learning and fun

So the projects have begun!

Painting in the bathroom went underway tonight after kiddos went down for bed. 

Kitchen patching starts tomorrow and hopefully the second coat of bathroom paint will be done. 

Projects are tiring! Just even shopping for the right stuff is draining. 

On a different note, I have been praying that God show me something that I need to work on in the spirit. Well, he has made one thing clear, I have NO patience :( and as a mom, that is not a good thing! I am quick tempered and it's in my nature to become stressed easily. 

One verse that I have been thinking and meditating on is: 

1 Peter 4:11

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

This takes a lot of caution to stop and think to myself "is that of God, nope its impatience." I also have a quick tongue (if anyone knows me; that. is. not. a. surprise!)

I usually am pretty good ad apologizing to my 2 year old (can you say humbling?), but I shouldn't have to in the first place. 

But the best is, that this all humbles myself to bring God glory. When I stop and think before I speak, God gets the glory, because it is not my quick tongue. But as well, when I have to humble myself to a 2 year old, its giving God the glory because I am listening to the Spirit encouraging me to do so. 

Even so, my children love me and God gives grace in abundance (thank you Abba, father!). Which leads me to pictures of our fun times! 

I love this girl!!

Her first tare and glue project! 

Ta-da

Handsome man. Those big blue eyes are going to melt a women's heart someday, until then, they melt mine everyday! 

Having some fun in daddy and mommy's bed. They a pair of very cute kids! 

Look at Gray's expression

These next two are really neat! The first is Nevaeh and the second is Gray, look at the resemblance! I took one of Gray and remembered I took one of Nevaeh too a long time ago. Nevaeh was 9 months I think. Gray is 7 here. 

 

PROJECTS! can you see the bright yellow?

To a beautiful green!

so sorry!

So I had planned a great friend and post yesterday, but she got sick the first week her husband came home from afghanistan. Sadness! This was something she did not expect to happen for her first week with her husband in a year!

So her story will be coming soon I hope! Please stay posted for the next couple of fridays.

Yesterday, was paint selection day! We have our paint colors chosen for bathroom and kitchen, now I just need to prep the bath and my grandpa is helping with the kitchen.

And for my next sewing project, a dress from Nevaeh! So I'm hoping to get pictures up soon!

There aren't really any fun pictures of the kiddos, I've been slacking on getting them onto the comp. or even taking them.  For that I am sorry also! :)

So I'm hoping this next weekend will be a much better week with some fun pictures!

Weeds

There is one question I for sure have to ask God....

Why in the heck did you create weeds? what are they used for? there has to be some sort of purpose to weeds.... if you know, please enlighten me!

projects :)

Jason and I have decided to try and refinance and get an appraisal.

But with appraisals comes fixing up of the house. I need to paint, plaster, organize, yard work, touch up, finish, and clean.

It's a hefty list, but hopefully it will help with the one man that gets to come in and decide how much our house is worth. Ok, I know more is invoveld... but still.

Here is what I need to do so far:

1. finish the kitchen, which includes: plastering, adding footboards to the lower cabinets, and paint. I don't know how much paint, but I'm thinking a lot.
2. Paint the bathroom from this BRIGHT yellow (my sisters choice when they lived here) to a soft green
3. clear out the garage, and I mean clear. It's a jumbled mess right now.
4. fix 2 doors, one includes a simple screwing the hinge back on and the other finding a new handle. Also, paint the front door. I'm thinking a pretty rich yellow, not bright but rich... to go with our deep green shutters. (thoughts???)
5. weed like a mad woman
6. and other little touch ups here and there.
    oh and CLEAN!!!! every nook and cranny I can find.

But I love doing small things to the house that make it look nicer. things like painting the door I have wanted to do for a while now, and getting the kitchen done will feel like a weight off the shoulders.

So, here I go and I will keep you posted.

My story

The Child in Me

I am a child before I am a wife and a mother. Wait, what? How does that work? My sleep deprivation has really gone to my head with the second child.  I am raising children, and I think I might be coined crazy, insane, even loopy if I say that I am a child too. I mean, consider how this sounds, “Hi, I’m Samantha. I have 2 kids and I think I’m a child also.” Crazy, huh?

Even so, I say I am a child before I am a wife and mother.

God calls me his child, and I call Him my father.

God is my Abba, my daddy. So therefore, I am a child. I put God first. After all, how am I supposed to be the wife and mother He calls me to be without putting Him first?

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I wanted to start writing/sharing my family and our stories because I became a wife and mother all within 4 years after graduating high school.  So, to this world, I am still a child. But what really matters is that I am God’s child.

So what is the difference between God’s child and what this world sees as a child? Also, what does it mean to be a child of God at the same time being a mommy? It has been a rough transition, but this is where God has me and I’m still learning. So here we go, and buckle up (there’s the mommy in me)!

For starters, I will share my testimony in the three main areas God has given to me to live and follow Him. First; God, second; husband, third; kids. I will share how I became a Christian, how I became my husband’s helpmate and how I became a mother (yea, yea, we all know ‘how’ my kids came about but to become a mother is different than just the act of having kids).

If you haven't noticed, I have different pages and one page is my story and how I fell in love with God. I'm going to post it here if you haven't read it. 

My Christian testimony:

“We are all going to Hell,” is what a fellow seventh grader shouted as we had to file to a ‘safe’ place away from windows. A tornado warning was issued a few moments before, and so my classroom marched into the hall, with heavy science books in hand to “protect” us from dying. MmHmm, like science was going to save us from a massive tornado if it decided to rip through the school.

“I know I’m not going to Hell, I’m going to Heaven.” Is what my future best friend said to me as we put the books over our heads. ‘What in the heck is going on?’ I thought. When did kids ever yell out things about hell, and how in the heck did a seventh grader know her life or death situation? Little did I know, over the 2 hours we sat there, she would be the one who led me to the only true way of being saved. I knew no science book could save my life, I just didn’t know what or who.

But now I can tell you with all confidence, that Jesus Christ truly saves lives. Through His death on the cross, He bore all the sins of this world so that we might have a relationship with him.

God came into my heart that day, and over the next 6 years He substantially changed my life as He worked to mold my heart. I fell deeply in love with Him through out high school. He protected me from my crazy boy stage, my workaholic stage and from the control-I-had-to have-on-life stage (is that stage ever gone?).

That was 10 years ago and I never thought in the craziest, wildest, most out-there plans that I would be 23, married with 2 kids. After all, I only had a science book in hand to save me from a tornado.

But indeed, I am 23, married and I most certainly have 2 kids (my stomach muscles can attest to that). How all that happened within 3 years, I will definitely share in the next posts.

I slept!

Okay, I gave in and left he monitor on.... BUT I had it turned waaay low and facing away from us. So, I didn't hear him at all. I don't know if that means he actually slept through the night or if he did wake and I didn't hear him.

If the last is the case, then HE LIVED!! and fell back asleep on his own.

For sure doing this again tonight.....


until tomorrow :)

Operation sleep through the night

Tonight commences Operation Sleep Through the Night.

Grayson has been waking up 4-5 times a night, every night. This is worse than when he was a newborn.

So, I will not be turning on his monitor tonight and he can cry. Now don't give me that look! Obviously going to get him isn't helping anyone and at least I will get some sleep and not be crabby. I might even take some night cold medicine to knock me out... lets just say I have not had a consistency of more than 2-3 hours of sleep in 4-5 months.

I think I have been more cuddling with Gray because of everything that has gone one with his allergies and acid reflux, etc, but now it has got to stop! I love him to death, but I really need my energy back to deal with him when he's not supposed to be sleeping.

So to all my mama's out there with no sleep.... I'm feelin' ya!!!!!

PS- One of our pastor's wives once told me, when I was struggling through my depression with Nevaeh, that God wants you to learn certain things through certain situations no matter the length of time. So she prays, "God help me to open my eyes to learn this quick!" LOL! I've been prayin', Susan!

Excited

By the way,

I am quite excited to start this!

PS- a pink swimming suit tutu is not a good match with a messy pizza eater! Wish I took pics of Nevaeh and her pizza suit.

Friday Friends

It's finally Friday!

Starting next week I am going to start Friday Friends, where I will ask another woman to post whatever is on her heart. It could be about a mama learning moment, something funny happened at the grocery store or even a heart to heart God moment a woman wanted to share. 

I am hoping to have one lined up for next week. 

This is meant to show that all women have a voice, and although not all are wanting to share, but they all have stories that others could learn from. Also, to give you a break from me! :)

So, until tomorrow my fellow sisters! Keep on truckin' for God! :)

PS- If you would like to be a Friday Friend, please contact me! (post a comment, or I might set up an email for just this blog) You can be fully out there, letting people know who you are or completely anonymous and any where in between. 

Gray! @ 6 months

His check up started out quite interesting.  This is the order that it went in,

1. pooped as we were weighing him (on the lay down one)
2. pee'd all over the patient table in our room.
3. then pee'd some more. When I thought he was done, I took the yucky diaper off of him to check and he started up and pee'd all over his face! oh, goodness.... the only other times he has pee'd outside the diaper is in the bath tub and on our friends, the Hellenga's couch.

Other than that, he is still healthy, just a sensitive little man. He still has the acid reflux so we still need to be on the prevacid.

We are also going to continue his special formula until a couple weeks before his 9 month check up. I am going to give him a bottle of similac sensitive formula and see how he does. If he reacts the same or normal, then continue to gradually add more bottles of similac sensitive, but if not then we are staying on the expensive stuff. And he might be lactose intolerant, I believe anyways.

Some fun facts:
~ no teeth yet, but drools an amazing amount
~ giggles when you talk in a low voice
~ loves water and swimming!
~ so close to getting up on his back legs for crawling
~ absolutely loves prunes, doesn't like bananas
~ talks with his sister and adores her
~ stares at you and your food if you eat in front of him


His stats:
Height: 26", 50% but his head wasn't directly up against the edge, so I think that is even a little high.
Weight: 16.2 lbs, 45% so he has not gained as much weight as he's supposed to. He was %50 for his 4th,    but 5% is not anything to worry about the doc said.
Head: 75%, still big.

Splish Splash... i'm having some fun!

This post is dedicated to my Grandma Pals. You will see why further down the post.

Hello all!

This summer we have spent a lot of time in the water! With two other boys I watch during the day, we can't get to the splash park as much as I want, so Grandma Val gave us this fun pool! It has been a wonderful addition to the TONS of toys in the back yard. 

Enjoy the pictures! 

ps- for those of you wondering... Grayson is doing much better! He is eating baby foods now and isn't having many allergic reactions. I think he just needed more time before eating baby food. His sleep has improved soo much too, only waking once around 4:30 every night now. Please pray though, that he doesn't get sick. Nathan, one of the boys I watch, had a double ear infection and a bad cough and knowing Gray and his streak, if he gets sick, his sleep would be completely thrown off. And we would be back to the beginning of teaching him to sleep through the night again. 

His cute swimming outfit. But now it doesn't really fit over his head anymore... remember he has a big head!! 

 Lets slide!! 

 His first time in the water and he is definitely a water baby like his sister! I think we might have some swimmer in our household.

 The splash park is almost within walking distance from our house, except for this extremely large hill, I would consider walking there.

This is Gray's first time at the park too and he wants to go run and play so bad. 

Check that mohawk out! It is all natural and still going strong! Even at the length is it, it still stick straight up. We were trying to call him Mo for for his nick name but it never stuck. 

Nevaeh asks to hold Gray everyday, this is just a couple of pics I have of this. 

 She finally has this cute smile down! 

 One of our life group ladies found out that Jordan Creek has 1$ movies on tuesday mornings, so a couple of us all went to the Vegetales movie. Nevaeh did WONDERFUL!! She sat and ate her popcorn the whole time with no trouble. I thought we were going to have a melt down because she would have to sit without getting up for a while, but nope. She surprised me! She actually had a meltdown leaving the movies. When your kids sits in the middle of the mall and won't listen, its kinda embarrassing! 

Just a cute pic......

 My grandma died a year ago on Easter and I got her sewing machine. We finally got it down here and I have started sewing! I'm dedicating this post to her... we miss her but she fought and beat cancer many times during her lifetime. The last time, it beat her, and I'm soooo proud to have her sewing machine because she sewed some beautiful quilts with this machine. 

 I started with a onesie made from one of Jason's old t-shirts. It kinda looks like a potato sack right now, but hopefully it will look better on him. 

I tried putting the videos on but it literally was taking 45 minutes. So i gave up. I hope everyone is having a great summer and a great end of the summer. 

God Bless!

July 4th 2011 photo frenzie!

Ok, prepare yourself for the most fun 4th of July ever... and a lot of photos!

This year was soo much fun with both Nevaeh and Grayson. Nevaeh is at the perfect age where the parade isn't boring and EVERYTHING is really neat. Plus, she loved getting the candy too! She filled her little backpack full of it and I'm thinking we will have it until next year. The parade was actually pretty fun this year. The past couple of years the Urbandale parade has been a bit of a disappointment, with little candy and boring floats. But they seemed to knock it up a notch and it wasn't too bad.

Fun memory: I told Nevaeh we were celebrating the United State's birthday and she immediately starting singing happy birthday to the U.S. So cute!

Also, our church's old fashioned fun BBQ shin dig they put on every year was a lot of fun too. Jason won the homerun durby, nevaeh won a cupcake, the talent show was great and the food was delish! Unfortunately we didn't make it through to the fireworks and I wish we would have stuck it out because I heard they were great. Fireworks are my favorite part of this whole celebration!

Well, enough talking and onto the million pics! I hope you had a great 4th and please pray (or continue to do so) for our country, that it would go back to the foundations it was built upon! The founding fathers would probably be very sad at what they see today.

PS- we have soo much more to share, from another trip to the zoo to fun videos of each wonderful child of mine! but since there are so many photos from the fourth, I won't torture you too much... they will come soon though!

Getting ready for the parade, look at the excitement in his eyes! 

 Eating breakfast while waiting! 

 too cute!!!!!!!!!!

 My wonderful family! Every year one of our family members (use to be my grandpa but he says he's retired from it) goes up really early and gets the same spot every year! its a little tradition of ours. Thanks to my brother, zach, for doing it this year! 

 He's such a handsome little man!

 Aunt Kenna!

 Putting candy in her backpack 

 watching the amazing people who keep giving her candy :)

 She got her own flag!

 every year toyota of des moines gives out these little footballs and every year Jason gets one. He was determined this year! so we have 3 from the past 3 years!

Aunt Kas

 At Jordan Park now for our BBQ shin dig, swinging. She has gotten really good at swinging and loves it, that is all she does now when we are outside.

 Jason in that homerun durby, look at that form! :) like i know what i'm talkin about ;)

 Showing me her tatoo

 playing with her "best friends", as she calls them.

 A shout out to Kear Rude, have you asked your hubby to make some of these for us yet?? ;) 

 Sparklers! I was a little, ok a lot, nervous for this part but she did absolutely wonderful! until.... it was time to pick up and she wanted to help and she happened to pick up the one that was just lit. she burned her thumb pretty good, but she was a trooper! I felt like a bad mom, but after talking to other moms, I didn't feel like such a failure after all. A tip to all moms who like sparklers as much as I do, put them into a cup of water RIGHT AWAY after use!

 She has been sooo snuggly with me lately! always wanting me to hold her and give her hugs and kisses! i love it! 

 My baby girl is getting so big! she will not let me call her anything but a big girl now! kinda sad, but so excited to see how God uses her as she grows!