Thanksgiving

It is the eve of Thanksgiving.  This holiday has always been celebrated in my family, but since my family is Canadian we also celebrated their thanksgiving too, which is in October.  When home with my folks these are a few of the things that I so enjoy about this holiday...
- The smell of the turkey roasting.
- A crazy flurry of activity the day before as we prepare the meal to be cooked the next day.
- The morning of, we all gather in our pjs and spend time laughing and talking over breakfast and coffee.
- Watching the parade on tv in the background.
- FOOD! (if you know me at all, then you would know that food is one of my favorite loves. It is a weakness of mine.)
- Family...growing up my family moved a lot, no better said, we moved all the time!! The only thing we had that was consistent in life was each other.  It has made us a close family and we cherish the time we get to spend together.

This Thanksgiving I am spending it with my husband's family in Kansas.  Their traditions are a little different than mine, but there will be a lot of love to go around.  Love and pickled hering. I could do without the pickled hering, but Jason's grandpa makes up for it by frying up some of his famous homemade potato chips.  Nothing like chips AND turkey on the same day! Some things really are just too good to be true.  (I did mention that I liked food, right?)

There are many thing that I am thankful for this year.  Most of those things are wrapped up in my husband and my son.  God has so richly blessed me and I am more than humbled by the way that the Lord has provided for me, and I don't mean just money wise.  There have been a lot of changes in my life in the past year. Questions that I was asking. Plans that needed to be made. Adjustments that were coming. Many things could have gone "wrong", but didn't. It has been a year where I have learned to walk a little closer to the Lord and trust Him in ways that I didn't before. If for no other reason, that is enough to be Thankful for. I've seen ways in which God's faithfulness and mercies are new every morning. There are still many thing that I am praying for and are heavy on my heart, but from living this past year I really KNOW that God will take care of those things in ways that are beyond my understanding.  God is working in the big and the small details of my life. He is working in yours too.  And so, I am thankful. Humbly thankful. I feel like this is a perfect time to reflect on God's goodness to me as I head into the Christmas season.  Holidays are great. I did mention the food, right? But holidays can get me off track of what their real purpose is.  I don't want to do that through this holiday season.

One of the top things that I am so thankful for tonight is that my little nephew made it safely into this world yesterday morning.  Mr. Henry Paul Smith was 7lbs. 3oz. and 21 inches long.  At 20 weeks the doctor thought he might have downs syndrome or heart/brain defects. We prayed and were trying not to worry since God knew what He was doing when He created this little boy. I am thrilled to say that Henry is perfectly healthy and doing famously.  Apparently he has a head full of blonde hair and looks strikingly like my niece, Isabella.  I haven't seen a picture of him yet, but I am in love with my little nephew already. Just another reason of how God is good.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  Enjoy your turkey, family, nap, shopping, rest, and time of being thankful.

list

Two years ago for Christmas my Mother-in-law bought me a sewing machine!  I LOVE it.  But, I have never had the time to truly devote to sewing projects like I would have hoped.  In my dreams, albeit wild dreams, I would love to have an etsy site where I can sell some of my "masterpieces".  I have a whole list of things that I would like to start in on. Curious?

Some fun burp cloths...

And paci holders that are a little more color coordinate-able (is that a word?)

I love these little pillowcase dresses...and though I don't have a girly yet, it would be fun to make some to sell!

Or, how about a cute bag to haul all those baby (or non baby) necessities?

I love the look of these taggie blankets, and totally want to try to make one (or two)...

And, maybe a few of this cute wipe cases:

I have a feeling I am being a little over ambitious right now, but a girl can dream big, right?!  My sewing skills aren't amazing, so it will take me a while to get it all right, but I am totally pumped to start in on these.  I'll be sure to take some pictures of my completed projects when/if they happen!

As of tomorrow it will have been six whole months since I last worked.  Well, let me correct that statement...since I last worked at an office.  Since I last worked? Hmm...2 hrs, 49 min. :-) Jason and I were talking about different jobs in the world and he was commenting that I would love working at a place like Williams Sonoma. I thought about it for 3 seconds and then thought nope...I LOVE my current job.  You know, each day as Obadiah can do more and more, my job gets more rewarding. The dirty diapers aren't really a perk, but giggles I get when my Obi has a clean bum sure are!  I had someone comment to me the other day that she wasn't made to stay at home all day.  Frankly, I am not sure I have met anyone who was meant to be inside all day, every day.  It is true, there have been a few days when I have had to resort to going to Wal-Mart for a little excursion.  Glamorous? Not quite. But hey...I get to say hello to the greeters and the check-out person...so it isn't all that bad!  I am so thankful for

On a separate note, there are some things that have been weighing on my mind lately.  So, I've been praying.  I haven't seen the Lord answer the prayers yet, but I have seen Him at work at my heart as I have been praying.  Perhaps that is equally as important as the answer to the prayer itself. I am continually reminded of how the scriptures talk about how when we seek the Lord with our whole hearts He will be found!  I want that to be true of me.  I do not want to live with a divided heart, but rather as one that is completely seeking after the Lord. I have a looooooong ways to go.

Sweet friends

This Friday I went to a birthday party for one of my best friends.  Here is a picture of Elizabeth's sweet family!  I love this family to pieces.

Her two precious girls!  Couldn't be any sweeter if they tried.

It was so wonderful to spend time with her and two other treasured friends.  I know that I am a blessed girl. I have a beautiful little family and could not ask for much more than what I've got.  But I also have been given some friendships that I know will last for my lifetime.  These are the women that I have cried with, laughed with and just been quiet with.  These are the girls that show me unconditional love and support. I wish that everyone was as blessed as I.

Love you girls!  Thanks for your friendship.  I cherish you.

15 weeks

Obi,

Fifteen weeks ago tonight we were holding you in our arms for the very first time. We knew life was going to change...and it has. But at the same time, it feels like you've been a part of our lives forever and so life is very much un-changed. 

I know that every momma thinks that their baby is best.  But, the secret between you and I is that YOU really ARE the best. You rarely cry, unless something is wrong.  Your little squeeky voice is like music to my ears when you "talk".  We listen to a lot of that music at our house!! Every day is a new discovery for you.  You are constantly inspecting things and checking out all that goes on around you.  The only way that you will nap is if it is just you and I here at the house and there is nothing much going on.  If there is a party happening, then my dear boy, you want to be in the middle of it.  I would like to take this time to tell you that naps are our friends! :-)

You bring so much joy to our lives and we are ever so thankful that God chose to send us you.  We are more than a little humbled!  You bring out the best in both your dad and I.  We adore being your parents and we wouldn't change anything. I am not wishing this time away because already I miss the newborn Obi, but I am so excited for when you are able to do all the stuff that I know you are dying to do!  We are going to have a blast together my son.

Your full head of hair is now just a fluffy patch on the top of your head.   It doesn't stick up as much as it used to, but you are starting to get a bunch of fuzz all over your head.  Hmmm...will it be blonde? or brown?  I think it will be blonde, just like your daddy!  People stop me everywhere we go and they comment on what an adorable baby you are (yes, I admit to having a bit of pride about that fact).  If they know your daddy, the very next thing they tell me is that you look just like him. I am alright with that.  You are just not allowed to pull all the stunts that he did when he was little, ok?!


Son, I am praying that the seeds we are sowing in your life will rest on good soil.  I love that you are cute and smart and funny, but more than anything, I want for you to love Jesus!  We are praying blessings over your life.  May you live up to the meaning of your name Obadiah: servant of God.

You are much loved by me (and your daddy)!

Mom

all blown out

You know when you hear the pipes in your kitchen sink start to gurgle and just bubble.  You wait with antcipation of something bad happening, and 99.9% of the time nothing bad does happen.  Today I found out that those statistics are not quite so high when your baby's "pipes" start to rumble.  Yes folks, today I had to strip my child down twice because there was poo all the way up his back and starting to make it's way toward his hairline. Both times I happened to be holding him.  Once at a place where it was fully appropriate to strip him down to his skin, and once at a really fun/fancy restaurant with all of the people from a photo studio sitting at the table with us.  The second place was not quite as appropriate as the first, so we marched out to the car, I popped the trunk and laid my sweet, smiling baby in the trunk and proceed to pull his wet, stinky, slimy outfit off.  For the record, a trunk works very well for changing a messy baby. Poor Obi though, I had only brought one clean outfit with me today, so I had to put him in his jacket and then my sweater. I am guessing this won't be the first time that I will have to give up my clothes in order to keep my baby warm.  Mental note to self: pack at least TWO clean outfits, you just never know when things are going to blow up, or...out! 

After two weeks of being sick myself, I am finally well!  My darling baby boy started with a fever on Wednesday night and since I am a new parent, and since swine flu is going around, I decided to do the mature and wise thing and take my sweet Obi to the doctor.  His lungs, ears and throat were clear, but the doctor put him on Tamiflu for his other symptoms.  After listening to what the doctor said about swine flu, I am guessing that that is what I had for two weeks.  We are MUCH better now.  Ready to dive back into life with full force.

I've made my decision.  About school. I am going to say farewell to my books, professors, and my homework.  I feel confident about this decision.  There will be things that I will greatly miss about my grad school program. But, there are things that I would miss a great deal more if I continued! When I started with school I wasn't sure when a baby would make his/her way to our front door.  Now that my son is here I don't want to trade anything else for time with him.  I absolutely adore being his mommy, and for me, this is the right decision. There may be days when I want to do something other than change diapers, wipe a nose, and pick up toys.  I will tackle those days when they come.  If and when the day comes that it is right for our family for me to return to school then I will gladly go. Right now I gladly am staying home. I prayed about this decision and feel at peace about it.

Obi and I are heading to St. Louis tomorrow with Jason.  He has to go for work and since he's been gone so much lately, the two of us decided to tag along with him.  It's a bit of a spur of the moment decision, but we are excited to go see fabulous St. Lou together.  I used to recruit in St. Louis, but this will be my first time there as a non-working girl. 

I'll give you an update as to how our little road trip goes!