After 6 Years......

After 6 years we finally paid off our Ford Expedition!I don't tell you to brag but to say alot of the time we had this SUV we didn't deserve to have it because we couldn't afford it when we bought it!After having it we learned that on our appt for a loan for it!One of the workers that got the loan had said I had a job on the application!I didn't have a job because I was about to have our first child in a month!This car has been a burden for 6 years and I actually went against my dads wise advice when he told me not to buy things on loans or credit . I learned because every month for 6 years we were faced with a pmt of $407.26 and $156.00 for full coverage insurance for it as well.For some this may not be alot but for us it was. We also decided to buy a house at the age of 21 for $350,000!then after we bought our house with a adjustable rate we had got to a morage payment of $2,200.00 that had went up to $3,500.00 within close to 2years of owning it. Tony and I never seen each other because he worked 3 to 4 days over time (he worked a 4 on 4 off schedule)So lets just say his wife and 2 children at the time never seen him!We had put the house up for sale 3 times and sold it during a short sell after losing our SUV to Repo due to not paying them there payments we were so behind on everything and I would have to say by Gods mercy Tony's mom had came into some money and payed $ 1,700.00 to get our car out of repo and put $800.00 worth of tires on our car as well!We opened credit cards to pay for Christmas gifts for our family that we ended up paying double for in the end because of interest. We were trying to live the American dream!We didn't think we had to work up for the things we wanted or thought we needed!I bought a Kirby vacuum and a alarm system for the house that we could not afford either.
My husband Came to God through our struggles of owning a home and a nice car and all the rest we couldn't afford.My husband realized his family was suffering from not having him around because of all the working he was doing to keep our " THINGS"he realized he had no control and God did. I can honestly say the Lord knew what we would be faced with in a couple of months when we would have Lillie.My husband and I knew we couldn't afford our home we lived in and that we needed to find a home we could afford!so we rented a 2 bedroom 1 bath home for $850.00 a month.Then after 3 months of living there we moved right next door to the house we were renting! its was a 3 bedroom 2 bath at $1.154.60.With having Lillie one of the things God has taught us is being wise and not careless with the money he has allowed Tony to work for!He taught us by not having alot of money for extra things because Lilllie had so many doctor appts we were afraid to spend anything because we might need it for gas, co-pays ,ext. I cant explain his Grace and Mercy in showing us what we did wrong by allowing us to struggle and then to take us back through and teach us through having self control in our spending by having no control with medical bills and the fact it was with something/someone such as our daughter that means so much to us that we had no choice but to be wise with what we spent because she came first and her health.God's plans for our family has always been perfect for us!I thank God he allowed us to sell our house and I thank God he allowed us to get our car back because we didn't deserve it! I thank God He helped us make it through our house selling and what was a huge lesson from God it was!Tony and us both have learned that 'THINGS" fade away and that it doesn't matter what we have!what matters is if our God is being glorified in our lives and the way we are living each day!What matters is if we are feeding our hearts,soul, and minds with Gods word daily!What matters is that our only idol is God! Iam not saying I don't ever still struggle with idols because little things can become my idol over God at times it can be me cleaning or my computer but its still a idol that at times can take my time away from Christ.For the most part Money and things have not been a priority to the point of wanting things all the time. we would like to have nice things but only if we can afford to have them!At the time we were so concerned on having things that pleased us that our hearts were not pleasing God in our hearts. I thank God that this Ford Expedition is paid off in full and that we can start paying medical bills off and other bills and at the same time being able to do fun things together as a family!For the first time in 3 or 4 years this summer we were able to enjoy going to Lake Shasta for 4 days and we were able to go to my dad and moms property for the 4Th of July!We have not been able to go for a while because we couldn't afford to do go on small vacations!So we are so happy to know that what we went through was not just in vain but a well learned lesson that God took us through and it took 6 years to really truly learn and change :) Come on God bring on the next lesson of heart changing lol !! never a dull moment serving a King:)

" Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it's deceitful desires".
Ephesians 4:22

SUMMER FUN !!!

These kids have done so much stuff this summer so far! As they are getting bigger it seems to be alot of fun for mom to!For the most part the kids I feel are to the age where it's not so overwhelming to take them places!I have been having lots of fun with them and I know they are to. Although Little miss Lillie always wants to EAT !!!So a regular thing we do now days is we always have a special bag for Lillie packed with tons of FOOD !I don't dare leave town with that bag :)Other then the bag Oh!!and our new Potette Plus I bought from Baby's R Us ! I bought one for Wendy to for the kids to since baby girl is potty training ! We are both finding that these portable potties are so great to have! When we are at the park or even public bathrooms!They are so nice and convenient to have! It just makes being a mommy to little ones that always say " mommy I have to go poop" out loud in public lol:)that much easier and usually its when we feel its not the time to say "I have to go pee or poop"! Okay enough about the potty lol I just love it!and its made things a bit easier for all of us involved:)

I hope you are all having a blessed summer and I pray your summer is full of lots of fun for you all.

ADDISON'S ALLERGY APPOINTMENT !

So after 2 reschuldes of Addisons appt with the allergist we made it today to walnut creek!As most of you know Addison has had eczema on her body since birth and she is going on 6 years old!This eczema that she has had since birth has caused her to sleep bad at night and she is almost always scrathing during the day or when ever she is hot or its winter and the air is cold!She gets mulitple staph infections due to her open sores from scratching and her sores being exposed to the enviormennt and all the germs that it carries!She is normally put on Keflex to help her with getting rid of the staphs!Other then that she takes a med at night to help her stop iching and a med for the day to help her through the day as well.Now in this last year as most know Addison had a asthma attack and was put in the hospital for 3 days!When Addison was born The allergist then said" dont be suprised if this little girl has asthma when she gets a bit bigger if she doesnt out grow the eczema" and here we are a bit bigger and sure enough that doctor was correct:)

They did testing on Addison in fact the tested for 30 things that she would or could mostly be allergic to!Her ped wanted to test her because of the asthma and the eczema!there has to be a reason right?Well yes there has to be :) I just wish this test was done sooner then later!because Addisons body responded to 29 of the 30 things!YES 29 OUT OF 30!!!!Crazy!!!her back Looked horrible with whelts and she was ichy so I faned her back with a book for 30 mins!as I watched her back get red and huge with welts!Thank God there were some that were lower in fact 14 were lower and the other 16 was high:) so they are going to test her blood to see if the lows are positive through blood and if so we will go from there!Its mostly foods and 3 animals that they are re testing.

I have to say Adddison did a great job while the nurse scratched her back with different things!She watched a movie while waiting for the doctor to come back in to look at her back!




After the test was done and the doctor went out Addison asked me"mommy did they find out why I always ich?" I told her "Yes baby they did" I dont want her to worry about it!scratching is enough for her!Iam so tthankful that we can help her to avoid certain things that will allow her body to heal!or stay under control!This girl is very allergic to our maple tree in the front yard and Addison LOVES CLIMING ON!!her severe eczema and allergies and astma have been the resultof the things she is allergic to and now we will try our best to do the best to help this spunky girl of ours!I dont think I could ask for anything more then for her to not be highly allergic to animals!Addison lives it seems to be around animals!Iam suppose to sign her up for horse lessons in a week and I actually forgot to have the doctor test for horses!We are going to call tomarrow too add it to her blood work testing!:(
I actually was suprised at Addisons test results but knowing God made Addison I trust in his plan for her life and what it holds.

LILLIE'S SCOPE RESULTS !

Dr.Gleghorn called yesterday and said that Lillie's scope showed less eosinophils in her biopsy and that she is not completely clear of the eosinophils and said that the plan of action we are taking is working for Lillie and its helping her to feel better in the sense of if we keep her off the foods she is allergic to and if we keep her on the same meds and the night feeds then it will keep her weight on!Lillies blood work showed inflammation in her blood.Lillie has another scope in about 2-3 months to get re scoped!There will never be a time any time soon where we can say she is all better!So we will just continue to share our daughters journey with you and how God continues to give us peace, joy , and the strength to keep moving along this long road!I honestly was thinking about all that we have gone through and all that our family goes through with each ones medical conditions and Iam so thankful to be saved by Gods grace and that he has held us through it all and continues to!Without him I thought to myself "I couldn't make it through ".
I wanted to share something I read its by James Dobson and he talks about trials and tribulations that we face.

One of the most difficult parts of the Christian life is the fact that becoming a disciple of Christ does not make us immune to life’s trials and tribulations. Why would a good and loving God allow us to go through such things as the death of a child, disease and injury to ourselves and our loved ones, financial hardships, worry and fear? Surely, if He loved us, He would take all these things away from us. After all, doesn’t loving us mean He wants our lives to be easy and comfortable? Well, no, it doesn’t. The Bible clearly teaches that God loves those who are His children and He “works all things together for good” for us (Romans 8:28). So that must mean that the trials and tribulations He allows in our lives are part of the working together of all things for good. Therefore, for the believer, all trials and tribulations must have a divine purpose.

As in all things, God’s ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This is the goal of the Christian, and everything in life, including the trials and tribulations, is designed to enable us to reach that goal. It is part of the process of sanctification; that is, being set apart for God’s purposes and fitted to live for His glory. The way the trials accomplish this is explained in 1 Peter 1:6-7: "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The true believer’s faith will be made sure by the trials we experience so that we can rest in the knowledge that it is real and will last forever.

Trials develop godly character, and that enables us to "rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5). Jesus Christ set the perfect example. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). These verses point out aspects of His divine purpose for both Jesus Christ's trials and tribulations and ours. Persevering proves our faith. "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

At the same time, we must be careful never to make excuses for our "trials and tribulations" if they are a result of our own wrongdoing. "By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler" (1 Peter 4:15). God will forgive our sins because the eternal punishment for them has been paid by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. However, we still have to suffer the natural consequences in this life for our sins and bad choices. But God uses even those sufferings to mold and shape us for His purposes and our ultimate good.

Trials and tribulations come with both a purpose and a reward. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (James 1:2-4,12).

Through all of life’s trials and tribulations, we have the victory. "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ." These verses encourage us to see that although we are in a spiritual battle, Satan has no authority over the believer in Christ. God has given us His Word to guide us, His Holy Spirit to enable us, and the privilege of coming to Him anywhere, at any time, to pray about anything. He has also assured us that no trial will test us beyond our ability to bear it, and “he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).


FINALLY I FOUND A BOOK ON EE !!!


I have been looking for a book on Eosinophilic Esophagitis so I can understand more about it and so that I have something to go to if I have a question!I have checked book stores for months and couldn't find anything on EE until 4 days ago when I looked up books on Amazon and I actually found 1 book and I ordered it in hopes that it was what I wanted!I am so happy to say that this book is complete in explaining everything that is known about EE.I love it!! It is edited by 2 doctors and is a doctor book I believe but is easy for me to understand. I believe that one of the doctors is one that is doing research on EE and is looking for a cure for EE.

Lillie's Scope at Children's Hospital !!!

Today Lillie had her Scope/Biopsy at Children's!This test will be done every 3-4 months to check for eosinophils in her esophagus and stomach!The reason for doing this for those of you who don't know it tells the doctors and me that if she has them in her body that there are still foods or enviormental that is causing them to still be present!so usually a child with EE has to go on formula only diet for so many months and wait for a clean scope then introduce 1 food for 3-4 months then scope to see if clear or f its not clear basically that tells you that foods not okay because it caused the eosinophils to be there!now if its clear you can introduce another food and so on !The reason for doing this is so that these children don't have to be in constant multiple pains and so they can have a chance to thrive without there body's attacking it self from the foods there body thinks is a bad invader .This is a very long process!!

This is Lillie's GI doctor and she is the one who does all the scopes/biopsy!!


So When Lillie woke up she couldn't have anything to drink or eat till after her scope!So needless to say we made some minor adjustments and ate our breakfast in our garage before she woke up so she wouldn't smell food and we didn't bring our drinks with us!We put her lunch in a totally different bag so she wouldn't think food would be in there!we also didn't use her diaper bag because she knew we keep all her yummy snacks and drinks so we used a totally different bag and then we put it in the very back of our car.Iam so glad we did because she didn't get into her scope/biopsy till 11:30 and we left at 7am from where we live to be there by 9am.


Tony worked on keeping her mind off the FOOD THING!!it was really actually cute!We had about 7 fits for food before the scope!

This is Lillie in the waiting room wanting her baabaa!!!!!!
Daddy keeping Lillie's mind off wanting to eat food!!! I see you!boo


Lillie went in and we had the choice to watch her get put under:(So we did and I honestly get sad to see her get put under!Iam not sure why but I would say that has been the hardest thing for me to see then anything else:)I think the fact that she looks lifeless and its scary!I also think to see her life in some strangers hands I know its a doctor but its someone I met 10 mins prior to her getting put under.I ultimately know God has Lillie's life in his hand before the doctors do and that He is in Complete control of where the doctors hands go and I know I have nothing to fear because this is the truth.

Daddy and Lillie going for the 50th walk :) down the hall!I love this picture:)

Lillie's doctor came and let us know when she was done!she said Lillie's esophagus looked good and that there was no scar tissue and it was not inflamed!So this is good !She took blood as well to check her blood for why she is cramping in her feet and hands!She tested for several other things as well.I Had asked her prior to her scope to look at her tube because it looked like a rash and She did say she had yeast around her g-tube and it looked like she was developing a couple staph's around her tube as well so she prescribed 2 meds to clear it up.She will have the results by friday of next week from the blood work and the biopsy and she said if there are no eosinophils that we could trial one food!and she said if it comes back with them in her esophagus then we will talk about what we should do! I will be sure to keep you posted.

The nurse giving Lillie stickers !!!


Lillie woke up crabby as always and was trying to rip her iv out and she wanted the pulse ox off to.She was cracking me up:)She got a little stuff piggy from the nurse and then we headed on home.

Lillie still kinda out of it after her scope!!

God is good and continues to be faithful to see us through each and everyday!!Lillie also gained weight with the night feeds we have been doing!we will continue to keep her on the night feeds.Thank you Lord!

PS. My sister blessed Tony and I by watching our 2 children while we took Lillie today!Thank you Wendy.

GARLIC~GARLIC~GARLIC !!!!

So as you know Lillie had her test today to see if she was allergic to fruits and veggies and Garlic because we put it on everything for Lillie for taste on meat and veggies:)here is the list of what she was tested for ..........

~FRUIT~

Apple

Apricot

Avocado

Banana

Cantaloupe

grape

Orange

Peach

Pear

Strawberry

tomato

Watermelon

~VEGGIES~

Broccoli

Carrot

Cauliflower

Garlic

Onion

Potato(white)

Sweet potato

I couldn't believe it GARLIC was the only thing that showed up that she was allergic to YEAH!!!at least for now!!Kids with EE always change with allergies! one year they can have turkey and the next year they cant!Sometimes they are fine with eating a couple foods for there whole life and some change its really unpredictable really! So Lillie basically cant have garlic in any form!Iam so thankful to God though that I can give her the fruits and veggies they tested her for YEAH! YEAH! AND YEAH!!Iam so happy for her that she can eat orally still.I didn't want to take anymore foods from her!My heart would have broke really!!I Guess I will have to take the yummy taste of garlic away from her I know she enjoys having it on her foods!I hope she does not notice:(I literally put it on the foods she didn't want to eat and now she eats them and now I don't know if she will eat them STINK !!!! I have a great feeling I will need to do some creative thinking with this little squirt and eating!Anyway we will see what God has in store for our family!He always sees us through!!Next is the 1oth when she goes under for testing/biopsy!I will keep you all updated.Till then NO GARLIC added to the list :)

JULY 4TH :)

Piggy back ride with Kalani!!

Very cute picture I thought!!

ps. I couldn't post all the picture due to my sisters little ones being in all the pictures:)that's okay because I will have a big O post just for them with lots of pictures of over the 6 months that we couldn't post them lol :)

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY HUBBY!!

Today Tony and I celebrate 5 years of being married together!When I think about 5 years of marriage with my hubby I think of the growth of knowing Christ together!I know that with out that growth we would not be getting through all the trials of having a husband with a medical disease (ulcerated colitis) to having Addison who had severe acid reflux(projectile vomiting)after every feeding and severe eczema at birth and to this day most of you know Addison still struggles with the eczema and the itching it causes her.I know without the Lord in our lives we would feel hopeless together because we would not be able to carry such a heavy load by ourselves and surly we couldn't do it in our own strength!especially when Lillie was in and out of the hospital the first year and a half of her life!We cant thank God enough for the peace,patience,and everything we have needed to make it through constant medical issues in our life together!God has been faithful time and time again to carry us us through all that he has placed in our lives!Our marriage I can honestly say would look scary without Christ in our lives together and that's not to say we don't have our ups and downs and we can sin when things get stressful and we forget to remind ourselves to seek Christ together in the stressful parts of having a sick family!we try to remind ourselves God is in control and we need to trust and wait on God who is control of everything!

Tony is a great husband and I honestly can say he is such a great best friend with out a doubt we make a great team when it comes to alot whether its tackling cleaning the house or getting the kids ready for bed!I love him very much and yes he drives me nuts with how clean he likes things but I think we even each other out :)I thank God for blessing me with a husband that is such a great friend and a husband that treasures his family by taking great care of them!I cant wait to grow old with him I know he will be bald but I will still love him lol.(his grandpa was bald and he seriously looks like his gramps and even has the receding hair line lol).I love to see God growing us through the trials God continues to keep us dependent on him as a couple and I honestly like looking back and seeing how far God has brought us and how much more we still have to be brought through!Iam blessed he has chosen Tony to be the one to be with me through it all.
Tony and I read through a book called "A love that last" by Gary & Betsy Ricucci and it is a great book!We actually should read it again because we read it a couple of years ago.There was a quote in there by john piper and I thought it was neat because I thought it goes with being married and Christ in the center when we put him first before anything else even our spouse!

"The longer I'm a Christian,the more aware I become that I cannot live the christian life on my own.My individual and direct relationship with God through Jesus Christ is the greatest privilege and he is truly all I need-and yet God in his wisdom has created all of us to need others,too.Is this a contradiction?not at all-for God has ordained that much of his grace flows to us through others.

I thought this was neat because all we do need is Christ and that is it but he gave us our spouse to be with us! I couldnt be more thankful for the blessing of a hubby!

This is a picture after we got married!

Trip To The Mountains !!!

Nana and Kalani and Kawika jr

My sister Wendy and her husband Kawika!!

Me and my Hubby!!

The kids had a paddle boat that auntie rented for them!!

Anthony playing in the water!!

Kalani and Lillie in the water!!

Kalani and Addison!!

Mom and Aunt Jackie!!


Kawika in the loft!!

Kalani and Addison!




Lillie watching Papa fix the bird feeder that a bear got into!!!

Papa and Addison

Daddy taking kids for a ride :)

Papa and Lillie!!I love this picture!!


Nana and Kawika jr

The girls!!

We went up to my dad and moms property for 4 days and we had alot of fun I do believe the kids had a blast!We enjoyed going to mill pond where all the kids played for hours!Papa took the kids for jeep rides,the kids shoot guns,The kids found lots of bugs and even a baby squirrel and Addison and Anthony even pet the little guy.We seen a bear that was trying to get to our food!That made me not sleep good at all that night lol:)Tony and Kawika seen a buck and a baby deer that couldn't walk good because he was so little!We enjoyed Gods creation and the beauty of it all.
It was so hard to keep the kids clean besides myself it is crazy how fast you get dirty especially the kids lol !!!I must say it is a lot of work to go camping with little ones!It was nice because not only were we up there with my dad and mom!We were up there with my sister and her family as well as my Aunt and my uncle!In fact they made all of us dinner every night we were up there.It was such a blessing to be with my family I so enjoy being with them.