16 Weeks Pregnant

Hello to all and a belated Merry Christmas! We pray this holiday was a blessed one for you and yours. I am so sorry that I have not posted in such a long while. Things have been quite busy around here, with holiday time in full swing and much more I have not had the time to post. I am 16 weeks today, and feeling great! I was only sick with the dreaded morning sickness for about a week and a half, thank the Lord! Baby is doing well, heartbeat was 160 at my last checkup. I have not felt much movement, maybe some very slight flutters but baby is still so small, the size of an avocado. I am getting bigger, definitely wearing maternity clothes now. Jacob is so excited that he has a baby "sissa" on the way. That is what he says I am having (a girl), he calls his "sissa", although we are not going to find out the sex of our baby until birth. We want to be surprised. If you are family and wondering what to buy for us, gift cards and neutral colored clothing for the now will do just fine. We have chosen to cloth diaper so no disposables please (if you are wanting to send something). Anyhoo, not much else to report at the moment. We pray ya'll have a Happy New Year and that 2015 bring you blessings from the Lord. God Bless~

 

 

10 Weeks

 

I am 10 weeks along now, and am quite relieved. Morning sickness has come and gone and the second trimester is just around the corner. The beginning of pregnancy seems to be the hardest for me, at least it was that way with Jacob. The baby is the size of a kumquat, a fruit that I am not that familiar with, in my opinion it looks like a tiny orange. Anyhoo, my belly is definitely sticking out a little more, and my clothes are becoming too tight. I will be shopping for some maternity items soon. As a lot of people have been asking us what we want, we don't care, as long as this baby is healthy. We are choosing not to find out the sex, we want to be completely surprised. Yesterday I had my 10 week midwife appointment and was able to hear the baby's heartbeat. I think at that point it became a little more real for me. I have been in shock for the last 8 weeks or so and not really believing I was pregnant, then when I heard the fast woosh, woosh of my baby's heart it became so real. My midwife said the heartbeat was 170, which I have been told could mean it's a girl. For some reason girl's have a faster heartbeat in utero than boys. With Jacob at this point in pregnancy his heartbeat was at 140. We are so happy to be having another little one and can't wait to meet this precious little miracle. Every day Jacob asks me if the baby is here yet, I have to remind him that the baby is not done growing yet. He always puts his ear to my stomach and says, "I can hear the baby!" It warms my heart to see him already getting attached to the idea of having a sibling. I know he is going to be a wonderful big brother. I pray you all are having a good week so far. God Bless~



The Christian Family in Today's World

When I became a mommy, my world changed. Nothing was ever the same, our life together as we knew it was abruptly changed. For the better, as scripture tells us children are a blessing from God. I would not trade being a mommy for anything else in this world. With baby #2 on the way this is doubly true, and so much more will change I am sure. But as I began to think about how life would be with two children in tow, and having another little one looking up to me to set a good example and lead them in the right direction, my desire to do right became even greater. I want so much for my children to see a woman who loves the Lord with all her heart, a woman that follows God no matter what society is doing, a woman who is faithful to the house of God and loves her family deeply. I pray that when they look at me they see Jesus. I want God's grace, love, and mercy to shine through. Sure my days can be hectic, and I lose my temper, I raise my voice, I don't always use the kindest of words when speaking to my child, but I want them to know beyond all of that, mommy loves them so very much.

Society today has such a twisted view and opinion on what parenthood means and how to raise your children. This new age idea of parenting makes me sick, as it completely goes against the word of God. I want to train up my children in the way they should go that when they are old they will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). Some say I am strange or old fashioned for my ideals and ways that my husband and I have decided to raise our child/children. At every turn sin lurks to steal the innocence of our children. To take them from a safe place and set them in the hands of the enemy. The Christian family is being attacked, as anyone can see. America has let down their guard for keeping the Christian family in the forefront of it's beliefs. We see the rise of legalized gay marriage, the rise of abortions, and so on. I want so much to protect and shield my family from such horrors, to show them there is a better way to live. It's enough to make us want to just hide away and just alienate the world. But as we know scripture tells us we must be a witness and bring the gospel to the world.

As we cannot just bury our heads in the sand, we can take a stand against sin and the world trying to infiltrate our homes. I welcome the label "old fashioned" because it lets me know I am doing something right. When others think I am stuck in the old days, I know that I don't look, act, speak, or live like our world. The scripture tells us we must come out from the world and be separate (2 Corinthians 6:17). I want to show that I am separate and I want my children to live the same, as they are also a witness to the world. I pray that no matter what, I will continue to stand strong as a Godly woman, seeking to please the Lord. I want to raise a family for the glory of God. I pray you are encouraged by this, the world's pressures are overwhelming at times, but just hang on to God's unchanging hand. Allow him to lead you, every step, follow Him. He won't lead you wrong. God Bless~



A Miracle

 

The Lord has blessed our home with a miracle! Jacob is going to be a big brother! We are so excited and thankful for God's blessing. For 4 years we had been trying to give Jacob a sibling, but no success until now. We prayed and believed God for a miracle, and in His timing it has finally happened. As life can be busy for us, I will do my best to document on here the journey of my second pregnancy and our miracle baby #2. Hope ya'll had wonderful weekend!

God Bless~

 

 



HAPPY FALL YA'LL

 

Greetings on the first official day of fall! I am so excited the autumn season has arrived. The Lord so graciously has given us a crisp and cool day. I have every single window in my house open, enjoying the breeze. This is one of my favorite seasons, everything is changing, the leaves are turning into hues of golden yellow, browns, brick red, it's all so lovely. God has once again brought out His paint brush and given us a masterpiece.

 

With this gorgeous weather I have the urge to bake something. I think most of us ladies tend to feel that way when the season changes. I do hope each one of you are enjoying this glorious first day of fall and that you will be blessed by all the God has to offer during this time of year.



Beyond Faith

Two Sunday's ago we had a guest speaker in our Sunday school class. Sister Cooley, I forget her first name. She was inspirational, anointed, and right on time in her message.

 

For the past couple of years, my husband and I have been believing God for a miracle. Praying that He would bless our home with another child. We have prayed and prayed, believed and had so much faith. We put action behind our faith, as the scripture tells us faith is dead without works. Every month I would gear up with excitement thinking, this would be the month! Yet, month after month I was disappointed. I would go through stages of telling myself, "it's better this way, you don't really want anymore children anyhow." I would try and put my focus on other things, but eventually that old desire to carry another baby would work its way front and center in my heart. I would get so angry at God for not answering our prayers, we live for Him, we do our best to be good Christian's, so why hadn't our dream come true???

 

Sister Cooley, told her story of how she was diagnosed 5 years ago with ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the silent killer. It doesn't have many symptoms, so most times when women find out they have it, it's in the advanced stage. She explained how she had big faith that God would heal her and that was that. Well, the cancer wasn't miraculously healed, she went through surgery. She kept asking, "God, why didn't you heal me? I had so much faith, I believed that you would." Finally the answer came to her, God hadn't healed her as she believed He would in a big miraculous way for the simple reason of teaching her the lesson of Trust.

 

Trust.

 

It's a small word with huge meaning. Trust is a scary thing. We have faith in certain people knowing that they can do certain things because it's their profession or they have become masters at it. But, when we put our lives in their hands to safely carry us through whatever it is that they do so well, we are trusting them. Trust isn't always easy. We have faith that God can do anything, He is God! He created the universe with all the galaxies, moons, sun, stars, planets, all the way down to our very blood cells, and fibers that make up who we are. When you think about that and try to wrap your brain around it you begin to get a glimpse of just how big our God is. So if he can create such things with just the spoken word, then surely He can heal cancer. He knows that we know He can heal us, but He wants to see if we will trust Him if He doesn't. That's is heavy! I learned that day that I had issues with trusting God. Why? He is God. Trust is the door to the unknown. The unknown is scary, if we can see what lies ahead, we're ok. But walking in the dark without knowing what's in front of you is terrifying. I realized that in my dark hours of hurt and disappointment, God was walking with me. He was holding my hand, directing my every step.

 

 Trust is something beyond faith. Scripture also tells us that without faith we cannot please God. I have faith, I carry my faith wherever I go. I still have faith that God is going to bless us with another child. But do I trust Him? Even if He doesn't give us another child, will I still trust Him? I am reminded of the story of Job, he had everything taken from him yet He trusted God. You probably haven't gone through the trials that Job endured but life may have been rough for you. Your circumstances may have caused you to become bitter, angry, hurt, depressed, and those are all human emotions, normal emotions to have. But God is wanting to see if you will move past those human emotions and rationalizations and trust Him. I want to encourage someone today, who may be going through a difficult trial and you feel that God is nowhere in sight, remember, He is walking with you every step of the way. He may be silent right now, but in this silence you must trust Him.

 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

 

Memorize this scripture, bury it in your heart. So when you begin to struggle with those emotions of hurt, anger, bitterness, just speak that scripture out loud to yourself and know that no matter what, ALL things will work out according to God's purpose for us. God bless~

 



Family Life

I do apologize for my long absence, time has not been something I have had enough of lately.  Life at my house has been a little bit busy, crazy, fun, not so fun, just plain nuts! We have all taken turns being sick with a nasty head cold and horrible sounding coughs. Lot's of hot tea, honey, and rest has been the remedy most days. We enjoyed a visit from my best friend and brother-in-law over the weekend.  It was a lot of fun to watch the kids(cousins) run around the house like wild animals without a care in the world.  I even got to make a lovely bible themed costume for my niece, as she had a Sunday school function that required them to dress up as a person from the bible.  She was queen Esther, how beautiful she looked in her homemade, royal purple cape and veil. Annie if you are reading this I would like a picture please.

 

 

It's going to be a hot day, 99 degrees!!! Thank the Lord we will see some cooler temps and rain by the end of the week. My dear friend in Colorado was just telling me this morning that they are expecting their first snow some time this month. I remember those lovely crisp mornings there, this time of year. Sigh.....  Anyways, I hope that where ever ya'll are that you are enjoying the last few weeks of summer.  Fall is just around the corner.



Farmers' Market Deception (Outrage)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call me naive, but I believe a farmers market should be made up of vendors, or local farmers that grow their own produce. This was not the case at our local farmers market...although the produce looked so lovely on that warm summer morning, much to our dismay we learned that most of the produce(picutred above), was in fact brought in from some other place. We do not know the exact location. The vendors selling it really didn't know if there had been pesticides, or chemicals of any kind used. I was quite outraged by this, as my hsuband and I are deeply committed to growing/buying mostly organic produce. I don't think we will go back to this particular market, except maybe to buy some more of that delicious goat's milk soap from the goat lady. Jacob picked it out himself, as he much more preferred the berries and cream scent to any others she had. They all smelled wonderful, but at $4 a bar, we only chose one. The airplane man was so kind to give Jacob a little propeller on a stick, what fun we had with that. We had fun despite our disappointment over the veggies. Family time is so important to us, our baby is growing up so fast and we want to spend as much time together as possible.

~T.

 



Hot, Hot, Hot

This summer heat is just ridiculous! I know, I know, we live in Texas, what did I expect? I would much rather spend my days outdoors with Jacob, enjoying a dip in a nearby creek or fishing down by the library. But alas, the heat index as of late has prevented us from venturing out. Is it October yet? I don't ever remember it being this hot when I was a kid, maybe due to the simple reason that kids really don't pay attention to those sorta things. We were probably too busy climbing trees, or playing make believe with our friends. Finding things to do inside has not been very productive, quite boring actually. Sigh, ok I will stop griping. Hope ya'll are having cooler temps wherever you are.

~T.

 



With A Little Sadness...

Thursday morning my neighbors dog somehow escaped their backyard and wandered into mine. Our 5 chickens were peacefully playing in their coop, until the dog discovered their where abouts. I didn't even know what had happened until after the fiasco. I simply noticed the dog in my yard and had a horrible feeling wash over me. I ran out the back door shooing the dog back home and then realized the coop door had been ripped down. Sadly, all 5 of my chickens had become the dog's lunch. So I post these pictures in memory of those sweet little chicks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I am sure you might be wondering what course of action we took in the matter.....Well, we called animal control and they gave our neighbors a hefty fine of $400. I would say justice was served.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



A Sweet Memory

 

No words, just a sweet memory.



Holiday Festivities

We had a grand time yesterday with family and friends. Lots and lots of yummy food, which we stuffed oursleves on, and of course fun for the kiddos. Great memories were made which we will cherish forever.