Wednesday's Walk with God: Moving a different direction

I logged onto blogger today thinking I was going to post one thing, but my sister and my dear friend both posted similar things, so maybe God is trying to say something.  Instead of me getting in the way today, I'm just going to post links to their blogs first.  Read them before you read another word of this blog (click on "sister" and "dear friend")

Ok, now for what God has been teaching me.  With my husband's job situation and all of our lovely house problems, I've been stressing out about money recently.  I've been thinking a lot about two things.  First of all, I've been thinking about my responsibility to spend my money wisely.  I have a really hard time with this because I love buying things for my kids and my house.  Unlike most girls, I don't really have a hard time with buying lots of nice clothes, shoes, or designer purses, but I do have many other weaknesses.  Do my kids really need to brand new gymboree outfits when I can get thing adorable things at the thrift store?  They have tons of toys, do they really need another car/train/ball?  The second thing I've been learning is that I must put my faith in God, not in money.  It's easy to think that I need money to pay my bills, but I have to remember where that money is coming from.  I heard something on the radio the other day that has been going through my head a lot.  Some of you have heard this story, probably three times already, but it has helped me keep my focus so much that I feel like I need to share it again.  When you are stressed out about your finances, take that dollar and turn it around.  What does the back of it say?  It says "In GOD We Trust"  Where should our trust be?  Not in that dollar, but in God!

I hope that whether you have a million dollars or you have a million debts, that you are using your money to glorify God and using your money wisely.  I encourage you to look at your checkbook (or whatever you use to track your spending) and see if your money is going to build God's Kingdom, or your own.

Monday madness at it's finest: Plumbing fun

This past week was a doozy for us!  As I mentioned, it was VBS week at church.  I was in the nursery, so I had to make sure I was there in time for the parents to drop off their babies before heading to their assigned group.  In other words, EARLY!  What was a I thinking???  I have myself and two little boys to get ready.  One little boy (T) wants to do things himself, which is fabulous but takes forever.  The other just doesn't want anything done at all.  Unless it involves him eating, ha!  Getting up and ready was not easy.  Thankfully, my sweet hubby went into work late so that he could help me get everything together and everyone out the door. 

We try to keep a pretty consistent routine for the boys.  T is flexible and just goes with the flow.  We were spoiled with him :)  L makes up for it!  My sweet little guy thrives with his routine, but has a very difficult time adjusting to new things.  I thought he'd be just as easy going, maybe even more so since we were always on the go when he was little.  As he got older, I realized more and more how important a routine is for him.  When we are not in routine, everything, especially sleep, goes out the window.  The boys were cranky, tired, and so hyper.

The craziest part of the week hasn't even been mentioned yet.  Plumbing.  That area has caused us more stress this past week than anything else.   Monday morning, J took a shower and it started to back up.  Then it started running through the floor, and leaking onto the floor below.  Thank the Lord that I was down there getting the boys ready for VBS because I was able to run up and tell him what was going on.  It could have been a lot worse!  Can you imagine if he had continued to take his shower?  And if I hadn't been there to put buckets and towels down to catch the water?  Yep, it would have been a lot worse.  We of course called a plumber immediately.  The first appt they had was for the following day.  Great!  I was hoping for something that day but at least it was going to get fixed soon, right?  Wrong.  The guy replaced a part that had nothing to do with the leak.  Of course we didn't try it out until after he left.  This time, we barely used the bathroom at all because as soon as we heard the water leaking, J turned it off.  It was still enough that it leaked through the ceiling again, and to bring down the dry wall!!!  YIKES!  So again we called the plumber, so scheduled an appt for Friday (remember this started Monday?  Thankful we live close to family so we could shower and bathe our kids!!!).  Friday comes and goes, no plumber!  He did eventually call and recommend we reschedule the following day (Saturday).  When I did, they told me that they were full until Tuesday!!!  OH NO!  But I threw a fit and they agreed to send someone out that day.  After putting three massive holes in our dry wall (one upstairs in my husband's closet, and two in the ceiling downstairs), he found the problem.  A clog.  Yay!  But the drama isn't over yet.  Our home warranty then calls us to inform us that they do not  cover clogs.  They also don't cover secondary damage (the dry wall).  And the plumber had to schedule another day to come fix it (today).  So basically, it's Monday, a week later and we still can't use the showers, sinks, or even the toilet!  We are all using the half bath downstairs which is NOT fun.  We will have to pay for all of the repairs and our house is a mess.  Seriously, a mess!  We had to move our furniture around to make room for the repairs, the kids are into everything and I'm just trying to not think about the dry wall disaster that will soon take place as the plumber fixes everything.   Hopefully, we'll have our bathrooms back today.  No clue when we'll get our wall and ceiling replaced though. 

That's basically our week.  That and Insanity. Yes, this whole thing is insane, but I'm talking about the Insanity DVD's that I'm doing with my friend and sister.  Hoping to see results soon because it's kicking our butts!

Happy Monday, all.  Here's to a better week :)

EDIT TO ADD: If you don't see me blogging much, it means that our house is still a wreck and our computer isn't set up.  I have to do all my computer stuff at the parents' house.  Let's all pray this is over soon!

Motherhood is Calling

We are having a few minor disasters at our house today, so the boys and I are at my parents' house.  I don't have any cute pictures to post, so instead, I'd like to share a link with you.  This link will take you to an article written about motherhood.  I found it very inspiring so I thought I'd share it on my blog.  I hope you mommies out there enjoy it as much as I did.  Happy Weekend, to all :)

Mixing it up a bit!

Today is Thursday, it should be about my cleaning journey.  But in all honesty, the house is a mess!  With VBS, J working late every night, and the indoor rain shower that has happened twice (and is destroying my ceiling), I've been too tired, stressed, and BUSY to worry about it.  So instead, I'm going to write about all the baby related things I love :)  I have a friend who was telling me about another baby blog where the writer does this, and I though it was a great idea!  I have things that I'm in love with and want to tell everyone about, so why not do a post about it?  Whoopie!  (Yes, Stace, I did just say Whoopie!)  Here we GO:

Car Seat:
I love the Britax Marathon that Little L has.  T has a different brand and I am far from impressed, but this Britax one is wonderful!  I feel really good about L in there.  It was easy to install, looks safe and comfy, and has excellent ratings.  I wish I had just spent the money and bought one for T.

Next up is my Ergo.  I could NOT handle two boys this young without my Ergo.  It is so much more comfortable than the Bjorn or any similar brand.  I have walked around DC with Sweet T in it...he was 32 lbs and I was completely fine.  My back, shoulders, everything felt great!  Little L likes to be held and sometimes I just don't have the hands to do it all while holding him, so in the Ergo he goes.  I use it every time I go shopping, especially grocery shopping.  I use it around the house.  I use it to take both boys to the park when J isn't with me.  This is definitely a must have for moms!  (I have also heard great things about the Beco, but I haven't tried it)

Feeding:
For breastfeeding, I found nipple shields to be very helpful in the beginning.  Now, L hated these.  I think it was the rubbery feel of things that bothered him because he also hated bottles and pacis.  With T, on the other hand, these were a life savor!!!  Seriously, they taught him how to latch on easily and they minimized the pain tremendously!

I also enjoyed making their baby food when it was time for them to start eating.  Here is the website I used to teach me what to do.  A few other things I loved (or my kids loved) were:

For sleeping arrangements, my babies were in my room until the were 6 and 7 months old.  I used a pack n play for them to sleep in.  The one I loved most had the bassinet attachment and a co sleeper attachment.  It also had a higher weight limit, which was a HUGE plus for us since my babies tend to be big.  The brand is Baby Trend and I have a sports themed one

Both my boys loved their swing.  It goes both ways (side to side, and forward to back)  It looked super comfy too.  It's the Fisher Price Papasan Swing.  See above

I have a lot more that my kids loved, but this blog entry is getting long and the boys are awake now, so I'll save it for another day.  Happy Thursday, all!

Tasty Tuesday: GF Oreos

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before or not, but I love oreos.  They are my favorite type of cookie.  And the very best Oreo of all?  Fudgees.  I think I miss my Fudgees more than any other gluten food!  I was so, so excited when my MIL e-mailed me a link to a GF blog with a recipe for oreos.  Seriously, words cannot express my joy :)  These are no Fudgee, but they're pretty darn good!  HERE is the link to the blog with the recipe.  Enjoy.

Happy Weekend, July 9th edition

Here's a pic of my sweet Little L wearing one of my favorite outfits ever.  Isn't he adorable?  Make sure to notice how amazing his eyes look too :)

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28)

Friday's Looking Good: Even better than last week!

After writing last week's Friday blog, I decided to weigh myself on our Wii Fit.  It's the only scale we have in our house, ha!  According to the Wii, I am... DOWN TO MY PRE-T WEIGHT!!!  Oh my goodness!  Oh my goodness!  Oh my goodness!!!  I am thrilled!!!  Seriously so excited!

On a not-so-good note, I have not been exercising or eating as well lately.  My wonderful sister and I have been traveling some and it's really thrown me off track.  We went to the OBX in the beginning of June, and then a couple weeks after coming home, we went to TN.  Both times, I had plans to run.  I even packed my running clothes and shoes!  I went twice while at the beach and not at all while in TN.  I ran a mile and thought I was going to die earlier this week!  Yesterday I was able to go a mile and a half, but that's it.  I run veeeerry slow too.  I hate it!  I was doing SO well but now I feel like I have to start all over.  And it's HOT.  So hot!  To make matters worse, I have been snacking on candy.  I can't eat cookies or cakes or things like that (unless I pay a lot of money for GF ones or spend the time to make them...), so I've moved on to candy.  It's been bad lately.  I need to start eating less sugary stuff and make sure to drink more water!!!  My plan for running and exercising is to start running with a friend.  She has run the Army 10 miler in the past and is much more athletic than I am!  I will be embarrassed for her to see how out of shape I am, but I know it will be encouraging to have someone to go with.  Hopefully that will motivate me to keep going and push myself!  She even volunteered to push the boys in the jogging stroller :)  I'm really excited!  At this point, I'm not trying to lose weight.  I am really happy at this size.  I just need to maintain this and change my focus on getting healthy.  I still want to work on the rest of my looks, but I'm so very excited to have reached this goal!  Yay!