Make a wish!

Here is Ellie blowing out her candles and opening her presents!

More pics...

Ellie turns 6

My little girl turned 6 this week. I can't believe how big she is already! Time sure does fly! She is so amazing. She is becoming full of opinions and lets you know what she wants. She wants to pick out her clothes and tell you how to fix her hair and also what shoes she thinks looks best with her outfit. Her and I have had a different of opinions lately but that is what mothers and daughters do.

Her new BUNK bed came in over the weekend and Poppa came to deliver it and put it together for her. She had NO patience when it came to putting it together. She kept asking..."is it ready yet?" Typical woman I guess! Ha ha!
She loves her New room! Gabe sleeps in her room now and they talk about who is sleeping where each night. She has let Gabe sleep on the top bunk which is nice. Sharing is GREAT! Gabe and Ellie are so close and I hope they stay that way! It really makes my heart melt!
I love seeing Gabe's face when we go to Ellie's school to have lunch with her. He runs up to her and gives her a great big hug. She is so proud to show off Gabe to all her friends. They hold hands to the playground after lunch! It is so darn cute! I really need to bring my camera. "note to self"
Well, the night before her birthday we met my dad and my sister in law at Picadilly to have dinner and celebrate her birthday. She had a great time.
On her birthday, Gabe and I went to her school to have lunch with her and then we went back during snack time to bring special cupcakes for her and her classmates to eat. They all loved them! :) After Ellie came home, we waited for Daddy to be able to leave work and we met him at Chuck e cheese to use her free 20 tokens to celebrate her birthday. She LOVES that place...who doesn't! Danny and I had to play a couple of the games too..he heee hee!
When we got home they crashed!
What was funny was when Ellie came home from school the following day and I asked her how her day was and she said, "it was good but not as good as yesterday was!" Ha Ha!
I am so glad we were able to make her birthday special!

Go Saints!

Valentines day is coming...

Well, one of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day! I also love hearts! I got Ellie and Gabe dressed and decided to take pictures of them. Here are some of them that I wanted to share! I had little valentine cards made and I plan on mailing them out soon. Enjoy!

Lots of love to all!

Ellie and Gabe

Just a picture I managed to get of the kids before church one morning....my precious babies!

Gabe = smartie pants!

Here are some pictures of Gabe working on his alphabet! He is so funny! He did all his letters and then I told him how proud I was and he said.."I know mom, I am a smartie pants!" He is hilarious and always makes me laugh and smile! I just love him sooo much! I can't believe he will be in pre-k soon. I have to get him registered on Feb 1st! He will be attending a christian school near our home. He is excited. He will go two days out the week. I know he will do GREAT!

Ellie's new room!

My sweet nephew came over on January 17th and spent the night. He and Danny stayed up till 1am painting Ellie's room yellow. Ellie was asked what she wants for her birthday and she said a bunk bed. She has been saying that for a while now. I told her that if she got a bunk bed then that meant no birthday party and I think she is okay with that. So...momma has been loosing sleep over how her room should look. This is every woman's dream to re-decorate a room right?? Ha ha! I love it and I am so happy I can do this for her!
I painted the canvas paintings on her wall..go liz! Ha ha! We got her new bedding at Target on sale and now we are just waiting on the bunk bed to arrive! It should be here by this Friday! Go ole Poppa will pick it up and deliver it and set it up! We can't wait! I don't know who is more excited..ellie or me? Ha ha!
Well, once everything is done I will post pictures of the finished product!
I am so grateful for Corey for all his help! He is so awesome and sweet! We love him so much! Thanks Corey!!! Your the best!

Some thoughts...

It is so easy to get on a negative path and a negative way of thinking. Especially when it seems like so many bad things are happening in your life. Financial struggles really bring you down as well and then you start to think..."How am I going to do this?" How will "I" pay my bills?

Then...I stop and realize that "GOD" is in control and he always will be. We must have FAITH and trust him 100%. Looking back on this past year 2009, I can clearly see God's hand in every step of the way and we made it and I KNOW we will continue to make it. The struggles that I have or should I say WE have encountered have only made us stronger and appreciate what we do have. It also make us treasure the little things in life.

We went to church yesterday and the sermon was about how important Church is and also our part as Christians to follow God's calling and help lead others to Christ and also bring them to church. It was so easy as a child to bring a friend or two! I will continue to pray about it and I want to do what ever God wants me to do. I WANT to be more involved in church and figure out my "talent" that God gave me. God gives us so much everyday and we must stop and acknowledge what he does and give back. OUR God is an awesome God!

When I found out I was pregnant, my first thought was "how are we going to have money to raise another child?" Well, I know God will provide and It is my job to raise them in a Christian home and I will! I also know that this wonderful child is a Gift from God and a sign to me that things will start getting better! It will be a wonderful new year with a another little baby to love! No matter what struggles come our way, God is there and that makes me so happy...I could cry! It is so overwhelming to me sometimes just thinking about it all! He loves us so much he sent his SON to die on the cross for us! WOW!

I watched the show "Home makeover" last night and I started to cry because there was a little girl that gave so much of herself and helped so many people with cancer when she needed so many things but she put others first! That is so awesome and such an inspiration! It is so important to GIVE!

So this year...2010 is about what I can do for others and how can I be a better Christian!
I also want to be a better Mom, wife and friend!

Love to all...
Lizzy

Christmas in the Oaks..

We went to Christmas in the Oaks at City park right after Christmas with my Dad and Mrs. Rose. The kids had a blast minus the cold weather. They got to ride all the fun kiddie rides and it was so much fun seeing the big smiles on their faces! It was a great night!

Little Jacob Ryan!

Little Jacob Ryan

An awesome and dear friend of mine (Angie) just adopted a baby boy in December. They have 3 amazing girls and now they have a wonderful addition to their family...Baby Jake! I had the honor of taking his pictures! He is so adorable and so precious! I had to share the pictures! He couldn't be with anyone better than Angie and her husband Ryan! They are both wonderful parents who put God first in their home and it is obvious! This is their Christmas Miracle! Enjoy!! :)

Ultrasound Picture

A great friend of mine (Nancy) did an ultrasound this past weekend to see if we could determine the sex of the baby and we found out....."IT'S A BOY"!!!! We are so excited! We would be excited either way but we are happy it is a little boy! Gabe will be the Big Brother! He is so excited! We are having a hard time agreeing on names but I know we will come up with something before he comes! Ha ha!

I am offically 18 weeks pregnant now and so far everything is going great. I feel great other than the normal symptoms of pregnany. The only problem I have been having that has been difficult to deal with is feeling like I have bugs all over me. I itch my legs and feet like crazy. I will talk to the doctor about it and it seems to get worse at night. I feel like a dog with fleas. No one else in my home has this problem, just me! I think it is hormones? I haven't changed any detergent or soaps. Everything is the same, so I really have no clue!
My arms itch and sometimes my stomach.

Ellie, Gabe and Victoria seem to be excited about having a brother. Ellie always kisses my belly and tells the baby goodnight. I can't wait until I get further along so she can feel him move. I know she will love that.

A wonderful Christmas!

I am finally finding a moment to make a post to my blog. I have been so busy over the holidays and it just doesn't seem to stop! I am forcing myself to make time for this! I have so many awesome pictures and moments that I want to write about and I don't want to forget!

Here it goes....

While Bonnie was in town to visit, I got to spend the evening with my her. We were able to go to a painting class at Cork and Canvas on the north shore. It was so relaxing and just fun to hang out without any distractions. We each have a painting to hang in our home and the memory of how much fun we had! It was a special day for me! :)

On Christmas eve, we spent the evening at my Dad's in Folsom. The kids could not wait to go there. With the help of Danny (my husband) and his connections at his work at a car dealership, my nephew corey got a new car for christmas! We surprised him that night. He was so excited and in shock as well. It is a used car but new to him! It is really nice and what was best was seeing his face when he saw it!

We have a tradition in our family where my Dad reads a passage from the Bible before we open presents. I am so glad we do that and it means so much more now to me now that I am older because it is something I can pass down to my family and children. It IS what Christmas is all about. I have been talking to Ellie and Gabe about that alot!

Here are some pictures from our visit with "Poppa and Mrs. Rose"