Baby Madness!

Well! If this isn't a great start to our fall/winter, I don't know what is! On Friday, October 23, Christopher and I found out that in late June / early July, we are going to make Joshua a big brother!!! We couldn't be more excited about this addition to our little family, and are anxious for the time to fly. We've told just about everyone in our families, and now it's just a matter of time before our little bundle of joy comes into the world. We are looking more seriously at moving now, because obviously we'll need more space, but that can wait til spring!

So there's our news, thanks for all the well wishes everyone!

Much Love!

Mid October... SNOW?

this one's a little late, camp with the Hitchings family during the week before Jamie's wedding! Joshua had just been swimming with Auntie Em and Uncle Matt!

So apparently it snowed in parts of Maine yesterday, just didn't hit us, which is odd. It also snowed like crazy in Foxboro, MA during the Patriots game! Well, It's almost Halloween, I don't know where the time has gone!

Joshua is growing SO quickly, we took him to the Apple Farm with Chris's dad, and we had such a good time!


And he's learned so much on his own. At the last doctors appointment [15 month checkup] he was weighing in at 23 lbs (kinda stuck right there for the last 5 months, haha), 29 3/4 inches tall, and has the vocabulary of a 2 year old! he is almost forming somewhat sentences to get his points across. He knows his animals and can count 1 and 2, we're working on getting it up to 5! He knows what his favorites are, and he loves his daddy time!


Just another one of those pictures that makes me realize how BLESSED we are to have Christopher as a part of our lives, and how much of a responsibility Joshua was yet he took it head on with no regrets and no second thoughts... We love him, dearly, and are thrilled we get to share all of our life changing experiences with him!

Field Hockey is just about over, and I just recently started working at Ruby Tuesday's as a Host to get through the Holiday's with some extra cash! My class is going really well, we're on week 3 right now, and next week we start Clinical! EEK! I'm not sure where the time went for that either, but Wednesday the 28th of October is my first day of clinical at Lakewood! I'm excited because it means I'm that much closer to being OUT of school and finally having my CNA and being able to get a position that is more comforting and certain than anything else.

We've been looking around at apartments and houses, but we decided to just stick it out through the winter in our cozy little one in Skowhegan. It makes the most sense lately, we found a great babysitter for Joshua now that I'm back to work, and Rick & Rachel are right across the river in an emergency... I think things will fall into place perfectly when we're ready in the spring :)

Well, Life is about to get thoroughly exciting and ridiculously busy! But I wouldn't want it any other way, I love our life when it's fast paced and moving at it's own speed!! Here goes!

August 24 is the first day of College Field Hockey Pre-Season. Not only is it that, but it's my first official day as the Assistant Field Hockey Coach at Thomas College!!!! Yes, for sure. I stumbled into this position, and am already in love even though season hasn't even started yet. I've looked at the roster, read up on last year, and I am beyond excited for day 1! My fellow coaches, head coach Andrea Thebarge and Assistant Erin Whitish are experts at the game, and we all hold our own special skills and talents that will help this team succeed! I'm beyond thrilled that Andrea chose me to help her lead this team this year, and I cannot wait to start helping them grow and learn! I'm pumped to work with the goalies, and to help train them to be the best they can be! Field hockey has always been my passion, and I'm thrilled I get to help others who love the game just as much!!

Then, in the beginning of October, I will be taking on yet another challenge! My wonderfully generous in-laws, Rick & Rachel, have chosen to support me financially in going back to school - to become a CNA! The course is only 2 months, so that makes it do-able and affordable! I was surprised when Chris told me his parents wanted to help us, then overall told me they wanted to pay for the course all together. I'm so grateful for all they do for Joshua & I, and this unexpected gift is a savior. By Christmas time I will be a certified nursing assistant, and hopefully I will have a job in one of the local hospitals by January of 2010! We do our training and clinical hours in a local nursing home, and will have the opportunity to work in Lakewood after graduation from the class, but I think I may opt to find a hospital job, it wont be as depressing as a nursing home. But oh well, either way, life is starting to turn around and look up for us!!!

Thank you, God, for giving me the strength to carry on through the tough times we have had!! We are a very lucky, strong, close, supportive, loving family and I wouldn't have it any other way -- ever!!!

Camping -- Vermont 2009

Well, we took Joshua on his very first ever camping trip! Sunday, July 26th we headed out the door around 8 AM and were en route to Vermont! It was a really fun trip! Joshua was awake the entire way to Erroll, where we stopped to get snacks at the store and Joshua played with a little puppy! Back in the car we went, and finally stopped for a little sight seeing in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. It's beautiful!! The Balsams are amazing, beautiful, and peaceful. It it so great to look at, so m
uch going on.

Back in the car we went, Joshua eventually fell asleep after this, and until we got to Island Pond, Vermont. It was a nice, peaceful part of the drive just getting to relax. From there we stopped in Newport to grab some lunch. We stopped just outside of Richford to take some pictures into the Valley . Our final stop before Carmi was Enosburg to get groceries and ice for camp, and then we were at Lake Carmi! It's amazing, I love it, it's beautiful, and it's so much fun. And Joshua loved it too!!! We had a perfect little campsite, Joshua loved watching the ducks swimming in the water, and our cabin was beautiful.


I almost Forgot how beautiful Lake Carmi is at night. Sunset it perfect over the lake.


The day we left we spent a few hours in Burlington. We walked Church Street for a few hours, had lunch with Kyle at her Burton Office, and had lunch at TGI Friday's as a family before we hit the road. Joshua had a great time, and I think the pictures show! He's a blessing!! We are so lucky to have the most amazing baby!!!

Joshua Turns 1

I cannot believe it's been a year since my little boy came into this world :) I just want to thank EVERYONE who was in attendance at his party this past weekend at Rick & Rachel's! We had a blast, and as we know, before we know it Meghann will be popping out little Pony-Tail Coconut into this world and we'll have ANOTHER little baby to celebrate with, on top of Shea's and Kel's that were born last month!! Pictures are coming, give daddy some time to upload them :)

June, the beginning.

Well, as of the first week of June we have 3 new babies in the family, and ONE more on the way :)

Shea & Kellie had their baby girls a day apart, and they are BEAUTIFUL!!! Shea had Reagan first, on Saturday afternoon around 4 pm! She was perfect and precious and I cannot wait for Jamie's wedding so I can snuggle her!! Kellie had Eliana on Sunday around 430 pm! She is so cute and loved it's not even funny, Addison looks at her with adoring eyes and the pictures are only the beginning of the amount of love he's got for his little baby sis!! And just over 2 weeks ago, Sarah, Shea's older sister, had her baby too!! I'm so excited and blessed to be a part of this loving, growing, caring, supportive family!! Love you, Shea, Kellie, Justin, Addison and new babies!!!

Okay, and the one on the way is... MEGGLES!!! She is pregnant with #3! And Sophie and Cedric are soooo excited it's silly! And me, well, I CANNOT WAIT!!! I love all the babies this beautiful family is blessed with!! Now I really cannot wait for the wedding and the holiday season to come back around so we can have more baby time!!

I volunteered at the Special Olympics Summer Games in Orono this past weekend with a few girls from my work, and I am beat. Those athletes have to be some of the best mannered athletes in the world. I've never seen someone be so happy to come in 7th place, just to get a ribbon. It breaks my heart to remember how angry I'd get not coming in first all the time. It really shows you a lot when you are involved in something of that sort. I am exhausted, but it was well worth it. The sun burn I could have done without though, but the memories will last forever!!!

is it really almost June?...

**Joshua & Mommy at York Beach with aunty Beps!

I could list a million reasons why Joshua, being 11 months old, and passed out sprawled across mine and Chris's pillows right now, is NOT a cute picture... but I can think of some much more interesting reasons why it's adorable :)

reason a: he picked out some cute jammies tonight. A shark t-shirt, and puppy pants. He's so special. The other day, he brought me a blue and white striped sock, and a black puma sock, and wanted to wear them, together. He's my little ham!!!

reason b: we shared an ice cream earlier, and that made my day. My little boy loves cookie dough blizzards ALMOST as much as mommy does!!

reason c: he was so well behaved in the tubby tonight while I sorted laundry on the bathroom floor. Watching him splish and spash and play with his toys in the water is so entertaining!! he's a riot!!

reason d: after his tubby, he helped me sort the clean laundry and put it away! I told him to "put his laundry basket in his room" and he pushed it over there!! He's a genius I swear!!!!!! I love it!

and finally, reason E.... he fell asleep in my arms, with a smile on his face and binky half out :) I love my little boy! We are so blessed to have such a smart, healthy, adorable baby. And I am so blessed to have such a wonderfully, amazing, perfect, kind, caring, loving, supportive hubby! Chris is my world, and everyday is just yet another treat for our family!! It's perfect, and I couldn't ask for anything more!!

Memorial Day weekend was a blast! Meg & Jared were up with Sophie & Cedric, so we splent PLENTY of time with them! I finally found a job I am in love with! I work at a Credit Union [just like Auntie Sage!] in Augusta and it's a blast! We had a big BBQ Memorial Day, Dan & Jess came up with their little girls, Ted & Sage came over with Owen, and Grandma and Grampa Steward came down for the fun! We always have a blast when we all get together! Next get together is Joshua's first birthday party at Rick & Rachels!! I can't wait!! I love my new family!!



OH YAH!!! And Meg & Jared are FINALLY adding to their family... baby #3 to be welcomed to the world in January 2010!!!

a fathers love.

cuddlin' on the couchie pie at bedtime!

"anyone can be a father, it takes a REAL man to be a DAD"

Honestly, watching these two together, you'd never know Christopher wasn't Joshua's "father", but you can certainly tell why "dada" was his first word... and not to Jason. Christopher amazes me everyday with his strengths and qualities when it comes to parenting, a thing that just a year ago he would say to me daily "reason number 029384 why Chris is never having kids"... thank goodness he found the right mommy, and right baby :) We love you very much daddy!!

tubby time!
on lunch at work
at mimi & papas, Chris's parents
in the beginning... when he was "uncle Chris" and "mommy's best friend"
at mimi and papas again!

What?! February is over?!

Oh lord! How did this month fly by soooo fast? Seriously, wasn't it just the beginning of February and I was writing? I thought so. Gosh. So this month has been pretty great, I guess everything is just going to get better in our life huh? Things haven't seemed to get worse at all and I'm pretty damn happy about that! Well, happy about all of it except my little brat of an 8 month old son making BOTH mommy & daddy super sick in the last week [ oh well, it's what we get for open mouthed kisses and co-sleeping on occasion!] but who could resist a face so sweet and kissable?!?!?

Joshuawith Mimi&PapaMommy & Daddy!

You bet not us! haha. We love his kisses, his hugs, his clingy-ness and his cute little "bum leg" crawl! every part of it is great! haha he has come to amaze us in ways we never thought possible. There is a certain love you never really find until your a parent, and I honestly think that until you find that love, you can never love another being, even your soul mate and significant other, the way we should love one another. I thought I was falling in love with Chris when I was still pregnant, but it took until I had had Joshua, taken a good look at my life, realized how amazing motherhood is, and then I fell in love with Christopher the way he deserves. It's amazing what a child can do to you!

So, income taxes came in. Finally. Thank God. And then the money was gone. After about 3/4 of it went to bills, Chris and I kinda splurged on some fun stuff for us, a couple new jackets, some new coach sunglasses for me, a few months of car payments set aside, money in savings, and some toys for Joshua of course! and we took my brother out to lunch, to Portland and Freeport and treated him to some gifts... It was worth all of it! We have such joy in our lives spending time with loved ones, getting to spend an entire Sunday with my baby brother was a great, relaxing trip and we would do it every Sunday if we could! Joshua's been at my mothers since last night, she's keeping him double this weekend so Chris & I can try to relax and get over this illness that seems to be kicking both of our bums... his way of "getting better" is thoroughly enjoying Killzone 2 and Fear 2. He's a big video game freak. And I'm sitting here, ignored for the last 3 hours, and SCREAMING for attention. Haha. No, but really I've just been reading my magazines and catching up on my creeping, LOL.

Meghann, my SIL, got a cell phone on her mother's work plan [finally!!!] so we've been texting and google talking pretty constantly every day! It's so exciting to have someone other than Chris to talk to all day, not that I don't love our chats while he's slaving away for T-Mobile and I'm here, slaving away for him & Joshua. That's right, I'm still home. Going on 3 months of not working, and loving EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF BEING A MOMMY! I love being home with Joshua all day, even if it does drive me nutso sometimes! He's an amazing baby and I love him!!!

Anyway, probably should get something productive done today, but I'll really probably ust go lay on the couch and watch more video games [he's onto Fear 2 now... had his KillZone fix I guess].. take care :) 

lovies!

February...

January is over. The first month of 2009 finished quite amazingly for us actually. We finally got our refund from income taxes for me, which was quite hefty thankfully. We paid all of our bills for february, set aside money in savings and for my car payments for a few months, and splurged with some more of it. Joshua got a few new toys, and some clothes for spring && summer, and Chris & I both got new jackets and quite a bit of clothes and toys for ourselves! I also got a new digital camera! yay! that was exciting. We took my little brother Chris to Portland yesterday and stopped in Freeport along the way, that's where I got my new jackets, at North Face, I got 2. Luckily I can squeeze into a childrens XL, so I can get cheaper jackets than a women's S/M would be! Yay! Hehe. We also went into Polo, and both Chris & my brother got new polos, I got a sweater and 2 tank tops! then of course, Abercrombie, got a pair of pants & a long sleeve shirt! And we had to stop at Coach just to check it out see if the factory had anything nice... and Katie scored a new pair of sunglasses for under 100$! yay!! hehe. Best purchase of the day! Then we travelled to Cabella's and Chris got his new jacket there, it's really nice, black, and it's comfy! Off to the Maine Mall we went from there! We went to The Sports Authority, in search of our cousin Josh, who works as a manager there, but had no luck, so we browsed golf clubs and North Face hats, ended up leaving empty handed. Then I dragged the boys into Forever 21, and ended up getting tons of stuff! it was exciting to be able to purchase things I wanted! Then we browsed the rest of the mall for a bit, went to the Apple store of course, and the baby store to get Joshua a few outfits, and then headed out for lunch. We went to Macaronni Grill and had a great time. We really enjoy spending time with my little brother, he's a great kid!

After our drive home, we picked up Joshua at my mom's and dropped Chris Hamel off, and headed home. We were very happy to be home and relaxed all evening with Joshua. It's been a great start to 2009 so far and I'm just excited to see what the rest of it brings!!

Lovies!

Long Day. Long Night.

Somewhere between Joshua fussing all evening, my being annoyed with every thing occuring in my presence, and getting beyond frustrated with my ball of yarn which is now one giant knot, I realized that I wouldn't trade any of those annoyances for the world. All it took was Christopher laying Joshua down in our bed, my going into the room, and placing him into my arms to realize that this is what I love, this is what I need, it's where I belong, and it's what I was born to do. Between the 3 rounds of dishes, the sweet potatoes and banana yogurt I can still see on the carpet from dinner with Joshua, the 24 paused on the TV [thank GOD for tivo & dvr] due to Joshua's fussing and us not being able to handle it, I fell in love with my son and my hubby-to-be all over again. 

There are some days when I really think I just can't take it anymore, and I just want to curl up in a ball in my bed and cry. And yesterday, I had one of those days. Christopher had a bad day too, and thankfully, and I know I shouldn't say it that way, but thankfully, he was here for all of it. He got up with Joshua. He tended to his cries. He fed him. He changed him. He held him. He rocked him. I didn't touch a diaper or a bottle or an infant spoon until after 3 pm I'd say, and on the day I needed it most, Christopher really proved his daddy skills and his love for not only Joshua, but myself. I really don't know what I would have done without him yesterday, because he's the rock that holds me up, the half that a makes me whole, my best friend, the one I couldn't live without. I know I've got it right this time, and I've never been more proud of myself for the choices I've made in the last 6 months. Thank God I'm finally grounded, he does that to me, and he makes me sane. He saves me everyday! I love you Christopher Robert Hitchings!!!

and Joshua, though I cry, though I scream into my pillow, and shower for 35 minutes just to have those 35 minutes to myself, moving back the shower curtain to see you've opened the door  and are sitting in your walker waiting for me makes me realize that those minutes to myself, though precious and necessary, can never be replaced by the hours, weeks, and years I will spend with you. No matter how frustrated mommy gets, she's mommy, and that'll never change. She loves you with all she has. She will never give up, never give in, and never forget that you're her little boy, her angel, her miracle, and her baby. You're my son, my angel, my future, my love. I fall in love with your deep blue eyes all over again everyday. You make me smile with one touch, and laugh with one smile. Always remember that!!

So, now that it's 20 of 9, we have to be up at like 6 to get to Bangor on time for Christopher's doctors appointment at 820, so I guess we should finish this 24, and get to bed.

Lovies!

New Year, New Home, New Beginnings!

Well! 2009 is here! what a relief! I really am excited to begin a new year, with a new outlook on where my life is going. Having Joshua turned 2008 around for me, and it began a transformation I thought would never come. I've realized what's important in my life. Joshua is my number one priority, he is my savior, my light in the dark, and my main purpose for being here now. The midnight wakings and the early mornings are no longer a big deal to me, they are our special time, our bonding time. And I'll be honest, not having to jump each time in the night when he wakes up is a great help as well in me getting better and getting where I am now. Having Chris wake up to his crying and jump to go get his pacifier, or change his diaper and feed him a bottle to get back to sleep, is beyond helpful, it's really saving me from going crazy! We've been staying the night [and packing a bag every few days from my mothers house] since the end of of November, and finally this past week we got everything all moved in. All we really have left is the crib, but that's fine because Joshua sleeps just as well in his pack & play in his room as he would if the crib were here yet. Within the next few weeks we will get it from my mothers house though! So here I sit, a Thursday morning, Chris is at work, Joshua's taking a nap on our bed, and I'm watching What Not To Wear on our huge big screen tv, flipping through what's recorded on the DVR, and wondering if life could get more perfect... I really don't think at this point it could. Eventually, hopefully soon, I will find something for work, part time is what we are hoping for, and I'll be able to help with some of the bills, but for the time being, I couldn't think of a single complaint on life and how it is. Just this morning I got up before Chris, fed Joshua, packed Chris a lunch, cleaned off his car, did dishes, and felt more like a mother/live-in-girlfriend than I ever have in the 6 months I've been a mom. It's hard to believe how far our family has come in the last few months, having things going the way they are between Chris and I, having Chris turn himself into a father almost instantly, and having instant in-laws and extra grandparents [not to mention an Aunt, Uncle & 2 cousins] for Joshua is a blessing!

I'm so excited about what more will come in 2009! Hope everyone had a great, happy, safe new years and holiday season

loves!