Update on the kids and some thoughts

I am not sooo good at this blog thing.  I always have great intentions and then the time slips away from me!  So, first things first.  Hudson is 4 months old!  WOW!  He weighed 14 lbs and 11 oz and 26 in long at his 4 month check up.  He is doing really great and such a sweet and happy boy!  We have brought wheat back into my diet and it doesn't seem to be bothering him!  Thank goodness, I have missed my bread!  He was a trooper with his shots and only cried for a quick second.  He was more mad at getting his leg wiped with a cold alcohol wipe than the actual shots!

 He had had enough!

 Hudson didn't get the memo that it was nap time with daddy =)

One of the most beautiful faces I have ever seen!

Being his mommy has brought some really challenging times...With dealing with these food allergies I have questioned myself sooo many times...formula or keep breastfeeding...scheudle or no schedule...(he has VERY sensitive skin) try a new baby wash or stick with the non smelling Aveno that I know works....try this food to see if it bothers him or not...is he crying just because he is having a bad day or is he crying because something I have eaten has bothered him...Sometimes I want to take the easy route and put him on formula....but I know in my heart that's not what is best for him...yes, it maybe easier for me...like last night, he woke up every 3 hours to eat and in those wwweeee hours of the night/morning is when I think in my head...we'd both be sleeping right now if he was on formula...(Now, please don't get me wrong... formula vs breastfeeding is a personal choice every mom/dad has to make and I don't want anyone thinking I think horrible of formula because I don't.)  But, I struggle with the thought that God gave me this milk and if I don't give it to Hudson I have wasted a very special gift...weird?  maybe, but that's how I feel...  I have questioned myself more as a mom in the last 4 months than I think I ever have....but, with the grace of God, we are still trucking along and I am just praying that I am doing His will for our lives!

Darbie is doing fantastic!  She made all A's on her report card this time and has fully made a transition here.  She is doing great in school and soccer season is in full swing!  She keeps us busy 4 days/nights a week but we wouldn't have it any other way!  I always feel bad when i don't have a lot of updates on her but it'sjust she's not a baby/toddler anymore learning new things and saying funny stuff.... We still love her just the same though =)

Here are Darbie and Brylee as Busch Gardens!  We got season tickets this summer and we are enjoying every minute of them!

Brylee oh Brylee... She keeps us super busy and I almost want to cry at the thought of her turning 3 in less than a month!  She is making friends here in VA and she keeps us on our toes daily.  She comes up with some of the funniest things ever!  Her new favorite phrases are "of course", "totally", "actually......"  She wakes up talking and talks herself to sleep.....but....I guess she gets it hoenstly.... Her daddy and I love to talk!  She loves her big sister and her little brother tremendously.  Just about every day when Darbie gets home from school she asks "Darbie, did you hab a good day?"  "what was your faborite ting?" LOL  she loves to talk to Hudson and his name is Hud Man.  She soothes him, talks to him, and sings to him daily.  She has her first dance recital coming up in June and we'll see how she does in it =)

Tim and I have finally found a church that we call HOME!  The City Life Church is such a wonderful place and we thank God that He placed us there!  The kids all love it!  It is a church where Tim and I can grow and learn, serve and be served!  We are super excited about the opportunities there!

Getting caught up

I've been slacking on blogging here lately and I finally have a little time to myself tonight.  All three kids are in bed and it's not even 9 yet!  Tim has duty so it's just me and the kiddos tonight.

Me and the kids spend spring break in Charleston.  We had a blast!  a HUGE thank you to Jenny and Derrick for giving us room and board while we were there!  Darbie had a full social schedule while we were there.  In 5 days she had 3 different sleep overs with three different friends!  She was in Heaven!  We also had a birthday celebration for both girls while we were there and they had so much fun seeing and celebrating with their SC friends!

Brylee was sooo excited she was beside herself!

The girls getting ready to eat cake!

Darbie with her friends!

Hudson staying warm while the girls hunted eggs at Sandy Bottom Nature Park on Saturday.

The girls waited in line for over an hour to get their faces painted!

I just love this little picture of her running fast to get eggs!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY daddy!

Hudson's first Easter!  Me oh Me he is sooo handsome!

Our three blessings on Easter morning

Our sweet and funny Brylee

Our little girl is growing up!

Like father like son!

me and my love


We had a fabulous Easter this year!  We went to church and then came home and spent the rest of the day with neighbors and new friends!  We cooked, ate, talked, and the kids played and hunted eggs!

Things are going great here in Virginia!  We can't wait for the weather to warm up and stay warm!  Charleston got me and the kids ready for summer!



Things on my heart

I've been struggling with some things here lately, mostly revolving around doing what's best for Hudson and not what I want....biscuits, eggs, yadda yadda yadda.... but there's been something else on my heart lately and I feel like God is telling me to share.  That's hard.  Really?  You want me to share what's on my heart??? Well, here goes....A few weeks ago Tim and I stayed up really late just talking.  We don't get to do that much anymore with three children around!  I told him what had been on my heart about my past and left it at that.  Back in January, I sold some cloth diapers on cragslist to who has now become a good friend.  We met, exchanged diapers/money, chatted for a bit and left thinking nothing would ever become of it.  We texted here and there and she invited me to a bible study that they have at her church twice a month.  I went, met some other awesome ladies and love going every other Thursday morning.  Our study yesterday morning was on John chapter 8.  It's about the adultress woman.  We read it, discussed it breifly, and let the kids play.  Tonight was their annual women's conference and since Tim was off tonight and could stay home with the kids, I decided to go!  I needed a break.  The speaker, who had no clue what we studied yesterday morning, talked about John chapter 8 tonight.....  I don't believe in coincidences so I know this is God talking to me!  And here's what's on my heart.  At 19 I got married.  It wasn't an "on the whim" type of marriage.  We dated for a while, was engaged for a while and got married.  I always felt like something was missing but wasn't sure what.  On the day I married him, I would have never guessed I would get divorced.  That wasn't an option.  A few years went by, I headed down a road of doing what I wanted instead of what God possibly wanted.  We really didn't have a marriage.  I went through the motions of being a Christian, but had lost that relationship I once had with Christ.  Things happened out of order during all of this time and I was living in a mess!  I held it all together (so I thought) , but I was a mess.  I am now happily married to the love of my life and we have three beautiful children who truely are huge blessings to us!  Tim and I haven't always had the best marriage, but by the Grace of God, we are still married, and more in love today than the day we married each other.  We have  a strong marriage, but it didn't come easy at all times.  There were so many times we both wanted to walk away from it.  But we didn't.  We held on tight and prayed like crazy!  I guess what I am trying to say is I made a  lot of mistakes...still do..... but God has made a beuatiful masterpiece out of some messy situations, called our family, and He's still working on it!  I've struggled with being forgiven but I feel Him ever so much right now shouting to me... YOU ARE FORGIVEN!!!  I died on that cross to save you!  thank you Heavenly Father for saving me.    Thank you for loving me just as I am...a failure at times and successful at times, somewhat of a control freak at times, hard to love and live with at times...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  I know that I dragged myself out of bed yesterday morning to get to bible study... I know that I was there tonight to hear Him speak to me....Thank you for knowing exactly who we need in our lives and what we need when we don't always know!

In and out of the kitchen

ssooo, I haven't been cooking too much lately but here's what all I've been getting into in and out of the kitchen.  Outback has a gluten free menue, which is great, except I have to avoid more than just gluten and wheat.  They do make all of their salad dressings in house and they can tell you exactly what's in them!  I did make an allergy free coffee cake the other morning and it turned out DELICIOUS!  So much so, I ate the whole pan, except for 2 pieces...all before lunch =/

I've replaced mayonaise with avocados for the time being.  I tried a home ade mayo recipe and it was horrible!  I got risky this weekend when we ate at PF Changs and ate a lettuce wrap, which are amazing!  He didn't react to it that evening or night or the next morning.  That was Sunday.  On Monday, Brylee and me ate at a bd mongolian (I think that's the name) and it was DELICIOUS!  They also have a menue that tells you what every single sauce of theirs has in it!  Wonderful tool!  I decided to try a sweet and sour sauce that day soy beans in it.  Well, after lunch, he was cranky the rest of the day.  Hm, it's so hard to know whether it was the soybeans or just a cranky day.  So, we'll give soy one more try before we rule it either way.  I will say he had a wonderful day today!  He even took a 3.5 hour nap. I didn't know what to do with myself =)  Although soy  is in EVERYTHING, maybe he's just allergic to that and not to other things.... wishful thinking maybe, but I can hope =)

Weekend happenings

So I have been a little behind on blogging the last few days.  On Friday, we ended up in the ER with Darbie because she fell at school and hurt her knee.  Thankfully, it was just bruised.  After being there for sooo long, we decided to eat Outback =)  It was delicious, even though my mouth watered at the honey wheat rye bread =(  On Saturday we went to church and took the kids to Chuck E Cheese afterwards.  We have one 5 minutes from our house and believe it or not, that was our first visit of many I am sure!  I'll have to upload the sketch of all of us.  We had to get one being it was Hudson's first visit =)  On Sunday, we decided to enjoy the sunny but cold day and drive the 17 mile long Chesapeake bridge/tunnel.  We got to see the USS Enterprise leave for their last deployment ever.  It will be decomissioned once it gets back.  As I watched it go by it brought so many memories of watching the USS Maine leave for deployments and saying goodbye to my sweet husband.  It brought tears to my eyes because reality set in that Tim was supposed to be on that boat, but his orders got changed last minute.  Here are some pictures of that day!

Here is a picture of our happy, sweet Tim clone Hudson!

Here are a few pictures of us watching the USS Enterprise leave!  It was very cold and windy!

A very typical picture of the girls!



Mommy and Hud man!  I didnt bring him a hat and it was very very windy so we improvised with my sleepy wrap bag =)

The USS Enterprise

Painting pottery and duty day

Nothing much to blog about but I feel the need to have somewhat of an adult conversation....even if it's with blogger.com =/  Tim has duty for the next two days  and I always get lonely =( 

While getting ready for our day out today, this is what my two babies were doing....watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

Brylee painted pottery for the first time today!  We had a playdate with our group today at Starving Artist in Newport News and she loved it1  She loves playing with money (coins) so when we saw the piggy bank, we both got excited =)  She did a great job =)

It had very vivid and bright colors but then she put her paint brush in water and tried painting again and it smeared them all together....who knows but it looks like it may come out gray LOL  she couldn't understand why we couldn't take it home with us today.

A funny story while we were shopping today.... We were in a boutique and Brylee kept picking up things.  After several times of me telling her to stop I said, "Brylee, if you pick up one more thing, I am going to spank you."  She said, "Mom, when I get 29 I can pick up things then?"  I said, "yes".  She said, "But I am not 29.  I am 2 so I can't pick anything up.  But, I can when I am 29"  God love her!

Hudson had another amazing day today!  I think we can officially rule out nuts.... I have had almonds and today I ate chick fil a and they cook in peanut oil and he was fine...... I'm really hoping and praying that he outgrows these quickly.  Hopefully, we can continue to add things back into my diet in the coming weeks and see what it is other than milk that he has an allergy or sensitivity to.....We know its something and have a feeling it may be either wheat or eggs...those are two things that I ate A LOT of! 

Darbie...my sweet Darbie... I don't get many pictures of her because she's at school all day but I do have to say that I am very proud of her!  She brought her interim report home today and had all A's on it!  That makes this mama proud =)

I've downloaded tons of books onto my Kindle so now I guess it's time to retire to bed and get a little reading in!

Today's ventures in and out of the kitchen

Thankfully, Tim got home this morning from a 3 day duty and was oh so kind to stay up and get Darbie ready for school so I could sleep in.  It's the little things in life =)  Anyways, we have all had a great day!  Went out to eat lunch and ran some errands.  Hudson has had an awesome day once again, minus a little gas during lunch =/  I made some hot/cold rice packs today that turned out so cute and work extremely well!  I managed to make Tim one and Darbie two to go in her jacket pockets for the mornings... It's still cold here... We actually had some snow flakes today.  It made me think we were back in Washington getting snow in March!  While I was sewing the packs, Brylee came into my sewing room and asked what I was doing.  I told her I was making daddy a present and Darbie some hand warmers.  I told her I could make her a "boo boo" pack for when she gets an owie... She looked at me and said sooo sweetly "mom, that's a great idea!"  Oh she can melt your heart!  Darbie thanked God that I was her mom last night and that made me smile hugely =)  Hudson can melt your heart by just giving you his charming grin!  Tonight in the kitchen I made double pork stuffed chicken breast and they were DELICIOUS!!!  The recipe came from:  http://www.marksdailyapple.com/double-pork-stuffed-chicken-breasts/#axzz1nSOhT1jp

Here are some pictures!  Now, it's time to get the kiddos in bed and have some snuggle time on the couch with my amazing hubby!

Here are pictures of the rice packs I made today

Here is a picture of my sweet little man helping me cook dinner =)

And here is dinner!  YUMMY!