Kids do the Darndest Things

We were on a road trip to Lincoln when we pulled into a Subway parking lot to grab some lunch. We get into Subway bathroom and to my dismay I find there is no baby changing table. What's up with that?! So I bring Arabella out to the dining room and since it's below zero outside I figured it would be much better to change her inside rather than in the car. She was lying on the chair when I take her diaper off and all the sudden out of nowhere comes this rushing fountain of pee! It was trickling all over her pants, on the floor, and my shoe. At home I can change her and she never pees on her changing table. She can even run around the house commando for awhile and she won't even go. But as soon as we're in public in the middle of a subway restaurant she decides to let loose. My foot was freezing from the wet spot on my shoe, for hours. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Where Will we be in Five Years?

I haven’t written a blog in quite sometime; here is a long overdue one. I am so glad the sun is finally shining.

I am in the process of learning a new job. It seems to be going well for the most part. There are a few confusing things, but hopefully it won’t be too long before I start to understand.
I was just thinking about a few things yesterday...

First, how very awe inspiring to see a tiny snowflake stuck on your windshield that is still in it’s perfect, beautiful, "star like" form. Some are intricate and complicated patterns while others are symmetrical and look like an asterisk. It is absolutely amazing to me how a small snowflake can be so detailed. God truly is amazing.


Second, where will my family and I be in five years? I would LOVE to be out of debt and living in a house of our very own. We have thousands of dollars of stupid credit card debt, medical bills, and student loans. It sucks. It’s like a giant weight on your shoulders and always in the back of your mind. Once we get all that mess paid off we could actually have a chance of buying a house. No more renting. Thankfully, currently we are very blessed. We are living in my grandmothers house for the time being, for free! We honestly don’t have to pay anything. We were originally going to live with my parents until we got the money situation under control. Thankfully, we didn't have to do that! I mean I love my folks and all but it would have gotten really crowded fast (not to mention we would really get on one another’s nerves like crazy.) Instead we received a call from my grandma offering us to stay in her home (since she got remarried and moved) until we got on our feet. We have this huge two story acreage to ourselves. I don’t know how in the world we would have been able to afford rent if she didn’t do that for us. It just go to show how much God really does take care of us.

Until next time. Happy New Year!

It Might Be Hope

IT MIGHT BE HOPE
By: Sara Groves


You do your work the best that you can
You put one foot in front of the other
Life comes in waves and makes its demands
You hold on as well as you're able

You've been here for a long, long time

Hope has a way of turning its face to you
Just when you least expect it
You walk in a room-
You look out a window
And something there leaves you breathless
You say to yourself,
It's been awhile since I felt this
But it feels like it might be hope

It's hard to recall what blew out the flame
It's been dark here since you can remember
You talk it all through to find it a name
As days gon on by without number

You've been here for a long, long time

But hope has a way of turning its face to you
Just when you least expect it
You walk in a room and look out a window
And somethings there, somethings there,
And it's hope....
It's been awhile since I've felt this
But it feels like it might be hope.

Meaning of Christmas

I get really tired of the commercialism of Christmas. When people expect a certain amount of money spent for gifts and when they get upset because you can't spend a lot (if any) on presents. All I have to say to them is grow up. If that's all Christmas is to you, then you are selfish. And you don't realize the true meaning of Christmas. In case you forgot:i t's to be with your family and friends and help those less fortunate. To all those who give to get, I genuinely feel sorry for you. Okay ,I will get off my soap box now. Unfortunately I am beginning to not like Christmas, the American way. It's sad. My good memories of Christmas are in the past. I am determined to make it different next year!

Arabella

My daughter is ten months already. Looking back on the day she was born, it is very hard to believe she's almost a year. She's waving when we say, "bye-bye", clapping her hands, crawling everywhere. She pulls herself up on the couch, and coffee table, drinks from a sippy cup. She has cut seven teeth, shakes her head no, and last but not least says, "mama"! She giggles with delight when she sees a kitten running across the floor. The whole world is a great big puzzle ready to be solved.

I love being a mother. It is trying at times, but it is the most rewarding experience a person can have. When I hold her at night after reading her "Goodnight Moon" book to her, she's cozy warm in her pj's and has her silk blankie by her face, sucking her thumb. I know there is no better thing in the world. I wouldn't trade her for anything.

It's Monday

Sitting at an work listening to a pilot complain about how he still has four hours left to go. They're going to Rapid City, SD. Four hours; boo hoo. You could have to drive like most of us unlucky ones. In a car it would take about nine and a half hours. They're going to Sturgis. It's a giant motorcycle rally. I don't know, I just don't get why you'd complain unless you hated planes and motorcycles. Then why go? Whatever.

I am real; are you?

I do not quite know what to think. I am back again. Back in Iowa, working at the same job I did about three or four years ago. But nothing about me is the same. I am a woman, a wife, and a mother. I planned a wedding in less than three weeks, went through a cancer battle with my mom, and I even endured a natural childbirth. I survived countless sleepless nights and my daughter's first two teeth. I was in the hospital for a week and have accrued thousands of dollars in medical bills. I am a different person in so many ways, ways I can't even describe. My heart is different and I am deeper. My heart is older, and it is scarred. But it is still beautiful.

I have learned that suffering, storms of life, and hurt is good. It is okay. It is real and true. Jesus suffered so many things when He died on the cross that we can not even begin to fathom. He is real. Paul suffered persecutions, pain, sickness; he was real. (2 Timothy 3:11-12) Christians are not exempt from suffering. We should embrace it. Embrace it because after the storm we find beauty and strength. If you do not go through tumultuous times in life, how can you help others? How can you really be real?

I Peter 1:6-9
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

April Fool's

It was April 1 at 1am. Arabella's piercing cries jolted me out of my sleep. For whatever reason she was on a "nursing strike". She had only eated a small amount before going to sleep (which is completely abnormal). I had no other "express milk" in the fridge on back up. Her loud, sad cries just got worse. I had no other choice, she was hungry and she needed to eat, and she would not eat from me. Feeling defeated, I announce to Adam that, "You have to go to Wal-Mart to buy formula." He responded groggily that he had a blinding headache and couldn't go. I am wide awake by this time. I left an unhappy baby and tired husband at home and drove off in the Dakota with bad squeaky breaks. Thankfully I made it there safely. I had NO CLUE what kind of formula to buy because I'd never bought any before. I frantically tried to find the most "organic" kind available. The Wal-Mart employee (who also happened to work at a local hospital) informed me they have no organic formula. Of course not; that'd be too easy. She did tell me that I should call the hospital and ask for the maternity wing nurses. She even had the number memorized. I called them to get advice on what kind of formula to buy for a breasfed only baby. I got a unsympathetic nurse who said, "There was no organic formula when I had a baby..." Whatever. I thought nurses were supposed to help! All the formula I found had vegetable oil in it. Ew! Finally I just grabbed "Nestle's Good Start" off the shelf and ran to the check out lane.



I flung open the door at home only to find silence. Silence. She had fallen back to sleep! I had wasted all that time at stupid Wal-Mart for nothing. By this time there was NO WAY I could fall back to sleep. I think I finally calmed down enough to drift off around 3am. 4am she's crying again! I got her to eat a little from me, but not enough. I had to make the disguisting formula. Fortunatelly, she took only 2 oz of the stuff. And thank God the rest of the day she only got better with each nursing and ended up fine!



Adam called and said he was going to be late because he was putting new break pads and a roter on the truck. Yay! This day was looking up. I made a chicken dish in the oven and waited for him to come home. "I have something in my eye," he says when he got home. I thought nothing of it and got his dinner ready for him. Then he called me from upstairs to check out his eye. He had a little metal thing stuck in his iris! After trying several times and failing to remove the object we headed for the emergency room. Thankfully, we only had to wait for about 20 min! that's a miracle in itself! The doctor had to numb Adam's eye and stick a needle in it to remove the piece of metal. It was nerve wracking. Once the ordeal was over we went to the pharmacy to get an antibiotic eyedrop perscription. Once we got home Adam said now his left eye was starting to bother him. Low and behold he had ANOTHER piece of metal in his eye! Adam refused to go back to the ER. (It took about 2 days for the speck to work its way out).

What made this day worth all the hassle was the incident that happened that afternoon. I was blowing air on Arabella's tummy. She was smiling as big as could be...when all the sudden she let out the cutest little laugh!! It was the first time she'd ever done it. It was the cutest thing; and made all the craziness of the day disappear!