Beach Day

Hubby's aunt is in town and she loves the beach.  So yesterday the girls and I met her at the beach for some fun time.  It was COLD and super windy!  Thankfully I had jackets in the car for the girls.  None for me. lol  We weren't on the beach long, but we got to walk down the pier and have lunch together.  It was just fun hanging out. :)

both girls LOVE the beach!

 The birds aren't scared of ppl at the pier... Though they are a bit fierce looking.

 This guy caught a fish and the pelican tried to steal it. lol

They crashed on the way home!

My heart

So thankful for my 3 loves!!!  Oh how I love them!!!! God is so good and I am so blessed! 

Going GF

Ever since baby sister started eating food and stopped nursing (back in August) she started having all sorts of "issues".  At first I thought she was getting a cold.  She had several dr appts, antibiotics and such.  Nothing helped.  I realized around December that it was allergies.  In January we switched peds b/c her old pediatrician just wasn't helping us and unwilling to accept that she had allergies.

After talking to my mom about certain things, I took her off dairy and that helped some of her issues tremendously.  Not feeding her dairy has been hard, she loved cheese.  Thankfully she likes almond milk.  The doctor said that she's probably not allergic to dairy, but intolerant.  So hopefully she can outgrow it someday.

She was still having a lot of problems.  It could only be explained by an allergy to something.  She finally had an allergy test, I was both happy and disappointed w/ the results.  They came back negative.  I still feel like she's either allergic or intolerant to something.  After some research, I found out that she's still too young for an allergy test, and it could've come back negative even though she's allergic to something.  I also found out that a lot of her symptoms could be related to gluten.

So this week I took her completely off gluten.  It's been an overwhelming and emotional roller coaster for me.  I just want her to be better.  But feeding someone gluten free foods, is so hard!  Thankfully she's doing great with eating her new stuff.  She does however miss her beloved goldfish.  :)

I am praying that this means good results for us.  I'm so ready for baby sis to stop having her reactions. It's been over 7 months of this ordeal for her...

Toy

I've written before that I love sewing.  I've become more and more adventurous in what I make for the girls.  I absolutely love it when my girls wear something mommy makes, and they love it too :)
I have always wanted an embroidery machine, and this past week hubby got it for me!!! I'm super excited!  A sweet friend who is a pro sewer/embroiderer sat with me and showed me how to work my machine.  I always learn better that way. :) So far I've done some practice things to get better acquainted with my machine, but this weekend I have plans to make some shirts for the girls.  I cannot wait!!!

It's an added bonus that it's pink ;) 

afternoon walks

Now that the sun doesn't set till later, we've been trying to do more family walks after dinner.  We've only been able to do it once this week, but it was so fun!
I put baby sister in the walking stroller and big sis was on her bike.  Daddy has been pushing her, but this time she pedaled a lot on her own.  She's doing such a good job and learning fast!  I'm so excited!!

Daddy is doing such a good job teaching her to ride her bike.

 My big girl pedaling by herself for the first time.  I'm so proud of how quickly she's learning.  I know that most kids her age already know how to ride a bike, but she never cared for her trike, so this is all new for her. :) 

she gets so excited to ride her bike and it's so sweet to see!  I'm so excited that she likes her bike, she is the one that picked it out :)

My little love...

I love being a mom.  Love having 2 girls (I have always wanted 4 girls).  When my first daughter was born, I thought there was no way I could ever love another daughter like I love her.  Boy was I wrong. This little love has brought me SO much joy from day 1.  She completely melts my heart.  She is the biggest mama's girl.  And she thinks I'm all hers.  She seriously won't even share me with her sister.  It doesn't matter what she's doing, if big sister climbs on my lap, baby sis runs to me and gets so angry.  I'm working with her on sharing. :)  

I love her sweet smile and giggles.  It seriously doesn't matter what kind of bad day I'm having, as soon as she smiles at me, everything gets better.  I am so thankful God blessed me with this sweet loving angel.  She is the most loving, cuddly baby girl.  

zoo

This past Saturday we went to the zoo for a little family outing.  I love having the zoo membership, we get to go for a couple hours whenever we want :)

We've gone 3-4 times looking for my daughter's beloved peacocks and finally this time, they were right there to welcome us in!  Big sis was so excited she got to see them.

 All we did was go to see the dinos.  The last time they were here, I was very pregnant with baby sis. :) This time, she got to see them too.  

My 2 goofballs! 

 The koi pond.  This is my favorite area of the zoo

 Mommy and baby sis in the Asian gardens.  :) 

New Bike

Last week we ordered our big girl her very first bike.  She got a trike from nona for her 2nd birthday, but she never learned to pedal it and then got too tall for it.  So she and I sat and searched through amazon and she chose her bike, a Littlest Pet shop bike.  Complete with tassels, bell, and basket :)  It came in when she was sick, so she hasn't been able to practice.  We took her out this weekend when she was better and she's slowly learning to ride it.  She gets scared and frustrated, but I know she'll get there :)

Daddy putting it all together ...

 hard at work.  It was 11 pm when we were working on it and she walked out.  It was for a brief moment when her fever broke and she was wide awake.  lol  We let her hang out w/ us until we finished it and then she went to bed.

 sitting on her bike for the first time.  :) 

 Riding it for the first time.  She was so excited!! 

 Riding with daddy :) 

Back to normal??

Yesterday big sis woke up more active and creating havoc, but by 11 she was back to being lethargic.  She walked into my room, crawled in my bed and slept till 3.  I kept checking her temp, but she was fine.  I was so nervous she was going to have a relapse.  By night time she was back to her old self.  

Today she is completely back to normal and even ate a big breakfast.  She hasn't been eating for the past week.  She's lost 5 pounds and it is very noticeable (to me at least).  I cannot believe how sick she got!  It all started last Wednesday and lasted till yesterday (1 week).  I'm so thankful she's back to normal!

Yesterday during naptime I worked on some new outfits for the girls.  I had started big sister's top about a week ago and finished it Tuesday night.  Then yesterday I worked on baby sis' top and both their capri pants.  :)  LOVE how they came out! 

Finally feeling normal as she smiles and models her new outfit :)

She loved modeling for mommy too and was sad when I took it off... 

I also created a brand new style of flower bows to match their outfits.  I LOVE how they came out.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  I can't wait till my girls wear their new outfits :)

19 months

Baby sister turned 19 months on Sunday (3/3).  I can hardly believe we're 5 months away from her 2nd birthday.  Seems crazy!  It is definitely bittersweet.  I love this age!  Her little personality is so fun!

She LOVES anything girly.  She walks around carrying her purses... She loves playing in her play kitchen.  She constantly brings me shoes so she can put them on.  Her favorites are books, baby dolls, and balls.  

She loves to work out with mommy.  It's too fun too watch.  Her little curiosity is amazing.  Sometimes I forget how fast she's growing and she amazes me with some new skill. :) 

She absolutely MELTS my heart.  I love this mama's girl. :)  She is really starting to like her daddy.  They've been out just the 2 of them a few times and she loves it.  She always runs to the door when daddy comes home from work and squeals in glee.  She isn't happy until he picks her up.

 Like I said, she is very curious and is loving working out with mommy. :)  We got a new stepper for me since I broke the old one. lol  She "helped" daddy put it together. 

Last Friday, March 1st, we finally saw the allergist for her pesky allergies.  We've been dealing with issues for about 7 months now (pretty much since she started eating regular food and we stopped nursing at 12 months).  She's had a constant runny nose, cough, congestion, rattling when she breathes, eczema, a frequent rash on her bottom and legs.  I took her off dairy about a month ago, and it improved her bowel issues, but that was it.  The doctor thinks she's either allergic or intolerant to dairy. So we're keeping her off dairy for a while.  

Here is she is sporting her garfield bandaid where they drew her blood on Friday. :(  She was a champ! Mommy held her down while she was stuck w/ the needle.  She cried for a few seconds but then just watched the vials get filled up.  I had to hold back tears.  I hate needles and blood and watching baby go through it broke my heart!!!  

We should have our answers on what she's allergic to within a week, so I'm hoping Friday we'll know something.  I can hardly wait.  Several people have mentioned she could be allergic to glutten.  And as much as that terrifies me, I don't care what she's allergic to, I just want to know so we can start solving the problem... 

Week 3

This is week 3 of my 30 day shred.  Yesterday I started level 3 (there are 3 levels).  This is by far the hardest, making it level 3. lol
Last Monday was the first time I noticed weight loss, 3 pounds.  And I've seen a weekly progression of inches lost in my waist.

Mondays are my weigh in days, yesterday I saw ZERO change.  It was very discouraging.  I am getting frustrated that with all the dieting, 1-2 hours a day of working out for the past 3 weeks, and all I've lost are 3 pounds and 3 inches.  The 30 day shred says lose up to 20 pounds.  I don't need to lose 20, I just want to lose 13. lol  But it's just not happening for some reason and I'm annoyed.

I will keep working at it.  At least I'm getting into shape. lol

Day 6

Today is day 6 of my 4 year old still being sick.  She woke up on Wednesday with a fever.  It's been anywhere from 100-101.  Sleeping all day, not eating.  Saturday she woke up better, but by bedtime, her fever was back with a vengeance.  Sunday she slept ALL day.  Her fever got up to 102.7.  The highest it's been.  On Sunday, we never saw her.  She stayed in bed all day.  At about 8 pm we woke her up, daddy held her and that's when her temp was the highest.  I forced her to take a bath to try to get her fever down.  She couldn't even walk.  I carried her to bed and she just requested to go to sleep.  It was so sad.  Today she woke up fever free, and much more like herself.  Till about an hour ago, when I checked her temp and it was at 101.3 :(

I am so ready for her to be past this and return to normal.  The only advantage to this has been that I've gotten to take lots of naps with her and gotten lots of cuddles. :)

Praying she gets healthy again and that baby sister won't catch whatever this is.

New month

Today is a new month, crazy! I am excited to see what God has in store in for us.  Next week we should be reapplying for the sale of the house.  I'm still working on accepting it if God has us staying in this house.  I don't know how I'll react, but I am praying through it.  I feel some peace with it.  I want God honored in this trial, no more if the outcome matches my desires or not.

I've been working on reminding myself of past trials in my life and how at first it didn't match what/when I wanted but waiting on God's timing was best.  Remembering those trials helps me remember that God is in control of our current trial, and even if He doesn't give me what "I want", He still has my best interest and will answer my prayers in HIS time.

One trial I was thinking back on, was the purchase of this house almost 6 years ago.  Husband and I looked for our house for 9 months, and went through 2 realtors.  It was a very stressful and emotional time.  There were a couple houses that we put an offer on, one that I absolutely loved.  But the owner didn't like our offer.  And we weren't willing to go higher.  Then our realtor dumped us b/c we were taking "too long" to choose a house.  We gave househunting a break, until a friend had her realtor call us.  She called me the same day she got my # and asked what we were looking for.  Within days we were looking at houses that matched our desires (the first realtor wasted 6 months of our lives by showing us awful houses).  It was about 2-3 months (maybe less) and we found our house.  I remember sitting in her car driving to the house and she described it to me.  I knew then, that was our home.  It was love at first sight, I just had to have this house.  And we did. :)  We moved Memorial day weekend 2007.  We had our first and second babies here, and lots more trials.  It's been a great house, we've just outgrown it. lol

So thinking back, I had moments of anger and sadness and frustrations while we searched for our home.  I felt like we were never going to find a house.  But in God's timing, we did, and it matched every single one of our expectations and desires.  It didn't happen when I wanted, but it couldn't.  We saw our house 3 days after it had been listed. :)  The 9 months of waiting for it was well worth it.

So as I think of this trial, I "know" that if God has us stay here and not sell, there's a good reason and I know that He has something planned.  I need to keep reminding myself of that so I can stay calm and have peace. :)