Keeping up with The Cantelmo's

Happy 7th Birthday Grace!

2012-05-05T10:40:00.001-07:00

I can't believe my little girl is turning 7! How do that happen?

You went from this

and this..

To this so fast!

Life went by so fast!!

I feel like it was yesterday that I found out I was pregnant with her

and now she's 7.

Grace at 2 1/2

Grace at 5

Grace at 6 1/2

Grace at 2

Grace at 6

Grace is such a sweet and special girl. She has a kind heart!

Grace,

I love you so much and I thank God for you everyday!

You are in 1st grade and have lots of friends at school.

You are doing really well in school and awesome in math! You are already on times 7, which you are so proud of. You love PE and you are one of the fastest runners.

You take gymnastics two times per week and you are in level 3. You work really hard at gymnastics and practice all the time. You love dance but we took you out because we couldn't afford it and it was too busy. You told me that you like gymnastics more than dance.

You love Justin Bieber and you're having a Justin Bieber birthday party today. You are really silly and always make your siblings laugh. You love tackling daddy and playing with him.

You have such a kind heart and want to buy more toys for the kids at the hospital. Everyone thinks that is so sweet.

You want to be a nurse one day and love playing doctor on daddy and Olivia. You also want to be a mom, you are always playing with your baby dolls and having me babysit them. LOL.

You play teacher a lot too. You get our easel out and teach your class all sorts of things. You read your class stories and call parents if your students have been bad.

You love telling people about Jesus. You ask your friends if they know God, if they say no you tell them how much God loves them.

Your teacher was talking about promises at school and you raised your hand and said, "A promise is when God said he would never flood the earth again and sent a rainbow to remind us." I thought that was the sweetest thing ever!

You love fashion and you're very particular about what you wear. Sometimes I catch you looking online at different stores like Old Navy to see what clothes are cute. You love looking at clothes at Target and beg me to bring you to the mall to walk around.

You are such a blessing to our family and I love you more than you'll ever know!

XOX,

Mom

I asked Grace some questions that I thought would be fun to share.

What’s your favorite color? Blue and white

What’s your favorite food? Noodles

What’s your favorite restaurant? Chik-Fil-A

What do you like about your family? That they are Christians

What do you like about your mom? My mom gives me presents, she’s nice to me, she loves me, she goes on bike rides with me, and we do stuff together.

What do you like about your dad? He takes me to movies, he takes me on a date, I like to wrestle him and shoot him with nurf guns, and he’s nice to me.

What do you like about being a big sister? I don’t like anything because you have to do a lot of work and it’s boring.

What is your favorite thing to do? Have play dates with friends, go to the mall with my mom, go to build-a-bear and make up dances to Justin Bieber. Also watch Dancing with the Stars with mommy and vote for William.

What do you like about school? Math and P.E. I like subjects like art. I like science and I like playing with my friends at recess.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A nurse

What sports do you like? Gymnastics and baseball

What do you like about yourself? I’m pretty and good at math. I’m a good friend and I’m nice.

Who do you want to marry? Justin Bieber or William Levy.

Meet new friends!!!

2012-05-04T07:36:00.001-07:00

Today I am linking up with Kelly's Korner for

Meet New Friends Day!

My name is Melanie, I'm 28 years old and I live in the Arizona.

I am married with three kids, Grace (7 tomorrow), Olivia (2), and Luke (1). I am 24 weeks pregnant with baby boy number 4.

We have two dogs Henry and Winston. They are both poodle mixes because the kids have allergies. Our dogs are super cute but keep me super busy because I have no clue how to train them!

Besides blogging I love having date nights with my husband Anthony. It's our time to reconnect with one another and it's SO nice being able to actually talk without all the kids around.

I also love doing lots of fun activities with the kids. My goal for everyday is to wear them out!! We love going to the park, playing outside, going to the library, walks and the book store!

When I get moments alone I enjoy going on bike rides, hiking, shopping (well window shopping), meeting a friend for frozen yogurt, reading and taking naps!

I was able to be a stay at home mom once our sweet Luke was born last April. But two months later my husband lost his job. This year has been really challenging. I went back to work temporarily for a few months in the beginning of the year but am now back home because the position was for only three months.

The biggest shocker this year was me getting pregnant again! It wasn't planned and I was (still am) in total shock!!! I am blessed that I get pregnant so easily and don't struggle in that area. So I am completely thankful to the Lord. I have had to FULLY rely on God this year because for some reason this pregnancy has been very rough on me. I've been super exhausted and nauseous the entire time! The doctor isn't concerned because I have gained SO much weight but it's wearing on me. Daily I just have to put my trust in the Lord and know that He has great plans for our life!

Before I was a stay at home mom I worked with kids that were abused. My "other self" is extremely passionate about abuse and educating others about abuse. Sometimes it's nice to have something you're passionate about when you're a stay at home mom because it's so easy to get lost in the day to day of being a momma.

I'm so excited to meet new friends!!

Love,

Melanie

Stuff that I don't need but I just kind of want.....

2012-04-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Football Pattern

Isn't this just the most sweetest thing for a brand new baby boy ever???

Love it!

The pattern is only $4 on Etsy. Too bad I would have no clue how to make it!

My Sweet Muffin race car tape

My sweet Muffin has this fun race car tape to entertain your little one. Too bad it's $22!

I'd rather just use masking tape but still great idea!

My Sweet Muffin Baby Doctor

Ok, this is a darling little outfit from My Sweet Muffin for only $29!!!

I actually really want this because my new little man will have a grandpa whose a doctor, a grandma whose a nurse practitioner, and two aunts' that are nurses. I just think this would be darling!

Get your craft on

Isn't this the cutest hat from Get Your Craft On? I just love it!

But it's sold out. Bummer.

Board Book from Romp

I love this board book from Romp roughly $8. I think it's a great way to either document your child's art or have an older sibling make for a new baby. What a great keepsake? I have a few blank books that Grace has made but I love love love this board book idea!!!

Ergo Baby by Petunia Pickle

$160 is way out of my price range for a front pack plus I have a great Baby Bjorn and a Moby Wrap that I use all the time. But I just love Petunia Pickle and I am dying to have an Ergo.

Ok. Enough said. Don't need it....just want it.

What are you dying to have that you just don't need??

What are your thoughts on moving.....

2012-04-27T07:10:00.001-07:00

I'm thinking of moving to Wordpress?

What are your thoughts?

My husband does website design and he was thinking of redesigning my blog but he only does it on Wordpress?

I'm so used to blogger and change is hard for me...

Who uses Wordpress?

Advice?

Mommyhood

2012-04-26T10:53:00.001-07:00

Some days, ok the past two weeks are like this….

Sleepless night because someone keeps having bad dreams.

When that someone has a bad dream she wakes up everyone in the house.

A certain dog pees on a new toy.

A certain sweetie doesn’t want to go to school because she doesn’t like her new teacher.

Every time this momma turns around she finds her little man crawling through the doggie door or climbing onto the kitchen island or climbing to the top of the couch or pulling all the toilet paper off the roll.

A silly little one wants to stay home with daddy but daddy’s not home so she decides to lock mommy and her baby brother out of the house.

Trips to the grocery store turn into a trip to the ER because a little miss thought she could climb into the cart but pulls it down onto her as her little brother flies out.

Change of weather and too much time in the grass causes

this princess to have an allergic reaction.

And oh the fun when a little one is sitting on your lap and momma feels warm and wet. Diapers don't always work.

Another little princess decides to use all of mommy’s return address labels to decorate mom and dad’s bed.

A little man starts to say momma and then throws up all down this momma’s shirt

(and everywhere else).

And when this momma decides she deserves a big bowl of Ben and Jerry’s her clumsy preggo self causes her to drop the bowl as it shatters everywhere.

These are the days….I mean weeks where I want a break from being a mom.

But then every single night I kiss my kids goodnight and

thank God for my sweet little angels.

Then I’m ready to do it all over again.

Linking up with The Anderson Crew

Our Dancing with the Star Picks

2012-04-25T18:33:00.001-07:00

I love watching Dancing with the Stars and picking a favorite from the beginning. I thought I was going to go for Melissa Gilbert since I absolutely LOVED Little House on the Prairie when I was younger but I ended up loving Katherine Jenkins.

I just think Katherine is so beautiful and sweet. She just has a natural talent.

{via}

Grace's pick this season is William Levy because she thinks he's cute. Actually he turned out to be a decent dancer too!

I'm impressed!

{via}

Last but not least Anthony likes Maria Menounos.

Can you guess why he likes her? We all like her. I think she is a tough and very positive.

{via}

I'd be really surprised if these three don't end up in the last three!

I can't wait to see who wins!!!

Stripes

2012-04-25T10:32:00.002-07:00

I love stripes! I don't wear stripes too often because Anthony thinks it makes people look like a sailor!

But I love them, so every once and awhile I wear them.

Right now they aren't too flattering so I am thinking of getting

some cute chevron stripes maxi dresses I've seen.

Shirt: Francesca's

Pants: Macy's

This shirt looks much better when I'm not pregnant and huge!

Sweater: Nordstroms Rack

Shirt: Garage sale

Belt: Forever 21

Pants: Macy's

This is just a comfy outfit.

Shirt: Old navy

Shorts: My step mom's

Anthony doesn't like this outfit because he thinks it's not flattering.

But it's so comfy. And I really need to iron those shorts!

I normally wear this shirt with a cute belt but I lost it.

So I need to search for a new one.

I'm thinking bright pink?

Shirt: H&M

Pants: Motherhood Maternity (still too big)

Necklace: Petals, Lace and Pearls

Love this striped shirt from Hatch

I really love this striped maxi dress

I really love this outfit on Sydney from The Day Book

What do you think about stripes? Yay or nay?

Our busy day and a Winner

2012-04-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

The winner of the KJane giveaway is announced here.

Today is our busiest day of the week. Olivia has swim lessons and Grace has gymnastics.

Thankfully swim lessons will be ending soon and I'm sure Grace's gymnastics ends around the end of the school year. But then summer comes along and I feel like we will be even busier than the school year with swim lessons daily for both Grace and Olivia and then Grace's gymnastics camp.

I sure am looking forward to a day where nothing is planned.

Until then I love love love seeing the joy on Grace and Olivia's face when they participate in something that they really enjoy.

Olivia is a real dare devil and has always loved the water. She loves swim lessons and is always willing to try something new. Right away she moved up a level and she was so proud of herself!

Grace just loves gymnastics. She was invited to be in the advance group and they practice two days per week for an hour and a half each time. I was nervous about letting Grace go twice per week because it takes up so much time but she loves it so much that I couldn't resist. Grace is very focused and loves gymnastics. She misses dance and goes back and forth between wanting to be back in dance but it's too much for right now. I think one thing at a time is best. She practices her gymnastics everyday and I can't stop her from doing handstands, cartwheels and back bends throughout the house!

I never can get good pictures at gymnastics because the gym is so big and the kids are always far away but here are a few barely decent photos.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Luke and the new baby will be into.

Will they like soccer, gymnastics, basketball, t-ball, or karate?

Who knows?

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is how busy we are going to be!!

Dreams

2012-04-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

I have these dreams. I guess they are typical dreams for many of us. I dream of having a house with a bedroom for each of the kids, an office and possibly a guest room. I dream of having lots of places for the kids to play and spots for them to study. I dream of having a backyard with a play center, a trampoline, a sand box and maybe even a tire swing. The cherry on top would be a white picket fence.

In the grand scheme of things these dreams don’t matter much. It’s not bad to desire a house that I could use to entertain, a place for my kids to bring friends to and a place for our family to find comfort and peace. Sometimes I need to be brought back from my dreamland to reality. God always does this in different ways.

On Friday Grace had the day off of school. She has been planning to bring toys for kids with cancer to the hospital for a while now but she we’ve never had a chance. So Friday, the kids and I went down to Cardon’s Children’s hospital to deliver the toys Grace bought with her own money. When Grace gave the toys to the nurse and talked with the child life specialist I felt so proud and thankful. Thankful that God gave my little girl a heart to serve others.

Then on Saturday my mom took Grace and Olivia for the day. My mom is a nurse practitioner and needed to see some patients in a group home. My mom bought some gifts for the girls to pass out to the ladies in the group home. My mom told me that the girls were so well behaved; they talked to the ladies and were so polite.

After that my mom took the girls to visit a friend whose dog had puppies. My girls love animals and had a great time playing with them.

Grace and I talked a lot about those past two days. Grace told me she wanted to start a club with her friends where they got together and wrote notes to kids that are sick or without a mom or a dad to cheer them up. Then they would deliver the kids presents. God loves to use my children to remind me what’s important in life.

It’s so easy to dream of having the nicest things, the best clothes and the best house. God wants me to focus on things that matter to Him.

I have always desired for my kids to have a heart that wants to serve the Lord and serve others. Sure it would be nice for my kids to have an “easy” life but they will have a better more fulfilled life if it’s filled with hardships, trials and opportunities for them to take the focus off of themselves and on to others.

I need to start with me. I need to model a heart that serves others so my kids can see how God wants us to live.

My dream is that my children would have a strong desire to serve the Lord with their lives and that they would live out their purpose every single day.

Now that’s the good life.

And Finding Beautify in the Ordinary

A Day in Our Life

2012-04-19T11:54:00.001-07:00

I’ve seen other bloggers document their day as a way to remember what they were doing at that particular stage of their child’s life. I wish I had done this when Grace was younger but I’ll start now.

Every morning Grace wakes me up at 6:30am. Luke usually is awake in his crib and Olivia is normally still fast asleep. I bring Luke and Grace downstairs, Grace watches TV while I feed Luke, make breakfast and make Grace’s lunch. I also empty the dishwasher.

Olivia wakes around 7am and then I feed her.

After that we all head upstairs. I change diapers, get the kids dressed, Grace’s brushes her teeth and I do her hair. The kids play while I get ready.

At 7:45am we drive Gracie to school. Her school is a few miles from our house so we use that time to pray and talk about our day. Olivia loves praying and telling us all about the different things God made. She also throws a little tantrum is we’re not listening to The Fresh Beat Band…I usually give in.

Grace gets dropped off at 8:20am. She loves it when she gets to school early because she gets to play before class starts. After we drop Grace off Olivia always says, “I go to skooooool and bring a pack pack.” It’s super cute!

If I don't need anything from the grocery store I take Luke and Olivia to the park. I try to stay for an hour to get their energy out. Today we went to the park and then walked around the lake together. Next to the park is a library so we went in the library for a bit too!

After we get home from the park Luke goes down for his nap. And I feed Olivia lunch, clean up a bit, and sometimes fold laundry. After lunch she has some time to wind down and then she goes down for a nap. Lately I have been so tired that I lay down but if I have energy I usually read my book outside or do laundry.

When Luke gets up I feed him lunch, we do laundry together and he plays in my bathroom while I take a shower. By then it’s almost 2:15pm and time to leave to go get Gracie. Olivia usually needs to be woken up from her nap.

We head to get Grace from school and when we pick Grace up we here all about her day. Then we head home, I make a snack for the kids, Grace unwinds by watching TV and then she does homework. Most days we have some sort of activity like swim lessons or gymnastics.

After our little activity we all eat dinner together. Then Grace takes a shower and the babies get baths. I usually read to the kids unless it’s Monday night because on Monday night we all watch Dancing with the Stars.

Luke goes down first at 7:00pm, Olivia at 7:30pm and Grace at 8:00pm. Anthony and I try to hang out together on the couch but I usually fall asleep!

Lately Olivia has been waking up at night with nightmares about monsters and tigers trying to get her. She used to be my best sleeper. It’s really wearing on us because usually when she wakes she is inconsolable and often wakes up Luke and Grace with her screaming. I am hoping this stage ends soon!!!

2 more days to enter this giveaway!!

Guess what? A giveaway that's what! - CLOSED

2012-04-16T13:56:00.002-07:00

Winner: Emily said...

I follow both blogs!

fallingfan at gmail.com

April 18, 2012 11:03 AM

Katie from For Lauren and Lauren

is giving away a beautiful Pom Pom Flower headband from her darling etsy shop for shop to one of my readers!

The winner will get this adorable headband in black,

white, green, blue or yellow.

Please note that there is an alligator clip on the back of the

flower so the headband can be worn as a hair clip or a head band.

A little about Katie...

My name is Katie and I blog over at . . . for Lauren and Lauren. I am a wife, Jesus follower, sister, aunt, teacher, crafter, runner, and sweets lover.. I started blogging when my sister Lauren, and future sister in law Lauren, convinced me that I should start a blog to share my daily outfits, projects and etsy shop. I've been reading blogs for a long time and did not realize what I was missing out on! I didn't realize what a community there was in blogging and that I could really get to know others. When I started blogging I thought I would just post pictures of my outfits, but I realize that is such a small piece of what I want to share. I'm excited for my blog to be a mix of my style and craft projects, but also about what I'm learning in life!

Are you ready to win?

Mandatory:

Follow Keeping up with the Cantelmo's and For Lauren and Lauren

Additional Entries:

Favorite Katie's shop on Etsy

Like Katie's Facebook page

Like Keeping up with the Cantelmo's on Facebook

Follow Keeping up with the Cantelmo's on Bloglovin

Blog, tweet, or share this giveaway on

Facebook for an additional entry!

Good luck friends!

Our weekend away

2012-04-14T08:34:00.002-07:00

Anthony and I rarely get time where it’s just the two of us. For his birthday I asked my parents and in laws to help with the kids so we could get away. Anthony’s parents took Luke and my parents took the girls. It was just one night away but it meant the world to us.

When Anthony and I fell in love I had my sweet Grace. A lot of our time together was built around Grace. Then immediately we had little Olivia. We bonded over caring for the girls. I fell in love with his love for our family. Time alone was rare and even now once we get the kids to sleep Anthony has to work on finding a job and I usually fall asleep.

We decided to go up to Prescott because a friend of ours let us stay in her cabin. It was such a blessing because money is tight.

I recently read the book The Vow. The book was very encouraging to me. The part in the book that really encouraged me was when the couple started to see a therapist because their marriage was falling apart. You may know the story of The Vow but if you don’t basically a few months after this couple got married they were in a car accident resulting in Cricket (the wife) losing her memory of marring her husband Kim. Cricket and Kim chose to stay together because of the vows they made to one another when they got married. By the time they sought therapy their marriage was falling apart. The therapist pointed out that Kim had remembered why he had fallen in love with Cricket but Cricket had no memories of Kim. The therapist suggested that they started dating again and rebuilding their relationship.

The day we arrived to Prescott Anthony and I were trying to figure out what we should do for the evening. Anthony had never been to Jerome or Sedona, so I suggested we take a drive up there. Immediately we changed our dinner plans and headed up to Jerome. I shared with Anthony about The Vow and how much the book touched me. I told Anthony that I believed we didn’t have memories built around just the two of us. Our memories always include our kids. It’s not a bad thing because we both adore our children but I believe if we want our marriage to be successful we need time for just us.

Anthony is an extremely thoughtful man and of course when I told him this, we sat in silence for what seemed like forever. It wasn’t until a few days later that he told me how much it meant to him that we build a relationship and memories that just include us.

We both truly believe that in order for us to be the best parents possible our relationship should come first.

Can you see why this weekend was so special to us? I couldn’t believe that all these years Anthony had never been to Jerome. Jerome is this mining town built on cliffs. It’s a scary drive up there, lots of twists and turns. But it was so much fun driving up together. The buildings in Jerome are so unique.

After a quick drive through Jerome we drove up to Sedona. Sedona is a beautiful city in Arizona where all the rocks are red. I love it there. Anthony and I drove around and I took him to one of my favorite places my mom used to take me to when I was younger called Tlaquepaque. We ended up eating his birthday dinner there that Anthony thoroughly enjoyed.

Then we headed back to Prescott to see the movie Mirror Mirror. It was a good movie but I missed half of it because I fell asleep. Ha! Then after the movie we both passed out at the cabin and slept in for the first time in months.

The next day we ate at one of Anthony’s favorite restaurants and headed back home. The trip was short and quick but more than worth it.

Don't forget to enter this giveaway!!

Pregnancy update

2012-04-12T19:29:00.003-07:00

A pregnancy update is LONG over due.

I haven't really wanted to post any pictures of me because I've gained

SO much weight. I think the running total is almost 20 pounds.

It seems weird that I've gained so much weight while being so sick but I think it's because I eat carbs all day long to fight off throwing up. Which actually works. But unfortunately it's come with weight gain. Oh well. I'll lose the weight soon enough.

Baby news:

We are having a boy! Which was a total shocker to me because I have been super nauseous like I was with the girls. With Luke I wasn't sick at all. So I swore I was having a girl. In fact I only had a girl name. We still haven't agreed on a boy name.

The baby is about the size of a banana. He weighs roughly 10 1/2 oz. According to baby center I am only supposed to of gained 10 pounds...oops. How about double that?

My news:

I have to be totally honest. I am feeling a bit of an emotional wreck lately. I haven't felt "emotionally" right this entire pregnancy. I am having a hard time with the idea of being pregnant again, gaining so much weight, being so sick and Anthony not having a job. I really believe that seeking God and trusting Him is the way that has helped me get through. I love this baby and am so excited that he'll join our family, I'm just still adjusting to the idea.

On another note I'm excited that I'm half way through this pregnancy. I am ready to be done and not throwing up most mornings. I am also ready to get back to my normal self. I'm super excited to meet this sweet little guy and praying that God gives me the strength to care for 4 kids!!

Cravings:

I haven't really been craving anything specific lately. Just been eating whatever has been around (I need to throw away all that Easter candy). I'm starting to get full really easily and I have pretty bad indigestion so that is helping me ease off the bad food.

Prayers:

I've been praying that this little guy would grow up to love the Lord and live for Him. I'm also praying that this little guy would fit into our family and be close with his siblings. I'm praying that God would give me and Anthony the strength, patience and guidance to raise all our children in a way that honors Him.

That's all for now!!

PS - I'm really behind on my emails so please be patient with me.

things I want for my boy

2012-04-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

things I want for my boy by melanie-cantelmo on polyvore.com

Fun at Grandma's

2012-04-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

On the Saturday before Easter we went over to my mom's to have a little Easter egg hunt and celebrate Luke's Birthday.

Anthony had to work again, so he missed out.

But we still had lots of fun!

My mom rented a bouncy house.

The kids had so much fun.

We had the bouncy house from 9-2pm and the kids jumped on it almost the entire time!

Luke was really unsure about the bounce house.

I started jumping to see if he'd like it, but he ended up crying.

So I took him out and we played with the balloons.

My mom just put together this cute wall of all the pictures of our family and also some of the fun things the kids have made her.

Seeing how cute it all looks together is motivating me to do one of our own. I just never seem to actually get it done.

Mom can you come to my house and do one for me??

After awhile Luke wanted to play in the bounce house.

I think he saw how much fun the girls were having.

Then it was time for us to have an Easter egg hunt.

My mom hid diet cokes for me to find.

Olivia and Grace helped me.

Each kid had a color egg to find and 20 eggs each.

Luke had to find yellow and also got to find cute little cars.

Olivia had to find pink. She loved finding the eggs.

Grace had to find purple. This year I hid them a little harder for her to find. She found most of them but couldn't find 2. Too bad I forgot where the last two were hiding. :)

My mom's niece Kylie was also over to play.

The girls loved playing with her!

Then everyone got a big Easter basket to open!

Luke disappeared for a few minutes and I found him with his mouth covered in chocolate! He had found a chocolate candy on the floor. We still don't know what happened to the wrapper. I think he ate it?

After that we frantically picked up all the candy on the floor and made sure the big kids didn't let Luke have any candy.

We sang happy birthday to Luke and let him try some birthday cake.

He was really unsure about it and ended up smearing frosting everywhere.

Luke got lots of birthday presents but lost interest after I opened the first one. First birthdays are fun for the mommas because we get to open all of their presents. :)

Then the kids got to dye their own Easter eggs.

They had a blast and the eggs turned out so pretty.

I was so exhausted when I got home I slept for three hours!!

Our Good Friday

2012-04-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

On Good Friday I celebrated Easter with my dad,

step mom and step sister.

Unfortunately Anthony had to work so he was left out of the fun.

We had a little Easter egg hunt for the kids.

They had so much fun looking for eggs.

And eating the candy inside!

We also had a lovely picnic. I love love love picnics!

We had a blast.

Luke ADORES my dad. Every single time he sees "Grandrew"

he gets the biggest smile on his face. He always crawls right to him and puts his hands up for my dad to pick him up.

They have a special bond.

Then we went on a walk around the park.

The kids fed the ducks.

We took a little break to ride the swings.

Wherever we go Olivia is doing a little dance.

It's so darn cute!

Next year we will have one more baby for Easter!

How fun!

Here are my dolls all ready for Good Friday service.

I just LOVE them so much!!!

Here's all of us all ready to go!

Luke was in the cutest shirt that said

"chicks adore me"

He's not only adored by chicks but by his family.

After church I was craving a smoothing and the kids wanted an ice cream cone. Getting out of the car felt like too much work so we went through the Dairy Queen drive thru. These kids two cars ahead of us made a cardboard car!! Not the best picture but they were very clever!!

What did you do for Good Friday?

Happy Birthday Luke!!

2012-04-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today my little man turns 1 today!

I can't believe it!!!

Luke,

You are SO busy.

You cruise everywhere and you're not quite walking.

You love to watch what everyone is doing first before you join in.

You love jumping on daddy.

You climb on EVERYTHING.

Yesterday we found you on top of the island. Yes our kitchen island!

You are all boy, you love the rocks and playing in the sand.

You love to swing, ride on the back of momma's bike and get tickled.

At night time you cuddle your blankie and sleep all night long.

You are still on formula and since you have so many allergies momma's trying to figure out what milk to give you (any ideas?).

You are getting tired of baby food but you are still unsure about big people food besides bread.

You love splashing in the bath tub and you hate getting your diaper changed.

You are the fastest crawler I have ever seen!!

You love to giggle and laugh. You adore your sisters.

We love you little man and you are such a wonderful blessing to our family!!!

Love,

Momma

Good Friday

2012-04-06T07:08:00.002-07:00

I love Good Friday.

It's a time of reflection and a time to be

thankful for all God has done for me.

I am so thankful that I have a God that would send His one and only son to die for me so I can live with Him forever.

I'm thankful that He loves me through my ups and downs.

He loves you too.

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{James Van Fossan}

Romans 8:11

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

1 Peter 1:3

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,

Here is the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by

Glory Revealed

Glory Revealed - By His Wounds Lyrics

(Feat. Mac Powell, Mark Hall, Steven Curtis Chapman and Brian Littrell)

Isaiah 53:5

He was pierced for our transgressions He was crushed for our sins The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed He was pierced for our transgressions He was crushed for our sins The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed We are healed by Your sacrifice And the life that You gave We are healed for You paid the price By Your grace we are saved We are saved He was pierced for our transgressions And crushed for our sins The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed We are healed by Your sacrifice And the life that You gave We are healed for You paid the price By Your grace we are saved We are saved He was pierced for our transgressions He was crushed for our sins The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed And by His wounds, by His wounds What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus

I hope your Good Friday and Easter are blessed,

Melanie

Bright pink and navy

2012-04-05T19:55:00.004-07:00

Bright pink and navy by melanie-cantelmo featuring tote handbags

Tooth fairy come to our house tonight!

2012-04-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

My "baby" girl is growing up! She lost her first tooth today at school.

I can't believe she is growing up so fast.

Where did the time go?

This past weekend I was looking at this cute tooth fairy boxes with Anthony and we decided to pass on buying it because Grace's tooth wasn't that loose! Boy was I wrong.

Here are some cute tooth fairy ideas I found on Pinterest:

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Put glitter on the money - I'm going to do this!

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Where can I get a door like this?? It's so cute!

What do you all do for your kiddos when they lose their tooth?

Sisters

2012-04-02T17:48:00.002-07:00

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There is something special about sisters.

From the moment these girls met they had a bond.

An unbreakable bond.

I am so thankful for my two sisters and two sister in laws.

And I am incredibly blessed that my sweet girls have each other.

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As much as sisters' can drive each other absolutely crazy. I truly desire for my girls to be there for one another through thick and thin. To be close to each other, to lean on each other, and to take care of each other. I desire for them to laugh, cry and experience life together. I pray that they could resolve conflicts (which there will be) and be each other's best friend.

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Girls, I love you so much and pray that you would be there for one another through thick and thin.

Love, Mom

A date with Olivia

2012-04-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

I think it's important to spend time with each of the kids to make them feel special and loved. Olivia was craving so momma time so I decided to take her to her favorite place...The Zoo.

We had so much fun together.

What do you do to make your kids feel special?

Love you littles!

Momma

Happy 30th Birthday Anthony!

2012-03-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

Today is Anthony's 30th Birthday.

I'm so excited to celebrate HIM today.

Yes that means going to all the places he loves to eat at and seeing some scary movie he picked out for us to see. But I'll do it because I love him so much.

Anthony,

I am so blessed by you. I love you so much.

You are an amazing husband and dad.

The kids just adore you.

I love how creative and talented you are.

You are so smart and half the smart things

you say go way over my head.

I love to cuddle you and laugh at your silly (non sarcastic) jokes.

I love your heart for others and how you'll do so much for others.

I love your sensitive soul and your ability to own it when you make mistakes.

Thank you for fighting for me and loving me.

Thank you for taking care of the kids and thank you for going through so much work to adopt Grace because you love her so much!

I love you!

Mel

Did you hear the news?

2012-03-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

Is it a boy or girl?

2012-03-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

I can not wait to find out if the baby is a boy or girl!

I love bonding with the baby before they are born.

Picking out their name and it's meaning.

Buying clothes and starting their baby book.

I count down the days until the ultrasound.

The ultrasound where they tell us if it's a boy or a girl.

This time I don't want the tech to just blurt out the baby's gender.

I want her to write it on a piece of paper

and find out the baby's gender with our family.

I don't want to do a gender reveal party because it's too much work.

I was thinking of getting a cake made saying

"You're having a little brother/sister"

"It's a boy/girl"

And then opening the cake box together with the kids.

Or I may just go to the store,

pick out a cute girl outfit and a cute boy outfit and have the lady wrap up whatever the outfit is and

we will open it together as a family.

Here are some fun ideas I've seen on Pinterest:

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I LOVE this idea - put pink or blue items in the piñata to reveal the gender

Did you do anything special to reveal the gender of your baby?

I'd love to hear all about it!

xox,

Melanie