A & A's Nurseries

Yes we have two nurseries and two cribs. I just wasn't ready to put Annabelle in a big girl bed at 14 months and three weeks (when Adelyn was born) so here they are, our sweet little girl's rooms!

Here is what Annabelle's room looked like when we moved in.

Here it is now. Her furniture isn't quite this dark but the picture makes it look almost black. It is a nice size room, probably three times as big as Adelyn's room but we wanted to save the next biggest room for the guest room. I think it worked out great!!



This is what Adelen's room looked like when we moved in.

This is Adelyn's room now, after we did the whole powder pink thing for Annabelle I decided I wanted something different and bright and here it is!

We made it back alive!!

We went on an outing today to Target!!!! Why so many exclamation marks you ask? Bc that was mine, Annabelle, and Adelyn's first outing just the three of us!! It went really well! So the pictures I got are pretty much terrible but it was so exciting I just had to document!

Here is Annabelle before we left


And here is Adelyn


And these two are in Target. Annabelle would not look at me and Adelyn only started crying when I stopped the cart so I tried to keep the cart going at all times but I had to stop it to click the picture :)





And here is why Adelyn is always so bundled up in her carseat


It actually didn't feel that bad. We've been out in worse. :)

This is Annabelle playing with her new color wonder markers when we got home!!! (You know the kind that only color on their coloring books!) Whoever invented these is a genius!!


And we know it's been a really great day when I let Annabelle get her clothes all dirty!


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He's always been faithful to me

I had decided that I was not going to post about the earthquake in Haiti not because I do not care but because I simply have a lack for words BUT today I just cannot help but post about it after thinking about it all day. First of all let me say that I pretty much threw a pitty party for myself today. I woke up at 5:30 exhausted and it was only a matter of time before I was crying :( I think it was just because I was tired and I haven't slept in weeks but still. So whenever I do this (throw myself a pity party) I pray and ask the Lord for strength and perspective. He usually puts in my mind all of the people who are longing for a baby so badly and would gladly give up sleep to have a precious little one but this time all I could think about was Haiti and the images that are forever engranied in my mind of the horrible tragedy and from traveling there in 1998. I thought about all the poverty and the turmoil that the country was going through and then and to think that on top of that there was an earthquake that destroyed homes and took people's mom, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and kids lives. I started thinking about all the food I had in my pantry and how I have no needs that the Lord has not met. I started thinking about the warm home I have out of the snow and I got really convicted about how I didn't really have anything to cry about at all! Now, I know it's ok to cry but I want to chose to focus on the fact that he Lord has blessed my life tremendously and I need to pour my energy into prayers and not pitty parties for myself.

I wish I had pictures on my computer of the visit I took to Haiti but it was so long ago that my mom has all the pictures at her house and they are not on a cd. It was definitely a life changing trip for me. It was the first of many mission trips and it was the trip that the Lord used to spark a great desire in my life for the world to come to know Him. Since I don't have pictures of Haiti I will include pictures from a trip Adam and I took to Honduras before we had the kiddos.


I should've known we were going to have girls bc Adam was soo good with the little girls there and they loved him!

Us with two of the girls we really bonded with

I won't wish my house was cleaner when I die

So today I was thinking about a quote that I heard and I really wish I could remember from where!! The quote says,"A person will never wish they had worked more when they die." Well, I was thinking about how that could apply to me and I came up with a parallel quote or idea. It's that I'll never wish my house was cleaner when I die. See I have to work hard to put people in my life above projects in my life; it's just part of my personality and who I am but the truth is that people are way more important than projects. Let me clarify, you may think that a stay at home mom must spend lots (and I mean lots) of time with their kids and that is true but the only time that really counts is the quality time you spend with your kids. In my case, this means I need to pay attention to my girls and let my housework go for a little while so that I can play with Annabelle when Adelyn's sleeping or really hold and talk to Adelyn when I can. Believe me I am not saying to neglect your day to day obligations because believe me I could not do that for very long, I would go crazy, but I am saying that there is no point to staying home with your kids if you just tune out and take care of their needs but not really pay attention to them. I feel like this totally goes along with this verse: "So we fix our eyes on the unseen and not what is seen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18. Housework is not that important in the big scheme of life compared to investing my kids and showing and teaching them about God's love through my actions toward them. So I realized today that I won't wish my house is cleaner when I die but I will be glad about the time, energy, and attention I gave to my children.

On a much lighter note, this is Annabelle today while I was taking care of Adelyn. Notice she is standing not sitting in the bouncy seat that is way too small for her. (Don't worry I jumped up and got her after I clicked the picture:) )

Thank you!

Today Annabelle has been extremely fussy, not quite sure why but besides that it has been a good day! I dressed up the girls in their first set of matching clothes given to them by Aunt Rachel for Christmas!! Thanks Rach! They are adorable; here are a few pics:

Annabelle looks like a ballerina in this outfit

Adelyn pooped on her tights and bloomers and these were the only socks around...I know they don't exactly match!
We also got a package today from my dad and Anita (my step mom)!! How fun!! Here are a few pics:


This is an outfit for sweet Adelyn! It is too cute! I can't wait to see her in it!!

They also sent a "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" set! This is the monkey; he is soo soft! Annabelle just loved him and stuck him under her chin of course! (We are not sure why she does that!)
Thank you so much for the wonderful things! We don't know where we would be without our friends and family!

I wish she could stay this age forever!

Ok just a warning...this is going to be a random post! I wanted to update ya'll (I can't help it!) on my dessert situation. It is going surprisingly well!! It has been about 3 weeks or so since I decided on no desserts. This was very hard at first. Well, let me back up and say that I am not a food nazi or depriving myself forever, I had just become addicted to sugar and HAD to wearn myself off of it! (Probably mostly because I felt like it had gotten out of my control, which you know I hate not being in contol!) Soooo, the first week = torture. I wanted dessert all the time but I did find something that I had that kind of made life better when I really wanted something sweet and that was cinnamon grahm crackers! They are great! Four squares equal 75 calaries, they have 8 grams of whole grain and it is just the right amount of sweetness! So they were a great substitute! After this, I really stopped craving desserts and decided that once a week I would have as much dessert as I wanted and I picked Sunday!! Today was my third Sunday and I have to say that I did not even want dessert after lunch but I ate it anyway because I knew I could :) I had 3 ghiradeli pecan pie choclate squares...delicious!!

On to the next subject, it was much easier to get ready and get out the door for church this morning! I have a great stategy! I'll share that and how great out small group was tonight in a later post! We just started a new series in small group and it is awesome!

On to the next subject, (I told you this was going to be random!) my friend Audrey Williams is having her baby girl tomorrow, Jovie! Please keep her in your prayers. She has mild preclamsia and it is a difficult time for her with this condition. You can read more about this on her blog but I know she would greatly appreciate your prayers!

And lastly, I wanted to show these two videos of my sweet baby doll. She is so funny these days!

This is Annabelle dancing. Sorry for my annoying voice in the video :)


This is Annabelle getting so excited that air is blowing in her face. I wish she could stay this age forever. I love it!

Starbucks

After Adelyn's doctor appointment yesterday I had the joy of going to Starbucks! It is definitely a special treat if I get to go to Starbucks! I got a drink but saved it till this morning and I'm sooo glad I did! In Memphis, I used to go with a group of friends all the time and it was so fun! Here are the girls. Me and Jessica are pregnant obviously :) (What can you expect, I've been pregnant 20 out of the last 27 months!)


It turns out that Mary Emily moved here to Ohio even before I did. Mary Emily's husband, James is on staff with Adam as the childrens, kids and youth minister! It is so great to have her and her sweet little girl, Ryley Jean here! Here are Annabelle and Ryley playing.The other two, Jessica and Morgan I left behind :( and I miss them terribly! All of these girls were bridesmaids in my wedding and are super special to me!


So, every time I go to Starbucks I get the same thing. It used to be a skinny vanilla latte (decaf of course) but now it is a skinny cinnamon dolce latte. I looove it and the tiny bit of caffeine in the decaf is just perfect for me! I am looking to get something new though. Are you guys (like the "you guys" instead of "ya'll"?! I'm trying...) Starbucks fans? What do you get? What's good?

Silver boots and bows

Today Adelyn went back to the doctor. Poor Adelyn has been to the doctor 4 times since she's been born mostly due to her thrush. Well, I have good news.. it's gone!!! We had a great visit today! Like I said the trush is gone, Adelyn weighed 9 lbs 1 oz, and the sweet nurse prac loved Adelyn's outfit so much that she took her around and showed her to all the doctors!! How funny for me!! I was loving it! Here is a a pic of her outfit:



And here is a pic of us



And here is an attempt of me and Adelyn and Annabelle haha


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Happy Plastic People

An awesome lady that goes to my church, Cara Miller came to my house yesterday and not only brought me a wonderful dinner but also watched my girls for me so I could take a nap. She has two girls who are fifteen months apart and so it is wonderful just to talk to her because she truly understands where I am right now.

Here is the story of how all of this came about. She was on facebook one day and saw that my phone number was posted and so she called to check on me and then offered to help me whenever I needed her to. She told me how much she understood and that she really did want to help me, she was not just saying that. Sooo, after a very long night the other night I wrote her on facebook and asked for her help. It was a hard thing for me to do. See, we do not have any family here and so my church family is my family but it is different asking help from my church family than my true family; it is more humbling. Anyway, so she called me to talk about the meal and we were talking about women and asking for help and she said something that really struck me. She said,"As women we don't ask for help because we feel like that means that we have failed or that we don't have it all together." I had really never thought of it like that but quickly realized that that was exactly how I felt. Asking for help meant that I was admitting that I couldn't do it by myself and that that was very hard for me. Well, asking her to help me turned out to be a great thing. I don't have to have it all together. Who does? It is great to realize this and how much more I need to depend on God. See, I am in essence a control freak. This is why I love my house spotless and I love to always have makeup on and look presentable but this is all vain. This makes life all about me and it's not all about me; it's about the word of God and the souls of men. I love that Casting Crowns song that talks about being happy plastic people. Here are the lyrics:

Stained Glass Masquerade

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

In my case, I need help bc I just had another baby and have two babies that cannot talk and have a lot on my plate but the song is talking about anything that someone may be dealing with that they should not have to "hide." I love these lyrics because I think everyone that has grown up in church can relate to feeling like you have to have it altogether at church and maybe not just at church but at life in general. This is not only prideful but does not allow people to see who you really are and does not allow for the kind of relationships Christ wants us to have with people, the kind where we can help each other. Thank you Cara for your words of wisdom and your willingness to be there to help me when I need it!

I believe God allows us to go through things sometimes so we can be there for someone else who is going through the same thing we did. If we never admit we need comforting from God we will never be able to fulfill these verses.

2 Corinthians 1: 3-5

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. ⁵For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

or in the Message Bible it says:

^3-5All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.

It is wonderful to know that God is always there for us and that He will send people into our lives to help us if we can just admit we need the help. :)

Happy 1 month birthday Adelyn!

Today Adelyn is one month old! I cannot believe it has been a whole month! I assure you a month of not sleeping is well worth having this sweet little baby to play with!



I am so glad Annabelle loves her soo much! What an awesome blessing!! I pray they will be great friends all their lives!

It is funny, I expected Adelyn to be just like Annabelle, moslty because I had nothing else to compare her to, but they are sooo different already!! Adelyn has much different habits. She weighed almost a whole pound more than Annabelle. (Adelyn was 7 lbs 6 oz and Annabelle 6lbs 8oz.) Adelyn definitely likes to eat a lot more and has a very different cry. In my opinion, they look like sisters but have distinctive looks. Here is a picture of Annabelle at about one month old.
And here is a similar one of Adelyn I took a few days ago. See the similarities and differences?!
You know when I came out of surgery from having the ectopic pregnancy, the nurse told me that they could not save one of my tubes. I cried and said, "I'm never going to be able to have babies." Wow was I wrong. Only two short years later we have two babies and I couldn't be more thankful to God, the giver of life! He has been so good to us! May I remember this when times are tough with these two little ones!

Success at Walmart!

When I walked in the door to church on Sunday morning I had lots of people ask me how I got out the door because they knew I did not have my husband to help me (bc he is setting up for church.) I have to say that the key to getting anything done right now is organization! I am NOT saying that I have it all together because believe me I don't, but organization is not hard for me, it is part of who I am. I love it! I am one of those people who actually enjoys taking everything out of a closet and organizing it and putting it all back in neatly. The feeling I get is like a runner's high :) ok maybe not that great but it's close! As you can imagine, going to the grocery store is quite the challenge these days. Before Adelyn was born I would plan my meals on Sunday and then go to Walmart with Annabelle on Monday. I would make a list and try to stick to it (because Adam has me on a tight grocery budget and I'm glad because it keeps me accountable.) I would do everything I could to keep Annabelle happy while in Walmart and would hurry as fast as I could to get everything and get out but I am right now going to Walmart with both girls is impossible because I cannot imagine if they both got upset at Walmart at the same time so we pick a day to go when Adam gets off work. Well, tonight was the night and I was very excited because I thought of a new Walmart strategy. I took my list and then I divided it into the places in Walmart where I knew I could find them so that when Adam and I were there trying to keep Annabelle in the cart and Adelyn from crying that I would hopefully only have to go down each isle once and it worked out soo great! We were in and out in 30 minutes!! Here is a pic of my list before we went in! (Adam's hands not mine :) )


This is sweet little Adelyn at Walmart! Adam usually drops us off and brings Annabelle in if you are wondering where she is.
I'll share more on organization and my crazy life soon! Off to watch the Biggest Loser!!

Brit & Presley come to visit!!

My sweet friend and college roomie Brittney Rollins Pickett came to see me with her 4 month old Presley Kate! It was a wonderful visit! We spent hours just sitting and talking and nursing our sweet babies! There is just nothing better than having a friend that understands your life and we definitely understand crazy mommy life right now!!

Here are some pictures from back in the day!!

This is our attempt at a photo shoot with all the babies!

All of us!

Presley, Adelyn & Annabelle

Me with Annabelle and Presley
They love each other already.

Annabelle trying to give Presley a kiss

Easy Healthy Living Tips for Christians

I was challenged by my cousin-in-law Heather Lane's blog-http://lanesmiles.blogspot.com/ (I am new to this blog world and don't know how to link something...can someone fill me in?!) Anyway, she gave all her diet and overall healthy living tips and so I decided to post something I made a long time ago and then tweaked for a ladies bible study I did this past fall. Health and nutrition are a serious hobby of mine (if that's how you say it?!) At one time I studied to become a Registered Dietitian but didn't finish all the requirements and transferred to Crichton (etc...long story) but after college I became a personal trainer and Nutrition Counselor, I just didn't love it like I thought I would. Anyway, so I have all this info in my head and it is good to share with people whenever I get a chance. Hope it helps someone.

Easy Healthy Living Tips for Christians
By: Ashley Fisher

1) Get adequate rest and sleep and trust the Lord instead of stressing.

Stress plays a major role in how your body functions. Look at this website for more info on stress and how it effects your body: http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:5-7

2) Drink lots of water and watch the other things you drink.

Sugary drinks (like soda) only make you crave sugar and offer few or no nutrients. Limit juices to one serving a day because although they are good for you, they have a lot of sugar.

3) Eat something for breakfast preferably something with fiber.

The more fiber you eat in the morning the more satiated you feel for the rest of the day. Fiber also lowers your risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

4) Do not be overly restrictive.

Have a dessert treat once or twice a week but just not every day. Work on making healthier desserts for your family by substituting honey for sugar and whole wheat flour for white flour.

5) Eat more whole grains than white flour.

Make the switch to eating mostly whole grains if you can. This is different than whole wheat. You must be eating whole grain to get the fiber and nutrients that are really good for you.

6) Eat fruits and veggies whenever you can.

It is recommended that you get 5 servings a day! Have fresh fruit sitting out or carry it with you so you can munch on it when you are hungry. Try eating fruit for dessert and try incorporating at least one vegetable in your family’s dinner every night.

7) Do not skip meals but do watch portion sizes.

If you eat a big lunch then cut back on dinner but do not skip dinner because you ate a big lunch. Also, balance your plate with the right portions of a variety of foods. Half your plate should be filled with vegetables, one fourth with lean meat, poultry or fish and one fourth with grains.

8) Make sure you include physical activity into your life.

Physical activity helps control body weight, promotes a feeling of well-being and reduces the risk of chronic diseases.

9) When shopping for groceries try to stick to the outside of the grocery store.

The outside is often filled with more of the fresh products which are better for you while the inside has more of the processed foods. Try to look and learn about nutrition labels.

10) Look at healthy living as a way to honor the Lord.

“Therefore whether we eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;” 1 Corinthians 6:19

“But the fruit of the Spirit is..... self-control.....” Galatians 5:23

“Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:20 (the Message)

Remember, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

My sweet girls!

I had to post this pic I took of the girls! Yeah! I finally got a decent one of them together! I love them so much! Goodnight!