Progress!!!

Here's a small tour of what we did today (I'm just a little proud).

Josh finally bit the bullet and put the sign in the ground.

We still don't feel all that ready. We still need to touch up the paint, replace the carpet and tile the bathrooms, but felt it was best to go ahead and put the sign up. I honestly doubt we'll go without a realtor for very long, but Josh really wanted to try FSBO.

The little man's room

The messy, TINY kitchen (also known as the thorn in my flesh). And due to said size, it's really hard to get a good picture of it. This isn't really a fair representation but you get the idea.

The also messy (but slightly more spacious) eating area.

Our room (and yes, there will be a bedskirt).

My favorite thing we did today. Our entertainment center was worn and bowing under the weight of our tv so Josh's parents came over and Patti (his mom) suggested that we move the buffet out of the eating area and use it as a tv stand. It worked! We'll probably take down the picture behind it though.

So, I'm extremely open to any suggestions you may have looking at these few pictures as I would LOVE to not be moving while unable to see my feet! And baby was kicking a lot today letting me know he/she would appreciate not going through that too!

Bath and belly pics

These were all taken tonight:

This picture looks EXACTLY like my sister to me when she was little.

We run the whole gamut of emotions during bath time.

Who said I had big eyes?

17 weeks and getting bigger by the day!

Happiness in your wallet

So, lately I've really gotten into reading frugal blogs and changing how I shop and spend money. We could always use free stuff and great deals on groceries....you all know that too as much as I've talked about our finances :)



So far, I've gotten diapers, wipes, cleaning stuff, make up, air fresheners, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, medicine, and some groceries for either completely free, pocket change or I made money on the deal.



One of my favorite blogs is Moneysavingmom.com. She is a godly woman with a husband, 2 small children and a $40 a week grocery budget. It's amazing how she has figured out how to make it work. She has learned how to get TONS of stuff from CVS free and thoroughly explains it. I'm still getting the hang of it (Stacey has been a big help too!) but have already gotten a lot of stuff! It's pretty thrilling!



Anyway, while I don't plan on posting on this very much, every now and then I'll post a few deals if they're really good. In the mean time, go to her site and she links to a lot of other smart ladies doing the same thing.



One thing that I just did is something you may have already seen on Stacey's blog called Revolution Money Exchange which is an online money center that seems to be trying to take the monopoly from paypal (who continuously raise their fees). There are no fees and as a promotion until May 15th they'll put $25 in your account when you sign up (mine showed up instantly and I plan to transfer it to my checking acct). Then, if you choose, you can get an add'l $10 for referring people.



So, if you're interested, click on my link to the left (unless you saw Stacey's first) and see for yourself.



One more thing I saw this morning was a coupon for free bowling. Here's where I saw it and I noticed that Foxfire Lanes in Kannapolis is participating. Sounds like a good date night!

So, I hope this was helpful for those of you pinching pennies like me!

4 humans, no dog?

It looks like our blog may need a title change soon. The switch to 4 humans is obvious, but the possibility of taking Max out of the equation is looking more and more probable. I have such mixed emotions about this because we love Max dearly. He's been ours since he was 8 weeks old and we were 1 month into our marriage (I don't recommend getting a dog that early, btw).

He literally has been like a child to us. We spent a lot of time together playing, wrestling, walking and running in the park, hiking, going on trips, play dates with other dogs, etc....until Isaiah came along. I knew Isaiah would change things but I didn't realize how much. That honestly makes me feel really guilty. The reality is that we don't have the space that Max needs to run free in. He's so energetic and full of life and needs lots of exercise. We could give that to him before, but now it's really challenging. Especially when it's just me and Isaiah and him in the house together. Among other things, he started jumping his electric fence a lot and running away, putting me in a bad predicament since Josh usually wasn't home. He was also peeing and pooping in the house whenever we left (he was mad at us) which eventually led to him being put in the garage. We could tell he needed more than we could give and it just wasn't good for any of us.

SO...he's been temporarily adopted by our neighbor who has a fenced in back yard and a boxer named Grace. We give her food and she takes care of the rest. Max has been outside until night when he goes in to her house with Grace and they cuddle up together in a huge crate. It has been WONDERFUL! Although I've shed some tears, it has removed such a huge burden. He has a companion to play with and gets to run around outside all day.

Our neighbor is getting attached to him so we sat down and discussed the options. We ended up agreeing for her to keep him until we know where we will be living after our house sells and we will make a final decision then. I think in the back of our minds we think that we'll regret giving him up if our next house is an ideal situation for him. But honestly, I think he'll end up staying where he is. We'll see....

And on a bit of a side note, we (and by "we" I mean Josh pretty much) have decided to once again not find out what we're having. I protested when Dr. Jones asked us what we wanted to do, but when he sided with Josh I knew I had officially lost the battle (thanks a bunch, Doc).

So, closer to the due date I'm sure I'll post some kind of a poll to amuse myself with, but until then I guess God will be the only one in on the secret :)

New pictures

Here are a few pics I snapped the other day while we were outside enjoying

the gorgeous, balmy weather.

I realized I haven't been taking as many pics lately so

I'm trying to do better. It's sinking in that my

days with just me and Isaiah are numbered so I want to soak

these moments up and cherish them.

We kiss all day long!

Cutie!

This boy LOVES his wagon!

Right now, his main goal in life is to try to get to a higher elevation than he has before.

Here you can see how crazy his hair has gotten (but I won't cut it :))

He's saying "Smi-uuh!"

This captures him perfectly at any given moment.

Cute, snotty and dirty!

Helping kids (and yourself) to love missions

I just read this article and was so stirred and excited by it and would love to hear your thoughts as well.

10 Ways to Help Kids Love Missions assumes that you yourself love missions, but I think these practical suggestions would do much to stir your own heart as well as your family. I get the sense (and I could be wrong) that a lot of people I've talked to about what God's doing in the nations have the perspective that it makes sense to get involved and excited IF you're called to that...meaning IF that desire is already in your heart and IF you're called to go to the nations and even IF you're just naturally inclined to enjoy and be interested in that type of thing.

There seems to sometimes be a disconnect between God being glorified here in our own lives, churches, neighborhoods and Him being glorified in the slums of a Muslim township or a small West African village we can't pronouce. I'm convicted that we are to be about God's glory...period. Wherever it is. That's how we stay connected to the bigger picture, how we see God through different eyes and behold His beauty in a fresh, captivating way.

"Oh sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples!

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

he is to be feared above all gods."

Ps 93:1-4

It has been an incredible gift of grace in my life to be able to just catch a glimpse of what worship might look like in a different culture, to sit at the feet of missionaries and hear their first-hand accounts of God working in ways that give you goose bumps, to watch in person a group of poor, dirty people lift their hands up to God with tears streaming down their faces as they worship in another language with their whole hearts. I get teary thinking of it. I don't have words that can describe the beauty.

There is MUCH to be tasted and seen of God when it comes to the nations, and we miss out on so, so much when we live our lives never positioning ourselves to ever taste or see it.

Suggestions 6-9 are my favorite, though the other 7 suggestions are really good too. I can honestly say that if my parent's had not lived out #7, my love and enjoyment of God wouldn't be close to the same. That gift was priceless to me and it still is.

Thank you, Mom and Dad.