A look back on 2015!

Happy New Year 2016!

Here is a look back on our year 2015

January brought a lot of baby snuggles and some creative kids.

February brought more baby snuggles and Valentine's Day.

March brought a birthday for Eleanor. She is now 8! We had breakfast at Perkins with Grammy and Grandad. Eleanor's favorite place to go on her birthday. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day. We also said goodbye to big George. I don't think Sean has forgiven me for that one, but he was really big and starting to lose his stuffing... :/

April was an exciting month with Tab and Riley coming for a visit! :) Ruth and Riley are just 6 weeks apart and they finally got to meet face to face for the first time. We also celebrated our living Savior on Easter!

May brought even more baby snuggles and some #twinning This was also the month that I finally made the call to have Ruth evaluated by Early Childhood Intervention.

June brought some summer fun and a birthday for Sean. He is 10! This was the month that Ruth officially started therapy with McKids and started being able to sit unassisted.

July brought an Independence Day celebration and a visit from Papa and Grandma. This was the month Ruth started an asymmetrical army crawl and she pulled to stand for the first time! :)

August brought lots of bike riding outside, and a super cute Ruth and Great Grandad Dale picture :) This was the month Ruth learned to get herself into the sitting position on her own and soon after she started crawling on all fours. All thanks to her awesome therapy team!

September was an awesome month! Lily turned 5 and Ruth and I got to fly to Florida to visit Tab and her family! :) We also celebrated Tab's birthday while we were there. It was a super awesome time and I was extremely nervous to fly with a baby, but we did it and we survived and Ruth did amazing on the flights. I felt like a "real" grownup lol. It was so nice to visit my sister and her lovely family. I wish I could have brought all of the kids, but it was also a nice little break away for me too. This was also the month Ruth had her first visit with her pediatric neurologist and he told us that she has mild left hemiplegic cerebral palsy, which means she has weakness and tightness on the left side of her body.

October Was another big month with Ruth turning ONE, Halloween, recognizing World CP Day by wearing green, a visit to the pumpkin patch, a visit to Papa and Grandma's, and lots of fun time playing outdoors. I also started a page on facebook called Ruth's Hemiplegia Journey to document her journey with CP.

November brought Thanksgiving thankfulness, another visit with Papa and Grandma, matching Christmas jammies, Lilyana was in a play at the college directed by daddy! Such a brave girl to be on stage and I think she was pretty proud of herself :) Ruth had her MRI. We found out that she has mild PVL on both sides of her brain, which is what caused her CP. It means that she had inadequate blood flow and oxygen to some areas of her brain, which caused some of the nerves that transmit messages to her muscles to decay and die... I think I am explaining that right.

December brought a birthday for Chloe. She is now 7! We celebrated the birth of our Savior during the Christmas season, and now we look forward to a new year! I think it's easy to see that Ruth was a pretty big highlight of our year ;) We love her to pieces! We expect to see her standing and walking independently this year, possibly in the next few months! She is already a pro at crawling and cruising along the furniture. I think she just needs to get more balance and confidence to let go. We have seen her start to open her left hand and uncurl her left toes. She is using her left hand as a "helper" hand. She is bearing weight on both legs quite well and she is crawling more symmetrically. We are so excited to see how far she has come in the last 6 months. We are going to be focusing on language now as well as her motor skills as she is not saying many words yet.

BzzReport Kozy Shack Indulgent Recipe Pudding

I received coupons to try this pudding for free from BzzAgent. I shared it with my kiddos and my parents. We all agreed that it almost tastes like homemade! Especially the dark chocolate. It is rich, thick, creamy, and delicious. A fun and easy way to indulge without the mess and cleanup of homemade ;) My kids are already begging for more!

 I even got this cute little spoon to eat my pudding with! :)

It was finger lickin good!

Review of Influenster Nurture VoxBox

This post is to share my reviews of my free Influesnter NurtureVoxBox - Here is a quick overview of what was in the box -

 

 Ore-Ida Easy Fries - Influenster Review

The kids and I tried these Ore-Ida Easy Fries. I have to admit I was a little skeptical because I prefer baking fries in the oven and I didn't think the fries would get crispy in the microwave.  I was wrong.  They got crispy and they tasted great!  The only downside is that for a family of 7 we would need at least 3 boxes of fries to go around, so that 4 minutes in the microwave would turn into 12 minutes.  So in my opinion these are great for a snack, but if I was making them to go along with a meal I would prefer the Ore-Ida fries we typically buy to bake in the oven :)

Chloe's review :) They actually weren't all that salty, but I did add salt to them ;) 

#OreIdaEasyFries @Oreidapotatoes @Influenster

Attitude Little Ones Shampoo Review

I love pretty much everything about this shampoo! I kinda wish it had more scent, but I am also glad that it has a soft scent that isn't overpowering, so really that isn't even a complaint lol. The ingredients are worry-free, which is awesome!  No toxic, cancer causing ingredients.  I feel like this shampoo works well for my 6 year old, 4 year old, and 10 month old since their hair is still somewhat thin.  My 10 year old and 8 year old both have super thick hair though, so they'd need adult shampoo.

Here is my youngest old enjoying her bath with Attitude! ;)

 Squeaky clean!

I highly recommend this product and it is available at Target.

I received this shampoo from Influenster to try and review for free. My opinions are my own.

@ATTITUDEliving @Influenster #ATTITUDEatTarget

Uncle Ben's Influenster Review

Mixin' it up with Uncle Ben's® Flavored Grains. Looking for some inspiration? Just click here!  I love how easy this rice is to prepare.  It is tasty and makes a perfect side dish to our meals or even on it's own!  That is why I ‪#‎BeginWithBen‬ ‪#‎contest‬ @Influenster @UncleBens

I received this product free to give my honest review :)

Review of Skinfix diaper rash balm
 Happy mommy and happy baby! SkinFix clears rash in just one treatment with safe and effective ingredients :) I love everything about this product. The color, the scent, the thickness. It works too.

 @Skinfixinc Influenster #Skinfixed #contest

Review of Blue Lizard sunscreen  

 I think it is so cool how the cap of the Blue Lizard® turns blue with exposure to UV light! :) To be honest we aren't great at using sunscreen in our family, but this is really nice. It goes on smooth. It feels a little greasy, but it feels light on the skin and seems to cover well without washing off.

 Blue Lizard Sunscreen Influenster #protectingmyfamily #funinthesun #WeveGotYouCovered #contest

Review of Red Vines 

 This was probably the kids favorite part of ‪#‎NurtureVoxBox‬ from Influenster
‬
 Red Vines make a fun and yummy straw and snack :) Even the baby liked chewing on them!

 ‪#‎RedVinesRoadTrip‬ ‪#‎Influenster‬ ‪#‎NurtureVoxBox‬ ‪#‎Contest‬

 Hada Labo Tokyo

Who is up for a little at home spa experience? My skin is feeling hydrated and refreshed with this Ultimate Anti-Aging Facial Mask!

This one was a little outside my comfort zone to post a picture of me in a mask lol but it was fun too :) I like that it's mess free and no rinsing either. Just apply, leave on for 10-15 minutes, discard the mask and pat in remaining serum. It makes your skin feel soft and fresh. @HadaLaboTokyo @Influenster ‪#‎Influenster‬ ‪#‎HadaLaboMask‬ ‪#‎contest‬

Last thing is the Dramamine naturals. I never personally used it because I honestly didn't have a need to, but my husband did. He tends to get motion sickness easily and seemed to think that this worked really well! The fact that it's a non drowsy formula and uses natural ginger are some great features!  

#nondrowsydramamine #contest

Uncle Ben's Influenster Review

Mixin' it up with Uncle Ben's® Flavored Grains. Looking for some inspiration? Just click here!  I love how easy this rice is to prepare.  It is tasty and makes a perfect side dish to our meals or even on it's own!  That is why I ‪#‎BeginWithBen‬ ‪#‎contest‬ @Influenster @UncleBens

I received this product free to give my honest review :)

Attitude Little Ones Shampoo Review

I love pretty much everything about this shampoo! I kinda wish it had more scent, but I am also glad that it has a soft scent that isn't overpowering, so really that isn't even a complaint lol. The ingredients are worry-free, which is awesome!  No toxic, cancer causing ingredients.  I feel like this shampoo works well for my 6 year old, 4 year old, and 8 month old since their hair is still somewhat thin.  My 10 year old and 8 year old both have super thick hair though, so they'd need adult shampoo.

Here is my 8 month old enjoying her bath with Attitude! ;)

 Squeaky clean!

I highly recommend this product and it is available at Target. 

I received this shampoo from Influenster to try and review for free. My opinions are my own.

@ATTITUDEliving @Influenster #ATTITUDEatTarget

Ore-Ida Easy Fries - Influenster Review

I was chosen to receive a #NutureVoxBox from Influenster!  Lots of awesome products to try for free :)

Yesterday the kids and I tried these Ore-Ida Easy Fries. I have to admit I was a little skeptical because I prefer baking fries in the oven and I didn't think the fries would get crispy in the microwave.  I was wrong.  They got crispy and they tasted great!  The only downside is that for a family of 7 we would need at least 3 boxes of fries to go around, so that 4 minutes in the microwave would turn into 12 minutes.  So in my opinion these are great for a snack, but if I was making them to go along with a meal I would prefer the Ore-Ida fries we typically buy to bake in the oven :)

Chloe's review :) They actually weren't all that salty, but I did add salt to them ;) 

#OreIdaEasyFries @Oreidapotatoes @Influenster

Liv's Year in Review - Hello 2015

Isaiah 43:19
“Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

I am pleased to say that 2014 was a really good year for us!  Here are some highlights from the year -

January was mostly uneventful, but that is not a bad thing.  Here are some favorite Lily pictures from that month while we were visiting Chris's family in Missouri-

February brought some exciting news!

In March Eleanor turned 7 and we got to see our new baby on sonogram ♥ I was 11 weeks and 4 days pregnant when the sonogram was done. It was a huge relief to see an active baby and a beautiful heart beating after a loss in 2012.

April was another mostly uneventful month, but here is a favorite picture taken on Easter day.  Sean had caught a ladybug on his thumb and I took the picture just as it started to take flight -

In May we found out we were going to be welcoming a baby girl into our family -

Sean turned 9 in June -

Here are the kids on the 4th of July -

The end of August marked 34 weeks of pregnancy for me!

Lily turned 4 in September :)

October was an eventful month!  We had family visiting from Florida, Mandy and Simon came for a visit, and baby Ruth was born!

Here are pictures of Tab and and me with our cousins Heddy, Angie, and Nathan.  It had been 9 years since we had all been together.  Sean was just a little baby the last time we'd all seen each other.

My kids got to spend the whole month of October with their cousins and Tab and I enjoyed some sister time.  I hate that they live so far away from us, but we enjoyed the time that we got -

Here are some pictures from our visit with Mandy and Simon -

October 10th at 5:13 pm Ruth Juliet was born!  She was 5 pounds 8 ounces and 18.25 inches long -

My mom had a birthday on October 18th and we got a picture of Grammy and Grandad with all their grands as well as a picture of mom, Tab, and me ♥

Tab and I took the kids trick-or-treating on Halloween night.  It was a cold night, but we all had fun! :)

Tab and the kids went back home to Florida in November, but not before we got a picture of all the kids with the dala horse in Lindsborg -

November 10th Ruth was 1 month old -

November 22nd my new Niece Riley Elizabeth was born!  Tabitha had her at home with a midwife and I am so proud of her!

Here are the kids on Thanksgiving day -

December 10th Ruth was 2 months old -

December 14th Chris and I celebrated 12 years of marriage -

 Chloe turned 6 in December :)

Here are some pictures from Christmas -

I pray 2014 was a happy year for you and that 2015 will be an even happier one!

Lastly, I will leave you with this song by Gungor.  It has been a favorite for me -