And Then There Were Four!

2011-01-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

My baby girl turned One recently. So hard to believe a year has gone by already. I'm sure parents of multiple children would all agree that time with each successive child goes faster b/c you have so much to keep you busy with the other ones. I only have two, but I believe this to be true.

Ali is truly a joy to have in our family. She is very different from her brother and has a much stronger personality. She is definitely stronger willed! Most of the differences are really fun and we are all enjoying watching her develop from a baby into a little girl. She's standing on her own and has taken a few steps, but doesn't seem too interested in walking. She can crawl unbelievably fast and really turns the jets on when she knows she's done something she shouldn't and we're coming to correct her. Funny how that works. She's starting to say a few words, which is really fun. I can't wait to see her look at me and say, Mama!

Being a mom to a little girl is definitely different than a boy. I would give my life for both of my children, but the connections are different. I can't really put words to it, it's just different. I love you Ali and pray we have many more years to watch you grow and most importantly to teach you about Jesus!

Not Finished with Me Yet!

2010-08-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

I'm so thankful that God isn't finished with me yet. I'm also thankful that He hasn't given up on me! I would have given up on me a long time ago. I had one of those days today where I just felt directionless and more than a little hopeless. I have them once in a while, usually when I'm feeling lonely. This has been kind of a hard summer for me. Not hard in comparison to all of the people in the world who are truly suffering, but hard in the sense that I have felt alone a lot of the time. Interesting how you can be in a house with two children and still feel alone.

Having an infant after being out of that stage for several years has been an adjustment. Because I like to keep her on a schedule I have been home most of the summer so that she can get her naps. Most of the time I'm not willing to suffer the consequences of being out and having her skip a nap. I guess I'm a chicken. But, because of that I have been home and it's mostly been just me and the kids. This has been a summer where Joshua has developed a strong desire to be around other kids. Very understandable, especially since I have a strong desire to be around other people too. But, that has meant that he has been gone more than usual, leaving me with an infant who is a lot of fun, but can't talk to me yet. All of this to say that I have been lonely this summer for friendship.
I know that some people are good-to-go to just have their family and occasionally talk with a friend on the phone. Others, like me, crave friendships where you are not the only one making the effort. Where the friend calls you and truly wants to know how your day is going. Where you get together as much as possible and you just talk. Where if you need to get laundry done, your friend helps you fold your socks. I had a friendship like that once and I miss it dearly!
With all of that said, I also know that a large part of my loneliness is due to the fact that I have been neglecting the most important relationship I have, which is with God. I tend to be pretty consistent if I am involved in a bible study, but when that stops I generally fall off the wagon. Well, unfortunately I have been off the wagon for so long that the dust has settled and I've lost sight of the wagon. That brings me back around to being thankful that God isn't finished with me and that He hasn't given up on me yet.
Continue to draw me to You Lord! Don't let my heart grow cold!! Fill the void in my heart where You belong!! Thank you so much for loving such sinner!

2010-08-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

One of my favorites! A little father-daughter time!

God really does know best!

2010-08-12T20:39:00.001-07:00

I got to thinking about how good and wise God truly is after reading someone else's blog about their husband. They were talking about how when God put the two of them together it was like having the Tortoise and the Hare get married. When I thought about that I realized that my hubby and I are a lot like that. Him being the Tortoise and me being the Hare. The comparison doesn't really work for everything in our relationship, but enough of it. He likes to think things through and think them through and think them through. I like the think them through and then act. And heaven help us if once we've come to a decision something should change b/c I have found that I really don't like that! Hubby is much better at going with the flow than I am. I get all frustrated and it takes me a while to calm down. When it's time to go somewhere I want to leave. I don't like being late (a "side effect" of having the father I have). My dear hubby has a little bit of OCD and tends to check things over and over. Like, the locks on all the doors (not a bad thing to do), the knobs on the stove, unplugging the toaster or anything else that is plugged in. Doing this before we leave to go almost anywhere tends to make us run a little late, which once again, gets me frustrated, which takes me a while to calm down from. Anyway, with all that said, I can honestly say that I love my Tortoise more now that I ever have! I am so very thankful that God brought us together and has kept us together for over 12 years (almost 20 if you count our dating time). We are opposites in many ways, but God in His wisdom knew this and is working to mold us into the couple He wants us to be. I'm thankful that He is not done with us yet and looking forward to see how He is going to shape us further in the coming years!

2010-07-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

My beautiful children! I know that I am biased, but I think they are so cute! I love looking at pictures of them. They are so fun and it's amazing to see the bond they have even with Ali being so little. I'm really enjoying having two children (especially now that I am past the first 8 weeks, yuck). Anyway, just thought I should get a picture on here for the 1 or 2 people who look at this blog.

2009-12-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

Not that anyone actually reads my blog, but just in case someone stumbles upon it I thought I would add something new. I am 10 days away from my due date. Hard to believe! I am more than ready physically, although I am still somewhat hesitant mentally. I'm sure that anyone who has had a child can understand what I mean.
Joshua is very excited to meet his sister! We are sad that he will not be able to come to the hospital to see her after she is born because of H1N1, but are planning to get pictures to him through my parents. My Mom will be at the hospital and send pictures from her phone to my Dad's phone for Joshua to see.
I will probably not add anything before she is born, and knowing myself I will probably not add anything until long after she is born, but eventually I will get a picture posted.

I guess I need a new name for this blog!

2009-06-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

I'm looking at this picture at 14 weeks pregnant and I still have a hard time believing that it is true. It's been a long and somewhat bumpy road, but God has been faithful the whole way. We're very excited, especially Joshua! I need some help coming up with a new blog name. Obviously, Just the Three of Us will no longer be accurate. So, if the 1 or 2 people that actually look at this will throw in any ideas I would appreciate it!

2008-12-29T06:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a late Merry Christmas to all! We had a nice, relaxing Christmas at my parents' house this year. We were able to get there in time for my Mom's Christmas Eve buffet and then stayed until Friday afternoon. It's really nice to be close to family! Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Practical or Hum Bug?

2008-12-12T07:46:00.001-08:00

Does anyone else out there get to a certain point with Christmas decorating and then just run out of steam? It was always kind of a tradition in my family growing up to take the pictures off the wall and wrap them to look like presents. Then we would hang them back up. I loved Christmas growing up and my Mom always did an amazing job of decorating and making it very magical. I want to do that for Joshua, but am find out just how much work my Mom did. I either don't have her stamina, or I'm just a Christmas humbug. I do finally have the tree up, with lights and garland and an angel, but am seriously considering going sans ornaments this year. Is that terrible? The tree looks very pretty as is and there seems to be so many other things to do that I thought I might just skip the ornaments. What do you think? Well, I'd better get busy doing all those other things. In case I don't get back on here before Christmas, Merry Christmas to all!

Something to Think About

2008-10-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

I recently read a very thought provoking book called, 'Destiny Junction' by Michael Phillips. It's not a flashy book, which it even tells you in the introduction. But it will get you to thinking about your life and what kind of legacy you will leave behind. The story is about a cheerful, energetic young women who loves the Lord. She is the only child of a pastor and his wife and has a heart for all people to come to know Jesus. While trying to tell a homeless man about Christ she is murdered. The rest of the book is spent showing how her life and her death impacted people for eternity. It's powerful and caused me to think about whether or not my life or death would impact anyone for eternity. If I were to die today would anyone beyond my immediate family and close friends be affected? Very sobering when I have to admit, probably not. I wanted to share a poem that was in the book. The main character, Lynne, would put it in Bibles she was handing out to people.

"The Bible is truth, for it is God's book.

To quench life's thirst, in its pages we must look.

Open it, read it, and you will find

an abundant life meant for all mankind.

But the greatest new of all, and to you I say,

is that it's true for you, if you'll only obey.

How can I know this truth you speak of?

Where do I meet this God you call love?

He's not far to seek if you'll but make a start.

In fact, you'll discover Him in your very own heart.

That's where He will dwell if you'll open the door,

and by invitation make Him your personal Savior.

So take God at His word, put His truth to the test,

open your heart to Him, let His Spirit do the rest.

Again I remind you --please, hear me through:

The Bible is true, and God's love is for you!"

Think about it! I want to challenge you like this book challenged me to think about how we can daily make an impact for eternity. Our time is short!

Let me explain

2008-10-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

No, this is not Joshua's b-day cake from his 5th birthday. It was from this year when he turned 6. I didn't have a number 6 or six individual candles (which I didn't realize until I was ready to leave the house for his party) so I took the 5 from last year and put a single candle beside it. Since he had been working on his addition facts I thought it would be fun as well as educational (ha! ha!). I'm just glad at 6 that he doesn't really care. He had a great time! The water balloons went over even better than I had hoped and everyone enjoyed trying to hit the pinata.

My Big 1st Grader

2008-10-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

I remember always hearing as I was growing up that time flies by. I never thought that was true until Joshua was born. And even then I didn't think it true until he was about 3-4 months old. Now, time truely does seem to go faster and faster. It's amazing to me that my child is in 1st grade. I'm so thankful for the good mind God has given him and that so far, he likes school (at least most days).

Super Dog?

2008-10-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is our dog, Taz, wearing Joshua's Super Joshua cape. Joshua loves to play with Taz and thought it would be funny to put a cape on him. Taz actually tolerated it pretty well. What you can't see is that shortly after having it put on he tried to chase his tail. It didn't work out so well.

Vacation '08

2008-10-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is actually from quite a while ago, but it's a cute picture so I thought I'd share it. We went to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, one of the days of our vacation. We used to live there (Louisville, not the amusement park) and went back to visit friends and go to our old church. We were able to see old friends, have lunch with our pastor whom we miss you much and visit the amusement park and Ft. Knox while we were there. I have to admit that after going to Disney World last year Six Flags really didn't do much for us. But over all it was a nice vacation.

Speaking of Christmas

2008-10-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I was playing around trying to figure out how to add a picture (yes, I finally found them) and when it transferred over it made it huge. Anyone know how to make the picture smaller? The picture is obviously from last Christmas, but it's one of my favorite of Joe and Joshua. Any helpful hints would be appreciated!

Like a Kid at Christmas

2008-10-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exageration (That word looks funny and I'm sure that I misspelled it, but I can't for the life of me remember how to spell exageration). Anyway, for several months now I have been reading and looking at other people's blogs and just didn't think it was something I wanted to do. It seemed that everyone had great pictures and such cute and witty things to say about them. I'm only witty on a good day and since I deleted all of the pictures off my hard drive (after saving them on a disc of course) I haven't been able to figure out how to download a picture (yes, I did put the disc in the drive, but wasn't able to pull it up). Anyhow, I have to admit that once I actually remembered how to get back here I was kind of excited (maybe not a kid at Christmas excited, but still excited) to come down to the basement and see if anyone had written anything. Thanks Rachel and Beth for writing to me so my hopes wouldn't be crushed! Like I said previously, I can't promise anything profound, unless of course God gives me somethings profound, but I am looking forward to keeping up a little better with my friends who are spread across the country. Hope you all had a great weekend!

I was lost, but now I'm found.

2008-10-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

I just now figured out how to get back to my blog. I had forgotten to write down what I had named it so I couldn't even e-mail friends and tell them I had one, which hopefully accounts for why no one has added any comments. I'm going to have Shilo try first and see if I really have this figured out.

Entering the 21st Century

2008-09-24T19:09:00.001-07:00

Hello to all the bloggers out there. I have been reading friends and aquaintences blogs for quite some time, but never thought about putting one together for myself. I don't really have many exciting things going on in my house and since I only have one child I don't have endless humorous anecdotes to share like so many others do. But, I thought it might be a good way to stay in touch with some of my friends, especially those in far away states. So, I hope to hear from you Rachel and Shayla! I can't believe I actually figured it out, but here I am. Posting pictures will probably take me a couple more years; we'll see. I guess that's it for now. If anything profound comes mind I'll be sure to let you know.