Acker Family: January 2012

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Our New Family Members...Spiderman, Elmo, and Herby!

Today was the nicest, longest day evvveeerrr! We started out at church, made a trip to Target and just had to get the popcorn, and then headed to PETCO to get the kids a new pet....some fish!! I know....not as exciting as you thought but Grayson and I are extremely allergic to basically any animal with hair which stinks because we love dogs. Joey let the kids pick out fish from some that he had narrowed down that he knew would live long. We already had a large aquarium that was ready with water and had been running in our formal living room so we were set! Grayson and Ella were so excited and they couldn't wait to name them. Grayson named his Spiderman, Ella named hers Elmo, and Joey and I named ours Herby. They are pretty neat to watch and very active fish. Joey said they will grow to be pretty big! So there you have it our new little pets. Haha....
This weekend, Grayson, Nana (Joey's mom), and I all went out to Granbury to see Lauren and Dusty. We helped them clear out their extra room that they are turning into sweet Sawyer's new nursery. It was a lot of fun and it turned out great. I can't wait to see it all put together and I am even more excited to hold my new niece!!
We all enjoyed a nice lunch and then a trip to the park where Grayson added "throwing up after going fast on a tire swing" to his Must Do Kids List...haha! I felt so bad for him but, hey, I did that too when I was little, and for some reason I look back thinking that tire swing ride was so worth it!
Oh and I must add an update to my clean and green way of eating. I did pretty good the past week and was symptom free except on Friday when I ate at McDonald's. I realized that next time I should just get a salad or grilled chicken sandwich, Other than that, I have continued to feel great and have awesome amounts of energy. I go to a specialist on Tuesday to see if I have any type of infectious disease that is causing the lymph nodes to swell in my body. If this trip is inconclusive then I will have the actual lymph node removed through a pretty quick surgery to have further testing. So I will keep you all posted!
I'm off to bed so I will leave you with a picture of our sweet babies who look so big before church this morning!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Health Update 1/3/12

(You may need to read the blog post before to know what I am talking about)

So its only been two days and I am not sure what it will be like as I progress but so far I feel GREAT! I don't want to get too excited because it has only been two days but how my stomach feels is a good sign. Usually, I will have some type of upset stomach symptom EVERY DAY (bloating, nausea, among other things). But I have not had one of those yet..praise the Lord and keeping my fingers crossed. I have eaten a lot of veggies and fruit (which I love anyway) and fish. I am going to eat out tomorrow night for a birthday but will probably have a salmon roll and squid salad. I am not going to miss out on eating special things or yummy treats but if you know me....you know how exciting being symptom free for a mere two days is!! I am praying this continues.....I am going to talk to my doctor about this because I know I am mostly eating (not all) gluten free foods so maybe that has something to with it. I will be visiting with the doc regarding the swollen lymph node I have had in my neck for the past year...I am doing a very.late.follow-up. I am supposed to be seeing a specialist and depending on what I find out there will either be treated for whatever or have the lymph node actually removed for further testing. I am praying its nothing big but whatever it is...it's all in the Lord's plans regardless. I know sometimes people just have lymph nodes that stay swollen! I hope to check in later this week!

Also, today we all went back to work/school and the kids did great. I was worried about Ella since she had a hard time at church on Sunday but her teacher said she was happy and did great. Grayson was happy to go back and his teacher said he was very helpful today. While tucking him in, he told me that he loves school and church. They just melt my heart.

Hope you all have a blessed week!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

I hope you and your families had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! I can't believe 2012 is here! We had a pretty cool Christmas full of family and friends. Grayson and Ella enjoyed every.minute.of.it! I say this every year...but it was so much fun! I guess I will love every stage they're in, it keeps getting better and better. I am just so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with these two sweet babies! I am thankful every second...even when they drive us crazy!

Here is a recap on our year!
*I learned what its like to chase two kids!
*Joey and I have grown even more as a married couple.
*I have learned to be a bit more patient.....now I said a bit.
*Ella has turned into a full blown toddler...running, tantrums, and learning to do amazing things and melting our hearts with her beautiful personality. Her smile makes my day.
*Grayson is now reading and make us so proud every day....literally...he is brilliant, kind, handsome and says some of the wittiest things. His hugs are the best.
*We found a wonderful church where God has shown us where to help and use our talents.
*We have had the best times with both sides of our families...they are simply amazing. (we are even getting a new niece, Sawyer)
*It's been a pretty quiet (aside from the tears, kid screams, and laughter), blessed year that has made us even more thankful.

So do you have any New Year's resolutions? I have never really thought too much about it...because people usually break them. This year though...I would like to set some goals for myself. I am a very goal oriented person, if I set it...I feel like I HAVE to do it! I have always been that way but I guess that is why I have also tried to create realistic goals because it will drive me crazy if I am not able to do it! So here are my GOALS for 2012.

1. To be a more Godly wife. This is one of my struggles. Joey is an amazing provider and always does anything to make me happy so I really want to strive to be a Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 woman (these are verses based on what God wants women to be...you can look this up on amazon, they are books also... I hope to read this year also). In today's society women are told to be independent, opinionated, and strong willed. Those are all great qualities but its also important to be obedient to God's word and to your husband. I think for me I always want to have the last word and speak whatever is on my mind, which can be good but it's also important to respect your husband as a biblical wife and this is what I aspire to do more.

2. To get HEALTHIER! This does not necessarily mean to lose weight (which I could definitely also do) but to change my eating habits and increase my exercise. I want to be a healthier person and try to eat less processed food and more natural, raw foods (not meat though...bleh). I think this will help a lot with my stomach issues that I have (I have already noticed a difference this past week)! I will try to blog monthly updates on my eating, workouts, and changes in my health/weight, etc. Let's say my start date is tomorrow 1/2/12....I already ate some pie at my mom's and Dorito's at Joey's mom's...hehe.

3. This goes with the above....I have been wanting to do a 5K and I am GOING to do it!

4. To be the best mommy I can be!

5. To be the woman I think God wants me to be and not just the woman I want to be.

So, there you have it.....my top 5 goals for 2012!!

So, now we get to the good part....PICTURES!!! Here is a hodge podge of Christmas/break pictures. Enjoy!!

-Blessings,
Mel