I'm too blessed to be stressed....

....That's my word and I'm sticking to it!!!!

Below is an email that I received today from a close friend. And when I read it, it hit home and was just what I needed to hear right now. Thought it was too good not to share with you. It might be just what you need to hear as well.

Today's word from Joel and Victoria

Have you ever felt like you were in a pit of despair? Just like God lifted David out, God is going to lift you out. Where you are right now is not where you’re going to stay. There are brighter days up ahead for you filled with favor, promotion, and increase. As you walk uprightly before Him, no good thing will He withhold from you.

Notice that God gives us a new song. We have to do our part to sing that song. That means you don’t go around talking about your problems, how bad things are, or how you’re never going to make it. No, you have a song of victory! If somebody asks you how you’re doing, your attitude should be, "I’m too blessed to be stressed! I’m moving forward in strength and power." Remember, praise precedes the victory, and the Bible tells us that God is enthroned on our praises. As you magnify and lift Him up, He will lift you up out of your despair. He’ll set your feet on solid ground, and you’ll move forward in joy and victory in every area of your life.

That little boy of mine

I am currently reading Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson (a gift from my mother-in-love). So far, I am truly enjoying it. In the beginning, he mentions part of some lyrics from a song called "That Little Boy Of Mine"... Of course as I read it, I automatically thought of my little boy. Everyday, I am reminded of how blessed I am to be a mother and how much joy this little person brings into my life. He is one of the loves of my life (first being God and second my loving husband) and I pray that he grows up knowing that he is and will always be loved by me, no matter what. Since I thought it was sweet and had never heard of it, I wanted to share it with you.

A tiny turned up nose,

Two cheeks just like a rose,

All sweet from head to toes,

That little boy of mine.

Two eyes that shine so bright,

Two lips to kiss goodnight

Two arms to hold me tight,

That little boy of mine.

No one could ever know

how much your coming has meant.

Because I love you so,

you're something heaven sent.

You're all the world to me.

You climb upon my knee.

To me you'll always be,

That little boy of mine.

Teetheeeeeee.....

For a while now, we have been practicing brushing Cohen's teeth. I believe with a mouth full, it is never to early to get in the habit. He now has a total of 16 which he seemed to get all of them very early. Since he did not care too much about it, my dentist recommended a tooth brush that might make some kind of vibration or noise, at least it worked with her child. So, Santa brought him one that sings "If you're happy and you know it, brush your teeth", which has a little vibration to it too. Cohen appears to love it and after getting ready for bed, if you ask him "do you want to brush your teeth", his response is ah-huh followed by teetheeeeeeeeeee. What can I say, he is adorable!

Here he is showing off his freshly clean teeth

Relaxing weekend....

It started off with having a night without Cohen. While Cohen spent the night with GG and Pops, daddy and mommy decided to have a quiet night, lounging on the couch. On my way home from work, I stopped by Blockbuster to pick out a few movies and Chick-fil-a was the choice for dinner. We watched "Eagle Eye" and "Ghost Town" and both were good. I really enjoyed "Eagle Eye". We would finish the late night with an old favorite from our collection "The Goonies". I would not make it all the way through that one.

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With a normal bedtime around 10pm, we did stay up past that and I believe it was 1:30 when I dragged myself to the bed. No alarm or child to wake us up, we had the luxury of sleeping in. I, of course, would think of all the things I could have gotten done if I hadn't, but it sure was nice. The rest of the day would consist of finally getting the Christmas decorations put away in the attic, our weekly grocery trip and oh yeah, pick up Cohen.

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Sunday, I decided to go visit a church called "Freedom Fellowship". Charlie and Cohen stayed home on this visit. I truly enjoyed it and look forward to visiting some more. Although I don't want to rush it, one of my goals (resolutions) for this year is to hopefully find a Church. I am sure God will lead us where we need to be in his own timing.
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We took it easy for what was left of the weekend and played around the house with Cohen. Below are some pictures of playing with him and what he loves to do or should I say get into.

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Playing in the fort...

Making music with his recorder.... While cooking dinner, I turned around to see this..
Daddy and Cohen having fun in the kitchen floor...

Back to a crib

So I probably jumped the gun too soon but things seem to look pretty good in the future.

Going back a little, we decided to go ahead and turn the crib into a toddler bed. It seemed like a good idea and Cohen loved it. He would climb in and out and loved to line up all his stuffed friends and sit with them. It was easier putting him in the bed and during the night, when he would wake up, we could actually lay in his bed with him until he fell back asleep (probably not a good idea for the crib mattress). But nothing was changing, Cohen was going to bed great but waking up once or twice during the night. He even would get up and walk into the living room before crying out. What does it hurt, we would eventually be dealing with this kind of thing soon or later when he would be placed in a toddler or bigger bed. Plus I wouldn't have to worry about him learning how to climb out the crib (one of my mommy fears).

We were battling on what to do and finally a week ago this past Sunday, Charlie and I decided to turn the toddler bed back into the crib, of course without the mobile (I think those are for looks anyway) and the bumper. Thinking that we were going to be dealing with a screaming, unhappy 16 month old, we would find ourselves very surprised. Now, he still has been waking up, most nights it has been once, but we have forced ourselves to allow him to cry it out and IT ACTUALLY WORKS. He does still wake up, especially when I go to lay him down, but he goes back to sleep and if he does wake up, the cries are not long. FYI, when placing your child in the crib awake and they start screaming, never look back. Just walk out. It is already hard having to do that but to look back and see them standing there, crying and reaching for you, it just breaks your heart. Although, this has only happened once or twice, it was very hard not to turn back, grab him quickly and hug like I never hugged him before. But he will never learn if a mommy gives in all the time, right?

We try to stick to a routine, which I have learned with having a child, that it is better. It starts off with daddy giving Cohen his bath and getting him ready for bed. Then I take over, we read a few books, say our night time prayer and then we rock.

For being the first week, I will have to say it has been a great one. And it is so nice not having to get out of the bed during the night, which I will admit, a few times I have just to check on him. Not for sure when we will attempt the toddler bed but for now we are staying in the crib.

First day of the year

Nice to have another holiday, a day off work, getting to spend time with my family. It wont be until May before another holiday will be allowed (unless vacation time is taken off).

Cohen and I headed to my Grandma Hardee's (my dad's mother) house to spend a little time visiting. It was a little different not having Mama Grace there but I am sure she was smiling down on us. My mom made a stop by as well. It appeared that Christmas was not over for Mr. Cohen. He had a few gifts from that side of the family to open. And yes, MORE TOYS. Although it is very thoughtful and I am very thankful, my first thought was "Where am I going to put all these toys". But we will manage, right? When time is allowed, I do enjoy organizing so that is what we will have to do with all these toys. As always, it is such a joy to visit with Grandma and I do plan this year to have more of these visits.

After visiting with Grandma, we headed back to home to pick up daddy and head over to GG and Pops for the traditional New Year's day meal. It was delicious and I did skip the greens, collards is one that I do not care for. The rest of the day was filled with some playtime and rest, back to work tomorrow.

made it to midnight...

...which I was really surprised. I had not planned on it and was for sure that I would be out since my normal bed time is around 10:00 pm. This girl loves her sleep. However, after getting Cohen to bed, which was around 9 pm, Charlie and I decided to play some Guitar Hero and the next thing we knew, it was 15 minutes till midnight. What a great way to bring in the new year, at home safe, beside the one you love and playing video games.... But as soon as the ball dropped, I was done and headed off to bed. Although, we didn't do anything extravagant, I do wish that I had taken some pictures but oh well.

Hope everyone had a great time doing what they did and brought in the New Year right!

Really looking forward to 2009!