WOW, it has been toooo long!

Thank you everyone for keeping up with my blog, even if I can not! So many things have happened in the month that has passed. I guess the only way is to grow from person to person :).

First of all, our Elliana. She has changed so very much! She is 25lbs and 31 5/8 inches long. She is walking now completely and has graduated to the toddler room at church. I went to pick her up the other day and she had both her cousins Tehya and Lilyana in her room, including her little buddy Parker Glendenning. How fun to see them all together!!! Also, Elliana Grace has turned one (if you didn't know from the pictures :)). What a fun time we had! We ate sloppy joes with cheesy potatoes and had delicious cake! Ella had fun time digging in that frosting. I don't think she even made it to the cake part! It was everywhere. She was showered with wonderful gifts and friends. We had so many ppl there (see pic) that came out in the cold rain to celebrate our special little girl. Thank you everyone. Your presents makes all of us feel so loved.

Last weekend was a very special weekend for us because we also dedicated Elliana to the Lord. It brings tears to my eyes as I write this, because never did I realize how important this is and what a gift to the Lord. Elliana is so full of joy I know the Lord can and will do amazing things with her. Elliana's name means, "The Lord answers our prayers." (boy does he ever!). We then dedicated to her a life verse. The verse we chose was one that David and I believe is true for our lives and hers. Jeremiah 29:11-12 "¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you." Verse 11 is important to us because we know the Lord has a perfect plan for our family and verse 12 goes right along withe the meaning of Elliana's name. What a gift to be able to share this with you all too! Finally, Elliana is talking up a storm! She says; mama, papa, doggie, no, mine, baba, ball, bath, book, down, banana, nana, choo choo, and pretty much any sounds you want her to. I once said purple and she said it perfectly. (even if she has no idea what she is saying). She signs yes, no, please, thank you, more, and all done.

Next is new baby girl, or as we call her "Adele Rae". :) She is doing so well. I feel great. I am a little tired, but I believe that has to do more with Elliana then with the pregnancy. Great news and update on the last blog post is that the blood clot has completely disappeared! Yes, God worked a mirace. We prayed that he would just remove the clot all together and put the placenta in the perfect place and he did! Even the doctor was very surprised about this! Thank you Jesus! Otherwise, she is measuring right on, even if I am still wearing regular jeans :). She is very active to where she wakes me up in the middle of the night, but I don't mind. And I have gained 5 inches and 13lbs. only 11 weeks to go!

Not only did we celebrate Elliana this weekend, but we also got to celebrate David! David finally finished his year of being on probation at the Oswego Fire Department. It has been a great year, but a long year. This is a huge accomplishment and he did it with flying colors. I threw him a huge surprise party. I invited all his friends and family including the entire Oswego Fire Department. We were honored to have his entire shift there including the Assistant Chief and Chief. They actually honored him there with a Union coin. What a cool thing that was. It is awesome to see that they respect him as much as we do! He has joined a great family and I am so thankful the Lord brought him to Oswego. And the best part....he was completely surprised! He had no clue at all! I had been planning it for 8 weeks so that is shocking that no one told him. Thank you everyone who helped me pull this off. You were a huge part!!!

Finally, myself. Arbonne is doing great and I have an amazing team! I am thankful for all the girls that have joined my team. Each have different skills that make us truely successful. Otherwise then Arbonne, the surprise party, pregnancy, and Elliana I have not been doing a whole lot. :) All of that keeps me busy. Oh yeah, we bought a house! That is a big deal too! We are closing in the next week! It is in a town right next to us called Montgomery. It is 6 minutes away from where we currently live which is wonderful. It is a 2 story, single family home, with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. It has an unfinished basement and a bonus room upstairs! This house is perfect for us and we are so excited about the new adventure of owning a home :).

Well, thank you everyone for reading this incrediably long post. Hope you enjoy it! Love you all!

Elliana is Walking!

We were pretty excited that Elliana took her first steps today and wanted to share it with you! She hasn't even tried to step forward since she has been standing on her own these past 2.5 months! Then 2 days ago she attempted one step...today she takes 7! Our baby girl is officially a toddler! I have never been so proud. It is so fun watching her grow. It is amazing how caucious and sturdy she is! Next she will be running :)

Elliana's Earrings :)

For those who wanted to see...here is my little girl with her diamond earrings. Adorable right!!!!

August 22, 2010

Hello Family and Friends,

A lot has happened in the last month so I will catch you all up to date.

First of all, David and I had an amazing opportunity with Arbonne International to go to Nassau Bahamas and stay at the fabulous Atlantis Resort. Whooooo hoooo, what a fun time that was! We ended up leaving Elliana with my parents for the entire week. I asked my mother when she dropped her off how it was and she says, "Well, I wouldn't want to adopt her or anything, but we sure did have a fun time!" I loved the honesty. It was a little hard for David and I when she was dropped off because it was very apparent that Elliana did not remember us until we talked. I felt a little rejected :), but bounced back quickly as soon as she said, "Mama!" We missed our little panquesito quite a bit, but were very thankful for our time away as just us. Atlantis was amazing with 11 pool and by the far the most beautiful ocean. We got to look out our room patio and see stingrays and sharks swimming in multiple areas set up for live exhibits. It was better then going to the zoo! We absolutely loved it there and am so thankful Arbonne paid our way....ha never could have afforded it anyways!

David is starting to pick up part time shifts at the fire house now that the new baby is coming in a few months (5), and we have decided it is time to look for our own place. We know that this process could take a long time until we find home. We are ok with with that since we are in no rush to leave the Knapp home. We have truly been blessed by our time here, but think it is time for us to have our own space.

I am currently still working my Arbonne business and am so excited with what is happening with that. I really do feel that this is the best job for me and this is exactly where the Lord wants me. I mean geesh, I get to hang out with new people 2 times a week and talk about beauty and health and wellness! The only thing that beats that is when I get to brag about my husband and daughter on top of that!

Elliana is 11 months old and has cut her top 2 teeth! We saw first signs of them on her 11 mo! This is a bitter sweet thing for me since I LOVE that gummy smile! Also on her 11 mo David and celebrated our 3 year anniversary. What a day of celebration! We are so blessed by our lives. We took Elliana to the mall and got her ears pierced! Now no one can mistake her for "such an adorable little boy." She looks even cuter then before if that is even possible. I felt guilty at first, but she barely cried and when it was all over she hasn't even acted like she knows they are there. I can clean them, move them, pull on them and she isn't even phased.

Little baby Martinez is growing well. We had our 20 week appt and found out the sex. We are having another GIRL! We couldn't have been more surprised or excited! David and I both thought for sure we were having a boy. With everything being so different with this pregnancy I just thought for sure. I was wrong...you all will never hear me say, "I know it is...." because I will be dead wrong! We are so thankful that we will need nothing and that she is growing so well. She is 10oz and very very active.

We do ask that you pray for little baby girl and myself because the doctor has told me that I currently have a blood clot attached to the placenta. We are under monitoring, however, if the clot grows we will be discussing what happens next. Worse case is that it grows and it can hinder the growth of the baby or cause the placenta to detach from the uterus. It can disappear on its own so we ask that that is the prayer and miracle the Lord gives us. We know the Lord is in full control and we trust him completely. Thank you in advance for your prayers!

Enjoy the pics! Love you all!

Lets See How It Works!

Ok, so I am going to try it. I am going to attempt to keep up on what is new with our family and post what new things Ella and the new baby are doing. I have felt as if I have failed on writing down what new things Ella was doing. So here I am going to attempt to keep us up to date. Please do not judge me on spelling and grammar :) I will do my best.

Today we are going to get our 16 week check up on the new baby. I am very excited about this since I have yet to feel the baby move and I have only gained 4 lbs. This is not how it was with Elliana. I was feeling her move often at this time and I had already gained 12 lbs! Even though this pregnancy has been completely different then Elliana's I am still nervous and look forward to hearing our babies heartbeat.

How were these pregnancies different? First of all, when I hit 14 weeks with Elliana I was already in maternity pants (I am still wearing all my regular cloths this this one) and I lost all feelings of "morning sickness" (I am still often quite nauseated with this baby). Like I stated before, I was often feeling Elliana move at this point, where I have yet to feel this baby move. With in the ultrasounds, however, Elliana was very relaxed and barely moved where this one moves all over the place. Maybe it is because I have done this before, but I feel like this pregnancy is just flying by where with Elliana is moved at a ridiculously slow pace.

Elliana is 10 months now. WOW! 10 months! I don't' know about you all, but I am shocked at this It has gone so fast! At the end I will do a second post of new pictures of her. Elliana is a chatter box! From the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep she is chattering away. She says Mama, Papa, Dada, baba (this is her favorite word), Ella, and what sounds like Nika and Tehya. I am not sure she understand what exactly she is saying for all these words, but quite often she says them regarding the correct thing she is looking at. I know for sure she knows baba, mama, and papa. Beyond that...not so sure :). She also eats whatever we put in front of her. I have not found anything yet that she does not like to eat. A few favorites....strawberries, yogurt, and any kind of meat we can find her. She is now at the age where she no longer wants baby food but would like to feed herself. And the newest and greatest thing Ella is now doing...standing on her own. She can stand up for along time clapping and smiling but does not attempt any steps yet. I am not worried however, it will happen soon enough :) Hey, I didn't even walk till I was 16 months! Elliana is going through some sort of growth spurt I believe because she has been sleeping ridiculous hours; last night, 15.5hrs! As David said this morning, "She is going to be huge!"

David is doing great working a lot of hours at the fire house and helping out here at home. He is loving his job and we are so thankful the Lord brought him to Oswego. We feel this is where we will stay and probably finish out David's career. The house he is at is extremely busy and he has had some awesome fire and medical calls. I would write them all out but there is WAY to much medical jargon I would never get it right. David just got back from his 3rd annual Boundary Waters camping/canoeing trip. It was a great year since he went with 4 of his best friends; Dan Haskell, Nick Borst, Lucas Knapp, and Ryan Glendenning. The guys had a great time although it is said to have been Davids hardest trip yet. I asked him if he had made lifers (like himself) out of Dan, Nick and Lucas, Davids response, "I don't think so." We will see :).

Finally, myself. I have had an extremely busy month with traveling to see family and vacations. It has been a great month though! Back to work now though :). In August we are going to Nassau Bahamas to stay at the Atlantis Resort. I have earned the trip for David and I to go for 5 days through Arbonne International. For those who don't know that is a Swiss formulated skin care and health and wellness line I got into when Elliana was 6wks old. This has allowed me to stay home with Elliana and now the new baby. I am extremely thankful for this job because to me it doesn't even feel like a job! I love it and love being home with my family!

Ok, so I think that is good for now! Thanks for listening!

- Joei