Fun Filled Day

Yesterday was a very enjoyable day for the girls and I. In the morning we picked my mom up and took her to Smith Gardens, which is a beautifully landscaped garden open to the public. My mom needed pictures of spring flowers for a contest at work, so we were happy to accomany her on this project. I will have to post some pictures later, but the flowers were beautiful and the girls enjoyed looking at everything, and we fascinated with a rather large bug they found! :)
Afterwards we went to a local park and had a picnic lunch. I love being able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. At the park there is a large sand area that the girls spent most of the time in. I love watching them play and explore! It was so nice just spending a relaxing day with my mom and my daughters.
Then, last night Grace had the opportunity to go to the Dragon's baseball game with her friend Carson and his parents. She has been talking about it all day today! From what I hear, they had a blast. It is neat that Grace is to the age where she gets to go on fun outings with friends, and that she has found such a good friend in Carson!
Tonight I have to work, which I have to admit, I am dreading, but I do have the whole weekend off for Easter! YAY! Tomorrow we will be heading to an Easter Egg Hunt and dying eggs at home. I'm also excitedthat my brother David is making it home for Easter and he will be spending the day with us tomorrow!
I hope you all have a blessed Easter, as we celebrate the greatest day in history- the resurrection of our Lord Jesus!! I am in awe of all that God has done and all that He is going to continue to do in our lives!

Finally feeling better!

The last week was a completely exhausting one! I am finally feeling better! I was probably the sickest I have been since I had mono my freshman year in college. Definitely no fun! I am just thankful that whatever I had, complicated by pregnancy, has finally gone away!!!
Last Saturday Erik had the day off! We woke up to a beautiful sunny day, and I definitely needed to get out of the house since I hadn't been able to do much of anything the whole week. My sweet husband told us all to get in the car and he would drive somewhere. He drove us to my favorite place to get ice cream, Young's Dairy! The girls absolutely loved feeding the goats and seeing all the animals. It was funny because there were probably 10 pregnant goats there! I hope I never look that funny when I am pregnant! :) We had a great time eating lunch and ice cream. We also went for a nice hike at Clifton Gorge. The girls really enjoyed being outside and walking in the woods. I think we were all exhausted by the time we got home!
Sunday we took a friend of mine from work to church with us. This is a total God thing as I have been praying for her and encouraging her to come with us for almost a year now, and she finally took me up on the offer!!! Later when I dropped her off she asked if we could make this a regular thing! I'm excited about what God is doing through this friendship!
Yesterday the girls and I were able to meet my friend Stephanie for lunch. I was so nice to catch up!
The girls are already taking their naps. They are excited to go to Grammie and Papa's tonight while I am at work because they are going to dye Easter Eggs! The girls absolutely love spending time with them. The other day my dad watched the girls while I went to a Dr. Appt. and when I came to pick them up neither one of them wanted to leave and Papa had to carry both girls to the car! So cute!
In other news I am now 24 weeks and 2 days pregnant! Maybe one of these days I will take a picture of what I look like, but until then you'll just have to imagine a slightly beached whale toting a toddler and preschooler (I just hope I don't look like a pregnant goat) :) It is finally starting to feel like I am getting somewhere in this pregnancy! For the most part, other than last week, I have felt pretty good and am enjoying the constant nudges and kicks that Micah sends my way! 24 weeks down, 16 to go!!

Easter Portraits

Today I took the girls to get their pictures taken in their Easter dresses. I always dread going because I know that one or both girls will end up in tears at some point. And today was no exception! To start off, they were already running behind. Mind you our appointment was at 9:35 and they open at 9, so I couldn't imagine they would be that far behind already, but oh well. So, when they finally get us in the first room Lena wants nothing to do with the whole process. Eventually they get her to crack a small smile, snap a few pictures, and then we are sent to wait in the next room. This is when Grace takes a tumble and busts her lip open. Poor thing! It looks better now, but at the time it was bloody and huge. Needless to say, the pictures in the next room were a No Go. In the end I was happy with what we got.

Here's my girls together!Lena with a subtle smile. She didn't want to "over do it." :)Sweet Grace with a beautiful smile, right before she was a puddle of tears.

In other news, I am still completely wiped out. I had to get rid of my shift at work for tonight, which is a little disappointing because I had the possibility of making pretty good money. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day that I wake up and feel ready to go. This whole being sick while pregnant, and running after a 3 and 1 year old is not a good combination.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of my beautiful girls!

Playing Catch Up

First off, we had a good time at the basketball game on thursday. The game was a little disappointing. Dayton Christian was the better team, but whenever you are a Christian team in the spotlight, it is almost imossible to find inparital referees. It was fun to spend some time with my dad, Josiah, Erik, and Grace.
Friday night Erik and I had the opportunity to watch the movie Fireproof at church. It is a very good movie that every couple should watch. The movie goes right along with a series on marriage that our pastor has been teaching. The series has been a great challenge and reminder on how God views marriage and our roles in marriage. If anyone would like to listen to the sermons (I think they are the best sermons I have ever heard on marriage) just go to our church's website, www.apexcommunity.net.
Saturday night my mom had some people over for a Bunco party. This was only the second time I have played bunco and we had a lot of fun. A friend my dad has worked with for over 20 years was there with his wife, and he soon found a fast friend in Grace. He was so sweet to her as he let her sit on his lap and roll the dice for him. She had a blast!
Saturday is also the day that everything caught up to me!! I developed a horrible cough and have lost my voice except for meager squeaks now and then. As a result, I couldn't work saturday or sunday. I must admit it was nice not working, but I wish I felt up to doing anything!
Today my cough and voice are not any better and I was greeted by a sick lena this morning. All Lena did was curl up in my lap or sit on the couch until 3 this afternoon. This is highly unusual for Lena, as she rarely sits still for more than a minute at a time. She seems herself now, so I am hoping she just had a quick bug.
I take the girls to get their Easter pictures done on Wednesday. I LOVE getting pictures done, expecially of my adorable kids.
Well, I had better get things cleaned up and dinner started.

The Mother of All Posts Part 3

The girls were up bright and early tuesday morning. Grace was SO excited that this was the day that she would finally be able to pick out her American Girl doll! The American Girl Place is phenomenal! It is one of the most amazing stores I have ever been to!

When we walked in Grace went right for Kit! She had been saying that was the doll she wanted, but I wasn't sure if she would stick with her decision once she saw all the dolls, but there was no swaying her! Grace started jumping up and down and was SO excited!Here's Grace and Grammie picking out the doll together! Her face was absolutely priceless as she picked out her doll!Grace could hardly wait for my mom to buy her and then be able to get her out of her box. I don't know about you, but I think Grace looks just a little happy in this picture! :) My mom also purchased for Kit the cutest pink pajamas, which Kit has had to wear to bed every night since! SO cute!

My mom then took Lena and they picked out a Bitty Baby. Lena was thrilled with her baby!Here's Lena loving on her baby! She absolutely adores the baby and it is now a permanent fixture to Lena.We bought Grace the matching Kit hat. They look adorable in their matching hats!

After buying the dolls my mom took Grace to the portrait studio they have there to get her picture taken with Kit.This is probably one of the best professional pictures we have of Grace. It is such a sweet picture and Grace is smiling SO big!

After pictures we headed upstairs to the Cafe to have our amazing lunch.Here's the girls and I at lunch. Notice how the dolls have their own special seats that attach to the tables. They also brought out special china for the dolls. Amazing!My mom and the girls at lunch. The dining room was beautiful. It was decorated in black, white, and pink. Lena needed her baby to sit in front of her for awhile!Grace and Kit enjoying their first lunch together. Grace smelling the flower! They brought us each an amazing dessert plate. It had a special heart cookie, a heart shaped piece of cake, and a flower pot with amazing chocolate mousse. Our lunch was so much fun, and will be a memory that I will cherish forever!A cute picture of the girls looking into a window.Me and the girls in front of the American Girl Place. We had such an amazing time. It was so special to spend the time with my mom and my girls. I'm am so blessed to have such an incredible mom who would take us on such an incredible trip!!!!

You may have wondered what happend to Uncle Joe during all this. Well, he took this opportunity to explore Chicago, and had a great time.

Our trip was thoroughly enjoyable and will be a cherished memory.

Yesterday was also a busy day for us. I was able to participate in two marketing research studies. One I was paid $40 for answering questions for only 10 minutes. And then the other I participated in a discussion group and received a $25 gift card to Target and was able to pick out a gift. I picked out this neat portable high chair.It is going to be great for taking on trips, camping, going on picnics, or just taking on the go. I'm definitely excited about it. I also had to work late last night, but was blessed with a profitable night.

Tonight will be another late night for us. Erik, Josiah, my Dad, Grace and I are heading to Columbus to cheer on my high school basketball team. They are competing in the state semifinals. It should be a great time!

Well that is what has all happened in less than a week! Crazy! I know I will hit the wall of exhaustion soon, but until then I will enjoy every minute!

The Mother of All Posts Part 2

I first wanted to start this post off with a word about my parents. My mom and dad absolutely amaze me. My mom has planned on taking us on this trip ever since Grace was born. As many of you know that past few years have been extremely hard ones for my family. My dad's cancer has led to continued time off from work and then now complete layoff. My mom and been more than faithful at her unpleasant job. She has worked countless hours trying to make ends meet, and at the same time always putting everyone else before herself. All this to say, my mom is amazing. She didn't need to spend the money she so diligently worked for and saved on this trip. It is something special that she wanted to do for me and my girls, and it AMAZES me! Special extravagences are always more meaningful and have a greater impact when they are the result of love and sacrifice!

Monday morning my mom and Uncle Joe picked us up and we made our way to Chicago. When we got in the car there were special treat bags that my Grandma packed full of treats and snacks for the girls. They loved it!

Our first stop was to Legoland!!! It was so much fun and quite amazing. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it, but they have an incredibly replica of the city of Chicago made of legos. Quite impressive. Grace expecially liked the exhibit they had of a jungle safari. There were full scale tigers, monkeys, snakes, and people all made of legos!Grace standing by a lego tiger!

There was also a ride that we were able to take the girls on that rides you around to show you more Lego scenes! Grace really enjoyed watching a Bob the Builder 4D movie. It was pretty cute. We spent the majority of our time playing with thousands of legos!

Lena had a great time playing with all the legos!Grace built a lego tower as tall as she is! Grace and Uncle Joe spent some time building, testing, and racing a lego car. Grace and Uncle Joe with their finished product.Lena in the lego pit. She thought this was hilarious! My girls with Uncle Joe. They absolutely adore him and are so lucky to have such an amazing uncle who will take the time to play and have fun with them!Grace and Grammie sitting next to a sleepy lego man! :) Me and my girls in front of Legoland. We had a great time! Afterwards we had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. My Grandma recommended the restaurant and even gave us the money for dinner. It was SO good and it was so sweet of my grandma to pay for our dinner.

We enjoyed relaxing at the hotel for the rest of the evening. Still to come in Part 3 of this incredibly long post....... American Girl Place Chicago!!!!!!!!

The mother of all posts Part 1

There has been so much that has happened over the course of the last week that I decided to break the post up into 3 sections.

I ended up working Friday Saturday and Sunday night which would be enough to wear me out in itself! Work went pretty well and I actually had a great night on Sunday night, which was truly a gift from God. It amazes me how God meets our needs right where we are at, and He knew the amount of money that I would need to make over the weekend. Also, even though work has been more than frustrating I have been given some opportunities to share my faith lately. I can also feel God giving me the courage to be more bold in my faith.

Erik's mom and dad came into town late Friday night. Saturday we packed into the car and headed to the Newport Aquarium. We absolutely love taking the girls to museums and fun family activities. This is one of the things that I am so thankfuk that my parents made the sacrifice for and made a priority while I was growing up. I love seeing the girls learn and experience new things. It is so much more rewarding than getting new sports equipment and clothes. I would much rather wear my "not so stylish" apparel and give my girls some amazing experiences. After all these are the memories that I myself cherish from my childhood.

Anyway, we had a great time exploring and seeing all the fish, birds, and especially the sharks!

Here is a picture of all of us in the mouth of a shark. Grace thought it was pretty cool.

Grace and daddy on the frogs. So, funny story. In the "frog bog" there is a climbing and tunnel activity for the kids. Well Grace insisted that I go in with her. I was quite pleased that I did not get stuck, as I am not sure they designed the tunnels for pregnant women! :)Lena on the frog!Lena touching a starfish!Grace and Daddy feeding a larakeet. We enjoyed the aquarium. It is so nice that there is so much to do and see within an hour drive!

That concludes the weekend and I will now work on our absolutely amazing Chicago trip!!!!!