Happy Birthday, Jake!!!

It's been awhile since I've been on here, and while that's no surprise to those that follow this blog, I found it fitting that on such a day as this, I come back to write...

Today is what would be our first son's 14th birthday. How has it been FOURTEEN years?!?! It feels like just yesterday, we were sitting in the hospital room at the Army hospital in Würzburg, Germany waiting and wondering to see if our son would survive. At just 21 weeks, my water had broke (for unknown reasons), and there was very little hope. James was there with me instead of in Bosnia with his company, where he was supposed to be that day. Sitting there in tears, knowing the worst was probably upon us. Then we received the news that his heart had stop and the dreaded news was received. I can't believe it's been so long. We were newly weds, having only been married just over a year at that point. So excited about having our little guy and starting our life as a family. Then this happened. After delivering our son, Jacob Tyler, silently, we sat there and just stared -- trying to memorize every feature. We knew that not only was this the day we got to meet him, but it was also the day we had to say goodbye. So much to swallow. I'll never forget how beautiful he was. His sweet little body was so fragile, yet you could tell he was his daddy's son with his features. Our son...how could it be that this happened? The shock of it all was overwhelming.

Etsy...

Who here is on Etsy? I'd love to check out your creations! It wasn't until my sister convinced me to create an Etsy page to sell some of the things she had previously hired me to make that I finally caved. I love all the fun things you can find on there -- not to mention it's a fun creative outlet for me. Most recently, I was hired to do a few ads for a fellow photographer as well as a couple birthday invitations. I only mention any of this because one of them stands out and I think it's hilarious…

California...

I think the last time I was on here, James had just decided that he was going to resign his commission. That feels like an eternity ago! And now here we are…officially Californians. Due to the cost of living, I would've never imagined we'd settle here, but we're here now and hope to never leave. We feel very blessed that everything fell into place. Not long after James accepted a job offer, we found a house that we loved and got the offer accepted. It's really hard to believe that this time last year, I was recovering from gallbladder surgery and preparing for a move from Ft. Bliss, TX to Ft. Irwin, CA with a newborn Caleb in my arms. SO much has happened since then! Life couldn't be better. God is good.

It's A Party, It's A Party For Samuel!!!

Our little miracle turned TWO years old on Friday! I'm still trying to grasp the idea of having a two year old...where did time go?!

To celebrate his big day, we threw a Yo Gabba Gabba party for him on Saturday with some of his little friends here in El Paso. I'd like to think it turned out fairly well. With the temp being around 102 and the sun shining bright, the water games were quite a hit. It was definitely fun to see Samuel party it up with his little friends. In fact, he had such a blast that he passed out immediately after everyone left -- the sweet boy!