My Momma...

Well, 2 years has passed since my mom passed away and there is not a day goes by that I don't think of her. I still can't believe that she is gone. It still seems like a bad dream. I look at her picture and just shake my head. How could this be? Not "MY" mom. NOT my children's "Mommom". She was supposed to watch them grow and teach them so many things that she taught me. Sing bible songs to them, teach them to help others, be patient, be kind and Always remember your manners.

So much has happened since she passed. Saying "passed" sounds so much better than "died". I just don't like that word.

It has gotten a little easier only because I force myself to focus on other things. I can't dwell on what I can NOT change. It just hurts because I miss her so much. I do remember so many good times. Instead of being happy about all the good memories, I still get sad because I know that I can't make any more memories with her.

I will never forget the time when I had a baby sitting job and she came to help me. We put "kyle" to sleep and we watched "Hope Floats" together. We sat on the living room floor of Serisa's house and we laughed and cried.

My mom made this cross stitch for me that says "LOVE FLOATS". It is something I will cherish forever. I have so many things that she made for me. I am so lucky for the time that I did have with her and also for all the memories that I got to share with her. She taught me so many things! It just reminds me of how short life is and you never know what tomorrow holds. We are NOT promised another day here on earth. One thing that my mom always preached was to stay close with God and always try to do what is right.

I have to admit that my mother's passing has taught me several things.

1. Not to take a single day for granted

2. Always keep God FIRST.

3. God is Always in control
4. I am stronger than I thought

5. Pray, Pray Pray...and Pray

Well, I started this post over the weekend and I saved it to drafts so that I could add some more things during the week.

I bought some Gardenia bulbs at the dollar store and I bought the color "Yellow" in memory of my mom several months ago. Well, I planted a garden in my backyard also in memory of her. The bulbs have been growing and they finally decided to bloom this week! It just seems so special to me because on Thursday May 28th was the day she left Earth to be with her Father in Heaven. Actually she is also with her Mom and Dad as well. I so often think about what it will be like in Heaven. Will my mom know me when I get there? I would like to think so but no one really knows.

I am upstairs right now and Ellie and Victoria decided to join me. Well, Victoria just put a VHS tape in the video player and it was a video that my mom made of me back in 1996. The video was actually for my Dad while he was stationed in Germany for one year. She taped my brothers and I, so that my dad could watch us grow while he was away. She was so awesome. It was so weird to see myself and hear my voice and her voice as well.

My brother Jesse was still in elementary school and he was so little. Ellie didn't believe me that the boy on the tape was Jesse. "That's funny." She also said that "mommom" looked different. :)

I see so much of her in me now. I look at my hands and see her hands. I put on Curel lotion and remember how she use to do that before she went somewhere. I wear "beautiful" perfume and remember how it smelled on her. I hear Ellie hum songs and think of how my mom use to do that all the time. I say to my children, "because I said so" and I hear her telling me that. I look at the stars at night and think of her. I see certain clothes that she would like and I think of her. I didn't realize how much I depended on her until after I had my first child. My mom's love was so genuine and true. She had so much patience. I didn't realize all the sacrifices she made until I became a mom. She always put us first. These are just some of the things that I hope I never forget. She is so much more than a Memory and a picture, she was my MOM!

I love you MOM!!

Today is Memorial Day and it is a day to remember our loves ones that have served in the military and lost their lives for us to have Freedom.

We must not forget to keep those families in our hearts and prayers.

Love,

Lizzy

Little Baili

For those of you that don't know, I am a Nanny for two little babies..."twins". Brock and Baili.
Here are some shots that I took of Baili today. She is almost one! I can't believe how big she is getting! She is such a joy and so much fun to be around. Enjoy!

My brother Nathan...

Here are some new Pics I took of my baby brother Nathan. Isn't he just adorable..:)
Just had to share!

Family = Fun

Well, I had a free day on Tuesday so I decided to take the kids to visit my other Mom and Dad and my sister as well.
I am so glad that I had the chance to go because my sister got a VERY important phone call. She got accepted to Nursing School! This is her dream and it is something she has been working really hard at. I know she is going to do great and be a wonderful Nurse! She is such an awesome person and I am SOOO Proud of her. Nobody said that reaching your dreams were easy. It takes a LOT of hard work but it is ALL worth it in the end! Keep Climbing and don't give up!
I love you sis!!!

Day at Beach

What a Day!
Daniel got the day off and we decided to take the kids to Gulfport, MS which is like 40 minutes away. We went to the Beach. The kids had a blast and Daniel and I got to catch some rays! :) We had a wonderful Day!

The Scratch Test Results: Ellie

Well, where do I start?
Thursday at 11:00 Ellie had to get a scratch test on her back to find out the severity of everything she is allergic to and also to see if she is allergic to anything else. She had one done before and it was 2 years ago. The doctor seemed to have very little patience for Ellie's screaming and crying. She was scared to death to have this done. She knew how much pain would be involved. I felt so bad for her. My dad came with me to help because Danny couldn't come. All I have to say is Thank God for Dad's! He is so Awesome! I don't think I could have handled this on my own. Ellie was screaming "Poppa..NO! Please tell her to stop Poppa, Please Poppa NO..Help Momma, Please help, No Poppa, No Momma......while she was laying face down, with no shirt on. It took everything in me to not cry.
I didn't know what a scratch test was until 2 years ago and OH MY GOODNESS! There are about 9 different square things with about 8 needles on each. It is hard to explain. Each one has a different serum in it and it has to sit on the back for 15 minutes after being poked on the back with 72 needles. Well in case you are wondering, HER WHOLE back was inflamed. It looked like 72 mosquitoes bit her!
Here are her allergies (food):
eggs, Yeast, beans, peas, Peanuts, walnuts, shrimp, oats, corn, wheat, soy, melon, oranges, celery, pork and tomato! Can you believe it! I can't!
No wonder Ellie was itching all the time, no matter how much medicine you gave her! The doctor just wanted to keep giving her high doses of medicine to help her stop itching! Well...HELLO WOMAN, she's itching because she is allergic to so many new things that didn't show up 2 freaking years ago! I have to say that since I have eliminated all of the things that she is allergic to, her skin is 100% better.
She is starting kindergarten in August and now she will be able to learn instead of scratching her whole body all over. My poor angel.

Well, there was a special moment after Ellie got her shots and all the serum got wiped off after sitting on her back for 15 minutes of Pure torture! My dad was rocking Ellie and holding her close and humming a song.."love lifted me." It was so cute! It was such a moment for me that I will never forget. I will cherish it forever! I am so grateful for my Dad. He always steps up to the plate to help me no matter what is going on his way. He treated me and the kids to lunch and a movie after. We saw the movie "Earth". It was pretty cool. It did have a couple parts in it that I didn't want to see but it was an amazing movie. It is so awesome to see my dad hold my daughter and the look on his face when he sees the kids. It is so obvious how much he loves them! I love my dad!!!

Back to Ellie...
The doctor wants Ellie to get allergy shots every WEEK and it will be 2 shots per week!
Also, another shot once every 3 months as well. She said that these shots will not help her with food allergies. It will help her with the other things such as mold, grass, trees and pollen. She is allergic to all of that too and you can't forget CATS and DOGS!
It is just not FAIR!!

Cutting the Grass

Danny was cutting the grass on Sunday and Gabe decided to get his little bubble lawn mower and help Daddy cut the Grass! It was so cute and he came up with the idea. He stayed outside with Danny the whole time and walking along right beside him the whole time as well. It was so darn cute! Just had to share the moment!

Love,
Lizzy

Ellie and her Allergies

As you all know (from previous post) Ellie is allergic to many things: eggs, yeast, beans, peas, peanuts, wheat, oat, soy, corn, walnuts, shrimp, cats and dogs as well as mold and mildew.

I have had a really hard time finding things for her to eat. I will need everyone's prayers for Thursday because I have to take her back to the Allergy Specialist for an Allergy panel on her back. Which will consist of about 48 needles on her back. It is no fun. Each set has about 8 needles on it and it is done about 6 times. She has not been on ANY medication since last Tuesday (APR 28Th). If I give her anything, she will not be able to take the Allergy panel.
Me and my silly self has been giving her things with "corn syrup and corn starch" without even realizing that certain food items had that in it. Like yogurt for instance has corn syrup in it! I also found out thanks to Internet research that Ketchup, cough drops, sodas (all kinds) has corn syrup in it. She can't even have chocolate thanks to "soy". Nor can she have chocolate pudding because of corn starch. I could go on and on and on about all the things that I am finding out that she can't have and it is the things she LOVES! Like Popcorn for goodness sakes! It is so SAD! I do know it could be worse. On the bright side: She will be ONE healthy Child!!! That is for sure!
I just had to vent about that. Well, now that I am aware of most of the things that she can not eat, her skin is looking 100% better. It is so soft now and she is NOT itching. It almost brings tears to my eyes.
I came up with a meal tonight and Ellie loved it! It had ground meat with rice in it and I made the rice and meat into balls without using eggs or bread. I added a couple seasonings that she can have and I browned the meat a little without cooking it all the way through. Then I put Tomato sauce (organic) and Diced Tomatoes and a pinch of sugar on the top and I covered it with Aluminum foil and I baked it for one hour.
Ellie ate every drop in her bowl. She said "Momma, I loved it. You need to make this every night." It made me so happy that I came up with something she can eat and something that she loves! Go ME! :) he he

Well, I have tons of pics to edit from this past weekend. Gotta get to work.
Love to all and please keep Ellie in your prayers.

Thanks,
Lizzy

Gabe and Ellie

Here are some pictures of Gabe too..I couldn't leave him out. He does "almost" everything his sister tells him to do. It was their idea to sit by the pond. :) I'm serious..:)

Love to all,
Lizzy

My little (big girl) Ellie

Here are some pictures that I took this evening of Ellie. She has noticed that I have been really busy taking pictures of everyone else and she has been feeling a little left out. :( She put on her dress and asked me to put "puppy tails" in her hair so she would be "really cute" so that I could take pictures of her. She is such a ham! I also got some of Gabe with her. I like the lighting in the pictures and I noticed the time, which was 7:00?? I am going to have to start taking pics later in the evening. :) I love the way they came out. Ellie is getting so big and there is nothing I can do about it. :( She will always be my baby girl!!!

Love,
Lizzy