I almost forgot! The best part of my Christmas vacation!
Ryan and I spent a lot of time debating, calculating, and praying.... and we decided that I am going to stay home with Braden for the rest of the year! I called my school and they graciously accepted my resignation (whew!)

I know in my previous blog I gave a lot of the reasons that I needed to go back to work, and while those reasons were all valid, in the end I just couldn't do it. I decided that Braden's health and well being were more important and I was just going to have to be willing to make some sacrifices. I'm clipping coupons like I've never clipped before! LOL.

But Seriously- things are tight, and I may experience some set backs in my career, but I believe it will be worth it. After all, in 40 years when I look back at my life, am I honestly going to say, "Geez, I wish I would have worked more and spent less time with my children."? Absolutely not. And while I'm not working this year, I can't yet say what my plans are for the future. I'm going to just let things move at their own pace and make decisions as they come.

But for now, let's celebrate!!! I'm staying home with my baby boy and I'm loving it!!

Christmas in Pennsylvania

Well, the Holidays are finally over and boy were they eventful! Ryan and I were able to travel to Pennsylvania to see our families. Unfortunately we couldn't afford to fly, so we drove for two days to get there. It ended up being for the best. We ended up with so many gifts, we wouldn't have been able to take them on a plane! Braden got so many wonderful things; toys, clothing, and even diapers! Ryan and I also got some very nice things that we are very thankful for. Thank you to everyone that was so generous to us this Holiday!





We started our visit at Ryan's home town of Saxton, PA. We stayed with Ryan's mom, Janet, and step-day, Rodney. Ryan's brother, Josh was home from college and his other brother, Chris, lives in the same town with his wife, Melanie, and their two boys, Riley(7) & Kieran (5).

Braden playing with his new gymnasium from Chris, Mel, Riley, & Kieran.

We had the opportunity to go visit Ryan's great aunt Edrie, who lives in a nursing home a few miles away. Aunt Edrie has been like a grandmother to Ryan. She's 93 years old and just lost her husband this year. She is amazingly with-it for her age and was just tickled to see Braden.



On Christmas morning we all opened our presents and then had a family dinner around noon. After a few hours of playing with our new "toys", Ryan and I departed for Gettysburg where we went straight to my Aunt's house for the "Riley family Christmas party". We were able to see much of my Dad's extended family, most of which we haven't seen for an entire year.



We spent the rest of the week with my parents and my brother's and sisters. It was nice to relax and to visit with them. We had fun playing the Nintendo Wii that we got for Christmas and watching my Dad's new big screen plasma TV.



On Sunday my mom threw a brunch in honor of Braden's Blessing a Church. In our religion we don't Baptize until children are at least 8 years old. So this was a brief moment out of the church service where they Christened him by "giving him a name", Braden Lee Gresko, and gave him a blessing for his life.

The Brunch was wonderful. My mom made all sorts of yummy food and my family members were there, including my Dad's mom and step father, Grandma and Pappy Grady.



After the luncheon we set off for church where Braden was blessed by my brother Michael, who is an elder in our church. And afterwards we took a zillion pictures and visited with Church folk that we haven't seen in ages!



After church Ryan and I had to leave to go back to Saxton and finish our visit with his family. We spent a few more days with them and some of our best friends in Martinsburg and eventually had to pack up and come back to Alabama. Neither of us wanted to leave!! :-(
Visiting with Mike, Heather, & their little boy, Owen: Owen wanted to know what Braden was doing under that blanket!


We're already looking forward to visiting PA again once school is out in May!