I Expect Great Things

Here we are!! 

2015 is knocking on our door. 

It's just 2 sleeps away...and really, just 1, because we all know that I am not going to go to sleep until after midnight tomorrow night! That's crazy!!!!!!

I am super excited about 2015. 

I really am! 

I believe that the best is yet to come. 

Yes, we had hard times in 2014, but we are moving beyond that, and it just gets me fired up. 



I'm excited to see what God is going to do in and through Connection Church. 

I'm excited to see what God is going to do in and through AdvoCare.

I'm excited to see what God is going to do in and through Lee at Apple.

And I'm excited to see what God is going to do in and through me and my family. 

There is a new expectancy in our home and in our personal lives that I don't think we've had in a very long time! 

It is a fresh season in our lives. 

What are you excited about for 2015? 

Stop Growing!!! A Reflection of My Growing Babies in 2014!!

My kids are growing so quickly!!! 

Bella is learning to read, and she's doing a fabulous job! It is getting to the point where Lee and I can't spell things out to each other anymore because she will know what we are talking about. 

She's a pro at riding her bike. She makes friends super easily, and she loves playing with the kids on our street. She still loves to sing and dance, and life is definitely better for her when she has an audience! 

She is an adventurer! She loves being outside and playing in the snow!! When we are ready to take the task of taking 3 kids up to the mountains, we are going to get her snowboarding lessons! 

Brennan is all boy! His curiosity is piqued from Bella learning to read, so he's interested in learning his letters and sounds for now. 

He loves all things ninja turtles, and he can often be found with swords in the back of his shirt. It's quite entertaining! He looks forward to his dad getting home from work so that he can begin fighting and wrestling with someone who will fight back and he won't get in trouble for it! 

He is a mischievous little boy, and I absolutely love it!

He is so different from Bella in so many ways, and learning what works with him keeps me on my toes. 

Breelee is a hot mess. She LOVES to make people laugh. She's super silly and sweet. She loves Minnie Mouse and wants anything that her older siblings are playing with. She has an amazing vocabulary, and she seems to talk non-stop! 

She is pretty much out of the breath-holding spells. It's been a very long time since she's had one...and the threat of them happening are pretty rare...usually just when she gets hurt...which is rare! She's a tough cookie!

We are so blessed to have happy, healthy babies!
They get along well (most of the time) and love each other very much.

Bring on 2015!!! 

Beginning to Reflect on 2014

I've decided that I'm going to get back into blogging! 

All it takes is a decision and action! :) 

As we get to the end of 2014, it is a huge time of reflection for me! I've done this since I was a teenager. It's great to look back and see where I've been and plan and dream about where I am going. 

2014 has been a...year. I'm struggling with finding the right adjective to describe it. 

There were some really good, amazing, incredible things that happened...beautiful moments...but then there were some hard, dark, harsh moments too. 

Most people may not be aware of the dark moments that our family faced. And that is ok. Even though we live in an age of social media, where everyone is connected, but these moments were hard to describe. Every once in a while we might have asked for prayer or said we were having a hard time, but it wasn't a picture of the daily struggles we were facing. 

Lee was in a serious season of deep depression. Each day...each moment...was a struggle. I felt as if we had been robbed of our joy, and no matter what we did or what we prayed, we couldn't get it back. 

I knew it was bad...but often, I don't think I realized it was as bad as it was. 

We lived in survival mode. Just barely making it from one day to the next. 

I think the day that I realized it exactly how hard it had been was when a group of our UL Chi Alpha students came to Colorado for a camping trip and then came to Connection Church on the Sunday before they headed back to Louisiana. We hung out with them at Blair and Christian's apartment after church for a while, which was wonderful! 

I hadn't seen Lee that genuinely happy in a very long time. He was alive. He was himself. He was the man I had married. After that Sunday, I just kept crying as I thought about the glimpse of my husband I had seen. I missed him. 

That was one of the hardest seasons we have been through together. 

I personally went through a time of depression after we lost everything in our Uhaul fire and Hurricane Katrina demolished my hometown. And Lee was super supportive as we survived that time, even dealing with his own emotions and grief. 

This time around...3 little babies at home all day...it was extra difficult. 

I'm thankful for the grace of God. I'm thankful that He walked us through that season. And I'm happy to say that it is over! 

There is joy in our home and our lives again. We work hard to not live in a constant state of survival with our 3 little ones. This is such a demanding season of life with them, but we definitely want to enjoy it and embrace it! I know that it will not be like this forever, and I refuse to rush through it by wishing for the next season to come!

We are stronger because of the struggles we walk through together. And we can appreciate where we are now because of where we have been. 

Looking forward to 2015!!

Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." 

April 2014 Update

It's been a while since I wrote anything here! So I thought I'd do a spring update!!!!

The kids are growing fast. Super fast.

Breelee is rolling her eyes now. She's not even 18 months old yet. It is unbelievable. She loves reading books and singing songs. She's a sweet, silly girl. She makes all of us laugh. She is saying lots of words, but my favorite is to hear her say "Bella" and "Bubba." It is so precious...and it totally melts my heart! She is still having breath-holding spells, but now that we know what they are, we can handle them...it doesn't make it fun or easier, but at least we can cope with it! Hopefully she will grow out of it by the time she's 2!

Brennan is so tough...a bruiser and a destroyer of all things...usually because he's pretending to be the Hulk. He loves to pick up toys and throw them on the ground. He's been singing a lot lately...and his current favorite song is the "Itsy Bitsy Spider." He is fascinated with anything drum related....and before I know it he will be playing music with his dad. He's a handsome man just like his daddy.

Bella is a beautiful girl. She is drawing all kinds of things, writing her name, spelling words, sounding words out, and will be reading big ol' chapter books before we know it. Her preschool teacher tells us that she's the most helpful child in her class...and she is a great friend to the other students! She's smart and funny and has her dad's musical abilities as well! She loves loves loves being outside...whether it is snowing or scorching hot! She says she misses Louisiana, but she loves living in Colorado.

It's hard to believe that we've been in Colorado for almost 2 years!!! Sometimes it feels like we've been here longer. We love it...absolutely love it.

We know that God has brought us here. There is no doubt in our minds about that.

It has not been the easiest thing we've ever done. The days are long but the weeks seem to go by so fast. We get tired and may even feel drained, but the joy of the Lord is our strength.

God keeps providing for our family in creative, unique ways. It is amazing and humbling to experience it.

My faith is stronger for it, though.



We've been setting goals as a family. It is fun to check them off of our list as we accomplish them!  Lee and I are at the place where we are about to set some goals for the next 90 days. Health goals. Financial goals. Spiritual goals. Time goals.

It's a good place to be.

Making Sweet Lemonade

Lately my babies have seemed extra clingy and needy.

All of them.

They are constantly wanting to be held. Constantly wanting all of my attention.

And Breelee's breath-holding spells seem to happen more often when she's tired and not feeling well...and she's teething right now...so she has passed out a couple of times recently...which makes me feel like I can't do anything else except hold her.

Yesterday, Brennan fell asleep in the car. So I brought Breelee inside first. From the time I set her down to coming back inside with Brennan, she was on the floor passing out.

Just that fast.

Some of these days get really frustrating. OK, most of them...

I can't seem to finish the laundry or dishes or whatever I'm doing without a million interruptions and the threat of a little girl passing out.

But before I know it, these days will just be a memory.

You know that saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade..."

Well, I would rather remember it like sweet lemonade instead of bitter lemonade that made my lips pucker.

It takes a lot of thought and effort to take those moments and make the best of them.

I know that this is a season. I know that there will be times I will go to the restroom without an audience. I will be able to unload and reload the dishwasher without an interruption. I will be able to read a book without feeling guilty because my house will be clean and I won't have other things that I feel like I should be doing instead.

But for now, I need to keep making sweet lemonade with the moments that I do have with my babies.

It's my attitude that makes all the difference.

I want my babies to look back and have sweet memories instead of bitter ones.

Again, it is my attitude that will make all of the difference.


So, cheers! Here is to enjoying those lemons in some sweet lemonade!