for the one you love

{a free valentine’s gift}

Yes it’s free. But it really has great value.

I got this in a daily devotional email today…

How to pray for your husband (or brother, boyfriend, or dad) , from head to toe:

• His Head –That he will look to You as Lord of his life. (1 Corinthians 11:13)
• His Mind - That he will have the mind of Christ and think as the Holy Spirit would lead him and not the flesh. (1 Corinthians 2:16)
• His Eyes –That You will keep his eyes from temptation and that he will turn his eyes from sin. (Matthew 6:13, Mark 9:47)

His Ears - That he will hear Your still small voice instructing him. (1 Kings 19:12, Psalm 32:8)

His Mouth – That his words will be pleasing to You. (Psalm 19:14)

His Neck –That he will humble himself before You and be strong, courageous, and careful to do everything written in Your Word so that he will be prosperous and successful. (James 4:10, Joshua 1:8-9)

His Heart-That he will love and trust You with his whole heart. (Deuteronomy 6:5, Proverbs 3:5)

His Arms-That You will be his strength. (Psalm 73:26)

His Hands-That he will enjoy the work of his hands and see it as a gift from You. (Ecclesiastes 3:13, 5:19)

His feet – That You will order his steps and that he will walk in Your truth. (Proverbs 4:25, Psalm 26:3)

It will take a little time, but really, what better gift could you give your husband? 

just save the silk boxers with the pink hearts on them for next year.

ebb & flow. and guacamole

the last weeks, since the holidays ended, have been about as “normal” as life can get. easy & uneventful
{see as; not worth writing too much about}

We’ve been so terribly busy {or not} trying to stay healthy, eating meals at home, getting caught up on laundry, preparing to remodel my salon (woohoo!), starting a new 40 day small group devotional at church, attending the husband’s 3 work Christmas parties, and trying to get back on the exercise band wagon before my sister’s wedding in May. ick.  Typing that has just reminded me that I should bring this bag of chips back to the kitchen, or that whole working out thing is pretty pointless. 
moving on
sister bear is starting to love to stand by things. 
It kind of makes me want to push her back down.
to the ground.
where the little babies live.
because I am not all that okay with her growing up so fast.

She also does this…

and this…

but has yet to actually put the whole crawling thing into action.

I have learned to love these kinds of days and weeks. Where you spend more time at home than you do away. Where you eat more meals around your table than you do in your car, or in a restaurant. Where you can look at your calendar and there are whole days that are just white. free.  After the busy, run around of the holiday season this is the way I would prefer to wrap up the winter. It’s the ebb and flow of life. You can’t enjoy your days at home, with out days away. You can’t enjoy your slow, quiet time, if there wasn’t a fast paced, hectic day nipping at it’s heels. 

Having a little more free time means I have been able to get out cook books, and try a few new things.  I made up this recipe on a snowy night a few weeks ago, and have made it 4 times since…

Creamy Guacamole

6 oz. softened cream cheese

3 mashed avocados. (no skin or seed obviously)
mix those together until creamy
squeeze a lime.  (keeps the avocado from turning brown, plus it tastes so good)
we will call it 1 tsp of lime juice, but I don’t measure
a little bit of crushed black pepper, sea salt, and Worcestershire sauce.
Use your imagination, whatever you think “ a little bit “ is. again, I don’t measure things… it will be fine.

- This would be the part where I got distracted, and just had to finish quickly… so there are no more pictures.

Next:

I cut up half of a red onion, and a whole tomato, and mix those in.

cut up about 20 cilantro leaves, and mix those in ( I cut them up so they don’t get overwhelming)

And, I have no “finished product” picture, but take my word for it.
It’s gooooood.
I considered licking the bowl clean last night after the SuperBowl.
and now I feel the need to go work out.

Sanctity of Life

at the moment, the very moment, of conception, a unique DNA has been set into place that has never, ever been made before.

I had no idea how amazing of a fact that was until after Jude was born. He had a tiny malformation of 60% of his #13 chromosomes. (there are 23 pairs) That microscopic flaw reeked havoc on his entire development.

an unborn baby’s heart starts to beat, 22 days after conception.

22 days. you might not even know you are pregnant yet, and already there is a tiny little heart beating with in you.

at 13 weeks an unborn baby’s ears start picking up vibrations, and that baby can be calmed by the constant sound of his/her mommy’s heartbeat.

God is the creator of life. every life.

We live in this world where pregnancies are all too often considered a pain in the butt, unexpected, unplanned, and unwanted. Children and adults with mental, social, and physical disabilities are too often discounted, as less of a person, with less to offer the world.

and that breaks my heart. Because we are missing out on the beauty of His creation. the way he made it.


Last year we snuck into an unfamiliar church right as the service was beginning, sat in the back row, and listened to a sermon about the Sanctity of life. We listened as he told Jude’s story to a church full of people.  Some of the people listening knew us, I am sure most of them did not.  

My hands were shaking, and my throat felt dry. Mostly I was hoping no one would notice me, or say anything to me. I wanted to be invisible, and yet I wanted to know. What would Jude’s life mean to these people? I knew we loved him, and we wanted what was best for him; he was our son. I knew that we missed him horribly, and that he changed our lives forever… but would these people care about a baby who wasn’t born alive?

I watched in amazement. Everywhere I looked, people were crying.

We knew Jude would never see the light of day with his own two eyes, or even breath on his own… and yet

His life mattered. 

Jude was not even close to what the world would consider “ideal”, and yet his tiny, little, short life was worth sharing from the pulpit on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  

What happened…

…to my tiny girl.

Larkin at 3 weeks old: weighing just 7 and half poundsI seemed to have blinked, because this tiny girl is a distant memory already.   ”I would have given anything to keep her little. They outgrow us so much faster than we outgrow them.” 
–Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper

put your hands up, and step away from the smart phone

I have this issue with the intranet.
obviously it was a super invention. (thank you Mr. dot com) I do enjoy it.  

But can we get a little moderation please?

I have been anti-technology since we got married.  I started to look at what our family and our future would look like before we even said I do, and I knew that I did not want it to include video games, cell phones, or to much TV for our kiddos. Little did I know that in the next years IPads, Twitter, Facebook, smart phone apps, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 would literally take over our society. 

I want my kids to understand that befriending someone is not the same as friending them. I want them to understand that a hug in real life is worth a million times more then a text when you want to say I’m sorry.  I want my kids to play kick the can with the neighbor kids in the summer, make forts in the living room that turn into boats and the carpet is the water and there are sharks, get out a cook book try to bake cookies, read a actual book from the library and be creative instead of staring at a screen because they are perpetually bored. 

I’m not writing this to accuse anyone of anything, or to make anyone feel bad. I’m writing this to keep myself on track. I can soo easily get sucked into this stuff, and I know that it will all start with me. I can’t say no to my kids someday unless I’m going to say no to myself too.

When I was pregnant we moved our computer into our basement. It had been in our spare bedroom just steps from our bedroom. Which was also conveniently steps from our living room, and kitchen . small house. anyway… I would check Facebook, and my email 10 times a day, at least. I walked past the computer to put away laundry, or to go blow my nose, and each and every time it would draw me in.
Check me. See what everyone in the world is doing at this very moment, or else.

That needed to change. (also, we needed a nursery) So, downstairs the computer went. And it has been so good for me. I have to wait until she is napping, or sleeping for the night, get some slippers (it’s freezing down here) and then, it is my computer time. Those “internet connections” are good too. Email is convenient. I love the blog world, and the connections that has brought me. But all of it in moderation. I refuse to be the mom ignoring her kids because she is playing angry birds on her Blackberry.

I have heard more than several times in the last months “I don’t know how I lived with out my smart phone.” Well no thank you. I seem to be breathing, moving, and carrying on just fine with out it. I don’t even want that temptation in my life. because it will tempt me.

I am looking for advice. I am a planner {I think I’ve made that pretty clear here, worrying about my kids and their cell phone usage. She’s 7 months old. enough said} but, I want to have a game plan on the area of technology in this house hold. 

Anyone find a good solution to getting their kids to invest in imagination instead of technology?  How do you find a good balance of technology in your life?
   
Here is another New Years Resolution for ya {and for me}.
Little less angry birds, and Facebook stalking.
Little more real life. Face to face. and make eye contact while you’re at it.

randomness commence

{things I’m loving today}

she cries when I walk away from her.
even when Daddy was holding her yesterday. {insert evil laugh here}
Happy Mother’s day to me. Yes, everyday is mother’s day around here.
Thank you Jesus that she is bonded to me, and even though the day will come when she knows I did not give birth to her, today she treats me as if I did.
And for the record, she really does love her daddy just as much.

 

 

I loved this New Years Eve. {with a handful of little beings in tow that can’t stay up til midnight, but love the hats, horns, and excitement anyway.} It was in vast contrast to last year, when we went to the same restaurant, with these same people (minus a few) and told our friends over chips and salsa that we had big news. We were adopting.

 

 

My brother Corey, his wife Jenny, and big sister Paelyn welcomed Maddox James into their family.  
This little man (8lbs. 2oz) was born quickly, with no epidural, and healthy. Good job mama.
Just 3 days after Christmas.
sweet as pie.
You guys make ridiculously good babies.
The 3 grandkids. I took this one for you mom.

 

Do you know someone who is just intentional about being thoughtful of others? Someone who catches you off guard by doing the best stuff and you’re all like, “gol, I need to be more like her”.  My friend Jessica is one of those people.
The week of Jude’s birthday, this came in the mail.

New years resolution? Be intentional. Think of others before yourself, all. the. time. Not just when it’s convenient, or easy. {this should be a whole post in itself. maybe later} 
Thank you Jess. I love it so much.

 

Let me introduce you to: The silly smile.
“Hey Lark, let me see your silly smile”
It’s her favorite. It’s my favorite too.

7 months

She is 7 months old. I mean seriously, stop that right now.
In the last month you have started to actually eat baby food instead of spitting it on mommy, your high chair, the floor, and all over yourself.
You got your ears pierced.
You love to stand by things, but have not figured out how to crawl.
The worm is working for you for the time being to get to the toys you want.
You are so full of life, and so expressive.
You copy things Mommy & Daddy do.
You wave bye-bye, and do so big.
You are a show off, and laugh at yourself when other people laugh at you.
You got your bottom two teeth, and are working on the top two. You are still tiny for your age, weighing just under 16 pounds. You wear mostly 3-6 month clothes, and just started wearing size 2 diapers.