ONE!

Brianna turned one last Sunday! We had a party for her at my good friend Serena's house. It was fun. I can't believe she is already 1!!!! It is crazy! On Monday she had her one year check-up. She is 31 inches and 21 lbs. 6 oz. Our pediatrician was a little concerned that her weight dropped off, but I think alot of that is just from her getting so much more active. I doubt that will change between 12 and 15 mos. since she will likely start walking, but hopefully she will have gained enough weight to make her Dr. happy. I am going crazy trying to figure out how to get her to gain weight. She is a good eater, but she LOVES her fruits and veggies. She will eat those first if given a meat, rice, and veggie. It is crazy. Good, but crazy. I am giving her cheese and I started giving her mini bagels with whipped cream cheese. I think I am going to switch yogurts to a yogurt that comes in a bigger size since she will eat yogurt like its going out of style. Yobaby has a 3 in 1 yogurt that has yogurt, fruit puree and vegetable puree all in one container and it comes in a 6oz. size instead of 4 oz like the other yobaby yogurt we normally get. All in all though, we are doing well. Brianna sleeps like a champ 12-14 hours a night, she is starting to get better about napping, she is happy, and brings joy to our lives daily! We are working on trying to wean her. She is down to 2-3 nursings per day, but is hanging on for dear life to those. We decided we will work on it some over Christmas since Mike will be around much more while we are on vacation. We are not going to really push it though until January when we get back. I will leave you with some AMAZING pictures taken by my dear friend Serena Garciadiaz. She is an AHHHH-mazing photographer and loves our family almost as much as we love her. She always finds a way to capture us in a way that really shows our personalities and love for one another. If you need pictures done, I HIGHLY recommend her!

Bad Brakes

It seems like as soon as things are going smoothly for us...SOMETHING happens. This month its the brakes on Mike's car. Last night he was driving into work and suddenly without notice, he heard metal grinding on metal as he tried to stop. Luckily he was able to stop without issue and got to work and home safely. I decided that instead of freaking out about not having the money to get the brakes fixed, I would think outside of the box. Last night I ordered a set of brakes for the front axle and as soon as they get in, we are going to explore the world of fixing our own car. It should be interesting. We have several offers of people to help who have worked on cars before, as well as many phone connections who can offer expertise. I have been searching online for diy tutorials and found several unofficial "Idiots-guide-to-replacing-brake-pads" sites. I am pretty confidant that we can do this. Also, I was doing a friend's hair yesterday and she offered to sell me her elliptical machine! That is the highlight of my week! I am working hard to change my eating habits and feel like I am in a really good place as far as resisting unhealthy foods and planning out my calories so that I stay within my daily range. The one piece that is missing that I would like to add is exercise. Right now it is very hard for me to find the time to exercise. Between my jobs, Mike's job, Mike's classes, the kids and trying to keep up with the house, I literally can't figure out a good time to go. We have a membership to the Recreation Aerobics Center on campus included in tuition, however there is no childcare. We can't afford a gym membership with a child drop. And the few hours a week when Mike is home and I could go to the gym, I feel guilty sacrificing the family time since that is also very limited. So the thought of owning an elliptical machine is almost too good to be true. To be able to workout in the evenings after the kids are in bed and while Mike is at work, or in the morning, or at naptime, or pretty much anytime. I am very excited. I hope it will work out. On another note, it has been cold lately and I have been enjoying having a nice cup of coffee in the evenings once we are in for the night. However, the coffee has been keeping me up at night. My predicament: everything I can think of that doesn't have caffeine in it is much higher in calories than I am willing to ingest in a drink. Does anyone know of a low calorie (less than 50) warm drink that I can enjoy in the evenings during the winter that has no caffeine, and no artificial sweeteners (I have no tolerance for them and get migraines)??? I am not sure it exists, but I would appreciate the suggestions.

14 days and counting!

So, we made it through Thanksgiving! It was a lot of fun, but a lot of stress...my house still isn't completely recovered from it. The food was amazing, and I managed to continue making healthy food choices. All of the recipes were really good and if you want specific reviews or suggestions based on my experience with any of them in particular, just let me know and I will give you my two sense. I am really proud of myself. As of the Thursday before Thanksgiving I had lost 10 pounds. My goal for Thanksgiving was to not gain anything. Somehow even with A LOT of eating out and Thanksgiving dinner and everything, I managed to not gain weight. Not only that, but as of today, I am down another 4 1/2 pounds! My total weight loss to date is 14.5 pounds...over Thanksgiving (actually 3 different Thanksgiving dinners over the course of the month). That is 15.9% of the total amount of weight I want to lose to get down to my goal weight! It gives me hope that when we go home at Christmas it won't be detrimental. I hope. I think I picked the worst time of the year to change my eating habits and lose weight. However, I am hopeful that after the first of the year I should be able to lose a bit easier because there will be less "eating" holidays. I don't know. I am just going to keep going and doing what I am doing. This is about a lifestyle change for me. Things are always going to come up in life that I am going to have to work around. So, I am very excited because two weeks from today we will be on a plane heading for Massachusetts. I am getting more and more homesick by the day! We haven't been back in 2 years. I miss it so much. Today's snowfall only proved to make me MORE homesick...too much like home...luckily it didn't hang around long enough to send me spiraling into a homesick depression. :( This weekend we are getting ready for Bria's first birthday! I can't believe she is almost 1! I will write more about that later, but I am very excited about it! I will leave you with a picture of MK, Bria, and my niece and nephew: Haylie and Jeremiah. They are all in matching pjs and are so cute! It was fun to see everyone and get the babies together!

Yummy!

Tomorrow we have our Thanksgiving Feast at Travis Ave Christian Early Learning Center. My two year olds are dressing up as Indians and the 3 and 4 year olds are dressing up as pilgrims. Mary Kate is so excited! I am too. All of the parents are coming and then everyone is bringing food. So, tonight I finished up some crafts that my classroom made that I needed to assemble. Then, I made my dish for the Feast. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to do a practice run of one of the new Thanksgiving dishes. So, I made the Cauliflower Puree. It smelled sooooo good. I can't wait. The recipe I have is for just one serving, so I had to multiply it alot and as a result there was a little too much liquid, but it is not so much that it ruins it. I tried a bite and It was so yummy. If you look at the recipe I made some changes that I am happy with...First, I used roasted garlic instead of raw garlic; Second, I used vegetable broth instead of Chicken broth (I think the veggie broth has A LOT more flavor!); and third, I left out the cream in order to make it healthier. All in all, I think it is great and I am excited to make it for my family! On another note, I am doing great with eating healthier. I have lost 10 pounds now. 10 Lbs!!! In a week and a half! I am really excited. Not just about the weight loss, but also because I really am developing a completely new outlook on food and eating. I find myself mindlessly gravitating to healthy foods, being not only satisfied, but full on only a little over half the calories I once ate in a day, and overall uninterested in greasy foods, fast foods, and generally unhealthy foods. I don't miss them. At all! I appreciate all the prayers and support! Keep it up, I know it is helping.

Thanksgiving Dinner

We are very excited for Thanksgiving this year because unlike last year, I am not 39 weeks pregnant, and unlike the year before, we will not be all alone. My parents are coming down for the week of Thanksgiving and my sisters will be here as well. It will be nice to all be together. Since Mike and I are working hard at eating right, I decided to to a Non-Traditional Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. I am going to make Traditional Thanksgiving flavors in Non-Traditional (and Healthier) ways. So, I thought I would share my menu with you:

Herb Rubbed Turkey with Roasted Garlic Gravy
Acorn Squash with Wild Mushroom and Cranberry Stuffing
Roasted Green and White Asparagus
Cauliflower Puree
Mixed Greens Salad with Pecans and Craisins
Sweet Potato Rolls

I linked them all so you could check them out yourself. They sound DELICIOUS!!! We aren't making as many dishes, but they will be good...and who really needs 4 variations off potatoes anyways. Happy planning on all of your Thanksgiving dishes and love to hear your ideas as well!

Finallly Focused

I have always struggled with my weight. My mom struggled with hers and pretty much every woman on both sides of my family have struggled as well. I say this not as an excuse, but as a little background information. I have known that I needed to lose weight for a while now and have tried in the past to no avail. Not because I couldn't, but because I was never actually focused on it. I knew what I needed to do, but never had the willpower to do it. I would always fail and give in at some point. It was never a lifestyle change, It was never an act of Faith...It was always very prideful and self-confident, although for the life of me, I don't know why since I never succeeded. After I had Bria I lost 30 lbs. It was easy. It just melted away after she was born. It was great, and I was confident. And where I haven't gained any of it back, I haven't lost anymore either. I keep saying, "I need to get more focused on my diet" or "I need to watch what I eat" or other things, but I never actually committed to do anything. To be honest, I really had NO idea what the nutritional value of most of the foods I ate were. Last Saturday It hit me and I knew I had to change. In our cell groups at church we are doing a study on "Life's Healing Choices: Freedom from your hurts, habits, and hangups" and last week (or was it two weeks ago) in the study the Rick Warren made a statement that willpower should be called won'tpower...cheesy I know, but his point was that we CANNOT change our own lives. We need to relinquish control of our lives and count on God for strength to get over what we are struggling with. Wow, I tell Mary Kate all the time that she is a "can-do kid," that she CAN DO all things through Christ who gives her strength and if she is struggling with something, she should ask him for help and trust that he will help her. I obviously will help her too, but I want her to receive her confidence from Him! So why don't I listen to my own advice. I need to trust him to give me the strength to change my lifestyle and set a positive example for my children. So, I signed up for Sparkpeople, It is a website that helps you reach your weightloss goals by encouraging healthy living and helping you track your food consumption and activities. I started this on Sunday and I have been overwhelmed by the change that has occurred in my mind already. It is like all of a sudden I don't even want to eat the things I used to eat or drink. I have been eating a 1200-1500 calorie diet balanced 30-30-40 for carbs-fat-protein since Sunday morning. I have lost 4 pounds. I am hesitant to get excited about this, but I am excited. I have never been focused like this before. I know it is because I am depending on Christ to change not only my physical appearance, but my heart and mind towards food. I am trusting him to help me change my lifestyle and make me and my family more healthy. Pray for me to stay focused and trust God during this time as I seek freedom from this habit/hangup/unhealthy lifestyle. I will try to keep posting about my progress!

My baby is growing up!

I feel old. Mary Kate learned how to tie a shoe this week. Here's a video of it.

I hate Thursdays!

So, as great as Wednesdays are for me, that's how bad Thursdays are. I work on Thursday which is pretty enjoyable except for the getting up and getting out the door with the kids. However, It is a busy day. On top of a busy day, add in the fact that I see Mike for about 15 minutes in the morning while we are both scrambling around getting ourselves and the kids ready for the day. After that, I go to work and he goes to school. I get off of work at 2:30 and guess what time Mike goes to work. You guessed it! 2:30! He doesn't get home until 3:30 AM! So, MK doesn't see Mike at all on Thursdays except to say hi through a sleepy haze in the morning and I don't see Mike all day. And We are all cranky! :( I can deal with my own crankiness, but MK is a daddy's girl through and through and typically has a meltdown every Thursday night. It is no fun. I hate it. Anyways, tonight was actually fun. A friend came over for a haircut and stayed for a while. She is MK's cubbies teacher and it was really nice to get to know her a bit better. MK loved it because she is a ham! Ok, goodnight all!

I heart Wednesdays!

I think Wednesdays have become my favorite day of the week. With my job at Travis Avenue, and watching Julianna, and with Mike's classes and work schedule life is crazy. Either I am watching kids or keeping kids from waking Mike up or working. Most days Mike sleeps in because he doesn't get home from work until 3:30 AM. There is only one day during the week where I could possibly sleep in: Wednesday. For the past couple of weeks, Mike has been getting up with the girls and letting me sleep as long as I want. It has been so nice. It actually feels like I sort of have a day off. I mean, Mike goes to work in the afternoon, so Its not the whole day off, but even so it is great! And, On Wednesday night Mary Kate has AWANAS and Brianna hangs out in the nursery, so I get another hour and a half to myself. It is nice. Once a month I go to the business meeting, but the other weeks I do my grocery shopping or get coffee or just sit in the blessed silence. I love Wednesdays. Everyone should have at least one day during the week that is this restful. On another note, I love my job. I realized on Tuesday that even when the kids in my class are all having horrible days, I still enjoy being there. I never hate it, I never wish I didn't have to go. I truly love it!

Something in the Air Lately...

I swear there is something in the air! Lately, Brianna has been waking up multiple times a night. Usually, she will wake up, sit up, and start playing in her crib, sometimes silently, sometimes babbling. Problem is when we walk by, she freaks out, and when she gets tired of playing but doesn't want to go back to sleep she freaks out. Makes us getting sleep kind of difficult. Also, today was a crazy day at work. 9 of our 10 kids were there and the one that was out was one of our 3 girls. The boys don't usually miss school ever. They were all either really really abnormally sensitive, or really really abnormally aggressive. I don't know for sure, but I am betting, something in the air, allergens, a weather front, a whole lot of crazy, opposite molecules, a full moon, something. Hoping to get some sleep tonight finally and get rid of this headache. Thursday's are always hard with the girls because I am at work all day with Mary Kate in her preschool class and Mike is home with Brianna and when we get home at 230ish, Mike goes to work in Dallas. So, we don't see him hardly at all on Thursday. This is particularly hard on MK who is a devoted Daddy's girl. Here's to a peaceful rest of the day!

Some Pictures

This morning our church had their annual Jubilee of Tables. It is an event put on by the Womens' Ministry. It is a great time of fellowship. Different women decorate tables and it is catered by a tea room. There is worship and a speaker. It was fun. My neighbor Alicia came with me which was nice. I enjoy getting to spend time with her when we get the chance. I thought I would also post some pictures that I have been behind in posting. Enjoy!

Mary Kate and Timothy Playing Dress-up

Mary Kate's Lunch for her first day of Preschool


My baby on her first day of Preschool


Bria on MK's first day of school and Bria's first day home with Daddy (and with Ms. Amanda in the morning)



Bria and her cheerios! She loves them! And wears them! You can see her tooth in this pic :)

Bad Blogger

Ok, so I have missed a while blogging. I am routinely checking other blogs that I read. I even have several drafts of posts that I was thinking about posting. I kept waiting for the perfect idea to pop into my head to catch up and post. However, SOOO much has changed in the past month and a half that my ideas were constantly changing and usually got so long that I lost my own attention just writing it so I know no one wanted to read it. I am going to do a quick catch up by Family member:

Mike: Mike started a new semester in August. Not much has changed for him. Still the same old job, same old school. He's taking Greek this semester, so life is a little intense right now. Also he is taking his philosophy of religion class which I think is helping him get an extra nap during the day. He is also taking on the task of watching Brianna during the day on Tuesday and Thursday while I am working (see post about Erin).

Erin: I started off July watching a 2 year old full time during the week. That ended in August and I got a job at Travis Avenue Baptist Church working as a teacher in their Christian Early Learning Center. I teach 10-2 year olds on Tuesday and Thursday from 930-2pm. I love it and was able to completely replace the income from the full time child I was watching and do it with only 11 hours of work. Also, I started watching a 3 year old little girl for a couple hours in the morning on mondays and fridays. It has been really nice getting out of the house more during the week and interacting with other adults. I feel like it has made me more productive at home as well since I have been utilizing my days home better.

Mary Kate: Mary Kate has reaped the benefit of me working at the C.E.L.C. She has started going to preschool there. She absolutely LOVES it!!! She is doing a lot of fun crafts and learning to properly print her letters and making new friends. Her teachers told me that she always knows all of the answers to the questions they ask at Bible Story time and she was the only one who knew the rhyme "Little Miss Muffet". I am a proud mama! Mary Kate also started her second year of cubbies and is starting to read! She is growing up so fast.

Brianna: She is growing like a weed! She just had her 9 month check up and she is 20 lbs. and 30 inches long. She is the average size of 15 month old. She also is developmentally on par with a 15 month old. She is saying a couple of words (mama, dada, peekaboo, up, ball, uhuh, hi, bye), crawling, pulling up, feeding herself, pinching food and small objects between her thumb and forefinger. Most of this (other than the crawling and pulling up) is stuff that most kids don't do until 15 months. My kids have always been talkers though. :) Brianna is also demonstrating her stubborn streak. Now that she can get to what she wants we have had to really start teaching her boundaries. And she doesn't like them! We have also discovered how social she is. She is not content to sit and play somewhere if no one is around. She will find you and crawl to you and follow you around. It is cute and sweet!

So that is an update on us in a nut shell. While a lot has changed we are grateful to God for his guidance and provision. I can truly say that the past month has been a test of Faith and that God has shown his power in our lives by providing more than we could have hoped for in all of this. Thanks for any and all prayers you have lifted for us!

Moving but not Moving

So much has happened this month so far and I have been horrible at blogging it all. The two main things that are going on are: Bria is moving and we are not!

So Bria started crawling about a week ago. She is not very graceful, but she uses her entire body to propel herself forward. She knows she can get whatever she wants and she goes for it! As you can imagine this has made my life slightly more "exciting"!





On the subject of us not moving, we went through the process of applying to Apartment Life and have been told again that they don't like Mike's work schedule and that it is not conducive to being a CARES Team. We are sad about this, but don't necessarily feel like the door is closed on Apartment Life. Both of us really like the ministry and we will continue to keep it in mind should something change on our end or thiers.

Let's stay productive!

So I am hoping to continue my productive streak from yesterday. Out of nowhere, Brianna took a 2 1/2 hour nap and at the same time, MK and Kenzie (the 2 year old I watch) took 4 hour naps. It was beautiful. Before they went down for their nap I changed all the sheets and switched MK's mattress with the better mattress that we used as a spare under her bed. I also lowered Bria's crib mattress. During nap, I got 7 loads of laundry done and cleaned the living room and dining room. I also read a book yesterday. I love reading and It was so nice to get to read something other than a children's story. It was a historical christian fiction/romance novel called "Love's Pursuit". It was really good. I have already collected trash from all the bathrooms and the diaper pail and computer desk this morning. I have more laundry on the schedule as well as dishes. I also have to go by the seminary and pay Mike's tuition bill. Amazingly, God has yet again provided tuition money for this semester. I am continually in awe with how he provides for us and it is constantly confirmed to us that we are here for a reason and that he wants us here in Fort Worth at SWBTS to do Mike's schooling. Since I am a perpetual planner and like to know what is going on, I really appreciate God indulging my ocd tendancies and reaffirming his call on us like that. On another note, I think it is a tad ridiculous that we have to have our tuition paid up by Aug. 1st when classes don't start for another 2 1/2 weeks. But I guess when I run a school someday (HAHAHA) I can run it how I choose. Pray for us this semester!

Cowboys Stadium, Rangers Ballpark, Stockyards, and a Rangers sweep of the Red Sox!

So, I am a little behind on blogging, which is funny to say since I am not very consistent anyways. However I have a lot of stuff to catch up on. On July 19th was Mary Kate's 4th birthday. I made cupcakes for her sunday school class and we spent the afternoon with some good friends of ours who live near Burleson in Fort Worth. Other than that, we held off on too much celebration until this past Saturday when we had a big party for her with a bunch of her friends. That Sunday night however, Mike's sister Liz flew in from Boston with her husband Paul. We haven't seen them in almost 2 years. It was great to see them. It was very different from when Mike's parents come to visit. When his parents come we usually spend more time hanging out around the house so they can soak up the babies. It was actually really nice with Liz and Paul because they wanted to go see things in the area. We normally aren't as motivated to go sightseeing and check out stuff in the area just because we are so busy with work and school and church and kids and etc. Anyways, it was ALOT of fun. On Monday we went and took a tour of the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Oh My Goodness! It is amazing! Huge! Everything is the biggest (fill in the blank). Biggest tvs in the world, biggest covered building in the world, biggest beer cooler in the world, biggest arches in the world, I am sure there is more, but I can't remember. IT was neat though. I guess for 1.4 billion dollars I could build a pretty neat building too! So, that night we had dinner at Tom's diner in Arlington. It is a great little diner on the corner of Cooper street and I-30. Mike found it and we love it. On mondays, kids eat free which is even more enticing. That night we took the girls to the Rangers-Red Sox game. It was Bria's first Red Sox game and first game ever, and it was my first game in 4 or 5 years that I wasn't pregnant for! Needless to say, I enjoyed it more than others. The Red Sox lost despite Bria's rally cap in the 8th and 9th! Mary Kate passed out and never made it past the 7th inning. It was a lot of fun! On Tuesday we went to see the stockyards downtown and treated Liz and Paul to BBQ at Risky's at the Stockyards. It was amazing as usual. And MK enjoyed showing off the cows to Aunt Liz and Uncle Paul. I also tried dublin Dr. Pepper for the first time and fell in love. That night we got a babysitter for the girls and we took Liz and Paul to the Red Sox again only this time we bought tickets ahead of time. They were GREAT seats-in between center and left field, right next to the Red Sox bullpen, front row. We were literally 10-15 feet away from Manny Del Carmen! I talked to him. And he let me get a picture of him!!!! Alas the Red Sox lost again and we were sad, but we had a great time and they really were UNBELIEVABLE seats! On Wednesday we headed back out to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington only this time it was for a stadium tour and to see the museum and children's learning center. It was a lot of fun. The museum there has the largest collection of baseball memorabilia outside of Cooperstown. It was cool to see. And, the children's section was awesome. MK loved it! Very interactive and educational and fun! Liz and Paul went to the game that night with some other friends that they wanted to catch up with and so we had a night off. Thursday was their last day here and we just hung out together. MK really loved playing softball and freeze tag with them. It was a really nice visit and even though we stayed busy it was nice to be together and for Mike not to have to work. He was able to take mon-thurs off. I will blog later about MK's party and having my sisters up for it!

Sparkly Pink Princess Castle Birthday Cake

Here is a picture of the birthday cake that I made for Mary Kate's 4th Birthday Party today. It was my first time using fondant. I think it turned out pretty good. I always have grand dreams each year of doing these big elaborate creative cakes, but usually I procrastinate or chicken out. I almost did again this year, but I am glad I didn't.

Cambridge Police Officer To Obama: Butt Out of My Arrest - Political News - FOXNews.com

Cambridge Police Officer To Obama: Butt Out of My Arrest - Political News - FOXNews.com

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Some Political Soundoff...

I don't have a lot of people in my life right now with whom I can discuss politics and current events. I don't know why that is. I love all of my friends, but they just aren't that interested in those topics. No big deal...However, this entry will be a soundoff because I just need to vent about an issue. So there's your fair warning...if you don't care, don't read.

OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS!! I don't know if you have heard about the situation in Cambridge,MA. You can read about it at the link in the post above in more detail, but basically a woman called the police and said that she saw two black men with backpacks apparantly trying to break into a house. It turns out the house belonged to one of the men: Gates, a professor and head of the African American Studies Department at Harvard University. The police came out and responded to the incident as you would hope that they would in a situation (or possible situation as the case may be). From the time the officer arrived he was berated with comments about him being racist for being there. Once the professors residency was verified the officer informed Gates that he was going to be going outside because he was done there and he needed to hear his radio because he couldn't inside and that Gates was free to follow him if he still needed to talk to him. Gates chased him outside (apparently his cane wasn't necessary at that moment) and continued to berate him and accuse him of racism and other ridiculous claims. It was then that the officer warned him that if he didn't calm down (it was night and a crowd was forming) then he was going to have to arrest him for disorderly conduct. Guess what: he didn't calm down! So, he got arrested. The police did decide to drop the charges after a couple hours in jail. Then, Obama feels the need to put his two sense in without even knowing the situation. He called the police stupid! Stupid! STUPID! Are you kidding me!?!? This officer is the officer who trains people on how NOT to racial profile. He responded to a call, LIKE HE SHOULD! He verified residency and identity and dealt with Gates professionally which is more than I can say for me and how I would have responded to an irrational crazy man spouting political propaganda! Stupid! Really? STUPID is not staying calm when the police come to your house and you know you are in the right. STUPID is creating racism out of thin air in order to control people. STUPID is not cooperating with the police who are trying to protect your property. STUPID is stabbing the police in the back on national television. STUPID is not appreciating the men and women of this country who keep us and our property safe every second of every day. STUPID is assuming that the racial profiling that does happen and is a serious issue has ANYTHING to do with this. STUPID is assuming that everytime a policeman/woman comes in contact with a person of color that it is racial profiling. STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!!! There is something seriously wrong with our country when a police officer can do his job with no regard to any color of anyone's skin and yet the people he is trying to protect will use their race to paint the officer in a negative light. I can respect actual discrimination and racism as issues. I think they are wrong and we need to move past them. However, I can't respect anyone of any color using their color to assume wrongdoing when there is none. I thouhg the whole point of civil rights was to make it so that it doesn't matter what your skin color is, everyone has the same opportunities available to them. Now civil rights are used as a way to constantly point out that there are differences. Our skin colors will always be different. We are a diverse people. But just because you are black or brown or purple or yellow or blue doesn't mean that anything I say to you is racially charged. And Obama should be ashamed to have commented on that. If you really want to inspire a generation of black men and women, then put an end to this. Don't encourage people to point out their own skin color and create differences. Lets try to find a way to put aside our difference and trust that we will all treat each other as humans. To accept that we all look different from the color of our skin to the color of our hair to everything. We are all unique. We are all different. Deal with it! and Don't be stupid. Mad props to the Cambridge Police Department for standing behind Officer Crowley. This is the first time I have ever been proud of anything happening in or originating from Cambridge, MA. ROCK ON!!!

A look at the past: July 19, 2005

2:15 in the morning I woke up needing to use the bathroom as most hugely pregnant women do. I came to get back into bed and as I went to climb up, felt like I had to pee again. Frustrated I turned to go back towards the bathroom and as I did, my water broke. I woke Mike up out of a dead sleep. He didn't know which way his head was. We called the midwife and she told us to come on in so they could check to make sure that the cord didn't slip out as her head had not engaged yet. We went in and quickly found out that Mary Kate was breech. In other words, we had to have a C-section. Not the birth we had planned, but at that point I didn't care. I wanted to meet my baby. At 8:03 AM on Tuesday July 19th, 2005, we met our precious baby girl for the first time. Mary Katelyn Borghese, 7lb. 8oz., 20 in. and a full head of dark hair. Happy 4th birthday baby! I love you so much!

A look at the past: July 18, 2005

4 years ago today I was waking up from an unexpectedly peaceful nights' sleep. I had been having contractions the night before and thought for sure I would be having the baby soon. Alas, I was still pregnant and all quiet on the labor front. Since I had called my midwife the night before to let her know we might be in labor, she called the next morning and wanted me to come in and get checked out. Begrudgingly I went. When I got there the midwife checked me and proceeded to tell me to relax and be patient, afterall my due date was still 2 weeks away and I was not dialated at all and it was my first baby. She told me that she didn't see me going into labor anytime soon. I was frustrated and angry with the stupid midwife. Who says that to a woman who is 38 weeks pregnant? Anyways, I went home and that night we had dinner at my mother and father in law's house. It was meatballs and ravioli. So delicious!!! I went to bed that night with a new resolve. I told God that if he wanted me to believe that I was in labor, he was going to have to prove it. I wouldn't believe it until my water broke. I wasn't having any contractions anyways, so I figured the midwife was right, It probably wasn't going to happen anytime soon! Little did I know...

A look at the past: July 17, 2005

Four years ago today I woke up still pregnant. It was a Sunday morning and I was so ready to have my first baby. We got up and went to church like always. While there I told the VBS director that since I wasn't going to be working anymore and obviously wasn't having the baby anytime soon that I would come up during the coming week and help out wherever she needed me. We went to Olive Garden for lunch after church and had soup, salad and breadsticks-one of my favorites while I was pregnant. My best friend Pam joined us. It was delicious and I was looking forward to my favorite part-the cold hard Andes mint chocolate waiting for us at the end of the meal with our check. Well, guess what, our waitress forgot to bring them with our check. So, we waited. But she forgot to bring them when she brought back the credit card reciept. I was so annoyed (as pregnant women sometimes get quite easily towards the end of a pregnancy). I really really REALLY wanted that mint. I refused to leave until I had it, but the waitress hadn't walked by again. I think Mike even offered to go to the store and buy me a box of them if we could just leave, but I wanted that mint then and there. I think we only waited about 5 minutes or so, but it seemed like so much longer. Finally, I got her attention and she brought them. I am almost positive she thought we were freaks! Anyways, that night at church we had a VBS sign up fellowship dinner to get people signed up. I was miserable. It was hot, the church had no air conditioning and I was having contractions. Only, I didn't want to tell anyone because I was sure they would go away. So, on the way home my mom and Mike decided to try driving down a bumpy road to see if that would get my labor started. I was miserable in the back seat, bouncing up and down now. At that point I told them that I had been having contractions. We went home and started timing them. They were still inconsistent, but some were 5 minutes apart and some were more. I took a shower and decided to try and get some sleep. The last thing I remember that night was laying in bed with Mike timing contractions. I did not go into labor on July 17th. I would stay pregnant at least another day.

A look at the past: July 16, 2005

4 Years ago today I almost put a rock through my downstairs neighbor's car window. I was 37 wks and 5 days pregnant with a my first baby. At the time we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. It was a Saturday and my mom had flown in from Kentucky two days earlier because I had been having some contractions. We though our baby might come earlier than our Aug. 1st due date. Anyways, Mom was here, Mike was working, It was HOT (well...for Massachusetts), and we decided we would walk the baby out. We got up that morning and went to the mall, and Babies R Us, and BJ's (similar to Sams or Costco-but better). We were out for several hours. I think we had lunch out as well. Anyways, we pulled up to the house around 4 in the afternoon with a car full of groceries and shopping bags. As I pulled up I realized that I couldn't get my car in my half of the driveway. The half that was reserved for my car, paid for by our rent. The reason I couldn't get my car in the driveway was because our downstairs neighbor had some friends over and let them park in her side of the driveway. Well, the one next to my spot decided to park diagonal across both spots. I SAW RED!!! I knocked on her door but no answer. I am not normally this easily enraged, but I was done being pregnant and I was hot and tired and I was mad! I quickly called the landlord and informed him that he needed to have his first floor tennant move her friend's car. During this time, Mike came downstairs to help unload the groceries. When he got downstairs, I was moving the rocks that outlined the edge of the gravel driveway and separated it from the yard. These were not little rocks folks. These were 10 lb. watermelon sized rocks. And remember, I am hugely pregnant! I was so mad that I was picking them up to put a line down the middle of the driveway. I decided to throw a few. Now, I remember this slightly more innocently than Mike does, but according to him he had to restrain me from throwing it through her car window. I don't think I was ever that close to doing it. I remember the thought crossing my mind and I was holding a rock at the time, but I also remember that I wasn't actually going to do it. In the end, her friend moved their car and all was well. I didn't go into labor that night. I stayed pregnant a bit longer.

Summer Pictures

Summertime Fun!

So, It has been forever. Summer has been absolutely insane. I think I have to stop treating life as if it is weird for it to be insanely busy. That just is our life now. I should be surprised if it isn't insanely busy. Anyways, its the good kind of insane right now though, where we get to spend tons of time together as a family. Mike is back on a somewhat normal work schedule for the summer and so has had his weekends off. That has been quite nice. We got to go out on our first date night since last October back in June. It had been a while. However, with coupons for free burgers at Tom's diner in Arlington and a gift card to AMC Cinema and going on a Monday night when ticket prices are half price, we had a very cheap and enjoyable date night. The end of June, my youngest sister, Kim, had her first baby. It was a baby girl named Haylie Anne. She is precious! Mike took some time off of work and we took a long weekend over the 4th to go see her, Shonda and her fam, and my parents who were down to see the baby. It was such a relaxing vacation. We stayed with Shonda's inlaws at their house in Friendswood. They live on like 70 acres of land and it is gorgeous. No TV, No internet, Family, friends and a pool! It was great! On Friday, Mike helped my brother in-law Mark rob bees of honey. He helped with this last year and had a blast, so it is kindof becoming a 4th of July tradition. It is the best honey EVER!!!! While helping, Mike got "attacked" by a be in the eyebrow and as a result, his eye was swollen shut for most of the 4th. I am sure he would agree, though, that it was worth it! The girls are doing good. Mary Kate is almost 4. Less than a week until her birthday. I am in the process of planning her party right now and as usual, she keeps changing her mind!!! She is actually on the verge of losing her party right now actually. It seems 4 has brought back a lot of the behaviors of 2 just with a bigger vocabulary to actually express how she feels or how bad she wants me to feel. It is quite an adventure each day just making it through. Aside from that she is her sweet, bossy, helpful self. Brianna is growing and happy as always. She still hasn't broken that tooth through, but I am hoping it will come soon. It is raised up and ready to pop through at any moment. It just won't. She is still rather lackadaisical about eating solid food. She will take it if you give it, but she won't eat all of it usually, and she would just as soon prefer to nurse. I don't know about her. :) She is a sweetheart though. It has been fun to watch her recently as her and Mary Kate have started to interact a lot more. Two other big things in our life and I will end. First, I have started watching a little girl named Kenzie. She is a sweetie pie and has really just fit right in with our family from day one. She is 22 months old and very smart. She reminds me a lot of how Mary Kate was at that age. This arrangement has really been a blessing for both our family and hers. There is no doubt it was divinely arranged. Also, Mike and I have decided to reapply to apartment life. We still feel called to this ministry and are hoping that this time will be God's timing. Pray for us as we complete the application process and head into our interviews. I am going to post a seperate post full of recent pics.

One of those days...

Do you ever have those days? Today was one of those days. Not the ones that you just want to blow your brains out or sell your kids or whatnot, just the ones where you get to the end of the day and think "If I don't get two seconds to myself to realize that I exist too, Mommy's going to go INSANE!" That was me today. Maybe its because its Friday and the entire week is getting to me (not that it will be better tomorrow as Mike took a Saturday shift-yay overtime, boo not seeing him). Maybe it is just one of those days. It started off bad when I went to bed too late, then MK woke up about an hour after I got to sleep screaming for me. Her knee hurt and she was cold and wanted to change into pajamas with pants and long sleeves-AT 3 IN THE MORNING!!! I don't think I can adequately explain how frustrating that was. But it got better: as soon as MK laid down and went to sleep Brianna woke up and saw me standing there and proceeded to scream until 5:30 when Mike decided to go get her and have me nurse her. She nursed on and off for about two hours before waking up to play. Mike graciously took her to the living room to jump in the jumperoo. Not an hour later when he left for work, she started screaming. Its her new thing. If she wants you to get her or hold her or pay attention to her , she screams. No tears, just screaming. It is never very good day when it starts off with a mommy with a headache working on less than 3 hours of sleep with a broken coffee maker!!! So, out the door to run errands and get coffee. Get home and I had the crazy idea NOT to put MK down for a nap. I think the lack of sleep was influencing me. I decided to work on preschool with her and do laundry while Bria was down. It was actually a productive afternoon. However, It was long and I feel like every time I finish one thing for one person, I have to turn around and do something for another. That is why it was SOOO nice to go swim with my great friend Leah tonight. We both really love swimming and so we have been going together and swimming laps when the kids are in bed and the hubbys are home for about a month now. I love it. After a day like today it felt so good to think about nothing but getting myself from one end of the pool to the other over and over again. We swam for almost an hour. I think I could have swum like 2 or 3, but the pool was closing and that is a little optimistic to think I could go do something by myself for that long. Anyways, it was really nice and now I feel great! The kids are doing good. Bria has come a long way in a week and is sitting up on her own pretty well. She still wobbles over from time to time, but she can sit there for quite a while. She has also decided that she loves food this week. She hadn't been showing much interest in most foods so far. I took a couple days off of solid foods and on tuesday night she was ready for them. She is opening her mouth wider and eating most of the food that I prepare for her. This is ENORMOUS improvement. MK is doing well. She is a bit sad as several of her friends are moving soon. Our upstairs neighbors are moving tomorrow and she just found out today. They have two older boys (5 and 9) who she LOVES to play with. She pretends to be the cheerleader while they play football. Also, our good friends, the Lathams, are moving in a week and a half as well. Mary Kate adores Miss Angel and her family! It has been a sad couple of weeks as her best friend from church just moved as well. It is hard growing up. Anyways, here are some pics of the girls:

Top Ten...

I saw this top ten list in the back of June's Parenting magazine and thought it was worthy of sharing...

Top Ten Things That are OK not to Share with your Kids:
1. Your Cheesecake (or substitute any dessert, in my opinion)
2. Your private potty time
3. Your rationale for deciding who gets to sit by the window
4. Your wild, semi-legal pastimes during your teen years- and during that weekend they stayed at Grandma's
5. That, believe it or not, you want to yell WAY more than you do
6. That Elmo is just a woolly puppet with a 48 year old's hand up his butt
7. That, come Monday, You're often incredibly psyched to go to work
8. That you sometimes go for weeks without eating vegetables
9.That, No, you really don't want to hear her sing the Barney song again, right this very second.
10. But that she should go ahead because you'll be so sad when she's too old and cool to offer!

Not ALL applicable or true for everyone of us, but funny just the same! Happy Memorial Day!

Growing up!

Tonight I had one of those "My baby's growing up moments"! Mary Kate finished her first year of cubbies and had her award ceremony tonight! She was so precious. This year she finished her book. She memorized 26 bible verses joyfully! She also had perfect attendance! Her leaders at cubbies were amazing...they really made this a great experience for the kids. I am so proud of her! She is definitely looking forward to starting up again next year! She doesn't quite understand why she has to take the summer off, but I am sure that will come.

Brianna has also jumped into the world of solid food. After spending several weeks playing around with food and acting indifferent, she finally realized that she could eat solid food and be full. She is actually starting to enjoy it and eat more than two bites.

I think it may actually happen!

So a little update on summer classes and financial stuff for school in the fall:

It wasn't looking like we were going to be able to get all of the application stuff in for Mike to take classes at SMU, however, God in his wonderful glory somehow made the impossible possible. I talked to the theology school admissions person last thursday and she said that they would be flexible with us and that as long as most of the application was in then we had a little leeway on the deadline. So as of today, May 7th, his entire application is in and we are waiting to hear from the school as to whether or not he is "accepted" in order to take Greek. This is a huge answer to prayer in that we will not have to pay for his class this summer, but it will keep him on track to graduation. Also, where we would like to avoid taking out a loan for classes, we found out that we have someone to cosign for us in order to get us a better interest rate and such. It is nice to know that we have that option if we need it. We are still praying that God will provide another alternative, but are not ruling this out as a God provided alternative. Thanks for all the prayers and please continue to pray for us and the stress that taking summer classes AND working 40 hours a week will put on our family. Mike will be driving to Dallas at 7:20 every morning and will be in class every day from 830-1230 and then will go straight over to work and will work until 7 or 8 probably. He won't be getting home until late each night. I am nervous how Mary Kate will respond to this as she is a daddy's girl, however, we will have him all to ourselves ALL weekend so that will be a nice change from the school year. Also, please pray for me as I try to figure out a way to make a little extra money. There was a possibility for a promotion at church, however there are some things that have come up with that and it is now looking less likely. I COULD still end up with the job, but it is going to be a much longer hiring process as they have decided not to promote from within, but to open up the position for other applications. Also, I have been told they are changing the position as well, although I do not yet know what that will entail. Regardless, since the semester is over and I am not watching the little boy that I was watching anymore, we need to figure out a way to replace that income and it will probably need to be sooner than they are going to be hiring. Pray for me to receive guidance from the Lord as to how to proceed.

In other news, the kids are doing well. We are still trying to get Brianna to eat some solid foods. She is very particular and I am convinced that she doesn't want to do anything but nurse for the next ...oh..18 years or so..lol! We have discovered that she really likes yogurt, so i can mix stuff into yogurt and she will eat some solid food. Mary Kate is doing great and is about to finish up her first year of cubbies! She just finished her last bible verse last night and has now finished her first book! For those of you not familiar, that means she has memorized 24 verses! I am continually impressed by her brilliance!! Will post pictures later!

Scary Faith...

Faith is scary. That's it. Point Blank. Maybe not so much for everyone, but for the compulsive, controlling, uber-plan-everything psycho that I am, it is scary. I don't know why it scares me so much. God has proven his faithfulness more times than he should have. He has gone above and beyond every need. I have nothing to be dissatisfied about. However, as we sit here contemplating classes over the summer and next fall and really for the foreseeable future I am getting worked up. I can feel that familiar ball of stress forming in the pit of my stomach. How are we going to pay for classes? We thought he was going to get to take his summer classes free and transfer in the credit, but it turns out that it is not quite that simple. Southern Methodist University (where he works and can take some classes for free) is making him jump through hoops to take classes through the theology department. He has to submit an application with several essays, several letters of reccomendation, a $50 fee, and official transcripts from BOTH his current graduate program and his undergraduate program (in Massachusetts). All of this can be done, but wait, lets throw another wrench into the mix, it all has to be done by one week from today! Ahhh...I have to keep reminding myself that none of this is a problem for God and that he is able overcome infinitely more than we can ever comprehend. But it is hard. My mind keeps wandering: If he can't take classes at SMU, can he take them at SWBTS? Will the classes still be open for enrollment? How will we afford an extra $1000 to pay for tuition plus extra for books and such? And along those lines, how will we afford classes in the fall? Will we be able to pay for them monthly? If we can't will he have to take fewer classes? Then how long will it take to graduate? I could go on and on and on and on..... The fact of the matter is: Last Spring, Mike was unemployed for about two and a half months. We (somehow) survived on little more than $1000 a month. It barely covered rent and our car payment. We were faithful through all of that in God's call on our lives to have Mike continue his degree program. He finished the semester and was offered a job the very next day. He is currently at that job now. I have to believe that if we continue to be faithful to Him and concentrate on His call on our lives that he is able to provide for us in ways we are unable to envision right now. Please pray for us as we try to submit to His authority in our lives and focus on completing Mike's schooling. Pray that we will have Faith in Him and the Peace that follows as we hand our burdens over to the Lord. Pray that God will provide a way for us to afford his tuition and fees and books. I know that his is able.

More Before and After!

I LOVE what I do!!!

Before:

After: