I've been remiss in blogging. To be honest, it has been a rough couple of weeks. I sometimes feel like I'm barely staying afloat. This past week, both Mr. E and I had food poisoning. Thankfully, we had it four days apart so we weren't both down at that same time and someone could watch Miss E. Speaking of Miss E, she is doing well. Growing way too fast! She likes to be busy, constantly. She seems to get bored quickly with things, so you have to move her from her different "play areas" to keep her interest. Sleeping has been an issue. For the past couple of weeks, she has slept for no more than three hours at a time during the night. It has usually been about two to two and a half hours. The last couple of days have been a bit better, waking up every two and a half to four hours. I hope this is a new trend and she will continue to improve.
Now that we're caught up on the little stuff, we can now get to real subject of this post. I've had this post in my brain for about a month.
Late last year, Mr. E was approached with a new opportunity. When we initially heard the details of this opportunity, we weren't really impressed. We prayed about it (I will admit, not fervently), but in the end, decided it wasn't something that we wanted to get involved in. We still continued to pray about it over the weekend and we felt right about declining. Monday came and Mr. E was going to tell the people our decision. Through a couple of things that happened that morning before he had a chance to make the call, we thought God was telling us to wait and perhaps we should reconsider. Over the course of a couple of weeks, different things opening up, we felt like God wanted us to change our minds. He seemed to be opening doors that we didn't expect and that was what we were praying for Him to do. We finally got to the point that we were in, we were going to go for it and we informed the people that we were willing to take this new opportunity, there were just a few things to tie up. We waited a day or two for them to finish the details and then Mr. E called to check the status. We didn't get the answer we were expecting, in those couple of days, the opportunity vanished. I was shocked, didn't see it coming. God slammed the door after we thought He was giving us a clear path. I will also admit I got really irritated about it and somewhat frustrated with God. I just didn't understand why He would have us go through all of this and then pull the rug out from under us. I think it was the next Sunday that one of our pastors had a sermon on faith. It was hard to sit through because it was so convicting to me. He talked about the two different types of faith from Matthew 8......"centurion" faith and "boat" faith. The centurion had faith that God could heal his servant without Jesus even coming to his house. The disciples' faith was non-existent during a storm while Jesus was sleeping on the boat with them. It reminded me how often I look at circumstances around me instead of looking to God for help and guidance. In this situation that we were going through, I thought I knew what was best for us. My faith was small, not understanding that God had a better plan. I think we can catch a glimpse now as to why the opportunity fell apart, but at the time, I questioned God. It isn't always easy for me to trust, but God isn't letting me forget this sermon, so I know that He's working on that in me!
Monday, February 10, 2014
Monday, December 23, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Flipside
I meant to post about 3 weeks ago about the flipside of motherhood, but life got in the way........again.
Here are some of the things that I enjoy about being a mom:
Getting to watch Mr. E with Miss E. He is a great dad and helps so much. I love how he prays for "his girls" before he goes to work everyday. He's got a bunch of ways to get her to smile, it is so cute to watch.
Watching and listening to Miss E sleep. She squeaks and grunts so much while she sleeps. She moves around continually and is constantly changing facial expressions, it can be very humorous. She wakes up very slowly, but is happy when she does.
Knowing that no matter if she is happy or screaming, changing her diaper will almost always make her smile. This girl doesn't like "mud on her butt" (quoting Phil Robertson on Duck Dynasty).
Seeing the determination on her face when she "stands up" while we hold her up. She puts her whole soul into it.
Observing how her personality is developing. I think she's got a lot of mine......bummer.
Enjoying how she is starting to get excited when I go to pick her up. I think she is finally recognizing me!
Waiting for her to wake up from a nap. Although I love the time to get things done and the "downtime", I do miss her when she is sleeping.
God has given us a great blessing and it is hard to imagine our lives without her.
Here are some of the things that I enjoy about being a mom:
Getting to watch Mr. E with Miss E. He is a great dad and helps so much. I love how he prays for "his girls" before he goes to work everyday. He's got a bunch of ways to get her to smile, it is so cute to watch.
Watching and listening to Miss E sleep. She squeaks and grunts so much while she sleeps. She moves around continually and is constantly changing facial expressions, it can be very humorous. She wakes up very slowly, but is happy when she does.
Knowing that no matter if she is happy or screaming, changing her diaper will almost always make her smile. This girl doesn't like "mud on her butt" (quoting Phil Robertson on Duck Dynasty).
Seeing the determination on her face when she "stands up" while we hold her up. She puts her whole soul into it.
Observing how her personality is developing. I think she's got a lot of mine......bummer.
Enjoying how she is starting to get excited when I go to pick her up. I think she is finally recognizing me!
Waiting for her to wake up from a nap. Although I love the time to get things done and the "downtime", I do miss her when she is sleeping.
God has given us a great blessing and it is hard to imagine our lives without her.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
The Things I'm Learning
I know, I'm not keeping up on blogging. When I sit down now, I usually only have one arm and that makes typing quite difficult. Most of the other "downtime" is spent running around like a crazy woman trying to get caught up on the housekeeping duties!
Before reading the following, remember this disclaimer and please don't misconstrue what I'm saying! **I love my daughter immensely, I am so thankful that God gave her to us and I wouldn't change my life now for anything!
Being parent is not easy. I'm hearing the "duhs" loudly. Someone asked me this question a few weeks ago, "Don't you just love being a mom?" It took me off guard and to be honest, I couldn't say yes. (Disclaimer) In the earlier weeks after she was born, I really struggled. Most of it came down to pure selfishness. I had spent the last 15ish years of my life doing what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. Not anymore. As much as I'm trying not to let her completely take over our lives, it still has happened. Miss E's needs takes precedence over getting my teeth brushed, dinner cooked and most important, sleep! Mr. E and I have pretty much done everything together since we got married. Even if it was going ten minutes down the road to fill up a gas can for the lawn mower. There is no jumping in the truck and doing that anymore. Mind you, we still do it, but it is more of a production to get out of the house. I'm learning to get over my selfishness, but it still creeps up!
Adding to the everyday physical struggles of being a parent, I struggle(d) with the emotional and spiritual weight. I am now responsible for someone else. Yeah, I help my husband, but he could still take care of himself if he needed to.....she can't. I question myself a lot about "am I good mom?"
"am I doing things right?", etc. Then the spiritual side, raising her up to love the Lord and teaching her about His Word. It is all just a heavy responsibility when I think about it.
So to answer the question, Yes, I love being a mom, but sometimes the struggles seem overwhelming and tend to steal the joy of having her. I guess the lesson here is to not focus on the hard parts and trust that God gives me the wisdom I need to be a mom. I'm going to have to do lots of praying! Maybe that is the reason why I get up at least three times a night. :)
We are doing well, finally into a better routine. It took a while for Miss E to realize that there was nothing going on at night to stay up for. Now if only she would learn to sleep more during the day.
I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
Before reading the following, remember this disclaimer and please don't misconstrue what I'm saying! **I love my daughter immensely, I am so thankful that God gave her to us and I wouldn't change my life now for anything!
Being parent is not easy. I'm hearing the "duhs" loudly. Someone asked me this question a few weeks ago, "Don't you just love being a mom?" It took me off guard and to be honest, I couldn't say yes. (Disclaimer) In the earlier weeks after she was born, I really struggled. Most of it came down to pure selfishness. I had spent the last 15ish years of my life doing what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. Not anymore. As much as I'm trying not to let her completely take over our lives, it still has happened. Miss E's needs takes precedence over getting my teeth brushed, dinner cooked and most important, sleep! Mr. E and I have pretty much done everything together since we got married. Even if it was going ten minutes down the road to fill up a gas can for the lawn mower. There is no jumping in the truck and doing that anymore. Mind you, we still do it, but it is more of a production to get out of the house. I'm learning to get over my selfishness, but it still creeps up!
Adding to the everyday physical struggles of being a parent, I struggle(d) with the emotional and spiritual weight. I am now responsible for someone else. Yeah, I help my husband, but he could still take care of himself if he needed to.....she can't. I question myself a lot about "am I good mom?"
"am I doing things right?", etc. Then the spiritual side, raising her up to love the Lord and teaching her about His Word. It is all just a heavy responsibility when I think about it.
So to answer the question, Yes, I love being a mom, but sometimes the struggles seem overwhelming and tend to steal the joy of having her. I guess the lesson here is to not focus on the hard parts and trust that God gives me the wisdom I need to be a mom. I'm going to have to do lots of praying! Maybe that is the reason why I get up at least three times a night. :)
We are doing well, finally into a better routine. It took a while for Miss E to realize that there was nothing going on at night to stay up for. Now if only she would learn to sleep more during the day.
I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Our gift
God has given Mr. E and me an amazing gift. Our daughter, Joanna Aaron was born on Friday, October 4th at 2:30 am. She weighed 5 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19" long.
When Mr. E and I talked about what to name our baby, we wanted his or her name to have a good meaning or to use a name of someone who has been instrumental in our lives. Miss E has both.
Mr. E picked out Joanna when he was reading the Biblical account of the resurrection in Luke 24. Joanna was one of the women who was at Jesus' tomb and then told the disciples that Jesus had risen. Joanna means "God is gracious" or "gift from God", a perfect meaning.
You may think that Aaron is a strange name for a girl, as this spelling is used predominately for boys. It is actually my mom's middle name, so it met our criteria of someone who is instrumental in our lives. The name also has a good meaning, "exalted" or "mountain of strength". I thought "mountain of strength" summed up my mom pretty well and she is a great example for Joanna to look up to.
Here are some pictures of our little one:
We are enjoying her very much and we are extremely blessed!
When Mr. E and I talked about what to name our baby, we wanted his or her name to have a good meaning or to use a name of someone who has been instrumental in our lives. Miss E has both.
Mr. E picked out Joanna when he was reading the Biblical account of the resurrection in Luke 24. Joanna was one of the women who was at Jesus' tomb and then told the disciples that Jesus had risen. Joanna means "God is gracious" or "gift from God", a perfect meaning.
You may think that Aaron is a strange name for a girl, as this spelling is used predominately for boys. It is actually my mom's middle name, so it met our criteria of someone who is instrumental in our lives. The name also has a good meaning, "exalted" or "mountain of strength". I thought "mountain of strength" summed up my mom pretty well and she is a great example for Joanna to look up to.
Here are some pictures of our little one:
 |
| Meeting Dad |
 | |||
| A couple days old |
 |
| 9 days old |
 |
| 11 days old, Granny E's lap was comfy! |
 |
| One of my favs, she was quite alert while dad read the Bible to us. |
Monday, September 23, 2013
What has been going on
I've had lots of posts in my brain, but I just haven't taken the time to sit and write them out.
A quick recap of the past month or so. We finally finished the remodeling of our house. We still have some re-organizing to do and painting the outside of the house, but other than that, we're done. It has been so nice these past two weeks or so being able to relax a little.
Recently, most of my time has been spent canning and freezing the garden produce. Early in the summer, we didn't think the garden was going to produce much, but my goodness, we were wrong. I love seeing all the produce in the jars and in the freezer. We will be able to enjoy okra, green beans, black-eyed peas, jalapenos/serranos, squash, carrots, cantaloupe, bell peppers and onions this winter. Vegetables from the garden taste so much better than store bought stuff!
We are still preparing for baby E. The due date is quickly approaching and I must say that time has flown. It is exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.
Switching gears.
I've been thinking a lot lately about bitterness and how toxic that can be in someone's life. There have been and are situations in my life that could cause bitterness to creep in. When I think about them, I either get mad, frustrated or try to push them off and pretend that it doesn't effect me, but they do. I also want to fix them. I know many of these situations are because of misunderstandings, miscommunication and not being open and honest. In my flesh, I want to stay mad, or shut the problems out and stay irritated, which is when bitterness will take over. Bitterness only really effects the person that is holding on to it. It doesn't effect the other people. I've really had to watch out for this lately. I have to keep reminding myself that God has everything under control and that He calls me to forgive and not let bitterness take over. I will admit, it has been difficult to do. Anyway, that's what I've been struggling with. Thankfully, God's there to help me through it all.
Gotta go, have a good week!
A quick recap of the past month or so. We finally finished the remodeling of our house. We still have some re-organizing to do and painting the outside of the house, but other than that, we're done. It has been so nice these past two weeks or so being able to relax a little.
Recently, most of my time has been spent canning and freezing the garden produce. Early in the summer, we didn't think the garden was going to produce much, but my goodness, we were wrong. I love seeing all the produce in the jars and in the freezer. We will be able to enjoy okra, green beans, black-eyed peas, jalapenos/serranos, squash, carrots, cantaloupe, bell peppers and onions this winter. Vegetables from the garden taste so much better than store bought stuff!
We are still preparing for baby E. The due date is quickly approaching and I must say that time has flown. It is exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.
Switching gears.
I've been thinking a lot lately about bitterness and how toxic that can be in someone's life. There have been and are situations in my life that could cause bitterness to creep in. When I think about them, I either get mad, frustrated or try to push them off and pretend that it doesn't effect me, but they do. I also want to fix them. I know many of these situations are because of misunderstandings, miscommunication and not being open and honest. In my flesh, I want to stay mad, or shut the problems out and stay irritated, which is when bitterness will take over. Bitterness only really effects the person that is holding on to it. It doesn't effect the other people. I've really had to watch out for this lately. I have to keep reminding myself that God has everything under control and that He calls me to forgive and not let bitterness take over. I will admit, it has been difficult to do. Anyway, that's what I've been struggling with. Thankfully, God's there to help me through it all.
Gotta go, have a good week!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Monthly post
Here is what seems to be now my monthly post. I'm not avoiding blogging, my computer and I just haven't really found time to be with one another lately.
The garden is producing lots of stuff at the moment and I've been canning pickles, carrots, black-eyed peas and squash. Pickled okra is scheduled for canning tomorrow.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a baby shower given by some wonderful women. For the most part, I think we are ready for little E to come, just not right now.....he/she needs to grow quite a bit more! I don't think I've actually posted a picture of me pregnant yet, so here's one....I find it awkward posing for these kinds of pictures.
The house is almost done! That is the exciting news that's happened in the past couple of weeks. We have lots of re-organizing to do, but that just means we are close to being done. We were considering some changes to our kitchen, cabinets/counter tops etc., but I think we've now decided that we need to just stop where we are right now and we can do that at another time. This has been a project and a half, but we are happy we did it and we love the results.
Anyway, that's about all I have time for today. I've been watching my niece today and I think she's waking up from her nap. I'd better go check.
The garden is producing lots of stuff at the moment and I've been canning pickles, carrots, black-eyed peas and squash. Pickled okra is scheduled for canning tomorrow.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a baby shower given by some wonderful women. For the most part, I think we are ready for little E to come, just not right now.....he/she needs to grow quite a bit more! I don't think I've actually posted a picture of me pregnant yet, so here's one....I find it awkward posing for these kinds of pictures.
 |
| Yep, we're officially ready, we've got the Packer outfit! |
 |
| The new addition now actually has furniture and the windows are trimmed out! |
 |
| Mr. E is an expert door installer now. |
 |
| New front door, hopefully will keep the scorpions out! |
 |
| Living room flooring, wood-grain tile. |
 |
| New kitchen flooring. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)