Sunday, December 20, 2009

A lot to catch up on...

It seems like so much has happened in the last few months so I thought I'd bring you up to date!

Back in the middle of September I was let go from my job. It was an amazing job that I was so thankful to have had the last 3 years while I did. It has definitely been a big adjustment for our family but I know that everything happens for a reason and God's got control of all of it. It's been nice being a stay-at-home-mom the last couple of months of my pregnancy and spending that extra time with Tyler. I've been trying to cherish every day that it's just him and I before the new baby gets here.

Epic AV had been very slow all summer and with the combination of things happening with my job we knew that something had to be done. Chad was offered a job with Craig Wireless in October and has been working for them since. It was an adjustment going back to work for someone after being self employed for 3 years but he's in the swing of things and doing good now! He's continuing to do sidejobs as part of Epic and has been super busy with that. Sometimes it feels like we're hardly seeing him but he's working so hard to provide for his family and I respect him so much for that. He is a hard worker and I don't know how he's doing it sometimes! He had a total of 2 days off in November... and there were MANY 12-15 hour days. Craig Wireless has an office up in Vancouver and Chad went up there to do some work and installs the week after Thanksgiving. He was originally supposed to be gone 2 weeks but it was a pretty last minute trip and things weren't as organized as he'd hoped when he got there. He worked for a week and then got to come home for a week which was a NICE surprise!!! He went back up there on the 13th of December and comes home on Tuesday the 22nd. I can't wait to see him!!! It'll be nice to have him home for a long weekend over Christmas too!!

After a couple of months of Sabrina and I talking about it, Sugar Shoppe Designs is up and running. I went out to Arizona in November so we could get our ideas and the website going and we've finally got the foundation laid! We've both been designing digital cards for friends and family for a couple of years now and we've decided to make it something more official 1) because it's something we love to do and be creative with and 2) as a way to make a little extra money! The site is still under construction with some kinks to work out but take a look!! You can also check out Sugar Shoppe's page on Facebook here.

I'm 36 weeks!! I only have 28 days to go until Baby Priest #2 is here!!! How is that possible?! It is crazy how fast this pregnancy has gone!! Tyler's seemed to just drag on and on and it seriously feels like I just found out I was pregnant! I've been feeling really good for the most part! The only discomfort I've experienced so far is problems with my sciatic by the end of the day, everyday. Other than that, I'm still sleeping good and getting around pretty easily during the day. I'm quite a bit smaller than I was with Tyler, probably because I chase him around all day! I'm just barely starting to swell a little and I couldn't even try to put on my wedding rings with Tyler by 7 months. I've been having a lot of braxton hicks contractions, which I don't really remember having with Ty, but I'm praying this baby stays in as long as possible - hopefully until the due date, January 16th, if not later. I know, I'm crazy. LOL. I just really don't feel ready yet to have 2 kids and be sleep deprived and all that goes along with the first few months of a newborn! I know it's coming up quick, whether I want it to or not, but the craziness of the Christmas season is making it fly by even faster!! I did a little comparison with my 35 week picture of this pregnancy vs. Tylers... I was huge with him. LOL. And I don't even think the picture does it justice as black always makes you look smaller anyways, haha.

My friends Katie and Kameron threw me a wonderful baby shower last Sunday. When we set the date last month we had no idea Chad would be in Canada but it worked out perfectly as I had to drop him at the airport that morning and it was a great distraction that day and all week of going through my wonderful gifts and getting the nursery somewhat organized and give me something to do while he was gone. Everything was decorated so nice and turned out so beautiful! Thank you girls for all of your hard work that you put into everything to celebrate the special day! I love and appreciate you SOOOO much!! I didn't take any pictures but Katie got some so I'll post them as soon as I get them from her.

A few weeks ago we went to see an ENT for Tyler's ears. This appointment was long overdue as the poor kid has had more ear infections than I can even begin to count in just his short 2 years. Last month he was sick with some kind of big and had a bad ear infection on top of it. His pediatrician gave him a strong antibiotic shot 2 days in a row and at his followup appointment 2 days after that the infection was still there. With the crazy shots, it should've been long gone. She referred us to an ENT and said this could also be causing his speech delay. After meeting with the ENT, Dr. Gebhart, which I loved, we decided we're going to go ahead and have tubes put in his ears. The procedure was supposed to be done 2 weeks ago but Chad's work schedule up in Canada has been crazy all month. We're hoping to have it done on the 29th if all goes to plan. I'll keep you updated. I can't wait for my baby to be able to hear me clearly and begin a road to good communication with mommy and less frustration for him!! And no more ear infections and antibiotics - woohoo!!

Alrighty, I think that gets you pretty up to date on the happenings of the Priest family!! It's been a crazy, busy couple of months but I've found so much peace know that it's all happening for a reason, this is just a season, God knows what He's doing and He see's the big picture in our lives that we do not - We're just along for the ride!

Christmas Playdate

Tyler and I had a few friends over for a festive, Christmas playdate on Thursday. I knew Chad was going to be gone this week so I planned it knowing that it would give me something to do, something to look forward to and just to have something fun and festive to do while Chad is gone during the fun of the Christmas season. We ended up having 8 of us moms and 12 kids and it was so much fun! I made some hot caramel apple cider, coffee, chocolate dipped preztels, fudge and sugar cookies for the kids to decorate. Kameron brought over little wooden ornaments to paint and color on for a craft. The kids had a fun time in the backyard (I think it was 75 - crazy warm weather for DECEMBER!) playing on Tyler's swingset. A fun time was had by all and I would love to make this something we do each year. Thank you friends for coming and spending the morning with us!!


Saturday, December 19, 2009

Palm Springs Light Parade

A couple of weeks ago we went with Lynne, Larry and Lauren to the Palm Springs Light Parade. I hadn't been to the parade in YEARS and this is something I want to start taking Tyler to as part of our Christmas traditions. Lynne has a friend who owns a store right on the strip so we were very lucky enough to pull up into a reserved parking spot and go on upstairs to her office and watch the parade from there. It was nice to be "inside" but also have the windows open for all of the parade excitement. It was a COLD night out for sure so it worked out great!! Tyler was in absolute AWE over the lights on all of the floats and the different marching bands from local school that were playing. It's so neat to watch the amazement on his face!! I can't wait to go back next year!

Family Christmas Pictures

One of my good friends, Katie, took our family pictures this year for our Christmas cards and they turned out WONDERFUL! I love them!! We kind of planned it at the last minute as Chad found out that he was leaving for Canada for work with just days notice (more on that in another post), and I wanted to get them done before he left so I wouldn't have to mail out cards days before Christmas. It rained all morning but stopped by the afternoon, just to leave us with a very stormy, wintery sky - I loved it! We had to bribe Tyler with M&Ms just about the entire time but he was pretty cooperative overall. Only thing is his cheesy smile IS his smile now any time the camera comes out - It's so hard to get a picture of just a regular, precious, not-over-doing-it smile - Katie did capture one though and I think it's ADORABLE!
THANK YOU KATIE!! I LOVE THEM!

Arizona

Tyler and I went out to Sabrina's house for a visit for a few days in the middle of November. It was nice to get away during the middle of the week since Chad's been working so much anyway. We worked on stuff for Sugar Shoppe Designs (more on that on another post), bargain shopped for some good Christmas deals and of course spent lots of time chit-chatting. I love our visits together and it's sooooo incredibly nice that's she only a drive, and not a flight away anymore! Tyler had a great time with her girls as I'm sure they did with him as well.

Cereal with a SPOON!

These were taken on November 1st - Tyler's been so good at eating with a spoon (or any utensil that is)!! He doesn't use his hands as much, which is quite nice to not have the mess everywhere, but it's pretty cute when he's so proud of himself getting a big bite of something.

behind

I don't know why I also seem to do this but it always seems to happen...
I'm super behind on the blog! Or at least I think so in my head so I'll start playing catch up and let's see how long it takes to get caught up...
Lots of posts to come! ENJOY!