It Stuck!

Little Boys, Big Pumpkins

Fall Fun

Sunday was a gorgeous day for "picking pumpkins". Although we don't have a wonderful pumpkin patch here in Juneau, we do have a small place to go and get a few photos. Here is a preview of what we selected:

"Don't make me pull this car over!"

Yes, I can...Yes, I did.

For the first time in my life I said the words I heard so often as a child (to my brother, never to me! Yeah, right!), "Don't make me pull this car over!" I don't know if Eli understood what I was saying, but he certainly understood my expression. And for one car trip, he didn't un-do his seat belt.

This just may be the first of many phrases I never thought I'd say to my child.

Oh well, I turned out okay, right!?!

Trusting God

It's hard seeing someone you love in pain.

This week has been full of pain and trials. The boys are sick, Geoffrey and I are exhausted, and my Grandma is still in ICU. My thoughts are filled with prayers to God for healing, for strength, and for understanding.

Today I am home, missing an event that I have been looking forward to for so long, so I can care for Lucas. Life can interfere with our plans, but I must cling to my trust in God that he has a purpose for each of us.

Please God, give us peace, give us healing, and give us strength.



Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Driving Boy

Found My Thumb

sleeping babe

"Healthy" Addictions

As our family continues to grow and our commitments continue to increase, I find great pleasure in a little addiction I was introduced to by my sister (in-law). Lately, I have little "cracks" of time that are filled by a couple minutes of word-finding fun named Lexulous. She'd tried to include me in this game before, but I've brushed it off for "lack of time". I am thrilled that I finally spent the $1.99 to purchase this app for my iphone.

When Lucas calls me in the wee hours of the morning it is just enough time to fill in a word. Though the points may be few compared to my sis' cognitive dictionary, I still feel a sense of accomplishment when I am able to find a word in the few spaces that remain. I currently have 9 active games, 4 with my sis, and 1 of which I am hoping my mom will join me in. Either way, I am enjoying filling in the "cracks" of time with this little addiction.

It feels like I am sharing a conversation with someone I love. In a sense, I am. I love you, Patty!

Eli shares a picture

Eli Loves You!

A Special Thank You.

My dad has spent most of his summer helping Geoffrey and I.

He traveled from Missouri to Juneau just a few months after a traumatic injury to his leg to help me while I was on bed rest at home and in the hospital. He cared for children in my day care. He folded laundry. He cooked dinner. He finished house projects. And when we were life-flighted out of Juneau to Anchorage, dad didn't hesitate to step in and care for Eli. Dad was there for us.



During his August visit, he helped keep the house clean, fixed things, cooked, kept Eli occupied with "monies" and lended a hand wherever he was needed. This was a blessing to us once again since I spent most of that time with pneumonia. Dad stepped in right when I needed him. Not once, not twice, but over and over.

Our heavenly father does the same thing. He gives us exactly what we need over and over again.

Thank you, God, for my Dad.

Momma's Flowers

My little boy loves spring time, being outside, and picking my flowers!

Mother's Day and Bed Rest

This Mother's Day is different than the other special days I've experienced. I won't be going out to brunch, I won't get to hug my own mom, and in fact, I won't be doing much of anything. On Wednesday, my physician put me on bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. 5 weeks until my scheduled C-section. I've heard stories of women put on bed rest earlier in their pregnancies or having to endure the rest in a hospital bed and although I am blessed with a less severe experience, it is still difficult to comply.

I feel the burden that Geoffrey must now undertake, caring for Eli, myself, the house, our friends, family, and his 3 jobs! I know that he is putting on a brave face and caring for me in sickness and in health, but it doesn't make it easy to watch. I want to help him. I want to clean up after Eli. I want to take care of the chores, make the meals, and serve him. God has placed in me a desire to be my husband's help-meet and I am grieving that loss just as Geoffrey must grieve the loss of closing out his classroom.

I must say that I am not the most willing and obedient patient. Geoffrey and I need your prayers. I need help in being obedient to the doctor and my husband's orders and directions. I need help not to put myself and the baby at risk by doing chores that I shouldn't be doing. I need help letting others do for me. I need help. I need prayers. I need strength to let go and let God.

Also, I ask for your prayers for Geoffrey. He needs help, too. He needs help with Eli, with his classroom, with cooking, and with caring for me. Most of all he needs the strength to be our family's leader. Please pray for him as he is relying on God to receive that strength.

We believe that God hears our prayers and has already taken care of us. We thank our friends and family for the visits and calls, for the help, for the meals, for the generosity and prayers that you've given to us. We thank God for the blessings in our life. We thank God for our lives, even during its' trials.

This Weekend's Home Project

In a previous post I mentioned that Geoffrey and I have committed ourselves to completing a home project each weekend. This past weekend was no different as we accomplished a major goal--downsizing our belongings and having a garage sale. Though we have not truly finished our quest to downsize, we are $300 better off, and now have access to our garage. I'd say the 4 hour morning was a success.

Eliminating some of our "unnecessary" belongings was sometimes difficult, but mostly we felt liberated. I've always been more of a "pack rat" than Geoffrey, so I blame most of our accumulations on myself...it also doesn't help that I enjoy shopping. I am always striving to better myself and to let go of the things of this Earth. One new rule that Geoffrey and I have made for ourselves is that every time we buy something new, we must rid ourselves of something old, too. But for now, we will put our downsizing on the back burner and look ahead to this weekend's project.

To Do:
1. Dust off the shelves on top of our kitchen cabinets.
2. Wash our display plates and decorations.
3. Paint the wall!!! (Yeah--I am most excited about this!)
4. Dust and clean all of our light fixtures and ceiling fan.

What's on your list for the weekend???

God Gives Us What We Need

Sometimes it is difficult to find the words to express what is on our heart to the Lord. Lately, this has been the case for me. I want to pray, but I stumble over the words. I have something to share with God, but I get distracted by other things happening in my life. I feel sad, lonely, or overwhelmed, although there doesn't seem to be a reason.

This Sunday morning a dear friend shared a prayer with our congregation that put the feelings in my heart into words. It happened in a big way. It felt like God was shouting through a megaphone to me saying, "wake up girl! You are a fighting a battle here on Earth and Satan tells you lies! He is whom you battle with, not other people. But don't forget, we win in the end!"

Many Christian friends have said that walking in and with Christ is like riding a roller coaster...there are hills, there are steep drop offs, sometimes we are up and sometimes we are down. In my time of weakness I turned to God and He answered. I know I am not perfect and that I will continue to fail, but I can do anything through Him and I can get through any situation with God by my side.

So when you don't know what to pray about remember this scripture:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.--Romans 8:26

A Family Reunion

For spring break this year, our family traveled to Vancouver and Seattle to visit our family. It was a special blessing and reunion because of our 4 day excursion in Seattle celebrating John's 70th birthday. The days were filled with stops to Pike's Market, the Pacific Science Center, the Space Needle, Whirligig, and fun little stores with toys, books, and jewelry.


Photo credit: John Wyatt, outside Seattle's REI
Visit Papa John's site for more details on our family reunion.
http://avuncularjohn.blogspot.com/


One of my favorite events was the Argosy Harbor Cruise. It was a joy to receive kisses from my little boy and to watch him bond with his cousins. (Not to mention the nice cruise and sightseeing opportunity!)



The next time we reunite our family will have grown by one...can't wait to introduce our newest addition to these very special people.

Happy St. Patty's Day~!

Tonight we are having a Potluck at church. We are bringing green foods and wearing green clothes. I didn't have a lot of ideas for what to make, so I fell back on an easy "fix"--green food coloring and frosting. I even got a little daring and added food coloring to the batter. I love to make baked goods and typically prefer to share them with others than eat them myself.

Out with the Old!

With the new year, Geoffrey and I decided that each weekend we would try to accomplish one "home project". Our projects have included organizing our closet, cleaning the garage, moving furniture, and cleaning carpets. I am constantly trying to find ways to organize the living room space to make it safer for the kids, cleaner for me, and effective for the needs of my day care.

Geoffrey let me buy this cubby shelf and organizing cloth buckets for the kids' toys. If you look a little closer you may notice that we even painted our "half-wall" a shade called honey butter. I have been hesitant about painting or decorating because the decisions feel permanent to me. However, with kiddos, the walls have been scuffed, marked, and damaged. I've decided to bite the bullet and with just a little drywall putty and paint, I feel the living room has a whole new feel!

We have just under 3 months until our baby boy arrives and I am looking forward to continued decorating, organizing, and down-sizing.

Next on the list: prepping our bedroom for the baby and sorting through Eli's "old clothes". Geoffrey and I have a deal...for everything that comes into the house as a new purchase, something must leave the house, too. This is a fair deal and just the first step to minimizing our worldly possessions.

What ideas do you have about organizing or minimizing your possessions???

26 weeks and counting!

We are thrilled to be welcoming our second addition to our family. Baby Boy Wyatt is due to join us via Cesarean Section on June 14th. Yesterday our baby boy was happy to be photographed at our ultrasound. He is growing quite rapidly and is about a week and a half ahead of schedule. Everything looked good to the ultrasound technician and we were excited to find all of the the "missing parts" from our previous ultrasound. He has a 4 chamber heart, kidneys, and feet! Woo Whoo!

The doctor says he weighs about 1 pound 13 ounces, and is about 12 inches long. We were pleased to learn that there was plenty of amniotic fluid and our baby boy made lots of movements while the technician worked. He sucked his thumb, kicked his momma, hiccuped and turned his head towards us. We were even able to confirm that he was a boy--100% money-back guarantee!!!

Enjoy the photos.



Sucking his thumb!



Looking this way!

Treasures in Jars of Clay

In a world that is full of sin, I hold on to the fact that Jesus is ALIVE and that He lives in me.

Though I feel pressure from every direction, I am NOT crushed. Though I feel confused, I am NOT in despair. Though I may be persecuted I am NOT abandoned. And when I am struck down I am NOT destroyed.

The Bible provides me with comfort, with reassurance, with love. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 reminds me that there ARE treasures in jars of clay.

I am that clay.

I put myself in our Father's hands.

Mold me, use me, change me.

Make me a servant for you.

This is my prayer.

Week 18

Well, it has been a while, so let's start with the basics!

We are in week 18 of our second pregnancy and officially into the 5 month of pregnancy. I started feeling the baby move last week, which is reassuring! I know in a month or two I may start complaining about those mid-night kicks, but for now I love it.

This pregnancy has brought another round of gestational diabetes, but with a little encouragement from my friend Amanda, I am able to successfully take care of my insulin injections on my own.

I am also pleased (and blessed) to share that I am starting to feel much better and my morning sickness and nausea seems to be decreasing. Although Geoffrey considers my morning intruder a nice reminder of the baby growing inside me, I am much happier without that particular type of reminder.

In other news, I have definitely started growing out of my clothes and now have a good excuse for my "extra padding". With the start of the new year, a new little baby (6 months old) has started at my day care and I am pleased to see how well Eli has adapted to the change. He is gentle with this little one and careful to touch him with "soft" hands.

Next week we will schedule our second ultrasound and will hopefully have news on the gender of the baby soon! Stay tuned!