Hadley: 11 months old

Age: 11 months. 

Weight: around 19 lbs (she was 18 1/2 lbs 2 weeks ago)

Length: 32 in

Milestones: she is WALKING! she likes to eat rice cakes. she shakes her head for "NO" over and over and over and over again! haha she waves hi and bye. 

Sleep: You win some and then you dont...haha she will sleep 12 hours some nights and other nights just party ALL NIGHT LONG. Travis was in Seattle last week and i'm pretty sure I got about 2 hours of sleep per night. So we do what we said we would never do...she joins us around 3am in our room so we can get some shut eye. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. 

Best moment: SO MANY. Watching her walk towards us. Do PiYo with us. eat with us...ahhh every single moment. 

Health: She's home with her Auntie during the day for a couple more months and I can tell a huge difference in her sniffles and cough is GONE! *knock on wood*

Things to remember:

-Hadley started walking 5 steps on February 6th. 

-She started semi-jogging about 9-10 steps yesterdya. 

-She said "thank you" (I SWEAR!) a few days ago. 

-She's in 18 month clothes...officially toddler section of target WHERE DID TIME GO!!

-She LOVES the swings. LOVES LOVES LOVES them. 

-SHe can give kisses..slobbery kisses

Our Ephesians 3:20!

The harvest and the pruning

We love the harvest. You know, those parts of your life where everything seems to be going AWESOME. It's EASY. It's like Christmas, ALL.THE.TIME. We love the harvest.

The one problem with the harvest is that it ends. A farmer can't be in the harvest season over and over again. That's just not how it works. I found a definition for harvest and it happened to be on a renegade prune website (thank you, google) that said "Harvest time is determined by the pressure the prune flesh can withstand.." 

HELLO. DID YOU GET THAT?! Harvest time is determined by the PRESSURE the flesh can WITHSTAND. Pruning, it's a blessing, really. It's amazing at how situations can happen back to back to back that make you feel beat down but yet, we still get right back up because we KNOW the HARVEST IS COMING!

Pruning reveals who we are. It reveals our priorities. It reveals our trust in God. The last month has definitely been a pruning month and with the heartache of losing my Godmother and having to face some other situations, it's hard, but it's not impossible. I'm still here. I'm still standing. I'm still smiling because I've seen my character shaped in the past month. I've lived Jeremiah 29:11. I'm rooted in more plans that He has laid out for me that I would have never imagined! It's funny how we can make decisions, like I did back in October, and during it think "OHHHH geeze, WHY ON EARTH am I about to do this right now?! WHY!??" and you do it because...well, I cant explain it...it's just something you HAVE TO DO. Then....sometime later (for me it was 64 days later) you know why you were led to do that and it all makes sense. Of course it makes sense, it's God given, His plan makes sense.

PRESSURE is nothing. HIS STRENGTH is everything. Our ABILITIES extend far beyond what we can perceive. HE has placed specific plans out for each one of us, plans of good and plans that do not harm us. WE CAN WITHSTAND IT because HE SAID SO.

 So, if you're in the pruning season, live it up. get ready to grow. get ready to become stronger and GET READY FOR THAT HARVEST!

You just watch, He's about to use you to change the world.

{{Yes, you, my little H.}}

-M

10 days in 2015....

It's only been 10 days in 2015...and I already feel like it's the longest year ever.

The past 10 days have been full of fear, pain, uncertainty and shock.

I was mentally preparing myself to have to leave my daughter and husband for more than 6 months for a last minute work assignment. Praise be to God that I already had a separation date in to leave my current career so they cancelled it this last week. True, I have no clue where I will end up in a few months but at the same token, I know that I will be here on my daughters first birthday. And that, my friends, is all the assurance I need to know that I made the right decision. I love the quote "It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." I value my family over a pay check and status. Done deal.

I had mouth surgery this past Tuesday and it's been rough. Then this morning, I wake up to find out that my Godmother- who I talk to every week and love so much- is in the hospital after suffering through not eating, drinking and 3 strokes. We talk every weekend, I never thought last Friday night when we talked and I was multitasking while giving Hadley a bath, might be the last time that I would ever hear her voice. But while on that phone call, I remembered we both laughed. Hadley lights up Aung Gregg's life and I hope that we can make it out to see her soon.

It's been a challenge. Despite the pain and heartache I've been facing every day this year, I know there's hope. There's hope because God has the final say. There's hope because at the end of the day, when I'm emotionally beat up, He gives me the strength to hold my head up and smile at the blessings He has given me.

You know, this blog is called Nothing Better Than A Smile, and that's so true right now. I  can smile because He's got my back. He has my family's back and He has my Godmother in the palm of His hands. He knows what He's doing. Have faith, in every situation, and Let God be God.

-M

2014 and 2015

2014 was THE YEAR. We welcomed our first child into the world, built our first home, moved in to our first home, both were promoted, celebrated 4 years of marriage, traveled to Scottsdale, grew closer to our friends and family, watched our family grow....phew, it's been a year. I loved 2014. It really was an Ephesians 3:20 year. I learned what unconditional love truly is, learned more about my weaknesses and my strengths and was preparing for a life change that, on the last few days of 2014 was totally unexpected from the initial life change that I was planning for.

To be honest, I'm a mess going into 2015. I'm scared, heartbroken, nervous but at the same time full of faith that God is going to work a miracle once again in my life. I don't want to go into details but the next week or so is really going to change my life--regardless of the outcome.

Please keep me and my family in your prayers. Hopefully I'll be able to write more about how I've felt the past week but until then, pray for a miracle, pray for God's unfailing love, pray that His will be done and that myself, my amazing husband and our daughter are all at peace. I thank Him for the amazing love He's placed in my life and for the perfect family that He has given me. I know that He is the ONLY Way and that He WILL MAKE A WAY.

I'm holding on to him harder than I ever have and am thankful that I'm going into 2015 with a faith stronger than ever. Ready to do His will this year. Ready to see Him work miracles. Ready to watch my baby girl grow and experience new milestones and ready to grow closer to Him with my family.

2015, you didn't begin the way I thought you would have but I know that God has a perfect plan for you this year and we are SO READY and excited for you---although, I will say, you have quite the challenge in front of you--2014 was pretty darn awesome.

xoxo,
Meg