Happy 2 year Birthday Evelyn!!!

Two years ago today you came into our side of this world. I wanted you so much! I could not wait to meet you and hold you in my arms. And you made your entrance into our world so easily. My birth with you was everything I could have hoped for and more. Having you at home with your Dad and my parents and Heather and Christine was exactly what I wanted and needed. There was more love in that house that day then I have ever felt before. You bring so much love and light into my life and into everyone's life you encounter. You could light up the state of Georgia with your smile and your laugh. You are truly a gift to me and your Dad. He and I may not have succeeded at marriage but we definitely succeeded at making and raising the smartest, sweetest, funniest, and silliest child ever. And you are the greatest gift that your grandparents and great grandparents have ever received. Your Grammy and Gramper love you more than anything in this world, anything. They tell me all the time how much they love you and how incredible you are to them. Your Nana never fails to mention how amazing you are when she calls me. Your Mimi and Grandpop feel the same way too. And your Gigi and George and Great Grandma Evelyn and Oma love you to pieces too! And your Uncles Paul and Stan and Aunts Karen and Vanessa all love you tons as well! You won't know for many many more years how amazing your existence is to us and what an amazing and wonderful impact you have had on all of us but that is okay. For now just know that when I rock you and bathe you and kiss you and chase you and tickle you I am in heaven. And the same goes for your Dad I am sure and your Grandparents and your Aunts and Uncles. We all love you so much!!

Happy Birthday Evie! =)

So, So, So Much to Say!

Hi Dear Readers!

As Cara graciously and astutely pointed out I have not posted new info in quite a while. Sorry about that! With the separation and imminent divorce and the end of the semester and the start of summer classes I have been swamped. But I am here and this post will be super long because I have a lot to report =)

I'll start with pics of Evie because they are always a crowd favorite. Here are pics of Evie at Grammy's friend's horse farm. There were chickens at the farm too which Evie loved!








The news here at the farm is that Gramper made an unexpected and brief visit home this last week. Grammy went to get him because this happened:

Yup, that is a tree in the swimming pool!



Now onto the nitty gritty. Ben and I were trying to get a separation agreement signed over the last 2 months but without being able to hire a lawyer I was not really ready to sign anything. The news on that front is that I will be getting my school loan money this week and I will use part of it to hire a lawyer to get divorce paperwork going. Ben and I have fluctuated between civil and not so civil but for the most part we are keeping good communication and Evie is being well loved and taken care of, of course!



In me news I am very pleased with my new gym. I joined the YMCA recently and they have great childcare and an indoor and outdoor pool and awesome machines! I am so happy to be going there. I was going to the gym on base for free but they are closing and their childcare cost extra and had awful hours. As a result of somewhat diligently going to the gym 3 days a week I have a small amount of muscle definition on my arms and legs and I have lost a dress size. I am very pleased. My next mission is to get good abs, I know it is probably impossible (see pics of me 9 months preggers) but I am gonna try.


In school news my classes are going great! I have my math midterm tomorrow night and surprisingly I think I actually will do well. I "get" what the class is about. I am not a total math idiot! Hooray! My other class is online and it is about classroom management. It is easy so far but I have 2 major papers that I have to write in the next 2 weeks before the class ends so I have to get my butt in gear or I will be sorry!



In job news there isn't much to report. I am still waiting to hear from the county. Apparently they are having major issues and that is why I haven't heard anything. I am trying to be patient. In the meantime I have applied in some other counties and I hope to hear from them soon. No matter what I will be working full time in the Fall whether it is as a teacher or as a retail clerk. I have to make money and get benefits to support myself and Evie. In the fall I will be taking 3 classes at night so whatever happens I will have to be able to go to school and work. If I am teaching then going to school at the same time won't be a problem at all. So please keep your fingers crossed for me!



In blog news I made this blog public again. People were having a lot of issues with getting to the blog so I just made it public again.



In more Evie news she is going with Ben to visit her Grandpop and Mimi and Oma and her Great Grandma Evelyn who she is named after. They are leaving Friday and will be gone for 5 days. I will miss her terribly! But I know her grandparents and great grand parents miss her terribly too! Luckily I have the fortune of being able to go to the beach the same weekend with Mike. I am so excited! I haven't been swimming in the ocean in over 4 years!!! I love the beach and I love swimming!



So I think that is all the news from here. If you have questions or want to know something I forgot to mention here you know the drill, leave a comment or email me. =)

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!

I had the best Mother's Day ever this year! Evie and I went to North Carolina to see Evie's Nana and we went to Virginia to see Gramper on the Appalachian Trail. It was so awesome! Evie travelled in the car very well (thank god for portable DVD players!). So here are some pics and video of our travels =)

And Happy Belated Mother's Day to Grammy, Gigi, Mimi, Oma, and Grandma Miller too!!

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

Okay, not so much the train part but definitely the planes and automobiles. I recently purchased plane tickets for myself to see my friends in Indianapolis and to visit my bestest friend Jen in Hawaii!! That's right folks, I am leaving on a jet plane all by myself to have some much needed friend fun!

I go to Indy the first week of April and I will be in Hawaii the last week of July. To say I am excited is an understatement! I am absolutely thrilled to see my friends! And especially excited to go to Hawaii and get some beach time. I haven't been to the beach in 4 years!! That is a crime! I really love the beach, but Ben is not a fan so we never go. But that is going to change come July 25th!! YAY!!

Also coming up is our little family's much anticipated and needed trip to New Jersey to see Mimi and Grandpop and Oma and cousins and uncles. We are really excited! We haven't bought tickets for that trip because we are waiting for the dates when Ben will be done with school. We will probably be there in late May.

Oh and I am driving up to North Caroline for Mother's Day to visit with Evie's Nana. That will be a very fun trip for all of us. Evie hasn't seen her Nana since she was 1 day old. This is a much anticipated trip as well.

So all in all we are a family on the move. =)

p.s. Evie saw her pediatrician today and he said he isn't worried about her speech at this point. He offered to give us a referral to a speech therapist anyway. I told him I wanted to think about it and talk with Ben. I am leaning toward getting the referral even though I don't think she really "needs" it. I think it will help her and not hurt her and we can learn a lot about her and speech in general. We'll see...

Evie's First Movie

Thanks to Mimi and Grandpop, Evie, Ben and I went to the movies this weekend. It was quite an adventure to Evelyn. She loved all the lights and colorful games and posters at the movie theatre. We went to see the Veggie Tales movie (not good!). But we didn't make it very far into the movie before Evelyn got restless. Her favorite part of the whole thing was the previews, she LOVED the previews! I still enjoyed myself because I got a cinnabun-pretzel with icing, it was GOOD!! Thank you Mimi and Grandpop! Overall we felt like we had a good experience. But we won't be trying to take Evie to a movie again until she is older.

Grandpop Visits

Evelyn's Grandpop came to visit this weekend!! He was so much fun and Evelyn really enjoyed hanging out with him. We all really missed Mimi but she couldn't make it because of work. We can't wait to see her whenever she can make it here! Grandpop is Ben's Dad and as you will see in the pictures, they look like twins. Since Evie was born everyone has said she looks like Ben's side of the family. So I will ask you, Dear Readers, do you think Evie looks like Ben or me? Or is she turning out to be an even mix of the two of us? You be the judge.