One year ago yesterday

Well, it has been a year since Ashleigh's Hemangioma removal surgery. Although it looks like she may have to have a touch up surgery later in life, both Ashleigh and us are pretty pleased with the results so far. Ashleigh is such a pretty girl. We are blessed that she is in our home.

Day before her surgery.

Night following her surgery.

Day after surgery

2 weeks after surgery

One year later.

He likes his tummy

Ethan like his tummy so much that he rolls on to his tummy as soon as you put him on his back on the floor. When he is asleep, it seems like he wants to be on his side or his back but struggles depending on where he is at when he is asleep. One afternoon when we returned home from church, he fell asleep and I put him in his swing. He ended like this and stayed that way for two hours. It may look UN-comfy but to him it was.

4 months old

Ethan is now 4 months old as of August 9th. I sure miss my small little newborn but he has so much personality it is fun to see.

He loves to smile and gabber. He is drooling puddles which means he is teething. He is rolling around the carpet, spinning, scoots backs, and works his was forward. He love to stand, jump and sit up. He laughs which is so fun. He love his siblings and shows them he does with big smiles.

He loves baths and loves to splash. He always has his fingers in his mouth. He still loves that pacifier and be snuggled.

At his well-check. He weighed: 14lbs 5 oz. and was 25 inches long. He is such a handsome little boy. We are sure blessed to have him in our home. He is a wonderful addition to our family. We love him very much.

My decision to leave my Job

One of the most difficult things that I ever had to do was leave a job that I have had for 17 years of my life. I started at age 16 working for Smiths Food and Drug. I was a bagger, a checker, helped in bakery, helped in the Service Deli, helped in the Pharmacy, and the last 9 years, spent it in scanning. For the most part, I loved my job. I loved the interaction that I had with people. I developed many relationships with people especially some customers that I have learned to love and helped me become the women that I am today. My schedule for the last 6.5 years have been nice as a mom. I worked 9pm-6am Tuesday into Wed, 6am-2pm Thursday and Friday. It made it that I could be home with my kids most of the day everyday. Chris watched the kids on my graveyard and our moms watch the two days if Chris was not home during my shift. The last 3 years, my graveyard most Wed would not end til 10 or 11 in the morning and some I would not get off til the afternoon. It did make it for a long day, I was tired and usually grouchy and barely on survival mode and then I would pray that Saturday would come quickly. The last few years, I have only worked 25 hrs a week. That was enough to have insurance for the kids and I plus a little money to help with bills. Working for a big company like Smiths comes changes. Last summer, my store got a new Store Director. She made changes, including the amount of hours I was getting. It ended up getting my boss upset with me as I looked for the missing hours so I could keep my insurance benefits. Then in October because I was expecting a baby and the Store Director felt that the scanning dept need to be fixed, I was asked to step down which I did. It made it when I went on maternity leave I would only for 8 hours or less a week. Last spring before any of this happened, Chris and I decided to have a 2 year plan to get out of debt except the mortgage and get me home full time. Then when things happened last summer, I was ready to put my notice in then, but I stayed a little longer for my family. Then while I was on maternity leave, some events happened at my job and with a tearful, prayerful, and many discussions as a couple; we decided that I would leave my job and be a full time mommy. It felt like a divorce giving them my 2 week notice and it was hard. They offered to let me work 1 day a month to keep my foot in the door, but we felt it was not worth it, and if I need to go back to work, I can try something else. It is a scary new adventure of how things will work out, but the last 3 weeks of being a full time mommy has been good. There has been no additional stress of leaving my children, being away from them when they need me, wondering what drama will happen at work, and how the schedule of mine and Chris's job work. I pray that Heavenly Father will continue to bless our family as we venture into a territory that is unknown and scary. I am blessed to be a mom of 4 beautiful, smart, and wonderful children. I get to watch them grow and help influence their lives for the better.