eat them, ite them, ote them, and ute them.

Thus, this post is titled "I Like To Eat Apples & Bananas, Part 1".