Arguing

I don't get it. What is the point of arguing? Jordan insists on arguing with everything we say. He always has to have the last word, even if it means he will get in trouble. For those of you that know my husband, you know exactly where he gets it :) Anyway, I asked him why he continues to argue when he knows it won't work and he knows he will get in trouble for it. His answer was "I don't know. I just don't know how to stop. I try not to argue but I can't help it." He also cries about whatever he is arguing about. He is a very emotional child, so I get that part, but it is really trying my patience right now. The point of this post is really just to vent. Luke copies everything Jordan does, and this is something he is starting to pick up and I can't stand it. We have let a lot of things slide over the summer with Campbell being here and everything, but it has gotten totally out of hand. We are definitely "parenting outside the funnel" for all you Growing Kids God's Way graduates. O well. This, too, shall pass. I hope.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Luke, Zach, Cooper and Knox (This picture was taken last September.)


One of Luke's best friends, if you have best friends at age 2, turns 2 today. We have been in a Bible study group together for going on 4 years now. These 4 boys were born all within 5 weeks of each other. They are all 2 now and it is so fun to be around them. I actually meant to do a birthday post for each of them, but I have been kind of busy ;) Sorry boys! What a blessing it is to have this group!

Please pray...

A couple that we used to go to church with, Paul and Erika Maple, lost their baby girl, Eden Elizabeth, about a week and a half ago. She was born on July 9. I don't know all the details, but I do know she was supposed to have heart surgery as soon as she was born. Anyway, she died on July 14. My heart is so heavy for them. I can't imagine what they are feeling right now. Please lift them in prayer. They also have a toddler-age son and I believe his name is Riley. Thanks.

I've been tagged...

Thanks Tam! 8 habits/facts about myself:
1. I got married when I was 19 to my first love! Almost 11 years and 4 kids later, we are still in love.
2. I talk all the time about wanting to be more organized, but it's just talk. I just don't have it in me.
3. I don't play enough. In fact, once in some counseling, one of my assignments was to play. How sad is that!?!
4. Singing is my favorite thing to do. I would love to be on a professional praise team, like the one that travels with Beth Moore.
5. Martina McBride is my favorite singer.
6. I love my grandparents.
7. I would love it if I loved to cook, but I just don't.
8. I have the best friends in the world!
9. I wish I had a better relationship with God. I had a discussion with Him about this last night.

OK. I know I said 8, but I had to add one more.
I typed the last two with one hand. Campbell just wouldn't wait any longer.

Wow...

First of all, let me say that I love connecting to long lost friends through the blog world! I have connected with a couple of high school friends in the last couple of days. So fun!

Now, back to the "wow" part. For some reason, having four kids has knocked me off my feet unexpectedly. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing else I'd rather be doing. I guess I just didn't realize how hard it was going to be. When I had Jordan, I knew I had found my calling. I loved everything about being a mom, and still do. When he was 15 months old, Claire was born. I don't remember the first six months of her life. It was CRAZY. Funny thing is, I didn't realize how crazy it was until about a year later. Needless to say, we waited a while before having more. When Luke was born, Jordan was 5 and Claire was 4. They weren't in that "needy" phase anymore, so I could focus on Luke and they were actually a big help. Well, Luke turned 2 a month after Campbell was born and, honestly, I didn't expect it to be this hard. She is a good baby, but there were several weeks where all she wanted to do was nurse. Luke didn't understand that, so he would just stand there in front of me and cry because I couldn't help him. There is no schedule, I forget to eat, I have NO time to myself. It has just been harder than I pictured.

That having been said, there is NOTHING in the world that I would rather be doing right now. I know that God put me on this earth to be a mom. With all the hardships, frustrations, and everything that goes with parenting, I am content. Content with my role, content to do without some material things to stay home, content in my marriage, just content with life in general. I mean, yes there are things that I would love to have, things that I would love to be different (like having time to go to the gym!), but I love my life. I am continually overwhelmed at the life God allowed me to have despite my shortcomings. He is awesome and I love Him so much. Thank you God for giving me the life of my dreams.

8 weeks!

I can't believe my baby girl is eight weeks old today! I have to admit, the last two months have been harder than I thought it would be. But looking at this sweet face everyday sure makes things easier! I am so incredibly blessed, definitely beyond my wildest dreams. I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

I'm still alive...barely.

Just wanted to let everyone know I am still here. I was trying to think of what to blog about, but honestly, I am just too tired. Campbell is doing well, but nursing around the clock. Can't quite figure that out, so I don't have a lot of free time right now. It is wearing me out, but I am trying to stick with it. The kids start back to school in less than two weeks. We are all ready for that! Hope everyone is doing okay. I will try to post some new pictures in a couple of days.

Meekness...

I read this on a comment on the Living Proof Ministries blog and it relates directly with some things I have been struggling with. I just had to share.

MEEK ~"The meek man, is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather, he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is, in the sight of God, more important than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto. He knows well that the world will never see him as God sees him and he has stopped caring. He rests perfectly content to allow God to place His own values. He will be patient to wait for the day when everything will get its own price tag and real worth will come into its own. Then the righteous shall shine forth in the kingdom of their Father. His is willing to wait for that day.In the meantime, he will have attained a place of soul rest. As he walks on in meekness he will be happy to let God defend him. The old struggle to defend himself is over. He has found the peace which meekness brings.Then also he will get deliverance from the burden of pretense. By this I mean not hypocrisy, but the common human desire to put the best foot forward and hide from the world our real inward poverty. For sin has played many evil tricks upon us, and one has been the infusing into us of a false sense of shame." AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God.

Oh, that we could all walk in this way!

Here we go again...

I realized today that God is getting me ready for another journey. I have no idea what this one is about or what He wants me to learn. I just know that He is calling me. I know He wants change. I know He is pursuing a relationship with me in a way that I have never known. Not that He hasn't called me before, but that I haven't felt it in the same way before. Hopefully, I will continue this journey and not drop it like I have done so many times before. And hopefully, I will be able to share my journey to help someone else.

Happy Father's Day!

To all the fathers in my life, I hope you have had a wonderful day.

Dad, I hope you know how much I love you. There have been times that have been hard, times where I thought we would never get through. But we did. And I am so thankful. While we don't agree on a lot of things, I know that you are always there for me. You have always supported me in whatever I was doing. You are the best granddaddy in the world. You have the relationship with my kids that I always knew you would. I wouldn't take anything for that. And even if I don't always agree with you, I will always love and appreciate you and the father that you have always been. I love you.

Papa, growing up next door to you and Grandma was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I always thought it was so special that I got to run down to your house everyday. I had two homes in a way. You always were there to play with us. I remember when we would spend the night, you would give us vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup; everytime I have that I think of you. Since I have grown up, you have been there to support me in so many ways. I don't know what I would do without you.

Stephen, where do I start? When I was younger, I always knew that I wanted to grow up, get married, have kids, and stay home with them and just be a mom. You have made that dream come true for me. You are the best dad to Jordan, Claire, Luke and Campbell. I had no idea how blessed our family would be. It is truly beyond my wildest dreams. I couldn't have been more blessed with the family that you have given me. Watching you with our kids is a blessing that I cherish everyday. Thank you for everything you do for the kids and everything you mean to them. While I am not always encouraging to you, I appreciate you more than you could possibly ever know. I am so thankful that my kids have you as a father. And I am thankful to our Father that He chose you for me. I love you.

To Stephen's dad and PaPa, you have been amazing influences on Stephen. Dad, Stephen always talks about how, eventhough you didn't live with them, they could always count on you to be there. They knew that every other Friday, you would be there to pick them up for the weekend. Stephen's favorite memories mostly come from trips with you. They knew that you loved them and that they could always count on you. PaPa, you have always been so important to Stephen. You have no idea the influence you have had on him. Your support throughout his life has made him the man he is today and I don't think I have ever thanked you for that. I love you.

I could never express the thanks deserved to the fathers in my life, but I hope you know how much I love you.

Stay tuned...

I am really thinking a lot about what I want this blog to be. At first, it started out as a way to share everything going on with the kids. Then I decided that I wanted it to be that with some spiritual thoughts as well. Then I feel like it turned to something I felt like I had to do because I don't like to quit things I start. So, why am I saying all of this? I really want my blog to have a point. I do a whole lot of thinking, but not a whole lot of sharing my thoughts. I think this is what I want to do here, but I have held back. Sometimes I am not sure if I want what I write to be seen by everyone. But that is something that I feel other people can relate to. I also want to work on being real. Not trying to hide who I am or what I feel from other people. I believe that we as Christians are good at putting on our "Christian mask" and leading others to think we are perfect. Well, I am not and I want people to know the real me. If they like me, fine. If they don't, at least I will know that I wasn't giving off a false image. All of this seems now like a lot of rambling, but stay tuned; my thoughts are getting clearer.

Three weeks and a tooth...

Three weeks ago today my baby girl, Campbell Anne, was born. I can't believe it has already been three weeks! She is growing so fast. She gave me a little smile today. It was precious!

Claire lost her fourth tooth today. She pulled it out all by herself. She is so big! Jordan wanted me to say that his eighth tooth is about to come out. We will be eating a lot of mashed potatoes around here!

All of my kids are growing way too fast. I am trying to cherish everyday. Some days are harder than others, but they are still a blessing no matter how hard they can be sometimes! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, except maybe the beach. HA!

Two week update...

Well, Campbell Anne is growing more than I thought! She weighed in at 6lbs 12 oz and was 19 1/3 inches long. She put on 10 oz since last Friday! And she grew over an inch since birth. I knew she was doing well, but I was so happy that she had grown so much. Time is going quickly these days. The last two weeks have flown. I tried to get some pictures of her today, but they weren't very good, so we'll try again later. Have a great day everyone!

13 days old

I can't believe that almost two weeks has gone by since our Campbell was born. It is really going by fast! She goes to the doctor tomorrow for her two week check-up. I can't wait to see how much she weighs. I can tell she is really growing. I have a bunch more pictures to post from the holiday weekend, but those will have to come a bit later when I have more time. For now, I will leave you with these. Hope you are all doing well!

6 days old

I can't believe my baby girl is already 6 days old! Time flies when you're having fun!

Last couple of days...

"When will these other kids calm down!?"

At the hospital

















What an amazing couple of days we have had. Things are going really well. Campbell is doing great. She is definitely loved by her brothers and sister!

It's a GIRL!!!

Campbell Anne Shirley


Our beautiful baby girl was born May 17, 2007 at 1:50 a.m. She weighed in at 6lbs 7oz and was 18 inches long. I will post more details from the last few days later, but I couldn't wait to show her off. We are doing well, but I am really tired. She is doing awesome, good eater, I couldn't ask for more. She was 4 weeks and 3 days early, but you would never know it. I can't believe how blessed I am. Thanks for all the prayers. We love you!

Baby update...

I had my 34 week checkup this morning. Everything looks good. He said I could stop taking my anti-contraction medicine next week, so I guess I could have the baby as early as next week. I am trying to make it to May 20, though. That is my 36 week mark. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that I am hanging in there and it could be soon!!!

Way to go, Claire!!!

I have to take a minute and brag on my kids. Each of them was chosen this year to attend the Character Luncheon at Black Fox Elementary. Each month, a student is chosen from each class to go to this luncheon because of their exceptional character in the classroom. I was so proud that each of them got to go.

But, this morning I got a call from Ms. Sherry, one of the Kindergarten helpers, to tell me that Claire had been chosen for the Best Character Award for the whole year in her class and they were having an assembly to recognize those students this afternoon. I barely made it there, but it was so fun to see her run up on the stage and get her award. She was beaming!!! The kids said they didn't know when they entered the assembly who would be chosen, so for her, it was a big surprise. My camera batteries were dead, so I took a picture when we got home.

I am so blessed by my children and am constantly amazed that they are mine!

Worst blogger ever...

I know I am a slacker. I really have no reason for not having posted anything. I sit around a lot these days, so I have plenty of time. Honestly, I think I am tired of talking about the same old things. My life right now, for the next few weeks anyway, is pretty boring. Get up, take the kids to school, come home, go pick the kids up from school, come home, play, eat, go to bed. This pretty much describes everyday for me.

That having been said, it is a blessing to have "boring days." This means that I am not having anymore trouble with the pregnancy right now. Luke is a blessing, because for the most part, he plays really well as long as I can be near him, so I do get to rest a lot. Stephen is a HUGE help after 4:00 when he gets home from work. I really don't have to do anything when he is here. Sometimes I choose to, but I really couldn't ask for a better supporter than he is.

I am 32 weeks and 4 days now. The doctor said yesterday that if I get to 35 weeks and go into labor, they will let me have the baby. I really want to make it to at least 36 though. Anyway, realistically, I could only have 2 1/2 weeks until the baby gets here! Everything is ready. Luke and I went to Target today and got a few more things like diapers, pacifiers, changing pad for the bed. I have to pack the bag for the hospital and that's it. Done. I really can't believe it is almost here. I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks, so the first few months took FOREVER!!!! But the last few days have gone by really quickly. I go to the doctor every week now, which should make things go by even faster. We have a list of names for either sex ready, so once we see who this baby is, we can give him/her a name. So exciting!!!

Well, that's enough rambling from me. I hope everyone is doing well. Keep me in your prayers that I can make it a little longer. I really don't want this baby to have to stay in the hospital. So far, everything looks promising! Have a great rest of the day!