$6 and a Great Friend

Only two days until the start of the October Dress Project, are you ready?! 

My good friend Christen and I set out this morning to find our dresses and a couple staple pieces to get us thru the month. We started at Goodwill and we were both encouraged after finding several dresses to try on. I had already decided I was getting a black or dark blue dress, either color would be easy to wear all month. Ha! I ended up falling in love with an olive green dress. But hey, the whole point of this project is to challenge myself, right? 

We are both thrilled with our purchases- both of our dresses are from a trendy mall store, in excellent condition, and only set us back a mere $5.87! 

But we aren't stopping here. We are stepping it up a notch. After I begged invited Christen to join the ODP and she accepted, she came up with a brilliant idea- let's challenge ourselves to grow stronger in our walk with God as well. So, we are both going to dedicate time every single day to read the Bible. I personally have struggled so much with reading the Bible daily, always unsure of where to start, what to read, how to study the Word. But it's time to set aside my reservations and just dive into it. I'm so blessed to have an amazing friend who can call me out and challenge me to strength my walk! 

I'm actually super stoked to wear my GREEN dress! Lets hope I can still say that in 10 days.. 

Here are some pictures of our morning mission- please excuse my low quality iPhone pictures, I promise to start using my camera on a more regular basis. And yes, we were those annoying girls who giggled and put on a fashion show/acted like paparazzi without caring who saw us ;) 

Nighty night time! 

Christen's super cute winner!

The chosen one.. 

A close second!

Darn broken zipper, I loved this one!

Fall Orange! 

Are you challenging yourself this October? If you're planning on blogging about your experience, leave me a comment with a link please! I can't wait to read all about everyone's journeys!

Remember When...

I know I will never forget, yet I feel the need to reminisce about that day two years ago when I thought my life was ending. I sobbed hysterically for hours, searching online for any and all hope that the Doctors were wrong- that my baby boy's heart could still grow before he was born and be whole.

I remember having to call all of our family, close friends, and co-workers, and tell them that our son was critically ill and would literally need to fight to live once he was separated from me. No one knew what to say.

I remember too many nights spent calling out to God to fix my son. Begging for a miraculous healing for Evan. Oh, if only I knew..

He had a bigger plan for me, for us, for my family.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart  and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
                                                 Proverbs 3:5-6


I can't deny that I have struggled with this verse over the past two years more than I would like to admit. It's so hard to shake all the fear; to trust that He knows what is best for my boy.. Yet every.single.time I have feared, the Lord has reassured me that all is well. He has got this! 

If I could have peeked into my future, to see how full of life this little boy is, I never would have believed it was real. Living with half a heart sounds so impossible! But thriving with half a heart? No way. Yet here he is, so incredibly happy, with bright brown eyes that shine and a smile that you literally can't resist. And I love him, I adore him! Every single hug, kiss, and smile is treasured in this house. Every single thing I took advantage of in my pre-heart mom life is treasured! 

Life pre-heart momma status was ok. And life in the early stages as a heart momma was difficult. But being a heart momma now.. is incredible. God will never give you more than you can handle, this I have learned, struggle after struggle.. 

Yesterday Evan had a routine Cardiology visit. He was super bummed out, his favorite nurse and sonographer weren't in the office and I could tell he missed them. We are really lucky that Evan has always loved the office visits. I've heard countless horror stories of children crying as soon as they walk in the door, and who can blame them!! We are usually in the office for 2 hours during Evan's appointments, cooperating for that long is a challenge for an adult, let alone a toddler! But every time he amazes us! Evan was giggling and saying "NO" to every question asked. 

EKG time! 

Evan's O2 sats were in the low 80's yesterday, which is just a tad lower than normal. His EKG and Echo results were fantastic though! There appeared to be no change from his last visit 3 months ago and everyone was impressed with how tall Evan is getting! He is now 34" and 27lbs, which means he has grown 3" since the beginning of the year! 

Do you see how patient this little guy is? He is such a calm natured kid, a natural cuddle bug. He sat thru his echo like a champ! Of course, he did have some help from Yo Gabba Gabba and needed to hold momma's hand the entire time. So sweet! I don't know many toddlers who can sit still for 30 minutes while a stranger scans their bare chest! I'm so proud! 

No changes were made at his appointment and we will be returning in 3 months for the next follow up. 

Now, I know this was all fantastic news, but I really saved the most exciting for last.. On the way home, Evan fell asleep in the car AND stayed asleep when I brought him inside and laid him in his bed! No joke, that was the first time in the history of Evan that this has happened! Seriously, if you're the parent of a baby who refuses to nap in the car, you will understand my excitement. ;) 

I hope to post in the very near future that Evan is walking, he is so close! Please continue to pray for his physical delays. I can't wait to see him walk and run with his friends! <3 

the October Dress Project.

Heard of it? No? Me either, until late last year when I saw some friends posting pictures of themselves in the same dress every day. I didn't give it much thought until a few months later and had almost forgotten about it now that October is quickly slowly creeping up on me.

So, what is it? It's a brilliant idea, created by two friends when one of their grandmas commented that women only needed one dress to wear an entire week, and one for Sundays. They decided to wear one dress the entire month of October. Yes, you read that right. The same dress everyday for 31 days. 

Why? The basis is simple- anti-consumerism, pro-simplicity, anti-conformity, pro-imagination. But you can transform the ODP to mean whatever you want it to! I will be focusing on pro-simplicity. 

I'm going to be transparent here for minute. I am materialistic, self-conscious, and more consumed with my outward appearance than I am with my inner-self. Gross, right? I know. And I have acknowledged these faults and have been diligently praying for God to help me change my ways. And in several ways, I have changed. But I still have a long journey ahead of me. Sigh, don't we all? 

I need this challenge. I need to transform myself. I need to prove to myself that I don't need this season's hottest trends or name brand whatever or brand new clothes to feel like ME. I don't need all these things to define who I am! 

Want to join me? Come on, wearing the same thing for a month doesn't sound appealing to you?! Your reasons behind participating in the the ODP do not have to be the same as mine. Your guidelines do not have to be the same as mine! Think about it, pray about it, give it a try. I stumbled upon a friend's post from ODP 2011 and seriously, she came up with some super cute outfits! Challenge yourself people!

These are my personal guidelines for the October Dress Project:
- Since I do need a few staples in order to survive the entire month, I will need to purchase some items. But I will not buy new! I will shop thrift, yard sales, or my friends' closets. 
- I will sell unused clothing items/household items in order to purchase these "new to me" items I think I need. 
- I will not be wearing my dress to the gym or to sleep.
- I will not purchase any new clothing or accessory items for myself the entire month of October.
- I will not repeat the same look during the month. 
- I will learn to love myself for who I am, not for what I am wearing. 

I'm not gonna lie, this is going to be very difficult for me to stick with. Luckily, one of my closest friends has agreed to dive into this adventure for the first time with me! I'm not sure we quite know what we are getting ourselves in to, but I can guarantee we are both fired up for the Lord to work on our hearts through this challenge! 

P.S. Yes, you can wash your dress! ;)