Easter 2015!!! (4-5-15)

Easter this year was SO much fun!  Oh my goodness...I can't even begin to describe how much fun we had watching her open her Easter basket and hunt Easter eggs.  It was seriously the cutest and sweetest thing ever.

Before church, Seiden opened up her Easter basket that the Easter bunny left at our house.  Man...did she ever get lots and lots and lots of goodies!!!  Then, we went to church as a family that morning.  After church, we came home and put the princess to bed for a mid-morning nap.  We like to cook brunch on Sunday's.  So, we decided to stick with that tradition, but to do it over at our house so that we could let Seiden hunt Easter eggs after we finished eating.  Seiden woke up right about the time we were done cooking, so we ate and then waited to see if the Easter bunny had hidden his eggs.  While we waited, Seiden opened up her Eater basket that the Easter bunny left at my parent's house.  This girl sure did score the jack pot on some serious goodies!!!  After she opened up her Easter basket, we went outside and hunted Easter eggs.  Seiden found every single egg and was so happy and proud of herself after finding each and every egg!  Oh my...LOVE!!!  We played for awhile longer after the Easter egg hunt.  Then, the princess needed some more beauty rest.  I was cooking Easter dinner.  So, while the princess napped, I started preparing everything for dinner.  My mom and dad prepared a couple extra side dishes and some crescent rolls...which was super helpful!  Dinner was yummy and we had such a good time visiting and spending time together.  We had a pretty relaxing day spent with precious and wonderful family.

Easter is such a special day.  We get to celebrate Jesus Christ raising from the dead and conquering the tomb.  We get to rejoice in knowing that the One and only Savior died for us and rose again so that we could experience the wonderful and beautiful life He has blessed us with and live in peace knowing that we will get to spend eternity with Him.  Accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior gives me such peace and comfort for everything that I walk through in life.  That's not to say that I have a hard time relinquishing control or giving Him all my cares, troubles, worries, concerns, or rejoicing Him in the most amazing times of my life.  But, I do know that He loves me and He cares for me and He has given me the greatest blessings that I could ever receive in my entire life.  He is Risen...He is Risen Indeed!!!

 

 

September 23, 2014

Well...this post is obviously a tad late!  I can't believe that I forgot to blog about this from September!

This was a big day for our little princess!  Today was the day that Seiden had her one year check-up with her surgeon, Dr. Thomas.  She also had a check-up with her ENT, Dr. Palmer who put her tubes in on September 12th.  We thought we would kill two birds with one stone and schedule both check-ups on the same day so we only had to make one trip to Ft. Worth.  We always enjoy getting to go to Ft. Worth and seeing all her doctors...but this was a big one and we were just as nervous as we were excited.

We weren't sure what Dr. Thomas was going to say.  Of course, we think she just looks incredibly awesome and is the picture of perfection.  But, he might have seen something in her neck or cheek that we weren't noticing.  Her appointment with Dr. Thomas was at 1:00 in the afternoon.  We had already seen Dr. Palmer and he said her tubes looked great and there was no concern.  Praise the Lord for that news!  So, we already had that appointment behind us when we saw Dr. Thomas.

When Dr. Thomas walked in the room, he was so excited to see Seiden!  The first thing he said was, "Look at my little pumpkin!"  He just looked at her and smiled and loved on her.  He's such a sweet man and we have been so blessed by him.  We prayed and prayed for God to put doctors and nurses in her life that would take care of her in the ways we couldn't and He certainly provided ten times over what we asked for.  We talked for a second about her development, which was above where a 11 month old should be.  Yay!!!  We thought she was super smart and advanced for her age...but we are her parents and are super partial.  So, it was so good to hear that she wasn't just developing how she should be, but that she was very advanced for her age.

Then, the big moment came.  Time to examine her.  He put her head in his lap and my mom held her feet so that we could listen to what he was saying.  This obviously upset her, which was good so that he could look inside her mouth to make sure the cyst wasn't growing inside her mouth.  It wasn't and he said her teeth are coming in as they should and there was no infringement on her mouth or how she chews and swallows.  He also felt around her right cheek and under her neck and there were no new growths or other developments!  Praise the LORD for the amazing and wonderful news!!!  We know that we will probably have some type of procedure in the future.  But, there is no reason to move forward with anything at this point because she is functioning and developing perfectly.

Her right cheek still gets full and swollen if she is sick or teething.  But, Dr. Thomas said that is completely normal because of all the tiny cysts that are still in her right cheek.  Because of the lymphatic fluid that fills those tiny cysts within her cheek, she will just be more full when she is sick or teething.  That lymphatic fluid has to go somewhere and because of her condition...that's just where all that fluid pools.  These tiny cysts that fill her cheek are something that we will look at for future procedures.  But for now...we get to go home and be so incredibly thankful that God has blessed us with an amazing little girl who is so perfect and wonderful.  She is strong, brave, smart, loving, kind, funny, and healthy.  God is good...ALL THE TIME!!!

Seiden and I with sweet Dr. Thomas!!!  Love him!

Pooped out little princess after all her appointments.

LOVE her!!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Spring Break!!!!!!!!!

Oh spring break!  There is no greater thing that a teacher looks forward to in the spring other than spring break!!!  It is just such a nice week to have at home in the middle of a busy spring semester to rest, relax, refocus, and PLAY!!!

To start off spring break, Cody got me a one night stay at the MCM Elegante for just me!  I stayed on Saturday night and came home on Sunday after getting to lay in bed, watch movies, sleep in late, and then go and get a manicure and pedicure before coming home.  It was the perfect way to start the week and it was so sweet of him to do that for me!  The whole rest of the week was spend playing, playing, playing, and running errands with my best girl.

My mom was off the whole week too...so us three girls spent a lot of time together and did lots of fun girly things.  Cody and I were also able to spend some good, quality time together too.  We went to CrossFit together almost everyday and had a meeting with our interior designer on Tuesday.  We got to pick TONS of stuff out and tackled quite a bit.  It was so fun picking out stuff for our new house together and spending the afternoon dreaming of what it was going to look like when it all comes together.

Here's a re-cap of all our spring break fun!  On Monday, mom and I stayed in a lot of the day.  It was pouring rain almost the whole day.  We did get out that afternoon and ran in to Carter's.  Seiden was busting out of her 9 month clothes and had only a few things in 12 months.  So, we went in there together and I stocked up on TONS of clothes to last her all spring and all summer.  We love Carter's...they always have such cute stuff and such great deals!  Aside from Carter's, my favorite designer brand for her is Giggle Moon.  Man...I LOVE Giggle Moon!  She has tons of outfits and they are all just so stinking cute!  Those are mainly church, special occasion, just for fun dress-up outfits.  But man...I just can't help myself with the stuff!  Anyways, we spent Monday pretty much inside, snuggling, playing, and shopping.  Tuesday, I took Seiden to day care because Cody and I had that meeting with our interior designer.  That pretty much took up the whole day!  Wednesday, I had a doctor's appointment early that morning, so mom came over and watched Seiden while I went to that.  Then, we ran a couple of errands after nap time, got cupcakes, and then Seiden and I had a play date later that evening with our besties; Bria, Jansen, and Jenner.  The kids had a BLAST playing together!  They all play so well and it was nice for us mommies to spend time together and catch up.  Love our friends!  On Thursday, Cody left for a hunt through Sunday.  So, us girls pretty much just hung out.  We didn't really do anything special...just had lunch out and then I cooked dinner that night for us all.  On Friday, Seiden and I went to CrossFit, then ran up to the interior designer's store to finalize a couple things.  We got home, and she was pooped and ready for a nap.  I had stopped and gotten coffee for us girls, so mom came over and we drank coffee while Seiden napped.  She took a late nap, so when she woke up, it was well past lunch time.  She was starving, so she had lunch and sipped on her hot chocolate (that was basically just chocolate milk at that point!), then we ran some errands with mom and then headed to the park for a little while.  Dad had ordered food from Casa Herrera, so he brought that over for all of us for dinner and we just ate and hung out until bed time!  Saturday, we just chilled and played in our jammies pretty much all day.  We all took Seiden to the Zoo that afternoon, then for frozen yogurt from Nikki's before dinner.  Hey...it was spring break!  Plus...haven't you ever heard the phrase, "life is short, eat dessert first"?!?  She loved it all and still ate about half of a hamburger and lots of Opa's french fries for dinner.  Cody surprised us and got home early on Saturday night.  So, it was nice to end spring break hanging out as a family on Sunday.  We went to church, had brunch, did some chores, took Seiden for a walk, then cooked dinner and just hung out.

We LOVE spring break and it is so nice to have a week to just be at home, get things done, and spend some extra time with my girl playing and making memories!

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Valentine's Day is a holiday that we typically don't celebrate a whole for.  Before Seiden, we would just get each other a little something and a card and I would usually cook something or Cody would grill and we would just stay home and avoid all the craziness and long wait lines at restaurants.  Last year, we had an appointment in Ft. Worth with Seiden's geneticist, which she was discharged from.  So, there was no better way to celebrate Valentine's than with that amazing news!  This year, my mom and dad offered to keep Seiden for us if we wanted to go out to eat and maybe see a movie.  So...we decided to take them up on the offer!

That morning, I had a hair appointment.  Which was really nice because my hair looked perfect and fresh and my awesome hair lady styled it and curled it so that I wouldn't have to do a single thing when we went out that night.  After I got home, it was right at lunch and Seiden had just woken up from her morning nap.  So, we each gave her the presents we had gotten her.  Her sweet daddy got her the cutest pink and white chevron chair that reclines...which she LOVES!!!  And, I got her a little bag full of goodies.  She got a pink bear, some Reese's peanut butter cups (her favorite), a heart-shaped box with some chocolate truffles, and a new outfit.  She had so much fun opening up her present and definitely loved the chocolates and looked adorable in her new outfit!  And...Cody surprised me with a very unexpected present.  When I first got home from my hair appointment, I saw a little gift bag sitting on the counter, which he told me to open.  When I opened it, there was a tiny little red bag at the very bottom of the bag.  The little red bag had the words, "Christian Louboutin" on it and it had two extra heel tips in the bag.  WHAT?!?!?  I knew right then he had gotten me a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes.  I was beside myself.  They were hidden in our room, and when I found them and opened the box, I saw the most beautiful pair of pointy-toe, aqua shoes, that fit like a glove.  I love those shoes and I can't believe the lengths he went to to get them for me.  I have the sweetest, most thoughtful husband in the entire world.  He is always thinking about me and doing so many things to show me he loves me.  From the smallest acts of service to the sweetest and most thoughtful gifts...I'm one lucky girl!

We hung out at the house the rest of the afternoon and played with our girl.  We ate some lunch, went on a walk, played outside with the puppies, and just hung out around the house.  Cody and I decided to go out to eat early to beat the crowds.  So, we took Seiden to my parents about 4:45 and then headed over to Taylor County Taphouse to try it out for the first time.  Man...we LOVED it!  We have eaten there a couple more times, even ordered it for take out and for delivery.  Which is so nice to eat food from there from the comfort of your own home!  Anyways...dinner was absolutely wonderful and it was so nice for it to just be us two and only have each other to focus on.  Don't get me wrong...we definitely missed our princess.  But, it was nice to just spend the one-on-one time together, uninterrupted.  After dinner, we went out to our new house to see the progress, then headed over to the mall to catch a movie.  We had such a fun Valentine's Day celebrating as a family and as just us two.  Holidays sure are so much more fun as a little family of three!!!  Happy Heart Day!!!