3 little Miracles

3 little Miracles

Friday, January 28, 2011

New addition to Rachel's decor

My blogging friend and wonderful designer Elaine from Design {etc} sent me the final piece to my custom order for Rachel's room.  I ordered this blessing ring to put in Rachel's room to put all of her cards, well wishes, bible verses, and special photo's on.  Elaine did such a beautiful job of matching Rachel's decor when she created this and her blocks (featured in this post on 10/14) and I love them ALL.  Elaine is sadly no longer making blessing rings or the blocks due to preparing for the arrival of her own Mircacle #3, but she has so many other cute custom designs so stop by Design {etc} to check her out, she will be back for business after her son arrives in the next few months. 

Good luck Elaine, and may God bless the rest of your pregnancy!  
Thank You!!!

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Finding Contentment in the Baby Season


LifeAsMom.com





I really needed to read something like this and I pray it blesses you too.  As mother's we need to encourage one another, guide one another, and sometimes help each other to realize that we aren't experiencing it alone.  Thank you Jessica for sharing such a beautiful post of encouragement to focus on what is important even though there are times it is hard to do.

Wordless Wednesday - I love the way He loves Her

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Late Night Ramble and life with little J

It's 11:04PM and who knows what will come out of this post, HA.  I am sitting on the sofa with a three year old little boy who seems nowhere close to sleep and despite our efforts to put him back into bed, he won't stay and keeps popping back out of the room.  So, in order to allow my husband to sleep for his day of work tomorrow, I am sitting up and hoping he will soon be ready for bed too. 
According to my dear MoG little J woke up from his nap sometime around 6PM, so it is really no wonder he is having a hard time finding his zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's because he took a 3+ hour nap today (totally not like him his naps usually last a little over and hour).  Of course it doesn't ever seem to matter how much sleep little man gets, he always seems to be filled with energy and independent focus that exlcudes all parental guidance ;-)  I think we are in for a very long 18 years with our little man.

Little J has a focus on enjoying life with NO FEAR on his terms.  The little man doesn't care where he lands, what he busts, OR how much we fuss, his total focus is on his personal pleasure.  I am trying to equip myself with God's word to get me through this horrible challenging time with J.  I will be honest sometimes it is hard to cling to the cross when dealing with our energy filled self focused little man, and more often then not I feel like I am face down at the FOOT of the cross and little J is standing on my head.  One of my dear readers recently commented on a post and called me a "Godly woman", I thank you for that description and pray I live up to it each day, but often I do not feel very "Godly" when overloaded from a day of full on battle with little J.  I want to be as raw and honest with you as I can, although I love my life with 3 little Miracles, our life is far from perfection but it is the wonderful life God is blessing us and guiding us through.

I honestly don't know who came up with the term "Terrible 2's", because we have been going through 2, 3, and now almost 4.  Seriously, when Dobson wrote his parenting books he apparently had never met little J or any kid like him, because I have yet to find a chapter that covers my strong willed boy, at least that is how it feels to me.  Now please, don't read between the lines here, I love my boy and wouldn't trade him for ANYTHING.  Little J is a sweet cuddle, loves books, loves to sing, dance, is highly creative in his playtime, is willing to try almost anything at least once, and is amazingly brave.  I just wish I could help him to control his anger better, but then again I have to own some of that, I need to model better anger management skills for him in order for him to learn how to control his.  One of my nightly prayers is that Jon and I will learn to use our words in our moments of frustration instead of yelling.

J is so focused on doing things HIS WAY that inspite of the fact that he knows how to use the pottey, he refuses to actually do so.  We have tried every method of potty training him and at 3 years 5 months he still does it ALL in his pullup.  I seriously think Rachel may end up potty trained before J every is.  The sad thing is, his stubborn mind set on potty training is going to begin to effect his schooling, because they will not graduate him to the 4 year old class this coming fall if he isn't potty trained.  The preschool actually has a policy that he is supposed to be potty trained now in the 3 year old class, but because we have been a preschool family for 3 years now with D and J, they were willing to work with us this year.

I know we will survive this time in J's life and one day we will look back on all the things we went through in guiding him to the young man God would have him to be and we will smile and probably even laugh.  It is by God's grace and mercy that we hope to make it through each day and look foward to the clean slate we have on the next after a day chalk full of mayhem.

Little J you have no fear
You jump, you play, you give a cheer
You climb, you crawl, and fly things high
And you never seem to hear mom sigh

I pray for you my little boy
That you'll be filled with God's joy
With His purpose and His plan
And for Him in life you will stand

Hear my prayers God give them voice
Help my words to guide his choice
Guide me through the years ahead
and this night to go to bed ;-)

-Laura Ann

Friday, January 21, 2011

Rachel: 3 months old

Rachel today you are three months old, I know I will be saying this most of your life, but it really is hard to believe that three months have passed already since your amazing arrival into our lives on October 21st. 
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Today you are celebrating your three months by having your very first sleepover at Aunt Bubbie (April) and Uncle Calvin's house, along with your cousin Calli.  You had your heart followup on the 12th with the Cardiologist that took care of you while you were in the NICU, and to our great joy, your heart checked out fine.  The small flap that goes from your heart to your lungs is still not 100% sealed, but it is so small that they can not hear it, it can only be detected via ultrasound.  They will followup on your heart in another 6 months, but they are happy with your progress.
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You continue to be a very easy baby, being in great humor most of the time and crying very little.  You are already sleeping through the night and you are usually in bed by 8:30-9 o'clock and not waking up again until around 5:30AM (Thank you sweetie for being so good to your mommy).  You are currently drinking 6oz bottles and still taking them every 3 hours.  Your Dad and I decided to change your formula recently from Enfamil A.R. to Similac Sensitive for fussiness and gas. We decided to try switching formula because you seemed to suffer with bad gas pains every couple of days and we wanted to ease your discomfort, and so far you have tolerated the switch very well.

This month you also met your P.T. instructor Mrs. Kathy for the first time and she taught your mom how to do some exercises with you to help with your neck, arm, and leg muscle tone, the goal is to do these exercises several times a day.  It looks like for a little while you will be having in home P.T. once a month so long as you respond to the exercises well and progress in your mobility.  We are working on tummy time already so we can try to build up your neck, shoulder, and back muscles.  The goal is to get you to lift your head to look at an object in front of you, and you are doing this pretty well.  We only do your tummy exercises a few minutes at a time before we move onto another exercise, we don't want you to "hate" tummy time so we try to keep your P.T. time moving from one activity to the next so you don't get bored or mad.  We use the floor activity mat, a boppy pillow, and no skid shelf liner in your P.T. exercises.  The activity mat obviously gives you things above you to reach for.  The boppy pillow is used to put your shoulders in the best position to lessen the distance you have to lift an object in your hand such as a rattle or reach for objects above you.  The no skid shelf liner is used to keep you from sliding off the boppy or changing your position to much when your on your play mat.

Also this month, mommy finally got brave enough to begin leaving you in the church nursery, you seem to love the cuddle time with the nursery workers, and they always seem to dash for us when we come through the door to try and be the first to hold you.  What can I say, your a popular girl ;-)  I have suggested several times of charging a "holding fee" and the money could go toward our church local mission project, I mean come on it would be a great way for you to give back to your community and who wouldn't pay to hold you, HA. 
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You weigh 9 lbs 2 oz.
Length:  not sure, at least 22+"
You wear a size 3 Month clothes, you can still wear NB pants for length, but they are getting snug in the waist. You wear a size 1 diaper, but I have to roll the waist down.

You are a joy and bright spot in our family and you are very loved by your brothers.  I love how they love you and  pray you always have a close relationship with your big brothers. 
Happy 3 months Rachel!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Couldn't say it better

I have been following Enjoying the Small Things for about a year now.  I really can't remember what lead me to Kelle's blog, but I remember the very first post I read and how it brought me to tears.  I also remember thinking I don't want to read another word because I felt like God was trying to tell me something but I had no clue what except that I didn't want to hear it.   The post was about her daughter Nella's birth story, posted on January 29th, 2010.  So many things stood out to me about that post, the picture of Kelle while everyone toasted the birth of her daughter and these words, "I just kept envisioning this other baby...the one that I felt died the moment I realized it wasn't what I expected."  


As you know we found out we were pregnant in March, and the flash of words and images from Kelle's post kept coming back to me and I kept trying to sweep it away and ignore it.  As I got further into my pregnancy with Rachel and I began to undergo deeper ultrasounds to determine the health of the baby, I stopped visiting Kelle's blog for a while because I felt like I was placing fears into my heart each time I saw images of her beautiful Nella, fears that weren't true and were causing me undo worry.  Looking back now I feel like God was trying to prepare me for Rachel's birth.  Rachel's birth story was very different from Nella's in the sense that Rachel had some major health issues that brought us to three weeks in the NICU and three weeks apart as a family.  Kelle and Nella were able to go home and be with family.  Kelle was able to have her family around her as she and her husband adjusted to the unexpected and began to deal with all the feelings that came with a child with Downs Syndrome.  Unlike Kelle I didn't want to tell everyone of Rachel's diagnoses, family yes, but past that I needed time, David needed time, we needed to deal with Rachel's present health and not her future.


I have tried many times to sit down and write about my feelings during those three weeks, I did write about Rachel's birthday, but I have not been able to sit down and transcribe the notes I made while sitting beside Rachel's issolet in the NICU because they bring back such raw feelings of pain that I am not sure I am ready to revisit.  All I know is that now today, I have a beautiful girl with so much promise, when I look into Rachel's face I don't see a diagnoses, I see bright blue eyes, beautiful bow shaped lips, round full cheeks, and a sweet button nose.  I see the face of my sweet little girl that I don't want to stop holding . . . . . I don't see Down Syndrome.  I see a girl who has a bright future ahead of her with all the promises that God gave you and I .  . . . . . I don't see a stereo type.  I see MY GIRL.


So when Kelle posted the following video on her blog on January 14th, I had discovered she once again encapsulated my feelings so well and I had to share it with you.  Please watch and if your moved and want to make a difference, please donate HERE.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

ONE of my favorite moments in the day

One of my favorite moments of the day is the end, HA.  I will have to admit it is partially due to the fact that soon my little noise makers will be tucked into bed and quiet will fall upon our home, but it mostly has to do with the last thirty minutes before they are tucked away.  Each evening around 7:30 my husband and I curl up on the sofa with the boys (and soon with little Rachel when she is ready for story time) and we read a book of their choice, sometimes two, followed by a devotional designed for young kids.  Now I will be honest and tell you that these moments are not always perfect, often these moments are filled with J bouncing off the sofa and us hollering for him to sit still, get back on the sofa, or stop talking and listen to the story.  D isn't always quiet through our book time, but for the most part he sits quietly and listens and answers questions related to the story.  But, we know that in spite of the frustrating moments of trying to keep a three year old still, that God is using those moments to bless our family and hopefully begin to plant the seed in the hearts of 3 little Miracles. 

So with that in mind, I just had to share with you our current devotional book because I love it. 
Five-Minute Devotions for Children, is designed to give factual information about God's beautiful creatures, and through this information we learn about the character traits that God would like for us to have (this ties in nicely with a devotional my husband and I are doing).  Each story about an animal is followed by some simple questions about the images on the page and the character trait that God would have us to learn from that animals behavior.  For instance, last night's animal was the Wild Cat, and from the wild cat we are supposed to learn how to manage our anger (this will be a great devotional for us to recover with J because he really has some anger management issues right now).  "Some people are like wildcats.  They seem to be friendly; but when they become angry, they say and do things that are hurtful.  God wants his children to be kind to one another and to control their anger.  When we are angry we need to talk about how we feel instead of punching or hitting other people or calling them names.  We can even tell God about being angry and ask him to help us control ourselves." 

During the question portion of the devotional our little ones were given the chance to tell us what makes them angry.  For D, he said he gets angry when we tell him time is up on the Wii game (this is current on his mind because it was a Christmas present) and for J it was us telling him what to do (HA, he has a life time of that ahead).  Other questions were; "Why are wildcats dangerous? and Why do you think God wants us to control ourselves when we are angry?"  Each devotional is ended with What does God say?  The answers you will get from your children will sometimes surprise you, delight you, make you want to run to your mom journal and jot them down, and sometimes you wish you knew what really made them say that, but at least you will know they are thinking.  Last night God's words at the end of our devotional were from Ephesians 4:26-27  "And don't sin by letting anger gain control over you.  Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil."  I love this time with our kids, and I will cherish it always and often it speaks to me as a parent on how I handled something with the kids that day, so it isn't just for your child its for you to.

Another devotional my husband and I are doing together is While They Were Sleeping:  12 Character Traits for Moms to Pray
I know it says for "moms" but I really wanted something to share with my husband, to strengthen us as parents and to be focused toward our children.  This sweet little devotional books goes through 12 Character traits, such as Kindness, Humility, Obedience, Purity, etc.  My husband and I make time just before we literally turn off the lights to read this devotional together and pray for our children.  Each character trait is covered in 5 days, so you can either do it in  60 days OR spread it out over 12 weeks (which is the way we are doing it Monday-Friday). 

The concept of this devotional is to literally claim God's promises in His word and apply them in prayer for your child by name.  For instance on Day 2 of Kindness the scripture given is "...remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35b (NIV).  The Prayer Focus that follows says: "Lord Jesus, may (David, Jonathan, and Rachel) recognize the value of being kind.  I pray that (David , Jonathan, and Rachel) will experience the blessing that comes with giving".  Each day has 2-3 scriptures and prayer focus for you to plug in your child's name.  This really is a great devotional for mom alone, or together as a couple, to claim God's words and truth and pray for your children.

I am truly enjoying our time as a family and as a couple in God's word, I pray that it has a lasting impact on my children and on us as parents.  I am continually looking for ways to improve how I handle directing my children's behavior in a positive way, I know I do not always do that.  By claiming God's word for my children and myself, I am placing God's word in my heart to flash as a reminder each day.  Sometimes in the middle of a moment that I would typically flash out in anger, the character traits we studied the night before will come to mind, and in that moment I will remember to slow down and handle with love, care, and tender words of re-direction.  It doesn't always happen that way, and I fully believe that there are moments that call for a spanking, but I am trying to not correct in anger. 

I don't really want to get off on a tangent of how I correct my children, because I know that can be a can of worms topic with many people.  I did this post simple to say, that we find value in spending time with our children at the end of each day, talking, reading books they like, reading God's word, and praying together. I hope one day these moments will turn into honest moments with our children, talking about their school day or feelings about something happening in their lives.  We try not to let this time be inerupted by anything, we don't answer the phone, we ask my parents and niece to not come down during this time, and we try not to let TV programs keep us from this set apart time.  These two books have been great for starting our 2011 year and I pray they will bless your family as well. 

Wordless Wednesday - "I got Green!!"



Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A great recipe with SPAM

I know I know, most people see SPAM as a cheap nasty flavored not-real meat product and there are a lot of jokes about SPAM.  BUT, my mother used to make this great tasting Polynesian style recipe using SPAM when we were kids and we loved it and today my kids love it too.  So, I want to share it with you and hopefully it will be a recipe you and your family will enjoy too.  We double this recipe because we have a household of 5 adults and 2 growing boys, but these are the ingredients for one normal size batch.

Serve this with white rice prepared according to package directions, you can also use brown rice but we find white rice tastes best.  For serving purposes it is best to start your rice prior to preparing the SPAM dish so the rice is ready to serve when the SPAM dish is ready.
Ingredients:
1 can of SPAM
1 can of Pineapple Chunks
1 large jar of Maraschino Cherries, cut in half
Optional:  Red, Green Peppers and Onions (I leaves these out because my husband hates them)
Aprox. 2-3 Tbsp. of Corn Starch
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Step1. Cube up the SPAM, (optional peppers and onions) and put in pan with a small amount of EVOO and let it fry for a few minutes until SPAM is seared to your satisfaction.
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Step 2.  Pour pineapple chunks and halved maraschino cherries, along with their juice, into pan.
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Step 3.  Dissolve 2-3 tablespoons of corn starch in a separate bowl with warm water, when completely dissolved add to fry pan.  This will thicken the juice of pineapple and cherries.
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Step 4.  Bring to a rolling boil and then lower the heat until your ready to serve.
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Bon Appetit!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Dressed for church

Rachel has so many cute dresses, I just had to snap some pictures of her dressed for church this morning.
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Roasted Marshmallows Anyone?

Would you like to roast some marshmallows?
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Our neighbor Ann's poor car turned into a bomb fire on Christmas Eve and Friday they finally came to take away the left overs, she said she would like to make this an annual tradition, HA.  She is so optimistic about everything, she just laughed about it and said she was getting a new car out of the whole thing, and thankfully no one was in the car when it happened.  Ann is one of my favorite people, she almost always has a smile, has a great attitude, and makes me laugh.

Who is your Positive person?  Give them a shout out!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Finally Christmas decor comes down

I have found taking down Christmas is just about as hard as putting up Christmas with 3 kids.  I am really getting a lesson in life about how 3 little Miracles can change the way and pace at which things get done.  Guess it's time to get a new rhythm in life ;-)
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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Fun Follow Friday

(*posting early due to being away from computer in the morning)
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy our little blogspot.  While your with us today, please pray for our 3 year old son Jon who is having surgery this morning.  Jon will be having his second ear tube surgery (he had his first 7 months ago) and this time they will also be removing his adenoids, prayerfully this time it will work.  Thanks for the prayers.
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Fun Follow Friday is hosted by Simply Stacie and My Wee View. The goal of this hop is to get new Google Friend Connect Followers for your blog and be introduced to new blogs to follow! They wanted to keep it fun and easy so all you have to do is add your blog link and start blog hopping and following away! You aren’t required to write a post for your blog for Fun Follow Friday unless you want to (but they really appreciate it if you do to help get the word out).

When you visit a blog that you like and want to follow, leave them a comment with your link telling them you are following from the Fun Follow Friday. Of course, they would love for you to follow both hostesses blogs, Simply Stacie and My Wee View, but it isn’t mandatory. If you do follow them, just leave them a comment and they will follow you back.  The main goal is to have fun and follow the blogs that interest you!

AND

Welcome to the 35th edition of Hop Along Friday, hosted by My New Life As Mom, Chubby Cheeks Thinks, This Adventure Our Life, Belly Charms and their newest host Living On Love & Cents!

  • Link up to your blog using our inlinkz link list, below.
  • Follow the host/hostesses located in the first 5 slots.
  • Follow any other blogs that you feel appropriate! :)
  • If you get a new follower, please feel free to reciprocate the love!
  • ALSO
Friday Blog Hop hosted by myself (Nicole) at Mama to 4 Blessings and Melissa at Home Grown Families! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more blog friends!

Happy hopping along!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Love this product and have to share

While Rachel was in the NICU I was introduced to a product that I have fallen in love with and I just have to share it with you, especially in this cold weather season. 

If you have ever had an experience of a child in a NICU or any type of intensive care unit, you know you have to wash your hands before you can walk into the unit and of course any time you walk away and come back to your loved ones crib/bedside.  So during the three weeks that Rachel was in the NICU my hands literally became raw with cracks and bleeding due to the constant washing and contact with alcohol based hand cleaners.  One night I asked the nurse taking care of Rachel how her hands survived the daily CONSTANT washing.  I mean I wash my hands all the time at home, but when your in a hospital setting, especially and intensive care unit, you have to wash your hands every time you touch something else, before you touch the patient.  You reach into you purse, then you either wash you hands OR Purell them.  You read a book and its time to change the baby or feed her, then wash or Purell your hands.  Leave the unit for lunch or the bathroom, you wash your hands before coming back to the unit AND Purell them as you walk into your babies NICU isolette area.  With a nurse the constant hand washing is 10x more, so after I asked the question the nurse handed me this.
This product is normally sold through medical websites or stores, but you can also find it on sites like Walgreens or Amazon.  Believe me please, if you suffer this time of season with constant drying and cracking of your hands, this is the product for you, it is AMAZING.  Medline Remedy did wonders for my hands the last week of Rachel's stay in the NICU and it is still doing wonders for my hands right now.  You will love it, it has a wonderful fragrance to it too (not too strong), go ahead and get some for yourself ASAP.

Wordless Wednesday

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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Seriously! Seriously!! come on SERIOUSLY!!!!

I really want to have a positive attitude and completely have faith that the Lord will get us around the corner to a place of peace, but right now I can't even see the intersection where we are supposed to get our turn. 

Today I took Jon to his 6 month follow up from his ear tube surgery that he had in June (he was supposed to have his followup last month  but we had a LOT going on so I had it moved to today).  Well, first off we checked in at 10:30 and they didn't call us back until 11:47.  Then after we got called back, the doctor didn't come in the exam room until 12:06, by then Jon had pooped in his pull up and I of course had not brought in his back pack because I didn't think we would be that long.  I informed the doctor that Jon had two ear infections since his surgery in June, including a busted ear drum on October 21st (the day H.... E.....double hockey sticks broke loose in our lives with the joy of Rachel's early arrival).

He took a look and said his left looked great, but that he needed to take a better look at the right with another tool.  So we moved to another exam room with this big light fixture hanging from the ceiling and they had me hold Jon down on the table while the nurse held his head still.  "Yep just what I thought, his tube has slipped out of position and will have to come out completely."  The doctor removed the tube and then went on to say he wanted to schedule Jon as soon as possible to replace the tube and to take out his adenoids.  "When are you wanting to do this", I asked.  "My schedule is free this Friday".  WOW, way to give me time to process things, and on top of that Jon was fully over the whole doctor thing, two hours and he was ready to guide me out of the office no matter if I was still talking to the doctor or not. 

The nurse came back in and asked me if I realized Jon had pooped his pants.  I said, "Yes I didn't think I would be waiting in the waiting area for more then an hour, or that this appointment would take more then two hours, so I left his back pack in the car."  "Oh well you can go get it if you like", the nurse says.  UMMMMM, force yourself to keep a smile and be kind Laura.  So while they were getting the paperwork for the surgery I took Jon to the car and changed his pullup then went back in for another 20 minutes of waiting for them to hand me the papers.

I have said this out loud to a few people, and please don't read between any lines here, I am NOT angry with God but I do feel like at this point if He is trying to tell us something I would really like Him to just go ahead and give me a hand written note.  I am ready for my Moses moment of the writing being on the wall, because I am not getting what He is trying to tell us through all of these physical, mental, and financial roller coasters.  I mean the cherry on the morning was when they brought me the paperwork for the surgery and asked me for $350, this being only the 4th day of the new year, we obviously haven't met our deductible yet and so we have to pay $350 up front to have Jon's surgery this Friday.

My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow MY foot to slip or to be moved; He Who keeps ME will not slumber. Psalm 121:2-3

I know God will guard us through this, and yes I do mean guard, because it is His protection we need during this time.  He will not allow us to fall away in frustration, to be harmed by the one who is attacking us.  He will hold us up and gently give us the glimmer of light and hope ahead.  We may not have answers now, and we may never know, but He has purpose in our circumstances and His glory will shine.  Please if your a praying person, continue to lift us up in your prayers, not only for Jon's surgery but for other things that God knows we are dealing with.  He has a design, just pray we see the Master's plan soon.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011 Fresh Start and Goals

After the year we have had I am so happy to have the feeling of a fresh start with the beginning of 2011, and with fresh starts I love to review and update my goals for self, family, home, and blog.

Self
  • Daily devotional time
  • Work on being a happier and more positive person, not dwelling on the stumbles of daily life, this past year was hard, but I need to focus on moving forward into a happier and calmer new year.  My new motto "Don't stress over the small stuff focus on the things that matter and will last"
  • Return to my 2009 weight loss success and make time for myself at the gym and at home to exercise.  Prior to the pregnancy I had lost over 20 pounds and thankfully I have returned to my pre-pregnancy weight.  SO, now I just have to get back on track.
  • Take more pictures of ALL of the kids and make a stronger effort to get them into the kids memory books and our family photo albums.
  • I know this is VERY personal, but finally buy myself some new bras.  ;-)
 Family
  • Continue with our family goal and success with pre-bedtime reading, devotional and prayers with the boys.
  • Family date night once a month.
  • Date night the hubby at least every other month.
  • Family vacation trip to see my MoG's family in New York
  • Family weekend trip to any where but here
Home
  • David and I to take a David Ramsey financial class TOGETHER at church and to get our finances and debt under control
  • Finish bathroom remodel
  • Finish decorating Rachel's room (curtains, rug, side table, and lamp)
  • Finish Rachels sewing projects, quilt, pillow covers, and  basket liners
  • Buy new bedspreads for the boys room and large map for framing
  • Finish organizing office supplies in the finished closet addition.
Blog
  • Post more often and more personal journal type entries of life with our 3 little Miracles
  • Have The Design Girl do another makeover of my blog in honor of our 3rd addition and my 2nd year of blogging.

Happy New Year