Thursday Thirteen

13 Things to Wildly Rejoice Over:

Due to the selfish, whining, and ungrateful heart I have had the past few months...

1. I have a beautiful two year old daughter. She is healthy, happy, and teaching me to enjoy the littlest things. Today it was the awe over a squirrel eating an acorn.
2. I have a gorgeous five month old son. He is teaching me to be VERY active. He's teaching me to slow down, hold him a few more minutes, and to relish the way he fits in my arms. Some day he is going to tower over me.
3. I have a husband who is wildly in love with me. I never doubt how he feels and I trust him with all of my heart.
4. I have full confidence in my Lord and Savior and the fact that some day I am going to get to heaven to see him. I also have full confidence that he is going to introduce me to the baby I lost. What joy to know that a piece of Shane, Avery, Reece, and I is already in God's presence.
5. Shane is healthy and strong and taking really good care of us.
6. I have all of my immediate family and Shane's as Christian brothers and sisters.
7. I live in a country where I can raise my children as Christians.
8. I rejoice in the city that we have moved to this year. It is clear that God has cleared the path for us and I am excited to see how we are going to be used for him and how we are going to grow.
9. I am rejoicing in the many friends I am blessed with in my life already. From high school to college, to my adult life, and now even in blogger world.
10. I am healthy to take care of my home although a little more (or a lot) exercise wouldn't hurt!
11. I rejoice in knowledge. I love to learn, I love that God gave me this desire, and am thankful for outlets in my life to satisfy this craving.
12. I have found hobbies that allow me to create and show that God created beauty and creativity.
13. Most importantly, I rejoice that Christ died on the cross, washed me white as snow, and desires to mold me into his image. For this I am truly grateful!

Shame on Me

It's suppose to be Wordless Wednesday. But I've got too many words on the edge of my tongue to be quiet. Shame on me is all I have to say. I have spent the last half hour surfing through blog sites and I am humbled. There are women dying of cancer, losing their babies, struggling in their marriages and then there's me. Whining and complaining because I only have two spoons in the drawer and the rest are in storage. Whining and complaining because the market's bad and we are losing boocoo (spelling) bucks on our house. Whining and complaining because my kids have colds and I can't go to bible study tonight. I'm so frustrated with myself that I can't even cry about it because I think that would even be selfish. I've had my share of struggles but it seems I have forgotten them and how life could be. God's kept things pretty tidy for me lately and it's time I thanked him for it.

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things I love about my new house...

1. It's brick and I've never lived in a brick house.

2. There's a neighborhood playground and nature walk.

3. The downstairs is totally open except for one area which can be the playroom.

4. The masterbedroom is on the other side of the house from the kids rooms.

5. The masterbath has a door. ( My old house was open, didn't like that too much)

6. The laundry room is upstairs with the bedrooms.

7. It's just plain gonna be purdy!

8. There is another 1000 square feet in the basement. Talk about sewing, craft room!

9. My two black labs will feel small in this house and will be less antsy with room to run outside.

10. My husband will get the whole garage for his tools and woodshop. I'll get pretty furniture!

11. Lots of room for family gatherings. My family is coming for Thanksgiving. Am I crazy to be planning this three weeks after we move?

12. There's a halfbathroom for potty training this winter!!! I just spent 80 dollars on two sizes of diapers at Sam's this week!

13. And the best reason is that it IS NOT THIS YUCKY RENTAL HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Finally Going Home...

After five months of living in a pretty yucky rental house, we finally bought a house. Shane kept it a secret all last week! I had one of the most depressed weeks of my life. We had narrowed it down to two houses and Shane said we were buying the "stinky" house. I was horrified, upset, sad just to name a few. I spent the whole week praying about supporting my husband, but my heart was really not there. Well, after 4 days of fighting about it, Shane gave me my birthday card early. Inside was a picture of this house with the words, "The papers were signed on Thursday." WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to hit him and kiss him all at the same time. It was the house I really wanted. After I literally sobbed for about 10 minutes, I thanked him. He had no idea the spiritual roller coaster I had been on for days! Sometimes his sense of humor and desire to suprise goes a little too far! Oh well, I knew darn well what I was getting into when I married him. The only bummer in this story is we don't close on it until the end of Oct. Well, the Lord carried me this far, what's a few more weeks. I told Shane though that once I move into this house, it will be a long time before I consider having a moving truck show up at my door any time soon. For heavens sake, I have lived in five states since 2001!

Black and White

I love taking pictures. Although, my camera can do way more than I know how to do. I love playing with the settings. I ordered these in 8x10's and I have to say I am pretty proud of myself. Avery's eyes in this picture are just mezmerizing. I see this picture of Reece and it scares me how fast time is flying with him already and how much he has changed. Photographs say so much more than we think when we first take them. I know we can't take anything with us in heaven and we won't even miss our material possessions, but there is a part of me that is sad thinking about not seeing these for eternity. I am clearly in a weird and sentimental mood today. I guess since I am turning 28 tomorrow and the dreaded 30 is closing in, I am getting a little nostalgic. I am so thankful for Avery and Reece and so thankful that God gives us memories to remember these sweet moments.

Thursday Thirteen

13 Of The Best Mom Gadgets and Gizmos

1. My fleurville slingtote diaperbag

2. Dirty diaper baggies for masking the smell while searching desperately for a trash can that is distant from lots of people

3. The shopping cart cover, did anyone see the GMA test that showed this was the most germ infested area, above toilets, playgrounds, dr. offices?

4. The plastic disposable mats for tables and the disposable bibs. Definitely not helping the environment on these two products, but they are amazing in terms of germs and keeping the diaper bag clean!

5. My "hooter hider" for breastfeeding, super cute and trendy, but very helpful in making me feel less embarassed.

6. Hylands teething tablets, Avery thought they were candy and I actually got some sleep.

7. Finally finding organic snacks in little bags to throw in the diaper bag

8. Avalon Organics baby soap, sunscreen, powder, etc. Smells good, safe to use, no toxins.

9. The baby bjorn, my son hates the carseat and shopping has become so much easier since I started putting him in this instead.

10. Babygap socks, they have a line of stitching through the middle to keep them on Reece's feet, he can't reallly even pull them off yet!

11. Purell, for all of us germaphobes out there! I even bathed Avery's feet in it after one trip to Chick-fil-a without socks!

12. Rainforest aquarium thing that hooks onto the crib. Reece actually falls asleep finally on his own. Definitely not the poster child for babywise like Avery was.

13. My Peg-Perego double stroller that I found half off at BabiesRUs before I was even pregnant with Reece!

Wordless Wednesday

Reece's feet

Moms have breakdowns too...

Does anyone else has moments like this? Don't get me wrong. The majority of the time it is great and fun. But then there are the moments where I have pulled the covers up over my head, while both of my kids are screaming, and cried myself. I try to laugh at it the next moment. How ridiculous I must look! But this cartoon says it all.

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things I love about being a Mom...

1. Having two people that I know absolutely adore me.
2. Having two people that I can shower with love and kisses.
3. Staying home with them.
4. Seeing the world through their eyes.
5. Being silly and making them laugh
6. Watching a piece of my husband walking around in "miniature" form.
7. Watching a miracle happen every day in their growth.
8. Hearing the funny comments or thoughts from Avery.
9. Watching Reece jump in pure joy.
10. There's nothing like watching my children's eyes light up, it makes me tear up seeing them so happy.
11. Dressing them up, it's just a glorified version of playing dolls... let's be honest about that ladies! :)
12. Decorating their rooms.
13. Teaching them new things and watching them then go and do it. I think this process is so amazing.

Wordless Wednesday

Little Helper

Avery is extremely o.c.d. and when Shane took the windows out of his jeep she was determined to get them back on! She was quite upset and Shane distracted her by letting her "help" him. Yes, that is a can of WD-40. Thankfully, she had no idea how to actually use it. I can imagine her being crazy about fixing every little squeak in the house!