More Than Just One Pregnancy Symptom

As I was trying to get my wedding ring off to wash dishes today, I struggled a little bit to get it off.  I sat there contemplating why my ring would be tight.  I wasn't hot (that's definitely not one of my pregnancy symptoms).  What could it be?  And then that's when it dawned on me that I have not only started retaining water in my hands, but I've also lost my mind because why did I not make that connection right away? 

P.S. My husband would say I lost my mind several months ago...and he's probably right:)

Halloween

Photo Shoot

Here are some pictures the girls took when they had mom's camera in their room:




Yes, I think she's pretending to pick her nose.

 








I'm not sure what to say??



The Greatest Great-Grandma

We recently took a trip to see my husband's grandma.  The kids had so much fun helping Great-grandma, having a tea party and playing.  One of Great-grandma's specialties is fruit with sugar to dip it in.  The kids love it.  This time we even had to bring home some of Great-grandma's "special" sugar because ours isn't the same at home :)  Here are some pictures.

Precious Thoughts From Precious

Thought #1
This morning in the car on the way to school Precious told me she wants to go to Paris.  Apparently Barbie went to Paris in one of her movies.  I informed her that I will probably never go to Paris because I don't like to fly, so Sissy said she would go with her.  They planned their trip to Paris when they are "grown-ups" and even thought to make sure Dad stayed at home with me so I wouldn't be lonely.  I pray that some day they actually do get to go to Paris together.  I want them to know that they can do whatever they want to do.  Even spend a crazy amount of money to go to a place where I hear everyone is rude :)

Thought #2
I love taking my girls out to dinner.  I especially love taking each of them out separately, just the two of us.  I love the conversations we have, the things they share with me and getting to concentrate completely on them, no distractions.  Saturday night Dad went to a football game with a friend, so I got to take the girls out to eat.
Don't ask me how this came up, but Precious told me that she feels funny when boys look at her.  When I asked her why, she said that she just wants them to like her.  She is 7, not 13, not even 10, SEVEN!  I was totally unprepared and didn't have any idea how to respond.  I simply said that all that really matters is that God loves us and our family loves us.  Any suggestions on what an appropriate response would have been.  I love that she feels comfortable enough with me to share and I hope she will continue to come to me for advice when she gets older.  If we had not gone to eat she probably never would have mentioned that.  I plan to keep taking my girls out to dinner because who knows where the conversation will lead.

Brad Paisley - Anything Like Me (Lyrics)

Dear Baby Bubba (that's what I'm going to call our baby boy until he makes his appearance),
I am so excited for you to join our family. I prayed about you long before you were conceived. I knew God had a plan for our family and that He would reveal it to me in His time. The day we found out you were a boy, I was in complete shock. I bounced between excitement and panic. I have only been around girls. How am I going to handle a boy? I trust that God will prepare me for all of the challenges we will face together. This song reveals many of the things I look forward to. I can't wait to see the relationship that you and your dad will have. I have a special relationship with each of my girls, but I know it will be different with you. That's one of the things I look forward to the most. This song's for you, Baby Bubba.
In Great Anticipation,
Mom

U

Our Sunday school class is doing the iMarriage study by Andy Stanley.  It's been great so far.  The concept is that everyone starts a marriage with certain desires and those desires can turn into expectations if we're not careful.  Eventually those expectations will lead to disappointment.  "I" marriages exist when all a person can think about is what "I" deserve and what "I" am owed.  Well, what I discovered yesterday is that I also have a big "U" in my marriage.  The "U" for me is when I read a study and all I can think about is what you (meaning my spouse) need to do better.  Nothing in the Bible teaches us to examine others to make them better.  In fact, it tells us the opposite. 

Matthew 7:4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

Isaiah 11:3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see,or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

Matthew 7:1 Judge not, that you be not judged.

I shouldn't worry about what my spouse is doing wrong, while I myself am not a perfect mate.  Well, pretty far from it actually.  I have struggled to focus on what I can do to make my spouse feel good about our marriage.  It's like I always tell the kids, "You worry about you."  Nothing gets accomplished by simply telling others what they need to do.  We are called by God to follow his commands and He will take it from there.


Psalm 50:4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people

Isaiah 11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

"Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate." - Barnett R. Brickner

Pictures before Pictures

Today is picture day at school, so we did a little photo shoot before we left.



Porsha and Alexa



Porsha



Alexa

It's hard with every child.

I spent most of last year dreading one particular day.  The day my baby starts kindergarten.  Since we're having another baby, I thought maybe it wouldn't be so hard.  But today was that day and it was still hard!  It wasn't any easier or harder than taking Precious to school last year and I'm sure taking the baby to school a long, long time from now will be just as hard.  It didn't matter to me that before long we will have a new baby to snuggle and spend the day with.  What matters is the time I will not be spending with Sissy.  Because while she is at school all day learning important things and making wonderful friends, I will be home NOT spending time with her.   Not playing Barbies with her, not eating lunch with her, and not snuggling with her on the couch watching cartoons.  While I know from Precious, it will get easier each day, I will still be spending today with a lump in my throat wondering what Sissy is doing every moment of today. 

Dear Lord,  Thank you so much for the wonderful girls you have blessed me with.  Thank you for allowing me to stay home and spend all my time with them.  Watch over Sissy as she starts school and has new adventures when I'm not there to guide her.  Remind her that You are with her always.  Guide her to the right friends and bless the relationships that she will make this year.  Help me to adjust to parenting the girls at this stage.  Prepare Sissy and me for the challenges and situations that she will face this year.  As Sissy would say, "Thank you for everything in the whole world."  Amen.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.  Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.  For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.  Psalm 5:11-12

3 Words - Gum...In...Hair

Yes that happened to my sweet little Sissy today.  Apparently she was trying to spit it out but it got caught in her hair.  So, if this ever happens to you or your kids, peanut butter actually does work.  First I tried ice, but it didn't do anything.  The peanut butter broke down the gum and I could slide it off her hair in chunks.  So we made it through without cutting any hair.  She's working on taking her gum out of her mouth with her fingers and placing it in the trash now.

Announcement

Here is how we shared our news with everyone.

Super Girls

Here's what a boring summer day can bring about when it's too hot to go outside.  The girls found some masks that I had leftover from Precious's birthday party and decorated them.  Of course, it wouldn't be complete without the entire costume...

Meet Super Girl.

And this is Golf Girl (because her hat is a golf visor).

Update

Remember the spider that Precious brought home from school and then the snake that found its way to our house.  Mainly because my husband bought it and gave it to my girls to torment me with.  Well, it keeps making its way to some pretty impressive places.  One time, while I was taking a shower, the girls put it on the bath rug so it would scare me when I got out.  Then, today, I found it under our bedspread.  I'm not sure how long it's been there.  I only found it because I was washing the sheets.  If I didn't hate the thing so much, I would be pretty impressed at the thought the girls have put into their hiding places.  Although, it does scare me to think of what they'll be able to come up with when they get a little older, or even worse, teenagers. 

Probably Shouldn't

Okay, I probably shouldn't blog about this because I'm still pretty upset about it.  But I just had to get some feedback.  We went to the castle park today.  That's what we call it, but I guess technically it's Shryock Park at PlayPark Pointe.  When we pulled up I noticed some kids playing inappropriately on the equipment, so I used the opportunity to teach the kids a lesson.  These kids were climbing on top of the railing and on top of the tube slide at the very top.  I told the girls how dangerous this was and that that's not how the equipment was intended to be used.  They both agreed that they should not play like that.  So we went in to have a good time.  The kids ran off and I started making my grocery list as I sat in one of the seating areas.  The group of kids that were playing inappropriately eventually came over as I was showing the girls a birds nest with baby birds in it.  The momma bird had been in and out feeding them.  The other kids decided it would be a good idea to mess with the nest.  I let it go for a while because they weren't actually doing it any harm, but then one of them decided they wanted to knock it down.  One of them even said, "We should mess with it so the momma bird won't come back and we can take them home."  I told them probably ten times to leave the nest alone and they wouldn't listen.  So finally I told them that if they continued to mess with the nest I would call the city and they would make them leave the park.  An empty statement I know, but it worked.  Then their dad showed up and they ran right over and told him what I had said.  He blew it off for a while, but then started ranting out loud to himself about it.  "I don't see what the city is going to do about it anyway."  "Stupid people in Augusta, think they have money and they can make one phone call and something is going to happen."  Now I really, really hate confrontation.  It took all I had to tell those kids to stop messing with the nest.  I just sat there and kept making my list.  They finally left.  Who knows how long they had been there.  The oldest kid, who looked at least 10, told me they had been there since 6:00 in the morning (it was 9:30 when we were there).  The girls played a little longer and then we left too.  I don't know if I did the right thing or what I should have done.  I'm curious.  What would you all have done in that situation?  I've been fretting about it every since and then I saw this verse on facebook:

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Philippians 4:6, NLT

I guess God's telling me not to worry about it.  Maybe I should listen for once:)

With a cheep cheep here and a cheep cheep there.

The girls found a little surprise in our yard the other day.  Three baby birds.  They can't quite fly yet, but a momma bird has been flying in and feeding them occasionally.  Sissy is obsessed with them.  She wants to go out and check on them every 15 minutes.  Precious likes them, but keeps her distance.  Here's a picture.

God is good . . . All the time!

God has blessed me so much today.  For starters, Precious's kindergarten teacher gave me a decorated pot with a plant today to say thanks.  It has each kid's fingerprint, decorated to look like a ladybug.  It's adorable.  Then, I got to watch Sissy graduate from preschool.  The entire class did such an awesome job singing for us.  The teachers are true blessings.  Then in Sissy's cubby at preschool, I got a note from an anonymous person.  It was very uplifting.  Next a Thank You note in the mail.  And a message from a friend received in an unusual away.  I got some junk mail from the college that I went to.  I usually do not open them, but I did today.  Inside was a handwritten note from my friend.  He works at the printshop on campus and probably stuffed the envelopes.  He took time out of his busy day to write a funny note.  Such a small thing, but good for a laugh. 

From all these blessings today I have come to one conclusion.  God wants me to feel blessed, especially today.  I truly appreciate all the blessings of today, but I am eternally grateful that I have a God who cares about how I feel today, right now.

Fantastic Find Friday

I LOVE to garage sale, so I'm starting a new tradition.  If you enjoy finding good deals too, feel free to participate.  Here is my fantastic find for this Friday:

$2.00

This looks like something I would buy from a catalog for $30.  Yeah for me!

Selfish or Selfless?

There are two types of people in this world.  Selfish and selfless.  Selfish people who care, not only for themselves, but for themselves before anyone else and selfless people who always think of others first.  Which type of person are you?  This question is not answered by what we would say about ourselves when asked, but by how we act each and every day.  Do you hold the door for the mother with six kids coming in the store behind you or do you let the door slam shut in the face of whoever it is traipsing in after you?  Do you wave to the person in the car next to you even though you don't know them because they waved at you or do you snub them thinking to yourself, "I don't know who that is?"  (This one can inadvertently happen to me because I'm in another world sometimes, so if you wave at me and I don't wave back, I didn't see you.)  Do you listen to the friend who just needs someone to talk to or do you avoid them because you know they've had a bad day?  Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.1 John 3:18  Are you selfish or selfless today?  Lady that threw a fit in her car today because I wasn't driving fast enough for you, I think you know the answer to that.  You are forgiven today (If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9), but please try harder tomorrow.  I will too.

My daughter does NOT have the gruds!

Yesterday Precious, who is 6, started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she was afraid that she had the gruds. So I asked her what the gruds were. She told me that it’s something that gets in your brain and makes it weird. Again, she told me that she wasn’t sure if she had it or not. I finally got out of her that it was something they had been talking about at school and it was on the cd that they had sent home to listen to. We listened to it together and it was about saying no to drugs. Suddenly it all made sense. I explained to her what drugs were and that drugs from the doctor were okay, but other drugs can damage your brain. After all that, she decided that I was right and she did NOT have the gruds. I don’t know if it’s her age or what, but all of a sudden she is hypersensitive about everything. She doesn’t want to wear short-sleeved shirts to school because she doesn’t like her hairy arms. Yes, they are a bit hairy, but she is totally blowing it out of proportion. It breaks my heart to see her so embarrassed of something, even if it’s small. I would love to hear any advice on the subject.

What do you say to the person who made your dreams come true?

You know those people who know from the minute they can speak what they want to do when they grow up? I’m not one of those people. Growing up, I envied those people. I always had the drive and motivation, but not the dream. I picked a major and got my degree because that’s what you’re supposed to do. I got married because ever since I met my husband that’s what I wanted to do. And I worked because I had to. Then we decided to start our family and I remembered the one thing that I did always know. I always knew I wanted to stay home with my kids. Since that was my husband’s plan too, that’s what we did. God blessed us with two girls and I have loved every minute of being a mother. I’m so glad that I was the one to see them roll over for the first time, crawl for the first time, and take their first steps. I’m the one they want to kiss their boo-boos and whose hand they reach for before they cross the street. As they get older, I’m the one who they want to tell about their day when they get out of school and I’m the one who gives them a hug and tells them it will be alright when they’ve had a bad day. God allowed me to be a mother, but my husband makes it possible for me to be a stay-at-home mom. He makes my dream come true each and every day. While I’m at home reading books and giving girls hugs, he’s working hard to make that happen. So what do you say to the person who made your dream come true? I say, Bubba, thank you and I love you!!

Thankless Job

As I was making treats for Sissy's preschool class, she comes in and asks me what I'm making.

Me:  Rice krispie treats.

Sissy:  Oh.  I don't like those.

I wanted to scream, "Since when?!!"  I had put a lot of thought into what I was going to make and a decent amount of effort into making them.  Then she informs me that she's not going to like them.  Motherhood is such a thankless job.  I guess I should be used to it by now, but occasionally you dream that someone might just appreciate something you do.  I ended up making jello jigglers to go with them and she loved those.

Today Is Not "O" Day

After we dropped Precious off at school this morning, Sissy and I were playing "friend."  The next thing I know, I look at the clock and it was 8:45.  Sissy should be at school already.  So I checked the calendar quickly because Fridays are always show-and-tell days.  It was "O" day, but we didn't have time to run upstairs to get an O toy.  I grabbed a can of olives and we headed out the door.  As I rushed her into school while everyone else was already seated, I noticed the "O" things in the other kids' cubbies were not "O"s at all.  They were "G"s.  It was too late at this point, so I left my 4 year-old daughter to explain why we had olives instead of grapes.  I talked to the teacher after school and she said they used the "G" for great since the olives were Great Value.  Thank goodness for Wal-Mart brand food :)

Pregnancy Care Center

Lately I've had the opportunity to get to know a little more about our local Pregnancy Care Center.  I've heard quite a bit about it from my friend Farm Chick, but now I've gotten to see if first hand.  Our family is going to Disneyworld in May and I heard about their Give A Day, Get A Day program.  I found out from Farm Chick that the Pregnancy Care Center was particpating.  We made some blankets and delivered them to the Center. 

The girls and I had lots of fun picking out fabric and I really enjoy sewing. 

Then my husband and I got to go to the annual Pregnancy Care Center banquet.  We got to eat some good food, visit with some wonderful people, and even came away with one of the auction baskets.  Again, lots of fun.  It reminded me how lucky our community is to have an organization like that around.  A place with wonderful, Christian women there that have a true heart for Christ.  Striving to make a change, one person at a time.  The world could use more people like that.

1 Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

Lord, Help me to use the gifts you have given me to serve others and glorify your name.

Helping HAITI

To raise money for Haiti, Precious's school came up with Haiti week.  You paid $1 a day to participate and you got to do all kinds of fun things like hat day, storybook character day, and tie day.  Sissy just had to participate too.  Here is a picture of them dressed up as Fancy Nancy.

Sissy is a little confused about it.  We had recently been talking about nicknames.  At first her nickname was going to be Ariel or Goldygloss which was not what I was trying to accomlish anyway, but after storybook character day, she thought her nickname was Fancy Nancy.  We'll have to address this sometime in the future.  I thought Haiti week was a wonderful way for the kids to see how much fun it can be to help others.

Two Kids And A Picket Fence

My sister pointed this blog post out to me and it was so good, I thought I'd share.  This one's for my pregnant friends out there and the ones contemplating another child.

http://mychildiloveyou.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-most-families-have-2-children.html

Another First...Almost

Well, we almost had the first time the toothfairy forgets to come last night.  Thankfully my husband had to get up early to go to work and remembered, but Precious was already waking up when he went in her room.  He managed to sneak the dollar into the pillow, but couldn't get the tooth out without her noticing.  She thought it was hilarious that the toothfairy forgot to take the tooth.  We decided she better leave it in her pillow tonight so the toothfairy doesn't get in trouble for not having the tooth.  Whew!  Crisis adverted.  FYI-this tooth was worse than the other two to get out.  At one point I just decided it was going to stay in there forever.  Here's a picture of her with her friend that also recently lost her tooth.  I called them the toothless twins.

Today I had a first.

There's a first time for everything. Your first date, your first kiss, your first child.... Well, today I had another first. The first time you go through the drive-through in your jammies and robe. I didn't have time I was too lazy to get dressed before I took Porsha to school this morning, but McDonalds breakfast sounded good enough to embarrass myself over. I went through just like normal. Neither lady said anything unusual, but I'm left wondering if they talked about me after I was gone. I'm pretty sure if I worked there, I'd have a good laugh with friends about the crazy lady coming through the drive-through in her jammies and robe. Have I told you how good our McDonalds is? It's way better than any other McDonalds I've been too. Their food is fresh and yummy and the people who work there are super friendly. Definitely worth a little embarrassment.

July 21, 2001

We watched our wedding video with our kids last night. They both loved seeing Mom in a beautiful, princess dress and Dad all dressed up in a tux. The big finally was the much-anticipated kiss. It gave them the giggles for a while. They got to see their young aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas. Sissy kept asking where she was. They both tried on my wedding ring.

Then they put on their "wedding dresses" and danced while we watched our wedding dance. It's wonderful for our kids to get to see our very own fairytale come true.

Recipes

Okay, my friend Erin challenged me to post some recipes. I'm going to start by saying that if you're looking for some healthy food to serve your family, you're looking in the wrong place. Now if you're looking for some really yummy recipes, you're in the right place. Here you go:

Enchiladas

1 lb. hamburger
1 can refried beans
1 can enchilada sauce
1 pkg. tortillas
1 can chopped olives
shredded cheese
lettuce
sour cream

Brown hamburger and drain. Mix in refried beans and chopped olives. Fill tortilla shells and put in 9X13 pan. Cover with enchilada sauce and shredded cheese. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Southwestern Eggrolls

1 lb. hot italian sausage
1 can (15oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (11 oz.) Mexicorn, drained
1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1 pkg. (8.8 oz.) ready-to-serve Spanish rice
19 egg roll wrappers
oil to fry

Cook sausage and drain. Stir in beans, mexicorn, tomatoes, and rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered for 5-10 minutes or heated through. Place 1/3 cup mixture in egg roll wrappers and fold together as instructed on package. Fry egg rolls in 1 inch of oil heated to 375 degrees for 30 seconds on each side or until golden brown. Drain excess oil.

Sloppy Joes

1 lb. hamburger
1 can chicken gumbo soup
1/4 c. ketchup
1/8 c. mustard
2 T. Worchestershire sauce

Brown hamburger and mix ingredients.

Ham and Potato Soup

4 or 5 potatoes
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
crushed red pepper flakes
pepper
3 cups milk
4 oz. velveeta
sliced or cubed ham

Peel and cube potatoes. Cook until tender in pot of water. Drain potatoes, but reserve 1 cup of the liquid. Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and season with pepper and red pepper flakes. Gradually add potatoes, reserved liquid, and milk. Add velveeta and ham. Simmer over low heat 30 minutes or until cheese is melted stirring frequently.

Hope you enjoy!!

The Outflow of God's Love

At Sunday school we're reading the book Outflow by Steve Sjogren and Dave Ping. It's about outward-focused living in a self-focused world. I can't explain the whole book in a single post, but it's about showing God to others through various acts of kindness. The hope is that someday each of us will constantly be thinking of how to help others in our daily lives, building relationships with others, and using those relationships to introduce others to God. Each week it encourages you to find simple ways to show God's love. I keep thinking I should do this or that, but never followed through. Today I was going to so something. Since it was so cold outside and it was trash day, I decided to make hot chocolate for the trash guys(I'm not sure what the politically correct term is for trash guy?). Simple, right? Making hot chocolate is simple. Walking to the curb is simple. Giving them the hot chocolate is simple. But for some reason I started having anxiety as I waited for the trash truck to pull up. Some of my thoughts were "They don't want your hot chocolate." and "They're going to think you're crazy." But I knew this was what God called me to do today, so to be obedient I followed through. I made the hot chocolate, carried it to the curb, and asked the man if he would like some hot chocolate. What happened next totally shocked me. That man, the one that was supposed to laugh in my face, thanked me and gave me a hug. A HUG!! I walked away feeling so good that I'm left wondering if I was showing God's love to him or if he was showing God's love to me??

Father, I can't thank you enough for letting me have this experience today. Thank you for giving me the courage to do something unexpected. Thank you for the response that the man had. Please allow me to continue to help others to your glory. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Friend: So Sissy what did you get for Christmas?

Sissy: A Jump-o-line (trampoline).


Sissy also wanted to make sure we went shopping at the "fake mall." I still haven't figured this one out. I think she's talking about Kohl's because it looks like a mall. I told her Kohl's wasn't a mall, so I think she started calling it the "fake mall."