The George's

I'm thankful...

2011-11-26T21:40:00.002-07:00

God has given me this man to share life with...
...and to help raise these two boys...
We have so much to be thankful for this year. God answered so many prayers this year. We're especially thankful that Eagan became a part of our family in 2011.

We had a great Thanksgiving. Even though we didn't get to spend it with extended family, we had a great time celebrating with our church family and just the 4 of us. On Thursday we had a lazy morning, then went to the church to eat with other families who are also "displaced" and don't have family here. There was a lot of yummy food! That night (around 11ish), I ran to Walmart to join in on the Black Friday madness. I got a couple of Breeson's Christmas gifts and also got a much needed printer. The only sad part is that I decided to wait 'til midnight (electronic savings started then) so I could get the printer - only to have Jamie tell me later that I only ended up saving $5. :( Booh. Then on Friday morning we went as a family to KMart to catch the last minute deals (air mattress for when we have guests - now that was a great deal!).

--------------------

Today we jumped back into our typical routine of life. I ran to the grocery store and did some laundry. Jamie went to the church and did some prep work for an upcoming event.
Except tonight we did take the boys to the Bass Pro Shop to get pic's with Santa. Originally we were going to take them to the mall, but when I looked at prices online, they wanted $30 for a picture and CD. Um, no thank you. So I shopped around and remembered someone had said Santa visits the Bass Pro Shop. Now, I can imagine what you're thinking - especially if you've never been to one. But let me tell you, these stores are huge and there's a ton to look at. And no, Santa was NOT in camouflage. In the end, we were so glad we did it there and not the mall. Why?
a. there was no line - well, not really. You were given a card telling you what time to come back and get in line. I didn't have to wait long. Jamie took Breeson around and jumped in line w/ me when we were close.
b. ton of free stuff for kids. There was even a carousel that they let the kids ride for free!
c. the pic's w/ Santa was free and they even gave us a free 4x6. At the mall, the only thing that was free was seeing Santa.
d. we were able to go eat while we waited for our turn.

I had to include this pic of Breeson. It cracks me up!! I'm not exactly sure what he's doing. But I like how I got his reflection in it.

January 1

2011-11-20T21:42:00.003-07:00

...is when Jamie starts his full time position at the church we are at, The Light of Christ Anglican Church. We are so excited for this. We have been praying about this opportunity (for Jamie to be in full time ministry) for a long time now. Thanks to all of you who have been praying alongside us. We have felt your prayers!
We had another opportunity in which we were praying about, but God has made it clear that He wants us to stay where we are at for now.

This hasn't been an easy journey though. A year ago we were one of the few young families there. In fact, Breeson was the only one in the nursery for a while. But now, we are happy to have more young families there and to see Breeson running around the church with more kiddos his age makes me smile.

And even though we have a strong peace that God wants us there, we understand that it's a financial burden on the church. Some had to take pay cuts, and some lost their paid positions all together. But the church believes they have to make some changes, which means bringing Jamie on full time, in order to help this church grow. We know that it's not us - it's all God in this.

For now, Jamie is home with the boys 3 days a week and I went full time at work. Life has been pretty busy in the last few months. One upside to this is that Jamie was able to quit CFA, in which he was VERY excited about. We will swap our roles after Christmas. He'll go full time with the church and I'll go part time at my job. It actually worked out because my job has been going through a ton of changes and they needed me full time, which is why I accepted it. I'm grateful my boys get to spend some extra quality time w/ Dad before he goes full time. We both realize not many Dad's get that opportunity. And I just have to brag for a bit...Jamie does a great job w/ them. Plus, he usually has dinner either already started or ready to eat by the time I get home. I'm pretty spoiled!! :)

Ordination

2011-11-05T13:51:00.005-06:00

Well Jamie is officially ordained (or "ordinated" as I like to call it). My family came out last weekend, along with Jamie's mom to witness this big event in our life.
We're thankful to so many people who have been supportive as we have moved forward in what we have felt as God's calling to ministry.

In case you didn't already know, we are part of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA).
We joined about a little over a year ago.

Here are a few pic's from the service...

So my husband is now a Pastor (or Friar George, as I like to call him!), which means I'm now a Pastor's wife. Scary. As a kid I used to say I never wanted to marry a Pastor. Whoops, so much for that.

October...already!?!

2011-10-22T15:22:00.003-06:00

I can't believe October is here, much less that it's already half over. Time flies when you're...working full time and have sick kid's!
Thankfully we're all on the mend.

I had to take this pic of Breeson the other day - I woke up to this!! It cracked me up.

And check out this monster!! He's already 5 months old and weighs in at a whopping 15+ pounds.

------------------

We carved pumpkins and this is what's left of them - stupid squirrels. The same thing happened last year. Jamie wanted to take them out, until we saw the mama and her babies the other day.

------------------

So we did it!! As a joint 30th birthday bash - several of us girls celebrated by going to The Grizzly Rose to go two-stepping/line dancing. It was a lot of fun!!
All of us turned 30 this year:

this pic cracks me up b/c this random guy came over and asked Theresa to dance - for those of you who know Theresa, I'm sure you're laughing too!! But she didn't skip a beat, she jumped up and said yes and he whisked her off! Clint had a good laugh about it too. The guy was harmless - he just needed a dance partner!

-------------------

We had a little Whitewater reunion the last couple of nights. Justin and Kirsten (Ensz) Eck came to Denver for their vacation and we caught up w/ them while they were in town. We had a great time catching up.

Waiting....

2011-10-05T09:37:00.003-06:00

Joy usually updates our blog, but today I felt like it might be good to add my own post for a change. Life in Colorado is good, but we find our selves in a place that we never expected, at least I didn't. For some reason, I always believed God would make it crystal clear where he would want me to serve, but at this point I only know that I am called to serve in the Anglican Mission in America. So I find my self circling the airport waiting for God to tell me where to land this plane. For now that means continuing to serving as the Young Adult Coordinator at TLC until the Lord leads me else where, which we are willing to do once He makes it clear where that may be.
We currently have a lot going on and I am so grateful that my wife is willing to take care of the boys so I can seek direction from the Lord. This weekend I plan to spend a lot of time in prayer and look forward to spending time alone with my Lord. For those of you who read this I would ask you to be in prayer for us as we seek guidance from God.
In other news, I will be getting ordained to Presbyter on October 29, 2011, Lord willing. My mom and some of Joy's family are coming to celebrate God's calling me to serve as a pastor and I am looking forward to our time together.
At the end of the day, I am blessed to have such a loving wife and two wonderful boys to share this life with and for that I am very very grateful. Thanks God!!!

Finally!

2011-09-12T21:03:00.004-06:00

I finally did it. After over 15 years of wanting my nose pierced, I finally did it for my 30th birthday!! Thank you husband of mine. ;)

I'm not gonna lie, when I was sitting in the chair waiting on the guy as he prepped everything, my heart was beating really fast. I joked that I might cry. I was kinda serious.
But I didn't. It lasted only a second - just like he'd promised.
My good friend, Theresa came with me.

I had a wonderful 30th birthday. Thank you all for the sweet well-wishes on my FB page, phone calls, and text messages. I feel loved.

My husband did a great job of making me feel extra special this year. He got me just what I wanted (from my piercing, to a small get-together with friends, to ordering a homemade pie from Marie Calendars). Then to top it all off, I asked if we could go line dancing with friends and he said yes. A few other girl friends (like Theresa above) are also turning the big 3-0 this year, so we're all going to go dancing together later in October and do one big birthday hoo-rah!
Should be fun!! It's going to be a fun excuse to wear my cow-girl boots. Now I just need to find Wranglers for Jamie and plaid shirts for both of us!

Overwhelmed

2011-09-10T14:55:00.003-06:00

Feeling overwhelmed has been the theme of my life in the last week or two. I've been feeling overwhelmed with...

the whole process of potty training
work and the all of the changes we've been going through - having to change shifts here and there, and more changes to come...
the thought of saying goodbye to my 20's (a little harder than I thought it would be?!)
juggling 2 kids -my patience level has been at a 2, maybe even a 1 on a scale of 1-10
trying to figure out possibilities that deal with the future

Speaking of feeling overwhelmed...for those other mommy's out there, do you feel like your house gets overwhelmed with baby stuff!?

At least we're getting some good use out of some of the stuff...

This guy finally went to his 2 month apt, even though he is now 3 1/2 months!! He weighed in at a wopping 15 lbs and is now 25 inches.
While there, I had the Doc pay special attention to the shape of his head. Come to find out...if at 6 months his head is still mis-shaped, then he'll have to wear a helmet. Bahaahaha!! Yes, I said a helmet!! Poor fella - he could have some bad blackmail photos for later on life. So we're working on changing his position of sleeping, playing and doing some muscle exercises for his neck so he'll be flexible in turning/sleeping either way. I just can't even imagine him wearing a helmet at 6 months 24/7.

a chore

2011-09-02T14:40:00.002-06:00

Sometimes updating the blog can seem like a chore - it shouldn't, but it does. It's like it's another thing to get done. That's why I've been so negligent lately. It's like exercise. Once the day is done, or just beginning, blogging and exercising are the last things I want to do. :) Ugh.

I typically work Monday's and Thursday's, but one of the girls at work couldn't work this past Wednesday, so we switched days. And with Labor Day coming up on Monday, it means I have a week off.

So, I decided to try potty training Breeson. He's 2 years and 3 months, so I knew it was a gamble if he would be ready or not. I've been hearing a lot of input lately (like it or not) on whether he's ready or not. A lot of mommies have told me their boys didn't do it until they were at least 3. This exercise was NOT to prove a point or be obnoxious in thinking "my kid can do it sooner than your kid". We've just been tired of changing diapers and putting the cost in them. $$ is tight these days and if he can start using the potty - why not!? So with having the week off, I decided to at least try it and if after a few days he didn't make any progress, then I was willing to digress.

I started yesterday and I gave him tons of juice, milk and water. I could tell he was holding it in b/c I know we typically change diapers before 10 a.m. After following him around for what seemed like forever (only a couple hrs that morning), I turned my head for 10 seconds and found him jumping in his own puddle of pee. About a week or 2 ago I watched a segment from the Today show. On it she has the kids clean up their own mess!!! So that's what Breeson did (I did follow him with the clorox wipes). I know it seems harsh, but it seemed to work for her. So anyways, he had 1 more accident and then we had tons of success the rest of the day. All except 1 poop in the undies close to bedtime.

I found he actually did better with me not in there. I think the pressure of me watching him was too much - I don't blame him!!
I figured I would try a sticker chart and see if he liked it - and he did. He does get some candy in addition.
Today is our 2nd day and we've had no accidents (knock on wood) thus far; it's 3 p.m. right now.

As for Eagan...well he's been pretty good. I was worried about this whole process b/c I wasn't sure how I was going to take care of Eagan and follow a 2 year old around all day.

Mi casa es su casa

2011-08-24T08:17:00.002-06:00

"my house is your house"...is something I hope everyone knows and feels who walks through our front door. One thing I am the most thankful in marrying Jamie is that he too enjoys entertaining and having guests over. I don't think it was one of those things I particularly looked for in a husband, but since he enjoys it, I'm very grateful. And what's great about him is that he doesn't care if it's a big or small group, and he's all about inviting people over that we barely know in order to get to know them more. (Thank you husband!!)
This summer we've had a lot of gatherings in our backyard for BBQ's and I've loved every single one of them!! This is what summer is all about - loving on our friends. I feel like in the last couple of weeks, we've been super busy with either having people over or going to our friends' house. Sometimes I wish summer wouldn't end.
One thing we're trying to do is be more intentional in getting to know our neighbors. Last night was a great opportunity as we had 2 couples come over for hamburgers.
One of the pastors at our church recently gave us a patio table and chairs - thank you Bishop Green!! It has been a blessing to us, as well as others for when we host. I think it could be easy to feel "inadequate" as our backyard is ugly b/c we have no grass - only weeds. But it's something that we just can't do anything about right now and we've got bigger (better!!) issues to tackle.

So as summer winds down, I raise my glass and say, "here's to friends who come eat our food - we're the ones who benefit from your presence!".

The boys

2011-08-14T20:41:00.004-06:00

I thought I'd post a few pic's of the boys and what they've been up to lately.

They're both growing, growing, growing!

Breeson:
In the last week and a half, we've been dealing with some pretty bad tantrums, or "fits" as we call them. I would say we deal anywhere with 2-3 on a daily basis. :( It's been hard emotionally, physically and mentally. I know it's a "phase", but I hope we grow out of it soon. He's really been testing us as what he can get by with and he has been really jealous of our attention. We're doing the best we can in dealing with them. For now, what seems to work the best is time-outs on his bed. He hates being in there by himself. Plus, we do it because I hate hearing him cry, or should I say scream, in the dining room - where we typically had time-outs. But once we usually get these fits out of our system, he plays pretty well. At least the good outweighs the bad!! We still love that boy to pieces.
I truly believe that once Eagan can start interacting with him and "playing" with him, he'll really start to enjoy him more. Right now he still ignores his brother 95% of the time, but likes to show his affection every now and again. I think in the end, he'll be a great big brother.

------------------

Eagan:
I haven't taken Eagan to his 2 month apt yet (he's about to be 3 months this week) due to insurance issues. I hope to get him there soon. I think he's anywhere from 12-15 lbs by now. ??
He's such a good baby. He has been ever since he was born. Sleeping habits are decent. His first phase is usually from 8ish-2/3 am, then he can sometimes sleep 'til 7. If he does get up before then, then he'll sleep in longer. Otherwise, because we're all getting up around 7, he'll usually join us. Already he plays so well on his play mat. The other morning he played and cooed for an hour and a half by himself. Breeson NEVER did that. We always had to be entertaining him. Eagan usually only gets more needy as the evening progresses and that's because he's tired.

Have I ever showed you Eagan's toes?? They're quite comical to me. If you can see it well enough, you'll notice that his toes are all the same length - they don't digress. They remind me of monster feet. I think he'll be able to grab a lot of things with these toes someday!!

In all, life with 2 hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, but yet it has been the hardest thing so far. Make sense!? :) We pretty much take it one day at a time. We love these boys and are so thankful we get to parent them - good days and bad days.

4 Years

2011-08-12T08:31:00.003-06:00

We've made it 4 years now!! It's been a good journey and we both look forward to what the future holds. God has blessed our marriage in so many ways.
Last night we dropped the boys off with some friends, then headed to The Melting Pot. We don't typically spend that much $$ on food, but we decided to splurge this year ~ plus we've been wanting to eat here for a long time; now we can say we've experienced it. It was quite yummy. We were SO full. We talked about some goals we'd like to accomplish in this next year and we recapped on our last 4 years. It was a great night celebrating our Anniversary.

Praying for Kristi

2011-08-08T11:31:00.005-06:00

For those of you who don't know Kristi, please read the following. I went to college for a year with Kristi and her husband, Robert, before they graduated. This is a HUGE prayer request - God is much bigger than all of this. If you want to follow them more, go to Facebook and search for the group "Praying for Kristi".

July 31st, 2011 Robert and Kristi Casey, and their two daughters, Aidyn (3) and Rosalie (2), welcomed Lydia to the world. Three days later when they were going to be released from the hospital, they found out Kristi's collar bone had broken. After a few X-...rays and tests the doctor's found cancer in her chest area and that the cancer had spread to her bones and that was the cause of her collar bone breaking so easily. Please be in prayer for Kristi and God's healing in her body. Please be in prayer for Robert and for their little girls. A web site was set up for meals if anyone is interested in helping with that for them. For more information, please go HERE.

This is updated news from her friend Ali:

This is the latest info that Kristi has given me as of today (8/9/11):
There is a Cancer Foundation for Cervical and Breast Cancer through the state of Alabama that works with hospitals on behalf of cancer patients in regards to financial issues with treatments. Kristi's doctors have been researching and are 99.9% sure that she DOES QUALIFY for them to cover her treatment! PRAISE GOD!
PRAY THAT ALL GOES THROUGH WITH THAT!
She had her first round of Chemo today and a round of regular radiation (regular radiation is safe to be around the girls). This first round was FREE and shouldn't make her sick or lose her hair.
She goes tomorrow for an appointment for radiation at 9:15. Pray during that time for her and the treatment.

8/10/11: PRAYER
Kristi told me last night where the cancer is in her body, exactly and Patrick and I thought it would be a good idea to let all you guys know just in case you wanted to pray about these areas.
She definitely has Breast Cancer. It has spread to her blood, bones and her liver. She has two broken bones, her right side collar bone and a rib on her left side. Because of the cancer in her bones the two broken bones can't heal until they can get the cancer taken care of in them (this is what the Bone Scans are for -- she can't be around the girls for 24hrs whenever she has these).

Mommy-Son Date

2011-08-07T13:54:00.003-06:00

Breeson and I had a Mommy-Son Date last night. We went to see Barney Live!! I NEVER would've believed it if you would've told me years ago that I would be doing this right now.
But we did. And we had fun. A friend of mine gave me the tickets, so we didn't pay for them. I told her Breeson doesn't even watch Barney and she said her son didn't either. :) Thanks Tricia!

The show lasted an hour and a half. I was shocked it would last so long considering it's for kids. But Breeson was mesmerized the whole time!! We let him watch Barney the Friday before we went and we talked about going to see Barney the last couple of days. There was some songs that he knew and was super excited about singing along.

The show was at the Pepsi Center downtown. The convenient part for us is that we live next to the light rail (2 blocks away!!) and so we rode the "train" in. The inconvenient part was that after we got on, we learned the tracks were down a few stations ahead and we all had to be bussed downtown. However, Breeson was super excited to get to finally ride one of the busses. We had a fun time all around.

You wanna know the silliest part of all? When we were sitting there watching Barney, and Breeson was jumping up & down singing, I got a little teary-eyed. You see, for that exact moment, there'd be no more like it. We will experience other fun things in life, but I got to enjoy him for his first "concert" (if you will). To see his excitement, and amazement; plus to just hear him sing along...there will come a day when he'll deny going to that show and probly not want to sit on his mommy's lap to sing the ABC song.

We had a great first date night just the two of us. I love that boy!!

Whacked

2011-08-05T13:10:00.003-06:00

I went and got my hair cut today, or as Jamie would say, I got it whacked.
The reason I did it is b/c all I did with it was put it in a pony tail. I do like my hair long, but not the maintenance part. It's too hot to blow dry. Plus, with running around after 2 kids, I just don't put that much work into it.

Pretty huh?! Here it was before...

and now after...

I went to the Aveda Pure Talent salon, a lot cheaper than the actual salon. This is where the students have already graduated, but they're just going through an extended course. She did go a bit shorter than I had anticipated in the back, but once she started, then there was no going back. Jamie HATES it!! You should've seen his face when I got home. He has clearly told me he does NOT want me to go this short ever. again. I like it though - and it does grow!!

Life...

2011-08-03T12:50:00.003-06:00

Life has been busy, to the say the least. It's busy enough when you have 2 kids, but then when you add working a lot more days than usual, it makes it even more hectic. Starting this week, I'm finally on more of a routine at work, where I only work 2 days a week (Mon & Thur's). The kiddos go to day care on Monday and Jamie watches them on Thursday. Since going back to day care after maternity leave, Breeson's reverted back to the days of when we first started going by crying/screaming his head off when we drop him off. :( No fun. Eagan's been doing ok there. It was hard to leave them both the first day back to work.

I can't believe we're in August already. Where did the summer go? We hit the triple digits a few days here, but I know it's not been as hot as it has been in Kansas and the Southern states. We finally broke down and put a window unit in. It's not pretty, but it keeps us cool.

Last Saturday night I met Jamie over at Ikea. It was crazy!! I read that on opening day (Wed prior to us going) they had around 70,000 people. Even when we went on Saturday, there was a LONG line just to get into the store. Luckily they let us cut b/c we had a stroller!! :) We didn't even walk around both floors (2 stories), we only did 1 and then ate in the restaurant. After that, we were exhausted fighting the crowd and our kids. I'll go back once it's settled down a little more and maybe go kid-free. I did get what I was going for - Ahlgrens bilar candies!! :) My friend, Annika, who is Swedish, introduced me to them when we both worked/lived in Uzbekistan. I love these things!!! Oh, and I did buy a lantern for our patio table too.

Otherwise, Jamie's busy working away with both of his jobs. We're still putting out resumes to various churches. I am settled back into job too. Breeson is as busy as ever. I feel like his vocab has exploded in the last month. Everyday he puts together a new sentence. We're almost to the point where we can carry on a conversation with him. Still a bit choppy at times. He's growing up so fast! Of course, so is Eagan. The little chunk is getting pudgy - the cute pudgy!! I'm guessing he's over 10 lbs now. ?? We go to the Dr next week for his 2 month. He had been sleeping in a swing at night and we recently moved him into the crib. The first night he did great and only got up during the feeding time. But the 2nd and 3rd night he's woken up b/c his covers are off. The only way to get him back to sleep has been to nurse him. I don't want him to get in the habit of that though. :( I have to remind myself he's only 2 1/2 months old. I will say this, I am enjoying him as a baby much more than I did with Breeson. For Breeson, I felt like I just wanted him to grow up. Eagan is much more cuddly and in the last 2 weeks has really shown us more of a laid back personality. We are enjoying him!!

I'll try and post pic's sometime soon. My dinosaur of a computer is on the fritz. I pretty much have to hand crank it to get started (not really - but close!). So I just don't deal with pic's anymore b/c it's hard to get the pics on my comp and then to post them. I need too, my boys are growing up and I'm gonna miss out.

Week long trip = a lot of pictures

2011-07-19T08:08:00.007-06:00

Well we're back in Colorado after being gone for over week. We flew home for a funeral and a wedding. We had already planned on going to Arkansas for my cousins wedding, but then left earlier because my Grandpa passed away. So we flew into KC, drove to Whitewater for the funeral; drove to Branson, MO to stay w/ my brother; drove to Ponca, AR for my cousin's wedding, then drove back to KC to fly home. It was a busy time,
but we had a great time seeing a LOT of family.

Breeson loved spending time with his cousins:

I have a feeling these two are going to be quite the pair as they get older. This is his cousin Eli:
Always have fun on the Wii w/ the mother-in-law: :)

-------------------

Both of the boys did GREAT in the car. We did a lot of driving too on this trip. Thank goodness for laptops and DVD's:

--------------------

We hung out in Branson with my brother for a couple days. Gina (my SIL) was gone on business - wish you could've been there Gina. Walking at the Landing:

------------------------

One of the special things we got to do on this trip was take Jamie to the camp I grew up going to. Out of my (almost) 30 years of life, I'd say I spent at least 15 summers of my life at this place. We even stayed in one of the cabins one night - not such a great experience w/ a toddler and a baby!! I hope to someday go back so Jamie and I can both be counselors...and then my boys can go as campers.

The swimming hole:

------------------

Like I said above, we headed to Ponca for my cousin's wedding. Yes, my cousins got married in Arkansas!! ;) Let me explain. In February of 2010 I "introduced" my cousin Kristin to my cousin David - each cousin is on the opposite side of my family. Kristin comes from my Dad's side, and David comes from my Mom's side. So they are NOT related. But I like to joke that I went to AR b/c my cousin's were getting married!! Anyways, it really was all God in all of this - I'm just thankful He used me to be a part of them getting married.

We rejoined my family and we stayed in this cabin that was out in the boonies in AR. If you were to have rode with us to this cabin, you would've thought we were taking you out to kill you. It was SO far from civilization!! But it was beautiful:

the view from the cabin - who says AR isn't beautiful!?!

We had such a great time seeing so much family. I love that Breeson is starting to get to know his cousins and Gpa & Gma more and more - even though we live so far away from everyone else.
All in all, we had a great trip, even with so much driving. The flight to KC was perfect - I had so many compliments on how the kids did. The flight home was good until the last 25 minutes. That's when Breeson decided to throw a tantrum and scream/cry. The lady sitting behind him just sat plugging her ears with her fingers. She didn't even try to hide the fact that she was annoyed. And really I don't blame her. I didn't want to claim him as mine. Not really. It was just hard and Jamie is the one that had to deal with it, since we couldn't sit together on that flight. Your pretty much helpless though b/c you can't discipline. What to do?!

Well, we're back home...trying to get our lives back on track. It's always nice to get away, but it's always nice to get back into a routine too.

You'll be missed...

2011-07-07T21:11:00.003-06:00

Early this morning, my sweet Grandpa Claassen went to be with the Lord.
There are so many wonderful things I could say about him; but the main thing I'll remember the most about him is his gentle personality. He was one of the kindest, most gentle people you would ever meet. He was a strong man of faith, loved his wife dearly, and his family.

He was an identical twin. He was known in the small community in which he lived as "one of the twins". It was not uncommon for you to see him in the local cafe drinking coffee or out farming with Uncle Donald (his twin).

This isn't easy to write. Grandpa was truly loved and we all admired him deeply. We know his love for Grandma was genuine and strong. I think I hurt more for her loss than ours.
I know she lost her best friend.

I'm thankful Breeson got to meet him, even though he'll probably never remember him.

So on Saturday, we're headed to Kansas for his funeral. A lot to do before we leave...

Our 4th

2011-07-05T09:32:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone had a great Independence Day. We did!
First off, the boys and I hung around the house until Jamie got off work...

then we headed to a couples' house from church,

thanks John & AnneMarie for hosting a great BBQ!!

then we ended the evening by going to a park near our house where we "watched" the fireworks. This park sits on a big hill so we could see several fireworks displays all around Denver. We didn't stay too long as Breeson was more interested in running around the grass, watching his feet, and throwing our sandals rather than the fireworks. Hmm...next year, maybe?!

Either way...it was a good day and we enjoyed celebrating the 4th.

First Wedding

2011-07-03T21:29:00.003-06:00

Last night Jamie got to officiate his first wedding.
Adam & Haley got married here. It was gorgeous!!
We used to be next door neighbors to Adam & Haley when
we lived in the condo. We were honored that they asked
Jamie to marry them. Plus, it was super fun to get out of the house,
dress up, and be (semi) kid free for 2 nights
(rehearsal dinner - kid free; wedding night - Breeson free).

-----------------------

And just for kicks, I had to include this. On my way to the wedding I passed by Ikea. They're almost done!! We are now in the same month of when they open - July 27. Yeah!! Someone told me this is going to the be largest one in the States. Although I do like their household furniture...I'm most excited about one thing. You'll have to see once I get it... :)

Parks

2011-06-27T12:45:00.003-06:00

If it were up to Breeson, we'd go to the park every. single. day. And I can't blame him for wanting to go. The weather in the evenings have been so nice. It's always a great way for Breeson to run some energy off, get some Vit D, and just change up the scenery - especially on the days where we don't go anywhere else.

If

-------------------------

Here's Breeson and I (and Eagan too) eating out the other night while Jamie was at the church. I'm getting more and more brave in getting out with 2 little ones. I'm thankful Eagan still sleeps so much. Now is the time to get out - it's only going to get harder when he's more awake and isn't content w/ staying in his carrier.

Friday Fun

2011-06-25T16:28:00.003-06:00

Friday was a fun day. We started it by meeting our friends, Mary & Lillian at the Zoo. Breeson is at the age where he's really enjoyed going the last couple times. He can say so many of the animals' names and remembers what he saw/did that day.

Eagan was a good sport...he did a lot of this while we were there:

Breeson & Lillian:

Mary & Lillian

--------------------------

Then in the evening, we met Joe, Becca & Jael at the park. It was the perfect weather to be outside.

Here's Eagan and his buddy, Jael:

Father's Day

2011-06-22T08:49:00.002-06:00

We had a great time on Sunday celebrating Dad (Jamie). I wish we lived closer to my family so that we could've honored my dad and Grandpa too. We sure do love our men!!

Sunday morning we got up and made Jamie a big breakfast.
Went to church.
Spontaneously had friends come over after church to grill steaks.
Let Jamie relax and do what he wanted to do - read.
Ran to Q'doba for dinner.

Here's what the boys got Jamie for Father's Day:

It's Greek to me...

2011-06-18T13:38:00.006-06:00

Last night we went to Denver's First Annual Greek Festival. It's no Lebanese Festival in Birmingham. But I guess I'm comparing Apples to Oranges there.

Anyways, we still had a great time with our friends Jason, Christina & Oliver.
And despite the on/off rain, it was a great night to get out.

The boys had fun riding a few of the kiddy rides and just running around. As you can see by Breeson hanging on in both pic's - he wasn't quite sure of this at first. It took some convincing to get him to ride it. (He can be a bit of scaredy cat times!)

Oh, and it doesn't look like we took Eagan with us...but we did - he just didn't make it in any of the pic's. Sorry E!! We still love you. :)

1 month...already!?

2011-06-17T10:48:00.002-06:00

It's crazy to think Eagan's already 1 month old. It's amazing how time can stand still yet fly by at the same time.

At 1 month...

he demands to eat every 3 hrs during the day (I put him on a timed schedule - he would eat sooner than that if I let him).
sleeps during the day a lot still (thankfully!)
goes anywhere from 3-7 hr stretches during the night
LOVES to be held - but I'm trying to slowly break him of that. I can't get anything done if I'm constantly holding him. Seems to be more of a cuddler than B was/is.
Probably weighs more than 8 lbs now.
Definitely has brown eyes (I was always hoping one of my kids would get Jamie's green eyes - but my Asian influence is dominant)

(exercising my lungs...because mommy won't hold me)

1 month old also means I head back to work soon. :-(

post baby blues

2011-06-16T13:47:00.002-06:00

There's so much joy and excitement after the arrival of a newborn. Showing him off and being pampered by friends/family. But with it comes the tiredness, along with the leftover weight gain. I realize I just had a baby 4 weeks ago, but still, it's discouraging not fitting into my "regular" clothes. I went shopping on Tuesday afternoon. Where at?? At this amazing store called Goodwill! I bought some shorts and a couple dresses that will hopefully tide me over until I can get back in the old clothes. I'm tired of wearing the same stretchy pants. Plus, with nursing, it's not easy wearing certain clothes. It could be awkward pulling a dress all the way up in a public place just to nurse. :) I wouldn't do that, by the way.
So on the weekend of July 2nd, Jamie is performing his first wedding to a lovely couple that we used to be neighbors too. It's crazy how we as girls can already begin thinking that far ahead and start planning what we'll wear. My dilemma - not what will I wear? But will it fit?I have a couple weeks left to whip my body back in shape. Yeah right. I'm off to a great start...I downed a double cheeseburger meal from McD's, along w/ a choco shake today. Ugh.
Would the bride be offended if I wore my black sweat pants to her wedding?!
So, here's to starting to eat right...and begin exercising. Well, after this weekend. We're going to the Greek Festival here in town tomorrow night and I plan to eat some delicious hummus and greek fries!!

Summer

2011-06-12T17:06:00.004-06:00

Although the first day of summer is not until June 21st, it feels like summer here. Well, it did. These pic's are from over a week ago. The weather the last couple days have been in the 70's - absolutely beautiful! We've been enjoying a LOT of time outdoors. I think this next week we may hit close to the 90's. I'm just SO thankful we have low humidity here. I really do love Colorado weather.

I got his kiddie pool out the other day thinking he would just like to get his feet wet in it. So wrong. Why would I assume a little boy would only get his feet wet!?!?

We planted our first garden this year. We've already benefited from some it.
We planted:
*strawberries
*lettuce (2 kinds)
*potatoes (new and yellow)
*tomatoes
*carrots
*green beans
*okra
*bell peppers
*squash
*zuchini
*pumpkins
*brocolli

new post below...

Baptisms

2011-06-12T16:59:00.002-06:00

Both Eagan and Breeson got baptized last Sunday. I'm just now posting pic's. I won't go into the theology behind why we did it, but if you have questions, feel free to ask. And No, we don't believe that just because they were baptized that this is in place of their salvation. They each have to one day make that decision for themselves.

Jamie baptized them both.

They were both dunked!

(another) brown eyed boy

2011-06-07T11:14:00.002-06:00

This is gonna be short and sweet. It seems that every time I sit down to blog...this one wakes up and cries. BTW - at what age do I start letting him self soothe? Is 3 weeks too early?!! ;-)
Happy 3 weeks Eagan. Weird to think in a week he'll already be a month. Seems like he just arrived.

A sad good bye

2011-05-31T13:09:00.003-06:00

After we brought Eagan home from the hospital, we had a few nights of him having his days/nights mixed up. After careful thought, we realized that I had probably been drinking too much caffeine. During my pregnancy I drank a cup of coffee and/or Dr Pepper or Pepsi at least 3 x's a week, if not more. Well, I continued that trend even after delivering. When I was prego w/ B, I did drink caffeine, but as soon as I gave birth, I gave it up while breastfeeding.
Since I've stopped drinking caffeine, Eagan has been doing great with sleeping at night. For the last week and half (of his 2 weeks of life), he has been sleeping 5-6 hr stretches during the night. Knock on wood - I know. And even though it's hard to give up the caffeine, it's SO worth getting some sleep at night.

However, to take it's place, I crave sweets like none other!! Somehow, these found their way in my shopping cart today, not sure how it happened. !?? I. never. buy. these. But I so look foward to eating them. :)

Guess I won't be fitting into any skinny jeans anytime soon...

Mom = a blessing!!

2011-05-28T20:50:00.004-06:00

There's really not much to say except that my mom has been a HUGE blessing to us this past week and a half. She arrived last Wednesday (the day I was discharged from the hospital) and will leave tomorrow morning. tear. She has helped us SOO much. Breeson has had a great time getting to know his Grandma a little better. It's been great for their relationship. Plus, it's been great having her here to give him extra attention during this adjustment. It's been an extra blessing to me as I have had a harder time post delivery than I did with Breeson. I've been to the doctor 2 times and the ER since delivering (bladder infection and blood clotting); not to mention the Ped's appt's that we've had for Eagan.

Thanks mom (and Dad for letting her come for so long) for being a great MOM and Grandma to Breeson and now Eagan. We appreciate your sacrificial heart and selfless attitude. Thanks also for getting up several times during the night to either take care of Breeson or allow Jamie and I to get extra sleep. We can't thank you enough!!

_________________________

Last night we ate dinner at White Fence Farm. It was a fun place to eat at. It's a family-style, southern cooking type place. Plus, they have a petting zoo, gift shops, and playground. It was a great place to run off some energy.

Since Eagan was born, time has gone by fast and slow. It's crazy how it can do that. I think the adjustment will really start to sink as we will be doing it "on our own" now that my mom is leaving. However, we do look forward to Jamie's mom coming out later on.
I don't want to jinx anything - but the last 3 nights have been great as far as Eagan adjusting to night time routines and feeding/sleeping. He seems to like his sleep better than eating during the night - and for that I'm thankful!! Knock on wood.
He'll sometimes go 5 hour stretches. I wake up and check on him to see if he's still alive!
Now that we've been home a few days, Breeson doesn't even seem to notice Eagan 90% of the time. He likes to occasionally hold him but once he does, he's off to playing again. I think once Eagan becomes more interactive that'll change though.

2 year old

2011-05-26T16:42:00.003-06:00

On Tuesday we celebrated Breeson's birthday. We now have a 2 year old on our hands. He reminds us everyday too! Sadly enough, it wasn't a great day to celebrate. It was rainy, he was super frumpy due to a short nap, and our plans didn't go as planned due to the weather. We even took him to the indoor play place at the mall and after 5 minutes he wanted to leave. I think he was just partied out since we had done his birthday party last Sunday. I'm SOO thankful we did it then.

But I don't mean for this post to sound so negative. Breeson has been a true "joy" to us and we're thankful God has allowed us to be his parents. It's hard to believe he's our "big boy" now. So far, he's been a great big brother to Eagan.

For his birthday we got him a tricycle:

The Labor & Delivery Story

2011-05-21T16:58:00.004-06:00

Where to start?! The past few days have felt like several weeks. It's hard to believe Eagan came into this world just this past Tuesday. We are slowly adjusting as a family. My mom is currently here, which has already been a HUGE help. We are all a bit sleep deprived (except for Breeson - which I'm thankful for!). Eagan seems to have his nights/days mixed up. I pray it won't take too long for him to make the switch. It's amazing to already see the differences between him and B, considering he's only been here a few days. But before I get into all of that, let me start from the beginning as to when he came into the world...

Monday: I was having harder contractions on/off all day; nothing regular though. The closer the evening came, I knew it was going to be that night (or was like 90% sure) but wasn't sure when. We got the bag ready that night and informed our pastor and his wife (who came to stay the night w/ B) that they could possibly be getting a call later in the night. When I went to bed, my contractions were at best 10 minutes apart, but even then they were so irregular we weren't sure what was going to happen. We finally turned out the lights around 10:30 pm.
At 11:00 I woke up to a pretty hard contraction. After having 4 of them in a row at 3 minutes a part, I woke Jamie up. I was confused b/c where did our 511 (5 min apart, lasting 1 minute, for 1 hour) go?? We called our friends, got dressed, and waited...for what seemed like an eternity, but was only like 15 minutes at best. When they arrived, Jamie gave a couple instructions re: B and we jetted. The hospital we delivered at is only 5 minutes away. We parked the car and headed to the E.R. Between the parking garage and the door to the E.R. I had to stop at least 4 times for the contractions. When we got in the door, the lady at the desk got our names and wanted us to sign in. Right then I had a contraction and I told them (Jamie and the registrar) that I needed to push. She immediately got on the phone and told them to get a wheelchair STAT!!! I was able to manage signing in and right then a nurse arrived w/ a wheelchair. She ran (literally) w/ Jamie running right behind taking me straight to L&D. This was after midnight by now.

Tuesday: As soon as they put me in a bed, got my IV's going, they checked me and said I was dilated at a 9 and 100% effaced. I kept telling them I needed to push. They kept telling me to hold off and the Doc would be there soon. Within a few minutes he arrived, sat down and told me to start. I pushed 4 times and Eagan arrived into this world at 12:45 am. Total time of being at the hospital (walking into the ER and Eagan's arrival) was 40 minutes!

We are very thankful for a quick delivery. With B I did an epidural. But with Eagan we had set our minds to doing it naturally this time. I'm thankful God answered our prayers in allowing me to have a quick delivery - it allowed me not to even have the option this time. I thought pushing with Breeson for less than 25 minutes was pretty good - but I broke my own record by only pushing for less than 5 minutes. Looking back we realize that had I delivered at the hospital we were originally going to deliver at, we most likely would have been delivering either on the road in the parking lot. God knew what He was doing and we're thankful we changed hospitals in the end.

In all, we're doing alright. I'm still a bit sore but healing rather quickly. After birth the nurses would always ask what my pain level was on a scale of 1-10 and at most it was at a 2 or 3.
B is adjusting pretty well to his new baby brother. We are doing our best to give him extra attention as we know he needs it right now. All we can do is take it 1 day at at time.

(for complete picture tutorial, see post below...)

Pictures only...

2011-05-21T16:45:00.004-06:00

(above: Breeson leaving the hospital)

(above: Eagan 4 days old)

An early birthday celebration

2011-05-15T21:44:00.005-06:00

Although Breeson's birthday is not until May 24th, we decided to do an early celebration...just in case. We had originally planned to have it at a park close by, but due to the weather, we had it at our house. It was a bit snug with everyone in our tiny house, but it was still fun.
Thanks to all who were able to make it. We appreciate you coming and supporting us by loving on our son.

Nichole and baby Chase (the youngest party-er)

Christina, Kristy, Jael and Joe

the drink stand

Joe and Jack enjoying a Pepsi

the food table (for B's cake, I just made a layered yellow cake w/ choc frosting. I put the 2 candles in and realized it looked "blah". So I quickly made a small flag banner to put up between the candles - it helped dress it up)

the birthday boy himself

me and Mary

the birthday boy and the ladies!! (Lillian & Carolyn)

Bullets

2011-05-09T15:32:00.004-06:00

Today after I showered and got dressed, Breeson kept repeating that we were going "bye-bye". This isn't unusual for him to say but I did realize something. It dawned on me that my son only recognizes us as going bye-bye when mommy gets dressed. :) So in other words, my laziness in staying in my pj's or not showering is being communicated to him in ways I really wish he didn't understand. So I hope I can do better at this... :) We did in fact go somewhere but I'll admit there are days that if I know we're staying at home all day that I don't put much effort in getting "dressed". And although I don't live in my pj's when I do stay home, I should be more assertive in looking better. I know it'll help my morale just as much as his - it'll help me get the day going.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. My boys spoiled me, as usual. But it felt even more special b/c of the special day marked on the calendar. It started off by Jamie letting me sleep in. Then I woke up to a wonderful card and pancakes!! After church we came home and just hung out. In the afternoon we did some last minute shopping before baby comes (I needed slippers!) and we ate out. We ended the day playing at the park. It was fun. We had a lot of laughs and the weather was just perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

I'm 37 weeks now. It's crazy to think that he can come anytime now. I'm really hoping he comes sooner rather than later. This time around I'm much more swollen. I had to give up my wedding ring about a month ago. But I did that with B as well, but it felt much sooner this time. My toes and fingers constantly look like sausages; it makes for some uncomfortable days at work with my shoes. I'm currently (as of last week - I do have a doc's apt tomorrow) 2 cm's dialated and 60% effaced. But I know that doesn't mean much.

This Sunday we're celebrating B's 2nd birthday. We are going VERY simple and cheap this year. Simple b/c I did Evites (please don't look down at me for that) and we're doing it a local park. Cheap b/c I'm making his cake and cupcakes. I'm just praying for nice weather.

My job is changing and I've been asked to switch from 3 days/week to 2 days/week. And although they're doing their best to help me get the hours I still need before the baby comes, it's still affecting our budget. This is a time in our life where we truly are having to lean on God's provision and timing. This time around I don't have maternity leave pay or paid vacation - since I'm only there part time. Plus, there's no guarantee I'm going to have a job after my maternity leave.

Which brings me to my next point: Jamie is avidly looking for a full time ministry position. We understand the economy right now makes it tough for churches to hire an Associate, but we're praying that God will open a door somewhere. We're even open to moving...
Last Friday we went to a Soaking Prayer service at our church. It was SOO refreshing and a humble reminder that God truly does hear our prayers and that we just need to continue trusting in Him.

It's pretty crazy to think we're gonna have a 2 year old on our hands in 2 weeks from tomorrow. He already likes to show us that he'll be 2 by holding up his fingers. He's almost got his colors down, but we still like to stick to "1, 2, 1, 2" instead of increasing our numbers to 3, 4, 5...
We're nowhere close to potty training. I hope to really work with him during my maternity leave (however long that may be). But if he's not ready, then he's just not ready. And I'll have to accept that. He's doing well in his big boy bed. We did hit a period of about 2 weeks where we were getting up during the night to put him back in his bed. But he's pretty much in a routine and does well. Something very special to all of us that we started recently is praying together as a family as we tuck him in bed. He even asks for it and knows it's time to pray, or "pay" according to B. He's ALL about trucks right now. He has 1 truck in particular that is his. He does share his others and likes to bring us a truck so we can play with him. We had some friends over a couple weekends ago and he was quite disappointed when their younger son had no interest in playing trucks with him. :( He was sad and didn't understand why one wouldn't want to play!? We still supplement his milk w/ Iron b/c he still has no interest in eggs or meat. The only "meat" he eats is turkey hot dogs and McD's cheeseburgers.

Well, I'll quit there. Hopefully you'll hear news soon of the arrival of baby George #2. But then again, it could be a few more weeks. Booh.

Showers of Blessings...

2011-05-02T08:44:00.006-06:00

We are truly blessed. In the last couple of weeks, we've been given 2 baby showers: one at work and a couples shower given by friends. God has truly provided and continues to meet our needs, even when we don't know how or where it's going to come from.

Thank you ALL who have showered us with blessings on baby #2.

_________________

At work they blessed us with a double stroller:

_________________

The couples shower was held at Clint & Theresa's. The hostesses were: Theresa, Becca & Kristy. They each did a great job and each of their talents really did shine through.

Kristy made these owl cupcakes:

Caution: Men at work!

2011-04-27T08:43:00.003-06:00

These make me smile...

B was Dad's little helper. I pray my boy(s) always have a great relationship with their dad.

Notice our ugly yard with no grass. :( Dang dog. We did plant some seed this year but with a toddler and a dog, we'll see if we see any results!? There are signs of green patches here and there, but it's sparse.
I'm happy with Jamie's landscaping work with re-creating our patio. We used what we had (all of the brick tiles were there when we moved in, it just looked horrible with they way the previous owner had them laid out). So now we just need a patio set...which are NOT cheap. Even on Craigs List, people like to sell them high. Booh.

He is Risen

2011-04-24T21:57:00.005-06:00

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay..." - Matthew 28:5-6

Happy Easter!! HE is risen; He is risen indeed.

This year I made some sugar cookies and we distributed them to our neighbors. In hopes of being more evangelistic (which by nature, I am not), I attached the verse above to each package. It's one small seed that will hopefully be used to encourage them.

Here's B's Easter basket. You'll notice we wrote "from Dad and Mom" and not the Easter Bunny. To me the Easter bunny is hokey (sorry for those of you who do the bunny). Plus, the bunny's are always freaky when you see them at the mall. But above all, we hope and pray that we raise B in knowing the TRUE meaning of Easter and not just candy, eggs and bunnies.

I didn't do much candy for him, and the little that he did get, I have eaten or hid most of it. :)

Here he is at church this morning. The kids all gathered in one large time for the Bible story and then craft time. After that they split the kids up in ages and let them hunt for eggs. B's age group was in a small classroom and the eggs were just laying around the edge of the room. So much for "hunting" for them. Nonetheless, he still had fun.

And don't judge me on his outfit. I know it was pretty cold outside this morning, but I had already bought the outfit so I figured he might as well wear it. Plus, the egg hunt was indoors. And as for the shoes w/ socks...I didn't know what else to put with it (but we do LOVE them - thanks Ash!!)

And then of course a typical family photo on the big holiday. Not the best, but it was the best out of the 4 pic's taken!!

For lunch we had other people who are also "displaced" here in Denver. All of them live out here on their own and don't have family around. So we did our Easter lunch together at our house. All the cooking wore me out. Not to toot my own horn, but I made:

Deviled eggs
Ham
Green bean casserole
Potato's (diced w/ seasoning)
Crescent rolls (Pillsbury, obviously)
Salad (spinach leaves, strawberry's, mandarin oranges, w/ candied pecans & strawberry poppyseed dressing)
Southern Style Strawberry Cake (recipe from Theresa)

gardening, partying and dating

2011-04-19T20:48:00.002-06:00

That pretty much wraps up what we did this weekend: we babysat, worked on the garden, went to a birthday party, went to church and had a wonderful date afternoon/evening. Except it did end in me losing my cell phone. :( So I'm back to my old one.

Oliver turned 3 so we partied it up at a park. Breeson and Oliver are friends b/c we swap date nights with his parents. It's a great trade off.

this park was a bit advanced, although there was a part for smaller kiddo's. But doesn't this slide look scary!? Breeson only did it a couple times before he learned it was too big for him. I'm glad.

We had our date afternoon on Sunday. We just walked around an outdoor mall and stopped for ice cream. We originally thought we were gonna do a movie, but we couldn't find anything we really wanted to watch. So we tried to think of things that we could do without Breeson. And that was leisurely walk around without chasing him and telling him "no" or "stop". It was nice!! We then met up w/ the Oliver and his parents at a restaurant and ate together.

Raise the Roof

2011-04-17T08:53:00.002-06:00

Our house got a facelift this weekend. We got a new roof!! About a month or two ago, we had a door-to-door salesman stop by asking if he could check out our roof to see if we had hail damage. If we did, then we could claim it to the insurance and maybe get it repaired for free. I would have just turned him away, but Jamie was willing to listen to him. I'm SO glad he did now.
Long story short - our roof was a "total loss" and so we got new shingles (almost) for free - I think we're paying $70 out of pocket. !!?

A few days ago, we woke up to them delivering our shingles...

The house before:

during...

and after:
(this shot doesn't really show the difference - it's darker than what we had before - more of a slate color)

I am very pleased with how it turned out. I'm especially thankful that we have raised the value of our home considerably and we didn't have to pay for it. Thank you Lord!!

Jamie's Ordination Service

2011-04-14T11:56:00.004-06:00

Here are pic's from Jamie's ordination service into the Diaconate from last night.
It was a great service. Thanks to all who made it.
**to see even better pic's - click HERE
And a big thanks to all of you who have played a part in our ministry journey up to this point.
God has used a lot of people in Jamie's life to affirm his calling into ministry
and we are thankful for God using such people.

------------------

Most of you reading this blog know who this couple is. But if not, it's Clint and Theresa. They are special to us b/c we all went to the same undergrad (Southeastern Bible College), were in each other's weddings and now we're both living out here in Denver (came for Denver Seminary).

Some might say we just like to copy them b/c they were at SEBC first, then they got married first, they moved to Denver first, then Clint got Ordained first. But...that's not entirely true, because we have kids and they don't. :)

The weekend...

2011-04-10T14:00:00.002-06:00

beware: this post is random and I may jump around from one topic to the next, all within the same sentence!!

Nothing too significant happened this weekend - but it's been nice. We've hung out as a family, had a breakfast date with a girlfriend, went to our friends' open house last night, and then today we're just laying low. Breeson had a lot of sugar last night, so I was up with him maybe 4 times during the night. No more sugar that late at night!! I really should be napping right now while he is, but instead I am updating this. You should all be thankful! Not really.

Yesterday I felt crafty so I went to Hobby Lobby and got some Easter stuff. My sweet hubby surprised me with a bouquet of gardenias when he got home from work. The color is vibrant and I love how spring is here (or about to be)!!
I was lazy all day yesterday - didn't clean a thing, nor do any grocery shopping. Now I regret that. Boo on me. Well, that's about it. I'll end this short post with a few pic's...

I'm officially 33 weeks now.

I just had to add this cute pic of my handsome boys. Jamie decided to gel B's hair today for church. He looks SO grown up now.

Play Date

2011-04-06T18:42:00.002-06:00

Today we had our friends Mary and Lilian come over for a play date. Breeson and Lil did pretty good. There was only a few squabbles. It's funny how kids always gravitate towards other kids' sippy cups. !? At one point, Lil was playing in Breeson's room while Breeson was in the family room watching t.v. So much for social interaction!?! Ha. But it didn't last long. I think they enjoyed themselves and wore each other out.

Snack time:

so sweet:

So ready

2011-04-04T13:01:00.004-06:00

We've really been enjoying our time outside lately (except when it snowed yesterday. Go figure?!). Homeboy really likes being outdoors and hates it when we say he can't.

I tried a new chicken enchilada recipe based on this: Recipe is on the back.
I actually got them free b/c they were advertising them at work and left a few boxes worth in our work refrigerator. I'm not sure if I'd pay for it. ?? Jury is still out on that one.
They were okay. They weren't like the best I've ever had, but they turned out decent. I made a double batch b/c we were supposed to take them to a friends house, but then she called to cancel b/c she went into labor. What an excuse!!?

Here I am at 32 weeks. I know this is a super flattering picture!! :-) But I don't care. What makes it even better is that when B and I were outside playing (in the privacy of our fenced in backyard), my shirt hardly stayed down, so eventually I just gave up and sat on a chair and got my tan on.
Went for my routine 2 week F/U this morning. Everything's on target. Due date is still May 30th. I've had 3 dates given to me (27, 28 and 30th). I think my chart says the 30th though - Memorial Day. It may be a day to remember!!? We'll see...
It's hard to believe we're already this far. Last night we worked on the baby's room a little more. The crib is up and so is the changing the table. When we did the remodeling downstairs, we got a lot of dust accumulated and that room has still be dusted. I did vacuum this morning though, so we're making progress. The office stuff still needs to be organized and put somewhere else, or just placed in boxes so that it doesn't look so cluttered.
When Breeson was born, he had to share the room w/ Jamie's office. Well this room is still the office, but we have less office-y stuff in there. I doubt I'll paint this time around. I would like to get some pic's up though.

Ordination

2011-03-30T20:58:00.004-06:00

Jamie is getting ordained as a Deacon in the Anglican Church
Wednesday, April 13th - 6:30 pm
Light of Christ Anglican Church

We would love have you come be a part of this
as we continue to move forward with
where we feel God is leading us.

Thanks to all of you who have played a role in Jamie's call to Ministry
We're excited to see where God leads us after this.

Jamie will serve as a Deacon for at least 6 months before
he moves forward to Ordination of Priesthood.

wrap up

2011-03-28T09:23:00.003-06:00

Here's how I told my coworkers what we are having. They did a poll and voted as to what they thought the sex would be, half of them of said boy and the other half was girl. It was pretty even.

_________________

We celebrated Jamie's birthday with a small group this year at a Japanese steakhouse.

Joe, Becca & Jael

Clint, Theresa and Jamie

_________________

On Friday, we decided to buzz B's head. I was tired of his long hair. Look how long it had gotten. Probably 95% of the time when we go to a salon, we walk out with a bad haircut b/c he doesn't sit still very well. I figured why pay for a bad haircut. I told Jamie to just get out his clippers and buzz him.

I told Jamie after he got done that he reminded me of an orphan kid that had his head buzzed due to lice. But it's growing on me. He had a lot of compliments at church b/c he really looks like a big kid now.

______________

And we are suckers. We took B on Saturday night to Chuck E. Cheese's. He LOVED it!!!
I always thought it was kinda hokey when parents took their kids there for birthday parties, but after going, I totally see why they do it. Kids love it!! And it's a safe place, plus it's entertainment all in one room. I don't see us doing B's bday party there this year, but it'll probably be in our future.

We're having a...

2011-03-25T21:05:00.004-06:00

As much as we wanted to even things out by having a girl, we're pretty excited about this baby boy. It'll be fun to see Breeson interact with his baby brother. I pray that they will be good friends as they get older. I'm sure we're going to get a run for our money! Having two boys to chase after will keep us pretty active. We feel pretty blessed to given another boy.

An ode to the hubs

2011-03-23T21:33:00.004-06:00

Today is my hubby's birthday. I won't say how young he turned.
Unfortunately, he had to work today - but Breeson and I met him at work when he got off and ran to the store afterward. He misplaced his wedding band a month or two back and we went to look at getting it replaced. But, we didn't find what we were looking for today.
That was part of his bday gift. His other part was a gift certificate to play golf - one of his favorite things to do, but sadly does not get to do it often enough.

I quickly made him a birthday banner (don't judge, it was late when I made it and I had to be quiet and was limited on my supplies).

For his birthday meal, I made salad, shrimp fettuccine alfredo, toast, and green beans. Since we both gave up desserts for lent, I didn't want to make a big cake since we wouldn't want to have leftovers to tempt us. So, I went to the store and bought individual pieces of cake from the bakery. They were actually very yummy!!
Tomorrow night we'll continue to celebrate his bday w/ friends at a Japanese steakhouse. Yum!

I have been blessed beyond measure with a wonderful husband, friend, and father to my kid(s). I look forward to many, many, more birthdays with this man...

Oh, and in case you were wondering...he did get to open the special envelope (see post below) for his birthday!! But you'll have to stay tuned for at least another day...or two. :)

Behold...

2011-03-22T18:14:00.002-06:00

I give you the envelope which holds the gender of our baby!! We met Dr. Gore (newest and final OB for this pregnancy). I liked him a lot. We even got an ultra sound. We told the tech not to tell us the sex, but to write it on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. And here it is...

Tomorrow is my babies daddy's (aka hubby!) birthday.
So for part of his gift, he gets to open the envelope.

30 Weeks - a comparison

2011-03-18T21:24:00.005-06:00

Top Picture:
30 weeks w/ Breeson (taken 3/13/09)
Bottom Picture:
30 weeks w/ baby #2 (taken 3/18/11)

Warmer Days = Better Days

2011-03-16T19:00:00.005-06:00

Today was a fun day. It started off right because Breeson has been sleeping a little longer (thanks to time change. Who woulda thought?). We got up and headed to Chick-fil-a for our free breakfast (promotion they're doing thru the end of March). He got to play for quite a while in the play place so that helped run off some energy. Then we ran to Walmart to get a few things before heading to the library to meet a new little friend for story time.
There was quite a few kids there. Breeson seemed to enjoy it. He didn't exactly sit on the mats like the other kids during the story time though. He enjoyed song time probably the most...that and eating on the glue stick. I think we may have to make it a weekly thing.

After it's all done, most of the moms head out to the park next to the library. We stayed for awhile. It's a great way to get know other moms in the area. Plus, it's a really great way to lose a lot of B's energy!!
Today was just gorgeous. It felt like Spring!! I think they said it reached 75.

This afternoon we played outside even more after Jamie got home from work. We've recently started taking walks in the evening now that the weather is nice again. It feels so good to be doing something active - which I haven't done much of this pregnancy. When I was prego w/ B, Jamie and I did a lot of walks and I swam A LOT! I do miss that.

As for a pregnancy update. I'm 29 weeks. We went to the 3rd doctors office for the 3rd time this pregnancy. I'm planning on staying there until this child exits my womb. I think I've gained about the same as last pregnancy, but I just feel more out of shape. The verdict is still out as to what the sex is. We actually were hoping to get an ultra sound at our apt yesterday...but that didn't happen. The nurse wants to wait. Of course, right!? Why not...what's another week or two? Heck, what's another 10 weeks now? Argh. I was pretty disappointed. Oh well. Maybe we're not supposed to know for a reason.

What's in a name??

2011-03-14T12:31:00.005-06:00

In choosing the name "Breeson", we, as most parents do, searched high and low for the perfect name. We sat countless hours in Barnes & Nobles reading through the baby name books. Making lists only to agree and/or disagree on several of them. Since we didn't know the sex of our baby, we each chose 3 boys names and 3 girls names. In the end, whichever sex he/she was, Jamie would have the final say-so if it was a boy, and I a girl. Well...low and behold Breeson was meant to be!!
We chose the name because...
a.) it was unique and we only found it in one book (not sure which one that was now?)
b.) we liked the meaning of the name: "strong" (however, if you look it up online it gives other meanings?? We remember the book saying it was an American-English name meaning "strong") - so we agreed on it.

Isn't it amazing how people typically live up to their names? Our Breeson is a strong-willed little boy. We could see it ever since he was only a few weeks old. Today, I ordered this...

Now I'm not saying this will solve all our problems, but why not get some help from a good resource such as Dr. Dobson?
Lately we've been trying to remember to pray more for Breeson, as that is what will get us and him through the hard times. Just last night Jamie and I were talking and it feels like in the last week-2 weeks, he's really been pushing the limits and testing himself, as well as us. I really don't like to call them the "terrible 2's", but I see why they're called that. God help us!!

In public, I don't want to be that parent who is abusing their child, nor do I want to be that parent who is ignoring their tantrum-throwing kid sitting in the grocery cart. Where is that happy medium? Just this past weekend, Breeson was "helping" me make bread. I informed him the burner was HOT, which he already knows, but I did tell him again. But this time, he just had to put his hand on it. This may be just one example, yet, this is one of many situations we've been dealing with lately. Plus, it shows more about his personality and what he wants to do.

Beware: rambling/complaining may occur

2011-03-09T18:57:00.004-07:00

This post may not be very exciting. It's me just updating it for the sake of updating. It's been a LONG Wednesday. This morning B woke up pretty early (not exactly sure how early b/c the monitor went on the fritz and I just turned it off). I finally rolled out of bed around 6ish b/c I knew he had already been up for a while. I think the hard part about him being in his new bed is teaching him to go back to sleep even if he gets up early. So far, it hasn't happened. :( When he was in his crib, he couldn't go anywhere - he just had to stay there 'til we got him out, and sometimes that helped him go back to sleep for a little while.

But here he is...(taken on the first night of him sleeping in his bed)

So needless to say, today we started off pretty early. And to add to it, he must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I'm pretty sure before 7 am hit, we had dealt with several tantrums and timeouts. Ugh. I finally made him go back to bed, hoping he'd fall back to sleep, but instead I fell asleep on the floor by his bed and he just laid there and talked to himself. He did however stay in his bed the entire time. He has been good about that.
Because we were getting on each others nerves and my patience was running thin, I decided to get him (more for myself) out of the house. We ran to Chick-fil-a b/c they were serving free breakfast. It was good to let him eat and play a little. However, it still didn't help much b/c even there and at Target, he still threw more fits.
I finally took him home where he and I took a good nap.
That helped a lot!!

These were taken the other day. I was trying to teach him when things are "full" and "empty".

I got some curtains made for the den/family room. And, I was able to snag this great dresser from a friend who is selling her house. What's awesome is it has a lot of shelves/drawers in the cabinet area for our movies and games. Plus, I love how the TV and DVD player (and yes that is a VCR!!!) our of the reach of little hands.

Jamie takes his big test this weekend (for Ordination) - so this week has been filled with him working and studying. We'll ALL be glad when it's over!! Pray for him if you think of us this weekend. He'll be doing it over the duration of Friday-Sunday (possibly?).

Pregnancy wise, I'm doing alright. I'm pretty much out of shape. It's hard to find time to exercise. Ok, who am I kidding. It's hard to find motivation to exercise. I may need to consider giving up sweets for Lent. We go this coming Monday to meet our midwife and to do a tour of the hospital. Oh, so this time around I plan to go all-natur-al baby. Yikes. And as of right now, we are continuing to wait to find out the sex of the baby. Not by choice. I called today and they earliest they can get me an ultrasound is not until April. Um. I deliver in May!! :)

Can you believe it's already time for Daylight Savings this Sunday!?!? It probly won't be too hard to adjust too since B likes to already get up early.

a few Before & After's...

2011-03-05T20:45:00.008-07:00

I finally got around to cleaning up(some of) our mess from moving rooms around last weekend. I've still got some things to do to B's room before I show those. As you know, we have a small house and our family is growing - which means we have/are doing a lot of readjusting in order to prepare for him/her's arrival in May. We've all switched to different rooms, so we are still getting settled. Enough said, here's what we did...

Jamie and I moved to the basement - the entire space is our master bedroom, and the adjoining room (currently the office/guest room) will be the baby's room - pic's to come on that when we get around to fixing it up.

Here is the basement before:
(sorry for the small pic?)
Jamie doing some handyman/remodeling in preparation of us moving downstairs:
and After:
(we also painted everything - it's light gray (an "oops" bucket at Home Depot for only $5!!)

(the door on the right goes into the baby's room)

And here is B's old room, which has now been converted into our den/(very small) family room.
Before:

and After:

**notice the covered futon instead of our red sectional. We had to sell it b/c it wouldn't fit(insert sad face) and was not functional. Since this room now has to serve as 2 functions: family room/guest room, we sold the red couch, and some friends gave us this futon. It's actually pretty comfy - they've had guests tell them they've slept well on it. So if you get the privilege of sleeping on it, let us know what you think! Anyways, I plan to actually try and reupholster it using that cloth. Right now it's a cream colored with a lot of spots.

I probably won't repaint the room either. I'm kinda done with that right now. Nor do I plan to paint B's room that he moved into (our old room). It is what it is.

****************

A quick update on B sleeping in his big boy bed, it's actually gone okay. Last night when I told him he got to sleep in it instead of the crib (b/c as I explain to him "the crib is for the baby"), he seemed pretty pleased and jumped right in. He did not have any issues with going to sleep and staying in it. I did have to get up a few times with him during the night, but even then he never got out. It's not uncommon for him to occasionally wake up during the night, but when he was in the crib, we would (usually) make him cry it out. But since I wasn't sure what he would do, I got up with him. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, but I think I was more worked up about him sleeping in the bed than he was to adjusting to it. :)
Nap time today was great!!
I definitely think day care has played a big part in this. They sleep on cots there and they are not allowed to get up until a certain time.
Tonight, I plan to sleep in my own bed (instead of the couch) and we'll just keep the monitor on. I think he'll be fine, I just hate the thought of getting up/down to put him back in bed if he gets out. But...I raise my glass to change. It's all part of the process of helping him grow up. And I'm glad we're doing this now, rather than after the baby's here.

2011-03-04T21:15:00.001-07:00

Bummer!!!

2011-03-03T21:08:00.005-07:00

What a day. I was disappointed when...

I got to my appointment today and learned they only took cash/change in the parking garage, of course I had neither one
I had to find an ATM machine, in which the fees cost me the same amount as the parking fee
after standing in line at one of the coffee shops in the hospital, the clerk turned me away b/c she couldn't break the money
after finally finding someone who could break the money, had to physically run back to the parking garage and pay, then run back to clinic to make my apt
sat at my "dr's apt" for almost 2 hours only for them to do the initial visit paperwork (family medical history, first delivery, etc)
only had glucose test done today
wasn't given the chance to see a doctor, hear a heartbeat, or do an ultrasound
was told I had to make another appointment to do the above, and all of that is booked up for a couple weeks.
next visit...I'll already be 30 weeks

So now, I'm tired; physically and mentally. After my 7:30 am apt, I went straight to work until 5 pm, then got Breeson from day care. Came home and quickly ate w/ Jamie. Then ran off tonight to finish the last of my 4 assessments for Jamie's ordination (it had to be proctored). It's 9:18 pm and I think I'm about to get ready for bed. I should enjoy my sleep tonight, b/c starting tomorrow night, we're moving B into his "big boy bed" and I'm a bit fearful how little sleep I'm going to get. Please send prayers our way tomorrow night (and this weekend) if you think of us!!

p.s. sorry this post is so blah and discouraging. I'm tired. So nothing sounds positive and upbeat right now.

It's Wednesday - ALL DAY LONG!!!

2011-03-02T12:38:00.002-07:00

No pic's to post today. I'll just give a quick rundown on what's been happening in our neck of the woods.

Jamie:

Has officially started his process of ordination within the Anglican church (AMiA: Anglican Mission in America). Right now, his ordination service as a Deacon is set for Wednesday, April 13th. He has to be a Deacon for 6 months before he can be ordained as a Priest. He's got a big test next weekend and we'll be doing some marriage counseling in the next couple weeks. It's all part of the process.
Worked hard on remodeling the basement - in which we moved downstairs last weekend. (pic's to come soon...) He did a great considering he's amateur! I'm proud of his work.

Joy:

STILL sick with a sinus infection. Ugh. Going on 2 weeks now. I'm pretty sure I'm going to invest in one of these. I've heard they really do work/help. I'm tired of having horrible headaches and having the desire to gouge out my eye and pull out all of my teeth with pliers.
Likes the new living arrangements, but haven't slept well b/c it's still new.
Goes to the doctor (actually only seeing NP since it's an initial visit) for the 2nd time this pregnancy tomorrow morning.
Craving sweets like none other...and McDonald's - again!

Breeson:

Will soon be moving over to his "big boy bed" and out of the crib. I just bought sheets/blankets/pillows today. Hopefully we'll do it this weekend. !?!
Has no interest in potty training...but that's okay for now. I'll most likely wait now until after baby #2 comes. Depending on if he's ready or shows interest.
Has become a super picky eater, but as parents have tried to keep our ground on teaching him that he needs to eat (even if it's a just a few bites) of what we give him.
LOVES watching Sesame Street, Backyardigans and Veggies Tales
Has really picked up on saying more sentences. His latest is telling us, "you broke it". Probaly b/c I tell him that a lot. :)
Has really started mimicking us or other kids.
Is finally over being sick (had a viral thing going on that lasted 2 weeks) - PRAISE GOD!!
Really wants to "help" around the house (unloading dishwasher, vacuuming, put stuff away in fridge)

2nd Trimester...(almost) done

2011-02-27T15:57:00.006-07:00

Jeepers Creepers...It's hard to believe we're already ending
the 2nd trimester and about to begin the 3rd.
As of Friday, I turned 27 weeks.
This coming Thursday I go to the doctor for the 2nd time this pregnancy!!

During this pregnancy I feel like I've gotten a wide range of opinions on my size. I get anything from "wow, you're small for being that far along", to "are you sure you're not carrying twins?".

One lady in particular likes to comment in a very opinionated fashion her view of my size and my clothes. She was the first to argue that I could possibly be carrying twins, and that was much earlier in my pregnancy. Then just a couple days ago, she stopped me and said, "that outfit you wore last week was very flattering, but today, well not so much..." (along with a shake of her head of disapproval) as she walked off.
She is an older lady and I've had ladies tell me that when they were pregnant a couple decades ago, they did their best not to show their pregnancy.
Eh...I just have to let those kind of things roll off my back...or maybe my belly!! ;)

If...

2011-02-23T13:08:00.003-07:00

If you were to stop by my house unannounced today, you would witness one or all of the of following...

a (still) very sick little boy who can't seem to shake off this infection
a now sick mommy who has a bad sinus infection and is still in her pj's at 1 pm (i've never been punched in the face but that's what the entire left side of my face feels like. if i touch it, it's the same feeling as when you push on a bruise)
a messed up bed from when we crawled back in mid-morning and slept for an hour
dishes in the sink
a semi-clean house - and that's only b/c my awesome hubby took time to quickly clean, vacuum, and run to the drug store all before heading to work himself, all while fighting a cold himself
meds all over the counter, including a breathing machine for B - you would think we're running a small drug store here
a sick boy who follows me around saying "want mommy"
a mommy who is enjoying this time of rocking her "baby" while she has the opportunity

All that to say though, we'll all be thankful when this time passes. I miss my boy who is constantly running around and eats like non other. His appetite for the last week has been very poor. It's hard to get him to eat anything. And when it comes to taking his antibiotic, we have to hold his mouth open, all while him crying/screaming as we shove it down his throat before he spits it out. I. hate. that.
And to think...8 more days (2x/day) of that.
I hope this makes me that much more grateful for when we are well - it's so easy to take it for granted. I can't imagine how people do it on a daily basis when they deal with long term illnesses. God be with them and give them strength...

Sunday catch up

2011-02-20T13:33:00.005-07:00

Can't believe it's practically been a week since I last blogged. Where has the time gone?
Today, I look like a bum with my yoga pants, tshirt and slippers. I figured today would be a good day to catch up on here. Breeson's been pretty sick this weekend, so we stayed home while Jamie went to church.

Of course on Monday, we celebrated Valentine's Day. Since Jamie and I went out on our special date on Sunday night, we stayed in as a family on Monday night. (if you haven't read the post from our Vday date - please do so below - it's quite amusing!)

Breeson loved his miniature heart cake I made him:

We got him a small Vday gift (bath toys):

Beautiful tulips from my awesome hubs:

Jamie and I have a tradition of him making his special Spaghetti on Vday (it's really YUM - but I won't give away his secret ingredients):

...and me making a heart cake:

As for the rest of the week, it was spent on continuing to work in the basement
in preparation of moving down there. We're getting closer!!
I won't post pic's until it's completely done.
Now, don't get too excited, it's not like a major rehaul happened.
We basically expanded closet doors, added sheet rock where the previous owner had been lazy, and have done a lot of painting.
But it's big to us. And so far, we're happy with how it's coming along.
One thing we are finding out about projects, they take a lot more time then planned and cost more than expected. We've made so many trips to Lowe's/Home Depot lately...they might as well keep our credit card on file there.

Breeson's also been sick a lot this week. It first started as a cold, nothing major. But then his temp's just wouldn't stay down on a consistent basis. I hate pumping the kid up with med's all the time. But when he wasn't on them, his temp would go up. I think last night we finally made a break through. !? I'm praying. His cough still continues to linger.

Yesterday Goodwill had there 50% off sale. So B and I hit it up.
I was hoping to find a dresser for his room - that was a no go.
I did find this though! He's moved from his highchair w/ tray to this and is now sitting at the table with us like a "big boy". I kept telling him yesterday that the old chair was for the baby (as I pointed to my belly). He seemed to get it. He would point to the new chair and say "mine". A sweet co-worker just gave us her sons old toddler bed, which we'll be adjusting to sometime within the next week or two. Depending on how soon we get moved downstairs.
I'm a little nervous about all of the changes he'll be going through, but I guess it's better now than after the baby comes...which will be a big enough adjustment.

Well, back to being Sunday...my pot roast, potatoes & carrots turned out horrible today. I put them in the crockpot around 7:30 and at 12:30 the veggies were still hard. :( The meat was done though. ? I should've started it off at "high" then turned it down. I just figured with it cooking for 5 hours on "low", they'd be done. So, we're gonna have Stew/Hash with the leftovers. If they are still hard at 5:30 pm, then I think something's really wrong with the veggies...or my crockpot!?

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T10:05:00.002-07:00

Here we are on our Valentine's date night last night.

We had a great time - despite the hiccups. ;-)
Last week we had bought a coupon from Living Social Denver for a steak dinner at pretty pricey restaurant. We bought a $35 coupon so that we could spend $70 there. Looking online at their website before we went, we were pretty stoked we got such a great deal.

We dropped B off at the babysitters and headed downtown. Since we had time to spare, we walked around the 16th Street Mall beforehand. Our reservations were at 6 p.m.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we were surprised to see cameras on the outside. We knew something was up when they asked for our ID's upon arrival (it only gets worse!).
As the waiter took us to our booth, we knew right away where we were. In the center of the room there were runways and poles. And of course it smelled of smoke in the room.
We were both kind of in shock but went ahead and sat down.
After realizing where we were, we asked the waiter if there was going to be any dancing, and he said probably not until around 10ish. Thank goodness!! Our discomfort only got stronger and we knew we should just bail.
I was a little bummed we'd be losing out on $35, but then to our dismay he informed us that we HAD to get the Chef's Valentine Special which was $140 per couple. That meant since we spent $35 on the coupon, we'd be spending EXTRA $$ just to get our food.

Boo!! So needless to say, we knew we DID NOT want to support a place like this anyway, so we left and headed to Maggiano's where we had some good laughs and good food!!
It was a funny night to share with my Valentine.
**I should probably get the "best wife of the year" award for taking my husband to a strip joint for Valentine's Day, right!?! ha ha.

Disclaimer: we did get our full refund today from LivingSocial - thank goodness. I really like using their coupons and would've been bummed to have to stop. AND, we did not see any women dancing on poles during the duration of our time there!!

Double Disclaimer: CY Steakhouse is NOT just a steakhouse. At first glance of their website, it is a bit deceiving. We regret to say we did not see this at the bottom of the web page:

Q. How do I find and enter the Steak House?
A. CYSteak is located adjacent to the Diamond Cabaret, a Denver Gentlemen's Club and local legend. You may enter via the club or directly into the restaurant from Glenarm Street.