Gratituesday: Maternity Photo Shoot "Baby Surprise"

Last week my sister came to do a maternity photo shoot.  She has recently launched her own photography business and it's amazing!  I was so nervous to have her come because I don't feel very photogenic, but I thought she did a fantastic job and I'm so happy to have these memories.

You can visit my talented sis on her blog: Kaptured by Koren and Facebook.  Even if you just go look at her pics, you will be in for a sweet treat!  I love my sis!

Gratituesday: Unexpected Blessing

Here's just a quick Gratituesday post:  Yesterday my husband emailed me a the end of the day and said he had something to tell me.  I couldn't wait to find out what it was.  So he came home and said that he got his annual evaluation and he was given a 3.5% raise and a 10% bonus!  It seems that earlier in 2010 that with cut backs and such at his work that nobody was going to get a raise, least of all a bonus.  I was prepared to live on what he has been making even though we need a bit more money as we are due to have our second baby soon.  So, it was an unexpected blessing from God! 

Gratituesday: The Faith Journey of desiring a second child

If I wasn't a Christian, I would really wonder if the world was against me and how I could make it stop.  But I'm a devoted believer and I love God so much that those thoughts did not enter my mind as we began our faith journey of desiring a second child.  If you have not read the story of having our first child (Reversal of Destiny), please do so first and then you will know why this is such another way God has been testing me and showing that He is God!

After our son Shrade turned one year old, my husband and I started talking and praying about having another.  I was 35 and would be turning 36 in Sep 2010.  I really wanted to have more children sooner than later.  It's hard being an "old" mom sometimes!  Anyway, we started "trying" in the Spring of 2010, but not being too serious about it.  After all, I got pregnant with Shrade so quick we thought it would happen the same.  I also know that when you plan that it takes longer too.  By summer, we were pretty discouraged, but trusted that God had a plan.  So after we got back from our trip to Minnesota in Aug, I missed my time of the month.  I was so excited that I went and got the home pregnancy tests.  I wanted to take them and surprise my husband.  I was very surprised that both tests I took came back negative.  I thought this very odd since I was pretty regular and then with missing my monthly I certainly thought I was with child.  So I decided to make a doc appointment to make sure.  The tests were negative there too.  This was Aug 23.  They did some blood work and other tests and asked me to come back in a month to go over the results and see what I could do if my periods had stopped.  To say I was disappointed when I left was an understatement!

Throughout all of September my emotions ran wild.  I couldn't sleep well, I wasn't hungry and I still had no period or any energy.  I was alarmed that something was terribly wrong with me like having cancer.  My husband was such a great support and at my September doc appointment he said I was perfectly healthy and saw no reason why I had stopped my periods.  If that was still the case, in a few months he wanted me to come back to see if we could do some hormone therapy or take more tests.  October was just as difficult.  What made it more difficult was that people kept asking me when we were going to try for another.  I couldn't say what was going on and I would smile and say, "we are thinking about it."  In my heart, I was crying and asking God how I was going to get pregnant again.  My husband and I agreed that even if we never had another child we would be content with our little Shrade.

About the middle of October, I started gaining a bit of weight mostly in my stomach.  As you can see, I am not very attune to my body.  I was so bummed and decided to start losing some weight, just 5 lbs.  So I began exercising and cutting calories for about a week.  Meanwhile, I just kept praying and asking God when I needed to go back to the doctor.  I was going to wait until after the holidays, but I just felt that God was telling me to go now!  So I made an appointment for Nov 11.

I went in with the intention to ask the doctor to get me on some hormone therapy to start my period again so if there was a chance for us to conceive, then it would be more of a possibility.  I was completely surprised when I went in and began talking to the nurse and she suggested that I take a pregnancy test.  I reluctantly agreed and when she returned she held up the little stick with 2 pink lines!!!  I was astounded with unbelief.  She said that the lines showed up immediately.  I started crying with joy!

How could this be?  After my doc appointment in Aug and I wasn't pregnant, how could I get pregnant if I didn't have another period?  I was beyond any comprehension.  When I thought back, I remember that all kinds of strange things happened in September, but I blew it off as my hormones being whacked out and being tired from chasing a toddler.  This good news I had to share with my hubby.  Thankfully, he works close so I drove down and shared the surprising news!  We were overwhelmed!  Also, this is very similar to my first pregnancy because I have experienced no morning sickness.  I think that would have a dead giveaway.  But I know that God wanted me to find out this way.  I'm kinda sad that I almost missed the whole first trimester, because now I have less time to plan, but I really like how God has revealed himself to me!

God totally surprised us in unexpected ways.  With Shrade, we knew we were pregnant, but God had us wait 3 months for Jeremy to get a job and with this new little one, we had no idea for 3 months that we were pregnant.  But God was working in our hearts to be content and rely on Him only for all of our needs.  Now even if this story did not end up like this, I would still love God and serve Him only.  God watches over every detail of our lives and I'm so excited to share these stories with my little ones when they get older.

Somehow I thought I wouldn't be able to have any more children, but I'm so grateful that God is entrusting us with another and I get be pregnant again (love it) and hold a newborn baby in my arms in May. So right now I am 15 weeks along!

GIGATTAATTGIG (God Is Good All The Time And All The Time God is Good)

Gratituesday: Locks of Love Donation

Have you ever thought of giving away a part of yourself that can help someone else?  Well, I recently decided to donate my hair to Locks of Love.  I've actually never done this before, but since I started growing my hair out (it's been almost 2 years) I saw an announcement in our church bulletin to donate to Locks of Love.  You see, I met a friend a few years ago who had 4 daughters and one weekend 3 of her daughters were killed in a fatal car accident.  This story touched my heart to the core.  One of the daughters had just recently cut her hair to donate and it was lost in the accident.  My friend shares her story and asks that we help support this organization.  I think of how this little girl gave up her life and how this mom gave up her daughter, but I can give up a little hair to help someone.

The missions of Locks of Love: 

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics.

Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need. 

 Before pictures:

After pictures: 

My donation: 10+ inches

I love it!!

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday?  Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here.  If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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Gratituesday: Jeremy's Birthday Surprise in June (Red Caboose Getaway)

Oh, it's been so long since I've wanted to post about this surprise birthday getaway that I planned for my husband.  For those who don't know, my husband and I actually had our first date on his birthday in 2003.  So, it's a double celebration.  I've tried to do special things for him and this took some tricky planning since now we had to find an overnight babysitter for Shrade (thanks, Grandma Linda!).  Jeremy had no idea where we were going.  We drove up to the Olympic Peninsula and as we passed a restaurant that was train cars, Jeremy said, "Oh, cool!  I want to live in a train!"  Little did he know that is exactly what I planned. It was a somewhat cloudy and rainy day, but we drove up to Hurricane Ridge and God cleared enough clouds away so we could enjoy the view.  Then we drove back to the town of Sequim to stay in this unique B&B called the Red Caboose Getaway.  Each "room" is restored caboose by the owner Olaf and Charlotte.  From looking at all the pictures, I think ours was the most romantic.  Also, the dining car served as the breakfast room from the 1930's. So here are the pictures from our trip:

Hurricane Ridge

Red Caboose Getaway June 19, 2010

The Grape Escape

The other cabooses (all different themes)

Olaf is also the waiter

Coconut/Banana bread with pineapple cream cheese spread

Happy Birthday, honey!

Lavender fields in Sequim

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday: My car accident 5 years ago

So I know this doesn't sound like a Gratituesday at first, but it WAS!  Five years ago today I was in a car accident that totaled my car (a paid off gift from my precious Aunt Judy who died in 1996).  I was driving somewhere after work one day.  I don't even remember where I was going.  It had just started to rain and the roads were slick.  I was only going 35 mph on a busy road at 4pm.  I was on the phone with my husband telling him about my day at school.  It was the end of the school year and I was busy planning a huge Kindgarten Promotion program.  My mind was not on my driving.  Well, I saw right in front of me a car just stopped.  I yelled "Oh, my God!" and slammed into that car.  You have to know being in a car accident is one of my worst nightmares!  I actually was in 2 already before, but I never wanted another one.  Remember, I was on the phone with my husband.  Well, my airbag came out and burned my arms and hand and my favorite skirt!  My phone flew out of my hand and broke apart.  I was so scared, but I was OK.  Thank you, Jesus!  I was the third car in a three car pile up.  I found a person with a cell phone and tried calling my husband to let him know I was OK.  Later I found out that he was leaving messages on my phone which I still have saved today- "Call me back, honey!"  He was so worried. 

The police came and I got stuck with a ticket for being on my cell phone.  The whole insurance company thing was a nightmare in itself.  Jeremy called a friend who lived close to come pick me up and help me call and get my car towed home.  I was so distraught.  That night I actually went to Home Group and my church friends just surrounded me with love and pampering.  I also had to call my principal and got a sub for my class.  I called my sub who was my Teacher Assistant at the time and I just told her a bunch of stuff to do to keep the kids busy since it was the end of the year.  And thankfully, another friend loaned us their car for a few weeks.

Well, the best thing that came out of this was now we were down to 1 vehicle and we both had jobs.  We had really wanted to get a truck, but we didn't want to part with my car since it was paid off and we liked our other car.  So the car I totaled was out of commission and we felt that was God saying it was OK for us to get a truck!  I really didn't like how that choice was made, but God knew best.  And I didn't sustain any long lasting injuries.

So, here's our truck.  It has been so handy to have for camping or rugged driving and also hauling things around.  We love it and are so thankful for it.

Sorry this was so long, I usually keep things short, but I really wanted to share this story of how God blessed us even in a tragedy.

For more Gratituesday, go to Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday: MOPS

Last year I had the privilege of being part of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers).  I was a new mom and I was just learning all about being a parent.  I had so much fun getting to know the girls at my table, eating great food, hearing awesome and inspiring speakers and growing as a mom.  I encourage every mom to get involved in a group where you can learn and grow!  Thanks LCC Day MOPS! 

For more Gratituesday, go to Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday: Friends and Games

A few weeks ago my husband and I invited some friends over for dinner and games.  My friend brought over these lovely irises.  So we had Ginger Peanut Chicken with Perfect Brown Rice and Jeremy made yummy fruit shakes for dessert.  We also played The Farming Game!  Have you ever heard of it?  It's native to WA state.  It was very fun.  It's a bit like Monopoly, but it takes you through a year of farming.  Let me tell you, I did not want to be a farmer after playing that.  Also, I lost and owed money to the bank at the end.  Oh, well, we had fun!  Take time for fun and games with friends when you can.

For more Gratituesday, go to Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday: Strawberry Rhubarb

You cannot imagine what my husband has time to do!  This is just a small bit of his canning, but I really like this strawberry rhubarb mix that we put on our toast, ice cream and also in other recipes.  We grow our own rhubarb and Jeremy is so great at picking strawberries and packing them up for the freezer to be used in canning.  Yum!!

I also made another recipe that used this strawberry rhubarb mix. It's called Coffee Cake.  I actually got this recipe from my friend Alison @ Hospitality Haven and I tweaked it to what I liked/had.  So instead of using maple extract I used coconut extract and I used Jeremy's strawberry rhubarb sauce instead of cherries.  Yum!!

For more Gratituesday go to Heavenly Homemakers!
Also hooked up to Tasty Tuesday!

Gratituesday: Neck and Shoulder Therapy Wrap

 

These last several weeks I've been having some upper back and neck pain.  I went to our freezer to find our neck wrap and it smelled horrible!  So I decided to go shopping on Etsy for a decent neck wrap made with good ingredients and smelled good.  I found this wonderful neck wrap made with flax seeds and it smells like peppermint and lavender.  On top of all that, it feels great hot or cold!  I LOVE it.

So check out HomeGrown Pillows on Etsy for your own Therapy Neck Wrap!  Would make a great gift for a girlfriend, mom or sister.  :)

Also, bop on over to Heavenly Homemakers for more Gratituesday.

Gratituesday: Books!

Can I just say I absolutely LOVE books and I cannot live without them!  Here are just a few that are on my current reading list.  OK, I have an obsession with books.  First, as you can see I can't just only read one book at a time.  Also, I go to the library every week not only for books for me, but also for my son.  I really like to smell books too.  I know that's weird.  It's very homey to me.  But what I love most about books is getting LOST in the story.  I will brag about books that are page turners for me.

Are you a book lover like me?  Love to hear from you!

Check out more Gratituesday posts at Heavenly Homemakers.

Gratituesday: Cats!

I have to admit that I love cats. I grew up with a dog and dearly loved my Grover, but when I was a single teacher living alone in my apartment I decided to adopt a cat. So for my birthday I went to the shelter and found this beautiful cat, Katya. She was perfect for me. She and I instantly bonded and it was so wonderful that my future husband loved cats because there was no way I was going to give up my precious Katya. In fact, I think Katya loved Jeremy more than me at times. We had her for 7 years before we said a very heart wrenching goodbye in our living room on a Tuesday morning in November 2007. I really grieved a long time for this cat. But it made it a little easier because we had....

Abby!
We actually got Abby 6 months before Katya died. We met her when we stayed at a friend's house for the weekend. We fell in love with this sweet, loveable bundle. We really wanted to take this kitty home. So, it was an answered prayer when our friends offered for us to adopt Abby. We were thrilled! She has been such a blessing to us. Abby helped us through the loss of Katya. However, we really liked cats, so in January 2008 we rescued....

Chloe!

Chloe and Abby DID NOT get along well for several months. One lived upstairs and one lived downstairs. It was pretty bad. But when Abby and Chloe finally decided to tolerate each other we found out that Chloe had kidney disease. So in October 2008 we layed Chloe to rest next to Katya in our backyard. It was very hard to bury another cat in less than a year, but actually it worked out OK because we had our baby in November 2008 and having one cat was enough for me.

Here's a picture of Jeremy with Chloe and Abby.

I will always love cats and I definitely don't want to say goodbye to Abby anytime soon. Each one of these cats was a blessing from God for times in our lives. I really thank God for animals, especially cats!!

Do you have a precious animal that you want to tell me about? :)

Head on over to Heavenly Homemakers for more Gratituesday!

Gratituesday: My morning time

This year I have made a conscious effort to meet with God every weekday morning. He has made is possible for me to do this due to my husband's and baby's schedule. I know I can have a half hour every morning to pray the read through the Bible. I love it! If you can get that time in with God first thing I recommend it. I have sometimes "slept in" and thought, "Oh, I'll meet with God later in the day." But it never happens. I feel so blessed to have this special time with God every morning.

For more of my musings check out my God's Nuggets.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday: Blog Friends

This last year I started stumbling onto some AMAZING blogs. I recently started my blog at the end of 2008 to share about my son. I never really knew there were so many fun, encouraging and beautiful blogs out there. One of my friends shared a link on Facebook for Laura's free preschool ebook on Heavenly Homemakers. I clicked on it and the rest is history. From there I have found so many blogs and also friends. I love connecting with people around the world through the internet. Now that I'm a stay at home mom I don't have social interaction as often as I did when I was working. Finding my blog friends has filled that void and introduced me to so many things like cooking, friendship, relationships, spiritual growth and more. Thanks for being my friends. I really do click on a lot of blogs and love to read your posts.

Gratituesday: Christian Freedom

Recently I started reading a magazine put out by Voice of the Martyrs. I am on my knees praying for these persecuted Christians everyday. I have such a GOOD life and these people are being beaten and killed even by their own family members for being a Christian. We are SO blessed here in America to buy and read the Bible out loud wherever we are without persecution. We can openly worship in churches without fear of the government attacking us. I am so grateful for my Christian freedom (I don't use the word religious, because being a Christian to me means relationship with Christ). I just finished the February issue of VOM and I am broken for these Christians who suffer for Christ. If you are interested in obtaining this magazine for free go to: www.persecution.com.