The House of God Forever

This song is what's been playing in my ear for the last few months.  You see my husband and I lost our baby nearly 3 months ago.  When we found out our little baby of 11 weeks pregnant, heart stopped beating, a piece of my heart stopped beating too.  The very short life of our tiny, little baby has forever changed me.  I will never look at the beauty and gift of life ever quite the same.  My heart still aches despite the healing God has done and will do.  I will always feel a part of me is missing until that most glorious and wonderful day when I will get to spend all of eternity, 'In the House of God Forever', with my beloved child.  Until that day comes I hold ever so closely to the two children I get to love on and hold tight to.  I find myself giving them even more kisses than before.  Remembering that each and every single day is a gift.  Never promised.  Never guaranteed.  Life is precious and I want to cherish each moment.

"A person's a person, no matter how small."  -Dr. Seuss

Photos by Steve (my very talented photographer husband)

Steve took some incredible photos of the kids for Christmas that I wanted to share with you.  You've probably already seen some of these, either from Facebook or from our Christmas cards, but there were just so many more great photos of the kids so I thought you'd want to see them all!  :)

Yesterday Benjamin and I went "sledding" in our back yard and had a blast!  So much fun!  We got 4 more inches of snow yesterday (it snowed all day long) and woke up to two more inches this morning!  Enjoy the pictures...

https://picasaweb.google.com/109422547282724009386/ChristmasPortraitsSledding?authkey=Gv1sRgCK60jIWf_LmA4gE#

Christmas-time

We all enjoyed a very, merry Christmas at home this year and it was extra cozy because of the massive amounts of snow we received just in time for Christmas!  At the moment we have snow piled up to the top of our mailbox and are expecting more this weekend - craziness!  But we are loving it (maybe not Steve so much anymore, as his back's about to break from all the shoveling).  Benjamin loves the snow but Gracie not so much as she gets cold quickly.  We've been busy sledding, building snowmen, making snow angels (or atleast attempting to), and just playing around in the white winterland.

This entire Christmas season has been wonderful as I really feel our family unit come into its own this year as we discover and begin our own family traditions.  I think it takes a couple years for it to take shape and this year I can defintely see that it's taking form - and I love it!  It's been so much fun baking with Benjamin and discovering what Christmas treat will be our family tradition for the years to come.  Can you guess what it is???  Chocolate covered pretzels - so yummy!  And maybe some peppermint bark too.  :)

From finding our new favorite Christmas music, David Crowders Band "Oh for Joy", to reading "The Night Before Christmas" to the kids on Christmas Eve before bed.  Now that the kids are a little bit older it has gotten so much fun to watch their excitement and anticipation for Christmas day to come and when the joyful morning finally did arrive it was downright perfect!  I hope you also had a very merry Christmas this year and may you have a Happy New Year too!

Here are some pics.  The ones of Gracie wearing the Indian headband we made are from Thanksgiving...  I will post some more Christmas pics that Steve took in my next post - they are AMAZING!

https://picasaweb.google.com/109422547282724009386/ChristmasTime?authkey=Gv1sRgCK2Di92v0JGhOA#

Need You Now

This song is just so beautiful and I had to share it with you.

Birthday Girl!

Our sweet little Gracie Willow is now two years old!!!  Here are some pictures of our birthday celebrations including a trip to the Syracuse Zoo!  Lots of fun times.  I can't believe my baby girl is already two.... I love you my sweetie!  You truly light up my world and all of those who meet you!

https://picasaweb.google.com/109422547282724009386/GracieTurnsTwo?authkey=Gv1sRgCOuX2ouy8rSJ7QE#

Two Little Monkeys...

Our little monkeys had such a fun time getting loads of candy this Halloween!  They were so cute in their matching costumes, Grace originally was going to be a doggie (last two pics in the album), but I couldn't resist dressing them in the same costume!  :) 

https://picasaweb.google.com/109422547282724009386/Halloween2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCNqmh-WypfS4cg#

An Anniversary Surprise

We are now four years happily married!  Wow!  Steve planned a very special getaway to celebrate our anniversary on an island at a cozy little cottage on the waters of Lake Ontatrio.  It was awonderful surprise, as he kept the whole getaway a secret, and he did very well!  I love you bunnies!  And here's to another four decades!  Mwah!

Here's a few pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/109422547282724009386/AnniversaryGetaway?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCSlpvNvtPlgwE
PS:  A special thanks to my mom for watching the kids so we could get away!  :)