More of God's Beautiful Creation

I had to get outside again today as the clean white snowflakes were drifting down. They float so gently and land in every nook and cranny they can creep into. I find them on thorns and webs and caught in branches and even snuggled up to old dying flowers and berries. Such pretty little tiny things that God has made so perfectly! I love taking photos of nature, up close, and personal. I am so thankful to God for all the beauty He has made. These beautiful little things remind me daily that He loves me! There are more photos on my Flickr page:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/35489872@N04/sets/

January 26, 2015

Just some photos I took today. It was so sunny today!  I read Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts" and this quote beginning chapter 6 is perfect for how I feel when I'm taking photos of God's creation.

Every time you feel in God's creatures something pleasing and attractive, do not let your attention be arrested by them alone, but, passing them by, transfer your thought to God and say: "O my God, if Thy creations are so full of beauty, delight and joy, how infinitely more full of beauty, delight and joy art Thou Thyself, Creator of all!" -Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

Healthy Mama

When I found out I was pregnant with Jesse, I was scared. I had been diagnosed with type II diabetes a couple years earlier. I was very overweight at 250 pounds and new that I wasn't very healthy. Even though I had diabetes, I wasn't eating right or exercising. When I knew I was pregnant, I decided to start eating right and doing all I could to make sure my baby would be healthy.  I would have felt terrible if something happened to my precious baby because I wasn't taking care of myself properly.

While I was pregnant, I followed the Dr. and Nutritionist's advice and ate properly, watching my carbohydrates. I also tried to get some exercise most days, which mostly was just walking around our beautiful property.  Because of this, I actually lost weight while I was pregnant. I felt great and felt so healthy.

Jesse was 9 pounds 13 ounces when he was born and I had to have a cesarean section because he was so big and overdue.  The surgery went great though and I healed up really well.  He was born in October, and by that summer I was down to 200 pounds. Since having Jesse, I haven't had to be on diabetes medicine at all. I also am no longer on blood pressure medicine.

I am still overweight, but I can't believe how far I have come.  I have, in the past year been having a LOT of problems with my abdomen. We haven't found the problem yet, but I think it may be scar tissue from the c-section. Anyways, I try to not let that get me down. I still try to eat right and hope that if I can lose even more weight, I will feel better again. I just want to be healthy and live as long as I can, enjoying the wonderful life God has blessed me with!

Here are some photos of me, before I lost weight, while I was pregnant and afterwards. I am currently at  215 pounds (gained a little back), but hope to slowly lose more to be even more healthy.

These are the pants I was wearing before I was pregnant.

 On the left is at Disney, right before I found out I was pregnant. In the middle, I'm obviously very pregnant, and on the right is 2 months after having Jesse.

JESSE :)

Wow! Once again, it has been a LONG while since I've updated this blog. I really don't think many read it anyway, but I like to post for my own sake. :)

That surprise baby that I mentioned in my last post turned out to be a baby boy. He was born in October and we named him Jesse.  He was 9 pounds 13 ounces and the only one of my 5 children that I had to have a c-section for.  He was so worth it though!  That little boy has been precious to our whole family from Day One!  We all adore him and he is very much loved and probably spoiled.

He's 2 years old now, but here are a couple photos from his first year.

Here he is shortly after being born with all 4 of his siblings and Gramma surrounding him.

 

Here is our first full family photo including our Jesse Bear.

 Here's our little cowboy in his hat and boots that Gramma made for him. Grampa found this tiny toy cap gun and it was just perfect for this photo.

My little Sweetie's hand in mine. <3 p="">

Jesse and Mommy <3 p="">

This little boy loves our apples!! That summer, he ate so many apples!!

Crunch!

He loved apples so much that I made an "apple" cake for his first birthday.

Our little guy when he turned 1 :)

My Flickr Photostream

Here is a link to my Flickr Photostream.  I have recently uploaded a lot of pictures of flowers at our house.  There are also snowflake pictures and other pictures on there.  :)  My Flickr Photostream

Update

Wow!  I cannot believe it's been so long since I've posted anything.  We've been really busy!

In February, we took the kids to Disneyworld.  We had a really great time there!  We stayed at the Wilderness cabins.  It was Allison and Clara's second time going to Disney and Ben and Emily's first.  We went to all 4 parks, Disney's Hollywood Studios, The Magic Kingdom, The Animal Kingdom, and Epcot.  The weather was great while we were there too, even though it had been super cold on the way down.  It was a great trip.

A few days after we got home from Disney, we got a shocking surprise...We found out that we're having another baby!  We thought we were done, but God has another plan for us.  We're excited about it.  The baby is due in October.  June 5th we will have an ultrasound to find out if it's a boy or a girl.  :)

In March, we celebrated Ben and Emily's Birthday.  We had such a great, big party planned.  I let them invite all of the kids in their class and I had two themes going on.  For Emily, we had a tea party and for Ben, a cowboy party.  I decorated and set up separate tables for each of them.  They spent the night at my parents' house the night before the party.  We ended up getting a HUGE snowstorm that night and it turned out the next day that nobody could make it to the party!  Ben and Emily were even late as it took a while before my parents could bring them home.  Luckily though, Ben and Emily Did make it home and my parents, of course, stayed for the party.  We had a good time anyway and the kids were not too disappointed.

In April, Tim and I celebrated our 16 year Wedding Anniversary! 

The kids are all doing great in school.  Allison and Clara have had a lot going on with band this year with festivals and concerts and parades.  School's almost done for the summer and we are all excited about that. 

We are all loving our new house.  I guess it isn't so new now, since we've been here since August, but it's our first Spring here, so we're experiencing firsts still.  I've been amazed at all the different flowers and plants Walter has planted here!  I take walks around the yard every couple of days at least and I'm always finding something new blooming!  It's beautiful! 

We had a Cinco De Mayo party on May 5th here at the house.  My parents, my brother and his family, and my niece, Tara all came for that.  We had tacos, tortilla chips, homemade salsa, homemade horchata, and spanish rice for dinner.  My brother and sister-in-law, Shawn and Tracy, even brought a pinata filled with candy for the kids!  We all had a great time!  Clara even made an appearance as a one-man mariachi band.  :)

Tim and the kids bought me a hammock for Mother's Day.  I've been going out and laying in it now and then.  It's so peaceful just listening to the birds and breathing the fresh air.  For Mother's Day we drove up to the Sleeping Bear Dunes.  We had never been there before.  It was a great day and a beautiful drive up there.  We had a nice dinner at Glen Arbor and then went to the dunes.  The kids zipped right up it!  I decided to try it and made it up the first main dune.  :)

On Sunday we had Clara's birthday party.  The family came again for that.  She wanted eggrolls and sushi for dinner, so I made them.  I made her a cake that looked like a giant California Roll sushi.  Shawn and Tracy brought water balloons and water squirters for the kids.  It was another great, fun day!

Monday night we went to a Family Fun Night at Ben and Emily's school.  It was fun because they brought in a petting zoo.  My favorite animals were a 4 horned sheep and a baby zebra.  The kids really enjoyed, seeing, petting, and feeding the animals.   

  

Allison had a Band Banquet the same night and she won some awards for the year.  She got her school letters and a pin for being in colorguard.  She won a mock election award too as "The quiet one you have to watch out for"  ;)

Well, I guess that's about as up to date as I'm going to get right now.  The weather is great lately, so I'm sure we'll be spending much time out and about.  We plan to go on a trip or two this summer too.  It will be a fun and busy summer!

Snowflakes

Here are some new snowflake pictures that I have taken recently.