4 years

Four years ago today, we met in this place

to make promises that will last forever.

You are my forever

and I promise to be yours

 

While we have had highs and lows within these years i'm so proud to be able to say four years later that we still stand by our vows, love eachother deeply, and know we can withstand anything.  I'm shocked at how quick the years have gone by yet i hope we how many more years to have together. 

He's the best husband, father and best friend God could have blessed me with, and through the years i look back and know i wouldn't want anyone else by my side through it all.

Brandon- Thanks for choosing me to be your wife, the mother of your children and you best friend.  I'm so happy we've made our marriage be the best it can be and i hope God gives us so many more years together!

 "When God made you, he must have been thinking, about me." <3

 

3 years later

3 years ago my life was about to change forever, never again was my life just about me and my husband, and what we wanted and need, now it was about this tiny little boy.  He changed our sleep schedule, our daily activities, and the rest of our whole life but most importantly he changed our hearts forever.  I hold such a special place in my heart for my firstborn who made me a mommy, something I've always dreamed of being.  While there are days I'm not always proud of, there are so many more days i hope never to forget. I know at the end of each day while i kiss that little blond head goodnight that he loves me and i love him and that makes my life so complete.

Aiden Michael,
Tomorrow you will no longer be my little 2 year old toddler, but we officially enter the world of a 3 year old boy!  I can't tell you how surreal that feels, and how fast these past three years have gone.  I'm so proud to be your mommy, watching your grow up into such a boy this past year has been an honor.  I'm lucky that God gave you to me and your daddy and we are truly thankful He choose us to be your parents.  You make me laugh when all i want to do is scream in frustration, you hug me even if I'm mad and you love with your whole heart which in return just melts mine.  This year has been such a growing experience for us all.  Your speech is coming along, and feeding issues are all resolved, while you still are small you make up for it personality.  This year you became a big brother and one that couldn't be prouder!  You love you sister from the moment you wake up until you lay your head down at night.  I love to see her face light up when she sees you, and how you make her laugh like no one else.  There have been so many awesome memories i will take with me forever from this past year, and i look forward to many more we will continue to make.
Aiden I love you and am so happy to celebrate another year of your life with you!  Happy 3rd Birthday with many more to come! We love you!

1 day

1 year

2 years

today

"Before you were born, I dreamed of you, I imagined you, I prayed for you. Now that you’re here I hope for you, I love you and I thank God for you." -unknown

To The Father's in My Life

Today is fathers day and I've been blessed to be able to celebrate it with 2 wonderful men as fathers in my life.

To my own dad, who's been such a steady rock in my life, there to help me grow up, learn the values of life, to cry with, laugh with and share so much I'll keep with me forever!  While he hasn't been perfect he's been the best dad i could ask for and I'm so lucky that God choose him to be my father.  As I've grow older, had my own kids it has been amazing to see him become an amazing grandpa or "bumpa" as we all so loving call him. 

So to a wonderful father, and the best bumpa i know...Happy Father's Day!

To my best friend, husband and father of my children I'm so grateful. i loved to watch you make moment you treasure with our kids, for the seen and unseen i know it impacts them.   Thank you for being an awesome role model to our son and an example of true love to our daughter.  I'm so glad that Aiden and Melina have you as their dad!

Happy Fathers Day!!

March updates

I love naptime...i love it even more when BOTH kids are sleeping!  So after laundry is put in, and I have a moment to myself I decided a quick blog was in order. 

Since the last post we've had a few events take place...

Aiden went to GI and is progressing great!  He's up to 24 1/2 lbs and doing awesome.  He eats NON STOP! i kid you not, we get done with dinner, i clean up and he's already saying he wants to eat again...ugh.  It's a nice change from the "i never eat" stage i feel like we went through forever, but both sides have equal amounts of stress to them.  The GI doctor said now that he is off the meds we will give it till after the summer and then go in for another endoscopy to make sure the allergens have really stayed away.  In other news of Aiden, we are working on getting him into a play group for his speech therapy.  His speech is coming along well but he struggles to use it in groups with other kids, so along with getting him to socialize with other kids as much as possible we are also hoping and praying the county approves the play group idea as well. 

Melina had her 2 month drs. visit last week.  (for the record i'm not sure where the last 2 months have gone, it doesn't seem at all possible!)  anyways her weight was a breath of fresh air, for us and the doctors.  She now is up to 7lbs even and doing awesome!! 
She has a rough week last week on thurs.  Aiden lost his balance and feel on her when she as in her bouncy.  Sadly the result was a broken collarbone :( However she is doing great and taking it like a champ!  We hope to have her all healed up and good as new in 2-3 weeks!

Well i've run out of things to post for now, i'm sure there will be more to come soon!  For now here a few pictures to enjoy. 

A Stillness and Great Reminder from Today

Both kids napping at the same time= success!  So I'll take a little break and blog shortly before i get laundry going.

Today we got news that dear family friend passed away from a several year struggle with breast cancer.  My heart hurts for her family and friends.  It's something so eye opening that i know personally i try not to think about.  As we get older so do our family, more importantly on my heart today, our parents.  I'm so close to my parents that its hard to even think about what life would ever be like without them.  I'm reminded once again as three people my age have to go on without their mother here on earth.  I can't imagine what that is like, i do know that it has to be hard. 

So today, as my heart is sad for the Goodrich family, I'm also reminded about never taking moments with families, parents for granted.  Taking time to thank God for the time he gives us to be together, and making the most out of it. 

It's been too long, but with good reason...

So it's been awhile, i actually miss blogging.  I can't promise I'll be any better, but since life has had a chance to calm down a little I'll take a moment to update on our life.  Since my last post our newest family member has arrived!  After about a week and a half of hospital in and outs, doctor visits almost daily and lot of extras our little Melina Joy was born on Decembe23rd at 3:03pm.  A whole 5 weeks early she came into the world as if she owned it!  Weighing in at all of 4lbs 3oz she fought to keep up with a full term newborn and was very successful.  One day I'll post her full birth story but for now these few details will have to do.  I do however want to thank everyone who prayed for our family over those few weeks.  Pregnancy agrees with me up until about 35 weeks and then my body decides its done, but through the power of prayer and the grace of God Melina shocked not only us but the doctors, and nurses with her entrance.  All the love, support and prayer was felt and I'll always be so grateful for everyone who was with our family during that time.

Since we've been home its been an adjustment, but we are doing much better these days.  I've said many times that the first few weeks Aiden had more problems and was harder to deal with than Melina.  Due to the way Melina came, quickly and unexpectedly, Aiden was very thrown off.  Mom and Dad coming and going for a week and then just disappeared.  Aiden did horrible at the hospital, that was even more traumatizing for him, he just wanted to have everyone home!  With post pardum emotions, missing my son, his reaction to everyone left everyone in a hot, crying mess on numerous occasions.  I can laugh about it now, but the first few days the bathroom was where i had to retreat anytime my emotions got the best of me.  Aiden couldn't see my cry without having his anxiety go up so i had many trips into the bathroom to collect myself.  It's so great to see that things have returned to our new normal and we settle into becoming a family of 4.

 Aiden (despite his love of the word "no" as of recent) really does love being a big brother.  He goes to her when she cries and give her her 'packa' a stuffed alpaca toy to make her feel better.  He loves to give her kisses, help hold her and even have her kiss his boo boos he gets haha.  It melts my heart to see the two of them and how much they will grow in their bond over their lifetime.  I thank God that they have each other and hope they are forever grateful for each other, in between the inevitable fights they will have. 

Brandon and I are, adjusting as well.  It's been great to have a support in him, and we're also adjusting to our new normal.  We've both gone back to work and he is back as school, so we are becoming creative in finding time for us.  We've started on the road of Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey as well.  The road is tough, not going to lie, but I've heard so many great things about it I'm excited to see God work through our finances, as well as our marriage.  This past week especially we've really come to the point of having to do this 100% and give God that chance to show how he really does take care of us.  While my "free spirit" is more excited than my "nerds" about seeing this, i hope we are both able to grow closer to each other as well as God through this 13 week class. 

In short these are where we are now...so I'll leave you with a few pictures of our life the past month and write more later!

our little lady!

getting all ready to meet mommy and daddy

cuddle with her alpaca

<3


Many more to come soon, but for now there are mouths to feed, diapers to change, and faces to kiss!

p.s because it's been so long i hope everyone had a great Christmas and is having a wonderful 2012!!

Friday News

Thank you all for the nice thoughts, messages, and most of all prayer over the baby, and our family, it was very much felt.  We have overall good news, we met with the high risk OB, had an entire new anatomy ultrasound done and as of right now things look normal, small end of normal, but normal.  The doctor thinks that while yes we will have small babies an extra eye on things can never hurts.  While I'm not going to see him anymore and i can return to my regular OB for the remainder of my pregnancy he has recommended a few extra things.  I'll be going in every week for a non stress test, and bi weekly for fluid checks on the baby just to monitor her growth and ensure things are going well. 

I'm so thankful for God hands through everyone, while talking to the doctor, unknown to me, the main point of going to see him yesterday was to see if baby would be better off outside than in.  He was pleased to say she can stay right where she is, while she does measure on the small side, everything else looks normal, healthy and on the right track!  Thank God because, despite the restless nights of sleep, the backaches, and everything else that 3rd trimester so richly bless you with I'm not ready to be done.  I'm not ready to have her outside, that's not in the plan, its not what i want and I'm just not ready to give her up yet.  While I'm glad my OB didn't outright say that to be a few days ago, I'm so thankful that was not what we had to do.  God knows and he has been such a peaceful presence throughout this all.

Please continue to pray, this time my top request would be for Aiden.  Strange as it may seem, he senses our anxiety over everything, he's sick of being dragged along to the doctors for long periods of time, and his schedule changes so much he is just having a hard time.  I'm thankful for a peaceful Friday at home, where he can play, with no where special to be today.   It just feels good, for all of us, to have a little bit of "normal" because soon we'll be adjusting to a new normal.  Also pray God give us someone in the Rochester area that can help care for Aiden during these next weeks of doctors visits.  I'm not sure what we'll do with him, its not fair to have him sit through endless appointments, however its hard to find care sometimes. 

Thanks again for every one's love and supports! 

for now here's a picture from our last ultrasound

and a little preview of our lazy Friday at home IPhone style!



Have a Great Friday!