My Story: The Road to Hope

We all have our ups and downs. Some crash harder than others..(me).. but my experiences have brought me to where I am today. And am I thankful for what I put myself through? Oh heck yeah...because I now have a much greater understanding of just how much my Heavenly Father loves me and how much I mean to Him. Let me tell you about it...

We all know I got pregnant unwed. So clearly I was a secretive, disobedient teenager. I had drifted from God, got caught up in sin, and knew where to turn but ignored it. I ignored God. The funny thing is, He never ignored me, even though I wanted Him to. He was constantly in the back of my mind giving me a way out, welcoming me back. But I never took it. Well, that was until He gave me the ultimatum.

I realized I was pregnant on January 10th 2010. That night, God spoke to me loud and clear, "This is your way out. I'm fighting for you. I want you back. This is my gift to you, this is HOPE." God gave me HOPE for a better life, to live a better me. And I took Him up on it. Out of impurity, He gave me purity. Out of a horrible situation, He brought out the good. Crazy how He can do that huh?!

By giving me this child, God was serious about getting me back to Him. I had ignored his easy way outs several times. He knew he had to do something big to grab ahold of me and get my attention. He didn't have to do that..but He did, because He loves me. Even though it was going to make my sister lose her cool, and even though it was going to nearly kill my dad from another heart attack, and even though it was going to break my brother's heart, and even though it was going to make my grandma lose all of her marbles, and even though it was going to send my entire family into a huge fizzy, I was worth it to God. He loved me enough to send HOPE through giving me my daughter, Braelle HOPE Runion.

God loves you the same way He loves me. And He loves me like crazy. Don't test God like I did. Don't push you're luck too much, because He might just have to do something big, really big in order to get you back. Because you are worth it. What's your story? Take a moment and think about what God has done for you and how much he loves you.

"I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us"

10 Months Baby!

Braelle is now 10 MONTHS! Like, I can't believe I've had a baby for 10 months!! She gets more amazing, talented, and beautiful everyday.

We haven't been to the doctor for a well visit in 3 months and won't be going for another month, (we're on the 'we make our own rules' shot schedule), so I don't have any cool stats yet. Although I do know that she is the healthiest baby ever, very strong, and over 18lbs.

Things Braelle Has Been Working On Recently:

• Perfecting her wave (girl LOVES to wave at anyone and everyone all the time...remember when she was a grumpy pants and only gave the mean mug?? ha well she still does that...but now she is also willing to smile and wave too!)
• Capable of sleeping till 5 a.m. (Yeah, she still wants to get up and nurse at least once or twice. She normally wakes up around 4 a.m. but this morning it was 5 a.m.! We get up for good around 6:45-7ish.
• Clap hands on command.
• Saying "please"
• Playing Peek-A-Boo
• Standing alone for 1 second..haha
• Unrolling toilet paper...all of the toilet paper in my house has been rerolled

A couple of months ago Braelle and I were watching Oprah and Beyonce was performing...that's when Braelle started busting out her own moves...since then, Braelle will dance to ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that has a beat or  rhymth... including:

• Dancing to my dog, Chance, licking up water from his bowl (HILARIOUS)
• Tapping, clapping, snapping or knocking
• Singing or music...like normal people do
• And scraping dough off of the pizza board.

See what I mean by talented?? haha
Enjoy the rest of Braelle's 10th month photo shoot :)

I love this next picture of Chrissy and Braelle :)

I saved the best for last...standing up on her tip-toes to look outside!

Braelle's first 4th of July!

Braelle looks really good in red, white, and blue! Well, she actually looks good in every color...her skin tone is just so perfect and I'm so jealous. I love dressing her in the colors that I love looking at, but can't pull off! (yellow, orange, red, cream, and my mom would say gray).
Anyways, we had a good day! She looked adorable of course and we lounged around for most of the day until we went to the Thies' for a cookout! The girl LOVES a party...something I'll have to channel in her future teen years! :D