Under Construction

We have been doing a few home improvement projects around the Nelson home. (when I say we, I mean Cody) There are lots of things to post about, but I will post about my two favorite.

1. The brown wall is now painted. Our house has a lot of wood in th e house and the living room looked too brown. I can't find a "Before picture" of just the brown, but here are a couple of shots before and then a couple after the wall was painted.

2. We got a new fence. I love it! Here is our old, gray fence, and then here are a couple of shots of

our backyward's new look!

FREE STUFF!!

My friend Jennifer W posted this on her blog and it is a great site! I check it once a week and get free stuff from Walmart in the mail. No strings attached!


ENJOY!

http://walmart.triaddigital.com/Free-Samples.aspx

This sums up Carley

This story really sums up my daughter these days:

Last night Cody was bathing Carley and she was playing with the duck that is dressed like a firefighter. He asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said, "A Christian Mommy". This of course melted Cody's heart (and mine) because it was so sweet. It also sums up how random she is with her vocabulary. I have no idea where she learned the word "Christian". I am guessing Bible class. It was just so funny. We kept going on and on about how sweet it was that she said that and that we prayed she would be a Christian Mommy one day.

So a few minutes later I am trying to comb through her wet tangles and curls and she is crying because she says it hurts. (It didn't) She got really mad at me. So she looks at me, throws her comb and says, "I don't want to be a Christian Mommy, I want to be Christian Daddy!"


This is basically her way of telling me she likes her dad better than me now. So funny.

Speaking of Carley and her Daddy, Cody took her to Toys R Us last Saturday while I was at a Ladies Day at church and bought her some princess jewelry. She thought she was pretty special.
They have been really close lately and it makes me SO happy. Cody has decided to start taking Carley on weekly breakfast dates to McDonalds.

Here is what I love most about these dates:
1. Cody thought of the idea without any nudging from me.
2. He pick a weekday when I am at work to do this. He plans ahead, he schedules around it, and he makes it happen EACH WEEK
3. I am not invited and they both make that clear.
4. He lets Carley sit on the booth next to him (and not in a high chair or booster seat) so they can cuddle. I wish I could be a fly on the wall.


Aren't we thankful for good Christian Daddies??

What I got

Lately, I really don't much to say of significance. Actually I have lots to say, but I try to shelter my deep thoughts from the world wide web.

Here is some nonsense in my brain right now:

1. On my bloglist there are 11 pregnant bloggers. CRAZY!
2. CRAZIER: 24 of you had a baby within the past 12 months.
3. I have never been "whiter" (as in un-tan), than I am right now.
4. Today I have 6 pimples on my face. What is up with that?
5. Grey's comes back on Thursday.
6. Wendy's, chair model, Oscar Meyer W.L., the ring, the Office is AWESOME!
7. I will miss Eli Stone.
8. The video of those teenagers girls fighting blows my mind.
9. Wednesday nights at church have been really powerful for me lately. The past two have been on anger. The things that make me angry are always very significant. This is not right.
10. Everyone I meet right now describes their life as "busy" or "crazy".
11. I didn't know I liked fresh blueberries until recently.
12. I have used my free Regular Creme Slush coupon from Sonic 5 times because they never take it up.


Those are my random thoughts for a Friday Night.

The O'Rear Girls Birthday and TV Recaps

We have had a busy couple of weeks. Last weekend we got to go to Keller to see two of my favorite people on the planet have a birthday. My sister, Alyssa, turned the big 33 and Camryn turned 2. Cody, Carley, and I had a blast going down there and spending the weekend. We rode down with my parents which made the trip more fun. I sure love both of these special birthday girls and I am so thankful to have them in my life.

Also, my sister wrote a hilarious, half Spanish, poem on the invitation to Camryn's party that is awesome. You need to get her to show it to you. The first two lines were, "Come on vamanos, Camryn is turning dos." It was a Dora Party. Too funny.

I have not blogged about TV in awhile and so I thought I would talk about what I am watching.

Mondays:

- I really like The Bachelor this season. I love Meep Amanda the best. Robin is cool and crazy and insane and fake British. Shane is just weird. If you watch the Bachelor, you need to make sure and the read the Bachelor Recaps blog. It is hilaroius each time.

- The Hills is not as good to me right now. I still watch it even though I try to give it up. Spencer is just too much for me.

Tuesdays:

- The Biggest Loser has been awesome this season. Who are you for in the finale? The season has just been really inspiring and addicting to me. I love it.

Thursdays:

- Miss Guided- I really like this show. She is funny and there are so many people I work with at school that remind me of her. The episode with the high school musical was so hilarious to me. She is a good comedian.

- Eli Stone - I like this show and somehow it feels like it isn't as much of a waste of time like the other shows I like. I also like the love stories in the show and the random bursting out into song.

- THE OFFICE - It was so good to have it back tonight. It was a great episode. Jan and Michael are so funny and awkward. Andy as Joe Camel was so funny. Michael yelling "That's what she said" was great. The flat screen TV was priceless. And what about the bench at the edge of the bed where Michael sleeps. Babe. My list goes on.

I also saw one of the cheesiest Lifetime Movies of all time the other day, "Straight From the Heart". A New york photographer falls in love with a cattle rancher (Andrew McCarthy). It has all the cheese that you need for B Grade tv.

That is all I can think of.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

27 months

These are Carley's 27 month/Easter pictures. Where does the time go? All I can tell you is that we adore Carley. She loves her parents, her family, her books, her Bible, her songs, her stories, and her little world. We are so blessed to be her parents. Lately Cody and I have had lots and lots of questions about the future. 2008 has been a roller coaster of emotions for us and strong feelings of anger, doubt, and worry have been balanced by strong feelings of joy, faith, and relief. The one constant for us is that we know we were called to parent our little girl to the best of our ability.

This song is called "Elliana's Song". It is by Watermark. Anyone who is a mom to a daughter needs to listen to it. It is amazing and it really sums up how I feel about being a mom to Carley.

Here are the lyrics:

Baby woman, tiny in stature now
But your heart is a treasure
Little princess come follow behind me now
I am reaching for you

(chorus)
Elliana, God has answered my prayers
Elliana, God will conquer my fears
To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye
To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life
To give you to Jesus that He would impart
The wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart
Elliana, God has answered my prayers

There will be others to lead and to guide you girl
But only one you'll call Mother, the honor is all mine
To show you what a woman's like
I'm so glad you're mine

(chorus)

Tenderness of God is twirling around
In our living room tonight
Lighten up your daddy's eyes
And know that he just wants to freeze you in time

(chorus)

Spring Break and Easter

This week was a wonderful week at the Nelson home. It was Spring Break. In our home, that means NINE whole mornings without alarm clocks. It was blissful. In all honesty, we did nothing. It was perfect.

Here are some highlights from our week:

Saturday, Cody and I took Carley to the movie to see Horton Hears a Who. It was her first time in a real theater since she was a tiny baby. She loved the sprite and popcorn and thought she was something special. She made it through about half of the movie, but talks big about it. It was a cute memory.

Sunday was a normal church day. That afternoon I got a pedicure and then that night we had Growth Group. We love our Growth Group so much. The couples in there are so sweet and have shown a genuine love and compassion for our family. We are blessed by these couples who are in different stages of life from us that are always caring and ready to show us the ropes.

Monday Carley and I spent the entire doing nothing. Other than a trip to Walmart we stayed at home and played and played. It was wonderful and so relaxing.

Tuesday we drove to the big town of Lamesa to meet our friends Mark and Tara for dinner at KBobs. They were in from Fort Worth in Midland working so it was the perfect meeting spot. I am always thankful for the opportunity to see them. The 45 minute treck to Lamesa was the farthest we went all holiday. Oh, I also got a hair cut that afternoon.

chilling with Dad

Wednesday was a family day at home. Carley and I made omelettes for Cody and we all spent the morning in our pjs. That afternoon we had Carley's pictures made. It was a crazy process, but the picts are great. I'll post when I get them in. That night we went to church. When we were walking in, Carley fell and hit her head on the brick floor in the basement. She got a HUGE purple goose egg. Both Cody and I were scared more than she was. It is amazing how quickly kids can fall and hurt themselves. After we realized she was just fine, I was secretly thankful that the bump happened AFTER Easter pictures. :)

Thursday, the extent of our activity was walk to the park, watering the grass, blowing bubbles, and coloring. You can see the bruise in the picture below.



Friday we met my parents for breakfast at IHOP. They have the cutest Dr. Suess breakfast there in honor of Horton. It is green eggs and ham and then Whoville pancakes with a sucker in them. Carley and I thought they were great. Then we went to see Cody at the station. On Thursday night Cody saved a dog with mouth to snout CPR. The owners were so thankful. We went to the station to tell him congrats and to listen to the other guys tease him and praise him. It was so funny.

This weekend was more family time. We are so thankful for Carley. Cody and I have had lots of conversations in the past month about how blessed we are and how thankful we are for her. Life and plans have no guarantees, so we are thankful for TODAY and for her.

Easter was a cold day here. Church was really good and then lesson was really powerful. We are thankful for this LORD's Day especially and to take the time to really focus on the Resurrection that gave us all life.

My parents came over for lunch. This was my first big holiday meal to cook. It was so fun. I made this sunflower peep cake that I saw in Taste of Home magazine. Mine fell far in comparison with theirs, but it was still cute. The Easter Bunny left the eggs inside because it was so cold. He also left Carley a swing that matches the Bed and Stroller that Santa gave her and the diaper bag and kick gym that Cupid gave her. Those magical creatures sure work together well!

Hope your week was wonderful too. Happy Easter!

4 Years!

Today is our 4 year anniversary! I am so blessed by our marriage and to have Cody as the number one in my life. Several of you bloggers do not Cody and really haven't known me too well since college. All I can tell you is Cody is the perfect match for me. We compliment each other in so many ways and are similar where it matters. You would all love him. In honor of our anniversary, I thought I would post some pictures from the big day. King's photography did them. They all have a blogger or two in them.

On a side note, Cody passed his National Paramedic Test today. This is a VERY hard test and a huge accomplishment for Cody. He has literally been working on this for over TWO years! Good job, Cody!

And Cody sent me flowers at work today. I was the envy of all the girls at work today. Little do they know I should be the envy of them every day, not because of the flowers, but because of the sweet husband who shares his life with me.
My beautiful Bridesmaids

Our Sweet Houseparty

Look how little Lauren was!

Marcy and Chris sang at our wedding. Now he is a real live star on Broadway!

I just like this picture of us and the Kings

Fun with the Beatty Family

On Sunday one of my very best friends and her husband and daughter came to visit. Tiffany was part of a very fun, eventful, changing, random, and sweet time of my life. We were in the singles program together right out of college and became life long friends. We have been on several vacations (including an infamous trip to Vegas), been on the longest double date in the history of America together, laughed, cried, shared, shopped, and have been through a lot together. The last time I saw Tiffany was at her wedding TWO years ago. Carley was three months old. Now Tiffany and Sean are the parents of a BEAUTIFUL baby girl named Caroline and our lives are very different that the two single fancy free girls from the earlier part of the decade! :) The Beatty Family met us for church on Sunday and then we spent the entire day together and they spent the night at our house. At 12:30 last night we all finally went to bed. I was laying in bed, so happy from the day I had just had, and I joyfully said, "Tiffany and I have been talking for 14 hours straight". Cody looked at me and said, "I know. Sean and I both know." Thank goodness for our sweet husbands who tolerated our giggling all day! :)

The 17 month old that can read

Several of you Lubbockites saw this on our news. Here is a link to a story about a Lubbock baby who can read at 17 months. It is crazy.

http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?s=7937573

Carley could read at 16 months. These parents are such slackers. (Just Kidding)

Also, note the shout out to Singing Time in the story. :)

The Big 3-0!

Today is my 30th Birthday! The BIG 3-0! How did it come so quickly?

I had a WONDERFUL weekend. I am so blessed to have such great family and friends. On Friday, the girls from church took Amy B. and I to Abuelos for our 30th birthdays. It was so fun to have some girl time! :) I am so mad I did not get a picture of everyone there though! Then a few of us went and saw Definitely, Maybe at the movies. It was cute and something I had really wanted to see! When I got home about midnight that night, I came in to the sounds of my sweet husband with the stomach bug. I had the bug on Thursday and I guess I gave it to him for Friday. The sweet boy didn't even call me to tell me he was sick because he didn't want to mess up my girls bday night! What a sweetie! Luckily he felt better the next morning.

On Saturday my parents kept Carley so Cody and I could go to lunch at Cheddars and then to go see Vantage Point. (I liked it alot. It was unique and entertaining.) We had fun just being together and then my parents kept Carley for an extra hour so I could go take a NAP! YAY!!!!! After my wonderful nap, we met Cody's special family, the Spann's for birhtday dinner at Carinos. They were so sweet. Cody surprised me with a big cookie cake for dessert! It was so fun. I had such a good time with these sweet people.

Then Sunday morning Carley sang me the sweetest rendition of Happy Birthday. Cody had prepped her so well! We went to church and got to see so many of my sweet friends and family friends and was wished Happy Birthday by so many people I love. Also, today was Baby Blessing Day. It warmed my heart to see so many special babies there that I had prayed for and loved that God blessed us with this year! Right after class I was in the auditorium, just chatting with my friends when someone told me I needed to go in hallway. They looked concerned so I went. I looked up and saw my sister and my nieces! They had flew in and surprised me for my birthday! Tears started coming down my face. It was SO great to have them here and especially fun with a surprise! We went to Rosas and ate with my parents and then went over to mom and dad's for birthday cake! My mom made the MOST delicious strawberry cake ever! Then I got to open presents! Cody gave me an IPOD and my parents gave me a beautiful pearl drop necklace. My sister gave me all sorts of fun scrapbooking stuff, a new purse, lip gloss, and took me to see The Other Boleyn Girl. (It was a hard movie to watch, but VERY interesting). Then we went to Texas Roadhouse for a yummy dinner. After dinner we went back to my parents where my mom had ordered a cupcake tree full of cupcakes! My niece, Lauren, was especially excited about all the birthday surprises she had pulled off.

It was such a wonderful weekend. Did you notice 3 good movies at the theater, 5 delicious meals out, and 3 different desserts! , So many of you sweet bloggers sent cards, gift cards, jewelry (the year of the accessory), emails, ecards, text messages, and voice mails! Thanks for reading this long email and making my 30th bday so special!