The Friends that you miss...

I often tend to have close friendships & not many. I hope that doesn't sound too sad. I remember a counselor once said to me why do you think that is? Honestly I don't know, all I know is that I truly cherish the friendships that I have formed along the years.
1.Erin-Whom I met when I was 5, she was riding her big wheels in our neighborhood. We were neighborhood friends for a while. Played kick ball, rode bikes, hide & seek & always got called in for dinner by our moms. We are still friends 30+ years later. Our lives took us on two very different paths. Me through college, eagerly & her w/barely one semester of college & then a baby by 23. She still lives near where we grew up, her parents still in the house that she grew up in. Our lives so different, yet me becoming a mom soon, converging as well. We are still friends, talk & see each other when I'm up there. And I would do anything for her.
....Along w/Erin I did have more friends through school, some have reconnected with on Facebook, but nothing like my two close college friends:
2.Sarah & Kim-Looking at all that I have been through since meeting them when I was 18 is insane. The losses, trips, joys, weddings we've experienced are endless. I've grown up a lot since 18 & we are still there for each other. I would never question a phone call after midnight from either...
3.Leah-A friend who is so unlike me in many ways & yet like me in so many other ways. We shared this eagerness for adventure, always wanting to explore our surroundings & never wanting to miss something out there.
4.Anita--A woman that has so much laughter & spunk, that I miss often. Someone that you could laugh with, just to laugh.
5.Lori-Don't you wonder how we worked @ that company for as long as we did. Another transplant to California, that made it feel a little more like home. How we both miss hanging out with you & Chris.
6.Irika/Anastasia--How much you made Nursing School enjoyable. How we will never forget our VA rotation. I often think back to our late study nights and thank God we all passed the Boards first go around.

I know we are all in different places in our lives & none of you are near me (in location) at this time. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to if you all lived by & we could just say 'oh, just drop by'. But for some reason God has put you in my life at a certain time, physically near me at time when we needed it most. It doesn't mean that one day we won't be again, but who knows- I'm just glad that I can call any of you up at any time & you would just listen. MISS YOU!

Whats in a name--18 weeks

Will this child be Liliana or Mateo. This is Mini me @ 18 weeks.






We have had these names chosen for years now. Liliana being my choice & Mateo a name
we heard while living in California & both liked.
Liliana is my given birth name. A name from my birth mother I presume. I've always liked this name, so different from my own. If I had never made my way to the states by adoption, who would Liliana be? Probably a Spanish speaking women....what else I'm not sure. I want Liliana to be someone I see grow & mature into her own person. What a sweet name, perhaps Lili for short. & Mateo, Spanish for Matthew. Sounds strong to me. Not Matt, maybe Matty to us (as a baby).
These are our choices, this is who we'll all get to meet in about 5 months. :)

V21 Durham- Its Official

January 18th, 2009--64 people arrived to praise God.

The Snow Princess arrived!

Eli cleaning off the car before work:



So I know there is still this New England child living in my body. Cause whenever the talk of snow comes up I get pretty elated. It reminds me of the mornings when my dad would get the early phone calls, he was on the School Board, & he would be in the 'know' of calling off school or making it a delay. I would quietly anticipate the judgement & then knock on my brother's wall if it was what we wanted to hear. Then snow time....well at least when the sun came up. I enjoyed those days, being so cold, you could barely feel your butt & your cheeks so red. Playing all day, sledding, building snow men, making a snow fort (we got a lot of snow, many feet).
Well now 30+ yrs. later I still revel in "snow days" & I'm not even a student. I just lucked out today & don't have to work.

Here I come snow!!

Busted

We awoke to no running water in the kitchen this morning. No biggie we thought, just run the water for a bit & then it should be ok. OK-NO! I had fallen asleep on the couch & I awoke to some choice words from Eli, this is not common. He then went running outside behind the house & found water running down the house from where the pipe should be in the wall.
So we have a pipe that burst. Growing up in New England you'd think we'd be used to this, maybe our homes are constructed better, more equipped for this kind of temperature up there. And so now for what was suppose to be our free Saturday together turned into an afternoon @ Lowes for Eli & a new plumber role for him.

Wow, there's drills going now, he needs to get as much of the dry wall out from under the sink so we can air out all that is damaged. What a mess, so we've been w/o water all day too. I know wah for us. I honestly just feel bad for all that he is trying to figure out right now, cause for me I have not a clue.
So from a kitchen with a lot of sighs, I hope your Saturday is a little better than ours.

Not so good at this...

So here I am @ 16+ weeks & I haven't posted anything in over a week & even that was late. I wanted to journal & take photos every week.
Currently I see a difference in my body & mind, but most people don't. Its getting old when people are like you're pregnant or when my emotions go up & down or I find myself worrying about things that are out of my control. Which I find myself doing a lot, worrying about things I should give over to God.

On a lighter note, Monday we had our 4 week check up--@ exactly 16 weeks. Quick visit: pee in a cup, weight, BP & then the hand held Doppler. At the last appt. they couldn't hear the heart beat with it, but this time it came over like it was on a loud speaker, like a strong galloping horse-- 160+ bpm. I could have listened to that all day.

Back to my rant, so lately I've been up & down & ALL over the place with my thoughts: what to do about work, money, Eli potentially finding/getting a job. I labor over these thoughts A LOT. I don't talk much about them, because I feel I'm trying to figure it all out. But do I really have to figure it all out. I don't know....this is where my brain is right now.
I think its time to stretch my legs & go for a walk...that seems to help.

Hopefully we'll get some photos up, or taken soon. :)

14 weeks (Dec. 29th)

So I'm a little late in posting, week 14 commencing last Monday, Dec. 29th. But hey cut me some slack I worked 5 of 6 straight last week, I got a little tired.
More pics to come as we enter week 15 tomorrow.
Week 14 was good, yes I think I am definitely showing. Tired & hungry is the common theme. No appts. last week or this week.
Look forward to a regular scheduled appt. next week & our next big u/sound week 18.