Packing for Our Bungalow

Yesterday was a day full of packing, yummy leftovers and some hopefully exciting news about our potentially new little 1950's bungalow! Ah, I really hope this house works out. It's in a neighborhood we fell in love with and it's just perfect. I'll give you guys more details as soon as it's officially sealed and done. Which...should be today!? Ah!  Here are a couple pics from our day yesterday. I've almost finished boxing up little Forest boy's room and he is always eager to "help" me as you can see below. ;) Our home is slowly turning into a village of brown boxes. 

It's been a real stretching time with us having to move in the middle of Sam still looking for work and so many changes all around us. But, like one of my dear friends told me, lean into this stretching time like you lean into a yoga position. :) The Lord is faithful to us and little windows are starting to open up, letting more and more sunshine of promise in. As Sam and I were getting ready for bed last night, he smiled the biggest smile, sighed and burst out "I love my little family." It was a perfect, simple moment full of sweetness. No matter what is going on, simple, crazy, real love drenches my life. 

a yummy lunch of avocado, tomato and lentils

sam and i heated up some amazing leftovers of his famous quesadillas from last night's dinner with our friend jordan. (who was also one of the midwives who helped deliver káel.) 

FINALLY!

Many of you have heard me mention my friend Kara on the blog before. She is an amazing, dear and beautiful friend. Well, Kara and her man, Matt, have been on a long journey of adoption this past year. You need to read their story! It's been so gut wrenching on my heart to watch the wait they have gone through. Kara was made to be a mom. She is hands down one of the most amazing girls I've ever known. Her heart is bursting with love and tenderness to pour out on her future baby(s) - it's just crazy. ;)  A couple weeks ago they recieved "the" call. A birth mother had chosen them and their baby was no longer a vague dream but HE was due September 26th and very excited to meet them! Eeeeek! All of us who adore Kara and Matt have been crying, dancing, screaming and crying some more with them in celebration! Can I just add, Kara is going to have the biggest kick-booty baby shower ever! Ah! Go to her blog HERE read the post on when they found out and then read the most recent last few posts.... I promise, you will have a tear in your eye and the biggest smile on your face.

Yay for Baby BOY M.! Sam and I are beyond elated for you guys! We love you and your baby boy! I can't wait to squeeze him!!!  Muuuuuah!

Frozen Broccoli Boy

I recently discovered one of Káel's favorite snacks...raw broccoli! He loves it, especially when I freeze it. He will chew and gnaw on it for the longest time, making it a yummy, teething, snack full of vitamins! Frozen broccoli was my favorite snack (and as weird as it sounds, still is) as a little girl. 

I can't believe he's 10 months old! It's freaking me out how fast time is flying. I'll post more on the wonders of the 9 and 10 month landmark later. :) 

I've missed blogging the last couple of weeks and I know my posts have been scarce. Sorry about that. We have 3 weeks to find a house, pack and move. My brain space is filled up with house hunting and my creative juices have been going into building up stock for my new etsy store (that will hopefully open later this month or early August). Today, Sam and I are going to look at a house in one of my favorite neighborhoods. We'll see how that goes...I'm so hoping that this is the one. If it is, I'll be posting and sharing the excitement with you. 

Have a wonderful Monday! 

Tunes & Such: The Honey Trees

I hope all you beauties had a fabulous 4th of July! We celebrated with a ton of our friends with bbq, treats and fireworks. It was a blast. I have been wanting to do another installment for my "Tunes and Such" feature for a while and I'm glad I'm finally getting around to it! Here is another amazing group, one of my favorite music groups. 

The Honey Trees take you to dreamy, far away places with their lyrics and their melodies have a haunting goodness about them. Becky Lou Filip and Jacob Wick are an amazing duo that will inspire your heart. They released their first EP "Wake the Earth" in February 2009 and are working on a new recording project. I would totally recommend them for your summer playlist. You can download their music on itunes HERE. Watch, listen and enjoy! 

photography: simon filip

Sometimes Sweet: Papa Said

Head on over to one of my favorite blogs Sometimes Sweet and check out Dani's new series, "Papa Said!" Each Sunday she will feature a different dad with their perspective on daddy-hood plus their words of advice. Yesterday Samuel shared a few of his thoughts on parenthood and I shared a few on how amazing I think he is. ;) Dani is one of the sweetest, caring and thoughtful bloggers I have had the joy to meet and call friend. Her little boy Henry is pretty darn cute, so be prepared to be smitten.

 I'm going to go take a walk with sweet boy and do some more house hunting. Have a lovely Monday!

Scariest Night Ever

Night before last was one of the scariest that I've experienced so far in this new chapter in life called, motherhood. Actually it was one of  the scariest thing in my life, I think ever, motherhood or not. 

I had a sinking feeling in my gut as I ran upstairs to check on my Forest boy. Something wasn't right. He'd only been in his crib for 10 min or less, but he'd been acting funny since dinner about 15 min before. He kept coughing, and itching his eyes, he wouldn't finish his food or drink anything. Or was he just sleepy and rubbing his eyes in the dramatic way he always does? I was replaying in my mind anything that was out of the ordinary that might cause his discomfort. Yeah, he was teething but this was different. Oh my gosh! I gave him two of THE smallest bites of my peanut butter sandwich that I was eating while feeding him! I reached for the overhead light in his room, of course the light bulb was blown out. I looked over his crib with only his nightlight to see him tossing pitifully in bed, his face looked strange. I grabbed him and he was coughing and as I rushed downstairs. The fear of this being an allergic reaction to peanuts terrified me. I had friends in school that almost died from this because their throat would swell up and they couldn't breathe. Kael's face was so red and so swollen, there were blotches on his arms and he looked scared.

Sam had run up to grab some dinner at Chick Fil-A, so I was at home alone. I kept going from the living room to the kitchen, back and forth trying to figure out what to do. Where the *bleep* is my iphone!? Should I call 911, should I just run up to the urgent care right around the corner? Should I call Sam? WHERE IS MY PHONE?! This HAD to be from the peanut butter. Within 5 min. of me giving him 2 tastes (which he LOVED) he had started rubbing his eyes really hard, and coughing. He wouldn't drink his water or milk. He wouldn't eat any of his other bits of dinner that he really liked. All of a sudden as I'm thinking this and a million other thoughts in a 20 second time period, Kael projectile vomits like I have NEVER seen him do before, all over the floor, himself and me. Sam came in the back gate and I rushed out to show him Kael. When he saw Kael's face he said, "Oh my God." I told him what I thought  was going on and we ran out the door to take him to the Urgent Care. It seemed unreal. We were told to go to the children's hospital and take him to the emergency room. We chose to drive instead of being taken by ambulance. We were in the car praying, and I kept beating myself up for giving him peanut butter. I looked down at my feet and realized I had forgotten my shoes, nice.  Please God, let my baby be ok. I called my midwife to get her advice and her opinion. She encouraged us to absolutely go to the ER.

walking into the ER at Levine Children's Medical

By the time we got to the ER that was 20 min. away, his face had gone down a ton and I could tell he wasn't scared anymore. It was still swollen but not nearly as much as it had been.  Another 10 min. and he was flirting with the nurses, puffy eyed-face and all. My little trooper. They put us in a room, gave him a big dose of Bendryl, some fluids and waited to make sure he was improving. About 2 hours later he was doing a million times better, the medicine had kicked in and after playing with some toys they gave him, he passed out on me in the rocking chair. After what I told them, they agreed it was a peanut allergy and told us to make an appointment with our pediatrician (which we are doing tomorrow). Everyone was SO nice to us while we were there, it was very comforting. 

We got home, put him to bed, he was out cold, little darlin'. I heated up our now cold Chick Fil-A that had been forgotten and tossed on the table when we left. Sam and I sat there quietly eating and I started to cry. I had been so focused on being strong for my baby and having a clear head so I could think and respond the way  we needed to that, I didn't emotionally process what had just happened. I had felt panic for 5 minutes when I first found him and after that I was in mom mode. I called my mom on the way home and she was googling peanut allergies. She told me some babies don't show serious signs for over an hour. I realized that I could have put him to bed and not realized what was happening. Thank God he showed symptoms that early and I noticed them.  Sam kept telling me to not beat myself up, but it was and is hard not to. I'm just so thankful that he is ok! I found my cell phone smooshed between the couch cushions. I had several texts from friends telling me that they were praying and if we needed them they were there for us. We have the most amazing community surrounding us and when one of us needs prayer or help, it's there before you can even ask. 

swelling had gone down a ton...my poor little sweetie

Well, somehow I missed the memo that peanut butter including any and ALL peanut products should be withheld from your baby until they are at least 1 yr. old. To be on the safe side, you should wait until they are 2 or 3.  We don't have anyone on either side of our family that has a peanut allergy, Kael hasn't had any vaccines, he's not allergic to anything else that we know of. He eats mostly organic food...it's just so bizarre to me. If any of you guys have any insight or knowledge about this sort of thing, I welcome any sources of info or advice. We have to carry what's called an Epi Pen now. One in the diaper bag and one here at home. It's a big shot in case he has another reaction, to make sure he can breathe. It all is and sounds so scary to me. All of this is new territory for me. 

'

notice my socks...compliments of the nurse upon seeing my very dirty barefooted feet. 

waiting to go home. we hadn't brought anything, no bottle, no nothing...thankfully a sweet nurse brought back some toys for him to play with. (they had been cleaned.) 

I started a new hospital fashion trend. Who says these ugly things can't come in style? ;) 

Now you know the reason behind the title of this post. I'm going on a new quest to research this booger of peanut sensitivity. Again, I would love to hear any feedback or experiences you have to share on the subject. Little boy is totally fine now. Yesterday he was a little whoozy and tired but today he's as feisty as ever! We are going to look at a couple of houses today in the ongoing house hunt! Have a lovely week pretties! 

Adoration's 1st Birthday!

 Adoration is one of Forest boy's bff's. She was his first "play-mate" when he was around 4 weeks old. hehe. Adoration was only around 3 months old and I can still remember Kristina and I standing on my couch taking a million pictures of them together on my ottoman. The ottoman they now walk along and crawl under. Gosh... Well, as hard as it is for me to believe she turned 1 this month! Her momma, Kristina is one of my favorite hearts and she threw the sweetest, little magical outdoor pool party ever. She made all the little girls felt flower hair clips and the boys were given their choice of toy trucks as party favors. It was wonderful! Kristina and her family are moving far away to Florida at the end of next month so we are all trying to keep a smile on our face and think of all the fun they will have so we won't cry. ;) Sam filmed a little video as a part of our present to sweet cakes. Check it out at the bottom of the post.  We love you Adoration, happy birthday pretty girl!

Birthday Pool Party from Samuel Gatlyn on Vimeo.

Star Wars and the Sniffles

Well, it started off as sniffles and now it's a barrage of fever, snot and little whines for my Forest boy...and now me. Káel finally went down for a nap just a few minutes ago and I'm all cuddled on the couch with a fuzzy blanket, chicken noodle soup and an old episode of Star Wars (never seen it) with Sam. He was so sweet and went out to the store to get me some of my favorite organic soup and wheat crackers.  I feel way less freaked out this round of my boy getting a bug. I am more prepared and can read his signs way better than the first couple times he got sick. Still, it's no fun watching his little self try to fight off whatever this is. My poor baby.

I'm going to finish enjoying Luke Skywalker and the force. ;) 

My Daddy

my dad married Sam and I under the trees. 

 My dad is pretty much the sweetest, most gentle, best listener and kick-butt cool of a guy you will ever meet. Everyone who meets him falls in love with him, ask anybody. He looks like he's 15-20 years younger than he is. So much so that when I got older, people frequently mistook him for my brother or boyfriend. Can you say 'embarrassing?' ha! ;)  I fell in love with him the first time I met him too.

Me, right about the time my mom met my dad

My biological father had been in but, mostly out of the picture for several years from the time I was 2 on due to a drug and alcohol addiction. My mom had raised me as a single parent. She's amazing. She wasn't interested in dating and thought seeing guys was a distraction. She did desire for me to have a good dad figure in my life and prayed that if God did have someone for her he would come soon enough for me to be able to bond with him.

A few weeks after praying that, she met my dad (Ruben) at a Christian business meeting, at the sign in table. They became really good friends instantly. My mom had not a clue that he was interested in her until they were in the parking lot and he gave her a little peck on the cheek... or was it the lips? ;) She was shocked and said, "but you're younger than me!?" My dad is 5 years older than my mom for the record. haha. She made him pull out his driver's license to prove it to her. She then went down a list of reasons why he was "too good" for her. He quickly shot everything out of the sky and thus their romance began.

I was around 6 and a half. My mom hadn't been dating him too long, when he met up with us at McDonalds to see me for the first time. I remember liking him instantly. He watched me walk across the see-saw like it was the greatest thing ever.  I was pretending it was a balance beam.  How cool is that!? What kid wouldn't think he was amazing? haha. He quickly became one of my favorite people.

 I remember my mom coming up to the school in the middle of the day some months after they had been dating, taking me out of class to tell me that she thought "Ruben" was going to ask her to marry him. I definitely approved. My mom went back to work, I went back to school and proceeded to tell my entire class that I was getting a new daddy. Then, at lunch I told the entire elementary school, literally. My baby sitter's daughter, who was a few years older than me, upon hearing the news, looked at me and said, "I feel so sorry for you." At the time, my innocent 6 year old heart didn't understand what self righteousness was, so I shrugged my shoulders and skipped off to tell my other friends the exciting news. A few days later he did indeed propose. And a few months after that, they were married and I had myself the most amazing daddy ever.  My parents just celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary 2 weeks ago. :)

Seriously, my dad is one of my best friends you guys. God answered my mom's prayer in the most beautiful way. A week after they were married I started calling him "daddy" and never have stopped.  I love redemption and that is the definition of my family.

Thank you daddy for loving me, listening to me and seeing everything I do as the most important event ever. Thank you for making me laugh, for being my friend and for loving momma the way you do. You are one of the greatest treasures. I love you. Happy Father's Day.

I'm around 11 or so in this pic. 

my dad and me watching the stars...right before I left for school out in California.

grandpa, right after little man was born. 

Baby Makin'

There's more baby makin' going on in the circle of my friends! Yesterday afternoon I met up with my beautiful friend Rebecca to enjoy the fun experience of doing the baby registry with her! She is 7 months pregnant with her and her hubby's first baby, a little boy! (Yay boys!) She is such a beautiful love and is going to be the most amazing mommy! It was so much fun! Any of you ladies who have been there done that, know how overwhelming it can be the first time you walk into a baby store. Ok, so I need to register for a pacifier...um which of the 200 choices do I pick? AH! *fainting, or quickly switching to overload-shutdown mode as you quickly start heading toward the exit*.  I had my close friend Jessie, who had already crossed the bridge of "first time registry" go with me for my first time, and it helped me loads. I was SO excited to get to go with Becca. We were like little girls in a candy store. We hit up Buy Buy Baby and Target, all in one afternoon. Seeing that one of us was pregnant and the other is...well, obsessed with both of those stores, that is impressive.

First time ever parking in the special mommy spot! 

I'm so excited to get the honor and total joy of planning a shower for Becca before her little man makes his debut! It's going to be held at their farm and is going to be one fun, shin-dig of a time! Ah! I love babies, I love my friends and I love parties to celebrate both!

Today we are headed off to another 1st year birthday party for one of Forest boy's little friends, Dashel. YAY! All these little sweeties are growing SO fast! Will try to stop back in later today with pictures! (If not, I'll try to post them very soon).

 Have a lovely weekend and Father's Day!