Walk for Life 2009

On Saturday, May 2nd, Sierra and I, along with several friends, will be walking in the Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC) of Tidewater’s Walk for Life 2009.  The money we raise in this year’s walk will help save the lives of unborn children and offer life-affirming choices to women unprepared for pregnancy throughout South Hampton Roads.  

My goal is to raise $150.00 and I’ll need your help to do that - I need to raise $100 more dollars to reach my goal!  I am not asking for a per-mile pledge, but a flat donation, which is completely tax deductible and will help save lives.  Most people sponsor at the $25, $35, $50 or $100 level.  Any amount will be greatly appreciated.

 Simply comment here or send me an email with this message:

                Yes, I will sponsor you for $_______.

                Here is my complete:

                           NAME

                          MAILING ADDRESS: including zip code

                         & PHONE NUMBER:

Don’t send your money to me – CPC will send you a pledge reminder with an envelope after the Walk - that is why it is so important to give me your address.

Thank you so much for helping! Your support will help CPC continue providing free and confidential services to women throughout South Hampton Roads. 

May God Richly Bless You!

P.S. If you are interested in walking with us, go to www.cpcfriends.com

All Donations are tax deductible.

Wii Fit

I got a Wii Fit for my birthday!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!! I absolutely love it and I have been playing on it just about every single day that I have had it. I am obsessive-compulsive about making sure I get a stamp on my calendar every single day and I am actually really bummed when I don't. Especially when I sign in the next day and my little Wii board says "Too busy to work out yesterday, eh?" Ooooh, I hate that!!! Looks like I have lost about 5 pounds since I got it and would love to lose A LOT more than that! We shall see how it goes!

Also, we totally got Brian's mom HOOKED! She has created her own Wii Mii and "works-out" every single day! I think it is safe to say, she is addicted!!! Guess we probably shouldn't tell anyone that she is actually suppose to be here resting and recovering! Oops! Don't worry we are keeping our eye on Nana and she is taking it slow and is not pushing her limits. We are surely enjoying the Wii Fit though! :)

As an added bonus, Wii Fit threw me a little birthday celebration when we hooked it up on my birthday! How fun?!?!?!

Don't worry, Sierra has been getting in on a little Wii Fit action too! Here she is demonstrating how to crawl on the boxes while Daddy was setting it all up!

Sweet n Sour

We promise, our little munchkin really is a sweet girl. However, she does love to eat lemons!!!

No matter what though, she is always cute!

ADoraBall

Every time we would go to Walmart, Sierra would always find those big baskets full of balls as soon as we walked past them. Brian would let her play with them for a little while and then always put them back when it was time to go. Well, you can imagine how excited she was then when a box arrived from Rochester with a brand new ball in it all for HER!!!

That's right - Sierra got a ball for her birthday and she was very excited about it! Thank you Great Uncle Rick, Great Aunt Julie, and cousins Rick, Nick, and Rachel!!!! Sierra LOVES the ball!!

Fun with Nana (post #1)

We are having so much fun with Nana being here! Last Thursday we went to the park with some friends and although it was freezing outside (so much for Spring) we still had a wonderful time!

Sierra is definitely loving her Nana time. I think she is a quick learner* too.

*Quickly, she learned she could have Nana wrapped around her finger!!!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

These were taken at 9:18 am on Thursday morning. Our kiddo loves to sleep in! Praise God! God knew what He was doing when He made her mine! Most mornings, when we have places to go, I have to actually wake her up. Other days though, we just sleep in and she is my alarm clock - talking her sweet baby talk over the monitor asking me to come get her! :) Life is good! Thanks God for your goodness!

PS - Those PJ's are size 18 months! Our kiddo is growing so big, so fast!!!

Changes

Typically I don't do well with change. I was depressed for months after we moved to Virginia when I was 14. I didn't do well going to college 2 hours away from home and subsequently moved back home after 2 years. I certainly didn't handle (well) all the change that came with being a full-time caregiver and watching a husband battle brain cancer. I, again, don't like living 2 hours away from home and can't wait for the time when the Lord will open up a new opportunity to be closer to family. Change. Change. Change.

However, today...I LOVE change! Thanks so very much to my wonderful sister-in-law, Blakely, I completely CHANGED my blog! I love how it looks now and am excited for this new kind of change! 

Also, for the many people that have asked, the pictures of Sierra in my blog header are not "professionally" done. Many have asked where I took Sierra to get them done and although I would love to say that we went to a studio, because that would mean that my husband allowed that to happen, we did not. In fact, that same wonderful Sister-in-law, Blakely, took them for us in my Dad and Mom's front yard. Aren't they awesome? She is really talented and we are so thankful to her for being willing to share her camera and her time. Therefore, saving us LOTS of money!

All and all, this kind of change is GOOD!

Nana is coming to visit

We are so very excited that Nana Miller-Keenan is coming to visit tomorrow. Many of you were praying for her recovery after her surgery in early March. We appreciate your prayers and wanted to let you know that she is doing wonderful. However, she has to remain on leave from her job until April 30th....Sooooo....that means we get to visit with her for a while. 

She will be here in Virginia with us for the next 15 days!  It will be nice to have her here and nice to have an extra set of hands to help me with Sierra as I near the end of the semester!!!

She has not seen Sierra since Christmas time! A lot has changed with Sierra since then! It is sure to be a fun visit!

Easter Pictures

Here is our little monkey in her Easter Dress:

Here is Sierra at the 2 Easter Egg Hunts we attended:

(Not much "hunting" going on - The older kids actually brought eggs to her, I think she is saying, "Hey guys, bring me some more please!")

As you can see in this video, all she really cared about was dancing and eating more fish crackers (as displayed at the end when she signs "eat" and "more"); rather than participating in the Easter Egg Hunt with the 100's of other families that attended.

Here is Sierra's Easter Basket from Mimi & Papa:

(We read the "Story of Easter" just about every night this week and she can now point out the sheep, Jesus, and the Cross when you ask her where they are on the page. It is so sweet!)

I can't wait till next year when she is old enough to do more fun things at Easter time! 

Especially having a better understanding of Jesus' resurrection and the meaning of Easter!

Praise God for that TRUTH!

Happy Easter!

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ~Romans 6: 8-11 (NIV)

Happy Easter!!!

glitter-graphics.com

I hope you all have a very blessed day celebrating the Risen Lord!

His sacrifice has set us free!

Believe! He is Alive!!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Sierra Rein!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

You are our pride and joy and we love you more than words can say.

What a blessing you are to us and how wonderful it has been to watch you grow.

Photo courtesy of Blakely Stank

We praise God everyday for your life and for giving you to us one year ago today

Sierra's BirthVerse:

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

1 Chronicles 4:10 NIV

*Just as an update, for her 12 month check-up (on May 5th), Sierra's stats were - 22 pounds & 2 ounces and 29.5 inches tall*

Too Cool

Sierra got some new shades for her birthday from her Great-Nana and Papa G.

She is simply too cool for her own good...check it out:

In Sierra's "life of pictures" this just might be one of my favorites EVER!

Not too sure about these things! But super cute!!!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Birthday Cakes from WiddlyTinks.com

Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby and Sierra's wonderful Daddy!!!

Sierra showing some love for daddy!

Brian, you are so special to me. In our 19 years of friendship and (almost) 2 years of marriage we have been through so many things together. The Lord has blessed us abundantly and I thank Him everyday for your life and for the person you are in my life. Words fail me. I love you so very much and I am excited to spend many more years together, celebrating LIFE!