Gratefulness...

1. singing 'your love never fails' with olivia

2. my kids' sun-kissed cheeks



3. eating dinner on the deck last night

4. staying up late with friends

5. falling asleep in jess' arms. that doesn't happen often cause i HATE being touched when i sleep but
i was exhausted

Gratefulness...

I'm really liking this so I might keep up with it...

1. getting to skype with a lovely friend of mine last night. love you brie!
2. hanging out with our kids last night before bed
3. finding a REALLY awesome piano on craig's list (it's exactly what i have been holding out for! it will be such a blessing to us. i can't wait to re-learn right along with my kids!)
4. having a good response to the bible study i'm doing right now. very encouraging. i know it's going to bless a lot of women's lives and our church and those around us.
5. little baby rio is doing well and going home! (friend's baby who was unexpectedly taken to another hospital at 1 day old for some unknown breathing issues but he is healed, in jesus name!)

entry #164 - #365

so this concludes my year of '365 days of grace'...
i didn't make it all 365 days but 164 isn't bad!
a thanks to minismith for posting this challenge
that she found here.

1. finally feeling better. not yet 100% better but
better then i was a week ago.

2. accepting my shifting focus from holiday mayhem
to quality family time. this is a big step for a christmas
fanatic and i feel relieved that nothing is wrong with
me... my priorities are just changing and i love it!

3. faye curled up on my chest napping. especially
when my other children are running around screaming
and fighting because it helps me enjoy the
quiet newborn moments even more...
they don't last long enough!

4. online shopping for a homebound mother
that isn't brave enough to attempt going out in
public by myself with all three...

5. a new year is coming with new opportunities...

entry #163

hmmmm... what am i thankful for today?

1. getting some gifts made up

2. sloppy joes

3. pb cup ice cream

4. getting stuff done that i didn't even care
to get done before baby comes. i'm sure
today will hold even more of that nonsense.

5. cinnamon sugar toast this morning

yes 3 of these are food related but my life
is pretty basic waiting for labor...

entry #161 - #162

Today I am thankful to be where I am in my life....

1. a wonderful unexpected dinner night with
our children at one of our favorite restaurants.
we were supposed to go to a birthday party but
my hubby took the wrong exit and was going to
take an hour to get to our destination.

2. putting together a cute outfit for church. this
is a big deal when you're VERY pregnant. makes
you feel way better!

3. getting great sleep lately. i'm not used to it
so it's leaving me feeling tired(er)

4. getting a bunch of junk groceries and easy meals
to last us this week in case labor were
actually to produce a baby.

5. finally (after months) enjoying a starbucks
hot drink. by that i mean i didn't feel the
need to throw up or take a heartburn pill
from the indigestion hot drinks cause me.

6. getting a day with my hubby yesterday
to have him at home for my last pre-natal
check-up and membrane stripping
and acupuncture appointment. i was
nervous and emotional and had way
too high of expectations for these
possible labor starters....

7. having a late night chat with my hubby
about life and the meaning of our baby's
name and strange people we use to know
and people's opinions and silly ideas of what
age is appropriate for having children. and
how much we love our life....

8. getting my very tiny to-do list done

9. all of us on the couch last night. me
holding a sleeping Liam and Jess playing
computer games with Olivia.
i love the quiet moments.

10. finding out about more precious babies
to be born in June and July!

entry #160

today i am gathering encouragement from
taking a notice in my blessings....

1. having contractions even if they are annoyingly
slow to progress because i know they are bringing me
closer to having my baby.

2. getting some time tonight with my husband
to re-group. thank you to my in-laws. i'm sure
you've been missing some time with the kids
anyways. :) (my brother-in-laws and
mother-in-law have been on the road)

3. getting wonderful sleep last night. still had 3
bathroom trips that when walking up and down
the stairs made me feel like i'd been riding a horse
for my whole life. but still i didn't wake up with
heartburn or restless legs. it's as close as i can get
to the blissful non-pregnant sleep.

4. finishing up some gifts so i won't have to worry
about it during the first weeks of having a newborn.

5. getting thankyou's sent out in no time today
and laughing to myself that my to-do list for the
day was so incredibly small that i added 'have a baby'
just for the heck of it.

entry #158 - #159

i am counting my blessings today no
matter how small they may seem...

1. Getting out of the house on Tuesday with my little man
while Olivia hung out with my mom. It's fun to just focus
on one of your children at a time, at times.

2. Our neighbors across the street blessing us with an
unexpected meal to relieve the stress around having
a new baby and trying to cook meals. Although baby
isn't here, it is still much appreciated and got put
into the freezer for when she is here and
when we need to eat.

3. My hubby getting his big project at work done so
he won't be distracted while enjoying our new baby.

4. Accidentally making too much chicken pot pie
the other night that has fed our family for 3 nights
in a row and some lunches. It's sooo yummy.
And I haven't had to cook!

5. Getting out of the house again yesterday to go
shopping with my mom and sister.

6. Finding skinny clothes with a good deal thanks to
my mom's coupons. Can't wait to wear them!

7. My sister buying me boots unexpectedly. She knew
I was hesitant to spend any more money on myself.
Thank you soooo much Jen!

8. My mom buying Faye some adorable clothes. Her and
my sister have been so wonderful with buying the
cutest stuff! It's been a huge blessing.

9. Getting a couple more hours with my little man
and going on a long long walk with him. It helped
get the baby to drop more!

10. Waking up to sunshine this morning and my
children playing in our bed under our covers.
I love when they make me smile just by being the
cute kids that they are.

entry #157

Dear crazy hormones,

Thank you for only visiting me once thus far. Let's not
do that again. Good thing I have a husband that can
talk me off the crazy ledge and to think normal again.
(i was beginning to curse my choice of having an all
natural homebirth because at this point, with an OB, I'd
be induced and finally holding my precious baby. Oh,
and I was convinced that God wasn't listening to me
and didn't understand my urgency in being done)
All is well now!
Unless I'm still pregnant for Thanksgiving....

Dear Amy,

Thank you for watching our kids on Friday night
so we could go out and finish shopping for the baby.
Our kids love you and we really appreciate it!

Dear Lord,

Thank you for speaking louder then my
emotions. In the midst of the crazy I always
feel that I have two options. To give in or
to trust You. Thankfully I've been trusting
You the majority of the time. It's making the
end of this pregnancy more bearable for me
and my family. They thank You too!

Dear Children,

Thank you for keeping us laughing all weekend
long. I had so much fun on our walk and hanging
out with you guys. You're pretty cool kids!

Dear Husband,

Thank you for being so loving when I'm not so loving.
Thank you for being willing to go out and get all my
crazy strong cravings at any hour.
You're a great husband.
Oh, and the yard looks wonderful. Thank you!

entry #156

Dear Husband,

Thank you for holding me last night while I cried in pain.
You are a great comfort. Even when you laugh at me when
I'm laughing/crying at myself because of my humorous
maneuvers to stop the pain. I know we'll make the most
interesting team during labor.
(be prepared brande and malory,
it's gonna be funny. it's ok to laugh)

Thank you for the last 7 years. We have learned
so much from eachother and we have a deeper love
for eachother then I could have ever imagined.

It was sweet to think back to that night of card playing,
chaperoned by your brother, that we decided to
start dating. You asked me when and I wrote down the date
on a piece of paper and handed it to you that night. I was
ready to date you and get smothered by unfamiliar love.
So glad I did even though it was a little strange
at first because I'd known you for so long. I just never
would have guessed that you were 'the one' all those years!

Life is pretty great right now. We're about to
have our 3rd child and we're homeowners now. Imagine that.
And we have 5 and a half years of marriage under our belts.
I'm pretty stoked to see what's in store for us.
I love you and I mean every bit of what
loving you entails.
(minus your snoring, slouthlyness , and eating noises)

Dear Children,

Thank you for being our's and for gracing our lives.
We are better people because of you. You are such huge
blessings that I couldn't imagine not
having had you. Life would be pretty dull. I love you!

Dear heartburn pills,

Thank you for getting me through the past couple
months and ecspecially the past couple of weeks
that have been rough. Soon we will part our ways.
You served me well. I will not chew another
terrible tums.

Dear National City,

Thank you for rewarding us with the points system.
It's great when you forget you have them for almost a
year to discover that you can get 50$ in target giftcards.
They will be well spent tonight as we venture out
to pick up some last minute things
for baby. Every little bit helps!

Dear God regarding my body,

Thank you for carrying me through my life thus
far and for giving me 2 healthy babies. I am trusting in my body
and YOU to know what you're doing with this 3rd
one. I am getting a bit stretched for my taste
and I am nervous about the size of the shoulders I can feel in
my pelvis but I trust you know what you're doing. I
am surprisingly calm and at peace.
(except when a little head feels like a knife jabbing it's way out
at unexpected times)
During the nights of complete discomfort and agony
I cry out and find peace in YOU and that
all will be taken care of. Thank you.

entry #153

today i am thankful for....

1. my husband sleeping on the couch so we both
could get a good nights sleep. and for him trying to
put liam back to sleep after he woke up screaming.

2. my midwife coming to my house yesterday for
my check-up.

3. the beautiful weather we're having. now i just
need to find the energy to take the kids out to play.

4. my morning snuggles with my son while he eats
his marshmallow cereal and watches tv

5. my kids peacefully playing 'beach' together
at the moment. i hope i don't jinx myself.

entry #151 - #152

1. getting all of our to-do list done before baby arrives.
the list will grow again once i've recovered. we still
have to go out and get a few things from the store but
that's the fun stuff!

2. my husband getting the front hedges trimmed. he did
a lovely job.

3. all of the wonderful family and friends we have that
showed up to celebrate our son's birthday. it was
heartwarming. plus i'm pretty sentimental these
days.

4. my mom and little sister coming and cleaning our whole
house while i baked all the goodies for the party. it was
so wonderful to not worry about doing it all.

5. food. i really like food right now.

6. the fact that november is upon us and
we're 24 days away from one of my favorite
holidays and 52 days till christmas!

7. the sun shining through our windows this morning.
it makes it so much easier to wake up.

8. our heating bills staying low so far with all the
times we had to turn it on this past month

9. having our first trick-or-treaters as married people.
silly i know. but i just feel so adult now.

10. christmas commercials and movies

entry #149 - #150

today i am looking for the joy in my life after
a difficult week physically

1. when my son wakes up and just sits in his crib talking and
playing (this is a huge difference from his yelling for us)

2. the quiet moment that the 4 (5) of us shared after
nap time yesterday. kid's were still sleeping when my
hubby got home so we woke them up together. it was such
a moment that brought tears to my eyes. my anxieties
of the day of soon being a mother of 3 melted away

3. getting a huge portion of my to-do list done. feels good to
mark things off!

4. heat. hot bathes, heating pad, rice sock....

5. snuggling with my hubby and staying up and talking

6. getting a long walk in with my hubby this week thanks to
my grandma hanging out at the house

7. my husband's awesome job that allowed him to work
from home while i was having signs of early labor
earlier this week.

8. all the new words my son is saying daily and his
funny personality

9. crafting with my daughter

10. how quickly olivia has adopted my cleaning routine.
(quicker and better then her father) it's really quite
impressive for a child that use to hate cleaning up
anything. i'm so proud! and she's cleaned up the
living room before she goes to bed without me asking
a couple of times now. she's making having 3 children
soon, not so scary

entry #148

today i am grateful for....

1. my husband tackling bath time and bedtime so i
could run some errands last night

2. getting a lot more of my to-do's done

3. list making. helps me stay organized and less crazy

4. today being friday and that much closer to the weekend

5. my daughter cleaning up the living room two nights in
a row for no reason. she has the sweetest spirit. and both
nights she wasn't feeling well. i just wanna scoop her up
and never let her go.

entry #147

today I am reminded of the blessings in my life
through the little things...

1. snuggling in-between my kids on the couch right now
while they watch cartoons

2. how they both pick all the marshmallows out of their
lucky charms cereal and then sometimes eat the actual
cereal part.

3. liam grabbing my belly spontaneously and saying
'baby girl'... melts my heart.

4. getting out of having to super clean my whole house today
because my daughter has a fever and i get to just snuggle and
take care of her.

5. taking a walk last night and the kids stopping
to jump in piles of leaves.

entry #146

today i am thankful for...

1. finding my daughter a belle costume for 20$

2. finding the perfect little outfit to go with what i
made my nephew-to-be

3. having awesome kids to hang out with and
for experiencing more patience lately for the
times that it's not so awesome

4. sharing in my daughter's love for american girl
collections. my husband has been reading her my old
books and she is loving it

5. plain vanilla yogurt

entry #145

today i am blessed because....

1. after a rough night and morning, i got an extra hour of sleep
in because my son played in his crib for an hour! if you know him,
you understand why this is huge.

2. in reading birth books with olivia her only concern about the
whole thing is that the baby is being squished in there
right now and running out of room. so sweet!

3. my son says 'eeeewww' to anything dirty and it makes me
laugh. he's going nuts with these lady bugs.
he likes them if they're dead.

4. after 2 hours all together my husband made my back feel
better by patiently rubbing icy hot on it. he's seriously the best.
i don't know of any husband that would lovingly rub his wife's
back for as long as he does for me. thank you babe!

5. having a day to myself because the kids are going to grandma's
house and i get to visit with a friend and her
precious new baby. thank you mom!

entry #143 and #144

i have found grace in...

1. the beautiful day we are having today

2. the wonderful weekend we had with family and friends

3. my patient husband that takes care of me when i'm
expressing my pregnant discomfort

4. making it to where i am in this pregnancy without all
the issues i had with my other children

5. my love for writing. it helps me process my brain full of thoughts.

6. for being put into contact with such a wonderful midwife. i'm
loving this natural thing (so far). it just makes sense. why make
a big deal out of something so simple and natural?

7. planning out a family night for tonight with my hubby
while having our lunch chat with him. dinner and rock band!
(to our kids, that's a big deal as they are both future rockers)

8. all the little things i take for granted

9. laughing with my kids and being crazy

10. being connected with so many wonderful people that
all play a part in my life in some unique way

entry #142

1. my wonderful friend, hannah, for bringing over baby girl clothes
for us to use for Faye. we literally had nothing for a girl in this season.

2. craft night and conversation with some pretty awesome people
and sharing eachother's talents.

3. making my son's birthday invites ourselves with our own
printer and them turning out adorable! only spent 10 for stamps.
can't beat that!

4. my son's costume possibly working out. when i'm finished i'll post
a how to.

5. my dad fixing my door handle so i can now get out of the vehicle
without rolling my window down.

entry #141

the five things i'm grateful for today... and everyday....

our kids
our kids
our kids
our kids
our stinkin' cute kids...

modeling their new pj's....

they love their picture taken....

beauty...

momma's boy...

she's mastered the art of meditation...

and taught her brother...
he's got the humming down.


they are pretty cute and we're pretty blessed.
can't wait to see what faye looks like!

i'm pretty much expecting to see a
blonde-hair-blue-eyed beauty with a nutty personality
but you never know!

entry #140

About this time last year, looking at houses seemed only a dream that was impossible for us to reach. I saw this house online (well before this point last year) but never thought much of it. Then, one day, when I was praying about our future I felt the Lord saying to take another look at this house. So I did. I read the specs. Then I realized that this could quite possibly be the home we've wanted despite what the photos made it out to look. I showed Jess the online listing again and explained everything and he seemed more open to at least look at it.

We toyed with the idea of asking for a showing but knew we wouldn't be able to actually buy it for a few more months. Then, one night, Jess' brother's girlfriend (tiffany) mentioned that her mom worked for that particular realtor that held the listing. She got us in contact with her mom and we saw the house and immediately fell in love.

I started mapping out budgets and trying to see how or when we could afford a house. We decided it wasn't the right time and to focus on paying things off first and if the house was still there when we were ready then it'd be the right one.

It took what seemed like years to get to where we wanted to be (6mo to be exact) and believe it or not the house was still there! So we started to talk to banks and explore our borrowing options. We didn't find much that would work with our budget but I held out hope.

When the house was put on the market, about a year and a half before that, it was listed at
$125,000.00. When we were looking at it, it was listed at $121,000. Within a month the owner dropped it down to $119,800 then $114,500.00. It just kept looking better and better for us. But things weren't working out with the banks. We were discouraged.

We were close to trying out contract for deed (for i think $98,000.00) but didn't feel good about it but we knew we wanted the house. We were desperate. We found out at this point that we were pregnant with Faye. We were renting from my great-grandmother. The house we lived in was very nice but getting cramped with all our stuff and her stuff taking up most of the storage areas. We were blessed with the price of rent and the location to my husband's work but we just knew we needed a change and very soon.

Then something wonderful happened. We were told about FHA lending. We looked into and did all the paperwork. It took several weeks for us to even know a definite number we were approved for and when we found out, we were nervous because the owner was very stern about the $98k. But we held out faith knowing that if it was our house then everything would fall into place. We made a lower offer and she rejected it. That's all we could do at that point. So we waited 2 more weeks. We got a call from our realtor to see what was going on. We were waiting for more information from our lender.

It turns out that we were approved for 2k-3k in closing cost help. We already had the down-payment and closing cost money but were so appreciative of the extra help. So much so that we decided that we could offer $95k. So we did. She rejected and wanted $96,500. So we said we wouldn't ask for repair money and she finally agreed to our price of $95k! We were floored! She came down more then 10k from the most recent asking price within a month and a half. God is so good!

So when it all came together finally, our extra funds were applied to our loan and closing costs. At closing we paid $1,200.00 which almost $500 we got back 2 months later. (they over estimate)
And we had enough left to buy the appliances we needed and moving costs and paint. We were so so blessed!

It came to a loan for $93k at $735.00 a month and our homeowner's insurance only costing $45.00 per month. This is something we never dreamt possible. We never thought we'd be able to afford a mortgage. Turns out, when God's in it, ANYTHING is possible. I'm still in shock that we live here now. In this great big house with plenty of space. We love it here and it turns out to be the same price as living in our previously rented home. The electric bill and gas bills are less here then there.

The moral of my telling you this is - to not lose faith. God provides what we need, when we need it, even if it seems impossible. You can't get discouraged and stressed and give up. Stay focused with the mentality that you are going to be provided for regardless of what you really think you need. And if it is the right thing for you, all the details (big or small) will work out. And try not to put God on a timeline. It just makes it harder. It helps if you focus on what you do have and how you are blessed within that waiting period and just know that if it works out that you're life will be that more blessed.

Having faced this impossible feat and in going through this, I have learned more about God's love and provision and I have become extremely relaxed in Him. Whenever something happens I just have a peace that we will always be cared for. And I set no expectations for how. I just have faith.

I also must add, that when we take things into our own hands and make plans we get stressed out. When left to God you'll find a peace in your plans and they no longer just become your plans. It becomes the realization that God's plans for you will work out and may be better then you thought you could have. When working on your own, you short change yourself and are left with something you didn't actually want.

This is my entry for the day because we are blessed. And this story and our lives now and who i am now because of this experience, more then takes up 5 things for the day.