My December Resolution

  I have been meaning to post this all month but, well, somehow the month is almost gone and I am just now getting to it!  I really don’t think I like how fast time is flying by these days.   The last part of November I, through a variety of circumstances, felt led to make some changes.  As I may have mentioned a time or two  ;o), the last 2+ years have been really difficult.  During these hard times I had gradually allowed myself to become more and more overwhelmed with the negative, to the point that I no longer could see God’s kindness and love for me. All I could see, truthfully all I looked for, was the negative and it was threatening to consume me.  So, at the beginning of December, I decided to make a point to daily look for evidence of God’s love and kindness towards me and share them with my e-mail group (I have a group of ladies that I e-mail with as a Bible reading accountability group, it has been amazing for me!).  I can’t say that life has been any easier since starting this exercise, but I can say that it has changed my perspective and has helped my attitude. I am once again able to see and remember that God loves me. The bad no longer seems quite as overwhelming and I no longer feel forgotten……  My only regret with this is that I haven’t written it down in one spot. Maybe my New Years resolution should be to start an actual journal just for these things. :o)

Smiley

    I can’t believe that my baby is 3 months old today!  Where has the time gone?  *sniff*  In honor of his 3month "birthday” I thought today would be a good day to do his picture post.  :o)

   Sadly, you will not see much of his smiles in these pics because he doesn’t smile when there is a big black box (camera) in front of Mommy’s face.  

 

  He is my littlest ray of sunshine

   My cuddler

 

   My little talker

  My special gift from God 

 

  Though our plans did not include a 4th child we are so VERY grateful that God’s plan for our family did. This little guy brings me such amazing joy!   He loves to be talked to, he loves to held and cuddled, he has the cutest smiles, coos, and giggles! He loves to sit in his Bumbo and stare at his toes, he thinks his tongue is fascinating, he likes his swing and his stroller, but does not care for tummy time! He adores his siblings and they him. I can’t even find words to describe how wonderful he is and how thankful I am that he is a part of our family!  He truly is a special gift of joy in a very difficult season in our lives.

My little man…..

Returning to our regular programming ;o), I bring you my little man.  It cracks me up just how much the name “little man” fits him!

He’s my Mr Cool (even with chocolate on his face!)

My little flatterer  (His little mouth looks funny in this pic because he had a biking accident in which it appeared he tried to knock all of his teeth out…. his lips were still a little swollen)

My little ham  ;o)

My sweetheart

  He tells me I am beautiful every day, he cuddles with me and likes to brush my hair, he loves to be my hero and my helper.  His time is seldom spent in “just play”, his play is almost entirely made up of practicing to “be like Daddy”.  He can’t wait to have a welder, a gun, a knife, and tools.  He likes to “fix” things and loves to play “chatch” with his football, basketball, “Winnie-uh-pooh” ball.  He loves big equipment and animals.  He loves music and musical instruments. He turns sticks into guitars and makes up songs. He is always busy, busy, busy!  He is the best big brother in the entire world! And, although there are times I think that he will shorten my life by many years with the things he attempts, I am so thankful that God chose me to be his Mom.  He brings me such joy and laughter.  

Free Photo cards!!!

Well, I am taking a little break from my photo series to share with you this AMAZING deal!  I was blog hopping and stumbled upon a blog post about a deal that Shutterfly is doing (50 free photo Christmas cards for bloggers!!!!)…. it was too good of a deal to pass up, so here I am blogging about it. :o)  I went to look at their selection (Holiday Cards and Christmas Photo Cards) and was amazed by the wonderful selection this year!  I am inspired and am already planning our outfits and looking for a place to take our 2010 family pic. I have one family pic but, as baby was only a couple weeks old when it was taken, I hope to get a more recent photo. Last year I forgot to order photo cards until it was too late, this year, thanks to the promo, that should not be a problem! I looked through the options and can’t choose a favorite, as there are too many great options, but here are 3 that I really liked! Wouldn’t this one be great with a family pic or a picture of each of the kids?  or what about this one or this one with both individual pics of the kids and a family picture? I am so excited!!!  I have had an account with Shutterfly for years and I love the quality of their  products. One item that I have ordered, and is hugely popular with it’s recipients, is their Calenders. I have done these for several years and, when I was unable to do them last year, there was quite the complaining! 

  If you want to get in on the fun too, click here!

B

    As promised, here is B’s post…..

She is my song bird

My artistic child

My cuddle bug

My princess

She is a girl of extremes, she is passionate, loving, and a fascinating combination of opposites.  She has a tender, compassionate heart, she is graceful and athletic. She loves all things “bling” and girly. She loves to help and to cuddle. She tends to be a very matter of fact, black and white, sort of girl. She loves her stuffed animals and looks forward to being a proficient reader.  Her way of viewing life and God is beautiful.  She too is a priceless jewel and I thank God for choosing me to be her Mom. God has used her to teach me much about His love and grace and to stretch me in more ways than I would have though possible!

J

 

I have decided to post a series of pictures of each of my sweet children.  I will, of course, start with my eldest. So, this post is dedicated to J.

She is my first born, 

 My sweet ray of sunshine,

 My cheerful helper,

 My little mother hen,

 

   She has provided us with 7 1/2 years of joy and I thank God for granting me the privilege of being her Mommy. She is loving, sweet, compassionate, has a great sense of humor, and an amazingly contagious laugh. She loves all things girly, prefers dresses to pants, wants to mother everything and everyone, loves to watch Anne of Green Gables and Sound of Music, but she also loves to help her Daddy butcher, and can’t wait to hunt. She is developing a love for reading and her favorite book is her Bible. Her love for God is inspiring. She is a priceless jewel.   

Photography and an apology

  Well, where did the time go?  My goal to put pics up for my Mom fell through…. She is now home and I didn’t get them up. *Sigh*  Sorry Mom!   Life has just been so crazy busy……. Now that you are home to babysit maybe I can get it done! lol  ;o)

  On another very different subject. Typing while holding a baby is not easy! lol  Actually what I was going to say was that those of you who have known me since youth should be very glad that my scanner/printer isn’t speaking with my computer right now!  In cleaning up a mess I stumbled upon my box of old photos…… Old polaroids, and old pics from my first little point and shoot that used, *gasp*, film!  ;o)  I have been unable to look through all of them as I have always had a love for photography and this resulted in a very large collection of pics.  The pics are soooo funny!  At least I can see some progress in my photography skills!  I am going to sort through them and toss a lot of them. I have entire rolls of film that were processed without 1 pic being in focus!!! These were some of my first attempts at macro photography with a camera that did not have macro capabilities.  So funny to look at and maybe funnier yet that I kept them. I am such a pack rat! Working on that character weakness though.  If I can ever get my scanner to work I may have to share some of them.  :o)  We all need a good laugh sometimes……

So, does anyone else go through photography phases? Sometimes I do so good and get lots of kids pics and then I go for too long without. I looked through my pics to get the photo posts up for Mom and found that I have hardly taken any pics of the older 3 the last few months. The last really good picture taking spree was in June and has been very sporadic since then.  Now I have missed the best weather and am not very good at indoor pics. Oh well, I will just have to keep pressing forward.

Inspired by this post, I am going to try and blog more often. No promises though, I often have good intentions that get lost in the craziness of life! 

Well, enough rambling for today…..