outside playtime...

cloth diapering part 1...

so i think i have mentioned it before, but now i am dedicating a whole post (or more!) about cloth diapering. i seriously am so excited about this!

let me start by saying, my very first thoughts of cloth diapering were basically no way, never, not a chance. there is no way i could keep up with the extra loads of laundry, i can't even keep up with what i have piled up in the laundry room. there is no way that i would use a cloth diaper, pins, covers, that is way too much. i am sure that is what most of you are thinking!!

and then it happened jaelyn broke out terribly. it happened all of the sudden. she had been wearing pampers swaddlers since the day she was born. then she developed a diaper rash and it wouldn't go away. then i realized i could get the diaper rash cleared up with desitin. but then i started noticing that at the edges of her diaper her skin was raw and red. it looked like sunburn. in some areas it was splotchy other areas were a pattern of the ruffle on her skin. it would become chapped and begin to peel. it was horrible. i tried putting aquaphor on it and it seemed to make it worse. my poor baby looked like she was in so much pain. thankfully, she didn't act like it hurt.

when i saw our pediatrician for her sixth month check up, she agreed it looked like a reaction to the diapers. she suggested buying a new pack of pampers, same brand, same kind and seeing if that would help. i realized that i had done that. the rash began when we were halfway through one box of diapers and into the first half of a new box of diapers. so the next step would have been to try another brand of diapers. i just couldn't do it. i love pampers swaddlers and didn't want to use another brand.

so i began to do some research on cloth diapers and was amazed at what i had found. first of all, they are so stinkin' cute. they come in a ton of different colors and brands and styles. yes, there is still the option of cloth diapers and covers, although they no longer need pins. but there is a ton of other options available too. which i will explain later. i went to this blog that i love and have been reading for quite awhile (thanks to my friend, marybeth)to do a little research and see what she uses on her baby girl, ivy. it was so helpful to read about someone else's adventure.

next, i did a little research on the cost of this whole thing. wow, was i shocked to find out that the type of cloth diaper i was interested in would cost about $20 each. yes. twenty. dollars. each. so i did the math on what it would cost to get started on this adventure. then i compared with what it would cost us each month to buy disposables. even though the initial start up cost on buy the cloth diapers is a lot, it still was a lot cheaper then buying diapers each month. i figured out we could save around one thousand dollars over the next 2 years by going with the cloth diapers.

during my research, i was in contact with my friend, beth, she is cloth diapering for the first time with her third baby, eli. i asked beth if she knew anything about the brand bum genius, because that is the brand i was most interested in using. that is the brand she uses on eli and loves them. she even offered to let me try a few of hers before i would buy my own!!! what a blessing.

then, it was time to present it all to my husband. he was definitely interested in the money saving aspect as well as if it would clear up her rash. how would we know they would would work? what if we embarked on this whole thing and it didn't work? lucky for us, i was going to be able to borrow a few of beth's. so we got to try them out.

it was a friday afternoon, when i went to pick up 5 bum genius diapers from beth. she talked me through how they worked and how she washes hers. i took them home and put one on jaelyn. within two hours her rash began to improve a lot. and by the next day, it was looking so much better!! so through that weekend and into the next week i was washing twice a day to be able to keep jaelyn in the cloth diapers. even though, it was hard to do all of that laundry, i knew it wouldn't be as bad when i had the correct number of diapers!!

i couldn't wait to get my own collection of cloth diapers!! i was so excited about this new adventure. i was so excited that jaelyn's rash was healing. i was so excited about saving money. i will say the extra laundry was not as exciting. but so worth it!

in another post, i will share more about the diapers we choose and some details about cloth diapering...just in case i have sparked your curiosity to start cloth diapering too.

in the meantime...

i am working on a few good posts. i know i have said that before. but really, truly i am. a few of them have been swirling around in my head for some time now. i just haven't had a chance to sit down and write them out. and one biggie i just haven't been ready to post quite yet. so while you are waiting for those, enjoy these pictures of my cuties!!! oh and you can go here to read an update on why i have given up on letting her cry it out for now!

she is wearing a skirt and babylegs legwarmers...
seriously, too cute

a sneak peek of her in a happy heiny cloth diaper...
yes, it is blue.
yes, we have pink too.
more on that later!!!

jordyn loves to be a big sister!
this morning she told me she was sad
because she didn't get to play with jaelyn before leaving for school.
broke my heart!

ok, this sweet dress was given to us by our dear friends
at my baby shower and she is wearing it already!
thanks patti and heather!!
isn't it too cute??
oh and her bow...a sarabeth bow!!

now that jaelyn is more vocal and moree aware of everyone,
jesiah loves to play with her.
he is becoming quite the big brother!!

baby bangs...

they are here. it has happened after each of my four pregnancies. after months of my hair falling out by the handful and feeling like i may go bald, the baby bangs have appeared. i was being proactive a few months ago and had some bangs cut. and now i have a few more. those little tiny hairs are growing sparsely across my forehead, thankfully blending into my bangs for the most part. oh, and as my hair gets longer it is getting wavy and curly. it amazes me how our bodies react to giving birth, hormones and such.

has any of this happened to you?

what a sight...

not often do i have all four kids out and about, especially not by myself. the biggest reason is because the older two kids are in school, so i tend to do all of my errands while they are at school with the two little kids. not today, i had to do a quick trip into target. and i mean quick.

as the three big kids pile out of the van, i opt to carry the baby in her infant seat and not bother wearing her, because we are going to be quick. i mean real quick. as we walk into the store, i realize that we are quite a sight to be seen. i feel like i am a mama duck with three little ducklings in tow and one more on her hip. we tend to attract a lot of attention. for some reason people like to look at us. and i wonder why.

i chose a cart with a broken wheel that made so much noise as we headed through the store. my kids are not quiet either. they are so full of life. they chitter chatter as they walk. they play duck duck goose in the detergent aisle with the detergent bottles, not each other. they loudly ask for everything in sight. they spin, twirl, sing and touch. they walk off and i have to call them back. and i am constantly trying to keep them in check with my glares or my words. the baby does not cry, she stays asleep. thankfully. so it is just three making a scene. i think, wow, what happens when there is one more keeping up with them.

we tend to attract a lot of attention. i have no idea why.

somewhere across town...

last night was really rough for me, i hit a breaking point. jaelyn hasn't been sleeping very well and we have been letting her cry it out for five nights. and it just doesn't seem to work with her, she is just crying longer and harder. i don't remember it being this hard with the other three. the breaking point for me is that i am just tired, i don't do well without a lot of sleep. i just don't. and i don't do well without a lot of time for myself. a lot of time, who am i kidding, i don't need " a lot" just some time. and after bedtime for all the kids, is my time to breathe, to catch up with my hubby, to read, or blog or whatever. with my sweet little girl not staying asleep, "my time" is being interrupted. and i kind of lost it last night. i was really frustrated. i just hit a breaking point, i was so upset that i wasn't getting "my time".

oh. how. selfish. of. me.

because somewhere across town, this family, is crying out to the lord to help them because their sweet baby girl is not recovering well from her last surgery. one of many surgeries she has had and come through beyond what the doctor's thought. now, the doctor's are saying sweet baby kayleigh may be brain dead and may never wake up.

seriously, i am whining and complaining because i didn't get "my time". i am whining because i am tired. these parents are fighting for the life of their child. gosh, how tired must they be. they are praying for a miracle to be done in their baby girl once again. and i am sure they have no time for themselves. at. all.

wow, how this puts things in perspective for me.

i am not going to go there {to my breaking point} again. i am going to resist it. it isn't of God anyway. i am going to be grateful for "my time" that is interrupted by my sweet healthy baby girl. i am going to hold her and love on her and praise the Lord for this precious gift He has given to me. "my time" can wait until the day when she is all grown up and sleeping through the night somewhere else across town.

for several years, God has put this undeniable passion in my heart for babies. i know He wants me to use it for His purpose. so stories like kayleigh's really touch me and go way beyond a place in my heart that i didn't know was there. so today i am praying for sweet baby kayleigh and her family.

will you join with me in praying today for kayleigh?

two quick updates!!

update on on our sweet baby jaelyn...

jaelyn had her 6 month well check last week. she weighs in at 14 lbs 7 oz (25th%) and 26 inches (50th%) long. she looks great and is doing very well! our fabulous doctor is very pleased and so are we. also, no heart murmur was heard again this time. it was heard at her 1 month check up and never again since - praise the lord!!! He has healed her heart!!!

jaelyn has had a pretty bad case of diaper rash. a very different kind of rash. she became burned and chapped all along the edges of her diaper. her skin began to peel and was raw and really red. it looked like sunburn. there was a ruffle pattern of sunburn looking redness across her little thighs where the diaper lays against her skin. it was also across the line below her belly button. very strange to happen all of the sudden, she has worn the same diapers since she was born. i tried treating it with desitin and aquaphor. neither worked. it only got worse. i was able to show it to our pediatrician and we think it is a reaction to her diapers.

instead of trying another brand (i just love pampers!), i started doing some research about cloth diapering. i was able to borrow a few from my friend, beth. jaelyn had them on for just a few hours and i began to see a huge improvement. today when we went to church, i only took her pampers. and when we came home she had become red again from just two hours of wearing it. it has been very frustrating to try to see her looking so uncomfortable. so, i think we are making a switch to cloth diapers. more on that adventure in another post!


update on baby hudson...

yesterday, i posted about my sweet friend jenny. her baby boy, hudson, was in the nicu because of some respiratory distress yesterday. jenny posted on her blog today and her sweet boy has had a wonderful day. the doctors think he aspirated on his formula and that is what cassed the distress. if he continues to have good day tomorrow, he will be coming home on tuesday!! praise the lord. He is our healer!!!

could you please pray...

for my friend jenny!
jenny just had a beautiful baby boy about 3 days ago
and she was discharged from the hospital today
but without sweet baby hudson.
hudson developed some sort of respiratory issues
early this morning.
according to her last post, the doctor's are not exactly sure what is going on.
please pray for healing and for the doctor's to figure out what is wrong with him.

i have known jenny for many years, we met at mops
and she served with me on the steering team.
hudson is baby #4 for their family.
they have two boys already and in september they adopted a baby girl, sophie,
who is only 7 months old and a sweetie pie!

jenny and her husband shane have three other children to care and i can not imagine what she is feeling without having her baby boy at home to make the family complete.

you can read more about their sweet family here.

thank you for your prayers!!!

celebrating easter...

easter 2009...

here they are all matchy matchy!
boy, it is hard to get all four to cooperate and get a good shot.
this is our best one.
we were on our way out the door for easter service,
we attended on saturday night (easter eve)

egg hunt at their grandparent's house...

jaelyn's first easter...

she couldn't go hunt for eggs, but she has found her toes

just hatched...six months ago!!

jaelyn is wearing jordyn's easter dress on easter day
and a little bonnet too

here she is in her dress that matches jordyn's...
yes she had several easter outfits

somebunny is so sweet!!
yup it is jaelyn

yep, i'm a mom...

my friend, stephanie, did a fun blog post today called "yep, i'm a mom" and i thought i would link to her and play along. here is a list of things that occur in my life daily that make me think, yep, i am a mom. (and i wouldn't have it any other way!)

you know you are a mom when...

~ you use your own saliva to wipe your child's face after saying you would never do it when your mom did it to you when you were a kid

~ you are constantly stepping on cheerios and other goodies that get stuck in between your toes

~ you use baby wipes to wipe off everything from the interior of your vehicle to an article of clothing

~ you can check homework, cook dinner, talk on the phone and breast feed all at the same time

~ you realize that your kids have a better wardrobe and look way cuter than you

~ you eat the leftovers off your kids' plates or you offer them to your hubby so it doesn't go to waste

~ you speak in first person (ie: mommy will be right there sweetie!)

~ you go on a weekend trip to get away and while you are there you can't wait to get back to your kids

~ you can sing a theme song to a movie or tv show you have heard over and over and realize you have never actually seen it

~ your kids get more frequent hair cuts than you

~ you would take an insult that has broken your child's heart rather than them having to endure that pain

what are some of the things that you do or say that make you think, "yep, i'm a mom"?

go check out stephanie's blog and the other bloggers who have linked to her and then join in on the fun!!!

wardrobe wednesday...

oh the fun of shopping for myself!!! i used to love it and now i just get frustrated. but i have to share some success i have had.

over a week ago, i went shopping with my sister to find a dress for easter. we actually found several nice things in addition to the easter dress at target. sometimes i luck out at target and sometimes i do not have any luck! with clothes that is. this time was a big score!

although, when i tried the "easter dress" (the whole reason for the shopping trip) on for my hubby, it was less flattering than i thought it was when i tried it on in the store. it was a little too short and made me look a lot bigger because it was too big. i could have used a size or two smaller. but i knew they didn't have it in those sizes. here's why i know...my sister and i had already been to several different targets looking for this dress. we actually found it in a size 4 (not my size!) at the first target and when we inquired about where they were, the sales associate told us that it was a return and that collection is carried at a different target down the street, so we went there. different targets carry different collections - didn't know that - so good to know!!!

so i had to go to plan b, i had found two other dresses that same shopping trip, same dress different colors! when i tried on the first one, i like it so much i had to have two!! they are great summer dresses you could dress up or dress down. they look cute with heels or flip flops. you can add a cute sweater and some jewlry to finish off the look!! i ended up wearing this one for easter. although it is called candy apple red, it is more of a bright pink/fuschia color to me. and this is the other one i bought. i must add that these dresses do not fit me like they fit the models, on the models they are way shorter than they are on me (and i am pretty tall - the models must be really tall) and they look so much more slinky on them, that is not how they look on me - they are more flowing than that. they are very inexpensive. i think i will get a lot of wear out of them. i can see them being worn during the day, to church or at night!! they are very flattering. not only are these dresses flattering you can easily breastfeed in them - an added bonus.

grown up girlfriends...

i have a great group of girlfriends, we meet once a month for a book discussion, fellowship and prayer. we met last week and finished discussing the book, grown up girlfriends:finding and keeping real friends in the real world, by carrie oliver and erin smalley.

what a great read. i highly recommend this book! it is so insightful. i was so challenged by so many things that the authors' wrote. i learned so much about being a grown up girlfriend. the idea of being a grown up girlfriend comes straight from scripture's definition of growing up. to "put childish ways behind" (1Corin. 13:11) and become more mature. straight from the book it says, "a grown up girlfriend is someone who encourages us in our pursuit to "grow up in Him"; in fact, she desires to become like Christ too. God uses grown up girlfriendships to complete His purposes in us."

as part of an exercise our church small groups' did last week, we spent some time encouraging each other, we went around the room and spoke positive statements about each other. gosh, for me, is so uncomfortable to be the one receiving the compliments. i am so much better at giving them than receiving them. but these sweet friends truly spoke life into me. they said just the things i needed to hear! it was so refreshing to hear the words of encouragement and not the silent negative words i say to myself throughout most of the day.

i am so thankful for these friends that God has placed in my life. each of them are unique and are such fine examples of grown up girlfriends.

over 7,000 & over 700...

wow!!! wow!!! wow!!! i am in amazement of how God is working and moving in our church! elevation church held ten services this weekend, saw over 7,000 people attendance and had over 700 people accept Christ!! this is only our fourth easter as a church and i am blown away by the way God is all over us! Pastor Steven has such a way of delivering a message - he preached six services out of the ten! jamil said he had as much energy on the sixth sermon on sunday evening as he did at the first service on saturday evening. that strength and energy is all God working through our annointed pastor!!! i can not say enough about our pastor and his wife, holly. they have an amazing calling on their life and they are so obedient to it. the staff and volunteers at our church are so awesome!! our worship team and creatvie department rock!!! we had a break dancer on stage during worship -wow- and the most awesome opening video (you have to click here to see it, do not miss this one)!!! we couldn't have had a weekend like this without everyone pulling together in prayer and in service. simply amazing!! everyday, i feel so blessed to be experiencing a move like this!

yesterday, was a little hard because i was on my own as far as parenting. jamil was with our pastor pretty much all day and we didn't see him but for one hour. but you know, it was so worth the sacrifice! and instead of letting it get to me, i choose to be thankful to be a "single mom" yesterday and really most sundays. to know that i make a small contribution by allowing my husband to serve all day in his sweet spot with our pastor is how i serve right now at elevation. i choose to serve with a grateful heart and not a complaining one. i choose to think positive and turn what could be a bad day with four kids and a ton of sugar into a good one. i do this because i so believe in our pastor, his wife, the staff, the volunteers and our church! i believe that we are impacting our city for Jesus Christ! i know people far from God are being filled with life in Christ. i just know this!!!! i am so honored to be a part of what God is doing at and through elevation church.

you can go here later today to check out pastor's sermon, it is life changing! it was an easter message like i have never heard. from isiah 53, pastor laid it on the line and spoke the fire out of the message stating if you do not "esteem to be like Him, you do not believe in Him" wow! what a challenge. if you didn't hear the message, take a little time please and check this out!!! it will be life changing for you too!! leave me a comment and let me know if you watched the video and/or heard the message and what did you think??

wishing you...

a very happy happy easter!

i hope that you enjoy every sweet moment with your family this weekend as you celebrate the true meaning of easter! i have been spending time with my family and haven't had time to finish any of my posts. next week, i should be back on track posting pictures and stories. but as for now, i am enjoying this time with my family. we have a busy and fun weekend planned!

specific answer to prayer #3...coming soon

i have been so busy this week with the big kids on spring break and my blogging time is few and far between. also, i can not find the pictures i had in mind for the next blog post, so i am going to have to finish up the post later with any luck i can have it up tonight or tomorrow. i apologize, bear with me!!!

specific answer to prayer: elevation church

next month, will mark our two year anniversary of our first sunday at elevation church. words can not express how grateful we are for our church. elevation was a complete answer to our prayers. we had to begin "church shopping" on mother's day 2007 after leaving the church we attended for six years. the pain that we endured while we were in the midst of leaving was unbearable at the time. we experienced a major loss in so many ways. needless to say it was hard to think about looking for a new church. but we did immediately after leaving the old church. i was very worried about finding a new church. i was worried about finding one that felt like home, one that the kids would be comfortable in and one that would preach God's word with no fluff and no apologies.

we prayed that our transition to finding a new church would be smooth. we prayed for the kids to adjust and do well. i was very nervous about taking them to different nurseries and kids' programs. how would they do, how would they feel. we prayed we would feel comfortable. we prayed for a place where we could heal from what we had been through. we prayed for a church where we could grow in Christ. it would have been very very easy for us to put going to church on hold. we were really in a rough spot. and we didn't know how to go about looking for a church. but we knew we had to get back out there right away. we made a list of five local churches that we think we would like. we decided to begin the process the sunday after leaving our old church. no breaks or time off from going to church.

on our first sunday visiting churches, we chose to go to elevation church. honestly, i only remember a few things about our very first sunday. i remember it was mother's day. i remember being greeted by a lot of friendly people. i remember it taking awhile to get our children signed up to go into ekidz, but i didn't mind. i remember being in awe of the worship experience - it rained on the stage as people were getting baptized by the hundreds. yes, we experienced spontaneous baptisms during the series they called deep. i remember loving the music and the teaching. i remember josh saying, "mom, this is the best church i have ever been to!". i remember thinking is this our church home? could we have found it this easily?

God answered our prayers!!! we continued going to elevation for a few more sundays and decided that it was our church home. we never made it anywhere else to visit. God called us to our church home right away. He made it so easy for us to find a church home.

we know that God has called us to elevation! we have seen God move in so many ways through our church and in our lives. God has healed us from the pain we endured from our old church through the trust and belief we have in our new church. God has grown us so much through elevation and through our pastor's teaching. we have been given a very special way to serve at elevation. God has blessed us with a church home and we wouldn't want to experience God in any other place. He is clearly at work, elevation is growing and there is huge life changing events happening and people far from God are being filled with life in Christ....

....and the best is yet to come!!!

six months, spring break, sleepy girl ,some reflection & specific answered prayers - blog challenge...

six months old!!

i say it every month, but i seriously can not believe how fast time is going by! jaelyn is six months old today!!! my goodness she is getting so big! she is not a newborn baby girl. craziness.

if you click here, you can see the post i wrote all about her and what she is doing at six months old, oh and there are a few more cute pics there too!

spring break...

the older kids started their spring break last thursday with a half day of school. they will be off of school through the monday after easter. we plan to just do some fun things around the house and around town. we will have some play dates and park days. also, we are starting to have our date days with the kids this week. we are also going to work on some spring cleaning!! i will be doing most of it but giving the kids little chores to help out!!! the key to keeping my sanity this week is keeping them busy!!!

happy spring break basket!!

we gave the kid's their "easter baskets" early this year. i decided that we didn't need to spend a ton of money on a bunch of junk. so i filled a large basket with a bunch of art supplies. our kids love to draw and paint and do crafts. our supplies were running low. after i bought all the stuff, i realized if we wait to give it to them next sunday "for easter", they wouldn't get to use the new stuff as much as if i gave it to them early then they could use it during quiet time when jaelyn is napping during spring break!! perfect solution. also with jamil's schedule at church, we won't get to do a traditional easter basket in the morning b/c he will be gone early in the morning. of course on easter day, we will still do a easter egg hunt and get a basket full of candy. yesterday they enjoyed painting with watercolors. a perfect solution

sleepy little girl...

yes, with her shades on!! jordyn is such a little diva!! she is always wearing dress up jewelry, sunglasses, lipstick, bows and barrettes in her hair. even to sleep!! yesterday after we got back from church, the kids painted and then played outside. they were fighting a lot and annoying each other, so i brought them in to do a little quiet time and jordyn fell asleep on my bed!!! she is so sweet!! aren't they are little angels when they are asleep?

some reflection...

here is a picture of me and my girls... i feel so blessed to have two sweet girls. i have so much fun doing all the girly girl stuff with them. i love to dress them up. i love to match and coordinate their outfits. i love to do their hair with pretty bows and things. i love playing with girly things (barbies!!!) there is something so special to me about having girls. i love my boys, do not get me wrong, and i don't love my girls any more, it is just so different.

as i was looking at this picture i did some reflecting and the joy that flooded my heart was overwhelming. i praise God every day for my kids!! when we were trying to get pregnant for baby #2, i prayed for a girl. our first was a boy and i really wanted a girl. my sweet little niece, hannah, was about 6 months old (jaelyn's age) at the time (july 2002) when i prayed this prayer. i remember specifically holding her at my mother in law's wedding, she was all dressed up with a pink dress, lacy socks and ribbons in her hair. i knew i had to have a baby girl!! i prayed that i would be blessed with a baby girl after holding my sweet little niece!! wow!! exactly one year later God blessed us with baby jordyn. wow, until writing this, i didn't realize the timing on that!! and then five years later God blessed us with jaelyn. God knew my heart's desire when i was pregnant with jaelyn, i wanted another girl and He filled that desire. now i have not one but two baby girls!!

specific answer to prayers blog challenge...

my two girls are specific answers to my prayers!!! what prayers has God answered for you that maybe you didn't realize at the time was a specific answer to a prayer? think about it!!! there are so many prayers God has answered for me that i have forgotten about.

writing this post today has inspired me to do some more reflecting on prayers that God has answered. i am going to dig through some journals and do some more thinking!!! to celebrate easter week, i am going to do several posts, maybe even one a day, sharing the amazing power of prayer and how God is so big in our life!! i encourage you to reflect and think about how you have seen God at work in your life. if you are a blogger, i encourage you to blog about this too, how awesome to fill the blog world with posts like this!!! if you do it... please leave a comment and let me know. if you don't blog, feel free to leave me a comment about a specific answer to your prayers!!

blessing not a bother...

selfish is what i become when my baby doesn't sleep well some nights or sleep long enough for her naps. it is a bother to me, why do i let it be?
when there is a momma out there whose baby never woke up from his sleep and he went to meet Jesus.

overwhelmed is what i become when my house is filled with loud noises, arguing, crying and squealing. it is a bother to me, why do i let it be?
when there is a momma out there who is just longing to hear those same noises in her home but can not conceive a child because of infertility.

annoyed is what i become when i have to stop what i am doing to fix a snack or a meal or breastfeed my baby. it is a bother to me, why do i let it be?
when there is a momma out there who is just waiting to be able to feed her baby and not have to watch her be fed through a tube.

discontent is what i become when i look around at our small house busting at the seams stuffed with four active kids who share two rooms. it is a bother to me, why do i let it be?
when there is a momma out there who just can not wait to have her very sick baby discharged from the hospital and take her home to a house that is big or small.

sad is what i become thinking that my fourth baby is the last.
it is a bother to me, why do i let it be?
when there is a momma out there who just lost a baby due to a failed adoption.

ungrateful is what i become when i have to stop what i am doing to pick up my crying baby. it is a bother to me, why do i let it be?
when there is a momma out there who couldn't carry her baby to term or lost her shortly after birth.

frustrated is what i become when my husband is helping around the house and doesn't do it my way. it is a bother to me,why do i let it be?
when there is a momma out there who has lost her husband and is doing everything all by herself.


no longer will i let all of these things be a bother to me.
these not so nice things that i become are not of God. they are of the enemy.

God has used the stories of many different mothers to show me some things about myself, about my life and about the person i want to be.

i am so thankful for my life and the blessings that He has given me that i will think twice before becoming bothered by the very things He has blessed me with. He has given these to me as a blessing and not to be a bother.

just to clarify...

my last post was an april fool's day joke! i think some readers did not click on the link to go over to my other blog and see that it said april fool's day! so just to clarify, i am not expecting another baby. we are not adding another baby to our family this year.

of course that generated some buzz as to will there ever be a fifth massey in my j crew? right now, jamil and i think that four is a great number of kiddos, unless God tells us otherwise. we feel at this time our family is complete.

that is really hard for me to admit. really hard. i absolutely love being pregnant, love the delivery, love teeny tiny newborns and love babies! love it all. of course, the adjustment is hard, it isn't all perfect for me. but overall we have been blessed with four wonderful pregnancies, births and babies.

i have quickly realized that those little babies grow up into active kids who require a. lot. of. attention. time. and. money. we have been blessed with three big kids who have big huge personalities. they love being busy. they love to have the attention on them. they love to be dramatic. and i have come to believe that our fourth sweetie pie will be just like the other three.

so for now, i am enjoying every one of my children in the stage that they are in. i am loving on my sweet baby extra long and hard. i feel so blessed to have been chosen to be their mom. and as most moms know, our children are the reason we get out of bed each morning (literally!!)

a big announcement...

i just could not wait another day to share our wonderful announcement:

we are expecting baby #5!!!
our due date is nov. 6,2009
just one month after jaelyn will turn one!!

we are still in shock but know God is in control!!

i wanted to do something cute to make the announcement...
so hop on over to jaelyn's blog,
(which she will now be sharing with her baby brother or sister!)