Thanks and An Update

Hey everyone! Hope you are having a happy Monday! It's rainy and dreary here in Houston but I'm loving it {and so is my grass!!} because it feels so nice outside and we SOOO needed the rain!!!

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you so much for all you kind words about my surprise. It means so much coming from all of you. Being pregnant after a loss is a struggle and it helps to have people who care and understand in your corner. Every comment, message, text, and e-mail you sent this weekend really just meant the world to me so thank you!! I appreciate every loving word and heartfelt prayer :)

I did get a few questions and I'll try to answer as much as I can here. LJ made me realize that I didn't post how far along I am in the pregnancy {thanks lady!} so the answer to that is I'm 6 months pregnant. Yes- I've kept quiet for that long :) We do know we're having a little boy {yay!!} and I'm still keeping everyone in suspense about his name- so sorry! We're expecting to meet our little rainbow in December which can't come fast enough for me!! We do have an amazing medical team working with us to get this little one here safely and a great monitoring/delivery plan in place for the remainder of the pregnancy.

I hope this helps with some of the questions. I know I didn't get to them all but I do talk about everything in detail on my private blog. I plan to make it public at some point but it will probably be after the baby is born. I still need a space that I can use to talk about everything that only those who understand my situation and who have been there supporting me have access to view.

Again if you'd like to follow me on this pregnancy journey please send an e-mail here or you can leave your e-mail address in the comments and I'll send you an invite. I have to warn you that Blogger is really weird about private blogs so once I send the invitation it's only good for a certain amount of time and after you access the blog the first time the link won't work again. In order to be able to come back again to view the blog you have to follow the bog/join the site. If anyone has any better advice on how to follow private blogs with Blogger please feel free to leave a comment! It drives me crazy how difficult they make it!

Finally I want to tell you that I put the Linky back for the Happy List Saturdays blog hop! So sorry that I accidentally took it out when I updated my post on Saturday!!! Since I messed it up AND since it's been awhile since we did a Happy List I've decided to leave it open until next Monday (9/26/11) to give everyone time to join in and share their lists. I hope you all will take a moment to share what brings joy to your life despite everything we've been through. I would love to see YOUR list!!!

Sending much love to you all!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy List Saturday.....Birthday/Surprise Edition!

Yay! So excited for Happy List Saturdays this weekend! Can't wait to see what you all have on your lists for today! As you all know the Happy List today is a special treat for me because of my birthday. Thank you so much for sharing with me!

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So this Happy List is really special to me.....I've been debating and debating the contents of this list for a little while now. My friend Molly even e-mailed me this week to ask about my list {because she knows how I've been about this} and I laughed because I was still deciding what to do.

Anyway this week my list is short but oh.so.special......

I've been keeping a little {ok seriously huge} secret...........for a while now {oh say for 6 months}..........and I wanted to share with you all...........

Me, Baby J, and Cami

A close up shot of my HUGE bump! HA!

Words can't express how overjoyed I am to see our family grow again!

I'll post more soon but for now I just ask that you keep us in your prayers. For those of you who are my friends on Facebook- you will not see me discussing the pregnancy on there (for now- I hope you understand). I still have a lot of issues with Facebook. But feel free to e-mail or message me if you want to talk :) 

This blog will remain a special place for Aiden and I to share.  I have been keeping a private blog to document this pregnancy and I plan to keep it private for a little longer.  If you'd like to follow me on the private blog please shoot me an e-mail here and I'll be happy to send you an invite!

Thank you all so much for your love and support! It means the world to me ♥

****UPDATE**** I just realized I took out the Linky- sorry!!! It's back now so add your Happy Lists to the post!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Via

It's my birthday today.....and I'm feeling pretty good :) It's been kind of an emotional week but today feels just right. I woke up to a beautiful card from Nygel and Aiden as well as a huge Happy Birthday Balloon- love that! And so far I've been watching Lifetime movies, snuggling with Cami, and catching up on blogs and Pintrest- HA! Great birthday morning so far :)

I've got a busy weekend planned- dinner with Nygel, Dave and Busters with my family and a few close friends to celebrate my birthday, my niece's birthday (Monday), and my sister's birthday (Thursday), and then we get to see Paula Dean at the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show!! I'm so excited about this one! I get to see her cook plus check out tons of cool cooking and entertaining gadgets and tools! Can't wait! I'll post pics of my birthday weekend so you can see all that I've been up to with my peeps.

The only thing missing from this weekend is my little Aiden in his stroller along for the ride at all the family birthday events. I know he would have enjoyed the celebration. And the cake....as much as his daddy likes sweets I know my baby boy would have LOVED cake!

I remind myself that he is here with me- on my birthday and everyday. I know Aiden will show himself to me today and this weekend as he always does when I need him the most. Love that kid ♥♥♥

He is always in my heart.......

Via

Anyway I'm off to get ready for work but I want to remind you all that tomorrow is a Happy List Saturday!!! Please don't forget to come back and link up for my birthday weekend! The list will open up tonight and will stay open through the weekend. I look forward to reading about what has been making you guys happy lately. Also there may be some special birthday surprises as well so make sure to share your happy list and get in on the fun!!!

Have a great Friday everyone!

PS- Are you loving my Pinterest pic filled posts?!?! Clearly I love that Etsy shop with the cute cake toppers- HA!

For My Birthday....

Via

So my birthday is this Friday and I somehow keep forgetting that it's on Friday......crazy lady. I guess my birthday just doesn't seem super exciting this year. Kinda feeling like a little old lady :) My sister asked me yesterday what we were doing on Friday and I was like "What are you talking about?" She just looked at me like I had lost my mind- I told you.....crazy lady!

I think in honor of my birthday I'm going to do a Happy List on Saturday.  I know we haven't done them in FOREVER! But I think it's a good time to do it. Despite everything that has happened since my last birthday I am so incredibly blessed with family and friends who bring joy and peace to my life when I most need it. And I know my little Aiden would want me to celebrate another year of life.

So if you can join in with me for Happy List Saturdays this Saturday. I'd consider it an extra special birthday present to hear about things that bring happiness to your lives! I'm already working on my list and it will be full of lots of cute pics from my newest love- Pinterest! You can follow me here if you ♥ Pinterest too! Oh and I'll probably have lots of pics from my other new love- Instragram!!! I double ♥♥ Instagram. I feel like I'm totally neglecting my Nikon because this little app makes my iPhone the most awesome camera EVER!

I'll leave you with a pin I added to Pinterest almost 2 months ago which seems very fitting for my birthday this year........

Via

Happy Wednesday everyone!

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Happy List Saturdays #16

Sorry I'm so late posting this today!  I hope you all are having a great Saturday!! I will get my list up tomorrow as we are getting ready for dinner! 

Don't forget that this is the last "weekly" Happy List Saturdays.  I'll be posting it the last Saturday of each month from now on- hope you will continue to join me in sharing what makes you happy :)

Happy List Saturdays #15

This week I thought I'd do something a little different with my happy list :)  Another bloggy friend told me about a cool website to make my own virtual post-its!  I love it!  So here's my list in post-its!

That's my list for this week- what did you think of my post its?????  I can't wait to read what has made you all happy! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Happy List Saturdays #14

Happy Saturday everyone!  Today is going to be a busy busy day but I wanted to get this posted now for those of you with Happy Lists this week.  I'll add my list later.  And remember the Linky will be open until Monday night!

Have a great weekend everyone!

***UPDATE***

Such a busy busy weekend!  This weekend was Nygel's birthday and I threw him a surprise party!  Definitely the highlight of my week!  Making my hubby smile!  Here are some pics of my happy for the week :)

Happy List Saturdays #13

Sorry I'm so late today!!!  Had to go to the vet early with Cami this morning and then I took a NAP!!!  A very long nap!  LOL!  Here's the Linky and I'll post my list soon!

Hope you all are having a great weekend!!!!

xoxo

***UPDATE***

♥ Lazy Weekends- Sometimes you just get overwhelmed during the week and there is so much to cram in in like 1 hour :(   On those weeks I live for lazy weekends where we don't have to do anything- like this weekend!

♥ My BLM friends- You guys are awesome!  Even with Blogger acting a fool this week (and a bunch of other weeks before) I still got so much love and support from you guys- e-mails and messages saying you were there for me.  Thank you so much for being there for me when I was having a rough time.  It really does mean so much :)

And please know that even though I haven't been commenting that much this week (or last) it's not because I'm not trying! Stupid Blogger is blocking me from commenting- ugghhh!!! But know that I am still reading your posts and thinking of you always!

♥ My New Armor- I've been meaning to post this for awhile especially for my friends Molly and Tiffany who share my passion for armor!!  I went from having no necklaces to having 4 in about a 2 week period and one on the way!!  Let me show you:

Baby Boy Necklace

My friend Molly (Hayes' mama) sent me this after I won a giveaway on her blog! Isn't it beautiful!?!?

My Mother's Day Necklace- LOVE!

I got this from a sweet BLM named Sally (Alexander's mama) as part of a Mother's Day gift exchange. I love this so much!

Necklace #1 that I ordered :)

One necklace I ordered for myself- the bar charm says "Aiden" - "11/2/11" - "Love" - "Angel" on each side. The turquoise and purple beads represent Aiden and I, and the circle charm says "hope is a thing with feathers". And of course I had to have a dragonfly!

Necklace #2 that I ordered!

The second necklace I ordered for myself- the tree charm represents our family tree, the turquoise stone is for Aiden, and the initial tags are for Nygel, Aiden, and I. This one also has a angel wing charm that is on it's way :) I'll take another pic when I get it.

Once my last necklace makes it home I'll let you guys see it as well!  Hope you like my new armor!

♥ Dragonflies- You guys know how much I love dragonflies- and how much they mean to me because of Aiden.  I am so lucky that these little guys show up places in my life often!  These two were sent to me by other BLMs :)

My sweet friend Sarah sent me this beautiful dragonfly and I love it so much!  Sarah is mama to twins Ann and Reese in Heaven and Sophie and Anna here on Earth. She picked this dragonfly up for me on a family trip and sent it for Mother's Day along with a book and some cards. I can't tell you how much this made my day :)

Sarah and I have known each other since high school and she has truly blessed my life since we lost Aiden. She is always so full of love and support.  Just an amazing lady!  All four of her little girls have been blessed with a truly wonderful mama.  Thanks so much Sarah!!!

This dragonfly came from my lovely friend Franchesca- isn't it just gorgeous!  She took this picture while out yesterday and is making it into cards for her new card line which you can check out here.  But this morning when I work up I had an e-mail from Fran with this beautiful picture and she added Aiden's name! LOVE HER so much!!  She is just beyond awesome. Thank you so much Fran!

♥ Cami & Carson- They have been getting a long a little better this week- woo hoo!!  We'll see how long it lasts :)  LOL!

♥ BBQ- I love BBQ and we grilled last weekend for Memorial Day while my sister was here.  It was soooo yummy!  Here are some pics of the food :)

♥ God Blessings- although I don't even pretend to understand this life and why God has given us the things He has, I do know that He is always with us and He loves us.  I know that God has a plan for all of us. I know that though so many things don't make sense He is still.always.blessing.us.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.

~Proverbs 3:5

This is how I'm trying to live each day.  It doesn't always work. I have my bad horrible days. And I question Him. Why me, why us, why my little Aiden. But then I look around and I see that he is still blessing us and for that I am so very thankful. So I trust and wait and hope.


So that's my list for this week.  I hope you all are having a good weekend!  I am keeping my fingers crossed that Blogger will let me comment on all your blogs this week but if it doesn't know that I am always thinking of you and your little ones!  Sending lots of love!

xoxo

Happy List Saturdays #12

Hey Everyone- I hope you are having a good Saturday and that you enjoy the nice long weekend.  I have to admit I don't have a list yet this Saturday morning. And I'm not sure if I will.....it's just one of those weeks.  But I don't want to hold you guys back so here's the Linky if you want to participate this week.  As always the Linky will be open until Monday night so you have time to add your list.  I will do my best to get mine up by then.

You all are in my thoughts as always......

Happy List Saturdays #11

Wow Saturday came fast this week!!!  I guess that's what happens when you try to cram a week of work for my real job into 3 days plus all the extra work I do when I get home....whew! But like my friend Fran says:

"But I like it this way. This is how I function.
This is how I learned to survive after losing Jenna- throw myself into my work which I love.
Now it’s a way of life."

This is definitely how I function now. I have learned to survive on less sleep.....to work in all the free time I have during the day (and night!).....I have an urgent drive to help other moms.....I know the work I have to do in my baby boy's name and I have to get it done not matter what.

So needless to say I have some pretty crazy hectic weeks- like this one.  But I still want to take some time to stop and thank God for all the happy things in my life.....and there are still so many!

♥ Nygel- my husband is my everything and I'm so so very happy to have such a great partner!

♥ Miracles- they really do happen and I continue to believe in the miracles God has in store for all of us!

♥ My sister graduated last weekend!!!  Yay!  So excited for her and so proud of all she's done!

It was soooo cold in California that night but the graduation was great!  Here's a few pics of the rest of us:

♥ Family Trips- I forgot how much I love family vacations until I got to take one this past week with my mom, dad, sister, niece, and my hubby!!  After my sister's graduation last weekend we went to San Francisco to hang out.  It was great!!!  We also took the family for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate Carissia's graduation- yummy! Here are a few pics:

Great pic right?!

LOVE Steel drums!  So Trini!

Dancing to the steel drum music!

Yep- a lizard!  She did good- I wouldn't even touch it!

Nygel and I with a view of San Fran in the background

It's me and the Golden Gate Bridge!

Kayla and her grandparents

Carissia and Nygel's drinks- Nygel's had a little more kick!

Yep it was so good she got ribs in her eye!  Crazy girl!

Ummm Dessert!

They are so cool :)

I'll share some more pics of the time Nygel and I spent by ourselves in San Francisco soon!

♥ My Anniversary gift!  Love this!  I've been wanting one forever and my sweet husband got me one- the Modern gift for 4th wedding anniversaries is appliances and we always get a traditional or modern gift for each other every year.  What did he get?  Fruit- in the form of an Edible Arrangement with balloons!!!!

♥ Quiet weekends- like we plan to have this weekend :)

♥ Cami!  Love her so much!  We missed this little puppy while we were gone.

♥ Movie nights and Chinese food- LOVE!

♥ I nominated my friend Molly for Fran's new blog program and she WON!!!  Yay!  So happy for her!  Love that girl!  And love Fran for being so awesome!

♥ Iced tea....ummmm!  Love the summer time and tea!

♥ Surprises!  Love them and love sharing :)

So that's my list for this week.  Lot's of family time which was great and much needed! I can't wait to read what has made your list this Saturday!  Take care and have a great weekend!