Baby on Board

To ring in Baby #2, my sister threw me a shower this weekend that was so nice! We enjoyed a strawberry cake, homemade bread, quiche, and several silly games. I already had a lot of things from having first baby, so I got diapers galore and wipes. It was awesome. It's nice to spend some time with friends. I joked that I must've had candy perfume on because the tripletts were there (my 2 year old's friends) and they were on my lap, sharing my chair, and following me wherever I went. It didn't bother me at all though. It was very endearing. Here are a few pics. It was so chaotic, I only got a few pics in. It means so much to have such wonderful people in my life. Thanks!

Sunburn,PB&J, & Aminals

My sister recently moved into town from being out of town since we were in high school. It's been so wonderful having her around again.

We grew up sharing a bed or sleeping in the same room. It used to be if we were mad at each other we had to sort it out before we could go to sleep. We were tight. Well today we decided to take the kiddos and have a trip to the zoo. She starts school after being in the military in the fall so she has some free time with her children. It's amazing to spend my time with her. I love it.

Anyway we went to the zoo and had a blast. Here are some pics. We also went with our mom and our mutual friend Kim and her daughter. My sister's little guy and our friends little girl look like brother and sister. It's so cute.

Worthy Cause

Every day we caught up in our every day junk..The thoughts that fill our minds, the irritations that we think are for real. Etc...All this goes to crap when I see a video like this one. Sara Groves is a singer and you may have well heard of her but I just discovered her tonight. I was asked to sing special music in two weeks at my church so I'm rummaging thru songs to find something that God wants to put in my heart for whomever needs it. That's my process so it's real.

Anyway I stumbled across this video but I know it was meant to put on here.

It reminded me of a mission trip I took to Mississippi right after Katrina hit the area in Gulfport. We took 14 youth kids down there and I had never been on a mission before. It was weird. One night I dreamt I needed to do it. I didn't think I could pull it off, but I went to my pastor anyway and suggested it as a thought that someone else could do. Then I left the meeting with a date and amount needed. Two weeks later we raised the money. We were off. I didn't even think the kids would come but they did. It really truly was if you build it they will come.

How many things do you shrug off that God puts on your heart however small? He gives us all gifts and sometimes out of fear or insecurity we shrug it off or find excuses to save us from it. Just do it. Nike says.

Well anyway here's the video.

Spring Fever.

Today was amazing. I went outside after a great workout and got some much needed Natural Vitamin D. THE SUN! Our family finally raked all the leaves. We had a blast outside. My sister came over with her little guys and we let them jump into the leaves.

Myths Don't Work

My hubs and I wanted to try for another child. We were the obnoxious ones that start and four months later we're pregnant again. No wondering or waiting on us. The second I'm off the pill, there was the double lines. So first of all to all of those moms out there who have to had a lot of patience, I don't have any. So that's probably why I didn't have to wait. I will learn patience another day. For another reason I'm sure.I really admire all those moms' out there who have had to endure many trials and you are superwoman!!!

When we were trying, it was fun because the first time we just got pregnant right off the bat. So we were really able to plan this one. When I found out I checked up on the chinese calendar and did some different myths like the string that swings whichever way.
All signs pointed that we would be having a girl. There was a group of people surrounding me saying I would be having twins. I wasn't fond of that thought. By no means am I saying we were upset. I didn't care either way.
So we went to the ultrasound today and first thing we see is little winkie. Yep.

A BOY.


But since we found out and I had said it would be fun to have a girl, some people went oohh are you upset? Or you can try again. I'm like no I'm soo happy with this. I don't mind what the sex is. ROCK ON BOYs!

I really am excited. I know it's such a blessing and our son is so amazing. He will only benefit from having a brother. They can bunk and we don't have to buy another house for a new room. We have all the clothes for the most part.

He is so beautiful. I know he will be amazing in his own special way. I was the girl who hung out with the guys growing up so why not have my family be surrounding me with guys? Love it.

Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Free Rice

Since my 2 year old was up all night with a nasty cough, I decided I'm going to lay around today with him. I was thinking of my family and people and my niece popped in my head. She told me about this website called free rice. You go on this site and answer vocab questions. Every question you get right gives rice to kids who are hungry. Her teacher in school told the class about it and she wrote it down for me on a piece of envelope so when I'm sitting around with free time, I could do that. Isn't that so sweet? Anyway for those times when you have a spare minute and want to feed the hungry. Go here.

Bathroom REDO

So my hubs and I moved into our home about a year ago and it's a 40's home so there are plaster walls, and it was all painted crappily white when we moved in. Lucky for me I have a friend who gave me some great deals on paint. So I have been busy trying to make it look homey. So far its as good as I can do. Of course I have been looking online at all of your beautiful homes so this is our home and I'm very happy with it and humble. I just love looking at before and afters so it was about time I put some of my own on. I also am on my computer for the first time so I have all my old pics. Usually I'm on my laptop. So here is my bathroom when I first fixed it up.

And here is the new latest version.
I didn't take a before pic of the closet because it was just a big mess without a door. The door was banging into the other door all the time so I was going to put a curtain on it until I saw this great idea in
Family Circle to do an open closet.

I can't find the pic but this is a great mag with tons of ideas for family and home decor.


My sister and I went to an antique shop finding all the glass containers, fabric is hung up on the bottom portion of the closet with cup hooks to hide laundry and vacumn. I spray painted (sadly first time doing so) the tins. They were bright hideous rusty blue to match. The box is a hat box.

Then the rest of the bathroom I found a little bird at Hobby Lobby for 80% off. Love it. That's what this brown thing is on the shelf. I don't have the best camera.


So there it is. I am very happy with it. Have a great day and good times making your homes your home.

To Kill A Mockinbird?

This morning my hubby took my year long request to pick out his clothes the night before so he doesn't have to open the drawers five times and into the closet.
He was out the room in a second. Well then there is the issue of the QUaker.

When we were dating I knew about his bird that his most adored. A beautiful green parrot that could talk. She was very cute and endearing when she spoke. Other than that she was obnoxious. I didn't want that bird in my home, but I knew he loved her and I came to love her myself. Even though she has ear-splitting and nerve-wracking squawks all hours of the morning and in the middle of the day and at night.

At some point he told me, this noise I would tune out. Hmm..Three years later, still makes me cringe. Since I am home, it is an incentive to leave the house for her loud hours.

So this morning I've been battling a croupy cough I got from my little guy..That intense stuff that hurts your lungs that you just wish you could sleep off. Nope.
Not this morning. But guess what?
It wasn't the parrot or my hubby.

During the night with the storms, my hubs opened a window, so it was some kind of bird outside. Grrrrr...

Oh well. I went thru this whole ordeal in my mind that what if I had a bb gun to just make it go away. It was keeping me from having peace in my mind.
But then I started thinking of that movie with Sarah Jessica Parker where she tries to get Mathew Mcconnahey(spelling?) out of his parents house. Her roomate struggled with a mockingbird outside her window. She lost sleep and was at her wits end.

Well when she finally decided to get rid of it with a bb gun, she immediately was regrettful for her action. So my train of thought continues.
Once our parrot pulled a blood feather out of her side and was bleeding. My hubs and I were crying and called the emergency vet. They fixed it. That was when I knew I loved the stupid thing. So when I say I'm going to leave her out in the cold or things like that, I would never do it.

So here is my ultimate point that I'm finally getting to. If you are still reading, thanks for hanging with me this far.

How many times do we resent and get mad at the ones we love most in our lives? The ones who are always there because they love us, may get annoying. They may grate our nerves. How do we respond? It's not fair to lash out for our bad moods or insecurities. We must hold our tongues. We must remember that if they were ever gone, it would break our hearts and we wouldn't be the people we are without them.

So I say embrace the good with the bad and make sure to give yourself some time to unwind and recall the important loves.

Your Grace is Enough

So I've been listening to this awesome contemporary christian station called KLOVE.
Since I am a SAHM, my 2 year old is always in the car wherever I go. Also sometimes with my hubby. The other night they came home and my hubby brought little guy over to the couch and said ok let us sing our song for mommy.

They sang Your Grace is Enough. It was sooooo cute, I cried.

So this morning he is walking around in his pj's hitting daddy saying "Your Grace is Enough". This is the life. How can you wake up in the morning wrong or in a bad mood when you have such a vibrant little life just expressing himself like that.

I have to go eat pancakes now that my hubs made..WOOT WOOT.

Thorns

The Blessing of Thorns: This weekend's sermon included this story. It really touched me. I thought you would be touched as well...



Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease.

During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose annual holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come.

What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder.

"Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered aloud. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child?

"Good afternoon, can I help you?"

The shop clerk's approach startled her.


"I....I need an arrangement, "stammered Sandra. "For Thanksgiving?
The blessing of thorns is just what you need. Now here my story.

Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special?" asked the shop clerk.

"I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued

"Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. " Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."

Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi Barbara...let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses.

Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped...there were no flowers.

"Want this in a box?" asked the clerk.

Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!?! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile.

"You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest.

"Uhh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uhh... she just left with no flowers!"

"Right...I cut off the flowers. That's the Special... I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet.

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that?" exclaimed Sandra.

"Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery."

"That same year I had lost my husband, "continued the clerk," and for the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel.

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for good things in life and never thought to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important.

I always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others.

"Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her."
I guess the truth is I don't want comfort.

I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."

Just then someone else walked in the shop.

"Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man.

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement ....twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra doubtingly. "Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?

"No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem.

He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks to Him for what that problem taught us."

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"

"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too... fresh."

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time.

Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.

"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."

"Thank you. What do I owe you?" asked Sandra.

"Nothing." said the clerk.

"Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me. "The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra.

"I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you'd like to read it first."

It read:

"Dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to you along the path of pain. Show me that,through my tears,the colors of your rainbow look much more brilliant."