Lyla turns THREE.

Our youngest is THREE, how can that be?!  I've got rhymes.  Lyla requested an Elsa party.  Yes...we are at least 3 years behind.  She LOVES Frozen and up until a few months ago, we watched that movie at least once a week.  I'm over it.  BUT its not my birthday, so.....she got her Elsa party.  I am beginning to realize that Gage and Lyla's birthdays are way too close together.  Gage is March 20th and Lyla's is May 8th...way too close for throwing birthday parties.  No more big birthday parties.  At what point do I have to start only inviting Gage's friends?!  Probably now, huh?  I like throwing parties, but two in 6 weeks gets a little much.  Since this post isn't about me, I'll move along.

So, it was a typical birthday party day.  The weatherman was calling for rain in the morning.  By noon when the party started, it was beautiful.  We had Lyla's (or mine to be honest) closest friends and family over.  We built Olaf with paper plates, rode toys, ate hot dogs, rode in the horse carriage, got tattoos and ate cupcakes.  Lyla fell asleep while on the carriage and stayed asleep on my moms shoulder for an hour.  Sounds like a successful party to me :)

The Birthday Girl :) 

Frozen cupcakes!

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Pin the nose on Olaf.

Love them!

Singing Happy Birthday :)

Carriage Ride

 Dan is a trooper.

So.TIRED.

Sienna, Lyla and Callie

Making Olaf with Gemma

Gemma & Lyla

Grey, Olivia, Elise, Gemma, Lyla, Maverick, Sloan, Sienna, Addi, Gage, Reese, Callie, Bryce and Mia (some not picture).  So many friends to help us celebrate, we love ya'll!

This was a few days before her party to celebrate her cousin Mia's birthday, but I had to post :)  She looks so big here! Can't believe she's 3.  

Gage is FIVE.

As every parent says, I can't believe you are FIVE!  Let's take a little trip back to memory lane.  I was HUGE when I was pregnant with you.  I think I gained like 60 lbs, seriously.  However, the pregnancy was a breeze.....until the end when I had preclamsia, which means I was in the hospital longer, on a magnesium drip (its horrible by the way) and had a catheter.....and I still had another kid.  What. In. The. World?!  God is tricky, he made me forget that mess.

Gage, you are always on the go.  Always.  You do not stop.

You do not nap but you are a pretty good sleeper at night.  You have 4 blankets that you sleep with:  Carolina, Jurassic Park, Panthers and a little teal one you've had since you were a baby...a little excessive, don't ya think?!

You still pee in your pants ALL.THE.TIME....like at least once a day.  Mad at me?  Then stop, seriously.  You just cannot seem to slow down and actually take a second to go to the bathroom.

You love Ninja Turtles (still), any superhero, "color songs", which are videos on youtube of superheroes, play dough, surprise eggs, etc....you can pretty much find anything and navigate my phone better than I can.

You watch too much TV.  You would sit in front of it all day if we let you.

You love to play outside "when you feel like it".  You learned how to ride a bike without training wheels when you were about last summer.  You saw Mia doing it and decided you wanted to.  It didn't take you but a few minutes and you did it on your own!

You love putting legos or any sort of blocks/building sets together.

You hate to brush your teeth.  You love footy pajamas.  You would eat 5 lbs of yogurt a day if we let you.  You love milk and will drink water too.  You are OBSESSED with candy.  It's a little scary how much you love it.  Spankings, time out and sitting in your room aren't very effective but if you say, "I'm taking away candy".....you have. a. fit.

You are such an AWESOME brother.  You will do anything for Lyla and you take such good care of her.  That's one of my favorite things about you :)

You are kind hearted.  You love to wrestle with your dad and play with your sister.  You enjoy the little things in life like playing in the dirt, running in the grass and playing hide and go seek.

You started going to Pre-K/Daycare at The Learning Express in August 2016.  I get the usual, "he did a good job but had trouble keeping his hands to himself" almost every day.  Your teacher, Ms. Danielle says that you participate a lot and answer lots of questions during group time.  You love school and have learned so much!

I CANNOT believe you will be starting kindergarten in August.  That makes me sad but excited at the same time.  I will get to be with you.  If I know you well, I think you'll walk right in to your class on the first day with no problem (I hope).  You are going to do great things.  I want you to be kind.  I want you to be that kid that stands up for others and is a good friend.  I want you to always do your best and be respectful to your teachers.  I want you to try when you aren't sure and know that its ok to mess up.  I know you have all these qualities in you.  I want you to always trust God and put him first and everything else will follow.

You have taught me more than you'll ever know.  You challenge me in ways I've never been challenged before but you were the first to call me mom and for that, you're my buddy.

To celebrate your birthday we had family and friends come to the farm.  Unfortunately it rained all morning so we had to set up in the barn.  You wanted a sports party!  So we had baseball decorations, baseball cupcakes made by LaLa, me (I just iced the stitches on the baseballs) and your cousins.  You all played soccer, hit off the tee, rode bikes, hit a baseball piñata and ran around.  The day actually turned out to be beautiful and you had a great time!  You said it was the "Best Birthday Ever!"

**That's as good as it gets with the pictures.  I'll try more later...thanks blogger (insert eye roll).

My Hair Journey.

A little over 3 years ago my hair journey began (it showed up in my time hop today so here I am)!   I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was 7 months pregnant with Lyla.  I was putting my hair up half way and saw a little bald spot (about the size of a dime) near my hairline by my forehead.  I was in a hurry to get somewhere (I don't remember where) so I didn't think much of it.  I actually thought it was part of the pregnancy because its not uncommon for women to loose hair AFTER pregnancy so I thought maybe mine came a little early.  The day went on and the more I thought about it I decided I should have Erik check for more spots.  Although, I really didn't think he would find any.  As he looked through my head I could feel my heart beating fast, hoping he wasn't going to say anything (not uncommon for Erik, bless his heart) or see anything.  Then, I heard him gasp, "Oh my gosh".  I thought he was kidding, I literally said, "shut up, you're joking".  He said, "No really, you have a huge spot back here".  It took a minute to sink in and I wanted to know exactly what he was talking about so I had him take a picture of the spot.  It was literally the size of a baseball....a baseball people, how did we not notice this before???  I immediately broke down.  Of course I thought the worse, I have cancer?  Why does our mind always tend to wonder to what could possibly be the worst case scenario?!  I immediately called my doctor.  It was after hours so I had to wait for a nurse to call me back.  Of course when the nurse finally called back, she acted like it was "part of the pregnancy".  Anyways, months after visits to the doctors and dermatologists, I was diagnosed with alopecia areata, which is loss of hair in round areas of the scalp.  It is an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks your hair follicles which stops hair growth.  I was told my hair could never come back, it could come back and fall out again (many, many times), or this could be a one time deal.  However, I was still convinced that it had everything to do with pregnancy and as soon as Lyla came out, my hair would all grow back.  Ha.  Wishful thinking.

After the diagnosis I cried many tears, wondered "why me", became angry at God, was embarrassed about my looks, the list goes on.  I tried to hide the baldness for months with hats and I struggled with getting my haircut because I didn't want to loose what little I had left.  But one day I did it anyways.  THAT was a hard day.  I had never cried about a hair cut (I was always confident it would grow back in no time if I didn't like it) but this cut just wasn't me.  I was (still am) the girl who likes to wear my hair up in a ponytail, that's just how I roll :)

Through this, I've grown in my FAITH tremendously.  I've learned that you never know what people are going through.  To not care what other people think.  To remain hopeful and to trust in God's plan.  Easier said than done.  I had to convince myself for a while that it would be fine.  What if my hair didn't grow back?  What if it kept falling out?  No matter what my hair decided to do, I was certain about this, God is good ALL.THE.TIME.

It's been over three years and God has put hair back on my head, thank you Jesus!  It hasn't grown fast like it did before this journey but its growing and for that, I'm grateful.  It still falls out in clumps (every morning) but I have not had a visible bald spot (at least to most people) in a long time.  I still struggle with my hair style because short hair is not my thing, but it works.  I can get it in a pony tail....can I get a HALLELUJAH?  Whoop Whoop!  Its super thick at my roots and thin the longer it gets towards the ends.  Weird.  But people, I've got hair on my head.  I wasn't sure if that day would ever come again.  I was prepared to wear a wig my whole life.  Sike.  Those things suck.  I would rather be bald.  But for real, I am so thankful.

Although, I've grown so much through this (not vertically), I can't go as far and say I WOULDN'T change a thing (I think people lie about that anyways).  BUT, this is MY story and its part of who I am.  Now, enjoy my hair journey pictures.  

All was well at 12 weeks pregnant.....dun dun dun.  

This is the first spot I noticed on November 9, 2013.

This is the picture that Erik took the same night he found the "baseball" size spot. 

3 months later......February 19, 2014   

Sorry, this is gross.  I'm not gonna lie, I was scared to wash my hair a lot because that's when it would fall out the most. 

My first trim.  My little ponytail...poor thing.  

My first solution was a wig.  I'm wearing it in this picture and below.  

My hat wearing' days.

March 26, 2014...A little over a month later, I had a little growth.  This was after using topical cream from the dermatologist.  The cream was the best option since I was pregnant at the time.  

June 2014.

After Lyla was born I was able to get steroid shots!  They were injected in my scalp in every bald spot.  Depending on the size of the bald spot, I got up to 20-30 injections in some.  Not the best feeling in the world but tolerable.  This is what happened in less than a month :)  

How it looked in a pony tail.  I ended up stopping the steroids after about 2 rounds.  They made me C.R.A.Z.Y.  I couldn't sleep and when I did, I dreamed about killing people.  

This was in August of 2014 (9 months into my journey), the day after I got my hair cut off.  I hated it.

This was taken over a year after my haircut.  My hair was definitely growing but s.s.s.s.l.l.l.l.o.o.o.o.w.w.w.w.w.l.l.l.l.l.y.y.y.y.y.

October 2015

November 2015.

What a difference a year makes!  Our Christmas card from 2014 and 2015.  

April 2016.  Not a huge difference from above.  It grows in spurts for some reason.

June 2016

October 2016.  

Christmas 2016.  

Throwback to 2011.  

I can't WAIT for this day again...to have long hair.  Please Lord, I'll be good :)  

Thank you all for sharing my journey with me!  I cannot thank my family and friends enough for the daily motivation to go through this journey.  This blog has been beyond helpful to share my feelings and even to help others going through the same things.  

*Disclaimer:  Ladies, it is completely normal to loose some hair after giving birth.  I did with Gage.  This was like beyond excessive hair loss, clumps of hair and obvious bald spots.  I've had women contact me after reading my blog because they were scared their hair was falling out.  Hang in there, being a momma is worth it :)  

Holidays and SNOW!

Its been a little crazy since moving in our new house the day before Thanksgiving!  But, better late than never.  We had Thanksgiving at Lindsay's house this year because she is the only one that is really settled into her house.  The rest of us were building and Lauren was still in their rental house.  We had our usual....too much food :)

All moved in!

We began celebrating Christmas with the "Hill Road Gang" on Christmas Eve morning.  Sandy and Michelle McCord has all the neighbors that live on Hill Road for an annual breakfast.  It was super yummy and we got to meet more neighbors.  Then Janice, Alicia, Zach, Chase and Finley came to our house to celebrate Christmas that day.  I cooked for the first time ever; green bean, sweet potato, hash brown and corn casserole.  It wasn't bad for cooking all that for my first time.  Janice brought the honey baked ham, yum!  After they left we went to Christmas Eve service.  THAT'S when it all started getting a little crazy.  Lauren and I got a text during the service that Meemaw's heart was bothering her, she was short of breath and was having trouble breathing.  Lauren and Chris raced to her house.  The ambulance picked her up and took her to the main hospital downtown.  So, Meemaw spent several days there and did not get to come home for Christmas :(  THEN on Christmas morning I woke up to a text from my dad that he didn't feel right either.  He needed to go to the hospital.  So Lyla, Erik and I woke Gage up to open presents and after they did, I took Dad to the hospital.  You might be wondering why my mom didn't.  Well, she spent the night with Meemaw on Christmas Eve night so she wasn't even home.  Poor Dad had to spend a few nights in the hospital too and did not get to come home for Christmas.  It just wasn't the same.  But we made it work.  Lindsay had those of use that could come to her house for lunch that dad.  Lauren had to work and Sheri was with Meemaw so there were quite a lot of us missing.  That night we went to Mimi's.  The day after Christmas dad got to come home so we celebrated then.  It was a crazy time but things happen.  So....I barely have any pictures but below is what I do have :)

Gage went to the Christmas Show with me and got a early picture with Santa :)

We picked out our Christmas Tree and at the Cedar Lake Tree Farm in Lincolnton.

Love them!

Grandpa Gary and Grandma Treena were visiting and got to go with us!

Annual Zootastic Fun!

Gingerbread House making at the Joe and Sonya Garman's House (Gage was in Burlington with Grammy J)

Gage in his Christmas Program with School (The Learning Express in Denver).  He was a cow and as you can imagine, had a hard time sitting still.  However, when his part came up with all laughed because it was a quite "MOO".

Santa came to Gage's Christmas performance.  Lyla wasn't a fan.

We tried to go see Santa at Bass Pro shop and the wait was 3 hours....no thanks.

We threw Dad a surprise 60th birthday at The Woodshed!

Annual Baking Day! Gage and Lyla were both snotty.

Christmas Morning!  Gage got a new scooter, ninja turtle helmet, pillow and jacket and LOTS of lego sets.  The one thing he REALLY wanted was a sword and shield....oh boy!

Lyla got lots of baby dolls and accessories, dress up clothes and barbies.  She kept asking for a barbie so thats what Santa brought here :)  She hasn't touched it since....typical.

Gage and I at Lindsay's on Christmas Day.

All the kids on Christmas Day.

Our first Christmas on the farm!

Gage's favorite present....the scooter.

Lyla's new Minnie Mouse Robe.

Not long after Christmas we got 7 inches of snow!!!  The night it started snowing Gage, Lyla and the Bergman's went ahead and started playing as it was falling down.  The kids had a BLAST!

Night sledding.

The 4-wheeler was a lifesaver after sledding down the big hills.

2016 Christmas Card.

Thank you Jesus for another year full of blessings!  We are so honored to live in this world you have created for us and equally as thankful for watching over us and providing for us this year.  Thank you for your blessings to come in 2017!  Please bless our friends and family and help us to never forget all you've done and continue to do for us.  Amen.