Elijah

The past 3 years of Elijah's life have been anything but boring! Our sweet boy has experienced more things (traveling, vacations, road trips....) than most people do in a lifetime! Our first big trip with him was when he was 9 months old. We made our trek from Florida to England to visit with Justin's parents. Since then he has been back there one time as well as road tripped across the US with my mom and I, and also up from SOCal to Utah and Colorado!
While I think those life experiences are fantastic and I'm so thankful to have those memories, there isn't anything like being at home with him. Elijah has a joy for life. He daily surprises me, encourages me, and humbles me!
Ever since I was little I wanted to be a mom. I always bartered with God that if He would just wait till I had my first kiss to rapture the church then I'd be ready to go, then it was till I got married, then till I had a baby.... Now, having accomplished all those things I still make barters with God! I know it's super silly and obviously God is not on my timing, but I am so thankful to have my amazing husband and little boy and to be growing through this season of my life.
Justin and I have had our share of issues in our marriage, finances, parenting, and even relationship with the Lord. But this year God really opened our eyes and gave us the passion for Him again and the drive to serve Him in all that we do. We are far from perfect and I struggle daily giving over my "control", but having a whole new perspective on my walk with the Lord keeps me going each day.
Since Justin left 3 months ago I have seen such a radical change in Elijah. He has a better grasp on who Jesus is and what He did for us. He LOVES learning Bible verses and reading from his own Bible. Even last night after he came home from Emily's Rainbow class he told me as I laid him down for bed "I will follow Jesus, mommy." How does that just not melt your heart? Now being a wife and mom I appreciate so much more the time and effort my parents invested into my to be brought up with good morals and values and to really know who my God is.
I pray as we continue to learn and grow as parents that we can invest those same principles and love for the Lord into our own children. I am so excited for all that God has in store for our small family of 3! I am anxious to see it all pan out, but I am more than happy to be content with right where I'm at!

5 week progression pictures

If you are friends with me on facebook you have seen these pictures already, but for those who aren't here they are. I actually didn't take a great before picture, but there are plenty floating around out there that I'm ashamed of so I picked a few. This diet has been such a huge blessing to me. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but having PCOS is tough sometimes. My body is/was constantly giving itself more insulin even if I didn't need it. It's very difficult to loose weight and many many people become obese because of it. Thankfully, I have youth on my side and because of that my entire body has responded positively to doing MediFast.
So without further-ado, my post until now pictures.... I'm so happy to see results so quickly! It makes me more and more motivated to keep going!