The Kitchen & This & That

I forgot to post the kitchen earlier for Kelly’s Korner tour of homes. Here is our kitchen ya’ll!

The fridge and the counter that collects all the junk

Bottle zone

My owl plate my Mommy got me at Cracker Barrel
&
My favorite candle Aromatique Amaretto Nog
(They are discontinuing the scent…booooo!!!!)

This week has been….in one word….BUSY!!!

Last night I went home and made 48 cupcakes. I made 24 purple (TCU) and 24 white. I hope they turned out okay. I’m not the best at icing and it was hard to work with last night. After I was finished it looked like Barney the dinosaur exploded in my sink 😛 I was plum tuckered out!

I am loving this Trick-Or-Treat Tervis Tumbler
I use my Tervis every day and I loooove it!

They sell them at Bed Bath & Beyond now and if you use a 20% coupon it’s a pretty good price!
This little guy woke up at 4 a.m. this morning….ugh….

He chugged another bottle at around 7:30 a.m. and then threw it ALL up in the bed!

Poor thing…he’s been stuffy all week and I hope he starts feeling better.

My sweet nephew Jarrett spend the night in the ER last night too with a bad cough. Poor baby boy 🙁 I hope both our baby loves get to feeling better. I know my sis is tired too….
Here is a random self portrait at the pumpkin patch last weekend. Connor’s like “Stop, not another picture Mommy!” It was so much fun I really want to go back with Terence next time.

We also saw a movie on Tuesday courtesy of BlogHer. They gave us tickets to a screening of The Secretariat and it was SO good! Diane Lane is one of my favorite actresses and I really enjoyed this movie. It comes out tonight and it would be a great film to go see with the entire family 🙂
I’m obsessing over Christmas front doors right now….Aren’t these SO pretty???

77 days until CHRISTMAS!!!!

Everyone have a great weekend!!!!
I have a 3 day weekend woohooooooooooooo!!!!!

Oh-and for your viewing pleasure:

Look who’s crawling……

Baby Wishes & Cavier Dreams

I’ve been thinking of what to post on this topic for the last couple of days. I saw that Amy was doing a link up on her blog about “getting real”. I think for the most part I am real on this blog, but there are a lot of things I don’t post about for fear that some of you may judge me differently. I don’t exactly know who reads this blog or why they do and I would never want to offend anyone because their life’s circumstances aren’t the same as mine. I am not the best writer, and I tend to write how I talk….so I will just write this the best I can.

Through blogging I have heard some incredible stories…lots of good ones….and some very sad ones. There have been times I’m sitting at my computer bursting for joy reading my computer screen, and other times I am sitting there crying because something not so good has happened in your lives. I don’t understand why some things happen to people, but I do hope that we can all be here to encourage each other as we journey through life. Most of us live far from each other, but have all found a common bond in blogging and developed life long friendships 🙂

My life is not that exciting, and nothing spectacular happens to me on a day to day basis, but I do enjoy keeping this blog to look back on. I have always been a saver and a picture taker…it’s something I enjoy and the pictures are a memory captured that can be shared! It excites me and I love to share these memories with my friends, family, and you!

One common bond I found with a lot of you was my journey to become a mother. My journey has been short compared to many of you out there. There are still so many of you who are longing and hoping for this dream we all talk about and share on our blogs….motherhood.
Terence and I were married 8 years and 5 months to the day when we welcome Connor into our lives. I can say I always had a feeling I would have trouble getting pregnant or carrying a child. Growing up my sister and I both struggled with PCOS. I have never had a normal period in my LIFE. I either had no period at all or a period that would last for several weeks at a time. Sometimes it was excruciating!

Now, let me make it clear we have not been trying to have a baby the entire time we’ve been married. When we started talking about it I got worried & I think I was the one that pushed it so hard. Terence would have been fine to wait 10 more years! That is just men for ya!
There were times when we tried and times when we didn’t. I never expected much…..but as I began to see all my friends have a baby…then their second baby….and even third baby….I began to wonder if something was wrong. The times we did try nothing would happen and your like “are we doing something wrong?” The last couple of years I really felt time caving in on me like a black hole. I was starting to push 30 and people started to ask us if we were ever going to have kids??? How do you tell someone “YES” when they have no clue that it’s something you desire so badly…but don’t know how to make it happen.

We never had to go to the lengths that some of you have gone through to try and conceive. We did try alternative methods and some drugs before conceiving Connor, but we did not conceive him while using any of that. I remember finding out my sister was pregnant and at the time it was the last straw. As thrilled and excited as I was for her I was hurting inside because I wanted it to be me so badly!
It did give me hope….because we both had the same health problems I thought if she could get pregnant then maybe so can I??? I remember the night I found out I think I threw my phone at Terence and burst into tears….”it’s supposed to be ME!”

Terence had just graduated with his masters degree & we had just moved out of my in-laws house into our own apartment. Things were definitely looking up and I thought the only thing that would make it better would be a baby. I think I had a misunderstanding of what having a baby truly was….yes they are cute and wonderful…but these past 7 months have kicked our butts! I have read so many blogs that paint a perfect picture of motherhood and it’s not all perfect. It’s hard. It’s real. It’s GREAT! It’s so many things I cannot describe right now!

I ramble I know….

Terence and I were living our lives and for the first time we felt secure. We both had our own place, good jobs, and were able to go out on the weekends and have fun. In my heart I was happy, but I felt a missing piece…I knew I was missing something. I had been patient and waited & waited for the right time for God to bless us. The previous year I began to really push the issue of having a baby on Terence and I don’t think that was right. It wasn’t right for me, him, or our relationship. I’ve said before….God truly has perfect timing.

Shortly after I found out my sister was pregnant I found out my sister in law was pregnant as well. I was excited for her…but again I was hurting inside because I wanted to be a mother too. I remember calling Summer and we just talked and vented to each other. She’s been there for me & I hope I can always be there for her too even though circumstances have changed. She is going to be a mother soon! I feel it!

What I didn’t know at the time was that….I was pregnant too!

I remember praying to God and pleading with him “Please Lord if you grant me a child he is Yours not mine…he is YOURS!” I just kept saying that over and over again in my head…..he is yours not mine…yours not mine….

I still remember praying that prayer so vividly. And on my 28th birthday God blessed me with Connor….I know that was the day. Happy birthday to me right??? ha..ha..

I finally gave in and gave it all over to God. I quit trying to control my own life and trying to fit into a mold I thought would be right. I hear it and people say it all the time….the minute you quit trying to control the world around you and just relax it will happen….and it did.

I’m praying for those of you still in waiting each day & thank you for always being there for me and encouraging me over the years! Everyone’s journey is different….but if they were all the same then what kind of life would that be?

XOXO – Becky

Reflection:

Psalm 21:2 You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Psalm 145:19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

7 Months

My sweet boy you turned 7 months yesterday
“You are my sweet Connor boy”

“You fill my heart with so much joy”
“You are my angel from God above”
“You fill my heart with so much love”
You are growing up so fast! Soon we’ll be celebrating your 1st birthday! Last night you crawled all the way across the living room floor. Your Daddy and I got so tickled at how determined you were to do that 🙂
You’ve had a cold this week and a stuffy nose. I hope that goes away soon. Right now you are loving apples, pears, sweet potatoes, and green beans. You wear size 3 diapers & 6-9 month clothing. I have NO idea how much you weigh! But you are a tall lean little feller!
You are the light of my life and I thank God for you every day!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Connor had his first trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend. We met up with Angie and her kiddos on Saturday morning. We got up early, got gas, had coffee….and FINALLY made it out there! It was so crowded I think everyone had the same idea we did! We didn’t stay very long & the dust and hay got to me & Connor. We’ve both had runny noses and cotton ball heads all weekend. It’s definitely fall 🙂
It’s hard to take pictures when Daddy isn’t behind me making goofy faces…so this is the best we could do! Connor was only interested in eating the hay on the ground!

My little hillbilly

“Yummy hay”

“What are these things?”
Terence went golfing Saturday with Angie’s husband Gary while we were at the pumpkin patch. They had a great time and I’m so glad Terence found a golf buddy!
Later that evening they invited us over for dinner. They cooked steak and chicken fajitas. Dinner was SO good! If you’ve ever read Angie’s blog you know what a great cook she is and her hubby is a meat master on the grill. Thank you Angie, Gary, Layla, & Hayden for having us over and playing with baby Connor we had a great time and can’t wait to hang out again! Your whole family is so precious and I’m so glad we found each other through blogland 🙂
(next time we will definitely take more pictures Angie!)

Sunday night we celebrated our nephew Benjamin’s first birthday at family dinner. I tell you these baby’s grow up so fast! It took him a bit to figure out it was okay to dig into that cake…but once he did it was a MESS! Happy birthday Benjamin we love you!

Connor & Mommy

The whole fam

That pretty much sums up our weekend! We are trying to get over all these allergies, but loving the cool air! I hope you all had a great weekend too!

October Fun

Boogity Boo!
It’s finally feeling like fall since October is here. I am having waaaaay too much fun playing on Picnik editing photos and making them creepy. Don’t Connor & I look creepy? This weekend I would really like to go to the pumpkin patch & take some pictures, we will see if that works out.
Last night I made fall cupcakes & brought them to work this morning. If I keep them in the house for Terence and I that would not be a good thing! I found these cute owl and pumpkin cupcake toppers & I’ve been in a baking mood lately…so “viola” CUPCAKES!!!
I got my new bag I ordered from Zulily in yesterday too! It’s a LOT bigger than I thought it would be. I went with the leopard print bag instead of the blue I posted about earlier. I love that it’s insulated and I can fit EVERYTHING in it! It’s HUGE!
We have had some major teething going on in our household lately. We’ve tried the tablets, orajel, teething rings, Tylenol….it’s been nuts! We’ve been getting up during the night to try and sooth him, but sometimes the blood curdling screams just wear on you. I’ve gotten a lot of advice from Twitter friends and blogger comments and that means so much! I feel like a chicken with my head cut off sometimes ya’ll! Okay….I got my whine fest over…..
I hope you all have a great fall weekend! XOXO – Becky

THE WINNER OF THE LIBMAN MOP GIVEAWAY IS :

MARIA @ STARR STATIONARY!!!

EMAIL ME @ BECKYLBRANCH@GMAIL.COM WITH YOUR ADDRESS

*ALSO*

SAY A PRAYER FOR SUMMER & ADAM TODAY!!!!

WE WANT A BABY BROWNIE SOOOOOO BAD!!!

WE LOVE YOU 🙂

Hairy & Scary

I’m a VAMPIRE!!!! Har..har..har…
No, not really.
You can go to Picnik.com right now and “vampire” yourself
I had to try this out 🙂
The photos above are the many years of different hairstyles I’ve had. Some of them are down right frightening! Can you pick out the Afro picture above? I will never EVER cut my hair short again…and I am sure you can see why! I would love to see all you gal’s hairstyles over the years!

Some of you asked about my curls in the last few pictures. I use a curling iron called a Ginalli. It has no barrel on it and gets super hot like a Chi iron. I LOVE IT!

Look who found himself in the mirror this morning!
This little dude has been keeping us up with blood curdling screams in the night…needless to say I am a zombie lately! I’m using a lot of scary words in this post! ha..ha..
I don’t like how Blogger puts a limit on how many people you can follow! I try to follow new people’s blogs and it won’t let me anymore! POO! Does anyone know why Blogger does this? I hope you don’t take offense if I can’t follow your blog…but if you leave me comments I always click and it brings me back to your blog so we can stay in touch….stupid Blogger!
Tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!! Woohoo!!!!

Connor’s New Hat

This is Connor’s new hat. I ordered it from Zulily last week for $11.00. Of course we had to have a photo shoot 🙂 Bless his heart…the Lord knew I needed a cooperative baby when it comes to taking photos.

I also busted out the Kitchenaid mixer. The one I begged for….I begged for this thing for two whole years. Terence says it just collects dust on the counter…I can’t disagree with him. Anyways, I was channelling my inner “Martha” last night and baked some pumpkin bread. It was really good and moist, the only thing I would do next time is add more spice!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FALL FOOD???