The other night before bed she said, "Mommy do we all get castles in heaven?" "Yes," I replied. She then said, "Hmmm well I will have a whole castle to myself and your will have your own castle too?" "yes, Sweetie God has a castle for everyone that accepts him into their hearts" She then said, "I don't think I'll like that I don't like being alone so when I die I am going to take my pink pony with me to live in my castle." "That will be fine sweetie, I relpied, and we'll all visit each other and you can stay in my castle as much as you want." "well since the streets are made of gold I think I'll take my gold bear with me too because then it will match." LOL

Children are truly a blessing. I read where in India they won't allow a child's feet to touch the ground before six months because they say it's been so close to God it would be like disrespectful. I thought, it was a neat thought because at times they do seem like angels in disguise.

Wow it's been so long since I've updated this blog. Anna has started preschool and she loves it. I am so happy she is enjoying it so much. She came home the first day and said, "Mommy there's a little girl in my class who is mean and her name is 'Angel'. " It was so funny. She was so confused as to why she got the name Angel. lol Kids are so funny. She woke up the other day and started singing "I am going to preschool, I am going to preschool!" On the first day of going to preschool she was ready 4 hours before it was time to go and didn't understand why we couldn't leave right then. lol She is also in teamkids at church on Sunday nights and Awana's on Wed. nights. She loves both of those too. She enjoys the puppet shows at Awanas and she enjoys the fact that on Sunday nights it's all girls.lol Anna's First Day of Preschool. My husband and I are doing Financial Peace University on Wed. nights by Dave Ramsey who has a radio show that teaches you how to save money. Hopefully we will learn a lot and put it into practice. We are doing a bible study called Going the Distance and Enjoying the Journey on Sunday nights and that ends with a marriage retreat by lifeway in Memphis in Nov. We are both looking forward to that alone time together. We are so grateful that God has really picked us up in our marriage and is helping us in our journey. The surprising part I think for me was I was expecting a room full of people around our age thier 30's and instead there were only 2 our age and the rest were senior citizens some being married over 35 years. It was great. It showed me that we are probably getting a head start on what many people don't realize to "go the distance" it takes work. The fact that there were so many people who'd been married that long attending the class made me realize that we were on the right path. I mean if you want your marriage to last find some couples who've made their marriage go the distance and follow in their footsteps and that is what we are doing all because it's were God lead us. He lead us to a room full of people who will help us and nuture us in going the distance. Isn't God Amazing??!! My husband does "Daddy Dates" every Monday with my oldest daughter so that when she grows up she'll know how someone should treat her on a date. Their most recent one was the Disney Princesses on Ice. Here's Anna before she left for the show. They had so much fun together. I am glad they got to share that special moment together. I remember when I was Anna's age my uncle Bruce taking me to see sleeping beauty at the movies and I was so in awe. I can only imagion how Anna felt seeing them live. I know it's a memory she'll always cherish. I've also been missing my female friends and all the females in my Sunday School class get together once a month. We just got together the other night to pick secret sisters. I got someone I really like so I am very excited b/c a lot of them I dont' know yet. Then as God's extra icing on the cake for me when I got home my DH had mopped and cleaned the house!!! I couldn't believe it!! I was so thankful it was to sweet of him. He kept both of the girls and then worked like a dog to get everything clean while I was gone after working all day. It was a super sweet gesture. Anna is a dancing princess I am attempting to add a video of her new dances. She is so funny. I love my girls and I am so grateful that God saw me as a good mommy for girls that he blessed me with to wonderful girls. I adore watching each of them grow. Ava is cooing now and laughing and making me realize how quickly they grow up. I still can't believe my little Anna is in school. I know before I know what happened she'll be going off to college and I'll be holding back the tears trying to be strong as my little girl, and friend drives away.


We saw our Nephew Lawson get baptised the other day and we were so proud of him. Anna's seen him and her cousin Hailey get baptised now so hopefully she will quickly follow in thier footsteps as time goes on. They've both been good examples for her. Here is Lawson's big day.

Well I have been up since 3am. When I finally got my newborn down to sleep at 7 am my bedroom door is opened wide by my 3 year old declaring she's hungry. I get up drag myself to the kitchen and put on my coffee before my day starts in a full run. I do laundry everyday yet it's never done. I clean the bathroom everyday yet it's eternally dirty. My bedroom's a disaster zone since us and baby live there together adn theres not enough time in the day to take care of those things and pay attention to my 3 year old too. So things get left undone, uncleaned, and not put away but I don't feel guilty b/c time goes by so fast and I know they'll be moments when I wish the little pink room was a mess and I had someone to help with picking up all those little ponies. So I rub my eyes and smile as the madness begins. This video shows why it's all worth it.

Like most things in life I dread this too seemed much worse than it really turned out to be. I was so sad when my mom left b/c I didn't know how I was going to do everything on my own. However, Jason has helped out some and Anna has stepped up to the big sister plate and is very helpful. She loves her sister constantly wanting to give her kisses and telling her she loves her.

It's still hard at time to give her the time I think she deserves and get everything done that needs to be done but it is doable! I was so afraid it wasn't doable. However, I just needed to remember Phil. 4:13 I guess. It has been a very stressful trying time for me and my marriage. The moving, the isolation, and having a new baby on top of all of that. However, they always say if, "God brings you to it, He will bring you through it." I feel that I am on my way through it all now and I am very grateful. God has brought me to it and through it more than once. He is always faithful, not always easily understood but always faithful. lol

Well Ava is sleeping through her feeding so I am pumping and Anna is having TV time. We joined the church here and the Sunday school class has been bringing us meals. It was so nice of them. I've done that for new mommies everywhere we've lived in Ocala, FL and in Tampa, FL and when we moved here I didn't expect anyone to do it for me b/c we didn't know anyone here but guess what?? God had another little helpful surprise in mind and one day Jan a girl I'd met in my class just called and said I am on my way to your house to bring you a meal how do I get there. Then the meals started coming in from there. We've only been at the church a little while and we are already receiving blessings. God is good! Sometimes you just lose sight of that when you don't understand the circumstances around you sometimes. I know I did.

Well Ava's awake now duty calls!

Jason was reading them a bedtime story and Anna and little sis enjoyed it together.

When I took little sweet pea to the doctor they informed me that instead of the 21 1/2 inches that the hospital told me she was she was actually 20 and 1/2 inches. They said they just measure with a tape measure there and it's not as acurate as the whole lying down thing so lots of babies shrink when they come in for the first visit. Who knew?! lol She has gained wieght to 8 pounds though I weighed her a few days ago.

Things are going well she is changing sooo much. I have been pooped on, peed on, and vomited on so I am once again in full swing newborn mommyhood! It feels so nice. It sounds crazy and I guess motherhood always is a little crazy. lol

Anna has heard us talking about how small Ava's head is and has started talking about how big her head is.. lol We were taking a nap the other day and I gave her a small decorative pillow to lay her head on and she looked at me like I was crazy and said "mommy this pillow will never be big enough for my big head". lol She is so funny hopefully she won't grow up with to many complexes. lol

Here's some updated pics of the new little one.

Daddy's out on a date with Anna. Nonna's gone to get her nails done and the baby is asleep. Wow the sound of silence. I haven't heard that sound in so long I almost forgot what it sounded like. I am an introvert so I love my little moments alone that are practically non existent these days.

I love watching the baby sleep. She dreams and grins so big. They say it's due to gas but I prefer to believe they are having sweet dreams as she grins so big you expect to hear a laugh follow it. She's up a lot at night burping and having the hiccups. The gripe water that came so highly recommended doesn't work on her as my luck would have it. lol During the day she's very peaceful and doesn't seem very aggravated with the burping and the hiccups. She is breast fed so I am not really sure why she's so gassy. I am trying to watch the foods I eat now as those make them gassy too. I never really watched my food with Anna and she was fine with some mylconel drops she went right on but those drops don't work well for this one.

I am waiting on them to come and do more work to the house. It seems never ending. Maybe by the time we move it will all be finished.lol

I am so dreading Anna starting preschool. I know she'll love it once she is use to it but I am very nervous about dropping her off and leaving her there crying. I think I am more nervous about her first day than she will be. lol I also worry about the germs she might bring home to the new baby. I guess the endless worrying never really ends.

I am tired but have so little time to do the things I enjoy I hate to waste my time on sleeping. lol My weight seems to be coming off easier this time than with Anna so I am very thankful for that. I still have 24 pounds I'd like to lose though. I know it will take some time.

Well I am off to do some housework and enjoy the moments of it being clean before anyone gets here to mess it all up again.lol

This is the proud new big sis who thinks baby sis is adorable!

Recently, I was diagnosed with C. A. A. D. D. ? Child Activated Attention
Deficit Disorder.This is how it manifests:

I decide to do the laundry. As I start toward the basement, I notice that there are cheerios all over the floor and my car keys are in the cereal bowl. I decide to pick up the cheerios before I do the laundry. I lay my car keys down on the
counter, put the cheerios in the trash can under the counter, and notice that the
trash can is full. So, I decide to take out the trash. But then I think,
since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I takeout the trash I may as well
pay the bills first. I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there
is only one check left, my extra checks are in my desk in the office/playroom, so I go to my desk where I find a sippy cup full of juice.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I decide I should put the sippy cup in the
refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the sippy cup a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye -- they need to be watered. I set the sippy cup on the counter, and I discover baby wipes that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back in the bathroom, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the wipes back down, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote, one of the kids left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that after school when they go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote as they fight over who lost it, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back down, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the laundry isn't washed, the bills aren't paid
and there is a warm cup of juice sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't
watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote,
I can't find the wipes, and I don't remember what I did with the car
keys. Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realize
this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first
I'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message,because I don't remember to whom it has been sent. Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming.

Although this is me to a "t" right now I did not come up with this it was sent to me in an email by a friend. I got of kick out of it and thought you might too.

Anna looks soooo big to me now. I didn't realize how big she'd gotten until after my 3 day stay in the hospital and seeing her again she looked all grown up. It was amazing. They really do grow up so fast. It only makes me more aware of the precious moments I need to cherish. Here is Anna adjusting to her new role as the big sis she's doing a great job so far. She looked at me with big tears in her eyes as I changed Ava's diaper and asked me why I wanted to pinch off her belly button. She had never seen the whole cord thing and they didn't explain about it in I bought her. lol She said mommy ava told me she wanted to leave her belly button just like it is.lol