Merry Christmas To All!!!

This week has been one of those 'up and down' kind of weeks. The week started out good, Monday was my mother's birthday and we celebrated and frosted Christmas cookies at my Gram's house. Tuesday I went shopping at Sam's Club and finished up any last, last minute Christmas shopping, Wednesday was a terrible day, nothing that was supposed to go right did, but then today I woke up with a whole new attitude towards life and now I am feeling great again. We celebrated Christmas (with my family) early this year so that we were able to make the LONG trip to NYC to visit with Steve's family for the holidays. During our family gathering tonight Ish received TONS of fun toys to play with and also some really cute outfits to wear this winter. I really enjoy spending time with my family, we may not be the most exciting people but I just feel so safe and comfortable around them :) After we got home from Gram's house, we had Ish open his Christmas gifts but he seemed very little interested in the items we had gotten him, after all it was WAY past his bedtime and he just needed to get some sleep. I am sure he'll be more interested in his stuff in the morning. Steve and I exchanged Christmas gifts and I got a really sweet Christmas card and an awesome digital Kodak camera. I was testing out the camera and the picture quality is amazing compared to my old camera. Two thumbs up!! Of course my gifts to Steve weren't as glamorous but he seems happy with the 14 decks of playing cards, the Under Armour Underwear, and the PhotoBook I made on Shutterfly.com that was ALL about Ishy. Photos of Christmas with all the families will be uploaded in a few days...once we return from our trip. Everyone enjoy your holidays, eat lots of yummy foods, and remind those that love and care about you that you love them too!!

*Life may not always be easy, but no one ever said it would be....*

Peace&Love,
Jess

'Tis the Season

Usually I am not so happy during the winter, cold months but I know I have so much to be thankful for and I am trying to keep a smile on my face everyday! I wanted to share a photo with you all of my little man, its been awhile since I've update with a picture of him and I thought what a better picture than his Christmas photo with Santa. This was on his first trip to see Santa, and Ish has went to visit Santa two times since this picture.

Santa is going to spoil him this year. He's been such a great boy and I know hes on the 'Good List' for sure!

On a seperate note, Stina and I went to David's Bridal on Saturday and although I had convinced myself that I would NOT buy a wedding dress, I walked out of the place with a beautiful (clearance) dress. Only one downside, its like 1/2 a size too small. I've been walking on my treadmill trying my damnest to keep my body in shape and hopefully lose the very few inches needed to fit in the dress before the end of my 8 month wait til my wedding! And if all else fails, I think I will have the dress altered to make it a corset back. Theres still lots of time to get that all figured out. Steve and I have been discussing our honeymoon and I am definitely excited to go back to Florida, I've been there so many times in the last 3 years, I feel like its my second home, well third home actually because NYC is my second home♥ I am so blessed.

I volunteered my home for this year's Christmas Eve Family Gathering and even though I hosted Easter this year, I am nervous because Christmas is such a bigger deal. I am lucky to have my mom help me during the day (I have to work that day) and once I get home from work, I'll be busy running around cooking, cleaning, and prepping for the rest of the night. I just pray its a smooth, stress-free evening and that everyone has a great time. I hope to upload some pictures of Ish later and I'll definitely have LOTS of Christmas photos to post after the holiday.
Merry Christmas to all. Hope all your wishes come true♥

Peace&Love,
Jess

Lit up the Christmas Tree

Last night I got the Christmas Tree up and decorated, I am hoping that by next year we can buy a new tree because this one is sickly. Skinny and anorexic looking, but nonetheless it works for us, for now!! I am proud to have our decorations up before we enter the month of December, something that was never achieved at my child hood home. When I was a kid, we always put up the tree 5-7 days before Christmas Day and I definitely dont want to do that with Ish. I want him to be excited the whole month. Christmas is a very magical time for children (and even though he may be too little to understand it yet) I am very excited for him as a parent. I cannot wait to get his picture taken with Santa Claus! Those tend to be the most unexpected kinds of fun, waiting to see how a child will react to a big, fat, jolly man with a huge long white beard! Whether he laughs, cries, or just sits there dumb-founded I will be as proud as ever :)
On a quick note, I am feeling very blessed this holiday season and I cannot explain why I am happy as a camper but all I know is I'm loving the feeling.
I know that I often neglect this blog and if for some reason I do not blog in the next few weeks I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy New Year! Now I am going to start working on sending out Christmas Cards to those who have been nice (not naughty) this year ;)

Peace & Love,
Jess

Ish is walking

Saturday 10.30.10 Istvan Nagy III took his first steps and from there, he's never looked back! He is a walking machine. It was completely amazing and I was so surprised by his actions. I am a very proud parent and so is Steve :) Everyday is a wonderful journey for us as parents as we watch and learn along side our beautiful baby boy. I love being in this family and wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.

Ish's Birthday Bashes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISTVAN NAGY III

Ish sitting in his brand new big boy chair made personally for him by his wonderful Aunt Wendy :)

What a wonderful and fun weekend we had! Saturday night was Part 1 of our two day birthday celebration. We had a great dinner for Ish's birthday plus presents, dessert, and poker! Here are some pictures of all our fun::

Part 2 of the celebration was held Sunday afternoon. It was a lot of fun but I have to admit that Saturday's party was better because Ish was so much more excited about everything. I think he may have been overwhelmed by the number of people we had or maybe it was because we had two horses in the back yard. Yes, horses. Our neighbors across the street brought over their daughter's horses so that the kids could go on horses rides. Well the kids definitely rode the horse and so did most of the adults. But Ish got a lot of fun presents that we are looking forward to playing with, with him of course. Thanks to all our friends and family that came to help us celebrate, we will never forget those great memories we made on his 1st birthday.

365 Days of Pure Bliss

Only a mother (....or father) can fully understand the miracle of their child's first year of life. I have finally witnessed this miracle first hand. I am so proud of the way I've raised my son and everyday that we spend together is magical. He is more than I could have ever imagine in a person. He has so much personality and love to give. And he is definitely NOT afraid to show off a little bit. When I put him to bed last night it was a bitter sweet moment because I knew the next morning when I got him out of bed he would be officially 1 year old. I am so happy to celebrate this wonderful day with so many of my family and friends. I hope they know how much their love for Ish means to Steve and I. Pictures from his parties will be soon to come...this is all for now, I have to go pick up Ish's 1st Birthday Cake :)

Cross my heart♥

In the quietest moments of the night, I wonder what my life would be like if I'd never met you. And then I wonder if that same thought ever crosses your mind...

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Ish loves his little truck, although he is seen here sitting on it, he would rather be walking behind it pushing it all over the house. I am assuming by how proper he is walking that our little champ will be taking solo steps any day! Also, I entered Ish in the Baby Contest @ our local Fair, he was the cutest scarecrow that ever was :)

I am 24 years young today...man how time flies! Before I know it, Ish will be saying the same thing. Its been a long journey through life for me, and now I can finally say that I've found "my place" here in this world.

If you dont see me...

I've been going over my financials all day today and after nearly breaking down emotionally, I've discovered that I am flat broke. After a couple 'surprise' doctor bills I have no money and too many bills coming in. I'd love to find an evening or weekend part time job to make up for where Im lacking. Its the only way I can see getting myself out of this hole I've dug for myself. I keep telling myself that I just need to make it through this year and then everything will settle down and I'll be back on track. I JUST HAVE TO KEEP TELLING MYSELF THAT!!! At a moments notice I want to break down, I'm embarrassed honestly. I have no idea how I let this all get this way. There's no way I can ask for money...its just not my style. I dont want my problems to become someone else's burden. Ugh right now I'm really wishing I never bought my fabulous washer and dryer. Really I had no problems with the payments until all this bullshit with bill & collections. It makes me sick to think about. I hate it....I cant even think about my wedding next year until I get all this straightened out. Well anyways, the whole point of this rant is to let you know, if you dont see me for awhile its because I went into hiding, that way I spend as little money as possible.

More to love

Some days are good and some days aren't so good,
but today, well....

Today was a good day.

Making memories along the way

Today ends the 1st chapter in my weight loss journey. I weighed in 2 lbs over my "1st step" goal. I truly am not disappointed by this. I am just looking at the positive- the fact that I have lost weight is the most important part! With that being said, I am going to definitely focus more on exercise during the next chapter. Its going to be a long road....only 66 lbs to go :) Steve and I were looking at some pretty cheap treadmills at a Sears Outlet yesterday. I have to get my washer & dryer paid off first but after that I'm buying a treadmill. I know its the motivation I need to get the body I've always wanted.

Saturday I took Ish swimming for the first time. He absolutely LOVED it. I was nervous at first to see his reaction to such a big "bath tub" but I was worried for nothing. He was sitting in his floatation device, kicking and splashing, having a grand time! No doubt we will be taking many more trips to GG's house to go swimming this summer!

These are the days.

Looking forward to a beautiful tomorrow.

What a hell of a vacation we went on last week. It was so great to finally get away and enjoy some family time! This was the first time we have gone away-just the three of us- for a whole week. We didn't kill each other so I'd call it a success :) Our journey to the Poconos started just before noon on Sunday, we stopped once in DuBois, PA to go shopping at a small shopping center, spent WAY to much money on clothes for Steve and I but oh well! We got back on the road and finally made it to the resort late Sunday night. Monday morning we slept in (and thankfully so did Ishy) then we headed to New Jersey to get some Five Guys for lunch then do some more shopping before heading over to the city to stay the night at Steve's parents house. Tuesday we decided it would be a great day to head to the beach! Ish loves the water! Next we headed to our favorite pasta place in NYC for a delicious lunch! We kinda just chilled out for the rest of the day and then had a late dinner with Steve's old business partner, Waleed. Wednesday we had talked about going to Hershey Park but after we got online and found out how much it would cost we decided not to go. Instead we headed to some outlet stores. I found some really cute & cheap outfits for Ish at Carter's. We headed to Philedelphia next to eat some 'Famous Cheese Steaks'. First we went to Geno's Steaks which was pretty good but the cost was terrible. It cost $8.50 for one Cheese steak and it didn't even fill us up! So then we went across the street to Pat's Steaks (which we later found out was Philly's original Cheese Steak place) that was pretty good too! In both cases we spent way too much money on a little bit of food, but it was a great experience since we both had never had a REAL Philly CheeseSteak before. Thursday was probably our most relaxing day, we drove a short distance from our resort to the Delaware Water Gap, we laid out by the Delaware River, got some sun and let Ishy play in the water for a little bit. Friday afternoon we headed to the Catskills, Upstate NY. Steve's buddy, James, lives up there and he hasn't got to meet Ish yet so we wanted to get together. We had a really great time hanging out with the O'Connell family. We stayed the night at their place. The next morning we headed over to watch James's daughter, Aizlyn, play in her last softball game. Aizlyn caught 2 fly balls and got 3 outs playing at 3rd base. They awarded her with the "game ball" for all her hard work. It was also their first win all season! It was a lot of fun!! After the game we went out to lunch at a small restaurant right by the river. It was so beautiful to be next to the water and mountains, while enjoying a delightful meal with some of the nicest people I've ever met.

Aizlyn, Ish, and James Jr.

After our meal we headed back to the O'Connell's home to pack up our stuff and head back on the road, since its a 3 hour drive back to the resort!! At the resort the next morning we hurried up and packed all our stuff up and started our journey back home. Although it was a a week long trip, it felt much shorter. I wouldn't have minded going home to relax for a extra day or two before heading back to work, but I need the money. I spent a little too much money shopping, plus paying for a couple dinners and filling up the gas tank! Also a new discovery while on vacation: my son loves cheetos :)
♥The most incredible, amazing, beautiful boy in my world♥

Sunday right before we were heading out the door to leave back home we found out that NW Ohio had been severely hit by a bad tornado. I immediately called/texted family & friends to make sure they were okay. I was relieved to know that my family and friends were not victims of this terrible natural disaster. However I was terrified to hear about all the damage and death it had caused to the others that live in the Millbury/Lake Twnship area. It is definitely one of the scariest things that has happened to NW Ohio for a long time. I am the first to admit that I was never worried about a tornado coming and taking my home or the home of someone I know, but now my mind has definitely been changed. I will no longer turn a blind eye to the possibility of it happening to me or my loved ones.

Party at the "Mansion"

Courtesy of my wonderful hair stylist I am a platinum blonde again. It was a little shocking when I first looked at it but I defintely love the look. Only one thing is missing from the look: a nice dark tan! I refuse to go to the tanning bed though. Whatever tan I get, will be from natural sunlight. As happy as I am with being blonde, I cannot wait to color it a honey/caramel color for my wedding, unless I change my mind by then. *449 days til our wedding*

Monday we went to Jed's for dinner with Travis & Wendy before we headed over to the Lucas Co. Arena for Monday Night RAW. We ended up with the shittiest seats (my fault-since I ordered the tickets) Luckily for us, my brother Dylan and his father were there (they had great seats by the way) and the ones right next to them just happened to be empty. After we moved to their section we had a great time. John Cena was amazing and we got to see Randy Orton in the last 5 minutes. I would have been so disappointed if I wouldn't have gotten to see him. He didn't wrestled, just stood there-but oddly enough, that was good enough for me! Got to see Bret Hart in real life which is pretty amazing. He is a legend in the wrestling world. It was definitely a great experience I got to share with my little bro & Steve.

This week has gone by so slow, but I am so grateful that it is finally Friday. Steve and I spent all last night cleaning up the garage to set up for the garage sale, we didn't get in the house til after Midnight. By that time I was so physically exhausted, but my mind wouldn't shut down! I didn't fall asleep til around 1:15am! Then I got up this morning at 6am to go to our rental to clean up the bathtub and take pictures! I've had a very stressful last 24 hours but now that everything seem to be running smoothly I feel like a lot of stress has been lifted from me. I've still got a lot of work ahead before vacation starts, I have clothes that need to be priced and put out in the garage sale (which I'll have to take care of during my lunch break) Tomorrow, Reyna, Ish and I are running the garage sale all day, I am hoping that its not hot! After that Steve and I are having a cookout Saturday evening with some friends, definitely looking forward to chillaxin' with my peeps. (Title courtesy of Bill who commented to Steve that he lives in a mansion...which I thought was funny because its not really a mansion at all!) Cant wait to have some laughs, a few drinks & play some cards. I know I will be exhausted by Sunday, therefore, I am definitely looking forward to doing nothing on my vacation in the Poconos. I am really happy to get out of work for a week, its been a stressful week and I cant imagine a more perfect time to get away from it all. *Good things happen to good people*

Moving along...on to happier thoughts.

Only in times like this do I stop to realize how busy I am, I sure have a lot on my plate and as soon as one thing drops off the list, something else gets thrown up there;
1) Losing weight & walking at least 1 mile everyday
2) Getting ready for our garage sale at the end of the month
3) Getting ready for our vacation, also at the end of the month
4) Preparing for our wedding (Yes, I know its next year, but I still need to plan for it now)
5) Getting the rental ready for our tenants
Whew, thats a lot to be worrying about all at once...That doesn't even include my daily routine, work, taking care of Ish, and keeping the house cleaned up. Its not easy, sometimes I neglect the house work the most. Then when Steve goes to NJ, I go into cleaning mode. Definitely the most difficult task on my list is #1. Im only going to say one thing about my current weight loss, I hate food. I haven't been very smart lately and I beat myself up over it all day long plus since its been raining the last two days, I haven't walked at all. Of course, the countdown to getting stuff ready for the garage sales gets shorter and shorter everyday and we still have not prepared at all-I hate putting things off til the last minute. I'm nervous about going on vacation for a whole week with Lil Ish, going on vacation when he was 3 weeks old was much easier because he mostly ate, slept and pooped. Now hes more attentive and I'm afraid I wont pack accordingly to keep his mind & body occupied. On the other hand, I am so psyched to get away from work for a week. There's nothing better than taking a mental leave of absensce to clear my mind. The only down fall to this vacation is that I wish we were going some place with warmer temps and bright sunshine all day long! At the same time, since we are with Ish I am thankful that we are going some place that Steve is familiar with. The last item on my list is probably the one I have to physically worry about the least (and it makes me feel like shit that I'm not more involved). I'm in on this project together with my fiance but I'm always so busy with housework & Ish that I've barely been there to help get our rental property ready.
Saturday I went with K♦Stina to David's Bridal to watch her try on dresses and I am soo happy she found her "perfect" dress. Watching her try on dresses makes me so excited for my turn to be next. I love getting dressed up and pretty so I'm sure I'll have way to much fun with it. Sorry Stina but we'll probably be there for a couple hours trying on dresses when its my turn, but I'm sure you already knew that. I did get to try on the bridesmaid dress for K♦Stina's wedding too. Im so excited to wear my canary yellow dress for Stina's wedding...definitely will need a bit of a tan before October rolls around!! Hopefully I can get my butt in gear so I dont gain weight before her wedding! I got the dress a size smaller than I normally would because -A) it fit me perfectly & -B) I intend to lose at least 15 more lbs before her wedding!! I can only get the dress altered 2 sizes smaller so I cannot lose too much more weight than 20lbs! Anyways, I go pick up the dress in 6 weeks & I really hope I can resist trying it on a million times before October 2nd.
Also on Saturday, Ish officially started to drink out of his sippy cup. It was amazing watching him suck his formula down from a cup. He has been using the sippy cup everyday since and he seems to not even notice a different. I just looked at the calendar and realized that tomorrow Ish will be 8 months old. I almost don't want to believe it, he's growing so fast! Before I know it I'll be planning his 1st birthday party, even though it seems like just yesterday I was having my baby shower! Life as a parent sure does make time fly by...I'm just trying to keep up with it all.

We live for tomorrow.

::5/12/10::

Why do vacations cause me to eat stupidly? I was doing so perfect on my diet until we went on our "Weekend Getaway". The first night, we ate at a China Buffet (mistake #1) then the next morning we went to a very nice diner for breakfast-- I was pretty smart and just split a plate of food with Steve, but their food was sooo good we went there again the next morning & I ate a plate full of food all to myself (mistake #2) and for dinner we went to a Steakhouse, I couldn't resist the 8 oz prime rib (mistake #3) or the sour cream dolloped on top of my butter filled baked potato!(mistake #4) Needless to say, I gained 4lbs on my lovely vacation. Oh well, I guess I need experiences like these to help me learn from my mistake for the future. We have another WEEK LONG vacation coming up at the end of May and I am determined to be smarter this time around. Of course I'm not depriving myself of all the good foods but I have to remember to have everything I want "in moderation".

We took Ish to the Columbus Zoo while on our "Getaway". I was a lot of fun, Steve and I had never been there before either so we enjoyed doing something new together-as a family :) The monkey exhibit was probably the most fun part of the entire experience. Then Steve & Ish took me out to Red Lobster for my 1st Mother's Day. I love my guys so much. And on our way home Sunday evening, Steve gave me a beautiful Mother's Day card, which I wasn't expecting at all. He never ceases to amaze me. I am so thankful to have found my true soulmate in life. He is everything I've ever dreamed of--funny, handsome, spontaneous, caring-you name it, hes got it. It makes me happy to know that Ish has a great role model father to look up to. Not a lot of people can say they have that.

I am hoping to go through all our stuff in our basement & garage so that we can have a Garage Sale at the end of this month. It will take a lot of time just to go through everything and figure out prices. We've decided that all the money raised is going in Ish's college savings account. Hopefully people will want all the stuff we dont. We'll see, it might be fun. All I know is I need room for my new treadmill in the basement (Yea, the treadmill I don't even have yet...but ONE DAY I WILL!)

::5/13/10::

Speaking of weight loss equipment, I've lost the 4lbs that I gained on vacation. I weighed in this morning and it felt so good to see those pounds gone. Now the goal is to keep them off and to keep shedding the weight. I dont want to jinx it but everything in my life seems to be heading in the right direction...and it feels great :)

My Biggest Weakness

After cooking dinner with Steve a couple nights ago, I have discovered my biggest food weakness has got to be pizza. After researching to see how many Weight Watchers points I would be consuming by eating 2 slices of pizza, I now know that I have to avoid pizza a little more. Not that I eat pizza a lot, its just that when we do have pizza I could eat 5 or 6 slices at a time. But not anymore. I've never felt this good about changing my life before, for once I feel like nothing can stop me. I've been walkng 1 mile everyday for over a week and I really love it. Ish loves it too, he enjoys our little stroll around town. Since I started counting my Weight Watchers Points I've seen amazing results--but I know not to get too excited, the first 10 lbs are the easiest. I also feel like a million bucks though. I've been down this same road before when I did Weight Watchers but I now know how to handle my strugggles. It also helps that I have a partner (♥Steve♥) helping me along the way. It would be very hard to stay focused & positive without him.
I cannot believe its May already. April flew by and I expect the same in May. We are super busy this month and I am probably going to go crazy by the end of the month, which is perfect because thats when my vacation begins :) I cannot wait. I'm sure that week will probably go by the fastest of all the others though.
Ish is growing so fast these days. Everyday I work on getting him to talk...not quite sure when babies say their first words but I would like to hear something. He blabbers a lot these days but still no real words. I would also like to see him wave goodbye-which my mom & I have been trying to get him to do for over a month now. I'm sure he'll get it at his own pace. Life is good, work is a little stressful, but I like a good challenge and it definitely makes going home something to look forward to! I think I've even got a new motto::
♥Lifes been good to me so far♥

#1

This is my first post as an official blogger. Theres a lot I have to say about life, love, kids, work, and everyday happenings. Sometimes I might only write a few lines and other days I could write forever, but I've always got something on my mind. A little something you should know about me, I'm 23 years old, I am engaged to my wonderful fiance, Steve. We have a beautiful 7 month old son, Istvan (Steve--but we call him Ish). I work a Monday-Friday, 8am-4:30pm job in an office. Some people call me the secretary but my job entails so much more than just answering a phone. Right now my biggest obstacle in life is losing roughly 60 lbs before my wedding, which is set for August 20, 2011. Believe me, you'll be reading about my weight loss journey A LOT. I am a fan of Weight Watchers, but refuse to pay $13/wk to go to their meetings. I am very lucky I have a supportive fiance that knows how important it is for me to be happy in my skin.