Why I hate Pinterest ..sometimes

It all started when I decided I needed some new clothes.

Then I went shopping...and came back with nothing.

So I said...you know what? I have a sewing machine.

I'm going to start sewing more.

So I bought a sewing cabinet.

And spent about a zillion hours on Pinterest drooling over DIY tutorials.

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest.

I now have a gajillion different skirts to sew and fifty sweaters to refashion...

not to mention, the million and a half toddler crafts and sensory activities

I should have been doing since my children were 6 months old.

say WHAT!?

Apparently I am waaay behind.

We should have been stringing macaroni, playing in rice buckets, and painting with edible yogurt....

and now my kids are lagging behind everyone else and will probably
be doomed to failure.

all because I didn't give them enough sensory activities.

-insert failure of a mom face here-


So here it is....my woeful apology to my children...


I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I didn't give you pipe cleaners to string through a spaghetti strainer.
I'm sorry I didn't put paint inside gallon ziplocs, 

tape them to a table, and let you smear away.
I'm sorry I didn't spend hours dying pounds upon 

pounds of spaghetti so you could feel the slippery noodles
while we learned our colors.


I'm sorry.
I made you boxed macaroni and cheese and let you eat it with your hands.
I'm sorry I took you outside and helped you collect leaves and squirrel nuts while we talked about how God made everything.
I'm sorry I spent hours washing your clothes and cloth diapers, folding them, putting them away...while you "helped" in your own special way.
I'm sorry I helped you sort m&ms into piles while I snuck most of them into my own mouth when you weren't looking.

For every mom who feels like a Pinterest failure...

its time to stop obsessing about being the perfect DIY mom.
And just... be a mom.

My babies follow me all over the house while I keep the house clean and in order.
We fold laundry together and Liberty likes to help put it away
(which explains Noah's sock drawer)
Grady loves to play with tupperware and the salad spinner while I cook.

Yes...they are always under my feet and there are days when naptime is the only time of day I can use the bathroom with the door closed.
(which, by the way, isn't necessary since they're in bed anyway
...but its the principle behind it)

But I do adore my little people...
I think we can get too wrapped up in what everyone else is doing
and start to feel like we're lacking in the 'cool parent' department.

My mom didn't have Pinterest. I don't think she ever made me homemade play dough.  In fact, play dough was too messy for our house.
And the only rainbow colored spaghetti I experienced was spaghettios.

My mom took me with her everywhere, gave me chores to do and when I got too crazy she sent me outside to pull weeds.
She fed me Lucky Charms and wrote me notes for my school lunch box.

I managed a spot in every 'gifted' extracurricular class since 4th grade, graduated with honors, and made deans list in college.


But if only I had played with rice in a bucket...


...I really could have been great.




And thats why I hate Pinterest sometimes.

Every Hair on My Head

I didn't really have "long hair" as a little girl.  I don't think it really reached past my mid back until I hit my teens...

I was always filled with such longing and yes, even jealousy, when seeing all the long Rapunzel-like hair at youth camps.

As a little girl I would ask my mom, "Will I have long hair when I grow up?"

"Do you want long hair?" Mom would ask.

Eyes wide I would say "Yes! Of course I do!"

So she would tell me to just ask Jesus for it.

And I did. Over and again and again...

Of course, all the kids at school thought I had the longest ever.

Except for Jessica Maddison...before she cut it.

Her hair was so long 

she had to wrap it around her arm 

JUST to use the bathroom.

When you're in third grade, that's pretty much a real live Barbie. 

-insert wistful sigh here-

Anyway...

I always desired long hair.  And it was difficult to understand why mine just didn't grow.  My mom had super long hair in her teens...but it broke off after her pregnancies.  If genes had anything to do with it, mine should have been a lot longer...

So I kept praying about it and after some major stress in my late teens and a perm I insisted on when I was 18 ...my hair had finally reached a "breaking point"

...it looked bad.

I mean...really...really bad.

So at a youth service I went up for prayer

and told the visiting minister I wanted my hair to grow.

And what he said and how he looked at me..

it just hurt my feelings.

He looked at me and said..

"You know long hair is uncut hair, right?"

At the time I thought he was assuming I cut my hair, 

which made me feel such complete despondency.

But now I look back and wonder if he was trying to be nice

and tell me that even if my hair never grew another inch

as long as I didn't cut it, it would be long in the eyes of God.

Which...wasn't really what I was looking for.

I wanted it to be long in MY eyes.

not to mention everyone else's...

Luckily, I married a guy who thought I had great hair.

(he's bald)

----

I really didn't realize how much my hair affected me.

I didn't have a lot of self-confidence.

I was jealous of others.

I wanted long hair because I thought it was beautiful...

and that having it would somehow make ME beautiful.

I'm happy to say God finally got a hold of me

and changed my desires...

I stopped worrying about the length of my hair.

I stopped thinking about trimming the dead ends off.

I stopped obsessing over miracle shampoos and vitamins.

I started thanking God for my hair.

every time I brushed it.

every time I felt it on my arm.

Thank you Lord.

---

A year after I got married, Bro. Jewel Forney came to preach for us.  It was a very strong message and I felt a pull to go up for prayer.  I felt a need to claim this small desire for myself.  I wanted my hair to grow and I wanted it as a testament to God and His Word.  No matter what the world said about split ends and trimming, I knew my God numbered every hair on my head.

"Bro. Jewel...I want my hair to grow." Even before the words left my mouth I was cringing inside.

He looked at me with those big white eyes.

With a joyful laugh he said, "Well, how long you want it?"

I stuttered,  "E-excuse me?"

"I say, how long you want it?"

I started crying...and I slapped my thighs and said

"Right here, I want it here Brother Jewel."

And then he prayed and asked the Lord to let it grow for His glory.

---

Later I recounted with another sister how Brother Branham had asked that little girl what color eyes she wanted.  She asked for blue and blue they were.

I can tell you I am holding on to that and believing it will all my heart.

Don't hate.

Good morning Kristi.

You're probably the only one who reads this anymore . )


It's 8:30 am and I can't really say my creative juices are flowing quite yet.
I'm about to go back for a second cup of coffee
...but I think I'm becoming immune to the stuff.

I have a dozen posts I've been meaning to write.

Some examples include:

"Minding Your Goodwill Manners"

"Looking for Mr. Right"
"Seeking Good Conversation"
"Did They Ask for Your Opinion?"

The wonderful thing about blogs...
I can tell you what I think.

You can choose to read or not read.
Disagree or agree. Like me or hate me.

(I hope you won't hate me.)

Take the cherry pie and spit out the pits.
Keep the good stuff.

Anyway...what I'm trying to say is...

Don't get all bent out of shape because you might not like my opinion.

Also, if I wanted to start a debate...I'd be writing this as status update on social media.  Not my own private blog. So..don't debate. It annoys me.

Jeni and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Ok...my day probably isn't really worthy of that particular title.

The morning started out pretty great with the kids sleeping in until 9am.

It all started with my brilliant idea of getting my new used flowerpot
color-matched at the local Benjamin Moore store.

My very full flowerpot.

Let me just spoil the suspense and tell you right now...

I no longer have a very full flowerpot.


I now have a

very

very...dirty van.



In my defense it wasn't my fault.

(...it never is, is it?)

But really...it wasn't.

I went BELOW the speed limit for 6.1 miles.  Turning gently.

As though I was cradling a single egg in a spoon while running an obstacle course.

I was oh so careful.

Until the person in front of me slammed on their brakes.


I could have cried.
I didn't.
But I could have.

I heard the flower pot thunk.
and roll.

And even before I turned my head 

to access the damage...I knew. 

I just knew it would be bad.

Well, I had two options.

I could continue on to the paint store and just let it go. let it gooooo...
or I could go home and attempt to clean it up before anyone found out.
(my first thought)

I found a third option.

I called Noah and whined about my absolutely terrible, horrible, no good, very bad moment.


To his credit, he didn't laugh (until he got off the phone)
He just listened.

then he told me just to leave it alone

and he'd take care of it when he got home.

Seriously...awesome.


He did suggest that I just go on to the paint store.  

But I told him I was too embarrassed 

to open my van door and let them see the mess I made.

sigh.


So I went to Hobby Lobby on my way home.

I had two swags to return. And a receipt to return them with.

90 minutes later I was finally going home.

Yes..90 minutes.

I know what you're thinking.

You think I was shopping for 90 minutes.

...I was NOT shopping.

I stood around the front of the store with 

my   two kids for   an hour and a half 

while the manager tried to figure out how to return my stuff.


I kid you not.

My receipt had a bare spot going down the middle.
apparently the printer was losing toner?
Anyhow, they couldn't scan it in.

After 30 minutes of telling me they were almost done
they gave me the wonderful news that they would be happy
to issue me a store credit instead of the cash 

I had originally paid with two weeks ago.

sigh again.

I told them that really wasn't acceptable.

The manager gave me "a look"

and said he wasn't sure there was anything he could do.

I told him there most certainly was.
He attempted to mess around with the system for another 20 minutes.

I attempted to keep smiling while I wrangled an unhappy 10 month old and kept my 2 year old from playing with the automatic sliding doors.

I was 10 seconds away from suggesting he reach into his wallet and give me $32.65 in cash while he spent the rest of the day attempting to recover it with corporate office.

Finally he said he would call corporate office and just left.

Yah...he turned and walked away without offering any explanation.

The poor cashier was beside herself.  I could tell she felt really bad.

The manager was gone for 30 minutes.

When he came back he hit a button on the register and took out my cash.

seriously?

seriously.

Thank you have a nice day please come again.

I love Hobby Lobby. I really really do.
But this particular day was not a good one for that manager or their archaic computer system.

As a bit of advice...make sure your receipts are complete with all barcodes completely printed!!




Thankfully the kids fell asleep on the way home and
I was able to transfer them to bed without any problem.

I slurped a coke and contemplated cleaning out the van.

Until I realized Noah has all the extension cords on his workvan.

So I updated my blog.



I hope you're having an

awesome. wonderful. fantastic. very good day.

From House to Home

I know. I know I know I know.

I KNOW!!!

I need to update my blog.

I KNOW!!!!!!

Well, now all those "knows" just look weird.
Nothing like writing a simple word over and over to make you question the spelling.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that.

So here I am. Updating my blog.

Both kiddos are asleep and the house is nice and quiet.

and dark.

I rarely turn on the lights during the day.  Its not like we get a ton of natural lighting in our house either.  Its just that the small amount we do get is the perfect amount.
Its light enough to read yet dark enough to fall asleep.
I like that.

not that I get to just fall asleep during the day.

hahaha!! can you imagine??!?

being able to fall asleep during the day????

HAHAHAHHAAHAAAA!!!!

-wipes tears-
oh my.

...that was a good one.

----

So right now I'm eating a well-deserved lunch of Pibb Xtra and Lays Classic Potato Chips

I'll post a recipe for that later if anyone wants it.

Its well deserved because I've been a good sandwich eating, egg fryin girl for about two weeks now and I cleaned my house and organized my closets AND took care of two kids while I did it.

It. is. WELL  ..deserved.

And you know what else?
I'm going to have a Reese's cup for dessert.

...don't you judge me.

See...whilst I was purging my closets of clutter, I came upon several barely used bottles of shampoo and hair products.

Of course, you all know about how I haven't used shampoo since February.

SO...instead of throwing these expensive products in the trash, I decided to trade them on Instagram for various necessities such as 

Potato Chips

Reese's

Snickers

homemade cookies.

..don't you judge me.

You're just jealous you didn't think of it first.

------


So after I cleaned every room in my house I QUICKLY used that opportunity to take a picture so I could reminisce on the changes we've made since buying our house 3 years ago.

One of the biggest changes is the STUFF.

The people who lived here before us had so. much. stuff.

everywhere.

I actually took pictures of their closets and cabinets...it was ridiculous.
When we pulled out the refrigerator there was a 3 inch thick wall of plastic bags just stuck to the wall....wedged in next to the fridge.

gross.

I can't do that. It has to have a purpose and place.  If not...it gets sold, junked, or traded for potato chips.

...don't you judge me.

-------

Old dining room...we knocked out most of that wall and added a breakfast bar.

All the laminate had to be torn out due to those nasty dogs peeing everywhere.

And the new...

I loves it.

I couldn't get these good angles on the old dining room pictures.
This room was so stinkin' packed with stuff.

----------------------

Second bedroom: Its a small room, so I couldn't really blame them for having it packed full...

New look

The old closet was a little ridiculous though.

New closet.
Noah did the shelving.
He's pretty amazing.
------------------------
Master Bedroom

And the new...

----------------------------------

Bathroom: It had just been redone and was a major selling point for us when we bought the house.

 Not much difference here - just paint and decor

---------------------------------

Old Kitchen

New Kitchen...I have yet to decide on a color that I really like.
Noah says I can't paint it again until next year.
Men.

Now that I look at this picture, I'm really glad I didn't bother to scrub off the stove spots before I took it.

I hate scrubbing stove spots.

...almost as much as I hate washing dishes.

You can see we closed up the wall behind the stove and opened up the wall into the dining room.  We also added a bar height counter on the dining room side.

---------------------------

The next several pictures are of the garage BEFORE we moved in.

I can't imagine having to pack all this stuff.  Yuck. What a mess.

Since then Noah has actually closed in the garage into two rooms.
One room is an extension of our living room, which you'll see.
The other room is a laundry room that you will not see.

Because I didn't finish putting my laundry away, that's why.

--------------------

The living room.  Lots of furniture. Big Furniture.  And not a lot of room.

The big change...

See the old garage?

That Noah does good work.

We still have some finishing touches to do.  But we weren't really able to start working on it until July 4th weekend.  Noah finished in two weekends, which is good since Grady arrived July 15th.

I told you he's amazing.

No Sham-'poo' Method

I've had a lot of people asking me questions lately, so I thought I'd write up a quick blog post about this.

------

Generally, this method is called No-Poo. But shampoo isn't what most people think of right away.

I wish there was such a thing as no poo.
really. truly.
Wouldn't life be so much easier??

And before I allow myself to disappear into a 'I hate having to use public bathrooms' rant...

I shall move on.

------

I learned about the No-Poo method via the internet and decided I had to give it a try.

Essentially, you abandon your gajillion bottles of shampoo and conditioner and wash your hair every 7-10 days.

Ok...so where do I sign?

You use baking soda dissolved in water as a "shampoo"& then condition with a mixture of vinegar and water.  The cool thing about this method is the fact that it balances out the oils your scalp is producing and you don't have to wash your hair as often as you do with store-bought shampoo and conditioner.

In simple terms...shampoo supposedly strips your scalp and hair of all natural oils.  It also contains mineral oil which clogs your pores, disrupting hair growth and confusing your oil production.  It just messes with the pH balance, really.

So No-Poo is supposed to help your hair grow, give it more body, balance your pH, and you only have to wash once a week.

I'm obviously not an expert on all this natural mumbo-jumbo.
I may use cloth diapers but I'm no all-natural genius.
I like my modern conveniences, crest toothpaste, and instant brownie mixes, ok??!

The truth is, I'm just too lazy to wash my hair 2-3 times a week
AND try to make it look good every day. HA!

Oh and I hate buying shampoo.
yes i do.

SO...on February 9th, 2013 I stopped using shampoo.

I figured, why not see if it works?

-----

I first began only "washing" every 4 days.  My hair wasn't the prettiest I'd ever seen it but it wasn't super awful.  It was looking pretty oily by day 3.  But sometime around week 2 or 3 there was a miraculous change.

It's like it finally figured it out...

So I started stretching the days between washings even further.

I can now go 10 days without washing my hair.

I kid you not.

I'll wash it and put some mousse or gel in it...wait 5-6 days, then I'll rinse it in the shower.
Maybe spray some vinegar on it to help detangle...
Then I'll comb it out and just let it dry straight.

Then wait until I'm feeling motivated...and wash it.

It's. Awesome.

Unless I start noticing my hair getting brittle or breaking off...I'll never go back to shampoo.  My hair looks and feels a LOT healthier than it ever did and I love not having to wash it all the time.

Plus, its easier to style! I can't understand why, really...but it just..is.

Here's what I do:

Dissolve 4-5 Tbsp baking soda in 2 cups of warm water.
( I put my solution in a large pump bottle I keep in the shower. I've heard some people use old ketchup or mustard bottles so they can squirt it right on the scalp)

Apply 1/4 to 1/2 of this solution directly to scalp little by little, massaging area as you go.  You want to work it in, not scrub it.  Think stimulate, not frustrate.  This isn't going to lather like your old shampoo...its just removing oil and product buildup.  When you rinse your hair it will flow through the rest of your hair and cleanse it as well.  No need to apply this ANYWHERE but the scalp. PERIOD.  Make sure you get all around the crown and down the middle, which is where most oil accumulates.

Rinse.  Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. Get it gone.

Mix 1/4 - 1/2 cup plain white vinegar or apple cider vinegar with 1-2 cups water.
(I'm not too worried about ratios here)
I put this in a spray bottle and spray on the hair from the neck down, concentrating on the ends.  Btw...it doesn't take much of this...promise.  This should get you through several washings.

Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. RIIIINSE.

(Once your hair dries it will NOT smell like vinegar)

And for me, I like to put a fingertip of coconut oil through the ends of my hair as I comb it out.


And thats basically it.

Like I said, it took time for my scalp to figure it out. You HAVE to stick with it for 3 weeks in order to really see your hard work pay off.  And you might have to play around with the ratios.  Some people need more baking soda, some less.  You'll figure it out.

I'm really glad I did...its been 4 months and I love it.

http://www.nopoomethod.com/

25 going on 40.

Due to incessant whining reminding of certain individuals, Mandie & Katherine,
who shall remain nameless....

I hereby update my blog.

woo. hoo.
------------------

Liberty is almost an entire year old.  I'm both excited and sad.

All those times people told me how fast it goes...

they were right.

stupid people.  stupid correct accurate people.

I can't seem to imagine us any further than what we are now...

A cute young couple with an adorable baby.

stop that snickering out there.

But really, I can't imagine us 15 years from now. That would put me at FORTY years old!!

AUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

No way. I'm young. and hip. and cool. forever.

I'm such a loser.

Let's move on.

-------------------

Liberty has 11 teeth.
This may not seem like a huge deal, but let me put it this way...

She has popped 1-2 teeth every month since she was 4 months old.
Thats 2 tubes of baby orajel...and about 7 bottles of ibuprofin.
And about 10 gallons of drool.

Once we hit the molars we switched to adult orajel.  She doesn't even mind the taste anymore.
In fact, she grabs the tube, screws off the cap, and pumps the stuff onto her gums herself.

ok not really.

But really, she's gotten her teeth a lot earlier than most babies.
Grandma Pat says Liberty knows the rapture is coming soon
so she's getting all her teeth in so she can have a steak before we go.

--------------------

We've Noah has been busy building a laundry room/pantry out of part of our garage.
I am. SO. excited.

I don't really mind doing laundry.  I know a lot of people hate it, but its not that big a deal to me.  But I hated going into my nasty cluttered garage where the occasional demonic beasts cockroach was waiting for me.

I'm beyond excited to have tons of shelves for my couponing overflow.  And carpet and baseboards. And clean walls...and and and.

Noah has been so very awesome and diligent about getting it finished.

We keep teasing my mom that we're finishing it for her because we want her to feel at home while she's here.

Last time she spent a ton of time out in the garage washing and folding our clothes.
And yes I appreciated it.

-------------------------

My parents are due in about 11 days, give or take a few hours.

They haven't visited since Liberty was born
and I wasn't actually able to take them sight-seeing.

hmm. wonder why.

But THIS time we have a huge line of events planned!
Epcot, Museums, Birthday Party, Ikea...

Ok...maybe it wasn't that huge.

It is for ME!! I don't get out much.

again with the snickering???

seriously. stop.

I am a homebody.  (what a weird phrase)
I do love to travel...but I love my home.
my bed.
my shower.
my fridge.
mine. mine. MINE!!!!!

...I don't know where that came from.
I blame it on lack of sleep.


Speaking of lack of sleep...

we usually have to rock/walk/bounce Liberty to sleep for her naps and bedtime.

I know...most kids are broken by now.
But I kept telling Noah,
"she's only little once, lets just enjoy her"

Said I.

Now, 17 pounds is a lot heavier than the 5 lb 13 oz she was when she was born.

So...she I must be broken.

Last night I put her down, told her nuh-nite and let her cry it out for 15.
came back in and patted her til she calmed down. Let her cry it out another 15.
came back in and patted her and..she fell asleep.

oh. my goodness.

really? that easy? really?

why have i been jiggling this 17 pound kid around for 30 minutes to get her to sleep!?

WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!?

oh yah..she's cute.

and cuddly.

--------------------

OH! Did I mention she's walking!?

Very exciting.  The first day she took a few steps..

and I started screaming

and she stopped and stared at me.

doh!

Its so cute to see her walk all stiff-legged.

Then she pauses.
claps.
And walks a little further.

-------------------

I always put pictures up on facebook...so I tend to forget about my little blog.

So here's a recap of the last several months of Liberty Grace


6 months

8 months

AND 10 months!

Anyhow...thats all for now . )

Baby Teeth & Cloth Diapers

Our little Liberty is almost 5 months old!

What?! When...where...woah.

(You can see her 2 month and 4 month pictures at this amazing photographer's website)

Liberty is joyful.

Adventurous.

Content.

She is a truly wonderful baby and we have been SO blessed.

Right now I'm watching her jump up and down in a borrowed jumperoo.

She thinks she is hot stuff being able to kick up and down without me holding her.

She got her two bottom teeth this month, within just a week of each other and honestly, did very well.  She still slept through the night....just grumpy and clingy the rest of the time. I can handle that.

A lot of people have asked me how cloth diapering has been.

I'm sure they're curious as to why anyone in their right mind would choose to mess with cloth diapers.

I'm sure they're curious as to whether or not I've become a green freak hippie.

I'm sure they're considering I've lost my mind.

But let me tell you,

It's pretty much one of the smartest decisions I've ever made.

Yah...you heard right.

I'm really really really REALLY glad we decided to do it.

It hasn't been difficult at all.  It takes some transitioning when you're not used to doing a load of cloth diapers every other day, but we found our groove pretty easily.

The reason I decided to cloth diaper?
plain and simple.
money.

I couldn't see throwing a handful of twenty dollar bills out the window every month.
I'm not a hippie, I don't use cloth napkins and natural toothpaste and shampoo.

I simply want to save money.
These cloth diapers in particular grow with a newborn all the way through potty-training.
They're also built to last through more than one kid.

So how much am I saving? About $1500 dollars for the first 20 months.

Really, I never dreamed I'd do cloth diapers.  But they've been a snap (literally).

This is a modern cloth diaper.  Those long things on the left are called inserts. They're made of microfiber which is highly absorbent and are "stuffed" into the diaper on the right through the pocket you see at the top.  They lay flat inside that pocket so they only thing against the baby's skin is a really soft suede-like layer that wicks moisture away from the bum.

They're pretty awesome.  And I know everyone is like yah yah...but what about the POO!?

I generally run into one messy diaper a day, usually when she wakes up.  I take the diaper off, set it aside while I change her into a clean one.  Then let her play while I rinse the diaper in our toilet using a sprayer (much like the one on your kitchen sink) that Noah hooked up for me.  It then goes into a wetbag with every other diaper she's gone through since I last did wash.

Easy.

So wash times come around and all the diapers and inserts get thrown in and put through 2 cycles. An initial cold wash. Then a warm/warm with an extra rinse.

I know there are a lot of people curious about our choice of cloth diapers.

Some think we're crazy.

ok...most think we're crazy.

But they don't realize cloth diapers have REALLY evolved since the little napkin your gramma used.

I've become a cloth diaper fan.  I think everyone should do it. Because its just that easy.

I won't make fun of you if you want to waste $50-$75 a month on paper diapers though.

A Year of Blessings

I've never done the whole "Christmas card/letter" thing...

then again, I've never really had a life until I got married and had a kid.

If I had written the traditional end-of-year letter, this is what it would say.

Hello family. Hello friends.

The year has flown by...365 days of perpetual change.  We cannot control the flow of time, but merely accept its presence and ride alongside it the best we can.  This year has brought many large changes for us...

In February we discovered we were expecting.  A definite shock to us...but the Lord knew just what we needed.  I admit I was concerned and anxious at first.  But I quickly learned to put my trust in Him, our Provider.  Looking back, I can easily be brought to tears at just how much the Lord blessed us over and over again.

We spent the year preparing for the baby's arrival...it seems that everything we did this past year centered on the upcoming change in our lives.  We had bought a house in August of 2010, so we began working on all the 'little' things I knew we'd never get around to once we had a baby keeping us busy.  We painted, built furniture, decorated and sewed.  I even learned to crochet a thing or two.  We spent a lot of time "together"...just doing whatever.  Noah even found time to make some arrows out of bamboo.  Not to mention he built me a bench, coffee table, and guest bed. I loves him so.

Over Easter, we made the trek to Louisiana with our youth for the annual camp meetings.  I was at the peak of my first trimester and the bus ride did nothing to ease the morning sickness.  Our pastor had asked for our help in writing a skit for the camp.  After what seemed like a thousand drafts we finally presented a skit with the theme of 'distraction' using Facebook and the internet as our premise.  This was stressful, but we also had a lot of fun working with the kids.  Plus, the feedback and testimonies were very rewarding in themselves.

In May we found out we were having a girl. Another shock.  With all boys on Noah's side, I thought a boy was inevitable.  Alas, a girl we would have (the seventh girl on my side.)  Not that we really cared either way...we both agreed we just wanted a healthy baby and we would be happy no matter what.  Everyone was excited to hear (especially Noah's mom, Pat) a little girl was soon to be in the family and Noah soon found himself melting over the little outfits and toys.  -grin-

In July I flew up to visit my parents before the baby came and my mom surprised me with a small baby shower.  It was wonderful to visit with them for a week, but I missed Noah terribly while I was gone.  We both agreed it would be awhile before that happened again.  In fact, I think I said "Never again."  We'll see how that works out...

The rest of the year just flew by after that...in September I had another baby shower in Florida.  It was beautiful and I was completely spoiled by everyone.  Someone (who remains anonymous) gave Noah money to fly my mom down to surprise me at the shower.  Needless to say, I cried when I saw her (as pregnant women tend to do) and everyone agreed it was the greatest gift anyone could have given us.

October. It came so suddenly.  Together with my doctor we decided I would be induced for labor on the 25th.  This decision had many reasons, the main one being I wanted MY doctor.  He had a relaxing demeanor that made me very comfortable with him. I didn't want to chance getting stuck with the other doctor on call, who made me nervous and uncomfortable.  I don't regret our decision in the slightest.  The induction went so well and I just know the Lord was with us every moment.  Afterwards, the nurses gave me a little card saying what a wonderful couple we were and that they could really tell how much we loved each other.  That to me, is just a testimony being lived out loud . )

Our little Liberty Grace was born beautiful and perfect.  We fell in love with her immediately and there is not a day that goes by we don't thank the Lord for her.  Noah and I both said that if we had waited until we thought we were ready to have kids...it would never have happened.  Thank the Lord He has it all in control...because I don't think I could live without her now.

November and December has come and gone with its sleepless nights and dirty diapers.  Christmas snuck up on us and then disappeared leaving too many stale cookies behind.  We were able to visit my entire family in Alabama for the holidays and our little girl was spoiled being passed around 24/7.  (Isn't it wonderful?)

A new year.  With many new things and "firsts" to come.  Like crawling, baby teeth, talking and walking.  Next Christmas I expect Liberty will be unwrapping her own gifts and walking from room to room and Noah and I to still be madly in love . )

May this next year bring you joy and laughter...may you find God in all the little things and may He become more and more precious to you as the days pass by.

Love,
Noah, Jeni & Liberty