The girls in my small group and I have been doing the Beth Moore study, “Believing God”. The last couple weeks we have been looking through some of the great patriarch’s of our faith. This morning I was reading about Joseph and reflecting on his life. God gave Joseph a promise at a young age. If you follow his life it looks like God forgot about his promise. He was sold in to slavery and imprisoned. If I was sitting in that prison cell I would have thought God had forgotten about me for sure. But later you see that God does indeed fulfill his promise and Joseph must lead his nation in a really tough time of famine and drought.
This quote stuck out to me from “Believing God”, “He made sure Joseph was in strategic position and was given wisdom to provide for the coming years of famine.”
I got thinking. Could maybe (although they were awful) the proceeding circumstances in Joseph’s life all been apart of God’s plan? Could God have even orchestrated them to make Joseph the man he wanted him to be? Did the hard times not prepare him for the ministry ahead? I think so. I don’t think God was surprised for a second. I think He was right there in the middle of the slavery and imprisonment.
I forget that in my own life way too many times! I think when hard times come or something bad happens, God has checked out or I have messed up God’s plan. We have several obstacles in our life right now. Could they be in our lives to sharpen our faith, to teach us, to make us who God needs us to be….. I think so. I think there are two types of obstacles: the kind that you bring into your life because of poor decisions or whatever and the kind that just happen, that you did not ask for. I think regardless God is bigger than them both! I think maybe they are not obstacles but God’s training hurdles. They are strengthening and testing our endurance and strength for the promise ahead!

This pregnancy has been pretty smooth up until this week. I had the usual morning sickness… on past the beginning of the second trimester. Other than that I honestly have not had much time to think about being pregnant between chasing after a crazy little boy and our “eventful” fall season.
I started noticing my heart would randomly start pounding for no reason. This happened some in the beginning of my pregnancy but I thought it was due to my slightly low thyroid. This time the heart palpitations did not go away as quickly as before . I had some light headedness and one day had numbness and tightening in my left arm. I went to the doctor who refereed me to a cardiologist.
Long story short…. they want to monitor my heart over the next 30 days. I have this little heart monitor that I use to record my heart when I notice the pounding. Mark says it sounds like they are sending signals to the “mothership”. It does make this alien like noise : ) The cardiologist is concerned the my preeclampsia with Trey in addition to this pregnancy has weakened my heart. They are tracking everything to see if this is the case…. hopefully not! Hopefully its nothing! : )
We will see…. I am just glad Ella is okay and this does not directly affect her.
I have decided that some women are just designed to have babies… they have easy pregnancies and deliveries. I am NOT one of those women! My body does not do well carrying babies. It does not even know how to let them out… thus I have to have a C-section. Oh well… its okay… C-section babies have pretty heads : )

My mom and sister came down this week for a day and then took the boy back to Atlanta with them. It was the hardest thing in the world to send him to Atlanta without me but it was for the best. I got some rest and Mark and I enjoyed some time together. We both miss him like crazy though! We can hardly wait to go pick him up! He may wear me out but I think my heart will be better when I get the other half back!

Everything went great! She is laying transverse. She was actually facing the sonogram camera… that’s why her eyes look funny : )
She was not moving around as much as her older brother did during his ultrasound… hopefully a sign of a little more passive personality. All her anatomy checked out well. We got to see her heart, stomach, kidneys and bladder. We even got to see her brain… so amazing!
The ultrasound room was really neat. They had a 42″ TV hooked up so we could see the ultrasound monitor better. Trey kept pointing at the TV saying “Ball!”. I guess he was disappointed in our TV selection… silly boy!
I was very shocked to find out she was a girl! We went to Baby’s R Us afterward and saw so many cute little girl things! I can’t wait! I bought some girly fabric to make something for her. I am feeling crafty : )
Can’t wait to meet this sweet girl!

(Great picture… I know… oh well : )

I was putting up Trey’s clothes today. I was reminded of God’s immense faithfulness!
A couple weeks ago, I was putting up Trey’s clothes and surveying his closet. He did not have as many fall/winter clothes as I had originally thought. As I was putting up clothes I realized too my maternity capris weren’t going to cut it in the colder months either. Why did I have to be pregnant in opposite seasons? I began to get stressed. I realized we really needed some clothes (not like I have maybe said before when my clothes were out of style and I had “nothing” to wear). As I took back his laundry basket, I walked by some bills that were sitting on the counter. I had just looked at the bank account. These were not “monthly” bills and I knew we didn’t have it to pay them.
I started praying- this is a brilliant, deep, Christian concept, I know but I am learning. I reminded God we were here because He called us here and we are trusting Him. Usually when I pray I have some back up plan in my head like “may we get that check we have been waiting on” or something. But this time I had nothing. Just praying God would make it rain money or something : )
Well later that week, we got a completely unexpected refund from a company. It was a nice refund too!
I was able to do all the things I lifted up in prayer to God through that unexpected money.
I was putting up Trey’s clothes today. I was able to go shopping for him and we got some unexpected gifts from family. My son has MORE than he ever dreamed of needing! I thought God, “You are ridiculous in the way You provide! You are so good!”
Over the last two years we have found that sometimes trusting Him with money is not as pretty. Sometimes there is a greater work to be done in our heart and new ways to trust Him. I don’t want to air our dirty laundry out on the internet but I do want to be sure I give God the glory for all that He has done for us! I also want to encourage you to trust Him! Trust Him! He is good! Rather He works internally or externally, He is the God of this universe and He cares enough to work in your life…. and that is good!
“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” – Phil 4:19

- It is beautiful here in Savannah! It FINALLY feels like fall (aka not 90 degrees outside) I guess all those days I wore long sleeve shirts anyway worked : )
- I am feeling very pregnant these days! I have had really bad back pain lately. I take a hot bath numerous times a day and keep a heating pad handy. Sometimes it is so bad I feel dizzy and sick to my stomach. Most of the time it is pretty manageable. I try to pick up Trey a little less and am continuing to work out to try to maintain back and ab strength. But I am getting kind of nervous that it is this bad and the baby is only the size of an “heirloom tomato” (according to babycenter.com).
- This Friday I will 20 weeks which is super exciting! Next Wednesday we find out the sex of the baby! We are getting very excited about our new addition. Oddly every since I had Trey, I felt like somebody was missing. I don’t think our family is “complete” but I know this baby is our “missing piece” : )
- Trey has lost his mind… no really I love my son more than I can handle but something has taken him over the last couple of days. He has been pitching insane fits over things that never used to bother him… I mean insane fits…. ask some of our friends at church ; ) He also has become in love with the term “mine” or “NINE” as he says and “NO” or “NA!” I swear we have hit the terrible twos 9 months early!
- I don’t know if this is due to pregnancy but I have been very crafty lately : ) I may not be able to afford anything on etsy.com but it gives me lots of ideas!!! I am excited about making things for Christmas…. friends and family beware!
- We are headed to Atlanta later this week to visit family. I am excited it has been awhile since we have been up there! My sister-in-law’s and I are throwing a shower for my sister-in-law. She is due on Mark and I’s anniversary and I can’t wait to meet our new nephew!!!
-Mark is not working crazy overtime hours anymore! It has been SO nice to be able to spend more time together! Trey and I have missed him terribly!
-We are getting settled in our apartment! I really do love it! It works perfectly for us right now! It forces me to be creative …. we can’t paint! I am a lover of color so that’s a hard one but I have made it work : )
- I just love the season we are in right now! From now until New Year’s is my favorite time of year!
- In exactly one month, Mark and I will have been married 4 years! I can’t believe it! Sometimes it feels like 4 months and sometimes it feels like 14 years! We came a little short with our “5 year plan” for waiting to have kids : ) But these have definitely been the best 4 years of my life! I love him very much!
I will stop rambling now…… Happy Monday!

I made this last night and forgot how delicious it is! Is yummy and affordable! I got this off someone’s blog a while ago and I think it originally came from Rachel Ray. I have simplified it a little. Her stuff can be a little complicated and requires some expensive ingredients. Besides what I already had stocked up I think it cost around $4 to make! You can’t beat that : )

You need:
1-2 boxes of corn muffin mix ( depending on the thickness of the crust, I use 1 1/2 Jiffy boxes)
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1 1/2 of milk
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil for those of you who are Rachel Ray fans : )
Toppings-
2 tablespoons of EVOO
1 lb. of ground beef
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 tbsp of chili powder
2 tsp of ground cummin
2 tsp cayenne sauce (I didn’t have any I just used cayenne pepper)
salt
cheese (however much you want, I used about half a 8 oz block)
1 large tomato chopped
olives (we hate olives so I don’t add them)
Mild taco sauce to pass at the table (don’t miss this part! It is the perfect finishing touch!)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix together muffin mix, eggs, butter, and milk. Wipe EVOO on a non-stick skillet (at least 10-12 in. ) Choose one with a safe handle or wrap aluminum foil around it. Pour above ingredients into the skillet, place in the oven on the center rack for 12-15 mins.
In another pan brown ground beef, add spices and cook 5 min more.
In another skillet, cooke onion, pepper and tomato with a little EVOO.
Remove cornbread from the oven and top with meat, vegetables and cheese. Put back in the oven for 5 min more to melt cheese.
Cut into 8 wedges and serve from the skillet.
Add taco sauce as desired and the table and you will have your self and awesome and delicious meal!

I am always trying to discern the time to speak and time to be quiet (if you know me, you know the time to be quiet is all to difficult!). This blog answered a lot of questions I have been pondering ; )
Wise words! Well worth a read!
“How to tell time”

I found a great blog tonight! It is the blog of three moms and sisters.
I got lost in there for a while! Check it out!
girltalk.com

Ok I found a new magazine that I love! I love magazines! They are short and sweet and don’t require the commitment of a book ; )
All You magazine is awesome! It has lots of easy recipes (with no weird unheard of ingredients), articles you actually want to read, good tips and LOTS of coupons. It is only about $2.50 so with the coupon savings it almost pays for itself! I have only seen them at Walmart. Worth the buy : )