Can't think of anything life changing for a title...

I have sat and thought about trying to write something that would be life changing but instead I am just going to tell you about my day... as a mommy of 3. 

I was awaken by my 5 1/2month old and 4yr old fussing, on top of my head... Not the best way to start the day. Now enter my hubby with groceries for the week after taking my eldest to school. I let him clean the kitchen and stuff this morning while I worked on pictures from some shoots... Normal run of the mill kinda day for me. My hubby had a lunch date today with our oldest, I had a lunch date with my preganant younger sister, my niece and my middle girl :o). We had a good time... I love my sister. We are so alike in some ways and yet so different in others... I guess it'd be kinda boring if we were exactly alike. 

It was a very pretty day so we went to the park with some friends, another beautiful pregnant friend with her hubby and little girl. And I LOVE that family!! I can honestly say that I love this family like they were my own... God has truly blessed us with some great friends and I am truly grateful for them. 

Karate was today... That was fun. I think my daughter may actually do better if we weren't in there  for her to look at every so often. I think she looks over at us for approval of what she is doing. I am thankful for her goldy karate leaders that love her and are encouraging of her... She is the only one her age that has never been in karate but she loves it and so we will stick with it as long as she does.

Now on to dinner... We got a special invite to a Chick-fil-a "event" at a  location that we frequent... And that my hubby has befriended the ENTIRE staff. It was a lot of fun... There were people from our church and from other parts of our life there. We were unsure of the dress of the event though since it was invite only... My hubby and I were in the front of the car contemplating whether it was "dress up" or not... when from the back seat I hear "if it's dress up then I will just got as a zoo keeper........I think I still have some stuffed animals in the car..."  Our oldest apparently thought that by "dress up" we meant costume dress up... I love my children, they say the best things!!!

Back home to where I get some disturbing news (the out come was alright though) and I learned that my new camera is ON ITS WAY!! It will be here tomorrow!! And I couldn't be more excited!

My day will end with me watching a movie with my hubby and cuddling on our new shag rug that we got for our living room... GOT TO LOVE TARGET!! (pronounced tar-shay ;o) )

Night all... 

Adult Conversation and being a Mother of Three

I never realized how much adult conversation that I miss out on in my daily routine as a wife, mother and work from home-er. 

I was really really itching to get out of the house today. You see we have been passing around what I like to call "the junk" in my house and today I was tired of it... I felt better and was tired of being couped up. Need. To. Get. Out.  So I logged onto my faithful facebook account and lookie here... A friend of mine, whom I haven't gotten to spend much time with lately and lives just around the corner, was online... Who happens to also be a mother of three. After a bit of "chatting" we decided to make a trek to WalMart... At 10:30pm... Well... I just got home. We walked around that whole store for almost four hours and literally just talked. The. Whole. Time. 

IT WAS GREAT!!!

And then as we pull back into my drive way... I realize... How sad is this that the whole time we were there, child free, we looked for things for our children... And spent almost four hours in WalMart "chit chatting" - I was afraid that if we stayed any longer we would have been put to work. 

We did find some great things at WalMart though, things that I have never seen... And I have discovered, too, that apparently the 70's through early 90's have made a huge come back in the line of clothing... I thought there was a reason that those styles, and colors, were retired. Am I wrong??

God is good... All the time...

So this last year has brought about a LOT of change for my family, here you go... in a nut shell:

December 2008, I lost my job right after Christmas and then found out I was pregnant... Losing my job was a little bittersweet though. It was a shock to the system and I had a whirlwind of emotions but had I not lost my job I probably wouldn't have picked my photography back up full time. 

I had a rough pregnancy, my husband ended up out of work with a hurt back and a denied workers comp claim, our heating and air went out over this hot Georgia summer and there were several times we were faced with utilities off and phone calls from our landlord about us having to move out. God is good though. Our children never went hungry, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, God blessed us through our friends and anonymously with payments being made for my family to have a home and utilities still on. There were several times that we thought we were "all miracled out" and God just stepped in and blew us away. 

As humans we get so frustrated with our circumstances and we try to do it all in our selves and take care of the situations that come up. The truth of the matter is, not until we fully rely on God will things get better. Instead of drifting apart my family was able to, only by the grace of God, pull together and stay strong during our storm, one right after the next.  And He has brought us through completely to the other side of the storm. 

Right now things are loooking brighter for my family then they ever really have - and it's all a testiment to God's great love and faithfulness He has for His children. While we aren't "sittin' pretty" by the world's standards we are "sittin' pretty" because of what He has brought us through, because of our Faith, His blessings and the hope that we have in Christ Jesus our Savior.

yeah yeah yeah

So things have been pretty good the last couple weeks... i got some good results from the cardiologist and that made me happy - still trying to figure out everything that has been going on and is causing these weird things and the weakening of my heart but I know it's all in God's hands and there is nothing He can't handle.

We are thinking about moving. My husband's workers comp case is FINALLY over and so we can all breathe a little easier... So we have been looking at houses. Houses where everything works and it doesn't cost us an arm and a leg to stay in :). We have found one that I am pretty much in love with... I'm praying that it's the right one. Hopefully we will know something soon. We don't want to move our girls around but we do want to go where God would have us to go. 

I've been working out... It's going pretty good. Contemplated getting a trainer but I decided that since I know what to do, I was just going to force myself to do it... And now I am incredibly sore, good sign, right? 

My girls... Well they are growing... My middle baby will be four tomorrow and that just breaks my heart! I can't remember her getting this big! Time goes by too fast. She keeps coming to me saying "Mommy, I'm growing already, why?" "Mommy, why did God want me to grow?"  I can't believe that my oldest baby is seven and that my youngest baby is already 5months old. 

I have a lot of friends that are pregnant right now... I sure hope that doesn't mean that I'm next. I like to think that I started the string of pregnancies... Not that I will be ending the string of pregnancies. 

I'm rambling, but isn't that what a blog is for? My mindless rambles? Oh well... I am off to sit and cuddle with my hunnie and get in my Bible for my quiet time. I hope you are too...

Until next time - 

under attack.

It has never been more evident to me than now that the Christian home/family is under attack. Satan is in on the prowl and is going to be sure to use every possible situation and person to attack them and bring them down in hopes to win over another person to "the dark side."

There is no time like the present though to fight these battles and stand up to Satan against his ploys and tactics to destroy families and our love of our God. My family, as well as several of others and you, have noticed and seen these things coming. The church is under attack as well. 

Are we gonna give him what he wants and give in to his vindictive attempts to get us to fail and no longer depend on the God that we know and love? Not my family! And I hope not yours too! Joshua 24:15 states it best "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" - that is my family's motto for 2009 and the rest of the time that God allows us to be on this earth. And if we stick to that and serve the Lord and follow Him and let Him order our footsteps than who should be fearful of? No one... As Romans 8:31-39 states "If God is for us than who can be against us" and doesn't that make you feel safe? To rest in the arms of an allknowing all powerful God who is FOR you even in your times of trials and tribulations? 

Satan is going to through his best at you this new year. Be ready because he's not going to give up. We need to be prepared though and put on the full armor and lift each other up in prayer and hold each other accountable to put the armor on everyday. We are running a race to the finish line, and we need to all plan to finish this race regardless of the hurdles, mud pits, etc that Satan throws in there at us... The "prize" at the end is far more rewarding than giving in to any of his plots against us and if we rely on God during hurdles and mud pits He will bring us through them and the comfort and strength that He will provide us with during the hard times is worth leaning on Him and not giving in. 

I commit to praying for my family, my friends, my church family and our nation as we all are under attack from the evil one. I pray that each of you, myself and my family included, cling closely and tightly to the Father during the attacks, trials and tribulations.

As my Pastor says "Live for Jesus"

What I learned in 2008

I am so glad that 2008 is over. I have learned a lot of stuff that has been beneficial and hurtful in the last year.

I have learned:

*God has a never-ending love and will never let you down

*Good friends are hard to find

*God can work beauty into the darkest of situations

*a good man is hard to find, I'm glad I have one

*my children will love me whether I have good days or bad ones

*people on earth are going to let you down, family, friends, etc. but God places those around you that He has appointed and HE will never let you down. 

Battle of the Bulge

I never used to have trouble with weight, after my oldest was born I was able to get back to pre-pregnancy size before her first birthday and *about* the same with my second child... I had to work HARD to get off the weight the second time. Now that I have had three children I find that I am at an unhealthy weight for my frame - healthy for me is anywhere between 140 and 160 and well... Lets just say I weigh WELL over that(I will be weighing in tomorrow on here, in the morning). 

I have wanted to lose weight, I need to. *But* now I am on doctors orders to lose weight. My heart has weakened and I have elevated cholesterol and sugar levels in my blood... Soo... I read up on a lot of things that can cause that and that can "reverse" that. Exercise strengthens your heart and lowers cholesterol and sugar... So! My plan: To start walking... I plan to start at 30minutes a day at a light pace and work myself up to running, I *really* want to run the Peachtree Road Race this coming year - something I have always talked about but never done... And dog gone it! I'm gonna do it! (providing we can afford to buy a number)

Tomorrow morning I am going to post a picture of what I look like now, with my measurements and current weight and track my progress weekly or bi-weekly... We'll see how it goes, but however frequent, I will be tracking it on here. 

Please give me some encouragement as I press on toward a healthier and more fit me. I want to be around a long time for my children, God-willing.