Pure Joy!

There is no better way to say this so I'll just plunge right in..........We are expecting baby #2! Yes, check my blog to make sure you are on the right one, check Kate's ticker at the top that says she is just 4 1/2 months old. Nevertheless, God has chosen to bless us again very quickly and we couldn't be happier. God's plan for our family is the best and his timing is always perfect! I love this very unexpected surprise in our lives. For awhile I have suspected I was pregnant but never thought it could be possible. Well, it be! I have taken 3 tests (I'm crazy with those tests!) and they all say positive even the digital one! At first my emotions were mixed as you can imagine but now I am just reveling in God's goodness. Jared was elated and Kate actually smiled when we told her. Yes, I'll save you the math. At the MOST Kate will be 13 months old when she becomes a big sister. My first appointment will be July 7th so please be praying for this new sweet one. I am looking forward to that appointment because it will solve the mystery of how far along I am. I love it! Thank you God for blessing us beyond our wildest dreams! Blessed Be His Name!!!!!!
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." Ephesians 3:20

Bear Time

My Dad (AKA Bear) made a special trip to visit Kate last week end. It was great to see my Dad and it was awesome to see him bond with Kate. She loves her Bear and was so content with him. Here are some pictures from this past week end. Love you Dad.

The Latest of the Greatest

I thought that getting Kate an exersaucer/jumper thing was brilliant because she loves to stand and she loves playing with her toys on her Einstein play mat. I guess it will be pretty awesome when her feet touch the ground and she stops leaning so far forward!





I put this stuffed dog down while we were playing and she scooted back until it became her pillow. It was very cute because she was putting both hands on either side of it as if to say, "Ah, this is the life!"



I used to have long eyelashes like this before I got pregnant. I guess I gave them to Kate!




Ever since we put that video of her rolling over on the blog she doesn't seem interested in doing it anymore. It's almost as if she is saying, "Been there done that, now what's next?"




This is what I call her big girl pictures. I have been taking these pictures of her sitting up in this chair since she was 5 weeks old. Now she is 20 weeks old. It gives me a good gauge of how much she is growing. She always seems to want to show off in this chair.



There are two necessary pieces of baby gear if you are going to hang out with Kate, a good sturdy burp cloth and a bib. This girl is a spitter and a spitter upper! I laid this burp cloth in the corner of her play mat when I put her down to play. When I went back to check on her she was wearing it like this, as a fashionable turban. What a trendsetter!




Ok, we have not encouraged this, but neither have we discouraged it. I think it is so incredibly cute. I know it won't be so cute when she's 15, but for now I'm ok with it. It's kind of funny, everytime I have tried to take a picture of her doing it while she's awake she'll take her thumb out real quick like she doesn't want to be caught!

Happy First Daddy's Day

Kisses from Daddy


Kate picked the perfect gift a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods


Daddy and his girl


Kate's special Daddy's Day t-shirt

Jared's first Daddy's day started out and ended with his favorite little girl in his arms. When we woke up he discovered a special surprise that Kate had made for him. When he reached for a diaper to change her he discovered yet another surprise. Kate was very specific about how she wanted her First Daddy's Day plans to be carried out. She told me her plans and I carried them out as her willing accomplice. Of course, her Daddy loved his surprises. She did a great job! On a personal note I would just like to tell my husband Jared that he is the most caring and hands on Daddy I have ever seen. It has been wonderful to see him in this role and gives me yet another reason to love him even more. I have loved going through this journey with him so far and can't wait to see what's next! We love our Daddy!

Just Stalking By!

Tonight, at the same baby shower I saw a girl that I had met before but we hardly ever see each other and she said to me, "I blogstalk you!" I loved it! I said, "I blogstalk you to!" I am trying to not do this but I do my fair share of blog stalking. Don't we all? Here are 2 ways to know you are a blogstalker besides the obvious definition of reading some one's blog and not leaving a comment.

1. You meet someone that you have been "blogstalking" for the first time In Person and the only thing that is running through your mind is, "I already know everything about you. Loved the pics of Disney World and I sure hope your dog is feeling better!Love what you've done with the house!" It's a very weird feeling.

2. Your friend that you do know and whose blog you stalk starts to tell you a story that they have already posted on their blog. Of course you already know the beginning and end of the story. But you can't stop them and say, "Oh yeah, I already read about that on your blog.Great story!"

It's kind of strange when those 2 worlds collide. It's like getting a preview of everything. Can anyone relate to this? Oh and by the way C, now that we have actually met and talked and laughed about this we are no longer stalking each others blogs we are just "stopping by to check in." So let's hear from all of you blogstalkers. Just leave a comment, just once. Hey, I've admitted I do it! Love this blog world we live in! What did we do with out them?

No Worries!

I went to a shower for a dear friend tonight. It was awesome! Good food and lots of laughter (you put 10+ women in the room who have all had babies you are going to hear a lot of laughter.) It was a spa shower so we all got a 15 minute back massage. Heaven! These spa showers need to catch on! I left Kate at home for a little Daddy daughter bonding time. I stayed out a little later than I thought I would...10:30! GASP! In the back of mind I wondered how Jared had fared over the evening. I wonder if he had put her to bed yet or if he was waiting for me to get home. Why did I worry? This man has been a hands on Daddy from day one. When I got home Kate was in bed sound asleep. He had done the whole bedtime routine. Just a little bragging on my husband. I think most women know this about their husbands, even the most inexperienced, never held a baby before in their life first time Daddies will know what to do when you leave them alone. It was just nice to see it! Happy Pre Daddy's Day sweetie! I love you!

Christian Music

Until recently I have had this strange "relationship" with Christian music. I am not talking about the old hymns in song books, but the Christian music that is popular on the radio and sung in our church. I can't tell you the popular Christian groups right now and my radio in the car is not tuned to a Christian radio music station.I always associated Christian music with cheesy analogies and over the top instrumentals. In short, I just didn't care for it! I did go through a love of very specific Christian music when I was in junior high and high school. It always seemed to coincide with summer camp. You know the scene. You've just spent 3 weeks with people that you are convinced will change your life forever. You can't even imagine going back to your ordinary life with your ordinary friends at your ordinary school. As your parents come to pick you up someone cranks up Michael W. Smith's "And a friend's a friend forever! If the Lord's the Lord of them. And a friend will not say never, cause the welcome will not end.Though it's hard to let you go......." I loved that song and still do. But I think I loved it more because of the emotion it brought about in my immature teenage mind. That has been the extent of my relationship with Christian music until now.

Lately, God has allowed me to really listen to this music. Really hear the words to the song and apply them to my life. Four songs have become especially dear to me and they all center around one theme, praising God in whatever circumstance I am in. The first song is not a new song. It is a song that I have been hearing my whole life. It is Well with My Soul has been sung by me and heard by me for 33 years but I never listened or really understood the words. Maybe knowing the story behind the song will better explain. It was written by a man named Horatio Spafford. I pulled the background of this song off of Wikipedia...

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the S.S. Ville Du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with another ship, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

"When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul."

This man had been through everything except losing his wife. When you look at the words it is such a powerful testimony to his faith in God and his knowledge that God is still sitting on his throne.

The next two songs I have talked about before in previous blogs and you can listen to them on my song list to the right, "Blessed Be Your Name"and "You Never Let Go." Both of these songs speak to praising God in the ups and downs of life. The 4th song I believe is called, You are God Alone. We sang in at church last Saturday night and although I know I have heard it many times before, this time I really listened to the words.

"And right now through the good times and bad
You are on your throne, You are God alone."

I thank God so much that he let me get past my little hang ups with Christian music and really let it minister to me. All day I have these songs running through my head. It helps me focus. It brings me more peace than I have had in a long time.

Please leave a comment and let me know. What is your favorite Christian song and why?

Look What's New!!

Please Pray for Noah

From the time I have started this blog I have run across so many people who are in need of prayer. I use this blog so that Kate will have an online baby book but I think there is a better reason. I have blogged many times about precious little ones that are in need of prayer and posted links so that you can keep up with them. The little boy Brendan that was born premature at 30 weeks is now home with his parents. Little Gwyneth Rose born at 24 weeks is now home with her parents. Friends I ask you one more time for prayers for healing. My brother sent me an email this morning about a missionary family that they work with in Mexico City, the Hendersons. Little Noah Henderson will turn 1 this week and is facing some very serious medical problems. They don't really even know what the name for this is but they do know it is serious. Please pray for little Noah today. Please pray for complete healing. Please pray for his parents and big sister as I can only imagine how stressful the waiting can be. If you want to know more here is the link to his Grandmother's blog.

http://www.shellseeker1.blogspot.com/

I am Blessed

Had I written this post earlier in the week end it would have been titled something very different. Maybe something along the lines of "I feel cheated" or "Jealousy" or even "I'm Angry!" But as usual, when I wait on the Lord He reveals a new perspective. Waiting on the Lord and waiting in general is my supreme weakness, but I am getting better through God's discipline. Slowly but surely.

On Friday I accepted a job offer to work at a company in southwest Fort Worth. Yes friends, a full time job offer finally! It is a wonderful opportunity for me. A place where I can grow. A chance to meet new people. However, it means that I have to leave my sweet precious girl in the care of someone else for 8 hours out of the day. All day yesterday I was filled with horrendous self defeating thoughts. "Now I am a part time Mom." "I am half of a Mom" "Kate's life will go to hell in a handbasket". I was angry. I was jealous of all the other Moms. I was sad. I was self defeating. I was plunged into self pity that would have shamed even the most self defeating person.

God revealed to me so many things this morning. I am so blessed. This time last year He was forming this little girl inside of me. It is not a mistake that I am her Mom. Kate was entrusted to Jared and I. But ultimately she is not ours. She is God's. I forget that. I forget who she really belongs to.I forgot who has her life mapped out. I forgot that He is the one who knows her better than I do. He holds her closer than I do. I give myself pats on the back every day for the little milestones that I accomplish as a Mom. It's not me!!! Why don't I get that? None of this would be possible with out Him. God has made me who I am. He has made me the Mom I am. And nothing is going to change that. Not even going back to work. Our girl is going to be just fine. I have to believe that. This is not forever. I have to believe that also. This is a season of our lives and I am going to be a better Mom for it. I am going to pray every day that I will make the most out of the time I have with her. I will thank God everyday that He gave me 4 whole months staying at home with her. I will pray that He will show me the lessons I need to learn. And I will pray that He will keep the self defeating thoughts away so that I will not be robbed of the joy of Kate's life. While I can't wrap this post up in a neat little package I can say "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord!"

Our Girl

On Sunday the 8th Kate will be 4 months old. She is growing physically (15 pounds!!!) and she is also growing into her personality. She has a funny personality. I think she will be an easy going laid back girl who goes with the flow. And I think she will be a talker! She loves to go on and on with a very serious look on her face. It's like she is really trying to tell me something and she wants to make sure I understand her. She tries to hold her bottle while I feed her and she puts her little hand under my chin. She still has a lot of hair and big blue eyes. We have this game we play with her called "Big Girl!" We put her on our lap in a crouched position and we say "1...2....3.... Big Girl!" When we say Big Girl she stands up.When we start the game over and she's still standing I say, "You gotta get down!" and she pops down into her little crouch position. It's so cute to see her little face waiting in anticipation as we count to 3. I have to balance her but she is definitely pulling herself up to a standing position on her own. This month she also took her first plane trip. She was awesome! We had a direct flight going to DC and she mainly looked around or slept. We were entertaining her and she laughed out loud for the first time. Right there on the airplane! You never know when these milestones are going to happen! On the way back we had a lay over in Chicago and a 2 hour delay in DC.She did great through the whole 6 hour trip! We got to our house at 3 am!!!The best part about DC was that she got to spend a lot of time with her Mimi. My Mom watched her while Jared and I went to see some monuments. They had such a good time together. Well the subject of my blog is looking lonely over there in her bouncy seat and I can't resist picking her up. Please pray for the many changes that are ahead for our girl. Enjoy her 4 month video....I thought the song was entirely appropriate!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Favorite City in the World

Last week Jared and Kate and I went to DC to see my Mom. I love Washington, DC. I love history and politics. Every time I go to DC I see the same monuments and museums,but they never get old to me. I love how rich in history this city is. If you have never been you should really make time to go. You definitely will not regret it. There is so much to see and do and most of it is free! I put together a patriotic slide show of some of my favorite scenes of DC. I hope you enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com