Friday, May 31, 2013

Zach's Photography

Here are some of the collages that Zach has done recently. Enjoy!

Easter - 2012

Camping - 2012

Fall Pics - 2012
Thanksgiving - 2012
Easter - 2013

Spring / Summer - 2013

Spring / Summer - 2013

Almost a year later

When I started this blog, I intended to write a post every year so relatives could keep up with us and the kids (then kid) would have a documentary of their young life. I guess they won't have a commentary for at least 1 year of their life.

This last year has been filled with great memories and some really good growing experiences. Jasmine is already 3 1/2 and Trevor is about to turn 2! Where has the time gone???? As a stay at home mom I feel that I should be able to have all this relaxed free time, but I'm not sure where the hours go.

Last winter, Jasmine went skiing several times with Zach and she got pretty decent. She hates the wind though (as do I). Trevor and I would just hang out drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies. Our community rec center offered tumbling (pre-gymnastics) classes for Jasmine so we put her in. It's been fun to see her confidence build in several areas and I've enjoyed seeing her make new friends.





Spring (as most of you know it) was non-existent in CO this year. We had snow through April and then it was up to 80 degrees in May. We did put Jasmine in swimming lessons and she went from a water-phobic kid to a little fish. I guess it just took someone else and some peer pressure. She'll start round 2 on Tuesday. I'm thankful that I'll have at least one kid that understands the water a little bit. We finally went to the zoo (thanks Dad!) for the first time. And the kids loved it.





So far this Summer, Jasmine & Trevor have fallen in love with worms. They are a little disappointed that they can't dig in the garden now that we have it planted. Jasmine tries her best to teach the worms to sit still, but "they just don't listen! Argh!" She has turned her fascination to rolly-poly bugs but hasn't gotten the hang of not killing them. Trevor loves shoveling the dirt into the grass and then making mud with it. He's my boy!






We're getting ready to go camping in a few weeks. We are all looking forward to it, especially since we got a new tent! Hopefully I'll post pics soon after and if I don't, feel free to email and remind me. :)

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Trevor is 1!!!

It's hard to believe that Trevor is 1 already. Time has flown by. He's getting big and is such a fun little guy. He loves making Jasmine laugh and is quite the little social dude. We had a birthday party for him and all his little buddies had a great time playing together. We hope they remain friends as they get older. Zach had bought party blowouts and when everyone blew them after singing Happy Birthday, Trevor got a little upset and he wanted nothing to do with his cake for a little while. Poor dude.









Our little one

At the end of April Zach and I found out that we were expecting #3. We were excited and a little scared. That would mean that Trevor and #3 would be 18 months apart. We would have a Christmas baby. We were still thrilled and starting making lists of what needed to be done around the house before the little one arrived. We also started talking about names and that we would have to come up with 2 sets since we weren't going to find out if it was a boy or a girl this time around. I called the doctor's office to make the first appointment, and it was scheduled for May 11th. We went in and the baby measured at 6 weeks with a due date of Jan 2nd. Zach and I were a little confused by this because we thought I should have been 8 weeks with a due date of Dec 18th. We had already talked about doing an induction with this baby so the baby would be born right around Christmas. The heartbeat wasn't very strong at all though. We could barely see a flicker, but didn't think too much of it. Since we were planning on telling family in two weeks while we in PA, we scheduled a second ultrasound for the following Tuesday (10 days later) - just so we could see a strong heartbeat.

May 22nd - Zach was going to be in Houston on business so I went to the appointment alone. I had a friend offer to go with me, but I told her I would be fine. In my mind, I fully expected to see a growing little one with a thumpin' heart. I went into the office that day with a million things on my mind that I needed to get done before our trip. However, when I saw the ultrasound screen, my heart sank. There was no heartbeat and the baby was still measuring at 6 weeks.  I fought back tears and the doctor and I talked about the miscarriage possibility and what to expect. I walked to the car and called Zach. We talked and wished so badly that we could be together. We don't understand why God has brought this into our lives, but we do know that He will receive the most glory by taking this child to be home with Him at 6 weeks. The doctor wanted me to come back in for another ultrasound on May 31 if nothing had happened while on our trip. God was abundantly gracious to us while we were in PA. The kids and I flew out on Thursday and I had prayed that if I was going to miscarry, it not be on that day. It didn't happen. Then Friday, Jasmine started throwing up all over the place. She was still not feeling well on Saturday - the day she had to be in a wedding. She did an awesome job! Still - no miscarriage yet. Then on Sunday we had a 2 1/2 hour drive to Zach's grandma's house - still nothing. Nothing on Monday. Then Tuesday came - the day we had to fly back home - still, nothing.  God gave me plenty of distractions and a great time with family even though several people got really sick and weren't feeling well.

Ultrasound day (May 31st) - It was confirmed that the baby is still not growing and there is still no heartbeat. We decided to test my hcg level today and compare it to a re-test on Monday to make sure the level is going down.  At this point, we have both had time to grieve and accept the loss of our little one. We are now praying and hoping that I will pass the baby over the weekend while Zach is home and can help out with the kids and not have to take time off work.

June 3rd - We had a great day at church with friends and told many of them what was going on. I still had not passed the baby and was rather annoyed that things were taking so long. I was also praying that I would not have to do the pills or worse get a d & c. Later that evening after the kids had gone to bed, I began having very light contractions. I didn't think to much of it since I had had them before and they went away. As the evening progressed so did the contractions. We went to bed about 10:45 and within a couple hours I had passed our little one. Zach and I grieved some more and were so thankful that it was over.  Thankfully Zach was able to take Monday off and stay home with me. I felt much better than what I expected and my energy quickly returned. Praise God for a quick recovery.

Reflections - God is good and has given Zach and I the very best for us and for our baby. We don't understand everything but we know we can trust God. He is faithful and has been abundantly gracious to us.  Through this whole process I can honestly say that He has given us a peace and calm that surpasses all human understanding. He has already given us several opportunities to share Christ with others through this. Sometimes God gives us a difficult circumstance and asks us to go through it - not around, above, or under; but through. He will also give the grace to go through the trial if we are relying on Him. James 1:17 says "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." We praise Him that He is faithful and good.


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Jasmine's Sayings

Here are some of the things Jasmine has been saying lately that crack us up...
1. "What he dood?" (What did he do?)
2. "Mama, Trevor knocked over."
3. At just about every meal she declares, "Eat AAALLLLLL my dinner, then have upcream (ice cream).
4. "So...question for ya..." then states a fact.
5. "Daddy drives silverware car." She doesn't get it that it's just silver.
6. After spilling cereal on the floor, "Uh, oh! I broom that up."
7. "Mama, why you take your toes off?"

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Having Fun with Grandma Bailey

My mom got to come out and we went up to Keystone for the weekend. Zach & I got to go snowboarding together, which is a rare opportunity. We had a blast and I was extremely sore for the next several days. Zach also took Jasmine skiing for the first time. It wasn't very successful, but we're going to keep trying. Trevor just got to hang out at the condo with Grandma.






New Food

The new menu has been a lot of fun for all of us. We have found some great new recipes and some others where we were thankful that we had food. Here are some of our favorites...
Louisiana Gumbo - I omitted the okra since we don't like it, and forgot the kidney beans. It was still delicious!
Cider Beef Stew - Great stew for a cold day.
Apple Stuffed Chicken - I couldn't find any apple jelly so I made an apple syrup (1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup apple juice), added the other ingredients and it worked great. Next time, I'll turn the pan juices into a gravy.
Meatless Hopping John - This is a great dish for cold days and when you're wanting to be healthy. I used brown rice instead of the white. I also separated it into two batches, one with the red pepper and one without. I figured the red pepper would be too much for my toddler.

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ext week's menu:
Crab Topped Salmon Fillets & Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce
Pork Chow Mein & Festive Fruit Tart
Stuffed Green Peppers & Oven-roasted Root Vegetables
French Toast with Orange Syrup & Cheese Sausage Strata
French Onion Soup & California Club Sandwiches
Baked Lemon Chicken & Broccoli Risotto