The Life of Schafers

Open Letter Series: Part 5 – My Generation

2012-01-23T19:13:00.000-06:00

Philippians 12:14-16

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

Dear fellow Echo-Boomers:

I hate hearing stories about people my age that are doing something wrong, followed with the phrase “I guess that’s what you get at that age”. This REALLY gets me fired up. I don’t like being lumped in with a group known for being lazy and, quite frankly, selfish. I’m 26 and I’m proud of that. I don’t like people bringing down what it means to be in our twenties. I’m sick of it, so I’m asking you to help me turn this image around.

In our day to day lives, it’s REALLY easy to get lost in the shuffle. I know that, for me, it happens way too often. I’ve got the kids, Randal and I to take care of, work, church, and other miscellaneous activities to keep up with. It’s not rare for me to get caught up in my own little world and give into the temptation to not pay attention to anything going on around me. And the older I get, the more I realize how disappointing that is, yet how often it happens – especially with our generation. We get caught up in school and work, even in the ministries that we’re involved in. We’re getting married; we’re starting careers and families. It’s easy to let that consume us. But we’re called to something much more worthwhile.

We need to live differently. One piece of that is staying plugged into the needs around us. We are the technology generation. We carry the internet in our pockets and purses. How is that we are so out of touch with the problems that this world is facing? I can’t count the number of times that a friend of mine has posted something on Facebook about a ministry or an issue and I have thought “how did I not know about this?” Sadly, it took a while for me to realize that I didn’t know about these things because I wasn’t searching them out. I thought I was doing my part. I prayed when I was asked to and I helped where I could. But I was waiting for the prayer requests, the desperate situations where someone would ask for help, someone organizing a mission opportunity, the link about the bake sale that I could donate to. I was waiting for my church and my friends to get me the information. How unrealistic (see statement above about lazy and selfish people and apply directly to me)!

If we really want to make a difference in this world, we have to seek out the opportunities to do that. We have to ask that God would help us find the information that we need and then we have to go look for it. We need to be more up to date about issues that currently plague this planet. We need to get involved with important organizations that are bringing the Word to lost people all over. We need to step up and take responsibility for a world that is ours. We can’t just read the front page of CNN.com and pray for the requests on Facebook and Twitter and call it a day – we have to dig deeper.

There are needs in our families, churches, communities, country, and world that we cannot ignore. There is information out there and there is a need for action. There are a million ways that you can get involved. Pick one and jump in wholeheartedly. Don’t ignore it when the Spirit prompts you to do something - follow through. Let Him use the experiences that you’ve had in your life to minister to others in their time of need.

There is a line in a song that chokes me up every time I sing it. Brooke Fraser penned “Hosanna” and, in it, she wrote this:

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith

This is what I pray for us constantly: that we would rise to the occasion that our Father has called us to. I know that we can be more. I know that we can change the way that we’re perceived as “Gen-Y”. I know that there is a lost world out there that needs saving and people that need comfort and love. And I am confident in the knowledge that we are the generation that can change things and bring glory to the One who made us for His purpose.

Do I have this all figured out? Absolutely not. Am I as action-minded as I need to be? Absolutely not. But I'm ready to work towards fulfilling the plan that God has laid out for me. And I know that includes leaving a big footprint on this world that centers on Him.

Hoping and praying that you'll join me,
Beth

My baby girl is TWO!

2012-01-16T21:13:00.000-06:00

Wow. Can't believe my baby is already 2! What a joy Madison is - she is an unbelievable blessing! I was so excited to throw a fun birthday party for my sweetie who is finally starting to come out of her shell. She's starting to actually have fun with people outside of our house! What a concept!

Little Miss LOVES to read. When we have story time at night, she would just keep pulling all the books off the shelf if we didn't make her stop. So I thought a Dr. Seuss theme would be perfect! I put out all of our books and borrowed a bunch from friends and from a great lady that we go to church with who is the school librarian here in town! We had all kinds of titles - some that I had never even heard of! They were so fun to look through! Lots of reading fun!

We had lots of fun decorations and, of course, lots of goodies! We had Dr. Seuss quotes, a "guess how many" jar of M&Ms, gummy letters, and what were supposed to be "Thing 2" cupcakes!

My little cupcake had a blast stuffing her face and being the center of attention!

She even had fun opening gifts this year!

We ended a great celebration with a trip to Red Robin! No better way to celebrate #2 than with some singing and some ice cream! This girl is serious!

I love this girl!

Here's the thing, 2011 didn't suck!

2012-01-16T15:29:00.004-06:00

It’s my first blog of 2012! Hooray for a new year! I’m always so tired from the holiday season that I honestly don’t ever take enough time to appreciate the new start that January 1 brings to our lives. But as I sit down and think about it each year (a few days later), I am even more thankful for the fresh start that I get every day. I can’t ever begin to comprehend how different things are for me since my Savior gives me a constant clean slate. I carry my baggage and filth to the cross and He takes it away. I don’t need a New Year to make a fresh start. So here’s to 365 days of new beginnings! May we all use them to bring glory to the One who sacrificed His Son so that the world might know Him and praise His name!

We ended 2011 with a big bang! December was CRAZY! I had several baking jobs throughout the month which kept us busy. We had Madison’s trip to KC, the church Christmas program, I played in the family fantasy football league championship (for the 2^nd year in a row, though I sadly lost my title), Madison turned 2 (which included party to be blogged later), I had the FBC Women’s Ministry Christmas party, we celebrated Christmas at 4 different family gatherings in 4 days, then Randal turned 30 and a few days later we celebrated New Years’ Eve with a surprise party for him (which kept me extra busy behind the scenes for the entire month and will blogged about as well). Needless to say, we needed a little bit of a breather by the time 2012 rolled around.

All in all, 2011 was a good year - lots of great stuff (including my sister's wedding in Mexico!). You’ll read here about what I was looking for last year. While I haven’t met all of my goals, I feel ok about the past year. Yes, we had some road-blocks. I made some bad decisions, and so did others. But we’ve worked through it and we’ve come out ok.

*I’m still holding on to my extra weight and working on getting my mind set to get rid of it. It’s bogging me down and I really need to get rid of it. Frankly, I just need to get out of bed in the morning and exercise, and I’d be doing ok. I tend to hit that snooze button a little too often. I may have to find a buddy to call me at 4 in the morning and get my butt going!

*My hair is long again, thank goodness. That short hair was a bad idea. I love a good pony-tail. Period.

*I’m feeling a bit more girly and accessories have actually become my friend, sort of. I’m still struggling to be a little more adventurous, but slow and steady wins the race!

*This past year has been a learning experience for me as a Christ follower, wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend. Yes, lots and lots of learning. The Lord has taught me some tough lessons and has fixed some big cracks. He’s pushing me to stretch myself, dig into Him more and to not get too comfortable with where I’m at. He’s given me incredible opportunities to do ministry with some amazing people over the last year (and some that are just starting that I’m uber excited about!). He’s showed me just how in control He is. He’s strengthened relationships and shown me some that weren’t very healthy. He’s showed me just what it means to trust Him to lead and to let go of my control, which is a tough lesson to learn.

So there you have it! As much as 2010 sucked, 2011 was great, and I’m looking forward to a fabulous, Glory-filled 2012! My goals for this year are to get more organized, spend more precious time with friends and family, and to continue to push myself in my learning and my “big picture” thinking and follow through on the ministry opportunities that I see laying out before me now.

Now, we’ll see if the Mayans were right or if we can make it all the way to 2013!

Open Letter Series - Part Four: Mason

2011-12-30T12:41:00.000-06:00

To my oldest baby...my first born...my favorite Ginger:

It's been over 3 years since I became a mommy to a beautiful little boy. You were an active baby...you were quite the gymnast and didn't let me sleep much. You gave me heartburn, headaches, and backaches. You were stubborn and didn't want to get here when you were supposed to. They literally had to pull you out of me, screaming and kicking all the way. You prepared me for motherhood before you ever saw the outside world. :)

You have given me more gut laughs in the last 3 years than I can count. You make your dad and I laugh so hard that we have trouble disciplining you. You definitely got daddy's sense of humor...you know when you're being funny and you run with it. I'm so glad you know how to make life fun and light and I hope you'll keep that quality.

You're one of the best big brothers I've ever seen. You watch out for your sister all the time. Granted, you guys have your little spats and sometimes have difficulty sharing, but you are best friends. I pray that you'll always be there for each other. She looks up to you and wants to be like you...remember that. You guys have so much fun together and I love that you're so close in age so you can do the same things and have fun. I look forward to seeing the fun things you guys get into in the coming years.

Keep your sense of adventure. You are super curious and want to do everything right along side your daddy and me. Keep learning and trying new things. You don't like to be bored and if you look in the right places for your next big thing, you'll go far. I hope you'll use your curiousity to learn as much as you can, especially about God. You like to ask questions, and that's good. Keep searching and learning and growing. You're a smart kid, so use your brains, but learn to listen to your heart too. You process stuff on a deep level, listen to those emotions. Work hard to find a good balance between your brains and your feelings.

I pray that you'll grow into a fine, strong man. I pray for your future wife, that she would grow into a woman that you can be best friends with and build a wonderful life with. I pray that you would find a career that will make you happy and that you would follow wherever God leads you. I want nothing more for you than to know Him and His plans for you. Be kind, strong, and honest. Value your relationships and make them a priority and you'll grow into the wonderful man that I can already see growing before me now.

I love you,
Mommy

Open Letter Series - Part Three: Madison

2011-12-18T00:02:00.001-06:00

Exactly two years ago we welcomed the most beautiful girl into our little family. I waited and waited for you to arrive. We induced labor in order to get you here. We waited at the hospital overnight and showed little progress for hours and hours. Then, all of the sudden, you decided you were ready and made the next 15 minutes the most painful, scary, exciting, and relieving 15 minutes the world has ever experienced! And so sets the stage... :)

I love that you know what you want, when you want it. And while you need to learn that sometimes you don't get it, I hope you'll keep this trait. Remember to stick up for the things you're passionate about and not let anything take that away from you. I pray that you'll find what you're passionate about at a young age and pursue that with the drive that only you have. You are one of the most motivated people I know - use that for good.

I love your spunk. You have such an adventurous spirit and you're not scared of anything. We have to constantly be on the look out for you to do the trust fall so that you don't hurt yourself. You climb on everything and don't have to worry about keeping up with the older kids. I can see you being a stunt double for someone someday...it would scare me, but wouldn't surprise me :) Keep enjoying life and make every day an adventure. There's a big world out there and I know you're going to take it by storm.

You wear your heart on your sleeve like me. You love hugs and kisses and are my cuddle-bug and I love that about you. I can honestly tell you that will be hard sometimes, but don't change it. When you're older, you'll realize how important it is to let everyone know how much you love them. Don't ever let a day go by without making sure that people know that you care.

You're funny - you get that from your daddy. You'll be a classic youngest child with your "class clown" tendencies and I'm ok with that. You and your brother keep things interesting around here. Life is hard and your humor will get you through some tough days. I'm so glad you have that.

I pray that you'll grow old and live a good life. I pray that you'll be happy and do what you love. I pray that you'll know Christ as your Savior and follow where He leads you. I pray that you'll find a man who will take good care of you, but more importantly, lead you with a heart after His. I want nothing more for you than to start compiling a list of the names you know Him by. I can't wait to share late deep late night conversations with you about things like this.

I know you and I are bound to butt heads over the next couple of decades...we're too much alike and both way too stubborn not to have those times. I had a great example of a mother, but I know I'll still let you down sometimes. Always remember that I love you and would do anything for you. No matter what we go through, you are my daughter and I am your mother. Know that you can come to me, no matter how old you are or what the circumstance is. Just like you come to me now when you fall down, I'll be there to pick you up when you're grown.

Oh. And I gave birth to you without an epidural. Be nice to me and don't make fun of me too much when I completely lose my mind :)

I love you my precious baby girl!
~Mommy

I'm giving up my birthday!

2011-12-15T20:52:00.000-06:00

While I still feel like a 5 year old on the inside and act like a 75 year old on the outside, I am indeed almost 27.

But here's the thing. As I sit here and make plans for my sweet little girl's 2nd birthday, I am also praying for a sweet little girl named Paxten who is getting a bone marrow transplant before her 2nd birthday because she has leukemia.

Then my mind wanders to my mom's cousin who recently passed away after a hard fought battle with multiple myeloma and the family that is left behind to carry on without a great man.

Then I can't help but dwell on thoughts of my grandpa. The toughest fighter I've ever known. He's battled through numerous bouts with cancer for more than a decade and beats it time after time. I can't put into words how it moves me to think about the fact that I can call him a cancer survivor. I love this man:

I could make this blog much, much longer if I listed all of the people in my life who have fought cancer. Some are still with us, and others we miss dearly. All of us have been affected by cancer, even if we haven't had it ourselves. That's why I decided to give up my birthday.

I want kids like Paxten to have more birthdays to celebrate with sugar highs. I wish my mom's cousin-in-law could still give a hug to her best friend. I want my grandpa around to see as many milestones in the lives of his grandkids and great grandkids as possible.

I want more birthdays for all of us, so me giving up #27 seemed like a good idea.

So here's the deal...you need to check this out and donate if you can: http://www.crowdrise.com/bethsbirthday

How was cancer affected you? Who do you know and love that has battled cancer? Leave a comment here with your story. Then check out my link and donate if you can. Whether you give or not, spread the word. My goal is $2700 for my 27th - help me get there by February 5th!

Open Letter Series - Part Two - Randal

2011-12-08T12:52:00.002-06:00

Dearest Randy:

We’ve come a long way since 2003. The goofy guy with the guitar and the little blue pick-up meets the nerdy girl with the stupid yellow and red fingernails and they watch The Italian Job. Who knew what the next few years had in store for us!?

First Came Love:

I still can’t believe how fast I fell in love with you. And while I hate to admit that it was love at first sight for me and not for you, I can’t blame you. I mean, seriously…red and yellow fingernails only hinted at my strange KC Chiefs obsession…it takes a little while to see past that ;) But I’ll never forget that night after volleyball at the church when you asked me on a date so calmy and cooly. And I’ll never stop laughing at the fact that, while I bent down to get a cough drop from my purse, you tested out the armrests on the seats at the Warren to make sure you could hold my hand if I wanted you to. And my family will never forget how you tagged along to my brother’s birthday dinner just a week after our first date because I asked expecting you to say it was too soon. I should have known then that you and I would have a pretty entertaining relationship! J

You helped me through so many tough situations just when we were dating: Making the move from FT student to FT worker and PT student, getting my first apartment, my first management job, running off creepers at aforementioned apartment, the loss of a very special friend, and countless other minor emergencies, including the worst flu I’ve had to date.

You showed me just how strong you were during this time. You proved to me over and over again that you would work as hard as you had to in order to get things accomplished. You showed me the picture of what it means to overcome the worst of circumstances and how you can decide to not let other peoples’ decisions shape who you are and what you do with your life. I can’t tell you how much this side of you still impresses me to this day. You shouldn’t be the man you are today…not many people would be. It’s one of your best qualities and something that will make your kids and grandkids extra proud someday.

Then Came Marriage:

I’m glad to this day that I was wrong about how the day was going to go that fateful November day. I had no idea what you were doing when we went by the old dorms. And I’m glad I said yes! J The planning was fun – thanks for keeping me in check. And I’ll always appreciate the way you comforted me when I was upset about tablecloths when we were setting up the reception decorations!

We’ve had our ups and downs since June 4, 2005. We’ve hurt each other in different ways. But love isn’t always about the fuzzy feeling in your gut and it’s hard work sometimes. We’ve overcome things I never thought we could. We’ve experienced healing together that only God can bring. We’ve learned to lean on Him and built ourselves on a stronger foundation than before. And, as heartbreaking and hard as it’s been at times, I’m so proud to share that story with you.

Then came the babies in the baby carriage:

Man, we make good babies. It’s been a great, exhausting adventure having these two bundles of joy and M & m are in love with you. Even though Madi doesn’t always come to you and won’t always give you kisses, I see the way she looks at you. She looks up to you. You’re guiding her and teaching her every day and she loves it. I love watching it. And Mason is attached at the hip…you don’t need me to tell you that. As much as I hate that I don’t always get to spend the entire evening with you, I love hearing him yell “DADDY COME LAY WITH ME!” down the hall J I can’t wait to share the coming years together and watch you coach soccer teams and help with math homework (you know I’m not doing either of those!).

Your commitment to be a good husband and father has continued to grow and mean the world to me. I know that someday our kids will be able to see that too and will appreciate how hard you worked at that, just like I do.

I love you.

~Lizzie

Prayers please!

2011-12-06T22:08:00.001-06:00

We are in Emporia staying with Ryan & Kelli tonight...heading to KC tomorrow morning (early!). We'll drop Mason off with my friend Kim (thanks Kim!!) on our way to Mercy. Our appointment shouldn't last too long. Most of it will probably be just chatting with the dr about what we can do and what we've already done. We're not expecting a huge answer tomorrow, but at this point some little answers would be awfully nice!

I know this really isn't that big of a problem in the grand scheme of things. But when it's your little girl and you can't do anything to make it better, it's the weight of the world. I'm just hoping that Dr. Strickland can identify a cause for Madi's issue and from that, give us some sort of plan of action. I want her to just be able to be her feisty 2 year old self and not have to be bogged down by this uncomfortable problem.

Some of you have asked me how to pray tomorrow. First off, we really appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. Please pray for calm - I know that Madison has already been scarred from some traumatic examinations and she will fight the dr tomorrow. Pray that we would be able to keep her calm and that she would not be too upset with things in the morning. Pray for the dr and for her knowledge and advice. Pray for us to really understand and ask the right questions. Pray that this period of Madison's life would be really short.

Like I said before, I realize that this issue is not that big of a deal...I know this no better then now, while I'm typing this. A family friend of ours will also be at Mercy tomorrow with their little girl who is a few months younger than Madison. They are going for a much different reason, though. Paxten has been fighting leukemia since just before Christmas last year and they are headed to Mercy for a bone marrow transplant to save their sweet little daughter's life. Please keep Pax and her parents, doctors, nurses, and family in your continued prayers over the coming weeks and months. They need this transplant to go smoothly and for Paxten's body to accept the transplant. This has been a long, hard fight and they need you to lift them up in prayer!

Thank you friends! If I've learned anything over the last few years, it's that we serve a God who can heal all wounds. I know my Healer can make life better for these two little girls tomorrow and I'm resting in that tonight.

Open Letter Series – Part One – Me

2011-12-05T19:23:00.003-06:00

Dear younger Beth,

You’re awesome, don’t change a thing.

The end.

Just kidding. For real now:

Dear high school me,

We’ve lived a strong 26 years now. I’m not saying that’s a very long time, but the last 10 years have held a lot of learning, so let’s talk about some nuggets of wisdom that your future self has to share!

Stop worrying. Trust me, it will get you nowhere. You’re being ridiculous and wasting a lot of really good brain cells. Trust Him to plan things for you and listen when He tells you to do something.

Stop chasing boys. Robert Pike is right – they’re dumb, ESPECIALLY in high school. Trust me, the man you will marry (Who is named Randal by the way, just get used to the jokes now!) is much better than any that you’ve got your eye on now.

Cut the attitude, at least part of it. Yes, most of the things you say are pretty good and even deserved (that detention was and will always be completely bogus). But you’ll say some things over the next few years that you’ll regret. You are not as smart or mature as you think you are. And know that that is ok. You aren’t supposed to be.

Treasure this time at home. As excited as you are to get out of high school, and as awesome as the next few years will be when you move out on your own, meet the man you’ve been looking for, and prove to yourself and everyone that you can be independent, you’ll miss this time. The late night talks with your mom, the Sundays watching football with your dad, the chocolate chip cookies in the oven every weekend, the homemade meals that someone else usually made – you’ll miss it all. Take it in and take a deep breath. Slow down and enjoy it.

Embrace your geeky self. Sit on the couch and watch TCM all weekend. Go ahead and read the Harry Potter books (they’re just as good as everyone says they are!).

Listen to more music – expand your catalog. You’ll appreciate all kinds of great artistry later, so start it now. And take those vocal lessons your dad offered…you were dumb to say no and you’ll regret it later.

Last, but certainly not least, love yourself. You’re beautiful and you need to figure that out a little sooner than I did. Stop worrying about how you look in your cheer uniform, it’s really not that big of a deal and you look way better than you think you do. You’re not dumb, you’re just really good at standing up for what you believe (this will come in pretty handy over the years!) Keep walking with Him and you’ll be ok, you can be confident in that.

He will heal all of your wounds. He will pick you up and put you back together over the next few years, every time everything falls apart (sorry to say there’s a few of those). He’ll bless you with a great guy and 2 beautiful kids (You make pretty babies!) whose laughter lights up your world. He’s put such a strong support system in place for you, learn to trust in that and treasure your friends. Keep in the Word, Jr. High quiz won’t stay with you forever (no, you can’t recite the genealogy in Matthew from memory anymore!). Just be yourself…you are who you’re supposed to be, but you’re not the woman you will be. And trust me, she’s pretty cool too :)

Sincerely,

You

Our Generation's Legacy

2011-11-29T12:15:00.003-06:00

Something's been weighing on me for a while now. It's something that is a growing epidemic and doesn't get enough media attention. It's something that our generation is not doing enough about. It's something that, I'm afraid, will be a part of our legacy. It's something that affects our kids. It makes me sick, but not often enough. So I'm confessing right here and now. . .I feel convicted about this and have for a while. And I have not done enough. I've ignored a call to move on this - but no more.

I'm talking about human trafficking. Modern day slaves. It's prostitutes and child workers. It's sick and it's grotesque. And it has to stop. We have got to stand up and decide to stop this disgusting cycle. So what can we do?

1) Get informed. In the wonderful digital age that we live in, we should know more than we do. We need to take the time to research topics that infiltrate so many aspects of our lives. Google "human trafficking" and you'll get 12 million hits. Take your pick and start reading. Be smart about it and read a lot. Read books and watch videos like these (Side note, I'm proud to know the guy that compiled that list. His work is really important and he such a heart after God).

2) Stop buying/watching porn. Man or woman, our generation has a HUGE problem with porn. I can't begin to say how suprised most people would be to know how big of a problem that is, and what ages it affects. Some of you have it in your homes and don't know it. And this is not ok for more than the surface issues that most Christians would see. Not only do we have to bring into question the age of some of the girls in videos, we have to question their willingness to be there. Then, there's the issue with the fact that porn sexualizes our culture and increases the demand for sex slaves in the first place.

3) Be a smart consumer. Websites like this one are great for researching what you buy. They expose companies and industries that use child labor and/or are not upfront about their business practices. They even have smartphone apps so that you can scan a barcode before purchasing something. There is absolutely no excuse to not be informed about what you buy. Take away the demand for slaves. Give these kids a chance.

4) Pray and do what you can to take action. Not For Sale is a great organization, but there are a ton out there fighting this horrific industry. Find some way to get involved. Spread the word. This needs to be brought to light so that more people are aware of what really goes on. Consider financially supporting an organization like Not For Sale or a person like Matt.

It's time to wake up and really start acting like Christ followers. We can't ignore the women and children of the world if that's what we call ourselves, because that's who He calls us to care for.

This could have been me. This could someday be my daughter. It could be any girl, or boy, that you know. And it CAN be stopped.

Since last we met...

2011-11-27T19:34:00.000-06:00

Things have seemed busy here lately, but I know they're only going to get more hectic as we get closer to the end of the year! Here's what's been going on in the recent past:

Mark It With a "B" Bakery has been keeping me on my toes! I've had several orders this month and it's been a ton of fun!

Randal took a business trip to California a couple of weeks ago. We missed him a ton and the kids were super excited to go pick him up at the airport. He does such a great job and I'm so proud of how hard he works at his job, but it is nice to have him home :)

Of course, Thanksgiving was this past week, so that was a ton of fun! I love the holidays and all the craziness that comes with them! We had the Schafers family get together on Wednesday evening and had a great time stuffing our faces. On Thursday, we drove down to Edmond for the Randall family's get together and stayed through Friday. We ate, we played games, we watched football, we ate lots more. All in all, a great couple of days!

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we went over to Randal's parents' house and helped set up their Christmas tree and some of their other decorations. That Sunday, I put up our tree and got our house decked out. On Friday, on our way home from OK, we made a detour to A-town and helped my parents get their tree up (and drag out all their other decorations). My favorite day of the year has always been helping my mommy put up the Christmas decor while listening to wonderful holiday music. What a fun time :)

We have Madison's appt up at Children's Mercy on Dec. 7th. Hopefully, we'll get some answers for our sweet little lady and she can be a little more comfortable! Her birthday is next month, so I'm busy planning that party as well! I'm so excited for her Dr. Seuss party and know she's going to have a blast!

As an early New Years Resolution, I've decided to be more diligent about writing letters to the people I care about. I'm excited about making this more of a priority and plan to blog some of these to keep them around. Yay for technology!

10 Habits of Happy Mothers...the gloves are coming off.

2011-11-12T07:27:00.002-06:00

I recently read Meg Meeker's new book "10 Habits of Happy Mothers". I can't say that it was earth shattering or life changing, but I can say that I think it's something every woman should consider reading, mother or not. I also think this would be a fabulous book to read in a group. I enjoyed talking with another mom who was reading it at the same time and discussing some of the points...and this blog is about a chapter that has been marinating in my tiny little woman sized brain...

The chapter that hit home for me was the one about competition. I'm horrible about this, I'm just going to come out and admit that right off the bat. Most women are, let's be really honest. We are catty - it's one of our most well-known traits. We like to gossip and compare ourselves to those around us. As a working mom, I feel like I have to "measure up" to those that stay at home. Like I have to prove that, even though I'm not with my kids all day, we have just as good of a bond and my kids are just as smart and well adjusted. As a woman, I have to "measure up" with the way that I look. Well this has got to stop. Because if I really want to call myself a Christ follower, then I have to be making the effort to become more like Him. And He is not catty. He doesn't gossip. He doesn't compare. I am made in His image, so I need to stop with all the silly comparisons.

These comparisons, this competition, it's breaking us. It's stealing away wonderful relationships. The "I'm prettier than her" and "I'm a better mom than her" attitudes are keeping us from fabulous friendships. The "she's not good enough for him" attitudes are breaking up our marriages. The "I have to prove that I'm a better woman/mom than her" attitude is stealing time away from our families. The "I'm too good for her" attitudes are defeating our ministries. The "I need to lose 10 more pounds to look as good as her" attitudes are compromising our confidence and resulting in unhealthy body images for us and our daughters.

This cycle has gone on for thousands of years...and it's just going to continue unless we make a real effort to stop it. It's in our nature, so it's hard to fight, but it's worth the effort. We need to make a point of lifting each other up, encouraging one another. Find the good in the women around us. Stop comparing and just start seeing. Then, I think, we'll be able to have the relationships that God is aching for us to have - the no-holds-barred kind of loving relationships we were made for.

I’m a dweeb and I love it.

2011-11-11T11:42:00.001-06:00

I’ve come to the realization over the years that I am a complete dork. Over the last few years, I’ve fully embraced my dweeby self and have learned that this is a wonderful thing! J Here are a few gems of examples:

1) I recently decided that minivan drivers should have a cool wave like bikers do. I’m still trying to come up with one that I can incorporate into my upper-body dancing that I do while driving. Any input is appreciated.

2) I consider time alone in the car to be time only well spent if I belt at least several songs and I enjoy the looks from other drivers while I do my finger dancing on the steering wheel and sometimes throw in some shoulder movement if I'm really feeling it.

3) I can’t accessorize to save my life.

4) I love cookbooks.

5) I would be perfectly happy staying cuddled up on the couch and watching Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart movies all weekend long.

6) I love movies like Spinal Tap. Did you know that 11/11/11 is Nigel Tufnel day? Crank it up.

7) I dance and sing around the house. The kids think it’s fun now and like to join me. Wait until they’re older and their friends come over! This is gonna be good.

8) I use jazz hands and air quotes on a regular basis.

9) I act like a 70 year old woman. I use words people my age don’t, I know who people are that I shouldn’t, and I am falling apart.

10) I hate being referred to as “ma’am”, but I refer to people one year younger than me as “kids”.

11) I cry at everything – tv shows, reality competitions, commercials, songs, you name it, I have teared up at it.

12) I love excel spreadsheets.

13) I get REALLY excited about really small things…like, can’t sleep, can’t get my mind off of it, excited.

14) I can rarely remember how old I really am.

15) Sometimes, when I’m baking and/or cooking, I like to pretend I’m on a Food Network show…yes, really.

16) I constantly have a song in my head and struggle not to hum all day long (sorry to my coworkers!).

17) I'm always getting hooked on iPhone strategy and puzzle games, like Drop 7 (my current addiction).

18) I am writing this blog and admitting all of these things. J

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2011-10-05T07:53:00.000-05:00

This is how photo shoots go at our house...

Madison! Mommy's over here. Ok, say "cheese!"

Bahahaha! Ok, Mason, don't cheese too much!

Ok, but you still have to at least smile a little bit. Madison, move your hand so I can see your shirt.

Mason, you look like a Zombie...Madison, stand up!

Goofy.

Ok, that's a good one. We obviously can't do this together, so let's just stick with individual pictures. Now smile! :)

Now, howl like a wolf!

Let's Talk...

2011-09-27T15:30:00.003-05:00

I love to blog for several reasons:

1) It gives me a great outlet. I know most of what I say, no one cares about. So I can put it out in the bloggy universe and you can choose to read or choose to ignore. It’s a win-win J

2) It gives me the chance to document all of the hilarious and wonderful things that happen in my day to day life. I’m not always good about remembering, but I love being able to put these stories down for the kids to read later…I’m sure they’ll appreciate it, no matter how embarrassing, right??

3) It gives me the confirmation that I need that I’m not alone. No matter what I write about, I usually have someone tell me that what I’m thinking/feeling is what they’ve been thinking/feeling and that they appreciate knowing that they’re not the only one! Well that makes two of us! And that brings us to the topic of today’s post…

I don’t like feeling crazy. I feel that way often, and I probably am…but I still don’t like feeling like it. No one likes to feel alone - we learn that at a young age. So how is that we’re so hesitant to talk to each other about things? I always find that when I actually talk about something with my girlfriends, I feel a lot less crazy! I think, as females, we’re more hesitant to look ridiculous and be judged, which keeps us from talking about the things that are on our minds sometimes, which is a real shame, because we’re the best resource that other women have!

Here are some of the things I’m thankful I’ve found someone to talk to about:

1) Being a working mom, or a mom in general. As you can tell from my previous post about this topic, it’s easy to feel a little unorganized and crazy with this lifestyle. It’s easy to feel judged. It’s easy to have a mental breakdown. This is where my friends and message board buddies come in handy. They remind me to slow down and take a breath and that it’s ok to not be perfect at everything. And that, yes, I’m completely nuts, but that it’s ok. And that my kids will understand some day and even thank me for it (b/c that’s how I raised them!!). I want to be a great mom, and that means working hard. I want to be a great wife, and that means working even harder. It’s easy to get lost in all that I’m thinking and feeling when I’m constantly going a million MPH. Other moms make me realize that I’m not the only one in this crazy loop.

2)   Child bearing. This is a long one, and I apologize in advance.
a. First off, the getting pregnant part: This is more difficult for some than others. For us, we were lucky. It took us a year of trying to get pregnant with Mason. I was ready to go see a doctor when we got a positive test b/c it had been a full year exactly. That year seemed like forever, even though I knew that it wasn’t that long. I waited 6 months to tell anyone that we were trying. I was starting to panic and feel like it wasn’t going to happen, so I asked some of my closest friends for prayer and I am so very thankful that I did. They prayed over me that night and read scripture and encouraged me more than anyone else could. They didn’t know how I felt exactly, as they hadn’t been in my shoes, but they were there for me anyway. I know lots of people who’ve had to wait more than a year…some who know they’ll never get to experience this. In any situation, it’s so important that we have someone to talk to. This is too much to keep inside.

b.Next, the pregnant part: I cannot put into words how glad I am that I had someone to talk to during this period of my life. I was miserable and there were lots of weirdly gross things happening to my body. Only some of those gross things are covered in books. Even they don’t want to talk about some of it. Again, feeling crazy, I found a couple of people that I could be open and honest with. They were so sweet and hilarious and offered up their best advice, no matter how odd the question. I mean, who wants to talk about placentas and mucus plugs? No one. That’s who. But good friends talk about it anyway, b/c that’s the only way you know you’re not losing vital pieces of your body! Pregnancy is gross and uncomfortable. And while it’s different for everyone, your friends will understand whatever you’re wondering about.

c.  Labor and Delivery: I will admit that I’m one of those people…the girl who likes to know every possible scenario going into a situation. Ask Randal, I owned every pregnancy book I could find. I wanted to know what I was in for. And when I had complications, I had lots of good references between my books and my friends. Going into labor and delivery, I knew what to expect. But it was because of my friends I knew the stuff the books don’t tell you. It was because of my friends that, even though I had the longest day of my life, I was comfortable with how it all went down and knew that it was ok. Let’s go ahead and understand that there will be about 100 people present when the big action goes down. Let’s talk about how gross and wonderful it all is. Let’s talk about staying in good spirits through the emotional roller coaster that is labor. Let’s talk about feeling like you have to push and having to fight that urge with everything that you have for an hour while you can’t talk. I didn’t even have the chance to tell Randal that I hated him for doing this to me…those movie scenes are complete bull!

d. Recovery: I think this is the thing that goes unspoken, and I think it’s the most important. The previous stages of this process are the ones you hear the stories about. {I did have friends that I talked to about my labor experience, and I think that’s extremely important. I also blogged about the process. If you have given birth and have not documented that experience, you should. It’s so therapeutic, you will thank yourself. Plus, you can show it to your kids someday and they can “oooo” and “ahhh” in amazement of your toughness!} You just don’t hear many women talking about their recovery, and you should. I think it’s sad that a lot of us go into this stage without knowing a whole lot. You read in the baby books about your child’s first 6 weeks of life and how to take care of them, but there’s usually only a few paragraphs about how to take care of YOU. And that’s the hard part. If you’ve had a c-section, if you’ve had tearing, if you’ve had the smoothest labor imaginable…it doesn’t matter. Your body has been through the most traumatic event it will ever experience and you have to recover physically, mentally, and emotionally. Which is not easy to do when you’re sleep deprived and on painkillers. You can’t even sit and stand up like a normal human being. You’re scared of going #2. You’re busy dealing with changing your own disgusting diaper of a setup, yet you still have to change the tarry thing that’s on your baby’s bottom. And if you’re nursing, your body is still being rented out for useful purposes, which is a little unnerving sometimes and makes you feel completely taken over, body and soul. I didn’t have anyone to really talk to about the recovery process, and I really wish I would have. I didn’t realize until several months after Mason was born that I had some post-partum depression and the way that I felt was not the “norm” for a new mom. I didn’t have anyone to tell me to take extra ice packs home from the hospital (and yes, they’re that important). I didn’t have anyone to give me tips on how to deal with taking breaks at work to hide in a bathroom and pump (awkward!). This is the part I’m the most passionate about because I feel like it’s where the biggest void is. I want my friends to know what to expect so that they can take care of themselves and their family in the best way.

3) Marriage and yes, sex. Marriage is a roller coaster and sometimes you need to talk to someone who’s not on the one you’re on.   When Randal and I have gone through our valleys, our friends have been there for us. They’ve told us we’re being stupid, they’ve told us we’re doing the right thing, they’ve pushed us to be better for each other. They’ve prayed for us. They’ve entertained us with their stories. When we’ve gone through our peaks, and sometimes when we’re still in the valley, I’d like to think I’ve been able to give some insight into my friends’ marriages. This can obviously never replace talking to your spouse about what’s going on, but I think it’s important to have friends you can trust that know both of you and can give you a good laugh and let you know you’re not alone. The same goes for the “off-limits” topic of sex. Who said married people couldn’t discuss sex? Males and females are way different, we know this…so sometimes, we need to talk to someone other than our spouse about this to know that we’re not crazy or alone. This has been the source of much hilarity and support among my friends and I. And I know guys talk about, so I don’t see why we can’t.

4) Church. This is an important part of our lives, but religion is one of those taboo topics you don’t talk about at the dinner table, right? Wrong. If it’s important to you, you should be able to have a good, stimulating conversation about it with your friends. My girlfriends are my best accountability partners and keep me in check on my walk. We love pushing each other to become more like Christ. I’m so glad that I have friends that are honest with me and demand that I grow into the woman they know I can be.

5) Random stuff. Life happens. Every day is a set of new challenges, opportunities, and hilarious happenings. I love talking to my friends about absolutely nothing. I love having gut laughs over coffee and having a book club where we don’t get around to talking about what we’ve read until we need to leave.

I love that my friends are an extension of my family. I would be a different person without them, my life would be much less entertaining, and Randal would get really tired of talking about redecorating and antiques. My friends are priceless and I know that they are a gift from God. They are women of integrity that push me to be the girl I’m designed to be. They make me feel a lot less crazy and pick me up when I’m down. What a blessing to have sisters in Christ (including my own wonderful bio sister!) that I can be open and honest with. And what a much better place this world would be if everyone had that group of girlfriends.

My baby boy is THREE!!

2011-09-14T20:18:00.000-05:00

Mason had his birthday last month…wow! How time really does fly! Those mostly sleep deprived, horribly hormonal, beautiful days when he was a newborn seem just like yesterday!

*Side note: That thing about forgetting all that stuff?? It’s a lie. You don’t forget. You
remember, or at least I do, every horrible moment of miserable pregnancy problems and a
horrific labor process. I will never forget, and neither will my children! I remember, but I still
say they’re worth it *

We opted for a Sesame Street birthday this year – Mason was super excited about having an Elmo
cake! I will say, it’s way more fun planning a birthday party when you feel like your child actually gets
it and is excited about it! We had a ton of fun celebrating with some of our friends and family and
Mason thought it was so much fun! Before he was even done opening his gifts, he looked at me and
asked if he could have another birthday! So sweet! He made sure that I knew ahead of time that he
wanted everyone to sing “Happy Birthday To Me” and to clap after, so he was pretty pumped when that happened and just giggled on my lap the whole time!

Little sister had a ton of fun at the party too! She looked adorable in her Cookie Monster outfit, but
refused to keep the tutu on after about 15 minutes . I always said I don’t know what I would do if I
had a girly girl…that I didn’t think I could handle not being able to relate to her. Well, I got what I asked for! She refuses to wear cute skirts, tutus, shoes, or bows in her hair! I refuse to cut her mullet so that people will actually be able to tell that she’s a girl!

Madison has learned to take her diaper off and refuses to keep her clothes on now. Everyone always
warned me that I would have a problem with the BOY not keeping his clothes on…who knew my little
baby girl would be such a streaker?! She’s starting to get a little more verbal, but finds creative ways to communicate with us throughout the day. She loves to read and would have our bedtime story-time
session be every book on the shelf if she could.

Mason is completely potty trained now (can I get a HALLELUJAH?!). Staying dry through the night, so no more pullups! Yay! He also likes to announce to us and to the world that he has boy parts and his sister doesn’t. And he’s awfully concerned that someone stole hers. Great. I’m really looking forward to the over-heard conversations in the public restroom about this issue. It’s both sad and sweet that it bothers him so much and I have to contain my laughter every time we visit this topic.

His favorite thing right now is talking about being a Ginger. He’s so proud! And he loves to talk about
Cody (our pastor) and call him a ginger. We thank God for all the gingers during our prayers every night. That’s right, Gingers of the world, we’ve got you covered with the Big Guy.

In Mommy Management news – I have new chore charts that I’m super excited about. I miss being the
organizational freak that I used to be and this is my attempt at re-claiming my former self. Who knew
daily/weekly/monthly checklists could be so fun?

A peek into the life of a Working Mom, Proceed with Caution:

2011-08-29T21:46:00.005-05:00

*For other working moms – enjoy the comic relief
*For husbands – take notes and act accordingly (aka – buy a massage and do some laundry)
*For SAHMs who used to work outside the home – enjoy the comic relief
*For SAHMs who have never worked outside the home – enjoy the glimpse and laugh at me

I’ve realized over the last 3 years that there is a huge disconnect between the world of working moms and the rest of the world, so this is my attempt to close that gap. I know it probably won’t do any good, but I’m putting it out in the universe anyway! Enjoy!

My normal day:

4:30 am – Alarm goes off. Either get up and work out, or hit the snooze button as hard as I can in order to sleep until the last minute before having to get ready for work (unfortunately, it’s usually the latter).
5:50 am – Start the getting ready process
*Sometime between 5:50 and 6:30 am – 1 or more children wake up and come into visit. This slows down the getting ready process considerably…
6:30 am – Realize that we’re running behind and scramble to get the kids ready before finishing myself
6:40 am – Realize that I need to change my shirt and/or pants b/c they have snot, slobber, or boogers on them
6:45 am – Argue with Mason about why he cannot take Buzz Lightyear to daycare.
6:46 am – Argue with Mason about why he cannot take the 10 toys he shoved into his backpack to daycare.
6:47 am – Chase Madison through the house trying to put her shoes on.
6:48 am – Load up in the car and wrestle with car seat straps.
6:50 am – The kids are too cute waving and saying “bye bye” to daddy as we back out of the garage
6:50 – 6:55 am – Have a wonderful conversation with Mason about the cars, the birds in the trees, the sun, and how God made us while Madison interjects every once in a while with a funny noise or random word so that we don’t forget her.
6:55 am – Arrive at daycare. Proceed to give hugs and kisses and start their day off right. End with either: tears, snotty noses, and tight grips on pant legs or complete indifference to the fact I’m present.
7:00 am – Run out of the sitter’s house to get ahead of crappy rush hour traffic. Deal with dumb people for 40 – 45 minutes while I try to enjoy Kidd Kraddick’s random talk.
7:45 am – Arrive at work, turn off mommy brain and turn on working brain.
8 am – 11 am – Work, work, work. Keep a notepad on desk. As kids, husband, etc pop into brain, make notes so you don’t forget to take care of things. This never stops. Take a minute, write it down. Back to work.
11 am – Take early lunch break to get errands done. 1 hour to make it to 3 different stores…GO!
11:01 am – Get stuck behind the couple out for a Sunday drive. Miss every green light while fighting bad thoughts.
11:10 am – arrive at first destination, a little frazzled from drive. Realize you left your shopping list on your desk or at home. Wing it. Then get stuck behind a SAHM fresh off her workout at the Y doing her grocery shopping with her 4 kids at the only lane open on this side of the store. Debate about whether you should just go put back the 10 items you’re buying and decide that you can’t. Wait and wait. Then get checked out in 2 minutes and run to the car.
11:30 am – Proceed to next store. Arrive even more frazzled than before. You have 5 minutes to get in and out if you want to make your next stop. After 10 minutes, accept the fact that you’re never going to make it and figure out a plan B.
11:55 am – Arrive back at work. Make or heat up lunch in kitchen in time to eat at desk while getting back to work.
12 pm – 5 pm – Repeat 8am – 11am. Add in random thoughts about the evening’s activities and dinner especially. Realize you forgot to take the hamburger out of the freezer. Come up with yet another plan B.
5 pm – Run out the door to try and beat traffic. Turn on full mommy brain and spend the next 45 minutes singing as loudly as possible with Beyonce, Adele, Shane & Shane, Andrew Peterson and Cobra Starship (current playlist, depending on mood). Enjoy strange looks from fellow drivers. Attempt to de-stress.
5:45 pm – Arrive at daycare. Enjoy the running yells and hugs from M&m. Hear about their day and get them prepped for the evenings activities as we load up to head home.
6 pm – Arrive home and make dinner with hubs.
6:30 pm – Fight with children that they either need to eat more or can’t have any more b/c they ate everything (depending on mood…) Depending on evening, freak out that we’re late or freak out b/c there’s so much to do at home.
6:45 pm – Kids are messy from dinner - Bath time. Hubs takes care of baths while I clean, do dishes, or do job-work.
7 pm – Get kids ready for bed. Brush teeth, potty, comb hair, get dressed.
7:05 pm – Play time/ Chore time. Try and keep the house clean while enjoying the kids for a while.
7:30 pm – Story time while the kids eat their snack. Randal makes funny voices to make fun of my funny voices. The kids love both. We say our prayers and Mason tries to repeat what I say while Madison giggles at his attempts to say “I pray the Lord my soul to keep” slowly and perfectly.
8 pm – Depending on how the day went, for the kids and for us, bedtime falls between 8 and 9.
9 pm – With the kids in bed, and hopefully asleep, I can get something done. Or, I can take a hot bubble bath and read a book. Or, I can enjoy junk TV with the hubs. Again, depends on the mood.
10 pm – I’m exhausted. I fall asleep as my head hits the pillow. I dream of crazy things…work and personal.
12:30 am - Get woken up in the middle of the night by crying kids. Either take them potty or get them a drink, or tuck them back in and talk them back to sleep.
1 am – Still lying in bed trying to get back to sleep. To do lists are swimming in my head. Must shut off. Count sheep, count breaths, count everything. This only leads to more counting and more lists. Decide to do Sudoku on my phone.
1:30 am – Start to feel eyelids droop. Shut phone off and lay head down and drift into dream land.
1:35 am – Get woken up by crying child. Repeat above steps.
4:30 am – Start all over again.

Now what lessons have we learned from this?
1) I’m exhausted. I’m tired and stressed and feel like I’m being pulled in a million different directions with a million different things in my head all the time. Throw in the fact that, when you first go back to work after baby, you've added in extra hormone swings and mandatory breaks from work. When kids are sick, you have to debate about who can afford to take a sick day that day and/or work from home. It's a whole other world.
2) I’m glad I have Randal to help with the above. I couldn’t do this on my own. Having someone else to run errands and help with chores and entertain children is beyond wonderful. To do it with your best friend and be able to have someone to hang out with after the kids are in bed, even better :)
3) People who don’t work need to stay out of stores and off the roads between 11 am and 2 pm if possible. I know it might be an inconvenience for you to rearrange your day. But it’s a big inconvenience to me for you not to. So thanks.
4) I can’t make it to children’s activities from 7 am to 6 pm. So “family time” activities from 10 – 12 don’t work. Mommy and kid classes from 3-6 don’t work. Santa being available from 8 to 10 is not helpful. Frustrating is an understatement.
5) I love my SAHM friends. I’m lucky and most of mine are very understanding of my much different schedule and try to be flexible and sympathetic when I just need some kid time instead of a girl's night. They know that I know that they work just as hard as I do and that we just have a different lifestyle. We laugh about our different days and love getting a glimpse into each others’ lives.
6) I don’t like being judged by the people that think I’m a bad mother b/c I work. Throw in the fact that I have my baking business in addition to the above schedule and sometimes I feel like people are really judging me. Could be my own paranoia, but when people say “How do you make time for it all?” I hear “Wow. That’s a lot. You must be a really horrible mother since you ignore your children all the time”. Whether you work b/c you need the money or b/c you need the outside-the-home activity, power to you! Either way, you’re giving your kids what’s best for them b/c you’re taking care of the family as a whole. And that’s a way bigger responsibility than anything else and no one can judge you for that.
7) Regarding the above. There is no way to “make time for it all”. You do what you have to do when it has to be done. I drop the ball all the time, but luckily my husband and my kids are very forgiving and know that I’m juggling a lot. So we pick up and plug on.
8) I am thankful for friends and family that understand. They babysit, they check in, they make a point to ask for time and are flexible until the schedule works out. They are wonderful and supportive.
9) I wouldn’t change it for the world. My life is crazy and hectic. Some days are wonderful, some are frustrating and I want to give up. But it’s worth it. It’s SO worth it. I'm crazy, but it's the good kind.
10) I am thankful for a God that designed my brain to be like spaghetti instead of a waffle. I don’t want to compartmentalize. Yes, I’m jealous of the fact that working dads can go to work and turn off “daddy brain” and just focus on work. They don’t keep to do lists for what errands need to be run at lunch. It’s exhausting, but I’m happy that’s my role. God made me just for this. And He made me dependant on Him to recharge my batteries. I know that when I’m feeling ragged and run-down, I can rest in Him. And that’s something every mother can relate to!
11) I live for the weekends and holidays. Saturday morning cartoons and homemade pancakes in our PJs can’t be beat!

This is worth working for:

Growing Pains

2011-08-25T13:54:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago I read these words on a blog I frequent:

***Side note – this quote is from Linny at aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com. I don’t know her personally, but would love to meet her someday. She is one of the most loving, caring, sincerely God glorifying women you’ll ever even hear about. And to truly understand this quote, you need to read her recent posts. ***End side note

Wherever we are,

Whatever our own circumstance,

There are always

People needing us to be His hands and feet.

We aren’t “off the hook” because of our own pain.

In fact, He has placed us wherever we are,

At just that moment,

{no matter what}

To share with those around us.

The Lord is continuously trusting us to serve others on His behalf

No matter our own situation:

Truly a God-sized privilege.

And each time, we are again reminded,

That even in our own weakness,

He is still made strong.

This really got me thinking (what’s new?). In the last year, we’ve had a lot of hurts…a lot of pain and suffering. Emotional, physical, and spiritual. It’s taken its toll. It started almost exactly a year ago, so I got to thinking…what else has come out of this? Has it just been bad? Has it just been painful? Or have we grown? Have we given God the opportunity to reveal Himself or pushed Him away?

Where was I one year ago? How does that compare to where I am today? (Where were you when “X” happened? How have you grown since?)
I’d like to toot my own horn and say that I’m a much better person than I ever have been before, but I’ll tell the truth instead…

I was bitter. I was broken and I took it out on others. I might not have been super angry, but I just wasn’t present. I was a complete space-cadet for a while and didn’t take care enough for myself or those around me. I dropped the ball on things and wasn’t always there for those that needed me.

The good thing? God knew. He walked me through it. He didn’t care and He loved me anyway. I am so thankful that I had a faith strong enough to get me through those dark days, and it is because of Him that my faith remained intact. Nothing I could have done could have prepared me for this year. His work in my life over the past 25 years was exactly what it needed to be. My family and friends were exactly the right people I needed in my life at this time. He gave them the words I needed to hear. He mended my heart when it was broken and picked me up. He showed me the woman He planned for me to be and showed me how to get there.

He showed me the marriage He wanted me to have. He showed me the people he wanted my children to be. He showed me how what I was walking through would bless others. He showed me that, in my weakness, He was again proven to be stronger than I had given Him credit for. He showed me that, while I was trusting Him, I wasn’t leaning on Him. He showed me how He could really, truly, use me for His purpose.

You see, I always thought I was letting Him use me. I’ve always tried to see those opportunities for me to Kingdom work. But this has opened my eyes to areas where He really needs me. And I’m so thankful that He’s letting me do that. Like the quote above, I know He’s placed me exactly where I am “for such a time as this”. He knew where I needed to be in order to serve Him well. And He plopped me down in the middle of it and opened my eyes.

I am so thankful for His plans. I am thankful for His comfort when I need it most. We're not out of the woods yet, so I am thankful that I can look to the future with hope because I know He’ll help me through and that He knows the plan. And I am thankful to know that I will be able to look back on these days with these new eyes and see what a great work He has done.

Weddings and babies and cupcakes, oh my!

2011-08-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

Life is crazy sometimes...this is one of those times. In the past month, we've had 3 wedding receptions, 1 baby shower, 2 friends that had babies, and 1 friend that got to come home with their adopted daughter. During that time, I've made two 3-tier wedding cakes, two sheet cakes, countless cookies and over 400 cupcakes. On top of this, it's stinking hot...like record-breaking hot. And here's a tip for you - cakes don't like heat...at all. So yeah, life is crazy.

Mason is going to be 3 years old in just over a week. 3! I can still remember the day he was born like it was yesterday - every stinking minute of that day...the pain, the irritation, the hilarious nurses, the gross stuff, and the oxygen...oh the oxygen. I felt completely out of it and in the worst pain of my life all at the same time. I hope that someday I can forget all that stuff and just remember what came next...the best thing I'd ever done...the sweetest boy with bright red hair - he grabbed my heart and is holding on tight :) Him...and the chocolate chip cookies that were the first thing I really ate in more than 24 hours...I went from crazy, oxygenated, labor girl to content, exhausted, giddy girl in no time. I can't believe it was so long ago and I'll never forget those first days with him. I'm having so much fun planning his party and he's SO very excited about his Elmo cake, he can't stop talking about it! Happy Birthday to my boy who will always be my baby!

Summer time!

2011-07-18T16:55:00.002-05:00

Since I know that the main reason anyone reads this is to catch up on the kiddos, we’ll bring you up to speed on them first:
First born aka Big M – Mason is hilarious, as always. He is having a blast this summer and everything is a new adventure at this age – it’s so much fun! He loves to be outside and gets upset when you make him come inside. He is a boy and loves to run, roll, jump, hit, kick and just get dirty in general. He loves bugs. He loves cars and loud noises. He loves to rough house. He is a daddy’s boy and always wants to go play baseball and wear Randal’s hats. He loves to play hide and seek and is not very good at it. He has yet to figure out the concept of hiding in a different place each time. So if Mason is missing, check under the laundry basket in our bedroom – he’ll be there.

2^nd born aka Lil m – Madison loves her brother. She follows him wherever he goes and climbs all over him. She thinks he’s the funniest person alive and they keep each other pretty busy. She is a mommy’s girl and doesn’t want me to leave the room without her permission, which I rarely get…usually just crying and stomping…She is a cuddle bug and I love it J She’s hilarious and loves to dance around the living room with her big brother. She loves to climb on things and she has the most infectious smile! She is clumsy and falls ALL THE TIME! Her poor knees are going to be just as banged up as her mama’s! She refuses to let me put her hair up in pigtails or a ponytail anymore, but her hair is starting to get curly, so it’s cute anyway J

Head of household aka Big Papa – Randal is busy, busy. He’s been working hard at work and at home. He recently manned a garage sale at our house in 100 degree temps while I was out of town doing a farmer’s market! Wowza J He has been busy playing guitar at church and playing softball during the week. He spends his time “flying” M&m around the house and gets a good workout in the process.

2^nd in command aka Secretary to the Family – Beth is busy, busy too! I work my regular job, take care of the fam, and do my bakery business on the side. It has been a busy time for Mark It With a “B” Bakery! Just this month: farmer’s market, bridal shower, wedding reception, celebration cake, grand opening cookies, baby shower, and another wedding reception! Whew! I’m exhausted just thinking about it! We’re half way through the month though and I’m still standing, so I think we’re going to make it! I love my “spare” time that I get to spend each evening rocking m to sleep and giving M&m their baths. I love my time with R when we get a free moment to just chat without little ones wanting to get their words in for the day. Those moments are few and far between so we’ve learned to cherish them!

Our best friends had a baby and I’ve been loving having some baby time with someone else’s child J M&m loved meeting baby Olivia and Mason wants to go back! Our other friends finally got to bring their baby girl home from Uganda after Melissa spent a LONG 11 months in Uganda working to get her here. It was a wonderful day on Saturday when we got to see their family all together. I’m so happy for all of my friends!

The Plague of 2011

2011-05-24T09:03:00.000-05:00

Was Harold Camping right? Was May 21, 2011 the beginning of the end?

If you would have asked me yesterday I would have said he was right. This is how it all went down.

Last week, Thursday I believe, Mason got sick. He came down with some flu bug, it was the first time he was sick like that. And being the gentleman that he is, he does not throw up or any of those other terms, no Mason "spits". His sickness at the time was accredited to allergies and drainage. It lasted for less than a day and he was back. Saturday (May 21, 2011), out of no where Madison got sick, I will not get into the details but she too "spit". And again it lasted less than a day. There may have not been any earthquakes that broke California off into the ocean, but the sickness of my two children was a sign.... the sickness will spread. The sickness or plague hit mommy and daddy!

Now this was the first time that both Beth and I have been sick at the same time... and we got hit harder than either of the kids, or we are not a strong as them. Now I can only comment from my point of view on this, but it was like a bad movie that you have seen before. I was roughly 5 hours behind Beth on the sickness. So I could see what and where I was going before it hit me. Now I appreciated Beth taking one for the team and giving me a preview of the path the plague takes, but I hope to not have to ever do that again. Its hard being sick in the first place, but when the person you can whine to and have them do things for you is sick too... well that is just... a sign of the end times. And to add insult to injury, the kids did not want to sleep through the night AND the Thunder lost! Needless to say I am tired, and so is Beth. And I see how Beth got the nickname "lil' grump" ;)

On the bright side though we got this out of the way before our trip.

On the dark side, Harold Camping said he miscalculated and the End Times are Oct 21. If this past week has been any sign of things to come, I plan on barricading myself and my family in!

This was another post by Randal.

Life as we know it...

2011-05-13T16:33:00.003-05:00

We’re gearing up for my sister’s big wedding – only 2 weeks away!! Woohoo! I’ve been busy making cakes and am gearing up for graduation and wedding season! I’m going to be busy over the next few months and am super excited for a chance to try some new techniques and work on some old ones J

Madi is growing like a weed. She’s as big as her brother and has finally realized it J She will tackle him and laugh hysterically. She loves to ride the 4-wheeler and play w/ big brother’s toys, which he hates. She’s still not saying much, but gets her point across well…she loves food in general and gets cuter every day! Her mullet drives her Aunt Kelli crazy, but it’s finally long enough to put into pigtails and I love it!

Mason is as ornery as ever. He is a typical 2 year old big brother and likes to test my patience ;) He is quickly becoming the entertainer of the family and walks around singing all the time and likes to stand up on the couches and put on a show for us. Usually, that simply consists of him swing his arms and yelling random things at the top of his lungs, but hey, the attention is on him, so it’s enough. J He is hilarious and is so sweet with little Madison. They love to give each other hugs and kisses and play so well together! This having kids close together thing is really paying off! We’ll see how they feel about each other in Jr High!

How Far Would You Go?

2011-05-13T16:33:00.000-05:00

As a mother, I know the answer to that question. I would do anything for my kids. They are small and vulnerable and unable to defend themselves. I would take a bullet for them and go to the ends of the earth to do anything for them… I’ve never doubted that. I’ve known it inside since before I was even really a mother. I knew that I wanted kids, had a yearning to be a part of that world and to make and nurture life and see it bloom into what I pray is a God-glorifying adult and parent someday. But just what does this look like?

Does it look like the many friends and family I have that have struggled to conceive a child? Does it look like the anguish that no one can quite understand that hasn’t walked that road? Does it look like the friend who had multiple miscarriages before finally, finally, getting to experience carrying a child to full-term? I think it does. I am so thankful that I never had to experience that pain and sadness that accompany a miscarriage. I’ve walked with friends through that valley and know that I’ll never truly understand that pain. I struggled to get pregnant with my first child, but was lucky enough to only have to go through that struggle for a year and didn’t have to go through the painful process of exploring other avenues of conception. How exhausting a fight! But how precious. And how thankful I am for my friends and family that have chosen to fight for their children. Some may never see the outcome that they’ve longed for, but I know countless women who are willing to fight with all that they have to make it happen. That’s a picture of fighting for your children.

What about the friend who’s been stuck in Africa for 8+ months trying to bring her little girl home to her family? She met her daughter when she was just a few weeks old and has been struggling to get her home ever since. What a warrior. This, more than anything I can think of, is the picture of fighting for your children. She will fight until her daughter comes home. Period. That’s a picture of fighting for your children.

What about all the parents who decide to adopt? What about all the paperwork, the money, the time, the emotional roller coaster, the questions and strange looks from strangers? All of the time you spend knowing that your child is suffering and you can’t do anything about it. What about all of the time spent teaching that child that they are loved and that they can trust you and depend on you? That’s a picture of fighting for your children.

What about just the day to day stuff? Going to work, doing chores, wiping butts and noses, rocking a baby at 2 am that can’t tell you what’s wrong. Every day is a fight for these little ones. They have no one to fight for them, so we do it. We love them more than our lives and we fight for them. That’s a picture of fighting for your children.

We do whatever it takes and don’t look back. We know it’s right, even when the world questions it. They don’t understand. They never will.

But He does…because He fought and won. He wages battle on our behalf and He wins. And every day, there’s a struggle over us…and every day He fights for us. He did what it took and He wins. He fought for us when we didn’t deserve us, He died for our sake. That’s the picture I want my kids to see. That because He fought for us, I fought for them.

Ok, OK...

2011-04-15T11:59:00.001-05:00

Ok, Randal has been HOUNDING me about posting, so here we go :)

Schafers 4:
We've had lots of family time lately and it's been so much fun! I was able to travel to OKC for Kelli's first bridal shower (hooray!) last Saturday and then we stayed overnight in Argonia for her 2nd shower at the church there. It was so great to see most of my dad's side of the family (have I mentioned I love my family?!). Even Aunt Teri was there from NC since the shower dates coincided with her trip back home! We missed everyone that wasn't able to make it, but it was still fun to hang out with everyone that came.

Head of household:
Randal got a promotion - let me just say right here and now how proud I am of that man. He has worked hard to get to the position that he's in and God is blessing him because of the choices that he has made. He, of course, got lots of compliments from everyone on a job well done, so I hope he realizes how great he is :)

Snips and Snails, Sugar and Spice:
Mason is a two year old boy. He runs, he shouts, he jumps, he kicks, he talks back...you know, normal 2 year old stuff. He's still as funny as ever, even when he's having a tantrum. He loves our new van...he loves to push the button to close the door and has a blast exiting out the back when the seat is taken out. He is still as protective as ever of his little sister and I love him even more for that! Aunt Kelli went with me and the kids to see Elmo the other day at IBA and Mason had a blast.

Madison couldn't have cared much less, but I think she had fun anyway (stuck her head in the popcorn bucket and got the to walk the halls...what's nut fun about that?). She is just as adorable as she was before, maybe even a little more so. Her little personality comes out a little bit more every day. She is still refusing to talk, even though we know she can. She just talks quietly to her self or jibber-jabbers at us all day long. She loves to play with her big brother, even though he is always trying to tackle her. She is finally learning to fight back, so things could get interesting in the near future. She loves to eat now taht she figured out that food can be good, so that keeps her busy most of the time ;)

Little Ol' Me:
I am busy. Work is good, and the bakery business is picking up. I have a large wedding order this weekend and have started piling up graduation and wedding orders for this spring/summer. I am also busy planning Kelli's last shower right now, which is this weekend as well. I'm so excited for her and can't wait for our trip to Mexico! I haven't lost as much weight as I was hoping to at this point (have not been great about getting up early to work out), but am still eating much better and losing pounds and inches and have been able to avoid gaining everything back, which I'm super excited about. The kids keep me entertained, but I have made it a point to start reading regularly again also, which I'm loving :) It gives me a good little escape from reality and the craziness of my own wonderful life.

Walking

2011-03-22T15:12:00.000-05:00

Faith Like a Child...

2011-02-01T09:39:00.001-06:00

Ok, I know that we hear the comparisons between our relationship with the Father and our relationship with our children all the time...but I couldn't help but dwell on this last night...

Mason's new reaction to us telling him to do ANYTHING is to say "no" and run away or get mad and try to fight with us (physically and verbally!). It's frustrating because he's really starting to act like a 2 year old. He doesn't want to do anything I say, he just wants to do what he wants to do. I know that I'm making the right decisions for him and watching out for his best interests, but he doesn't care about that...so he fights. With all he's got, he fights. And as it happened last night, it hit me - this is my child...he's just like me...

See, I wrestle with God about a lot of things. I wish I could say that I just listen and do as I'm told, but I don't. I fight with all that I have if I don't want to do it. Just recently, I argued with God for a year and a half about something silly and trivial. I finally gave in and I could just feel the release of that tension between us. I get so tired and worn out in my day to day life and I wondered last night how differently I would feel if I stopped fighting Him. I know He sees the big picture and is looking out for His best interests which, in turn, are my best insterests. I know that my life will be better (or at least more productive for the Kingdom) if I just stop fighting and start listening. So here's to no more excuses...I know His voice when I hear it, but I choose to ignore it too often because it is uncomfortable or inconvenient to listen to it. So I'm asking those of you reading this to keep me accountable to this.

I've told lots of people about some things that God's really been working on me about and I want to hold those things up. I want to leave a legacy of a faithful woman who followed her God wherever He leads her, no matter what.

Oops.... I kill cars!

2011-01-27T10:32:00.001-06:00

This is Randal

Here's the thing...2010 sucked

2011-01-19T13:51:00.000-06:00

The good news… It’s not 2010 anymore and that’s great. So here’s to a great 2011! I’m bound and determined that it will be better than last year (it HAS to be) and that this is the year for a new me…

How, you ask? I’m so glad you did :)

1) Weight (size – period!): Bye-Bye! I’m working out again & watching my calories and seeing results already! My goal is to look great in my Matron of Honor dress at my sister’s wedding, so the race is on!

2) Hair: Bye-Bye! I chopped my hair off about 2 weeks ago. I’m still not totally sure about it, but it just feels good to have some change. I’ll probably end up growing it back out, but for now, I’ve got a short and sassy ‘do!

3) Style: Hello! It’s been a few years since I’ve felt like a cute girl, so I’ve really been slacking in this area. Jeans & a KU shirt are my normal attire outside of work. Accessories have been non-existent, so I’m working hard to correct that. I bought some new jewelry and am trying to use it, but it’s hard to go against what has become my “norm”. I refuse to buy new clothes until that weight falls off, so hopefully that is sooner than later!

4) Inside – Of course, with all of these outward changes, I have to do something for the inside too, right? My confidence has been lagging as badly as my weight over the last few years. Chalk it up to 2 kids, post-partum depression, working full time, and just the every-day stresses of being married with kids. I need a boost. I think the steps above are just what the doctor ordered. I know that if I feel better about the way I look, I will hold my head a little higher. I know that if I can zip on those skinny jeans, I will smile more.

5) Last, but certainly not least – Spirit: 2010 was a rough year spiritually – a lot of tough challenges that make you realize that you’re standing on a shakier foundation than you previously thought. Well, 2011 is a year of building for me. My God brought me through the toughest year of my life and He is urging me to pick up the pieces and live the life He has planned for me, so here it is. I will go as He wills me and do what I know is meant to further His kingdom. I will get involved again and pursue the things that are put on my heart. I’m most excited about where step #5 takes me and to see His plans for this new year.

I blogged a week ago about how I realized that I needed to take care of myself in order to take care of everyone else and that keeps getting thrown in my face in various ways. I can tell that this is a lesson that I need to learn and remember. So there it is, the year of Beth :)

Chronicles of a Post-Baby Body

2011-01-12T10:27:00.002-06:00

I am overweight…there, I said it. Now, it’s not as bad as it could be, but it’s gotten out of hand. And it’s past time to reign it back in. My sister is getting married on the beach in May and I really don’t want to be the one nervous about being out there in my swimsuit or look like “the chubby sister” standing next to my beautiful, size 4 sister when she says I Do. I want to have the energy to chase around after my kids and keep up with my husband. Most of all, I want to be confident again. I miss looking forward to buying cute clothes and not worrying about sucking in when taking a picture. I want to be someone that my husband is proud to be married to and feel comfortable in my own skin like I used to…so here goes!

Here’s the mission: 40 pounds in 13 weeks. Now, I realize that might sound a bit lofty, but the math means that I need to lose around 3 pounds per week. I can do that. I know I can. I’ve started counting my calories again and started working out every morning (5 am is early for Bob Harper’s cheerfulness). I already feel better even though I almost fall over every time I get up to walk away from my desk. I know I’m doing something good for me, and that’s rare. It’s time to take care of myself and make “me” a priority again. They tell you time and time again in those pregnancy and parenting books how important it is that you put yourself first in order to take better care of your kids. I’ve ignored that until now, but I’ve started to realize just how important it is to the kids and to Randal that I take care of me first. Then, I’m in better shape (and a better mood) to take care of them and meet their needs.

This is the most excited I’ve been about something like this in a long while. My thighs burn and I’m sore, but man, it feels good. :)

Recently...

2011-01-10T11:38:00.000-06:00

Randal so nicely reminded me this weekend that I had not posted on here in a while, so here I am :)

There has been a LOT of action since my last post (thanks to Randal for the 12/18 post). First and foremost, Madison turned 1!! I can't believe my baby is so big! She's hilarious, go figure and her bright eyes and smile just warm my heart! I knew I would love my kids, but I had no idea what that love would feel like and am bowled over every day with how much those kiddos mean.

The kids both had a ton of fun over the holidays and Mason had great fun helping everyone open their gifts. They both got a lot of great, fun gifts (as well as some that mommy has had to take away already! ha!) and Mason ate WAY too much fudge! We traveled all over for different family gatherings and Mason was so confused when we got back home for good...wouldn't it be wonderful if we always got to spend that much time with everyone?! Oh well - I guess one day we will! :)

My cake business has started getting some serious action. I've already got 4 baby showers, 1 party, 2 weddings, and 2 bridal showers planned for 2011! Wow!

Today, I started a new workout that I hope I can stick with. I have owned The Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD for a couple of years now...I bought it after I had Mason. Well...I finally took the shrink wrap off last night and got up early this morning to begin. I feel good...inside. Outside, my legs feel a bit like jelly - Bob likes squats and lunges...I haven't had my thighs burning like that since high school volleyball practice. This could get interesting! I just keep telling myself, "If you can get through natural childbirth twice, then you can get through a stinking 30 minute workout". We'll see if that method pans out for me!

It's going to be a busy 2011 for the Schafers family, but I'm excited for the ride!!

Dec 18

2010-12-17T14:55:00.000-06:00

1787 - New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1865 - Slavery was abolished in the United States with the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution being ratified.

1916 - During World War I, after 10 months of fighting the French defeated the Germans in the Battle of Verdun.

1917 - The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress

1956 - "To Tell the Truth" debuted on CBS-TV.

1983 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) scored his 100th point in the 34th game of the season.

1998 - The U.S. House of Representatives began the debate on the four articles of impeachment concerning U.S. President Bill Clinton. It was only the second time in U.S. history that process had begun.

2009 - General Motors announced that it would shut down its Saab brand.

Famous Birthdays

Ty Cobb 1886 - Baseball player

Keith Richards 1943 - Musician (Rolling Stones)

Steven Spielberg 1947 Movie producer-director

Leonard Maltin 1950 - Movie reviewer

Ray Liotta 1955 - Actor

Brad Pitt 1963 Actor

DMX 1970 - Rapper

Madison Leigh Schafers 2009 - Most beautiful little girl ever!

Whoa!

2010-12-13T11:46:00.000-06:00

Madison is going to be 1 this Saturday and I'm having a really hard time believing it! I thought that time flew with Mason, but it seems like just yesterday we were welcoming our beautiful little girl to the world! On the other hand, it seems like she's always been a part of our family and I'm so thankful that she's such a good little sister to Mason - he is such a good big brother too! He's so protective and let's her beat him up all she wants! He loves trying to get her to walk to him - it's hilarious! He'll say "Come here sister" over and over again :)

She is taking some steps, but has yet to really "walk". I'm thinking it is coming soon - she's getting pretty daring! She's even sillier than Mason...we may have our hands full with those two.

On a more sentimental note, I love this time of year. I love seeing the look in Mason's eyes when he gets really excited to see the Christmas lights, etc. He has so much fun just being responsible for turning on the lights on the tree and says "It's Merry Christmas" every time he sees something on TV or at someone's house that is decorated for the holidays! I can't wait until he knows just what this holiday is all about. This year will be so much fun with both of them - can't wait!

Mercy Beard progression

2010-12-09T11:11:00.000-06:00

What's it all for?

2010-11-30T19:41:00.001-06:00

Ok...so I'm one of those people. When something is important to me, I want to read every book on the topic that I can get my hands on! This drove Randal crazy when I was pregnant...but I wanted to know EVERYTHING that COULD happen so that I was ready and armed against whatever came out of the blue. This is how I deal with things, so he put up with it :) Well, in the past 5 years, I've read a LOT of books about marriage and parenting. I'm reading a couple right now and they've got me thinking...so that has me typing tonight :)

You name the book, I've probably read it or own it...I've read books about how to be a better mother while trying to be a better wife, books about how to pray for your husband, books about how to be a Godly wife, books about how to speak your spouse's love language, etc, etc, etc. I've pieced together my own idea of what being a wife and mother looks like over the years. This may or may not be something that others agree with, and that's ok - b/c I think everyone's family has to function differently, and also that no one has it all figured out. But here's what's got me thinking so much...of all of these books that I've read, they have all tried to give me a reason to do the things they say. If you're a better parent, your kids won't be so screwed up; If you're a better wife, you'll have a better family; If you're a better wife, you're husband won't leave you; If you're a better wife, your husband will be better to you, etc, etc, etc.

There is a laundry list of reasons to do the things we do on a daily basis, but my question is, what is it all really for? I mostly read Christian books, but I feel like a lot of them don't focus enough on the big picture. Yes, I want my kids and my husband, and my life to be better, but first and foremost, as a Christ follower, my duty is to carry out these daily "routines" to the Glory of God. Everything about my life is made to give me opportunities to bring Him glory, so that's what it's for.

The fact that my life was formed brings Him glory. The fact that I am saved from the penalties of my sin brings Him glory. The fact that a little girl like me can stand tall in face of adversity and fear brings Him glory. The fact that I have peace, even in the darkest times, brings Him glory. He is a wonderful God and He is the only God that deserves whatever glory we can bring Him. He is the only God that is worthy to demand it of us, so He does. Because He is that great.

So why do things every day that might make a difference? I just got done doing the 30 day giving challenge...why take the time? B/c it would make a difference, that's why. Because whatever good thatt giving does, it brings Him glory. I think that's why anonymous things are so much more fun - there's no chance of anyone else getting credit but Him :)

So why work on your marriage or parenting? Do you do it to help with your insecurities? Or so that your kids won't grow up to be what you fear the most? Or to deal with infidelity? Or just to better yourself for the heck of it? Whatever the reasoning has been, the heart of it should be for Him.

I make the decision every day to love Randal and work on our marriage. Some days, it's easier than others. But I know that making that decision not only makes my life better, it brings God glory to see that from His children. I do everything in my power to protect and care for my kids - that makes my heart warm to see them taken care of, but I know that it brings God glory to see me taking care of His kids and raising them to know their Father.

I won't even try and trick you into thinking that I do everything with this in mind...in fact, I do a lot of things exactly the opposite and I kick myself after. I'm stupid, but luckily He gets that and has me covered.

So that is all. I just need a re-focus sometimes and I think God puts this on my heart in just the right moments. Glory to Him! :)

The latest gems :)

2010-11-29T12:59:00.001-06:00

I was told numerous times over the Thanksgiving weekend that I do not post on here enough, so here I am, on a roll. Here are a few things from the recent past:

Madison had the flu really bad a couple of weeks ago and reminded me of what a tough girl we have! The poor thing couldn't keep anything down and was exhausted, but for the most part was a real trooper (even when we had to do a suppository! I cried more than she did!). She's a tough kid, and it's probably a good thing with her brother around :)

She's super close to walking, so we're working on that. She also has SIX teeth now! Wow! And the girl can bite! Don't get your fingers near her mouth or she might draw blood...just sayin.

Mason is hilarious, as always. Even during his "terrible two's" moments, he makes us laugh. Here are a few things that have kept us rolling lately:

~He's been very confused about contradicting relationships lately...for example, I told him one day that Grandma Sue is my mommy and he just told me "no" and walked away. You can imagine how confused he was when we tried to explain that Randal was my husband. So randomly over the last couple of weeks, he'll look at me and just go, "He's your daddy, not you husband mommy!" Last night, as he went to go find Randal in the other room, he kept saying "He's not my daddy, he's my husband mommy" Hopefully he'll be able to work this out in his head :)
~Another doozy is his favorite toy...it's now a flashlight. He likes to carry it around the house until we yell at him to stop trying to shine it in people's eyes. We've decided he's going to be an evangelist, b/c he keeps telling us he's going to "find the dark".

And those are your laughs for today :) Enjoy! Here's a picture of Mason assisting Daddy & Pampa with the Christmas Lights!

30 Days of Giving: Days 10, 11, etc, etc :)

2010-11-29T12:39:00.000-06:00

Ok – so I have not been good about keeping up with my blog the last couple of weeks! The 30-Day giving challenge has been great. I have to admit, some days it’s easier than others, but it’s been really good to force myself to look for even the small ways to give of myself this month. Since I haven’t been good at keeping up on my daily updates, here’s a brief list of some of the ways I’ve given in the last couple of weeks:

1) Cooking for others
2) Toys for Tots
3) Giving change to the Salvation Army bell-ringers
4) Giving up my place in line at the store on my lunch break (this one was hard!)
5) Sending anonymous gifts and words of encouragement (these are my favorites!)
6) Filling up someone else's tank of gas
7) Giving extra time for the kids – our family has been sick a lot over the last couple of weeks, so this was essential and special!
8) Giving friendly, encouraging advice to those that come to me with problems and questions
9) Sorting through toys to give away/donate
10) Giving special prayer time for certain people/projects

It’s the 29th today, so I better make the last two days count I guess! :) Happy Giving!

Randal Posted this....

2010-11-22T13:29:00.000-06:00

He looks like he just stepped out of the Wizard of Oz!

She went down for a nap...

and woke up with the fullest head of hair!

The new family car, no more pick up.

Let's face it I never owned a truck they were always pick ups!

30 Days - Days 7,8, & 9

2010-11-09T12:37:00.000-06:00

Day 7 - This day was a kind of crazy one :) I just got back from Joplin and seeing gma, so I was catching up on things around the house and spending time with my family. I was scheduled to make a meal for our friends for Monday, so I made it on Sunday and took it to them that evening. It was a wonderful fit :)

Day 8 - oh Mondays...I don't really like them much. They are crazy and exhausting, but this one was ok! :) I ordered something online for a friend that I hope they'll love ;) Guess we'll see!

Day 9 - I have been praying about sponsoring a child through Compassion International for a long time. After we had a FANTASTIC sermon on Orphan Care this past Sunday, I decided God was prodding me to finally take the plunge. So today, I sponsored Melody...she is a 5 year old girl from Uganda (a country close to my heart - my friend Melissa is over there right now finalizing the adoption of their beautiful girl Mercy). My prayer is that this support for Melody will show the Father's love and bless her and her family beyond my imagination :)

Days 5 & 6

2010-11-06T13:49:00.000-05:00

Day 5 - This was a long day. Trying to find out what was going on with grandma took up most of my day. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of information and cell reception is not great at the hospital so most of our information back home was very sporaditic and via text. Needless to say, we were all feeling pretty confused. We ended up talking to mom and dad for a while in the afternoon and determined it would be fine for me to go out to Joplin and see her and represent the grandkids for the weekend. Thanks to my sister for her beautiful note on the last post, but I really don't see it as that big of a deal...I consider it a blessing and a priviledge to give grandma everyone's well wishes.

Anyway, my giving challenge was going to be tough...I was going to be traveling for a while, so I was looking for something random that God would present me with along the way. On the way to work in the morning, I decided to stop off at Starbucks for a little pick me up :) I decided that my giving challenge for the day would be to pay for the person behind me. Not a huge deal, I know, but hopefully it made that person's day a little bit brighter!

Day 6 has been spent at the hospital visiting grandma. My giving was my time with God as I walked the halls for a few minutes earlier and read some prayer requests and prayed for people in the hospital. Nothing better than carrying our burdens to Him.

I have no idea what else God has in store for me over the next few weeks, but I'm excited for it :)

30 Days of Giving - Day 4

2010-11-04T12:46:00.000-05:00

Today is a tough one...one of those days when I'd really like to forget about this challenge and just focus on my own problems, but I'm glad I've accepted this challenge and am looking at this day as a huge one for growth.

Last night, my maternal grandma had a heart attack. Initially, things looked hopeless. I felt more helpless than I have in a while. She was out of state when it happened, so my mom and her siblings had to quickly drive to be with her and my grandpa. Thankfully, we've had more reports over the last few hours that make things look a little better, but we are still all needing a lot of prayer. This could be a very long, scary road and we will all be tested as we lean on the Father for strength and hope.

So today, it would be super easy to throw in the towel on this 30 day thing and focus on this. Granted, I think giving of my time and energy to all of this is good, but the bigger lesson at hand is that other people need me to give too. I cannot forget that, even now. The past two months have been the hardest of my life...I could give up pretty easily and don't think many people would judge me for that...but here I am, resting on the only One who gets me through the days, especially this one. Satan is attacking and my only defense is Him and He tells me to get back up, dust myself off, and plow through - it's for His glory and it will all work towards His good. I know that...it's just easier to remember on certain days.

So here it is, a chance for something great - what will I do with it? I'm using today for a big project. This will not be completed in one day, as I am asking for assistance from other givers and this is a big undertaking. But I know that He will bless this effort, so here goes! I want this verse to be a reflection of my life, to be unexpected in this world:

Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. ~ 2 Corinthians 8:2-5

30 Days - Days 2 & 3

2010-11-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

Day 2 was good. I gave my vote - what a great privilege! I picked out some clothes out of my closet and am going to drop them off this weekend. I think the best and worst part of all of this for me is finding time to do all of this. As a mother who works outside of our home, I have to find those rare windows of time to drop off, deliver things, pack things up, bake things, etc. This is going to be a great growth opportunity for me, and hopefully, my entire family. I spend so much time worrying about the kids, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, my job, etc that I sometimes forget about the rest of the world. Thank you God for a reminder like this one :)

Day 3 was good as well. I spent some time on my lunch break sending out some words of encouragement to some strangers on my favorite cake baking website Cake Central. It's always great to see when people post on your pictures of your creations, so hopefully those bakers got a little boost from that :)

Day 4 is still a question mark. I know that I will be giving some extra time to my husband and am hoping that maybe we can do some giving together :) We'll see what tomorrow holds!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T13:03:00.000-05:00

Our kids had a BLAST this Halloween! It was so much fun to see them both enjoy it this year. Big M was dressed as Woody from Toy Story and Little m was a cute little duck :) They were adorable, if I do say so myself! M had a great time getting candy and I think he's got severe sugar addiction. m just had fun with all of the excitement! She still won't eat anything other than formula (my kids are the weirdest kids on the planet!), so we couldn't give her any sort of treat. She continues to grow like a weed! She got two new teeth this past week, along w/ her first infection. She just finished up a round of antibiotics and is a complete trooper!

Both kids are hilarious in their own little way. m makes the funniest faces and noises and loves to beat up her big brother. M takes it like a champ b/c he knows it's fun for her and it's funny for everyone else :) What a good big brother! Randal did me the giant favor of previously posting her 10 month pictures (mommy didn't do a very good job of getting them done at 9 months).

He repeats everything we say (we're REALLY having to watch ourselves!) and has come up with his own funny sayings now too. His favorite is "Me do it". He is SUPER independent now, which I love, but it forces me to be patient, which I don't love ;) He has also become a very picky eater (I have no clue where he gets it from!) and continues to tell me "I can't like it" whenever I put food on his plate. I just tell him "yes, you can" and move on. He was hysterical in his costume and would say "yay-haw" and take his hat off. He was shy when the neighborhood kids came to our house to trick-or-treat and would only say "Happy Halloween" to them when they were close to the driveway! ha!

The kids with Grammy & Great Gpa & Gma

Our little family...m and I are too funny in this one!

My two with Molly's boys - brings back lots of childhood memories! :)

My smiling duckie :)

30 Days of Giving - Days 1 and 2

2010-11-02T12:10:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I caught wind of the most exciting thing - The 30-Day Giving Challenge. A group of women started a challenge - spend 30 days coming up with creative ways to give of your time, talents, and resources. What a beautiful idea! I'm overjoyed about participating, even if I did learn about it at the last minute and am a little bit nervous about coming up with 30 creative things to do! If you want to learn more, or join me, check out http://www.30daygivingchallenge.com/!

Anyway, I'll be blogging about this journey as I go and hopefully can get Randal and the kiddos involved too!

Day 1, since it was last minute, consisted of compiling a list of ideas and trying to find something I could do so quickly. Luckily, one fellow blogger posted a list of wonderful ideas that I will be drawing from and posted some websites that you can "give" on just by clicking to encourage advertisers to post there, so I did a few of those. I also made Mexican Casserole for my husband, as it is his favorite meal...but I don't think that counts because I forgot how to make it and it was far from being right. Because he is nice, he ate it anyway :)

Day 1 was also spent praying for my friend Melissa and her precious family. They are going through the process of bringing home their beautiful little girl named Mercy and Melissa is stuck in Africa trying to get home to reunite her family. Please join me in continuing to pray for resolution and safe (QUICK!) travels home!

Day 2 will be spent sorting and packing up clothes that don't fit post-baby me anymore :) Surely some young professional lady will look adorable in all of my old suits, right? This experience is so refreshing, because lately, I have not been in a place where I have felt like giving much. It's really great how often God gives me a kick in the pants just when I need it!

"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." ~Acts 20:35

2010-10-29T09:18:00.000-05:00

When September Ends

2010-09-29T16:14:00.000-05:00

Well we have been busy, and alot has gone on over the past month. The kids continue to grow, Madison is crawling all over the place, and wants to stand and walk... she has that on her "To Do" list for the next month. She has two teeth on the bottom right in the middle, and I am pretty sure she says "DADA" with fair regularity. One of her current favorite activities is to climb on her brother like a jungle gym. And Mason doesn't seem to matter for the time being.

Mason is a weed... but the good kind of weed, not the bad kind like Nutgrass, or Milkweed. He keeps getting bigger, stronger and alot more adverturesome. The boy would jump off the kitchen table if I let him, and there was his bean bag or ball pit to land in. He is still a daddy's boy... doesn't look like there is any end in sight (which I fully enjoy!) He can talk... and does! He quotes movies, TV shows, what ever Beth or I say... we are to that age where Beth now has to watch what she says around him ;)

Well in case you can't tell by the writing style, this is not Beth, this is Randal. My last post went over so good that I have been getting requests to write again... but I had to wait for the right time, the right venue... so in the writing style of my last post here is an update:

Beth still works at EP, with her sister.

Beth likes her work.

Beth makes cakes in her free time... they are good.

Please order a cake.

I, Randal, work at CCH.

I work in the Sales and Use Tax department.

It has to do with the reporting of the sales tax you paid this morning for your Starbucks.

No Shave Novemeber is coming... are you ready?

Here are recent pics of the kids:

Madsion at Uncle Alan's Wedding

6 Months

Brotherly Love

2 Years old

Mason laughing at a joke... 2 Years Old.

(Have you heard the one about the brick?)

Thinking about everything he has seen in the past two years.

How funny these kids are...

2010-08-31T16:50:00.001-05:00

Kids are hilarious, it's a well known fact. Mine are no exception. They make me laugh all the time. Granted, some times the laughter is postponed until after the occurence (or at least until the kids are out of ear-shot), but none-the-less, they're funny. Here are some gems from the recent past:

Madison is completely bored with crawling already. She has the ability to do it, but as soon as she goes a little ways, she sits up and gives this look like, “Really? This is what you’ve been begging me to do???” She’s going to be tough to please…

Mason says something funny every day. His new thing is saying “You don’t do that again” when you say something silly when he’s not in the mood to hear it.

He also likes to name all of the characters from Toy Story and won’t stop talking about watching them on the “big TV”. I guess we have a few trips to the Warren in our near future.

Madison is scared to death of the Rex (dinosaur from Toy Story) toy that Mason got for his b-day, so Mason likes to hold it up close to her until she freaks out. . .what a great big brother, right?

Mason starting yelling a line from Toy Story a while back – it’s the scene where Woody is trying to convince Buzz that he is not a real spaceman and yells “YOU ARE A TOY!” Mason thinks it’s funny to say to us, either joking around, or as an insult when he’s mad. This has now turned into several different phrases, such as:

“YOU ARE A MONKEY!”
“YOU ARE BUZZ LIGHTYEAR”
“YOU ARE CRAAAAAAZY” (This is my personal favorite)

This morning, while going potty before getting ready for the day, Mason kept telling Randal to "move your arms, Daddy". When Randal did, Mason said, "I don't see it Daddy...I don't see your seat belt". After we stopped laughing, Randal explained that it's just called a "belt" on your pants and that he didn't wear one today and that the seat belts were just in the car :)

To sum up, my kids are hilarious…I have no idea where they get it.

Ode to Fall

2010-08-31T11:46:00.001-05:00

To show my appreciation for the season of Fall, I've composed a list of my top 15 reasons that I love this time of year :)

1. 2 words – CROCK POT
2. Football
3. The beautiful colors – doesn’t God really know how to paint a pretty picture?!
4. Cool weather, but not too cold
5. Sweaters, jeans, & jackets mean that my post-baby bump doesn’t seem so bumpy
6. The holidays are here, which leads to my next 2 points:
7. Lots of time with family
8. Lots of great food
9. Looking forward to the snow
10. Candy Corn
11. Pumpkin & cinnamon scented candles
12. Chili
13. Seasonal decorations
14. Christmas shopping
15. 3 days weekends as the holiday season begins

Busy, busy, busy

2010-08-24T15:07:00.000-05:00

Mason turned 2 on August 14th and we had a great party with some friends and family - of course, we had a Toy Story theme :) I made an etch-a-sketch cake and we grilled out, then we opened presents. Mason had a great time opening his gifts and even impressed everyone when he recognized the jayhawk on his new sweats :) He made this momma so proud!

After Mason's party, I took a nap (can I get a HALLELUJAH!?) and then Randal & I headed out for a fantastic date night at a Dave Matthews Band concert. We had dinner and then got to the concert right before it started to rain. We had so much fun at the concert while my mom and dad watched & played with the kids. Thanks to the parentals for a great evening out!

The next day, we had baby dedication for Madison and that went very smoothly, except for Randal and Pastor Cody posing like nerds in the picture :)

After church, we rushed down to see some family & my grandpa, who is in a rehab facility since his knee surgery. It was so great to see all of our family that doesn't live close enough to see more than once or twice a year. None of them had met either of the kids, so that was so sweet to get to do...we had a blast visiting and playing skip-bo and got back home WAY too late to go to work the next day!

While we were visiting Grandpa Bob, we rode the elevator up to his room and as soon as the doors closed, Mason said "I want to get out" - it cracked all of us up :) We went back the next Saturday and he proceeded to color in blue crayon on the clean white bed sheets...oops!

On a side note, my friend Melissa is heading out to Uganda today to go get her beautiful little girl Mercy and I'm SO excited for her :)

On another side note, I'd like to give my parents a shout out for raising me to be a girl with a backbone that can stick up for myself...I've seen a lot of people lately that just can't seem to do anything to stick up for themselves and I am thankful that my parents raised me to know better! I know I might do it too much, but you can never have too much of a good thing, right? ;)

It's been a while...

2010-08-11T12:12:00.002-05:00

It's been a while...ok, a long while...since I've posted. It's funny that when there are things to post, I just don't take the time to do it. I must get better at this!

Madison is getting SO big! She has 2 teeth that have popped up in the last few weeks, she is sitting on her own, she is trying to eat big-girl food, and she is trying to crawl (she's really good at going in reverse for now)! She is doing great and is such a happy girl! We have baby dedication this week and I am so excited! I love making that declaration that Randal and I are going to raise our kids to be like Christ and to work for His Kingdom.

Mason is going to be 2 this Saturday (can I get a big WOW!?) I am busy, busy this week trying to prepare for his party. I am making a Toy Story themed cake - so we'll see how that turns out :)

We spent this past Saturday at Randal's brother's wedding & it went really well. Mason was the ring-bearer and Randal was an usher. I made the cake (my first!) and we had a lot of fun.

It's been an exhausting few weeks, but hopefully after this weekend it will slow down a little bit. We are heading down to Edmond after baby dedication on Sunday to see my dad's family - my aunt and uncle are in from out of town and my grandpa is in the hospital after knee surgery. I love seeing my family & am so glad to have lots of relatives who want to be a part of my family's life and love and care for my kids :)

The latest...

2010-05-17T12:29:00.000-05:00

Well, now that things have slowed down a bit, I can update this thing :)

The last month or so has been a complete blur! The kids have kept us busy and we've had a ton of extra activities as well. Here's a brief run-down :)

Madison is growing up way too fast...she's going to be 5 months old tomorrow and I can't believe it! It's a weird feeling about how fast kids grow up...on one hand, they seem to change every day and you can't believe how quickly it all goes by - on the other hand, you can't seem to remember a time when you didn't love this little person and it feels like they've been a part of your family forever. I love that it's getting warmer out and I can put her in all of the cute little dresses that we have for her! She seems to have some allergies, so her nose has been running around the clock lately just like her brother's. I don't know how 2 people who don't suffer from many allergies ended up with 2 kids that are affected so much, but it does not make for a very happy baby or a very happy momma! She had her 4 month checkup today (I know, almost a month late, but oh well!) - she was 14 lbs 14 oz and 24 inches long - right at the average for her age. I can't wait to take her to the zoo and to the lake and have lots of fun this summer! I know she'll love it - she's such an observer and loves to be moving!

Mason is growing up way too fast too...He's potty training right now (ah!). It's going pretty well, though we've had some rough moments (him & I both - ha!). We're going to be tough and stick this out and see where it takes us :) That little boy is ready to be outside, the weather lately has not been cooperating! It's hard to swing in the yard when it's tornado season and every evening brings torrential rains and hail :( Hopefully soon, the weather will give us a break and we'll be able to keep him happy out there. His favorite thing right now is Toy Story. He loves Buzz & Woody and wants to watch them all of the time (this is a good thing and a bad thing all at once!). It's so fun to see him learn and grow at this point! I know it's hard to believe, but my child is a chatterbox! He talks all the time! And he's hilarious (also hard to believe, given his genes). He loves his sister and asked me last night if he could "hold the baby" :) He's such a sweetheart and a great kid - we'll see how I feel when he's a teenager :)

Randal has been super busy at work. He's been promoted to Lead of the Sales & Use Tax Group at CCH and is working hard to get used to that department. He went through Six Sigma training last week and I think he really enjoyed it. I'm so proud of how hard of a worker he is :)

I have been busy, busy with work and with other things on the side :) As if I don't have enough to do, I keep coming up with things! Taking care of the kids is plenty of work, as all of my mom friends will attest to! I also threw my in-laws a 25th Anniversary party this month - it was a ton of fun to plan, but was a lot of work! We had a great turn out and it was a great time - it was so good to see some people that I hadn't seen probably since our wedding! The weekend after that party, Randal's brother Alan got engaged to his girlfriend Katie. I'm so excited for those two! Katie is a great girl & I'm so excited to have her as my sister-in-law. I'm doing the cake for the wedding, so hopefully that works out great too! On top of that, we've been busy with church comings and goings and other things that pop up.

Next month is our lake trip and we're SO excited! We're praying for easy travels and good weather! Hopefully it is a nice, relaxing trip - and hopefully, mommy can get some reading done :)

Next month is also our 5th anniversary. This is another thing that is weird...while it seems like time has flown by, I can't really remember my life without Randal. Maybe your brain has a way of blocking these types of things out, I don't know, but I'm glad that I met him in 2003, and so glad that he asked me to marry him a year later. He is my best friend til the end - the only one I can truly be myself with and I'm so glad he's the one that's walking through this thing called parenthood with me.

Dreaming about the future...

2010-04-07T11:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, first, let me point out that Randal also has the password to our blog, so I am not the only one who can make updates! :)

Alright, now that's off my chest...we just celebrated Easter - what a wonderful day! We went to church and then it was off to Argonia for lunch with the Stephens clan and a fun little Easter egg hunt. It was Mason's first time, and he had a lot of fun! Both the kids looked great in their new Easter duds & we had a good time with family. We went and saw Randal's parents afterwards and had a good time there, too.

Mason is growing up so fast - can't believe he's going to be 2 in a few months! He is talking up a storm and really learning a lot of new words. He just learned to say "I love you" and it's so sweet! We are working on numbers and manners for now, so hopefully those things will catch on quickly! We got the new Toy Story movies that just came out on BluRay and he loves watching Buzz :)

Madison is getting bigger every day and is staying awake most of the day now to watch what is going on around her. She loves to observe people, just like Mason did. She's sleeping through the night (something Mason didn't do until a few months from now!), so we've been able to really catch up on sleep. She had her three month pictures and they turned out great - I will post some in a little bit along with Easter pictures. Her stuffiness went away for a couple of weeks, but is back (hopefully not for long!). She is really working on her leg strength and wants to kick and stand up on your lap now. She loves to be scared and her giggle is just the sweetest thing :)

Randal and I have been busy with our usual activities. We are throwing an anniversary party for John & Denise, so that's keeping me pretty busy along with stuff for the kids and around the house! The yard is needing some work, so Randal will be busy with that soon I'm sure! I can't wait for the warm weather so that we can go for walks and play on the kids' new swingset from Grandpa Bob & Grandma Sue! Mason loves to swing, and I'm excited that we will be able to do a lot of that soon!

Now for my usual rant about what's been on my mind :) First of all, today I am thinking a lot about the two people in my life who are going through the process of adoption. This is something that has always been very close to my heart and I have always wanted to do someday. I saw a quote yesterday that I think sums up why I have always felt so led to this:

"My friends, adoption is remption. It's costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him." -- Derek Loux

I thought that was such a wonderful way to word it! I have always been so thankful to be able to be called a child of God and am so in awe of the fact that He is willing to bring me into His presence and call me His own. How wonderful that we all have the opportunity to do the same thing for a child in need of someone to love them unconditionally. It is such an emotional process and takes such a commitment and a strong, patient person, but it is so worth it in the end!

The other thing that has been on my mind a lot lately is what my kids will grow up to be someday...I know it should be a fleeting thought, but I find myself daydreaming a lot about what they will become...what they will be like when they are older...who they will bring into our lives, etc. I have such big hopes and dreams for them, I can't contain them! I wonder if Mason or Madison will be a doctor, or lawyer, or missionary...or maybe a teacher, or an accountant, or an artist of some sort...Will he be a gentleman? Will she be famous? Will they live near us or move away? Will they be a traveler like Kelli or a homebody like me? Will they be musical like Randal and I or not like music at all?

Most of all...will they be happy? Will they glorify God in whatever they do? This is my prayer on a daily basis...and for now I will continue to dream :)

Alright, alright, already...

2010-03-12T13:42:00.000-06:00

Alright, Randal has done me the favor of reminding me that I'm falling behind on my blogging :) So here's what's going on with us...

Madison is getting so big! She'll be three months old this week & we are going to get her pictures taken this Saturday. I'm so excited for her first girly photo shoot :) hehehehe - I was always so nervous about having a girl because I have always been more of the tom-boy type and didn't think that I could do the pink, frilly stuff, but it has been surprisingly fun! I love her little hair bows (even if Randal doesn't :P) and I love looking for cute little outfits for her :) She's smiling really big now and seems like such a happy baby! She's had a stuffy nose for what seems like forever, so hopefully she'll be able to get that clear soon. It's RSV season, so we're keeping a close eye on her for more symptoms, but I'm also looking for teeth!

Mason is getting bigger and funnier every day :) His wonderful Aunt Kelli took him to see Sesame Street Live last weekend and he had a blast! He got to hang out with Grant Fisher and he had lots of fun seeing Elmo. We went out to eat last week at Cheddars and he slapped our waitress on the butt...it was so embarrassing for me (not totally sure how Randal felt about the whole thing...), but everyone around us (including the waitress) thought it was hysterical. He is beginning to start those "terrible twos" a little early and has learned to throw some pretty awesome tantrums in an effort to get what he wants. He has yet to learn that it doesn't get him anywhere, so we'll see how long that takes him :) I can't believe that he'll be 2 years old in a few short months!!

Randal is staying busy at work, but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be this tax season. I am looking forward to warmer weather so that he and Mason can play outside - I know they're both looking forward to that as well! We got a rowing machine recently and so he has been spending some time working out on that and has been making fun of me for not spending time doing it...we'll work on that :)

I am back to work full time next week (can I get a loud BOO?) I have really enjoyed spending at least a few days a week home with the kiddos. It has been so much fun getting to know Madison and getting to spend so much time playing & laughing with Mason (though he's still totally a daddy's boy!). Going back to work has been hard, but they both seem to really love their babysitter, so I'm very thankful for that! I have been busy lately planning an anniversary party for Randal's parents and trying to start up a few other projects on the side. I think I am crazy and can't contain all that I want to do...I just pray that God gives me the energy to keep up with myself!

We went to OK to help my grandma celebrate her 75th birthday last weekend and had so much fun with my family! My grandpa is still not feeling well, but we were so glad that he got to spend some time with the kids and the rest of us. I love seeing them and am so thankful that they have been able to share in all the special moments in my life!

In other news, my resolution to not be an angry driver is coming along, although there are a lot of people out there that are making it difficult. Seriously...it's a four way stop, not rocket science. :)

A brighter Twenty - Ten

2010-01-20T14:58:00.002-06:00

Ok - I'm not usually one for New Year's Resolutions. In the rare occasions that I have tried to make these commitments, they have been relatively short lived anyway, so I usually don't bother. Instead, I try to make decisions throughout the year that make life better for myself, my family, and those around us (those commitments are short lived sometimes too, but hey, I try!). This week, I have been thinking about my attitude on the every day things that happen to me, and I have not been impressed! So I have made the decision that I will not be passing along my negative attitudes to my children, and also will not be forcing my husband to deal with them any more :) So here I go - my experiment at a more positive me:

My biggest issue is dealing with my frustration with other people, especially other drivers. I know that this bad habit that I have of having road rage drives Randal crazy and I am scared to death that Mason will soon be shouting "idiot!" at passing cars! I have downloaded new music to my iPod and will try not to yell at people who don't know how to drive...we'll see how I do once I go back to work!

Next, I get frustrated when I have to ask Randal more than once to do something for me. I usually keep this to myself, but sometimes let it affect my attiude way more than I should. Now, instead of focusing on what he doesn't do right (because who does everything right anyway??), I will be focusing on everything that is right about him. I married a wonderful man - he is my best friend and he gets me more than anyone ever has. He can always make me laugh - even when I don't want him to. He takes great care of our kids (not to mention his assistance in bringing them into this world!). He works hard to provide for us and he brings life to the world around me. Even though he doesn't always do what I ask, he often does things I don't even have to ask him to do, which mean way more than anything else anyway. He is a great example of overcoming all kinds of obstacles in your life and ending up a responsible, thoughtful man who loves the God who has brought him out of the depths. So thanks Randal, for being a loving, Christ-like example for me and our kids - that's way more important than changing Mason's diaper :)

I often get frustrated when I think about paying someone else to take care of my kids while I work. I wish that I could stay home with the kids and didn't have to have a full time job, but to look on the brighter side: I have a job that I love. I work for a company that has incredible integrity and focus, and I count myself lucky for that. For now, I consider myself blessed just to have a job in a time when so many are trying to figure out how they get by without one. I am also blessed enough to work with my wonderful sister, so that's a plus too! I know the day will come when I won't have to work, so I will count myself lucky that my husband and I are determined to make sure we are in a strong financial position bvefore taking that next step. How wonderful it will be to be completely out of debt and comfortable and be able to actually enjoy being a SAHM.

I am tired, as every mom is. But instead of focusing on the exhaustion, I will focus instead on the wonderful bonding time that I get to share with my daughter for now. I know that I will never get that opportunity again and although I might not have the energy to get as much done at other times, the moments that we share in the middle of the night will be moments that I will miss when they are past.

I get frustrated when Mason won't let me wipe his nose when I can't get up from the chair, or when he won't eat the food that I put on his plate, or when he screams and wakes his sister up just because I won't let him play in the toilet...but with all the times that he does less-than-desirable things (which actually is pretty rare!), I have a beautiful, fun-loving little boy who makes me smile all the other minutes of the day. I can act like an idiot with him and nothing brings me more joy than to see him smile, dance, and have fun. The sound of his laugh makes my heart melt and I will focus on that stuff instead of the fact that he doesn't like my pot roast (he does like my meatloaf though!). Every stage he hits is more fun than the last one and he amazes me every day with all that he learns and all the fun he can have from the simplest things. I love him more than I can ever imagine and the few bad times we have will never outweigh all the beautiful moments we have shared.

I get angry and impatient with people in the church some times. I know that sounds horrible, but I think most people can relate. There are people that I have looked up to and have called on for guidance and to set an example (for me, my children, and the kids in the church). These people disappoint me often (a lot recently for some reason) and this is very frustrating to me. I pray that we can all set aside our own selfish desires and move towards working to build the Kingdom instead of making ourselves happy. Instead of focusing on how disappointing people are, I will be focusing how blessed I am that I don't rely on people and neither does God. He will get His work done, and I feel so lucky to be a part of that mission. I am always reminded of the line from Relient K that the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair. That is a beautiful realization and I have to always remind myself of that fact. God has blessed me beyond belief, and I am lucky enough to be a part of a church that has a clear mission and great leaders that are focused on making disciples and building the Kingdom of God.

So this is the beginning of my year of looking at the better side of things. I used to be optimistic and positive...we'll see if I can be again :) Here's to a brighter 2010 looking at the other side of the coin!

A Beautiful Arrival

2010-01-15T10:14:00.001-06:00

Ok, so now it’s time to relive Madison’s welcome to the world. Because Randal would not be allowed to take time off to spend at home because of tax season, we went ahead and talked it over with the doctor, made sure that Madison was ready to arrive, and scheduled an induction on Thursday, December 17th. We went in at 5 pm and they started me on Cervadil to thin out my cervix in hopes that this process would jump start labor on its own. I did start having contractions around the time that they started it, but nothing serious. I was feeling them and they were coming pretty regularly, but not getting closer together or stronger either. Our families came to visit that evening and hung out for a while. Then they all left and Randal and I were able to get several hours of sleep in the delivery room. I woke up every hour or so, either to a contraction or b/c my hospital bed was uncomfortable and poor Randal slept in the recliner in the corner of the room which was pretty uncomfortable too! It wasn’t a super restful night, but I think we both got more rest than we thought we would!

Around 6am the next morning, 12 hours after they had inserted the Cervadil, they checked me to see if I was progressing. I was moving along, but not quite fast enough, so they went ahead and started the Pitocin around 7. I was dilated about 3 cm at that point, so we still had quite a ways to go! Around 9, they checked me again and I was around 4, so they went ahead and broke my water. My contractions were getting stronger and closer together, but were completely bearable until a little while after they broke my water, then things got interesting  Probably around 30 minutes after, my contractions became so intense that I could not talk through them and I started trying to breathe through them. Randal’s mom arrived at the hospital around that time and sat in the room talking with us for a while. My contractions continued to get closer together and were getting really strong at this point. The nurse came in to check my progress around 10:30-10:45, so Denise excused herself for a few minutes. After the nurse checked me, she said I was at around a 5, so we knew we had a lot of progress to make and were expecting a late afternoon arrival. The nurse asked when I wanted my epidural and I couldn’t even explain to her that I didn’t want one at all – luckily Randal stuck up for my decision and explained the situation and that I was set on not having one. All I could get out at that point was “no”! As they were having this conversation, my contractions really ramped up and I was really squirming. The nurse went out to call my doctor and give her an update.

Randal was keeping everyone up to date, so he had talked to my parents, who were keeping Mason while we were away. After hearing that I was only at a 5, they decided to run to Argonia and pick up a few things that they needed and then they would check with us when they got back. My contractions were getting pretty bad and I was getting really uncomfortable, so after I was checked, Denise went ahead and went out to the waiting area and left Randal and I alone. My contractions were now happening pretty much on top of one another, with no time to rest in between. I was gripping the side rail on my bed during my contractions and cutting off the flow of my pitocin IV, so the nurse came in to see what was setting off the alarm on the IV machine. Around that time, my body was really starting to try and bear down and I was starting to feel like something was really wrong. We had just found out that I was just at a five, so I knew that shouldn’t be happening for quite a while! I couldn’t get many words out, as I barely had time to take a breath in between contractions. The nurse realized that my contractions were coming continuously and that I was fighting not to bear down and started to really get on me about not pushing yet. I told her that I was trying my best, but my body was really trying to. She decided to check me and immediately told me that I could not push b/c she was not ready to deliver the baby. She told the nursing student that was shadowing her to turn on the warmer on the crib and to go get help - that we were going to be delivering a baby very soon. She grabbed her phone and called my dr and the nurse’s station and was telling me the whole time that I had to fight it with all that I had, which was really getting hard!

We had a very quick rush of nurses come into our room and they hurried to get the bed broken down and get things set up. The charge nurse got to me in the middle of a contraction and said “this isn’t going to take long, I just saw the baby’s head”. This was such a surreal experience! I was lying there trying to breathe and fight the urge to push, and all that I could think was that this all felt so wrong! I was expecting another long and drawn out delivery like with Mason, and this was all happening VERY fast and it seemed like something bad was happening, so I was a little scared!

After everything was set up and the staff was ready to go, they rolled me over and told me to give one good push. That’s all it took and we heard little Madison’s wailing begin! Such a beautiful sound!!!! Randal let them cut the cord so that they could whisk her away and make sure that everything was alright. She checked out fine and Randal got to be right there and watch them examine, weigh, and measure her. She was 6 pounds, 9 ounces and 19 ½ inches long and had brown hair - the official time she arrived was 11:12 am. My doctor was unable to make it there on time since everything happened so fast, but arrived soon after and helped get me cleaned up and checked out Madison too.

Because this had all happened so quickly, Randal obviously didn't have time to update everyone, so he was scrambling to get everyone notified after she was born. My parents had started towards Argonia and got his text message saying "She's here" before they got out of Mulvane. Thinking he had accidentaly sent the message, they pulled over and called. After Randal let them know that it was no accident, they turned around, took Mason to lunch and then came up to let him meet his little sister! Randal's mom was in the waiting room, but had no idea anything was happening, so she was surprised to get the message too! She came and waited outside of our room until she got the OK to come in, then she came in and met her new granddaughter. Everyone else arrived as soon as they could, on lunch breaks or after work, but needless to say, they were all shocked to hear that she was already here!

After the nurses checked her out, they showed Randal that she also has a birthmark on her left hand that extends most of the way up to her elbow and another that is on her side. They have faded a little bit since birth, so we’ll see if they continue to clear up. She also has pinholes in her ear just like daddy and brother, only she has one on each ear! The auditory doctor mentioned that these pinholes that have been such a topic of conversation are actually called preauricular pits, so we’ve been able to do a little bit of research on these things now!

Recovery from labor was a lot easier this time – I think both b/c of the shortened experience and b/c I did not have an epidural. I was able to get out of bed and get cleaned up right away, which was REALLY nice and they got us moved up to a recovery room really quickly after delivery. We were able to get some good sleep in our hospital room and Madison has been a great baby – sleeping for 3-4 hour stretches. She figured out her days and nights pretty quickly, so that was helpful too! We have been blessed with two babies that are easy going and adjust well – let’s hope that they continue to behave that way for a while!

We had lots of family drop in on us at the hospital and friends and family visited at home after we were there too. In Madison’s first week of life, she did a lot of traveling and meeting her family! When she was just 6 days old, we started our Christmas celebrations by going over to Randal’s grandparents house for a get-together and lunch. We then traveled to Argonia for dinner and gifts with my family. Travel was interesting on that day, since Madison got to experience her first snow! We didn’t get a lot of accumulation here in the Wichita area, but the snow was blowing so badly that visibility was very slim! The ride to Argonia was a little difficult at times, but we made it there alright! I was beginning to wonder if we would be able to make it to Oklahoma later in the week, as they had accumulations of more than 14 inches and had closed all of their highways, but the roads were cleared by the time we needed to travel again. On Christmas day, we had brunch with my mom’s family and then played games and visited the rest of the day. The day after Christmas, we traveled to Edmond, OK for a celebration with my dad’s family and stayed there until Sunday, when we came back home. We had a wonderful Christmas, with Mason enjoying opening and playing with gifts, and Madison getting to meet everyone and be held A LOT! There is no shortage of love for this little girl!

A new blessing...

2010-01-14T15:56:00.002-06:00

Well, this update is WAY past due! Madison Leigh is finally here! After what felt like a forever wait, she arrived on December 18th at 11:12 am. I will post a longer, more detailed delivery story when I have a little more time (and both kids are napping!), but for now I will say that she is perfectly healthy and happy and thriving. Our delivery was a lot easier than Mason's was (though maybe a little more dramatic in some respects!), so recovery seemed a little bit easier and faster. I was so exhausted and down after having Mason (thinking back, I'm pretty sure I had some postpartum depression that I let weigh me down for too long) but feel great this time around! I am enjoying my time at home with both kids and am dreading going back to work! Randal has been working a LOT of overtime now that tax season is in full swing, so I am missing him, but enjoy the evenings after he finally makes it home!

We had a great Christmas this year! Luckily, we were all recovered enough that we got to enjoy get togethers with both of our families, including a trip to Edmond to see my dad's family. Everyone enjoyed getting to hold and meet Madison, and all of us really enjoyed watching Mason open his gifts. He was old enough this year to actually enjoy opening and playing with all of his new toys (and everyone else's!) and he had a lot of fun playing with all of his cousins and other family.

I was a little worried about how he would react to his sister, since he's old enough to act out for attention, but not old enough to understand the need to be gentle or who exactly she is, but he's doing great! He loves to give her kisses (or licks & slobber, whatever!) and enjoys helping out by throwing away her diapers (I wonder how long I can make that seem fun...hmmm...)! He has had to be pulled off a few times when he has been a little too excited, but has overall done a really great job of welcoming his little sister to the world!

That's all for now, I'll post a lot more later!

Let the countdown begin!

2009-11-30T19:13:00.002-06:00

Well, we had a GREAT Thanksgiving! Mason was old enough to enjoy it this year, even though he had a little bit of a cough over the holiday week. He got to spend the beginning of the week with his Grammy babysitting M-W and ended the week staying at Grandma's for a few days, so he got lots of love!

Kelli threw Madison and me a wonderful baby shower on Saturday & we had a great turn out. We got a TON of adorable girl clothes & Randal and I had fun organizing them and getting them washed and ready when we got home! Randal got to help my dad and brother hang Christmas lights, so that was fun too :)

I had a great doctor's appt last week. My sonogram showed that Madison's growth was right on schedule and that we would be totally in the clear for delivery whenever she is ready to come. We went ahead and scheduled an induction for a week before my due date. Apparently Wesley is really full that week with the holidays, etc, so the only time slot that was open was 12/17 at 5pm, so we are on the calendar. Unless she decides to come on her own before then, she probably won't be making an appearance until the 18th, so we look forward to meeting her then! We are busy getting the last things ready for her arrival and preparing for life with 2 kids (wow wow wow!!!!). I am ready for Christmas and am looking forward to spending lots of time with our families as we get used to our new schedule and I recover!

Way too long!

2009-11-19T11:42:00.002-06:00

Ok, so it's been FOREVER since I posted anything, so I'm sorry for that! I have not been good about documenting everything that is going on with us or this pregnancy - maybe a need for an early New Year's Resolution!

Anyway, things have been going really well and we're just preparing for Madison to arrive! My placenta previa has cleared up and we are just waiting for D-Day. We are talking about an early induction so that Randal acn be guaranteed a couple of weeks at home before he will be on PTO lock-out during tax season (we cut this a little close to the end of the year!). We have a sonogram scheduled for next Tuesday so that we can make sure that she is growing properly and would be alright if we had her a little bit early, so hopefully that all goes well!

Mason is getting bigger every day! He is really trying to talk like a big boy and likes to jabber, jabber, jabber. He has started repeating what we say to him - things like "basketball" and "boat" (he likes the B words for some reason!). He has started paying more attention to the TV as well as other things going on around him and even seemed very enthralled with the KU-Memphis game the other night! The boy loves his sports! He is running all over the place and getting a little hard to keep up with as I continue to get bigger and slower! Randal has been on full-time duty trying to keep an eye on him! :)

We are gearing up for the holidays & I'm getting very excited! Thanksgiving is next week and we will be having 3 different get-togethers. I am wrapping up my Christmas shopping and hoping to everything wrapped and together by the time Madison arrives so that I don't have to worry about it! Hopefully, I can spend some quality time in the kitchen this weekend and get a good supply of sugar cookies, puppy chow, and pumpkin rolls in the freezer so that will be ready to roll as well!

On a personal note, I have been overwhelmed with excitement of the news that several people that we know are in the process of adopting children from other countries. This has always been a desire of mine and I am so excited for these families that are taking this huge leap of faith & wanting to take these kids into their families as their own! That's all - I just needed to say that! Praise God for those opportunities!!!

1st Birthday Pictures - Finally!

2009-09-03T19:28:00.003-05:00

http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2183262014/a=98277416_98277416/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

What's been on my mind...

2009-08-27T13:05:00.002-05:00

OK - so I'm still waiting on our new AT&T internet to be up and running at home so that I can post pictures of Mason's party, but a quick and easy description would be that it was a lot of fun! :) Mason had a blast and enjoyed devouring his cake (what a sugar high afterward!). He got lots of fun gifts that he's been enjoying since and that have been taking up most of the non-existent extra space in our house! :) When we get the internet up and running, I'll post some pictures with some more details...

For more of a blog, I have to speak my mind about something really fast. This has really been weighing on my mind this week after something that I saw on Facebook on Monday (I know, like Facebook is the place to spark mind-numbing reflection!). Anyway, my old pastor from Argonia posed a question that went something like this "If there was no music, what would you look for in a church?" I have to say I thought this was a very intriguing question, so I clicked to see the responses that this had received and was excited to read different people's views of what they look for in the church. I have to say, though, that I was thoroughly dissapointed in the answers that were posted. Most seemed very shallow and face-value and while I came to the realization a long time ago that most people's idea of church is just that, I was shocked to see how enthusiastic these people were to post such a response to this question and how overwhelming this consensus was...most people's opinion was that they would look for a dynamic speaker or a place that made them feel welcome. After reading all of these responses, I was moved by my dissapointment at where we are as a church today and what we feel is most important about it. I am, by no means, perfect in my approach to church - let me put that out there as a disclaimer before I go on. I do not claim to know everything and my opinions change from time to time...but I realized some years ago that church is about a lot more than me, so I am always shocked and dissapointed when those that I look up to as my spiritual examples and mentors show that they are more concerned with their own personal satisfaction than with the advancement of God's Kingdom as a whole. I think it's important to take a step back from how we view church and look at the big picture. Music is a huge part of how I worship, as it is a huge part of my life, but I am willing to sacrifice what I consider my favorite type of music if it means that we might reach our community better and therefore, expand God's Kingdom. I wish that I could say that we're all willing to compromise on the things that don't matter, such as style of music, but unfortunately, I have seen A LOT of evidence to the contrary. I admit that I, myself, have been guilty of fighting battles that weren't worth the cost and getting caught up in what I wanted out of church, instead of what really mattered. I consider myself blessed to be a part of a church now that is lead by a team of pastors that see the big picture and are willing to push our selfish desires aside for the good of the Kingdom. I am fortunate to be in a place where I can see God moving and working, even though every day I see people that are willing to die for things that are completely useless and so very trivial. Anyway, I just have to say that I know this will be an ongoing battle, but I had to get this out. Church wears on me sometimes and I have to take a break from all of the bickering. I love my God and I don't understand why others who call themselves His people aren't willing to act like it. My biggest concern is raising my children to not be like those people. I want my kids to be on fire for Christ, and to see that they have been called to something great - to go and make disciples of all nations...not to just sit on a pew once a week and say what you're supposed to say when you're asked a question. Their purpose on this earth is not to sing certain songs in a certain way, or take the offering at a certain time, or to speak their opinion on the color of carpet in the foyer - the purpose for all of our lives is to die to ourselves and allow God to use us for His good - what an amazing thing! How sad that very few realize this. So now my mind will continue to wander - to find ways to raise my children to serve God wholeheartedly...even against all odds.

***I'm stepping off my soapbox now - thanks for reading this if you made it all the way to the bottom :)

Wow - time flies when you're having fun!!!

2009-08-12T09:59:00.003-05:00

Mason turns 1 year old in a couple of days!!!! I cannot believe how fast this past year went! I can't believe a year ago we were waiting anxiously for this little miracle to arrive! This past year has had its up and downs, but has taught me so much! I love being a mom to my little red head and have enjoyed walking through this adventure hand in hand with Randal :) What a ride it's been!! Mason is walking everywhere now and he seems to really enjoy this new view of the world! He is getting faster and as I get bigger he's going to be hard to keep up with!!

We are gearing up for the big 1st birthday party on Saturday...I know he won't remember it, but I so want it to be a fun, exciting day for Mason and for all involved! As I was talking with some friends the other day, we decided it would be a great idea to instead celebrate the mother and what she did a year earlier since the kid doesn't remember...I might have to keep that in mind - haha! :)

And here I am again, pregnant with morning sickness and I am exhausted all the time - poor Randal! But at least it's the last time! :) We have our girl on the way, so we're so excited for her arrival! I found out at my sonogram a few weeks ago that I have complete placenta previa (same complication as with Mason, it's just completely covering my cervix this time). We'll have to wait until closer to time, but this could very well mean a scheduled c-section. I'm a little nervous about that - I thought this time was going to be smooth sailing b/c I would know what to expect and now I have to do it a completely different way!!! The good thing is, though, that if we did have a scheduled delivery, it would be early and we would be at least a little bit recovered for Christmas :) We'll have more sonograms as we go along to find out!!

For now, I have lots of running around to do to get ready for the party - I will post pictures next week of the big bash! :)

First Steps

2009-07-14T12:25:00.004-05:00

Mason took some unassisted steps last night. Before, all he had done was to take one, maybe two at a time, but last night he was able to go for 5 or 6 when he was walking to Randal. We were able to get some video, so I thought I'd share! :)

I also am putting some pictures on here of Mason playing in his little inflatable pool this past Saturday - he loved it! Thanks to Al & Verna for the gift! And no, he's not trying to eat the water in that one picture, he was just having a really good time and was cracking himself up! :)

Update!

2009-07-04T09:42:00.002-05:00

First of all, thank you to Randal for the previous post (I hope that everyone could tell that it was his work!)

We did go to the lake at the beginning of June and had a great time! Mason loved the boat and the pool and Randal and I had a great time relaxing!

We have been busy, busy since we got back, just getting caught up from vacation and chasing after Mr. Mason! He is getting pretty fast on those little knees of his! He's trying to walk and really wants to, but so far is just getting around on the furniture and such. He can say a few words and loves trying to say new ones - his favorite word right now is Uh-oh :) I don't know if that says much about my parenting skills, but it sure is cute!

On to Baby #2 news. I had a sonogram this past Wednesday to find out if I was farther along than we thought I was originally...turns out I am still right on schedule for my Dec 22nd due date, but we did find out some exciting news - the sonogram tech was able to see that it was a little baby girl!!!!! So prepare to greet Madison Leigh sometime in December!!!!

I am busy tryingt o plan Mason's big 1st birthday bash, but will try to keep everyone updated!

2009-06-19T12:14:00.002-05:00

Mason went to the lake.

Mason liked the lake.

More Mason pictures to come from the lake.

Mason is growing.

Lately...

2009-05-24T07:58:00.002-05:00

Mason is crawling - yay! He's really getting around good! He, of course, goes after everything that is dangerous to him - just like all good boys do! He has a funny little crawl that he uses in case he wants to sit back up where he keeps one leg underneath him. I have to admit that this worried me at first, but since I know he knows how to do it right, I'm ok now :)

He still has no teeth! :( There is one that has been trying to come in for MONTHS and has not and we have good days and bad days with it. Hopefully it will break through soon and he'll have something to show for all of his suffering!

He is nine months old now (can I get a collective "WOW"? or is that just how I feel?) We had his nine month pictures taken at Portait Innovations again yesterday and they came out really good! On the same day that we did this , we also went for Mason's first visit to the zoo. He had a great time, though mom and dad were a little warm (Mason had the shade from the stroller constantly :) He slept through the new tiger exhibit and didn't get to see the lion b/c it was sleeping, but he really seemed to enjoy the other animals, namely the Gorillas, Giraffes, Penguins, and Alligators.

In other news, we believe that Mason has allergies and that he might be allergic to the dogs. We are having him tested and will see what comes of this!

And the biggest news of all: Mason is going to be a big brother! He had the enjoyment of announcing this to the whole family a few weeks ago after his Dedication to the Lord. He wore an "I'm the Big Brother" shirt and Grandma Sue was the first to figure it out (quickly, I might add!) I'm due December 22nd and we are all very excited! We figured it out a couple of weeks before we told everyone - I had been working out to try and get in better shape for the lake and lose some of my Mason belly, but my clothes kept getting tighter instead of looser, which was a little disheartening! Then one night I realized that I was really uncomfortable lying on my back, so I told Randal I thought I might be pregnant, not serious at all. We decided I'd take a test, and the rest is history! I have my first OB appt on Tuesday, so we'll make sure everything is A-OK before the lake. Now I have lots to blog about with two kids - let's hope that I can keep up! :) Ha!

Latest and Greatest

2009-04-25T12:30:00.004-05:00

Mason is REALLY trying to crawl! He can only go backwards, but he's figuring it out! :) He is also quite the talker lately - saying Mama & Dada & Baba a lot!! He hasn't quite figured out that I am Mama or that Randal is Dada, but we're working on that! He is also trying to wave when someone says "Bye Bye" and he seems to be getting close to getting that down...

I've attached a picture of Mason on Easter morning in his 3-piece suit. He was quite the ladies' man in the nursery! He also got a new hat for the summer and he seems to enjoy wearing that too!

Lots to report...

2009-03-13T16:34:00.003-05:00

Ok, so it's been forever again -sorry! Life has been hectic - lots of comings and goings! And lots of big news to report :)

First of all, we're eating a lot of "big boy" food - trying all kinds of exciting things like sweet potatoes (Grammy Denise, tell that guy that lives with you that he loved them!!), bananas, applesauce, and pears. Some days he takes them better than others, but over all I think it's been a success! He loves to sit up in his high chair and see the world!

Still no teeth - but he has several that have been trying to come in for a really long time! It seems like forever ago that they started looking like they would break through any day - but they don't seem to be bothering Mason at all, so I guess I won't let it bother me!

Mason is also really trying hard to crawl - he's doing great pushups and has been able to get one leg underneath him really well, but can't quite get the whole thing down yet - he still doesn't like being on his stomach for very long, and would rather play sitting up, but I think we'll get there soon :)

The biggest thing (I think anyway!) is that he is now saying Da-da really clearly! I don't think he quite knows who he is referring to, but it's fun to hear it anyway :) I'm working on getting Mama out of him and we're getting close!

He loves to clap and it makes him crack up every time. He's playing with all the toys that he's big enough for now and really likes that. The last couple of days, we've been giving him baths out of the little infant tub and he really likes sitting up in there by himself - he likes to play with all of his bath toys and likes to stay in there a lot longer now that he can entertain himself!

We hit the 6 month mark in February, so we took some pictures at Portait Innovations - and if I do say so myself, I think we have quite a handsome little red-head on our hands!!!

My little Rock Star :)

2009-02-10T21:49:00.003-06:00

Mason is sitting up now - all by himself! He can sit up for a really long time without any help now and is really enjoying it! These are some pictures of him playing his drum toy while I was icing a cake - i let the dogs in after a while and they were very interested in helping! He got a little excited when they wanted to play with him!

Getting bigger every day!

2009-02-03T12:53:00.002-06:00

So it's been almost a month since I've posted! Live has just been busy!!! :) Anyway, Mason is getting bigger every day & learning lots lately (say that three times fast!)!! He is working on crawling and is really trying to get his first tooth! His newest habit is this growling sound he makes which apparently he picked up from Jacob at daycare! It is the funniest thing! I think that it's getting harder to leave him every day - he is just so talkative and playful in the mornings now! He is sleeping through the night, which has been great! He is getting over a cold/cough that wasn't too severe, but has stuck around for a while...He has started to really like playing with the dogs, and Audrey has become very interested in him and is starting to show some motherly love! Every time Mason is on the floor playing she wants to come lay down next to him and she lets him do whatever he wants & doesn't seem to care a bit when he pulls her hair! Hobbs is still clueless and off in his own little world :) Mason is still as laid back as can be and everyone at church can't stop telling me how lucky I am (as if I didn't know!!!!!!!!!!)!

Anyway, sorry for the long time between updates, I will try to do better!!!

First Basketball game

2009-01-12T18:10:00.002-06:00

Mason got to go to his first basketball game this weekend! :) We drove down with Kelli & my parents to Edmond for cousin Eric's tournament game on Saturday afternoon. It was a really close game and Mason enjoyed watching the players run up and down the court...these pictures are of him clapping along with the cheerleaders - he LOVED clapping! I would help him clap along and he would just laugh the whole time - too cute!

Big boy!

2009-01-09T18:40:00.002-06:00

Mason is staying awake a lot more during the days and has been VERY playful recently!!! :) He has gotten very big & is now eating solids! He had rice cereal the other night for the first time - he also sat in his high chair for the first time this week! The babysitter's son was sick a couple of days this week, so I stayed home with Mason and we had a blast!! He seems to be healthy & has been working on getting some teeth - I think that one of them is just about to break through!

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-31T12:36:00.000-06:00

There are too many good Christmas pictures to post, so here is the link to my snapfish album - if you have an account and you put in this link, you will be able to look at it! Enjoy!

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=716301230660170574/l=459062435/g=98277416/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Mason's First Christmas

2008-12-30T12:03:00.002-06:00

Well we are finally done with a whirlwind of a holiday! I think we are all trying to get back on schedule from a fun-filled week!

First of all, our babysitter was off duty the week of Christmas, so Mason got to spend Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Grammy's house! They had lots of fun together :) On Wednesday, after Randal got off of work, we headed down to Argonia for Christmas Eve with my family. After dinner, we opened presents - the 1st present opened was KU tickets that Kelli had gotten us all for the OSU game on Feb 7th :) Yay Aunt Kelli! All of the other gifts were great too, and Mason got several toys and new outfits. We spent the rest of the evening playing a Seinfeld trivia game that we got Kelli and then woke the next morning to open stockings - Mason got to open his stocking that Gma Sue had made for him. He was a little more alert and excited about things in the morning, since he was tired the night before.

At around 10, the Stephens family started to arrive for our Christmas brunch, which was yummy :) Mason slept for a little while and then got past around as we all played games and had a devotional after we ate. After a couple of hours, it was time for us to leave...

We left Argonia and headed down to Ponca City to visit the Schafers family for a little while. We showed up at the end of lunch to visit with Grandmomma and Papa for a little while before heading out for Edmond.

We arrived in Edmond just in time for a soup supper and then an evening playing games. The rest of the family arrived the next morning and we had a nice, big lunch and got to enjoy a big game of flag football (Mason and I just watched Daddy play!) After football was over, we had our gift exchange and then played a Sequence tournament before we decided to stay the night in OK before heading home the next morning.

We got up early on Saturday morning and left my grandparents house around 7:45. We arrived home and got everything unpacked and I started cooking for Randal's family, who came over that evening around 6. We had a fun gift game and then sat down to eat. After the meal, we opened our gifts to each other. Mason got lots more fun things, including his first guitar and soccer ball and also a passport from Epcot at Disney World. He also got a sweet little rocking chair that I think he really likes :)

After that, we just spent Sunday vegging around the house and recovering from a hectic few days! It was a great first Christmas and we can't wait for next year!!!

The Pastor Made My Baby Cry!!!

2008-12-13T16:27:00.003-06:00

So Friday was the EP Christmas party, so we planned for the Busbys to babysit Mason while we were away...well I started to feel really sick while at work and ended up feeling absolutely horrible all day and night, so we didn't make it to the party...instead, the Busbys watched Mason for a couple of hours while I came home and took a nap until Randal got home - which I REALLY appreciated!!! Anyway, Mason cried for a few minutes when I first dropped him off and Cody took this picture which I thought was hilarious...he posted it on facebook with a "Mason Misses Mommy" description :) They said he was really good and did well and really enjoyed playing with Emma & Avery, so he wasn't like this the whole night :)

O Christmas Tree!

2008-12-03T19:52:00.001-06:00

We finally got our Christmas tree put up on Sunday! yay! Here are some pictures of Mason helping decorate the tree with his very first ornament! :)

1st Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T12:23:00.002-06:00

We had a fun and exciting 1st Thanksgiving with Mason! Wednesday Randla got to take the day off and spend it with Mason. After I was done at work, we had dinner with everyone over at Randal's parents house. It was really fun and everyone was able to be there, which was really nice.

The next morning, we left Wichita and headed down to Argonia and then on to Edmond with my parents to eat lunch with the Randall family. That was a lot of fun and we got to stay that night in Edmond and do a little Christmas shopping on Friday. It was great to get to see everyone and I actually got to get a little rest and take care of some things, as Mason spent most his time being held by other people!

We headed back from OK and ate in Winfield for Greg's birthday, which was very yummy :)

Anyway, we had a great Thanksgiving with our "little turkey" :)

3 months!!!!!

2008-11-21T06:14:00.002-06:00

Here are the latest pictures! We went to JCP on Saturday and got a package deal for his 3 month pictures and they turned out really good! I also took some pictures of him in his Thanksgiving outfit that Gma Sue bought - I hadn't noticed that the feet said "Little Turkey" until I put the outfit on him! Guess I'm not very observant - but it's super cute!!

Another fun weekend!

2008-11-11T18:45:00.002-06:00

We finally got over all of our sickness & were able to enjoy our weekend! :) We spent Saturday afternoon and evening over at the Schafers' house for Grammy Denise's birthday & watched some film of her on the pompom squad in high school - it was a lot of fun! We all had our KU shirts on, so we took some pictures. We also took a few pictures of Mason in an outfit that Randal wore when he was first born - Mason filled it out pretty good :D

Baby Einstein

2008-11-05T20:22:00.002-06:00

Mason got to play on his exersaucer for the first time today! His fever broke and he was getting giggly and playful, so I decided to try it out and see how he liked it...he seemed to really love it! Obviously he can't do a whole lot, but he loved staring at himself in the little mirror and hitting all of the different objects that there are to play with - I think it was a good choice for him -thanks Aunt Kelli!!!

Sickness...

2008-11-05T08:43:00.002-06:00

Mason and I are both home with lots of stuffiness and crankiness today. This first cold is not going well! He seems to be getting a little better though, so hopefully we'll both get some rest today and get better soon!

Mason & Daddy Talking

2008-11-02T15:35:00.004-06:00

I took this video of Mason & Randal "talking" to each other on the couch this morning...Also, these are some pictures from our exciting weekend :D

Another exciting weekend...

2008-11-02T15:27:00.004-06:00

We had another busy weekend this week! Halloween was Friday night and daddy went to Uncle Andrew's football game for Senior night. Mason stayed home with me and we decorated some sugar cookies to take to Argonia for the weekend...

We headed to Argonia on Saturday afternoon & spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa before heading to a bunco birthday party for the evening. Mason got to hang out with me while I played and he enjoyed watching the dice roll & all of the commotion. During dinner, he got passed around a lot and enjoyed meeting lots of new people!

After bunco, we had our first sleep over at Grandma Sue's. He did really good ;)

Mason has had a stuffy nose for a few days, but it got A LOT worse this weekend - today he has slept most of the day and has been really stuffed up - hopefully he will get to feeling better soon, but for now, he is just resting :)

After lunch today, we got to hear all about Aunt Kelli's trip to Latvia & Barcelona & she brought Mason a cute tshirt from Spain. It was another exciting weekend for the Schafers family! :)

Fun weekend

2008-10-26T19:00:00.002-05:00

We had a fun weekend this week - Saturday was an exciting day. We started off the day playing some guitar with daddy ,then Mason got to go see his first Robotics "Mall Day" where Grandpa John & Uncle Alan were both helping the Goddard team. He seemed to really enjoy all of the lights and was wide awake to spend some quality time with Grammy :)

After Robotics & lunch with both grandmas (while Mason slept!), we spent some time mall walking with Grammy. That was Mason's first trip to the mall and we had lots of fun just walking around.

It was an exhausting day for the little guy and he took quite a nap on the way home! Sunday was a little less exciting - but he got to wear his big boy shoes to church and he just looked so darn cute!!

I loved getting to take Mason to robotics as it was the 5 yr anniversary of Randal and I's first date and it was also the 5th time that I had attended robotics, since the first time when Randal introduced me to his family there...Randal keeps making fun of me for making a big deal about that, but I think it's awesome that 5 years ago this weekend I met and started to fall in love with my new best friend who I get to spend the rest of my life with...and now we have the sweetest little boy as a result! :)

Mommy and me

2008-10-22T21:10:00.002-05:00

So I realized recently that we don't have any good pictures of Mason with me - I seem to always find myself behind the camera! So I mentioned this to Randal a week or so ago and tonight, he broke out the camera and snapped some pictures of Mason and I cuddling in the chair - so cute :) Hope you enjoy!

Playful...

2008-10-18T14:39:00.003-05:00

Mason has been very playful lately - he has been loving spending time down on the floor and loves to watch Randal & I make fools of ourselves! Here are a few new pictures...he is getting so big! He has outgrown a few of our newborn outfits and now fits into some of the 3 month ones!

Giggles

2008-10-09T19:10:00.002-05:00

Mason laughed this morning :) It was SO cute! I was getting ready to leave for work and Randal was talking to Mason and getting him to smile while he was in his swing and all of the sudden, there came this little giggle! It was adorable! :)

Meanwhile, Randal found this picture of him as a baby that looks JUST like Mason...everyone thought he was starting to look more like me, but WOW! He looks just like Randal!

Labor story...take two

2008-10-05T21:31:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I finally got my labor story entered on my pregnancy blog - you can choose to read if you would like to :) Other than that, I just wanted to get down my thoughts on my pregnancy being over. It was kind of a rough road getting to this point, with all of our little issues and things to worry about on top of not feeling good pretty much the whole nine months. It felt like it would never end, but now that it has, I can look back and see the things that I will actually miss...

Probably the thing that I will miss the most is the feeling of Mason rolling around in there, even though it made me quite uncomfortable sometimes and kept me awake more than a little bit, i think it was his way of letting me know he was ok in there. It was always quick to cheer me up when I was feeling down about something, he always seemed to know when I needed a kick in the gut! :)

The next thing that I really miss is Randal playing "Where's Mason"...that was the sweetest thing and Mason would always play along :)

The last thing that I will really miss is everyone doing everything for me :) that was nice...

One thing that I will not miss is the exhaustion - everyone told me that a newborn would be even worse, but they apparently didn't really know how I felt for 9 months...I feel SO MUCH better now! I can actually keep my eyes open all day long and I haven't been able to do that for a long time! Yay Mason!!!

Well the big guy has had his bath and is in bed, so I should get there too...

All smiles!

2008-10-04T12:58:00.007-05:00

This week Mason has been smiling A LOT! We've gotten a couple of pictures, but I thought that this one was the best by far! Even Carrie (the sitter) noticed and wrote on his "summary of the day" that he was smiling and talking a ton on Friday - she even took a couple of pictures herself! He's getting really big and has out grown a couple of outfits. His hair is coming back in on top and it is still red! :)

New job

2008-09-29T20:09:00.002-05:00

Well, we survived the day! I really think it was a good thing that I was starting a new job, since I was working hard enough learning new things to keep me distracted :) The sitter said that Mason did really well, though the other kids' noise kept waking him up (he'll get used to it, I suppose!!) Anyway,we have one day down! :)

Labor story...

2008-09-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I tried to finish my pregnancy blog with a blog about my labor and the last couple months of the pregnancy...so I typed for around an hour and then hit save and it had logged me out since it took so long...so I'll be trying that again tomorrow - it's way too late tonight :( If you want to catch up on everything from before that though, here's the web address:

http://www.babycrowd.com/jr/online/bschafers/

Welcome to our Blog!

2008-09-28T19:02:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed blogging about my pregnancy so much that I decided to continue the blog-fest as Mason grows up. I thought this would be a great way to keep everyone up on the latest happenings in our lives...stay tuned for more :)