Saved by Grace - Christian Michael

Well, I haven't posted an update in... forever. But this.. this is worth taking time out to remember forever. Our sweet boy, Christian, asked Jesus into his heart. I want to write out all the details now so that he will have these sweet memories forever.

About 4 months ago, Christian started asking very serious questions about salvation. Corey and I read  bible stories with him all the time, talk to him about Jesus, and he hears it at church and at school. He's always been very interested in knowing more and learning more about God's word. But he got very specific about being saved back in November. I remember having a long conversation with him in bed about it and him asking me to pray with him. He told me he knows he wants to follow Jesus and spend forever in Heaven one day. He was very persistent about it all. So of course I prayed with him. He was four at the time, almost five... Obviously I questioned if he truly knew what he was asking but I knew I did not want to question the Lord and His timing is perfect timing. If this is when He was drawing him in, I would not question that for a second. Corey was on shift so I talked to him about it the next morning and he talked with Christian more about it. He was so confident in it... He was saved and Jesus was in his heart is exactly what he told his daddy. He explained to him exactly what that meant and I remember Corey and I looking at each other in a bit of shock, but overwhelming joy. I have prayed for this day his entire life. Every single night. God is so so good ya'll. We told him how proud we were of him and kind of left it there for a while.

Over the past few months Christian has been more and more curious about different things he learns at church or at school... He really asks a ton of questions when him and Corey read the bible together at night. He would still bring up Jesus living in his heart and talk about Heaven. Not until this past Monday night when we were eating dinner though did we question him about it. He had just finished praying before dinner and something was brought up about being saved... Christian VERY confidently started telling us all about that night in bed that he asked Jesus into his heart. Corey asked him some questions and he answered them all spot on. Just seeing the look in his eyes while talking about it.. I knew. I started crying of course because I hadn't felt such an overwhelming joy I don't think. We asked him if he was ready to talk to Brother Eric about it and he was so excited and said yes!! I text Eric and told him the great news and he responded AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME! There is no greater feeling in the world than knowing your baby asked Jesus into his heart and KNOWS what that means. Lord, we give you ALL the glory. Thank you for using us to teach him.

So, we were all SO VERY excited for church on Sunday (today) because Christian couldn't wait to share his news. And the next night, on Tuesday, I broke out in a severe poison ivy rash all over and predominantly on my face. It wasn't just a little rash either... it was go big or go home as one of my friends said. It ruined our trip to Branson on spring break and I was terrified that I wouldn't make it to church on Sunday. I prayed like crazy every single day and night for God to just heal me enough to make it there. Oh, the devil was fighting hard!! Saturday was the worst day.. my eye was almost swollen completely shut and I felt like I had been chemically burned. I still was not giving up hope and had so many people praying for me which was a huge blessing. I woke up this morning, SO much better than yesterday, and good enough to cover my face with some make up and GIVE GOD ALL THE GLORY!!!!! My baby boy marched right up there during the invitation, with Jesus in his heart, and proclaimed it for everyone to know. THANK YOU LORD!!!! You are such a good, GOOD Father.

That is a face of a very proud daddy right there! :)

Christian Michael, you changed our lives forever the moment we found out about you and you haven't stopped since. You are a little miracle sent to us straight from God and one of the greatest blessings on earth. You are such a special little boy.. There's no doubt about that. Your heart is unlike most and your daddy and I are beyond proud of you. We love you so much precious boy.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8 

*March 27, 2016*

Life Lately

I am terrible at updating on the small things... and well, the big things too. I haven't even found time to write in baby books so this is all I have, therefore, I MUST get better at updating! I already love going back a couple of years and reading about what was going on. I'm going to try to post every Monday so that I don't miss so much.

Anyway, life lately has been crazy crazy busy!! Thank God I'm a super organized person or I would be drowning. My planner looks pretty intense right now. Sunday's we have church (best part of my week) and then we have church again, which lately has been lasting until 9:00 at  night because we are practicing for our worship arts drama for Easter. It is going to be A-mazing!!! Then, Monday is just a Monday in general - hectic, and now Christian has soccer practice Monday evenings too. Tuesday is soccer, Wednesday is church, Thursday I have class, Friday is my one uncommitted day to anything but work and family time, and then Saturday's are soccer games! Whew. This is us only having one kid in one sport. I can not imagine what life will look like in 2-3 years but THANKFULLY I will NOT be in grad school then. Whoohoooo!!

Christian and Harrison are literally growing up before our eyes. They surprise me every day with something new and I can't seem to get over how fast they are changing. Christian is just his own little person now with a mind of his own. It makes me realize more and more how important this parenting job is and how we are molding them into the person they will become. We have been very intentional about sharing God with him. He's starting to ask a lot of questions and make comments that help us want to be better and live better. We are the image he sees right now of how he is suppose to act and that is a huge responsibility. One that I'm very happy and blessed to have.

Christian has started soccer and love it. He doesn't so much love playing against other kids though... haha! He really likes the idea of kicking the ball around and kicking it into the goal - which he's really good at, but he doesn't like the scrimmaging part at all. I think this is because he's on a team with older boys that are much bigger than him and it's intimidating. He's my sweet little shy spirit and I think that is just a little much for him. Harrison on the other hand is dying to get out there! lol

Harrison is learning, learning, learning! I can't believe how much he talks now. He seriously can tell us anything now and we have regular conversations with him. Crazy. He knows a lot of colors, how to count, he's singing his ABC'S with me (which is the cutest thing ever), and he's obsessed with riding the lawn mower with daddy. They both love to be outside all the time and they fight over who gets to mow with him. They love playing on their swingset and they have been pretending lately that they are super heros while swinging on their stomachs. It is soo precious.

Christian is loving school. Today is picture day and he wanted to pick out his clothes. It just about killed me because I'm pretty controlling like that. lol I gave him options and he of course picked the one color that I'm not super fond of - orange. But he looked like a little doll in it. :) His Easter egg hunt and party is Thursday and I'm excited about it! I never knew just how much I would love being a mom... It truly gets better and better. And yes, we get asked all the time IF we are going to have another...... The answer is who knows?? We don't, but I know God does. I will say, if we choose to it will be in His timing (which I'm praying is after I get Christian in school and maybe Harrison too.. lol)! :) Right now we are perfectly content with our family of four. <3

 I am so proud of this man and blessed to be his wife!!

And yes, there are way more pictures of Christian because Harrison NEVER stands still long enough to get a picture! All of his pictures are little blurs... lol

My BABIES turned 2 & 4....

With all the craziness of holidays and sickness, I haven't had a chance to write their birthday posts. And I can not leave them out SO better late than never, right?! :)

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Harrison turned TWO on November 13th. It just doesn't seem real. He's the baby and it feels like he should stay a baby. However, I'm loving every minute of his precious little toddler stage. He loves planes so his birthday party theme this year was Disney Planes and we had a small family party. We had a great time!

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Harrison Zachariah, you are such a blessing. You are such a special little boy and you brighten up a room with your huge smile and personality. You are extremely laid back and nothing seems to ever bother you. You are tough as nails. You love your brother more than anyone and think he hung the moon! You still love your mommy a whole, whole lot but you are just as attached to your daddy these days. You are his little buddy. He calls you Gary, which has kind of stuck and I call you that too sometimes... haha! You stay with your Nana every day while mommy and daddy are at work and you love that a bunch. You enjoy going with her to pick brother up from school on Tuesday and Thursday's and then you all go get lunch and an ICEE. You pretty much have it made. You are talking up a storm now... having full on conversations with us. That is so much fun. You're learning so much every day and growing up so fast. You love playing with building blocks, cars, trucks, planes, and being outside is your favorite. Your favorite show is Paw Patrol and your favorite movie is Polar Express. We have seriously watched that movie a million times. I have to rock you every night before you will go to bed and I love it. I'll cry the day you don't want to be rocked anymore. You have to have "baby" (your blankie) and "lambie" to go to sleep. You've started saying your bedtime prayer with me, which blesses my heart. You are absolutely precious and have completed our family in a way we never imagined.  

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At your two year check up you weighed 30 lbs and you were 36" tall. In comparison, your brother weighed 27 lbs and was 34" tall at his two year check up. You are going to be our big boy and take after daddy.

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Christian turned four February 4th. Ummm.... FOUR??? Oh how I love this age though!! SO much fun!! I know I always say this but it just keeps getting better and better. It seems like the older they get, the more enjoyable they get. And I never thought I would say that because I looooove having babies in the house. Christian had his first party out of the house this year. We had it at Didion Gymnastics and invited all of his little friends. They all had a blast. Then caught the flu. UGH. 

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Christian Michael, you are also such a blessing. You are my little buddy and are definitely mommy's boy. You have a huge heart for others and can't stand to see anyone upset. You get upset and worry easily. You want everything to be perfect and you are a bit lot particular about things. You are your momma's child, poor thing! Your heart for the Lord is evident already and I could not be more proud of you. You are an amazing big brother to Harrison. You two are abundantly blessed to have each other as brothers and best friends. You're incredibly smart and love school. It's easy to teach you things but hard to keep you focused for too long. You get bored with things fast. You like to put things together and solve problems. You are our serious little thinker. You love your iPad. Your favorite thing right now to play on it is a helicopter simulator. You also love the Disney app where you can watch your shows. Your favorites are Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Miles from Tomorrowland, and Doc McStuffins. You like watching them in Spanish too.... kind of strange but we don't stop you. You've actually learned a lot of Spanish from it. You go to school on Tuesday and Thursday's from 8-11:45 and love it. You stay with your Nana the rest of the time and really love that! You absolutely adore your teacher, Ms. Amy and we are going to miss her so much next year. I'm so excited that you get to start playing your first sport this year. Soccer will start next month! I could go on and on because you do and say so much now.... I love you so much angel!!

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At your four year check up, you weighed -- lbs and were --" tall. (Your appt is actually today so I'll have to go back and put this in.) You have grown so much taller though!! 

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Diet Bet Results

Whoo hoo! I won my diet bet challenge... just waiting to see how much money I won! I don't even care at this point. I'm just happy with what I accomplished in 4 weeks. This is just the beginning. :) So, we were challenged to post our before and after pictures.......... Oh goodness, mine are horrific. I am only sharing to keep myself motivated and maybe motivate others that might need it.

 

NEVER in a million years would I have thought I'd ever share pictures like this for anyone to see... blah. BUT, I'm proud of myself for beginning this health journey. Like I said before, this means so much more to me than just losing weight.  I feel like I can tell a difference. I can definitely tell a difference in my mood and energy and just the way I feel overall.  Happy, happy!! :)

We had to take a picture of ourselves standing on the scale with the same outfit on each time and we also had to take a picture of the number on the scale. I will just be honest with everyone, (what do I have to lose now that I've shared these pictures... haha!) my before weight was 136 and my final weigh in was 127. I have a lot more work to do but I'm ecstatic with those results and looking forward to continually working on being a better me. :)

New Adventures

It's almost midnight and I should be sleeping..... but instead I just finished waxing the floors and I'm wide awake. Our house is showing tomorrow and I'm so anxious. I realize we could go through many potential buyers before selling, but I can't help but have these anxious feelings. We had put our house on the market for a short time last year. We didn't really have a plan at the time, so we weren't very motivated. This time is different. We have the perfect plan. However, I can't help but wonder if it's God's perfect plan for us. We prayed a lot about this decision and felt completely at peace with it. We decided we want to build and found exactly where we want to build almost immediately. We actually had our offer accepted last week and we are really excited about it. My prayer is that our house sells in God's timing and not ours. I know this is silly but I even pray for the people who will buy our home. This was our first home and where we brought our babies home to. It's special and as much as I want it to sell, I pray that our future buyers will love the Lord and make him the center of this home.

We may not know God's timing for our future, but we do trust in Him completely. So instead of being anxious, I need to find peace in knowing God has this all figured out. We will continue to pray about these big, new adventures for our family and would love the prayers from our family and friends. 

 

I just happened to snap this picture the day we took the boys out to show them the land. Little did I know, this would be it. I am very much looking forward to these great times ahead with my sweet family. Corey is actually standing right where our house will be... I'm glad I have this special picture now. :)

 

Diet Bet & Training by Corey ;)

I signed up for a diet bet and I just finished week 1. I lost 2 lbs. I would say that's pretty good since for the first time ever, I'm doing it the healthy way. No fad diet, no eliminating all carbs, no super low calorie counting... Just clean eating and working my booty off! I already feel so much better. I also survived week 1 of training with Corey. He's is rough, whew! I've had quite a few people ask me what he has me do each day since I'm not having to go to a gym.... so I'll kind of share what a day looks like of "training by Corey"... lol

Basically, I work out every day... but different muscle groups each day. There aren't any "rest" days unless I feel like I need one. However, one of the days each week is just cardio. I do T-25, which is a Beachbody program, 6 days a week so that is part of this plan also... It only takes 25 minutes each day. I highly recommend it!!

Sunday: T-25 Cardio & cardio with Corey.... which I feel like is probably what he remembers from out on the football field and it just about kills me.
Monday: T-25 Speed & back and chest with Corey... mostly with free weights and a couple of things using body weight.
Tuesday: T-25 Total Body Circuit & arms with Corey... I think this is where he kills me the most. His arm work outs are hard and I want to die halfway through them. I scream, throw minor childlike fits, and my arms shake like crazy, but I always get through it and feel majorly accomplished afterwards. I just can't blow dry my hair the next day.....
Wednesday: T-25 Ab Intervals (killer) & more abs with Corey.... Ugh, I hate this day.
Thursday: T-25 Lower Focus & arms with Corey... Pretty much the same as Tuesday but we focus more on triceps than anything else this day.
Friday: T-25 Cardio & legs with Corey... My legs are sooo sore from doing T-25 all week because you do hundreds of squats and lunges, that I'm actually kind of dreading this day.
Saturday: T-25 STRETCH :) and I guess this would be my "rest" day but I still have to get my cardio in.
*I have to get 5-10 miles of running in a week... doesn't matter what days.*

As far as eating goes.......
Breakfast - 8 oz of Naked juice every morning
Snack - apple/banana/strawberries/blueberries (one of these sliced up)
Lunch - Usually salad but some days whatever is left over from the previous night's dinner. As far as salad dressing goes, I don't go all crazy... It has to taste good or I'm not going to eat it every day. My favorites right now are Olive Garden's Italian dressing (light version), Catalina fat free, and light thousand island.
Snack - carrots/cucumber/celery and I try to eat whichever one I have that day without dipping, which is a challenge with celery.. haha If I'm having celery I usually use a tiny bit of ranch dressing.
Dinner - Different versions of chicken and fish with veggies/salad. I also found a lot of great recipes on Pinterest recently that I've loved. I just try to stay away from carbs as much as possible at dinner but I'm not super strict either. I eat what I want at dinner, while trying to be mindful of how healthy it is.
Snack - I usually don't eat after dinner unless I'm super hungry. If so, greek yogurt, fruit, or a couple of peanut butter crackers.

I also TRY my best to drink one gallon of water a day. This has been the biggest challenge for me.
So there it is... Hope this helps those of you that wanted to know what each day looked like. If you want more details of the work outs, I don't mind at all to help ya out there. :) This is all about encouragement and getting through one day at a time! I am definitely NO expert but this just happens to be what works best for me.

 *As of right now, I'm trying not to have cheat meals until I reach 10 lbs. At that point, I'll ease up a little but still try to stay as healthy as possible for the most part. Honestly, this has been much more about the health aspect than the weight-loss for me. I want the boys to have a good example in me.. not just their dad. And I want to be around as long as possible to enjoy this amazing life God has blessed me with.

**Highlight of my week: I am FINALLY off of caffeine. It took 5 days of drinking half a coke a day to get through the awful headaches, but I'm on day 2 of nothing and NO headache. Praise the Lord, He has been my strength!

NYE 2014

"I'm going to take a picture so you can see the sass you are giving me right now."

So, for New Year's Eve I got a personal trainer. I've wanted one since I had the boys and I've begged my husband to just do it. He is amazingly smart when it comes to anything health/fitness but he has always said nooooo way. He's afraid to hurt my feelings or make me mad.... and most of all, he knows how easily I say, "I don't want to do it anymore" and throw a big hissy fit when it gets too hard. He also says how perfect my body is already and I don't need it.... WHATEV. That's why I love the man so much, but this body needs some bootcamp. So, knowing how much of a tight wad he is.... I strategically told him the other day that I'm getting a personal trainer and what did he say.... "I'LL DO IT!" Win. Worked like a charm. I've already had training sesh #1 and I think he's trying to kill me. I brought out my cute little weights and he laughed and traded me out. This is not going to be fun by any means.

I know, I know.... EVERYONE and their dog makes the resolution to lose weight. It's true... and it's also true that I may fail. But I'm not trying to "get skinny." I want to be fit and most of all, healthy. I want to be a role model for my boys and I would like to not feel like a fatty next to my stud of a husband. haha! I think this is my year... We are taking an anniversary trip to somewhere tropical in July (6 months) and I WILL wear whatever swimsuit and cute summery clothes I want, confidently by gosh! I also turn the big 3-0 next year and I would really like to be living a healthier life style by then. I think I'll try to blog more, maybe to keep me on track.. but let's be honest, that might not happen. I always have great intentions on keeping the blog up to date and it gets worse and worse by the year.

Most importantly......... 

I can say one thing I accomplished in 2014 was building a better relationship with the Lord. I feel much closer to Him now than I did at the beginning of the year, or ever, and I'll continue to work on myself daily to serve Him better. Corey has become such an amazing God-fearing man that leads our little family with such grace. Our boys are absolutely precious and Christian already has so many great questions and comments about Jesus and heaven. I have an amazing best friend that always points me in the right direction when I need it. My family and church family are so wonderful and so supportive. For all of that, I am truly grateful and blessed.

"The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though they may stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord upholds them with His hand." Psalm 37:23-24

Catch UP!

Well, I'm way behind because so much has went on that I would have LOVED to document every moment of. I've decided to spend at least one lunch a week eating at my computer and catching up on here. I don't want to forget all of these precious memories that go by so quickly. So, this is going to be a little long recap. :)

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Biggest News lately - Christian started Pre-School on August 19th. He LOVES it!!!!! We are beyond thrilled with our decision to put him in First Place Academy. Corey and I prayed about finding the right place for over a year and we can't believe it's already time for him to start. We both teared up a little on our way to his open house just talking about it. He goes two days a week until noon and he has had a wonderful first few weeks. He wakes up SO excited to get ready for school in the mornings. :) I love our conversations we have on our way to school in the mornings - they seriously make my day and are one of the most enjoyable moments with him right now. We talk about everything. I pray every night for this to be an amazing year for him and that his little light shines bright for Jesus!!

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8-21-14 His first Show & Tell at school and he chose to take his firetruck of course. He said he wanted to tell all of his friends about his daddy being a firefighter.

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This next few weeks are color weeks and I'm having way too much fun dressing him for the color of the day!! He helps me pick out his shirt at night and I think he loves it too... haha!

BLUE DAY!

GREEN DAY!

He got to be the special helper yesterday & he was super excited about that!

Which means he also got to dress the weather bear! :)

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I also started back to school & grad school. I adore my kiddos this year... They really are awesome!! My classes are a lot of fun and we are off to a great start. I'm SOOOO happy that I'm done with Research & Statistics, the nightmarish class I took this summer. It drained every bit of life right out of me at times. I'm taking Practicum this semester so I get to start doing some real counseling and I'm nervous/excited about that. I redid the look of my classroom over the summer and I'm just in love with it. It was so time consuming but well worth it. The kids really love it and that's all that matters. I'll post pics of that soon as soon as I get some time.

There are major perks to working with your best friend! :)

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Harrison lives a pretty easy life that still consists only of eating, playing, sleeping, and staying with his Nana while we are at work and bubby is at school. He is about the most chill, easy going child I've ever met... He may look just like me but he totally got his daddy's laid back personality. He's starting to talk so much and saying new words each day. I can't even imagine him having a conversation with me but I know that day will be here before we know it. He thinks his big brother hung the moon and he's daddy's buddy! He's rough, rowdy, and always smiling! :)

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Bad news: I've been having gallbladder attacks again... BOO! I thought I had magically escaped the problems but after two years of being attack-free, it hit me hard a few nights ago. :( Worst. Pain. EVER.  I have an appointment with a surgeon on Monday and the plan is to have surgery on Wednesday. I'm a nervous wreck so prayers are greatly appreciated. 

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I feel like I shouldn't end this wonderful post on a bad note, so let me not leave out my wonderful hubby. He's almost done with our first flip house... It should be finished by the end of the week or next week. Super excited to get it on the market and hopeful it will sell quickly. What a blessing that would be! He's been hard at work loving his job at the fire department and taking night classes twice a week so every moment we get together, I cherish greatly! I'm so proud of what an amazing husband and daddy he is and just feel super lucky. <3