Christmas and Joy

As Christmas is only 11 days away, here is a little Christmas update, of sorts :)

First of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Looking out the window right now, it doesn't look like the Christmas season: it is rainy and quite dreary. But I guess this time of year isn't all about snow, or presents or trees. Yep, you know what I am going to say.. Its ALL ABOUT JESUS :)

And He is always faithful. He always provides, and always shows up. He has been teaching me a lot this past few months, and I have been trying hard to be a good pupil....

Josh and Aurelia and I have been busy nonstop pretty much since school started, and I will admit that it has been trying. Quality time in a marriage is crucial, and we weren't getting much of it, which was leading to stress at home. Add to that Aurelia getting pneumonia, two weddings, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and we have a full on panic attack.. :P

But, thankfully, God is good, and He has everything under control when we give it all to Him and try not to control the situation. God has proven faithful in not just most situations, but ALL situations, and the more I give to Him, the more peace I feel.

I pray that this Christmas, we can all remember Christ, and the sacrifice He made for us. He's always got your back :)

Also, I want to thank everyone who has been praying for us and who has helped us out in the last couple years... You have no idea what a blessing you are to us, and we are so thankful for your faithfulness to God! I especially want to thank the Lighthouse Assembly of God church for all that they have done for us -- From the moment I walked into that building, I felt like I was a part of your family :) Thanks for loving Josh and his family and he has added to it over the years :) We love you!



May God bless you this Christmas season :)

Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom

Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom is written by Stovall Weems, and is a very inspiring book. Awakening is all about how to 'un-gunk' our spiritual life so that we can walk more closely with God every day. Weems writes about why we should strive for such a passionate with relationship with God, and he also includes a 21 day Plan to help you "activate the principles that ensure a lasting, vital relationship with God". Also included is a guide to fasting and a small group study guide.

The contents of this book challenged me to re-evaluate what it means to be a Christian, and what a relationship with God should really be like. It also helped me to understand more about fasting, how we should/can do it, and why we do it. I would recommend this book to people who feel as if they have strained their relationship with God and want to come back to Him. It is an encouraging, challenging, and insightful read.

I received this book for free from www.bloggingforbooks.com

A few of Aurelia's Firsts

So, we have been keeping quite busy lately, but we have tried to take a few moments and enjoy some of Aurelia's many firsts with her. Last week, when we had some snow, we decided to bundle Aurelia up and go play outside! It was great packing snow, so Daddy made her a big snowman (Those pictures are on a different camera, which I have currently misplaced, so hopefully I will find it soon to post those). Aurelia wasn't really sure what to do with the snow, but I think she had fun.

Here is a view of the beautiful day it was after it snowed!





This is the apple tree in our neighbor's yard.
Yes, we all have sock monkey hats :)

We also put up our Christmas tree, and Aurelia as well as Marvin enjoyed 'helping' us!
Aurelia got to help Daddy put the star on top!



So we have had some fun times enjoying our family this winter, and I hope that you have as well. Don't forget to make time for the little moments!

Update

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you."
-- Titus 2:11-15

This was part of my devotions today, and it just really struck me as awesome, and packed full of good things :)

On another note, Josh and I have stayed pretty busy lately, with weddings and family time and work and everything else going on. Joe and Kelsey's wedding was very nice, and we enjoyed our time in Midland. This weekend, we ended up in Mt. Pleasant by ourselves, even though we were planning on making it a teen trip with our youth group juniors and seniors. We were planning on taking them to the His House Christmas program, to La Seniorita for some burgers, and then taking them on a tour on Friday of campus. But all of them bailed Thursday afternoon. So we prayed about it, and decided to go ourselves :) It was a good time to just relax and enjoy each others' company. We had some friends who were kind enough to set up an air mattress at their house for us to sleep on (We slept in Shepherd at the Shephard's house :P). Friday we got some shopping done (We really miss having a Meijer close to us, as well as Aunt Millie's!) and then decided to hit up Sam's Club for lunch (SAMPLE TIME!!!) Then we had a coupon for a free slushie at SpeedWay, so got that and just drove around for a while. It's crazy how just driving around becomes so enjoyable after you have a baby and they aren't with you :P

Next weekend, we are looking forward to a weekend in Chicago to see my sister-in-law Amy get married to Alex, and then after that, who knows what is going on!

Thats an update on our lives right now. God has really been moving through us, and we feel like big changes are coming sometime in this next year, but we aren't sure what. We are just trying to keep our focus on God, and not let anything disrupt His plan, including ourselves and our wants :P

Oh, and Aurelia is doing wonderfully after her run in with Pneumonia; she is completely off of her oral antibiotics/steroid and is only doing breathing treatments a couple times a day. We will probably continue the treatments at least once a day throughout the winter, but she is doing great and she is enjoying life :) She now her two bottom teeth and is really wanting to get walking, though Mommy and Daddy are hoping that won't happen for at least a couple more months ;)

Make Your Own Baby Wipes

So, I thought I'd share what I've been doing since Aurelia was about three months... a friend shared this with me, and if you know who the Dugger's are, this idea came from them.

Making your own baby wipes saves you money and I actually like them better because they aren't as wet, leaving Aurelia with less diaper rash. They are also great to keep near the high chair, as they work great to wipe sticky hands and faces, and I don't feel bad using them because they are a lot cheaper!

HERE'S HOW TO DO IT:

Save an old ice cream pail, and cut a slit in the middle of the lid. Take a roll of BOUNTY paper towel and cut it in half ( This is the most difficult part.. I would suggest an electric knife, and we dont even have one, its just what I thought would work way better).
Place half a roll of paper towel in ice cream pail and add:

2 CUPS WATER
2 TABLESPOONS BABY OIL
1 TABLESPOON RUBBING ALCOHOL

I usually mix all three things together and then pour on the paper towel, so that it is covered evenly with the oil and alcohol. Let set for 20 or 30 minutes, then remove cardboard from the middle and voila! You have your own baby wipes!

This would work great for toddlers too, so for all you moms out there, try it out and see if you like it! Its much cheaper than buying wipes :)

The End of the Month

It's almost November. It's almost a New Year. I almost have a one year old. I have a rambunctious kitten. I've lost ten pounds. I have coached a season of volleyball.

This fall season is rapidly turning into winter, and there isn't a break in sight. Sometimes I think I like it that way, because then I dont really have to face the real issues that are in my family, or more specifically, my relationship. But more on that later.

In the beginning of the month (I'm actually not sure if it was this month, or last month, so we are going with this month), I posted that I wanted to lose ten pounds before November. I really feel like I haven't been losing any weight, especially with being sick and have a sick family. But the scale shows numbers that say I have lost ten pounds, and I think I can be happy with that! I also found that some of my favorite pants from the prepregnancy days fit me again, and that was a good discovery, as well as a motivator to keep up the good work so that I can fit in to the rest of my pre-pregnancy pants!

That was the mega find from yesterday. Today, I woke up to a fairly happy baby, despite the long, frustrating night we both had. Aurelia, the baby who doesnt like to be rocked to sleep, wouldn't sleep unless I was holding her. I guess its comforting when shes teething. Finally, after about three hours, she fell asleep enough for me to transfer her to her crib for the remainder of the night. I did find out that her cute little halloween onesie from Grammie and Papa glows in the dark, though :P

Anyway, this morning, she was in a pretty good mood, such a good mood that she peed on me before I could get her into the bathtub... :) I guess making it nine months and only getting peed on twice is pretty good :p

Now that volleyball season is over, I guess I go back to being the housewife that I was before hand. Josh will probably be happy for that because even though I wasn't very good at it, I at least got the laundry done throughout the week, unlike durng volleyball season. I was never good at having dinner ready, anyway. I'm just not really the housewife type, I dont think. While I love being home with Aurelia all day, I enjoy the away time from the house.

While there were many good things about volleyball season, the best would probably have to be the fact that I have improved in the game enough that my husband enjoys playing on my team now. After two years, we have something we can do together and not fight about. Thats an accomplishment. I really do enjoy playing volleyball and kind of wish I could play it everyday.

I'm pretty tired, so I should probably get some sleep before my long weekend I have ahead of me.

Long Week...

This week has been pretty long and crazy. Starting last week on Tuesday, I got a cough and was down and out for a day or so, but then seemed to feel a bit better. This Sunday, Josh woke up with a fever, and had it for a few days, until if finally broke on Tuesday night. Monday night, we had a pretty big game for our volleyball girls... we played Deckerville, a very strong team (both 7th and 8th). It was a good night when we managed to pull off not one but two wins!

The whole week I have still been battling with a cough which I think I can narrow it down to really bad allergy stuff, but I'm not too sure. No fever is involved yet, but I have had a huge migraine all day, been super tired, and have had some major congestion. On top of me feeling worse and Josh starting to feel better, Aurelia is teething hard core, causing her be the most fussy she has ever been. We actually experienced an attitude from her tonight during the third or fourth hour of trying to put her to bed (She decided to chuck her bottle on the ground twice). I feel bad for her, because I know she is mainly just tired and frustrated and in pain, but there is only so much I can do for a little girl who doesn't want to be cuddled and rocked to sleep :(

Also, we had another game in Peck on Wednesday, and that was a rough time... I am pretty sure Satan was there waiting for us the moment we walked into that school, and in the gym, you could probably have cut the tension with a knife... It was a really rough night; the Peck 8th graders were making fun of the 7th graders while they were playing, the refs weren't really calling anything, and the girls were just off their game. 7th grade couldn't pull off a win, but despite the troubles and with a lot of prayer, the 8th grade battled it out and won. (They were pretty upset with the 8th grade Peck team for making fun of the 7th graders, so they weren't just playing for themselves, but also their future teammates!)

On top of all that, this week has been emotionally tough for me. I feel like Satan has been feeding me a ton of lies telling me I am not good enough of capable enough in many areas of my life. I'm really struggle with my workout times and being consistent, and not eating junk, and I know that Satan uses that as a HUGE attack area. I feel like its one of the only things he has left, and if he can keep me from working out and feeling good about myself, that is the way to do it. I haven't been able to work out in a couple of weeks because I have been sick and taking care of my family, and I think that is why I have had such a hard time with it all. Satan is getting into my head, but I need to tell him to back off, because MY GOD IS BIGGER. And always will be on my side.

Please pray for our family to get healthy, both mentally and physically so we can fight off Satan in our home and in this community!