Snowy days

When it's snowing and blowing outside....we would rather just stay in.

So for fun, me and Hunterbear decided we should build a fort and play transformers ( I know, I need another girl in the house)

BEFORE....

AFTER.......

SAY CHEESE

Bad Dog

For those that don't know we have a Large Yellow lab named Yankee, and although we love him let's just say he pretty close to the world's worst dog. But I take full responsibility. Yankee is my first dog EVER, and I/we did not do a very good job at training him. I will say, however, He does know how to sit and stay....mind you, I said he knows how to, but that does not mean listens.

So why do we keep him around? Well, besides being soo cute, he is GREAT around Hunter bear, and Hunter loves him dearly. Yankee has entertained my son on numerous occassions when I thought Hunter would cry out in boredom for being the only child. They can spend hours playing on the kitchen floor, and play wrestling. However, sometimes my little four year old doesn't understand that Yankee may be his 'friend', but he is still a dog, and dogs don't know when to stop. I have told Hunter thousands of times not to play rough with Yankee because he will rough house right back. Well, he didn''t believe me.....

My poor little bugger will have a a lot of explaining to do tomorrow at school. I was furious at the dog, and just as I was about to literally throw Yankee out, Hunter told me it wasn't Yankee's fault because he was playing too rough. After the tears stopped falling, Hunter knelt over by Yankee who had hidden under the table to escape from my wrath , and he said 'I am not mad any more Yankee, but let's not do that again"......He just melts my heart.

Brrrrr......

When I woke up today, I could not believe my eyes. This is what my driveway looks like right now. It is covered in a sheet of ice. If you look closely, you can see our green recycling can is behind our trashcan. I attempted to walk down our driveway and move the recycling bin closer to the street so it would be picked up, but i couldn't even walk down our steps without falling....so I guess no recycling pick up for us this week. Eh well:(

Can you say BRRRRRRR...

I am not sure how many more days of this I can take

Lucky for me, I have this guy to entertain me.

We spent a good portion of the morning/afternoon playing cars, Wii, and making up games to get out some energy. I usually am not one to tolerate being at home ALL day, but i gotta admit, today was not half bad. Of coarse, we had to get some reading in, and i was very impressed by my little guy's ability to read three and four letter words. I am trying to savor every moment i can with Hunterbear before I have to share my time and my love with his new brother/sister.

Planning with a purpose

We heard a really great sermon today in church, and i felt compelled to share it with all of you. Our current series at church is called 'Trust God, Seriously', and today's sermon was about learning how to surrender your life completely to God. Its interesting, how we can spend hours and hours using tons of energy to plan for our future, but in reality we really have no control over what the future holds. Sure we have choices, but God has the final reply to our choices.

Sometimes, the fact that we are not in control can be very scary, but for me today it was a HUGE relief. It means I can stop worrying. I can stop worrying about our baby's name, where we will live in 5 years, if we are making the right choice for Hunter's school, or even the health of those around me. I like to think of myself as a planner, but I think I truly spend more time worrying about my plans than actually acting on them.

I pray that this new year I can learn to just let go of my worries, and be open to God's purpose in my life. It is great to plan, but from now on i want to plan with the purpose of fulfilling God's will for my life. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined i would be where I am in my life today, and for that I am forever grateful that God is Sovereign, and that he reigns over me and my life!

Growing Up :(

Dearest Hunterbear,

How come you keep getting bigger even though I have told you numerous times....please STOP growing!!! As sad as I am that I will be sending my baby to Kindergarten in the fall, I know you are ready. Your teachers said you have been ready all year. You love to learn, and I pray that this continues. And maybe I am a little biased, but you really are one smart 4 1/2 year old. You can already add and subtract simple equations (2+2....etc.) You counted to 100 the other day for me, which blew me away. And you are now starting to read two/three letter words at story time before bed. I pray every night that you will enjoy school because the more you learn, the further you will go in life. And I have a feeling you were put on this earth to do great things with your life.

For those reading this, my son told me the other day he will be taking the bus to school when he turns five. I was shocked! First off, shocked that five year olds are even allowed to take the bus, and also shocked that he wanted to. Now mind you, I live 30 seconds away from school and I will be home during the week, so of coarse I said no way jose. What are your thoughts? How old were your kids when you sent them on the bus. I never rode the bus, so maybe I am just being naive, but I cannot imagine sending my little bugger on a huge bus by himself!

Third trimester Nesting

CHAOS........

Ahhhhahhh...THAT'S BETTER.....

Can you say NESTING:)

welcome to the third trimester.....12 weeks to go

Here's to 2009

Here is a picture of me at 27 weeks (last week until my third trimester~ the homestretch)

It's a new year, and I know I should be looking forward. But I can't help but think back to some of my favorite memories of 2009:

We bought our first home

I saw miracles unfold with my Uncle John

Hunter played soccer and t ball this year

Hunter learned how to ride a bicycle on his own(with the help of daddy and pop)

Paul got a promotion at Wells Fargo working as a leasing officer

I started working at our local children's hospital as a Registered Nurse

We celebrated our first anniversary

We traveled to vermont for a family reunion with Paul's family

My brother and cousin got engaged

Finally Even though we found out we lost a baby in the beginning of the year, we found out God blessed us with this new life in July. So even though this whole experience was one of the hardest times in my life, it has to make my most memorable list of 2009 because I learned so many valuable lessons through our miscarriage and it strengthened my marriage, my faith, and my appreciation for all those in my life.

We also were privileged to be able to host Christmas this year for Paul and my family. My mom, dad, and sister flew out to stay with us over the holidays, and it was a blast. My mom, sister, and I cooked one of the most delicious meals for our whole family. I am not as good a host as my mom, but I am learning!

.

Hunter Also had a blast with Grammy, Pop, and 'Na-Nee' (Shannon's nickname). The boys made a HUGE snowman, and named it jack frost. It is still standing strong.

We ate a delicious Italian meal at Paul's moms house and then attended her Church for Christmas eve mass. It is so beautiful, and one of the traditions is at the end of the mass the lights go off, and everyone passes the flame to light one another's candle. At the end we all sing silent night and enjoy the beautiful sight of all the candles.

And finally, we came home and baked homemade cookies for Santa and then went to bed so excited to see what Santa brought us the next day. When we woke up, Hunter was the most excited I have ever seen him. He was screaming 'Santa Came, Santa Came'. After we woke everyone in the house up, we sang happy birthday to Jesus ( a tradition from when I was little), and then we let Hunter go crazy and dig right in to the gifts (I guess we figured this is his last year being an only child, so why no enjoy not having to wait for anyone else to open gifts).

Our Christmas Tree...look at all those gifts

Hunter's pile from Santa. Santa Leaves some gifts unwrapped

(one of the traditions from Paul's childhood)

Hope your Holiday was as Wonderful as ours! We have been so blessed this past year, and can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for the Covill Clan:)