Jesus, family, bunnies, eggs, and candy!!!!

Even though this wansn't either of the kids' first Easter, it sort of felt like it because they had so much fun and really enjoyed all of it!!! I feel terrible though because i forgot my camera and didn't get any actual "Easter Clothes" pictures! But you can't rest assured that they both looked so cute all dressed up- PS, thanks Grammy Pammy and Grandma Bonnie for helping out with Easter Clothes, Toys and Books!!!

Girl Power~

I want to take an opportunity to encourage all of the fantastic women in my life!!! I also want to thank my mom, and many of my awesome girlfriends for the support and encouragement in my recent heath endeavor in finding out that I have Celiac disease. We as women take on so many roles for our spouses, kids, families, and friends; yet we put ourselves (mainly our health) last. We must become our own health advocate. If we don't step up for ourselves, then who will?

My journey with Celiac began when I got pregnant with my son. I was having chronic episodes of diarrhea, and my doctor dismissed this as hormone related after an abdominal ultrasound of my intestines checked out fine. All throughout my pregnancy I felt exhausted, cranky, and continued with bouts of diarrhea, that were again, dismissed. When my son was about 5 months old, I sort of fell apart. I was diagnosed with depression, I was having insomnia, I had lost 20 pounds in two months, and was still battling my poopy issues. I was cranky, tired and felt like it was all I could do to just take care of my kids. Everyone told me (again, including my doctor) that having 2 small children was to blame and that it would get easier. Something just didn't seem right though. I started to feel self-conscious about going to the doctor a lot, and I hoped that they didn't think me a hypocondriac! A month or so later I started to get blisters on my knees, elbows, hands and face off and on that were itchy and first, then they would just go away. I started researching my symptoms on the internet (oh the blessed internet :0) and found that I had many symptoms of and a strong medical history leading me towards being tested for Celiac. I had to go to my doctor, request a referal to a gastroenterologist, and then ask the gastro doctor for me to be specifically tested!!! He seemed a little doubtful at first, but was concerned about the chronic poopy issues. So after lots of blood testing, a stool sample, an endoscopy and a colonoscopy, I was diagnosed!!! (Thanks so much mom for urging me to figure this out!!!)

So I tell you this story to encourage you to have your yearly check-ups (YES even if you are feeling healthy), know your family medical history, do your self-breast exams, and get your pap-smears!!!! Take a list of questions written down on a piece of paper, and yes whip it out and discuss at length with your doctor any concerns that you may have. You are so precious to so many people, and we need to step up and take care of ourselves so that we can continue to take care of our families!!!

I love being a Mom!

Being a mom is the hardest, easiest, most tiring, most energizing, most amazing things I have ever done. I have learned more in 3 years about myself than ever before. My children are constantly keeping me in check in that I know what really matters in this life: PEOPLE and RELATIONSHIPS. They are a constant source of that in your face kind of reality!! One awesome example is that one day we were running late to mother's Day Out and work, and I was so rushed and frustrated and when we got in the car I had a head ache! Julie is looking out the window and says in the sweetest voice, "Mommy, the clouds are so beautiful, look!" Immediately the tension left me. It took the perspective of a precious 2 year old who has no idea that the world lives on a time constraint to pull me back in to composure, how awesome is that! I must share some fun experiences in future blogs, but for now, here is why I love being a mom. I love: the way they smell after a bath, the way Julie is so intuitive and nurturing, the way Logan nuzzles my hair and wraps his chubby little arms around my neck when he is sleepy, finding a toy in my purse when they aren't with me~it makes me smile!, playing play-doh, blowing bubbles, revisiting my favorite disney movies (hello, updated version of lady and the tramp anyone?!), the way the kids love me and hug and kiss me no matter what I look like, I love learning about the differences in their personalities, and nurturing them in any way that they need!!! One of my favorite quotes right now is "The Family is One of God's Greatest Masterpieces!" - It is so true~ May you have a blessed day :0)

Snow Days

So we were wearing shorts one day, then had snow the next!! That is crazy memphis weather for you. This was technically the first snow for both kids, because Julie has never played in snow before!! She was facinated. She kept running around throwing snow balls and Logan mainly wanted to sit down and eat it. It took us 45 minutes to get ready to go out, and only played in it for about 20 minutes when julie needed to go potty in her 5 layers of clothes! Oh well :0) It was fun while it lasted!

So here I go!!!

So I am a blogger now!!! (thanks for the courage Karla and Morgan!!!) I really enjoyed reading some of my friends blogs and keeping up with them that way, so I thought I would start blogging! It will mostly be about the kids and all of the funny things they are doing. Don't you just love the internet?! hope you all are having a blessed day!