Project 366: Day 21 [March 8th]

My munchkin turned 49 weeks old today! 3 weeks until she is one and I seriously don't think my emotions are prepared for that. I honestly cannot believe that it has been an entire year. One year ago today I was 36 weeks pregnant. I was anticipating her arrival, dreaming almost every night of the doctor holding her up and me seeing her for the first time. I would try and picture what she was going to look like, how she was going to act. I was praying that the delivery would go smoothly for both of us. And now... it's been 12 months. Where does time go? I feel like just yesterday I was playing with barbies in my pink bedroom and now we're creating a play room for our sweet girl. Here's a picture of our 49 week old:

Yes, she was watching 'Yo Gabba Gabba.' I rarely get good smiles anymore, haha! :)

Tayler and I had a really relaxing day today. It was pouring down rain, so we stayed inside all bundled up. Tayler had spaghetti o's and garlic bread for lunch. I was a bit apprehensive because I hate messes, but my mom always tells me you gotta let kids learn and have fun, soooo I let her eat it by herself today (I typically ALWAYS feed her anything messy!!) She had a blast and I'm really glad I let go and let her do it!

She ain't almost the whole container of those Gerber Graduates. I think we'll definitely be getting more of those! She's a total fan :) 

Once she got all cleaned up, it was nap time, then Daddy came home and it was time for us to eat, haha! I've been eating protein shakes for during the day and then having dinner at night. I'm sick of feeling 'hefty' all of the time. I'm ready to feel better about myself! 

My sweet Mom came over today and brought us some chili. Thankfully we live close enough that we can exchange dinners from time to time. Sometimes I make entirely too much for just the two of us, so it is nice to be able to split it between my parents as well. My mom also makes the BEST chili ever, so this was quite the treat for us!! :) I had some things for burritos so we had those with the chili. 

Now, let me tell you something here! This is one cheap meal. The tortillas were at Wal-Mart for $1.00 and the tortilla mix is also there for $1.88. I normally pair it with Fajita Rice (also at Wal-Mart for $1.00) which makes the grand total of this dinner $3.88 (without tax!) That's pretty good for two people, don't you think?

And it tastes wonderful! These are awesome for nights when you need something quick because all you have to do is heat that stuff up! :)

It was a pretty tasty meal! :)

After that, we all got cleaned up and headed out the door. We had to make a pit stop at first to pick up a few presents. More about that later! Then we went down to where we used to live to visit E's Mom! We hadn't seen her in awhile and we wanted her to see Tayler walking and all of that fun stuff! Tayler was just mesmerized by her dog Annie :)

She had a blast at Grandma Carol's house! And Carol also gave me a present for my birthday! I completely forgot to take a picture of it sooo I'm just going to show you what it is by a picture off of the internet, taken from Taylor's Gifts. 

It looks EXACTLY like that! If you can't read it very well, it says, "A Bible that's falling apart often belongs to someone who isn't." PERFECT. I can't wait to hang it up in our office :) Thank you so much, Carol!

While on our way home, Ethan started telling me this really long story about how the stereo in our basement only plays normal CDs (not burned ones) and he wants something he can hook his Zune up to. So, his friend told him about this connector at Sam's Club that he can hook up to the stereo and play his Zune through it. Of course I bought it. It sounded extremely legit. So, he asked if we could stop by Sam's Club really quick. I said, "Absolutely!" Tayler fell asleep, so I offered to stay in the car with her while he ran in. The minutes began to pass.... and next thing I know... a half hour had passed. I was getting really frustrated because by that point, Tayler had woken up and was screaaaaaaaaaaaaming. She was hungry. So, here I am in the car saying, "I know Tayler, he's making me mad too!" He told me this was going to be a QUICK process. He said his friend told him EXACTLY where it was at... I took random pictures on my cellphone because I was bored. Here's Sam's Club.. and the water dripping down our window..

And FINALLY, I see him. He opened the car door and I sarcastically said, "About time!" (I know, I'm doing the 14 Day Challenge and I was being sarcastic to him! Bad Alyssa!) He said, "I got you something..." (Yea, I felt shady!) He opens up the package and guess what he bought me?

A NEW CAMERA.

I'm not talking about any camera. I'm talking about a BEAUTIFUL camera! He bought me a Nikon D3100. I felt terrible even being remotely frustrated with him.. I swear, that man is always thinking of me. He told me that during his adventures yesterday, he had went to a few stores alone to try and surprise me, but didn't like any of the cameras there, so he was looking online and saw some nice ones at Sam's Club. He said the sales lady was super nice and helped him pick out everything... 

He also bought me the Manfrotto tri-pod. It has an easy to adjust ball head and allows you to shoot from all angles. 

It also came with the Manfrotto back pack. This allows me to carry my laptop, my camera with my lens, and anything else that I need! It is just perfect!

And there is the gorgeous camera and lens!

I am still learning about it and how to use it! I'm totally new to all of this, but let me tell you-- my husband must believe in me a lot more than I do! I could not believe that he bought that.. especially without telling me! I was in COMPLETE SHOCK. I already have a nice camera. It doesn't have a lens like this one, but I still consider it to be nice. And then he went and did this... He said these words to me, "I saw how you lit up when you were taking pictures of Tayler and you always support me in every hobby that I have. You let me buy weight benches, cars, and anything else that I ask.. it's time you have something for yourself.. something that you really enjoy doing." Yes, I think I have been blessed with the best husband in the ENTIRE world. I could cry just thinking about it. I don't know what I did to deserve him, but boy am I glad God gave me him! 

I think Tayler thought he was the best dad ever, too! She played with that box the ENTIRE night, haha! It must have been like Christmas for her, haha! :)

Yes, Tayler.. you will find as you get older that we are two VERY lucky ladies!

Thanks E for making everything in my world amazing! I love you!

And now for our lesson and prayer today:

We're almost done with the lessons.. can you believe that?? 

Lesson #11


Ask him about his dreams & desires. Say, "Honey, if you could do anything, what would you dream of doing? More than anything else, what would energize you?" Let him joke about sex, but say, "Apart from that, what would you most love to do & why?" He may ask you why you are asking him this. Just tell him that you were just curious & you wanted to know. After all, these are the kinds of questions that you might ask someone when you are dating to get to know them better. Don't be afraid of this. By asking these questions you are not committing to help him experience this dream. This is just a fun discussion. He isn't going to act on it just because you brought it up. Since God is at work in all of us to will his good pleasure, your husband might share things with you deep from his spirit. It will honor him that you will listen. 

(source) 

And the prayer that goes along with this today is:

Pray that your husband will have a humble, teachable spirit and a servant’s heart before the Lord. Pray that he will listen to God and desire to do His will. (Prov. 15:33; Eph. 6:6)

(Source) 

The Bible verses that accompany this prayer are as follows:

Proverbs 15:33 (The Message) Fear-of-God is a school in skilled living—
   first you learn humility, then you experience glory. 

Ephesians 6:5-8 (The Message)  Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don't just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ's servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you're really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free. 

Dear Jesus, thank You for being the Savior that You are to us! You are so giving and so kind! I love You so much! Thank You for bringing my husband and I together! Thank You for allowing our love to create the wonderful person that Tayler is. God, I just ask that You bless Ethan. Give him a teachable spirit and let Him desire to follow after Your Word... Your voice. I know he loves You more than I could possibly imagine. Just bless him with what he needs to follow after Your Will! We love You and thank You!!! In Your name, Amen!!

God bless you all

and cheers to Project 366!