Gratitude Challenge Day 4

Yesterday I talked about how I am thankful for my oldest child, Andrew. And today I would like to focus on my youngest, Benjamin who is 3.

Today I am so very thankful for my sweet, loving, smart, funny, caring boy, Benjamin.

Benjamin is always surprising us. That is exactly how he came into this world in August of 2010, six weeks before his due date. My labor came on fast and hard and we almost didn't make it to the hospital on time! He was born less then 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital and was quickly rushed off to the NICU where he spent the first 19 days of his life the first 7 of which were on a ventilator to breathe. He was really sick but we had faith in God's plan and that he would be ok and he was.

So he had a very rough start in life but is now a very healthy little boy. 

He did have one more rough patch when he was 13 months old where his lungs got very sick again and he spent 11 days at Riley Childrens in Indy. 

But he bounced back from that too and since then has been very healthy, surprising his doctors who predicted he would be asthmatic and in and out of the ER when he got sick. We are so thankful that has not been the case.

Benjamin loves to play and he looks up to his big brother Andrew. Benjamin is sweet, handsome, caring, smart, and so funny. He loves sports, books and loves to socialize. We love him very much and cannot picture our lives without him in it. We are so grateful to God for entrusting us to be his parents. He is truly a gift in our lives.

Thanks for reading. What are you thankful for today? Have you been keeping up with the challenge? It's never too late to join in. 

Have a great day!!

~Rebecca~

Gratitude Challenge Day 3

I am very grateful for my children. I have two here on earth and two in heaven that we never got to meet.

But today I will focus on my oldest child, Andrew, who I am so very thankful for.

When we became parents over 5 years ago, we had an idea of what to expect with sleep, feeding, burping, changing, etc. We after all, like any first time parents, had a read copy of "What To Expect When You're Expecting"! :) But what we had no true idea about was the amount of joy and love we would have for another little being. Parenthood is an amazing gift and one that I have learned in these last several months to not take for granted.

A friend of our family wrote us a beautiful card sometime after Andrew was born. She said that when we see him smile at us, when he hugs and cuddles with us, when he looks at us….that is the face of God! We can see the Lord through our child and all children as they are so close to God. WOW!!! That was so profound to me and I think about that sometimes. Really puts things into perspective for me as we were all created in His image. And I am so thankful that God entrusted David and I to care for Andrew. and to raise him and teach him. Such an important job that I do not always think I do a good job at. But then I see my son look at me, smile at me, trust me to care for his needs, and I realize that from his perspective, I am doing a pretty good job. :)

A few things that come to mind when I think of my oldest son are that he is smart, handsome, witty, sensitive, shy, a perfectionist….and he teaches me things every day. He is also a good helper and a great big brother. He is compassionate and thinks about things in ways that I don't. I enjoy seeing the world through his perspective. I am truly blessed to be his mommy and love him so much. :)

Thanks for reading. What are you thankful for today?

Have a great day!!

~Rebecca~

Gratitude Challenge Day 2

Day 2 of our Gratitude Challenge….

Today I am Thankful for My Wonderful Husband, David.

Our spouse or significant other is someone who we or at least I, sometimes take for granted. When I realize this, I am sorry that I have done it.  I am thankful for David, a gift that God has given me and our family. 

I remember on our first date, Jan 11, 2001 at the Bread Garden in Iowa City, we had a conversation that actually turned to marriage. Not like we were thinking that we would get married that day or anything but just a conversation. And David said something to me that really stuck with me. He said that when he gets married, it will be only one time. How rare is that these days! And now that we have been for over 9 years I realize that he meant it. 

Through the good and bad times. We all have them. David is a loyal man, hard working and a wonderful provider. He is a good husband and an excellent father to our two little boys.

So today I am thankful for my husband. My partner in this journey and probably the only person I know who can truly put up with me! LOL!

Thanks for stopping in. What are you thankful for Today?

Have a great day!

~Rebecca~

Gratitude - A 30 Day Thanksgiving Challenge!

I can hardly believe it is NOVEMBER already! I find it interesting that when I was a kid I couldn't wait to grow up..for my next birthday. To become 16. Then 18. Then 21. After around 25 I think I was ready for time to slow a bit. It seems to just fly by and I definitely can have it slow down as I am only a few years, ok maybe 2 years and a few months, away from 40!!! Wow! 

Anyway, back to topic. Since it is November, people start talking about gratitude. Being thankful. Thanksgiving. You see daily posts about it on Facebook. On Twitter. The news media talks about it. Talk shows focus on it. People are reminded of all that we have and all that we should say Thank You for !!

For me this is a great lesson. As time moves on, I find it easy to take for granted all that God has given me. And when I really sit down and write it out, He has blessed me with so much!!! He really has. It is so easy to focus on negative things in our world.  You see that kind of stuff everywhere. It's also so easy to compare ourselves to other people. The grass is always greener as they say. I know I have gotten caught up in this. But when we focus on positive things, surround ourselves with positive people and start each day being thankful, our perspective changes. We are happier. We see things in a new light. 

It's easy to get caught up in the day to day stuff. Ugh, the dishes need to be loaded into the dishwasher AGAIN (but then I realize how thankful I am to HAVE a dishwasher!) Or the laundry is piling up AGAIN! 

But hey, we have a washer and dryer that works well and detergent to clean our clothes…and while we are at it, we have the money to BUY clothes that are nice. Or are thankful to people like my mother in law who have clothed my children in the past so they have nice things to wear. 

When I think about those things then my attitude changes from ugh I have to do more chores to…hey God, thanks for giving me another one of Your days so I can do my chores to help my family. And while I am at it, thanks so much for my family!!! They may drive me nutty at times but they are all in all pretty darn awesome and are blessings in my life.

So there. I went on to write a quick post about gratitude and you know what it did? It turned that sink load of dishes and baskets of laundry that are waiting for me when I stop procrastinating here, to something to look forward to. Ok, I know you don't buy that. I don't look forward to doing those things - ever! But it changes my perspective  just a bit to know it is one of the things that God has called me to do. For that I am truly grateful.

So my challenge to you is to think of one thing you are grateful for each day. Write it down. Put a Facebook or tweet up about it. Or comment here. Tell a friend. Tell your significant other. Tell God! try it. It will brighten your day and help to put things into perspective.

~

Today I am thankful for….God and the gift of my life. I am not deserving of all of the wonderful blessings He has given me but I am so incredibly grateful for another day here. 

We are all His children. And that is something to say thanks for. :)

Thanks for reading! I hope you will join me in this challenge for the next 30 days. 

Have a wonderful day!

~Rebecca~

Halloween Fun!

My family had a ton of fun on Halloween. We were concerned about the weather but it held out while we went trick or treating. It was mild temps and a little light drizzle. Not bad! My husband and I took the kids out for a little while and then my youngest and I came home to pass out treats.

 Here are some fun pictures that we took of the kids. Some of the pictures are from Benjamin's costume party and parade at his preschool. They had so much fun and were so cute:) You can also see how my husband loves to decorate for Halloween. He puts up all of these scary motion detecting decorations that the kids love and little ones are afraid of. No tears this year so that was a good thing!

Did you have a fun Halloween? What did your kids dress up as this year?

Thanks for stopping in! Have a great day!

~Rebecca~

My Promotion!!!

Hello Friends! I am back to blogging! I am super excited because my new computer arrived today and although I am posting from my old one, I will soon be up and running on something so much more reliable so I know that I will not lose an entire post in the middle of working on it. So frustrating when that happens!

I also want to say THANK YOU to all of my prayer warriors and supporters out there. All of the kind words, thoughts, personal stories of loss that you shared, emails, calls and cards were so appreciated. We are doing better now. Still sad but trusting in God's plan for our family.

On a happier note -

Today I am excited to share that....

I Was Promoted to 

SHAKLEE FastTrack Director!!!

Many of you know that I grew up with Shaklee. My parents found Shaklee in 1975, before I was born, after my mom had some health issues and her doctor told her she would need a hysterectomy. My mom started taking Shaklee supplements and turned her health around, which is pretty lucky for me otherwise I wouldn't be here today to write this! :) And Shaklee helped me turn my own health around in August of 2010 when my youngest son was born premature and was very sick. The nutritional products helped me to get through that stressful time and also helped me to get to a healthy weight again and maintain it!

You can read more about my Shaklee story that I wrote last year HERE. 

When I first started as a Shaklee distributor in June of 2010, I treated it as a hobby and really wasn't looking to do more then casually share products I love with other mom friends while I stayed home with my son. My first check after the first month was $6! I was pretty happy with that considering I didn't feel like I did much to earn that. I earned a bonus check every month since and every month it started to grow. 

A year ago I got more focused on sharing Shaklee because I saw how good Shaklee is and how it really can help people gain better health and also wealth! My parents, who are my upline in Shaklee, also got serious about their business in their retirement and were promoted to Director a year ago. And this month they were promoted to Shaklee Senior Director!!! They took an awesome all expense paid trip last May to the company headquarters in Northern California for the New Directors Conference. You can read about that HERE.  And You can read about their first promotion and what that entails HERE.

Last year my business started to grow more as I became more focused. And recently I was promoted to Director!!! 

I went from a $6 check when I first started to my most recent bonus check of over $900!!! 

And am in qualification to earn 2 Free Tickets to Shaklee's next Global Conference in Long Beach, CA in August, which is around a $500 value!

AND...
I am a new Power Up Director so I just earned my first $100 additional BONUS for that!! woo - hoo!! Just got that email so wanted to add that. I will get another $100 bonus for each additional month I maintain my position for the next 4 consecutive months! Love it! :)

A few facts about this company:

Shaklee is pioneer in the largest growth industries that are projected to grow by nearly $1 Trillion over the next 10 years!

-Shaklee is the #1 Natural Nutrition Company in the US.

-It has been around for a very long time - since 1956!

-Shaklee has lead the nutritional industry and the environmental industry with new and innovative products.

-Oprah, Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray and the WHITE HOUSE use Shaklee cleaners!

-Dr. Shaklee made the first multivitamin in 1915

-Shaklee was the first company to make the first environmentally safe cleaning product in 1960 - Basic H

-Shaklee is the first and only company to be Climate Neutral, leaving a zero impact on the environment

-We have over 100 published articles in scientific peer-reviewed journals

-Shaklee products are used by NASA and many world class explorers!

-Many US Olympians trust and use Shaklee Nutrition

-Shaklee was granted many patents on several of our products

-Shaklee's earnings and benefits plan is outstanding and exciting with the opportunity to earn a part time or very nice full time income as well as cars, trips and any dream you can imagine!

Shaklee products are not luxuries but rather things that people use every day. By redirecting my family's spending, I am able to buy products we already were using through  my business! Love that!

My team is GROWING!!! It is exciting and really rewarding. And there is room for you! I am looking for more motivated business partners to join my team. If you are looking for a part time or full time income, let's talk soon to see if Shaklee is a good fit for you!! I will give you the training and the tools you need to succeed at reaching your goals! Join Me!

You can learn more about Shaklee and the earnings plan HERE. And also learn more on this quick video. If you can't see the video then you can view it HERE.

Thanks for reading! Watch for more posts to come.  I would love for you to join me on Facebook soon!

Have a great day:)

~Rebecca~

My Family's Story of Loss...

Today was a tough one...some of you know but several of you don't know that my husband and I were expecting....TWINS in April!!! And today we said good-bye to them, too soon. Here's our story and my hope is that in sharing, it may give peace and hope to other people going through this type of loss.

I think you probably know that we have been blessed with two amazing and wonderful little boys - Andrew and Benjamin.

 They light up our world and we cannot imagine our lives without  them in it. Having children has been the most amazing and wonderful experience for both my husband and I. We were not sure however if we would have more children or not.

In February of 2013 tragedy hit my friend's family as they lost their little six year old boy suddenly to a virus. This hit me really hard and at that point, God put it very strongly on my heart to have another child. Life is simply too short. We prayed about it, talked about it and wondered if this strong feeling would continue. We were never closed to having more kids but life was happening around us and we were not putting it as a priority and were getting older. The strong feeling continued however and although we were not trying to have another child at this point, God intervened and we were so excited to learn that we were expecting again! We found this out two days before my friend's son's 7th birthday and we were thrilled. We knew it was God's will.

Because I am very high risk due to a blood clotting disorder, I am monitored very closely during pregnancy. I also had my second child 6 weeks early so we were planning to take precautions to prevent pre-term labor again. And my age of 37 puts me in another risk category...

I went for several blood tests. My levels were initially going up nicely. But then after a few weeks they did not go up as they should although my doctor was not concerned at this point since they were still rising. My progesterone was very low so I started suppositories. I was concerned and waited through Labor Day weekend for my 7 week ultrasound on the following Tuesday. I asked my husband to come with me in case we heard bad news. We prayed. And God answered our prayers. Not only did we hear one heart beat, but we heard and saw TWO!!! They were measuring about a week earlier then my calculations and were a few days apart from each other. We were shocked about the twins but also so very excited! we had faith in God that things would go according to His will. The ultrasound tech said there was a bit of blood behind the placenta that would probably come out and although that could be sign of miscarriage, she thought it looked ok. My doctor was not concerned but told me to take it easy and we went ahead and started my lovenox shots and I also started baby aspirin.

I continued to have more blood tests looking at progesterone but not HCG at this point because the doctor didn't feel it was necessary. I doubled my progesterone suppository dose when we learned we had two babies. Levels were good.

Two weeks passed. I was now in my 9th week but still not feeling pregnant. No nausea. A bit of a belly but not too much. My cravings (for watermelon of all things that I actually can't stand) started to go away. I had my first baby appointment with the nurse practitioner. She measured my uterus to make sure it was growing appropriately for twins. After she checked she did not say anything. I asked about it and she vaguely said, yes it looks ok. It's small but you are still early. My mind tried not to read between her words. She did not have the equipment to hear heart beats that early although she tried. But assured me it was fine that we did not hear them here. 

The following week, Sept 17 on my oldests 5th birthday, I went for another ultrasound. This time alone. I told my husband not to worry and I would go by myself so he didn't have to take more time from work. As I was driving, I was listening to KLove and one of the singers was telling his story of why he wrote one of his songs. He said he had been going through loss - loss of a parent and his wife just miscarried twins. I prayed this wasn't a sign to prepare me.

As I waited in the waiting room, I noticed a sign on the door that I didn't notice there two weeks ago. It said "as you prepare for your ultrasound, please be sure to bring a support person with you". Again I prayed this wasn't God's way of preparing me for bad news. 

I was called back to the room where two weeks ago we got the best news. On this day however, it was very different. They started the scan and the tech was very quiet. She asked me how many weeks I was again? I knew this wasn't a good question. I told her I was 9 but they had measured a little small the last time. She said, they are still small - 6 weeks 4 days and 6 weeks 1 day. She said she was trying hard but just could not find a heart beat. At that moment my heart broke. I heard the news I was trying so hard to suppress in my own heart. She would not say the words however and wanted a doctor to look at the scan to confirm.

My doctor was out of town so I met with his colleague. She was so matter of fact. Clinical. Cold. Making  uncomfortable jokes. Talking fast. I was in shock. She referred to my babies as material. She told me my options. I was numb. I wanted to shout at her that they are not material!!! They are my babies! They are life!!! They had hearts that beat just two weeks ago! Heart beats that I heard. Heart beats that I saw. They had life in them!!!! We were excited for them to join our family. We were preparing for sleepless nights. For continuous feedings....none of that would happen now and I was crushed.

I sat in my car after and cried. I called my husband and cried. I couldn't even get the words out. We sobbed together. 

I thought of what was going to happen. Would I have them naturally? When and where would it happen? Would I need a D and C? What happens after? Do they just get discarded like they didn't matter? All of these thoughts were so unbearable to me...

I spoke to a few friends who have been through this before. One of my friends here had to have a D and C last year at the Catholic hospital. I also called my priest, who was nothing but supportive. Both my friend and our priest shared options. David also found a helpful website about miscarriage. We now had options. Options we had no idea were even available. The sisters at the hospital do a communal burial for babies lost before 20 weeks. How wonderful I thought but that wasn't our hospital. So I called the chaplains at the two hospitals and learned that this was possible for us too! Relief.

Our priest also shared how we can have a prayer service for our babies and even a private burial. They mattered. They lived. And now we could honor their lives. I felt so peaceful with this thought. He also sent us a holy card letting us know he was holding a prayer hour for our family. He has continually been praying for us as have many of you. We are grateful for that and feel lifted up by your prayers.

On Sept 21 my babies left my body and today, Sept 27 we were able to have a private prayer service with our priest at our church followed by a private burial at one of the Catholic cemeteries here, the same cemetery where our friend's son is. It was the perfect option for a difficult situation. Father Jeff was so supportive and caring to our situation. We are grateful for him and also for the chance to say good bye in this way today. The funeral director, who is also a parishioner at our church, was also quite helpful and compassionate to what we are going through. We are thankful for them.

Father Jeff suggested we name the babies to help with closure. We chose Catherine Mary and Gabriel Alexander. We prayed about this for awhile and were lead to these names. I felt in my heart that we had a boy and a girl. We chose Catherine after the patron saint of preventing miscarriage and abortion. And Mary after my grandmother who's birthday was Mar 25, a date close to my due date. We chose Gabriel after the archangel who told Mary that she was carrying baby Jesus. Alexander is a name that was on our baby name list from the start of our family. It was also my friend's son's middle name and a family name of theirs. I felt a connection with their family throughout this pregnancy, especially since their son was a twin who was lost to miscarriage, and thought that if we had a boy we would name him that. So I asked my friend if we could name the baby after her son and she was thrilled at the idea. 

I am sharing the details of our story because I know so many people suffer this type of loss and don't feel like they have options or even have the right to mourn. I have several friends  who have been through  this and I have always been sad for them and prayed for them when it happened; however, I never fully understood the depth of the loss until it happened to us. We were so excited to become parents again and absolutely thrilled that God entrusted us to not just one but TWO babies!!! Our boys were excited to welcome new babies to the family.We are still their parents. They still lived. And we will not forget them and how they touched our lives, even if their life was so short. Someday we will meet them in heaven...until then we entrust Jesus to take good care of their souls.

God bless every one of you who has suffered this type of loss or are going through this now or in the future. May God give you peace and strength and guidance through this difficult process. If you have gone through this and not realized your options at the time, please know that God is with you and your baby or babies. They are taken care of as Jesus said, "Let the Children Come to Me".

Here is a song that has been comforting to me and I hope it will be for you too. "Worn"

~Rebecca~