Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Sugar and spice and everything nice

So, as I mentioned a few posts down, all signs point to this baby being a girl. We're thrilled! We would have been excited either way, but this adds a new level of excitement since it's something totally different. If you have a boy, you know the feeling of letdown when you go somewhere to shop and see the two racks of boys' clothes next to the ten racks of girls clothes. We've bought Kade the cute miniature Air Jordans and the Baby Gap outfits, but it's just a different kind of cute than headbands and bows. The grand total so far? Three pairs of girl themed leg warmers, a pink swaddler, a pink and white flowered gown, and a pink baby wrap carrier. Oh, and I have a pack of crocheted headbands sitting in my Etsy cart. (don't worry about Kade. He didn't get left out. He just didn't get anything pink)

Honestly, though, when I started thinking about having a daughter, I got kind of nervous. Kade and I have a pretty easy going relationship (except when he tries to bounce on my belly at night before bed) and I imagine it probably won't ever be too strained. The worst I can imagine with Kade is, "Don't drive your car so fast and pick up your room!" Mothers and daughters, though--a lot more complex. I have never figured out if it's the two female dynamic or if Satan just doesn't want women to get along. Probably both. I want to be a mother my daughter can talk to and wants to talk to. I don't really know how to foster that type of relationship, except through plenty of prayer and just being open. I don't know. Y'all pray for me, because I know this will be a whole different journey.

Right now, just let me dream of pink and zebra print, ok? Oh, and sweet, little Addison.

Monday, August 29, 2011

God Says "Yes!" to His Promises

Michael and I are leading our Sunday School class right now while my friend, Tracy, who usually leads the class, is preparing to have a baby in October. Yesterday, our study was about having a 'yes' home--saying yes to our children as much as we can. For example, saying, "Yes, I'll play with you" even though we're tired after a long day or "Yes, you can have friends over to spend the night", even though the house isn't spic and span. I will admit that this is a hard thing to do. Often, I find myself saying, 'no' all day long.

"No, don't touch that! No, I can't play with you right now! No, you can't have anymore ice cream. No, you can't take the dirty clothes out of the hamper! No, I can't pick you up right now!"

No, no, no, no, NO!

Of course, we can't say, "Yes, you can play in the middle of the road" or "Yes, you can stay out until 3 A.M." We can't always say, "Yes, you can have that new toy at Wal-Mart." We still have the responsibility of looking out for our children's best interests and keeping them safe.

I'm reminded of 2 Corinthians 1:20--"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God." God made us tons of promises in the Bible:

1)Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you.
2)He'll supply your needs
3)He'll never leave you nor forsake you
4)He gives rest to the rest to the weary.
5)His strength is perfect in your weakness.

So, if you say, "God, please provide for me. I don't know what I'm going to do," He'll provide.
If you say, "God, please hold my hand. I feel so alone right now," He'll be right there.
If you say, "God, please forgive my sins," He'll do it.
If you say, "God renew my strength. I don't know how I'm going to face another day," He'll lift you up.

Ask Him for any of those things and His answer is a resounding, 'YES!'

Now, here's where we sometimes get confused. All my life, I've heard people say, "If you want something, just pray for it, and God will give it to you." What they don't always explain is that God will give you things you ask for that are in His will--not just any and every request we make.  Just like a child, we sometimes think we should get a 'yes' answer to whatever we ask. We even throw toddler tantrums. Yep, I've done it before.

Read the verse again. God says 'yes' to His promises. He doesn't say 'yes' to every request we make. Sure, sometimes, he might make a way for you to get that brand new X-box you wanted, but if He doesn't--don't think he didn't hear you. Be assured, if you ask for anything that He has promised in His Word, you will receive it. And if it doesn't happen when you want it to happen, don't take that as a 'no'. It's most likely a 'not right now', and just like children, we have almost as hard of a time hearing 'wait' as we do 'no'.

Bottom line: Read the Word. God has promised you many, many more 'yeses' than 'no's'. And that's a promise.










It's a New Day

This morning, as I dragged myself jumped out of bed, I thought of all the things I needed to do--wash the sheets, finish painting my kitchen, start dinner in the crockpot, etc., etc., while keeping a 2 year old entertained. Plus, I'm out of coffee, all my lessons for the day got cancelled, and I'm pretty sure we will not have everything ready for a new baby, in, oh, four and a half months.

Then, I thought of what I could be doing. I don't mean that in a "na na na na boo boo" way, but this is the life I wanted and I am undeservedly blessed enough to be able to live it.
All those days when I looked longingly out the window, wishing I was with my baby and home--this is it. I'm not going to wish that, grumble that, or work that away.

Hello, Monday! Welcome to our world!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Bits and pieces

All is well at our house. I have pregnancy brain and can't focus on anything, hence the blog break. Kade turned 2 at the beginning of the month and had a big birthday weekend. He went to watch the new Winnie the Pooh movie at the drive in the night before his birthday, where he ate a grilled cheese sandwich and French fries and bounced around in the backseat of the car. On his actual birthday, we took him to the zoo for the first time. He liked the animals, but I think his favorite part was meeting up with his friend, Rachel, and petting the goats, riding the carousel, and sliding down slides.






Then, we ate dinner at one of my favorite places (since I kind of play a big part in his birthday, too)--The Apple Barn. I wish I had a picture of the delicious apple fritters they serve before the meal, with apple butter to dip them in. Mmmmm.....anyways, I digress. Kade enjoyed some yummy macaroni and cheese and a huge sugar cookie for dessert.
 
Sunday, after church, we had a small family party with Toy Story decor. He received many new toys to add to his growing collection and then we went swimming. Two suits him. He says something new everyday and is usually in a good mood, unless I try to get him to come in from outside.






In other news, a nice lady from our church, whom I have known all my life, did an ultrasound for us last Friday and informed us that we are having a girl in January. We have always said, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a boy and then a girl, so that she would have a protective older brother?", not to mention the excitement over new PINK clothes buying! I was shopping some online sales earlier and bought her some tiny pairs of cute, pink leg warmers, since she'll be arriving in the middle of winter. My mom told me that I have to buy Kade something for everything I get the baby, so I got him some dinosaur socks and monster leg warmers. LOL! We think we have the name picked out, but I'll wait a little longer to announce it.


Michael is busy with work and youth pastoring and fathering and husbanding (is that even a word?) we're trying to build up the youth program and do some fun things. One of my favorite youth activities is Resurrection, which is the Methodist church's annual youth conference. Unfortunately, it falls the week before my due date. We're praying that the baby doesn't come while Michael is gone, or he will be hoofing it back home.


Oh, and we're painting our kitchen, have 2 or 3 others rooms to paint, baseboard to put down, and a nursery to fix. Busy, busy.


I just finished editing a book written by my friend, Julie, called "Birth Right". It's a book about pregnancy--the progress baby makes each week of the pregnancy, what to expect, common questions, prayers to pray over your baby, a scripture for each week, and much more. It comes out in November, but you can preorder it on Amazon.com HERE.


Well, it's nap time at our house, so I'm going to get some rest while I can. I'll get back to regular blogging soon, I hope.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Two years, too fast

Two years ago today, I became a mommy.

Two years of fun, joy, blessings, occasional frustration, life changing moments, hugs, kisses, soul searching, and more love than I could ever imagine.







How could just two years yield this--the smartest, most handsome, sweetest boy I've ever known.



Kade, you are such a blessing to daddy and me. You have changed our lives forever and we love you SO, so much.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The Lasts

One of my favorite authors is Karen Kingsbury.  She writes mainly Christian fiction, but she also has a couple of children's books, one of which is called "Let Me Hold You Longer". Remember the children's book, "I'll Love You Forever"? Well, this one has the same effect. I cannot read it without sobbing.

Usually, we celebrate all the firsts in our children's lives, but this book is about their lasts. Often, we don't even recognize the lasts in our children's lives--the last time we rock them to sleep, their last bottle, their last little league game...you get the picture. Often, the lasts pass us by without us realizing they will never happen again.

Well, this is the last week of Kade being one. I refuse to think of him as being two until Saturday--and I may deny it then. It's hard to believe that almost two years have passed since we met him in person for the very first time. He has brought so much joy into our lives and I cannot imagine our life without him.

Lasts are sad (to me anyways), so to distract from this looming milestone, I'll show you some pictures of a first--Kade's first time at the beach last week!