God’s gift: children!

We had a crazy week last week! Trey got the stomach bug last Saturday. He passed it along to me on Tuesday. I guess the “activity” in my stomach triggered contractions. We spent Tuesday night at the hospital tracking then stopping contractions. Luckily it worked! No baby yet : ) We did have a fresh wind of reality! This girl has snuck up on us! We have a lot to do to get ready for her…. or it feels that way anyway! I guess this is typical with your second (I hope so anyway), we just haven’t had as much time to focus and plan for her arrival like we did Trey.
Trey and I both hung on to the stomach bug the rest of the week and laid low. I think I have Lysoled and Cloroxed my house 3 or 4 times in the last week. I hope its gone!
Trey is in Atlanta visiting family this week. I am still not sure how the grandparents got him up there. I really had no plans to let him go. They are sneaking, I tell you! I love being a mom! I forget how much I love it until he is gone. I miss him like crazy! I have threatened picking him early… hmmm I will try to be patient : )
Mark wrote a great blog about parenting…. or how parenting shows us more of God. It is good and so true. My brain is to hazy right now to formulate anything profound. I will leave that to him!

Monday Monday….

We don’t have internet at the house right now. It has actually been somewhat of a blessing! I never realized how much time I spent waste surfing the web…. thinking I’m being productive when I’m really not! So it is harder to update our blog as much. Right now I am sitting in my car using the free internet at our clubhouse while Trey naps in the backseat : )
Random thoughts this Monday morning:
-I have been nesting like crazy!!! Every nook and cranny of our apartment is clean and organized. I have bleach stains on two maternity shirts… you think I would learn! I have a post coming about organizing in small spaces. I need to take some pictures. I’m no expert but I’m always looking for others to share ideas : )
- We have less than 6 weeks to get ready for this little girl! This pregnancy has flown by! I can not believe it is almost time meet her.
- I wish I was stronger but I’m not… I’m getting very nervous about my C-section. I passed out from getting my blood drawn only three years ago…. I have come A LONG way! I am much better now! I have to get my blood drawn every other doc. visit and it doesn’t bother me at all : ) But do you ever get comfortable with the idea of lying on table while doctors cut your stomach open (sorry mom… too graphic) … I don’t think so! But its all to meet our girl so I think I will make it! I made it with Trey!
- On another C-section note… I am nervous about the recovery. My first one was easy but I didn’t have a 27lb toddler to take care of. He won’t understand. I know this will be hard!
- Canvas re-launched last week! It was awesome! I think we all have tremendous peace about where we are and what God is doing! We have seen many new faces and gained several new families! I really love our church! I love that who we are and what we are called to do in this city!
- Ok free plug… I met a friend from church at Jump for Joey’s last week. It was only $5 to get in on Wednesday. Trey and her boys had so much fun!!! I did not know you could go to those places during the week. I thought they were only for birthday parties. Trey had a blast and it wore him out for like two days so that was nice ; ) Ours is very clean! The designers are genius and must have kids… there is a play area for babies, massage chairs for moms (if you have older ones and get the luxury of sitting down), there are little toddler potties and even a little step stool to help kids reach the sink! If only all retail and public restrooms where designed so well! Trey was a little nervous at first but then went crazy! He loved the slides. He even went down one of the big ones! Me, 8 months pregnant helping him up a slide was an even crazier sight to see : ) We had so much fun!
- Well I think that is about it. I will try to get some more pictures uploaded for you, family : ) Here are some of pictures of Mark and Trey I forgot about!

Crazy boys

Trey calls this “Ohh cool”… he loves riding on his daddy’s back : )

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve

Food, Fun and Family : )

Cousins playing piano

Early morning at Canvas

Mark gets to church every Sunday around 6:45 am. We are used to this. We have been getting to church early just about our whole marriage due to church planting : ) I used to go with Mark a lot more but with Trey it is a little more difficult. We have gone early early with Mark a couple times since starting Canvas. Trey actually loves it! It wears me out though. Literally chasing the boy around all morning wears on this pregnant mom!
Hear are a couple picture from early morning set-up:


Dancing in the aisles : )

Found my camera cord!

Well family, here it is… picture update! I have not been able to find my camera card reader months ago. I have been looking everywhere for it. Tonight Trey dumped my cookbook magazine basket on the floor and low and behold there it was! I’m so excited! My memory card was full too so great timing!
BIKES OR BUST:

Trey is getting into the stickers for our Bikes or Bust craft.

Since we were going out of town for Christmas. Santa visited early : ) We had our Christmas on the 21st. I was perfect! I love time just the three of us!

More to come! Uploading pictures takes a while!

Home Organizer

I normally pride myself in being very organized. I used to go organize (the best teacher in the world, my aunt) “Deeda’s” school closet at the beginning of every school year. She paid me but I enjoyed it way too much! : ) Labels, baskets, dividers and shelving are what I buy with gift cards and extra cash. Our two bedroom apartment in a puzzle for me. I am constantly trying to figure out how to make everything fit… well…. and organized. Seriously, I enjoy it! I got excited after Christmas because we needed to reorganize Trey’s closet to fit he and Ella’s clothes…. see further proof I am more than ’slightly’ weird!!!
This past year has been crazy! With several moves under our belt and another one coming in the near future… I need a better system for keeping up with weekly bills, tax stuff and all the other day to day house junk that fills up my kitchen files and junk drawer.
My friend Kerri has an awesome post about home organizers! I have heard others talk about them but them seemed too complicated. I didn’t think I would actually use it. She did a great job of simplifying this idea! Check it out here.

Baby girl update

I have noticed a lot of differences in the first and second child already. This pregnancy has not been much easier but I have not had the time to think about it as much. With Trey, I was consumed in the “pregnant world” all the time. With Ella, I honestly forgot I was pregnant a lot of times. Now she is she let’s me know she is in there…it’s harder to forget : ) ! She does not move as much as Trey, but she must be bigger because she causes my whole stomach to shift when she does move! She is has sharp little bones (like her Auntie Mol), she hurts me! : )
Everything is going great though! All the heart stuff turned out alright! My blood pressure is good too! Oddly enough my back has even been hurting a little less, even though she is getting really big!
As of our last doctor visit everything looked good! I passed the diabetes test too! I will start going every two weeks starting next week. With this OB I get a 36 week ultrasound too so that is very exciting! With Trey we only got the 20 week! I can’t wait to see her again!
We have about 8 weeks until we become a family of 4! We are trying to transition Trey to his big boy bed. We have gotten him out of his highchair and into a big boy seat at the table. He loves it! I am trying to hold him less but he is going through a mommy thing so that is really hard! I don’t know what I will do after the C-section. I’m sure it will be a battle…
He is getting to be such a big boy! He talks ALL THE TIME and his vocab. is growing so much! I love being able to communicate with him! He now points to my belly and says “Ewwa”. Of course he also say “Ewwa” when he points to his belly too : ) He is starting to notice her stuff too. He will point to the pink stuff or baby stuff and say “baby” or “Ewwa”. I can’t wait to see how he will be with her. I know she is going to rock his world a good bit but I think he will be a great big brother!
We are excited to meet our sweet girl!

12 weeks

20 weeks

27 weeks

32 weeks

2009

Is it just me or did this Christmas season fly by? I really cannot believe it is already January! I also cannot believe we will be adding another person to our family in less than 9 weeks but that is another post for another day….

When the clock changed from 11:59 to 12:00am last Thursday night, I breathed a sigh or relief. It was over. We made it through 2009. There are just some seasons where that is about all I have to say about it… we survived! Hallelujah! 2009 will go down in my books as the hardest year yet. I am young so I know there are more trails to come. But I think I am justified in saying it was tough!!!

This Christmas season we have tried to take a lot of time to reflect on God and what He has done! We started a new tradition with our advent calendar. Instead of opening little candies each night, we decided to reflect on 24 things God has done this year. (We put little things in the box each night instead to symbolize that “thing that God has done”). Our memories are already awful so it meant pulling out journals, blogs and pictures to even know what month was what : ) We are still working on it for ‘09 and plan to make it a more regular thing in ‘10.

I wrapped up a Bible study recently. There was a question that stated “What are some things you’ve done in the strength of Christ that you knew with all your heart you could not do naturally?” In 2007 I would have had very few things to list… maybe even nothing… 2008 a few more… but 2009…. oh yes! I filled in every blank and wrote down below… then I decided I want to publicly praise God for all He has done last year! He has been so faithful! I must let anyone who is willing to read my lengthy blogs know : )

JAN ‘09: We finally made it to Savannah! God provided the financial resources we needed to get here and move in! We moved based on the “agreement” that Mark’s company would let him work 3 1/2 days in Atlanta. We found out the Thursday after we moved in the deal was off! He would be expected to be there Mon-Fri 7-4 as always….

FEB ‘09: Canvas launched successfully. Mark headed to work in Atl. Trey and I lived in Savannah. We saw Mark on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. New house, new city, new mom, 260 miles away from my family (including my husband) for the first time ever…. but God is good! He gave me strength I never knew I had… His strength! He gave me awesome friends too!

MARCH ‘09: We both heard God say it was time for Mark to quite and get down to SAV. Problem, although he had been looking for almost a year… no job down here. While still praying about timing and such, some friends stepped up in a huge way financially! I told you God gave us awesome friends. He still had no job but we had “gap money”.

APRIL ‘09: We decided the first week of April was when he would put in his two week notice. Still no job. But confident we were doing what God had called us to do. He put in his notice Monday. Tuesday a friend called to tell us she found someone hiring at a local golf club. Wednesday he had the job! God is faithful!

MAY’09: May was full of adjustments. Mark was finally at home with us! We were adjusting to our “new budget” and new schedules. In the middle of all this our little boy was growing and growing… faster than I ever realized! Mark and Trey gave me the best first Mother’s Day! Canvas launched small groups in May as well! Our rental house was put on the market as well. It was a mutual decision. We needed something cheaper and they needed to sell.

JUNE ‘09: June was a bittersweet month. A dear friend went home to be with the Lord. I blogged about him earlier. He was a true light for the Lord. Later that month, Mark was ordained at our old church! I am so proud of my husband! That service was so perfect and uplifting! We could feel God’s arms wrapped around us by old friends and family!

JULY ‘09: Our sweet baby turned a year old! We had so much fun celebrating his birthday week! Not but three days after all of our “baby’s” festivities had ended we found out we would be having another baby! I won’t lie… I cried… but not quite happy tears. Miss Ella was quite the surprise! But God is so good! I am already starting to see why her arrival in March is such perfect timing! I don’t understand God’s ways most of the time… but I am slowly learning they are so good! God also provided a way for us to go on a vacation with Mark’s family. It was great to get some much needed rest!

AUGUST ‘09: This month launched one of the darkest and hardest months of my life. I could never explain the personal internal turmoil or the external stress but it was nothing like I experienced before. I don’t remember much from this month. Mark worked A LOT of overtime. We saw him more when he worked in Atlanta (or it seemed) than these two months. I had a birthday in there too. Doug announced the move to the staff. I believe God was working… thus the enemy turned up the heat…. big time in our family. We were financially sinking and begging God to get us out of that house!

SEP ‘09: God came through! The landlord found someone to rent the house and we had to be out on the 15th. We found this out on the 3rd. I was in the hardest phase of my pregnancy (1st trimester), Trey was walking and crazy active, Mark was working 50-60 hours a week + some Saturdays…. and we had a house to pack… and needed to find a place to live! Now I’m sorry but that is stressful! I also remember very little from this month too…. I vaguely remember Trey running around like crazy, me packing, stopping at times to throw up, packing more, and eating dinner alone. Three things, #1 God protected my sweet girl! She is a strong one! #2 We will never take meals together and family time for granted again! It’s a gift! #3 Our friends/church family is awesome! We could have never done this move without them!

OCT ‘09: We were out of that house and in our apartment! Mark and I had to pull and “all nighter” get all our junk from a 4 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment but we did it. Now you would think I would be a pro at moving since it was my 11th but there has never been more chaotic move than that one! We moved the 15th and it was October before I was not moving boxes around to get dinner on the table! But Praise the Lord we made it! And God showed up in awesome ways financially! Moving is not cheap! We were able to sell a bunch and received unexpected financial blessings! He is so good! Oct. was a slower month. Mark stopped working overtime and we were able to be together! We also found out the last week of this month we were having a girl!

NOV ‘09: God is so good. Mark makes now in one month what he did in one paycheck at his old job. Basically we make less than half of what we used to. But God eased us into this transition beautifully. I know we are not alone in our present economy in our financial state. God is such a father and teacher… Mark quit in March and November was the first month we had to completely live on our “new” salary. We were ready by then but it has not been easy. November was a good month though, we literally saw the hand of God provide and learned to trust him more!

DEC ‘09: This month flew by as it always does. We really had a great Christmas! Our church is still small. Although I know God is moving and we will grow, I rejoice in the slower pace we have right now. We really only had one Christmas thing on our calendar and it was a blessing to be apart of! Our church raised 101 bikes for deserving kids in the community! Praise God! I have been apart of a lot of Christmas festivities and such but this one topped them all! God also reminded me that when He called us to church planting, He called our whole family… including Trey. Trey loved being apart of Bikes or Bust. He loved talking to the people, saying “Hey” and even being outside all day : ) He does amazing with lots of transition and is tough! I know God has also equipped him for this mission! Christmas with Trey was amazing! He is so much fun! I LOVE this age!!!

Although it has been hard, I would not trade this year for anything! We have walked through some rocky roads, but we have walked together and we have walked with our God! I know him more and I love my family more! God is good!

Ella Reece

Well after much debate, it has been decided! Her name shall be Ella Reece! This is the original name we came up with 2 1/2 years ago when we thought Trey was a girl. This time I had my boy named picked out but was not sure if Reese was right for this baby. We have had the name Ella since probably Mark and I’s second date… which was about 10 years ago and the name was far less trendy! I hate that it has gotten so popular! Ella is the name of Mark’s grandmother and my great- grandmother. We thought it was too cool that Ella was a family name on both sides! Some how that came into conversation when we were first dating and we said if we ever got married and had a baby girl her name would be “Ella”.
I am a big name person! My son’s name means “crowned warrior”. If you know my child you should know he is quite the “prince or crowned one” and he is very much the “fighter (we are trying to fine tune him into a warrior and not as much of a fighter).” He wears his name so well and my prayer is that he will be a crowned warrior for the Lord!
Ella will share a birthday (providing she does not come before my C-section date) with one of my favorite people God allowed me the privilege of knowing on the earth, Jacob! He is one of my best friends little brother. Jacob was born with a rare heart condition. By the time he was 21 he had undergone two heart transplants and various other surgeries and procedures throughout his life. Growing up and in high school he never got to live the “normal” life of a boy. He had to live very carefully because of his heart. But let me tell you that did not stop Jacob from living!!! He lived life well and he lived life with zeal and love for the Lord! The hand dealt him at birth would make many bitter but Jacob overcame and lived life with joy and enthusiasm!
One of my favorite and most vivid memories of Jacob was at our old church. He was having some complications, I think this was right before he ended up with his first transplant. Our worship team was singing, “Blessed be the name of the Lord”. The song has one part that says, “you give and take away, you give and take away but my heart will choose to say, ‘Lord blessed be your name!’” We were baptist, so we were sitting in our usual seats. I look up at Jacob and his hands are lifted high, with his face radiant, praising the God! For many of us in that room the reality of those words might only run as deep as God giving or taking away our Christmas bonus that year. For Jacob it meant his very life. Yet he trusted. And raised his arms open. Tears poured down my face as I begged God for that kind of faith that would raise my hands open to a God who gives and takes away!
Well, that is a picture of Jacob for you! Jacob went home to be with the Lord last June. He is missed. I can almost picture him in heaven praising Jesus face to face! If he hasn’t been too busy worshiping he might laugh to know that I have had to visit the cardiologist several times bearing the baby that shares his birthday : )
We wanted to honor him with her name somehow. Ella Jacob just didn’t work. I even looked up the equivalent female name for Jacob but it didn’t feel right. We decided on Ella Reece. I don’t know how to explain it just seemed to be right. I had looked it up before but Reece means “enthusiasm”. So her name means “enthusiastic, beautiful, light”. And then it hit me. I don’t think there is any other name that could honor her birthday predecessor more! I have not know a more enthusiastic light than Jacob! My prayer is that she too will live with enthusiasm and joy no matter what her circumstances and that she will always be a light for the Lord!

Love you Jacob! I’m so proud of you!