Names

First, thank you for the suggestions for a blog designer to help in hopefully giving my blog a makeover at some point! I have decided to put it on hold for a bit, as I am hoping to get some good family pictures and pictures of the kids this spring. I want to be able to put recent pictures on here as a header and outside pictures always seem to come out so much better then inside. So for that reason I am going to put my search on hold and wait till I know exactly what I want and have pictures that I like for my new look. I did find a free new template that I was able to add myself and if nothing else it's a change from the boring look that it has been for so long.

So onto my post... For Christmas my sister got me each of the kids names in individual wooden letters, all in different fonts. The other day Jim painted them all and we got them put up in their rooms. I love how they turned out :)! We have been in our new home for almost a year and a half already and still have some bare walls. We are slowly, but surely getting each room decorated and making the house our own. I think their names really added a lot though to their rooms and the kids all think they're pretty neat :).

I have always love personalized things. Below are some things with the kids names on them that are all meaningful to me.

Jim got me this necklace a while back. One of my very favorite things :).

And of course the Praying for Abbey bracelets will always be very special and meaningful to us. Hundreds of people wore these bracelets around the country and faithfully prayed for her while she was in treatment.

And Jacob got this for his first Christmas from my mom. He was 6 months old :).

My mother-in-law has gotten these for each of the kids when they are first born. As you can see we get a lot of use out of them!

A dear friend got this personalized blanket for Caleb when he was first born. It's soo soft and one of our very favorites.

A friend hand painted this clip board for Abbey. She just loves it!

One of my very best friends from college gave the above (bib) and below (towel) to Caleb and Micah when they were born.

While I was taking pictures of things around the house today, Jacob asked what I was doing. After I told him he disappeared into the playroom for a while and came out with this creation. And I love it! Seeing their names makes me smile - just like each of them do :)!

Wanted: A Blog Makeover!

So not bad, eh? 3 posts in just a few days :). I am getting excited about my blog again and I am feeling like I desperately am in need of a blog makeover! A good while back, a reader had offered to give my blog a facelift. At the time we were really busy and I never got back to her with the info that she needed to get started. It may have been during our move or possibly when Caleb was first born or maybe just a normal week raising 4 kids, but whatever it was, we missed that opportunity so I need your help. If you know someone who does blog makeovers or if you yourself do them, could you please leave a comment and tell me either who you are or who you've used? I put a new free background on this one, but I don't think it's cutting it. I'd like a whole new and improved look. So thanks in advance for your help and I look forward to my blog hopefully looking a lot cuter soon!!

Winter Memories

December started out with the birth of my new nephew :). My sister Stacey and brother-in-law Joey welcomed their 4th child, Andrew James into the world on December 2nd at 3:20p.m., weighing in at 7lbs. 9ozs. I had the privilege of being in the room when he was born and it was an amazing experience! They didn't know the sex of the baby, so it was so exciting to be there the second they found out if they would have another daughter or son. My sister and I both have 3 boys and 1 girl!! We think it's pretty cool!!

Nothing like a brand new baby to hold and smell to give you the baby itch :)!!

Lake Farm Park is a yearly tradition that we have done the past few years with Jim's FOP. Some of the activities that we do there are a horse drawn carriage ride to see Christmas lights, pictures with santa and making wooden toys. Below are the kids with the "elves" making and painting their toys.

I just love this picture of Abbey and Caleb. The kids are always coming up with new ways to play and keep busy around the house. Abbey is like a second mommy to Caleb. Just like me, she kisses his cheeks as much as he'll let her :).

We made lots of cut out Christmas cookies this year! It's pretty cool how as the kids get older they are a huge help and not just mess makers!!

We had 2 Christmas parties this year. One was with kids from Jacob and Abbey's school and the other was with women from our church. Both were a blast! Above the kids are doing freeze dance to Christmas music :). The night also included crafts for the kids to take home, snacks and free play.

The women's party was a great time for all. We had tons of food, played some fun games, and talked and laughed into the wee hours of the night (the last couple ladies left at 2:30am!)

And a couple pics of the kids opening up their presents on Christmas morning. Jacob got a bb gun this year. I know Jim and him will be very careful as they use it, but you can be sure I will be keeping myself busy with something else inside the house :/!

We haven't had too much snow yet this winter, but we've gotten out to play in it as much as possible.

Micah is 4!! We celebrated his birthday with family at Chuck E Cheese in early January. We ate pizza, played games and did cake and presents. His police costume was his favorite gift :).

We went up a few nights ago and visited daddy at work. Micah was thrilled to be his "partner" for a bit!

Hi :)!

I know I've been beyond bad at this lately. If you're still reading you deserve an award for being loyal to us :). I really am going to start posting again on my blog though. I think about doing it often, but then when I have the chance to sit down while the kids are sleeping I always end up watching '24'. If you've watched that series, you know, it's totally addicting!! We have been watching it on Netflix and have been going through each season and it's hard for us to go to bed at night because we want to keep watching. Anyways, I am going to break from that some nights so I can start posting again.

Tonight I'm going to start with a short post to tell you the main things that I think you all are wondering. First, Micah is doing great! He is back to normal... actually feeling better then we can remember him feeling in a long time. Looking back (and also learning what was really going on in his belly all that time) we now realize that he was having discomfort in his stomach pretty much all the time from the cyst putting so much pressure on his intestines. He has been like a new kid since healing from his surgery. He is eating great and is more active then ever. Although we went through a really hard month when it was all happening, we are so thankful that the problem was found and fixed and that Micah doesn't have to go through those stomach issues anymore!

And another great thing to report... Abbey just hit 1 year of being off treatment about a week ago!! Although relapse is rare, they told us that when it does happen it usually happens in the first year. It feels amazing to be past that first year off treatment and to see her doing so well :). This past year we have had to take her to clinic once a month for blood work and exam, and now that we are on year 2 off treatment we start going every other month. It will be nice to have a little more time between visits.

And lastly I wanted to end with a picture that I took a couple days ago of Jim and the kids. I am so blessed by these smiles everyday :). Aren't they getting so big? Don't think I could love them more if I tried!