30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 7

Day 7:  I am thankful for stress. I know it's an odd thing for which to be thankful so I'll explain. The last few weeks have been a bit more stressful for me between sickness (Evie with pneumonia, Sofi with a really bad cold, half the family had a stomach bug, etc.), church events, household chores, and a couple of sewing jobs. This morning, the Lord gave me a little bit of extra perspective on stress by reminding me of a verse, "But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10) I may be taking it slightly out of context but it's just the verse God gave me this morning.

Reasons that I'm thankful for stress:

1. It reveals areas of weakness - just as the refining process brings the imperfections to light and removes them, stress shows me areas of weakness (sins, incompetence, etc.) that I might seek to work on those areas.
2. It reveals areas of strength - stress will help to encourage me by reminding me of the things that I do well, just as gold after the refining process reveals the best.
3. It reminds me of how blessed I truly am - this time it was a reminder that I really do have the most wonderful husband in the world. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 6

Day 6: I know it may seem odd but I am thankful for Daylight Savings Time today. The Lord new I would need that "extra" hour last night. :o)

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 5

Day 5: I am thankful for the ministry that God has placed us in at our church. I love working with our College/Career's group. Granted there are days you want to knock their heads together and say, "What are/were you thinking?" But they are so full of life, energy, and especially potential.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 4

Day 4: I am thankful for the opportunity to be a WAHM (work-at-home-mom). There are days that it would be nice to "escape to the office" or to be able to work uninterrupted but the flexibility of my schedule and the chance to spend time with my children are priceless.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 3

Day 3:  I am so thankful for my wonderful husband. He really is the perfect man for me. We are so opposite but compliment each other very well - his strengths are my weaknesses and my strengths are his weaknesses, etc. We have been happily married for 7 years.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 2

Day 2: I am thankful for Sofia Grace who blessed us with her birth exactly 4 months ago today. She already brings our family such joy. Reagan and Evie fight over who gets to hold her, and Amelia loves to sit and give her hugs and kisses. Her contented and happy disposition is a reminder to me on a daily basis that we really don't need a lot of "stuff" to bring us joy. The best way I've seen it put lately is in the following quote, "Sometimes we need to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."

Evelyn, Amelia, Reagan, and Sofia

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 1

I've had a couple of friends start posting one thing a day to be thankful for throughout the month of November. I did this last year on my food blog during the month of October (I titled the posts 31 Days of Praise). With things being fairly hectic lately, I've decided that I need to do this again to remind myself to be thankful for everything that God has given me.

Day 1: Today I am thankful for our laminate flooring (and a wonderful husband who cleaned it). Amelia got sick right before bed tonight and it was much easier to clean up the laminate flooring than it would have been to clean up the old shag carpet that we used to have in the living room.

Our poor little Amelia

Evie in the ER again!

Well, Evie got to go to the ER in her jammies for the 2nd time this year. She's had a cold, has seasonal allergies and now we're wondering now if she's got asthma like Jared.
Jared took her in and the asthma medication seems to be helping but they're going to do chest x-rays to make sure it's not pneumonia or something else. Now back to waiting for me...I guess it's a blessing in disguise that I still have laundry to fold.

Update: Chest x-rays revealed pneumonia in one lung and they sent her home with an inhaler and an antibiotic. We just have to take her in for a check with our family doctor as a follow-up. Please be praying that we can get her to rest when needed as 3 year olds are not big fans of sleep. She thinks medicine is cool and is used to taking it due to seasonal allergies since she was a year old so it should be pretty easy to get her to take it when needed.

On Days like Today

There are times in our lives when we go through struggles. Some are small struggles and others are larger. Today is one of those days filled with small struggles. The weather is gloomy and cold, my house is a disaster from an overly busy schedule throughout this last month. My little ones are choosing to exert their free will and I'm just plain tired.

On days like today when I would love to just curl up on the couch with a pillow, blanket, coffee, and a good book (without interruption), these small struggles reminded me of some things:

• The struggles remind me of how easy childhood really is and they make me wonder why I ever wanted to grow up so badly. But then I remember all the joys that being an adult, a wife and mother, bring - the hugs, the kisses, the little expressions of "I love you" that I get on a daily basis. It encourages me to provide a loving childhood for my children just as my parents provided one for me.
• The small struggles remind me of how my God must feel when I decide to exert MY free will and sin against him. The sadness that I feel over my childrens' disobedience pales in comparison to the pain it must bring the Father knowing that He willingly gave His ONLY Son to die for those very sins.
• The small struggles remind me that even though I'm struggling I still have things to be thankful for. A couple of weeks ago a cousin lost her dear son to a senseless car accident whereas I can still cuddle mine. Less than a week ago a young man that we knew felt so alone and hopeless that he took his own life, leaving behind a loving family and dear friends to mourn. I still have hope that just as there are daily struggles there will be daily victories. Somewhere there is a wife who longs to be a mother and will never experience the joy that bringing a little life into this world gives to you. I have four beautiful children for which I am thankful.
• The small struggles remind me that I know a single mom who works so hard to pay bills and yet have the energy to take time with her children. I know of a widow who would love to hear her husbands voice and feel his arms around her. I am so thankful for the wonderful husband I have to help me with our children, a man who provides for our financial needs. I still have a strong and loving man to provide strength and encouragement to this weary wife. 
• The small struggles of today remind me that I know a young missionary wife and mother who is thousands of miles from close friend and family and yet I have friends and family living close by whom I can share my burdens with. 
• Most of all, the small struggles of today remind me that no matter how small the struggle, my Heavenly Father is right here with me. I can access His grace to make it through this day and every day.

Kids

I just realized how longs it's been since the last time I posted anything on here. The kids are ever changing and grow more excited about Sofia's arrival with each passing week. Here are some updates.

Reagan -
At 4, he is always coming up with interesting and funny things to say especially when they involve Sofia. He is also very curious and wants to know about EVERYTHING - how things work, how they are put together, how to spell words, etc.! It can get a little tiring with all the "why's", "how's", and "what if's".

• (May 26, 35 weeks along) This morning Reagan wanted me to help him with something while I was sitting in the recliner eating my cereal. I set my cereal bowl on top of my belly and Reagan thought it was just the coolest. This is what he said, "Wow mom, you can use Sofia as a table! If I had a belly like that I would use it to set stuff on ALL the time!"
• (May 24, 35 weeks along) Reagan was awake by himself for a bit this morning and he said a couple of funny things that involve Sofia. He was sitting on my lap and was putting his hand on my cheek when he said, "Mom, you feel really warm." Then he put his hand on my forehead and my neck, saying, "Wow, mom, you are really, really warm. Are you feeling ok or are you sick?" I told him that baby Sofia was keeping me really warm, which lead to the next funny thing. Reagan was talking about how much he loves baby Sofia and how he can't wait till she pops out (he asks almost daily when she is going to get here). I talked to him about how babies stay in their mommy's tummies for about 40 week (I talked to him about this earlier the next bullet point) and then told him that Sofia had been in my tummy for 35 weeks. We counted together how many weeks there were left between 35 and 40, he got very excited when he discovered there were only 5 weeks till 40. Then I told him about how he, Evie, and Amelia all stayed in my tummy for 41 weeks so it could be longer than 5 weeks before Sofia came out. I asked him how many weeks he thought Sofia was going to stay in my tummy since everyone else had stayed for 41 weeks, he replied with a silly grin, "45 weeks I think." Then he started laughing.
• (At 28 weeks along) Sofia is borderline hyper today, which the kids LOVE because they like to feel her moving around. Reagan told me, "Maybe she is excited because God is going to let her out of your tummy today." I told him that she needed to stay put for another 11-12 weeks. He told me that was a really LONG time. I told him that babies are supposed to stay in their mommies tummies for 40 weeks or so until they've grown enough to come out. I told him that she'd already been in my tummy for 28 weeks and only had 12 left to go. He put his hand up on his forehead, sighed, and said, "WOW, 40 weeks! That is like more than 100 years!" I think we need to work on his math just a little more. ;o)
• Reagan has started following in Jared's footsteps where impersonations are involve. The other day he was walking around the house talking in a higher pitched and kind of squeaky voice for almost 30 minutes. I couldn't figure out why until he came into the kitchen by me and said, "Mom, listen. I can talk like _______ (a girl in his Sunday school class at church)."
• He can spell and write his name, "mom", "dad", and a couple of other things.
• Last night (May 25), they had the King's Kids awards program at church and I really didn't think much about it because Reagan is only in the Lambs & Flyer's class (3-5 year olds). So when they started giving out certificates I was excited for him (he got one for attendance and another for finishing his Lamb's book). Then they announced the "Flyer of the Year" trophy (the child with the most points) and Reagan had tied for the trophy with 15,400 points, saying 36 goal cards!

  

  Reagan and his Trophy

Evelyn -

We've discovered the Evie is ALL girl and a very girlie-girl at that. She LOVES pretties, frills, and being pampered. She is also very emotional, which can be a struggle to deal with at times because the littlest thing will put her in tears. 

Evie is our "giant" girl as I call her. She was just shy of 40" tall at her 3 year check-up and is only about 1.5"-2" shorter than Reagan (who is just above average for a boy). She's wearing size 5 in most things now and I am constantly having to change out her clothes due to growth spurts.

Evie turned "3"

 A couple of weeks ago, we got to make our very 1st visit to the ER (I know that's pretty amazing considering the fact that we have 3 kids 4 and under). Reagan decided to slam a door not realizing that Evie's finger was there. The door ended up cutting 3/4 of the way through the tip of her finger, chipping the bone, and ripping the nail off. She got a few x-rays and 4 stitches. Thankfully the doctor said the nail should grow back and her finger should get back to almost normal.

Amelia - 

Miss MaeMae (aka Meli, Amelia, etc.) is a very quirky toddler and a girl of few words. She entertains herself very well and LOVES to look at books. She will sit on the floor in front of the kids' bookcase and look at books quietly for 30-45 minutes at a time. She can be very silly or very serious but almost always good natured. She is a food fanatic and enjoys cuddling. She does some really goofy things like what I have pictured here.

Amelia likes to put her thumb in her mouth and a plate, bowl, or cup on her head when she is finished eating or bored.

Sofia Grace -
I've had a very different pregnancy with Sofia than with any of the other kids. First, I started out this pregnancy a full 17lbs less than I was at the beginning of my pregnancy with Reagan. I've only put on about 16 lbs this pregnancy so I'm excited to see what I'll weigh after she's born. I have experienced some interesting things like awful morning sickness, hot flashes, horrid heartburn, etc.
Sofia is very active like both Reagan and Amelia were. I also think that she is going to be another extremely long baby like Evie was (22" at birth) as she is CONSTANTLY stretching and I still have another 5 or so weeks to go. I am really looking forward to meeting her but not ready for the extra tasks that a newborn brings. Reagan and Evie can't wait for Sofia to "pop out" and ask daily if they can feel her move or how much longer she'll stay in my tummy.

Jared and I -
We are doing well and staying busy. Jared got promoted to Office Manager at the end of last year and we got to go for a week long West Caribbean cruise on the largest cruise ship in the world (the Allure) back in February. It was absolutely amazing and I'd recommend it to anyone! We've gotten closer to being debt free and should hopefully reach that point by Christmas of this year. We've already paid off almost $30k in less than 3 years!
We are working at getting in shape physically and being more health conscious in the decisions we make. Jared had lost 90 lbs in 14 months and has been able to keep from gaining any weight during my pregnancy. I am really looking forward to getting back into my workouts once Sofia gets here. :o)