...haha..


wow... life is crazy sometimes, but what are ya gonna do...


sorry for the vagueness~

I'm sitting in my dining room watching Chaya eat lunch... on the menu today is a turkey and cheese sandwich, banana slices, and cheese crackers..oh and an apple juice to drink. I love lunch time with my daughter, its her favorite part of the day because she gets to eat food, and it's my favorite because I get to just sit and talk to my little girl. I know she can't really talk much yet, she only knows a few words, but I don't need to hear words to understand her, I knew her before she was born and because of that I just have a very deep understanding of her needs, wants, complaints etc. It's amazing how you go from being completely terrified that you are going to be a parent, to being a first time parent and wondering what you got yourself into..(those first few weeks are HARD!) to just simply being a mom and knowing exactly what you need to do. When I first had Chaya I was always second guessing myself and feeling like other people knew better than me what she needed, until one day I realized that I am her MOTHER and I know her better than anyone else. Nick and I were talking last night about how at our old church people treated me like I was stupid, they would come over to me and basically take Chaya out of my arms and walk off with her, there were a few occasions in the church nursery where I would go to get Chaya and someone in the church had already taken her..so I'd have to go looking for her.. needless to say I stopped taking her there...I just felt like a horrible mother... but I don't know, one day it just hit me that she is my daughter and I make the rules. Now..NOBODY takes my baby from me, nobody touches her without asking me first. I have found that only at my old church did people not ask to hold her, now people ask ALWAYS..I think it just has to do with respect..you don't hold someones child without asking..it just doesn't happen, and if you think that you have that right then you have another thing coming.

I guess I'm just really starting to feel like a mom...I know Chaya is one now, but its taken time for me to get in the groove of things and really become the mom that my daughter needs, I no longer second guess myself, I know what each sound means, I know what each cry means, I know when she's hungry, I know when she's tired... its just great to know her so well.. I'm so blessed to get to be her mom, she is my joy. She makes me so proud every time I look at her, each day she learns something new and does something to amaze me. I just love her so much! She is such a blessing, she's our little gift :)

I can't sleep.

So, I have a new blog! Its been a really long time since I've blogged on a regular basis and I really miss it too. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this! Let me give you all an update on me and my family in case you are out of the loop...

* Nick and I live in Casey, IL now... if you don't know where it is, google it!
*Nick is working at a hog farm now - he resigned from mattoon east side at the end of june.
*we help out with the teenagers at our church here in Casey, Nick is going to start leading Jr. High on Tuesdays, & We are leading a group at Hardees church on Sunday nights (if you want details on this one, ask me)
* speaking of our church, we LOVE it!
*I am a college student again, I just finished up my second class @ Nazarene Bible College and I start number 3 on Monday

thats basically whats going on with us... now I will let you know whats going on with Chaya...
*she is 13 months old now! (I can't believe it!)
*she can walk if I hold her hand and we go really slow
*she pooped in her potty for the first time a few days ago, even though I'm not actively potty training her until she can walk... she's amazing!
*she is into everything!
*She loves to read
*she just learned how to color
*her favorite toys are her dolls, backyardigans guitar, and tow truck & fire truck
*after months of him missing, freddy the teddy has made his way back into our lives
*Chaya is talking now, she says mom, dad, no, wow, yea, hi and bye...and I think thats it...
*She knows how to make elephant sounds, dog sounds, bird sounds, and cat sounds
*she blows kisses, tells us bye when we leave a room and is working on saying I love you...
*she gets more amazing everyday and we love her so much!!

Well thats about all thats going on here, tonight Chaya went trick or treating for the first time! She went as a pumpkin, we only went to 5 or 6 houses and she got lots of candy, I ate the stuff she couldn't lol..but she did get a good share of stuff, including scooby snacks! yum, I guess? Nick and I carved pumpkins last night and his looked great, mine not so much.. we are very much enjoying life in Casey right now, we have met tons of great people and tonight while trick or treating we got to meet a few of our neighbors which was really nice. Nick and I have been able to spend lots of time together lately, yesterday he took a day off of work to take me to the e.r. because my ribs were hurting so bad, Chaya did something to them when I was pregnant with her, I have been in constant pain for over a year now and I was told at the emergency room that they may never heal.. fun fun. They gave me some pain meds and sent me on my way. Hopefully I can find someway to get them to feel better, they are always the most painful at night when I try to sleep...(which explains why I'm blogging at 2:30am...) Anyway, after the hospital we went to walmart to get my medicine and I started feeling sick to my stomach and all yesterday I was super sick, I was running a fever and in the bathroom every five minutes..no fun but my husband took care of Chaya for me and made me soup and basically pampered me until I felt better. He is so wonderful!! I love him so much and I am so blessed to have such a great husband!

Well I think I'm done writing for now, but I'm really going to try and keep up with this thing, I hope you enjoyed reading my random entry tonight! I hope all of you are doing well!! Leave me comments if you want!

~melissa

~welcome~

Welcome to my new blog!! Keep checking back for updates =)

-mb