Feeling Blessed

Just a short post to say that I feel very blessed today.  I kind of had a weird dream last night about the rapture and it made me think.  I am no interpreter of dreams, but I do believe sometimes God allows us to dream and we can see some meaning.  I am grateful for my salvation in Jesus Christ, my husband who God designed for me, my two amazing, beautiful kids who can drive to me the brink of insanity one second and the next second steal my heart, my home, my freedom, my parents who help us so much, my Christian family members who are wonderful to talk to, my precious nieces and nephew, my brother and sister-in-law, my church, my friends, my health and so much more.  I just wanted to write it down and say thanks to the Creator of the universe for my so many blessings.


We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, 
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
Revelation 11:17


I wanted to pull a random picture from our hard drive that would show something I am thankful for and so blessed to have and this is what I got - apparently, I am thankful for kids and superheroes.

Reese Abigail is Here!

Tuesday afternoon at 1:18pm, my beautiful, and I mean really beautiful niece, Reese arrived.  She was 7lbs. 3oz. and 20 1/4 inches long.  Before she was born Brent, my mom, dad, Kimberly's dad, Kimberly's step-mom and I  all "called" her weight and length.  I was the closest with 7lbs. 4oz. and 20 1/4 inches long.  Not too bad, huh?  I should be a baby estimator.

Look how good Kimberly looks!

Paging Dr. Brent

Look at all that dark hair!

The 4 kids - Blake, Paige, Claire and Reese

She is so sweet and beautiful.  The delivery went well.  Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck 6 times, though.  We are so thankful for God's provision and protection of both Kimberly and Reese.  God is so good.  They are adjusting well.  Figuring out her eating (which she is a GREAT eater), sleeping and Kimberly is getting her on a schedule (we love BabyWise around here).  Claire, Paige and Blake seemed pretty interested when they met her.  Claire said, "she is so cute, I wuv her".  Paige was concerned about what candy was on the floor and Blake like to pat her head.  Jack was pretty cool about it and Kate was really into her and kept saying "baby" and rubbing her head.  Tomorrow they go home and back to reality, but after a few days, they will get settled into their new routine with a family of 6.  

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5

I Love Ric Rac!

I have found a new (well, new to me) sewing accessory - ric rac.  Not that expensive, but adds so much to some of the dresses I make or anything else.  I would only use it on girly stuff, but who knows.  I am the baby dedication coordinator at our church and I had 4 yesterday and they were all girls.  So, I made these dresses for them.  I love finding coordinating fabrics and fun patterns, so it was really fun for me and a way to donate to little girls who are being dedicated to the Lord!









Also, I threw this together on Thursday for Kayleigh who was going to Disney on Friday.  It was pre-smocked so all I did was sew the sides together and attach some straps.



On a completely unrelated note - my new niece is arriving tomorrow!  I am so excited to meet her!  That, of course will be my next blog post, so stayed tuned...

Meet AppleJack, Sunshine and Blue Daisy

Growing up, we had a few horses during my younger years, dogs and a few ducks.  My parents have grandchildren and now they get the farm, literally!  Well, not yet, but it is getting closer.  About a month ago, my dad got two heifers less than 6 months old.  Blake and Jack named them before they got them.  Blue Daisy is the all black and Sunshine has the white face.  They are getting more used to people and LOVE feeding time.

  

Yesterday, they got a Shetland Pony.  He is about 9 years old and has a pretty good demeanor.  The 5 crazy kids haven't scared him too much.  He is about 37 inches tall and is very cute.

Kate sat for a minute and was over it.  You can see her "get me off this thing" face in the picture.  Jack didn't ride him at first, but with the promise of being able to feed AppleJack a treat, Jack tried it.  

The farm is fun.  The kids can play, help out Papa and learn about the animals.  I am glad they will have these opportunities.

I have always wanted a pot-bellied pig.  Maybe I can tell my parents Jack really wants one.  We'll see what my dad brings home next.

Mother's Day

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Mother's Day when my title of my blog is "Loving Mommyhood and Life".  Being a mom, at this point, is the biggest, most rewarding, craziest job I have ever had.  I am so thankful God entrusted me with two healthy, happy, feral  children.  The type of love I have for them is so intense, from extreme annoyance and displeasure (putting it politely) to indescribable and unwavering love.  I have 3 jobs in life, being a daughter of Christ, being a wife and being a mom and I love them all.  Thank you, God, for allowing me to be a mom and remind me of my blessings each day, because sinful me tends to forget.

I came home Saturday from fun things and found hand-painted pictures, a card picked out by Jack and 3 roses (for Jack, Kate and yes, even Annie).  That was such a sweet thing to see. Later, I got a new Vera Bradley travel bag - sweet! Craig made me feel like a special mom.  I also want to give a shout-out to three others moms we appreciate and love - my mom, Craig's mom and our sister-in-law.  I am inspired by each of them!









On another note, I was waiting for my clients at a photo shoot on Saturday and saw this beautiful Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly.  God's creation amazes me.

Kate's First Haircut

My baby is growing up.  Kate got her first hair cut today.  I was unsure at first cutting her curls, but her bangs were out of control and she had a pretty thick mullet-type thing in the back, so I took the plunge and allowed scissors near her hair.  I took her to a great spot in town - a kids boutique, Rinse and Repeat.  They had a playroom, candy and a DVD player.  I was like, "Can I get my hair cut here?"  Anyway, her first cut was free, score, and Jack got his cut too.  We will definitely be going back for future cuts.  Kate was a pro and sat there and admired herself in the mirror.  We battle with Jack, but this time, he was much more relaxed, thanks to the beautician, and got a great cut too.

Before:
 



First Cut:


During:


After:




And finally, her certificate and baby curls:

Super Saturday

Saturday was so much fun!  My mom-in-law was in town and we wanted to head to the beach.  We went back to the one I talked about a few posts back that is only about 45 minutes away.  My mom had the triplets this weekend, so we went - 5 kids and 3 adults.  The 3:1.5 ratio wasn't too bad.  The kids were great!  We got to the beach and settled about 11 and stayed until 2.  They played in the sand, waves and fed the seagulls.

I was so proud of Jack too.  He got in the water and wasn't afraid of the waves.  We headed home and decided to go out for something appropriate for the day, seafood!  We had shrimp and scallops to cap off the day.  We were all tired, but had a fabulous day.  The weather was a perfect 88, sunny and not a cloud in the sky.  See you next time, beach!