Lillian Faith Cruz

My beautiful, amazing, gorgeous little Niece Lillian Faith Cruz was born today at 2:39pm weighing in a whopping 8lbs 12oz. But, she was so busy getting those chubby cheeks in Mommys belly, she didn't fully develop her bum. They have flown her up to St. Louis Childrens Hospital and she is going to need surgery. Hopefully, it will be easy, and that will be the only problem. But, please keep my Brother and his family in your prayers. Thanks a bunch!

Need More Time!!!!!

I have been wanting to edit/put together collages of our trip to Utah and Moms party, so I could post them on here.......yet, I find myself with NO time! As soon as we got home from Utah, we signed on our house (yay) so that meant MOVING all our stuff! Then, two weeks of Christmas rehearsals where I had literally enough time to wake up, get a little done around the house, get the girls fed and dressed, get out the door, drop them off at Daycare, and then get to rehearsals......only to do it again for two weeks straight!! Now I had a great time at rehearsals, they just left me highly un-motivated to do much in the morning. So, this week, the last week of my break, I have been trying to put my house together, while cleaning the old one!!! It's already Friday! I go back to work Monday......I NEED MORE TIME!!!!! I feel as though I have not had a break at all! But, I will be okay......the house does not need to be Parade of Homes ready before I go back to work.......I just want it to be. That would be the OCD in me! Wow, ur still reading......I'm sorry I bored you for so long! Off to do some more cleaning!

Why I'm Here

Laying in bed, cuddling my precious two year old. She has her arms around me, playing with my hair. Then, she kisses me on the nose and says, "I love you Mommy. You're my best friend forever!"

This reminds me why am here. That God would bless me with these two beautiful angels to mold and watch grow into their own. I am so thankful to be a mother.......even at times it makes me want to pull out my hair!!!!

Today I am thankful for Gods grace and presence in my life! I know without Him, I would not have these beautiful girls, my amazing husband, or the perfect home for our family! I am thankful that we have accepted him back into our lives, and have truely seen the impact of having Him with us. Thank you God, you are EVERLASTING!

Cecelias First Word

Yes, it's officail! Cecelia is going to be a Daddys girls too! She has been saying Dada ALL day long today. I'm not going to lie.....I'm a little jealous! But, glad that she loves her Daddy so much!!

I know I have a lot to update with our trip and our big move, but baby steps people!!! I'll get there! Then, I'll overload you and you will wish I would stop!!! LOVES!!

Mommys Surprise Party!!

So, I threw my Mommy a big 50th Birthday party last night! It was so awesome! She had no idea whatsoever! I will post more about it later, but, I am very proud of this slide show I put together for her!!!! Enjoy!!

Piggy Bank

So, a few days ago, I posted about Mattea collecting money in her Piggy Bank for the little children in Haiti. She couldn't wait to take all that she had collected to Church to give to Pastor Ted. She had everyone in the family pitching in to help her out, I'm not sure how much was in there......but, for a two year old, she did GREAT!!!!

Getting ready to take it in to Church. She was so proud of herself!!



Giving all that she had been collecting to Pastor Ted. She told him how she worked hard to collect the money for the little kids in Haiti. He kept it as a prop and showed it to both services reminding us all, that we all have more room to give.

I am so proud of my little girl! A lot of kids would have said NO WAY if you asked them to give up their money they had been collecting for months, but she gave it so freely. I am so thankful to the Lord that he has blessed us with such a giving and caring child! We sure love her!

Thankful Thursday

So, for those who know me well, I have had my ups and downs in life (don't we all?) I have suffered with severe depression and anxiety. I'm not ashamed to admit this, because, well, it is part of life. Now, back before I would accept this, and seek help for my problems, I comforted myself with food and alcohol. LOTS of alcohol. This, of course caused me to gain a lot of weight. I was in denial about it for so long, but it just kept creeping up. I bring this up for two reasons. One, I came across some of my pictures of my "bigger" days and it made me sad and ashamed. But, the second reason I bring this up is this; I was able to get over my fear of being labled "crazy"( as I thought of it at the time) and seek out help. I am so thankful to have received that help so I could get my life under control.

So, for this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful to my family for supporting me through all my ups and downs. I am also thankful to have renewed my love for life, and start loving myself again. I have come so far since then, and I can't help but be thankful for that. I also thank God that he never gave up on me, that he was waiting with open arms for me to come back to him. I have an amazing husband and two beautiful little girls. This is more than I could have ever imagined!!

This is my in between picture. One of the three happiest days of my life. I had found my happiness, and lost about 20 lbs.



And here I am today!!! Two kids later and I feel better than I ever have! I am 3 lbs. under my "realistic" goal weight and only two pounds from my "semi-realistic" goal weight.

I'm not posting this to brag by any means........this is just something I am VERY THANKFUL for!!!

My Sweet Baby Girl.....

So, our Church is raising money to rebuild an orphanage in Haiti. This past week, Pastor Ted encouraged us to get our kids involved. I hadn't thought of talking to Mattea about it, even though I had donated myself already. So, that night as we were laying down for bed, I started talking to her about how lucky we are to have our house, our family, and our health....(in two year old terms of course!) I told her how there were some children in a place called Haiti that were not so lucky. They had a big earth shake (she has seen Land Before Time) and they lost their home. Some even lost their Mommys and Daddys. I asked her if she wanted to take her piggy bank to Pastor Ted at Church to give to those little kids, and she enthusiastically said yes. Well, we moved on and went to bed.

The next day, she found a penny and went running in her room to get her piggy bank. As she's running she yells, "I found a penny to give to those little kids!!!" My heart melted. She remembered, and she cared. So, this week we have been finding pennies and putting them in her bank.

Today, while we were at Nini and Papas we were telling them how she was going to give the little kids in Haiti her piggy bank. Aunt Lori is in town, so she took Mattea downstairs and they came up with a baggy of change. Then, Nini dropped some change into the bag. Next came Papa and even Cousin Danielle emptied her change into the baggie. Mattea couldn't wait to get home to put it in her bank. After we did, she picked it up and said, "This sure heavy! We really goin to help those kids!!!"

I can't help but thank God for putting these children into my life. I love that at such a young age, she is learning to be giving and caring towards others!! So, Pastor Ted......LOOK OUT! Mattea will be attacking you on Sunday!

Turning a new leaf.....

It has been exactly one year and two months since my last post......so to say the least.....I have not been good at all at this blogging thing. But I am making a commitment to start back up. More as a keepsake for our family, and a way for our family far away to know what's up!! A lot has happened in the last year. I got knocked up, had a baby, and now we are buying a new house. That pretty much sums it up quickly! I promise to update more. Since it's been a while, here is an updated family picture......Including Cecelia Marie! Lot's of love!! Kara!