My 5 year old a.k.a. Sweet Pea

Isn't she a doll? I'm completely and totally biased, but she is just about the most precious thing I can think of! This is who you all have been praying for!! And I am SO THANKFUL for your prayers, because now I have a praise report to share!! As of last Monday, (I'm SO late on actually posting this, but I've been working on this since Tuesday...) her liver function numbers have come back down to 1100, which is still pretty high, but much lower than the 2700 it spiked to! Everything else is getting better too! Her appetite is returning and she has put on about 2lbs! (She lost 7!) She is sleeping less, and is actually now fighting all attempts to get her to nap, sleep, and rest throughout the day. Can you blame her though? I would too if I'd been sleeping 16 hours a day for the past 3 weeks!! Most importantly she is FEELING better! Praise God! The Doctor has now dismissed the fear she was holding on to in regards to Lupus. THANK YOU JESUS!! I was trying not to freak out when the Doctor told me that, but I must admit, I was quite the "fretful" mess. I called the Dr. several times last week, but I didn't hear back from her regarding the rest of Sweet Pea's lab results. I'm going off the assumption that "no news, is good news" but I will call again first thing Monday morning anyway to get the final verdict regarding how contagious she is at this point, and whether or not she can start going back to her Step-Mom's house and our "normal" schedule. 

Thank You all so much for your Prayers, Emails, and Encouragement! I know this might be a bit cliche, but you all are truly the best readers, kind, thoughtful, and loving! Everyday I am amazed at all the Lord has done in my life, and this new journey I'm starting out on with this blog, is just another blessing He has given me! Thank you to each and everyone of you, and may you all be blessed greatly!

The Grocery Game

I've been doing my best for a while now to live as a good steward of all Chist has blessed us with, and grocery shopping has shown itself an area where frugality is well worth it! I firmly believe that no one should pay full price for anything if they don't have to! I'm happy to report that for the last six months I have been feeding my family of six with an abundance of fresh, healthy foods for under $400.00 a month. Some months I come in well under $300.00. All without coupons! However, when I started noticing friends remarking on the amount of money they were saving using the Grocery Game I was intrigued. So I signed up for the 4wk $1 trial and I'm going to give it a try. I'm always looking for more ways to be frugal and a good steward with what the Lord has provided our family. The less money we spend per month, means more money can go towards supporting God's work in the Kingdom! I will keep you posted on how the Grocery Game goes!

I came across this picture of my mom when she was younger. There are a series of these, but this is the only one I have. I've had this picture since high school, where I used to keep it in my room. I've always thought she looked stunning in this picture. It's one of my favorites!

Blessings

Our three beautiful blessings!

Thankful and Grateful

I would like to take a moment and THANK the LORD for everything he has done for us, and everyone he has put into my family's lives! I would also like to say that I am so proud of my husband, and so thankful for everything that he has done, and is doing for our family. He has been working his little tail off to provide for us, and at times wondering if he were doing enough. I say yes. He's doing enough. He's relying on the Lord, and that's all I could ever ask for!! He has put himself aside, and sacrificed a lot for our family to make sure that I can stay home full time. Not only to take care of the house, and kids, but to home school them as well. What a blessing this has been! God is faithful, and he has been merciful with us all! We have gone through some very scary times in the two years we've been married, but God has never let us fall, and has kept ALL of His promises! Even though we don't live in luxury by any means, God has more than provided for us through Richard, and the wonderful, loving people He has put in our lives. We have a loving, faithful, merciful God, a strong relationship centered on our Lord, three, soon to be four beautiful healthy children, food on our table, clothes on our back, a roof over our head, and an AMAZING Pastor who tends so carefully to his flock. What more could there be? I am so thankful for everything God has done in my life, and thankful that everything my wonderful, loving husband has done for this family. He truly is amazing, and I love him more and more each day!

We love you all!

Christmas Day 2007

Christmas was nice this year. We picked up the girls in the morning and went over to my mom's. We didn't go anywhere else this year which was especially nice. I did not want to spend the day driving all over southern california pregnant, with three kids in the car. No fun. So at Grandma Robin's we stayed. My brother, sister in law, and niece joined us in the afternoon, as well as Grampa Steve, (Richard's dad). Boy the girls sure made out like bandits this year! All three sets of grandparents spoiled them rotten this year, and they loved every minute of it! They pretty much got everything on their Christmas list, and a few things that weren't. Richard and I weren't able to do much of anything this year, so it was nice to watch the girls excitement over every gift, and know that they were happy. Especially when the pony was revealed. Grampa Steve bought Cassidy the electronic FurReal pony that she's wanted for the last year. It was too big to wrap, and when she saw it in the back of his truck she screamed and jumped up and down! She had the same reaction that Corinne had when she opened up her makeup. I am determined however, starting next year, to find a way to really emphasize the reason we celebrate Christmas, and focus on that. I'd like to start a tradition. Any suggestions? Anywhoo, Richard and I really enjoyed ourselves, even though we seemed to be a bit overwhelmed at times. Why do holidays tend to get so stressful? Probably because we took our focus off of Christ, if only for a moment... We had an early Christmas dinner, and it even though there wasn't enough room at the table for everybody, it was a very enjoyable, yummy dinner. (Right Richard? =oP)-private joke sorry- Thanks Mom for all of your hard work in the kitchen! The turkey was moist and scrumptious, the ham was of course amazing, and all of the side dishes were great! Big success! Here's some pics from Christmas Day.

(I just discovered that if you're having a hard time seeing the pics because they're on the smaller side, if you click on them it pulls it up in a full screen.)

Merry Christmas!

Richard and the Girls

Me and My Girls

She's just a little excited...

Over makeup.

Goofy

He was happy with the paper

The penguin was as big as him!!

Then he found the nose...

Mmmm yummy nose

She loves horses!

He loves the bows.

a musical, "big girl" jewelry box

she got a ballerina doll

Cassidy's pony.

Why did they have to put the batteries there?

If you find this somewhat disturbing, you should've

 seen it in the box!