The Nausha's

2012-02-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

Where to begin....things have been tough around here. Real tough. On all of us. We are at the end of one journey, anxiously waiting to begin the next. I have wanted to break down several times lately and give up. I've wanted to say that I can't do this anymore. But before I can get to that point, I am very quickly reminded that I can do this, but not alone. I need my God. Because with Him, I can do all things. Taylor has been having an especially hard time lately. She does not like her teacher at school and has been having a hard time academically. School does not come easy to her at all, so it's something she has to work extra hard at. Which is not a bad thing, she can't be naturally good at everything she does. :) but shes hard on herself. She gets easily frustrated. She's not an easy one to teach, so we get easily frustrated as well. My worst fears about school have come true. Taylor is gone all day at school, and then comes home and we sit and do more school work to help her with all the stuff she doesn't understand, which ends up with tears, cause she gets frustrated. Then it's dinner time, shower time, and bedtime. And that's pretty much how everyday goes. I'm sure it's just a phase, but it's been hard. Aside from all the school issues, we've been having emotional issues with her as well. She's very sensitive to begin with, but there have been tears about everything. Don't need to get too detailed about this, but lots of tears pretty much sums it all up. And it's hard because I don't feel like I can totally be there for her. I feel like with everything going on at school and with everything going on at home, that she is carrying the weight of the world, but she's only 6. I think it's a lot of different emotions for her to be dealing with all at once. It's hard to watch, because she is 6 years old and should be loving school and should be smiling more. She shouldn't be crying this much, and be this sad. Im hoping the arrival of her brother will be a smooth transition for her...And the rest of us.
It has all been worth it though. I don't regret our decision in any way. None of us, including my dr's thought we'd get this far. It's amazing,it truly blows my mind. One of my nurses mentioned something about does this make me want another one cause we've gotten so far. No way!! It's made me think about God's plan. I've sat here thinking that this should've been done for me when I was pregnant with devan. I should have been monitored this closely with her, and maybe she wouldn't have come so early. But then if that were the case, if I was going through all this the second time around, we probably would not have gone through it again a third time. So I'm thankful for everything. I would not go back and change a thing. Now I anxiously await this little guys arrival. I'm not gonna lie, I'm more anxious about this c-section than any of the others. I just pray that everything goes smoothly.
My appointment yesterday was fine. My dr thinks the second I go off my medication that I will go into labor. My uterus was very irritable yesterday and that's being on a strong dose of meds. Tomorrow at my high risk appointment we will discuss what that dr thinks. Will he keep me on the meds till 36 weeks? Will he take me off at 35 weeks? Hopefully his arrival date will be somewhat planned. It being my 3rd c-section and all. My dr doesn't want me contracting a lot, and he wants to have a good assistant for the surgery. SO yes, that leaves me a little anxious feeling...But God is in control.
Looking forward to meeting this little guy! Cannot wait to bring him home and start our new life as a family of 5! Hopefully I'll have some exciting news tomorrow after my dr appointment! Stay tuned...

God is good....

2012-02-13T08:41:00.000-08:00

...even if we hadn't made it this far, God is still good. But we've made it!! 34 weeks!! Got my final round of steroids this weekend for the baby's lungs. I have an appt tomorrow and see my peri on Thursday. Looking forward to Thursday's appt to see how big baby is measuring. He should be close to 6lbs...which blows my mind! :)
I will ask my peri when exactly I'll be going off the nifedipine. I'm pretty sure when I go off of that it will be baby time. I would be very surprised if he still stays put. I'm on a pretty hefty dose of the medicine and still have irritability and by the end of the day I start contracting pretty good. So we'll see! Should be an exciting next couple of weeks!

Setting new records!!

2012-02-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

Well, we've made it to 33 weeks!! Never have I been this pregnant before. Kinda funny being in new pregnancy territory, not knowing what to expect, and it being my third pregnancy. Remember how I said before that my favorite part of being pregnant was being able to feel the baby move? Well that was before when the biggest baby I had in me was a sweet 4lb baby girl. Those sweet movements have turned into take my breath away painful karate kicks and stretches from an over 5lb brute of a boy. I know 5lbs is no where close to being a brute, but in my world it is. :) instead of this little guy being in the correct position like most fellow 33 weekers he has decided to stay breech. Therefore kicking and pushing on all my lovely lady parts. I swear, sometimes I feel like he's gonna kick his leg through and be dangling out. Sorry, TMI. So back to the unchartered pregnancy territory...does this only get worse as he gets bigger and stronger? Or do they kinda mellow out and not move as much because they start running out of wiggle room? Anyways, I have a dr appt tomorrow and prob another one on Thursday. Towards the end of this week I will get the steroid booster shot, which I believe I have to go to the hospital for. Think they will monitor for a little bit afterwards because I think the shot can trigger contractions. And since I'm already have contractions being on my meds, wonder what it will do to me...? Today would be a fun day to have Mav because it's his daddy's birthday! Happy birthday Danny!!! Xoxo until next time....

Oh my....

2012-02-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

...as if I couldn't get any more confused this pregnancy. Went to my high risk dr today. Good news, baby looks awesome. He measured 4lbs 14oz. Big boy!!!! That's big, considering how far along I am. Anyways, the confusing part was that I have funneling again and my cervix measured 2.1....which means it is thinning. Both of my dr's did not seem too concerned. The thing is, last time I had funneling and a shortened cervix, I was sent to the hospital for steroids and I ended up being in labor. And I don't feel it!!! SO I guess I just sit here and wait. Wait to see if I make it to tomorrow morning where I will go see my OB again and get hooked up to monitors to see if I'm contracting, to hopefully have some peace of mind over the weekend. So, still on this emotional roller coaster. Tuesday's appointment was awesome, everything looked great, thought I was gonna sail through another week. 2 days later, things look different and now we're on our toes again. Lesson in all this...trust in the Lord and lean not on my own understanding....or else I drive myself crazy! :) to be continued...

Blogger Challenged and Preggo Pics

2012-02-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

It amazes me how challenged I am when it comes to this blogger design thing. Actually, it scares me more than anything because I am already falling behind in technology. I have just spent over an hour trying to figure out how to get rid of certain templates and I just can't figure it out. So I'm stuck with a weird looking blog. Whatever.

Had a great dr appointment yesterday! Cervix feels great and I had practically no irritibility. Best I've looked on the monitor in a long time! Continueing to stay doubled up on my medication and bedrest. I see my high risk dr tomorrow so I'll find out how long he will keep me on meds. My OB said once I hit 34 weeks, which is in about a week and half, I'll be able to have more freedom. Being able to get up more and do little things here and there. So that's something to look forward too. =) If things keep going the way they are, I'm gonna have to start getting prepared to bring this baby home with me! I don't know what to pack in the diaper bag to take to the hospital!? Some clothes and diapers?? We'll have to get the carseat ready and put the base in the car. The thought of possibly bringing Maverick home with us kinda freaks me out. I'm gonna feel like a first time mom. Ok, I might be getting ahead of myself a bit here, we still have a few weeks to make it through to get close to that point. But, it is kind of exciting thinking that that could be a possibility.

It is so weird to think that soon we will be a family of 5. We are going to have 3 kids!! On our way to my dr appt yesterday Danny and I were talking about how humbled we feel. We are so blessed and don't feel like we deserve any of it. What an awesome God we have. It has been SO neat to look back at what God has done in our lives over the past 8 years that we've been married. He has always provided for us. ALWAYS. In the good times and the bad. I was on the verge of tears on the drive home from my appointment just thinking about how for so long, we thought that we shouldn't have anymore kids. The dr I had with Devan told me I should be done. It's neat to look back at our journey that got us to where we are today. It took 3 1/2 years for our dreams of getting pregnant again to come true. But they did. And it was all in the Lord's timing and plans...not ours. I thank the Lord for finding the new dr's that I did. What a difference to find dr's who are positive and encouraging and willing to do what it takes to give you the most successful pregnancy possible! I have beat the "statistics" that say when you have preemies, they'll just keep coming earlier and earlier. So thankful for that....

Anyways, here are some pics from the beginning to where we are now....they are nothing fancy, totally ghetto. I hardly have any pics from when I was pregnant with the girls, so i wanted to make sure I took a few more this time.

**2 1/2 months**

**3 months**

**4 months**

**5 1/2 months**

**almost 7 months**

**8 months**

Another update

2012-01-20T14:42:00.000-08:00

Lots to be thankful for amidst this emotional roller coaster. I am still pregnant, almost 31 weeks. It's so funny every time I think about how excited I am that we've made it this far. I really did not have high expectations for this pregnancy. I wanted to at least make it to 30 weeks, and here we are, almost to 31 and we already got the steroid shots. So in my opinion we are 2 steps ahead! Not to mention the little chunk that Maverick already is. For as far along as I am, the average weight of the baby would be around 2.75lbs. Yesterday, he measured to be 4lbs!! What a huge blessing! The biggest baby I have ever birthed was 4lbs 4oz. So we are well on our way! :) dr appointment yesterday went well. Baby looked great and my cervix looked pretty good too. Saw my other dr today, and was a little disappointed. Still a fairly good appointment, but I think maverick will be here sooner than later. I was hooked up to be monitored for a few minutes and I had very consistent contractions. Dr considered it to be irritability and said if I was not on my meds that they would be booming contractions. SO he told me to double up on my medication. I'm not sure if Im just waiting for this guy to come any day now, or if upping my meds is gonna calm things down and I'll sail through the weekend. Only time will tell. I told Danny on our way home from my appointment that I believe that next time I "go into labor" that I think I will deliver. I think the Lord caused me to have that little scare so we could get the steroid shots for the baby. Cause I think when he really comes, we wouldn't have had the time to get the steroids in. That's just my little way of trying to make some sense out of this crazy situation. :)

Home sweet home

2012-01-17T20:17:00.001-08:00

I'm home!!!

Monday update

2012-01-16T12:18:00.000-08:00

Still at hospital. Got taken off of the magnesium about an hour ago. Here for monitoring at least until tomorrow. If all goes well I may be able to go home. So we'll see...

Little guys name is going to be Maverick Ralph. (after his poppa Ralph and daddy, Daniel Ralph)

Thankful

2012-01-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it to our first goal. I am officially 30 weeks today, although he still has been measuring a week or 2 ahead. Not much has changed here at the hospital. I think this morning marks the official time we needed for the steroids to take full affect. So thankful for that. Thankful for everyday that passes. My time here has been good so far. The nurses have been so wonderful. The girls are doing great. Over the last couple of weeks at home Taylor has been having terrible night terrors again. Like the worst she's ever had. We think it's been a combination of being over-tired during Christmas break and the stress of everything that has been going on. So of course I was extremely worried about her having them while Ive been in the hospital and she hasn't. So that's a huge praise. We told our families the baby's name. I gave my parents the first initial and somehow my dad guessed it. So we shared it with the rest of the fam. Maybe by the time I finish this post I will reveal his name. :) I've tolerated this magnesium sulfate pretty well but I am a little slow at getting things done and a little loopy. :) I had a great time with my MIL and SIL yesterday. They came to keep me company. We played a fun game of hangman so they could figure out the baby's name. Got to take a shower yesterday...a shower hasn't ever felt so good! :) think that's all for now. Today should be another pretty mellow day around here and then tomorrow things may start to change as they start taking me off the mag. For now, I will leave you with this:

M _ _ _ _ _ _ k

Pregnancy update

2012-01-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

Well it's currently night 2 at the hospital. Long story short: went to my high risk appointment Thursday, cervix shortened and had funneling. Sent to hospital for steroid shots which mature baby's lungs in case of preterm delivery. Got to hospital, got shot, was contracting. Got turb shot to stop contractions, didn't work. Got a nice big dose of magnesium sulfate and here we are. Still on mag. The plan is to keep me on mag till Monday which will give steroids full amount of time to be effective. My dr will try taking me off mag on Monday and see what happens. I will be 30 weeks Sunday, which is when Devan was born. So at least we know what we're in for in case little man decides to join us. We are all hanging in there. Please keep us in your prayers if you think of it. I'll try to keep updating as often as I can!

Preggers

2012-01-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

**28 weeks in both pics**

So I thought it was time to do a "happy and i'm so thankful to be pregnant" post...since lately I've really been struggling with my attitude. Here are my random thoughts on being pregnant:

I am the biggest I have ever been pregnant
my boobs, which seemed so big for awhile now don't seem so big compared to my belly
my favorite part of being pregnant, aside from the big boobs, is feeling and watching the baby move
I drink TONS of water everyday and still crave it
Devan loves to come up and kiss and rub my belly more than anyone
his name is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!!
I can barely shave my legs and I officially cannot see my "area".
It is almost impossible to pee in the cup now at my dr appointments without missing
Devan was born just over a week from where I am now
I am having braxton hicks contractions this pregnancy, and I either never felt them with the girls, or I was so nieve that I didn't know what they were if I did have them
I am trying to enjoy these last few weeks being pregnant, knowing that I will never be pregnant again(as far as I'm concerned)
I can't wait to see what this little guy's coloring is gonna be. Will he have brown hair and brown eyes like me? Will we have another red head? Another blonde?

I have officially labeled myself as a big baby being pregnant. I consider myself to be pretty tough for the most part, but when it comes to being pregnant, I am a whimp. I don't know how you ladies do it who carry full term. I really am not even THAT big yet I feel like a giant. I feel like I can't walk. It's pathetic really. BUT I am thankful for where I am today. I am thankful for the fact that I am not on complete bedrest. I am thankful that I have made it this far. I am excited to see what the Lord has planned for us over the next couple of weeks. Only He knows when this baby is coming...

Update

2011-12-30T17:57:00.000-08:00

I'll try to make this fast. Not much in the writing mood. Let's see. Won't go in to too much detail about this pregnancy. Overall, as of today we are doing good. Have had a few bladder infections that has caused some excitement for my uterus and has sent me to the hospital. All is under control as of now. Baby is measuring 2 weeks ahead!! Praise the Lord for that blessing!! I will be 28 weeks this weekend and they think he weighs just over 3lbs already!! Keep growing little man!! Another praise is that I am not confined to bedrest. However, most of my days are spent laying around drinking TONS of water and peeing, but I have the freedom to get up and do as I please. Our families and friends have been AMAZING helping us out. Could not be getting through this without them. And I want to give a special shout out to my husband!! He's awesome and I love him so so much!!! That's all for now!!

Baby Shower

2011-12-05T20:16:00.000-08:00

**Shower thrown by these 2 lovely ladies, my SIL Dawn and good friend Molly**

**Biggest Sister to be**

**Big Sis's to be**

**My Momma**

**Grandma's to be**

**Some of my beautiful guest's**

**My family**

**Mom and Aunty Judy**

**The adorable favors SIL Dawn made**

I had such a wonderful time at my shower. I was so touched by all the people that came and the far distances or circumstances they went through to come. My Aunt came all the way from Sacramento. I had a couple friends come from Kingsburg, and several people come from way down south. Nicole, who works with Danny got someone to cover her shift so she could come, and my good friend Amy is about to give birth any minute to her son. So thank you to everyone who was able to come. It meant the world to me. And not to mention how many cute things I got!! I'm not gonna lie, there is SO much ugly boy stuff out there that I thought I was gonna get at least some of it. But nope! I absolutely LOVED everything I got! Thank you so much to Dawn and Molly and everyone else who helped out and showed up for making that day SOOOOO special.

Baby update: well no news is good news. Everything is going good so far. I did have a little trip to Labor and Delivery the night after Thanksgiving due to dehydration. But other than that, my cervix is still nice and thick! =) I will be seeing my dr's more often now and will be watched ever so closely. They will begin the FFN test's which will let them know if I am going to go into labor in the next 2 weeks. Not always 100% accurate, but that's ok. At one ultrasound the little guy was sucking his thumb...so we may have yet another thumb sucker...but that's ok, I love it! At my last peri appointment Danny wanted to make sure I got a clear picture of "the goods"! So I mentioned that to the ultrasound tech and right when she started my ultrasound this is what we found...

Can't get much more of a clearer shot! Good job little man. Baby's measuring a little bit big, so that's good. The tech kept talking about how big his hands are, which he was showing off as well.

And a little profile shot with his mouth wide open.

I am officially 24 weeks, so for me, the real resting and down time begins. Dr's aren't going to put me on bedrest unless they see a reason for it. So still praying that all continue's to go well. Enjoying being "big". I am the biggest I have ever been pregnant, ever. It is very humbling watching the cottage cheese make it's way down the back of my legs and not be able to do anything about it, but embrace it and keep eating. =)

I can't believe I almost forgot...my baby turned 4!

Ok, that's all for now. I will try to update more often so my post's aren't so lengthy.

Father Daughter Mascarade Dance 2011

2011-11-06T21:22:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately my computer is being totally lame right now and is taking FOREVER to download all the pics I wanted to post. So for now, this is what I have. They had a great time at the dance. They left a little early and ended up going to dinner because the food at the dance wasn't that great. I think it is SO cute and special that the PTA at Taylor's school puts on this dance. What a special night for father's and their daughters. =)

Had a high risk dr appointment the other day. It went well. Everything is still looking great. Baby was moving like crazy!! The ultrasound tech estimated him weighing 12 oz. Which I guess the average weight at 19 weeks is 8.5oz. So keep growing little man! We want a big baby!! =) We are now at the 20 week mark. I really can't believe it. 4 more weeks until viability for this little guy. That's when the real resting will begin. Continuing to pray for full term... ;-)

The Haps...

2011-10-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

So I had a dr appointment the other day. Just me and Dev went...and waited, and waited, and waited. The girl was a champ. Dr was running behind, so we very patiently waited for a little over an hour until he finally came in, checked my cervix, did a quick ultrasound to check the baby, I asked about bedrest and we were on our way. Good news about bedrest, I'm not gonna be put on it for no reason. I will be monitered so closely that if they see reason to, then they will. Of course I am going to take it even much easier come 24ish weeks, but I was relieved to find out I wasn't going to be put on bedrest just because.

Yesterday was a fun day. It was The Race Around the Lake out here in our hometown. Danny used to race this race as a kid, so it was fun that they brought it back. It was a very special treat to have MOST of our family from both sides there. Aunty Marina was there, Aunty Kate and the boys, Grandma Linda and Unky, Aunty Dawn and Riley and Gavin. After the races the rest of my family, except brother Brian, suprise suprise, came out for dinner and ice cream and a fun trampoline session. =)

All the cousins!!

In other not so exciting or suprising news, I am still overwhelmed by all the "stuff" we have in our house. I am SLOWLY getting rid of some things. Now that I have moved the girls in together in their new room, and know that I can start getting rid of some girls things now that we are having a boy, it is getting a little easier to know what to get rid of. Our closet is still an area that I am not satified with. I still feel like we have too much. I came across an interesting blog this morning and may give it a try. Check it out here, it's called Project 333. I may not follow it exactly, but it sounds like a fun little challenge. My latest goal that I would like to accomplish is sewing. I just feel like it is a good skill to have and feel that it would help me save money for our family. Plus, I am repulsed at how much things cost in stores. I can't bring myself to buy one decorative pillow for $30. Just not gonna do it. So I want to learn how to make a pillow cover myself. Or learn how to make cute simple skirts for the girls. Anyways, totally random, but that's on my list of things to learn. =)

Long Update...

2011-10-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well I wrote a big long post but never posted it. I've been very emotional about certain things, but then I don't like how it comes out when I write. So maybe I'll express some things in this post, but I'm going to do it in bullets so it's short and too the point. Here's the latest in no particular order:

Here is my ghetto pregnancy picture. =) This is me at 17 weeks, as I am now approaching my 18th week. Starting to feel the little guy here and there. That is my favorite part of being pregnant. I love laying in bed at night and just staring at my belly as it moves. Things have been going well. I have been feeling the best I have probably felt thus far. I have a regular OB appointment on Wednesday where hopefully I will get more info on bedrest and when that'll begin. I started my progesterone shots...fun fun fun. Emotional is the best way for me to sum up this pregnancy so far. It is going well, but it is emotional in almost every way. I have been enjoying the down time though. I honestly couldn't wait to get pregnant because I knew it would mean we would have to slow down. The only part I don't like is feeling like I have to explain or justify why I don't want to socially do things. Some people around me just don't understand our situation and I don't expect them too, but I am taking this pregnancy very seriously. My main concern right now is myself and this baby and taking care of my family and my house. So hanging out with friends and doing extra fun stuff can wait until after I do everything I can to bring a healthy and as close to full term baby into this world. =-)
I'm not sure if it's the pregnancy thing, but for some reason I now am very anxious at night when Danny is at work. Ever since we have been married he's been on the same type of schedule and I've never had this problem. I am not an anxious person and never have been until now, only at night when he's gone. I don't sleep well at all. Been praying a lot and have borrowed some good books to read from my sis-in-law.

Taylor got a hand-me-down bigger bike. Danny had a blast fixing it up. It turned out quite nice. Danny loved bmx'ing when he was younger so of course he is thrilled to have a little girl who loves to ride her bike and isn't afraid to try new tricks.

This past Wednesday I got to go with Taylor to her night of Girls of Grace. It's a girls group she does every week at church. This week it was a Mother/Daughter dessert. It couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Even though I was SO exhausted that day, and so was Taylow, we had had a rough afternoon and definately needed some special Mom and Taylor time.

This little girl has been quite a challenge for me lately. I have never been really good with girls. I don't have much compassion and patience for overly sensitive girls. And guess what I have? A very overly sensitive daughter... who I absolutely adore. I love that she is sensitive, she is very caring, compassionate and thoughtful. There is nothing wrong with her being over sensitive. It is who she is and we are all over sensitive at times in our lives. I AM the one that is wrong. And I fail SO often with her. I think this little girl is going to teach me a lot over the next couple of years, as she already has. I have a lot to work on. =)

And this little one...never a dull moment with her either. She follows in her sister's dramatic footsteps. If Taylor is on the phone crying to Danny about something, Devan will ask to talk to him and cry about whatever Taylor was just saying. The imagination on this one blows my mind. She walks around the house all day talking to imaginary people and pretend playing. It is VERY entertaining and fun to watch.
Missing the days when these girls were young and didn't have to go to school. A lot of my other friends are at that stage with young kids and I wish I could go back in time. It's definately not an easier time, but I miss just having every day to plan and do whatever we wanted. So friends, enjoy your time home with your kids because school comes WAY too fast!!

Both of these girls have been a handful lately. Yes, they get along and have fun together and laugh a lot. But I'd be lying if i said it was always like that. Cause it's not. Taylor is Devan's second mom. Always on her or correcting her if she's doing something wrong. We are constantly reminding her to be her big sister. Just have fun with her! Leave the parenting to us. Then you have Devan. Our little ball of fire. We are working a lot with her on how she talks to people. She has quite the attitude and the way she talks, especially to Taylor, is unexceptable in our household. And her temper, she's easily angered. Needless to say, we are working on a LOT of heart issues in this house...including my own. But loving and enjoying these girls so much. Parenting is NOT an easy job at all but it is so rewarding when you see your children putting in to action what you've been training them to do. These girls are such a joy and I feel so blessed to be their mom. Can't wait to add some more testosterone to this house that is OVERFLOWING with estrogen!! ;-)
We have officially moved the girls in together in one room. You might think that is a bad idea espcially with all the fighting, but truthfully I think it's exactly what they need. As I am typing this now, they are up in bed giggling away. We've been having fun starting to redecorate and get rid of things and organize. And yes, our family closet is still working out GREAT!! Although, obviously the laundry piles up much faster since it's all going in the same place so I really need to stay on top of it. Also still loving my homemade laundry detergent!!
Danny went hunting up the street the other morning and came home with this. He took the meat to a butcher, so we'll have plenty of deer meat. He saved the antlers and they will be going in the baby's room. =)

Went out last night with some childhood friends Emily and Rachel. Had a great time catching up and wandering IKEA getting some things for the girls room.
If anyone wants a glimpse of what we went through with Devan when she was born you can check out some pics here.
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=182747275/a=24145666_24145666/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

An Oldy but Goody...

2011-10-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Fall Break and things...

2011-10-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

My phone has been a little bit silly sending my pics to my email so I can upload them here, so we'll see how many pics I actually end up with for this post. This week is Fall Break for Taylor at school. I don't know why they have it but I LOVE it!!! Danny took Monday off so he could do something fun with the kids. We decided on a very last minute trip to Lombardi Ranch where Amy and Sophie were able to come join us too! Very fun and special for being so last minute. We even ran into our cousins Riley and Gavin while we were there!! We grabbed lunch at Chipotle afterwards where I downed a whole burritto.**side note: at my dr appointment yesterday I had gained 6 pounds. I swear it was from that burritto! gotta go back there!** That evening Danny and BIL(brother in law) Chris loaded up Chris's truck and took the kids camping at Castaic Lake. They had SO much fun. Us mom's were not invited along for the trip, but later that evening we got an invite to come have some smore's. They woke up the next morning and fished before they headed home. They unloaded, ate lunch and then took the kids ice skating. We then went to our friends house for dinner. 2 very full days equaled two very tired girls who slept in till 8:45 on this cozy rainy morning. =)

Had a high risk dr appointment yesterday that went well. Like I said earlier I gained 6 pounds which was so good to see. At the beginning of my pregnancy I got the flu really bad one night and I lost 2 pounds and up until the other day I had only gained back those 2 pounds. Baby, cervix, everything looked great. I guess I have some notching on my left side, which is a resistence in blood flow to the uterus. Not too big of a deal at this point. Doesn't affect the baby, it could just mean high blood pressure for me towards the end. But usually notching goes away on its own. They confirmed it's a BOY!!! So that was pretty exciting. Still in awe that I'm pregnant, and in shock that it's a boy. So thankful. Done with the progesterone suppossitories and I start the progestrone shots in 2 weeks, that thankfully Danny will be able to give me once a week.

My latest organizing adventure around here has been our closet. I turned it into a "family closet" yesterday. Sounds crazy I know. I've actually heard of a few families doing this. Mostly BIG families, like the Duggars, but even for our family of 4, it sounded like a great idea. See, one of the things I struggle with most is clothes. We have clothes ALL over our house. In the garage, in the front room, on the steps, in the laundry room, on the floor in the girls rooms, on the floor and bathroom of our room. SO, since we are moving the girls into one room soon anyways, and they will have limited clothing space, I decided to move everyone's clothes into our closet. We have a pretty big closet, so this obviously wouldn't work for everyone. So far, I LOVE it!! Much easier for me to have 1 central place that all clothes go to be put away and 1 place for all dirty clothes to wait to be washed. I think I'm also going to buy a few more laundry baskets so instead of one basket that all dirty clothes go into, and then have to be sorted, I'll just have a basket for each color load that the clothes will automatically go into. Anyways, just trying it out for now. Trying to make things as simple as possible around here.

And just for a laugh, while our husbands and kids were camping the other night, Dawn and I went to the mall. I was in need for some comfy jeans. I knew that it was time for some new ones, I just forgot how badly I needed them ASAP. I had TOTALLY forgot about this little hole I had in the jeans I was wearing, until I was in a dressing room at the first store we went to and noticed the hole and that it had gotten a little bigger. Oh well...But the good news is, I found a new pair of jeans. =)

2 big front teeth 2 nights in a row...

2011-10-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Pinterest Project

2011-09-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

First Pinterest project completed. I will make another one and I will do it a little differently. I didn't have enough small nuts so I added some bigger ones. Feel like its a bit too much. So think I'll make another one with the right amount of small ones. Super cute and easy to do!!

Homemade laundry soap and then some...

2011-09-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is too awesome not to post. I've been looking to cut costs in every place possible. So when I came across a few people who have made their own laundry soap with these few easy and cheap ingredients I had to give it a try. I don't like complicated projects or recipes. It needs to be simple, I need to know what all the ingredients are, and I like to be able to get them all a one store. Borax, Washing Soap and a bar of soap is all you need. I have seen 2 different recipes and I know there are many more, but this one is the most basic. I made mine after this recipie here. I have also become a fan of white vinegar. I know this is really nothing new, I'm just a bit behind jumping on the band wagon. There are SO many uses for white vinegar. Check some uses out here. I also add some in my laundry where the softner goes, and no, your clothes do not smell AT ALL!!

In other exciting news, Taylor lost one of her big front teeth. Pretty funny! Big exciting stuff for a 6 year old! =)

And last but not least, embarassingly, a belly shot. My pregnancy with Taylor, luckily the week before I ended up having her, I was down visiting my parents and my mom snapped a few pics of me before I headed home. Those are the only pics I have of being pregnant with her. Being pregnant with Devan, I have a few more cheesy belly shots, thanks to the fact that I was submitting some for maternity modeling. So this time around I'm making a concious effort to take more pics, even if they are cheesy iphone pics taken at 10:00 at night. =) My pregnancies have been such a blur. By the time I'd finally start showing I would deliver 5 minutes later. Not really, but you get my point. This time around, I feel like I have a belly earlier than I ever have and I have been enjoying every growing minute. So thankful for my growing bump. I had an impromptu dr visit this past Monday due to some shooting pains I was having on Sunday. But everything checked out great. Cervix is great and baby, who looked like a bird in 4D, looked great too! I have a high risk appointment on Tuesday. Looking forward to seeing baby again and hopefully confirming the sex. Here it is! =)

So far....

2011-09-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

...they think it's a BOY!!!!!! The more I thought about it, most people who read this probably already have heard. We've been hesistant to REALLY be excited because it is still SO early...I can't even believe you can tell already!! BUT his little boy parts are what the ultrasound tech kept giggling at cause he kept showing them off! Then the dr came in a confirmed, but obviously said they aren't allowed to say forsure because it's so early. Then the next day, my ob said boy as well, and that was with his legs crossed. Danny was in shock and really didn't want to believe it. I want to cry every time I think about it, because that again just magnifies the Lord's hand in all of this. My girls have specifically prayed for a baby boy the last couple of years EVERY single night. BUT, if somehow everyone ends up wrong, we will be just as excited for another girl. We are just so thankful to be adding to our family...Lord willing.

Dr. Appointments

2011-09-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well both my dr appointments went well last week! Thursday I got to see my highrisk OB and loved him. I got a very long and detailed ultrasound so that was fun to see the baby so much. We weren't going to find out what we were having...at least that was the plan...Danny's idea, not mine. Danny REALLY didn't want to find out, I did, but because he really didn't want to, we weren't going to. BUT, during our ultrasound, which I'm only 12 weeks so we weren't expecting to be able to find out anyways, the tech chuckled. And then she chuckled again and told us why. I'm not going to say all the details, because at this point I don't think I'm going to tell what she saw. But the dr came in and said the same thing, and then the next day at my regular ob appointment he saw the same thing as well!! So we found out what we think we are having so far but I go back in a couple weeks again, so we'll confirm it then. But everything looked great. My cervix looked good, which is probably the main thing they are monitoring with me. I will start once a week progesterone shots at 17 weeks. As of now, there is no specific start date for strict bedrest. I am starting to feel pretty good, which my MIL was hoping wouldn't happen, cause I start doing too much. =) But I am still just trying to take it easy, enjoying my days with Devan while Taylor is at school.

Devan started cubbies last night at LOVED it!! It was so cute seeing her so excited and being there with all her little friends. =) Since Taylor is not doing AWANA this year, it gives me special time with just her which we both loved last night. Wednesday Taylor starts her group called Girls of Grace, and then I'll have special time with just Devan. So kinda fun how that works out. Danny is in Wisconsin again, doing a final inspection on some fire trucks that they bought. Looking forward to his return on Thursday. I guess that's all for now!

My little hunter

2011-09-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

We went to the river for Dove opener. For those of you who don't know, Sept 1st in the first day you can hunt dove. It has always been a big day for Danny since he was a kid. This year, he got to continue the tradition on with Taylor. Like I've mentioned before, who needs boys?? This little girl got up at 4am with all the guys, decked out in all her camo gear and her new gun. She shot her gun a couple of times, and with the help of her daddy, she shot her first dove. She was quite the trooper and while she did enjoy the experience, if you ask her about it, pretty much all she will tell you is how terribly hot it was. I was especially proud of her this trip because she attempted to waterski!! Something I didn't attempt until I was a few years older than her because I was too afraid. She didn't get up and she got a ton of water in her face. So she didn't really like it, but she did try again. We'll have her up and skiing next summer. =)
Overall it was a great trip. A couple friends came to hang and go hunting and the grandparents were there so that's always a special treat for the girls.

Pregnancy update: Guess I haven't said much about being pregnant. I think I am still in shock. We prayed about it for SO long and even tried for quite awhile, so it's hard to believe I'm actually pregnant now. It has been such a different experience this time around. I guess when you think you can't have something, and then you find out that you can, and then it takes a really long time to get it, you really appreciate it a lot more, which I am so thankful for. Seeing that heartbeat for the first time was so surreal for both Danny and I. I'm so thankful for the years that we spent praying for wisdom and direction about adding to our family. I'm so thankful for how long it took for me to get pregnant because now, I have SO much peace in the unpredictable and long journey that lies ahead of us.

So far everything is going pretty good. Aside from the fact that I already can't do much before my tummy gets "tired". This time around I am super sensitive to every little thing I feel so I'm just trying to rest a lot and take good care of myself. The girls are SUPER excited. Taylor of course if over the moon. It has been SO special sharing this experience with her. If things went "my way" I never would've wanted my kids this far apart. But "God's way" has been working out much better than I ever would've imagined. Go figure. ;) Devan has actually surprised me how much she talks about the baby. I didn't think she would care too much, but she actually talks about the baby all the time. "Does the baby like spicy?' "Does the baby like ice cream?" She rubs my belly often and gives it kisses already. Pretty cute.

As of now I'm taking progesterone suppossitories twice a day and don't really have any other restrictions than the normal pregnant lady. I go see my highrisk OB on thursday and my regular OB on Friday. I think we'll find out if I'm going to get a cerclage or not. I think at some point instead of suppossitories I will start getting the progesterone shot twice a week. Bedrest is also a forsure thing in my future. We'll deal with that when the time comes. It has been neat already seeing our friends and family offereing to help out. My mom told me the other day that she told her boss that I'm pregnant and that I'll be on bedrest so she'll be needing to help me. It's bringing tears to my eyes just typing it, because it really meant so much to me that my mom would be putting her work on the backburner so she could help us out. There is no way that we would be able to be doing this on our own, so to really truly have the support that we do is such a blessing. Anyways....here's to a LONG pregnancy!!!!! =)

And little alien blob.....

2011-08-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

...makes 5. Baby Nausha due end of March...most likely sooner. ;-)

1st Day of 1st Grade...

2011-08-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

An evening on the farm... =)

2011-07-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

Quick Post...

2011-07-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

Been enjoying summer. Danny's been on vacation so we've been busy hanging. Went to the river for a week. Spent all day at Paul's ranch yesterday for a ROWW training day. Plan to do a few things this upcoming week and then school is gonna start. =( That's all for now! More pics to come...

Catching up...

2011-06-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time. A guy from Danny's work passed away unexpectedly and they considered it an on duty death, so it was the whole fire funeral service. It was an extremely unfortunate event, but such a crazy emotional thing to be a part of. The funeral processional, I think that's what it's called, from the church to the cemetery, they SHUT DOWN the 605 freeway and on every overpass that we went under, other fire departments had a truck or engine with their crews out saluting as our firemen drove by. Don't want to go into too much detail about it all, but it was quite an experience.

In the midst of all the funeral stuff, Danny had a fire/police motocross race. He did AWESOME!! Won all four of his races and brought home some gold medals. It was so fun! He hasn't really raced much since we've been married, so it was fun watching him and brought me back to our dating days. =)

Had a fun, not really, thyroid scare for a couple days. Went to the dr for a physical and all that good stuff and she thought my thyroid felt enlarged so she scheduled me for an ultrasound. Needless to say, it was an emotional couple of days until I finally heard back from my dr that everything looked great. My dr thinks my hormones are off so we'll be testing those and hopefully get some answers.

Been enjoying summer and having my Taylor home with me every day! =) We had a super fun day yesterday and have some pictures to share. This week we have VBS(vacation bible school) and I'm actually Taylor's leader and we are both SUPER excited!!!!

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=6569402007/a=24145666_24145666/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Surprise!!!!!

2011-06-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

...because we needed another animal. Ha Yet another new addition to the Nausha family. Introducing Miss Savvy.

***Here are Savvy's parents at the time of conception***

Gosh....

2011-06-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

....so much is going on right now. Not sure how to organize all my thoughts so this may not flow as well as it should. Taylor has her last day of kindergarten tomorrow...and then she'll officially be a 1st grader. Can't believe it. That went by WAY too fast. School has been interesting to say the least. Won't go into much detail about it all, but she had a great year. She absolutely LOVED her teacher. What a blessing she was. She was just the perfect teacher for Taylor's first year. At church on Sunday they gradute and move on up to the next grade. =( In the midst of finishing up the last couple days of school we've been planning and packing for our 1st trip of the summer to Danny's parents place at the Colorado river. Unfortunately, a guy that Danny works with passed away yesterday, so we are postponing our trip. As most people know, the fire dept is your family. There have been a couple incidents that have happened within the department where I've gotten to experience and see the "family" come together and help each other out. It is so amazing and I feel so blessed to be a part of it. So you can only imagine in a tradegy this big, that this "family" is really gonna come together. Danny and a bunch of the guys from the department are going to go to the family's house tomorrow to do some yardwork and whatever else they can help out with. So if you think of it, keep this family in your prayers. This guy was ONE month away from retireing and was looking forward to spending more time with his 17 year old son and 14 year old daughter. He also had just been remarried recently. So crazy.....

Anyways, so we'll be hanging around....we have a fun surprise coming our way, so I'll share what it is when it comes. Yes, we are crazy. That's all I have to say. But that's what makes us The Nausha's. =) Danny also had a motorcycle race(s) coming up on Monday and Tuesday, but he probably won't be doing that anymore...depending on the funeral and stuff like that. But he'll be racing in the Fire Olympics in July, so that'll be fun. I always enjoy watching him race.

Seems like a lot is going on these days...good and bad I guess. My friend Alicia who is involved with a few orphanages in Haiti told me the other day that she's trying to raise money for this one orphanage because there aren't enough beds and some of the kids have to sleep on the cement and the rats are getting them. Breaks my heart. I told Taylor about this because we pray about the kids in Haiti every night and she literally started crying. She said it made her so sad. What really trips me out, is when you look and find Haiti on the map/globe, it is SOOOOO close to Florida. And to think of what is going on in Haiti and it's a 2 hour plane ride to Florida....Alicia also said that she heard our church is sending a group out to Haiti in September or October. So I'm going to look into that....Taylor asked if she could go with me. =)

Anyways, LOTS to be thankful for as always. As hard as it is to hear about stuff like that, and people dying and people having cancer and everything else that's going on around us right now, it really helps put things in perspective. It continues to help me focus on what's important. I know that a lot of people think I'm crazy, my family included, when I say that I want to homeschool or figure out some way that I don't have to send my kids to school everyday from 8-3, but we just love being together. In my mind, life is too short. I want to spend as much time as possible together as a family....anyways, this could be a whole other post for another day. Also, for those of you wondering, no, I'm still not pregnant. And it's ok. I had a pretty rough couple of weeks, that lead up to my period of course, but I'm doing fine. Just want to make sure I'm keeping it real. Even though most of the time I am at peace with the whole situation, I do struggle. I felt like I was just kind of sitting around waiting. Like I couldn't continue on until I knew if I was going to get pregnant or adopt. But life doesn't always work like that. I'm choosing to move on for now. Trying to keep busy and enjoy the life I have right now and not worry about hanging on to the crib and changing table that I would SO LOVE to get rid of if I knew we didn't need it, and the double jogging stroller and the sit'n'stand stroller. I guess that's part of my cleaning out and simplifying. I either want to know I'm gonna need it or I want to get rid of it. But for now, I don't know. And that's ok. It can sit there and take up space for a little bit longer. Gonna leave you with a few pics.... =)

***i came downstairs to this one morning from Taylor. yes, my 6 year old knows how to make coffe***

Where Eggs Come From...

2011-05-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

Reading a book with Devan tonight:

me: "where do eggs come from?"
Devan: ".......from a basket."
me: "ok, well where do you get the eggs from?"
Devan:"....(thinking).....from Santa!"
me:"mmm, no. Who LAYS eggs Devan?"
Devan: "....(more thinking).....Mommy!!"

2011-05-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

Had a good Mother's Day. It was spent in Newport Beach with my side of the family and my sis-in-law Marina's family. It was a Mother's Day/Jonathan's bday celebration. Gosh, what else is going on....nothing too exciting. I'm not pregnant, but that's ok. Still just waiting. =) Got some bad news today that my Aunt Cynthia's cancer has spread. Cancer sucks. Chicken's are doin good. Danny and the girls bought me a raised garden bed so I'm excited to put that together and get some things growing. I've been helping out in Taylor's class a lot, so that's been fun. Can't believe she only has a few weeks left and then I'll have a 1st grader. I'm in total denial. Life is good. God is great.

Newest Addition to the Nausha Family....

2011-05-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

Mommy's turn to play...

2011-04-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

***yes, that's me driving. nothing too impressive but SO much fun!***

Just another day at the Cullen/Culver compound. Hanging with Joe Jonas, of the Jonas Brother's, motorcycle riding, hiking, bike riding, rally car, bbq, tire swing, shooting guns and good company. Fun day!

Seriously....

2011-04-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

...I think that parents need to let their kid's dress themselves more often. I mean, c'mon, aquasocks and a tutu?? haha this girl's got style... haha maybe if I let her think it's really cool, she'll keep dressing like this in highschool!!! =)

2011-04-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

***love these 3***

***tonight this little cutie covered our carpet with purple moonsand***

***but she sure makes me laugh like no other***

***enjoying my devan time while tay is at school***

***highly recommend doing this with your kids***

***they send you 5 caterpillars in the mail***

***you get to watch them turn in to butterflies***

***trying to give this girl some needed extra attention***

***trying to get more pics of me with my girls. i'm always behind the lense(or iphone)***

2011-04-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

Francis Chan, Empowering the Urban Poor (Full Sermon) from World Impact on Vimeo.

I don't really need to write much about this. I would just encourage you to take the time to watch it. It is a little long, but it's worth it.

Lately I've been greatly convicted in many areas of my life. We have been struggling with Taylor "wanting" and not being grateful for the SOOOOO many things that she has. She wants this, she wants that, someone else has this, she wants it. I get so frustrated with her, yet it's my fault. I'm the one who just gives, gives, gives. Or I give her too many options, leaving her to feel in control and entitled to certain things. We've been watching Human Planet on Discovery channel and its convicted me also because we have it SO easy. You forget just HOW easy we have it. It's ridiculous. We walked to school the other day and Taylor started complaining how tired she was after walking for 5 minutes. I had just watched an episode of Human Planet where this family lived in Tibet where they get snowed in and their only way for their children to get an education is to walk 50 miles in the snow down this life threatening river. It takes them 6 days to get there and the kids stay at school for 6 months. So of course the second Taylor got home from school that day I sat her in front of the tv and made her watch it. You can bet she's never complained about walking to school since! I was sick to my stomach the other day when I looked in the girls closets. How many different jackets does one person need??!! Then you walk in to my closet. No wonder why my house overwhelmes me! We have SO much stuff!! Simplifying. That is the motto at the Nausha household these days. I am going through closet's, drawers, cabinets, email inbox's, our garage, the kid's toys, my makeup bag, my cleaning supplies, everywhere, and simplifying. We are also prioritizing our time. We all made list's, even Devan, of the top 4 or 5 things that were most important or valuable to us. It was pretty neat, because all of our lists were pretty much the same. Family. We don't really care what we do, as long as we are doing it together. Life can get SO busy and you can SO easily get caught up in it all. We have a Food Pantry at our church that I've been wanting to get involved with for ahwile now. I thought it would be a neat opportunity that we could do together as a family to serve others and to teach the girls and let them be a part of something like that. But have we started yet? No! The weeks fly by and before you know, it's been months since I initially wanted to get involved. We just have to do it. We have to make it a priority. I want to teach my kids to be self-less and to serve others. To give to people who have nothing. I want them to know how fortunate and how good they have it.
"Don't store treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy treasures here on earth. And thieves can break into your house and steal the things you have. So store your treasure in heaven. The treasures in heaven cannot be destroyed by moths or rust. And thieves cannot break in and steal that treasure. Your heart will be where your treasure is."
Matthew 6:19-21

"The thing you should want most is God's kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you. So don't worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries."
Matthew 6:33-34

I am in no way trying to preach to anyone or make anyone feel guilty. I'm simply sharing what the Lord has been doing in our lives. He has been very clearly showing me how much excess we have. Even down to the way I grocery shop. I am now trying to buy just what we NEED. I had over 800 emails in my inbox. I get so many emails every single day for "buy this!" "sale here" The other great thing about all of this is how much money we are going to be saving now too! =)

***a great book I've been reading also is called "Growing Grateful Kids" by Susie Larson***

Look who's learning to ride her motorcycle and her bike without training wheels...

2011-04-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

I love my pig.....

2011-03-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

...and my pig loves me.

seriously...is she not the cutest?? =)

enjoying the beautiful day...

see the messy face? ha

Randoms

2011-03-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

I am still alive. Have been in a bit of a blogging slump...and I've been sick with the stomach flu. But I'm back...with a sore throat. Anyways, I think these girls are ready for summer. After the last big rain storm there was a glimmer of sunshine and these girls busted out the bathingsuits.

Let's see. Well you all know that Taylor turned 6 on the 15th. Saturday I cleaned my house like a mad woman because we were celebrating Taylor and my newphew Gunnar's birthdays here on Sunday. Turned out I did all that cleaning for nothing because Saturday at 3am is when my bout with the flu started. Of course Danny was NOT home, and I almost called my sis-in-law at 3 in the morning because at one point I seriously thought I was going to pass out. So I wanted someone to be here for the girls. Luckily none of that happened. Stuff like that scares me though. Not the passing out part, but the part of when Danny is gone and what if something were to happen to me!? At least Taylor is getting old enough that I know she's capable of calling 911, but still.

As I browse through other people's blogs, especially those who are photographer's, their kids are always dressed so cute and bows in their hair, clean faces, etc. REALLY??? I mean do their kids ALWAYS look that cute and clean? Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't mind if my kids always looked like that. But the reality?? It's in these pictures. If it weren't for having to get Taylor dressed for school, these girls would look like this 24/7.

I tried some new receipies this week. Went on to Trader Joe's website and found a few good ones. I would highly recomment this one. I guess it's name says it all. Easy Bake Pasta. They aren't kidding. It was SO easy, only took 25 minutes to bake and can feed a million people. I also made this tonight for me and the girls. Wasn't too sure they would eat it but they did. Again, SUPER easy and pretty yummy. None of those dishes are to die for as far as taste. But as far as getting the job and it being SO easy they are awesome.

I'm slowly making progress on our house and trying to keep it clean and the piles to a minimum. I've been trying to do one load of laundry a day and it's been working pretty well. I used to do a couple loads in a day, but then it wouldn't all get put away so I'd have piles of clean clothes everywhere. Now, with one load a day it's not overwhelming, it keeps up on the laundry and it gets put away. I also planned my meals, still spent $100 at Trader Joe's but came home with a bunch of meals, and didn't stress this week about what I was going to make for dinner.

I hesitate even saying this, because we have gone back and forth SO many times over the past 3 years, but I THINK we are closing the door on me trying to get pregnant. I've had a strange peace about it lately, which I'm not sure I've really ever had. I am SO thankful for the 2 beauties the Lord blessed us with. The reality of me getting pregnant and the long road it probably would be freaks me out. That does not HAVE to be the only path in extending our family. It doesn't HAVE to be a 3rd of our own. In MY plans I never imagined a family of 4, but maybe it's in His plans. Maybe in His plans there will be more. All I know is that I have to let go of MY plans...

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philipians 4:19

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Taylor's Party

2011-03-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

For Taylor's birthday we decided to do something on the smaller side. Starting school creates a whole new spin on birthday parties. Who to invite and who not to invite!? So, we decided to avoid all of that and Taylor chose just a few friends to take to Color Me Mine and then to Menchies. It was PERFECT! We did it on a Wednesday, which is their early day at school and I had them all back home by 4:00. The girls had a blast and got along SO well. Click the link if you want to see some pics from that day.

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=6079972007/a=24145666_24145666/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Wedding Pics

2011-03-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Danny and I went to a wedding last weekend for a guy that he works with. Had a great time. I always love date nights...especially when we get to dress up! =)

Random's....

2011-03-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

***(this is her bday present from us that SHE actually bought half of. she even quit eating at the cafeteria at school every wednesday to save her money for it. even though we paid for the cafeteria. =-))***

Well, my little girl is turning 6 tomorrow. wow. how funny, i just looked at the time and it was 6 years ago right now that i started going into labor and i thought i had "poop cramps". haha and i tried going back to sleep. these "poop cramps" weren't stopping so we went to the hospital to get them to stop. Long story short, I was 9 cm dialated when I got to the hispital and delivered(via c-section) my 4lb 4 oz baby girl at 32 weeks. More to come on her after tomorrow... =)

Praying for a lot of things lately. A friend of my parents just lost her husband to a nasty bought of cancer yesterday morning. She also just lost her son within the last 6 months also. My Aunt is fighting a nasty bought of pancreatic cancer and is having surgery tomorrow to remove her stints. Also been praying for all the people in Japan. Danny has the opportunity through his friends organization called Reach Out World Wide to possibly go to Japan to help out. On standby waiting to hear if/when they are going. Will keep you posted....

Enough is enough....

2011-03-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

So before I start going off on myself, I wanted to share something simple that put a smile on my face today. Just found this flower on the counter. Taylor did this before she left for school this morning and it brought a smile to my face when I came across it. Oh the simple things....

Now for the real reason for this post. Yes, you are reading that correctly. $126.90 spent today at Trader Joe's. On what?? you might ask.... I wish I could say for the next week's worth of meals. But no. I might have 2 dinner's that I can make with what I bought today. I will still have to go down the street to our grocery store and spend even more money on groceries for dinner's. Failure. I failed again today. I know better. ONE Sunday night I sat down and made a list of dinner's for a whole week, wrote down what I would need to get from the grocery store and guess how much I spent that day for a whole week's worth of planned out dinner's?? $60!!!! plus no stress the whole week figuring out what I was going to make. And have I done it again since?? Of course not!! Why would I? It was too easy, stress-free and WAY cheaper. Who wants that?

Reason #2 for this post. Do you see those night lights laying on our counter in the middle of our kitchen? Yeah, those have been there for a couple of days now. Why? Because I'm not sure where to put them. Do I want to keep them? Throw them out? Don't want to throw them out because what if we need them? If I want to use them I'm gonna have to find light bulbs for them and I'm not sure if we have that size so that might mean I'll need to go to Home Depot to get some. So there they sit.

And look at this stuff. I started to do a good thing...about a week ago, maybe longer. I started to clean out our hallway closet. That closet was full, like every closet and cabinet in this house, with stuff that doesn't get used. So I pulled everything out and reorganized. Again, stuff I'm not too sure what to do with. So it has all sat, right there, for a week...or more. And I see it about 50 times a day and every time I walk by, I look, I think, and I don't know what to do with it. SO it sits...right there.

Yet another pile of STUFF. Just sitting. This pile happens to be in our bedroom. This STUFF doesn't have a place. So it just sits. This pile has been there for months. I just don't know what to do with stuff. I don't know what to hang on to and what to give away. I also have a pile of clothes sitting on our dresser of clothes I don't want anymore, but are designer items so I wanted to sell them on ebay and try to be resourceful and make some money I can use towards buying new clothes. But have I taken the time yet to take pictures and list them yet? Nope. So that pile sits as well...for weeks. I'm done. I'm ready to purge and just get rid of things. We have SO much STUFF in this house and our garage....it's time to just get rid of it. I try to hang on to things that "I might need" one day so I don't ever have to buy something that I already had. But enough is enough. I'm hoping that as I get rid of all the "STUFF" it will help me be able to get more organized and start finding places for everything. So meal planning and purging here I come!!

Get Ready to ball your eyes out....

2011-03-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this blog from another blog I follow. The sweetest little girl you will ever lay eyes on. Go read her birth story. Her mom wrote it in such detail I want to read it over and over again. Be ready for the tears to come...

This is what she SHOULD be doing....

2011-03-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

...but she's not. She's doing this....

...and I can't help but let her.

Camera Fun...

2011-03-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

Help!!

2011-03-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling old. I used to be good at technology and computer stuff and I can't figure out the layout on this darn blog. How do I get The Nausha Family back as my heading? Actually I think I know, because I have it set on transparent right now. But if I make it a color I have a banner across the top. Anyone know what I'm talking about and how I can fix it?? Thanks!

Father Daughter Dance 2011

2011-02-26T22:46:00.000-08:00

Seriously the cutest thing ever. They had a blast!!!

Score!!

2011-02-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

I know these are like SO 2 years ago but I've always loved them from Anthro. Think I bought one for my bro and sis-in-law as an engagement present. But with the $28 price tag, I just never bought it for myself. UNTIL I saw them at Anthro the other day for $3.95!!! Couldn't believe my eyes. They had one N left and they also had a T so I got one for Tay's room too. =-)

Here we go....

2011-02-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

...I'm not so sure I want to be doing this, but I'm going to anyways. I'm also not so sure I want to be starting to do this now, but I'm going to anyways. As of now, we are trying to add one more to our family. After years of praying and research and meeting new doctors, we have decided to "try" to have another baby of our own. For most people that decision wouldn't be a big deal. But for us, it has been a very big deal. Most people know our situation. My baby's come early. The second(30 weeker) came even earlier than the first(32 weeker), and according to "statistics" the 3rd one could come even earlier. Therefore, this has been a very hard decision. I'm not sure why I'm choosing to blog about it. A part of me wants to put our story out there in case there are other people in our same shoes, trying to make a similar decision. I know we will be judged and that's ok. Everyone has their own opinions and that's ok. One reason why I didn't want to write about all of this publicly was the fear of being judged. But here I am, and I'm going to be very real and honest. I probably won't have much to write about in the next couple of months. I think the real journey will begin when and if I actually get pregnant. I will probably end up on bedrest and will have PLENTY of time to update. But for now, this is where we are at in life. We are SO thankful and blessed for the 2 beautiful and healthy girls that we already have, but we feel in our hearts that there is room to love more. We don't feel complete. We pray EVERY day about this situation and wait patiently to see God's plan for our family, no matter what it may be....

This is normal, right??

2011-02-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

2011-02-14T21:21:00.001-08:00

Prayer Time

2011-02-13T19:42:00.001-08:00

So tonight, just like EVERY night and EVERY time we pray, both the girls pray for a baby brother. Either one of our very own, or to adopt one. Tonight, Taylor's prayer went like this,

"...and I want to pray about adopting a baby boy. We don't know if it is going to be black or brown or maybe even clear, it doesn't matter..."

I'm assuming that clear means white. =-)

When I grow up....

2011-02-04T20:49:00.000-08:00

...I want to be like my 5 year old daughter. I admire this little girl. She makes me want to be a better person. I can't even really put in to words what's going through my head right now. I'm not going to sit here and tell you all how special she is, although it's tempting. ;-) She helps me see ALL the things that I need to work on in my own life. I feel so blessed to be her mom and I am enjoying the relationship that I have with her and can't wait to see it grow. I love you Tay!

Happy 7 years!!!

2011-01-26T20:58:00.000-08:00

Where do I begin?? I will try not to make this too long. You all don't really even need to read this...but Danny and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary. We headed to Solvang for the weekend. It was a pretty mellow weekend, didn't do anything TOO exciting, except for horse backriding on the way up there in Refugio. That was pretty cool. It almost didn't happen because we got a later start than planned on Friday. It consisted of 2 seperate trips to the doctor that morning only to find out that Taylor had a double ear infection and Devan had one really bad ear infection. Anyways, finally got on the road and made it just in time for a sunset ride. It was beautiful. We then headed to our hotel in Solvang. Sure is an interesting little town. Danny and I checked into our hotel and hit the main street to grab some dinner. It was like 6:30 and it looked like a ghost town. All the shops were closed and Danny and I were the only ones on the street. haha The next day the place was full of people. Apparently it's more of a day place. The shops close by 5:00pm. Not exactly a place I want to go rushing back to, but still a good time. It was just SO nice to be there with Danny giving HIM my FULL attention. Love you babe!!

Sisters

2011-01-26T20:50:00.001-08:00

Just before I took this picture the girls were jumping on the trampoline while I was inside cleaning up and I could hear them giggling and having fun. Then it got real quiet so I went to check on them and found this.

Dancing devan

2011-01-23T20:15:00.000-08:00

I am going to pray every day that she will still be dancing like this when she's 16!

Let's shake

2011-01-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

Best Invention Ever!!!!

2011-01-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have heard about this already, but the gel nail polish is AMAZING!!!! My wonderful mom-in-law took me and the girls to get our nails done over the weekend. This nail polish stays on for a LONG time and doesn't chip!! The even better part was that when you are done your nails are immediately dry!! I recently chopped my nails real short so when they grow out a bit more, next time I go I will get a french manicure with the gel. I would always get so bummed out when I would get my nails done and they were already chipping that same day! Not anymore!! Go get it done!!

And this little peanut...the last couple times we've gone to get our nails done, she's clinging to her nana and wanted nothing to do with getting her nails done. For some reason she was ready this time and did it like a pro. She turned the massager on on her chair and was having full on conversations with the lady doing her nails. At the end she told the lady that she forgot to wash her feet! (she saw that taylor and I both got ours done and she didn't do the water part!)

more snow....

2011-01-02T22:31:00.000-08:00

seriously snowed in castaic today. not just a little, a lot. went up the street to clay and molly's new house and there was even more snow. had a blast. it was insane. definately did not feel like we were home. the girls had so much fun playing in the snow, and i couldn't get anything done. i just kept watching the snow. for one split second i though "i could live in the snow". And then both the girls started crying because their hands were so cold. And I thought "ok, I'm over it. It was fun while it lasted."

Snow on the Vine

2011-01-02T16:31:00.001-08:00

MORE PICS TO COME....

Please pray for this family

2010-12-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

I don't personally know this family, but long story short, this family is very dear to my foster sister and her family. We fostered Christina many years ago but we have kept in touch with her and her family. They sent me this family's blog and asked that I pray and if I would share the story so even more people can be praying.

http://lothblogs.wordpress.com/

Our tiny little dancer...

2010-12-15T19:47:00.000-08:00

This girl cracks me up. I sat down to just give a quick update that her dance recital went well...until she spotted Santa across the stage at the end, but aside from Santa completely bringing her to tears and her just wanting to get the heck outta there, she enjoyed being up on stage. That was a real poorly written run-on sentence. Anyways, as I was posting these pics of her it just made me laugh all over again. This kid makes me want to pull my hair out more than Taylor ever did at this age, yet I'm laughing as I do it. She's just "that kid". She's "that kid" who draws on ANYTHING in sight when she has a writing instrument in her hand. Be it the ground, a wall, our unfinished wooden stool, the couch, her doll, an important receipt, the inside of the pantry door, herself or her leggings. She's "that kid" that I send upstairs to simply go brush her teeth only to find that she dumped out a new bottle of hand soap and filled it with water. She's "that kid" that while I'm in my bathroom drying my hair, she's in my bedroom spraying foot spray on Danny's nightstand and then mixing lotion all over it too. She's also "that kid" that gets a hold of the chilren's tylenol bottle, figures out how to open it, and then pours 3/4 of the bottle on my bedroom carpet. She's "that kid" who sneaks a sucker out of her backpack and thinks that I don't see her with a pillow on her lap as she lays her head on it to get a lick of her sucker that she's hiding between her legs. She is "that kid" that I think is upstairs laughing away playing nicely with her cousin, only to go check on them to see what's so funny and I walk into a room filled with poweder in the air...baby powder. She was jumping up and down with an open bottle of baby powder. She's just "that kid" that is ALWAYS getting in to something and it's SO hard to get mad cause she's just so stinkin cute and hilarious!! It's amazing how much character and expression (and anger) can come out of such a little thing! =) I wish I had a video camera on her 24/7. Love her to pieces.

What's at your back door?

2010-12-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

Proud Mommy Moment...

2010-12-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

oh my gosh. so funny. at least to our family and maybe close friends. devan is in dance class and monday evening we had her dance rehersal for her performance this upcoming saturday. she LOVED it. LOVED being up on stage. couldn't wait and then wanted to go back on when she was done. her class did SO good. all the girls did awesome. pretty cute for a bunch of 3 year olds.

And my baby is 3....

2010-11-29T16:51:00.001-08:00

Just one of those days...

2010-11-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

Today was just one of those days that I want to keep Taylor with me forever and never let her go. I got a call from her school today saying that she fell in the mud and needed to be picked up. The look on her face, when I walked into the nurse's office, seeing her sitting on a chair with what looked like the little mat's that you use inside your house when you are potty training your puppy, made me want to cry. She was dressed in one of her cute little sundresses and when she saw me she had tears in her eyes. She was so sad. I asked her what happened and she said she was running on the grass and slipped...right on her butt in a puddle of mud. I asked her if anyone laughed at her and she said no. I was so relieved. I then asked her if anyone helped her and she said no, that her friends just stood there and looked at her. I wish I was there to pick her up. =( Then she had AWANA tonight and it was crazy hat night. We really don't have that many crazy hats laying around our house and my creative ideas were not so creative. So last minute I found a hat of Danny's that I thought was crazy enough. Apparently, compared to some of the other kid's hat, it wasn't considered crazy and some kids felt the need to let Taylor know. It made her sad, but it sounds like she dealt with it pretty well. Days like this make me want to not let her ever leave my side. But I know that it's days like this that are going to make her a stronger, better person.

It's a good thing we are going to the happiest place on earth tomorrow for Dev's birthday... =)

Riding AND Golf

2010-11-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

Travel Town

2010-11-13T10:39:00.001-08:00

Student of the Month!! =)

2010-11-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

Unofficial kick-off to riding season!! =)

2010-11-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

Trip to Lombardi Ranch with The Roys

2010-11-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

Salton Sea With the Munson's

2010-11-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Stop and smell the roses...

2010-10-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know what our backyard looks like will know why I think it is so funny that I took these pics in our backyard.

The Simple Life...

2010-10-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Went camping at El Capitan. Had a blast!!! Was going to tent it, but Clay and Molly insisted we take their RV. Ok twist our arms. We took it, and thank goodness we did cause it rained ALL night one night! Was SO sad to come back home to all the hussle and bussle. As I have complained before I've been having a hard time adjusting to Tay starting school and just the "busy-ness" of life these days. I don't like HAVING to be somewhere at a certain time on a regular basis. I feel like we have lost SO much of our fun family time and being able to just pick up and go wherever we want, whenever we want. So it was nice to be somewhere just hanging out, discovering new things, riding bikes, being at the beach, doin our own thing together as a family!!

For now...

2010-10-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

...more to come.

Reno Wedding...

2010-09-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

...no, the wedding wasn't in Reno. It was the wedding of Chris Reno and Dena DePompa. Thank you C & D for getting married. We had a BLAST!!!! We don't get to dress up very often, so when we get to I love it! I borrowed my mom's smaller camera and it unfortunately died before we even left our hotel room. So these are the only pics I got. Anyways, such a fun night! Beautiful location at the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve(formerly Ahmanson Ranch) in Calabasas. The food was so yummy...from Rattlers I think. And they bought a ton of random mugs that you drank out of the whole night and then could take home. We pretty much just danced the night away. =) Thank you mom and dad for watching the girls, and thank you Dawn for letting me borrow the super cute outfit, shoes, jewelery AND clutch. =)

**this one's for you dawn!**

Don't want to get too personal...

2010-09-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

...but I came across a really good verse that I wanted to share. I could go on and share how it applies to me personally, but I'm not. Instead, here is what the Bible has to say. =) "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5

Dancing Queen

2010-09-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

pretty much for family eyes so they can get a glimpse of dev at her dance class. probably not too interesting for anyone else... =)

Do you see the resemblence now??

2010-09-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

Still Alive...

2010-09-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Life has gotten busy since my last post. Kindergarten....hhmmm...well, finally adjusting, that is Danny and I. But this whole Monday thru Friday thing...not liking it. Taylor has done great from day 1. Danny wasn't too excited about the whole kindergarten thing in the first place, and to make matters worse, within the first 3 days of school she already had a boy pursuing her and telling her he wanted to kiss her. Oh my....

In the last couple weeks, Devan has started dance class with her friend Nola. She LOVES it! I'm so glad we found something for her to do that is special just for her. More pics to come...

Once we all finally recovered from our sinus infections, we were struck by the stomach flu. While I was busy dealing with cleaning up Devan and throw up everywhere I was also in the middle of packing for the river. Both the girls were healthy just in time to meet Danny down at the river for a 5 day vacation. We are back home now and getting ready for the week ahead!

Kindergarten

2010-08-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

well, she started. luckily her cousin riley is going to the same school, so that made the first day of drop-off that much easier. she did great. no tears. came home and was SO giddy and excited. then day 2 came, and she told me she didn't want to go. it's a good thing that danny was working today, because he probably would've said "ok, you don't have to go." he's having the hardest time of us all. so we'll see how day 2 goes...

My little mommies...

2010-08-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

I love this girl....

2010-08-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

so i've been sick...really sick. today i FINALLY went to the dr. because i wasn't getting better. while i was gone taylor did all the dishes in the sink, dryed them, AND put them all away. when i walked in the door i had some cups in my hand from the car which she took from me, went straight to the sink, washed, dryed and put them away too. she then told me to go rest and not come in the kitchen. next thing i knew she brought me a "healthy" drink she made me. she then goes back in the kitchen and made me her version of a ricekrispy treat. love this girl to death. she sure takes good care of her mommy! =)

Dev and Tay

2010-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

2010-07-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

Me: "Taylor look! It's a full moon!"

Taylor: "Mom, the moon ate? What did it eat?"

Girls...

2010-07-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

I had such a fun time this evening taking some pics of the girls. Not too sure why Taylor was so frowny, but Dev was workin it! haha

2010-07-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight after I put the girls into bed Taylor yelled down to me to look at the clouds. I'm glad I took the time to look.

A Commonly Asked Question.....

2010-07-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

...here's the answer. YES! Sometimes...we let Alice in the house. =)

Coolest thing EVER!!!

2010-07-08T20:05:00.001-07:00

So my sis-in-law Dawn had the awesome privelage to go to the Eclipse black carpet premiere the other week. She wanted to do something fun and different with her hair so she called our wonderful hairstylist and she suggested she get spin pins!! Well thank you Dawn for introducing me to these amazing creations! They are the coolest things ever!! You'll just have to go buy yourself a pair at your nearest Target/Walmart (where ever Goody products are sold)!!

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

2010-07-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Love these kids! Love our house! Love our culdesac! Love the hills the kids can climb! Love these summer nights! Love our family and friends we get to share this with! Love that our kids get to grow up living around the corner from their cousins! Love watching these kids have SO much fun together! Love watching these kids grow up together!

Latest Projects....

2010-07-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

My totally awesome dad made the girls a sandbox!! They LOVE it!! We stained it barn red and filled it with sand! SOOO much fun!!

Gotta love the HOA(home owners association). I actually don't mind it, ours in pretty cheap and it definately keeps our neighborhood looking really nice. We got a letter asout a dead spot on our front yard so we decided to put in a path! Turned out pretty nice! I may spruce it up a bit later with some flower beds along the side or something like that!

Bike Rider and Razor Trickster

2010-07-01T08:56:00.001-07:00

Gotta love those summer nights! Dev learned how to ride a bike last night in like 2 seconds. She already had the pedaling thing down from this little tricylce thing she has but we threw her on the bike with a little bit of a fight and she had no interest in it, until she quickly figured out she was doing it! We'll give her a couple weeks and then take the training wheels off! :) jk i don't think she can touch the ground yet...that doesn't really matter though right?

**Side Note** some of you may think this is cruel, but I think it's hilarious! Pictures like this of Devan always remind me of Harry Dunne from Dumb and Dumber!

(click pic to enlarge)

Look at our little hotdogger on the razor! haha While Dev was bike riding Tay was getting some big air on her razor! ;)

Bass Lake Sneak Peak

2010-06-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of uploading the bazillion pictures that were taken between my camera and my mom's...so here's a few until then!

Santa Barbara Zoo

2010-06-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

What a seriously fun family day! Danny is officially on vacation for 2 1/2 weeks! We headed to Santa Barbara Zoo today and had a blast! I took TONS of pictures so don't feel like you have to look through them all. What a beautiful zoo! That was our first time there and we loved it! We were thinking of going to Disneyland, but when I looked to see how much it was going to cost ($205!!!!!! for just 3 tickets, Dev's still free) we headed to the zoo for a whopping $37 and that's including 4 tickets for the train ride. We have an LA zoo pass which gave us 50% off! Very thankful for my husband, my girls and the opportunity for us to go do fun things like today! God has truely blessed us.

Graduation Day...off to Kindergarten she goes.

2010-05-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

On your marks, get set, GO!!!!

2010-05-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

And then there were four...

2010-05-21T10:24:00.000-07:00