Keep and Attitude of Gratitude!

I saw this saying today and am making it my motto!! I haven't posted in 6 months! Maybe I will be finding some more time to do just that! 

Kristan

Monday Cutie-pie-ness

This pic makes me smile!! Just thought I'd share!!

Been awhile...

Wow...it's been awhile since I've done this that I almost forget how:)

We recently went on vacation to the state of Washington! It was awesome and beautiful and I am so happy we went!! I got to visit with my sister and my nephews for a whole week. Kayli cried so much when we had to leave..she actually asked me to give her away to my sister so she could live with them....it totally broke my heart for a second. But then I realized that she just really loves her cousins and wants to see them more. I want to see them more too! My sister is one of my bestest friends! I miss her and them all so much!

Here is all the cousins together while seeing Mt. Saint Helen's! It was insanely gorgeous!! God was definitely showing off here!!

We also celebrated Easter in Washington too! Easter is a personal favorite for me. I love the feeling I get when I think about what Jesus did for me. I am happy to report that my girls know the reason we celebrate Easter too! We do not sit on the Easter bunny's lap...yes we do give baskets of candy...but I won't lie about where it came from. Not that I'm saying if you do these things I am better than you...just personal choices...it takes all kinds to make the world go round! I can't get the pic of us at Easter to come down here..so it's stuck up there:)

That's really all that's been going on here.....some up coming things are that Logan is going to have surgery on the 27th on her right leg. She is having a hamstring release done...she will spend 4-6 weeks in a cast...I am very hopeful at the outcome of the surgery, but we will wait and see!! Also the girls are playing tball. Lou will only be able to play up til her surgery but she loves it more than K does!! She is amazing...I don't know how she does it!! She has to balance herself on her walker while holding the bat and swinging at the ball! She even almost hit it when they pitched it to her!! That girl has a determined heart!! Hmm...whatelse..Oh...The National Spina Bifida Conference is coming to Cincy in June, and I am very excited about it!! Cory and I are volunteers for 2/3 days...

My shoe line is finally coming along. After months of waiting for samples to be made we had to switch factory's.... I will be getting an online store here soon! I am loving that I will be doing this from home!! It still allows me to raise my girls, and make life a little easier for parents/kids with braces to have cute, affordable shoes to wear! This is my goal! I just want something for Logan...I don't care if I make one cent....As long as Logan and kids like her can take their shoes on and off by themselves, and have shoes like other kids their age..then I will have succeeded! It's not to fun that Lou lou is 5 and can't put her shoes on or take them off by herself! And it's not her fault!!

On another note I think I will be writing a post about being a SAHM soon...I have so many feelings on this...and recently I have come across some full time working moms who say "that they could NEVER expect someone like me to understand someone working full time then coming home and doing all the duties a wife/mom has.." all I have to say is "please...get over yourself"!

Also some updated pics coming soon of Liam who is out of the NICU and home now!! He came home at 10 weeks and a whopping 5lbs!! (which is more than Kayli weighed when she came home) I am so happy he is home and doing marvelously BTW!!!!

Anywho....Cory and I are buying a house in the next week...so I am very excited about this!!

What's going on in your life?? I would for you to share!! I feel so out of the loop!! Come on Susan, Lori, Cortney, Trish??? Anyone??? What have ya'll been up to? (I guess I can just read you're blogs to find out too!! ) :) :) :)

Soon to be...

Yep! Starting in the fall we will have 2 Kindergarteners!!! I am so excited for them!! They are very excited and a little scared(well Bug is at least) I told them it will be alot like PreK. Wow, still can't believe my babies are 5! Too crazy!

Winner!

Sorry it has taken me so long to announce the Circus winner!!

Congrats Julie! You are the winner!! And thanks to MomCentral for the prize pack! Stay tuned because I will soon be giving away a family 4 pack to the opening night in Dayton as well!!


Thanks to all who entered!! Remember if you want to order online at www.ticketmaster.com you can se the coupon code "MOM" and get either a 4 pack of tickets for $44 for a week night, or get $4 off each tickets for the weekend show!!


xoxo
kristan

Zing Zang Zoom...

I remember once when I was a little girl, my parents took us to the Ringling Bros. Circus! I remember it was something amazing. As a parent now of 3 little girls I am always excited to take them on new adventures. Well on March 10th(unbeknowenst to them) we are taking them to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Circus!! And you can too!

I was contacted by MomCentral to giveaway a Family 4 pack of tickets to the opening night of the circus in Cincy(March 10th) and opening night in Dayton(April 29th)! That my friends is an amazing gift! They are sending my family to the circus just for helping them! What a generous company!

This year's tour is called Zing Zang Zoom! It already sounds fun to me! Here is some info about the circus: Through the mystery of magic and the mastery of skill, audiences will be spellbound as Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey presents ZING ZANG ZOOM!

Magical Zingmaster Alex and his assistant, the alluring Levitytia, lead audiences through a kaleidoscope of color and imagery revealing extraordinary worlds of fantasy, flight, and phenomena that celebrates the uplifting spirit of the circus and wards off a cynical Mr. Gravity and his team of "heavies" who try to bring everyone down.

Fun-filled magic merges with traditional circus arts to create a world of infinite possibilities where apprentice illusionists levitate their parents with a wave of a wand and audience spirits keep rising as the high flying circus is (literally) turned upside down. BONUS: All Access Pre show is free for all ticket holders and begins an hour before showtime.

So this first giveaway will be for opening night of the Cincinnati show March 10th at 7:00p.m! The show will go from March 10-March 14. All you need to do is leave me a comment telling me something...anything!! The winner will be chose by random.org on Sunday the 21st! This giveaway will end the 20th at midnight!! Good luck! Oh, don't forget to leave a valid email addy so I know how to get in touch with you!

In case you don't win the tickets given away here you have a couple more options...you can visit my friend Cortney's blog, she is giving some away also! Or there is also a special coupon code MomCentral is offering. If you buy your tickets online at Ticketmaster you can enter the code"MOM" to get 4 tickets for $44(Monday-Thursday& Friday matinee) or use the code to get $4 off weekend tickets!!

Stay tuned for the Dayton area giveaway!!

The Meaning Of Life...

What is the meaning of Life?

~to reflect the image of God
~to seek to please HIM and not me
~to do HIS will and not mine
~to complete the work he gave me to do....

this is becoming my meaning of Life. This is how I hope to live my life.
I am learning to "be content"....that is a hard one for me. They say the grass is always greener...but I say "I am content". It doesn't mean that I am settling. Being content has more to do with loving the Lord with all your heart than, just being okay with your situation. I am loving life more these days than all of last year combined. I am happier this very minute than I can remember being in a long time. I have been ridding my body of toxic things...and filling it with more Holy things.
I am "content".

What is the meaning of your life?? Are you content?

Wow..it has been a week already since my tiny miracle nephew was born. He came into this world when he shouldn't have. The doctors said he had a 30-40% chance of making it 48 hours. He.is.a.week.old. The power of God is amazing!

He is doing well. He is 1lb 14oz, regulating his own body temp, no vent, having bowel movements, among other things. On the not so good he is having regular apnea spells and has a heart murmur. They will do a head CT tomorrow to check out his brain. I love him so much already. When I touched his tiny hand for the first time I cried. My sister is so strong. She is pumping every 2 hours just so he can have what's best for him(and every other baby) breastmilk. I am so proud of her, she has been pumping like crazy when other women wouldn't have even tried. She is a true mama!! I can't wait to hold him.

I am trying my best to support her and visit with her, and do anything and everything that I can for her. We(my husband and I) know what it's like to be in this situation. Logie was in the NICU for 10 days after birth and then the PICU for a month when she was 3 months old. It was a VERY hard time for us and we found out the hard way about people supporting you. So I don't care if I smother her with my love, she will know that I am here for her for whatever she needs! I often joke that if I am your friend/family I will smother you with love! I don't think that's a bad thing!

So I guess I am praying for different things than other folks. I am praying for her mental/emotional strength cause she needs it to get through all of this. It is going to be a long road for them. Of course I pray everynight that God will wrap his loving protecting arms around Liam and make him stronger everyday!! His name means Warrior and that's just what he is!! Feel free to add them to your prayers!! I will post some pics of Liam on here so you can see just how adorable he is too!!!!!! Thanks for letting me ramble!! Of course who am I thanking? This is my blog and I can ramble if I want!!

xoxo

kristan

messed up...

Hey,
I totally messed up by posting my girls birthday blog on my shoe blog...if you want to check it out head on over to BlueBug Shoes . I am too busy with real life junk to fix it!!!

Enjoy!
xoxo
Kristan

"Where I Belong"

My husband and I are huge fans of Jaci Velasquez, and we were listening to her CD "Unspoken" today in the car and this song came on. First of all, I love every song on this CD, if you haven't heard it, it's awesome!! I just thought I would share the lyrics to this song "Where I Belong" cause it's so true to my life!!! And I love it! I am a fan of Worshiping God through music, so songs and their lyrics have such an impact on me. Let's just say that today in the car I didn't have dry eyes:) Conviction is a hard thing, but such a wonderful thing. Nothing better than being convicted by the Holy Spirit when you need it the most!! Hope your week is blessed, and you enjoy these lyrics!


Sometimes I am saddened by the choices I've made
So many tears I have cried
Got what I wanted but the dream seemed to fade
Still feeling unsatisfied...

But you saved me, forgave me
How you've shown
You'd never leave me all alone...Oh Lord

Everytime I lose my place
The beauty of your grace
Shines a light so I can see
Everytime I lose my way
You make it all okay
I feel your love surrounding me
You are here, calming my fears, you lead me back with your sweet song....
You're where I belong

You're always there to guide me
through my mistakes, you've never once left my side
The way you pick me up each time my heart breaks..
The way you always stood by

I'd feel you
You'd move right through my heart
We never really were apart, Oh Lord,

I will always put my faith in you, Cause I know you understand
I will try my best to follow you, cause I know you've got a plan
Just to have you in my life, Is far more than enough
You are everywhere around me now, I can feel your precious love....

xoxoxo
kristan

The many faces of Naomi:)

These were just too cute not to post!! I love my sweet Naomi! She has always been and will continue to be my little ray of sunshine! (And yes, that is a horrible bruise on her head! She got that while trying to climb on something and didn't quite make it! poor thing!)