Thankfulness Day #14

I'm so thankful for my friends. Today in particular I'm thinking of 3 different friends who just made my day a little better. First was Christina. She watched Abby all morning while we were at the hospital. She, like me, is not a morning person, but she still let us drop Ab off at 7:30. Then feed her lunch and kept her busy until 12:45. Thanks, Christina!

Next was Jill...My BFF. (I so sound like a teenager!) Anyway, we've been playing phone tag and today we finally talked. I love that we're still such good friends and that she knows me better than anyone. (Well, female wise, I think Dave knows me the best.)

Last was Nikeela. Nikeela and I met at the park over a year ago. Abby and her daughter Ksaynia hit it off. (the 'K' is silent so you say it Saynia) Anywho, we also hit it off and she has become a great friend. She is one of the most kind and giving people I've ever met.

Thank you ladies for being in my life. I think you're all pretty great.

Thankfulness Day #13

Today I'm so happy and super thankful for a day without diarrhea! It's the first day in almost 2 months with no yucky diapers. Emma hasn't been eating wheat for 11 days and she is finally starting to feel better. Yay! She's playing more and trying to climb up the stairs when I'm not looking!! I couldn't be happier to chase her up the stairs. Thank you, Lord, for showing us what's been making her sick.

Side note/Update: Tomorrow she's going in for an upper endoscopy. They put her out with gas, give her an IV, and then put a little scope down her throat so they can have a look in her tummy and intestine. They do a biopsy to confirm that she does have Celiac. It will take her intestines 4-6 months to heal. We're praying for a quick healing.

BTW: Our new baby is 15 weeks today! Soon we'll know if it's a 'he' or 'she'!

Thankfulness Day #12

Sorry, I'm a day late...didn't make it to the computer last night.
Yesterday I was thankful for my handyman husband. I'm so thankful that he can fix cars and save us oodles of money. We went to his parents' house yesterday so he could finish working on his Jeep. I happy that it is working again. At first the single car family thing wasn't too hard, but then his schedule changed and the girls and I had to get up and take him to work at 6:30 and then pick him up at 5:30 (rush hour, yuck). I'm happy to have my own car again. Thank you Dave for working on cars and thank you Gordon for teaching him how to do it when he was growing up.

Thankfulness Day #11

Today I am so excited and thankful for adoptions! Tonight my sister-in-law had a 'toddler shower' for the little girl they are adopting. She'll be 2 in January. I'm so excited to meet this new member of our extended family. We've been praying for her for months. Abigail prays for her everyday, sometimes several times a day. We talk about her like we talk about the other cousins, like we already know her. We want her home with her new family by Christmas, but there is still some more paperwork that has to get approved before she can come home. It's just a waiting game. Please join me in praying for her to be home for Christmas.

Thankfulness Day #10

I am thankful that I have girls! I so wanted boys. When I was pregnant with A & E I really wanted them to be boys. Now that I'm pregnant again I really don't care what it is. I think another girl would be lots of fun. A boy would definitely be fun too, especially for Dave. (No more worrying about pink!!) Anyway, I'm excited to find out next month what we're having. (That was just a side note.)

What brought this thankfulness about girls up was Abby seeing a Barbie car at the store the other day. That reminded me that I had kept my Barbies and Barbie car in case I had girls someday. So, today after work Dave found them in the garage and Ab has been having a blast with them. (She took one of them to bed with her tonight.) Emma loves the car, but she doesn't care too much for the Barbies.

Thankfulness Day #9

Today I'm thankful for the Bible. I love how God speaks to us over and over again and how the same story can mean something different depending on what's going on in life. I love the encouragement I get just when I need it. My favorite verses from the Bible are Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

This verse always helps me to keep things in perspective.

Thankfulness Day #8

Today I'm thankful for Emma's therapists. They are all great. They've taught her (and us) so much. I know she wouldn't be where she is today without their help.

Thankfulness Day #7

Today I'm thankful to be a stay-at-home mama. I love my girls they are so sweet. I can't imagine leaving them to go to work each day. This is truly one of the biggest blessings in my life.

Thankfulness Day #6

Today I am thankful to be in my 2nd trimester (14 weeks)....finally. Not feeling so tired now. Woohoo! I've made it through the last few days without a nap. I'm so excited to meet this new little one. He or She is already making an impression. I can already feel the little one moving around. The miracle of life is such an amazing thing.

Thankfulness Day #5

Today I'm thankful for living close to family. Dave's Jeep has been out of commission for the past two weeks. It's been staying at his parents house while it's on the mend. Today Dave was at his parents reviving it, and Abby went along to play at Grandma's house. Emma and I stayed home. She took a long nap and I cleaned the house and organized my closet. Then Emma and I went out to Dave's parent's for dinner. I really appreciate being close to them.

Thankfulness Day #4

Today I am thankful for my hardworking husband and for the show 'Let's Make a Deal.' Dave has been working for the show for the past month and a half as a scenic artist. He paints the props, sets, and floors. Pretty amazing to me, really. He has to match paint colors and get everything looking just right all with the pressure of filming and being on a tight schedule. He is so talented! (If you watch the show, check out the gold floor, I think its cool. He recently redid it.)

The show is filming in Vegas and is scheduled to run until March, there may be a possibility of it running longer. (We're praying it does.) With this economy, Dave's work has been super slow and we've been surviving by God's grace. Now we are enjoying a little job security. Thank you, Lord, for work! As usual, you are so good.

Thankfulness Day #3

Today I'm thankful for digital scrapbooking. My sister-in-law has gotten me to start to switch over from traditional 'paper' scrapbooking. I'm planning on finishing off some of the years I've already started with paper and then going completely digital.

Last night, Deb and I went to Panera with our laptops and had a little scrapbook night. It was so nice to go somewhere to scrap and only have one small bag. I was working on a layout for last year's Halloween festivities. Here's one of the pages I was working on...

Thankfulness Day #2

Today I am thankful for nap time. I'm glad that God decided that kids need to rest during the day, which allows Mama time to rest too. I usually start nap time with a little cat nap of my own:) I love the quiet of the house and that I get time to time think and take care of things without interruption.

What I really love is checking in on them while they are sleeping. This is a habit that is done without really thinking. When they are newborns you check on them often to make sure they're breathing and doing ok. Now it's 3 years later I still do it! Here is a glimpse of how precious they looked today.

Update on Emma #2

Yesterday I talked to Emma's doctor about the rest of the results of her blood work and we finally have an answer about why she's been having diarrhea.....she is allergic to wheat/gluten (aka Celiac Disease) It's nice to know what we're up against so now we can get her healthy again. I'm sad for her because of all the food she won't be able to eat. However, I'm glad that this developed while she is so young, which should help her adapt a little easier. I also have a friend that has it so she's offered to go shopping with me and show me what's good and what's not. This allergy has become more common so now there are a lot of options out there. Please pray that her body heals quickly.

A Time to be Thankful

I wanted to do a 'Month of Thankfulness', but due to the late start I think I'll call it 'Half-a-Month of Thankfulness'!

Today what I'm thankful for are my girls and their relationship. They love each other so much and it's obvious by the fact that they are always giggling, laughing, hugging, wrestling and sharing. This morning at breakfast they were playing one of their favorite games. Abby hides behind Emma's high chair while she's eating and says "Emmmmma". Then Emma turns around and giggles and tries to find her. It brings me such joy watching them together.

One of my favorite pictures of them cuddling!

Update on Emma

We got the preliminary blood results back and we are happy to report that it isn't looking like something super serious. So far it's looking like she has an infection in her intestines, which is why she's had diarrhea for a month. We'll know more by Friday. Our doctor has also referred us to another gastroenterologist. (I have no idea how to spell that!) Hopefully he'll be able to get things figured out. We appreciate all of you who keep praying for her. The Lord continues to be faithful with this little one.

Keepin' Us On Our Toes

Little Emma is keeping us on our toes in regards to prayer. She hasn't been feeling well for the past month, but has gotten significantly worse the past two days. We took her to the doc today to find out that on the outside they can't find anything wrong. Which means something is wrong on the inside (I know, a no-brainer.) Any who, so she is not herself at all. She's usually is so happy and playful, but right now she is very lethargic and not eating much. This is definitely cause for worry.

Thank the Lord that we have a really good pediatrician that has experience with Downs patients. He's very thorough, without freaking out. That is one of the reasons Dave and I really like him. We took her in for blood work today and should have the results of the tests tomorrow. He's testing her for lots of stuff, some of the things he's testing for are pretty serious which is why we're worried. Please pray for her and us. I'll keep you posted.

Kids Say the Craziest Things

Last night, as we were driving home from the store.....Abby was telling Dave what she wanted to do when we got home. Dave told her she couldn't do what she wanted. Abby says,"Mommy, why is Daddy always bossing me around?" We were both dying laughing!! It was funny because she was totally serious and she wasn't being defiant or anything. Oh, I love that girl!

Just Gettin' Started

My Little Pumpkin
My Pretty Princess

So, I've been wanting to start a blog 4EVER and I finally did it tonight. There are always random things going through my head and I don't write them down....so I thought maybe I might be able to keep up with this to remember all that's happening. The girls are always doing the cutest things and I hope to document that on a regular basis. Also, I want to document what's happening with this pregnancy. I must warn you that I am NOT a writer. That's probably the reason it's taken me so long to get started. It takes me awhile to put my thoughts into words. I figure only my close friends and family will be reading this so you'll be ok with my lack of skills! Anyway, thanks to anyone checking in on us. I hope you enjoy!