Party Time!

 I cant believe the day is here!  It has been one quick year.  We had a fantastic party.  This is one spoiled and loved little boy.  What did we ever do without him?

The party spread minus the ballons.  They showed up at the last minute. We went with the jungle theme.

Heres one with the balloons.

Such a happy boy!  He knows he is loved.

The cake.  It was a little ambitious and at points I wanted to cry and throw my hands in the air.  Thanks to my incredible husband it turned out as amazing as it did.  He did the zebra stripes, tiger stripes, and the grass at the bottom.  I frosted all the cakes, made the fondant and did the top tier of the cake.  The palm trees are my favorite.

The monkey cupcakes Cambree decorated.  I helped with the mouth and nose.

These are out of order.  He loved his cake.

A little timid at first.

What better way to end the night than trying to stand up with dad?

Our family birthday shot!

Pin the trunk on Horton.  Ben drew this and I was so impressed. I married a jack of all trades.

Again out of order.  Waiting for the birthday song.

Opening presents.  He loved this stuffed dinosaur.  It was hilarious.  Thanks Kathryn!

He definitely liked the paper more than the presents.

I did a little photo collage of Lawsons first year on the wall.  It turnd out super cute.

Lawson trying to walk with his new toy from Aunt Whit.

The high chair decor.

Horton in all his glory.

 Its amazing that you can work for 3 days and then have it all be over in a snap.  It was definitely worth it though.  We love our Lawso boy and are so glad we got to celebrate with him and loved ones today.

This is How We Roll...

at the hospital.

I have to not think about all the germs I am exposing my kids to.  Hopefully Im building their immune system.  One can only hope.  But they sure do know how to entertain themselves.

Thank you nurse Todd for hours and hours of entertainment for Miss Cambree:)  She loved that she had a mask in case there was blood splatter.

Our friends Annie and Yonas came to visit.  Isnt he the cutest thing?  He loved Cambree too.

I was so happy how well Lawson did at the hospital.  I have been blessed with some pretty amazing kiddos.

Cambree enjoying having a little buddy that wanted her.

Although I never hope or want to go in the hospital I am grateful for the time that we are able to spend together as a family.  Being cooped up in an 11x12 room with each other makes for either killing each other or some pretty good entertainment.  We like to lean more towards the good entertainment, although we certainly have our moments.  Its such a good time to just have fun with each other and remember why we love each other so much.  The dancing in my room had to be my all time favorite moments of this visit.  Thanks Ben, Cambree and Lawson for making this a special time that we can always look back on and smile.  I love you guys more than I could ever possibly explain.



What would I say?

So forgive me, I'm currently on ambien and should just go to bed. I have all these thoughts running through my mind and I need to get them out. I'm sitting here watching Gene Simmons family jewels (my guilty pleasure). And they are dealing with a lot of hard issues for marriage. Gene had to write shannons eulogy as part of the healing process. Anyway, throughout this day I have thought greatly about all of the family support that I am given, especially when I am in the hospital. I sit and look at the pictures I have of my beautiful family and I wonder how I got to be where I am. I am so very blessed. I sit in this small hospital room left with my thoughts and I pray that my family knows the sheer joy and love that they bring to me. More importantly I hope they know the undescribable love and overwhelming bliss that I have for having each one of them in my life. They make my life bright when I didn't know it was dark.

For Ben, I never believed that true love was possible and that it was only something dreams and fairytales were made of. I never could have imagined how amazing our life would turn out. We are truly blessed. My life is truly enriched because of you. It s because of you that I am able to see the worth that I possess and I am grateful to you for that. Our love continues to grow each day and there are times I look at you when you aren't looking and I smile. That smile represents all that we have been through and the excitement that lies before us. You make every moment more full.

My sweet Cambree, you have given me a gift that I didnt know I needed. The gift of perseverance. I didn't know bringing you here was going to be filled with such trial and triumph. I am so grateful for the experiences I had. Through those trials, they have helped me know my Savior better and trust in Him completely. I'm grateful for your sweet spirit and your bigger than life attitude. The love I have for you makes me weep sometimes for the overabbundance of joy and worry I feel for you. You have had to deal with so much at such a young age, yet you still have such a love and zest for life. The care that i see you give your brother makes my heart happy. I pray that you will always watch out or him. You amaze me everyday and I am so thankful that I get to raise such a bright, loving, caring little munchkin!

Baby boy Lawson, I struggled for many years trying to bring you here and seeing you born was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It was as if a weight was taken from my shoulder and I knew that you were the missing piece to the puzzle of our family! I often wondered, already having such a beautiful love for your sister if we would be able to make that connection with you. The first time I laid eyes on you I was smitten. Sometimes I feel as if though our souls connect and no words need to be spoken. You are my bubbers and I try to not miss a moment of all the changes that occur daily. Eleven moths have already passed and yet it seems like ive only blinked and suddenly you aren't a baby anymore. I want to capture every moment. Your personality is hilarious and I can't wait to see what awaits you. I pray that both you and your sis will love the lord as your dad and I do and know of the gospels truthfulness for yourself.

Please know as your mother I will always do my best to take care of my health so I can be here for all of you. I do it for each of you. I work hard for you Cambree, Lawson and Ben. Without y'all I would have nothing. I know that my strength comes from each of you and I am so grateful for the support you each give me. I Pray my children will always come to me if questions arise about life, friends, and my health. I'm always here and will always be honest with you. I pray that you all can feel the love that I have bursting from within me for you.

I look at my life, and I want for nothing! I am so blessed.

Measuring

I often wonder, what is so great about me? What do I do that's so special? I find it hard to take a compliment and have been known to criticize myself due to comparisons that I make to others. Through these comparisons I find myself not measuring up, although I'm the only one with the measuring stick (that I often beat myself with). Im no "super mom". My house is often a mess, I have no real crafts that I'm good at, and let's face it, the sewing gene slipped right through my fingers. I think about these things and I see and am in awe of the amazing things others can do and think to myself, if only... Then through an amazing talk given by an incredible man and with a heart yearning to find contentment I found just what I needed to hear.

This October during General Conference I heard a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that spoke to my very soul and brought tears of gratitude to my eyes. Gratitude for the feeling that this talk was meant specifically for me. As I read it again today, I felt that same gratitude. One part that struck me the most was this:

"God knows that some of the greatest souls who have ever lived are those who will never appear in the chronicles of history. They are the blessed, humble souls who emulate the Savior’s example and spend the days of their lives doing good."

To read the full talk go here http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/you-matter-to-him?lang=eng

I pray that I can be that example. I know that without God I am nothing, but with him I have everything.

Another Comparison

Cambree at 7 months

Lawson at 7 months.  Hes a bit chubbier.

Weighty matter

Okay, so this post is not to get people to tell me how how thin I am or anything of the like. It is solely for the purpose of venting.  Thats not to say you cant comment, I really enjoy comments.  Im just not throwing this out there to get compliments is all.

It seems, since I hit the ripe old age of 30(I love being in my 30s by the way). My body seemed to take on a mind of it's own. I used to be the skinny girl. Now I am in no way shape or form saying I am fat. I know I'm not fat. I'm just really struggling with my body image from what it once was, to my current situation. About 2 years ago I was exercising heavily. During that time I put on about 15 pounds. I think it was mainly muscle. Since then I have not been exercising like I should and that muscle has since turned to goo with a few pounds taxed on to it. Think of your current weight, whatever it is and add 15-20 lbs to that. You wouldn't be thrilled either would you?

However, there is an upside to this. Having Cystic Fibrosis it is extremely difficult for most of us to gain weight. I was always in this boat until recently. I remember after I had Cambree I was scary thin. I look at old pictures and I look gross. I was always told to eat as many calories as I could and often had to drink supplemental drinks (i.e. Boost, scandishake, Ensure)just to add calories. I often out ate everyone in the family. After dating Ben for about 3 months I ate the lumberjack breakfast at Dees by myself.  I don't think he knew whether to be impressed or to be scared. I remember the dietician in the hospital once told me they wanted me around 125-130 lbs. I thought she had lost her ever lovin mind. There was no way I would ever get there. I guess I was the crazy one. I still have the mentality of stuffing my face, something I'm working on. The plus side to this is that I'm at my "ideal" weight and honestly, I believe that is why I have been able to be out of the hospital as much as I have. It's for this reason, and this reason only that I am not going to try to lose weight. Although, every time I look down and see this gut hanging over my pants I have to remind myself of that. I am grateful to be healthy and I guess if it's at the cost of feeling not as great about myself it's still worth it.

Cambree's Room

 I finally got Cambrees room done exactly how I want it.  It only took me 4 years.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  Im sure in a few years she will want something a little more grown up, but for now its perfect.

She really wanted something done like I did Lawsons name in his room.  I thought maybe she was a little old for her name so I took down her letters for her name that has been up since she was a baby and put up DREAM.  She loves it.

If you look closely you can see pink swirls on the wall.  Those match the swirls on her bedding.  Thanks to my great friend Kellie, her vinyl machine, and innovation we were able to match it.  This is really what I havebeen trying to get done for 4 years and finally got around to it.

I love her little chair in the corner there.

The sign says, I hope you dance. 

If you look closely at the bedding you can see the swirls that break up the yellow and pink.

I love it and Cambree loves it, so really that is all that matters.  She is one spoiled girl.