My Summer is Almost Over

Well, today is my last day of summer. School starts back tomorrow, which means no more spending all day with my little princes. Am I sad? Oh yes, just a little bit. This is my last summer with just her and I hope she's enjoyed it as much as I have. We've done a lot of things together, but I also wish I could have done a lot more. It's hard to do some things while you are pregnant, but I did what I could do.

Now we have to start back on our schedule where we get up and out the door by a certain time. That is going to be hard because Madilyn Grace and I both have a habit of sleeping in. Going to bed early is not a problem because I stay tired anyway, and she's ready for bed when I am, so bedtime hasn't changed much this summer at all.

I really am going to miss my little princess, but I know she is safe and happy at her babysitters house. She loves it there and I think she gets by with a little more over there than she does with me, so she won't be as sad as mommy. I will make it, I just have to keep my mind off of her by staying busy. I am sure that is NOT going to be a problem since I have to get ready for a 7 week maternity leave. So, summer was great, time with my family was wonderful, but now it's time to start back to the grind of things. I am thankful for the time off that I had this summer, the time I had with my family, and the fact that I have a job to go back to.

Thank you Jesus for all you have blessed me with. Thank you for always being there and listening to me through all of my prayers. Thank you for loving me and showing me your way.

What I've Been Up To

Wow! I had an okay weekend. After cleaning house Friday night so I wouldn't have to do it Saturday, I started having Braxton Hicks. It didn't last very long, thank goodness. Then I started having heartburn that is still going on today. Saturday I tried teaching MG how to read, but she lost interest very quickly. She wanted to play her computer game that I showed her last week. Great mommy! But I figured next time I could use that as a bribery, if she reads the cards I made her for about 30 minutes or so, then she can get on the computer. Why didn't I think of that Saturday? I think it's because I really didn't want to do it myself so why should I make her do it? Sunday was church and then we came home and cooked hot dogs on the grill. Yes, that added to my heartburn. Sunday night we had watermelon and music out in our church parking lot. Even though I do not eat watermelon, it was fun. I love listening to our praise band. They are GREAT!! Yesterday I packed MG's and mine and daddy's bag for the hospital. Now if I can get Bill to put the baby car seat in, I will be good to go. I have a strong feeling this one is going to come early. MG was 3 weeks early, so why shouldn't this one? Even though my doctor said I could go full term, I just know with school starting back soon and me being stressed out, something will happen. I will be ready, though. Today we woke up and got breakfast at Burger King. Then MG and I went to the park in Alabaster, ate breakfast, and played until time for the 10:00 movie. We watched Babe, which she loved. She talked most of the way through it, just asking those little toddler questions. Since we've been home, she's been playing while I tutored 2 boys, 1 hour each. She plays really well when I am tutoring. I am very thankful for that.

Oh yeah, yesterday I got an e-mail from a friend to join Facebook and so I did. I signed up thinking that I was just going to sign in so I can keep up with my friends. Well, I signed up yesterday morning and in between all of my chores I found myself on my computer, all the way up to 10:00 lastnight. It was a busy day on FB because a lot of my friends, old and new, were commenting me left and right. It was sooo much fun. So I guess I will be juggling myself in between my blog, FB, family, and quiet time with the LORD, in no particular order, while I still have the time. I can do it!!

Still Growing in Christ,
Tanya

Date Night

All day long I had been waiting for our date. Needless to say, it was a long day. Madilyn Grace was not in the best of moods, so I was very tired by the end of the day when it was time for me to start getting ready for out date. MG and I finally got ready and I made it to the baby sitter's house about 10 minutes late. Well, the funniest thing happened to me when I got in the car. I usually leave my radio on one station, 93.7, I'm not much of a flipper. But there was too much talk on the radio and that is not what I wanted to hear at the time. I turned the radio to the country station 104.7 and there was this song coming on and I just knew it was on the radio just for me. I listened to it, the best I could with Madilyn Grace talking to me. I had heard it before but I never really payed that much attention to it until yesterday. I put a video of the song at the bottom of this blog because it fits yesterday so well for me. Listen to it before you leave my blog, maybe you can relate.

Now to the date, last night, Bill and I was able to go out on a date. We haven't been out, childless, since May 15, Bill's birthday. It was so nice. We went to Olive Garden to eat and then out to the movies. We saw The Proposal. The movie was pretty good, better than I thought it would be. We say every time we go out that we need to do that at least once a month, but now it's going to be a little harder to find a sitter for 2 kids.

After dropping MG off I suddenly realized how quiet my vehicle was. I'm usually having to answer a lot of questions or just simply have a toddler conversation going down the road. It was quiet, so I actually got to turn my radio up a little louder than normal. I had a few errands to run that required me to get out of the car so I ran them before I had to meet Bill at the restaurant. I realized that I did not have to go to the back seat to get MG out of the car and carry her inside with me. Then I had to go by the bank and I didn't have to ask for a sucker, like I do every other time I go. It was nice being able to go to the bathroom by myself at the restaurant, eat without stopping 20 times to do something, watch a movie without having to leave and go to the bathroom again, being talked into buying some candy during the best part of the movie, you see where I am going with this. But I found myself looking around the restaurant while we were there seeing all of the other kids doing kid things at the table, all of the other mommies taking their little ones to the bathroom, some were leaving the movies to either go to the bathroom with their child or to buy them something at the concession stands. It made me miss Madilyn Grace so much! I couldn't help but to think about the song I had heard as I was leaving the house.

I enjoyed the time alone that I had with my husband, but at the same time I could not get my little girl off of my mind. I am addicted to her and having the summer off doesn't help any. She wears me out to the point of exhaustion when I am with her all day, it could be because I am pregnant, but when she is not with me, she's all I think about. Looking down the road, I know that I am going to miss all of the little and big things that occurs in our day to day lives, so I am just going to sit back and take in every moment I have with my little family. I love them so much!!

To play the video and hear the song, pause the music on the sidebar and then press play button.


Still Growing in Christ,
Tanya

We Had a Wonderful 4th of July!

Yesterday was the 4th of July. What a beautiful day to celebrate!

Before I get into what we did, I want to take a moment to tell you what the 4th of July means to me. This day marks the day that our founding fathers stood up for us to give us the freedom of which we still enjoy today!!!! Without all the people that have and continue to defend this freedom we would not be able to enjoy this day!!!! Also this day means that I am Free!!!!!!!

My dad and step mom invited us to be with them this 4th of

July at Wind Creek, so we couldn't turn them down. They had a camper if we got too hot and wanted some air-conditioning and a big lake if we wanted to go swimming. We could not have asked for better weather. It was hot, but we were at Wind Creek so we could dip into the water whenever the heat got too unbearable.

We ate, swam, talked, ate some more, swam some more, well you get the picture. It was fun! At the end of the day we got ready and went down to the amphitheater down past Children's Harbor to listen to music and get ready for the magnificent firework show that started at 9:00. All I can say was wow! It was the best firework display I have seen in years. Madilyn Grace really enjoyed them. We've always taken her to see fireworks on the 4th, but this year I think she enjoyed them most of all.

I can hardly get through the 4th of July with a dry eye. I am so proud to be an American and I love this land more than ever! Let it forever be a beacon of hope for the entire world. With all of our problems, there is still no where in the world that I would rather be! God Bless America!

Still Growing in Christ,
Tanya

Thankful Thursday

A friend of mine posted what she was thankful for on her blog today and asked people to respond. So Tricia, I am responding to your post by adding what I am thankful for on my post for today. Thank you for giving me something to think about.

For the Christian, every day should be Thanksgiving Day. We should even be thankful in the midst of problems. The Apostle Paul said, "I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation" (2 Corinthians 7:4). He knew that God was working all things together for his good, even though he was going through trials (Romans 8:28).

Problems will come your way. God will see to it personally that you grow as a Christian. He will allow the storms, to send your roots deep into the soil of His Word. We pray more in the midst of problems, but it's been well said that you will see more from your knees, than you will on your tip toes.

If we watched a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon, some people might want to help it. Say for instance we did help it, we got a razor blade, and carefully slit the edge of the cocoon. The butterfly would escape from its problem ... and immediately die.

It is God's way to have the butterfly struggle. It is the struggle that causes its tiny heart to beat fast, and send the life's blood into its wings.

Trials have their purpose. They make us struggle—they bring us to our knees. They are the cocoon in which we often find ourselves. It is there that the life's blood of faith in God helps us spread our wings.

Faith and thanksgiving are close friends. If you have faith in God, you will be thankful because you know His loving hand is upon you, even though you are in a lion's den. That will give you a deep sense of joy, and joy is the measure of the depth of faith you have in God.

So that being said, I am thankful for the following things:

1. The world in which we live. God created a beautiful, magnificent place for us to dwell. In Genesis 1:31 the Bible states: "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good."
2. Family. Christians ought to not only be thankful for our physical family, but also their spiritual family: the church, their brothers and sisters in Christ.
   
3. The love of God. I think that the following verse sums it up very nicely: John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
4. The sacrifice of Christ. As previously mentioned, the Lord sent His only son to die so that through obedience people can be saved from their sins. Ephesians 5:2 states: "And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Also Hebrews 10:12-14 states: "But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."

I know that there are many, many other blessings for which I should be thankful, but this is all I could come up with for now. What things are you thankful for?

Still Growing in Christ,
Tanya

Our Happy Little Family- A Little Personal

I hope you have read what I wrote yesterday first, because everything sort of fits together.

Well, after a hard 2 1/2 years of marriage, we decided that we wanted to start our own little family. In October of 2005, that decision was made and in December of 2005, we were pregnant. We were so excited! Trough all of the nausea that I was experiencing, I was still very excited to be starting my own family. We finally knew that this was God's plan and we were ready for whatever was ahead. We knew right away that we wanted our children to be raised up in a Christian home and we had already started on the right path by being active in a church that we called, and still call, home. I could not have asked for a better husband during that time of my life. Bill was awesome! He cooked for me, cleaned house, washed clothes, and even rubbed my back when I wasn't feeling well. I knew that this was going to be a wonderful experience that we were going through together and thanks to him, we made it. On August 19, my water broke, and since I was not hurting, I was able to get dressed up, yes make-up and all, to go to the hospital. I did not know what lied ahead, but I was sure going to look my best at whatever was going to happen. I got there, they checked me in, and nothing. No labor, nothing. So they had to enduce me, and then bam, right away I felt my first labor pain. Fortunately, I was able to get an epidural, so very shortly after, I wasn't feeling any pain. I pushed for 2 hours and my baby girl could not come out. She got stuck in my pelvic bone and no matter how hard I pushed, she was not coming out. So, I had to hear what every woman for the first time dreads hearing, "You have to have a C-Section." So they dressed me up and prepped me for surgery. I was ready to see my little girl so the tears only lasted for a few seconds. They were just tears of fear and excitement of knowing that when I left that room, I would be a mother for the first time. So I kissed my mother goodbye, who was with Bill and me the whole 2 hours of pushing. She could not be there to see her first grandchild being born. My family waited patiently for about 50 minutes to see our precious little Madilyn Grace. At 2:14 am on Sunday August 20, 2006, Madilyn Grace braced us with her presence. Since then she has been a joy to be around. She is now almost 3 years old, where does the time go? I love my little princess. I rush out the door of work everyday at 3:15 to go and pick her up. Even though she wears me out with all of her energy, at the end of the day I thank God for my little miracle. I pray that she will always be happy and make the right choices in life. She loves going to church and we as her parents hope this continues for a lifetime.

In May of 2008, we decided that we wanted another child, so we started trying. We wanted our kids to be about 2 to 3 years apart so it was time for another one. Eight months later, we found out that we were expecting again. What joy we felt! Madilyn Grace was going to be a Big Sister.

I've got to admit that during those 8 months I was starting to lose all hope. Looking back on it, I feel guilty now because we have so many friends who are trying and have been trying to conceive for years now, 8 months was nothing. I pray that when the time is right, everyone that is wanting to become parents will. It is such a blessing!

Well, the first 16 weeks were horrible for me. A lot worse this time than last. My doctor had to give me meds for nausea just so I could go to work. I was sick all day at work, all day at home, and all night in bed. This time I had to care for a 2 1/2 year old, so it was much harder for me. Again, I mention my wonderful husband. I just thought he was wonderful last time I as going through this, he has been phenomenal! Although the house didn't stay as spotless as I would have liked, he spent time with our little princess and that was something that I just could not do. They truly had a Father-Daughter bonding moment every day for at least 4 months. Although I was sick to move around, my heart was filled with joy to hear and see them bonding like they were. Thank you Bill for all you've done and are still doing. You are an amazing husband!

I am now almost 26 weeks pregnant and anticipating the moment for our second daughter, Natalee Brooke, to arrive. However, I am a little stressed because we don't have her room decorated yet. By this time when I was pregnant with Madilyn Grace we were ready, clothes were washed and hung up, but not this time. We are waiting on Madilyn Grace's new bed before we can pass down the baby bed to Natalee Brooke. Hopefully by the end of the summer, we will have everything ready to go. Just pray for my patience because I don't seem to have much right now.

I hope I haven't bored you with all of my personal notes, but I think I have just about caught everyone up. Do you feel like you know us a little better now? That is my plan, to share with you about "Our Lives," where we've been, where we are now, and where we are going. Please join us each day.

I would like to close with this:
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6 NIV)

Still Growing in Christ,
Tanya