So all the sudden here we are at a new month! The last month of the year 2015 and I find myself asking how on earth that went so fast?

So last year around this time I was on my journey with the 21 day fix. It was amazing and really did change my life in a wonderfully healthy and encouraging way.

People I have never felt so wonderful in my life.

I did two rounds and honestly-I did not even do them perfectly! The first round I was all into the excercise and did not do perfect on the nutrition piece. I lost one pound and 6.5 inches in 21 days. Not only that but I felt stronger and more confident.

Then my foot went out on me.

The second round I could not excercise. At all. So I was almost as perfect as I could be with the nutrition aspect. 21 days later I lost almost 8 lbs and 5.5 inches!!

It was amazing!

1. Do the 21 day fix nutrition program (I upped my calories a bracket because of my pregnancy and have done a lot of research it is totally safe for the baby). Basically-I will be eating good, clean food and ALOT of it!
2. I will not be eating deserts. Do I believe deserts are wrong? Absolutely not! But for me personally-the just one turns into oh look I ate the whole bag. So I am cutting it. 
3. Work out at least five days a week for 1/2 an hour. I love Leslie Sansone and her walking dvds! They are low impact but I really do get a work out in! And they are safe for the baby. Plus I own like, ten dvds so need to get going on those!

So there have been some really neat things that have happened these past few months in the midst of some really hard things.

You know when things you totally were not planning happen?

This was one of those unplanned things:


 It happened when we did not expect it and yet the Lord has used this little life to bless us so richly already!

As many of you know Jason's Grandmother had been living with us and we had told her that we were waiting for years for more babies etc.

So when this surprise came along we sat down one night for dinner and Jason started the conversation with- "So Gram you know how we talked about how sometimes things happen and there is nothing we can really do anything about it?"

At that point she looked at me and said: "It better not have already happened!" LOL!

Yeah about that Gram...I was six weeks at that point and once the shock wore off and we assured her we were not going to be kicking her out once the baby arrived she started to get really excited!

We had decided on names already. William Nathaniel for a boy. Claire Elizabeth for a girl.

But then as we were eating we were sharing with her that, while we have a good friend named Claire, we weren't sure if we should keep that name but we really loved it.

That is when she came up with the name Clara Beth and we fell in love with it.

But we knew it was going to be a boy.

A few weeks later Gram very unexpectedly ended up in the hospital.

For a week and a half we were sure that she was going to be coming home then one Saturday we realized one Saturday-she was not going to make it.

She died the next Monday.

I had the privilege to be with her when she passed and shared some really precious moments with her in the days right before she passed.

One of the amazing things was that in my whole life I had only met one Claire.

In the three days I was with Gram in the hospital we started meeting Claire's everywhere it seemed!

One of Gram's nurses names was Claire.

The hospice lady who was hugging me by Gram's bedside as she took her last breath was named Claire.

Then, after she had passed away and we had said our goodbyes, we went to go home and as we walked through the lobby the grand piano was playing a song-the song was "Clair De Lune".

My mother-in-law and I were floored! I did not believe that these events were a coincidence and I just "knew" that Gram was going to get her little girl even though she was in heaven.

So I went home and we waited.

16 1/2 weeks

Finally we had out 20 week ultrasound scheduled and then I began to have some issues with my thyroid so I ended up having to go to some specialists.

So when I was pregnant with my little man many of you know my husband and I were living in Florida doing ministry at a mission there.

Those first few months were very difficult in many ways. One of the harder things was being away from my family. When we found out we were pregnant we could not tell them in person we had to tell them on the phone.

This time around we are living in New York very close to both our families and I was able to tell people in person that I was pregnant! :) It was so much fun SEEING their reactions and their faces!

My good friend Rebecca and her husband were here visiting and so she got on film first Jason's reaction and then my families.

I had taken the test and when it was positive Rebecca and I went upstairs to "nap" and quickly threw together a one year video for Elijah but with a very big surprise at the end for Jason.

Poor Jason was sleeping on the couch but I was so excited we showed it to him anyway! It worked! He was totally surprised :)

Then that night we went to my parents and showed them the video. Funny thing is no one really got it right away!

Rebecca put together this video of both their reactions so I thought I would share it with all of you:


I am so thankful that I was able to be with my family to see their reactions this time around! It was so special and definitely a very special memory!

What about you? Do you have special memories that you have been able to share with your families? I would love to hear about them :)