Oh, to be a kid again...

I know I'm only creeping up on 30 and that's not that old but it would be nice to be a kid again.


I was just realizing how great kids have it. They get up in the morning and the biggest deicisions they have to make from then until laying their head back down at night is what toys will I play with first. How nice would that be...if we didn't have to go to work, didn't have responsibilities, had no one to take care of and pretty much just played all day.

No worries... that would be wonderful. Drea's hardest task of the day is figuring out which princess dress to dress-up in first. Although she is already losing some of this well known freedom now since she does daily chores like making her bed, feeding the dogs and putting her clothes in her hamper. Man, life is tough.


You think this is why God desires we come to him as a child? Because when we come to Him in pure innocence we have no burdens, no cares of the world, no one to worry about - just Him to focus on. That's what I think. He knows the other stuff will just get in the way.

My little carefree munchkin,

playing dress up in her dancing outfit.

Presenting...the new baby's room

Here are some pictures of the baby's room. We had a lot of fun doing it and Drea loved helping! We even put some special touches to the room from each of us... read on to see. :)


This is the rocking chair we used with Drea that we had put in the basement after her room needed more space for toys rather than furniture - and I'm very excited to spend some time with the new baby rocking away.

Same changing table we used in Drea's room - once again recycling furniture. Why not? She's not using it anymore.


And once again...Drea's old crib will now be the new baby's. I wish you could see it in person though...Drea definitely made her mark on this crib, literally. There aren't just teeth marks in the wood - there are complete huge chunks chewed out of the wood. We will be getting rail covers eventually.

Also, in case you can't tell what is on the walls... they are wallies that match the bedding and are not permanent.

Here is the special project we did. Each of us including Drea painted a canvas for the wall to decorate the baby's room. Drea's is in the middle - she went with the abstract look.

This is a weird picture but one of my favorite thing about fixing up rooms in our house is putting closet systems in the closets. So this picture probably isn't very exciting to you unless you have seen this closet before with the single rod at the top and that's it. This picture doesn't even show the whole closet because it has sliding doors but anyway, you get the point.

Last thing I wanted to point out - for those of you who think we know what we are having...ehh em, Karen... on the bottom shelf of this closet (it's like a look and find book) is a tiny little blue outfit and pink outfit which are the outfits we chose to take to the hospital for the baby to wear home. We'll see which one the little munchkin gets to wear. (Hopefully we will get to find out soon! I can't wait!)

9 Months

Well, we are getting closer to the big day. We both are really excited to find out what the baby is going to be. Although, some believe we already know what we are having (my family)...we have no idea. Everything is going well and Stacey is feeling good. I have had two scares. One day I came home to Stacey asking me if I had lesson plans ready and then another day Stacey was on the phone with a friend discussing what it was like to go into labor on her own. They were scares because we were not packed. We are now pakced so we are ready whenever the baby decides to come.

Here are pictures of Stac at nine months...Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day Drew

I am a privileged person...especially to have an incredible husband like I have.

He is the most unselfish, caring, attentative, loving person I know. I find out more every day how good I have it.

This man cleans, cooks, takes care of Drea, tends to our dogs, home repairs, finances and not to mention tending to every waking request I have especially while I'm pregnant...and never complains about any of it...at all.

I know - you're probably thinking what guy doesn't clean and help do these things every once in a while - right? So let me explain this a little - my husband does the dishes every night...every night. This is one chore he doesn't mind doing and I don't mind doing laundry (that's how we separate some of our tasks but laundry is once a week - dishes are every night). And I used to help a little with the dishes but now my belly hits right at the counter height and it's not very comfortable washing so I do it rarely. And he vacuums, dusts, makes beds, takes out the garbage...the list goes on and on. This pretty much makes me sound like a lazy slob but I promise I do things, too. He just does more than most husbands and dads from what I hear.

He tends to Drea constantly...he's on bath duty pretty much every night... and all of this isn't just because I'm pregnant and he's pulling extra duty, he has just always done this stuff. He plays games with Drea, reads books to her, colors & paints with her...once again, the list goes on and on. Lately he lets me sleep in every weekend while he gets up with Drea and plays with her. (Needless to say, sleeping at night hasn't been working very well for me so he has been very attentive to this fact and let's me try to rest.)

I'm not sure if any of this even comes close to explaining what he does for me and Drea...and the new little niessner. I think words just couldn't express how he takes care of this family. He is an incredible person...and not just because he does all of this stuff for me but because he does it without complaining about it and just because he cares and loves us and thinks that's what he should do and was taught to do.

I'm very thankful to Judy, Andy's mom because she helped shape him into the incredible human being that he is. She couldn't have raised a better man.

Anyway, enough of my rambling...
I love you sweetheart - you are the best husband and father anyone could ask for. Happy Valentine's Day.

Likes/Dislikes

I just had a few random thoughts that I felt the need to share...I'll start with the negative items or should I say my dislikes.....

1. A-Rod, steroids, and the media's love affair with it.
2. Larry Fitzgerald and ESPN's love affair with him (he's a good guy and probably a good role model and all, but since he went to Pitt and ESPN loves him, he is on my list of dislikes)
3. UNC-Duke, Dickie V and anything ACC

Oprah can have her favorite things...here are my likes...

1. Flipsides pretzel crackers - these things are awesome...Drea loves 'em, too!
2. Direct Deposit-it makes life so much easier
3. Drea's prayers...especially when she free styles and makes them up on her own, I wish I could remember them, they are to cute and funny
4. Stacey's ability to still be a mom and great wife, all the while being 36 weeks pregnant

I certainly have more likes and dislikes, but for now that is all I would like to write about. Watch out for pics of the baby's room soon to be posted by someone. Finally, in closing a Drea story. Last night, she was trying to go to sleep and she was moving all around the bed. I asked her what are you doing, she responded, "I'm exercising and I havt to be healthy you know!"

resolutions

I usually do not make New Years Resolutions because I feel like it's just another goal I will feel like I can not achieve. You know, sometimes you set so many goals for yourself that life can be overwhelming and you feel like you are one big failure because you can't just achieve a couple goals and feel good about them because you have thirty more goals waiting in front of you.

I digress...this year I decided to make a New Years Resolution because it came easy to me. When we were in NJ over the holidays I enjoyed the rest and relaxation of reading so much that I decided this would be a great resolution. Not just reading more but making an effort to read more. Like turning off the tv and reading while enjoying some silence in my house. Or reading at bedtime to calm down from the day.

So I'm saying all of this just to say that my resolution is going GREAT! I have read 4 books since being at Andy's mom's house after Christmas. 4! That's more than I usually read in a year! I usually would only take the time to read in the car while we are on our 6 hour drive to NJ.

And all this reading is not just so I can say I have achieved a good goal. I'm really enjoying my new found relaxation. I actually read a whole book last weekend - in one weekend. I couldn't put it down - Andy helped a lot on that one, giving me time to relax and read on the couch while he and Drea played. (I have an awesome husband!) I have figured out what type of books I enjoy reading, too. That has helped a lot.

In case you enjoy reading also, here are my latest good reads: Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller, The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck, Multiple Blessings by Jon & Kate Gosselin, and To Own a Dragon by Donald Miller.