OVERWHELMED!

I am so overwhelmed...overwhelmed with gratitude! Today, well yesterday because it is now 1:20AM as I sit here and type...we dedicated Zach. We stood before the congregation of the Church we attend...the Church we love, and committed to raise Zach to know Jesus...not just meet Jesus, but to KNOW Jesus. It is 120am...why am I awake?...we even went to bed early! I'm awake because a little past midnight Zach stirred in his bed and I looked at the monitor (LOVE video monitors!) and saw him cuddle back up with his blanket and go back to sleep...in that very moment my heart was flooded with emotion! Mostly gratitude and a little disbelief...I know it may sound crazy but at times I really wonder if my life is just a dream and I'm going to wake up and realize it. I FEEL LIKE I DESERVE NOTHING THAT I HAVE! Mostly, a God who loves and wants to know me! Jesus is my bestfriend...not because I have been that great of a friend because I haven't. There are days when He calls and I don't answer, there are times when He has asked me to do something for Him and I don't...but yet HE still loves me! My gratitude does not stop there...God has blessed me with 2 of the most amazing little children. Makenzie with her sweet kind spirit and Zach with his constant smile and joy for life...why has He given me so much?! And of course my hubby who loves me unconditionally and is exactly what I need/want!...so wonderful that my need is exactly how God aligned my want.

I truly know that my life and Zach's commitment to Him are in His hands and for that I am grateful! If they were in mine I know I would surely mess it up! Please pray for Zach to come to know and honor God all of his days...and to live a life close to the Lord. I know life can be so hard...I just don't know how people could go through it without the strength from God...I surely could not.

Ok, I really should go back to bed...Zach will be calling me early! Nothing beats the sweet call of "ma-MA!"...although it is a little sweeter after 7am! ;)

*I will post dedication pics later this week and hopefully a video of the dedication for family and friends who couldn't make it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommys in my life! I had such a great Mother's Day weekend! Gary worked extra hard to make it very special! THANKS GARY! :) Makenzie continues to tell me "Happy Mother's Day Mommy!" - I love her precious voice! This AM she asked "is it your day again Mommy?" I said "yes honey, everyday is my day!" LOL!

Our weekend included a bike ride, an evening out with my hubby, nap (2 weekends in row! YEAH!), necklaces with my angels name engraved on it! and my favorite gift-Gary had 2 precious pics of the kids and traced their footprint and hand print on the back! This gift is so SPECIAL to me! It has touched my heart as much as the thought of looking back 20 years from now reflecting on these days...the good old days...these are the good old days! Every day we are making memories for our "good old days" memory book in our hearts! Hope you are enjoying your GOOD OLD DAYS! :) I sure am!
Thankfully a Mommy and Wife,
Dani :)

Our little ballerina!

4 month old pic-he is 6 months old now!

giving little brother kisses!

just a little gushing...

I am so thankful for our little ones! I am overwhelmed by how much I love them! Makenzie is such a wonderful big sister! She is a little Mommy! She is always wanting me to wake him up when he is napping so she can play with him! And he has great hand control now so we play this game where he takes something out of her hand she laughs, and takes it back and then he laughs and we go back and forth a few times...it really is hilarious! The 1st time it happened we laughed to make light of the situation so now Makenzie thinks it is cute when he takes her toy. We hope it stays cute to her! LOL! :) And baby Zach is such a happy baby! I really can not believe he is the same child before we went to the Chiropractor (you can click on Chiropractor to hear the story if you missed that blog entry). He is full of laughs, smiles and giggles! He smiles at everyone! And not just a little smile...when he smiles it is like his whole body is smiling! It is adorable!

Ok, sorry for the gushing I am just overwhelmed with joy over these 2 little people that God has blessed us with!

HAPPY EASTER!

I love Easter! A day full of JOY and HOPE for our life today and tomorrow! We had a wonderful day! Josh, Emily and Marguerite came over for an early afternoon brunch (Josh made yummy omelets and Em made a fantastic dessert!) and egg hunt for the kids...well actually just Maki! She was so cute when she found her basket she said "there is too much stuff in the basket!" so next year I guess we won't fill it so much ;) And then we went over to our dear friends Hide and Judy's house for dinner with their kids, grandkids and a couple other friends. Makenzie had a blast playing with all the older kids. And I don't think Zac was put down but for a 30 min. cat nap...he was such smiling machine! We feel so blessed to have such great friends up here that are like family! It definitely makes living so far away from our families easier even though we miss them all so much! Hope you enjoy a few pics from our day! We are SO EXCITED we are heading to Yosemite tomorrow for the week! I will post pics when we get home!

I love her beautiful profile! And her amazing hair with that natural curl!

my handsome boy wearing a tie! so cute!

GORGEOUS!

She dumped all her books out of the basket to fill it up with eggs.

Marguerite and baby Zac...I love his paci smile!

Josh and Em with baby Zac!

wanted to cry...

4 things happened today that made me want to cry...
#1- I was in the other room for a minute when Makenzie was having her snack of apple sauce at the kitchen table and I came back to her eating a stick of butter! Not the whole stick but at least 1/3 of it was consumed! I wanted to cry with laughter and fear for her probable stomach ache...thankfully no tummy ache occurred!

#2- Makenzie would not nap today! Gary was home for lunch and to put her down, but for some reason he wound her up (poor guy got an earful for winding her up! Sorry Gary!)so she couldn't sleep...I wanted to cry, because I had so much to do during her nap time so I was frustrated and then was laughing at myself for being so upset my daughter wouldn't nap! I mean really it was only 1 day...and then she napped on our walk this afternoon!

#3- Zac was in his chair and I walked in just in time to see Makenzie kissing his head so tenderly and sweet...I got a bit teary!

#4- I was making dinner and Gary and Mak were having shaved ice in the family room while watching a show...Gary came running in the kitchen to tell me what had just happened...Makenzie sat next to Zac and played with his head so tenderly and sweet during 1/2 of the show! SO ADORABLE! The tears came on hard! I'm so grateful she has done so well with the transition with a little brother!

Wow, I had an emotional day! Isn't it funny that there are tears of joy, tears of laughter and tears of sadness?...I hope when this life of mine is through I have had more tears of joy and laughter than tears of sadness...right now joy and laughter is kicking sadness's butt! YEAH! :)
After Maki's non-napping day we were playing in her room and she wanted Zac in her crib bed with her. Oh my gosh I love my kids! :) They are so dang cute I just want to squeeze them! AND I DO!

Here is a pic of the butter culprit! I had to take a pic and was laughing so much that I know I sent her the wrong message of saying no and it is wrong but laughing at the same time...oh well. Sorry it is blurry!

Spring is here and Easter is coming!

I love this time of year! For a couple of reasons, the weather, but more importantly the anticipation of Easter! The true meaning of Easter, the most powerful day mankind has ever known...During this Lent season Gary and I have been really focusing on all our blessings and being thankful for every last one of them. A friend of ours sent out an email challenging us to count our blessings, no not just the cliche "I'm so blessed, I can't count them" but truly counting our blessings. It got me thinking about all the blessings in my life, not just the big obvious ones but every last blessing. Especially the little ones, the ones that make every day more joyful! And it is an overwhelming feeling when I think of all the things the Lord has done for me and is to me...
A few updates on 2 of my biggest blessings...
Zac is 4 1/2 months old now! He is such a joy to be around! No really, he is the happiest baby EVER! All he does is smile! Unless he is hungry or tired of course! He is so content and fun! We call him Mr.Smiley or Happy!
Makenzie is at such a fun stage! I love spending all my days with her...she is such an amazing little person! She is so much fun and such a talker!

Here are a few pics and the bottom video is so cute of Maki when we were at Pismo Beach!
Mommy and Zac

Daddy loving on his boy...

Daddy tickling Zac...Zac is SO TICKLISH!

My precious boy...

My precious little girl...

Just a little background on this video...When Maki goes poo poo she tells us who she is doing it for...she dedicates them to people. Don't ask me why! I have no idea why either, but 9 out of 10 times she dedicates it to my brother Dave. Love you uncle D! ENJOY the video! Isn't her voice precious!

overjoyed!

Today I am overjoyed....and that joy and peace can ONLY come from Him. I will praise You when I'm troubled and I will praise You when I'm overjoyed. Today I am overjoyed...

God is so good...I am so grateful for the life He has allowed me to have...I can not explain what is going on in a way that would give true justice to God. So I thought I would just simply write: PRAISE THE LORD!

Enjoying the little things,
Dani :)

Pics are coming this week, I promise!

So much to blog about! So little time!

Zach is 12 weeks old! He is such a happy little guy! He is such a talker and is all smiles when he is awake! He even smiles when he is sleeping now! And last night the cutest thing happen...when he woke up for his 330am feeding he was cooing and even squealed with delight! So cute! :) Things were not always this rosy...Now that we have lived through it I can talk about it...lol! Weeks 4-8 were the hardest weeks of my life! Gary disagrees but this is my blog so I get to say what I want! LOL! :) Zach had colic...I don't like the term colic at all...it just basically means the Dr. doesn't know how to help you console your poor baby. Most nights from week 4-8 he cried off and on from about 4 in the afternoon until 2 or so in the AM...it was CRAZY! So, Gary and I switched off (so grateful he was SUCH a help!), he took him from about 7pm until about 11pm or so and I would take him from 11pm until he finally fell asleep...it was the 1st time in our marriage that we slept apart being in the same house...weird feeling. Usually around 2am Zach would finally fall asleep in the car seat in the living room while I rocked him and I never wanted to move him once I got him to sleep so I would just sleep on the couch beside him. When Makenzie was born we had a rule that nothing that was said counted from 10pm-6am for the 1st 3 months...since Zach was born we extended the hours from 8pm-8am! I highly recommend it for any parents with babies! ! Exhaustion can cause crankiness! Especially in me! So a couple of weeks ago I hit my wall (not literally of course!) I just could not believe he was just supposed to cry and cry and there was nothing we could do...so we took him to our chiropractor...I know what you are thinking a chiropractor on a newborn! I thought it was crazy too but I was desperate! And it was the best decision we could of made! The Chiropractor did some traction on his lower back and he literally melted in his arms...if I didn't see it with my own eyes I would not of believed it! It was truly unbelievable! And it was and instant transformation! He is now the happiest baby! Dave, my brother joked while he was here that they didn't even know there was a baby in the house! I do think it was a combination of the Chiropractor and his reflux meds helping him feel better. He is such a cute baby! I could not be more thankful to be on the other side of that rough patch. I was reminded this last week in a quiet moment, that when the going gets tough in life and things seem really hard or out of control or just plain painful, Gary and I always pull together and our relationship is always stronger for it! For that reminder, I am so grateful! And I can not write a post without mentioning my little Makenzie...she is so wonderful! And such a HUGE helper! She is so sweet and loving with Zach and he is all smiles when he hears her! Hopefully it will always be like that! I know, I'm dreaming! Enjoying some pics...
I walked in the kitchen the other day and Makenzie was singing to her baby...she went and got the stool out of the bathroom to rest her feet on! She is such a good Mommy to her dolls! :) And yes, she still only does silly smiles when the camera comes out! She is so funny and silly!

I think he looks so much like Gary here....I have a baby picture of Gary and he looks just like this...Mom/Nonnie Pat what do you think?

Zach! YEAH FOR NORMAL! :)

First of all thank you so much for your prayers for Zach! Today was a LONG, HARD day...waiting for the results...thankfully all is ok!
Zach's chest xray was at 8am and we had planned to have Gary go in with him and me stay out with Mak...but when we saw the situation we decided I should stay with him so I could nurse him immediately to comfort him. I won't go in to too many details about the chest xray and what they had to put our poor baby through. It is NOTHING like an adult chest xray...it was probably the longest 3 mins of my life...it felt like an eternity. And I found myself for a moment getting so angry with the technician that things were taking so long in between xrays because Zach had to stay confined. I realized at the end that it really wasn't her fault, she was trying to go as fast as she could but I just felt so helpless not being able to help Zach...and what did I do, of course get angry at the innocent person only trying to help us figure out what is going on...she didn't know I was upset with her for a brief moment, THANKFULLY! So much more growth to come for me...

The results: heart-NORMAL! lungs-NORMAL! bone structure-NORMAL! some word that I have no idea what it meant-NORMAL! YEAH FOR NORMAL!

So the Dr. is pretty sure that the issue is his esophagus flap is loose...which apparently is not a big deal. We are meeting with his Dr. on Thursday to find out more about the whole thing...
Thanks again for the calls and emails! REALLY encouraging! :)

SCREAMING from the rooftop! :)

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. We have just been living life and on a regular schedule. It has been REALLY GREAT! :) We traveled so much this summer that is has been fantastic to have a routine now! Not that I am complaining about my summer at all!

As the birth of Zach gets closer I am more and more overwhelmed by JOY! How fun he is coming soon! I am dying to hold my little Gary! I am so grateful to be where I am in life...I feel like I am the most blessed person ever! The Lord has been so good to me...He is so amazingly faithful and gracious! He ALWAYS gives me what I NEED! Not necessarily what I want ;) but definitely what I need...and He always, always shows me that He is really in control! Gary is so amazing...he has been so supportive and is such an amazing hubby! I love my hot hubby!;) And Makenzie...where do I start?! I LOVE being her Mommy! I never EVER thought I would love being a Mommy as much as I do...And now being prego with Zach I can't tell you the joy in my heart...words can not express how grateful I am for my life! If I had a rooftop that I could scream off of to tell the whole world I would! But I guess that is what my blog is for, right!? So here is my scream: THANK YOU LORD! I LOVE MY LIFE! :)
Here are a few pics...

Kenzie being silly and look at G's gorgeous eyes!
Maki with Jon blowing out Jon's candles! We love Jon! :)

Maki walking to school with her lunch bag. We are having so much fun at school! And my nap after school is as long as Mak's!

Making soup in the slow cooker. She loves to add all the ingredients!

Daddy and Maki hiding from Mommy!