Marriage in Waiting and Hope

I hope this video will be a great encouragement to those who are struggling in marriage. Maybe Valentines Day was not so great this year. Or maybe you are just waiting for a BREAKTHROUGH!!! Continue to wait on the Lord to move and continue to HOPE because the Lord is faithful. This video is very powerful.

Please also see: WAITING posted on: OUT OF DEEP WATERS

Happy Valentines

Happy Valentines Day
to MY VALENTINE!

Dear Valentine,
It has been quite an adventure to be married to you for these first five years! We have been through "a whole heap together". We've experienced the lovie-dovie in love times of being newly weds, we've worked together, traveled together, we've even been through the difficult times of job changes and life stresses.
You have been supportive of me through some of the toughest months of my life. You have been strong, kept the faith, and most of all... you held on to hope for me and for us. Thank you. Thick and Thin, my love.
In 2007, we had our first child and our lives were changed forever... for the better! We were a family from the start of the pregnancy and it was (and is) wonderful! He's an amazing mini version of YOU. Full of personality, life, and JOY! It's been so awesome to learn to be parents together.
Throughout the years that we have known each other, God has been at work in our lives. He has taken us from being Christians who were striving -- to becoming Christ followers who are seeking first the Kingdom of God... going after the things He's called us to... and finally knowing that we are loved, by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords just because we are His children. Oh, the freedom!
Now we are in a new season of life. Ready to run. Ready for new adventures.
And I just want to take the opportunity to say that it is an honor to do life together with YOU!
I began praying for a Godly husband when I was in middle school and I know that my parents prayed for you since the time of my birth. You have told me that you were praying for me too. GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! He has brought us together! For marriage, for friendship, for parenting, and for calling. May His Will Be Done In Our Lives!!!

I love you. I am in love with you.
Happy Valentines Day 2009

Spirit of Adoption

My friends new blog and journey to adoption:

How it all began...
Mark and I began to explore our options in adoption in 1999 after a few years of being unable to have children biologically. In 2000, we found out we were pregnant and put our adoption plans on hold but never quite closed the book. We now have 2 AMAZING biological boys, ages 6 & 7! This fall, 2008, Mark and I decided together that we were ready to open the book on adoption again! After careful prayer and consideration, we are planning on adopting 2 children from Ghana, West Africa!

Read More: http://ghanagetsugar.blogspot.com/

I love adoption. God has given me the spirit of adoption deep in my heart. I enjoy what people like Steven Curtis Chapman have done to make it easier on families who so desperately want a baby.

My Baby and Me

Here is a photo (above) of my little Bear at 17 mo old.
Here (below) is a photo of me as a baby/toddler.

Do you think we look alike at all? Most everyone who sees him, says, "he looks JUST LIKE HIS DADDY!!!" That's a good thing, but I guess I sorta wanna be in there somewhere! ; )

God is good

Hello Bloggy Friends and Readers,
God has been doing a lot in my life in the past few months. I have seen his faithfulness yet again. And He always reminds me that He is faithful... He cannot NOT be faithful because He is faithful. (As that is part of His name) And I am grateful for His constant goodness and faithfulness. His love is truly unconditional. We not only don't have to earn it, we can't earn it. It's freely given. His love is not like our own -- it's supernatural love. I just wanted to share this with you to encourage you today. Look to Him. Seek Him. He does not want to be a mystery or to be hidden. In Jeremiah 29 the Bible says that when we seek him with all of our hearts, we will find Him. That's an amazing promise. Anyway, I don't really have anything profound to say... I just want to bless and praise the name of Jesus and I want to encourage those of you who might feel that you are still in the middle of something... God is faithful. - Atlanta Mama

Dinner Face!

Happy 30th

My Husband is now 30!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY

I love you and I hope that your next 30 years will be even more wonderful and amazing... there are so many exciting things ahead of us...

the awesome slide my husband just built for our little guy

our little bear wants to be like his Daddy and always wants to "help"... change the filter on the frig, hammer, lawn work, whatever... he loves his Daddy!!
HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY
I LOVE YOU!

Fever After MMR Shot

My little guy has been running a fever since Monday and last night was rough. I, personally, did not go to bed/sleep until 6AM!! We got him in to go see the doctor today and they checked several things... not an ear infection (possibly a minor one, but not one that would cause this kind of fever), not urinary / bladder, not strep, and there are really no other symptoms. Just a fever. It spiked last night and the Tylenol did not break it. I was concerned. It was not just the typical low-grade teething type. Poor guy. The only other symptoms were some greenish poopie diapers lately - ever since he had his shots two weeks ago. Then the doctor said that all of this, the fever and the diapers, could be a reaction to the MMR shot. From two weeks ago?? Huh? I would have thought it would be out of their system in a few days. He said usually if kids have this reaction, it takes place on days 8 - 10 after the shots were given. We had them two full weeks ago, but he said he had seen that before & even up to three weeks after the shot, some children can still have a reaction. He also said to look out for a rash, possibly. And then after saying all of this can happen as a reaction to the MMR shot... he said that they consider this to be a normal reaction. WHAT? I don't get that. My little guy has not been feeling well and it kind of upsets me to think that it could be caused by the shots. What do you know about this? As a new Mom... each time your child is sick or something is different, it's my FIRST time dealing with it so I feel a little unprepared. Have you ever heard of a child running a semi-high fever, or a fever for several days as a reaction to the MMR shot??

I want to thank my wonderful Mama for coming along today and helping me out so much.

Happy 17 Month Birthday

Happy 17 Month Birthday
little guy

Month 16 Highlights:
- Made a toy go and said, "I did it" each time
- Early in month 16 said, "I put it in" while playing with a cup in the bath
- Dec. 29 -- found your shadow while running outside
- TEETH: We saw his first molar (his top left) just before Christmas, but I guess the other 3 could not wait! We saw the top right on Jan.1, on Jan. 2 the bottom left, and then the bottom right broke thru on Jan. 4
- Learned how to use a flashlight and walked around like an investigator
- Lots of traveling (went to see Papa & Nana 3x / then uncle Josh & aunt Katie once over new years)
- Reading more books with Mama & Dada (My mother found some of my books and I've loved getting to share those with my little bear!) And he got a few new books for Christmas.
- Enjoying new DVD's like The Fox & the Hound (certain parts), The Jungle Book, a New ELMO/Sesame Street anniversary DVD, and others... Still love 'Pooh & Tig'
- Still nursing (but you know you did not want to eat very well while you were teething and I was grateful to be able to nurse you so that you were getting something good in your tummy)
- Sleeping by yourself some more -- still in our room for now
- Your Great Grandmother, Nanny, fell and broke her left shoulder
- Well visit and more shots!! Mama hates the shots.
- More words... you've picked up SO many words. Dad and I keep saying that we are going to make a list, but I'm certain that you have 60 - 75 words now. We should make a list. Maybe more?
- Discovered a love for Pears
- Jan. 9th -- 2nd Hair Cut (& 1st by Mama)
- Saying YOUR NAME!!! It's too cute!
- Playing a game where you dramatically pretend to fall in the floor
- Acting shy around others (especially women who make a big deal about you)
- Trying to say other people 's names: Papa, KK, Jarrett, and many other TV and movie names... but best of all, you've tried to say JESUS
- Toward the end of 16 months your molars are still coming in and yet not in all the way
- Singing! Sings on cue now! (Mama loves to hear your sweet songs!) And when we sing, he claps and says "more" so we sing again and again!!
- Hard month for diaper changing... flip flop, squirmin' worm

- Seems that you finally have a fav toy, a dog, that you LOVE

Sidebar: I love the number 17. I can't really explain that, but it's always been one of my favorite numbers. Happy 17 Months my sweet love!!!

NEW - I love Boz

My son got a Boz book for his birthday, several months ago, and he loves it. (Thank you Zoe & Henny!) I used some of his Christmas money to buy two more Boz books from our local Christian book store and I found out that they had DVDs also. We got two Boz the Bear DVDs!

Mama's, I'm shooting straight, I'm not being paid or even asked to write a post about Boz the bear... I want to. The Boz books are beautifully done, read well, and they have a great Christian message. I was so excited to buy him a few more of these colorful books because I know that as important as it seems for me to teach him colors, shapes, and letters... teaching him about family values, and ultimately about God, is my top priority. The things I believe in MOST are not always conveyed to him through other entertainment choices. (Not that that makes other things bad... it's just a question of what would be better.) I am thrilled with the DVDs!! He loves to watch them and I feel so much better about these movies then I do about some of the things that come on TV. The teaching aspect is GREAT! The colors, movement/animation, and music aspects are EXCELLENT! The messages and themes are BIBLE BASED! And overall, the Boz the bear DVDs & books are fun and positive!

Two thumbs way up from this Atlanta Mama!

http://bozthebear.com/

Our Collection (so far):

God's Colorful World

Let's Say Thanks to God!

Good Night Boz

Thank You God for COLORS and SHAPES

Thank You God for B-O-Zs and 1-2-3s

This past week brought

--> 4 new molars

TEETHING

--> well visit shots

And ELMO STICKERS

--> a love of Pears

--> a home cut hair cut

2009 Has Begun

It's hard to believe, 2009 has begun.
Here we go... Another year. A fresh start.
God has given me renewed hope and I am believing for a GREAT year! I think we may go thru some job transitions and other transitions with our toddler and still more life transitions with a new President and a less than perfect economy. But overall I think 2009 will be wonderful. And I guess change is part of growth.
What does your 2009 look like? What are you hoping for? What's on your life list?

2009 LIST:
1.) Intentional prayer times/prayer & intercession
2.) Intentional time of reading or listening to God's word
3.) Intentional worship
4.) Intentional giving & tithes
5.) Intentional relationships (be connected to others)
6.) Intentional service (community or church)
7.) Intentionally go on a mission trip
8.) Intentionally grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus

If we are not intentionally growing and moving toward the Lord, in 2009, then we will unintentionally be drifting away. (These are sermon notes from Tom Tanner)

When I hear the word drifting, I always think of a story I heard from Mark F several years ago. He described laying on a raft in the ocean and just drifting along and allowing yourself to go with the current and the tide. Eventually you would end up way down the beach somewhere, very far away from your hotel. He also talked about a lot of the specific waves that effect us in our American suburban life and how those waves want to carry us. But we have a choice to get off the raft and STAND UP. It's not always easy to stand up against a strong wave or current, but then again doing what is easy (just drifting on a raft) can lead to destruction or even death. Drifting may be good intentioned. Drifting may be apathy. Whatever causes us to drift on the waves will still culminate in the same results. Do lives and life effect you? Carry you? Pull you out to sea? Or do you STAND UP and live your life intentionally?

This challenges me. I hope it challenges you to make wise decisions as we look ahead at a bright new year. God is so good to give us the choice of how we will live this life and what we will do in 2009.
Let's live life on purpose!

Story in Pictures

This is the toddler...

This is the game...

This is the toddler IN the game...

This is when he bumped his head getting out...

This is the happy ending to our story...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009

2009

is

Here

What will you make it?

Where are you headed?

Who are you becoming?

Running Shadow

I took my little guy to a near by park today so that he could run in freedom. This park has a great open field that is pretty flat so he could just GO! It was really fun. It was sunny, for a late December day, and he discovered his shadow today!!! It was so cute to watch him run and then look around to find it again. At times he would try to run toward it... like he was going to get it. But of course that little shadow boy kept running faster and farther away. Sometimes he looked around for it like he was just not sure about it and wanted to get away from it. It was very cool to watch him learning and investigating what this "shadow thing" was all about. I showed him Mama's shadow too and even waved my arms and danced a little bit so he could look back and forth from the shadow to Mama to see that we were both moving. Fun times and a neat memory. He loved being able to run freely, without me saying, "slow down" or "no touch". Oh, the freedom!!! We also took turns kicking a little basketball. He loved finding sticks and rocks too... such a BOY!

Happy Birthday Lil Sista

Today is my little sister's 19th Birthday! WOW!!!

It's hard to believe.... And yet, I'm so happy for her and where things are in her life right now. She is loving the tide at the University of Alabama and I've really seen her making decisions in a new way, now that she's sorta on her own. She's very smart and very beautiful and has a bright future and destiny ahead. She is great with my little guy and they both really have a connection. It could be the fact that they have the same nose?! Could be?!! She is a fantastic Aunt! My sister is wonderful and I miss her when she's away at school. Happy 19 years and many, many, many more!!!