Hailey's 5th birthday party

Last night we celebrated Hailey's birthday. We did it early because Darrin and Jenna are going out of town and we have another party we got invited to down in VA on Saturday. It felt a little "off" to me because it was so many days before her actual birthday, so I was having a hard time getting into the birthday spirit that day BUT seeing her excitement changed that pretty quick :)

At 9am she was setting the table, at 10am, she was hanging decorations and asking me to blow up balloons. By 11am the house was decorated and guests weren't coming till 5pm. The enthusiasm of kids, wow...haha, it's so great.

She was so cute because for a while now she has been coloring all the pages in her Disney princess coloring book that are scenes from Sleeping Beauty. And she had been telling me that they were to hang for her birthday party. And that was exactly what she did. She brought me the coloring book, asked me to carefully tear out all the pages she colored and she proceeded to hang them all over the house! We had scenes from the movie on her colored pages everywhere. I love her attention to detail.

I had also bought her a bouquet of red roses (obviously because of Briar Rose and she holds a rose when she is asleep) and then each girl got to take a rose home with them.

After Owen went down for his nap we started working on her cake.

this doorway was just begging to be a castle gate, so I obliged.

I love how we are looking at each other in this one :) Also, Owen is a giant.

we look like a family of dunces. Why do they love party hats so much??

I had printed images of Aurora and Philip and Hailey helped me glue them to party hats. Girls wore the princess and boys wore the prince.

We gave her a new bike (she learned how to ride without training wheels last week!!) and a set of sheets and comforter that was Sleeping Beauty themed. The bike also had disney princesses on it including Aurora. I had found all of it at a yard sale that I randomly decided to stop at, just to see if I saw anything I wanted. Seriously, the Lord loves to love us in the smallest details!!! And she was just over the moon about it all.

My favorite things she said:

While decorating the house:"I am the leader today."

Randomly: "Casey, I am a grown up now."

(which is too funny, and SMART because we tell them things like, you are getting to be so grown up....you are so grown up now, etc!!! And we refer to ourselves as GROWN UPS! It killed me.)

While getting ready for bed: "Mommy, everyone likes me."

I stopped what I was doing and got down in front of her, looked her straight in the eye and said, "Yes they do! Because God made you so special and sweet!" And I felt compelled to add, "And if ever someone doesn't, they are the silly one."  And she gave me the biggest smile and hug.

I am so proud of her because she is blossoming so much and did so well with the few guests that we had over. She is talking more willingly to people she has been extremely shy and nervous around in the past. She really is growing up :)

Owen turns 1

My baby is one today and I am super emotional about it. This past year, we have been through so much together. Words can not express my joy and gratitude for his life. I have learned on a deeper level the truth that love only intensifies when there is sacrifice. My love for Owen is so strong. I love all my children equally, don't get me wrong, but with Owen, there has been tears, pain and suffering. And the sense of accomplishment, pride, joy and love I feel on this his first birthday can not be described.

When Owen was three months old, he began breaking out in these full body rashes. Eczema literally covered his whole body. My doctor told me to try the elimination diet which I did. It was funny because on Dr. Sear's website, he recommended eliminating everything at once (all the common food allergens) and then slowly reintroducing them one by one to see what it the culprit. I thought, "that's crazy, I'll just do one at a time."

Well, it turned out to be everything. Owen is allergic to everything. And that is not an exaggeration. Since I was nursing, I was having to avoid all these foods for him. I couldn't have dairy and did you know that 'no dairy' includes no cheese, butter, milk, creamer, sour cream, cream cheese, ANY cheese!!! the no dairy itself was depressing. But then there was no: eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, coconut, coconut oil, oatmeal, brown rice, tomatoes, oranges, lemons, limes, nitrates, sulfites, citric acid, chicken.

And that's not all of it. He would itch against the rubber of his bib, he would itch his hands on his car seat buckles. I would have to wrap a burp cloth around his car seat buckles so he wouldn't scratch on them. He was a constant itchy mess. And I WOULD see improvement, lots of improvement when I avoided all these foods. But if I ever slipped, just the tiniest bit by mistake, he would be in so much agony. 

4 months old

6 months old

The trial and error of it all was so frustrating. So I would eliminate a food, and then 2 weeks later, have a little bit again, to see if it was a trigger. Almost every time it was, and he would be in pain. He and I cried together when I fed him a piece of chicken and he broke out in hives. He and I cried together countless times when his body was SO red and itchy and I would be carefully rubbing cream on his body. While he screamed from the pain. He and I cried together when I had some peanut butter (reintroducing it in my diet, just one time, to test and see if it was an allergy), and he was writhing in pain, and I had to give him a small dose of benedryl. 

7 months 

8 months

9 months 

And there was nothing anyone could do for us. Nothing. I researching endless hours online. I tired different things. I talked to lots of people. My doctor wasn't helpful. In March, they referred us to an allergy specialist in Hershey, PA, and our appointment was made for October 16th. They put us on the waiting list if there was an opening sooner, but there never was. Regardless, they can't do an allergy test on an infant. They do it at a year old. (So we go to the appointment next week, and I know it will be good. I am dying to find out if he has outgrown any yet! But I'm not getting my hopes up too much.....)

So end of June, beginning of July, Owen was 9 months old and I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't eat anymore fruit, vegetables, and steak. I had lost of ton of weight, and quick frankly did not feel healthy at all. The diet was affecting so much of my life. We had to make a change. 

By the grace of God, I found a wonderful naturopath doctor through a friend's recommendation. When I called to make the appointment, the first thing she said after hearing my situation was, "I can tell this has been very hard. And I can help your son. I am confident I can heal him." 

I cried. She understood. I felt relief and so much hope.

She helped me begin the weaning process and gave me a recipe for rice milk formula. I began making rice milk from scratch and adding a bunch of vitamins and other ingredients to fortify it. Owen began thriving on the rice milk formula and I could eat again like a normal person! Although my body had essentially gone through such a detox of all those foods, that reintroducing them all at once, totally messed me up!!! My body did not like it!! haha. 

 

Seeing Owen and his soft skin today I am amazed. He is doing so so well. He is completely happy, content, adventurous, and just full of pure joy. His diet continues to be a lot of work, but seeing his good health makes it all worth it! I am in the kitchen a insane number of hours each week. I feel like I live in my kitchen. I miss the outdoors. I make him huge batches of rice milk twice a week, and all his other food I do from scratch as well. Everything has to be so pure. We have turned into such an organic family! 

But I just can't get over him. Or get enough of him. What a year it's been. Owen, I am so thankfully for your life!! I am blessed beyond measure to be your mama. I love you! Happy Birthday!

New Year's in Buffalo

This year we went up to my parent's house for New Year's. Three of my sisters were there which was awesome, but of course we missed the siblings that couldn't join us! We purposely timed the visit for the beginning of January so that when Luke was gone in TX for focus conference, I would have the company and help of my parents. We had such a wonderful time.

I think they did play dough every day.

Getting ready for his trip! Owen is showing his support. 

Casey LOVED having his boy cousins to play cars and trucks with.

Miss them so badly!

Sayler kids reading some classic stories with Grandma.

Auntie Maureen is so loved and adored by all her nieces and nephews.

I just love this girl. Perched and lost in a daydream.

Too cute.

Joseph, watching a show.

Our godson! He has such a sweet personality.

Casey and I had our own little tea party one afternoon...he got up before Hailey from nap...it was so special!

Our three munchkins.

Best friends. They love each other so much.

Focus Christmas Party

This year we hosted the student leader Christmas party at our house. I LOVE hosting it. We put up some decorations a little early to make it more festive. We hosted it our first year here at our old house and it was fun but everyone felt a little stiff. Last year our place was too small so I think they did it on campus and the turn out was terrible. I was super happy to be having it at our place again. 25 out of our 30 student leaders came. And the atmosphere was so fun. Christmas music was playing, our first snow was falling outside (perfect, big, soft, fluffy snow), and there was hot chocolate, coffee cake, french toast. And everyone was so relaxed and having a good time. It felt like one big family! They have all gotten so close! I noticed a huge difference this year. There was so much unity and camaraderie between all of them. They did a secret santa gift exchange, with a $5 limit and you could tell people put thought into their gifts! Some of them would even say, "I know you really like these" as they were handing it to them. These students do not necessarily mix in the same crowds on campus either. But you can tell they have gotten to know one another, care for each other, and have a single mission to reach out to their peers on this campus. It was so exciting to see.

I love Casey in this picture; sprawled out in the middle of everyone playing with his train.

Everyone was holding Owen, which I didn't mind at all, but I had them all using hand sanitizer first. Yep, I'm "that" mom. I have a huge bottle of it that sits in our entry way. These kids are coming from dorms that I'm sure are just crawling with germs. I was not ashamed to protect my 2 month old!

 Hailey, our observer, was so sweet and pulled up a chair for herself and sat on the outskirts of everyone. She eventually joined in when Casey was playing London Bridges with some students. Casey was such a ham and running under the "bridge" (two students with their arms out in front of them) and then high fiving everyone in sight.

our wonderful student leaders.

Luke's discipleship chain. From L-R: Zac, John Paul, Luke, Brian and Nate. 

 

Later that day, Hailey and Casey went out to play in the snow. It was so neat to see the difference in Hailey this year. Way more confident and excited! Every day since she has asked to go out and play in the snow. I love it. I send them out in the fenced in back yard and they play for about 20 minutes.

First steps out in the snow and she's strutting across our front yard like she's been waiting to do this.

Looking thug-like. His glove had a hole and his poor finger was sticking out, getting cold :(

Can you believe it's only 9 days till Christmas? I can not!!

Casey Turns 2

Today was so full and wonderful. This morning we made this plain simple white cake. But it was soon to become Thomas the Train, Casey's current obsession. Just call me the fairy godmother of cakes, you will see... :)

Before Casey woke up from his nap, I wanted to get the house ready for his party. He woke up just as I hung the first string of birthday buntings. I had made them the night before and I was pretty excited about them. When I got him out of his crib I told him it was time to get ready for the party and I brought him out and showed him the decorations.

He was so excited. He just kept pointing and saying things like, choo choo! cake! Thomas! party! He climbed right up in his chair and sat there and watched me do stuff. 

Then it was time to begin putting the cake together! I really look forward to doing fun and special birthday cakes for my kids each year. Luke gets into it too and helps with the decorating. 

He nailed the face. I mean it's so exact! It's perfect! I just wanted to keep looking at it!

Casey, of course, thought it was great.

He was so happy about his new backpack, just like his big sister and her backpack. Right away he started filling it with all his other gifts. In fact, got so heavy it made him fall over!

The best gift of all, Thomas the train from Grandma.

And to help keep jealousy at a minimum, Grandma thoughtfully got for Hailey a little something special. A princess bag made it easier to watch her brother get so many new gifts.

Casey, you have been such a joy to watch grow. You have the sweetest disposition. You are gentle, thoughtful and kind. I love the way you wrap your arms around me so tight for a hug and play with my hair in my ponytail. You never touch your sister's things, even out of mischief. You bring them to her, and are always watching your big sister's response to things. You play so nicely and how you love to dance and jump! I can't wait to see what this next year holds! Happy birthday!