I love your blog...

I got a "I love your blog" award from Sarah (thanks Sarah) and I have to answer the following questions with a one word response, then I have to tag three friends who have a blog that I love.

1. Where is your phone?: table

2. Where is your significant other?: submarine

3 .Your hair color?: mystery

4. Your Mother?: compassionate

5. Your Father?: wisdom

6. Your favorite thing?: Jesus

7. Your dream last night?: forgot

8. Your dream/goal?: lots

9. The room your in?: kitchen

10. Your hobby?: photography

11. Your fear?: bugs

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?: Kentucky

13. Where were you last night?: Chick-fil-a

14. What you're not?: perfectionist

15. One of your wish-list items?: kitchen aid (I know it is kinda two words)

16. Where you grew up?: Kentucky

17. The last thing you ate?: cashews

18. What are you wearing?: clothes

19. Your TV?: off

20. Your pet?: Marty/Cheyenne

21. Your computer?: Mac

22. Your mood?: content

23. Missing someone?: friends/sister

24. Your car?: van

25. Something you're not wearing?: shoes

26. Favorite store?: Babygap

27. Your Summer?: hot

28. Love someone?: Matt

29. Your favorite color?: pink

30. When was the last time you laughed?: today

31. Last time you cried?: unsure

I tag Jenn, Katie, and Jill (as my favorite blogs....I know that all three of them will be thrilled to do this!)Hehe:)

Prayer Please

Naomi goes in this morning to get some bladder/kidney testing done since she has had so many UTI's. She has to get a catheter put in and get her bladder filled up to capacity with IV contrast. They are looking to make sure she does not have any reflux up to her kidneys.....It is not going to be fun at all. Please pray for her and us.  I will update later. Thanks in advance for all your prayers.

UPDATE: 1:25pm

We are home now and Naomi is doing fine! She is playing like normal with her babies and towels. Yes, my daughter likes to fold towels, over and over again. It is so funny. The test went ok. It was pretty traumatic during it but as soon as it was over she and Matt were fine. They did the ultrasound first, which didn't hurt, but she did not like at all. Then they put the catheter in, and she kept saying, "please don't do that." It was so sad and sweet all at the same time. Bless her little tender heart. We hopefully will have the results in a few days. Thanks again for the prayers.

Truth for Tuesday

Some of the blogs that I read on a regular basis, have recurring weekly themes. I thought I would copy that idea and every Tuesday write about something that is true...at least in my life.

We will start the first entry on a lighter note...

10 things you may or may not know about me (Allie)... in no particular order.

1. I love taking pictures. I know I still have A LOT to learn in the realm of professional photography, but is something I truly enjoy. My dad is an amazing artist...maybe one of my qualities that comes from him.

2. I am kind of a decorating snob. I really like nice things..stainless steel, granite, hardwood...

3. I do not like Winnie the pooh or any animal character on children's clothing. I am not offended if your child wears this, but you will NEVER see my kids with a Minnie shirt or with an Elmo outfit on.....(I feel I have to admit that Naomi does have a Dora nightgown...that my mom bought her...it is painful for me to let her sleep in it.)

4. I love the Old Testament. Every day God fills me with truth from His Word, but over the past year, I have completely fallen in love with rich text of the history of our Christ. I really am fascinated by the "covenant"God that we are introduced to from the very beginning of Genesis.

5. I want what is right. I know that seems like such an obvious statement and a bit cliche but I feel especially during election seasons, what is right, sometimes gets lost in all the commotion. I don't ever want to "want" things for selfish or greedy reasons, but to desire "rightness" because it is what God would command. With that said, I am very aware of my inadequacies, I have to leave it up to Him, to continually reveal His righteousness to me.

6. I LOVE Kentucky sports (and Kentucky in general.) Seriously, over the past few years I have finally learned that is probably not healthy to be bitter for 3 days about a loss, but it actually is physically painful in this house to see the CATS lose. Also, I got tired of being in "pain" all the time. The loss to Fl, about killed me. I still have not recovered.

7. I don't shower everyday. Maybe you wanted to know this or maybe not, but it is truth. I would like to say that I don't have time every day to shower, which is mostly true, but somedays I just don't feel like it. I promise, I do try to shower at least every other day...usually:)

8. I am trying to process some serious convictions I have about some TV shows that I watch. Thanks to the awesome Godly women that I surround myself with, God is showing me how important it is to turn off the noise that distracts me from HIM.

9. God. Then husband. Then children....I love my family sooo much, that even little things I do now, scare me. I never used to be afraid of flying, it terrifies me now. But as much as I seriously adore my children, and would do anything for them, Matt comes first in our home. It was our love that brought them into this world and I know that one day my babies will leave this nest and give their love to someone else....tear:( Secondly, I want the relationship between Matt and I to always be a biblical example of what God designed for marriage. I want them to always know that the abundance that exists in marriage only Exists in Christ. HE is and will always be their ONE and only.

10. I can not spell. At all. I seriously probably had like 50 red lines under my words as I typed this. I blame all spelling illiteracy on technology and spell check.

Boyd's Orchard

When we were in Kentucky a few weeks ago we had the chance to go the pumpkin patch/apple farm. We had so much fun. Both girls got to ride "Sadie" the horse. Naomi now thinks that Jenn is having a horse since we call her baby "Sadie baby."

Belly and Nose

It has been so fun to watch Gabby grown and learn. I think with your second child, you take everything a little slower, really soaking in every moment, instead of rushing them into the next stage. Life with our little firecracker is never dull, with every morning bringing in a new wave of experiences.

Alphabet Soup Letter E

Our favorite things that start with the letter E. This one was tough!

1. Easter-The older that we get, the more and more the true meaning of Easter penetrates our hearts. 

2. Elijah-I love reading the story of Elijah in the word of God. It is also the sweet name of a dear friends precious baby boy who went home to be with Jesus. 

3. Evenflo baby bottles-Seriously...we went through like 10 types of bottles to find some that Naomi would actually take...they were a life saver!

4. English Muffins-I love them with peanut butter, or even to make little mini pizzas.

5. Eyes-One of the first things I notice about people...Both our daughters have beautiful eyes, Naomi with a big blue/grey eyes and Gabby with eyes so dark you can get lost in them.

6. Elephants-Well really, just the sound an Elephant makes. Naomi and my nephew Logan can do some serious Elephant sounds.....actually so can some of the guys in our small group:)

7. Education-Nerdy I know...but I loved college. I miss it.

8. Eightes-1982 was a great year! The music wasn't bad either.

9. Ethan-My nephew Noah's middle name.

Gabby and her big brown eyes

Naomi and her blue eyes

Lexington Children's Museum

Besides being the place where I am pretty sure that Naomi picked up her virus....the museum was awesome! They seriously had soooo many things for Naomi to do. They had a doctor station, grocery stores, body parts, (like the heart, brain, and mouth), a special area for kids 3 and under (we didn't take Gabby, we thought NaNa might like some special time), and a puppet area in the first room. In the next room was a huge horse area (with dress up stuff, and huge horses that you could sit on, Naomi got on the little one on the ground), a mining cave and a huge city (probably 20 feet long) that you could turn knobs on the outside to see a flood. Upstairs, there was big walk on moon, a shadow room, a block room, a bubble room (naomi's favorite), a Indian reservation, a step on piano, and so much more. We seriously had a blast. Next time we will take Gabby with us!

Giving her baby a bath at the doctor station.

Playing some musical instrument with daddy.
With mommy on the moon.
In the bubble room, pulling bubbles up around them...super cool!
In one of the Indian huts, thinking really hard about what is for dinner!

Periscope Operator

Matt made sure he kept up his qualifications while were gone! (If you are not in the Navy, and have never heard the term scope, or qualified...please ignore....:)

Logan is qualified too!

Kentucky Farm Fun

We went down to visit Matt's grandparents one night for dinner. I love visiting them. It reminds me of what family really means. Over half of their family live on the same street. Here are a few pictures from the visit and their farm.

Naomi and PopPop with the cows.
Daddy and the girls
A really huge squash like veggie....(crazy huge!) I had to take a picture because I could not believe that some one actually grew this.
Naomi, Gabby, and the cousins (missing Logan and Noah)
NaNa on the mule (glorified 4-wheeler)...Don't worry dad she didn't ride on it, she just stood there for a picture.

Naomi's First Field Trip

Naomi's class from school went to the Fire Department last week. We almost didn't find it and Naomi was in the back seat almost in tears. She would have been so upset if we did not get to see the firetrucks. We finally made it, after driving all around town, stopping at two other fire stations, and calling a few friends. Here are some pictures.


Inside the fire truckNaomi driving
Behind the fire truck...of course never looking at the camera
Naomi with her concerned look...she was not to sure of all the people
My favorite picture of her with some of her classmates. These are kids from the Monday/Wed and Tue/Thur classes. Naomi is off in the corner, thinking "what are these silly kids doing, I am way too cool for this."

Amazing Grace

No pictures and a lot of words...very unlike me but very worth reading!

I didn't know what to title this post, so I just went for the first thing to come to mind. I went to a wedding last night, for one of Matt's best friends from high school. For most of the reception Matt and I sat with some of our mutual friends from college, Lauren and Cody, and another couple who they are really good friends with. Lauren had told me a while back that her friend (the other couple) Hannah's oldest daughter had been really sick this past winter. I had the chance to hear the story from Hannah last night. It seriously rocked my world!

Around Halloween last year Hannah noticed that Ava (2 years old at the time) had been running a fever. She said that that Ava had been sick all fall( alot of strep throat) so she was not that concered. She did take her into see her pediatrician when her fever got up to 104. He said she had a virus and sent her home. For three days she kept taking her in because the fevers were not going down. Finally after I think 5 days of taking her to the doctor, that said she had pnemonia, and gave her some strong antibiotics and sent her home. A day later Hannah said that Ava started grunting a lot, and acting like she was in some pain. She took her back and the pediatrician said she had NO breath sounds on the left side of her chest. He told her to take her straight to the ER at UK. They did that and got in fast but Hannah said she just did not feel right about being there. Her oxygen sats were in the very low 90's (not too good) and her fever was not going down. They had not given her any medicine for the fever and she was not on oxygen. They also had diagnosed her with an pleural effusion (fluid accumulating int the space that surrounds the lung) that had progressed to a empyema(infection in the pleural space, with serious inflammation that can also cause scaring and clots to break off---very serious!) They said that Ava was probably going to need surgery (one that is not done very often, and very risky!) Hannah called her pediatrician (who would have been in charge of her case if she stayed) and just said she wanted to go somewhere else...she just did not feel right about the situation. They called Cincinnati children's hospital (about an hour away) and they sent an ambulance to get her with a doctor, nurse, and a respiratory therapist. Hannah said even in that moment she already felt the presence of God over her. They got to Cincinnati and they told them that they wanted to put in a chest tube (ahh, very scary!) to drain her lung. They did this which worked but it made Ava's health drop dramatically because the fluid came off so fast. They ended up having to put her in the ICU, she was on 4 Liters of oxygen (a lot for a two year old) and still was having oxygen sats in the high 80's (very bad) and was just not looking good. They thought they were still going to have to do the surgery. It was very serious and Hannah said that for the first time she realized her child could die. Her and her husband went and sat in the waiting room. He asked her"are you mad at God?" She said yes I am furious....with so many questions going through her mind. How could he do this to us? Hannah said that her husband went back to be with their daughter. She sat there filled with emotion, and anger towards God. She said she was just almost audibly yelling at Him how could you let this happen?

She said almost immediately she felt the voice of God come over her and say " I did DO this for you." I watched my son die for you. I know exactly how you feel. Hannah said in that moment, even after being a Christian her entire life, she finally understood the cross, the meaning of sacrifice. She said that felt such a peace at that moment and told God ok, if you have to have her, then take her. But do it now because I can live any longer in this grief....take her or make her better. She told me last night she now can believe she felt that way, but God just gives you the grace for it in the moment.

It was sometime before midnight when Hannah felt this peace overcome her, within just a few hours Ava's was back at 95 percent oxygen and her fever had broke.

Isn't this crazy? Is sounds like one of those forwards people sent out, except I sat there last night hearing this from a person who really experienced it. Our God is good. Bow before the thrown of grace. Thank Him for sending his Son as an atonement for our sin. Sing praises to His name.


Hannah said that just this spring she and Ava (healthy since Christmas) went to see her pediatrician. He said he wanted to wait until she could hear it to tell her...last year two kids had the empyema and went to UK. They both had the surgery and they both died. What an amazing picture of the mighty power of our King.

Amazing Grace