This Side of Heaven

Shifty Eyes

2011-12-10T22:22:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure I've mentioned enough how much I LOVE having a boy. I love my girls so much and when I found out I was pregnant this last time with a boy I was a little nervous to enter into that unchartered territory, but let me tell you it has rocked my world. I don't know, maybe, it's the combination of him being my boy and my third (maybe final) child, but sometimes I snuggle and squeeze and kiss and rock him in absolute denial that when he is 30 he probably won't want to let me do that anymore...I really think he might let me (hee-hee).

My sweet bubs. We had to take him in to see an opthamologist at the local medical institute because he has uncontrollable eye movement. We found out he has congenital nystagmus (congenital meaning from birth). It may or may not cause slight to significant complications with his vision. As of right now we know he is really near-sighted. They don't correct it right now but we will go back in a little over a month from now and be able to know more about what is causing it, and maybe a better idea of what the future will hold. Am I surprised at the state of imperfection this side of heaven? No, not at all, I expect it. Have I cried? Yes, indeed, I think it's the mommy in me. I want him to be in a garden of roses but without the thorns. Can I trust a perfect and sovereign God to give us every little thing we need to handle the circumstance no matter the severity? Yes, I do. He has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3) as written in his word. I look forward with anticipation to seeing what and how the Lord sees us through. I look forward to sharing more about Jesus with Rowen as he may struggle with his vision or being able to drive or play sports or people asking about his eyes.

I pray that Rowen can sing this psalm 16 in his heart as worship one day.

"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let you holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

and I pray that though he may not be able to focus his physical eyes on much that he will focus much on Christ as his strength, security, fullness, pleasure, comfort, keeper and so much more. To God be glory and praise always!

Here is my sweet boy at 5 months.

I am due to write about all of us I know! I have no time it seems these days but will try soon. It is also apparent that I NEED a blog makeover for Christmas.

What's up...

2011-10-19T22:21:00.001-04:00

It is awesome being a mommy to my sweet little boy. I honestly am so grateful for the family that God has blessed me with. My cup surely does overflow! I am not just saying that because it sounds good either. My husband is amazing. He is so smart and driven such a hard worker and succeeds at all he sets his mind on doing. My kids each have their own personalities that absolutely captivate me. We've been battling sickness in this house for the past few days. Carson started it Sunday night when she struck a fever it only lasted about 24 hours and she was better. Darby woke up this morning with it. They get such high fevers it's crazy at one point with both they had a 103. something fever on the medicine and I was not due to give them any for a while!

So better late than never is was they always say, and I sure hope they are right. Rowen is now only 9 days away from being 4 months yet I still have not documented his 2 month appointment! So what did I learn at his visit? Well, he had dropped from 95th percentile in weight to 25th so I had to start supplementing with formula. Which is okay bc I want him to be well fed and I think being the third baby in the house I had so much going on and my milk just couldn't keep up. That, and it never came in to the full amount that it did with the girls. So then, just about a week ago I switched to bottles only because he just seemed hungry and it was so much to try and figure out what/if he was getting in breast milk. He was at that appointment measuring in at 25th for weight, 60th for head circumference and 75th for height. He is a very smiley, very happy baby! I am sooo sad to see him getting bigger and bigger!

Here is a picture of him taken right at 3 months by some photographer friends of ours.

What's on my mind?

2011-08-27T22:58:00.000-04:00

If I could bottle up the sweetness of my baby boy there wouldn't be enough containers in the world! I'd say this about all three of my sweet kids! I am so blessed beyond my own comprehension! So thankful for HIS sweet grace and tender mercies!

So that was my facebook status tonight. I literally have tears as I consider this. I can't even believe my boy will be 2 months tomorrow. I'm not usually this sentimental/emotional about things but maybe it's the fact that this is my last child (unless we adopt, more on that later) or maybe it bc I feel like God's grace has given me a deeper appreciation for my young children as I see how rapidly they grow. I don't know but I can say that life this side of heaven (wink wink) is full of busyness, obstacles, pain, sorrow and what have you and I tend to be one to experience those things more than the sweet things, the loving, joyful things that God also gives us in His great kindness and favor and love toward us. So I am especially thankful for the state of my heart right now. Praise Jesus, and I am thankful for facebook asking me what was on my mind tonight so I could take some time and enjoy Him!

I'm baaaaack (again)

2011-08-25T19:51:00.002-04:00

So much has happened since I last blogged! I mean heck, it's been since December! My goodness, how ~~irresponsible~~ slack of me! Honestly, it's a time issue. I'm not very technological and so it takes time and effort for me to grace this blog with pictures of what I write about. I have to (assuming they are loaded on the computer already) save them as smaller files to upload, edit them, watermark them, and make sure they are "cool" enough to fit in in blog land. At least that's the pressure I put on myself. On top of that I have to be creative to have something to write about and keep folks entertained, psssh that's not happening. Especially now that times 3 now my brain has shrunk with the pregnancy of a child. So yeah Rowen's here now (there goes more time). But, (did I just enlarge the fact that I started a sentence with a but?) now more than ever I NEED to blog! My children are growing up right before my eyes! Baby boy, Rowen, Bubby (all names we like to call him), will be 2 months in 3 short days! I don't do a good job at recording their milestones or experiences or the cute things that come out of their mouths so I must blog them. So this is for my sweet sweet Darby (4), Carson (2), and Rowen (as we previously established almost 2 months orrr zero as Darby likes to refer to him). They may not be the most graceful writings you've ever laid eyes on, or the coolest ideas, or have the best pictures ever (shoot, it may not have pictures at all), but I'll be glad to have a record for my babes. I hope that pictures will frequent this blog but you can consider the ideas or recipes a bonus when I have time for such! No pictures for today BUT I will leave you with probably the sweetest video of a baby ever in history (of course I am biased tho).

Make sure you turn the volume up and for some reason it automatically starts instead of you pressing play so you can stop it and restart it....no time to figure it out and as I said...not too technological here.

Christmas Gifts and Ideas/Recipes

2010-12-17T09:50:00.000-05:00

So yesterday was Darby's last day of preschool and now we have a break for the holiday. I put together some things to give her teachers and I am also sharing some with my neighbors.

For your taste buds:

White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn! Click here for recipe. There is another version at Our Best Bites but I did the white chocolate kind.

To kill germs: (not caused by the popcorn)

Last year I made these. This year I made them simular but went with the monogram version here instead. Love them.

Pray for Ansley

2010-12-14T09:19:00.000-05:00

How sad. This family just recently found out that their 4 year old daughter has cancer. Here is a link to the blog they have started. Please join with me in praying for God to heal this child.

http://prayingforansley.blogspot.com/

She's a funny one...

2010-12-10T15:24:00.000-05:00

At least that is what the doctor said at her 18 month check up.

My sweet Carson is 25th percentile for head circumference, 50-75th for weight and 25th again for height.

She actually on the scale isn't too chubby but bc of her height she is my little butterball.

I love her, she is super duper sweet all the time. It's been a while since I updated my blog on the kiddos so I need to more often for my records and such ; ).

She is running and walking rather well, her hair, bless her, is still slowly but surely growing in. She is very quiet. She talks but not much and not often. She does repeat things you say when you ask....if she is in the mood. Some times she spouts off in what we call her own language... She is generally just a heavy thinker and serious and quiet. I love her little personality. Her favorite jam is the ABC's. She LOVES her big sister. Really she loves all of us, the dog, dad and mom. She is quite attached to her family and is so lovey. I love watching Carson and Darby interact. They play so great. Yesterday when I picked Darby up from her little preschool Darby came and grabbed her hand and walked her over to her friends on the rug and asked, "Do you like my baby?".

A week or so ago Carson went in to the bathroom and grabbed the step stool and brought it into Chad's office, first she tried to climb into his lap, then she was "helping" him work by bringing him CD's one at a time and getting him to stack them on his desk...then she just stood by watching and waiting to see if he needed help ; ). It was so stinking cute. I snapped a picture on my phone. I think it is the cutest.

Some thoughts on Christmas

2010-12-01T16:46:00.001-05:00

I think I have said before but Christmas is my FAVORITE holiday. I love the colors, smells, decorations, shopping, family, food and etc...

Christmas with children is fun...and challenging. Trying to capture the true meaning of Christmas is a hard thing in all of our hearts but especially in a child who LOVES the presents, the lights and the junk food and etc. All of those things are fine and dandy but if they replace the true excitement over a Savior being born then they really are all meaningless little idols in our hearts.

What's annoying as a parent. Christmas programs. As Darby and I were watching one the other day I was just so disappointed, but not surprised.

So here we go, seemingly against the grain to teach her:

the point of Christmas: Jesus' birth

the miracle of Christmas: God in the flesh (born of a virgin)! come on ppl that is a big deal!

the "magic" of Christmas: personally I don't care for the word but I would just refer to last statement

what to believe in: why Jesus is the son of God of course sent to save

I'm so confused...this program had not a single mention of Jesus but they taught that when something is wrong all you have to do is believe in the magic and miracles of Christmas. It's so shallow and fluffy really. I'd like to ask people who live this way, what do they do when something goes wrong in January?

Another one we watched recently made it seem like the only way Christmas is "magical" is if you believe in Santa... oh me oh my

So now I feel like singing/praying some of the words to "Onward Christian Solider".

Just continuing in the faith and praying for God's mercy on me and my children and for the people around me.

And thankfully and joyfully with Jesus' cross before me.

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of the world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:8

My FREE Christmas Cards from Shutterfly!

2010-11-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

Family Wall Red Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Family Pictures..."Vintagey"

2010-11-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

On facebook I came across a super fun photographer, Kristen Pace. We normally have our family pictures taken once a year or so and so this year here is what we went with. It's kinda "vintagey". I like it for a change from our traditional pics. There are alot! Trust me I know...I had to go thru and water mark all of them! I tell you why. I am not necessarily worried about yall stealing them but it is weird that if they came up in a google image search anyone could use them.... Anyway- these were my favorites!

I love my family! I can't believe there will be 4 of us just months away!

Are you surprised??? .....cuz we were but surely babies are the best surprises EVER.

I Changed My Mind!

2010-11-12T09:09:00.000-05:00

I actually LOVE the fair!

I wrote in my last post about how I don't care for it and was almost dreading going but it was our first time taking Darby and it was fabulous! We all went, even Carson, but to see how much Darby enjoyed it was such a delight.

We went with our neighbors and so Darby got to have all the fun with her BFF.

They rode this dinasoaur rollercoaster ride like this the entire time and we were laughing so hard we were crying.

Later we met up with some more friends and so Carson got to hang out with her BFF olivia for a bit.

My husband took some awesome pictures and there were tons more I wish I could share. I have to work on watermarking them so I don't have to shrink them down so much, but I hope you enjoyed a glimpse at our night, and I officially do like the fair!

What are you going to do for yours???

2010-11-10T15:48:00.033-05:00

I love Christmas! Love it!

It is definitely my favorite holiday! I love the decorations, the music, the longer hours for shopping bc the stores are open later, the smells, the colors, the food.... I love giving gifts. The only reason we get to enjoy any of it is bc of the birth of our precious and much needed Savior Jesus Christ! Glorious!

Naturally, at the first sign of lower temperatures I start sing Christmas music ; ). So this brings me to my question....What are you going to do for your holiday cards??? I've been researching for a couple weeks now. I was going to make my own. Then quickly I realized that I'm not that creative so......

In my search I came across Shutterfly . They have a TON of choices! Plus- Bloggers! You can receive 50 FREE Christmas Cards click Here to see how.

My person favorites are the photo cards. I love to send updated pictures out of our family to our friends and family with a short holiday greeting!

Here are some of my favorite cards for this year!

You can visit http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards to look at all of the Holiday Card selections!

Or click here http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery to see the assortment of Holiday Photo Cards!

A great idea for the grandparents gifts would be a 2011 Calendar. What a joy to see new pictures of the babes each month! I plan to do them for our family as well.

miscellany monday

2010-11-01T09:09:00.000-04:00

1. Candy is my weakness! I love candy! Thanks to these two trick-or-treating cuties, I have tons! I am doomed-I must throw it away.

2. The fair is here. bleh... I don't like the fair but nevertheless we are venturing out tonight. I hope we don't get shot or pick up a communicable disease ; ).

3. Last week I began training for a half marathon. My neighbor and I have been running together for a while with this in mind. We worked our way up to running 3 miles as our normal run and then we set out on our training schedule last week. I was pumped actually. Until....I broke my toe on Saturday : (. I don't know what that means for my half marathon but I am hoping it heals quickly an I can catch up the training.... we will see.

4. Bowtique Bowtique is my name, etsy is the game. That is what I wanted to share with yall. It's fun to be crafty. I enjoy it. I just find etsy-ing is impossible! If you sell and have any tricks please inform me! Right now I post and within an hour I am already several pages back. I don't get it. I'm getting it up and running slowly but surely in between meal times, playdates, cleaning and working on current orders. Here is the link to my etsy shop... Feel free to visit it, share it or even shop!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bowtiquebowtique?ga_search_query=bowtique+bowtique&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

5. I hope you have a most fabulous week!

Death...

2010-10-26T10:54:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure what it is like but I am pretty sure I was close to it the other night when I came down with a stomach virus! I wanted to die.

{you should know I am totally being dramatic here, well kinda, some I am being a baby. I know so many people battle all kinds of physical ills daily or regularly and I can't imagine it day in a day out but for my what is normally pretty healthy self, this is how it goes}

I wanted to put a gun to my head!

{see please don't take me too serious, remember I am being dramatic}

I hate the stomach bug! I can't stand throwing up. Thankfully though it only really lasted about 24 hours and I was better. But my stomach has never hurt like it was with this virus....

And it was weird because when I woke up and felt nauseous at 3 am I totally almost woke chad up to go get me a pregnancy test although there was no real reason to think I could have not on purpose been pregnant. It was weird. I am glad it is over now...

So I need to share something with you guys....but I will wait for the next post or so... but here is a teaser.

My sweet Darby.

The Biz

2010-10-19T14:37:00.001-04:00

So I posted a couple videos a couple months ago bc Chad and I started a videography/film biz... Here is our latest....Chad who really runs the whole show was in the wedding so that was interesting but still so fun!

Hope you enjoy!

Are you still my friends???

2010-10-18T12:39:00.000-04:00

I can't be to sure if I have any blogging friends left after my ridiculously long absence...but alas I am back at it ; ). I finally feel like I may have some more time for this blogging business! I am telling you it is the shorter days! It makes all the difference.

So what should I start you off with? I don't know...but I have been in the worst mood lately. It is getting on my nerves and I so I can only imagine how Chady feels about it. (Well that sure was a downer to start off with...but that is what came to my brain.)

What else...well we went punkin pickin the other day and here are some pictures from this event!

The last picture is us girls with our choosen pumpkin...

Husband Showcase...

2010-07-14T23:39:00.001-04:00

Warning....

This blog might turn into a place that I showcase my husbands amazing skills...

So I am here to present to you his second video...

It was shot this past weekend at our friends little girls 1 year birthday party. I may be biased but if you ask me, he has got enough talent to knock your socks off ; )

Oh and I will just go ahead and tell you that our new pet is none other than...

Princess Fiona, the guinea pig. She is cute on one hand and then a rodent on the other...hopefully I will get a picture up of her soon. You may not believe me but I am serious, she IS cute, she has messy hair not the straight kind.

Anyway~back to the video...
I would challenge you to click the little tab at the bottom right side and bump up the quality of the video. 720p is HD but may run choppy or slow so I recommend the 480p bc it is still better quality but not as slow...your choice ; )

Back with a video...

2010-07-07T09:15:00.000-04:00

Well I sure hope you weren't holding your breath waiting for my next post...lol. I am the worst blogger in all the land. Summer is a crazy time. We have been having sooo much fun tho. I will just briefly fill you in so far....

*God has done miraculous and amazing things in a family situation that has been troubling for quite a long time.
*I still haven't introduced you to our new pet.
*I maybe had or didn't have mono. I didn't feel like I had mono...well according to some of the stories I hear. All I know is my first test was positive and the next which was a week later was negative. So who knows...
*We had and thoroughly enjoyed Carson's first birthday party. She is growing up so much!
*We went to Disney World. Stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and just had a fantastic time! I am going to share pictures soon.

Those are the main events.

My hubby has been aspiring to do these creative films and is really still smack in the middle of learning software and getting ideas but for fun he shot this CUTE video of sweet Carson and I will share bc I think he did an absolutely AMAZING job.

Happy to announce....

2010-05-12T15:04:00.000-04:00

We are going to Disney World!!!

I am so pumped!

also....I got the pictures from the smash the cake session! I love them soooo much! There are so many good ones it will be hard to limited this post!

and big sister waiting patiently to eat some cake! That is torture for a 3 year old!

Get ready...

2010-05-10T16:16:00.000-04:00

for alot of pictures! We had a blast at Darby's 3rd. Birthday party! Lots of things have been happening over here with the Priest family. I can't help but sing, "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazerene. And wonder how he could love me a sinner condemned unclean...." He is Wonderful. We got a new addition to the family that I hope to be introducing you to soon... but until then just hang on. : ). Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

The Invites...

2010-05-05T08:47:00.000-04:00

I thought I would share with you the invitations for the upcoming events! I have pretty much gotten everything squared away for Darby's. I am doing pizza and cupcakes at the park to make it as low key as possible. I've gotten everything I need to make the cupcakes and all the party necessities so all I need to do is make the cupcakes fri night and then pick up pizza and balloons on the way. Yay.

So if you remember way back I said that Carson and my sisters baby Claire were going to have the first birthday bash together but now that is not happening SO it will just be Carson but that is ok. Claire still got to have a party up where my sister lives but they couldn't make it back in town for this one. I got the invitations online here at Etsy! of course. I printed Darby's at kinko's but Carsons I printed at home on cardstock.

Taste of the cake...session.

2010-05-03T22:35:00.002-04:00

Okay sorry again for the slack blogging! I have been really busy but also I am outside so much more with this spring and summer weather. I noticed alot of my bloggy buddies have cut back dramatically in their blogging and so I don't feel as bad ; ). I guess until the time changes again and we are stuck inside to avoid the cold weather we just wont be writing as much!

Exciting things are coming up! Darby and Carson are having their birthdays! Yay. Darby's is this coming weekend...oh man that reminds me I better get my stuff together! Then Carson's is the following weekend. I'm thrilled to be celebrating my sweet girls.

So my friend Amy has done it again....she took THE cutest pics of my babe (and my sister's babe). We had a smash the cake session! Here is your small taste until I get them all! Go to her photography blog to see more!

Recently I saw the movie Avatar! I mean I am a little behind on the times but...Oh my goodness. I loved that movie! I LOVED it. So if you haven't seen it then you should.

I didn't update on Carson when she turned 11 months! I am so slack! What can I say. I will tell you though that in her 10th month she perfected the art of cruising around the furniture throughout the room. She can clap and wave...she is still really quiet but she will say da- da and her version of ma- ma. She is serious and if she sets out on a mission she is determined to accomplish it. She still gets terrerized by her older sister but she LOVES her big sis Darby! She is a cubby dub. I she weighed 22lbs on a trip to the doc last month! She is so sweet.

Soon I will be updating you on my 3 year old and 1 year old! I can't believe it.

oh to be soo cute...

2010-04-27T22:21:00.000-04:00

( No picture to this post! I think blogger changed how you are able to post a pic! oh my goodness! that isn't good. from what I can tell I will have to put all my pics to photobucket first! I already have no time! uggg!)

Little Darby cracks me up! She is turning 3 really soon and I can't believe how fast time flies! Just thought I would share some cute stories from today. There were three I wanted to share and I am racking my brain hard to remember the third one but I can't! So annoying. I thought on purpose...I have to remember these and I will blog about them.

Today when I picked up up from school we were talking about letters. Her new favorite thing to do is find on signs that we drive by D's for Darby, C's for Carson and B's for Beth (she really enjoys the fact that she knows my name is Beth). Anyway, we started going through peoples names that we know and I was asking which letter went with their names. I asked her about Jackson her friend, she said "Jackson must be J". Yes! I asked her a couple more and she really didn't know them and I asked about our neighbor Drew (Mr. Drew, her friends daddy). I asked first what letter goes with his name and then I proceeded to make the D sound, "da, da". She then exclaims, "double u! (w)". I just smiled and laughed in my head from the cutest.

She had dance class tonight. We usually eat a Moe's after dance. We love it. She asked to go there but I said, "no we are going to eat at home tonight". Then when we rode past the grocery store she said we needed to go to it. I said, "no we don't need to go, mommy's out of money!". She said, "you are out of money?" "that's okay we can buy some more". First of all wouldn't that be nice and second of all I could fall to the ground over the sheer cuteness of her thoughts!

OH! I just remembered the third thing! Yay!

Tonight I was getting her dressed for bed. I was putting away her laundry that I had folded and then I got out her jammies and she said, "thanks mommy, I am so proud of you for getting my jammies". Oh she is a pistol I tell you! Lol. I think she picked that up bc I have tried to be really super intentional about affirming her and rewarding her when she shares or uses good manners and etc. Today we had a "sharing" lesson and soon after that she offered a favorite toy of hers (the one she had a hard time sharing the first time) to her sister to play with and I rewarded her with verbal praise of course but also candy. She LOVES candy. I love staying home with them. I am not so sure that it will last as long as I had intented to but for now I love being able to teach them. I get to share why we should share...and that of course it makes Carson (or whoever) happy, it makes mommy happy, but most importantly it makes God happy and that in turn will make Darby happy. I don't ever want to press upon my kids my own standards of "goodness" but instead I want to instill a healthy fear of God in which out of reverant submission and awe of his splender (don't usually use that word, weird) and thankfulness for what he has given and done for us they are compelled to follow His commands and live for Him and not themselves.

"Oh God, please help me in guiding my children. Please help me to instill a faith in my girls that will be passed down from generation to generation. Apart from you I am incapable of accomplishing such things. Lord by your grace let my children choose the narrow path that leads to life. Amen."

Question....I need your help

2010-04-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

Can you wear a black dress to a 5:30 wedding on May 1st?

My sis gave me this dress and I would love to wear it but it is hard hard hard for me to be okay with the idea of wearing black to a wedding. Is this something I made up in my head as a bad thing? I know ppl do it. Don't they? After all I do think my sis bought it for a wedding. But I think it is supposed to be more formal if the wedding is at 6. Anyway just wondered what yall thought. In order to not have to buy another dress I have that dress option and a linen dress which are like totally opposite in dressy factor. I really think the linen one is too casul it would be better for like a 3 or 4 oclock wedding ; ). I do have two other dresses that I COULD wear but I don't really want to. To me they aren't weddingy enough.

Are you freaking kidding me!?!?!?!?

2010-04-20T21:51:00.001-04:00

So just doing some nightly computering and I had my TV on bc I watched some of American Idol. Glee comes on afterward. I caught it once before in pieces and from what I saw it was just a typical standard american show...Okay so they were singing Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and I peaked up from my computer. Okay so it was three couples singing and doing some very seductive dancing and dramatizations or whatever you want to call it (telling a story to go with the song if you will). One couple I didn't recognize, the other was a teacher relationship I think and the other were students in HIGH SCHOOL. I think that is awful! HIGH SCHOOL. Really? So the girl didn't end up going thru with "it" and I guess that is how they justify that being appropriate? I don''t know. We have come a long way from what was on in my younger days and my kids are only 1 and 3 (almost). I am very concerned.

I try...

2010-04-19T23:31:00.000-04:00

I try to blog more I really do. I don't know when I will fully get back into the swing of things but I do still pop in on blogs here and there! So I still have yet to finish posting my easter pics and beach vacay pics... I am getting there...soon I hope.

Right now tho I was wanting to write about something on my mind. A couple that I know of just had their four year old daughter die. I can't even begin to imagine. The parents although they are suffering extremely are my kind of heros tho. They are thankful and hopeful for their daughter and praise and honor God's precious name during such a hard circumstance. It just reminds me though of 2 things. One is how futile life is. It is so short and unpromised and even if we are allowed to live until we are old we still get old and with that comes brittle bones, wrinkles, gray hair, back pain and etc (shoot some of us young folk even have some of those things). Our hope is not in this lifetime. Thank you Jesus for that! I only have this one futile life to live though and I do want to live it with purpose and dignity. I don't want to be careless with my relationships or decisions or seek to satisfy my every desire with material things. I don't want to be shallow with a feel good surfacey image but hollow on the inside. Oh Holy Spirit come be with me, and Lord forgive me for when I find life in things outside of you, and protect me. (sorry had to pray for a sec). The second thing it made me consider is how gracious God is to have given me my 2 sweet girls and with good health for now. I know that God could take them away tomorrow if he chooses to allow that (via cancer or a car wreck and etc...) and that is a sobering reminder to be so thankful for such blessings. It is also a call to be diligent and faithful in my responsiblities and care of them. I wish yall could meet them. They are the sweetest things. I had a babysitter tonight and she has been here several times but she was just like they are just such sweet and happy girls. It is the truth! I can truly say that there aren't many things other than my sweet children that bring me such joy. It is an honor and a priviledge to wake up each day and be with them. They are not my source of life just sweet blessings from my Father.

So here are the eggstravaganza pics...better late than never ; )

Can you blog from a Blackberry?

2010-04-15T23:13:00.000-04:00

I know I have been a little M.I.A. lately. I have just been rediculously busy and I have NO energy left at the end of the day! Today was stressful fo rme! I lost my phone!!! I mean what an inconvience! It is sooo hard not to have your phone and if you loose then you can't transfer your numbers over and you loose your SIM card...so frustrating!

So anyway, after retracing my steps and calling some places I ended up going to get a new phone! I got a blackberry and its kind of a celebration of finally joining the smartphone internet on your phone crowd. It's kind of exciting. But I didn't want to buy a new phone! I was so frustrated at the cost of it, fortunately I was up for an upgrade, but still. I wish I had an old phone that I could have just used while I researched and made a decision on what phone to get and etc but I don't so it was either have no phone or go get one!

So I did, but then I found my other one! It literally must have sprouted some legs and hid itself where it was bc I had NO IDEA how it got where it was. So now I am trying to decide....do I return the new one? But it is so fun! Or keep the old one? Ahhhh.... I looked up my blog on the blackberry and I can get it and all of yalls too but it does take awhile. I can even leave comments! so fun... I doubt I will do it from my phone often bc of the time but it will be something I will def do if I am waiting in a doc office (and for some reason don't have kids to run after)!

Is this not delish!?!

2010-04-09T23:49:00.000-04:00

I'll have to post more as soon as I get my pics on my computer! And I still need to post some more easter pics.....story of my life. Always running behind ; )

What does it take....

2010-04-08T22:36:00.000-04:00

for you to consider your house clean?

Pefection?

or slightly less?

or a lot less?

well I can tell you for sure that my standards have changed dramatically!

My house is a wreck right now. Just getting back from out of town leaves alot to unpack and put away and I didn't leave my house in horrible condition but not great either. So anyway. I know I still have more easter pics to share but I cleaned my downstairs and was just thinking on this subject.

If my floors are clean I am happy. Mopped and vacummed I am good no matter what other mess is around. Usually too tho if my floors are clean I am more motivated to clean the other stuff. I just bought myself one of these bad boys....I love it bc you can just throw the mop head in the washer and I feel much cleaner that way. It is a Libman wonder mop.

and this is the vacumm I love. Researched it on consumer reports after I got in a new vacuum wanting mood a few years ago bc the kirby ppl came to my door. They sold me on the product but not the price. This vacuum got the whole 5 stars as the kirby did for suction and it is WAY less. I comes in bagless and bag versions but I got the back bc with my old bagless I kept having to change the stinkin filter and it got annoying and expensive. It's a Kenmore Progressive. It has lights that light up red, orange, yellow and green to show dirt..it is amazing...truly.

Anyway- just thought I would share this little bit of useless information with you... I keep wanting to do the Show Us Your Life friday but I forget about it....so maybe next time. I think cleaning tips might have been a recent one so maybe this can just count as a late one :-).

1 of 2

2010-04-06T20:18:00.003-04:00

Yay! I think I got them all uploaded! Here are a lot of pictures of our Easter.
Still to come are pics from the eggstravaganza on Sat.

This is the Easter Bunny spread...

They got alot of nic-naks and beach towels with their names embroidered. Carson got a pool float and Darby got the memory game. So we went to the beach on good Friday and I let them wear their cute new bathing suits...I couldn't hold off for Easter!

This next pic is blurry but I could resist!

Doesn't that picture make you just want to jump thru your computer screen and kiss her with those precious sleepy eyes!?! Okay...maybe just me.

These pics are at home and ready for church!

The next pictures are a couple from right before church. I had these high hopes of getting these fabulous pictures but with the sun and the pollen and the ducks that stole all of their attention it totally didn't work out.

To tie you over!

2010-04-06T09:27:00.000-04:00

You will never believe it but I have typed and uploaded a post 3 times now and then something happens with the internet and I lose everything! I am at the beach on vacation and the internet signal is not always good! So here is a little sweetness to tie you over!

Easter 2010

2010-04-04T23:21:00.000-04:00

Well I am going to have to try again! I was in the middle of upload a ton of pics and the internet shut off! I am too tired to redo...So check back later! ; )

They didn't take His life...

2010-04-04T00:38:00.000-04:00

He laid it down.

The same God that rose from out of the grave (yes! this really happened)

could have taken Himself right down off of that cross

but He chose to die for those who believe and follow Him.

Bc of His love and grace He freely and without merit poured out for us...

we don't have to be perfect to get to heaven.

Does that mean we can just go on sinning so that Grace can abound? (stole that from Paul)

Well lets see what His word saids...

Matthew 16:24-26 "If anyone would come after me (Jesus speaking), he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Matthew 7:19 pay close attention this is Jesus speaking. " Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them (talking about true followers of Jesus verses false prophets who do not teach the truth or some might teach part of the truth but not the whole truth). Then in verse 21 and 22 he says "not everyone who says to me, ' Lord, lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven (so you can recognize Jesus as God and call him Lord he is saying and not enter into the kingdom of heaven (wow), but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Here is my concern...There are people who abuse the gospel of grace. What an amazing gift we have in Jesus' death and ressurection, it was no small sacrifice. But we can't make up our own rules. We have to follow Him...we should be running in such a way to win the prize (1 cor. 9:24). Whoaaa preaching to myself here!

All I am saying is...Are you believing AND following Jesus? If not why not?

Is it because you don't think you are that bad?
Is it bc you are not willing to give up your life to be made new (yes this may require some changes)?

This Easter what I really want myself and anyone who reads this to get is... yes it was Grace that brought Jesus to earth as a man and Grace that drove Him to the cross and Grace that he didn't stay dead but rose again! Hallelujah Praise God!

But it is also Grace that is calling you (and me) right now to die to whatever earthly pleasures we cling to and tend to worship. Thats calling you to humble yourself in your broken state and take up a new life IN Him (follow Him). Thank God that we don't have to strive to be perfect anymore. He bore the punishment for our inherit sin, He paid it all and we owe Him our lives. Every day, every decision, every dollar, every gift, and etc...
Lets give it to Him this Easter whether it is for the first time or again.

You have to forgive me bc I do tend to preach but I am so passionate about this and I care about your souls and I want the whole world to know His name.

Have a Happy and Glorious Easter! I have more pictures to come of some of our festivities...here is a not very good sneak peak.

Seriously?

2010-03-29T23:17:00.002-04:00

Just a little fact about myself for you...I love to worship God through music and through words in a song. I am not a gifted singer by any means but I can really meet with God in thru music.

So I am having a rough time in life. My heart is flooded with sorrows. Grief is something I walk through on daily basis and disappointment weights heavily on my shoulders. But nevertheless God is so good to me. He has ever so tenderly and I have to believe compassionately brought me through so far. It is amazing.

So I am driving down the road a bit emotional bc I am sad and a Jeremy Camp song "There Will Be A Day" comes on. There will be a place with no more suffering.... There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, no more fear. There will be a day when the burdens of this place will be no more and we'll see Jesus face to face. He'll wipe away the tears, He'll wipe away the tears, He'll wipe away the tears. There will be a day. Seriously? Coincidence? I think not!

Next song...Need to Breathe, "Washed By The Water"...Even when the earth crumbles under my feet. Even when the ones I love turn around and crucify me....I won't fall as long as your around me. Seriously? Coincidence?...most def not!

I am full of hope tonight...not joy that is for sure but hope bc I know although I do not deserve it Jesus chose to love me first by dying on the cross at Calvary in just 4 short days from now... way back. He loved me first and now I can love Him and be washed white as snow and have a promise of eternal life and joy in heaven with Him. Thank you Lord for Easter!

Here are ~~a few pics~~ alot of pics of our trip to the flowertown festival! How can you not look at these girls and know that there is a God....and not only that but that He is Delightful and Good!?! I am humbled by these precious gifts!

I mean Seriously? ; )

you don't understand how long it took to get them both looking at the camera! Oh this is darby's friend Madeline! she is fabulous!

not sure who was going to have more fun on this train ride? The girls or Wilson (Madi's daddy)...

typical carson pose

mommy and cars (pronounced carse...its what I call her)

weirdest looking puppets I've ever seen don't know how this guy makes a profit?

they look so confused about it too. Wilson was a champ. The girls got balloons and little ballon animals and he picked them flowers and I totally missed it and wish I hadn't because apparently they smelt the flowers and then their face was covered with pollen. sounds so cute!

getting ready for the $4 carousel ride! Wonder what darby was telling Mrs. Tiffany (Madi's mommy)?

Watch out American Idol....Ha!

2010-03-26T23:26:00.001-04:00

Darby singing Jesus Loves the Little Children. She left out the red and yellow but still so stinkin cute!!!

Child Training...

2010-03-26T00:31:00.000-04:00

So originally I wanted to share a cute cute video of Darby singing but I have to figure out how to make it shorter so blogger can upload it! dern...but hopefully soon! Its been a couple of days! I have been a bad blogger! I have caught a few of yalls post here and there but I need to catch up in a major way! Well I can't get the video to work but I thought I could share two of my favorite child training tools so far.

The first is the Jesus Storybook Bible...Every Story Whispers His (Jesus') Name. Every story points to the promise and the coming of the Savior and Rescuer for all sinners!

The other thing I love is the Hide Em' in Your Heart...Bible verse memory tunes! They are cute and Darby has been known to shout scripture at the top of her lungs to these tunes!

Of course I don't do these things so that she will be saved or be good. I'm just trying to be a good steward of these precious gifts that God has given me. I will leave the saving up to Him and will and do pray earnestly for their hearts and lives and future! I will never share a "gospel" of being good with my kids. I will never teach them that reading your bible or memorizing scripture is what you have to do to go to heaven! A pox (as my pastor would say) on that "gospel". I can only PRAY and guide and lead them to the real gospel that it is NOT by works but by Grace. A free gift that we don't deserve. I pray that they would fear, not fear like he will do something good or bad to them, but reverent fear the Lord. F-flee from sin; E-edyify others; A-adore and worship God; R-run to the cross (an acrostic from my pastor's sermon Sunday). This takes faith and a handing over of your life to Jesus at one point but then everyday thereafter to say Lord here is my life...do what you will and I will seek to honor you! Oh I pray for my babes to hear Jesus when He says.... "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and you will find rest for your soul"! I know from personal experience before and even after I became a christian that Jesus is the ONLY place that I can trully experience rest and comfort in the chaos of a broken world. He is SO GOOD wheter times are good or bad that remains true!

Overload...

2010-03-23T11:35:00.000-04:00

I want to blog...I really do but the words aren't coming to me like I want them too. I don't think I can say what I would like to say anymore eloquently than these two blogs that I read recently:

Cindy Foote @ this poetic present on the recent changes in our government and God's Sovereignty.

and

Joni Blair @ ECBC (my church) Women's ministry blog on sufferings.

I know I have many new readers and most of them I don't even know. I don't think I will be doing my blog justice if I didn't back track a little and post this link that explains my blog. One of my favorite things about blogging is documenting my babes lives (especially since I am terrible at doing it on paper) but I also love to share some of my life and my walk with God as well.

I know I have asked you to read alot but I know you won't regret it if you click on those first two links especially...I hope that they will be good for some of your souls as they were for mine.

Blessings....

A Trip To The Beach!

2010-03-22T07:30:00.003-04:00

Oh how I love the beach!

So saturday I really wanted to go to the beach! The high was 78 degrees and my usual rule of thumb is not to go until it is 80 degrees inland. The beach will usually be 5ish degrees cooler and if it is windy it will feel alot colder than that! So anyway...I broke my rule! It was a gamble and it was well worth it! I am just so thankful too that both my babies love the beach. This was Carson's first trip! She loved it.

I ended up with a dilemma cuz I really wanted them to wear their cute coordinating new bathing suits but I have planned to give those in their Easter baskets so I didn't but I almost did. I grabbed hats out of the sale bin at gymboree on friday and Darby insisted that she wear hers! It doesn't match but I am just so happy she was willing to wear it, it will match her new suit! Here are some snap shots of our trip. Taken on my phone...unedited. My phone camera can be pretty impressive sometimes.

FYI- for your information...

2010-03-20T22:42:00.001-04:00

Sometimes you come across the darnedest things! I was pumping gas and noticed this sign.

Just in case you need to know....Never allow children to use the gas pump!

Oh! and if a fire starts...Don't remove the nozzle. Back away immediately and tell an attendent! Lol!

Just wanted to be a one stop shop for all your giveaway needs! Here they are!

My friend Amy over at Our Journey Together is giving away a fab camera bag!

Dear Sabrina is giving away one of Amy's pieces of jewelry from her new etsy shop!

oh okay nevermind...alot of the giveaways I knew of have ended but there was a super cute one from The Vintage Pearl...I linked you to the actual website but I LOVE the necklaces and the sentaments that can be behind them! I didn't win... boo. I never do..

These are cute tho!

A "Fancy" Feast For A Fine Occasion!

2010-03-19T07:30:00.002-04:00

Real Quick...I forgot about show us your life today and had already planned this post but the only "missiony" type trips I have done were here in the states and I don't think I even have any pics on my computer! One day I will have to post some pics from my husbands trip to India! I love India!

So in honor of Carson's 10 month Birthday we decided to throw a party!

I'm not sure that this "fancy" feast is worth a super momma mention over at Natalie's blog but we had a grand ol time....

This dinner is considered "fancy" compared to you know...say frozen pizza or ckn nuggets and etc...

Yes, just spaghetti! In effort to "spruce" it up a bit I used angel hair pasta and added some cheese to top and baked it and wa-la.

Yes I used a JAR of spaghetti sauce...if some of you ladies could tell me where you get your energy from I will go to great heights and spend great money to get it for myself! Or how about this!?! Does anyone know how to add hours to the day? That could be good too! Now occasionally I will wip up an actual fancy dinner and if time and energy weren't an issue it would actually be a hobby bc I LOVE it! Speaking of spaghetti though I have a GREAT spaghetti alternative dinner that I saw a concept for and then kind of created a reciepe for it and it is delish and I will have to share it with yall one day! Really easy, fun and best of all low cal!

To really add to my "fanciness" I used an actual glass for the tea and "fine" china for the dinner. By fine china I mean just our regular dishes...these are fine compared to plastic ones tho right!?! I attempted to top off my "fanciness" by attempting some "fancy" photography...

I really do cook my family meals I am exagerating the fanciness of this but I tell you... some of you moms truly are super moms! Yall inspire me that is for sure! For now though I will continue with the party-party part of our night THE CUPCAKES...courtesy of Betty Crocker!

Aww, poor Carson had to stick with yogurt melts for her desert...but soon little monkey you can have the real stuff!

Well, we did sing Happy Birthday to all of us and it was just a divine celebration!

Little Cutie Pie

2010-03-18T12:16:00.000-04:00

Aww, little cutie pie who has also adopted the nickname Carsonator thanks to my lovely neighbors is celebrating 10 whole months of life today! She is just grand. I know I update you frequently on my little love but here are a couple of photos for your veiwing pleasure!

You can most often find her with her mouth wide open! Love it!

She just learned the art of clapping! And as with most things with Carson...she takes it really seriously :-).

I don't think I want this bow on...

yes.

There Has Got to be a better way!

2010-03-17T07:00:00.001-04:00

There has got to be a better way of fixing things with out super gluing! I made the worst mess of my fingers last night and it will be with me for days!!!

get it...

There has got to be a better way of dressing than this (so sorry if this is your style, obviously it is not mine)

I try to stay "hip" but if this is hip...I'm out.

There has got to be a better way of decorating than coloring with crayons all over the walls while Mommy is sleeping (she usually comes and wakes me when she gets up! Not this time). Didn't get a picture of this...

There has got to be a better way of taking care of the carpet than smudging lotion into it! You can't take your eyes off a 2 year old for one second! Unfortunately didn't capture this on camera either...

Last but not least... I certainly do wish there was a better way of enjoying these lovelies without consuming all the calories!

I bought a bag last night! Yikes! I had to give half to my neighbors to keep myself from eating the whole bag!

Oh question! I want to grow a vegetable garden! Really bad! Have any of yall tried this? Is it worth it??? I don't want to go spend the money to get all that I need and then nothing grow! Darby and I just started some tomato plants that came with a green house and kit and had elmo on it (this is how this all started bc we went to lowes to get air filters and came out with this kit and not the air filters...annoying, I always do this). I hope they grow for Darby!

Umm Hello..

2010-03-16T07:00:00.003-04:00

Umm Hello...Can I kiss you, you are so stinkin cute!

Umm Hello...Can I eat yall, yall are sweeter than candy?

Umm hello...Can I have you forever, I love the way you smell?

Umm Hello...you are my new favorite perfume in all the land, one day will you be mine?

Umm Hello...Spring, I am so happy to see you!

Yesterday we went to the park and had a grand time! It was Carson's first time. I snapped some photos on my phone so I tried to do some editing to cover up the crumminess of them... I am so happy for the great weather! Isn't it fabulous?

Every time I find a new product that I like now I always think of my very first time I linked up to Kelly's Korner- Show Us Your Life... It was on your favorite beauty products and I was so excited to share mine and read about everyone elses! I wanted to share with yall my 2 new favs I have discovered recently. I don't actually have the perfume but I did get the little travel size roll on kind till one day I can get it! Do you have anymore products for me?

In case you want to know...

2010-03-14T22:01:00.000-04:00

1. What's your favorite Easter candy? Oh I LOVE Cadbury Mini Eggs! I have only bought one of the little like single serving bags so far this year...I MIGHT allow myself to indulge in a big bag! I also LOVE the mini robin eggs (u know like whoppers except to me these taste nothing like whoppers)

2. Who do you think is cleaner..men or women? Women, although I think there are guys who are really clean and women who are really not clean...

3. Which do you prefer..wordy blog posts or ones with pictures? I like just the right amount of pics and words. I have a bit of an attention problem if there are too many of either...

4. Were you popular in highschool? I think I was just regular. My friend Julie always says I was too cool for her (we became friend friends after high school and college). I would say I was in with the "cool" kids but I was just looking for love and life and purpose in all the wrong places then....

5. What's your bra size? If this was not attached to the world wide web and it was just us girls chit chatting sure thing I would give this up to you but it would be my luck someone would "google" me (why would they be doing that?) and they would get a post about my bra size...

6. How many states have you lived in? 3, Louisiana, Florida, and South Cackalacky

7. What's one blog you read every day? um I can't think of an answer for this but usually when my time allows I just go down the list of blogs that have new post...I am more attached to blogs that I sort of establish a bloggy friendship with the person

8. Peanut butter or Nutella? Just the words peanut butter and nutella make me feel sick and almost give me a panic attack. Like I have a serious phobia (no not the phobia that ppl have about peanut butter getting stuck to the roof of their mouth) but like the word and the smell and the thought makes me feel dizzy and want to throw up. Just seeing the word on the computer screen and it was even worse to type it! I am allergic... and all this talk about it makes me feel like I need to go stab myself with an epi pen. So I better stop! Ha ha don't worry too much about me...I am aware that I am a freak.

Darby Dee

2010-03-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

That is what we call her alot. She is also known as...stinky monkey, and D. She is a mess! Truly. Lets see if I can recall some of her popular sayings... She says:

"That be sound good?"

"yes or no?"

"yes sir" (to even mams)

"I'm scared to the dark"

"you can rub my back if you want..."

at target everytime..."Lets go check out the bandaids"

The list goes on...

Her favorite past time is watching movies and eating popcorn!

We just started to be able to have girl parties and paint nails! It's fabulous!

Well her 3rd birthday is coming up and her party will be kinda low key...I wanted to do a whole big princesses and pirates shabang but with Carsons one year party this year and since I made a big ta do about her last 2 parties I am going to take it down a notch this year. I think what I will do is have the celebration at a park and invite our closest friends and have pizza and cupcakes. Sounds really fun to me tho..

She is such a mini me! I can't deny that I LOVE it! She is very cautious! She is so girly. Last week none of the boys showed up for school and so it was all girls in her class so they made purses! She loves the thing! She is such a fan of purses. Here is her modeling the purse.

She was pretend sleeping in this one.

It's a paper plate!

Well I know I am leaving out so much but I am going to go spend some quality time with this sweetie right now! Hope yall are having a great weekend!

It's that time again...

2010-03-12T09:21:00.000-05:00

Well to update you on little miss Carson that is... Aka chunky monkey, chubby dubby, my baby (from Darby) and we also call her bubby. Took her to the doc on Tues for her 9 month appt and she is in doctors words, "a fat girl, a tank". I said yeah but she won't want to be called that forever so hopefully she will grow out of it ; ). He said, "oh yeah we will stop calling her fat girl REAL early". She could be bigger that is for sure but for now she is 75th percentile for weight at a whopping 20lbs 9oz and 25-50th percentile for height. So she is a bit of a shorty. Maybe we can also add that to her nicknames... She turns 10months in 7 days! oh me oh my...why? why? why? I can't handle it!

You know what that means! Time to plan her 1 year birthday party! Since my sisters babe is 3 weeks older, we are going to do a joint bday party and so far we have the outfits on order!

Except of course it will have a 1 on it! How fun it that!?!

She also got her new ride....Which she is sooo stinkin cute and looking too big in!

Carson also got some new hairbows! Love them. Love etsy where I found the bows and bday outfit!

That girl will give away some kisses!

Isn't she a beauty!?!

I just adore this girl! I know I said this last time but does she have to grow up and go to college and get married and etc... I'm going to be a grandma one day! Whoa....I need to slow down I know but isn't that WEIRD!?!

My next post will have to be about the life and times of little miss Darby Dee. She is the BEST big sister I will tell you that much. She will often tell you that Carson is her best friend. She also is really concerned when Carson makes it known that she is about to get upset Darby will say, "OH NO! Carson has a bad face!" So stay tuned for a post especially dedicated to her.

I was praying with Darby and I thought of the song "One pure and holy Passion", by Passion

This is my prayer for my girls:

That God will give each of them One Pure and Holy Passion

One magnifcent obsession

One glorious ambition for their lives

To know and follow hard after Him

That they would see and know that

This world is empty pale and poor compared to knowing Him as Lord

and that He would lead them on and they will run after Him

Pictures of My Pictures

2010-03-11T14:47:00.000-05:00

I guess you would call this a thoughtless Thursday sort of posting. With my recent room redoing I framed a picture of sweet Darby as a flowergirl in a wedding this past Oct. I wanted to share it with yall bc I love it so and that got me on a roll of taking pics of some of my favorite pics in my house. This isn't near all of them and I have so many more that I want to put up! I love pics!

Beauty

Family Pics

Can't believe how big she is now!

Sweet Darby on canvas

Carson

Sweet Carson

Carson in daddy's hand (yes smudge on the glass...what? I have a 2 yr old)

Darby in Daddy's hand

Alrighty hope you enjoyed the pics...This momma is off to nap!

To Craigslist Or Not to Craigslist???

2010-03-10T20:49:00.001-05:00

I used to be the Queen of craigslist! I mean THE QUEEN! But the last few times I have attempted to sell something on it I have been extremely disappointed! I don't know why.... I have always had pleasant interactions selling and buying! The past couple times however I get alot people asking and then I email back and then nothing! How about this...a girl emailed me and said I am out of town be back in 2 days if you will hold off on selling it I will buy it from you. So I didn't sell it but bc no one showed up but what if I had not sold it bc she told me she would by it and asked me to hold off??? Cuz she never responded or contacted me again! How rude! I have also got a ton of spam from my listings too!?! So after I get done with this post I am going to go check out what these items are going for on ebay. Wanna know what I am selling? A camcorder. It records on mini dvds and is hardly used!

And an organic Maya Wrap.

So wish me happy selling! It would be great bc I would pretty much break even on Carsons new ride! Her new carseat arrived today! Love it. I will take some pics with her in it and post later this week! I can't believe it is already Wednesday!?! My goodness! Ahhhhh...I've been super busy!

I'm pooped!

2010-03-08T22:55:00.000-05:00

This has been my project for today (with some help from a neighbor). I am exhausted now! I still have some decorating to do but that may take a while of shopping to find the right things! I only have one curtain in the end bc I only got one to make sure I liked it first! Anyone know what I can do over my bed? I'm loving the color I feel so comfy in my room now! I do plan to make some additions to the bedding. I can't wait! Next project is the bathroom but that will be a bit harder!

A Penny For My Thoughts...

2010-03-07T10:55:00.001-05:00

So my church actually just planted (well a year ago) a church and I have committed to helping to participate in planting and establishing this new church to reach people in other parts of this area (specifically my area). I do love it... I do miss going to the "main" church too though because it is and has been established and it does have things like better music or better nursery set up. I do have a vision for this North Campus (as we call it) and I know that in time God is really going to bless it and I hope to see it just as equipped in the extra areas as the Main Campus. All this to say that we meet at night at a local university...I do like meeting at night! It gives me like whole extra weekend day! The vision though is for a more traditional way of meeting on Sunday mornings though so they are searching searching for a place and we are praying. I guess I didn't need to tell you ALL of this to tell you that I can't decide if I am going to go tonight. We have been sick for weeks and weeks and although not necessarily from the girls going to the nursery I don't want to put them in the nursery just in case they could get a GERM! Who knows what I will do??

I LOVE this 60ish degree weather we have been having! I am so ready for spring and summer! The only thing I am not ready for is the pollen and allergies but if it means playing outside I will take it! I put some "springy" attire on the girls today!

I need to paint my room! We have lived here for almost 4 YEARS and I still have my original white walls! What in the world!?! I don't know what is wrong with me! I want to paint it a green color! Currently I am choosing bw two! Neither color on the left will do but I am contemplating bw the color on right and this other color that is more of a "charlestony" green color! Hmmm what to do!?! I will decide by tonight and then get painting! Yay!

My brain doesn't work all the time... Yesterday I did a whole errand day in attempt to make as few trips out with 2 kids as possible during the week! I only FORGOT some very important essentials such as baby food and formula! I did take several shirts I got for $1 or $2 from target, their bathing suits, and beach towels to get embroidery and monogramming! So excited to get it all back! Their easter baskets are going to be beachy theme (and pool).

Speaking of Easter baskets I ordered Carsons from PBK and it is on the way! Well really I ordered the liner and my sister picked up the basket from the actual store for me. It isn't cheap but my desire is for them to use these for life and so I want it to be good quality! I also ordered Carson's big girl carseat! I am a believer in the Britax Marathons. I mean I put that thing in and it doesn't budge. I sold my neighbor on it too she was like " I mean it feels like it was built in the car". The are originally $279! What? But 2 times a year they have a sale and so I got Carsons for $199 so I only really pay a little more than the average carseat!

Please forgive my spelling for now and always bc I can't spell and ever since I updated my posting template I don't have a spell checker! Oh well!

If you had a PENNY for all my thoughts here today you would have... I don't know somewhere bw 5-15 cent depending on what you count as a thought and some of my thoughts were like 2 or three in one...

Rockin Disney Live

2010-03-06T20:47:00.001-05:00

Darby's Nana brought her to see the Rockin Disney Live show that came to town here and she had a blast! She got to see all sorts of her fav disney characters! I can't wait to take the girls to Disney World later this year! Here are some pics from the show!

Love it

Holding on to her goodies!

She brought Carson home a Minnie!

Going home after so much fun!

A Day In Our Life....

2010-03-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

And now for Show Us Your Life...

Everday really is different due to planned things or shopping needs or what have you and Tues/Thurs mornings Darby goes to preschool.... But here is the gist of it:

Get up 7:30-8:30

Eat breakfast

Get dressed (or stay in pjs depending on day)

Then it is free time or go somewhere time

Carson has her morning nap around 9-10 if we are on the go she naps on the go

Then we eat lunch

Then nap at 1!

Free time again

Dinner 5:30-6

Bath

Bed for girls about 7:30

Then free time for me!!

I have to get out of the house at least every other day! I get cabin fever really bad if not. I've started staying home more for productivity sake but if it were up to me I would get out 1-2 times a day!

Silly Post

2010-03-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

So this is what came out of my time while the kids were napping. I call it my Tenley hair! Ha! Not quite. If my hair were like 10 feet longer then maybe... I was just bored tho and with my hair straightener you are supposed to be able to curl your hair too and my hair girl showed me how and so I played. If I do it again I bet it would be better cuz I would be serious and take more time with it but it was fun to play today I guess! Don't pay attention to my face too much I had just put my make up on and it looks like I have WAY too much blush on I don't know what that is all about...

MiXeD mEdLeY

2010-03-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

So SWEET Natalie Catherine gave me this blog award! She is so fun and super sweet!

Here are 7 Random Facts About Myself...

one-

I am a really allergic person. I am allergic to ~~some~~ ALOT of things! Lets see if I can try and list them all....peanuts, walnuts, well all nuts really... soy, fruit (yes, I said fruit), rice, corn, oat, pretty much all beans, peas, coconut, mustard, fish/seafood, most everything outdoors...unfortunately the list goes on...

two-

My first daughter Darby weighed 9lbs 2oz and I was able to deliver her but my second daughter weighed 8lbs 15oz and she got stuck and I had to have a c-section...

three-

I really do enjoy running and exercising but I am ~~bad~~ TERRIBLE at being consistant about it.

four-

I can't stand scary movies but love romantic comedies and spy movies.

five-

I think I am so boring I am having an incredibly hard time thinking of 7 whole things...maybe if I didn't have to maybe it would be a different story. I feel too pressured.

six-

I am a clean freak turned mom who has to settle for way less than my standard use to be

seven-

I am a candiaholic. No not chocolate (sorry Carissa) candy-candy. Skittles, Runts, Starburst...you name it. My most favorite candies are the little Necco Wafers (you know the ones nobody likes and everyone makes fun of me for liking).

Anyhow, I hope I didn't bore you too much with that! If you think of us pray for baby Carson. She has kidney reflux and she got a fever yesterday and I found out she had a urine infection. Her last case sent us to the hospital for seven days but that was also before we knew what the deal was. We are waiting to find out which bacteria grows out on the culture. I feel hopeful that it will be something that can be easily treated with oral antibiotics but I am praying that it won't be a bacteria that has to be treated with IV antibiotics which would put us back into the hospital. She has responded pretty darn well to the antibiotic the dr gave her to start off with while we wait so I am encouraged.

Last but not least! My bloggy friend Summer (love the new design btw!) gave me this fabulous blog award like 2 weeks ago and it has seriously taken me this long to post it! She is such a fabulous girl! Thanks for the award!

Pune, India.

2010-02-28T11:41:00.001-05:00

So this past weekend has been the missions conference at my Church. I went friday night to the banquet and thought it was great! My heart is burdened and broken over the amount of people who die without ever having the opportunity to hear the Gospel and surrender their lives to Christ! If I were able to go out tomorrow to work in the harvest (of India) I think I would!

You have seen me write before about my LOVE for India! I have never been but my husband spent some time in Kolkutta and from his experiences and what I know about the people there the Lord has placed a deep love for the people of India in my heart. I have a TON of allergies that seem to be a huge barrier to me ever being able to go there (at least for any length of time) but I am not going to count it out yet!

My pastor spoke at the end about our church being in the VERY beginning stages of organizing and cooridiating a team of people to go to Pune, India! All you have to do is say Pune and my heart melts. Pune is the 8th largest city in India and is known as the "oxford of the east" having more colleges and universities than any other city in the WORLD! I don't know the exact numbers but it has something like more people in that one city then the whole state of South Carolina. Can you imagine!?!

Pray with me if you want to that this plan to send a team will be successful! I am going to be praying that the that the Gospel would spread like wildfire through this city and in the universities. These people are so precious.

And the Winner Is....!!!

2010-02-27T06:00:00.001-05:00

COMMENT #10!!!! Kellie! You actually won something! Yay! I'll get with you to arrange delivery and such! Thanks everyone for participating in my first giveaway!! Karen who makes these cute things is oh so generous though and she said if you mention my blog in the comment section she will give anyone of you $1 off your very own Ouch Pouch...I highly recommend it is the cutest most adorable compact first aid kit around. Here is the oh so cute fabric Miss Kellie has selected!

Collections....

2010-02-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

Real Quick! Today is your last chance to enter to win an oh so cute Ouch Pouch. Click Here to enter! You are CRAZY not too!

Well...I USED collect carousels... This is my only "real" collection. My dad started me on the collection...I think it's sweet. He started me and my sister a collection. Mine was carousels and hers was clowns... I'm glad I got the carousels! I still have a fondness in my heart over them but they are all in the attic because there really is no good way to decorate with them...they just aren't "in"...

Now that I am a mom you can find me collecting....fabulous dresses for my girls, hair bows, artwork created by Darby, piles of laundry, dust and dirt in the house, pictures and the like...

To keep me "hip"... I ALSO have a very minor collection of jewelry, scarves, and shoes!

If money were no object...I WOULD collect fabulous paintings for my walls.

You don't want to read what I have to blog about!

2010-02-24T18:11:00.002-05:00

We have been sick AGAIN over here in our house! It has been crazy. The stomach bug! I haven't written a blog in a while bc when I am stuck in the house I am so boring! I have been up to my eyeballs in puke and diarrhea (sorry it is the truth, I told you didn't want to read what I have to write about!). It is the first time little Darby has thrown up with sickness! It has been an interesting, crazy, and exhausting experience. She doesn't get it...She threw up all over her bed 2 of the times! She calls it "spit-up" and she keeps telling me she has to "spit up" but she doesn't she is just saying it to say it or get attention, I don't know. So anyway, this has been going on since Sat and I am so ready to be rid of it! I notice ALOT of bloggers have been writing about their sick households! I do have to say though it was really sweet to nurture and take care of Darby. The first time she was throwing up over the toilet and I was holding her hair was such a great mommy moment for me (weird I know). I wish I had a picture to share...but you understand I was busy ; ).

I am so ready for Spring! I cleaned out Carson's closet yesterday and I went ahead and put her spring clothes in it! I can not wait! It has been a cold long winter it seems like... Easter is right around the corner and the weather will be getting warmer really soon and I just love this part of the year! There is so much fun to be had. At the end of March there will be the Bridge Run (if these babes would get well I could get back in gear to train for it! Its a 10K) and the Flowertown Festival which I absolutely love! The in April we have Easter, my bday, the Strawberry Festival (haven't been before but I REALLY want to go this year). In May we get to celebrate the lives of the 2 most precious girls in the entire WORLD! It is crazy to me when I think about how God has given these precious things to me. I mean I fail miserably regularly at being a great mom but they still love me. It is so sweet how God designed the parent/child relationship. I have been considering alot lately how I am responsible for them and yes God is in control over all things but I am responsible for loving, and nurturing, and providing for, and caring for and teaching them and raising them! That is a HUGE and HIGH calling and I really am thankful for it but I don't want to take it lightly! I don't want to be careless with their lives! It challenges me to really run to Jesus and plead with him to make me more like Him and less like me!

I hope this blog finds you all well or at least getting well! Sorry there are no pictures! I know they are fun. If you have not entered to win a cute Ouch Pouch full of first aid supplies (perfect for the upcoming seasons for boo boo's outside or bug bites and such) click here to enter!

Bald and Toothless

2010-02-20T20:01:00.003-05:00

Click here if you haven't already entered to win the giveaway of a fabulous Ouch Pouch!

Also reminder, my friend Carissa's blog design kit and design giveaway ends tomorrow night at 9 so hurry over here to enter!

On to my post! Carson turned 9 months old 2 days ago, so I thought I would fill you in on what is happening with her these days! She is so stinking cute (of course I am biased). If you can't figure it out from the title of this post she is STILL without hair or teeth! I have heard of babies not getting teeth until like 15 months and stuff but MAN I hope she gets them before then! The major difference between this month and last month is that she can pull up and boy has she mastered that task. She is crawling around everywhere like a maniac. You can't keep up with her! She loves her sister she lights up when she see Darby after an absence or a nap. It is so sweet, it makes my heart smile. So at 9 months she def. babbles da da da although she does not have any association to the word and the person. I try to teach her to say ma-ma but she usually just says da-da and then looks puzzled bc she doesn't understand why it doesn't sound like what I said but she wants it to ; ). The past few days though when I try and tell her to say ma-ma she does say ba ba ba, so we are getting closer, yay! I just love her to pieces...I don't want her to get any bigger! I just want her to stay the cute little chubby, bald and toothless baby forever! Does anyone know how to make this happen!?!

The Ouch Pouch!!

2010-02-19T21:50:00.005-05:00

So excited to make the big giveaway announcement! Karen who is the runs the PillowSoCute shop on etsy has so graciously allowed me to give away one of these fabulous Ouch Pouches to one of my readers! I got one of these about a month or so ago for myself and got one for a friend too. They are a great size to throw it right into your purse or diaper bag and go. Anyone can use one...you don't just have to have kids! Lots of fun fabrics to choose from. I will also be filling it with the essentials so it will be ready to go when it arrives in the mail! So how do you win??? Here is how!

Well you need to be a follower so hop over to the right side of the blog and click the follow button. Once you do that, click here to visit the etsy shop and pick which fabric you might choose should you win and leave me a comment and let me know! You can also have another entry if you post a link back to this giveaway in one of your blog post and just leave me another comment letting me know! So there you go...2 chances to enter.

The winner will be chosen using an integer generator (not a favorites contest). The giveaway will close at 10pm on Friday, 2/26. I will announce the winner on Saturday morning!! I hope you win!

I'm so behind!

2010-02-18T22:17:00.002-05:00

Posting Giveaway soon! Had my friend in town the past couple of days! Her 2 boys and my 2 girls have had a good time together. She sells Premier Jewelry and tonight I host a "show" it was really fun, I love Premier Jewelry it is ridiculously cute! I am so behind on blogging and reading blogs and etc.! Carson turned 9 months today and ideally I would be catching you up on what is going on in her world but it will have to get added to list of things I need to do! Until next time...

Follow Me...

2010-02-16T12:42:00.005-05:00

I am going to be hosting a *Giveaway* soon to all my followers! Yes, yes isn't that exciting and doesn't it fill you will tons of suspense!?! I didn't have much to say today, so I thought I would go ahead and encourage you to sign up to follow my blog so you will be elligable for the fabulousness. I promise I won't leave you hanging for long!!!

Love Day Giveaway!

2010-02-14T14:13:00.006-05:00

First of all, Happy Valentines Day!
Second, check out a couple ways I tried to make Valentines Day fun for Darby (and Carson). I got the Idea to put the hearts on the doors from a blog or website I don't even remember somewhere online. I would have filled the whole door with them but that is all the red and pink construction paper I could find (I thought I had more!). I put compliments on them. I had to learn a hard lesson about complimenting people so I am glad to do this for my girls. So where is the best place to get Valentines Day ballons? The dollar store! Paid only $1 for each balloon. I have a cute girly cookbook that I got a fun Idea for donuts out of and so I share them with you all.

So what is the Giveaway? Well....My friend Carissa is hosting a givaway! A good one too! She designed my blog for me and she is partnering with The Design Girl to....well just go to her blog and I'll let her explain and maybe you could be the winner of a fabulous blog design!

A Pleasant Surprise and A Not So Pleasant Surprise.

2010-02-13T19:59:00.012-05:00

So after my ever so sarcastic blog post yesterday, guess what? It actually snowed! A good amount too! It was beautiful. It is so true that all of creation shouts HIS name! We didn't go out and play in it last night too much but this morning we did! Here are some pics.

Wow, that is alot of snow for Charleston. Ha, you wait!

snowman neighbors dropped off on the porch!

This morning = )

Darby's snow angel! The first time she just plopped down half on and half off the snow! So cute!

My snow angel ; )

I have been feeling terrible and Carson got a fever last night so we went to Doctor's Care this morning and $320 later and after a pretty tramatic experience there for me we found out we had strep throat! So that is the not so pleasant surprise. That is why you don't see Carson in any snow pics! Yuck, but hopefully these antibiotics will kick in soon and we will be good to go! Darby spent the day with my dad and step-mom and bro and sister and she had a blast! Tomorrow some special friends are going to pick her up and take her on a date! She is going to love it! Hope yall have a Happy Happy Valentine's Day!

PUT THE WORLD ON HOLD!

2010-02-12T13:22:00.003-05:00

Alert! Alert! Alert! The are calling for snow here in the Charleston area! Shut everything down! Close the schools early! Get off the roads, the snow is coming, the snow is coming!

Okay, first of all, seriously? I will let you know but I highly doubt this snow is anything worth mentioning! Seriously? Do you know where we live? Does it ever snow here? No. Do they always FREAK out if there is a 10% chance of it? Yes. So why are we shutting down? I don't know. All I know is that I see there is a slight chance of snow tonight and tomorrow morning. They don't expect any accumulation tho. I think we will be okay. I do plan to stay home and monitor this situation VERY carefully though ; ). I don't necessarily want to get on the roads bc it is going to rain and then it will freeze so no doubt the roads will be slick and my car is all messed up right now so I don't want to take my chances.

I will let you know tomorrow if we get any snow! And if we do I will let you know if we die! I don't mean to be so cynical. I would love some snow...I would love to take pics of the girls and build a snow man with it...but I will believe it when I see it = ).

Testing My Wings and Valentines Goodies!

2010-02-10T22:29:00.008-05:00

So excited bc I finished Darby's homemade valentines! I am so in love with Microsoft Publisher now thanks to the ever dearest Carissa. I bought an online scrap kit for a couple bucks to make the design and went to work. I am not the most creative and this was just my test run to see what I can do. I only have a 60 day trial for publisher and I am going to be so sad for it to go. I really want to do Darby's bday invites and the Carson and Claire's first bday(cousins, 3 weeks apart)invites before my trial runs out! Up close of the graphic here.

Darby's valentines day party is tomorrow at school. I signed up for ham sandwiches. I was just going to put some ham in some dinner rolls but then I was SO thankful that this idea came to my head: To make heart shaped sandwiches with a cookie cutter! It was so fun. I did some ham and some ham and cheese. I did a smaller size and cut 2 hearts per sandwich, perfect for 2 year olds! I hope they love their sandwiches shaped like hearts! Here is a picture. I took it out of the fridge to take a picture and I couldn't peel back the clingwrap bc I couldn't take the chance of compromising it... I am out and borrowed it from my neighbor! You get the idea tho...

Also, check out this fabulous new cake plate I just snatched up from TJMaxx. It was $10. I LOVE it because it came with this ribbon which goes great for Valentines but I can change the ribbon to match WHATEVER I need. I am so excited about it.

Started as One Thing Ended as Another

2010-02-06T21:51:00.019-05:00

Here is an assortment of photos from off of my cellphone. Thought it would be fun bc they go way back (well since April of 2009, but that is a lot of time in the development of these youngens).
A Cherished Moment in Time! Mine and Darby's first Starbucks date!

Mom in training : )

You mean she used to wear diapers?

Baby Carson catching some rays (tiny bit of jaundice when she was born)

I mean honestly...so sweet!

The BEST big sister ever! The other day I had to go into her classroom at her CDO preschool program and she told her friends, "This is my mommy and this is my sister" and pointed to us as she said it. Melted my heart! Alot of times after school too (she goes twice a week) she will tell Carson in the sweetest voice, "Hey, Carson, I missed you".

Matching Sisters!

Carson in the hospital. Before you wonder. When she was almost 2 months old she spiked a high fever one night and she had just gotten over a Urinary Tract Infection. She was scheduled to do some testing bc it is VERY unusal for a child under 2 yrs old to get a UTI. So I called the dr. and we had to bring her to the Children's Hospital that night. She was admitted and we stayed for 7 days and went home with a central line to administer IV antibiotics for another 10 days. Did some testing and turns out she has kidney reflux (don't know if that is technical term). The way her ureters go into her bladder coming from kidneys is off some and so urine from her bladder will go back up into her kidney and it is old and stale and is waste really and turns to infection. She has stage 4 out of 5 and takes an antibiotic everyday to prevent infection. She gets checked occasionally and at a year they will do the whole big testing that she had initially over. She will either grow out of it or have surgery to correct it way later down the road. Man this should have been its own seperate blog. Sorry this is getting so lengthy! Maybe I will stop at the hospital pics and continue with the rest another time! Oh and don't let her belly button scare you, she had an umbilical hernia but it is gone now.

So the day we came home from the hospital after she was born I didn't even dress her up bc she was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her(second baby). So it was glorious when we got to leave the hospital this time too so I got her all dressed up for this trip home! (wish I would have discovered bowbands at this point but oh well)

I wasn't attempting to make a background with the white sheet I promise! I covered the couch with sheets for our stay bc hospitals gross me out you know EVERY surface is not cleaned from one patient to the next...

A MUCH needed night on the town...with a little creepiness!

2010-02-05T23:15:00.004-05:00

So date night with the girls tonight! Loved it! We went to where else but Your Pie, our favorite! Just so you know it is a 30min drive to get there. So you KNOW we love it. Of course we got to see the spinning coburg cow and wave and blow he/she some kisses so that was fun. It was great. You know the weather was rainy and having two girls one in an infant carrier, a purse, and a floppy seat is not easy. We were eating our pizza and I looked up and it was PORING rain. This was a bit of a panic moment considering I decided against the umbrella and Darby's rain coat due to the fact that I only have 2 arms. But praise the Lord the rain stopped and we got out without melting bc you know we would have ; ). Here is Darby at Your Pie (last time we went) **phone camera pic

I told Darby before dinner we could go to the book store when we were done eating. I was hesitant bc of the weather so when we were driving away from the restaurant I said," Darby, do you want to go to the bookstore or go home?" She replied, "The bookstore". So I said, "okay, I am just a little nervous about the weather (mainly talking to myself)" and she said, "its okay mom" and something along the lines of "it'll be alright". Gotta love the pep talk. So off we went to Barnes and Noble, which is why I am up writing this blog bc of my Starbucks treat I forgot to get in decaffeinated. It was so great tho. I never knew how fun it could be. They have a train table and of course lots of books and fun stuff for the kids. I sat at one of the little table looking at the CUTEST girly cookbooks (I bought them, I had to, it was for a good cause anyway, right?). I told Carson no for the first time tonight = (. I think I will start using that more often bc she really can begin to understand it now. So when she grabs her spoon while I am feeding her and flings baby food everywhere... Anyway, I was amazed at how much she enjoyed it there. The girls played and once again...the sky dropped out and once again...cleared in time to leave. It was so fabulous. Here is Carson playing at Barnes and Noble. **camera phone pic

Oh I almost forgot! The creepiness! So during our play time there was this random adult man wandering around the kids section. He didn't seem like a dad looking for something for his kids (you know dads would be attracted to the display table, with good books but limited selection, it is just easier!). He was there forever! That creeps me out especially since that shopping center has had its share of crime. He did eventually leave and I was thankful. If he wasn't up to no good tho then why don't ppl consider their creepiness factor???

My Beauty Must-Haves...

2010-02-05T11:47:00.006-05:00

For the first time I am going to participate in Kelly's Korner: Show Us Your Life Friday! It is about beauty tips and products so here you go... I absolutely cannot live with out my Bare Minerals make up! I use faux tan as my all over face color bc I learned that I LOVE it better than the Warmth that comes with the original start up kit. I also love the buxom lip gloss they make! My favorite colors for now are sugar and tempest, it is GREAT lip gloss...but you better be ready to pay for its greatness. It last forever though!

Another new favorite of mine is the Murad skincare! I use the clarifying cleanser and I love it. It cost $26 but it last forever! Like 6 months or more.

I am in the market for a new moisturizer. I have all my life (well since I was 13) used the yellow face lotion from Clinique but I think it leaves bumps on my face sometimes so I am looking for a super healthy for my skin moisturizer. I may go with something from Murad but I also want to look in to the dermalogica moisturizers too. Any advice on this one????

SoMeThInG tO bLoG aBoUt....

2010-02-04T20:43:00.005-05:00

Lately, I have been kinda boring! I do have lots of things I think about sharing with yall but then I don't have the motivation to write the blog. Then all my ideas get jumbled up and I forget some and then decide some aren't worth it and then don't know what to say about others. So tonight instead of not blogging I decided to blog. I am still not sure what it will be about tho... I had a hard and draining afternoon so please pray for me and then excuse my brain which has turned to mush.

Piggly Wiggly feeds your life! ha. Its feeding mine right now for sure. This month for every manufacterers coupon you use you get 1 greenback! You can save up your greenbax and redeem them for groceries, gas, trips to the waterparks, giftcards to the outlet mall (my personal fav), etc... So you can use 10 coupons a day so I plan to strategically get things I need or can stock up on, especially the more inexpensive items and go as many days as I can! I would LOVE to go everyday and earn myself 280 greenbax but that just won't happen.

I am making personalized homemade valentines for Darby's friends and I am so excited! Here is a sneak peak:

I will show you the finished product but I plan to have that image on a card that I fold over and staple to a bag of treats. I am so excited about them!

What else was I going to blog about??? I don't know... but hopefully this was enough to entertain you for a min!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever"

OuR wOrLd...

2010-02-02T10:29:00.003-05:00

Here is an update on what is going on in our world...

For starters we are going on day 7 of quarantine and illness! It is awful and I am going to go insane if this last any longer. Just saying. So I kept Darby home from school for the 3rd time today. She does seem much better but I always ask myself if I would question another parent for bringing their child in her condition and so she is home, she still has snot and her cough sounds kinda yuck but I think she would have been fine to go. We have stayed home with vary limited outings and I have enjoyed the slow pace of life in the past week but I'm itching to get going again.

I never started reading my Twilight books! I got them in but I get nervous that I will neglect my kids and my house when I start reading them so I keep trying to get things "caught up" before I start. Well it has been 3 weeks of saying that so I think I am going to just dive in and do it and get it over with!

My girls are so cute! They continue to crack me up all the time. Here is an example of some of the things I stumble across during the day that just makes me laugh and hug and squeeze them:

$9.75!

2010-01-30T22:24:00.006-05:00

Does it REALLY cost that much to go see a movie!?! Well at least at my theater it does! I can't believe it! And I feel old when my sister and I are talking about remembering when it used to be $4.00. Wow. I just think that $9.75 is crazy!

Last night some of my lady friends and I went to dinner and a movie (wish I had a picture! camera is dead). It was the most fun. We went to see When in Rome.

It was an overall cute movie and weird at some points! It is rated PG-13. I have recently taken to reading Plugged In Online movie reviews. I really want to be in the practice and knowing and caring about movie content for when my girls watch movies. There most likely will be negative aspects to most movies but reading the reviews and being prepared will help me to share what is actually biblically correct verses worldly philosophy. I think movies can be a great way to talk and have spiritual conversations with your kids. This is a short synopsis of Plugged Ins review, "When in Rome is a silly, predictable, occasionally sweet and relatively clean romcom. It's refreshing to see a romance not terminate under the sheets. But while the film doesn't overemphasize sex, it errs in another way—underemphasizing marriage, or at least its sanctity and sacredness."

I would recommend this movie to you tho. It is a 100% bona fide chic flick!! Grab some girl friends or your sister or mom and head to the movies! If you can afford it!!!

There is always something!

2010-01-28T22:31:00.004-05:00

I can never have everything I need it seems like! If I have diapers then I need wipes. If I have formula then I need cereal or babyfood. Or maybe I need baby bath but if I have that then I probably need lotion. Why can't all these things run out at one time so I don't have to make a bazillion trips to target!?! And that is just the baby and toddler stuff! So when you add in my personal items... then there really is ALWAYS something outstanding that I need to get from target.

Not a whole ton to blog about these days because we have pretty much been stuck in all week due to illness. We all got a cold but poor Darby seemed to get hit the worst with it! She was awful. She has NEVER been so sad or sick. She ended up getting an ear infection which explains all of that! So she is on antibiotic now and def. seems to be doing much better today. I have been semi-productive while stuck in and have done some much needed cleaning so that is a bonus.

I am looking for some creative ideas for old formula cans. Since Carson went to formula I have been saving the cans and now I just need to nail down exactly what I want to do with them! I get the target brand and it is a great can bc it has a solid white top...so neutral! Any ideas?

LoVe My NeW bLoG!!!

2010-01-26T20:43:00.003-05:00

My friend Carissa is awesome! Look at this blog....Isn't it great!?! She designed it for me and it was so close to not happening bc once she practically had it all designed, her computer got a virus that nearly killed it. BUT thankfully she was able to nurse it back to life and rescue my blog design! Thank you, thank you Carissa for making my blog so fabulous! You are the best. I don't think blogging will ever be the same again = ). If you notice I have a button now! Go ahead and take it and put it on your blog...cuz after all she did work so hard at making it!

okay...

2010-01-25T09:30:00.005-05:00

It was my ear. I know I think I led yall on to believe it was something more crazy with how dramatic I was. We were just at the mall and I stopped in piercing pagoda and did it. Nothing TOO crazy!

What did I get pierced???

2010-01-24T20:37:00.009-05:00

Ha ha I love the suspense I am creating! So I am just wanting to see what you think... I got a piercing this past weekend (I know I am so crazy). What do you think I did?

My nose??? I do LOVE India!

My belly button??? Since I had to take mine out when I got prego with Darby!

My ear cartiledge??? Which I also had done along time ago!

Or my lip??? To tap into my inner punk!

Lets see what you think! Don't be scared.

Fun times in Raleigh!

2010-01-23T20:28:00.004-05:00

Oh man. Me and my sister have been in Raleigh since yesterday and we are having a good time. It's just a girl trip...Me, Carson and Darby met up with Amanda (my sis) and Claire. We decided Raleigh because it is exactly half way bw where we live and she lives. It is also a big city with FUN SHOPPING! We leave tomorrow and so far our trip has been fun but exhausting. It is hard to sleep if one baby wakes up and then the other regularly throughout the night! But we are surviving! Barely though, it was a rough day on the road for us! We could have probably gotten into 500 wrecks but God did spare us from every one! This morning we went to get the girls pictures taken at Portrait Innovations for "Valentine's Day" also for fun and we were just intending to get the $10 package special with one pose of all three girls...well we have the CD so needless to say, that did not happen! Here are some pics we got and I am saving one to show you on Valentine's Day bc I want it to be a surprise for some of my family readers!

My New Doo

2010-01-21T10:40:00.004-05:00

Got my hair cut wenesday. I make myself laugh because I to Jennifer (my hair girl) when I got there I didn't think I wanted to get it cut just the color and then when I sat down with wet hair I decided to get bangs. How did I go from no cut to total change that quickly I don't know. I am glad though. It is fun to have a change. Here is my self photo of the new doo. This was right after I got it done. I did my hair myself for the first time this morn and I still liked it. So this is a sucess story!

So much more!

2010-01-20T01:16:00.004-05:00

On Monday I had one of my most favorite Mommy days so far. My sister Halley (holla) watched baby Carson and Darby and I had the whole morning together. If you don't already know....we went shopping for dance clothes and shoes! It was great. She was so thrilled. We got her a leotard, tights, a CUTE skirt, ballet shoes and tap shoes. How fun!?! The we went to eat lunch at one of our favorites, Your Pie, a pizza chain that is a Moe's franchise and it is delish! It is a highlight for Darby because of the spinning Coburg cow right near the restraunt. After that we popped into Carolina Girls to see if we could score a great bag for her to carry her dance shoes to class in and I bought her her very own, very first Vera Bradley bag! It is actually a purse but on her it is a bag. It is great! Our time was THE MOST FUN (you know from Shag, the movie).

Tuesday, she had her first dance class! She loved it! We pulled up and another little girl was walking in and she said, "LOOK, there is another ballerina like me!". She was so excited. Loves it!

Pics are from my camera phone...sorry they are so bad!

You saw from my last post how utterly adorable baby Carson is and, this side of heaven moments don't get a whole lot better than my time with Darby yesterday. I can't help but think though...Life is SO much more than this. I heard a song on the radio by Kutless and it said, "Life is so much more than what your eyes are seeing". What a sobering reminder, that this is NOT our home. I read this on Monday also in Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon, comparing here with eternity in heaven, "Here, rest is only partial. There, it is perfect. Here, Christians are always unsettled; they feel that they have not yet attained. There, all are at rest; they have attained the summit of the mountain; they have ascended to the bosom of their God. They cannot go higher. Here my best joys bear "mortal" on their brow; my fair flowers fade; my dainty cups are drained to dregs; my sweetest birds fall before Death's arrows; my most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the flood tides of my bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow; but there, everything is immortal; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight. Happy day! happy! when mortality shall be swallowed up by life, and the Eternal Sabboth shall begin."

I can't wait for this day, and I know it is coming faster than I can understand bc 10 years, 40 years, 80 years... are all faster than a milisecond compared to the timespan of eternity, and I know that is where I will be when I die, face to face with my Savior. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, I know it is not based on what I do, and for that I will be eternally thankful because I am capable of no good thing. I know I don't deserve for God to even consider me but I know that Jesus' blood shed on the cross covers all my crappiness and I don't know why and I don't know how God can love ME so much but I know He does because of the empty tomb. I am SO thankful for my sweet glimpses of heaven in Darby and Carson but I know that even those can not compare! I can not wait. I KNOW that life is SO much more that what my eyes are seeing.

Yay for Carson!!!!

2010-01-17T21:22:00.008-05:00

Today Carson turns 8 months old! She is doing great! For those who know about her kidney reflux...that hasn't been anymore of a problem. I give her a small dose of an antibiotic everyday (or almost) to prevent infection. She has gotten to be quite a big girl over the past 2 months. She is sooo cute! She crawls, and still in a mixture of various methods. She doesn't mind as long as she gets where she is going. And that she does! That girl is determined! I will all the time here her grunting and turn to see that she is trying to get over something to get to something else. She also for the first time the other day pulled up to her knees...like not to a stand but on her knees. She is crazy. She LOVES her big sis Darby. Here are couple videos I took on my phone of her most favorite activities lately:

She loves to take a bath with Darby! I just started letting them take one together and Darby loves it just as much!

I don't think you can hear the sound on the videos. If you could you could hear Carson squealing and jabbering. She says da da da all the time. She doesn't know what it means though. Did you know that da-da is the universal "first word" in any language? It is a developmental thing. You can never be to sure but I am pretty confident that her actual first word will be ma-ma...I will let you know tho!

I had to wake Carson up to give her her medicine last night because I forgot and here are a few pics for your enjoyment....she is like "mom, what in the world??"

I didn't think I was going to make it!

2010-01-15T19:40:00.004-05:00

First, I didn't think I was going to make it to the outlet mall to take back some jeans I bought...but with a little deviation from our "normal" schedule I did!

Then I really didn't think I would make it to the gym...but I pushed myself and then to REALLY help motivate me I called and got my friend and neighbor Blythe to go too!

THEN I really really didn't think I would make it through the run on the treadmill. My running hasn't been consistent for several reasons and that was my first run in 2 weeks! On top of that, my furthest distance had been 2.5 miles. So we pressed the 5k button and started going. I made it but I am surprised.

THEN I really really really didn't think I was going to make it through getting the kids to bed. Darby had a rough day. She hardly listened to an ounce of what I asked her to do! So that makes for an EXHAUSTING day. Then, at bath time she bit Carson! Hard! She wasn't being mean though. I think she just had the idea and tried it! So what did I do? I bit her. Someone told my friend to do this with her child who was biting at school. I think it was effective. She was very remorseful.

Now we are on the other side of bedtime and I wish I didn't have to make it through taking a shower and doing my laundry that is out of control but...such is life = ).

Cuz Every Thing is a Lesser Thing!

2010-01-14T22:18:00.003-05:00

So I L.O.V.E LOVE this song. Today I heard it on the radio and then I found out that it is sung by Chris Sligh...from American Idol! So exciting! Anyway, I just love it. It rocks...literally. It is the kind of song that makes me want to stand up and put my arms straight out to God and sing these words to him, proclaiming who he is and asking him to do these things in my heart! Here are the lyrics but you HAVE to just go buy the song on itunes!

I've had just enough of the spotlight
When it burns bright
To see how it gets in the blood
And I've tasted my share
Of the sweet life
And the wild ride
And found a little is not quite enough

I know how i can stray
And how fast my heart could change

Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So i can be
Filled with you

Ive seen just enough of the quick buys
Of the best lies
To know how prodigals can be drawn away

I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change
Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with you

Cuz everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you
Compared to you
Cuz everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you
So I surrender all

Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride

Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with you.
Filled with you
Empty me

Do You Know??

2010-01-12T10:49:00.004-05:00

Do you know that India is the 2nd largest country in population (but it is actually a smaller country)?

Do you know that 60% of the worlds population is in Asia?

Do you know that India has the most unreached people for Christ?

These are rough statistics that I researched but I read that only 3 percent of the population in India are Christians. I also read that 73% of the Christians in India are Catholic. There are ALOT of unreached people for Christ in India.

When I look at India I see a beautiful people that God made in His own image who in the midst of a lot of struggle (poverty, etc) are desperately searching for life.

I've been wanting to adopt a child from India. I know it won't hardly put a dent in the poverty crisis that exist but it may be a start. so....

Do you know what is a good organization to go with? Compassion International or Gospel for Asia's Bridge of Hope?

I am leaning toward Bridge of Hope because I think all the money is used for the purpose of supporting the child. You know how you hear of organizations that by the time they take out administrative fees and what not then only a small percentage goes to the actual purpose of the donation? Anyway, blah blah blah. Any ideas?

Darby's First Trip to the Dentist!

2010-01-11T13:24:00.006-05:00

It was time! 2 and half years old and we were off to the dentist for Darby's first visit. We went to Corner Stone Children's Dentistry which is where a dentist from church runs his practice. Dr. Paul Galloway is his name. It was a great experience. Darby did great, the hygienist did great, and Dr. Paul was great too. Darby got to pick out her toothpaste flavor. When the girl said what the choices were I knew exactly what she would pick and she did....CHOCOLATE! How incredibly disgusting does that sound. But hey, whatever she wants to make it through the trip to the dentist. Darby did not enjoy the little thing that blows air, that had her up off the chair and heading to the door but we calmed her back down. She didn't do perfect but much better than it could have been and I was sooo proud of her. Here are some pictures taken on my phone!

I can't believe how big she is getting....There goes another milestone.

How fabulous is...

2010-01-08T22:02:00.005-05:00

A shower after not bathing for 2 days?

A bagel and coffee in the morning?

Clean sheets and shaved legs at the same time?

A clean house?

Starbucks?

Visiting other cities Targets?

My 2 year old who asks to pray when we are tucking her baby sister in?

A good book series in the mail due to arrive in 3 days?

This is just a small list of some fabulous things that I have gotten to enjoy very recently or will be in the very near future. If you are wondering what book series I am talking about it is the Twilight Saga... I caved! I haven't had even the slightest desire to read them bc I am not into the vampire senario, but I have had a couple friends tell me they are so good and I trust them so we will see! My books are arriving on the 11th so if you don't hear from me for a while you will know why ; ). I love reading a good fiction series but I don't do it too often because what will happen is I will get so hooked and I won't do anything else until they are all read. I am looking forward to it. It has been a long time since I read my last series.

I will let you know how they turn out!

Due to the fact that I will be spending most of my time reading and some minor technical "challenges", I am getting my friend Carissa to redesign my blog for me. She is launching a new blog designing business and I will have to be passing that information on to you all. Happy Friday night to you!

Uh-Oh...

2010-01-07T00:39:00.007-05:00

So you might notice a few changes to my blog.... enjoy them while they last because I am about to revamp my blog. Hopefully, I hope I am not speaking to soon. This is assuming I can accomplish the task! Still some work to be done but I purchased some "blogwear" from Scrap Matters.
I hope this one will last me longer. I am really excited tho.

Check out my new signature at the bottom of this post. So exciting. Learned how from the Sneaky Momma Blog Design blog. I also added a post divider and learned how from the shabby blog tutorial.

I am going to be really annoyed if these links don't work. I have the worst time with them. If you are thinking about blogging...BEWARE, it can become an obsession. I call myself a blogaholic. But I really think that once I get my design the way I want it then I will be much less involved! It is a fun hobby for me though for now.

A Time to Celebrate!

2010-01-06T00:11:00.004-05:00

You might ask, "What's the occasion!?!"

I finally got a comment from someone else besides Carissa! It is so ridiculous that this put such a big smile on my face! I mean this whole post is me making fun of myself! This blog could almost be my third child. If you know me I LOVE accessorizing. So what is the point of a blog if not to just accessorize a page!?! So anyway on that note...I am seriously considering purchasing a premade blog design. I like mine okay it it took me having to learn so much just to make it what it is but you know what I like about other blog designs???? The bigger space in the middle. This may not make any sense but I mean the background isn't so wide and the middle section is bigger. When I go from other blogs to this one then I feel like mine looks squished. Anyway, I am def on the hunt for a cute premade blog design that fits me. ORRRRR maybe I should just add a signature and post divider and see if that satisfies my need to accessorize for right now. What to do, what to do?? Thanks Kellie for your much needed comment because I thought well I could just call Carissa and tell her all of this stuff! Ha ha, I am really just kidding. But if you do follow you can let me know by "following" me or dropping me a line every once and a while. I should also give my sis Amanda a special thank you for signing up to "follow" me a few days ago....just to see the third follower made me smile too. It makes me feel like my blog has a purpose and is growing = ). I just hope that you don't notice what hour I am writing this blog because then you may be concerned about how much of a purpose this blog might be to me ; ).

Side-Tracked

2010-01-04T21:24:00.009-05:00

Okay I totally got side tracked when I sat down to write this blog 2.5 hours ago. First it was baby Carson, poor thing. She is going through something. Teeth maybe, cold maybe, or maybe adjusting from our travel this past weekend. So I went in and gave her a bit of tylenol and rocked her. I rocked her and rocked her (dad, if you are reading this...that chair was so worth the money). I didn't want to let go! I thought about her being a teenager and not fitting in my arms anymore and that made me hold her tighter to keep her from growing. I prayed for her for and for her future and that God would be glorified in her life and that He would call her to faith in Him ALONE at a young age. I am not a good sit stiller but I couldn't let go. When I was holding her I could just feel the JOY seeping into me like through osmosis or something ; ). I love her she is so beautiful.

Then I sat back down to write my totally different blog than this and went to get a link to a blog I discovered and got side tracked there reading her blogs and stories. You can read for yourself here at Katies Keepers. An amazing story of faith in a difficult time. I cried and cried but am encouraged.

I have been guilty of trying to figure out God recently. I've been trying to figure out why God does what he does and trying to predict even what he is doing in my life instead of just patiently waiting in the desert for Him. If one thing is for sure nothing THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN is permanent. Our hope has to be in THE One and Only the Great I AM.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still (beth) and know that I AM God"

He doesn't just leave us stranded though.

Isaiah 58:11 "The Lord will guide you always"

God goes before us (the Alpha) is with us now and will forever always be (the omega)-What great hope!

We went on a trip to Jacksonville this past weekend to visit my mom (and brother) and here are some pics from our trip!
Darby the Mermaid!

This was a joke bc I told him we could send this pic to his girlfriend to show her what he can do ; )
I'm gonna gitch gitcha gitcha

My After Christmas Bargains

2009-12-29T23:19:00.004-05:00

Almost all of the Christmas decorations that I use were hand me downs from my family. I've used the same decorations for 5 years now and this year I was just bored with them. So I made myself a swanky new wreath (as posted on a previous blog). I set out the day after Christmas in search of some fun new decor that would point us to the real meaning of Christmas during the holiday. So here is what I got: The Joy letters were the real steal of a deal because they are regularly $20 and I paid $3.75 at The Family Christian Store in the Mall. I also got the Kneeling Santa ornament (this reminds me of Chads grandfather who died just recently and also since we will somewhat do the santa tradition I wanted to incorporate Jesus even into that). I got it at the same store for $5.62 (they had a cheaper one but this was better quality) and it was originally $15. I got Darby the Saint Nicholas Veggie Tales DVD from that same store as well for $5.61 and it was origanlly $15. At that store I saved $34.99 on all three things and spent $16! Then I got the Angel table top decor at Belk. They had 75% off their Christmas stuff. I spent $16 on both of them and saved $46.50! What I didn't get at Belk but really really wanted was this tree decoration that coordinated with these angels. It was originally $110 so even at 75% off I would have spent what I did on all of these things for just that one thing. I loved it but I couldn't bring myself to do it. So my plan is to eventually collect my own set of Christmas decor after the holiday each year.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T20:15:00.009-05:00

This Christmas was hard. It was exciting though because there wasn't too much to be distracted by so I got to really consider the Love that God has for us that he sent his Son for us. My girls were precious as always... Here are some pictures from yesterday morning. I actually decided to do "Santa" and that decision process is a whole blog in itself so I won't elaborate. On to the pictures....

Darby caught eating the chocolate!
I really think claire was hugging Carson cuz she kept doing this! It was sooo sweet!
Carson at the mic and my sweet baby niece Claire on keyboard
Me and the girls! Please excuse my no make-up just woke up ness!

MISCELLANEOUS

2009-12-23T21:48:00.002-05:00

This will be my collection of a bunch of random things. Today Darby said a couple of funny things. She said, and who even knows where she learned this from, "no, NEVERRRR"-what in the world!?! She also said to me when I asked her to clean up her toys, "okay, I'm trying". She is so funny. This afternoon at Walmart I had a moment that really truly was innocent but man I get freaked out when ppl do this! This old guy was blocking my way to get down the isle and he turned and saw I was blocked and rather than moving his cart he struck up a 10 min conversation with me. He really was so sweet. I learned that he used to sell insurance for a particular company and is now retired. He is also retired from the navy. He now works some for Met-Life just for something to do. I know when he worked for the first insurance company he used to make over $100,000. I have the name if you are interested in the company bc he gave it to me to tell my husband to call them if he is not making enough money. He talked to Darby about Santa Claus. He gave Darby a dollar bill, that he told her Santa asked him to give her. I hope this isn't bad but then we put it in the salvation army bucket when we left-I heard that charity is kind of iffy. Can I tell you that I really have been craving watching a movie. I really haven't seen one in ages it seems like. Well wait, I take that back I took Darby to see one the other day but I mean like an adult movie! Anyway, I hope all of you (all three of you) have a Merry Christmas.

How Deep the Father's Love

2009-12-19T21:18:00.006-05:00

So this is the season for celebrating Gods love through the birth of Christ, right? I am still trying to understand just how gently and perfectly he loves me day to day. It is hard to imagine perfect love. I think in a world tainted with sin it is impossible, the only thing we can do, is gain a better and deeper understanding of it as we walk with Him, as we offer our heart, as we go through life, through struggles and joys, etc... Tonight, wait let me back up... Today, Darby and Carson got their picture taken with Santa! I am still shocked bc 1. I had the patience to wait in line and 2. because Darby (and Carson!) GLADLY sat in Santas lap. I talked to Darby yesterday about giving her passys to santa and she went right along with the idea talking about how she is a big girl and passys are for babies. I thought this might be my chance, so I took it! Anyway, back to tonight, she obviously had a hard time not being sad over the fact that she didn't have a passy. So I tried to be extra sympathetic (which does not come naturally for me). It went okay but then she got out of bed, so I went in and held her and rocked her and sang to her for what felt like an eternity. One of my goals in parenting is to show my children to the best of my ability the love of God. How gentle, how patient,how comforting... I don't even know these things for myself so that seems like a challenge but I think one way God will teach me is through doing it! I kept holding her and I knew she was sad and confused. All I really wanted to do was take my shower and go to bed myself but every time I wanted to put her down I just said to myself I know God just has to keep holding on, I kept picturing myself in his arms, and him agonizing over the fact that I am sad and confused and even weeping for me. I hope I can hang onto this picture for a while. I know he is near to me. I know he cares for me because why else would we be celebrating Jesus' birth in six days. This is one of my most meaningful Christmases to date. I'm so thankful for the Gospel of grace, love and hope that it gives! Darby ended up saying that she wanted to lay down in her bed again and so I put her back down and gave her kisses and she said as I did it, thank you mom.... I'm so glad I was patient!

Love, Love, Love this song! How Deep the Father's Love For Us
You will have to pause the music at the bottom of the blog to listen but it is WORTH it!

My Inner Martha Stewart

2009-12-18T20:57:00.007-05:00

So ever since my sanitizer bottles turned out successfully...I have been motivated to do more "crafty" things. Last week, I did a wreath that I found on The Idea Room blog that is made out of ornaments. I can't find it anywhere on that blog now though. I am very happy with how it came out. I took the picture once it was hanging on my door and the light was shining on it but I wish I would have took one of it when it was still inside. I guess I still could bring it inside to take a picture but that is too much trouble! It is not THAT important.

All it is is a wire hanger with ornaments strung on. 70 ornaments! I used a glue gun to secure the wire things (don't know what they are called) to the ornaments and went to town.

Also found on the idea room blog these fabulous brownies with "candy-cane" hershey kisses in them here! They are fabulous! This picture is of the first time I made them (yes, I have made them 3 times now and I have to STOP). I didn't realized I was suppose to use the mini muffin pans so they were big but still good. I did use the mini muffin pan for the next two batches and I just think they are absolutely delish! I have given them to teachers, neighbors, and friends. I hope they like them as much as I do!

All you have to do to be able to enjoy these for yourselves is: put together a box of brownie mix, put mix in a greased mini muffin pan, press kiss into center (not all the way down bc it will be hard to get out of pan), bake 350 degrees for 15 min, and then let cool completely (garnish with chopped up kisses if you want). Delish!

7 Months!

2009-12-18T08:54:00.005-05:00

My sweet baby girl is 7 months old today! I can't believe how fast this time goes by. I know before I realize it she is going to be 2 and so I am trying to soak it all in while I can. I didn't enjoy the baby phase as much with Darby because it was my first go round and I was always just wondering what was coming next and figuring out everything. I remember I analyzed EVERYTHING. It is so funny how different it is now with Carson.

Still no teeth yet! Oh my goodness, I keep thinking she will get one anyday but not yet! She is eating very good though! She def has breakfast and dinner (baby food of course) I am incorparating lunch, it all depends how hungry I think she is. She is sitting up marvelously. She is even getting on her hands and knees. She sometimes rocks but alot of the time she gets up and flops herself forward onto her belly and repeats until she gets to her desired location. It is so funny!

Here are a few pictures I took this morning....

This next picture Carson was in the middle of celebrating that her big sister just came in the room. She gets SO excited! They love each other!