It's Friday!

We are some busy bee's over here. Lately we have really been plugging in and taking advantage of this gorgeous weather and other events going on around our area. I was able to take a wonderful mini break Wednesday morning and meet up with other Christian and Army wives to a little black dress event. Jake was able to sneak home to watch the girls, which meant I was wearing my stilettos with my new little black dress. That's right, didn't play it safe with wedges, but put on my sparkly heels. Jake bought me a cute dress from Banana Republic a bit back and I finally had a reason to wear it. It's one of those you can dress up or dress down, it even has pockets. Oh yea, that's always a fun feature. Any who at the even we were blessed with a delicious green salad with fruit, as well as lasagna and rolls. I sat at the vegetarian table and thoroughly enjoyed the lasagna with egg plant, green and yellow zucchini. It was so very good. We laughed at a skit that the bored members put on displaying the 'life' of an Army wife. Then, an amazing wife to an Infantry soldier who has been 'married' to the Army for 23 years spoke. Ya'll she has moved 14 times and has 3 boys. Totally refreshing and uplifting, we all left with smiling faces and so encouraged.
This week we have had some fun play dates and a PT appointment for Lydia. She is doing so well and before we know it will be crawling!
On a personal note, I have been emotionally and mentally breaking with Lydia's SB. With her clinic day coming up and enrolling her in EFMP there's the unfriendly reminder of the hurdles she will have to face and what she's been through all ready. I am starting to see the developmental delays...Other babies I know are starting to crawl, pull themselves up,and well simply, my heart is breaking. I shared my heart with the ladies at my evening bible study on Wednesday, and immediately they encouraged me and prayed as well. That simple reminder that God choose Jake and I to be her parents. As Christians the Lord knows we can handle tough situations and trials; he knew we would be able to love our Lydia unconditionally and give her what she needs. :)
So Thursday morning comes around and the Lord shined in all his glory. I went to the park for a play date with the ladies from my church. Just as I arrived I got an encouraging text from a girlfriend who was listening to KLUV about a young boy with SB who plays basketball! How cool. Then while Isabelle played and I sat on a blanket reading with Lydia, I start small talk with a women from church...low and behold there is a lady she is good friends who is my age, with SB, she is married and has a daughter! Oh how my heart needed that. On the way home from the park I was talking with my mom, another on of our daily chats and shared these small encouraging things with her. She then tells me how I was on her heart that morning while she was praying and starting her day. She was praying for my emotional and mental well being concerning Lydia and all the mumbo jumbo of emotions that we'll be facing again next week at her SB clinic day. So thank you Lord for hearing my prayers and putting people in my path to encourage me.
I feel ready to face this next appointment and tackle all we need for Lydia.
We are going to enjoy our 2 nights in Albuquerque versus trying to rush back home after her appointment. We will take the girls to the Aquarium and this time we have a hotel with a pool INSIDE. We are also on the hunt for some authentic Indian/Mexican food!
Of course I hardly took any pictures, so will just have to share a few from the week of St. Patty's Day. We have been doing some sensory projects. This one with colored rice and squinkie toys hidden in them.

Have a great weekend!

Got my 45 on, so I can rock on...

Well this weekend was a hot one. It's only going to get hotter, but with temps in the high 80's out came the banana boat spf.
We had a fun and relaxing weekend, which included a bbq with neighbors, park, pest control, meeting with a realtor, church, and a movie night.
I think I was a bit dehydrated yesterday morning after all the sun I had on Saturday. It didn't help that I also ran 4.5 miles! Note to self, it's getting hot again, so DRINK WATER.
Here are a few pics from this weekend.

Have a great Monday!

1 year ago today

Time sure does fly when your having fun. That is an understatement of what this last year has been. A year ago today I was called back into my doctor's office to be told the news that the precious baby growing inside my belly has spina bifida.
I can't tell you the range of emotions that I went through in a matter of minutes. Most of all I had such a feeling of love flowing through me. That morning I knew something was wrong when the OB nurse told me I needed to come in as soon as possible. On that news, the first person to call was my mom. I shared my fears with her and asked her to start praying. I have a sister who is Down Syndrome and if anyone would know how I was feeling it would be my mother. Just knowing her strength and how she has got through raising (and still is) a special needs child I knew whatever the doctor would tell me, IT WOULD BE OKAY!
My good friend down here met me at the doctor's office to sit with me and help with Isabelle. Jake was in the field and wouldn't be home till late the next day.
I remember hearing the words echo in my head over and over, Spina Bifida, and I just wanted so bad to protect and to take away this 'spina bifida' from my baby. Was he or she in pain? All I could remember from what I have read, is that it's a Neurological disease and my child wouldn't walk. Again though, there was such a raw emotion of love that I had never felt before for my unborn baby and such peace.
Through out the next 48 hours God was all ready working on our side. I got a hold of my husband and he was home that evening. I was able to see a specialist that day and get many questions answered...even though at that time it wasn't really sinking in. None of it did, till I had picked up Jacob and we were sitting parked in the garage with our 2 year old asleep in her car seat...that was when it hit like a ton of breaks. How our life would change. It was heartbreaking to see my husband take in the news and not know whether or not his son or daughter would be able to run with a ball or run after him. As much as our hearts were breaking we still stayed positive. We knew God all ready had a plan for us, for our baby. I remember telling Jake that God choose us to be his or her parents! He knew we could handle this. Through my encouraging words and strength I was able to build up my husband, and he in turn would be the strong one for us in the months to come. Jacob was the one reminding and encouraging that this was all part of God's plan.
Every ultra sound I went to, Jake was there, every specialist we saw, Jake was there. My girlfriend was there taking Isabelle so we could speak with specialists and before we knew it I was packing Isabelle's and my suitcases to come home to Wisconsin where the best Neurological team would repair and help our precious baby, whom we found out shortly after the diagnosis was indeed another little girl.

(Initially we weren't going to find out the sex of #2, but as you know we did!)

As time goes on and I look at where we are at now I want to cry tears of joy. Jacob and I are so happy to be calling our selves Christians again. We are better parents, better to each other, better in general, all because of this diagnosis we were given. It caused us to re-evaluate life. There is something to be said about the way you look and choose to accept things. Or what you depend on or look to for support. We knew the only thing that would get us through this was turning to God. We were not going to be negative or bitter, but rejoice in this gift that the Lord gave us. Psalm 29:11 says 'The Lord gives strength to his people; The Lord blesses his people with peace.' That is exactly what we felt and believed, and still believe.
When she came all we could feel was an over flowing amount of peace and love. (Granted we had moments of despair and so much heartache, but with God, and support of our families we made it through and will continue to do so!)

Here we are today, a year later. A year older, a year, wiser, with two healthy daughters. I wouldn't and couldn't imagine it any other way.
Here is our gentle hearted little girl. She brings her daddy, sister, and I such joy.

There are so much good that came out of this diagnosis. Thanks to this dumpling of ours Isabelle and I spent an unforgettable summer in Wisconsin near all our family and good friends. Isabelle made so many memories and again, God held our hands through every step. (Isaiah 40:11 NIV and Exodus 33:4 KJV)The grandparents, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles were all able to meet Lydia, hold her, and congratulate us. We didn't experience any of that with our Isabelle. Even Jacob's grandmother Barb helped out by bringing toothpaste (which we forgot) and oatmeal cookies to the hospital when I was in labor. I am telling you folks it's the little things, the little things that seem so unimportant. The reality is that God is ever present.
A thank you again to my parents church, our families, and friends, and the others we don't even know, for their prayers and support.
Love you all!

Sunday Funday

Sunday was gorgeous! We had an awesome fiesta with our friends and their 5 kids. They are our favorite family down here and I don't know what we'd do with out them....
Here are some pics of our fun Spring filled Sunday

funny faces!

My girlfriend's husband just got a Harley himself so Jake finally has a good riding partner!

The best part of this day was using the frozen ice cubes that I had put blue berries and raspberries in our Moscato!
Ladies you must do this, and not just for wine but for your little ones glass of lemonade, white soda, cocktails, etc. Well not in your kids cocktails, you know what I mean. Just think of all the other fun fruits you could put in for other drinks.
Didn't get a pic but I made lemonade pops with popsical sticks and small cups (and added frozen fruit to those too.) The kids loved them!

Happy Tuesday

frozen waterballon treasures!

So, Pinterest has been helping these beautiful Texas spring days just fly by.
One fun idea I found was taking balloons, hiding some things in them and freezing them. So simple and so fun for kids of any age really.
Isabelle has gotten so used mommy doing new things that before bed she wanted to do 'a project please with the balloons.'
She remembered the balloons I purchased late last week at the dollar store and has been asking and asking to use them. So, I didn't say no. At 8 pm last night I told her to help me find some little treasures we could hide in the balloons. Oh she was excited.
Here are few things that were put into the balloons, some things she didn't see me sneak in so those will be fun when she does find them!

And here is Isabelle having entirely way to much fun with her water balloons.

(you like her crazy poses? she is wild like her momma...)

And then there's Daddy in the mix!

Fast forward to late this morning...before she want down for her nap Isabelle got to take one frozen balloon out and have fun getting out the 'treasure!'

(there are 2 Disney princess rings in this one)
Next time I am going to add a drop or two of food coloring to each balloon so that the frozen ball is a colored egg :) would be fun for Easter weekend don't you think?

Dinner made right

I've been learning a lot of little tricks to cooking since watching 'The Chew.'
This particular one is saving a bit of your pasta water that you used for boiling your pasta for the base of your sauce.
Remember to add salt while boiling your pasta and cook it just a minute short of 'el dente.' That's what I did last night while making shrimp and pasta. I put some of that water in a sauce pan and that's what I cooked my shrimp in. I then added about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese, onions (less than half a small onion,) and garlic(2 cloves) that I had sauteed in another saucepan. Whenever I saute I hands down always use a bit of butter and olive oil.
After that all came together I threw in a handful of pearl size mozzarella balls, a heaping tablespoon of parsley, and good dash of chilli flakes.
I put some aside for Isabelle with out the chilli flakes. It was so good!
And hey if you don't like sea food, add chicken.

'G' Squad?

I am trying out some new names for my blog..so bear with me...I am liking this one.
The 'G' Sqaud...I'll see if it sticks.
And just for kicks and giggles. What would a post be with out these 2?






(The FUN has arrived!)

left overs

After I made some simple pillow cases to match our comforter, there was plenty of material to work with. So I thought I'd make a table cloth for our night stand in our bedroom. At Wal-mart I found some reduced ribbon that is the color of our bedroom, teal! So, with my randy dandy hot glue gun I glued a strip down the middle.
Here is our night stand before.



And with some left overs, I got this.




(after looking at these pics I think I need to iron it.)

On a side note, the lamp you see. I purchased the base for 5 dollars at a rummage. I've looked every where for a lamp shade, and did have to pay full price...(at Lowe's) but it's oh so pretty in our room and was worth the I think $15 we paid for it.