Vacation

We recently went on Vacation to NM. The girls and I went for about two weeks and Kyle joined us for the last week. It was a WONDERFUL time away and time spent with my family!!! Here are a few pictures of our time:

    

Just Sayin’

Just wanted to let you know that we are still among the living and I have not given up on blogging. We have been computer less for about two months now… and well… it’s pretty darn hard to blog without a computer. So, I am happy to say that we now have new computer and I will be blogging my little heart out very soon… as soon as I figure out how to use our new computer! Hee hee! :)

Kid-o Update

Here is a short update on the kid-o's. :)


Brenley is 8 months old and I LOVE this stage. She is learning and changing daily, almost hourly. Here are some things she is doing now:

Crawling EVERY WHERE and VERY fast.

Pulling up to a standing position, which has made for a more difficult time going down for naps because she just wants to practice pulling up.

She "talks" all the time and the louder it gets in the room the louder she "talks," this little one might just want to be the center of attention all the time.

She loves to play "chase" with Ryland around the hallway in our house. She chases her and Ryland loves it.... so do I! ;)

She eats all her fruits and veggies very well. The only thing she has not been extremely fond of is peaches, but she will eat them through the protesting.

She has begun feeding herself finger foods.

She growl/coughs at people. She does it in hopes of getting a laugh out of you and then thinks it is extremely funny.

She gives kisses with her nose anytime you ask for one.

Her and Ryland have the best time in the car laughing and playing peek-a-boo with one another.

She is NOT found of baths or staying still while getting her diaper changed.

She might just be a drummer or something musical when she grows up because she loves to bang her hand or any toy on any surface.

She takes two great naps. Morning nap is about an hour and the afternoon nap is about 2 to 3 hours. Although nighttime sleeps is still not perfect. She usually wakes up at least once a night or maybe twice and want to nurse both times. But I'm not too worried that this won't take care of itself since she puts herself to sleep wonderfully.

Still no teeth, but I see two little pearly buds on her bottom jaw.

There is no doubt about the fact that she is a mama's girl. But I love it!


Here are a few things that Ryland, 28 months is into:

She talks all the time and VERY well. I can have just about any conversation with her that I want to and she will respond to me in full sentences.

She plays extremely well with Brenley, but is NOT into sharing her toys. I made the mistake of telling her not to let Brenley play with anything small so she would not choke on it and now Ryland says, it's too small for her, even when clearly it's not.

She is a friend's friend. Anywhere we go, she wants to play with any kid there. She will play whatever game they want to play as long as they play with her. She just LOVES other kids and I love to watch her interact with them.

She is very careful but does not have fear. She prefers the big kid slides over the little ones and wants to go down 500 times in a row.

She is a pretty good eater, but does not like hot or warm food at all. She is always afraid it's too hot to eat and blows on anything that is not flat out cold to the touch.

She loves to go shopping and totally has it down. While we walk around the store, she asks me if I like things or tells me what she likes. She picks out toys to buy for her friends birthdays and LOVES to give gifts to people. She also picks out her own clothes and shoes just about everyday. For the most part she is very fashionable and can match clothes well.

She loves to dance to any music and is getting better about being on beat.

She is really into playing pretend these days, which entails her telling me I'm not Mommy, I'm some character and she is a different character. Sometimes this games lasts all day, which I think is totally fun and makes for some funny conversations.

She is more of a Daddy's girl right now. He puts her to bed at night and her absolute favorite thing to do is go with him to get donuts on his day off.

She does NOT like looking at the camera when I am the one taking her picture. I think it's more a battle of wills then it is a not like taking her picture thing, so we are beginning to work on it. Thus the face in her picture in this post... that is her "I don't want to face."

More Endless Gratitude.

More Endless Gratitude. :)

31. For a sister who always brightens my day and loves my babies well!

32. For sweet tea that comes in a jar.

33. For questions about life from my two-year-old.

34. For healthy babies.

35. For great old testament stories that have you on the edge of your seat while reading.

36. For a really great afternoon snack enjoyed in the silence of nap-time.

37. For days spent with my best friend Whitney and her two sweet babies.

38. For worship music pouring out of my kitchen.

39. For wonderful smelling hand soap.

40. For cool breezes flooding my home when the windows are wide open.

41. Watching a relationship bud.

42. Finding the perfect gift for someone.

43. For lunches out.

44. For traveling anywhere with my family.

45. Birds that sing me awake in the morning and sunlight that fills my room.

46. For long kisses in the morning before Kyle rushes out the door.

47. Daydreaming about the future with my husband.

48. Fat baby bottoms accompanied by rolly-polly thighs.

49. Finding real green chili deep in Tex-Mex country.

50. The cut flowers from my backyard that now fill my house.

...

Painted Nails

I painted Ryland's nails for the first time the other day. She absolutely LOVED it! She loves to show people and when they say, "oh, how pretty your nails are" she says, "yes, I'm beautiful!"

Kyle on the other hand was not too fond of this idea. I had no idea that he would have an opinion about this, but he does and I'm not sure we'll be painting nails again anytime soon. More discussions on this will come, but for now, she is enjoying her pink finger nails! :)

Endless Gratitude.

12. For being able to talk out my ideas with close friends.

13. For the encouragement from my Husband to continue the path laid before me.

14. This blog, for being a place to capture my thoughts.

15. For cartoons to hold my children's attention so that I can accomplish a task. (Please refrain from judgement)

16. For the sweet nature of this friend whom I love.

17. For the truthful, valuable conversations from this friend who the Lord has taught me so much.

18. For the salvation of my parents friends!

19. For beautiful blue bonnets lining the highways.

20. For a clean kitchen when I first wake up in the morning.

21. For the sweet smell of newborn skin.

22. For a house to call our own, that fits our needs right now.

23. For a husband with a mind that is always on.

24. For toothless grins from across the room.

25. For having great conversations with my two-year-old.

26. For the way Kyle's cologne lingers in the bathroom long after he's gone to work.

27. For phone calls from Kyle just to see how I am doing.

28. For long talks with my Dad about deep spiritual things.

29. For having an "on-call" doctor in my mom.

30. For the sweet bitterness of coffee in the morning.

Weekend Wonderings.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; 

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

For He is our God, 

and we are the people of His pasture,

and the sheep of his hand. 

Today, if you hear His voice, 

do not harden your hearts 

Psalm 95:6-8

Happy weekend and may you journey with a worshipful heart and heed to His voice! 

New iPhone App LOVE

The app is called Hipstamatic and it let's you change the lens/film/flash settings. Oh so much fun! :)

Consider This.

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 

James 5:11

My Marriage to God is NOT a Partnership Either

As a follow-up to my post about my marriage to Kyle, my marriage to the Lord is not a partnership either. This is a view I find fairly typical in church communities. That we somehow deserve for God to do certain things for us or make us feel certain ways because ... well just because. That I should feel something spiritual every time I open my bible to read. That I should be blessed with good Christian friends. That my family should be saved. That turmoil should not come. That I deserved this baby. That I deserve a good husband.  .... The list could go on. That we should be blessed because we "gave" Him a certain amount of our time today. Or that we "gave" him an amount of money to use, therefore we should be blessed. That we deserve blessings at all.

Not only has my view on marriage been completely selfish, so has, and more importantly, my view on God has been. He sent His Son to die, to cover our multitude of sins, so that we will spend an eternity in His presence. This gift is there for the taking. He woos us to Him and calls us by name into His Elect. We answer the call and that should be enough. But it isn't. We want health, we want security, we want happiness and we think that if we do or act accordingly it will be ours. Ha! So far from the truth. We are to serve the Lord and do His Will and find our joy and hope in our salvation alone. We are forever indebted to Him and yet, we selfishly seek "fulfillment" from Him.

It's a lot like my role as a parent. I am sure there will always be things that, in the eyes of my children, I could do better or different, but they don't get to tell me how to parent. I am doing what is best for them, even if it's not fun most of the time. I don't get to tell the Lord how He should be acting towards me, He decided what is best and what will bring Him the most glory.

During my readings in Ruth the other day, Naomi (Ruth's mother-in-law) had to loose her husband and her two sons so that Ruth could marry Boaz and through their son would come the lineage of David. At the time of Naomi's loss, she thought the Lord had afflicted her, but He had a plan for something much larger. And thus, in our lives, there is a much larger plan at stake. It's not really about us at all, it's about bringing glory to Him and letting Him use us for His purpose.

Again, hard stuff, even harder to live out. But He is merciful and just in all that He does. My hope is in Him and my heart is not in this earthly home.

Marriage in NOT a Partnership

I have always looked at marriage as a partnership. A relationship in which a husband and a wife work together for a common goal. To build a family, to make a home, to live a full life with one another. But is biblical marriage really that of a partnership?

Kyle and I will be celebrating our 7th year of marriage this June and all in all we have had a happy, healthy, warm relationship. But, we have this cycle of arguments (which I find is most common in marriages) throughout these 7 years. It all stems from the fact that Kyle does not do the things the I deem appropriate for him to do as a husband. What I am saying is that there is this standard set of what a husband should do to please his wife and what a wife should do to please her husband. And typically Kyle has not fit into the role I think he should.

Here is how it works out in my brain: it originates in the area of household chores and maintenance. I have deemed our relationship a partnership and therefore we should help each other by completing tasks around the house. But really that means I think he should help take out the trash, pick up his dirty laundry, help with the girls, do the yard work, maintenance on the house/cars, and any other odd jobs I deem necessary at the time. So, basically I get to tell him what to do to help me which equals I get to tell him how to show me love and respect. But, if in the end he is only doing those things because I want him to, it isn't ever going to be enough. There will always be something else needing done or maybe he was so busy doing all that he forgot to ask me how my day was or tell me I looked beautiful.

Although, most people would agree that a husbands role is to do and serve his family in every way he can. To not be lazy and to lead his family. I agree with that philosophy, but for some reason this has always worked its way out selfishly in our relationship. I want him to fit into the role I have created for him, he doesn't, so in turn I don't feel loved or appreciated enough and I start to grow bitter and resentful towards him. This truly has been the cycle of our relationship over the past 7 years. There have been times where he is doing it all right and I feel great about the man I choose to marry and then there are times he totally fails to fill my role (meet my needs) and I resent him and search out ways to help him see what he can do to change.

But, over the past year I have grown to know more truth then this. Our relationship is not a partnership at all. I don't get to decide what he should do to make me happy. I don't get to tell him what chores he is responsible for. I don't get to nag him about taking out the trash. AND I don't get to grow bitter when he fails.

Our relationship is that of a servant. And NOT that of being servant to one another, it is solely that of serving the Lord. I am to expect nothing from him and in return serve the Lord the best I know how. To live out my role as a wife for the Lord. To answer the Lord's calling. To clean as though I am cleaning for the Lord. To minister to my children as though the Lord was standing right there. To not make up this fictitious list of things for my husband to do to selfishly make me happy, but to love him unconditionally. Whatever that may look like, even if he one day decided he would never again be taking out the trash, my role is to honor the Lord and serve my husband well. In the same respect, his role as my husband should be to serve me and our children as though he was serving the Lord. I cannot make him do this, but I can pray for him and can see the joy that waits for him in that choice.

I get that this is totally contrary to the way the world views marriage. But, I know that joy does not lie in selfishness. Getting Kyle to accomplish the tasks I have set out for him to do only leads me further away from the Lord. Serving Kyle because I love the Lord and in turn love my husband is where fulfillment and joy are.

Please bare with me on this idea. I am still processing it and am defiantly struggling to live it out. But, I am facing a battle not won when I try to meet Kyle's need or show him love the way I think he receives it. I am trying to meet his needs and in turn hoping that he will meet mine. But reality is hitting me that no matter how wonderful he can be or how selfish, my needs will only be met by the Lord and if I press into Him then He will  win the battle.

Thousand Gifts

I LOVE reading this blog! It is the one that if I don't have time to read all of them, I read this one no matter what. I have been encouraged, convicted and spurred towards Christ through this blog. 
She has put together a project in which you count a Thousand Gifts in your life that you are thankful for, the things that the Lord gives us just because he loves us and his love is merciful. 
So, here I go, I am starting my list of 1000 things. Just note, these are in NO order, just how they randomly come out as I type:
1. My savior Jesus Christ and His wooing of my soul. 
2. The love that my husband gives me, even in the moments I don't give it in return. 
3. My children for speeding up the sanctification process. 
4. My parents for teaching me the true meaning of the gospel and live it out as an example. 5. My sister for loving me and my family the way she does. 
6. The family I married for accepting me for the person I am and not disowning me when my dirt shows. 
7. For Kyle's parents and the way they raised their son to love with his whole being. 
8. For baby laughs filling the hallway of my home.
9. For that "thorn in my side" that continues to drive me to the mercy seat of the Lord.
10. For the friends that the Lord placed in our life to grow us in depth and knowledge of Christ. 
11. For the way the bible is written and how I never regret the time I spend studying, it only makes me hunger for more. 
......

Life.

Life has gotten in the way of blogging... but it's better that I neglect the blog and not my family. :) I will revisit you when I get around to it. Thanks for standing by.

Hello Monday!

Tomorrow.

Update #2: 

We got a call from the Surgeon and there are NO roots and he does not see the need for removal at this point. We were instructed to watch it and if continues to grow then we will want to remove it for cosmetic sake, but at this point she is fine. Thank you for all your prayers!  

Update:

Thank you for all your prayers! She was calm all morning and didn't not need anything to complete the scan! They just laid her in the little baby cocoon and let us talk to her the entire time. Ten minutes later we were done! The Lord totally granted fullness to her belly and calmness to her other-wise not calm nature! 

We will know the results of the scan in 3 to 4 days. Please pray for no tentacles and that the removal process will be a simple one. Thanks so much!   

Tomorrow is the day of our CT Scan. It happens at 10:30am in which our starving child (since I have to stop feeding at 4:30am) will be given a sedative to do the scan. If she is not calm enough with the sedative they will put her under. I do not know what that will really look like or how quickly we'll be able to leave after that. I am really at peace with this whole situation. I know that the Lord is in control. I know that He wove together every part of Brenley and she has been perfectly made for His purpose.

Please pray that she not be hungry tomorrow morning. Also that the sedative will work great and that she won't need to be put under for the scan. Please also pray that the scan show everything it needs to clearly so that we can make an informed decision on how to proceed with removal. Thank you for walking though this with us.