Just wanted to let you all know we're still here. It's been a little while since I updated. Isaac is doing great and getting so big! It's hard to believe he's almost 2. The baby is growing and it's hard to believe I'm going into my third trimester already. Time is flying! The baby's room is almost ready we just need to find a dresser for Isaac's new room. I'll get some pictures posted of his new room soon and maybe a pregnant belly picture as soon as I take some. I feel the need to be prepared early for this baby for some reason...not sure why but I'm gonna go with it.
We're heading to Nashville, TN in June to visit our friends Scott and Merin! We're so excited to get away and have a family vacation just the three of us!!!
That's about all going on here right now. We're getting very excited about meeting our baby boy and starting our family of four! What an adventure that will be!?!
So yesterday was an amazing day at church, but really when isn't it?!? It was focused on missions and two families in particular. One being a family that we(Crosspointe Church) partner with in Africa who is in the US for a year to take a rest and recharge their spirit! It was awesome hearing from them, seeing them, and knowing what is happening in a little village in Africa.
The other family, the Mangine family is a family that has been at Crosspointe for 10 years. They are amazing! I had first learned of Gwen through her blog. She is one of those people that you wish you could meet and be friends with! Truly a remarkable woman! Well I have talked to her on occasion and seen her at church and I am proud to call her friend in real life not just in blog world. Today Gwen, her husband Nick and their three children Nia, Nico and Josiah are on their way to Haiti. They will be house parents to 20 children through the Haitian Children's Home. If you have read my blog for any amount of time you have heard to the Haitian Children's Home but if not please check out their website! The Mangine's are following God's calling on their lives and going to Haiti to bring hope to children that have been orphaned and abandoned! It is not an orphanage but a home where they will be the mother and father of these children and raise them as their own! What an amazing thing! They truly believe that changing these children's lives will help these children change Haiti. They will not westernize these kids but will raise them as Haitian so they can make a difference in their country! I ask that you please be praying for them as they begin/continue this journey that God has called them on! As difficult as it was to know that it would be Nick and Gwen's last Sunday at Crosspointe and that I was sad that I didn't have more time to get to know this family it's very exciting to be a "part" of their journey! Please again I just ask that you take the time to pray for them! Pray for peace and that the kids adjust well to this new life!
Here is a great video that really shows what HCH* is all about(make sure you pause my music at the bottom of the page before you start the video). The man speaking is Danny Pye, he is a house parent, along with his wife Leann, of the first HCH* in Haiti. Nick and Gwen will be house parents to a second Haitian Children's Home.
I love Easter. I love the season, everything in bloom and starting fresh! The warm weather that I can be outside and enjoy time with my family, and the reason why we celebrate Easter. Of course it can get lost in all the bunnies and eggs but if you take the time to really think about why we celebrate Easter, it's amazing! I've always loved Easter but for some reason it's just more amazing to me this year then ever before! Jesus died on the cross for me, for us! Not because He had to but because he chose to, He chose to out of love for me! He died so that we may live! Live here on earth and live for eternity! If that wasn't enough He gave me an amazing husband! He also has given me a wonderful son that brings so much light into the world that a room can hardly contain the joy that flows from his body! And now he's giving me another a little boy that already bounces in my belly at the sound of music and in the stillness of the night! I dream of the men that my boys are going to be, the men of God that they will become! Jesus didn't have to die on the cross and He didn't have to give me a family to call my own but he choose to because He loves me! What an amazing gift!?! I hope I remember it so that I can share this love in life to those around me! "For they will know that we are Christians by our love"
So here is the beginning of the garden! Stephen made the bed a few weeks ago (Isaac helped)and we have planted our seeds since. Just waiting for growth now. We planted in the bed some watermelon and cantaloupe. We've also planted strawberries which are already starting to show fruit coming and a little pumpkin plant that Isaac helped me plant.
After all of Isaac's hard work he needed to come inside to rest in his new bean bag chair and have some water and grapes!
Probably a month (if not more) ago we went out on our friend's boat. It was one of those Sat. that was in the high 70's and beautiful! We had a great time and are looking forward to all the fun things we are going to be doing this summer with all the people in our life group(bible study)! I really feel so blessed to have "found"(been given) this group of people to share life with!
I have finally gotten the pictures off my camera! More posts coming soon so I can get caught up before more things happen!
Isaac and his friend
Isaac driving the boat
Daddy putting Isaac's feet in the water, it was freezing but Isaac didn't care!
Wow, has it really been this long since I've blogged. We've been keeping busy with Isaac and getting ready for baby boy #2. I'm not sure where to start, so much is going on. (FYI this is a long post so get ready for lots of reading!)
Well first we've decided to grow fruit this summer. Stephen built a raised bed and we are going to grow cantaloupe, watermelon and strawberries. I'm really toying with the idea of grapes but we'll see, they are pretty involved so I need to do some more research first. I'll try to let you know how the cantaloupe and watermelon are doing!
After much debate we've finally decided which room the new baby will have. Since we didn't sell our house and decided to stay put it has made things a little more tricky. We are actually just using the same decor that we used for Isaac for the new baby. It's less expensive that way. For those that don't know, Stephen is a drummer. An amazing drummer at that! He has a set of electric drums that were in our spare room(the only place we had room for them). We had no idea where we were going to put them to make room for the baby. We debated on the boys sharing a room but really wanted them both to have their own space and we didn't want Isaac to feel like he was losing everything that was "his". We also tried the laundry room, we have a decent size laundry room, but they were too big and I wouldn't have been able to do laundry(which I wouldn't mind until we had no more clothes to wear). So the only option was to put the drums in our bedroom. That's right we have a set of drums in our bedroom! Not having the drums set up wasn't an option. Stephen mentioned it but I was not having it. How could I take away the thing that makes my husbands soul sing, how could I have him put away one of the things that I know IS my husbands heart! NOT an option! We do have a big bedroom and it really isn't bad having them in there. It's actually nice laying in bed watching and listening to him play before I fall asleep. It actually has a lulling affect on me, which is nice! Dave Ramsey says "live like no one else so you can live like no one else". We may be fit tightly in our little house, but it's filled with more love then any big house or money could get us!
Isaac will be moving into the bigger bedroom as soon as we are finished painting. That way he will have more room for his toys and will have the "big boy room". We got new "big boy" bedding (which will work in his crib and then his toddler bed) with cars and trucks on it. He's obsessed with cars and trucks and I know he's going to love it. We are keeping him in his crib for a bit longer. I'm not ready for him to be in a toddler bed and his crib converts so when we're ready we can just change it. I like knowing that when I put him in bed he won't be getting out on his own!!! I will keep him in the crib as long as possible!
We're getting very excited about the new baby. It's starting to feel more real now with all the changes we're making in the house. I really want to pick a name so I can start calling him by name but we having some trouble picking. Isaac's name fits him so perfectly that it feel like a lot of pressure to do the same with the new baby. Isaac means "laughter or laughing one" and if you know Isaac that is him perfectly! He is almost always laughing or trying to make other people laugh and he's been that way since he was a baby. We just want a name that means something that we want our son to embody! Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Also I need some other advice! Isaac is now getting close to two years old and boy is he acting like it. Throwing tantrums, hitting, throwing toys, not listening. It's all I can do during the day to have patience and being pregnant during it is not helping at all! So all you moms out there with experience please let me know what you do. The tantrums I ignore. He'll throw himself on the floor and I just walk away so they only last a second and when he realizes that I'm not paying attention he just gets up and goes and plays. But the hitting, throwing toys and not listening is about to drive me crazy, he just won't stop and I'm not sure how to make him understand that mommy is serious. So any help would be great for that too!
I guess that's about it for now. I'll do a picture post soon but need to get all the new pictures off my camera. We've actually had some really fun outings lately which I'll blog about when I post the pictures. Until then...
Looking for Easter eggs!
Isaac driving the boat
