Trick or Treat

This year we took Isabella for her first true year of trick or treating. She was very unsure of some of the costumes that people had on, a few freaked her out, but she loved the idea of CANDY!! We did 2 rounds of trick or treating. The first round was from 1-3 in downtown Plymouth at the merchants. Bella made out pretty well here! (Mommy too). We thought we would go home and take a nap since door to door didn't start until 5 but we were wrong. Bella was too concerned when she could go get more candy. Finally the time came and she was ready. She was a woman on a mission!! We only took her through our subdivion and then we had trunk or treat at church. She would never say trick or treat at the door, only on the walk up to it. Every so often she would say a soft little thank you. She even took off running at one point and face planted into the road. She got up and started crying, not at the fact that she just fell, but because daddy was taking off with her basket of candy (that's momma's girl). All in all, we had a great time and a lot of family fun!! I'm sure next year will be even better. Here are some pics of our little Autumn fairy, without the wings because she wouldn't put them on!! Enjoy...

On a side note: Plymouth High School's Pride of Plymouth Marching Band competed at state on Saturday and placed 5th!! We are so proud and excited for our niece Traci who is a sophomore trumpet player!!

Until next time...

From the Kitchen to the Living Room

After several months, we can say the kitchen is complete (well almost, we have to put up some trim around the entry way to the den.) It came together great! What a difference a little paint and wallpaper can do. It looks like a totally different kitchen compared to how it was back in March. Here's some pics of what we have done...

After we finished the kitchen we decided to tackle the living room. It was quite a project but only took us a couple weeks to complete. We had to pop up the tile floor, paint the walls, lay the new wood floor, and then stain it. After all that, we were able to move all the furniture back in. We kept our purple chairs and then I recovered the couch. I just have a few more accesories to finish (throw pillows, ottoman, etc). We also have to do the little hallway that leads downstairs and the hallway upstairs. Eventually we are going to sand the wood floors on the steps and the bedrooms and stain them to match the living room floor. I'm so happy with how it all turned out. Here our some pictures of the process and then the finished room...

We only have a few more projects we would like to do and then our house will be complete. I look forward to that day :) Until next time...

Pumpkin Patch

A few weeks ago we took our second annual family trip to Hensler's nursery to pick our pumpkins. We haven't carved them yet, we'll be doing that this week, but we had a lot of fun on our visit. We were very fortunate to have beautiful weather, last year it was cold and rainy. Jordan joined us again this year, along with his girlfriend Molly and my mom and dad. Bella seemed to really enjoy herself this year. She still didn't want to ride the ponies though. She loved taking the horse drawn wagon back to the pumpkin patch and she was excited to pick her own pumpkin. Of course, she wanted to pick the smallest pumpkin she could find. Daddy wasn't too thrilled about paying $5 for a baby pumpkin so he ended up swapping it for a bigger one. That's Jason for ya! Definately looking forward to going back next year!

Until next time...

GASP...I'm 30!!!

I have been dreading this day since the day I turned 21. I mean, once you turn 21 what other "milestone" birthday is there, other than turning 30, then 40, 50 and so on. Everyone asked me, "What are you doing for your birthday? Anything special?" My response: Sit at home and cry! I was depressed about the whole idea. I felt like my youth is over, now I really have to be an adult. As the BIG day approached, I was nervous and a little anxious. Now that it's here, it really wasn't that major. I didn't even shed a tear! I did take some time though to reflect on all the many things I have learned and experienced over the last 30 years. I'll share a few with you...

• The "real" world can be a very scarey place
• It's okay for you to get your heartbroken a few times, you will survive
• When you find true love, it's the most amazing feeling in the world
• My parents really do know what they are talking about
• Being a mother is the most amazing job you can have
• Friends will come and go throughout your life
• God will never give you anything you can't handle, even though at times it seems like He does
• Enjoy every moment you get with the special people in your life. You never know when it could be the last time you see or talk to them
• Every now and then, you need to take the time to look at the world through the eyes of a child

I know there are so many other things I want to add to this list but my eyelids are getting heavy. I just may have to continue it in another post. I just wanted to let everyone know that I did survive turning the big 3-0. I'm going to try to think of it in a positive light. It's not the end of my youth but the start of my adult life! :)

Until next time...

All She Wants to do is DANCE!!

OK...So Lets Review

I've really been slacking on my blog, and summer has basically come and gone. So this post is going to be an overview of the wonderful summer we had.

JuNe

In June, we took Isabella on her first camping trip to Indian Beach. She actually did really great and we had a fun time with my mom and dad, Clyde, Steph, and the kids, plus Caleb. Bella really took to camping better than what I thought she would. I think she like the whole idea of sleeping in a tent. She was a little confused though on how we could be in the tent but still hear everything going on outside. Here our just a few pics from our weekend away...

Jason trying to start a fire

Pappy and Bella watching

Bella meeting the crow at Indiana Beach

JuLy

July came and went without anything really exciting happening. We took Bella to the drive in for the first time to see Toy Story 3. She loves Woody!! The first time we went she fell asleep 5 minutes into the movie. So we took her back the following week and she loved it!! I'm so glad we still have a drive in by us. They are so much fun!

Bella all ready for the movie

AuGuSt
We had a very busy August thus far. We went to Holiday World and camped at Lincoln State Park. It was also a special weekend because we got to spend lots of time with my old college roommate Jaima, her husband Duane, and their adorable daughter Zoe. Then on August 12 we celebrate Isabella's second birthday. I'm still having a hard time believing she could possibly be 2!! We had her birthday party this past Saturday. It was great to get to spend time with family and friends!

Enjoying the waterpark

Making her Koala from Zoe's grandma

Zoe and Bella

Bella and her Cabub

Bella's birthday cake

Blowing out the candle

So as summer draws to an end and September approaches, I will be celebrating my 30th birthday! Not sure how I feel about that yet! :) We will also wrap up the summer with the Blueberry Festival over Labor Day weekend and the annual fireworks party at my brothers. Look forward to that every year. Hoping for a wonderful fall! I'm really looking forward to some cooler weather and going to the pumpkin patch!!

Until next time...

We're Still Standing

I know this post is LONG overdue but the last couple month have been a struggle for us, me especially. For those that don't know, I had a miscarriage. On April 29, I started having cramps and bleeding. I made the call to my OB's office and they told me to go to the ER that they thought I was having a miscarriage. Just hearing that word was the scariest thing. We headed to the ER and after waiting several hours finally got back to see the doctor. He wasn't very optimistic. They took me back to do an ultrasound and there on the screen was our little peanut!! I felt a great sense of relief. The ultrasound tech printed off a picture for us and I held it and stared at it for the next few hours. The next morning I followed the doctors orders and called to make an appointment with my OB. They got me in that same day. He performed another ultrasound, and he said things seemed to be ok that I just needed to go home and take it easy. Which I did. But unfortunately that night I started having the cramps and bleeding again, more severe than the night before. I knew it couldn't be good! We headed back to the ER, but unfortunately this night I had the most heartless and inconsiderate doctor imaginable! He had no compassion and basically told me to go home and call my OB in the morning. He gave me no answers and left me feeling overwhelmed and stressed. When I reached my OB the next day, he sent me for blood work and had me come into the office to wait for the results. They were not what we had hoped. On May 1, he performed the DNC to complete the miscarriage and to give us a sense of closure. The whole thing just seemed surreal. I just felt like I was in a terrible dream and kept hoping to wake up. Unfortunately, I couldn't!!

For weeks I didn't want to leave the house or talk to anyone. I struggled some days just to get out of bed. Thankfully, we had planned a vacation to Myrtle Beach a few months back. (It was my mom, my mother-in-law, and my Mother's Day gift from Jason) It just happened to be about a week after all this happened. I was just so glad to be away from everyone and everything. It was nice to be around people who didn't know what happened and who couldn't ask me how I was doing. Although, I had periods of guilt. I felt guilty that I was enjoying myself, how could I be having fun with my family after this happened. It just didn't seemed right!

When everything happened, we decided to participate in something called "In God's Arms." This is a programed sponsored my the hospital and a local funeral home. Our hospital is a Catholic faith based hospital and as Christians we believe that life starts at conception. So when a life is lost due to miscarriage, they want to give the parents and families a place to grieve. After the DNC is performed, they take the fetal remains and transport them to the funeral home and they burry them at this beautiful memorial site at Southlawn Cemetery in South Bend. They have memorial services three times a year. We attended our first one this past Sunday on June 27. It was a difficult thing, but I'm so thankful to have a place to go to remember our baby!! Here's a link that explains what it is and shows a picture of the monument...
http://www.palmerfuneralhomes.com/content.php?sid=2432&ssid=7339

I am gradually starting to get better. I still have feeling of sadness, guilt and anger. It has been a struggle. I'm just thankful for my support system. I have a wonderful husband, daughter, sister, best friend, dad, and especially my mom! She has been my rock through this whole ordeal. She has given me the strength and support to get me through this. Without her, I don't know what I would have done. (I love you mom!!) I do well until I take the time to think about what happened. Then I'm overcome with such sadness. I think about how Bella will never know her brother/sister, how we will never hold our angel, never celebrate birthdays or holidays, never see a graduation or marriage for our little one. All our hopes and dreams for our child were just taken aways. Then I get angry about why this happened. I asked God why all the time. I know I will never have the answer. I just have to keep my faith in Him and know this is part of His plan! It's just hard to do somedays. I just asked that you all keep praying for strength for our family!

Until next time...