Snowy Winter

2/1/11

So this winter I am not minding the snow because I don't have to go out in it! Staying home is so much fun :) We have started supplementing with Vitamin D3 which also helps the gloomy days. Abigail is taking fish oil and other vitamins also. This is great for preventing sickness in her and keeping her vitamin stores up.

My little girl is 3 1/2 months now. Her new phase is wanting to be held by mommy. I like this one because I love cuddling. Before I would have to try everything under the sun to get her to go to sleep, but now all I have to do is hold her and rock back and forth. I love looking down to see that she is peacefully sleeping.

Today she has rolled from her tummy to her back! She has mastered rolling from back to tummy since 2 1/2 months so this is big! She also has found her feet. Another thing she did today was put her right toes in her mouth. I love watching her grow and live life. It will be exciting to see her grow up...but I am happy with letting time not go too fast!

Last night I stumbled onto a new concept for me. Baby led weaning. This involves no baby food. You feed your baby regular food and just make it soft enough and small enough for them to eat. I am all about independence in children and that's why I am following Montessori guidelines. This seems to go right along with what I want for Abigail. There is no spoon feeding at all. You allow the child to discover independence with food. I think I may do this with Abigail. Here's a link to check out if you're interested like I am. Baby led weaning

As I continue to parent, my views and passions are forming on how to raise my child and future children. This is something I may put in Abigail's scrapbook...

"Abigail, I promise to intentionally parent you. I promise to show you the love of Christ and to teach you the truths of the Bible. I promise to not take anything for granted in raising you. I promise to not let time pass too quickly. I promise to let you live life with zest and excitement. To let you develop meaningful relationships with your grandparents. I promise to not stifle you by becoming overbearing. I promise to not hinder your learning by putting you in front of a TV. I promise structure, discipline, and planning. I promise to teach you how to live a healthy lifestyle by making exercise and eating healthy fun. I promise to live my life in view of God's mercy and parent with that understanding.

I hope and pray that my (and your Dad's) intentional parenting will lead you to have a relationship with Christ. That you will love to spend time with family and have special relationships with your grandparents that I did not have with mine. I pray that you would reach the potential Christ has for you. I love you so much, Abigail."

Revisions to come later, probably.

This is the kind of sugar I like...

1/25/11

3 month photo of my girl!

Can't resist posting about my girl. Being a mom is a full-time job for sure! We are entering new phases. She's been playing with toys the last day or two. She's found her hands and looks at them often while bringing them to her mouth to chew on. Yesterday I bent over her while she was playing on the floor and she carefully brought her hands to my face to touch. She also is wanting to be held more and to cuddle. I like that because I enjoy holding my girl. I just love her.

Abigail at 3 Months

1/16/10

Yesterday was Abigail's 3 "monthiversary"! I can't believe how much she is changing. I love all of it. Last night she slept from 8 PM to 5 AM. Then after she ate at 5 she went back to sleep till 8 AM. Wow! She has mastered rolling from her back to her stomach and wants to sit-up like crazy. So yesterday I put her in a play thing that she can sit up in to play with toys and she LOVES it. She is so happy in there. Now she can sit and watch me cook in the kitchen while she tries to talk to me....I love being her mom!

This is Abigail sitting up in her seat having a good time...she can keep herself balanced too so she doesn't fall forward (she's way too small for it)!

Here's my angel at 3 months! Her cute dress is from her Uncle Joey!

Today in Church our Pastor, Rick, talked about legalism. It was helpful and eye-opening. The passage was based in Luke 6 that deals with the Pharisees and Jesus addressing their man-made rules. Pastor Rick related this with parenting your children and I can't resist sharing it. I definitely want to be careful that I don't parent Abigail with legalism because that's not what Jesus is about.

Things to make your kids hate God....

- Make serving God a chore

- Punish by making them memorize verses

- Punish by making them go to church

- Demand they serve others, but don't serve them as a parent

- Make them earn everything they get from you

- Tell them God is watching them all the time, especially when they do bad things

- You have rules for them that aren't in the Bible but you hold them equal to the Bible

I pray that Abigail sees Jesus for who He truly is and not in this legalistic way. I pray that I would parent in a way that reflects the true character of Christ. It's easy to get competitive as a parent and want your child to be "perfect" in public. I don't want to fall into the trap of making my child obey just for my pride and that I would have her true interests at heart.

Thank you, Lord. Have Your way!

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!