Five Months

Another month has gone by. Bitty Baby is Five Months old now, and she's not so bitty anymore. Almost two weeks ago she really started crawling on her belly. She could go across the room by just pulling forward with her hands and pushing with her feet. She goes forward, she goes backward. And I can't tell you how many times she has tried to wedge herself under the couch. But she's mobile. For weeks she has tried to get up on her knees, and yesterday she finally made it. It won't be long before her sister will be chasing her. I can say that B is showing her more attention now that Bitty Baby is more interactive. I don't have any weight stats on her this month since we don't go to the doctor until her Six Month checkup, so you all will have to wait another month. She is starting to grab toys more and plays with the toys on her jumper. She loves her soft rabbit and her soft receiving blankets. She's is starting to pay attention to when we eat now. Sometimes it's so funny how she stares at your hand, going from your plate to your mouth. We could probably start her on cereal, but my milk still satisfies her. Maybe in another month we'll begin with oatmeal. 

Now for her five month old picture. Seeing her everyday makes it hard for me to notice all the small changes. So, I love seeing each month's pictures in order.

She's growing so fast. It seems like yesterday that we brought her home.

Here's a pic of her almost on her knees. My camera wasn't quite fast enough to capture her all the way up there. Maybe mama needs a new camera. lol.

I hope you enjoy seeing her learn and grow. 

Just a Fun Day Off

My parents gave us one of their old end tables yesterday, so I decided to put all of B's books under it. I was doing around in the kitchen, and it was quiet in the living room. And anyone who has a toddler knows that "quiet" is usually not good. But she was being good, very good at that. She had pulled up her rocking chair and was sitting at the table with her books. My cute little sweetie. She's an active little thing, but she's a good girl.

What an adorable little face.

She was pointing and saying "circle".

And then she was using her finger to trace the circles while saying "round...round".

Sometimes she just amazes me on the things that she picks up. Looks like all the repetitive book reading is paying off.

The weather yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, and it was a great evening to go to the park. She was so excited when we arrived that she ran down the sidewalk and right up to the playground. 

Bitty Baby had to slide to, with Daddy of course.

He's such a good Daddy.

"Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeese!"

Daddy and Baby enjoying the sunshine.

She started going down the toddler slide all by herself. Big Girl!

Then Daddy took her down the "big" slide.......

Look at all that static!

And then of course, she started climbing up the stairs and going down the big slide..........all by herself.

She wasn't so sure about the tunnel at first.

Down the big slide again.

We had a great day together, family fun, garden time, great meal all with the loves of my life.

Bitty Baby's Dedication

You might ask, "What is a Baby Dedication?" Well a Baby Dedication is a Christian Church ceremony in which the parents of the child, along with other family members (and in our case, the whole congregation) confess and promise to raise the child in the ways that the Bible instructs us. This is something that my husband and I feel passionately about. And this occasion was even more special. Right at 2 years ago we found a great church, and what I mean by a great church is the people and the pastor. I was in my 2nd trimester with B, and the church took us in with open arms. So of course we had our Pastor dedicate her when she was just 8 days old. 

This time around it was a bit different; it was bittersweet. You see, this was our Pastor's last week at this congregation. There were 3 times the amount of people there than on a usual Sunday, and everyone gave him such a sweet farewell. So at the closing of his special service, he, along with all of us, dedicated Bitty Baby to the Lord. I wanted to bawl my eyes out just thinking that he was doing this out of faith and he wouldn't physically be there to watch her grow. Thank God for Facebook, and this Blog. We'll be able to stay connected.

Psalm 139:13 (NLT)

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.

When we first went up front

First was our part of the commitment

Then was the Family's part of the commitment

And then the whole congregation. 

Afterwards, there was a dinner to honor our Pastors and their family. I got to sneak a few pictures of the girls playing together one last time. 

Ok, enough tears shed already this morning. Thank you Pastor for everything that you have done for us, and not only for us personally , but for our community. You have opened doors here that no one has done before. I look forward to seeing what God is going to do through our new pastor. 

Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."

Count Your Blessings

This topic has been weighing on my mind for the past few days. I've actually put off writing about it four different times, but the subject keeps coming back to my mind. 

With the current government furlough in effect, I've found myself getting discouraged and almost depressed. Bills are coming in and and we don't have the money to pay them. We are now unable to pay for my daughter's gymnastics, and the phone/internet/cable got tuned off this morning. For a short time, I thought we might have to send smoke signals to our friends and family in order to communicate. But thanks to my family, who came to the rescue and payed our bill. It would not have been safe to be at home with four children and no phone. So God has laid it on my heart to count my blessings. I have so many things to be happy about, that all this other junk is beneath my feet.

These are some of the things that I consider a blessing:

My hard working husband.

Our family is healthy.

My parents.

A great Church family.

A Christian education.

A flourishing garden.

Our children.

A baby who makes me smile.

A toddler who makes me laugh.

A daughter who is always willing to lend a helping hand.

A son who is always in tune to when I need a hug.

I am blessed that even though we have a furlough, that my husband still has a job.

I am able to stay home to be our children's main caregiver.

Family, that even though they may not be physically close, maintain a great relationship from afar.

Two running vehicles.

A house that we are super cozy in.

.........and the list could go on and on.

Psalm 30:5

.......sorrow may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

I've needed to lift my chin and look to him, instead of my circumstances. I hope this may help someone else, who may be going through a similar situation.

God Bless.

The Way of Love

1 Corinthians 13

I just love this passage in the Message Bible.

The Way of Love

13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but don't have love, I'm nothing.
3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than itself.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut.
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others, 
Isn't always "me first."
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, 
Doesn't ravel when others grovel, 
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything, 
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back, 
But keeps going to the end.

8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. 
11 When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. 12 We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 
13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.


I hope that this passage speaks to you in a positive way, like it did me. God bless and good night.

The good ol' days

Sometimes, and it seems like it has been more frequently, I have inserted my foot in my mouth. Maybe it's part of growing up, maybe it's from being at home with small children...IDK. But this is my last post on here talking about my feelings. Apparently I hurt some people close to me, and did not mean to. I ask for their forgiveness.

Back in the good ol' days I kept a hardback written journal. I wrote in it every night. I wrote about my troubles, sorrows, adventures, new loves, my ambitions.....etc. And I think it's time to bring it back out. That way those feelings are between me, God, and a hardback. I still plan to post recipes, pictures of the kids, and my crafting adventures, but I won't be talking about my feelings, nor myself. Those who would like to know that side of me can call and talk to me, because friends talk with other friends personally about their feelings, whether they are good or bad. Sorry if this puts a damper on your reading, but I no longer want to put others in the middle or hurt the ones I love. 

I look forward to posting about my other adventures. Hope you understand.

What a fun day in the sun!

This summer we, and what I mean by "we" is me and our four kids, have been going to our local library for their Summer Reading Program. We started off pretty passionate about reading everyday, until our garden came in. So instead of our daily visit to the library, I was canning jams and pickles. Even though the two little ones cannot read yet, they have a program that allows them to be listeners. We totaled today with 146 books over a 6 week period. But we really only participated in 4 weeks of it. My older kiddos made it to about 50 chapters, which I think is pretty good, since they were only reading and participating every other week........even with cheerleading on top of that. 

Today was the party in celebration of all those who participated in the Summer Reading Program. They all had a blast, except for when Bitty Baby woke up and got hot. We started off with Pizza, then ice cream sandwiches, water sprinkler, and face painting. None of our kiddos won any of the Grand Prizes, but at least it made them read over the summer. They are much better off for it. My son was a helper, along with 3 other teens. He was in charge of filling cups and handing out sodas. He told me that it made him feel great to help out the people in the community. As a mom, I was so proud to hear him say that. 

So here's quite a few pics of our party. Such fun!

She was shocked that I let her hold her ice cream sandwich.

Bitty Baby enjoying the shade.

She wanted to get in the sprinkler so bad.

She and Big Sister just watched from afar.

She got brave and got a tad bit closer.

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Yay, she got sprinkled...........that's enough.

Big Brother helping out with the drinks.

My handsome boy.

Ride 'em Cowgirl!

Book after book, she took them to the bean bag and read them out loud to us in her language.

"Hi Bubba!"

She was saying, "Cow, Cow, Cow,  Pig........oh cow cow". 

B reading to her Big Sister

Bitty Baby has now joined us in all the fun.

Miss Virginia is all geared up to be pegged with water balloons from all the kids. Such a good sport.

B getting a pink flower painted on her cheek. I can't believe how still she sat. She had a great time.

Now that the party is over, she is still asleep 2 and a half hours later. We wore her out. lol. Next we will probably go swimming for a bit. My older kiddos have begged me all morning. 

Well, Happy Weekend to all my Blogger Buddies! Stay safe and God Bless!