Another weekish...May 18th - 29th

Well, despite being covered in poison ivy and looking like I have the plague...it was a great week. :o) I got it from my Dad's camping chairs, apparently the oil from the plant can remain on fabric indefinitely. I'm just so happy my babies didn't get it!

Here is what's left on my arm, its pretty much healed and almost gone, but I wouldn't recommend this experience to anyone! LOL!



So on to the highlights of our weekish...

Fun times with the twinks...



Little Jon got in trouble for doing something to his sister and got sent to time out. But what good is time out unless you have some company? Cadi was there too, just out of the picture. It was pretty funny!



Mom, I'm thinking a chili crusted lamb chop with a cucumber mint sauce for dinner...



Having fun in the Frio river...



The best money we have ever spent is for little Jon's gymnastics for the past year and a half. He has had so much fun and just loves it! This past week they got to do the 'fun' things though and not so much gymnastics. I love this place and maybe after watching the Summer olympics he'll wanna go pro. ;o)









Picking tomatoes from our little garden.





I count my blessings each and every day. I'm so thankful for the many smiles God has bestowed upon us this week...

A week in the life ~ May 10th - 16th

My life has been so busy and fun. So now during nap time I think I'll just reflect on the week as a diary for myself. :o) Also to force me to take more pictures. So if this is all random...forgive me and just enjoy the pics. ;o)

The majority of my mornings are very busy with babies. I find something to laugh about each day! Little Jon just loves the twins. I swear Alex follows him around all morning on Thursdays--he thinks he is just as big as little Jon and I have to remind little Jon that he is a baby, not a 'friend'--although, I think Alex has him beat on weight! (Can I just say poor Ty got the terrible two's stage of little Jon! He is so sweet now to babies and actually cried today because he wanted to stay and play and not go to school...and he LOVES school!)

Here he is reading to Addy...note he is teaching her the fine art of French Wine. LOL! The Bunts may not bring their babes back after this! ;o)

Little Jon truly has become such a different boy since he started school. He is learning how to respect others and is so sweet to his sister. They have really started to play with each other and I love it!

(This is prior to a much needed haircut)

Cadi Anna also turned 11 months old last week...I can't believe my baby girl is almost a year old. Where did the time go? I feel like I still don't know her...its almost surreal...but more on that when she turns one. ;o)

She is 100% girl.

Jon still plays softball with Church and Little Jon wants so badly to play too. Here he is helping Daddy warm up.

Cadi was more interested in finding some snacks...

Both of my kiddos are such helpers! Little Jon *always* helps cook in the kitchen. Here he is helping make omlettes for breakfast.

Cadi helps with the laundry...

It's also almost SUMMER TIME! Little Jon has been asking me every day if its summertime yet because he gets to take swim lessons during the summer. It was warm enough this past weekend for him to help Daddy wash Moose. Poor Cadi wanted to go out so bad, but she just can't walk yet...so very soon!

It was a great week! I love being a Mommy!

Wii are addicted

Or rather, my son is. Jon got a Wii for his birthday/Father's Day gift early. So after weeks of being on wiitracker.com and calling around for the best deals and checking on shipments for the major stores...we finally got one. I have NEVER been a gaming girl, but this is actually fun! I have had to curtail my 3 year olds playing time to in the evenings AFTER dinner with Daddy or else he'd play all day! And I challenge anyone to come and play tennis against him. I don't know whether to be proud or worried. LOL! Jon is convinced it helps him with hand eye coordination, but Mommy knows it's just a ploy for Daddy to get more play time in.

So for those thinking about one...so far, I really like it.

Maybe she'll be famous one day...



He really is good!

Mother's Day Reflections

This is a few days late...but hey, I have babies to tend to. ;o) Mother's Day has come to be my favorite day of the year. Not because I get 'things' now on Mother's Day, but because it makes me reflect on what being a mother truly means. I can honestly say my children have saved my life. I have found my true identity in motherhood and a happiness I never knew existed.

If you'd of asked me a few short years ago if I'd be sitting here where I am, I wouldn't have believed it. It was a long and hard road to get here and I look back now and realize that is exactly how God intended it. He intended for me to experience the pain and heartache so when my time finally came, I'd know the true meaning of appreciation for his most precious gift.

I'll never forget hearing those words...'You'll never have children and if you do, they won't live past 18 weeks in your womb.' I was told this over the phone at work after having an HSG. (HSG is where they shoot dye into your girly parts to scan it and see it without surgery.) Talk about TACT from a doctor! Calling me AT work to share with me the news every woman should never have to hear. I was a mess.

My husband talked me into getting a second opinion. I am so glad I listened and took that leap of faith. I found an infertility doctor who took me under his wing and gave me hope. I found out I had polycystic ovarian syndrome with endometriosis. ADD to this I have a mullerian anomoly...two uteri and my chances looked dim, but not as dim (and horribly misdiagnosed) as the first doctor made it out to be. It looked very bad...we scheduled a surgery for him to clean me up, but it all came with a huge weight. I could lose my ovaries to cancer if they were as bad as he thought they were. I've never been more scared in my whole life. I don't think I ever prayed more than I did that day...as I was being wheeled into the OR, I can remember looking up at my husband and BEGGING him to tell the doctor under no circumstances to take my ovaries from me. As I was falling asleep being wheeled away from him, I looked back to see him talking to the doctor...I felt at peace knowing my husband would take care of me...

When I woke up, I just remember wanting to know what happened. My husband was by my side as well as a dear friend. The doctor came in and said he'd been able to save some good parts of my ovaries. The rest he sent to oncology for analysis. I just cried and just kept praying thanking God. He told me he drilled holes in my ovaries to help me conceive easier. I was in so much pain, but happier than anything in the world. I was totally out of the woods when the report from oncology came back negative and my doctor gave me the go ahead to try.

In less than 3 months...I was pregnant!!!! My doctor was in awe, in his 20 years he said I was the fastest he'd ever seen after what I'd been through! I knew it would be a tough road since my womb wasn't as big as a normal one. Yet, I knew that God would watch over me...and he did. Through the hospital stays and 10 weeks FLAT on my back with only bathroom privledges came the most beautiful baby boy. My life as I knew it was over.

I was blessed again with my sweet Cadi Anna last June. My doctor wanted me to go through IUI to ensure I'd carry again in the same uterus my little boy was in, to ensure her safety, but we couldn't afford it. God placed her right where he knew she needed to be...I can truly say, I know how Hannah felt when God gave her Samuel.


Thank you dear Lord for saving me and blessing me. Thank you for entrusting me with my two beautiful children...thank you.

Little Jon's birth

One Year Old


Two Years Old

Three years old


My Cadi Anna



Almost a year old...


My life...

Whew! I bow down to Moms of multiples!

I have been so blessed to care for some of the sweetest babies in my home over the past 3 years. Each time I bring a child into my home, my heart grows very attached to them and I learn something new with each little unique spirit. And within just one week, my heart has grown yet again...

I've taken on care for two of the cutest sweetest babes for ONLY ten hours this week and for the rest of the month of May. Alex and Addison Bunt are just the cutest little twins ever! All I know, is thank GOD for baby gates! LOL! I have a whole new respect for Mommy's who have to do this all day, everyday. I look back and think, if I had to do everything twice with little Jon, I'd of cried or runaway! LOL!

Today was perfect though...I had my two and the twins. I had to mentally prepare myself mainly because Little Jon was in a mood the day before, but things went way too perfectly! Little Jon fell in love with Alex and he played with him all morning. I think he really wants a brother...but sorry! Not in the cards for a while yet. ;o) Cadi followed Addison around and at one point Addy was sitting in Cadi's lap. It never ceases to amaze me to see how God can create each and every child to have such unique personalities.

Anywho...it was a great week and I look forward to the next few with the Bunt twins.

Is nothing safe anymore?

First we had the lead scare from China...I mean seriously, who still uses lead paint anymore?? Now after hearing too much about BPA (Bisphenol A) and trying to stay ignorant (thus the 'LIL' crunchy) I decided to investigate this BPA thing. So for a few months now I've been hearing about the dangers of BPA in baby bottles. I felt I had no need to worry since my children don't use bottles, but now I'm hearing it's in plastics in general--so their sippy cups are cause for concern too. *sigh* Canada has put in motion a ban of all products containing BPA from their plastics and Wal-Mart and Babies R Us are beginning to phase out any infant feeding system with BPA...so obviously it's concern enough for me to research and take a look in my own cabinet, right?

So what is Bisphenol-A or BPA?

BPA is a chemical used primarily in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, including drinking bottles, impact-resistant equipment and some dental sealants.

The concern: BPA can migrate into food from containers or tableware with internal epoxy resin coatings and from consumer products such as polycarbonate tableware, food containers, water bottles and baby bottles. The National Toxicology Program's draft report indicates that, based on studies involving rats, BPA is linked to behavior and brain-function changes, early-onset puberty in females and possible precancerous changes.

What to look for: Containers with BPA usually have the number 7 printed on the bottom; some baby bottles are made BPA-free.



Apparently when this chemical is heated it is released 55 times faster than normal...so warming bottles/sippys, boiling your bottles, or even washing them in the dishwasher releases this chemical. UGH! How is it chemicals like this are allowed or even declared 'tolerable' for human consumption. Even the American Chemistry Council has asked the FDA to look into this.

So I pulled out every sippy cup we own and went to every manufacturer's website. Some manufacturers were voluntarily removing their products, others were on the defensive about how they have been within the guidelines and how the research proves the amounts released are considered safe and even others (Gerber) I couldn't find a single stance on the subject...

We ended up throwing away 5 cups. A few Nuby's and some Gerber cups. And to be on the safe side, and decided no more warming up food in the microwave with plastic!

Here is guide of brands to go by:



Although a lot of the above manufacturers are just now starting to phase out BPA, so this sheet is for what you may have in your cabinets now.

You may declare me radical...but being a female who 'bloomed' at a VERY VERY young age, I want to do all I can to preserve my children's bodies. I question every single thing I expose them too right down to their vaccines...after all, isn't that my job as a parent? I'm starting to wonder if my dear friend Janell was right...maybe the government is trying to kill us. ;o) (Love you girl!)