I will make this short and to the point....do you know what is wrong with society these days? I can give you two things that are very real and make it very difficult for me to put myself out there to meet/trust new people.
1) Very few people really try to live their lives according to what God would have for them and what His Word says for us to do.
2) Very few people really care about anyone other than themselves....so many people are selfish and could care less about the hearts of others. You see this often on FB, people status' that rant about the latest gadget or what have you and there are tons of comments...but someone really puts their heart out there and expresses a real hurt and no one cares!
Anyway...just a little grrrr from me....I don't understand why more people cannot be a little more caring, but then again these two points kind of go hand in hand too!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Ideal Protein Diet
So I have had several private messages and a few comments asking about the Ideal Protein Diet and I wanted to share a little bit of information on it for those of you that are interested.
The way that I found out about it was because of a dear friend of mine that has followed my struggles with PCOS and weight issues for a while...knowing I have had four miscarriages along the way. She had several other friends that had been on the IPD and had seen how well it worked for them (PCOS and all) and each person she knew that tried it and stuck to it was extremely successful! She also saw some of them go on to carry pregnancies full term and deliver healthy babies! So after seeing how well it worked she passed the information on to me...
Since her and I live a state a part, I didn't know where I could find a consultant to work with so I went to this website and emailed them. There just happened to be a wonderful lady right in my town that I meet with every single week! I started the 1st of January, not as a resolution...just because of the cost I wanted to wait until after Christmas so I didn't put trips to see family in jeopordy because of my diet! There is a one time only consultant fee at the beginning of $100 and then I also bought a week and a half of food...all the vitamins...the shaker...and a couple of dressings and what have you. You need to plan on around $90.00 a week for the diet but this include all food except 4 cups of veggies and one 5 oz portion of lean meat. In my opinion it is an amazing diet and the price is worth it. The first 5 days of the diet are a little rough as you are cleaning out your system...but on day 5 I started feeling amazing with more energy than I have had in a VERY long time (maybe since high school!) Since 1.1.10 I have lost 35 lbs and feel amazing! I am in a size 12 pant and started in between an 18 and a 20! The results are amazing! Several people have started since I have that I know and a bunch of them have even better results than me!
If you have any more questions please feel free to contact me through leaving your email in a comment and I would be happy to either answer them privately through email or publically on this blog!
If you choose the IPD you will not be sorry!
The way that I found out about it was because of a dear friend of mine that has followed my struggles with PCOS and weight issues for a while...knowing I have had four miscarriages along the way. She had several other friends that had been on the IPD and had seen how well it worked for them (PCOS and all) and each person she knew that tried it and stuck to it was extremely successful! She also saw some of them go on to carry pregnancies full term and deliver healthy babies! So after seeing how well it worked she passed the information on to me...
Since her and I live a state a part, I didn't know where I could find a consultant to work with so I went to this website and emailed them. There just happened to be a wonderful lady right in my town that I meet with every single week! I started the 1st of January, not as a resolution...just because of the cost I wanted to wait until after Christmas so I didn't put trips to see family in jeopordy because of my diet! There is a one time only consultant fee at the beginning of $100 and then I also bought a week and a half of food...all the vitamins...the shaker...and a couple of dressings and what have you. You need to plan on around $90.00 a week for the diet but this include all food except 4 cups of veggies and one 5 oz portion of lean meat. In my opinion it is an amazing diet and the price is worth it. The first 5 days of the diet are a little rough as you are cleaning out your system...but on day 5 I started feeling amazing with more energy than I have had in a VERY long time (maybe since high school!) Since 1.1.10 I have lost 35 lbs and feel amazing! I am in a size 12 pant and started in between an 18 and a 20! The results are amazing! Several people have started since I have that I know and a bunch of them have even better results than me!
If you have any more questions please feel free to contact me through leaving your email in a comment and I would be happy to either answer them privately through email or publically on this blog!
If you choose the IPD you will not be sorry!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A Mama's Heart
While I am a Mama in most sense of the word, I have never carried a baby in my womb for 9 months and birthed him or her. I do not look at my children and think, "wow, he has his Daddy's eyes" or "the poor girl has my nose" or what have you. But I have something even more special, I have the fact that God specifically place our Princess and our BooBear in our lives!
You see, while we have been able to conceive four beautiful babies that stayed with me for 6-8 weeks each, we never knew if they were boys or girls...or what color eyes they would have, or who's features they would carry. But in all four of those situations if we would have been able to carry them to full term we would most likely not pursued adoption, and thus our two would not be with us. Don't get me wrong, they are missed, and I deeply wish I would have been given the chance to be their Mama...but God had different plans.
And while we had 26 'matches' in adoption before we finally brought our Princess home from the hospital, again, if any one of those beautiful lives would have come to our home they would not have been the children that God intended to be with us.
I look at our Princess and see so much of my mother in her, right down to the teeth...but how is that possible? They are not even related by blood...and if you know is IRL they really do not have any resemblence of eachother either. But, boy oh boy, do they have similar personalities! Sometimes it scares me how much of my mother's personality my beautiful daughter carries...but you see that was Gods plan. He placed the Princess in our lives because she was the 'perfect' fit! It even cracks me up a little. The Princess is named after both Handsome and my paternal grandmothers for her first and middle name...both our grandmothers had an interesting wave ~both of them waved the same~ and our Princess waves that very way. Neither my husband or myself do, she just started doing it like that! Another great example is how my grandma used to cross her arms on her tummy when she was listening or talking or waiting and my daughter does that very same thing. Gods plan is the perfect plan.
I look at our BooBear and see that he looks SO MUCH like my husbands side of the family. I often look at pictures of his older boy cousin when he was at a simliar age and they look so much alike (to me) it is interesting. He does carry different physical features that are so much like my husbands family that most of the time people just figure he is our biological child. While we view him no differently than if he were our bio child, he is not...BUT, he is the BooBear God knew we needed and placed with us because again, he is are 'perfect fit.' There are even a few times I can look at him and see a glimpse of my brother when he was a wee one...every now and then! Gods plan is the perfect plan.
Not that it makes it any easier that we lost four perfect babies to miscarriage, or that it hurts any less that we received 26 phone calls stating we were to be parents and 26 more phone calls telling us something went backwards and it wouldn't be happening. I grieved for each of those 30 little angels...little angels that even though they were not really IN OUR LIVES they were and I loved them...before I even knew them!
Now, I am not preaching away for no reason...though we all do need a reminder of Gods plan and timing being perfect every now and then...
BUT, there is a reason for this. I do not know how many people read this blog on a regular basis...I do not know if you know me IRL or if you stumbled across this blog just by chance and are a first time reader...or a secret stalker that hasn't commented yet...but I do want to ask you one thing...
Please be in prayer for us, we have felt the desire to grow our family by way of adoption again. We do not know if it is tomorrow or two years from now...but we believe it is a desire God has placed in our hearts and we have been praying for a year already to bring our O.O.H. (boy) or E.D.H (girl) home. Our children are excited for the day that happens and pray daily (sometimes more than once and on their own) for bring a brother and/or a sister home. Now here is the thing, while we have enough to support more children on a daily basis, we do not have $25000 laying around to pay for the adoption. We did a fundraiser last year that helped us raise $250 towards the cause of our adoption...but that is all we have! We also have a laywer in town who is willing to do our states finalization for nothing...so that is another provision God has given to us. BUT, that isn't the total cost of the adoption. I believe God can do amazing things, and I believe that He could help us to raise the full amount and not have to take any debt out for this adoption...
That is where you, the faithful readers, come in to play. I am not asking you to all send me your money (though if you wanted to email me! lol) I am asking that you pray with us for the finacial provision so that we can grow our family again. I am also asking that if you know of any great fundraisers please leave in the comments how I can reasearch and look into them. My prayer every year is to bring our baby home for Christmas...I prayed that in 2008, in 2009, and I have been praying that for 2010...so if you have any advise or information to share with us, or if your church might be interested in doing a benefit to help an adoptive family out...please let me know!
Here's to bringing our bab(y)(ies) home this year~
You see, while we have been able to conceive four beautiful babies that stayed with me for 6-8 weeks each, we never knew if they were boys or girls...or what color eyes they would have, or who's features they would carry. But in all four of those situations if we would have been able to carry them to full term we would most likely not pursued adoption, and thus our two would not be with us. Don't get me wrong, they are missed, and I deeply wish I would have been given the chance to be their Mama...but God had different plans.
And while we had 26 'matches' in adoption before we finally brought our Princess home from the hospital, again, if any one of those beautiful lives would have come to our home they would not have been the children that God intended to be with us.
I look at our Princess and see so much of my mother in her, right down to the teeth...but how is that possible? They are not even related by blood...and if you know is IRL they really do not have any resemblence of eachother either. But, boy oh boy, do they have similar personalities! Sometimes it scares me how much of my mother's personality my beautiful daughter carries...but you see that was Gods plan. He placed the Princess in our lives because she was the 'perfect' fit! It even cracks me up a little. The Princess is named after both Handsome and my paternal grandmothers for her first and middle name...both our grandmothers had an interesting wave ~both of them waved the same~ and our Princess waves that very way. Neither my husband or myself do, she just started doing it like that! Another great example is how my grandma used to cross her arms on her tummy when she was listening or talking or waiting and my daughter does that very same thing. Gods plan is the perfect plan.
I look at our BooBear and see that he looks SO MUCH like my husbands side of the family. I often look at pictures of his older boy cousin when he was at a simliar age and they look so much alike (to me) it is interesting. He does carry different physical features that are so much like my husbands family that most of the time people just figure he is our biological child. While we view him no differently than if he were our bio child, he is not...BUT, he is the BooBear God knew we needed and placed with us because again, he is are 'perfect fit.' There are even a few times I can look at him and see a glimpse of my brother when he was a wee one...every now and then! Gods plan is the perfect plan.
Not that it makes it any easier that we lost four perfect babies to miscarriage, or that it hurts any less that we received 26 phone calls stating we were to be parents and 26 more phone calls telling us something went backwards and it wouldn't be happening. I grieved for each of those 30 little angels...little angels that even though they were not really IN OUR LIVES they were and I loved them...before I even knew them!
Now, I am not preaching away for no reason...though we all do need a reminder of Gods plan and timing being perfect every now and then...
BUT, there is a reason for this. I do not know how many people read this blog on a regular basis...I do not know if you know me IRL or if you stumbled across this blog just by chance and are a first time reader...or a secret stalker that hasn't commented yet...but I do want to ask you one thing...
Please be in prayer for us, we have felt the desire to grow our family by way of adoption again. We do not know if it is tomorrow or two years from now...but we believe it is a desire God has placed in our hearts and we have been praying for a year already to bring our O.O.H. (boy) or E.D.H (girl) home. Our children are excited for the day that happens and pray daily (sometimes more than once and on their own) for bring a brother and/or a sister home. Now here is the thing, while we have enough to support more children on a daily basis, we do not have $25000 laying around to pay for the adoption. We did a fundraiser last year that helped us raise $250 towards the cause of our adoption...but that is all we have! We also have a laywer in town who is willing to do our states finalization for nothing...so that is another provision God has given to us. BUT, that isn't the total cost of the adoption. I believe God can do amazing things, and I believe that He could help us to raise the full amount and not have to take any debt out for this adoption...
That is where you, the faithful readers, come in to play. I am not asking you to all send me your money (though if you wanted to email me! lol) I am asking that you pray with us for the finacial provision so that we can grow our family again. I am also asking that if you know of any great fundraisers please leave in the comments how I can reasearch and look into them. My prayer every year is to bring our baby home for Christmas...I prayed that in 2008, in 2009, and I have been praying that for 2010...so if you have any advise or information to share with us, or if your church might be interested in doing a benefit to help an adoptive family out...please let me know!
Here's to bringing our bab(y)(ies) home this year~
The Flowering Cross by Beth Rayn
We have read this book several times since it came in the mail and I cannot get enough of it and what is better is that my children and the Patch kids cannot either! What a way to use very real situations (I think everyone knows at least one 'Papa Jack' to teach children Biblical Principles!
I love how Beth Ryan uses this story to show children how to be a witness, even if they dont seem to be lovable; along with being kind and caring for others! I really love the Bible verses and a spiritual tidbits throughout the book geared towards children.
This is a beautiful book that will be an Easter tradition in our home!
This review is for BOOKSNEEZE...check them out here if you are a blogger and are interested in becoming reviewer for them!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Valentines Family Weekend...pt 2
Can you see my little fish and her Daddy?
The hotel we stayed at was amazing, definately one we will keep in mind when we do this next year!
See the happy open mouth coming off the slide?
She just wanted to swim swim SWIM!
Very happy off the slide again!
"All by myself Daddy, you watch!"
"Love you Mama"
Going up the stairs to do the slide AGAIN!
Floating on her back, all by herself!
She was all smiles the two nights we went swimming!
Back float again
Motion picture...she then learned that jumping in was TONS of fun!
Splash!!!
She wanted to go again and again! I think she kind of tired Daddy out that night! Brave "Big Strong Girl" (as she says)
Brother wasn't as fond of the water as Sissy, in fact the second night him and Mommy sat on the sidelines and cheered on Daddy and Sissy! And he was okay with that...so was I, it allowed me a chance to take some fun pictures!
Kelle Hampton...amazing mother!
I have been reading her enjoyingthesmallthings.blogspot.com blog since before little L was born almost three years ago. Little N was born this January with Down Syndrome and while I have always been amazed with her and how she handles life...it is truly amazing to see how she had taken the birth of Nella in stride! Keep up the amazing job Kelle!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
A new obsession...
One might say it is a vain obsession, one might say it is a waste of money, but seriously...with ~handbags~ as AWESOME as these, how could you resist!
Now it all started when I worked at this marvelous little consignment store downtown...before my babies were born! They got me into some pretty cute purses...I am thinking of one very adorable pink Liz.Claiborne. that looked like reptile skin, I still get visitation rights every now and then since I gave it to one of my friends! But what really got me into these things is when I bought my first K.V.Z bag! I was just trasitioning out of a diaper bag and wanted something big enough to carry one or two extra diapers and a small travel wipes case, along with all the other needs a girl might have of her own. The search was on, until one day the beautiful Kris from S.R. (the store I used to work at) gave me a call with a purse she thought was right up my ally...well, it was...that would be #5 in the picture. My very first KVZ bag with the baubles and all! It shimmered, it was still very neutral, and it was big enough...or so I thought. I ended up with a second black KVZ with gold detail that previously mentioned friend also received because again...it just was not big enough. ENTER ~ purses #1 & #3 in picture! Both are the great Kathy.Van.Zeelands work and I love LOVE them to pieces. I used the zebra for Spring/Summer and the steel mirrored one for Fall/Winter. Then I happened upon a GREAT deal in purse #2 just a few weeks ago, also a KVZ but TIGER STRIPE....seriously, for the price it was I just couldn't pass.it.up! It was so exciting when we returned home a couple weeks ago from East River and there was a nice large box sitting by the door welcoming me! And just on Sunday I was pegged...we went to the towns Home Show and there was a .Purse.Diva. booth there, I stopped to take a looksie and she got me with a, "you look like a lady who appreciates a fun purse." CanIGetA...mmmmmmmmhhhhhhmmmmmmm?!?!? So I came home with #4 the dreamy teal bag!
So it starts...most likely a life long relationship with these wonderful purses...I can still see a few colors missing from this line up that I would like to recruit for the team, so I signed up to host a Purse.Diva party on July 13th 2010....it will be an open house come and go as you please kind of party...come check it out and see if you can find something that you just cannot live without...trust me, you will never regret bringing home a new addition! You just might regret leaving the wonderful beauty there though! But seriously, I am still all KVZ, and I sorta feel like I cheated on her with the most recent purchase! But don't worry because I still have my eye on SEVERAL of your bags Kathy!
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