Miracle Party

If you haven't already, take a moment to look back at my previous posts to hear the story of how my miracle baby came to be. 

We had a circus themed party with us, Grandma, Aunt Kelly and Cousin Brookie, 

and the Johnson clan.

The Birthday Boy!

The Big Top cakes I made

I had thoughts of making them more detailed and a more polished look

with fondant, but decided to make it so Nicholas could easily eat it.

And, inside it was quite pretty,

with different frosting flavors between layers.

If you look at the picture above, in the corner 

you  can see where somebody 

signed the tablecloth on the cake table.

Each year I intend to use this tablecloth

and have Nicholas's loved ones write a

short note to him. It will become a 

precious keepsake from his childhood.

I want him to always know how deeply loved he is!

I strung pictures of Nicholas,

one from each month of his first year,

across the food table.

  I also took a picture of Nicholas holding a picture of himself as a newborn.

My plan is to continue this photo on each of his birthdays,

so that by the time he is a grown man he will have

a single picture in which he can see himself grow up.

Happy first birthday, my precious Nicholas!

If you ever wonder if miracles happen..

If you ever wonder if miracles happen...

Let me assure you, they do!

Just as the reality of being pregnant with baby# 4 was sinking in, I was rushed to the E.R. and told they were going to perform surgery to remove an ectopic pregnancy. I hadn't planned on getting pregnant, but I was already madly in love with this baby. I have never been so scared in my life. (Well, ok, I was just as scared twice before, but that is a whole other story.)

My husband and I immediately began praying. I prayed that God would cover my baby with the veil of protection, that something would happen and I would be able to keep my baby, that He give my doctors wisdom in treating me.

It was the E.R. doctor who said I had an ectopic pregnancy and he was sending me to surgery. I called 911 after collapsing from an unbelievable pain in my lower left pelvic region. I was home alone with my three children, then ages 2, 5, and 8 years. The pain was so bad that I literally could not get off the floor. I had suspected it was an ectopic pregnancy. The paramedics suspected it was an ectopic pregnancy. But hearing those words was still shocking.

An ultrasound technician came in and did an ultrasound on me. After that, the OB/GYN that was to perform my surgery came in to talk to us. In speaking with him, I said that the ultrasound tech had mentioned seeing "something" in my uterus in addition to the "pregnancy" on my fallopian tube. I know techs aren't supposed to say anything to the patient about what they see, but I praise God that this tech slipped up! 

After taking a second look himself, the OB/GYN said I had "something" in my uterus and "something" on my fallopian tube, but because my pregnancy was so new it was impossible to say with certainty which one was the embryo. In fact, there was even a chance that it was twins that has attached in two different locations. 

If they operated and I had a viable pregnancy in my uterus, it was likely that the pregnancy would be disrupted and would not survive. It was also possible that my fallopian tube would no longer work. Not that we were planning on having any more children, but I still did not like the sound of that. However, if they did not operate and it was an ectopic pregnancy, it could burst and also cost me my tube if not my life. Those were the options.

I praise God for sending Dr. Bynum to care for me that day. I had never met Dr. Bynum before that day. As it turns out, he is the business partner of the new OB/GYN I had an appt with the following week. Dr. Bynum saw how much we wanted to give this pregnancy ever chance to survive so he agreed to not operate if I would remain in the hospital under observation. They would check my blood for hCG levels and perform another ultrasound each day to see which "something" started developing.

The very next day the doctor could see the beginning of a placenta and embryo in my uterus. I had ultrasounds done every other day for two weeks - what an amazing experience to watch my child develop from the earliest visually detectable stages!

EIght months later, Nicholas James was born!

 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. 
 - Psalm 139:13-16:

Roxy Bedroom Makeover for $100

Samantha's room has been a play room, and then her nursery, and then a play room again, and then her room again. We decorated it once when it was her nursery. We have changed it around many, many times. 


When it was a play room we put two row of hooks along the length of one wall for the children to hang their costumes. Later, when she moved back into the room in preparation for Matthew's birth, we took the hooks out but never quite got around to taking out the drywall screw holder-thingys (and yes, that is the technical term - hee hee).

We used to have a guinea pig named Lenny. Lenny used to reach outside his cage and scratch up the pink rosebud wallpaper border. Eventually he dug out a decent size hole in the wall. 


Samantha, age 7, has been complaining that her room was too little girlish. She said, "Princess is for little girls and I'm a big girl now."

It became apparent that we were going to have to redecorate her room.

I wanted to do something that would reflect Samantha's personality, something she would take pride in and hopefully be more inclined to take care of it. 

Ever since she was just teeny tiny, Samantha has LOVED the water! She has always been a little fish, a California girl at heart. So, we went with that.

Samantha has been asking to paint her bedroom walls for a few months now. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, something my sister did when she was a teenager.

We had some time between my husband's school semesters. However, we did not have much money to spend. We spent about $100, and this is how it turned out.

We found "Be True" bedding by Roxy for $50. Isn't it cute? I just love the colors! 

My husband made the headboard. It's just plywood with some bamboo sticks framing it. I found bamboo placemats in the dollar section at Target and we glued them to fill in the headboard. Not bad for $12, huh?

I bought some grass skirts at the dollar section of Target and used them as a dust ruffle. 

I just realized that you haven't even seen the other wall. Check it out!

I saw a post from USA Silly Yaks on Pinterest about a flip flop wreath. It was so cute and would go perfectly in Samantha's room except for one thing - what seven year old wants a wreath in her room? Then it hit me - I'll use flip flops to make a cross to hang over her bed. Add a couple of scrapbooking embellishments that I already had and wa-la!

So, what do you think? If you knew me you'd know that I am NOT a decorator at all and that this is a pretty big deal for me. 

Personally, I love it. Her room is very relaxing now. In fact, it makes me wonder - what do you think my hubby would say if I got Roxy bedding in our room? :-)

No Bubble Wand Needed

People always say how children end up teaching parents more than parents teach their children. Well, today it was most definitely true.


After making some homemade bubble solution with the kids, I told them to go get their bubble wands."We don't have any wands, Mommy." And so the search began. 


Christopher used the outside rim of a mason jar lid. 


Matthew used a Tupperware popsicle stick. 


And this was Samantha's choice...