FIVE

I am so excited that it is Friday again!! Weekends are just the BEST when you have a little one at home!!  There have been many things happening on the Farm this week!

{ONE}

I am in FULL ON party planning mode for Ellie's First Birthday.  Of course its not until May, but I want to make sure that she has a splendiforous birthday.  We have waited a long time for our little one to join our family, so I have had plenty of time to gather ideas to celebrate her birthday!  While I want her party to be awesome I don't want to break the bank with it.  So I am hoping to get some things that can be re-used from year to year as well as DIY a bunch of stuff.   I will for sure get the tutorials up for the stuff I choose to do myself.  I am not a huge fan of the "themed" birthday parties, so I am focusing on a Color Scheme for her party - that way much of the stuff can hopefully be re-purposed in one way or another.  Click to see my Color Inspiration and the Flowers!

{TWO}

Life has been crazy hectic lately with me having some Super low times.  I think its what comes with the territory of dealing with Infertility.  I have the whole story up HERE, but I think I would like to edit it or create some posts about the feelings and effects (affects? I always get confused) it has had on me.  I have read some great blogs lately that have been able to vocalize my feelings.  The thing about Infertility is that many of us are silently battling it.  We don't like to talk about it much and some people say some of the most insensitive things even though they "mean well".  It is what it is.  I just know that I am a much stronger person now and have really learned to lean on the LORD through all of this.

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. Psalms 86:1 (NLT) 

{THREE} 

I have fallen in love with blogging all over again.  I have looked back at my posts of the past and have seen how far I have come.  I am not really sure what the direction of this blog is per say, but I enjoy having a place where I can write out my thoughts, share my experiences, and feel the warmth of the blogging community.  I want to thank each and every one of my dear followers (both public and private) and that your comments make my day!  My hopes for this blog are for it to grow, gain new followers, and that I will soon get to partner with sponsors to offer giveaways and such.  If you are interested in being a Sponsor of this blog, email me and I will get you the deets!  Sponsorship is on $5 for 3 months - and you get a blog post about your blog or shop!! How awesome is that?!

{FOUR}

I am a little late to the game for posting up my "New Years Resolutions".  I don't really have any this year.  Last year I was hoping to use less paper towels and I was pretty successful with that until Ellie came into our lives!! HAHA.  But this year I am hoping to make more things at home: DIY, Meals, meal planning and whatnot.  This is help us to be more financially responsible.  I love my job, but my hours got cut from last year and it has been a little rough with a lighter paycheck, having to pay a ton of unexpected medical bills due to my 4th miscarriage, childcare, and just the incidentals.  I know that God will provide and that many things must remain on my "wish list" rather than on my "got it list" and I am ok with that.  We are just focusing on the necessities right now.

Another thing that is my goal for 2014 is to become pregnant with a viable pregnancy.  I am done with these miscarriages.  I did the math the other day (stupid) and I have been pregnant for nearly 35 weeks between my 4 miscarriages - but not one of them has passed the 8 week mark, nor have we ever heard a heartbeat or seen an ultrasound.

{FIVE} 

We have been saving for a new rug in our living room for a couple of years and I finally was able to get one!!  It arrived in the mail yesterday (thanks Ebates!) and it looks FANTASTIC!  I am so happy that we have a new clean rug for Ellie to roll around on and we finally got rid of the indoor/outdoor brown rug we have had in there since 2009!!  I can't wait to go back through all my photos and share with you Ladies a side by side of what our living room looked like when we first bought our house to what it looks like today.  Spoiler Alert: It looks better today!!

♥ Ashley