Just an update....

We finally got to throw Lydia's first birthday!! I am so glad we got to have her party and it be a success. I know, I know, its a first birthday and shes not going to remember it. However, I have a slight reputation for my parties that I need to uphold... Toot toot. Is that horrible? LOL Anyway, it ended up being a really nice party for her and even though she was extremely overwhelmed by it all she ended up really getting into it and having fun. She told me so! ;) So, thank you to everyone who had a hand in pulling this off. I really appreciate it and I'm sure if Lydia knew she would too. The girl got some really killer new toys. One of her favorites is a shopping cart. I know what you're thinking... one of those yellow, blue, and red plastic shopping carts! WRONGO! This thing is a beast. Heavy duty, for real, ain't playing shopping cart! Like, I want to use it when I go shopping at Publix... except for I'm too tall! She has had so much fun walking around the house with that thing! (Thank you Mama H). She really did get a lot of cool things though. We are surrounded by awesome people who are extremely thoughtful. I don't know what I did to be surrounded by such love, but holy cow I could NEVER deny it!

Playing patty cake

Photo op with Xander

Her "What is this?!" look

"all done"

Since the party everyone in the house, except Nathanael, has gotten that nasty cough/sinus/gross cold thingy. We are recovering in just enough time to be healthy for our trip to VERMONT!! We leave on Wednesday (5/29) to fly up and visit my dad and Cindy for five days! I am so looking forward to a change of scenery and some relaxing time with my hubby. I'm pretty excited about Nathanael getting to see my dad's place for the first time.... Not so excited about the actual flying with Lydia for the first time part but I'm sure she will do great. Please pray for that! I'm sure we will come home with tons of pictures and hopefully a few fun stories! Until then I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your holiday weekend and a great next week or so since we will be "off the grid" for those days.... well at least off the cyber world!! Love you all!!

Green smoothie or poo?

Today has been a long day. I'm not really sure why, maybe the overcast made it seem longer. But it has just been one of those days when you just have to laugh at things. Either laugh or cry and there is no reason to cry when it already happened. Whats done is done, right?

One of the events today involves my daughter and her smoothie. I was taking my mom to work when all the sudden we smelled the overwhelming aroma of pineapple. Not realizing at the time this was basically the main ingredient in her green smoothie today. I couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from. We pull into mom's work and she gets out and goes to tell Lydia bye. When she opened the door she just started laughing. I knew at that moment she had figured it all out. I got out to see the damage and much to my surprise..... 

Yep! You guessed it....Green smoothie EVERYWHERE!! What is (or looked) really gross is when she started eating it and offering me some. I mean sweet gesture.... But no thank you!! Silly girl! Needless to say it was for sure a mess to clean up but I could have been worse, right? No need crying over spilled smoothie! :D

First beach trip, second Mother's day!

Yesterday was a HUGE blessing. A friend of ours has an aunt that has a condo on Clearwater beach. Her aunt so graciously opened her house to us and invited us all over for a beach day. It was a LONG over due day of relaxation! What a BEAUTIFUL day it was too. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, beautiful breeze, and perfect water temperature! Plus it was Lydia's first trip to the beach out to utero! She loved it! I cant even begin to describe how much she loved it. She even sat down in the water and got a wave in the face and wasn't even phased! It was so awesome to see her experience and enjoy something we love so much. It was great to spend such a relaxing day with so many people I love. Great day with great company!

first time in the sand

Um its on my hand mom

OOH! water!!

First family beach photo

Ti-ti Manda and Lydia

Mommy and Lydia

Napping on Lovey

Not a fan of the floaty thing

Beautiful beach babe

Heart shaped shell and rock for my baby

Second nap of the day!

 So after a beautiful relaxing day and a wonderful night sleep for all of us, we woke up this morning (my second mother's day) to another BIG surprise! No not chocolates or flowers, even though I appreciate my gifts from my hubby :) BUT we found out (the easy way thank goodness) that my big girl cut her FIRST tooth.

You cant really tell but its the white spot on the right

 What an awesome mother's day gift!? I was pretty excited since I was almost set on ordering dentures for her. :D 

I hope all you mamas have a fantastic day! I'm excited about the rest of our day! Lunch with Nathanael's family and then a girls night out with my mom, sister in law, and Cami! Have an amazing day everyone!

Change is inevitable

Change - We all expect it to happen and then rebel against it. Its like we know its going to happen, just not to us. 
Why rebel? Its not going to make the change not happen. I sit here, eating my own words. We, Nathanael and I, have been going through this transition period in our lives. You would think I would just learn to sit back and let it happen. Or sit in the passenger seat and let God drive for awhile. Right. Me, take the passenger seat? Are you kidding me!? 
Anyone who knows me knows that I don't handle change the best. I'm not really a fan of it. I don't like people leaving my life (whether it be death or choice), I loath financial changes (unless they are for the better of course), and I'm certainly not a fan of making huge life changing decisions (especially now that they don't just affect my life anymore). 
As most of you already know we are having our second child sometime around the end of October/beginning of November. BIG family change. We are excited to see this baby grow and see Lydia react to her younger brother or sister. Its an exciting time. Its an overwhelming time but in the end I know it is so worth it. However, with that change comes many other decisions for our lives. Its crazy how there is a cause and affect for everything. Its like everything you do in life results in other decision which leads to change. Sometimes change even brings consequences. See how this can all be so confusing?! Maybe I just read more into things than the average person.  I'm trying not to get discouraged or overwhelmed but its usually easier said than done. Change is scary. Its the unknown that can literally terrify me. I learned an interesting fact the other day.

How cool is that? I probably would get this if I would spend more time with God. But that is a completely different subject, for a different blog, at a different time.

Then the other day a friend of mine posted something about God not giving us more than we can handle. I responded with "I think that he does sometimes push us a little further to remind us to rely on Him". Now this is just my thought. Its not set in stone or something I know for a fact. It has just been my experience. Then I came across this:

 
Alright! I'm listening. Then I just kept getting all of these amazing reminders thrown right to me. I don't have to do this alone. In fact I'm NOT doing this alone. 

 I can find comfort in knowing that there is a much bigger power out there. I can take refuge in knowing that even though change is inevitable and we will always have huge decisions to make, God is right there. His plans are for us to prosper. His plans include HOPE! He is mighty and I don't give Him enough credit. He is a father. Fathers love their children and want whats best for them, right? Then why would I choose to believe that He wouldn't do the same for me?! 
The more I get this all out, the more peace I am feeling. I'm not sure what is in store for us within the next few months or even year. I'm excited, nervous, and scared. But mostly I know that through the change comes growth! And through growth comes experience. Everything happens for a reason even if we may never know what that reason is.

 
Let go. Embrace the inevitable, change. I know I'm going to try to.