A new job for Mommy...

So I had a Pampered Chef party this past Saturday, their products are awesome! I really wanted to do the show to earn free and discounted items as well as eat yummy food! Jody had been bugging me to be a consultant, he thought I would do a great job, (I am not so confident). My parents, Jody, my friend Melissa and I were talking about all the benefits of being a consultant so as of today, I am now a Pampered Chef consultant! I'm excited about this opportunity to help contribute to our family's income. I'm not nervous about promoting, planning or record keeping, however I am extremely nervous about the actual show part, demonstrating the products by cooking a meal, snack or dessert! Hopefully I'll receive my kit this weekend and then I'll be all set to start having shows! If you or someone you know would like to buy Pampered Chef products, please let me know. If you would like to do a show, please let me know too, I need the experience, even if you are not able to purchase items! If you have any questions, email me at SarahChef@yahoo.com, don't hesitate to ask, I won't pressure you into buying products I promise!

Jacks 1st run in with the law...

was today believe it or not! We were on our way to Tennessee (Jody's grandfather is very sick so we decided to go back a few days earlier)...I had taken all three girls inside to go potty and Jody stayed with Jack and our two dogs in the car. When we came out Jody hopped out of the car to help me get the girls in (it was 20 degrees and very windy), when he did WHAM the door shut. Well, when you start our car (which he had just done), it locks all the doors! We were all locked out, except Jack and our dogs Dally & Jake! We immediately went inside and asked the gas station attendant to call the police! Both our wallets and my cell phone were in the locked car! Jody was left standing in the cold watching our smaller (yet much older) dog, Dally, roam about the car snooping in bags and trying to eat our left over BoJangles lunch before deciding Jody's pillow was a nice place to take a nap! Jody had to watch as she stared blankly at him through the glass as he yelled at her to "get off! He was so mad! Three police officers came about 10 minutes later and about 10 minutes later got the doors open! Jack by that time was awake and screaming. All in all we spent a total of 1 hour at this gas station! If you ever need to stop while on Hwy 40, exit 100, the gas station on the right (don't know the name) in Morganton, NC...the ladies there are great and the police are very helpful too!!!

Words with Anna

With any child there are certain words they say incorrectly for a time until they can say them correctly. In Anna's' case she uses her own words or sayings to describe certain situations or things. If you by chance hear "My hair is mothy", it means my hair is sticking up. Or "My blood sticked out", I was bleeding. Most recently "He's squirtin' down!", translation: he's sliding down. At dinner time, "I want the boost" or I want to sit on the bench please! At night, "There's a sloth in here!" did you know a moth just flew inside? Or when we are driving in the car, "Look a rocket ship!", look at that plane in the sky!

My new hair...

is taking some getting used to! My present from Jody was to go get my haircut, kid free! Hair has always been hair to me...it will grow back. I like it shorter for the normal reasons, easier to take care of, fix and won't end up in a ponytail....and Jody prefers longer (on all our girls too). I've kept it long for the most part since I've known him. This time he said "do what YOU want so you are happy with it." So I did, I said "I don't care, do whatever" to the hairstylist! I don't get my haircut very often but I do go to the same person, he does a fantastic job and has been telling me for a while to get it cut shorter! When I came home it was straight, Anna said I had "silly hair", I wasn't sure if I should take that as a compliment so I did anyway! I've been wearing it curly these past few days since it's much easier! I have bangs too, haven't had them in years...those are the most getting used to part...so I'll fore-warn you I look a tad different. I can't wait to see what my Sparks kids say tonight at AWANA, kids are so honest!

Only 364 days left...

until I'm 30. I can't believe I'm saying that! I really do still feel like I'm in my early twenties. When people say they are in their early twenties I think oh, they are my age...uh not anymore! I'm about to be 30...today I turned 29. Yes, today is my birthday! I woke up to breakfast in bed and birthday cards from Jody and the girls. In one of my cards was my present of getting my "hair did" and then dinner tonight with my two dates...

It was a good day, it can be a toss up since my birthday shares a well-known holiday some of you may have heard of ...Valentine's Day!

Our proposal story...

Nine years ago today Jody asked me to marry him! He didn't want it to be "typical" and on Valentines Day (which is also my birthday)...

Let's time warp back to October of 1998...my good friend was attending SEBTS and was invited by some new college friends to a Judgement House at Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville. She didn't really know anyone so she invited me to tag along. There was a large group of students and my first impression of Jody was not that great. I thought he was really annoying, he would not stop picking on me and I frankly was interested in one of his friends! He made fun of the way I talked (my Minnesota yankee accent), how many earrings I had in my ears (I had 5 in one ear and 3 in the other), how sarcastic I was and what and how I ate my food (I am a picky eater and have to eat things a certain way and a certain number at a time...another post). So after Judgement House we went out to dinner. When my friend and I got in the car to go home she handed me a piece of paper with "Jody 562-4138" and said to call him. Well, I was totally floored and said "why would I want to call him?" and "if he wants to talk to me he needs to call me!" I was an old fashioned kinda girl! He finally got up the nerve to call me in February (4 months later)!!! We talked on the phone and decided to see each other in a group setting. We both wanted to pray and see if God was leading us to each other, neither of us wanted to date until we knew it was "the one". We actually started "dating" in March of 1999, I knew right away he was the one, I believe he did too, it just took him a little while longer to admit it :-) My parents and both sets of grandparents have been married for decades, so the idea of marriage was the next step for me. However Jody had seen divorce in his own life a couple of times (his mom and dad) and the idea of marriage spooked him a little. He told me when we began dating that he would not get engaged until he had dated someone at least a year, so not expect it until at least then!

Fast forward to February 13, 2000...Jody had called me that afternoon and asked me to come over after church that evening to watch a movie at his next door neighbor's apartment (one of our good friends). When I got there I knew something was up (a friend peeked out the window) and when I walked in there were about 35 people (including our good friends from Greensboro) there for a surprise birthday party for me! Jody had planned the whole thing, complete with a birthday cake, party hats, noise makers, streamers, candy hearts and balloons! We had so much fun, had a water gun fight, ate cake and played video games (I know so mature). It was getting late and everyone started going home because we all had class the next morning. Jody called and asked me to come over so he could give me his present, I hadn't even noticed that he had slipped back to his apartment! When I opened the door there he was on one knee (with just a few of our close friends) and asked me to be his wife! I was shocked and said "are you serious" like 5 times before he pulled the ring out and I answered "yes"! Apparently the party was a cover for the actual proposal. When I look back I realize Jody had avoided me the entire night and there were so many people there I didn't realliy notice :-( The funny thing was that Jody (like a gentleman) called my dad and asked if he would give his blessing, so when I called my parents to tell them my dad said "I know" and my mom was shocked!!! 6 months later August 19, 2000 we were married!!!

I have some pictures somewhere, if I find them I'll post them!

BORING

So I realized today my blogging consists of uploading pictures, writing posts and publishing them. I don't do a lot of exploring, changing the layout or background, you know basic stuff. Every once in a while I get a wild hair and decide I need to change it up or I see others blogs and realize ours is totally boring! So today I decided to take a look at when I actually started the blog, drum roll please (for dramatic affect)...
1/24/2006 & I'm on post # 271!
I can't believe it's been over three years since I started? It's funny to go back and read my old posts and a little embarrassing too!
What will the Livingston family be up to in the next 3 years?

Park with Wanka

Today was such a nice day and my mom had the day off work so we decided to meet her at Centennial park in Garner! We asked the girls to pose for some pictures and this is what we ended up with...

Lizzy did not want Wanka holding her up, she wanted to do it herself!


Emma is such a goofball, just like her Daddy! I always try to snap pictures of the kids in action so it doesn't look too posey, but she always manages to catch me!

Anna is a silly girl...

She wasn't feeling well, but managed to show us her cute smile!!!

Lizzy didn't want me to take her picture, probably because she wasn't feeling well either, but I snapped a few!

Jack slept the entire time...

New fav & another great deal

This is Jack's new favorite thing...

when we went to put new batteries in our swing we realized we left the batteries in from Lizzy (2 years ago) and they were corroded and ruined the swing! Since Jack will be our last, I started looking for smaller/travel swings, but the ones I found were pricey for only about a years worth of use! I decided to look on Craigslist for a swing and this is the one we ended up with, I paid only $30! I secretly wanted this "fancy" swing since Lizzy was born but couldn't justify spending $110 on a swing! The swing was in excellent shape and was only missing a small hanging toy on the mobile! Jack loves the swing and I love my great deal!

Here he is at 5 weeks!

Here are a few of his favorite activities:

Blank Stare

Sleeping Chelaxing

Alone Time

You didn't think I meant just Jody and I did you? We have 4 kids now!!! Just kidding, my parents took Emma & Anna last night to spend the night so we had just Lizzy & Jack! It was a great day and Lizzy got some much needed alone time with Mommy & Daddy! We decided to take her out to lunch, her choice, which she of course said "McDows" (McDonalds)! She got a Happy Meal with a puppy toy and was a happy camper the rest of the afternoon! Here's a picture to remember this special trip!!!

1 month old

Jack went for his 1 month check-up today. He weighed in at 8lb 130z and was 20 3/4 in long! 25% all around and is "proportioned well". We did discover he has reflux too. Emma spit up (projectile) a lot until she was about a year old, when she started walking is really when it went away completely. She had a "constant bib" on and we changed it a couple times a day, but it never seemed to bother her all that much. Jack on the other hand is different. He spits up almost every time he eats and it comes out his nose. He also grunts and makes a lot of noise, especially after he eats and when we lay him flat. We also noticed he cries after he spits up too. We mentioned his symptoms and his pediatrician was able to see first hand what we were talking about in the office, since Jack had eaten about 1 1/2 hours before we went. They have put him on zantac to see if it will help! We did buy a wedge for his bassinett yesterday too, hopefully the combination will allow him to sleep better at night!! ! We're happy we finally have a gainer...it took a BOY!!!

Saturday we had a small birthday party for Emma and a couple of her friends. I made a slide show because there were so many pictures! Beware, Emma picked out the music!!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com