"No one likes you"

My sweet little Clare was sitting in the stroller yesterday while we were walking, listening to my Ipod when she yelled so loud, this is my favorite song, its called "No one likes you."  I quickly realized it was also one of my favorite songs, but she had the title a little off.  The song is by Chris Tomlim and there is a line that says "There is no one like you, none like you."  It was a perfect song to help me get through the week we have had.

I didn't promote this much and truly did not intend on writing a blog post about it, but we are in need of a some prayers for Clare.  Two weeks ago Clare was diagnosed with salmonella.  We had eaten the dreaded recalled ground turkey two nights before it started and are pretty sure that is where it came from.  I had a nice long chat with the public health dept where they promised to send me literature on better hand washing and disposing of diapers (thanks guys!), and left me feeling extremely frustrated.  The best reminder that came out of the whole ordeal was that I bought a ridiculous amount of bleach kitchen cleaner and spent a day cleaning out our fridge. 

By day 5 we had seen a bear emerge from Clare.  Gone was our sweet little girl, and I dont know if I can even begin to describe who came in her place. We attributed it to the awful salmonella and attempted to be more patient with her.  By day 10 both LD and myself were ready to throw in the towel.  Yesterday morning all of a sudden I realized Clare may have a UTI that developed from the salmonella that may be adding to her not so pleasant mood.  The doctor confirmed that a UTI was indeed what she had. As he was writing out the prescription he casually said "Has she had a heart murmur before?" which totally caught me off guard.  After listening one more time he confirmed that he did hear a heart murmur.

We are going Thursday morning to a cardiologist and are praying that what the doctor heard is not there tomorrow.  This morning after breakfast Clare asked if we could dance to "No one likes you" and it was quite a fitting reminder that God is bigger than the week I have had.

Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You

Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You

Our God is greater, our God is stronger

God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us

And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?

Celebrating 7 years and 9 months

There are two great things to celebrate with this blog post. The first is very overdue, but much needed. Sweet Elle turned 9 months on July 21st. And as a mother of 2 I have not been staying up on my blogging as I should. So I wanted to take a few minutes to celebrate the sweet little girl Elle is and all she is doing these days!

When Clare was 9 months she was just starting to become mobile and Elle has been very mobile since about 8 1/2 months. I wouldn't be surprised if she was walking very soon. She crawls...FAST and pull up on anything and everything. She's gotten her fair share of bumps on the head from pulling up on things that are not very stable. I attribute her quickness to having a big sister she desperately tries to keep up with. She also became very verbal in the last two weeks. It always sounds like she's yelling at Bella, which she very well may since that seems to be who we are most often yelling at. She can wave and play peek a boo with a blanket and loves, loves, loves her pink horse wub-a-nub that has become her lovey of choice. She is so sweet and everyone is always complimenting her cute cheeks (something she will not like having complimented in a very short time)...but boy, that girl has a little temper. She does not like to be messed with and if you do mess with her you are most likely going to be kicked. The thing she HATES the most is getting her finger nails clipped. We could stand on her head to entertain her and she kicks her feet and screams the entire time! My very favorite thing now...and probably will be forever is watching the girls make each other laugh. They sure crack each other up! Happy 9 months my sweet little girl!

The second reason for celebration is mine and LD's 7 year anniversary! We talk all the time how we are blessed and living our dream. We have beautiful, happy children, a house that we have made a home and the biggest blessing...we truly love living our lives together. It has been since mid June that we had gone on a date, so dinner to celebrate was long over due. But even though it was overdue we definetely celebrated to our full potential. I'm sure no one really cares how delicious the food was or the great conversation we had....but I do want to celebrate how wonderful my husband is. And here is a PERFECT example...

My friend Kirsten started a little business making clutch purses among other things. A few weeks ago I asked her to make one for my neice Kara. I sent it to Kara for her birthday and she loved it! I commented when we were sending it to her that I really wanted one myself. Today LD handed me a box at church that was all wrapped and so cute....he had Kirsten make me a clutch as well! Not only that, but he had her sew a #7 on the inside since it was for our 7th anniversary. Yes..I know, I am both very spoiled and very loved!

Happy Girlfriends Day!

My great friend Hayley from high school decided to celebrate a holiday every day for a year. She created a blog http://www.happyholidayhayley.wordpress.com/ and has documented how she is celebrating the holidays. It's been super fun to participate with her and watch her journey. Today is Girlfriends Day and to celebrate she invited all of her girlfriends over to her house yesterday. Being in North Carolina of course I could not participate, but she asked that all of her out of state friends do something to pamper themselves in celebration. Also, I received a card last week from my friend Michele that said to open in on Girlfriends Day when I was celebrating. So yesterday I did two of my favorite things..ate chocolate and watched the Bachelorette (I know, exciting life I live!). I definetely am thankful for the girlfriends I have in my life! I am thankful for my girl posse from high school who is still incredibly close, my K-10 girls in college, and my wonderful friends/family in Charlotte who have supported LD and I as we have started a family. I am blessed beyond measure by great friends in my life.

It has also been incredibly fun to watch Clare develop friendships with little girls. There are a group of girls are our cul-de-sac who are very unique. There are two sets of sisters, one set are from Romania and are going into 1st and 3rd grade, the other set are going into 2nd and 4th grade. The girls are much older than Clare, but they have accepted her as an honorary part of their little group. It's precious to watch. When our garage opens they all come running and Clare asks where her girls are if they are not around. Clare looks out her bedroom window often checking to see if she is missing in the action. I am amazed at how sweet they are to her and how patient they are given the age gap. I took this picture of them yesterday as they were playing in the sandbox with Clare. Emily, the oldest girl was not home, but I love how much this picture is a perfect example of the start of girlfriends.

Happy Girlfriends Day :)

Summer Days

We have continued our busy streak since we've had our two trips to Michigan, but thankfully our business has all been at home. My cousin Emily flew home with Elle and I after our last Michigan adventure and stayed with us for 2 weeks. Of course since I had an extra pair of hands for two weeks, we made sure we kept busy!!

After my first trip alone with the girls to the pool this summer I decided we would just try again next year. It was HARD, not in any way relaxing and I was exhausted when we got home. Since I had Emily with me I decided we would get in our swimming for the summer while she was here! It really is a lot easier with a second set of hands. I also really loved little errands during the girls nap or being able to fix dinner in the kitchen alone.

During Emily's stay it was also LD's 29th birthday! We decorated with balloons and a little banner and made brownies. Clare was so excited to wake up daddy to show him her decorations. Emily also watched the girls while we went to a movie during naptime and dinner in the evening, so it really was a big birthday treat! He even said, "This is what we used to do before having kids" as we sat in the theater at 2pm on a Saturday!

While Emily was here we also continued doing our "Camp Tiny" that a friend sent us at http://www.camptiny.blogspot.com/ We have loved doing camp tiny at our slow little pace whenever we have a need for an extra activity, craft, snack or story. It's also worked very well during Elle's morning naps since we are home.

Last week my aunt and uncle came to get Emily and also brought my mom with them! It was a treat to have them all hear, but an even bigger treat for Clare who went to their hotel every morning for breakfast and swimming. She has finally mastered swimming around the pool in her little swimmies without any assistance...so maybe at some point we will try the pool again on our own.

Emily's big goal of her time here was to teach Elle how to crawl and I would call it a success. She does 3-4 little crawls and also pulls up on our storage cubes. My favorite is when she puts both feet on the floor and puts her little booty in the air. I have a feeling she'll be flying around here very soon!

I have no idea what the next half of the summer will hold and I'm kind of loving it.

Trip to Michigan....again ;)

Last week Elle and I flew to Michigan, just the two of us. It was a very sweet time because anyone who has multiple children will attest to the fact that you rarely get one on one time with your younger one...at least right now. It was fun, and easy, to just have one little peanut to worry about. The purpose of the trip: bridesmaid in my college roomie's wedding!!

Friday morning a great friend of mine picked Elle and I up at 7am and took us to the airport, so LD could take Clare to another great friend's house (yes we are blessed with friends!!). Clare spent the day with our friend Jodi and her twin 3 year olds swimming. Needless to say, she did not miss me at all! Elle and I were all ready to go when we were delayed an hour. Elle handled the delay and the flight with ease, not a peep. She even fell asleep as we landed for a quick cat nap.

We spent the weekend at my parents house and my mom and dad watched Elle while I participated in wedding festivities. It was very fun being back with my college girls and having some girl time. I also loved my parents having special time with just Elle to really see her personality and what a joy she is!

The wedding was very fun and Clare met a new boyfriend, Landon! He is 14 months and the two of them were just loving each other..it was very cute, though daddy may not approve of their open mouth kisses;)

We headed back early Sunday morning after giving a Father's Day hug to my dad. Emily, my cousin headed home with us for 2 weeks, which has already made life easier and fun! We have lots planned during her time here. Of course we were delayed another hour on the way home and were thankful to be back as a family by Sunday afternoon.

Trip to Michigan Part 2

The second half of our trip was spent with LD's family in Reading. Our families only live an hour from each other now, which makes it really nice! The highlight of our trip to Reading was LD's neice Kristyl was getting married. There were a lot of reasons why we were excited about this wedding but the two biggest were: 1. Kristyl and Jaap came to visit us in Charlotte last spring and we really had a great time getting to know him. Jaap is from the Netherlands and his family came in for the wedding, which made it exciting for him. 2. Clare was asked to be the flower girl!

Clare has been practicing being a flower girl since Christmas and we have talked a lot about it...but she's 2 1/2 so my hopes weren't extremely high that she would carry out her duties ;) The day of the wedding LD's mom, Clare and I had spent the morning at the campground where the wedding took place helping to set up. Clare was so tired so after lunch I took her home for a much needed nap. Clare fell asleep in the car and took a 10 minute cat nap and then played in her bed for 2 hours deciding that was all she needed. Since no nap took place my hopes really were not high. But...when it came time, Clare pulled if off! She was incredibly cute and she knew it. She kind of forgot to throw flowers down the aisle, so when she got to the end, right in front of Jaap she just stood there and emptied her basket...pretty slowly, but it was cute.

Elle rode in a little wagon down the aisle with Tyce, Kristyl and Jaap's 5 month old. Both of the babies knew they were so stinkin cute and grinned ear to ear. The girls were up til 10:30 playing and dancing that night, and thankfully we were headed home the next day.

Before heading home I was able to attend my college roomie and dear friend Renee's bridal shower. It was great to see some of my college friends and Elle and I will be heading back to Michigan next weekend for her wedding! The drive home was LONG. We left at 3pm and got home at 2am. Both girls fell asleep about 10pm, but Clare woke up at midnight and talked the next 2 hours straight..about everything under the sun. I would just hear this little voice say "hey mom, come here I have a question..." and it would be about Santa or her birthday or Michigan, something totally random. Thankfully both girls slept til 10am the next day.

Two weddings and a bridal shower within a week is a lot! We are all still recovering from our big adventures!

Trip to Michigan...Part 1

My nephew Joseph

Who wants to read a blog post that starts with Part 1?? That is definetely not an encouraging title, but our week long trip to Michigan definetely deserves 2 parts considering the events we participated in!

Right before we left for Michigan we joined the mini van club. L.D. was not a huge fan in the beginning, but I won him over. I LOVE our mini van, and that could probably be a blog post all on its own. But, I was truly looking forward to this 11 hour drive knowing that everyone had their own personal space (even Bella had her own seat) and we had a DVD player built in. Life was good! The ride up was not nearly as blissful as I imagined and Elle was not happy with her rear facing seat after about the 5 hour mark. The biggest highlight of the trip up was that we only stopped 2 times and Clare had no potty accidents...pretty impressive!

We went to Blissfield to my parents home for the first half of our trip and it was the first summer trip we have ever made to Blissfield. They have a cute little pond and lots of space to run around. We LOVED being there! Clare played outside so hard and was dirty the entire trip. I loved seeing her play in the dirt, try to fish, eat outside and pretend she was a farmer in the barns. We set up Elle's exersaucer outside and that is where we spent the majority of our time.

One of the reasons we headed home when we did was for my high school friend Rachel's wedding. I have a very unique group of high school girlfriends that are still very close. We all drove in from different parts of the US (minus Michele who JUST had a baby) to celebrate Rachel's big day and it was so much fun being together. They definetely had a super memorable wedding day with the power outage during the ceremony and the tornado sirens going off. Thankfully Rachel handled it like a champ!! During the tornado warnings, my poor parents were watching the girls and had the girls stocked up with snacks hiding out in the mudroom.

On Memorial Day my parents had about 40 family friends, plus our immediate family over for dinner. It was a huge highlight of our trip to just spend time with people we love but don't get much time to see. I also got to meet my newest newphew, Joseph on Memorial Day! He is so so sweet! The day before we left my high school friend Hayley came over with her little boy Roman, which meant so much to me that she would drive an hour just so our babies could meet and we could spend some time together. LD even got to squeeze in a trip to see our neice Kara play softball...we seriously did it all!

It was one of the very best trips we have ever had! I wish we could spend a lot more time at "the farm" as my parents call it. It's such a peaceful place and so much fun to watch Clare just be a kid!!

Next is Part 2...which is also wedding #2!