Planes Trains and Automobiles! old post!

We had a great weekend as a family of four!  We made sure to stay busy and do lots of fun and exciting things to make good use of Matt's off weekend.  It started out nice and calm Saturday morning with a lazy wakeup (6:45am for Micah) and us as well.  Eli likes to sleep till 8.  We did breakfast as usual and decided to head to the Pima Air and Space Museum.  We live very close to it, however, in all 3 years living here we've never managed to go.  So we decided late in the morning around 11, very close to nap time.  We ended up having a blast!  Micah thoroughly enjoyed gazing at all the huge planes that hung overhead. He even got to touch a few.

They had indoor and outdoor exhibits of planes.  We even got to see an old Airforce one, that Kennedy used!  I have to say that as girly as I am, I really enjoyed myself with my 3 guys.  We headed hope for a late lunch and naps. 

When naptime was over we ended up getting a visit from Matt's parents (which is always nice).  Matt didn't want to do our usual errands to Costco or the mall so we decided to go down to Old Tucson.  I had never been there and it had been a while for Matt's family, so we packed up our double and headed down to the Wild West!  It was jam packed with fun things. We were able to see a little dancing and singing show, some donkeys, ate some BBQ and even rode some exciting things!

Matt Micah and I rode together on Micah's first choo choo train!  He was a little hesitant at first, but he ended up loving it!  We sat on benches during the 7 minute train ride and rode around the little town seeing some fun old building and remakes of what a Wild West town would look like. 

Then Matt and Micah and grandma got to ride on a gocart!  It was on a little track so it wasn't too hard to steer.  When Micah saw that wheel, he knew just what to do!  This was clearly his favorite activity of the day.  He had his hands on the wheel and was ready.  I saw them go around once and I had a sneak a ride with my little man as well.  Here's a pic of them getting ready to go...

There was a carousal as well, but it really went too fast and made me dizzy...Micah was not a fan riding the horse either. When daddy picked him up and just held him, he tolerated it.  However, it wasn't a favorite.

We even enjoyed icecream! 



30 year Reflection

Here I sit on my thirtieth birthday enjoying some quiet time during nap time.  Matt got home early from school to surprise me for my birthday, which was nice!  We enjoyed a date night last night and went to a new neat restaurant and ate some awesome burgers!  My friend was super sweet and brought me some wine and essential oils and sat for free! She know me so well...:)

I was really kind of not wanting to turn thirty.  It mark a new era of course.  Not being in my twenties anymore.  I do still feel young, but I am only getting older.  I have so much to look forward to in the next ten to twenty years and more. 

It becomes more and more clear that the path we have chosen has been truly etched out by God for us.  I use to look at people who were finished with this path and think, wow, they have it all! And some did, but some didn't!  Here we are, following our dreams going to Chiropractic school and trying to help lead others onto a path of health and wellness. That in and of itself is wonderful and I am so excited to share this wonderful alternative with others and help change lives.  Then, I started thinking...wait we have more! We have our faith and our Savior, Jesus Christ! How much greater can it get.  We have this awesome message of redemption and salvation that truly makes me feel like we do have it all.  We are going to be able to offer so much to others!  God has given us so much and I can't wait to start giving back!

Facebook Fast!

I've never really been any good at fasting.  See, I love food.  I'm sure most people do!  I just don't like the idea of restricting myself from something.  Especially something that I love.  Something else that I decided to try was a Facebook fast.

What occupies our time and what we think about is very powerful.  I really needed to wake myself up and realize what is important to me.  It is important, that I form true and real connections with people and work on the current relationships that I do have.  Here I am on day 4 of no Facebook.  I completely deleted it from my phone for the time being.  We also don't have a desktop, so that isn't another option.  At first, I was bored.  Then I started to get lonely.  Even a completely material media connection (if that makes any sense) was giving me some sort of companionship and making me believe I was engaging in real friendships.  So now I had to really think of what was important to me.  I didn't want to be staring at my phone and looking at other peoples lives and relationships as often as I was.  I'm not sure of when I will add Facebook back in, but it has helped me to reach out to true relationships rather quickly.

I will be starting a weekly bible study at my church this week and am finally going to be starting up with Mops soon.  Being a stay at home mom can actually be extremely lonely.  I am doing a very important job, but I am sitting on the floor all day long, changing diapers, feeding little ones and "talking" with them.  All in all, I am really pleased that I decided to take a break from Facebook and shift my focus for a while.  It is definitely helping me dig deeper into Gods word!

There are many great aspects of Facebook and I know I will use again, probably soon.  However, I am hoping that this will in a sense dull my minds taste buds for the "instant media friendship" and help me to see out true relationships.

Oh, one more thing I did notice during the time was how much happier my kids were!  Especially my oldest.  He normally has a really tough time going to bed at night.  For the past 3 nights he hasn't put up a fuss at all.  I think my face was glued to a screen way too much.  It could totally be coincident, but I think that could've been the reason.  So, one thing I will try when I do add Facebook back in is to try to only be on my phone during nap time and after the kids go to bed.  The first day Eli asked me where my phone was, since I wasn't clutching it.  And then he stopped asking!  Try it for a day or two and see how it goes for you.

Chiropractic School

Here I sit in my quaint Iowan living room.  A lot has changed over the past year or so.  My husband was an extremely hardworking manager.  Hours were long and holidays were rare for our family.  After moving to IL from AZ we were excited for a new adventure.  Looking back I laugh, because we had absolutely no idea what the Lord had in store for us.

Our oldest has special needs and throughout his 4 almost 5 years of life and countless doctor appointments and therapies we have found that the most beneficial therapy of all was chiropractic.  We were on a hunt for a wonderful family chiropractor in IL as soon as we moved.  Micah was used to getting regular adjustments, as were we.  We quickly found a great group of young and talented pediatric chiropractors.

Micah and the family received weekly care and Micah was the special one and often got adjusted 2-3 times a week.  We began seeing marked improvements with Micah.  Some days it was immediately following an adjustment.  We then were introduced with the whole lifestyle of wellness.  We couldn't just continue getting adjust and completely forget about two other core components of wellness. We needed to start moving and start eating clean.

We began our wellness lifestyle over a year ago and with a few glitches in the road haven't looked back.  Then one night Matt and I were having a conversation in our kitchen.  We were talking about how we were living this healthful lifestyle and how it was lining up with all areas of our lives.  Matt was worked to the bone.  He was amazing at what he did as a retail manager but it didn't reflect our views.  So...Matt decided he wanted to pursue ChiropracTIC!

I was as excited as ever.  I knew that we would begin to embark on an amazing journey.  Matt has such passion and drive and I know he will be an epic Pediatric Chiropractor, changing many lives!!  This journey will be difficult, believe me, it is.  However, I know the end result will be so worth it!  This son of ours may have special needs, but he is the happiest little guy ever, making huge strides.  I truly believe that regular and therapeutic chiropractic care helps him live optimally and that is what we want to help every child, special needs or not, to do!

Life with 2!

Wow, it's been 7 months since my last blog post.  I do wanna keep up with it, so here it goes.  My life has drastically changed since my last post. I'm no longer 27 weeks pregnant, but am a busy mama of two precious boys. Micah is almost 3 and Eli is now 4.5 months!  Man, time really flies when your having fun with these boys...


Its been nice to enjoy some cool weather here in Arizona. It's been consistently very chilly in the mornings.  Around 20-40 degrees.  We are now experiencing some warmer weather as of yesterday. It was a beautiful 74 degrees.  Matt and I were talking about how it is the "perfect" temperature.  It was unbelievable.  And to think, some of my friends and family are back in the midwest experiencing much more brutal temps.  I may have to join them at some point :).

We keep pretty busy around the hill household with zoo trips with friends, play dates and now preschool! Micah has started preschool at an awesome place that is just perfect for him.  He goes 4 days a week for 3 hrs a day.  He's been there about 2 weeks so far and is doing well.  We've had a few off days, but those are to be expected for any 2 year old.  We are hoping he continues to adjust well and can see the development of the other kiddos and learn from them.  He is really progressing with his speech lately.  Although, it's not always consistent, we've even gotten a few sentences from him.  Like, "I wanna snack" or "I wanna to go to go." This is a huge step for Micah and we are super blessed that he is progressing.  He seems very close to getting himself to sitting as well, and has become quite the effecient commando crawler.

Time to brag on my other little man.  Elijah Matthew! Oh my goodness, what a little sweetheart he is.  He has gone from a fussy newborn to a delightful little baby face! I just could eat him up every minute of the day.  He loves to look at his brother.  He just watches him and starts cracking up at something Micah will do, and we aren't sure what's so funny, but clearly is halarious for him.  He is at that perfect baby faze that when you smile at him his whole face lights up.  He has already rolled both directions and looks like he's right on track for baby development. 

 

More pictures to come later. It was a bit tricky to figure out this whole google plus thing.

27 Weeks

Finally got around to a short blogpost on my pregnacy so far. Things have been going pretty good. Very easy so far. Hopefully it stays that way. Baby #2, is doing great and we are so excited to meet him in a few more months. I'm feeling very big and wondering if I'm going to have skin that stretches enough this time around. I am constantly feeling like I am busting at the seams and there is no more room.

You know those games you play at baby showers with a string to guess the pregnant mothers belly width? Well...I kept mine from Micah's shower which was when I was 32 weeks pregnant with Micah. I just wrapped it around my belly and it is a perfect fit! So...I am 26.5 weeks pregnant and showing like I'm about to pop!


Here are a few pics of my progression so far:




12 weeks

                                                       

11 weeks



14 weeks



18 weeks

19 weeks



21 weeks



25 weeks

27 weeks

Night away...

Matt and I had the luxury of spending a night away from our little man, Micah.  I have to admit that for the first several hours...all I could think about was Micah and how much I missed him, and thought that he was misses me!  Matt and I went to a local resort in town and enjoyed walking around the grounds while we waited for our room to be ready.  Then we headed upstairs to our room and changed to our swim suits and went to the pool(s)!  We were a bit cold at first, the temperature was only mid 70's.  And though the pools were heated, it was still freezing when you got out.  They had a lazy river with intertubes that we made a few passes around before heading to the regular pool.  We had a great time goofing around in the pool together.  I persuaded Matt to swim several races (which I won all, even pregnant!) and he enjoyed attempting to throw me elegantly into the air ;).   

Next, it was time to get ready to head out for dinner.  We were thinking of staying at the resort for dinner, but 30 dollars for a dish is too unrealistic and unappealing for me.  We got all dressed up and went to go sit outside before we left.  We enjoyed an appetizer together at the resort! Yummy nachos and a virgin strawberry margarita! Yum!!  We finally decided to head out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant called El Charro.  It was really yummy.  These days, I get so frustrated with myself because I have no room to eat.  It really is crazy to me because I'm only 15 weeks...but I find myself full after 1/4 of the meal.  It was so yummy I wanted to continue eating, but I stopped myself before I got sick :). 

The next morning I was hoping to sleep in and my hubby tells me it was 7 am and he was going to head down to the fitness center to workout and I should keep sleeping.  Well...I couldn't. Instead, I got up and did some devos and relaxed.  When Matt returned he went downstairs to get us both a Starbucks!  Then we packed up the room and went to a really neat "down home" french breakfast restaurant in the university part of our town.  It was a cool experience.

When we finally got home, I was greeted at the door by grandpa and my little man!  It was sooo sweet to see him again.  He really had a tough time without us this time.  I think as he gets older he realizes that we're his mom and dad and he likes us best! :)  He just cuddled with me a bit on the couch and when Matt held him, he smiled and rested his head on Matt's shoulder.  Micah is normally not the cuddler.  We heard he had a great time traveling in the car to different shops with grandma and grandpa and got to bed at 830, normally his bedtime is 630 and was up at 630 when he normally sleeps 12hrs.  Needless to say, he was definitely overtired and it showed tonight as he had difficulty falling asleep (1hr) tonight.

Overall, we really enjoyed our time together.  But, we both missed Micah a lot and it was good to be home with him today.  We look forward to 4 more days with daddy home!