It's Not TOO LATE

The fundraiser for the Godwin Family is still going on! You can shop online for Stella&Dot Jewelry by clicking here! Just make sure you type in "April" as your hostess. Our stylist, Susan Miller, is so graciously giving 100% of her profits to support JW & KC's adoption of baby Zoe Grace (Read More Here).

We had blast at the trunk show yesterday - the jewelry peices are amazing!!! With Mother's Day and Graduations fast approaching I know you all could use some good gift ideas!!
You purchase comes within 2-3 days and it's already packaged for gift giving!!

I bought some great pieces, so I know you will find some too!!

If you aren't too much into jewelry or you would rather make a donation straight to the Godwin's you can send your tax deductible check per the instructions below:

Lifesong has graciously set up a fundraising account for us to raise funds to help pay the "ransom" to bring Zoe home. If you would like to be a part of God bringing Zoe to Himself through our family, you can send your tax-deductible gift. Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on Zoe's behalf, and will pay the adoption expenses out of fund received. They truly are amazing people and a God send!
Steps to do this:
-Please make checks payable to: "Lifesong"
-You should write "Godwin/#1549" in the memo section.
-You can then mail your check to:
       Lifesong for Orphans
       Att: Godwin/#1549
       Post Office Box 40
       Gridley, Illinois 61744

Thank you for supporting this great cause! We can't wait to meet Zoe Grace!!

Holy Week, Birthday Parties, Egg Hunts, and Easter Sunday

You can tell by the title that this last week has been BUSY!!
Just like many of you, our week was filled with many church activities celebrating what we call "Holy Week". This is the week leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the week that seals what we believe in our Christian faith. Its a celebratory week for followers all across the world. We are reminded of Jesus' preistly role, his brotherly role, his human role, and his sovereign role in all of our lives.

The week started like any other Holy week, a blow out excitement filled service Palm Sunday experience, then on Maundy Thursday we experienced a traditional seder meal at church. It was a very enlightning experience to say the least. A well known scholar, Dr. Jim Fleming, visited our church to walk us through the reason behinds the traditions. He taught us many things that just reading from the Bible would not teach us. He has done all his homework and literally brought the stories of the New Testament to life.

Friday was Good Friday, we opted to not attend the Good Friday service at our church, we typically have not attended this service through the years. I'm not sure why we choose to not attend, but its a service remembering Jesus' death experience on the cross.

We hosted a birthday party at our house in honor of a dear friend who moved away last year. His birthday fell on Good Friday this year and they were in town to celebrate Easter and his birthday with family. It was such a wonderful feeling to have our home filled with great friends and sweet baby girls running around everywhere! Its moments like that reminded you how much the Lord has blessed us in our lives.

Saturday was the big 1st egg hunt for AK! We decided Friday night that we would get up head to Old Navy to take advantage of their "One Day Wonder" sale on Polo's for just $6 each, and then go for special breakfast out with our last stop being the church for the big Resurrection Celebration and egg hunt! What we discovered was that on special sale days our Old Navy opens super early! I had Matt call the store when we woke up at 7am to find out what time they opened. We were expecting a recording to give us the hours, when much to our surprise the store clerk answered the phone!! They were already open at 7am!! WHO KNEW?! So we decided with the sale being so good that we shouldn't wait - we hopped out of bed, rushed to put on some comfy clothes, grabbed a sleepy AK and went shopping. We of course never intended to end up at the church without going back to shower and clean up and we never ever intended to run into people we knew!
We scored huge at Old Navy, not just on the polo shirts for Matt (this is his work wardrobe), but they had a grown up version of an egg hunt in the store. They had bar codes hidden throughout the store that you had to scan with your iPhone or droid - when you scanned the bar code it entered you for a chance at $50,000 but it also gave you chance for an instant win of several thousand dollars or coupons.
There were 15 bar codes to find in the store, I think we gave up after 12 - we didn't win big money, I'm sure that since we didn't find the last 3 codes they were probably instant 5K winners, but oh well! We did each score a great BOGO coupon. We also found an amazing clearance rack that had blue jeans in Matt's size for just $6! We walked out of Old Navy with 6 polo shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, and 2 t-shirts for less than $100 - in fact we saved over $100 from all the sales and coupons. This amazing shopping experience of course took us longer than we thought it would so we rushed over to Chappy's Deli for a special family breakfast out.
Just as we got settled into our booth (which is our new trick to keep AK satisfied out to eat) we see some friends from church walk in the door. Being the sweet friends that they are they asked if we wanted to join them for breakfast. Much to our surprise 2 more families were joining us that morning. They were all heading to the church after breakfast with their baby girls for the egg hunt as well. The only difference is they were all dressed up and ready to be seen by the world. Remember we hopped out of bed to run an errand and didn't shower before we left! We were so unprepared for the entire breakfast experience. All the baby girls were dressed so beautifully in their smocked bunny dresses and then there was my sweet AK literally still in her PJ's! We had no highchair cover b/c we originally intended to seat in a booth! AK does not sit in the highchair for more than 5 minutes so this was a bad scene from the get go. Matt and I ended up passing AK back and forth from one lap to another. Anything to keep her happy - all the other sweet baby girls were behaving so nicely, seating in their highs chairs and not making any sort of scene! My child was literally climbing across the table to get to things out of her reach! She wouldn't drink her own drink but rather insisted on drinking from my cup or worse yet her daddy's coffee mug! She saw the packet of creamer and was immediately entertained by this plastic yet squishy object. I tried to tell Matt discretely that he may feel a trickle liquid run down his arm b/c she was gnawing on this creamer container,  but he was talking and I couldn't seem to interrupt him. Before I could say a word or give a warning "POP" she burst the container and liquid creamer sprayed everywhere! "OH NO" I was so embarrassed!! Not only did creamer run down Matt's arm, but it sprayed across the table touching every nicely dressed person in it's path. It was sort of funny until I realized the bulk of the cream landed square on the forehead of one of this precious, well behaved little girls. I was so upset that my insatiable child caused this major commotion at the breakfast table. Our food came and she refused to eat, making it hard for us to enjoy our meal and fellowship with these other families. We rushed out of the restaurant realizing that our time had really gotten away from us now that we ate with a large group of people. We needed to be at the church like right that moment to fully enjoy the activities of the day. We rushed home, changed clothes - which was inspired by those other young couples at breakfast and dressed AK in her bunny dress I sewed a month before. We did make it to the church just in time for the egg hunt.
The egg hunt was so much fun. We had tried to practice hunting eggs for a couple of weeks before, but in true toddler fashion AK was only interested in breaking the eggs apart. She did collect quite a few eggs - but eventually gave up on the egg hunt. They had inflatable eggs and balls for the little ones to hunt, and those were the biggest hit when all was said and done.
That afternoon AK had her first experience with Easter candy. She tasted smarties for the first time, and then accidentally discovered the jelly bean!
The next morning she woke up to a stuffed Easter basket filled with all kinds of goodies. Crayons, bubbles, toys, and peeps!! We dressed in our best Sunday clothes and pearls and headed to church to celebrate our Risen Savior.
I had put a roast on and when we got home I put the finishing touches on our meal. Roast, potatoes, carrots, a side of pineapple casserole, and roasted asparagus. While the casserole was cooking, Matt hid a few of the Easter eggs in the front the yard flower beds - AK went out in her Sunday best and hunted eggs. It was such a fun day filled with first time memories!

promised pictures!

looking at the zoo animals

She must be Italian!

coolest animal I've ever seen! Reminds me of peanut in a weird way!

have you ever seen a giraffe bend down?

swinging at the zoo playground

wee!!

look at her sense of pride as she rides that big kid toy!

we bought this for $1 at the youth auction fundraiser! Best $1 spent ever!

the new water acitivity table

leraning how it works with Daddy

splish splash

did the car run out of gas?

i think so!

all ready for church

happy girl!

whats so funny?

Just a little update...

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend and head to the zoo bright and early Saturday morning! Our zoo has a great deal where you can get a years membership for only $35. This covers the cost of 2 adults any day of the year and little AK goes for free until the age of 3. Its such an amazing deal because it would normally cost us $20 to get in without the membership. Now, AK and I a can head to the zoo any day of the week. This will come in handy when we start having Fridays off together this summer. It is also nice because we will be able to bring anyone with us as our guest on our membership. This means any time a grandparent wants to join us for a zoo trip we've got you covered!
I am in the process of uploading the pictures from the weekend right now. I may have to come back and do a post with just photos when they are done. I've never uploaded the pictures from the big fancy Nikon camera before, so hopefully I am doing it correctly. Apparently you have to transfer the files and then convert the files to jpegs so you can share them. Its totally confusing to me, but its supposedly the way to get the best quality photograph. In fact I just checked on this process and I will definitely have to come back to upload an entire post of just photos, its only on number 11 of 125 in the conversion process!
The weather was almost down right chilly for the zoo, but we made the best of it! It was not crowded which was fabulous for us! AK even got to play on the big kid playground there at the zoo. We are always trying to teach her new things. I've learned that it takes a good 2-3 days of going over the same new word  before she totally gets it. We started really working on "What does a dog say?" The very first time she attempted to say it, she was in the bath tub. She responded with "braf braf" and then proceeded to giggle harder than I have ever seen her laugh. For two days after that experience, if you asked her "what does the dog say?" she would just laugh and laugh some more. If you were really patient she would eventually say "braf braf" but mostly she would just laugh. I knew she finally got it when she answered this morning during her breakfast time. She just amazes me at how absorbent she is. She can now tell you what a cow says and what a dog says, and rarely mixes the two up when you ask her.
In the last week she has become the funniest little person I have ever been around. She loves to play chase with her Daddy. He will tell her "I'm gonna get you..." and she immediately takes off running while looking back over her shoulder to make sure he is really coming. She gets so tickled at trying to out run him she usually trips over her own feet and falls into complete hysterical laughter. Because of this new found love for the game of chase she also enjoys hide and seek. You run and hide while she is watching and she will come seek you out. She giggles the entire time until she "finds" you when she sees you she says "baa" which is really suppose to be "BOO!"
I've totally enjoyed each and every stage of her life, but so far this has to be the most fun stage there has been. Watching her learn and discover new things brings such a joy to my life.
AK must have her Daddy's engineering blood running through her veins because the most entertaining thing for her to do these days is put tops on things, or build blocks. If an item has a lid or top she is not satisfied until she has properly fit that lid or top onto that item. When she accomplishes her task she is quick to applaud herself with claps and a big "yaaay" followed of course by her precious giggle.

We took her to toys r us this weekend to get an activity table for the backyard. After starting at all the option and prices we decided on this Little Tike's water table. I was so excited for her to have a fun activity for the backyard that I couldn't wait for her to play with it. Now remember, it was a chilly Saturday at the zoo, which means it was still a chilly Saturday at our house - but we played anyway! I didn't realize how WET she would get splashing her hands around in this little activity table! We had the best time playing outside with her. Matt bought a $2 kite while we were at the store and amazingly AK was interested in watching that kite fly across the sky. She followed her Daddy all around the front and back yards as he flew his kite.
Sunday we went to church and then went to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries with some friends afterward. Our friends has a little girl around 3 years old named Mason. Mason loves AK and gets so excited when she is around. Mason was eating her hotdog and dipping it in ketchup before each bite. AK got so interested in what Mason was doing she reached right over and stuck her french fry into Mason's ketchup. I want you to know that I have been trying to get AK to eat ketchup for a few months now. She has never been interested in this condiment! But I'm pretty such after Sunday's lunch ketchup has become her new favorite side item! We decided to give AK her own container of ketchup to dip her fries in, but instead of the fries she skipped right to her finger and enjoyed the taste of ketchup without any food! It amazes me, how one small person can influence another!

Be looking out soon for a post with just photographs from our fun filled weekend. Now that I now how to use the new camera you may also find some pictures of many other fun things that happen around our house!
Until next time, Be Blessed & Be a Blessing!

Help With Gardening

As promised earlier - Here is the story of AK helping us with our gardening.

Saturday we decided to use our first free weekend at home doing a little yard work. We headed out the Southern Home and Gardens store to pick up a variety of spring flowers so we could do a little gardening. AK fell asleep on the way home, which gave us a chance to get a good jump start to our project. After she woke up from her nap we brought her outside and set up her pack and play with her favorite toys. Immediately a delivery was brought to us from the mailman. It was an expected package from AK's LiLi (my Mom) that had a few new pair of pajamas, a new swimsuit for the summer, and a surprise pair of sunglasses!

We played with the sunglasses and checked out the new pj's, and then went on about our business. AK got restless in the pack and play and it was lunch time so the two of us headed in to get a bite to eat. When lunch was over we headed back outside and this time I let AK roam the yard in freedom. I was spreading mulch in the freshly spruced up front bed and my sweet girl decided she wanted to help, you can see the video of my little helper lending a hand.

After we spread the mulch we had just one project left - planting some flowers under the maple tree. This project required a fresh pile of potting soil and peat moss to make for a good foundation. Again My little helper was reading to "dig" right in. Next thing you know AK has a mouth full of fresh potting soil and peat moss! OH NO - Parent Panic sets in and we immediately scoop her up and take her straight for the water hose! Please note - it was a beautiful warm day, but only warm, like 75 at the most. Matt begins gushing water in AK's face trying to get her to rinse her mouth out. Eventually her mouth was clean of all dirt, but in the meantime our little princess was having a blast playing in the frigid water hose water! She was drenched - so off her shirt came, and then her leggings - uh oh - water + a diaper = bad idea! Genius strikes and I run for the new swimsuit - so here we are on a warm spring day hosing off our baby with cold water in the driveway, stripping her down naked, and putting her in a swimsuit. It was quite the scene! Needless to say, we our panic was probably overrated, but hey AK got a thrill out of it!!

Let's just say that delivery at lunch was made just in time!!

For the World to See & a Few Updates...

My first post as a guest blogger is up! I cannot believe a real dream of mine is coming true. I have been wanting to share my story of fertility struggles and victory for quite sometime now, and now the process has really begun! Before you click the link above to read my first written post - know in advance there are a couple of typos I did not catch, I promise I read over it 3 times before I submitted it - but I guess it happens. As I read the post this morning I also realized I used some bad grammar (I know I should know better since my step-mom is an English teacher...) I will try better next time to catch those "uh ohs".

I will let you know each time I have a post on www.theuncontainabletruth.com, but consider following this blog yourself. Christen and Raleigh Price have a wonderful story of their own about and victory. Their hearts are to share the love of Jesus Christ with the world through their website and I think they do an amazing job!

I did something very brave this week, I signed up for a 5 week fitness camp! It started on Monday night - and boy was I shocked to find out just how out of shape I am! Sometimes my mind still thinks I'm back in my college cheerleading days or even in my high school cheerleading days, where I was exercising daily and very much in shape. But this week my body has let my mind know that I am not in shape at all! Monday was apparently "leg" night - and boy do my legs know they worked out! Tonight is the second night of the camp, and I am excited and yet nervous for the workout to come. I am anticipating it being an arms and upper body workout, which scares me so badly! I will be the first to admit my fear of "the push-up"! I hope I can survive tonight's workout and still want to return next Monday night! This is a really big deal, because I always start something like a workout routine, and then never follow through and finish. I also hate rooms full of people I do not know. Thankfully I do know a few of the other students in the class - so that is helpful. I can say I laughed more on Monday night while I was working out than I ever imagined was possible. The trainer is nothing like those "Biggest Loser" trainers that yell and scream fear into your workout. In fact he is quite the opposite! He teased a lot, and made the experience fun - which is good, because the first time I get yelled at will be the last time I go back - hahaha!
The most interesting part will be the outcome. He recorded my body fat, weight, and measurements on the first night, and I hope to see some positive results on the last night!  Either way - I know that I am doing something good for my body. We have taken a healthier approach to our food and eating recently, which will be good for my attempt at fitness camp!

Speaking of food, you have got to check out this blog, http://www.chloegibbs.com/. My friend Chloe is conducting a fast food experiment that will make you want to never eat fast food again! The thought of her ongoing experiment has kept me from driving through McDonald's even when I was desperate for food with no time for anything else. She has had a McDonald's Happy Meal sitting on her counter for over 50 days and it has yet to decompose. In fact - it still looks just as edible as the day she purchased it! Can you believe it is legal to make, sell, and feed people food packed with so many preservatives? No wonder America is "fat"!

Anyway - that was my soapbox for the day!

AK Update:

Last night Matt was showing AK pictures in an attempt to teach her new words. As he pointed out the boat in the picture, he asked her "What's this?". My sweet girl replied, "Jesus". LOL We have been learning about Jesus from the book "Jesus Loves Me"

My Mom bought this book for AK's 1st birthday, and we read it at least 6 times a day if not more. Did you know there are like 6 verses to the song "Jesus Loves Me"? Well, there are 6 verses, and we almost know them all by heart now! AK loves the illustrations in this particular book. It is filled with colorful images of children and animals. If you remember from before, my smart baby can point out a dog - and in this book there is the same dog on almost every page in almost every illustration. But now we know who Jesus is, and she can even say His name. What a precious sound to hear your 1 year old child call on the name of our Lord!

Speaking of sweet AK, we are home today recovering from a cold and minor double ear infection (again!). She had a rough day at school yesterday, so we are home recovering and resting. Pray she gets better quickly. We cannot avoid things like getting cold germs, especially during this time of the year, and with little ones there isn't much you can do but just ride out the symptoms until they go away. She really is OK, no need to fear grandparents, but those sniffles and coughs can just make you feel so sad for such a little person. Pray she recovers quickly and gets all the rest she needs.

She finally slept through the entire night last night - this is the first time since the wedding weekend almost 2 weeks ago!

I'm going to do a separate post soon on the adventures of gardening with AK - it was a fun time for all!

Until then, Be Blessed and Be A Blessing!

Birthdays, Weddings, and Bronchitis?

Well, one week ago today was my birthday which was also the kick off to the Damato/Whitfield Wedding Weekend! Who knew you could cram so many events into one weekend!
Thursday night my sweet husband threw me a birthday party with some great friends. We enjoyed a baby free night on the town, which was wonderful. We don't get too many baby free nights around here. Friday we headed to Birmingham with AK and my Mom in tow to help celebrate the marriage of Matt's little sister Ashley and her now husband, Kevin.
My sweet Mom arranged for my for my grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and cousins to join us for a late lunch at the cheesecake factory to celebrate my birthday. It was such a great way to spend my birthday during such a busy time. After lunch we began all the wedding weekend festivities. We had rehearsal, after rehearsal dinner, then Saturday of course we had photographs, wedding ceremony, and reception. Sunday we followed all the celebrating with a family brunch before we headed home.
Friday night we enjoyed a wonderful meal Italian style with family and friends. My Mom so graciously took on the role of traveling nanny so Matt and I could truly enjoy sharing these special moments with his family. Its a good thing AK is so easy going and that my Mom loves her role as grandma - because her and AK spent a lot of time in close quarters at our hotel. Wedding day was filled with lots of excitement and tons of pictures! Everything went perfectly for the bride and groom! The church was packed with friends and family, and the ceremony was filled with fun and laughter. I had a great time meeting old family friends during the reception, and hearing funny stories about Matt when he was a young boy. We really enjoyed the catch up time we had with Matt's family from the Chicago area. I only had the chance to meet most of them 2 years ago, so its always a pleasure to spend time with them making new family memories of our own.
We partied hard Saturday night, until we could hardly stand any longer - unfortunately for us, AK was not interested in a solid night's sleep on Saturday night which led to no rest after our long marathon day.
The brunch on Sunday came fast after a lack of good sleep - but boy was that food delicious! I thought Sunday would never end though. We were so exhausted and still had a 1.5 hour drive home!!! Of course sweet AK slept all the way home with no interest in sleeping once we arrived. I'm not sure how we managed to stay awake or how we managed to keep AK occupied, but we all three crawled into bed for the remainder of the day and night on Sunday. Prior to the trip I had begun battling allergies from all the pollen accumulation here in the deep south. At first arriving in Birmingham seemed helpful to my sinuses because the pollen build up was not so intense there, but I guess with the late nights and lack of good rest my body didn't react well. By Monday night my throat was on fire and a unsettling cough had settled in. I hate going to the doctor (so much so I don't even actually have a primary physician), but I got myself to PriMed (our local doc in a box) to find some relief! I just knew I had strep throat, thankfully I did not! But an hour wait, one strep test, a chest x-ray, and a sinus x-ray later the verdict was in. Sinus infect and bronchitis - yuck!
This has been a rough week of recovery for little AK as well - she hasn't slept straight through the night since the Saturday night of the wedding. However, thankfully for me that means she naps good, long, and hard during the day - which allowed for me to catch up and get my body some much needed rest. I don't think I've slept as hard and deep as I have during the day this week! I'm not back to 100% but I'm proud to say the nasty ongoing cough is gone as well as the firery throat pain. I'm just left with a few sniffles and no more desire to crash in the middle of the day! WOOHOO for God healing our bodies and allowing us to have medicine to clear out the germs!
I never dreamed it would take us an entire week to recover from all that partying and celebrating! I'm sure the newly weds are thinking the same thing right now as they are relaxing in Mexico this week!!
While I've been recovering, AK has been exercising her voice and language skills. She has become quite the little chatter box these days. I'm not quite sure what it is she is saying, but she has a lot of it to say! She reacts when you discipline her (which makes it hard to keep a straight face when she mutters what sounds like "Don't" or "Stop" with her bottom lip poking out in a overdramatic frown, while you discipline her).
We have mastered that the cow says "oooo" and now we are trying to learn that dog says "ruf ruf" or in AKese "oof oof". We are learning where our nose is - which is often mistaken for our teeth or mouth. But at least thats near your nose, progress...right?
The weather has been so dreary this week, probably contributing to our long deep afternoon naps - but all the rain has really helped wash the yucky pollen away. The sun finally made an appearance today - I was all ready to take AK to the playground after school but she was out like a light before I could crank up the car to head home!!!
My favorite clothing store is having a storewide 50% off sale and I have birthday money burning a hole in my wallet - so I'm going to treat myself for the first time in a long time!! Last spring I had to buy a post-pardum wardrobe to fit my re-shaping body - so as you can imgaine, I don't have a lot to choose from for this year's spring wardrobe. I always tend to find that when you have money to spend you find less of what you want and when you don't have money to spend you want everything you see - hopefully I will be successful with this little shopping trip.
Keep a lookout on http://www.theuncontainabletruth.com/ for some blogs by yours truly. I have teamed up with a fantastic couple from our church who maintain this wonderful website. I will be listed as a guest blogger and I'm using this outlet to reach others through my fertility testimony. I've never put my full story into words, but have felt called to do this for quite sometime. I don't know how many posts it will take me to get the full story out there, but after I get my story out there I will be sharing ways to be encouraged or ways to encourage those going through the same journey Matt and I went through. Please pray for me as I write this story and words of encouragement. My prayer is to help others see they are not alone, but also to educate those who don't know much about the process. I want to make sure God gets all the glory for the mighty works he did in our family during our time of both struggle and victory. I thank God daily for the struggle it took to get AK here because it changed who we were as people, Christians, and who we were as a family. Hind sight is always 20/20 - but as always my God knew exactly what he was doing when he delayed my wants for his will!
I know my blogs tend to be boring without pictures - but sometimes I am doing good to just get a moment to write my thoughts...until next time BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING!