Lately

Things have been going well in our (new) world. Each week I feel we are getting more and more settled. We are really enjoying our new home. I can't drive anywhere without the GPS still and at least once a day my GPS tells me it is re-calculating. I still get lost even with it! Ha! I don't see me driving without the GPS any time soon. :) 

The North is for sure very different than the South. In the South they say there is a church on every corner, here there is either a liquor store or a funeral home on every corner. At first it made me depressed, but now I'm used to it! Ha! 

We are gearing up for Christmas this weekend. I am super sad that we won't be with my family, but also excited to start creating our own family traditions for just us three. I'll be sure to take lots of photos and post them! 

I have to share some pictures with you all that a sweet friend in Charlotte took of James before we moved! Such a little ham! Enjoy!

Yummiest Granola Ever!

I just made the yummiest and easiest granola ever. A friend introduced it to me on a women's retreat and was kind enough to share the recipe. So naturally I felt like it was my duty to pass it on to others as well.

Here it is:

4 cups rolled oats
1.5 cups chopped cashews (I just bought a normal can of cashew halves and kept them that way)
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup of honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbls. cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together and lay them all on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 for 10 min. Then remove and stir it all up a bit (I just used tossed them on the baking sheet), then put back in the oven and back for 10-12 more min. Pull out and let it sit to dry up a bit.

Makes a good amount and is delicious. SO easy to make. Even thought it would be a cute gift for someone this holiday season. Just pop some in a cute Christmas Tin or a Mason Jar and instant, yummy gift!

Enjoy...I know I am going to!

He met me...

This morning while I was doing my quiet time, the Lord met me right in it. I tend to switch things up with what each quiet times looks like. Sometime it depends on the amount of time I have to do it, or just the way the Lord leads me that morning. But this morning I curled up in a comfy chair and read in my "Jesus Calling" devotional book (which I LOVE and recommend if you don't already have it). I had to share what I read and just how sweet the Lord is to have shown this to me this morning.

      "Come to Me in all your neediness, with defenses down and with desire to be blessed. As you spend
        time in My Presence, your deepest longings are fulfilled. Rejoice in your neediness, which enables
        you to find intimate completion in me."

This time has been hard. It's been hard settling in, hard finding my place, hard being unknown. But God begs me to come to him with it. I love the way they phrased it to "come to Him in all my neediness". That's exactly what it is...neediness. Neediness that only God can fill. Not my husband or any new or old friend. Just Him! He knows RIGHT where I am at and right where I am longing and struggling.

In Philippians 4:19 He says:
       " And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus"

He will meet my needs, but only according to HIS will. I feel so thankful this morning that he is a God filled with grace and love for me. He never leaves and is always there.
That is what gets me through today. I might be longing to be in Charlotte and missing family and friends like crazy, but I KNOW that God will meet me here today and already has!

THANKFUL!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It was our last holiday to celebrate together while still living in Charlotte. We had already had everything all packed up and moved so we truly were able to just enjoy the day with our family. We spent the whole day at my parents house. It was super laid back, and we were able to just soak it all in. Was so nice! Here are some fun pics from the day! Oh how I love my family. They are a place of comfort, safety, laughter and joy!

We made it!

We finally made it to Boston! Manny arrived the weekend before me and James got there. Tuesday the 29th we flew in with my parents and started this new journey. We got right to work when we got to the condo. Let me just say that my parents are machines! In 3 days we unpacked every box, hung up art on the walls (more than in our old house I might add), Organized and decorated. We now feel extremely settled and are enjoying our cozy new home.
First sad day took place when I had to say goodbye to my Dad on Friday. It has been so good having him here that I just wasn't ready to say goodbye. Then the second wave of sadness came yesterday when I said goodbye to my mom. Talk about heartbreaking. It was the hardest thing I've had to do in quite some time dropping her off at the airport.
On my drive back from the airport (I was by myself) I just kept feeling torn. Knowing that this is my "new home", but longing for my old home. Wanting nothing more than to hop on that plane with my mom and go back to Charlotte. Although my mind is telling me that I where I belong, my heart tells me that we are right where we belong. Right where God wants us. It doesn't make it easy though. This is harder than I ever thought it would be. It's weird to be in a city where you know no one and no one knows you, you don't know what grocery store to go to, where the bank is, good food places, etc. I know you are probably thinking...it hasn't even been a week. But unless you have had to do a move like this then you really don't understand.
My mom did remind me yesterday that through this whole process Manny and I have both continually said that we feel like we are following God's lead and that Boston is where he wants us. She reminded me to keep that faith and to keep trusting in Him. I know if nothing else that my relationship with the Lord with deepen. I didn't realize how little I called on him when we were living in Charlotte. I guess I just didn't think I needed Him all that much. I need Him now though. Like I never have. I'm looking forward to going on this journey with Him. I'm just gonna need a lot of hand holding! :)
We'll be sure to keep you up to date on our adventure. Hopefully future post will consist of fun times as a family and maybe with a new friend or two!

Here's a few pics of the new place!

14 Months

Once again behind! On the 9th James turned 14 months. It's crazy how fast time is going by. I feel like I just wrote the post about 13 months. I feel like he is learning something new every day. Here is what he has been up to this month:

- He gives kisses
- He loves to sing or really any type of music
- He walks everywhere and is starting to almost run
- Still a great sleeper and napper. Thank goodness we haven't let go of that morning nap yet! :)
- It's almost time for your first haircut...:(
- He loves giving high fives
- He is going through an "I don't want to eat" phase, so we are just working with it!
- He laughs all the time
- He loves to repeat

Sadly I do not have any recent pics. We have been so crazy preparing for our move to Boston that I have barely taken photos lately. But have no fear, we will of course be taking some at Thanksgiving and in the upcoming weeks!

Happy Halloween

Tonight was our first experience going trick or treating with Buggy. It was so much fun. We only went to about 5 houses. But he did so good. We dressed him up as a dragon. He was so stinkin cute. I thought he would attempt to pull it off but he didn't care one bit. The hardest part of the evening was getting him out of his little car to go up to the door to trick or treat. He REALLY likes riding in his car! :) Enjoy the pics of our evening!

 Getting ready

Sweet boy

Oli thinks he's pretty cute too

This Mama LOVES this sweet boy! 

My hot date! 

Time to go...

So much fun! 

Chewing on some M&M's on the road! 

It's official!

This past week, Mom and I headed to Boston to find us a place to live. And....We did it! We chose a place in Watertown, MA. It was such a God thing how it all happened. The place is beautiful! We don't have to put a thing in storage and really could comfortably live here for quite a while. We are hoping that we love living there are much as it appears we will. It is super close to the city so it will be an easy commute for Manny to work each day. But we don't lose the small town feel. We can still enjoy conveniences such as doctors, grocery stores, etc.

Our official move in date is November 28th. Hard to believe that it's just around the corner. At least we get to be here for Thanksgiving before we leave. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we return for Christmas! :)

Can't wait to post pics of our new place!

Boston...Home sweet home!

I have been thinking about what I would write in this post since the moment the word "Boston" was on our lips. A few months ago, Manny was approached about a wonderful opportunity within his company, too good to pass up! But it meant a few changes for our family. One major one being that we would have to pack up our little family and move to Boston. I wish I could say that my initial reaction was a good one. Unfortunately my husband got my very human and sinful response, which was that I didn't want to go. But thankfully my husband and the Lord extended some much needed grace my way! After a lot of praying and talking through all the pros and cons, we have made it official and will be moving to Boston.

This process has been so interesting and has taken me on a roller coaster of emotions. I am so thankful for it though. God has so tenderly walked through it all with me. I have learned so much about myself as well as what it looks like to be a supportive wife. The Lord has softened my heart to Boston. Something that in the beginning I never thought could happen. I am actually really looking forward to this new adventure. I'm anxious to be there, to live in our new home, to connect with new friends, find a new church and see what God has in store for our family.

So to Boston we go...we will move at the end of November. I know, you're thinking what everyone else has said..."you are moving at the start of winter, are you crazy?!?!" No we aren't crazy. We are just really ready for our family to be back in the same place together. Right now Manny spends about 80% of his time in Boston and James and I here in Charlotte. So it is time to be together again. We are praying that this winter isn't as brutal! Ha!

Our blog will now consist of a new family adventure! Our life in Boston! We would love visitors and will have plenty of room!

Praising the Lord for Boston today!

13 Months

So I am WAY behind on doing James' monthly posts. At least I'm doing one right! :) Figured y'all would cut me some slack.

Here's what James is up to this month:

- He is walking...still a bit unsteady, but doing so great
- He is learning a new word every week....he now can say: Truck, Mama, Dada, Ball, Stella, and occasionally Mimi!
- He has turned into a great eater
- Still takes two naps a day, both about 2 hours
- Now has 8 teeth
- Laughs all the time, he's a bit of a jokester!
- Loves to wrestle with Daddy

James you continue to be a pure delight to your me and your Daddy. You are changing daily. Mama loves the fact that she gets a front row seat to watch! We love you!

Finally getting my head above water!

Oh my word is all I can say about this last week. It all started Sunday afternoon. At about 3 to be exact...James woke up from his nap with a fever of 102. Shortly after that he started vomiting. :( After a visit to the Pediatric Urgent Care we found out that Buggy had Hand Foot and Mouth. Not sure if you have ever heard of this, but it was miserable. I honestly do not know many viruses as miserable as this. It started with the fever and vomiting, then the fever continues but they also get these blister like sores. They can get them in the mouth, on hands, feet, bottom and other places. Thankfully for us, we only got them in the mouth and bottom. But that was more than enough. It has been a very LONG week (Manny was gone all week) . I am just glad that my sunshine is feeling better and acting more like himself. I would not wish this virus on anyone. Between trying to get the very high fevers down and easing the pain of his sores THIS Mama is POOPED! I am looking forward to Daddy coming home tomorrow! We'll be getting much better about blogging too! Life is starting to balance out a bit! Fun news to come!

More exciting news is that James has been walking!!! He started just taking steps a few weeks ago, but now he is walking across the room. He still is a bit apprehensive, but he'll get there. I imagine by next week we'll have a FULL time walker! He is so proud of himself and so are we! We also learned a new word today..."truck". They have been repaving our neighborhood so all week long there have been trucks in front of our house. He is so cute when he says it. Sounds more like Uck! But he makes sure that he gets the "ck" in there! So cute! He also know's how to say Stella's name. Sounds more like "Ella". Whatever works right! :)

Here's a recent picture of my ham!

Pretty sure I could eat him right up!

Aw Shucks Farm

We went to Aw Shucks Farm the other day with some sweet friends. It was an absolutely beautiful day outside and although there wasn't a whole lot that James could actually do, he had a great time. It was nice to switch things up for a day. We got to see some farm animals, see a real pumpkin patch, go on a hayride and have a picnic. Needless to say Buggy was passed out before we even pulled out of the parking lot! :)

Birthday Party Fun!

Over the weekend we celebrated James' 1st birthday with Friends and Family. Since we call James "Buggy" and have since he was first born we decided on a Bug themed party. :) I had so much fun planning all the details for this party. I can see how easy it is to get carried away and go overboard. I'm glad we took pictures cause James will never remember any of it! :) Here were some of the details:

The Favors

The caterpillar cake

The yummy spread of food

A banner with each monthly picture

Sweet boy ready for his cake!

Where did my baby go?

Didn't quite know what to think

For the most part he liked his cake! Not thinking he's gonna be a big sweets guy though. 

Stella and TJ

Opening presents

By far one of his favs! Total boy...loves any kind of ball! 

So thankful for the day and getting to celebrate with great friends and family. Feel so lucky to have so many people in our lives that love us and love our sweet baby...toddler :(