Anniversary Celebration {sneak peak}

The concert we're going to.......three more days!

Bad Blogger

I feel like I've neglected my blog lately. I have been so caught up in my whole "situation" with insurance that it's taken a vast majority of my spare energy. And let's face it, who wants to hear about that all the time? No one, not even me some days.

At this moment it appears I have a chance of winning the battle with insurance. It boils down to the other doctor only has hours one day a week that I can see her (her restrictions, not mine)....since my auto immune disease can be dangerous if not well monitored my insurance might be willing to allow me a temporary continuance of care (~1 year). I'll let you know what comes of it; hopefully I'll have answers on Tuesday.

In other news work is going well, my boss had hired a woman in our department that turned out to be a lazy pos. I'm not so great at hiding my feelings (imagine that, lol) and it was rough sailing for a while there because of it. Well the new woman finally quit. My boss was too prideful to admit she had made a bad hire, and with two other open roles on our team I can understand to an extent. I've stepped up and have created some training documents and will be doing some traveling to train members of our team. I've also held down the fort with the now 3 open roles (two of which should be filled shortly). Thankfully my boss has seen this. She can be a handful, but when things are good they are really good. I found out last week I'm scheduled to get my third raise in 1.5 years so I must be doing something right. These aren't huge raises, I'm certainly not breaking the bank, I took a 10% pay cut to leave my old very stressful job...I'm almost back at that wage which was a decent income.

On the marriage home front....V and I are getting ready to celebrate four years of marriage. Not a very long time in the grand scheme of things but with all we've been through I really wanted to close the book on year four and welcome year five with a trip away. Liam is slated to sleep over at G'ma and G'pa's house while V and I travel 3 hours away to spend a night in a fancy hotel, attend a concert, shop a little, enjoy new restaurants and take a little time for ourselves. V isn't terribly excited about the concert, which is typical, but I know he'll have a good time once we are there. This will be really good for us.

Then there is Liam, the reason my world spins. My gosh, he's amazing! He is a professional grasper now, I can put virtually anything sorta near him and he will bend completely over and get it. He loves feeding himself little treats! Today the three of us just stayed home in our jammies, it was glorious to just play with him, nap and snack....I wish today didn't have to end!

So there you have it, all the goings-on of my little world. I hope each of you is well!

Much Love,
Jen

Truth

One of my all time favorite quotes:

Never Say Never

I honestly can't remember the last time I updated my blog layout, I just really liked it the way it was.  But lately I've been craving something new, some change.  The poor hubby was away working a 12+ hour day, and with Liam sound asleep, I thought Why Not?  I'm not sure I love it [yet] so expect a little tweaking in the future.  But overall I think change is good.  So how often do you update your blog, what inspires you to do so?

P.S. If you like my header you should run over to Blogger Candy, she has some pretty great templates.

8 Months Old....on Valentine's Day!

My little Mr. Liam turns 8 months old today 9:56am....I am so blessed to have two Valentine's today!

Much Love,
Jen

Bountiful Basket {a Reivew}

Hello!

This post has been a long time coming, life seems to speed by me with the little guy...who is *gulp* almost 8 months old!   

You recall how I taught you about Bountiful Baskets {dot org} in this post, yes? Well I finally found the time to tell you MORE!  

Sorry about the quality of the pic, like I said...eight month old consumes my time (in the best way possible). Here is what I got:

• head of cabbage 
• head of romaine lettuce 
• bag of small baby red potatoes 
• bunch of asparagus
• bag of green beans
• container of blueberries
• 5 apples
• 2 grapefruit
• 8 oranges 
• 4 tomatoes
• 4 big red peppers 
• 4 medium green peppers 
• 5 onions 

With my $3 first time fee and the $1.50 fee to charge my debit card it totaled $19.50 and I received (what I consider to be) far more than $50 worth of goods! I've enjoyed blue berries in my morning yogurt, yummy salads for lunch and made up a few new recipes for dinner. It's been glorious! I can't wait to do it again.

I want to remind you that this is a national co-op so click and check your area, it's so worth it!

*I am in no way being compensated for this blog post, this is simply my opinion of a great resource I found and wanted to share.

I have also posted this info on my Health and Fitness Blog {Wildflower Fitness}.

L.I.A.M

I haven't posted nearly enough about Liam lately.   He's incredible.  Enough, said, No? :)  He's not on the move yet and I'm ok with it.  Each baby meets his or her milestones at their own pace.  He did say his first real word on Saturday.  V and I were just chillin' and playing with Liam while he babbled away...then out of no where "da-da-da-da errrr Dada."  V and I just looked at one another in shock, V and I would say "Liam, Dada?" and he repeated it a few times.  V totally teared up.  It was an incredible moment, I'm so glad V and I got to be home to share it!  Other than that he's just loving solids, he gets those twice a day now!  Hard to believe my tiny baby eats "real" food (still the mush version but ya know).  He finds the dog of special interest, if she is anywhere near him he leads at her and smiles and giggles....they are bound to be buddies! 

Also Liam and I have started going swimming, I've started looking into lessons for Liam since he LOVES water so very much!  Here is a pic from Liam's first time! (i'll be rockin' a tankini for a while!)

I feel so very blessed that Liam is in good health, he's hands down the happiest person I know.  Sure he whines and gets up set but for the most part he's a really happy little guy.  His smiles and giggles (not to mention hugs and "kisses" he's started giving) make everything else in the world melt away.  God gave me Liam exactly when he knew I'd need him.  I can't imagine going through all I have in the last few months without Liam, he's kept my head on straight throughout so much of it.  <3

Sanity {Temporarily} Restored

My battle with insurance has not ended, although I can see the end of the road.  Unless something unforeseen happens I will have no choice but to switch doctors, I can not tell you the anxiety this has caused me.  I don't think many people around me understand this stress but I don't expect them too.  I don't expect many people to understand what I'm going through, frankly we are too young for this whole thing.  No one expects this to happen to them, I have no control over it but I have laid it down in my heart, I'm finding peace with what I can, making choices where I can and choosing to accept the outcomes as God's plan.  I'm choosing to accept that I'll have to change doctors, that this new doctor will be the one to treat me when/if my ITP worsens, she will treat it when/if we have more children (the thought of dealing with chronic ITP and a pregnancy let alone delivery terrifies me).  I'm choosing to be joyful that, while I do have a disease that likely will be for the rest of my life and will cause complications, I am not in pain....some days I can even pretend I don't have ITP even if it's for a short bit because I don't have constant/obvious reminders.  I choose to be joyful about this.  I'm finding the most joy in the fact that this is not hereditary, the likelihood that Liam will get it is no greater than anyone of you getting it, joy.  And after all Jer 29:11 say that God has "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  There is joy in the fact that God himself has plans for my future.

I'm also allowing myself more time doing the things that reduce my stress and therefore restore my sanity even if it's only temporary.  Things like organizing, cooking and working out help me feel some sense of calm, control and peace in the midst of this whole crazy thing.  For the most part I can still control the overall health of my body (with healthy meals, working out) and having a tidy and organized home reduces my stress level in general.  V has been really great, he's taking things one day at a time too and helping out each day....I can't tell you how much this means to me.  Monday I went to the gym after work and did 5 miles (jogging), I did not stare at the clock or convince myself to leave early due to mommy-guilt.  I just worked out until I felt done then went home and made a quick but yummy and healthy dinner for us, played with Liam until his bedtime (V and I take turns putting him down and it was V's night).  I took a long hot shower after Liam went to bed and enjoyed some cuddle time with V (because he had cleaned up while I showered).  My soul felt great rest and restoration.

I can't promise I'll always feel so calm and restored but I've decided to allow myself to feel what I need to during this process, no matter how long the process ends up being.  I'm done worrying about what others will think, done trying to please others and listening to the noise that some people put out.  I will focus my energy on doing what is best for me and my family and I will enjoy every happy moment I can with no regrets.  I'm allowed to be scared, allowed to worry, allowed to make the choices that are best for me and my family. 

Much Love,
Jen