Ringling Brothers!

I didn't think I was going to be able to take Dylan to the circus due to Isabelle arriving...but since she has decided not to make her debut yet we went last night.

Dylan was so excited he couldn't sit still before it began, he was captivated the whole time and really into the "danger" of some of the acts.

Hopfully we'll be able to keep the tradition for years to come :)

Happy Birthday Lincoln

3 years ago this morning, the excitement and anticipation of the soon coming birth of our 2nd child was heavily upon us. At about this time in the morning my mom had arrived at our house and we went for a walk around the block to see if that would help move things along (I had started labor at midnight). By about half way around our little neighborhood block my contractions were about every 3 - 4 minutes apart and I wasn't able to walk during them, before the walk they were not that strong. I probably should have left for the hospital right away but no, I still wanted to take a shower and eat a little something. So we probably left about a hour later...just in time for me to start pushing. I started pushing about 15 minutes after I arrived at the hospital and another 20 or so minutes later our child was born. Another boy!! The excitement of just having a child is something that is not explainable with words. Instant love for someone that only God can create. Instant bond, knowing that you would do anything for this little life. Instant protection, that you would lay your life down to protect this innocent life you are holding.

A few hours later while Lincoln was in the nursery getting cleaned up the nurse came in and said to Mark and I that she had something she needed to talk to us about. I can still vividly remember my body tensing up and the anxiety arriving instantly. She then proceeded to explain what condition they thought our son had...then the blow that literally made me want to throw up, "we don't expect your son to live longer than 48 hours".

Tears came pouring out as Mark crawled in the bed with me, we held each other and wept. Wept, our bodies shaking uncontrollably for a long long time.

June 19th 2006 will always be remembered as a amazing day.

Love always conquers.

These pictures were taken right after he was born.

Cadence & Dylan

Cadence is now 20 months and is a lot of fun, her little personality has been really coming out.

She is saying a bunch of different words and trys really hard to communicate. Sometimes she rattles on for a bit in a unknown language and I'll answer her by saying, "really" and she responds by saying "yeah", she really thinks we are having a conversation. :) She plays on her own for a bit now, plays with her baby doll (tries to feed and give drinks), loves to read books, started doing animal noises, knows all her body parts and loves shoes. She is super sensitive and very affectionate.

Dylan and her play good together (of course there are always a few exceptions). He is a really good helper and enjoys that Cadence wants to be around him. He is very excited about the new baby and asks all the time when Isabelle will be here.

This video is so precious :)

Dylan is always asking what we are doing for the day and is always wanting to be doing something or going somewhere. He loves to play in the water & outside. Is really into Lego's and building ships. We tried Karate lessons...but he did not like it at all.

We went to Castles and Coasters a little while back and he loved all the roller coasters & rides. He would just laugh and have a huge smile on his face.

The things that come out of his mouth are funny & amazing to me, here are a few things...

- "Mommy are you going to trust me to drive a car when I get older"

- "I can't go to heaven because I am allergic to God" (said randomly while playing one day)

- "Sister sure does love me, doesn't she"

- "It's ok mommy, when you get old and go to heaven you will see Lincoln again"

- "Grandma, you are a expert" (said to Grandma B while on a hike/walk and her explaining the different plants & cactus

- "God loves me more than you do mommy"

Isabelle will be here soon, 2 more weeks until my due date. Another adventure will be added to our family. :)

Funny Video...

Drea made this funny video for Mark for his birthday...just something for fun. :)

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/ERLtmVMtFI0Zcvg4

Celebrating Mark

Mark turns 32 tomorrow (19th)!

He has been making me really proud, he recently got a regular 8-5 job (which I know he is not created for) and he also has still been so good at his weight loss/eating healthy lifestyle. As I am typing this now he is out running. That takes some disciple to run in 100 degree temperature...and tonight was going to be his longest run so far, 4 miles.

I am thankful.

Thankful for having a wonderful husband

Thankful that he loves me even when I am being unlovable

Thankful for safety & security

Thankful for honesty

Thankful for him drawing out laughter

Thankful for his dreamer spirit

Thankful to have such a great dad for the kids

Thankful that he plays & enjoys life

Thankful for our future



Happy Birthday Mark!

Earth Wise

Over the last few months I have made a few little changes to try to be more earth conscious. Here are a few things that have changed in our house...

-We no longer use paper towels. I thought it would be a lot harder than it has been...I really don't miss them. Mark just asked me again today to buy them just for him to use, I guess he misses them more than me. Sorry Mark, no more in our house. :)

-We now use cloth napkins. I'm planning on sewing some more with some leftover material I have, it is on the list of projects...but I'm not sure that I will get to it before Isabelle is born.

-I am trying not to use zip lock bags. I have to admit that I haven't done away with them completely but I have cut back a lot. I sewed a few cloth snack/sandwich bags, which the kids love to use.

-I started only using unrefined coconut oil for my skin. It really is amazing stuff, it cleared up my dry skin areas that I could not get rid of with lotion within 2 days of using the oil. It is great for your face, hair, skin (naturally has spf 4) and you can use the same stuff you put on your skin for cooking as well. You can buy it as Sprouts for about $10 a jar. A blog that I follow recently wrote a thing about the benefits of coconut oil, if you want to learn more about it's benefits you can read about it here

http://mockabeenews.blogspot.com/2009/04/shimmy-shimmy-coconut.html

-I got rid of all my cleaning supplies and am only using vinegar & water and borax & baking soda.
I tried to do away with my dishwasher soap by only using 1TB borax and 1TB baking soda but it just didn't work and left a film on the dishes...they just didn't feel clean.

-I stopped buying disposable water bottles and purchased reusable bottles for the whole family.

Some day in our future we will own a compost bin for our garden soil, a worm compost bin for fertilizer and worms for our hen house where we will have fresh eggs.

My little attemps at making a differece.

Good Easter Weekend

We were in California for Easter weekend, the weather was perfect and we were able to make some new friends and hang out with old friends. Jeremiah & Shelly (and family) happened to be in the same area for his brothers wedding, so we were able to go to church together, have lunch and hang out on the beach for a few hours. It was a great day and it filled my heart to be with people that we love!