The Montgomery Family

My Love Story

2012-02-14T09:30:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I cannot think of a better way to return to blogging (I hope) than to tell about my love story (a short version, anyway). This may not be the love story you are thinking of (I will get to that one), but it's the greatest one!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

God began drawing me to Himself when I was a very young child. I had a very close brush with death at the age of five and told my mother vivid descriptions of Heaven. At the age of 8 I walked forward at our church, said the sinner's prayer, and was soon baptized and started a new believers class. I did not closely walk with the Lord after this, but went on living for myself. I can say that I look back and see that the Holy Spirit was at work in my life all the while and I was continuously being drawn back to a close relationship with my Father. It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I finally SURRENDERED my life to the Lord Jesus. I went all the way to Jamaica to tell others about Jesus and realized I was not living for this Jesus that I was supposed to be sharing with others. Oh I had tried to live for Him because I knew it was the right thing to do. It wasn't until then that I realized why I needed the Lord's salvation though. And with that realization came surrender. Right then and there, on the beautiful sandy beaches of Ocho Rios, I gave Him my all. I was filled with the power of the precious Holy Spirit and my life has NEVER been the same! I opened my eyes to a much more beautiful world. I felt passion and wanted to share that passion with everyone who would listen. No longer was I bound up by the sin that had enslaved me...I was FREE!

I knew I wanted my entire life to be devoted to Jesus and sharing His love and I set out to do just that. There have been many mountaintop experiences and some valley experiences in my walk with the Lord, but He has remained FAITHFUL through them ALL! His great love for me calls me to love Him with my all and love others with my all. And in the moments when I am not faithful to Him and put many other things in His rightful place in my life, His love never fails me. He is always drawing me to Himself. He is always pursuing me. Oh, how He loves you and me!!!

Photo Card

2011-12-11T19:56:00.001-06:00

Love Hope Faith Religious

Mom. Dad. Kids. Christmas photo cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Olivia Jael's Birth Story

2011-07-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to posting Jael's story. If you'd like to read it, click here. :)

2011-06-18T22:42:00.000-05:00

My sweet friend, Leisha, took some GREAT pictures of my three kiddos today. I can't express how incredibly thankful I am for her friendship....for sooo many reasons. She is like a sister to me, for sure! I just LOVE this picture because it sums up our house these days. I know there will soon come a day when all three of my sweet children will look straight at the camera with perfect smiles on their faces, but then I will miss these days when one has to suck his fingers and have his blankie and one screams. :) This is our life and I love it!!!

VERY cool giveaway!

2011-05-28T13:19:00.002-05:00

If you have a few minutes today, head on over to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home for a really great giveaway. As a parent, I need as much help/wisdom as I can get and this book looks amazing!!! Happy Winnings!

Happy 1st Birthday, my little one!!!

2010-09-08T10:05:00.001-05:00

Another slideshow design by Smilebox

The Power of God

2010-09-02T14:23:00.003-05:00

I know I've been talking about returning to the blog world, but I have just had a hard time getting things going. I have so many thoughts that I'd like to share though! Our lives are so busy (in a very good way) and they are about to get wayyy busier with the start of small groups and Community Bible Study next week. I know God is moving and I pray that I can be disciplined during this fall semester and take time to really dig into His Word and hear from Him. I want to be changed and I want to be used. As I was preparing our school lesson for today I was thinking about what I want my boys to accomplish when they get older. These thoughts may be scattered, but I really want to return to the blog world so I'll share them. I do NOT want them to have success by the world's standards. A nice family, a great job, vacations, and a home are wonderful (and there's nothing wrong with them), but I don't necessarily desire for my boys to have them. I pray that they are NOT attached to the material things of this world that can and often do hold us back from accomplishing all that God has for us. I pray that they live by faith, trusting God as their provider. I pray they give, and give, and give until it hurts. I pray they measure their success by what God's Word says about them. I pray that the number of souls they win for Christ and the number of seeds they sow for the kingdom would mean wayyy more to them than the amount in their bank accounts. I want my boys to be used in a powerful way by God. I pray they will be willing to stand up to anything and NEVER deny the name of Jesus, even in the face of death. These thoughts/prayers have to shape the things that I do DAILY with my boys and the example that I set for them. These prayers for them are also things that I desire for myself and Edward. It's sooo easy to get a case of the "gimmes". I throw pity parties sooo often about what we don't have. I am not going to rattle off my list of complaints because it would bore you. God is so good to us and I don't want to live chasing after the things of this world...even if they are not necessarily bad things. I want to live my life chasing after the things of God. I want the number of souls that I win for Christ and the number of seeds that I sow for His kingdom to matter wayyy more to me than the amount in our bank account. I want to give, and give, and give until it hurts. Even when I feel I have nothing to give...I want to give. I want so badly to be a shining example to my boys of what it looks like to be sold out for Jesus and living with my heart/mind/soul fixed on eternity. I pray that I never settle for the American Dream and miss out on God's best for my family!

I'll leave you with this INCREDIBLE video. It's one thing to see someone healed on Benny Hinn, but it touched me in a completely different way to see someone healed by Jesus that I know. I attended Bishop Levy Knox's church for a little while before I married Edward. His wife has been in a wheelchair for 23 years. The video is 13 minutes long, but worth watching. I cried tears of joy as I watched her get up out of her wheelchair and start taking STEPS! God is sooo good!!!

GIVEAWAY!!!

2010-07-13T20:37:00.002-05:00

My friend, Jenny, over at Saving U Cents is having a WONDERFUL giveaway! This is just in time for the new school season! If you need/want a way to stay organized this year, head on over to Saving U Cents and try to win!!!

New Ideas....

2010-07-09T17:42:00.001-05:00

I am pretty sure nobody looks at my blog anymore, but if there is some chance that you do....THANKS!!! I have a few ideas that I am getting together and I hope to be back soon to tell you about them. :)

Comparing my boys

2010-02-15T20:29:00.023-06:00

Some people say Joseph looks like Josiah. When I look back at Josiah's baby pictures, I think they look a lot different. However, as Joseph gets older he is looking much more like his big bro! Here are some pics that you can compare. I tried to find some pics of them either around the same age and in similar positions. I had to guess at most of Siah's pictures because I didn't date them. :( Enjoy!

I think Josiah was about 6 months in the last two pics of him and Joseph is only 5 months in the last picture, but their face looks so similar to me. :) I love my two guys!

Favorite Toys

2010-02-03T22:18:00.002-06:00

I started an amazing small group today and I am SO excited about it. A small booklet was passed around there and I was able to look through mine for a few minutes tonight. My eyes filled with tears when I read the poem called, "Favorite Toys". This poem describes my Josiah to a tee. If you are the mom of a boy, enjoy this read...

My boys and their toys are a mystery to me.
What will excite them is known only to the three.
But to us gift givers-grandparents included-Often the "perfect gift" is illusive.

They tear off the wrapping to get to what's new.
Gaze and the contents and say, "Wow! Cool!"
"It's just what I wanted. Look what I got!"
"It's the one that I loved, the one that I sought!"

For the week, sometimes two, they're thrilled with the gift.
It's way at the top of their "glad to have it" list.
But then in days to come, it's placed on a shelf,
Or on the floor where it stays till I move it myself.

It's not that they're tired or complaining, "I'm bored."
No, they're playing and enjoying their toys galore.
Their toys-their creations, things not found in stores.

Their swords made from sticks, their arrows from limbs,
their jet packs, really backpacks, theirs imaginations' whims.

Their blankets become capes, so they can soar through the air.
"Mom, can we have that box we found in there?
We need it because we're hunters, you understand,
And there's a rabbit we saw whose capture we've planned."

Half of my silverware has disappeared,
And if it returns, it's rather dog-eared.
It's been put to use somehow, in what way I don't know.
My pirates or treasure hunters had need of it, though.

Every belt in our house has a new job description.
It may tie up a bad guy or be a leash for a kitten.
Pillows and cushions for couches and beds?
You must be joking-but they make great sleds!

And forts, "soft landings," nests, and water,
Trampolines, stepping stones, and ways over hot lava.
Stack them all up, and they're a gymnast's delight.
(Now you know why they're no longer white.)

Dental floss-yes, dental floss-is a favorite of mine.
It's Spider-Man's web, and Batman's bat line.

My boys aren't ungrateful for the loot they receive.
It sometimes finds a role in a plot they've conceived.
But their pleasure in playing, it seems to me,
Is in creating, inventing, where their minds are free.

Toys with too many whistles and bells
Have only one use, one purpose-and it sells.
But two days later, they've figured it out,
It's lost all its glamour; it's lost all its clout.

Somehow it doesn't seem right to dig through the trash,
Go to the dump, or just give them cash.
But to find that perfect gift in a store is more than a treat,
It's very nearly an impossible feat.

Deep down in their hearts, they seem to understand
That things don't satisfy; they never can.
May the knowing grow stronger as they grow up.
You, God, are the only One who can truly fill their cups.

Written by Cherilyn Dahlsten and published in the Hearts At Home magazine.

Ta Ta For Now...

2010-01-09T19:56:00.004-06:00

I'll be offline for the next few weeks, but I wanted to leave you with a few cute pics while I am away. Enjoy!

Gotta love the fingers...

2009-12-18T22:24:00.002-06:00

Getting the fingers ready...

Trying to decide which ones to use...

Think I'll try these first...

Guess I'll go with these...

Oh, what's a mommy to do with these fingers? This face is just sooo cute!

Edward Josiah

2009-12-12T20:46:00.003-06:00

My sweet Josiah hasn't been the topic of discussion on this blog for a while, so I want to write some things that he's up to these days too! Here are some things Josiah has been up to:

He is really enjoying reading. We are using a reading curriculum that I wasn't fond of in the beginning, but we're both loving it now. I am not really sure what he's "supposed" to be reading at this point, but he is reading long sentences in his reading book and I am so thrilled for him. It makes him sooo proud when he finishes a lesson!

I am finally starting to see what Josiah's interests are when it comes to "school subjects". He is REALLY loving numbers these days and wants to do addition and subtraction in his spare time. Unfortunately, I didn't purchase a math curriculum for this year because I thought the math in the curriculum we ordered would be enough to challenge him. It's not though so I am hoping we can purchase a separate curriculum after the first of the year.

Josiah is completely in love with Joseph. THANKFULLY, he has never shown any sort of jealously towards him. This boy LOVES his little brother and I must say that I think he's the best big brother there is! He is so loving and gentle with his brother.

Josiah really enjoys helping out around the house. I am trying to get better about sticking to our chore schedule so we are doing things everyday. When we do stick to it, he really enjoys it.

He is really into building robots out of lego blocks. EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. He spends a lot of time in his playroom building robots from legos. We may invest in more legos for Christmas because he loves them so much. It's funny because it took taking all of the other toys out of his room for him to notice them. I think that lets me know he has too much junk!

Sharing a room with Joseph has been wonderful for both boys. I wondered how it would affect Josiah's sleeping, but he has only woken up 1 time. He really enjoys sharing a room with his brother. He still looks over at his crib on a regular basis and says, "I can't believe I finally have a brother".

Josiah is growing SOOO fast! We had to buy a whole new wardrobe this season. He is wearing size 7 pants and 6/7 shirts!!! When we went to the dr yesterday, he weighed 57 lbs!!! I have no clue how tall he is, but he almost comes up to my shoulders!

He still enjoys being silly and his favorite thing is to make people laugh. He's always been that way...I wonder what he'll be when he grows up. In fact, yesterday at the dr's office we BOTH got so tickled when she was listening to him breathe that neither one of us could stop laughing. She probably thought we were crazy (mainly me), but it was just so funny. I love laughing with this boy!!!

I just love that God gave me Josiah. Some days he frustrates me to pieces, but I know that's because he is EXACTLY.LIKE.ME. Seriously! Ask anyone in my family and they'll tell you....he may look like his daddy, but when it comes to his personality he's a clone of his momma. Josiah does keep me rolling on most days though and I am so thankful to be his mom.

GIVEAWAY!!!

2009-12-08T23:13:00.001-06:00

Who doesn't want a new outfit! Head on over here and try to win a new outfit! :)

Samuel Joseph

2009-12-08T21:09:00.003-06:00

I am getting to know my sweet, smiley boy more and more everyday and it's so much fun. Here are some things that Joseph is doing these days:

He LOVES to suck his fingers. I have tried the paci and he likes that too, but it always seems to get thrown by the wayside and his fingers take its place. I've just decided there's not too much that can be done about it!
Speaking of his paci, yesterday he put it in his mouth by himself!!! He was holding it by the ring and I turned around to cut and apple and when I turned back around, it was in his mouth. Of course, 20 seconds later it was out and fingers were in. :)
Joseph LOVES to talk and smile. He mostly talks and smiles at Josiah. He talks and smiles for Edward and I too, but Josiah ALWAYS gets something out of him.
His favorite toy is his johnny jump-up. He absolutely LOVES it! He can make it jump pretty high and he jumps the highest when Josiah is sitting on the floor in front of him.
He also enjoys laying on his play gym and looking at himself in the mirror....he likes talking to himself too.
He is sleeping GREAT at night. He usually goes down somewhere between 9:30 and 10 and wakes up around 6:15-6:30am. I have NO clue how long he's in his room sucking his fingers before he actually cries out to eat though. He has to be STARVING to cry when he's hungry...he normally just sucks his fingers. I am the one watching the clock during the day to know when to feed him.
Speaking of feeding, he cracks me up because he frequently unlatches to suck those fingers! He also latches on and off until my milk lets down which is so funny to me!
He is laughing and that is so cute. He makes squealing noises when he laughs at Josiah.
He is weighing around 14 lbs, 8 oz and has moved to 3-6mth clothing.
He still LOVES bathtime and his absolute favorite time of the day is when he can be naked....LOVES it. He kicks his legs, squeals, and smiles when he's naked.

I guess that's all for now. He is SUCH a joy! I could honestly have 3 or 4 more babies if they were all gonna be like him. I LOVE my sweet Joseph. He is SUCH a blessing to our family.

A Montgomery Family Christmas

2009-12-06T17:30:00.006-06:00

Last year I was turned onto the idea of Advent and I loved it! Advent simply means "coming" and many people use the time to remember the birth of Jesus and to be reminded of His 2nd coming. I threw something together last year, but it didn't really work for us. I had honestly forgotten all about Advent until last week at Community Bible Study when some women shared that their families celebrate it. I immediately started thinking/praying about it because I really want it to be something that our family does. So...after a couple of days of thinking and praying, we are SO excited about our plan. We're starting a week late this year so we're playing catch up this week, but we plan on starting on time in the years to come. :) We pray that these traditions we're starting as well as the ones we are continuing will not only be a celebration for our family, but will be a time of reflection for us and a reminder of where our focus should be...on eternity. So...here's what we're doing this season:

4 Sundays before Christmas, we'll put up our tree and put the lights on it. This is just something practical to prepare for our Christmas celebration. Edward and Josiah DID actually do this last Sunday. :) We'll also read the story of Christ's birth on this evening and I will share about a ministry/people group/family that we could potentially help as our special "gift" this year. We will enjoy a special snack/treat while we're reading.

3 Sundays before Christmas, we'll decorate the tree and put out of the knick-knacks. We will enjoy a special treat as we read about Jesus' return. I will present another ministry/family/people group that we could potentially help as our special "gift" this year.

2 Sundays before Christmas, we'll work together to MAKE a special family ornament and add the kids hand prints to our tree skirt. I saw the hand print thing at someone's house last year and HAVE to implement it. This lady had a simple red tree skirt (which I have) and she got green felt and traced and cut out her kids hand prints each year and glued it to the tree skirt. Her kids are now teens, but she still has their sweet hand print from when they were tiny. I know Siah's already 5, but it's not too late to start. :) Anyway, we'll enjoy a treat while we read about repentance and talk about how we can make sure our hearts are ready for Jesus' return. I will present a 3rd ministry/family/people group that we could potentially help as our special "gift".

1 Sunday before Christmas, we'll wrap presents and put them under the tree. We'll enjoy a special treat as we talk about giving and how important it is that we GIVE and SHARE the message of Jesus and His return with others. We'll talk about the 3 ministries we've heard of in the previous weeks, pray about which one to give to, and make our PLAN! :)

On Christmas Eve, we'll attend our Christmas Eve service (a tradition we started last year) and drive around looking at Christmas lights. We will give our gift on Christmas Eve. Whether it's sending someone a check, delivering a meal, making a call...whatever we've planned, we'll do it on this night. After that is done, we'll let the kids open 1 gift from us.

On Christmas morning, we'll continue with a tradition we started when Josiah was 2 and have a birthday party in Jesus' honor as soon as we wake up . Then we'll open up gifts and go to wherever we're going for Christmas.

SO....those are our Christmas traditions. :) Some of them are new to us and some are already established, but we're sooo excited about them all! What does your family do to celebrate Advent and Christmas?

Happiness...

2009-12-01T20:25:00.016-06:00

My good friend, Leisha, tagged me a week or so ago and I finally have some time to sit down and blog about 10 things that make me happy. So...here it goes:

1. Being in God's presence. There is nothing like singing and worshipping the Lord to REALLY make me happy! I just love being in His presence! That is probably why I get furious when we're late for church on Sunday mornings and I miss worship. Ha ha ha! :)

2. My wonderful husband. I am so happy with Edward. He keeps me laughing and smiling, for sure! I LOVE our time alone together. Whether we go out on a date or stay home and snuggle on the couch watching movies, I really enjoy being alone with him.

3. My silly Josiah. This boy adds so much life to our household. We enjoy the quietness when he's away for the night, but we also get a little bored. Edward and I both agree that we would have a pretty boring family if it weren't for Josiah. Talking with him makes me happy. Teaching him makes me happy (most days). I love being his momma!

4. My sweet Joseph. I am in another world snuggling with this sweet little boy! His smiles and coos make me happy. I just can't get enough of him and I am so thankful that God blessed us with this little guy. He's so easy going!

5. A clean house. Yes, a clean house makes me VERY, VERY happy! Unfortunately, this doesn't motivate me to actually keep mine clean. Maybe one day! :)

6. Chocolate. Yep, I said it. Chocolate makes me happy. Right now it's specifically fruit (preferably apples) dipped in dark chocolate.

7. Being pampered. Whether it's a pedicure, massage, facial, or haircut, I LOVE to be pampered!

8. Good conversation with good friends. I love having mom's night outs. I especially love conversations that challenge me in my faith and conversations that make me laugh. Whether it's a friend I've had forever or a brand new one, nothing beats a conversation with a great friend!

9. Surprises. I LOVE to surprise people. I LOVE to give gifts and don't do it nearly often enough. It really does make me happy to surprise people...so watch out! Ha ha ha! :)

10. With all of this pampering and dark chocolate, I had to save my healthy one for last...Bodypump! It really makes me happy to do a Bodypump class. One class may not change the way that I look, but it surely does change the way that I feel. I CAN'T WAIT to get back into this class!!!

Now it's my turn to tag some friends. It's your turn to list 10 things that make you happy:

Amy at I am His

Leslie at Cherishing Life

Kendall at The Proper Pinky

Courtney at A Blessed Family

Melodye at MorningSong

Abby at The Warrens

$3 and some change

2009-11-28T21:48:00.003-06:00

I love it when I get into conversation with someone and things just start bubbling out of me...when God uses the conversation to show me things about myself. Last night I had one of those conversations with my husband on the way home from my grandmother's house. I came home wanting to recap the entire conversation and blog about it, but I was so exhausted when we made it in that it didn't happen. I am not even sure how the conversation ended up going in the direction that it did, but I am SO thankful that it did. I just started talking and things were coming out of my mouth that God was speaking to me. It was wonderful and sickening at the same time. It basically comes down to the fact that I am sick of myself. I want God to take me to a place where my heart once was in the area of giving.

I love to give. NOTHING makes my heart race more and gets me more pumped than being able to give. I really believe giving is my spiritual gift and it is what I am supposed to be doing. I enjoy giving my time to help people, but the most satisfying thing for me is to give gifts or money to people who need it. I love to buy the person's lunch behind me in the drive-thru at chick-fil-a. I love sending care packages to friends living overseas who may not be able to get the same stuff that we have here, but deeply miss it. I love paying a bill for someone or buying food for someone who may be having a hard week and not able to do it for themselves. I LOVE handing money or food to people who are on the street. And I use to LOOK for the opportunity to do those things. But somehow, over the last few years, I have moved away from looking for those opportunities to give. Somehow I have begun to look for what I can GET from others and that sickens me to the core. Somehow I have walked around thinking that I am the one who deserves a gift. How my heart just breaks to know that! I don't go around consciously thinking, "how can I get something", but my actions show that my heart really feels that way...deserving. I didn't even realize it until a couple of weeks ago. And it all came out in my conversation with Edward last night. It started with a trip to Starbucks. I waited and waited in the drive-thru line for my coffee. We're doing the envelope system again so I already had my money out when I got to the window. The young lady who is at the window tells me that she made a mistake and my coffee would be free. WOW! I thanked God for the blessing, put my money away, and left. I didn't think another thing about it until last night. The day after my coffee experience there was a guest speaker at church who talked about giving. His story was amazing and I wept because I have such a strong desire to be used by God in the way that God uses he, his family, and his church. I have thought about the message on and off for the past couple of weeks and then it all came out of me last night. How can God trust me with clothes, cars, houses, thousands of dollars to give if he can't trust me with $3 and some change? I am not saying that I think we should give away every single thing we have. I am not saying that God wanted me to give away that coffee money. Certainly God DOES bless us and maybe He wanted me to have that free cup of coffee. BUT...I am not saying that I shouldn't have given the coffee money either. I don't know because I simply didn't ask.

Over the last few years I have become extremely comfortable making my own decisions without consulting the Lord. I remember a time when I would ask God before decisions were made. When I was presented with opportunities I would ask the Lord for guidance. When I had a problem, I would ask Him for a solution...for wisdom. When I sat down to make out my tithe check, I would ask Him what I should give. Lately, if opportunities are presented, I pretty much decide with my own small brain what would be the "best" thing and go that way. Lately, when problems occur, I deal with them in the "best" way that I know how. Lately, like a robot, I make out my 10% check and that's the end of it. How in the world can I be trusted with more if I can't be trusted with little?! ALL that I have belongs to Him anyway. My house, my cars, my clothes, my shoes, my furniture, my money, my kids...they are ALL not mine. I know that...I just haven't been living like it. It is very interesting how things like this can creep in little by little and before we know it, we're thinking and living COMPLETELY different then we know God wants us to. That's what happened here. I am not sure where it started, but over time I changed from wanting to give all that I have to wanting to hold on to all that I have. No more! I am SO thankful to our merciful God who gently corrects us and brings us back in line with His perfect will when we get off course! I am so thankful to be thinking clearly again in this area! I pray that He can begin to show me what I have to give and help me recognize ways to give it! Thank you, Jesus, for making me sick of myself so YOU can have control in this area of my life again.

Hope this isn't the start of something...

2009-11-03T22:18:00.003-06:00

Most of the time my sweet boy is happy sleeping without any "aids"...

But sometimes he does need his paci... This week I've caught him doing this...

Happy Anniversary!

2009-10-29T12:37:00.002-05:00

These are two of my favorite pictures of Edward and I from this past year. :)

To my wonderful husband,

I am so thankful for you and for the most wonderful 7 years of my life! I love being your wife! I love that you are such a shining example of God's love to me and to our boys. This past year has been full of changes and blessings for us and I am grateful to share those changes and blessings with you! I look forward to many, many more wonderful years with you. I LOVE YOU, my man!!!

The Electric Company

2009-10-27T22:40:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday the boys and I went with some friends to see The Electric Company. If you aren’t familiar with this show, you’ve gotta check it out! It’s super fun and educational…and apparently was on television when Edward was younger. I don’t remember watching it when I was a kid, but he does and some of our friends do too. Anyway, I had a blast and thought I’d post a few pictures from our morning…

Josiah with his buddies...

Josiah and "Shock".

Joseph was watching too. :)

Fun times

2009-10-27T21:55:00.002-05:00

My sweet Joseph is staying awake more these days. He's SUPER smiley and is starting to talk to us too! For the past two weeks we could count on lots of spit up if he talked, but now he's talking without the spit up. :) Josiah really had him going last night, but I didn't think to grab the camera until he was just about done with it all. I did manage to get a few seconds of him cooing though. Enjoy! :)

Chores and Routine

2009-10-05T13:48:00.001-05:00

I've done tons of posting about Joseph's birth, but not a lot about our lives since then! Last week we finally started getting back on some sort of routine around our house and it's been WONDERFUL. Napping on and off all day during the weeks prior was great, but I can only do so much of that. It was definitely time to get our schedule for the year going...finally! Josiah and I were both so thrilled to start our school year at the beginning of last week. We're using My Father's World for our curriculum and we're both really enjoying it. These first two weeks have been easy for me to teach so that's been great to ease me into it! We've been learning about Creation and it's really cool to be learning right along side my son. Josiah has also asked me to teach him to cook so we've started with some simple stuff...how to crack and beat eggs, safely use a knife, and all about measuring things while cooking. Hopefully my big kid will be able to throw down in the kitchen by the time he's 7. HA HA HA! :)He's also been attending science classes at the McWane center every 2 weeks and Bible class once a week. He's been a busy kid! Joseph is SO laid back. He is starting to stay awake more after his feedings so we are all enjoying that. Now Josiah gets some "playtime" in with his brother before Joseph goes back to sleep. The other day Josiah popped up his tent and asked if Joseph could come in there with him. I agreed and Joseph stayed in Siah's tent for about 30 minutes just watching him play. I would post pictures from our school lessons, however, I completely forgot to take any until this week and Josiah did not want to be in any pictures this week. Good times. :)

Thanks to my friend, Leslie's, post on chores, we've implemented a great chore schedule here during the weekdays too! This is actually something that Josiah and I both so desperately needed. Sadly, neither my husband or I are neat people. And, sadly, we've been passing on our sloppiness to our eldest son. I am determined for this not to continue! When I read Leslie's post I realized that we don't expect enough from Josiah as far as chores go. Josiah has always loved helping out around the house so why not delegate some work to him?! He's a smart 5 year old so he's perfectly capable of learning how to pitch in around here. :) Despite him saying this past week that he'd rather be "one of those people that lives on the road in a tent" than do chores, he has been enjoying it and has had a great attitude about it every single day for the past two weeks except for one. :) It's been great for me too because, prior to our chore schedule, if I didn't feel like doing something around the house then I didn't do it. Now I have to because Josiah has to do his chores and I can't expect him to do his and get slack with mine. It's really great for everyone. My house has certainly NOT been in tip top shape for the past two weeks...things happen and this is a process, but I can say that I have not had one day where I would have been ashamed if someone unexpectedly showed up at my door for a visit...and that is a BIG DEAL! LOL! So...onto Josiah's schedule...

Monday-
AM-wipe down window sills
PM-empty trash into the big can and take to outside can...roll can to road

Tuesday-
AM-vacuum downstairs
PM-spot clean exterior doors

Wednesday-
AM-vacuum upstairs
PM-clean out car

Thursday-
AM-clean playroom
PM-empty trash into big can and take to outside can...roll can to the road

Friday-
AM-wipe down lower kitchen cabinets, table, and chairs
PM-clean mirrors, sinks, and toilets in bathrooms

We are working on Financial Peace University, Jr. with Josiah so we are using the chores listed above as a way to teach him about earning money. Each week he starts out with a star on a chart for each weekday. If he does the chores listed above with a good attitude, he keeps the star for that day. If he doesn't, he loses it. At the end of the week we let him count how many stars he kept for the week and he gets paid for each star. He then takes the $ he has earned and divides it among his 3 envelopes (give, save, spend). He was SO excited to get paid last week! There are also a few things that he is responsible for each day (including Saturday) that he does NOT get paid for because we want him to know that we are a team and we have to work together to keep our house running smoothly whether we see any sort of benefit to it or not. So...each day he must keep his own room straightened, put away his laundry that has been folded, and set the table for dinner.

There's more I would love to share, but this post has gotten a little long and my littlest one is starting to fuss. Hopefully I can share more soon!!!

Josiah's take on the birth

2009-09-28T21:36:00.004-05:00

So...we made the decision a few months ago to let Josiah be in the room whenever Joseph was born. I had never even thought of the it until a couple of friends asked me if I was going to let him be in the room. My reply was "NO"! It hadn't even crossed my mind...especially because he's a boy! One day not too long after those conversations took place my sweet 5 year old started talking about his brother being born and how he couldn't wait to watch him be born. I let him know that only mommy, daddy, the nurses, and the doctors would be there whenever Joseph came out, but he WOULD be the first one to see his new brother...we would make sure nobody else in the family (or friends) saw Joseph before him. He was DEVASTATED! Josiah is very emotional, but he is NOT one to cry a lot. He whines, screams, etc. but he doesn't cry unless he's really hurt (feelings or physically). He cried and cried that he would not be in the room with us whenever his brother was born. He felt like our entire family had prayed and waited together for this little guy to be born and he would miss out on the big moment of his arrival. That's when I started wondering if we were making the right decision. I began to think about it and pray. For those of you who know my sweet husband, you know that he is very modest and private. So...even when I began thinking that we should include Josiah, I just knew Edward would disagree. Surprisingly, he really loved the idea. We openly talked with Josiah about what may take place during the birth and we told him if he changed his mind about wanting to be there at any point that was fine. We really tried to help him understand that we were allowing him to be in the room because he desired to be there and we were completely fine with him not being there. We asked him several times (right up until labor day) if he still wanted to come into the room and he always said yes. We made arrangements with my mom so once Josiah was in the room her sole responsibility was making sure he was taken care of and making sure he was okay. So when I was pretty close to actually giving birth my mom went to the waiting room to get Josiah. It was 3am so she had to wake him up from a sound sleep to bring him into the room. I remember him coming in and sitting to the side of me on my mom's lap. I was screaming and Joseph was born just a few minutes after he came into the room...RIGHT after Joseph came out my mom left to take Josiah back to the waiting room. She said he turned to her and said that his chest was hurting and he had to get out of the room. He didn't want to talk about the birth anymore that day, but the next day he and I had a great conversation about what he saw. He asked me if Dr. Straughn was hurting me when she was pulling Joseph out and once I told him no he said, "oh, well it was cool then". He told me that the birth was not what he expected. He thought we would give birth in Dr. Straughn's office with the lights out. My mom said he was fine until he saw Dr. Straughn really working to get Joseph's shoulders out and that's when he told her he had a pain in his chest and needed to leave. He told me he thought she was hurting me, but once he found out she was not hurting me he was okay. Now he's saying he doesn't really remember very much about the day Joseph was born just that "there was blood everywhere" which he thinks is very cool. :P The other day we had another talk about it and he said that he wanted to write Joseph's birth story from HIS perspective (he didn't use that word, of course). LOL! Anyway...here's what he said word for word...

"Whoa blood was everywhere. I can't believe that mom had a humongous baby that was 8lbs 15oz. Cool. I have a baby brother. I saw blood everywhere. I felt like I had a tummy ache and I had to get out of the room and then I just got out of the room and came back in after he was washed. I had a fun time watching batman vs dracula and that is how I think Joseph was born. I was too tired to remember anything".

I asked him if he could choose to watch another sibling be born if he'd want to and he said he wants to try going in again! That surprised me! We'll have to see about that. :) So...I guess my big guy wasn't traumatized and was right where he needed to be during his brother's birth.

Joseph

2009-09-26T10:33:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Joseph's Birth

2009-09-24T13:11:00.002-05:00

Let me just start by saying that this is EXTREMELY long (as you can see)! I am typing this up more for me, but if you want to tough it out and read it THANKS! My mom was so great and wrote down the times things were happening during most of my labor so that is how I was able to be precise with the times that things happened. I have asked my friend and labor and delivery nurse, Abby, to add her thoughts so those are what you see typed in red. Edward added a few thoughts and those are typed in green...everything else is from me. :) I don't feel like I have the right words to express my feelings about this birth and my thankfulness to the Lord and to all involved in making it happen, but I am going to give it my best shot! So….here it goes:

Sunday, September 6, 2009-41 weeks, 1 day
I had a really rough day. I woke up feeling completely discouraged and wanting to stay in the bed. I was weepy, felt miserable, and was really beginning to wonder if I would end up having to be induced. I had such great times with God the week prior to this day and had felt like I completely surrendered control of this situation to Him. It was really hard to leave it there though! I didn't even want to go to church, but made myself and was sooo glad that I did. It was truly refreshing!

11pm-I started having some cramps in my back and a few in my stomach that were pretty uncomfortable. I didn’t think it was labor because there had been a few days recently that I felt this same way and I certainly didn't want to be disappointed. I did find myself on my hands and knees doing pelvic tilts and stretching to try to help with the discomfort. I really thought it was most likely due to my sluggish digestive system.

Monday, September 7, 2009-41 weeks, 2 days-LABOR day
1:30am- I told Edward I really needed to go to bed because I was miserable and sleep was the only thing that would help. I was awakened several times during the night with cramps, but I went back to sleep.

5am- I could not lay in the bed any longer...I had to get up to move around and help my back feel better. (side note: this had been an issue over the last few weeks of pregnancy...I would wake up in the early am with back cramps, but once I got up and moved around they got better). I decided to get online and look up the signs of early labor. I was still not 100% convinced, but when I went to the bathroom and saw bloody show I got SO excited because I realized this was it! I timed my contractions for the next half hour and they were at 3-4 minutes apart and lasting for around a minute.

6am- I woke Edward up and asked him to continue timing while I got into the bathtub. I HOPED that I was dilated pretty far along and getting in the tub would help me relax and dilate more so I would be 6cm or so when I got to the hospital. Since I was induced with pitocin for my delivery with Josiah and I have heard those contractions are so much stronger, I really didn't know what to expect as far as pain is concerned going into labor on my own. Anyway, Edward kept timing them until 6:30 while I showered and got ready for the hospital. Once we had timed them for an hour and they were 3-4 minutes apart, lasting around a minute each time, I decided it was time to call my sweet friend and L&D nurse, Abby, to see what she thought.

7am- I called Abby and she was excited and advised me to call Dr. Straughn's office. I called Dr. Straughn's office and started crying when the operator told me that Dr. Straughn was the dr on call that day. PRAISE THE LORD! We had been praying that Dr. Straughn would be able to deliver Joseph! A few minutes later Dr. Straughn called. She said she had been wondering when she would hear from me. She was also excited and said she was still at home but was going to get ready and head in to the hospital and she would meet me there. I laid out Josiah's big brother outfit and Edward woke him up. Edward brought Josiah downstairs and told him to open his eyes and look at what he had to wear today. He was SOOO excited when he saw that he was wearing his big brother shirt because he knew it was time to head to the hospital. It was precious! Once Josiah and Edward were ready, we headed to Brookwood. We parked in the parking deck and walked to labor and delivery because I knew the more walking I did the better!

8:30am- We were admitted to l&d by Abby's friend and co-worker, Courtney.

9:15am- Abby & Dr. Straughn arrived. Dr. Straughn checked me and Abby started my i.v. I was a little disappointed that I was only 3cm, but I was excited that I was 100% effaced! YAYYY! I just KNEW we would have this baby by the afternoon. HA! I had been told earlier in my pregnancy that the only thing that was on my birth plan that I couldn't do was have intermittent monitoring. Because I was a VBAC, I would have to have continuous monitoring which was completely okay with me. I knew it would somewhat limit what I could do to manage the pain, but I understood. Well...Dr. Straughn decided to go ahead and let me be monitored intermittently because Joseph was handling the labor so well. I was able to be on the monitor for 30 minutes and off for 30 minutes.

11:22am- Edward, Abby, and I went walking in the halls of l&d. My contractions were pretty uncomfortable at this point and when I would have one, we would stop and they would both rub my back. My sweet husband is so use to me wanting him to apply a lot of pressure when he massages me, but that is not what felt the best during a contraction. I just wanted light touch and lots of counter pressure on my lower back...but no massaging!

Throughout my labor I used many different ways to manage my pain...I rocked on the birth ball, I got in the shower on all fours and let the hot water hit my back and run down onto my belly, I leaned up against Edward and let him hold all of my weight, I laid on my side in the bed and had Edward rub my back, I sat on the edge of the bed with one leg dangling down and breathed through them...MANY different ways to manage the pain and ALL of them helped for a certain period of time and then I would need to move on to something else. Since the tub really didn't do too much for me when I was at home and in VERY early labor, I didn't even try it when I was in active labor. It DID really help me relax to get into the shower though so I did that on two or three different occasions. Edward was always so great about helping me in the shower. When he helped me out the last time, I looked at him and said in a calm (but whiny) voice, "I am going to need pain medicine". I think I may have even specifically mentioned an epidural. He gently reminded me that we had decided on no meds and he knew if I did that I would be disappointed once it was all over with....he told me no. To those that do not know my husband well, let me just say that this is SOOO not like Edward. He hates to see me suffer, but I had asked him during my pregnancy to PLEASE tell me no if I asked for an epidural during labor...he was simply doing what I asked. I am SO thankful he stuck to it! There were a few times during my labor that I thought about giving up and I am so thankful for Edward not letting me!

1:35pm- Dr Straughn came in and checked me and I was only 4cm dilated! What a disappointment! Since I was not progressing quickly, she mentioned that we may want to think about either 1) getting a little pitocin to move things along or 2)have my water broken and put an internal monitor on so we could get a better idea of what was going on. I was SO upset by both of these because I had them BOTH with Josiah and ended up with a c-section. Josiah was also born with a sore on his head that required a longer stay in the hospital to get antibiotics and I have always wondered if the sore MAY have been caused from the internal monitor. Anyway, at that point I KNEW if I had to have pitocin I would need an epidural because the pain was already extremely intense...I could not stand for it to be cranked up anymore. I asked Abby what she thought and she mentioned that it concerned her that my contractions were right on top of one another, but I wasn't really dilating...that is what they can see if there are going to be issues with uterine rupture. I knew when Dr Straughn mentioned “interventions” you would not want them and I was totally fine with that, but shortly after that I could tell by how you were acting that your contractions were right on top of each other and you were not getting a break in between them which concerned me. At that point I suggested that if we were going to do any interventions that it might be beneficial to get your water broken so that we could monitor contractions internally. However, while you and Edward discussed, you laid back down in bed and your contractions seemed to space out a good bit and back into a pattern that I was more comfortable with. I have to be honest too because at this point, I was getting very nervous about whether or not this was going to happen vaginally. I kept thinking if you could just get past 4 cm then I’d feel a lot better about things. Even though VBAC was my goal and natural followed right behind that, a healthy baby was the #1 priority.

My goal was to provide comfort and help Rachael remain focused on the birth plan in order for her to manage the pain resulting in a desired vaginal birthing experience. When discussing medicine for the pain and breaking her water, I chose not to appeal to her emotions, but rather logic and get her re-focused on the birth plan and why it’s important to her. We carefully discussed the pros & cons of each option presented and by process of elimination agreed upon a little nubain to allow her to relax between contractions which would aid in natural dilation.

Edward and I briefly discussed what we should do and at that point I decided to get a half dose of nubain to help me relax between contractions. since my contractions were right on top of one another I wasn't getting a break and I was not able to relax...in my mind I was having flashbacks of my labor with Josiah because that is what the last few hours were like with him before I had my c-section. Looking back, that half dose of nubain was one of the best decisions I made during labor! Even though I still felt my contractions and had to work through them just as I was doing before the nubain, I was able to really relax in between them...I got a little break! In fact, I remember sitting on the edge of the bed with my eyes closed feeling like I was half-way sleeping in between contractions....it was WONDERFUL! I really believe that helped me along in labor.

3:55pm- Dr. Straughn came back in, but she didn't mention anything else about having pit or having my water broken. I hadn't quite made it to 5cm yet when she returned, but I was a "loose 4" and he was at 0 station. I remember thinking about transition and knowing that is the shortest part of labor. In my mind, if I could just make it to 8cm, I was going to make it because I could handle that being so short. I remember at one point asking what else I could take because the nubain wasn't cutting it anymore. Abby told me that I could take Stadol, but I was so close and by the time I got it there would be no point...I wanted to be able to feel to push and not be out of it. I am glad she discouraged me from taking it! My reason for discouraging you from Stadol is that it is more powerful than nubain and I was worried if you took it you would be so loopy you wouldn’t be in control and you wouldn’t remember the delivery.

6pm- When Dr. Straughn came in and checked me, I was 5-6cm/0-+1 and my contractions were lasting 2 minutes

8:01pm- At 8pm Abby checked me and I was 6-7cm/+1 It was at this point that I was like “ok this is going to happen for sure! I remember somewhere around this time, maybe earlier, you really got into the “labor trance” where you had your little system/coping techniques down and you were just doing your thing but didn’t seem to be fully present. This is very common for women to get in this kind of “groove” during labor when they figure out what is working for them.

8:12pm- I was standing by the bed and felt something running down my leg. I remember looking down and saying that I thought my water had broken...and it had! WOW! I was so happy that it broke on its own.

9:38pm- Dr Straughn came back in and checked me and I was 7cm/+1. It seems like my water breaking REALLY helped things along

10:35pm-Dr. Straughn checked me again and I was ALMOST 8! YAYY! During transition I kept remembering that someone (not sure who, I THINK it was Abby) had told me to pick a point on the wall and make myself open my eyes and focus on that point during each contraction...that really as helpful! I mentioned this as something that helped me a lot in transition. One of my nurses told me to do it and I made a big difference.

11:35pm-Abby checked me and I was 9cm. I remember her having me push because there was just a little lip on my cervix and I was trying to push through it. Dr. Straughn came in and I was 9 1/2 . Actually she said you were 9 ½ but we could go ahead and start pushing some because it was so stretchy and you were really feeling the urge to push. After pushing about 30 minutes, I rechecked you and reduced the “anterior lip” easily, that is when your pushing became much more effective. How incredible to hear that I was complete and could start REALLY pushing! I remember looking at the clock and realizing that Joseph was not going to be born until Tuesday! CRAZY!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009-41 weeks, 3 days-Joseph’s Birthday

I started pushing on all fours and I remember thinking that it was not working. I remember thinking that it didn’t seem very effective either. But I wanted you to try several different positions and see what worked best for you. I thought that I would be really disappointed if I had gone through all of this pain and still ended up with another c-section. Right after that thought, Edward leaned over and whispered some scriptures in my ear which is REALLY what I needed to hear then. I remember him reminding me that I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me and that with God ALL things are possible. Just what I needed to hear to spur me on in my pushing! :) I remember it was suggested that I try a different position for pushing and I am SO thankful that was suggested because I don't really think pushing on all fours was doing anything for me.

Abby and April (another WONDERFUL l&D nurse) set the squatting bar up on the bed and I tried pushing on that. I was so grateful for April’s help at that point because I was getting tired and I felt like I’d used up my bag of tricks to help you! She is a great nurse for natural labor. It’s always good to have several different people helping that way you get lots of different ideas and techniques. That is when I really began to feel like I was actually doing something. I did that for a little while and then I laid back a little and they put my legs up in stir-ups for a little while...that was REALLY working! I knew you didn’t want to delivery in lithotomy position, but you really were not pushing as effectively as when you were on your back. I think I got on the squat bar one more time and then ended up back in the stir-ups. They pulled out the mirror and that was SO encouraging! I knew you’d be encouraged to see how far you had come! I had said that I did not want to have the mirror because I had seen pictures in the Bradley books and I did NOT want to see myself in that state. Well...I am SO happy that I had the mirror because I could see that my pushing was effective. I do remember seeing a bulge, but I was not thinking of how I looked, I was just thinking that I was going to tear BIG time (thank God I did NOT)! At that point I did not care though...I just wanted to get Joseph out.

Abby told me that I could rest through a few contractions...that I didn't have to push through every one, but I felt like I had to just keep pushing. You were so exhausted at this point, so I encouraged you to just push gently and do what your body told you to but not put 100% into it, just so you could gain some strength back for the actual delivery. I remember not really knowing when I was having a contraction because I couldn't feel them any longer, I just felt sooo much pressure and I HAD to push. I never imagined that the need to deliver my baby would feel the way that it did. As I was pushing, everyone was racing around the room getting everything prepared. My adrenaline was PUMPING as I realized this was REALLY going to happen...I was REALLY going to birth this baby vaginally!

I felt like screaming helped me push better, so...I screamed with every push. I didn't scream because it hurt (I really don't remember it being painful at this point). When I started seeing Joseph's little head, I remember thinking that Josiah was going to miss it. Josiah had asked us earlier on during my pregnancy if he could be there when Joseph was born. At first I said no, but when we started thinking about it, praying about it, and talking about it...we decided to let him come into the room when I got ready to birth his brother. So...I told my mom to please go get him and she did. Josiah came back in when Dr. Straughn had made it into the room and I was pushing Joseph out. :) I will post about that another time. :) I remember seeing Joseph's head really start to come out and from that point on, I was not watching anymore because I was focused on pushing him out...I do hope I can watch everything next time though. Once I had pushed his head out, Abby looked at me in my eyes and very seriously told me that I was going to have to push as hard as I could RIGHT THEN....When his head came out, I knew he was a BIG BOY and his shoulders weren’t going to just slip out easily, so I wanted you to know that you had to get this boy out and use all your strength to do it. I knew by the look on her face that I HAD to push with all of my strength at that moment...and that is when my sweet boy was born!

I was completely in awe when he was put on my chest...I could not believe that I had birthed this baby vaginally...and he was SO BIG! When he was weighed I could hardly believe that he was nearly 9 pounds...WOW! It seemed like the last few hours of labor passed by so quickly. Even though it was really hard, it did not at all seem like I Was laboring for as long as I was. If I had known exactly how long I would have been in labor I would not have been up for the challenge...THANK GOD I had no clue! I was sooo proud that I had actually done this...it was so empowering! Joseph wasn't crying when he was placed on my chest so the nurses had to take him to the side and do a deep suction on him. He was having a little trouble getting his color and breathing (grunting/retracting) so we gave him a minute after the cord was cut, but then April and I both knew he needed a little stimulation and free flow o2 and we called transition nursery to come look at him after he was still having trouble at 6 minutes I think. He must’ve taken a big gulp on the way out because the NICU nurses did an OG tube and got out 5 or 7 cc’s of fluid off his tummy, I can’t remember. Even though I had a long labor and delivery, he had a lot of fluid on his lungs and I had a lot of bleeding (even though I didn't realize it then). I did get to hold him again and try to nurse him, but he was so sleepy and not wanting to latch on. I was shaking because I was FREEZING afterwards and I was SOOO thirsty! We stayed in recovery for a while so he could try to eat and all of my family that was present could come in and meet Joseph. I was able to get up and walk to the bathroom during this time. When it was time to go up to our room, it was SO nice to be wheeled in a wheelchair rather than taken up on a stretcher.

This experience was so amazing and I really thank God for answering our prayers! I have had the desire to have a birth just like this before I ever became pregnant with Josiah. Josiah's birth was so precious to me because he made me a mom and I am so thankful that I have a healthy boy even though things didn't go the way that I planned or desired them to go. Joseph's birth was the manifestation of the deepest longings of my heart in regards to childbirth and that is so incredible to me. This truly feels like the biggest accomplishment I have ever made in my life! I will most definitely go this route again with any other children God blesses our family with...every second of waiting, pain, and pressure was SO worth this incredible little boy that I am holding in my arms now! God is so good to us and I give Him 100% of the glory for answering our prayers and giving me what I needed to birth our sweet Samuel Joseph!

It really was such an honor to help you through this beautiful labor and delivery experience. I was so overjoyed that God blessed you with your heart’s desire! Your labor was probably one of the most difficult natural labors that I’ve ever witnessed. You were really hurting even early on and then it was so long, truly a marathon. I know that if you can make it through that labor, any other labor will be a piece of cake!

Random pictures from week 1

2009-09-22T19:44:00.005-05:00

If you're on facebook, then you've seen these pictures and many more. Some of my friends aren't on facebook though so I thought I would just put a few of my pictures from our first week on my blog! Stay tuned for a LONNNNGGG post coming soon...I am ALMOST done with my birth story. :)

chillin on the boppy pillow after a feeding

snuggling to mimi

relaxing on mommy's lap waiting to leave the hospital

best buddies

mimi and her boys as she says...can you tell how thrilled Josiah is to be taking this picture!

Trust

2009-09-03T08:28:00.000-05:00

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:3-5

This morning I have had such a great time with the Lord. These last few days have been hard. I have found myself going through many different emotions. One moment, it is so easy to know that what I believe God wants for us and this birth is going to come to pass in His timing...and the next I find myself full of fear worrying if this birth will end up the same way my first one did. I have to say I have been more hopeful than not, however, I have been finding myself trying to make this happen in my own strength and I don't think that's what God wants from me right now. I believe what He wants is surrender of control, complete surrender, and I have learned through this waiting period that surrendering control is something I am not very good at. Last night was a breaking point though. I have given it up...I KNOW that God has the best plan for me, for Joseph, for our family. Edward and I have seen Him move in miraculous ways throughout this last year...from the conception of this sweet boy to the sustaining of this pregnancy and we have no reason to doubt Him to move in the area of this labor and delivery. So I have found myself waking up today FULL of hope, knowing that God is God. He has a plan, He knows what is best, His ways are much higher than my ways and what I have to do is not hard...I just try to make it hard. All that He requires of me is faith in Him! And even if things do not go down the way that I have planned for them to go down, I will not be disappointed in my God!

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18

Our prayer

2009-09-01T22:54:00.002-05:00

Well...I never imagined in a million years that I would go past my due date with this little guy. :) I was induced with Josiah right at 38 weeks and ended up having a c-section. I firmly believe my body was just not ready to give birth yet. I am determined this time to not let my impatience lead to another birth that doesn't go the way I desire it to. I have had this deep desire in my heart wayyy before I ever had Josiah to have a natural, vaginal delivery. I think I could have had that with Josiah, but I was impatient and things ended up not working out. I am so thankful for my sweet, healthy boy though! Praise God for protecting him and getting him here safely. When I found out I was expecting this time all of those desires came flooding back. I truly want to have the birth that I believe God put in my heart to have. Now that his birth is coming VERY soon, I am getting SOOO excited about it! He has truly put together a wonderful team of people to support me through this and I am sooo thankful for each one of them. I can't wait to tell a wonderful birth story. I thought I may as well open up and let you know the specific things that Edward and I have been praying regarding Joseph's birth so you can join us. I can't wait to see how God answers our prayers!!! He has already started answering them! We are believing God for the following:

That Joseph will be turned the correct way when I go into labor (which he already is)
That I will go into labor on my own with no need for induction close to my due date
My labor will progress normally and Joseph's heart rate would remain good throughout
I will be able to labor naturally
I will be able to have a vaginal delivery without the use of forceps or a vacuum
I will have no major tearing and no need for an episiotomy
Joseph will breastfeed great from the get go

I can't wait to report back to you on each of those!!! Thank you so much for praying for us and being so excited with us!

Almost there...

2009-08-24T00:15:00.001-05:00

5 days people, 5 days!!! Hopefully at the end of these 5 days, I WILL actually have a baby in my arms and not still be waiting! That's all I had to say...

REALLY motivated!

2009-08-19T20:02:00.003-05:00

Well...not sure what this means, but I am REALLY motivated to clean my house today. For those of you who know me well I REALLY don't like cleaning...pregnant or not. I It's been REALLY bad lately though. The bathrooms are gross, the floors are gross, and it hasn't even really been staying straightened up. My poor family! I am so thankful for a patient husband who understands that I have been too tired to worry about cleaning! Anyway, I am super motivated today so I have managed to straighten up, organize under some cabinets, clean the bathrooms, AND vacuum the floors. I could have done it all, but my sweet Josiah offered to help. He vacuumed 3 rooms for me and cleaned one toilet. He wanted to help with more, but it was his bedtime so I had to decline his offer. I hope he continues to enjoy this because we are incorporating a new set of chores into his daily schedule starting VERY soon (thanks, Leslie). Now I am getting offline to finish up the laundry, plan some school stuff, plan my grocery trip, and admire my clean home! Hopefully we'll have our sweet little Joseph soon!

**I did end up leaving the tubs and the sweeping/mopping for Edward to do this weekend because I just can't seem to get that done...a few seconds of trying and I am completely out of breath!

So close!

2009-08-18T10:41:00.002-05:00

I am a terrible blogger. I have SO many pictures of fun things that have happened over the summer, but I just don't really feel like taking the time to upload them. Maybe one day! Right now I am completely thrilled that our sweet baby boy is due in only 11 days! I cannot believe how fast this has come! I realize it may be a little longer before he actually gets here and I am sooo thankful to have a dr who is not rushing it. I feel like she wants me to be able to have this VBAC just about as much as I want to have it. She's so encouraging! Whether it's 11 days, sooner, or later...he is coming VERY VERY soon! There are still things I want to get done but I am so tired that I am really not doing many of them. When I first got pregnant I basically had a list to remodel the entire house in 9 months. HA HA HA! Needless to say, most of that list has been scrapped at this point. Hopefully I will get around to cleaning up a little more before he comes, but I figure hanging things on the wall, etc. can wait. :) I just feel so incredibly blessed to be meeting our 2nd son so soon. Josiah is VERY excited too. He loves on my belly every single day, tells stories to Joseph, and probably talks to him more than anybody else does. He is already so in love with his little brother. I am sure Joseph already loves Josiah too! :) I can't wait to see them together. I have been going to the dr each week, but I was last checked at 36 weeks. I will get checked again Monday so it will be interesting to see if any additional progress has been made. I really feel like my cervix has been thinning out more based on some little pains that I have been having every now and then. We really appreciate your prayers right now for an on-time, natural, uncomplicated labor and a uncomplicated, vaginal delivery! :) THANKS!

Who's out there?

2009-08-08T08:32:00.002-05:00

Okay, so after talking with Edward we've decided to make the blog private. :) I know it's a big hassle to enter a password each time you want to view a blog (it is to me anyway), but that's just what we feel like we need to do right now. Nothing has happened, we are just feeling like it may be smart to make it private. I have been thinking about it probably for a year or so and Edward now thinks it's a good idea. So...if you are interested in keeping up with us (I hope to blog more frequently) please leave a comment and let me know so I can email you the password...and leave your email address too if I don't have it. THANKS!!!

2009-08-02T18:59:00.002-05:00

One really exciting thing that has happened during this past month is that Josiah learned to swim! Here he is on his last day of swim lessons. In two weeks time he went from freaking out when water got into his face during his bath to jumping into the 10ft water and swimming with no float! We decided to extend his lessons and add another 2 weeks and we were glad that we did. He became so much more confident in the water and learned to swim a farther distance. Now his favorite thing to do is jump off of the side of the pool and also go get things under the water. We are so proud of you, Josiah...you are our brave little boy!

So much to do, so little time...

2009-07-31T11:16:00.002-05:00

Well, if you've noticed my baby ticker you would see that I only have 29 days until my due date. It's sooo crazy how fast this pregnancy has gone by. With Josiah I felt like I was pregnant FOREVER. By this time in my pregnancy with him, everything was ready and I was just sitting around (swollen & miserable) each day waiting for him to come. This time around is VERY different. Thank God I am NOT swollen! You can't begin to know how thankful I am for that! I was just HUGE from the swelling with Josiah and this pregnancy has been sooo much healthier! I can't wait to meet this sweet little boy, but there is sooo much left to do. I really do hope he holds out a couple of weeks. I don't want to go over or anything, but I would have no problem waiting until the week of (or before) my due date! I still have to finish the boys room, organize things, clean, etc. AND...I would really like a few days alone with Josiah where we just have fun and enjoy it being the two of us before Joseph makes his arrival. :) We all know that babies are on their own time schedule though so we'll be flexible and just go with whatever happens. I guess I should make it more of a priority to pack my labor bag and hospital bag though, huh?! So much has been going on in our lives lately and I DO plan on sharing that very soon. We've had 2 amazing baby showers, swim lessons, help with painting, some fun family time, etc. I hope to have time to share pictures soon!!!

"The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam"

2009-07-19T15:16:00.001-05:00

This is a lengthy article, but it surely is worth the read. I HIGHLY recommend it! I would love to hear your thoughts. :)

Blog issues

2009-07-02T11:38:00.003-05:00

Is anyone else having trouble with their blog? When I go to my dashboard to look at the list of blogs I follow, it's telling me that I don't follow any. As of yesterday, I was still following SEVERAL. :)

Sleepless Nights

2009-06-27T16:16:00.002-05:00

I slept sooo great last night. I am very thankful because I know in just a few weeks sleeping all night long will be a thing of the past for a little while. Edward and I had a HILARIOUS conversation today about sleep (or the lack thereof) with a newborn. The first story that Edward reminded me of took place when Josiah was almost 8 months old. We had spent a week or so trying out the babywise way of doing things and had given up. Josiah has always been strong-willed and he did not give in and go to sleep on his own. So...we brought him back into our room. At that point we were so desperate that we had taken one of the sides off of his crib (which was NOT a convertible crib) and pushed it up against our bed so he would hopefully feel like he was sleeping with us, but we would have the room that I needed. Well...that didn't really work because he always seemed to scoot right underneath me in the night. Not to mention he was still waking up to nurse. One particular night Edward was up late working on a track for someone and he said he looked up and I was running towards him HYSTERICAL...waving my arms in the air and yelling because Josiah was up and I couldn't get any sleep. I really SCARED Edward. That's right folks, he looked like he had seen a ghost and he actually screamed, "aaaah". He said that I just snuck up on him...one moment he was up all alone peacefully working on his beats and the next he had a hysterical woman running towards him yelling. This is probably not nearly as funny to you as it is to me right now...I am literally laughing out loud thinking about this! The other time I remember is when Josiah was over a year old...yes, he was STILL sleeping with us. I had reached my limit and I just couldn't take it anymore. I jumped out of bed one night and loudly proclaimed to Edward that I needed to see a shrink because something was wrong with me. He told me that I was fine and assured me that it was the sleep deprivation talking...and it was. THANKFULLY, we realized that our sweet son would not feel abandoned, neglected, or unloved if we let him cry for a little while and learn to go to sleep on his own...in his own bed. Unfortunately, it just took almost 2 years for us to learn that lesson! I am sooo thankful that we will start things out differently with Joseph. I am also so thankful that Siah turned out to be a great sleeper despite of the way we did things in the beginning. So...this post is dedicated to all of the moms out there...bottle feeding or breastfeeding, co-sleeping or not, working or staying-at-home-we can ALL relate to sleep deprivation and hopefully we have some stories we can look back and LAUGH hysterically at! I would love to hear some of them!

Fun with friends

2009-06-26T11:19:00.000-05:00

We are so excited to have our wonderful friends back in town this week. They moved away a year ago and it's been hard not having them around! It has been so nice to have them close by and to meet their new addition to the family, "J-doodle". The next time we see them they will have another baby added to the mix! We are so excited for them!!! Here are some pictures from our first day with them. :)

I told Josiah and "X" to smile.

Doing their best "Hulk" pose.

Doing their best superhero pose.

Silly faces!

I told them to smile how they do when they think of how much they love their mommy. How sweet!

J-doodle is so advanced...he already knows to wave at the camera!

He's winking at me. :P

Sweet J-doodle

June Happenings

2009-06-25T10:45:00.000-05:00

Like I said in my last post, June has been a busy month! Here are some pictures of other exciting things that have happened this month...

Our good friends, the Kings, welcomed baby Rhiannon. We have waited so long to meet her! She's perfect! I like to think that she tried really hard to wait and be born on the 14th so we could share a birthday, but she wanted to have her own day...and make a grand entrance into the world. You can read her incredible birth story here.

Edward and I had a much-needed date night and went to The Melting Pot for the first time. I can't say enough about the place. It was GREAT! The atmosphere was amazing...definitely a GREAT date night place. They stuck us in the back corner of a little hallway...we were all alone and it was GREAT! It takes a while to complete your meal there...1 to 2 hours...so you get plenty of time to just talk and relax with one another. It's a bit more pricey then we're use to though so I think it will become an anniversary place for us! The picture above is our 1st course...spinach and artichoke dip served with apples, raw veggies, chips, and bread. DELICIOUS!

This was my california salad. YUM!

This was our plate of various meats...salmon filet, chicken breast, teriyaki marinated sirloin, and filet mignon. It's served with many different sauces for dipping and also a bowl of veggies.

I FINALLY figured out how to get Edward to cook! Can you believe it? Maybe we should invest in a fondue pot! Ha!

So happy together. :)

I woke up to this on my birthday...all from my sweet Siah. He and daddy got up and baked these cookies for me since my birthday is on Flag Day. Josiah made the "vase with flowers" all by himself the week before my birthday. I knew he was in his playroom working on something that I wasn't allowed to see, but I had no idea what he had come up with. He thought of this and implemented it all by himself! Edward didn't even know about it until it was finished. He said he wanted to get me fake flowers so they wouldn't die. HOW SWEET!!! I love my little man!

On my birthday...29 weeks pregnant. :)

My hulk!

Summertime and the living is easy...

2009-06-24T09:48:00.005-05:00

So...I have been in sort of a blogging "funk". I just don't really feel like I have tons to say. We've been super busy during June. Josiah's in his 2nd week of VBS and that's been great. I had so many things I wanted to get done during his VBS's, but none of it has been done yet. :( We've been going to the Y, bowling, movies, library, park, etc. It's been so much fun to be out and about, but I am learning that I have to make myself stay in and relax more now that we're coming to the end of this pregnancy. I am doing great and Joseph is growing. I don't really feel more tired then I did during my 2nd trimester so I have not wanted to slow down at all. I love being out and about! I started feeling really weak last Saturday though and decided that I should take it easy on Sunday. So...Sunday I basically slept on and off all day long. It was FABULOUS! I woke up Monday morning feeling like a new woman. I guess my body really needed that rest because I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat and I am usually not like that. I have been trying to rest each day this week and it's been working...no more weak "spells". :) My belly is huge now and I officially feel like a cow most of the time. It's all for a good cause though! LOL! Joseph is so much more active than he was a month ago and I love just laying around watching him move. Josiah is getting really excited...he talks to his brother and kisses my belly all of the time. Here are some pictures to catch you up on what we've been up to.

Josiah and I went with my mom to "Cityfest" in Alabaster. He was sooo thrilled to get his hair painted red and green. :)

He rode this sweet horse at Cityfest and loved it!

Thanks to Nana, he was able to try extreme bungee!

Josiah with his buddy Noah at Chik-fil-a's family night

There have been tons of costume designs going on in our house...this is the robot that Josiah made.

Wednesday's Menu

2009-06-10T14:46:00.001-05:00

Healthy Fried Rice

I always love trying "healthy" versions of a favorite meal. I haven't tried this yet, but I came across it recently and thought it was worth trying out. :)

Ingredients:
1 c brown rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c cooked peas
1/2 c cooked chopped carrot
1 c broccoli floret
3/4 sliced mushrooms
1 egg, beaten
soy sauce, to taste

Directions:
Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan and saute mushrooms until browned. Remove from heat. Heat remaining oil in pan and add rice. Add egg and mix until rice is thoroughly coated with egg. Cook for 5-10 minutes on high, or until egg is lightly browned. Combine rice mixture and vegetables in large bowl and stir until vegetables are well mixed. Add soy sauce to taste and serve.

Josiah's Baptism

2009-06-08T18:12:00.005-05:00

On the way to be baptized on Sunday. :) He was excited...can you tell?

After his baptism he was playing "superhero".

I can't believe my sweet boy was ready to be baptized at the age of 5.

For about 2 months Josiah has been asking us if he can get baptized. We knew he had asked Jesus into his heart when he was four, but we have not talked with him about baptism at all. Each night as he is falling asleep though, he listens to a WONDERFUL cd of Bible stories told by kids. He loves it and he knows the story of John baptizing Jesus very well so I think that is where he began to be interested in getting baptized. We have talked with him about what it means to be baptized and the practical side of what happens as well. And then we dropped it. Nevertheless, he has continued to bring it up time and time again over the past month or so. Edward and I decided to let him go ahead and get baptized since God obviously placed this in our little guy's heart to do. Each time I asked him why he wanted to be baptized he would say, "I love Jesus and I want everyone to know that I love Him." He has been so excited and counting down the days for the past week. Yesterday he could hardly wait until it was time to go to the church. I still was not sure that he would go through with it. We're talking about a boy who FREAKS out whenever a DROP of water gets into his face during a bath. But...he did it! I am so proud of my sweet Siah. We named him Josiah for a reason and we have prayed from the time we knew I was pregnant with him that he would know the Lord and serve Him from an early age. It's so incredible to see God working in his life at this young age! I cannot wait to see his relationship with the Lord grow and I look forward to seeing how God is going to use Josiah for His glory.

Wednesday's Menu

2009-06-03T19:54:00.001-05:00

This use to be a regular around our house, but I haven't made it in YEARS...until this past week. I had forgotten how delicious it is and how much it actually makes. I hope you enjoy it too!!!

Taco-Stuffed Pasta Shells

Ingredients:
16 jumbo pasta shells, cooked
1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 package taco seasoning
1 cup water
1 can refried beans
1 cup mexican cheese
1 jar salsa
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. Brown beef in skillet and drain. Add taco seasoning and water to beef and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened. Add beans, 3/4 cup cheese and mix well. Spread 1/4 cup salsa over the bottom of each of two 2qt square baking dishes. Fill pasta shells with beef mixture. Place half of the shells in each dish, filled side up. Spoon remaining salsa over shells. Cover one baking dish with plastic wrap and then foil. Freeze for up to 2 months. Cover remaining dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions and remaining cheese. Serve with sour cream.

To bake frozen shells: Place dish in fridge overnight. Preheat oven to 375. Cover with foil and bake 45-50 min. Sprinkle with green onions and cheese (about 1/4 cup each). Serve with sour cream.

Wednesday's Menu

2009-05-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

Summer Vegetable Salad with Grilled Chicken & Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
1/3 to 1/2 cup bottled roasted garlic vinaigrette dressing, or balsamic vinaigrette, divided
1 Red, Yellow or Green Bell Pepper, cut into julienne strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 medium yellow squash or zucchini, diagonally sliced
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs
1 package Field Greens or European Salad Blend or other variety
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

· Toss together sliced bell pepper, mushrooms and squash with 1 tablespoon of the salad dressing, in bowl. Set aside.

· Brush chicken breasts with 1 tablespoon salad dressing. Place on grill or broiler pan. Grill chicken for 6 minutes. Turn chicken; arrange cut vegetables on a grilling tray or broiler pan. Grill chicken and vegetables for 5 to 6 minutes more, or till chicken is no longer pink in the center, and vegetables are lightly charred.

· Pour salad blend into large bowl. Add grilled vegetables to salad; toss with 1/4 cup salad dressing. Arrange salad mixture on three serving plates.

· Slice chicken thinly; arrange slices over each of the salads. Drizzle a little more dressing over chicken; sprinkle with cheese.

Wednesday's Menu

2009-05-20T14:22:00.000-05:00

This recipe was given to me by Rachel. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds really yummy...and super easy!

Simply Southwestern Soup

Yellow rice (cooked) added to cream of mushroom or celery soup, pepper, milk, two tbsp of heavy cream. Add either 1/2 tsp. of cumin and 1/2tsp. of coriander OR taco seasoning. Add small can of sweet yellow corn, and a can of black beans, both drained. Add any meat or leave veg, serve with cornbread.

Museum

2009-05-17T13:10:00.003-05:00

If you make the trip to the Montgomery Zoo, it's worth it to pay a little extra and visit the Zoo-Mann Museum. Mr. Mann killed every animal in the museum with a bow and arrow! There are turkeys, deer, elk, bears, foxes, and many other animals. It is CRAZY to think that one man killed all of the animals in this museum. There are some live animals...frogs, lizards, and some stingrays too. Here are a few pictures!

Our Zoo Trip

2009-05-17T12:43:00.003-05:00

Now that it's almost June, I guess I should upload some of the pictures from Josiah's birthday trip. Instead of a party, we went to the Montgomery Zoo as a family in honor of Siah's 5th birthday. He has been asking to go to the Montgomery Zoo and see the bears for a couple of years now. We will surely be going back! Edward and I can't say enough about that zoo. My hubby even wants to join...he says it's worth the drive and I tend to agree. It's not as big as the Birmingham Zoo, but the animals look like they are sooo much happier. :) The exhibits are wonderful...nearly all of them have more than one animal and there is water in most of them. Did you hear that? All of you Birmingham residents KNOW that is a big deal...considering our poor hippos at the B'ham Zoo are always laying around in stagnant water and the other animals look so thirsty. ANYWAY...here are a few pictures from our trip. :)

How do the Montgomery's measure up against an elephant?

Wednesday's Menu

2009-05-06T06:43:00.002-05:00

Honey Mustard Chicken

Ingredients :
4 T melted butter
1/4 c. mustard
1/2 c. honey
1 t salt 1t. curry powder (optional)

Directions:
Mix and pour over chicken. Bake in 375 oven for 1 hr. Turn after 1/2 hr. Serve with rice or potatoes.

Wednesday's Menu

2009-04-29T14:09:00.001-05:00

Chicken Fruit Packets

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 firm pears, cored and sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
1/2 cup honey mustard salad dressing
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:
Cut chicken into 1" pieces. Heat coals on grill or prepare gas grill. Divide chicken, pears and apple among four 18x12 inch sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with garlic and thyme. Fold foil over chicken and fruit. Fold edges over 1/2" and repeat. (If you are preparing this in the morning, brush the pears and apple with a little lemon juice so they don't turn brown). Make sure you allow space on sides of the packet for circulation and expansion during cooking. Place packets on grill and cover.
Grill 4-5 inches from medium heat 10-15 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked and no longer pink when cut in center. Place packets on plates, cut large X across top, and fold back foil to serve. Serves 4

Wednesday's Menu

2009-04-22T19:14:00.001-05:00

t's about time to start using the grill and that leads me to a confession: I have NEVER cooked on a grill! This will be my first summer using one so I have been looking up recipes. I came across this one and it sounded great...

INGREDIENTS:
3 tbsp. unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. ground coriander
1 tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
2 lbs. pork tenderloin or 6 boneless chicken breast halves, trimmed and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 lemon cut into 8 wedges

1. If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. Blend the peanuts, soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, ground coriander, brown sugar, pepper, and garlic in a food processor. Add to a bowl with the cut-up pork or chicken and toss to coat. Chill and marinate for 1 hour.

2. Push the meat onto one end of 8 skewers. Grill directly over medium coals for 5 to 8 minutes or until the meat is just cooked through. Serve with lemon wedges. Serves 8.

I've been SLAMMED!!!

2009-04-18T09:53:00.003-05:00

I have been dealing with a "situation" this morning and I wanted to inform you so you can look out for things of this nature too! I know it's not smart to just pay my bills and not look over them, but that's what I have been doing for certain small bills (like our phone bill). Well...today the amount that I was supposed to pay was a little less than normal so I decided to look over the bill...and I am GLAD I did! I realized today that there has been a charge of 8.23 on our bill since September of last year!!! This is a charge billed by a 3rd party company that we did not authorize. Edward and I have both been on the phone with this company this morning and have finally gotten them to agree to giving us a 6 month credit for the charges. We were charged for 8 months, but they would not budge on the last 2 months. They say that I filled out something online which gave them the authority to charge us this fee each month. The fee was supposed to provide us with unlimited long distance calling and voicemail...and we don't have either one of these services. ANYWAY, I just wanted to blog and remind you to check your bills. I really wish I would have caught this sooner. And...be careful what you fill out online. I am still surprised by this one and I am convinced that my information was sold or something because I am very careful what I fill out online and never agree to any "terms or conditions" that sites have. If a site requires that, I just back out of it. So...I believe there is something really shady going on. Thankfully, At&t has put a block on our line so no 3rd party companies can bill us from now on..and at least we're getting 6 months of our money back!

UPDATE: It turns out that I only had to enter my email address on a form to give this company the authority to charge my phone bill. So I guess it's very important for all of us who get online coupons, fill out forms for free samples, etc. to have a block on our local phone bill so companies that are shady like this one can't do this to us. The block is free...you just have to call your local phone company and request that it be added to your line.

Wednesday's Menu

2009-04-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

Colombian Lentils

Ingredients:

1 bag dry lentils
2 potatoes
2 big tomatoes
1 onion
8-10 cups water

Directions:

Put the lentils in the water, add salt and boil over medium heat. While lentils are cooking, peel the potatoes, cut them in small squares (not too small...like you would do for potato salad). Next, cut tomatoes and onion into small pieces (I actually diced them in the food processor). Then put them in a pan and simmer them down into a sauce. When the lentils are almost soft enough, add the squared potatoes to the mix. Once the potatoes are soft, add the tomato sauce and enjoy! Edward likes them over brown rice, but I just eat them like they are.

Birthday Fun!

2009-04-13T17:38:00.006-05:00

We had such a great time celebrating Josiah's 5th birthday. I will have to spread out the pictures and stories over a couple of posts, but here's a start. On Thursday (his actual b-day), we ate lunch with one of Josiah's buds at the park and then headed to my doctor's appointment where he got the BEST gift of all...that he is going to have a baby brother! Josiah was sooo excited when the nurse told us that it is a boy. He said, "YES! Now I can beat him up". He has been wanting a brother to play fight with and he's finally going to have one. He'll have to wait a while, but the thought of it is very exciting to him. :) After our doctor's appointment, we headed to Chuck-E-Cheese's to play games and have dinner with Nana, Papa, and another one of Siah's buds. Here are some pics from his special day:

This "Flash" costume was another favorite of his. He has been asking Edward and me for this for MONTHS!!!

This is 'da game! LOL! My little man managed to win BIG on this one. He never wins enough tickets to get what he really wants (cotton candy), but he was able to on his birthday...thanks to this game. He won 100 tickets with 1 token!!! He was sold on this game after that!

Posing with his 100 tickets! Can you tell that he's proud?

Mimi sent a package with lots of goodies.

He's a BOY!!!

2009-04-09T21:10:00.000-05:00

That's right folks! Somewhere around the end of August or beginning of September, we will be welcoming Samuel Joseph Montgomery into our family. I've had his name picked out since we were searching for names for Josiah and I am so thankful we get to use it! He will be called Joseph which means "Jehovah increases" or "God shall add". How appropriate as God has surely added this sweet boy to our family. We can't wait to meet our sweet Samuel Joseph!!!

Happy Birthday, Siah!!!

2009-04-09T05:00:00.001-05:00

In what seemed like a split second, my precious boy changed from this...

to this...

I know every mom out there knows exactly what I am talking about! I can hardly believe that on this day 5 years ago, I was having my sweet first born. It just seems like yesterday that I was in labor and then seeing his precious face for the first time. It's amazing how fast time has gone by and it makes me really sad to think about how fast these next 5 years will probably fly by too. I hope I can learn to slow down and cherish each moment with him. I know that it will be far too soon that he will be leaving my arms and starting a life of his own. It breaks my heart to think about that day!!! Josiah brings such life and excitement to our family. God has created my little guy with so much passion, energy, humor, intelligence, and love...I cannot wait to see what He has in store for Josiah's life. I am so thankful for the person that God created and I am humbled that He would entrust this special little boy to me. I am so blessed to be able to spend each day with my Siah...to snuggle with him each morning, learn things with him, play with him, kiss and hug him anytime I want to...I would not trade anything for our days together. He may be five years old today, but he knows he will ALWAYS be my baby.

I love you my sweet Siah. You are a gift to me and your daddy. You are a joy and a blessing to us and we are so very thankful that God has chosen us to raise you.

Wednesday's Menu

2009-04-08T11:58:00.005-05:00

I can't wait to try this. It's supposed to be the recipe for California Pizza Kitchen's Chopped Salad. I don't normally eat salad when I go out for dinner, but this salad is ADDICTING! It's sooo delicious!

Dressing
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 teaspoons shallots, minced
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/3 cups olive oil, mild flavored
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated

Salad
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped into 1/8 inch wide strips
1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped into 1/8 inch wide strips
12 leaves basil, chopped into fine strips
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup garbanzo beans
4 cups tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 cups turkey breast, diced
1/2 cup salami, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons scallions, chopped

Directions
For salad, toss together the ingredients in a large bowl and chill in your refrigerator. For dressing, whisk together ingredients in a small bowl and chill for an hour. Just before serving, toss dressing with salad and serve on small individual plates. Can serve 4 for a main dish or 8 for small side salads.

Wednesday's Menu

2009-04-08T11:58:00.003-05:00

What a week!

2009-04-06T05:00:00.003-05:00

This week is a really big week in the Montgomery household. Not only do we find out the gender of our little one, but Josiah turns 5! We started celebrating last week with a special visit from Josiah's grandparents and Auntie Jasmine. They brought cupcakes, gifts, and took Josiah to one of his favorite places...Logan's. What kid doesn't love to throw those peanut shells on the ground?! Here are a few shots & a video from our special visit. :)

The three Edward Montgomery's posing together. :)

Siah HAD to sit by his Auntie Jasmine. He loves her sooo much!

Lately he insists on making "mean" faces in pictures. :(

Our little one is growing...

2009-04-03T16:48:00.003-05:00

I just came across the coolest website that compares the growth of your baby to a food item. I was so excited to see that our little one is the size of this large heirloom tomato! If you are expecting and want to check it out here's the site.

Rappin' and Breakin'

2009-04-02T14:19:00.005-05:00

We were finally able to get our camera back from Georgia (thanks Reg, Mama Mildred,& Dad) so here is the video from this year's Holy Hip Hop Awards! We REALLY hope to be able to upload the video from last year soon. We used a different camera then and we're having some trouble getting the video to work. :(

I love you Dj Saint E and I am so thankful that you love the Lord and allow Him to use you!

Wednesday's Menu

2009-04-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

Coca-cola chicken

6 pieces chicken
6 oz coke
1 c ketchup
flour
worcestershire sauce to taste

Coat chicken with flour and then place in a baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours.

To my faithful readers...Ha ha ha!!!

2009-03-24T20:03:00.002-05:00

I just decided to take a second and update my blog. :) I don't really have a lot to say right now, but will hopefully have some good posts coming soon. We are spending our days adjusting to a somewhat normal life again. I am 17 weeks now so I am feeling good and I can actually function instead of sleeping and being nauseated all day. Josiah is getting more and more excited about the baby. He REALLY wants a brother, but tells everyone that he would also like a girl for me to have around the house. He says when he and Edward do guy things, the baby girl and I could do girl things. He's so thoughtful. I had an doctor's appointment today and all is well with me and the baby. We go back to the doctor on April 9, Josiah's birthday, to find out the gender. I honestly do not have a preference and neither does Edward. We are so thankful to be blessed with another child and the gender doesn't matter at all to us. I will say that I have felt VERY strongly from before I even officially knew that I was pregnant that I was expecting a girl. I never felt either way when I was pregnant with Josiah, so I don't know how much stock I should put in this "feeling". I will say that I will be extremely surprised if it's a boy though. That's it for now. I hope to post more sometime soon!

Wednesday's Menu

2009-03-18T13:14:00.002-05:00

It's been a while, but Wednesday's Menus are back!!! Since it's warming up outside, I thought I would put a quick salad idea down. I actually got this recipe from my friend, Lindsay. Thanks, Lindsay...it's one of our family favorites now. :)

1 package of sweet baby greens
feta cheese (you can also use blue cheese)
walnuts (I like emerald brand glazed walnuts-YUM!)
craisens
Ken's Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette

Just toss all of the ingredients except the last one together and then top with the dressing. This salad is easy and DELICIOUS!!!

All about daddy...

2009-03-12T11:08:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be fun to have Josiah answer these questions about daddy....here they are...

1. What is something daddy always says to you?
he loves me

2. What makes daddy happy?
when i snuggle to him and tell him that i love him

3. What makes daddy sad?
when i disobey

4. How does your daddy make you laugh?
i have to think of that really hard...um...he makes me laugh when he makes silly faces

5. What was your daddy like as a child?
he disobeyed him mom and dad a little but he forgave them

6. How old is your daddy?
thats really hard...88

7. How tall is your daddy?
39 feet tall

8. What is his favorite thing to do?
love us

9. What does your daddy do when you're not around?
he goes to work

10. If your daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?
a famous rock star...playing the drums and I would be playing the electric guitar

11. What is your daddy really good at?
fighting and knocking me down

12. What is your daddy not very good at?
he's not very good at kicking me down cause he's always standing up and I always walk up behind him and kick his booty. he's not good at looking at what's happening behind him.

13. What does your daddy do for her job?
he sits at a desk and files paperwork and answers the telephone and works for people

14. What is your daddy's favorite food?
ice cream

15. What makes you proud of your daddy?
daddy loves me

16. If your daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be?
professor snortenscoff (???)

17. What do you and your daddy do together?
fight

18. How are you and your daddy the same?
we both are brown

19. How are you and your daddy different?
I have curly hair and he has a bald head...except he does have little spikeys

20. How do you know your daddy loves you?
he kisses me

21. Where is your daddy's favorite place to go?
that's hard...um...burgers...or dairy queen to get his favorite which is ice cream

What Josiah says about me...

2009-03-05T16:19:00.000-06:00

My friend Tammy sent this to me on facebook and I decided to post it here also. My little guy really cracks me up!

Josiah- almost 5 :)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
To snuggle with me

3. What makes mom sad?
I don't know

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
When you make funny faces when we play uno and you win

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Funny

6. How old is your mom?
29

7. How tall is your mom?
40 feet tall

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Love on me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
That's a hard one...have meetings with your friends

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
You would be a rock star

11. What is your mom really good at?
Playing uno

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Running and playing "butt pinchers" while you are pregnant

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Protect me

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
That's a really hard one...um...cereal

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When you kiss me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Rotten Gee (laughing)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
play uno and play sorry and kiss

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both have white teeth

19. How are you and your mom different?
I have green eyes and you have blue eyes

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
You kiss me

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Sol Azteca

Our snowy day!

2009-03-01T13:43:00.005-06:00

I was sooo thrilled to wake up before 6 am and find our yard COVERED in snow! I was so excited that I could not even think of going back to sleep. I immediately headed to the weather blog for the latest info and then watched James Spann for a few minutes on t.v. before heading back to bed to try to go to sleep. I never succeeded though because Josiah woke up and was ready to play outside from the first second he saw the snow! :) Here are some pictures from our fun day!

Our deck

Looking down our street. At one point you could not tell where the yard stopped and street started.

Our house

Edward's snowman...he sculpted it with his hands and a BUTCHER knife. It was HILARIOUS!

Josiah getting ready to "sled" down our hill in a laundry basket.

Get ready to laugh out loud!

2009-02-23T09:18:00.003-06:00

I am so excited that I have a handful of good friends who are expecting right now! I was pregnant all by myself with Josiah and it's sooo wonderful to be going through pregnancy with great friends this time! In fact, a few of us are due within a week or two of one another...it doesn't get much better than that! So...I only thought it would be appropriate to link one of my favorite blogs today because the author has done a GREAT post for all of us who are in the process of choosing a name for our child. If you have a few minutes and want to really laugh, check out this post at Stuff Christians Like. Whether you are picking out a name or not, you will surely get a good laugh. :)

My wonderful son

2009-02-17T18:17:00.003-06:00

I am so thankful for my sweet son. I use to get really disappointed that my children were not closer in age than they will be, but lately I have been extremely thankful that Josiah is almost 5 while I am going through this pregnancy. I would like to have my next two closer in age, but having such a great helper around during the first trimester has made everything worth the wait! Josiah has made me peanut butter toast, rubbed my feet, propped pillows up for me, rushed me the trash can when I am feeling nauseated...and many other things that I am sure I am forgetting. During the scare that we had yesterday he was so great too. He quickly got himself dressed (including picking out his own clothes-which matched), hurried to the car, prayed for me, and encouraged me. He is such a sweet boy and I don't know what I would do without him! I just had a take second to brag on my firstborn and tell the world how thankful I am for him. :)

2009-02-05T14:29:00.002-06:00

My friend Brandi had this on her blog so I decided to try it just for fun...you should try it too!

25 random things about me...

2009-01-31T09:00:00.001-06:00

I thought I would join in the fun and post this on my blog...I got the idea from my friend Sarah. I hope I can come up with some things that even my closest friends don't know. Here it goes...

I am ten years younger than my amazing husband...even though I think he looks younger than me a lot of the time.
I really REALLY wanted to have a girl whenever I was pregnant with Josiah, but was ecstatic to find out I was having a boy and now I don't know what I would do with a girl.
There were 4 months total between the time Edward and I started having a love interest in one another and the time we were married. We had known each other and been around each other for many years prior to that though.
At one point in my life, I thought I would live in Asia forever...I would still probably move back if given the right opportunity.
There was one time when I was in a situation where I truly thought I was about to be martyred.
I was at the top of my class...in elementary school! LOL! I was a really big nerd...on the math team, tested to be skipped grades, etc. Then I got to middle school, stopped reading for fun, and it all went downhill from there.
I aspire to be one of the mommies that is very creative...I want to sew, garden, can, etc. I really hope I can do that stuff one day in the near future.
Part of me is a big time city girl. I love always having something to do, walking everywhere, taking the subway and bus where you can't walk, the culture...LOVE IT!!!
The other part of me is a big time country girl. I would love to have land to farm...the thought of farm life fascinates me. I would love to live off the land and raise my kids in that lifestyle.
I lived a few miles from the DMZ between North and South Korea for a little while.
I spent some vacation time in Bali once and have NO desire to ever go back...it's such a dark place.
I've been babysitting since I was 8.
I really wish I loved to clean. My friends who are very clean amaze me...I really desire to be like that, but I am just not.
I am obsessed with the weather. I think I get it from my dad...he has always been interested in the weather and I have inherited that. I love reading James Spann's weather blog, NOAA's website, etc. I have to know what's going on with the weather. BUT...I am afraid of severe weather.
Before my birth experience with Josiah, I really wanted to have a homebirth.
I was grounded for nearly a whole school year during middle school. At the end of that horrible time my parents pulled me out of public school and put me into private school...without any warning.
I'm a big time supporter of Natural Family Planning.
Edward makes fun of me because I try to guess what language Asian people are speaking when I see them in public. I use to do that more than I do now. I use to jump at the chance to say hello to someone in Korean.
I LOVE Korean food.
I really committed my life to Christ and was baptized in the Holy Spirit on a beach in Jamaica.
I have loved hip-hop and been attracted to hip-hop culture since I was in the 6th grade.
I use to think I was a gangster in middle school. I was even invited and considered joining a GANG...CRAZY!!! (that one was for Annie)
I once met some North Koreans that had just escaped into China. It was amazing to hear their story.
My dream home would be an older home with tons of character that has been renovated. I would much rather have that than a brand new home.
I called my mother-in-law Mama Mildred long before Edward and I were ever interested in one another...funny that she really ended up being my 2nd Mama. :)

Back in business...

2009-01-31T05:00:00.004-06:00

I must start by confessing that I did not completely stay offline for 21 days like I desired to do. If I would have been thinking this thing through then I would have realized, there were going to be bills to pay, directions to print, jobs to search for, etc. during that time. I did manage to stay off blogging and facebook, which was really consuming sooo much of my time before the fast so that was good. :)

On the 21st of January we had our first dr's appointment and were excited to find out that I was 8 1/2 weeks pregnant. We were even more excited to see and hear our sweet baby's heartbeat. I cried very hard because seeing and hearing that heartbeat was such a relief to me. It is great to know that everything is a-okay with baby Montgomery, who will be making his or her arrival somewhere around August 29th. :) I am 10 weeks pregnant today and really looking forward to hitting the 12 week mark and feeling better. All in all, this trimester has been WONDERFUL compared to my first trimester with Josiah, but it's still not been easy. I look forward to eating again...and having a clean house!

Off of the computer for a while...

2009-01-11T10:24:00.002-06:00

Today starts our 21 days of prayer and fasting at church and I will be off of the computer for those 21 days. :) Stay tuned for a post about the baby around February 1st!

Like Father, Like Son

2009-01-09T09:42:00.004-06:00

It's no secret that my little guy loves to rap, breakdance, and pretty much do anything his wonderful daddy does. Recently, Edward has started setting up his mic and letting Josiah rap. We have to work on his doctrine a little bit, but I had to share this. Josiah swears that a teacher at "Bible class" told him that we are to love the devil and hate his behavior. I am thinking he probably misunderstood her talking about loving people, but hating their sin. He insists he is right though. Enjoy!

Hard at Play

2009-01-09T09:36:00.002-06:00

We were so excited a few weeks ago to have Josiah's good buddy, Noah, come spend the night with us. These boys had a lot of fun together! Thanks, Paula, for letting him come stay with us! I thought I should show a couple of pictures of their hard "work". They took almost every toy in the playroom and made a "city". You can even see the "wall" they build around their "city" in the last picture. :)

Random...

2009-01-09T09:14:00.007-06:00

Since Christmas was a couple of weeks ago, I guess it's time that I posted some pictures from our holiday season! Here are some random pictures:

Us with our good friends, the McCay's, at the DreamTeam Christmas Party.

My little man enjoying himself at the Christmas Angel Breakfast.

Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas morning...this year Jesus got a cupcake.

Edward reading one of our favorite Christmas stories, "Memories of the Manger".

You should have seen Josiah by the end of the morning...he had bows stuck on him from head to toe!

Posing with one of his favorite toys...his Hulk gloves!

Fatigued + Emotional = a VERY Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-25T16:48:00.000-06:00

2008 has been such an good year for our family. It was one of the most challenging years that we have been through, but it was a good year. :) We kicked off 2008 by purchasing our very first home. We are really enjoying our house. It's old and needs some work, but it's ours and we have plenty of room. A few months into our house we discovered we had honey bees living in our walls...there was a hive and everything. Several months later we had a big water leak. Most recently, we have found out that we have to replace our gas furnace! JOY! Anyway, we just laugh at all of this because we just thought we were buying a house that needed some cosmetic repairs, but it turns out that it's really a fixer-upper in many ways and we are not fixer-upper type folks. I want to be one of those folks, but it hasn't happened yet! We have learned a lot through the purchase of our first home and we will do things much differently next time around. Through it all we are SOO thankful for our home and it's just that to us...HOME!

We were elated this past summer to find out that we were expecting our 2nd child! We had been trying to get pregnant for a year and we finally did! Although I had some worries throughout the few months that I was pregnant, I tried to ignore them and hope for the best. 12 weeks into the pregnancy my "gut feeling" was confirmed and we found out that we were losing the baby. I chose to go through the whole thing naturally as opposed to having a D&C and I am so thankful that I did. I was completely unprepared for the fact that I would actually labor during the miscarriage though. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what happened. The labor lasted a little over 3 hours and during that time I was able to really deal with my emotions about the whole miscarriage. I am thankful to the Lord for teaching us through the loss of our child. Other than that time in labor I would say the hardest time for me personally was towards the end of November and the first of December. I was sad off and on about the fact that Josiah did not have a sibling. I knew if we had not lost the baby, we would be welcoming our new little one at the end of the year. That was hard to deal with some days, but I have held on to the fact that God is in control and Josiah will have a sibling one day...all in God's time. Edward and I truly believe that the Lord desires for us to have more kids!

It looks like 2009 will be the year!!! We are pleased to announce that we are expecting again!!! Our sweet baby should be making his or her arrival at the beginning of September! We are really thrilled! I started suspecting that I was pregnant a week or so ago because I was feeling sooo tired and really emotional (and still am). I have never been one to cry during movies or commercials, but I'm doing it pretty regularly! I am also really snappy with my family which NEVER happens. Ha! (Okay, Lord forgive me). I waited as long as I could, but I HAD to take a test to find out if my suspicions were true and they are! We were planning on waiting until January to tell everyone, but our family found out so we figured we may as well tell everyone now. :) The more people we have praying, the better. We are so thankful for all of you who have been praying for us to get pregnant. It took us 9 months and a dose of Clomid to conceive Josiah, 12 months and an herbal supplement to get pregnant the 2nd time, and only 4 months with no assistance to get pregnant with this baby! I know in my heart this baby is going to be 100% healthy...he or she is truly a blessing from the Lord!

Wednesday's Menu

2008-12-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

Turkey breast

I love my crock pot and will try just about anything in it. :) The first year that Edward and I were married I tried to cook a turkey breast in the crock pot and it turned out great. I have never cooked turkey another way. :) Simply put your turkey breast in the crock pot, mix together a packet of onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl and pour over the turkey. Cook on low all day long. You may need to add a little water if the liquid gets low so try to check on it. :)

Luke 2..sort of

2008-12-23T06:56:00.002-06:00

"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to my man".

I don't have a lot to say, but this is Josiah's version of this verse. It's sooo funny to hear him say it. :)

2008-12-22T12:21:00.001-06:00

Titus 2:4-5 (English Standard Version)

"and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled,pure,working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."

I just read a GREAT article that was a big encouragement to me as a young (hehe) mom. :) If you have a few minutes check it out here.

2008-12-18T12:55:00.002-06:00

As I was going through my pictures today I found this one and had to post it. This was the day that Josiah sang with his class (and some others) at Community Bible Study. Don't you crack up when you get home and have time to look at the children around your child? I know that sweet boy's mama would love this picture! I have no idea who the little man is, but if his mom reads this blog by any chance, I would love to get her a copy of this picture. :)

Wednesday's Menu

2008-12-10T11:59:00.001-06:00

Chicken and Rice

2 chicken breasts, boiled then shredded or chunked (canned can also be used)
1 cup brown rice
2 ½ cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Mix all ingredients together in large casserole dish. Cook on 350 until rice is tender and water is gone….usually about 45 minutes. You may need to add more broth or some water during cooking if it looks dry. You can also use white rice. If white rice is used, cut the amount of broth down to 2 cups.

Friday's Family Fun!

2008-12-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

Last Friday we were in Mobile spending some great time with our family. Here are a few shots from our special visit:

The sweet lady in the pictures above is Edward's grandmother, Ma Mook. She is such a precious, Godly lady who always has an amazing story to tell. We all love listening to her talk about her life.

Edward, Josiah, and Grandaddy

Josiah and his adorable cousin, Lauren. They love and miss each other so much!

Josiah and grandma

Josiah and Dre.

Gotta love the warm temps!

2008-12-04T15:03:00.006-06:00

We packed up and headed to our hometown of Mobile for Thanksgiving and we had such a great time with our family. :) Since the weather pretty much stayed in the 70's the entire time we were there, Josiah got to do two things for the first time:

Go fishing with his grandaddy
Go to the beach

It's pretty sad that our sweet 4 year old spent the first 6 months of his life an hour away from the ocean, but he had never been there until this past week! When we lived in Mobile, Edward and I gave up on Gulf Shores and headed to Pensacola each time we wanted to visit the beach. We love Pensacola and have many special memories there so that is where we took Josiah. There's no Lambert's there, but we think it's prettier beach. :) We all three had so much fun! Here are some shots from his fishing trip and our morning in Pensacola:

Wednesday's Menu

2008-12-03T14:01:00.001-06:00

Two by Four Soup

2lbs ground beef or turkey
2 cans of rotel
2 cans of original ranch-style beans
2 cans minestrone soup

Brown the meat and drain. Add remaining ingredients to the meat and cook on low for about an hour. This is such an easy recipe that tastes DELICIOUS with cornbread.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

2008-11-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

Comments & Myspace layouts

Wednesday's Menu

2008-11-26T09:40:00.001-06:00

Leftover Turkey Soup

1lb. leftover turkey or chicken, cubed (deboned)
1 sm. onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 c. brown rice, cooked
1 c. regular rice, cooked or uncooked Minute Rice
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 c. butter or margarine
2 tsp. parsley flakes

Combine all ingredients in large crockpot and cook on high 4 hours or low overnight. OR: Bring to a boil on stove top in kettle, then low heat for 2 hours

Friday Family Fun!!!

2008-11-25T15:59:00.003-06:00

Okay, I realize it's not Friday, but I am running a LITTLE behind on this post. :) This past week we headed out for family night at the new Pro Bass shop. Edward and I knew that Josiah loved the great outdoors and that was definitely confirmed on this trip. Josiah loved everything about the store, but his absolute favorites were shooting a gun (toy, of course) and watching the hunting video where turkeys and deer were being killed with a bow and arrow! I definitely have a future hunter on my hands! If you have not been to a Pro Bass store and you have one nearby, I highly recommend checking it out.

Thanksgiving Fun

2008-11-25T15:41:00.003-06:00

Last week we joined some of our homeschooling friends for a fun celebration of Thanksgiving. The kids started the day making head pieces, vests, and necklaces. Some of the older children in the group read some things they had written down that they are thankful for. We finished the morning with yummy friendship soup and cornbread. A big thanks to our friends for inviting us to be a part of this special celebration! Here are a few shots from our fun morning...

We have a winner!

2008-11-23T11:21:00.001-06:00

I hosted my very first giveaway this past week and it was sooo exciting! Thanks to all of the sweet ladies who responded to the giveaway with some great Thanksgiving stories. :) Josiah picked numbers this morning and the winner of the Betty Crocker coupon booklet is "Stupid Sheep". I look forward to more giveaways in the coming months!!!

Need a good laugh?

2008-11-20T17:29:00.002-06:00

If you are in need of a SERIOUS laugh, take 5 minutes to check out this video. My friend, Nicole, posted this on facebook earlier today and I HAD to post it here so you can see it. In my opinion, the last song is the funniest! This is a video of the "Funky Fresh Sr. Choir".

Need gift ideas?

2008-11-20T11:14:00.002-06:00

If you need some great gift ideas, click on the pretty picture above to get some GREAT ideas that from dates to diapers , chicshopperchick.com , and aordinarylife.com have posted. They have some super cute jewelry listed in this Christmas guide! :)

Wednesday's Menu

2008-11-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

As we get close to the holidays, I know some of us will be entertaining. Here are a couple of recipes for appetizers;

Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:
1 pint of Heavy Cream
1 stick of butter
2 Tbsp. Cream Cheese
1/2 - 3/4 C. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Garlic powder

Preparation: In a saucepan combine butter, heavy cream, and cream cheese. Simmer this until all is melted, and mixed well. Add the Parmesan cheese and Garlic powder. Simmer this for 15 - 20 minutes on low. You may wish to season with a little salt and pepper. I have done this with half and half, but we prefer the heavy cream. But I wouldn't try it with plain milk. Serve with bread sticks.

Easy Mexican dip

Ingredients:
1 block of cream cheese, softened
1 small jar of salsa
1 cup Mexican cheese

Spread cream cheese on the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Top with as much salsa as you want and then the Mexican cheese. Bake on 350 until cheese on top is melted (usually 15-20 min). Serve with tortilla chips.

Veggie Crescent Pizza (Cold Pizza)

Ingredients:

3 crescent roll pkgs.
2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch French Onion or reg. dip mix
1/2 c. mayonnaise

Chopped veggies:
Cucumbers,Mushrooms,Peppers,Tomatoes,Broccoli, etc.

Spread the 3 crescent roll packages onto 2 cookie sheets (or pizza pan). Bake as directed and let cool. Mix 2 packages cream cheese, 1 package dry Hidden Valley Ranch French Onion or regular dip and the mayonnaise. After rolls have cooled, spread the dip on. Then place your chopped vegetables on top. Let sit in the refrigerator for about 1/2 hour. Cut into squares or slices. Serve cold. Enjoy!

Coupon Giveaway!!!

2008-11-18T05:00:00.001-06:00

I love giveaways and I hope this can be the first of many for my blog! Are you in need of some great FREE coupons? If so, leave a comment telling me about your favorite childhood memory of Thanksgiving and you could win this booklet full of coupons from Betty Crocker! I will let Josiah decide the winner on Sunday, November 23rd and notify that person by email. :)

Savings!

2008-11-17T10:07:00.002-06:00

I was inspired this weekend when I was able to take a one-day shopping seminar with a woman who I love and admire dearly. I was fired up about shopping again so I headed to Publix yesterday afternoon for some great deals! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the items. :( I DO have a picture of my Siah showing off how long the receipt is. I am going to try to remember the best deals and tell you what those were. :) My entire kitchen table was covered with the following:

2 packages of rosetto pasta

4 boxes of pepperidge farm texas toast

1 barber's french onion dip

2 helluva sour cream onion dips

3 pillsbury frostings (.42 with coupons)

6 healthy request cream of mushroom soups (healthy request doesn't have msg & the others do)

8 healthy request cream of chicken soups

2 muir glen organic tomato pastes (these were free plus overage with coupons)

3 CFL lightbulbs (these were .89 each!!!)

2 kiwi (free with coupon)

1 keebler pie crust

4-2 quart casserole pans with lids

2-3 quart casserole pans with lids

1 white grape juice

6 bags of salad

5lbs of bartlett pears (free with coupon)

4 boxes of green giant veggies

1 small frozen vegetable lasagna ($1 with coupon)

2 pillsbury crescent rolls

1 pillsbury pizza crust

1 hershey's strawberry syrup (my sweet son has been BEGGING me for this on every shopping trip and he has patiently waited for it to go on sale...I had to get this for him!!!)

2 packages of kotex pads (.95 with coupons)

1 package of publix sliced cheese (penny item)

2 packages of halls "naturals" cough drops (.99 with coupons)

2 newspapers (has anyone else noticed the price has gone up? dollar tree is now the cheapest...still $1)

Total Coupon savings: $59.78

Total Store Savings: $57.49

Total Savings: $117.27

Total spent out-of-pocket: $44.04!!!!

Friday Family Fun!!!

2008-11-14T05:00:00.003-06:00

Well, I have to admit that we did not have a family night last Friday. We did spend some great family time on Sunday though and I thought I would share a few moments of it with you. I am amazed that the things that seem like chores to Edward and I are the activities that Josiah enjoys the most. :) We raked up this huge pile of leaves from our small front yard! It's amazing how fast the leaves accumulated in our yard...in a matter of 3 days.

Wednesday's Menu

2008-11-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

I wish I could take credit for this one…it’s off of Bisquick’s website. It’s a great recipe..SUPER easy!

1 small bag of frozen mixed veggies, unthawed
1 chicken breast, cooked and cut up
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup bisquick
1 cup milk
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix veggies, chicken, salt, pepper, and soup in 9-in pie plate. In a separate bowl mix other ingredients and then pour them into pie place. Bake on 400 for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Friday's Family Night

2008-11-07T05:00:00.003-06:00

Friday before last was a little different for us. We missed our traditional family night because I was at a women's retreat at our church (which was completely amazing). Edward and Josiah took that opportunity to have a fun guy's night. There are no pictures to show. :( Edward took Josiah to Moe's for dinner and that was a big hit. After dinner they came home, ate ice cream, watched an animated spiderman episode, and had a good round of sword-fighting. Josiah really treasures his time with Edward and they got to do some fun stuff that we would probably never do on family night. :)

Wednesday's Menu

2008-11-05T13:11:00.001-06:00

The weather has been nice and cool in the evenings and hopefully you have had the chance to enjoy some yummy chili. What do you do with all of the leftovers? You can freeze them and save them for later or you can try one of the quick recipes below...

Chili Pie- Pour 4 cups extra chili in a deep pie or casserole dish. (Add one can corn or other mixed vegetables if you have a little less than 4 cups.) Prepare 1 recipe cornbread according to directions. Drip batter over chili. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until the cornbread is done. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese if desired.

Chili Dip- Make a delicious dip out of leftover chili by spreading a package of softened cream cheese in the bottom of a deep pie plate. Top with 2 cups of leftover chili and 1 cup of salsa. Sprinkle two cups of shredded cheddar cheese on top and bake in a 350 degree over for 30 minutes. Serve with crisp tortilla chips for dipping.