We're PREGNANT!

Wow - where do I begin?! What a whirlwind of emotions flowing through my pregnant body :) Brady & I are going to be a Daddy and a Mommy. Let me allow that to sink in... I can't believe this day is here and I'm experiencing it with my husband & best friend, what a blessing from God. I will never forget the look on Brady's face after seeing the test that said "pregnant". He was glowing with an ear to ear grin and was so excited to be a daddy. He said that he had to pick my jaw up off the ground but I don't know about that. We have been through so much and have grown up together and now this new chapter in our life begins, a chapter we've dreamed of since so long ago.

We had a positive pregnancy test (okay who am I kidding, I took 4 tests! and threatened to make Brady take one to make sure they were working correctly) and I couldn't believe my eyes. At that moment I fell in love. I fell in love all over again with my high-school sweetheart who was standing next me so proud, supportive and excited and I fell in love with this little one inside of me. We had an early ultrasound on January 11 and were able to see the baby's heart beating at 128-131 beats per minute, what a little miracle. How amazing is our God. This was such a reminder of how precious and fragile life is. I was in awe over the God we serve, He can form a brand new body inside of me and make it's TINY heart beat. The pixels on the ultrasound screen were dancing as we saw our babies heart beating and the "pixels" in my heart were also dancing with joy. At the ultrasound I was 7 weeks along and the baby was the size of a blueberry or peanut. I am 8 weeks along right now and the baby is now the size of a kidney bean.

After having feelings of joy, I had feelings of sadness as my sister-in-law Alissa had a miscarriage in November. We have grown close and live 3 houses apart and would have been due one month apart from each other. Wade, Alissa's husband is Brady's twin brother. I know it's not my place to question God, but I did. I thought of cousins being one month apart and neighbors, how amazing would that be. I also thought of going through our pregnancies together and the support that would have offered. I still feel I am grieving this loss. I need to trust God and know that He is the one in control, we are not and His plan is perfect as well as His timing. Wade & Alissa are going to be a wonderful Daddy & Mommy someday I know they will. What a blessing that our child will get to have an aunt and uncle as perfect and loving as Wade & Alissa. I write this with tears welling up in my eyes. I love you both so much Wade & Alissa.

We told our families yesterday with this poem:

"Roses are red, Violets are Blue,

There's someone anxious to meet all of you

We know you've been hoping, your wish has come true

A new baby is coming, In August we're due!"

My parents were very surprised and my sister immediately started crying - she promised me they were "happy tears" and I know they were. I am so glad to have my family in town with all the support they offer. Brady's parents/family were equally as surprised and excited. I'm so glad to have them in town as well.

We covet prayers right now that everything will continue to go as God plans.

Christmas Blessings

We were truly blessed this Christmas season and were able to make it to almost all of our family gatherings despite the 20+ inches of snow. The only place we didn't make it was to Alcester to see my Dad's side. I am so reminded of how fortunate I am to live this close to family, I think I was especially reminded of this because of hearing how so many people couldn't get to their family with the weather being as it was. I take it forgranted way to often...and I shouldn't!

Our house was bustling on December 26 as we had the Kroeze party at our house. We enjoyed tons of good food and had fun opening presents. I loved how our house felt that day as so many days it's quiet...it reminds me of how I hope our house will be someday :)

Another highlight was the first annual Ugly Christmas Party Sweater we had on my Mom's side. There were even prizes and voting. My cousin Lara won (rightfully so) as her sweater came stocked with a battery pack and all, that's right, it had Christmas lights built in. Second place went to my brother-in-law Lee who even sported a comb-over...probably the funniest I've seen him look in a long time. I took third place with a sweater that had one shoulder pad. My parents even participated as well as my aunt...it was just plain funny to see people dressed like that.

My favorite Christmas party however was on December 19 with my immediate family. I love how close knit of a family we are and how everyone can just be themselves. It's good old fashioned family time that I enjoy so much...it seems like every Christmas I leave with such a stomach ache from all the laughter, what a blessing. As a little girl growing up I can remember Christmas traditions at the Warner house that many are still in affect today. My Mom would always read a book about the Christmas Story, how thankful I am that my parents took the time to teach me the real meaning of the season at such a young age. The older I get, the more appreciative I am of my parents.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Once again it's been way too long since I've updated our blog. I guess it's safe to say I'm busy year round :) As I'm writing this blog I'm looking outside watching the snow fall down. Hard to believe the last time I posted it was a beautiful fall picture and now we're well into winter. I love the change of seasons. Christmas is such a happy time of year to me. I have the Christmas tree all put up and gifts wrapped and placed underneath it.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year to reflect, and remember the real reason for the season, the birth of Jesus our Saviour. I'm looking forward to getting together with family and Brady and I will be having the Kroeze Christmas party at our house this year, should be fun!

Wishing everyone a "Very Merry Christmas!"

Meet Charlie Brown

My sister Alissa and her husband Lee got a puppy :) As you can see above, he is adorable! He is a cocakpoo like Maya and they named him Charlie. He is way more calm natured than Maya ever was, maybe that's the difference between female and male dogs - I'm not sure, regardless, Maya loves her new cousin.

Autumn is a Second Spring Where Every Leaf is a Flower

I am finally updating our blog again, sorry it's been so long :) I thought things would slow down after summer was over, but things have remained just as busy into this fall season. I woke up this morning and looked outside at our trees and couldn't believe how much the color has already changed. What a beautiful day from God. I am certainly enjoying the sun today as well since the last few days have been full of rain. I have been enjoying a "normal" schedule the past 2 weeks since I had ACLS classes to take along with a telemetry class. I will never take forgranted being able to sleep at night (rather than try to sleep during the day) when I get off working night shift. I am so much more energetic and just feel so much better. The new thing for me at work is that I am starting to orient (learn) in the Emergency Room as well as in Labor & Delivery. I am trying to embrace these opportunities and remain positive. It's hard because I just feel like I developed a comfort zone working on the medical/surg floor as well as post-partum, and here they think I need to keep on learning all the areas. I guess it's a positive aspect about working in a smaller hospital, I will never be bored as I need to stay current in all areas. Brady & I recently joined a couple's group at our church called Firm Foundation. This is a Bible study group that meets every month on Sunday night and we also have a fun activity every month. I am so excited for this opportunity to learn and grow with other married couples. This year we are studying the book "Guard Your Heart" by Dr. Gary & Barbara Roseberg. Another update with Faith CRC was that the Christian Ed Auction was a huge success! There was over $40,000 raised for the Christian Education Fund. Praise God! It's so neat to see how many families of all ages are dedicated to the support of Christian Education. There were tons of creative ideas on the auction this year. Brady donated a vehicle detail that was auctioned for $450 :) I enjoyed helping set up for the auction and Brady helped in holding up the items as they were bid on and passing them out once they were sold. We feel blessed to be part of Faith CRC. God is doing wonderful things there.

Brady has been staying busy with his class every Monday night at USF. Exciting news - he applied to take the first part of his CPA (Certified Public Accountant) exam. This is a 4 part exam that is intense. We ask for all your prayers and he continues to study for this exam, I know he can do it and I'm so proud of him for continuing his schooling towards a Master's Degree :)

Maya has been Maya, still so energetic. She turns 1 tomorrow :) Lucky for her she will be getting groomed on her birthday, what girl doesn't like a day at the spa on their birthday...lol. We have come a long way with her in the past year, she is now fully potty trained and she recently learned to sit on command. We are still working on lay, roll over, etc. Everyone tells me that the chewing "stage" will end, but I'm not so sure with her, I think the chewing might be more of a personality trait than a "stage". Regardless, we love her.

I hope everyone has been having an enjoyable and beautiful fall so far.

Kalahari Resort '09

On Thursday August 13 we packed and loaded up the Tahoe for a Warner family vacation to Wisconsin Dells to stay at the Kalahari Resort. It was about a 6hr drive and although my sister and I got a little stir crazy, we had a good and safe trip there.

The Kalahari Resort is an indoor/outdoor waterpark with TONS of slides and lazy rivers. The Kalahari also has a huge indoor theme park with Go Karts, bowling, arcades, a movie theatre, basically the whole nine yards. It is an african theme resort that is absolutely beautiful. Brady & I couldn't believe how large the place was, it reminded us of the resort we stayed at in Mexico, minus the ocean :) There were 8 restaurants located in the resort as well as little snack bars outside to enjoy. The Dipping Dot shack was a big hit! We stayed in the 2 room family suite on the second floor at the resort, so we were within steps of both of the waterparks. We had a balcony with a view of the outdoor waterpark which was sweet. We had awesome weather the whole trip and we enjoyed the outdoor and indoor waterparks the most. I had one goal in mind this vacation and that was to be adventurous, and I was. I went on every single waterslide, even the fast, dark, & scary ones (if you know my fear of heights, this is a big step for me!) My favorite thing to do during the day was to float down the outdoor lazy river on a double tube with Brady and just relax!

One of the nights we were there we went to the Tommy Bartlett show which is a waterskii show. We saw barefoot skiing, 3 tier pyramid skiing, skiing/wakeboarding off of ramps, flips, etc. Another feature at the show was a person who flew 600ft in the air behind a boat wearing a kite type attachment, it was amazing. There were some other random acts there, Brady's personal favorite was probably "Dave the Horn Guy" he was a guy who wore an orange jumpsuit with bulb horns attached to basically every part of his body and he played different songs, it was hilarious.

A trip to Wisconsin would never be complete without a round of mini golf at Pirate's Cove, and that's what we did our last nite there. I WON, I know it's unbelievable but it happened :)

We had a very fun and memorable vacation and I hope we go back there again next year!

Summer Nights

Brady, Maya, & I enjoyed camping trip to Yankton this past weekend, it was the first time we've used our camper since we bought it. We had an amazing spot with a view of the lake (and we were close to the bathrooms!) This camping trip was to celebrate my Dad's 50th birthday. My parents stayed at a motel and my sister and her husband Lee stayed at a cabin. We grilled Friday night and the weather decided not to cooperate, it downpoured. Brady & I were able to move a lot of stuff inside before it started but we had our awning up and the wind caught it just right and knocked the support poles out from under it. The guys had to hold it down while it downpoured and us ladies hid out in the camper! Thank goodness the rain didn't last too long and we were able to enjoy our grilled supper. On Saturday we met some other family for a picnic, a day on the beach, and then out to eat at Jo Deans. Sunday we all enjoyed breakfast at the campground made by Brady, it was delicious! We had a fun time of jet skiing, tubing, taking walks by the lake, campfires, laying out, and just relaxing. Now that everything is unpacked, it does feel good to be home!