God has called our family to grow,
By 2? By 4? By more?
We don't know!
We are excited to share....
We are going to be parents (again)
But this time through foster care!
This is somewhat of a long story so I am going to try to keep it short and sweet! Before Andrew and I got married, we talked about what we wanted out of life. We both said that someday we would like to adopt. Well, in September of 2011, we went to a kickoff for The Forgotten Initiative. There were life changing testimonies that day and we both left speechless. As we drove away we said, we will do foster care.....some day. I know I have mentioned this before and I always thought that we would wait until our kids were older, but in December I felt a lot of emptiness in my life. I prayed and prayed for God to reveal what I was lacking and what He wanted for my life. Immediately I got an answer, "be a mom". (If you have ever had God speak directly to you, it is powerful! You know it's Him!) So my thought was God really come on, I am a mom. Then I read Isaiah 1:17 " Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." And immediately I broke down....I don't want to do this, I know the hurt that this could bring into my life, to Andrew's life and to our children's lives, I am comfortable being a mom to our 2 amazing kids and I don't want to put a wrench in it. (I know what you are thinking, Carlee you are the most selfish person! You're right I am completely selfish and so ashamed!) So I continued to pray. AND EVERY NIGHT I was up until 3 or 4 researching foster care. How to prepare yourself and your family, and how to deal with a loss. I was completely obsessed so finally on January 20th, I asked Andrew to pray about it too. At this point I still wasn't sure where it was headed, but I needed him to to be behind me 100%. I know it's going to be extremely hard and I need his backing. I know I am going to be selfish at times I know there are going to be days that I don't want to do it, I know there are going to be days that I call him needing him home because I can't handle it. I know those days are coming and I need him to know that I will be a basket case at times :) If I could only count the number of times I have cried over this already. I have great fear. Much greater than becoming a mom for the first time. This time I have little hearts to protect!!
So I started calling agencies in early February and none of them were calling me back. I thought okay, maybe God was just saying "Carlee you have to learn to trust me, when I ask you to step out, will you?" So it started fading from my mind. I thought the time just wasn't right (which I totally agreed with)! But then what do you know, I started obsessing once again and this time getting excited about it. Every night I was up until 3 or 4 researching the same things all over again, but this time in my search, I kept coming back to a specific agency that some friends of ours from church adopted through multiple times, so that day (a Friday) I called them and to my surprise, she was in her office and talked to me right then. She sent a package immediately and told me that most applicants end there and don't continue....so to read through everything and if we were still interested to call her back. We got the papers on Monday and I had them filled out....... Monday. But my dear, sweet, loves to procrastinate hubby did not have his filled out....I waited all week, mentioning it a few times, but still nothing. So I called the agency back and told them we wanted to move forward...that would give him a deadline, he works better with a deadline. ;) So I scheduled our home study for Friday, March 8th! Yes, the papers did get completed before the visit, but just in the nick of time ;) So we had our home study on Friday, it went great and it's a go. We could technically take up to 4 kids! Which is overwhelming to say the least. But we will cross that bridge when it comes, just a lot of prayers until then! :) So we are signed up for PRIDE classes starting April 1! Which means we won't even be licensed until June at the earliest. This gives us some time! There are a lot of things we need to do in preparation. We will be looking for a new car....which totally makes me sad, we just got an Edge last year and we both love it so much, again that's my selfishness talking! But through all of this I am beyond excited now! We get to share our home, our love for God, our awesome marriage and our wonderful kids with only a very small portion of the 16,000 children in Illinois foster care! Don't get me wrong, I am utterly terrified but God overwhelms me with peace and assurance.
We know that not everyone supports what we are doing, and honestly that's why we didn't let many people know until we were signed up for classes. On our application we had to write our spouse's biggest flaw...Andrew said that mine was that I let people's thoughtless comments hurt me, and although it is not my biggest, he nailed it, I have a very tender heart and it hurts to not have support from all the people we love, but God gave His son for me, He gave the ultimate, most perfect sacrifice, and I will live my life with gratitude TO HIM. Some of my favorite song lyrics by Chris Tomlin...."Where You go, I'll go, Where You stay, I'll stay, When You move, I'll move, I will follow..." This has been a great test for me, I am so thankful for my nights spent with God, just me and Him figuring this whole thing out.
Some questions we have already gotten:
- Boys or girls? EITHER!
- Ages? 0-6
- How often are the PRIDE classes? Every Monday night in Champaign 6-9pm for 9 weeks, we are blessed to have an amazing sister that has committed to watching our kids! We love you are are so thankful for you Jess!
- How many children will we take at a time? Uhh, we don't know! Right we would say 1 unless it is a sibling group, but God has it already worked out, so we are going to sit back and 'enjoy' the ride.
- Do we plan to adopt? Ultimately, someday, yes! BUT I strongly believe that in MOST cases the bio families are best. So we hope that we are the stepping stone they need to get help and truly change their lives (depending on the situation) to make a wonderful, loving home for their children. If the option of adoption arises, we have open arms, and are so excited to see if any of the children we care for will be in our forever family!
On a side note: I specifically have a heart for medically complex children. Although I am a little more hesitate right now, with our kids' ages we do plan on having that as an option. We will take the extra certifications to be prepared if that were to come to us. This can be anything from drug baby, to shaken baby, cerebral palsy, Down's Syndrome. (This is a specific prayer request right now as I prepare to fill out that paperwork, to what extent are we open to taking at this point.) We still have a lot of paperwork to get copied and turn in along with physicals, but now I can relax, just a little, that we are signed up for the classes. I was very anxious to get them completed before Andrew gets swamped at work this summer!
We do have a lot of needs so if you know of or hear of any of these things for sale, please let me know!
Twin Bunk beds
Twin mattresses
Crib/Toddler bed and mattress
a vehicle with a third bench....or do I say it....a van?
These are the biggest items for the time being that we are looking at and I am researching :) For those of you who don't know me I research EVERYTHING from phone cases to cars. I do not buy until I have researched! haha In fact I started researching convertible car seats when Brynlee was only 4 months old and she didn't even ride in one until she was 15 months. But I am 150% satisfied with our purchase! :)
Prayers please! :)
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Few pictures from the end of 2012!
Yes this is fingernail polish! And this happened as we were leaving to go get Boston's 6 month pictures taken! Yes we got it out and this is only ONE of the reasons why I LOVE pinterest!
Way late but pics from October!
Yes I am still OBSESSED with cloth diapers!
We made lots of goodies in December! And take a good look at our lovely yellow floor...one day it will be gone! :)
Our Elf Eddie was so sweet to Brynlee and did lots of decorating for her birthday!
I love to blog, so what happened?
I wrote this 2/14 and thought I published it! Oops!
First of all I know I was never a great blogger, I would go 3 or 4 weeks with an update the majority of the time but getting on here and writing was my out! It's how I would vent, get a lot off my chest and get a half hour of quiet time....so what happened? BOSTON! :) maybe not him exactly, but having 2 kids!!! I miss my time on here, but now when Boston naps Brynlee gets 100% of me! Games, play doh, coloring, baking, whatever she wants to do(within reason); I do it! Last year she didn't have to share me AND the cabin fever is getting pretty bad! So now that its 1am and I have my "me" time I am going to travel back in time to catch up!
The last time I wrote about the kids was September!
I'll start with Boston! At that time he was 5 months old! He weighed 14lbs 14oz! I was so excited that he was my "chunky" baby; I always wanted a fat baby!! Well at his 6 month appt in October he weighed 15lbs 1oz! Only a 3 oz gain! He was having a lot of loose stools at that time so we started
cereal! He was eating like a pig: I would still get so full that I was still pumping 2 or 3 times a day (I know I mentioned this before but my supply was tremendous this time around! For the first month-6weeks I put 35-40oz a day in the freezer!! Woohoo!) so...his loose stools continued so I switched him to oatmeal cereal instead of rice and went dairy free in my diet! It was hard...it was SO hard! Dairy is in EVERYTHING! I did it for 6 weeks and he didn't have any changes; still loose stools so I started eating dairy again and started him on veggies and he started having solid poo!! I don't understand it, but Yay! He still wasn't gaining much... At 7 months he weighed 15lbs 4oz; 8 months: 15lbs 6.5oz; 9 months: 16lbs 4oz and 10 months: 16lbs 13oz! Wow did you get that? my baby is 10 months!!! My "chunky" baby turned into a peanut just like Bryns! We did labs last month on him and everything looked fine but he is only in the 1.4%ile so if he doesn't get above the 2nd %tile by 11 months she wants to do more labs and other tests! I am confident that the underlying cause is that he is ALL Gerber! But I switched to bottles this week so I can journal exactly what he was taking! Now, despite clogged ducts, multiple bouts of mastitis, and the most awful pain of all, a yeast infection-- I am super thankful for the great milk supply! A friend came over a few weeks ago and asked for milk storage tips....I showed her our deep freeze and her month dropped. I had to stop pumping because we had no more room, but there was almost 3,000oz in there which will definitely get us past the 1 year mark!! He still has ZERO teeth and he is not quite as rambunctious as Bryn, I am pretty sure she was supposed to be a boy ;) he loves his Vtech walker which yes he is walking behind! It makes me crazy that i need to start thinking 'FIRST BIRTHDAY'! He is such a great little boy, well...except the past 2 days! I am praying for teeth because he is a complete fussy butt! And its time for another haircut...this will make #3! He has the best hair! It is so thick!
And Bryner bug! She is such a great big sis! She doesn't understand her strength or that her death grip hugs annoy Boston, but she is always trying to love on him! And what a great helper! She is always asking what she can do! Pre school screening is coming up...AHHH! Am I ready for this? It amazes me at how grown up she has become in the past 6 months. 2.5-3 is a BIG difference! She has the most amazing imagination! Reading books is definitely still her favorite thing to do along with playing "playdate"! The bathroom is her house and we go there for playdates! She shows us all around her "house"....the piano, the fish tank, the turtle tank, the reach high (which is the soap dish that she can't reach:)) She loves to play "spy colors, and spy shapes" in the car. It doesn't matter how long the car ride is or if it's pitch black we play spy something! Sometimes we butt heads because we are both super anal about really weird things, but its completely hysterical. She is all me! I have a weird thing about socks....and she totally has the same thing. She flips out if they aren't on just right! I can't help but laugh!
And my amazing hubby is wonderful! At the beginning of the year the service department at Lanz changed hours a little bit for call week: 11-8! We just experienced his first week on call since the hours changed and it was hard! It makes total since to have your hours be 8-8 but to do dinner, baths, and the bedtime routine with both kids all week was hard! I was so excited to get him home again! Luckily he is only on call every 6th week! For valentines day I wanted to do something special for him! We don't like to spend money on silly holidays so I wanted to write him letter telling him how proud I am to be his wife...well when I sat down to do it, I realized I didn't have much to say in a letter. I had tons of thoughts running through my head but I couldn't organize it into a letter! I talk to this man daily and tell him everything, and my "letter" seemed generic....so I decided to just write down all the reasons why I love him! It was so much fun! I was crying at times and laughing hysterically at others! 5 pages, 215 reasons later I called it quits after almost 3 hours of writing. If you have never done this, I encourage you to! It brought back so many memories from the last 10 years! This man is amazing! To this day I still can't believe that he chose me!
We have really had an uneventful winter, not much sickness, or anything out of the ordinary! I am so ready for warm weather! Mom and dad got the kids a sandbox....a massive sandbox which I am super excited about, a water table, and a basketball hoop for Christmas and they got Brynlee a new bike and we got her a power wheels for her birthday so I am ready to get outside!
Oh I am going to brag about my hubby one more time! Have you been following his Romans Study blog?! If not, you should! I am so proud of that man! God is definitely writing it through him, it is so precise, and well studied! And someone from New York is following it! How cool is that! God is so big! Glory to God for changing our hearts!
Thanks for sticking with me! One day I will get better at this :)
First of all I know I was never a great blogger, I would go 3 or 4 weeks with an update the majority of the time but getting on here and writing was my out! It's how I would vent, get a lot off my chest and get a half hour of quiet time....so what happened? BOSTON! :) maybe not him exactly, but having 2 kids!!! I miss my time on here, but now when Boston naps Brynlee gets 100% of me! Games, play doh, coloring, baking, whatever she wants to do(within reason); I do it! Last year she didn't have to share me AND the cabin fever is getting pretty bad! So now that its 1am and I have my "me" time I am going to travel back in time to catch up!
The last time I wrote about the kids was September!
I'll start with Boston! At that time he was 5 months old! He weighed 14lbs 14oz! I was so excited that he was my "chunky" baby; I always wanted a fat baby!! Well at his 6 month appt in October he weighed 15lbs 1oz! Only a 3 oz gain! He was having a lot of loose stools at that time so we started
cereal! He was eating like a pig: I would still get so full that I was still pumping 2 or 3 times a day (I know I mentioned this before but my supply was tremendous this time around! For the first month-6weeks I put 35-40oz a day in the freezer!! Woohoo!) so...his loose stools continued so I switched him to oatmeal cereal instead of rice and went dairy free in my diet! It was hard...it was SO hard! Dairy is in EVERYTHING! I did it for 6 weeks and he didn't have any changes; still loose stools so I started eating dairy again and started him on veggies and he started having solid poo!! I don't understand it, but Yay! He still wasn't gaining much... At 7 months he weighed 15lbs 4oz; 8 months: 15lbs 6.5oz; 9 months: 16lbs 4oz and 10 months: 16lbs 13oz! Wow did you get that? my baby is 10 months!!! My "chunky" baby turned into a peanut just like Bryns! We did labs last month on him and everything looked fine but he is only in the 1.4%ile so if he doesn't get above the 2nd %tile by 11 months she wants to do more labs and other tests! I am confident that the underlying cause is that he is ALL Gerber! But I switched to bottles this week so I can journal exactly what he was taking! Now, despite clogged ducts, multiple bouts of mastitis, and the most awful pain of all, a yeast infection-- I am super thankful for the great milk supply! A friend came over a few weeks ago and asked for milk storage tips....I showed her our deep freeze and her month dropped. I had to stop pumping because we had no more room, but there was almost 3,000oz in there which will definitely get us past the 1 year mark!! He still has ZERO teeth and he is not quite as rambunctious as Bryn, I am pretty sure she was supposed to be a boy ;) he loves his Vtech walker which yes he is walking behind! It makes me crazy that i need to start thinking 'FIRST BIRTHDAY'! He is such a great little boy, well...except the past 2 days! I am praying for teeth because he is a complete fussy butt! And its time for another haircut...this will make #3! He has the best hair! It is so thick!
And Bryner bug! She is such a great big sis! She doesn't understand her strength or that her death grip hugs annoy Boston, but she is always trying to love on him! And what a great helper! She is always asking what she can do! Pre school screening is coming up...AHHH! Am I ready for this? It amazes me at how grown up she has become in the past 6 months. 2.5-3 is a BIG difference! She has the most amazing imagination! Reading books is definitely still her favorite thing to do along with playing "playdate"! The bathroom is her house and we go there for playdates! She shows us all around her "house"....the piano, the fish tank, the turtle tank, the reach high (which is the soap dish that she can't reach:)) She loves to play "spy colors, and spy shapes" in the car. It doesn't matter how long the car ride is or if it's pitch black we play spy something! Sometimes we butt heads because we are both super anal about really weird things, but its completely hysterical. She is all me! I have a weird thing about socks....and she totally has the same thing. She flips out if they aren't on just right! I can't help but laugh!
And my amazing hubby is wonderful! At the beginning of the year the service department at Lanz changed hours a little bit for call week: 11-8! We just experienced his first week on call since the hours changed and it was hard! It makes total since to have your hours be 8-8 but to do dinner, baths, and the bedtime routine with both kids all week was hard! I was so excited to get him home again! Luckily he is only on call every 6th week! For valentines day I wanted to do something special for him! We don't like to spend money on silly holidays so I wanted to write him letter telling him how proud I am to be his wife...well when I sat down to do it, I realized I didn't have much to say in a letter. I had tons of thoughts running through my head but I couldn't organize it into a letter! I talk to this man daily and tell him everything, and my "letter" seemed generic....so I decided to just write down all the reasons why I love him! It was so much fun! I was crying at times and laughing hysterically at others! 5 pages, 215 reasons later I called it quits after almost 3 hours of writing. If you have never done this, I encourage you to! It brought back so many memories from the last 10 years! This man is amazing! To this day I still can't believe that he chose me!
We have really had an uneventful winter, not much sickness, or anything out of the ordinary! I am so ready for warm weather! Mom and dad got the kids a sandbox....a massive sandbox which I am super excited about, a water table, and a basketball hoop for Christmas and they got Brynlee a new bike and we got her a power wheels for her birthday so I am ready to get outside!
Oh I am going to brag about my hubby one more time! Have you been following his Romans Study blog?! If not, you should! I am so proud of that man! God is definitely writing it through him, it is so precise, and well studied! And someone from New York is following it! How cool is that! God is so big! Glory to God for changing our hearts!
Thanks for sticking with me! One day I will get better at this :)
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
So many changes, so little time!
So many things are changing in the Gerber home! First off, Boston started to crawl on Dec 7th! He was a late crawler--compared to Bryn and within a week he was pulling himself up to anything that he can...the stairs, tub, fireplace...the couch is too tall! ;) I realized he could do this after walking into his room and he was standing in his crib (that was still on the highest setting) and leaning over the edge...that could have been good!! He turned 8 months on Dec 11th! He weighed 15 lbs 6.5oz! Still a small fry, and completely laid back! He eats like a pig! Veggies, fruits, table food....you name it he figures out how to eat it with NO TEETH! It is time for haircut #2! I didn't even realize how long it was until Grandma teased she was going to trim his bangs when she kept him a night! Opps!
Bryner Bug turned the BIG 3 on Dec 21st! I can't even describe how much fun this year was! She is just an amazing little girl and I am a better person for having her in my life! She can change my mood with the flutter of an eyelash! We did Elf on the Shelf but we don't do the whole Santa thing so that was a little tricky on how to change the whole Elf thing. Our reason for this is what happens when she finds out Santa isn't real? How could we ever expect her to believe in God? And we want to teach our children the TRUTH about Christmas...it is the day we celebrate the BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST! We have really seen how much society has changed what Christmas is. It is about celebrating Christ and giving like He gives. Not to people that can afford it but to those who have nothing. We have made it our goal this year to completely cut back on gifts. We don't except anything because whatever we need God will provide, but we also want to focus on teaching our children that Christmas is not about them at all, nor gifts! With all that being said, we prayed and prayed for a family in need, not in need of just gifts, but someone needing to see Christ's love! After months of prayer, a family was brought to us for prayer. The father lost his job in October, living on only $800 a month from unemployment, the mother is unable to work due to health reasons. They have 3 children one of which also has a health condition. AND on top of that they were taking in 2 children to get them out of an abusive situation. They said money has always been tight and they haven't had a "Christmas" in 4 years! We later found out it was going to take $3500 dollars to get them up to date on bills through January! We were pretty sure we weren't going to reach that goal, but we would do everything we could. 2 other families from church were also praying about who to help this holiday season so we rallied together and with the help of many of you, we were able to raise $3,800!!!! WOW Christ is good! We were astonished at the total! We had cashiers checks made for the utilities so all the money went to essentials! Now we are attempting to give on a monthly basis. We has numerous people say they would like to do something not only at Christmas but throughout the year as well so we are going to continue to help this family get back on their feet. This is what could open their eyes to Christ! If anyone is interested in giving to help this family let Andrew or me know! Sorry for my tangent! I just get SO excited to see how AWESOME GOD IS!
Back to Bryn--The other day she was talking about Santa and I said "you remember that Santa isn't real, right?" her response..."Mom, yes he is, I saw him" HAHA gotta love the mall! So I went on to tell that mommy and daddy got her the presents for Jesus birthday and she said "ohhh Jesus is Santa!!" I stopped there...maybe next year!
We didn't get to go to our extended family Christmases this year. Andrew was on call Christmas week so it was a bummer, but lucky for us he only got called out once on Christmas day and we got to spend most of the day with him!
We spent New Years Eve with the people that make each year better, OUR KIDS! Wouldn't have wanted it any other way! We also had my side Christmas New Years Day! So we ended up going up to Mom and Dads for New Years Eve to spend the night and they had Madie and Mason...it made New Years Day long with grumpy kids, but always fun!
Brief update but all I can do for now! Hopefully I will get pictures up soon! Happy 2013!
Bryner Bug turned the BIG 3 on Dec 21st! I can't even describe how much fun this year was! She is just an amazing little girl and I am a better person for having her in my life! She can change my mood with the flutter of an eyelash! We did Elf on the Shelf but we don't do the whole Santa thing so that was a little tricky on how to change the whole Elf thing. Our reason for this is what happens when she finds out Santa isn't real? How could we ever expect her to believe in God? And we want to teach our children the TRUTH about Christmas...it is the day we celebrate the BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST! We have really seen how much society has changed what Christmas is. It is about celebrating Christ and giving like He gives. Not to people that can afford it but to those who have nothing. We have made it our goal this year to completely cut back on gifts. We don't except anything because whatever we need God will provide, but we also want to focus on teaching our children that Christmas is not about them at all, nor gifts! With all that being said, we prayed and prayed for a family in need, not in need of just gifts, but someone needing to see Christ's love! After months of prayer, a family was brought to us for prayer. The father lost his job in October, living on only $800 a month from unemployment, the mother is unable to work due to health reasons. They have 3 children one of which also has a health condition. AND on top of that they were taking in 2 children to get them out of an abusive situation. They said money has always been tight and they haven't had a "Christmas" in 4 years! We later found out it was going to take $3500 dollars to get them up to date on bills through January! We were pretty sure we weren't going to reach that goal, but we would do everything we could. 2 other families from church were also praying about who to help this holiday season so we rallied together and with the help of many of you, we were able to raise $3,800!!!! WOW Christ is good! We were astonished at the total! We had cashiers checks made for the utilities so all the money went to essentials! Now we are attempting to give on a monthly basis. We has numerous people say they would like to do something not only at Christmas but throughout the year as well so we are going to continue to help this family get back on their feet. This is what could open their eyes to Christ! If anyone is interested in giving to help this family let Andrew or me know! Sorry for my tangent! I just get SO excited to see how AWESOME GOD IS!
Back to Bryn--The other day she was talking about Santa and I said "you remember that Santa isn't real, right?" her response..."Mom, yes he is, I saw him" HAHA gotta love the mall! So I went on to tell that mommy and daddy got her the presents for Jesus birthday and she said "ohhh Jesus is Santa!!" I stopped there...maybe next year!
We didn't get to go to our extended family Christmases this year. Andrew was on call Christmas week so it was a bummer, but lucky for us he only got called out once on Christmas day and we got to spend most of the day with him!
We spent New Years Eve with the people that make each year better, OUR KIDS! Wouldn't have wanted it any other way! We also had my side Christmas New Years Day! So we ended up going up to Mom and Dads for New Years Eve to spend the night and they had Madie and Mason...it made New Years Day long with grumpy kids, but always fun!
Brief update but all I can do for now! Hopefully I will get pictures up soon! Happy 2013!
Finishing up My Month of Thanks---from November! Opps!
First off....WOW I apologize for the the 8 week break! I am first going to start by finishing my month of Thanks for November!
Day 8 I am thankful for health! It was 2 years ago today mom had brain surgery and 11 months ago I had a biopsy on what they thought was lymphoma! So today I am extremely thankful for health and that the majority of my family and friends are HEALTHY!
Day 9: Thankful, thankful, thankful for the 2 pests I call brothers! ;) Trevin and Tanner! I love you so much and don't know what I would do without you! You have been there for me through EVERYTHING and truly are two of the best friends I could ever ask for! ♥
Day 10: Thankful for our small group! Can't wait to spend the evening with you! And our church family! We feel so "at home" in Lexington and couldn't dream of a better church! We are so lucky that God have brought us there! We love you all and we thank you all for being such a big part of our lives in such a short time!
Day 11: Thank you Veterans and all the service men and women for sacrificing and fighting for the freedoms that we have! You are amazing!
Day 12: I am thankful for Andrew's career! As much as I wish he was home right now, I am so grateful that he has the desire to provide for our family. His hard work has allowed me to be home with our kids everyday.....to hug them, kiss them and squeeze them anytime I want, EVERYDAY!
Day 13: Thankful for our house! Out of the blue, God clearly set it in front of us and made it our home!
Day 14: So thankful for conviction! It hurts to the extreme when you realize your sin and your pride gets smashed but the end result is a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father! Thank You Lord for breaking me to bring me back so many times!
Day 15: today I am thankful Boston isn't crawling yet! Brynlee was already walking along furniture by his age! Him not crawling yet makes me feel like I still have a baby!
Day 16: I am thankful for Curious George, PBS, and DVR! And I apologize to my poor daughter for not giving her more attention today!!! (this is the day I was puking and still attempting to be a mom)
Day 17: Thankful for some quiet time! SO VERY thankful for quiet time!
Day 18: So so thankful for all of our amazing friends! Thank you for a great night!
Day 19: Thankful for all of my amazing nieces and 1 nephew! You are all so much fun and I love you all dearly!!
Day 20: Thankful for my job! Even though I'm not there often I love a little adult conversation and feeling free from my responsibilities at home for a little while! So lucky to have such wonderful co-workers that I look forward to seeing!
Day 21: Thankful for the little things! All the kisses, hugs, smiles, cute comments from my babies!
Day 22: Thankful for family time! Steidinger's, Gerber's and Fehr's thanksgivings! Busy weekend full of family!
Day 23: Thankful for LOVE! My parents celebrate their 28th anniversary today! I have been blessed to have amazing parents that have continued to fight for their love even when times were tough! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! Love you!
Day 24: Thankful for the helping hands of family! Thank you Aunt Joni for keeping our kids today!!! We are so grateful!
Day 25: Thankful for my sis in laws! I always wanted a sister so I am extremely grateful that through marriage I get some! Rochelle you are more like a sister than a sis-in-law and I can't thank you enough for ALWAYS being there!
Day 26: Thankful for a quiet day at home! After a super crazy weekend I am so thankful to be in sweats all day!
Day 27: Thankful for my grandparents! They are so much fun and I am so lucky to have the ones I do! Happy 81st birthday Grandpa!
Day 28: Thankful to have finished BLS! One more thing to check off my to do list! And for Grandma coming down to watch the kids! Always a huge help!
Day 29: Thankful for my AMAZING friends with kids that I can get advice from and enjoy spending a day with! Thanks girls for a great day!
Day 30: On the last day I am thankful for this life! For everything and everyone God has placed in my life...For all the numerous things I will think about in the weeks to come! To all of my family and friends: thank you for being you and loving me for me! My life would not be the same without you!
Day 8 I am thankful for health! It was 2 years ago today mom had brain surgery and 11 months ago I had a biopsy on what they thought was lymphoma! So today I am extremely thankful for health and that the majority of my family and friends are HEALTHY!
Day 9: Thankful, thankful, thankful for the 2 pests I call brothers! ;) Trevin and Tanner! I love you so much and don't know what I would do without you! You have been there for me through EVERYTHING and truly are two of the best friends I could ever ask for! ♥
Day 10: Thankful for our small group! Can't wait to spend the evening with you! And our church family! We feel so "at home" in Lexington and couldn't dream of a better church! We are so lucky that God have brought us there! We love you all and we thank you all for being such a big part of our lives in such a short time!
Day 11: Thank you Veterans and all the service men and women for sacrificing and fighting for the freedoms that we have! You are amazing!
Day 12: I am thankful for Andrew's career! As much as I wish he was home right now, I am so grateful that he has the desire to provide for our family. His hard work has allowed me to be home with our kids everyday.....to hug them, kiss them and squeeze them anytime I want, EVERYDAY!
Day 13: Thankful for our house! Out of the blue, God clearly set it in front of us and made it our home!
Day 14: So thankful for conviction! It hurts to the extreme when you realize your sin and your pride gets smashed but the end result is a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father! Thank You Lord for breaking me to bring me back so many times!
Day 15: today I am thankful Boston isn't crawling yet! Brynlee was already walking along furniture by his age! Him not crawling yet makes me feel like I still have a baby!
Day 16: I am thankful for Curious George, PBS, and DVR! And I apologize to my poor daughter for not giving her more attention today!!! (this is the day I was puking and still attempting to be a mom)
Day 17: Thankful for some quiet time! SO VERY thankful for quiet time!
Day 18: So so thankful for all of our amazing friends! Thank you for a great night!
Day 19: Thankful for all of my amazing nieces and 1 nephew! You are all so much fun and I love you all dearly!!
Day 20: Thankful for my job! Even though I'm not there often I love a little adult conversation and feeling free from my responsibilities at home for a little while! So lucky to have such wonderful co-workers that I look forward to seeing!
Day 21: Thankful for the little things! All the kisses, hugs, smiles, cute comments from my babies!
Day 22: Thankful for family time! Steidinger's, Gerber's and Fehr's thanksgivings! Busy weekend full of family!
Day 23: Thankful for LOVE! My parents celebrate their 28th anniversary today! I have been blessed to have amazing parents that have continued to fight for their love even when times were tough! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! Love you!
Day 24: Thankful for the helping hands of family! Thank you Aunt Joni for keeping our kids today!!! We are so grateful!
Day 25: Thankful for my sis in laws! I always wanted a sister so I am extremely grateful that through marriage I get some! Rochelle you are more like a sister than a sis-in-law and I can't thank you enough for ALWAYS being there!
Day 26: Thankful for a quiet day at home! After a super crazy weekend I am so thankful to be in sweats all day!
Day 27: Thankful for my grandparents! They are so much fun and I am so lucky to have the ones I do! Happy 81st birthday Grandpa!
Day 28: Thankful to have finished BLS! One more thing to check off my to do list! And for Grandma coming down to watch the kids! Always a huge help!
Day 29: Thankful for my AMAZING friends with kids that I can get advice from and enjoy spending a day with! Thanks girls for a great day!
Day 30: On the last day I am thankful for this life! For everything and everyone God has placed in my life...For all the numerous things I will think about in the weeks to come! To all of my family and friends: thank you for being you and loving me for me! My life would not be the same without you!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
30 Days of Giving Thanks
The "theme" for November is "30 Days of Giving Thanks" I have decided to dedicate this month to just that. Truly giving THANKS! I am SO thankful each and everyday so this gives me a chance to truly reflect on what I am thankful for. And with that, take time to pray for the person, or thing which I am thankful. It's easy to say "I couldn't mention all the things I'm thankful for in 30 days" BUT...
[Sidenote: I am going to be transparent here so please don't judge or think less of me! ;)]
....can you? Are there more than 30 things that you TRULY praise God for?
At first I said that..."I am thankful everyday"....and then I was convicted....do I give the appropriate thanks to God daily? The truth is I could never be thankful enough! So, for now, I am praying each day that God will reveal all the AMAZING people and things in my life, I know I won't cover EVERYTHING He has blessed me with, but this is a start! It also never hurts to let someone know how truly grateful you are for them! So I challenge you to do the same, take time and reflect on your blessings! I am doing it publically to hold myself accountable.
11.1 First I am ultimately thankful for Jesus Christ for the birth and death of our loving Lord! It is because of Him that I LIVE!
11.2 I a- so so thankful for the perfect help mate Christ has given me, my hubby! Christ made him for me and I couldn't ask for anything more! I am so blessed to be able to share my life with such an amazing friend, hubby and father!
11.3 I am extremely thankful for my amazing kids....but they each deserve a day of their own so today I am thankful for my Bryner Bug! She can be rotten, crazy, and oh so sweet! She is me to a T (which is SO scary...yes her socks have a correct foot) She is such an amazing big sis with a totally spunky attitude and did I mention adorable?! I love you so much Brynlee Drew!
11.4 I am so grateful for my little momma's boy, Boston Alec! He is the sweetest, cutest, most lovable little guy! Every smile just melts my heart! I love you more than you know Bosser Boo!
11.5 Today I am thankful for my momma! 2 years ago tomorrow she was airlifted to St. Francis for a ruptured brain aneurysm! We didn't think we would still have her today and I am so so thankful we do! I still talk to her almost everyday...she is always there no matter what, full of love and support! Love you so much mom! Can't imagine what these last 2 years would have been without you!
11.6 I am very thankful for my dad! He is a rock! He has gone through so much from losing his mom at the age of 10 to going back to school as an adult to provide for his family. Through all of his hardship he knew that God is the one that went through the most devastating catastrophe imaginable by watching His son be brutally crucified! ........2 years ago in that hospital Dad didn't leave moms side for a week! Not until he knew she would be okay did he finally go home for a short time before he was right back! Love you Dad thank you for being so strong!
11.7 Today I am thankful for my mother and father-in-law. I can't even begin to count the times they have helped us with the kids. Marcia has always been willing to come bail me out when I had my countless dr. appointments! And Alan....Boston gave Grandpa a HUGE "gift" a couple weeks ago when he watched them. A cloth diaper full of poo! I NEVER would have expected him to clean it but he's an overachiever! :) Also, thank you for Andrew, he is more than I ever could have dreamed of in a husband and father for my kids. So for all of this and so much more, I am thankful!
One more sidenote! Andrew is doing a bible study through a blog. After much prayer and even hesitation God led him to Romans. It is open to questions and comments! If you wish to follow it, click Romans Study
[Sidenote: I am going to be transparent here so please don't judge or think less of me! ;)]
....can you? Are there more than 30 things that you TRULY praise God for?
At first I said that..."I am thankful everyday"....and then I was convicted....do I give the appropriate thanks to God daily? The truth is I could never be thankful enough! So, for now, I am praying each day that God will reveal all the AMAZING people and things in my life, I know I won't cover EVERYTHING He has blessed me with, but this is a start! It also never hurts to let someone know how truly grateful you are for them! So I challenge you to do the same, take time and reflect on your blessings! I am doing it publically to hold myself accountable.
11.1 First I am ultimately thankful for Jesus Christ for the birth and death of our loving Lord! It is because of Him that I LIVE!
11.2 I a- so so thankful for the perfect help mate Christ has given me, my hubby! Christ made him for me and I couldn't ask for anything more! I am so blessed to be able to share my life with such an amazing friend, hubby and father!
11.3 I am extremely thankful for my amazing kids....but they each deserve a day of their own so today I am thankful for my Bryner Bug! She can be rotten, crazy, and oh so sweet! She is me to a T (which is SO scary...yes her socks have a correct foot) She is such an amazing big sis with a totally spunky attitude and did I mention adorable?! I love you so much Brynlee Drew!
11.4 I am so grateful for my little momma's boy, Boston Alec! He is the sweetest, cutest, most lovable little guy! Every smile just melts my heart! I love you more than you know Bosser Boo!
11.5 Today I am thankful for my momma! 2 years ago tomorrow she was airlifted to St. Francis for a ruptured brain aneurysm! We didn't think we would still have her today and I am so so thankful we do! I still talk to her almost everyday...she is always there no matter what, full of love and support! Love you so much mom! Can't imagine what these last 2 years would have been without you!
11.6 I am very thankful for my dad! He is a rock! He has gone through so much from losing his mom at the age of 10 to going back to school as an adult to provide for his family. Through all of his hardship he knew that God is the one that went through the most devastating catastrophe imaginable by watching His son be brutally crucified! ........2 years ago in that hospital Dad didn't leave moms side for a week! Not until he knew she would be okay did he finally go home for a short time before he was right back! Love you Dad thank you for being so strong!
11.7 Today I am thankful for my mother and father-in-law. I can't even begin to count the times they have helped us with the kids. Marcia has always been willing to come bail me out when I had my countless dr. appointments! And Alan....Boston gave Grandpa a HUGE "gift" a couple weeks ago when he watched them. A cloth diaper full of poo! I NEVER would have expected him to clean it but he's an overachiever! :) Also, thank you for Andrew, he is more than I ever could have dreamed of in a husband and father for my kids. So for all of this and so much more, I am thankful!
One more sidenote! Andrew is doing a bible study through a blog. After much prayer and even hesitation God led him to Romans. It is open to questions and comments! If you wish to follow it, click Romans Study
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
I have an ADDICTION
Hi, my name is Carlee, and I am addicted to cloth diapering. Ya, ya, ya this may be extremely strange to most of you, but I absolutely LOVE it and when the kids and Andrew fall asleep, I get online to search for deals....because lets be honest, to get a stash started isn't cheap! I have done research....extensive research (like probably read every review online) on cloth diapering for 7 months and I finally took the plunge because we were on our last box of "gift" diapers. And to be honest I wish I would have with Brynlee. I absolutely LOVE them. A friend of mine does it and let me use some of her diapers to see if I wanted to do it and after a day I fell in love! They are so cute, soft, one size fits 8-35lbs, they clean nice, don't smell, and in 2 years you will save $1500, PLUS there is a whole world to buying, selling, and trading cloth diapers SO if you sell them when you are done, it could be closer to $2000 savings in just 2 years, and if you do it for more than one kid....do I even need to go there!? BUT the reason I love them most.....they contain Boston's poop explosions! I was changing his outfit and bathing him at least once a day because poop was up to his neck and down to his toes. Since I started cloth diapering, I have NOT had ANY issues!! WHOO HOO! I was looking at ordering a diaper sprayer, yes so I could spray the poo into the toilet, but they were around $60...so we decided to make it a DIY project and it cost us $21! I will get pictures up soon...but here are a few of my fluffy butt last week!
This is one of the last pics before Bos got his FIRST haircut! :(
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