Christmas 2012

      The past few months have been full of joy, excitement, frustration, fear, and I have had to repeat the phrase "Let go and Let God" multiple times!

      Christmas started out with unexpected early morning wake up call from my sister telling me that something had happened to Dad and he was on the way to the hospital.  I of course said, "I'm on my way."  My dad called and said, "Don't come, I'm fine!" But then he was admitted to the hospital, so I came anyway.  I had originally planned to use that day to wrap Christmas presents as I had procrastinated and not wrapped a single one up to that point (shocker).  So, we threw unwrapped presents, loose clothes, and any other miscellaneous things we thought we might need and headed down early to SS.  I was so thankful to hug my Daddy's neck!  As it turns out, whatever kind of episode he had, the doctors believe to be a one time event, praise the Lord!

     The next few days were spent with Colby's family, but unfortunately we had to leave his Mom's house early and miss Christmas breakfast because Baylor had developed a fever and it was starting to get high and hard to control.  So Christmas Eve morning we took her to a doctor in SS who confirmed that she did indeed have the flu.  What.a.bummer.  Thankfully our good friends at Cody Drug were able to get her the medicine she needed BEFORE everyone closed down. Another praise!  And another blessing of living or coming from a small town. There is a true sense of community.  Here is a pic of Baylor that day with my dad. So very thankful for these two!

   If you were in SS, then you know the next day (Christmas Day) there was an early morning rain storm that turned into a snowstorm.  I couldn't deny a 2 year old the magic of snow, so we did let Baylor go out for about 2 minutes to feel the snow and throw it.  She loved it and REALLY wanted
to go back out, but I told her no...multiple times.  When she asked again I said, "What did
mommy say?"  And Baylor's response was, "Mommy said throw more snowballs!"  She's very hard
not to laugh at!

     Since Christmas we have started the journey of potty training....it has been a rough one!  I tried earlier in the year to potty train and quit because it was just frustrating (to put it nicely).  However, after Christmas it has been a much better experience.  Baylor just needed "the gift of time."  We are
about 90% fully potty trained and I am sooooo relieved to be on the down hill slope of it....I hope!

Here are just a few pics of Little Bit.  We find out in March what our next baby will be and I can't wait!

School Pictures

ICE

 

Not even a little bit scared of a giant lion!

1st Dance Recital

Christmas at KK Peek's- pre-flu

Post-flu leaving KK Peek's going to the doctor :(

Our scrappy little princess!

Her "Punzel" pillow that Daddy made for her!

First time to ride a "Stoo Bus"

What she does almost every time I want to take her picture...and clearly finds herself very funny!

 

Sweet Daddy setting the bar HIGH for any future dates she may have! 

She keeps us laughing and on our toes!  Can't wait imagine what #2 will be like! :)

 

Tis the Season

Tis the season for miracles and joy!  We are ecstatic about our newest little miracle and the sweet blessing of life!  As most of you know, we had trouble getting pregnant with Baylor.  It was a 2 year process that included surgery, medicine, shots, tons of sonograms, 2 IUI's and a partridge in a pear tree. :)  Since having Baylor we have never used any preventative measures to not get pregnant, we just for whatever reason can't.  So....as the horror of pregnancy and birthing a child wore off and the desire to expand our family grew, we decided to start fertility treatments once again. This time, we went straight to what worked the last time which was fertility medicine, hcg shot, IUI.  Even though it really hasn't been that long ago that we went through this process with Baylor, I had forgotten how emotionally draining and time consuming the process was.  Lots of sonograms, getting hopes up while trying to stay realistic, and the last 2 weeks of the month which seem more like 2 years wondering, "what if?"  So, I had made the decision myself that this was going to be a one and done time.  If it worked great, if not, then we could revisit the subject at a much later time. We told very few people that we were even starting this process again not because I really cared if anyone knew or not, but from the last time I knew that it is just a bummer to have to tell everyone, "Nope, not this time" over and over and over again. But despite my best efforts, my hopes were up and my excitement was growing.  And on Friday November 16th I got the official call from my doctor, "Congratulations Emily, you're pregnant." He also told me there must have been Divine Intervention for this to work on the first time.  I agreed! His nurse told me when they got the official test results they were all cheering in the office! We didn't tell anyone in our family, except my sister ( Hello, I'm a girl, I have to talk to someone about this :) ), so when we came in for Thanksgiving Baylor was wearing this!

No one saw it at first because Baylor is a wild child and goes straight to running and playing.  However, she finally slowed down enough for my mom to get a good look at it. She was in shock and disbelief at first, then over joyed!  My dad was laughing and clapping his hands.  My nephew told my sister he wanted them to adopt a baby. So funny!  And so fun to finally get to surprise them!!!  We took Baylor out to Colby's  mom's house and she talked to Baylor and hugged Baylor and never even noticed.  Finally I told her we had been shopping and to look at Baylor's new shirt.  Again, it was a great reaction.  Excitement and joy!

We are so thankful for God's perfect plan for our growing family.  We pray blessings abound for all of our family and friends this Christmas season.


Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 

Laugh a little :)

 

 

Moz 2012

     First things first, THANK YOU!  Thank you to everyone who supported us financially and to everyone who prayed for us while we were there.  Words cannot describle how grateful we are to you.I have been wanting to share my trip with you all for quite some time now, but due to technical difficulties have not been able to. So, here it finally is!     

     I will try to keep this brief and not bore you with too many details.  I want you to make it through the whole blog without losing interest! :)  The trip...in a word...was amazing.  The country is unimaginably poor, but the believers in Moz were on fire for Christ!  Granted, I was only there for 10 days, but this was my general observation. There is no politically correct, beat around the bushes, kum-ba-ya, attitudes.  It is, "Do you know Christ? Well, let me tell you about him."  Pretty awesome.  As a whole, they really don't have a woe is me attitude.  They do however have such a sense of urgency to share Christ with everyone around them.  As I sit in my air conditioned home, with my loving husband, my sweet baby girl, my comfy blanket, watching a favorite family movie after a meal where we have all eaten more than we should have...it is sometimes hard to imagine life being any better.  When the people of Moz lie on their dirt floor, or if it's raining, sleep standing on their mud floor, in the heat, with hungry stomachs, family members all around sick and dying with Aids, Malaria, Teburculosis, or about 1,000 other diseases, they know.  They know that in Christ life can be so much more becuase of the promises He gives us.  And Heaven...Heaven will be sweeter to these people than you or I could ever imagine.  Rev 21:4  "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

As I said before, I will be brief. So...to give you the "highlights" of what we did while in Moz.  We hung out, practiced, played, did bible study, a "girl's night", and went on a village walk with the teenagers in the Sparks Handball/Sports Ministry.  We painted a Green Door house that was 160square feet for a widow and her family affected with HIV to live in.  We prayed over mommas and their malnourished babies at Tessa Grace Nutritional Program and Baylor was even able to donate several of her blankets, bibs, and clothes from when she was a newborn!  We went to the hospital shared Jesus and gave soup with Soup Solution to the dying.  Colby preached the Roman Road and then we held a food pantry for 130+ families affected by HIV and were able to give them enough food to last over two weeks.  That's a big deal because they will often go days without eating anything.  We went with the Project Life ministry who holds bible studies in homes of people affected by HIV.  We held a VBS for a local church and shared the gospel, sang, had a craft, and gave snacks for 100+kids.

Favorit moment of the trip:  When the boys from the Sparks ministry found out our team had brought them new uniforms.  Our translator (who was also a member of the team) got so excited that he stopped translating and started cheering with the rest of the team.  The place exploded with excitement!  I cried.

Willl never forget moment:  The Sparks kids read scripture from John about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and they said, "We want to be like Christ and wash the feet of our disciples." Then they sat us down, prayed over us, and washed our feet.  I cried again.

Think about it moment:  We were at a church made of mud and sticks and the preacher mentioned that if you know Christ, but your neighbor does not and you have food, but your neighbor is hungry, then you should give you neighbor food in order to share the love of Christ.  Remember they might not eat for days at at time, and what food they do have, they are giving to non-believers to share Christ.  Talk about sacrificial giving.  They're giving everything they have for Christ.

What now?

To truly experience God in a way unlike any other, GO!  There is no way to really put into words what being there is like. So go and see for yourself and you will come back changed! :) I know, not everyone's cup of tea...so give!  If you know of someone going on a trip, support them!  You will have an eternal impact on the kingdom of Heaven...kind of awesome huh?  If you don't know of anyone right now, find an organization that you believe in and support their efforts to take Christ to the world.  I went with Children's Relief International.  You can help support the missionaries, you can support a Tessa Grace baby and help ensure they are getting fed and cared for, you can support a Sparks student go to vocational school (kind of like their college) for only $35 a month for six months, you can build a house with Green Door for widows and orphans affected by HIV, or several other things.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! :)  There is so much more to share and we would love to share it with you.  Just give us a "Holla"! ;)

1 Cor 15:58 "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Happy Birthday Baylor!

Today is Baylor's second birthday and what a fun, special, blessed, joyful, exciting, and love filled time these two years have been with our sweet girl.  The first year of Baylor's life she was super calm, hardly ever cried, and was pretty much the perfect baby.  The second year has been equally as joyful, but quite a bit more active! Her personality is spunky but sweet.  She is fearless, but can be very shy.  She loves to wear jewelry and dirt equally. She never stops moving until she is made to, but then can be a great sleeper.  She is our dimple faced, strawberry blonde, girly tomboy that we love oh so much. 

Happy Birthday Baylor Ann!

Perfect Imperfection

It is late and I can't quite get to sleep tonight.  Our AC has decided to quit on a Saturday night in the middle of summer. So, here is my late night ramble. :)

Did you know that a dimple is really a deformed muscle?  Look at this face...

Amazing isn't it...how something so cute, is scientifically considered to be deformed or imperfect.  I can't imagine Baylor without her dimple.  It's part of what makes her, her.  In my eyes, she's beautiful. Perfect. She is perfectly imperfect. :)  

I am imperfect (shocking...I know ;), but in Christ I have been made new and perfect.  I am so thankful He doesn't see me through the eyes of man, but through HIS eyes.  He has a deeper love for me than I can ever imagine, he has a perfect plan for my life, and to Him I am fearfully and wonderfully made. But not just me.  We all are.

So let science have their theories, the world have their opinions, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.



2 Corinthians 5:17-Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  21-"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."


Psalm 36:5- "Your love oh Lord, reaches to the Heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."


John 3:16-"For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life."


Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you declared the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."


Psalm 139:14- "I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full."


Joshua 24:15- "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Catching Up

Summer is here and is as exciting as anticipated!  I have started my new part time job and am LOVING it!  The owners of the house we are renting have SOLD the house which means we have to be out by June 27th (which is also the same week Colby has his soccer camp, yikes!), but on the flip side we have a contract on our potential new house, woo-hoo!!!!  We are still gearing up for Africa starting July 19-29 and Baylor has her SECOND, I repeat SECOND birthday coming up!  How is she already two!?!?

Colby and I have been SO blessed with an amazingly generous and selfless lifegroup (sunday school) at our church.  2 years ago I remember crying after visiting churches, which were perfectly fine,but none which felt like "home" thinking I would never find a church that felt like the close knit church I came from.  But God, as usual, blessed us more than we could ever imagine, and we are thankful for them daily.  So, thanks guys for being so awesome! :)

Baylor is crazy, hilarious, cute, funny, fearless, and sweet as usual.  She is so blessed with a multitude of family that love her so much and cousins that are so fun and the sweetest things to watch together.  For her birthday this year we are going to go with a Cookie Monster - Milk and Cookies dessert theme.  Since we won't have a house of our own yet to have her birthday party in we are going to have it at "The Grove" which will probably be more fun anyway! :) I had several cute pics and videos to upload, but my computer is not cooperating so for now, here is the one I got.

It's hot out there guys...stay cool!