Thanksgiving Blessings & Life Lessons

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a nice time with your loved ones! 

I was blessed to get to spend the day in Indianapolis with my side of the family. My sister, Lori recently moved from Florida to Indiana and was kind enough to host Thanksgiving dinner at her new home. It was so wonderful to have us all together again. Truly blessed!

Then we went back home to the Fort to go to Dan's mothers house. It was nice to spend time with her. 

I'm so grateful for everything that this year has brought us! Olivia is getting so much out of preschool, Gabe is getting the help he needs in his speech therapy, my job continues to allow me to work PT and I love what I do, and Dan always amazes me with his persistent drive to always wanting to learn more and push himself everyday to provide a nice lifestyle for our family. None of this would be possible without our amazing Catholic community at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish. Putting God first has truly changed my life over the past 5 years. 

It hurts to see those that I love live without Christ, but I know all things happen in HIS time. 

This brings me to my next topic, that life truly is too short. Holding grudges only holds you back. 

Life is too short to continually focus and dwell on the past. Enjoy the present and prepare for the future. 

Life is too short to feed into any negativity aimed towards you. Focus on those that support and believe in the fabulous person that you are. You can't please everyone, so don't try (I've struggle with this one). 

Life is too short to not get out and enjoy (healthy) things. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone every now and then. You'll be surprised at how much you'll discover. 

In conclusion, life is too short to not love yourself! You are the one and only you and you were created in the eyes of God to love others. Let's lift one another up and live with Christ's love in our hearts...always!

God Bless each of you for being a part of my life! XoXo

Love in Christ,

Amy

O=5?!

Today is Olivia's 5th Birthday! It's so hard to believe that 5 years ago our lives forever changed. There's no such love as the gift of life and no way to quite explain the feeling that overcomes you after you hold your baby for the first time...it's 100% God! God has truly blessed us with the joy of Olivia Marie! 

To celebrate O's special day we did the following: 1). Olivia made fruit kabobs for her pre-k class and brought them into school for her friends to enjoy at snack. 2). Olivia got to open a couple of her gifts early this morning (lipgloss, Hello Kitty rings, hand sanitizer thing for her back pack, and a Birthday Princess sash) before getting dropped off at daycare. She was most excited about her rings. Too cute!

3). We let her pick out where she wanted to go for dinner and she was insistent on going to Chic-Fil-A. It turned out Wednesdays are Kids Night there which means that our kids ate FREE...sweet!! Our dinner was only $12 and they gave O a free cow stuffed beanie baby. After dinner the kids enjoyed playing in the play place. It was nice up until the 2 other random boys (my kids ages) started acting out. The oldest boy came up to my kids and randomly said, "I'm going to KILL you!" Right then and there Dan and I turned to each other and Dan said, "Yeah, that's not likely! Bye." And we left. I really hesitated to tell his mom, but it wasn't worth it. Who knows where she's coming from. Everyone has a story. I just felt bad for those boys bc the mother was in the booth in the restaurant reading a book and on her phone the entire time. She didn't go into check on them once. I'm not trying to judge her here but I just feel so bad for those young kids and for her. She'll never get these moments back. These kids grow up so quickly! I try to cherish every moment. Yes, I do have my bad mommy moments when I need a good cry behind closed doors, but I never want to look back with regrets bc life is too short.

Ok enough in my rant...moving on.

3). We assembled O's big gift...her art easel and she LOVES it! She also opened up the rest of her gifts (books, blanket throw, earrings, hello kitty undies). 

4). We sang Happy Birthday to her and had a piece of her Big Cookie that Dan made for her. She was all smiles!

5). I read her new books to her, she prayed and thanked God for her "especially special 5th birthday!"

Thank you, Jesus for the gift of Olivia Marie. I pray that she touches so many lives spreading your great love!