39th birthday goals

I haven’t posted on here in forever. It’s amazing to look back on these posts and see how much has changed since starting this blog. God is good. All the time. No matter what.

Today is my 39th birthday. I want to go into my 40th strong; solid in my relationship with Christ and feeling healthy. So I have some daily goals for this year.

Daily quiet time goals: Reading in God’s Word/Biblestudy

Improving my prayer life/ living a Spirit filled life: daily prayer steps
1. Adoration- Acknowledging God’s character and attributes. Praising Him for His love, power, majesty, gift of Christ.
2. Confession- Exhale. Acknowledge personal sin specifically. Then acknowledge Christ has already forgiven you. Repent, asking God to give you strength to go against sinful desires.
3. Inhale- Surrender control of life to God. Trust Him to direct and empower you.
4. Ask to be filled with the Spirit.
5. Thanksgiving- Tell God how grateful you are for everything, even in the midst of unpleasant things. Thankfulness will help you see His purposes.
6. Supplication- Pray for others and for yourself making specific requests.

After quiet time, Exercise!! Let’s see if I can do this every day for the next year;) I want to hit my 40th birthday feeling young.

For those of you reading this, thank you for joining me on this journey:)

Quiet time and workout #1 DONE!:)

My Second Baby Story Adventure

This time was so different.  The pregnancy was similar; healthy but battling dehydration with intense nausea throughout.  Sadie was two weeks late, and I had to be induced.  Mia was just two days past her due date, and I went into labor naturally!  Which is exactly what I wanted.  On my due date I went and walked the track for about 30 minutes to see if I could get things moving. 

Then two days later on Saturday March 26, I woke up at 1:30am with weird cramping kind of coming and going every few minutes.  I wondered if it was something I ate, but then I noticed the bleeding.  Immediately woke up Hank and called my doctor.  To my relief she said it was just the early stage of labor and could last for hours.  So Hank went back to sleep.  I of course took a shower, did my nails, watched a movie, checked and rechecked my suitcase, looked at pictures from Sadie's birth, did some last minute work for IU and Miracle House..;)  When nothing more was happening, I finally fell back asleep around 4:30.  I started waking up with mild contractions.  I'd breathe through them and fall back asleep.  Hank came in around 6:30 to get ready for work(he'd gone out to the couch amid my middle of the night party;), assuming nothing more was happening.  Well he walks in, and I'm breathing super hard through an intense contraction.  He's like, how far apart are they? I'm like, I don't know. ???  So he lies down and times a couple.  Um, Michelle, 5 minutes apart lasting a minute each... We need to call the doctor.  Of course by that point I couldn't even talk through them, so we call and start rushing around to get out the door and get Sadie out the door.  Hank did so great as I was completely useless by that point.  We leave, drop Sadie off at a friend's, and head to the hospital.  And it was just like the movies!  Hank driving fast, me in a lot of pain at this point and breathing hard.  Fortunately the hospital is only about a 15 minute drive.  Through walking in, checking in, and getting settled in our room, I had about 5 more contractions.  They were just coming so fast.  I kept saying as soon as you can get me that epidural the better!  The nursing staff was great.  They worked so fast to get me situated and checked and order the epidural.  About an hour after we arrived, that angelic nurse came and quickly put in the epidural.  By that point I was already 7cm.  With Sadie I barely made it to 4 before getting one.  I really liked going into labor naturally as opposed to being induced with pitocin.  I was just handling the contractions much better.  Anyways, got the epidural and everything was great. 

Hank and I were joking around with the nurses, texting family and friends with updates.  My sister got there about 30 minutes after the epidural to pick up the keys so she could stay with Sadie that night.  Hank went down to give her keys and carseat.  About 5 minutes after he walked out, I heard baby girl's heart rate drop suddenly.  The next 15 minutes are kind of a blur.  Nurses ran in, had me flip over, heart rate stops, had me get on my hands and knees, they're pushing around, back on my back, then "Push!"  I push as hard as I can, finally a heart beat, but a slow one.  "Push one more time, Michelle!"  I push with all I had.  "Ok Stop!!  There's the head."  What???  "Michelle, I need you to lay really still now.  No pushing.  Somebody go find the husband.  Call the doctor..."  Hank comes back in and just freezes for a second as he sees what's happening.  Comes and takes my hand, and we both just look at eachother like WOW.  My doctor walks in and is like WOW when she sees what she about missed.  Pulls up a chair, "Ok, Michelle, push."  And there she was.  Baby girl came out with the most beautiful little cries, and everything was perfect.  Turns out her heart rate dropped because she dive bombed the birthing canal.  Went through it in like a second.  Apparently baby's have a hard time when that happens.  But she was just fine:)  Our beautiful Mia Grace was born at 11:30am on March 26 at St.Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco, CO, which is the highest elevation maternity center in the country.

Most babies born up here have to be on oxygen for a period of time after birth.  Mia fortunately had great oxygen levels, and we went home after two days happy and healthy.  Sadie grew up real quick and proudly adopted her new role as big sister.  The first month was a rough transition, but she settled down pretty quickly as soon as we got back into a routine and I was able to play with her more.  Each month gets easier and more fun, and we are adoring having two little girls now.  They are just the sweetest together.  We feel extremely blessed and are so thankful! Here are some more pictures:)

Sadie's first look at Mia:)

Time to go home:)

 Psalm 139:14 "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Estes Park

Hank and I spent our honeymoon in Estes Park, Colorado.  That was about 7 years ago.  When we moved back to Colorado, we knew we wanted to go back there for an anniversary.  So this year, for our 7th anniversary/2nd babymoon, we took Sadie and went to Estes for a long weekend to celebrate:)  We love that town so much, so I wanted to make sure I included it on the travel blog with our favorite places there.

Accomodations
For our honeymoon, a friend of ours gifted us with using her family's cabin for the week.  There are so many gorgeous cabins tucked away in the mountains by rivers there.  This time we wanted to make sure we got a 2 bedroom place, and we found a lot of options on Vacation Rentals By Owner.  We got a beautiful condo within walking distance of the main street.  It was located at Lofts at Estes.  We went in January, so it was really affordable.  The peak season for Estes is summer and fall.

My favorite part of the condo;)

Restaurants

Now

Breakfast: Claire's On The Park 

Then

Dinner: The Rock Inn Mountain Tavern (Best food, coffee, atmosphere, and dessert EVER! Plus live music!)

Then if you drive a little outside of town to Lyons, Colorado: Oskar Blues!!  By far one of our favorite restaurants ever.

Then with my many beverages;)

Now:)

Dessert: Estes Park Pie Shop- You Need Pie!  - Amazing Pie!  And a really good breakfast too with quiche!

Local Area Attractions

The Stanley Hotel: The hotel featured in the movie The Shining.  Eek!  But it is beautiful and really fun to walk around.  Also in Dumb and Dumber;)    

Hiking: There is a hill across from The Stanley that has old cabin ruins at the top.  So beautiful.

 The hiking everywhere is pretty incredible...

Walking around town across the many bridges along the river... Gorgeous!

Then

Now (I was 7 months pregnant;)

Elk everywhere:)  This is near downtown Estes, which is so super cute to walk around!  We love all of the shops.  There is a glass blowing store with amazing things and daily demonstrations that we've really enjoyed.

So that is my very quick review of Estes Park from our two trips there.  We LOVE it and recommend it to absolutely everyone we know.  We've only ever been there in January, so we really want to go back one summer! :)

Clueless Mom

Right now, I feel like a completely clueless mom.  Sadie started throwing temper tantrums a few weeks ago, and I have no idea how to handle them.  She needs to be potty trained, but she's not.  She needs to eat more/healthier, but she won't.  She needs to keep taking naps, she's resisting.  Bedtime's 7:30, last night she wouldn't settle in until 9.  She needs/wants to be active and play, but I'm 7 months pregnant, tired, and dealing with too cold/snow days every.single.day.  People are very quick to give advice, but it just stresses me out.  Trust me, I have asked for advice in every single one of these areas, but I ask people who have known me for years, who have kids older than mine that have turned out great.  Today, I'm struggling.  I feel like I'm not good enough for my family; a failure.  Thankfully, my mom gave me the movie Moms Night Out for Christmas, and that scene towards the end came to my mind this afternoon when I finally had to set everything aside and pray.  Here's the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_aY2M5hxyw.  So I'm not posting this for advice, but hoping I can maybe encourage another mom who is struggling like me today.  You're not alone in this.  And I hope this scene encourages you as it did me:)

Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  (Isaiah 40:29)
Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  (1 Peter 5:7)

Aspen

I finally got to go check out Aspen, Colorado today.  It's been on my bucket list for years.  I went for work, so I didn't get to sight see too much, but I have a few recommendations.

1. There are two ways to get to Aspen from Denver and Summit County.  My favorite way is through Copper, Leadville, and Independence Pass.  This drive is literally the most beautiful drive I've ever done in my life.  Independence Pass is closed for the winter, so you can only take this drive between Memorial Day and the beginning of November.

On the way back I drove through Glenwood Springs and then I-70.  The landscape through there was really unique; kind of desert like.  Reminded me of a Western movie;)

2.  I recommend Peach's Corner Cafe for breakfast.  It is located in beautiful downtown Aspen, and the food is awesome!  Afterwards I loved walking around downtown, taking pictures of the slopes, and window shopping:)

3.  If you are visiting Aspen in the summer time, be sure to check out the Aspen Music Festival.  Awesome classical musicians around the world come here to study and perform every summer.

That's it for now!  Hoping to make it back sometime soon:)