Josh's worst nightmare

And mine....

Precious pictures!

Here's the first debut of our new little one to the world! While we decided not to know if there were "lines or dots" we know that our baby is completely healthy and right on track. Gosh, I SO easily take that for granted and God has been sweet to remind me of what a gift that is from Him.

I will try to explain the pictures for the grandmothers :)

Face and heart (we saw all 4 chambers pumping away!)

Laying on his/her belly

Laying on his/her back with knees pulled in. We had a very sleepy baby in there!

The Very Bad, Awful Date

It started yesterday even before we left the house. We had a frustrating conversation and misunderstood each other leading to us trying to work it out in the car as we drove to Charlotte to drop Isaiah off at a friend's house. We have been wanting to go walk down Union Street in Concord to see some new little shops and hang outs so we headed back to Concord. We stopped at the McDonald's drive through for a quick dinner, ate it in the car and then got out to go walk around and hopfully duck into a cute little coffee shop for awhile. It was 7:30 and almost EVERYthing was closed. Ugh.

We walked up the street, threw our trash away and got back in the car. Now what? It was still tense between us with little talking. Josh had asked me to read an article awhile back so we could talk about it and I hadn't. He even sent an email with the article asking if we could talk about it on our date. I didn't even open the email.

We settled on driving back to Charlotte and going to Dilworth coffee (right down the street from where we dropped off Isaiah). I was literally falling asleep in the car, then complaining to Josh about how much I often dislike our dates because things go wrong, I don't know how to fix them, I don't know what to say, I don't know what he expects and I struggle to even stay awake through it all. Nice, right?

We get to the coffee place, get our coffee and sit down. Josh pulls up the article to just give me an overall idea of what it was about so we can discuss it. Things are ever so slightly improving as I'm listening and trying to hard to think through what he's reading so I can give feedback. We are sitting there about 10 mins max when a guy who works there comes up to tell us that they will be closing in about a minute. I was DONE.

Josh gave me one look and started to ask what we should do, and I immediately shot him down with "I do NOT want to go to a third location!" It was over. We picked up Isaiah early and went home in silence. Once we got home, Josh went for a drive to pray off our date, I guess.

When he came to bed he sweetly said that though it wasn't a good time to discuss it, he had been praying about his part in the whole thing and he was sorry. We would talk about it later and that he loved me. I said the same thing and we fell asleep in our normal cuddly fashion.

So help. Has this happened to you? I feel like we have dates like this a lot. I'm starting to wonder if it's just an all out spiritual attack. Insight? What would you do?

Cha-Ching!

Thanks to any of you who have already signed up. So far we have made about $110 and 5 other people have each made at least $25 each for signing up. We found that we could make the most if I sign up and then sign Josh up using my link. We each got $25 and an extra $10 for the referral making our initial earning $60! Most of ours have been put into our checking account or put towards our new little computer from Dee and Stacey!

This is truly the easiest money I have ever made! If you still want to sign up, you have until May 15th to get in on the promotion.

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.

Still swooning a bit...

And totally kicking myself for thinking that they would confiscate my camera and make us take it all the way back to the car....therefore having no good pictures of my own of this amazing show. It was quickly after the opening act began that we realized cameras were allowed....my heart hurts just thinking about it.

BUT...it was absolutely the most enjoyable concert I've ever gone to...and I've been to my fair share. I don't think my feet have touched the ground yet. I knew we were in for a good show with Michael Buble, but the opener floored me! They were called Naturally 7 and are an acapella group from NY that do all of their own instruments with their VOICE. They sounded like a chior with a full band behind them! Josh even thought they were using special effects on their mics...such little faith :) They did drums, bass (he was unhuman-like), electric guitar, turn tables, violin and trombone. Our jaws were on the floor pretty much the whole time. See them for yourself here.

And then the man himself.....wow. He serenades with the sound of Frank Sinatra. Even his speaking voice is captivating. I have always loved the old crooner sound, but to come out of a 32 year old! Frank died before I really appreciated him and in a small way Michael's voice transports me back to before my time. Anyway, I fully expected him to be incredible, not to mention the 10 piece band of genius' that played with him. But he was really funny! A few highlights were of him pointing out how miserable two guys up front looked, how they must have been dragged there by their wives and then ordered them two beers with refills all night. He also pointed out 2 young girls ages 15 and 12, thoroughly embarrassed them by telling them how cute they were and how having "young cutie pies" in his audience keeps him responsible because otherwise "I would turn Amy Winehouse in this place so fast!" He hopped off the stage to take pictures with them, hugged a random guy, danced with another lady kissing her on both cheeks while she pretty much groped him.....poor guy. He wasn't offended and laughed about it.

If you already like his music then DEFINITELY go see him live! It made me realize how much I would love to see Tony Bennett before he dies. Michael and others have named him the "last man standing."

Anyway, he was charming, funny, gushing toward the audience...no wonder he sells so many tickets. But don't worry, he had enough locker room humor to keep me from idolizing him!

Big night out

We're off to a fabulous dinner at the Jazz Cafe and then to see this talented fellow with a voice like Frank Sinatra sing his little heart out. We have such sweet family that know EXACTLY what to get us for Christmas. Thank you, Randy, Patti, Dee and Stacey!

If they let me take pictures, I'll post them.

Driving me to drink

No, I'm not drinking anything other than water, but if I was an alcoholic today very well may have knocked me off the wagon. I have been frustrated and impatient ALL day. A ton of little things have added up and I have been harsh over and over.

This morning I kept my neice and nephew, who were not at all a problem, but it just seems that when other kids are here Isaiah is much more of a challenge. More fussy, whiny and slow to obey. I was a referee most of the time for the two boys who haven't quite learned how to share toys, and while I'm managing, redirecting, reminding, warning, disciplining, feeding, changing, etc Max was AWFUL. The last thing I needed! He doesn't listen anymore and runs away frequently. He terrified my nephew who doesn't like dogs, so he ended up in the garage while they were here. Then he woke Isaiah up from his much needed nap 3 times with constant barking at something in the yard. It didn't help that I've felt very tired today and was trying to rest myself.

Then, with a busy weekend ahead, I decided I should start planning for school Monday and the entire time I was online searching site after site and not finding what I need, the internet went out probably 10 times at least. And it continues to go in and out as I type this. Grrrrr....

Honestly, at this point I would love to include a nice, long quote or verse that gets at the heart of my sin. You know, something I've read that's convicted me and given me right perspective and would then turn and encourage you. Sorry, I'm not there yet. My heart is ugly right now. I really want the world to stop and cater to me because I'm low on energy and high on hormones these days. So, I'll go deal with that now, and maybe you could pray for me?

...and thanks for listening :)

Um, what?

This is what I keep hearing from people. Mainly, because I can't talk. I remember this when I was pregnant with Isaiah. Literally, words just don't come into my brain at the right time. I want to say something extremely simple and my mind goes blank. Some times I can't even start the sentence (it reminds me of a time when a friend was stuttering and kept beginning new sentences and I said, "So, which of those sentences do you plan to finish?" I know, mean right?)

Then, when the words come they are often too late and all in the wrong order. For example, instead of saying something like, "what about that is hard?" It will come out, "what hard is about that?" This happens ALL the time now. I just can't think of what to say. I know people who've been around me lately will think that this isn't all that true, but if you knew how long it took me to say the sentence in my head first to make sure it was right, you'd feel a little sorry for me.

All that to say, I really want to blog. But you might need a mirror to read it :) And yes, I edited and proof read this about 3 times before posting it.

Update on the little people

Life with Isaiah these days can be characterized by words like nonstop, off the walls, off the furniture, rambunctous, gut laughing one minute, ready to claw eyes out the next (this describes me), new words, A LOT of bananas, running, throwing balls, major Daddy attachment, sweet kisses all the time, playing hard until he's red in the face, endless discovery of new "no-no's" and great interest in the old ones.

He still loves to sing "E, I, O" which is Old MacDonald and a new song called, "Ho, Ho-sanna" that I sang as a little girl. He just sings, "Ha, ha, ha, ha." He is still REALLY into phones...especially cell phones and often calls people when I don't know it so if you've gotten a hang up recently from us, I promise it wasn't me. The other thing that he loves doing is hiking one leg up on the couch, pull himself up and then jump all over the couch...we're working on sitting on our bottoms :)

He's now saying no, yes (sometimes), Daddy, Momma, Nana (for my mom and banana), Papa, Pop, Ma (Max), Buddy (my parent's dog), nose, ear, eye, toes, knee, ball, cookie, hey, bye-bye, ba (bath), shoes, sock, k! (ok!), men! (Amen!), and tries to repeat what we say all the time...and yes, I know that's scary.

He's also been pointing at my tummy and saying, "Baby? Baby?" I'm pretty sure he's really trying to say "belly button" -OR- he's a genius child with crazy perception abilities.

Because there IS a baby in there! A lot of you knew that, but this is the first time I've blogged about it so here's an update: I'm 10 weeks, due Oct 3rd and got to see our little one for the first time yesterday. The ultrasound tech wasn't there, but Dr. Jones wanted to see the heartbeat so he attempted it himself. We saw the sweet little flicker of a heartbeat, but only for a second because the little bit was kicking and flipping around. Then I laughed, moved too much and right when he found it again the screen went blank. So no pictures, but we were thrilled to get to see that! I have been fighting to not be anxious as I waited 6 weeks to know anything, but God was really sweet to me and gave me a lot of grace in that area....one that I tend to struggle in a lot.

So, we are both really healthy, and I'm blessed to not get sick in pregnancy...just tiredness and a lack of patience :)

(Now I get to add my own little baby widget!)

Because I'm committed to making you smarter...

Here's some useless, yet interesting leap day trivia:

-- A person born on Leap Day is called a leapling.

--As the story goes, the tradition of women romantically pursuing men in leap years began in 5th century Ireland, when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about the fair sex having to wait for men to propose. Patrick finally relented and set February 29 aside as the day set aside allowing women the right to ask for a man's hand in marriage.

--The tradition continued in Scotland, when Queen Margaret declared in 1288 that on February 29 a woman had the right to pop the question to any man she fancied. Menfolk who refused were faced with a fine in the form of a kiss, a silk dress, or a pair of gloves given to the rejected lady fair.

--Invented at the Savoy Hotel in London on February 29, 1928 this sweet concoction was said to have spurred many a marriage proposal.

2 ounces gin

1/2 ounce Grand Marnier

1/2 ounce sweet vermouth

1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Serve with a twist of lemon.

You're welcome....

Stewart has a little brother

Josh and I often quote Stewart right after Isaiah has said something. Please don't think less of us, but we find a lot of similarities between the two. This captures that several times (except we're not looking for a new daddy).

Missions...

is a passion that God has deeply wedged into our hearts for years and, I'm learning, never goes away. And I definitely didn't want it to (though it would make some things easier), but I guess we've kinda "put it on the back burner" for the last couple of years as God has been healing and restoring us, building up our marriage and guiding us through the huge transition of becoming parents. I feel like we have come a LONG way from where we were 2 years ago, and the Lord has been slowly, gently but steadily bringing the nations back to the front of our hearts. I have no idea what this will mean for our future, whether we will go or send (or go some and send some), but doing one or the other is clear....Praise God!

So, last Sunday morning Josh and I were in bed recovering from an ugly stomach bug, and decided to listen to several of Piper's sermons on the subject. If you haven't heard him preach on this you are missing a huge part of his heart...start with "Doing Missions When Dying is Gain"...you won't be the same!

Anyway, though he says SO MUCH there was one statement in particular that really challenged us. This is from his sermon called, "Missions: The Battle Cry of Christian Hedonism."

"When Jesus commissioned his church to disciple the peoples, he did not have in mind merely political boundaries. He had in mind the distant, distinct groups including tribes and tongues and peoples. And today there are over 16,000 such groups undiscipled. If every Christian in the world won all his neighbors to Christ, half the world would be unevangelized; because two billion people make up culturally distant people groups who do not have an indigenous witness. They are the "hidden peoples," the "frontier missions" of our day. The only way they can be reached is by cross-cultural missionaries."

How Marvelous!

I didn't grow up in churches that sang many hymns and on days like today I'm thankful because when I hear one I haven't heard in a long time, it's still new to me and the words have fresh meaning. I don't have memories of singing them as a bored kid in the pew with her parents. There's no negativity or indifference associated with them in my head (not that people who grew up with them would...but I think I would).

And this morning I was hit over the head with one as I was listening to Chris Tomlin in my car. What a beautiful and ENCOURAGING message! I couldn't help raising my hand (with one planting firmly on the steering wheel) and singing to the top of my lungs! The chorus has been playing over and over in my head since. A very simple message, but so full of marvel, wonder and joy at Jesus. So, I just wanted to share the words of it with you:

I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

Is my Savior’s love for me!

Refrain

He took my sins and my sorrows,

He made them His very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary,

And suffered and died alone.

Refrain

When with the ransomed in glory

His face I at last shall see,

’Twill be my joy through the ages

To sing of His love for me.

Refrain

Boxes, anyone???

We have been trying to get our house ready to sell and are having the hardest time finding moving boxes. Seems like grocery stores, pharmacies and even ABC stores don't have them like we thought they would.

So, if you hear of any available...let us know!

Isaiah's happy reunion with food

Let me explain: Isaiah has always LOVED his food....until he has a stomach bug which is what he's had the past few days. It has been IMPOSSIBLE to please him. He would constantly sign "food" and "please" only to emphatically shout "No!" (his new favorite word...ugh) at EVERYthing we would offer him. He was finally satisfied yesterday for a few short minutes with Jello and part of a popcicle. But today he's eating! He's not quite into all his normal foods yet, but he was happy this morning with honey-nut cheerios (in the pantry, no less) and his first ever peanut butter sandwich at lunch. This is a big deal if you know his dad well.

.

The Mr and Mrs

Wow. They're married! Here's a few pictures of their special day. I'm missing all of the wedding party and most of our family so I'll try to get those up as soon as I get them.

Still the big sister!

At the reception and much more comfortable....and can I just mention the

two incredibly cute boys in the background?

Mother of the groom and her little boy

Today is the BIG DAY!

My little brother, Darren, is getting married! It's still really unsettling to me (He's young and will always be "little" to me), but he's excited and says he's ready. I'll post pictures soon.

Update on Doria

Several of you have asked about her and have been praying for her. That speaks volumes to us so thank you.

She had surgery yesterday afternoon to have her gall bladder removed. They found really thick bile which is most likely the cause of all her pain. They didn't see stones but will do a pathology report to be sure. She should go home today. She said her belly button hurts :) but she's doing much better. We're thankful that they didn't wait any longer to do the surgery as my brother is getting married Saturday (!). We're expecting and praying that she'll be doing much better by the weekend.

Thanks again for praying for her.

Prayer, please

My sister, Doria, was admitted to the hospital this morning. She's been experiencing some pretty awful pain in her side for awhile now and after several trips to the Dr, two trips to the emercency room, two prescriptions for Vicaden that didn't work, she was finally admitted. She's relieved to get better pain meds, but they're still not sure what's wrong or what to do. She definitely has ovarian cysts and a scan earlier today showed that her gall bladder is only functioning at 33%. However, the Drs seem to be miscommunicating (one has a very thick accent, they said.....WHAT?!?). One Dr was talking about surgery and another one was talking about discharging her, so please pray for clarity for them and healing for Doria.

Moved

I'm sitting here pretty emotional, and since I posted earlier that I didn't know what to blog I figured I'd make up for that.

I flipped on the tv this afternoon and was shocked to see my former Weight Watchers teacher (who just sent me a card telling me that her arms were open to welcome me back...I haven't been since Thanksgiving) on Oprah.

I quickly understood why. Her son was Jason Ray, the Chapel Hill mascot who was killed when a car hit him as he walked along the side of a road in New Jersey at a game. He went to First Assembly as a kid and my mom remembers when he was in kindergarten there. His death made major headline news here. Charlotte had talked about Jason often during our meetings and recently did an ESPN special about him. She would ask if anyone saw it and how did they think it went. She continuously commented on how something really good came out of something really bad. Jason was an organ donor and the ripple effect of that was huge. That's why ESPN and Oprah took notice. His organs went to save at least 3 other people and inspired others to become donors. One family came who lost a son 2 weeks after Jason's death. He was inspired by Jason's story, convinced his brother to become a donor and was a donor himself.

I think what I'm most moved by is the faith of Charlotte, her husband Emmitt, their son Jason, and several of the organ recipients and family that Jason inspired. If you heard what they said about their loss and gain, you heard something close to the gospel. They spoke about eternal life, their Heavenly Father, and their gratefulness for His goodness to them. You just don't hear that on Oprah everyday and it gives testimony to our amazing Father. His grace in the midst of great pain and tragedy, that He's for us and His children He's already taken home. His great wisdom even in young, shocking, seemingly untimely death....and our great hope because of that. His good plan. His right rule.

It gives me comfort and faith to watch people grieve such tremendous loss (one of my worst fears) under the sweet grace and sustaining hope that God provides in that moment. He makes it possible for me to lose my son at the age of 21 and still have great reason for hope, peace and joy in the God who is for us and the glorious future we have.

You can read about their story here. Click on "Ray of Hope."

Are we dull?

I guess there just hasn't really been anything I want to post about. I think I'm in the post-Christmas winter slump. You know, gray skies, cold temps that keep me indoors a lot, doing the day-to-day thing. Not bad. Just not great writing material. I get up, get dressed, make coffee, try my best at a quiet time, get Isaiah up, chase him around most of the day, read some, surf the web some, clean some, cook some, talk with friends some, walk some, wait for Josh to get home, eat dinner, get Isaiah bathed and in the bed, crash.

I remember feeling this way big time as a teacher. It was the thought that made my stomach drop...what am I going to do with these kids until May?!? I'm feeling that a little with work now. Christmas program is over...now I have to actually plan. And don't get me wrong...there's plenty going on and lots of big decisions coming up for us. Things are just fairly "January-ish."

But then I have moments like I just had when my sweet husband comes up to me holding an empty cereal bag and asking me if I want to eat the crumbs leftover from the frosted shredded wheat because it was probably at least 7 or 8 squares worth and he just wanted to consider me (but to not make fun of him...so I'm not, of course :).

It's funny how seasons affect me. I'm really looking forward to spring.

The thorn in my flesh....

our disgusting problem

(the white stuff is powder that's supposed to lift out stains...yeah right)

The culprit

Since Thankgiving we have been greeted with "presents" from Max at least once a week. It is absolutely driving me mad. We have honestly considered finding another family for him, but, of course we definitely don't want to do that. He's been ours since the very beginning of our marriage.

HOWEVER, this has to change!!! It's completely ridiculous! When the weather is ok he spends most of the day outside, gets plenty, of love (though less attention since Isaiah's come along), goes out to do his business multiple times during the day, has completed 2 training classes, etc. Why is this still a problem?!?

Now, we're looking into ripping out the carpet and installing laminate so we can sell the house. I am furious we're at this point. I have tried soap and water, vinegar, Spot Shot, Resolve for Pet Stains, Urine Gone, powder from Carpet Dry Clean and steam cleaning. So, if you have a magic solution for getting urine out of carpet, training a dog who knows better, or cheap/good laminate solution....I'm all ears!

UGH!!!

E-I-O

Here is Isaiah singing his favorite song. Please our house cleaner who's singing and apparently can't bark in tune.
(we don't have a house cleaner.)

E-I-O

Here's Isaiah singing his favorite song. Please ignore the lady singing...she's our house cleaner and apparently can't bark in tune.

(we don't have a house cleaner.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

I've been bad. I know. I'm sorry if you've been checking. :(

So, here's what we've been up to lately:

We are back to normal after the holidays which means work, de-cluttering the house, training an almost 18 mo old, hanging out with people in our care group, walking at the mall with my friend Kristen and her daughter Lily, getting the house ready to sell (finally!), catching up on reading, establishing better routines, concentrating more efforts into our date nights, and trying to plan a much needed getaway...just the two of us (we haven't done that yet as parents).

This time of year always brings a fresh resolve to be more organized and clean...among other things. So, I've gone back to my Keep-It-Clean plan from Real Simple which has served me well in the past (ok, today was the first day back on it but my bathrooms are sparkly!)

I've also been cleaning out closets so that prospective buyers can actually see that they have custom shelving. 2 down, 3 more to go. I absolutely could not believe what all we put in one little boy's closet!

And with all good domestication efforts, there should be efficient meal planning...gosh, I even sound more domestic, don't I? Well, I'm bad at this. So bad, dinner deciding time is the most stressful part of my day. This time starts the second Josh walks in the door and I say, "What do you want for supper?" and he says, "I don't know, babe. Whatever's easiest. I just don't want it to be stressful for you." So bad that when I asked him recently, at the prompting of a great discussion with other ladies, how I could grow in one area of helping him at home, he requested that I simply plan out our meals so I won't get stressed.


***Update: Apon reading what I was typing, I realized that raw chicken was waiting in the kitchen, as was my slightly famished husband. I won't tell you what time it was. We had a good chuckle.


Anyway, I've been planning meals and trying new recipes...mainly soup...from the Better Homes and Gardens website. A few we didn't like so if you have any good ones, send 'em my way!


I finally finished a book (!!!) that I've been reading for awhile. It was "Don't Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman. Excellent! I see my future self needed to reread it often. I'm also finishing up "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. This book has gone to my soul in a striking, passionate, painful, joyful way. I simply could not suggest a man-written book more worth your time (in my opinion).

I'm also trying (often unsuccessfully) to greet the day before Isaiah, leaving myself enough time to get ready for the day, fix a cup of coffee and spent tine with the Lord before I go get him out of his bed at 8:00am. I'm still going through the Psalms and that has been really good.

So there you have it. I plan to do better on my posting now that the daunting task of catching up is over....I suppose that 's a little dramatic. I will leave you with pictures of Isaiah, who's hair looks like this now at any given moment. He's a wild man!