7 Months of Bug!

Oh Boy,
You little man! Thats what I see now when I look at you, a little man. You are silly, curious, happy, vocal, energetic and wonderful! Its amazing to watch you learn about the world around you, express yourself and just growing to be your own separate person.

The beginning of this month you were just starting to be able to sit on your own and now you are an accomplished sitter and you are also moving! You don't flat out crawl yet but you are never where we set you down. You do this cute little army crawl and grunt and whine and just go for it. When you first started you would shove your face into the ground and crawl, how happy am I that you moved on! I have started realizing that I need to sweep and vacuum like 100 times a day to get all the tiny bits and flecks that you seem to find and instantly put in your mouth!!
You are a sleep fighter during the day it takes awhile to get you to realize how tired you are but you do have some tells. I know when you start flapping your arm that you are ready for a nap, when both arms are going watch out I have a sleepy bug on my hands. You also suck on your lips when you are tired. You are still waking up about 2-3 times a night, thankfully you only wake up for a snack and you go right back to bed. Also your wake up time seems to be pushing back to 5 am which is nice, I really wouldn't mind if you adjusted that to 9am :) You are ready for bed around 6:30 or 7 and love your routine.

You are all about the bath and your bath toys. Your turtle is definitely one of your favorite toys and you will carry it around in your mouth from the bath to get your diaper and pjs on and only relinquish it when the hope of food presents itself. You love the bath though and will splash and jump around. Its so fun watching you play with your bath toys!
You also got another tooth this month! You look like quite the hillbilly with one tooth up on top and two below. I adore your little toothy smile and the belly laughs that come out it! You love to laugh and your daddy and I both have our own ways of getting a laugh out of you. My favorite way is to pick you up straight out of the bathtub and kiss your spine, you get the biggest smile and giggle! Daddy goes for the fake sneeze and you go for it every time.
This month you had your first Easter. We celebrated by going to church then having Mom Mom and Pop Pop M over for dinner. Your dad and I aren't sure how we are going to celebrate Easter with you, whether we want to keep it just about our faith or to add in the Easter Bunny to the mix. This year we colored eggs and went to church, I'm glad to have another year to figure it out :) We also had two first communions, one for cousin Mason and one for cousin Grace. I love watching you with your cousins its so adorable to see how much they love you! I can't wait to watch you guys all grow up together, I'm so excited that you have so many so close in age to you! You are going to have 4 within around a year of your age, that just sounds like such fun :)
I can't forget to mention your first baseball game, of course it was a Phillies game! We were surprised with the gift of tickets by some of our favorite people, your buddy Luke's parents. What a treat! You and I took the train into Philly and got so many people commenting on your Phillies hat and sign. Daddy met us over at the stadium and you seemed to really be loving it!! After the game started you fell asleep and stayed asleep for a couple of innings. It got loud though as stadiums do, and I had to fight the urge to shush people! You and I ended up standing in the back of our section where you charmed the ushers with your cuteness. We had such a great time and bonus the Phillies Won!!
I'm a little late in writing this update as we have been so busy. The two weeks leading up to your 7th monthaversary were tough. There was not much sleeping going on and you just weren't acting yourself. Its hard to see when you are in the moment but I should have known that there were going to be some big developments going on and there were(those are for next months newsletter though!). Such is life, if only there was a way sometimes to take the focus back and see the bigger picture. I do try to take it a day at a time, always find things to enjoy in you, and be purposeful about being content in where we are; I'll continue working on this as I pray that you grow up on a house full of peace and joy. Thats not the easiest thing to create sometimes but your Dad and I are committed to it and with both of us working to create that tone in our house hopefully that is the type of home we have.
With the warmer weather you have started waking up with sweaty head and have started having a definite little boy smell. I look at you sometimes and I'm amazed at how big you have gotten. You look so different from that little baby I met 7 months ago and I am starting to see glimpses of the little boy in you. I'm trying to take in each special moment; nursing you to sleep at night as your hand rests on my cheek (or holds my nose), tickling your belly, singing to you, taking walks together, sitting on the front porch watching the neighborhood kids play. There are so many moments that go by that I know I'm going to look back on so I just try to take a mental picture, smell your little boy smell and hold onto it while its here. Tomorrow comes ever too soon.

not the best pic of daddy, I hurt his eyes trying to capture this sweet moment

All my love little one,
Your mama

6 Month Newsletter

My Buggle Boy,
There is a part in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" that says that "That the Grinch's small heart Grew three sizes that day!". That is the best way I know to describe being a mother to you. Every day I feel like my ability to love grows. This month was a month of changes, as every month seems to be since we've met! There are so many things that I thought I knew about being a parent, or ideas I held about how things were going to be; I learn every day that I was wrong. Its a good kind of humbling though and I'm happy to learn from you.
I had it set in my head that we were going to exclusively breastfeed till 6 months and I was holding strong to that. You had other things in mind as you lunged for my food and drinks day after day. Finally we relented about a week before 6 months and gave you your first official meal, banana and water. This was after your first unofficial meal which was sharing my apple the day before. I was a little surprised because you were very underwhelmed by the banana but LOVED your water. Since then you've had banana, avocado, blueberry and apple. Your favorite is apples, and you don't want me to cut it up really tiny or puree it; you like to use your teeth and shave yours right off of the apple.


This month we also had your dedication, it was a beautiful day filled with family and friends. I was so excited to have you dedicated, before you were born I felt very much like Hannah in the Bible. I wanted a little boy so much, I prayed and prayed. I can't even describe the desire I had for a son and after 16 months of trying and one miscarriage we were blessed with you. After Hannah had Samuel she said:

" I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.
So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.”
1 Samuel 1:27-28

This is how your Dad and I felt; we were blessed by God with you and we dedicate you to Him. We promise to raise you to know the love of God and teach you all about our faith. We pray that when you are old enough to make the decision that you will share our faith. We also picked your Godparents, Uncle Walter and Aunt Pam. It was a very difficult decision to pick them as you are surrounded by many Aunts and Uncles, Relatives and Friends who love you dearly.
You also had your first St. Patrick's Day! I don't know if you picked up on it, but St. Patty's Day is kind of a big thing in our house. Your daddy and I got married on St. Patty's Day! Daddy took a long weekend and we had so much fun together! You always seem most happy when the three of us are together. We had sushi and went to an indoor water park (your first time in a pool!). You weren't digging the water too much but we took you right during nap time which is just silly. Eventually you fell asleep in the wading river, proving once again if tired enough you will sleep anywhere. We also visited a couple of parks nearby one for a walk and one for a picnic. We put you on the swing and you loved it. Granny was impressed with how well you held on in the picture we sent her.

This month you also had your first tantrum. It was pretty funny, you are generally a pretty happy fellow and usually when you cry it is for a reason; so when you completely lost it in the bathtub we were stumped. Your dad had just used the blue plastic octopus cup to rinse your hair and then you lost it. Finally we realized that you WANTED THAT CUP!! While I wouldn't have guessed it, I kind of like these tantrums. Its just another way that we can communicate, I like that you know what you want and tell us! Eventually I hope you learn the tools to tell us in other ways but I do hope you always feel welcome to tell us your thoughts and desires.You also have gotten shy this month. You are still quick to give smiles but will hide your head on my shoulder or in my chest when people come talk to you. It is pretty adorable I must say! You also started splashing in the tub with your hands, you have always loved soaking anyone near you with your feet but the hands is a new one for this month.

he kind of reminds me of a marionette here

You have started reaching for people this month. The first time was to nurse at night then the first person besides Mommy and Daddy that you reached for was Aunt Pam. You are getting really good at sitting up on your own as well. You do fall over but you can stay up for awhile before you do. You haven't quite got the transition from sitting to hands and knees intentionally but I know its coming. You are really getting close to the crawling too, you generally will get where you want to go but it doesn't look like crawling yet. The other day you just scooted yourself across our bed on your back and pushing with your knees. More often than not you do this thing where you push with your feet and kind of jam your face into whatever surface you are on to get where you want to go. I am going to be so happy when you learn not to do this!!
You really enjoy a good book, I can usually get in 3-4 in a sitting without you losing interest. We read all the time and you love to listen to music too. I have caught you keeping time with the music which is already better than me!!
You are really enjoying the change in the weather which has led to more walks outside. We try to go every day and you love being in the BECO and walking! We go for at least 40 minutes at a time and you have never fussed while on a walk.

You are so much fun my boy. I am having a blast being your Mommy. You make me laugh, teach me and humble all at the same time. This Mommy gig can grow you like nothing I've known before.
Love Always,
Mama

The Neighborhood Challenge-They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

I was very inspired at my MOPS meeting the other week. There was a young woman who was a mother of two (I believe) and a missionary who spoke. Part of her lesson was about raising children and she said, and I paraphrase, that by attending ONLY and primarily to your children's needs that you raise them to be self centered people. You need to model for them the focus that you would like them to have.

About a week later we had something horrible happen to someone right on our street. One of our neighbors murdered his ex-wife's boyfriend then killed himself. In the news article it said that the police were familiar with this family before and had been called for domestic disturbances. This was terribly sad to me because while I was friendly with their two boys (we have chatted it up about hockey a few times). I had never spoken to either the mother (who moved out 6 months ago) or the father and I had no idea that this poor woman was abused or even had even moved out. As I tried to sleep that night a verse kept popping into my head.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31

Obviously I wasn't working on loving my neighbor or modeling the love I want my Bug to have for those around us. I didn't even know their first names. This kicked around my head for a few days and I prayed about it trying to figure out how I could accomplish this. I am outgoing by nature but just going to someones house and introducing myself, uhh do people really do that?

As I thought and prayed over it, I thought about how God made me, my strengths and what gives me joy. God has given me a love of baking and cooking. There are so many things I would love to bake and cook but with working on my weight I am also working on not having so much temptation in my house. LIGHTBULB!! I can bake and cook and just drop off treats to my neighbors with a little note on it introducing our family and letting them know they are in our thoughts and prayers. As we get to know more and more people we can make a neighborhood map with peoples names on it and we can pray for them as a family.

The first neighbor we dropped off treats to was the woman and her children that I had mentioned previously and I was NERVOUS like shaking nervous. I brought Bug and we rang their doorbell, they answered and I just introduced myself and handed them a plate of molasses cookies with a note letting them know they were in our thoughts and prayers. Bug and I just went out today with our second drop of carrot cake cupcakes and met a new neighbor. It is definitely a bit nerve-wracking to me but I am hoping that it will get easier each time. The woman I met today was so sweet and is stopping by with her husband tonight so they can meet the hubs.

We are going to work on doing this once a week and it will take awhile but we should be able to get everyone on our street at least once a year. It is just a small thing but hopefully it will open my eyes and Bug's eyes to the needs around us we can pray for.

What are your strengths and what can you do with them to show others love?

Ptosis Surgery Update

So on Dec 23rd, Bug had his Ptosis surgery. It was so hard driving him in while he was screaming in the backseat because he was starving. It took two hours from then for them to take him back for surgery so the poor boy hadn't eating in about 5 hours. When we got into pre-op they had us change him into a hospital gown, dude, baby gowns are soo sad. They weighed him again and he is 97% for height and weight, the boy knows how to nurse! Then the surgeon and the anesthesiologist came in to meet with us. We prayed over the Bug then handed him over, hardest thing I've ever done.

They sent us to a waiting room for the parents of kids in surgery, we were at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania). I thought CHOP handled this part really well, they had people coming in and updating all the parents on that status of the surgeries about every 30-40 minutes. When Bugs surgery was done the surgeon came in to talk to us and told us it was successful and that we would be called back to see him in a few minutes, once he woke up from anesthesia.

Nothing could have ever prepared me for what we saw when we went back. My boy had so much attached to him (IV, blood pressure cuff, pulse oxygen monitor, heart monitor, etc). The first thing I saw was a bottle though and I think all my anxiety flew onto the nurse. I was soo mad they gave him a bottle, don't they know that Breast is Best?!!! They finally gave him to me after what seemed like forever and I couldn't believe what I saw. He was swollen and bloody. The hubs and I were horrified that we had chosen to do this to our son. After about an hour they let us bring him home.

He seemed to be fine once we got him home. He just seemed like he was in a little bit of pain so we gave him a dose of Tylenol. I just kept staring at my poor boy. His right eye was swollen shut that day. He nursed fine on both sides though, which was one of my worries. We have to put ointment in his eye every two hours and he's on an oral antibiotic 3x a day which is interesting to say the least. He is a very strong, very stubborn little boy.

As the dust settles and the swelling goes down the hubs and I both realize how he needed this surgery. He looks around at things like he's never seen them, its so easy to tell that the surgery was necessary. He loves his swing now and sitting up; before he would fuss at either (I think because his eyelid would shut so he couldn't see that well in that position). Its so nice to see him sitting up and looking at me with his big dimply smile. We are blessed.

Praying tonight for a bloggy mommy that I read who was blessed with twin baby girls only to lose one. My heart breaks for her.

2 Month Letter

My Dearest Buggy,
Its hard to believe another month has past! You have changed so much in the past month, and even though I didn't think it was possible I love you more. You are such a fun little guy, your daddy and I are really enjoying having you interact more with us. One of our favorite times is Saturday mornings, you usually wake up pretty cheerful and we love cuddling with you. You LOVE kisses and we play a little game where we sit on opposite sides of you and take turns kissing your cheeks, you turn your head from side to side with big smiles!! Your smile is the best thing I've ever seen, I love making you smile. Whether its a sweet little sleep smile, or a nursing smile or a big old giggly smile they all make me melt. I've had a hard time capturing it on film because usually my focus is on making you smile more.

We've definitely caught our groove with the nursing, and we've even nursed while walking around Target! Don't worry you were all covered, we weren't flashing anyone :) Last month I was scared we would never leave the house but we have and even took our first trip to Hershey Park! Your dad and I celebrate the anniversary of our first date by going to Hershey every year during Christmastime, its also the place where your dad proposed to me. the exact spot where your dad proposed to me

You slept for most of it but we're so excited to do it every year and can see how fun its going to be as you get older. It was sooo cold, your dad was worried if it would be too cold for you to be outside but you were nice and cozy with me wearing you in your Moby wrapped in a blanket.

thats you under that blanket all snuggly!

You still LOVE to be worn and I wear you most of the time, I can count on one hand the number of times you've been in your stroller. Sometimes I just bring it to store the diaper bag and still wear you. Its so nice holding you as we go through our day, I love my snuggly little man. busy playing on your playmat

I brought you into the office this month and you were so good, I was able to work for 4 hours both wearing you and having you play on your playmat. You've been letting me work a few hours a day at home as well, you entertain yourself really well with your play mat and just looking around. You have started to look around more and take in whats around you. I love watching you discover things, the funniest has been your tongue. Its so cute watching you stick out your tongue and play with it. You've even started licking us sometimes when we kiss you its pretty funny.

You are sleeping better, in the past few nights you've gone for like 4-5 hours of straight sleep. Umm seriously this has been AMAZING! To tell the truth though I went in expecting you not to sleep so even though I was tired it didn't bother me to wake up to change and nurse you. Taking care of you has been the most rewarding job of my life, I love being your mommy!

This month we also found out you need to have minor surgery on your eyelid. Its the first time that I really feel like I can't protect you and it kills me. I know that this is just the first time of many that I will have to watch you go through trials without being able to take them away from you. You are my gift from God, so I trust you in His hands and place you in them every day in prayer. I know that your life experiences and how you choose to view them will make you the man you're going to be; good or bad. So even though I can't take this trial from you I plan to model my faith to you that you will learn that through anything we can trust God.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."Matthew 10:29-31

God has numbered the very hairs on your head, He loves you my boo. Its hard for me to believe but He loves you even more than I do.

I love you so, my Bug, and look forward to getting to know you more as the months go by. Sometimes I just wish we could pause it a bit, its going so fast! I can't wait to see where this month is going to bring us and what new tricks you're going to learn. I can't wait to make the memory of your first Christmas! To celebrate the New Year with you, you've already shown me so much more hope and promise than any new year could.

Love Always,
Your mama

1 month letter

Dear Buggaboo (Bugs, Bugsy, Chunky Monkey, Boo Boo Face, Sweetie Boy),
I can't believe it was only one month ago today that we first saw your sweet face. It seems like forever ago and just a moment ago at the same time. To say you've turned my life upside down is an understatement, but the biggest change was my heart. I've never loved so much. When I was dating your dad I said that it made me understand God's love for me a little more because I had never known love like that before. You have shown me yet another depth of love, and I'm amazed again at God's love for me. I keep saying I can't believe that God gave his only son for me, that is a love that I cannot even fathom. I pray every day to live that out in my life that I can be an example to you of this great love.


We are starting to catch our groove with each other. Nights are sometimes rough, you usually wake up about 2 times a night. A good number of those nights though I admit to staying awake much longer than needed to just look at you. Nursing has been one of the sweetest experiences of my life, it has come with its own set of obstacles but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm amazed that the only sustenance you've ever had has come from me. I'm still not so great at nursing in public so we haven't gone out too much or for too long, I'm hoping to get better this month and get out of the house more.

I love watching you with your daddy, he loves you so much. Every night you fall asleep on his chest, he usually falls asleep too. I didn't think it was possible but you've made me fall more in love with your daddy more. I'm amazed that God used the two of us to make you, I love looking at you and seeing all the ways you look like your daddy, EVERYONE says you look just like him. I pray that you grow up to be a good man just like him.
You are out of newborn clothes and some of the 3 months are a stretch for you as well. Daddy has weighed you a few times and the last time we checked you were around 11.5lbs, we'll find out next Friday for sure what you are up to. I love wearing you and it seems your favorite place to be is in the Moby. One day daddy came home and kissed your head and said you smelled like Chicken soup, well that's what I had for lunch and I'd been kissing your head all afternoon. You don't seem to mind though so I keep wearing you.

I love you with all my heart little one, and I'm so thankful that you've made me a "mommy". I feel like all my life I've been waiting and preparing for this, to be a wife to your daddy and a mommy to you. I promise to do my best by you.

Love,
Your mama

The Birth of my Little Man

Baby Bam Bam

So this week has been a bit busy. About 4 hours after I wrote that last post I went into labor with my little man. After a long labor he was born on 10/5/10 at 3:11pm weighing 7lbs 9oz and 20 inches long. The labor, birth and reality of having a son have rocked my world. I feel so incredibly blessed right now.

Birth Story-Long version ** I am a doula and I go into detail here so if you don't feel comfortable reading the birth story from my perspective do not continue**

Monday morning I woke up about 4:30 shivering uncontrollably. I went to the bathroom then came back to bed to get under as many blankets as I could. About a half hour later my contractions started. They started out about 5 minute apart lasting about a minute each, I jumped in the shower to see what would happen. They got a bit more intense and the hubs popped his head in to see what was going on and if he should go to work that day. We figured it would be a good idea for him to stay home, and called my awesome doula, Mama K at about 6 am, and did a few laps around the block. We lapped the block a few more times, watched Flight of the Conchords and I took alot of showers. It started to get pretty intense at about 11:30 am and I felt best laying in bed; the contractions were about 2-3 min apart. The hubs called the midwives and they said to head on into the hospital.

I was extremely anxious about going into the hospital; terrified of having unnecessary procedures, of having my blood pressure go up because of anxiety. The whole hospital part of the birth scared the tar out of me and I think the decision to go in then stalled me out a bit because after that the contractions spaced out again at around 3-4pm. We ended up going out to dinner and while there they picked up a bit then we went over and walked the mall, then we headed home. Mama K headed home to see her little guys for a little bit with instructions for us to call her when things got going again.

They did start picking up again around 10pm, and at about midnight we headed to the hospital. My thinking was that I would sit in the parking lot until I just couldn't stand it then head in, and maybe walk around the parking lot in the meantime. Well it was raining and freezing so that made that difficult, the hubs and I did lap the hospital a couple of times but ended up going home again as the contractions seemed to space out again.

When we got home, I tried to sleep. The contractions were making that impossible, I was exhausted and in a good amount of pain. I called my mom for her advice knowing that if I got too tired there was no way I was going to be able to push this kid out, she basically told me the same thing. What finally made up my mind was that if we got to the hospital and things petered out at least I could get some sleep if they didn't then woo-hoo baby time. So we called Mama K and headed on in. I had to be on monitors for 20 min out of the hour but for the other 40 minutes I was able to labor in the shower, walk around, use the birth ball, listen to music,etc. The 20 minutes in bed were the hardest for me, the contractions just slammed me with back pain. Mama K and the hubs were wonderful in here; offering counter pressure, sips of water, walking with me, distracting me. It was funny I would be doing one thing then remember, hey if I were my doula this is what I would say and it would really help me, the one thing that really helped was the vocalizing making the low hmmmm noises and focusing. I remember during my contractions in bed I focused so hard on the bassinet which was directly in front of me. Towards the end I was so tired I was delirious, I remember just mumbling gibberish then realizing it was gibberish.

Here is the timeline for my dilation during all this at 4 am they checked me and I was 4 cm dilated, at 0 to -1 station and 80% effaced. Then at 6 am I was 6cm and 90 % effaced, at 8 am I was 8 cm and 90% effaced (see a pattern here??). At 10 am I was still at 8 cm and 90% but by noon I was at 9.5 cm with an anterior lip and 100% effaced. The midwife asked me if I wanted to have my water broken at this point and we decided that it probably would just help move things along. She broke my water at 12:30.

At this point we had that lull that they promise every laboring mom. Oh it was so appreciated as I was so incredibly tired from being up since about 5 am the day before laboring. The nurse walked in at one point here and I jokingly asked her if I could have my epidural now. She did such a double take cause I did it with a smile on my face calm as can be, lol. I was pretty happy because this was the only point that I asked for anything and I was just kidding around. What really helped me with this was I requested not to be offered any type of pain medication, they abided by my wishes and my stubborn Irish self wouldn't ask to save my life :).

I started pushing at 2:07. Wow, NOTHING could have prepared me for that. The midwife gave me full discretion to push in whatever position felt good to me and it seemed to be hugging the back of the bed on my hands and knees. I just remember while pushing having such doubt if he would ever come, if I could do it. I started praying in between the contractions asking God to help me, to give me strength, to get this baby out of me! The nurse told me later that I also politely asked the baby "Get out of me! Please!!". After pushing in that position for awhile I moved to stand next to the bed bent over the bed pushing, I kept feeling the midwife underneath me putting the monitor on my belly to get the heart rate and wondering where the heck she was to be doing this. At this point they realize that my hep lock (port for IV) came out so they were trying to clean up the blood on my arm from that, that gave me something else to focus on while pushing so that was good. I could feel his head coming out but no one was saying anything so I figured I was wrong, I was having so much self doubt here. I remember thinking if that isn't his head this labor is going to kill me. The midwife said for the next contraction she wanted me in bed using the squat bar so I did that and his head came out on the next push. She wasn't ready and didn't have her gloves on so she was yelling at me to stop pushing!! I started crying because its impossible to stop and I thought there was something wrong with him (ie cord wrapped around his neck, not breathing). Oh I was soo mad when I found out that it was just because she didn't have gloves on!!

All that was quickly forgotten at 3:11pm when she placed my sweet man on my stomach. I was so overcome with emotion, I couldn't do anything but just cry. I was so in love with this little baby boy and with my husband, I couldn't believe that one room could contain it.

Thinking Positively

So lately I've really been working on having a positive outlook. This isn't too far of a stretch because I'm generally a glass half full type of person, but lately I've been stressing about things that I don't need to stress about. Noticing that my mind was going places I didn't want it to go, I wanted to nip it in the bud. For me one of the best ways to do that is to control what comes in; books, tv, movies, conversations. All of these play a part in where I allow my mind to go. A verse that I memorized a long time ago (it was displayed in my best friends bathroom when I was a teenager, made it so easy to memorize!) always comes to mind when I'm struggling with my thoughts.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

How much different would our day to day life look if we consciously made the effort to only think on those things. How many tv shows, movies or books would this cut out if used this verse to decide what you were allowing in your mind? How often do we think worst case scenario's or dwell on how others have hurt us? Surely this colors our outlook on life. One of the girls I work with goes a step further and makes sure you are only speaking good into others lives. This applies to your own as well. How much more positive your life would be if your words are words of affirmation and not degradation.

Psalm 126:2
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."

When people see the words that come from my lips may they be able to say "The Lord has done great things for Kristi" He surely has; let my actions, reactions, words and thoughts attest to this.

Feeling so Spoiled

So the hubs and I went out yard sailing this morning and I was keeping my eyes open for a few things. Things for the baby that I didn't really want to register for but kind of wanted anyway; like a co-sleeper and an extra swing and some other stuff. Well I found a Take Along Swing for $5, great deal as they go for $70 in the store. Found some other great small things; some outfits, a baby gate, random stuff. Then as we were leaving the one I just said a random prayer "Lord it would be really nice if we could find a cosleeper for under $20". It was a tall order as they retail for anywhere from $140 for the mini and $190 for the regular. I didn't want to register for it because I really wanted a play pen and couldn't see registering for both. Well we went to one bomb of a yard sale and on the way home we passed by a house with like 6 things in the driveway and stopped. You guessed it, they had an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper. I asked the lady how much and she gave it to me for $5, doesn't even look like they ever opened it up!!

It makes me laugh because it seems like there are alot of prayers that God answers like this in my life. It reminds me that I am His child and he really does delight in me and listens to my prayers. One time I was moving 15 min away but didn't have a couch and said "Lord please help me find a couch for $10 on the way home", don't you know I did and they delivered it for me! It may seem silly to some but these answered prayers just reinforce the love I already feel and today I just feel downright spoiled!

Have you ever tried some yard sale prayers?

Happy New Year to Ya!

Hope you guys all had a great and safe new year! The hubs and I did, we were able to spend it with good friends. We made some goals for ourselves as a couple and as individuals this year and posted them by the bathroom mirror where we see them twice a day. I don't want to call them New Year's Resolutions because people never follow through with them but they are our goals and where we'd like to see ourselves by the end of the year.
Our goals as a couple are:
1. We'd like to walk together at least 5 nights a week.

We want to be more physically fit as a couple and regularly walking would be a good
start. It also gives us a chance to talk without getting to distracted by tv or the computer.

2. We want to pay off 50% of the remaining debt in our second mortage

I've been reading so much about setting up a financial plan. Generally, the hubs and I
are pretty good with money and budgets. I tend to be the spendier one in the family but neither of us is a fan of debt. Our only debt right now is our mortgage but we have two of them. I'm praying that we are able to pay off our second mortage within this year but the goal is just for 50% of our remaining debt in our second mortgage to be paid off. Once we have it completely paid off we're going to go aggressive on our first. If I had to do again, I think I would have rented and saved up to flat out buy our first home no matter how long it took. Live and Learn right...

3. We want to read through the Bible as a couple.

With this we both want to grow as Christians and as a couple. This will be a great way to grow and challenge each other. I'm so excited to do it!! It is a pretty aggressive reading to me but I'm excited for the challenge.

Anyone else setting some goals for this year??

Election

Here is a great article about how, as Christians, we should be looking at the outcome of this election.

Thats about as much as you'll get out of me, I try not to go to far into politics with people I don't know and most of the time even with people I do know. I will be praying for our future president the same as I pray for the current one and I encourage you all to do the same. I will enjoy the blessed silence of all the political ads!

Prayers Please

A good friend of mine, Frank, is going for a biopsy of his brain today. He is my friend Becky's father and I'm asking any and all prayers I can get for him. From what I hear he lost vision in his one eye yesterday and they ended up scanning his brain and finding a mass there. Frank and his wife Leslie started a ministry called Hope Alive to provide for the medical and spiritual needs of the people of Haiti. I have been down to their clinic twice, once to visit(while on a missions trip to another mission) and another time I spent about 5 weeks working there with their daughter Becky. I am amazed at how much they do; and at the level of accountability they have. Frank and Leslie cover all administrative costs themselves so that every penny donated meets a direct need in Haiti. I have tremendous respect and love for the two of them. If you could say some prayers today, I would appreciate them more than you know.
I'll update as soon as I know anything.