Busy, Busy = Tired, Tired

I’m exhausted! I feel like a walking zombie right now. Cole and I had such a busy weekend. It left us less then refreshed, but it was worth it! It started Friday afternoon. I had a work retreat in Longmont all day Friday, so I decided to carpool with a friend from work, had Cole pick me up in Longmont at 4, and we were off to Estes for the night. My Aunt owns a condo in Estes Park and she is generous enough to let us use it some weekends! It was pretty chilly when we got there so we decided to spend the night with pizza, movies, and cuddling by the fire! It was wonderful…but, we went to bed really late. The next morning we met Cole’s brother and his wife and baby (Luke, Brianne, and Bella) for breakfast because they happened to be staying at the Holiday Inn in Estes. What a coincidence!! It was such a fun day, full of good food, starbucks, and a lot of laughter! We love Estes Park and it was very beautiful this time of year!
We ended up driving back to Fort Collins that night because we wanted to try and make a reconciliation service, and because we realized we needed to get a few things done at the house. Late that night we decided to see the movie The Blind Side (we have wanted to see it for awhile now), and we were lucky enough to have my best friend Amy join us! It was a wonderful movie that I recommend everyone see!
Sunday started with church, errands, and then in the afternoon we headed to Denver. Our friends Shannon and Austin live in a beautiful home in Highlands Ranch, and because we needed to be in that area for a Christmas party that night, we decided it would be nice to stop by and visit with them beforehand. They were wonderful hosts and made delicious food…Tavian and I were VERY thankful! We also played Trouble. Yes, it is an old game, but if you know anyone that still has it you should play it. It really never gets old!!!!
We headed to the Nepil’s Christmas party at 7 and ended up staying until 11:30 (see why I’m so tired??) The party was so fun, not that I am the least bit surprised. The Nepil family always throws the best parties, and we always find ourselves in the best company! I looked at Cole at one point during all the fun festivities and asked, “Don’t you wish this was our family?” And, he happily responded, “It will be!” That was soo neat for me to think about. Cole and I are starting our own family and we get to do things exactly as we want to! So exciting!

The drive home was long but I am so proud of myself because I actually stayed awake the entire time and talked to Cole. That is usually SO hard for me to do, especially when pregnant! We got home at 1 in the morning and I feel like I have been recovering since. I guess being tired is the price you pay to have a fun filled weekend with friends and family!!!

There is one bummer regarding the weekend. No pictures! I had my camera the entire time but for some reason never got around to taking anything. How sad is that?? I will try and do better next time!

A Shrinky-Dink Christmas!!

Last Wed. (I know, I am behind with my postings), my bestie Amy came over to have some holiday fun! I made delicious treats, we listened to ridiculous Christmas music (and I am talking super ridiculous..borderline obnoxious), and we made ornaments out of shrinky-dinks. It was super fun! Cole joined us for part of it and we had such a blast making different ornaments. There was a lot of laughing! Amy, surprising us all, turned out to be super creative. I spent a lot of my time praising her work! Lol! Anyway, if you have never used shrinky-dinks then you are truly missing out. I am pretty sure from this year forward it will be an Emerson family Christmas tradition! I made some for Tavian’s first Christmas, because he does get to celebrate for the first time this year (through me!), but I dated it 2010 so it will really apply for next year! :)

A recipe I found on Courtney's Christmas Recipe Exchange!!

Just watching them shrink!!!

Some of the finished products

Best Friends!!

Phil Vassar Rocks My Socks Off!

Last night was so fun!  Cole and I met two of our friends at the Grizzly Rose for our annual Phil Vassar Concert!  This is the 4th time we have seen him perform.  If you have never experienced it, then you are def. missing out!  His songs are AMAZING, he is truly talented, and he is such an entertaining performer.  Although we had a different concert experience then we have in previous years, it was still really enjoyable.  I had to prep Cole ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to dance and stay up on my feet the whole night.  Usually we try to get as close as possible, jamming out the entire time, closing the place down, and with my continual threats that I am going to rush on stage to be with Phil.  Haha.  Things are a bit different now!  My exhaustion was intensified by my lack of sleep the night before (note previous blog), and the fact that I had to get up early this morning for work!!!  I was nervous that being so tired and not being able to participate the way I used to would ruin the experience or make me feel old and lame.  Thankfully, that wasn't the case.  We sat and talked with our friends for a bit before Phil came on (yes, I talk about him like i've known him for years!), and then Cole and I just sat at our table while they went to join the chaos.  Cole is so sweet and I underestimated how fun it is to sit in the back and watch everything going on while getting to snuggle and smooch my hubby all night!  Cole even danced with me...we just danced by our table instead of the dance floor so that when I got tired we could sit again.  And, like the amazing hubby he is, he even bought me an Odoul's so I wouldn't feel so left out:)  I was very tired last night and this morning, but the night was still amazing.  Plus, we got to see good friends!!!

Cole and I with Kelly and Breanne before the concert started.  Breanne has been at every single Phil Vassar concert with us...it is a mutual obsession:)

Smiling with my fake beer!!

Not the best pic ever, but like I said we were in the back.  I love him:)

So happy to be together!  Listening to GREAT music!

But really, you all should go buy Phil Vassar's greatest hits.  At least look some of them up.  He wrote "My Next Thirty Years" for Tim McGraw, "Bye, Bye" and "I'm Allright" for Jody Messina, and "Red Rodeo" by Raye Collin, to name a few.  Enjoy!

What time is it?

It is now 4 am and I have been up since 2:30 this morning...truly tragic.  I don't know what is wrong with me!  I layed awake in bed until 3 but I had way too much on my mind and sleep was just not happening.  Poor Cole has to put up with my tossing and turning..and I admit sometimes I even start to bug him when I get that bored!  Ha!  Don't worry, I left him alone in the bedroom to sleep while I moved to the loft to watch tv and get on the computer.  Too bad there is NOTHING good on tv this time of night.  Well, almost nothing.  Lol, turns out one of the infomercials caught my eye.  Yes, pathetic, but now I want what they call the Ninja.  Why would they choose that name?!?
I must have too much on my mind.  Just some of the thoughts keeping me from sleep:
-i had been doing really good recently with putting everything in God's hands and trusting in His plan.  I am still very improved from where I once was in life, but tonight as I lay in bed I got really frustrated with myself because I started dwelling on the "what ifs" again.  What if something happens to Tavian?  What if something happens to Cole?  I know my own experiences have taught me to fear these things, but I refuse to live my life dwelling on things thay may not even happen.  Especially since I have already come so far to move past these fears.  I guess this just proves I have further to come and more work to do.

-I can't stop thinking about Andrea.  I thought a lot tonight about the fact that the phone could ring any minute and she could be in labor.  It is really exciting but I also have some anxiety for her.  I trust everything will be fine, but I wish I could be more accessible to her.  I hate the thought of her in pain and I feel helpless and disconnected when I am so far away.

-on a much more petty and materialistic note, I would like to find something cute to wear for the holidays.  With my belly getting bigger by the second, it would nice to have something new and pretty to help me feel a little less huge!  I tried to find something today but I didn't have any luck.  Maybe tomorrow?

-i also keep thinking about all the random questions I have to ask my doctor for my apt. next week.  I keep meaning to write them down, but every time I get the chance my mind goes blank.  Like right now for instance!  There is a lot I want to ask, but of course, now I can't think of anything...

Well, I guess I will give sleep another try.  This weekend should be a lot of fun.  Actually the next few weeks should be a lot of fun!  I need all the rest I can get!!  Hope that when you read this it isn't in the middle of the night! :)

2 down, 1 to go

I am officially in my third tri-mester!  27 weeks completed, 13 more to go!!!  I know it is still kind of a lot, but I truly believe time is going to go by so fast, especially with the holidays coming.  I'm trying to be careful about wishing the time away because I know I will miss this experience when it is gone, but it is hard because I am also so excited to start this new journey and meet our little man!
Please everyone keep my sister Andrea and her family in your prayers the next few weeks.  Her little man (and also Cole and my Godson) is due in two weeks, which means medically speaking that he is already considered full term!  I am so excited for them and I just want everything to go smoothly.  Cole and I fly out to see them at the end of the month...I can't believe I will be meeting my new Godson SO soon!  Andrea is doing really well about staying calm relaxed...how frustrating that I project what is happening to her on to myself.  I'm stressed for her!!!  Anyways, prayers would be appreciated:)
Changing subjects, Cole and I had quite the interesting weekend.  Ever since we got that flat screen (his idea, not mine!), it has been a pain in my side.  We had to order different parts for mounting it, we had to redo our main room, and paint has been involved.  It may not sound like a lot but I really don't like it when the house feels chaotic!  Well, we didn't get near enough done on Saturday, which was stressing me out in itself, but Cole also happened to spill white paint all over the carpet in our front room.  Talk about total panic...I cried!!  I didn't have that much time to cry though because we had to do everything we could to get it out.  2 hours later, and years off my life because of stress, somehow we got it out!  God is good...but the experience was still a lot to handle.  I was hoping to relax around the house cuddled by the fire on Sunday, but I guess that wasn't in the cards for us.  Cole decided to spray paint some things in the basement and we literally got fumed out of our house!  It was so strong and there was no escaping it.  We had to crack open the windows and head out for the day.  Luckily we got to do some shopping and it turned out not being so bad!  (You should know it isn't Cole I blame for this crazy weekend...I blame the tv!)
Now comes a crazy, stressful week!

Christmas Time

Cole and I had the best time puting up our tree and decorating the house.  I have so much fun with that boy and it just makes me all the more happy that we are our own family, we have our own house, and we create our own traditions!
Josh Groban's Christmas cd put us in the holiday spirit and made decorating even more enjoyable!

Cole putting our tree together

I know, it is a fake tree.  I grew up always having a real tree, but Cole talked me into it last year.  And, although I miss the smell of pine, it is a bit less stressful having a fake one.  We may switch and get a real one some years, but I am surprisingly content with what we have!

Trust me, I know I look rediculous!  For some reason I was so cold that night, even with the fire place turned on, so I decided it was time for my Fargo hat.  Ha!  I really do love that hat!!

Putting on the first ornament

Cole putting the angel on the tree

Our beautiful tree...the camera didn't do it justice!

Snuggling by the fire, hot chocolate in hand, looking at our tree!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Thanksgiving Week

It has been a week since I last wrote, and a lot has happened. Thanksgiving was so wonderful, just as I had anticipated it being! Wed. was a really fun day. I spent my time preparing some of my fav. Thanksgiving dishes, getting the house in order for my sister Ellen and her family who would be there that night, and listening to Bebo Norman. I probably listened to that cd 5 times over and it never got old..it just put me in a great mood. Ellen, Mike, Emily and Arianna arrived around nine that night, but we only stayed up for a short while because everyone was already so tired. We also knew that Thursday would be a pretty long day.

Just giving some loves before heading to bed

Told you I was tired..i'm a hot mess, but she little Ariana is adorable!:)

Thursday started out great..we were all up and ready for 8am mass. I don’t think I have always gone to church on Thanksgiving morning, but I really loved it and Cole and I have decided it will be one of our many Thanksgiving traditions! We made a quick stop at the grocery store (partly for groceries and partly for starbucks!), and then headed home to start cooking and start looking at all the Black Friday ads. Ellen had agreed to make my mom’s famous cheese bread, while I made the usual green bean casserole, California veggie dish, and delicious jello desserts! Aunt Marlene, my dad’s sister, had asked us all to join her and Uncle Ralph for Thanksgiving, so we really didn’t have a stressful day of cooking. It was relaxing and fun! We headed over to their house around 2 and had the most amazing Thanksgiving dinner. It was so nice of them to include us! For anyone who doesn’t know, my Aunt Marlene is the best cook in the world, and she lived up to every expectation for Thanksgiving dinner! We don’t get to see them nearly enough so it was really wonderful…plus, I don’t think Cole had ever been to their house before! We all ate WAY too much, and I was sad that I got so full so soon! All in all it was a big success. We went home just in time for the Broncos game and had fun resting, eating, watching the game, looking through more ads, and eventually playing games. I wasn’t the most fun to play games with because I was just so tired! I did make it through a few rounds of Catch Phrase…(Ellen and I dominated) and that was fun…Mike is always one of the funniest people to play games with!
(we are horrible and didn't take ANY pictures on Thanksgiving...such a regret!)

I enjoyed looking at all the Black Friday ads, but I really hadn’t thought we would actually get up early to go. If anything, I was expecting a small outing around 9 or 10 am. To my surprise, Cole was interested in a tv at one of the stores, so at like 11 on Thursday night he mentions how he will probably just get up at 5 and go see if it is available. What?  Getting up early to shop? This did not sound like my husband! The alarm went off way too soon, and even though I was SO tired, I just didn’t like the idea of Cole going by himself. And, this way I could do the crazy early shopping with my husband and he would think it was his idea! When we got to Ultimate Electric it had a huge line, and considering we didn’t really even bring coats, waiting in line wasn’t much of an option. I offered going to Target while we waited..:) It was a great idea. After buying some gifts we went back to Ultimate which STILL had a line…so I suggested we make a quick stop at Wal-mart :) After some more great deals (especially on the picture frames I had wanted) we drove back to Ultimate. And, finally, a VERY short line. We waited for 5 minutes, got into the store, and purchased the tv that happened to still be available! I was bummed Ellen wasn’t able to join us..she hadn’t known I was going to get up early and go with Cole (trust me, I didn’t know either), and I texted and called her but she was sleeping soundly! It wasn’t the morning I had planned on, but I am thankful for how it turned out. Cole and I have never done Black Friday shopping together, and this is probably the last year it will be that easy since little Tavian isn't here yet!

We got home around 8 in the morning and Ellen and Mike were just getting up with the kiddos. They decided they wanted to do some shopping, and Cole and I decided we were going to need a nap! We went our separate ways and then met up at 12 for the CSU/WYO football game. It was a lot of fun…even though Wyoming won. We couldn’t believe it ended up being such a close game, but that made it all the more fun! Emily was especially humorous during the game as she continued to yell, “GO WYO!” and “CAN THE RAMS”. (Yes, her father influenced this behavior!) I guess she must have been their good luck charm. We went to Old Navy after the game and I got the cutest little overalls for Tavian. We went home exhausted and while everyone else stayed up playing games, I was in bed by 9. Cole crawled into bed at 1 after a very long game of Risk with Ellen and Mike. Cole loves that game and it isn’t very often he gets to play it!

Just some pics from the game!

Yup, she puked in his hat! Yum!

Some other random photos from the week

Emmy playing with my hair

My little snuggle buddy (this is when she kept kissing my

tummy and talking to Tavian!)

I just LOVE this little lady!

I love her too!

Being silly!

Saturday was uneventful for the most part. Best Buy was still having good deals on camcorders and it has been really important for me to get one before the baby gets here. Mike found a great deal on a GPS so he wanted to get that. We headed to Best Buy and my dad, who had just gotten home from London decided to meet up with us. From there we went home to play more games!! Ellen, my dad, and Mike all went out for dinner while Cole and I got ready to head over to Sydnie and Brads for their Wine Party. We went for the first time last year and I had been looking forward to it for weeks! For the first time in a long time I didn’t feel out of place being pregnant! Everyone was pregnant!!! As always Syd had everything prepared to perfection with the entire house beautifully decorated. It was so much fun catching up with friends that we don’t see as often.

Pics from the Wine Party

Preggers together!!!!!

We ended the weekend with heading to Longmont early Sunday morning to meet up with Cole’s family for mass and breakfast. As always it was wonderful getting to spend time with them! We had breakfast with Cole’s mom, stepdad, and sister. We spent a little more time with them back at his mom’s house, but we couldn’t stay too long because we had to get back home because our tv was being delivered. We had a nice treat with Cole’s brother, his wife, and their baby Bella stopping by our house for a quick hello.  Plus they got to see our new tv!

We ended the night relaxing with a Netflix movie (Curious Case of Benjamin Button..which really was curious!) that we watched on our new tv. Now we just have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do !!

Sorry this was long, but it was a fun, activity packed weekend and I was trying not to miss anything. Hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving like we did!

Oh, and as for being thankful, I am so so thankful! This year I concentrated on being just as thankful for the rough times as I am the good times. For even the most difficult parts of life are necessary for our sanctification and for our growth towards Christ. There has been a lot of pain in my life, but if necessary for my relationship with Christ to grow, then I should be nothing but humbly grateful!