Favorite Things Friday - Craft

This week's theme is Craft Stuff. If you know me well, you know this will be a challenge! Here we go:

Fiskars Paper Cutter - I use this constantly because I cannot cut a straight line to save my life sometimes. It has a cutting blade and a scoring blade.


Embossing heat tool, versamark pad and embossing powders - embossing stuff is one of the easiest ways to improve cards. I can also use this to stamp on dishes, tiles etc or decorate candles. Instead of pics of the tools I put pics of finished products of stuff I have made.



Refillable Adhesives - these are so super easy to use and great for so many things!


Blank cards- these are a staple in my house!


and finally anything from Stampin' Up! I love this company. I get all my stamps, ink pads and a lot of the papers here. Go look at the catalog on line www.stampinup.com - it's addictive and I want it all! I just put a pic of my new favorite stamp set.

Life lately

This is what life the past few days has consisted of:

POOP - Tuesday and Wednesday were full of poop explosions. On Tuesday Addison went through 4 outfits while Josh and I were at work. Then, Wednesday morning I was feeding her in bed and all of a sudden it was all over me and her. Josh was covered when he picked her up to go change her. We had to wash sheets, mattress cover, blankets, clothes, etc. Awesome
BUT I can deal with poop, spit up and anything else since that's the stuff that comes with finally being a mom.

GRAD SCHOOL- I went to a meeting on Tuesday with a grad school advisor. I am looking at a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy program that would mean classes every other weekend and some stuff on line in between. It's a decent price, good schedule and I could be done in a year. However, I'm still on the fence and I think Josh is even more uncertain then I am. I really want to be able to do this and eventually go into private practice to work with kids and families. I also don't want to completely overwhelm myself. I've been really struggling to weigh the pros and cons. I think that if I don't do it now then it may be a long while before I am able to again.
BUT I trust that God has a plan and has given me this passion for social work to help accomplish that plan. We will see where it goes I guess.

MONEY- We have been dealing with some finance and tax issues the last few weeks. Apparently minister's taxes are really hard to do correctly and (once again) Josh's salary was messed up which is now messing up taxes and finances for 2010. I won't bore you with the details. I can honestly say that money problems stress me out possibly more than anything else - especially when, in this situation, there isn't much I can do about it. I had thought we were on a really good track until this new development came to light.
BUT, I know that, as in all things, God will provide. I don't need to have my weekly Starbucks or eat out with a friend once a month. I don't want money to diminish my joy or cause stress.

FAMILY - My sister has still not been able to meet her niece. This frustrated me because Aletheia and I are so close. There are a lot of reasons why this hasn't happen. I had been working on planning a trip to Las Cruces when my mom will be there to so I can finally see Aletheia but it may not work out. I miss my family and being apart is hard.
BUT, whether it happens now or not, I know she will meet Addie eventually. I also know that even though we are far away from all of our family we are loved and prayed for daily.

and last but not least - CLUTTER - My house is ridiculously cluttered, my brain is cluttered, my desk at work is cluttered, my car is cluttered. I have yet to get a handle on keeping things relatively organized while still sleeping, showering, working, cooking, going to the gym and taking care of Addison. There is a lot of my plate and there are things that I can put to the side but it's hard. I feel like many times my environment is a reflection of how I'm feeling - if my house is a mess it stresses me out, when things are clean (clean not spotless and perfect - that may never happen)I feel better. I won't give up working out unless absolutely necessary - it keeps me sane. I shouldn't give up showering, cooking or working. I can't give up taking care of Addie (and wouldn't want to). So, it seems that organization may be what has to go.
BUT I can try my best to be ok with that. Josh is a great helper and really, in the long run it's about people anyway. There is a page from a magazine on my fridge that I found at Christmas time - it says "Make the holidays about being with your baby, not about getting stuff done;" It's after the holidays but I've kept it up there as a reminder of priorities.

More updates and hopefully pictures soon.

Baby Registry

My friend Cassie started having people post about baby registry items that are essential so I thought I would join in.

Several people have already mentioned some of my favorites but I'll go ahead and say them again:

Boppy Pillow

I love this thing. It's so much more comfortable when nursing Addie. It's great to prop her up on her back or on her tummy. Josh likes it too because when he was holding Addie and sleeping in a recliner at night it helped his arm and shoulder not cramp up.

Johnson & Johnson Bedtime Bath and Lotion

I LOVE the way this stuff smells. It's also gentle and soft on Addie's skin.

Velcro swaddle blankets -
Didn't get a picture because there really isn't one kind that I like better so far. They are great though because the little girl can't wiggle her way out of it as easily.

Swing and Bouncer -


I've used the swing since Addison was born and it's great to help her go to sleep. I also got this one that is marketed as a "take along" swing. We took it to Texas for Christmas and it was great. I recently got a bouncer off of Craigslist and it was the best $30 I have ever spent! Addison loves that the lights and sounds come up when she jumps. So she jumps, laughs, waits for the music to stop and then starts all over. This is a life saver when I need to cook dinner, do dishes etc.

Other people have also added things that they don't recommend registering for. I agree that I don't think I need a wipes warmer. I also didn't register for a shopping cart cover. I may cave and go buy one later but it seemed like an extra expense and I'm not that much of a germ freak - I just wipe the cart down. Don't register for clothes or even blankets unless there are a few that you really want to go with the bedding etc. I also agree that while it's hard, go for gender neutral colors for big purchases - stroller, swing, car seat, high chair, rocking chair etc. I guess you could always buy new stuff but I know that I won't have enough money to do that...

On a side note - my mom and I made my sling instead of buying on. I could make it bigger so it fits better. I also got to chose whatever fabrics I wanted. I love it! If anyone is interested in having me make one just send me an email or comment...
Here's a picture of it - not that great though. It's is brown polka dots on one side and red and cream pattern on the other. There is padding for Addies legs when she can sit up more.

Trusting God

While I was driving last week I saw a church sign that said "When all else fails, Trust God." I think that is dumb. It shouldn't be "when all else fails" it should be first and continuously. Too often we go to prayer and faith as the last resort when things are hard. Just like your best friend, or spouse or parent doesn't want to be the last person you go to for help and support, God doesn't want that either. I think he is yearning for us to go to him first in all things - big or small. I don't want trust and prayer to be my "when all else fails" solution.

Just a thought.

Haiti update and "N"

First a Haiti update:
We have been able to finalize all the Haiti adoptions that were in process. We have also been able to have other kids go home- some families wanting to adopt one child ended up with two and some families who were waiting on referrals from other countries switched to Haiti. God is really working right now!

For the Alphabet continuation:

N- Neurology

I can't remember if I have blogged about this before or not. Some of you probably know this story already anyway.

When I was 15 - just after my freshman year in high school I went to Zimbabwe with my friend Danny Reese and his family who lived there as missionaries with World Bible School. I had wanted to go to Africa to do mission work since I was about 8 years old. My mom and dad were both going with us so my siblings all stayed at friends' houses for 2 weeks. My parents met in Scotland on separate mission teams. They stayed at worked at a church in Edinburgh for several years so on the way to Zimbabwe my parents and I stopped in Scotland to visit for a few days. Then we went on to Africa for several weeks.

We had an incredible trip. I sat and studied with people just hearing about Christ, encouraged Christians who may have been the only believers in their village, spend lots of time in prayer, praise and fellowship. I also got to visit Victoria Falls, climb rocks in Matobos, see all kinds of animals (elephants, zebras, buffalo, cheetahs and lions) free in game parks and other adventures. It was a great experience. I tell people that once you go to Africa it becomes a part of you - the land, the people - they all made a lasting impression on my heart. I still yearn to go back!

My parents and I were leaving a few weeks before the Reese family. We were flying from South Africa to Zurich, Switzerland and then on to Chicago before finally getting back to Texas. I started to feel sick on the flight to Switzerland. During our layover I didn't do anything but sleep. Almost as soon as we got on the plane to fly to Chicago I started throwing up. I think I used almost every barf bag on the 747. I had a high fever, my head and neck were killing me and I couldn't keep anything in my stomach for the whole 7 hour flight. There was a doctor on board from the Mayo clinic who suspected meningitis. When we landed in Chicago an ambulance met us on the runway and took me off on a stretcher to go straight to the hospital. They even quarantined the rest of the plane! In the ER they did a spinal tap and then MRI/CT scans and all sorts of infectious disease tests since I was in Africa. All of this revealed nothing but a small sinus infection. I later heard that the doctors told my parents to let me talk to my siblings because if they couldn't figure out what was wrong I might not make it. I cannot even imagine how terrifying this was for my parents to be in a strange city with a very sick child.

After about a week I was stable enough to fly home to Austin where I was immediately put back into the hospital there. I missed the first 8 weeks of my sophomore year of high school because I was in and out of the hospital, still with no definite diagnosis of any sort or any treatments that seemed to help. At this point, the problem was that I would have headaches so bad that I had to be lying flat or else I would pass out or throw up. At times the pain was worse than having my baby! The only test that ever came back even remotely positive was one for the Epstein Bar Virus which is a form of mono. The conclusion was that I contracted some sort of virus while in Africa that made me sick and the headaches were a result of that. It was diagnosed as Occipital Neuralgia migraines by default.

The next several years were a series of spinal taps, MRIs, ER trips, hundreds of lab tests, over 50 different medications and lots of doctor visits. I even went to a special clinic in Houston for a week.

Long story short, while these headaches have gotten better it is still a struggle. You might be thinking "so why is this in a alphabet of things you are thankful for?" Even when I was first in the hospital in Chicago, I was remembering the lessons about Hope that I had just heard at Kadesh. I decided that whatever happened, I would go to heaven and that God was in control. I have learned a lot from this trial. I have prayed and prayed for this illness to be taken away and came to the conclusion that God may not heal my body but He has healed my spirit. I am who I am in part because of this challenge. I have gone back to Africa twice since this incident and would go again in a heartbeat. I love to read Paul's statement about his thorn in the flesh - God's power is made perfect in our weakness and I have definitely been weak. Another verse that I clung to was "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Cor. 4:17 One of the things I have prayed and continue to pray is that God will use me and this experience to be able to share things about Him and plant those seeds. I have seen some of that already in my life and am excited to see what else God will do.

Thank you to those of you who read this ridiculously long post.

Haiti adoptions

My agency has several families that were in the process of adopting children in Haiti when the earthquake hit. The orphanage where the kids were was damaged but the biggest problem is that they don't have clean water. Some of my co-workers flew to Pittsburgh yesterday to meet a plan of children that have been evacuated from the orphanage. Several of these kids who had already been matched with adoptive families have been on the news. Below is a link to the story - 5 of the 6 kids are being adopted through our agency.

Here is the link:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/01/17/tuchman.haiti.orphans.cnn?hpt=C2

There were over 10,000 orphans in Port-Au-Prince alone before the earthquake! I've been hearing a lot of work each day about not only this tragedy but how it directly affects people I work with and our clients. One of my co-workers has an adopted daughter from Haiti who is eleven. She has been unable to get in touch with any of her relatives.

I know that everyone has been in prayer about this situation and please continue to do so. I have been reminded over and over again the last few days of how blessed I am to have a home, clothing, clean water, a healthy child, medication and so many other things. I did not do anything to earn these blessings. I am not any more deserving because I live in the United States. My prayer is that people will come together to help and that Christians can be a reflection of Christ's love in this time.

If you are interested in how to help some of these children directly let me know.

Favorite Things Friday

The theme this week is Bath and Beauty Products -

Sanitas Topical C lotion.
This stuff is awesome for dry skin. I use a tiny, tiny amount at bedtime. It is also great for cuts and burns.


Burts Bees Chapstick -
Addictive and awesome!


Olay Daily Facial Wipes -
These are great on trips or when I just feel a little dirty. They don't my face out and they smell good. I am all about simple so anything that is one step and easy works for me.

M- Moms

I haven't done another alphabet post in awhile so I thought that I should.

M is for Mom.

This is kind of a two-fold post. The first part is about my mom. I love her! I have always loved her but we DID NOT get along when I was in high school. I was stubborn and rude. Mom had to be right and is just as stubborn as I am. It would be an understatement to say it high school was a very tumultuous time. But, even through all of the arguments and frustrations I looked up to my mom and her dedication to my siblings and I and helping other people. I am a lot like her - I got a degree in social work like her, I have a sense of adventure and fearlessness like her, I like sewing and cooking like her etc. etc. etc. My mom and I struggled again in our relationship after my parents divorced while I was in college. It took me awhile to be able to forgive and look beyond myself and see things from my parent's perspective.

Now we have the type of relationship that is honest and open. I can say just about anything to my mom. I also know that she will always be there for me. When I had my first miscarriage I called her in the middle of the night and she left the next morning to drive to Denver to be with me. Recently my mom came to spend a week with me while Josh was in St. Louis at a conference. She is just in love with Addison and had a great week taking care of her even though she was sick.



The second part of M for Mom is about me now being a mom. In some ways this adventure was been way, way harder than I thought. But it is also much more wonderful than I could have imagined. I love watching Addison while she sleeps, feeling her little hands touch me while she eats, seeing her learn new things, getting her dressed, giving her baths, singing to her, praying with and for her, day dreaming about when she gets older and so many other things. I am excited to braid her hair, talk to her about boys, pick out a prom dress, have mom and daughter days, go on vacations and just be not only her mom, but hopefully her friend also. This is such an exciting time! Right before she was born someone told me that no matter what, I am the perfect mom for her- not a perfect mom, but the mom that God had in store for Addie. I have already been blessed by being a mom to Addison and I know I will continue to be blessed each day.

I play ball like a girl

This is the third (maybe forth) year that I have played Fantasy Football Pick 'Em. Basically instead of having a team and setting line ups, each week I pick the winners of all the games and choice a number of confidence points. I get the points for each game that I get right. Josh heads up a league with his dad, other youth ministers and friends. I have been the only girl since I started until this year when my sister-in-law Lauren played too.

Last year I ended I think in 4th place but....THIS YEAR I WON IT ALL! I was so proud of myself, not only for winning, but for winning the season that I was pregnant, had a baby, was sleep deprived AND that I beat a bunch of guys who love football.

In other exciting news: Josh got up to help me when Addison woke up screaming because she was hungry (you would have thought we were starving her). So, I run into her room, Josh wakes up and follows me but after a few minutes I told him to go back to bed. He walked out of her room and into ours and then I hear a loud scream followed by sounds of him in pain. I get up (while still trying to feed Addie so she doesn't cry) to go see if he is ok. Josh is on the floor after hitting his toe on our wooden bed. It's probably broken. He tells me to go keep feeding Addie and put her to bed because I can't really help him with her attached anyway. Josh goes to get an ice pack from the kitchen and ends up trailing blood through the house. Eventually his toe was bandaged and we are all back in bed asleep. It didn't help that Addison has gone back to not sleeping more than 4 hours at a time when for several weeks she was sleeping at least 6. Needless to say, we are all pretty tired today.

Our house is also a total disaster and driving me crazy. Last week a sweet friend gave me 12 boxes of baby and toddler clothes which I went through and sorted. I have boxes all over the living room that need to be taken somewhere else or put away in Addie's room. Josh leaves on Thursday to take his SALT (Servant Action Leadership Team) kids to Arlington for the Winterfest youth rally. Connie (who watches Addie while we work) is going with him so I have Addie all to my self for 4 1/2 days. I'm a little nervous about that since I'm already stressed and tired. I'm sure we will make it even if nothing else that I need to do gets done. It may also help that Addison is getting better at playing on her own, unfortunately she doesn't nap as often.

Other than the chaos that is pretty normal, life is going well. Sorry this post was so scattered. I'm at work and trying to do too many things at once!

Proud to be a Longhorn

Thursday night was bittersweet. The Texas Longhorns lost the National Championship to Alabama 37-21. The loss was frustrating for all Longhorn fans. It was even more so because Colt McCoy was injured in the first few minutes of the game. The last report I read said that he had a sprained shoulder and possibly a pinched nerve and that it was Coach Brown's choice not to put him back in the game. So,a true freshman QB went in to play and did better than I expected.

As hard as it must have been for Colt not to play in the National Championship and the last game of his record-setting college career - this is where the sweet part comes in. HE STILL GAVE GLORY TO GOD! In an emotional interview Colt said that he was still "standing on the rock". My first reactions was that this is an incredible witness to his teammates, the Alabama team, coaches, friends and anyone watching. It's easy to praise God when you win the game or win the award or get what you want. It's much harder to praise Him in the storm but that's what Colt did. I'm not saying he is perfect. But I was proud to be a longhorn fan and proud to be a christian.

I saw several facebook status' about this. One that was my favorite said "it's ok. He is second." If you haven't seen the video on yotube with Colt and Sam Bradford you shoud watch it! I don't know if any of Colt and Jordan Shipley's teammates have come to know Christ through them. But, my prayer that night was the God heals their emotional and physical wounds, that He grows the seeds they have planted with their outspoken love for Christ. I saw another facebook status from a family at Westover Hills (where I grew up and where Colt and Jordan attend church) that said "...God has great things in store for him and I am not talking about football." I have heard that the Longhorns motto for this season is Jeremiah 17:7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him". I pray that God will continue to use these Godly men to spread His word and glorify His name. I am proud to be a Longhorn.

Addie update

This week Josh is in St. Louis at the National Conference on Youth Ministry. So, since he was going to be gone he suggested to my mom that she come hang out with me for the week and watch Addie while I am at work. Josh and I were able to go out for a belated Anniversary date (6 years!) on Saturday after Mom's flight got in. We also saw Avatar which I liked except that it seemed to go on forever.

Anyway, last night Addie started not feeling well. Her eyes are red and puffy and her poor little nose is stuffed up. I gave her some medicine that seemed to help last night so unless she gets a fever I'll see how she does without going to the doctor.

She turned 3 months on December 23. I took a cute picture but now can't find where it uploaded to. She is becoming more and more engaged. She loves the two toys on her car seat - Beatrice the Butterfly and Terry the Lion (his name is Terry because he shakes so we thought he had turrets). She stares at them and likes to swat them to make the rattles move. She also loves her play mat. She will lay on her back with one hand on each animal until she falls asleep or gets cranky. Addie loves to stand up and bounce. I need to get her a exersaucer or something. One of her favorite things is when her Daddy moves her legs like she is running. I know she will miss early morning Daddy/Addie time this week. Josh and I can't believe how much she is learning and growing. Everyone said it goes by fast - they weren't kidding!

One of my favorite times lately has been when Josh and I lay her on our bed in the morning while we get ready. It takes us forever because we keep stopping to snuggle and play. This sweet family time makes my heart happy!

I will do a Christmas post soon and keep everyone who may still be reading updated.

A few pictures just because....