Year in review...

In light of the new year, I thought I would link up to this fun blog and do a 2009 recap, via my blog. So here is the first couple lines of the first post of each month. I hope you enjoy reviewing my year as much as I did!

January

Ian rolled over today! I got so excited I think I scared him :) I also started to cry. I am such a women!

February

Visit my weight loss blog to see my new favorite recipe!

March

Let's start our day off with a smile today. I hope this does the trick! Here a just a few of the ones that came up for my name. My wise cracks are in (___) behind the quotes.

1. Unfortunately, Jessica would regret that decision when one night Marshall forced himself on her. (darn that Marshall)

April

Tonight Justin and I are going to go on a date!

May

I love me some good giveaways and with Mother's day coming up I thought you might want to know about this wonderful giveaway going on at We Are THAT Family.

June

So I only have time for a short post today. We are having a blast here in Florida!

July

Today Ian and I met our friends at the zoo. It was perfect weather, not too hot and a little bit of a breeze.

August

So I am not a museum kind of person. I don't like to go and walk through exhibits and read about what I am looking at.

September

So much has been going on in our life as of lately. I have been so, let me type that as SO busy this week. It has for sure made the week go by faster though. Which is good since I am having a date with the hottest man in the world on Friday!

October

I don't understand why He is not allowing this to happen. I know that I will look back and praise Him all the more. I just feel sad today.

(um, just a note on this one...look to Decembers post, He is good)

November

God has blessed Justin and I with some amazing people in our lives. Today I am going to mention one of them.

December

I am pregnant! We are so excited.

Our day in a nut shell, or a snow shell...

What a day, or should I say two days! Yesterday (Christmas eve) it began to snow, it continued to snow and continued to snow and just when you thought it was done it kept on going! It became a full on blizzard! In fact that is what the news people have officially titled it... "Blizzard 09". I really thought they should come up with something more creative. Justin heard someone on the radio say "white death 09", which I think was a little too much but at least it was creative!

Today (Christmas day) we had planned on going to my Mom and Step-dad's house to celebrate with the entire family! When I say entire I mean all 5 siblings (includes step), their spouses and kids, and of course Nana and Pawpaw! However, we decided to hold off since most of us were coming from at least 30 minutes away (which in blizzard roads would have turned into at least an hour I am sure). We will celebrate our Savior's birth tomorrow.

Justin, Ian and I did celebrate together today. We opened gifts, which was awesome. My hubbs did great on the gifts he got me! It was funny because everything he got me was on my list of wants, I forgot about most of them though so it was a huge surprise when I opened them!

After Ian's nap and lunch we read the story of Jesus' birth. What a great reminder that God is in control!

I wanted to thank the two ladies who left comments on my last post about birth control. I really think they have helped me in my desicion. The hubs and I will still discuss the final out come. It is not to late to share your opinion with me! Comment, comment, comment!!! I love those comments ;)

Ok, here are some pictures of our day. Merry Christmas and remember that Jesus loves us. If you have any questions about what I am talking about then PLEASE leave me a comment.

My little cheeseburger ;) (Veggie Tales anyone?)

Blizzard '09

birth control vs no birth control...

Obviously this is not an issue for me right now as I am with child. However, I was thinking the other day what is the answer. Does God want us to use birth control? I mean any form of it.

You see I was thinking, there isn't anything in the Bible about preventing pregnancy. No verse says "if thou knowest that thou is ovulating then thou shouldn't lay with thy husband". However, it does say in Psalm 127:3-5 (ESV)

3. Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. 5. 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.

So that brings me back to the question, is birth control (of any form) ok to use? Or should we just trust that God will know what we can handle and what we can't? Part of me feels like God gave us brains, we should use them. You know? Like if you know that financially you can not have children then perhaps you shouldn't have them. I mean the only true birth control is not "laying" with your spouse.

I found this on a website called www.quiverfull.com. I thought it was good. It might possibly be what I believe. The jury is still out on this though.

The bottom line is not about how many children one has, but about trusting God with all our hearts, souls and minds in ALL areas of our lives. If we are withholding one area, what other things are we holding back from His control? Jesus has asked us to come to Him with the simple faith of a child and merely put our trust in Him. Has he not shown us over and over that He can be trusted to do us good and not evil?


So tell me, what do you think? Is birth control (of any form) right or wrong, or does it depend on the person? Do you think that God would call some of us to use it and others to not? I am really interested in knowing what you think on this subject.

(a little side note: I do not promote sex before marriage. I do believe that God wants us to wait till we are married to have sex. I know that people make mistakes and God forgives. What an amazing God we serve!)

Giving it up to God...

Sometimes giving things to God is a lot harder than just saying "Lord I give _____ to you". Sometimes it takes action. Like today I have given the need for a babysitter up to God, but what do I do? I sit in front of the computer just waiting for someone to email me back that they can babysit for us. Then it hit me that first of all if we do find a babysitter that can come over to our house then I need to get some cleaning done and second it may not come in the form of an email! So I got up off my butt and cleaned the main bathroom, started laundry, did dishes and showered! I even cleaned the master bath while I was at it! Now I find myself listening to Ian's v-tech doll that he has in his crib. He for some reason isn't going to sleep today, but at least he isn't crying! Thanks Nana and Pawpaw for the frog doll! Thank you Lord for the people who make v-tech toys.

Ok, back to the original subject. Giving things to God... I have decided that if God doesn't want us at the FLOCK Christmas party tonight then that is what I want to. Right? It is always hard for me to trust that He knows best. Why is that? I mean God has taken care of me my whole life, I need not worry about something so small as having a night with other adults right? RIGHT! So I am going to get off the computer again, because I keep thinking that surely someone will email me saying they can babysit, and I am going to fix my hair and finish getting ready.

FYI - Ian is 15 months old today! We go to his doctor appointment today, I better pack the camera! ;)

Three years ago...

I said "I do" to the most amazing man ever!

I remember it like it was yesterday. I woke up at 5, or should I say got up because I was already awake and just couldn't get back to sleep! I took my shower and washed my hair even though the hair lady told me not to wash it that morning. Oh well, my hair still looked good!

My friend/bridesmaid Abby went to McDonald's with me for breakfast. I know I didn't spare anything to make that day fancy. ;)

When we arrived at the church I started to get worried when the hair lady was late. But she arrived and we began the proccess of making me in to the beautiful bride that I was that day (yes you can call that bragging, but I thought I looked great!).

Justin and I had decided to give each other a gift that day. I thought he meant for it to be giving before the wedding, so I sent my gift over to him. He was embarrassed when he opened it in front of his dad. It wasn't anything bad, but it could be questionable. It was a massage ball that I got at Bath and Body Works! Anyway, he gave me the gift once we got to the hotel. It was a beautiful silver cross with the word LOVE in the middle!

Ok, so on to the ceremony. I thought it was a good one. Not too long, but not real short either. During the unity candle part we were laughing at just talking to each other. I told him "guess what, we get to have (you can fill in the blank) tonight!" I don't know if that embarrassed him or not but I think we had fun up there.

Ok, so enough details lets see some pictures! Just kidding, it looks like we don't have any scanned in so you can check back later and maybe my sweet, smart, good looking husband can scan some in tonight!

more favorites...

I can probably go on for a while with this whole favorites list. So look for more of my favorites as the days go on.

Today I want to share with you my favorite spaghetti eater! Yes you heard right. I love this little guy more than anything in the world, even though I am the one who cleans up his mess (well with help from Justin). I can't stand how cute he is when he is covered in spaghetti sauce!

Stay tuned for my wedding story tomorrow! Three years of marriage to the most wonderful man ever!

These are a few of my favorite things!

Favorite Christmas tree ornament:
You may be wondering why this says "Our First Christmas, 2004". I mean I didn't even meet Justin till 2006! Well the story behind this ornament makes me smile every time I think of it. Long ago (in 2004) I was going to keep two of my sweet nieces over night. My brother took them to Target before coming over and let them each pick out an ornament for me. Kylie, who was 5 at the time, gave me a cheerleader ornament, which I do love. Kaitlynn gave me this ornament because she liked the bears. Should I mention she was only 3 years old at the time? Because of this I love telling the story behind this ornament! It makes my list of my favorite things!

My favorite gift received:
Hands down my favorite, and most used, gift that I have received is my snuggie! I love it. Justin gave it to me just to say he loves me! What a man I have. I love my husband and I love my snuggie!


These are just a few of my favorite things. Tell me what are yours?

Such a great church...

Our church, Henderson Hills Baptist Church, is such a wonderful place to go! Not only is everyone so welcoming, but the staff are great. Every year our "gathering" is decorated so nice at Christmas time that people are always trying to take family pictures in front of the decorated Christmas trees. I too had thought that would be a good idea. After all we would already be in dress clothes. Well this year our church offered free, yes FREE, family photos in front of the trees! In fact our friend Franklin was the one taking the pictures (he is multi-talented). So Justin, Ian and I dressed up and had our picture taken. I think it turned out well, however Ian wasn't so happy. I think he secretly knew he would have to go back to the nursery rather than stay with mommy and daddy. He is a smart kid like that. :) Thanks HHBC for doing this!

The rumors are true...

I am pregnant! We are so excited. I went to the doctor's office yesterday and had blood work done and right now my levels are low so I am going to go back tomorrow to have more blood drawn to make sure they have gone up. Also, my progesterone level was low so I will be put on a progesterone supplement till week 12. This happened when I was pregnant with Ian too. I am trying not to be too worried about the HcG levels being low. I am a bit emotional today though and Ian is having diarrhea so that doesn't help me much. Thankfully I have a WONDERFUL husband who has offered to do things around the house and even to come home from work if I need him. He is so sweet! I am so blessed to have him as my husband and friend.

Well I will keep you updated on things with the pregnancy as they go along. Please pray for a healthy pregnancy. I have already been sick a lot, but am trying not to complain about it because I know it is a blessing. I am supposed to have an ultra sound scheduled for next week, which will be exciting! I look forward to posting pictures of our little peanut.