It's Just a Ring

About two weeks ago I sat down on the couch to write a blog post about the Beach {which I literally just posted 5 seconds ago, whoops!} I looked down at my hand and I saw this gaping dark hole in my wedding ring{or I guess engagement ring??} MY CENTER DIAMOND WAS NOT THERE.

To be perfectly honest, I started ugly crying about 3 seconds after I realized my diamond was gone. I called Josh and I was just a wreck. The first place I looked was under the sofa cushion I was sitting on and I didn't see it. Then I searched all over the floor where I had just worked out and there was nothing. Oh my goodness I was SO UPSET! I had recently read something about choosing joy in everything and I slowly decided that I was going to be joyful in this situation. I put on my Chris Tomlin Pandora station {best thing ever} and started singing praise songs to my savior as I swept the floor! I was on the floor looking under the couch when I had this thought that if God wanted me to find it, I would! And if he didn't, then I won't. And that is okay. While laying on the floor I put my head down and I just prayed for several minutes. I was overcome with peace about not having my diamond anymore. If it was gone, it was gone. I was not getting another one. And I was okay with that!! God is so good to give us such peace and comfort in any circumstance. But then this little girl woke up....

I mean, this is super corny, but she is my real jewel!! I just LOVE her! And to have her and my amazing husband safe and with me is amazing. What else do I need?? God has given me SO much! With that said, I know some people do loose the people closest to them, and I have to believe that God would get me through that as well. But that is not something I'm trying to write about right now :)

And then my husband came home, and look what he found....

The best part is that it was where I had looked first, under the couch cushion. LOL! I'm grateful that I found it, but I'm more grateful for the closeness that I felt to God while it was missing. I really was okay without it. It's just a "thing." Realistically, it wasn't replaceable, but it didn't need to be! God has been challenging Josh and I in the past few months to really think about what we consider a "need." It's nice to have "things," but I guess I learned that they're not worth crying over when you loose them, no matter how expensive or sentimental. The Lord says, "Be joyful always." {1 Thessaonians 5:16}. He does not say, "Be joyful when things are going well for you." I am going to try and do better at that this week. With God all things are possible, right?? I'm not judging anyone who lost their ring and had a major melt down {remember, I did at first} but I'm glad that my God showed me a different way! It was so freeing to not be upset about it! 

And lets be honest, I'm pretty exciting to go pick it up this afternoon :) hehe

We Love the Beach!!

We had such an amazing trip to the Outter Banks this year! Elisabeth is the perfect beach bum :) Our Family stays in Frisco, which is about 5 miles North of the furthest point South that you can go. Then we like to stay in a sound front home and drive on to the beach. In my own personal opinion, it is the only way to do it!

The OBX is one of my favorite Kelehan Family traditions and I seriously hope we continue to do it every year as our own child(ren) grow. I have gone all but three years since I was 5 years old. Just so I don't forget, this is who went in 2012:
- Aunt Conni and Uncle Tom, cousin Shawn and his wife Amanda and their children, Sydney and Evan. Cousin Damian and his wife Jenn and their children Corey and Mason
-Aunt Sara and Jim, my cousin Marina, and Jim's {adult} children, Will, Julia, and Ashleigh (so good to have them back!!)
-Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom and my cousin Mary Rose {we missed Samantha and Suzy!!}
-Aunt Denise and Uncle Mark and my cousins, Kara, Marky, and Chachi (Kathryn). {And their family friends, the Hites {I'm definitely spelling this wrong, came too!}
- My pops, Josh and I and Elisabeth, and Carrie, Sean, Erin, and Luke

We really missed Uncle Kevin and his clan, Uncle Steve and his family, Uncle Tim, and Grandma!! I LOVE my big family!!

I really enjoyed our house this year! It was right on the sound and made for some beautiful sunsets!! It was called Tonya's Sunset, how fitting :)

Elisabeth was pretty fantastic the entire trip... besides waking up several times every night!! On the first day she learned that if she cried, I would feed her... well, she's a fan of that!! When we got home she got right back on her normal schedule though. Whew :)

These cousins are pretty cute! Luke and Erin LOVE Elisabeth. They want to do everything with her and I absolutely love it. They would help feed her, change her, put her suit on, and play with her at the beach. Sometimes Erin will hold her and I'll look over while they're snuggling and she'll say, "You're my baby." Ha! You didn't push her out kid! But I appreciate the love :) In fact, I'm writing this post while I'm at my sisters house and Erin just came upstairs and said, "Is she awake from her nap yet?!?!" They're so cute!

Why is my dad so funny!? They were just making the most ridiculous faces!! 

As I'm writing this post I'm thinking, "Why did I not take pictures of the apple uglies we ate!?" I want to write down all the important things from vacation so that I never forget... and obviously eating apple uglies should have been on there. If you ever have a chance to go to Buxton, NC.... go to Orange Blossom Bakery and get some apple uglies!!! They're certainly not diet food, but it is like, the best thing ever :)

Well, here is the most ridiculous picture ever. Seriously! What are these guys doing?! And why is Marina placed PERFECTLY in the background?? 

Elisabeth with some of my cousins! Marina on the left, Mary Rose and Kara on the top right, and Chachi and Aunt Carrie in the bottom right

Cutest baby ever!

Neel Family 2012

I love our little family! We had such a great vacation! I wish we could live at the beach, it is SO relaxing!

Okay, this is a good story. On Thursday night we decided to have a bonfire. Josh was so stoked about his idea. We invited everyone, bought wood and smores fixins, it was gonna be perfect! We kept saying, why don't we do this every year! This will be such a great tradition to start! And at first, it was! We're all sitting around the campfire... and then the mosquito started biting. And they wouldn't stop! It was seriously like attack of the mosquito! Within 15 minutes everyone was gone. We maybe stayed another 5. I never even got to have a smore!!! But it certainly was a fantastic memory that I will always have, and that's what it's all about!! When we got home my sweet husband made me a smore in the microwave! Ha!

In short: I LOVE THE BEACH

I wish we could go all summer long. Seriously. Every time we go down there I dream about moving permanently and homeschooling my kids and being out on the beach by 1pm every day. Josh assures me that his company will never let him work remotely again, but a girl can dream, right? 

Elisabeth Grace: 7 Months

Elisabeth, you became a whole new little baby this month! When you were 6 months old you had just rolled over for this first time.... now you sit up all the time, you roll down to your tummy and push your arms up so high, you reach for things (like my hair and food!!), and you just roll all over the place.

You are perfect :)

We went to the doctor's the other day because I thought you had a cold (and this is kind of embarrassing, but I thought you ate your blanket and you were still choking on it...) but you were completely fine. Although I will say that I got a cold 2 days later, so I think you did have a little one :)

This is a picture of you when I decided to call the doctor. You were so unhappy and when you were breathing, it sounded like a purring cat. It was so sad!

This is a picture of you while you were waiting for the doctor to come in.... it was a little embarrassing :)

Anyway, while we were at the doctors, they weighed you! You are officially 18 lbs and 6.5 ounces! That put you at the 75th percentile, which is perfect since your the 90th for height. Also, you still wear a size 3 diaper and 6-9 or 6-12 month dresses.

These days your favorite thing is food :)  While we were at the beach you went from eating solids once a day to two/three times a day. You would just scream as loud as you could to let me know that you were not satisfied. You also do not play around during meal time! There is no laughing or smiling, you are all business! You just want me to put the food in your mouth as fast as possible!

Sitting in a shopping cart for the FIRST time, you were so excited!!

This past week or two you've kind of switched up your nap schedule. Going on vacation can throw you off, but I think this is a permanent change. You have officially dropped your 3rd nap! I did absolutely nothing to help you do this :) You just decided that it was time and I am a-okay with that. Now you wake up at 7:30am, nap from 9:30-11:30am and then again from 2:00-4:30pm, and then go to bed around 8pm.

You occasionally wake up in the middle of the night and I'm not loving it, but I love you so its okay :) Seriously though, we are gonna work through that this week now that we're home and settled from vacation, so don't get used to it :) Ha!

I have enjoyed this past month with you SO much! You are really interacting with us lately and it has been so fun to watch. You have finally started babbling and blowing raspberries and that is just the cutest thing ever! We love you more then you could possibly ever know :)

Helping Mama do some laundry :)

Holy Cannoli!! Where has the time gone??

July is by far the busiest month every single year! Well, the end of July and beginning of August. I always think, "Yay! It's summertime! Time to relax!" But it is always a tease!!

July 22nd-27th was our churches Vacation Bible School!! We had SO. MUCH. FUN.

Josh and I taught the Kindergarten class and it was a blast! I wish I had taken more pictures though! The theme was Amazing Wonders Aviation, which Josh obviously loved :)

The first day we dressed up as pilots!! Every night had a theme, sorry I didn't get pictures of them all! We had such a great time teaching these precious children about Jesus! During the week we had 5 children from our class that prayed with their parents to become Christians! Praise God!! I'm so upset I didn't get a picture of our room, maybe I will email Marcy from our church and get some of the pictures she took :)

This was Elisabeth and Isaiah when they were dressed up for business class (fancy) night. These two babies are just the CUTEST!! They get to hang out a lot because I love hanging out with his mama, Kim :)

During VBS week Elisabeth started sitting up for the first time!! How cute is SHE!! VBS was a little hard on her though. She went the first two nights I think, and then we just had her stay home. One night with my mother-in-law and one night with my mama. And Aunt Carrie had her the first night. Staying up so late was a lot on her! And she couldn't sleep in because I was waking her up early so I could get to work!

July and August have been FULL of VBS, vacation, and working. I have been working a lot! I'm making up my maternity hrs before then end of the fiscal year. The hours work out pretty well, I usually just work during both of Elisabeth's naps so I'm not missing too much... except some rest! But I'm very much looking forward to September when I go back to only 5 hours a week!

I still have to write a "make-up" post about the beach and then we will be back on track!