Thankful Thursday

God's redeeming grace.

Baby Update

I had my first actual baby appointment today. I got to see the baby for the first time, although it wasn't a very good picture. The due date is right on and we're headed for December. Twelve weeks down and 28 to go...maybe more, we'll find out. Two months until the next ultrasound, hopefully we'll be able to find out the sex then.

Please Pray

Well, as I said, I knew there was a reason that God wanted me to commit Psalm 50:15 to my memory. Nothing has hit home within my family, but it has definitely hit within our neighborhood of dear friends. If you could please pray for both families I would appreciate it.

First, one of Chris's dear friends from childhood (the mom had them married in her mind) was shot to death by her husband. I don't know the full details. I have heard what the newspapers have said and I have heard what her mother (who was in the room along with her two boys-8&2) has said. Anyway, the point is that she and another man (supposedly her lover, but NOT confirmed) were both shot and killed on Wednesday. As I said, her eight year old and two year old (thereabouts) and mother were there when it happened. I am most worried about the eight year old as he can fully comprehend, but probably hasn't quite developped that type of coping skills. The father is still on the loose and no one knows where he is headed.

Secondly, a family from our church in Indiana has been wanting for children for a LONG time. They tried every method they could think of and finally settled on adoption. They have been waiting for the phone call for probably a year now that there was a child for them. They recieved the call 2 weeks ago and were elated. Some issues arose and it was drawn out longer than orignally expected, but they were still going to be parents. They drove all the way to the east coast and the mother never showed with the baby. She said she just couldn't do it...which I completely understand as a mother, but to drag them this couple through two weeks and over a thousand miles of hope like that. So, they are obviously reeling from having their heads above the clouds with hope and joy and then being crushed to the depths of the ocean as they were denied the hope they held in their hands.

I have cried for both families and know that they are both leaning on the Lord very heavily in this, their times of trouble. I thank God that I have this verse fresh in my mind to apply to this crazy, uncertain world.

Christian Mac Vs. PC

This was shared with us at our message this past weekend. I thought it was GREAT! Just had to share.

Psalm 50:15

Ok. I don't know if God is getting me prepared for something bad or if He is just telling me to keep on trusting in Him with this house issue. But, yesterday I started reading Redemption by Karen Kingsbury and it's a story about a woman who's in a bad situation at the moment. One of the verses she finds that comforts her some is Psalm 50:15. I thought I hope I can keep that verse in mind when I need it. This morning my "It's Not About Me" study? Yeah, it was on My Struggles are About Him. Guess what verse came up again? Woah! I don't like when God repeats things like that to me. I won't be forgetting Psalm 50:15 for awhile. I guess what bothers me about it is that this house issue, doesn't seem very bad at all to me right now. Especially compared to other situations where I would need to trust God completely. So, if I am blogging sometime soon about something terrible that has happened in my life, please remind me about Psalm 50:15. And if not, I hope that this verse is what someone needs RIGHT now. God is an awesome God and I trust Him...even in the "icky" situations.

Psalm 50:15 And call upon mein the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

Happy!

OOPS! I think I might have possibly taught Libby a bad habit. Today Chris and I were super tired so Chris asked Libby if she wanted to take a nap. She said, "No...happy." Chris said, "Great! I wonder where she got that from?" I said, "I don't know. I didn't teach her that." Chris said, "Oh yes you did! What do you say when she wants you to get up from the couch and you don't want to?" Oh yeah! That would be, "No thank you. I'm happy!"

Thankful Thursday

Weird dreams that make you giggle when you think about them in the morning.

I think I've been blogging too much or something because last night my weird dream was about Alexis and Val. I went to Alexis's apartment because Libby had spent the night there. (I think we were both living in Ohio?) The twist, her kids were Maia and Noah. Anyway, I had decorated her apartment (it looked awful, but she seemed to like it) and now it was her turn to decorate mine. The only problem was that Val was supposed to help and we had to figure out how to pay for her to get there. Then my mom and dad came over to help Alexis get things ready for a yard sale. Libby was crying in the background because she didn't want me to be there so my mom told me to leave because I wasn't wanted at Alexis's place.

Yea for dreams. Where does the mind come up with these crazy things?

Leonardo and Lucky Dog

Chris and I had a great date tonight. I love date night (thank you Kaleah)!

Anyway, today Libby and I went to town to get two cent stamps, which led to the library and the park and ice cream. We got home and I sat down to play around on the computer. I was at An Iowa Mom's blog and she was having one of those frustrating, can't I do anything right days. So I was in the process of commenting her when I realized that MY house was an absolute mess and I had an hour and a half to clean the entire house before Kaleah would be here. Some super mom cleaning and a little bit of help from daddy (once he got home from work) and we were safe!

So then we went to this restaurant called Davinci's in down town Dubuque. I wasn't quite expecting it to be so fancy and expensive, but it was worth it. The food was delicious and filling. I don't think we would make a regular date night, but definitely good for those "special" dates. We considered tonights as our anniversary date. (It's coming up in about 11 days anyway.) After dropping the big money there we went on over to the river boat casino. This was our first trip since moving here. I absolutely LOVE to play the nickel slots! But tonight we found something even better...penny slots. Hey, we don't play to get rich! Anyway, we played five dollars each and I lost mine in a matter of minutes because I didn't switch my machine to pennies, but Chris on the other hand...lucky little boy! He played the pennies and gained my $5 back plus an extra 56 cents. We aren't exactly what you would call hard core gamblers. We just play for a little bit of free fun. :) Anyway, looking forward to next time we can go have some free entertainment again. I love having a little bit of "Chris" time. It keeps life in perspective.

Oh yeah, on a totally different note...I wanted for one full non-morning sick week so I didn't jinx myself. ONE FULL WEEK (ok...almost) of no sickness. I can eat again! Yea!

Outside Please!

 

 

This is what I see at least 3 or 4 times a day. If we don't spend at least an hour outside a day, mommy is in TROUBLE! She is so funny though. That day she happened to not even want clothes on to go outside and play. Today, on the other hand, she had to have her winter footie pajamas and her coat on before she would go outside...and she wouldn't take them off until we got home again. Crazy kid! What a joy being a parent is...most of the time.

Tricycle...Who Needs One of Those?

 

 

Yeah, daddy put the training wheels on the bike that the Ni's so generously gave us. Libby absolutely loved sitting on the seat and having daddy push her around. Well, for the first minute or two. I think that she would like having her tricycle here a little more though. Besides, I don't need her growing up too fast.

Love You Too, Mommy

These are the most precious words any mommy could ever here. Libby has just started saying this and I am LOVING it. She is so precious. I treasure these moments knowing that some day, it will be the opposite that I am hearing. I don't look forward to those days, but I know they come with the territory of parenting. In the mean time, I will enjoy my little girl's lovins. I am just going to bask in these words for now.

Mommy, Daddy

We decided to watch "Shrek" last night for lack of anything better to do. Libby was enthralled by it. I think it was the cartoon quality that amused her. At one point when Shrek and the princess are coming back to Duloc Libby walked up to the screen and pointed to the princess and said, "Mommy," and then pointed to Shrek and said, "Daddy." Daddy wasn't too impressed, but I thought it was funny.

Oh, and this morning when we getting ready for church Libby told daddy she was going to bring daddy his shoes. We were waiting with rapt attention for her to come back because we wanted to see which shoes she brought back. That little smarty pants brought the right shoes back and shot us a look like, "You expected anything less?" Such a smart little girl.

Makes You Think!

God chastised me yesterday. I was reading all of my friend bloggers and I ran across a picture and a small excerpt on Jason's page (he used to be the youth pastor at my parent's church). Anyway...he had a picture of an older gentleman from a local HOMELESS shelter with the biggest smile on his face because he had just been baptized. Ouch! Here I am taking my God forgranted and whining that we have a house we can't get rid of and that we are still renting. How much do you want to bet that this fellow would LOVE to switch places with my life? And you know what else? If I weren't a Christian, he would probably just as soon tell me to keep my life because he'd rather be homeless and have Christ than to have a house and NO Christ.

Thank you God for caring for the rich, the poor and the in between. Thank you God for being my Saviour. Please forgive me God for taking your love and your provisions forgranted. Thank you for the roof over my head and the food in my pantry. Thank you that YOU know what will happen and it will all fit into YOUR plan for my life. Amen

Please check Jason's site out and check the awesome picture out. He's right there in my side bar.

Still Alive

Wow! It's been awhile since I've ACTUALLY posted on here. We did our trip to Indiana this past weekend. It didn't really make me despise Indiana like I usually do. I really liked being in a house, MY house and didn't want to leave. So is life though.

I have been comforted through my devotions though. I've been doing "It's Not About Me" by Max Lucado. I realize this concept and don't doubt it, but sometimes it's good to refresh your own memory through books so that God doesn't have to through experience (been through both). Anyway, one of the chapters was talking about eternity and how it's ok to go through some discomfort on earth because, seriously, it really is just a moment in the overall scheme of things. I am going to be with my Lord and King FOREVER so what is 6 months to a year of misery? I shouldn't be thinking about the fact that things aren't going my way. I should be thinking about the day I get to see God. I think that right now we just need to be patient. Of course, I don't see any other option at the moment either considering I'm pregnant. If we were to have to switch to a new insurance now that would be a pre-existing condition and well, we'd have to pay for EVERYTHING!

After the trip I went through a few days that I didn't want to do ANYTHING. Of course that is assuming I wasn't hanging over the toilet. Luckily, yesterday God decided to cut me a break and so far I'm still feeling ok. This is good. My house is a MESS now and I need to do some catching up on cleaning. Yesterday was Libby's day, today is daddy's...and he'd like to be able to have a clean house.

I think that is about it for now. Hopefully I will be feeling a little better and keep up with my posting since I feel better.

Update: Well that stinks! I barely got off of the here and went back to throw up. We shall see what today holds.

You know you've been hanging over the toilet too much when...

...your daughter starts using you as a jungle gym while you are throwing up!

Tagged

I've been tagged. Val from Purple Valley tagged me and meme's are fun...so let the fun begin.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1.) Chris and I are 6 years apart in age, just as my grandpa and grandma. We also were married on Memorial Day weekend (on Sunday), just as my grandpa and grandma (but not on Sunday). And this year, the second of the 9 grandkids to get married will also be getting married on Memorial Day weekend. Family traditions...although not on purpose.

2.) Both of our children were conceived in rentals. Libby was conceived at the nasty Warsaw apartment and this one was obvioulsy conceived in this rental house here in Dubuque.

3.) When I was little and my teeth were just growing, for the first time, I tripped and fell into the bath tub and shoved the front two back up in my gums. When they grew again, I tripped and fell into the coffee table and shoved them back up in my gums again. Then in the fourth grade I had a gym accident which just broke them completely. Now, my two front teeth are fake.

4.) I went to the same church (Hillcrest Baptist) for the first 18 years of my life before changing churches. That's a long story I won't get into though. Since then I have attended 6 different churches.

5.) In high school I told my sister that my car radio was broken and would take the chip out that controlled the radio when she was in there so she couldn't listen to it. Let's just say I was the "goody two shoes" and thought I could control her...not so!

6.) Libby was due March 13 and was born on March 27 to become an Easter baby. This baby is due December 12 and if it is as late as Libby (one day shy) it will be a Christmas baby.

7.) I was a goalie on our girl's soccer team for two years in high school. I quit my junior year because I was afraid this freshman was going to take over my posistion. Who knows if she would have or not...I shouldn't have quit out of fear though.

I am tagging:
Alexis from Ramblings from Life
Wendy from An Iowa Mom
Angie from Keeping of Time
Brandie from Skipping Along
Deanna from The Greene Family Album
Erin at Christian, Camden & Carter's Mommy
Traci at Elmo Loves

Have fun!

Iowa Moms

Ok, so I know that most of the people who read my blog don't live in Iowa, but for the miniscule chance that someone happens by my site today from Iowa, I'm gonna post about this cool new website. An Iowa Mom has been a very busy woman (I don't know how she gets it all done with FOUR kids under age eight at home), but she has started a new website just for Iowa moms to be able to connect and know they aren't alone in this great state. The address is www.iowamoms.com. Go check it out, make your free profile and get connected. The more the merrier!

Vacation?

Ok, I try REALLY hard not to complain on my blog. Everybody has their own problems to deal with, they don't want to hear about mine too. But today, I just need to vent...so hear goes nothing. If you don't want to hear it, don't read it, I'll never know, I promise!

We have been in Dubuque for 7 months now. The house has been on the market for 7 months now. NO ONE wants it! How is this possible? Are Chris and I truly that bad of house designers? I just want to live in MY house again. I am so glad we are able to rent a HOUSE, but it still isn't MY house. I keep thinking that if we were still in Warsaw we could have had the basement FINISHED by now...or close to it. I thought that we were supposed to be out here. How do you really KNOW what God is saying? I want to go outside and play on our 5 acres and push Libby on her swing set. I want to watch her as she plays with the neighbor girl who is not much older than her.

I think that I just want to go home for awhile. It's not like anyone else wants it. I have actually had thoughts today that maybe we should just move back to Indiana. We'll see if those feelings are still there this weekend when we go back. Anyway, I would just like to have my own house again and I wish that there were a light at the end of this tunnel. At this moment, I think the only light is keeping our house in Indiana and going back. To bad Chris doesn't have a job there anymore. I guess I'll just leave it up to God. I know he is in control and I know he has his plans and his timing. Ok, I'll stop annoying you all now. Thanks for letting me vent for a bit.

Deal or No Deal

We don't watch Deal or No Deal often. Maybe twice a month or something, but the other day, they kept playing the commercial for it over and over. So now if you say, "Deal or no deal," Libby says, "No deal, no deal!" She gets this cute little smile when she says it. It's so cute. I keep trying to tell Chris that I should send a video in and try to get on the show. IF Libby would do that on camera I would be a shoo-in! :D