Day 19 of "30 Days of Blogging"

Day 19- write about a sweet memory from your past

There are so many to choose from. I have a lot of good memories of time spent with family and friends and of things that I've accomplished over the years. The one I'm going to choose is the day that I became a mom for the first time. I was really scared of that day but also so excited. Once Iyana was finally born, I actually didn't want to hold her right away knowing that once I did, I would be responsible for her. But, when she was placed in my arms, I fell in love. Yes, she was my responsibility now, but what an awesome one to be given. To finally be able to meet her and see her sweet face, there's no words to express the joy in all of that. I'm still amazed that God has given us two wonderful gifts in our children.

Day 17 and 18 of "30 Days of Blogging"

Day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

If I could choose anyone and any day, I would have to say Mary, mother of Jesus. I would want it to be on the day that the angel Gabriel came and told her that she had been chosen by our Lord to give birth to our Savior. I can't imagine how she must have felt. What was it like to see and talk with Gabriel? What kind of life had she been living to called 'highly favored' by God? To be able to walk in her shoes during that time would be a wonderful experience.

 Day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have

This 30 days of blogging sure has a lot about goals. As I've mentioned before, I'm not the best when it comes to goals. I just have a hard time sticking with them. Here's a couple though that I think are a little easier to stick with. They're more long term goals at least. A goal/plan would be for me to be able to be a full time stay at home mom. Right now we just aren't able to do that, but we're hoping that some day soon we can accomplish this. Another goal that I/we have is to be completely debt free. After that we would like to save up and purchase our own home.

Catching up

It's been a few days of silence around here on the blog lately. That is due to the whole family being sick. After my last post, BJ came down with the flu really bad. I was still dealing with a head cold as well as Dayson having the RSV issues. Iyana was the only one at the time who was some what healthy. Within a couple of days though, Iyana came down with the same flu bug as BJ and Dayson started running a fever. Long story short, we're all recovering right now. It's been a long few days and I'm looking forward to finally being healthy again.

Day 16 - a picture of yourself

This didn't say that I had to have a recent picture of myself, so I'm posting one from when I got married. I looked through a lot of pictures and I just don't really have any of just me (unless I post a pregnancy picture of which I do have a few of those). This picture was taken on December 24, 2000.

Sickness and Trouble

As I'm sure you've noticed, I'm a little behind on my '30 Days of Blogging' project. We've had the lovely cold bug going around our place and I'm just flat out exhausted (not to mention, sick too). On top of that, Dayson has officially been sick with this RSV stuff for two weeks and we're still looking at maybe another two weeks until he's over it. He has his good times where it doesn't seem to bother him, but then the rest of the time he wants nobody but mommy to be holding him. As much as I'm flattered by this, I'm also getting worn out. Praying that the next two weeks (or however long this bug lasts) will go a little smoother.

And now for the trouble. Dayson has been rolling over both ways for a while now. Tonight he finally figured out that if just keeps rolling, he can actually get somewhere. He has no interest in crawling (he'd still rather be carried places), but I'm sure after learning this new trick, it may motivate him to give it a try. So, now is the time when I start to look around and make sure there's nothing dangerous within rolling reach. On to the next stage of development!

Day 14 and 15 of "30 Days of Blogging"

day 14- a picture of you and your family

This is one that you've probably seen before. I was going to try and take one this past weekend, but that just didn't happen. Maybe this coming weekend we'll give it a try.

day 15- put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

BJ is the one here who has the ipod and listens to it regularly. He has a lot of speaking tracks on there besides songs. Here is the list of 10.

1. Old Man - Flight 180
2. Introduction - Darren LaCroix
3. Interrogation 2 - Gospel Gangstaz
4. Don't Give Up - Michael W. Smith
5. One Day Left to Live - Peter Whitebird
6. Improv Class? Or Acting? - LAFFirmations
7. Track 13, Revelation - Jason Nightingale
8. Day by Day - dc Talk
9. Darren Really That Bad? - LAFFirmations
10. Raggle Taggle Gypsy - Celtic Thunder

Valentine Pictures

Had fun taking some pictures of the kids today! Happy Valentine's Day!!

 

 He loves giving kisses!

Day 12 and 13 of "30 Days of Blogging"

day 12- write a poem to someone you love

I am not a poem writer. I tried back in junior high and they came out very 'so so'. Instead of a poem, I thought I would just write a small note to my two little ones that I love very much!

My dearest Iyana and Dayson,

  There are no words that will ever truly express just how much I love you. I pray that every day I will show you how loved you are and that you are both so special to me. God has blessed me greatly with the gift of raising both of you alongside with daddy. Never forget that God is always there and He will take care of you. He loves you beyond anything that you can imagine. I pray that He will guide you both as you grow and that you will always be obedient to Him and His word.

Love you  bunches!!
Mommy


day 13- your 5 favorite books and why

1. Bible - it's my guidebook to life and how I can live pleasing to God. It's God's love letter to me and anyone who will take the time to listen to all He has to tell us. Everything we need to know about living is in His book to us.
2. The Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers (3 books) - I love how she captures the historical time frame but also how she presents the gospel in this fictional tale.
3. It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh - This book is fantastic in getting you motivated to clean out all your "stuff". He explains in such a simple way on how to free yourself from "stuff". Very good book, especially for a good spring time cleaning.
4. The O'Malley series by Dee Henderson (6 books) - These are good, clean christian romance/suspense novels. I've read each of them probably three times or more.
5. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers - She shows us through this fictional tale based off of Hosea in the bible how God redeems us from some of the worst sins we can think of.

Pictures

I realized that I've got about four post with no pictures! So... I took some! ☺

 

Day 11 of "30 Days of Blogging"

Day 11 - write a bucket list of things you want to do before you die

• Go on some mission trips and/or be a missionary
• Do something big with photography
• Buy a house
• Go to Scotland, Ireland and Australia
• Have a horse (every girls dream, right?)

Day 9 and 10 of "30 Days of Blogging"

Day 9 - something you're proud of in the past few days

So far I've actually been able to keep up with my short term goals for the month. Amazing considering I've been so busy with a sick little guy, work and Iyana's schooling.

Day 10 - songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad

For a bunch of upbeat songs to get us going I like to listen to "Press Play". We got the album NY2LA for Iyana for Christmas this last year and I think I have listened to it more than her. Another one that I really like that I listened to several times while in labor with Dayson is the soundtrack to the movie Amazing Grace. It has some wonderful songs on it and I highly recommend it.

RSV

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). That's what we learned yesterday that Dayson has picked up. Not exactly the news I was wanting to hear but was glad when she said he didn't need to be hospitalized for the second time in his little life. That will only happen if his breathing starts getting really bad so we'll be keeping an eye on him.

More than likely Dayson picked up this little bug from the rest of us since we've all taken our turns with having a cold bug. If not us, then the many other people we've been around lately who have been sick. The doctor said that he will probably have this for a least another couple of weeks. After that, whenever he gets a cold, it's going to hang around like this one and go straight into his chest. There's not a lot we can do for him medically (in other words, there's no medicine to cure it), but we can get the vaporizer set up, bundle him up and take him outside if things start really getting bad, use nose drops (hahahaha, I laugh at this because when I tried doing it yesterday, he wanted to eat it) and doing some patting on his back to keep things loose in his lungs. Keeping him mostly upright helps too.

He's going to miss seeing his friends in the nursery at church, but for the next couple of weeks, we're going to be keeping him away from most children as there's no way on knowing if he's contagious. We were also told that this is going to make for some long nights. I had to laugh since he's still getting up every little bit. Last night though, he did something that he hasn't done in the past couple of months. He slept 4 straight hours!! It would have been great sleep for me except I was a little concerned since he didn't get up (had to check on him) and then Iyana got up as well with a leg cramp. But, after he got up to eat, he slept for another 2 1/2 hours of which I did sleep. Maybe things are starting to change and he'll be sleeping better.

Please pray for our little man and us as we go through this. Thanks!

Day 7 and 8 of "30 Days of Blogging"

Day 7- a picture of someone/something that has had the biggest impact on you

Instead of a picture, I'm going to just write as I don't have pictures of everyone. There have been so many people in my life that have had big impacts on me and so many things that have changed things for me. It's hard to just name one.

• One of the obvious impacts on my life would be when I accepted Christ as my Savior. I wouldn't be who I am today without Him guiding me and working in my heart.
• BJ who is the love of my life. Marriage has been a wonderful blessing and I've grown so much over the years. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful husband who is just right for me.
• My parents as they taught and nutured me through my growing up years and stayed by my side even during the roughest times.
• Iyana and Dayson. What can I say other than becomming a parent changes you in ways you never knew that you could. I love being a mommy.
• Deanna Gates who was my pastor's wife when I was a teen, helped me to get through the last years of school when I dropped out of public school. Not only was she my teacher, but a wonderful example of a godly woman and what it meant to live and serve Christ.

I could go on and on with this list. These are just a few of those who have touched my life and made the biggest impact.

Day 8 - short term goals for this month and why

I've never been one who likes to write out goals, BJ has always been good at that. But for this month, I'll do a couple and work on them.

• Read my bible everyday and see what God has in store for me as I read His word. Especially since having another baby, I'm horribly lacking in my quiet time with Christ.
• Try to get better organized with homeschooling, work and home. I have always had a hard time keeping things clean and organized at home and that really has an impact when it comes to helping Iyana with her schooling or being able to get my work done in a timely manner. I get distracted very easily with what all needs to be done around here.
• Get more rest so that I can actually function through the day (this of course all depends on Dayson sleeping better at night and during naps).

I think that should be enough for one month. I have a tendency to go overboard with things I want done and then not getting any of it done because I'm too overwhelmed with all the tasks I had set out to do. There's still a lot here to do, but I have the rest of the month to work on them ☺.

Dayson....meet Petrie...

Petrie is our chinchilla. Dayson has always been curious about him and likewise, Petrie very curious about Dayson. Since Dayson was born, we haven't gotten Pete out of his cage for a good run. So, a couple of days ago I decided it was time for him to get some exercise and for Dayson to finally meet our other family member. Needless to say, Dayson was very excited and tried numerous times to grab him. Petrie has always been gentle with little ones so I wasn't worried about him nipping him. I did get a little concerned though when Dayson grabbed a big chunk of fur and wouldn't let go. Petrie did his little irritated dance and squawked at him, but other than that, they were on pretty good terms with each other.

Dayson wasn't bothered by Petrie being so close, it was his whiskers tickling his face that made him close his eyes ☺.

Feeding

Iyana has been waiting for the day that she could feed Dayson by herself. Now that he's gotten used to eating off of a spoon, we allowed her today. She really enjoyed herself.

Tooth

After two weeks of little to no sleep at night, we woke up yesterday morning to find that one of Dayson's teeth have finally broke through. We've been waiting as he's had four good size bumps on the bottom of his mouth and the drool faucets have been running. Thankfully he hasn't bitten me yet while nursing though I'm sure that's coming. Our fingers on the other hand have felt its sharp little presence ☺.

Maybe now he'll start sleeping better?? I'm not getting my hopes up too high. He's also dealing with his first cold which I know is not related to the teeth since I picked it up too. Fortunately his nose has stayed pretty clear for the most part, unfortunately, I really hear the congestion in his chest. Will definitely be keeping an eye on him.

Here's to the next stage of babyhood...my little guy has teeth! He's growing up too fast.

Day 6 of "30 Days of Blogging"

Day 6 - favorite super hero and why

Growing up I liked to watch cartoons like the rest of the kids in our neighborhood. I really liked Smurfs (one of my nicknames), Tom and Jerry, He-Man, Transformers, Rainbow Brite and so on. There's probably too many to list. But...one of my favorites and the one I'm going to pick as my super hero has got to be She-Ra: Princess of Power. Twin sister to He-Man, she got to fight against all the evils that came against Etheria. Her sword changed her from princess Adora into She-Ra. As She-Ra, she demonstrated incredible strength, speed and agility and can telepathically speak to animals (that would have been the best part) and of course, she also had a horse that I would have loved to have.

Day 5 of "30 Days of Blogging"

Day 5 - a picture of somewhere you've been

I know this is another shot of me as a child, but it's a place that I've been to before. I was about five years old when we traveled during the summer. Mt. Rushmore was one of the stops. Pretty neat place.

Day 3 and 4 of 30 "Days of Blogging"

I'm a day late. Had a lot of work yesterday that kept us up until very late plus a little boy who was having a mommy attachment day. Here is the theme for day 3.

Day 3 - a picture of you as a child

Since I'm a day behind, I thought I'd make up for it a little by posting a few pictures of me as a child/baby.

 

Day 4 - a habit that you wish you didn’t have

Let's see, I have a bad habit of wanting to check my email several times a day. I can justify it when I'm checking for work emails, but when it comes to wanting to just see if anything new has come in on my personal account, that's where my problem is. Of course, the internet in general could be considered my bad habit too since I love being on the computer ☺.

Day 2 of 30 Days of Blogging

day 2- the meaning behind your blog name

I'm not one who normally likes to think real hard when it comes to coming up with titles, so 'Our Journey' seemed to fit just fine. It's also fitting in the fact that this blog is kind of like our journey through our daily life in pictures and how the kids are growing.

Day 1 of 30 Days of Blogging

day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

I haven't had a chance to really take a picture today so I thought I would post one of the most recent ones of me that I have. It is of course with my handsome honey. I'm not one who likes getting my picture taken, especially if I'm by myself.

Here's 15 interesting facts about me.

1 - I used to own over a hundred rabbits (not all at once of course and they each had an interesting first and middle name)

2 - I'd love to live in Scotland.

3 - Speaking of places to live, I used to live above a funeral home for five years.

4 - Not everyone knows or I should clarify and say, not everyone has heard, but I play the piano (of late though with a very active infant and little sleep, it's been more of wishing I could play).

5 - My favorite color is midnight blue - Iyana thinks I'm weird because she says that's a boys color.

6 - According to doctors, I was never really supposed to have children, but by God's grace, He has given me two miracles!

7 - I got married when I was 20.

8 - The five years spent living above the funeral home, I had a 9 o'clock curfew (how many people in their 20's can say that?)

9 - I was never really into photography until Iyana was born.

10 - For those who don't know and really want to, yes, I'm 4ft. 10in. I feel tall at times until..well...I stand next to almost anyone who is not a child. Even then, Iyana had a couple of kids in her 2nd grade class last year who were my height. I had a teacher start to tell me to get back to class until she realized that I was a parent.

11 - I love to go camping! Especially the kind that involves going up into the mountains and not to an actual campground.

12 - I've never been outside of the US. Some day I hope to get a passport and do a little traveling.

13 - I have nine piercings (all in my ears!)

14 - I met BJ online and we were married a year after we met face to face.

15 - I grew up and lived in the same house for almost 21 years!

5 Months

I feel like we're in the fast lane of life. Why is it that when you have kids (especially infants), that time seems to go by so quickly? I know I keep saying that things are going to fast around here, but they really are. I'm trying to enjoy every minute with my two little ones (even the sleepless ones).

Dayson is five months old today. He is still determined to try and do everything early, but I think he may finally be slowing down. If not that, than at least his sister did one thing ahead of him. At this point, she was crawling and he still cannot stand to be on tummy time. He allows it for very short periods of time, but it's not long before he becomes very vocal about it.

Speaking of vocal, this little boy has found his lungs! He showed me yesterday that he can scream with a very high pitch. I think he shocked himself too when he did it. He's definitely testing the waters on different sounds and noises that he can make. My favorite though has got to be the growling! It's so cute, especially when other people try talking to him and he growls back at them ☺.

Once again we're still struggling with sleeping at night. This past week has been worse than any since he was born! I almost feel like we have a newborn again with how little sleep I've gotten. We've tried a couple of different things to try and help him, but so far, nothing has worked. If I could just get him back to sleeping four hours straight, I'd be happy.

A couple of his favorite things to do right now are giving kisses (the open mouth baby ones) and throwing a burp rag and/or blanket over his face. It's quite funny to watch him do that because as soon as his face is covered, he starts to panic and kick his legs like crazy until he reaches up and pulls it off of him. He then smiles and does it all over again. He also still loves his toes and anytime he can have his feet in his mouth, that's his preference.

He's loving his rice cereal and bananas that we give him. Haven't tried anything else yet. Every time he takes a bite of food, he always has to say something as the spoon is going into his mouth. Wish I knew exactly what he was saying. It's gotta be something good since it involves one of his favorite subjects...food! At least, that's what I keep telling myself ☺.