Giggles and Bubbles

1/11/11

My little girl is getting big. She is already 3 months (in 4 days)! Look at the difference in her size with the giraffe. This picture is of her at 2 weeks old and the one below is current.

Tonight Abigail was in a good mood and just tried to talk my ear off like she did last night. It's so cute! When she started to get tired I took her to get a bath...she loves baths. As I started bathing her and talking to her she started giggling like crazy. It was a continuous giggle instead of a spurt of giggles. It warmed my heart. Of course I called Kyle in to hear her laugh as I talked to her. The other thing she is doing the past day or so is making bubbles in her mouth. I love being a mom and I love my Abigail. She is the cutest thing I've ever seen (biased opinion of course...every mom has the cutest kid). Anyways, she's sleeping and so is my hubby so it's off to bed!

My cutie-pie!

Gentle and Quiet

I am so excited to start a new study called, Discerning the Voice of God, by Priscilla Shirer. I think she is my favorite speaker. I went to a conference a couple years ago and God used her in a mighty way to speak to me. Now I think He's going to use her book to speak to me more (of course along with the Bible).

Lately I have had a couple frustrations. The biggest deals with family and it's tough when that happens. I used to be a huge people pleaser when I was young and wouldn't ever say a word when I disagreed with something. But when I was an upperclassman in high school that started to change. I got more confident in myself through Christ. When I went to Liberty I really saw passion for the Word of God. They stand for the truth and don't back off for anyone. I learned a lot there and took that fire they had. I felt that I have had to stand for the truth lately and it's amazing what God can say through someone. But the problem is when the person or people you speak truth to don't agree. It's hard when deception runs so deep they think they're fighting for Christ. It's hard when things start to unravel and you see poor choices made without fully assessing the situation, and consequences of the future. It's really hard when it involves other believers. Satan is a tricky fellow...he can twist the Word of God just a hair but it makes it completely wrong. He knows how to divide believers and families.

Anyways, now it's hard for me to not dwell on fixing things and dwell fully on Christ. Satan wants me to not focus on Christ but the problem. My mission is to glorify Him. I have in confronting, now I need to in waiting and praying. Keeping my mouth shut is hard now, unlike the past. I want to be that woman of a gentle and quiet spirit like 1 Peter 3 talks about. I don't want to disobey God now after I have followed Him for the rest of this situation. I want to lift up my eyes to the One who shines the most. I want my heart to be pure and clean before the Lord....

"but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."

1 Peter 3:4

Lord, help me to seek You and focus on only You!

A little piece of heaven :)

New Year

As I reflect back on 2010, I see the many hardships I went through with being pregnant and everything. I knew it would be worth it, and it definitely was. As I sit here watching my little girl sleep and seeing the snow fall, I can't help but be excited.

I don't usually make goals a big deal in January because everyone seems to do it and most fail. But I do want some goals because staying home and having a baby changes things. Here are some that I have thought of mentally.

• Get back my pre-baby physique with Chalene!
• Do a devotional study with someone else to be challenged
• Seek the Lord more each day about when to open my mouth and when to keep it closed
• Encourage my husband as much as possible with his hard work...see him succeed with J2!
• Not get in a lull with my daughter. Teach her everyday and pay attention so she can reach her God-given potential

I'm very excited for this year. There's going to be several weddings of good friends and I get to watch my daughter grow, and I won't be pregnant....haha (I like like my regular body better). Happy 2011!

Date Night

So last night was our second date out without our little girl. It was fun. We went out to the mall and shopped around but didn't buy anything. Then we used a Chick fil a gift card that we got for Christmas and had some yummy dinner. Then we went home and relaxed for a little while.

I realize how much I'm changing. Being a mom is pretty much everything I dreamed but more. I love my little girl more than I ever thought possible. Her smiles and giggles bring tears to my eyes everyday cause it makes me so happy and I don't want the time to pass so fast. A lot of parents want to get to the next stage with their children but I just want to take advantage of every moment I have with her even when it's not fun. But in my changing I see how ridiculous materialistic things are. Like people thinking that they have to have a movie channel of movies they never watch and expensive cars. I watched this show called Hoarders and it makes me sick that people have these disorders of being so attached to their stuff. People in foreign countries would be sick over the attachment that takes place. I would love to see these people taken from their homes and put in a destitute third world country for 2 months and see what happens to their "disease" or disorder.

To everyone reading this I say to be intentional with your life. Spend time with friends and family. Teach your children and show them love. When you're tired after work think about the hours you're going to spend in front of the TV and spend them with the Lord instead or your family.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas (according to the church calendar it is a 12 day celebration that ends on January 6th) and a Happy New Year!

2010 coming to an end

12/28/10

My Christmas angel :)

I love Abigail's face in this one!!!

Life is going by so fast. Today Abigail laughed like an adult when Kyle tickled her....it was so cute. Christmas was great. We got spoiled wayyy too much from my parents, but it was fun :). Abigail got lots of new dresses, most of her gifts were dresses. But they are going to look so cute.

I am trying to not miss any moments with my little girl. She is going through a growth spurt as of yesterday and is eating A LOT. She's wearing me out! lol. But I love her more everyday. I don't get annoyed when she is fussy, I just want to make it better and cuddle with her. She seems to want lots of stimulation and is ready to learn. Therefore, I have made up some things for her to look at and learn. I got little blocks of different shapes and colors and show them to her and tell her what they are. I colored paper and am going through colors with them spelled out. Whatever the hand touches, the brain learns. So I am trying show her how to use her hands...she's such a doll.

Now that I can exercise full force I am! My parents got me Turbo Fire. One word...AMAZING. 2o weeks of intense cardio conditioning, oh yeah. My body is sore when I walk or just move, that's what I like! A nutrition goal I have is to get at least 8 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Nutrition is actually more important than exercise. What you do nutrition wise sets the stage for your body to burn calories efficiently, lose weight, take in minerals and vitamins, and keep your body "fueling" properly. I love this stuff! My wish for everyone is that they'd have a passion to be healthy!!! It can truly be fun if you give it a chance. My life is worth it and it's worth it for Jesus!!

Radical "Ezer"

"Ezer" is the Hebrew word, helper, in the Old Testament and is used in reference to the specific role given to women by God. I feel that it is my duty to fully embrace my God-given role as a wife and mother. I feel so privileged that God has blessed me and given me what I wished my entire life.

As you can see, I have been majorly slacking on blog posts and I haven't been on facebook as much. Well, after having Abigail, I was still giving myself tons of projects and trying to take care of her and the house and then trying to take pictures of my projects to blog about! Whew, too much work! I have decided that blogging is fun but it's too low on my list of things to do. Abigail is now over 2 months old (can't believe it!) and my main goal is focus on her as much as I can by loving her, giving her attention, and intentionally teaching her. She is like is this little sponge that is soaking up EVERYTHING and I don't want to be pre-occupied with other things. I am still doing projects and crafting here and there but I just don't have time to let everyone in on everything I'm doing.

Therefore, as my role of "Ezer" I will not be posting as much. But I will be posting on my life and the life of mothering Abigail. Right now she loves to look at everything and coos and tries to talk. She is the joy of my life besides the Father.

Busy Life

Ok, so it's been forever! I am so busy with my baby girl and watching her grow that being on the computer isn't a priority right now....I'm in the midst of many things happening in my life.

1. Reading - I am reading 3 different books and they are intense ones....one is about nutrition, the other exercise therapy, and the last is a Montessori book on things to do with Abigail from birth to 3 years old. LOVE

2. Presents - It's crazy how many birthdays and such are around this time of year. So I've been making homemade gifts still...which I need to post my last b-day present I made for my sis-in-law. I have also been making Christmas cards and slowly handing them out...need to go faster.

3. Cooking/Baking - I'm working on my cookbook and baking stuff to give family and friends for Christmas.

4. Training - started training one of my old clients from Fitness. Loving it!

5. ENJOYING LIFE AS A WIFE AND MOM!