A (Belated) Birthday

This year my birthday was weird because we didn't get to celebrate until 2 weeks later. But we did get to drag out the celebrating over a two week period, so that was nice.

All four of us came down with a stomach bug the day before my actual birthday, so we were not up for celebrating  the next day.

Finally feeling a bit normal the day after my birthday, the kids were up and watching "Veggie Tales"

Later that day Gabriella helped me make birthday cupcakes. 

She also helped eat them! 

On Saturday we were supposed to celebrate at my parent's house, but my mom was super sick. So Matt watched all four of our nieces and nephews and Gabriella so my sis-in-law and I could go to the mall for an hour by ourselves. Then he took me out to dinner at Sizzler. He took Gabriella to the buffet line and let her pick out what foods she wanted. She thought it was awesome!

We had a Buy-One Get-One-Free coupon so we got the lobster and colossal shrimp & steak. I'm allergic to seafood so Matt got to eat all the seafood. He was stuffed afterwards!

On Monday Gabriella helped me make some Gluten Free cookies that were an exact replica of  Girl Scout Samoas. They were AMAZING!!! Check out the recipe GF Samoas! 

On the 30th we finally were all well and ready to celebrate. James was with Jonny and he had fun playing with Xander and Gabriella. He is so gentle with the younger kids. It is cute to watch them play together.  

Jonathan watching all 3 kids while Mom and I made dinner

Mmmmm! My standard birthday dinner order: chicken cordon bleu, broccoli, mashed potatoes and Jell-O. My mom rocks!!

After pie, Jonathan had to try out Xander's toy too. 

4 Weeks Old

Xander is only 4 weeks old today, but I can't imagine life without him. He is such a chill little guy (most of the time!). I love how well he and Gabriella get along and how snuggley he is!

Snuggles with mommy!

Gabriella's exact words were: "You help mommy Baby Nanoo sleep!"

She loves helping me take care of Xander. 

Thank You, Jesus, for entrusting me with these precious angels!

All Four Grandkids

We finally got all four of the grandkids from my parents' side together! And we finally got Ariella to hold Xander!

Between all four of them, we managed to get a decent picture. 

James kept trying to hold Gabriella on his lap because Ariella was holding Xander. Gabriella was not interested in that! 

Tech-y cousin!

Bath Time and More Fun!

We finally got to give Xander his first bath. He LOVED it!! Both our kids are little water babies!

Matt had me put a washcloth over "his little parts"

He just laid on my lap and wiggled his legs around for a long time. So cute!

Such a snuggley little man!

I'm not sure what you call these little toys, but it was Gabriella's and we got it out yesterday for Xander to try out. Gabriella crawled in it with him and started showing him all the toys and how to play with them. He finally got the hang of it and started batting at the lowest one. 

First bath together! She was very excited to have Xander in the tub with her! 

Xander's First Two Weeks

My little man is two weeks old today! Its been a couple of crazy weeks, but we couldn't be happier!

Gabriella loves Xander and was constantly wanting to hold him.

Matt had a couple vacation days left and made good use of them...

First doctor's visit! 4 days old

Sweet sleepy chuckles!

Having some snuggle time with Daddy. This was on Daddy's last vacation day

Our first day at home with just the three of us. 

Little silly pants! This is how she posed for a picture to send to Gramma

She loves holding brother and asks multiple times a day!

Day 13, this was how the first 6 hours after getting circumcised went. Poor little man :(

But he woke up happy in the morning! Two weeks old today

How Gabriella would look with a beard! Ha ha! She had just finished a gluten-free Oreo. 

I love my kiddos! Its amazing, I was getting terrified about having two of them when Gabriella was so young still, but so far so good. Gabriella and I have had lots of laughs during the day when we are trying to figure out getting her to the toilet fast enough while I am nursing, cleaning up after Xander's spit-ups and watching Veggie Tales together. She is a good sport and has managed to successfully take herself potty twice (she has been unsuccessful many more times than that!). Both times she was very proud of herself and wanted to call daddy to tell him about it. 

My house is a mess, the laundry pile is growing by the minute, and I am so tired I could fall over and sleep for two weeks! But I couldn't be happier!!

I Kicked Infertility's Ass (twice!)

"But to those of you who fear My name, the Son of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings..."

~Malachi 4:2

Four years ago; after a miscarriage, removal of my right Fallopian tube, and a diagnosis of PCOS, we were told my two different doctors that we would never be able to get pregnant on our own. An ultrasound showed that I had absolutely no healthy tissue on either ovary. 


I was devastated to say the least. We spent the next couple years trying everything we could to conceive with no luck. 


Sanctus Real has a song with lyrics that say, "Whatever You're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos, but now I can see. This is something bigger than  me, larger than life, something Heavenly." I clung to these words as I felt tossed around in a raging storm in the dark. 


God gave me a vision while Matt and I were driving back from Yellowstone. It was of a little girl. I saw myself very vividly giving birth to her, what she looked like, how much she weighed, what her name was, etc. She was beautiful! Two months later He let me hold her during a prayer meeting. Handing her back to Him was terribly difficult for me to do. 


One year exactly from holding her at the prayer meeting, we found out that we were pregnant with Gabriella the day we moved into our new house, on Canaan Street, our little piece of The Promised Land. 

After Gabriella was born, I started having a lot of health and PCOS problems again. When she turned one we made a drastic dietary change and two months later, on Easter Sunday, found out that we were expecting another little miracle. We didn't tell anyone for three weeks as we were in shocked awe!

Xander was born on December 29, 2011 and we were overwhelmed by God's goodness!

Matt and I feel blessed beyond all reason. It is humbling to know that God gave us these children to raise and lead towards Him and to encourage them as they pursue their destinies in Him. And He did that due to nothing that we did. Each of their births and lives is nothing short of a miracle. He came with healing in His wings, and came to give us abundant life. 

Abundant means: present in great quantity; more than adequate; over sufficient, well supplied; abounding; richly supplied.

Today I am feeling abundantly blessed and looking towards the future with great anticipation for what is next for our family. We are hoping in two years for Matt to be done getting his degree, to move to a new city and then to pursue adopting siblings that need a home. As of now I will enjoy every late night feeding, sleepless night, accidental bed-wetting, thrown fit, kiss, hug, smile, coo, poopy diaper explosion, sleepy smile, and load of laundry. I savor every minute of the experience of motherhood that the world told me I would never get to have! 

Praise God for His wonderful abundance!