Emma's new pics

Jamie and I have been taking new pictures of Emma. We took these fall pictures in our barn at our house, and the Christmas pictures at my mom and dad's house in front of their tree. I just wanted to share them with everyone--she's too cute!!!

Baby update

Jason and I went to the doctor on Monday for another ultrasound of baby #2. My doctor checked all the developing "things" in there to make sure everything looked like it was forming ok. There was no fluid around the neck and a good solid nose bone, which means no Down Syndrome. The heart had four visible beating chambers, the brain tissue is developing nicely, and there's 3 good arteries in the umbilical cord. Ultrasounds are so amazing! The coolest thing to me was that as the doctor was checking everything out, you could see our little baby, clearer than I don't know what, sucking its little thumb. Only 12 weeks since it's conception, and it's already sucking its thumb!!! That is so amazing to me. I can't imagine how anyone could say that its "only a fetus" and not a baby. It may still look like a little alien, but it's a living, beautiful BABY to me. Emma was always sucking her thumb in all her ultrasound pictures--she still does. It runs in the family--her daddy was a major thumb-sucker, too. Jamie (Jason's sister) said, "Well, if it's already sucking its thumb, it obviously belongs to Jason!" Of course there's never been any question about that, but it's just amazing to me that its so tiny and can already comfort itself in that way.

Emma loves talking about the baby. I told her I was going to the doctor and he was going to take some pictures of our baby in Mommy's belly again. She told my mom and dad when we left her at their house that Mommy was going to have "that boy" take pictures of the baby again. She loves watching the ultrasound video, too. As we were watching it I was pointing out the different parts of the baby for her, and I think she really does see what I'm talking about. When it's over she always wants to watch it again. She's going to absolutely love being a big sister.

Celebration!!!

Last night was our Celebration Banquet at church. It's become an annual event that everyone looks forward to. We weren't able to have an actual dinner banquet because of the space needed to seat 500+ people, but instead we had a fantastic "dessert buffet." People were able to filter in and out during the evening, have their dessert, and listen to a fabulous concert. The Lesters, from St. Louis, MO, presented the entertainment for the evening. It was an all-around incredible night.

The truly incredible part though, had nothing to do with the dessert or the music. Last night also wrapped up the Imagine campaign at Meadow Heights. The total commitments and total cash from the first fruits offering were announced. Our little church has committed to give over $455,000 in the next year to cover expenses in opening our new AV site. Not only that, but our congregation gave over $106,000 in cash this weekend as our first offering to the project. I'm tearing up even as I type this! How amazing! God can do anything you know--far more than we can ever dream!!! This is big! I can't wait to see who God brings into His family because His people listened to His voice and honored Him with their finances! YEA, GOD!!!

Catch up...

It's been over a week since I last posted, but this time of year is so stinkin' busy it's hard to find time to sit down at the computer. Emma has been sick this week. I guess she's got that foot and mouth virus. Her little mouth is just full of fever blisters. She's been running a low-grade temp all week long and she hasn't really been able to eat much of anything. She's been playing pretty well in between tylenol doses, but she really hasn't eaten anything except chocolate pudding and a little mac and cheese all week long She looks kind of pathetic! If she was going to be sick, though, I'm so glad it happened this week instead of next week over Thanksgiving break!

Last night, Jason and I took went with my mom and dad to see the band Daughtry at the Show-Me Center in Cape. It was an AWESOME concert! My dad really likes Daughtry, so we took him as part of his Christmas present. It's a little early, but still... We had a really good time and it was a nice night with good, clean rock music. What a blast!

I'm looking so forward to this weekend for our Celebration services and banquet at church. (Well, it's not really a banquet this year because of space, but we are having a dessert banquet!) At the banquet we'll find out how much money God has provided for our new AV site and, visit with family and friends, enjoy of cool concert, and eats LOTS of dessert! It's going to be stinkin' awesome!

All good things must end

Last night ended the 2007 Blackcat Football season. The boys lost the Sectional play-off game at New Madrid, 20-30. They really played a good game, it just came down to the fact that the New Madrid team is a REALLY good team, and they seemed to have just out-played us. The Fredericktown boys put up a good fight though and held until the end. It's so hard to see those big Senior boys after the game with huge crocodile tears streaming down their face. It's emotional. That's it, no more football, no more goofing, it's time to grow up. I miss those days when I was in marching band and all really had to worry about was getting to practice on time and what to wear to school. However, looking at the blessings on my life now, there's no way in the world I'd go back! Congratulations to the cats and to a wonderful season! You boys really have proved yourselves as fighters! I'm proud of all of you!

Guilty...

If you read my last post, I indicated that last night wasn't a good evening and that by bedtime Emma was wearing on my last nerve. I have to confess I was having a selfish, not-so-good-Mommy evening and I was so ready for that child to go to bed it wasn't even funny. Don't get me wrong, I love Emma with all my heart and I would give my life for her, as most mothers would. Still, sometimes my nerves get a little frazzled. Anyway, as I was proofreading a Comp II paper for Regina Mills this morning, I read a quote she included at the end of her paper. Here it is:

“…a word about family. You have amply demonstrated that you are achievers willing to work hard, long hours and set aside your personal lives. But it reminds me of that observation that no one was every heard to say on a deathbed, I wish I had spent more time at the office. Balance wisely your professional life and your family life. If you are fortunate enough to have children, your parents will warn you that your children will grow up and be gone before you know it. I can testify that it is true. God only allows us so many opportunities with our children to read a story, go fishing, play catch and say our prayers together. Try not to miss a one of them.”
Vince Foster, Deputy Council to President Clinton

Wow. I had to ask God to forgive me for not giving Emma the time she needed last night. For not taking a few moments to read to her before she went to sleep, and for not laying by her a minute when she asked me to. I think I'll go home tonight and read her a couple books before bed and smile when she asks me to put diapers on every baby doll and stuffed animal in the house, for the millionth time. I think I'll lay in her bed and tell her how much I love her over and over until she gets tired of me and tells me to go away (which she does most nights with a giggle). I owe her a few.

When it rains, it pours!

Sitting in church this weekend, my dad challenged us to be on our guard because Satan is going to be working over time this week to discourage us. There's too many good things going on at Meadow Heights and in our life for that not to be the case. Well...happy Tuesday! Satan has been doing exactly that in our household this morning, and he's been on the move with a vengeance. Jason and I had a big argument last night that was STUPID, and I spent half the evening annoyed by Emma who has picked up the art of whining. (I think these are the pregnancy hormones talking...at least I hope so...) Anyway, then this morning, on the way to work my car started stinking and smoking like crazy. I pulled over at the neighbor's house so Jason could look under the hood and I'll be darned if there wasn't my cat dead on the highway. Talk about a crappy morning. I don't know what was worse--Emma crying because I was hysterical and trying to explain to her that our cat went to live with Jesus, having to bury the cat and being late to work and then explaining myself to colleagues, or chasing the dog away from Reney's sad little grave because he wanted to dig her up...

Jason says there's something up with the radiator, which could be a really bad thing. Hopefully the hose just slipped off and the antifreeze is just leaking. That shouldn't be too big a deal, but if the antifreeze leaked into the engine, we're in big trouble. And my poor cat...she looked so pitiful laying there in the road. It must've happened sometime this morning because Jason said she wasn't cold yet... Reney was a good old girl. A great mouser and snake cat. I have a lot of fond memories of her peeing in laundry baskets when she got mad at me, bringing snakes to my doorstep and dead rabbits into my house.... No really, I will miss her. She was a sweet cat--when she wasn't mad at me.

I guess Dad was right when he said we better be on our guard. I know Satan wants to keep us from getting a blessing by giving to the Imagine campaign, listening to what God is telling us, or robbing us of our time with Him. I don't want to jinx myself, but I do want to let Satan know that it's going to take a lot more than a smokin' Explorer and a dead cat to keep us from giving God the glory and honoring Him in the Imagine campaign. I'm not asking for any more trouble, that's for sure, but I also know that God will protect us and He'll provide, as long as we're faithful. So faithful we'll be, and we'll lose a few pounds walking in the meantime...

Facing the giants...

Well, last night ended Fredericktown's perfect football record. The Varsity team played the Central Rebels at 7:00 last night and ended up losing the battle 31-33. I must say, I don't really know much about football, but it looked to me like the boys didn't fight as hard as they needed to. There were lots of mistakes and turn overs and most of the extra points were missed. Hopefully, however, the boys will look at it as a learning experience and realize what they're going to have to do to beat New Madrid next Wednesday night. Even though Fredericktown lost last night's game, they're still the District Champions and they're moving on to the State Play-offs. If they can pull off a win against a very good New Madrid team next week, they'll move on the the State Quarter Finals on Monday, November 12. That game will hopefully be played at home. I'll be praying that God will keep all the boys safe, give the coaches wisdom and let the underdog team be victorious in however far they play!!!

I have to also brag on Emma in my post today. On the way home from the babysitter yesterday, she said, "Mommy, listen!" I asked her what she wanted and she said, "We have to pray." We ended up praying for Uncle Jas and his football game on the drive home. I have to say, my heart was full in that moment. Emma is just beginning to understand that we ask God for things and that we love Him and He loves us. Well, as least as much as a two year old can understand. I love the fact that her babysitter, Cindy Ward, is a Christian and that she exposes Emma to things of the Bible on a daily basis. We take Emma to All-Stars at church and talk about God and pray to God at home, but it's really nice to have her coming home from the babysitter singing songs about Jesus and asking me to pray. My biggest prayer for her is that she'll one day learn to love Jesus because she can't imagine doing anything else, and I love the fact that she has that instilled in her life everyday at Cindy's house!

Happy Halloween!

Here's Emma in her Halloween costume. She LOVED trick-or-treating! She was so sweet in her little cowboy outfit. She said, "Trick-or-treat!" at every house and then said, "Thank you!" after she got any candy. That sure does a mom's heart proud!

Down on the farm...

Last Saturday, we took a family trip to the pumpkin patch. We went to Beggs Family Farm in Sikeston for the day. My mom and dad, Jason's mom and dad, and Jason and Jamie went with Jason, Emma, and I. We had such a blast! There was so much there for Emma to do. She got to pet a LOT of animals (here's a picture of her feeding the goats), see some pig races, and ride a little "farm train." We rode out to the pumpkin patch and picked our own pumpkins and had lunch (fried taters and turkey legs...YUM!). Emma even picked out a pumpkin for the new baby. It was a beautiful day and it awesome to be able to spend it together with family!

Group Fellowship

Last night was our Group Fellowship at Scott and Tonya Minson's house. If you don't go to Meadow Heights, you probably have no idea what the heck a "Group Fellowship" is, so let me explain. We're in the middle of the Imagine campaign at church. Our Life Groups are still meeting every week, but this particular week our groups are getting together with 3 or 4 other groups and meeting at one home. My dad and Greg Amelung are meeting with us and sharing with us what the Imagine campaign is all about. I enjoyed our Group Fellowship last night so much! It was so awesome to get with several other groups and listen to Dad and Greg as they shared their hearts about what God is doing at Meadow Heights.

I feel so priveleged to be able to be a part of this campaign. Jason and I are pumped about what God is going to tell us concerning how we are to be apart of the giving campaign. We feel so blessed because God has performed such a financial miracle in our household. Three years ago, we were in so much debt it wasn't even funny. As a matter of fact, we figured up that if we never used our credit cards for another purchase, and simply paid the minimum payments on everything until it was all paid off, it'd be another 40 years before we were totally out of debt. God really spoke to us about our finances and helped us make some wise decisions to get ourselves out of a financial pit. I praise God for speaking so clearly to both of us and helping us stick to our plan! I'm happy to report that 3 years later, we are completely out of debt except for our mortgage on our house. Isn't God stinkin' awesome???

It's so cool to know that now that we've freed up our finances, we can give a bigger sacrificial gift than we could've before. I realize that God doesn't care about the amount; what he cares about is the sacrifice. It's such a blessing to us just to know that now we can be an even bigger part than we could've before. We're so thankful to God for helping us get our finances in order, and we just want to give back to Him for being so generous to us. He's given us so much, how could we ever repay Him? WE CAN'T!!! There's no way we can ever repay Him for even part of what He's given to us, but we can sure get a kick out of trying. I'm looking forward to the blessing I know God is going to give us for honoring Him with our lives--and our money.

BIG NEWS!!!!

Jason and I found out this weekend that we're going to have another baby! We're so excited! We've been trying to concieve for six months now, and finally, we get to share our news with everyone. We can't wait to see who God has sent to be a part of our family. We'd really like to have a boy this time, but another girl would certainly be a blessing as well. It was so fun explaining to Emma that we were going to be getting a "real baby" at our house. She's spent all weekend talking to my belly and telling me how she's going to be changing diapers and feeding our baby bottles. She looks in my belly button and says, "Hi, Baby!" Every time she walks past me she wants to look in my belly button and kiss my belly. I hope she's still excited when the baby finally gets here and takes up a little of her space as the center of attention!

You know, God uses all kinds of things to get our attention. Like I said before, Jason and I had been trying to get pregnant for six months. I was so disappointed every month when it didn't happen. A few weeks ago, I was sitting in church, and I heard God speak to me loud and clear. I was disappointed about the fact that I was having trouble getting pregnant, and God said to me very clearly, "Why haven't you asked Me to help you get pregnant?" The only answer I could muster up was, "Well, I don't really know." So I started asking Him. The next month, well, here I am, pregnant as I can be! I forget that God doesn't just want to hear our "big" prayers. He also cares about our everyday stuff. Sometimes all He wants us to do is ask Him to be a part of things! I'm so glad He spoke to me that morning, and I'm so glad I listened!

My mom figured up that I should be due on July 28. I'm not very excited about being huge and pregnant in the hottest part of the summer, but I'll take it. I decided I'll just have to get one of those double floating rafts and hang out in the pool all summer. I'm not looking forward to the maternity swimming suit either...maybe I'll just find a muu muu instead... Anyway, I wanted to make sure and share our news with everyone--God is awesome!

Elmo

Last Saturday, Fredericktown had their annual chili cook-off. We read in the paper that Elmo was going to be at the cook-off and when we asked Emma if she wanted to go see Elmo that's all she could talk about all morning. She was so excited to see him, but only at a distance. Once it was time to have her picture taken on his lap, she didn't want anything to do with him. The only way we could get her picture was if I was in the picture with her, and then she wanted to sit on my lap farthest away from him. Poor Elmo!

Go...

When I think about launching the new AV campus at our church, it's so exciting to think that God is allowing us to be a part of it! I'm so thankful for our church leaders who are listening so closely to what God has to say and who are at the front of the lines when it comes to stepping out and trying something new. I must admit at the same time though, it's quite scary and a little overwhelming! I know that having faith in God should calm all those fears, but I'd be lying to say that change is always easy! When all this talk about starting a new AV campus came up, all I could think about was, "Wow, that's awesome, but God you better not ask me to go because I'm not leaving my church." I had to get used to the fact that the AV campus IS the same church, just in a different town! Now, I'm pumped about the new building and campus, and I'm really pumped about the coffee area at AV! (JUST KIDDING.) No really, I'm so excited about what God is doing in our church and I pray that God will show me just how I can be a part of it all.

I'm still reading Just Walk Across the Room. I'm about half way through. Remember, I have a two year old at home... Sometimes I feel like an idiot because I don't have the right words to spout out to someone when the subject of God comes up, but I forget that showing Jesus to someone is not always, or most often, taking someone all the way down the Roman Road! Just sending someone a note in the mail to brighten their day or to give a kid at school a side hug when they've had a bad day is just as much showing God's love as leading someone through the sinner's prayer. I pray everyday that God will help me to continue to see those moments of opportunity that I tend to pass up when I feel like I'm too busy to slow down!

Football Fridays...

This picture of Emma and Jason was taken last Friday night at the Fredericktown football game. Emma loves going to Uncle Jasy's "gall games!" Hey, a huge shout out to the Blackcats this season! They're now 7-0 for this year! I'm super psyched about the play-off games they're headed for!

What???

But when you pray, go into a quiet room, and close the door??? (Matthew 6:6, paraphrased by me...) I know these words came from Jesus, but I'd like to ask him if he momentarily forgot the fact that he created 2 year olds to be loud and nosey. There is no quiet in our house, and there certainly is no closing the door. I know all mom's can empathize here--I can't even use the bathroom by myself, much less go into a room for more than 2.2 seconds without a little shadow. Don't get me wrong, I love Emma more than life itself and I wouldn't trade her for the anything in the world. Still, it does make it hard to find even just a few minutes to spend with God. I know I'm not the only mom who has ever experienced this, but it's been on my mind for the last few weeks.

Last year at school we incorporated a sustained silent reading time into every class day. This year, because of losing so much instrucation time, they took it away from us, and I really miss it. I decided though, that since I teach reading, I could just put that SSR time back into my day because I want to. I really looked forward to that time every day and it was a chance for me to sit in the quiet and read God's word and talk to Him. Granted, I'm in a room with about 25 teenagers, but the way I see it, it's better than nothing. At least it's quiet. I think it's a great idea for you to get up in the morning and have your quiet time with God early, but for some of us, it's truly not practical. I'm not a morning person. If I get up too early, or don't get enough sleep, I'm not very nice. It's not worth sacrificing everyone's day! I'm excited about implementing SSR back into my school day. I miss my time with God. I miss my few moments of quiet, even if I am sharing with a bunch of smelly teenagers...

My prayer for today: God, help me to get back in the habit of spending time with you every single day. Help me to make it a priority and put a void in my heart when I miss it. Help to come to You every day with an open heart and willing spirit. Speak to me.

Finally...

Ok, well, I think I finally have my new blog figured out. Now if I can just remember to write in it on a regular basis, I think it'll be good. I'm more excited about having a blog to keep up with what's going on in other people's lives. I feel "out-of-the-loop" sometimes, so I'm excited to snoop and find out what my friends are up to!

I'm still reading "Just Walk Across the Room." I know we were technically supposed to be finished with the book a couple weeks ago, but being the mom of a 2 year old makes quiet time at home a little limited. I'm learning a lot though about how to just look at others and try to figure out what I can do to make them feel good about themselves or make them feel special. I think that when you're a member of a Life Group that functions as it should, you automatically get that feeling that you're loved and that you have a group of people who are there for you. I feel bad for those who haven't found that comfort yet for whatever reason. Whether it's because they haven't been compelled to join a Life Group yet, or whether they just don't feel connected to the group they're in, these people are truly missing out. That's why I've lately felt very strongly about doing the "little things" for people who don't know God. They may not have anyone in their life who realizes the importance of doing the "little things" that make you feel loved. I realize that anyone who reads this blog will probably think it sounds like a bunch of crazy ramblings, and it is. I have a lot going on in my head right now that a few people know and most wouldn't care anyway. At least I know where I'm coming from...

Welcome to the world of technology...

Well, I must say this is new to me. I'm not very technologically savvy, so what would take a normal person just a couple of minutes to figure out has taken me almost an hour. However, I'm now here I plan to keep up with my blog to let everyone know what I'm up to. I think this will be more of an outlet for me more than anything. Sometimes it's hard for me to put exactly what I'm feeling into words, and sometimes I really just don't want to talk about things. I think that if I can post how I'm feeling here, it might help some of my frustrations, and maybe I can leave them here, online, instead of taking them home with me to try and sort out later. It will probably be pretty boring to most other people, but maybe in the long run I'll be able to get a little feedback and insight from those of you who seem to always know what to say when I need a little truth spoken into my life.