The Yummiest Bouquet Ever!

Last Thursday morning our doorbell rang and ella ran to check it out. Usually it is a sales person and I try to hide us so they think no one is home. This time...there was no need to hide. This is what I saw when I opened the door. A beautiful and yummy Edible Arrangement!

I was so surprised and have been racking my brain as to who this sweet gift was from and I have several ideas of sweet and very generous people that I know. The card just said congratulations and that they were all praying for us as our family grows. So since I cannot send a formal thank you card...I wanted to post my thanks here in case you read my blog. So thank you so much for the sweet and yummy gift. We devoured it! The chocolate covered pineapples were my favorite and the chocolate dipping sauce was so good on the strawberries. Thank you for being so thoughtful and for praying for our family! :)

In other news I am trying to be more productive this week..and cut back on eating so much sugar! These are both hard for me to do. I feel so lazy most days...and I feel like I don't get much accomplished that I want to. I have 4 sundresses for ella cut out and ready to be sewn together (they have been this way since probably September)! She will have outgrown them if I don't make them soon. I have fallen way far behind on my scrap booking. I still have Christmas to do and it is almost summer. I have lots of house cleaning calling my name (especially my bathrooms and laundry that didn't ever get finished last week!) I have a Bible study on Esther that I would like to finish and I have fallen way behind on reading my One Year Bible Passage daily. I have like a months worth of catch up and this was my goal for 2009! I would use the excuse of ella but she is a great napper and I do have a little free time each day. I could also try the I'm pregnant excuse but I am into the second trimester which is supposed to be the best as far as energy goes. Sometimes I think I was more productive when I was working full-time because I knew my free time was so limited and I had to get things done. Now it is easier to let things slide because there is always tomorrow! In other words I need to get myself motivated and quit putting things off for another day! With that...I guess I should get myself off the computer and get going!

Still Floating

I think I am still floating...for real. I just can't tell you how relieved I am to be pregnant, have had a good ultrasound and know it is a girl. Don't get me wrong I'd have been excited to have another boy and actually get to do the boy thing...but I have so many cute girl clothes, bibs, bows, socks, shoes, dresses, burp cloths, and etc., etc....that really need to be used again. I got out ella's box of newborn clothes today just to take a peek. So tiny, so precious, so exciting!

I always feel guarded in my pregnancies. I get somewhat anxious when my in-laws tell me how excited they are that I am expecting (what if my body lets me down again... i really don't want to disappoint them), I worry about everything I eat (could this be harmful to the baby), I follow every do and don't for a pregnant lady (worried that something I did or didn't do caused the 1 in 10,000 problem that Samuel had). I freak out before and during every appointment (yes cold sweats, diarrhea and all...and I know you really don't care to know that) esp. on ultrasound days. My doctor saw me in the waiting room yesterday and said, "breath Julie, keep breathing, ..." But... because of my past experiences I can no longer coast through a pregnancy without a care in the world. I know too much! I've read too much! I've experienced too much! While I am not generally a very big worrier this is my thing I worry over! I know God doesn't want me to be anxious or worried about anything...even this!

I say all that to say that I can now breathe... a little! My guard is falling. I so far have a healthy baby growing inside who is already moving! I have to continue to trust this little bitty girl who they said only weighs 5 oz. so far... to my God. The same way I entrusted Samuel to Him and the same way I daily have to entrust Ella to Him. They are not mine but His...just mine on loan. What a special, wonderful gift...that I treasure and love so much it hurts! Awww...the joys of being a mother!

I cannot write this without thinking of several of you and maybe even more that I do not know of that have sent your congratulations to me, all the while longing for a child of your own. Thank you for being so selfless! I remember how it feels to long for a child, pray for a child, and feel like God is silent. I am praying for you and can't wait to see how God blesses you richly. One thing I have learned is that I do not understand God's ways or His timing always, but they are always best in retrospect! Keep serving, keep asking, keep knocking on doors(even if they feel like only doctors offices :), keep loving, keep going, keep keeping on and before you know it time will have passed and you'll be where God's timing is! (Sorry I don't mean to sound preachy but I just remember how hard it is to hear that... so and so is pregnant, and so and so , and now so and so....and still be waiting! I hope this may bring someone encouragement! ) :)

Baby #3 is on the Way!

You read that right! We are PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!! Not just a little pregnant but 16 weeks 1 day and yes that one day counts to me. We have been waiting for the time to come when we felt ready to share our big news. As most of you know we have faced our share of disappointments in this area and we wanted to wait until we could share with confidence and have our friends and family be excited for us and not scared for us!

Many of you know we experienced a miscarriage at 10 weeks and had a D&C on Dec. 19. To our great surprise and God's infinite plan we conceived again just two weeks later. I don't think this is normally the best thing to get pregnant again so soon after a loss...and the Lord know we have been on the waiting and waiting side of trying to conceive as well...but this time God say GO! This pregnancy got off to a very rocky start with a sub chronic hemorrhage at 5 weeks in which we were sure we were losing this baby as well. God had other plans and at each ultrasound and blood draw things continued to progress. So here we are at 16 weeks with what appears to be a healthy(with two kidneys, bladder and tons of fluid), active little GIRL!

We are over the moon and I am so so excited about another girl! I know ella will be a great big sis and I am so excited about her having a little sister to grow up with! Have I already said that I just cannot stop smiling! The Lord GIVES and the Lord takes AWAY and blessed be the name of the Lord!

Easter Re-Cap and more

Easter morning!

I think she is wondering why I put her on the bench we never let her sit on!

Jesus is ALIVE!

We had a great Easter yesterday. Just for the record...I didn't miss it this year (see last post)! In fact we got to church 30 min. early and even had time to snap a few pictures before and drop a desert off at my mom and dad's house. Preparation really does help...now if I can just do it this week and get us to church on time.

We've had such a fun and full Easter celebration. I think I've almost captured it all in this long post we hunted eggs twice, enjoyed a great Good Friday Service as well as Easter Sunday. (I still have Kevin and Ella's egg scavenger hunt to do. It is ready but yesterday was just too full and she got way too much! I think we'll do it tonight! I decided to start this as our little tradition last year when she was only 5 months and of course it was all her daddy doing it and for me to get the pictures...but I think she'll really enjoy it this year. I've hid the eggs in her favorite spots with easy clues that I think she'll understand.!) The eggs and fun activities will never be the focus of our Easter celebration...it is Jesus...but we do feel they are fun activities and traditions to take part of in our family!

I also took ella for her first haircut on Saturday. I had never even had it trimmed and it was in a million layers and was a bit of a mullet. Now she has a cute little bob that can grow more at one length. I was a little sad to leave her baby hair on the floor...they did give me a little bag with the first lock to take home. She looks like a toddler for sure now and let me tell you....she is acting like one too. Toddler boot camp here we come!

Such a cool kiddie salon!

Check out her stick on earrings...she thought she was big stuff!

These are some of my favorite pictures from this Easter!

Inside egg hunt at church!

I've got a prize egg!

Daddy and e scoping out an egg!

So cute!

Toot's egg hunt...the biggest and best egg hunt around!

Lots of eggs and prizes!

Oh course ella found the "trashy!" Have I meantioned that she is quite fond of trash cans!

I know just what to do!

Do I want this egg or that one?

Making resurrection rolls with my cousins!

Egg dyeing!

Don't miss this Easter!

Last year I almost missed Easter! I am not kidding! Let me explain. The day before Easter...last year....my somewhat type A personality went into a little overdrive. I decided that it would be so special if I made ella's first Easter dress (I know you are all thinking I am crazy...and don't worry I soon figured this out!) I had a smocked dress that I had been slowly working on for months. (Let me add here that I am no smocker. I have made 4 dresses all of which were somewhat train wrecks...one I wouldn't even let ella wear because of how tacky the buttons on the back look!) So I decided I would get the dress done and she could wear it for her very first Easter. I worked and worked amidst...nursing, changing diapers and caring for a 5 month old. When she went to bed for the night...I worked and worked and anything that could go wrong did. I got the smocking done and still had to put the dress together. Well, I can sew a little with my machine when it does what it is supposed to do...but of course it wasn't...major issues. The bobbin was messing up, the needle broke...and on and on! Finally at 3 am I went to bed with the dress almost complete, realizing that I am no Martha Stewart! I was physically unable to finish it. I felt so defeated. (It's funny how I let this get to me.....it's not like ella didn't have several beautiful dresses to wear for Easter...but I did!

I overslept...like way overslept...probably because I was delirious from staying up too late. I was panicked trying to get us ready for church...not wanting to miss the Easter service....(In my heart I really wanted to be there...to worship...to celebrate Jesus! ) Kevin was ironing as he often does at our house (he likes to iron and does a much better job than I do!) Well, he forgot to turn the iron down when ironing my brand-new silk Easter shirt from Ann Taylor (that I had just paid way too much for!) Yes, it was scorched and had many holes throughout! Poor guy he felt terrible! That was it...I demanded that I was just going to church today and I would just stay home! Nothing to wear on Easter! I know...so superficial...and it's not like it even matters! I guess this goes back to my childhood and always having the perfect new Easter dress each year! Anyways, after being furious and pouting for a bit I couldn't stand the thought of not going to church...we are not ones to just stay home....and it was Easter for crying out loud. So we managed to get ourselves together and get to church. We did miss all the music and drama but we did catch most of the sermon. I felt like I'd missed out!

The day continued to unravel...I left my camera at the restaurantwe ate at and thankfully an honest person turned it in and we eventually tracked it down. I also did not get any of the cute Easter pics of ella like I'd planned on getting. You know the ones where we are outside standing in front of a blooming azalea bush! I think at about 7pm I put her dress back on her and tried but this was the best I could get!

So, what is the meaning of all this! This year I am focused! No making dresses, no staying up too late (better get this done soon), no worrying about my clothes (I will be wearing my Easter dress from 4 years ago tom.), no sleeping in...the alarm clocks are set for 6:30, no last minute preparations for church (my diaper bag is packed andthe sippy cup made and in fridge)! Tomorrow I want to focus on Jesus and not Julie. I want to praise Him for dying such a terrible death for me. I want to honor Him as the King of Glory who left his throne and came to this world to die for me. I want to not let satan get a foothold in my day and distract me with the cares of this world. I have my armor ready....don't you miss this Easter!

Fashion Tips from my little Fashionesta!

First of all...accessorize, accessorize, accessorize! A girl can never have too many!

Secondly, a wrapped belt is a great way to turn a smocked dress into something more...modern!

Thirdly,Who said the croc was out??They are comfy and chewy! (ewww)

Don't forget...A longer shoe will always make you look taller, just be careful ladies!

Go for the sporty look! It pairs great with jeans!

Try this new way to wear a belt! It will accentuate the positive and looks great with a pair of PJs!!

Once again the sporty look is back! Get you a baseball cap for all those (just taken your piggy tails out) crazy hair days!

Finally, ladies...if you can't find the right bracelet just go with several ponytail holders...their colorful, cheap and no one will know!

(In conclusion, my little 18 month old loves to dress up...constantly! Can you tell why I cannot seem to keep my bedroom clean anymore! So much fun!)

Bless You!

Ella's favorite new saying is "wess you!" It is so sweet and she immediately says it upon sneezing and is getting lots of practice with all the allergies and colds we've had lately! Unfortunately she is also saying it when she "toots!" Sorry for a lack of a better term! We are now working on excuse me!