Overwhelmed by Life!

So it's been a while...

I still read your blogs, just not every day. The Holidays are coming up and bloggers get 50 free photo cards from Shutterfly, which has totally got me thinking about my own blog and where my life has been hiding.

I didn't blog much after last January. My head was in a whirl. Everything was all good and fine but my time was consumed with my bike riding and Ella and having an amazing summer, in which we did! By the end of the summer I was pregnant again :-) already enrolled in 3 online classes and feeling pretty crumby! The past four and a half months have been a blur... I have barely kept my head above water, but I'm still here and the semester is almost over and the baby and Big Sister Ella are doing great, in fact we find out if baby is a he/she on December 7th! I'm so thankful for so many blessings.

but, Life is still good ;-)

A Beautiful Day....

for Me and my Moms!

I just wanted to share how lucky I am to have such beautiful and amazing role models(Mothers) in my life. Today I was blessed. Every day I am blessed. My Mothers, my sister(s), my friends are chosen to take on the task of being Mothers. It is a hard task, but it is incredibly rewarding.

God has chosen these people to be a part of my life, whether you are a Grandmother, a Mother, a soon-to-be Mother or one day dreams of being a Mother...You have been placed in my life to influence me and support me and I thank you!

I can't help but think of my little baby in heaven today. I have tried not to, but I have. I guess it's just something a Mother would do. Ella did something tonight that she rarely ever does...She fell asleep in my arms. God knew I needed that. I needed my daughter to give me that for Mother's Day. She is amazing.

Today was a beautiful day.

Farmer in Training

So what do I post about...It's been a while!

We have been so busy. I have been working temporarily, two days a week. This makes our weeks fly by, I can't believe it is almost May! The weather is keeping us outside all day long, blowing bubbles, playing with sidewalk chalk, walking around the house endless amounts of time. We love it! We have also planted our garden. This year we did things a little different, we planted everything by seeds! Our garden may or may not produce but let me tell you some of those seeds are already poking through! I can't wait... I am not one to utilize my gardens the way it should be utilized. I have been known to let the veggies rot; I was working or I didn't have any groceries, etc. When actually I was just being lazy! This year is a new ball game. Since I am home, Jeramy has informed me that this is MY garden.

So I better do good ;) But in all seriousness I have already began making changes in the way we eat. I am trying to buy fresh fruits and veggies and use them all and trying to get away from buying boxed foods and process foods. With the exception of Mac & Cheese, which is a staple at our house per the youngin'!

On another note... Me and my Giant are off to a great start!

I decided to join a team and ride Tour de Cure Chattanooga. This frightens me in so many ways, but I will have Kim by my side to encourage me and I will have God to strengthen me...I can't go wrong there! I have been trying to get in some longer rides to prepare for my 25-30 miles on May 15. Tour de Cure is a cycling event across the states geared to support Diabetes. There is $150.00 minimal fundraising goal in order to ride and anything above and beyond is just more $$ for the American Diabetes Association. I think it's a good cause don't you? It seems to me that Diabetes is becoming just one of those things we, as Americans, get... Well it shouldn't be! It's deadly. Some people can't help but have this disease due to genetics, but the fact that young children are being diagnosed daily is sad, brings me back to why I can't wait for my garden! Anyway off of my soap box now... If you feel like you would like to donate to ADA and my ride you can go to My Tour de Cure Web page and make your donation.

I also want to add that I love it when I see answered prayers! Lately I have seen a lot... Sure does confirm the fact the he is a living God!

How Do You Give?

Lately I have had a heavy heart. My life has been tight and we, has a family, have had many changes! But I have felt that I need to be a better giver. So many people give to me so freely and how do I return the favor? I know that it doesn't have to be to them, but just giving in general, the way God intended us to give.

My friend Jody gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Will, at 29 weeks and I am so happy to say that after a long stay in the Vanderbilt NICU, baby Will is home with his Mommy and Daddy. Jody and Chris started a blog after Will's birth. They are such an inspiration and a testament of God's strength! I haven't met Will yet, but I feel like I know him and love him so much already!

When Will was born his Doctors discovered that he has a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD). What this means for Will is that he will have to undergo heart surgery. Will is now almost 5 months old and the time for his surgery is so near and Jody and Chris have so humbly asked their family and friends to donate blood "In Honor of Will" and his open heart surgery. A service that we should all do more often and since Jody will be donating her blood to Will, she asked if we could all do the same! It Saves Lives!

This REALLY touched me and opened my heart! I want to give. I want to give "In Honor of Will." I want to give to honor God. So for the very first time, I GAVE BLOOD. Through out the day I prayed for Will and I prayed for me. And I thanked God for this opportunity. It was so easy. I have a feeling I will be back in 65 days. And each time I will be reminded of Will and his journey of life and I will thank God for him and his parents and I will give of myself whenever necessary. So if you haven't given blood lately or even at all, like me...I challenge you! If you are able, give blood "In Honor of Will" or someone else you know! I am honored to do this for such a precious little boy!

Unexpected Surprise...

Last night around 7:45pm we put Ella to bed. We did our usual routine books, pray, kisses... She was very tired so it did not surprise me that she was so quiet and went right to sleep.

I head to the living room to talk to my girlfriend on the phone and Jeramy heads to the computer. Around 8:30 I get off the phone, give kisses to Jeramy and head to bed.

As I approach the end of the hall way, Ella's door is open just slightly. "Hmmm, maybe she got up?" I thought. As I turn into my bedroom, I find the sweetest most peaceful sleeping beauty I have ever seen, tucked tightly into Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Heart Breaker!

My Baby is Two!

Well Ella came into her TWO's with a bang! Am I surprised? Not Really. We have all been passing a cold around the house for the past three weeks. Last Sunday Jeramy and Ella got the sore throat/runny nose thing pretty bad! By Wednesday Ella got a fever. Wednesday night she began vomiting, only once but it is still hard to watch your baby getting sick. (Jeramy was home with Ella at that time, needless to say he was pretty scared) By the time I got home, Ella's fever had spiked again. She and I moved to her room, to go to bed however, there was no sleeping involved! By 5am, both of us exhausted, she began having convulsions. Apparently this happens when a fever spikes so fast that the brain can not control the signals it is sending to the body to naturally protect itself. As a Mother, this is the scariest thing I have EVER been through. And we have had a lot of scary moments. The day before her 2nd Birthday and you are watching your child lay helpless and unaware in your arms. I began praying over her body immediately. Mean while, I'm screaming for Jeramy and sobbing at through it all. One spell after another and I had no clue what was happening to her. Thank you Lord for protecting her body.

We ended up taking her to the ER and then her Pediatrician. They treated her with an antibiotic for Strep and said that the spells were probably due to her fever. After a long trip we head home to sleep the rest of the day off.

By Friday, Ella was worlds better! We celebrated her Birthday the best we could. We had originally decided not to have a "party." But was going to celebrate with my family at my Mom's house. We had family in from New York and planned to meet over there Friday anyway, so why not add cake and ice cream into the mix! Since she was sick, we decided not to go :(

Nanna had planned to come over Friday to see Ella and a little sickness was not going to stop her from seeing her Baby Girl! She and Aunt Nea(Renee) came over Friday morning with a car full of goodies for all of us! We are so lucky to have such great parents! Aunt Nea made a Dora the Explorer cake for Ella and it was the cutest thing I have ever seen and Nanna loaded Ella up with microphones and goodies galore! (Ella loves to sing into a turkey baster at Nanna's, so a microphone was a perfect gift) We had a wonderful celebration and it warmed my heart to be able to see Ella smile on her Birthday! Later that afternoon, we headed over to Gramma's house. Everybody was out for the day so we thought it was a good time to visit. We enjoyed the beautiful day with a walk and some Fudge Cake!

I really felt bad that we didn't do a whole lot for Ella, but she got plenty of attention and I know she felt special ;) By Saturday, her fever was gone and we went to Cade's 4th Birthday party. Ella wasn't very happy while we were there, but we enjoyed seeing our friends and playing a little. Thank God for the bouncy thingy is all I have to say about that! hehehe :)

On Sunday, since we had this great Dora cake and a gallon of ice cream that never got ate I asked if my brothers and sisters could bring the kids over for a quick celebration. It was plenty of fun and the best part was watching all of the kids play together outside! All in all, she had a great weekend, the weather was beautiful and Ella was feeling better. My baby is TWO! YIKES.

Busy Girl...

It has been a busy couple of months for Little Miss Thing! Potty Training, Saying bye-bye to paci and now she is in a big girl bed!!

Ella's "big" Birthday present form Mommy and Daddy was her big girl bedding... I know, sounds lame, but she has so much already. She loves her bed and loves that she can crawl in and out all by herself. At first I was worried about that aspect of it, but she has done really well!

Ella and Chelsea Bear

Playin' Around
Sleeping like a Big Girl!

The only thing left to get is some wall art and a headboard. Aunt Kimmy and I plan to make the headboard, so when that time comes I'll be sure to post about it!

Fun in the Snow 2010

In the five years that I have lived here on this hill, the one thing I have wanted to do is sled down it! Well today was the day :) 1 maybe 2 inches of snow and ice turned into 6 inches of snow! When Jeramy finally made it home, we headed outside and sled down that hill over and over and over... We had a blast! Ella did it all by herself, as you saw in the video, Jeramy sled with her, I sled with her; we had a fantastic time!

This morning was pretty interesting too! As the snow began to fall, the cars began to pile up. Ella spent the afternoon, flipping around in her ball tent and I went from window to window reporting to the Facebook world the activity outside of my house. I had to share it with somebody!

This is a beautiful shot out of my kitchen window!

This is all of the drama! Car after car piled up and down the hill. People out running around, kids on dirt bikes, dogs in the road... I just knew someone or something was going to get hurt or smashed into.

But all is safe and thanks to one very good Samaritan who towed everyone that was stuck right up that hill! Tonight is going to get bad, more ice and more snow. We are safely tucked in for the night and plan to play tomorrow!

Follow Up: Life Without Paci

We have tried a couple of times to get rid of the paci and for some reason or another, we found it soothing for us or whomever to just let her have it. When I worked full time, the daycare pretty much had her broke of it, but I was the one who gave it back to her after the "tongue incident!" It really did help her.

Ella is almost three and a half weeks away from being 2 years old, OMG! I just realized that myself. I really think that her talking will improve without paci.

It has been about three whole days without paci and ultimately Ella is doing really well. Even being as young as she is, she is definitely human...Exchanging one habit for another! She has her moments of whining, but I just tell her "paci had to go bye-bye 'cause you are a big girl now!" She seems ok with it but ten she asks for a book. Even in the pitch black room, she looks at her book until she falls asleep. I'm very proud of her. Sometimes, I wish I could just give it to her, but I ave to be strong too!

Also, today is my wonderful Husband's 33rd Birthday! I love you Baby and I hope you have a great day!

"Say Good-Bye to Your Little Friend!"

It has been a long time coming, but I think I'm finally ready for it to be gone. The little one on the other hand would not agree. Daddy actually said he would like it to be gone by the end of January. I have faith in us that we can do it!

Today Ella was having a little throwing fit, imagine that, and threw her paci into the kitchen cabinet. Nap time roles around and paci is no where to be found, seriously we searched the house! So it occurred to me that this could be my ample moment. So I say "Paci had to go bye-bye, because you are a big girl now." Her reply was "Uh-huh." Was it really that simple? I think not! After a sweet little talk with the sad little girl, I said "Now let's go to the back door and say bye-bye to paci!" Oh it was a sad moment for both of us. Then we went pee pee and I told her if she went to bed like a big girl, I would give her an M&M when she woke up. I know what you are thinking...Bad Momma! I promise I won't continue this but my little girl is in love this "mem, mem, mem's!"

She finally fell asleep, but there was lots of sad whining involved. Tonight is going to be harder!

"Now that's Messed Up!"

** As seen on Channel 2 News.

Not really but did you know this:

This cereal...

Is healthier than this one....

I'm not talking just calories here, the Dyno-Bites has less carbs, less sugar, less fat!

Can't wait for Spring!

The weather this week has been so enjoyable! It makes our cabin fever even disappear just a little... Sweet little Ella is ready to play out side all day long... I can't wait for that day either!

This past week was crazy busy! And the rest of this week doesn't look like it will slow down. We've been to dinner with friends, shopping, visited by my Dad and sisters, and to Chattanooga and back! This was all since Friday.

This week we have a couple nights out and we will be celebrating Jeramy's birthday on Monday! I have begun a new 'healthier' way of life, waking early to do a work out video, eating better, eating smaller portions... Man I miss eating! I just can't get satisfied. But hopefully I will get to the point that I don't' want to snack. Jeramy is also trying to make some changes in his lifestyle, to help his blood pressure. Together maybe we can encourage each other enough to make it work!

Hope you are all having a great New Year so far!

*I am writing this post to remember it, sorry if it is TMI.

On November 20th, I knew I was pregnant! This wasn't confirmed until November 24th or so. We were so exited! I remember, I just couldn't wait to share the news with my family. So on Thanksgiving day, I did :) What a glorious day!

For ten weeks I have carried my new baby, Ella's baby sibling. This pregnancy has given us a lot of first, which seems weird because we already have a child. But it would be the first time, I would get to see my child this early on in my pregnancy...Isn't that exciting!

Anxiously awaiting Wednesday January 6, 2010, we head to the doctors for our 10 week U.S. and appointment. The first glimpse of "baby" is breathe taking. What an amazing creation God has made! The second glimpse revealed to us that my sweet baby did not have a heart beat.

I couldn't believe my eyes. There sat this precious child as peaceful as the day God made it. My feelings would not allow me to wait and let this process happen naturally. I just couldn't do it with Ella being around. I scheduled a D&C for that Friday.

Today is Saturday and I feel that I need to close this chapter in my life and start a new, brighter story! God has given me so much strength through this process, he really is an amazing Father! The time will come when we will be able to celebrate life again, but for now God's plan is different and I am open to see what he has in store for me and my family!