tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218Fri, 18 May 2012 18:45:59 +0000Old and NewMelatelyPotty TrainingThe Bachelorette ReviewL-O-V-E loveDecorOur Love StoryHooked on FridaysOur baby CharlieLovely thingsBachelor ReviewA Month of ThanksFriend Makin MondaysAwardsWeight WatchersfamilyOrganizeAbout MerecipesHealthy LivingGoin off the deep endaround the houseExtreme Makeover--Me EditionHolidaysexerciseChristmas 09healingThe 30 Day Shredgirly stuffGive awayseverydayrandomtutorialgriefOur baby AshtenWordless WednesdaygratitudeKeepin it RealGod stuffFrom the heartHealthy lifestylecreativeWeight Lossfunny stuffWeek in the Life ProjectWriter's WorkshopmiscarriagethriftyEtsy EnvyChristmas Projectshttp://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)Blogger606125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-5897936882899339858Thu, 18 Aug 2011 05:23:00 +00002011-08-17T22:23:04.229-07:00Kallyn is 1 week, 3 days old today. It's strange how she's only been here for such a short amount of time, but yet I truly cannot imagine our lives without her. This last week has kind of been a whirlwind. I have so many things that I want and need to write about. So many pictures to post. Cute things to share. But I'm still adjusting to this new life with three children, all while still trying http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/F93JODwC128/newborn-pictures-updates.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)14<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/F93JODwC128" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/08/newborn-pictures-updates.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-6631207235359845026Thu, 11 Aug 2011 05:01:00 +00002011-08-10T22:01:16.447-07:00 Kallyn Hope FilkinsAugust 7, 20118 lb, 10 oz20.5 in  * Kallyn (Kal-lyn)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/P2Lgu69EdP4/kallyn-hope-filkins.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)20<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/P2Lgu69EdP4" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/08/kallyn-hope-filkins.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-2342767888257133069Fri, 05 Aug 2011 23:35:00 +00002011-08-05T17:10:53.361-07:00So, today has become quite the ordeal. I was supposed to go in at 5 am this morning. I worked SO hard last night: getting things packed, cleaning the house, getting Maddison's birthday party invitations ready to mail today, etc, etc, etc. Everything was ready, and I was completely ready to go. At 3:30 am I got a phone call from the hospital. The message said that the hospital was full and theyhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/lxVaYE8YGes/here-i-am-not-having-baby.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)10<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/lxVaYE8YGes" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/08/here-i-am-not-having-baby.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-2882926145423316017Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:49:00 +00002011-08-02T20:49:03.749-07:00Okay, sorry I didn't pop in to post an update last night. I thought about it, but wasn't up to it. Yesterday afternoon I had my appointment. I didn't gain any weight (yay!) and was dilated to a 2. It was funny because as he was examining me, I whispered, "Please don't say 1.5". My mom and I were laughing later that he probably lied about me being a 2, just so I didn't freak out. After http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/DAaX0i8KTIc/baby-update.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/DAaX0i8KTIc" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/08/baby-update.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-5178630717939479342Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:49:00 +00002011-08-01T14:49:53.417-07:00We don't have a baby here yet, but she is on her way! Last Monday (7/25), I was dilated to 1 cm. That night I had contractions about 5 minutes apart for 4.5 hours. I thought maybe I would be going in by the next morning, so I started cleaning up the house and getting ready. Well, the contractions lessened, and eventually stopped. When I went last Thursday (7/28) I was only dilated to 1.5 cm. I http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/_2zM3ItXT3g/no-babyyet.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/_2zM3ItXT3g" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-babyyet.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-3913541386416802029Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:06:00 +00002011-07-26T16:06:47.457-07:00No baby.... yet!  I thought last night was the night though. I had contractions every five minutes for 4.5 hours! I went in to the doctor yesterday and he checked my cervix. I'm 1 cm dilated, but he said that my cervix isn't quite ready. It's still a little thick. He's having me come back in on Thursday afternoon, and hopefully it will be thinned out. I'm thinking that if I keep having http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/j1q_B8tRkPo/almost-there.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/j1q_B8tRkPo" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/almost-there.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-1961039820684740040Thu, 21 Jul 2011 03:02:00 +00002011-07-20T20:02:27.986-07:00It dawned on me last week that we hadn't done any true maternity pictures yet. I started to get nervous that we would lose our opportunity, so I called my cousin up a couple days ago and asked if she would take some for us. She took our last maternity photos when I was pregnant with Saylor, and she's done our family pictures a few times. We met yesterday at a nearby wedding venue. It's out in http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/7m_NtFvs-yE/maternity-pictures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/7m_NtFvs-yE" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/maternity-pictures.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-5596137460885000952Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +00002011-07-20T00:53:20.216-07:00I really have to quit leaving my blogging until the evenings. I'm always so tired that I put it off. And then I never get around to it. I wanted to share about our weekend, and now here it is Tuesday night. So I'll just smoosh the last few days into this post. I had a great weekend. Saturday I went to yard sales with my mom. That was probably my last yard sale day for awhile. Thankfully our http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/KIFLceRznao/weekend-catch-up-baby-goods.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/KIFLceRznao" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekend-catch-up-baby-goods.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-3229906022704983404Mon, 18 Jul 2011 06:36:00 +00002011-07-17T23:36:27.477-07:00Okay, it's only been a couple days, but here is my Week in the Life post from Friday. :) We took a little time getting up and around on Friday. I think I woke up before everyone (as usual) and rested a bit at my computer. I'm sure I cleaned up a little, because that's what I always do. I have one of the best moms in the world. I know everyone says that, but I do. We'd asked her earlier in the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/ONZrZ4hIncM/week-in-life-friday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/ONZrZ4hIncM" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/week-in-life-friday.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-5036891967521840038Sat, 16 Jul 2011 03:48:00 +00002011-07-15T20:48:22.578-07:00I'm way too tired to write up today's post for my Week in the Life series. I'll make sure to do it tomorrow. ♥ Amberhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/m_tlrphvpp8/week-in-life.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/m_tlrphvpp8" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/week-in-life.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-4893148414062780435Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:57:00 +00002011-07-14T23:57:36.085-07:00*Don't judge my crazy. I didn't get any pictures taken today, as you'll soon read why, so I'm adding in some random happy pictures. :) This morning I had my (rescheduled) 36 week doctor appointment. Baby is doing great, her heartbeat was in the 140's. I asked my doctor if he could tell around how much she was weighing, how big she was. He says "average". Lol. He thinks she'll be in the 7 pound http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/rgwBh3MU1AU/week-in-life-thursday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/rgwBh3MU1AU" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/week-in-life-thursday.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-8688306336374490990Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:57:00 +00002011-07-13T23:17:12.028-07:00Wednesday. Started out super productive, and then ended very quietly. I woke up at 5:15 when Saylor came into our room (or maybe I was already awake? I don't know). I laid in bed forever, contemplated getting up, and decided that I needed to get more sleep, even if I had to lay there forever. I'm so glad I went back to sleep. I got up at 9:00 and immediately started getting tons of stuff done. I http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/IroM-dZR_hc/week-in-life-wednesday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/IroM-dZR_hc" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/week-in-life-wednesday.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-104098210220773369Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:26:00 +00002011-07-13T00:12:25.267-07:00Yes! Our day started much earlier today. Everyone got out of bed much earlier today, thank God. My mom called at 8:30 to say that they had picked up the food bank stuff for the church, so we got up and around and headed right over to help. We love helping my parents with the food bank stuff. They work so hard, every week. They pick up, sort, organize, and keep the room clean and tidy. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/xhWfu8CGBEY/tuesday-week-in-life.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/xhWfu8CGBEY" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/tuesday-week-in-life.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-3848419597490642519Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:38:00 +00002011-07-12T00:38:24.222-07:00I wanted to do a Week in the Life to document what our life is like, right before the birth of our little miss. Since she could come at any time now, I knew I had better do it this week. This morning I got up at 8:30 to get ready for an appointment I had to register Saylor for preschool. I was super tired since I accidentally had a Diet Coke instead of a caffeine free in the evening. But I gothttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/5DFcH8NIDuE/week-in-life-monday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/5DFcH8NIDuE" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/week-in-life-monday.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-2320075827323626845Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:48:00 +00002011-07-09T17:53:39.148-07:00I woke up pretty early today since Saylor was coughing so bad. She's been cough, cough, coughing so bad every night lately. I suspect it's because our ceiling fan is set on blizzard. As much as I love her, I just cannot turn it down. Oh, you caught that? Yes, she is still in our bed. When she was a wee one, she did actually sleep in her crib. But a few bad habits from daddy, and she gradually http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/pBtNSLyh9S4/saturday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/pBtNSLyh9S4" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/saturday.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-5198102827916688410Sat, 09 Jul 2011 04:16:00 +00002011-07-08T21:18:18.925-07:0035 weeks, 3 days(Notice my belly button) I've been trying to stay cool, and trying to stay patient. I love feeling little miss move inside of me. I love being pregnant. But lately, the pain has been excruciating and almost unbearable. I finally remembered to buy more Tylenol PM and those babies are going to carry me through the next couple weeks. (fingers crossed on the 'couple' part). My "http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/QpIY_K4C9ic/35-weeks-3-days-ive-been-trying-to-stay.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/QpIY_K4C9ic" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/35-weeks-3-days-ive-been-trying-to-stay.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-260399238675424089Fri, 08 Jul 2011 04:54:00 +00002011-07-07T21:54:52.701-07:00(33 weeks, June 22) That photo is from June 22, at 33 weeks. Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks! Almost there! I'm now 35 weeks, 3 days. You'll see why the next sentence is so true. :) I do not know why, for the life of me, I cannot blog consistently. I really would like to. I do. But time just goes by, and here I am again. It's been a week or so since I blogged anything. Yet I could probably blog http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/Ny9Du6UG4fo/35-weeks-beach-pics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/Ny9Du6UG4fo" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/35-weeks-beach-pics.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-5787428897756218006Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:15:00 +00002011-06-22T11:15:30.839-07:00**(Stupid) Blogger won't let me add pictures, so I'll try again later. So my plan of blogging every day (or almost every day) this summer hasn't exactly happened, has it? Thankfully, I have kept up with the little daily journal that I started for us. I had hoped to get the girls a little more involved, so maybe that will happen soon. Basically, I took a package of hole punched Real Simple http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/MMdqSkpf9Gg/33-weeks-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/MMdqSkpf9Gg" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/06/33-weeks-stuff.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-8658116537466938869Mon, 13 Jun 2011 04:52:00 +00002011-06-12T21:52:27.528-07:00Okay, I missed my weekly post, and didn't post a new picture on Tuesday. BUT, it was Saylor's 4th birthday, so I guess that lets me off the hook. My baby is FOUR! Four years old. We did her birthday party last Saturday, June 4. My cousin and mother-in-law took all of the pictures for me, so hopefully I can get a CD from each of them soon. It was a Disney Princess party and was so cute! Of http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/QCawqZCF3t0/my-baby-turned-four.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/QCawqZCF3t0" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-baby-turned-four.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-3196978550815904547Thu, 26 May 2011 03:24:00 +00002011-05-25T20:24:22.676-07:00Once again, not many pictures of my belly. My weekly posts are making me realize how horrible I am about taking belly pics! Well, I am now 29 weeks as of yesterday. And yes, in full nesting mode. You might recall that we were looking for a new (bigger) house. We've had that Mesa house fall through on us twice. We have an offer in on a really great house, but were told that we could expect to waithttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/yuzZxU2kBRY/29-weeks-full-nesting-mode.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/yuzZxU2kBRY" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/05/29-weeks-full-nesting-mode.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-5667154849182253907Thu, 19 May 2011 00:25:00 +00002011-05-18T17:25:25.120-07:00As of yesterday, I am 28 weeks. That means that I am officially in my 3rd trimester! All of a sudden it just hit me HOW thankful and overwhelmed I am to have a living, growing baby inside of me. It truly feels so surreal. Even though I have obvious reminders every day, I sometimes just cannot believe that we are actually going to have a baby.  28 weeks And yet, it is such a strange feeling to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/cnZLSaz6c-E/28-weeks-3rd-trimester.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/cnZLSaz6c-E" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/05/28-weeks-3rd-trimester.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-112944425976142952Thu, 12 May 2011 18:16:00 +00002011-05-13T13:52:35.871-07:00I'm currently in the middle of my three hour glucose test. I know for a lot of you that evokes a gag reflex thinking of the drink and the wait. Amen to the amen. I had my one hour last week and tested 146. I was supposed to be 140 or under (130 by some new standards). The good news is that my hospital no longer does the 3 hour test, so I only have to endure 2 hours of yuck. I never had blood http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/O_Cjx35BKD0/glucose-testing-pretty-pictures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/O_Cjx35BKD0" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/05/glucose-testing-pretty-pictures.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-1309481786967734904Mon, 09 May 2011 16:30:00 +00002011-05-09T09:35:41.259-07:00Happy Mother's Day!Hope you had a wonderful day. I did! Here are some pics of the girls and I this afternoon after church and lunch. It wasn't easy trying to wrangle them for a picture AND get them looking at the camera at the same time. They wanted to get changed, jump on the trampoline, and swing on the swings. And it was a bit sunny, so we're all squinty. :) 26 weeks, 5 days   ♥ Amberhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/z0d7hJ4OlMI/happy-mothers-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/z0d7hJ4OlMI" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/05/happy-mothers-day.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-7721999772716000298Fri, 06 May 2011 04:00:00 +00002011-05-05T21:00:54.275-07:00I know my blog is all about babies these days. Sorry, I've got baby on the brain. ;) And just today I find myself thinking "I'm REALLY going to have a baby!"  I absolutely cannot wait for her to get here. Let me just tell you, there are definitely benefits to living in a smaller house. And that is AIR CONDITIONING! Our old house was way too big and open to run the air, so we used swamp coolershttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/SQCIDPkOZko/26-weeks-other-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)11<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/SQCIDPkOZko" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/05/26-weeks-other-stuff.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126603805519866218.post-6993382987629504756Wed, 04 May 2011 00:45:00 +00002011-05-03T17:48:20.954-07:00I feel very bad to ever complain since I feel so incredibly blessed every single day to be pregnant with this precious baby girl. But, I have to say this is the hardest pregnancy I've experienced yet. Normal, yes. Comforting, no. It's common knowledge that each pregnancy can get increasingly difficult. I say can. Usually it does...unless you're Michelle Duggar. Apparently, it's really easy for http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~3/HbMf7UhRwpc/i-feel-very-bad-to-ever-complain-since.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (♥Amber Filkins: Silver Lining♥)9<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/rEOnW/~4/HbMf7UhRwpc" height="1" width="1"/>http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-feel-very-bad-to-ever-complain-since.html