I'm gonna be real for a minute.....this is hard

It's been over a year since I have written a blog, that makes me kinda sad. But, I'm gonna just be real and honest, this last year has been REALLY hard! I'll hit the highlights for you.

Quinn....very difficult baby. After 2months of what we thought were constant stomach bugs we discovered that she had acid reflux. This creates a twice daily medication and a change in formula and bottle brand. We are excited that this will make things easier now that we know what is wrong we can manage it and maybe our precious baby will be less fussy and actually sleep for a change. WRONG!! She still has extremely bad eczema, not sleeping, fussy more than not, still not sleeping, always gassy. This goes on for months, mind you this whole time we don't go a night without her ending up in our bed because that is just easier than getting up every hour and disturbing Sadie at least this way we can stay warm and comfy in our bed adjusting her and comforting her when she wakes up every couple hours. 
In the meantime Sadie begins to have severe headaches. I attribute them to allergies and the newness of the baby. She continues well past allergy season and they become more frequent. So in August we take her to the doctor for it and we end up at a Neurologist after being told by the Eye Doctor that her being slightly farsighted isn't enough to be causing her headaches but that glasses wouldn't be a bad idea. Her Neurologist calls for a sedation MRI with dye so that was fun....not. That MRI shows white spots on her brain that aren't suppose to be there, that requires blood work. Blood work comes back normal so we are diagnosed with Migraines at the age of 4 and by the way you need to have that MRI repeated regularly to make sure there is no change in the spots. Said spots were probably caused by damage done by a febrile seizure she had a 2 years prior to the headaches starting. Great!

So now we are in the midst of this testing at beginning of September, something good happens :) Scott was offered a position as a Youth Pastor at Cleveland First Baptist Church!! He was officially Ordained in October and we could not be happier with where we are! Y'all this place is amazing! Day 1 we have felt nothing but love and the youth there, I love them like my own! God is doing great things there and I am so grateful to be a part of the journey!

Also in September we had Sadie's 4th Birthday, which I may or may not have cried over a little bit. It was Mary Poppins themed and we had a blast! She is still on the whole I am super tiny but way too smart for my age thing but it works for her I guess :) 

Alright into October we finally say we have had enough with Quinn's issues and something has to be done. Her pediatrician suggests allergy testing for the eczema since, even after medicated ointments and steroids we cannot get it to clear up, this panel was limited to common allergens based on her surroundings. Two blown veins later they finally send us to the hospital to get the blood draw and the following week we have answers. Those answers came directly from her doctor who immediately had an Epi Pen prescribed for us to pick up right away and a referral to an Allergist. Yay. The results showed peanuts, dogs, milk, and eggs. Her peanut allergy got her the Epi Pen, dog was one level down and milk and eggs were very low. Turns out after a visit to the allergist that milk and egg was a false positive, thank God! However, after several visits with the chiropractor for both girls we did discover that she is Lactose Intolerant. The allergist informed us that she has a very high overall Ige level I believe it is called and basically in his words "She is a very allergic child" meaning she will have to be tested regularly because it is easy for her to develop new allergies and for her current ones to worsen. 

Life with an "Allergic Child" is hard y'all. I live in constant fear of everything she comes in contact with. I have read more labels than I can count. Every label of everything she eats and drinks has to be read because even though it doesn't have nuts in it, it was probably made in a factory that processes them and that folks is cross contamination which is a peanut allergy person's worst nightmare! Better yet if you eat something with nuts in it, you have to brush your teeth and wash your hands before touching her again, that is how bad that allergy is. Then on top of that, heaven forbid it have dairy in it, then we are up all night with severe gas and stomach pain. That narrows down this child's menu tremendously! Not only am I constantly reading labels, I am constantly sniffing out dog hair. I never in my life thought I would be so paranoid about a dog, seeing as how I have spent my whole life up until about 2years ago loving on them, but I am now and it makes me really sad. Did you know it takes 6 months for a dog dander protein to die? Neither did I, until we took her back to the allergist for a checkup after Thanksgiving and she had been sick for 2wks. Scott's Aunt took every possible measure that we had been told would work for cleaning so that Quinn could enjoy Thanksgiving with that side of our family. I mean she had it like professionally cleaned and kept the dog outside after it had been cleaned and everything. I mean that place was immaculate, we just could not make sense of why she still got sick. I felt so terrible because everyone worked so hard to accommodate her and still she had a reaction. To put it into perspective even more a couple weeks ago we were in Walmart and a service dog passed by us, never touched us, never got closer than 2ft from us, she immediately got red, watery eyes and started coughing. Thankfully that only lasted a couple of hours but still she was miserable. Good news is there is a very small percentage of a chance that she could outgrow that allergy and I pray to God that she does because these are two of the hardest things to avoid in day to day life. We go back to the allergist in July I believe to have a skin test done to get a more detailed spectrum of her allergies and what exactly she is allergic to from each item and ways to avoid/treat each thing. As of now she is not old enough or big enough weight wise for any shots or medications other than small dose of generic Zyrtech. So hopefully by July we will have an answer as far as ways to treat reactions as well.  

So now we are in January celebrating Quinn's Winter Wonderland 1st Birthday!
Quinn absolutely hated her party! She cried pretty much the whole entire time. For that reason there are pretty much zero pictures of her actual party but thanks to Chelsea we always have fantastic birthday photo shoots!

Once again being honest, January should have been a happy time for us but it wasn't. Instead of celebrating my birthday and Quinn's I was super stressed. I had to make a career change again, I went back to scrubs working as a CNA in the first nursing home that would hire me so that I would be able to bring in some income. We moved back in with my parents before we had planned to because we could not afford rent anymore. I hated leaving the girls each morning for the job because there was too much drama and I felt like I couldn't even do my job effectively. I began feeling like I wasn't called to do this kind of work anymore. My heart just wasn't in it and I was too worn out to do what I felt like I was being called to do. I literally spent the whole month of January torn. I knew my mom wasn't well enough to watch the girls and felt like me working was more of a burden than it was worth. I decided to only work every other weekend so that Scott could keep them and childcare wouldn't be an issue. That was ending up even more burdensome than working during the week. We had to plan youth events around it and I was missing church and spending time with family. This struggle went well into February and finally Scott and I did a whole lot of praying and talking and listening. We came to the conclusion that God was calling me to stay home for a while and somehow miraculously we were actually able to afford it. Once that decision was made and I worked my last weekend a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. For about a month now I have been a Stay-at-Home mom and I have loved it. I know that this was a God thing because never in my life have I ever dreamt about wanting to do this but God changed my heart and following His plan is great!

As of now I am caring for my girls and helping my mom out, this week we are starting home school preschool with Sadie and I am stoked! My mom is facing one, hopefully two surgeries in the next few months and I am thankful that I will be able to focus on helping her through all of it. She has taken care of me my whole life and bent over backwards on more than one occasion to help us with the girls. She loves them and even through all of her health issues she was still watching them until I realized how bad it was and stopped letting her. I couldn't imagine doing anything else during her time of need than helping her get well and being here for her through all of this. 

So where are we today? Better, much better. This last year has truly taken its toll on me. Quinn is a handful and it's not her fault and there is nothing we can do about it right now. We don't sleep because she doesn't sleep, we miss out on a lot of great food because it isn't worth not being able to hold and kiss her, we don't play with dogs because it's not worth her getting sick over, we don't spend a lot of time outside or around things that are popular allergens because the adventure isn't worth the risk. Our whole world has been turned upside down thanks to her, but you know what, she is totally 100% worth it and I will go without sleep, peanuts, dogs, adventures with unknowns and anything else that shows up on her tests to insure that she as healthy as can be! Sadie is a freaking trooper and obsessed with her sister! She is sooo loving and understanding about the cans and can'ts with Quinn other than carrying her around haha! Sadie is so smart and loves learning she is excited about school and we are controlling headaches rather well these days. Scott is amazing! I fall more in love with him everyday! I love seeing him in his element with the youth, I love listening to him come up with lessons and games for them. He adores his girls and makes sure they know it every day. He has been such an encouragement and help to me over the last year that I don't know if I would have made it through without him. As for me? I am tired, always, and I worry, a lot, but I am right where God wants me. I love being able to care for my family every day and being able to invest time into the youth group. I struggle often with the "why us" questions and the "do you really 'got this' God" question because honestly, sometimes it's all overwhelming. However I am quickly reminded that God has always provided for us and He is the only reason that we have made it this far. I am daily trusting in God to provide for us and keep us sane! I am genuinely excited about the road He has us on because it is completely different from where I thought we would be. I am finally becoming okay with this whole not being in control thing and it feels good!

Stay tuned for what I am sure will be more craziness on our journey!

Until next time Blogspot!!                

Getting the hang of things

   Well it has been two weeks since we brought home our littlest princess and boy have our lives changed! Who knew a heart could be filled with so much love and joy at a time, while simultaneously being conflicted with so many other emotions?! 

   I am pretty sure I have gone through every emotions possible in the last two weeks with both girls at different times. However there are occasionally moments like you see in the top picture where my heart is just bursting with love for them both and overjoyed at the sweetness coming from Sadie for her baby sister. This last week though I have more times than not wanted to run away to a hole with a large glass of wine and cry for days! 

  Quinn has had a hard week with tummy issues getting adjusted to new formula and had her days and nights mixed up, which made for one exhausted mommy because Sadie stopped napping a year ago so no naps for me during the day unless daddy is home. Poor Sadie has had a hard time trying to figure out her new role as big sister so there have been quite a few days of terrible behavior. And when I say terrible I mean she made me cry on multiple occasions, there were things being thrown at me, plenty of "You're not my parent anymore", "I am not listening to you", "You make me mad", "I quit", and other mean things shouted at me. Everything shy of the dreaded "I hate you's" and the "I don't love you's" was yelled at me I am sure of it. I understood that this was her way of making sure we still loved her even though we brought home a new baby but gosh finding the line between when to discipline and when to ignore the behavior was really hard. We wanted to make sure that she knew her behavior was unacceptable but that we loved her regardless. So there was a lot of talks and tears and hugs but I think we are all finally settling in to our new family dynamic. Thankfully I was given an adorable Moby wrap that has been a life saver! I have been able to get housework done, cater to Sadie, and cuddle Quinn all at the same time! Honestly I don't know how I would get by if it wasn't for this thing! I am totally addicted to baby wearing now!

      ***Example of crazy day story: Monday Scott had a team dinner for work in Charlotte so we decided to go apartment hunting and he wanted to take the girls so that some of his co-workers could meet them. (He is a proud daddy) Anyway the day was going great and the girls were perfect everywhere we went. We had even set a game plan for dinner. The dinner was at Chick-Fil-A so we were going to get there a little early and go ahead and eat and then once the meeting started I was going to take the girls to the play area and let Sadie play as a reward for being so good. Well that went as planned until about 15min in to Sadie playing she decides after months of being completely potty trained to start pooping in her pants. So I am grabbing her, Quinn, and a diaper bag running as quickly as I can to the bathroom, trying not to show how furious and embarrassed I am.  I get Sadie on the toilet and her finished going to the bathroom, as I am trying to clean her up I realize that I don't have a change of clothes for her. Of course I don't have a change of clothes she has been completely potty trained for months with no problems. So in this moment I text Scott to let him know what's going on and begin trying to figure out what to do. I decide that I am throwing away the underwear and she is just going to be in her leggings which had minimal amounts of poop that I wiped off the best I could. So as we are calming down and getting ready to walk back to the play area Quinn projectile vomits all over the bathroom floor! Yeah it happened, can't make this scenario up. I clean up what I can and let an employee know that the floor may need to be mopped as well as apologize many times for my child's vomit. We finally get back to the play area and I explain to Sadie that she is not in trouble for having an accident but that she cannot play on the playground because she doesn't have underwear on and there are too many germs, etc. I offered my phone for her to play on but that did not sit well with her. So for the next 45min I endured the hatefulness of mean words, noises, stomps, and anything else she could think of to make sure I knew she was mad. Once we left I all but cried all the way home! It was a hard ride home with long talks mostly Scott assuring me that I am not a terrible mom and that things will get better.***

  In the midst of the chaos Scott had two days that he didn't have to be at work until the evening so we went apartment hunting and well that just added to the anxiety. We found one apartment that we could maybe possibly afford providing I could significantly increase my income. On Tuesday we went out for the second day apartment hunting, without the girls, after no success we had a nice lunch out and discussed all of our options. We decided to go back and talk with our apartment complex about our lease options since we are due to renew at the end of March. After talking we decided that the best thing for us is to stay put for another year. We figured this would give me a chance to get back in the swing of things with the girls and working and for us to know what kind of budget we will really be working with. 

     On Wednesday things finally began calming down even though we had to take Quinn for her 2wk check up I felt a huge weight lifted. It was a busy day but I knew I no longer had to worry about packing up an apartment and figuring out how we would be able to afford a new place. Sadie I believe also felt that I was less stressed because she has been great, she acts like she likes me now, and has been super sweet with Quinn. 

    Quinn's check up went great! She is now 7lbs 14.5oz and 20.5in long! She is in the 40th percentile for her weight and 63rd for her weight. She is very alert and has amazing muscle tone! She even posed for a picture in the middle of her check up!

  Yesterday I believe with the help of her doctor visit, Quinn got back on track with her days and nights and was asleep by 10pm and only woke up once in the middle of the night to eat. It was glorious! Also her umbilical cord stump finally fell off so we get to give her a real bath tonight and I am super excited about it and so is Sadie!! 

   Now that things are calming down and settling into a routine I am excited about how life with two girls is going to be. Especially now that we aren't moving quite yet, things won't be disrupted and we won't have to completely start over! 

   

Quinn's Grand Entrance

    Well on the morning of Monday, January 26, I went in for my final check up and was ecstatic to find out that I had progressed to 3cm and 80%! My doctor scheduled my induction for the following Thursday (the day before Chelsea's wedding) and was nice enough to strip my membranes in hopes of getting things going without the induction. I went to mom & dad's fully expecting to be dying of cramps and wanting to die and taking a nap. Instead, the contractions started, I was trying to keep moving in hopes of them getting regular (it never happened). At about 5:00 I had gotten irritated and we decided to go home so that I could take a bath, relax and go to bed. The pain just kept getting worse but they wouldn't get regular but by 8:00pm I could not take the pain any longer, we called and had Jonathan and Jake come and sit with Sadie while I went to the hospital for some pain relief. Of course upon getting there they checked me and there was no more progress. I told them all I wanted was pain relief because I knew I wasn't in labor, however the dreaded 1hr walk came just in case. At 11:00pm after an hour of walking I had progressed to between a 4 and 5 and before I knew it I was being admitted. Scott and I were both in complete shock. We had no intention of staying, we expected a shot and to be sent home with a "better luck next time". So the calls and texts went out to adjust our arrangements for Sadie and then before we knew it the labor crew was there (both of our Mom's, Chelsea, Dad, and Swain)! They started my IV of fluids and antibiotics (I had Group B Strep) and then they gave me some useless IV pain meds that did nothing but make me dizzy because I was technically not in active labor so I had to wait out my epidural. After an hour I had progressed to a 6 and 90% and I informed them that someone would be seriously injured if I did not get my epidural in time! Finally the epidural guy came and of course it took like 15min to get the dern thing in, thankfully my Daddy was able to run by the hospital and be with me for that because I would have lost it if he wasn't there! After that it was time to get some rest, well try to anyway, it's kind of hard when every 2hrs you are being poked and prodded and having to puke every few hours because your body doesn't like labor, but I am pretty proud of how much I made myself rest. At about 8:30am my doctor came in to check my and I was at a 8 but my water still had not broke. She had to go preform a surgery and said she would come back and break my water and we would have a baby, let me just tell you that was the longest hour of my life!!! Of course as soon as she came back I started throwing up again but my water broke on it's own during all that and I made it to a 10 and was ready to push! I started pushing at 9:51am and she was here at 9:54am! It was very fast and exciting and easy, thank goodness, a massive weight was lifted off my shoulders once I heard her cry.
     We were there for 2 nights and she did amazing! As most of you know attempting breastfeeding again was very important to me. While in the hospital she started out great and then ended up getting pretty jaundice, so she was put on a very strict eating schedule which my body and her were not tolerating very well. She was having trouble latching and my body was having trouble producing enough for her to eat every two hours. She began getting very upset, causing gas issues every time she had to eat because of the trouble latching even with a shield and assistance. Once home I attempted to pump for her and at first it was going great. As the day went on my body just kind of gave up. In the middle of the night I had to decide what was best for her and her health. Her jaundice was getting worse and my heart was breaking having to come to the realization that my body was not made to breastfeed. I had a mini meltdown and then picked myself up and made her a bottle of formula, just praying the whole time that she would tolerate it because I remember how hard it was switching Sadie to formula and I just didn't want to take her back to the hospital. I got both of us as calmed down as I could and took a deep breath and gave her the bottle, she took it with ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS!!!! I was so excited I started crying all over again! My littlest princess was such a trooper, she had to go through breast, shield, pumped milk, and formula before we got everything figured out.
     Not only did she hang in through the feeding issues but the very next day after coming home from the hospital we spent all day out. We couldn't bare to miss my little sister getting married! I was pretty proud of all 3 of us girls (Daddy was at work) we did pretty good all day. The wedding was so sweet and the reception was also great. It did hit me about half way through the reception that I had just given birth 3 days prior so Quinn and I spent a lot of time resting in my parents room which was okay by me.
      On Monday she had her first weight check/meet the doctor appointment. At the same time Sadie had an appointment for her allergies, and she is getting put on a second medication for that and will be doing allergy testing soon. Quinn did great as well, she was discharged from the hospital at 7lbs even and on Monday she was back up to 7lbs 5oz so she is doing awesome and her jaundice is completely gone, which was a huge relief to me. Her pediatrician (that we absolutely love by the way) assured me that I made the right decision to switch her to formula. She also said that Quinn was extremely strong and had great muscle tone. Sadie was the same way, both my girls came out holding their heads up. We go back on Wednesday for her 2wk well check.
      Sadie has been doing great with her. She is a little over excited still and is just scared she is going to miss something so she has gotten herself in trouble quite a few times but I know as time goes on she will calm down once the "newness" wears off. My mom and the amazing person she is came over and spent a few nights with us so I could get use to having 2 kiddos since Scott was unable to take time off. I swear without that woman I would be lost. She helped me unclutter and organize which was probably the biggest help of all! She went back home today so we shall see how we do on our own!
     Overall I am super excited about life with 2 precious little girls! Everyone is adjusting really well and my body is bouncing back wonderfully! Now we are on to our next adventure which will be apartment hunting. Our lease is up next month so we have to get on the ball preparing for our big move to Charlotte!!!

While waiting on my next post you can enjoy some pretty cute pics of my girls!!

Impatiently Patient

    Well here we are, 39wks and 4 days. We are 4 days away from my due date! There are so many emotions running through me it is hard to figure out how I am actually feeling and what is just crazy hormones. I think the best way for me to describe my feelings is "impatiently, patient". 

    Do not get me wrong I am very excited to meet my newest little princess but I would be lying if I said I am as ready as I was with Sadie. I am ready for her to be here, hold her, love her, and see how her big sister reacts to her but as far as the labor process goes.....meh. I could do without it. 

      With Sadie it was hot, I was ginormous, miserable, and had no cares in the world as far as labor was concerned I just wanted her to be here and didn't care what the process was like to achieve that. About 2wks before her due date I went to the hospital with some serious contractions, got all hooked up to the monitors and they checked me and I was 3cm and I think somewhere between 90-100%. I thought I was going to be admitted, I was wrong, after hours of not making it to a 4 they gave me the most useless shot I have ever received in my life and sent me home. My water broke 2 days before my induction, 6 days after her due date, it broke about 12:30pm. I got to the hospital about 15min later, my contractions were terrible, I screamed for an epidural, thank God for those things, it took me about an hour and a half to get mine. Once I got my epidural it was smooth sailing from there. I made it to 10cm somewhere around 9:15/9:30pm and started pushing shortly after and then at 9:45pm my beautiful 7lb 2oz, 20in long baby girl was born! Nothing crazy, no complications, pretty standard birth story. I thought then that if that was what giving birth was like I could have a dozen kids, no problem. 

      The thing is over the last 2 years I have developed some serious anxiety issues. I have seen and experienced some pretty crappy things that have triggered it and have made it so that I have a hard time managing it on my own now. I have dealt with anxiety for as long as I can remember (it runs is my family for the females, lucky us) but it has always been manageable and not a big deal. But I guess when you fill up your plate with roles such as wife, mother, full time student, employee, etc. and then  attempt to deal with real life things it gets kind of hard to calm yourself down, especially when you are more concerned with making sure everyone else is okay before allowing yourself time to deal. I know a lot of people say that as a Christian anxiety isn't something you should have to "deal with" that you should just trust God, give your worries to Him, it's not a real disorder, taking medication for it is giving into the world, and that if you believed in Him enough that you wouldn't have this problem. Well I am here to tell you that is the biggest load of hypocritical, uneducated crap that I have ever heard! Anxiety is a real disorder and so is depression, which thank God I have not had to deal with. Some people can just pray and have it go away others can't. Some people have a real chemical or hormonal imbalance that requires medication or forms of therapy. I am not at that point yet but if I ever get there I will not be ashamed or embarrassed. 

      I said all that to say that as my due date has gotten closer, my anxiety about labor number 2 has gotten pretty bad. I have many more "what ifs" running through my head. Some of those I don't even want to say out loud because they are just terrible and down right silly. I have a huge fear of complications this time. Most of that fear is coming from the miscarriage and having a scare of placenta previa in my 2nd trimester. I have great doctors I love and trust each one of them and they have all assured me that everything is going great and that I shouldn't worry but I do anyway. My thought process about round 2 has basically been "You better prepare yourself because it can't possibly go that smooth a second time that just doesn't happen". I know that is silly logic but that is how my brain is working right now and it just makes me sad. I want to be as eager as everyone else is about me going into labor. When I have a contraction I want to think "Awesome I hope this is it!" instead of "Oh crap, not now, I hope they don't become regular". 
     So impatiently, patient is where I am at. I am impatient because my little sister is getting married on the 30th, number one I do not want to in any way steal her thunder. I want their day to be about them, not me in the hospital having a baby. Number two there are some people that are coming up for the wedding that frankly I just don't want here while I am having a baby. So for those reasons I want her to hurry up and make her entrance so that we can have as much recovery time as possible before the chaos begins. If it wasn't for those things I would be perfectly content with her taking her sweet time and not even interested in talking about an induction. 
     I don't have the normal 2nd time mom fears of "How can I possibly love another child the way I love my first" or "I hope my first doesn't resent me for bringing home another baby" or "How am I going to have time for two kids". It may sound bad but those are the least of my worries. I know that my heart is big enough to love as many kids as God wants us to have and that I won't love them the same, I will love them differently because they will be different, but I will love them equal amounts. I know Sadie is beyond excited to be a big sister and I know she is going to be great at it! She  talks to my belly every day and tells baby Quinn to hurry up and come out so they can play. She said she wants to teach Quinn how to sing and dance! They are going to be adorable together! And as for having enough  time, I will make time. We have had always had crazy schedules so we have gotten pretty good at being creative about making sure we have time for not only Sadie but each other and once Quinn gets here we will just get more creative as  our schedules get crazier! 
      I do have an appointment on Wednesday the 21st, one day before my due date. At my last appointment I was only at 1cm and 60%. She said I need to make a significant amount of progress to be induced soon after my due date so that we don't run into the wedding festivities. So as scary as it is I am praying for progress at the very least and obviously I would much rather go on my own, it is much easier that way. So unless I go into labor on my own before Wednesday that will be the next time I post so check back then to see where we stand! In the meantime I guess I should show off some maternity pics for you to enjoy!

Very first baby bump pic at 12wks. I was so happy to  make it to 12wks!

It's a GIRL! We had so much fun doing our gender reveal silly string photo shoot!

 These pictures were our actual maternity shoot, we did these when I was somewhere around 30wks I believe. I wish I could share them all but I put up a few of our favorites!

My most recent baby bump pic. This was Thursday at exactly 39wks! 

Proud to be a Christ follower AND a Duke fan

This morning I became so overwhelmed with anger and disgust with the responses I was seeing to Duke University choosing to allow a Muslim call to prayer on Friday afternoons. Students are NOT required to participate but the opportunity is now there. If you are unfamiliar with this news you can search it or view this link which even though it is a news website gives what I found the best explanation and various responses to which I am referring to. http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/15/us/duke-call-to-prayer/  My hope is that this rant will make sense to everyone and maybe even spark some intelligent conversation. 

  So let me get this straight, Christians get all bent out of shape when our rights to worship how we choose are taken away(which should make us upset) but when a university is trying to make it safe for all religions to have the opportunity to worship God in the way they choose we are suppose to condemn them? Hmm not following the logic there. I might add that the ignorance that some "Christian leaders" are demonstrating is appalling to me. And we wonder why people hate Christians and want nothing to do with our religion. If you know anything about "religions" then you know that the Islamic religion worships the same God we as Christians do, Allah is the Arabic word for God just as Dios is the Spanish word for God. Now they believe differently than Christians as far as customs and rules and the afterlife, etc. but it is the same God they worship. Also newsflash every religion has extremist that do terrible things in the name of God, I know it is a shocker to most of you but yes even Christians have an extremist group. They would be the ones that protest funerals of fallen soldiers, hold up burn in hell signs at gay rights rallies, and tell people they are going to hell for having an alcoholic beverage. In actuality the Islamic religions are very peaceful, loving and accepting. Just as with everything, the media will never show that side of things because it doesn't make for good TV and the majority of people are too set in their ways and are perfectly content with living in ignorance to do research of their own. I am so fed up with the hypocrisy of people who call themselves Christians it literally makes me sick! My God is LOVE, Jesus taught love when he walked this Earth. He hung out with those who were out casted for their lifestyles, He built relationships with them and showed them love to bring them to know His Father. He reached out to those who were broken hearted and suffering instead of telling them it was their fault for not believing hard enough. Honestly at what point are we going to follow in the example that Jesus set for us? There is no way that we will ever reach people for Christ if we keep representing Him in this way. There is a way to stand up for what we believe in without being hateful, disrespectful, and shaming people. If you were a struggling non-believer would you honestly want to be a part of a religion that does nothing but tell you how wrong you are and points out every flaw before accepting you or pitches a hissy fit every time something doesn't cater to their wants? I know I wouldn't. I am a Christian that shocker, is a sinner and struggles on a daily basis with real life things such as anxiety, anger, oh and here is a kicker I struggle with getting my quiet time done every day, because you know what sometimes life gets in the way. And you know what else? My God LOVES ME ANYWAY! In spite of my screw ups and imperfections He loves me, provides for me, and still  wants the best for me. And as a Christian I still get condemned for the things I struggle with because somewhere, someone decided that Christians are suppose to be perfect. Last time I checked the only perfect person to walk the Earth was Jesus and we are called to be FORGIVEN not perfect! I also get looked at funny for not hating people who, drink, smoke, do drugs, have premarital sex, choose to be a part of another religion or no religion, or live a homosexual lifestyle. I don't know if people know this but you can love someone and even hang out with them and not agree with their lifestyle!  It wasn't until I started becoming the outcast that I realized how backwards my view of Christianity was becoming and I made changes and continue to be intentional about how I treat others and making sure everything I do is out of love and not judgment or hate. I guess my point to this is if you are going to claim to be a part of something then you should care enough to educate yourself about it so that you can represent it properly so you aren't the bad apple that is spoiling the bunch! And I won't apologize for this post because honestly I hope some people get their toes stepped on by it.
I have been a Duke fan for many years and the fact that they are striving for religious equality frankly makes me even more proud to be a Duke fan! Kudos Duke for being accepting of all people!

Catching Up

Wow it has been 3yrs since I have written a blog, I think I forgot I had one of these! So today's post is dedicated to hitting the highlights of the last 3yrs. I want to get back on track with blogging, I find it sort of therapeutic and at this stage of my life I actually have interesting things to write about. 

HIGHLIGHTS:
* September 17, 2011 at 9:47pm: Sadie Lynn Fortune made her grand entrance all on her own weighing in at 7lbs 2oz and 20in long. 
       *She has been so much fun to watch grow. She is definitely one of a kind with her personality. She is the perfect mix of both families. Her obsession is with superheroes, she loves them and knows way too much about them and the stories that go along with them for a 3yr old! She is way too smart, loving, down right hilarious, and just the most adorable kid you will ever meet!

* 2012*
     * We celebrated many of Sadie's firsts, we both ended up with new jobs that we loved!
*2013*
     *This was the start of a very hard 2yrs
  * I had to make the decision to stop doing massage therapy due to a nasty Ganglion Cyst on my right radial joint that will never completely go away. This did open up the opportunity to find my true calling which is nursing. 
   * I obtained my CNA and began attending school to knock out some pre requisites for Nursing School. I also started my first CNA job at a nursing home after making the move to Statesville.
    *At the beginning of the year we got devastating news about Scott's 10yr old cousin Nicholas. Within a few months he was diagnosed with a rare disease called Aplastic Anemia. He had 2 brain bleeds, many complications, many accomplishments, and a bone marrow transplant. By the end of 2013 he was able to enjoy a few weeks at home which included Christmas with the family. 
  * In November we found out we were pregnant with baby #2 and announced it to the family over our Thanksgiving get togethers. 
 * At the beginning of December I woke up to severe cramping and bleeding, after a trip to the doctor we learned I was having a miscarriage. We were devastated. I was only 7wks along but we were already so very attached and in love with this baby. The whole ordeal was not over until the week before Christmas, I almost ended up having to have surgery. It is still hard for me to grasp why or that I even went through something so tragic. 
*2014*
    *This year started off with the hopes of great things.
   * I began making arrangements to do online courses and take a leave of absence from work to help take care of Nicholas while his parents had to go back to work. He ended up back in the hospital, in what they hoped would be a short stay.
  *In the beginning of February I began sitting with him in the hospital during the day, I loved every minute of my time spent with him.
  *February12, Sadie had her first surgery, she had her adenoids removed. This was the best thing to happen to her!
   * After that things with Nicolas began to go down hill and on February 21 surrounded by all of his family he passed away. Next to my miscarriage, this was the worst day of my life. It was so hard to see such a sweet young boy fight for his life and watch the life slip from his eyes.  I am so thankful that he is now healed, no longer fighting, and in the presence of our Lord! I miss that kid more and more everyday!
  *That began a year of very sad firsts for the Fortune side of the family.
 * In May we finally received some good news for a change, we got pregnant with baby #3 due to arrive end of January 2015!  This pregnancy has been completely different from Sadie's and has gone by quickly and thank God there have been no complications whatsoever! Oh and it is another girl!!! Quinn Reese Fortune is going to be very spoiled, and Scott actually could not be more excited about a house full of girls! Sadie is also extremely excited and cannot wait to meet her little sister!
  * In October, Scott was blessed with an amazing job at a marketing company in Charlotte, he absolutely loves it! 
*2015
  *It just started but already Scott has been promoted and we have made the decision to move to Charlotte once our lease is up in March. 
 *Currently we are waiting the arrival of miss Quinn and preparing for a wedding! Not ours of course but my little sister's! Yep somewhere in those years she found the love of her life, who just happened to already be one of our great friends! Her and Swain  will be getting married on the 30th, which means Quinn needs to hurry up!

That is our last 3yrs in a nutshell. It has been a crazy ride but I know God has had us in His hands the whole time and I cannot wait to see where He takes us next! I also plan to share this crazy ride with all of you so stay tuned!!
   

Overdue :/

This was 2days before I was 40wks

    

     Well our due date has come and gone. Sunday, September 11 was our due date and after how the past few weeks have been it was pretty depressing having that  Needless to say these past few weeks I have been miserable. I have had contractions daily, been extremely hormonal, gone through big energy spurts and days with absolutely no energy, & many sleepless nights.
      I can say though that I am very thankful for the doctors that I have. They have done everything in their power to help get my labor going and given me advice on things I can do on my own to help but unfortunately none of it has worked. However they are being really nice and inducing me at 41wks and 1day instead of making me wait the normal 42wks. So if Sadie doesn't make her entrance on her own this weekend, I am being induced on Monday morning the 19th at 7:00am.
      We went to the doctor Wednesday to talk about the induction and see if I had made any progress. She said that I have made a little progress not much though. Also that she doesn't think I will have to be induced, she thinks that since Sadie is so low that I will go on my own before Monday. However if I do make it to Monday they will only have to give me a small dose of Pitocin and maybe break my water if it doesn't break on its own. She said that since I am so far progressed on my own that my body won't need a lot of help and that it shouldn't take very long!
      We are both very excited to meet our little girl, we are a little nervous but mostly just ready for her to be here in our arms.
      In other updates God has truely shown how He provides and that His plans are perfect. We were getting very worried because Scott is still only at Jersey Mike's and with all I had been going through there were many days when he had to stay home with me so things financially were getting scary. So right before my last trip to the hospital God proved faithful, we recieved a check from the school that Scott had attended that covers our bills for the next 3months. That plus the hours he is able to get at Jersey Mike's are going to take care of us until I go back to work. We had been getting discouraged about Scott not finding another job until recently with all the days he has had to stay home with me. We realized that at any other job he would not have that flexability and a boss who was understanding of our situation. We know that there is another job with better pay and benefits out there for him but right now this is a blessing and we are very thanksful for it. He is able to stay home with me if needed and once Sadie arrives he will be able to take some time off to get to spend with her. All in all God is proving faithful in all areas of our lives even in the little things.
      The next time I post will be after Sadie's arrival. I will have plenty of pictures to post I am sure!