Thoughts on Parenthood..

With Zach and I about to get married of course the next step comes into mind..BABIES!! Especially the last few days I have the privilege to watch a former boss of mines little baby Gwenivere! This little baby is just the sweetest little thing and I just adore her.. I can't believe I get paid to play with her! She is such a pleasure!!

While babysitting her and following her moms wishes of how she should be cared for I often thing about What am I going to be like as a mother? Will i be this protective? (at this point I should mention I am the ONLY babysitter that Gwenivere has ever had and this week was the longest her and her mother had been apart which was only 3.5 hours!!) Will I be like other moms i know which are hardly moms at all>. How do you learn such things as this cry means this.. this face means that.. I have the privilege of having Gwenivere's mom telling me she cries when she has to use the bathroom(ie change the diaper) and she puts her hands to her mouth when she is hungry and thirsty.. without this prior knowledge I would be trying to feed her when all she wants is her diaper changed!! I have been around very few moms in the past but those I have come across all have very different styles of parenting and I always just think.. Gosh If I were a Mom I wouldn't do that! or How did you know to do that? LIke baby slobber destroys the nutrients on food!! I am learning each day more about parenthood as I read my sister in laws blog and through my babysitting!

 I have to say that I am glad that I have had the opportunity to babysit Gwenivere and Meet Isabelle without meeting those two babies I don't know if I would have ever wanted to have kids! My god daughter was such a challenging baby compared to these two!  It's quite different being able to watch a calm child!! I always think of these things and all the things I learning in my child psy classes when I am with children and babies and wonder was it the parenting.. was it the genetic predisposition.. Could their behavior have been changed with other methods of discipline? With all my knowledge of these things it make me so nervous to become a parent! What if I have a colic baby?!? I find baby crying to be one of the worst noises ever!! Will I be able to develop a secure attachment with my baby? What kind of father will Zach be? With all these questions and no answers and I defiantly not ready to be a mom!! I am so glad that I have the opportunity to spend time with the babies around me with the guidance of the moms current habits and learn what they do that I find works or doesn't so in the future when I am a parent I will have some hands on experience as well as my knowledge from school about child development!!  

Struggles..

I have noticed that you guys got a small glimpse into the life of zach through is last few posts but I thought you should know his OTHER favorite hobby

I say this because I find it rather amusing HOW MUCH HE CAN SLEEP!!

A day in the life of Zach is

Work

Surf

sleep

tv

sleep

Repeat

Sometimes Instead of TV he replaces bowling..

I also find this quite annoying because While he's snoozing away on the coach I have to do homework, wedding plans, clean house, and or cook dinner.. And as we speak I am starving b/c I was supposed to come home to a Zach cooked meal and this is what I found instead of food!! After a late night in the theatre I am not really in the mood to cook especially since I have an exam tomorrow.. So instead I update our blog before beginning the long night of studing..

surfing with my friends

within the past week we have had our friend from high school and her boyfriend move to Wilmington so i have found a new friend to annoy into going surfing with me. lol.  we went today which probably wasn't too good for someone who has been out of the sport for a while but he went anyway. it gave me some perspective on the progress on my surfing ability. when you first start you always wanna go even if its blown out even if the current pulls you down the beach within a matter of minutes and you don't even get a chance to ride a single wave. when i saw him out there today it reminded myself of me 7 or 8 months ago i was no better than he is now. i have been surfing since i was 15 but i stopped when i moved to Nashville for a year and after not doing it i was no good. since i moved to Wilmington i met alot of awesome friends that love surfing and i go almost every day so i can keep out of trouble. the more i go the better i get. my endurance is so much better i can surf for hours before getting tired. today it was about 50 degrees in the water and the air was about 37. it was cold after 2 and a half hours but definitely  worth it. here is some pics of the other day surfing enjoy.

zach

Today's lesson to learn

Remember.. after a bad day there is always tomorrow! There is no need to dwell on the past and things you can not change. Vent and move on!!

Today was one of those days for me.. and I finally went over to a friends told her the story, had dinner, a margarita, and played scene it and now today doesn't even feel like the same day!

Always know tomorrow is a new day!

Life Lessons

Below is a list of things that I was privileged enough to learn before Zach and I got married and if I continue to remind myself of these things it will inevitable make our relationship stronger..

1. No one cares if the house is a mess but me!
2. Just because he has seen me at my worst doesn't mean he wants to see me that way everyday
3. Actually attempting to look nice boosts your self esteem
4. NO hes not going to notice the 1lb that I worked so hard to lose
5. NO hes not going to eat all that healthly stuff you eat EVEN if it is all you buy
6. Compromise is difficult but required!!
7. yes he will always choose surfing over helping plan wedding, house cleaning, and cooking
8. Guys are just not that into cleaning, cooking, decorating and other minor details (unless they have to do w/ surfing, dirt bikes, & cars)
9. NAGGING DOES NOT WORK! if anyone else has a solution I would love to hear it :)
10. No he will not take out the recycling and trash w/o me asking or do other household chores
11. Quality time can consist of sitting on the couch together even if we are focused on two separate tasks

Those are just a few of the things that I have learned since Zach and I have been together and I consider myself very lucky to have learned most of them before we get married.. now if I could only remember those things each and every day!!!

Winter Decisions

Today was one of those days where you are laying in bed going.. "Do I really want to get up and go to class today" But Today unlike most I had very good reason to have those thoughts.. We were predicted to get snow today!! Although with the bad weather predictions UNCW unlike all the other schools in the county decided to continue with classes.. I knowing my driving skills, knowing my track record and that I can't afford to have a wreck decided not to attend! The one thing I learned from 2008 is that I can not do everything! Last year I would accept every upcoming task no matter if I already have 10 things to do or nothing.. this year I am working to allow myself to trust my gut to make decisions which tasks to take on on and which not too.. Today i used that judgement to say I am not going to risk my life, my car and take the chances with the weather prediction as it were.. Well I was beginning to rethink my better judgement when I hadn't seen any signs of the winter wonderland that we had been forcasted when I looked out the window and this is what I saw...

We are actually recieving the snow we were predicted and I am glad that I made that decision to stay home.. Although it may mean I did not acquire all the knowledge discussed in class today I know that I am safe in my home and it allows me to relax and catch up on the many assigments that I am behind on.. while watching the winter wonderland pile up on the outside!

surfing

Surfing is just one of those things where you can get away from everything that is going on around you. Some have sports or tv shows they follow and i have my surfing. i have recently been pretty hard core with my surfing almost every day i try to go. It is the way that i get my workout and the way that i clear my head. With amanda staying so busy with planning the wedding and with school i try to stay out of her way so i dont annoy her. surfing to me is the one place that i can go even if it is flatter than a pancake and still enjoy it(even though the water is a whopping 53 degrees).Thanks for checking out my first blog ever ____zach 

Birthday Wishes

Yesterday I experienced the big 2 2 day which felt.. very unlike a birthday for whatever reason. But coming home from school gave me more of that b-day feeling when I got home and Zach was working on dinner AND drinks!!! It was just the greatest! and then I look in the fridge and the office had brought me a yummy boston cream pie cake which tasted awesome but i can't eat much b/c its not low fat ;) :(

I had earlier in the day went to treat myself to a hair "trim" and dye since i couldn't cut it(tring to grow it for the wedding)

! I really enjoyed the b-day! It's so nice to have that one day of the year when you don't have to worry about dinner. You get greeted with lots of smiling faces and a sweet "happy birthday" I absolutely loved it!

Wedding Update!!

Things are slowly coming togethor! I think I have found THE dress and I have found my bridesmaids gowns! We should be ordering the gowns on Monday!! So that is very exciting!! I have finalized my color palette and a theme for the wedding. Which is Tangerine orange, deep purple, and yellow colors with a rustic county/garden chic wedding theme. I have lots of great ideas for the wedding which I hopefully will see come togethor!! I have made the Hair appts for the wedding day, and set a "time" for the wedding. I still need to re visit the florist so that we can get a clearing picture of what he will be doing. I need to find a baker and dev. for sure "transportation". I also need rental chairs and a tent in case of .. weather.. I am glad to see some things coming togethor. I think I have developed save the dates that may be going out soon. I have got some ideas for invitations which I need to put in action! I think things are coming along very well!! :)

Happy New Year!

Today starts the beginning of a very life changing year and so i've decided to start the year with a few resolutions that I wanted to share as a way to commit myself to these things and to keep the resolution throughout the ENTIRE year not just the month of January! 

Goals: 

1) Reduce Debit

* Pay More than the minimum EVERY Month

* Put 50% of each bonus toward debit

* Save the other 50% of each bonus 

* No Excess Shopping!!! 

* Create a budget and stick to it! 

2) Get Healthy and lose 10lbs! 

* Exercise at the gym for 30 mins 3 x a week

* Work out at home for 10 Mins 3 X a week

* Create a menu each week with healthy choices 

(include snacks and each meal) 

With these steps for my goals I think it should be very reasonable to accomplish each goal by 2010 and hopefully at least half way by June 13th!!