Showing my kiddos off

Can't help myself... heeheh I'm smitten. I love my little helper.. even though she's gota 'look' she wanted to feed baby Eli.... did pretty good too!

Doing better

Hey just thought that I would update on Elijah. On Thursday ( we found out after the fact ) his Biliruben had shot back up to a 14,5. Either the nurse withheld this info from Troy or Troy misunderstood.. but we thought it had stayed at a 12. When we went in on Friday we were told the number was a 13.6. So, thinking it shot up on Friday we were concerned, but then found out it had actually gone down on it's own since Thursday. I was a little upset at not knowhing this from the beginning, but it really is besides the point because at least Elijah is getting better on his own. I just wonder if they had carefully danced around not actually telling my hubby the number... to avoid worrying us until they could see what Elijah's body was going to do. HMMMMM CONSPIRACY THEORY!!! LOL.

At any rate Elijah is getting better on his own. We have a flourescent lamp that shines in the room when there is no sunlight. Sunlamps are like $400 bucks can you believe that? Sheesh. He is already trying to sleep through the night, I am starting to have to wake him for feedings. YAY. lol

I'd better go get some rest now. I just needed some 'me' time and I took it to blog....


Here's a pic of Daddy and his baby boy

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OY SOOO TIRED ROFL

You know I had forgotten what it was like to have a new born in the house and the lack of sleep! I am SO TIRED! LOL! However I've discovered something about myself that I found a little encouraging.

Have you ever took a moment, looked back on your tacks through life and suddenly realized that you had indeed grown and matured in some areas? I enjoy those moments, because they are fantastic reminders of progress. It's always nice to know that you're making progress.... ESPECIALLY when you're in a situation where you're worn out....

Before I had Kay I didn't want kids. LOL I liked my freedom too much... long story short I got pregnant to make Troy happy. Then I gave birth to Kaylin, and the very first moment I held her in my arms I knew just how selfish I was. Then we brought her home... and I was exhausted... very frustrated with everything that comes with a newborn... I lost my temper easy... I got frustrated easy.

Now I have Elijah. 2 Kids are definitely more challenging then 1 ROFL I am sure I'll get the hang of it eventually. But I had noticed that I deal with Elijah differently. I am much more patient... still hard to make myself get up when I'm exhausted, but I have come to realize just how wonderful it is and how blessed I am to be able to give of myself, and not take for myself. I don't know if that even makes sense, but that's what I've noticed. It's not that I love Eli more; it's that Kaylin was a very good teacher.

And the more I thought about it the more I realized that I approach almost everything with much more calmness and much more boldness then I did before I had Kaylin. I know other things contributed to this... but I also know that Kay had a big part in it. My kids are more of a blessing to me then just being able to care and love on them and teach them God's ways. They help me grow too.

anyway thems my tired thoughts of the day.

Home... but not out of woods yet

Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for praying! We are home , Elijah's Jaundice is at a 12 this morning. The Dr wants to see how he does on his own from here, we go back to the hospital tomorrow morning to have his biliruben tested again. We'll probably have to continue going to the hospital for testing until his number is low enough to not even worry about. Right now we need prayer for sunshine ( He needs the vitamin d from the sun ) .

Thank you again for your prayers it has kept us going. when it rains it really pours. Been dealing with many things this past little while, but we have had that peace that passes all understanding.... for the most part hahahahah ( Hey still human here! )

You know, having to be at the hospital with Elijah was a blessing in part. I had a chance to just relax and recuperate. I also got to know most of the nurses very well. All of them very sweet, but I found it amazing that when in conversation, God came up a lot as a topic... so I lived a week of witnessing. It's funny because it wasn't just the nurses, my room was in a spot where a lot of traffic goes by the door. I left my door open because I HATE being enclosed. I only closed it for feedings and sleeping. With it being open a lot of the student nurses loved to come to my room to chat... some would come and just sit down to talk hehehhe... and there were even other patients who who come to talk. So I had a interesting week to say the least.

I am going to go have a shower in my OWN shower! I have been looking forward to that for the past couple of days hahahaha!

Hey ... need prayers

Hey jsut a quick update... we went back to the hospital on Saturday. Elijah has Jaundice. He's a 14.0 right now ... making very slow progress, but we are getting better. I knew that there was something wrong, and they had said I caught it very quickly.

Im at home on a break ... I needed to get away from there for a bit and spend sometime with my little girl. She is following me around real close right now.. I think she is afraid they have taken mommy away.


anyway Elijah is on the mend... being at the hospital has helped me with other issues anyway and the drs are very helpful!

I hope to post again soon.

He's Here!

Okies just a quick note and picture because I'm sore and need to rest.

Elijah Pierce was born Feb 15th @ 9:27 pm CST

He was 8 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long.

Labor was 11 and a half hours!!!!!

He had a PERFECT apgar ( is that what its called? ) anyway he had a 10 !!!!

I had 5 stitches..... LOL

ok Going to rest now ......

No Valentine baby for me

awwww well.. no Valentine baby for me. I had a short little stint with contractions but nothing signifigant.... So I will be heading in to the hospital tomorrow at 7 am cst.

Troy will probably be home wednesday night.... it's hard for a 6'4 man to sleep on those itty bitty pull out beds they have at the hospital LOL... but we'll see. It's nice that we live 2 minutes away from the hospital.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. I'm kind of living in a surreal world right now.. it's hard to believe that the day is here! TomorrowI will have another baby to care for. WOW.

I'm missing being pregnant already rofl. So I have decided that as much discomfort as I am in... I'm going to enjoy tonight. Savor these precious moments before they run out and become a memory.

I think that is so important. To savor the precious moments... because they pass just like bad moments do. We get so eager for the future to see what it has to hold for us that we can over step the wonderful moments along the way. *sigh* feeling sentimental right now.


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OH ! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARRELL!!!!! hope you had a great day!


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*Miserably scratching stretch marks*

well... I've come this far... I may as well have a valentine baby.... but I will say that if this kid comes out at 11:55 pm on the 13th I will be VERY ANNOYED hahahahahahahahahaha


I'm allllll most there... alllllmost there.....

kind of sounds like how I feel when I'm walking through a valley too.... alllllmost there... allllmost there....

that's about as spiritual as I'm gonna get .. right now I'm all in flesh mode and wanting to get this over and done with ROFL.... and it doesn't help that hubby is just as impatient!!!! I think he actualy Pouted when they sent me home last Monday ROFL !!!!!!!!!

ok I'm done whining .. I have an appointment on the 13th at 1120 to see my progress.... that Dr had BETTER set a day for induction or I'll HURT SOMEONE ROFL

No baby no baby... BUT

No baby yet.. what's new ROFL

but HEY Troy only had to pester me for a couple of months... I finally got my act together and put up the majority of the website for our church. It's done in boring old html.... my brother will PHP it for me when he has a free moment....

Not all the links work... it still needs work... but hey it's a good start at anyrate!

There's a link to it in the side bar :)

OY BABY!

Ok - an update...

On Monday I wasn't even dilated. So the Dr tells me to come in Thursday ( the 9th ) and we will discuss inducing.

So we go home a little disappointed that I am not seeming to be getting anywhere with this thing... having good contractions that amount to nothing but pain!!!!

I go into the Dr's day and he says " let me check you and we'll chat" Well now I am at a little over 2cm dilated and half way thinned out.... fast progress. Plus he did some stuff ( Women know what I mean rofl ) to try and agitate it a little.... so We set the date for the 14th.. possibly the 15th depending on how I have progressed by Monday. Troy was a little upset because he wanted to set the date already, but really because I made good progress in a little over three days I'm thinking that the Dr just wants to see if I can finish this on my own. Which is better because with pitocin... the labor can be more intense and painful.

But The Dr had agitated things enough that my contractions have been getting much stronger... I'm hoping I'll have this baby on my own sometimes this weekend. But don't take my word on it I was hoping for two weeks ago ROFL!

I could still have my valentine baby though.

THE ROPE

Dh got this story sent to him in an email.... it just 'wowed' me ..... so I'll post the story here without all the mountain backgrounds rofl ... Part of when I read it I thought "This would be a strong example of trusting God without understanding, and how important it is to just trust Him!" Kinda makes me wonder why God keeps a bringing this up ... things that make me go hmmmm!

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THE ROPE

The story tells about a mountain climber, who wanted to climb the highest mountain. He began his adventure after many years of preparation, but since he wanted the glory just for himself, he decided to climb the mountain alone.

The night felt heavy in the heights of the mountain, and the man could not see anything. All was black. Zero visibility, and the moon and stars were covered by the clouds.

As he was climbing, only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, he slipped and fell into the air, falling at a great speed. The climber could only see black spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity. He kept falling... and in those moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the good and bad episodes of his life.

He was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard.

His body was hanging in the air... only the rope was holding him. And in that moment of stillness he had no other choice but to scream HELP ME GOD!

All of a sudden, a deep voice coming from the sky answered:

- What do you want me to do?
-Save me God!!
- Do you really think I can save you?
- Of course I believe you can
- THEN CUT THE ROPE TIED TO YOUR WAIST....

There was a moment of silence, and the man decided to hold on to the rope with all of his strength.

The rescue team tells, that the next day a climber was dead and frozen.... his body hanging from a rope, his hands holding tightly to it... ONLY TEN FEET FROM THE GROUND.

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"And I'm asking you to trust me without understanding why"

How many times have I asked the question .. WHY? This has been so heavy on my heart the past few days. Situations we face, challenges that come our way, it's so easy to ask God "Why me? Why now?" You know we can even read the Bible, and know all the 'right' answers. But how many times have we gone through something, knowing that it all has it's purpose and place... we know that there is an enemy out there.... we KNOW it, but still deep in your heart you can't help but to still ask "But why me, why now, when is my time to leave this valley?"

Have you ever seen the movie: "A Blast From The Past" with Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone? Well for those of you who haven't seen this movie... it's about an an eccentric inventor who is afraid of the nuclear bombs and is convinced that they will attack the USA. So he builds this huge bomb shelter under ground, complete with everything that you need to live life. Him and his wife have guests over at the house one night and they are watching a 'special report' sort of thing on the TV. Talking again about Russia and the nuclear bombs. The inventor ( Calvin ) sends everyone home and then takes his wife ( Helen ) down into the bomb shelter. Well when they get down there, coincidentally an airplane crashes into the house, convincing Calvin that the bombs have actually hit US soil. He locks the door to the shelter for 35 years. During this time Calvin and Helen have a little boy (Adam) and they raise him with all the morals and ideals of the late sixties. 35 years later the locks release and Calvin goes up into present day Los Angeles, where society is now vastly corrupt and the morals and ways of his time are way past. He runs into some interesting people... one in particular a man dressed in women's clothing. All of this convinces him that these people must be mutants from when the nuclear bomb hit. So he returns to the bomb shelter telling his family of all this... telling them that they must stay in their safe haven. Calvin then has a stroke. Helen sends their son Adam up to the surface for more supplies -- Adam goes up there to get supplies and hoping to find himself a wife of his own. While he's up there he meets a woman named Eve, and her gay friend Troy. They go around collecting supplies and such, and in the process of every other little thing that goes on in the meantime Adam learns the truth of what really happened to his parents home 35 years ago. He learns that a bomb didn't actually hit the USA. They also discover that all the stocks and bonds his dad had purchased over 35 years ago are now worth a small fortune... not to mention baseball cards and everything else. He then makes a plan to build his parents a home out in the country, and bring his parents back to the surface, reintroducing them to the world slowly to avoid the shock of being out of society....

Adam and Eve go down to the shelter and they have this particular conversation with his parents:

ADAM: " Mom, Eve and I have to go."
HELEN: "What?"
ADAM: "I can't explain it now, but I want you to set the locks for 2 months.
You have more then enough of everything. Then we'll be back to get
you."
CALVIN: "But, I don't understand."
ADAM: And, I'm asking you to trust me without understanding why."
CALVIN: "Well, in that case, of course, son."
HELEN: "Of course."

Now, of course this movie is purely entertainment. There is nothing really spiritually significant about it. However the line Adam uses "And, I'm asking you to trust me without understanding why." And the close bond that he has with his parents that shows a complete trust really stands out to me as an illustration for what God has been trying to show me, and place deep into my heart. The bond between this child and his parents is so tight, and there is such a complete trust in one another that when asked to trust WITHOUT understanding, there was no hesitation... Oh how we need that kind of relationship with God! To have such a closeness with him that we can trust him completely without understanding all the whys, the what's, when's and how's. We know that God would not compromise our lives, but we need to KNOW it.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

I can hear the line of the movie in that verse right there. I can hear the Lord saying "And I am asking you to trust me, without understanding why."

Like I mentioned before, it is very easy to ask so many questions to try and grasp an understanding of our circumstances. We often try so hard to settle it in our minds and in our hearts... to make the valley more tolerable. There are some answers to the tough questions such as why to bad things happen to good people? Why do we need to suffer disease and famine and war? Well a common answer to this is that we live in a sinful world. And because of the fall of man, there are consequences to that original sin. God even told us in the Bible what the consequences would be, so we are certainly not, or should not be surprised that we endure these things. Let's make the questions more personal. Why, when I am faithful with my money... do I still struggle with finances. Why does my family member, who is a wonderful Christian, suffer with some terrible disease. You can just insert your own personal "WHY" right in there, because we all have them. And there are answers to all of them, I'm sure. But even if you do know with your mind.. the answers to those questions, deep down in our depths there is still a lack of understanding. "God I KNOW what your word says. It says that you plan to prosper me and not to hurt me. It says that by your stripes I was healed... but why must I still endure this then?" And you know, this is actually dangerous to our faith and our spiritual health, because if you let it get too far you can have a root of bitterness grow in your heart. You can start to lead into other questions such as " Don't you love me God, am I unworthy of receiving your promises? I must have done something so wrong, that God is using this to punish me.... I must not have enough faith." Condemnation can settle right in there, despite God's word telling us in Romans 8:1 there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

I don't have the exact quote on hand, but Reinhardt Bonnke had made a statement about faith and why some people walk into their promises and miracles and others seem to not, at that moment anyway. He said something to the effect of 'I can not tell you why some people receive their miracles and others do not...' But he lead into the point that we trust in God regardless. Bringing me back to that line "And I ask you to trust me, without understanding why" He learned also that we will not always understand why things work out the way we do, but that doesn't mean we waver in our faith or our trust in our Father.

Jeremiah 29:11 says 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

God's intentions for our lives is not to hurt us. We know this already. We know that good things are in store for us as believers. We know these things and still ask why.

Romans 5:3-5 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. ( You can continue to verse 8 - it lists 'seasons' we face in life)

Everything has it's purpose. We know that 'that which does not kill us, makes us stronger'. We know that God can and does use things and situations in our lives to challenge us, to mold our lives to become more like Jesus. We know these things... and so we should trust God with everything in our lives -- even and especially when we don't understand why. God has proven himself to be faithful. You know the phrase 'hindsight is 20/20' - after we pass through trials and gain victory, after we get through the valley - it's very easy to see how God brought us through it. And we can then see the value of that trial, what we learned and what we gained from those experiences. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that our testimonies are so important. Because they remind us of God's faithfulness. And we can use these reminders to help us hold tighter to a trust in God that surpasses understanding.

We need to continually build upon our relationship with God, to strengthen our bond with him. When we draw close to him, he draws close to us... and that builds that trust and that faith in him. It can help us to set aside our questions, and look to him despite our circumstances. When you allow yourself to be so consumed with Him and your relationship with him all the woes of this world can pass, and you can trust him to take care of you like he said he would... like he is faithful to do.

One last thought ....

Reading Ephesians 6:10-18 but focusing on verse 13: Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

When we draw close to God and put on His full armor... we can then stand in faith. We can have complete confidence that we will pass through our valleys, that everything will work out for the Glory of God and it will all be for my perfecting process as I reflect more of His image I will put on the full armor so that I can always trust in him and be confident that he will not fail me.

Lord, help me to trust in you without having to understand why, when or how... and to only need to know that you are faithful and you will take care of it perfectly.

Still no baby yet *sigh*

I had some realllllly good contractions earlier today.. and they were like 4 minutes apart. Then they stopped. I even called Troy's boss to have him come right home. when he got home ZIP ZILCH NADA

so frustrating.

But with the way things are going I hope the the end of this weekend we'll have a baby!

Please, if you would, pray for my health. I have caught a bit of a head cold. I never need to be sick, but I definitly don't need to be sick at this point in my pregnancy! It's nothing super bad.. just bad enough to make me feel lousy.

Thanks guys....

Gave Birth to a toddler today....

ROFL I HAVE to tell you what happened today ROFL

DH came with me to the Dr's office.... brought Kay along of course ( she is 21 months ) Well I got undressed, hid under the sheet and sat waiting for the Dr to come. Kay decided right before the Dr came in to hide under the sheet between my legs. Before I could deal with her the Dr came in and says " HI!" right at that moment Kaylin BURSTS out of the sheet from between my legs and SHOUTS "HIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!" ROFL She actually scared the Dr...

I laughed so hard I could barely breathe. Then I told him " I told you I'd have a baby this week.. you just didn't expect that she would already weigh 25 lbs!!! )

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

SO yeah.. still no baby.. but I gave birth to a toddler today.

MUST GET KID OUT

OHHH I am so miserable.. pray this kid out of me people PLEASE

ROFL