Not Quite What I Had In Mind

I've been up since 6 this morning corraling children cleaning the house.  This is what I have to show for it...

Clean dishes in the sink, but clutter everywhere else

A dirty kitchen floor

Signs that we did indeed eat breakfast

A couple loads of laundry washed, some folded, much more to tackle

My husband's office Dining Room table filled with school books

I did accomplish the much needed task of organizing the sippy cup tops drawer.  
I consider this as important as balancing the national budget! 

And I did manage to organize this cabinet.  I wish I had a before picture to show you...it was hideous.



So yea, these two played a large role in helping me get nearly nothing done many cleaning tasks started, but few completed.   You just gotta love 2 & 1/2 year olds!


I came across this picture and it gives perspective to my lot in life. 





 So yes, as much as I would enjoy a spic-n-span home, I'll choose to be grateful for these messes.  They are signs that there is life (to the fullest) in these walls.

Who Wants To be Artsy Crafty?

Last night I sat down in my bed with my journal and wrote out some goals for different areas of my life.  I was inspired by this post from Crystal aka moneysavingmom.com.  In the area of mothering one of my goals was to get our children unplugged from the TV and Internet by spending time reading to them and playing with them daily. 

Confession:  I have been letting the TV babysit my children WAY too much this week.  TV is ok, but it needs to be in moderation.  And when I have them watching it would be beneficial for me to use that time doing something productive instead of just wasting time reading blogs or on Facebook. 

I think there are good times for me to unwind and spend time doing leisurely activities.   However, ya girl has been WAY too leisurely lately.  Get my drift?

So today I set out to do something fun with the kids.  I came across this recipe for finger paint and made it in a jiffy.   As I type this blog post the kids are still playing with the paint.  (I spent some time painting too and then decided to do this post.   Don't want you to get the impression that I'm still not spending time with my precious babes.  LOL)

Here are some pics of our mess work!

You paint in a yellow tutu, too dontcha?

FYI, don't make comments about my girls hair!  That's a goal for next week.  LOL!!

P.S.  I don't blog a lot because I think it will take too much time.  I'm so busy reading other people's blogs (their memories) that I don't take time to write out my own memories.  Shame.  Today, I set my timer for 15 minutes, typed like a mad woman and got this post done in about 15 minutes.  Again, Crystal's post inspired me.  I'm so glad!!  Look what can be done in 15 minutes...and now I can cherish this finger painting session for years to come.

Our Newest Family Member

1999 Chevrolet Suburban

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!! 

We are now the owners of a car big enough to transport our family of 6 safely together!!  Hallelujah!  We have been driving 2 cars to get everyone around.  On Sunday mornings we drive 2 cars to church.  Throughout the week the kids and I stay home because all 4 of them can't fit in the back of our other cars.  (Note:  I didn't have huge dreams of taking everyone to run errands because taking 4 kids to the grocery store is a bit much for even supermom, but hey it would be nice to have that as an option if I ever lost my mind and in an act of pure foolishness decided I wanted to take them all out somewhere.)

We paid off the loans on our Escalade and Pick up truck a few weeks ago and planned to trade them both in at Carmax to get a my dream car...a Honda Odyssey.  LOL!!  So what, I'm a mom of 4, my dreams have changed.  We worked with a guy for about a week to make this deal work and on Saturday it finally happened.  He traded his SUV for our pickup truck.  The value on our pickup truck is about $3600 in good condition (but our truck needed brakes, A/C work,  tires, not to mention who knows what else).  The value of the SUV was nearly 2 times that!  In the end we paid him an additional $500 and now this is ours.   And get this, we still have our Escalade that we can sell to pay off some other small debts!  God is good!

The story is quite dramatic, so I'll save you the details.  However, I just have to let you know that getting this car was a real answer to prayer.  Eddie went out and hunted for the fish and I cleaned it, cooked it, and set the table.  He and I really worked together to get this done and for that I'm so thankful.  I used a tip I learned from a blog that I stalk in negotiating.  Hood MamaMel said that when negotiating a deal, after you make your offer, you must be quiet.  The first person to talk, loses.  I used this tip to a T- if I do say so myself. 

I called the seller several hours after the deal fell through (while sitting at our dining room table filling out the bill of sale of all things.  Talk about a nail biter) to see if we could make something happen.   After I asked him if he would take $500, I SHUT UP.  The seller just kept talking and talking and I just.remained.silent!  Finally, he said, "Yes, $500 will be fine.  I don't want to lose the deal over such a small amount."  Whew.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief and asked him to be here early on Saturday morning so that we could sign the papers.

After he brought the car to us, we took our maiden voyage to Chick-fil-a with a few friends.  Then on Sunday we drove to church together.  Halley started VBS for the first time this week.  It has been such a blessing to put everyone in the car and drop her off at the church.   Here's what I see when I turn around from the front seat.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY - GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!!!

  

Happy Baby Momma Day

God saw fit in His grace to bless me with 4 beautiful, albeit super active children.  Thank you, Lord for my precious little ones.  They are a gift. 

After leaving church yesterday, I felt so heavy burdened regarding my role as a mother. Motherhood comes with great responsibility and I wonder if I am "doing it right". The task of raising these little people is so great. They mirror me in so many ways and the image I project is not always Christ-like.


I'm often impatient, easily irritated, angry, lazy, and the like. All of this shows that I have such a need for the Lord to work in my life. He promises that His grace is sufficient. So when I feel that I am at the end of my rope or about to lose my cool, I need to call out to the Rock that is stronger than I. I need to call out to Him continually and be led by Him in my parenting. There's never a time when I don't need His grace. I am soo very weak and so in need of His wisdom to lead me in the way that I should go. I pray that He can use me in my weaknesses (and they are many)to show my children Himself. It is my desire that they walk with Him and that somehow my life will be a reflection to my babes of His love.

Mama Always Said, "You have not because you ask not!"

The other day, I decided to go out with the kiddies to cash in on the free KFC. I packed up all the kids up and off we went. When I got to the drive thru, I was told that I had to get a raincheck for the chicken b/c of the "overwhelming response." What did they think was going to happen...after all they advertised on Oprah!

I got the raincheck and had to put it in the mail that day. But alas, I had no stamps! Since the post office was close by, I decided to go. However, there was no way I was going to get the double stroller out, unload Halley, snap in the twins, run inside for 1 stamp, push the stroller back outside while getting Halley to hold onto the stroller, buckle Halley back in, lift the twins back into their seats, put the double stroller away, and get back in the car! Aren't you tired just thinking about how much energy that would take?

So here was my solution: I backed the truck up from where I was parked to get closer to the door and asked a complete stranger something like this, "Excuse me ma'am, I have 3 very cute but hard to transport children in my car. Would you please find it in yourself to help a sista out?" Of course she obliged. I even got express service b/c her son was with her and ran the stamps and my change out to me! Like mama said, "You have not because you ask not!"

Frequently Asked Questions

The twins have brought on much curiosity from people. Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions:




1. How do you do it?
Well, I just do what I have to do! When I had Halley, I always wondered how people with multiples made it through the day. Now that I have a set myself, I see that it's possible to make it through the day and stay sane! As God promised, He has given me grace for each moment of the day. I didn't need grace to raise 3 children when I only had 1...He gives us what we need as the situation requires.


2. Are you getting any sleep?
Actually, I am. The first 6 weeks were pretty rough. But herein is God's grace again. I did not sleep much during my pregnancy and I think that just prepared me for being up at night with the twins. My body was already used to a small amount of sleep so that helped a lot. For the last week, Mariah has been sleeping 8 hours at night! Wow! Max had a few nights where he did 6 hours, but in the last couple of days he has been getting up once a night after his 11 o clock feeding. He's a fast nurser, so I'm back in bed within 15 minutes.
I used a plan called Baby Wise with Halley and the twins. It teaches parents how to put their babies on a schedule. With this method, most babies are sleeping through the night by 12 weeks of age. This way, I guide their eating and sleeping schedule, instead of the babies ruling me. I highly recommend it.

3. How is Halley handling the babies?
Well, she loves them a lot. She gives lots of hugs and kisses. Sometimes, she is overly eager to help and I have to watch her closely. She calls both of the babies Mac! One day she will learn that each have their own name.
Her behavior has not been so good, so we are having to discipline and instruct her a lot. I'm sure this has to do with not getting as much attention and the fact that she is 2. Being 2 is not an excuse, but we are definetly seeing some behavioral problems. Please pray that she will obey and that God will give us wisdom in training her.


The babies still sleep together. When one cries, it does not wake the other. That's amazing. I don't know how that works, but it does! We pretty much stay in the house, all day, everyday! This past weekend we had great weather, so I took all the kiddies to the park. If you know me, you know I love warm weather and walks at the park. It took me 4 hours (including bathing, eating lunch, and putting the stroller together) to get myself and everyone ready, but we eventually made it out and enjoyed the sunshine! The babies went to the doctor on Feb. 2 for a check up. Mariah weighed 9.5 lbs and Max was 8 lbs. 10 oz.! They have changed so much since birth. I'm trying to soak in the baby days, because they go by way too fast!

I've set a goal to blog atleast once a week. Hold me to it, ok?

The Twins are One Month Old

In some ways it's hard to believe that the twins are 30 days old! But when I think about all the sleepless nights, it definetly feels like 30 days have gone by! Our Mariah and Max are such a blessing and have brought joy to our lives. When Halley was born, it was hard for me to tell what her personality was like. I had nothing to compare her too, so I just thought she was a typical baby. This is not the case with the twins. I can see huge differences between them.

Max is VERY laid back and easy going. He loves his paci. Though we were told throughout the entire pregnancy that he was the bigger twin, this was not the case. He is about 7 pounds now, which is great, but he still has some work to do to catch up with his big sister! Max snorts when he cries which can be so funny. We love our sweet Max and are so glad to have him in our family.

Mariah is a typical girl...full of drama! She screams bloody murder to get your attention. As soon as she is picked up, peace comes over her and her emergency is over. Mariah has a double chin and full cheeks. She continues to put on the weight and love, love, loves to eat. She is not into the paci or bottles...she wants the real deal! Mariah looks just like Halley looked as a baby. She likes to swing and definetly wants to be held. Our 2nd born gives us lots to smile about.

The twins are sharing a crib for now. The amazing thing is that they don't wake each other up when they cry. The sleeping twin is not phased by the screams of the other...that just amazes me. We are working on getting them on the same schedule. This is easier said than done. It's only been a month, so I trust that with time things will get better.

Happy Birthday

On Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 our twins entered the world! What an exciting time. Mariah Brielle was born at 1204 p.m. weighing 5 lbs and 13 oz. Maxwell Eddie arrived 2 minutes later weighing 4 lbs and 13 oz. They are PRECIOUS and greatly loved! Here is a slideshow of pics from our hospital stay.

Party of 3...soon to be 5!

We took these pictures on Saturday at Portrait Innovations. I was very pleased with their service and quality of the prints.

A Tribute to My Parents

Lately, I have really been thanking the Lord for my parents, James and Cynthia Caine. They have brought lots of joy to my life as my parents and the GRANDparents of our children. By God's grace they have been together for 38 years and married for 34 years! That's unheard of in these days. What a blessing to be their child. Their entire lives were changed in 1980 when they both accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior together at a Sunday church service. God completely turned their lives right side up and changed the course of their lives and their children.

What has most impacted me lately is the love they have shown by caring for our little Halley. I absolutely love that they feel the need to visit her every other weekend (like they have visitation rights) and they faithfully do so. They leave Atlanta on Saturday morning and drive 2 1/2 hours to get here around lunch time. We spend the day together and then they are back on the road by 6:30 a.m. to make it to their church. Now that's dedication...5 hours driving only to spend less than 24 hours with us.

Halley has been with them since last Wednesday afternoon. My dad met me at the stateline to pick her up and take her home with him. This gave me the chance to get my hair braided (it took 11 hours), get some much needed rest (what a joy to have uninterrupted sleep at night), run errands, and spend quality time with Eddie. They all came to visit Saturday. My mom and I went to the commissary while my dad stayed home with Halley. Then Eddie, Halley, and I went to take some family pics. Thankfully, my mom came with us. Halley was not on her best behavior and I know Eddie and I would not have been able to take any pics together if my mom weren't there to take care of Halley. On Sunday morning they packed up to leave and took Halley back with them! We do love and miss her, but are so appreciative of the chance to get stuff done without a 2 year old.

Guess who watches Halley most of the time while she's in Atlanta. My Dad. My mom is still working and my dad is retired due to a medical disability. Because of that, he takes care of her until my mom gets home. Opa, as Halley calls him, is wonderful. He says it brings him great joy to take care of her and is no problem at all. I have been most shocked by this...I never knew this side of my dad, but I'm very thankful for it!

Opa, Oma, and Halley will be back Thursday night for the birth of the twins on Friday! They are going to stay with us through Christmas and New Year's and a little beyond that to help with the babies. My mom says she will be on duty during the day and my dad will be on night duty to help with the feedings. What a huge blessing they are!

Mom and Dad, we love you very much!

23 Days and Counting...Down!

Have you looked at my baby ticker lately? Take a minute and scroll down...looking to your left for the 2 babies floating in the womb.

Go ahead.

Obey.


I'm waiting.

Did you see that? 23 days (as of Nov. 26) to go! The babies are moving around like crazy. I can look down at my belly and see body parts doing the bump in there! It's hard to believe that by Christmas, Lord willing, we will have 3 children. Boy, did we catch up with some our friends very quickly. Their names are Mariah (she still needs a middle name) and Maxwell Eddie. It has been such a joy and privelege to carry them. I thank God for giving me the joy of bearing children. What a delight and honor.

The other night at our Thanksgiving service a man shared that he delivered their 7th child at home because the midwife did not make it in time! You all know my husband is quite the businessman, right? He got the mic and said, "Scott, they are charging us $10,000 to deliver these babies, can we cut a deal?" The church went into an uproar! Afterwards, someone told me that I gave Eddie the evil eye...oops!


Seriously though, we are having to pay out of pocket for this pregnancy. We have medical insurance (which we pay nearly $400 monthly for) but we did not sign up for maternity benefits when we got the policy. We had just had Halley and weren't "planning" to get pregnant for awhile. Since this pregnancy, our thoughts on "planning" pregnancies has changed. We believe that God is sovereign over the womb. It's not to us to determine how big our small our family will be. God knows what's best. He declares in His Word that children are a blessing from Him and that the fruit of the womb is a reward. We don't think that we should say, "No,God don't give me any more blessings. We are going to use "wisdom" and cut off the blessings that you want to give us." The world sees children as a bother, a hindrance to your career, and anything but a blessing. But as Christians, we know that Christ is opposed to the world (He is on the extreme end of the spectrum to what the world says)..."feed your enemies, bless those who curse you, the first will be last, the greatest among you is your servant, etc." To give control of this area of our lives over to the Lord is a huge step of faith for us. After all, I was just a few days late picking up my pills and we got pregnant...with twins! But we trust that our God truly knows what is best. We want to have an open hand to His will for our lives.

As for Halley's thoughts on the babies...she doesn't have much of a clue what's going on! When asked where are the babies, she does lift up my shirt and point to my belly. And she knows that we have been keeping her out of the nursery, but I don't think she knows why! She is a great helper...really. She carries her stool to the sink to help wash dishes and to the washer and dryer to help with the laundry. She loves to get the clothes out of the dryer and put them on the couch and even tries to help me fold them. When I get the broom, she immediately gets the dustpan. She helps to vaccuum. My parents bought her an iron and ironing board, so she does that as well! What a domestic diva! I hope this continues when the babies come. She is going to the potty on her own these days...#1 and #2!!! Praise the Lord. She wears panties all day and has not had an accident in a couple of days. Even in the church nursery she has used the potty. I am so thankful to the Lord for this! My goal was to have her potty trained before the twins arrived. She has met and exceeded the goal! We are still working on her staying dry at night. She just turned 2 on Nov. 7, so I really believe her progress is excellent. I just hope she won't regress when they get here.

Well, keep praying for us. I'm having Braxton Hicks contractions...especially at night. We are shooting for Dec. 19 to become a party of 5!

Honey...It's Time!

No, not time to have the twins...time to update my blog! Gotcha!! So much has gone on over the last 6 weeks or so. I'll try to give you a quick run down. Let's start with family first... Eddie and I spent the whole week together last week. Just. the. two. of. us. He is working really hard on some new projects (building 3 townhouses, trying to sell houses he built earlier this year, managing rental properties, and looking at a new business venture). He's such an entrepreneur! He also has been teaching Sunday School. He is great at engaging others to join in the discussion. I really enjoy his class.


I was put on bedrest last week because the babies were growing at different rates. The boy was measuring 25% bigger than his sister. Twins should not be more that 20% different in size. Plus, I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes. We sent Brie to my parents in Atlanta, becuase who can really rest with a 2 year old?!! We prayed and prayed for the babies. When I went back this Monday, things were great. The twins are only 8% different in size now. I was taken off of bedrest and declared a low risk patient again! Oh how my heart rejoiced! I believe that the mishap last week was due to operator error on behalf of the U/S tech. She was not as skilled and I think her measurements were way off. However, God is in control (even over "mistakes"). He was testing my faith and all things worked out for His glory and my good.






Brie turned 2 on Friday! Wow! Before I went to bed last night I peeked in her room. She takes up half the toddler bed with her length now. She is becoming more verbal. Her speech is not that good, but she can definetly communicate! Everyday is an adventure with her. She mocks lots of things that we do...which is scary and funny! She loves music...anytime she hears it, she starts to sway to the music and swing her head back and forth. She loves to pray. We sing "God our Father, we thank you..." before meals. It's nothing for her to take a few bites and then say again, "Wan pray." So we do it all over again.




I've had 2 baby showers...one in Atlanta and one in Montgomery! What a blessing. Here are a few pics:


That's enough for now. Please keep us in your prayers. I am 32 1/2 weeks preggo. We are shooting for Dec. 19 for the due date. Pray that our buns stay in the oven on 400 degrees until bubbly and brown!

TRUE WOMAN 08

In less than 2 weeks, I will be in Chicago with 6 of my friends (Nicole, Antoinette, Delta, Monica, Kim, and Aftan)for the True Woman 08conference. I am so excited and can hardly wait! The conference features Nancy Leigh Demoss from Revive our Hearts, Pastor John Piper (my friend, Antoinette's cyber pastor...LOL), Karen Lorritts, Joni Earkson Tada, and many others. 6000 women will attend from the USA and other countries. Now doesn't that sound exciting? Also, Keith and Kristin Getty are the worship leaders. They have written many hymns recently, one titled, The Power of the Cross. They are wonderful.

At the beginning of the year, I heard about the conference and shortly after found out I was pregnant. One of the first questions I asked my OB was whether or not I could go (I will be 7 months preggo when it rolls around!). He said it was too soon to say. Well, by the time he did say it was ok, all the tickets were sold out. I still didn't lose faith. I got on a msg board and posted "Pregnant momma needs a ticket". I was a little discouraged when I saw that there were several other ladies who were looking for tickets and had been looking for one much longer than I had. However, it was in God's plan for me to go! About 2 days after posting, someone contacted me! How great is that. I'm going to insert one of the e-mails that she sent so that you can see God's hand at work. Here it is:

Shaunta',

The mail came today but my stuff did not come yet unfortunately. In the meantime I just really wanted to share how this all came about with you because I feel it really shows God's hand at work.

My girlfriend and I have not seen each other in 3 years, since my wedding. And before that day, it had been a couple years as well. (We are old roommates.) Anyway, we both have moved away and have kids now, and so we haven't been able to keep in touch like we would like to. In fact, we really hadn't talked in several months, but she just had a baby a few months ago and that rekindled our emailing recently. In our emailing she shared with me about this great conference she heard about on the radio and that she really felt like she was called to go to this conference, but she couldn't find anyone to go with her. She had asked everyone she knew in her area, and was then so desperate she even asked her husband if he would go with her. ha! In looking into it, I thought it looked pretty great, so I offered to go with her. At that time I thought my little girl would have weaned herself from nursing by the time the conference came around, and I had saved some money in my personal acct in our budget, so it all seemed like a perfect plan and I would get to reunite with my friend after several years.

Anyway, because we are on a tight budget, I made sure I was going to get the early bird price! I signed up and waited to hear if my friend got hers, but LONG story short, she totally forgot due to some family drama and was not able to get one. She said to still plan on going, because she would just keep trying to get a ticket somehow. In fact she thought she had one because a lady contacted her about selling hers, but then never returned any of my friends calls or emails. With all this going on, I realized there was no way my girl was going to wean and it made me nervous to just up and leave her for 3 days, and my friend said she was trying to figure out what she would do with her newborn as well. Together we made the decision to just cancel it and I would sell my ticket, and we would try to get together some other time.

I then got on the internet to figure out how in the world to sell my ticket and came across the message board on the True Woman website and saw the hundreds of postings of women wanting tickets. My heart sunk as I wondered how in the world could I possibly pick out one person when all of the stories seemed so compelling!!! I just signed off and thought about it for a few days and concluded that I would answer an ad for someone that was only looking for one ticket, because I had more of a chance of working in that one woman's life, than just giving a bible study group one more ticket, when they still need like 5 more. But still, I was so lost for how God was going to make the woman stick out that He wanted to give it to. And then as you know, out of nowhere my girlfriend emailed me with your posting. I honestly think she picked it out because you said you would pay the full price and not just the early bird price, LOL. But regardless of what you said, I took that as God singling you out for me to contact. And I prayed, ok Lord, if this is who you want to go to the conference, you will work out all the details. And you know the rest of the story. ;)

So my girlfriend just actually emailed me today sharing a bunch of stuff that has come crashing down on her family in the past few days and is just feeling overwhelmed by all of it. And in emailing her back, I was telling her not to worry about the conference or feeling bad about how it all turned out, etc. And in doing so, it hit me! She felt so compelled to go, but couldn't find anyone to sign up with her. We rekindled our communications, I say I will go, I sign up, she forgets, now I have a ticket and she doesn't. One could ask, why if she felt so called to go to the conference did it work out this way? - but I fully believe it was for YOU to go. I have NO idea if I would have picked your posting out of the hundreds, but I certainly wasn't looking forward to having to choose someone. And God knew that! So he had her send me your information. Now I truly believe that God used the two of us to get YOU the ticket you need so you can be there. I am totally jealous, because it is going to be so great, but I don't doubt for a moment that you are supposed to be there. Not with how this all played out! So I really want to encourage you to see God's hand in this and to really open your heart to why he wants you there so badly. He obviously has a plan for you and is reaching his heart out to you and it's so beautiful to see all of this happening! I am honored to be used in your life when you are a complete stranger to both of us! But God cannot be limited, right? His ways are not our ways, and his plans are perfect! Since you won't be getting out to any conferences for a while after your babies are born, I know that you need this. And I will have plenty of time to get out to something else in the future.

So sorry for sending you this huge email, when you don't even know me. But when emailing her this morning, I just really felt that it was important for you to see God working in your life so intimately. I hope this touches your heart in some way. And I will be in touch about when my stuff comes in the mail.

Take care,

Were you encouraged? God is in control of all things. He is so good! I recieved the ticket in the mail this week. Thanks Jenna!

Some of you probably think I'm crazy to be flying when I'm 7 months pregant...with TWINS! Let your heart be at rest...I feel wonderful and I am trusting God to keep all of us safe. One friend that's going has 5 kids, so she could deliver my 2 with ease! This will sound even crazier...Eddie is flying to India (yes...the country) next Thursday for a missions trip with our church! He will be gone for 10 days. The plan is for Halley and I to go to Atlanta to spend the week with my family and then I will fly out the following Thursday. He'll be back that Saturday and I'll be back that Sunday. My parents are overjoyed that Halley will get to spend much of October with them. Actually, I haven't told my dad yet. I'm going to surprise him.

So, please pray for us. I will list specific prayer requests in a separate post.

Some Things I'm Most Thankful For

My blogging friend, Jess, had a post with this title on her blog. I thought I would blog about the same topic.

1. Being a wife and mother. I am thankful that the Lord wrote this in to the story of my life. I absolutely love taking care of my husband, Halley, and soon to be twins! It's not peaches and cream everyday, but I know the Lord is sanctifying me through it all.

2. Having a wonderful family. My parents are celebrating their 34th anniversary today! How cool is that? They have been together since they were 16 or 17! Without them, I wouldn't have such wonderful siblings. I have 2 sisters, Erika and Joy, and a brother, Jason. I've never posted about my family, but I will put up a pic soon and introduce them to you.

3. Great Friends. Oh how I love them. It is so much fun to have Christian friends to walk through life with. My friends here in Montgomery are like family. I love that they point me to the Lord and are willing to challenge me. We have such a great time together.

4. The Bible. It is alive and powerful. It sharpens. It encourages. It is food to my soul. It enables me to know our God. It makes my soul sing! Amen and amen.

What are you most thankful for? You can also go to Jess's blog and read what others are thankful for in the comment section.

Praise God from whom all blessing flow!

A blogging friend, Emily and her family, are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to get the child that the Lord has ordained to be in their family. Go here, to see the glory of the Lord! What a mighty God we serve.

U.S. Women Having Fewer Children

Pls click here and read an article that really is one of my heartbeats.
As Christian women, we have a delight and a duty to raise Godly children. We are told to be fruitful and multiply. Our attitude toward children should be far away from that of the world. The world thinks that children are an interruption, a distraction, a drudgery and not the blessing that God calls them.

Eddie and I waited 4 years to have a child. We thought that we needed to spend time together and focus on one another. The truth about it though, is that Halley has brought us closer to one another. The fruit of our love has strengthened our marriage and given us a common thread. She has brought so much joy to both of us. I just watch with great joy as she runs to him in the morning when she gets up and when he comes to the door in the evening. She adores her father, and he adores her. I have loved seeing this tender side to him, as a result of having her in his life.

Do you have the attitude of the world or the attitude of the Lord concerning children?

Catching Up!!!

Well it's been over a month since I last wrote on here. I have thought many times about taking time to write, but the procrastination bug got the best of me.
About a month ago we found out we're pregnant!! A bit of a surprise to us, but definetly in God's plan. How wonderful that we will get to be a part of advancing God's kingdom through our children. When we first found out, it really did take me some time to get "excited." In the wonderful plan that I had for my life, I did not want to get pregnant until Halley was 3. She's quite a handful and I just thought it would be best/easier to wait until she was older. My good friends turned me on to Voddie Baucham. He is a pastor that is ALL about the family. He was so exciting to listen to. His sermon really changed my view. I also thought about how so many women that want to concieve are unable to do so. How dare I snub God's gift and say I'm not ready yet. I think often about the fact that children are a reward from the Lord. Halley truly brings us so much joy (I've said that many times before). So, Lord willing, we'll have a new baby by the end of the year!!! Wow...God is good!

Easter 2008

I thought she was so cute. She looked like a flower girl!


That ponytail on the left had a mind of its own!