The last day of 2008....

As 2008 comes to a close we all seem to look into the past year to see what we've learned and what we can do better for 2009. For myself, I did a lot of growing as an individual. I felt heartbreak and happiness and learned to better myself through mistakes made.

I learned that no matter how much something hurts at one moment that it truly will get better. It doesn't usually happen immediately, but it does happen. I learned that I can do whatever I put my mind to, I just have to get up and actually do it! I learned that being a mom is so much more than just being a disciplinarian. It's about being there for your child in every way, shape and form no matter how crummy you are feeling. I learned that life has a way of surprising you when you least expect it and bringing something good in. The good may not last long but it's definitely something to look forward to.

I learned that good things may end due to circumstances that are out of your control. It doesn't matter how much you care for that person, some things just cannot be controlled. I learned that it's okay to be selfish sometimes and not answer your phone, or be at someone's constant beck and call. It's okay to just be you. Be comfortable in your skin and don't worry about what other people think.

I feel that the world is here from us to learn from. Take advantage of what you're given for free and run with the possibilities!

In 2009 I'm hoping that several things will happen.
1. I'd love for Amber Watson Events to take off. I want clients galore, but my goal is five.
2. I need to get off my rear end and get back into running. I miss my Navy body and good stress relief!
3. I'm going to start acting for me and only me. I will do everything for me. I will try not to care about what other people think. I want to be happy with me, bottom line.

I hope you all have a great 2009 and enjoy this last day of 2008.

The Biggest Loser

So, CJ and I are sitting here together watching The Biggest Loser. I've never really watched the show since the start of the second season. CJ is so funny watching this show. He's been learning numbers and each week he can count higher and higher. As each contestant is getting on the scale and the numbers flash on the screen CJ screams out "1-3-5" or whatever the numbers are. He's also huge on the crowd reaction. The louder the crowd gets the louder he gets...screaming, clapping, jumping up and down...it's too funny!

This show is pretty motivating but at the same time makes me realize how freakin lazy I've gotten! I know what I'm going to be doing starting ASAP! Guess I'll be joinging a gym and eating a lot better.

Gotta love the holidays...they always remind me of how lazy I've gotten! This year the thought was "wow, didn't fit in that shirt last year, maybe this year I'll have gotten lucky?" Yeah, not so much!

Anyone wanna join me on a fun filled adventure of getting in shape??

You'd never guess what he says....

Today has been such a fun day in the world of CJ. He has been playing so well. He's lost TV privledges so he's had to keep himself busy. We don't normally watch a ton of TV but today he's lost it all.

He has done some of the funny things today. For example:

He was rolling his cars and tractors all over the wood floor and he says "Cars, we go Mc Donnells (McDonalds)." He rolled them all to the other room and proceeded to pretend to eat with them. Once finished he says "I go poop. I be back." I cracked up laughing. He has been so fascinated with poop lately. I got him a book about dinosaur poop while at the museum. I'm looking forward to giving him that for Christmas :)

As most of you know, I'm a klutz so of course CJ has inherited that gene! He's bumped into things and slipped and ran into things all day. None of which result in a wound yet he throws himself on the floor and proceeds to scream for a band aid. We have these really awesome Little Einsteins band aids that apparently make you feel better! I think my favorite spot he asked for one today was his lip. We tried it and he ended up practically eating the band aid!

We made our weekly phone calls to the family. He loves talking on the phone. He spoke with Uncle Rick and Rick said that if he was good he'd play Candyland with him. CJ got all excited and said "I pay gama, papa, Rick, Sean and mommy Candyland" then went running off very excited. Hopefully he can maintain this excitement til the 23rd.

I'm looking forward to Christmas. I've been dreading it. I'm looking forward to it now. I've made up my mind that it's going to be great.

Merry Christmas!

Life Changes

I'm so proud!

Last night I was putting CJ to bed. I'll admit, I have been slacking the last couple weeks and letting him sleep in my bed. Last night though, I decided that I was going get him started back into the normal routine. Bath, story, sing a song then lights out.

So after our story last night I asked him what he wanted to sing.

CJ: Monkeys!

Me: We'll do two monkeys tonight, it's late. (It was nearing 10, we got home a bit late)

CJ: No, five two monkeys. He laughed. I love his laugh

Me: Okay, we'll do five monkeys but you have to help count, k? He then smiled at me and looked at me expectantly.

The way we sing the 10 Little Monkeys song is I'll sing the first word or two of a line then he finishes it. Usually he only says the main words. For example:

Me: Two little

CJ: Monkey!

Me: Jumping on the

CJ: Bed!

Me: One fell off and

CJ: Bumpeded head!

Me: Momma called the

CJ: Dodder

Me: And the doctor said?

CJ: No no monkeys jumped on bed!

But last night was sooo different. He said all the words. Down to the words like: his, more, the. He has started using prepositions correctly!

As you all know, he's been in speech for almost 7-8 months. I cannot express how excited I am! We have been working so hard to get him to talk. He has started enunciating his words and saying all the words in a sentence.

I know some of you are thinking, "big deal", but really, this is. CJ is close to a year and a half behind his peers and now he's starting to catch up. We have been working so hard for awhile and it's so great to see the time and dedication working!

In other news :) CJ and I are going to Denver this weekend and going to see the Parade of Lights. He has started realizing what Christmas is. He loves Christmas lights and trees. We're going to be learning the true meaning of Christmas this year as well.

CJ is growing so fast and I love it. He's no longer a baby anymore, but a little boy. He's very much a boy! He's become so imaginative and loves to pretend. He sings and dances and loves to tell stories. You would not recognize him!

Black Friday

So as Thanksgiving day came to a close yesterday, I could not contain my excitement for today. Today is the busiest and most annoying shopping day of the year and I avoided it . I did not leave my house until lunch time, and that was to brave McDonald's so that CJ could blow off some steam. It was way to cold to play outside.

But it was definitely not too cold to play outside this evening (okay, really it was). CJ, Gary and I decided to watch them (I don't know who LOL) light up Centerra tonight. We counted down the lighting, then waited for about 40 minutes for a hayless hayride pulled by Clydesdale horses then went to the photo booth. Let's just say, we were frigid cold and could not wait until we got home to the warmth.

While waiting for the hayride, CJ kept Gary, myself and the crowd highly entertained. He pet everyone's dogs, took pictures with my camera and even posed in other people's pictures LOL He tasted, yes tasted, some painted flowers and ran laps around one of the various hearts of Loveland.

After we got home, we all ate Thanksgiving leftovers and then enjoyed relaxing on the couch. Overall, my black Friday was the best.

Enjoy the pictures!

CJ testing the taste of the painted flowers

Gary and I freezing while waiting for the hay ride...photo courtesy of CJ

Inside the warm area aka the photo booth

At home, warm at last.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Amber

It's Thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanksgiving is such a great holiday. It's a day when you can look back over the last year and remember the things that made you better, the things and people you are thankful for. I am very thankful for several things.
::I am thankful for my son. He has blessed my life in ways that I can't ever explain. He is truly my angel and I can't imagine my world without him in it.

::I am thankful for my family. Near and far, they have been there for me and even when my world was a mess they helped me mop it up.

::I am thankful for the CWPA, Colorado Wedding Planners Association. Patty and Gary have shown me that it's okay to be confident in myself and my abilities. They have helped me grow as a person.

::I am thankful for my friends. They rock, seriously. I have the best friends anyone can ask for. It's okay, be jealous :)

::I am thankful for my life. It is continually getting better, every minute.

This year has been huge for CJ and I. It has been full of growing, self discovery and difficult transitions that we have overcome. We're ready for the next year!

Cutest Christmas Gift Ideas

Hey guys,
So, Christmas. Only thirty days away. In the words of CJ "YIKES!". I have found some really great gift ideas for mom's, dad's, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I was over at Etsy (a great place by the way) and found these:


Click on the pictures to be taken to Muraldevotee's Etsy site. She's got some great stuff. I know what I'm asking for!

Not Me! Monday

I love free therapy. I love reading all the Not Me!'s posted over at MckMama's Blog. Read them. Laugh. You'll thank me for it!

:: I certainly did not go see a vampire movie at midnight on Friday morning. I was not beside myself with giddiness for almost 3 days before seeing the movie. I did not read the series a few times. I did not read the first book, Twilight, over a dozen times. All this reading did not create a slight disappointment in the movie. I did not wonder if maybe I had hyped it up. I did not talk about said movie for almost an hour. At least I had fantastic company!

:: I did not tell my son that we'd put a Christmas tree in his room. I did not tell him he could also have lights hanging in his room. I would not create such a fire hazard in my child's room just because I'm obsessed with Christmas.

::I did not have to wash the same load three times. I did not keep forgetting that there were clothes in there. Oh, and I have not forgotten that that same load is still in the dryer.

::I did not ask my mom to not cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I did not ask if we could "just order pizza or something". I also did not used the excuse "You just got home from your trip and don't want you to feel that you need to cook a big dinner". I did not not feel bad when my mom told me that I'm taking away tradition from my soon. Nope, not me!

::I did not stalk other people's blogs for pure entertainment. I would never do such a thing!

::I have not lost sleep for the last couple of weeks just so I could spend more time talking/texting with Gary "Manny". I would never do something like that.

I did not do quite a bit...what didn't you do?

Life's little turns

I got to sleep in today...til 10:30! Yes, you heard me right. I could still be sleeping now too, but there's only so much sleep one person can get. Unfortunately though, with the sleeping in came a sick little guy. CJ has been sleeping all day with the stomach flu. It's been at least a year, if not longer since he's had this. I hate seeing him like this. He's being a trooper though.

Well, Christmas is coming up. I need everyone's addresses :) Please send them my way. I hope you all have had a great weekend!

Love,
Amber

Not Me! Monday

Thanks to MckMama for this free therapy!

: I did not let CJ continue to sleep in my bed every night. Not me!! Cause what would that teach him about sleeping on his own?

: I did not about cry today when Adrienne posted that the birth mother is having second thoughts.

: I did not try to make brownies healthier by adding a cup of oatmeal then making them into cookies. Nope! Not me!

: I did not stay up late every night texting with a cute boy. No, I would never do that!

:I did not tell one of my friends that I have baby fever. Don't I need a husband first?

:I did not forget to mail my younger brothers birthday card out. Granted I still have a week or so, but I haven't been trying to remember.

:I did not start writing out Christmas lists LOL

What haven't you done?

Austin Scarlett

Okay, so I am sooo very excited. I am meeting one of the top wedding dress designers today: Austin Scarlett. He is one of the winners on Project Runway. He designs for Kenneth Pool. I am just so flabergasted that I'm about to explode. How often do people like me get to meet famous designers and mingle with them???

So now the real question is....what am I going to wear??

Not Me Monday

Thanks to MckMama for the fun and insanity that is a "Not Me" Monday!

I did not stalk people's blog looking for an update. Really, I was not that bored!

I did not send CJ's friend home early because of his crappy attitude. I love babysitting and having CJ's friends over, but please note that disrespectful kids are not cool!

I did not stay up all night thinking of things to write on my blog.

I certainly did not let CJ sleep in my bed for more than one night. I know it's not a great habit for him to be in but he sleeps better and longer! Plus, we're cuddly type of family...it works!

Nope, not me!

Our Journey of Love...the blog

Hey everyone,
Real quick I just wanted to tell you that the best blog I've read by far is Our Journey of Love, by Adrienne and sometimes Jim and Owen.
I've never met this family, but I almost feel as if I know them. They have a touching story and if you have the time you should read it from start to finish. It took me two days and I had a weekend full of two boys: CJ (4) and his friend, An'don (5).
So get over and read it already! The blog is listed in the list of blogs I follow.
Also, my best friend in the entire world, Gabe, is currently in Germany attending a Disciplship Training program then in January will leave for a photojournalist missions trip. He is currently accepting donations for his mission. Check out his blog here. If the link doesn't work, his blog is listed under blogs I read.

Love and God bless!
Amber

In honor of Twilight...

As some of you know (and those of you that don't, will now know) I have a slight obsession with The Twilight Saga. I've read through the series twice now. I've read the first book, Twilight, at least a dozen times. I'm trying to absorb every detail before I go to the midnight showing of it in TWO WEEKS!!! Yes, only two weeks left! I can't wait, I'm so excited. I'm so excited (or just really lame) that I even made this:I know, laugh all you want...I'm used to it LOL If you haven't read the book, I highly reccommend them. They are excellent. The first and fourth books are my favorite. Let's just say, I'm Team Edward LOL

So in honor of my obsession...enjoy the background...it's from Breaking Dawn, the fourth book!

Happy Twilighting!

Being a single mom

Okay, I need to vent. I am a single mom. I am a proud single mom and I love being a mom (although some days one might think otherwise LOL). To me, the definition of a single parent is a parent that does it on their own without the assistance of the child's other parent.

So why is it that the single parents with live in boyfriends/girlfriends and a heavily involved other parent are complaining? Seriously, when the other parent is involved, you get alone time. You have days where you get to shower un-interrupted, run errands alone, study for a test or sleep in! When you share custody with someone you get the "break". Even if you have a live in partner, you can ask them to be aware of the child for just a few minutes so that you can do a simple task. Listen up...those of you in this situation are not single parents! Stop complaining to me that the 3-4 days a week you have your child you don't get to do the things you want!

My son has a father. His father lives on the other side of the country and is currently deployed to Cuba. I have had my son every day--EVERY DAY!--since October 2006. I wouldn't trade it for the world, and yes sometimes I really would kill to have a "break" but in the long run, I know that my son is benefiting from having a happy, healthy home. I'm tired of people I know, or random people that say stuff in the store, complaining about having to take care of their child.

I complain at times too, but it's part of being a parent. Being a parent is tough enough when there's two of you...it's harder when you don't have that other person to lean on. All I ask is that you keep an eye on the words you say to other people!

Thanks for letting me vent...I needed it :)

Election Day!

As all of you know, it is election day. November 4th. I've never voted before so I didn't know what I was in for. I expected a small piece of paper that had Barack Obama and John McCain's names on them and you circle the name you want. Well, I was in for a surprise! Did you know there were like 12 names listed for President/VP candidates? Then all the supreme court judges-do we keep them in or not? There were also amendments to be voted on but the description was so long, wordy and some words I didn't understand...anyway, I think I voted well.

Speaking of election day, I was asked over the weekend by a five year old who I was voting for. I told him (CJ's friend An'don) that I didn't know and asked why he wanted to know. He looked at me like a grew I second head and said, "You shouldn't vote for Obama because he thinks it's okay to kill babies that are in their mommy's tummy." My face fell to the floor. Literally...he's five! What does he know?? LOL Apparently a lot more than I thought!

I'll have my "I Voted" picture up later. I can't seem to keep track of my cord for my camera. It's Samsung and heaven forbid they use a normal size USB cord!

On a different note, I revamped my website. I've noticed of couple of typos that I'm changing right after this but I thought I'd get your opinion. www.AmberWEvents.com

Hope you all voted and feel confident in your choice! Have a great day!

Amber

It's November

It's November. Mind you only November 2nd and guess what I saw walking around the mall yesterday??? Christmas! I'm not ready for Christmas...yet.

It's still in the 70's here and considering it hasn't snowed yet it makes me wonder how "un snowy" the winter is going to be. Don't get me wrong, I'm so not a snow person but occasionally it's nice.

Anyway, CJ did lots of trick or treating on Friday. He was a firefighter...not a fireman. He ran around the block making a siren noise and proceeded to tell people that he was in fact a fire truck. All in all we had a lot of fun trick or treating. Halloween is always fun around here.

And for myself, not a whole lot of updating. I am in the process of partnering up with The Body Shop to help raise money for a local charity called Crossroads Safe House. It's a place that battered women can come to rebuild their life. They offer places to live, legal help, job assistance...everything you can think of. I'll have more details on that soon.

I'm also volunteering time with String of Pearls (http://www.stringofpearlsonline.org/). String of Pearls was created to provide a nurturing and safe place for families as they navigate the path following a fatal prenatal diagnosis that will result in the death of their baby prior to, or shortly after birth.

I hope everyone is happy and healthy. Be safe and God bless!

Love,
Amber

One to get us started

Welcome to the blog! I started this blog to keep people up to date on what's going on with CJ and I. We have extended family all over the US and some (one) world-wide, so I figured this would be a great way to have life documented and shared for all.

Let's start with CJ. He just turned four...two weeks ago to be exact. I never thought this day would come but it has. He's very much into Transformers and of course our beloved Cars and Thomas the Tank Engine. He is in Pre-K. There he has several "best friends" and he is thriving. He's currently learning the days of the week and learning to say them in sign language. He continues on with Speech Therapy with Lindsey. He LOVES Lindsey. She has been a huge part in the developmental successes! CJ is growing every day and if you're ever in need of a good story, ask him!

As for myself. Not a lot has changed. I've started my own company, Amber Watson Events. I'm very excited to see where this goes. It's been my dream job for quite awhile. I'm also the Treasurer for the Colorado Wedding Planners Association. I'm STILL (lol) a full time student, but one day I will finish!

Tomorrow is Halloween and we are very much looking forward to it. CJ is going to be a fire fighter...he will correct you if you call him a fire man! He's learned to demonstrate, Stop! Drop! Roll! and has small obsession with fire trucks and ambulances. Halloween pictures to come!

Love you guys!
Amber