It's about time...

I can't believe it's been since September that I've updated this blog. My apologies to all my faithful readers. :)

Most of you know by now that we are expecting our second child in July. Nora and ZoomZoom will be a little less than 14 months apart (Nora is almost 9 months old now). Crazy? Most definitely. But we've been encouraged by all of the people that have told us that they have kids that close in age and it's been great - hard, but great. We're looking forward to meeting our new little addition and can't believe that we're going to be a family of four! Praise the Lord for His good gifts.

Motherhood has been a blast. I can't believe how much I'm learning about myself, my husband, God, my marriage, my child. Sometimes it's overwhelming, but God has been so faithful to teach me and grow me. I find that now more than ever I'm praying for wisdom, for strength, for the ability to multi-task, and for stick-to-it-tiveness to get things done. Even in the "little" things I find myself saying a short prayer, "How should I handle this? What should I do with Nora in this situation? Should I take on this task today?" etc... I so want to be faithful in nurturing Nora's heart - in using every situation to teach her - to point her to Christ - to teach her little heart about the things of the Lord.

So far, the hardest thing for me has been the balancing act of it all. Struggling with making sure I have quality time with Nora and getting the endless "to do" list done is a daily fight. Does anyone else out there have that problem too? I would love to know that I'm not the only one! I pray everyday that I will be faithful to keep my home orderly, keep my husband fed and happy, be sensitive to having plenty of play time with my baby girl, and keep myself rested and uncranky. (I am pregnant, you know!) :)

Thankfully, Nora could spend hours in her Bumbo on the kitchen countertop (I know, I know - not the safest idea in the world...but c'mon...) watching me wash dishes, make dinner, clean up, etc...while she chews on her toys and tries to play with the crockpot - her new favorite thing. Our gigantic bathroom mirror is also a favorite and she loves to watch me get ready in the mornings while sitting on the counter making faces and kissing the "baby in the mirror." Playing with stuffed animals in her crib after naptime has been a new addition to life, as well. She usually naps two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. If, for some reason, she cuts those naptimes short she is usually content to babble to her KittyKitty and others until naptime is officially over and it's time to get up. I'm sooo thankful for that! Time to herself where she's learning and exploring in a safe environment is so important, I think.

Anyways, with all that said, there is still the the battle of wanting to get something done ie: folding the laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, making the bed - and having a baby that is clingy and whiny. If she's not in the kitchen in her bumbo or on the bathroom countertop watching me get ready, she wants to be held or she just wants me to sit next to her with my undivided attention. :) She seems to know when I'm sitting on the floor next to her, but my attention is elsewhere (cutting coupons, folding laundry, checking e-mail, etc...) and she does not like it. She also does not like to be in a different room than me. For example, I can't have her play in the living room while I get the downstairs bathroom cleaned. Heaven forbid I leave her in the living room and go upstairs to make the bed! :) I think I've fostered some of this behavior, because when Dave watches her he never has this problem. She'll roll around on the living room floor forever happy as a clam and never make a peep when daddy's watching.

So, for all you veteran moms out there reading this post. What would your words of advice be? How do you balance being sensitive to quality time with your child, snuggling them when they're pulling up on your lap, picking them up and kissing them when they're whining for attention...and also being careful not to make sure that you're not overindulging their every whim and turning them into clingy, whiny children when they don't have mom's undivided attention? I would love to learn from those of you that have been there or are there now... :)

with no particular place to go...

So, I have a few minutes *fingers crossed* until the kiddo wakes up. The coffee is brewing, the house is already straightened, the dishes are done - I thought I'd take a minute to post. I have nothing special to say - just thought I'd drop a line for the few of you that still read this thing. :)

So, I've embarked on a new endeavor - and I LOVE it! It's called thegrocerygame.com. It's a beautiful thing! Now that I have two growing men (my husband and my brother) to feed I have to be a little more creative about grocery shopping. I can't tell you how much money it's saved me so far - but I'll try :) - I started it in July and it's probably saved me $600.00 at least on my grocery bill so far. That includes paper products, cleaning products, and diapers. :) It's a blessing. I find that it's quite an addiction. If you decided to check it out and sign up for the free trial, don't forget to mention that I referred you (stvincentorbust@gmail.com)

Anyways, I can hear the little monster stirring in her crib and "talking" to herself. :) Gotta go!

in the hood...

motherhood, that is... :)

Ok, so I've only been a mom for a little over three months now, but I have to say - I LOVE IT! :) To be honest, the first couple weeks were a little touch n go. After the high of having Nora and coming home, etc...things came back to earth real fast and life wasn't so much fun. Actually, the first couple weeks were brutal. I'm sure it's that way for any mom. I guess having an extremely rough birth didn't help matters either. Thankfully I have a great mom that was a huge help and let me get a nap as much as possible. :)

But, after the first 6 weeks or so - things have been awesome! I remember (if you've heard this story, you can skip ahead) rocking in a rocking chair with Nora and both of us were bawling our heads off - I just remember praying, "Lord - you've gotta help me with this - I don't know what I'm doing wrong and unfortunately the Bible doesn't clearly lay out a plan for the day to day care of babies or I'd be all over it - so you're gonna have to impart some wisdom here!" It was shortly after that we found out that Nora had a milk allergy and that's what was causing all of her crying and colic. Whew!

Dave use to come home from work everyday and ask how the day with the baby was. Not too long after we discovered the milk allergy and I cut it out of my diet - Dave came home and for the first time I told him, "Today was awesome! If everyday is like this - this mom thing won't be too bad!" The next day went by, and then another day, etc...and since that day - things have been going well. Not that there aren't days with three blown out diapers and a baby that just wants to be held non-stop, but it's all worth it. :)

Nora is three months now and is just so much fun! I can already tell, the poor child has my personality. Oh dear... She is so curious and wants to be a part of every conversation. She loves being held facing out so that she can see what's going on around her. Daily outings need to be part of our routine or else she gets bored. She loves shopping and looking at all the things in the store and the lights, etc... Basically, as long as she's with people she's happy - for the most part.

Anyways - just to wrap it up - you know when you have a kid that you're going to love them. I mean, duh! :) But - it's insane what that love feels like. I told someone the other day - there's just gotta be a stronger word for love. I mean, I say, "I love pancakes." That word just doesn't even come close to describing what I feel for this little one. It's amazing the love that is in your heart for that tiny little person. And when you think about it - the love that God the Father has for us is even stronger than any love we could have for our child. When you think of it that way it just blows my mind. It's amazing.

it's about time...

sooo...i guess it's time i updated my blog... :)

i'm typing with complete disregard to capitalization because i'm typing one-handed since i have a lovely baby girl in my lap :) i apologize...

so, here's what has happened this summer since may...

- quit my job

- my mom came out for a visit

- dave graduated from seminary

- big graduation party

- dave's fam came out for a visit

- had a baby

- my brother moved his stuff out here

- my dad came out to visit

- dave's sister comes out for navy training/a visit

- dave's mom and other sister come out to visit

- we moved to a new place

- dave quits his job at sears

- dave gets hired full time at our church

so, needless to say we've had a busy summer with quite a few adjustments :) and now i must go because my little girl, nora, is crying! i'll write more soon!

Time for an update... :)

Well, folks - it's been about a month since I last blogged - and wouldn't you believe - I'm one month closer to giving birth. It's amazing how that works! :)

It's been a pretty busy month and the next upcoming month promises to be busy as well. In this last month - we were able to have a weekend getaway to San Clemente where we spent alot of time sleeping and watching TV. It's amazing how enthralled you can be with a TV when you don't have one. :) We felt like lazy bums - but it felt good! :)

Then the next weekend was Easter weekend. I love Easter!! :) So, that was pretty exciting for me. That weekend as well, Dave and I went to a childbirth education class with our good friends (due on the same day). That was...interesting... I saw videos of all sorts of things that I didn't want to see... I guess you're kinda asking for it when you sign up for a class like that, though. :) I felt like I was in jr. high class - and of course, I was the real mature one that was giggling, pointing, and averting my eyes... Dave must have been so embarrassed. :) It was fun, though because the teacher made us pregnant women's "partners" practice diapering and swaddling our fake babies. It was pretty entertaining. Dave did a great job - I'm sure he'll get much better in the upcoming months. :)

Then - we were able to go to a Steven Curtis Chapman/Michael W. Smith concert in Long Beach. That was an amazing experience. Steven was pretty open about what happened with his family almost a year ago. I got teary eyed a couple times. It was so neat to just see that he's a real person with real struggles and to see how God is bringing him and his family through this time. It was awesome. And, of course, MWS was pretty cool too! :)

Last, but of course not least, I had a baby shower with my church. It was amazing! :) I had prayed that the Lord would just use the baby shower to provide the needs that we still had for our little ZimZim. Of course - He did! It was such a HUGE praise! He provided all of our needs through that baby shower and even some of our wants. :) I don't know why I ever doubt Him! Stupid Keara!! *smacks forehead with palm of hand*

So...here we are with 3 weeks left in the pregnancy. My last day of work is next Friday, May 1st. Then my mom gets in to town on Tuesday, May 5th. Dave's parents and sister come in to town on Wednesday, May 6th. Dave's graduation party is Thursday, May 7th. Saturday, May 9th is a graduation banquet. Sunday, May 10th is graduation. Whew! It's gonna be busy! :)

Single White Female...

So, last night I went to this class called "Baby Care Basics." It's run by the hospital that we'll be having this little bundle of joy at. I thought it would be a good idea to go, get some ideas, and learn a few things... However, Dave teaches Bible study on Wednesday nights, so I decided rather than to torture him by making him go, I'd just go alone. :)

So, I get to the class, and I'm the first one there. As the room starts filling up with more and more people, I start to realize that I am the only husbandless woman in the room. Also, because my hands are swollen, I can no longer wear my wedding ring...keep that in mind...

So, apparently most of the couples in the room knew each other because of a postpartum depression awareness class they had taken together the night before. They were all discussing the class and talking about how they didn't really feel like they learned too much, etc... Well, the nurse that was co-leading the class spoke up and said, "Well, there are some single mothers out there who don't have a support group and need resources like this..." The whole time she was saying that she was looking at me with an expression that said, "We're here for you, honey. I feel your pain." Which lead the others in the class to look at me in the same way.

*sigh*

I felt like making an announcement. "I really am married! He's just teaching Bible Study tonight!" I wonder if they would have believed me...

Blessings from James...

I have been SO blessed this past year to have the opportunity of leading our GAP (college/career) girl's Bible Study every other Tuesday night. We just had Bible study last night, and I just HAVE to share about how my life has been impacted through this study!

First of all, I have to say that I DO NOT have the gift of teaching. No, I'm not fishing for compliments - I know that God has not gifted me in that way, and I'm ok with it! :) So, when my friend Sarah approached me about leading the Bible Study I was a little more than apprehensive...

We decided to go through the book of James, just an in-depth verse by verse study. We have done book studies in the past, but we decided to try something different this time... I have to tell you - I don't know how the other girls feel, but it has been an AMAZING encouragement to me. Needing to prepare to lead Bible Study every other week has really forced me to get into God's word and dig in. It's been so great to have to pick apart passages verse by verse, figure out what the author is intending to say, and anticipate any questions that might come from the text. I always double check my lesson with Dave first, just so that he can make sure that I'm not teaching anything heretical. :) I can't tell you how amazing the feeling is when you have been working and working through a text and just praying that God would reveal to you what's in His Word, and then He just causes the light bulb to go on. :) That is an awesome moment!

Also, it's been such a priviledge to have Bible Study with such an incredible group of girls. We're all sinners saved by grace, and we all have our struggles - but I LOVE that we come together every other week and dive in to God's Word together. It's great to unpack a portion of scripture together and I love seeing the looks of concentration on each one's face as we go through the text and search out what God is trying to teach us through it. Of course, we always end the time with prayer requests and prayer, and it's always such an encouragement to see the realness of each of the girls that are there. We're very open and honest about the things that the Lord is teaching us and the struggles that we're working through. I just love the openess that's there and the confession of struggling through sins. That leads to such a closeness of fellowship in knowing that now you'll be accountable to those people for what you've just shared with them. I'm so thankful for the friendships that the Lord has given me through this Bible Study.

Most of all, I'm thankful to God for being so gracious to allow me to lead this Bible study. I'm thankful that He chooses to use frail pots of clay like myself... and I'm thankful that each week He chooses to reveal Himself in His Word to me in such a real way. What a faithful Father.