Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas!!  Tomorrow we will start the day reading the Christmas story to remember the reason for this very special time!!  Christmas is my very favorite time of the year and I love the decorations and presents and holiday cheer but only because it is celebrating our Savior's birthday!  Merry Christmas to you from our family!





Friday, December 5, 2014

The Mommy Mobile

In February of 2014 we sold my wonderful altima, that had great gas mileage, never gave me any mechanical trouble for a beautiful black murano.  The only reason we sold the altima was a better car for carseats.  It was little emotional because the altima was the very first car I went and picked out and paid 100% for right out of college.  I had the car for 7 years.
The murano was great because there was no more bending down for car seats, we had leather interior, and a great big back area. The murano was sporty and pretty and it was a great black color.  I think all cars look better in black.  We only had it less than the a year but really enjoyed it.
 




Then we added another baby (in utero currently) and the murano was not big enough for our growing family.  So we talked about it, prayed about it, talked about it and my husband reluctantly gave me the go ahead to get a mini van! He really wanted a great big suv.  I told him the next car after car seats he can choose!

A mini van may not look cool but it is so functional!  Functional is a mom's best friend.  We prayed about it and I literally prayed on the way to buy a vehicle and while I was test driving it and had a complete peace. We found a great deal for a 2009 toyota sienna (we pay cash, so we buy used and save the difference). I can get to every row in the mini van easily, the doors slide open, great gas mileage and we got to maintain leather seats!    I have been driving it for a couple weeks now and have enjoyed the space and the ability to transport lots of people.  My daughter, Niah loves the doors.  The great news is the mini van cost almost exactly what we sold the murano for!

Sorry this is dark it is cold and rainy outside

We are excited about our purchase and how will help our family get around!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

It's a......

It's a.........


Some of you are already scanning to find out what it is.  We found out last Thursday and our so excited.









Niah was right!  It's a girl!  We did suckers for both a boy and girl the night before the appointment and Niah told me we did not need to do the blue sucker because it was a girl.  When I picked her up from school I asked her if she wanted to know and she said she already knows it's a girl!!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

The Scoop about Baby #3



The idea of baby #3 goes back to March of this year.  I started to really want another baby but never made any indication that I was wanting another baby because I was not sure if Matthew was on board.  I did not want to be the crazy mom that had all the kids that her husband did not want.  I left it in God's hands and just began praying that if we were suppose to have another baby Matthew would bring it up.  It was just a few weeks later, Matthew did in fact bring it up by saying, "How would you feel about having another baby?"  Wow, what a confirmation that it was right for our family.

From there we were no longer preventing pregnancy :-)  Summer started life got crazy and still no signs of a baby.  It was the end of our busy working season but life was still really crazy with a lot going on and I began to think, "Well it might be ok, that I am not having another baby."  It was not even a week later and the terrible, awful, throwing up hit me in the night.  The only kind of sick I have been in years is pregnancy sick and so I began to wonder, am I sick or am I pregnant?  After day 2, of being sick and family began to say either she is pregnant or deathly ill, I decided to take a pregnancy test.

The results as we all know, were positive!!

I have had a normal birth and a c-section so with this baby we are going for a vbac.  I will be happy either way as long as everything goes smoothly.  If I have a Niah size baby (5lbs 9oz) I should have no problem but a Malachi size baby (7 lbs) will end in a c-section.  I have everything in order to have the baby and go home the same day if everyone is healthy!!  I hate hospitals so this was number 1 on the priority!  Plus I just love getting home and spending time with all my kids and letting them enjoy the baby.

Niah is so excited about the baby!  She talks about the baby constantly and how life will change. She desperately wants a little sister!  She says things like, "When the new baby comes I want to rock the baby in the rocking chair and put her to sleep." or "Only mommy can hold the baby but sometimes me and daddy can."  "Is the baby coming today."

We are so excited for our bundle of joy to arrive!

12 week ultra sound



16 Week ultrasound pics, I can not believe how much growth happens in 4 weeks

 

Friday, October 10, 2014

Niah turns 3!

My sweet baby girl turned 3 the beginning of may (I realize I am late on this post but let's be honest it happens with kids).

Niah,

You are an absolute joy in my life.  I enjoy spending my days with you from running errands, working, to just hanging at the house.

You have just the right amount of sugar and spice.  You are so sweet and think about other people often.  You want to help meet everyone's needs and to make sure that no one is hurting.  You have such empathy for others.  One example of how sweet you are is when I say your nightly prayers to you and I forget to say special prayer for Grandma Nancy (who was terminally ill), You immediately say, "Mommy we need to pray that Grandma Nancy does not have any pain."  Instantly melts my heart that one you are learning the power of prayer and two, you think to pray for others.  You have gotten a little spice and sass in your personality.  You will sometimes say the funniest comments that all I can do is laugh.  One time we asked you, "who do you want to spank you?"  Your reply, "Malachi!"  You will now fight for your toys and not just let someone take them (Kyah).

You have a huge vocabulary and say just about anything.  You add funny comments to your sentences such as "Well Actually,"  "Just a little bit," "I no will," "Oh my," and even the other day you used the word "overwhelmed" in a sentence.  We laugh at the comments that you you make and enjoy carrying conversations with you and learning how your mind works.

You do not care for toys but have a love for dresses and shoes.  You take after your mommy and love to shop!  You always say, "Can we go to one more store?"

I absolutely love you and can not imagine life without you!!  You are a true blessing!

Love

Mommy

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

A loss on Earth but a way better ending

I have been mia for the last couple of months.  I have some major catching up to do about my adorable kids but today, I am going to share about my absence. 

The last 2 months (starting in april and may) all of my extra time and energy went into a 4 hour drive to spend last precious moments with my Grandma. 

She returned from a trip to Alaska to her home in Springfield in March and was sick (which was not uncommon for her return).  The sickness lingered so she was taken to urgent care where an x-ray showed a mass on her liver.  After several test and doctors' visits, the results were in.  My mom called me to tell me the news, I knew things were bad and was expecting something similar to my grandpa's diagnoses 7 years early, which he was given 6 months - 3 years; after a crack in her voice, I heard across the phone, "A few weeks."  Tears immediately started coming and I quickly got off the phone to collect myself only to be back in tears as I repeated the information to my husband and dad.  "A Few Weeks!!"  The doctor did not even give months but a few weeks, the rest of the day as I thought about it, I immediately went to tears.  I almost weekly wish my grandpa was here to share in my everyday moments and as I began to think about not having my grandma either brought a lot of sorrow. 



I had already committed to making the trip to Springfield every week before the diagnoses (round trip is 4 hours) but after I heard the news, it was almost impossible to go home at the end of the day.  Some days I would decide to stay the night, other times I would go twice in the week.  Toward the end I even went after my kids went to bed and came home in the morning.  I wanted to be there, I wanted to spend those last precious moments with her.  I wanted to see if she had any wisdom she needed me to share.  Over the 5 weeks after her diagnoses, I watched as her health deteriorated but not once did her faith.  She was very weak and had moments of horrendous pain and her first response was not medicine but to pray under her breath.  In between her moans from pain you could hear her praying, praying for God's comfort, praying for the pain to go away, praying for God's hand.  That was something every time I would think, God give me faith like hers that when I am dying, my first response is to turn to you.  Each day she grew weaker and was unable to do more and more things.  Each day was harder to watch her suffer.  I would daily pray God, "do not let her suffer anymore."  I feared every evening leaving it was my last time to see her and cried every time I saw her as she had became so weak.  Almost 5 weeks exactly from her diagnoses, I was headed to Springfield knowing it was almost the end, I was half way there when I got the call.  My heart was heavy, I so desperately wanted to be by her side, I wanted to hold her hand one last time.  I went switched back and forth from heavy sobbing  to praying the rest of the trip to Springfield.  As I got to Springfield, I was still extremely sad about the loss of this special person but I began to get a peace.  When I walked into her room and looked at her body it was as though God wrapped his arms around me and told me, "She suffers no more."

My Grandma watched us several days a week from the time we were born until we went to school and even then we still saw my grandparents weekly. She kept journals of her days for over 50 years and as I went back through some of her journals my heart was happy to see that everyday she wrote sweet notes and remarks about me and my sister.  Not just a few days but for years we made the journal weekly and a lot of times daily.  We shared precious moments with her and she poured into our lives.  She continue to pour into our lives until her last days as I watched as she prayed God have I done everything you have wanted on this earth, I don't want to go until I have.  This resonated in my heart what a strong prayer and one that I have started daily, God  I want to do everything you want me to do today!

My prayer while she was sick is that Niah would have such an understanding of what was happening to Grandma Nancy.  From the very beginning I began to tell her Gma Nancy is very sick but one day she is going to heaven and will no longer be sick.  Niah would talk about Gma Nancy going to heaven and we would talk about what heaven is and how you get there.  In her last day Niah sat on the bed as my grandma slept rubbed her back and prayed, "Jesus take Grandma Nancy to heaven so she is not sick."  This was a non prompted prayer that gave my heart such a peace that she did understand.  When she died and I told her, "Grandma Nancy went to heaven." Her reply was, "mommy I know you miss her but she is not sick anymore, right."  When we were at the funeral, she said, "what is that up there in that box."  I took her up there and told her, "It was a statue of Grandma Nancy."  Her reply, "Cause she is in Heaven."  Not only did she "get it" but she reminded me Grandma Nancy is in a better place.  She will always be missed but she has a way better ending.

Camp has started so hopefully I will be a better blogger but I am not making any promises.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Where do I fit?

Growing up in a pastor’s home, I have always been active in the ministry. I love being used by God and would sacrifice many things for opportunities to do His work. Now, I am a licensed minister married to a licensed minster working at our district campgrounds.
As a new mom, I began to notice my ministry responsibilities changing over the last couple of years. After my first child was born, I continued serving in many areas of ministry—my daughter just came along. Then my second child was born and I had to prioritize my time differently. My one year old and two year old needed my best attention.  So, I limited myself to two ministry opportunities outside of my full-time ministry job.
At first, I was confident in my decision, but a couple months down the road, I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to serve the ministry. I began to cry out to God and ask him: Where do I fit? How can I be used by You? What is my purpose?
I had been praying this for weeks before I got an answer. One day, my two year old came to me after I hurt my finger and said, “Mommy, let me pray for it.” As she said a five-word prayer, God spoke to my heart. I realized I may be giving up ministry opportunities outside the home, but raising godly children is something only my husband and I can do. I began to see endless opportunities by not only teaching my children about God, but also by showing God to my children through my actions and words. I am thankful for the opportunity to teach and show my children how to live a life for God.
God also began to show me the families around me. I was taking my two year old to a mommy-and-me gymnastics class. After one of the classes a mom came up to me and said, “You go to church, right?” I answered “Yes.” She replied, “I have never prayed before, but have seen a lot of other people’s prayers answered. I need prayer. Will you pray for me this week?” I quickly answered, “Not only will I pray for you this week, but I will pray for you right now.” Light bulb! This is my opportunity to plant seeds into these families!
I am sure I am not the only ministry mom with “littles” that needed to take a step back. But just like God reminded me, as mothers we have one of the most important callings. If we open our eyes to the opportunities we do have around us, we will see the amazing purpose in this season!
For moms in this season with me, I want to encourage you with these verses. They are a great reminder of the importance of this season!
  • “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
  • “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:7).
  • “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:14).

   

Thursday, March 20, 2014

14 Months

Malachi

I can not believe that you are 14 months already!!  You are growing up and everyday doing something new.  It seems that I can not close my eyes because when I open them you have accomplished something else.

You now say:
yeah
no
how are you
mama, dada, Niah
thank you
all right
milk
more
uh oh
up
that/this
blue
ball

and just the other day when I took Niah to the bathroom you looked at Daddy and said, "Where mama go?"

When you are want something or frustrate or sometimes just for fun you scream loudly.  Your mommy does not like it.  At home I ignore you and you stop in public I cover your mouth.  

You are still a big eater!  Your favorites are strawberries, chicken, yogurt, and bread or crackers.  Your favorite dessert is ice cream.  You do not like bananas, raspberries, or corn.  You either like a food or hate food no in between with you.  When you are done you want to throw all your food on the floor and we have been working very hard trying to get you to stop.  You have started to feed yourself with a spoon and you love to feed yourself!


You are a climber and love to climb up on to chairs and stand on them.  You love to climb the stairs and anything that you can manage to get on to.  You stand all of the time but refuse to walk by yourself.  You have amazing fine motor skills and manage to put small objects through small holes.  You like to take things apart and put them back together.  You have a mechanical mind like your dad and when you look at your train you pick it up and will try and figure out how it works and even place your finger right on the wheel to stop it from going then let it start going again.

You love your sister!  Niah will now play with you for long amounts of time and you absolutely love it!  You two will play little games and just laugh and laugh.  It melts my heart.



You are one determined boy and you are set to go after what want.  There is no stopping or redirecting you, if you want something, you want it right away.  I am constantly trying to teach you patience and you are not a patient one but I know you will learn the difficult task it I am as determined as you  in life :-)  I know that you will do great things because if you set your mind to something, you will and do get it accomplished at all cost.

We love you Malachi!!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Less Perservatives

Our home is slowly trying to take out preservatives and eat foods in their natural form.  The motivation is not for any reason but to be healthy.  I want my children to be healthy and I want to be healthy for my children.  My husband got on board after he had a month of sickness.  It will not be an easy thing because our family loves sugar.

Where did we start?  By eating all of the sugar in the home and not replacing it (we are not wasteful people).  I have been trying to find healthy alternatives like greek yogurt ice cream bars or homemade all natural fruit ice cream bars, is something I give out for dessert.  When we do have real sweets, I want to make them using raw sugar and using unbleached flour and using recipes that call for ingredients in their raw form.    I also plan to make things we enjoy to be able to use more ingredients in their raw form.

The biggest switch we made is our milk.  I debated this and researched it for awhile and went back and forth and we decided to buy milk in the raw form.  We go through over 3 gallons of milk a week. WE ARE BIG MILK DRINKERS!  I found a farmer about 30 mins away that sells raw milk.  The cost is not much more than what I was paying for organic milk from the grocery store.  The initial investment was $4 per gallon in glass jars (I buy 3 gallons a week so $12), then it is $5 per gallon.  I was paying almost $4 per half gallon of organic milk.  They only milk their cows 2 a day and do not feed them any grain.  The cows are Jersey Cows and they spend their time outside not in a barn never getting to leave.  Their cows get no steroids, hormones, or any other additive.  The milk we are drinking is the actually nutrients.  Store bought pasteurized milk is boiled and all of the nutrients are killed then they added the nutrients back in that are developed in the lab.    The most helpful website about raw milk, I found was here.  We actually enjoy raw milk better than store bought.  It is such a creamier clean taste.  Not all raw milk is the same so if you try it and don't like try a different farmer.  The flavor will depend on the type of cow and what they are feeding the cow.  Another farmer that was more convenient, we did not like the milk.


Our family may not be able to ever go completely to whole foods or gluten free but we are going to take small steps that will hopefully have big results.

What are somethings in your home that you are doing to eat less preservatives and more whole foods?  I would love suggestions?

Friday, February 7, 2014

All about the Mommy

I read 2 or 3 blogs in the last couple of weeks that inspired this post. They wrote a post all about them. This is going to be a post of random facts about me. My husband always tells me I am so weird (he says that mostly in a good way). Some of these facts are things he finds weird and some he finds completely normal but others find weird. Just thought I would share a glimpse into the life of the Mommy of Niah and Malachi :-)

1. Since having kids, I can count on one hand the number of times I have the left the house with no kids. I prefer it that way.
2. It actually stresses me out to leave the kids with anyone including my husband and plus if I have the kids with me, there is no rushing home and it is more relaxing.
3. When I am mad, I clean, When I am stressed, hurt, or sad; I shop. By shop I mean, I feel the need to spend a lot of money (a lot would be somewhere around 75-100 in my single days it would be $200).
4. I feel the need to get out of my house every single day, even if it is just going to work, which is not even a quarter of mile away. (my littles come to work with me)
5. I am an extremely private person and usually only share my deepest thoughts with the husband, sister/best friend, mom and Jesus.
6. I take a bath in our jetted tub 5-7 times a week. Being completely honest, I take a dessert and the Ipad and watch tv while in the bath.
7. I throw all manners out the door when it comes to my kids. I try not to but it is my first reaction, my husband does as well. The easiest way to get a rise out of me is to attack me as a mother or attack my kids.
8. I can count on one hand the number of times, I argued with my husband in a year. Usually the arguments are over silly things.
9. I love running errands but truly only enjoy them if it is only my kids and I. That way I could move at my own pace and go where I need to.
10. Becoming a homeowner and a mother gave me the motivation to do crafty projects. Now I truly enjoy it.
11. I prefer to do things alone unless the person helping is just as personally invested in the project as me.
12. When I take on a project for someone, I make it my own project and personally invest every energy I have in to it. It is a positive and negative thing.
13. It takes me at least a year to use up makeup, not because I do not wear it because 99.5% of the time I wear it. The only thing I buy on a regular basis is eyeliner and mascara. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I do not wear enough makeup and other times I am glad I do not have to spend money on it.
14. I gave up my love for shopping for myself when I had kids and now I love to shop for my kids.  Not only do I love to buy them new clothes I love to see them wear it (they have better wardrobes than me now)
15.  The only jewelry I wear consistently is my wedding ring.  The only only other piece of jewelry you can catch me wearing is a pearl necklace and that is usually only once a month thing.  


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Malachi Turns 1

Dear Malachi

It is so hard to believe that you are one today.  It is a bitter sweet feeling.  I love the little man you have and will become but sad to say good bye to the baby.   From the second you came into my life you made it better.

You are such a sweet, happy boy that lights up our lives.  The instant we look at you, you smile ear to ear and you are such a joy.  I had no idea that I would enjoy raising a boy so much, but I absolutely love it.

You are a stubborn boy, and you know what you want but you have such a sweet sensitive spirit.  That is amazing qualities to have and I pray that you will use those qualities to do mighty things to further the Kingdom of the Lord.

You mean the world to me and I absolutely love you.

Love

Your Mommy

My dear sweet baby turns 1 today.   I can not believe how fast time goes by!

You are a great eater and eats more than Niah does right now.  Your favorite food is MEAT.  You hava a well rounded diet and will try everything.  You are not completely satisfied until he gets breast milk (trying to figure out best way to break this habit).  You eat about 5 small meals a day.

You can say momma, dadda, hi/hey, thank you, that, and I have heard you say Niah a few times.  You babble a lot and will get into a mood and repeat lots of words.

You have no interest in walking, you only pull yourself to standing every once in awhile.  You gave of the army crawl on your birthday and now you crawl normal most of the time (in the last 24 hours).  We had to lower your bed last week for the first time since you were born because you were pulling yourself up.  You love music and will sing and bang on anything. 

Your favorite toy right now is the Little People setups with the slides.  You will play for 30-40 minutes with them.

You go to sleep at 7 and usually wake up at 7 eat and go back to sleep till 8- 8:30.  You usually go to sleep at night with no problems, just lay down and go right to sleep.  You take 2 naps, the first at 10 and sleep till noon, and then you wake up for an hour or so and go back down and sleep another hour.  You usually go right to sleep for your morning nap but will cry for your afternoon nap.  If you miss your afternoon nap you are ready for bed really by 6 but I try to get you to hold out till 6:30.


Yes I posted this a day late.