A Time For Every Season....

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my Savior – from violent men you save me." 2 Samuel 22: 2-3 This week I've been reflecting on the memories when Abby was finally home after her delivery and then 10 days later rushed back to the NICU with RSV - unable to breath. purple then ashen gray. Those intense memories are fading slowly; my fear dissipating like when the wind blows the cool brisk air back into the hot Texas humidity at the end of a long hot summer.  It is time to process all that God did and the wonderful ways He brought us through to the other side of this trial. Lord, may I never forged that sense of protection as I rested within your sheep fold, guarded by your mighty hands, surrounded by Your Holiness. 608. Anxious brothers awaiting the arrival of their 7 day old sister from the NICU! Praise the Lord for his hand of p...

Abby had her well check today and weighs 11 pounds 6 oz, she is only 21 1/4 inches long. Poor dear, she has no hope for being tall. Abby has come to life in the last week, she found her hands, is grabbing at toys, holding her own head up, cooing, laughing, and tracking you with her eyes. It has been a busy week for her! I put my foot down last night and we're working on her sleeping through the night; Abby did really well, she went to bed at 8:45pm, woke at 12:15 and cried for 15 minutes, then went back to sleep until 6:00 am. Sleep was so nice, it made getting up to go the the gym at 4:45 very easy! I can't believe I just wrote that 4:45 was an easy time to get up! Abby is so chunky, she has fat rolls everywhere! She now has a double chin, rolly polly legs  and arms. She even has two fat rolls on the back of her neck! She did make it through her first hospitalized cold this past week. She ended up in the Doctors office twice, but she was never admitted.  Her pediatri...

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.   - Melody Beattie It has been some time since I've written my thankfulness list, there has been so many changes since January, so many things to write about and so little time it seams. My hope is to get back into journaling now that our newest little one is sleeping longer and breathing well again! 596. Family visits over Christmas & New Years, seeing my Dad again and praising the Lord that he is doing so well! 597. A relaxed December, anticipation of a new little baby in our family! 598. Continued pregnancy despite high blood pressure and frequent contractions. 599. The many friends and family members who pitched in an...

It is amazing how a little girl and all her pink can change the dynamic of a family!

Drew and I were driving  home from purchasing a small children's pool for our backyard. Our conversation went something like this: Drew: "Mom, I'm starving, when are we going to eat?" Me: "Starving, you don't know what starving means Drew?" Drew " Yes I do! It means I'm really hungry." Me: " I mean, you've never experienced real hunger before, 99 out of every 100 people in the world do not live like we do. What we just spent on a fun pool would feed an entire family of 4 for an entire month in most third world countries." Drew: "You mean there are little children who don't get food all the time." Me: " Exactly, most people don't live in nice houses, drive nice cars, have clean water, and know where their next meal is coming from." Drew: "Well, that doesn't seem fair? We have to do something to help those children." Me: "Yes, God  calls us to help the orphans and wid...

I’m sitting here tonight and Drew comes waltzing in to say goodnight. He notices the #100 on the screen and is quite proud of himself. The number was actually 71,100.56 and I try to explain to him about  ones, tens, hundreds, etc. He then asks, “well what does that # mean?” I told him it was the amount we had to show on our books in vacations that people are yet to take.” To which Drew raises his eyebrows and retorts, “Mom you have a really boring job! I’m going to go brush my teeth now.” Sigh, I didn’t want to be an accountant at 5 either, in fact my first job was working retail for a small company which sold scrubs. In my interview the owner said he graduated with an accounting degree and I told him it sounded boring not even having a clue what an accountant was – I was 17 (and did get the job)! Even funnier is that my closest 4 horse buddies from childhood and I recently connected again via facebook – we were all going to train horses or be veterinaria...

During Bible time tonight Drew asked some very sweet questions. I just love the mind of a 5 year old! During the reading of Abraham offering up Isaac as the sacrificial lamb Drew asked, "So was the ram God's pet? How else would the ram get up on that mountain?" Then while speaking about heaven I said if you believe in Jesus then you go to heaven, Drew then asked, "Then will that nasty snake Satan be there too?" Oops I guess I shouldn't water down the gospel for my 5 year old! I tried to explain that isn't enough to believe in Jesus (the demon's believed in him and shuttered), you have to believe and then allow God to change your heart. A sacrificial change, like when Abraham went to offer Isaac as the sacrificial lamb. That was Abraham's test to show that he truly believed and had life changing faith in God. Then later Drew asked if God would make cake in heaven for parties,"you know , like when its my birthday, will God make me a cake...

Abby is changing into a real baby! Just in the last week she has started to sleep more regularly, eat less frequently, she can have BM's on her own (Yes!), her stomach bloating has gone down substantually, she can cough, and she moved into 0-3 month clothes! A few other milestones happened this week too, she moved into her own room! Abby also figured out how to kick her little toy hanging off the crib, which kept her quite entertained for 30 minutes. She is enjoying just being awake and not fussing, she is more aware of things and loves to smile at you. She also loves to smile at the fan? Abby is almost 11 pounds and still loves being swaddled, being held, and beging carried around in the front pack. She is a mommy's girl until Daddy comes home and then she loves to sit with him and cuddle. She just picked up her second cold and seems to be weathering it fairly well. No ER trips! She has a slight fever and is congested with sneezes and coughing. We're praying she gets be...